Mummies Alive! review and rec
I'm back from the dead! And how fitting, because of what I want to talk about in this post.
Funnily enough, I ended up watching Mummies Alive! because of a Super Best Friends wrestling video. I rarely watch their rustling vids but I checked that one out because of gifs, liked the intro a lot, and kept playing that vid while I cooked; when Woolie and Matt started singing the Mummies Alive! theme song, I was hit by a sudden wave of nostalgia and checked out its intro video.
The 90's was a golden age of cartoon theme songs
When I saw that all the episodes are on Youtube (the playlist cuts off but if you search for the rest of the 42 eps, they're on there), I knew what I had to do.
I thought I had watched the show and just forgot about all of it because nothing except for the intro rang familiar to me, but I noticed that the show ran in 1997, so I was a bit 'too old' and was all about MTV at the time. However, someone on a discussion board said this show was supposed to be for older audiences, and IDK if that's actually true, but watching some of it as an adult, it does have surprisingly mature themes. Compared to what I remember from Gargoyles, a much more popular show, this doesn't quite go as dark or consistently written, but I really enjoyed watching it for the character beats it did explore from time to time, and the humor. Amidst some of the cheesy quips and puns, there are a lot of moments that made me genuinely laugh.
My favorite aspect of the show by far is getting to see the mummies during downtime and/or adjusting to the modern world: technology, customs, food, etc. It was always a treat to see their fish-out-of-water and slice-of-life moments, and either TPTB could tell that was popular and/or they really enjoyed making those scenes, because toward the end, it's like they said, "Fuck it," and focused more on the mummies (Presley was even missing in a couple eps), to yield much hilarity: working in a coffee shop, body switching, de-aging, shrinking, monster truck racing, singing on stage... Amazing.
I'd say the show's biggest flaw, other than plotholes, occasionally shoddy pacing, and inconsistencies (some eps feel out of order) is that it misrepresents Egyptian mythology, like not getting Anubis right (awesome design, dumbed down henchman), and making the gods/spirits either villains or assholes. There could have been one or two benevolent or neutral ones, just saying.
The initial plot of Scarab trying to get Rapses' soul was sound, but it clearly wore thin after a while and Scarab could only be thwarted so many times before he looked like, well, a cartoon villain. So the writers brought in other villains, and some were good, others... not so good. The best ones IMO, were Chontra and Bes. Scarab became more and more fun to watch because of little quirks like wearing bunny slippers when he caught a cold, and in large part because of Heka, who was wonderfully snarky. One of my favorite moments is when the mummies went through a Beefy Burger drive-thru and she was working the register, wearing a little headset (hee!) and complaining as Scarab insisted his plan was foolproof. And it was!
There's also a surprising emotional connection between the characters that I wasn't expecting. I don't normally say "My feels," but man, did I feel them. Ja-Kal in particular surprised me, though I guess I should have expected him to get the most development because he's the leader. After the pilot, I thought he was just going to be the boring, serious, uptight hero, and he was sometimes, but his occasional silliness, the others mocking his stoicism, and his relationship with Presley in particular made him one of my favorites. I love his design and voice (the voice casting and animation style was all around great); while his backstory is standard manpain, it's done in such a way that I really felt for him, because it carries over in his protectiveness and sometimes parenting of Presley. He reminds me a lot of Jake in Animorphs and that became even more apparent in the arc with his brother, Arakh. As cliche as it is, I like how each of the mummies have clear strengths and weaknesses, and Ja-Kal's unyielding duty became a crutch that even he questioned toward the end of the series.
Nefer-Tina's my other favorite and it didn't surprise me at all that I loved her almost immediately. She's similar to Rachel in Animorphs (which is why it's a little awkward that I ship Nefer-Tina with Ja-Kal -.- I'm so predictable): she's courageous, impulsive to a fault, adventurous, fun-loving, and occasionally struggled with gender norms. She's also sweet and adorable as hell; Cree Summer (Foxy Love!) did a fantastic job voicing her. I can see why a lot of kids had crushes on her. She was The Chick, but she also wasn't (I appreciate that the show was equal-opportunity about damselling all the protagonists.) I think the only time her characterization fell flat to me was in "Loss of Face," but that ep screamed fanservice more than anything, lol.
My unpopular opinion is that I don't like Nefer-Tina with Pep. I get why people like it, it's ~bad boy/good girl~ and similar to Spuffy, but I got the sense that Nefer-Tina/Apep was supposed to be a doomed thing. Maybe that's why people like it? Apep was cool but his romance with Nefer-Tina was kind of a mess to me: love at first sight, "Be my queen!!" "I can't, I have a sacred duty!" "Ooh I love it when she plays hard to get!" Nefer-Tina offered herself and Presley as a prize if Apep won a race, so Apep tried to cheat by endangering Nefer-Tina, then sacrificed himself to save her... then came back to hand Presley to Scarab, to save Presley, to prove to Nefer-Tina how much he loved her? Then sacrificed himself again to save Presley? Yeah, I was happy with how that ep ended. Nefer-Tina seemed like the youngest mummy and had an idealized image of love (passion), then at the end, confessed that her granted wish caused her heartbreak. It seemed like a coming-of-age kind of thing for her, though kind of sad that she got her heart broken again later.
I preferred the way things played out in "True Believer," between Nefer-Tina and Bix. Sure, it was 'dorky nice guy pines for mysterious sexy chick," but it started out REALLY sweet, and I like how it contrasted with her previous relationship: her thing with Apep was a fiery, dramatic tragedy, but Bix was a quieter, 'two ships passing in the night' wistful kind of thing - more emotional than sensual - and even though he screwed up and almost screwed her over, I sympathized with both of them. And I like the literal callback of Bix convincing the conspiracy theory cop that the mummies were good and to leave them alone, it fully redeemed Bix in my eyes. (The cops initially made me wary, but I ended up liking them and their partnership. I really like their mutual thing of "I don't understand your interests, but I'll let you go off to your hobby because it makes you happy.")
I wasn't expecting to like Rath as much as I do, and it's kind of surprising to me how popular he is! I like that he's supposed to be the snippy intelligent one, but also looks physically formidable, especially in his snake armor And he's not a total genius all the time, sometimes he's like "idk what do" then makes an educated guess. His eps are arguably the best (at least, out of the ones that focus on one mummy), and one of my all-time favorite moments in the series is when he flat out told Chontra that he thinks of Presley like a son. That kind of sentiment is obvious with Ja-Kal, but it was out of left field coming from Rath, which made it so powerful. He's, IMO, a likable jerk with a heart of gold.
Though he mostly bickered with Armon to have the brains/brawn dichotomy, I like the scenes of Rath with Nefer-Tina, and I think there was something really interesting between Rath and Ja-Kal. Idk if I'd call it two sides of the same coin, but I liked it when Rath called out Ja-Kal on stuff using his perceptiveness and how he assumed the leadership position here and there because of his cunning or magic. I had assumed there would be animosity between them, like fighting over leadership, and there is a little of that but overall I got the sense that they respect each other, are brutally honest (which works for them), and complement each other's skills. I think there was a bit of untapped potential with their relationship and would have liked to see it explored more, but then again, that's how I feel about the show in general. I'll discuss more of Rath's eps in my Top Faves later, but he killed it in the 'alien' episode. I laughed so hard during his conversation with the nurse ("Don't those new bandages feel better?" "No"), and the FBI agent ("You don't have any organs!" "Of course I do. They're in a jar next to my sarcophagus.")
KAHTI!!! :3 so cute and protective. I love her. In most cartoons, cats are dumb antagonists who get beaten up, but it made sense for a cat to be on the heroes' side in this series. Although Kahti was sometimes the buttmonkey, she was also helpful and I was glad she came back after disappearing for a while. In universe, it makes sense that she would just go off and do her own thing. She was so sweet, and I especially like that moment of her happily frolicking in the garbage (as a Shabti flew a messenger plane overhead and stared at Armon, omg that was so randomly hilarious), and it was funny when Rath petted Kahti in another ep and was like, "Good sacred kitty," then brushed her to the side.
Armon, for all his physical strength, was definitely the weak link in terms of writing. He was what I expected Drax to be like in Guardians of the Galaxy: the one-dimensional, comic relief heavy. It was kind of disappointing because the others are so well done, but eh, it was a 90's cartoon so I cut the show some slack. There was some good stuff for Armon in "Body Slam," and a couple eps here and there, but overall he was there to crack jokes, eat, and bust heads. I really liked it when he went dancing with Nefer-Tina and Kimas; it was very cute, and nice to see different team dynamics. I like his bickering with Rath, but I really wish the show had explored the loss of his arm and how he got the metal one from the Pharaoh. It would have been really cool and we could have gotten to see more of his mom, other than in "Eye of the Beholder." Which brings me to:
cyborglovesong @ tumblr
Top Five Favorite Episodes
I love a lot of them, but if I had to narrow it down it would be:
5. I'm cheating already because this one's a three-way tie between "True Believer," "Loss of Face," and, "Dead Man Walking." I already talked about why I like "True Believer," but "Loss of Face," is.... uh, I like it for purely id-button reasons, I think I've re-watched it the most, and it went about as far into shippy territory as it could go, especially with Nefer-Tina/Ja-Kal. It's got a creepy sequence of the guys peeking into Nefer-Tina's sarcophagus (I'm not excusing it but it helps that she wasn't there), and the premise makes little sense because we know Scarab can transform. Maybe he was looking for a long-term thing? IDK, it was weird. The ep itself was very weird (holy inconsistency with Nefer-Tina's skin tone, Batman!) but it seemed to be shamelessly admitting it was cracky wish-fulfillment and even though I still don't think Nefer-Tina should have suddenly cared so much about being famous (and for modeling instead of racing), we can pretend the potion had mind-warping effects.
"Dead Man Walking" - I think this was the first solid ep of the series, after the second one. It's got a good message which I didn't feel was being too heavy-handed, mostly because Rath, even with amnesia, was still Rath. The homeless people were very likable and I looove the bit about one of them getting back his grandfather's watch. This show did a good job with bits of payoff like that (and when Presley used the boomera to fake out Scarab.) I have an issue with the old homeless people being ignored at the end, and that the conflict itself was so self-contained - I mean, why was Scarab only doing that in this episode? - but I like how it handled the amnesia trope, it delivered a PSA nicely, gave Rath development, and showed why he's a strong character on his own.
4. "Who's Who" - I was like FUCK YEAH, BODY-SWITCHING EP when I saw the title and laughed almost all the way through it. It even went beyond what I expected and switched Presley with Kahti, Scarab with Amut (hee, such an ugly-cute animal. And that part was priceless), and then Rath with Heka. It was cohesively written; though a little predictable in the initial pairing switches, I think that was a good basis and it was a blast watching the mummies react. Interesting how Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina switched up training exercises to match their new bodies, they seemed to like aspects of their switch, but Rath and Armon were very uncomfortable with theirs. I also lost it when Nefer-Tina gave orders then said, "This body makes me bossy." Hah! Take that, Ja-Kal. It would've been nice to see even more body-switching between the mummies, even just a quick montage, or a variation of the transformation scene (with them doing their moves instead of the body's moves), but there's a reason that was in almost every episode xD It was still amusing when Rath-as-Armon fell over right after the transformations, because he wasn't used to the metal arm's weight. I also love Presley in this ep, thought the coin flipping with different faces was cool, and thought it was a nice touch when Nefer-Tina told herself, "Come on, I've seen Ja-Kal do this a million times!" as she got out his bow and arrow. Also, 10 points for Ja-Kal shouting, "What am I doing inside Nefer-Tina's body?"
3. "A Dark and Shrieky Night" - reverse-bottle episode done very well. I know Youtube comments are seen as the bane of existence, but they're one of the few places I can see discussions of this show's eps, and it was nice reading jokes, insight, and agreement on the funnier moments. One of the commenters on this ep said they really like how this ep showed us the mummies feeling so alien trying to adjust to the modern world, all from the simple conflict of walking home. I completely agree: some of the best stories come from the simplest concepts, and this one also did the smart thing of showing us Scarab was still a threat at the beginning, but not the mummies' only problem. I think there were too many scary faces in this one, but it was probably to compensate for the lack of armor scenes, plus the jazz song more than made up for it. One of the BEST scenes of the show, hands down.
2. "Honey, I Shrunk the Mummies," was pure fun all the way through and I think it had a solid three acts and conflict/resolution. Some eps start really strong and lose steam halfway through, or they start slow and get good in the middle, or have filler in the middle. This was hilarious and entertaining from start to finish (the mummies standing on top of each other trying to get to the vending machine! Nefer-Tina and Rath fighting a spider! Ja-Kal buzzing around after squeaking, "With the strength of Ra!" The mummies hitching a ride on Kahti! Glorious episode, thank you PTB), and I really enjoyed it as a sort of bottle episode. Presley was also very likable when most of the time he's doing that kid thing of trying to shoo the mummies away, being oblivious, getting captured, or trying to impress Cynthia.
1. "Eye of the Beholder" - Fan-fucking-tastic episode. The writing was on point up until what I think was a slightly rushed ending, but eh, I'm wiling to forgive it for everything that led up to it. As I watched it, I was like, this. This is a damn good episode. It felt much more smartly written than most of the others: Chontra was very clever and below-the-belt ruthless in pushing the mummies' buttons, and I loved it. I loved getting to see more of their backstories and felt so sorry for each of them, but in a good way. This ep really addressed, head on, how much each of the mummies lost along with their ongoing internal conflicts, and combined with a formidable villain, along with Rath being the hero (fucking LOVE that line of him telling Chontra "Presley is like a son to me," gah I can't get over it ;__;) it was a stellar ep. I also thought it was pretty cool that Nefer-Tina's 'ghost' was of a friend. Pep could have easily been her 'ghost,' but making it someone else showed more dimensions to her character, and it was a nice twist that Rath and Ja-Kal were the ones who got romantic angst instead. My headcanon is that Nefer-Tina's friend had feelings for 'Nefer' - I know her friend was a glamour, just let me have this - and he was angry with her for 'betraying' him because she said "We were..." then stopped. Overall, A++ episode.
Runner-Ups are "Sleep Walk Like An Egyptian," "The Prince and the Presley," "Sleight of Hand," "Missing Ja-Kal," "My Dad the Hero," and the "Family Feud" trilogy.
Random thoughts:
~ Getting SJ for a second, I was pleasantly surprised that the show was pretty progressive with ethnicity. It makes sense for Presley to look Middle Eastern - it's not confirmed, but I see him as that rather than black or Hispanic - because he's the reincarnation of Rapses. TPTB could have easily made him white, but they didn't. And they made him a regular kid, one who's very relatable and sympathetic (yeah, even when he's running around being a pain sometimes.) I like his relationship with his mom, too. Although the mummies are grey, all of the main characters are PoC - even Presley's friend and his sister are Asian, and it makes sense how racially diverse the cast is because they're in San Fransisco. Just reminded me that some of 90's media was, in some ways, more progressive than it's given credit for. OTOH, it could have been even more true-to-life and not so heteronormative :P
~ Shippy stuff! Speaking of heteronormative, I'm easy and went for Ja-Kal/Nefer-Tina after several eps. "Paws" made me worry, but the ending reassured me. They're both very dedicated to their mission, and I think that's one of the reasons I like their dynamic so much. I appreciate that TPTB didn't push the envelope with them, since I tend to like ships that have potential but aren't fully canon (canon can ruin a good thing, I've been burned by it before D;), and I'm satisfied with what we did get of them. I like that their bond wasn't dumped on us right at the beginning, there was a steady incline of emotional moments between them, then in the last few eps there wasn't as much of a focus, and I'm okay with that. They still had a strong bond and that's what I wanted to see of them, comrades-in-arms who have a shared goal, along with some fun and heartfelt moments.
"Missing Ja-Kal," had a small moment that I think summed up their relationship very well: Nefer-Tina groused about Ja-Kal's leadership and when his arm cramped up, she was immediately concerned about him, then joked when he brushed it off. No matter how much they bickered and disagreed on how to spend their free time, they were always there for each other (I also like the end of that ep because Nefer-Tina automatically stepped forward to help Ja-Kal when he asked for it, even after he'd snapped at her because of Scarab's meddling, but Rath stopped her to clarify. It seems harsh on the surface, but I think there was a point to it: Ja-Kal needed to ask for their help.) Additionally, I was relieved and loved that, instead of harshly forbidding Nefer-Tina to see Bix, Ja-Kal explained why it was a bad idea, didn't gloat when he was proven right, and understood why Nefer-Tina felt lonely. I can see why people wouldn't ship them - one can argue Ja-Kal was paternal to everyone, and Nefer-Tina didn't show hints of crushing on Ja-Kal - I just really appreciated that they cared deeply about each other, and I love her teasing of him - when he wiggled his hips to play mini-golf and she was like, "Be still my heart," I about died. They fulfill my 'bossy stoic/playful hothead' ship tropes to a T.
I ship Ja-Kal and Rath too. They looked fucking awesome back-to-back fighting Shabti on top of the truck in the pilot, and I loooove the scene of Rath saying, "Service people have no sense of duty! Who's going to dispense the food and drink?" and Ja-Kal held out an apron and said, "This color matches your eyes :)" lmao and awww. I like all of the mummies' moments together, when they show they care about each other and rescue each other, and tease and argue and... ah, they're all so great <3 I OT4 them, and I really like their platonic relationship with Presley. I like that he confuses them with his pre-teen ways, and how he went from trying to shake them off to seeking them out, and when he helps them adjust to the modern world. I love the parental bond that Rath and Ja-Kal feel for him, especially considering the tragedy of Ja-Kal leaving his wife and son, and I love the big sisterly vibe Nefer-Tina has with Presley (or she's the ~cool dad or aunt because she's all for Presley driving), and the fun uncle Armon is to Presley. They're all so cute and fun together, and really hit that 'found family' button I'm into lately.
~ Probably the ship I didn't like, other than Nefer-Tina/Pep, was Presley/Cynthia, or rather, Presley's hopeless crush on her. I understood it, but found it frustrating/embarrassing to watch as an adult (and I think Walter got shafted once the writers settled on Presley's crush. Would've liked to see more scenes between them that didn't consist of, "Oh hi Walter where's your sister 8D") I was kind of hoping by the end of the first season, Presley would have gotten over her. Elaine was initially obnoxious, but I ended up liking her. She won me over a bit when, while kidnapped by Anubis and Set, she was utterly nonplussed and insisted on interviewing them. I'd like to think that if S2 had been a thing, it would have included Presley getting over Cynthia, hanging out with Walter more, and dating Elaine.
~ Kimas was obviously supposed to be a girl and TPTB turned her into a boy in post. Why? I mean, I get that he was supposed to parallel Ja-Kal's son and Presley, but boy or girl, Kimas would have represented the same theme, and it would've been cool to have another important female character. IDK, I think that was kind of a copout, as strong as the plot was. It is nice that Kimas had feminine features - but, light brown hair? I still don't understand that.
~ Why was Ja-Kal and Tia's baby a white redhead?? lolwat
~ I saw somewhere that production on S2 was halted because of low ratings and criticism that Mummies Alive! was a ripoff of Gargoyles. Which... holds water, because the creators worked on a Gargoyles movie. Apparently, there were plans in S2 for Presley to turn 13, which is when the mummies would view him as an adult, and that would have been really interesting to see! I would've also liked to see the mummies defeat Scarab for good, but for what we did get, it's satisfying and we can come up with our own endings. And wish for a possible reboot! Not live-action - I think that would ruin the show's charm - but it would be really, really cool to get another animated season. Ah, maybe one day... *Wishes on a star*
tl;dr this show is an underrated gem, and I highly recommend it!
Funnily enough, I ended up watching Mummies Alive! because of a Super Best Friends wrestling video. I rarely watch their rustling vids but I checked that one out because of gifs, liked the intro a lot, and kept playing that vid while I cooked; when Woolie and Matt started singing the Mummies Alive! theme song, I was hit by a sudden wave of nostalgia and checked out its intro video.
Click to viewThe 90's was a golden age of cartoon theme songs
When I saw that all the episodes are on Youtube (the playlist cuts off but if you search for the rest of the 42 eps, they're on there), I knew what I had to do.
I thought I had watched the show and just forgot about all of it because nothing except for the intro rang familiar to me, but I noticed that the show ran in 1997, so I was a bit 'too old' and was all about MTV at the time. However, someone on a discussion board said this show was supposed to be for older audiences, and IDK if that's actually true, but watching some of it as an adult, it does have surprisingly mature themes. Compared to what I remember from Gargoyles, a much more popular show, this doesn't quite go as dark or consistently written, but I really enjoyed watching it for the character beats it did explore from time to time, and the humor. Amidst some of the cheesy quips and puns, there are a lot of moments that made me genuinely laugh.
My favorite aspect of the show by far is getting to see the mummies during downtime and/or adjusting to the modern world: technology, customs, food, etc. It was always a treat to see their fish-out-of-water and slice-of-life moments, and either TPTB could tell that was popular and/or they really enjoyed making those scenes, because toward the end, it's like they said, "Fuck it," and focused more on the mummies (Presley was even missing in a couple eps), to yield much hilarity: working in a coffee shop, body switching, de-aging, shrinking, monster truck racing, singing on stage... Amazing.
I'd say the show's biggest flaw, other than plotholes, occasionally shoddy pacing, and inconsistencies (some eps feel out of order) is that it misrepresents Egyptian mythology, like not getting Anubis right (awesome design, dumbed down henchman), and making the gods/spirits either villains or assholes. There could have been one or two benevolent or neutral ones, just saying.
The initial plot of Scarab trying to get Rapses' soul was sound, but it clearly wore thin after a while and Scarab could only be thwarted so many times before he looked like, well, a cartoon villain. So the writers brought in other villains, and some were good, others... not so good. The best ones IMO, were Chontra and Bes. Scarab became more and more fun to watch because of little quirks like wearing bunny slippers when he caught a cold, and in large part because of Heka, who was wonderfully snarky. One of my favorite moments is when the mummies went through a Beefy Burger drive-thru and she was working the register, wearing a little headset (hee!) and complaining as Scarab insisted his plan was foolproof. And it was!
There's also a surprising emotional connection between the characters that I wasn't expecting. I don't normally say "My feels," but man, did I feel them. Ja-Kal in particular surprised me, though I guess I should have expected him to get the most development because he's the leader. After the pilot, I thought he was just going to be the boring, serious, uptight hero, and he was sometimes, but his occasional silliness, the others mocking his stoicism, and his relationship with Presley in particular made him one of my favorites. I love his design and voice (the voice casting and animation style was all around great); while his backstory is standard manpain, it's done in such a way that I really felt for him, because it carries over in his protectiveness and sometimes parenting of Presley. He reminds me a lot of Jake in Animorphs and that became even more apparent in the arc with his brother, Arakh. As cliche as it is, I like how each of the mummies have clear strengths and weaknesses, and Ja-Kal's unyielding duty became a crutch that even he questioned toward the end of the series.
Nefer-Tina's my other favorite and it didn't surprise me at all that I loved her almost immediately. She's similar to Rachel in Animorphs (which is why it's a little awkward that I ship Nefer-Tina with Ja-Kal -.- I'm so predictable): she's courageous, impulsive to a fault, adventurous, fun-loving, and occasionally struggled with gender norms. She's also sweet and adorable as hell; Cree Summer (Foxy Love!) did a fantastic job voicing her. I can see why a lot of kids had crushes on her. She was The Chick, but she also wasn't (I appreciate that the show was equal-opportunity about damselling all the protagonists.) I think the only time her characterization fell flat to me was in "Loss of Face," but that ep screamed fanservice more than anything, lol.
My unpopular opinion is that I don't like Nefer-Tina with Pep. I get why people like it, it's ~bad boy/good girl~ and similar to Spuffy, but I got the sense that Nefer-Tina/Apep was supposed to be a doomed thing. Maybe that's why people like it? Apep was cool but his romance with Nefer-Tina was kind of a mess to me: love at first sight, "Be my queen!!" "I can't, I have a sacred duty!" "Ooh I love it when she plays hard to get!" Nefer-Tina offered herself and Presley as a prize if Apep won a race, so Apep tried to cheat by endangering Nefer-Tina, then sacrificed himself to save her... then came back to hand Presley to Scarab, to save Presley, to prove to Nefer-Tina how much he loved her? Then sacrificed himself again to save Presley? Yeah, I was happy with how that ep ended. Nefer-Tina seemed like the youngest mummy and had an idealized image of love (passion), then at the end, confessed that her granted wish caused her heartbreak. It seemed like a coming-of-age kind of thing for her, though kind of sad that she got her heart broken again later.
I preferred the way things played out in "True Believer," between Nefer-Tina and Bix. Sure, it was 'dorky nice guy pines for mysterious sexy chick," but it started out REALLY sweet, and I like how it contrasted with her previous relationship: her thing with Apep was a fiery, dramatic tragedy, but Bix was a quieter, 'two ships passing in the night' wistful kind of thing - more emotional than sensual - and even though he screwed up and almost screwed her over, I sympathized with both of them. And I like the literal callback of Bix convincing the conspiracy theory cop that the mummies were good and to leave them alone, it fully redeemed Bix in my eyes. (The cops initially made me wary, but I ended up liking them and their partnership. I really like their mutual thing of "I don't understand your interests, but I'll let you go off to your hobby because it makes you happy.")
I wasn't expecting to like Rath as much as I do, and it's kind of surprising to me how popular he is! I like that he's supposed to be the snippy intelligent one, but also looks physically formidable, especially in his snake armor And he's not a total genius all the time, sometimes he's like "idk what do" then makes an educated guess. His eps are arguably the best (at least, out of the ones that focus on one mummy), and one of my all-time favorite moments in the series is when he flat out told Chontra that he thinks of Presley like a son. That kind of sentiment is obvious with Ja-Kal, but it was out of left field coming from Rath, which made it so powerful. He's, IMO, a likable jerk with a heart of gold.
Though he mostly bickered with Armon to have the brains/brawn dichotomy, I like the scenes of Rath with Nefer-Tina, and I think there was something really interesting between Rath and Ja-Kal. Idk if I'd call it two sides of the same coin, but I liked it when Rath called out Ja-Kal on stuff using his perceptiveness and how he assumed the leadership position here and there because of his cunning or magic. I had assumed there would be animosity between them, like fighting over leadership, and there is a little of that but overall I got the sense that they respect each other, are brutally honest (which works for them), and complement each other's skills. I think there was a bit of untapped potential with their relationship and would have liked to see it explored more, but then again, that's how I feel about the show in general. I'll discuss more of Rath's eps in my Top Faves later, but he killed it in the 'alien' episode. I laughed so hard during his conversation with the nurse ("Don't those new bandages feel better?" "No"), and the FBI agent ("You don't have any organs!" "Of course I do. They're in a jar next to my sarcophagus.")
KAHTI!!! :3 so cute and protective. I love her. In most cartoons, cats are dumb antagonists who get beaten up, but it made sense for a cat to be on the heroes' side in this series. Although Kahti was sometimes the buttmonkey, she was also helpful and I was glad she came back after disappearing for a while. In universe, it makes sense that she would just go off and do her own thing. She was so sweet, and I especially like that moment of her happily frolicking in the garbage (as a Shabti flew a messenger plane overhead and stared at Armon, omg that was so randomly hilarious), and it was funny when Rath petted Kahti in another ep and was like, "Good sacred kitty," then brushed her to the side.
Armon, for all his physical strength, was definitely the weak link in terms of writing. He was what I expected Drax to be like in Guardians of the Galaxy: the one-dimensional, comic relief heavy. It was kind of disappointing because the others are so well done, but eh, it was a 90's cartoon so I cut the show some slack. There was some good stuff for Armon in "Body Slam," and a couple eps here and there, but overall he was there to crack jokes, eat, and bust heads. I really liked it when he went dancing with Nefer-Tina and Kimas; it was very cute, and nice to see different team dynamics. I like his bickering with Rath, but I really wish the show had explored the loss of his arm and how he got the metal one from the Pharaoh. It would have been really cool and we could have gotten to see more of his mom, other than in "Eye of the Beholder." Which brings me to:
cyborglovesong @ tumblr
Top Five Favorite Episodes
I love a lot of them, but if I had to narrow it down it would be:
5. I'm cheating already because this one's a three-way tie between "True Believer," "Loss of Face," and, "Dead Man Walking." I already talked about why I like "True Believer," but "Loss of Face," is.... uh, I like it for purely id-button reasons, I think I've re-watched it the most, and it went about as far into shippy territory as it could go, especially with Nefer-Tina/Ja-Kal. It's got a creepy sequence of the guys peeking into Nefer-Tina's sarcophagus (I'm not excusing it but it helps that she wasn't there), and the premise makes little sense because we know Scarab can transform. Maybe he was looking for a long-term thing? IDK, it was weird. The ep itself was very weird (holy inconsistency with Nefer-Tina's skin tone, Batman!) but it seemed to be shamelessly admitting it was cracky wish-fulfillment and even though I still don't think Nefer-Tina should have suddenly cared so much about being famous (and for modeling instead of racing), we can pretend the potion had mind-warping effects.
"Dead Man Walking" - I think this was the first solid ep of the series, after the second one. It's got a good message which I didn't feel was being too heavy-handed, mostly because Rath, even with amnesia, was still Rath. The homeless people were very likable and I looove the bit about one of them getting back his grandfather's watch. This show did a good job with bits of payoff like that (and when Presley used the boomera to fake out Scarab.) I have an issue with the old homeless people being ignored at the end, and that the conflict itself was so self-contained - I mean, why was Scarab only doing that in this episode? - but I like how it handled the amnesia trope, it delivered a PSA nicely, gave Rath development, and showed why he's a strong character on his own.
4. "Who's Who" - I was like FUCK YEAH, BODY-SWITCHING EP when I saw the title and laughed almost all the way through it. It even went beyond what I expected and switched Presley with Kahti, Scarab with Amut (hee, such an ugly-cute animal. And that part was priceless), and then Rath with Heka. It was cohesively written; though a little predictable in the initial pairing switches, I think that was a good basis and it was a blast watching the mummies react. Interesting how Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina switched up training exercises to match their new bodies, they seemed to like aspects of their switch, but Rath and Armon were very uncomfortable with theirs. I also lost it when Nefer-Tina gave orders then said, "This body makes me bossy." Hah! Take that, Ja-Kal. It would've been nice to see even more body-switching between the mummies, even just a quick montage, or a variation of the transformation scene (with them doing their moves instead of the body's moves), but there's a reason that was in almost every episode xD It was still amusing when Rath-as-Armon fell over right after the transformations, because he wasn't used to the metal arm's weight. I also love Presley in this ep, thought the coin flipping with different faces was cool, and thought it was a nice touch when Nefer-Tina told herself, "Come on, I've seen Ja-Kal do this a million times!" as she got out his bow and arrow. Also, 10 points for Ja-Kal shouting, "What am I doing inside Nefer-Tina's body?"
3. "A Dark and Shrieky Night" - reverse-bottle episode done very well. I know Youtube comments are seen as the bane of existence, but they're one of the few places I can see discussions of this show's eps, and it was nice reading jokes, insight, and agreement on the funnier moments. One of the commenters on this ep said they really like how this ep showed us the mummies feeling so alien trying to adjust to the modern world, all from the simple conflict of walking home. I completely agree: some of the best stories come from the simplest concepts, and this one also did the smart thing of showing us Scarab was still a threat at the beginning, but not the mummies' only problem. I think there were too many scary faces in this one, but it was probably to compensate for the lack of armor scenes, plus the jazz song more than made up for it. One of the BEST scenes of the show, hands down.
2. "Honey, I Shrunk the Mummies," was pure fun all the way through and I think it had a solid three acts and conflict/resolution. Some eps start really strong and lose steam halfway through, or they start slow and get good in the middle, or have filler in the middle. This was hilarious and entertaining from start to finish (the mummies standing on top of each other trying to get to the vending machine! Nefer-Tina and Rath fighting a spider! Ja-Kal buzzing around after squeaking, "With the strength of Ra!" The mummies hitching a ride on Kahti! Glorious episode, thank you PTB), and I really enjoyed it as a sort of bottle episode. Presley was also very likable when most of the time he's doing that kid thing of trying to shoo the mummies away, being oblivious, getting captured, or trying to impress Cynthia.
1. "Eye of the Beholder" - Fan-fucking-tastic episode. The writing was on point up until what I think was a slightly rushed ending, but eh, I'm wiling to forgive it for everything that led up to it. As I watched it, I was like, this. This is a damn good episode. It felt much more smartly written than most of the others: Chontra was very clever and below-the-belt ruthless in pushing the mummies' buttons, and I loved it. I loved getting to see more of their backstories and felt so sorry for each of them, but in a good way. This ep really addressed, head on, how much each of the mummies lost along with their ongoing internal conflicts, and combined with a formidable villain, along with Rath being the hero (fucking LOVE that line of him telling Chontra "Presley is like a son to me," gah I can't get over it ;__;) it was a stellar ep. I also thought it was pretty cool that Nefer-Tina's 'ghost' was of a friend. Pep could have easily been her 'ghost,' but making it someone else showed more dimensions to her character, and it was a nice twist that Rath and Ja-Kal were the ones who got romantic angst instead. My headcanon is that Nefer-Tina's friend had feelings for 'Nefer' - I know her friend was a glamour, just let me have this - and he was angry with her for 'betraying' him because she said "We were..." then stopped. Overall, A++ episode.
Runner-Ups are "Sleep Walk Like An Egyptian," "The Prince and the Presley," "Sleight of Hand," "Missing Ja-Kal," "My Dad the Hero," and the "Family Feud" trilogy.
Random thoughts:
~ Getting SJ for a second, I was pleasantly surprised that the show was pretty progressive with ethnicity. It makes sense for Presley to look Middle Eastern - it's not confirmed, but I see him as that rather than black or Hispanic - because he's the reincarnation of Rapses. TPTB could have easily made him white, but they didn't. And they made him a regular kid, one who's very relatable and sympathetic (yeah, even when he's running around being a pain sometimes.) I like his relationship with his mom, too. Although the mummies are grey, all of the main characters are PoC - even Presley's friend and his sister are Asian, and it makes sense how racially diverse the cast is because they're in San Fransisco. Just reminded me that some of 90's media was, in some ways, more progressive than it's given credit for. OTOH, it could have been even more true-to-life and not so heteronormative :P
~ Shippy stuff! Speaking of heteronormative, I'm easy and went for Ja-Kal/Nefer-Tina after several eps. "Paws" made me worry, but the ending reassured me. They're both very dedicated to their mission, and I think that's one of the reasons I like their dynamic so much. I appreciate that TPTB didn't push the envelope with them, since I tend to like ships that have potential but aren't fully canon (canon can ruin a good thing, I've been burned by it before D;), and I'm satisfied with what we did get of them. I like that their bond wasn't dumped on us right at the beginning, there was a steady incline of emotional moments between them, then in the last few eps there wasn't as much of a focus, and I'm okay with that. They still had a strong bond and that's what I wanted to see of them, comrades-in-arms who have a shared goal, along with some fun and heartfelt moments.
"Missing Ja-Kal," had a small moment that I think summed up their relationship very well: Nefer-Tina groused about Ja-Kal's leadership and when his arm cramped up, she was immediately concerned about him, then joked when he brushed it off. No matter how much they bickered and disagreed on how to spend their free time, they were always there for each other (I also like the end of that ep because Nefer-Tina automatically stepped forward to help Ja-Kal when he asked for it, even after he'd snapped at her because of Scarab's meddling, but Rath stopped her to clarify. It seems harsh on the surface, but I think there was a point to it: Ja-Kal needed to ask for their help.) Additionally, I was relieved and loved that, instead of harshly forbidding Nefer-Tina to see Bix, Ja-Kal explained why it was a bad idea, didn't gloat when he was proven right, and understood why Nefer-Tina felt lonely. I can see why people wouldn't ship them - one can argue Ja-Kal was paternal to everyone, and Nefer-Tina didn't show hints of crushing on Ja-Kal - I just really appreciated that they cared deeply about each other, and I love her teasing of him - when he wiggled his hips to play mini-golf and she was like, "Be still my heart," I about died. They fulfill my 'bossy stoic/playful hothead' ship tropes to a T.
I ship Ja-Kal and Rath too. They looked fucking awesome back-to-back fighting Shabti on top of the truck in the pilot, and I loooove the scene of Rath saying, "Service people have no sense of duty! Who's going to dispense the food and drink?" and Ja-Kal held out an apron and said, "This color matches your eyes :)" lmao and awww. I like all of the mummies' moments together, when they show they care about each other and rescue each other, and tease and argue and... ah, they're all so great <3 I OT4 them, and I really like their platonic relationship with Presley. I like that he confuses them with his pre-teen ways, and how he went from trying to shake them off to seeking them out, and when he helps them adjust to the modern world. I love the parental bond that Rath and Ja-Kal feel for him, especially considering the tragedy of Ja-Kal leaving his wife and son, and I love the big sisterly vibe Nefer-Tina has with Presley (or she's the ~cool dad or aunt because she's all for Presley driving), and the fun uncle Armon is to Presley. They're all so cute and fun together, and really hit that 'found family' button I'm into lately.
~ Probably the ship I didn't like, other than Nefer-Tina/Pep, was Presley/Cynthia, or rather, Presley's hopeless crush on her. I understood it, but found it frustrating/embarrassing to watch as an adult (and I think Walter got shafted once the writers settled on Presley's crush. Would've liked to see more scenes between them that didn't consist of, "Oh hi Walter where's your sister 8D") I was kind of hoping by the end of the first season, Presley would have gotten over her. Elaine was initially obnoxious, but I ended up liking her. She won me over a bit when, while kidnapped by Anubis and Set, she was utterly nonplussed and insisted on interviewing them. I'd like to think that if S2 had been a thing, it would have included Presley getting over Cynthia, hanging out with Walter more, and dating Elaine.
~ Kimas was obviously supposed to be a girl and TPTB turned her into a boy in post. Why? I mean, I get that he was supposed to parallel Ja-Kal's son and Presley, but boy or girl, Kimas would have represented the same theme, and it would've been cool to have another important female character. IDK, I think that was kind of a copout, as strong as the plot was. It is nice that Kimas had feminine features - but, light brown hair? I still don't understand that.
~ Why was Ja-Kal and Tia's baby a white redhead?? lolwat
~ I saw somewhere that production on S2 was halted because of low ratings and criticism that Mummies Alive! was a ripoff of Gargoyles. Which... holds water, because the creators worked on a Gargoyles movie. Apparently, there were plans in S2 for Presley to turn 13, which is when the mummies would view him as an adult, and that would have been really interesting to see! I would've also liked to see the mummies defeat Scarab for good, but for what we did get, it's satisfying and we can come up with our own endings. And wish for a possible reboot! Not live-action - I think that would ruin the show's charm - but it would be really, really cool to get another animated season. Ah, maybe one day... *Wishes on a star*
tl;dr this show is an underrated gem, and I highly recommend it!