Oh BoyzGnuHopper
Guest
« Reply #627 on Aug 19, 2005, 12:29pm »
Well, on to Oh Boyz (or You Can’t Stop the Music…Unfortunately)
To take a cue from Cloudmonet, before we look at this episode let’s see where we stand at the end of Exchange: Ron has had an empowering experience in Japan, including his first real (chaste) romance with Yori. Kim, OTOH, has apparently come to the end of her relationship with Josh Mankey (although Ron won’t know this for awhile ), and experienced a crush on Hirotaka that ended disappointingly, but which seems to have given her renewed appreciation for Ron. HOWEVER – Ron remains unaware of Kim’s breakup with Mankey (it’s debatable whether he *ever* knows what happened with Hirotaka) and continues to believe he has no chance with her romantically, a fact we’ll see guide his behavior through the remainder of season two as he “plays the field”. For her part, we’ll not see Kim attempt any more non-Ron dating from here on until So the Drama, although she will continue to resist allowing Ron to label things like going to concerts together, attending family functions together, going out to dinner, movies, etc etc as “dating”. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, as they say.
Oh Boyz opens with something interesting: Kim, Ron, Monique *and several of the cheer squad* hanging out at Kim’s house and watching hot new boy band the Oh Boyz on TV. Interesting – how often do we see Kim just “hanging out” with anyone other than Ron or Monique? While we tend to think of Kim as “popular”, really she rarely seems to relax with anyone but those two, and she apparently keeps her relationship with the other cheerleaders as warm, but professional (Kim is the sort who makes sure you know who’s boss). Is this *thawing* a sign of new humility since the events of Exchange? Who can say for sure? (The issue will come up again in Steal Wheels).
Anyway, at the start of the episode Kim swears the Oh Boyz are “forever”. Cut to one week later: “The Oh Boyz are SO over!” Kim again displays her weakness for peer pressure – when the masses abandon the Oh Boyz, so does she. Only Ron still appreciates them, motivated by an actual enjoyment for their music (considering the samples of Oh Boyz tunes we hear, what this says about Ron’s tastes in music I’ll leave up to the reader to decide). So when Mrs. Dr. Possible brings home two tickets to the Oh Boyz Middleton concert, Ron is ecstatic and Kim is underwhelmed (Question: did Mrs. Dr. Possible buy the tickets so Kim and Ron could go together? Is this a subtle piece of matchmaking on her part?)
But even though she’s over the Oh Boyz, Kim still goes to the concert with Ron. As it turns out they’re the only ones attending, but even then Kim doesn’t try to convince him to leave (though she clearly doesn’t want to be seen there). We’ve witnessed examples before of how much Kim will put up with to spend time with Ron, and from here on out her “stand by your Ron” attitude only gets more pronounced.
Ron heads backstage to meet the band and show off his dance moves. He’s not bad, at least compared to what we see from the rest of the Oh Boyz (later Senor Senior Sr. will state Ron is “obviously carrying the others”, although what this says about SSS’s taste in dance I’ll leave up to the reader to decide). Later he ends up on stage during the opening (cue Kim: “D’oh!”) and kidnapped along with the rest of the band as part of the Seniors’ scheme to help Junior achieve his dream of popstardom. Heck, Junior doesn’t REALLY seem any less qualified than the spoiled prima donnas who make up the Oh Boyz – if the Seniors had just bought Defteen Records outright they probably could’ve marketed him to the same fan base and with the same results.
(BTW, I know we’re supposed to see Band Manager Roland as a “sleazeball” for letting the Oh Boyz remain hostages, but I myself sympathize with the guy. If I had to put up with the type of childish tantrums we see these “troubadors of love” throw on a daily basis, I’d probably be pricing hitmen by the second week.)
Anyway, since Ron got scooped up too Kim declares this “way personal” and sets out to track him down. Meanwhile Ron, perhaps showing some of his Yamanouchi-inspired confidence, decides to go ahead and lead the escape himself (with Rufus providing tech support – hey, it’s not like Kim builds her own gizmos either). One giant mutant octopus and a dance through a barrage of lasers later, Kim and Ron converge on the Seniors simultaneously. If you think about it, Ron and the Oh Boyz actually never needed Kim at all in this story -- they managed their escape just fine. But Kim does corral the Seniors for the first time ever (kidnap HER Ron will they!).
Epilogue. The publicity from the kidnapping has (temporarily) propelled the Oh Boyz back to stardom. Ron is using his new status as an intimate of the band to impress the ladies, Kim muses on the fact that fame is fleeting, the Oh Boyz fire Roland and replace him with Rufus (the Colonel Tom Parker of the hairless rodent set), and Senor Senior Jr. gives a concert inside prison to a rogue’s gallery of Kim’s worst enemies.
Wait a minute…
From left to right we see: Shego, Drakken, Duff Killigan, Dementor, Monkey Fist, and DNAmy (with Senor Senior Sr. in the rear). Um…last time we saw Shego and Drakken in Blush they escaped in the end. Same with Duff and Adventures in Rufus-sitting. Dementor was at large when Hidden Talent concluded. Monkey Fist got away at the end of *the previous episode*. Only DNAmy was heading for prison the last time we saw her, back in Partners.
Putting aside the unlikelihood of the coed lineup we see here, has Team Possible had a bunch of adventures we haven’t seen in which they rounded up this proto-Legion of Doom? Or has someone else (Global Justice? Team Impossible?) been busy capturing Kim’s adversaries? And would Europeans like the Seniors, Killigan, Dementor and Monkey Fist all be jailed in an American prison? It’s a good final gag, but it does strain credulity a little more than usual.
(There are a couple of subtle touches here: DNAmy sits next to Monkey Fist ala Partners and the upcoming Gorilla Fist, while Drakken sits just about as far away from her as he can per his “Never again!” vow in Sick Day.)
Anyway, the Seniors will apparently make bail/plea bargain/get a *really* pricey lawyer and be out scott free by the next episode. Drakken and Shego will no doubt not bother with legal niceties and just escape by the episode after that, and the rest will scale those prison walls one way or another by next season. Meanwhile, Ron’s new found confidence will lead him into some trouble in the next couple of episodes…but we’ll cross that bridge when we reach it.
GH
————————————————
cloudmonet
Blue Fox
****
Joined: May 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 776
Location: area 101, northern california
« Reply #628 on Aug 19, 2005, 4:17pm »
Hello hello hello, can you hear me now,
or am I losing you, gotta reconnect somehow...
--the Oh Boyz
Keep these words in mind as we go through some hard times for Kim/Ron shippers. Last we saw of Kim and Ron, Kim, on instant rebound from Hirotaka, gave Ron the best hug we've seen him get from anyone so far, brief though it was. So now we're going to see an extended period of at least intensified friendliness a la post Ron and Zita?
I thought the soap opera would be taking a break, but not at all. A close look at this episode reveals just how out-of-sync Kim and Ron are. But why? Everything seemed to be going so well.
For the sake of a happy ending to "Exchange," there's no clue there-- and for the sake of focusing on the new episode's plot, there's no clue here. Not until the sequel to "Exchange," "Gorilla Fist," do we get the answer, and since that's an awfully long time to wait, I'll mention it here:
Kim: "I knew he crushed on someone in Japan!"
Ron, because of the secrecy vow, tells Kim nothing about Japan. Kim concludes he's hiding a girl-- actually, there was one, but that's not the reason for Ron's silence. Kim, never one to say much about her feelings, edges away from Ron. Here she was, finally ready to open herself up to him after two intense romantic disappointments, and he's keeping secrets from her.
So we see Kim with a bunch of girlfriends, coming to her house to watch an Oh Boyz concert broadcast on her big TV. Ron, meanwhile, is warning the Tweebs, who are watching Pain King and Steel Toe slamming each other, that the girls are coming.
Who are Kim's friends here? Monique (of course) and three cheerleaders-- Jessica, Marcella (with mole), and Tara. Welcome back, Tara. What were you doing while everyone else was crushing on Hirotaka? Was that you and Mankey hiding in the shadows? Are here they are, squealing and screaming like Beatles fans in 1964. Trust me, I was there. I remember.
Kim's mom walks into the room and starts watching the concert, trying (without complete success) not to embarrass Kim, and buys Kim tickets to an Oh Boyz concert a week later.
By this time, the Oh Boyz are done, stick a fork in them, for everyone but Ron. Even in today's world going from the top of the charts to nowhere in a week is a bit of satirical exaggeration. Andy Warhol, take a bow. Here's Kim cringing, at the thought going to an Oh Boyz concert.
I hope she's not cringing at the thought of going with Ron. But look here:
In particular, look at Kim's hands. We've seen her ride with Ron with her hands on his waist, or on his shoulders. Here she's actually got them pulled back behind her. This can't be an easy way to hold on. Is she that annoyed at Ron?
And at the concert, no sooner do they sit down, when Ron gets up to go backstage and bother the stars. This has gotta be the least shippy "date" in the history of their friendship! The Oh Boyz appear on stage to an audience of one Kim, and to her utter embarrassment, Ron's in the cage with Nicky Nick! Enter the Seniors, with an evil plot to make Junior a pop star, and the Oh Boyz and Ron are whooshed into the sky.
Kim: "They captured my best friend. This is way personal."
This is probably the shippiest moment of the whole episode.
Sure, Senior could have just bought Defteen Records, but he never does anything the easy way when he can do it the evil way!
Not only are the Oh Boyz parodies of fleeting fame, but they're parodies of pop star misbehavior. Their record company liason wants them to stay kidnapped. Can I sympathize with either the Oh Boyz or Roland? Well, Ron does a far better job redeeming the Oh Boyz than Kim does with Roland, so I'll go with the Boyz.
So Rufus makes a laser from Ron's discman to cut them out of the cage, the Oh Boyz and Ron dance past the lasers, just as Kim tickles her way free from the mutant octopus.
They've got Senior and Junior surrounded, but then the Oh Boyz notice Kim. "Who's she?" they ask, and Ron proudly introduces her as "Kim Possible, teen hero, cheerleader." Note. The Oh Boyz, one of whom used to date Brittina, seem to think Kim is a major babe on sight, and it's Kim the hero who seems special.
Kim, despite her recent disdain fro their music, succumbs to their charisma, and reverts to Kim the cheerleader at the wrong moment, all inarticulate and crushy.
Kim, you really don't want to lose focus in Senior's lair. It's loaded with rays of doom. No matter. A bit of acrobatics, and it's Junior who gets blasted. He's a bit baked looking, but no real harm done.
Last we see of Ron, he's at Bueno Nacho, with a slightly different group of Oh Boyz fans buying him sodas:
Marcella's gone, and Bonnie's joined the group. Ron hanging out with Bonnie here may explain a lot about the next two episodes, "Triple S" and "Ron Millionnaire." Ron admits to Kim he's just enjoying the status and girls while he can. Apparently he gets hooked on this sort of attention, and he'll be following clues from Bonnie about how to get it.
And Kim will start to get closer to him again, as "just friends" at first, if only to protect him from himself. What she's feeling on a deeper level will remain hidden for now, but I'll look as hard as I can. I may still be missing something.
I'm so glad "Gorilla Fist" came out (on DVD at least) before I had to interpret this episode, otherwise, I'd be at a loss to explain why they seemed so close at the end of "Exchange" and so distant now.
----
And now, the rogue's gallery, in a coed prison somewhere. Amy looks happy, Monkey Fist especially miserable, Drakken, Shego, and Duff just dumbstruck by Junior's performance, and Senior's actually smiling and applauding! Aww! He doesn't always put Junior down.
Whether Kim's foes end up arrested at the end of an episode, and how soon they get free again, seems a bit random, but possibly not beyond explaining.
Where would this prison be? Could Global Justice have a holding tank for supervillains awaiting trial? If so, it doesn't seem very secure, given how soon after this most of them will escape. Alternatively, their most recent crimes could have all been in the United States, so they're locked up there. Isn't kidnapping a Federal crime? And breaking into top secret labs?
Kim and Ron could have gone after Drakken and Shego after "Blush," or they could have got caught trying to rob a top secret lab. It's never said that only Kim can catch these folks, though anyone else overwhelming Shego would require numbers and surprise, I think. Monkey Fist could have gotten popped on his way out of Japan. Killigan, who knows? I've looked for Dementor in this scene, but I don't see him.
« Last Edit: Aug 19, 2005, 4:34pm by cloudmonet »
———————————————
GnuHopper
Guest
« Reply #629 on Aug 19, 2005, 4:32pm »
Sheesh, I must have poor reception on my television! I thought the guy between Killigan and Monkey Fist was Dementor sans helmet, but taking a closer look the, uh, hue of this prisoner it's quite obvious it doesn't quite match our Teutonic supervillain, does it? My bad.
GH
