Carmen Sandiego Is All About Education

Including the political and moral kind.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Jakarta, Indonesia?

Mumbai, India?

San Francisco, USA?

The eponymous character based-off the educational video game series is about a thief gallivanting across the world to steal priceless, historical artifacts. Along the way, we learn about geography, history, and spelling! Where in the video game series Carmen was the villain the player character had to stop, in the show, she is recast as a hero figure that steals from another more evil organization called V.I.L.E. (Villain’s International League of Evil) in order to protect the artifacts from being sold off to fund the organizations more malicious goals. This makes her a Robin-esque figure; if Robin Hood wore fashionable black boots and a stunning red coat.

While the educational roots of the game are still in the show (I know so many facts about Durians now), the series places an equal emphasis on moral and political education. Carmen Sandiego exists in the shadows, and the evils of the world, the show argues, do as well.

Even if the writing is sometimes clunky, the show demonstrates how evil really works in the real world. It’s not a villain building a bomb or some other such doomsday nonsense…