Hiromi Takes on a Villainous Role in Latest "Hamster & Gretel" on Disney Channel

Things are getting really good on Hamster & Gretel as Hiromi finds a way to figure out everything she wants to know about Super Guy, Hamster, and Gretel before the return of a supervillain who also wants to expose everything he knows about Super Guy, Hamster, and Gretel.

Miss Direct

Picking up pretty much where we left off from last week, we see Hiromi making all the connections between Hamster and Gretel and Super Guy together, all while talking with journalism teacher Ms. Knight about the whole situation. This is a big story, and Ms. Knight insists that she needs to be more investigative in her journalism and promises that if she gets the identities of these heroes, she will give her a journalism scholarship.

The amount of times in which “journalism" is said not just by Hiromi in general, but in these last two minutes could easily be a drinking game ... drinking apple juice, of course.

Ms. Knight, who seems to be taking on a more villainous demeanor than before, has concocted a scheme in which Hiromi becomes a fake-supervillain, that way she can get Hamster and Gretel’s attention and retain it to get some information. Cue the musical montage of Hiromi becoming “Miss Direct" and spraypainting a logo everywhere to get the attention of our heroes.

Kevin, unaware of this plan, knows that Hiromi is out to reveal who they all are and is back with Hamster, Fred, and Gretel thinking that he might as well just tell Hiromi everything. He feels that they can trust her and that she will keep their secret. Not realizing the gravitas of the situation of what could happen should their identities get revealed.

Finally, the graffiti and symbols placed by Miss Direct have got the attention of Hamster and Gretel, which summons them to an old warehouse. Once they are locked in, it’s time for an interview. Too bad the warehouse is apparently swelteringly hot, otherwise this experience might not be so awful.

Kevin, still pondering telling Hiromi everything, runs into a loose tiger and Lauren, the Destructress. Devotees may recall that Kevin knows everything about this supervillain turned good, and may or may not still have a bit of a crush on her. (We were rooting for this to happen/"shipping" this but thus far, the writers were not. More on that in a bit.) While they are talking, Lauren says some things that makes Kevin realize that he needs to worry about the safety of his sister and family over whatever he may want.

Back at the warehouse, Miss Direct/Hiromi is drilling Hamster and Gretel with questions, but their answers (that the audiences know are true) are so outlandish that Hiromi doesn’t believe them. Between her frustration and a mouse that has made its way into the room that Hiromi was asking questions from, Hamster and Gretel start to suspect something is up. The mouse climbs on Hiromi, causing her to remove her villain costume, when the heroes come in and discover it was her this whole time. Gretel insists that she will never get her interview and completely distrusts Hiromi now.

For some reason, Ms. Knight is outside of the warehouse and asks how the interview went. Not well, as we saw. However, that warehouse was hot for a reason. At the instruction of Ms. Knight, Hiromi gave the heroes water bottles at their interview table. Taking these back to the classroom, she swabs them and runs them through a DNA testing machine that the school has for some reason. Now, in just a few moments they’ll run it against the town’s database and they’ll have an identity for Gretel.

Ms. Knight steps away and Hiromi leans back against the board, accidentally revealing that it is a front, and behind it are a number of very lifelike masks of some of the town’s residents, including Fred. Wondering why these are there, she puts the Fred mask on just as Kevin comes by. Mistaking Hiromi for his cousin, he then spills everything about how he’s decided not to tell Hiromi that he was Super Guy and his sister and her pet are Hamster and Gretel, and that he still has a huge crush on Hiromi (But Lauren!). After rapidly explaining all of this, Kevin realizes that Fred for whatever reason is wearing different clothes and speaks differently. That’s when Hiromi reveals herself, and the DNA results are in. This sure would be an awful place to end the story.

Trading Faces

Fortunately, the second half of the episode picks up immediately. Not TECHNICALLY a two-parter, it’s basically a two-parter. While Hiromi is stunned that Kevin has been keeping things from her (why, though?), and Kevin is shocked that Hiromi has Gretel’s DNA somehow, Ms. Knight returns to the classroom. Kevin runs away, knowing that Hiromi knows everything now and has to warn his sister.

Ms. Knight then reveals herself to be The Imposter, who has been spending months (and most of this season really) trying to learn the identities of the heroes that have constantly defeated him. Now that he knows, he plans to expose their secret on the 3:00 news. Because everybody watches the 3:00 news. As Hiromi runs to warn Kevin, The Imposter takes her away, and reveals a complicated plan (with The Dark Knight vibes) that sees dummy versions of Hiromi scattered throughout town and in danger. That way, Hamster and Gretel must save each of them and spend that time doing that instead of stopping The Imposter. Here’s the thing, each of these is a fake. Fred, Hamster, Gretel, and Bailey are racing to find the real Hiromi, but they’re all frauds. One of these was located in a department store, crashing into a shelf of industrial strength molasses, trapping everyone. Super powers are apparently no match for industrial strength molasses. Who knew?

While this is happening, Kevin is racing to the TV studio. There, he thinks he spots the real Hiromi, but it’s another of The Imposter’s disguises on Veronica Hill. In fact, the Imposter is actually a disguise covering the real Hiromi. Finally, everything is straightened out and we can move on with defeating the hero.

Oh wait, we can’t. The Imposter has trapped Hiromi and Kevin in a cage, leaving them to helplessly watch the DNA results be revealed live on air. Quite the showman, The Imposter looks at the camera and reveals HIS true identity. Wait, what?

Turns out, in a complex and off-camera series of moments earlier, thanks to all of Hiromi’s investigative journalism skills, she was able to figure out who The Imposter really was and at the right time, was able to switch the results. With everyone watching, now the police know who to arrest and The Imposter is quickly apprehended.

Afterward, Gretel remains skeptical of Hiromi as she promises to keep everything a secret. Kevin however, is relieved. Now he doesn’t have to keep running around and hiding things from her, and it seems that Hiromi and Kevin are going to share a nice romantic moment, but that’s when Mordros the Annihilator finally arrives after being teased all season, saying that he is there to destroy everyone.  

Now, THAT’S a horrible place to end an episode.

This episode of Hamster & Gretel is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW website. You can also catch up with earlier episodes streaming now on Disney+.