K.O. vs Fink
No one likes dealing with a bully, but when one of them is one of your usual enemies, taunting from them can be expected more or less. However, in some cases, taunts of a bully can still hurt, and in this cartoon, they do so to a big extent with K.O. If that’s not enough, the situation gets rather touchy with one of the biggest parts of his character, his love for his mother.
It’s well known that K.O. has a strong attachment with his mom, Carol, and the opening scene is big on sweetness as he expresses how happy he is just from her being at the Plaza. Getting a cupcake from her is a nice touch too. This is also where the bully angle comes in. Across the street at Boxmore, little Fink, assistant to Professor Venomous, expresses hatred over K.O.’s great relationship with his mom. From the looks of things, it’s just the petty trait of hating love in general, but the sting of her feelings makes itself known before long.
She sends herself down to attack the Plaza, and K.O. offers to take care of her on his own. Even with her brute physical force brought by a large assortment of glorbs, they don’t hurt nearly as much as how she verbally torments K.O. She constantly tells him condescendingly of how he’s a mama’s boy and that they are no doubt the weakest kind of heroes ever. K.O. is unmoved at first, but the hurtful part of her words eventually sink into them.
From an audience perspective, Fink’s claims can be seen as typical villainous actions, but there’s one thing that’s an incredible nuisance. She’s constantly insisting on things that aren’t even true about K.O. Him being a mama’s boy is accurate, but Fink also says that he can’t do anything without her. Several past cartoons, including the past season finales, are proof that K.O. can do big things without his mother’s help, so her taunts aren’t even true. As they have an effect on K.O., especially as they end up ruining his cupcake, it practically hurts to watch.
Suggesting that K.O. hasn’t suffered enough, he’s once again hounded by one Shadowy Figure with his usual shtick of trying to coax him into unleashing his dangerous powers. Working against this setup’s favor is how K.O. thinks this is all from his famed inner monologue even though he’s well aware of Shadowy Figure’s voice and existence. It just doesn’t make sense that he’d be this naïve. He also gives into his bad advice where, while he may be suppressing T.K.O., he’s still going to try and beat Fink with anger. There’s another battle back at the Plaza where K.O.’s anger appears to give him a better advantage against Fink’s even bigger glorb supply, but not for long. This along with Shadowy Figure still trying to badly influence K.O. is a very sorry sight.
Thankfully, he gets all the reassurance he needs as he himself calls upon not an internal monologue, but an external one from his good friends, Rad and Enid. As they too get beaten by Fink, they’re able to let K.O. know that there’s nothing wrong with being a mama’s boy, especially if it’s because he has a great relationship with his mom. As a result, all of Fink’s taunting leads to her beaten by the power of love, and when all is said and done, K.O. proudly greets Carol with a big hug. While all ends well for him, the last scene shows a deeper reason for Fink’s disdain. Back at Boxmore, she tries to get attention from her parental figure, Professor Venomous, who’s strangely overly tired. He balks at her requests, and she sadly goes to her room in which none of the surrounding presents can make up for her neglect. Basically, there’s a good suggestion that her villainous taunts are broader than her just being one of the bad guys.
Ultimately, in spite of a few moments, this
cartoon is one insightful character study.
A
Season 2
Rankings
1. Your World is an Illusion
2. T.K.O.’s House
3. Final Exams
4. CarolQuest
5. All in the Villainy
6. Dark Plaza
7. GarQuest
8. Dendy’s Power
9. Crossover Nexus
10. Lord Cowboy Darrell
11. Bittersweet Rivals
12. Beach Episode
13. Red Action to the Future
14. My Fair Carol
15. K.O.’s Health Week
16. Are You Ready for Some Megafootball?!
17. Boxman Crashes
18. Wisdom Strength and Charisma
19. Gar Trains Punching Judy
20. I Am Jethro
21. Mystery Sleepover
22. Super Black Friday
23. Point to the Plaza
24. Project Ray Way
25. Special Delivery
26. Seasons Change
27. The So-Bad-Ical
28. Monster Party
29. Sidekick Scouts
30. Whacky Jaxxyz
31. Rad’s Alien Sickness
32. Plaza Film Festival
33. OK A.U.! Alternate Universe
34. Let’s Watch the Boxmore Show
35. Be a Team
36. Plaza Alone
37. Soda Genie
Season 3
Ranking
1. T.K.O. Rules
2. K.O. vs Fink
3. Chip’s Damage
4. We Are Heroes
5. K.O., Rad, and Enid!
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