User blog:AustinDR/XCVII (Review)

Wow. Out of the episodes I have seen for this season, XCVII is without a doubt my favorite. It starts off immediately after the events of the last episode in which Ashi tries to find Jack, whom she fears might be in danger. Along the way, she meets several of the people Jack had saved throughout the years, which further makes her realize that she was wrong about Jack in the beginning.

There's just several things I loved about this episode. For starters, I loved the interactions that she had with each of the people that Jack helped. Starting from the previous episode, even after fifty years, people still remembered Jack. Even when Jack believed that he failed his mission, people still hold him as a hero, even to the point that they're willing to risk their own lives for his sake. I also loved the rave dancing, and the song accompanying it. Ashi even gets in on the dance when she realizes that most of the dancing was similar to the movements she did whilst training. Speaking of training....as if the High Priestess wasn't already a terrible mother. You know that skin suit, right? You know, that black outfit that all of the Daughters of Aku wear? Sexy, right? Well, it turns out that instead of being on, the High Priestess threw them into burning ashes (insert some Aku bullshit here, and you get the basic idea as to why the High Priestess did this). In other words, she burned her own daughters alive, and their skin is like that because it had been charred. Jesus Christ, as if the show could get even more darker.

Oh yeah, and you know that mysterious specter that had been following Jack since the beginning of season 5? Well, not only is he real, but he was intending on having Jack see through his sepukku, and he will kill anyone who interferes. Even after Jack destroys him, we still know nothing about him other than his name is "The Omen." Other than that, it seems that Jack had finally gotten out of his funk, and is planning to find his sword. Just the realization that all those children didn't die in vain as he initially thought was enough for him to get out of his depression. As someone who suffers from depression at times, this is really an inspirational episode for me.

And then the Scatman himself, Scaramouch, actually turns out to still be alive, albeit as a mechanical head. Every scene he was in was funny as heck, especially when he tries several times to get on the ship so that he could inform Aku about Jack losing his sword. When he finally gets on, he said one line that I didn't expect. When I heard it, I literally replayed that moment, because I thought I was just hearing things, but no, he actually said it. We were all thinking it, but Scaramouch actually said it. I'm not going to say what the line was, but let's just say that it would've never flown in the previous seasons. That, and there's the fact that of all the characters to return in the show, one character in particular came back, and I didn't expect it. It was Demongo. My jaw dropped to the floor. I was like "Demongo, but I could've sworn Aku killed you in that last episode." While it was a quick joke, I scratched my head at this. What, did Aku actually reconsider that he might be worth something and revive him? Will he be back, or is it just some Easter egg? Oh, yeah, and then there was that Robot Popeye, and...Astro! Astro as in that dog from The Jetsons? While it was hilarious, it made me fearful that maybe Aku actually managed to conquer the show's universe? That, and how could Astro get on the ship when it explicitly said that no dogs were allowed on board?

Just, everything about this episode was amazing. I am hyped for the next one, though I hope that Jack gets his sword back before Scaramouch succeeds in informing Aku about his discovery....