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Battle Of The Brainteasers
Reviewed: 08/07/2012
Brain Sucking Alien Hats? Honker Finally Growing A Set? GET ALL THIS!!
Well; we have reached the final episode of the Natal Day Marathon and we end it with a really interesting episode as alien hats come to earth (or Quackeria or whatever) to take it over via sucking brain hats. And Honker is taken over as leader. What happens here? So; let's rant on shall we...
The episode is written by Kevin Campbell and Brian Swenlin and story edited by Tad Stones. Kevin's resume is almost all DTVA from Darkwing Duck onward. The exceptions are: Star Wars: Clone Wars, Gormiti: The Lord of Nature Returns, He-Man 2003 edition, Tutenstein, Jackie Chan Adventures, Jumanji, The Savage Dragon, Ace Ventura: The Series and Extreme Ghostbusters. One producer credit, 16 other credits and 32 writing credits. Brian debuted on Darkwing Duck and then did episodes for Archie's Weird Mysteries, Pinky & The Brain, All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Series, Histeria!, X-Men Evolution, Mucha Lucha!, Xialolin Showdown, Zatch Bell!, The Batman, Famous 5: On The Case, and his most recent credit Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. He has29 writing credits and four other credits. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation OZ.
We begin this one with a pan shot of outer space as we see a fireball pinballing off moon and heading to earth. It goes over the bridge and forces farm animals to bail as the moon light turns to sun due to a fireball. We then cut to Honker's house AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as Honker has his telescope out of the window and he is observing the stars. He takes the telescope down the stairs and bumps into a vanilla ice cream eating Tank. Great bump there; but Tank eating vanilla ice cream? Really? A bully is eating a bland looking ice cream when he could be eating chocolate which shows his dark side? Tank is not amused at first; but then starts mocking Honker and spoons ice cream on his glasses and Honker claims that it was an _accident_. Tank of course pretends he didn't hear that one and then dumps the ice cream on the lens of the telescope and walks upstairs. Honker is pretty mad about that as he goes downstairs and tries to explain too Herb about the meteorite; but Herb is too busy watching television and Honker's muddled explanation (OH THE IRONY!) doesn't help him at all. Honker then runs into the kitchen to explain the meteor to Binkie; but she's too busy fixing something and humming to care. She shows off her Hawaiian Cherry Ham Surprise as she hears meteor and confuses it with meat. HAHA! Honker is flustered which now he knows how Drake feels. And speaking of the EVIL ONE...Honker runs out to Drake's house and knocks on the door. Drake answers it and wants Honker to make it quick. Honker tries to tell him about the fireball; and Drake gets inspired as we discover that Drake is playing a video game where fireballs kill Dog Boy. Yeah; even in 1991; they still use the phrase "kills". Honker tries to explain the meteorite; but no dice. And yes; the ice cream is off the lens now as Honker walks upstairs and opens Gosalyn's door (which has a black paper skull and crossbones on it and he get about seven plunger arrows stuck to his body as he falls. HA!
Gosalyn exits the room wearing an umpire guard and army hat claiming that this is her new burglar system. Honker grabs Gosalyn and they go into her room. Honker sets up the telescope and the ice cream returns on the lens with an eye as Honker takes the telescope and shakes it down to get rid of the ice cream. Minor logic break; but annoying as Gosalyn tastes the ice cream and claims Tank is on the war path again. Gosalyn tells Honker to stand up to people and show some guts; which Honker blows off because Tank would show Honker's guts literally. Honker finally sets up the telescope and Gosalyn looks in and we see a telescope shot of a field with shining lights and a hole in the ground. We get a Keen Gear for that one from Gosalyn. Gosalyn deduces that there could be aliens and drags Honker out of the room as we head to a field with a cylinder type space ship is stuck in the ground and it opens it and it reveals...wait for it... alien hats with eyes. The one with the green bowler hat hops on suction cups towards a sheep (and is followed by a blue beret hat and a cowboy hat all with eyes and suction cup legs.) and uses the EYES OF DEATH to cause the sheep to lose all mental functions and then the green bowler hat plops onto the sheep's head and then the sheep acts like a anthro. The cowboy hat alien does the same to another sheep and then we discover that these alien hats can speak English through sheep. We discover on the note exchanging that the green bowler hat alien is Flarg (Rob Paulsen) and the cowboy alien hat is Barada (also Rob Paulsen). I'm guessing that Nikto (Frank Welker) is the blue beret hat alien who took over a wheat stem smoking cow with it's udders clearly exposed for all to see. Oh LA LA! I can sense a huge uprising of Moral Guardians coming at any moment. Or maybe not. Anyhow; the guise of the conversation is that the hat aliens' ship is totaled and they are stuck on a backwater planet. Also Flarg and Nikto switch bodies because Flarg hates being upstaged by the udders of doom.
So Flarg proclaims that they need a way to communicate with his home planet because he needs to squash a bunch of revolutionaries ; but Nikto is more interested in getting his high iron diet started by eating the metal off of a tractor. HAHA! So Flarg slaps him good and Barada also mocks him for being hungry. Then the alien hats hear noises and bail as we see the Thunder Quack flying in the skies. Then it drops like a stone and crashes. HAHA! Flarg's deduction meter needs fixing as the back of the TQ opens up and out comes LP, Gosalyn and Honker wearing really silly stuff and makeshifts guns. Honker is questioning the helmet stuff and Gosalyn insists on it because aliens need to suck on brains and the helmets protect them. Honker gets dropped on his ass as Launchpad tells him not to worry. Because there are no brain sucking aliens in his sector. I'm not going to bother going over the outer space alien speak because it's all B-movie sci-fi stuff that is better left as an exercise to the reader. I'm more interested in brain sucking alien hats anyway as Honker doesn't feel all that happy about LP's skirting of the issue. Flarg takes Launchpad's Delta Q thing seriously and blows off Barada for not informing him. We then cut to Honker with his helmet on as he is giddy to see the space ship while the alien hats hide behind a tractor. Flarg loves the brains of Honker and Nikto wants to know how many stomachs are in Honker. You just knew the cow was infecting Nikto with a mild case of Mad Cow Disease. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ZAP! OUCH! Ummm... Honker scans the ship and LP thinks it's a half box. Gosalyn is so giddy as Honker is having trouble with the makeshift helmet and throws it away just as Flarg sneaks in from behind. Where is Drake Mallard in all this? Still playing his video game or something? Honker turns around and thinks that only a cow is spying on him. Yeah; a cow with a green bowler hat which has yellow eyes. Move along; pay no attention to the hat alien on top of the cow's head.
So Honker gets stoned (the drug way; not the throw stones at him way) and the green alien hat plops on Honker's head as we get a really good closeup of the hat and then we fade to black and return with Launchpad and Gosalyn pulling up the space ship with the LASSO OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE. Ooookkkkaaaay; so whose idea was this? Sadly; they cannot hang down and the ship drops and Gosalyn and Launchpad are forced to bail in the bushes and the thing explodes off-screen. Sadly; Honker was in the direct path of the explosion and Gosalyn's acting here is not all that good. Then the dust clears and we see Honker Flarg climb up and dust himself off. I know this because Flarg the green bowler alien hat is on Honker's head now. Flarg Honk blows off LP for trying to put his hands on him on the hat; but Flarg recoils and proclaims that he's fine. Then we get another explosion off-screen and there is only a piece of metal left which Gosalyn groans about. While Gosalyn and Launchpad look down; we see Flarg Honk grab Barada and Nikto and stuff it into the backpack because they cannot take over them until the helmets come off. So Gosalyn and LP hop down off-screen and Gosalyn grabs the piece of metal and takes it as their only evidence and walk off stage left. Flarg Honk decides to follow them with the hat aliens in Honker's backpack. So we return to Drake's living room as the flipping chairs of doom flip up with Gosalyn and Flarg Honker as Drake is still playing the video game on the sofa on the television. If this were today; it would be either motion control from the television; or he's playing on a mobile device (smart phone, Android device, iPhone, iPad, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U if it's on Off TV mode, etc...). Gosalyn tries to explain the situation and Drake no sells all; even the metal evidence which Flarg Honk blows off. Drake is about to counter; and then we get the bell sound as he just got outspoken. HAHA! IN YOUR FACE DRAKE MALLARD!
Drake wonders when Honker turned into a motor mouth and even Gosalyn is shrugging her shoulders in confusion. Drake blows off the bowler hat which cannot be a smart move on his part. Drake then resumes playing because it's the Whiffle Boy time for Drake to screw up. This was Whiffle Boy's official debut by the way. And Whiffle Boy sits on the character Drake was playing's head again and Drake groans. HAHA! Drake flops on the sofa in dramatic fashion claiming that he got callously crushed by a kid. HAHA! Maybe it's time to stop playing Drake and focus on parenting a little bit more. Flarg Honk seem inspired because Drake signaled Moonbase. Something tells me Flarg is a dumb alien leader which might explain why he's on a "backwater" planet in the first place. So Flarg Honk places Barada behind the couch pillow and Gosalyn decides to leave to go to Honker's house. Drake sulks as he'll stay in the house to be a punching bag for Whiffle Boy. Well; he should be used to that by now since he is usually a punching bag for every heel of this series. So Drake decides to take a nap and squashes Barada. Barada squeezes out and lands on Drake's head as we head to the kitchen of Binkie as she gets some chocolate chip cookies on a silver platter. Gosalyn and Flarg Honk walk in and Binkie asks where Honker has been and Gosalyn talks way too fast. It gets harder and harder to blast new cartoons these days when older cartoons were doing spots like this. Now granted; there are really big problems with some of the new cartoons today (like Fanboy & Chum Chum); but talking way too fast; is the least of their problems. Gosalyn of course takes all but two cookies and shoves them in her mouth. That looks completely out of character for her. I would be more inclined to use Tank for that spot since he has bullying heat with Honker; more so than Gosalyn. Flarg Honker tries a cookie and spits it out; blowing off Binkie in the process. I'm guessing the alien hats can change a person's taste buds too which is a nice touch of detail there.
Falrg Honk throws the cookie down and storms off. Binkie asks about metal and thinks he means iron and thinks Honker is being a health nut. This is actually a great spot because it doesn't make Binkie look bad since Honker is supposed to be a smart kid and smart kids would be more concerned about their health than other kids. It's a nice little touch that I sometimes don't see in this series that it needed badly. So we head to the living room as Herb is fixing the television today. Okay; why does Herb have so much trouble with the television? Maybe it's time for Herb to see what he has been doing up to the point of the television breaking down and stop doing it. Flarg Honk notices a crescent wrench and thinks of it as a snack tray. He takes the wrench and chomps into it as Herb asks for the wrench.. Flarg Honk gives it to him and both kids go upstairs. Herb sees the chomped wrench and claims that it won't fit a 7/16 inch nut. We then go to Flarg Honk and Gosalyn about to open the door to Honker's room and Tank then blocks the doorway and taunts Flarg Honk pulling on his beak. Tank sadly is still stupid when it comes to dealing with aliens (to be fair; this was production #9 on the animation paper; so it's understandable compared to When Aliens Collide) and Flarg Honk blows Tanks off. So Tank invokes the POINTY FINGER OF DEATH and Flarg Honk calls him A devotee of Galvarin Galactic Digit Fighting. So they digit lock up and Flarg Honk does the spin Bowser's tail trick years before Super Mario 64 with just a digit. HAHA! I betcha Mario will be hanging his head in shame when he finds out about this one. Tank goes bumping into the wall and is knocked out cold. Gosalyn is amazed at the guts shown by Flarg Honk as they enter inside Honker's room. Gosalyn wants Flarg Honk to teach her how he does that as Flarg Honk unpacks the backpack containing Nikto and tries to put it on Gosalyn's head; but Gosalyn invokes the ninja moves to counter anyway.
Gosalyn notices Nikto's eyes and realizes that those hats are the alien. Gosalyn backs up to the telescope (which somehow has returned to his house for the first logic break of the episode 11 minutes in) and then takes it and MURDERS Flarg Honk with it complete with well timed philiac symbol. Gosalyn bails out of the room and out of the house. She proceeds to Drake's house and then slams the door beyond her. Then she barricades the door with wooden chairs, a wooden table, the fridge and just to over kill the spot; she even adds the kitchen sink! HAHA! Nice bump by the sink too as Gosalyn wipes her hands clean and thinks she is safe. However; since we are in Drake's house and Barada is in the house too; you can pretty much guess what happens next. Gosalyn gets tapped on the shoulder and she turns around and sees Barada Drake as she hugs him first and then notices the hat and the Rob Paulsen voice. Gosalyn backs away and panics like a cheap stiff animated model and that ends the segment almost 12 minutes in. Oh yeah; this is much, MUCH better than most of the episodes I have ranted on in the past couple of weeks actually. Flarg does not suck. Okay; he does suck; but in a different context than the one I usually use. Wow; and I am not even on the eight paragraph right now of this rant so this has been a really easy one to rant on.
After the commercial break; we see Gosalyn trying to bail while Barada Drake asks what is the matter. Gosalyn states that nothing is the matter and that there is no brain sucking alien here. Sure; it's only just an alien hat that has sucked into Drake's gray matter as Flarg Honk destroys the barrier Gosalyn created with one swift kick. HAHA! I see Flarg Honk has been taught the way of the Cloudkicker kick and so he somehow got out of Eisner's burial tomb. Flarg Honk is pissed off and snorting as Barada gets all sarcastic about it and Flarg blows him off for that. He demands Barada to find the girl because she's on to them as Gosalyn sits down on the flipping chairs and proclaims that no alien hats are taking over HER planet and she slams on the Basil statue and we flip the chairs again. That logically leads us to the bridge and Drake's hideout as we then cut to a sky shot of Launchpad trying to fix the Thunder Quack. I see he's doing it the WildCat way too and then slams the TQ engine shut and wipes his hands clean of this odd behavior. So Gosalyn tackles Launchpad into the wall with a MAN-SIZED bump. Sorry Gosalyn; Kit's MISSILE OF DEATH on Baloo in Plunder and Lightning was much better than this because he took about six MAN-SIZED bumps into the chairs and tables before spiraling and nailing Baloo's belly. Launchpad hits the wall as Gosalyn steals his goggle hat and throws it on the ground and stomps it to death. Paranoia from Gosalyn? Nah; I must be seeing things. Gosalyn checks on LP; and LP is fine as she gives his hat back. Launchpad asks about Gosalyn hatred for LP's fashion sense and Gosalyn explains that she thought the hat was an alien. Gosalyn proclaims that Launchpad will not believe this and we circle fade out...
Spongebob Narrator: 20 minutes later...
...We circle fade in and Launchpad proclaims that he cannot believe this. HAHA! Gosalyn admits that she expected that as we hear voices of Flarg and Barada and both babyfaces bail to the catwalk to see Flarg Honk and Barada Drake walking down the spiral staircase blowing off the hideout; but praising the technology. Barada and Flarg exchange notes some more as Drake killed Whiffle Boy (death reference #2 for the episode) as Launchpad sees nothing wrong with this picture. Yeah; because Honker wearing a bowler hat and Drake wearing a cowboy hat while being Drake the overbearing dad is COMPLETELY normal. I realize that you are an airhead LP; but GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE ENGINE ALREADY! The fumes must be sucking out his brains. Anyhow; we cut to Flarg Honk tapping his foot behind the dressing curtain and Barada finally leaps out as DARKWING...BARADA....DUCK!! Launchpad then gets it because Drake wouldn't be caught dead wearing a hat that clashes with his cape. So Flarg blows him off for looking absurd; and Barada blows him off for being jealous. When earns a threatening blowoff from Flarg of course. I see the alien hat cannot over ride Drake's full of himself function. So Barada shows Flarg Drake's Zorro Hat and Flarg thinks it's an alien hat; which Barada points out is only a husk. Implying that this alien was murdered as Flarg calls the earthlings barbarians; but not cleaning barbarians because that is gimmick infringement according to the GIP office which the gimmick is owned by a guy named Dave. So Flarg wants to get the hell off of this planet as Gosalyn is worried and Launchpad just has to crack a joke about flier miles. Gosalyn taps her foot in response and Launchpad recoils and pets her on the head; saying that he'll find a way to rescue them, or go down trying. That doesn't ensure confidence in me LP; no siree!
So we cut to Flarg Honk and Barada Drake looking at a map on Drake's computer monitor screen as they are looking for a way to transmit a signal and they find their answer on an air force base in Cape Carnaval in Florida. Funny how TaleSpin avoided using American cities for the most part (and no; Don Karnage's punch drunk scene in Ransom Of The Red Chimp does not count). Anyhow; Flarg eats a screwdriver for fun and then out comes Nikto covered in dust and ice cream as Flarg blows him off; so Nikto whips around like a dog and the dust flies into Flarg and he sneezes causing the hat to pop loose and Honker is confused for a moment. Flarg jumps on Honker's head and retains control of Honker's brain before blowing off Nikto as an idiot. Well; he does have a point there because the dust is a weakness according to Gosalyn. Gosalyn bails and returns with a broom and sweeps the floor picking up dust which didn't exist visually and Launchpad gets a sneeze fit (much to Gosalyn's panic) and he falls over the catwalk rail and somehow manages to fall in front of the heels. Logic break #2 for the episode almost 15 minutes in. Flarg demands that Nikto get Launchpad as Barada pulls of Launchpad's goggle cap and Nikto plops on Launchpad's head. Nikto LP then points to Gosalyn on the catwalk; as Gosalyn bails; but Flarg doesn't give a crap. The heel walk to the Thunder Quack and they take the elevator down with the TQ because Flarg wants to phone home and murder some revolutionaries from Gurlest as the Thunder Quack flies away from the bridge and we head to the desert near the air force base as the Thunder Quack lands without incident. Okay; that makes no sense because if Nikto has control of Launchpad; you would think that his fatalism would be amplified. The heels all get out as an army Jeep with a female MP driving it and it's the same one we saw in Tiff of The Titans! I don't like her chances against these alien hats considering that she got steamed by FOWL two rants ago.
So Flarg taunts her to arrest him and then uses the KNOCK THEM DEAD STARE OF DEATH and the female MP drops down and is dead. I know this because as you will see with her and the other soldiers; there is no breathing sounds or heart beat sounds. And there eyes are open; although the pupils are still there which could be an indication that they are alive; but that's silly. So the heels jump into the jeep and speed off into the air force base. We then cut to the Thunder Quack and out comes Gosalyn from the side. She must have bailed into the TQ before take off somewhere during the elevator sequence. Gosalyn knocks on MP and it doesn't respond at all. Gosalyn calls this harder than she thought as we cut to inside the base near the door as Gosalyn opens the door and there are more soldiers propped up and looking dead. See anime purists; you don't need to be gruesome to kill someone; sometimes frying a brain works wonders. Gosalyn looks around and then hides because Nikto LP walks into the main base room eating a metal something that looks like a Cuban exploding cigar. Nikto is blown off by Flarg for eating and demands to see the object. Nikto gives it to him and Flarg calls it a an electro-magnetic lock for a plasmotic fission bomb. Flarg demands to know where he found it and Nikto claims it was down the hall. So Flarg demands that he show him and we open the door of doom and the heels are in awe because there are hundreds of missiles and rockets inside this room. Flarg is so giddy about this technology that he actually takes back what he said about Earth. Because now he's going to use the missiles and backup from the home planet to not only crush the Gurlest revolutionaries; he's going to take over planet Earth as part of his empire. Gosalyn gasps in horror and that ends the segment almost 17 minutes in. Great episode so far...
After the commercial break; we head to a studio like area as Barada is adjusting the video camera while Flarg Honk is in the spotlight and in front of the camera checking his paper notes. Flarg then proclaims that it's showtime as the red light on the camera is on and we cut to a television set of Pelligan on the beach slipping on a banana peel and fall flat on his back. Cue heat machine; no one cares about that spot anymore; even more so now that Mythbusters has basically debunked this cartoon spot. Then the television goes funny and Herb is not happy about that. Then we cut to a shot of the Muddlefoots watching with Herb and they notice Honker is on the television set. We then cut to Flarg Honker reading a prepared statement. Flarg the Terrible is the Grand High Potentate of a thousand planets in the Delphonic Nebula. Try saying that three times fast; and your brain doesn't fry then you win the booty prize. Flarg Honk basically has a gift for earth which is world domination and if they refuse; they will destroy the planet with their own nuclear weapons. And people are suddenly surprised when I didn't take Huey Duck's world domination plans seriously in Heavy Dental? Herb is loving this moment; no doubt thinking that a "Pellican Vs. The Aliens" movie is in the works. I think Flarg would consider that; sadly, it will be Pellican's last moments on television and I'm not just talking about the character. Binkie proclaims that Honker used to be so shy and thus Tank is forced to give Honker the bigger bedroom. If Flarg ever heard this; I don't know what he would say or do. Tank whines about this and I say; sod off Tank, bow to Honker J. Muddlefoot and LIKE IT!
So we see Gosalyn under the grate under the underbelly panel of the computer as she goes through the grate as she pulls the wires from underneath to slow them down. Flarg gives the governments of the world 15 minutes to surrender and then the television signal goes dead again. Herb and Binkie don't seem to care because their son has grown a set. And that set is dangerously growing by the minute. We cut back to the studio as Flarg notices the television screen is off and accuses Nikto of the munchies again. Nikto shakes his head and Barada notices Gosalyn from the grate. Gosalyn bails stage right as Flarg tells Nikto to atomize a few cities while he goes after Gosalyn personally. So Flarg leaves as Nikto goes to the control panel; pushes a button and we cut to outside as missiles rise from the ground. So we head to the mess hall as Gosalyn pops out of the grate and tries to bail; but Flarg blocks the exit. Flarg states that this is pointless because even if she escapes; she'll get vaporized. Gosalyn doesn't care as she rolls up her sleeves and proclaims that she can take Honker in a fight. Flarg mocks Gosalyn and Gosalyn tackles Flarg Honk down to the ground. Gosalyn then gets the ONE FINGER PUNCH OF DEATH and knocks Gosalyn backwards about 20 feet or so. HA! IN YOUR FACE BS&P! Flarg Honk then invokes the ONE DIGIT CHOP OF DEATH and cuts a table in half. See what happens when you hate the Japanese you bigots?! Gosalyn is outmatched; or would be if Flarg Honk didn't chop a table with a pepper shaker on it which Gosalyn grabs. I think we know where this is go eh? Gosalyn has EVIL INTENTIONS as she opens up the shaker and throws it above Flarg and the pepper overwhelms Flarg and Flarg the green bowler alien hat sneezes and pops off Honker's head and suction cups right into the wall. HAHA! Flarg drops to the floor and bails stage left as Gosalyn goes over to console Honker. Honker feels horrified for what he did and called it worse than Tank.
Good for Honker to take responsibility for himself as we cut back to the control room as Barada Drake and Nikto LP enjoy themselves at the super computer as Barada claims that Flarg is going to miss the missile launch as Nikto claims that Flarg would not like that. Barada decides on a nice colony destruction spree after Earth is destroyed as Flarg hops in; but gets squashed into the doors by Gosalyn and Honker. Gosalyn wants Honker to invoke the PEPPER BOMB OF DEATH; but Honker cannot get the lid off the thing. Honker wants backup with the pepper shakers; but sadly, Flarg has found Gosalyn as the new host and Honker is forced to bail stage left as Flarg Gos blows him off calling him a wimp and laughing at him. Honker teases leaving to get help; but then stops and turns around because it's time to show some guts. Now that's the Honker I love and this is the Honker I want to see a lot more of too. So we cut back to the control room as Honker stammers completely on the whole promo and has his pepper bomb in his hands. Flarg Gos blows off Honker because Gos has backbone and is better. Honker shrugs it off and throws a can of pepper to Nikto as Nikto grabs it. HAHA! This is Oscar Vandersnoot level of heroism; only without blowing up a wall. BS&P rules right? Right?! So Nikto discovers that it's aluminum and bites into it much to the panic of Flarg and the pepper flies all around. If you cannot guess what happens next; you know... They all sneeze and the hat alien fly into the air and Honker grabs the backpack and places them all inside and seals the backpack up. Drake is surprised as we get the alarms and everyone runs out as we see the missile being launched (four of them) into the air and we will never know where they landed because the YELLOW BEAM OF DOOM vaporized them completely. Then the GANG OF GAG is in awe as a rocket ship the shape of a coat rack touches down on the landing strip. Now this is an awesome finishing sequence! Nothing in this series can top it...
...well; I should know better. But seriously; this is great. Anyhow; the platform spits out as the door opens and we see a crown alien and two MP hat aliens as Drake brings out the Gas Gun to make the hats suck gas; but Honker barges in and grabs the crown and puts it on his head much to the panic of Drake. Honker is now talking as Klaatu2; who is the leader of Gurlest Revolutionaries (Rob Paulsen). Okay; I get it, they cannot speak at all without hosts. Klaatu2 (which sounds like an Internet Username and was probably inspired as such during the AOL heydays) explains that they'll take the hat aliens Flarg, Barada and Nikto to their home planet to stand trial for various galaxy offenses and thanks Drake and company for finding them. Drake shrugs it off as nothing and Gosalyn gleefully counters that one for me. The coat rack space suit flies into the air out of sight as Gosalyn talks to Honker as she thinks they will spread the word because aliens who threaten the world will have to deal with Honker Muddlefoot; Alien Stunt Kicker. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I betcha Kit Cloudkicker is taken aback of this; because I know Honker is right now; albeit for a different reason. Honker sneezes on cue and then blushes as we head to the kitchen of the Muddlefoots as Herb isn't too thrilled about the failed world domination plan; but Binkie tells her to learn from his mistakes as Honker tries to take a doughnut from the plate; and Tank steals it and mocks Honker. Honker sulks; and then gets EVIL INTENTIONS as he points with a sound effect and Tank suddenly sells it like the most panicky wimp ever and Tank breaks through the door and runs away out of sight. TOTAL MARKUP CITY FOR THAT MOMENT! Honker points again and that ends the episode at 21:09. Maybe one of the best episodes I have ever seen in Darkwing Duck; and it shows because Flarg and company are going to return during the 1992 run. Just an awesome episode from start to finish and Honker really earned his crew cut here which makes the future episodes ever more creditable. ***** (100%).
THE REVIEW LINE
I really love this episode a lot because it finally gave Honker his just due; in Oscar Vandersnoot like fashion. This episode had it all: A great story; some really funny moments; only two minor logic breaks, almost perfect animation, Honker being the hero in the end and taking accountability for himself as a person both for allowing Flarg to poison him and in redeeming itself. And the last five minutes of this episode was TaleSpin-equse because Honker got the character development he so needed to propel himself beyond just another cartoon duck kid (like the nephews when they downgraded themselves in the Bubba/Gizmo era of Ducktales). Now I can actually cheer for Honker without looking stupid and the ending was so fitting that it make Tank wet his pants; if he had any. Just a wonderful episode to watch and the first perfect episode since Time & Punishment I do believe. I cannot wait for A Brush With Oblivion, and the Brainteaser sequel which runs during the second season of ABC episodes in 1992. Speaking of A Brush With Oblivion; it's in the middle of the final three episodes of Season 1 which I will rant on next weekend; including Going Nowhere Fast and The Merchant of Menace to close out the first ABC season. So....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time!