Now, here's a battle thread opponent for Jet and Spike.
Well, there’s a LOT to comment on for this one. So much so that I need to load the clip for another bout of rapid fire...
- Wouldn’t you have just loved it if they started playing that tape and saw grainy, black and white footage of a well, followed by a flickering ring? What do you think -- would the Bebops’ crew be any match for Sadako?
- The hilarious thing about this episode is that most kids today would probably consider Beta tapes to be as exotic an antique as these far-flung-future characters do. My family actually had a Beta when I was a wee lad and, wouldn’t you believe, most of memories of those tapes actually do revolve around them jamming, unspooling and getting all garbled on the TV because the tracking was off. Actually, I imagine the same situation applies to laser discs, now, too.
- Some of you might interested in knowing that the point the collector was getting to when before he was cut off (and sheesh… weren’t Jet and Spike jerks to him?) was that the porn industry was what ultimately decided on VHS becoming the preferred format. I don’t know what the reasons were (better flesh tones, perhaps?) but their preferences carried over into the mainstream. Supposedly, that’s the same reason why Blu Ray ended up winning over HD- DVD in the latest “format war.”
So exotic... - Here's another really solid episode and a better example of a told-in-one. You get an intriguing hook, a caper (into the hallowed halls of the lost shopping mall!) and then a rather poignant final scene.
- Along that line, this actually had a lot of resonance for me. Faye goes to the horse races and I’ve been going to races since I was a kid (since Beta!) because my grandfather owned a ranch (and I had to shovel all his colts' manure!). And her time capusle video reminds me a LOT of the home movies my big sisters made in the 80s. It almost hits * SNIFF * too close to home. Honestly, this episode did much more to make her sympathetic to me than that whole one with her lost love did.
- I love how all the schmucks in this future have buck teeth. You think orthodontists would’ve eradicated that by then - - even for the terminally stupid!
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here & here .
Anyway, as to the episode its my favorite of the series. There is just so many little things that work well. The opening montage with the Faye's horse losing and Spike losing the fish. The tortoise and the hare delivery service with the tortoise arriving first. The 90210 bit at the video shop. The VHS Beta mix up. Faye giving up the horses by going to the dog track. Faye winning semi-big and then proceeding to blow it all. Faye being hurt by them going to Earth without telling her. Jet spending huge amounts to see what is on the tape. Spike opening the second package before Jet can refuse it. !3 year old Faye and the cuts on the video. Faye's reaction to the video.