After two seasons of animated capers on Netflix, Carmen Sandiego is back for an interactive special in Carmen Sandiego: To Steal Or Not To Steal. Similar to Netflix's previous interactive title, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the program has audiences make choices for the eponymous globe-trotting thief at key points in the story as she embarks on a new series of heists all over the world. And, like the animated series it has spun off from, the interactive, animated special is a fresh, fun expansion of Carmen's world and her ongoing battle against V.I.L.E.
In the interactive special, Carmen's two friends and associates, Ivy and Zack, are kidnapped by V.I.L.E., and the villainous organization threatens to brainwash the two siblings into becoming its loyal minions. Aided by her tech-savvy friend, Player, Carmen tentatively agrees to help V.I.L.E. carry out a set of ambitious heists around the globe while secretly plotting to free her friends from her former employers' clutches. Along the way, she encounters familiar faces from the first two seasons of the series.
Featuring the show's principal voice cast, the choose-your-own-adventure style storytelling of the special feels like a natural extension of the animated series, yet it's open and accessible enough for those who have not watched it before. The espionage-tinged intrigue of Carmen's shadowy crusade against V.I.L.E. is quickly established without an overabundance of exposition, and the series' extensive cast is naturally woven into the overall story with just the right amount of introduction for both new and returning viewers.
Of course, the real highlight is the decisions themselves, with viewers given two options at multiple points over the course of the special. While there is an overarching narrative to the special, viewers' choices can change up the order of events and add new details and layers to the story. This also invites viewers to return and select the road not traveled. There are eight endings in all for viewers to experience and decisions leading to undesirable endings fortunately don't reset the entire adventure but bring back viewers to the crucial moment when they had previously chosen poorly.
The divergent paths themselves are not particularly intrusive, neither too frequent to throw off the overall flow of the special's story nor too infrequent for audiences to forget the storytelling approach and be caught off-guard. And there's enough replayability to keep returning viewers sated until the series eventually returns for a third season. At the same time, the special also serves as an introduction for those unfamiliar with the animated series and its reimagined take on the beloved children's program.
Fun, genuinely engaging and a natural continuation of Netflix's original animated series, Carmen Sandiego: To Steal Or Not To Steal is a strong example of the streaming platform producing new interactive ways for audiences of all ages to participate in its programming. The interactive special delivers on the global, action-packed premise as its eponymous cat burglar goes on a new series of heists, with a literal ticking clock to keep viewers invested in the proceedings. However, the special is also more forgiving than Black Mirror's foray into interactive storytelling, and provides plenty of room for exploration as viewers revisit the adventure for new outcomes.
Starring Gina Rodriguez and Finn Wolfhard, the first two seasons of Carmen Sandiego and Carmen San Diego: To Steal Or Not To Steal are available to stream on Netflix now.