show's over, synergy

i'm done with all the jem on dvd there is to watch, and i am sad. and stupid mlk jr had to go and make the mail stop today, so i won't be getting any ponies until at least wednesday. i think i'll fish my barbie and the rockers vhs out of some dusty corner of my house and hope that it consoles me.

disc 2 of season 3, part 1 seems to be full of very special episodes of jem

The Treasure Hunt - this pits the starlight girls against some girls the misfits hire in a scavenger hunt for a huge prize. the treasure hunt hinges on children's type classic literature-- hiawatha, sinbad, alice in wonderland, robin hood, treasure island. i felt very dumb having only have read alice in wonderland and not getting most of the clues, i did get the final riddle at the end though, something about when they're closed thery're nothing but when open they can transport you to the future, ancient lands etc. of course, the answer is a book. the starlight girls win because the mistfits left one girl behind because she hurt her foot (a precursor to troop beverly hills). then the starlight girls did the right thing by dragging her along, even though it set them back timewise. that girl was the only one who could answer the riddle. of course the misfits were cheating they had an ear piece to talk to their hired tech boy, techrat. and he and his 1986 computer were doing searches that were unheard of in a time before the internet and search engines of today that we know and love. but of course his computer can't answer the riddle. the big prize at the end was that each girl got to pick a first edition book off a shelf. the misfts are mad and we all learn a lesson about how valuable books and literacy are... there's also another episode this season when the holograms throw a benefit for literacy. it turns out that roxy can't read, and now she's sorry. i suppose every writer ever would encourage kids to read if they had the forum.

Aztec Enchantment - the holograms jet off to film a video in some ancient pyramid. some mexican boy tries to steal their video camera, but they catch him, and he becomes an obnoxious pest, trying to get them to take him back to "el norte" with them. at the ruins they meet a man they think is a professor, but really he's a thief who entombed the real professor in the pyramid, so jem conjures up some ancient gods and saves everyone. meanwhile the boy learns that he's connected to the land and wants to help rebuild his village from the earthquake rather than escape to america where he thinks everyone lives like kings the second they step over the border. Even though our friend Raya is ethnically mexican, she was born in america and this is her first trip to mexico, so she can connect with the land too. also in every episode on disc 2 adn 3 she's much, much less annoying.

The Jazz Player -- this seems like something lifted from teh cosby show. for some reason on the music video show teh interviewer interviews the star of some old jazz band. the misfits are not amused they have to share their airtime with an old guy and ruin things. so, for some reason the holograms go to visit him in the tenement he lives in and convince him to get back together wiht his old band. so each hologram goes off to retrieves someone and bring him back to (it seems like they're in CA, sometimes, but sometimes it seems like the east coast) where ever they are. 2:3 others are also broke and happy to comply. it takes a bit longer, and a rainstorm in a boat to get the other one. eric raymond and his jazz contract is defeated. and we all learn an important lesson about music history and respect for the past.

Danse Time: danse is (surprise) a dancer. she is their friend who runs a house for runaways, like a temporary shelter type thing i think. this is in contrast to the starlight house which is a permanant and foster home for girls. she's going to be in a jem video, this is a video for a contest the theme is friendship or something, and the prize is a large amount of cash, of course jem is going to use hers to help the children, and the misfits just want to win over jem. so they tamper with the scenery and cause danse to break her leg, pretty bad i guess. so they stick her in a long term stay hospital/institution type place where there are people getting physical therapy for broken bones, teh blind the deaf, basically everything except for retarded or crazy. she's all mad and pissy because she's in a wheel chair and shes used to being super fit and good at everything active. so her physical therapists keep pushing her, even when she wants to quit. and jem pushes her, because of the money for the girls and magically in 3 weeks she's able to dance and skate as well as before. meanwhile she falls in love with a blind guy, who gets eye surgery and can see again, and she says something dumb and girllike, like "oh, now that you can see, i hope you still like me." she of course, is beautiful, and strong and fit, if you like blond girls with pink and blue pastel stripes in their hair. so the video is made. danse has a boyfriend, the homeless girls get the money, we all learn a valuable lesson about people with disabilities -temporary and otherwise, we all learn a valuable lesson about positive attitudes and perseverence, and it all works out okay in the end.

Alone Again: just when i thought we couldn't possibly have anymore valuable lessons to learn, we get to the drug one. jem gets a temporary foster girl from the city. apparently her whole family died, which would probably put me in a pretty bad mood too. she's so the charicature of the angsty teenager, she says "you don't understand, no one understands" like a gazillion times. So they send her off to school where she refuses to talk to anyone. Then the dealer comes up to her, pretends he understands her troubles, calls her pretty and gives her some pills and tells her they'll help with her guitar playing. They look like benadryl to me: red and white capsuls. but the must be some form of Hallucinogen, because after debating wether or not to take them she does, and her guitar turns into something weird, her book turns into a bird, which makes her think she can fly and almost jumps off the roof. luckily jem saves her, but unluckily jem asks her if she took drugs, she says no, and jem gives her the benefit of the doubt. you'd think this would end her bout with drugs, but the dealer sees her again and gives her speed (even though they never say what it is) this time, even though the look identical to the previous ones. so she's on speed, can't sleep, does a terrible job of playing guitar, but thinks she's better than ever. and keeps the whole house awake because she can't sleep--she's not nearly as useful as alex p. keaton, who, in his drug episode, writes history reports, paints the house and something else...so finally she runs out, and goes to her dealer who demands $30 for another pack of pills. i don't know how much that is in 1986 money, but surely it's more than now. and she's confused. she thought he was her friend, and now he's making her pay. since this is a kid's show, she can't offer him sex. so she has to steal money from jerrica's purse because after like 2 days she's completely hooked. jerrica catches her, but she runs off before jerrica can catch her. and she looks for the dealer, and finds him, trying to push drugs onto ashlee (a starlight girl, also a hasbrow doll) and he's using the same lines on ashlee that he used on her. and now she's totally hurt, because she thought he liked her, and as she's running out the door, jerrica catches her and they drive. and she finally admits she took drugs, and jerrica drops her off at group therapy, which convienently happens exactly at the right time. and the girls in group therapy really do understand her, and the drug problem and she's on teh road to recovery. meanwhile ashlee, who has gotten more stable since the beginning of the series where she tried to run away and join the misfits, turns the drugs into the police. --cut to ashlee and the foster girl (who's name i can't remember) at the arcade. the dealer shows up. money exchanges hands, and the police swoop in and arrest him. turns out ashlee is wearing a wire. is that good practice, having minors wear wires? i dont' know if i can condone that, it always turns out bad on general hospital, and those are grown people. so the dealer is arrested, everyone is off drugs, and we all learn a valuable lesson.

disc 3 coming tomorrow. it's not nearly as good as disc 2 though.