#leodooley

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

Elite Force’s Many Lost Opportunities

The thing that annoys me most about Elite Force is Elite Force could have been great to the Mighty Med characters and even the Lab Rats characters.

Let’s all be honest, Elite Force isn’t the best show in the world and a lot of it comes down to the writing of characters. I feel like the show had a lot of potential and maybe that’s why so many fans make so much fan content related to that era of the show. Seriously the amount Elite Force content v. rest of Mighty Med and Lab Rats is kind of amazing.

Today I wanted to take a closer look at Elite Force’s many missed story and character opportunities. I got the inspiration to make this due to this thread. These are thing I’ve been thinking about for a long time… but I think it’s kind of time to put it out there. Elite Force isn’t a bad idea, just bad execution.

Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar

I think the villains kids(Riker and Roman) and their evil father(Rodissius) is meant to parallel Douglas(during his evil days) and Krane. When we could have had Oliver seeing something of his mom in the main dad villain, Rodissius. We could have seen more of that arc with his evil mom. We could have had his mom show up. I will never not be bitter about that plot point never getting proper follow through.

We could have had Skylar relating to the main villain losing his powers instead of the show just giving her powers back. Like seriously, why didn’t Skylar have anything to say about villain and losing powers? She went through this. She had a whole ‘going evil’ due to getting her powers back arc and then having to lose them again. It was a huge part of her character and arc in Mighty Med, only to be forgotten in Elite Force. Seriously, why is the villain, Rodissius, so similar to Skylar if the writers weren’t going to do anything with it? Just why?

Kaz could have been the middle ground between the two being like “we need to put them down”. Kaz could still be mad about Mighty Med. We could have had moments of Skylar and Oliver bonding and comforting each other over the loss of Mighty Med. Just think about it.

We also could had Kaz and Oliver being bros learning powers with Skylar getting jealous to then becoming a mentor to them. Even Bree and Chase could mentor more like they did on the island.

Most of all, Elite Force needed to remember Kaz, Skylar, and Oliver are friends. Kaz and Oliver are ride-or-die best friends and might as well be brothers. Kaz is implied not be close with his parents or his siblings so Oliver is his family. Skylar doesn’t have family being part of a clone race and I honestly view Skylar as a sister to Kaz and Oliver or at very least her found family along with everyone else at Mighty Med.

Returning Mighty Med Characters

Even Alan could show up and be able to relate to villain. Part of Alan’s arc in Mighty Med was learning to accept being half-normie. Even Horace would be in the show somehow as a captive of villains. Like Roman and Rimer took Horace to heal their father and give him back his powers since at the wedding Horace was revealed to be Caduceo, the legendary healer of superheroes, to the world or something(that even ties the spinoff into Mighty Med).

Gus or Jordon would show up after Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar were on the news being apart of Elite Force. There could have been a story of their normie friends from school finding out about the superhero world and Skylar’s real name not being Connie Valentine.

Leo, Adam, and Other Lab Rats Characters

The show could have used Douglas better. Douglas used to be evil. The villain is an evil dad. There is something there even if it’s just a joke considering Douglas was evil dad and Krane was too to some extent. Why wasn’t that a joke in the show(like someone should have said “what’s with us and evil parental figures?”). Douglas could even talk to Oliver about his mom being evil. Douglas could relate to him and help Oliver come to terms with mom being evil and maybe give Oliver hope his mom could one day be redeemed.

Leo and Adam could have shown up. I understand actors and contracts, but the show could have mentioned the characters. The show seemed to miss Adam having Adam around with Bob’s return. I like Bob, but it felt like it should have been Adam there and not Bob. Again, like Bob but it always felt like the writers wanted Adam there instead. The show did clearly miss Leo too since AJ is basically a Leo Dooley stand-in.

There could have been a conversion between Donald, Chase, and Bree along lines of “why did you two allow AJ to stick around?” And they don’t know. Donald eventually nods and says “I think I do. He’s a bit like Leo. I miss him too, but remember he’s not Leo.” Or something like that. Even Kaz could remember Bree and Chase of Adam. There is something there that could be touched on.

I think Perry, Donald, Tasha, and Naomi were handled well, but I do still wish Adam or Leo showed up.

Chase and Bree

Chase got an arc of his girlfriend being evil and Bree wanting more powers. Chase and Bree could have an arc of being away from home/family for the first time and being homesick. The penthouse is basically like going off to college or boarding school when you think about it. The characters move away from home and live with kids their age in a dorm/apartment.

Chase could have had a real arc about interacting and being a person outside the comfort of his family/island. Bree could have had an arc of learning that she doesn’t need more powers(I still don’t like that storyline for Bree. It just feels like it comes out of nowhere and is excuse to give Bree more abilities without having to introduce them). Bree could have had a self acceptance storyline.

Mighty Med and Elite Force

The world and characters of Mighty Med when the show ended and Elite Force stated, it didn’t feel like an ending for the show like Lab Rats. That’s a problem a lot of fans of Mighty Med have. I loved both shows since their premiere. Mighty Med was just getting started and their characters were the same. There was so much more left to see of this world before Elite Force. Then Elite Force came and didn’t seem to understand or know much about Mighty Med. If you looks at the people who worked on Elite Force, it’s mostly people from Lab Rats with very few from Mighty Med.

I’ve said this for years, but Mighty Med needed one more season before Elite Force to wrap up their story. The sad thing is Might Med didn’t get that. We got Elite Force. As a fan of Mighty Med, I’ve always had so many problems with Elite Force. As a Lab Rats, I still don’t care for Elite Force. There was something missing in this spinoff and we all know it.

Conclusion

I am just seeing all we could have had and didn’t get. There are so many good ideas here but none of them were taken. The show could have been better.

Every time I sit down and watch Elite Force I get the impression there wasn’t a lot of passion behind it. There’s also a lot of cooks in the kitchen(just look at the credits) and that might explain the writing. The show just feels like a mess that no one really wanted to make.

[tunakazerole]

@armed-and-dangerous-leodooley

Do you ever get the urge to make some popcorn while watching these two argue?

[brilliantbillionaire]

Who else is on here with you?

@evil-uncle-daddy is Douglas

@tunakazerole is Kaz

@armed-and-dangerous-leodooley is Leo

@smartestmanalive is Chase

@super-strong-guy is Adam

That’s who I know of for being on here so far

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

Leo always trying to protect and look out for his family. Everyday of school he is was making sure they were okay. He was helping them out of bionic mishaps. He would help them cover up/lie about their bionics which likely caused him to lose friends(since he could never be funny honest with anyone). Leo put his family first from day one. That is incredibly selfless.

Leo has saved everyone multiple in the show. All the way back in season one even. Anyone remember in “back from the future” when Leo didn’t go on his date with Jenelle and pushed Adam, Bree, and Chase out of the way of collapsing room. Or when Leo did everything he could to try and protect Adam, Bree, and Chase from Marcus. Or when Leo went to Douglas to get him to try and help Bree. Or when Leo talked Chase down from the triton app? Or when Leo did whole helicopter save of Bree in Mission Mania? Or when Leo save his mom in Forbidden hero? Or all the times the show alludes to Leo saving the trio on missions in Forbidden Hero? Or how Leo saves Donald Davenport in Space Elevator? I could go on and on about Leo’s many saves and all he’s done for his family and others. He is the MOST selfless person on the show in my eyes.

thinking about how Leo was willing to fight Donald (his own step-dad whom he had a fairly good relationship with) over the rats barely a day after meeting them and how he followed Marcus home even knowing that Marcus was 1) bionic and 2) willing to kill him because he wanted to protect his siblings and how one of the first things he did after getting energy transference was risk his own life to save Donald's

how he's always, consistently running directly into danger to protect & save people even when he didn't have bionics, weapons, or even a plan. but sure, "Leo needs to be less egotistical and realize you don't need praise to be a hero" is a lesson he needed to learn twice

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

A random AU idea I’ve had for the longest time is somehow Leo gets superpowers and becomes a superhero. Leo just starts hanging out in Mighty Med and he becomes best friends with Skylar, Kaz, and Oliver. Leo is just like normal person hanging at Mighty Med.

Adam, Bree, Chase, and the rest of his family have no clue about his superpowers or anything. Leo still helps out in his own weird way and using his powers in secret. Leo gets a lot of amusement out of messing with his family with his powers when they have no clue about them.

The events of the show stay mostly the same except Leo doesn’t get bionics. Douglas does find out about Leo’s powers in You Posted What?! And helps Leo keep the secret and with his super-heroics. Imagine Douglas as the guy in the chair for Leo and trying to keep his superhero secret. By the time of crossover, Leo sees Oliver and Kaz at the island Leo is like “what the heck are you two doing here?”

The crossover is when everyone else finds out and freaks. Like Leo has a secret and why didn’t he tell us about being a superhero with actual superpowers. Drama ensues from all this. It takes Leo saving their lives likes he’s always done for them to trust and stop being so mad at Leo. Leo doesn’t actual join the team, he’d rather just stay a solo act, but he does help the team when needed. He also sometimes helps train the students.

I don’t really have powers or code name picked out(it changes all the time with me). Sometimes Leo is technopath(ability to control technology with his mind) and other times he is psychic. The powers don’t matter to me as much as the drama that ensures from all of it. Do what you will with this. I don’t know if I’ll ever write this down.

[zackmartin]

Happy belated birthday @leodooleys !

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

And yet Leo’s play is the thing that actually helped Bree. So… point Leo!

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

Okay I have this weird AU idea where Leo was adopted by Douglas and raised as Marcus’ brother. Like Leo isn’t full out evil or anything, but he goes to school with Marcus as his brother. I have like the whole mapped out in my brain but never wrote the story out. I don’t know if I’ll ever turn it into a story either. So, enjoy the outline of the idea..

Adam, Bree, and Chase are still bionic and Douglas is still their bio-dad. Tasha still marries Donald, but she the one who finds the bionic trio and makes Donald put them in school and have a normal life.

Leo and Marcus attempt to befriend Adam, Bree, and Chase to capture them for Douglas and they do. The big thing in my mind would be how Leo and Marcus see the capturing of the trio. Marcus is full on capture them and bring them to dad. Leo is like “cool, I going to have three more siblings once I bring them to dad.” Leo is full on the kidnapping them until Leo finds out what Douglas really has planed for the trio.

After finding out, Leo decides to tell Donald Davenport everything. Donald doesn’t believe him until Leo shows Donald he knows where the lab is.

Donald doesn’t trust Leo for a little bit after this and tells Adam, Bree, and Chase to stay away from Leo and Marcus. Donald doesn’t tell them why though, so the trio disobeys.

Eventually Donald trust Leo after something big happens like Leo saves his life or something. Leo is allowed free access to the lab. Adam, Bree, and Chase find out Leo knows they are bionic and Leo becomes “unofficial” part of the team. He basically acts like a mission specialist like he does in the show.

Marcus and Douglas don’t know Leo is turncoat and think this all part of the act to get to the trio. Eventually, Douglas and Marcus make their move like in bionic showdown. Leo explains everything to the trio and Leo helps the trio save Donald. Marcus and Douglas find out Leo is helping the “enemy”. Douglas is mad and Marcus is confused. The whole mess ends with Leo moving in, Douglas getting away, and Marcus being destroyed. Leo is repairing Marcus in secret since he still sees Marcus as his brother. He is just worried Donald won’t approve.

I don’t know where’d I go from there and I don’t know if I’d actual turn this into a fic. I’m just putting this out there since I like the idea of Leo being Marcus sibling instead of Adam, Bree, and Chase’s and the idea of Leo being Douglas’ son instead of Donald. They are both just a fun ideas to me.

Anyways… do what they will with all of this.

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

I have this weird idea of what-if Namoi just doesn’t care about tech or money all that much. Like she’s a minimalist and technophobe, in the way I’m technophobe. Basically, I’m considered about security, man’s relationship to technology, humanity’s growing reliance on tech, among other things. Basically I’m cautious, but not against it and think tech is a good thing overall(don’t think I’m some weird shut in or anything).

Like imagine, Namoi being this person who would rather have something like a blackberry(since they are considered more secure) than her own father’s line of smart phones. Like she doesn’t care for inventing things and would rather make music or something. Namoi doesn’t care about a LOT of the things most of her family does. Namoi doesn’t believe in violence and is more of a pacifist seeing violence as a last resort. She doesn’t want anything more than what she needs. Like all her worldly goods could fit inside a van or something. Imagine how weird and interesting that would be.

That is a clique in a way. I do think it’s interesting and more fun. We already have Leo, Chase, Douglas, and Donald as inventors. Bree never had many hobbies outside of wanting to be normal(I think Bree would like creative writing or something. She screams to me the artistic type). Tasha is journalist. I think having Namoi as a sort free-spirt who doesn’t agree with a lot of her family is could be interesting.

This is all my own weird ideas and I know a lot of people put Namoi as Davenport jr. Thats fine. I think I enjoy Namoi more as something polar opposite.

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

On The Edge is Best of Season Four of Lab Rats

I have a few things to say about the On The Edge special. Out of the many specials in season four, it’s by far my favorite as it’s clearly a Leo focused special. I am a Leo fan girl through and through. Leo since the start of the Island stuff has been stuck as a student trying to prove himself worthy of being a mentor. The special brings out all Leo’s pent-up frustrations and allows him to express them.

I find the special to be a really good character study of Leo as well. Part one of the special has the more negative qualities on display(Leo’s recklessness, impatience, ego, arrogance, and even some his trademark sneakiness) while part two puts Leo’s best qualities on display(his fearlessness, his compassion, determination, etc.). The first part has Leo’s worst qualities blow up in his face to only have his best qualities shine threw and save the day.

In terms of season four, each of the many specials focus on one of the main characters. Bionic Action Hero is mainly a Bree special with Chase and Adam centered stuff thrown in. Space Colony is primary an Adam special. Bionic Rebellion is mostly a Chase centered special, if I had say anyone was focused on. The finale/The Vanishing is Douglas/Daniel focused special while serving as the series finale and last hooray for the cast/series. On The Edge is Leo’s focused special.

I think before going further its with pointing out that Disney+ took out some scenes for streaming, but for the purpose of this I will be talking about scenes and episode as it originally aired. I found the transcript of the episode along with OG broadcasted episode. I won’t link with the episode since it’s technically would be a pirated version. I do trust anyone who is interested in the OG version can find it themselves. The transcript is pulled from the Lab Rats Wiki, IMBd, and Quotes.net, but mostly the Wiki.

I want to quickly touch on some of acting in the On The Edge special. Tyrel Jackson Williams(actor who plays Leo) is one of the best actors in the cast of Lab Rats and I think most fans can agree on that. Williams acting in whole special is great. He isn’t often given much dramatic material to work with in Lab Rats since it is a sitcoms, but this special does. I think the On The Edge is some of Williams best in the show. The way he portrays Leo in this episode is just great. Leo is still as funny as ever, but Williams able to give weight Leo’s anger, frustrations, guilt, and joy. You can tell Tyrel put a lot of heart into Leo. Watching Leo on the bridge mission with Taylor and saving Chase are some Tyrel’s most dramatic moments on the show. The rest of the other members of the cast are great, but I think Tyrel brings just something more than usual in terms of acting in the On The Edge special.

The score for On The Edge is solid. There are a few spots where I think score just shines and goes above a normal TV score(I will point where that is when it comes up). Lab Rats score for TV sitcoms is decent and does it job, but I think for the specials, and On The Edge especially, the score is just a step above normal.

The special starts off with Leo is rightly upset that Adam, Bree, and Chase are getting honored with an award and tells his family about it. His family, namely Adam, Bree, and Chase, as usually don’t listen. A big thing with dynamic of Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo is the trio not taking Leo 100% seriously ever. The bionic trio didn’t believe Leo about Marcus, didn’t think bringing Douglas to help fix Bree’s chip was a good idea, and didn’t think Leo had a leg to stand on for his argument that he should be a mentor. Even Donald Davenport doesn’t take Leo 100% seriously. Leo not getting the award along side his family is just another thing in a long line of things that Leo isn’t believed or taken serious on.

“I worked so hard to prove myself but it doesn't matter. They're always gonna see me as their little barely bionic brother.”

As the special goes on, we see Leo air his complicate to both his new team and to his family. It’s paints a picture that Leo has been feeling undervalued for a long time.

Leo appears to appreciate all the positive feedback that he starts to get from Taylor and Logan(members of Leo’s team) and some of that is Leo’s ego. Even Logan’s hero worship of Leo means a lot to Leo. I can’t help but think a lot of it is also Leo getting some validation he hasn’t been getting anywhere else. It’s pretty clear that Taylor and Logan’s support throughout the special mean a lot to Leo. Leo does get a little arrogant as their leader by exaggerating his own successes/abilities.

“Talk about an underdog. He was just a regular guy. And all of a sudden he got bionics and became an inspiration to the whole world.”

Taylor and Logan(Logan especially) are there from story structure standpoint to help Leo have someone to listen and actual hear what he saying. Taylor and Logan listen to what Leo is saying and take him seriously as a leader while his siblings(mostly Chase) don’t.

There is unique to view Logan, Taylor, and Leo as a parallel of sorts to Adam, Bree, and Chase. Leo is Chase aka the leader of group. Logan is Adam aka the dumb but loyal protector. Bree is Taylor aka balancer/mediator of the team who sometimes acts in a leader role. Taylor is a bit of stretch, but I think it’s interesting way to look at Leo’s team.

“I am MORE than ready, and maybe I wouldn't feel like I need to prove that to you guys if you weren't looking down on me.”

A line from Leo “if you guys weren’t always looking down on me,” really stands out as to how Leo feels. He doesn’t feel like an equal in his own family. He was made a student upon arriving, not mentor like literally everyone else in his family(minus Tasha and possibly Douglas). There’s also the fact Leo wasn’t bionic for the most of the show and only recently got a bionic arm and later bionic leg. It’s not hard to see why Leo feels like he is not an equal in his own family. There isn’t much to suggest otherwise.

“Is that why you're always bragging about how you're not one of us? I think you're just pretending to be a student so you can spy on us for the enemy.”

When you watch back earlier episodes in the Island storyline, you start to notice that Leo harks on the fact he is family to the mentors and goes on missions. Leo even throw a tantrum when he was “assigned to live in the student dorm”(episode: Bionic Rebellion). Seriously, the Bionic Rebellion special has Leo spend a lot of time ranting the student about all this. I think Leo is trying to point out and cling on to all the ways he is different from the other student.

Sometime that really speaks volumes to how sort of clueless Davenports are to how Leo is feeling is that when says he feels like “always looking down on” him. Bree replies “we don't look down on you”. I find that pretty telling that his family doesn’t realize how Leo is feeling.

We going to take quick look at interaction between Leo and his team that I think highlights how Leo is feeling. The scene comes after Taylor and Leo show Chase their new combined EMP ability and Chase tells Leo and Taylor not to use the ability. The scene starts with Leo being frustrated that despite working hard to proving himself it doesn’t change how his family sees him as the “little brother whose barely bionic”. Leo takes Chase not trust Taylor and Leo to their new EMP as a sign of how his family sees him. Leo even states in the scene “I'm so sick of them not treating me seriously. It's time to prove I'm as much a bionic hero as they are”.

“I hate this. I've worked so hard to prove myself but it doesn't matter. They're always going to see me as their little brother whose barely bionic.”

Taylor and Logan actually try to comfort Leo about how he is feeling. Taylor even tells Leo that her and Logan they’ve got Leo’s back. For Leo, these appear to be the only two people that believe in him and his abilities right now.

When Leo tries to convince Chase to let Taylor and him use the ability, Chase doesn’t let them have a word in. Leo give a good reason that if this ability was when they were fighting Krane then the Triton app could be taken out much easier. Chase tells Leo that “doesn’t matter” and that ability “is dangerous”. In the long run, Chase is half right that ability was dangerous. The problem here is that Chase wasn’t willing to hear Leo out and due that the EMP ability became dangerous(because Leo was trying to prove himself to his family/Chase). When the ability was used again in part two, it wasn’t dangerous. The ability wasn’t dangerous the first times the ability was used by. It was only dangerous when Leo was trying to prove something.

You could make the argument that EMP ability is what symbolic of Leo’s journey. The ability is found by accident like how Leo often causes accidents and found the the Lab by accident. The ability wasn’t dangerous until Leo’s recklessness and need to prove himself took him. This often happens when Leo was trying to impress Jenelle or even other social situations. The ability becomes safe again when Leo is not trying to impress or prove anything rather he just trying to help.

Leo drive and need to prove himself leads to Leo seriously injuring Taylor. The injuring of Taylor is classic recklessness of Leo with a hint of ego/arrogance. Leo thought they could handle it while also rushing into using this new EMP ability without knowing much about it.

“Back off! This is my team!”

When looking at the scene where Taylor actually gets hurt it is the build of a lot Leo trying to prove himself once again, but feeling like his family is once again telling him he’s not good enough. The scene starts off with Leo and Taylor doing well training to use the ability. The problem starts with Leo and Taylor add more power to EMP because Leo wants to show-off a little. In the show that’s often where Leo’s problems start, when he is trying to show off to Jenelle or someone else. Chase and Bree telling Leo to stop using the ability doesn’t help. Leo is stubborn and I think he is done listening to them. He wants to show them he is worth taking seriously.

The score in the scene is just great. I love how sound effects and music mix together. The score helps sell the intensity of the interaction. I don’t have much else to say other than score is just great in these scene.

“Oh, please, you're just jealous that your team isn't as powerful as mine.”

Tyrel Jackson Williams acting in the scene is just amazing. The way Tyrel delivers the anger, hurt, and determination in some of lines is amazing. When Leo claims Chase is jealous the playful tone that underlined with angry and hurt is amazing. After Taylor is hurt, the way Tyrel acts is amazing. The guilt and shock is written all over the acting/character. It is just amazing how well Tyrel gets the emotions in the scene.

“I can't believe it. She's never gonna see again. It's all because of me.”

The next couple scenes after training mishap with EMP ability have Leo thinking everything will be fine and Taylor will be okay. Leo has had bad injuries and he just got bionics. It’s makes sense for Leo to think this way. It’s also very innocent way of thinking.

It isn’t until the news that Taylor is now blind thanks to Leo’s leadership that things change. Lab Rats doesn’t always have lasting consequences like this. Leo got his arm and leg crushed but he was fine since he got a bionic upgrades/replacements(not completely sure how that worked). Villains dies off screen or in the case of Marcus is technically a robot so the death can be shown. Taylor getting blinded is just brutal and sets up next part perfectly(we will get into soon). It’s honestly one of the worst and most lasting thing to happen on the show.

Side note: not completely related, but interesting to point out(I’m not the only who has noticed this). Taylor, formerly S-1, was the reason Leo’s arm was destroyed and now here Leo takes Taylor’s sight. Don’t know if was intentional, but interesting parallel.

Leo rightly feels a lot of guilt over what happened to Taylor and decides to leave the island. I know some people don’t like this scene. I find that it’s very in character character for Leo. Leo tends to put the protection of those he loves first and does whatever he can to protect them. I think in his mind by leaving he was protecting everyone. It is debatable if Leo made the right call here or not, but it was his decision to make at the end of the day.

“Taylor has to live with my mistake for the rest of her life.”

I want to actually take a moment to actual break down the whole scene where Leo leaves the island. It’s very powerful scene and sets the stage for the second part of the special. It’s very impressive that whole scene is carried by acting alone, there no music until the Leo starts to board the hytroloop.

Disclaimer: the photo edit above was created by me.

The conversion in the scene is mostly between Leo, Chase, and Donald Davenport. The special as whole does have Adam, Bree, and Douglas as features rather than a main focus. Adam and Douglas in the first part mostly work on making limo indestructible. Bree tends to be paired with Chase or Adam in scenes to help add to conversion, but her character isn’t really a focus in this special. Even Donald’s role in the overall story is small. In this scene and other dramatic scenes, Donald acts in his mentor/father role in the show. The special is mostly about Leo and his problems, but it’s feature Chase quite a bit. Chase arguably is the one Leo is most close to out of the trio. The special takes their stable relationship and breaks it down. Leo and Chase bud heads as Leo wants to step and be a leader. Chase doesn’t want to let go of being a leader and he doesn’t see Leo as anything more than his little brother. The whole point I am making is the scene here is the climax of the first part and it chooses to focus on these characters.

I think Chase’s line of “I never meant for you to leave” says a lot of what was going on. This clashing of heads between Leo and bionic trio on the surface didn’t seem like anything new to trio. If you look at Leo’s point of view this clash was culmination of everything since they got to the island. From the trio’s point of view it was just another disagreement to solved and fixed in a couple days. I don’t think Adam, Bree, or Chase actually thought Leo was this upset about Taylor or his place at the Academy until then.

Headcanon: I also like to think that trio never can imagine Leo up and leaving. Leo has never really left their side from extended period since the day they meant as the show explains. Leo is also the one who showed them the real world and was the first real friend outside the lab. He is an important figure in their life.

There is very interesting idea presented in the scene about mistakes and leadership. Donald Davenport states “part of being a leader is making mistakes. You learn from them, and you move on”. It’s actual a good piece of advice for life, not just leadership. Donald even points out Chase’s mistakes throughout the show as an example. Something I really like and is just a such a Leo thing to do, Leo makes a clear distinction between Chase’s mistakes and his own. That distinction is that Chase mistakes “never hurt anyone” while his mistake with Taylor is permit and hurt her.

In the scene Leo has clearly made up his mind and thought through everything he wants to say. Everyone else is a sort of shocked state trying to get Leo to stay, but he isn’t having any of it. Leo as a character is very stubborn so scene really showcases that. Leo has clearly also dealing with a LOT guilt and likely PTSD from what happened with Taylor.

“I'm going back to Mission Creek. I don't belong here anymore. I'm quitting the academy.”

I find Leo’s final words and his words beginning of the of scene to provide a bit of insight into Leo’s headspace. Let’s start with “I don’t belong here anymore”. Leo throughout the special has shown he feels like he not an equal with his family while the island stuff has shown Leo positions himself as not just a student(see above arguments). Leo never really belonged anywhere on the fully.

Leo made his own team in the special and I think that was the first time Leo felt he belonged on the island. Leo didn’t have student friends like Bob or Spin. He came to the understanding and respect of Spin. I think Leo puts up with Bob for Adam’s sake. The other students we don’t really see Leo interact with until this special. Leo clearly enjoys and loves spending time with Taylor and Logan. There is Douglas, Donald, and his siblings, but the Davenbros(Donald and Douglas) aren’t always around and the trio is likely busy with classes and stuff. Again, I want to point that Leo is student while his siblings are mentors. Even Leo’s stepdad is a mentor. It can create feelings of not fully belonging. I do want to point out that Tasha, Leo’s mother, isn’t around and I think everyone in the fandom can agree that if Tasha was around on the island then Leo would have had better emotional support.

“Give it[his mission suit] to someone more deserving… it's not your choice. It's mine. Bye, guys. Sorry I let you down.”

I see Leo giving back his mission suit as something very symbolic. In comics, a mission suit/super suit, the costume/suit is often seen something you have worthy to wear and something that is apart the hero’s journey/mission. Think back to Superman getting his suit in basically any origin show/movie/comic/story when he gets the suit it’s the moment where is ready or worthy to start saving the world. When Leo got his suit in the show it was the moment he was finally worthy and ready to join the team on missions. When Leo says “give it some deserving” it’s his guilt saying he is no longer worthy of the suit, going on missions, or being a hero because of he did to Taylor.

Leo goes further later on with this deserving idea with Logan telling him that deserves “better team. Or at least a better leader”. Leo’s guilt is speaking here and sees himself unworthy to a leader. This conversion also ties into the idea presented by Leo earlier when he made the distinction between Chase’s and his mistakes as leaders. Leo is pointing out that Chase is the better and more deserving leader in a way by stating this. Leo even earlier stated he wasn’t “cut out to be a leader”.

One last thing to touch on in this scene in the framing. Look at Leo in relation to everyone else(see image). Throughout the scene, Leo is apart from everyone else. It’s a good way to show just alone Leo must feel. Also, interesting choice to have Leo in red shirt in the scene which is the same as mission outfit(not sure if it has a meaning or not. Just thought it was interesting to point out). Leo being out of his student uniform and standing from the everyone else could also tie into Leo’s line of how he does not “belong here anymore”

Quickly before getting to part two of the special, a few notes on Leo’s worst qualities displayed during part one(I mentioned earlier this and wanted to make I touched on, but couldn’t find place anywhere else). The way Leo gets his team is rather sneaky. Leo knows Donald Davenport isn’t paying attention, so he asks then to ensure he gets what he wants. Leo is quick to inflated ego when Taylor or Logan even slightly build up. He is also somewhat reckless later on with EMP ability. There is a LOT of arrogance in the way Leo behaves in the way he believes that Taylor and him can just control EMP ability and his own leadership skills(not all unfounded though as Leo has many moments of leadership throughout the show).

Moving onto part two of the special, the episode cuts to two weeks later to check in on the character. The first couple scenes during part two of the special shows how Adam, Bree, and Chase come to realize how they were being unfair to Leo due to his departure. I do believe that Leo had to leave the island the island for Adam, Bree, and Chase to realize that how they really treating Leo and how Leo deserved to be treated better.

Side Note: I appreciate how the first couple scenes of the second part deal with the aftermath of Taylor being blinded and Leo leaving. I think a lot of fans watching On The Edge for the first time(didn’t watch the trailer or watched the show on a binge/blind) were surprised/shocked that Leo left at the end of part one. I think that episode taking time to show the characters dealing the emotions and aftermath of part one is a smart move that helps the audience process the information too and helps up some of future events in the special.

The first scene of the episode is a phone call between the bionic trio and Leo. The phone call between the the trio and Leo is just great to show the new status quo that has established on the island during time-skip of two weeks. Leo is still set on not coming back to the island or the team despite the bionic trio trying to convince Leo to come back during the call. I’ve always read this scene as this is not the first time the trio have tried to convince Leo to come back(feel free to read another way). That does run into headcanon territory, but I don’t think it’s that big of a leap to think that the trio on more than occasion tried to get their brother to return to the island.

Note: Tasha is mentioned at least twice in the phone call, but she never appears in the special. I wish she actually did appear since this is the big Leo focused special since Tasha is Leo’s mother and biggest supporter.

Something I find really interesting in the phone conversion is that Chase asks Leo, “when are you coming back?” Chase didn’t ask if he was coming rather when. It’s an interesting choice of words and says a lot about Chase’s line of thinking. I think another interesting comment comes from Bree stating “it's really weird not having you here, Leo”. I said this earlier, but this is longest time the characters have been split up since the the start of the show. Humans are creatures of habit so, it really must be strange to not have Leo around. Leo has been there despite the other changes in their lives(ex: moving to the island, new lab, etc), so it is just strange and new reality for the whole family.

“I feel bad. We should've given him more credit.”

After the call, the trio discuss Leo and the ceremony. I find the way the trio, mostly Bree and Chase, discuss Leo interesting. It’s clear they all feel guilty and realizes that Leo deserved more credit and be at the award ceremony. Bree talks her feelings and how had more credit. Bree got the heart of the issues fairly quickly(I think Bree is pretty good overall when called for at getting to heart of emotional problems). Then Chase jumps in states that Leo deserves the award as much as the rest of the team. I think it was good choice to give Chase this line. Chase at the start of the episode was the one(beside Donald Davenport) most against Leo getting the award with the rest of the team. Chase used the numbers/data to justify the decision rather than the actual merits Leo possesses that would make worthy of the award. Adam jumps in with the joke of cardboard Leo. I wish do we had a line or two more on the emotions in scene before cardboard Leo.

“He deserves to be up there with us at the award ceremony tomorrow.”

I actually think cardboard Leo has a bit more depth than most give it credit for. First off, I think Adam misses having Leo around and the cardboard cut out is a way to have Leo around(sort of). The audience is introduced to the cardboard cut after Chase says Leo deserves to be at the award ceremony, with Adam saying “that's why he's[Leo] gonna be”. I think Adam is trying to do a nice thing here by trying to bring Leo to the ceremony any way he can. Adam even puts the cardboard Leo in a tux and brings into the limo all so he take it into the ceremony. That’s a lot of effort for a piece of cardboard.

“When real Leo watches from home, I want him to feel like he's still an important part of our team.”

There is another side of cardboard Leo that is sort creepy. It is just a piece of cardboard, not the real person of Leo Dooley. It’s also clear that Bree and Chase don’t approve of cardboard Leo whatsoever and don’t want Adam to bring it to the ceremony. Still, everyone in the family lets Adam bring the cardboard cutout in the limo anyways.

“Have you lost your mind? This is not our brother, it's a piece of cardboard.”

The next scene deals with how Taylor is doing with her newfound blindness. Taylor is doing fairly well as she up and about and is good spirits. Taylor even asks if anyone has gotten Leo to come back to island. I actually like that she asks this since it show that Taylor doesn’t hold any grudges against Leo for playing a part in blinding her.

Note: Logan is also in the scene that is checking up on how Taylor since her accident. I really appreciate Logan being in the scene since it shows that Leo isn’t the connective tissue for Taylor and Logan being/staying friends.

I appreciate that the episode doesn’t shy away from the fact that Taylor is now blind, but doesn’t treat that disability as if it is end of the world. There is concept called ableism that basically means bias/prejudice/discrimination against people with disabilities hinging on the idea that people with disabilities are less valuable and have lesser quality of life than nondisabled people (further reading on the subject of ableism). I appreciate that the episode is firmly anti-ableism. Taylor’s quality of life isn’t lessen and she was still valuable to missions/the team. It’s just refreshing to have a piece of media that’s not ableist.

“Have any of you guys spoken to Leo? I was hoping someone convinced him to come back to the academy by now.”

I’d argue Taylor is the one who had to learn that she is still of value to the team. She was the one who thought she couldn’t go on missions anymore thinking . Leo told her that she’d “just be in the way”(episode: On The Edge). Leo counters this convincing Taylor she won’t be in the way telling her she still has a lot to offer and he needs her help. I’ll talk about this conversation between Leo and Taylor later, but I do appreciate it.

On last thing on Taylor being anti-ableism is Taylor on the bridge mission hears a snapping cable on bridge before Leo and Logan and she pushes them both out of the way saving all of their lives. Taylor explains that her senses have increased/improved since she lost her sight which is true to life. People who lose one of their five senses then the other four tend to improve(this fact is sort basis of Daredevil). I like that Taylor has this big moment that shows/proves that Leo is right, Taylor is NOT in the way. I also like that during the bridge mission Taylor is still willing to use the EMP ability despite being the thing that blinded her.

It is rare in media today to have disabled characters not be written with ableist, so I appreciate how Taylor isn’t an ableist character. It’s refreshing and nice to see.

I haven’t said much about indestructible self-driving limo that Douglas, Adam, and Donald Davenport were working on during the first part since it didn’t feel important until now. Adam and Douglas making the limo indestructible was just a fun side-story/b-plot of the first part, but I love how limo comes back in part two as major part of the plot. I know that’s basic writing, but I do appreciate it.

On a plot level, the limo being as high-tech with all the upgrades given to it in part one is the reason why the limo gets stuck on the bridge collapsing in the first place and traps the Davenports(Douglas, Donald, Adam, Bree, and Chase) inside. Since the limo goes into lockdown when an emergency is detected and the tech that makes impossible to get in the limo also makes it impossible to get out.

“I know you quit the team, but your family needs you.”

Before getting to big bridge rescue let’s go over the phone call between Taylor and Leo. I love the fact that Taylor first idea when she sees the mentors are in trouble are to call Leo for help. It shows that she still sees Leo as her leader. Also, a little ironic considering she was S-1 during the Krane thing and seemed to be one of leading solders there.

The phone call starts with Leo asking how Taylor doing which Taylor quickly shuts down. Taylor gets straight to the points stating “there's been a horrible accident with your family's limo”(episode: On The Edge). I like how Leo doesn’t try to say he is retired or doesn’t do mission anymore, he just asks “what? Where” (episode: On The Edge). That reply is just so in character for Leo. Leo doesn’t hesitate to help those he cares about. Examples being Leo going on the particle accelerator mission to save Adam, Bree, and Chase, running head first to Marcus and Dougls’ lair to save Donald and the trio, or bring Douglas to lab to fix Bree’s chip despite Donald not wanting Douglas there.

“Look, you're not gonna be in the way. You've still got a lot to offer, and I need your help”

I really like that Leo assumes that BOTH Taylor and Logan are going on the mission. He doesn’t think that any of Taylor being blind now. This line of thinking leads to a great conversation between Taylor and Leo. Leo in season four has been the character giving pep talks and talking down the bad guy. The conversation between Taylor and Leo here follows that compassion trend for Leo in season four and I want to break down the scene.

When Taylor tells Leo she’s not going, Leo simply asks her for a reason. Taylor thinks/answers that her disability/blindness is the reason she can’t go on the mission because she will just be in the way. Leo in early seasons(especially one and two) was clumsy and tended to make a big mess out things. He even created a lot of his own problems/the problems of the episode. As the series went on, Leo became more competent, less clumsy, and he didn’t make as many problems. Leo even worked his way from a kid wanting to go on missions, be on the team, and have bionic to mission specialist to member of the team with bionics. Leo had setback and missteps, which included going on missions before he was ready. That’s what makes Leo the best person to talk to Taylor here. Leo understand better than anyone that messing up/making mistakes is going to happen, but that doesn’t means to give up.

“Well, the only difference is, I was awesome and you're stuck in mud. Look, I get it. But just like Big D said, focus on your training. Trust me, you'll get there.”

I love that Leo draws on his own experience and asks Taylor “do you have any idea how times I've been in the way on a mission?” It is a sign of growth. Leo isn’t always the most humble person. He does have ego and arrogance, but when it counts Leo is willing to put both of these aside to help someone else. I actually think this is the first time Leo doesn’t try to add a level of ego/arrogance to the statement about his own experiences. For example, looking back at Leo’s pep talk to Spin when he was upset about not being ready for missions Leo starts with level arrogance saying he was awesome to able to go on missions when he was fourteen. Still, Leo does relate, tries to comfort, and give advice to Spin.

“Don't worry. We're gonna make it though this together. All three of us.”

Taylor is not completely convinced by Leo telling her she’s not going to be in way and he needs her help. I like that it takes one last little push from Leo saying it’s all three of them(Leo, Taylor, and Logan) in the mission today that gets Taylor to come. Leo and Logan are from my reading are closest friends at the academy(feel free to disagree with me on that).

“Get them[civilians] off the bridge and set up the triage area. Where's the limo?”

Let’s start looking at the bridge mission which is Leo’s big hero/leadership moment. There is one quick, easy to miss line/moment, at the start of bridge mission scene where Leo gives orders to student(who go mostly unseen since we only see like two or three students and civilians on the bridge) to get the civilians off the bridge. Later on, the special mentions Leo leading the mission so, it’s nice to know that special actually shows it rather than only saying it.

The next few pieces of dialog have Doanld Davenport tell Leo and his team to disable the limo’s computer to turn off car’s lockdown and release the locks. Leo immediately comes up with plan after hearing this information. Leo’s plan is using Leo and Taylor EMP ability with Logan using one of his abilities to guide the EMP to limo’s computer.

Leo’s plan is smart and will get the job done. The problem is that when Leo and the rest of team try to enact this plan, Leo has a flashback to blinding Taylor(see note below on Leo and PTSD). I say a flashback because, the editing uses the footage from when Taylor was hurt. Basically when Leo and Taylor try to use the ability, the camera intensely focuses on Leo, then intensely focused on Taylor. Then camera goes back to Leo. This intense focus on Taylor is mean to be from Leo’s perspective aka Leo looking at Taylor. As the camera intensely focused on Leo, there is a cut to footage from part one from when Taylor was hurt the last Leo and Taylor used their EMP ability. The way this part is edited, it makes the viewer think that the next cut from second shot of Leo will back Taylor in the present. It’s very clever and well-done editing.

Note on Leo having PTSD Headcanon: this flashback scene and the how traumatic of an event blinding Taylor leads a lot fans(myself included) to believe Leo has PTSD from the event. It is important to remember that flashbacks to the traumatic event are a sign of PTSD. I don’t have much to say on this. The writers don’t go into much depth on PTSD or if Leo has it or not. It hasn’t even been confirmed, as far as I know, by the writers/creators on social media or on interviews if Leo has PTSD. The writing and acting supports the ideas that Leo has PTSD. It is still mostly just a headcanon, but I think most fans can agree Leo does have PTSD from that the event of blinding Taylor.

Leo due to this guilt and likely PTSD(see above), can’t go through with using the EMP again. He doesn’t want to hurt Taylor or anyone again. That’s the core of why Leo left the island and being a hero in the first place. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else.

The score in this moment is amazing! I love the way the music has sort uneasy building tension sound(sort of like a train moving down the line) before Leo and Taylor attempt to EMP ability. Once they start, the music takes uneasy dip. The sound effects for ablilies, like lighting sort of sound is mixed in the score(really clever). The music keeps building and building, then it stops. Everything is silent. Leo has pulled back. I think reason why there is uneasy feeling with score in this section is possibly the music used a minor key (don’t quote me on that). The music/score adds a lot to internal conflict going on inside Leo head.

“I can't do this. What if I hurt you again? What if I hurt them[Adam, Bree, Chase, Donald, and Douglas]? I don't wanna ruin anyone else's life.”

I’ve mentioned this easier, but this is one of Tyrel Jackson Williams best acted episode. The way Williams acts this during this interaction is just amazing. You can see the all the uncertainty and anxiety that quickly became guilt and fear after the flashback. The way Leo, not only take his hand away, but pulls his body away says a lot. Leo’s line delivery after pulling back is just amazing. The way he sounds so defeated is so unlike Leo(normally one of the determined characters in the show) but considering everything Leo has been through in the special it’s in character when he says it now. Plus, the way Leo’s voice cracks when he says “what I hurt them”(‘them’ refers to his family in limo) is nice added layer to Tyrel’s deliver.

The acting on Tyrel’s part even shows the conflict of wanting to help his family, but feeling like he all he’s going to do his hurt someone again. Even Leo’s character and writing support this. Every time I rewatch this scene or the special, I wish that Tyrel did more acting after Lab Rats ended. He has real talent for it.

“Leo, you didn't ruin my life. It was an accident. And if I'm not gonna let it stop me from being a bionic hero, why should you? This is it, Leo. This is your chance to prove you're the leader I know you are. So...are you in?”

After Leo’s speech about not wanting hurt anyone, it’s Taylor’s turn to give Leo a pep talk. There is a real beautiful in what Taylor is telling Leo and it’s a nice role reversal. I like how Leo has someone who believes in him(minus Tasha and Logan). You can tell throughout the special, especially here, that Taylor and Leo have come a long way since when they first met and formed a close friendship.

There’s a really great moment of editing where after Taylor asks “if I'm not gonna let it[her blindness] stop me from being a bionic hero, why should you,” then there’s nat/natural rumble sound effect and cut to the limo. I don’t think that edit is to suggest that Leo’s family stopping Leo rather it’s meant to remind Leo/audience what he has to fight for. The look Leo has when looking at limo reads of confusion, worry, and doubt. Leo realizes he could lose his family if messes up and possible hurt Taylor again. It’s all over his face.

The way Leo during the last little half the speech where starts to understand how much Taylor actual believes in him is nice to see. The way Leo’s face start changing from confused, guilty, and worry to determined is great. There is even still a little doubt/worry about hurting Taylor in eyes, but you can tell Leo is truly ready to be back out in the field again. I really like how before Leo says he’s in, he take a quick look at his family. The acting is just so great here.

The next part in scene has Taylor hear a cable snap and pushing everyone out of the way. Another great moment of acting as Taylor explains how she hurt it before everyone else, Leo just gets look of understanding. He is speechless. I think he understood what Taylor meant when she told him “you didn’t ruin my life”.

The next part of bridge scene I want to cover is the Leo and Taylor using the EMP. After Leo and his team get back up after the snapped cable thing, we see Leo acting fully as a leader. He is giving Taylor and Logan orders based off his plan. This time when Leo and Taylor use EMP ability the frame and shot from earlier(when Leo pulled back) are basically the same with more triumphant and heroic sounding music. Leo looks less fearful and has that determination look in his in face. Leo even seems to have some confidence in himself back. There is an air of worry, but Leo is back in action. The way the acting and music are done here is just fanatic.

“Trust me. We got this”

That moment when Leo’s plan work, it feels like real victory. The music support this as well with the music reaching its climax when the doors unlock(which was Leo’s end goal with using EMP).

“I'll get Chase. You guys get everyone else out of here.”

The big part I want talk about is Leo’s rescue of Chase. I know Chase ends up being the damsel in distress(for lack of term) a lot during Lab Rats, but I think it works here. Leo and Chase during part one of special had a big falling out. By having Leo needing personally save Chase as a way mending fences.

I will never gets over how well done the acting, music, and editing is. The way Leo looks so determined and desperate to save his brother. Chase trying to Leo to leave to save himself. Leo unwillingness to just let Chase die. The scene is melodrama and over-dramatics. The scene doesn’t need to have so many shots focusing on Leo’s and Chase’s face and hands, but I think the scene is better for it. You can tell how much these two have gone through the past couple of weeks, all the unsaids, but right now they are focused on trying to save each other. Its desperate and intense scene and, its beautiful.

I see find the two hand reaching out for reach other to some what symbolic of Leo and Chase journey of the special of reaching an understanding/respect. Leo and Chase did have a failing out and here finally appeared to mend that rift. I don’t have much to back this up other than my reading.

Personal story: I remember watching this live back when it first aired and this scene had my heart pounding. The sigh of relief I had when Chase was safe is hard to describe.

After saving Chase gives Leo an apology that was a long time coming. I love that Chase finally admit he should have never doubted Leo. It’s nice to see Chase finally seeing Leo as hero properly and Leo getting to see that Chase sees him that way.

“Leo, you did it. You saved my life. Sorry I ever doubted you.”

What I always loved about what happened next is Leo didn’t really reply to Chase’s apology. He just says “I’m just glad you’re okay”. The relief and joy in Leo’s voice and face says it all. It’s such a simple and lovely reply.

“I'm just glad you're okay.”

There is still a lot both Chase and Leo would probable say to each other about what happened, but I love that in that moment they are just happy that they are both okay. It’s just a beautiful moment. I never get sick of watching it even if it only four lines of dialog. It’s says a lot in very little.

The final parts of the special deal with Leo finally getting the credit he deserves serving as epilogue of sorts for the special. The first scene takes the audience to the award ceremony and we see Adam, Bree, and Chase. It takes a few minutes, but Leo is revealed to standing next to them receive the award along side them.

Note: I forgot to mention the award(sorry).

I think some of the words president uses describes Leo extremely well. The words go as follows the “real way to measure a true hero is by their determination to never give up”. It’s perfect way to describe Leo’s character in the show and in the special. It’s clever that after President says these words, the camera reveals Leo is receiving the award as well.

“Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but the real way to measure a true hero is by their determination to never give up.”

The next scene has Leo finally become a mentor at the academy. When Leo walks out as mentor, it feels like an end to journey. I have come to respect the decision to make Leo a student due to special. It would have been nice to see Leo be a mentor the whole time, but I don’t think it would be as good as season without it. Leo has always been the protagonist of Lab Rats. It’s his story and journey that the show follows. I think by having Leo as a student it allowed the writers to more easily follow the student while also giving Leo something to work for.

Leo always wanted be bionic hero and go on missions. Once the island stuff started, Leo wanted to be mentor. I think the deeper reason for this was that Leo wanted to like his siblings, respected by them, or at least fully apart of their world. The special has Leo finally gain the full respect of his family and the students on the island. The special is final piece in Leo’s four season long journey of becoming a hero. Leo has finally has everything he has ever wanted.

“Not only is Leo back at the island, but because of his bravery and leadership on the bridge mission, I have officially made him a mentor.”

The next couple interactions in the scene of Leo become a mentor just wrap things up. We have Chase telling Leo he’s proud of him and they hug. After seeing Leo and Chase at odds in part one, it is so nice to see them actually liking each other again. At the end of special Chase is the one to hoist Leo on his shoulders and start the whole academy chanting Leo’s name. The final scene here shows how much the who have mended their rift and are truly brother again.

“I didn't think I'd ever go on a mission again, Leo. But you changed all that.”

The next interaction is between Taylor and Leo both thanking each other for helping each each. Taylor thanks for Leo helps getting back out on the field and Leo thanking Taylor for believing him. Leo and Taylor also hug with Logan joining said hug. It’s a great interaction that shows that how deep Leo and Taylor’s friendship is.

“I'm the one who should be thanking you. You showed me I really am a leader.”

The last little moment I want touch on is that Douglas is crying during all of this. I love this. Douglas is the one who originally started training Leo and Leo and Douglas appear to have a strong friendship. It’s small, but sweet interaction.

On The Edge does work in many ways as the finale to Lab Rats. Leo is more or less the protagonist of the show. Leo’s journey is so well wrapped up by the end of these special that in the finale Leo doesn’t have much to do(he has stuff to do, but it’s very minor) I have a lot problems and issues with finale and Elite Force, but I do still love Lab Rats.

I find more and more I come back to the On The Edge special and appreciate all it’s done for Leo. I find the special does a great job handling the characters it focuses on and is honestly the most character focused piece in Lab Rats. Leo is allowed to tell other characters how is feeling. There is a lot time spent with the characters and what they are going through. I honestly love a good character drama(seriously, there is a real why the Titans are my favorite team).

I know there are fan that take issue with On The Edge and some of stuff that happens in it along with Island stuff, but I’ve come to really appreciate it over the years. The special has a job of finishing Leo’s character arch for island and the show in general which it handles incredibly well. There are things to be improved on like more stuff with Adam or Bree or having Tasha in the special. Overall, the special is well acted, well edited, and just has great writing. The special most of keeps in mind it’s main focus of Leo and his journey.

Question: what y’all thoughts on anything I’ve discussed here?

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

I don’t know lol. Man, is that Alien episode such a fun and weird episode? I don’t know why I love it so much! I shouldn’t, but I do.

why is this taking me out

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

Spider Island Episode Treats Leo Horribly

I was rewatching the episode Spider Island and I can’t get over how Adam, Bree, and Chase treated Leo in episode. Leo ditched a field trip to spend the day with his siblings and they all ignore him and don’t want to spend time with him. Leo just looks so happy to be having a day alone with his family. No students, no classes, and no mission. Just his family spending time together. That’s all Leo wants is a day to spend time with Adam, Bree, and Chase. He’s even okay if it’s one of them.

I ditched the field trip, so I could hang out with you guys.

I am extremely introverted, so I understand needing alone time. I understand Bree wanting to read her book alone without anyone else around. Plus, she is with Leo and the others all day. No one more than me understand wanting to be alone, but I also see Leo’s point in wanting to spend real quality time with family.

Adam clearly wants to do whatever by himself and I understand that. It does bother me that Adam pulls a cruel trick(I don’t think Adam was trying to mean though). He comes back after leaving the room riding a two-person bike. The scene/dialog sets up Adam wanting to hang out with Leo, then as Leo starts to hop Adam says he should have been more polite when saying no to hanging out. Again, I don’t think was trying to be mean. It’s just Adam being Adam.

Well, it's nice to see you've come to your senses.

Chase and Douglas blow Leo off to work on project. Leo does what he always does and tries to self-insert himself into the project with Douglas and Chase. There’s this whole scene where Leo is trying to be apart of the project and Douglas and Chase just pretend Leo isn’t there at all.

I can’t help, but feel bad for Leo. He just wants to spend time with family. He went to a LOT of trouble to spend time alone with them to only have everyone ignore him. I’m pretty sure Leo was willing to do whatever with his family. Example: Leo was willing to get on bike with Adam, he asked Bree what she wanted to do, went along with spider experiment, and Leo even tried to go on a errand with Douglas and Chase on the mainland(Chase and Douglas slammed the door in Leo face and ignored him when he tried to ask if he could come). Seriously, Leo just wanted to have one day with his family.

Well, if you guys are gonna blow me off, then I'm gonna play with my new pal Spidey.

Leo was wrong to let the spider out of the cage or try to mess with the spider. It feels like a step back in Leo’s character and bugged me when I first watched the episode(still does). The more I think about what Leo did, I think Leo is just acting out and being a little petty over being ignore. I don’t blame Leo for being upset.

Leo wanting to play with spider was reckless and dangerous, but at the same time it’s very in line for Leo’s character. He wants to part of something, so he inserts himself. He always to mess around with technology that both Davenports(Douglas and Donald) create because he finds it cool and fun. Leo often tries to mess around with things he doesn’t fully understand. It’s all in-line with Leo’s character. Throughout the show, Leo has gotten better, but Spider Island in my opinion feels like a step back for Leo. At the same time, the characterization is somewhat justified with how his family is treating him in the episode(and the other island episodes).

Small headcanon: I think that maybe some part of Leo was hoping some that would go wrong(like things often do), so that his family would have to work together to fix it. Maybe that was the reason Leo forgot to re-lock the spider’s cage.

I can’t help, but feel for Leo. He just wanted a day with his family. It is worth noting that by end of episode, Leo and rest of cast are playing cards together. It’s nice to see that Leo finally get what he wanted from the start of the episode.

You see, this is what I'm talking about. A little family bonding.

Spider Island, as episode, is very funny. It’s one of funniest episodes of set on the island. The cast have some great arguing scenes and fun moments. At this point, the whole cast has working together for awhile and they have great comedic timing together. There is great scene after Adam is bitten by the spider and everyone is gathered around the hurt Adam on the couch. It’s not only funny to see how even now they still pass around the blame(like at this point they are all basically adults), but also seeing the level of concern they have for Adam is heartwarming. The scene is just nice that works both comedically and has the right amount of drama/character.

Spider Island is one of the last true technology gone wrong episodes of Lab Rats. The episode has something one of Davenport brother made gone wrong(usually cause of Leo) then the Leo and bionic trio have to fix the whole mess. This episode format has been with the show since the start. This is one of last episode to only feature the original cast from pre-island days without the students in this kind low-key stakes plot. It is nice breather since a lot of island episodes(season four mostly) is filled with specials/two-parters. There’s a total of six(including the Mighty Med crossover) which takes up roughly 1/13th of the total episodes.

Note: There is Curse of Screaming Skull(features Bob and no other students) and Ultimate Tailgate Challenge(features Tasha, no students, and takes cast off the island).

I do think that Spider Island will never be my favorite episode of Lab Rats. Even after my most recent rewatch, I remember why I don’t watch that episode all that often. Still, I know there are fans who really like the episodes.

Feel free to tell me your thoughts on the episode.

[leo-dooley-lab-rats]

Something interesting I noticed is that all the main villains of Lab Rats(not counting Elite Force or the Mighty Med part universe) are somehow related to Douglas.

Marcus is an android created by Douglas and is basically Adam, Bree, and Chase’s brother/cousin

Victor Krane worked with Douglas. He also founded Douglas’ work after Douglas lost the funds/money from Donald and Davenport Industries.

Sebastian(along with Lexi and Tank. The other two students that helped Sebastian during the rebellion) was a bionic solider created by Krane. Kane never would have been able to create bionic soldiers without Douglas. He was the reason Krane found out about bionics.

S-1/Taylor another bionic solider created by Krane. Again, Krane only knew about bionics because of Douglas.

Giselle Vickers is Douglas ex-girlfriend from college. She later rebuilds Marcus(who was built by Douglas). She wants to use Douglas’ bionic tech to upgrade her robots/androids.

Troy android created by Giselle to get Chase’s super intelligence. The trio’s bionic chips were created by Douglas.

Dr. Gao a science that worked with Krane after the events of “You Posted What?!”. He used Douglas’ research on bionics(that Krane had) to create the liquid bionic thing.

Even Adam, Bree, and Chase themselves go back to Douglas. Douglas is the trio’s biological father and the one who created and gave them their bionics(same with Daniel). He is even the reason that Donald was raising the trio in the first place. Douglas even gave Leo his bionic arm.

There are few things in Lab Rats that don’t tie back to Douglas in some shape or form.

Donald and Tasha’s relationship

The creation of Eddie

Leo discovering the Lab and meeting the Trio(Adam, Bree, and Chase)

Tasha and Leo in general (that includes Grandma Rose/Tasha’s mother)

It’s interesting how Douglas actual impacted the story. Without Douglas, most of Lab Rats as we know it wouldn’t exist.

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Can we all just agree that Tasha is the best mom? She was clearly a single mom before marrying Donald Davenport. From day one she basically adopts Adam, Bree, and Chase. Plus, she is always so concerned about Leo’s safety, well-beings, and happiness. Tasha Davenport is best mom and, deserves all the love in the world.

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I feel like I am the only one who enjoys the Island stuff. It’s far from perfect, but I do enjoy the island stuff. I am actually impressed that writers actually addressed what happened to Krane’s bionic solders. It would have been easier for the writers to pretend that the solders never existed.

I do agree that Leo and Chase are a little over the top during the island stuff. I feel like with Leo you can make the argument it’s extreme form frustration at the situation. I mean everyone in his family(minus his mother and Douglas) were mentors and he almost had room in one of student dorms.

I feel like Leo in the first episode on the island is really on point. That moment where he punches the wall is just a moment of pure frustration. Leo had to watch Spin level up the ranks at the academy a few times in the episode. I’d be upset too and punching the wall is normal thing to do. Granted, I don’t think Leo was trying to cause any damage. Plus, Leo has helped on multiple missions that ended up saving the world and his family.

I’d argue that Donald Davenport is the one who gets pretty over-the-top and somewhat flanderized in the island stuff. Donald loses a lot his more caring side in favor of humor and his ego.

"First Day of Bionic Academy", otherwise known as a complete character sabotage of Leo and Chase.

Seriously, though. Will never understand why they were written as their season one selves, it just feels out of place. It would not have been necessary to the plot for them to be so extremely immature.

Leo being frustrated with his role as a student, realistic. Chase struggling with Sebastian's rejection of his authority and class-clown antics, also realistic. But their reactions are just uncharacteristically over-the-top and childish. What would be consistent with their season one selves, not with who they've become almost three years later.

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Discussion on the Costumes in Lab Rats and Mighty Med

Lab Rats and Elite Force

I will be first to admit, Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo have all same-ish looking mission suits. All the designs all have little difference between them. This trend follows Elite Force.

All different mission suits found in Lab Rats and Elite Force. All the suits(until Elite Force) had the Davenport Industry Logo on it somewhere.

You can see that OG mission suits first seen in the pilot and lasted until the episode Rats on the Train. These suits have little difference between them. Bree’s suit is the only with the most difference between the three suits. The next suit and new ones are pretty much the same outfit(only the belt and armor pieces are removed from the last suit along with different pants). The only differences are found in Bree’s version. In mission suits from season two onwards(first seen in Bionic Showdown), the same pattern is seen.

Bunch of different angles to show the amount detail and effort went into Leo’s suit.

Leo also has pretty unique mission suit(first seen in Rise of Secret Soldiers). He has the hood, one red sleeve where his bionic arm is, the other sleeve is black, and even the glove detailing is different from the rest. Leo’s suit even has some unique paneling on the jacket. Even the back of the suit has some unique details. His suit is the really best out of four. Only complaint I have is that Leo didn’t wear the hood enough.

Note: We won’t look at Donald or Douglas’ mission wear for this post. They do have looks they wears, but it’s either armor or a biker-sort of look. Plus, I want to focus in on the main characters here.

At least the mentor look had jacket piece that worn some of the time. Other than that there isn’t much difference. The students only difference in costumes is the color ranking.

The mentor and student looks on the island are basically just work out clothes that kind of look the same.

Skylar has bit more black in her outfit than Bree. The boys jackets all have different paneling. The shoes are similar(the girls appear to be wearing the same type of heels while the boys have slightly different looking combat boots). Kaz has all black pants. Oliver has blue detailing on the sides of his pants. Chases has blue detailing on the front and back of his pants. The gloves are all pretty similar too. Girls appear to have the same black long-gloves. Kaz and Oliver both have gloves that only cover the up to the wrist. Oliver does have some blue detail on the front of his gloves. Chase has all black gloves that up slightly higher his arm. They five suits all share the Elite Force symbol as sort of belt buckle.

The Elite Force suits, the girls have similar looking suits(Not identical). Bree’s suit looks close to one on Lab Rats. The boys have different shows and jackets that set apart their suits. Some part of pants are different as well. Overall though, the suits feel very same-ish.

Overall, Lab Rats and Elite Force costumes exist in uniformity.

Might Med

Mighty Med, on the other hand, no costume is the same. Just look at the all colorful hero designs found in the show.

This is a group shot of heroes in Mighty Med

Mighty Med takes a lot inspiration from comic books and you can tell from the designs of heroes and villains in the show. If I didn’t know better, you could be forgotten to thinking this is actual photo of a superhero show. The designs feels right out of comics. Even the doctors have interesting and fun designs.

This is just the staff at Might Med.

I am always impressed with how much effort went to the show’s overall look.

Typical shot at the Mighty Med hospital.

The show always put a lot of effort into making the costumes colorful and unique. Not all of the designs work, but there was always some effort behind it. Some of the designs do look a little cheap too, but you can tell they are trying their best.

I think what really bugs me is that Elite Force really didn’t bother to try and keep the designs unique or even colorful. Just look at Skylar in Elite Force V. Mighty Med.

Photo comparing Skylar on Mighty Med and Elite Force

In Mighty Med, Skylar had this biker aesthetic with her main colors being hot pink(don’t know another hero with that as their main color), black, and silver/gray. I love the lightning blot details on her boots that match her logo. Also, the pink streak in her hair is a nice touch. It’s a really good costume and I wish it had carried over to Elite Force.

Elite Force Skylar has more catsuit look to me with blue and black as the main colors. The costume is fine for what it is, but doesn’t really have any details that are unique to Skylar. You tell the designers were going for a Lab Rats looks than Mighty Med one.

Conclusion

Overall, I just missed the designs from Mighty Med on Elite Force. I do like the Lab Rats costumes, but I think the spin-off, Elite Force, should have tried to make the costumes a mix of both shows.