#this episode gave me childhood trauma back in early 2000s

[yorya1-0]

So, I drew another thing. Xena and Gabrielle after their little trip to Illusia.

[munohlow]

Ok real quick gonna propose an idea for that powerpuff girls reboot:

Don’t

But it if they really must (they shouldn’t!), there’s some better ways I think they could go about it, as well as what I’ve seen floating around (like don’t).

Pretty much all of these are assuming they’ll go the gritty reboot route because that’s pretty popular atm. A dark gritty take on anything is getting a bit tired, I think people are more open to weird and sincere stories, whether they’re adaptations or original. But recently a lot of comics (good comics!) 10+ years old are getting faithful adaptations (good adaptations!) and reviving that early/mid 2000’s taste for “what if Superman, but bastard?”

Aright one route they could go would be like that of Samurai Jack season 5 on Adult Swim. Written and animated by the original team and keeping to its truest nature while maturing it a bit along with the original fan base and maybe have an overarching plotline. The difference being that keeping it like the original ppg would create a stronger contrast with more mature and brutal violence, similar to Invincible’s friendly neighborhood Spider-man vibes and use of graphic violence.

This would be the second best way to adapt besides not doing it at all..... but that would also take more money and might not last beyond a season, ending with a solid conclusion like Samurai Jack did. Plus I’m semi doubtful the original team would be on board to drag out the girls’ story, especially like this.

Addressing the leaked script, a common comparison made was to the Netflix adaptation of The Umbrella Academy. Both are loose adaptations about child superhero siblings coming together after years of being apart, dealing with childhood trauma and their parent’s wrecklessness as adults.

And talking monkey.

Where Umbrella Academy made changes for the sake of depth and character development amidst the sci-fi madness, the CW Powerpuff Girls script attempted to be edgy and gross for the sake of being edgy and gross. They just want to be mature and topical while ignoring everything enjoyable about the original. It also just straight up sucks. I’m no writer but it seems like a lot of people who are writers are pretty pissed about paid professionals pushing this to the point of post-production. Well not post production, it was being filmed, but I enjoy alliteration. That’s also pretty far into development for something this bad, while it was rejected and is being reworked, it still got approved by enough people to shoot a pilot. If the leaked script itself isn’t a marketing ploy, I imagine that’s the real reason it was shut down. CW probably would’ve went through with it, otherwise. Maybe just keep it cancelled, yeah? Yeah.

This idea isn’t mine either but instead of the child star allegory, it could be more interesting to sort of see it carry on from where it left off, as the continued adventures of the powerpuff girls. Similar to the The Venture Bros. (a show I have not watched but know vaguely about, again this is someone else’s thought, I just think it sounds good) the girls can be grown up but start to realize they want to explore their lives and goals as individuals outside of heroism.

This at least appeals to me because you can keep the show’s status quo, keep the characters together, and have them grow into better more interesting characters as opposed to starting with a dour world where everyone is dead or just worse insufferable people. Instead, begin where audiences are comfortable and open to a new interpretation then let the characters realize there’s more to life and explore what kind of people they can become. (Or just don’t do it.)

Also just hear me out, but maybe, possibly? perhaps the professor was a good dad in the original cartoon? And let’s keep that? Let him remain a wholesome father figure? Is that okay? Don’t make this reboot? But if they do, keep him a nice loving parent?

Since this is the CW/ Warner bros who own DC comics, the best case scenario (cancelled) would be to make it more like the MANY SUPERHERO SHOWS THEY ALREADY MAKE. The good ones, anyway. I’m pretty sure the girls have crossed over with some DC characters in the cartoon already, why not make them canon DC characters? Maybe not. Could be cool! Better not, though. But they could still model the show after some of their better shows. Flash, Arrow, Supergirl are all not bad depending who you ask. I just finished Gotham, that was neat. Superman and Lois sounds like it’s pretty good so far. Powerpuff girls would better suit an earnest, straightforward, lighthearted take. Keep the humor, idk maybe up the violence to keep it dark and cool if that’s what people want (we don’t) and have it contrast with family drama like Invincible. All that to say that a darker, comical, well-written, DC-ish superhero thing they should look to for reference should be Doom Patrol.

This show fuckin litty. It’s like the better parts of Legends of Tommorow and Titans put together, as in it’s super weird and dumb but in a way that’s fun and moving. I recently rewatched season one as refresher before getting into season two and dammit if it didn’t get me in my feels amidst the quarantine. It’s about broken people working through their issues and pulling themselves together to help one another. Admittedly, it doesn’t have the best representation of those with disassociative identity disorder, as one character sometimes referred to as “Crazy” Jane has a different superpower with each of her alters. The character is very much a product of the 80’s but the writers of the show do their best to show that Jane respects the alters and their free will. But it also deals with topics of abuse, self-image, trauma, disabilities, homophobia, discrimination, and more in a way that gave me some catharsis while watching after all that’s been going on the past couple of years. Aside from all the comedy and action, it all flows together naturally, which is what you want in any series, not just your gritty superhero show. Doom Patrol is also batshit weird, every episode feels almost self contained/ freak-of-the-week while still following the main overarching plot, and Powerpuff Girls is very much like that, without the bigger plot or mature themes (as it should remain, let it be). Many will find it vaguely similar to The Umbrella Academy because GERARD WAY WAS INSPIRED BY DOOM PATROL TO WRITE THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY. The og comics, not the show, but still.

Also let’s address this

The hell was this about?

Anyway Idk maybe I sound like “Old Man Yells at Cloud,” but this really isn’t the way to go. Don’t do it, CW. Leave it alone, CW. Just don’t do it. We don’t need more sequels and reboot cash grabs, there’s plenty of up and coming writers with good original ideas waiting for their shot. And even with all those new edgy shows and movies, some of which are actually not bad, not everything needs to be so grim. Like sure Teen Titans Go! is a goofy reboot but it’s still just a fun dumb cartoon, it’s not bad, I bet that other ppg show was also just fine. Maybe YOU are “Old Man Yells at Cloud.” But what do I know?

And all THAT to say you should go watch all those other things I mentioned and some old ppg episodes back to back, instead. Don’t fuckin do it, CW

[smartguyreviewed]

1x3 - The Code

Original air date: April 2, 1997

Everyone remember the whole “No Snitching” moment from the early 2000s c/o of Dipset? I remember it being blown up when Cam’ron went on 60 Minutes to let Anderson Cooper know that he would not snitch on his serial killing neighbor next door. Sorry future murder victims, Cam’ron’s consicence lies with the streets!

This is essentially what goes on in this episode, except with no Parental Advisory sticker. The episode begins with Mo and Marcus discussing an upcoming basketball game in the bathroom. Mo begins smoking a cigarette and Marcus clearly disapproves. TJ walks in and is wide-eyed at the thought of someone purposefully doing something that would cause their body harm. When he’s older, he’ll understand. Clink, clink.

The boys leave and TJ is holding the cigarette that Mo just chucked, curious at the little cancer stick. Just as he’s about to toss it, Principal Dowling shows up to bust the culprit. TJ, not wanting to go back to the office and be forced to mingle with more Airheads extras, immediately snitches on Mo. TJ is about to leave when he reminds Dowling of the reason why he came into the men’s bathroom in the first place and she skedaddles, suddenly aware that she just barged into the men’s room and totally could have seen underage peen. 

Meanwhile, across the hall, Marcus is taking a gander at the mural being painted of the Penguins and is not okay with how small his chest looks. Yvette overhears this and walks over to Marcus, telling him that he needs to lift more because he looks like the “Black Gilligan.” 

Mo rushes over and asks about what they’re going to do to TJ since he’s snitched on him for the whole smoking thing. Marcus says he once left TJ in the woods but he located the North star and beat Marcus home. Yep, Marcus abandoned his younger brother once for...reasons. Becuase of TJ’s snitchery, Mo is out of the game. How did he know TJ was the one who gave him up, though? Does Piedmont not have trusted authority figures who can keep secrets when their students desperately need them? No, of course not. They have no IT department and no AP classes, so I guess any promise of confidentiality is out of the window as well. 

Anyhoo, Mo is blaming TJ for his misfortune although Mo shouldn’t have been smoking in the damn bathroom to begin with. He snarls at TJ and says that if he were his age he would have beat the shit out of him. Marcus then explains to TJ what the code is: no snitching. Lester, who will later sexually assault Yvette, but under the pseudonym Ramon, is hovering above TJ while clamoring about how mad he is that someone ratted on Mo. Marcus says he doesn’t know, but if Mo knows who snitched and it got around, shouldn’t he know too? Then again, he does seem a little...odd and that factoid could have gotten lost somewhere. 

He and Mo show up at the Henderson home later to warn Marcus of a planned scoreboard theft. TJ wants to be included, which I honestly have no problem with seeing as Lester is the UBS guy on steroids and would probably fuck everything up, but TJ knows he’s on the outs with the guys. Why even bother to ask? After he gets his feelings hurt, he talks to his pappy, who attempts to get him to open up, but is disappointed to learn TJ is taking this non-snitching doctrine to heart. 

At school, the boys are horrified to learn that their mural has gone from this:

To this:

And while I do commend the amount of time it took Truman to come and do this very elaborate painting, wouldn’t it have been easier to just deface the mural instead?

Dowling warns the boys to not retaliate and they agree until she walks away. Unfortunately, all three of these morons can’t come up with any good revenge plans. Enter TJ, who worms his way back in the clique by bringing up district report card day. He asks the gang, “And what does that mean?” Mo painfully replies, “a whooping?” Ha! Black childhood trauma is funny and relatable. 

TJ’s plan is to lower all of the grades of the best Truman basketball players so that they don’t qualify for the game. Because the Penguins suck so hard that they have to play against other shitty players to even the score. Hey, I guess if you can’t beat them, fight their less competent constituents. 

TJ and the gang meet up at Truman. You already know that somebody is going to fuck something up and blow their cover, but at least it’s fun to watch the mess go down. TJ has a code to open the school’s gate but revels in watching Marcus and Mo attempt to scale the fence. TJ is a petty little asshole. 

After successfully getting into the computer lab, TJ then successfully gives the correct players their terrible grades. Mission accomplished! But then Mo goes and undoes it all by writing about their plan, putting his fucking name on the paper and somehow leaving this note behind during their break-in. Dowling already knows Marcus and Mo are too dumb to have come up with such an elaborate plan. Rather than follow the “code,” they instantly snitch on TJ and give him up as the ringleader. 

Naturally, TJ is confused. How come the code wasn’t applied in this situation? He and Marcus begin saying how they didn’t have choices when their asses were on the line and did what they had to do, just like Henry Hill and Tekashi 6ix9ine. I can’t think of any other famous snitches. Floyd is there to witness the boys duke it out over the code and he gives his Lesson of the Day, that you should speak up when you know something is wrong. 

But TJ can’t just accept that he fucked up and leave it at that. Oh, no! Time to drag a few people down with him, first up being Lester who was in on the plan. Petty, but that makes sense at least because he has proximity to why they’re all there to begin with. Does TJ stop there? Nope! Next up is some kid who cheated on a geometry test. Next is a janitor! Yes, TJ very likely could have gotten some old guy fired from his job for stealing lightbulbs. And last but definitely not least, his sister, who has literally nothing to do with anything that just happened. He outs her for having a fake ID that says she’s 28, and of course, Papa Bear Floyd pounces right on that. Like I said before, TJ is a petty little asshole. This isn’t even the last time he does something shitty to Yvette.

During the end credits, we see everyone, including Yvette, who had literally nothing to do with anything, get their “sentences.” Mo is picking up cigarette butts around school. Marcus gets six weeks of grounding with extra laundry duty and rain gutter detail. TJ gets a month grounding, no snacks, and no recreational education. Yvette is grounded for a month and her fake ID is taken away. Case closed, bring out the dancing lobsters.

Stuff I noticed:

- Yvette’s 90s-does-70s outfit is insane and amazing. Kinda reminds me of Tamera’s outfit in the last episode but better.

- Mo’s dad likes to peep on his neighbor through binoculars at night. 

- TJ outs his sister by saying she has a fake ID listing her age as 28. Essence Atkins was 25 at the time of filming. Close enough!