Dangerous Minds (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 24) - 'Toon Reviews 35

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Dangerous Minds

As Season 2 nears completion, we get this episode that brings together themes that have shown up a lot in this run of episodes. 

During a Shen Gong Wu hunt, Jack’s latest line of robots let loose a mob of giant spiders whose numbers increase fast.  It turns out to be a rare instance where both sides have to bail the quest due to how intense the situation has become.  However, through retreating, they learn background on the released spiders.  They’re neither good nor evil, but simply consumers by nature, eating everything on Earth until there’s nothing left.  With the Xiaolin Warriors needing to protect Earth and their enemies wanting to take it over, these spiders are no doubt a problem for both of them. 

They all set off to go back for the Shen Gong Wu that was left behind, the Hidoku Mouse, said to undo any mistake.  Even with the stakes, many of the opponents, mostly Jack, treat the encounter like a typical Shen Gong Wu confrontation.  For the first time in a while, there’s a Xiaolin Showdown in the middle of an episode instead of near the end where Omi and Jack mud wrestle for the Hidoku Mouse.  After an enjoyable round of the sport which includes a few unexpected moments like Omi needing to actually eat bugs, Jack wins the match overall.  I have to question the line about him winning for once considering that there were a few times in Season 1 when he came out victorious in a Showdown. 

This doesn’t lead to any good because he ends up dropping the Hidoku Mouse, supposedly in lava meaning that it’s destroyed forever.  That’s a good direction in the name of raising stakes by not making the mistake easily reversible now, making it just like mistakes in real life.  It’s also where the big good and evil team-ups throughout this season come to a head.  Omi and Chase end up alone together to come up with a way to beat the spiders while Omi’s friends and Jack end up in Atlantis where more spiders imprison them.  The thing about Omi and Chase’s team-up is that there is good compatibility and concentration on the main task despite all differences.  This makes sense considering the keen interest in Omi and all the teachings given to him from Chase.  They use the two Shen Gong Wu whose purpose is to provide infinite knowledge, the Fountain of Hui and the Eagle Scope, to find the spiders’ weakness. 

Then they track down the queen spider’s egg chamber to carry out the plan through setting lava through it.  All the way, Omi and Chase prove effective as a team as Omi remembers all teachings and is in perfect sync with his partner.  It’s also a bold path considering the circumstances, so much so that Omi’s friends don’t necessarily have the right to be shocked of the team-up when they’re working with Jack.  Jack still doesn’t get it and still opts to run off on his own as the bad guy he is, but gets consequences for it.  It’s ingenuity picked up from Omi’s moments with Chase that take care of the spiders. The moment is also grand as everyone is praised by common civilians with the mission ending with the main protagonists coming out of Old Reliable geyser.  Plus, his friends understand that he had to work with Chase and not use obtained knowledge to learn how to destroy evil.  However, one little comment from Omi that he may have peaked will lead to something big in the next episode. 

As for this one, while stakes aren’t always taken as seriously as they should, the strengths of necessary team-ups and creative setups are prominent.

A

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      The Last Temptation of Raimundo

3.      The Apprentice

4.      The New Order

5.      The Evil Within

6.      Enter the Dragon

7.      The Deep Freeze

8.      Days Past

9.      PandaTown

10.  Dangerous Minds

11.  The Emperor Scorpion Strikes Back

12.  The Return of PandaBubba

13.  The Sands of Time

14.  The Year of the Green Monkey

15.  Master Monk Guan

16.  Screams of the Siren

17.  The Demon Seed

18.  Crystal Glasses

19.  Dreamscape

20.  The Shard of Lightning

21.  Something Jermaine

22.  Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil

23.  Sizing Up Omi

24.  The Black Vipers

 

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the penultimate episode of this season where Chase's plans to bring Omi to the dark side come to a head.

If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.