Infinity Only Lasts 40 Episodes

One of the advantages of television moving beyond cable (and well beyond "the Big Three" networks) is that there's supposed to now be a place out there where every piece of entertainment can live with its tiny niche audience. The problem with that theory is that there's so much out there that it's impossible for the perfect audience to find the niche. So it went with the animated series Infinity Train.

Infinity Train takes place on a magical train of unlimited size, chugging along endlessly through a wasteland landscape. Passengers aboard the train move from car to car, each car itself an impossible space with fantastical wonders. Each of the four seasons focuses on a new story line aboard the train, sometimes with tendrils that connect to the next season. In just ten 12-minute episodes, each season depicts a complete and fulfilling story arc, a sort of two-hour movie in this incredibly imaginative universe.

The first two seasons of the series ran on Cartoon Network, before then transferring to HBO and becoming an "HBO Max Original" for its next two seasons. Creator Owen Dennis reportedly planned for eight seasons in all (because an "8" is like an infinity symbol)... but the show went criminally underwatched, and has now been unceremoniously cancelled.

I have to admit -- I get it. I had never heard of Infinity Train, nor do I have any idea how I ever would have had my husband not somehow stumbled upon it. And when he told me about it, and repeatedly urged me to watch it, I resisted the notion many times. It looked fluffy and slight and "kiddie." When I finally gave in, it took until episode 3 or so for me to go with the flow and realize I was starting to like it. Really like it. (Not that three 12-minute episodes really required me to "hang in there" for that long.)

I might say that each of the four seasons is slightly less good than the one before, were I forced to rank them. But it's starting at a very high level and finishing at a still very high level. What was clear by the time all was said and done: the show doesn't seem "kiddie" to me at all. You could watch Infinity Train with your kids, but be prepared for the possibility of big talks about life and death, good and evil, oppression and resistance... really deep stuff. This is far more like the Pixar masterpiece you're allowed to like on your own, not the garbage movie you take your kid to and sit by miserably as they stuff their face with popcorn.

And the cast! As I said, different seasons have different focuses, so cast members do come and go. But over the course of the show, there are characters voiced by Lena Headey, Kate Mulgrew, Bradley Whitford, Margo Martindale, J.K. Simmons, Ben Mendelsohn, Margaret Cho, Ernie Hudson, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Rhys Darby, Wayne Knight, Laraine Newman, Matthew Rhys, Alfred Molina, Donald Faison, and many, many, many more. Fun, memorable, distinct characters. It feels like all these people had figured out how great Infinity Train was, and were happy to drop into a recording booth for anything just to be a part of it.

As I said, each season of the show tells its own self-contained story, so even if Infinity Train was cut down too soon -- too niche, too quirky, too unknown for this world -- you can still be fully satisfied watching as much of it as we did get. Overall, I'd give the series an A-. Odds are it's the Best Thing You're Not Watching on HBO Max.