Sunday, July 23, 2017

Earthworm Jim 2.5 - Evil In Love

Plot: Evil the Cat seeks the The Fiend Which Dares Not Speak Its Name, and meets Malice the Dog, who seeks the same thing. They fall in love, which leaves Henchrat feeling left out. Their searches reveal a tablet that tells how to summon the Fiend, a process which involves balloon animals and the Hat Pin of Destiny. The latter just so happens to reside in a steamer trunk in Jim's attic. Jim, Peter, and the Princess are overcome by Malice's Fleas of Eternal Slumber, which traps them in the Land of Nightmares. Which doesn't impress the heroes much until the Lord of Nightmares summons their greatest fears: Swedish Chef's cousin, Scottish Chef, public restrooms, and  those ladies in the department stores who spray perfume in your face.

I'll let you figure out who was terrified by what.

While the heroes grapple with their fears, the villains hit a roadblock as their claws keep popping the balloons. I though cats could retract their claws, but not Evil. Which means a lot of kissing up to the underappreciated Henchrat to get him to do it. Then they learn the Hat Pin can only be wielded by one who is pure of heart. Fortunately for the villains, all the obstacles, gave our heroes time to wake up and reach Heck, so taht Jim can be tricked into using the Hat Pin and releasing the Fiend. All seems lost against the trans-dimensional horror, but Jim employs bureaucracy to stymie it, because it doesn't have a permit to bring about the Apocalypse. Evil is undaunted, but Malice has an offer for her own show in another universe and departs, so now Evil is a little daunted.

Quote of the Episode: Henchrat - 'Boss no longer need Henchrat. Once special relationship turned to bitter tears in Henchrat's mouth.'

Times Peter turns into a monster: 0 (17 overall).

Cow? Yes, although it may have doomed the universe, 3 billion years from now.

Other: Jim really enjoyed dressing up as a flapper. Good for him. The Princess wasn't so amused.

The episode saw the return of Jim's Manta Shield, which worked better against Acid Furballs than it did against Bob's cat assistants.

For some reason the Lord of Nightmares talks in some faux New York tough  guy accent, while wearing a wide brimmed hat, a trenchcoat with the collar turned up, and smoking a cigar. I have no idea why they went with that particular design.

The Fiend is actually pretty terrifying. Not as terrifying as Mr. Bunny-Bun, an educational program character that keeps recurring through the episode (and hopefully will never appear again), but close.

Having the Fiend be told it will take 3 billion years to finish the paperwork, then showing up what happens in 3 billion years when he does finish it was a nice touch. That was my first thought at the time, 'Well what happens when he gets the application finished?' The answer was bureaucratic incompetence, to the point I'm actually glad for the Fiend when the cow lands on the bureaucrat. Possible doom of existence the Fiend may be, he dutifully followed the instructions to get his permit, only to be screwed by some stuffed shirt who is clearly enjoying the problems he's caused.

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