'Toon Reviews 21: Xiaolin Showdown Season 1 Episode 8: Night of the Sapphire Dragon

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Night of the Sapphire Dragon

The featured Shen Gong Wu for this episode has a huge mystery surrounding it and a huge dark direction to take the story in.  As a result, the series becomes more than just a light-hearted action series. 

The mystery is apparent at the beginning when it’s seen as a black dragon bauble, but no one knows its name or abilities.  That said, getting the Shen Gong Wu brings on the exciting tone for the episode.  It’s an intense dive into a volcano to retrieve it before Jack Spicer does.  We even get a huge Xiaolin Showdown for it that’s big on intensity in the volcanic setting. This could be a problem through getting the climactic showdown in so early in the episode with nothing else living up to it.  However, as great as the showdown is, what follows is just as exciting, maybe more. 

The Xiaolin Warriors win the Shen Gong Wu, but its mystery persists and from that, the darker turn slowly becomes apparent.  The buildup to the darkness feels natural to not make what happens feel out of place.  Things start calm as Kimiko researches the Shen Gong Wu, then when she scratches it, there’s a layer of sapphire-blue under the black.  Things get dark the moment the dragon’s eyes glow and the room fills with blue smoke. The result is the darkest fate imaginable in fiction when Kimiko turns into solid sapphire, and more people around the Xiaolin Temple face petrification over time.  While the occurrences leave a lot of shock of many good people becoming inanimate objects fated to never be heard, it thickens the desire to learn how this is happening. 

The petrification aspect soon crosses with the mystery of what the new Shen Gong Wu is like.  It looks like a black dragon, but it’s actually called the Sapphire Dragon.  It goes from a bauble to a real blue dragon that turns the good, evil, and indifferent into sapphire, getting more powerful with every victim.  It only loses its power when covered in soot, which is why it was hidden in a volcano.  Something making people statues at will makes the petrification instances more disturbing than it already is.  Even so, it does make the statues its sentient lackeys who attack the only remaining victim, Dojo. 

Speaking of Dojo, this episode is a major shining role for him developing past just being the Warriors’ smart-talking dragon guide to Shen Gong Wu.  He’s self-conscious about his strength after failing to help his comrades get the Sapphire Dragon earlier. Also, he's constantly cowering in fear when the Sapphire Dragon starts its dark powers doesn’t help his case.  It’s an endearing side of Dojo whose conflict is not foreign to most people who can easily feel inferior in certain areas. 

His eventual takedown of the Sapphire Dragon not only brings his character to a good conclusion for the episode, but is also very clever.  There are a few signs of Clay’s hot sauce being resilient to intense heat by sustaining the volcanic lava and how he suggests Dojo use it to build up his fire breath.  It turns out that’s just what Dojo does to save the day.  In a humorous Western getup, he mans the hot sauce bottles like a cowboy welding his guns, drinks them all, and gets a fire breath that overpowers the Sapphire Dragon’s power.

With everyone back to normal and the Sapphire Dragon once again dormant , it’s a big grand end to the ensuing drama and Dojo’s arc for the episode.  It leaves the episode as one of the show’s grandest Shen Gong Wu escapades which sells the dangers of the artifacts, develops characters, and is big on creativity.

A+

The Ranking

1. Night of the Sapphire Dragon
2. Shen Yi Bu
3. Chameleon
4. Katnappe
5. The Journey of a Thousand Miles
6. Like a Rock
7. Ring of the Nine Dragons
8. Tangled Web

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Omi has to claim a new Shen Gong Wu through playing basketball in New York City.

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

'Toon Reviews 21: Xiaolin Showdown Season 1 Episode 4: Katnappe

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

Katnappe

One of the show’s biggest strengths is its extensive variety of villains.  Eccentric and whiny Jack Spicer and seriously thinking Wuya are the most prominently seen.  However, there are several episodes devoted to other villains of different interests and personas. 

This episode’s featured villain, introduced at the end of the previous one, is Katnappe.  She's the alter ego of a girl Jack knows who’s obsessed with cats, right down to dressing like one and making incessant cat puns.  She also means serious business in fights, taking out Jack’s robots with her bare claws or her small yet destructive robot kittens.  Now that Jack’s constant failures to obtain Shen Gong Wu are becoming an issue, Katnappe is the best way to counteract them. 

Speaking of Shen Gong Wu, although it was revealed and obtained in the last episode, this episode shows a lot of the Golden Tiger Claws.  They’re a glove of claws that rips a hole in the fabric of the universe that can transport the holder anywhere he or she desires.  It’s a cool fictional idea brought to life, and the scenes of the Xiaolin Warriors trying them out feel believable to how they’d work in reality.  The appeal of the Golden Tiger Claws crosses paths with Katnappe when Omi challenges her to a Xiaolin Showdown for the more constantly used Changing Chopsticks.  However, Omi’s desperate desire to use the Golden Tiger Claws in a Showdown is his downfall.  He doesn’t prepare himself for a baddie like Katnappe and loses them and the Chopsticks to her. 

The episode then goes in an interesting direction.  Instead of waiting until the next Xiaolin Showdown to beat Katnappe, the Warriors try to better understand her so they can stop her on their own. Doing so comes with enjoyably crafted escapades.  First, they’re put through a seemingly easy task of stealing a jade elephant from Master Fung for a week without chores.  They lose the challenge when he prevents their chances of winning by breaking it.  That’s victory enough for him, and the kids pay the price by hand scrubbing the floor (or skating with scrubbers in Raimundo’s case). 

This event plays a role in learning the importance of knowing Katnappe before catching her.  They get their chance to learn about her through reports of her robbing malls after she quit working for Jack and Wuya and stole the Golden Tiger Claws.  Although she defeats them swiftly, their research and first encounter give significant information about the shady cat fanatic.  It all leads up to a grand conclusion where they put her interest in leisurely locations and cats together and track her down to a cat-themed amusement park.  The park itself is mostly used as a backdrop for the confrontation and doesn’t have its rides and attractions play an actual role the takedown which is a missed opportunity.  Still, it's satisfying enough that everything the warriors went through pays off.  There’s even boldness from Omi who badly wanted to use the Golden Tiger Claws. He sends them to the center of the Earth so no one, including villains, will be able to use them.  Even if he doesn’t get the chance to use them (at least not until later in the season), it’s great that he’s mature enough to do what’s right for all and not just himself. 

This episode has a lot to love.  There's a new fun and creative villain, a big look at one of the more interesting Shen Gong Wu, and an engaging villain defeat strategy whose steps neatly fall into place in the end.  That’s entertainment enough for me.

A

The Ranking

1. Katnappe
2. The Journey of a Thousand Miles
3. Like a Rock
4. Tangled Web

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode that puts Raimundo on the path of great development and introduces a special kind of Xiaolin Showdown, the Shen Yi Bu Dare.

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

'Toon Reviews 9: Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 1 Episode 2

Matchmaker

As a being from another dimension, it’s only natural that Star doesn’t have that strong of an understanding of how Earth works even little things such as life at her high school, Echo Creek Academy.  This is the source of this episode’s comedy and it’s not just fun to watch, but also makes for an interesting center in a story that brings about a change that actually lasts for the entire series.  It happens during a humorous moment of Star learning that the F she got on her recent test means she failed, and she thinks that she can simply ask the teacher, Ms. Skullnick, to change it to a better grade.  When she hears her lament about being dumped by some guy, Star decides to play matchmaker in exchange for a better grade by casting a spell to get Ms. Skullnick the perfect date.  However, in keeping with her recklessness with magic, Star ends up turning Ms. Skullnick into a troll.  As one might expect, the main focus on the cartoon turns to trying to change Ms. Skullnick back to normal which is a challenge since Star doesn’t know how to simply undo her spell her only being a beginner with her wand at this point and all.  Adding to the challenge is her fear of her parents finding out and getting her sent to St. Olga’s Reform School which eliminates calling them as an option.  Ultimately, they don’t find a way to change the teacher back to normal, but there does seem to be another way around the issue.  When Ludo and his men attack to get Star’s wand again, amidst another fun fight scene with cool and at times creative combat moves from Star and Marco including a humorous bit where Star and Ludo debate over whether Star killed one of his henchmen or not, Star notices some intimate ties between Ms. Skullnick and one of the monsters.  She convinces Ms. Skullnick that the monster likes her and they leave for another dimension together.  It seems like a solid conclusion to Ms. Skullnick’s story even if she’s still a troll, but she soon ends up back to her miserable self when she gets the impression that the monster dumped her.  While it is technically a problematic conclusion where nothing was accomplished, it’s worth noting that Star praising Marco for the fight to her class gets his crush, Jackie Lynn Thomas, to say a few words to him, which Marco feels is a step in the right direction towards winning her over.  In other words, Star did somewhat succeed as a matchmaker because of this.  Plus, since Ms. Skullnick is still a troll, this cartoon does have the benefit of consequences that affect the show, even if it is in a small way thus giving it some edge.  On the whole though, this is a basic episode made entertaining by Star’s interpretation of how Earth things work and little effects on the status quo (emphasis on little). 9/10

School Spirit

The last episode gave us a taste of how Star doesn’t fully understand how things work on Earth, and this one shows off that concept in much bigger proportions.  The final result is one crazy and hilarious watch.  The main subject of the episode is a football game against Echo Creek’s Opossums against the opposing team, the Warriors.  Everyone talks about how the Warriors are going to destroy, slaughter and do other horrible things to the opossums, and Star, as anyone from another dimension probably would, doesn’t get that all this means the Warriors keep beating the Opossums in football games every year.  In her mind, different teams of Opossums actually get killed in battles every year around this time and her showing sorrow for the many teams at one point is both hilarious due to her misunderstanding, and somewhat emotional if you view the scene with her mindset.  Her feelings for the team and all the advice she picks up to prevent another “tragedy” all add up to the night of the big game where she rigs the football field to take down the Warriors with booby traps.  It comes with a lot of crazy and exciting events with bombs setting off sparkling explosions, and other traps that release monster cats and birds, and Star putting on an awesome display of magic to beat them all back, though at this point it shouldn’t be surprising.  It even leads to a satisfying conclusion for the Opossums when the Warriors become so freaked out by what occurred that they forfeit, giving victory to the other team.  While all this clearly shows that Star still has a lot to learn about Earth and self-control, her being able to fix everything and have things turn out good for who she’s trying to help in the end keep her likable and the story entertaining which is good because of how fun the antics are.  There’s also a subplot of Marco attempting to do something about the Warriors constantly kidnapping the Opossums mascot, who this year is played by his friend, Ferguson.  Through it all, you can really admire Marco’s devotion to keep his friend safe but also see his obsession through the crazy strategies he teaches him, which appears to set him up to learn to not worry so much.  In the end though, the Warriors do kidnap Ferguson, which is a bit anti-climactic.  However, it does lead to Ferguson, who’s been seen as a total wimp the whole time, get a moment to shine by breaking free on his own and even surviving one of Star’s traps, so I can at least say the subplot has a humorous conclusion.  This is easily one of the most entertaining episodes so far mostly fueled by Star’s literal take on life on Earth. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. School Spirit
2. Party with a Pony
3. Star Comes to Earth
4. Matchmaker

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Marco gets a "Monster Arm" right before an important karate match, and Star is shown to enjoy the Diaz family's hospitality a little too much when "The Other Exchange Student" comes to visit.

If you would like to check out other Star vs the Forces of Evil reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.