My mini-reviews of The Monkees
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Kidnappers
This dodgy dude “kidnaps” The Monkees so the band he manages can win a talent contest.
This episode is fun, and I like that it has no central character so we get to see all of the boys pretty equally. I like the “No, Peter” part when Peter keeps changing into the wrong outfit for their ‘kidnapping’, Mike and Micky’s phone conversation about the late kidnappers, and the fact that Davy is late for his own kidnapping because he’s on a date (classic Davy). We also get to see the boys tied up which is, you know, awesome.
My favourite part is when everyone from the Vincent Van Go-Go crashes the kidnapping for a party in the Pad. I love that Micky, Mike and Peter - despite being tied up - get up and start dancing with everyone else (well…Mike sort of moves to the otherside of the room to get out of the way but more on that in a second). And I love that Micky looks stupidly happy when they’re all getting tangled up in that rope because, you know, IT’S MICKY.
Going back to Mike being all unsociable standing at the side of the room while everyone is dancing and having a laugh… this was something that eagle-eyed averyextroadinaryscene brought up recently (you can see her post here) and while I *had* noticed Mike’s reluctance to join in the fun, I *hadn’t* noticed Micky’s clear eagerness to involve Mike and encourage him to properly join the party (I’m disappointed in myself for not noticing this sooner because Dolenzmith is my life, but I will excuse myself because A. there’s a lot going on and B. I’m really not very observant). This is a moment that has nothing to do with anything and was most probably not scripted (there’s no reason it would be scripted, because these are split second moments that most people wouldn’t even notice and it has nothing to do with the plot or ANYTHING) and to me that makes it even more amazing because it’s clearly Real!Micky wanting Real!Mike to have a laugh and just enjoy the wackiness of the scene and this is another reason why Mike and Micky (both Real! and Show!) are the most perfect couple ever okay BYE.
So fangirling moment aside (for now), another quality moment is when the boys are shut in the bedroom and trying to come up with ideas to escape. I love it when they work as a team, however stupid their ideas may be, and my highlight is when they opt to throw Peter out of the window before deciding that it’s too inconsiderate to the people below.
Obviously one of the best moments of this episode is the boys stripping each others clothes off at the end because seriously, has their ever been a more homoerotic moment commited to film? If only Raybert knew back in the day that almost 50 years later people would be making stills and GIFS of that moment to view in all it’s glory…. and I wonder if the boys themselves knew how utterly ridiculous that moment was?!
Once the episode ends we get another little interview segment. I think the producers missed a trick not putting together a full 24-minute episode filled with little interviews with the boys. We had the Monkees on Tour episode which is a snapshot of life on the road for the guys, but I think it would’ve been so awesome if we had a whole show dedicated to the real Monkees, as they all come out with some real gems in the end interview sequences across the two seasons. This one has one of my favourite moments from any Monkees interview, and that’s when Mike talks about peoples past expectations of him (here are my screen caps of it). This is a real hint of Mike’s sort of self-deprecating humour, and his willingness to call himself “a loser” is strangely endearing. These interviews really hint at the boys’ real personalities; Davy’s charm, Peter’s awkwardness, and Micky’s shyness (which is something that many people don’t/didn’t know about him - I’ll talk more about that in the future). That’s why it would’ve been amazing if there was a whole episode of random candid chats with the boys, but oh well :( I’ll speak more about each individual interview as they appear!
Things I like about this episode:
Micky’s face when the Four Swine give him a banana, bless.
Mike on the pogo-stick. Because we totally can’t hear your feet hitting the floor, babe.
Davy’s flip off the chair. SKILLS!
The boys anxiously waiting for the girls to come in and tear their clothes off!
The boys getting their hands stuck in cement outside that Chinese place and their mispelt names on the sign, lmaooo.
Davy’s hair is on point in this episode.
Mike and Micky’s phone convo.
Mike putting his hands up when the kidnappers burst in - SO CUTE!
Everyone crashing the Pad for a party. It looks like so much fun and I love all the groovy clothes.
The lightbulb above Micky’s head when he comes up with the great idea of throwing Peter out of the bedroom window to signal for help.
Micky making Peter stiff (out of context that sounds so much better than it actually is)
Peter really does a great job of being stiff!
The way Mike says; “Micky, we’re on the first floor.” when Micky suggests them using sheets to climb out of the window.
The way Mike says; “Micky, will you please be careful?” when Micky decides to use a row of pennies to give himself an iron fist and the fact that he’s once again invading Micky’s personal space when he says it. UNF.
Where did Micky get that explosive liquid from??? The same place as his “knock out drops”?!??
The Last Train To Clarksville romp. This romp is not only fun but it actually has something to do with the plot, hurrah!
Peter’s hair is so shiny and pretty in the interview at the end.
Things I dislike about this episode:
The way the two “kidnappers” are basically exactly the same as every other set of bad guys that appear in the show; one is the guy in charge (the leader), and the other is thick as shit.
The judges of the talent contest look like right miserable gits.
After all that the Monkees didn’t even win the talent contest. GUTTED. (actually I quite like that they didn’t win because they’re #underdogs4eva but still, poor babies!)
Choice quotes:
Trump: "Don’t you want to be famous, the idol of millions?"
Davy: “No, we just wanna be reverred by a small minority.”
Micky: “Careful, I may never play the guitar again!”
Davy: “But you’re the drummer.”
Micky: “That’s right. Oh okay, go ahead.”
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