8.3/10. There is nothing like a high school election to provide easy stakes for an episode of television. You have the excitement of campaigns, the backstabbing and scheming, and the anticipation of the results to drive the narrative. But despite the fact that Clone High uses the premise of the episode to move things forward, it’s not really about the election itself.
Instead, it’s about a few more important, and amusing things. First, it’s about continuing the love quadrangle that was set up in the pilot episode. Having Cleopatra manipulate JFK to run in order to win her presidency again; Abe decide to run himself to impress Cleopatra, and Joan sign on to be JFK’s campaign manager because she’s upset at her crush for doing this all to get her romantic rival adds broad put firm emotional stakes to the excitement. This isn’t a show that’s delved too deep into dramatic stuff thus far, but Abe and Joan both being hurt by the other’s actions, and Joan eventually declaring that Abe’s the kind of guy who really should be a leader, was lightly affecting and sweet enough for the storyline to land. (And Cleo changing her affiliation between JFK and Abe depending on who was winning at the time was a reliably amusing gag throughout.)
Of course, it’s also about making fun of corporate sponsorship and marketing to kids. The X-Treme nature of the BLU-drink, which was essentially poisonous but filled with market-tested teenage buzzwords and extreme sports imagery, was hilarious and a well-observed parody. Mixing it with the Student Body President race was a nice way to blend the engines of the story together and give the satire a natural place in the episode rather than just shoehorning it in.
Having the principal squander the ad money he received was mostly a C-plot filled with comic relief, but the comic relief was quite good, so you’ll hear no complaints from me. Getting to hear the principal’s evil plan (opening a theme park called “Clone-y Island” in a delicious pun) and talking about the lessons he learned from watching the first two-thirds of the MC Hammer Behind the Music episode were each a hoot. And his robot assistant has been pretty consistently amusing with his tinny delivery alone.
Overall, a nicely structure episode with some amusing satire, a solid emotional throughline, and some of the random gag humor (like the little walking 4 declaring “I’m the number 5!” when Gandhi says “numbers don’t lie) that tickles my funny bone. Two-for-two so far!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-10-17T16:56:20Z
8.3/10. There is nothing like a high school election to provide easy stakes for an episode of television. You have the excitement of campaigns, the backstabbing and scheming, and the anticipation of the results to drive the narrative. But despite the fact that Clone High uses the premise of the episode to move things forward, it’s not really about the election itself.
Instead, it’s about a few more important, and amusing things. First, it’s about continuing the love quadrangle that was set up in the pilot episode. Having Cleopatra manipulate JFK to run in order to win her presidency again; Abe decide to run himself to impress Cleopatra, and Joan sign on to be JFK’s campaign manager because she’s upset at her crush for doing this all to get her romantic rival adds broad put firm emotional stakes to the excitement. This isn’t a show that’s delved too deep into dramatic stuff thus far, but Abe and Joan both being hurt by the other’s actions, and Joan eventually declaring that Abe’s the kind of guy who really should be a leader, was lightly affecting and sweet enough for the storyline to land. (And Cleo changing her affiliation between JFK and Abe depending on who was winning at the time was a reliably amusing gag throughout.)
Of course, it’s also about making fun of corporate sponsorship and marketing to kids. The X-Treme nature of the BLU-drink, which was essentially poisonous but filled with market-tested teenage buzzwords and extreme sports imagery, was hilarious and a well-observed parody. Mixing it with the Student Body President race was a nice way to blend the engines of the story together and give the satire a natural place in the episode rather than just shoehorning it in.
Having the principal squander the ad money he received was mostly a C-plot filled with comic relief, but the comic relief was quite good, so you’ll hear no complaints from me. Getting to hear the principal’s evil plan (opening a theme park called “Clone-y Island” in a delicious pun) and talking about the lessons he learned from watching the first two-thirds of the MC Hammer Behind the Music episode were each a hoot. And his robot assistant has been pretty consistently amusing with his tinny delivery alone.
Overall, a nicely structure episode with some amusing satire, a solid emotional throughline, and some of the random gag humor (like the little walking 4 declaring “I’m the number 5!” when Gandhi says “numbers don’t lie) that tickles my funny bone. Two-for-two so far!