And whatâs more, thereâs still a bunch of other stuff that needs to get mentioned.
For one, when Pearl mentions her plan to change places with Mike, you see Bobo and Brain Guy treating him in a menacing fashion at the beginning.
But when we cut back to Castle Forrester after the first theater segment? Theyâre poker buddies, drinking beers and eating snacks and having a grand time of it all. And THATâS hilarious, especially when Pearl returns to Castle Forrester and CHANGES THE WHOLE DYNAMIC RIGHT THERE.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Iâm guilty of doing that myself. Not with a purse, but Iâve been known to sneak in a box or two of Junior Mints.
@optiMSTie, your thoughts on many of these episodes are so well written that itâs intimidating to share after you. I identify with every single thing you mentioned about this episode. Following your detailed and sentimental writing, it feels like the best I can do is grunt while bashing two rocks together. âShow good. Pearl good.â
This and Deadly Bees were the final episodes of the original run for me to see, owing to the difficulty of getting hold of them. Thereâs really something to be said for the gangâs choice of these movies. I assume thereâs no shortage of campy (or just plain bad) fantasy/sorcery stuff, so they really threaded the needle to find gems like this, and Deathstalker and Wizards.
Itâs hard to articulate just how thrilling it was to see Pearl in the theater with the bots. The purse mint storyline is just brilliant beyond words. Something so utterly mundane and simple, yet spun into absolute gold.
Oh, pâshaw. I appreciate the kind words, but above all else, I would never want you or anyone else to feel intimidated or daunted or anything of the sort in sharing thoughts about these episodes.
I feel like I not only learn so much from yâall in reading your reflections and perspectives on these episodes, but I also ENJOY seeing where everyoneâs coming from with regards to these episodes, seeing the various rides everyone goes through, whether those episodes are well-received and celebrated or given a less emphatic âoh gawd, THIS episodeâ reception. All of it is -all good.-
The way I see it, MST3K takes us all on an experience of sorts, and what makes these forums and these threads so rewarding is seeing everyoneâs individual and unique takes on whatâs happening.
Case in point, this episode. A lot of us are loving what Pearlâs doing, sure. But maybe thereâs something about her utilization in this episode that resonates differently with all of us for different reasons. Maybe that comes down to the specific riffs she receives, maybe that comes down a particular delivery, maybe that comes down to something that she does or says that registers with our own idiosyncratic lenses through which we see the world.
Or alternatively, maybe what Pearl does in the episode doesnât land so well with some folks because x, y, and z, that maybe some folks like it better when sheâs in charge instead of on the front lines in the theater. I dunno.
Any which way, whatever it is, itâs -all good.- Our personal experiences, our varying viewpoints about how we each see and register certain aspects of this episode, of ALL episodes, is a vital part of the lifeblood of this fandom, the stuff that makes this jazz all well worth reading, that weâre all offering up different flavors of rich analytical/observational/anecdotal ice cream, as it were.
For example, you bring up something about Pearl that gets to the heart of something that works so well about this show, something I hadnât thought about til you brought it up:
@BruceLeePullen and myself were talking about high-concept/elaborate things being done in the theater in the interests of adding texture to the show. He brought up Eggs working around the edges of the theater and figuring out technical miscellany for Pearl; I brought up the visually/musically busy âUnder the Damâ host segment for Killer Fish.
Those are both BIG things, relatively speaking. You bring up the idea of purse mint storyline, âsomething so utterly mundane and simple, yet spun into absolute gold.â
See, THATâS something fascinating to consider, a smaller and subtler moment turned into something much larger than itself. Yeah, itâs Pearl rummaging around in her purse for odds and ends for the Bots⌠but that also goes to character dimension, that goes to organic callback writing, that goes to a whole bunch of structural humor constructs, and ALL DUE to a simpler moment. Itâs something thrilling and inspiring to consider those more minute moments transmogrified into a final product thatâs greater than the sum of its parts.
All that to say this: thatâs a really keen observation you brought up, and I canât thank you enough for putting that out there. That right there? Like I said: thatâs the lifeblood of the fandom right there, in discussing and celebrating the stuff that strikes a chord with us.
Sure, we all may love many of the same treasured episodes of the series and find many of these same gags/jokes funny, but I see everyone bringing something so utterly substantial to the table in their own way in reflecting on all this stuff. Thatâs why I love coming back here time and time again, and thatâs why I would never want anyone to feel intimidated or daunted about adding to the conversations, reflections, and observations here. Thatâs because yâall add so much to the fabric of this fandom, truly.
There is an exhilaration bound up in the idea of them FINDING just the right cinematic material to use for this show. Youâd have to imagine that thereâs this collective âEUREKA!â moment as they screen this jazz together in the writing roomâŚ
⌠or maybe the opposite of a âEUREKA!â reaction thatâs more in line with something like âOH NOâ or âWHAT WERE WE THINKINGâ or something of the sort.
But any way, yeah, the fantasy/sword-and-sorcery stuff feels like a godsend for these folks, that theyâre like gifts in that they give the writers a wealth of riffable moments.
As you mentioned, thatâs something else, too, that itâs a shame that there were some episodes that were more difficult to track down than others. Season 9 felt that way with The Space Children,The Deadly Bees, and this one. Gorgo used to have that same feel for a time, seeing as how the episode aired for only ONE DAY on TV, so if you didnât catch either screening that day, your hope was to have the remarkable luck to know someone who had those episodes taped.
I think itâs more that the end credits in more recent movies tend to be too tiny to riff on effectively, so they instead have what amounts to a bonus host segment.
Which is a shame about the tiny credits, because if you look at the screengrab of Eggs that Bruce posted, we have the crew nicknames âCool Breezeâ and âSlim Jim.â
If they were set to do those credits legit, those nicknames wouldâve gotten SAVAGED.
It seems to me misery is an absolute requirement in being a Forrester. Their discomfort at a base level always needs expression either in lashing out, gloating, intimidation, or putting people in their place. There are interludes where theyâre nice but thatâs just it interludes when the rest of the time the hierarchy must be maintained and if the Forrester in charge is unhappy than by gosh everyone else has to be too. Pearl is the most bipolar as her niceness can really surprise you before she lowers the boom.
Which is what really had me on both sides of the fence when Pearl bought tickets for Kinga and herself to see The Crawling Eye at the Gizmoplex in Santo in the Treasure of Dracula.
At first, I was all, âAwww, thatâs nice!â
And then, I was thinking, âWait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Whatâs your angle, Pearl?â
I will say that I loved that part of Cry Wilderness where we see the Castle Forrester triumvirate talking about how theyâve been happy spending time together as a unit.
But yeah, you see those interludes of niceness fully pronounced here before that boom is lowered, and itâs the best. -Classic Pearl.-
Once you add Pearl to a happy situation comedically it has to go sideways and she by design must dictate events and so anything not emanating from her is immediately squashed either intentionally or by the sheer force of her nature kicking in. Clayton and Kinga have the same trait.
Gotta watch this one again. Hard to believe, but Iâve never finished it! My only copy came from Cheesyflix and, to be honest, it doesnât stir meâšď¸. And itâs right smack dab in the middle of the Sci-fi (I refuse to say Syfy) era. Reminds me a little of Deathstalker, but I absolutely love that one. Iâll try it again.
