Planet X
Although this season is where the show wraps things up, at this point you can kind of sense a pattern with the series. With the first season introducing the major players, certain ones outside of the titular K.O. appear to get a significant amount of starring roles in the seasons that follow. To clarify, Season 2 had a lot of stories dedicated to Enid more than most supporting characters, and this one has a notable number of stories about Rad. That said, what Season 3 will show of Rad isn’t nearly as compelling.
A lot of that kind of connects to how he, to me at least, is the least interesting of the main characters. That’s not to say he’s bad, in fact he’s going to feel more fleshed-out than ever. It’s just that most of his conflicts relate to living with his tough guy image he’s constantly trying to build up for himself. Making that lack in interest is how much it plays up the same stereotypical portrayals of egotistical strong men who scoff at the idea of empathy.
Such character portrayals dominate this story where he and his family visit his home, the often mentioned Planet X for a reunion with his entire alien clan. There are hints at a compelling story with Rad looking forward to the reunion, claiming it’s a great place for him to fit in and not feel like an outsider. While this can be believable when it comes to being with other aliens, Rad’s hardly ever felt like an outsider at any prior point in the series. He’s got friends and a good reputation, so how does that translate to being an outsider?
In addition to the story not fully working on a character-building level, there are also hints of shallowness. Rad comes to the reunion thinking he’ll find a lot of cool jocks like what he aspires to be, but the family present consists of nerds. Their portrayal is another highly stereotypical one at that, with white collar shirts, punching numbers on calculators, science-obsessed etc. If they’re supposed to be accepted as they are, this unattractive approach to nerds is not the way to go.
However, with a charming supportive hologram of K.O. by his side, Rad instead sees his calling in a group of jocks led by a tough go-getting relative called Coach. Coach and his team are as basic as you can get with the idea of jocks. Coach in particular shows this off with a tough voice, muscular physique, and telling Rad he has to prove himself worthy of even being called a jock as if it’s a rite of passage. The trials Rad endures like asteroid breaking, use of levitation powers, and an arm wrestle that leaves a crater all reflect a basic tough flair with an alien touch. Their reason to be may be cheap, but they’re still amusing spectacles.
Plus, humanity wins out when Coach tells Rad to truly prove himself as a jock, he has to give one of the nerds a wedgie, and the nerd he has in mind is Rad’s dad. Rad nicely knows how to hold back on such a thing, showing while he may be tough, he knows it’s wrong to hurt family like that. This is supported by his mom intervening, inadvertently revealing that Coach is actually Rad’s grandpa, something no one could predict. Ultimately, this whole thing relates to Coach not accepting his daughter’s decision to marry a nerd and a baseless nerd and jock conflict staged like tribal prejudice. Also, Rad settles it all by reminding that people of different kinds have so much to bond over these days, and the cartoon ends with jocks and nerds doing so over a video game.
In a way, this is both
reflective of modern society while also simplifying heavy themes in a comedic way. This does allow substantial things
to be done with such a shallow setup, but it’s not exactly a must-watch work.
B+
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. Whatever Happened to Rippy Roo?
4. Chip’s Damage
5. The K.O. Trap
6. We Are Heroes
7. Planet X
8. K.O., Rad, and Enid!
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where K.O. and Enid get in on Rad's reunion by going on a deep space adventure with many surprises along the way.
If you would like to check out other OK K.O.! reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment