The N Team is playing basketball on the Palace's basketball court. Kevin, Lana, and Duke are on Kevin's team, and Simon, Mega Man, and Kid Icarus are on Simon's team. The score is tied 20 to 20. Kid Icarus accidentally helps Lana make the final shot, and Kevin's team wins the game. Simon makes fun of Kid Icarus. Kid Icarus takes Kevin's comment as a "short" joke and kicks the basbetball into a warp. Duke goes through the warp after it. He ends up in some room and finds a glowing lamp. Duke comes out of the warp with the lamp and tries to show it to the rest of the team, but they ingore him. Duke touches the lamp three times, and a giant blue genie comes out. The genie says that he will grant "a wish" to whoever possesses the lamp. Duke barks, and a steak appears for him. The rest of the team chases after Duke. Duke runs into a corridor and slips on a rug. Kevin catches the lamp and wishes to be unbeatable with his Power Pad and Zapper. He flips and shoots a ceiling ornament and trophies, but he quickly becomes bored of it. Simon takes the lamp and wishes for Lana to "fall head over heels" for him. Lana falls in love with Simon but also becomes clumsy. Simon and Lana fall to the floor. Mega Man gets the lamp and wishes "to be ten times mega stronger" than he is now. He doesn't feel any stronger, gets upset, jumps up and down, and causes the entire Palace of Power to crumble and fall down. Lana gets the lamp and wishes that they "never made any wishes". The Palace is restored, and everyone is put back to normal. Lana then orders the genie back into the lamp and goes to put it in the Palace Vault until they can decide "what should be done with it".
Mother Brain sees this in her mirror and sends King Hippo and the Eggplant Wizard to the Palace to get the lamp.
That evening, as the rest of the N Team sleeps, Kid Icarus walks with a candle to the Palace Vault and uses a cutting arrow to open the vault. He goes inside and gets the lamp. He rubs the lamp, and the genie comes out. Kid Icarus says "I wanna be bigger than the others. Much bigger." The genie makes Kid Icaurs grow to a giant size, and Kid's head pokes up through the floor in Lana's bedroom. The rest of the team runs into Lana's bedroom, and Lana tells Kid to wish himself back to normal. Kid says he dropped the lamp, so they all go down to the vault to get it. King Hippo and the Eggplant Wizard arrive at the vault via a tomato warp. Hippo imitates Lana's voice, and Kid helps him get the lamp from under his right foot. The rest of the N Team arrives. Kid brings his head back down into the room and realizes that he's been tricked. Eggy rubs the lamp, and the genie comes out. Eggy wishes that the N Team be turned into the "E Team" - E for Eggplant. The N Team is turned into eggplants. Kevin zaps Eggy with vegetables, and Eggy drops the lamp. Simon picks up the lamp and wishes them back to normal. They turn back to normal. Simon then looks in the mirror and wishes for his nose to be "a little straighter". His nose grows long and pointy, knocking the lamp out of his hand. King Hippo picks up the lamp and wishes "the N Team was six feet under". That results in the N Team being sent into the Palace Basement. Kid Icarus' head pokes up through the floor. Kid takes the lamp from Hippo and wishes that "these two were back on Metroidicus, where they belongus". Kid then sneezes the lamp out of his hand, and Eggy catches it, taking it back to Metroid. Kid is sad that he "can't do anything right". He gets out of the hole and warps away. Lana decides that the rest of them have to get to Metroid and stop Mother Brain.
On the "sinister world of Metroid", Hippo and Eggy arrive with the lamp. Mother Brain wants it, but they realize that they "can have infinite power" and refuse to hand it over to her. Eggy rubs the lamp, and the genie comes out. Eggy wishes for Mother Brain to work for them now. A maid's outfit appears on Mother Brain, and Hippo orders her to sweep the floor. Eggy wishes he was "surrounded by gorgeous, juicy tomatoes". Two tomato girls appear and kiss him on the cheeks. King Hippo takes the lamp and wishes he was "a real king". He gets a new crown and robe. A treasure chest appearance, and so does a table full of food. King Hippo sits down and eats a chicken. Eggy suggests that they conquer Videoland for King Hippo's kingdom.
On CastleVania, the genie creates an Eggplant monster, which scares the townspeople.
On Kongoland, King Hippo wishes for an army of Donkey Kongs, which destroys a bunch of trees or huts or something.
In a baseball stadium on some world, Eggy throws an eggplant, and the genie hits it. Everyone in the stadium is turned into eggplants.
On Mount Icarus, a deer gets scared of Kid Icarus and runs away. Kid sits on a house and crushes it. The owner comes out and yells, then he sees Kid and runs away in fear. Kid sits on a few rows of seats in the coliseum. A man named Phaeticus the Philosopher comes over to him and offers some philosophy on what makes a man big. Kid thanks him.
The rest of the N Team arrives on Metroid and heads for Mother Brain's lair. The plan is for Mega Man to "create a mega diversion", Simon and Lana to keep King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard occupied, Kevin to deal with Mother Brain, and Duke to grab the magic lamp.
Inside "what once was Mother Brain's lair", "Mother Maid" is ironing clothes, shining King Hippo's shoes, and making a sandwich for Eggy. "Mother Maid" vows to get them for this and says that Metroid is her world, which gives King Hippo the idea to wish Metroid changed to "Hippozoid". The interior and exterior of Metroid changes accordingly. The "fight bell" rings, alerting King Hippo to the intruding N Team.
Simon steps onto a fortune-telling scale, reads his fortune, and then gets punched out by a boxing glove on a spring. A phone rings, and Mega Man answers it. A boxing glove on a spring punches him out. Duke sniffs a fire hydrant, and a boxing glove on a spring punches him out.
Suddenly, the N Team appears in a boxing ring, which is raised up high. Eggy introduces the fighters - the N Team against Mother Brain, who's wearing boxing shorts. Simon says they don't have any boxing gloves, so Eggy have the genie give them each a pair. Simon tries hitting Mother Brain, but he hurts himself, falls over, and is out of the match. Mega Man tries hitting Mother Brain, but she knocks him into Lana, and both he and Lana are out of the match. Duke runs over to Mother Brain, falls over, and she pushes him away. Kevin goes up against Mother Brain and uses his Power Pad. She keeps swinging and ends up getting her tentacles tied together. Eggy has the genie give them their trophies - by turning them into golden trophies. The N Team is unable to move. Kid Icarus arrives. Eggy wishes that "Kid Icarus was no bigger than a flea". Kid Icarus shrinks down very small. Eggy tries to step on Kid. Kid hops up Eggy and gets into the lamp. He uses a fire arrow to see. Kid puts his left hand on the lamp. King Hippo wishes that "the N Team was gone for good". Kid Icarus tells the genie to not do that, so nothing happens. Kid then wishes that "Mother Brain and her stooges would go away" Mother Brain loses her boxing shorts and gains a black wig. Eggy gains an orange wig. King Hippo loses his crown and robe. "Mother Moe" makes wheels appear on her and drives off after Hippo and Eggy. Kid Icarus wishes that he was back to his "good old small size". He grows back to his normal size. Then he wishes that they "were in the Palace with everything back to normal".
The N Team is sent back to the Palace and appears in the Throne room. Kid Icarus wishes that "the lamp would grant no more wishes". The genie is freed from the lamp and shrinks down to Kid Icarus' size. He says that he's "been granting wishes 9 to 5 for the last 10,000 years", and now he can take a vacation. Kid Icarus says that he knows "a nice, quiet spoticus on Mount Icarus". Kid Icarus and the genie go into a room and warp away. Kevin says that "Kid Icarus has grown quite a bit". Lana agrees, and the two of them look at each other.
Misc. Tidbits (6:12 PM - 6:15 PM)
"Wishful Thinking" is the ninth Captain N episode script that Jeffrey Scott wrote and the eleventh episode that aired.
I first saw this episode on The Family Channel, and I later saw it on "Captain N & The Video Game Masters".
Great Lines (4:19 PM - 6:09 PM)
Kevin: "Eat your heart out, Magic Johnson!"
Simon: "That was really using your head, Kid Icarus."
Simon: "It must be tough on the little fella - not being tall, dark, and handsome like myself."
Lana: "Fortunately, he'll never be as conceited either."
Lana: "Head over heels?! Nice going, Simon."
Eggplant Wizard: "Aw, what do you want with a stupid old lamp, Mother Brain? We've got plenty of light here on Metroid."
Mother Brain: "Yes, but we could all use a little more illumination, couldn't we?"
Mother Brain: "Just get me that magic lamp!"
King Hippo: "Hey, your wish is our command,...Mother Breath."
King Hippo (imitating Lana): "Yes, yes, it's Your Highness! Uh, I mean My Highness! Uh, I mean me!"
King Hippo: "Quick, help me lift up his foot."
Eggplant Wizard: "Not me. I hate toe jam."
King Hippo: "We got the lamp, Mother Brain!"
Mother Brain: "I can't believe it. You actually did something right for a change."
Eggplant Wizard: "We saw it work, too. With this lamp, you'll be powerful enough to control all of Videoland."
Mother Brain: "Give it to me, garbage-face."
King Hippo: "You can have anything you want."
Mother Brain: "Give it to me, you pimple-brains."
Eggplant Wizard: "You can have infinite wealth."
Mother Brain: "Give it to me, you infinite idiot."
King Hippo: "You can have infinite power."
King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard: "We can have infinite power."
Mother Brain: "Give...it...to...me!!!"
Eggplant Wizard: "I wish Mother Brain worked for us now."
Genie: "Who could ask for better employers?"
Mother Brain: "When I get my tentacles on you!"
King Hippo: "Aw, shut up! Start sweepin', before I wish you were a dog's breakfast."
Eggplant Wizard: "I wish I was surrounded by gorgeous, juicy tomatoes!"
Genie: "Anything's better than being surrounded by idiots."
King Hippo: "I wish I was a real king."
Genie: "Your wish is my command, O'...fat master."
Phaeticus: "You don't look so big to me."
Kid Icarus: "But I'm fifty feet tall!"
Phaeticus: "No, you're fifty feet small. You may look big on the outside, but, in here, you're punyus maximus."
Phaeticus: "It's not size that makes a man big. It's his self-confidence and his ability to make things go right."
Kid Icarus: "You mean,...if I act big, I'm really big, even if I'm small?"
Phaeticus: "Something like that."
Mega Man: "Don't worry about me. I can spot a booby-trap a mile away. Hello?"
Eggplant Wizard: "Hello, booby. This is a trap."
Simon: "We can't box her. We don't have any boxing gloves."
Eggplant Wizard: "Coming right up, eh, genie?"
Lana: "Big-mouth."
Eggplant Wizard: "Remember, no hitting below the feet."
Eggplant Wizard: "The N Team will look great on our bookshelf."
Eggplant Wizard: "I wish Kid Icarus was no bigger than a flea."
Genie: "The size of your brain, perhaps."
Mother Brain: "All right, you knuckleheads, you're going to pay for what you did to me."
Eggplant Wizard: "We didn't mean it, Mother Moe."
Mother Brain: "Oh, a wise guy, huh?"
Dumb Lines (4:21 PM - 6:09 PM)
Kevin: "Looks like you came up a little short, huh, guys?"
Kid Icarus: "It'a not my fault I'm so shorticus!"
Uh, I doubt that Kevin was making a joke about your height, Kid. Chill.
Genie: "Whoever possesses my lamp, to him, I shall grant a wish."
Gee, rather sexist, ain't he? Also, as we'll see in this episode, the holder of the lamp has more than one wish.
Eggplant Wizard: "Some slob left their shoe on the floor, and they've left their foot in it."
Okay, Eggy, think very carefully about that.
Kevin: "Careful. This place is booby-trapped."
Once again, Kevin demonstrates his talent for stating the obvious.
Simon: "Just as I thought,...she's got a glass jar."
Simon just now discovered this?!
Sick Moments (5:10 PM - 6:09 PM)
King Hippo tells the Eggplant Wizard, "Oh, I'll jam this toe down your throat, if you don't get in there and get that lamp!" Yuck.
King Hippo tells Mother Brain, "Start sweepin', before I wish you were a dog's breakfast." Ooh, nasty.
Eggplant Wizard's one rule for the boxing match is "no hitting below the feet". Heh, heh. Ouch.
Rant (7:00 PM - 11:00 PM; Monday, December 16, 2002, 8:50 AM - 12:06 PM)
Remember how, in my review of "Simon the Ape-Man", I said that Jeffrey Scott was really lazy when he wrote that episode? Well, he was even lazier here. See, in the previous story, he had to think up reasons for why Simon would think he was in a certain profession. In "Wishful Thinking", all he had to do was have someone get the lamp and make a dumb wish. It's quite easy to fill up time this way. This is a major sign of lazy writing, however, and it leads to a big problem, which I'll discuss in a while.
First the opening of the episode. It starts with an outside view of the Palace of Power. There are two large, pink cables or something leading away from it. Weird. Mega Man yells "Look out, Simon! He's making a break for it!" I suppose that this was meant to make the audience think that the N Team was chasing a bad guy, but I never thought that. That's because it showed the N Team playing basketball so soon after that line.
The featured song in this episode is "Shakedown". They must have been running out of money.
The N Team is playing basbetball, and Lana says that Kevin's world has some really fun games. So, Videoland doesn't have basketball? What about all of the basbetball games on the NES?
If Kevin introduced basketball to the rest of the N Team, then he and the others had to have converted that large room in the Palace of Power into a basketball court. It must've taken them days or even weeks to build and mount everything - the baskets, the scoreboard, the letters outside the room (Who was stupid enough to spell it "BASKET BALL", anyway?). Even the paint on the floor had to have taken some time to place and dry. You'd think that, in all that time, some rational member of the N Team (chuckle) would have told Kevin that maybe they had some more important things to do. We'll never know.
Kid Icarus is all upset over being too short to have fun at games. Well, duh! Maybe he was picked for basketball becuase of his flying ability (which he didn't use constantly in his games) and for the N Team out of desperation, but he's still a sorry excuse for a player and a warrior.
Despite the stupidity of the basketball game, though, I do like Kevin's "Eat your heart out, Magic Johnson!" comment and Simon using the whip to grab and throw the basketball. Kevin picking Lana up in victory was cute.
Why is there an open warp in this room? Where does it lead? It looks like some three-room basement. Is it in the Palace of Power? There are no bad guys there, apparently. Wherever it is, how come the N Team has never been there before? How come Duke was the one to discover the magic lamp?
Ah, yes, the magic lamp. This is the "big problem" that I mentioned above. The lamp contains a genie, who is large and has blue skin and only two teeth (upper-front), but let's not dwell on those things. The rather sexist genie calls himself "the Power Genie", which could mean that he definitely is from some basement in the Palace of Power. The problem with the genie is that the N Team now has in its possession what basically amounts to the Power of God. Whenever a writer throws in the Power of God, it's not only a sign of bad writing; it also reveals all of the characters' faults and their stupidity (or makes them stupid, depending on what they were like beforehand).
If you were fighting a war against Mother Brain and her lackeys, and you were given a magic lamp with a genie that could grant wishes, what would you do? You'd wish for Mother Brain and her lackeys to be destroyed forever, right? Well, that's because you're smart, but this is the N Team that we're talking about.
By the N Team's logic, if you have the Power of God, then you must use it to enhance your attributes, rather than simply disposing of the enemies. Here are the N Team's wishes:
Duke barks and wishes for a steak. How can the genie understand him?
Kevin: "I wish I was unbeatable with my Zapper and Power Pad."
Simon: "I wish the Princess would fall head over heels for me!"
Mega Man: "I wish I was ten times mega stronger than I am now!"
So, Mega Man, at eleven times his normal strength, can bring the entire Palace to the ground by jumping up and down? If so, then why don't we usually see dents in the floor when he walks? If he saw that he was destroying the Palace, why didn't he stop? Anyway, the Palace collapsing was stupid. The corridor (whatever floor that it was on) was still somewhat intact. The N Team was all right. If the corridor was on a high floor, they should have fallen. If it was on a low floor, they should have been buried in rubble.
Lana: "I wish we'd never made any wishes."
The Palace is restored, and everything is back to normal. Lana then decides to put the lamp away in the Palace Vault, rather than, you know, freeing Videoland (which she had indicated earlier that she wanted to use the lamp for) and bringing her father home from wherever he is. But then, as we've already seen in previous episodes, Lana's not that bright either.
What were those six trophies that Kevin had zapped for? One of them looked like a football. Just wondering.
After Simon offers to help Lana up, Mega Man is no longer standing there.
Mother Brain has seen all of this in her mirror, of course, and she sends King Hippo and the Eggplant Wizard to the Palace to get the lamp. Oddly, it was daytime when the N Team was playing basketball, but it's "evening" when Kid Icarus breaks into the vault, and Hippo and Eggy arrive soon after. How many hours did it take them to get to the Palace? That tomato warp (yes, they traveled in a giant tomato) took quite a long time.
Why did Kid Icarus bring a candle to the vault? The corridor looks to be sufficiently lit? Maybe the corridors before that were dark, and he didn't want to turn on the lights and wake anybody up? If so, then why take a candle? Don't they have flashlights in the Palace?
Kid Icarus: "I wanna be bigger than the others. Much bigger." I guess that you don't have to say "I wish" for the genie to do what you tell him to do.
I like seeing Lana in her pink nightgown. She wears her tiara while she sleeps, oddly, as well as her necklace and earrings, but not her bracelets. As for the sleeping garments of the rest of the N Team: Kevin wears a white shirt, a red robe, and black slippers. Simon wears a light-blue shirt, his goggles, purple robe, and light-blue slippers. Mega Man wears yellow-and-orange pajamas and slippers. Why is a robot wearing pajamas?
Lana's bedroom looks nice, but there's a lot of empty space. Anyway, Lana jumps out of bed wearing a pink robe. Does she keep it with her in bed and throw it on when there's an emergency?
The N Team is in a hurry to get to the vault, but they take the time to change into their clothes. Uh, since they'd already left Lana's bedroom, how did Lana change into her clothes? Did Lana leave her clothes in someone else's bedroom?
Hippo and Eggy finally arrive, and Kid Icarus, unlike Kevin in "Kevin in Videoland", falls for King Hippo's impersonation of Lana's voice. Okay, Kevin did fall for it for a moment, but Kid was fooledthe whole way. And how did Hippo know which foot the lamp was under? Come to think of it, how did the lamp get under Kid Icarus' foot in the first place?
Now, we see the Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo in wish combat against the N Team. Let's sit back and watch:
Eggplant Wizard: "Yes! And for my first wish, I want you to turn the N Team into the E Team! 'E' for 'Eggplant', that is."
Simon: "I wish we were back to normal."
Simon: "And while I'm at it, I wish my nose was a little straighter." Notice how Simon's nose grows long and pointy, just long enough to knock the magic lamp out of his hand, and then it returns to normal - without anyone wishing it back to normal. Really, really careless writing.
King Hippo: "I wish...the N Team was...six feet under." This is a euphemism for "dead", but it results in the N Team being sent to the Palace Basement.
Kid Icarus: "I wish these two were back on Metroidicus, where they belongus." Of course, it can't be that easy, so Kid Icarus just happens to sneeze at that moment, blowing the magic lamp out of his hand. The Eggplant Wizard catches it and takes it back to Metroid.
That's it for this round of wishes. Both sides screwed up. It would have been so easy to wish the other side "destroyed", but nooo!
When Eggplant Kevin fires his Zapper, the "N" on his jacket is missing. Maybe this was intentional, because he wasn't part of the N Team at that moment, and the "N" wasn't visible right after he was turned into an eggplant either.
I like Lana's decision to go to Metroid for the lamp, rather than going after Kid Icarus. She knows that Kid is big enough to take care of himself for a while, and she knows that getting the lamp back is more important. I wonder if she'd make the same decision if Kid Icarus was still small.
On Metroid, Mother Brain tries to grab the magic lamp, but it's out of her reach. This shows just how pathetic a villain she really is.
The Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo use their "infinite power" in the following way:
Eggplant Wizard: "I wish...Mother Brain worked for us now."
Eggplant Wizard: "I wish I was surrounded by gorgeous, juicy tomatoes!"
King Hippo: "I wish I was a real king."
The whole conquering of Videoland was rather lame (and set to classical music for an extra cheesy effect). Eggy creates an Eggplant monster to scare the townspeople on CastleVania, Hippo creates an army of Donkey Kongs (in uniform) to stomp on stuff in Kongoland, and Eggy turns everyone in a baseball stadium into eggplants. I don't think that either of them were holding the lamp in those scenes.
How could that man survive after Kid Icarus sat on his house and crushed it?
Apparently, Kid Icarus' "-icus" speech impediment is common to all people on Mount Icarus (with the exception of the announcer in "Videolympics").
By the timer in RealOne Player, it's taken the N Team 4 minutes and 18 seconds to get to Metroid. Not very efficient for a team whose goal is to defeat Mother Brain. Of course, that's just episode running time. The amount of story time that has passed must be much longer, since King Hippo and the Eggplant Wizard have managed to "conquer Videoland" before the N Team gets to Metroid. What took the N Team so long? Slackers.
Why is Simon looking back and forth like an idiot? Oh, wait.
Why did Kevin include Duke in the plan? Oh, that's right. Duke can understand English.
Mother Brain's lair looks like a metallic sphere with metal pipes leading out of it in many directions. What happened to the lava pool in "Kevin in Videoland"?
By this time, Hippo and Eggy are content to hang out on Metroid and sit around or play miniature golf. They don't care about going to the Palace and destroying the N Team.
Simon, Mega Man, and Duke walk right into the booby-traps. Man, these guys are dumb.
How is it that Simon, having seen Mother Brain at least a few times already, didn't know that she has a glass jar?
How can Simon's hands hurt through the boxing gloves after hitting Mother Brain only a few times?
How can Mega Man get tired? Why does he pant? Why does he have a tongue? Is Mega Man even a robot?
Mega Man hits Lana at a different angle than he was pushed.
Why was Duke even given boxing gloves? All he did was trip and fall.
How did Kid Icarus get to the boxing ring? It was raised in the air at some altered or undisclosed location.
How can the N Team talk when they're gold statues?
How can the N Team still be alive as gold statues?
How can the lamp have two masters? How can one master cancel another master's wish? This is stupid.
We get another Three Stooges reference in this episode. How does the genie know about the Three Stooges? How does Eggy know to call Mother Brain "Mother Moe"?
Right before the N Team is sent back to the Palace of Power, they're colored normally while still in their "gold statue" positions.
The Magic Reset Button is hit (literally) at the end of this episode with "everything back to normal". Sheesh.
The genie says that he's been granting wishes "for the last ten-thousand years". What?! To who?! From where, inside his lamp in the basement?! This line was so stupid!
The genie just happens to naturally be Kid Icarus' height. Aw. *hack, spit*
It sure is convenient that warp to Mount Icarus just happens to be in that room that Kid Icarus and the genie walk to.
Kevin's weapons don't lose power in this episode. In fact, he zaps quite a few more things in the corridor than he should be able to.
I like how Kevin and Lana look at each other, smiling, at the end of the episode. Aw.
Does this episode occur over one night or two? It's unclear.
Lesson: Be careful what you wish for. Be happy as you are and make the most of what you have.
Interesting notes:
The Palace of Power has an indoor basketball court.
The Palace of Power apparently has a three-room basement. It definitely does have a basement, but it's unclear if that's the three-room area that we see in this episode.
The Palace of Power has a corridor with trophies (these were, presumably, restored at the end of the episode).
When Simon offers to help Lana up, you can see part of Lana's breasts.
The Palace of Power has a vault. There are many warps lining the walls in the corridor outside.
Lana's bedroom has a window with a view of the outside of the Palace.
Notice how King Hippo frowns when Eggy takes the lamp away from him. Heh.
The woman that runs away from the Eggplant monster looks to be the same woman that later appears in the Season 2 episode, "Quest for the Potion of Power".
The people on CastleVania seem to be dress in medieval clothing in this episode.
Kongoland is a flat, rocky world that floats in a yellow sky. It doesn't look big at all.
Even those this script was written before "The Most Dangerous Game Master", the episode aired after, so Wombatman, a character that first appears in that episode, makes a brief cameo in the baseball stadium in this episode.
There's also a humanoid pig in the baseball stadium. Ugh.
This baseball world might be the same one shown in "Mega Trouble for Megaland".
Mount Icarus is a flat, rocky world that floats in a yellow sky. It has a blue surface (huh?) but doesn't look to be big.
Mount Icarus is "far across Videoland" from CastleVania, Kongoland, the baseball world, and, presumably, the Palace of Power and Metroid.
Kevin, Lana, Simon, Mega Man, and Duke have a combined weight of 535 pounds.
Mother Brain weighs 2 tons.
Simon is Mega Man's "mega buddy".
Notice the "KICK ME" sign on the back of King Hippo's robe. Ha, hah. Did Eggy put it there?
This episode was very stupid. It wasn't based on any particular game, and it featured the stupidest plot device on the show so far - a magic lamp with a genie. Both the good guys and the bad guys are too stupid to wish the other side destroyed. They all (except for Lana) only care about themselves. Simon is particularly shallow and selfish. At least Lana had the right idea of freeing Videoland. But what did she do when she actually got the lamp in her hands? She locked it away. Brilliant, Lana. Lock away the deus ex machina that could (would) win the war. The episode even contradicts itself in the number of wishes that the genie will grant to a particular person, and it suddenly introduced the "two masters" possibility near the end of the episode. The lesson seems to be that size doesn't matter, but size did matter. Kid Icarus had to get smaller than usual to gain possession of the lamp. He could never have beaten Hippo and Eggy at his normal height. This was really amateurish writing, Jeffrey.
This episode shouldn't have been made at all. As for what to cut out, Duke's attempt at boxing would go. It was just dumb. Removing it would have freed 5 seconds. The genie's "ten-thousand years" sentence was stupid. Removing it would have freed an additional 5 seconds. We could have had an extra 10 seconds of Lana in her nightgown. Trust me, that would improve the episode - but not by much.
Let this episode review be a lesson to all writers of stories about battles between good guys and bad guys: Never give the hero(es) the Power of God, because, the moment that they wish for something other than the defeat of the enemy, they immediately become stupid.
Usefulness ratings:
Kevin: 2 (zapping the lamp away from Eggy, getting Mother Brain's tentacles tied up)
Lana: 1 (restoring the Palace of Power and everyone back to normal)
Simon: 1 (wishing the N Team back to normal)
Mega Man: 0
Kid Icarus: 5 (canceling King Hippo's wish, wishing the bad guys away, wishing himself back to his normal height, wishing everything back to normal, freeing the genie)
Duke: 0
The running total usefulness ratings so far are:
Kevin: 32 (9 episodes)
Lana: 8 (9 episodes)
Simon: 17 (9 episodes)
Mega Man: 10 (9 episodes)
Kid Icarus: 17 (9 episodes)
Duke: 10 (9 episodes)
That's the end of my review of "Wishful Thinking". Next episode - "The Most Dangerous Game Master"!