[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWM3XZbL4fs]
Welcome back to the Wander Over Yonder episode roundup! And boy, do we got some good ones for this batch, including what is probably my favorite episode yet of the series. Let’s get cracking, shall we?
The Good Deed (1x03a)
Synopsis: After feeding a hungry rabbit, Wander accidentally sets off a series of events that puts the entire galaxy in danger.
Rating: ★★★★★
Wander and Sylvia are out on a desert planet just picking along when they come across a starving rabbit. Since Wander can’t help himself, they decide to stop and feed it with a carrot Wander finds hanging from a stick. The rabbit is perfectly happy after receiving this good deed, but the duck in a tuxedo who owned the carrot isn’t. He was using it as bait for his Hufflerumples (think of it as a Psychic Tandem War Elephant without the psychic or war part) move so he could get to his wedding. When the Hufflerumples runs away, Wander and Sylvia offer the duck a ride to his wedding…
…which isn’t actually his wedding.
He shouts for the wedding to stop and declares his love for the bride. She says she loves him too and they run off together. Wander immediately apologizes, but the groom says he wasn’t in love with her. They were just getting married to stop their families from feuding…
…And now the feud is back on.
Undeterred, Wander stages a one man court scene that gets so chaotic, the families agree to stop fighting. They fire their laser guns in the air as celebration, but the blast from one causes a city to catch fire. When Wander puts that fire out with snow from a mountain, it unfreezes a giant monster that attacks a town full of depressed pigs. Wander saves the pigs and brings them to a nearby mud planet. Sylvia assures Wander that everything is fine, but with the day Wander is having, he’s pretty certain that something could still go wrong…
…Which it does when a fountain of mud sets off a star bump that realigns the sun during Lord Hater’s fortune telling session and it annoys him so much that he decides he’s now going to blow up the sun.
“Off day” doesn’t even begin to describe how terrible Wander’s luck is on this particular day.
Wander is so upset that he decides he isn’t even going to try to save the universe, but Sylvia talks some sense into the little orange muppet hippie and in a supreme moment of awesome, Wander keeps Hater’s rocket from flying into the sun and destroys Hater’s ship with it instead.
So far, this is my favorite episode of Wander Over Yonder. With a series of ridiculous events, the episode turns the notion of “no good deed goes unpunished” upside down with “You start on the right path, you end up in the right place.” I was happy to see that good old Wander still came out on top in the end and didn’t even stop to help Lord Hater and Commander Peepers.
Plus, I can’t resist a good Hatfields and McCoys reference, especially if it’s coming from the long lost family of Fuzzy Lumpkins.
The Prisoner (1x03b)
Synopsis: Lord Hater commands Commander Peepers to catch Wander and to bring him to the torture room. Peepers manages to find Wander easily enough, but keeping track of him once he’s on the ship is a different story.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Have I seen this episode before? I feel like I have a million times on other shows. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just makes it kind of predictable.
Lord Hater, tired of being “outsmarted” by Wander, commands Commander Peepers to find Wander and take him prisoner. However, he warns Peepers that Wander is sly and more tricky than he appears. The little eyeball doesn’t believe him, especially when he easily finds Wander and brings him aboard the ship.
However, things go awry very quickly as Wander sets out on his own adventure to explore the awesomeness of Hater’s ship.
So yeah… you’ve seen this episode before. Antagonist kidnaps Protagonist. Protagonist ends up causing hilarious chaos to Antagonist while being oblivious to such. Antagonist suffers greatly in comedic way while Protagonist gets away happy, oblivious, and scot free. Tale as old as animation time.
Still, even with the predictable plot, the episode still has extremely enjoyable moments. Jack McBrayer’s voice as Wander is pure happiness as he explores the ship makes me certain that Wander is Pinkie Pie’s spiritual brother. It balances well with Tom Kenny’s manic stress as Commander Peepers trying to keep Wander under his thumb. Plus, I nearly lost it at Wander in Hater’s room that is clearly trying to impress chicks he’ll never get. Not the best episode, but still a lot of fun.
Oh, and if Apple does voice recognition next, I think “Lord Hater, #1 Superstar” will have to be my passphrase.
The Pet (1×04)
Synopsis: Wander and Sylvia find themselves on an abandoned spaceship that has been ravaged by a spider-like creature. Sylvia is determined to kill it and get out of the ship alive, but Wander wants to make the little guy his pet.
Rating: ★★★★☆
For nerdy parents watching this show with their kids, this episode is for you! Because it is a big ol’ reference to the Alien franchise.
Wander and Sylvia come across an abandoned spaceship that looks like a dead fish. It’s even belly up and all. Sylvia is understandably creeped out by it, but Wander wants to be sure that no one on the ship needs their help. If you haven’t caught on by now, Wander’s need to help people is the cause of many of this pair’s problems.
The two board the ship and the atmosphere is creepy and unsettling. I was definitely creeped out, and I know this show isn’t the type of show that’s usually creepy. There are acid burns all over the ship and signs of a struggle, but no crew members in sight. Sylvia finds her way to the captain’s quarters and watches the final transmission of Captain Tim before he was taken out by some mysterious creature. Sylvia rushes to find Wander, but sees that he’s fallen through the floor and is attacked by the creature. Determined to save Wander, Sylvia decides to get all Ripley over the situation.
Wander, meanwhile, is perfectly fine and is even oblivious to all the skeletons that happen to be around the lower parts of the ship. The creature tracks Wander down and tries to tackle him, but Wander quickly grabs him and begins gushing over how cute he is. Wander takes the creature’s aggression as playfulness and begins a game of hide and seek. The creature tries to find Wander, but Slyvia comes in and tries to shoot it, but is quickly outwitted by the creature. He nearly eats her, but he hears Wander calling for him and goes to find him.
As the creature tries to attack Wander, Wander finds the dog tag for Captain Tim in its mouth and assumes that must be his name. It isn’t really, of course, but Wander’s too sunshiny to realize otherwise. He begins to try and train Captain Tim, but Captain Tim isn’t having it and even tears up a bear that Wander tries to give him. As he runs off and Wander tries to find him, Sylvia stumbles upon the remains of the bear and thinks its Wander. Upset over the supposed loss of her friend, she activates the ship’s self-destruct and flies away in an escape pod. However, once she’s out, she looks over to the ship to see that Wander is still alive and very much in danger.
Slyvia makes it back to the ship and tries to disable the self-destruct, but the ship’s computer tells her there’s no take backs. Quickly, Slyvia pulls the most Ripley moment of the episode and gets in a giant exo-suit to find her friend.
Which she does!
They escape the ship with no time to spare and both are happy that the other is okay. This, however, is the moment Wander decides to reveal that Captain Tim is still alive and that he’s even managed to train him a little bit. That happiness is short-lived though when Captain Tim tries to rip out Wander’s still beating heart with his tongue. Ahh pet love. It stings.
Wander still loves Captain Tim though and doesn’t want him to be abandoned since he was determined to save whatever was on the ship. Sylvia asks the reasonable question of “who would want a violent, flesh-eating alien for a pet?”
Lord Hater, of course! And the two seem very happy together, which in turn makes Wander (and me) happy.
Part creepy, part adorable, and all extremely nerdy, ‘The Pet’ will probably go down as one of the best episodes of Wander Over Yonder. If you’re a fan of the Alien franchise, definitely give this episode a watch for all the clever references the team manages to sneak in while still being perfectly kid friendly. It even features some really cute songs from the Two Man Gentleman Band about best friends covered in blood. Make it a Halloween watch before your kids go to bed! Or just watch it for yourself. Wander wouldn’t judge you and neither will I.
English