"Samurai Jack: Season Four" Review (Spoilers)
Also reviews for the latest episodes of Teen Titans Go! and Batman Unlimited, the premieres of DC Comics' Vixen and Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, the latest episode of Star Wars: Droid Tales, and the series finale of Under The Dome.
Upcoming reviews include Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Blu-Ray), Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2, Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Blu-Ray), X-Men: Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Big Hero 6 (Blu-Ray), Once Upon A Time: Season 4, The Walt Disney Studios Short Films Collection, Tangled, Phineas And Ferb: Star Wars, Star Wars Rebels: Season 1, Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles, Muppets Most Wanted: Extended Edition, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack Of The Legion Of Doom, Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem, Teen Titans Go!: House Pests, Arrow: Season 3, The Flash: Season 1, Gotham: Season 1, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug: Extended Edition, Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run, Airplane! / Airplane II: The Sequel: Double Feature, Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 2, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Power Rangers Turbo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Turbo: Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1, Power Rangers In Space: Volume 2, Power Rangers Samurai: The Complete Season, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Showdown In Dimension X, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Retreat!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return To NYC!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Mr. Peabody & Sherman, The Wonder Years: Season 3, Haven: Season 5 - Vol. 1, Sleepy Hollow: Season 2, Doctor Who: Dark Water: Death In Heaven, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 2, and The Jurassic Park Trilogy.
Teen Titans Go! "Hey You, Don't Neglect Me In Your Memory"
I have something to declare. I wasn't sure of it until I saw this episode, but I am now. Teen Titans Go! is the worst WBA DC show of all time.
Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman / Superman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League / Unlimited, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Teen Titans, The Batman, Krypto The Superdog, Legion Of Super Heroes, Batman: The Brave And The Bold, Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and Beware The Batman are all vastly superior to this show. The last DC project with this level of suck was probably one of the Superfriends cartoons. Nothing else is as bad.
Why do I say this? Why now? Well, I think Robin has gotten SO bad, so fast, that the writers have had to keep making him worse and worse to up the shock value. But him graphically crane kicking Starfire and Raven pretty much turned him into an abusive boyfriend. And that's a REALLY crummy message for little kids and it's brushed over like it's no big deal. It is. Robin just beat up two women. Out of spite. In a fit of domestic violence. Any show that thinks that idea is funny is probably really crappy. A show for kids that does that? It is terrible.
Worst WBA DC show ever. 0.
Batman Unlimited "Run For The Money"
I liked this one. I especially like how the dude picked his money back up from a knocked-out Joker. Kind of fearless. ****.
DC Comics' Vixen: "Episode 1"
I really like the animation. It looks a lot like Young Justice and this seems to be the first webisode project connected to the TV shows with an actual budget. It looks great. ****.
DC Comics' Vixen "Episode 2"
Little too much exposition in this one but I can dig it. ***.
DC Comics' Vixen "Episode 3"
Flash and Arrow! Next week should be fun. ****1/2.
Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy "Road To Nowhere"
Could it be? Are we actually in for a great Marvel cartoon? We just might be.
I love that they put up the money to get the rock songs from the movie. I assume it wasn't tough, but this is the first Marvel cartoon to actually do that. Even DC cartoon's are usually stingy on the soundtrack budget.
I really like the theme song too. Better than Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, or Hulk and the Agents Of S.M.A.S.H..
But what I really liked about the show is that it is fun and funny without being either gross or dumb. Ultimate Spider-Man is way too stupid to be taken seriously, and the recent Hulk cartoon overdid it with booger and toilet humor. This is actually amusing.
Great premiere. I can't wait for more. ****1/2.
Star Wars: Droid Tales "Mission To Mos Eisley"
R2-D2's middle name isn't Danger. It's Hyphen.
I love Luke pointing out that Leia's "little short to be a Stormtrooper" line isn't true in the Legoverse since everyone is the exact same size.
Chopper vs. R2! I have to call b.s.. Artoo should have done better than that. That was building up Star Wars Rebels to a ridiculous level.
Best line goes to Darth Vader: "I find your lack of appreciation for physical comedy disturbing." This Darth? I like.
Funniest one so far. ****1/2.
Under The Dome "The Enemy Within"
Better than I ever expected any series finale for this crap show to be.
What it did right:
Give us a pretty definitive feeling ending. The Dome actually came down. It had sort of a feeling that more stuff was going to happen that we wouldn't be privy to (sequel?) but the series itself seemed pretty wrapped up.
Killing off Junior and Sam. That's last episode stuff and it did it.
Giving Dann Florek work. Love that dude.
This episode showed pretty much the only way the series was superior to the book. It gave us a flashforward in time into the characters' lives after the Dome came down. I was always a little bit mad Stephen King never did that, and I am even madder to realize that now because I now see it hurts nothing.
What it did wrong:
Junior FINALLY kills Sam but Angie is never mentioned? This series sucks at existing.
Making Big Jim one of the survivors of the Dome. Big Jim should NEVER win anything. Ever. Much less be a Congressman. He did better dying alone in the bunker in the book.
But honestly? I expected much worse from a series finale for this particular series. I'd give it actual props had not every single previous episode in this season before this one sucked so terribly. ****.
Samurai Jack: Season Four
Disappointing end to a series with a lot of promise. The show left us hanging, and Genndy Tartakovsky STILL hasn't gotten off his butt to give us a feature to end the dang thing. Frankly, at this point, I feel a bit ripped off.
Still, there were a couple of great episodes this season. The best are Samurai Vs. Samurai (XLII), and Jack Vs. Aku (XLVIII). Worst episodes are the obnoxious The Princess And The Bounty Hunters (XLIV) and Jack And The Flying Prince And Princess (XLVII). Season Overall: ***. Series Overall: ****1/2.
XL:
Samurai versus Ninja: I thought the light and dark fight at the end of the episode was amazing. And yet... I can't help feel but the moral missed the mark a bit. What was the point of the Shinobi witnessing Jack perform those feats of heroism if it doesn't effect how he sees his mission? I realize that the fight was cooler than getting no fight, but I think having the Shinobi witness Jack being such a hero is a mistake. Because the right ending would have been for the only person capable of destroying Jack to realize that the world was a better place for having Jack in it. Without that, all of the stuff with the crabs and the villagers becomes meaningless filler. If they weren't going to redeem the Shinobi, they never should have teased that they could. ***.
XLI:
Robo-Samurai versus Mondo Bot: Mecha Jack! I was a little bored by this by the end. I'm pretty sure this is the same premise as Pacific Rim a decade earlier. A couple of things bugged me. Jack takes entirely too much on faith. He put that device in his mouth and dived under the water without a second thought. I'd shudder to think if the robot villagers were lying to him. And where did the breathing device go at the end of the episode? Why does Jack swim to the surface without it? Because I imagine it's valuable and not the kind of thing you should lose. Plot hole. **.
XLII:
Samurai versus Samurai: Provocative. I'm sure if you asked Genndy Tartakovsky about it, he'd deny he was pushing racial buttons in the episode, but they were pushed whether the creator would ever admit to that or not. And I think the way they were pushed was interesting, and almost a good thing. The episode is very subversive in that regard. Da Samurai is ostensibly a black buffoon, who is owned and humiliated by Jack repeatedly. If Jack were white, we'd properly scowl. But do you know what strikes me most about Da Samurai's urban speech patterns? They aren't genuine. They sound fake. They sound like Jamie Kennedy in Malibu's Most Wanted. I'm not going to pretend that current rap DOESN'T have an element of stupidity to it that makes it popular, but Da Samurai is a poser. He is what a white person thinks a black person sounds like. Which just makes the fact that he is misappropriating somebody's else's culture seem all kinds of weird. It's like a racism double feint, and I am not quite sure what to make of it. To add to the confusion, Samurai Jack is played by a black man. The episode is subversive in all of the right ways. I love that Jack gets under Da Samurai's skin by refusing to engage. His quiet "Everyone heard who you are," is about as angry as he is going to get. And I think part of that is deliberate. Jack knows the best way to needle a show-off is to refuse to needle them. I think Jack was in control of Da Samurai's petulant actions, even when he was sitting in the corner of the room, sipping hot water, and saying nothing. He owns Da Samurai before Da Samurai is even aware he exists. By the way, those were some sweet designs on the robot assassins. I'd like to think that had Samurai Jack gotten its fifth season, that Da Samurai would have returned the same way the Scotsman did. He is certainly the fourth most memorable character on the series after Jack, Aku, and the Scotsman. That's not all flattery, but I think there could have been more story told with that particular character. ****1/2.
XLIII:
The Aku Infection: Three things: 1. This episode ties back into the evil of Aku being like a disease that infects everything it touches, as first explored in the watershed "The Birth Of Evil". The continuity of this show holds together better than I remembered (including the visual cameos of all of the characters Jack saved in the first three seasons). 2. What the frak made Aku sick in the first place? I kind of think that is NOT something that should have just been dropped like that. Something weakened Aku. Badly. I would think Jack finding out what might be useful information for the future. 3. The monks were entirely too forgiving at the end. Yeah, not Jack's fault, they're wise and all that, but I kind of felt like Genndy was trying to force a happy ending there. They can rebuild the portal? Why doesn't Jack just stick around until they do? He might even be able to help. Jack murdering the robot was chilling in a way a robot death had never been before. If every person in the future IS a robot (as theorized) than what Jack did was exactly as horrible as what was shown. I'm surprised they went through with it. Interesting episode. ***1/2.
XLIV:
The Princess And The Bounty Hunters: That was obnoxious. Truly one of the most annoying guest casts in the series' history with some of the most annoying and off-putting moments too. That terrible barber at the beginning grated every time he paused and exclaimed about a bounty hunter. Boris is gross because he spits. I and Am have annoying voices. And The Gentleman's personality is repellant. The whole "Hmmph" run was stupid instead of funny. And the water drips were annoying too and the waiting for Jack part was entirely too long. Genndy is usually better at long moments of anticipation, but the water drops ruined it. Any good things? The last two minutes of Jack defeating their plan without breaking a sweat or saying a word are terrific and almost make the episode worth it. Almost. I also love that the Princess get a legitimately sad ending and the producers just leave the sad story of her oppressed kingdom hanging. And to be honest, I also liked the part of I clearing the footprints in the snow with a branch. I can't even imagine a live-action project being clever enough to do that but Samurai Jack is a very special franchise. *.
XLV: The Scotsman Saves Jack: Part 1:
This was a hoot! Do you know why? Because the Scotsman was the last ally Jack had who should have been tasked with this. Why? Because he's stupid. And what happened to Jack was mystery, and solving those things requires intelligence. He seems almost as frustrated trying to figure out the answers as Jack is. He's totally ill-equipped for this, which makes me root for him more. The Scotsman saving Jack isn't impressive because it comes easy to him. It's impressive because it's a struggle, and he STILL manages to come through like a good friend should. The best line was him describing what Jack fought for: "Truth. Freedom. And talking dogs." We could have used those talking dogs now to solve the mystery, but we're stuck with the Scotsman. Slacker Jack was funny. Is Slacker Jack now a thing? That's not even a question. That's what we're doing. And how bad@$$ is it that the Scotsman has a machine gun for a leg? Awesome. Or should I say "Groovy"? I love that the lump of gold the Scotsman tosses on the deck is shaped like the Golden Turd. And the nebbishy dragon speaking about how he reformed all due to Jack was quite funny. I love this. ****1/2.
XLVI: The Scotsman Saves Jack: Part 2:
A lot of people were disappointed in this and found the last half anti-climactic. Yeah, that's true. But do you know what was smart about the "Feats of Strength" portion? That they did those rather than try to pad an extra eleven minutes into the main adventure itself. Because that would make it slow and boring. But they didn't hide the fact that they had too much runtime and I'm cool with that. That stone skipping trick shows exactly why the Scotsman resents Jack in contests. He doesn't play by the rules. It's not quite cheating, but the Scotsman would have won at least a couple of the contests if Jack didn't outthink him. Loved the return of "Jump Good". And finally, what can I say about the Sirens? They are equal parts frightening, ridiculous, and hilarious, and whatever emotion I currently feel towards them turns on a dime. I like how their mouths are open wide at all times, and they sing everything (even out of melody). And that light snake they turned into at the end was pretty sweet. The Scotsman being immune because he prefers bagpipes said to me that maybe the right guy was sent on this particular mission after all. This is easily the most Jack has ever laughed on the series. It's almost eerie. It's like even after the Slacker Jack fake, Slacker Jack has totally relaxed Jack in a way he wasn't before. It's cool. Not as good as Part 1, but not as bad as it's detractors complain. ****. Two-Part Average: ****.
XLVII:
Jack And The Flying Prince And Princess: Wow. That sucked. It's not like the episode was badly made or anything, but the entire premise was fundamentally flawed. The action opens on devastating life or death stakes for characters we're never seen before, and who we don't care about. There is definitely some Star Wars spoofing going on in the first half, but it's like they just created these random archetypes and gave them the Star Wars treatment. It strikes me less as an homage, and more of a lazy rip-off. The kind of parody you could see on Family Guy. Just repeating a pop culture scenario verbatim, and believing that is somehow an actual joke. And I have to say I'm unimpressed they killed off the robot. My thought was the writer probably hated C-3PO, and always wanted to see that happen to him, and just did it. But do you know what? It was mean. And poorly thought out. And not resolved properly. And after four seasons Jack should have learned to operate a flying car and a walkie talkie by now. Any things I liked? Well, it's this show, so of course! I will never get tired of seeing Aku rise from that pit of his or seeing his robot bugs in action. Great animation on both of those things. And I really was chilled by the dog coming out of the shadows, being tortured, and being dragged back by some unseen force. I like that because it hints that there are a whole bunch of different crazy adventures going on in Aku's palace at once, and before we've only seen one at a time. But there's always been several going in the background that we don't get to see. But other than that, I think the episode was a major failure. *.
XLVIII:
Jack versus Aku: Best episode of the season. I think at this point in the series' run, even if the producers didn't know if they were ultimately going to be canceled, they probably already knew the series was getting a bit long in the tooth. They were in a rut, and doing the same formula over and over again, and Aku wisely pointed out to Jack how ultimately futile it was. Batman: The Brave And The Bold used to take meta digs at itself too, but this was the first action toon I've seen do it. And I absolutely adore Jack and Aku being forced to relate to each other on a human level. They give each other awkward smiles, and Aku double checks that Jack knows the directions (he even offers him a ride!). I'm betting some people were rolling their eyes at Jack for accepting such a duel in the first place. Of course Aku would cheat. And the only way to defeat Aku is to kill him, and the only way to do it was with the sword. There was no upside to Jack agreeing to the fight. Except... I kind of think Jack is as bored with this as Aku is. He knows it's not gonna settle anything, but it was a rarity: new terrain. And he was as curious as anyone to see how it played out. And considering the amount of fake swords he left, it probably played out pretty much as he predicted. Still, it is easy to see him grasping at any straw to get out of the rut he and Aku are stuck in. Aku's facial expressions watching his bounty hunters be destroyed were awesome too, and I loved him ordering take-out. Aku is at his best when he is trying to relate to the world on its own level, and that happened more and more as the series went on. This is probably the finest episode for that. *****.
XLIX:
The 4 Seasons Of Death: Summer and Winter sucked, but Spring was so-so, and I actually liked Fall. Spring was interesting because the second the flowers start to bloom, Jack becomes concerned. This is not a world in which nice things simply happen. Spring also probably has the most beautiful female character design the show ever came up with. The Scientist in Fall is twisted. I love how he's like a little frog and how Jack pulled that trick on him by spitting the poison in his mouth. That was pretty awesome. The episode is a mixed bag. **1/2.
L:
Tale Of X-9: I have always taken the unpopular opinion that this beloved episode is vastly overrated. And I stand by that. But seeing this on DVD on an HD TV, makes me realize that it DOES have more good things going for it than I realized. Bad stuff first: "Poor Lulu, sweet thing," is a LAUGHABLE attempt at film noir dialogue. The fact that it's repeated ad nauseam is embarrassing. It's not on the level of noirish suck of the Batman Beyond episode "April Moon", where the scientist wistfully flashes back to falling in love over a bowl of frosted flakes, but it's about a tenth of that. And since they repeat it like ten times, it's pretty much all there. And it's not so much that I hate sad endings. It's that I hate unresolved endings. We still don't know what happened to Lulu. And it drives me nuts. Now for the good things: the animation is fantastic. It's not even film noir, or even trying to be, which makes the story even more inexplicable. It is hard-core, gritty, urban animation straight out of Ralph Bakshi in the 70's. I saw definite influences from Wizards, Hey Good Lookin', and even Spicy City. And of course, the neopunk stylings of Akira. I never much liked that movie, but the animation was amazing. They could have ripped off worse. The second good thing is that as hackneyed as X-9's story is, it says something larger about the series that we may not have realized before now: All of those robot assassins Jack destroys may all have similar sob stories and sad backgrounds. They may all have a vast history we are not privy to, and on some very real level, perhaps Jack IS the bad guy in that scenario. That's tight. The third good thing was basically learning the entire history of robots during the flashback. I saw a bit of The Animatrix in that idea too. ***.
LI:
Young Jack In Africa: Loved the Lion King opening. Young Jack doesn't say much, does he? Part of me feels I should be offended by the Africans' character designs, but they are so beautiful, my heart wouldn't be in it. Do you know what I CAN grouse about? About how that group of Hooded men setting fire to the village seemed to be an African version of the Ku Klux Klan. It has never been said that this show doesn't push racial buttons. That was an extremely bad example and in incredibly poor taste. Won't deny the animation of the fire was beautiful though. I can't really help but see this episode as light skinned man saves village of Africans all by himself. Even if Jack isn't white, the message is still problematic. ***.
LII:
Jack And The Baby: Lone Jack and Cub! That was... underwhelming, to say the least. A high-concept series like Samurai Jack, which promised a definitive ending, delivers us a final episode like that and I am angry. Ugh. Let's talk about the good things. I like that the Peachboy story was animated like a traditional cartoon. I also like Jack sorting through the pile of rabbits. But I cannot help but feel ripped off by that ending. Come on, Genndy. Get off your butt and give us the movie already. **1/2.
Deleted Scene:
From Tale Of X-9. I'm betting these were censor notes. The gunshot to the head was way too graphic and X-9 actually says the word "damn". I'm betting neither of those things passed muster. ***1/2.
Genndy's Roundtable:
Lot of Ren and Stimpy folks. I was appalled at the fact that that woman was laid off from Spumco. John Krisfalusi does NOT stand by his artists. I like the observation that Jack was mostly a dialogue free show. Although I have to say that Genndy is an idiot to be surprised he won the Emmy for The Birth Of Evil. C'mon, man. How dumb are you? ***.
Genndy's New Projects:
Might I cruelly point out, that like the Samurai Jack feature, none of these projects (including one called "Vikings") actually happened? I know. I'm rude. ***.
Samurai Jack Promos:
This show always had the best ads. Legit. *****.
DVD Menu: Okay. ***.
Upcoming reviews include Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Blu-Ray), Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2, Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Blu-Ray), X-Men: Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Big Hero 6 (Blu-Ray), Once Upon A Time: Season 4, The Walt Disney Studios Short Films Collection, Tangled, Phineas And Ferb: Star Wars, Star Wars Rebels: Season 1, Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles, Muppets Most Wanted: Extended Edition, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack Of The Legion Of Doom, Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem, Teen Titans Go!: House Pests, Arrow: Season 3, The Flash: Season 1, Gotham: Season 1, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug: Extended Edition, Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run, Airplane! / Airplane II: The Sequel: Double Feature, Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 2, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Power Rangers Turbo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Turbo: Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1, Power Rangers In Space: Volume 2, Power Rangers Samurai: The Complete Season, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Showdown In Dimension X, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Retreat!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return To NYC!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Mr. Peabody & Sherman, The Wonder Years: Season 3, Haven: Season 5 - Vol. 1, Sleepy Hollow: Season 2, Doctor Who: Dark Water: Death In Heaven, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 2, and The Jurassic Park Trilogy.
Teen Titans Go! "Hey You, Don't Neglect Me In Your Memory"
I have something to declare. I wasn't sure of it until I saw this episode, but I am now. Teen Titans Go! is the worst WBA DC show of all time.
Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman / Superman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League / Unlimited, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Teen Titans, The Batman, Krypto The Superdog, Legion Of Super Heroes, Batman: The Brave And The Bold, Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and Beware The Batman are all vastly superior to this show. The last DC project with this level of suck was probably one of the Superfriends cartoons. Nothing else is as bad.
Why do I say this? Why now? Well, I think Robin has gotten SO bad, so fast, that the writers have had to keep making him worse and worse to up the shock value. But him graphically crane kicking Starfire and Raven pretty much turned him into an abusive boyfriend. And that's a REALLY crummy message for little kids and it's brushed over like it's no big deal. It is. Robin just beat up two women. Out of spite. In a fit of domestic violence. Any show that thinks that idea is funny is probably really crappy. A show for kids that does that? It is terrible.
Worst WBA DC show ever. 0.
Batman Unlimited "Run For The Money"
I liked this one. I especially like how the dude picked his money back up from a knocked-out Joker. Kind of fearless. ****.
DC Comics' Vixen: "Episode 1"
I really like the animation. It looks a lot like Young Justice and this seems to be the first webisode project connected to the TV shows with an actual budget. It looks great. ****.
DC Comics' Vixen "Episode 2"
Little too much exposition in this one but I can dig it. ***.
DC Comics' Vixen "Episode 3"
Flash and Arrow! Next week should be fun. ****1/2.
Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy "Road To Nowhere"
Could it be? Are we actually in for a great Marvel cartoon? We just might be.
I love that they put up the money to get the rock songs from the movie. I assume it wasn't tough, but this is the first Marvel cartoon to actually do that. Even DC cartoon's are usually stingy on the soundtrack budget.
I really like the theme song too. Better than Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, or Hulk and the Agents Of S.M.A.S.H..
But what I really liked about the show is that it is fun and funny without being either gross or dumb. Ultimate Spider-Man is way too stupid to be taken seriously, and the recent Hulk cartoon overdid it with booger and toilet humor. This is actually amusing.
Great premiere. I can't wait for more. ****1/2.
Star Wars: Droid Tales "Mission To Mos Eisley"
R2-D2's middle name isn't Danger. It's Hyphen.
I love Luke pointing out that Leia's "little short to be a Stormtrooper" line isn't true in the Legoverse since everyone is the exact same size.
Chopper vs. R2! I have to call b.s.. Artoo should have done better than that. That was building up Star Wars Rebels to a ridiculous level.
Best line goes to Darth Vader: "I find your lack of appreciation for physical comedy disturbing." This Darth? I like.
Funniest one so far. ****1/2.
Under The Dome "The Enemy Within"
Better than I ever expected any series finale for this crap show to be.
What it did right:
Give us a pretty definitive feeling ending. The Dome actually came down. It had sort of a feeling that more stuff was going to happen that we wouldn't be privy to (sequel?) but the series itself seemed pretty wrapped up.
Killing off Junior and Sam. That's last episode stuff and it did it.
Giving Dann Florek work. Love that dude.
This episode showed pretty much the only way the series was superior to the book. It gave us a flashforward in time into the characters' lives after the Dome came down. I was always a little bit mad Stephen King never did that, and I am even madder to realize that now because I now see it hurts nothing.
What it did wrong:
Junior FINALLY kills Sam but Angie is never mentioned? This series sucks at existing.
Making Big Jim one of the survivors of the Dome. Big Jim should NEVER win anything. Ever. Much less be a Congressman. He did better dying alone in the bunker in the book.
But honestly? I expected much worse from a series finale for this particular series. I'd give it actual props had not every single previous episode in this season before this one sucked so terribly. ****.
Samurai Jack: Season Four
Disappointing end to a series with a lot of promise. The show left us hanging, and Genndy Tartakovsky STILL hasn't gotten off his butt to give us a feature to end the dang thing. Frankly, at this point, I feel a bit ripped off.
Still, there were a couple of great episodes this season. The best are Samurai Vs. Samurai (XLII), and Jack Vs. Aku (XLVIII). Worst episodes are the obnoxious The Princess And The Bounty Hunters (XLIV) and Jack And The Flying Prince And Princess (XLVII). Season Overall: ***. Series Overall: ****1/2.
XL:
Samurai versus Ninja: I thought the light and dark fight at the end of the episode was amazing. And yet... I can't help feel but the moral missed the mark a bit. What was the point of the Shinobi witnessing Jack perform those feats of heroism if it doesn't effect how he sees his mission? I realize that the fight was cooler than getting no fight, but I think having the Shinobi witness Jack being such a hero is a mistake. Because the right ending would have been for the only person capable of destroying Jack to realize that the world was a better place for having Jack in it. Without that, all of the stuff with the crabs and the villagers becomes meaningless filler. If they weren't going to redeem the Shinobi, they never should have teased that they could. ***.
XLI:
Robo-Samurai versus Mondo Bot: Mecha Jack! I was a little bored by this by the end. I'm pretty sure this is the same premise as Pacific Rim a decade earlier. A couple of things bugged me. Jack takes entirely too much on faith. He put that device in his mouth and dived under the water without a second thought. I'd shudder to think if the robot villagers were lying to him. And where did the breathing device go at the end of the episode? Why does Jack swim to the surface without it? Because I imagine it's valuable and not the kind of thing you should lose. Plot hole. **.
XLII:
Samurai versus Samurai: Provocative. I'm sure if you asked Genndy Tartakovsky about it, he'd deny he was pushing racial buttons in the episode, but they were pushed whether the creator would ever admit to that or not. And I think the way they were pushed was interesting, and almost a good thing. The episode is very subversive in that regard. Da Samurai is ostensibly a black buffoon, who is owned and humiliated by Jack repeatedly. If Jack were white, we'd properly scowl. But do you know what strikes me most about Da Samurai's urban speech patterns? They aren't genuine. They sound fake. They sound like Jamie Kennedy in Malibu's Most Wanted. I'm not going to pretend that current rap DOESN'T have an element of stupidity to it that makes it popular, but Da Samurai is a poser. He is what a white person thinks a black person sounds like. Which just makes the fact that he is misappropriating somebody's else's culture seem all kinds of weird. It's like a racism double feint, and I am not quite sure what to make of it. To add to the confusion, Samurai Jack is played by a black man. The episode is subversive in all of the right ways. I love that Jack gets under Da Samurai's skin by refusing to engage. His quiet "Everyone heard who you are," is about as angry as he is going to get. And I think part of that is deliberate. Jack knows the best way to needle a show-off is to refuse to needle them. I think Jack was in control of Da Samurai's petulant actions, even when he was sitting in the corner of the room, sipping hot water, and saying nothing. He owns Da Samurai before Da Samurai is even aware he exists. By the way, those were some sweet designs on the robot assassins. I'd like to think that had Samurai Jack gotten its fifth season, that Da Samurai would have returned the same way the Scotsman did. He is certainly the fourth most memorable character on the series after Jack, Aku, and the Scotsman. That's not all flattery, but I think there could have been more story told with that particular character. ****1/2.
XLIII:
The Aku Infection: Three things: 1. This episode ties back into the evil of Aku being like a disease that infects everything it touches, as first explored in the watershed "The Birth Of Evil". The continuity of this show holds together better than I remembered (including the visual cameos of all of the characters Jack saved in the first three seasons). 2. What the frak made Aku sick in the first place? I kind of think that is NOT something that should have just been dropped like that. Something weakened Aku. Badly. I would think Jack finding out what might be useful information for the future. 3. The monks were entirely too forgiving at the end. Yeah, not Jack's fault, they're wise and all that, but I kind of felt like Genndy was trying to force a happy ending there. They can rebuild the portal? Why doesn't Jack just stick around until they do? He might even be able to help. Jack murdering the robot was chilling in a way a robot death had never been before. If every person in the future IS a robot (as theorized) than what Jack did was exactly as horrible as what was shown. I'm surprised they went through with it. Interesting episode. ***1/2.
XLIV:
The Princess And The Bounty Hunters: That was obnoxious. Truly one of the most annoying guest casts in the series' history with some of the most annoying and off-putting moments too. That terrible barber at the beginning grated every time he paused and exclaimed about a bounty hunter. Boris is gross because he spits. I and Am have annoying voices. And The Gentleman's personality is repellant. The whole "Hmmph" run was stupid instead of funny. And the water drips were annoying too and the waiting for Jack part was entirely too long. Genndy is usually better at long moments of anticipation, but the water drops ruined it. Any good things? The last two minutes of Jack defeating their plan without breaking a sweat or saying a word are terrific and almost make the episode worth it. Almost. I also love that the Princess get a legitimately sad ending and the producers just leave the sad story of her oppressed kingdom hanging. And to be honest, I also liked the part of I clearing the footprints in the snow with a branch. I can't even imagine a live-action project being clever enough to do that but Samurai Jack is a very special franchise. *.
XLV: The Scotsman Saves Jack: Part 1:
This was a hoot! Do you know why? Because the Scotsman was the last ally Jack had who should have been tasked with this. Why? Because he's stupid. And what happened to Jack was mystery, and solving those things requires intelligence. He seems almost as frustrated trying to figure out the answers as Jack is. He's totally ill-equipped for this, which makes me root for him more. The Scotsman saving Jack isn't impressive because it comes easy to him. It's impressive because it's a struggle, and he STILL manages to come through like a good friend should. The best line was him describing what Jack fought for: "Truth. Freedom. And talking dogs." We could have used those talking dogs now to solve the mystery, but we're stuck with the Scotsman. Slacker Jack was funny. Is Slacker Jack now a thing? That's not even a question. That's what we're doing. And how bad@$$ is it that the Scotsman has a machine gun for a leg? Awesome. Or should I say "Groovy"? I love that the lump of gold the Scotsman tosses on the deck is shaped like the Golden Turd. And the nebbishy dragon speaking about how he reformed all due to Jack was quite funny. I love this. ****1/2.
XLVI: The Scotsman Saves Jack: Part 2:
A lot of people were disappointed in this and found the last half anti-climactic. Yeah, that's true. But do you know what was smart about the "Feats of Strength" portion? That they did those rather than try to pad an extra eleven minutes into the main adventure itself. Because that would make it slow and boring. But they didn't hide the fact that they had too much runtime and I'm cool with that. That stone skipping trick shows exactly why the Scotsman resents Jack in contests. He doesn't play by the rules. It's not quite cheating, but the Scotsman would have won at least a couple of the contests if Jack didn't outthink him. Loved the return of "Jump Good". And finally, what can I say about the Sirens? They are equal parts frightening, ridiculous, and hilarious, and whatever emotion I currently feel towards them turns on a dime. I like how their mouths are open wide at all times, and they sing everything (even out of melody). And that light snake they turned into at the end was pretty sweet. The Scotsman being immune because he prefers bagpipes said to me that maybe the right guy was sent on this particular mission after all. This is easily the most Jack has ever laughed on the series. It's almost eerie. It's like even after the Slacker Jack fake, Slacker Jack has totally relaxed Jack in a way he wasn't before. It's cool. Not as good as Part 1, but not as bad as it's detractors complain. ****. Two-Part Average: ****.
XLVII:
Jack And The Flying Prince And Princess: Wow. That sucked. It's not like the episode was badly made or anything, but the entire premise was fundamentally flawed. The action opens on devastating life or death stakes for characters we're never seen before, and who we don't care about. There is definitely some Star Wars spoofing going on in the first half, but it's like they just created these random archetypes and gave them the Star Wars treatment. It strikes me less as an homage, and more of a lazy rip-off. The kind of parody you could see on Family Guy. Just repeating a pop culture scenario verbatim, and believing that is somehow an actual joke. And I have to say I'm unimpressed they killed off the robot. My thought was the writer probably hated C-3PO, and always wanted to see that happen to him, and just did it. But do you know what? It was mean. And poorly thought out. And not resolved properly. And after four seasons Jack should have learned to operate a flying car and a walkie talkie by now. Any things I liked? Well, it's this show, so of course! I will never get tired of seeing Aku rise from that pit of his or seeing his robot bugs in action. Great animation on both of those things. And I really was chilled by the dog coming out of the shadows, being tortured, and being dragged back by some unseen force. I like that because it hints that there are a whole bunch of different crazy adventures going on in Aku's palace at once, and before we've only seen one at a time. But there's always been several going in the background that we don't get to see. But other than that, I think the episode was a major failure. *.
XLVIII:
Jack versus Aku: Best episode of the season. I think at this point in the series' run, even if the producers didn't know if they were ultimately going to be canceled, they probably already knew the series was getting a bit long in the tooth. They were in a rut, and doing the same formula over and over again, and Aku wisely pointed out to Jack how ultimately futile it was. Batman: The Brave And The Bold used to take meta digs at itself too, but this was the first action toon I've seen do it. And I absolutely adore Jack and Aku being forced to relate to each other on a human level. They give each other awkward smiles, and Aku double checks that Jack knows the directions (he even offers him a ride!). I'm betting some people were rolling their eyes at Jack for accepting such a duel in the first place. Of course Aku would cheat. And the only way to defeat Aku is to kill him, and the only way to do it was with the sword. There was no upside to Jack agreeing to the fight. Except... I kind of think Jack is as bored with this as Aku is. He knows it's not gonna settle anything, but it was a rarity: new terrain. And he was as curious as anyone to see how it played out. And considering the amount of fake swords he left, it probably played out pretty much as he predicted. Still, it is easy to see him grasping at any straw to get out of the rut he and Aku are stuck in. Aku's facial expressions watching his bounty hunters be destroyed were awesome too, and I loved him ordering take-out. Aku is at his best when he is trying to relate to the world on its own level, and that happened more and more as the series went on. This is probably the finest episode for that. *****.
XLIX:
The 4 Seasons Of Death: Summer and Winter sucked, but Spring was so-so, and I actually liked Fall. Spring was interesting because the second the flowers start to bloom, Jack becomes concerned. This is not a world in which nice things simply happen. Spring also probably has the most beautiful female character design the show ever came up with. The Scientist in Fall is twisted. I love how he's like a little frog and how Jack pulled that trick on him by spitting the poison in his mouth. That was pretty awesome. The episode is a mixed bag. **1/2.
L:
Tale Of X-9: I have always taken the unpopular opinion that this beloved episode is vastly overrated. And I stand by that. But seeing this on DVD on an HD TV, makes me realize that it DOES have more good things going for it than I realized. Bad stuff first: "Poor Lulu, sweet thing," is a LAUGHABLE attempt at film noir dialogue. The fact that it's repeated ad nauseam is embarrassing. It's not on the level of noirish suck of the Batman Beyond episode "April Moon", where the scientist wistfully flashes back to falling in love over a bowl of frosted flakes, but it's about a tenth of that. And since they repeat it like ten times, it's pretty much all there. And it's not so much that I hate sad endings. It's that I hate unresolved endings. We still don't know what happened to Lulu. And it drives me nuts. Now for the good things: the animation is fantastic. It's not even film noir, or even trying to be, which makes the story even more inexplicable. It is hard-core, gritty, urban animation straight out of Ralph Bakshi in the 70's. I saw definite influences from Wizards, Hey Good Lookin', and even Spicy City. And of course, the neopunk stylings of Akira. I never much liked that movie, but the animation was amazing. They could have ripped off worse. The second good thing is that as hackneyed as X-9's story is, it says something larger about the series that we may not have realized before now: All of those robot assassins Jack destroys may all have similar sob stories and sad backgrounds. They may all have a vast history we are not privy to, and on some very real level, perhaps Jack IS the bad guy in that scenario. That's tight. The third good thing was basically learning the entire history of robots during the flashback. I saw a bit of The Animatrix in that idea too. ***.
LI:
Young Jack In Africa: Loved the Lion King opening. Young Jack doesn't say much, does he? Part of me feels I should be offended by the Africans' character designs, but they are so beautiful, my heart wouldn't be in it. Do you know what I CAN grouse about? About how that group of Hooded men setting fire to the village seemed to be an African version of the Ku Klux Klan. It has never been said that this show doesn't push racial buttons. That was an extremely bad example and in incredibly poor taste. Won't deny the animation of the fire was beautiful though. I can't really help but see this episode as light skinned man saves village of Africans all by himself. Even if Jack isn't white, the message is still problematic. ***.
LII:
Jack And The Baby: Lone Jack and Cub! That was... underwhelming, to say the least. A high-concept series like Samurai Jack, which promised a definitive ending, delivers us a final episode like that and I am angry. Ugh. Let's talk about the good things. I like that the Peachboy story was animated like a traditional cartoon. I also like Jack sorting through the pile of rabbits. But I cannot help but feel ripped off by that ending. Come on, Genndy. Get off your butt and give us the movie already. **1/2.
Deleted Scene:
From Tale Of X-9. I'm betting these were censor notes. The gunshot to the head was way too graphic and X-9 actually says the word "damn". I'm betting neither of those things passed muster. ***1/2.
Genndy's Roundtable:
Lot of Ren and Stimpy folks. I was appalled at the fact that that woman was laid off from Spumco. John Krisfalusi does NOT stand by his artists. I like the observation that Jack was mostly a dialogue free show. Although I have to say that Genndy is an idiot to be surprised he won the Emmy for The Birth Of Evil. C'mon, man. How dumb are you? ***.
Genndy's New Projects:
Might I cruelly point out, that like the Samurai Jack feature, none of these projects (including one called "Vikings") actually happened? I know. I'm rude. ***.
Samurai Jack Promos:
This show always had the best ads. Legit. *****.
DVD Menu: Okay. ***.