Being a teenager is hard. Dealing with overprotective mothers and super awkward
crushes can make things even harder. But when you’ve got family and friends like these,
being a teenage kraken can certainly be interesting.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge, and this is Ruby Gillman
Teenage Kraken Relationships: Healthy to Toxic.
Obviously, major spoilers ahead for the entirety of the film. As always,
we’re going to be starting with the most positive
and mutually supportive relationships in the bunch. These relationships are The Healthy.
Starting things off, we're ranking our Gold Medal of Healthiness: Ruby and Nessie. Ah yes,
nothing like the relationship between a girl and her dog. And as simple of a relationship
as it may be, it's certainly wholesome. Not only are they shown caring about each
other and enjoying each other's company, but Nessie is shown to be an incredibly loyal pet,
helping Ruby out and comforting her when she's upset. Ruby is also shown
appreciating Nessie's so-called 'genius', seeing her as much more than just a simple
pet. Needless to say, this is just an adorable relationship through and through!
Taking home the Silver Medal of Healthiness is Ruby and Uncle Brill. Granted, they don't
exactly start things off well, what with Ruby punching him in the face and all. Thankfully,
Ruby and Brill warm up to each other very quickly - with Bril just wanting Ruby to be happy and
proud of her kraken self. Although Ruby does use Brill's bad luck with birds to her advantage,
she still cares about him and the two get along very well. Brill is even the one to
pull Ruby out of her self-loathing spiral after Ruby learns the truth about Chelsea,
showing just how supportive of an uncle he can be.
Moving onto the Bronze Medal of Healthiness is the married couple of Agatha and Arthur.
In terms of romances, the relationship between these two is simple yet strong,
with Agatha being the main breadwinner of the home through her job as a real estate agent
and Arthur supporting her ambitions. The two of them work together incredibly well,
having good communication and understanding of each other's needs. When Agatha is stressing
about their daughter, Arthur is the one keeping a calm head and telling her that Ruby doesn't
hate her. It's honestly just really sweet, and even if they aren't the main couple of the film,
it's still nice to see them working together and being in domestic bliss.
Keeping within the Gillman family, let's talk about the three-man distraction team of Arthur,
Brill and Sam. When we first see these three meet, Arthur is less than thrilled
with seeing his dopey brother-in-law, Brill and Sam are just happy to learn that they now
have a nephew and an uncle respectively. While their personalities may not always
sync up perfectly - and Brill especially can sometimes still get on Arthur's nerves - the
three of them do end up making a pretty solid team when they have to help keep Captain Gordon
off Ruby's trail. Since they don't really bicker too much or have much tension between them, they
almost end up being a healthier and more chill reflection of the women in the Gillman family.
Next up, we're ranking Ruby and her friends. You could sorta compare these guys to the friend group
in Pixar's Turning Red, in that while there is plenty of love and support there, it can
sometimes seem a bit one-sided. Thankfully, one of the first things we see this group do is exercise
healthy boundaries, firmly telling Ruby that they don't want to sacrifice yet another special event
because of her mom's no ocean rule and Ruby in turn understands this. But because they obviously
still care about her, Ruby's friends - Margot especially- encourage her to take a chance and
live her life, even if it means disobeying her mother. Margot also tries to help Ruby with her
prom-posal to Connor, being supportive in her own theatrical and dramatic way. Unfortunately, the
latter half of the film is where the one-sidedness starts to seep in when we see Ruby ditching her
friends and ignoring their worried texts to focus on her training and on her and Chelsea's mission.
Ruby does somewhat make up for this in the end and they're all able to have a good time at prom
together, but even with all the sweetness, this friend squad feels just a bit shallow at times.
Similarly, Ruby and Connor also have a sweet yet very shallow relationship. It's essentially just
puppy love, with the two of them admiring each other's cute looks and their respective skills
- math for Ruby and skateboarding for Connor. But because they don't spend much time with
each other after Ruby unlocks her giant kraken form, the moment where they finally get together
at the dance feels cute yet hollow. At the very least, Ruby choosing to save Connor instead of
staying safe on land does show that she cares more about her crush's life than her mother's rules.
Finishing up the Healthy is Ruby and Grandmamah. While Grandmamah may have been controlling to
her own daughter, it's implied that while she still wants Ruby to be a proper kraken royal,
she's learned from her past mistakes. She may try to nudge Ruby into the direction she wants her to
go in, believing that her granddaughter will "answer the call", but Grandmamah never tries
to force Ruby into what she wants her to be, although she can still be a bit dismissive of
Ruby's life on the surface. Ruby, meanwhile, sort of sees Grandmamah and her training as a means
to complete her own mission, but it still never feels like she's maliciously using her. The two
of them get along well, with Ruby being grateful to her grandmother for telling her the truth
and offering guidance. There's definitely the potential for this relationship to one day sour,
especially if Grandmamah starts falling into old habits, but for now it seems to be pretty solid.
Now that we’ve got the Healthy out of the way, let’s move onto some relationships that
have a bit more friction between them. Welcome to the Grey Area.
We only have a few in this category, starting with the sibling relationship
of Brill and Agatha. While they are the film's healthier sibling relationship by
default, the two of them still aren't exactly close. This is another case of things feeling
one-sided as Brill tries to spend time with his sister and get their family back together
while Agatha just sort of dismisses him and doesn't seem to think much of him. But for as
much as they may have been estranged, Brill does think the world of his big sis. Agatha
still struggles with opening up throughout the film, but by the end of it, it starts to
look like she's turned a corner and has started appreciating her goofy brother for who he is.
But while Brill may have an easier time with his sister, the relationship between him and
his mother is a bit more questionable. Since it's only the women of the family who can turn giant
and gain superpowers, Grandmamah almost seems to be more than a little dismissive of her son after
she first meets Ruby. But while he may be a bit attention starved, Brill never resents his mother
for this, instead appreciating the improvements she's made for herself through therapy. Again,
the guy just really cares about his family, far more than he cares about himself - and in the end,
Grandmamah does finally notice this, giving him the attention he deserves. D'awww.
Getting back to siblings, let's touch on Ruby and Sam. Yeahhh, these two argue MUCH more than Brill
and Agatha do. Between Sam being sorta bratty and insensitive and Ruby being emotional and brash,
as well as being a bit jealous of Sam's success in elementary school as a sports legend,
the two are almost always seen being antagonistic towards each other. At the very least, Sam does
think that Ruby's royal kraken form is cool, and during the final fight with Chelsea, he does his
best to try and defend Ruby with dodgeballs. Moments like this keep these two from going any
lower, though it still would have been nice to see a few more positive moments between them.
Finally, let's touch on the relationship that ends up developing between the Gillmans and Captain
Gordon. While the other people in Oceanside may see him as a crazy old captain, the Gillmans
understood early on that it was probably best to avoid his watchful eye. Unfortunately, Ruby
eventually caught his attention, leading to the rest of the fam working hard to get him off her
trail. When Chelsea makes her returning debut as the queen of the mermaids, however, Gordon is also
told the truth about the entire Gillman family. Thankfully he's able to be intimidated into being
an ally for the kraken. He also makes an apology video regarding the kraken family, though it
isn't quite clear if he's doing it out of fear or genuine regret. Regardless, it could be fun to see
this relationship between the kraken fam and the old captain develop further in a sequel or series.
We’ve finally come to the most unhealthy relationships of them all,
reserved only for true enemies. These are the Toxic Relationships.
For our Bronze Medal of Toxicity, we have Agatha and Grandmamah. Although we never get the full
story of what happened between these two and what specifically pushed Agatha into hating her mother,
we can infer enough- that Agatha grew to want different things for herself and her children, and
that Grandmamah had control issues and a temper that ultimately pushed her daughter away. The two
don't see eye to eye very much as Agatha remains resentful while Grandmamah is still portrayed as
condescending and judgemental. Thankfully though, when mermaid-related dangers rear their ugly head,
they are able to put their grudges aside and fight together against Narissa. It admittedly
feels a bit rushed, but it's still nice seeing them both be a bit more willing to compromise.
Our Silver Medal of Toxicity is going to Chelsea and Agatha. The original
ending point of the rivalries between kraken and mermaids,
the two were bitter enemies until the very end. But while Agatha was able to show mercy,
simply hiding away the trident inside of trying to destroy Narissa with it, Narissa was absolutely
obsessed with getting revenge for 15 years, not hesitating when it came to trying to strike Agatha
down permanently the moment she could. In times of war, tensions can be high - and with enemies
as bloodthirsty as these, we could see why Agatha became disillusioned with being a kraken warrior.
Finally, our Gold Medal of Toxicity is going to Ruby and Chelsea.
While their relationship ends up being similar to the previous one that Chelsea had with Agatha,
this one ends up being even more toxic due to its more personal nature. Just knowing that
Chelsea went to all the trouble befriending and gaining Ruby's trust only to gleefully
stab her in the back just makes the situation all the more hard to watch. To Ruby's credit,
she too offers Narissa a bit of mercy just like her mother had,
only for the Mermaid queen to continue verbally and physically attacking her. Any moments of
friendship between these two was completely fake, and for that, it's really no contest.