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“Truth Seekers”

Helluva Boss

Episode 1:6

August 21, 2021

AVERAGE

Pros: Animation, Action, Some Brief Character Moments

Cons: Rushed Plot, Missed Character Opportunities, Crude Humor

 

 

           The new episode of Helluva Boss certainly took things to the next level with its animation and action.  Unfortunately, its story is rather rushed and it doesn’t quite have its narrative priorities right.  It has the makings of a great climax, but it would be nice if it was built up more.  It was, however, better the second time I watched it.

           It begins with two government agents, One (Michael Romeo Ruocco) and Two (Erica Luttrell) reviewing footage of I.M.P.’s shenanigans on Earth.  They ask how they could possibly know where the imps could strike next, only to immediately hear them making noise in the alley right outside.  It’s a predictable enough joke, and it arguably negates the possibility of Loona and Millie’s finding out their location through patient detective work after Moxxie and Blitzo are captured.

           Many fans stated anticipation for a plot in which the guys are kidnapped and the girls have to team up and rescue them, but the episode drops the ball on the character potential.  Loona and Millie hardly ever talk to each other in the series, and I think the closest they come is when Millie unwittingly unpersons Loona in “Harvest Moon Festival.”  While Loona is annoyed by the dismissive treatment she gets as a hellhound, Millie could point out her bitchiness toward Moxxie.  That, combined with a more well-developed detective story, could have made the episode more interesting. 

          Not that there’s nothing there.  Their personalities briefly clash when Millie orders Loona to reopen the portal so they can rescue the guys, and Loona points out that Blitzo ordered her to do so without any of his brand of facetiousness.  This underscores Loona’s loyalty and cautiousness while revealing that she’s also sensitive to Blitzo’s cues; she even uses his preferred name pronunciation.  Millie’s passion convinces her to go in, but not before donning her human disguise (which turns out to be unnecessary) and packing some weapons.  It’s also notable that Loona empathizes with Millie for the first time when she sees the latter’s crying over her lost husband.  Still, this interaction is way too brief and noncommittal.

        For some reason, the episode sees fit to sort out the less compelling differences between Blitzo and Moxxie.  I say this because, in spite of their butting heads, they’re still clearly comrades.  Blitzo is rude to Moxxie, but it’s obvious he values his aid and is also fiercely protective of him.  Meanwhile, the episode paradoxically espouses that Moxxie holds back on his true opinions out of fear, even though he’s frequently critical of Blitzo’s decisions.  The two end up coming clean with each other after they trip on some truth gas exposed to them by the antagonists.  Unfortunately, Blitzo still humorously abuses Moxxie physically at times during the final fight scene.

       One rather serious issue between these two that is not addressed is Blitzo’s stalking of Moxxie and Millie.  It could have been pointed out that Blitzo’s acting on fascination/jealousy of something that Moxxie, for all his nebbishness can pull off: a stable relationship.  Moxxie could tell him all he needs to do is be a better person to women rather than try to impress them, segueing into his devotion as a father.  Then Blitzo could call Moxxie out on he and his wife’s dismissive attitude toward Loona,.

         An inordinate amount of time is devoted to our heroe’s hallucinations from the gas.  Moxxie’s is appropriately a Disney-style musical, while Blitzo’s is Fleischer style mixed with 60’s psychedelics.  Moxxie butts heads with a fictionalized Blitzo (singing voice Michael Romeo Ruocco) even though Striker and Millie’s family are far more appropriate foils for his insecurities.  Blitzo faces Moxxie as well as multiple other antagonists from his life, including Striker, Verosika, and Robo-Fizz (who looks great in Fleischer style).  Blitzo faces a fact most of us know about him: his unstable and unfaithful personality drives people away.  A subtle positive point: Loona is not included among his accusatory demons.  The animation of both sequences is beautiful, but I can't help but think it was an excuse for stylization.

        Despite the skimpy narrative, this episode reinforces my affinity for Loona.  It can’t be stressed enough that I believe she’s a distinct character than what we see in the Pilot.  Moxxie’s practicality in that episode was transferred to her resulting in a more amusing and balanced dynamic in which Loona secretly turns out to be the sensible one while Moxxie is a classic stupid smart person.  I tend to relate to stoical-but-occasionally temperamental introverts, and Loona is also the most cautious of the bunch as well; she usually doesn’t act without planning.  

        I also wanted to see Loona’s finally letting loose and kicking some ass while directly protecting Bltzo, and I got that.  It’s always been implied that hellhounds are a force to be reckoned with.  In the last episode the mere presence of one, despite costing the good guys a drop on him, was enough to make Striker flee, and they’re in demand as bodyguards.  Loona’s background is an intriguing mystery that leaves the possibility of fight training open, but, like most things in this episode, it would be a lot more satisfactory if this were patiently held off.

        And boy, oh boy, is this action scene glorious.  It’s beautifully animated and a great example of cathartic action.  It helps that it’s set to a passably effective guitar riff.  It also draws attention to an advantage of animation: the “camera” follows the action in a physically impossible fashion that would be a cringe cheat in live-action.  The animation team more than redeems itself for Ploona’s blatant force kick.  

        Despite the heroes’ triumphant performance, they run out of ammo and are trapped by the Agents, but are saved by a Deus Diabolus Ex Machina.  Stolas appears out of nowhere to intimidate the Agents and rescue IMP.  His only explanation for knowing their location is that “has his ways.”  He then paternally chastises IMP for their carelessness only to leave Agents One and Two alive as loose ends, assuming no one will believe them.  You’d think if he somehow knew where Blitzo & Co. were he’d also realized that this Government HQ was a branch, which it is clearly is when the the Agents decide to use evidence of his apparition as the proof they need to send up to their superiors.

        Still, it’s amazing how well-executed the scene is.  We finally see Stolas in all his demonic glory.  Every little thing in this scene is great.  The mysterious buildup.  Agent Two’s getting possessed, zombified Agents drawing a summoning circle,  the epic cover of Stolas’ theme, the look of wonder and horror on Blitzo’s face, the contemptuous glare Stolas gives the agents after reverting to his normal form, the swish of his cape when he turns his back on them.  The “not worth killing” effect could have been maintained by Stolas’ simply picking up a handgun and unceremoniously shooting them without making him look like a fool.

         These two unearned climaxes may be justified by being catalysts for further plot development.  I have a hunch that Stolas’ apparition, while being horrifying from a human/imp/hellhound point of view, may have been considered straight-up clown behavior by demon royalty.  He let himself be recorded by mortals, with evidence of his lending out his Grimoire to some losers and even said in the video that Blitzo was his “plaything.”  I have a feeling that the resultant scandal is the reason why we see his sadly eating cereal in deserted mansion in the Season 1 trailer.  It's heavily implied, after all, that Stolas is seen as a walking joke in hell already.   

          I’ll probably take the opportunity to point out that I hate Stolitz, even though it seems to be encouraged by the creators and popular among the fandom.  Stolas is a pathetic simp who’s too horny to resist banging Blitzo even though it’s destroyed his marriage and traumatized his daughter, while Blitzo uses the Prince for transactional purposes.  Despite a kiss at the end and an indication that Blitzo enjoys some of the sex play, I don’t think episode does much to justifiy this as a good ship.

          The humor in this episode is a mixed bag.  There are a lot of moments that got a chuckle out of me, but there are some moments of extreme cringe.  It’s unfortunate that they had mess with one of the show’s more wholesome aspects by making a crude joke about Millie’s pegging Moxxie.  Agents One and Two are not terribly interesting characters.  They’re just basic G-Man spoofs who sport obnoxiously exaggerated accents, and were probably better left dead by Stolas.  At least we were spared the cringe of the common fan speculation that the people who tied Stolas and Moxxie up were Catholic cardinals (for now).   

           The movie has a few great payoffs and opens up intriguing possibilities for the future, but could have used a lot more buildup in order to make these climaxes less unearned.  It should have been a two-parter.  

              

          

 

QUOTES

 

 

MILLIE: SHIT.  Shit, shit, shit…agghh…

LOONA: You, uh, you okay, there?

MILLIE: What’re you doin’ sittin’ there?  The boys are in trouble!  Open it again.

LOONA: Blitzo was using a total of zero euphemisms, innuendos, or swears.  That means it was serious, which means I don’t open it until-

MILLIE: OPEN THE FUCKIN’ PORTAL NOW!

 

AGENT ONE: What do you mean by that?

BLITZO: Oh, you’re stupid, huh?  I can work with stupid.  Daddy likey dummy.

[Moxxie can’t help but laugh]

 

BLITZO: Hey, aren’t we gonna get our phone call, bitch?

AGENT ONE: Well, that entirely depends, who you gonna call, hmm?

BLITZO: Your fat mom, thanking her for a fat time!

AGENT TWO: Nice try, demon, his fat mom is dead!

[Agent One cries]

 

[next scene with Blitzo, Moxxie, and the Agents]

AGENT ONE: Stop insulting my mother, she’s dead!

[Blitzo sticks his tongue out him]

 

[Loona and Millie come up to a keyboard with a the “1” worn out.  Millie examines it carefully]

MILLIE: Try one.

[Loona presses one repeatedly and the door opens]

Pony Hype

“The Super Cider Squeezy 6000”

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Episode 215

January 28, 2012

Below Average

Pros: One Good Running Joke in First Act

Cons: Poorly Thought-Out Plot, Dull

 

 

           It’s been a while since I’ve done an episode of MLP:FIM because it’s been a while since I’ve been all that into MLP:FIM.  Still, it’s fun to deconstruct these things, and this is an episode I’ve always wanted to get to since it always struck me as a decidedly mediocre entry as well as an overrated one.  So now it’s long overdue for me to dissent on the artistic prestige of “Super Cider Squeezy 6000.” 

           It begins with the Apples’ selling their once-in-a-year homemade apple cider, which brings lines like that of a communist country.  People have questioned why the Apples can only produce cider for this one short period, when they can produce the stuff as long as they have apples.  Personally, I think it’s to create a false scarcity that increases demand and price.  It’s explained that the profits from the cider period are what they need to get through the winter, so it makes sense to do something like this.  However, there’s clearly a problem because the Apples cannot produce enough cider to satisfy the trumped-up demand.  One wonders why no one simply decides to produce their own cider, but maybe IP laws are different in Equestria (contrary to what happens in “Rarity Takes Manehattan”).  Perhaps the Apples can also take up some other work to support themselves during the winter?

           The only part of the episode I found particularly amusing is a running joke in which Rainbow Dash cannot get any cider.  The humor is reinforced by an element of anti-karma.  Despite her extreme anticipation for this, she takes the time to wake up Fluttershy so the latter can get some too and even lets her friend go in line in front of her.  This, along with Pinkie Pie’s shameless greed, narrowly prevents her from getting her sample.  You’d think the Apples would ration this stuff for everyone, but that’s not their problem.  Unfortunately, this arc ends immediately when Rainbow gets a taste of cider thanks to the Flim-Flam Brothers’ (Sam Vincent and Scott McNeil) cider-making machine.  Practically near the beginning of the episode.  

          While the Flim-Flams are depicted as villains, they actually present a solution to Ponyville’s problem.  They can provide an efficient way to provide people with cider while the Apples can sell them the raw material.  This may not cover the needed expenses for the winter, but perhaps the Apples can insist on royalties in some kind of deal.  Meanwhile they can still make organic cider for the niche market.  The episode misses an opportunity for conflict by having Rainbow automatically side with the Mane Six despite having reason to see Flim-Flams’ point.  I’m not a particularly hard-core fiscon, but it seems like a pretty obvious free market solution that could everyone if done right.    

          In a contrivance that many have called out, they agree to an absurd contest in which winner takes control of Sweet Apple Acres.  Of course, the Apples have every right to tell them them to bugger off and everything to lose by agreeing to this, but it happens anyway.  In order to keep up with the cider production, our protagonists resort to running themselves ragged (this includes Apple Bloom and Granny Smith) while enlisting the temporary help of the Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity.  They’re barely able to keep pace over the SCS6000, so the Flim-Flams decide to gain an edge by deactivating the machine’s automatic quality control, allowing spoiled apples to enter the mixture.  They seemingly win the contest until people taste the fruits of their labor and spit it out in disgust.  The Apples win.  In what would be a cute twist on the show’s formula if it was earned, Applejack’s letter to Celestria proudly proclaims that she didn’t learn anything because she was right all along.  Surely, a less-than-amused Celestia would write back with a lesson:

 

        Applejack,

 

       It seems that there was indeed much for you to learn.  Your business model is flawed to the point of failing to account for the town’s demand for a certain product.  As long as this situation persists, there will be multiple competitors like the Brothers Flim-Flam who will offer the solution that you currently will not provide.  You barely survived the fallout of your own logistical shortcomings, and you only did so by resorting unsustainable means: enlisting the temporary, free help of your friends as well as that of your elderly grandmother and your school-age sister.  You should have taken this as the warning it was.  Because as long as you do not address this, there will more Flim-Flams.  And you will not always be so lucky.

 

                                                                             Do not waste my time like this again,

                                                                                                                                    Princess Celestia

 

       It seems to be a popular fallacy (especially in politics) that people will mistake their barely surviving the consequences of their mistakes as proof they were right all along.  Now, Scorpio, you say, this is just a children’s cartoon, your being too critical.  Well, I’d say you’re partially right, I shouldn’t expect too much narrative quality, but this is a show for small children with the purpose of teaching them lessons, and this episode’s lack thereof is unearned.

     Of course, I’d be perfectly willing to forgive this if I found the episode entertaining, which I do not.  The only particularly funny part was the aforementioned Rainbow joke, and I’m not particularly fond of the song.  I know it’s purely subjective, but I just don’t like this type of music and found this number to be a bore.  Also, it’s “sophisticated” reference to The Music Man is less impressive when most of us are more familiar to The Simpson’s classic reference to that movie, arguably making this episode guilty of committing a cardinal sin of comedy: making a parody of a parody.  

 

 

QUOTES

 

[Pinkie has just cheated Rainbow out of cider]

PINKIE PIE: She’s right, you know!  You can’t rush perfection, and this year’s batch was perfection!

FLUTTERSHY: Erm, Pinkie Pie…

PINKIE PIE: I’ll never forget the cider I just drank.  It was a moment in time that will never exist again.  

 

APPLE BLOOM: That’s it, the last cup!

[crowd groans revealing Rainbow’s hovering in line in the distance]

RAINBOW: Oh, for Pete’s sake!