[...] The Lifetimer is an intellectual wrongfully imprisoned due to a judicial error (something like Woody Allen with more myopia). Sensitive and altruistic, he is willing to help every unfortunate soul, even if he can't, or cares about elections, even if he doesn't vote. Next to him is Montecristo (a rat with a godfather named Alexandre Dumas and a unique "county" of the prison), who possesses enviable insouciance and all the satirical spirit of his creator.
For example, when the Lifetimer starts philosophizing about prison conditions and concludes: "Wherever you are, it's the same! There is oppression, exploitation, and injustice everywhere," the rat born inside the prison concludes: "You know, Lifetimer... For me, the prison is an entire world, while for you, the entire world is a prison!" Immediately after the impeccable rhetoric, Montecristo exclaims: "Where do I come up with this stuff!"
[...]
Arkas' humor may sometimes lean in favor of or against intellectuals, but it is not intellectual humor. Through the dichotomy of the naive and the sarcastic mind, Arkas' humor works by contrasting the world of visions with the world of conventions, highlighting the gap between betrayal and fulfillment, between high aspirations and their tangible outcomes. All of this then becomes opportunities for mockery; not because there is a lack of courage, but because there is an abundance of awareness. Awareness that the undermining of fulfillment is inherent in the very foundation of expectation. [...]
Petros Martinidis