YMMV / The Secret Saturdays

• Alternative Character Interpretation: There are a couple of these, owing to how little time Season 2 had to explore the characters, and the show's experimentation with Grey-and-Gray Morality.
  • Is Kur Sealed Evil in a Can or is its evil legacy simply a case of Written by the Winners? Several fans like to run with the idea that Kur may not have been as evil as the characters would like to believe. To begin with, Kur at first is introduced more like a weapon or power source, with the switch to calling Kur itself evil being a change in later episodes. Largely, the audience is merely told that Kur is evil, with offhand mentions of its history "destroying civilizations" without further evidence. The most major evidence that Kur is inherently evil is the talking Lemurian head that calls it such, but it's hardly an unbiased source.
  • Is Arthur Beeman a Knight Templar who went too far in his pursuit of the greater good, or was the extremist right? This applies to the other Secret Scientists, but to Beeman most of all, as he's the most cavalier about their plan.
  • For that matter, are the Saturdays needlessly putting the world in danger over shortsighted protectiveness, thus making them Villain Protagonists at worst? Especially since Word of God confirmed that losing his powers was the only way for Zak to stay firmly on the side of good...
• Cliché Storm: Being one big homage to Jonny Quest-like cartoons, the show comes front-loaded with a lot of the standard tropes of the genre. However, the writers are very self-aware, and there's enough new stuff to keep the series interesting.
• Complete Monster:
  • Vincent Vladislav ("V.V.") Argost is the Arch-Enemy of the Saturday family and the eerie host of "Weird World" whose lust for power is only matched by his charismatic flair for the theatrical. A Himalayan Yeti who years ago spent his days hunting and attacking travelers in the mountains, taking trophies from his kills and claiming the lives of Drew and Doyle's parents during this time, Argost eventually disguised himself as a human so as to better hunt down the legend of Kur. Argost would go on to steal the Kur Stone from the Secret Scientists in a fight that left 43 of his enemies dead, and years later concocted a series of schemes to further bring him clues to Kur, from killing the king of Kumari Kandam and spurring the civilization towards war to assisting the Naga in their murderous plans. Eventually draining the power of Kur from Zak Saturday's doppelganger Zak Monday at the cost of the boy's life, Argost hoped to first conquer, then kill, all of humanity, and nearly murdered Zak Saturday in the exact same way as Monday in an attempt to achieve his goal of subjugation and extermination of all humankind as his grandest "show" yet performed.
  • Rani Nagi is the Queen of the snake race known as the Naga, and is obsessed with the utter extinction of all humanity. At first allied with V.V. Argost in a search for Kur, Rani Nagi strikes out on her own and causes earthquakes worldwide, threatening to destroy the entire planet's surface and all life on it. Upon discovering Zak Saturday is the current incarnation of Kur, Rani Nagi tries to force the boy to be their God of Evil by attempting to slaughter his family then lead a massacre of humankind. When Zak consistently resists her corruption, Rani Nagi turns back to Argost and convinces him to use his newfound Kur abilities to wipe out the human race, with Rani Nagi later murdering Leonidas Van Rook for standing in her way.
  • In the Beasts of the 5th Sun video game, Vincent Vladislav ("V.V.") Argost is as vile as his canon counterpart. Argost discovered an ancient Aztec prophecy that the world has already burned through four suns and the current one will be the last if eight beasts are united. Argost decides to take advantage of this by capturing all 8 beasts so he can trigger the end of the world by destroying the sun and rule over whatever is left. Argost captures each of the 8 beasts one by one, at one point using parasites to brainwash his minions into attacking the heroes. Even after his defeat, he states that tomorrow is another apocalypse.
• Creator Worship: Creator Jay Stephens received some when the show was originally on the air, as he was an active member of the Toonzone forums. His influence has dwindled along with the show's fanbase, but his comments on Instagram are still taken as Word of God.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Doyle. It's generally agreed that his addition to the team was a welcome improvement to the show.
  • Francis. Has two episodes, but has some of the most fan-content dedicated to him. His position as Zak's Foil, his accent, and the slick designs of his "people" contributed heavily to this.
• Evil Is Cool: V.V. Argost is a theatrical mastermind who oozes suave and plays the other characters for fools. He's stylish, charismatic, and intelligent and constantly keeps the heroes on their toes.
• Genius Bonus: The Secret Saturdays is a show that's really shown its work. Every now and again, they drop in a joke to show it off.
  • Drew asks if she's ever done anything rash or irresponsible, and Doc responds that he keeps an alphabetized list.
    Doc: Do you want me to start with the Algerian sea centipede, or the Zoroastrian pit of darkness?
  • Doyle tells a story about skydiving after a falling crate, and Doc mocks it for its scientific inaccuracy, since there's no way Doyle should have been able to keep up with it.
    Doc: Let me get this straight. You caught up with the crate after it reached terminal velocity? Was this before or after the laws of physics stopped working?
  • Van Rook complains about something costing 1200 Armenian drams being a ripoff. 1200 Armenian drams is 2.50 USD.
• Growing the Beard: The show, already good, improved when Doyle joined the team. Season 2 took this up to eleven with the reveal that Zak was Kur, and the way that it completely changed the cast dynamics.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The Mondays originated from the black mirror of Tezcatilpoca, come Victor and Valentino we actually have Tezcatilpoca HIMSELF as a main villain.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Most people who watched the show only did so just for Drew.
• LGBT Fanbase: Doyle is loved by LGBT fans, and Jay Stephens has stated on Instagram that any of the characters aside from Doc and Drew could potentially be LGBT - "open-ended and open-minded."
• Magnificent Bastard: Vincent Vladislav ("V.V.") Argost is a well-spoken, charming television show host who uses his status to mask his brilliant schemes in obtaining the power of Kur. Working with his loyal servant Munya, Argost concocts a variety of plans to steal the Kur Stone over the course of 11 years until he succeeds in totally outwitting the Secret Scientists organization, then duels consistently with the Saturday family to track down clues to Kur. Argost will fake defeat to throw his enemies off, manipulate entire civilizations into serving his goals, and uses Cryptid techniques to outpace opponents physically as well as mentally. Revealed to have once been a Himalayan Yeti that repurposed himself to integrate into humanity, Argost eventually convinces Zak Saturday himself into becoming his pupil, encouraging the boy to develop his powers of Kur, then betrays and successfully drains both Zak and his doppelganger's Kur energy to become master of all Cryptids, coming seconds away from completing his goal of destroying humanity and ruling the world.
• Memetic Mutation: The exchange "When have I done anything rash or irresponsible?" "I keep a list. It’s alphabetized," has become such a popular Incorrect Quotes meme on tumblr that many use it without knowing anything about the show it originated from. In fact, half the posts on the Secret Saturdays tag are from other fandoms using the meme.
  • Same with "It's over. We won." Beat. "No. We won. I'm not turning around and looking at it. We won."
• Moral Event Horizon: Although Argost initially seemed like a charming TV show host, the first real instance of crossing the line may be when he tries to force-feed acid to Zon in the first episode. It's revealed he crossed this line much, much earlier, when he was killing hikers for sport and taking trophies as a yeti living in the Himalayas.
• Questionable Casting: The recasting of the Saturdays for Ben 10: Omniverse, with Bumper Robinson and Vanessa Marshall replacing Phil Morris and Nicole Sullivan as Doc and Drew, respectively. Ogie Banks replacing Sam Lerner as Zak was better received, however.
• So Okay, It's Average: While the show has its fans, the general consensus is that it's not much more than this. While the dialogue and writing have garnered high praise, the show has still been criticized for having animation that is often too ambitious for the budget, and how the show's pacing goes from slow burn in the first season to incredibly rushed in final half of the second. Being Screwed by the Network and premiering during the height of CN's Audience-Alienating Era didn't help.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The fans were not pleased with the cast redesigns in the Ben 10: Omniverse Crossover episode "T.G.I.S.", or the fact that only one of the original voice actors returned.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Season 2 takes place six months after the reveal that Zak is Kur, and at some point during that time the other Secret Scientists came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with this revelation would be to cryogenically freeze him indefinitely, putting the Saturdays on the run. This must have caused a lot of inner turmoil and conflict. However, Season 2 begins In Medias Res with the protagonists already adjusted to their new circumstances, and despite the clear potential for interesting and unique Character Development, we never see or hear about what happened during those six months.
  • What exactly is Kur? Although the characters mention that Kur has many stories about how evil and destructive it was, the audience never gets to hear them. This was understandable in the first season when Kur was simply just a force to find and stop, but many fans felt like it was wasted potential once Zak was revealed to be Kur.
• Toy Ship: Zak and Wadi.

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