Welcome to season 1, episode 4 of the re-imagined world of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Episode 3 was action-packed, with the gang learning to work together to save each-other’s lives.
Spoilers ahead.
1. Commitment to character development
As the opening credits run I realized that it’s episode 4, and I still have no idea how or when He-Man’s gang get their own power-ups. Because in the credits we see really cool versions of Krass, Teela, Duncan, etc. and yet so far only Adam has been able to turn into He-Man. I wonder if it’s going to be like Shazam or something, and the POWER OF GREYSKULL is shared like an electric buffet. In episode 3 we were treated to Cringer’s new claws, but they look like prototypes.
2. They made a funny
What the creators have done really well on this show so far is making sure to balance moments of action with moments of comedy. Sometimes it’s a single line like when Keldor says “You may explode them now” before shooting a rocket at the gang, and sometimes it’s He-Man stalling for time. In this episode he stalls long enough to help Teela escape her by playing dumb, and it’s silly but a great lead into the ensuing action.
3. Sharing is caring!
The funny part about writing this in real time is that sometimes my questions are answered immediately by the creator lords. They’re like “Yes, yes we know what you want and we will give it to you at the right moment, just be patient.” Case in point, to answer my first thought, we are treated to He-Man realizing he can share his power with the group. The best part is that he realizes he can do it by observing the bad guys arguing about sharing power.
He-Man summons a geyser of Greyskull energy and shouts BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL! And we are treated to a wonderful Power Rangers/anime sequence where each character levels up one by one.
Each character shows off their new duds and shouts I HAVE THE POWER!
Then He-Man says “WE have the power.” What a family.
4. It was worth the wait
All their outfits are so cool! They each have obvious influences from different video games and anime series. I feel like the creators are doing their own versions of characters they grew up with perhaps. Cringer looks like a really cool transformer tiger and Duncan looks like a cross between Metroid and Juggernaut. Teela looks like she came out of Sailor Moon and Goblin Slayer cosplay jam. It’s all pretty fun and it gives everyone a chance to match up against a baddie.
5. Get your tickets here, get your tickets here!
The first four episodes of this show feels like the first film in a trilogy, the way it is paced. The heroes are introduced, individually tested, then tested together. And as each supporting character gets their power upgrade, the episode turns into a match-up of heavy-weight fights like the ones you would see in an Avengers event. It’s really fun and ends with the death of uncle Keldor… and the birth of Skelator!!
If this was a movie it would be the perfect place to end, and I how wonder epic it will get as the series continues on.
