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#but also that one had its flaws too! my mans doesn't even hate christmas he just has sensory processing disorder!
janusianswordswoman · 9 months
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christmas haters i am kissing you on the forehead
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starry-bi-sky · 4 months
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For the Danyal Al Ghul AU: How would Danyal react to other canon events like when Sam wishes she never met Danny, Tucker wishes for powers, the christmas episode, or other DP canon events?
(Also, I assume Danyal's cover is blown by the reality Gaunlet event.)
Ohooho I love this question. So im only gonna respond to the episodes you mentioned, since it's been a while since i actually watched the show and I don't remember all the episodes. And also since I don't remember them fully, I'm gonna get details wrong. I am fine with that, it still gets the gist down lol. I've got the tvtropes recap page pulled up, so i'll be using that to try and hit the major points it mentions.
So, Memory Blank! Man I've thought about that one, and its the one I'm frankly most excited to answer because it gets to show just how much of a positive impact being friends with Sam and Tucker had on Danyal. So where to start? Their fight goes differently than in canon, but I'm going to start from after Sam makes her wish.
Firstly; she and Tucker are friends, but the two of them are not friends with Danny. He's on his own. In this au, the three of them became friends when they were 11 and Danny's been in Amity Park for about a year.
They met in the beginning with Sam trying to befriend him at first because she realized that they shared similar ideals on environmentalism, but he rebuffed her pretty harshly due to a combination of grief over leaving his home, trying to process the fact that he can never return and will never see his brother again or meet his father, and just plain League arrogance lmao. He really hated being in Amity Park just in general because it wasn't his home and it was the city too.
So he was really rather unapproachable in the beginning. People kept a pretty wide berth of him due to Fenton association and his own vibes.
But Danny's still a kid, and they want socialization with their peers. At 11 he didn't have any friends, and was frankly quite lonely. He decided to approach Sam and Tucker after deeming them "acceptable allies", although Sam wasn't really interested at first up until he did the equivalent of apologizing. Tucker warmed up first afterwards, but Sam really wasn't too far behind.
So thats how they became friends, post-wish though? Lets say that Sam didn't accept the apology and rebuffed Danny, and kinda intimidated Tucker into doing the thing. Danyal closed down, backed off, and then never approached them again because he decided right then and there he wasn't going to chase it. Wasn't worth his effort or time.
Then he just. never approached another person after that because he didn't want to get rebuffed again (he wouldn't admit that it hurt a bit), and he could already tell his efforts wouldn't work. He turned his attention to other stuff. In this timeline it wasn't too difficult to find him at events dedicated to combatting climate change, deforestation, light pollution, animal cruelty, etc. the LOA is an environmentalist group, after all. They just also happen to be eco-fascist assassins-for-hire.
In summary, Sam and Tucker helped Danyal realize the flaws in some of the League's beliefs (the fascism) to the point where he could deconstruct it on his own. Being friends with them made him realize that, frankly, genocide was not the answer to environmental equilibrium, and that the people outside of the League had lives worth living. They also helped quell his arrogance, and just in general influenced him to become kinder even if it doesn't look like that all the time to other people. Sam and Tucker make him laugh, and smile, and just happy.
OG Danyal: wears pretty casual teen clothes. More punky-aesthetic. Has multiple ear piercings. These were self-done. Will have a lip piercing by the time he reunites with Damian, mark my words. Can and will wear muscle tees. Makes puns, jokes, is generally sassy with his friends. Can, will, and has climbed shit he shouldn't be because he enjoys the challenge of scaling a building. It's also very funny seeing Tucker and Sam reenact the "Gregory! HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE?!" meme. Still has a questionable moral compass, but like, he's not an eco-fascist.
This Timeline Danyal: dresses much more sophisticated; dark academia vibe. Closed off, cold. Is 2x more likely to kill someone than OG Danyal, who was frankly, pr kosher with murder already but only if he deemed it extremely necessary. Still an eco-fascist.
Danyal without Sam and Tucker? Still believes in the teachings of the League because he has not been really challenged on them. In fact, he has doubled down on it, actually. Living in the city, growing up estranged and ostracized by his peers, has only strengthened his resolve that all of humanity minus the league (and the Fentons) deserves to be wiped out. He is disgusted by the people around him and desperately wants to go home, even more than the last timeline. The only reason he hasn't is for Damian's sake, but he's been checking in with mother whenever she visits and asking to find a way to come home. She's been steadily wearing down on it; her child is miserable here.
This version of Danyal should not have powers, and is, essentially on the fast track of rejoining the league -- doubly so when he hears Damian is living with father. Clearly it's safe enough for him to be with father, if mother allowed it, and father has become safe enough for Damian to live there. Good. With the threat of two heirs being in the League gone, Danny can return with Mother's permission. And. he probably takes Jazz (and the Fenton parents) with him. Forcibly if he has to.
So Sam has her work cut out for her here, a lot more than in canon, because even when she does tell him that they used to be friends in another timeline, and he believes it, he is not going to give a shit. Clearly they were not as good of friends as she thought they were, if she had wished they never met in the first place. Good riddance, then. This Danny is cold, incredibly hurt, and very closed off.
He is a cave wall in comparison to the Danny Sam knew, and talking to him feels like walking into one. Because he is looking at her with just utter disgust and disdain, keeping a distance like he is revolted by her presence and allergic to her and everyone else's touch.
Which really, really fucking hurts when she knows that in their last timeline, he would actively seek out her and Tucker's company and affection. Sam could read her best friend like an open book, and now its like she's trying to read one in another language she barely speaks. This boy used to smile at her, he used to laugh at Tucker's jokes, and he was so passionate about the things he enjoyed. Now he looks at her like he wants nothing more than for her to drop dead on the spot.
It hurts even more knowing that her last words to her Danny were the words, 'some days i wish we never met'; the way he looked at her afterwards haunts her. For a split second, he looked completely crushed and heartbroken, before his entire body language and expression shut off and he totally closed down on her.
Because by this point in his friendship with her and Tucker, he's told them, he has told them, in a very intimate moment of vulnerability, that they are one of the best things that's happened in his life -- right there alongside the day he first met his baby brother. They are very important to him, and he has finally felt comfortable enough with telling them. There's not a day that goes by that he isn't grateful for their friendship.
So to hear Sam say that some days she wishes they never met? well. That breaks his heart. Just- just a little bit. Sam regrets it the moment it leaves her mouth, and she immediately tries to apologize, but Danny immediately spits back; "Well. I hope you get your wish." and then stalks off.
I'm warring with myself here trying to decide whether or not this new timeline Danyal is at a "point of no return", where nothing Sam says is going to make him attempt to reignite that friendship. Clearly that will end badly anyways, if this is the result of that friendship. He's cut all ties from these people; he feels no prerogative to fix things she broke.
Like, the version of Danyal I'm thinking of here has no close bonds with anyone in the city sans Jazz -- and she? has her own life outside of Danny. She is not his keeper, not his caretaker, and certainly not his therapist. (which i have beef about too, considering how she gets boiled down to 'therapist with no life of her own' but im not going into that.) She has some influence on him, but frankly not enough to really make him challenge his beliefs. Danny cares about her that, if he returns to the league, she is coming with him. Or at the very least, will be spared from the League's goals.
Mmmm. I can't make it a total point of no return though. Sam's very stubborn, and she knows Danny. And while this Danny is still very different, he is still Danny. She'll try and befriend him insistently in a way that might annoy him, but at least not push him away further.
(Tucker, meanwhile, is just soo confused about Sam's very random, very abrupt switch up. Cuz girl he thought you hated this guy? Why are you suddenly trying to get all buddy-buddy with the terrifying Fenton kid. Have you been possessed? Is this some kind of crisis?)
(Sam drags Tucker into befriending Danny because he is the only person she knows that can get him to belly laugh. Tucker is mildly terrified but going along with it.)
Anyways this does end with Sam befriending Danny, or at least getting him to like her long enough that he'll pick up a ghost weapon and face off against Desiree. There's no way in hell he's walking into that portal, that last timeline might have been a 1/billionth chance of it happening and he's not dying for the chance to get powers. And frankly with his training -- which he's probably kept up with even more than the old timeline because he had no one to spend his time with -- he doesn't really need them to be good at fighting them. Just show him how to ghost proof a weapon and he'll handle the rest from there.
But Sam does end up undoing the wish and getting back to her own original timeline in the end. It's the morning after her fight, and the literal first thing she does that morning is get her shoes on and fucking sprriiint to the fenton house. Bursts into tears when she sees Danny and apologizes over and over again. She swears she didn't mean any of it, and to please believe her, and Desiree's still loose and they need to stop her, and she's had the worst time.
She does tell him about the other timeline she just went through, and she hopes that, if it still exists, that that Danyal manages to find friends in the Sam and Tucker there after this. And if not them, then anyone.
Danny's still pretty hurt by what she said, it cut really deep, but he forgives her.
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Tucker getting his powers! Frankly things gooo... relatively the same as canon, I think? Actually, no. Danny probably figures out the whole Genie "i wish you would go back into your lamp" thing faster than canon danny since he's not a C student lmao. TV.Tropes doesn't give me too much specifics for a recap on the plot, so we're gonna wing it. For the plot I'm going to say that Tucker gets his powers before Danny figures out the "i wish" thing, which happens relatively quickly.
Danny tries to be... rather supportive of his friend getting powers? Especially since, in comparison to Danny, it was rather painless. However, he's also very suspicious. He doesn't trust the source of Tucker's powers, and warns him to be careful and to let Danny know if he feels off in anyway.
Tucker does end up helping Danny a few times, but the quick progression of his powers and Tucker's willingness to use them more often than not worries him. He reminds him a handful of times that Tucker shouldn't rely on his powers to help -- not even Danny does that. He prefers to use his weapons and martial arts to fight instead. Tucker doesn't listen.
And they end up fighting anyways. Things get resolved, everything turns out okay!
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Christmas episode straight up just. doesn't happen. Danyal doesn't care enough about the Fenton arguing or about Christmas to be upset about said arguing. He thinks its really childish, but he's not a grinch about all of it.
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Okay it wasn't explicitly mentioned but i have thought about TUE. And I'm trying to think how that would go because it's the result of Danny getting his hands on the math answers and cheating. Which Danyal would not do.
And someone mentioned in the comments on my ao3 under the oneshots there that TUE might just straight up not happen. Which makes sense, Danyal is so different from canon that things don't have to always happen like it did in canon. So that's something I need to chew about, cuz if it does happen, then I'm going to figure out a different way for it to.
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fly-pow-bye · 5 years
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Powerpuff Girls 2016 - The Final Stack Up (The Worst)
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It’s been a good time, friends, but the time has come. Which episodes managed to be the worst of them all?
This is the final stack up, and it's not just me saying that because the phrase "stack up" just caught on in my vocabulary. Out of all of the episodes, I'm going to make two different stacks of episodes: which episodes were the worst, and which were among the least worst. I would say "best", but I feel like that's a bit overselling even for those episodes. Let's start off with the worst, because I just want to get that out of the way.
Here's the criteria for that list:
It must be an episode of PPG 2016. As much as its quality is rather surprising, I consider TTG v. PPG a Teen Titans Go episode. While it even features one of the crew members, it has the Teen Titans Go animation, the Teen Titans Go theme song, and, for better or worse, the Teen Titans Go humor. Also, the Narrator appears in it for more than 10 seconds, and that’s just not allowed in PPG 2016.
It must be at least an episode of PPG 2016. The shorts are just too short and simple to rate among the full episodes, and I'm not rating PSAs or commercials. If one needs to know, Bubbs and Donny Get The Mail is the worst, and Mojo Builds A Shelf is the best.
In a challenge to myself, I have to say at least one good thing about each episode. I'd like to believe there's at least something good in even the worst of media.
This is my opinion and my opinion alone. There's some universally hated episodes I personally did not hate as much, and I am sure there’s going to be episodes people love that I did not particularly care for. It does not mean their opinion is wrong. In fact, this list is based on my current opinions, so that can even apply to past me's opinions.
Let’s roll.
The Bottom 10:
Without further ado, let's wade through the muck first, starting with...
10. A Star Is Blossom
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At first, I didn’t think this episode was particularly horrible; the review even initially had a Neutral Buttercup, the “bad, but not that bad” rating. The more I thought about it, the more I felt this episode wasn’t deserving of it.
The whole episode hinges on Blossom being uncharacteristically evil and jealous of her sister’s success, to the point where she locks her in a boiler room all so she can be the red-haired warrior woman that she wants. It all just turns into this non-sequitur plot with this Viking woman that doesn’t really do much for me. Erica the Red was more annoying than anything, with her being so tough, butch, and not particularly bright being her only character trait. They do try to throw that moral about not being jealous in there somewhere, and it just feels forced.
I would be remiss to talk about one rather infamous aspect of the episode: the way it uses Jared Shapiro, a new “love interest” character. He seemingly has no other character in most of the episodes he appears in than being the love interest of a girl who is barely past the “boys have cooties” age. While this is not the worst episode with him in it, this is the episode where he’s the creepiest. One example is where Jared attempts to kiss Bubbles right on the lips, and Bubbles shouts for her understudy in apparent horror. That was the big joke to end the episode, and all it did was make me feel queasy even when I pretended to not hate this episode.
Good thing: I did enjoy Ms. Moss a little more here than in Drama Bomb, even if Drama Bomb was better in most ways. Maybe it’s because she isn’t entirely the villain of the plot, even if she was the cause of the problem. The viking problem, not the Blossom jealousy problem.
9. Snow Month
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Snow Month: the episode that aired during Winter that explicitly takes place during Spring. Admittedly, they probably needed an episode to air during Christmas time, and there were no Christmas episodes in Season 1. Airing Twas The Fight Before Christmas was not an option. While I could see showing off the original would confuse viewers into thinking this series was good, it certainly would have been better than this episode.
That screenshot shows the truth, this is an episode where Jared is a major player. This was meant to be his very first appearance, though thanks to the mixup, episodes featuring him as Blossom's fantasy boyfriend have already aired. Here, we get to see him outside of Blossom's fantasies, giving her a note asking if she likes him. This utterly terrifies Blossom, and at least sickened me, and she causes a Snow Month to prevent her from seeing him again. To be fair to Blossom, I would want to avoid Jared, too.
There's a subplot involving this titular snow month causing a bunch of yetis to move into Townsville; yetis that act like rich yuppie tourists that openly discriminate against people that aren't their kind. Either that, or they were terrified people that had to leave the Matterhorn because of butthead yetis who destroy buildings. They can't seem to decide if all yetis are bad.
As for the other plot, it just ends with a total cop-out where Jared didn't really mean anything with that note. Throughout the series, no real progress is made with the Jared and Blossom relationship, even when Blossom just outright blurts out that she's in love with him in another episode. Happening to share the name of a certain spokesperson is only one of his problems...and that's the last I'll say about that.
Good thing: There's a cute sledding scene. I just found it cute, and Blossom even uses her powers at one point. It's good.
8. Professor Proofed
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We go from one male character I didn't really like to another, and this time it's a character that is trying to be one character from the original. I'm not saying that the original Professor Utonium was an absolutely perfect father figure with no flaws whatsoever, but the reboot's version of him seems to be written more like a Sitcom Dad most of the time.
While he was making a growth ray, Sitcom Dad gets into an accident thanks to his bumbling and dangerous actions. And by bumbling and dangerous actions, I mean Buttercup shook a pepper cloud in his face. Yet, it's his fault, apparently, and he ends up becoming a man in a protective bubble. Sitcom Dad just goes along with all of this, because he decided he's not going to do anything of worth in this episode other than being. He's more of a prop than anything.
That's it, really, the episode is just a one note premise that doesn't do much with it. There's a giant baby caused by that growth ray, but the most they do with him is have him cover Bubbles with spit. If "kids being overprotective of their parents" is the funniest joke ever, this episode does not prove it.
Good thing: There's some decent commentary on inattentive parents. Oh, not from Sitcom Dad, but from the parent of the baby that becomes a giant.
7. Memory Lane of Pain
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If you asked me which of the three Reboot Puffs is my least favorite a year ago, I'd say Bubbles. She's the only one that's inconsistent. Some episodes, she's an insufferable brat and/or crybaby. Other episodes, she's impossibly stupid, and not because she's written with child-like naivety. And in this episode, she's written as if she's the most incompetent superheroine alive.
This is one of those "three shorts" episodes, though it's really two and a really lousy ending. Blossom takes on the Rubber Bandit while Bubbles gets destroyed by a Dali dolly bomb, Buttercup takes on Popsicles while Bubbles gets turned into one of those ice cream bars, and Bubbles gets to learn that she's an everyday hero by a bunch of people talking about how she saved kittens and joined barbershop quartets. What?
I get what the ending was supposed to allude to: you don't have to be especially talented or have superpowers to be a hero. The problem is...Bubbles is a superhero. She has definitely been a major factor in saving the day in several episodes before this one. It just wasn't enough for this reboot to stab Bubbles' original voice actress in the heart, they had to stab all of the Bubbles fans in the heart as well, and that's terrible.
Good thing: The way the Rubber Bandit and Popsicles were taken down were pretty cool, and I would think if they were in episodes that weren't meant to be torture for the poor little blue teddy bear, they may have been okay.
6. Buttercup Vs. Math
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As much flack as I gave the idea of giving Bubbles the ability to code in Viral Spiral, especially considering this reboot's constant gag of her misspelling words, at least I can argue that Viral Spiral was a decent enough episode to get girls into a STEM field. This episode, at first glance, appears to have the same mission, except instead of Bubbles and programming, it's Buttercup and mathematics. After watching this, I grew to appreciate Viral Spiral a lot more.
In this episode, we see Buttercup has a knack for math, testing herself into honors math. This gets her the disdain of people she considered her friends, even more jealousy from one of her sisters, and she has to hang out with nerd stereotypes that would make Urkel disgusted that call her a "math queen". It's no wonder Buttercup spends the entire episode fighting against this trait that's just forced upon her. This is the exact opposite of Viral Spiral; it makes math look like something only for super nerds, and people interested in math should be ashamed of themselves.
A special focus should be put on how they treated Blossom in this episode. In Viral Spiral, Blossom was glad to see Bubbles getting into coding. Here, it's A Star Is Blossom times 100, as she gets angry at the thought that the "muscle" of the group tested into honor's math and she did not. In the end, Blossom tries to take on the math-based villain, and ends up getting turned into a literal zero. That's it, really. Only at the very end does this episode give Math the respect it deserves, and it's so tacked on that I wonder if it was all meant to be a gigantic joke. If it was, it was not funny.
Good thing: The battle scene does at least give a good lesson about math: don't just take it all in at once, simplify it! Also, they did a joke involving decapitating Barry. Not that I hate Barry, far from it, but the fact that they even did anything like that is surprising.
5. Horn, Sweet Horn
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Bubbles finds a new BFF, a horse with a cardboard tube on his head named Donny. While most horses just whinny, this horse can whine. He can whine about how while the horn he had was mere cardboard, he knows that inside, he's a bonafide unicorn. Since Bubbles really wants to be friends with a unicorn, she takes this wanna-be corn to the lab and tells the Professor to change him with his transmogrification ray so he can fulfill his dreams. Everything goes downhill after that.
With this talk about being a unicorn inside, Sitcom Dad warning Donny that it's his body and it's a serious choice, and a line about "adolescent self discovery" later in the episode, some may believe that this episode was meant to be a gender identity allegory. In fact, that was said to be the case in an interview with the two directors of the show. If that was the case, maybe having that transmogrification ray turn him into an out of control monster was not the best idea. To be fair, one of the writers had come out and said that the allegory wasn't intentional, though they decided to wait until after everyone shared their disgust with this episode to say that it wasn't.
Donny is just a terrible character all around, and he will prove it even more in another episode. Hint, hint. In this one, all he does in this episode is whine. Wah, I'm not a unicorn. Wah, science ruined me. Wah, I hate you for doing this, Bubbles. Slap. Wah, what have I done. The ending is ridiculous as well; it turns out that Donny's hair was hiding a horn this whole time. If I had a horn on my head, I would certainly feel it even if my hooves couldn't reach it.
In the end, Bubbles gets a horn that will summon him, which she will never use. Sadly, it turns out Donny can just barge in at any time without it. Oh well.
Good thing: A coalition of unicorns could have led to more interesting stories. I am really stretching for positives with this episode in particular; the only reason why it's even this high up is that it just didn't offend me as much as the next four.
4. Once Upon A Townsville
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The Powerpuff Girls try to make a stereotypical Disney-esque princess into a superhero, something she is clearly not, and, in the end, they learn the lesson that people should accept each other for what they are. On paper, that doesn't sound like a bad episode, but the way this episode handles it is just questionable to say the very least. Simply put, this episode is about the Powerpuff Girls saving a princess from putting herself in grave danger, and they're considered the bad guys.
There's even a whole montage of her putting herself in grave danger, and except for one scene, it's more disturbing than funny. In the end, the episode seems to give the Powerpuff Girls a stern lesson over their actions in this episode, as if they were in the wrong for saving her from what are essentially suicide attempts! What were they supposed to do, let her die? I'm all for letting girls be themselves, but there is a limit to that.
At least they got into the Disney-esque spirit by making this one a musical, and one of the songs, otherwise a complete ripoff of Missy Elliot's Work It, has a Buttercup beatbox solo featuring stock images of the elderly. I wondered if it was meant to be a joke about how these old characters are desperately trying to be hip to the youth that this reboot is supposed to be for.
Oh, Once Upon A Townsville, if only there was someone who loved you. Well, the Emmys did, as they gave this one this reboot's only Emmy nomination. Sometimes, the Emmys are wrong. Either that, or Cartoon Network should have submitted a different episode.
Good thing: I kind of liked the joke where Buttercup keeps swapping away all of the poisoned apples. At least those only put princesses to sleep.
3. Painbow
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Here it is, this reboot's most infamous episode. Clips of this episode became infamous overnight, and everyone seems to agree that this is the episode that shows how bad the Powerpuff Girls reboot truly is. While I disagree with the notion that this is the absolute worst, I cannot disagree that this episode deserves to be on this list. The episode involves the Powerpuff Girls having to stop a rainbow that causing everyone to be unnecessarily happy...except them, because they ate anti-mind-control pineapples. Better explanation than the nothing they give in the episode itself.
This all leads to the worst minute in reboot history. While this show's rainbow dimension sears anyone's eyes slightly harder than an episode of Problem Solverz, we get Blossom referencing the "literally can't even" meme of the early 2010s right after hearing Bubbles say "OMG, yas!". Not too long later, we get the scene that most people think about when they think about PPG 2016.
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The twerk scene. To be honest, I think people are really overselling this scene. It's bad, it's uncomfortable, and it dates the show, sure, but there's a lot more to hate about this episode. The animation errors that are even more numerous in this episode, Sitcom Dad in a speedo, the fact that Allegro is just a bad Him wannabe, I could go on far longer than I did in my initial review.
There is supposed to be a moral about how there's a time to be serious and a time to be funny, and we know this because Buttercup outright blurts it out near the end of the episode. It's easy to be distracted from that, considering everything else. It's a bad episode that is worthy of the first Disgusted Buttercup. However, it's not the worst episode of Season 1.
Good thing: The way Buttercup punches out Allegro in the end is pretty well animated by reboot standards.
2. Odd Bubbles Out
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No, this is the worst episode of Season 1. Because they just knew Horn Sweet Horn was going to be a huge hit, they just had to make another episode featuring this not-so-lovable hell horn, and this one is worse in every possible aspect. The episode involves Donny getting together with Bubbles, even down to going to school with her. Nobody questions why a unicorn is walking around with them, but I can ignore that. He then makes a brand new friend named Chelsea, which makes Bubbles really, really angry because how dare he make another friend. Not to say that there are other reasons, of course.
If I were to give Horn, Sweet Horn one thing; at least I know who was the most annoying character in that episode. Donny just hangs out with Chelsea off-screen, not even talking to Bubbles and treating her like she's not as cool. Bubbles is acting like some crazy ex-girlfriend over Chelsea even existing; it's as if Donny should only have her, and she makes no effort in joining in any of the activities Donny is doing. Maybe the idea was that neither Donny nor Bubbles were in the right, but all this really does is give me an episode where nobody was likable.
...and then Chelsea turned out to be an evil robot made by this show's version of Mojo Jojo, all so Bubbles can look good treating her like an irredeemable enemy. Kind of funny how the "silly monkey with the silly hat" that I call Discount Jojo for various reasons hasn't even appeared in this list until now. Most of his worst moments just aren't in the absolute worst episodes, it seems.
Good thing: ...and honestly, his plan in this episode isn't one of his worst moments at all. Making a fake robot friend was one of the better Discount Jojo plans. Such a shame it was wasted on this episode.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Hustlecup - No episode from Season 3 made the Bottom 10, but that's not to say that Season 3 didn't have any stinkers. In fact, this episode would have been the number 11 pick if I went that far. A sports episode where the sports parts are written very poorly, an ending that does not make sense, and a waste of what should have been a special appearance by one of the Gorillaz.
Quarantine - Quarantine was practically a blank check for what could be a really funny episode: Mojo Jojo and the Powerpuff Girls stuck in a room together. If only it was the actual Mojo Jojo, and the Powerpuff Girls didn't just relegate themselves to just constantly beating him up. It's just a painful episode all around, and could also be a good candidate for a #11.
The Wrinkle-Gruff Gals - Hey kids! Are you being bullied for being different? Why not follow their advice and try being different? I was way too easy on this one.
Tiara Trouble: In theory, an episode that involves the villains participating in a talent show should be a laugh riot. It's too bad most of the jokes are, "tee hee, what if they were dressed in women's clothing?" Also, it gave us the infamous Bubbles No Me Gusta face, which is up there with the you-know-what scene from Painbow.
Presidential Punchout - A really bad version of Impeach Fuzz. The only good thing about this episode is that it shows a universe where the most sane candidate could win an election. If only, if only.
Halt and Catch Silico - The most interesting villain that the reboot managed to cooked up is tarnished by this episode, as we get to hear his very confusing and laughable even in-universe origin story. Anyone's imaginations could have done better; they may as well have kept it a secret forever.
Huh, confusing and laughable origin stories, what does that remind me of? Admittedly, including this episode is a little against the second rule for this list, as it is just one part of a multiple-part special. However, it has certain unique and horrific traits about it that really puts it over the edge. And that episode is...
1. Bliss Reminisce
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As a whole, The Power of Four wasn't bad. It had a solid opening, a slightly-less-solid ending, and a rather boring middle part that could have been cut down by an episode. Oh, and there's this part. There is so much I could say about this episode's flaws that I could make a top 10 just of the worst parts in it. In fact...I'll do it right now!
The Top 10 Reasons Why Bliss Reminisce Is The Worst Episode of PPG 2016:
This is more in hindsight, but out of the entire series, this is the only time in the entire reboot that Chemical X is ever mentioned in the episodes themselves. Such an important item in this series, and it's never used outside of what is essentially a joke in this episode.
Discount Jojo adds basically nothing to Bliss' origin story. They could have at least explained that Bliss was the inspiration for him pushing the Professor into the Chemical X, but we don't even get that. All it adds is that Jojo was Bliss's only friend at one point, which has at least one negative connotation.
That face Jojo makes in the middle of the episode, complete with stock image eyes and lips. Eugh.
Her name isn't just Bliss, it is Blisstina Franchesca Francis Mariam Alicia Utonium. Even disregarding that overly long names is a trope associated with overly idealistic fan characters, what the hell is a Blisstina? I know what a blossom, bubbles, a buttercup, a bunny, and a bullet are, but there is no such thing as a blisstina. They could have just stuck with Bliss.
Sitcom Dad is kind of a jerk to the other three throughout this whole episode, which clashes with his appearance in the last episode. There's sort of a reason for this, and I'll get to it a little bit later in the list.
Discount Jojo wants to tell his side of the story, but the Powerpuff Girls make him skip over the whole pushing Sitcom Dad into the chemicals part. I can't help but think this was done to not ruin that "great joke" that appears later in this list, but it also makes me wonder if they were even aware of one of the biggest reasons for Jojo being their arch-nemesis.
Sitcom Dad promising that he'll never leave Bliss, and, a few seconds later, he has to leave to get an reward for "best ham"! Sitcom Dad, everyone!
He even dares to say that Bliss is his favorite of all of his creations, despite ignoring her existence for the past 5 years or however long its been since the Powerpuff Girls were created. Again, seems to be a trope associated with overly idealistic fan characters.
We do learn that Bliss is made from Chemical W. That's fine, it gives an explanation to how she has so many powers that the Powerpuff Girls don't have. What I can't accept is that we learn that he not only accidentally knocked into a vat of Chemical W, but every Chemical from A to V as well! There is no indication whatsoever that this wan't just inspired by someone saying, "Chemical X, what about Chemical A through W, wakka wakka!"
Oh, that whole Professor Utonium making the Powerpuff Girls because he wanted a family, or being inspired by an incident involving time travel? No, silly, it's because he was envious of another scientist who did the same thing! The Reboot Puffs were made out of envy, really good to know. That scientist and her creation will never become important, ever; she's just there to take credit and decency away from the man they dare to call Professor Utonium.
Oh, and I didn't like it.
Good thing: It would be impossible to do a top 10 best things about this episode, but there is a mediocre joke involving a garage door that almost made my constant frown at this episode disappear.
With bad episodes like these, why did I continue to watch the show? I would say it's my job, but I didn't really get paid for this. Turns out, there are some okay to even, gasp, good episodes of this show. Episodes that actually made me happy that I did this experiment. I certainly would have never experienced them if I decided to quit watching the reboot after Season 1, which was my initial plan.
In the end, I felt it deserves to be its own article. See you tomorrow for The Best.
← Sideline Dad ☆ The Final Stack-Up (The Best) →
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