Office drama, Meridian style: “The Key”
May. 20th, 2010 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameVathek is in some serious trouble. The key he’d thrown down to Caleb in “It Resumes” is missing, and Cedric and the other guards suspect he is a traitor. He insists that he must have lost it in the battle, and Phobos shows some level of logic when he suggests that Cedric and the captain, Raythor, go search for it (don’t worry, Phobos/Logic won’t be shipped for much longer). Cedric tells Vathek he better hope they find it, and Vathek starts sweating even worse.
While the Guardians practice their magic in the riverside cave, Caleb is left to fend for himself on this strange new planet. He’s weirded out by the clothes and slang and just wants to head back home and lead his army to victory, just like any other homesick teenager. But when Blunk passes along the information that Vathek is in trouble—and Caleb finds Blunk stole the key from the hiding place—he knows he has to go back and save his friend.
The girls return to find Caleb missing and a distinct smell of Blunk-stink. They track down Blunk and Hay Lin discovers that the clothes she’d lovingly made for Caleb were traded to the dumpster-diving Passling. She freaks the hell out on Blunk, who does the only smart thing there is and bolts for the portal. Still furious, Hay Lin takes chase, followed by the others. Scared of you!
After disguising themselves, they run into Caleb and Aldarn, and Aldarn has the funniest moment in the episode, badly trying to hit on Cornelia using Earth slang as pick-up lines. But there’s a guard chasing them, and Aldarn has to run before he’s spotted, as the fugitives knock out the guard and put Caleb in his uniform. They sneak into the castle, and nobody notices that there’s a guard who looks suspiciously human and is wearing armor far too big for him, but they end up causing a commotion in the cafeteria, resulting in a battle. Standout fights are Cornelia animating the wooden table and gleefully beating up on the guards, as well as the powerless Caleb putting the various weapons to good use. Having the lame power of Heart, Will tries to do the same, only to mistakenly bash Caleb in the head with a mace. Whoops. Fortunately, his helmet protected him, and as the girls finish up, he leads them to what I can only assume is the Abyss of Shadows Vathek had been threatened with before—it’s the cliff Caleb nearly fell off of when Hay Lin saved him (“It Resumes”). They knock out the guards and show Vathek the key, but he says it’s too late to help him now. Will has a plan, though, and tells Vathek to call for help and then lie down perfectly still. She then places the key on Raythor, and when Cedric arrives with a contingent of guards, the heroes escape. All Cedric sees is the Guardians escaping the castle, Vathek having sounded the alarm, and Raythor holding the key. While Raythor is taken away, insisting he’s been framed, Vathek is sent back to work without even an apology. Phobos is truly the worst boss ever.
On Earth, Hay Lin decides maybe it’s fun dressing up Blunk, and Caleb comes to realize it’s not Earth that’s weird—it’s the women.
We’re formally introduced to Vathek this episode—a guard in Phobos’s castle who acts as a double-agent for the Rebels. He and Caleb are apparently good friends, though this may have something to do with the fact that Caleb is the leader of the Rebellion. To be honest, there’s not a whole lot to say about him this episode. He just exists to be rescued by the Guardians and Caleb.
This episode also gives us a brief look at Earth through a Meridianite’s eyes. Caleb might be critical toward the planet when he’s around the girls, but when he’s with Aldarn, he can’t help but talk about how amazing it is. He goes on about the skateboard lingo he doesn’t understand, about the clothing he’d originally said he couldn’t stand, and he and Aldarn sigh with a desperate desire for the kind of freedom the Earthlings know. This will come up again in a later episode, when we see a little glimpse of what kind of propaganda Phobos has been telling them about Earth.
Thanks to the art, we see that Caleb actually lives in the basement of the Silver Dragon; there’s a bed set up near the window. So it’s not just the Guardians’ base and his hideout, it’s where he sleeps too. There’s probably a joke about the Rebel Leader being some guy who lives in a basement, but I’m not going to make it. But I’m not too mature to make this joke: A guard in Meridian demands to see the Guardians’ and Caleb’s “papers,” like they’re in Nazi Germany. Or Arizona.
Apologies to Arizonans. I just really had to join the bandwagon on that joke, and it was the perfect opportunity.
In terms of production, this episode is pretty weak. There are mixups between voice acting and animation, including a scene where Will pulls an eel out of Taranee’s shirt and the whole time, but it’s Candi Milo you hear, playing Irma. And writing-wise, this whole season feels very off; as Greg Weisman explained it in his Q&A, the guys in charge of the first season were told to produce a slice-of-life style girl cartoon where the main characters just happened to be superheroes, and halfway through, they were told to change the approach to make it more action-oriented and suitable for Jetix. So bizarre stuff like Hay Lin’s random “donut” talk, all the jokes at Taranee’s expense, and the impromptu dance number between the Lins and Blunk feel very inconsistent with how the show as a whole develops later.
Other complaints come in the way of Caleb’s reactions to Earth. There’s a consistency issue in his confusion over the skateboards, which will come up in “Divide and Conquer,” when he starts “mumboarding” like a pro. Also, I fail to see why Hay Lin felt the need to design a whole set of clothes for him to pass off as an Earthling. Caleb’s normal outfit is a pair of long, khaki-colored pants, boots, a white T-shirt, and a brown longcoat. If he’d been wandering around in red Converses, a suit, and the longcoat, then maybe you could look at him and shout, “Alien boy!”; otherwise, his Meridian clothes are actually pretty unremarkable. Worse, his “Earth clothes”? A tighter pair of khakis, a wristband, and a brown T-shirt.
He changed his shirt to blend in. My god, this is worse than the Ninth Doctor!
“The Key” was written by Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers. Raythor was played by Steven Jay Blum.
While the Guardians practice their magic in the riverside cave, Caleb is left to fend for himself on this strange new planet. He’s weirded out by the clothes and slang and just wants to head back home and lead his army to victory, just like any other homesick teenager. But when Blunk passes along the information that Vathek is in trouble—and Caleb finds Blunk stole the key from the hiding place—he knows he has to go back and save his friend.
The girls return to find Caleb missing and a distinct smell of Blunk-stink. They track down Blunk and Hay Lin discovers that the clothes she’d lovingly made for Caleb were traded to the dumpster-diving Passling. She freaks the hell out on Blunk, who does the only smart thing there is and bolts for the portal. Still furious, Hay Lin takes chase, followed by the others. Scared of you!
After disguising themselves, they run into Caleb and Aldarn, and Aldarn has the funniest moment in the episode, badly trying to hit on Cornelia using Earth slang as pick-up lines. But there’s a guard chasing them, and Aldarn has to run before he’s spotted, as the fugitives knock out the guard and put Caleb in his uniform. They sneak into the castle, and nobody notices that there’s a guard who looks suspiciously human and is wearing armor far too big for him, but they end up causing a commotion in the cafeteria, resulting in a battle. Standout fights are Cornelia animating the wooden table and gleefully beating up on the guards, as well as the powerless Caleb putting the various weapons to good use. Having the lame power of Heart, Will tries to do the same, only to mistakenly bash Caleb in the head with a mace. Whoops. Fortunately, his helmet protected him, and as the girls finish up, he leads them to what I can only assume is the Abyss of Shadows Vathek had been threatened with before—it’s the cliff Caleb nearly fell off of when Hay Lin saved him (“It Resumes”). They knock out the guards and show Vathek the key, but he says it’s too late to help him now. Will has a plan, though, and tells Vathek to call for help and then lie down perfectly still. She then places the key on Raythor, and when Cedric arrives with a contingent of guards, the heroes escape. All Cedric sees is the Guardians escaping the castle, Vathek having sounded the alarm, and Raythor holding the key. While Raythor is taken away, insisting he’s been framed, Vathek is sent back to work without even an apology. Phobos is truly the worst boss ever.
On Earth, Hay Lin decides maybe it’s fun dressing up Blunk, and Caleb comes to realize it’s not Earth that’s weird—it’s the women.
We’re formally introduced to Vathek this episode—a guard in Phobos’s castle who acts as a double-agent for the Rebels. He and Caleb are apparently good friends, though this may have something to do with the fact that Caleb is the leader of the Rebellion. To be honest, there’s not a whole lot to say about him this episode. He just exists to be rescued by the Guardians and Caleb.
This episode also gives us a brief look at Earth through a Meridianite’s eyes. Caleb might be critical toward the planet when he’s around the girls, but when he’s with Aldarn, he can’t help but talk about how amazing it is. He goes on about the skateboard lingo he doesn’t understand, about the clothing he’d originally said he couldn’t stand, and he and Aldarn sigh with a desperate desire for the kind of freedom the Earthlings know. This will come up again in a later episode, when we see a little glimpse of what kind of propaganda Phobos has been telling them about Earth.
Thanks to the art, we see that Caleb actually lives in the basement of the Silver Dragon; there’s a bed set up near the window. So it’s not just the Guardians’ base and his hideout, it’s where he sleeps too. There’s probably a joke about the Rebel Leader being some guy who lives in a basement, but I’m not going to make it. But I’m not too mature to make this joke: A guard in Meridian demands to see the Guardians’ and Caleb’s “papers,” like they’re in Nazi Germany. Or Arizona.
Apologies to Arizonans. I just really had to join the bandwagon on that joke, and it was the perfect opportunity.
In terms of production, this episode is pretty weak. There are mixups between voice acting and animation, including a scene where Will pulls an eel out of Taranee’s shirt and the whole time, but it’s Candi Milo you hear, playing Irma. And writing-wise, this whole season feels very off; as Greg Weisman explained it in his Q&A, the guys in charge of the first season were told to produce a slice-of-life style girl cartoon where the main characters just happened to be superheroes, and halfway through, they were told to change the approach to make it more action-oriented and suitable for Jetix. So bizarre stuff like Hay Lin’s random “donut” talk, all the jokes at Taranee’s expense, and the impromptu dance number between the Lins and Blunk feel very inconsistent with how the show as a whole develops later.
Other complaints come in the way of Caleb’s reactions to Earth. There’s a consistency issue in his confusion over the skateboards, which will come up in “Divide and Conquer,” when he starts “mumboarding” like a pro. Also, I fail to see why Hay Lin felt the need to design a whole set of clothes for him to pass off as an Earthling. Caleb’s normal outfit is a pair of long, khaki-colored pants, boots, a white T-shirt, and a brown longcoat. If he’d been wandering around in red Converses, a suit, and the longcoat, then maybe you could look at him and shout, “Alien boy!”; otherwise, his Meridian clothes are actually pretty unremarkable. Worse, his “Earth clothes”? A tighter pair of khakis, a wristband, and a brown T-shirt.
He changed his shirt to blend in. My god, this is worse than the Ninth Doctor!
“The Key” was written by Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers. Raythor was played by Steven Jay Blum.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-08-10 04:14 pm (UTC)Also I am very curious about where I can find details of the production history. Over the years, I've become more cautious about including such details if only because I've come from other fandoms that lied about their secondary sources. So now, I try not to mention anything unless it is a primary source.