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The second batch of Book 3 episodes of Infinity Train are out now! After releasing episode 1-5 the week prior, we now have episodes 6-8. Episode 6 is titled “The Campfire Car” and picks up immediately after Grace sees Hazel shift into some other being. Hazel looks like a bird or turtle. Hazel realizes that she has changed and starts asking what happened to her skin while crying. Grace backs away saying she doesn’t know what’s happening to her. Hazel cries out that she wants Tuba, but Grace tells her she’s gone. Hazel says she’ll never do anything wrong again, thinking it happened because of her. Grace hugs Hazel and tells her it’s not her fault at all. Hazel calms down and begins shifting back into her regular form. She asks Grace if she is a train person. Grace says she may be and looks at the number on Hazel’s hand. Hazel asks if Grace hates her now because she hated Tuba. Grace looks horrified and says she doesn’t hate her. Hazel then panics when she realizes Simon will hate her and kill her. She begins shifting back into the turtle bird form. Grace tells her she has to breathe in and out to calm down. She reverts back again.
Having composed themselves, Grace and Hazel go back into the car where they left Simon. Grace immediately yells at Simon for doing something without her direct orders. Simon asks if she’s pulling rank on him and she says yes with a stern face. Hazel picks up her bag of belongings and follows Grace and Simon deeper into the car. They walk through a forest and spot the exit door in the distance. Hazel stops and tells Grace and Simon she wants to have a funeral for Tuba. Simon yells at Hazel saying that there is no body to bury. Hazel begins breathing heavy and quickly composes herself to prevent from shifting her appearance again. She tells them it will be good for her to say goodbye. Simon says they’re just a car away from the rest of the Apex. Grace notices Simon’s number on his arm and recoils. She tells Simon to let Hazel have this. It’s the least he could do after what he did. Grace asks Simon if he wants the Apex to see her still crying over a null and Simon says it makes sense. Hazel says she wants to find a perfect spot for the funeral. Simon reminds her again there is no body to bury and Hazel pulls a glowing rock out of her bag, saying it will take the place of Tuba since it was something the two of them shared.
Hazel leads them through the forest looking for a perfect spot. They pass nulls as they check out different locations. After passing many different places, Simon loses his cool and yells at Hazel to just pick a spot. Hazel yells back at Simon and says that he did this and she’s going to do this right. Hazel’s fingers suddenly shift, and she notices, gets scared and runs off crying. Grace calls out her name and reprimands Simon, reminding him that she’s only 6. She tries to remind him how he felt when the cat left him. Simon says fine, she can have her funeral, but he’s going to wait at the exit. Grace goes after Hazel.
Grace finds Hazel in a tree, climbs up to her and sits on the branch next to her. Hazel tells Grace that this is the spot she chose. She says Tuba would want to be high up so she can see the sky. As she holds the glowing rock, Hazel eulogizes Tuba, saying all of the things she loved about her. Hazel thanks Tuba’s kids for letting her have Tuba and says maybe she’s with them again now. My heart broke. For a 6-year-old she is handling this death better than most adults would. She then asks Grace if she wants to say anything. Grace gets caught off guard says she doesn’t think she should. Hazel reminds her that people talk at funerals and Grace tells her she’ll say some words. Grace starts off by saying she doesn’t know what to say, but she knows that Tuba was important to Hazel. She then begins to get sad, saying nice things about Tuba, becoming more upset, clenching her fist and beginning to tear up. Hazel then begins singing a song that Tuba used to sing to her kids, pulling the rock closer to her. In a beautifully well-done animated movement, we pan around Hazel as she is singing and begins crying looking out into the distance. Breathtaking. Hazel thanks Tuba for always being there for her and says she’s going to keep loving her like she’s still here. We see Grace is now crying too. Hazel puts the rock in a hole in the tree and it stops glowing. Hazel leans towards Grace and tells her she has to go to the bathroom, causing Grace to begin laughing, stopping her tears. They hug.
Grace and Hazel meet up with Simon at the car exit. Simon says they’re back at the Apex and says that everything will go back to normal and they won’t have to babysit anymore. Hazel plays along like she’s excited. They walk through the exit door and cross the bridge connecting the train cars. As they cross, a woman (AMELIA!) exits the car they’re about to enter and crosses paths with them. Hazel looks at her as they pass, and Grace and Simon don’t pay her any attention. They enter the next car and don’t see the rest of the Apex. They look at Simon’s tracker and it shows them that they’ve somehow passed their car. Suddenly, Amelia opens the door and yells at them saying “What have you kids been doing to the train cars?”
Simon can kick rocks for how he treated Hazel after killing her friend. He is going to be hard to redeem. Grace has been softening the entire season and I think she can be redeemed. She still cares about Hazel, even though she may not be a person. This would alter her entire outlook on the train and the rest of the nulls. The way Hazel handled herself was so inspiring. For such a young girl, she was able to lose her best friend, and be a stronger person through the loss. The animation during the song Hazel was singing was so good. It reminded me of the scene in Steven Universe where Pearl was singing “It’s Over, Isn’t It?” Both uses of this animation style were exceptionally beautiful.
I’m excited to see how they all interact with Amelia, voiced by the incredible Lena Headey. We know who she is from Book 1 and that she was the true “false conductor”. How will Simon and Grace react if or when they find out the truth. Will this change their mindset about the train? Will Simon regret what he did to Tuba? Will she have answers about what Hazel is? Will she remember rescuing Grace? So many possibilities! I am so excited to keep watching. This season of Infinity Train is such a great ride! Keep watching and reaching out to HBO Max to ensure this incredible series gets another season.
You can stream Infinity Train Books 1-2 and Episodes 1-8 of Book 3 on HBO Max now!
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