Undone is a fantastical animated series about time travel, mental health, and family love. It features a largely Latinx cast and a lead character who is hard of hearing. Ever wish you could skip around in time to fix your problems?
In my review of season 1 of Undone, I explained the technique used to create the artistic design and look of the series. It’s a hybrid technique that makes the actors recognizable but allows for fantastic scenes that are not at all realistic. Well, they aren’t realistic unless you believe that time travel is possible, in which case they might be exactly what it looks like.
The main character is Alma (Rosa Salazar). After many conversations with her dead father, Jacob (Bob Odenkirk), in season 1, she learned to manipulate life by revisiting parts of her timeline. She’s managed to bring her father back to life in the timeline that season 2 lives in.
Jacob is happy with life in this timeline. But people around him are miserable. Alma wants to fix it by changing past timelines.
Alma makes all sorts of timeline discoveries and changes until she finally gets life to a tolerable state for almost everyone.
Alma learns that her sister Becca (Angelique Cabral) can manipulate time and see the past, too. She enlists Becca to help her “fix things.”
Alma meets her grandmother Geraldine (Holley Fain). Geraldine spent a good part of her life in mental institutions because she could do what Alma and Becca can do. It’s hereditary. Then Alma learns that her great-grandmother Leeba (Yael Grobglas) was the same. Part of the mental health issue was Geraldine held secret shame about what happened to her parents.
Alma, Becca, and even their dad Jacob interact with all these ancestors of Jacob’s in the timeline as they attempt to fix everyone.
Alma’s mother, Camila (Constance Marie), is sad and secretive. Much detective work from the family finally reveals that Camila had a son, Alejandro (Carlos Santos). He was left in an orphanage by Camila and she was ashamed of her past. Even so, Camila tried to help her son from afar.
Secrets and shame are what had made life miserable for the characters in Alma’s family. Her fixing of the timeline was a way to release them and allow them to forgive themselves. Alma needed a little of her own medicine, too.
Ultimately this fantastical and unusual journey toward mental health is about love and forgiveness. It’s always unbelievable, even though it feels true emotionally. It was beautiful to watch and I found it interesting.
This series is on Prime Video.