Episode 24 – Collision Course

In which He-Man just floats around.

Gepple and Meldock report to Master Sebrien that the defensive shield is going to collapse shortly, so they need to turn it off temporarily while they fix it. To prevent the Mutants from attacking while the shield is off, they have invented a device called a reverse gravity generator, which will repel anything that attempts to approach Primus. So if I’ve understood this properly, the rubbish shield is going to be temporarily replaced with something that sounds infinitely better, but there’s no long-term plan to install the reverse gravity generator permanently?

Meldock: “And this reverse gravity generator can be yours, for the bargainous price of £17.99.”

There follows an inordinately lengthy sequence in which BH and Stackhorn are sent to Primus to steal the plans for the reverse gravity generator, a task which they surprisingly achieve. Once they return the plans to Skeletor, the Mutants’ scientists set to work building their own version of the device, which I’m sure will form the centrepiece of some grandiose and stupid scheme.

And so it proves. Skeletor decides to use the reverse gravity generator to push Primus out of its normal orbit, a surprisingly intelligent plan that rapidly begins to cause havoc on the planet’s surface. Gepple and Meldock attempt to rig up their own reverse gravity generator, but of course, it doesn’t work, so this particular crisis is up to He-Man to solve.

He-Man gathers up the troops (this week involving Sagittar, a guy called Icarus, and that Egyptian dude from last time) and takes the Starship Eternia to Denebria, where they quickly track down Skeletor’s reverse gravity generator. Unfortunately, they also find Skeletor, who puts on a party hat and does a loony little dance. I don’t know why and I suspect the episode’s writer didn’t either.

Flogg: “Yeah, sorry about Skeletor, lads. He’s been under a lot of strain lately, and I think it’s getting to him.”

I should possibly mention at this point that there’s a tedious subplot going on at the same time, in which Caz learns that just because he’s a shepherd and not a fighter pilot, it doesn’t mean his job is any less important. It’s pretty boring and I won’t bring it up again, not least because Caz will have forgotten about it by the time he next appears.

Stackhorn is incompetent enough to fiddle with the controls of the reverse gravity generator without understanding what he’s doing, prompting a none-too-amusing sequence in which He-Man and Skeletor are alternately pinned to the floor and fly up to the ceiling. He-Man seems content to spend the rest of the episode shooting at Skeletor, but Sagittar reminds him that they actually have a job to do. After this reminder, He-Man uses the gravity generator to return Primus to its original orbit.

 

In today’s adventure…

Great advice from He-Man this time, who suggests that we should never get into the fridge. Obviously Boris Johnson never saw this episode.

He-Man: “Hey, Caz, why don’t you hide in this coffin?”

 

Character checklist

The gang today consists of Prince Adam, He-Man, Master Sebrien, Mara, Sagittar, Icarus, the Egyptian dude, Gepple, Meldock, Elcon, Krax, Gleep, Caz, Skeletor, Flogg, Stackhorn and BH.

He-Man: “Decided to take a few of the less prominent characters out for a spin today. There are toys to be sold, you know.”

 

Excuse given for Prince Adam’s disappearance

No excuse today, but to compensate, we are treated to an inexplicably lengthened version of the transformation sequence, which features He-Man shouting, “I have the Power!” twice, just in case we didn’t hear him the first time.

 

Insults

Caz addresses no one in particular as “slimy Mutants”, which is nice for him and must have made his day go much quicker. Elsewhere, Skeletor calls Stackhorn an “imbecile”, which seems fair enough, and he also describes Flogg, Stackhorn, BH, Sagittar, Icarus and Egyptian boy as “party poopers”.

Stackhorn: “Yeah, okay, I deserved that.”

 

Silence, Scientists!

Meldock gets a point this week for indulging himself in a melodramatic faint when Gepple admits that Meldock was right about something. I’m pretty certain that Meldock is going to win the ultimate award for most irritating scientist, though it is a hard-fought battle.

Meldock: 20

Gepple: 12

Krax: 13

Elcon: 17

 

Does it have the Power?

Well, there’s nothing too much wrong with it, but it’s not overly good either. In fact, it’s almost wilfully average; the only thing you can really say in its favour is that Skeletor gets some pretty amusing dialogue. I’m still not sure about his decision to throw a party though; that just seemed weird. I’d probably skip this one, to be honest.

Episode 23 – Adam’s Adventure

In which Skeletor comes this close to Working It Out.

As is pretty customary for this series, the episode begins with a short segment on board the Mutant mother ship, in which Skeletor outlines his latest crazy scheme to Flogg. This time, he’s invented a brainwave scanner, which he intends to use to destroy He-Man in some no doubt convoluted way. The first stage of this plan is to get a scan of He-Man’s brain, and so consequently Skeletor asks Flogg to attack Primus in order to draw He-Man out.

Skeletor: “I’ve got great muscles, for a skeleton.”

In the course of a fairly epic space battle, Skeletor successfully takes a reading of He-Man’s brain patterns, and crows that he will now be able to track He-Man wherever he goes. With this achieved, the Mutants retreat, leaving He-Man to wonder what they were up to. He returns to Primus, where he transforms back into Adam, and flies back out into space on board the Starship Eternia with a wide range of our heroes to witness a special eclipse.

Hydron: “Thanks for the cheap Ray Bans, Adam.”

Once they’re out in space, though, the Mutants attack, vastly outnumbering the Starship Eternia, and demand that it land on Denebria. Adam determines that he cannot become He-Man because there are far too many witnesses around, so instead he and Master Sebrien decide to comply with the Mutants.

Things take a turn for the interesting, however, when Skeletor looks over his captives, and realises that his brainwave scanner indicates that one of them is He-Man. Now is the Moment. Surely, finally, Skeletor can deduce that Prince Adam – who he knew on Eternia but did not come in the time machine in A New Beginning – must be He-Man. Admittedly, this version of Adam doesn’t look as much like He-Man as the Filmation versions, but the similarity is still pretty uncanny.

But no. Now is not the Moment. Skeletor intends to use the brainwave scanner to narrow down exactly who is He-Man in disguise, but fortuitously, Slush Head breaks the scanner. Instead, Skeletor puts all our heroes in an ore-crushing chamber, turns it on, and waits for He-Man to reveal himself. He even makes some jokes while this is going on. That’s pretty dastardly, Skeletor. Boo, hiss.

Slush Head: “It’s a tough gig, but someone’s got to be The Incompetent One.”

Luckily, Flogg seems to have no stomach for casual murder, so he calls a halt to the ore-crushing proceedings. This is a crushing disappointment for Skeletor. I’m so funny sometimes, I make myself cry with laughter. Anyway, Skeletor and Flogg begin new investigations into finding out He-Man’s identity, but this is halted when Gepple throws some growth pills at the neighbouring vegetation, which makes the plants grow very large and entangle everybody in vines.

Safely concealed in the vines, Adam is able to make his transformation into He-Man, and from this point onward it’s the usual tits-up business for Skeletor and the Mutants. Our heroes make their escape with ease, while Skeletor ends up with a slightly surprising sneezing fit from his hitherto unmentioned allergy to flowers.

Flogg: “Why are you sitting there like a rabbit?”

 

In today’s adventure…

Today, Adam and Drissy come across some walls with slogans such as “Skeletor rules” graffitied on them, and they advise us that vandalism is a bad thing. While I agree, I have to admit I sniggered a bit at the thought of Skeletor doing something as mindlessly petty as spray-painting his name on a wall. He isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but his plots usually have greater ambition than this.

 

Character checklist

A nicely efficient cast today: it’s Prince Adam, He-Man, Master Sebrien, Mara, Hydron, Flipshot, Drissy, Grot, Meldock, Gepple, Krax, a vaguely Egyptian new boy, Skeletor, Flogg and Slush Head. Caz usually appears with Drissy, but I didn’t spot him today; nor did I see Elcon, thank Christ.

 

Excuse given for Prince Adam’s disappearance

Realising that Mara is close to figuring out the secret identity business when He-Man shows up, Master Sebrien intervenes, by running behind a vine and pretending to be Adam. It appears that Sebrien is a master of impersonation, since this is enough to fool Mara and Hydron, at least temporarily. Nonetheless, I can’t help but feel that this cartoon is building up to Mara finding out about Adam and He-Man.

Mara: “Probably shouldn’t have put ‘bondage’ on my Tinder profile.”

 

Insults

The Egyptian-like new goody refers to the Mutants as “cowards”, and Flipshot tells Skeletor that he’s “crazier than usual”, but as ever, it’s Skeletor who walks the field with the insults. He addresses Flogg as an “imbecile”, describes He-Man as a “coward”, and refers to the vines as an “overgrown houseplant”.

 

Silence, Scientists!

I’m going to award Meldock a point this week, because it’s been ages since he’s had one and I wouldn’t want him to lose the lead. This time, he gets his point because there’s something seriously wrong with his animation; it looks like the usual animator was on holiday, and been replaced by someone who could barely draw at all. If anything, he looks like a Poundland version of Varys from Game of Thrones.

Meldock: 20

Gepple: 12

Krax: 13

Elcon: 17

Meldock: “Just hope I don’t end up the same way Varys did.”

 

Egg on your face?

A surprise return for this category here. For all its other faults, this cartoon doesn’t tend to go for the side-splitting joke of people getting food thrown at them. This week, however, Gepple suffers the indignity of having an enormous tomato land on his head.

 

Does it have the Power?

This one’s a good one, involving a welcome return to the theme of the Adam/He-Man dichotomy. It’s perhaps not explored in as much depth as it was in Prince Adam No More, but in its favour, I think this is the closest Skeletor has ever been to realising the truth. His Filmation incarnation never even seemed to give the matter much thought, so it’s interesting that this version is the one that nearly got to the bottom of the situation.

The episode itself is a good mix of action and decent dialogue (apart from one pretty lame joke from Slush Head), and no one was particularly annoying. It was perhaps a little too reliant on lucky coincidences – Slush Head breaking the brainwave scanner was a bit too convenient, and Gepple’s plant growth pills were pretty handy, though in fairness, the growth pills were introduced in an early scene, so they didn’t come out of nowhere.

All in all, this one’s a nicely constructed, mildly interesting exploration of the secret identity malarkey, with added danger and peril for our heroes. Recommended.

Episode 22 – The Mind Lens

In which our heroes give themselves a cool-sounding name.

Skeletor, Quake and BH are busy digging a big hole on Denebria, looking for ancient magical artefacts. Luckily and predictably enough, they find one – the Mind Lens, a device that allows its user to take over someone else’s mind. In an intelligent world, Skeletor would choose to take over He-Man’s mind, and then it would be Game Over; naturally, of course, Skeletor goes for the much less sane option of taking over the mind of Grot the Gardener.

Adam: “Give me the permanent marker. I’ll draw a moustache on his face while he’s unconscious.”

Grot dutifully goes mental, alerting Prince Adam, Drissy and Caz to the fact that something fishy is afoot. Before they can investigate, though, Skeletor turns the Mind Lens onto Hydron, who proceeds to ruin a surefire victory by ordering the Starship Eternia to retreat. He then trundles into the Council Chamber and preaches peace – or, at least, the laying down of arms on the understanding that the Mutants will do the same.

Master Sebrien’s fallen for this one several times before, and to his credit, he doesn’t fall for it again. He tells Hydron to shut the fuck up, which results in Hydron exclaiming, “Right! Well, if you won’t disarm with words, I’ll make you disarm by force!” He then struts out of the Council Chamber, and everyone just watches him go. Master Sebrien casually comments, “There’s something wrong with Hydron.” You think, do you, Sebrien? There’s something wrong. Well, I’m glad we’ve got you around to figure things out. I’m not sure we’d have got there on our own.

Flipshot: “Is this odd behaviour for Hydron? I can’t quite decide.”

Hydron’s next Skeletor-induced move is to nick off with the Starship Eternia and attempt to pilot it directly into the Floating City of Leviton. Luckily, He-Man and Flipshot manage to get on board; Flipshot is – of course – no use whatsoever, but He-Man averts disaster. Unfortunately, just in time for the commercial break, Skeletor finally goes for the sensible option and takes over He-Man’s mind.

Released from Skeletor’s control, Hydron helps Flipshot to land the Starship Eternia safely, while He-Man staggers about whinging that Skeletor has got inside his mind – which I’d have thought would be fine, since He-Man barely uses it. Realising that he’s become a danger to society, He-Man runs off into the forest, hoping to “get to Skeletor before it’s too late”. Given He-Man is on Primus and Skeletor is on Denebria, it would appear that He-Man has forgotten that you can’t actually run to another planet.

He-Man: “Arrrggghhh! Turn that bloody John Denver music off!”

Skeletor now has the upper hand. There are numerous, entirely safe ways he could dispose of He-Man. He could make He-Man walk off a cliff, or into a volcano. He could make He-Man draw his magic sword and cut his own fool head off. He could make He-Man eat steak and kidney pie until his stomach explodes. He could do pretty much anything, all from the safety of Denebria. So what does Skeletor do? He gets in his ship and flies to Primus, to “finish He-Man off in person”. It’s sometimes blindingly obvious that Skeletor doesn’t even want to win; it’s the only explanation for such blunderingly stupid moves.

Master Sebrien and the other goodies all join hands in some hippy-dippy ceremony to break the power of the Mind Lens, and to turn it on Skeletor. There’s no explanation of how this is achieved, obviously, but He-Man is able to take over Skeletor’s mind and orders him to attack Primus. I’m not sure why this is such a great idea, but it seems to work: Skeletor and the Mutants are defeated, and go flying home. He-Man and his mates finish up by standing around in Leviton bellowing rubbish about how they are the Galactic Guardians. First I’ve heard of it.

Flipshot: “Maybe having a cool new name for our gang will compensate for the crushing emptiness in our souls.”

 

In today’s adventure…

Hydron advises Caz to never run while carrying a sharp object. Instead, you should walk with it, making sure that it’s pointed down. Or, in the case of the animation in this little segment, pointed at your crotch. Hydron is also good enough to wink at the camera, which is something which always unaccountably gets my goat.

 

Character checklist

Plenty of characters to choose from today: Prince Adam, He-Man, Master Sebrien, Mara, Hydron, Flipshot, Sagittar, Spinwit, Caz, Drissy, Grot, Werban, Skeletor, Flogg, Quake, and BH (i.e. Evil Ram-Man).

 

Excuse given for Prince Adam’s disappearance

Even under Skeletor’s control, He-Man is able to come up with a plausible excuse for Adam’s absence: “He jumped out of the escape hatch as the ship landed.” Surely this is final, incontrovertible proof that Skeletor has known about the secret identity claptrap all along?

He-Man: “Don’t think about the secret identity. Don’t think about it.”

 

Insults

Skeletor’s in a filthy mood this week, coming up with all sorts of imaginative insults. He starts off by calling Quake and BH “mud-brains”, then tells BH that he is less intelligent than a “nitwit”. He refers to Grot as a “nature-boy” and a “pea-brained lummox”, to Flogg as an “idiot” and a “mutton-headed Mutant”, and rather mildly, to Flipshot as “that nasty Flipshot person”.

While under Skeletor’s control, Hydron calls Flipshot a “fool” and what sounds something like a “stupid wet sock”, though I suspect I’ve misheard that one. He also refers to Master Sebrien and the Council as “moss-bound old fogies”. Also under Skeletor’s influence, He-Man describes Leviton as a “hunk of cosmic slime” and Flipshot as a “joke”.

Finally, and not under anyone’s influence, Werban describes He-Man as a “dangerous madman”. I’ve been saying that for years.

He-Man: “I may be a dangerous madman, but you’ve got to admit that Flipshot is a dick and deserves this.”

 

Does it have the Power?

I’ll say this for the New Adventures: while it does sometimes (last week, for example) recycle episode plots from the Filmation series, that’s pretty rare. By the end of She-Ra, the storylines really were beginning to get a bit tired, since it was being produced by essentially the same core of writers and they seemed to be running out of inspiration. The New Adventures, by contrast, tends to feel fairly fresh. It’s not always a success, but the storylines do seem different.

This week is a good example. It’s not a pinnacle of high culture, but it is a pleasingly entertaining way of spending 20 minutes, and I can’t recall a single time Skeletor managed to take control of He-Man’s mind in the old series, thus making it a fresh story. It has a few flaws, of course – why does it take everyone an absolute age to realise that Hydron is not acting on his own initiative? Why doesn’t Skeletor just make He-Man shoot himself in the head? – but if we’re willing to ignore those logic gaps, I think we have ourselves a winner here.

Episode 21 – Skeletor’s Revenge

In which Skeletor tries to derail a tram.

At the unveiling of a new supercomputer, Master Sebrien explains proudly that the computer links all of Primus’ systems – including the defensive shield – into one network. I am sure that I can’t be the only one who thinks that’s a bad idea. If Skeletor manages to hack one system, he’ll have control of them all. I’m going to award myself another bag of Fruit Pastilles if that’s what happens in this episode.

And it’s another bag of Fruit Pastilles for me. The next scene introduces a gentleman called Micros, a computer hacker working for Skeletor. He creates a “computer creature” called an Argazoid, and introduces it into the supercomputer’s system. Naturally, it immediately begins causing chaos by hijacking a bus, prompting He-Man’s speedy intervention. (It also prompts some appalling animation of He-Man running along a large glass tubeway, so badly that it looks like he’s running backwards.)

He-Man: “I am running forwards! I am!”

With the immediate crisis averted, Master Sebrien realises how stupid it is to network every single computer system together. He doesn’t, however, suggest simply turning the supercomputer off and downgrading to the previous computers. That would be too sensible. Instead, they decide to rip off the plot to Day of the Machines by converting He-Man, Gepple, Elcon and a new boy called Artilla into digital signals and beaming them into the computer to capture the Argazoid.

Rather surprisingly, Elcon manages to neutralise the Argazoid very quickly – which is lucky, because the Argazoid is given to shrieking “Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah” and is thus really annoying. Unfortunately, before its capture, the Argazoid has already managed to sabotage the shield, allowing Skeletor, Flogg and the other Mutants to land on Primus and take over.

Artilla: “Rather surprisingly, I feel like I’m the best dressed person here.”

Skeletor extracts Elcon and Gepple from the computer, but decides the most intelligent thing to do is to leave He-Man on it. Personally, I’d have burned He-Man to CD and then snapped the CD in half, but maybe Skeletor’s getting round to that. Anyway, for whatever reason, with He-Man and Artilla still inside the computer, they for no readily apparent reason opt to team up with the Argazoid to effect an escape.

This is achieved by the Argazoid turning the computer systems against Skeletor, and playing all sorts of amusing tricks on him. How we laughed as robots started throwing mud at Skeletor. How we chortled as mechanical arms grabbed Flogg and Micros. How the tears of mirth streamed down our cheeks as Micros himself was digitised and sucked into the computer. The hilarity only stops when Skeletor realises the whole invasion is a write-off, and he and Flogg make their escape.

Skeletor: “Run away!”

The scientists reverse the digitisation process, and He-Man and Artilla emerge from the computer, much to Mara’s apparent delight, who eyes He-Man with ill-concealed lust. The Argazoid is left inside with Micros, who is set to work repairing the computer systems that were damaged in the hacking. Then, for no particular reason, everyone starts clapping as the episode mercifully fades to black.

 

In today’s adventure…

Gleep instructs one of his idiot robot friends about the correct way to cross the road. I suppose a lesson on the importance of not over-relying on one computer system would be too much to ask.

 

Character checklist

Today’s selection includes Prince Adam, He-Man, Master Sebrien, Mara, Artilla, Elcon, Gepple, Gleep, Skeletor, Flogg, Micros, the Argazoid, and I’m pretty sure I spotted Slush Head at one point. There are also very brief appearances for lots of locked up goodies, including Meldock, Krax, Hydron, Flipshot, Sagittar, that tusked dude from The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword, and possibly Spinwit.

Tusky: “Just biding my time until the right moment to be introduced properly.”

 

Excuse given for Prince Adam’s disappearance

Adam’s on his own this week when he needs to transform, so reasonably enough he doesn’t mess about explaining himself to people who aren’t there.

 

Insults

Skeletor obviously enjoyed his confrontation with Dukan last week, since he recycles the insult of “old-timer” for use on Master Sebrien. He also addresses He-Man as his “erstwhile enemy”, which is alliteratively pleasing, if not particularly insulting.

Skeletor: “Just popping along for a quick gloat. Don’t mind me.”

 

Silence, Scientists!

Jesus, when will the writers realise these guys aren’t funny? Elcon and Gepple earn themselves a point each within 30 seconds of the episode’s start by repeating that tiresome old bickering about who’s invented something. They also get another point each at the end for fighting over who gets to undigitise He-Man. So the scores now stand at:

Meldock: 19

Gepple: 12

Krax: 13

Elcon: 17

 

Does it have the Power?

It’s like a slightly more plausible but somewhat less entertaining remake of Day of the Machines. The plot is basically the same, but a little bit more time is spent on explaining how He-Man gets into the computer; as I recall, in Day of the Machines, he simply shrinks himself and walks in, whereas this time he actually converts himself into digital energy, which is far saner. Making the conceit a bit more realistic doesn’t help to make the story more enjoyable, though it has to be said that this episode doesn’t adopt the overly earnest tone that this series sometimes has. I’m happy to describe this one as a reasonably successful episode, though I do have to wonder why it’s called Skeletor’s Revenge.

Episode 20 – Fading Star

In which Skeletor obligingly plays cowboys with some old dude.

Primus receives a distress call on an ancient frequency, so He-Man, Hydron and Flipshot take the Starship Eternia out to investigate. They find a very old spaceship, containing a stasis pod – inside which is a dude called Dukan, a cowboy hero from Primus’ relatively recent past. He-Man and Hydron rescue Dukan just in time, since Skeletor and Flogg show up and blow the spaceship to smithereens. On learning that he has failed to destroy He-Man as well, Skeletor inexplicably erupts into paroxysms of demented laughter, which goes on for a good 15 seconds too long.

The scientists and Master Sebrien revive Dukan, at which point it emerges that Dukan and Sebrien are old mates from way back. Nonetheless, Sebrien assigns Adam the task of reacquainting Dukan with Primus, which just goes to show how pleased he is to have his friend back. Giving Adam this job is also a little odd; surely someone native to Primus would be a better pick?

Master Sebrien: “Great to see you again, Dukan. Now, why don’t you piss off with Adam for a while?”

Adam doesn’t take his job very seriously; the very next scene shows that he’s abandoned Dukan with Caz and some other kids. Dukan tells stories of his past, swiftly proving to be an arrogant moron, and then develops the stupid idea of attempting one last heroic venture: defeating Skeletor. I’m going to make a bet with myself at this stage: if the remainder of the episode features Dukan failing to beat Skeletor and requiring rescue from He-Man, I will buy myself a big bag of Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles.

I feel entirely justified in ending this review right here, right now, by simply saying that I am off to Sainsbury’s for the Fruit Pastilles. If you want further details, I’ll briefly summarise by saying there’s a stupid cowboy gunfight, in which Skeletor cheats (surprise, surprise), after which He-Man, Hydron and Flipshot intervene to both save the day and make Dukan feel good about himself again. I wish I could summon up enough enthusiasm to type “hurrah”, but I just can’t.

 

In today’s adventure…

Before laughing in an entirely insane way, Meldock and Caz lecture the audience on the importance of getting a balanced diet, which should include “protein, grain, fruit and vegetables”. But what about Fruit Pastilles?

Caz: “Answers on a postcard, please.”

 

Character checklist

This fairly well-populated episode involves Prince Adam, He-Man, Hydron, Flipshot, Master Sebrien, Mara, Caz, Drissy, Dukan, Meldock, Elcon, Gepple, Krax, Gleep, Skeletor, Flogg and Slush Head.

 

Excuse given for Prince Adam’s disappearance

Adam ushers Drissy and Caz out of the room at the beginning of the episode, saying, “You go on ahead,” before transforming into He-Man.

 

Insults

This episode hits as many cowboy clichés as it can, and a large part of that is regular nonsensical insults. Consequently, I think we may have a new record for number of insults. Dukan is the main perpetrator of these. Starting relatively sedately with calling Caz a “varmint”, he swiftly moves on to refer to Skeletor as a “bag of buzzard bones”, a “varmint” and a “lying sidewinder”, before describing He-Man as a  “young whippersnapper” and Gleep as his “bucket-of-bolts-buckeroo”.

Skeletor: “At least I’m getting into the spirit of this.”

Skeletor retaliates strongly, addressing Dukan as “Grandpa”, an “old-timer”, a “crazy old fool” and a “walking antique” in rapid succession. Caz describes Dukan as a “phoney” and Skeletor as the “most evil, rotten, no-good villain in the whole universe”, while Skeletor refers to He-Man as a “goody two shoes”. In terms of imagination, however, Skeletor rather lets the side down by telling Flogg and the other Mutants that they are “fools”.

 

Silence, Scientists!

Aside from a very minor role for Meldock in the moral segment, the scientists show admirable restraint today by appearing but not speaking. They are thus absolutely perfect. I wish other characters this week had had a similar attitude toward speaking.

Adam: “If any one of you four says a single word, I will murder you.”

 

Does it have the Power?

I’m half wondering about starting a new section to detail the number of things in this series borrowed from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was airing around about the same time. Just this week, there’s at least one thing, and three if you want to be pedantic and geeky, which I do. Firstly, Caz and Drissy have a holodeck at the start of the episode. Secondly, Dukan has a laser whip, just like the Ferengi do in their first appearance, The Last Outpost. Thirdly, and perhaps most unfairly, the episode A Fistful of Datas unnecessarily adopted a Western setting, just like this episode does. (That latter one is unfair because A Fistful of Datas didn’t air until 1992 or 1993, two or three years after The New Adventures of He-Man finished.)

Otherwise, I’m at a loss as to whether to describe this episode as predictable and boring, or massively irritating. Both apply to one degree or another. It’s predictable in terms of plot and Dukan’s characterisation, but I think it’s irritating that wins out: the cowboy theme pasted onto this episode is just incredibly grating. Either way you want to look at it, though, it’s not a winner.