"Hostage Crisis" (Friday, October 2, 1998)
This was a so-so episode.
First off, the opening art where "Bob" was talkin in the trophy room was very nice. These scenes are frequently very nicely painted.
However, seeing the stone carvings of the Titans made me ponder again about why Disney chose four *elementals* and one cyclops to represent the Titans. Oh well. I guess it's not that important...but I did notice the parallel in the "Hercules & Xena" animated film which did essentially the same plot wrt the Olympians vs. the Titans. But I digress.....
Now enter the "P.O.O.T.L.s" (People's Organization of Titanic Liberators). I thought the way the Leader kept smashing the carved stone slabs in order to reveal the next slab to be a uniquely clever method of emulating a slide presentation. At first I thought the name POOTLS to be mildly amusing, but after listening the the Leader (eventually revealed to be Antaeus) bellow and puff, I found it got more and more obnoxious. I think my feelings paralleled Juan's in this respect.
Next, the whole scene featuring Icarus, Herc and Parenthesis doing the Career Test with oxen entrails was interesting...I like the fact that Disney isn't afraid to bring this sort of realism into the series... I can't imagine that many studios would typically bring this stuff up, let alone poke fun at it. Kudos.
PARENTHESIS: "For generations we've used the oracular reading of oxen guts to predict our student's careers (or lack there of)."
HERCULES: Eeeyugh! "Couldn't you use some sort of aptitude test instead?"
PARENTHESIS: "We tried that. The oxen guts were more accurate ( by 72%. )"
The result of this meeting pointed Herc to the importance of Librarys.
We got our second look at the gym teacher "Phys Oedipus" in typical Richard Simmons style.
Next the Hostage Crisis occurs. Antaeus' troops take over the school and corral all the students into the cafeteria.
ANTAEUS: "Students of the Prometheus Academy... We are the POOTLS!"
ADONIS: "Oh, the poodles. Like the fluffy dog."
ANTAEUS: [visibly annoyed] "No, not like the fluffy dog. We're the People's Organization of Titanic Liberators. And you, boys and girls, are our hostages."
ICARUS: "Oooh! I always wanted to be a hostage. It's so edgy. The bewilderment... the unspeakable mind-bending terror."
CASSANDRA: [to Icky] "Actually, it's alot like hanging out with you."
Helen was typically at her bimbo-best [worrying about the souffle still cooking in Home Greconomics], and of course Adonis is the self-absorbed traitor-in-residence.
It was nice to see Parenthesis (along with Herc) get to play the part of Hero!
Chippacles makes another appearance... He's obviously a regular since he appears nearly as much as Adonis, with often many more lines, yet his actor doesn't get *regular* status billing in the credits.
The *sirens blaring* line was cute. I hope we see the Sirens playing a much better role in the future.
I liked seeing someone besides Herc calling upon Zeus and having him chat back (this being Chippacles).
Jodi Benson whining about her souffle yet again made it obvious that it would eventually play a pivotal role.
When Zeus backed down so quickly to Antaeus' demands it didn't feel right. If Zeus could take on all the older Titans, why couldn't he tackle one minor Titan like Antaeus. I guess the message here was to show just how much Zeus cared for Herc? (shrudge).
I noticed that everyone seems to pronounce Parenthesis' name with the *plural* sound (i.e., Parentheses) except Herc who pronounces it correctly.
I agree with Juan and Charles about how appealing Parenthesis' parenthetical style of speaking is. I look forward to it. :-)
It was nice to see Herc use his head (in the Library) in order to figure out how to defeat Antaeus. That being that as the son of Gaia, Antaeus was his most powerful when he is touching the earth. Thus the key to his defeat. Curiously, the writers failed to reveal that Antaeus' father is Poseidon. Hmmmm. According to the legend it was indeed Hercules who felled Antaeus after learning the method to his defeat.
I'm still confused as to why the Titans are locked up beneath the sea rather than in Tartarus in the Underworld.
The ending with Herc & Parenthesis was cute.
WOW! I even though I didn't care that much for the episode I guess I had quite a bit to say! Hmmm. Maybe I should watch it again.
JUAN LARA: > BTW2: I did like the scene, though, where Herc broke the news to > Helen about her souffle. Aw, they made Jodi Benson cry. :-)
Oy! Yep... this was ideed her only motivation in the episode and her running gag. I don't think I really felt sorry for her though. She was rather annoying. I am glad that we are beginning to see more and more of her as the series progresses, though.
Welp! That's it. Now onto the next review.
Rich (xephyr)