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"Kevin vs. the Volcano"
Written by Phil Combest
Directed by Frank DePalma
Original airdate:
October 26, 1991 |
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.
When the giant crystal makes its final flare and then goes dark,
we see smoke first rising out of the cone-shaped hole, then
being sucked back down. Following this, we see the smoke and ash
of the erupting volcano suddenly reverse and get sucked back in.
Was the cave hole then deliberately designed to look similar to
the volcano in order to identify its purpose (controlling the
volcano)? But, if that's the case, why does the crystal burn
itself out, literally disintegrating? Apparently, it could only
be used once; unless it's just that its age caused a fatal
malfunction. |
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At 21:10 in the episode, Stink must be deliberately trying to
get a laugh out the humans. He is covering his ears as if he
thinks the giant crystal is still shrieking, but we saw in the
previous scene that he knows it has stopped. Anyway, it
works...he gets a laugh from the gathered yumani!
Pakuni translations |
Time in
episode |
Pakuni |
English |
1:48 |
Stink says, "Pelicayo!
Pelicayo!" |
"Lava! Lava!" |
4:19 |
Kevin says,
"pelicayo" |
lava |
8:49 |
Christa says
"jacuzzi" |
long life |
10:29 |
Christa says,
"pelicayo" |
lava |
11:03 |
Kevin says,
"pelicayo" |
lava |
14:06 |
Stink says,
"pelicayo" |
lava |
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
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