User blog:AustinDR/Ball of Revenge (Review)

Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Courage the Cowardly Dog, you know a show about a mutt who lived with an elderly couple in the Middle of Nowhere and strange things often happen to the family. Admittedly, I was never terrified of the show (well except for that one episode where that blue trumpet thing appeared; even then, it was more disturbing than scary). One episode I remembered watching was known as "Ball of Revenge." Going into it, it seemed like a promising premise: having the previous villains return to for vengeance on the little dog one last time is an awesome idea in itself. But then you get into what actually kickstarts the later plot: Eustace becomes enraged when he discovers Courage sleeping on his blanket. And so what does he do? He calls some of Courage's previous foes together to kill the dog. What the hell? Yes, Eustace literally called several villains from past episodes together to kill Courage all because Courage happened to be sleeping on a blanket he owned. Petty doesn't even begin to describe this. Worse, this episode confirms that Eustace was at the very least aware of the threat that some of the villains had displayed, which makes him such an ungrateful bastard in hindsight.

Well, despite this, did he at the very least invite villains that were great? There's Katz and Le Quack for starters. That makes sense because they were recurring enemies of Courage. I have issue with the other villains, however. For one, the Cajun Fox. He has no reason to be in this episode because Eustace wasn't even in that episode, so he should have no idea on who Cajun Fox even was. The Queen from the Black Puddle? She nearly tried to eat him. Of course he was under her spell, so maybe he didn't remember. The Weremole was simply a predator with no moral agency, and Courage didn't even combat him. The Clutching Foot especially makes no sense because Eustace WAS the Clutching Foot and he was licked out of existence by Courage. So no explanation as to how the Clutching Foot returned in spite of this? No? Okay. So, how can you make Eustace even more of a jackass than he already is? He suggests that they take Muriel hostage which would force Courage to come to her rescue. Just, what the hell, Eustace? What happened to the guy who was hesitant about using his wife as bait in order to lure a sea serpent, or that touching scene between them in "The Mask?" Was his hatred for Courage so strong that he'd let that destroy any special moments with his wife? Anyway, Courage is captured and is made to play dodgeball with the rogues gallery. As expected, he gets pulverized, but he thwarts his enemies by screaming loudly, causing the floor beneath them to give way and they fall to their presumed deaths. And Eustace doesn't receive a heavy punishment for his actions.

As I have said, this could've been a great episode, but there are several flaws behind it. As for how I would fix the episode, for starters, I would've actually liked it for Eustace to have been hypnotized or corrupted into someone into teaming up with the previous villains. For instance, I liked :iconRegulas314:'s idea of having Ma Bagge be the one pulling the strings. Because if you really think about it, she had some moments where she was committing nefarious misdeeds, so it would make a great deal of sense that she would be the one to want to pick a bone with Courage. With the villains, keep Katz and Le Quack, but as for the remaining teammates, I would've personally inserted Schwick, Benton Tarantella, and the Chicken from Outer Space into the ring. With the last one in particular, the Chicken was the main villain of the original pilot, and returned to get Courage's head as a replacement in his return episode. His sons were sent by their mother to eliminate Courage in their only episode, etc. If anything, the Chicken had every reason to want to end Courage like Katz would. But the villains should also play off of each other like playing off of each others' strengths or maybe have more scenes of dialogue with each other.

With Eustace, I would've liked it that when Courage was being brutalized, his conscience would force him to reflect on all of the times Courage saved his sorry ass which would make him feel a twinge of remorse. Maybe he'd realize how horrible he'd be and try to call the dodgeball game off only to then be tied up alongside his wife. But most of all, I would've liked it immensely if all of the allies Courage made throughout the show's run teamed up to save Courage. Characters ranging from the Hunchback of Nowhere, Kitty and Bunny, Bigfoot, or the Shadow; they all could've had at least a few minutes to pitch in the effort to rescue Courage, and afterward, this would be their send off.

Overall, while it's not the worst episode of the show's run, I wish that it would've been better. Maybe 22 hours rather than 11 minutes. There, they could've pitched in more character interactions between the villains or made alterations with Eustace to keep him from completely crossing the line as well as having Courage's old allies aid him. Other than that, it was an okay episode.