It’s our 7th anniversary.
Yes, I’ve officially been running all incarnations of
Rage4Media for 7 years, I really need to get out more. And what better thing to
review to mark such an occasion than a Disney Channel Sitcom from 5 years ago.
I mean it’s not the oldest thing I’ve reviewed on an anniversary.
I’ve been hinting at this for a while, covering Lab Rats and
Mighty Med in some of my longest reviews (this one's longer), it’s time to cover Lab Rats: Elite
Force, the spinoff show of both Labs Rats and Mighty Med. The production
credits go to Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, the creators of Lab Rats. Initial
alarm bells ringing that neither of the people behind Mighty Med have
production credits, though Andy Schwartz does have a writer’s credit for a
couple of episodes and was a consultant throughout.
The show lasted one season of only 16 episodes, shorter than any season of either predecessor, so I’ll be covering every episode. I can’t promise I’ll be as in depth as an episode-by-episode retrospective but I will mention every plotline this show has, even if they aren’t part of a story or character arc. Yes, I’ve said in the past doing this would be spoiling the jokes but some of these plots are so asinine I won’t give them the dignity as being classified as jokes.
Let’s just get going with a recap, want the, well, not full
but less condensed story, check out my Mighty Med and Lab Rats retrospectives. At the
end of Lab Rats, Leo and Adam decided to stay home and do clean-up whilst Chase
and Bree moved to a new team. In Mighty Med, Oliver’s mother had just become
absolutely powerful thanks to the Arcturion space rock, she had defeated
several powerful heroes and escaped with the Arcturion.
Chase and Bree are shown their new headquarters, a penthouse
on the top of Davenport Towers in ‘Centium City’, and they’re shown their
new teammates, as part of a team Donald Davenport calls the Elite Force (Elite
Farce is more like it but we’ll get to that) it’s Kaz, Oliver and Skylar. So 2
people who are new with superpowers and one who doesn’t have any, what an Elite
Force…
So, why these 3? Well, apparently Mighty Med was destroyed,
we see a photo of its ruins. This, I think is supposed to be signal that the
threat they face is major, upping the stakes but I have a number of questions,
starting off with what the f*ck? Mighty Med was underground hospital, how are
the ruins above ground. Better yet, Mighty Med was on top of a real hospital,
how did that get covered up? Kaz tells us they have no idea who’s responsible
but they lost a lot of superheroes they knew.
If this doesn’t give you a sense of the largest issue, I’ll
just spell it out. THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT MIGHTY MED! The Lab Rats vs Mighty Med
crossover felt like a labour of love, this felt more like it was an obligation
to include the 3 leads, so they go out of their way to destroy everything else
about that show. I’ll get into more detail later but it’s not exactly a start
that earns favour with me. It’s established that Kaz has fire power, and Oliver
has ice powers. They can both fly, which is cool.
One thing to note about the opening credits. Chase is using
his staff. He never uses it in the show. Yeah… And then we rub some salt in my
already open wound. They weren’t at Mighty Med because they were off capturing
Bridget. And they succeeded? What a let-down! They do say she’ll spend the rest
of her life in prison, though I wonder where since Mighty Max would’ve been
destroyed along with Mighty Med.
We quickly move to the only other recurring set of the
series. This is unusual as both Lab Rats and Mighty Med had 4-5 recurring sets, this show
only has 2. This among other things implies to me the budget was restricted
quite a bit, further proved by the fact that this show only has 16 episodes.
Davenport hears a strange noise and calls the others to the
penthouse, which soon has all its windows smashed, lucky all that sugar-glass
didn’t hurt anyone, Kaz has it all in his hair. The people responsible left a
package, containing a flash-drive with a video message. And it’s 2 guys with
black skull masks. Seriously? These two losers blew up Mighty Med. If only that
were a joke.
Mighty Med had security drones, guards armed with sticks,
not to mention some superheroes who were at least powerful enough to fight a
little bit. And Horace, who can freeze people. Why didn’t they just have it be
Bridget who did this? Not only would that be a proper continuation of the
Mighty Med cliff-hanger but if the original actor couldn’t do it for whatever
reason, just have one of her Arcturion powers be shapeshifting and say she
morphed into a ‘more ideal form’ or some such sh*t that can be easily
mocked.
It seems they plan to wipe out all superheroes and then are
coming for Kaz, Oliver and Skylar. OK the conflict of the episode. Kaz wants to
search the city for the person responsible whilst Chase wants to think up a
plan. Kaz, you have no idea who the person is, what is the searching the city
actually going to accomplish? Everyone else sides with Chase because they’re
not stupid… And neither is Kaz, normally, immature certainly but not this dumb.
“I never thought being part of an elite force would mean
sitting around doing nothing”
Neither did I, Kaz, neither did I, but more on those episodes
when we get to them. Naturally, Kaz has run off on his own. Again, he has no
idea who these people are, and there are apparently 20 costume shops in the
city selling those masks, what are the odds he’s going to just bump into them?
We cut to Kaz who’s bumped into the villains, who unmask…
why did they even bother with the masks in the video? They’re Roman and Riker
(Booboo Stewart and Ryan Potter), sons of the superhero Rodissius. Kaz and
Oliver saved his life but at the cost of his powers and they decided the best
thing to do about that was kill all the other heroes…
And you want to know what really bites, this is one of the
series’ better episodes.
“You took away the one thing that makes him special, and
made him spend the rest of his life as a mortal”
NORMO, THE TERM IS NORMO! Do your research, jeez!
Bree arrives and is instantly attracted to them; she curses
her luck finding out they’re the bad guys. OK, none of you have the right to
criticise Chase’s social life. So, what ability allowed these two losers to
destroy Mighty Med, well when they hold hands they can form a massive vortex so
thank God Blue Tornado wasn’t at the hospital, I guess. They proceed to use
this power to do absolutely nothing as Chase, Oliver and Skylar arrive and
Chase gets pissy about Kaz’s attitude. Time and place, man! In fact the
argument gets so heated the bad guys get a moment to pounce and knock them all
out.
Knock them out, of course, and not kill them, these people
destroyed Mighty Med how again? There’s barely even damage to the set, and this
is a disposable one. They took Skylar whilst the others were unconscious. Time
for a lecture from Donald Davenport that feels entirely unnecessary, in fact
after giving them the base, Donald is entirely unnecessary. As for chastising
them being unable to work as a team, they’ve known each-other for a day tops,
they’ve barely been able to build a working relationship, and that blame does
not lie on Chase.
Still, because Oliver is able to see a detail Chase missed…
I genuinely don’t know how to respond to that, they discover that the original
video was recorded in a long-abandoned subway station.
"Shapeshifters naturally dwell in dark cavernous
spaces" – what comic did you read that in? And also, what?
We cut to Skylar and time for a game of ‘finish this
conversation’ hint: pick the most cliché.
“Well, well, well, Skylar Storm, looks like you lost this battle"
a) You won’t get away with this
b) Your shirt is on backwards
c) Yup, I’m in a cage you put me in, duh
“My team will find me”
a) No they won’t
b) I’m sure they will, but we have traps
c) I’m sure they will, but it’ll be too late, for
you
These aren’t even supposed to be funny, it’s just bad
dialogue. The others arrive and the two head off to the side of the set where
they could be easily blasted but obviously won’t be because they need to
perform their barely threatening cloud nonsense again. Oliver rescues Skylar
but the duo create a vortex around them, hoping to crush them with their
centrifugal force. Thankfully, Kaz has the idea to freeze them and that works.
Unfortunately, the time the take a victory selfie is enough
for the two to disappear. They decide their best course of action, since Skylar
discovered they don’t know where to find superheroes now Mighty Med is gone
(great plan to destroy the hospital, then) is to warn them and get them into
hiding. Here’s the problem, these guys aren’t big enough of a threat. They were
beaten and ran off with their metaphorical tail between their legs.
Speaking of Roman and Riker, oh yeah, the Daven-base has
been compromised and now the bad guys know exactly where they are, so Roman and
Riker plan to let them warn the superheroes and lead them straight to them.
Good job on the extra security there, Donald.
So that was episode 1 of 16, so glad I chose to review every
episode at once. But if you’re worried this show would have any sense of
urgency to it, let me they alleviate that fear now, this plotline isn’t brought
back up until episode 7.
Episode 2 addresses the idea that Kaz and Oliver are still
in training, naturally the self-appointed master of 3 bionic siblings he raised
in a lab is the ideal teacher and not say, any actual superheroes. On that note,
why did they come to Davenport for help? Surely some superheroes would want to
avenge Mighty Med? I know, I know, show has to happen but still… Also,
seriously how did they defeat Bridget? She definitely could use her powers
effectively.
There’s a subplot about Bree and Skylar bonding which
involves a lot of physical violence, apparently how sisters act on Skylar’s
home planet. I can’t think of any actual evidence that contradicts this but it
doesn’t sound right. Given her origins, I don’t really know Skylar’s people can
really have sisters but I digress.
Chase and Oliver work on another of Oliver’s powers, his cyclone fingers. Naturally this will never actually be used in battle, neither will Kaz’s yawn bomb. What’s the point of establishing this if you don’t then use it. Speaking of stupid things the episode does, Donald is knocked off the balcony and is clinging onto his giant bust
Oh no, says Chase, my father figure needs help and neither
of my two super-powered friends can be trusted to save him, if only I had, I
dunno, some kind of telekinetic ability I might be able to save him. OK, then
Oliver flies in anyway, gets himself stuck on the bust and Chase believes they
need to let Oliver have this victory because of confidence issues that have
been affecting his powers.
Also, I know Donald’s clinging for his life in this scene,
but f*ck him anyway. You expect a lot from someone who only just got powers and
have said nothing to be encouraging in any way. And because we’re on episode 2
and I haven't rambled enough yet, let’s mention something else. The musical score
is just the same score from Lab Rats. It’s another indication that the budget
for this series was tight. At least when The Suite Life continued into Suite
Life on Deck the music changed. After like 100 episodes, I am kinda sick of of this score.
It’s episode 3 and I guess at this point we have to address
the elephant in the room that is Skylar’s lack of powers. I hope I made this
point in my Mighty Med retrospective but for the sake of clarity I’ll
reiterate. Skylar is too powerful to receive her powers back without some sort
of twist. I’ll give them a crumb of credit that Skylar’s big character episodes
are written by Andy Schwartz, one of the co-creators of Mighty Med but
evidentially he forgot the rules of his own show or he was overruled on the
matter.
OK, another issue I’m going to have to address now, can you
please stop making fun of how ridiculous superheroes are? It’s monotonous, and
Lab Rats is hardly the virtue of realism either.
“I have been trying to get Skylar’s powers back for years,
so far no luck”
“Well, that’s because you didn’t have my vast scientific knowledge to help”
Whilst true, you know what he did have? The vast resources
of a superhero hospital including some of the most powerful and legendary
superheroes there were (in this universe at least) there were also I presume some
trained doctors there, at least I hope there were. In one of Chase’s first
signs of graciousness this season, he even offers to give Oliver the credit,
see how he f*cks that up later.
"If science applies and who knows what it does, because
let's call her what she is, a freak"
Chase has become nigh unbearable here, I swear he’s been
brought up a notch since Lab Rats, or maybe it’s because Adam isn’t there to
punch him. God you’ve made me miss Adam, what have you done? I mean she’s an
alien, you could’ve just said alien instead of the derogatory term.
Unfortunately, this also where the relationship between
Oliver and Skylar starts veering from occasionally creepy to predominantly
creepy. Saying he’s measured her legs many times. I’m going to rag about this
later, as it gets a lot worse and I’m barely 5 minutes into this episode
thus-far but bear it in mind for later.
Chase’s plan is to use a small quantity of coal to stimulate
her dormant cells to regenerate her powers. The same way doctors would need to use
kryptonite tipped items if they needed to operate on Superman, basically. Why
did none of the doctors at Mighty Med figure that out?
So want to know what Kaz and Bree are up to? Maybe doing
something about the at large supervillains who have put targets on the
superhero community. Ha! No, they’re pigsitting for their neighbour Mrs Ramsay.
Turns out Mrs Ramsay is a thief, with her pig being the trojan horse that
allows her in. Lot of faith in them being amused by a pet pig. I mean, it was a
hit with Kaz but, you know, he’s Kaz.
Chase and Oliver inject Skylar and choose to keep an eye on
her for side effects, which begin showing as coal veins show up on her face,
this is why vaccines have rigorous testing before they’re rolled out to the
public. It seems this may well be lethal, but it won’t be…
You know how this story should have played out? Chase
creates the serum, and injects Skylar with it, Oliver comes in she begins demonstrating
side effects. He recalls some comic or another and with his Mighty Med experience
and Chase’s help comes up with a solution that fixes it. There’s plenty of
comedy that can be drawn from that but also draws on the experiences, strengths
and weaknesses of both characters.
Oliver is a third wheel here; he’s offered credit but acts
like a jerk from it and crumbles the moment any technical questions are asked
of it. Matters get worse as her body begins rejecting it and begins coughing up
the coal as a vapor, that for some reason is lethal. Chase contains it in a
force-field but it’s already beginning to strain it, and will probably kill
Skylar faster, just saying.
If the gas escapes into the vents it could kill thousands of
people in the building. Oh no not… who else lives in the building? Apart from
Mrs Ramsay who is honestly no big loss. Chase’s only answer is to kill her…
Oliver refuses right until the gas starts escaping… Seriously, this show does
Oliver all kinds of disservice.
Skylar uses a blast to knock Oliver back and stop him as she
begins to inhale the gas and return to normal. She knows it was Chase that did
it and is annoyed at Oliver for trying to destroy her. At this point it feels
like Chase should interject but… [2023 Note: Also, Skylar is at somewhat heroic, she would understand if it was a choice between her and everyone else]
Skylar stops Mrs Ramsey with one of her 52 powers. Which
apparently, they just nicked from Horace since that’s his power they just
copied and all’s well that ends well, as if, 3 down, 13 to go.
So next episode, Oliver’s still annoyed at Chase, and
decided to put plates he accidentally broke back in the cupboard. In Mighty Med,
he was the smart one. Kaz’s younger brother Kyle is coming to visit. Credit
that in the episode of Mighty Med where Kaz listed his brothers’ names, Kyle
was indeed one of them. But only a crumb because in my opinion that was a
complete accident, there’s no notion of him having multiple brothers.
Kyle is more interested in the bionic siblings than Kyle,
who he believes is interning with them.
Kyle - “I can’t believe I’m sitting next to the Chase Davenport,
you’re my favourite bionic hero”
Chase - “I get that all the time”
Skylar - “Really, because I’ve never heard that. Seriously, never, not one time”
You haven’t really known Chase long enough to judge, Skylar.
That line would be better coming from Bree but of course it serves a secondary
function of alleviating Oliver’s spirits, confirming Skylar isn’t into him in
that way.
Kaz can’t just tell his brother about his superpowers
because the Superhero Code states that that’s a bad thing, as it would expose
the existence of superheroes to the public. By the way, Bionic heroes have been
public for a good while now, I’d imagine the public would just assume you’re
bionic, which incidentally is exactly what happens in this episode.
You know what, I need to put a count times Chase is a
complete douche in this show.
- Sitting back and watching as both Oliver and Donald Davenport were stuck
fighting for their lives
- Calling Skylar a freak
- Letting Oliver take the fall for the lethal blast that was his idea
- Going on the tour with Kaz and his brother, knowing that Kaz desired to bond
with him alone
4 so far, huh, could’ve sworn it was higher, but there’s
still time, right?
So what’s the other end of this episode? After the broken
plates debacle, Bree finds her tablet, broken, in the washing machine? She
thinks Oliver broke it and tried to hide it. Yeah but in the washing machine,
what? So she goes and berates Oliver who’s busy doing… you know what, I’m gonna save
that image for never. It might be me reading too much into it, but it seems this
show really wants to have a try at the adult jokes. But it isn’t clever about
it like Animaniacs.
Oliver doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about…
Meanwhile Kaz and his brother find their way into the room of weapons we’ll
never see used. Kyle locks himself behind an electric fence and because
changing a password is that easy, they’ve changed Chase’s password. If only
Chase could access the computer through his bionics. But no, Kaz has to use his
fire-power to get him out.
Turns out it was Skylar who despite having complete control
the last time she got her powers back, is struggling to control her powers
resulting in several bits of expensive damage, including the Tablet from
earlier. Yeah, but the washing machine? I don’t get this plotline, it’s played
relatively straight, so there’s not a lot of laughs here. Plus, it’s a story as
cliché as they come.
The compromise apology is that Bree helps both of them train
to master their powers. So glad we’ll see this exactly 0 times.
Episode 5, Need for Speed reintroduces us to Douglas. Donald
has gone, and I didn’t exactly miss him so Douglas is instated as the new
Den-Mother for the group. There must be dozens of Bionic teams [2023 note: Including presumably one with Daniel, his bionic son] they can’t all
have a den-mother, and this team is supposed to be an Elite Force. Hal Sparks
won’t be appearing on-screen again but he still directed a couple of episodes
so his presence isn’t entirely lost. And to give this series credit, both
Bradley Steven Perry (Kaz) and William Brent (Chase) also get to test their
mettle behind the camera. I do like the young talent getting opportunities
beyond the role they play.
Anyway, his first order of business is to design the new
mission suits. We’re 1/3 of the way through the series at this point and
spoiler alert, they end up looking like they do in the opening credits. Nothing
wrong with them, very fitting to the Lab Rats aesthetic when it comes to
mission suits, with the blue being a nice touch but Edna Mode they ain’t.
So whilst the debate over the mission suits is going on,
let’s talk about the Bree and Skylar plot. Bree is offered a commercial deal
for a new line of sneakers. Skylar scoffs at this, telling her she’s selling
out and the show sides with her, I think. I do not, however, in fact I have
some choice words about this. But more on that in a minute
Bree starts showing off and Skylar has to rescue a child
from being crushed by her. She’s offered a part in the commercial and being the
A-class hypocrite Skylar is (in this show, she really wasn't in Mighty Med), she naturally accepts. Until Bree calls her out
for it, and she backs down. Then Bree claims to be the fastest and Skylar’s back in again, this all happens within about 1 minute by the way.
To settle this, we have a Superman vs The Flash style race.
It’s a race around the city which naturally is over with in seconds and they
both lose the deal since they were both cheating to win. In my opinion Bree
should’ve won that race, not because she’s morally in the right, though we’ll
get back to that but if Skylar outshines Bree in her one specialist area, then
Bree becomes essentially irrelevant. And I’m pretty sure Skylar can turn
invisible too so can’t fall back on that.
To bring it back to Superman vs the Flash, the race is a lot
longer, several laps of the planet so it’s not over with within seconds but the
truth is the Flash holds back as the races are for charity, he’s faster than
Superman by a long shot because if he wasn’t then he’d be irrelevant. This is
the biggest issue with giving Skylar back her powers, the sheer breadth of them
alone makes her more powerful than anyone in the group. Chase’s smarts might be
the only thing she can’t match, and we’ll get to that in a later episode. Why
does she need the team? Well, I do have an answer for that and comes back to
the ultimate hypocrisy, she needed to sponge off them for a place to live.
In the s1 finale of Mighty Med, when Horace revealed Skylar
would be kicked out of the hospital once she permanently loses her powers, he
reveals she tends to eat quite a lot. She was relying on the hospital and its
funds to have a place to live and eat, and whilst she occasionally contributed
out of boredom, she never attempted to find a role within the hierarchy of the
hospital to pay for her keep.
Bree’s endorsement deal means a fair bit to her. She’s had
jobs before but this is the first since she was outed as bionic. She can earn
her own money and not have to rely on Daddy Davenport. Skylar has been sponging
off a guy who she doesn’t even know, just that he has deep pockets. And Skylar realising
that she enjoys having credit makes no sense when she was the star of a popular
comic book, they had standees and everything. I guess the destruction of Mighty Med means the
death of Ambrose so goodbye comic book industry but still…
Episode 6: Follow the leader starts off very badly. Hello
Perry, can’t say I’ve missed you, even slightly. Remember back in my Lab Rats
retrospective I said straight up that I don’t like Perry, and that she
outstayed her welcome back in season 3. Here she is, ready to contribute
absolutely nothing and to stay for the remainder of the season. She’s only
actually in 4 episodes, but consider that Douglas is only in 3 episodes, and
Donald only in 2, and they have much more of a right to be here.
Thanks to Perry, Chase is trapped in the base for a mission
alert. And just like that we’re back to showcasing one of Lab Rats’ worst
tendencies, having the interesting stuff happen off-screen. At least Perry
remembers Skylar had a history as a comic book hero. Last episode seemed to
forget that information.
The mission was a total success thanks to Skylar who stepped
up as team leader. I mean, she does probably have the most field experience so
it makes sense but once again it highlights Skylar being better than the person who is supposedly the best at something. She also helps Kaz master a new ability we
never see, so isn’t that something.
In case you’ve forgotten, whilst this irrelevant p*ssing
contest is going on, Roman and Riker are apparently doing f*ck all since they
haven’t been seen since the first episode, but they’re still at large,
shouldn’t you be doing something about that?
Perry interjects into this, and Chase orders her to leave.
No, no, you’re not gonna make me feel sorry for Perry, never gonna happen.
OK, minor nit-pick but f*ck it, I don’t give a sh*t, when Kaz
and Oliver are playing a game of stack the kitchen appliance, don’t ask, Bree
comes and asks where the toaster is, it’s apparently at the top of the tower
above shot, except I can see a toaster in shot fairly low in the tower, also at
least 2 microwaves and 3 coffee machines. How much coffee do you guys drink?
Anyway, they get another mission alert and this time the
producers grace us with the ability to see it, Chase deliberately shuts Skylar
down in Mission Command, so add that to the list of horrible things Chase has
done this season. Thanks to Perry’s ‘expertise’ Skylar is able to find another
way around. But just as they emerge, more of the tunnel collapses, trapping
them and Chase. Hey Skylar, you can create wormholes, this shouldn’t be difficult.
But no, it’s apparently up to Bree, Oliver and Chase. Luckily their game of
expensive Jenga prepared them for removing debris from a collapsed wall without
collapsing the whole structure, it just makes sense, man.
Skylar discovered Chase’s actions but decides not to snitch,
knowing the feeling of losing herself, Perry on the other hand is more than
willing to resort to blackmail to ensure her place in future episodes. Chase
decides to step down as team leader and eliminate the position allowing anyone
to take charge when the need arises. This has benefits and drawbacks but it’s
at least a show of humility for someone who’s acted like a prick for most of
the season thus far. Hope you’re still with me folks, we’ve still got a way too
go.
Episode 7 – reminds us there’s still a plot going on. Thanks
to Kaz’s Mighty Med password, they’ve accessed a superhero social media, wait
shouldn’t Skylar have access to that anyway? With it they’re able to compile a
list of superheroes and their cover identities. Skylar notices that Crossbow is
on there and man is that a lame superhero name.
Apparently, Crossbow taught her everything she knows which
is news to me. Could they really not get one of the nearly 50 Mighty Med
superheroes to cameo for this role? You expect me to believe all of them died
with Mighty Med. It feels really forced. Anyway, Skylar wants to see her but
Chase warns her that that would pose a huge risk to them both. This forgetting
that, as I keep saying, Skylar is more powerful than God and could easily take
on the dipstick duo.
They send out a warning and whilst they hear back from a
number of superheroes who for some reason don’t want to try and fight them. But
Crossbow is not among them and Skylar’s getting anxious. And unlike the
previous moral dilemmas this one I do see both sides of, to an extent but
that’s more down to another problem this conflict has which I’ll get to in a
bit.
Chase is right that given Roman and Riker have already
infiltrated their base in the past, they likely have eyes on them and warning
superheroes directly could immediately get them targeted. On the other Skylar’s
not wrong that they’re already targets and it’s imperative the warning gets out
as fast as possible.
Oliver agrees to help her find Crossbow but it turns out Roman
and Riker have been watching them as birds the entire time. Riker is tasked
with getting the list whilst Roman goes to dispatch Crossbow. Lucky for Riker,
they just left the door open for him to come in, idiots. They find Crossbow
easily, and she and Skylar catch up and deliver the warning.
Unfortunately before they part company, Roman shows up.
Crossbow decides to face him alone and gets her ass kicked because he can
apparently pass some kind of charge through objects now. Oliver is knocked down
easily so it’s up to Skylar and… oh come on, you’re the most powerful person on
the planet and all you can throw at him is a few kicks and flips? This was
badass when she had no powers, now it’s just lazy writing.
Riker may have gotten into the penthouse easily, but he was
easily detected and detained. Bree, Chase and Kaz use cyber-cloaks to trick
Roman, but Roman isn’t an idiot either, threatening to kill Crossbow unless he
gets his brother back and the list. They agree to the trade and eventually make
it, but Crossbow destroys the list before they can use it, taking an energy
blast to the chest for her troubles.
Skylar remembers she has powers and is able to take both
Roman and Riker on by herself. These two are such pathetic non-threats. Anyway,
they both retreat but it seems like Crossbow may have paid the ultimate price.
It’s a sombre, sad moment that reminds us that whilst heroes may be powerful,
they’re still vulnerable and gives the villains a sense of… I can’t even finish
this sentence, even when she’s supposed to be dead I can see her breathing. I
mean, credit where it’s due it’s Kaz and Oliver remembering an obscure comic
book detail that can save her, and that’s a rarity in this show, but still, I
feel this one might’ve been better if she’d stayed dead.
It seems all the superheroes have received their message
“But Roman and Riker are still out there and something tells
me they’re not giving up”
This is their last appearance. They report to their boss and
hideously overacting father, Rodissius (Eric Steinberg). So, did the loss of
powers also result in him losing all empathy, and sanity for that matter. He
says it’s time to switch things up, but I guess this must be happening 9
episodes from now as that’s the next time this plot thread will be brought up.
I don’t mind overacting villains but he has nothing to back it up, as it’s been
stated he has no powers.
There is a 2-parter between then and now which seeks to tell
more of a story but in the mean time it’s more of what you’d expect from Lab
Rats.
So, first in the line of meaningless shit is episode 8:
Coming Through in the Clutch, aka we need to tie in the 2016 Olympics, that
won’t date this at all. Oliver is excited because his weightlifting hero, Clutch, is in town. Dude, you know people who could bench-press a bus, scratch that, you
can bench-press a bus. Plus, how does Kaz not know this? I know he’s not always
attentive but it’s something he could make fun of, he never misses those
details.
Chase says he always wanted to compete in the Olympics but
his bionics give him an edge. I dunno, it feels like the Olympics would be more
Adam’s field than Chase’s, Bree's too, I guess, since she can run fast. Chase’s
bionic abilities don’t really mesh well with sports. Apparently, he thinks he’d
be good at fencing... OK, point Chase I guess.
Oliver tries to get through the crowd because he thinks he
can’t be seen, you’re holding a giant sign, you’re not easy to miss, he hands
said sign to Kaz. Clutch notices the sign (big shock there) and thinks Kaz is
the one who made the sign and offers him to be a spotter. Rather than be a
decent human being, explain the situation and give the spot to Oliver, Kaz of
course accepts.
Chase and Bree discover a kids Olympics happening somewhere
else in the park, gotta make the most of this set, this is its 3rd
appearance. And they discover Bob… ok, so Tasha’s gonna be in a later episode
too, how come there are so many Lab Rats Cameos and yet nothing from Mighty
Med? And if you really want me to believe every superhero from the show was
killed, there were other characters too, can’t tell me Wallace and Clyde were
at the hospital, or if you’re desperate, Gus could make an appearance.
“At night you sneak into my bathroom and collect pieces of
my hair?”
“No, not always at night”
Here we go… F*ck the character assassination of Oliver that’s been happening
this entire season. More on this later, though. Apparently, Clutch has been a
motivator for him getting better with his powers, something we’ve never seen
before and never will again. Either way aren’t there… actual superheroes you
could be inspired by instead?
Do I have to do the ‘cheating is wrong’ part of the episode?
It’s such a time-waster and it’s a moral that belongs on a show for
4-year-olds, this show is for 12-year-olds, says the 28-year-old angrily
complaining about it. I’m too deep in now, ok!
Oliver has to come to Clutch’s aid when he can’t lift a
1000lb weight. The current weightlifting record is 1067lbs, so Clutch is
officially a lightweight, pun absolutely intended. In Oliver’s excitement, he
accidentally drops the weight onto Clutch’s toe.
Skylar has an idea to help Oliver, and she abducts Clutch
from the hospital, hoping Kaz and Oliver could fix him the way they fixed
superheroes. Oliver doesn’t want to be involved, since he’s not a superhero.
Because revealing all their technology might expose the existence of
superheroes? Because they no longer have access to Mighty Med's advanced equipment or the guidance of Horace or the other Doctors? No, that would make sense, he’s worried because he doesn’t know
anything about fixing broken bones, how sh*t a hospital was Mighty Med? For a
record they do find a way to heal him and I’ll give credit where its due, this
plot is heaps better than the one with Bob in it, and Bob is one of the better
parts of that sub-plot, plus let’s add another to the tally of horrific things
Chase does this season, cheating for Bob by stopping a little girl from winning
a running race.
So just when you think things couldn’t get any worse, we’re
introduced to AJ, a 10-year-old child who can hack Chase’s bionics. OK, let’s
rewind a bit, episode 9 – The Intruder. After some shenanigans it’s decided for
there to be a boy vs girls contest where the girls will inevitably win because
that’s how this always goes. What’s the challenge, you ask? Not using their
powers of course. Chase immediately uses his powers and is disqualified.
Douglas and Chase are in the Command centre and found that
one of the doorways out was left open, and security has been scrubbed. Turns
out it’s the work of dear little AJ
“Are you gonna put the gun down, or are you scared of a 10-year-old kid?”
I mean, you could still be a shapeshifter so… I’d keep the gun ready, just in
case. I swear to god they do everything to make him the most obnoxious kid
ever, and it’s mostly down to his delivery. I can’t blame the kid, he’s just
doing what he’s told, but the director has an impressive number of Disney
channel shows under her belt, so I can only imagine this was a deliberate
choice.
This whole scenario is perplexing to me. Usually when kids
like this show up, the producers are concerned their heroes have grown out of
the target age demographic and bring in a younger kid for the kids to relate
to.
Now, I’m pretty sure this has never worked, but it’s even
more bizarre here, we’re past the half-way point of the season at this point,
and he’s only in 2 episodes, neither of which factor into the Roman and Riker
plot. Maybe they were testing the waters, hoping if he’s popular to give him a
larger role if the show was renewed for season 2, then why make him this
annoying? Are they satirising the idea? If they are, he should’ve been done
with after the first episode.
So, Oliver is watching a video of Skylar gargling mouthwash,
and has been secretly filming her… We’re very nearly at the point where I’m
going to vent about this, not long now...
So thanks to AJ’s careless disregard for what a 10 year old
is smart enough to do, Chase’s bionics are glitching and his magnetism app is
attracting everything in the room. They head upstairs and there’s actually a
question of Kaz and Skylar, the only 2 in at this point not helping Chase
because of the bet. You guys are bad superheroes.
Next episode and the ‘Elite Force’ are coming back from
watching a movie with AJ, aren’t there currently 2 exceptionally dangerous
criminals on the loose you could be tracking?
Skylar - “This morning you offered to be the milk in my
cereal”
Oliver – “Offer still stands”
What does that even… Oh my god, that’s gross. I mean I’m not imagining what
that means right?
Can’t get that image out of your head now, can you? OK, I’m
at my limit with this, so let’s the address the creep in the room. Oliver in
Mighty Med was smart, loyal and brave. Sure he was awkward and his attraction Skylar occasionally veered into creepy, but most of the time it was incidental like
him not minding being trapped in a tight space with Skylar, for example.
Oliver, despite some episodes trying to claim otherwise, was
generally heroic but let’s give compare and contrast moments from the two
shows.
In Storm’s End – Skylar has defeated the Annihilator and
plans to rule the universe with corrupted superheroes, with her vast power set
she seems nigh unstoppable and most are thinking that the only way to stop her
is to kill her. Oliver argues against this, wholehearted and comes up with a
solution to turn her back to normal, putting his own on the line to do so.
In Power Play – the formula that Chase is using has resulted
in Skylar exhaling toxic gas that could kill everyone in the building. Chase
has a device that could end the threat instantly by killing her, Oliver grabs
the device, wanting to stop Chase from using it but the moment his force-field
breaks, Oliver charges at her with the device shouting “That space witch is
going down!”
These don’t feel like the same character. Maybe this
could’ve worked if Oliver got close to using it but couldn’t bring himself to,
but that’s not how it played out, it was an excuse to have Oliver be in
Skylar’s bad graces, despite the fact that Skylar isn’t an idiot and probably
would’ve been okay with it had she been alerted to what the scenario
actually was.
Oliver is more selfish, significantly dumber in most
episodes, and worst of all, the creepiness has been ratcheted up. The
creepiness is not funny, they know that because they never actually show him
doing all the creepy things. But they overlook a particular problem, we’re
supposed to be rooting for them to get together. How do I know this? Because
they get together at the end of the next episode. But with the way he’s been
acting, I wouldn’t wish him on anyone.
Back to the plot, it’s revealed that AJ knows that Skylar’s
an alien, well no sh*t, she was in comic books, and that Kaz and Oliver touched
the Arcturion space rock. OK, maybe he read the Quimby Fletcher book that
featured the Arcturion, but how the f*ck does he know it grants superpowers, or
that it’s even real?
Oliver says he knows too much and they have to kill him,
only stopped by the others. I don’t have any more to say about Oliver, but just
to let you know, they introduced the memory wiping device from Lab Rats back in
The List.
So what trouble is AJ causing this week, well he’s created a
list ranking their powers and usefulness to the team and it goes as follows.
1. Skylar
2. Kaz
3. Bree
4. Oliver
5. Chase
OK… Skylar being at the top I get, she has the most experience and has 52 powers (and not 24 as this episode says, what the hell?). Chase being last I
get because that’s funny. But why is Oliver lower than Kaz? I can think of
multiple occasions where Oliver’s skills have been critical to the mission,
can’t really say the same for Kaz. Maybe its because we see them on so few
missions but still.
Chase and AJ are working on a hoverbike. You’ve worked with
Donald on this kind of sh*t before, why do you need AJ? Kaz reveals he’s been
hoarding a load of Mighty Med references which I think should look a little
more, exploded? The items including, to my utter confusion, the Arcturion.
Oliver assumed it blew up with Mighty Med, not sure how it would’ve gotten
there given the last time we saw it was in the hands of Bridget, who you were
off stopping when Mighty Med was destroyed.
Kaz and Oliver are tasked with taking it to one of
Davenport’s secure facilities instead of, I don’t know, have Skylar wormhole it
into a black hole where it belongs. Shame Phillip never got to do it, but hey,
there’s no need to get big-headed about it…
Oliver suggests gaining powers safely from the thing to bump
him and Kaz up the list… The only reason your mother isn’t dead from that thing
is because Cadusio saved her, and even if he’s still alive, he can’t do that
again and you’re willing to risk it just to bump yourself up a list. Who are
you and what have you done with Oliver?
Their attempts get them caught out but when the go to get
the Arcturion, they find it gone. They instantly blame AJ despite have no real
evidence beyond him being interested in it. You are going to try and make me
feel sorry for AJ, aren’t you? And dammit, it works, of course it does, he’s 10
and I’m not heartless.
Bree in fact has the rock and has opened its casing, she
missed the memo that if you directly touch the Arcturion, it kills you. Skylar
fires a blast to stop her but it deflects off the Arcturion and Bree is hit by
the rebound. OK, Bree snapping and wanting more powers has been hinted since
Need for Speed and Skylar does have most if not all of Bree’s powers. I wish
they’d done more but it’s not out nowhere is what I’m saying. But she was in
the middle of the list, I’d hardly call that near the bottom as she
claims.
Unfortunately, the blast did some damage and Bree faints,
and as the boys are off dealing with AJ, it’s up to Skylar to save her. Being
an alien she’s able to touch the Arcturion and transfer some of its healing
powers to Bree. This has the consequence of stripping Skylar of a few of her
powers, and it’s here at episode 10, 7 episodes after she got her powers back,
we finally get a twist that stops Skylar being invincible. And since the twist
is the loss of an undetermined number of unspecific powers, it’s not that great
a twist. Still, they can at least justify her not being an all-powerful god
now.
And Bree gets the powers she was looking for, an incendiary
touch and a proton ring. She elects to keep this between her and Skylar for the
time being. And with that we can say goodbye to AJ. Goodbye AJ…
Home Sweet Home is a 2-part episode and in Lab Rats
tradition, that means a more story and/or character-focused episode. Amazing
how it’s the only one of the season, and not related to the main narrative.
Instead, it’s an episode about Skylar’s origins. And it starts off with a
legitimately funny joke where Oliver embarrasses himself trying to flirt with
Skylar in a way that doesn’t come off as creepy. Who would’ve guessed this
episode was co-written by one of the guys behind Mighty Med?
So Skylar’s friend from afar, Scarlett has come to visit.
The dialogue between Skylar and Scarlett is refreshing, it’s some of the best
dialogue with Skylar we’ve seen so far. But it’s quickly revealed that Scarlett
has ulterior motives and wants to bring Skylar back to Caldera. She eventually
succeeds, knocking Skylar out and worm-holing back to Caldera.
Skylar wakes up in a prison cell. She’s told that there’s
been a civil war between the old leadership which believes in altruism and the
new leadership that believes in selfishness, Scarlett is part of the
opposition, who now control the planet. The cell Skylar’s in neutralises her
powers.
Oliver is naturally suspicious of it, and despite this
episode doing so well we had to get one final Oliver creepy notion as he went
into her room to see that she hasn’t packed anything. On its own, I would’ve
just assumed he was suspicious and wanted to verify, but combined with
everything else from this season he is indeed, as he says, the Mayor of
Creepytown. Congratulations writers, you’ve just played yourselves.
They salvaged the wormhole transporter and atmospheric
regulator patches (yes, they remembered that) from Mighty Med, and head off to
Caldera to see what’s going on. They eventually find Scarlett with minimal
effort and Bree is able to defeat her with a proton ring, I can only imagine
she was caught off-guard because there’s no way Bree would win in a fair fight,
even with her powers, which she’s now revealed to Oliver.
They find Skylar soon after but are knocked out by an
earthquake or something as part 1 ends. And they’ve officially killed the joke
I complimented in the opening by the end when they reveal the song has a video
attachment. Oliver isn’t even there to be embarrassed anymore.
Oliver and Bree wake up inside the cell as part 2 begins. And
it’s revealed that the opposition leader (could be Scarlett, could be someone
else, how can I tell, all Calderans look the same, literally, they’re all
played by Paris Berelc) is going to use them to blackmail Skylar into joining
the opposition, who want to rule over the universe, so that’s fun. And it
works, Skylar claims it’s a small price to pay for saving them, but it isn’t
though. If the opposition start their conquest of the universe, and they’re all
as powerful as Skylar the death toll would be astronomical.
Still not convinced of her loyalty, she wants Skylar to have
her power to create wormholes permanently removed. That means that Oliver and
Skylar may never see each other again, or worse they may end up on opposing
sides. Skylar does agree to this and gets her powers removed. What’s occurred
to me is that this plotline is played fairly straight, especially in this half.
There’s not a lot of jokes. There’s still B-plot which I’ll get to in a minute
but it’s certainly in stark contrast to the rest of the show, not necessarily a
bad thing just different.
Bree and Oliver are released and say their goodbyes to
Skylar, no longer in possession of the wormhole transporter, Scarlett gives him
a portal home but Oliver insists that Skylar come with them and Skylar attacks
to defend him. Having had enough, it’s decided that all 3 of them are to be
sacrificed.
It’s at this point the B-plot starts to come together with the A-plot so
I’ll just summarise what that’s about. Chase builds a robotic girlfriend, she
likes Kaz, he does it again, she likes Kaz, rinse and repeat and now Kaz has 7
incredibly possessive robot girlfriends following him about. It’s actually
pretty funny, and character setup for something later but it’s largely
insubstantial so I’d been ignoring it up to now (though I don't think women were ever really fawning over Kaz). They got an email about the
others’ predicament and apparently had a spare wormhole transporter to use.
Just as Scarlett’s about to lower them into the lava, Kaz
and Chase show up. Chase goes to unlock their cage, leaving Kaz to fight
someone with 42 superpowers, he doesn’t lose which is frankly laughable and
Bree reveals she has a thermo-nuclear body blast which she uses, it does very
little against Scarlett. The robot girlfriends get to do a thing, then she trips and
falls into the lava. Bit of a naff ending but a solid build-up.
But we’ve still got a bit left of the episode to wrap things
up. And it’s this episode where Skylar and Oliver finally get together. I wish
I could be excited about it, and if it were Storm’s End where he equally took a
risk to help her, I think I’d embrace it, for all the baggage would’ve brought
at the time. But now… it’s left me cold. And it doesn’t help that the Oliver in
this 2-parter is the best written he’s been in ages.
It really makes me think this show could’ve used a bit more
of Andy Schwartz’ input, I’m just glad he got this 2-parter, the best story of
the season by a considerable margin. We’ll be back to our usual service
shortly.
Sheep-shifting is episode 13 and we’re almost there, I can
taste the finish. This episode is directed by Bradley Steven Perry aka Kaz. It’s
Halloween and Oliver is ditching the usual pranking with Kaz for a date with
Skylar. And Chase has grown out of pranking Bree, so it’s just Kaz. Chase
meanwhile seems to have remembered that dangerous shapeshifters are on the loose
and targeting superheroes, once again, 6 episodes after their last
appearance.
Meanwhile in the B-plot, oh good, it’s a Perry episode. This
time she believes its her turn to die because of a curse that befell all actors
in a show she was in as a child. I feel like Lab Rats has had Halloween
episodes where this could’ve come up before.
Chase has managed to create a shape-shifting formula and as
he leaves to find Earthworms to test it he does the dumbest thing the ‘Smartest
Man in the World’ could ever do, leaves Kaz with the serum. He drinks it but
when showing off to Oliver and Skylar he turns into a sheep, and since he now
has the mental capacity of a sheep, he doesn’t know how to change back and is
stuck. Wow, we’re 11 minutes into the episode before there’s an excuse for him
to be off-camera. Also, if this is true, why aren’t Roman and Riker stuck as
birds?
It’s at this stage the A and B-plots intersect, as Perry
thinks the sheep is part of her gruesome fate and, not knowing what’s going on,
Bree takes it away.
Cut to the chase, Perry doesn’t die and Chase’s formula is
only temporary, meaning Kaz is ultimately find and leading Chase to scrap the
project. Oliver’s first date with Skylar went ok so… there’s that. What do you
want from me? It’s an episode where Kaz turns into a sheep, I only have so many
jokes.
Game of Drones… Since Oliver and Chase were the smart guys
from their respective shows, I’d expect them to have more of a dynamic with
each other. I’d almost expect it to be where Kaz is jealous of their bond but
whilst this is the third Kaz and Chase plotline in a row, there hasn’t really
been a Chase and Oliver plot-line since Power Play. Maybe the dumb conclusion
to that plotline was designed to keep them at odds, but aside from some choice
words, it’s been relatively underused if that were the case. Oliver mocking
Chase for liking science feels off-form but why am I surprised at this point?
As the title may suggest, they’re tasked with making a drone
for a competition.
Meanwhile, we’ve got a subplot with Perry
She’s from a family of circus folk, who have all fallen from
a daring tightrope walk between 2 buildings, and you’ve already guessed where
this is leading. Imagine where the budget for this could’ve gone…
So Kaz has a bunch of bad suggestions for the drone and
Oliver points that out, but Chase is willing to agree, in public at least, he
plans to rebuild it to his own liking later. Yup, that sounds like Chase,
willing to let others take the fall if he looks good. Oliver tells Kaz about
this and I think you can guess where this is going already. At least he had the
good sense to show Kaz the security footage so at least there’s no confusion as
to his intentions here. So, we’re back at the park, which I think has been used
so many times it officially classifies as a main set, bringing their total up
to 3.
To try and beat Chase’s drone, Kaz and Oliver used one of
Donald’s but it’s an attack drone designed to eliminate threats. It’s AI
controlled because what could possibly go wrong and it begins with shooting
down all the other drones. Oh yeah, that. Chase revealed that after their
confrontation, he had a change of heart and decided to keep all the
modifications Kaz suggested in. Chase gets its to move away from the park and
land back at the penthouse, but it’s still active and Perry’s high walk
classifies as a threat.
Skylar is shot and winded before she can fly so it’s up to
Bree, but the high tech attack drone has one fatal weakness, being hit with an
umbrella. Bree turns around on Perry and inspires her to finish because the
plot needed an ending. And for what it’s worth, they actually do end with
Oliver and Chase agreeing to put all the nonsense behind them.
It’s a pity these episodes weren’t earlier in the season,
for the standards I expect of Lab Rats Game of Drones is actually on the higher
end, the last few episodes have been solid, in spite of Perry being in 2 of
them, I just wish we’d gotten here a lot sooner.
Next episode: They Grow up so Fast opens with the team
returning from their 10th mission of the week. Yup, that chestnut
again, do I even have to say it at this point. By the way, Roman and Riker are
still at large so maybe hold back on the self-congratulatory sh*t just a bit. Kaz
has a phone app that can age photos and Chase is upset at looking like Old Man
Steve Rogers at the age of 40. That app is bullsh*t and everyone knows it,
except apparently the smartest man in the world who immediately goes looking
into ways to reverse the aging process.
Tasha arrives with the baby, Naomi. Guessing Donald was not
involved in naming her, a good choice by Tasha there. And hey, we get yet
another Lab Rats cameo, still no sign of any Mighty Med Alumni. They couldn’t
even get Aussie Isaac to play Skylar’s pet Doringbosh. I don’t know he could’ve
factored into the episode, but it would’ve been something. Every time they need
someone related to the Mighty Med world. Be it Kaz’s brother, Skylar’s best
friend, a superhero, they just make a new one up, whereas the train of Lab Rats
fanservice just keeps on rolling (no matter how much we wish it would stop)
Bree is tasked with Babysitting and it doesn’t go very well,
the baby manages to get to mission command, where she tinkers with Chase’s
ageing device and turns into a teenager, and her clothes grow with her because
that’s just science. And of-course Tasha’s back from her me time pretty
quickly. Just be f*cking honest with her, it’s not the weirdest thing that’s
happened to her. She’ll be annoyed, sure, but at least they could desist with
the games she’s constantly seeing through anyway.
Not much to say here, it’s a serviceable, if flimsy, comedy plot.
But this show is called Lab Rats: Elite Force, I kinda want to see them do some
more superhero work. And I guess it’s that time as we’ve finally got to the
season finale, The Attack.
After some minor hijinks, Douglas comes in and tone shifts
to something more ominous. He claims the city’s gone quiet and there are more
police sirens than usual. I think this is the first time this show has
acknowledged that the police exist. And it gets supposedly stranger when Chase
arrives with a girl on his arm, Reese. You know he’s had girlfriends in the
past, right?
Douglas’ investigation confirms that acts of random
destruction have been happening all over the city, eye-witnesses on the news
saying it started with a mysterious black swarm, hinting that Roman and Riker
may well be involved. They suspect the plan is to use these acts to lure
superheroes out of hiding. Before they can warn superheroes using the network,
the whole city grid goes dark.
The team head out and, because she’s scared, Perry heads in.
Douglas heads up to the roof to turn up on the backup generator, leaving Reese
to suffer a fate worse than death. Being stuck alone with Perry. Destruction
seems to be coming from every direction and it soon becomes apparent to our
heroes that it isn’t just Roman and Riker but a lot of them.
They’re outnumbered and outgunned and Oliver is talking out
about calling in superheroes for help, but the concern is an even bigger attack
could be waiting if they do
“If these swarms take us out, they’re gonna have to come and
save the city anyway”
“That’s why it’s up to us to save the superheroes and the city”
They’ve really done a poor job justifying why these guys are
a threat to superheroes. Crossbow got taken down but she’s hardly the most
powerful superhero there ever was. The League of Heroes could theoretically
turn the tide here, and why they’re not involved in investigating the threat
when the first thing these villains targeted was Mighty Med is beyond me. I
can’t imagine the League of Heroes wouldn’t want to avenge their own, even if
without Ambrose’s comics, they may need to seek alternative funding.
Beyond that though, not only is the idea of superheroes
going into hiding because of a threat targeting them poorly justified, it just
doesn’t work. Superheroes aren’t going to stay back and hide because of a
threat, they meet the threat head on, for what is a superhero but someone who
puts their own life on the line to protect others.
Also, that line just doesn’t work, the second line doesn’t
counter the first. The swarms all converge into one giant swarm that easily
passes through Chase’s force-field as Rodisseus enters the fray. Back at the
house, it’s revealed that Reese may also have bad intentions as once Perry goes
off to pursue Douglas, she finds her way into mission command.
Turns out Rodisseus had 13 children (that guy got busy) all
of whom have his shape-shifting gift. 12 of them are out causing havok, but
it’s a diversion, as his real play is still for the list, and Reese is one of
his daughters, who played Chase to access Mission Command and acquire the list.
Kaz, Oliver and Skylar head back to stop her, and not Bree, who has super-speed
(does Skylar still have super-speed at this point? We don’t see her use it and
she comes back anyway) Bree gets a little payback for Chase by igniting some
kind of lightning blast and firing it at him.
Reese is hacking the command centre to get the list; Douglas
finds her but Reese is more powerful than Roman and Ryker combined and easily
incapacitates Douglas. The team arrive to find Douglas in a bad state, the
Superhero List gone and worse, their access to the Superhero Network has been
lost so they can’t warn them. Reese recovers her father as Chase declares war,
and yes that is seriously how this series ends. With the Elite Force’s total
and utter failure.
This feels like the first half of a 2-parter that never got
completed. Did their budget get cut and they had to scale back? Were they
hoping to continue this thread in a second season? Either way as a fan of
Mighty Med and of Lab Rats, this ending stings.
How would I have done it differently? Well, if we’re stuck
with the general plot of the episode, have it that when Chase discovers Reese
is intending to steal the list, allow him to remote access Mission Command and
wipe the data, the price of that being they no longer have the data either, so
there’s no warning the superheroes about the next attack. They could feasibly
have an action scene where the others have to hold off Rodisseus’ children so
he can complete the wipe, rather than have them all just disappear for no
reason. At least then they would’ve achieved some semblance of victory, even if
it came at a price for Douglas (Reese said he’d have a permanent scar, but we
don’t see it)
I’m not a huge fan of a show ending on a cliff-hanger, and
whilst Lab Rats and Mighty Med had this in some seasons, it was never the
payoff to something built up over an entire season. It makes the Elite Force
look bad, and frankly that’s a consistent problem with this show. The Elite Force
think they can be the last line of protection, but they’re not an Elite Force,
they’re an Elite Farce. They’re petty, they bicker, they spend more time trying
to go through the ins and outs of living together than actually doing missions.
Or at least that’s how it seems because all their missions happen off-screen.
This mattered less in Lab Rats because it had Leo as the
defacto POV character, it was his journey, primarily, that we were following
and it made sense that he wouldn’t see every mission. Also, generally the conflicts were lower-stakes and didn't have a ticking clock element.
And yes, I do know that a new team is going to some time to
figure out their dynamic, and the adjustment will involve some of what I stated
above, but maybe the solution would be to make the threat smaller. Give them
some semblance of a victory before you pull the big guns on them. They win
against Roman and Riker but they always get away so it’s a hollow victory. And
their defeat of Scarlett doesn’t count since she fell into the lava without
them actually doing anything.
They needed to introduce more low-scale antagonists or at
least have a training room set where the group could practice using their
powers in battle.
Maybe I’m judging a lot on what I wanted the show to be as
opposed to what it actually is. I’m not expecting a Marvel movie-style
spectacle, this is still primarily a sitcom that relies mostly on physical sets
but they promise a lot with a Mighty Med and Lab Rats crossover, and this fails
to deliver on almost every aspect. There are a lot of funny jokes, I’ll grant
them that. Not every joke lands but that’s hardly unexpected, the problem is
any sitcom can have funny jokes. The hero aspect of the show has always been
what sets it apart, and it’s the weakest element here, weaker than it ever was
in Lab Rats or Mighty Med.
I reckon some of the problems are down to budget, it
certainly seems like this show didn’t have the budget either of its
predecessors had, they used a bare minimum number of sets. The CGI work was
more minimal despite the larger power array and just simply the lower episode count.
Despite having Andy Schwartz as a consultant throughout, it
felt like they simply didn’t care about Mighty Med, from destroying the
hospital, to never bringing in any show alumni to the blatant continuity errors,
to the fact Skylar never utters her catchphrase, in stark contrast to the
labour of love the original crossover was, maybe they needed Jim Bernstein on
the show too.
Why wasn’t it renewed? When it comes to ratings, the show
never reached the highs Lab Rats got during season 4, despite the Lab
Rats/Mighty Med crossover achieving the highest Ratings of their respective seasons. It had
similar ratings to Mighty Med during its second season (again, excluding the
crossover) but ratings aren’t everything, especially in the age of steaming,
and often a show is renewed for a second season early on so they can minimise
the delay between seasons.
My theory is that there wasn’t confidence from up above that
this show would be a hit with audiences, maybe they felt the older cast
wouldn’t connect with the target audience. Maybe that feedback midway through
production is what led to AJ. I can’t say for sure, but it may well have been
for the best, this show overpromised and underdelivered.
Rage Rating 253%
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