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Jethro’s All Yours
A good character has more elements to their
personality than just one trait so to be relatable and interesting, but if they
do have just one trait, they can still work as long as they’re
entertaining. That’s the interesting
thing about this cartoon centering on another main element of the series which
is K.O. and his co-workers exercising their powers by taking on Boxmore robots that
are randomly sent to attack Lakewood Plaza Turbo. The premiere cartoon had the first instance
of this, but this cartoon is devoted to such an attack.
The attack here does not seem like much with
the robot being a very small one named Jethro, who simply rolls over to the
plaza repeating “I am Jethro”. While the
more experienced heroes don’t feel the need to waste their time with a small
opposing force, K.O., always up for a chance to become a hero, stays to take
him on. In spite of Jethro’s small
unthreatening stature, seeing K.O. put a lot of effort into destroying him is
nice for his devotion to reach the heroic greatness he dreams of.
Then the robot attack turns out to be more of
a serious threat as bigger Jethros appear for K.O. to defeat. While taking the Jethros out, things get deeper
for K.O. when Rad’s earlier words about Jethro being as simple as K.O. get to
him. The moment has a lot of power
because it brings to mind what makes a character weak through a lack of
interesting traits as Jethro exhibits through simply rolling along, saying his
name, and doing nothing to defend himself, as well as a sense of doubt in K.O. believing
that no one sees him as anyone special.
Granted, the show hasn’t provided a lot of defining moments for K.O. at
this point to make his anxieties valid, but him acknowledging them and how they
add to his already strong relatability still give the cartoon value.
It’s this issue on character complexities
that get K.O. to sympathize with Jethro instead of destroying him like he would
with any other robot, although Jethro does seem more complex when a really big
Mega-Jethro comes to attack the plaza.
Because this Jethro is the biggest, K.O. believes he’s much more
complex, so he tries to defeat it through reasoning. When that doesn’t work, he
and Rad actually go inside Jethro’s inner workings to find the robot’s
complexities, resulting in an interesting commentary about how even the biggest
and strongest characters can be simple regarding personality. All there is to Jethro is a lever commanding
him to move forwards or backwards and nothing else. Pulling it stops it from attacking the plaza
and destroy Boxmore instead, but it leaves K.O. disappointed that there truly
is nothing of substance to Jethro.
Fortunately, we end with a heartwarming scene from a cool jerk like Rad
who, in his own way, shows that K.O. has much more to him than Jethro will ever
have. Considering how clear his dreams
of being a hero, bravery, friendliness, and confidence issues have been from
the start, Rad really isn’t kidding when saying how K.O. isn’t actually simple,
selling this cartoon as a guide for characterization, and this is only an early
example of a cartoon shining for its creative interpretations of deep subjects.
A
The Ranking
- Let’s Be Heroes
- You’re Everybody’s Sidekick
- Jethro’s All Yours
- Let’s Be Friends
- We Messed Up
The next OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes review covers the unbelievable plot point of K.O. apparently hitting Level 100 in such a short time.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, it's another Star vs. the Forces of Evil review on "Star on Wheels" and "Fetch."
If you would like to check out other OK K.O.! reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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