Episode XXVIII: Jack and the Rave

"Episode XXVII: Jack and the Rave" is the twenty-eighth episode in the third season of Samurai Jack. This episode features Jack helping an inn keeper get his daughter as well as the teenagers of a village back from one of Aku's minions, a mind controlling DJ.

Plot
The episode begins with Jack trekking through a forest as the sun begins to set. He comes upon an alpine-looking town, yawning as he makes his way down the road to search for an inn. After locating the inn, he enters, only to find its proprietor sobbing loudly at the desk. Jack asks for a room, and the man shows Jack to it, pointing out its obvious features (the bed, the bathroom, the window). As the man leaves, Jack asks him what's wrong. The man simply replies with "The Music". After this, a techno beat is heard from the forest, followed by eyes appearing between the tree-line. Soon, a group of shadowy individuals ransack the town. Meanwhile, the man hurries outside, calling for his daughter, Olivia. The man, in turn, is attacked by the group, but Jack stops them before he's injured. As Jack prepares to fight, the innkeeper informs Jack that they are children, which stops him in mid-swing, only to be violently beaten-up instead. Before long, the brainwashed teenagers return to the forest as the music fades away. The man calls for Olivia, breaking down in tears as she leaves with the group. Jack is informed by the man that the group were innocent teenagers, brainwashed via a hypnotic techno record created by Aku himself. Jack makes it his mission to free the man's daughter, and the rest of the teenagers, from Aku's evil grasp.

After following the teenagers into the forest, Jack quickly tries to blend in by stealing the clothes from another passerby. Jack follows the group to a massive rave, and works his way through the crowd while trying to avoid being detected. His cover is nearly blown when he accidentally bumps into two ravers, but quickly plays it off by posing several Kung Fu moves as dance moves. Eventually, Jack makes his way to the stage, where the person behind the rave, DJ Stylbator, appears and greets his audience. It's quickly made apparent that he's a servant of Aku, and that he is controlling the teenagers with his hypnotic music. Jack covers his ears to block out the music, which he quickly substitutes for scraps of cloth that he uses as makeshift earplugs. All the ravers start to dance as one as the music overwhelms their free will, but Stylbator notices Jack among the crowd and orders his minions to attack.

Jack works his way onto the stage, climbing across scaffolding and fighting off the hypnotized teenagers while making sure not to harm them too seriously. Realizing he's overwhelmed, Jack reasons that the best way to stop this madness is to destroy the turntables producing the hypnotic sounds. He leaps onto the stage and kicks the DJ away, but Stylbator isn't about to let the party end. He begins firing energy blasts from his gold tooth. Jack dodges the blasts as the two square off. Jack orders Stylbator to end the music and release his slaves, but the DJ retorts that "Aku will never be silenced!". The two engage in hand-to-hand combat with Stylbator holding his own, but Jack gets the upper hand until Stylbator summons his DJ equipment to him in the form of a giant robotic suit. The fight spills over into a muddy ravine, where Stylbator viciously beats Jack. Though weakened, Jack looks up at the brainwashed teenagers watching the battle and keeps on fighting, knowing he can't leave them in Aku's hands. Grabbing his sword, Jack hacks the robotic armor to pieces, destroying it, knocking Stylbator unconscious, and freeing the teenagers from their enslavement. Jack tells them to go home, and never dance to Aku's music again.

Olivia returns to the inn, where her father is waiting. As the two tearfully embrace, the man thanks Jack for bringing his daughter home.

Credits

 * Written by
 * Chris Mitchell
 * Erik Wiese


 * Directed by
 * Randy Myers
 * Genndy Tartakovsky


 * Storyboards by
 * Chris Mitchell
 * Erik Wiese


 * Voices
 * Phil LaMarr as Samurai Jack
 * Kath Soucie as Olivia
 * Michael Patrick Bell as Olivia's Father
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as DJ Stylbator


 * Casting by
 * Collette Sunderman