[9.3/10] Such a cool episode! I love the idea of doing a sort of Pied Piper story except with rave music instead of...I don’t know...the hippest pipe tunes of the fifteenth century? There’s oodles of style in this one, built around that basic story. The results are tons of fun.
For one thing, I just love the design work here. There’s a lot of scenic beauty in the opening where Jack sleepily trudges through beautiful redwoods into an old European-style town. There’s something truly eye-catching about all the distinctive, funky designs of the different rave kids and their dance cycles. And I particularly enjoy the DJ boss, whose change into a giant, record-spinning, speaker-powered mecha was super cool.
But this is also one of the best pure fight episodes we’ve gotten in a while. There were lots of wide shots durign the rave where they just show Jack in silhouette facing off against the hordes of ravers, which gives you a sense of scale and beauty. His standoff with the glowstick girls was really neat, using the usual trappings of rave cultures as weapons. And his hand-to-hand combat against the DJ had some really creative framing and blocking that made their skirmish exciting.
It’s also just a neat concept. Let’s be real, somebody on that writing staff had a kid who got into raving and was worried about it rotting their brain and turning them bad. But setting the theme aside, it’s just neat to retell that familiar story in a new way. Plus, I am asucker for silly wordplay like an “Aku-stic track.” The music also really helps tell the story here, with the continually shifting techno beats giving this one a flavor from the second the kids arrive.
All-in-all, the story here is fairly basic (and a little schoolmarm-esque), but the sound, visuals, and excitement the show builds around it is masterful.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-02-22T18:19:18Z
[9.3/10] Such a cool episode! I love the idea of doing a sort of Pied Piper story except with rave music instead of...I don’t know...the hippest pipe tunes of the fifteenth century? There’s oodles of style in this one, built around that basic story. The results are tons of fun.
For one thing, I just love the design work here. There’s a lot of scenic beauty in the opening where Jack sleepily trudges through beautiful redwoods into an old European-style town. There’s something truly eye-catching about all the distinctive, funky designs of the different rave kids and their dance cycles. And I particularly enjoy the DJ boss, whose change into a giant, record-spinning, speaker-powered mecha was super cool.
But this is also one of the best pure fight episodes we’ve gotten in a while. There were lots of wide shots durign the rave where they just show Jack in silhouette facing off against the hordes of ravers, which gives you a sense of scale and beauty. His standoff with the glowstick girls was really neat, using the usual trappings of rave cultures as weapons. And his hand-to-hand combat against the DJ had some really creative framing and blocking that made their skirmish exciting.
It’s also just a neat concept. Let’s be real, somebody on that writing staff had a kid who got into raving and was worried about it rotting their brain and turning them bad. But setting the theme aside, it’s just neat to retell that familiar story in a new way. Plus, I am asucker for silly wordplay like an “Aku-stic track.” The music also really helps tell the story here, with the continually shifting techno beats giving this one a flavor from the second the kids arrive.
All-in-all, the story here is fairly basic (and a little schoolmarm-esque), but the sound, visuals, and excitement the show builds around it is masterful.