Last Sat's Static Shock

[Crazy8s]

I'd heard alot about this episode, but I didn't find it nearly as well done as 'Sons of the Fathers'. There was no reference to what happened to Virgil's Mom, and the bang baby of the week was too much of a copy of the Incredible Hulk. I did like the church scene at the end--nice to see this important part of black culture shown. Interesting to see Daisy's Mom, tho she was a bit too contrasting to Daisy for me, personality-wise.

[James Harvey]

Yea, the Bang Baby subplot was kinda weak, but I enjoyed the Virgil part. Plus, for the first time in about 3 yearts, Kids'WB! didn't split-screen the end credits for the show, and it worked. I did enjoy the episode, although it would've been nice if it focused more on Virgil abit.

[DR. BELCH]

I'll just splice a portion of my review over from the other board:

This one was a very touching episode, actually. In it we see Virgil come to terms with his mother's passing; the whole story is told in flashbacks as he sits at her grave and talks to her headstone. Virgil, Richie, and Daisy spend the day at an amusement park, where a disaster breaks loose after a technician hits the wrong switch on a park tram and sends it careening towards the dead end on a stretch of unfinished track. Static has to go into action to save the passengers. Unfortunately, a well-meaning comment by a grateful lady about how his mother must be proud hits him like a kick in the cojones and send him into a deep sulk.
Virgil returns home to find his dad and sister watching some old home movies. They're making a compilation tape for her memorial service (which is held several months after her passing, though it isn't explained why)...but Virgil, when asked if he wants to be a part of it, reacts badly.
Static then has to clean up another disaster involving a Bang Baby who looks like the Infragable Krunk (stop laughing), who is trashing a local fancy restaurant. The more he throws at the big fellow the angrier and stronger he gets, and Static is forced to retreat.
I realized right away who the monster was--a geeky kid whose father has driven him to stringent perfectionism and success at any cost (the same condition that Terminal suffered on Batman Beyond)...I mean how many people in a city could wear the same lame-donkey haircut? Tommy gets upset over a point under a perfect score on an exam. The monster shows up again at school a short time after, attacking the teacher who graded the paper. Again, Static can't defeat the adolescent Hulk.
While Virgil struggles with his grief and screams at Sharon for suggesting he give his mom's eulogy, we see Tommy go Bruce Banner after a harsh study session with his old man. It seems he has no memory, though, of his morphs, even though the beast targets whoever Tommy is angry at...and, in this case, it's Virgil and Richie, who pay him a visit and heap more stress on him on top of what his dad's done.
Virgil is inspired by the old Hawkins home movies, where he sees himself as a baby pitch a hissy and his mother's nonviolent way of handling it. He both figures out how to handle Tantrum--just get him alone and let his fit play out--and feels psychologically well enough to speak at his mother's service. Tommy gets psychiatric help for his problems, and Virgil can finally bury his own inner demons.
I have to say this: Mrs. Hawkins was a beautiful woman...inside and out.
DYN Richie's father at the service? It seems he's gotten a handle on his own problems with bigotry.
Unfortuantely the pathos of "Tantrum" was marred by the insipid "Static Shaq" bumpers. Is Shaq desperate for money or something? I don't know how much a basketball player takes home once you deduct taxes, social security, legal fees, and paternity suits ( ), but someone has to be really hard up to be willing to lend his name to this chozzerai. I know nada about basketball and I'm sure O'Neill is a fine athelete...but the man is very wooden as an actor. I've baked meatloaves that were more versatile.

[Inque]

i'm just a little offended because they were going on a stereotype on most asians, he was korean and not all koreans are like that

[James Harvey]

I didn't find it offenseive, but I guess I was just enjoying the ep, too much. I do agree that sometimes people go a bit overboard on stereotypes, but I didn't think it was overly offensive.