Just like last episode was a continuation of the themes introduced in "Home", it is now time to progress Jay's arc from "Snakebit", but is it handled as well as Zane's? Let's see, shall we?
Nya explains to the ninja that an accelerated heart rate could potentially reverse the effects of a Fangpyre's bite, and Jay asks her on a date, while the Serpentine have followed their map to the location of the first Fangblade; the Mega Monster Amusement Park.
Kai, Zane and Cole head there to fight the Serpentine, while Jay, concealing that he had accidentally infected himself with Fangpyre venom, goes on a date with Nya at the amusement park. When the effects grow to severe to hide, however, he excuses himself, while Nya decides to fight the Serpentine as Samurai X. Unlike the ninja, she manages to take the Fangblade, but is eventually beaten by the Serpentine, who tie her to a roller coaster cart, which is heading for a broken track.
When Jay gets there, he tries and fails to untie her, confessing that he had lied during their date to impress her, and kept his infection hidden, while Nya confesses to being Samurai X. After Nya kisses Jay, however, he reverts to normal, and after Nya also tells him that she likes the regular Jay, he unlocks his True Potential, stopping the cart and saving the day.
Wu and Garmadon, in the meanwhile are heading for the Mountain of Madness to return to Ninjago and save Lloyd.
Various Observations:
-Nya states that an increased heart rate can counter the effects of the Fangpyre venom. So why didn't Ed and Edna get cured by their fear when they were locked in the fridge? Fear causes an increased heart rate, after all.
-Zane has a panel in his arm he can use to quickly turn his sense of humor on and off. But what do the other switches do? Give him a different sense of humor? Would he start making puns if he flipped the right switch?
-In Wu's absence, Nya becomes the funniest character, as seen by her incredibly unconcerned comment on having to leave before she goes into an allergic shock. Of course, I'm assuming that the severity of her allergy is overstated, as Kai would never endanger her in such a manner.
-The fly turns immediately after being exposed to the Fangpyre venom, unlike humans, but that can be chalked up to the quantity relative to it's size.
-A skeleton that has been dead for centuries contains enough venom to infect Jay. Sounds kind of unrealistic, but I will admit that I'm no biologist.
-Ooh, another power Garmadon uses exactly once, and then never again. In this case, the ability to summon his weapons via telepathy.
-Also, why is Garmadon able to summon mud monsters? I'm not sure if this is a new ability, or if he just allied himself with creatures already living in the Realm of Madness.
-I thought Garmadon's voice actor got better, but as soon as he saves Wu from the mud monsters he summoned, he sounds like he doesn't give a danm about anything that's going on. It sounds like he's talking about the weather, rather than his own son's fate!
-Why did Wu only bring enough tea to get to the Realm of Madness, but enough to get back? What was the plan there?
-The way back is at the Mountain of Madness. Boy, this realm sure has some pretty consistent theming, no? Also, are they going to find a Shoggoth there?
-Jay is canonically the type of guy that would hide a zombie bite. Good to know, although surely he could get rid of the infection, simply by accelerating his heart rate via some Spinjitzu training, now that we know that that's a possibility.
-Jay covers himself up with a scarf to hide his infection, and I kind of love that his movie design incorporates a scarf as a reference to this episode. I may not have many good things to say about it, but that is one of them.
-Jay's flaw is incorporated pretty nicely into this episode, as he hides his infection to facilitate his date with Nya, and lies about the reason why they relocated their date, so as to not hurt her feelings, effectively taking both of them out of the fight. This ties well into his overall arc of learning to be truthful with people.
-Man, the Realm of Madness is atmospheric. The fog and the huge plants create some awesome gothic ambience.
-I really like the interactions between Wu and Garmadon. Neither of them want to fight, but Garmadon is cursed to be evil, and it is conveyed wonderfully.
-What on earth are Jay and Nya eating here? And how would you eat it? There are utensils provided, but it's clearly some kind of burger. Also, apparently they split their dish, meaning that everything on that table is a single portion!
-Jay is clearly making up stories about himself to seem cooler, once again neatly tying into his arc.
-The folks at the ghost train saying Pythor and Skales look stupid was funny. This episode has some good lines.
-Jay gets a tail as his transformation progresses, and yet Ed and Edna didn't get one. Odd, no? Also, "Lots of girls like tails". So furries exist in Ninjago? Or scalies, given that we're talking about snakes. Wait, is that like how some, usually racist, people find different ethnicities to be more attractive? Man, the subtext writes itself, doesn't it?
-And now Jay gets publicly beaten up for being a "snake". Not Serpentine, mind you. Is snake some kind of Serpentine-phobic slur? Also, by now I'm not even sure the subtext isn't actually there intentionally.
-Nya can just put on her armor in a flash of light? But we repeatedly saw her putting her armor on and taking it off in pieces, not as a whole.
-The Fangblade is way prettier than I remember.
-I love Cole's reaction to Kai's line. The gag does overstay it's welcome a touch, however. Brevity is the soulf of wit, after all.
-Wha- Why is Spitta upside down? Is he trying to imitate Claude von Riegan?
-Again, the folks riding the ghost train have some fun lines.
-Sheesh, Zane randomly losing control of his powers is such a plot contrivance. He was able to use his True Potential just fine in the last episode, so what changed?
-Alright, Spitta should definitely be dead after being hit by a roller coaster cart and then being thrown off. Also, is that one of Lloyd's classmates on the coaster?
-Interesting that Jay, like Kai, is given the choice to either try and get the Fangblade, or save someone. It's not really focused on, since he didn't really hesitate before going to save Nya, but it's an interesting thing to note. I have to wonder if it was intentional.
-Side note: Why does this roller coaster have a burning ring installed? That seems like a serious safety hazard!
-Wait, what's that noise Jay makes when Nya reveals that she's Samurai X? Was that intentional on Michael Adamthwaite's part? It sounds like a fly just went into his mouth!
-Aww, look at Jay's expression when Nya tells him she likes him best when he doesn't pretend to be someone else. It's like nobody ever told him that. The camera lingers on it, so it's definitely intentional. And, come to think off it, if he was a social outcast as a kid, it would make sense for him to develop this over-the-top joking personality as a way to try and make some friends. Now I feel really sorry for him. It also makes sense that the realization that there are people that like him as just Jay would be what makes him unlock his True Potential.
-It is, however, ridiculous that Nya's words and her kiss raised his heartrate enough to counter the venom, but the fricking rollercoaster and their impending deaths didn't do anything.
-Wow, Jay gets a whole bunch of new powers during his True Potential. True, Zane did levitate a bit, but Jay can fly, teleport himself, and gets super strength. Plus, he also obviously has greater elemental power in that state.
-And, finally, we get some fake foreshadowing for Kai being the green ninja. Been a while since the öast time that plot point was touched on, huh?
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