|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Episode Studies by Clayton Barr enik1138-at-popapostle-dot-com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A lava flow threatens the
Porters’ home. Didja Know? This episode's title was inspired by the 1990 Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film Joe vs. the Volcano. Didja Notice? The Porters have somehow made a home-made basketball to give to Kevin for his birthday. What is it made of? It has a pinkish color and seems to have some small, floppy edges loose where pieces were joined together. Was it made from animal bladders so it would hold air? And how did they get it perfectly round? (In the second season episode "Annie in Charge", the Porters somehow have a real basketball.)When Tom gives the ball to Kevin by tossing it to him, he says, "Head's up, magic man." "Magic" is probably a reference to Earvin "Magic" Johnson, a well-known and extremely proficient professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1979-1991. When Tom looks through his binoculars at 3:59 in the episode, we see a matte painting of an LOTL-ized version of Vasquez Rocks, where the desert scenes of LOTL90 were filmed. At 9:22 in the episode, Kevin is narrating his video of the erupting volcano and he comments that he is on a world "far, far, far away", an obvious allusion to the famous introductory quote of the Star Wars films. At 9:58 in the episode, as the camera zooms in on Tom and Christa standing on the cliff, something briefly pops in on the left-hand corner of the screen for a split-second; probably a microphone or other off-camera device. At 13:26 in the episode, as Annie is calling "Daddy!" in search of Tom, Stink is also shouting "Daddy!" A funny bit.
Unanswered Questions Why is the lava green? Rather than actual lava, could it possibly be a method used by the underground Sleestak civilization to eject treated waste materials from their realm? When Kevin touches the giant Sleestak crystal, the blue glow of it intensifies. Does this signify that it was designed to be used by touch? Perhaps the being touching it could focus his thoughts through it to make things happen? This would make it something like a large scale version of Shung's power crystal dagger. Why does this crystal glow blue and Shung's crystal dagger glow green? When Kevin tries to scale the cave wall to escape the crystal chamber, the crystal glows bright again and pulls him down with an unseen force. Why? Is the crystal an artificial intelligence that desires companionship after its abandonment by the Sleestak civilization? In the earlier episode "Jungle Girl", Stink looks up at a hole in the ceiling in one chamber of his and Christa's cave home. The hole looks similar, though more irregular, to the one seen in the ceiling of the crystal chamber here. Might the hole in Christa and Stink's cave indicate that their cave was formerly a Sleestak crystal chamber similar to the one seen here? If this is the case, what happened to the crystal pillar in their cave? Did it disintegrate at some point like the one in this episode? Memorable Dialog what would Steven Spielberg do.wav not too bumpy.wav the life of a furniture mover.wav when the going gets rough.wav a trained monkey.wav far, far, far away.wav green lava.wav Daddy.wav adios, glasshead.wav no way.wav ancient power source.wav in your face.wav Back to Episode Studies
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
