#also yeah e3 didn't impress me

[awesomenessg]

‼️SPOILER ALERT FOR HELLUVA BOSS S2 E3 EXES AND OOHS‼️

I know this post is pretty late considering that the episode came out last Saturday and I apologize for that, but I still wanted to just make a nice quick and easy recap giving my overall thoughts.

But in short, omg this episode was fantastic! The entire time I felt like I was on a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions. I went from laughing, to crying, to laughing again, to being on the edge of my seat, and so much more. The deep emotional moments hit so hard for me. And it feels like the animation keeps getting better and better with every new episode. The fight scene near the end where Millie went off on a full-blown killing spree was the top tier highlight of the entire show's animation for me, even topping the fight scene from S1 E6 Truth Seekers imo, and that's saying a lot. What I also loved about that scene was that it shows just how powerful and a badass Millie can become when you anger her enough. You do not wanna be messing with her! >:) She is so protective of her husband, and you do not dare touch him or she will unleash her full fury out on you. And that scene really drove the point of the whole episode home that Millie and Moxxie's relationship is just so healthy and strong and not a force to be reckoned with. Not a single thing in Hell can tear them apart from each other.

And don't even get me started on this episode touching on Moxxie's backstory! When I said I was crying at one point in this I was not joking. I already had a feeling that his dad Crimson was not somebody to be trusted before this episode came out, but holy shit, I was not at all prepared to see just how evil and vile this character truly is. He is not only homophobic, sexist, and abusive to his own child, but the fact that he had the gall to straight up murder his own wife??!! Yeah... he's officially at the top of my list for worst Helluva Boss character now. Geez and I thought Stella was horrible, but Crimson has got even Stella beat at this point. And poor Moxxie did not deserve having to grow up in such a hostile environment and go through all that trauma. By the looks of the very end of the episode it seems like this won't be the last time we'll be seeing Crimson. This seems to be a set up for him to be a returning villain and I am all here for it.

As much as I didn't like Chaz because of him being an f-boy who sleeps around and just a really cringy character overall, I have to give credit where it's due and say that he was written very well and I do love his design and voice actor. Though I'm gonna be completely honest, part of me was kinda relieved that he got killed off at the end lol I just did not enjoy watching this selfish arrogant horny dude who was all talk and no show try to interfere with M&M's precious marriage.

Oh yeah and one other thing, why is nobody else talking about how Moxxie is such perfect bisexual representation? 💗💜💙 Being bi myself I just couldn't help but feel so seen the moment he confirmed it. Loona has always been my favorite character since the very beginning, but after this episode, I think Moxxie might just be a close second (and also because he's voiced by my all-time favorite voice actor Richard Horvitz).

Now the only thing that disappointed me about this episode was that Loona was barely in it at all. I was really hoping for more Loona moments, I missed seeing my baby wolf girl so much! 😢

So to sum this all up, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It was definitely worth the long wait. This show has not yet once failed to impress me. I hope it continues to head in the right direction and I cannot wait for the next episode! ❤️🖤🤍😈

#helluva boss #helluva boss season two #helluva boss s2 ep3 #exes and oohs #helluva boss exes and oohs #vivziepop #moxxie #helluva boss moxxie #helluva boss millie #helluva boss crimson #chazwick thurman #chaz #chaz thurman #helluva boss chaz

[fly-pow-bye]

ThunderCats Roar - “Prank Call”

Co-Executive Producer: Victor Courtright

Supervising Producer: Nate Cash

Producer: Marly Halpern-Graser

Story by: Victor Courtright

Teleplay by: Marly Halpern-Graser

Directed by: Jeremy Polgar

I was expecting a lot less from this episode just from that title, that’s for sure.

This episode starts with Lion-O talking about how, as Lord of the ThunderCats, he will not give up on fighting the forces of darkness, as the camera is zoomed right into his face. Gee, I wonder if he's not fighting those aforementioned forces of darkness, but actually doing something really mundane.

Big surprise, that turns out to be the case, as Lion-O is repeatedly punching a TV trying to get it to work. He's not lying about the darkness, he's just fighting against the darkness of a non-working TV. There's more of a joke here than one might realize. This is a problem, because there might not be any TV stores on Third Earth!

Tygra, the down-to-Earth straight man of this reboot's version of ThunderCats, decides to bring out his secret weapon...a TV manual that says "How to Television." If the grammar error was intentional, it really wouldn't fit Tygra as the down-to-Earth and by-the-book voice of reason. Lion-O decides to take all of this to heart and read along with him...

...or, he can just hit it with the Sword of Omens, and let the Eye of Thundara do all the work. Hooray for simplicity! Cheetara may also have a point about there probably being TV stores on Third Earth, because it does get at least one channel that airs the Silverhawks. Kids, that's another show by the same people who did ThunderCats. Maybe if this reboot does really well, we'll get "SilverHawks Squawk."

Unfortunately, this fictional reboot appears to be truer to the original than this one, as it's too slow and boring to appeal to today's kids. At least, that's what everyone seemed to imply about the original ThunderCats. WilyKit and WilyKat aren't swayed by the majesty of Commander Stargazer, and they want to go outside and explore. Tygra tells them that they can't go out to the wilderness by themselves unless they have a chaperone, and he specifically chooses the guy that just hit a TV with a sword. Well, it worked, so I can't argue with that logic.

Lion-O immediately jumps at the opportunity with a audible and visible "heck yeah", but the ThunderKittens respond with an audible and visible "that stinks." Lion-O tries to make his case.

Lion-O: Just us cool kids hanging out, getting into trouble, fun stuff!

Wait, us "cool kids"? Are they or are they not going to go with the "Lion-O is still a kid in a grown man's body" plot point from the original? They never really confirm this either way, though Roar's version of Exodus implies he was an adult even when he was escaping from his exploding home planet. WilyKit and Kat say that if he's a chaperone, he's one of those grownups, with Kat calling him "basically the same as Tygra."

We get a zoom in of his brain at that comment, which is extremely small. This is funny because he's not particularly intelligent. Honestly, I'm surprised he even had a brain. Cheetara comes up, saying that it's also not that bright of an idea to let the "baby king" babysit them, and Lion-O responds that he's basically an adult, which still leaves the answer to the “was he calling himself a kid because he’s still a kid in a grown man’s body” question vague, and there's no manual for that.

Tygra then takes out a book called "How to Responsible". I get it, like how the last manual was called "How to TV". Again, if the grammar error was intentional, it really wouldn't fit Tygra as the down-to-Earth and by-the-book voice of reason.

But no, he's not going to read some stinky manuals; he wants to be cool and hip, not by someone who is literally by-the-book. Lion-O doesn't want to be just a chaperone, he wants to be the best chaperone ever and a general "cool guy". First, he's a cool kid, and now he's a cool guy. I guess that "baby king" comment got to him, if a little bit less than "you're basically Tygra."

Using his and Snarf's knowledge of the coolest things on Third Earth, he takes them out surfing on the waves of the Jade Lagoon, swinging across the Bottomless Gorge, and telling stories about how he convinced a caveman to give him a time capsule. Less than a minute into this outing, the ThunderKittens are already calling him cool...well, almost cool. He rubs his cheeks with enthusiasm at that.

WilyKat points to a big rock with a bunch of pointer fingers pointing to a sign that says "Danger! Evil!! (Bad Stuff Inside!!!)" When the exclamation points get more numerous with each warning, one knows its serious. Even Lion-O knows this, as we don't get the way-too-easy joke about him just ignoring the sign and saying, "well, it must be safe!"

Instead, he tells WilyKit and Kat that they should leave it alone. Snarf nods to this oath of safety, which is fitting for the original Snarf without the annoyance of Snarf's way of speaking. WilyKit is not impressed by this, and says "whatever you say, Tygra."

So Lion-O kicks through the walls into the evil "danger evil" location, and they find a giant crystal in the middle of it. Lion-O gives some pause to interacting with it, thinking that it must be the evil stuff that sign was warning about, but the ThunderKittens immediately go out and touch it. Lion-O tries to raise some concerns, but WilyKit suggests that he's becoming Tygra. They get a lot less subtle about this here; Lion-O outright says that there should be a manual for that crystal. He's just setting himself up for the inevitable "you're just being like Tygra" talk, and he shuts his trap.

In the opposite end of the "how much one shuts their trap" line, the crystal then lights on fire and reveals that it was calling Mumm-Ra. Those telephone sounds aren't just to sound cool; it turns out that this crystal is like a giant telephone, and it only has one number on its speed dial. Mumm-Ra answers what a "who dares to call the tomb of Mumm-Ra", and WilyKit and Kat know exactly what to do.

We get the titular prank call, with WilyKat declaring himself as the evil plumber. Lion-O, again, tries to get the kids to stop doing that, but they respond by reminding him that they did kick his bony butt. Wow, a hint at continuity? Say it ain't so! Well, okay, they're going to kick his bony butt in any other episode featuring him, so it could be a coincidence.

Snarf is even more the voice of reason even if he doesn't use it in this reboot, and Lion-O eventually tells him that he shouldn't be like Tygra. It's a good downwards progression for Lion-O in this episode. He starts out as kind of the voice of reason, and then he just decides to be the irresponsible caretaker that joins in on the mischief.

He does have a reason for that. After convincing Mumm-Ra to screw his cauldron to fix his plumbing problem, causing his lair to flood, they laugh it up. Sure, they angered an evil ever-living guy, but one of the kids called Lion-O the best chaperone ever, so it must be fine for him to do that!

While Lion-O has a brain that is easily breakable, Mumm-Ra's is a bit bigger, as he eventually realizes what's going on. This crystal has a few other abilities, including teleportation, as he's able to reach through the crystal and grab the ThunderKittens right into it. Turns out, this was a crystal he had that he forgot about, even with all the pointer fingers surrounding it, and he knows how to use it. Well, sort of; Mumm-Ra does seem to share Lion-O's hatred of using manuals, as even he doesn't know all the features of the crystal. He doesn't even know where he teleported the ThunderKittens to, only hoping that it took them somewhere nasty.

He does know one other feature of this crystal; it can store and give him evil energies, turning Mumm-Ra into his buff form again. He's not as big now, but at sunset, he'll be at full power. Lion-O would try to stop him, but he realizes that he can't fly, and he's way up there floating on that phone-teleporter-evil-storer crystal.

Mumm-Ra, using the crystal to fly away, goes right back to his pyramid, and Lion-O vows to go to the pyramid and fight him. But not before we get another close zoom-in on his face, getting a slightly off-model shot of him covering his mouth and saying "before Tygra finds out."

For the record, Cheetara guesses it, but Tygra and Panthro are kind of clueless. Hearing some commotion surrounding that evil pyramid outside, they go into the Thunder Tank and drive it, two of them assuming the baby king and the kids must not be there. Tygra may be the straight man in this episode and almost every other time, but even he is fallible.

Lion-O shows up at Mumm-Ra's lair first, and reveals that he found a way against the "but he's up so high" problem: use the robotic Snarf's ability to turn into a jetpack. Maybe he just assumed he had that feature, because he seems to do everything. One can even play video games on him, though they're too old-school for the ThunderKittens. Huh, I realize that's a continuing theme from the last episode, and thankfully for this episode, that's not something I'll say very often.

Unfortunately for Lion-O and fortunately for the TV-Y7-FV rating, he figured out that strategy too late, as the crystal has given Mumm-Ra enough power to be impervious to stabbing. The other ThunderCats show up, and they see that Lion-O just lost the kids.

Everyone knows where this is leading to, but Mumm-Ra has no time for "sorry I'm such a jerk" scenes. He immediately commands silence. Turns out, that crystal takes that as a command to petrify the others into not so flattering poses. One can see Tygra's now-sculpted behind, one cannot unsee it.

He then throws Lion-O and Snarf into the crystal. I would say that if he petrified Lion-O too, the episode couldn't continue, but it's more likely he wouldn't know how to activate that feature again since he didn't read that all important manual. Lion-O’s not the only person who needs to learn a lesson.

It turns out, the crystal teleported to this void, the same void that the ThunderKittens were sent to. They tell him that there's absolutely no way out of this void, which only contains carpet, and they begin to cry about it. It's really over-the-top, with them crying buckets of tears over this situation and blowing their nose with tissue paper. It's not played like a tear jerker scene, it seems more like a "huh, look at how much they're overreacting" joke.

They do throw in one plot-important aspect to that joke, giving it a point: Lion-O asks where did they get that tissue paper from. This scene isn't funny, so we can't use the Roger Rabbit excuse, but it turns out that paper came from somewhere. Let's see Mumm-Ra figure out exactly what it was, as he's gloating about how the ThunderCats are defeated without him even worrying about reading a manual.

Lion-O: You mean this manual?!

It turns out, manuals are good! That's the lesson of the day, kids: make sure to be educated, and Lion-O had to learn this by having every other option be unavailable to him. That's how lessons should be learned!

While he may have found out how to get out of the void thanks to that manual, the sun still sets, and Mumm-Ra's power is now at its maximum. He's big enough to use the ThunderCats base as a chair again. However, he does not c, because reading the manual gave Lion-O knowledge beyond knowledge, giving him the ability to just talk to the crystal to undo all of that evil stuff.

The joke, of course, is that this mystical crystal is more like one of those smart home devices. It's even activated by saying, "hey Crystal", and it talks to him like a Google Assistant or Alexa. See, even ThunderCats has to go with modern times!

We get our fight scene, and yes, one of the actions is a "mummy butt spanking" from Panthro. One can see Mumm-Ra's not-nearly-as-sculpted cheeks, and they cannot unsee it. Outside of that, it's a decent fight scene, with one particularly neat effect throughout it: as one of the evil actions the crystal did was give Mumm-Ra the power, he's constantly fluctuating between his skeletal form and his muscular form. The animation isn't as good as the last episode's, but I'd say the rest of this episode stacks up pretty well against that one. At the end, Lion-O shouts a one-liner to finish this whole scene, echoing the moral of the story:

Lion-O: You should have read the manual! (winks at camera)

Including that eye wink makes that line so cheesy, but I'll accept it. At least it's self-aware about it. He decides to destroy the crystal, which causes Mumm-Ra to revert back to his skeleton form as he falls into the cauldron. Wait, I thought the cauldron was broken! Never mind. In the end, the day is saved, and Lion-O has learned not to trust glowing crystals. That wasn't exactly the lesson, but Tygra accepts it anyway.

Also, there's a "The End" title card drawn in crayon? Cartoons seem quite satisfied with just ending abruptly now, including every other ThunderCats Roar episode I've seen. It's not like this was the end of a running joke, it's just there. Seems like a minor thing to talk about, but I just found it kind of odd.

How does it stack up?

This one feels very similar to Boggy Ben, but it feels a lot more connected. I had no real issues with this episode other than the over-reliance on wacky face gags, something the last episode lacked. It has good pacing, and there's even a moral somewhere in here that the kids could learn.

Again, I was wondering if I should give this one rating or another, but in this case, it's whether it's a 4 or a 5. So far, this is the best episode I've seen, including some episodes after this one, so I might as well give it 5 cats. Maybe there will be better episodes that will make me re-rate this one, and I hope that's the case, but as it stands...

Next, we meet Mr. Driller.

← The Legend of Boggy Ben 🐈 Driller →

#fpb tcr #fpb reviews #thundercats roar