Sitting on Shego is the only surefire way to defeat her.
I loved the change in Shego's tone of voice between the these three lines:
Shego: Kim Possible has something that belongs to us! -- Classic EvilKim: Guess what? I don't want it!
Shego: It's on you? What, like ... stuck? -- Confused and even a bit concerned.Drakken: Take her whole nose if you have to
Shego: Works for me! -- The tone of someone who enjoys her job
There is a theory that Drakken never remembering Ron's name is revenge for Ron forgetting his name right after Drakken and Kim both said it. Mind you Kim did the same but he'd already shown beyond all doubt that he knew her name.
"Why not otters?! I wouldn't mind dropping into a tank of
otters! They're fun."
Actually, I'll do a talkback rather than random things in random order.
* * *
Before I do this I should let you know something, I tend to be critical of things I like in part because I think they can take the criticism. I wouldn't like them if they were the sort of thing to collapse under the force of a nit or two being picked.
1 Kim manages to ruin four people's morning in less than three seconds and still ends up late.
2 The cheat codes for
Steel Toe Cyber Slam are geometric shapes in bright colors. While we could say this is the animation not matching the script, I prefer to think that, somehow, yellow triangle overlapping blue circle is the super secret debug code that will let Ron Stoppable defeat the boss of level six.
3 Rufus can program a VCR, in the future no one will know why only that's mildly less impressive than being able to build, launch, attain stable orbit for, and use your own spy satellite.
4 Kim called Rufus a freak.
General note using a specific example:
Sometimes a single line, or even a single word, can make a huge difference. At the beginning of a school day Barkin said he'd see Kim after school. Roll title sequence. Kim is having dinner with her family. Has Kim been to detention yet? It certainly seems like she might have already been and her down mood could be fallout from the experience rather than dread of the detention to come.
If Barkin had said, "Look's like I'll be seeing you after school
tomorrow," then there wouldn't be that problem.
5 Cheerleaders not doing/getting detention is something that will come up, I think, four or five times. It fits the stereotype of cheerleaders being high school royalty, but if Kim is just your basic average girl, and not a stereotype, then she knows that cheerleaders have to be even more cautious of the rules than other kids because as an athlete she has more to lose. Get in trouble too much and she'll be booted from the squad. As the cheer
captain she' probably had to give that lecture to the other cheerleders. The show always had this weird push and pull between playing the stereotypes straight and trying to be in touch with the experiences of real kids. In some ways this episode is Kim getting a reality check, but reality should have checked her a lot earlier and the fact that Bonnie can straight-faced spout the same stuff in front of the entire squad later on makes one wonder how Kim is the only one that reality has checked.
6 I love Kim's mom, and wish she'd been in the series more. We get a lot of James but not so much Ann. We see James' friends from college, his co workers, his work place, his back story, his family, and so forth, Ann only takes center stage when James says that Kim and Ann should spend mother's day together. Yet, even though she gets less screen time, fewer lines, and a lot less development, I love what we do see. She's the one who tries to break down Kim's stereotyping with "Who does
do detention?" and she's the one who gives into Kim going on a mission in South America on a school night by saying, "Ok, but finish your peas first."
7 The point-counterpoint of Kim and Ron regarding the flood rescue that earned the ride is perfect:
Kim:No big; it was just like swim practice
Ron: Except the Middleton High pool doesn't have piranhas.
8 The way Shego takes out the video camera is the opposite of trying to cover her tracks. It's more like leaving a big sign saying, "I was here, it was totally me." It could be to cover up that she took the CD, but . . . Shego's clearly
trying to get noticed.
9 Kim: So you designed a robot tick?
Acari: Precisely.
Ron: Question: Why?
Acari: I . . . have a lot of time on my hands.
And the very next scene with Drakken and Shego too.
The show is completely wonderful when it's a back and forth between played straight intrigue and superhero/villain fare and comedy.
Kim's in full on serious detective mode when she asks about the tick, Ron's comic relief sidekick could fit a straight superhero show, but Acari's answer to "Why?" throws it into comedy. With Drakken and Shego, until Drakken starts singing he's a completely serious menacing villain, but Shego's all snark. So you've got a back and forth between serious and funny that finally sticks the landing in funny with:
Drakken: Who wants to build a robot tick? I do, I do!
Shego: Dr. Drakken, you know you said that out loud, don't you?
When the shows humor worked best, this was how it worked.
10 The time-lapse clock turning out to be a broken clock in normal video speed is such a cheap gag, but it works for me.
11 Kim pre-judging people comes up several times in the show, and it starts here. "It's a meeting of the lifetime losers club," she says even though she's spent less than one session with them and spoken all of four lines to them. Big Mike will later be seen getting along well with Tara and Hope, Vinnie can recognize a gravatomic ray at a glance, an Junior . . . will never do much beyond noting the tiny explosive device attached to Kim's nose later in the episode.
12 I like the Scooby do reference. "Haunted island; keep out 'meddling kids'? Please," complete with air quotes.
13 The moment Ron thinks the lipstick might be fruit flavored he's interested in it. This is the start of a long series of "Ron does not fit into your gender stereotypes" things until it's weirdly dropped for Cupid Effect when you'd expect Ron to be into the girl disguise but instead he's mortified.
14 "Intruder Alert!"
"Can't Hear You! Intruder Alert Too Loud!"
15 I love that this was how the first meeting of Kim, Ron, Drakken, and Shego ended:
16 When the ray guns come out Ron says he'll handle it, steps forward, take a heroic pose and then:
"I got nothing. Kim?"
A lot of other episodes do have Ron doing the work (note who defeated the spinning tops of doom) which is kind of unfortunate given that it's supposed to be a show about Kim the hero and Ron the sidekick, but here at least you've got Kim being the one who can actually get things done and Ron, despite pointless posturing, being fully aware of that.
17 Ron talking about nobody messing with the detentionites and needing to get some of that is the first indication of the bullying we'll see is normal for him in
Mind Games.
18 Barkin thinks naked mole rats are cute. That's so sweet.
19 Ron's scooter starts hideously slow, but when it gets up to speed it can deal with being chased by Barkin and Drakken's hoverpod. Shame we never see it again (the one in
So the Drama was a replacement.)
21 The fight's good; kind of hard to say much about it beyond that.
22 The entire diablo sauce sequence is great especially "Drop the hot sauce and step away from the nose."
23 There's something wrong with the episode basically saying, "You can connect with people you thought beneath you,
if they save your life." Granted
Kim Possible is a comedy and not a holy scripture, but it's also the case that this is Kim's character we're seeing. She accepts the detentionites because Big Mike saved her. Anyone else she looks down on had better save someone she cares about if they want to be treated with basic decency or respect by her (looking at you cousin Larry.)
24 Ron not fitting into gender stereotypes is somewhat normalized by every other boy with a speaking part in the episode being into nail polish. Ron being into nail polish doesn't come up until
So the Drama. So down with gender stereotypes, woo!