Linked
Episode #48 (257-379) - Linked
Original Airdate - May 1st, 2004
Static and Gear help an up-and-coming football star who is being
blackmailed by Chainlink, a powerful metahuman.
Media by Bird Boy
Review by Matt Zimmer |
Credits:
Supervising Producer Alan Burnett
Producer Denys Cowan, Swinton O. Scott III
Associate Producer J.C. Cheng
Teleplay by Robert Goodman
Story by Robert Goodman and John Semper Jr.
Directed by Vic Dal Chele
Music by Gousse and Big Tank
Animation by Dong Woo Animation Co., LTD.
Voices:
Phil LaMarr as Virgil Hawkins/Static
Jason Marsden as Richie Foley/Gear
Michele Morgan as Sharon Hawkins
Bumper Robinson as Chainlink
Sean Donnellan as Reporter
Marshall Jones as Dule
Michael Clarke Duncan as Rashid "The Rocket" Randall
Kevin Michael Richardson as Robert Hawkins
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Review
A young man with a bright future in basketball is terrified that the
world will know his secret.
Virgil, Sharon, Richie and Robert are invited to a basketball game by an
up and coming player named Dule Jones. Sharon used to counsel him before
he became a success and he tries to impress her. Later a Bang Baby with
tentacles coming out of his back named Chainlink attacks Dule as he is
driving Sharon, Richie and Virgil home. He escapes but Chainlink breaks
into his mansion and says that since they are old friends Dule should
pay him most of his salary or he will tell the world that he is a Bang
Baby with similar powers, ruining any future career in pro sports.
Dule meets with Chainlink at a warehouse and tries to finish him off
when Static and Gear arrive, following Chainlink and try to stop him.
Sharon also happens by and is horrified that Dule tried to kill his
former friend and that he is a Bang Baby. Dule admits his whole story
and says that he never wanted Sharon to find out because he wanted to
impress her. At the next game Dule makes a public announcement and is
about to reveal he's a Bang Baby when Chainlink attacks him. He fights
back, revealing his powers and defeats Chainlink with the help of Static
and Gear and the crowd cheers for Dule, not caring that he is a Bang
Baby.
I have to say I found this episode rather pointless. I'm not sure why an
entire episode is revolved around a character I know nothing about,
doesn't seem very sympathetic after trying to kill Chainlink, and is a
person we have nothing invested in is spotlighted in a show that's
SUPPOSED to be about Static. Static's a guest star in his own show at
this point and since it ISN'T a celebrity or DCAU crossover it just
seems like a waste of a half-hour. The story itself is competently told,
I suppose but really, in a show called Static Shock I want to see a
story about Static or at least a person Static even KNOWS.
The animation was good this episode though. I thought all of the chain
links looked nice and creepy. Still, I'm wondering why they bothered
making this episode. Yes, it was written by Robert Goodman who knows a
thing or two about spotlighting other characters on a show like The
Zeta Project but Static Shock hardly has the same structure as that
show and it just doesn't work here.
Story: **
Animation: ***1/2
Average: **1/2
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