#they completely ruined buttercup’s personality in the reboot!

[gch1995]

OMG! I’m watching the 2016 PPG reboot on reboot to make fun of its awfulness by comparing it to the far superior OG cartoon from 98’-05 version, and I just got finished watching the atrocious episode “Musclecup.” I know the girls are supposed to be very precocious for kindergarteners-first graders, and I know that Buttercup is the “toughest fighter.” However, I still am in awe at the sheer stupidity of the writers of this episode, who thought it would be a “genius” idea to write a storyline in which Buttercup, a super-powered little girl in the first grade, actually gets addicted to steroids because she wants to bulk up her muscles!

First of all, Buttercup is a child, so this storyline feels gross and unnecessary, even if she is the “toughest fighter?”

Secondly, it doesn’t even make any sense as to why Buttercup thinks she needs to bulk up her muscles to a beef-cake level since she was born with superhuman strength that easily allows her to overpower the average person, anyway.

Thirdly, it’s annoying that Blossom and Bubbles are yet again rendered to be completely helpless and ineffectual by the writers together against one villain together without Buttercup, the brash and brawny tomboy, there to swoop in and save them. I know I’ve complained about Buttercup occasionally getting the short end of the stick when she had centrics the OG cartoon in which she was either getting into trouble, getting punished, getting double standards, and/or suffering exceedingly and/or unfairly with the world getting turned against her, sometimes to the point of needlessly mean-spirited overkill of character derailment for either her and/or other characters in the episode she cared about. Yeah, the writers not knowing how to write Buttercup centrics where she was framed in a positive light, being treated fairly, and/or granted the same individual compassion and emotional support of her loved ones that she normally had otherwise, and that her sisters were granted individually in their centrics when they were in the wrong or feeling down, was an occasionally recurring flaw in the writing on an overall great show that started showing up sometime in her centrics in S2.

However, in the 2016 reboot, the writers seemed to have overcorrected the writing flaw of Buttercup’s occasional designated butt-monkey status in the OG cartoon by turning her into the main character Mary Sue of the show, who gets the most centrics, and who does all the saving by herself without the other two girls most of the time. In the reboot, this now has created a new problem of diminishing Blossom’s and Bubbles’ individual strengths and relevance in the story.

Not to mention the fact that reboot!Buttercup’s personality is pretty shitty. In the OG cartoon, she was generally portrayed as a jerk with a heart of gold. Here in the reboot, she’s been flanderdized into an openly arrogant, crude, exceedingly aggressive, disrespectful, loud-mouthed, mean-spirited, obnoxious, petty, nonchalant, and selfish brat. She disrespects Ms. Keane and mocks her when she’s teaching a grammar lesson to be a class clown in “Painbow.” In “Professor-Proofed” she gets her dad hurt by causing him to lose focus, sneeze, and get hurt when he’s working in his lab with a dangerous chemical by peppering her pancakes right in front of him, then doesn’t ever apologize to him for it, and even ends the episode doing it again with an evil smirk on her face right in front of him, causing him to get hurt all over again after sneezing when the pepper goes up his nose. She tries to steal one of Bubbles pigtails in an attempt to catch a crawdad in “ClawDad,” and didn’t apologize. In “Little Octi-Lost,” she steals Octi from Bubbles in the dead of night when they are all asleep to “teach her a lesson” for being so into it, which isn’t a good reason at all, then realizes she wants to go play with Octi herself, takes him to a state fair, and then tries to cover it up when she loses him, rather than tell the truth. In the episode “Man Up” she violently blows up in an aggressive rage, recklessly destroys an entire state fair, and accidentally gives Bubbles a black eye all because a villain calls her “princess,” and she hates being called that. The moral of the episode was supposed to be learning to temper her aggression, but unlike in the OG Buttercup centric, “Makes Zen To Me,” the lesson doesn’t actually end up sticking with Buttercup at all, and she ends the episode reverting back to being an overly aggressive and obnoxious jerk because “status quo is comedy gold.”

Granted, out of the three girls in the OG cartoon, Buttercup did have the greatest tendency to be the most aggressive fighter with the greatest instigator and rebel tendencies, and she had some ooc instances of suddenly being a very uncharacteristically greedy, sadistic, and remorseless jerk than usual to fit certain contrived plots in bad episodes, such as “Moral Decay,” though almost everyone in the fandom despises that segment the most of the OG series and pretends it never happened because it was such ridiculously out of character and mean-spirited derailing writing for both Buttercup and her entire family in order to turn her into the villain and punish her harshly in ways that didn’t feel fair or make any sense.

However, generally, og Buttercup genuinely did have the heart of a hero and love her family more than anything. While she did have trouble apologizing to Elmer for teasing him in “Paste Makes Waste,” she genuinely did still feel bad about it, even if she had some trouble apologizing for it, and she did learn to swallow her pride and do it at the end. She and Blossom tended to argue a lot because they both were very stubborn people, who had trouble making compromises, and admitting to it when they were wrong, and she liked to mess with Bubbles the most. However, she generally hated seeing either of her sisters getting hurt, and she was always quick to defend them in battles against threats. She generally felt bad about hurting her sisters, and apologized all the time.

Buttercup occasionally got irritated when the Professor became a doting, sentimental, and overprotective Dad™️ with her and/or her sisters in the OG cartoon in episodes like “Uh Oh, Dynamo,” “Mr. Mojo’s Rising,” “PowerProf.,” and “Oops I Did It Again,” especially because she didn’t like to be doted on. She got in trouble with the Professor more than her sisters, partially because she was genuinely caught being disobedient, making bad choices, or instigating fights with her sisters by him more often than they were, but also partly because the writers dealt her an unfair hand in the world in her centrics since they liked turning her into the designated butt monkey when she got in trouble in them in a couple of instances, such as “Moral Decay” and “Down ‘n’ Dirty.” However, even at her worst and most OOC, she would never have tried to deliberately hurt her dad for shits and giggles like she did in reboot episode “Professor-Proofed.” She and her sisters also never would have deliberately sabotaged one of the Professor’s romances for their own benefit because they wanted him to be happy in the OG cartoon.

Fourthly, I know he’s not in the episode, but if the girls are this irresponsible and stupid in the reboot, then why would Professor Utonium ever think to trust them to stay at home alone, while he goes to work for the day? Oh, right...It’s because he’s also been reduced to an idiotic, incompetent, irresponsible, neglectful, reckless, and selfish parent 9 out of ten times in the reboot, who has little to no knowledge of how to actually be a good parent at all, and usually only appears to make things worse whenever he does appear anyway by being a cliche and mostly unfunny bumbling bad sitcom dad. In the OG cartoon, it’s different because the girls are mature enough to handle staying by themselves for a few hours, even while he’s out at work, though he got babysitters for them when he was out at night to be safe, but in this reboot version, the girls shouldn’t be trusted to stay at home alone by him.

Finally, that’s the other issue in the reboot. All of the adults are morons who have no common sense most of the time. The writers really expect me to believe that an adult would be totally okay with giving a little girl steroids without any thought to just how gross and unethical that is? Yeah, I know it’s a cartoon, and even in the OG cartoon, the city of Townsville were complete idiots at times to fit certain plots, but I don’t believe any of them would actually ever be stupid and unethical enough to give steroids to a little girl with superpowers to help her bulk up her muscles, especially not without warning her first about how it could be dangerous.

[glapplebloom]

You see so much negativity about this show, let’s do something positive.

Original Art used before was by AJthePPGfan

The Catalyst

So I was watching Shadow Streak’s review on Save the Date when I notice a comment being upset that the girls are being constantly saved. I said that its only noticeable because the original focused on more action and had more episodes. If you count, you would probably see the girls being saved around the same amount of time. So I did via a speadsheet. This article was going to focus mostly on this before, but then the next review “Can’t Buy Love” happened.

One of Shadow Streak’s biggest complaint is that he doesn’t like the fact a six year old is having romantic feelings when they shouldn’t. I posted that they did show Buttercup give the Professor “something” for his date with the disguised Sedusa. For most people its likely a breath mint but I bet for others its a little more adult. And not mentioned in the comment is when the original had the confirmed 6 year old Buttercup crushing on a guy and said young adult taking advantage of her feelings. Don’t worry, its more about taking over Townsville.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike the show (Donny for example) but I would like the dislike being because of your taste and proper reasons. So while I could sit here and debunk others reasons (at least the ones that can be debunked), I think it would be better to see something more positive. So here are 10 things I like in the Reboot that would have made the original much better.

1 - Buttercup and the Derbytantes

Its no secret Buttercup is my favorite Powerpuff. And looking at the reboot it seems like Buttercup is the favorite there as well since if episodes aren’t focused on her she is doing something to advance the story. And outside some minor changes (like her wanting to make cash being an extension from her Tooth Knocking Out Business from the original), she hasn’t seen significant changes. But a positive to her and the others to a lesser extent is that they have friends beyond one episode or each other.

All thee of them got Barry, Blossom has Jared Shapiro (who is hit and miss) and Bubbles had Donny (who is a constant miss). But I’m making this about the Derbytantes for two reasons: 1- they’re less awful than the two previously. 2- they show Buttercup having interest outside her sisters. She has a group of friends who gets her. Who accepts her even if she is a Math Genius. And who share in her kind of fun her sisters wouldn’t. It makes Buttercup more than just the Tough one of the group.

2 - Blossom

In the original, Blossom was the least interesting to me. She was basically just the leader with your typical “I’m the leader so you should listen to me” attitude when Buttercup wants to go in. You know how many episodes focused on Blossom in the original? Four: ice powers, her stealing clubs, her hair getting ruined and suddenly losing and gaining confidence. Great for action scenes but as a character it makes her really one note.

In the Reboot, they gave her more to do. With Jared it shows she has a crush and how she deals with it. Her ego gets more explored as she has to handle not being in the right or being as good as she thinks she is. And even outside the 12 episodes focused on her, she has a lot more interactions with her sisters that makes them seem like sisters. One of my favorite moments is how Blossom suddenly acts like Rambo when the Daisy Robot takes over the house. To me, Blossom is a much more interesting character in the Reboot than the Original.

3 - Bubbles

While the Reboot feels like it favors Buttercup, the Queen of the Powerpuffs is Bubbles. When it comes to episodes focused on her, she’s the most in both the Reboot and the Original. Even the final episode of the original was a Bubbles focused one. While the Reboot does make her more airheady than the original at times, there’s one addition they made that not only is a great addition in my book but also perfectly extends to her character: her being a programmer.

From the original we know two important things: she’s creative and she knows other languages. Coding is basically another language and you know programmers can do amazing things. The concept of Easter Eggs was born because a programmer wanted to add something and said thing turned out to be a brilliant addition to prove their program was stolen. This is a perfect fit for Bubbles to show that you can be smart in your own way than to just give this to Blossom because she’s the generic smart one.

4 - The Professor

Him being more like the dumb fathers in animation is a justified complaint about the show. I feel its because he became a butt monkey in the end of the original series (having his voice stolen with the blessing of the Girls, acting like a child when they could fly instead of using his buggy, danced pants) and they decided to play it up more here. But there are moments I feel this Professor is a better father than the original.

There are two episodes focused on the Professor learning about the subject his girls are interested in so he can enjoy it alongside them. There’s an episode of a creation he made for the sole purpose of making sure they can’t guilt trip him into allowing them to stay up all night. And my personal favorite, being so angry he single handedly drove down to Townhall as Blossom is mind controlled because she disobeyed her. Even to the point that he won’t even let the other girls out of the car despite being thrown around. It just shows a lot more love than the original.

5 - The Fashionistas

The strongest aspect of the original are the villains. They are arguably the best part of the original. But sadly besides Morbucks they don’t have a strong female villain that can be put on the same pedestal as the likes of Mojo Jojo and HIM. Sedusa is so one note she usually loses to other people besides the Powerpuff Girls. For the reboot, their new villains don’t have the same spark as the old with one exception: the Fashionistas.

Consisting of the Bikini Sisters, Bianca and Barbarus, these two have a clear theme, unique plans and great personalities that can bounce off each other or other characters. Like feel free to hate the Bridezilla episode but I really loved that Bianca’s reason to break up the marriage was because she felt she would be left alone since Barbarus was the Popular one, the Funny one and the Attractive one. Its a nice dynamic that I think would have been great for the original.

6 - Silico

Despite having the most questionable reason since the show does a bad job telling us things like time, Silico is a good take for a villain that hasn’t been done in the original. Instead of being created alongside them, being jealous of them, or just simply being evil, Silico is a villain because of their actions. Since they destroyed his friends, even by complete accident, he’s going to destroy them.

This also was their attempt at an ongoing storyline in a similar vein as Steven Universe or Gravity Falls: have episodes be episodic and self contained but have clues or moments that would lead up to a later episode. Granted, not the best of said attempts but it is an honest effort to try.

7 - Episodes

Its easy to point out Bad episodes and say they’re not as good as the original, but I think people underestimate those moments when the Reboot not only has a good episode but knocks it out of the park. I could highlight these good episodes and compare them to the original’s bad ones but that is not a fair assessment. But what I will do is highlight three episodes that I feel not only are the Reboot’s best episodes but also up there with the best of the original.

Home, Sweet Homesick: the episode where Blossom discovers that you shouldn’t grow up too fast and enjoy your time as a kid. Bubbles the Blue: you can feel sad and that’s okay. And finally the Octi-Father: the rage you see in Bubblevicious sharpened as a knife and even more dangerous. All without actually throwing a punch. That’s how you know you’re intimidating.

8 - More of HIM

One of the biggest flaws of the remake is the lack of using the other villains. Outside HIM, Morbucks and Mojo, the most the others get is an episode of the Amoeba Boys working for Silico and the Gangreen Gang hustling. And while I do enjoy Mojo and Morbucks in the Remake, I know others don’t. But one you have to agree got a major push in a good way is HIM. This series really shows him living up to his one line: “Why destroy when you can torture with tooth decay” The Reboot also explains somethings weird from the original.

Remember the White Lie monster? How he seemingly came from nowhere and just as fast suddenly gone? The Reboot has a Secret Swapper Monster who was defeated in the same way: confessing. But the major difference is we know the Secret Swapper came from HIM, explaining why it suddenly came to be. This series shows how he can be just as devious as the devil people think he is.

9 - Concepts

Its easy to remake something: just update the graphics and fix the problems here and there. But it is hit and miss when you add something to make it a reboot. We’ve seen hits in Ducktales Reboot and we’ve seen fails in both Thundercats reboots. But while some of the ideas the Reboot of Powerpuff Girls presented are misses, there are some good ideas.

Silico I mentioned above. A 4th Powerpuff Girl as a result of a previous attempt at creating the Perfect Little Girl not working out is another interesting concept. Mojo creating a Robot that can match the girls in ways the Rowdyruff Boys couldn’t. Morbucks possibly being turned good. These are very interesting concepts. The Reboot not making it work doesn’t mean these ideas couldn’t been more successful under better hands. 

Honorable Mention - Lego

Love Lego. Love Powerpuff Girls. Match made in Heaven. Just got to get Morbucks and Mojo.

10 - Inspiration

The one thing you have to give credit to the Reboot is that it inspired people to make stuff about it. Granted, a lot of it being stuff more in favor of the original but there are some great pieces out there about the old meeting the new. Some even highlighting how the Powerpuff Girls has changed over the years. 

You got new, younger fans being introduced to these girls and soon wanting more discovering the originals. You have old fans revisiting the originals to show others how much better these were.You got a reviewer in Shadow Streak looking into each episode of the reboot to give them a fair shot. And be honest, the Powerpuff Girls wouldn’t be discussed as much as it is today if it wasn’t for the reboot.

And that’s my list. I know its easy to dislike the Reboot, but I hope this list helps you understand why it has fans. And hopefully it’ll help you appreciate this when the Live Action Movie of the PPG comes...

[smokeybrandreviews]

In Bad Faith

Several things have come out about projects in the works and i hate them so much. I'm not  person who holds things sacred or cries about “muh childhood” seriously, but there are some things that should just be left lone. There re some reboots or remakes or reimaginings that are just bad ideas, man.

Why is there a Power Puff Girls live action CW series being developed? Who asked for this? Who is this for? Apparently, the pitch is to age the girls into their early twenties and make them resentful for having to fight crime their entire childhoods. I imagine they'll have a strained relationship with Professor Utonium, rebel with inconsistent romances, and have all of the “young adult drama” that the CW is known for. Look, this is a bad pitch, man. It completely ignores the core aspect of the PPG. They are legitimate fight mongers. They enjoy fighting, stopping crime is an afterthought. That's why the show was funny. The juxtaposition of darling little girls, made our of literal sugar and spice, beating the dog-sh*t out of mutant chimpanzees, gun-toting hillbillies, and an effeminate Satan, is the joke. More than that, the logistics of this show would be staggering. It easily needs the largest budget the CW can offer and, even then, it would probably look super cheap. Their crown jewel is The Flash and that show's aesthetic is absolute trash. That's what PPG will end up looking like, that level of production. I don't need Buttercup f*cking cheaply Riverdale'd. We already have one dookie-ass reboot that misses the point for the sake of the children, we don't need another one missing the point to cash in on angsty teens. This sh*t just smacks of creative desperation.

Why is Blumhouse remaking The Thing? John Carpenter's version is a f*cking classic and one of the few remakes that is better than the original. Do we need another adaptation of this flick? We already have two. At least re-adapt the book and make it your own. Please. I don't need another one of my favorite films, bastardized for dollars. Look what happened to the Alien franchise when cats saw dollar signs. That Robocop remake was so goddamn soulless and disappointing, man. I wept at the end. I can only imagine the cost cutting measures Blumhouse will take to make this film profitable. I mean, they make those budgets stretch, sure, but this thing is going to be laden with a ton of CG effects in lieu of practical master craft. At that point, what is the point? We saw what the prequel did with computers and that had a proper dollars behind it. I'd keep an open mind but the benchmark is just so high, you know? I don't see how the Blumhouse formula can make a great The Thing film. They're just too cheap.

Hasbro has decided to cut ties with Toei. That means no more Super Sentai, which means no more Power Rangers as we know them currently. Hasbro apparently wants to make all that sh*t in-house. I imagine they think they can do a better job because reasons? I mean, the level of arrogance these f*ckers have thinking they can do a better show than the company that has been dong it for decades is staggering. I'll admit, the sh*t they've done with the comics is pretty dope, I love Lord Drakkon, but that praise belongs to IDW not Hasbro. Those story lines were developed with a reverence for the source material and the-chopped-and-screwed US remakes. I doubt the suits have that level of understanding for the franchise. Zords aren't Transformers. They are fundamentally different than the Gestalts. I'm not confident at all that the cats in corporate have the creativity to develop new versions of Rangers year in and year out, especially considering they want to time travel back to the 90s in this new movie they're trying to develop. They're literally reversing progress. Sh*t real whack son.

And as if this Toei announcement isn't enough of Hasbro f*cking up enough, Transformer 7 has been green lit. I don't know if those means it's the rumored Optimus Prime solo that would be set in the universe Bumblebee established, sh*t's a reboot, but the president of Hasbro has gone on record saying he's a fan of Bayformers. The fact that the dude in the big chair thinks those are good Transformers movies has me wildly concerned. I don't need more Michael Bay shenanigans f*cking up my favorite franchise. It's bad enough these motherf*ckers are using Transformers as a backdoor to establish f*cking Rom the Space Knight, I don't need a continuation of that sh*tty, McGuffin heavy, baby's-first-screenplay ass, “storytelling.” Who the f*ck cares about Rom the Space Knight anyway? Who even know what a Rom is? That thing is no one's favorite anything!

I hate 2020 so much, man. It's just ruining everything. Nothing is safe. We lost Kobe. We lost T'Challa. There is a literal plague. Theaters are going extinct. F*cking Murder Hornets exist in the US now. Locust are swarming crops someplace. Dual hurricanes have simultaneously hit the shores. There are fire tornadoes in California. Someone believes a live action adaption of adult Power Puff girls is a good idea. These truly are the end times.

[smokeybrand]

In Bad Faith

Several things have come out about projects in the works and i hate them so much. I'm not  person who holds things sacred or cries about “muh childhood” seriously, but there are some things that should just be left lone. There re some reboots or remakes or reimaginings that are just bad ideas, man.

Why is there a Power Puff Girls live action CW series being developed? Who asked for this? Who is this for? Apparently, the pitch is to age the girls into their early twenties and make them resentful for having to fight crime their entire childhoods. I imagine they'll have a strained relationship with Professor Utonium, rebel with inconsistent romances, and have all of the “young adult drama” that the CW is known for. Look, this is a bad pitch, man. It completely ignores the core aspect of the PPG. They are legitimate fight mongers. They enjoy fighting, stopping crime is an afterthought. That's why the show was funny. The juxtaposition of darling little girls, made our of literal sugar and spice, beating the dog-sh*t out of mutant chimpanzees, gun-toting hillbillies, and an effeminate Satan, is the joke. More than that, the logistics of this show would be staggering. It easily needs the largest budget the CW can offer and, even then, it would probably look super cheap. Their crown jewel is The Flash and that show's aesthetic is absolute trash. That's what PPG will end up looking like, that level of production. I don't need Buttercup f*cking cheaply Riverdale'd. We already have one dookie-ass reboot that misses the point for the sake of the children, we don't need another one missing the point to cash in on angsty teens. This sh*t just smacks of creative desperation.

Why is Blumhouse remaking The Thing? John Carpenter's version is a f*cking classic and one of the few remakes that is better than the original. Do we need another adaptation of this flick? We already have two. At least re-adapt the book and make it your own. Please. I don't need another one of my favorite films, bastardized for dollars. Look what happened to the Alien franchise when cats saw dollar signs. That Robocop remake was so goddamn soulless and disappointing, man. I wept at the end. I can only imagine the cost cutting measures Blumhouse will take to make this film profitable. I mean, they make those budgets stretch, sure, but this thing is going to be laden with a ton of CG effects in lieu of practical master craft. At that point, what is the point? We saw what the prequel did with computers and that had a proper dollars behind it. I'd keep an open mind but the benchmark is just so high, you know? I don't see how the Blumhouse formula can make a great The Thing film. They're just too cheap.

Hasbro has decided to cut ties with Toei. That means no more Super Sentai, which means no more Power Rangers as we know them currently. Hasbro apparently wants to make all that sh*t in-house. I imagine they think they can do a better job because reasons? I mean, the level of arrogance these f*ckers have thinking they can do a better show than the company that has been dong it for decades is staggering. I'll admit, the sh*t they've done with the comics is pretty dope, I love Lord Drakkon, but that praise belongs to IDW not Hasbro. Those story lines were developed with a reverence for the source material and the-chopped-and-screwed US remakes. I doubt the suits have that level of understanding for the franchise. Zords aren't Transformers. They are fundamentally different than the Gestalts. I'm not confident at all that the cats in corporate have the creativity to develop new versions of Rangers year in and year out, especially considering they want to time travel back to the 90s in this new movie they're trying to develop. They're literally reversing progress. Sh*t real whack son.

And as if this Toei announcement isn't enough of Hasbro f*cking up enough, Transformer 7 has been green lit. I don't know if those means it's the rumored Optimus Prime solo that would be set in the universe Bumblebee established, sh*t's a reboot, but the president of Hasbro has gone on record saying he's a fan of Bayformers. The fact that the dude in the big chair thinks those are good Transformers movies has me wildly concerned. I don't need more Michael Bay shenanigans f*cking up my favorite franchise. It's bad enough these motherf*ckers are using Transformers as a backdoor to establish f*cking Rom the Space Knight, I don't need a continuation of that sh*tty, McGuffin heavy, baby's-first-screenplay ass, “storytelling.” Who the f*ck cares about Rom the Space Knight anyway? Who even know what a Rom is? That thing is no one's favorite anything!

I hate 2020 so much, man. It's just ruining everything. Nothing is safe. We lost Kobe. We lost T'Challa. There is a literal plague. Theaters are going extinct. F*cking Murder Hornets exist in the US now. Locust are swarming crops someplace. Dual hurricanes have simultaneously hit the shores. There are fire tornadoes in California. Someone believes a live action adaption of adult Power Puff girls is a good idea. These truly are the end times.

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Bridezilla”

Written by: Haley Mancini

Written & Storyboarded by: Jaydeep Hasrajani, Leticia Abreu Silva

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

Oh no, they say she’s got to go!

The episode starts with the Powerpuff Girls opening an invitation for the Utonium Family. Not the Powerpuff Family, the Utonium Family. Even the people who wrote the invitations don't agree with what you think your last name is, Blossom. Maybe it's a retcon, and we never have to hear "Blossom Powerpuff" again. Wishful thinking.

I'm also glad to see the Bikini part of their name hasn’t been retconned by how often they call them “The Fashionistas”. Speaking of which, that jail sentence at the end of Monkey Love must have been pretty short lived; it's not even mentioned in this episode despite clearly being a sequel. Townsville's jail must have a revolving door, just like Gotham City's.

Blossom: BYOB. Bring your own...bananas?

One minute in, and we’re already far closer to "Monkey Love" than the actual Monkey Love.

Blossom and Buttercup immediately think something is going on. Not because of anything in the letter, but because they’re villains. Bubbles, on the other hand, thinks it’s just going to be a normal wedding, and accuses Blossom of judging a villain by its cover. Blossom picks up a book that says “Always Evil: A Memoir”.

Mojo Jojo shows up, smashing through a door for no reason other than to give Blossom and Buttercup a reason to not trust him. He calls for the Professor in a threatening way...to stay with him at a bachelor party! It even has a catchphrase: "Don't Lose The Mojo"! Yeah, he already did since his first appearance, and only got slightly better over time.

After the Professor leaves with his former lab assistant turned evil chimp, Bianca Bikini shows up, also smashing through a window for no reason other than to give Blossom and Buttercup a reason to not trust her. A reason they won't even use.

Buttercup: Ugh, does anyone know how to use a door?

This could have been a better gag if the Powerpuff Girls were still bashing through walls. If they didn't want to make them hypocrites, they could even reference it as a reason why they don’t do it anymore. I would rather them break through walls, since even this reboot's theme song says they do, but an explanation would be better than nothing.

Bianca is here to tell the Puffs that if the wedding happens, Townsville will go "ta-ta". Blossom and Buttercup do question trusting her after all she did to them, even referencing the brainwashing in Fashion Forward, but they believe her anyway. Because VILLAINY! Bubbles is the voice of reason in this episode, Blossom and Buttercup don't even get unique roles.

UNDERCOVER OPERATION!

They go undercover as non-discriminate gal pals at Barbarus’s bachelorette party. They tell Barbarus that Reboot Jojo told them her butt smells. This completely backfires, as she takes it as a compliment, because apes. Bubbles and a group of people from previous episodes, such as the inept camera girl from Bubbles of the Opera and Zeitgeist from Road Trippin’, go aww over this moment.

UNDERCOVER OPERATION!

After that failure, they go undercover as non-discriminate guy pals at Reboot Jojo’s bachelor party.

Reboot Jojo: And his monologues would go on and on!

Must be talking about his more competent and funnier brother, Mojo Jojo. They try to do the same thing they did to Barbarus. I did mention the whole "two characters, one role" problem, but there is one subtle difference: while Buttercup was able to do the butt line on the spot, Blossom needs index cards to be mean. Good touch.

Blossom: Barbarus told you you're unfunny, unclassy, a weak villain...

Love it when Blossom does my work for me. Unfortunately, she also does a butt-related comparison, which makes him really happy. Bubbles and a group of people from previous episodes, such as the monster-for-hire from Princess Buttercup and the talking zebra from Tiara Trouble, go aww over this moment.

UNDERCOVER OPERATION!

No, it's done, random voiceover guy. Where is the Narrator, anyway? At least this season is consistent with his non-appearances.

Blossom and Buttercup go back to their drawing board, showing that they tried everything to stop this wedding. They tried fabricating lies, photoshopping jealousy by putting a picture of Barbarus's head on what looks like someone going on a date with Fuzzy Lumpkins, and anti-Barbarus campaigns that look suspiciously like anti-Obama stickers. I'll just let that unfortunate implication speak for itself.

Before we can think about that too hard, Bianca shows up to tell Blossom and Buttercup that they're going to do something evil at the wedding. Just from that, Blossom and Buttercup assume there's a bomb in the lasagna at the wedding. Bubbles tries to be the voice of reason, but Blossomcup trusts the person that tried to drown them in tye-dye and already left.

And so the wedding begins to be ruined, starting off with Blossom and Buttercup beating up the bride and groom and asking where the bomb is. At least I can say they’re not being weak this time, as they easily trash the party. The same two people that were able to hold down Bubbles and Buttercup like they were weaklings in the last episode. I guess it just takes evil.

Being the voice of reason in this, Bubbles tries her, but failing. One scene in particular has Blossom and Buttercup throwing out the cake to find the bomb. Bubbles desperately tries to catch the cake, and succeeds, but it gets hit by the Wedding Hippo. Bubbles questions the existence of a Wedding Hippo, and that’s all anyone is going to get. Random!

One thing I will say: they seem to do a far better job at making this a monkey wedding rather than a generic couple wedding. Not necessarily the villain part, but the ape part. This is shown when they eye laser the presents, and a bunch of bananas come out of them. At least it's something!

Blossom and Buttercup declare that the day is saved, as the wedding is now in ruins. Reboot Jojo tells them that, no really, he just wanted to have a normal wedding. Possibly to defer blame, Blossom and Buttercup blurt out that Bianca told them all about their plans. Bianca gets angry, but Barbarus gets even angrier knowing that Bianca caused this misunderstanding to happen. Barbarus growls Bianca's face off. Literally.

It was probably less freaky in the storyboard.

This anger turns into outright rage, with Barbarus even hulking up slightly, and she starts chasing after Bianca and rampaging through the city. She picks up taco trucks. The Powerpuff Girls try their best to save Bianca. Because they're superheroes, they can't just kill people, right?

We even get the classic “people carrying glass across the street gag“, where Bubbles smacks right into it. Bianca was easily able to break glass in the opening. Sad to see that aspect continuing from the last episode.

The Powerpuff Girls struggle to keep Barbarus from ripping apart Bianca, showing her determination to “get” Bianca and showing the writers lack of determination to give any truth to the “girl power” tagline put on this show. Well, Barbarus is a woman, so I guess it would technically still be true.

The Powerpuff Girls aren’t just, but they also want to give her a chance to say sorry. They beg her to say sorry, but Bianca just tells them to stay out of this. The Powerpuff Girls decide to follow that advice, and let the dress go. Jeez, Reboot Puffs, I thought this was the lighter and softer reboot; they're actually going to let a giant angry gorilla maul Bianca to death.

Nah, of course not. At the very last second, she finally says sorry. This immediately causes Barbarus to turn back to normal. It was a good thing the Powerpuff Girls knew this was going to happen! Bianca explains her motives: ever since Barbarus started dating Reboot Jojo, they haven't been together. This doesn't really fit with the last episode, which had Bianca join in on every date, but that's par for the course for this show.

They hug each other and make up, Bianca finally accepting Barbarus's love. This sisterly bonding is so sweet, that not only does Bubbles goes aww over it, Buttercup starts crying over it. I do like the line she says to cover it up, she's just allergic to sad things. A minor like. It’s almost like a drama version of the fistbump joke, but I don’t see it as bad. Maybe it’s because this it’s a very rare occurrence in this show.

For the record, before they can say “I do”, they get into an argument and never actually get to it. It’s left open on whether or not this negates the wedding. There is one line I really like, coming from the hateable-in-this-episode Blossom of all people.

Blossom: Maybe this is why you shouldn't get engaged after two dates.

It's almost as if it was making fun of how sudden the relationship was. The episode ends with Jojo threatening to destroy the city, justifying Blossom and Buttercup's prejudice, and the Powerpuff Girls beating up Reboot Jojo in an off-screen fight. It seems like they can only show violence when it’s bad.

Does the title fit?

The bride rampages through the city, just like a certain giant monster.

How does it stack up?

I like how the Bianca plot was wrapped up. Even the Barbarus x Jojo relationship, which I didn't agree with, seemed to be played for humor more than the last episode. Sure, the ending seems like a way to reverse everything back to the status quo, but I didn't want to see it happen anyway.

I can see how people could hate this episode, and it's all on Blossom and Buttercup. While their cruelty isn't rewarded like in certain episodes of the original, it's not exactly punished either. Then again, Reboot Jojo is supposed to be their most notorious villain, and Barbarus isn't much better. I just didn't feel like it was as forced as this relationship was to me. Your mileage may vary.

I can see how people would hate this episode, but I found it alright. I would give this a high Neutral, but I've been giving those out like candy on Halloween lately for episodes worse than this one, so I'll be nice here.

Next, the big one. I'll wait until the episode airs to tell you my plans for that one.

← Monkey Love ☆ Power of Four (Parts 1-2) →

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - Home, Sweet Homesick

Written by: Haley Mancini, Jake Goldman

Written and Storyboarded by: Alicia Chan

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

I'd make a joke about how I'm sick of something here, but I don't think it would fit.

This episode starts with a bad guy committing a crime, and the Powerpuff Girls coming in to save the day. Seems like an ordinary Powerpuff Girls episode if such a beginning wasn't so rare in this reboot. In this case, it's Reboot Jojo robbing the bank on his hover-scooter, causing some property damage along the way.

Of course, the Powerpuff Girls come in and beat him up. Surprisingly, not only does this scene exist, not only does it not have any hit flashes, but he's lying in a bruised state in the end of it! Sure, some of the hits look like Jojo is selling it too early, but baby steps.

The Professor smoothly drives his car where this carnage is taking place, and tells the girls it’s almost time for a two week stay at Camp Big Dipper. Buttercup shrugs, calling it a nerd camp. The nerdy little red smart person that apparently isn't as good at coding or math than her sisters, on the other hand, is super excited! To her, it's going to be a huge academic institution, with all of the greatest minds of tomorrow! Maybe there's even going to be some pop quizzes!

They do this entire conversation while they’re still punching Reboot Jojo to the ground, his body a lightly bruised mess. Reboot Jojo doesn’t seem to mind too much; it's just a normal day for him. He even takes the time to call the camp a "super nerd camp" after Blossom explains what it is. This doesn’t end well for him, as I'm sure she'll call him a bad monkey.

Or she could break his hand, complete with a bone cracking sound! This whole scene seems to exist only to show that, indeed, this is a show about kindergarten first grader school-without-grader superheroines who fight crime. The rest of the episode doesn't really do that, and with all the Monster Punch Girls Down and Superheroine In Distress situations, that's not necessary bad.

After Blossom makes Rorschach proud, and a terrible impression of an opera singer singing "SPACE CAMP", the Professor and the Puffs arrive at Camp Big Dipper. The Professor won't be going with them, much to the chagrin of Bubbles, who practically turns into a demon demanding he'd come with them. They throw away this joke pretty much immediately, for this episode’s benefit, as Buttercup carries Bubbles out of the scene. The Professor tells the girls that they can call or text him any time.

While Bubbles is still sad from the previous scene and has to be carried by a bored Buttercup who thinks this is all "lame", Blossom can’t wait to check out everything in this space camp! She hopes it's going to be full of learning and advanced rocket science, inspired by her idol of the week, Dr. Wendy Q. Dallen. Last name and a middle initial. I don't know if she's supposed to be a reference to anything.

Unfortunately for Blossom, and only Blossom, the attractions are all fun fare for the kiddies: a jumpy house with a moon theme, a bumper car ride where the cars are shaped like Mars rovers, and a petting zoo with animals that are made to look like aliens. There's even an attraction that just involves a guy in a spacesuit with a sign that says "kick the moon man". The show itself takes it time to point out how rediculous this is.

Bubbles and Buttercup immediately start liking camp now that it's not as much of a nerd camp as Blossom made it out to be. Blossom isn't liking it, and wants to talk to the camp director about how everyone is goofing off.

Camp Director Joey: Did someone say GOOFING OFF?!

Because the show hasn't established enough that this space camp is lame to Blossom, we get Joey, a jokey camp director voiced by Robbie "Cousin Oliver" Rist. At least, I think; the credits only credit him as an additional voice, but they don't say who voiced him. He looks like a cross between David Bowie and Donny the Hell-Horn. More like the latter than the former. Outside of one scene in particular, when this guy is on screen, you want him off. Even Bubbles and Buttercup realizes this eventually, so it's probably intentional.

Blossom literally gets thrown into the audience of a laser light show with this guy talking about how everyone is ready to have lots of moon fun! The reboot goes out of its way to do the most predictable joke they can do with that, though sparing us the actual butt. Blossom booes him asking for real science, and Joey outright asks who's booing him. Bubbles and Buttercup try to save face by saying she meant boo-yah. Yeah, I'm sure that's what I mean when I boo this show.

At night, we see Blossom sitting on the porch of the cabin they're going to stay in, sad that everyone is having fun but she'd rather not have fun. She decides to text the Professor about how everyone is having fun but she'd rather not have fun. Unfortunately, there's no good cell phone reception at the camp, ruining both of Professor Utonium's suggestions.

A week passes by, and Blossom has done nothing but read her Dr. Wendy Q. Dallen book. They really put a lot of importance on that name, because she's the reason why Blossom looked forward to this place. It's not another co-worker insert as far as I can tell, which is a shock. Bubbles and Buttercup show up with glitter crafts and garbage crafts, respectively, and Buttercup tells Blossom that she should just have fun.

Camp Director Joey: Did someone say FUN?!

Did someone say running gag? He talks about a big carnival, but Blossom is not interested. That sounds like too much fun. She wonders why Dr. Wendy Q. Dallen would even want to be associated with this place with its fun and games.

Blossom wanders around to find a locked road to an abandoned rocket museum. She opens the doors, and she finally finds things that she's interested in: models of rockets! She even finds a life-size scale Apollo rocket model. She can go inside it like a real rocket! It even has all the buttons like a real rocket! It's just like a real rocket!

Blossom decides, in this lifelike simulation, to press the buttons to launch a rocket. Blossom even outright talks to herself about how she read about Apollo rockets, so people don't need to ask how a 6 year old knows how to launch one.

It turns out, this isn't a fake rocket, it's an actual rocket donated by NASA. She is instantly strapped in, and gets to experience 3gs of force as the rocket escapes the Earth's atmosphere. I guess nobody was really interested in that rocket museum. One would think someone would say "what does this button dooo?" and cause the camp to get sued for launching someone's kid into space.

The other kids see this rocket launch, and just see it as something cool. They even get the parts of the rocket that fall off raining on them later in the episode, and nobody wanted to investigate.

Blossom initally loves seeing the sights of space, until seconds later, when she realizes it's just so lonely out there.

She looks out the window of the rocket, and she starts hallucinating a Space Joey. Just like in that classic movie, RocketMan, Blossom is clearly going nuts from the isolation. Soon, she'll be making paintings using the ketchup and mustard on the ceiling. Nah, I'm just kidding.

Being the David Bowie-like person that he is, Space Joey starts to sing a song. Of course, it's a parody of the David Bowie's Space Oddity, right down to starting with "can you hear me, Captain Bloss?" To be honest...it's really good. I am not kidding, this is one of the few legitimately good moments this show has brought me.

We have scenes of Blossom slowly flying around in the lonely rocket. We have some good singing from Space Joey; it helps that Robbie Rist is also a musician. We even have Space Bubbles and Space Buttercup show up to tell her the fun they're having back on Earth. Hopefully this reboot can give us more of this in the future.

The screen shows an old video, not triggered by anything but plot convienence, showing Dr. Wendy Q. Dallen at the same space camp in her younger years. Blossom sees that it's always been a fun camp, and that it inspired her to further her advancements in astronomy. This reinterates the message of this episode: there's a time for learning, and a time for fun. This is actually the same lesson Painbow had, and this episode can't be further in both content and quality.

With the song and video, Blossom finally realizes the lesson of the episodes, and decides to go home. She flies the rocket back to Earth.

Blossom is reunited, who reveal that they missed her so much, they read her Dr. Wendy Q. Dallen book. Joey shows up again, apparently not worried at all that a kid just wandered into an abandoned place and went into a rocket that just flew into space. It's a good thing she was able to survive in a vaccuum, even if she never needed that ability! Buttercup tells him not to ruin the moment.

The episode ends with a pan to the stars, with some shooting stars. Hopefully they're wishing there's no monster attacks while they're at camp. Considering how rare that seems to be, it's likely they don't need to make those wishes. Maybe they should wish for more episodes like this.

Does the title fit?

Not really. Bubbles is initially homesick because the Professor isn’t coming with her, but that’s as close as that title gets. Blossom is more sick of the camp not being as “scientifically accurate” as she thought it was. There was a moment where Blossom looked at a picture of the Professor and her with sad eyes, but that’s as close as we get.

The TV Guide description is a flat out lie, too; Blossom never worries about her schoolwork in this episode.

How does it stack up?

This episode has an actual good song number, and a good use of a lesson that was done extremely poorly before.

The only issue is that it's not really a episode that requires superheroes. As said before, it's not a big issue. A lot of the worst aspects about this reboot revolves around the show's premise. The one scene that does follow that premise is practically unneeded in the episode, but may have been needed when it comes to the reboot as a whole.

I was originally going to give up on this series after the Season 1 finale, but I decided to keep going. I decided to keep going because, well, it wasn’t right to stop at People Pleaser. There’s two kinds of episodes that don’t make me regret that decision: awesomely bad episodes like Snow Month that give me lots of material to work with, and episodes that are surprisingly decent. Yes, they exist, and this is one of them.

Next week, the show will take a look back to the past...and probably not learn anything.

← Buttercup vs. Math ☆ Memory Lane of Pain →