The Demon Seed (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 20) - 'Toon Reviews 35

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The Demon Seed

The main challenge of this episode is certainly creative like many others of the season. In this case however, it happens due to the Xiaolin Warriors resorting to faults you’d think they’d matured past by now. 

When they grow tired of menial work around the Temple, Master Fung decides that they should take on a task that specializes in discipline.  A cellar of the Temple reveals a box that happens to contain one of the most destructive forces in the world, just a tiny seed.  The Warriors don’t consider the seed to be a huge threat despite the legitimate background to its power.  Right there, that’s a concern to drive the plot.  There have been several instances where they scoffed certain things from being legitimately threatening just because they didn’t appear that way. Even when they’re told of the monstrous power of that seed, they act the same way.  It kind of brings sad implications that the youthfulness of these protagonists is so strong, they never really learn anything.  It’s especially unfortunate that Raimundo, who’s shown apparent character growth by acting when the situation is right, leads everyone to not care so much about the seed. 

They take it out when they’re just going out for fun which leaves it wide open to be captured.  That’s what happens as Jack and Vlad, who hear about them guarding the seed, set out to steal it while also working off each other well showing good potential as a team.  Their constant desires of starting an evil variety show together over their scheme is a particular comedic highlight.  Because of their enemies’ lack of awareness, they get the seed and expose it to the elements.  This creates an ever-growing savvy plant with a thick French accent they name Gigi.  He turns out to be very stylistic and classy and can easily take one in with his charm.  That’s enough to genuinely put the audience off guard when he shows off his threat.  He invades the Xiaolin Temple to steal Shen Gong Wu, and not only are the Warriors unable to stop him, but most of them are sprayed by his seedling pods that turn them into plants.  His evilness grows so much, Gigi even turns on Jack and Vlad by turning them into plants and briefly breaking from his charisma to show a more monstrous form.  As you can tell, Gigi’s power is one to be taken seriously for how it manages to cripple anyone in his path. 

The only hope for his defeat is a reveal of a Shen Gong Wu called the Moonstone Locust which emits locus that will eat him up.  The remaining Xiaolin Warriors waste no time to go after it, but soon Raimundo is the only one standing.  Since it’s his misjudgment of the seed that started this, it’s fitting that he faces Gigi in a Xiaolin Showdown to find the Locust first.  Through tackling water and terrain, there are significant back and forward advantages between the opponents.  Luckily, Raimundo is the one to come out on top, and he’s successful in putting an end to Gigi’s reign. 

While the world is safe in the end, it’s hard to shake off that none of this would have happened if our heroes took better care of guarding the seed. For goodness sake, they’ve already learned not to judge by appearance several times.  If you can get past that, this is still a fun and creative escapade with fun character interactions.

By the way, if the seed was so dangerous, why didn’t they just leave it in the cellar or better yet just destroy it when it was dormant?

A-

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      The Last Temptation of Raimundo

3.      The Evil Within

4.      Enter the Dragon

5.      The Deep Freeze

6.      Days Past

7.      PandaTown

8.      The Emperor Scorpion Strikes Back

9.      The Return of PandaBubba

10.  The Sands of Time

11.  The Year of the Green Monkey

12.  Master Monk Guan

13.  Screams of the Siren

14.  The Demon Seed

15.  Crystal Glasses

16.  Dreamscape

17.  The Shard of Lightning

18.  Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil

19.  Sizing Up Omi

20.  The Black Vipers

 

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where surprising results come when Jack gets control of Chase Young's cat minions.

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

 

The Year of the Green Monkey (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 19) - 'Toon Reviews 35

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:

The Year of the Green Monkey

The trend of creative story ideas for this season continues here as this episode builds it around established character habits.  One Shen Gong Wu you’ll often find Jack Spicer using is the Monkey Staff for the sole purpose of goofing around as a monkey.  This habit makes for a somewhat interesting character study as it ties to him treating being evil more like a custom than something really from the heart. 

It all happens with a reveal of a new Shen Gong Wu designed to give infinite knowledge called the Fountain of Hui, nicely named after series creator Christy Hui.  The catch is that it gives a lot of random information all at once, and the only way to limit it down to the facts you actually want to learn is with another Shen Gong Wu the Eagle Scope.  The Xiaolin Warriors easily get the Fountain which is distressful for Chase Young, coming into the spotlight after quite some time.  Given his ambitions to sway Omi to the side of evil, he fears that his enemies will soon obtain the secret to destroying evil forever.  However, he proves to know people very well as he calls upon Jack as part of a ploy to prevent the Warriors from getting the other needed Shen Gong Wu.  Jack, who already has the Monkey Staff, also needs a companion Shen Gong Wu for the process to work which requires a raid on the Xiaolin Temple. 

Through a rather unbelievable stunt of hiding in a small banana and surprising negligence to strange sounds from the Warriors, he obtains the Tongue of Saiping.  As some may recall, that’s the Shen Gong Wu that gives the user the power to talk to animals.  Because monkeys tend to follow a leader, i.e. monkey see monkey do, both Shen Gong Wu together give Jack his own army of green monkeys.  For all the ridiculousness of the setup, it’s impressive that this strategy turns out effective as the Warriors are vastly outnumbered and overpowered by the monkeys.  Creatures often used for humor are a legitimately formable force of resistance, and are effective in keeping the Warriors stuck in the Temple when the Eagle Scope is revealed. 

Their best option is to use the Fountain of Hui on its own but comical after effects of cramming knowledge into Omi’s big head seem to get them nowhere.  However, in his funny spouting of random facts, he concludes that the only way out is to face the monkey by acting like a monkey.  There’s surprisingly good logic to this plan as Jack’s obsession with the monkey staff has him once again succumb to its after effect of becoming more monkey-like the longer he holds it.  Going into a Xiaolin Showdown of fighting amongst monkey bars, he’s pretty much full on beast.  Still, Omi is ready to face it through playing to monkey mannerisms environment through tempting Jack with a banana and winning with a bite on the butt.  That said, while Jack faces consequences for his monkey obsession afterwards, the Warriors unluckily miss their chance at getting the Eagle Scope and ending evil.  Plus, Chase is still out there, now with Wuya by his side, and is more confident than ever in swaying Omi to open a new evil chapter. 

This episode shows that legitimately good plans can come from the most unlikely sources while also doing its part to build up future big plans from the most sinister villain to date.

A

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      The Last Temptation of Raimundo

3.      The Evil Within

4.      Enter the Dragon

5.      The Deep Freeze

6.      Days Past

7.      PandaTown

8.      The Emperor Scorpion Strikes Back

9.      The Return of PandaBubba

10.  The Sands of Time

11.  The Year of the Green Monkey

12.  Master Monk Guan

13.  Screams of the Siren

14.  Crystal Glasses

15.  Dreamscape

16.  The Shard of Lightning

17.  Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil

18.  Sizing Up Omi

19.  The Black Vipers

 

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where ignorance and irresponsibility on the Warriors' parts has major evil grow from a tiny seed.

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

The Last Temptation of Raimundo (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 18) - 'Toon Reviews 35

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:

The Last Temptation of Raimundo

It’s kind of remarkable that Raimundo is a much more fleshed-out character than he seems.  He’s got a relatable arc of not advancing as fast as his friends, and several instances have shown him as the Xiaolin Warrior to come up with the solutions to complicated problems.  This continues here where even though he gets himself into trouble, his actions are out of genuine nobleness. 

There’s a comet passing over Earth that is said to possess all the Shen Gong Wu.  For that, no one is allowed to use them for three days to prevent something awful from happening.  Wuya, who’s well-aware of this occurrence, plots to get one of the Warriors to give into temptation to use them anyway.  Her way to do this actually brings a good reason to give into temptation.  With Jack’s help, they set off a volcano near Raimundo’s home town in Brazil, and Raimundo is the only one aware of this.  He’s quick to use some of the Shen Gong Wu to go there and save everyone which gets him praised as a hero. 

When he arrives back at the Temple, the effects of the comet unfold when one of the Shen Gong Wu, the Golden Tiger Claws, won’t come off.  Not only that, but they enact on their own and Raimundo can’t seem to stop them.  He tries explaining his good reason for using the Shen Gong Wu, but none of his friends will believe him.  They’re under the impression that he’s just slacking off and being a wise guy which may have been true in the show’s early days, but they really should see he’s more mature now. 

Through watching over him, Raimundo still gets to more Shen Gong Wu which transforms him into a monstrous muscular creature where the artifacts control his moves and thoughts.  Adding to the threat of this occurrence, Wuya plans to use this opportunity to take control of Raimundo as soon as the Shen Gong Wu absorb all his free will.  It makes sense that she’d go through with this as he really does lose the power to think for himself as more Shen Gong Wu attach to him. 

As for his friends not believing the volcano, they only do so after Dojo looks around Brazil and finds out that Raimundo was telling the truth all along.  It’s nice that they regret not believing their friend, especially Omi who sets out to act more trusting for the episode’s remainder, but couldn’t they have done this to begin with?  Anyway, when Wuya finally does control Raimundo, they’re all quick to challenge her to a Xiaolin Showdown for his freedom.  It’s a creatively designed one taking place in a small-scale model of several world landmarks, and Wuya proves to fight very formidably. She easily takes two of the three wagered Shen Gong Wu and dares to use some that weren’t wagered.  Still, our heroes find a way to stand strong, and it’s nothing short of fun to watch fighting take place amongst famous landmarks.  There’s also an inventive way to get through to the real Raimundo playing to the Warriors’ team dynamic.  Through using the often formed Dragon X Kumei formation, Raimundo is inclined to involuntarily say the name like he’s supposed to.  From this little instance, he’s able to win the Showdown for his friends by expanding upon this instance of free will, rips off the Shen Gong Wu controlling him, and losing Wuya. 

So Raimundo’s friends learn to be more trusting of him just as they should.  The episode really shows how noble he has become at this point in the series through taking great pains to protect the innocent, and staying true to himself despite all intensity.

A+

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      The Last Temptation of Raimundo

3.      The Evil Within

4.      Enter the Dragon

5.      The Deep Freeze

6.      Days Past

7.      PandaTown

8.      The Emperor Scorpion Strikes Back

9.      The Return of PandaBubba

10.  The Sands of Time

11.  Master Monk Guan

12.  Screams of the Siren

13.  Crystal Glasses

14.  Dreamscape

15.  The Shard of Lightning

16.  Hear Some Evil, See Some Evil

17.  Sizing Up Omi

18.  The Black Vipers

 

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Jack rules over the Warriors with green monkeys and Chase Young moves forward with his master plan.

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