Hello again. Well, the
time has finally arrived. I've been telling you about it all year,
now I'm finally going to do
it. I am going to recap what is charitably the worst episode of
Pokémon I've ever seen, “A Double Dilemma.”
I've always had a fondness
for Pokémon. I just feel that it's directly tied to my fascination
with anime, being the first series I ever watched. The Pokémon anime
has been
a strange bird, changing
very little in story structure since its inception; yet remaining
popular
despite its infamous
reputation for filler in the Johto arc. However, I've always been
baffled
how people consider Johto
or Sinnoh the worst arc in the series but always manage to give
Hoenn a free pass.
I am in the minority that
likes Johto, and also find Sinnoh to be one of the most well- plotted
arcs in the show. I feel quite indifferent to Hoenn. Not that I hate
it, I just feel that
people talk about how much
they like it in comparison to other arcs of the show. In fairness,
it did introduce the idea
of contests to the show, and helped Pokémon remain relevant in an
age
where to like it was to be
ridiculed and belittled by those around you.
However, it did
occasionally produce some very bad episodes; almost as bad what you'd
expect from something like
Space Thunder Kids or Beauty and Warrior. Therefore, let's open
up “A Double Dilemma.”
We open on Ash, May, Max,
and Brock arriving in North Petalburg; a suburb of Petalburg City.
Ash expresses his excitement for his upcoming gym battle with Norman.
Once again, the theme song
is “This Dream.” I've talked about “This Dream” before.
No need to talk about it
again, I have bigger fish to fry.
We get our title card, an
indication of the emptiness this episode can leave in a person;
and the void it left in me.
The gang enters into the
local Pokémon Center, and Brock once again does his schtick
of hitting on Nurse Joy.
Max pulls him away by his ear. I'm not going to talk much about Max,
I have bigger concerns
tonight.
A vegetable merchant sees
May and Max; and notes that people are going to go crazy
once they find out they're
here. The merchant's name is Rosa, not to be confused with the
female player character of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.
Sure enough, May and Max are
hounded by a mob of people and a couple reporters
as they get out the door. I
have a few rants prepared for what they'll do later. For now, I'll
point
out this stinker was
written by Junki Takegami, who also wrote some really good episodes;
like
Bianca's first appearance,
the departure of Jessie's Dustox, and two-thirds of the Sabrina arc.
I wonder what the Japanese
term for Alan Smithee is.
 |
| Is it true that Chewbacca and the other Wookiees do not come from Endor? |
The male reporter's name is
D. Dunstan, a less-than-subtle reference to Darren Dunstan.
And people thought that
Stephen Colbert wanted to get his name on everything.
Anyway, they ask May and
Max questions about what it's like to be the children of
Norman; a famous gym
leader. Way back in my recap of “Love, Petalburg Style”, I
mentioned
how I would need to talk
about this. The notion that Norman is famous is incredibly overblown
and unnecessary, and it
goes to ludicrous levels in this episode. I shall continue to talk
about
how North Petalburg's
perception of their idol negatively impacts the episode as a whole.
May replies with her status
as a Coordinator; and goes on to say that she's not very good.
Well, you look like any
sane person would when mobbed by a gaggle of creepy hangers-on.
Mainly because you're one
of the few sane people in this episode. She shows the crowd the two
ribbons she has won through
that point. The crowd then stares in awe.
 |
| If you look closely, you can see the franchise slipping away! |
Ash interjects to show the
crowd his badges; as well as announce his challenge to
Norman. It always baffles
me how 4Kids demanded that the Poké Ball symbol on his badge
case be turned into a red
line. It's the same symbol on his hat, for corn's sake!
The crowd shoves Ash away;
talking down to him. All right, folks. The first time I did
an entry on this show, I
was criticizing cluelessness of adultery. Now, I'm criticizing the
fact
that an entire town appears
to be acting like arrogant dillweeds to a person they barely know.
I'm going to keep at it
too.
Enter Team Rocket, the
resident Wile E. Coyote types; wandering through North Petalburg
looking for something to eat. They notice the popularity of Norman
and get an idea
about how to exploit this.
So, Team Rocket decides to
disguise themselves and sell autographs. James is Norman,
Jessie is Caroline, Meowth
is May, and Wobuffet is Max. Oh my god. Even by Pokémon
standards, this is
nonsensical. This is going to be a long half hour.
For some reason, the other
citizens of North Petalburg bite. They do question how Max
is all blue, but quickly
brush it off. Meowth also notes how “she” shrank on “her”
journey.
Like the Wii! It lost its
Gamecube backward compatibility and online capability when it shrank!
Dunstan continues to hound
May about her accomplishments. She shows off a contest
move and Dunstan notes he
could use it for his articles. North Petalburg News! Fair and
Balanced Towards All Pokémon Trainers!
Max says that they should
get out of there. May, listen to your brother. These people
are like shoppers hunting
for toaster ovens on Black Friday.
Meanwhile, Ash is
approached by a group of kids. They immediately start talking down
to him, saying he isn't
worthy to challenge Norman. What's with these droogs? Did I
mistakenly
put on my copy of Akira?
Here is what I hate about
this episode. The citizens of this town are so blind in their
devotion to their idols
that they'll project upon anyone who they deem isn't up to snuff.
This
is simply deplorable; given
how society in Pokémon has previously been established to accept
any challenge, no matter
who it's from.
One of the kids challenges
Ash to a battle, sending out a Golduck. Ash counters with
a Grovyle, and beats the
kid handily. You know, this episode feels like a bad day at work or
school. You just want to get it over with and do something else.
Anyway, more kids decide to
challenge Ash. What is this, The Warriors? Why does an
entire town want to fight
one 10-year-old on his adventure?
For a moment, it cuts back
to May continuing to do things for the amusement of the crowd; such
as making her Skitty juggle. Another thing I'm bringing up here- the
pacing is
all over the place.
Normally, the episodes have a solid idea of beginning, middle, end.
Here, it's like someone's
film school project on Adderall.
Soon enough, a whole caucus
of kids has lined up to challenge Ash. Well, that escalated
quickly. Why not just have
them take place in a crappy parody game while you're at it?
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| The remake of Oldboy got hit with production troubles right out of the gate. |
Oh dearie dear, we're only
halfway through this. Even so, Ash decides to take them all
on in a show of courage.
Amazingly, he wins.
Rosa catches wind of Ash's
display, and proposes that May face Ash. Perhaps
there's something I'm missing here. Maybe there's some sort of
social commentary beneath all this. Maybe the fact North Petalburg
puts their stock in Norman and his family is that their town is an
otherwise dead district of Hoenn and having a connection to him
brings in tourism money. Maybe their city was ravaged by Team Magma
or Aqua and they need something to believe in. Maybe they hold
Norman in such a high regard that to sway to anyone else is
unthinkable! Maybe I'm just over-thinking this.
So,
Rosa-I'm not kidding-actually brings May and Max in on a Palanquin to
face Ash.
Rosa,
Annie Wilkes called, she thinks you're crazy!
The
moment they reach Ash, the townsfolk accuse him of causing trouble
solely because
he
wants to face Norman. Oh, for the love of Mew-he's not the problem
here, you are! Hard to
believe
you actually have to resort to Neo-McCarthyism just because the lead
character wants
to
challenge your beloved Norman! You hear me? Red scare stuff!
Ash
and Brock remark on the illogic of the situation. Even the people in
the show know
this
makes no sense! It's like if you can't have him, no one can!
Dunstan
remarks that if May wins, it will make a great article. So now you're
bringing
yellow
publishing into this? … Look, I know the “Dubya” years were
tough, but I just can't
fathom
this coming from him!
Max
makes a remark about the battle. He points out this whole battle is
just feeding
into
their ego, and it's already the size of the Goodyear blimp. Rosa is
going to be the judge,
which
is not what that woman needs. Some estrogen would be of more use.
Ash
says he feels all tired out. I'm tired out too. Watching this episode
will do that to
a
person. The bias the town holds gets no better throughout the battle,
constantly jeering Ash
just
because he's not May and therefore; not related to Norman. This town
needs an enema.
Combusken
ends up roasting Ash, and Rosa declares May the winner because of
this.
I'm
sure on some planet, Rosa's judgment is sound. The only problem is,
this is Earth.
They
then realize that they've been had; as Team Rocket reveals
themselves. Dunstan
exclaims,
“who the Pokémon are you?” … That has to be the worst possible
thing you could
say
right there. Dunstan, if I had my way, you wouldn't be able to get a
job reporting on bake
sales
in Toledo. Thankfully, we only have three minutes left, so I'm going
to get through this.
Ash
decides to show them what he's really made of; getting a second wind
and having
Pikachu
attack Team Rocket. They blast off without much of a hitch, and I
like that; it makes
the
episode shorter.
The
crowd approaches Ash, and it looks like they've finally come around.
Instead, they give credit to Pikachu, and write Ash off as “snotty.”
… What? You spent an entire day harassing a boy you had just met,
and you're saying HE'S snotty? OK, I'm convinced. I would actually
be glad if North Petalburg met a foul end at the hands of Team Magma
and Aqua due to how absolutely bigoted they are towards Ash. This is
like that Avatar: The Last Airbender episode "Avatar Day",
only not funny.
 |
| Anime fall downs-because this is just too stupid for words. |
Yet,
as Ash leaves the town, he takes the complete prejudice by these
people surprisingly
well.
If you ever decide to go on TV Tropes, be sure to look up Unfortunate
Implications, and
you'll
get a solid idea about why this is the worst episode of Pokémon of
all time.
“A
Double Dilemma” is among the worst episodes I've chosen to recap
this year; and
among
the worst I've ever seen. It's needlessly mean-spirited; and the
behavior of the North
Petalburg
citizens goes against Pokémon's messages of friendship and teamwork.
It's also one
of
the reasons why I do not understand why people value the Advanced
Generation so highly.
So,
why even bother recapping it then? Well, by explaining why I don't
like something,
you
get a solid idea of why I do like something. Pokémon is one of the
most venerable things
I've
gotten into in my life; but there are always going to be bad episodes
of any TV series, and
bad
aspects of any franchise. If I had the opportunity to strike one
episode from the record out
of
the 750+ episodes that have aired, it would be this one. I admit that
I don't hate the Advanced
Generation
like I used to, and I consider Pokémon to be intrinsically tied to
my fascination with
anime,
video games, and Japanese culture. Now that I've finally recapped
this episode, I'm going to take a break while I ready the next
recap. Until then, I leave you with my favorite
Pokémon
song of the Advanced Generation, “Unbeatable.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_wHzfKQZ6E
