Belch's Brief Reviews (September 23)
DR. BELCH
Sun Sep 24 01:14:19 2000 

MIB #403: "The Spartacus Syndrome":
Was anyone else sorry not to see Moe LaMarche as Kirk Douglas in this one?
The worms get kidnapped from the MIB kitchenette in a classic case of mistaken identity and taken to an alien world that seems to be modeled after ancient Rome (rather like the one in "Stargate" was after Egypt). Taken for a race of warriors called Worps, they are first plied with coffee, then led to the arena and pitted against a big gorilla of an alien. J and K eare called upon to rescue them. Several great scenes here:
*J and K's faces pulled back into bulldog wrinkles from the g-force
*K swallowed by the alien gorilla
*J pitted against the "most dangerous beings in the galaxy" --the worms
*J leads an alien revolt ("Money? Is that like 'whack'?")
And of course, my fav part was the end, in which K explains how he avoided being eaten. It seems this particular race doesn't chew 32 times before swallowing. When pressed for more information, K says, "I'd...rather not discuss the details."
A bit of a cliche plot, but amusing enough. I was disappointed, though, not to see K and X in this one, because I'd like to see more of how she gets along with Mr. Sunshine. Regarding her voice: it sounded normal enough when she spoke in her usual monotone, but when she adapted her unfamiliar b*tchy tone of voice, it did sound very different. Same actress, I think, but new depth. Me likee.

POK #306: "Hello, Pummelo"/POK #307: "Enter the Dragonite":
I call this one "Indigo Light"--wrapped up in two episodes rather than five and Richie-free. I was wondering when Ash would get around to using a Safari Zone Tauros, and he finally does. He even shows a little initiative, as Misty notes, and some scientific thinking--using the desertscape sand to cushion the blow being given by the opponent's Dragonite. And in the end, he triumphantly shouts, "Wait until Brock hears this!" Obviously a foreshadowing of the return of Brock (Kojiro and I have a bit of inside info on that), although it seems a bit odd that Ash would be savvy to this. Unless he just meant he plans to wire news of the fight to Brocko by Pigeotto Post.
Pummelo--sounds like a great name for a wrestler, actually.
Not much of TR in this one--a fast defeat in the first five minutes in part 1 and a disappointing kidnap failure in part 2 that even the announcer barely seems to take note of, considering it a little more than a minor interruption. It may be just my imagination, but maybe since "Bound for Trouble" and "Stun Spore" the Rocketeers' hearts jsut aren't in it.
Anyone else notice the event coordinator who signed Ash in looked like John Ratzenberger from "Cheers"? Lot of American pop culture seeping into anime lately.

JACKIE CHAN #3 "The Mask of El Toro Fuente":
Translated, it means "the strong bull", the name of a Mexican wrestler who wears the talisman on his mask. AS I understand it, for a luchador to lose his mask is a great dishonor, and it seems when Toro does, he loses his self-confidence. Jade gives him Chan's whole speech about power from within and that seems to perk him up.
There was a whole running gag about how wrestling is fake. Don't tell my brothers that or they'll beat the frig out of you.
Actually I missed most of this one because I was in the kitchen preparing my midmorning meal. I listened to some of it but got distracted cutting the cheese. (For my sandwiches. Get your mind out of the toilet.)

CRDCAP #11: "The Switch":
This one uses one of TV's oldest cliches, mind-switching. It's right up there with mistaken identity (see MIB above).
Though there are moments. The look on Kero's face as he realizes he'll be in Li's body for 24 hours suggests he's got some sort of forbidden human debauchery planned--and what does he end up doing? Making soup for Mei Lin! Soup! I don't know if that's a Japanese custom for men to cook for women or just a device to illustrate who wears the pants in the relationship. The look on Mei Lin's face when she tastes the soup, though, was my favorite scene. That and watching Li cope as a stuffed animal ("You're not sleeping in my room!" Aw, c'mon, have a heart, Sakura.)
Ms. Mackenzie ("No Way Out") shows up again to help Sakura. What's her angle? Is she a guardian beast like Kero? (If so, she's a darn good-looking beast!) She does have a knack for turning up at just the right time.
Great easily-misconstruable line of the week: Madison to Sakura: "This is way too public." I suppose if it had been Madison in Sakura's body, this show might well become TV-14 real quick. >8D

SS#1:
The debut episode of the WB's newest show, replacing the lackluster "Generation O!" With a title that sounds like a sports drink, I thought I was going to have to get drunk to enjoy it (I don't drink, but sometimes I wonder why I don't). Surprisingly it was fairly enjoyable. A black teen named Virgil tries to keep body and soul together in a rough high school when a punk named F-Stop makes it hot for him. Virgil's "protector", a gorilla-like gang leader, intervenes on his behalf twice; however, protection doesn't come cheap. Virgil is recruited the next night on a B&E mission at a local industrial plant, where a gang war breaks out. The Gang Bangers, F-Stop's goons, and VIrgil (though he doesn't realize it at first) are exposed to a chemical gas leak. The next morning Virgil wakes up with bioelectrical talents and decides that he must use them for the benefit of mankind
There's a definite flavor of "Spiderman" here, as well as some "Batman Beyond" and "MIB", and the thought of a bioelectric character isn't new (I've explored it myself with a villian in one of my own stories). Still we do see some nice chemistry between the boy and his father (note how he respects his old man), reverence for his dead mother, and his sister--well, there's friction in the best of families.
It is nice to see a positive black role model on television that doesn't come off as overly preachy and watered-down (the writing does authentically capture the flavor of black language without sounding too profane/cliche), and I suppose it's to Virgil's credit he isn't as dark and brooding as Bruce or Terry concerning his mother's death (though future episodes will tell). In short, Shock is at least more believable than Max Steel and his earlier, cruder prototype Waynehead, and bears a second look.

BAT BEY #39: "Untouchable":
Or as I like to call it, "Bubble Girl" (in honor of the Seinfeld ep "Bubble Boy"--"It's Moops! *Moops!*") When I first saw the electrical black-clad figure along with Hillary Bader's name, I thought that Livewire somehow survived forty or fifty years in stir and then made a comeback. Does anyone else's colon clench whan they see Bader's name on a credit?
The plot concerns an electric force field device used on victims of auto-immune deficiency that protects them from germs and mold spores in the air yet allows more mobility than a "bubble" or a vaccum suit. Some criminal pusbag is using them to swipe isotopes that can be connected like Lego blocks to build a bomb.
While on a research mission at a Wayne-Powers lab, Terry meets Irene, a girl who practically lives inside her force field, never smelling a rose or feeling the waves lap her feet. He feels sorry for her and (bonehead move here) rhapsodizes about her to Dana, who cops a jealous attitude. Count on a dame to get mad over a harmless infatuation.
Bruce is suspicious over the defensive attitude of Dr. Blades, head of the institute, concerning the force field technology. He also seems a bit of a fascist, keeping Irene on a short leash--she's never been out of the building. When she slips out to be with Terry and he finds out, he locks her up in a bubble cell; she shows some ingenuity and pops into a vaccuum suit to get out. Unfortunately she witnesses Dr. Sazuki, Blade's associate, wearing the force field suit. It seems he's had some ideas concerning the suit that Blade never even considered. Terry realizes brute force won't work, so he outslicks the doctor using the noise of the exhaust fan, realizing he needs to turn off the field to cover his ears. (I could imagine the doctor wishing he were as deaf as Shriek right about then.)
The funny part was that Irene already had a lover, a fellow "bubble boy" in the lab...so Terry might have jeopardized things with Dana a bit too hastily. Great exchange between Bruce and Terry:
B: When I was younger, I used to have women falling at my feet.
T: What did you do?
B: I stepped over them.
T: Smooth.
B [with definite note of remorse in his voice]: I thought so then.
Got women problems? Talk to Bruce. He's had them all.

MX STL #6: "Spear Carriers":
For all the Berto fans out there (both of you), this bud's for you. When a mad aeronotic genius starts hijacking planes to prove his superiority, Team Steel goes into action. Berto falls into his clutches, and, oddly enough, makes dubious friends with the charming lunatic. Max imagines how he's torturing Berto, and meantime he's playing a quiet game of chess with the guy (reminded me oddly of the Nazi kommandants playing their violins in the stalags while their while the Jews roasted in the furnaces). Berto gets to land the madman's massive aircraft all by himself, the first time he's ever taken a hands-on role in a mission. Good subplot lost: a commanding officer (voiced by Ed Asner) tells Josh that he's got some stories to tell about his old man, which sounded like promising, but the writers never did anything with it.
Also, chronologically, this one seems to have come before last week's ep, where Josh really frigged it up telling Laura about kissing Rachel, since it seems here the two are still an item. They're running the blasted things out of order.

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