Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Deep Freeze (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 13) - 'Toon Reviews 35

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The Deep Freeze


A major specialty to this season is the abundance of creative story ideas.  We’ve had quite a few already with things like a panda-themed mob boss, Dojo turning into a monstrous threat, and an earwig living in a Shen Gong Wu who can possess people.  This trend continues with the world put into a new ice age from an evil snowman. 
During a pursuit for a Shen Gong Wu called the Lunar Locket, Jack unveils a robot he made human with the Heart of Jong.  While fighting for the Lunar Locket, it’s very impressive and funny how he puts up a strong fight against the Xiaolin Warriors while still acting friendly.  However, all the fighting gets the robot depressed, and deciding he doesn’t want to be human anymore, he throws the Heart of Jong down a cliff.  Given this Shen Gong Wu’s ability to make life out of pretty much anything, this simple action turns out to be highly destructive to the world. 
Just from interacting with the snow at the bottom of the cliff, the Heart of Jong creates a sentient snowman who can easily go from cute and innocent to a big yodeling monster.  No one stands a chance against this being’s frosty terror.  It even gets to the point where Jack has to legitimately beg the Xiaolin Warriors to let him stay with them while Wuya dares to team up with the snowman.  True, Jack does end up double-crossing the Warriors by stealing some of their Shen Gong Wu, he’s barely a threat when the snowman suddenly shows up.  He’s incredibly powerful with his use of ice and snow, easily freezing the Warriors mid-fight, and even when he’s melted, he can go back to snow quickly with the Heart of Jong.  It’s a legitimately difficult enemy to take down. 
Now, I’m not exactly all for cold, so what the snowman goes on to do feels especially fiendish to me.  When he catches up with Jack and snags his Lunar Locket, he uses it to block out the sun completely, making for intense freezing ice everywhere, his idea of global dominance.  Seeing our heroes shivering intensely sells the severity of this state of the world.  However, it’s through this sorry state when a new idea for defeat develops.  They have the Shen Gong Wu to melt the snow, and that one spot of green they create is enough to attract the snowman to come try and stop them.  Once he’s right where they want him, it’s an all-out battle to take out the Heart of Jong powering him. 
At first, the snowman is dominating like he’s been with nothing seeming to melt him.  Then comes a Xiaolin Showdown where the face-off with this all-powerful evil snowman is a simple game of ice hockey.  Omi is the Warrior to take on the snowman where a really small monk ends up going against the snowman as a huge wintery cyborg.  The thing is, even when the snowman easily manipulates water with the moon using the Lunar Locket, water is Omi’s main element.  When things get dire, he has all the water moves to force the water thrown at him back and finally beat that snowman.  Then after the moon is put back in its proper place, ending the ice age, there are enough repercussions to this affair since it means evil is much stronger now.  For that, the Warriors get new armor to wear when fighting in a Xiaolin Showdown from here on, and they certainly do look nice. 
Still, it’s the main story that matters most, and with its grand creative concept and legitimately high-stake execution, it makes what we get really great.
A+

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      The Evil Within

3.      Enter the Dragon

4.      The Deep Freeze

5.      Days Past

6.      PandaTown

7.      The Sands of Time

8.      Master Monk Guan

9.      Crystal Glasses

10.  Dreamscape

11.  The Shard of Lightning

12.  Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil

13.  Sizing Up Omi

 
 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Warriors must work as a team to get a Shen Gong Wu to control them all called the Emperor Scorpion.

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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