Being Invisible
Marvel’s Hit-Monkey 2.9 “The Concrete Jungle”
Because of course we have to have an episode called that where New York turns into a literal jungle. Your puns are older than I am, people.
Most of this episode is fight scenes and confrontations, including a fight between a mind controlled Creepy Girl and Monkey (he understands and instantly forgives her).
They try to get Monkey back on their side by explaining all of the problems are caused by humans and they’re only going to kill humans.
Painfully. There’s some real gnarly horror elements in this one and even more gore than usual.
But it feels like a decent buildup to a climax, although they’re probably going to have to use the relic to put New York back before they…I guess the smart thing to do is break it up again (why is it a teddy bear?) and stash the pieces in all corners of the world.
And we still have the Devil to deal with.
Marvel’s Hit-Monkey 2.10 “History Lessons”
Well, these people definitely think they’ve been renewed.
We get a trip through the past to Shogunate Japan, the trenches of World War I, and the lab where Monkey was born.
Surprise, surprise, he’s an uplifted monkey. Because of course he is.
Badly. A very traumatic childhood, being smarter than everyone around him…no wonder the guy’s messed up.
But now we have places traded. Bryce is alive again and Monkey is now the ghost…and the Devil is still up to something with this.
Possibly the same thing with harvesting the souls of killers to fight his war.
Btw, he wouldn’t have got all 8 billion souls, surely? Are the writers implying humanity really is that bad?
Maybe we are…but not all of us.
This is supposed to be a really dark show, though, so…
Invisible 1.1 “The Invisible Boy”
Okay, so I went into this one blind. It turns out to be Spanish language, dubbed into English (but with all the on screen text still in Spanish, with closed captioning, which was likely the best way to do things but is a little weird.
It’s urban fantasy/superheroes (or is it?), but the first episode starts pretty slow. We meet Capi, and we find out he was in a terrible accident, but no details. He’s hospitalized with a TBI and PTSD.
But he’s also developed superpowers.
The unfortunate thing about this is that it’s 100% after school special. Bullying is bad. Bullying is bad. Did we tell you bullying is bad? When I was the age this is aimed at, I didn’t respond well to the after school special stuff.
The young actors are doing a good job, though. Now, is the substitute teacher with the dragon tattoo good or bad? Let’s find out…
Invisible 1.2 “The Girl of a Hundred Bracelets”
The format of this show is interesting in that the primary action appears, so far, to be in flashbacks.
Capi almost murders his bully with rat poison (really, what about just a laxative). In flashback.
In the current time, Kiri visits him…and as far as she’s concerned the accident was his fault.
And what about the creepy dragon-possessed substitute teacher? Those stage contacts are really good…and so is her reptilian acting. I’m not a fan of lizard people tropes, but she does the entire dragon thing so well.
And Olympic Games? I have a feeling Capi won’t enjoy his role in those…target, maybe?
Invisible 1.3 “Wasp Boy”
When I was three years old, I stumbled onto a wasp nest and was stung multiple times. I recovered quickly physically…but developed a pretty severe phobia of the common English wasp…and for a while of anything that even resembled it.
I’m not better and never will be, but I only flinch and shake when I see one as opposed to standing up and running for the hills screaming. No, I’m not exaggerating.
So this episode was more than a little bit triggering. Capi grabs a wasp’s nest on a dare and ends up in the hospital.
And with invisibility powers.
Capi’s not exactly the most reliable narrator. Does he really have powers? Is it all in his head?
The substitute teacher with the dragon tattoo is the good witch, apparently.
I’m starting to think I was in the wrong genre…this is definitely magical realism, and ambiguously so. I think it’s good, but I’m not sure how much I like it.
Still some very good acting from the kids, though.
Oh, and kids, don’t throw compasses. It’s dangerous.
Invisible 1.4 “The Boy With The Scar On His Eyebrow”
About time Zaro woke up to how awful MM is.
We also see Dragon Teacher assault MM…and keep her job? Maybe things are different in Mexico, but she isn’t even permanent staff, she should be gone.
Things are closing in on blaming MM for the accident. His family’s not just rich but powerful. Honestly, why is he in public school…are there no good private schools to teach him to be even worse? (I went to private school. Trust me…)
It’s still too ambiguous on the fantasy, but while Dragon Teacher isn’t evil, I’m not entirely sure about the Dragon. I think it’s just a manifestation of her temper, but…it’s a pretty nasty entity.
Invisible 1.5 “The Boy With the Wound on His Chest”
When I was in elementary school, I developed a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease. It happens when the bones in your knees grow faster than the ligaments, or so I was told. It’s now associated with young athletes, but can happen to any kid who gets a growth spurt.
The treatment is rest.
I had Osgood-Schlatter for a full year. No running. Excused from PE. Not allowed to sit on the floor. I had it in both knees. It was a pretty severe case. They have better treatments now (I should have gotten braces and physical therapy, but it was the 1970s). Thankfully I was still allowed to ride horses as long as I used a mounting block to get on.
I was relentlessly bullied.
Did I ever bully anyone? No. In fact, I consider the experience why I have more than the average level of sympathy for disabled people. I know what it’s like to be physically disabled and experience ableism.
Relevance? This episode is all about how it’s not really MM’s fault he’s a bully, it’s because he got hurt and was temporarily disabled.
Do bullies often have bad home lives? Absolutely. But there are other factors that determine who becomes a bully.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be sympathetic. And in this case, I blame MM’s dad for why he became a bully instead of growing more empathy. I had a very different father.
Still, this episode makes it fairly obvious that this is going to end with everyone friends, and I’m not sure I like that. Encouraging kids to appease bullies…sometimes it works, sometimes it ends with somebody seriously hurt.
Kids don’t have the skill, typically, to identify who can be helped and who can’t.
Invisible 1.6 “The Girl With The Dragon On Her Back”
CW: Suicide attempt
Flashback to how Dragon Lady was bullied in her nice all girls’ private school. A nice touch, although I’ll note that the private school was the place I got bullied the least, for real, in part because it was what the U.S. would call college prep so a bit more nerdiness was acceptable.
Unfortunately, from my sadly extensive experience with bullies, the end of this wasn’t at all realistic. A bunch of teenagers would never act that way. No bully admits to being a bully. Kids don’t all change like that. I liked it, but it was a bit too aspirational.
And, dare I say, after school special.
So, were the speculative elements real?
They were practically stated not to be. Except for one thing.
How did Dragon Teacher know where to find Capi?
How did she know?
I have to think the dragon was, at least somewhat real. It’s all ambiguous, but there’s no way she could have known…
An interesting work, and I don’t regret watching it, but not really speculative enough for me in the end. And far too after school special.