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Chocolate Chips
Reviewed: 09/13/2008
Okay; I'm declaring this series NUTS!
When you come up with episode names based on food products; you know someone went CUCKOO for CUCKOO Cola if you catch my drift. So; let's rant on shall we...?!
This episode is written by Tad Stones and Dev Ross (!!). The story was edited by Bryce Malek and supervised by Tad Stones. There's the first episode for Dev right there in her career. The animation was done by Wangs Films/Cuckoo's Nest Studios which is only the third episode not done by WD-Japan.
We begin this one in the jungle as we pan over to a tour guide bus driving down a dirt road looking at macaws and toucans. The guide looks like another stereotypical Mexican wearing a red scarf that Kit will probably steal after this episode is over. The Guy Ladouce guys get a little too excited with the camera as we get the Amazon Tree Sloth...And apparently; so does Gadget as we pan up to the Rescue Rangers minus Dale sitting on with the luggage as Chip is sitting behind a backpack with...say it with me...Chocolate Chips! HAHA! Okay; it's really a chocolate bar; but it's close enough to pay off the title joke. Chip does the Gruffi pose to annoy me as Gadget plays with the camera because Chip should open his eyes to different cultures see. The monkey's head gets frizzled on the camera shot as it's eyes are open and Monty points out the obvious. Of course Gadget is using a xenon super charge flash bulb and I'm SHOCKED NO ONE has died yet from it. Monty calls the sun bright and the camera blinding which allows Chip to blow off the whole thing. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I thought Chip would like such an adventure?! I can understand Dale not liking it since it's BOR-ING; but CHIP?! That completely goes against his character. And Wang Films makes him even more cranky than usual. Gadget proclaims that Rescue Rangers need a vacation once in a while. Chip doesn't care because he wants more mysteries to solve. How about solving this one: WHERE THE HELL IS DALE?! And why is there a chocolate bar in your backpack?!
Gadget gets off Golly #1 for the episode not even two minutes in and I smell trouble for this episode..Of maybe it is the chocolate bar in the backpack...and Chip better thank his lucky stars that Howard Huge wasn't invented yet or I shudder to think what would happen to the Rangers. We are in South America as the tour guide suddenly acts all heelish on us and declares that angry beasts are all around them even though we cannot SEE them. We cut to Dale on the other side eating a box full of nuts. HAHA! That is so symbolic of his character right there. Must be Insano Nuts...AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm....The guide continue his talk; but it sucks so we get Dale sneaking up on Chip so he can steal his chocolate bar. Okay; I get the connection here and it's pretty funny since Dale is always game to put out an effort no matter how bad it really is to me. Dale tries to swipe the chocolate bar; but the XENON FLASH OF DEATH drops Dale dead. Gadget calls that a great picture as Dale is dizzy as hell; so Chip blows him off for stealing his candy bar. Really Chip?! Maybe Dale wanted to tickle you instead? Have you ever thought of that?! I mean your accusation would have made sense if he actually STOLE the candy bar BEFORE Gadget MURDERED him with the camera flash. Sadly; Dale has stolen candy bars before so he does have a case after all. Dale's excuse is that he ran out and Gadget calls him out for eating too much sugar. Here's a clue Chip: EAT THE DAMN CANDY BAR NOW! Then he cannot steal it from you. And if this turns into a plot device for the entire episode; we will have our first DUD in DTVA history right here.
Chip then proclaims that he can give up sweets anytime he wants to and that leads to the worst blow off exchange in the series to date (COULD NOT! COULD TOO! ETC.). Chip thankfully tells Dale that the bet is on and Dale stammers. Oh boy; I don't like where this is going as Gadget gets off Golly #2 for the episode and calls it a great idea. Did they put IQ reducing pills in Stone's drink before he wrote this episode?! I think Eisner is trying to bury Tad as a writer with silliness like this. We then have the tour bus stop and it nearly throws our heroes off of it as the Tour Guide gets off one of Bart's catchphrases before Bart Simpson was cool (Notice how much Matt G. stole from DTVA? Think about it and weep.) because the entire jungle is lacking a lot of trees. Monty thinks they had legs and walked away. Nah; I say it's Mr. Fat behind this. It's not like due process exists in a Tad Stones created world (not named Hellboy) . Gadget gets off Golly #3 for the episode and we're not even three minutes into this one. And then things really go hairy as we see a Fox (wearing a blue scarf) drop onto the top of the bus and blows off the Toucans for a reason they will probably not explain enough to amuse me. The Toucans blows Tito off because this is their tree. One of them sounds like Don Karnage.
Tito The Dingo (okay; he probably isn't, but it's funny so I'll use it when I see fit) apologizes for nearly squashing them despite being nowhere near them for Logic Break #1 for the episode. Hard to believe that the continuity checkers actually did better than the script writers using Gadget to say Golly in this one. And Tito the Dingo sounds like the human tour guide. Why; I don't know. He even proclaims that the trees have gone loco so this is not just rant thing I do. Basically; they exchange the same notes which is that the trees disappear. Well; this episode just got better and at least they have something to work with instead of finding contrived ways to have Dale eat sweets like they would have in the FCC-Friendly era. Tito The Dingo's full name is Tito Manuel Hidalgo Jones and the Toucans blow him off because Tito has fleas. Yeah; that isn't snobbish in the very least no siree. I'd say that female Toucan has fleas and she's jealous of Tito's personal hygiene if you catch my drift. Gadget calls this a real mystery and Chip is going to have to LIKE being here. Chip agrees with Gadget and it's Rescue Rangers Away barely three and a half minutes in. So that logically leads to.....
....in the jungle AFTER HAPPY HOUR (Read: After Dark) as the human are in their tents sleeping for the night; while we pan over and see only one RR tent and the Rescue Rangers are sitting at their small campfire. They are roasting marshmallows (UH OH!) as Zipper gets creamed in a whole new way. Gadget gets off Golly #4 for the episode because they shouldn't be eating these in front of Dale. Why don't we get Gadget into a bet of not using the word Golly for the rest of the episode? Why?! Because the more uses of that word; the more the episode is going to suck. Just so you would like to know. Dale gets all giddy because he'll give up sweets easily; but we then clearly see a piece of gum stuffed in his back. Kit Cloudkicker needs to sit Dale down and show him the proper way to hide stuff underneath his shirt. Chip and Monty giggle and notice Dale's obvious gaffe so Monty shakes him and all of the sweets fall down. You know; just simply him losing the bet and forcing him to do something he doesn't like would have been a better idea than simply bullying him in order to force incentive into him. All the sweets which would be bigger than his body weight fall down and Dale has that look of being absolutely screwed.
Gadget mentions to the Toucans that Dale is on a no sweets diet and the locals proclaims that will be easy since there are no cacao bean trees and therefore there is no chocolate for Dale to eat during the vacation. I know that the Cacao Bean Tree is important for the mystery to work; but that gives Dale zero challenge to win here. On the other hand; it does focus the episode on the mystery and not on Dale so it's all good. Chip sweeps the candy away into a leaf (like that's going to stop Dale from eating?) and mocks Dale's chocolate eating. Dale wants to look for clues now; but Gadget yawns which means that they are going to bed and Gadget bumps into Dale because she's awesome see. Dale doesn't like that and swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE. So; we go to the morning as Dale walks out of the tent with the sock of goodies; because Dale has another supply of treats to lose the bet on. He grabs a piece of candy and tries to unwrap it; but the snoring keeps distracting him. Oh; great they ARE trying to focus on Dale's sweet eating habits in this one. Dale takes some candies and runs off into the jungle as it's still AFTER HAPPY HOUR which is Logic break #2 for the episode. We then see a pack of BLOOD SUCKING VAMPIRE FLIES OF DOOM buzzing around and they wreck havoc on the human camp; doing various spots including the cartoon target of doom. The locals struggle in the tent as Chip walks out (with night gear still on) of his tent wondering where is the fire.
The vampire flies see him and goes after him and the Rescue Rangers minus Dale. Dale is one lucky bastard to be able to AVOID that incident. See; having a sweet tooth does have it's benefits after all. The tent gets destroyed as the Ranger Mice hide in their sleeping bags; but the vampire scissors destroy the sleeping bags. Monty yells like a freak of nature and one of the Vampire Flies does the bloodsucking needle right in the ass off-screen. I see Disney's tightening up on that spot already since Sunni was allowed to be bitten on her ass on-screen by a horse. We then cut to Dale eating candy again and he hears the screams; and then says Golly #5 for the episode since Gadget is screaming and cannot say it herself. Dale runs back and hops onto the the grass ground which is the signal for the TEAM ROCKET TRAP OF DOOM and Dale falls into it. The vampire flies somehow decide not to deal with him (HUH?!) as Dale gets out of the trap easily (I guess it was a mouse hole) and panics because the Rangers are not here as Logic Break #3 for the episode beckons because (a) The tent was destroyed or (b) There was only one tent to begin with as Dale looks into the magically repaired tent. Dale bumps into the BBQ and the pots and pan fall right onto his head. Dale does the cartoon seeing birds spot and then notices that the palm tree falls down and Dale runs towards it and notices that the digger is an anteater (after getting creamed with dirt from said anteater). Dale protests this outrage and then gets squashed by Tito who happens to be walking like a quality zombie as he is helping the Toucans fell another tree.
Dale proclaims that Tito doesn't really like those guys. I call that Logic Break #4 for the episode since Tito and the Toucans were together during the campfire. And I do not like where this is going (See Nightmare of the Living Spud); on the other hand it does prevent Gadget from saying Golly so at least one good thing will come out of this. Even the humans are like zombies as the Tour Guide Bus demonstrates and the Tour Guide is helping Tito with felling the tree. Well; at least a Blood Sucking Zombie Fly of Doom is better than a Giant Vampire Potato; I'll give Tad Stones and Dev Ross that much. Dale gets squashed by the tree; but only the leaves of the tree make contact with him so he's all right. Dale pops out and sees the Rescue Rangers digging something out of the tree and they are zombies too. Dale tries to commit assault on them to wake up; but the Rangers cannot snap out of it. Dale slaps him silly (on camera no less) and then drops him and kicks Chip's ass. Chip sails into the dirt and that somehow wakes him up. HAHA! Chip recovers and is mad as hell for Dale's lack of gentleness and Dale gleefully blows him off for me. Sadly; here come the vampire flies as they notice Chip is no longer a zombie and Dale bails behind a rock. Chip calls him out as he realizes who is stealing the trees; but gets nailed in the ass off-screen again to once again become a zombie. At least we know how to wake him up; but does Dale KNOW?! Dale realizes the obvious and now the vampire flies notice Dale and Dale is forced to run away.
Dale runs into the forest and it's the chase is on....for about three seconds as Dale takes a MAN-SIZED bump into the tree like George of the Jungle on steroids. This must be the anti-roid episode Disney used to put Larson and Gary out of business. It failed badly though since Disney writers wrote a lot of pro-roid characters and objects to boot. Dale staggers like a drunk; and manages to somehow stagger away from the tree as the vampire flies get stuck into the chocolate tree. Good spot there as Dale blows them off gleefully. Hey; this episode suddenly doesn't suck. But they get unstuck and the chase resumes as Dale foolishly hides inside his blue stripped sock. Dale just went into REALLY STUPID levels here as the vampire flies gleefully loves this easy prey. Sadly; we see Dale switch tails and the flies nail Dale's raccoon skinned cap which Dale protests bitterly. Sadly; that's Logic Break #5 because the flies don't even get close to the hat and then magically re-appear to destroy it. I knew Wang Films would screw up a spot badly at some point in this one. Dale runs away and jumps into the water as the vampire flies can skim the water; but cannot dive into it. Sadly; Dale makes the obvious mistake of using the bamboo stick as an air hose. When are cartoon characters going to learn that this spot is only going to blow back into their face?! And damn; I'm good as Dale is forced to the surface and does the mid-air running spot. Well; it's Wang Films so it's apporos. If WD-Japan does it again; I'll be pissed off.
Dale runs and hides inside a log which ditches the Vampire Flies; but it leads to a series of log rolling spots (nice visual there Wang) into the water by the zombie humans and then the log is lead away by two gators as Dale coughs up water. Dale notices more trees being used by the Zombie Rangers as they head to......a shoreline near a waterfall complete with drums beating as the snakes (attached to a tree) grab the trees to give to the Zombie Monkeys who put them on a cart which is then taken to the waterfall area. The Zombie Rangers walk away as Dale slowly follows them. Dale then stops to notice the top of the waterfall where a human dressed in really unusual gear with a golden mask attached to his face is beating the drum. Dale calls him the Zombie King. NO?! REALLY?! And then the vampire flies (Nice CONTINUITY from Wang to keep the stingers bent badly I should note) tap Dale on the shoulder and it's the Scooby Doo Chase Sequence the Zombie Edition~! Dale hops onto the waterfall edge and blows off the vampire flies who miss him entirely; with a raspberry. Sadly; he gets too cocky and falls off the edge into the waterfall lake below which ends the segment almost ten minutes in. Okay; this episode is getting better; but the Logic Breaks and silly plot line is still holding it down.
After the commercial break; we see a river as Dale floats downstream on a tree branch towards the shoreline. Dale bumps off the shoreline and then realizes that they are zombies and needs to get help. So; we head back to the magically repaired sleeping bags (Logic Break #6 for the episode) as the Rescue Rangers wake up and are unpitching tents being very tired...and they are not zombies. Can you see the obvious plot hole commencing here; or do I have to spell it out for you?! And worse; Gadget is out of her funk with Golly #6 for the episode after four minutes of Golly-free action. Dale arrives and Chip isn't tired by a long shot as he blows off Dale because he doesn't know where he has been. Dale blows him off back; but Gadget tells Dale to confess first because she's more awesome than you Dale. Dale almost blows his cover; but recoils because he wanted some fresh air. Yeah sure Dale and of course he tells the facts straight up and Monty doesn't believe him. And then Dale blows his cover with the candy and the Rangers are mad that he disobeyed his bet. Again; can you spot the logic break here?! Hint: It has to do with Dale slapping Chip around during the zombie sequence. Of course everyone blows him off but Dale is determined to prove it to them so he bails to the waterfall cave as Wang Films screws up here by having them at first inside the cave and then merely in front of the cave. I think someone is too tired to notice the obvious mistakes here as Gadget gets off Golly #7 for the episode.
They go into the waterfall cave with Dale really blowing off Chip because he was a zombie. For once Dale's meanness is apporos since it's clear Chip should have known from the start that Dale has a point since CHIP saw who was stealing the trees BEFORE getting becoming a zombie again. Sadly; the trees are nowhere to be found and Monty proclaims that Dale has lost his mind. Chip proclaims that his mind was never there in the first place. Which leads to the obvious question; where is CHIP'S MIND in all this? Logic Break #7 for the episode right there. Then Zipper notices a tongue sticking stone statue (with a yellow stone on it's head) and he panics. The Rangers jump onto it as Golly #8 beckons in this one. Chip blows Dale's clue gathering and then slips and grabs onto the tongue. Chip sezs he's all right; but pulls the tongue and that opens the secret passage; which leads to a staircase to the top of the waterfall. Dale still calls them zombie which I'm sure is REALLY PISSING Chip off at this point. The Rescue Rangers go up the stairs and enter the area where there everyone is SHOCKED because there are the Cacao Trees staring right in front of their faces. HAHA! Dale is so owning Chip now it isn't funny. They also notice the golden temple and then enter inside as we cut to inside the CHOCOLATE CHIP FACTORY OF DEATH as the Rangers hide behind the sacks of cacao beans. Gadget gets off Golly #9 ½ (since Gadget said Golly And A Half) for the episode and wonders what is cooking. Dale sniffs the CHOCOLATE OF SMELLS and gets the CHOCOLATE ADDICTION ATTACK OF DOOM~! I guess since there is no cheese around Monty cannot do his attack so Dale has to improvise.
Dale floats towards the smells with the greatest of ease and shows Howard Huge the proper way of doing that. I always wondered where Ken Koonce and David Weimers stole that spot from. Monty offers to stop him and he drops him down like a bad habit as Monty proclaims that some people just cannot control themselves. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Psychological Projection much there Monty?! Chip then blows off Dale for calling him a zombie as I expected him to. Dale gleefully blows him off in kind; but Gadget proclaims that they have company and they bail as the ZOMBIE KING OF DOOM shows up and makes it to the pot. He tastes the chocolate with the mask on and somehow he makes such a mess that Wang Films doesn't pick it up. Bad screw up there guys. Then we hear a German accent and he takes off the mask as it is....wait for it.... Mr. FAT! HAHA! I was right all along. And he is wearing stereotypical German gear which really shows that Disney was running out of offensive stereotypes to use at this point. He then goes into his reasoning why he is stealing cacao trees and it's to get revenge on his friends for laughing at his masterpieces. I am wrong again; it's not Mr. Fat....It's Mr. Hardcore Chocolate Guy voiced by Jim Cummings. Geez; I wonder why his products NEVER sold?! Perhaps because he DOESN'T THINK of the customer?! Nice to see Tad Stones at least write him as a heel since the video game industry always paints them as a babyface.
Dale keeps mocking his weight like Sean Malstrom on speed as Mr. Hardcore refers to himself as Heinrich Von Sugarbottom. I guess Heinrich is German for hardcore so I'll call him Hardcore Von Sugarbottom just for the hell of it. Monty call him a fruitcake and I agree since Mr. Hardcore has been like that since Wii Music showed up at E3 2008. Zipper starts panicking because here comes the vampire flies out of the window and Hardcore Von Sugarbottom greets them showing who is the real leader here. Hardcore bails to find the mind control juice as Fritzy is giddy for blood sucking more workers for him as Gadget is slowly realizing what Dale is saying while Dale does the always goofy zombie spot. Chip brings his crossbow (Huh?) and the Rangers want a closer look as Gadget puts down her camera. It will be involved with the finish somehow; you know it will. Hardcore Von Sugarbottom touches the spring wall panel which opens the secret brick door and out pops the stone table featuring a teapot and bowl that looks like cyan blue with grey which is a fashion faux pas if I ever saw one. Hardcore pours the zombie juice into the bowl and the vampire flies drink up and burp right on camera. We cut to the Ranger hiding behind the black pot as Chip preps the fishing line as the Rangers finally admit that Dale wasn't making up the story. Well; it's good to know that the writers finally realize the sweets joke was going to suck and moved on to the slightly better Nightmare of the Living Spud template. Monty gets off the first too right of the episode nearly fifteen minutes in. When Monty sounds better than Gadget then that is trouble.
Chip runs and uses the fishing pole and the hook attaches itself to the sissy blue teapot as Hardcore decides to check on the ready chocolate. The Rangers pull onto the teapot and the teapot crashes onto the floor shattering it and Hardcore's hopes and dreams of getting rid of Nintendo. How symbolic was that as Hardcore whines that it's mind control juice is gone. See; I knew it was THAT that caused people to like violent video games. It was never the games themselves since NO SANE GUY would play such things. Hardcore grabs onto the line and sees the Rangers. The Rescue Rangers bail as they have solved another one; Dale runs lead because he's the leader since he proved his point; but the drums from hell play and the Rangers become zombies again. HUH?! I thought the zombie juice was out of their system by now...and how could the drum have an effect when Chip recovered from Dale kicking his ass?! Logic break #8 for the episode and this is getting DARKWING..DUCK absurd now. The Rangers zombie walk into the chocolate molds and lay in there as Dale climbs on it and protesting this lying down on the job. When Dale is doing all the work here; you know this episode is falling fast. Hardcore Von Sugarbottom gets the stick and tries to tip the chocolate pot over to pour chocolate on our zombie heroes (Nice touch of animation of chocolate dripping near Dale from Wang) and Dale is screwed as the segment ends nearly sixteen minutes in.
After the commercial break; we continue with the tipping; but the chocolate is so heavy that Hardcore Von Sugarbottom has to hang on and proclaims that he'll need to make light chocolate. That's kind of like light cigarettes right?! What a fatso idiot?! And I see the anime wobble has arrived in this episode. Dale looks around (Nice CONTINUITY with the melted chocolate still being there next to him) and finds the camera on the floor. I knew that thing would be involved somehow. Hardcore tries to pull; but Dale invokes the XENON FLASH OF DEATH which distracts him big time. Dale goes back to the molds to help Chip out; but Hardcore is on him like me calling Mr. Hardcore out on E3 2008. He calls on Fritzy and Frizy rallies his troops. Now Dale is seriously screwed as he bails away (nice touch with Chip falling flat on his face) and it's the next installment of the Scooby Doo Chase Sequence the Vampire Edition~! Fritzy pulls on Dale's tail (who is running like a chipmunk at this point) and it's curtains for Dale; until he twirls around allowing the vampire flies to miss and Fritzy gets nailed into his troops. Not a good bowling spot as Dale runs to the Zombie King Mask of Fear (Complete with pink covers) and struggles to get inside; but gets inside without the Vampire Flies nailing him in the ass.
The vampire flies fall down onto the brick ground bent badly by the awesome force of heavy metal. Dale laughs and Hardcore Von Sugarbottom decides to fight fire with chipmunk so he beats on the drums as the Zombie Rangers rise from the molds. Hardcore then wants Dale's truffles to be dropped which sounds a lot more disturbing then I think Dev Ross had intended as the Zombie Rangers zombie walk towards Dale. Dale is screwed as Hardcore calls this good business since it's delegating responsibility. Detroit Diease: Gotta love it as Hardcore Von Sugarbottom beats on his hellish drums as the Rangers try to grab him but Dale jumps away and then bails stage right. He tries to hide in the Cacao Bean sacks; but Monty tears the sack and the beans fall on the Zombie Rangers. Dale asks if they are all right; and it's the zombie hands spot to force Dale to bail stage left. The Zombie Ranger pop up and they look PISSED. I knew that zombie juice was just a nice term meaning ROID RAGE. So Larson and Gary is the provider of this stuff. Dale runs upstairs as Wang Films animation of Dale running is so funny and stiff that Sun Woo would be hanging their heads in shame. Hardcore tells the Zombie Rangers to come up here as Dale runs out to the stone statue and hides behind it. Sadly; it's not a good hiding spot as the Zombie Rangers find him easily. Dale bails and nearly gets caught by Zombie Monty. Dale tries to escape; but he reaches the edge towards the bottom.
Sadly; the conveniently placed vine on the right pretty much telegraphs the next spot right there. Dale breathes a sigh of relief and then gets tied up with the fishing line by Gadget as the Zombie Rangers are going to bite him. Dale wants the joke to be over as Chip blitzes him and Dale dodges him as Chip goes over the edge; but falls down with a wussy bump onto the first edge near the vine. Chip recovers and he's no longer a zombie as Monty is about to throw Dale down to his death. Chip pleads for him to stop; but Gadget gives the thumbs up, thumbs down signal and Monty throws Dale down to his death. Chip manages to grab the fishing rod (which comes down with Dale I should note) which seems odd since I think I saw the line severed when Dale was tied up. Never mind; Chip reels Dale in and catches him as Dale is HAPPY to see him not be a zombie anymore. Chip takes exception to that because the mice are still zombies as we cut back to Hardcore Von Sugarbottom still playing the hellish drums as Monty, Gadget and Zipper return. Hardcore is happy that they disposed of the chipmunks and mad because the vampire flies failed to zap Dale into a zombie. Yeah sure Hardcore; we've been trying to get rid of Alvin and The Chipmunks for THREE DECADES now and they still come back from the dead if the remake movie is any indication.
He doesn't like mouse hairs in his chocolate either which is nice to know. More drum banging as the Zombie Mice Rangers walks towards the pot as Hardcore Von Sugarbottom presses a button on the floor which gives them a nice plank to walk on while being fired. Okay; that's a quality death trap if I ever saw one. As much as I hate the German stereotype; at least Hardcore Von Sugarbottom got some quality heel items to use so he's trying hard not to suck. The ceiling panel opens from above as we see Chip and Dale on top. Umm; why hasn't Chip turned into a zombie HERE since the drum is banging?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND GUYS! Logic break #9 for the episode as Hardcore bangs on his drum all today; but the stone head destroys the drum and the Zombie Rangers stop before they are fried. They also stop being zombie which makes no sense since it only works...Oh; forget it! The logic is so screwed up here that I'm going to stop with LB #10 and move on to the finish as Hardcore whines about his drum being destroyed which is so symbolic of Mr. Hardcore Gamer that it's no longer funny. Chip and Dale blow him off as Hardcore throws a Mr,. Hardcore like temper tantrum and orders the vampire flies to attack.
Chip and Dale replace the panel on the ceiling and the Vampire Flies are deflected down to the floor. Hardcore calls them worthless as I do a double take since I keep hearing that from those silly South American voice over alcohol commercials. And now Hardcore chases after the Vampire Flies who in turn...ummm...turn on him. This is just like the marketplace now as Hardcore backs up as the Rangers use the LADDLE OF DOOM to scoop up some chocolate and drops it on the floor just as Hardcore backs into it. Okay; that slip spot makes sense as he slips and drops his ass onto the destroyed drum and then it's BUTT BOUNCING TIME~! Sorry hardcore; Gummi Bears isn't auditioning any more characters for their series since the last season is already in production. You'll have to slave away at a job going just past broke like everyone else. Hardcore's drum bounces into the chocolate pots and they tip over and it's the CHOCOLATE FLOOD OF DOOM~! Monty and Gadget take the zombie juice bowl (which is empty thank goodness) as Chip and Dale use the vine to climb down onto the bowl as Dale hates all this. Why?! Because there is a LOT OF GOOD CHOCOLATE IN THEM FLOOD!
The doors snap open outside and we have a chocolate river spot which makes no sense since the water is cooler and the chocolate would harden instead of flow. We then cut to the chocolate lake as Hardcore proclaims that those rodents have ruined everything and he bumps into a rock which allows him to dive into the chocolate without the drum on his ass. Hardcore spits some chocolate and here comes the marketplace...ERRR...vampire flies and Hardcore gets nailed and is forced to swim around the Rangers in a circle to amuse me. He swims away stage left with the vampire flies bugging him for the rest of his career as payback for mistreating him. Just like the video game industry in a nutshell nearly 20 years BEFORE it happened. So we cut to Tito playing on the repaired drum as we pan over to Hardcore being a zombie and being forced to replant every Cacao Bean tree he stole from the forest in a really neat finish. The Don Karnage Toucan blows off Tito's lack of quality beat and Tito blows him off for being a hardcore critic. The Don Karnage Toucon responds in kind because if they do it faster; they can stop hating each other quicker. Okay; that makes sense as Hardcore replants the trees faster while doing a stupid jig in the process. I love this finish as Gadget gets off Golly #10 ½ for the episode which is a new record for her as she calls this a great trip. Chip gets his backpack ready and wonders where Dale is and Monty proclaims that he is getting his just desserts as we pan over and see Dale eating way too many Cacao beans for his good health as Dale has a fat belly and faints right on cue as the episode ends at 21:12. Solid storyline; good effort by Dale but bad spot blowing and logic breaks completely destroyed this episode. Still better than Nightmare of the Living Spud though. ** ½ (50%).
THE REVIEW LINE
I felt that this episode was going to suck the moment Dale agreed to the no sweets deal; but thankfully, the writers decided to completely ditch the plot line with a template for Nightmare of The Living Spud. While that episode sucked badly; this one did a lot better since the mosquitoes were a much better heel to make them zombies and I can take them seriously compared to the vampire potato. Sadly; as good as the storyline was, the excellent effort of Dale and Heinrich Von Sugarbottom was a bit above average as a villain due to his nasty death traps; the writers really screwed it up with bad logic where they couldn't decide how to break or make the zombies in the entire episode and apply it in a constant matter and Wang Films blew several spots on top of it. Chip's whining was just not amusing at the beginning and pretty out of character for him. Plus hearing Gadget saying Golly ten times didn't help either. Excellent finish at the end as it paid off the whole thing easily in spite of the breaks in logic. If they got rid of the logic breaks and bad spot blowing; this is **** episode easily. Overall; it's just plain average as we head into the episode I'm personally dreading: The Last Lucky Charms Ripoff. Okay; it's The Last Leprechaun which should make it to the halfway point of Disc 2. So....
Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you next time.