The Problematic of the Unproblematic

SakiVI: Finally, a finale! And a surprisingly funny ending, too. Trotwood: I didn't get what they were trying to do with this ending--not the plot questions nor the tone. But then again, I gave up understanding anything about any of the choices when we were at the glacier episodes. kakashi: Back when I watched this - that was when blogging was not yet dominated by 3310 - I really liked the ending. It gave me a good feeling. And even though it's very open ended, it gave me closure. JoAnne: Wow, it feels like a lifetime ago. Three lifetimes. No Peach Blossoms in the desert. But maybe in our dessert?  

SakiVI: Crazy Chen is annoying. Fatty gets some things right - others wrong. Bayi is handsome. Shirley is smart and practical. Go figure. kakashi: I loved Crazy Chen. In fact, it basically made this episode for me. He is so funny! I laughed all the time he was on screen .  Trotwood: I loved him, too. He was hilarious up until the moment he wasn't. I got whiplash from the opening. More stuff happens in the first 3 minutes here than happened in the last 3 eps combined. Or at least it felt like it. JoAnne: Perhaps they're all dead and travelling through Hell, like a Chinese version of Tales from the Crypt. Or maybe we are. Episode 20 They are back to wondering if one of the five in that tomb is not human . The candles flicker, which, if our crew were paying attention, they would either wonder about there being air, or there being a ghost. Come on, people, either option is good! I did get very excited, it's true. I did as well, but also wondered why they weren't p...

SakiVI: The spooky is back! kakashi: The first of the final three! I loved them. Well, maybe not loved. But liked them! There is some good stuff coming up. FINALLY.  JoAnne:  It's hilarious to me that when it finally gets good (so I hear) I slept through all the episodes no matter how many times I tried.  I look forward to finding out what happened. Trotwood: I just finished watching this and though we finally got some excitement, I'm kind of bitter that it was packed into this episode and not spread out more (like in any one of the episodes where nothing  happened)

SakiVI: Two people seem on the verge of madness in this episode: Professor Chen and Fatty. Read on. kakashi: All things considered, mad Professor Chen is probably my favorite part about this show. But I do not want to anticipate too much.   JoAnne: Oooh, maybe CHEN is the hidden monster. I would love that. There has to be a hidden monster, since there haven't been any out-in-plain-sight monsters. I wonder if Chinese horror movies are like this? ...are there Chinese horror movies? Trotwood: Clearly, it's been to long since someone has died.  

SakiVI: Finally we are in the Ancient City of Jingjue and in a temple, woohoo! Maybe something will actually happen. JoAnne: I've almost given up hope . kakashi: It's an excellent episode. Well, I don't remember the details, but I'm confident it is . Trotwood: I just watched it. Excellent is not the adjective I would have used.  

SakiVI: Finally, the Ancient City of Jingjue! kakashi: Yaaaaaaay ..... still boring.  Trotwood: But there is death! Finally. JoAnne: I'm ready for this to be done.  

SakiVI: Girl Student makes a right pain of herself in this episode. Didn’t either professor have any other students to make up their crew? At any rate, she also helps us finally get to the Zhagelama Valley, so she isn’t entirely useless and annoying, just like 99% useless and annoying. kakashi: Oh, look! Something happens . Trotwood; I actually forgave her a bit in this episode. She was not whiny or anything and made sure they weren't going to stop because of her. And as Saki said. She pointed the way (although in a hugely dramatic fashion). JoAnne: I did understand and respect her wish to just press on, regardless. We have the objectivity to say she was much too sick for that, but I understand her intent. It's just that it would have been so much easier if she'd instead opted to say 'hey, I don't feel so hot' and taken advantage of the antibiotics they had available early on. I don't understand why she didn't do that. They would never have gott...

SakiVI: They find another tomb! And a possible enemy appears in the distant horizon. Read on. kakashi: Many tombs, no monsters . But lovely desert pictures. JoAnne: And that one petrified seal from when it was an ocean, I guess. Trotwood: I could use some enemies since we don't seem to be getting any monsters. You know it's bad when I'm missing the ants.

SakiVI: We get a preview, or a synopsis of what we are looking for and the history. We might be dealing with a demon, people. But not quite yet. kakashi: We also get the most boring episode ever. It's like a museum guided tour, just much more boring. JoAnne: If my museum guide looked like Bayi I'd be ...well, I don't know what I'd be. Something good. You'd be paying a lot of attention? How could she pay attention with all that drooling?

SakiVI: Our team set out on the next stage of their journey and finally, as we can expect, resolve their immediate water crisis. They also find a new tomb, so it's a new stage of the adventure for them. Oh, and the camels are cute. kakashi: A new tomb, but no Lurch . Trotwood: Hurray!! More tombs? Will someone (cough--a student--cough) die? JoAnne: We're quite bloodthirsty, aren't we? Every week we hope someone dies.

SakiVI: This a very busy episode with dangerous bugs, creepy statues, cranky tomb raiders, camels in pink, and some very silly archaeologists. kakashi: Quite a normal day in Candle in the Tomb, really . Trotwood: Hurray! Excitement. (getting out my popcorn) JoAnne: I have something to drink. All this sand makes me thirsty. At least it doesn't seem hot where they are. In this country, deserts are hot and then at night the temperature can drop drastically. But here, it seems more temperate? Maybe in the way the glacier wasn't really cold...hmm . J Episode 11 Bayi looks carefully at the egghead statue with big eyes and sees that there is a thick, jelly-like red ant. It's pretty big. Maybe not corpse eater big but big. And it doesn't look nice. For the record, ants never look nice. Unless they're in a Disney movie . Several years ago, I chaperoned a trip where we were cleaning out a swamp in Mississippi after a hurricane. First we were prepped on wh...