'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 21: Too Far

Too Far

Construction of the drill begins for real, but the trend of Peridot getting to know her current enemies and Earth continues.  

She still has entertaining observations to what the planet provides. They include using a simple tape recorder to record her logs and having weird names for certain body parts much to Amethyst’s amusement.  In addition, Peridot still holds onto certain Gem prejudices brought about by Homeworld which actually brings one of her most meaningful bonds of the series. 

While it’s wrong to be judgmental, there’s no harm in poking a little fun at the shortcomings of others behind their back. When Peridot goes to the Kindergarten to get a part of its injectors for the drill with Amethyst and Steven as assigned chaperones, she and Amethyst get closer over their comments on said shortcomings.  Every time Peridot mentions what she finds strange about certain Crystal Gems, Amethyst takes the comments as a joke which Peridot seems pleased about.  Peridot also points out that even though she’s small and reckless and follows the orders of everyone else, as a Quartz-type Gem, Amethyst outranks everyone on the team.  Amethyst finds this amusing at first, but then Peridot makes her feel uneasy. 

At the same time, the new information further develops Amethyst’s background.  We already know she was made on Earth in this very Kindergarten as opposed to Homeworld, but Peridot adds on how Amethyst ended up small when she’s not supposed to be, right down to happily pointing out the hole Amethyst came out of and how it’s different from all the others.  This is where poking fun at others causes problems, ending up going too far.  Peridot is saying hurtful things about Amethyst’s background, something Amethyst is already sensitive about, and seems pleased with herself for doing so, and Amethyst gets visibly hurt about not living up to the expected status, all because she emerged from her hole late.  Despite being hurtful, Peridot is still likable when it’s later shown that she was just trying to be funny and enjoyed Amethyst finding humor in what she said, and feels smaller when Amethyst ignores her calls for her.  In other words, Peridot really meant no harm to Amethyst, and this is further proven in an exciting scenee where she accidentally starts the drill and it runs loose, but she quickly gets Amethyst out of the way while Steven stops it. 

However, it’s the last moment of the cartoon where Peridot proves that she genuinely wants to better understand Earth.  Through nothing but the sound of her tape recording, the emotional effects of the message are greatly felt, showing that Periodt realizes she’s no better than what she’s found wrong with the planet, and that she now knows to be careful with the words she uses.  The whole message is capped off by Amethyst simply thanking Peridot ,and Peridot feeling bigger as a result, which is all we get, but all we really need to get invested in the heart of the moment, especially since Amethyst and Peridot keep up their bond in seasons to come. 

For adding to Peridot’s appeal and development, giving more information on one of the established protagonists, and offering a strong message to walk away with, this cartoon is one of this season’s most powerful. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Keystone Motel
3. When it Rains
4. Too Far
5. Friend Ship
6. Nightmare Hospital
7. Chille Tid
8. Cry for Help
9. Keeping it Together
10. Full Disclosure
11. Catch and Release
12. Back to the Barn
13. We Need to Talk
14. Reformed
15. Historical Friction
16. Joy Ride
17. Say Uncle
18. Onion Friend
19. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
20. Sadie’s Song
21. Love Letters

The next Steven Universe review is a big one as we hear the thrilling story of Garnet's origins.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the next review for Rocko's Modern Life on "Keeping Up With the Bigheads" and "Skid Marks."

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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

'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 8: Arnold's Room/Helga vs Big Patty

Arnold’s Room

Most fan groups for Hey Arnold and old Nickelodeon shows in general often post memes saying how most kids of the 90s wanted a room like Arnold’s, and I really can’t blame them.  The big space, well-organized shelves, perfect sky view, and that flip-down couch make for the most creative yet believable bedroom ever put to media.  You can easily be impressed by its features and picture yourself actually having a room like that.  Such a nice room could naturally make anyone feel envious in the audience and in the world of this show, and that’s the subject of this cartoon. 

Although Arnold’s name is in the title, the story is way more about Sid. The class is assigned a history project and, in one of his extremely few major roles, Lorenzo is picked as Sid’s partner.  Some of the work on the project is done at Lorenzo’s big lavish mansion which includes his big room that Sid is easily impressed by, most likely because this is a rich kid’s place.  However, the project requires some of the work to be done in Sid’s room, thus making Sid feel intimidated.  Just from the sights of his small, messy, and not very special room, Sid’s feelings are understandable since it’s not only uncool, but also not very pleasing, so nothing’s stopping him deciding to borrow Arnold’s room for the day from investing the audience, at first anyway. 

It is a believable scenario for Sid to want Lorenzo to think he’s cool from what he has, and this is shown right down to the lengths he goes through to convince Lorenzo that this is his room and not someone else’s like changing pictures of Arnold with pictures of him and putting a sign saying “Sid’s Room” on the door.  However, it’s through these lengths that bring out the worst of Sid’s character.  He’s known to be very obsessive on even the littlest of things and it typically gets so overbearing that he stops being entertaining.  That’s what happens here, especially when you consider that there’s no possible way he can keep up with the act.  Even the first session in Arnold’s room has a lot of suspicion that Sid’s “room” belongs to someone else.  It builds from there with Sid claiming Arnold’s Grandpa as his own, calling out Arnold for supposedly leaving behind his top secret journal, and even wrecking Arnold’s personalized alarm clock, indicating clear signs that the lie can’t be kept forever, and the ensuing awkwardness doesn’t help.  As a result, whenever Sid pushes Arnold to get out of the room or pesters Grandpa by claiming to be his grandson, it makes the viewing experience a hindrance as you just wait for the plan to backfire.  Heck, even Arnold is confident that Sid can’t keep up the charade. 

Unsurprisingly, Sid can’t, when Lorenzo suggests an impromptu visit to his room, Arnold and his friends are already there, Sid tries the usual excuse, but is unable to lie any longer.  Naturally, Lorenzo is miffed about being lied to for fair reason, but the fact that Sid getting caught was so easy to see coming makes it frustrating because it could’ve been avoided if Sid realized he couldn’t keep it up forever.  Thankfully, no one holds a grudge for Sid’s actions when he shows genuine regret and all’s well, so for all his faults, the ending shows that Sid really isn’t a bad guy on the whole. 

The cartoon is still held back by being driven by awkwardness from pathetic attempts to cover an obvious lie, but the underlying relatability and how it explores the great appeal of Arnold’s room make it enjoyable enough. 8/10

Helga vs. Big Patty

Writing bully characters is a lot harder than one may think.  It’s easy to write them with any mean trait imaginable, but that would make the character very unpleasant and unnatural.  I find it hard to believe that anyone would be a brute for the sake of it.  For bully characters to work, it’s best to provide reasons for malice, maybe because they don’t know any better, or because of certain turmoil that lead them to act up.  You can’t justify their actions but you can understand them. Despite what they do, they’re still human beings trying to get through life.  It’s too bad that a couple things I reviewed, even of cartoons of this show, feature bully characters who are thugs for no reason yet this show is good at writing bully characters with Helga.  We continuously see what fuels her mean behavior and what she’s really like.  This cartoon proves that these standards can apply to other bully characters, with the bully in question being more threatening than she is. 


Big Patty is a larger than average 6^th grader who showed up before in a few short scenes of beating up Helga after ending up as the target of pranks meant for someone else.  Since those moments were meant to depict a backfiring, they didn’t show what Big Patty was really like, so it’s nice that this cartoon does justice for her.  Helga makes jokes about Big Patty to her friends, which honestly seems foolish of her since making fun of someone bigger and stronger than you will certainly make them mad.  Sure enough, that’s what happens when Big Patty threatens to beat her up.  One admirable thing is that Big Patty doesn’t go around being mean, especially since she tries to civilly offer Arnold the last of a dessert earlier.  She acts when provoked which anyone, no matter how good they are would do (though maybe not always to the beating-up extent). 


Out of this, we get a more vulnerable side of Helga, which is especially big considering how much authority she usually has over all the other kids.  Now, someone more threatening is out to get her and she’s scared, right down to resorting to her parents for advice who, as you’d probably expect, do not offer anything meaningful or helpful whatsoever. 


Helga’s problem does bring a sincere moment for her and Arnold’s relationship.  This season is where we see a lot of Arnold showing concern for Helga’s well-being more often then before despite her being rude around him which is a huge step in making them feel like a good pairing.  Here, when he shows concern over Helga facing Big Patty, he advises her to apologize to her so to get off the hook and maybe even be friends.  However, while Big Patty accepts Helga’s apology, she still plans on beating her up because of her reputation which is a believable reason for people to act like bullies.  Even better is that Arnold sees Big Patty at fault for opting to beat Helga despite everything.  He even drops a hint that he knows Helga for who she really is, which becomes more apparent as the show goes on. 


For this cartoon, it’s a point strong enough to get through to Big Patty as she instead pretends to beat up Helga unbeknownst to everyone and have Helga only act like she’s hurt.  It seals the deal on this show’s talents of writing bully characters.  Big Patty’s approach to the situation and Arnold’s views on the real Helga show that even if they act like it, at the end of the day, bullies are decent human beings too. 


As a result, this is a thought-provoking cartoon built on strong characterizations. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Crabby Author
4. Mr. Hyunh Goes Country
5. Helga Vs. Big Patty
6. Curly Snaps
7. The Aptitude Test
8. Pre-Teen Scream
9. Olga Gets Engaged
10. Oskar Gets a Job
11. Rich Kid
12. Dangerous Lumber
13. Arnold’s Room
14. Helga and the Nanny
15. Stinky Goes Hollywood
16. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review sends Arnold's class out for career day and Arnold's time with the Jolly Olly Man isn't as fun as it sounds.  In addition, Harold further shows how deep he really is when he gets to know Big Patty.
The next post on MC Toon Reviews will cover the ninth episode of Steven Universe Season 2, "We Need to Talk."

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 15

Cover Girls

 

 

 

Now here’s another cartoon that demonstrates how much the Loud siblings care for each other and are always willing to help.  You can see it right at the beginning which is an awesome action-packed sequence of the girls distracting Mom and Dad as Lincoln rushes to get home so no one realizes he missed his curfew.  Their care and love continues on well into the rest of the cartoon where Lincoln returns his sisters’ favor by covering for them on spring cleaning day while they go out to do other things.  You may think that the cartoon will feature Lincoln unfairly suffering by being the only one to keep up the charade while everyone else takes advantage of him, but the cartoon wisely goes in the direction that requires all the siblings to play their part.  Their grandpa, who they call Pop-Pop (just like what my family used to call our grandpa), calls them on video chat which prompts Lincoln to cover as his sisters as best he can so no one notices that they’re not home.  As more of the sisters come home, they start posing as other siblings too, and the cartoon results in one hilarious collection of different Loud siblings posing as other siblings.  There’s a lot of passion thrown into the acting that allows the characters to successfully emulate the different characters they’re imitating, but still remaining true to themselves.  Some of my favorite interpretations include Lana as Leni, Lynn as Lisa, and Lori as Lincoln.  Leni and Luan even put on a great homage to the Marx Brothers at one point.  Then, we get an ending where the kids get caught deceiving everyone by their parents who then proceed to punish them by having them go out and do what they wanted to do while dressed in their disguises, resulting in all of them getting into embarrassing situations.  This ending does have a bit of a downer tone that honestly unfairly sours things for the kids.  I mean, was their act of deception really THAT bad?  Honestly though, despite this being a bit of an issue with the cartoon, the ending is still tolerable since I’m still able to get a good laugh out of at least a few of the scenes of the kids being forced to do what they planned on doing in their disguises.  Also, it doesn’t change the fact that we still see the great factors of the bonds of the Loud siblings.  With that in place, I personally call this cartoon a good watch. 8/10

 Save the Date

The end of the cartoon, “Heavy Meddle,” suggested that the girl bullying Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, actually really likes Lincoln signaling the start of them potentially growing as friends.  This cartoon here shows that happening.  Although to get there, we start off with Lincoln being bullied by her again, this time with the kids at school teasing him about how this may mean she likes him.  Personally, I don't get why having a lover would be a reason for bullies to tease.  Finding love is seen as a great thing.  Why would bullies think otherwise?  Anyway, when Lincoln tensely rejects that, he accidentally hurts her feelings.  Following a hilarious over-the-top display of the trope of an average teenage girl reacting to a break-up from Lori whom Bobby broke up with on account that her brother, Lincoln, hurt his sister, Ronnie Anne, Lincoln finds himself roped into a double date with Lori, Bobby, and Ronnie Anne. This is part of an attempt for him to make things right with Ronnie Anne so Lori will get back with Bobby.  This is where we start to see some natural progression of Lincoln and Ronnie Anne warming up to each other.  At first, they’re not too pleased to see each other, but as Lori and Bobby start flirting with each other, clearly showing that they do not want to be broken up, the younger siblings find a common interest as they comment on the cheesy flirting.  The more they talk about this, the more Lincoln and Ronnie Anne start to like being together, ultimately going on to apologize for being such pains to each other.  This is a newly formed respect for each other that was a result of believable events, in this case, enjoying something similar, and is ultimately one worth getting behind especially since the other character pairing of Lori and Bobby, seems to be a very basic relationship established on flirting over each other, though its over-the-top tone and the clear care they have for each other make it enjoyable.  Because Lincoln and Ronnie Anne’s relationship is so appealing, it’s a bit frustrating when Lincoln goes on to hide that he’s starting to like her as the kids from school arrive at the very restaurant he’s at.  Is there seriously no reason why he can’t just tell Ronnie Anne that he doesn’t want them to tease him for liking her?  Anyway, this whole shtick ends up causing Lincoln to hurt Ronnie Anne again which seems like a sad end for what could’ve been a great relationship.  However, the cartoon remembers what greatness it set up by having Lincoln follow Lori’s earlier advice of how actions speak louder than words. Lincoln shows Ronnie Anne how he really feels about her by kissing her.  I can certainly see them as a couple, but the show is obviously pushing for Lori and Bobby to get together, so if Lori and Bobby do become a couple, wouldn’t it be awkward for Lori’s brother to end up with Bobby’s sister?  Well, I guess that’s a topic to be addressed in later seasons.  For this cartoon, we get a satisfying end that has Lincoln and Ronnie Anne remain friends and Lincoln avoid being teased for it, which is good because this cartoon really succeeded in building them up as a charming pair.  For that, I can proudly say that it left me wanting more. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      For Bros About to Rock

2.      Undie Pressure

3.      Project Loud House

4.      Space Invader

5.      Driving Miss Hazy

6.      Left in the Dark

7.      Toads and Tiaras

8.      Picture Perfect

9.      Save the Date

10.  Sleuth or Consequences

11.  Hand-Me-Downer

12.  No Guts No Glori

13.  Changing the Baby

14.  Along Came A Sister

15.  Sound of Silence

16.  Butterfly Effect

17.  A Tale of Two Tables

18.  Cover Girls

19.  It’s A Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House

20.  Overnight Success

21.  In Tents Debate

22.  Linc or Swim

23.  The Sweet Spot

24.  Heavy Meddle

25.  Get the Message

26.  Ties that Bind

27.  Making the Case

28.  Chore and Peace

29.  Two Boys and a Baby

30.  The Green House

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we really get to know Clyde's dads in "Attention Deficit" and witness one of Lincoln's worst displays of family love as he goes "Out on a Limo."

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 10

Hand-Me-Downer

 

 

 

 

 

 This is a really fun cartoon that offers a different perspective on life, particularly when it comes to receiving gifts, or as is common in a family as big as Lincoln’s, hand-me-downs.  Lincoln is revealed to have had quite a history with receiving hand-me-downs from his older sisters, and being rather unsatisfied with them, which I believe is common for people his age.  Most recently, Lincoln receives an incredibly girly bike from Lori, and it’s a hand-me-down he can’t simply hide under his bed.  Feeling embarrassed by the bike, Lincoln goes on to do something about it by taking Lynn’s cool bike for a spin without her knowing.  Despite Lincoln being in the wrong for taking a bike that isn’t his, it’s still easy to enjoy yourself as you watch Lincoln have some actual legitimate fun with the bike, and even get to hang out with a group of cool kids.  I think it's worth noting that one of the cool kids, Rusty Spokes, interestingly becomes one of Lincoln's friends.  It makes you wonder what happened between that and him hanging with these judgmental cool kids.  Of course, because of Lincoln being in the wrong, he ends up getting himself in trouble when Lynn’s bike ends up stolen and she needs it for a competition.  Once Lincoln fails to find the bike and ends up being kicked out of the biker team , he tells the truth where we get that different perspective on life I mentioned earlier.  While most people would simply store gifts they don’t like away, this cartoon shows that there’s a way to get a lot of enjoyment out of any gift you get, even if you don’t like it.  All of Lincoln’s sisters reveal that Lynn’s cool bike was one that was handed down to sister after sister who fixed it up to fit their needs.  I should also mention that we end get cute and somewhat humorous flashbacks of some of the sisters when they were younger.  I especially see a lot of charm from those that show a young Leni and Luan.  This is a truly good moment of sibling love here where the sisters offer this meaningful advice to Lincoln to just do something with hand-me-downs instead of lamenting over what he gets and Lincoln goes on to do just that after getting back Lynn’s bike.  There are a few stumbling points with this cartoon though such as how everyone who praised Lincoln on Lynn’s bike before act judgmental of him when he does the same thing on the pink bike and the fact that we never see who took Lynn’s bike much less see his/her comeuppance, both of which are kind of frustrating.  Those points don’t stop this cartoon from being a piece of enjoyment with something nice about life to keep in mind when the cartoon wraps up.  9/10

Sleuth or Consequences

 

 

 

 

 

If you want a cartoon of this show that’s both fun and features a great amount of love between siblings, this is a good candidate to some extent anyway.  The whole story takes the approach of a crime scene investigation which is made even more fun by the fact that it’s over something as simple as Lincoln trying to figure out who clogged the toilet as a comic convention he wants to go to draws near.  Aiding in the fun of the investigation is Lucy serving as Lincoln’s second-in-command.  She’s already proven herself as one of my favorite Loud siblings for how her interest in death and darkness and her near-emotionless personality make for a perfect clash between the other siblings and the environment of the Loud House in general.  Seeing a large dose of her as she and Lincoln interrogate the other sisters is certainly really welcome.  Many of the interrogations have a lot of entertaining qualities too as they all explain why they’re innocent, especially those of Lynn, which serves as a nice setup to the ending gag, Lori, Luan, Leni, and Luna.  The cartoon’s heartfelt part comes in with a good bit of character development for Lucy.  It’s later revealed that as much as she loves the darkness, she sometimes needs a break from it by reading an overly saccharine book called Princess Pony. To avoid being made fun of, she threw the book in the toilet to try and hide it, but it ended up clogging the toilet.  This adds some good depth to Lucy’s character with this newly revealed vulnerable side making her come off as more than just a spooky little girl.  We also get one of Lincoln’s best brotherly moments where he willingly takes the blame for the clog, sacrificing his chances of going to his convention and opening himself up for teasing, but saving Lucy’s reputation and his actions are deservedly rewarded with a handmade comic by Lucy.  This moment of heart gives the cartoon a lot of value for feeling genuine and successfully making the audience care about what the characters involved go through.  There’s lots to love, though I do show concern of how the rest of the sisters come off as jerks for teasing Lincoln for his interests and appearance even if it does greatly foreshadow Lincoln’s actions at the end.  For how heartwarming Lincoln and Lucy's sibling bonds are shown to be here, it's really unfortunate that his bonds with the others aren't shown to be nearly as such.  It's like they're an opposing force delighting in being mean and judgmental instead of decent human beings and loving siblings we know they can be.  It's a good thing there are plenty of moments in other cartoons to show that even with their tendency to tease, they do still love him and that the moments of teasing among other bad times are just off moments that anyone can have no matter how good they are.  Even with the teasing parts though, this cartoon is one of the best forms of proof that this show can do so much with what seems like so little. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      Undie Pressure

2.      Project Loud House

3.      Space Invader

4.      Driving Miss Hazy

5.      Left in the Dark

6.      Picture Perfect

7.      Sleuth or Consequences

8.      Hand-Me-Downer

9.      No Guts No Glori

10.  Changing the Baby

11.  Sound of Silence

12.  A Tale of Two Tables

13.  Overnight Success

14.  In Tents Debate

15.  Linc or Swim

16.  The Sweet Spot

17.  Heavy Meddle

18.  Get the Message

19.  Ties that Bind

20.  Making the Case

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode with one of the most out-there cartoons, "Butterfly Effect," and an environmental plot gone wrong in "The Green House."