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hollybrookeGetting home from the funeral trip, I just now realized how bad I've been at updating the "Jem" snark. And I wanted to do episode four with screencaps, but I can't find any good ones online, and I don't know how to make my own. (If anyone has a link or tutorial on how to do so, please feel free to let me know.) The next best thing I can do is use YouTube, I suppose.
CUE THE THEME SONG!
Last episode, Rio saved Jem from falling off the yacht. She French-kissed him and Rio was all, "I can't! I love Jerrica!" and Jem/Jerrica got all pouty because he can't tell that she's really Jerrica. The Countess agreed to act as a benefactor of sorts to Jem and the Holograms, and sent them to Paris to film a music video. Back at the new Starlight Mansion, Ashley still caught flack from the other Starlight Girls about how exactly she earned that $30. She runs off and meets back up with the Misfits at some bar, where they school her on how to be a a Misfit. Over in Paris, Kimber nearly told a mopey Rio that Jem was really Jerrica, but the other Holograms stopped her. Zipper tracked Jem and the Holograms to Paris, and tried sabotaging their music video. When J&tH come home from Paris, they realize the Misfits wasted no time in wallpapering every inch in the USA with their faces, so they went into overdrive marketing themselves. Kimber, annoyed with the Misfits antics, went to confront Eric Raymond, but he started trying to turn Kimber against her sister and bandmembers by telling her that everyone loves Jem and no one cares about her when she has more talent and is WAY prettier. Then Lin-Z Pierce called with an offer for Jem (AND ONLY JEM--the rest of the band later) to do a spot on her show. Kimber let her jealousy get the better of her, had a bitch-fit and quit the band. For a good five minutes. She rejoined after Jem and the rest of the band got on the radio and pleaded for Kimber to come back home and rejoin the group. Oh, and after Jem called Lin-Z back and told her, "All of us or none of us." Kimber then decided to be a team player and rejoin the band. Rio drove Jerrica to the TV station for the segment and he nearly quit as their road manager because he didn't want Jem coming between the two of them. (TOO LATE.) Jerrica got whiny and pouty, and Rio begrudgingly stayed on. The Misfits saw J&tH on Lin-Z's show, got their panties in a bunch, and drove down to the station with Ashley to start some crap. During J&tH's segment on the show, the Misfits interrupted and were really obnoxious and rude to Jem and Lin-Z. Lin-Z told them off and kicked them out. While being escorted out, Pizzazz brusquely elbowed Rio and sent him hurtling back into some electrical equipment, setting off a chain reaction of other electrical equipment falling and starting a small fire, trapping Jem. Which is where we left off.
Oh, and Jerrica never told Rio that she was really Jem.
NOW....here's the first part of the ep with an even quicker recap!:
Lighting equipment is falling, and Jem ducks to avoid getting hit. Rio swoops in on some moving camera units and gets her out of that big mess. She's safe, thank goodness. She's so shaken up from all of the chaos that she practically faints like the damsel in distress that she is, so Lin-Z tells Rio to take her to her dressing room so she can rest. Lin-Z asks the rest of the Holograms if they can finish up the interview. Kimber's all, "Without Jem?!" Kimber, please. An hour ago, you were griping and complaining that Jem gets alllll the attention and were ready to quit the band because you weren't included in this segment, so STFU.
Meanwhile, in Lin-Z's dressing room, Rio and Jem are alone. *raises eyebrows suggestively* The acting from Jem in this scene is so craptacular. I don't know if she's awake and having a bad dream or something, but she's exclaiming "Ugh...Misfits! Stop!" Laugh with me, friends. Rio tells her to settle down, "she can't get up yet."
1:12-1:13 The lustful look in their eyes...time for sexing!
And then Rio gets cockblocked AGAIN when Aja, Shana and Kimber barge in while Jem's supposed to be resting. They scramble back up, and Rio makes a hasty exit, mumbling something about "checking his equipment." Hooray for double entendre in children's programming!!!
Aja: "Poor Rio. When he finds out you're really Jerrica..."
Jem: "It isn't funny!" (Yes it is, Jem. Admit it. You're secretly laughing at him behind his back. You'll do it throughout the WHOLE series.) "...How can I tell him the truth without making him feel I've made a fool of him?" Oh, now these are the problems we WISH we had.
Later on, at the Starlight Mansion, Mrs. Bailey tells Jerrica that she's concerned about Ashley. "She goes off all day, comes back to eat and sleep..." (Sounds like me. Did she get a part-time job?) "...never tells us where she's been." Maybe she killed a two-year-old and is pulling a Casey Anthony on us. (OOH, TOO SOON?!) In Ashley's room, she's checking out her new Misfits t-shirt and telling herself how awesome it'll look at the Misfits' concert. BLASPHEMY! TREASON! Jem and the Holograms are the ones making sure she's got a roof over her head and food in her stomach, and she's consorting with the enemy. TRAITOR! She hides the t-shirt before Jerrica comes in to have a talk with her. I love how Jerrica starts the conversation: "Hi....uh, I understand you've been running off on your own." Wow, way to get right to the point, Jerrica. As Ashley starts sassing her, Kimber interrupts and tells Jerrica that some concert promoter from Las Vegas is here to talk to her. That's obviously more important that worrying about Ashley just running wild. Now Ashley feels even more isolated and unloved than ever, so she grabs her Misfits t-shirt and runs off AGAIN. *psh* Teenagers.
Jerrica and the rest of the band are meeting with Mr. Hayes. He wants to meet with Jem, but Jerrica tells him she handles all of Jem's business affairs. (We can't have Jem around anymore men as it is. Don't want any more problems like she has with Rio.) He's about to leave when Shana asks who their opening act is. I'll give you just ONE guess, and it rhymes with Isfits. Jerrica, Kimber, Aja and Shana freak. But the Misfits HATE them! Mr. Hayes says, "I know! I just love to see sparks fly." What an ass. The only good thing about this, Shana deduces, is that because the Misfits will be opening for Jem and the Holograms will drive them nuts. The girls get a good evil-ish chuckle out of it. Woah, what catty bitchiness from Jem/Jerrica and the Holograms!
Then Mr. Hayes gets to meet with the Misfits and have them sign their contracts. Stormer asks who they're opening for, and Mr. Hayes tells them just who. The Misfits predictably get angry, Mr. Hayes tells them, "I love to see sparks fly!" and exits before Roxy can clobber him. When he's left, Pizzazz starts scheming so that Jem and the Holograms can't go on to perform, and they're going to get Ass-ley to help them. Conveniently, Ass-ley is hanging around where the Misfits' offices/hangout is, so she sneaks in to be their groupie-in-training. (Wait till we get to deal with CLASH!) They talk Ass-ley into going to Vegas with them. Stormer and Roxy are giggling at how naive Ass-ley is.
Later on......VEGAS BABY! YEAH!
Yeah, you knew I was going to post it.
Before their show, our girls are hanging around a casino and Shana asks Jem what she's going to do about the Rio situation.
Jem: "I'm going to keep it from him and mess with his mind. What he doesn't know won't hurt him! I love being a cocktease! No. I'd like to tell him, but--"
Shana: "You don't know what he'll do when he knows the truth." And Shana is very right.
Hmm...I smell a music video! (4:57) (And is it me, but does the synching of Jem's singing with the rest of the music seem kind of off here? I'll have to check my DVD later on....)
~*~ ~*~ Now, my commentary on the whole Jem/Jerrica/Rio thing. I know I've shared it before, but I'll share it again. Rio knows he's attracted to Jem. He's admitted it to Jerrica in a very roundabout way in the previous episode. Rio tried to quit his position as road manager because he knew Jem was getting in the way, so it's not like he hasn't attempted to rectify the situation on his own. Yes, Rio gets very jealous when other men hit on her. (Either Jem or Jerrica, as the video shows.) And yes, Rio has a short temper. I don't know if Jerrica means to aggravate him as Jem or whatever, or if she's just a giant flirt and isn't aware of it when she does it. (Even more so as Jem.)
It really bothers me when I--as a member of the Jem fan community--hear other fans bashing Rio, calling him a "player" and a "cheater" and even an "abusive boyfriend." (That last one irritates me the most.) You would think that Jerrica would get a clue as to how it bothers Rio and his demeanor, and just tone down how she acts around him as Jem and tell him "hands off" or something. Jerrica shares a good amount of the blame regarding Rio's behavior. She encourages a lot of it, she never really calls him out on it, and she constantly puts off telling him the truth. It's been stated on the show (and in the excerpt from the Jem Bible that I've read on the DVD special features) that the main reason she keeps putting it off is because she doesn't want to find out how he'd react if he found out. It'd probably erupt into a big argument and he'd probably dump her. (And frankly, she'd have it coming.)
I don't know how I feel about the claims about Rio being an "abusive boyfriend." I feel certain fans accuse Rio of this after the plant-kicking incident later on in the series (which I'll address when I snark/do commentary on that one), which is unjustified. The point is, during the whole course of the show, do we ever see Rio lay a hand on Jerrica (or Jem) or ANY woman in such a way that is abusive? I don't think he would ever do that. He can be aggressive, yes (he was a football player in high school, after all), but I can't imagine Rio would actually hit his own girlfriend. You think they'd show that kind of thing on a children's show?
We don't know a whole lot about Rio's background. I can't remember where I read it or heard about it (maybe it was on the Truly Outrageous Yahoo group), but Christy Marx eluded somewhere that Rio didn't exactly have a happy childhood growing up. She also said she wanted to do an episode that delved more into Rio's background, but "Jem" got canceled before she got a chance to really get more into detail about it. I would've loved to have seen this. Maybe we could get a little more clarification on why he has such a hard time with liars, and why he is the way he is. (I like to think that maybe his parents hid some crucial information from him, or that maybe his father abused him when he was younger. I also heard somewhere that Christy had an idea for an episode that dealt with an alcoholic parent, but I think the children programming Powers That Be drew the line at that because it was "too edgy." But I suppose we'll never know...)
Yeah, I totally went on a tangent there, but the point I'm getting at is that this whole problem isn't all Rio's fault. Jerrica shares a lot of the blame as well. My friend Jeed thinks Jerrica excuses Rio's poor behavior because she knows she's responsible for most of it. I can believe that.~*~ ~*~
Okay, back to the show. While Jem is ruminating about the Rio thing, the Misfits are setting Ashley up for their sabotage. They send Ashley out in the casino to be spotted by one of the Holograms...which just happens to be Aja. Aja chases Ashley out of the casino, shouting, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN LAS VEGAS?!" Ashley crawls into the baggage compartment of a tour bus and out the other end, where Stormer is waiting for her. Aja crawls in after Ashley, but Roxy slams her shut in there. One Hologram out of the way means that the whole band can't do the show! The Misfits smell sweet victory! And at the expense of Aja's safety, too! Do these women have ANY morals at all? But it's "just a joke!" If it's so funny, how come Ashley's not laughing? (7:10)
Pizzazz goes to Mr. Hayes and tells him that she heard one of the Holograms ran out on the rest of the band. She "just thought he should know, but they're ready to take over!" Mr. Hayes tells her that he'll get to the bottom of this. Jem, Shana and Kimber are freaking out, running around trying to find her.
7:28 Jem's wearing a yellow dress with a pink belt and tights. But then at 7:33 she's wearing her traditional pink asymmetric dress. 7:36 she's back to yellow dress. (Crappy animation continuity, I salute thee!) All the time while Mr. Hayes is confronting them on where the hell Aja is, and if she doesn't show up by showtime, the Misfits get to headline. Meanwhile, Aja's still trapped in the bus luggage compartment. THIS IS NOT SAFE, PEOPLE! Did anyone learn their lesson after watching The Long, Long Trailer?!
How the hell is Aja going to get out?! Some people on the bus hear an awful loud thumping noise. One passenger says it sounds like it could be a flat tire. She gets up and lets the bus driver know, so he stops the bus to go inspect the tires. Then he hears Aja banging from the inside of the bus. He opens the compartment up, and Aja escapes. SWEET FREEDOM!!
Back at the casino, Jem, Shana, Kimber and Rio agree to split up and go looking for Aja. Aja is running around Vegas, trying to find her way back to the casino. Some hoodlums give her some crappy directions, then they start arguing over the directions. Then some cowboy on a motorcycle stops by and offers Hot Legs Aja $200. HA, just kidding. He offers to give her a ride back for free. (A cowboy on a motorcycle? WTF were the animators thinking?!)
Uh-oh. Traffic. Aja gets off the motorcycle and hoofs it the rest of the way there.
Back at the casino, Rio demands to check the Misfits' dressing room. Roxy protests, but Pizzazz says it's okay. So she decides to corner Rio in the dressing room and put the moves on him.
Rio's reaction?
"You aren't fit to breathe the same air as Jem!"
0:43 Uhm...."do we ever see Rio lay a hand on Jerrica (or Jem) or ANY woman in such a way that is abusive?" Well, it doesn't matter if it's Pizzazz. We saw the way she brusquely elbowed him in the previous episode. Bitch is STRONG.
Pizzazz is PISSED. She got blown off by hunky Rio. Cue her trademark screech.
No one's been able to find Aja, and Mr. Hayes is getting tired of waiting. He's ready to just let the Misfits have the headlining act, and he reminds Jem and the remaining Holograms (and Rio) that there's a penalty to pay if they can't perform. THEN Aja finally arrives. HOORAY!! Aja tells the Misfits to go warm up the audience for them. Pizzazz retorts...
"I wouldn't heat up leftovers for these no-talents!"
(She seriously gets some of the best lines in the show.) They storm off, and Roxy tells Mr. Hayes, "And don't talk to us about penalty clauses!" Yeah, Eric Raymond can handle THAT shit.
So Jem and the (complete) Holograms take the stage. (1:38) In their trashed-up dressing room, the Misfits are pinning the blame on Ashley. Well, Roxy is. Stormer points out that Ashley did exactly what they told her to do. Ashley overheard this, and decides to stay out of it, especially after Roxy says, "Aw, forget about that brat." The phone rings, and it's Eric. He warns them that there's going to be some commotion, and when the police show up to do some searching, tell them to check Jem's dressing room. WOAH-HO-HO, what shit is this?!
Stormer goes off searching for Ashley, because Stormer is a good girl underneath it all, really. She finds her cowering behind a Jem and the Holograms cutout (ironic, y/y?). Ashley tells Stormer not to hurt her, and we all know Stormer wouldn't hurt a fly. She 'fesses up to Ashley that she gets scared of Pizzazz and Roxy sometimes, too. They then overhear that asshat Zipper plotting to plant some stolen money in Jem and the Holograms' dresser.
After the concert, the head of the casino realizes that they've been robbed. And when the cops show up, Pizzazz tells them to check Jem's room.
Okay.....every casino/hotel in Las Vegas has cameras ALLLLL over. Security to the 100th degree. Hell, if you've seen 21 or any of those "Las Vegas Cheaters Exposed!" shows on the Travel Channel, you know this. I can't imagine it wouldn't have been the same way back in 1985. I know people who work at the casino boats in Hammond who have to wear pocketless/zipperless jumpsuits when they count down the money in the countdown offices to prevent that shit with cameras ALL OVER. And you know, given the sort of history the Misfits have in interfering with Jem's business, don't you think the cops would question why Pizzazz would point the finger at Jem? If you check the tapes, they'd find that Jem, Kimber, Shana and Rio were all over the casino checking for Aja, but nowhere near the actual money vaults.
And I love how the bag that has the money planted in it has Jem's name so blatantly spray painted on it (5:22). Hell, you know Jem probably didn't even bring any bags with her to Vegas. She has her handy-dandy earrings to transform!
THIS BAG IS OBVIOUSLY JEM'S! LET'S MAKE THIS THIEVERY LOOK VERY OBVIOUS! *cue the Carlos Mencia 'DEE-DEE-DEE'*
So they cuff Jem and take her into custody. Like I said, why didn't they just check the casino's security cameras? This shit is bananas, I tell ya. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Then as they're hauling Jem off, Pizzazz tells the cops to take Rio with her, "because he's probably in on it as well." Rio's all, "PISS OFF, BITCH." (*ha* I WISH!) Jem even tells the detective, "How could I rob the casino when I was onstage performing?" WELL DUH!! The detective says that the thieves were indeed men, but she MIGHT be an accomplice. OH FOR THE LOVE OF FLAPJACKS. Then Ass-ley comes running over and yelling, "SHE DIDN'T DO IT!" Pizzazz and Roxy try to shut her up, but Ass-ley tells the detective she witnessed the thieves plotting to plant the money on Jem. Pizzazz dismissed what Ass-ley says, because she just wants Jem to get into trouble. Then some mysterious woman with a raspy voice and is draped in purple curtains who looks like she might be Shadow Weaver from "She-Ra" claims that she witnessed the same thing. She asks to speak to the detective in private. (We all know this is Stormer.)
Jem whines that she understands why Pizzazz would want to get her into trouble, but she doesn't know why Pizzazz needs to drag Rio down with her as well. Rio tells Jem that Pizzazz doesn't take rejection very well. (Obviously.) After what seems like ages with the detective questioning Ashley and "Mystery Lady," they come out, and Jem is cleared. YAY! And Stormer's little secret is safe with Ashley. *aww*
Back at home, the Misfits are bitching to Eric Raymond that after that, Jem and the Holograms got more publicity and people talk about them more. Eric tries to come up with another scheme, how Jem might just be a stage name, like "Pizzazz" is....right, Phyllis? CUE PIZZAZZ'S TRADEMARK SCREECH! She HATES her real name! Ugh, really. Who wouldn't, right? Phyllis is an old ladies' name.
Actually, "Phyllis" is Greek for "green leaf." I think the name is appropriate, really.
Anyway, Eric has hired a private detective to dig up any dirt he can on Jem. He wants to know who she really is, and how they can use it against her. And they're going to start at Countess du Voison's fashion show.
8:19 That's Pizzazz's voice, but they show Stormer speaking. Blooper ahoy!
"And on top of it all, you're here with me
It's truly outrageous, truly truly truly outrageous!"
I love the FULL version of the song compared to the actual theme song. And you just HAD to love the fashion of the 80s.
Regarding what the Misfits do here at the fashion show, setting off the fire alarm sprinklers....that would've been the ultimate way to expose Jem for who she truly is, if the Jemstar earrings had shorted out. We'll see this in future episodes, but not here! OH NO! We have to keep this charade up for 61 more episodes! On the way home, Malone the Private Dick follows the Rockin' Roadster to where they're safeguarding Synergy at the abandoned drive-in. And HE SEES THEM GOING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE WALL. Oh no. The jig is up.
The other girls are changing (NAUGHTY!), and they're all commenting on how desperate the Misfits must be if they're resorting to antics like the fashion show thing. And they have two days left before the Battle of the Bands. Jem has Synergy change her back to Jerrica, and they exit the drive-in. (2:55 If you look closely, Jem's still in the Roadster. Bad continuity.) Malone waits until they're out of sight, and he tries to go through the projection booth wall to see what's up. He falls through, and Synergy's alarms go off, and she's repeating "INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" over and over again. Malone decides to take some pictures of Synergy's console, and he tells the console to shut up or he'll smash it to smithereens.
Then he actually DOES IT! He picks up a chair and starts smashing Emmett Benton's great work to pieces. Then Synergy blows up.
HOLY CRAP. Jerrica is shit out of luck now!!!
TO BE CONTINUED.............
And since this was a Las Vegas-themed episode....one last video.
CUE THE THEME SONG!
Last episode, Rio saved Jem from falling off the yacht. She French-kissed him and Rio was all, "I can't! I love Jerrica!" and Jem/Jerrica got all pouty because he can't tell that she's really Jerrica. The Countess agreed to act as a benefactor of sorts to Jem and the Holograms, and sent them to Paris to film a music video. Back at the new Starlight Mansion, Ashley still caught flack from the other Starlight Girls about how exactly she earned that $30. She runs off and meets back up with the Misfits at some bar, where they school her on how to be a a Misfit. Over in Paris, Kimber nearly told a mopey Rio that Jem was really Jerrica, but the other Holograms stopped her. Zipper tracked Jem and the Holograms to Paris, and tried sabotaging their music video. When J&tH come home from Paris, they realize the Misfits wasted no time in wallpapering every inch in the USA with their faces, so they went into overdrive marketing themselves. Kimber, annoyed with the Misfits antics, went to confront Eric Raymond, but he started trying to turn Kimber against her sister and bandmembers by telling her that everyone loves Jem and no one cares about her when she has more talent and is WAY prettier. Then Lin-Z Pierce called with an offer for Jem (AND ONLY JEM--the rest of the band later) to do a spot on her show. Kimber let her jealousy get the better of her, had a bitch-fit and quit the band. For a good five minutes. She rejoined after Jem and the rest of the band got on the radio and pleaded for Kimber to come back home and rejoin the group. Oh, and after Jem called Lin-Z back and told her, "All of us or none of us." Kimber then decided to be a team player and rejoin the band. Rio drove Jerrica to the TV station for the segment and he nearly quit as their road manager because he didn't want Jem coming between the two of them. (TOO LATE.) Jerrica got whiny and pouty, and Rio begrudgingly stayed on. The Misfits saw J&tH on Lin-Z's show, got their panties in a bunch, and drove down to the station with Ashley to start some crap. During J&tH's segment on the show, the Misfits interrupted and were really obnoxious and rude to Jem and Lin-Z. Lin-Z told them off and kicked them out. While being escorted out, Pizzazz brusquely elbowed Rio and sent him hurtling back into some electrical equipment, setting off a chain reaction of other electrical equipment falling and starting a small fire, trapping Jem. Which is where we left off.
Oh, and Jerrica never told Rio that she was really Jem.
NOW....here's the first part of the ep with an even quicker recap!:
Lighting equipment is falling, and Jem ducks to avoid getting hit. Rio swoops in on some moving camera units and gets her out of that big mess. She's safe, thank goodness. She's so shaken up from all of the chaos that she practically faints like the damsel in distress that she is, so Lin-Z tells Rio to take her to her dressing room so she can rest. Lin-Z asks the rest of the Holograms if they can finish up the interview. Kimber's all, "Without Jem?!" Kimber, please. An hour ago, you were griping and complaining that Jem gets alllll the attention and were ready to quit the band because you weren't included in this segment, so STFU.
Meanwhile, in Lin-Z's dressing room, Rio and Jem are alone. *raises eyebrows suggestively* The acting from Jem in this scene is so craptacular. I don't know if she's awake and having a bad dream or something, but she's exclaiming "Ugh...Misfits! Stop!" Laugh with me, friends. Rio tells her to settle down, "she can't get up yet."
1:12-1:13 The lustful look in their eyes...time for sexing!
And then Rio gets cockblocked AGAIN when Aja, Shana and Kimber barge in while Jem's supposed to be resting. They scramble back up, and Rio makes a hasty exit, mumbling something about "checking his equipment." Hooray for double entendre in children's programming!!!
Aja: "Poor Rio. When he finds out you're really Jerrica..."
Jem: "It isn't funny!" (Yes it is, Jem. Admit it. You're secretly laughing at him behind his back. You'll do it throughout the WHOLE series.) "...How can I tell him the truth without making him feel I've made a fool of him?" Oh, now these are the problems we WISH we had.
Later on, at the Starlight Mansion, Mrs. Bailey tells Jerrica that she's concerned about Ashley. "She goes off all day, comes back to eat and sleep..." (Sounds like me. Did she get a part-time job?) "...never tells us where she's been." Maybe she killed a two-year-old and is pulling a Casey Anthony on us. (OOH, TOO SOON?!) In Ashley's room, she's checking out her new Misfits t-shirt and telling herself how awesome it'll look at the Misfits' concert. BLASPHEMY! TREASON! Jem and the Holograms are the ones making sure she's got a roof over her head and food in her stomach, and she's consorting with the enemy. TRAITOR! She hides the t-shirt before Jerrica comes in to have a talk with her. I love how Jerrica starts the conversation: "Hi....uh, I understand you've been running off on your own." Wow, way to get right to the point, Jerrica. As Ashley starts sassing her, Kimber interrupts and tells Jerrica that some concert promoter from Las Vegas is here to talk to her. That's obviously more important that worrying about Ashley just running wild. Now Ashley feels even more isolated and unloved than ever, so she grabs her Misfits t-shirt and runs off AGAIN. *psh* Teenagers.
Jerrica and the rest of the band are meeting with Mr. Hayes. He wants to meet with Jem, but Jerrica tells him she handles all of Jem's business affairs. (We can't have Jem around anymore men as it is. Don't want any more problems like she has with Rio.) He's about to leave when Shana asks who their opening act is. I'll give you just ONE guess, and it rhymes with Isfits. Jerrica, Kimber, Aja and Shana freak. But the Misfits HATE them! Mr. Hayes says, "I know! I just love to see sparks fly." What an ass. The only good thing about this, Shana deduces, is that because the Misfits will be opening for Jem and the Holograms will drive them nuts. The girls get a good evil-ish chuckle out of it. Woah, what catty bitchiness from Jem/Jerrica and the Holograms!
Then Mr. Hayes gets to meet with the Misfits and have them sign their contracts. Stormer asks who they're opening for, and Mr. Hayes tells them just who. The Misfits predictably get angry, Mr. Hayes tells them, "I love to see sparks fly!" and exits before Roxy can clobber him. When he's left, Pizzazz starts scheming so that Jem and the Holograms can't go on to perform, and they're going to get Ass-ley to help them. Conveniently, Ass-ley is hanging around where the Misfits' offices/hangout is, so she sneaks in to be their groupie-in-training. (Wait till we get to deal with CLASH!) They talk Ass-ley into going to Vegas with them. Stormer and Roxy are giggling at how naive Ass-ley is.
Later on......VEGAS BABY! YEAH!
Yeah, you knew I was going to post it.
Before their show, our girls are hanging around a casino and Shana asks Jem what she's going to do about the Rio situation.
Jem: "
Shana: "You don't know what he'll do when he knows the truth." And Shana is very right.
Hmm...I smell a music video! (4:57) (And is it me, but does the synching of Jem's singing with the rest of the music seem kind of off here? I'll have to check my DVD later on....)
~*~ ~*~ Now, my commentary on the whole Jem/Jerrica/Rio thing. I know I've shared it before, but I'll share it again. Rio knows he's attracted to Jem. He's admitted it to Jerrica in a very roundabout way in the previous episode. Rio tried to quit his position as road manager because he knew Jem was getting in the way, so it's not like he hasn't attempted to rectify the situation on his own. Yes, Rio gets very jealous when other men hit on her. (Either Jem or Jerrica, as the video shows.) And yes, Rio has a short temper. I don't know if Jerrica means to aggravate him as Jem or whatever, or if she's just a giant flirt and isn't aware of it when she does it. (Even more so as Jem.)
It really bothers me when I--as a member of the Jem fan community--hear other fans bashing Rio, calling him a "player" and a "cheater" and even an "abusive boyfriend." (That last one irritates me the most.) You would think that Jerrica would get a clue as to how it bothers Rio and his demeanor, and just tone down how she acts around him as Jem and tell him "hands off" or something. Jerrica shares a good amount of the blame regarding Rio's behavior. She encourages a lot of it, she never really calls him out on it, and she constantly puts off telling him the truth. It's been stated on the show (and in the excerpt from the Jem Bible that I've read on the DVD special features) that the main reason she keeps putting it off is because she doesn't want to find out how he'd react if he found out. It'd probably erupt into a big argument and he'd probably dump her. (And frankly, she'd have it coming.)
I don't know how I feel about the claims about Rio being an "abusive boyfriend." I feel certain fans accuse Rio of this after the plant-kicking incident later on in the series (which I'll address when I snark/do commentary on that one), which is unjustified. The point is, during the whole course of the show, do we ever see Rio lay a hand on Jerrica (or Jem) or ANY woman in such a way that is abusive? I don't think he would ever do that. He can be aggressive, yes (he was a football player in high school, after all), but I can't imagine Rio would actually hit his own girlfriend. You think they'd show that kind of thing on a children's show?
We don't know a whole lot about Rio's background. I can't remember where I read it or heard about it (maybe it was on the Truly Outrageous Yahoo group), but Christy Marx eluded somewhere that Rio didn't exactly have a happy childhood growing up. She also said she wanted to do an episode that delved more into Rio's background, but "Jem" got canceled before she got a chance to really get more into detail about it. I would've loved to have seen this. Maybe we could get a little more clarification on why he has such a hard time with liars, and why he is the way he is. (I like to think that maybe his parents hid some crucial information from him, or that maybe his father abused him when he was younger. I also heard somewhere that Christy had an idea for an episode that dealt with an alcoholic parent, but I think the children programming Powers That Be drew the line at that because it was "too edgy." But I suppose we'll never know...)
Yeah, I totally went on a tangent there, but the point I'm getting at is that this whole problem isn't all Rio's fault. Jerrica shares a lot of the blame as well. My friend Jeed thinks Jerrica excuses Rio's poor behavior because she knows she's responsible for most of it. I can believe that.~*~ ~*~
Okay, back to the show. While Jem is ruminating about the Rio thing, the Misfits are setting Ashley up for their sabotage. They send Ashley out in the casino to be spotted by one of the Holograms...which just happens to be Aja. Aja chases Ashley out of the casino, shouting, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN LAS VEGAS?!" Ashley crawls into the baggage compartment of a tour bus and out the other end, where Stormer is waiting for her. Aja crawls in after Ashley, but Roxy slams her shut in there. One Hologram out of the way means that the whole band can't do the show! The Misfits smell sweet victory! And at the expense of Aja's safety, too! Do these women have ANY morals at all? But it's "just a joke!" If it's so funny, how come Ashley's not laughing? (7:10)
Pizzazz goes to Mr. Hayes and tells him that she heard one of the Holograms ran out on the rest of the band. She "just thought he should know, but they're ready to take over!" Mr. Hayes tells her that he'll get to the bottom of this. Jem, Shana and Kimber are freaking out, running around trying to find her.
7:28 Jem's wearing a yellow dress with a pink belt and tights. But then at 7:33 she's wearing her traditional pink asymmetric dress. 7:36 she's back to yellow dress. (Crappy animation continuity, I salute thee!) All the time while Mr. Hayes is confronting them on where the hell Aja is, and if she doesn't show up by showtime, the Misfits get to headline. Meanwhile, Aja's still trapped in the bus luggage compartment. THIS IS NOT SAFE, PEOPLE! Did anyone learn their lesson after watching The Long, Long Trailer?!
How the hell is Aja going to get out?! Some people on the bus hear an awful loud thumping noise. One passenger says it sounds like it could be a flat tire. She gets up and lets the bus driver know, so he stops the bus to go inspect the tires. Then he hears Aja banging from the inside of the bus. He opens the compartment up, and Aja escapes. SWEET FREEDOM!!
Back at the casino, Jem, Shana, Kimber and Rio agree to split up and go looking for Aja. Aja is running around Vegas, trying to find her way back to the casino. Some hoodlums give her some crappy directions, then they start arguing over the directions. Then some cowboy on a motorcycle stops by and offers Hot Legs Aja $200. HA, just kidding. He offers to give her a ride back for free. (A cowboy on a motorcycle? WTF were the animators thinking?!)
Uh-oh. Traffic. Aja gets off the motorcycle and hoofs it the rest of the way there.
Back at the casino, Rio demands to check the Misfits' dressing room. Roxy protests, but Pizzazz says it's okay. So she decides to corner Rio in the dressing room and put the moves on him.
Rio's reaction?
"You aren't fit to breathe the same air as Jem!"
0:43 Uhm...."do we ever see Rio lay a hand on Jerrica (or Jem) or ANY woman in such a way that is abusive?" Well, it doesn't matter if it's Pizzazz. We saw the way she brusquely elbowed him in the previous episode. Bitch is STRONG.
Pizzazz is PISSED. She got blown off by hunky Rio. Cue her trademark screech.
No one's been able to find Aja, and Mr. Hayes is getting tired of waiting. He's ready to just let the Misfits have the headlining act, and he reminds Jem and the remaining Holograms (and Rio) that there's a penalty to pay if they can't perform. THEN Aja finally arrives. HOORAY!! Aja tells the Misfits to go warm up the audience for them. Pizzazz retorts...
"I wouldn't heat up leftovers for these no-talents!"
(She seriously gets some of the best lines in the show.) They storm off, and Roxy tells Mr. Hayes, "And don't talk to us about penalty clauses!" Yeah, Eric Raymond can handle THAT shit.
So Jem and the (complete) Holograms take the stage. (1:38) In their trashed-up dressing room, the Misfits are pinning the blame on Ashley. Well, Roxy is. Stormer points out that Ashley did exactly what they told her to do. Ashley overheard this, and decides to stay out of it, especially after Roxy says, "Aw, forget about that brat." The phone rings, and it's Eric. He warns them that there's going to be some commotion, and when the police show up to do some searching, tell them to check Jem's dressing room. WOAH-HO-HO, what shit is this?!
Stormer goes off searching for Ashley, because Stormer is a good girl underneath it all, really. She finds her cowering behind a Jem and the Holograms cutout (ironic, y/y?). Ashley tells Stormer not to hurt her, and we all know Stormer wouldn't hurt a fly. She 'fesses up to Ashley that she gets scared of Pizzazz and Roxy sometimes, too. They then overhear that asshat Zipper plotting to plant some stolen money in Jem and the Holograms' dresser.
After the concert, the head of the casino realizes that they've been robbed. And when the cops show up, Pizzazz tells them to check Jem's room.
Okay.....every casino/hotel in Las Vegas has cameras ALLLLL over. Security to the 100th degree. Hell, if you've seen 21 or any of those "Las Vegas Cheaters Exposed!" shows on the Travel Channel, you know this. I can't imagine it wouldn't have been the same way back in 1985. I know people who work at the casino boats in Hammond who have to wear pocketless/zipperless jumpsuits when they count down the money in the countdown offices to prevent that shit with cameras ALL OVER. And you know, given the sort of history the Misfits have in interfering with Jem's business, don't you think the cops would question why Pizzazz would point the finger at Jem? If you check the tapes, they'd find that Jem, Kimber, Shana and Rio were all over the casino checking for Aja, but nowhere near the actual money vaults.
And I love how the bag that has the money planted in it has Jem's name so blatantly spray painted on it (5:22). Hell, you know Jem probably didn't even bring any bags with her to Vegas. She has her handy-dandy earrings to transform!
THIS BAG IS OBVIOUSLY JEM'S! LET'S MAKE THIS THIEVERY LOOK VERY OBVIOUS! *cue the Carlos Mencia 'DEE-DEE-DEE'*
So they cuff Jem and take her into custody. Like I said, why didn't they just check the casino's security cameras? This shit is bananas, I tell ya. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Then as they're hauling Jem off, Pizzazz tells the cops to take Rio with her, "because he's probably in on it as well." Rio's all, "PISS OFF, BITCH." (*ha* I WISH!) Jem even tells the detective, "How could I rob the casino when I was onstage performing?" WELL DUH!! The detective says that the thieves were indeed men, but she MIGHT be an accomplice. OH FOR THE LOVE OF FLAPJACKS. Then Ass-ley comes running over and yelling, "SHE DIDN'T DO IT!" Pizzazz and Roxy try to shut her up, but Ass-ley tells the detective she witnessed the thieves plotting to plant the money on Jem. Pizzazz dismissed what Ass-ley says, because she just wants Jem to get into trouble. Then some mysterious woman with a raspy voice and is draped in purple curtains who looks like she might be Shadow Weaver from "She-Ra" claims that she witnessed the same thing. She asks to speak to the detective in private. (We all know this is Stormer.)
Jem whines that she understands why Pizzazz would want to get her into trouble, but she doesn't know why Pizzazz needs to drag Rio down with her as well. Rio tells Jem that Pizzazz doesn't take rejection very well. (Obviously.) After what seems like ages with the detective questioning Ashley and "Mystery Lady," they come out, and Jem is cleared. YAY! And Stormer's little secret is safe with Ashley. *aww*
Back at home, the Misfits are bitching to Eric Raymond that after that, Jem and the Holograms got more publicity and people talk about them more. Eric tries to come up with another scheme, how Jem might just be a stage name, like "Pizzazz" is....right, Phyllis? CUE PIZZAZZ'S TRADEMARK SCREECH! She HATES her real name! Ugh, really. Who wouldn't, right? Phyllis is an old ladies' name.
Actually, "Phyllis" is Greek for "green leaf." I think the name is appropriate, really.
Anyway, Eric has hired a private detective to dig up any dirt he can on Jem. He wants to know who she really is, and how they can use it against her. And they're going to start at Countess du Voison's fashion show.
8:19 That's Pizzazz's voice, but they show Stormer speaking. Blooper ahoy!
"And on top of it all, you're here with me
It's truly outrageous, truly truly truly outrageous!"
I love the FULL version of the song compared to the actual theme song. And you just HAD to love the fashion of the 80s.
Regarding what the Misfits do here at the fashion show, setting off the fire alarm sprinklers....that would've been the ultimate way to expose Jem for who she truly is, if the Jemstar earrings had shorted out. We'll see this in future episodes, but not here! OH NO! We have to keep this charade up for 61 more episodes! On the way home, Malone the Private Dick follows the Rockin' Roadster to where they're safeguarding Synergy at the abandoned drive-in. And HE SEES THEM GOING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE WALL. Oh no. The jig is up.
The other girls are changing (NAUGHTY!), and they're all commenting on how desperate the Misfits must be if they're resorting to antics like the fashion show thing. And they have two days left before the Battle of the Bands. Jem has Synergy change her back to Jerrica, and they exit the drive-in. (2:55 If you look closely, Jem's still in the Roadster. Bad continuity.) Malone waits until they're out of sight, and he tries to go through the projection booth wall to see what's up. He falls through, and Synergy's alarms go off, and she's repeating "INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" over and over again. Malone decides to take some pictures of Synergy's console, and he tells the console to shut up or he'll smash it to smithereens.
Then he actually DOES IT! He picks up a chair and starts smashing Emmett Benton's great work to pieces. Then Synergy blows up.
HOLY CRAP. Jerrica is shit out of luck now!!!
TO BE CONTINUED.............
And since this was a Las Vegas-themed episode....one last video.
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 04:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 05:55 pm (UTC)Also, I don't know if you're equipped with Windows Movie Maker, but if you download the episodes and feed them to the program, you can make screenshots. It's been a while, so I can't remember exactly how to do it, but it's relatively easy.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 04:20 pm (UTC)I don't know how I feel about the claims about Rio being an "abusive boyfriend." I feel certain fans accuse Rio of this after the plant-kicking incident later on in the series (which I'll address when I snark/do commentary on that one), which is unjustified. The point is, during the whole course of the show, do we ever see Rio lay a hand on Jerrica (or Jem) or ANY woman in such a way that is abusive? I don't think he would ever do that. He can be aggressive, yes (he was a football player in high school, after all), but I can't imagine Rio would actually hit his own girlfriend. You think they'd show that kind of thing on a children's show?
more verbally abusive, I think. He's very short tempered, can trust no one (though, that's a bit warranted with everything having to do with jem) and is hypocritical. it's all sorts of okay for him to date Jerrica and sort've date Jem as well, but during a later episode (I forget which) when kimber is starting to date two different guys he goes full on phycho on her. So, heh.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-06 12:23 am (UTC)I can't wait till I get to snarking on THAT episode. :P
no subject
Date: 2009-09-08 02:02 am (UTC)