The Tick is an off-the-wall simpleton with superpowers. Now, with the cancellation of Amazon Prime's television series, we'll never know how or why he was that way. He was a bastion of simple 'good' with the ability to pull off huge physical feats without breaking a sweat. It was a mocking but loving celebration of superheroism. Created by Ben Edlund as a quirky comic, this is The Tick's third go around as a series, and second live-action adaptation, and yet hopefully not it's last.
The musclebound blue 'bug' has always been something of a niche flavor. Once again, that has seemed to be its downfall. Despite being funny, touching, and developing plenty of story steam—especially in the second and ultimately last season—the ax has fallen. This has left plenty of hanging threads left unresolved, and we're going to ask those questions that need to be asked, ponder future's that now won't be pondered, and wrangle those aforementioned hanging threads into a nice lattice of lost lore. Spoon indeed, Chum. Sad, sad, spoon.
10 10. Where Do Overkill and DangerBoat Go From Here?
The pair we strangely know the most about, yet still want more answer-y goodness. Between Dangerboat's past as a plane and Overkill being forced to go rogue under suspicion of a crime he didn't commit, their futures are the most open.
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That said, their inherent weirdness means we desperately want to know how things shake out for the Arthur-obsessed Dangerboat and Dot-doting Overkill. Seeing as they're both potential love interests for the Everest siblings, will we see them climb to those heights? Is another twist around the corner? Will Overkill remain susceptible to hacking? Can Dangerboat find love if Arthur remains dry-docked? Is that last sentence suggestively weird enough? These are only the beginnings of unanswered conundrums to tackle!
9 9. Where Did The Tick Even Come From?
The first and eternal question revolving around the titular Tick. Did he swallow a radioactive tick or bite a flea-ridden dog? Did he walk through a teleporter with a bug on his boot? Had he, like Arthur, found a suit that changed his life? Is he an alien? Are we aliens? Is his fascination with spoons involved somehow? Were his parents a human and a tick? Should those types of scenarios even be hinted at? Is 'Ticky-style' a thing? Maybe he's an escaped pro wrestler whose costume grants wishes? His origin story, whatever weirdness it most certainly is, was hardly even touched upon in this series and now we'll never know the true truth of his tale.
8 8. The Link Between Arthur's Family And 'Categories'
Clearly, this thread was only beginning to be pulled. 'Walter' emerging as a secret badass. Dot revealing she herself is a 'category'. Arthur's life-long preoccupation with superheroes. There's something tying it all together.
You probably can't collect so many super secrets together without there being a catalyst and now that catalyst is hidden forever like so much honey in the bottom corner of its jar where no spoon can scoop. Someone needs to invent a square spoon so we can get the answers we deserve about Arthur's odd family. And hypothetical honey.
7 7. Why Is Tick An Amnesiac?
The Tick may be a monstrous powerhouse of indescribable indestructibility, but his memory has been snuffed out easily enough. Part of the big blue guys endearing manner comes from his fascination with almost everything around him, and that results from his toddler-esque collection of memories or lack thereof. Considering his impervious nature to everything physical, that leaves this aspect pretty interestingly undefined. Did he trade his memories for physical powers? Was he cursed? Are ticks the insect versions of goldfish and simply have tiny memories? Now we can't tune in to find out. Nor can we tune out to find in. All avenues of tuning remain infuriatingly inaccessible!
6 6. Who Or What Showed Up To Harsh Superian's Buzz?
Right at the end of the second series, Superian was sat on the moon wondering things that only the super godly wonder. During those ponderings, a spaceship loomed overhead with a curious symbol, and Superian seemed to know, and not like, who was coming to the party.
Such a clear cliffhanger, despite its lack of physical drop-offs nearby, deserved an explanation but we're going to once again be left holding out our hands for non-existent narrative nourishment. Whoever caused Superian distress, they're now more of a mystery than ever. Some sort of space-mystery.
5 5. What's Going On With Rathbone's Chest-Tentacle-Interdimensional Thingy?
AEGIS Commander Tyrannosaurus Rathbone, while also having the coolest name this side of Max Power, also left us scrambling for answers. Throughout the series, we saw him feeding rodents into a cavity in his chest. Then we saw tentacles coming out of that little chest-hatch-vault thingy. Then, when we thought he'd been shot dead, he was revived by some sort of Cthulhu looking beast coming out of there. Needless to say, this sequence answered questions we never thought we'd ask, but gave us only more questions we'd gladly ask if another season got greenlit. Did his 'Interchestentacle' call the Superian Buzz-Harshers? Is it a whole other thing on its own? How did Rathbone get this 'inchestation' in the first place? The mind can only become so boggled.
4 4. How Does The Tick Maintain Such A Sunny Disposition?
The Tick is a blue ball of blissfully buoyant blithesome goodwill, to the point that it raises as many questions as do his superpowers. Being so cheerfully disposed at nearly all times comes at a cost for most, but not him. The definition of 'ignorance is bliss,' The Tick is not only physically impervious, but he also seems emotionally indestructible as well.
At worst he gets into a rage of protective passion. Whether defending singing Lobstercules siblings or wrangling Arthur away from danger, The Tick kept his smile front and center. Enjoying verbiage and vocabulary on top of all his ordeals remains a defining but ironically undefined trait.
3 3. What Is Ms. Lint Going To Do With AEGIS' Tech?
Ms. Lint graduated from the first season into the second with renewed self-worth and a new schizophrenic relationship with herself to boot. By the end of this last season, she'd infiltrated the good guys and usurped their tech! Now we're never going to get to see what her end game was. Whether she stayed in her hero guise Joan Of Arc, reverted to Ms. Lint, or chose something to compliment her sidekick Edgelord, she had a wealth of superhero science on hand to continue her tale. She always seemed to work best playing off of others, and with all the loose threads in play, she'd have had plenty to rub off on. Lots of lint for Ms. Lint you could say.
2 2. There's Got To Be More To Flexon, Right?
Flexon just has one of those faces and demeanor's doesn't he? He's jovial, helpful, and seems like a good dude. And yet, he's just hanging around AEGIS headquarters for the pastry? It's hard to buy. With Steven Ogg playing him as well, there's a constant undercurrent of 'too nice to have this face' going on. Flexon's real purpose was primed to be revealed at some point and turn The Tick's world on its head. Stretchy powers only seem harmless until you extrapolate out to all the nefarious possibilities they offer, then they're terrifying! It felt like we were getting only a glimpse at a character that was planned to be much more insidiously integral going forward. We're on to you Flexon! If that is even your real name.
1 1. When Was Patrick Warburton Gonna Show?
For those who never caught it, the 2001 series starred a pitch-perfect Patrick Warburton as the titular Tick. Forever rumored to reprise the role if the series returned due to that connection, it remains a dormant alternate dimension.
Rumors ran rampant again that Warburton would find some way to join The Tick's family when the Peter Serafinowicz-helmed version kicked off. Both men filled the shoes of The Tick extremely well and it would've been awesome to see them together in some form or fashion. Perhaps Warburton would've even provided some hints to all the remaining Tickular questions mentioned above? Alas, our bread shall forever remain unbuttered in that regard.