I like Courage the Cowardly Dog plenty. No one stands out from the crowd more than John R. Dilworth. Though he was never able to land another series deal, that's actually perfectly fine. There can never be another Courage the Cowardly Dog, don't at me, I have great respect for John R. Dilworth, and this isn't gonna be undone through hypocrisy, as you may soon find out.
For a show as unique and creative as Courage, you'd be hard pressed to find an episode that people unanimously hate. Well, try as they may, they found one. Ball of Revenge. I remember watching this episode as a kid, I mean to be fair I was into Cartoon Network at this point, but it doesn't end there. Back when Cartoon Network made select episodes of their shows available on their website, this was the one episode I watched the most often.
So does that mean I need to rethink my nostalgia and view this episode the way others do?
Fuck no!
Yeah, sorry for having to play eau contrarian for the millionth time, but I have problems with this consensus.
First up, let's go by the reviews of this episode, and by reviews, I mean MrEnter's old Animated Atrocity on it. I remember following him back during his initial heyday, and I actually caught this when it was relatively new. Compared to what he is now, back then his initial style showed how gullible people were and that anyone can buy into bullshit if it's familiar to them.
But hold the bus, this review in itself can be considered controversial. It's as if he had that spirit back then, and managed to master it into this day and age, when people became so reliant on majority opinions that it is enough to usher in a new wave of authoritarianism. Either that or 99% of Turning Red's fans are mentally disabled.
I really have no reason to go back to Enter's older reviews. As someone who tolerates the glut of reviews by Irate Gamer and CNASN Game Reviews, it's saying something when I can't even stomach it.
I have nothing to say myself on the episode, so instead I'm gonna react to an article made on Terrible TV Shows wiki, which is like MrEnter's review of the show, only put to words, and it's like taking a big ol' whiff of bromine fumes.
What's the Matter?
Eustace is at his worst in this episode, as he becomes a murderous jerk who wants to get Courage killed just because he gets all the attention.
Okay, fair, but keep in mind Eustace is willing to throw people under the bus if he personally benefits from it. Throw a wad of cash his way and you can get him to do just about anything. I really feel like they wouldn't have done this if it wasn't something Eustace would do. If this show had continuity, and he was aware of his own deaths at the expense of Courage, you could say this is the point he snapped.
He even goes so far as to actually get his own wife, Muriel, held hostage by the villains just to lure Courage in to be killed by them.
Yet he was willfully ignorant of an undisguised Benton Tarentella seeking to swindle him and Muriel, and for cash, and kept on going with it even after his intent was made clear. I'm just saying, let's be grateful Muriel was only a hostage in the situation, and played by what the villains considered surefire to get Courage down to fight.
Katz's torture on Muriel is pathetic. All he does is just mix the colors of the laundry and added bleach, as opposed to his more diabolical plans in previous episodes, such as turning Muriel into candy in "Katz Kandy" or feeding Muriel to giant spiders in "A Night at the Katz Motel".
I'm sorry, would you have time to make a more elaborate torture device in the span of a few minutes when all you're trying to do is get Courage down for a big confrontation? This is the same guy who throws in little sports of handball and staring contests. I've heard of overthinking, but underthinking is new.
But let's focus on the torture of choice here. What may seem lackluster to most people, may be torturous to others. For Muriel, as she is the homemaker, assuming at home wife duties and taking those seriously, tampering with the laundry would make the stereotypical housewife stressed. You may be saying "Oh but she did some unfeminine things in some other episodes so that nullifies your point.", and to that I say, touch some grass.
Plot holes:
Oh this should be fun.
Why would Eustace team up with the same villains who flat out tried to kill him or take over his life such as the Black Puddle Queen for example?
Because he was unaware that she was trying to kill him in her title episode? He was in a trance the entire time and Courage was the one who saw her for who she was. Of the three, Eustace is often the most ignorant to how deep the situation goes. Also there is the chance people would put aside their differences to take on a common enemy.
In the episode "Night of the Weremole", it is revealed that the Weremole only preys on rabbits and humans, not dogs like Courage, which makes his appearance in this episode even more baffling and confusing.
Courage was also the one who would stop the Weremole, and if Weremoles had self-awarness, Courage would make an enemy out of the Weremole.
How did Big Toe came back to life if Courage defeated him to death?
I dunno, how does Eustace come back to life when he was brought to death? The fact that Eustace returns to life no questions asked at the end of every episode shows that there is a much bigger plot hole than this. Also, The Clutching Foot isn't itself an entity, it was born via fungal infection. Worst case another person got it and decided to join in.
But whatever happened to the Clutching Tongue Courage got at the end of that episode?
Eustace claiming that he's in a men's club, yet the Black Puddle Queen is a female.
"Oh hi madame! I'm an evil villain seeking to destroy someone close to you, I was supposed to keep myself secret and not reveal the intention behind why your husband and various other hooded figures came to this location, but in life everything has to be as literal and thought out as possible, lolz."
Tell me. If you were trying to run a secret committee, would you reveal who you are to whom you're hiding from? Also, the men's club detail came out after Muriel asked what was going on down there and Eustace wanted to keep her and Courage out at the time.
Unlike previous episodes, Eustace isn't brutally punished for his unjustified actions. Instead, he gets to sit on Courage's blanket.
Wait, so you're aware of the fact that Eustace dies in most episodes (themselves punishments for unjustified actions), yet you bring it up as a point of criticism? Also, apparently the only fair punishment in this situation is death.
Not only that, Eustace started all this just because Courage has a blanket, and he sits on it in the end as he wanted to earlier, so even with Eustace losing in the end, it's such a redundant punishment.
What is irony? Eustace wanted the blanket Courage got, and now he got it the hard way. But I guess you'd also ignore the fact that Courage is now sitting in Eustace's prized chair. You know, the one Eustace went ballistic on Katz for for making him indirectly destroy it that time he became a wrecking ball. Not all punishments need to be extreme, otherwise I can see why you enjoy shit like Camp Lazlo and Hooky.
Okay, halfway there,
Pointless cameos of the Duck Brothers and Fred, who had so much potential to reappear in a later episode.
If this guy saw Aqua Farmer they'd probably have a heart attack seeing so many cameos of characters that had so much potential to reappear in later episodes. But wait, that one had the Evil Empress, who died, don't give me that ascension BS, otherwise it'd be plausible to explain why the Clutching Foot is alive and stomping.
The Duck Brothers aren't even villains.
Yeah, which is why they didn't take part in the dodgeball game itself, just sang the halftime show song, and were just around for a fun cameo. Why is Stan Lee in Infinity War, Stan Lee isn't even alive anymore.
In addition, there are missed opportunities for the reappearances of the following better choices of villains who do have connections with Courage in this episode such as King of Flan, Schwick, Benton Tarantella, The Chicken From Outer Space, the Duckling, amongst others.
If you wanted proof they just lifted off of Enter's video verbatim, there you go. Are you saying Katz is not a good choice of a villain? Or Le Quack? Or Cajun Fox? You know, the first three villains we had ever seen in this show? Now granted this episode made use of one-off villains, but come on, is anyone really clamoring to see King of Flan again? Benton is also one of the more elaborate villains, the only way his premise would work is if it was in relation to filming something.
Also the chicken is sorta kinda double dead, and yet you all objected to the Clutching Foot coming back. This was an incredible oversight on Enter's part, you criticize the incorporation of a dead villain, but you clamor for the incorporation of another dead villain. The chicken episodes always have to give an explanation for what is happening, and the last episode had his son sent by their widowed mother to avenge the death of his father. If he was included, this would undo what the trilogy had achieved.
Also the duckling was just obsessive over Eustace, and would serve no other purpose.
Overall, if this episode was properly written with a better choice of villains, then it would have had an amazing premise.
Amazing, like a trash fire that is counter-intuitive because of the incorporation of villains who had been burned off after one episode and basically undo the Chicken from Outer Space trilogy. This kind of premise would not work without the three biggest threats, like it or not, but Katz and Le Quack are kind of a big deal. This kind of premise would work best with a collection of important villains, with some lessers to help bring up the roster, while not needing to spend so much time establishing them.
It's about revenge, not curating.
Le Quack randomly appears and disappears throughout the episode.
I just farted. What? Apparently insignificant things are worth bringing up apparently. Best case, dodgeball isn't his preferred sport and he preferred to watch Courage suffer.
Every bit of torment Courage goes through randomly happens by doing no wrong.
Uh.... okay? I don't know if this was someone poorly attempting to mimic Enter's complaints, or this person decided to be cute and add their own arbitrary reason. I got nothing.
Bad ending: Freaky Fred appears on the television and makes Courage scream so loud that the farmhouse collapses.
Right, okay, a scene that you would laud in your redeeming qualities section, is suddenly bad here. It was perfectly fine when Courage screamed so loud that the sun shattered to pieces, but god forbid he destroy the farmhouse, which has been destroyed before.
Final Thoughts
This list did not sell me on Ball of Revenge being a bad episode. The list made me overthink in some areas, but it was yet another braincell shrinking experience.
As for the episode, it's not perfect, but to quote a wise fish; "There is no such thing as perfect. You're beautiful as you are. With all of your imperfections, you can do anything." There wasn't anything in this episode that set me off, I feel that the actions the characters pull are conceivable anywhere else. It's not like anything off of the show I will not name where bad episodes are hard to ignore, yet people had and focused on bare basic examples. I don't feel let down or annoyed. It was more like a right place, wrong time scenario.
This was written by John R. Dilworth's sister, so perhaps he wanted to be nice and give her a spot in the writer's chair, for the second time, and ironically it was the last Chicken episode. I can understand if this was the last episode in the series, then disappointment would be justified.
Okay to be fair if this was intended to be a send-off for Courage's rogue's gallery, it would be best to have every possible villain in on this, then end on a happier note. If that wasn't intended, no disappointment here.
Just think, if MrEnter hadn't covered this years ago, we wouldn't be here. So does this mean I'm gonna hate him now? Nah, I hate Turning Red.
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