Mystery Science Fair 201X (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Season 1 Episode 43) - 'Toon Reviews 19

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Mystery Science Fair 201X

Among many great things about this show are the interesting world building and the charming character relationships.  You can only imagine how strong a cartoon focusing on both elements together ends up.  K.O. and Dendy continue to bring enjoyable chemistry from his innocence working off her intellect, and their bond is enhanced by the world building. 

For an upcoming science fair, Dendy’s interest in K.O.’s turbonic form, i.e. T.K.O., gives her a perfect idea for their project.  She'll perform experiments to see how T.K.O. unleashes such a strong power on his own.  From a normal standpoint, this seems like a good thing to explore since other characters have been shown to need glorbs to obtain turbonic power.  With T.K.O.’s destruction in mind, it’s fitting that K.O. doesn’t want to do the experiments.  He is, however, convinced to go along with the plan when Dendy promises they’ll be safe in a closed environment, a secret lab. 

The lab itself is actually an interesting place for the action to unfold, paying great tribute to one the of most influential Cartoon Network shows Dexter’s Laboratory.  Right down to the smallest detail, respect for the series is apparent.  You can tell from the overall look at the lab, some of the background music, K.O. wanting to press a button on Dendy’s prized experiment, and even the how they walk.  It’s an interesting way to show off who's the scientist and who's the test subject.  The great thing about these references is that they’re solely here to establish the setting and don’t detract from the story. 

The focus remains being on the experiments to let loose T.K.O.  They’re mostly very hard on K.O. through treadmill laps over sharp objects, swimming with a big robot shark, and having him fight a monkey for a banana.  They make Dendy realize that the more negative K.O. gets, the closer he gets to turbo power.  Her attempts get harsher when she initiates a scenario to make K.O. feel weak and helpless on purpose.  He watches his employees get trapped in a fire, and he can’t save them, giving him great emotional pain. 

Dendy’s experiments do get the results she was after with T.K.O. finally appearing due to the negativity, but what unfolds shows that what you want isn’t always good.  T.K.O. goes on a destructive rampage which stands as he constantly remarks how Dendy’s been using the real K.O. as nothing but a test subject.  On a side note, as T.K.O. destroys Dendy’s lab, there are more nicely staged Dexter references of Dendy freaking out over wrecked inventions and T.K.O.'s laugh. 

Speaking of Dendy, during T.K.O.’s rampage, there’s a big moment when she reflects upon how bad she treated K.O. during the experiments.  In fact, she's kind of done that a lot throughout their friendship, especially when they first met.  It says a lot about character growth when the character in question discovers flaws on his/her own, and this happening with Dendy makes her a stronger character.  K.O. also comes out strong when he hears Dendy admit her faults as a friend and he gets more control over T.K.O. as a result.  From his move here, there's promise for him getting a full hold of his turbonic form and closer to becoming a great hero. 

In the end, they may not get a winning science fair project, but K.O. and Dendy are left with something intriguing to keep studying while also becoming stronger as friends.  That alone is endearing enough.  Promise for the future, great character relationships at the center, and references that add to the experience don’t just make the cartoon a success. They make it one of the show’s most winning entries.

A+

The Ranking

1. Face Your Fears
2. Let’s Take a Moment
3. Mystery Science Fair 201X
4. You Have to Care
5. T.K.O.
6. Back in Red Action
7. No More Pow Cards
8. Glory Days
9. Legends of Mr. Gar
10. We’ve Got Pests
11. I Am Dendy
12. Let’s Have a Stakeout
13. You Get Me
14. Let’s Be Heroes
15. You’re Everybody’s Sidekick
16. We Got Hacked
17. K.O.’s Video Channel
18. Jethro’s All Yours
19. Know Your Mom
20. Everybody Likes Rad?
21. Villains Night In
22. A Hero’s Fate
23. Plaza Prom
24. We’re Captured
25. My Dad Can Beat up Your Dad
26. Let’s Be Friends
27. We Messed Up
28. Parents Day
29. Plazalympics
30. Presenting Joe Cuppa
31. Sibling Rivalry
32. Second First Date
33. Stop Attacking the Plaza
34. Just Be a Pebble
35. The Power is Yours
36. Do You Have Any More in the Back?
37. Let’s Watch the Pilot
38. Villains Night Out
39. You’re Level 100
40. You Are Rad
41. We’ve Got Fleas
42. Rad Likes Robots
43. One Last Score

The next OK K.O. review develops even more side characters around Lakewood Plaza Turbo, Brandon and A Real Magic Skeleton.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is Episode 38 of Animaniacs featuring Pinky and the Brain all the way through.

If you would like to check out other OK K.O.! reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.