"Chase your dreams, little acorns."
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Let's start with "Acorn Graduation." It's all about that long-awaited first day of Hedgehog's training, met with the expected mix of conflicting emotions from our protagonist. At the very least, though, the deal is sweetened a bit with a letter from Ramona and a little caveat thrown in the mix: a magical punch card that Hedgehog can use to notify Ramona any time Susie gives her grief, which turns out to be... very often, and almost immediately, because she's Susie.
I'll admit that I've always been skeptical of the character in more commanding roles in the series. I feel like it's tough to work with characters like Susie who are powered by their self-absorption and transparent distaste for those around them, and truth be told, all of the episodes where she's been put more towards the front and center—"It's My Party" and "Mr. Softball," most notably—didn't work for me one bit. Her toxicity has always functioned best as either the dissenting voice of reason or the neglected voice of cruel authority, and "Acorn Graduation" really pushes that sometimes. There's an especially difficult stretch where Susie and Hedgehog are butting heads and power-tripping to such an unflattering extent that it becomes hard to really advocate for either character, with Susie being characteristically harsh and dismissive of the training she's putting Hedgehog through, and Hedgehog exploiting her punch card hoping it forces Susie to face hell from Ramona.Luckily, though, all of this works towards something legitimately meaningful. It turns out that Susie's training was actual, legitimate training, but she's failed to frame it as such, and as punishment, she's forced to unravel herself before Hedgehog by telling her the truth of the matter, buried deep down in the recesses of her mind: Susie truly thinks that Hedgehog's an amazing talent, and that she'll make a great witch. It's far from an earth-shattering moment, seguing into a bit of Karate Kid-esque backpedaling to demonstrate that her labors had intent, but that moment of honesty from Susie—a character we've grown accustomed to seeing so little growth in—makes everything come together, and it does so wonderfully.
Oscar continues to prove himself to be a hot commodity this season in "Dungeon Doug," an utterly charming adventure starring him and his father, Andy. It's really been shaping up to be the season of Oscar, and I'm all here for that; there's always been something of an interesting, coming-of-age slant to how his character is utilized and developed through the series (even his role last episode, minor as it was, explored his strive for greater independence), and "Dungeon Doug" follows that up with look at his relationship with his father, or rather his lack thereof.
A lot of its success rests in the relatability of its premise, and especially how compatible it is to someone like Oscar: dads are hard to talk to, even if they mean well. The only thing connecting the two are their mutual appreciation for the fictitious fantasy series Dungeon Doug, their despisal of "Book III: The Plight of the Soggy Guard," and the fact that both of them can't remember the name of the book's titular guard. With this being SCI, though, we get to take that basic concept and filter it through something bursting with creativity. In this case, instead of trying to figure out how to talk to his dad, he scurries to the library to answer the question and ends up literally entering the world of the book... only to encounter his father on the exact same quest. And so their journey begins.The episode could've easily been an awkward game of the two struggling to talk to each other, but it cuts straight to the chase. As the narrative of the plot progresses, more and more of Andy's past unravels itself to convenient effect; among other things, he was on track team in uni and sung in glee club for ten years. To some extent, the episode is all about the slow pouring of information, but the way everything clicks into place as Oscar and Andy work towards answering their question, all while finding themselves digging deeper into the complications of their own quest allows it to feel nice and organic.
It's a fantastic bit of comedic conceit that makes "Dungeon Doug" one of the outright funniest episodes of the show, on top of everything else. Every little beat in the narrative has something great to offer and some new game that's being played to try to figure out the guard's name, whether that means questioning the head of the town's guards—who feels offended by the suggestion he wouldn't know it—or tricking the guard's kids while dressed up as their dad, only to be met with answers of "Daddy," "Father," and "Papa." The fact, too, that it turns out Oscar and Andy traipsing around town was directly responsible for the book's horrible ending was the inspired cherry on top of a fun game of cause and effect.Like "Acorn Graduation," "Dungeon Doug" also sticks the landing, though, with a real sweet moment at the very end: even if, because he's not on the island, he won't remember the events of his and Oscar's journey as clearly as Oscar does, it's stuck with him as a dream, and at last, the two characters have bonded. It's those quiet thrills that make SCI so endearing, even if they don't sound like a ton on paper. I'm still waiting for that moment where the show really aims for the gut, really, but I'll always appreciate the simplicity of the show and the amount of delicate but touching moments of heart it's able to pull out. Here's hoping the season will keep going down that road as we progress, because if so, I think we'll end up in a really special place.
FINAL GRADES:
"Acorn Graduation": B+.
"Dungeon Doug": A.
On Tuesday: Hedgehog and Max hunt down a bathtub, and Oscar and Susie have an unexpected sleepover.
For my review of the last two episodes, "Molar Moles" and "Tortilla Towels," CLICK HERE.
If you like my stuff, be sure to follow me on Twitter @Matt_a_la_mode.
I only can say: NICE
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you
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