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Destiny Rides Again Re-Rant

Reviewed: 02/05/2011
Additional Commentary: 12/04/2021

Having The Cake & Eating Him Too!

Original Airdate: 02/08/1991 (Syndication), Episode #55 (TaleSpin Volume 3, Disc 1), Episode #54 (Production Order).

Destiny Rides Again Notes
Destiny Rides Again Transcript

Well everyone; it's time to re-rant on the remaining episodes not available on DVD. (2016 Gregory Weagle Says: Well; this was written five years ago before Disney announced that the remaining eleven episodes on DVD, so the changes are made to reflect that, which include removing most of the Youtube references in the re-rants; since the video source I used at the time was cut into three parts.) Sadly; that also means that I will be ranting on the Toon Disney cuts so I will be adding what Toon Disney removed from the episodes as well since there is no known syndicated cut on Youtube that I am aware of. (Which is once again a moot point since the DVD versions are based on the syndicated version, not the Toon Disney version of the show. Which allowed me to find at least one new Toon Disney edit in Bygones, even though it was the most subtle snip ever found in the series.) We begin this set with one of only three episodes featuring Kit Cloudkicker in them and it I believe was the best episode I ranted on the last time. (Actually; The Incredible Shrinking Molly was the better episode; but Kit's performance in Destiny Rides Again was much better than The Incredible Shrinking Molly. Even so; Destiny Rides Again should have been completely rewritten for various reasons, which I will explain as we go along. In fact; I'll start with the plot: Baloo and Kit deliver something to a remote village in the mountains as Kit visits a fortune teller. Baloo joins him and the fortune teller sees Baloo as the chosen one on a destined battle against an evil Mexican stereotype (not really, but close) who is searching for an idol that can destroy anything. Baloo's mission, should he choose to accept it. (which in reality he cannot choose and Baloo chooses not to anyway), is to find the idol and destroy it. Meaning Baloo has to fight birds and thunderbolts basically. Now; here's the re-write of the plot I had in mind: The fortune teller sees Kit as the chosen one and Baloo is trying his damnest to talk Kit out of it; but Kit has none of it because it's his destiny. As much as the actual story is solid (the real problems for this misfire is mostly Perdue's decision to bury the main villain before he was supposed to look stupid and the poor animation from Sunwoo Animation); I would have loved it more if Kit was the chosen one, only to give Kit much more reckless treasure hunts that he only got in Polly Wants A Treasure. Sure; it's out of character, but these characters are supposed to be multi-dimensional and sometimes those kind of moments are needed to prevent characters from being stereotyped.) Not to mention that the title was also used on Beverly Hills 90210. (Which is a parody title for a 1939 Western called Destry Rides Again. Which is also a parody of the 1930 Max Brand novel of the same name; but has nothing to do with the 1939 Western movie at all. The Beverly Hills 90210 episode in question came out in 1992.) Let's rant on shall we...?!

This episode is written by Cathryn Perdue. The story is edited by Jymn Magon. Outside of Disney; her only known credit is Dink The Little Dinosaur. (Huh. R.J. Williams and Ginny McSwain worked on that show. I wonder who's idea was it to bring her here. I guess we'll never know.) That's it for the writers of TaleSpin in general actually (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: For television actually. There are a few more writers who wrote for both television and the comics later on.). The animation is done I think by Walt Disney Animation Japan Inc./Hanho Heung Up Company Limited since it's Brian Ray as overseas animation director. (Nope. It's Sunwoo Animation who did the animation of this episode and it shows. Oh, it really shows.)

We begin this one in the snow peak mountains with cloud fog effects as Kit is amazed by the mountains and so is Baloo. Kit wants to do some up draft surfing and Baloo tells him to knock himself out. Please don't say that Pop-A-Bear; that makes me nervous. (Yeah; Kit's own cloudsurfing gimmick is dangerous enough without even trying.) We then cut to the tailsection of the SeaDuck while it opens as Kit jumps out with the tow rope; and Kit surfs for the last time in the television series having a good time. (Although his airfoil comes around in many books and the comics; so it isn't completely gone.) This goes on for a while as we get Kit panicking and swearing in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (Jumping jaybirds!). Kit takes a really good bump with his head into a big ass bird squealing and free falls. Baloo notices Kit's own reflection in the side window, panics as he opens the roof hatch (As shown in It Came From Beneath the SeaDuck) and Kit falls into the back with his airfoil. R.J. Williams acting is good as usual; although I have zero clue what he was yelling when he got inside. (He was yelling for Poppa Bear 2011 me!) Baloo asks if Kit is all right and Kit enters the cockpit with feathers in his baseball cap saying that he is. (I just love this for the sheer comedy value of the phrase: This will be a feather in his cap. So symbolically hilarious here.) Baloo then mocks him with a Kowabunga. Oh lord; that is so out of character for Baloo. It's funny that Baloo says it; but Kit never does. (Probably because it's so dated even in 1990; and it comes off as mocking TMNT, which is the number one cartoon on the planet at the time. Not a good idea Perdue.) Kit blows him off and shakes the feathers away before someone uses them to tickle him. Baloo points to Kit that he ran into a giant condor (Frank Welker; DUH!) as the condor looks crazed. Baloo calls it a local bird, Kit does the Gruffi pose and wants to forget him. (Baloo's reaction to all this is something that would be considered scoiopathic when Peter Parker from Spider-Man would say it today. Granted; it's localized to one kid, but come on! Rose-colored glasses can be dangerous if not used properly.) Baloo tells Kit to cheer up because once the delivery is done; they have a full weekend together.

The SeaDuck flies to a nearby village as we see the locals moving around and speaking. (I should note that Vicuna Village and the Alpsecan Mountains are all fanonal as the village nor mountain region are named in this episode.) We pan west and then zoom in to Kit on a crate next to a rooster as Baloo is standing in front of the mirror wearing a really silly llama visor. Baloo asks Kit if Rebecca would like one of those llama hats and then the rooster steals Kit's hat. (Wild guess: She would say that Baloo looks stupid and both Kit and Rebecca would giggle at him.) Kit goes into the open box and comes out the end as the rooster flies onto the box wearing his hat. HAHA! Kit is not amused as the rooster chase is on stage left. You do not steal Kit's navigational cap. (This did make me laugh even now; so good work Perdue.) Then as Baloo turns around; a real llama arrives and licks Baloo's face. HAHA! Baloo blows him off because he's not his mother and then notices that Kit is gone. (Too bad Kit isn't here to see that; because he would be ribbing Baloo telling this to Rebecca; and I betcha neither one of them would stop laughing afterwards.) Baloo pays the dog furry at the counter (Speaking some Spanish by the way which means "thank you very much, sir.") and is not too happy about Kit wondering off in strange places. I don't blame him; Kit can be nutty at times. He calls for Kit and no response. We logically head to a store named Una's Shop with black letters on the glass and OH MY GOD! THE COCK IS TORTURING KIT~! Oh wait; Kit is just giggling as we cut to inside as Kit gets his hat back and we see on old fortune teller lady with a mystic cross necklace (an ankh 2011 me) who is living proof that you can have ugly babyfaces in Disney. (Una also has Helga syndrome in that she has a wooden leg on her left leg. She doesn't look like a shrew as I stated in the transcripts for some reason. She looks like a grey panther or cat.) She gives Kit a blue bird model on a string and she also speaks some Spanish as well as the rooster likes to play with blue birds. (Una calls Kit muchacho which is Spanish for "mischievous young man". Very apporo.) Kit thanks her as we cut to the door and Baloo running outside.

Kit notices him and yells to him. Baloo turns around and blows off Kit nicely for running off and Kit apologizes. The fortune teller lady gasps because Baloo is now officially THE CHOSEN ONE OF DOOM. Baloo walks inside (There are a lot of candles in the background for some reason.) as the fortune teller pushes him inside because he's the Great Llama see. Baloo thinks she's confused because of the llama hat (Which is a reasonable thing to say. Now in rebooking this; I would change it to have Baloo say Kit's full name and then Una gasps at the Cloudkicker name because that would be the sign that he's the chosen one and that the Great Llama would be the chosen one's guardian. Also; I would keep all the mishaps happening to Baloo and have Baloo be the one to tell Kit to stop this destiny stuff (because Kit is supposed to be the one who is skeptical at first of these things; which he is not in this episode.) Granted; what Perdue is writing here is perfectly acceptable, but I would prefer that Kit be the chosen one. Then again; the comic Knight Freight basically gave Kit as the chosen one there, so whatever.) as the fortune teller looks outside before closing the door feeling relieved no one saw him. Ummm; the cashier and Kit saw him, don't they count? Anyhow; I might as well admit that her name is Una now as per the sign. Una is voiced by Mitzi McCall. Una turns around proclaiming that she was expecting Baloo. Baloo is pushed into the seat as Baloo states that he's "a silly joe" with a hat. Una sits on her seat and addresses herself as a fortune teller and shows the scroll pretaining to the IDOL OF DOOM. Yes; she literally says idol of doom here. (Which is a telltale sign that a rookie writer is sadly writing this. Too bad; because Idol Of Doom does live up to it's name.) Baloo tries to explain; but Una keeps speaking as we find out that an evil wizard created the idol as a powerful weapon and used it to terrorize the people. Yes; she does use the word terrorize here. Why can't Kit say that Don Karnage is a terrorist even if that is projection? (Yeah; because that would kill Don Karnage's cool heel persona wouldn't it? Ummm, no it doesn't. Don Karnage terrorizes people and robs it, if not; can't let them live.)

Anyhow; the people rise up and manage to take the idol from him; but they couldn't destroy the idol. So they sealed it up somewhere in the area forever until a hero finds it and destroys it once and for all. Sadly; we have no clue what happened to the wizard afterwards. (Which is odd considering that you can say die on this show. Also, considering what they did to El Gato in this episode; snipping one scene in particular would have given us lots of time to explain this story in an epic manner. Another sign of a rookie writer.) Baloo realizes that he's screwed and tries to weasel his way out of this since he needs to leave. However; Una slaps on the llama bracelet of doom onto Baloo's right wrist. (Which by the way; looks nothing like the animal on the map paper she showed; but it's much closer to the actual idol. Sunwoo Animation was horrible in this episode and they are just warming up. Everything in the animation and artwork of this episode looked off. It's nothing like the storyboard-equse An Elephant Never Suspects in Rescue Rangers and it certainly looks a lot better than many Darkwing Duck episodes; but the artwork of the main characters looked off when they are animated and there seem to be a lot of jump cuts in this episode as well. I don't know if it was a lack of instructions from the pre-production materials or what. But the animation didn't look good.) Baloo proclaims that he isn't into flashy jewelry and Una gets on the table proclaiming that it's his destiny. Apparently; Baloo has already backed away since on the very next shot; Baloo is already about ten feet away from the table as Una tells him to find the idol before it falls into evil hands and then forces a confused Baloo and Kit out of the door. We have our first logic break about four minutes in. (Ummm; compared to some of the crappy animation later on; this was nothing.) Baloo asks Kit where he digged up that old fossil. Answer: a cock lured him into that shop. (Yip.) Kit is amazed because Baloo is on a quest. (Funny how Kit has just accepted what Una had just said carte blanche when in many episodes; Kit would have been more skeptical than Baloo. Something tells me this should have been written with the roles reversed, sort of.)

Baloo tries to rip the bracelet off; but no dice and then bangs it onto metal pipes near a house as Kit doesn't think this is a good idea to take it off since it would protect him on the quest see. Sadly; the banging causes water to pour onto the conveniently placed jackass sleeping with a cart on it's back and it wakes up and charges at Baloo. (Yes; I get the whole donkey references and that; but in Canada, you can say jackass on Canadian children's television. At least in the context of calling a donkey that. Also of note; I would keep all the mishaps that Baloo suffers since he has the bracelet.) Baloo's bracelet gets caught on the metal spike and he's carried away. HAHA! Destiny strikes again! (Indeed!) Kit runs onto the conveniently placed stage and he jumps into the cart and tries to get the reins but no dice. The jackass and cart ride away as the llama hat plops right on a little girl dognose (Ducktales Alert!) who looks like that girl from the comic book story "The Girl From Spango-Pango". (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Which had a anthro fish furry and a horrible ending which shows that sometimes, comedy is a bad thing.) Oooookkkkkkkaayyyy. (Yeah; because there was no indication in the sequence that Baloo's visor ever fell off his head. Just more Sunwoo mistakes in this episode.) Scene changer as we head into the hills as the jackass cart ride MUST continue through the mountains and the circular path. The jackass then sees the CACTUS JACKS OF DOOM and stops on a dime; allowing Pop-A-Bear to undo the bracelet and do a mid air float before splatting on the ground with a decent bump. HAHA! Kit is gasping for breath as he asks Baloo if he's okay. I see R.J. Williams is making the most of this episode since this is really the last episode where Kit does a decent amount of work. He mostly becomes persona non grata after this, well on television anyway. (Partially because R.J. Williams was moonlighting as Cavin at DTVA during this; which explains the lack of episodes with Kit in them. Although to be fair; only three or four of those episodes would have been better served with Kit in them since the remainder of them can be constructed as pre-Plunder and Lightning episodes.)

Baloo proclaims that it'll take about a month to recover and faints. HEE HEE! (Still less time than the six plus months I needed to recover from infection due to boil. Now; personally; I would have moved the sequence I have just ranted on to after the scene I am about to rant on instead of before, if only because the main villain gets way more screen time than he deserves.) We head back to Una's shop as Jim Cummings voice beckons as he demands to know where the idol is and Una blows him off inside. We see that the heel is a big literal Mexican stereotype brown cat; only wearing shoes this time. (He's wearing spurs on his boots; so he's a Spanish cowboy, despite not riding a horse. Oh; he does ride something. HAAAAAAAAAAA~!) He also has a derby hat too. At least he doesn't look like that Mexican stereotype that got Disney in trouble with the Latinos when they released a Toy Store video game a decade or so ago. (It was the Toy Story 2 video game which contains a sequence featuring a Mexican stereotype that you have to shoot to kill. Oh yeah; that won't make people think you are racist, no siree! It also has zero personality; which probably caused most of the complaints. At least El Gato has a personality; even though it's basically a Spanish version of Pete, right down to the voice. I also notice that his English is semi broken as well; although it's nothing compared to Grumps in Quack Pack. Still looks like a stereotype though.) He also has a black crow wearing the same derby hat, only smaller, (All animals are voiced by Frank Welker including the llama, crow and jackass.) which lands on his perch. He tips over a bookshelf to show how much of a heel he is. Ummm; yeah. Una proclaims that El Gato is too late since the Great Llama is already searching for it. Okay; I know that El Gato is Spanish for The Cat. However; if you believe in woo, the Urban Peasant James Barber prescident states that in Spanish; gato is a Catlin cake; in France it's gateaux and in Italian gato is a pussy cat.

El Gato from now on is referred as THE CAKE~! I'm sorry guys; but it's funny and I'll use it when I see fit. (Ah; I remember this cooking show from years ago. Always enjoyed it because it felt less stereotypical and it felt comfronting. Luckly for me; even though James Barber passed away in 2007; the episode still live on Youtube. Anyway; he started this joke with calling a Gato a Catlin style cake and calling gato a pussy cat in Italian, even though it's clearly Spanish.) THE CAKE chuckles over the name and orders his black crow to find him. The crow sells and flies away. (Now; here's where I would put the hills scene with the wagon chase. Then I would move the next scene to after the fade to black and end the first act right there. I'll explain when we get to it.) We head back in the plains as the jackass has finally stopped near somewhere, Kit has the scroll and Baloo is rubbing his ass in pain. Baloo just wants to go home see as Kit stops him because the map says that they go that way. Baloo blows it off because he doesn't want any part of this destiny nonsense. Either that or he hates Dora The Explorer. If it's the later; then my respect for Pop-A-Bear goes down quite a few notches. Sure; Dora is not the best of shows; but it still serves the purpose of teaching simple Spanish to kids; plus it has "Swiper No Swiping". Seriously; it's the funniest idiot move in history. (Yup; pretty much. If only Dora didn't scream so loudly. Although; volume control can solve that little problem. Anyhow; I find it interesting that Kit is the one who believes in this stuff and Baloo is completely skeptical until the end of this episode. Which is actually the polar opposite of their characters as Kit is the cynical one while Baloo is the believer. I would keep the polar opposite dynmanic as it for this for this episode though, only Kit is the chosen one and Baloo is his guardian trying to tell Kit to stop it, because he's not supposed to believe such crap. In fact; if a remake was done, this would be done my way as well. Albeit for the reason that kids are the main event and Baloo is supposed to be dumb and in the midcard.)

Baloo walks off proclaiming that he doesn't believe in destiny as he still tries to get the bracelet off. Kit follows him, tries to grab onto the bracelet and it sparks Wii sparks but Kit no sells it anyway as he goes on about the map. Baloo proclaims that he's checking out of this, then he tumbles down the hill and falls into the river. Baloo yells for the coast guard while doing the backstroke and then falls down the waterfalls complete with WARNERED spot. I wonder if Sunwoo is animating this episode. (They are 2011 me; and it's less pretty than Stuck On You in many respects.) Second major logic break at over seven minutes in: When Baloo was falling from the waterfall on the top; the river kept going. On the near shot when Baloo splashes down; the river stops and there is a whirlpool. UGH! I cannot accept that mistake. I can accept the earlier jump cut; but not this one. (Neither could I now. This might be Sunwoo's darkest hour in this series, animation wise.) Baloo yells that he needs a lifeguard as he whirlwinds into the whirlpool and that we fade to black. (This scene would air after the next sequence you will see here up to the horse trought spot. After the drinking spot; I would put the sequence leading up to the whirlpool spot (and tell Sunwoo to reanimate the waterfall sequence, it looked shitty!); fade to black, and then put the cornfield running spot; only I would remove the Warner Brothers spot completely and have him struggle to climb up; blowing off the crow and getting to the donkey cart.) We return to Una's shop as there is some stuff hanging in the foreground as THE CAKE and his crow have returned. The crow takes a bump into a hanging vase with a good bump and falls to the ground as THE CAKE wants to look for clues. Well; we start the next segment with one of the most dull time filler segments in the early DTVA era. We see THE CAKE opening a glass like vase as he wants to look for the tiniest detail. The crow gets up and the white cotton on the tree branch lands on him and he's now a judge or an American Revolutionary. THE CAKE notices the crow and blows him off as the crow has the hair over his eyes. The crow runs into the blue vase with a good bump. (Now the crow suffering the comedy spots would be perfectly acceptable since he's the dumb sidekick of the heel duo. However; as you'll see here, he was the smart one of the group.)

THE CAKE wants him to be a bloodhound and get a scent on the Great Llama see. Personally; I would be happy if he would get the scent on advancing the storyline. (Yeah; this is where I think Kevin Johnston was pissed off when he said this episode was unfocused: This sequence took forever to set up and it was done for laughs instead of actually advancing the plot. As it was; it was merely fine; but it wasn't needed. Worse; as you'll see during this sequence, they made El Gato look incredibly weak heading into advancing the plot! When this was all over, I was thinking: "Geez; this is easy pickings for Baloo if this heel is so senile. Why should I care?" I would have booked El Gato strong by simply having him advancing the plot and putting all the comedy spots on Baloo and/or the crow. Even if you don't make Kit the chosen one in this setup; at least learn to keep the villain strong until the end, when in the end, the heel is supposed to look stupid. That gets your heel over and it also makes Baloo a strong babyface.) THE CAKE swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE ("Ay, chihuahua!" Okay; that was cute; I'll give THE CAKE that much. (Actually; that was a good swear.)) as he demands the crow that he pick up the scent. The crow sniffs THE CAKE's shoes and gets punch drunk. HAHA! Okay; that was funny. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: I wondered where George Pig got the idea of sniffing Daddy Pig's slippers that one time when Daddy Pig lost his glasses in Peppa Pig?!) THE CAKE blows him off because it's not about good hygenie. I beg to differ there, sir. (Geez; smelly feet in a 1990's cartoon? And if Fanboy & Chum Chum does this, critics scream bloody murder over it. Yeah; very rich. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Didn't you accuse Mr. Whiskers of doing the exact same thing, 2016 me?!)) He then throws the crow away stage left and to keep flapping. Then we start one of the stupidest parts of the entire episode as THE CAKE runs stage right, slips onto some conveniently placed milk, collides into some pots, a clothsline, a bucket and a vase lands in his feet. Whatever guys. You know this is bad when a TALESPIN episode makes me say this and that's a rarity to boot. (No kidding 2011 me?! Let's make El Gato as weak as possible before he even meets the Great Llama! And to think; El Gato was perfectly fine when he was threatening Una! It's going to get worse off from here. Also of note; this was also a whiplash jump cut in between sequences as well.)

THE CAKE is not happy as he hops around trying to get the vase and bucket off; but he trips and falls into a horse's watering hole. Whatever guys. (That's number two, 2011 me!) The crow squawks at him on the perch and THE CAKE blows him off proclaiming that he is burying himself before Drake does...ERRR...I mean taking a break. (Now here; I would start the waterfall/whirlpool sequence and then return to the wheat field after we fade to black.) Then we cut to a corn field as we see THE CAKE following the crow into the ears of corn. This goes on forever as THE CAKE wants a signal and gets none (Now; running through the wheat field (not corn field; but whatever, that's not the main point) is perfectly fine on it's own. However...) as he goes off a cliff and THE CAKE gets WARNERED! Even worse; they also do the Wily E. Coyote Cam spot as he splats with the big bump with CHEESE AND BACON. For those who don't understand the CHEESE AND BACON part; it creates a model of the characters outline when he splats on the ground. Oy vey indeed. I know that a lot of the DTVA guys come from Warner Brothers; but this last sequence just reeks of Michael Eisner telling the writers to mock Looney Tunes for being old and washed up. (Considering that Cathryn Perdue is just debutting here after a spell with Dink The Little Dinosaur and a semi-cameo movie career; this reeks in the lack of subtley department. From the running on mid air, to the Wily E. Coyote camera angle (later stolen for TLC matches in WWE and even called that by Jerry Lawler), splatting dust spot and the hole spot (even the sound effect sounds similar) is so Roadrunner-ish that it isn't funny. Now granted; I love the Roadrunner cartoons and I don't really mind other cartoons stealing their spots. However; the main problem with this is; you have to remember that at the time this was released, Michael Eisner and Disney PR were bashing Looney Tunes and Tiny Toons as old and aged, and unoriginal as with Tiny Toons. Never mind that TaleSpin was based on The Jungle Book (although to be fair; TaleSpin was a lot more original in it's premise than Tiny Toons was.); and never mind that Disney was doing Warner Brother spot after Warner Brothers spot in their cartoons. Heck; they were mocking TMNT during this time too. No one bought this crap; and then Michael wonders why Warner Brothers and Fox were kicking their asses six ways from Sunday! I do feel bad for Cathryn though, because at least I can blame this on inexperience. Sometimes you are told something and have to do it to keep your job. I place much of the blame on Michael Eisner. Relax, Michael! TaleSpin already has an advantage over Tiny Toons. Let them use that advantage. When Disney is itself; it is at it's best. When Disney tries to be someone else, they fail hard. See Pickle & Peanut.)

THE CAKE comes out of the carnage as the crow flies down nearby and THE CAKE blows him off and throws the crow into the mountains. The crow squawks and THE CAKE takes it as the crow finding something. THE CAKE climbs up and apparently has gained cowboy spurs on his boot. (No; his boots always had spurs 2011 me.). THE CAKE finds the wagon with the jackass as THE CAKE wants to stay here, the crow must go and get him a sign. Oh my god; not the Roadrunner Sign spot! Anything but that! (Okay; it's time to retire the Agonybooth Snuff promo now 2011 me! No one is buying it anymore, even present me.) The crow bails and returns with a sign that says "Lost Caves 2 mi." Oh lord, that was painful and even more so when THE CAKE sounds like Wily E. Coyote Super Genius with his science promo. (Try telling me this was just done because kids just want comedy? If that was the case, then why use Warner Brothers spots when this show's forte in the comedy department is mature witty retorts? This is not rose-colored glasses anything; this is knowing past history. Seriously folks; it's obvious that they are doing this for Michael Eisner's petty cause which ultimately blew back in his face in the end.) THE CAKE blows him off as a fleabag and then notices the sign is in his favor and ponders and that officially ends the segment nine and a half minutes in. Thank god the worst part of the episode is over. I cannot believe that Miss Perdue would spend two minutes burying the heel before he even had a chance to take on Baloo; just to do a bunch of Warner Brothers mockery. (I can: Michael Eisner has that effect on people sometimes.) Sure; it ended up with the heels getting to the plot; but this didn't advance the plot at all and the comedy act doesn't belong in a series that is supposed to be all about being "The Disney That I Remember". This is "The Warner Brothers if Peggy Charmon got her BS&P way completely." Also, to think; Miss Perdue's writing not only improves from here on out; she actually writes a kick ass episode which I am ranting on next. (That would be Mach One For The Gipper; which was animated by a much worse animation studio in Wang Films. Wang Films did a much better job there compared to Sunwoo here! Yip; this is a misfire.)

After the commercial break; we return to the shot of the whirlpool and logic break number two is popped out of the episode as there is a smaller river after the whirlpool. (Actually; this actually enhances the logic break, not kill it.) Kit runs to the whirlpool and looks really worried about Baloo's well being. We then cut to a jungle where there is a mud lake and a lot of toucans in the foreground as we pan west to the mouth exit (Which looks like an anicent cave...) and Baloo gets spit out; skips three times and his head gets buried into the side edge of the mud lake. Kit runs in too fast (After pushing around a fern...) and R.J. Williams acting is still A-grade at this point. The ground gets a little unstable and Kit loses his balance and drops on his ass off-screen in the mud. Baloo manages to unpop his head from the side, Kit literally laughs his ass off and mocks poor widdle Baloo because he fell down and went boom. Now THAT's funny as Kit continues to laugh at his expense. Baloo is not amused (Hey; you made fun of him for bumping into a condor earlier, you scoiopath. Kit could have easily died there Pop-A-Bear! Your bumping was much, much safer compared to his!), throws mud in Kit's face, it stays on him for three seconds and then falls off his face just as Kit helps Baloo up. I love that scene because it was playful and not out of malice. Plus; it's a real comment too, BRUTHA! (Kit is really awesome in this episode; which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Hmm; I wonder with all the little insults from these two in this episode that this episode was intended for Baloo and Louie to be another "Road To X" type episode? I look forward to hearing how this episode came about.) Kit then notices the mouth of the temple and realizes that this is his destiny. Baloo blows it off because he thinks this is nature's intention to screw his weekend as we see Baloo walk out of the mud. (One of Joe's favorite quotes from this episode I might add.) While the animation of the mud coming off Baloo is commendable; the drawing of the tree that blocks the door to the temple is so laugably bad it looks something I saw during the CGI work in Plunder and Lightning Part One.

Also to think; Darkwing Duck exposed this even worse early on while it took fifty episodes to get to this point for TaleSpin. (I concur. As bad as the animation is in this episode; Darkwing Duck is much worse. Strangely; it's not Kennedy Cartoons that is the worst, as half of the complaints for their work aren't really awful, but just plain quirky. Their lack of enternal logic in certain scenes piss me off far more than their side mouthing, shuffle feet motions.) Kit walks behind him -- same mud effects at work -- as Kit pushes the bad foliage away and notices the same llama from the scroll. Baloo is not liking this one bit because just because it has a llama on the door doesn't mean the idol is in there. (This is something Kit would say if he was totally in character and not like Polly Wants A Treasure. I like it when done in small doses though.) He touches the llama, the door opens and his hand becomes stuck much to Baloo's panic. (The bracelet acted like a magnet and then stopped when the door fully opened.) Baloo unpops his hand and then gets his ass near a temple mouth door. Kit feels the wind whipping and calls it destiny as Baloo wants him to stop saying that. (This also becomes a running joke because in this episode's storyline, Kit believes in this destiny stuff and Baloo doesn't. Which is a role reversal for both characters.) Kit runs in as Baloo decides to take a closer look. They run into the wind tunnel as Baloo tries to warn Kit and Kit gets blown back into Baloo's belly. Baloo states the obvious for me as Kit takes a gander at the map and it's in the next chamber, which is the wind tunnel part. They run in as Baloo bets that he's a groundhog if there is an idol. Kit proclaims that he needs to start looking for his shadow as we see the idol of doom on the ground in the sunlight spot. Baloo grabs it admitting that Una was right and Kit is in awe. (Also, like Kit; Baloo is slowly starting to believe this destiny stuff. Much slower than Kit mind you, but still. Now; I wouldn't change the booking for this since that aspect of the episode is working perfectly. It's making El Gato stronger and improving the animation that I would change without question; even if I don't put Kit in the role of being the chosen one.)

Baloo proclaims that it's worth some MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH as the crow flies in squawking. He flies in, grabs the idol of doom easily and flies back to THE CAKE who is waiting near the steps. The crow drops it into THE CAKE's hands as Baloo protests this outrage. THE CAKE deduces that Baloo is the Great Llama and Baloo stammers on cue. THE CAKE blows him off and calls Baloo a buffoon as he leaves with the idol (Which is shaped like a golden llama, of course.). Baloo tries to get to THE CAKE as THE CAKE invokes the IDOL SPELL OF DOOM, blue thunderbolts come out, shoot at the ceiling and pillars as the temple comes crashing down. This causes Kit and Baloo to panic and bail in that order stage right. THE CAKE walks away as the temple does some crashing and crumbling for a while. Baloo notices that the ceiling has allowed an escape path; but the floor crumbles down and the MIRACLE WORKERS CONNECTION is forced to bail into the opposite direction. (I'll give the idol this; it is a threatening device to use. There are worse McGruffins out there even in this series and the idol is on par with the Lightning Gun in terms of destruction. Only, one is magical and the other is loosely based on science. Very loosely based I might add.) Kit then notices some tree roots and has an idea as he takes out his airfoil and surfs upward with the tree roots. Then we jump cut to Kit creating some green vines and then throwing them down. I should point out that Youtube video sometimes doesn't compress animation well and fuildly which might explain the jump cuts I saw in this episode and in Rescue Rangers. (Yeah; the DVD version looked perfectly fine and well done actually. It's not as rare in a badly animated TaleSpin episode; but it's not as good as it should be.) Baloo grabs the vine and swings like "George Of The Jungle". Why? Because he forgot to WATCH OUT FOR THAT WALL~! (That bump was slightly less safe than the head stuck spot earlier.) Baloo splats into the wall with a decent bump and drops on his ass to boot.

Kit is watching on and Baloo isn't amused as he grabs the tree root vine and with considerable effort and strength climbs up. He blows off gym class and the gods indirectly for screwing up his weekend. (Yeah; because destiny and nature are BS&P for God. Which is hilarious considering that we have heard "god" in other DTVA shows at the time and in this show alone, there were four "Oh My God" references; including one from Baloo in Jolly Molly Christmas of all episodes. No one is fooled Pop-A-Bear, no one.) He manages to get to the surface as Kit sushes him near the grass cliff. He points down and sees THE CAKE buried in rubble. Wow; Perdue is burying him literally, I see. (If it wasn't for earlier on; I would have accepted this because it would have shown the destructive power of the idol. So I don't put all the blame on Perdue here; but sometimes even in storyline, stupid premature burials do have negative consequences later on.) The crow tries to pull him out; but no dice as THE CAKE tries to give him the Idol Of Doom. Baloo steals it back using Kit's promo from Plunder and Lightning Part One which we were all introduced to. (Okay; that was really stupid of El Gato to do that.) THE CAKE cannot believe it as Baloo proclaims that he told Kit that he would give it back nicely. (Never mind that Baloo never asked him to give the idol back nice or not.) Baloo asks Kit how the spell goes, Kit thinks it's "idol of doom; storm of fire" and Baloo gets it as THE CAKE manages to pop up from the carnage. He blitzes Baloo; but Baloo and Kit duck and he goes flying as Baloo orders the idol to flatten THE CAKE like a bicycle tire. We get logic break number three for the episode: Instead of flattening him like a bicycle tire; it shoots blue lightening and THE CAKE bounces backwards into the wall making the Scooby Doo Snow Angel spot. What the hell? See; this is where the bump WITH CHEESE AND BACON earlier would have actually made sense. So we have gone from mocking Warner Brother to mocking Hanna Barbara.

Well; the later is fine by me since Hanna Barbara does suck, but it is still a bad logic break. (Yeah; this is a pure sign of a rookie writer: They had a perfect spot to mock Warner Brothers and have the spot mean something without the mockery, and Cathryn ruined it by doing the bump with cheese and bacon way too early in the episode. This is where Jymn Magon should have sat down with Cathy and went over the entire script and rebooked it so it came off as a decent offering instead of being just a petty insult to Warner Brothers. Also of note: I would have booked this differently: Have El Gato grab the idol and at the same time, Baloo says (or Kit in my version): Flatten that creep like a bicycle tire. Then he impacts the ground with the idol held up in the air so Kit and Baloo can grab it back on the rebound. I also noticed that Kit never touched the idol once in this episode. I don't like that for some reason.) Baloo goes over; blows THE CAKE off and walks out with the idol as THE CAKE threatens to follow him to the ends of the earth. Baloo blows that off because he has the only plane in town. THE CAKE continues his threats as Baloo and Kit walk into the jungle and Kit wants him to destroy the idol. (To be fair; as we would discover, he did have a really threatening method of flight to use. It's just that El Gato was completely buried at this point and I didn't care.) Baloo refuses because he's taking it back to Una and it's HER problem, see. We logically head back to Una's shop as it has been completely ramsacked. Kit notices that the door is open, Baloo peeks inside and takes a MAN-SIZED bump with the frying pan. HAHA! Good one Una; and don't tell me that wasn't intentional on her part. (Again; Baloo would take all the mishaps in this episode if I was booking Kit as the chose one. I should also note something: I just love how ECW mutants love talking about how their characters aren't like cartoons and yet one of the biggest things about ECW was hitting other wrestlers with various objects from fans; including frying pans. Never mind, that I have seen this in this show and with Caron in Chargeman Ken in the episode Ken, The Westerner! Maybe there is something about ultra-violence having deletorous effects on the brain. Maybe the concern should be less on them causing violence and more on making them have rose colored eyes.)

Una apologizes (Riiiiggghhhttt...) and Baloo also apologizes as Una invites them inside. (He apologizes for just being there. Because he just wants a weekend of quiet; not a weekend of dealing with idols.) Baloo shows her the idol and Una is thankful THE CAKE didn't get it as Kit asks her if he's the one with the crow. Una admits that he is and Baloo is not happy because THE CAKE picked on a defenseless lady while trying to clean up the place. After that frying pan shot; I somehow doubt it Pop-A-Bear. (Yeah; Una is perfectly able to defend herself.) Una encourages him to destroy the idol to screw THE CAKE over because it's his destiny, you see. Baloo wants her to stop saying that. Although he admits that he has no idea how to destroy the thing, Una wants Baloo to forgive her for being so annoying (To Baloo; to us she doing a good job...) and Baloo agrees to try to destroy the idol because he wants to leave quickly. (That was unusual because Una didn't do or say anything that would convince Baloo to destroy the idol. Baloo just decided to do it; which is pretty altrustic on a certain level, which is also out of character for him.) Una can only smile. We go to the scene changer as we get a shot of the SeaDuck and then pan over to Baloo invoking the jackhammer on the idol. Remember when jackhammering was literal in the destruction sense and not used as a story plot because of some defective thinking about how children would react? Oh, and the jackhammer was invented in 1861 in case you were wondering. Another logic break; the bracelet has vanished despite Una has not taken the thing off yet. (Wow; I missed that in the transcript. Sunwoo's animating sucks today for some reason.) We see the idol flash blue eyes and sparks fly as Baloo is shocked and bounced off as Baloo rides the jackhammer like a pogo stick. It ends up with Baloo taking a sick bump into the nose of the SeaDuck with his back. OUCH! And then he takes a belly plant and the jackhammer does a nasty bump right on Baloo's back, neck and head. OUCH! (Wow; that is actually a great, funny sequence since the last shot didn't actually hit his head and thus is a safe move.) We see Kit in the navigational seat and he doesn't want to ask. Baloo pounds on his head, acts like a baby and he's surprised when Kit calls him THAT?! (Yup. Despite Sunwoo sucking the life out of this episode, animation-wise; the voices are on point today.) We cut back to Kit telling him to calm down.

Baloo then gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY and proclaims that his next Krackpotkin plan is to lose the idol as he runs to the idol and grabs it. (Basically; Kit tells Baloo not to lose his mind and Baloo gets the idea from there.) Scene changer and we head to the skies above the snow peaked mountains as the Seaduck flies in and Baloo wants to deep six the idol and we see him throw the idol into the lake below. Then the idol shows up in a water tornado (Neputina: What a showoff!) and then flies back up towards the SeaDuck. We head inside the cockpit as Baloo is using his feet to control the stick and Kit is in the navigational seat with the map. (It seems like something you see out of every cartoon in the modern era. In 1990, I might add. Stop it, Pop-A-Bear! You are not on Nickelodeon! Get over yourself.) Baloo wants the quickest way home as Kit looks to his right and sees the UFI at 4 o'clock. (Nice little naunce from R.J. Williams there to lower his tone when he sees the actual idol.) Baloo panics and tries to fly the SeaDuck away and does some nifty moves on the closeup of himself. (Boy, the animation looked choppy here for some reason.) Baloo pants and the idol is in the window beside him as it knocks on glass. How nice of it to actually know how to knock on the door?! It's not like anyone else does it in DTVA. Kit notices the idol and Baloo locks the door. The idol breaks the glass and it's STONE CO...Oh wait; wrong show as the idol plops into Baloo's lap. Kit asks if he's the Great Llama, Baloo finally realizes in part that this is his destiny after all and places the idol on the dashboard. Here comes the giant ass condor on top of the SeaDuck as both bears panic right on cue. Baloo swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (Jumping canries! (I heart TaleSpin dubbed anime style swears. Much more varied than the Fish Hook ones. Although "Oh My Cod" was in fact funny on that show, so I can live with it.).) The condor flaps it's wing and that ends the segment almost seventeen minutes in. This could have been better if Perdue didn't bury THE CAKE almost from the start. (Yeah; the writing of the second act is much better than the first, but it's impossible to take El Gato seriously as a heel now. Granted; El Gato is trying his damnest to be a serious heel; but he looks so weak that Baloo and Kit pratically have to act stupid in order to get him over; and the babyfaces shouldn't be helping the heels become heels. That's simply againest the code on how babyfaces should react. Also; Sunwoo's animation sucks, which is really the big problem with this episode.)

After the commercial break; we go to the front FPS shot of the big ass condor pounding on top of the SeaDuck and the bears panicking with R.J. Williams beating all. Baloo explains the obvious to us and then we go to the cloud background side shot as we see THE CAKE flying on the condor. You know Miss Perdue did something wrong when the CONDOR is the most over heel of the episode. Baloo realizes that from THE CAKE's proclaiming that he would find them, the condor completely shatters the window and glass literally flies into the babyfaces as the condor steals the idol of doom. HOLY CRAP! If this wasn't a children's show; Kit and Baloo would be bleeding like hogs right now. (I'm shocked that Kit didn't simply duck or run to the back while this was happening simply because this is the sort of thing broadcast television wouldn't have allowed. It's pretty clear Jymn Magon was the censor for this show and this was on the same level as Ducktales when the nephews went through a window face first and shattered the window on impact, as stated in an interview with Kevin Johnston. OUCH!) We then see the condor fly away as somehow THE CAKE has the idol. Man; these silly teleports are getting frustrating. If THE CAKE had more character development like El Captain did; I would suggest that THE CAKE is the wizard's ancestor. (Yeah; this is another sign of a rookie writer too. Anyhow; the teleport idol spot is fine since they had time for him to get the idol off-screen.) THE CAKE flies around and then we get the next logic break as THE CAKE wants to blast the SeaDuck higher and higher. The idol blast the SeaDuck with blue rays of thunder bolts (This and the lightning gun are the only two times laser fire has been used in this series.) and the SeaDuck goes into a tailspin (BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!) downward. WHAT?! Or is this the idol trying to be ironic? Did I mention that the skies turned dark when THE CAKE did the incantation for no reason that I can think of? (Yeah; this line should have been redubbed: "Idol Of Doom, Storm and Fire, blast that metal bird into a downward spiral!" I should also note that while the skies turning dark was consistent from here on out; they screwed it up as the skies didn't darken when Baloo was flattening El Gato like a bicycle tire earlier in the episode. The first time is fine as is since it took place underground.)

Then we see THE CAKE head to the village with disdain for it as he invokes the IDOL SPELL OF SATAN to blast the hill, which that is his desire, and the sky goes dark again. The idol invokes the blue thunder beam and blasts the top of the snow peak mountain (I knew that would be used somehow.) and we get a rock slide as the villagers panic and bail below. Oh my; Professor O'Bowens has arrived for goodness knows what reason during the panic. I swear that they recycled the characters in the background from Ducktales as the village gets crushed. (Which is odd because Sunwoo Animation never animated anything on Ducktales. Methinks these scenes might have been done by another animation studio or Kirk Tingblad doing freelancing duties on this show. I don't know!) Sadly; the rock bumping looked wussy due to the bad sound effects used. THE CAKE chuckles as he calls them ants. Okay; that was lame as we cut back to the SeaDuck spiraling out of control as Baloo manages to hyperbole the SeaDuck up before it crashes into the mountains and is relieved. Kit then notices that THE CAKE is trashing the city and Baloo is PISSED off now. Baloo wants to buzz that buzzard as Kit approves it with a thumbs up. We then see the SeaDuck and another logic break as the town looks perfectly intact. Methinks they repeated the background from earlier in the episode. (Yup; this is all on Sunwoo Animation. Cathy's writing is wonky; but Sunwoo is responsible for making sure that the background match with the writing, which it has not.) The SeaDuck flies behind the big ass condor and we get the off-screen shaving of the condor's ass with the condor sqawking in pain. There's a little payback for bumping into Kit earlier. (You love Kit so much don't you 2011 me?! To be fair; I do too.) Sadly; Baloo flies too close to it to see anything as Baloo blows off the condor. The condor flies up, we have a mountain and Kit panics again. (I believe this was used in a commercial for this series in the 1990's.) Kit is carrying this episode kicking and screaming. (Boy; is he ever?! Which makes me sad that he wasn't the chosen one in this episode.) Baloo manages the 90 degree turn and goes through without further incident (called "Think Thin!" by Baloo.) as it turns around and here comes the giant ass condor above the SeaDuck.

THE CAKE wants the condor to get them and the condor bites the Seaduck's left alieron as Kit notices it. In TaleSpin; alieron is a nice word meaning ass. (Yup.) Baloo is having trouble steering as usual. The condor lets go and the SeaDuck flies around in a circle as the left alieron is hanging down from the rear. Baloo gets up from the seat and opens the door as he tries to knock it loose. (Notice that he does not have the crowbar on the flight stick like he normally does to keep the plane on autopilot? Remember that because it plays into the great moment I have been waiting for.) He then finds the long ass bamboo stick. WHAT?! (Really Pop-A-Bear? A bamboo stick? You cannot be serious about this, can you?) Baloo tries to knock it back into place; but it won't budge. Baloo is not amused by this and then starts to topple over the edge and fall backwards. However; the spark of the bracelet attaches the bracelet to the metal grip and Baloo can still hang on. Baloo proclaims that the bracelet protected him like Una said. I don't really care either way as the big ass condor grabs him leaving Kit to fly around in a circle with the SeaDuck yelling for Baloo. Baloo blows off this entire weekend because it was supposed to be peaceful and he's fighting a big ass parakeet instead. (Yeah; that is one hell of a weekend to be sure.) He talks to the bangle to do it's thing and they are in this together. Baloo closes his eyes and the bracelet fires the BLUE THUNDER BEAM OF DEATH which completely shocks the condor and THE CAKE. That duo could make an interesting B horror movie. (Actually; that was a great visual there even though when Baloo steals the idol back and the idol is positioned so far away that Baloo shouldn't be able to reach it, yet he does anyway.) Baloo steals the idol back cutting a baseball promo. Sadly; the condor lets go and Baloo just got WARNERED~! HAHA! Baloo freefalls, lands right on the nose of the SeaDuck with a good bump and we see Kit Cloudkicker is flying the SeaDuck himself! Total Markup City Just For That~! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: There's my $10 right there for the third volume DVD set, everyone!) He probably fixed the alieron too while Baloo wasn't looking. Take a picture; that's the last awesome spot Kit does in the television series.

Kit proclaims that he got it unstuck (HA!). (Yeah; I completely marked out on that and realized that not only is he flying the plane unsupervised for the rest of the scene (Baloo never went inside after he opened the side door earlier); but he also fixed the alieron to boot on his own while the plane was not on autopilot! That is just amazing and it only fed Ted Heinz's ego that Kit can fly the damn thing and should have his license right now, age restrictions and inability to give informal consent be damned!) It's Baloo's turn now as he invokes the IDOL SPELL OF SATAN as he wants the chicken plucked, the BLUE THUNDER BEAM OF DEATH nails the condor perfectly in a pretty decent explosion and the condor is now a fried chicken. HAHA! The condor does a naked promo and both heels gets WARNERED~! HAHA! They freefall into another mud lake with a splash as THE CAKE is pretty much lost for words. So much so that he wants the nearest bus stop as THE CAKE drops on his back fainting dead away into the mud lake. (Well; El Gato knows what planes look like; although there were no buses shown in the village during this episode, so the joke makes no sense. Then again; Baloo saw a mirage of a bus stop in For Whom The Bell Klangs Part 2; so whatever.) Yes; that is all for the James Barber jokes. (Okay; here's a sample of what to expect from The Urban Peasant as I found the beginning of the pilot for this show aired in 1993. I should also note that the show lasted 650 episodes; or nearly ten seasons!) We then cut to inside Una's shop as Baloo and Kit return with the idol. Baloo thanks Una for being right about the bangle protecting him and Una is impressed. Una asks for the bangle and she unpops it from Baloo's wrist. It's work is done; but Baloo isn't done yet since he still has to destroy the idol. Baloo has that one covered as he invokes the IDOL SPELL OF SATAN as he basically tells the idol to expire and the idol basically destroys itself in a puff of smoke. HAHA! (Kit was giggling under his breath when Baloo did the hocus-pocus hand motions during this; so even he thought this was silly.)

Boy doesn't that makes the ancestors look really dumb doesn't it?! (That was great booking by the way.) Una is amazed as this proves that this was Baloo's destiny. Baloo agrees with her and thanks Una for the wild weekend as Kit and Baloo walk out of Una's shop BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (sunset). Kit hugs Baloo and calls him a great, Great Llama. I call Kit great here because he saved this episode big time quality wise. (I concur. Nothing beats Kit flying the SeaDuck while getting the alieron unstuck.) Baloo then uses Kit's head (Which is a funny visual in itself.) to reveal the next fortune: They are going to Louie's to stand a triple decker hot fudge sundae with extra sprinkles. Kit asks him how he knew that and Baloo winks because it's destiny. (Nah, I call it habit on Pop-A-Bear's part. Still true just the same though.) Kit and Baloo then walk into the sunset in a great visual (Which would have been awesome as a way to end this series; but Flying Dupes ended it time wise and Your Baloo's In The Mail ended it production wise.) to end the episode at 21:18. Wow; this could have been a great episode; if Cathy Perdue didn't bury El Gato BEFORE he got even a chance to get the idol. Once that happened; it was basically squash city for the most part and El Gato's one crack at the city meant little when the animation team was making mistakes. However; Kit Cloudkicker did an outstanding job and he carried this one on his back in probably the last good episode for him. (I have lowered this one to *** (60%) mostly for the wonky animation problems and Cathy's inability to understand subtley in her first writing debut. I really like this episode's concept and I wish Kit got the chosen one thing; but it still works well with Baloo. But for goodness sakes; remember to make a heel that I can take seriously as a threat instead of the goofball El Gato ultimately was. Most so when he dresses like a Mexican stereotype. Okay?)

THE REVIEW LINE

Another episode with the buddies ends with a middle of the road episode. (Which by Breadwinners standards would be an eighteen star episode!) Animation mistakes and bad use of El Gato were the bane of this episode as he didn't come off as funny outside of the funny name which I probably invented myself out of spite. The condor and the crow were much more interesting than he was. In a span of two minutes; Cathryn buried El Gato with a spiteful (To Warner Brothers anyway, to everyone else, it was very petty.) comedy act before he had a chance to be remotely threatening. Despite what I said earlier; I think the somewhat offensive Mexican stereotype was pretty much an afterthought because he acted pretty much American for the entire episode. Una sounded more Spanish and I liked her. Sadly; she didn't get enough character development for my liking. It shows just how over the show was and how poor Cathryn Perdue is in writing episodes outside this show. (To be fair to her; this was her debut and was clearly wet behind the ears during this time since her other writing credit was Dink The Little Dinosaur.) The thing that would have made this episode better was to have this thing be Kit's destiny instead and have him wear the bracelet and all that stuff because he was on in this entire episode; carrying it on his back even. Have Baloo take the pratfalls and such trying to convince Kit not to continue instead. That would have made this episode a lot better and make Baloo look like the jerk that he is. I know that Kit blowing off Baloo is cheap heat and is above that; but Baloo deserved it in this case for making fun of Kit's pretty dangerous sport which you shouldn't be laughing at. (Yeah; because it can kill you, although Baloo's bumping got a lot more dangerous later on.) In the end it was an average episode that was a good idea if they switch the roles around a bit. Baloo could still play Kaiba and Kit could still play Yami; but let Kit have the destiny. It's better; trust me. Besides; Kit got to fly the SeaDuck himself which was a big bonus for me. So next up is the return of Don Karnage for the first time since Jumping The Guns with Perdue's second and last episode for TaleSpin: Mach One For The Gipper. Guess which one I like better? (Mach One For The Gipper by a mile.) Now guess why? (Because Ace London and breaking the sound barrier in the most amazing deus ex machina finish in DTVA history.) So...

Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you next time.

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