X-MEN: "Middleverse". After running afoul of Mystique's goon squad and smashing his holographic watch, Nightcrawler poofs himself into a hidden basement room, which promptly blows up. He and Rogue discover some strange gizmo that, when activates, zaps him into an alternate universe that seems to be a few seconds out of phase with reality.
Okay, the concept isn't new. I've seen it in both an episode of Aladdin and in Stephen King's "Langoliers", and in both cases better done. Though it made for a couple of mildly amusing moments when Toad Tolansky, mad over Principal Mystique's callousness in running over the bug he was going to eat for lunch (geez, kid, the food in the caf isn't *that* bad, is it?), avenges himself by zapping all her office furniture and her car into the middleverse.
In the middleverse, Nightcrawler meets up with the guy who created the middleverse--who in the Fox series was an older guy in the future and had a prosthetic leg, *not* the credibility-stretching Swiss army arm shown here. He's been trapped in his other world since 1978, meaning he's missed about three presidents, a sexual revolution, AIDS, a war or two, and the death of disco.
Rogue's allegiance is still in question. Though she will help the X-Men, she calls Blob and Avalanche and Toad her "friends". She remains ambivalent, the ultimate X variable. I still think the writers do her a great disservice with (a) the raccoon-eyes harlot eyeshadow and (b) a Texas accent when she's obviously a Louisana girl.
Cyclops and Nightcrawler sum it up perfectly in two lines:
C: You know, we're not the only mutants in this school.
N: No, just the cool ones.
Which gets to a point someone here made a few weeks ago: the lines between "good" and "bad" are too clearly drawn, almost like saying light-skinned minorities are better than dark-skinned ones (or vice versa). The good mutants have no real self-doubt, no bittersweet or Pyrric victories. Their biggest concern is whether or not they can get an invite to the hottest rave at some popular senior's rave. Ah, to be 16 and innocent again.
The young inventor? Well, he plans to go back home. Of course, after 20 years his parents may be dead or have moved. No laments over all the girls he's loved grown up and with high-school-age kids of their own, or his favorite candy store on the corner boarded and dead. No consideration to time marching on and being out of step with the rest of the world. Simply a saccharine ending that makes my bicuspids tingle.

POK JJ: "Tanks a Lot!"
Team Rocket has a new toy: an Arbok-shaped tank. They don't have it for long, though, because when they aren't looking Togepi and a new Johto Pokemon who looks like some odd cross-breed between a rabbit, a raccoon, and one of Roger Hargreave's Mr. Men commandeer the wheel and go on a joyride. I couldn't help but think of that Simpsons ep where Bart, high on a Ritalin derivative, stole a tank and went on a similar bender.
Watch Jesse and James in this one. Here we see them as a pseudo-married couple, with James in the part of the spendthrift wife who p*sses away the money and gorges on bon-bons, and Jesse as the domineering husband. The climax is when James, on his knees, begs her for mercy for spending every cent they have *yet again* on some cockamamie contraption.
Again, it seems TR is at its best when they grudgingly work with Team Twerp for a common cause--stopping the tank from destroying everything in its path or itself.
Watch the bit with the unifoms--Brock as Schwartzkopf and Misty and Ash in Desert Storm camouflage, plus Jesse and James decked out in WWII regalia. Also look for Jesse in a Dugtrio suit (which is interesting but not as much as the Snorlax costume in "Snack Attack").
Watch also while Ash and co. are napping, and you'll see Pikachu snuggle up next to Ash's butt, just like a dog does its master. Your cute moment for the day.
If TR decides to ditch crime, they may have a future in construction, judging from the access tunnel their tank dug into the mountain. Not exactly rocket scientists, though--I mean, when the tank hit meltdown, they should have cut their losses and not tried to board it.

ZETA: "The Accomplice".
All in all, a fair to mediocre debut. Two major nits: (a) in the Batman Beyond ep "Zeta", Zeta supposedly exploded and was declared dead by the authorities. He was free and clear. So why try to contact the guy who's looking to destroy him by phone and tell him where he is? That's like Richard Kimball phoning Lt. Gerard and saying "Take me in!"
(b) the cred card generator. It's too deux ex machina, and if the serial numbers on the thing are traceable, the feds can track Zeta and Ro every time they make a purchase. It's like robbing a bank and spending stolen money.
Ro's a cute kid, but somehow she doesn't stike me as hardened street girl. More like the daughter of wealthy parents who just decided to ditch the high life and slum it a while.
It's a notch above "Brats of the Lost Nebula" and below "Static Shock". It'll last a season, maybe. I expect, as ratings sag around show 6 or 7, for Terry McGinness to pop in for a crossover cameo.

SS: "Bent Out of Shape".
As I watched this I found myself thinking that we had another Bang Baby villain with a musical angle, like Rubber Band Man. Turns out that Stringer *was* RBM, with a new face and new identity--and dating Sharon.
So watching your sister fool around with a wanted felon is *not* #1 on Virgil's hit list, and even worse is having the elastic b*st*ard try to unmask Static. Add to it a couple of Bang Baby bounty hunters, a Thing-like goon and a girl with acid halitosis, and life just got more complicated.
How could Virgil not see through RBM's disguises? I mean, a purple satellite dish, a purple trash can, a purple vacuum cleaner, a purple couch...he may be a hero, but the boy's eyes must be painted on.
Funny bit--the dog attempts to relieve itself on RBM.
By the end we see a more sympathetic side of RBM...more victim than villain, really, who lets his obsessions and hot temper get the best of him. Hopefully the love of a good woman--and intensive therapy three times weekly--can redeem the irredeemable.

Let your opinion be known! Reply to this post!

- Register as a New User for the WBC Bulletin Board!
- Already Registered? Reply to this post!
- View the original post and all replies!