Main cast: Thor Bishopric (Kevin), Hadley Kay (Herman), Ari Magder (Randy), Rino Romano (Eddie), August Schellenberg (Uncle Ned, Johnny Red Sky), and John Kassir (The Crypt Keeper)
Director: Laura Shepherd
Oh good, this episode is made up of two shorter segments, so this means double the pain if things were dire. Fortunately, this is easily the best episode of this show to date. Imagine that—shorter can really be better sometimes!
The first segment, Gone Fishin’, is weird because it presents fishing as an inhumane act to such an exaggerated degree that I can only wonder whether this thing was some kind of vegan propaganda aimed at kids. Sure, Uncle Ned is horrible in many ways, such as refusing to let his nephew read and throwing his book into the lake, catching fish only to dump them on the ground later just because he can, and more, but this episode also presents the act of fishing as a terrible crime against nature, worthy of punishment.
Still, I am looking at this from a grown-up’s point of view. A kid will likely find this episode a fun vicarious experience of seeing a mean grown-up getting punished and say, “Nice!”
The twist at the end is pretty good, though. It’s a shame that this is a thing meant for kids, because that twist has some really great grown-up gore potential, a potential that, alas, will never come to fruition.
Next is A Little Body of Work. In order to win a silly car race he himself instigated, Eddie along with his hanger-on Herman steal various car parts from the neighborhood. So these cars get into accidents and the people inside are killed no one got hurt despite someone seen being dragged out of a wrecked car (kiddie cartoon; can’t have anyone dying after all), who cares as it’s all about winning for Eddie!
Things go really wrong for Eddie when he decides to nab a part from his competitor’s car. That car is sentient in a way, and it hates Eddie’s guts…
This one is unintentionally hilarious because there are cars getting wrecked in a dire way all over the place, but the episode still insists to the bitter end that no one really gets hurt in the entire thing. Come on, are the kids this show is aimed at really that dumb?
Just like the earlier segment, this one could have been an adorably violent and gruesome segment if it had allowed itself to be more adult in the nature. The final scene could have easily been Eddie and Herman torn to shreds by an army of Christines, maybe by being mangled as cars drive over them again and again, and that would have been awesome. Alas, instead the show presents a kid-friendly ending, complete with the Crypt Keeper lecturing everyone to never try to emulate the music video of Paula Abdul’s Rush Rush.
Both segments are very watchable, all things considered, so the show may have inadvertently stumbled upon 10 minutes or so being the sweet spot for each story. Within this shorter running time, the pace feels right. Nothing feels repetitive or included just to pad up the episode, and nothing overstays its welcome.
Hence, imagine my disappointment when I realize future episodes will return to the usual runtime as before. This episode must be a happy accident. I can only hope this episode is a turning point of sorts, so that these future episodes will be at least as watchable as this one. It’s be a shame if this show had accidentally struck gold this episode, only to throw everything away because it doesn’t realize what it has come upon!
