DR. BELCH
12-01-2001, 04:23 PM
POK-JLC:
*#422: "The Apple Corp!"
This episode is basically a retread of an earlier plot from the Orange league eps about a grapefruit-eating Snorlax, except with apples. At least the owner of the orchard doesn't come out psychotically swinging with a bat like that Ruby girl. But like Ruby, Brock goes gaga for her, I think even coming out with a horrendous "apple of my eye" pun before Misty fittingly hauls him off by the ear.
Ash shows some aptitude for forensics, determining that the bite marks on the apples are too small to have been made by Pikachu, though Brock and Misty are pretty hasty to condemn him on the circumstantial evidence of a pile of gnawed apple cores.
The culprits are Pichu, the juvenile form of Pikachu, who--hilariously I thought--can't control their charge and tend to shock themselves when scared or excited (sort of like a puppy who can't control its bladder yet).
Team Rocket, starving, try to share an apple, but a Pichu eats it out of Meowth's hand when he isn't looking, and gets him hollered at by Jessy. "I'm a cat Pokemon, not a hog Pokemon!" the Scratch-Cat protests.
Team Rocket tries to steal the apples and the Pichu, but they combine their individual attacks to send the Rockets blasting off again. The owner of the apple grove is so grateful and impressed she puts the former little thieves in charge of guarding the crop.
I'm tempted, considering the apples in this story, to make an allusion to the Fall of Man. But it seems my "Eve" (Jessy) provides her own serpent.... :rolleyes:
*#423: "Howl of the Houndoom" ("Houndoom's Special Delivery")
In this one we see the evolved form of Hondour, the Doberman pokemon, which looks like a dog with ram's horns. It also focuses a lot on Togepi, and between that and not much of Jessy and James I have a feeling the Pokemopolisters are going to crucify this ep .
After Togepi teleports itself with its metronome into a tree and gets lost in the woods while Team Twerp is battling Team Rocket and Weezing blows a smokescreen, Togepi is rescued by a Houndoom that they had spotted earlier, carrying a leather pouch on its side. For much of the episode the Houndoom protects and mothers its "baby", even taking the brunt of a Venusaur's stun attack (I could almost hear the Buttons and Mindy music in the background) and sheltering it during a sudden and inexplicable rainstorm. Which shows that although they do look fearsome, Houndooms are really very gentle beasts.
Misty, Brock and Ash follow Togepi's tracks, noting it was with a bigger Pokemon and went pretty far, from the woods to the river to a field populated by bugs and plant Pokemon.
They eventually catch up with Houndoom, with Togepi asleep on its back (none the worse for the wear after its ordeal) , at a Mareep ranch, where it was delivering a set of clippers to its master. Team Rocket, who had been having trouble with their balloon between blasting off again and a leaking patch that put them right in the line of Gyrados fire, shows up and tries to grab the Houndoom, but a shock and a fire attack put a fast end to that. "We give up!" cry the Rockets as they vanish over the horizon.
They may make mistakes, folks, but the Rockets do have one thing going for them: three cups of tea from one teabag!
Note in the end Togepi wants to stay with its "mother", but Houndoom won't have it, growling at its "whelp" viciously. Rather like a mother dog come weaning time, it's very forceful and authoritative, prompting a clean and less painful break. (Though the Pokemopolisters are going to ask why Misty didn't just ditch the little egg-brat when she had the chance.)
JCA#223: The Return of the Pussycat"
I'm confounded on where in the series continuity this one comes in. Jade makes references to taking the talisman from Section 13, although I thought they were property of the Chans after Black was reassigned. Also, Tohru is absent, so this may be before he left the Dark Hand...but not long before, since the final talisman, the tiger, is used.
Anyway, Jackie palns to go to Old San Francisco to study the ruins of the city lost in the 1906 earthquake, which have been uncovered by some crustal shifts. Jade wants him to go see her in the grade-school production of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". But Jackie's work is important. "I can't be in two places at once," he insists.
This inspires jade to use the tiger talisman to split Jackie in two--Tiger Jackie and Pussyat Jackie. While P.J. explores the ruins with Uncle, T.J. behaves boorishly and even grabs the stage at Jade's play.
Pussycat Jackie unwittingly releases Springheel Jack, an absurd bouncing demon with a thirst for blood and a penchant for speaking in rhyming couplets. Seems a powerful family named Magus trapped him nearly 100 years ago and he's looking to eat their decentdants.
Tiger Jackie almost joins forces with the demon, saying how he feels trapped being forced to share a body with his doppelganger, but changes his mind after the demon's obsession to kill gets to be too much for him.
Turns out Jade's costar has Magus blood in her, and Springheel intends to show he rthe old family legend is true after all. Jade uses the talisman to split Springheel in two, and his good half reveals the demon's weakness: salt. Uncle conveniently has a shaker with him (he must be the sort who brings his own food to restaurants too). The demon is vanquished, and suddenly everyone starts speaking in rhymes. Jackie also learns that when the kid has something going on at school and wants you to go, go.
XMEN#22: "Joyride"
Note there was also a fairly mediocre episode of Batman Beyond with the same name.
Lance (Avalanche) mysteriously appears at the mansion one night and announces his intent to leave the Brotherhood and become an X-Man. The others, especially Scott, are notably adamant about it, but Charles (noting Kitty's feelings and playing on the old "love redeems even the worst scoundrel" theory) consents.
While Lance stumbles his way through training, various vehicles on the estate turn up overnight in bad shape--first Scott's car and then the X-Van. Lance, being the new boy and the black sheep, is blamed...but it's actually the junior mutants (Bobby "Iceman" Drake, a boy who can generate multiple copies of himself, a girl who appears to be a Jubilee functionary, and one other forgettable kid) who are cruising late at night and trashing everything in sight. Presumaby the newspapers didn't report the damage they caused, nor did the state troppers ahppen to pull them over. Imagine explainingaway that ticket--"Son, do you realize your missile launcher blew up a telephone pole 'bout half a mile back and blacked out service to a quarter of New York City?")
When the kids (minus Multiple Boy, who is a crowd unto himself) steal the X-Jet, Lance and Kitty have to chase them down. Unfortunately their too late; they run afoul of some jet jockeys and (thanks to Lance's incompetance) make themselves seem hostile. Then when Jubilee-girl pafs the controls, they almost crash and die (although are saved by Bobby's admittedly impressive ice luge and Kity's phasing the whole jet through a mountain).
The X-Jet is trashed, the jet jockeys decide (luckily) not to report this to their bosses, and Lance is willing to take the blame, but the newbies fess up and are put on probation (good news for Kurt, who is working off his own after the Boom-Boom incident). Lance decides to go back to the Brotherhood...which is decidedly not a good message for kids, telling them if it's too hard, quit and be happy to live in the gutter. Besides, with Boom-Boom around and his idiot buddies razzing him for going legit I would think that would be the last place Lance'd want to be. I suppose giving the team a second chance or at least going straight on his own/forming his own group didn't occur to the writers.
Watch for the bit with Kitty phasing through a table and Lance seeing her "severed" head in a plate. Freaky. Might make a great avvy, actually....
I suppose the query is, will Kitty and Lance be doomed forever to be stuck on opposite sides, like a mutant version of Romeo and Juliet?
Watched The Nightmare Room ("Four-Eyes") again today, because it was about a pair of glasses that causes a boy to see his classmates as demons who have been possessed by aliens. It struck me because I had written a story about cursed glasses some months ago, and there's no man more paranoid than a writer. I found myself thinking, You know, if R.L. Stine is stealing from me, can he at least write a story that doesn't suck? ;)
BTW, is that James Avery doing the opening narration? Why's a big talent like him anyplace near this turkey?
*#422: "The Apple Corp!"
This episode is basically a retread of an earlier plot from the Orange league eps about a grapefruit-eating Snorlax, except with apples. At least the owner of the orchard doesn't come out psychotically swinging with a bat like that Ruby girl. But like Ruby, Brock goes gaga for her, I think even coming out with a horrendous "apple of my eye" pun before Misty fittingly hauls him off by the ear.
Ash shows some aptitude for forensics, determining that the bite marks on the apples are too small to have been made by Pikachu, though Brock and Misty are pretty hasty to condemn him on the circumstantial evidence of a pile of gnawed apple cores.
The culprits are Pichu, the juvenile form of Pikachu, who--hilariously I thought--can't control their charge and tend to shock themselves when scared or excited (sort of like a puppy who can't control its bladder yet).
Team Rocket, starving, try to share an apple, but a Pichu eats it out of Meowth's hand when he isn't looking, and gets him hollered at by Jessy. "I'm a cat Pokemon, not a hog Pokemon!" the Scratch-Cat protests.
Team Rocket tries to steal the apples and the Pichu, but they combine their individual attacks to send the Rockets blasting off again. The owner of the apple grove is so grateful and impressed she puts the former little thieves in charge of guarding the crop.
I'm tempted, considering the apples in this story, to make an allusion to the Fall of Man. But it seems my "Eve" (Jessy) provides her own serpent.... :rolleyes:
*#423: "Howl of the Houndoom" ("Houndoom's Special Delivery")
In this one we see the evolved form of Hondour, the Doberman pokemon, which looks like a dog with ram's horns. It also focuses a lot on Togepi, and between that and not much of Jessy and James I have a feeling the Pokemopolisters are going to crucify this ep .
After Togepi teleports itself with its metronome into a tree and gets lost in the woods while Team Twerp is battling Team Rocket and Weezing blows a smokescreen, Togepi is rescued by a Houndoom that they had spotted earlier, carrying a leather pouch on its side. For much of the episode the Houndoom protects and mothers its "baby", even taking the brunt of a Venusaur's stun attack (I could almost hear the Buttons and Mindy music in the background) and sheltering it during a sudden and inexplicable rainstorm. Which shows that although they do look fearsome, Houndooms are really very gentle beasts.
Misty, Brock and Ash follow Togepi's tracks, noting it was with a bigger Pokemon and went pretty far, from the woods to the river to a field populated by bugs and plant Pokemon.
They eventually catch up with Houndoom, with Togepi asleep on its back (none the worse for the wear after its ordeal) , at a Mareep ranch, where it was delivering a set of clippers to its master. Team Rocket, who had been having trouble with their balloon between blasting off again and a leaking patch that put them right in the line of Gyrados fire, shows up and tries to grab the Houndoom, but a shock and a fire attack put a fast end to that. "We give up!" cry the Rockets as they vanish over the horizon.
They may make mistakes, folks, but the Rockets do have one thing going for them: three cups of tea from one teabag!
Note in the end Togepi wants to stay with its "mother", but Houndoom won't have it, growling at its "whelp" viciously. Rather like a mother dog come weaning time, it's very forceful and authoritative, prompting a clean and less painful break. (Though the Pokemopolisters are going to ask why Misty didn't just ditch the little egg-brat when she had the chance.)
JCA#223: The Return of the Pussycat"
I'm confounded on where in the series continuity this one comes in. Jade makes references to taking the talisman from Section 13, although I thought they were property of the Chans after Black was reassigned. Also, Tohru is absent, so this may be before he left the Dark Hand...but not long before, since the final talisman, the tiger, is used.
Anyway, Jackie palns to go to Old San Francisco to study the ruins of the city lost in the 1906 earthquake, which have been uncovered by some crustal shifts. Jade wants him to go see her in the grade-school production of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". But Jackie's work is important. "I can't be in two places at once," he insists.
This inspires jade to use the tiger talisman to split Jackie in two--Tiger Jackie and Pussyat Jackie. While P.J. explores the ruins with Uncle, T.J. behaves boorishly and even grabs the stage at Jade's play.
Pussycat Jackie unwittingly releases Springheel Jack, an absurd bouncing demon with a thirst for blood and a penchant for speaking in rhyming couplets. Seems a powerful family named Magus trapped him nearly 100 years ago and he's looking to eat their decentdants.
Tiger Jackie almost joins forces with the demon, saying how he feels trapped being forced to share a body with his doppelganger, but changes his mind after the demon's obsession to kill gets to be too much for him.
Turns out Jade's costar has Magus blood in her, and Springheel intends to show he rthe old family legend is true after all. Jade uses the talisman to split Springheel in two, and his good half reveals the demon's weakness: salt. Uncle conveniently has a shaker with him (he must be the sort who brings his own food to restaurants too). The demon is vanquished, and suddenly everyone starts speaking in rhymes. Jackie also learns that when the kid has something going on at school and wants you to go, go.
XMEN#22: "Joyride"
Note there was also a fairly mediocre episode of Batman Beyond with the same name.
Lance (Avalanche) mysteriously appears at the mansion one night and announces his intent to leave the Brotherhood and become an X-Man. The others, especially Scott, are notably adamant about it, but Charles (noting Kitty's feelings and playing on the old "love redeems even the worst scoundrel" theory) consents.
While Lance stumbles his way through training, various vehicles on the estate turn up overnight in bad shape--first Scott's car and then the X-Van. Lance, being the new boy and the black sheep, is blamed...but it's actually the junior mutants (Bobby "Iceman" Drake, a boy who can generate multiple copies of himself, a girl who appears to be a Jubilee functionary, and one other forgettable kid) who are cruising late at night and trashing everything in sight. Presumaby the newspapers didn't report the damage they caused, nor did the state troppers ahppen to pull them over. Imagine explainingaway that ticket--"Son, do you realize your missile launcher blew up a telephone pole 'bout half a mile back and blacked out service to a quarter of New York City?")
When the kids (minus Multiple Boy, who is a crowd unto himself) steal the X-Jet, Lance and Kitty have to chase them down. Unfortunately their too late; they run afoul of some jet jockeys and (thanks to Lance's incompetance) make themselves seem hostile. Then when Jubilee-girl pafs the controls, they almost crash and die (although are saved by Bobby's admittedly impressive ice luge and Kity's phasing the whole jet through a mountain).
The X-Jet is trashed, the jet jockeys decide (luckily) not to report this to their bosses, and Lance is willing to take the blame, but the newbies fess up and are put on probation (good news for Kurt, who is working off his own after the Boom-Boom incident). Lance decides to go back to the Brotherhood...which is decidedly not a good message for kids, telling them if it's too hard, quit and be happy to live in the gutter. Besides, with Boom-Boom around and his idiot buddies razzing him for going legit I would think that would be the last place Lance'd want to be. I suppose giving the team a second chance or at least going straight on his own/forming his own group didn't occur to the writers.
Watch for the bit with Kitty phasing through a table and Lance seeing her "severed" head in a plate. Freaky. Might make a great avvy, actually....
I suppose the query is, will Kitty and Lance be doomed forever to be stuck on opposite sides, like a mutant version of Romeo and Juliet?
Watched The Nightmare Room ("Four-Eyes") again today, because it was about a pair of glasses that causes a boy to see his classmates as demons who have been possessed by aliens. It struck me because I had written a story about cursed glasses some months ago, and there's no man more paranoid than a writer. I found myself thinking, You know, if R.L. Stine is stealing from me, can he at least write a story that doesn't suck? ;)
BTW, is that James Avery doing the opening narration? Why's a big talent like him anyplace near this turkey?