Welcome to another slugterra rewatch where I point out random details I found interesting. Previous installments can be found under #Rewatch Rambles, and a Full Series Spoiler Warning is in effect!
The intro to this one cracked me up so bad. I don't usually go through the effort to get pictures for these, but I need you all to appreciate the body language happening in this encounter:
Kord: "How about we do that after we catch some [frostcrawler slugs]?"
Trixie: "I'll get the snares!"
Pronto: "I have the gloves!"
Eli: "Why don't we just talk to them?"
Eli looks relaxed and casual. The rest of the gang doesn't just look high strung, they look absolutely ridiculous. Remembering the slugs are intelligent and treating them with respect isn't just the morally correct choice---it's also so much easier in every way.
*Sighs.* Okay, this is how you DON'T do failure comedy with Pronto. He's allowed to create problems for them, but this feels like he's being an obtuse idiot for no reason. At least it's in character. He periodically demonstrates that he is the least compassionate towards his slugs---I'd even say he's less kind to them than average Slugterrans. Love-hate relationshiop is pretty much the only type he knows how to have.
Kord: "Your slugs have gotten too powerful for a blaster like that!"
Fascinating. Eli got that blaster from his dad's stuff. Does that mean that Eli's slugs are even more powerful than Will's? It's a possibility, but for now I'm assuming the hideout Eli found was more like a backup safehouse. With the exception of Eli's mecha Lucky (LKE), he wouldn't have been keeping very high quality stuff in there. Which also explains why it's not the most hidden thing in the world, and why nobody but Pronto took up residence there or tried to loot it.
Okay, I was gonna make fun of Eli for picking a high stakes fight with a broken blaster, but Billy's even dumber. We've established there are very few laws down here and even fewer enforcers. WHO would Eli have gone to if he DID claim he deserved a do-over? Nobody! This isn't a practicality thing, it's an ego thing---Billy is so full of himself that he's willing to remove the curb-stomp disadvantage Eli has just so Billy can prove he's better.
Kord is SO sweet. He's Eli's best friend and number one hype man, and it's too cute. He might be exasperated by Eli's impulsiveness, but he'll also be the first of any of them to sing his praises. I think a lot of the pride comes from the fact that he basically taught Eli to sling slugs, so this isn't just a testament to Eli's talent, it's also means he was LISTENING to Kord and proves Kord is and has been a great teacher to him.
Eli's had the frostcrawler for a few hours at most and it's ALREADY beating a tried and tested Flaringo. Another one of the advantages to ASKING if the slugs want to come is that it naturally selects for the most adventurous and tough slugs (as well as ones that like Eli and will bond fast with him).
Tbh I actually forgot that Doc used to belong to Billy. I also forgot just how awful the Hooligang was in their first appearance, since their later ones are far more comedic and light hearted. The slugs get threatened with ghouling on the daily, but it's very rare that anyone actually tries to KILL a slug. Early show Billy might take the cake for the most despicable enemy our heroes have.
Also, I LOVE how quiet and intense Eli's rage is when he BODY-SLAMS Billie and goes "Careful there. You almost stepped on that slug." If you've got a quiet Eli, you've got a PROBLEM.
No wait, that's a good question Pronto! Did he go by Red Hook before or after he got the hook? What do ya'll think? After makes more sense, but I like before better for the irony.
The redhook ebcounter IS how you do failure comedy with Pronto! Not no stakes, but lower stakes, and thers's immediate catharsis about it. You can buy that he IS actually trying to help in this situation and just isn't self aware enough to know he's doing the opposite of helping.
When Blakk raises his hand to grab Billy's slug, Billy startles and covers himself like he thinks he's going to be hit. Since Maurice had to introduce Billy, this is his first time meeting Blakk. Do we think hitting children is considered normal in Slugterra? Do we think Billy specifically has been surrounded by bad adults who hit him a lot and now he assumes all of them are like that? Or have Blakk's agents roughed him up before? All three seem equally plausible to me. It may even be all of them.
Alright, so between Blakk saying it's not surprising that Will has a son and Red Hook's teasing, amused inflection when he says he never knew Will had a kid, I think we can safely assume Will was the rakish hero archetype.
One of the awesome things about this series is that even the most serious fights aren't exempt from slapstick. They do a really good job of incorporating the characters' personalities and the slug's whacky powers into basically every single one. Which means we can get moments like Pronto successfully taking someone out by holding his gun backwards and firing THE WHOLE GUN at his opponent. And it doesn't make the fight feel lower stakes at all!
Ooh, and here we see another interesting difference between Eli and Trixie's approach to heroism. Trixie is really focused on recruiting the residents of the cavern so they can help them help themselves. She's way more frustrated by their spinelessness than the others. Because she's seen this happen over and over again---she stood up because nobody else would, and it's driving her a bit crazy because she didn't have anything special that made her a hero except willpower. Eli wants to keep them safe, and wants them to defend themselves too, but he's less aggravates by their passivity because he hasn't been stuck in the same situation Trixie's been in.
He doesn't understand how common of an occurrence this is and how difficult it is to get people to stand up to Blakk. It highlights Eli's hopefulness, but it also highlights Trixie's because it shows she's still going on and being a hero DESPITE her lack of success in inspiring others. It might also be why Trixie was drawn to him in the first place---Eli DOES find her inspiring and actually listens to her good advice.
And of course, when they're on the backfoot and Eli says they need to recruit the residents of the cavern, he's talking about the slugs, which is an oversight for Trixie. They complement each other. She's jaded but determined and more focused on the people, he's naive but a natural leader and more focused on the slugs.
