User blog:AustinDR/Episode XCIX (Review)

OK....episode 8. Dang it, Adultswim, did you have to go and do this? I owe money to my Dad now! That's how bad you've gotten! Seriously though, this was also another good episode, but I find it less memorable than a few of the other episodes in Season 5. While on the quest to destroy Aku, Jack and Ashi are caught in a sandstorm, forcing them to take refuge in an abandoned spacecraft. However, they find themselves being hunted by one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe: leeches.

Now the episode had a few laughs here and there, my favorite being when Jack's head turns into a fish after he ate alien-looking food (don't worry, he gets back to normal). Of course, there's also those few times where Jack felt awkward around Ashi, such as when the leech aliens eat through her leaf clothes, and Jack is distracted by it. That, and for once Jack's gi doesn't get destroyed. Besides that, I also liked the suspense in the episode. It reminded me of movies like Alien and the like. The monster is also pretty cool: basically, it's just a pile of leeches that come together to create a larger, more intimidating creature.

The rest...sigh. I knew going in that Jack and Ashi's relationship would be expanded, and was therefore not surprised about the two kissing each other. Well, I wasn't expecting the song "Everybody Loves Somebody" to play during that scene through the credits. I was going to save my opinion on their relationship with a previous entry, but I consider it a moot point now. Originally, I was advocating a father/daughter or mentor/student-style relationship, mostly because it was pretty obvious from the beginning what route they were going to take the relationship. I had several reasons as to why I wanted a father/daughter relationship. For one, Ashi was raised to be a cold killing machine. As such, her mother forbade "distractions" like affection and the like, so I came under the assumption that Ashi wouldn't be able to conceive what love was. Besides that, there was that time when she and her sisters were in the woods searching for Jack. They see two deer showing affection to each other by nuzzling their noses, but they expressed disgust at that display. With Jack, he told Ashi the story of how the stars were formed (according to his mother) which is akin to a father telling their child a story, and the way that she cried out for Jack to me felt more like a broken child calling out for a parental figure and/or substitute. With the age difference, I had no problem. I mean, Jack stopped aging biologically, the only difference being that he has the mentality of a seventy-year old or whatnot.

Ultimately, I felt that the ending was a little rushed. Sure, they had a few moments of being awkward with each other, and constantly apologizing for minor things, but I felt that the development wasn't fleshed out more. I do understand Ashi coming to love Jack - especially after hearing and seeing all of the heroic endeavors he had done - but I don't feel fully convinced on Jack's part. What made Ashi stick out to him? I mean, she did make him believe in himself again, so I guess that's it. Or because she was E X T R A  T H I C C. Whatever the reason, I felt disappointed by being proven right from the beginning.

Other than that, it was a good episode. It's not my absolute favorite of the season thus far, but it wasn't terrible. Two more episodes left.