Episode 402: The Heart Smashers
Cast:
Brendon Small - Brendon Small
Jason Penopolis - H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Robbins - Melissa Bardin Galsky
Coach Jon McGuirk - H. Jon Benjamin
Paula Small - Janine Ditullo
Josie Small - Loren Bouchard
Fenton - Sam Seder
Simon - Paul Kozlowski
Walter & Perry - H. Jon Benjamin & Brendon Small
Junior - Brendon SmallSynopsis: Paula gets involved in a bad situation when she has to break up with her new boyfriend. Meanwhile, Brendon is forced to break up with Fenton. Oh, and McGuirk has boobs.
Lawn Gnomes:
· One is seen at the bottom of the fish tank in the very beginning.
Brendon’s Filmography:
· "Septopus" - An underwater expedition to find the mythical Septopus ends up going horribly wrong.The Movie-Episode Connection:
· Nothing I could think of. =\
Song Lyrics:
· Septopus (Fenton version)
Beware the mighty Septopus
What a dandy guy
He lives on top of the submarine
And he's always eating pies
He's always eating pies up there
And throwing festivals
He's the grandest guy in town
With seven testicles
Septopus!
Septopus!
Septopus!
Septopus!
Septopus!
Septopus!
Sept-
Random Observations & Facts:
· Fenton is apparently fighting a Septopus on his game machine (Joy Boy).
· The script for "Septopus":
(Pg. 24)Septopus
"Get in my belly!"Captain
"But I still love you Septopus!"
· In case you missed the joke, Brendon's deadline is internal; basically, Brendon is giving himself a deadline to finish this film.
· McGuirk apparently does his entire workout on the Pec-Flexor 3000.
· A guy drops the soap in the background at McGuirk's gym.
· Brendon has taped "Fenton!" over Brendon's name on Brendon's director's chair.
· On the news, apparently the British comedy team has gotten into a scandal.
· During the auditions, pictures of the Alyssa, David (both background characters), another kid and Walter & Perry can be seen on the ground.
· McGuirk's paper reads: "7 Testicled Monster Thwarted By Mysterious 'Catman'". The picture for the headline is Lynch in his cat costume.
· When Fenton says to listen to his dry mouth, his mouth is really saliviated.
Past Episode References:
· Lynch's cat costume from "Coffins & Cradles" appears as a side joke on McGuirk's newspaper.
· The guy at the gym, Vito, originally appeared in "Bad Influences".Movie & Other References:
· Fenton's hand held gaming device "Joy Boy" is an obvious reference to "Game Boy".End Credits: "Septopus"
Reviews:
Zimed: Well. It was definetly not the best... infact, I'll say it may rank upon some of the worst, but the worst HM is still enjoyable. McGuirk was a waste. I... honestly don't even know what to make of it. As usual, he played well with Paula, who'se story wasn't all that great either. Paula and McGuirk are great characters, but not to be left to their own ventures.The rest was great. Fenton owned it, hard.
Delthayre: "Heart Smashers" was consistently laugh-causing, which I rightfully expect from this series, although some scenes felt odd. I had trouble buying the Brendon and Fenton relationship, although the use of the idea of breaking up was amusing. Paula's side-story was up to the task, but not remarkable. McGuirk's did feel rather tacked-on, but not bothersomely intrusive. However, I think I could have done without it and McGuirk probably deserves better. I did rather enjoy Jason's desire to kill someone. But that too felt like something adapted to Home Movies rather than something actually in the style of the show.
It was a very funny episode all in all, but there were no strongly memorable and remarkable settings or ideas. It evens out to par for the course, thus a *** out of *****.
Animation Otaku: I thought it was a step down from the last two episodes. McGuirk's part sucked, the breast jokes disgusting. I wish they had given him a different part, or even left him out of this episode(*GASP*). The boyfriend wasn't all that funny either, except when he was talking to Brendon.
On the other hand, parts of it were good. Fenton was good as always. The 'break up' things were funny, because of the context of it. Fenton's attitude was great. The auditions were alright as well, and Jason being clueless, and also a cannibal.
Also, it was nice to see the group making a movie again, and Fenton annexing the movie. The main plot was centered around the movie, which was a nice change of pace. So, it had goods and bads. Overall, it was a step down though. I don't mind the swearing(as long as the situation is right), but the boob jokes should stay far away from Home Movies.
B
Anime Guy: I thought this episode was freakin' awesome. McGuirk's man boobs didn't bother me, probably because adultswim.com is my homepage and I his man boobs every time I started Internet Explorer. Fenton was annoying as usual, but I've learned to respect that. This episode had what most WS shows have, constant funny. Not absolute hilarity, but enough to keep me smiling. I rate this as the best HM episode of the season so far. Keep it up.
Gunnm: What the hell was that episode?
I've never been so impatient to have an HM episode end. None of the plotlines were funny and the stupid peripheral characters took more screen time than Jason or Melissa. Paula and Brendon had the most interesting lines but nothing really got going anywhere because of the weak subject material and limited character interaction. McGuirk's storyline was the worst side-plot he's had yet. And considering how much I usually like the Fenton episodes, this had WAY too much Fenton, and the relationship with him and Brendon makes no sense considering how Brendon has made a point in The Party, Shore Leave, and Renaissance how he doesn't like him at all. Home Movies is the only reason I still watch Adult Swim at any regular interval and I have respect for Soup2Nuts for making 2 of my favorite TV shows ever, but this is one just turned out bad. Boring, unfunny, and predictable. I'm sure once I see it again it'll grow on me, but considering how season 3 epsiodes were more or less instantly fantastic (Shore Leave!), this one is my least favorite HM epsisode yet.
Grade: D+
Mynd Hed: Bleh. I thought the Paula subplot was the only good bit in this episode. McGuirk's subplot was just disturbing, not funny.
The Brendon / Melissa / Jason / Fenton subplot started out okay with the septopus, but as soon as Fenton walked onscreen, it took a nose dive into an empty swimming pool. It wasn't a bad idea, but it was just plain poorly thought out. A Brendon in character would never invite Fenton to make a "movie film," and if he were stupid enough to do so, a Melissa in character would've reminded him how much he hates Fenton and how Fenton always ruins everything.
Two characters horribly out of character does not good Home Movies comedy make. Now, if Fenton's presence had been imposed on Brendon against his will because of Fenton's overprotective mother or Paula or somebody else dangling a carrot in front of Brendon's nose (maybe Paula promising to buy him that fisheye lens or something if he lets Fenton in the movie), that might have made for an interesting plot.More than anything else, I felt this episode lacked focus-- it just seemed to have too much going on to give any single plot line the time it needed to develop. Downplay the McGuirk plot and give him maybe just one scene interacting with Brendon and/or Melissa and/or Jason on the soccer field, rework the Brendon subplot to put him and Melissa back in character, and give more screen time to Paula's consternation over what to do about the Boyfriend Who Won't Take Hint, and keep the Boyfriend / Brendon scene exactly as it was, and maybe you've got a passable (if slightly average) episode of Home Movies. This was not passable-- this was just dumb.
Overall Grade: D+
Stewie: Bah! That was half of a decent episode. The individual subplots were okay to begin with, but didn't seem to have enough to last an entire episode. They got boring quick.
McGuirk's thing was weird. Of course the man boobs were gross, especially when they died. That whole thing seemed out of character for McGuirk. When has he over shown a predisposition for body-building (or any kind of physical activity, he doesn't even run at soccer practice). It was just another crazy adventure for McGuirk to have. I hope he doesn't spend every episode getting into some strange new activity. That's what Homer Simpson does now. And Homer isn't funny anymore.GMB: I'm torn.
On the one hand it was a nice return to form after "Bye Bye Greasy" which I didn't like at all. Plus the standard Home Movies "awkwardly responding to difficult and uncomfortable situations in life" (Paula/Boyfriend Fenton/Brendan) kinda felt like a return to form.
The Sceptopus movie was pretty funny (The random echo effects cracked me up), until the Fenton overkill. Fenton is like Shannon--episodes featuring him put my teeth on edge.
On the other hand, a lot of this episode seemed too weird when it didn't need to be. The McGuirk stuff could have been done without quite such an extreme taken (The initial "boobs vs pecs" argument was pretty funny) and the episode sorta fell flat after the commercial break until the "soda" thing followed by the hysterical "let's kill him and eat him" argument (Once again Jason saves a lacklustre ep. How about that?) so I can't say I really liked it wholeheartedly.
Somewhat on the fence with this one. I give it a C
tigerrunner: Arguably the worst episode of Home Movies EVER. The Brendon/Fenton "relationship" was kinda funny, but everything else... well... sucked. McGuirk had the worst subplot in the serise history. Not only that, but he looked very creepy with his pecs, and even more so when they were deflated. The only perk I can think of is that Paula got a storyline, and wasn't pushed back to a tiny chunk of time like in the last two weeks (even then, it wasn't that good). Overall, it's really upsetting considering that the last two weeks (especially last week) was hysterical.
Score:
1/5
