Belch's Brief Reviews--Feb 9, 2002

[DR. BELCH]

Pokémon#432: Freeze Frame
The final episode in the Articuno trilogy...Team Twerp discovers Jigglypuff inexplicably frozen in the mountains and pays a visit to the world's highest Pokemon center. Brock gets off an unintentionally funny line about going inside and having "a hot cup of cocoa and a warm Nurse Joy" (he meant fire--yeah, right). Ash suggests using Jigglypuff to put Articuno to sleep so Todd can snap all the pics he wants, but Misty reminds him Todd would fall under the spell to. It's just as well, because Todd isn't the type who dopes up his models for nice posey pics.
Meanwhile Team Rocket is mountain-climbing, and Jessy, having grown up in snowy climes, is very in her element. Note she demonstrates a knowledge of how to avoid hypothermia that would rival that of a Girl Scout; after a tussle with some Spearow (who seem out-of-place somehow up at that altitude, and in that cold), they wind up stranded on a frozen ledge (they have an odd penchant for that; recall "Forest Grumps" and "Mountain Time").
Officer Jenny shows up at the Pokemon center a short time later with a decidedly frozen Jessy and James and Meowth, who explain they were rescued by what appeared to be a big blue bird--Articuno. The bird is something of a legend; Joy and Jenny show the kids a big statue of Articuno out back and tell the story of some travelers who'd been saved in a similar fashion and erected the stone goliath in its honor. once warm, the Rockets leave.
Todd, Ash, Jessy and Brock soon meet Articuno (and have to keep Jigglypuff quiet), but the Rockets soon appear and try to kidnap it --rather ungratefully. A battle ensues, and the Rockets, along with Jigglypuff, get blasted off.
Todd gets his picture and decides to travel these mountains looking for more subjects...and this episode ends on a rather unpleasant note, as Jessy tries desperately to keep herself and her friends from falling asleep lest they freeze to death in a cave, and Jigglypuff begins to sing, causing them to drowse off. Very morbid, I thought--sure, they'll be there next ep and all, but that would seem to be a fate I'd have reserved for a minor villain making his last appearance on the show.

Static Shock#16: Brother-Sister Act
This was the stock "someone close to the hero gets too close to the truth about his secret identity and must be thrown a red herring at the end" episode.
While Sharon starts becoming suspicioius of Virgil--noting a plate at the table heated by his powers, that both Static and Virgil use a similar expression, and worst of all finding Virgil's shock box in his room--two Bang Babies named Boom and Mirage are terrorizing a nightclub. Boom attacks his victims with sound waves--and I'm not sure if I want to know how a guy gets a high-powered amp implanted in his chest cavity--while his sister conjures up solid and vicious projections of tigers from a tapestry.
The two are a brother and sister who lost their parents and lare currently living with thier grandmother several steps down the economic ladder. Boom decides to steal to help his grandmother so the two can return to hteir former standard of living, but Mirage won't have it. She hates being a mutant and worries her brother may be cracking up.
Mirage is injured while the two attempt to steal the contest jackpot from a local radio station giveaway (Richie's line, "They're sttealing my prize money!" is priceless), and Virgil cisits her in the hospital. He admits that a lot of Bangers tend to go insane from their powers, and if her brother gets really dangerous, call him.
On their last heist--some public arena event--Mirage, having enough, crosses her brother and seals him in a soundproof plastic ball. Virgil has to deal with both the quibbling siblings and his own family problems when Sharon shows up and almost ends his crareer as a superhero (she blurts out his name at one point but I don't think anyone caught it. "Get out--um--people who I've never met before!")
Static has Mirage do him one last favor--when Sharon confronts him about his double life, she sees "Static" ghost across the sky. Virgil may be a bit irresponsible leaving clues about everyplace where even a less-than-cerebral girl like Sharon can nose them out, though it isn't the worst revelation story I've heard. I believe that honor goes to one of the Flashes, whose girlfriend deduced his secret because of his nasty habit of talking in his sleep!

Jackie Chan Adventures#211: The Eighth Door
Uncle and Jackie stop the water demon and seal her door--but Jade gets inadvertently sucked in and trapped in Hell. The only way to release her is to open one of the doors--which is Chandu's, the only one that is still unsealed and which, him being a spirit, is useless to him.
Chandu never realizes that the girl is trapped in his world, although he puzzles as to why the Chans are going to Hong Kong to seek his portal ("for good measure, I suppose", he wearily tells Valmont). He is greeted by his seven trapped brothers and sisters, and in a moment of slick thinking he shows them a spell (actually a listing from a phone book) that will let them all use his door once it's opened by the Panku box. Hok Fu is spared standing on the unemployment line, since he's needed to touch the box, with hte good magic rule and all. (THe other three imbeciles are unexplainedly absent, possibly arested after the last episode.)
Jackie--recalling that Valmont had revealed the Dark Hand's hideout when he visited the shop--sneaks in and nabs the box (there's a great bit here with Hok Fu's face and a gong I couldn't let pass; Valmont tries not to let his siblings know the box was just stolen, insisting his minion always strikes the gong on occassions like this. Very resourceful old devil, I'll give him that.).
Jade, with a video camera, does a whole Blair Witch thing chronicling her nightmare (though at least she isn't wearing a stocking cap and saying "I am so scared right now" while a tear rolls down her face). For once she is genuinely afraid for her life; her usual never-say-die spunk is nowhere to be seen. Of course, having to scratch a two-ton demon's back and not be eaten as an appetizer will do that to a person. She recieves some comfort from seeing Uncle, who travels in spirit to the demon world to ask for help with the Panku box--seems she has a knack for puzzles.
Chandu had told his demon bretheren a lie; he doesn't know where it is or how to open it, much less keep it open for more than one at a time. When the Chans open the door in Hong Kong (located, oddly at Jade's favorite theme park--"It's like Jade picked the location herself," muses Jackie ) and force Chandu through--freeing Valmont, who does a happy little dance-- the demons forget about chasing Jade (who had just revealed Chadu's ruse) and all fight to get there first. Jade, however, beats them and exits, and Chandu reappears in Hell. The question is, will being technically discorporeal make the torture hurt any less.
Next week will be part one of some sort of finale where we see how Chandu handles his situation. Being disembodied seems to afford him certain liberties, like travelling freely between worlds and possessing people, so it's likely he'll continue to be just as dangerous a threat as ever.

I was dozing through Digimon when I heard them mention the legend of the red shoes. One of the female characters brought it up but couldn't recall how it ended, only that it was "bad". Recalling earlier discussions of Grimm fairy tales on these forums--in this one, after the shoes cause the little girl to dance uncontrollably and can't be removed, a kindly woodcutter chops her feet off at the ankles with his axe, and her severed feet dance away. She wants to go to church but can't because every time she does she sees the shoes, her feet still in them, appear and dance at the doorway. So in her room she prays, until an angel comes and takes her into the sanctum. SHe dies and goes to heaven "where nobody once asked her about the shoes".

[Anthonynotes]

The Flash that revealed his secret ID that way was one Barry Allen (the second Flash, from his 1956 debut in "Showcase" #4 to his death in 1985 in "Crisis On Infinite Earths"). IIRC, on his honeymoon (or shortly thereafter) with his wife (Central City Picture-News reporter Iris), his wife discovered his secret ID via Barry talking in his sleep. Conjuring up Lois' line in "World's Finest", "so when were you going to tell me---the *honeymoon*?!" Said wedding/revelation happened in a mid-60's (or so) issue of "Flash"...

Re: Jackie Chan: Haven't seen this show lately.... gather they're trying to wrap up the whole Chandu/demons plotline or something (have they gotten most/nearly all the way through their 52 episode order?). Wonder what'll happen (or happened) to Valmont now that he's free of Chandu....

-B.

[don Jaime]

Funny, I thought of Kate Bush's red shoes.

This was not a good day for Digimon. The first episode brought back everything we hat about the dub: a censored scene (two boys accidentally kissed, but we didn't get to see it in the States), retarded puns, endless gabbing when there should be silence. The second one was a little better, since Impmon had one of his big scenes, and both "Jeri" and "Henry" were concerned for Takato, but still, there should be breaks in the conversation once in a while.

[alan]

I taped the Static and Jackie Chan episodes, so I'll look for the stuff you talked about. Also I hate to be rude but I must offer a correction. In your review for the episode "The Big Leagues" you refered to the new large-footed Bang Baby as "Bigfoot." In actuality his name is Kangor (as in kangar-oo). They mention the name several times in the episode, and I'm sure he'll appear again, so the name will probably be said again.

"Resign yourself to your meaty fate!"- Zim

"Attempted murder, now honestly what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry, do they?"- Sideshow Bob

"Oooh (laughing) you won't see that at the auto show"- the Joker

"Why don't you go bug the kids on 'Goof Troop'?"- Dot Warner.