How did Secret Level reimagine Pacman in Episode 6? Details explored

Amazon Prime Video's latest animated series, Secret Level, re-imagines the world of video games and adapts them into an anthology of 15 standalone episodes.

Apart from many games featured on the show, Pac-Man is one of the most popular and nostalgic games from everyone's childhood, featured in Episode 6.

While the game is truly iconic and was a part of every arcade game, its settings and characters are repetitive, which might not have made for a good adaptation. But Epidoe 6 proved all these fears wrong, as the makers gave the original Pac-Man game a dark twist.

The Pac-Man game involved a floating orb stuck in a maze. The player must control the orb to eat all the pellets and fruits to gain strength and escape the four ghosts chasing after him. Episode 6 reimagined this simple premise and gave it a dark twist.

**Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Secret Level Episode 6. Reader discretion is advised.**

Secret Level reimagined Pac-Man by giving a dark twist

While the episode leads viewers to think that the humanoid is Pac-man and the orb is his pellet, the character's identity is revealed as reverse in the end. When the Man is immediately defatted by the Red Ghost, the floating orb reveals that she is the real Pac-man and opens her mouth to resemble the iconic pie-like shape.

She digs her way back into the man's back and defeats the red ghost, betraying and using him to defeat her enemies. But even after this betrayal, Pac-Man cannot leave the maze, as the Man disables it.

After being betrayed by the floating orb, the Man disables her power, unlocking the exit from the labyrinth and ensuring that the Pac-Man is trapped inside the maze forever.

His final line to the Pac-Man is "You are the one trapped," and is the poetic justice for her betrayal towards the Man and other characters in Secret Level.

Even when Pac-Man defeats the red ghost by betraying the Man, she is forever locked in that labyrinth and forced to confront her existential dread.

She repeats "There is strength in repetition" while striking against the exit, aware that she is forever trapped inside, waiting to be eaten by the ghosts and ghouls.

Every Pac-Man reference in Secret Level

While Secret Level Episode 6 delivered a dark twist to the original Pac-Man game, it was still filled with many references to the nostalgic game of everyone's childhood.

Everyone must remember the iconic red cherries from the game; the humanoid Man finds those red cherries in the jungle at the beginning of the episode. Later, the sword that leads him to the floating orb has the shape of Pac-Man embedded in the hilt.

The purple ghost and the red ghost Blinky are also elements of the original game. In addition, the premise of the game, the humanoid Man eating as much as he wants to gain strength, is a nod to the original game. It also involved players controlling the orb and making him eat as many ghosts, fruit, and pellets as possible to gain strength.

Secret Level Episodes 9-15 will be available on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, 2024.