S1E3: TNT For Two
Original Airdate: September 9, 1996
Episode Synopsis:
Continuing the trend of Vexor’s minions – Typhus, Noxic and Jara –enjoying food in the real world, we open to find them running through Charterville in search of scraps. They encounter a garbage man, scaring the pants off of him (literally), and proceed to start eating the contents of the dropped garbage bags. “We will find something to eat if we have to tear this whole city apart!” the monsters declare, in what has got to be the worst case of the munchies I’ve ever seen.
Back at Zoom Comics, the Drew and Jo work around the store while Roland is caught slacking off because that’s what happens when you employ children. “Sorry,” he says, “but the latest issue of Beetleborgs is so cool!” Trip and Van then enter and ask Heather out for ice cream. Jo, teasing them about last episode’s cowardice in Hillhurst Manor, tells them to watch out because they might be too afraid of the “hot fudge." Grandma Nano comes over and, being the responsible adult figure, reprimands Jo for making fun of the boys for rationally running away from a house filled with monsters and a creepy man who beckons young children. Just kidding! She actually helps remind the boys that they were the ones who dared the others to go to Hillhurst Manor, “and then you wimped out.” Who says bullying can’t be fun for all ages? The boys claim that they weren’t afraid but quickly run out of the store.
We then cut to the exterior of Hillhurst Manor, where we see Trip and Van hand a roll of money to two men. Trip tells them that he wants the house demolished. “You kids sure you know what you’re doing?” one of the workers asks, thereby teaching kids the dangers of unions. Trip tells them not to worry because “it’s been abandoned for years – nobody owns it.” Oh no, the Beetleborgs’ toughest enemy yet – adverse possession!
Inside the manor, Flabber sees the men approach with explosives in hand and begins to cry. Seeking help, he calls the other monsters to attention. Just to show you how committed to this blog I am, I even looked up their actual names on Wikipedia – Count Fangula (who drinks "Blood Lite"), Frankenbeans (heh), and Mums. We are also introduced to a fourth monster – Ghoulum – a large talking statue who somehow manages to be even more boring than a real statue. Flabber calls the troops together and declares “we need a plan!”
Back at Zoom Comics, Flabber suddenly appears in a box of basketball cards. Most annoying Upper Deck collection ever. He asks that the Beetleborgs return to the manor as soon as they can to held fend off the intruders. As they head over, however, they encounter Typhus, Noxic and Jara, who are now eating hot dogs from an overturned cart. Drew and Jo suggest that Roland use his super speed to go to the house while they hold off the monsters. Drew uses his mind power to lift a conveniently placed bowl of gumballs and spills them onto the floor, tripping all three. Jo then uses her super strength to push a street pole onto the three of them.
Meanwhile, the two-man demolition crew enters the house. Flabber sees them enter and sits on a nearby couch thinking about what to do, though I use the term “thinking” as broadly as one can and still cover a montage of impressions, dances, and cackling. Finally, he decides that he should put the monsters to use and scare them away! The men get closer to Ghoulum, which they realize is alive and begin to run away. We then proceed with a Benny Hill-style chase through various rooms of the house that's exactly as entertaining as it sounds. Thankfully, Roland shows up and is let into the house by Flabber, who explains that he's been “stressed” by the situation. He also realizes that Van is to blame and vows to “Flabberize him,” though he first asks “is that legal in this state?” Someone should probably tell him that "Flabberizing" children is the kind of thing that gets you onto a registry.
We cut back to more chasing until the men finally leave the house. However, Typhus, Noxic and Jara, apparently recovering from their near-decapitations, make their way over to the house as well. They see the leftover box of dynamite and, thinking that the sticks are food, decide to bite into them. Naturally, they explode in their faces, leading Typhus to comment that they have “too much of a kick for my taste!” They then see Drew and Jo join Roland in the house, and decide that they need to call in reinforcements – Magnavore Jets! The jets appear and begin firing on the mansion.
Ducking for cover, Drew realizes that if the monsters can call in help from the comics, then the Beetleborgs should be able to call for their own help –including the Beetleborg A.Vs! Using their Beetle Binders, the team morphs into Beetleborgs, and Drew calls in the Beetle Battle Base, which suddenly appears – and just in time for the holiday season! Inside, the Beetleborgs go into their respective machines – the Blue Stinger, Green Hunter, and Red Striker – and roll out.
We then actually get to see a decent fighting scene for once, with the Beetleborgs fighting and eventually blowing up the fighter jets. Meanwhile, Flabber transports the leftover dynamite elsewhere and sets a long fuse. The three monsters see it and follow the burning through a large field until they end up at a whole set of boxes of dynamite, which explode. Apparently we’ve discovered a fourth Beetleborg – Chuck Jones!
Back at Hillhurst, the Beetleborgs celebrate their victory with Flabber. Suddenly, Count Fangula enters and asks the kids to stay because – and I swear this is verbatim – “it’s not every day that we have a visit from three, healthy, attractive, warm-blooded children.” He chases the kids out as Flabber laughs on and I call Benson and Stabler.
Lesson of the Episode:Continuing the trend of Vexor’s minions – Typhus, Noxic and Jara –enjoying food in the real world, we open to find them running through Charterville in search of scraps. They encounter a garbage man, scaring the pants off of him (literally), and proceed to start eating the contents of the dropped garbage bags. “We will find something to eat if we have to tear this whole city apart!” the monsters declare, in what has got to be the worst case of the munchies I’ve ever seen.
Back at Zoom Comics, the Drew and Jo work around the store while Roland is caught slacking off because that’s what happens when you employ children. “Sorry,” he says, “but the latest issue of Beetleborgs is so cool!” Trip and Van then enter and ask Heather out for ice cream. Jo, teasing them about last episode’s cowardice in Hillhurst Manor, tells them to watch out because they might be too afraid of the “hot fudge." Grandma Nano comes over and, being the responsible adult figure, reprimands Jo for making fun of the boys for rationally running away from a house filled with monsters and a creepy man who beckons young children. Just kidding! She actually helps remind the boys that they were the ones who dared the others to go to Hillhurst Manor, “and then you wimped out.” Who says bullying can’t be fun for all ages? The boys claim that they weren’t afraid but quickly run out of the store.
We then cut to the exterior of Hillhurst Manor, where we see Trip and Van hand a roll of money to two men. Trip tells them that he wants the house demolished. “You kids sure you know what you’re doing?” one of the workers asks, thereby teaching kids the dangers of unions. Trip tells them not to worry because “it’s been abandoned for years – nobody owns it.” Oh no, the Beetleborgs’ toughest enemy yet – adverse possession!
Inside the manor, Flabber sees the men approach with explosives in hand and begins to cry. Seeking help, he calls the other monsters to attention. Just to show you how committed to this blog I am, I even looked up their actual names on Wikipedia – Count Fangula (who drinks "Blood Lite"), Frankenbeans (heh), and Mums. We are also introduced to a fourth monster – Ghoulum – a large talking statue who somehow manages to be even more boring than a real statue. Flabber calls the troops together and declares “we need a plan!”
Back at Zoom Comics, Flabber suddenly appears in a box of basketball cards. Most annoying Upper Deck collection ever. He asks that the Beetleborgs return to the manor as soon as they can to held fend off the intruders. As they head over, however, they encounter Typhus, Noxic and Jara, who are now eating hot dogs from an overturned cart. Drew and Jo suggest that Roland use his super speed to go to the house while they hold off the monsters. Drew uses his mind power to lift a conveniently placed bowl of gumballs and spills them onto the floor, tripping all three. Jo then uses her super strength to push a street pole onto the three of them.
Meanwhile, the two-man demolition crew enters the house. Flabber sees them enter and sits on a nearby couch thinking about what to do, though I use the term “thinking” as broadly as one can and still cover a montage of impressions, dances, and cackling. Finally, he decides that he should put the monsters to use and scare them away! The men get closer to Ghoulum, which they realize is alive and begin to run away. We then proceed with a Benny Hill-style chase through various rooms of the house that's exactly as entertaining as it sounds. Thankfully, Roland shows up and is let into the house by Flabber, who explains that he's been “stressed” by the situation. He also realizes that Van is to blame and vows to “Flabberize him,” though he first asks “is that legal in this state?” Someone should probably tell him that "Flabberizing" children is the kind of thing that gets you onto a registry.
We cut back to more chasing until the men finally leave the house. However, Typhus, Noxic and Jara, apparently recovering from their near-decapitations, make their way over to the house as well. They see the leftover box of dynamite and, thinking that the sticks are food, decide to bite into them. Naturally, they explode in their faces, leading Typhus to comment that they have “too much of a kick for my taste!” They then see Drew and Jo join Roland in the house, and decide that they need to call in reinforcements – Magnavore Jets! The jets appear and begin firing on the mansion.
Ducking for cover, Drew realizes that if the monsters can call in help from the comics, then the Beetleborgs should be able to call for their own help –including the Beetleborg A.Vs! Using their Beetle Binders, the team morphs into Beetleborgs, and Drew calls in the Beetle Battle Base, which suddenly appears – and just in time for the holiday season! Inside, the Beetleborgs go into their respective machines – the Blue Stinger, Green Hunter, and Red Striker – and roll out.
We then actually get to see a decent fighting scene for once, with the Beetleborgs fighting and eventually blowing up the fighter jets. Meanwhile, Flabber transports the leftover dynamite elsewhere and sets a long fuse. The three monsters see it and follow the burning through a large field until they end up at a whole set of boxes of dynamite, which explode. Apparently we’ve discovered a fourth Beetleborg – Chuck Jones!
Back at Hillhurst, the Beetleborgs celebrate their victory with Flabber. Suddenly, Count Fangula enters and asks the kids to stay because – and I swear this is verbatim – “it’s not every day that we have a visit from three, healthy, attractive, warm-blooded children.” He chases the kids out as Flabber laughs on and I call Benson and Stabler.
I guess parents were really trusting of their kids back in the day?
90's Reference of the Episode:
Creepy old men luring children to abandoned houses; vampire puns.
Joke of the Episode:
The two workers encounter Count Fangula, who says that he wants to drink their blood – “you’re just my type!”
Overall Review:
I am really struggling to describe just how freaking annoying Flabber can get. In a 20 minute episode, his antics take up at least 7-8 minutes, and his references – in just one viewing I caught John Wayne, Elvis, and Michael Jackson - probably caused more confusion than entertainment for kids. Also, the lack of parental supervision is getting creepier by the day.
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