Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, Episode 2 - Extreme Makeovers
Welcome, superheroes! I'm back from Cape May and ready to resume recapping. First, some good news: Sci-Fi Channel airs the previous week's episode of Superhero right before the new episode. So, if you miss a week (as I did), you can catch the previous week's episode at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on Thursdays. So, the second episode of Superhero starts with the usual recap of the previous week. For the five of you who missed it, that involved nerds competitors from 11 different cities auditioning before host Stan Lee, Feedback (last season's winner) collecting the ten finalists via teleportation, the gang's first missions, and the elimination of Braid.
The episode picks up with the group discussing Braid's elimination. Ms. Limelight is upset that she was considered for elimination, and The Defuser notes that she is very young and lacks self-confidence. Mindset, on the other hand, accuses her of just acting dumb. He says it's a ploy to get attention. Not surprisingly, he hurts her feelings. (Note to Mindset: You're supposed to be smart, right? Hurting a teammate's feelings is rarely a good move. It's especially a bad move when said teammate is the "baby" of the group and at least some of the others feel protective of her.) The "others" include Whip-Snap, who comforts her, and The Defuser, who forms a pact with her. Said pact involves Ms. Limelight not saying that she's scared or can't do something. The Defuser is apparently hoping that if Ms. Limelight acts and talks like a confident person, she'll eventually become one. His manner is rather paternal, which makes sense: he's roughly twice her age and has teen-age kids.
The following morning, the gang is awakened by an alarm and the news that the nefarious super-villain, Bee-Sting, has escaped from prison. The gang drive to the abandoned schoolhouse which is serving as her lair. They're all clustered together, which is convenient, as she drops a net on them, catching everybody. One commercial break later, and Bee-Sting has transferred the captives to two Plexiglass cages. (What?! 9 to 1 odds, and they couldn't overpower her?! What wimps!) Bee-Sting turns out to be a woman with red hair, a striped black and yellow costume, and a Boris-und-Natasha accent. She challenges the heroes to a... spelling bee. Okay, we are obviously in for a lot of bee jokes, here.
The first cage contains Basura, The Defuser, Mr. Mitzvah, Ms. Limelight, and Parthenon. The second cage has Hygena, Hyper-Strike, Mindset, and Whip-Snap. Each team has to spell three words correctly. The Defuser goes first and correctly spells "besiege". Bee-Sting haughtily tells him that he's wrong, and Hyper-Strike realizes that Bee-Sting wants the heroes to spell words with "bee" in them; thus, "bee-siege." Mindset is up next and has to spell "berate." He spells it the usual, correct way, and announces that he won't "play her stupid game." Bee-Sting punishes him (and his teammates) by releasing 1,000 bees into Team 2's cage. Yikes! I certainly hope nobody's allergic to bee stings! If they are, this contest will be dangerous-- especially as many of the heroes prove they can't spell worth beans. Each time somebody makes a mistake, Bee-Sting releases bees into that team's cage. Mr. Mitzvah covers his eyes with a blindfold, thereby protecting himself-- and preventing him from seeing where to press the buzzer. Hygena confesses that her two biggest fears are bees and enclosed spaces and simply works on staying calm. While she does disapprove of Bee-Sting's mangled spelling, she knows that not playing along will only cause the team grief. Hyper-Strike tries to stay as still as possible, but notices that he's getting stung anyway. Finally, Basura wins for Team 1 by spelling her word correctly. Bee-Sting releases both teams, but takes a very silly revenge on them by dumping honey on them.
So, the sticky heroes return to their lair to wash themselves off and try to salvage their outfits. Emphasis on the word "try." A number of them fear that their costumes have been ruined. Later, Stan Lee summons them, and the heroes try to put on what's left of their costumes, with varying degrees of success. Mr. Mitzvah ends up going to the meeting room with no pants on. Lee scolds them for being late and then tells the heroes that he wants to meet with each hero individually to discuss their powers, motivation, catchphrase, etc. He tells them that they look like hell and he has new costumes for them all.
It's Make-Over Time!
Lee starts with Ms. Limelight and asks her what her best superpower is, and she stammers all over the place, coming completely unglued. Meanwhile, Parthenon lists all his catchphrases for the other heroes. Lee tells the still-flummoxed Ms. Limelight that he imagines her as having night vision and the ability to absorb other people's powers. Mr. Mitzvah gets his powers from a magic Star of David paddle-- which looks suspiciously like a souped-up ping pong paddle. Lee sees his character as a philanthropic "Bruce Wayne type." Parthenon cheerfully describes his gemstones' powers and Lee advises him to scale them down a tad. Hyperstrike's origin is ironically similar to that of the Kingpin (Daredevil villain, for the comic-book challenged): He was an overweight kid who was bullied by his peers and eventually took to martial arts, at which he excelled.
When Lee asks The Defuser about his origin, he goes into a long, tedious monologue about his childhood. Lee tells him to get to the point and then adds that he imagines him as a brooding loner type. Since such characters are also usually taciturn, this may be Lee's way of getting him to shut up. Mindset is a telekinetic timetraveler whose catchphrase is "For the future!" Lee advises Hygena to change her catchphrase to "fighting crime and grime", to put more emphasis on "crime". Basura has the power to control insects-- which will be handy in Round 2 with Bee-Sting. The ever-emotional Whip-Snap tells Lee that she sees herself as a misfit and put a lot of her own life into her character's. Whip-Snap's powers include a sixth sense and heightened street smarts.
Then the group get their new costumes. Again, Lee starts with Ms. Limelight-- and does very well by her, as her new silver and green outfit is quite slimming. Lee also has her dispense with the white wig, revealing that she has blonde hair. Hyperstrike gets a red and white outfit that he hates. He tells Lee as much, but Lee tells him to give the new outfit a chance; it might grow on him. Personally, I'm with Hyperstrike; his old outfit was better, as it had a nifty martial arts motif, while the new outfit just has odd stars. Basura gets a black leather outfit, while Mindset gets a black and silver outfit that not only looks suitably futuristic, but also dispenses with the ugly shoulder armor of the original. Whip-Snap loves the new red cape that comes with her new black and white costume. The Defuser's costume looks a lot like his old one, only with a blue and black color scheme, as oppose to a red and black color scheme. Hygena's new aqua outfit not only still makes her look like a maid. it also ages her. Parthenon gets a green costume with a cape. Mr. Mitzvah gets a gold and black outfit and likes his metallic gold boots. (Mr. Mitzvah has no taste.)
Elimination Time! The superheroes go to the roof. Parthenon thinks Mr. Mitzvah could be a target as he isn't bonding with his fellows. Now, to be fair to Mr. Mitzvah, he isn't itching to tell people that he's a multi-millionaire who doesn't have to work, especially when his fellow heroes include a cashier (Mindset), security guard (Whip-Snap), circus performer (Hyperstrike), and cop (The Defuser). Worse, Mr. Mitzvah is the oldest by a wide margin; he's in his early 50's-- and the next oldest is The Defuser, who is 38. Unfortunately, Lee calls Mr. Mitzvah out not just for his lack of social skills, but also for blindfolding himself during the spelling bee challenge. By doing so, he prevented himself from being able to reach the buzzer to try to take his turn during the spelling bee. Ms. Limelight gets scolded for not knowing her own character, and Ms. Limelight admits to having had a bad attack of nerves. Lee points out that caving under pressure is hardly superheroic. Lee has even harsher words for Mindset, both for hurting Ms. Limelight's feelings and for endangering his teammates during the spelling bee. Lee aptly describes Mindset as "smart, but not wise." Mindset then argues with Lee, stubbornly maintaining that he is in the right and that he is just being honest.
It's quite obvious who is going to be sent home, as Mr. Mitzvah and Ms. Limelight were both smart enough to be deferential to Lee. Still, the show cuts to a commercial, with close-ups of people's faces and the last scene dissolving to a painted panel, like that in a comic book. Sure enough, after the commercials, Mindset is the one told to turn in his costume. The show does not quite end, however, for Lee provides the remaining heroes with communicators, and there's a brief scene of Bee-Sting conferring with a masked ally. The previews show the heroes searching for a villain at an amusement park and hint that somebody may actually be in league with the bad guys.
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