Saturday, August 18, 2018

'Toon Reviews 21: Xiaolin Showdown Season 1 Episode 2: Like a Rock


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Like a Rock
Following the premiere, the formula on how our heroes will find the Shen Gong Wu is all set.  Still, the episodes have enough factors to distinguish themselves from each other. Sometimes they focus on a particular character, like this episode where no one knows what to make of Clay. 
Personality-wise, Clay is the least interesting protagonist.  He has the least character flaws and is mostly friendly and logical about matters with his cowboy mannerisms being his main quality.  This episode attempts to showcase another flaw for Clay which is holding back on necessary physical fighting.  The thing is though, this hardly feels like a flaw since he’s still efficient.  The opening training session at the Xiaolin Temple even shows this when he accomplishes the assigned task without doing anything physical.  Sure, he doesn’t do what’s necessary in the heat of battle, but he still gets the job done.  As a result, the other warriors feeling concerned over Clay’s lack of fighting, and in Omi’s case making fun of his “old man Kung-Fu” don’t feel warranted. 
Their feelings do start to get a bit of a point when they set off to find the featured Shen Gong Wu, the heavy-punching Fist of Tebigong.  They’re ambushed by Jack Spicer and his robots, and Omi, Raimundo, and Kimiko do all the fighting.  Things turn creative when Jack and Wuya unleash their newest sidekick, a mime.  The mime may seem common at first, but there’s a catch to him when all his imaginary acts are real.  It shows as he traps three of the four Xiaolin warriors in a box, with completely real walls.  They have to rely on Clay to find the Fist of Tebigong via a hilarious attempt to get him to understand what they’re saying while inside the mime’s box. 
Their worries if Clay has what it takes to finish the job have some weight since him seeing no reason to fight sets himself up for danger, but they don’t have enough of it.  Clay easily finds the Shen Gong Wu through humbleness and holds out strong enough against Jack’s robots even taking out the mime.  Though to be fair, he does kind of take out the mime through contrived means since there’s no reason why the mime couldn’t have used an invisible box.  Basically, while there is some legit reason to worry about Clay, it mostly feels like everyone is overreacting.  They find a way out of the box, their solution adding to the creativity as they create a door through imagining it.  However, they don’t take the idea that problems can be solved without fighting to heart as they watch Clay compete against Jack for the Fist of Tebigong in a Xiaolin Showdown. 
This time, it’s an intense flight over a floating forest to catch a robin.  Jack uses the Third Arm Sash which has the unique power of offering extra extension around his waist.  It would’ve been great if we saw how Jack got it though.  Now, the other warriors should know from their experience that fighting isn’t only option and Jack has no luck getting the robin.  Still, it is a bit concerning that Clay stands around for most of the showdown.  All that changes when he proves competent after all by catching the robin through calmly building a nest.  With that, it’s satisfying that this is what gets Clay’s peers to see sense in the end. 
Along with strong comedy and plot elements to exercise the show’s trademark creativity, this episode stands strong in spite of a main conflict without much cause for concern.
B+


The Ranking
  1. The Journey of a Thousand Miles
  2. Like a Rock
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Kimiko has to learn focus to control a new Shen Gong Wu in spite of the unwarranted sexism her friends give her.
If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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