I know I’ve been bitching a whole lot about filler, and I think it’s justified. The worst filler just makes you watch characters you’ve already established in your mind dealing with contrived, silly situations that make you wonder why you’re wasting your time in the first place. This, of course, is exactly that, except for the fact that it’s very entertaining, because it introduces us to Goz and Mez. This is a perfect little filler DBZ episode because it has that sort of Three Stooges vibe that makes the wackiness inherent in the premise just worthwhile enough to carry 23 minutes of episode.
Goku is still trying to figure out where he is, and if the
Hell-pfull “Hell” shirts that Goz and Mez, the two blue and red ogres
(respectively), are wearing don’t solve the mystery enough, I don’t reckon
anything will. Goku has to figure out a way to get out of Hell by the end of
this episode, lest he risk being mired too much in Filler Hell, which is where
we’re at right now but he isn’t because he’s the cause of the filler in the
damn first place. In all seriousness, of course he needs to get out of Hell to
get back on Snake Way before it’s too late for him to make it to King Kai and
save his friends from sure destruction.
Goz is the strong one, and he challenges Goku to wrestling,
which he promptly wins. The exit from Hell Goz had promised him if he won turns
out to be a seesaw that catapults Goku almost high enough, but not quite. I
don’t know why Goku doesn’t just fly—he already demonstrated that he could do
that during his fight with Raditz, and probably sometime in DB before that.
Filler plot-holes are, thankfully, the most excusable plot holes. Mez, on the
other hand, is much more about that speed, so he challenges Goku to catch him.
A little sneak peek into what Kai’s training is going to be like. Actually,
shit, maybe this little diversion into Hell actually helped him get stronger.
It should be noted at this point that the ogres themselves
are pretty great. They aren’t overtly evil so much as they are mischievous and
clearly very bored. Neither of them were expecting Goku to give them this much
trouble, but they were clearly expecting to give Goku some trouble themselves
to begin with. It’s weird how non-malicious they are. A crueler, edgier hell
would have had the demons trying to subdue and subject the hapless Saiyan to
all kinds of exotic and delightful tortures, but these guys kind of just want
to play sports with him. Given how many truly evil, sick characters show up
later in this series, it seems unlikely that Hell would be this pleasant, but
I’m willing to give up my suspension of disbelief for this particular filler
episode. I guess it just means I’m in a generous mood.
What’s going on with the other characters? Well, we have
Tien and the rest of his crew traversing the tower of Korin and Kami to begin
their training with the latter. Launch, of course, tries to follow him up, and
of course she threatens the Native American expies Bora and Upa in the process,
but Bora subdues the nutty bitch long enough for her to sneeze due to a
decorative feather on his outfit tickling her nose. Blue Launch returns, and
then leaves, and by the grace of God we will not see her for a long time.
Again, it's not even that she’s a bad character—she’s a USELESS one. The
showrunners clearly have no idea what to do with her.
Gohan, meanwhile, is now fucking with (presumably) the same
saber-toothed tiger that was chasing him in the very first episode. The tiger
actually gives up chasing him at one point, and Gohan picks up a piece of cat-grass
and starts waving it in front of the thing’s nose, pissing it off and making it
chase him all over again. This has to be some of the Saiyan side of Gohan
coming out—this kid is actively fucking with something he knows will make him
run for his life, provided he isn’t already strong enough to kill it at this
point in the show.
Goku does manage to catch Mez, only to be told that the exit
to Hell is literally just some far away mountain with a big crack running down
the middle of it. Goku steals a big piece of ass-shaped fruit before he leaves,
eating it right in front of Goz and Mez before taking off up the stairs back
to… King Yemma’s desk. He has to fucking start all over again. The mountain
crack may as well have been an ass-crack preparing to shit in the viewers’
collective faces.
Overall, though, not the worst of the filler episodes,
inasmuch as I suppose there COULD be good or bad filler episodes.
(3/5)
A Few Final Thoughts:
--Goku drives in this episode! Granted, it’s a go-kart
instead of a proper vehicle, but it’s a taste for what’s to come FAR from now.
--I like how the ogres are basically, “we will never speak
of this again” after Goku totally owns them.
--Today’s episode offers us another example of Goku failing
to fly, even though he’s supposed to be able to at this point in the series.
--I forgot that Bora was voiced by Dameon Clarke. He sounds
just like Younger Toguro.
--Where can I get a snazzy “HELL” shirt like those demons
are wearing?
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