Mike K reviews No Brain, No Pain

[froodle]

I didn’t mean to be away from this blogging enterprise, or blogterprise, for so long - in the meantime, Eerie disappeared from netflix, but thankfully it’s still streaming for free on hulu, so I’ll be able to finish off the series after all.

The science-fiction/supernatural element here is just slightly less inventive than normal Eerie standards: a mind-transferring device is definitely an idea that’s been done before. However, the way it’s executed here leads to some pretty funny moments - for one, the device itself deliberately appears to be made out of various junk, which makes a certain amount of sense because it’s inventor, Charles Furnell, managed to rebuild it despite being homeless and having had his brain removed by his own invention. Part of it’s workings is a modified 8-track player, and everyone it’s used on has the indignity of having their mind being stored on a copy of The Knack’s greatest hits - in a great, absurd touch, a recurring leitmotif in the score is a variation on the main riff of “My Sharona”.

Another fun element of this episode is the inevitable mind-switching itself - Charles Furnell’s brain is transferred into Simon’s body after having spent years on that Knack tape, and in the climax Charles and Simon have swapped bodies, and Charles’ wife, who’s the villain here, has similarly swapped with Marshall - leading to a hilarious brief gag where “Marshall” looks down and is baffled by his new found cleavage.

I’ve noticed in every episode he’s been in so far, Dash-X has played a pretty formulaic “jerk with a heart of gold” sort of role - he’ll always start off doing something out of self-interest that either helps the villains or just endangers Marshall and/or Simon, then reluctantly end up saving the day. However, this one is sort of notable, because until now he’s always seemed to have another motivation in helping other than doing the right thing.

Comments

[froodle]

looking forward to it!

[sagittariusbun.livejournal.com]

I've decided chapter two will be tomorrow for sure bc I have a headache and I need to relax.

[froodle]

feel better soon! like, for non-selfish non-fic-wanting reasons as well!

[sagittariusbun.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :-)

[froodle]

:D