TNMC
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The Tick
Episode: "Couples"
Writer: Ross Venokur
Director: Danny Leiner
Original Airdate: 12/5/01
This episode was a bit late due to the Lord of the Rings special Fox aired last Thursday, so we get two episodes this week.
Tick and Arthur meet another super-duo, Fiery Blaze and Friendly Fire, who share something of a dysfunctional relationship. While the jokes about the ambiguously homoerotic nature of a superhero and his sidekick were mildly humorous, if well-treaded ground, I found the more subtle coolness to come out of how this show is aware of its roots.
See there was once a story about a crazy guy who wanted to be a hero and save the land. He had a sidekick too; a chubby little guy with his feet firmly on the ground of reality. They had adventures and became good friends when they both realized that their quirks complemented each other.
For those who don’t know, I’m talking about the story of Don Quixote. Cool book. Guy named Cervantes wrote it. Yeah, Cervantes, like the swashbuckler from Soul Caliber. Anyway, the basic theme of the stories was the balance between fantasy and reality. Don Quixote (or the Tick) and Sancho Panza (or Arthur) represent fantasy and reality respectively. When separated, they’re saddened and incomplete, together they balance out and become a well-oiled machine.
The story’s been retold in a number of ways in a number of variations from the Maxx to the Fisher King, but Tick and Arthur’s probably the most archetypal duo. To make the point entirely clear, Tick outright says, "I am the Man of La Mancha." Cool, eh? Hello? Um... okay.
Fiery Blaze and Friendly Fire were flamers, get it? Ah yes... there’s the laughter. The validation. Oh yes.
So that was the A plot of this episode, the B plot was a meandering little tale beginning with Captain Liberty and Batmanuel dealing with their loneliness (or should that be loneness?) and ending with an exploded dog. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Episode Rating: 7 out of 10
Daniel Solis loneness is an aesthetic choice.
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