Fallen Arches

Sometimes experiments succeed.  But most of the time, they fail.  The latter is the case with this episode.

Blossom can't bring herself to allow the PPGs to beat up some old-time villains because it would be considered being disrespectful to their elders.  Huh?  Elders?!  They're five years old (or thereabouts).  Just about everyone in Townsville is their elder!  Talk about a continuity error!  Phew!

The story really isn't all that interesting.  The episode probably only deserves a star and a half, but I gave extra credit for effort.

The Mane Event

A lot of fans really liked this episode, but I wasn't as enthralled with it.  Blossom gets a horrible haircut from her sisters.  Everyone that sees her laughs uncontrollably at the site of her new "hairdo."  Actually, it looked more disturbing than funny.

Lo and behold, the PPGs encounter a creature that can see from all directions, thus making any attack on it futile.  Blossom uses her "funny" hair style to incapacitate the monster long enough for the girls to dispose of it.

The action scenes were really good, but the story was too flat.  An "okay" episode at best.

Town and Out

This episode is one of my all time favorites.  The Professor gets a new job in Citysville and the girls must follow him to their new surroundings.  Citysville is the embodiment of the "real" world.  There are no monsters to fight, all the kids are mean, and the mayor is not a lovable oaf whose biggest concern is opening his pickle jar.  When the girls try to apply their skills in Citysville, they end up being a hindrance rather than a help.

If you read the author's guide to my fanfic, "Star Crossed," you can find out in more detail how much symbolism there is in this episode.  I don't know why, but I just love this story on so many levels.  Yes, it's experimental and unorthodox, but it's so much more than that.

BTW, in the scene where the girls are inside the school bus, you can see the name "Brick" written in red magic marker.  Look for it on the top left corner of the screen.

Child Fearing

Thanks to the ever-incompetent Mayor, Mojo Jojo gets the job of babysitting the PPGs.  He thinks this gives him the right to boss the girls around.  The girls string him along for the entire evening in comical ways.  The girls are a bit cruel at times to poor Mojo, but he deserves it!

Some high points:

• Mayor playing Zelda on his N64.  How can you die that easily?!  Hahahaha.
• Video Game: You just killed your own fairy.
• Mayor: Hello warden?  I need a baby sitter.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, full pardon.  Bye!
• Iron Chef Mojo!
• "Top of the morning kids.  It's me, Blarney!"
• Mojo's bedtime story including the girls, uh...corrections on some of the disputed historical facts.
• Mojo: Muhahahaha.  Free at last!

Criss Cross Crisis

A rehash of the whole "Freaky Friday" scenario where characters switch bodies.  In fact, they even reference the old Disney movie as "Freakin' Friday" on the theater marquee in the beginning of the episode.

Some of my favorite parts:

• The Professor's overly technical explanation of his experiment.
• Buttercup: Professor, your hand doesn't work!
• Gangrene Gang as giggly girls.
• "Half off priceless vases!"
• Bubbles and the Narrator get switched.

Things that make you go "hmmmm?":

• Ms. Bellum's address: 69 Yodelina Valley Lane
• Telephone wristwatch?!
• Dang?

A good episode with tons of inside references.  The story went a little too long.  Specifically, the fighting sequences with Mojo were kind of drawn out.  My guess is they "stretched" the story a bit to fit it in as an entire half-hour show.  Still, very entertaining.

Bubblevision

If you've seen Mane Event there's no real reason to see this one.  Just replace "Blossom" and "hair" with "Bubbles" and "eyes."  Bubbles needs glasses and, of course, the only glasses the Professor can prescribe are giant goofy glasses with large black rims.  This time a giant ant attacks and it seems unstoppable.  (Oh my goodness what a surprise!)  Take a guess what plot device is needed to stop this monster?   Hmmmm...ants...giant lenses...heat vision...hmmmm.

Not a very good episode even if Mane Event didn't exist.

Bought and Scold

Now this was good episode!  I know, I know...the RowdyRuff Boys were mentioned in the list of villains.  "Miscreated," eh?  Perhaps there is hope for a return...but I digress.

Princess buys the entire city and abolishes law and order.  The girls' revenge is sweet!  We also see an interesting development: Princess is afraid of her father!  Good.  Adding a little complexity to her character makes her much more interesting.

Gettin' Twiggy With It

Mitch Mitchelson is the resident cruel kid at Pokey Oaks.  We get to see him torture the class hamster, "Twiggy."  The hamster gets a dose of radiation (like Elmer) and becomes a monster.  Mitch gets his just deserts as the PowerPuff Girls put him on a giant hamster wheel while the deadly jaws of the mutated Twiggy are snapping at his heels.  Hey, wouldn't it be funny if the kid slipped and was eaten alive?  Oh the fun we have on this show.

This was one of those episodes that just falls flat.  I can't put my finger on what went wrong exactly; the story just didn't do it for me.  BTW, we get to see that Elmer is back to normal.  I guess this establishes that Twiggy will eventually return to normal, too.

BTW, look for Speed Buggy in this episode.

Cop Out

Ho hum.  Another listless episode.  Don't get me wrong; I like the idea behind the story.  It just doesn't go anywhere.

Oh yeah, we learn that acid doesn't hurt the girls.  Snore...

Jewel of the Aisle

This is without a doubt the funniest episode ever!  When I first laid eyes on the villain, I didn't have much hope for this episode.  He seems so generic.  But oh man, is he a laugh riot!  His antics are hilarious!

The writers really outdid themselves this time.  They parody every single kids cereal commercial with one fell swoop.  The opening sequence where the hapless villain tries so hard to escape from the girls is classic cartoon entertainment.  The entire episode was reminiscent of a good 'ol Tex Avery cartoon.

Some of my favorite parodies:

• Generally Food Corporation.
• Mech Animals.
• Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets.
• "Ridiculous Lucky Captain Rabbit King!  Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets are for the youth!"

And of course, there were some great lines:

• Robber: Yup!  It's me!  The character in that commercial you just saw.  Lucky Captain somthin'-or-nuther.
• Robber: Listen up.  The Captain N. Tenille has a headache...
• Robber: All I wanted was some cereal!  (Bawl!)
• Blossom: Whatcha got there rabbit?  Robber: Nothin'.

This is a must see episode!  Oh yeah, we find out the Professor drives a Chrysler.

Super Zeroes

The girls try to become "better superheroes" by mimicking the personas of their favorite comic book superheroes.  A great episode about "being yourself" with many memorable and funny scenes.

Some of my favorite parts:

• Mayor: Oh, this is terrible!  Terr-i-ble!  Professor: Well Mr. Terrible, sorry, but this line is reserved for...
• Professor: Better heroes, huh?
• Narrator: Hey I'm finally in the show!
• The obvious parallels between the Libertymobile and Batmobile.
• and more!

Some new things to note in this episode:

• Bubbles can read and speak Japanese.
• All the monsters that attack Townsville come from Monster Island.  (Yep, Godzilla reference.)  The reason they do it is to fight the PPGs.  If they can hold their own against them, they are considered heroes.

Three Girls and a Monster

This episode is pure eye-candy.  The animation is awesome and the personalities of girls are explored somewhat.  Blossom's overanalyzing of a problem and Buttercup's total disregard for plans are beaten over our heads throughout the entire episode.

The plot is wafer thin and the ending is predictable.  Still, the animation is so good I can't help but give it two and a half stars.

Things that are just plain weird:

• Amish in Townsville?  Townsville is in Pennsylvania?
• Apple juice?!
• "Little Miss Bossy Boots?"  Huh?
• Attack pattern Alpha Omega Atari!

BTW, the many Godzilla references were very cute.

Monkey See, Doggy Two

Many sitcoms include a show that uses footage from older episodes to make a brand "new" one.  Usually this involves the characters reminiscing about their past experiences as an excuse to rehash the ancient clips.  These episodes are always complete rip-offs and hated by everyone.

The writers of the PPGs try to slip one past us with "Monkey See, Doggy Two."  Billed as a sequel (yeah right), we are "treated" to essentially the same freakin' episode as before.

It reminded me of those old Spiderman cartoons from the 70's.  They used to redo an entire episode with one or two minor differences.  It would allow them to use 95% of the animation cells in the "new" episode.  The PPGs are a marketing boon to Cartoon Network.  The show generates millions of dollars.  Why the heck do they need to resort to these tactics?  I mean, how cheap can you get?

There were one or two funny moments like the part about Mojo having cameras all over the world, but that's it.  Mojo is just too stupid in this episode...even for Mojo.

Candy is Dandy

The Mayor gives the PPGs candy as a reward for saving the day.  As a result, the girls become instantly hooked on the stuff!  The only way they can get more is by saving Townsville.  The girls make a deal with Mojo to have him attack the city each day so they can get more sweets.

This was a great episode!  Mojo, the Mayor, and the girls were hilarious.  So many great scenes it would be unfair to only point out a few.

Here's a surprise: most people who saw this episode thought the girls were extremely cruel to Mojo; I didn't.  The girls were out of control due to their sugar addition, and besides, Mojo did ask for it by stealing the Mayor's candy!

One complaint: there seems to be a continuity error in this episode.  In "Just Another Manic Mojo," Mojo gave the girls lollipops to stop them from playing hide-and-seek.  I'd thought I could explain this discrepancy by assuming the Mayor's candy is somehow different than "regular" candy.  However in this episode, Blossom explicitly mentions that the Professor forbid them to ever eat candy.  Can't really blame the writers too much.  Sometimes you wish you had a time machine to go back and erase those little things that would prevent a perfectly good episode from being written just for continuity's sake.

Catastrophe!

A giant slime monster attacks Townsville.  The PowerPuff Girls try to stop him, but all of their standard attacks prove ineffective.  The girls use a brand new power called the "Furious Fiery Feline" (inspired by the "Fiery Phoenix" from the anime show Gatchaman).  The technique doesn't work as planned.  Instead, the girls discover the creature is looking for his pet cat.  The girls must find the missing cat before the monster destroys Townsville.

This was an "okay" episode.  There were a few funny parts like when the monster realized the first cat wasn't his and threw it clear across Townsville.  The ending was ripped off from that stupid joke that crops up in my e-mail inbox every Christmas.  You know, the one with Santa tacking up sign about the "Missing Elf."

Oh yeah, we find out that Bubbles can speak to cats.

Hot Air Buffoon

My advice for watching this episode: shut your brain off, sit back, and enjoy the ride.  It's pure silliness all the way through.

The Mayor's cleaning lady sharply criticizes him for being completely useless and proclaims the PPGs are the true leaders of the city.  This doesn't sit well with the Mayor, so he cooks up a scheme to single-handedly fight crime in Townsville.  His hair-brained idea of floating through Townsville in a hot air balloon and smashing criminals with a retractable boxing glove actually works!  However, the Mayor goes stark raving mad and begins attacking innocent citizens.

Overall it's a very funny episode with lots of memorable scenes:

• Fred and Barney robbing the bank!
• The Mayor's tantrum.
• Punching a bird with the "Equalizer."
• The solider who talks just like Gomer Pyle.
• Blossom riding the missile like Major Kong in the movie Dr. Strangelove.

The ending was a bit weak, but still a good episode.

Ploys R' Us

The Professor develops a case of somnambulism (sleep walking) and begins robbing a local toy store in his sleepy state.  The girls find out the mysterious source of all their new toys and begin to encourage the Professor's late-night raids.

A great episode with lots of funny scenes and in-jokes:

• "Merf" gun.
• Whoopee cushion.
• The "junk" toy kind of looked like a Jar Jar action figure.
• Dexter doll!  Dee-Dee Doll!  Monkey Doll!  Flintstones Pinball!  Whee!
• The Professor's naiveté when the girls explain how they got all the toys.
• The girls reaction when the Professor is shot down by the police.
• The last line of the episode: Mayor: I always wanted a beefy betty doll.  Narrator: T.M.I. Mr. Mayor...Too Much Information!
• and more...

It was a little surprising that the girls knew darn well this was tantamount to stealing, yet continued to allow the Professor to rob the toy store.  I'm beginning to wonder if the writers are trying to pull away from the "squeaky clean" image they tried so hard to establish for the girls in the first two seasons.

The Head Sucker's Moxy

There's a mysterious villain in town who's sucking pertinent information from the brains of powerful people in Townsville.  The villain then uses this information to commit crimes.  The girls use the Mayor as their secret weapon against Mr. Leech since the Mayor has no vital, precious or secret information in his head.  Actually, he doesn't have much of anything rolling around up there.

Highpoints?  Not many.  The girls naming the villain "Robbing Leech" and the ending sequence with the Narrator was kind of cute.  That's about it.

The episode is pretty flat.  The story is kind of predictable.  And, uh, it...um...oh what's the word I'm looking for?  Ugh.  Look, I just didn't like it.  Okay?  Oooh, my head hurts!

Equal Fights

There's a new villain in town called "Femme Fatale"  She's a misandrist...or is the term misandronist?  Oh, enough with the five-dollar words!  She's a "man-hater."  She robs the Townsville bank of all their Susan B. Anthony coins leaving them with all those sexist hundred dollar bills safely in the vault.  Huh?  Yeah I know; it's ridiculous.  Maybe it has some symbolic significance.  Maybe the writers were trying to show that making choices based solely on the sex of a person is silly and counterproductive.  Anyway, Miss Fatale...er, I mean, Ms. Fatale convinces the girls that all men are sexist pigs and they are being belittled as superheroes.  The girls let her go free to commit more petty larceny.  Eventually Ms. Bellum, Ms. Keene, and three of Townsville's female victims of Femme Fatale show the girls that they really aren't being discriminated against.

The lesson of this episode is that people can use "issues" (even perfectly valid ones) as a way to promote their own twisted agenda.  While I think it's a good one, I'm not going to let it skew my rating of this episode.

The story was well intentioned and I will say the tie-in with Susan B. Anthony breaking the law was very clever.  However, the episode just wasn't all that interesting.

I doubt we'll ever see the "Femme Fatale" character again.  Don't feel bad for her.  I heard she got a job doing reviews for TV Guide under the pen-name "Susan Stewart."

BTW, our very own Pocketowl spotted something interesting in this episode.  Take a look at the picture in Femme Fatale's living room.  I won't comment on it; I'll just let you ponder its significance.  Thanks to Youri for the screen shot.

PowerProf.

The Professor just wants to have some quality time with his girls.  However, Townsville's never ending attacks by monsters and villains leave little opportunity for the Utonium family.  The ever-idealistic Professor attempts to solve the problem by becoming a super hero himself.  Using the old adage, "If you can't beat them, join them," he invents a super suit that gives him powers on par with the PPGs.  All seems well until the Professor embarrasses the girls with his "square" lingo and unsolicited advice.

The first half that chronicled the Utonium's failed attempts at family bonding was a bit drawn out.  In particular, the "peek-a-boo hijinks" part was cute, but extremely padded.  Also, the Professor's "super suit" was a little bland.  I guess the animators tried to model it after the Professor's lab coat.  Now, onto the fun parts:

• Narrator: The family that slays together, stays together.
• Professor: Let's get 'jiggly' with it.
• Blossom: ...and maybe this will teach you to leave jail before you paid your debt to society!
• The Professor embarrassing the heck out of Buttercup.
• The prisoners' taunts to Buttercup: "sugar muffin," "pudding pie," "cupcake," "booger bear," etc.
• Bubbles was a bed wetter!
• Helmets and elbow pads?!  Hahahaha!
• Professor: Not so quickly Mojo Jojo!  Blossom (whispering): It's fast Professor, fast.
• Mojo: Oh that is so lame!  You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!
• Junior varsity bacci ball?

The ending was a bit predictable, but overall, it was a pretty good episode.

Moral Decay

This episode was great!  The girls each earn a dollar for cleaning the house.  Blossom and Bubbles are happy, but Buttercup is...ecstatic!  Buttercup becomes instantly obsessed with money.  In her excitement, she accidentally knocks out one of Bubbles' teeth.  The girls then find out that if you put a tooth under your pillow, the tooth fairy will leave a Sacagawea dollar coin in place of it.  Buttercup embarks on an unending quest for more knocked-out teeth to satisfy her craving for currency.  However, things take a turn for the worse when Buttercup attacks Townsville's villains for no good reason.  They all band together (with the help of Blossom and Bubbles) to get revenge on Buttercup.

This has to be one of the best "Buttercup" episodes ever.  Her character development is a little surprising, but definitely welcomed.  Yes, there's definitely a little bit villain in Buttercup!

The writing was pretty tight except for one question left dangling: "Will all those characters be toothless from now on?"  Yeah, yeah; I already know the answer...it's no.  The point I'm making is that teeth don't grow back.   Even if you rationalize that the PPG's teeth are "baby teeth," their permanent ones aren't scheduled to grow in for a while.  Ah, the heck with it.  No more nitpicking!  It's just a TV show!

So many awesome scenes, I can't list them all.  A must see episode for sure.

Meet the Beat Alls

Pure genius.  What else can I say?  The writers created an entire episode constructed almost entirely of Beatles references.  It was funny, smart, and clever.  I thought for sure they would have played the "Pete Best" angle by making the Beat Alls replace a member of the group just before they became famous.  Oh well.

I'm not a big Beatles fan and I'm not old enough to remember the whole Beatles craze.  However, it was still extremely enjoyable to watch this episode.  The story holds up pretty well even if you've never heard of the fab four.

Any complaints?  Well, the way in which the "Moko Jono" character was resolved was kinda weak.  It might have been funnier if the girls didn't set the whole thing up, and instead, she was deported back to Japan or something.  Also, the Beat Alls used the exact same technique to defeat the girls every single time.  That's a bit silly.  I mean, just DON'T stand together in the SAME spot.  Simple, eh?  Anyway, it's still an awesome episode.

Power Lunch*

The Gangreen Gang raids a local convince store and starts eating everything in sight.  The PowerPuff Girls intervene and zap them with their eye beams.  For some reason, the laser blasts interact with the just eaten food to give the Gangreen Gang super powers!  An all-out battle between the super heroes and super villains commences!

This was a really cool episode.  I liked how the abilities imparted to the gang were connected to the kind of food or beverage consumed.  While the whole concept of the girls eye-beams causing a mutation in the food is a little too silly for my tastes, the rest of the episode more than makes up for it.

There were a whole bunch of incredibly funny scenes:

• Brain freeze!
• Pringles!
• Ace: Everybody freeze!
• Blossom: Is that all you... WHOMP!
• Bubbles being used as a punching bag.
• Buttercup: Missed me! WHOMP!
• Blossom: Well well well.  It looks like somebody's super powers went down the drain.  Ace (nervously): Eh heh heh.  Blossom: Luckily we still have ours.  Ace: No, wait!  We can explain!
• Narrator: I knew everything would come out all right in the end.  (Yeah, I know it's a recycled line, but it still makes me laugh.)

All this and crackers for $1.49?!  I'm there dude!

Helter Shelter*

Bubbles keeps bringing animals home and hiding them.  The Professor discovers the contraband critters and tells Bubbles not to do it anymore.  So what does she do?  She brings home a baby whale.  Instead of sending the whale back to his natural environment, the girls attempt to hide the baby whale in obviously inadequate places around the house for comedic effect.  Eventually the girls come up with the idea of flooding the lab with water and sticking the whale down there.  Say what?!  Let me get this straight...you're going to hide a baby whale in the lab?  The very place where the Professor spends most of his time?  That is, after you fill it with water thus ruining everything in the process.  And you're doing all this because you DON'T want to make the Professor angry?  Am I the only one shocked at how dumb this all sounds?

It was an episode that tried too hard to be funny.  However, there were some positive highlights:

• Return of the girls' space suits!
• Bubbles constantly trying to hide the whale in the exact same place.  Heh.
• Bubbles: He needs water!  Gang way!  Blossom: It's not enough, Bubbles.  Bubbles: I'll get another glass!
• I got a pair of sneakers just like the Professor!  Well, without the lights.
• The Professor's inquisitive nature preventing him from leaving the house without first  dissecting his band new sneakers to find out how they work.

The ending stampede animation was lame.  Come on now.  Repeating the same group of animals over and over...that's so early Hanna Barbara.  BTW, mammals are animals.