I haven’t talked about this series for a long-ass while. Not since 2018 when Final Space last made the countdown list. It sucks that the show got the fucking ax because the people over at WarnerMedia decided to be poopy ca-ca heads for canceling the damn show just because of their supposed merger with Discovery in hopes to compete with the likes of Disney and Netflix. Honestly, it felt like a stupid decision for the people over at Warner to do all that, especially after coming out from the show’s third season that ended with a cliffhanger that will now never be answered thanks to the fuckery that’s been going on since...well, 2019 going into 2020. Okay, putting the small rant besides, “The Ventrexian” from Season 3 of Final Space coming in with the number 11 spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2021.
Yeah...this episode was something despite being only three episodes into the season. But be as it may, this episode has some surprises when it comes to the backstory of one of the characters that was presented to the audience, that being Avocato. We already knew that before he was a bounty hunter at the start of the series and later as Gary’s best friend and a member of his crew, he was once second-in-command for the Lord Commander. His right-hand man you might say. Being a cold-blooded killer, to say the least. But man, this episode may have hammered it in when we explored everything about the Ventrexian himself from the Lord Commander claiming Ventrexia to a sudden bombshell regarding a certain small Ventrexian and how we ended up to where we are now.
I might as well get the subplots out of the way before talking about the main focus of the episode. On one hand, you have Gary and Quinn giving themselves the grand tour of the brand new Galaxy Two ship and appears to be roomier and faster than the Galaxy One and the Crimson Light, no disrespect to the past two ships that were destroyed as the series progressed. Him trying to woo Quinn while having the ship all to themselves despite that KVN and HUE are with them when they picked up the ship from the previous episode from Kevin Van Newton as a parting gift from Nightfall. Though it wasn’t long until they unexpectedly gained a member in the form of Newton’s assistant Biskit, who stowed away inside the ship while heading off to find Avocato and the others, not knowing that they’re currently being held prisoner by both the Lord Commander and Invictus. Same for Mooncake, who is currently with Bolo and kicking some titan ass. And we’ll get to Mooncake and Bolo for a bit because…
We gotta give a brief mention about Quinn’s little situation about something that is quickly spreading across her body, which later reveals to be Final Space poisoning because she’s been trapped inside there for ages to the point where you think that she’s currently fine and dandy but in reality, it’s not. And we get that later on into the season when it became so widespread that she was this close from knocking on death’s door if it weren’t for a cure, rather a substance at least maintains the poisoning from ever spreading even more across her body. So it wouldn’t be a problem for her...but Gary and the others, excluding Ash, KVN, and somehow Biskit, all affected by the poison itself to the point where the disease is out of their system once they’re out of Final Space.
On the other hand, you have Mooncake and Bolo continuing to slay titans that were under the control of Invictus. Give credit where credit is due when it comes to the animation, visuals, and choreography for the fight against one of the Titans, don’t know who’s name it is since it’s been a while, who happened to be one of the titans that took Bolo’s girl away. Sure, Bolo’s been sluggish as of this moment with his fight to the point where he nearly lost (and died) if he didn’t have Mooncake on his side. Just all it took is to lie to him about Gary’s status, not knowing that he survived the blast and got airborne to the moon and found Earth in ruins. The dude almost got his ass handed if it weren’t for Mooncake aiding him to help out. But besides all that, we’re pretty much in agreement that we’re suckers for amazing fights and this might be one of them. But it wasn’t long enough for Mooncake to be found by Gary and the others when sensing his energy moments after Bolo’s fight and picks Mooncake from him. Not to mention Gary being peeved off at Bolo for lying to Mooncake in thinking that he died back in the first episode of this season to get the help that he needs in hopes that Invictus doesn’t fuck shit up. Hopefully with Mooncake going back to Gary’s hands doesn’t mean that Bolo could potentially find himself into some trouble because boy, that would potentially put not just the crew of the Galaxy Two, but the entire universe to be fucked so hard that they’re nine months by proxy. Yeah...nothing wrong with that other than...oh I don’t know, Bolo having his mind being messed up or killed off by the Lord Commander.
Yeah, let’s get to the Lord Commander because the episode did start with him and how he came back to life. Because unless you didn’t know, throughout Season 1, the guy is horrifically sick to the point where is he on the verge of dying with each passing time he is slowly decaying while hunting Mooncake. He did capture the planet-killing being in “Chapter Ten” in hopes for him to become a titan himself...only for a random titan’s hand to snatch Earth away, dashing LC’s hopes and dreams after opening up the portal for a bit. And if that’s not enough, when we get to “The Toro Regatta” in Season 2 where he just dies by Nightfall impaling him with her spear before mysteriously getting taken by a mysterious voice that is later revealed to be Invictus. Well, we got a flashback to how Lord Commander got revived after being dead from his illness and Nightfall delivering the final blow by making a deal with the mysterious, yet dangerous being that’s been locked up for eons by having him go after Mooncake because he is Invictus’ ticket to get out of prison. Which leads us to the highlight of the episode…
Avocato. We entered backstory mode with the Ventrexian as the Lord Commander’s way to get his former second-in-command to spill the beans about Mooncake’s whereabouts after seeing Little Cato...yet again, can’t catch a damn break. And this is where the rest of the episode goes with Avocato’s backstory. Something that he doesn’t want to relive through it, mostly because of something that he regretted. Starting things off with Ventrexians fighting against the Tryvulians in a centuries years war with the Ventrexian camp having the full advantage against their opponent on the battlefield before the Lord Commander steps in and wants to make an offer. And okay, yeah...the Ventrexians swearing their allegiance to the Lord Commander looks oddly similar to the events from Dragon Ball where you have the Ventrexians, who are happened to be a warrior race, similar to the Saiyans. You have the tyrannical ruler in the Lord Commander, pretty much Frieza in a nutshell. Yeah, it’s similar to the Saiyans swearing their allegiance to Frieza that you might as well state as a reference to the legend of all legends. No hate on that. But unlike the Saiyans, the Ventrexian race is still standing mostly because of that one Ventrexian in “The Arachnitects”. That and also their planet not blown up by a giant death ball.
And this is where things are about to go down south with Avocato when he makes his way to the Lord Commander over at the temple, sitting on his throne. Apparently, the Lord Commander wants to rule Ventrexia. You know, colonize the planet. And he can’t do that unless he sent someone to take someone out. Rather, someones. Referring to the king and queen of the planet. Manipulating Avocato to make sure the Lord Commander will be taking the deed to the planet by telling the history and the Lord Commander’s reasons and goals and thinks that by taking out the King and Queen of Ventrexia would label Avocato as Ventrexia’s “hero” just for overthrowing a monarchy and install an authoritarian system under a tyrannical leader. And that is pretty much where Avocato had to draw the line on the Lord Commander. It’s bad enough that he has to swear his allegiance to him and work under him to do a lot of stuff that makes the whole universe to quiver in fear but handing Ventrexia over to him is pretty much the straw to break the camel’s back. I mean, it’s bad enough that Avocato would swear his allegiance to the Lord Commander earlier in the episode in a life or death situation when being surrounded by his army and a fleet of death ships but handing over the planet by killing the royal family of Ventrexia is something that he wouldn’t even do. He rather be dropped dead than commit an atrocity but we know where this is going with him agreeing to do the job because the Lord Commander is a manipulative motherfucker and also a bit of a jackhole.
Which leads up to this scene as Ventrexia is currently being burnt to the ground with both the King and Queen of Ventrexia, along with their aides and a baby carried by the queen to make their escape as the planet continues to fall to shit. You know, rulers heading on down to a disclosed location due to safety, it’s not enough just as they were taking off once Avocato came out from the flames and shooting a missile onto the ship, destroying it and killing everyone on board. The King and Queen of the planet. Their aides. The pilots. Not one survivor from the blast caused by Avocato under the orders of the Lord Commander, causing everyone in the present to be in shock over the atrocity that Avocato caused with Ash and Little Cato telling him that what he did wasn’t his fault and that it’s just the Lord Commander mindfucking him and thinks that it’s nothing more than...well...an illusion. But that did happen when Avocato said that he pulled the trigger. He followed the Lord Commander’s order to take out the King and Queen of Ventrexia and that’s a memory that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Did I mention that no one survived the blast from Avocato? Well...apparently, there’s one who survived through the wreckage and this is where is everything became a mindfuck for the fans over who survived the blast. Remember that baby that the Queen of Ventrexia was carrying to the ship before being blown to bits by the missile? Yeah...that baby who survived the wreckage, which is amazing that he survived after falling that high in the sky unless the queen was carrying him when the missile hit, but the kid who survived the blast when Avocato surveyed through the wreckage...
It’s none other than Little Cato as an infant. Avocato didn’t just kill the King and Queen of Ventrexia, but he just killed Little Cato’s biological parents. And man...that was a mindfuck right there. Sure, if you watched the behind-the-scenes video of the episode on YouTube that there are some bits about the Catos, but man...this, in my opinion, was a gamechanger for the series with the two characters as them, along with Ash, Fox, and Sheryl are making their way to Invictus and setting things up for the next episode when being chained up. But that moment there...man, that was something. Sure, Avocato did have a change of heart when seeing Little Cato and swore to protect him as his way to redeem himself for something that he did regarding the murder of his biological parents, but the dude has betrayed Little Cato. Why? Well, other than he underwent a boatload of traumatic events throughout the events of the show, Avocato just killed his real parents and he kept that in secrecy. And if he were to tell Little Cato about what happened, it would upset him to the point where he might never forgive him for something that he was ordered.
And it wasn’t even brought up until “Forgiveness” where Avocato told Gary about the atrocity that he committed, which led to their little scuffle, and not long after is where Ash and later Little Cato found out about the whole situation in the finale. But for now...god, this episode was something alright. Sure, you have that little subplot with Gary and Quinn exploring the ship and Biskit stowing away because why not. Which is surprising because when it comes to Biskit, I always thought that the crew was only introducing him because I see him as a potential marketing darling...really would’ve done that to at least boost some sales, I’m just saying. That and also setting things up with the issue regarding Quinn and her troubles with the Final Space poison spreading through her body at a rapid pace. Not to mention the other subplot with Bolo struggling but held on to his fight against one of the titans that he defeated alongside Mooncake before being picked up by Gary and the others because why now. We’re suckers for action and quality animation from it.
But the highlight is pretty much Avocato’s backstory and got some questions answered but also creating some new ones as the series progressed. Sure, the start of the episode with Avocato and the Ventrexian army swearing their allegiance to the Lord Commander feels like something coming out from Dragon Ball with the Saiyans and Frieza, nothing wrong with a little reference from here to there. Adding some new material into the lore of the show other than how Avocato joined the Lord Commander and how he became his second-in-command but adding some stuff regarding his goals when telling Avocato to give him Ventrexia by taking out the King and Queen of the planet. Also mentioning the cold open to the episode on how the Lord Commander came back to life after being written off from his sickness and Nightfall impaling him as the final blow with him making a deal with Invictus to go after Mooncake in hopes for Invictus to be freed.
But come on, the final moments of the backstory of the episode with Avocato murdering the King and Queen of Ventrexia and finding Little Cato in the rubble was pretty much the moment where things have shifted that we know about Avocato. But also Little Cato since he now found out that he used to be royalty and the next in line to rule Ventrexia. Would say that he’s king now but...he needed a coronation before taking the throne, much like with Vegeta from Dragon Ball or Yuno from Black Clover. But this was one of the moments from the show if not, the entire year that left me hooked and shooked. And even though the situation has been somewhat resolved at the end of the season (series), we now know the burden that Avocato had to carry throughout his entire life when picking up Little Cato and raising him as he is his own child...well, before being separated by the Lord Commander with Little Cato serving as his prisoner. But yeah… “The Ventrexian” coming in at number 11 of the Top 12 Countdown of 2021 and spoiler alert, there might be more episodes from the third season that made the list. It’s just you’re going to be patient about it. Bring Final Space back and renew them a new season so we can get a proper fucking conclusion.
But that’ll do it for the number 11 spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2021. Do you think that this episode should be higher, lower, or just stay put on your list for the year? Put it in the comments below. The countdown continues tomorrow as we prepare to enter the top 10 spots before hitting the pause button for the upcoming Bob’s Burgers episode review. Which episode and series will it be? You’ll have to wait and find out. Follow me over at Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff and all that jazz. And y’all should probably know the drill by now…
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/yahoo201027
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yahoo201027
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8K4OP
Donate over at PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages to help your boy out in both improving the pages and help paying the bills to keep the lights on. And if you have an extra buck or two to spare, help the people over in Western Kentucky who is currently recovering following last weekend’s severe weather outbreak. So if you wanna help out during this holiday season…
https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief
Donate today by clicking the link above to chip in a few dollars to help out with the relief effort to the people affected by the devastating tornado outbreak just last weekend alone. And until tomorrow with number 10 of the Top 12 Countdown of the year; stay safe, wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, and I’ll see y’all later.
No comments:
Post a Comment