"Deep in the heart of Kongoland", Dr. Wily uses a sap-sucking machine to collect the sap from junga-junga trees.
One week later, the N Team answers a distress call from News World, a suburban-type world. Julio the paperboy crashes into Simon with his bike and mistakes him for a zombie. After introductions are made, Julio says that people are being turned into zombies. Kevin goes with Julio on his paper route to check things out. Simon follows clumsily on his unicycle. Duke also follows.
Julio is bad at delivering newspapers and causes damage. One woman, Mrs. MacKenzie, chases after them. Julio says she's a zombie. Kevin gets them away from her. Kevin then shows Julio how he delivered newspapers back home. One man, Mr. Lopez, looks at his newspaper and sees the message, "Mother Brain Is Your Master".
On Metroid, Dr. Wily performs a "brain drain" on Mother Brain to connect her brain to the "hypnotic ink". Mother Brain orders Mr. Lopez to destroy Captain N and Julio.
Mr. Lopez gets in his car and takes off after them. Simon mounts the car and warns Kevin. Kevin zaps a tree, causing it to fall and stop the car. Mr. Lopez gets out and blames his brakes. After Mr. Lopez leaves, Julio says he's a zombie, but Kevin and Simon aren't convinced. Kevin keeps an open mind, though.
At the Daily Sun newspaper office, King Hippo and the Eggplant Wizard spill ink on the floor. Mother Brain gets angry and creates a monster, which comes out of the ink puddle. Hippo and Eggy get scared. MB orders them to go to Julio's house to stop the N Team from snooping around News World.
At Julio's house, Julio's mother serves glasses of milk to Julio and the N Team. She doesn't believe Julio's zombie claims either. Julio's mom finds out that he's been cutting up the newspaper again. Julio claims that it's for a school project, but, after she goes into the kitchen to get the cookies out of the oven, he throws the newspaper into the fireplace. Julio says he doesn't want his mom and dad to turn into zombies like everyone else on his paper route. Kevin asks him to explain.
In the kitchen, Julio's mom shows Gameboy how to make cookies. Hippo and Eggy arrive, thinly disguised as cookbook salesmen. Julio's mom smells her cookies burning and closes the door. Hippo and Eggy sneak in. Gameboy causes the cookbook to get soaked in cookie dough, but Julio's mom can still read the front cover: "Mother Brain Is Your Master". Mother Brain orders her to "destroy Captain N".
Julio's mom goes into the dining room, where Gameboy has served the cookies. Kevin reaches for a cookie. Julio's mom unplugs the ceiling fan and causes it to fall on the table. Lana warns Kevin, and he doesn't get hurt.
Mother Brain arrives in the kitchen and is upset at Hippo and Eggy for failing. They cause some ink to fall on the toaster. Mother Brain controls the toaster and fires toast at them. She then realizes that she can use the hynoptic ink to control machines as well.
In the living room, Simon tries to get a reaction from Julio's mom by making faces and sounds, and he concludes that she's a zombie. A bunch of appliances and tools fly at the N Team. Kevin and Lana fight them off. Mother Brain's face appears on the TV screen, and she causes the antenna to fire electric bolts at Kid Icarus and Mega Man. Kevin holds off the machines with his Zapper, allowing the rest of the N Team and Julio to go out the front door. Kevin uses a quick Pause to head out the door and slams it shut, stopping the machines.
Julio and the N Team head for the newspaper office and use the back entrance. They discover Hippo and Eggy working there. Kid Icarus fires love arrows at them, causing Hippo and Eggy to be nice to Kevin. Kevin asks them where Mother Brain got the hypnotic ink, and Eggy gives him the information. Hippo discovers the love arrows and tells Eggy to knock it off. Eggy tells him that he's no fun. Kevin walks away, mentioning "an alternate plan". He draws his Zapper. Hippo sees the rest of the N Team and says it's a trap. Eggy gets caught in the printing press and flattened. He wants to do it again, but Hippo grabs hold of him and jumps into a warp, which closes. The N Team starts searching for an antidote to the junga-junga sap. Kid Icarus asks Julio why he didn't turn into a zombie. Julio admits that he can't read. Lana tells him that reading is very important. Julio says so is money; they haven't had any ever since his father lost his job. Lana asks him if his parents know he's been missing school to earn extra money. Julio shakes his head. Lana takes Julio to "look through the books together". Kevin finds an entry in a book that says that the sap of the jung-junga tree was used by ancient kings to put people under their power. The only thing that can reverse the spell is the sap of the oingo tree. Kevin says they'll make their own ink and deliver the antidote to News World.
MB sees all of this on the viewscreen and sends Hippo and Eggy to stop them.
"A short while later, in the jungle world of Kongoland", Hippo is sitting on a tree. He lowers a thinly disguised Eggy via fishing line in front of Simon. Eggy pretends to be "Kid Icarus' cousin" and offers Simon a note, supposedly from Lana. It reads "Roses Are Red Violets Are Blue What Ever Mother Brain I Do!!"
Elsewhere in the jungle, Hippo, thinly disguised in a suit of armor, arrives in front of Mega Man with a "special delivery from Captain N, a mega sap-sucking sap-sucker". When Mega Man reads the instructions, he sees "Mother Brain Is Your Master!"
Elsewhere in the jungle, Gameboy locates an oingo tree, but Donkey Kong pulls it out of the ground and eats it. Gameboy tries to distract him by making faces and sounds. Finally, he creates a bucket with his screen and uses it to catch the sap that falls down. Gameboy flies away before Hippo can beat him up, leaving DK to step on Hippo and Eggy, flattening them.
At the Daily Sun building on News World, Mega Man comes to Kid Icarus and holds up a sign that says "Mother Brain Is Your Master!"
In another part of the building, Lana puts together letter tiles to form the word, "AWAKE", teaching Julio how to spell it at the same time. This is the message that the N Team will print on newspapers with the ink made from the oingo sap. Julio brings the "headline" to the printing press. Simon opens the back door and calls Lana outside. He then closes the door. Perplexed, Lana opens the door and goes outside. When she doesn't see Simon, she gets upset at him, but Simon comes up behind her and shows her a sign that reads: "Mother Brain Is Your Master!" Mother Brain floats above the zombified N Team members, happy.
Gameboy recharges Kevin's Power Pad and Zapper. Kevin then zaps the remaining barrels of hypnotic ink.
Kevin sits on Julio's bicycle, and Julio loads the newspapers in the trailer. Kevin wonders what happened to the rest of the N Team. Simon says they're "the Brain Team" now and uses his whip to snatch a newspaper out of Julio's hand. Kevin speeds away, and Julio runs and jumps into the trailer. Duke runs alongside Kevin, and Gameboy flies. The episode's featured song begins. Julio delivers the newspapers to people's houses while zombies (including the N Team members) follow them at a walking speed. Eggy uses hypnotic ink on a lawnmower, which chases Kevin. Julio throws a newspaper at it and causes it to choke and fall over. Mrs. MacKenzie throws a rolling pin at Kevin. Kevin zaps it. He also has to dodge a lot of tires and Mr. Lopez's car. Lana uses a water hose to knock Julio out of the trailer. She holds up out a sign to him that reads: "Mother Brain Is Your Master!", but he gets up and runs away. Hippo and Eggy chase Kevin on motorcycles. Gameboy crashes into them, knocking them off of their bikes. Kid Icarus fires an arrow and gives the front wheel of Julio's bike a flat tire, slowing Kevin down.
Julio finds Gameboy, and they go to help Kevin.
Kevin is on the last block, but Kid Icarus blocks Kevin. Simon uses his whip to take Kevin's Zapper. Mega Man and Lana also arrive. All of them hold out signs to Kevin that read: "Mother Brain Is Your Master!" and slowly approach Kevin, chanting "Mother Brain Is My Master!" Zombified neighbors also join them. Kevin tries to shield his eyes from the signs and cries out "No!" Julio then yells to get their attention. He's standing on Gameboy, who is flying. Julio has just painted the word, "Awake", on an empty billboard with the antidote ink. Everyone wakes up from the hypnotic spell.
On Metroid, Mother Brain sees this on her viewscreen and is upset, vowing to get Captain N yet.
Back on News World, the N Team and Julio are on their way back to Julio's house. Kevin offers Julio a newspaper, and Julio throws it onto his porch. His mom picks it up, reads it, and wakes up from the hypnotic spell. She asks if he's finished with his paper route. She asks him to invite the N Team in for dinner. The N Team cheers. Julio's dad steps out onto the porch and waves. Julio's mom says that he wants to tell them all about his new job. Julio runs over and hugs him, and Julio's parents hug him. Julio suggests that, afterwards, his "pop" can help him catch up on his reading. Julio looks back over at Kevin, and Kevin gives him a thumbs up.
Misc. Tidbits (1:25 PM - 1:30 PM; Tuesday, December 13, 2005, 1:23 AM - 1:24 AM)
The episode was written by Michael Maurer, Jeffrey Scott's brother.
The episode originally aired on Saturday, September 15, 1990, as the second episode of Season 2 and the fifteenth episode of the series.
Title pun: Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
I first saw this episode on The Family Channel, then possibly on "Captain N & The Video Game Masters".
Interesting Notes (1:30 PM - 2:40 PM)
The title is white with no quotes.
Kevin's Zapper beams are blue in this episode.
Kevin's weapons don't lose power in this episode - but he does recharge them just in case.
The house sign that Julio knocks over reads "Rucunuie".
The little dog's name is "Killer".
Kevin had a paper route back home and learned a move to throw a newspaper directly into an open mailbox. "Just a twist of the wrist, and you can't miss."
This is the only Captain N episode with any Spanish.
Kevin's mom baked cookies for him back home.
The mega sap-sucking sap-sucker's instructions, before the hypnotic ink is revealed, says "Sucking Unit" and "Mega Pump".
Gameboy can recharge Kevin's Power Pad and Zapper using his battery's power and a cable.
Great Lines (1:41 PM - 2:40 PM)
Julio: "Stay back! Don't come any closer, you, y-you zombie!"
Simon: "Me, a zombie? Well, I guess I could use a facial."
Lana: "Hi. I'm Princess Lana."
Julio: "Oh, wow, and you must be Captain N, the hero, and you Mega Man, and Kid Icarus!"
Simon: "What am I? Vampire bait?"
Mother Brain: "The sacrifices a beautiful brain has to make in the name of evil."
Simon: "Doesn't he know heroes have the right of way?"
Simon: "I understand, kid. If I lived in a dullsville town like this, I'd make up zombie stories, too."
Julio's mom: "I only wish your grades were as good as your imagination."
Mother Brain: "Can you idiots do anything right?! I should poach the both of you!"
Eggplant Wizard: "She's been zombified, all right. I'd know that stare anywhere."
Kid Icarus: "What could be more deadly than controlling people's minds?"
Mega Man: "Controlling people's machines!"
Kevin: "Heya, fellas."
King Hippo: "Hey, Captain Nice Guy. What's shakin'?"
Eggplant Wizard: "Join me for lunch?"
King Hippo: "Special delivery from Captain N: a mega sap-sucking sap-sucker."
Mega Man: "Wow! Just what I mega needed!"
Kevin: "Hey, where's that headline?! The presses are ready to roll!"
Julio: "One headline comin' up."
Kevin: "Hop on! We're outta here!"
Gameboy: "Imminent departure acknowledged."
Simon: "Consider yourself whipped."
Mega Man: "Join the Brain Team or prepare to be mega mashed."
Dumb Lines (2:40 PM)
None.
Rant (Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 4:00 PM - 5:18 PM; Sunday, December 11, 2005, 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM, 9:00 PM - 9:50 PM; Monday, December 12, 2005, 6:00 PM - 7:33 PM, 11:45 PM - Tuesday, December 13, 2005, 12:37 AM, 1:02 AM - 1:04 AM, 3:25 AM - 3:26 AM)
First, I want to explain why I'm reviewing this episode, since I said in my review of "I Wish I Was a Wombatman" that I'd review "Queen of the Apes" next. In the long span of time between that review and this one, I was informed that "The Invasion of the Paper Pedalers" aired second in Season 2, so I've decided to review this episode now.
I'm sorry for the long delay between reviews. I always record the episodes to my hard drive before I review them, so I won't wear out the tapes by repeatedly rewinding and fast-forwarding. For a long time, the VCR has been connected between the new DVD player and the TV set in the living room, and I didn't want to go through the complex process of disconnecting everything and reconnecting it. However, recently, I'd gotten a new VCR for myself, and I got a new computer, which means that my mom got my old computer. I recently hooked up my VCR to her computer and recorded 6 Season 2 episodes to the hard drive and then burned them to a CD. However, I recently moved to Chicago, and I brought only my very first computer from 1995 and a CD that contains only 2 Captain N episodes and some of the directories from my hard drive. I watched the episode on my sister's computer upstairs, which is newer and has RealOne Player, and I'm writing the rant on my crappy computer downstairs. I didn't want an entire calendar year to pass by without a new Captain N episode review, so here it is.
This episode was shortened to half-length and used as filler in Season 3. However, I likely don't have a copy of the short version on tape, so, unfortunately, I can't make notes about what was cut. Does anyone have the short version of the episode on tape?
Here's an interesting piece of trivia: Writer Michael Maurer is the brother of Season 1 writer, Jeffrey Scott. Jeffrey Scott's birth name is Jeffrey Maurer. We all know how uneven Jeffrey Scott's writing was in Season 1. Let's see how his brother does.
I have to question the use of the "Paperboy" game as the basis of the plot for this episode. It's not a good-versus-evil game. It's about delivering newspapers. Why would anyone (I'm guessing it was Nintendo or the show's producers) choose to turn this game into a Captain N episode? Then again, they did turn a character from a boxing game into a henchman, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Okay, so how is the episode itself? I'd say very, very uneven. On the good side, it features the most accurate gameplay in an episode so far. On the bad side, it's got one of the stupidest plot devices so far.
Let's start at the beginning.
The hypnotic ink plot device is very stupid. Magic aside, how does it work, anyway? Are the messages hidden and only appear later? The episode seems to contradict itself regarding this. However it works, it's stupid, because it says that not only does Kongoland have magical properties (and a past humanoid population of some sort) but also that Dr. Wily can manipulate the magic. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Calling the paperboy's planet News World is odd. Does that mean that the entire world revolve around the writing and reading of newspapers? Also, just how big is News World? Does it consist solely of the suburb that the paperboy lives in? If not, then just how large an area does the Daily Sun newspaper serve? More clarification would have been nice. Michael Maurer might as well have placed the game on Lana's world. It would have been a good opportunity to place the Palace of Power on a specific game world.
Speaking of the Palace of Power, this is the first episode of the series in which it absolutely does not appear. This will periodically happen in Season 2.
It's interesting that the paperboy (who is named Julio in this episode), his mother, and most of the newspaper subscribers are Hispanic. This contradicts the paperboy's physical appearance at the beginning of the game, but it's nice to see other races in Videoland.
This is one of the episodes where Simon makes his "Uuuhhh" sound. It's also one of the episodes where Simon exclaims "Oh, no!" in a certain way. I'm not sure if I've mention this before, but I will in future episode reviews.
There's nothing unusual about Julio believing that Mrs. MacKenzie (this episode's name for the woman that chases you with the rolling pin in the game) is a zombie - until you realize that all of the people that are clearly zombies in the episode speak in a stilted, monotone voice. This means that Mrs. MacKenzie is not a zombie. Why hasn't Julio picked up on this? For that matter, why doesn't the rest of the N Team pick up on this throughout the episode? Stilted, monotone voice = zombie. It's simple. Perhaps they were confused by Mrs. MacKenzie, who "turned into a zombie last week", yelling in a normal voice?
Now that I think about it, we don't know if Julio actually saw any zombies prior to his appearance in this episode or if he just had an overactive imagination and was right by sheer coincidence.
The news articles in the newspaper have some odd titles: "Nothing New On News World" and "Nothing New About Elvis". Wow, that must be some rivetting journalism right there.
And Elvis exists/existed on News World?
Psychically connecting Mother Brain's brain to the hypnotic ink (and Dr. Wily, a roboticist, being able to do something like that) is stupid. Sheesh, and people complain about me having him create a Power Pad and Zapper in my fanfics, even though he did the same thing in "The Most Dangerous Game Master" (complete with Pause and Jump capabilities).
The dog that attacks you in the game is named Killer in this episode, and the driver of the car in the game is named Mr. Lopez in this episode.
So Mother Brain can create a monster with the hypnotic ink just by thinking about it? Stupid. It's hypnotic ink, not monster-creating ink! Then again, maybe Mother Brain didn't know the full capabilities of the sap.
Why does Julio's mom serve milk to Gameboy? Furthermore, why does Gameboy drink the milk when he should know that it will fry his circuits?
Julio's mom calls him "miho" (pronounced MEE-ho). You won't find this in any Spanish-English dictionary. I think it must be slang. It's a masculine (the feminine is mija) term of affection, like "sweetie". It is a very soft, loving word.
Why is the fireplace on in Julio's house? It doesn't seem to be cold outside, judging by the way that everyone is dressed. In fact, Mr. Lopez was dressed in a sleeveless shirt and watering flowers. Make up your mind, Michael Maurer.
Gameboy looks cute in a chef's hat, but I can't believe that he, a computer, doesn't know how to make cookies.
What's the deal with the door being closed on the Eggplant Wizard's "corn"? Is that his foot?
I can understand Julio's mom not recognizing King Hippo or the Eggplant Wizard, but those clothes should not have been able to fool Gameboy. Or maybe Gameboy just doesn't care.
Why doesn't the N Team notice that Julio's mom is talking strangely?
Kevin saying "They're smokin', just like my mom, back home" could be taken a few different ways:
1) Kevin's mom baked good cookies.
2) Kevin's mom burned the cookies that she baked.
3) Kevin's mom smokes.
4) Kevin is sexually attracted to his mom.
Why does Julio's mom smile when she comes up with the idea on how to kill Kevin? I didn't know that zombies could show emotion.
How could Julio's mom's plan work, anyway? She unplugs the ceiling fan from the wall outlet, gives a yank, lets go, and the ceiling fan comes falling down? Surely, there's got to be some kind of safety measure.
I love how Mother Brain wants to hear the "gory details". Whoo-hoo! There is gore in Videoland! Take that, you no-blood-in-Videoland idiots!
So the hypnotic ink enables Mother Brain to control machines, too? Is there anything that this ink can't do?
Why does Julio's mom suddenly stop doing anything? Shouldn't she have kept trying to accomplish the mission that Mother Brain gave her?
Now that I think about it, Mr. Lopez gave up as well. These are some pretty lazy zombies if they give up after only one failed attempt.
The only explanation that I thought of was that Mother Brain controls the zombies' actions - including what they say. This isn't the case, though, because Mother Brain didn't know that Julio's mom failed to kill Kevin.
Notice how Simon turns Julio's mom's neck. She should be dead after that!
How can the machines fly? How can the TV antenna shoot electricity? Mother Brain is making these devices do things that they weren't built to do.
The Pause that Kevin performs is weird. He doesn't press the Pause button on his Power Pad. Instead, he presses the leftmost (or rightmost from his perspective) unit on the energy strip. Apparently, it's a button as well. Either this was intentional, or it was a very stupid mistake.
Why is Kevin so surprised that Mother Brain is behind this plan when she earlier appeared on the TV screen in Julio's house? Maybe the entire N Team missed that moment? It wouldn't be the first time that they were unobservant.
The love arrows that Kid Icarus uses in this episode work differently than the love at first sight arrow in "Mr. and Mrs. Mother Brain". Hippo and Eggy apparently fall in love with each other, but then they're nice to the N Team as well. Also, seeing the arrow was enough for Hippo to break the effect of the arrow on himself.
The part where Eggy gets sent through the printing press and flattened is impossible. I don't know why they kept doing things like this.
So Julio can't read? At all? He's got to be able to read at least "Mother Brain Is Your Master"; shouldn't he? He's at least in the upper grades of elementary school, judging by his appearance. If he can't read solely because he was missing school to earn extra money, then how did he make it up to the current grade without being able to read? Or has his dad been out of work for years? If so, then Julio wouldn't have been able to become a paperboy back then. In any case, how could his parents not notice that he can't read? It doesn't make any sense, no matter how you look at it.
Then again, if U.S. high schools can graduate hundreds of students that can't read their own diploma every year...
How could Simon not recognize Eggy in that stupid disguise? And why doesn't Simon question why Kid Icarus' cousin would be on Kongoland and delivering a note to him from Lana?
No, my quote of the note in the summary isn't missing a word. That's how it appears in the episode itself. It's missing the word, "Says". Also, "What Ever" should be one word, not two.
How could Mega Man not recognize Hippo in that suit of armor? And why doesn't Mega Man question where Kevin could have gotten a "mega sap-sucking sap-sucker" from?
Is it just me, or do the terms, "Sucking Unit" and "Mega Pump", sound dirty?
This is probably the only episode where Gameboy makes funny faces and funny sounds. I like it. =)
Apparently, Gameboy can create physical objects. That doesn't make sense.
More flattening. Sheesh. Hippo and Eggy should be dead after DK steps on them.
Zombie Simon looks incredibly freaky in the shot where Mother Brain is floating above them. That's classic right there.
It's neat that this episode shows how Kevin recharges his Power Pad and Zapper. He hooks it up to Gameboy with a cord. I wonder how Kevin recharged them in Season 1, though. Did he hook a cord up to it and plug it into a wall outlet in his bedroom?
What happened to the regular staff of the "Daily Sun" newspaper? They weren't shown when Hippo and Eggy were in charge of the newspaper, and they weren't shown when the N Team took over later. Just who normally produces this newspaper?
I like that "wild ride" song that's played in this episode. Does anyone know which song that this is a parody of?
The musical segment is where Kevin pedals the bicycle, and Julio delivers the newspapers. I played "Paperboy" after I wrote the summary and later sections but before I started writing this rant, and I was surprised at just how much stuff from the actual game is included in this episode. The car, the dog, the woman with the rolling pin, the street construction worker, the breakdancer, the kid on the bike, the tires, the lawnmower, and the motorcycles are all in this episode. I like the episode's twist of how Eggy causes the lawnmower to move through the use of the hypnotic ink - and how Hippo and Eggy themselves ride the motorcycles. This almost makes you think that Mother Brain and her two lackeys are involved in the game itself.
I haven't encountered anyone holding a waterhose in the game, though. Could someone please let me know if it's in there - perhaps in a later level?
The way that the "Brain Team" moves as stereotypical zombies (with their arms horizontally extended) is inconsistant with how the two other zombies (Mr. Lopez and Julio's mom) walked.
It's a good thing that Lana taught Julio how to spell "awake". It sure came in useful.
The episode ends on a positive note. The N Team is invited into Julio's house for dinner (notice that, unlike the cheering and arm-thrusting guys, Lana merely smiles and applauds), Julio's dad got a new job, and Julio is going to catch up on his reading.
Yeah, yeah, Julio's dad doesn't say anything. This has led to a joke in the Captain N fandom that he's a prop. :P
Lesson: Reading is very important.
You might notice that there are no dumb lines. That means that I didn't hear anything that sounded really stupid. Most of it was just basic conversation or arguing between MB, Hippo, and Eggy.
So, with no dumb lines (a first for a Captain N episode), wouldn't that mean that this episode is good? Well, not necessarily.
As a game-to-cartoon adaptation, this episode is great. It features many of the characters from the actual "Paperboy" NES game.
It was also nice to see the N Team in a very American-like suburban setting. There was very little video game physics in this episode (Mr. Lopez's flowers immediately come to mind). If not for the episode being animated, you could almost believe that the N Team went on a trip to Earth.
I also really appreciate the literacy message. I can't stand it when people make very common spelling errors. It's like they don't learn anything at school.
Conversely, the game was a strange choice to base an episode on. With no bad guy plot, the writer had to invent one, and he came up with a really stupid plot. Hypnotic ink? What was he thinking? Michael Maurer seems to be no better than his brother, Jeffrey Scott, at writing. We'll see if he improves later on.
As for what to cut out, I really can't think of anything this time. There really wasn't anything that seemed like filler or slowed the story down.
Overall, "The Invasion of the Paper Pedalers" is a slightly-above-average episode. It's worth checking out. I'd especially love to hear the Spanish dub of this episode.
Usefulness ratings:
Kevin: 11 (getting himself and Julio away from Mrs. MacKenzie, showing Julio how to throw a newspaper, stopping the car, fighting off the machines, getting the info from the Eggplant Wizard, scaring off King Hippo, finding the antidote in the book, printing the newspapers, riding the bicycle during the delivery, zapping the rolling pin, dodging the tires)
Lana: 4 (warning Kevin, fighting off the machines, scaring off King Hippo, teaching Julio how to spell "awake")
Simon: 2 (warning Kevin, scaring off King Hippo)
Mega Man: 1 (scaring off King Hippo)
Kid Icarus: 3 (hitting King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard with a love arrow, scaring off King Hippo)
Duke: 1 (scaring off King Hippo)
Gameboy: 6 (scaring off King Hippo, getting the oingo sap, recharging Kevin's weapons, knocking Hippo and Eggy off of the motorcycles, flying Julio up to the billboard)
Other than Kevin, the most active N Team member in this episode is Gameboy, surprising enough.
The running total usefulness ratings for this season so far are:
Kevin: 25 (3 episodes)
Lana: 6 (3 episodes)
Simon: 6 (3 episodes)
Mega Man: 8 (3 episodes)
Kid Icarus: 6 (3 episodes)
Duke: 4 (3 episodes)
Gameboy: 8 (3 episodes)
The running total usefulness ratings for the series so far are:
Kevin: 72 (16 episodes)
Lana: 15 (16 episodes)
Simon: 27 (16 episodes)
Mega Man: 25 (16 episodes)
Kid Icarus: 29 (16 episodes)
Duke: 18 (16 episodes)
Gameboy: 8 (3 episodes)
That's the end of my review of "The Invasion of the Paper Pedalers". "Queen of the Apes" originally aired third in Season 2, but, unfortunately, I didn't bring that episode with me when I moved. However, I did bring "Quest For the Potion of Power" with me, so, in the interest of getting another episode review up, I'll review that next. However, I'm going to review the rest of the "The Legend of Zelda" episodes and perhaps some of the comic book stories before that to provide some context. See you all in my next review!