PLOT A: The mighty wrath of Thor rains
upon Berk
A mysterious wave of lightning strikes has
been plaguing Berk and it’s believed that Thor is angry with the village.
So, this was an interesting turn of
events for this next “Mildew vs. the Dragons” episode. I know a lot of people
are sick of these plots…and I can admit that they could be a little
more…scarce, but if they’re going to do them THIS is how it’s done!
I loved the full on insertion of
Nordic Mythology in this episode, and it was so easily slipped in that it
didn’t even feel weird. We’ve all been waiting for an episode that heavily addresses
their Viking ‘religion’ of sorts and I think this episode definitely delivered
the results we were looking for.
I loved the conversation the teens had
before they started building the Thor statue, especially Astrid talking about
her Aunt sailing to the edge of the world and always coming back in the
opposite direction. That just really puts light on what time period this is
really in. Even the smartest Vikings such as Astrid and Hiccup still believe
that the world is flat.
And, thinking that the lightning is
striking all over the place because Thor is angry, was so….Viking. I was one of
those people who caught right at the beginning of the episode that it was the
giant metal perches that were attracting the lighting, but it was fun to see
that none of the Vikings understood…and that fits, once again, because of the
time period. Anyone who was expecting the village to pick up on that
immediately needs to remember that this takes place in the 11th
century.
Having them think of sacrifices, and
build statues, and just overall go into a riot because they knew Thor could
whip their little island off the map was well played and just showed how
heavily engraved in their superstitions Berk really is. They definitely need a
culture shock, which, luckily, we already know is coming in the second movie.
PLOT B: Mildew and the Angry Mob
Mildew is back and this time he’s after
Toothless. Convincing the Village that Thor is angry at Berk for housing the
“unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself”, and thus they believe that
they need to offer Toothless up to Thor to remain in the God’s good graces.
I’m sorry, but I know a lot of people,
once again, are sick of Mildew coming back with his schemes but this plot is
WAY too good to heavily bash. Even as I was typing the italicized summary
above, I was just thinking, “man, this is an excellent plot”. They used a
memorable line from the movie and built on it in a really innovative way.
And Mildew has once again proven to be
a rather crafty old man. After episode 5 and 6 he’s gotten way more creative in
how he tries to go about getting rid of the dragons. In her 9 he went directly
for the dragons and tried to kill them off, and now he’s just going right after
Toothless (I guess he’d get at least a shard of satisfaction if the main dragon
is gone).
It’s no surprise he got the village on
his side, but for once I felt like their rallying was legit instead of just a
plot point used to fuel the episode. They were scared of Thor’s wrath, and
that’s enough to get any Viking village rallied up. So, I can justify their
actions.
As usual, Mildew got a punishment and
not a completely exit or plot finish for the show. So….I’m suspecting he’ll be
back with something new. Maybe another episode this season, maybe not since I
think they need to close in on the endgame plots with Alvin. And perhaps
Mildew’s schemes will continue in season 2? If so, I hope they keep up these
types of innovative plots rather than some of the stunts they’ve pulled before,
because this one definitely worked!
PLOT C: Hiccup’s back to the Rescue!
Knowing Toothless is innocent and finally glad
to have his father on his side, Hiccup tries his best to prove that Toothless
isn’t the one attracting Thor’s wrath
With every “Mildew vs. Dragons” plot
comes a “Hiccup to the Rescue” plot, but this one had a lot of meat to it and allowed
for a lot of emotional depth and growth for characters. Especially for Stoick!
I love how Stoick’s character growth
from episode 8 is being carried over so much in these past few episodes. In
episode 12 we saw him accepting his son without having to be told or going
through some kind of traumatic experience and here we see him defending his son
and Toothless and not wavering the entire episode! That’s a huge step for him
and a gladly taken one. It also shows how his relationship with Toothless is
growing, and even so for Gobber who repeatedly showed his love for Toothless
all throughout this episode….which was just so touching.
It also allowed for a few good moments
between Hiccup and Astrid. Everyone was in pins and needles wondering what this
episode would bring for those two after episode 12’s big surprise ending, and
for what it was worth, it was handled very well! They’re noticeably closer in
this episode and the goodbye scene was very well done in portraying speaking
with eye contact and body language rather than words, which is all this episode
needed since that wasn’t the point of the plot. So I’d say it was a good carry
over from the previous episode.
And some really great Hiccup and
Toothless moments! Hiccup having the mindset to runaway with Toothless is
nothing new, but I loved how he worded it to Astrid as in Toothless couldn’t “survive
on his own” and he “wouldn’t want him to”, that really took a stance and spoke volumes
about where their bond and relationship is at now in the franchise. As well as
the scene where Toothless was being taken away by the village. Like a lot of
scenes in this episode, it was calling back to the movie, but that scene definitely
channeled that emotional charge from the movie scenes in the Kill Ring. Hiccup
even went and got himself struck by lightning trying to defend Toothless.
Speaking of which, I liked how Hiccup
figured out that the lightning was striking the metal but he didn’t get too
scientific about it. He used logic, not science, which he mostly does for
everything. As stated at the end of the episode by Gobber, they still don’t
know why Thor is “mad at the metal”, so at least huge historical findings weren’t
morphed in this episode.
And…Hiccup getting struck by
lightning. As a fan of “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, this episode definitely
reminded me of episode 220—in which the main character, Aang, got struck by
lightning as well. It wasn’t a ‘shock’ that Hiccup got struck, but it still
took everyone off guard that they actually went there (kind of like Alvin
threatening to kill Heather’s parents in episode 11). Though I think it
would’ve been more realistic to have him be a little more hurt than he was…perhaps
a scar or two, since it’s said that when lightning enters the body it leaves an
entrance and exit wound. But as far as that scene showed, the lightning didn’t
actually enter Hiccup’s body, so I can’t tell what’s scientifically satisfying
or not, but a scar or two would’ve helped.
Still, when he woke up the next day
with Toothless beside him and he checked his other leg to make sure it was
still there is probably one of my favorite moments in the show so far! It paid
major homage to the movie in a way that felt more organic than, say, episode 7.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
As you can tell, this episode hit a
lot of innovative and emotional cords. Well written (as a good debut for a new
writer Justin Hook) and the same expected well-characterized moments from
director John Sanford. They might be our new “golden writer and director duo”
because this episode is shaping up to be one of the best—a title which is held
(in my opinion, of course) by episode 8.
So we’ve got good characterization,
innovative plot, extremely witty moments for the twins, Snotlout, and Astrid
(and Stormfly’s addiction to chicken), well carried over Stoick plot, well
carried over Hiccup/Astrid closeness. There were a lot of goodies in this bag.
My only complaint…if I’m going to
nitpick…where was Thornado???? Since this episode was ALL ABOUT THOR you’d
think Thornado would at least make a cameo, but zip, nadda, zilch. It’s almost
like they’ve forgotten about him because he hasn’t shown up since episode 9 and
we’re coming in on episode 14 now.
But, the lack of Thornado was filled
in by a triumphant return of Toothless being a main player! It’s good to have
our main dragon character getting the spotlight since it’s been shining more on
the humans for the past three episodes. And it was nice to see some other dragons
flying around Berk since this show can easily make it seem like the only
dragons on the island are the teen’s five dragons.
So, this was an ‘electrifying’ episode
(I suck at puns, sorry). There’s no reason why it shouldn’t get an A+!
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