Kim Possible

If you never saw this animated Kim Possible series, you may or may not want to read further.  But it is my favorite animated show of all time (and I've watched a lot of them).  Kim is not Lara Croft.  She has a real normal life (so to speak).  Classes, homework, problems...

I have the finale bookmarked.  So last night, I went looking for the origin episode just to watch it, only to find my memory of it seemed wrong.  I thought Kim started as a baby-sitter, but episode 1 showed her already a heroine.  I was very surprised and a bit confused.

But hurray for wikipedia!  I found this (footnotes removed):

"Kim becomes a crime-fighter unintentionally. In need of a job, she creates her own website to promote her babysitting and lawn mowing services, using the slogan "I can do anything".^] When a wealthy entrepreneur accidentally contacts Kim Possible instead of Team Impossible when he becomes trapped by his own laser security system, Kim rushes to his aid and uses her gymnastic abilities to disable the device. As news of Kim's heroism spreads and requests for her help increase, she finally decides to pursue it as a career".

Yay!  My memory isn't dead yet...  I knew she started out innocent of ideas of heroism.

Kim has a real family and daily high school problems.  Dad is literally a rocket scientist and Mom is literally a neurosurgeon.  And her younger twin brothers are mechanical geniuses.  Your typical family, LOL!

Kim has a male best friend from  kindergarden years.  No hint of a love relationship.  Just BFFs.

The guy is named Ron Stoppable.  Kim's last name is Possible; his is Stoppable.  Clue to his ineptness in life.  He basically becomes the sidekick who has to be saved all the time.  Well, his pants fall down on most episodes, so you get the relationship.  But he is brave even if inept.

Kim's main goal in the series is simply to help those in need regardless of money or rewards.  She does have friends who help her with various planes and information (You helped me with that ship problem, etc).

Kim's main oppenent is Shego (who is both acrobatic and can shoot energy from her hands how is a mystery).  But she is the sidekick of the blue-skinned Dr Draken who of course wants to take over the world.  There are a few other villians (like Senore Senior Senior and his utterly handsome clueless son Senore Senior Junior ("Senior" being their last name) and some guy who shoots golf ball bombs.  But Shego mostly appears.

And one episode explained her name.  Kim and Ron eat at taco places.  He eats tacos, she a salad.  In a different city (but same taco brand) a villian breaks in and Kim drives him a away.  Later, she discovers (because she solves things) the manager is a big strong hero named "Hego"

And darned if there wasn't a "Go-Team" once.  There was a Theygo (could create multiples of himself) and IGo (speedy kid).  Kim catches on about "Shego"...  Yeah, Shego was the (black and green outfit) outcast of the group when she followed Dr Draken into villanny.  But Kim goes away from their territory (Ron didn't like their tacos) and we don't see much of them.

There are some interesting suprises.  In one episode another of Dr Drakens' devices fail and Shego and Kin are zapped to become sisterly friends.  Which gets reversed back and forth, of course.  But the last moment of the episode was Shego looking at a photo them both together with a tear dripping down her cheek.  One of the slightly-suggested plot themes were that Kim and Shego were actually very much alike.

And then there was the "Graduation Day" episodes.  With a stupid build up.  Ron has "monkey-powers" which he has no understanding of except for a voice/image in his head.  Kim realizes that Ron has been her best friend forever.  Ron doesn't know how to express his love of Kim.  

They eventually kiss to the surprise of both.  And attend Senior Prom together.  Kim in "a liitle black dress and Ron in an over-the-top tuxedo (of course).  The high school crowd is stunned, then applauds wildly.  As in "well it's about damned time you two figured it out".  

Then the alien baddies attacked.  Just a husband/wife team, but they are very powerful (and have been seen a couple times in minor fights).  So a few things happen.  Dr Draken has created a beam that makes him all flowery (much to his dismay).  I mean, petals all around his head and a few tendrils.  Shego and Kim fight the aliens.  Ron has been given a rocket pack from Kim's twin brothers.

Kim is defeated and she and Draken are captured/taken to the enemy ship.  Ron and Shego go to rescue them (she steals a jet pack).  

Favorite paraphrases...

Shego to Ron:  "How do we get in"?

Ron". "There's always a trash dump".  

Shego:  That's ricul (and then the trash door opens).  They fly in.  They find Kim and Draken (Kim got them freed).  Ron embraces Kim.  

Now you have to understand something here.  Shego is Dracken's sidekick/enforcer.  She is insulting, snarky and belittles his mad scientist schemes.  She has never shown the least sign of affection towards him.  

But Shego embraces Draken like Kim and Ron do with a lot of embarassment and "well I was just happy to see you" explanations.  Woah!

So they escape the alien ship and return to Earth.  The alien couple (visualize 8" tall body-builder/hunters).

They defeat Kim yet again.  Draken complains about his petals and tendrils. "Its not like I can command them to surround you", but that actually happens when he says that.  OMG, he is sort of like Poison Ivy in Batman.  And as he stands there, he hatches a plan.  (paraphrasing again) "I see it Shego.  For once in my life I see how this could work.  It all makes sense now for the first time".

Kim and Shego are beaten.  The alien couple have landed destructo-machines all over Earth.  But Ron's "monkey-power" (lame, I know) is activated when he sees Kim being held up in defeat by the alien couple.

Two things happen at the same time.  Draken commands his tentacles to spread and "take down those machines".  And Ron glows red and levitates.  Kim is unconcious but Shego is still awake.  She sees Ron land vibrating body hits and then actually throws them into their ship (which immediately explodes), ending the threat.

Draken's tendrils crush all the destructo-machines. Ron returns to reality.  Kim wakes up and asks Shego "what happened"?  Shego:  "Ya had to see it.  I think your sidekick just stepped up".

Now another interesting part.  Draken is regarded as a hero and is awarded a medal.  Shego embraces him seriously (in public, though we sort of knew she loved him all the time and he her).  They will be together, as Draken realizes being "a good guy" isn't a "bad thing".   And the love of someone like Shego isn't bad either.  So the bad guys turned out good.  Hurrah, everyne is good and happy.

And Kim and Ron graduated and became permanent.  She to Universities asking her to accept them and Ron to work at "Smarty-Mart" as a clerk.  But it doesn't matter.  Because they had always loved each other and never realized it...  And would (as the series ended) as long as the stars shown in the sky.

Fini

Feeling A Bit Off Today

Sometimes, I am not happy.  Yeah, who isn't sometimes?   But "unhappy" doesn't mean "miserable" either.  Maybe unsatisfied is the better term. 

I don't watch the "usual" TV shows.  No sitcoms for a couple decades (the sad exploits of the characters came to depress me and they are start back at square one the next episode, having learned nothing).  Never watched a reality show or a dramatic soap.  Shows about aliens or weird places on Earth (that always turn out to be fake) make me annoyed.

So, I watch 6 kinds of shows (which seem like a lot, but they aren't...  Sports occasionally; the local teams.  I don't watch sports for the sport (I don't even watch the Superbowl), but I have a relatively meaningless interest in a couple of college and professional teams.  I actually have no idea why.  Serious science and history; they often explain new findings or dramatize actual historical events in new ways.  Political commentary like MSNBC and CNN and Bill Maher for discussion of real news events.  Actual animated comedy shows; not cartoons (though I used to) but well-drawn plot-oriented animation with a good touch of satire and sarcasm.  Stuff like Futurama, Archer, Cowboy Beebop, Full Metal Alchemist, etc.  I enjoy absurd humor.  And a couple really strange animated shows that I've found over the years.

Bear with me...

One of the last category was 'Samurai Jack'  (created by Genndy Tartakovsky ).  The plot is that a shape-shifting  evil wizard (Aku) takes over an ) Earth. world after defeating samurais.  One samurai's son almost defeats him but is cast into the future where the son can have no affect on his world-conquering plans.  So the son lives in a future utterly and completely controlled by Aku.

That world has all sorts of weird creatures on it, all dominated (some good, some evil) by Aku.  He helps the downtrodden while seeking a way to get back to the past and destroy Aku.  It went on for about 5 seasons, so I'm not going to bore you about episodes.  

But he makes friends along the way.  In the final season (with a gap of 10 years).  His friends collect to fight Aku (and lose).  Aku cannot be defeated in the present (Jack's future).

The series ended with Jack finally back in his original time accompanied by a female ninja.  She (a daughter of Aku) had spent several episodes trying to kill him.  I should mention that while Jack destroyed a whole lot of robots, he never actually killed a single living being until the female ninja and her sisters cornered him.  His shock at realizing he had killed living beings was intense.  One survived.

But she saw a butterfly alight on Jack's finger and it triggerred a memory of her childhood (enough to change her mind about her father Aku teaching her that Jack was evil).  

Jack's happiness is short-lived.  During the wedding, the female ninja fades away.  She was of the future and couldn't be Aku's daughter since he Jack had finally killed him in the past.  He finds a horse in the woods like one he had seen in dreams.  They go off-screen.  End.

I found the ending entirely satisfactory (how many TV shows actually have "endings" after all?) though many viewers were upset.   They wanted a longer fight with Aku.  They wanted a happier ending.  That wasn't the point.  

Genndy Tartakovsky isn't into "happy endings".  He was examining loyalty, struggling, and persistence. 

Genndy Tartakovsky is a minimalist animator (or at least directed his team to be).  His trees were simple and all the same.  His landscapes were sparse (nearly "road-runnish").  His characters were drawn in a simplified manner and if there was a group of them they were pretty much identical.  He wasn't concerned with the artistry so much as the message.  "Help other beings and they will help you".

Which gets me to the subject I really want to discuss. (and you thought I was done, LOL!)..

Two years ago, I stumbled across a new animation series.  It is called 'Primal'.  It was a newer Genndy Tartakovsky project.  I stumbled across it at the start.  I immediately recognized the artwork as his (from Samurai Jack).  I knew nothing about the show.

The series is scientifically absurd.  A caveman and a smallish type of T Rex bond and they struggle against unlikely huge snakes and bats and supernatural creatures.  I have to explain the bond though.

The caveman's name is Spear (for the weapon he used) and the half-sized T Rex type (something like "valapator").  Spear and Fang never spoke in the first year.  They both yelled a lot.  That in itself was interesting.  Spear's family was eaten by actual T Rexs.  Spear he sought revenge, and found Fang.  But  real T Rex ate her young and Spear attacked it as did Fang.  They drove it off.

Most absurdly, they formed a bond.  I know, "yeah right".  But I am OK with "the temporary suspension of reality".  He screams, she roars...  But somehow she understands that he helped her.

The first season, they just go around together struggling to survive among oversize bad critters.  The point was that they somehow got along.  And, again, never a word was said by either.  Yet you could understand what was going on.  It was extremely violent fighting "the nasties" but the occasional tough to the head and sleeping together showed the bond.

The 2nd season, things got more complicated.  Spear (presented as a bulky over-the-top Conan type) rescues a more advanced woman from a Viking-like culture.  He finally understands a word she says to mean her name.  Mira (could be Meera).  

She is determined to return to her home and somehow a ship is built (I forget some details).  They sail away.  At some point, he repeats her name.  I saw that coming and was annoyed.  Spear isn't supposed to speak.  On the other hand, it is the only word he ever says (though he repeats her name in later episodes).

Season 2 is mostly about Spear and Fang accompanying Mira, Fang having a clutch of 3 eggs and some weird evil female ship captain/queen mostly being a pirate with a city-sized ship.  She controls the ship by having the crew's children in prison.  There is also one huge guy who can destroy nearly anything and anyone.  

Spear is almost unstoppable.  Fang is of course violent and eats warriors for breakfast (literally).  But the huge guy defeats them.  He is controlled because the evil captain has his daughter.

They all defeat her and go on.  But there are signs that Spear and Fang are "wearing out".  But they find Mira's home island.  She is thrilled, but sad remembering the loss of her tribe.  Suddenly, she discovered that many survived.  They are welcomed into the new hillside village.

In an empty room he is offerred for sleeping, Spear blows charcoal over his hand.  And then (staring) draws the story of his life.   His parents, and children, the T Rex that ate them and Fang;s young  (Spear and Fang killed it earlier), meeting Fang, meeting Mira.  And a final blown hanprint with fingers closed.

Of course, it can't be easy.  A demon-enhanced old enemy appears.  The demon shoots fire.  It injures Fang badly and then spews fire on Spear.  Spear launches enough of an attack to cause The Master Demon (no explanation of that) to pull it down.

Fang is OK, but Spear is horribly burned.  The newest episode (Season Finale) showed Spear burnt and disfigured.  The Shaman treats him but leaves (which suggests no hope).  Mira kind of forces sex with him.

In the last scene, there are several of Fang's type of dinosaurs.  Mira is there, looking a bit older.  I girl cteen looking a lot like Spear and Mira combined is riding one of Fang's grown-up babies.

My conclusion is that Spear died, but that life goes on.  There seem to be debates on Reddit, but I'm not going to go there.

What saddens me (to get back to the original point).  I suspect the series is ended with Spear's death.  And that wouldn't be the worst thing.  It was an ending...

So a favorite show ended this week.  I feel sad about that.