Season Three: Exploring THE STINGERS HIT TOWN 1&2
OVERVIEW... Britrock website copyright EA Woolley
THE STINGERS HIT TOWN
(Parts 1 and 2)
Oh boy. This has to be seen as one of the most world-changing episodes of
the Jem series. Like the effects of Talent Search, only in stereo, this two
parter introduces the Stingers onto the scene, and effectively after this
episode relegates the Misfits to bit players in the remaining few episodes
that were written. Not that this is a weak Misfit episode - quite the contrary.
With usual Jem/Misfit irony, in their near destruction can be found the most
solid and comforting evidence of Misfit solidarity that the series EVER produced.
Yes, you guessed it. A big, friendly hug. :D
THE MISFITS: JUDGEMENT DAY?
It's maybe significant to say that this episode effectively starts with the
Misfits, and more or less ends with them, at the end of Now. The episode
opens at Misfits Music, with Eric blowing a gasket over the fact that the
Misfits are using up most of the company profits paying for damages after
they, to quote Roxy, "have some fun". Of course, this isn't just about Eric's
concern over the money. Eric's control over the Misfits in a manipulative
sense has always been a big deal thing for him and for them as well. He has
spent two seasons already coercing them into doing things that they wouldn't
normally do, if not for his gentle persuasion. But the outset of this episode
gives us the impression that Eric is no longer in the driving seat. Pizzazz's
father owns the company, and her reminding him of it is the last straw. Things
have finally snapped in Eric's head - to the point where he marches on down
to Harvey Gabor and demands to be allowed to buy out the music company. More
on that later.
For the Misfis, this determination and yes, this power struggle is the beginning
of the end for the group. Aside from a couple of episodes aired out of sequence
from when they must have been written (pre-Stingers), the only significant
appearance they make after this is in The Day The Music Died. But there is
so much in the Stingers Hit Town which relates so closely and personally
to the Misfits that it's difficult to know where to begin.
Pizzazz is probably the best place, since she is a key figure in everything
that happens - not just to her band in this episode, but in their entire
future. Pizzazz's words to Eric spark him off to Harvey. Pizzazz underestimates
her father's business attitude (it's heartbreaking to see that she assumes
her father won't sell her out, when in fact that is precisely what he does.)
And of course, there is Pizzazz and Riot. The picture we get of Pizzazz in
the other forty or so episodes she's dominated is that she is a brash, strong,
and determined individual with a foul temper, a spoilt and petulant temperament
and an obsession for the material in life. What we also see, though, is an
unloved and neglected little girl crying out for her father's attention,
and desperate to get that attention from whatever corner provides it. Her
attitude to men throughout the series is all based on a wary level of her
terms or not at all. She has no way of understanding how to deal with a guy
who comes on to her, except to manipulate him (Mardi Gras) or prevaricate
(Scandal). She chases men who are promised to others, because they won't
try and tie her down to something she doesn't understand how to control.
Control is such a big thing in her life, and yet, from the moment she claps
eyes on Riot, that control just seeps away. Giggly and lovesick like a schoolgirl
is highly out of character for Pizzazz, under any circumstances. Explaining
it has always caused debate among fans - is Riot charismatic enough to cause
such a breakdown in Pizzazz's shell? Is Pizzazz so desperate to be loved
that it all gets too much for her and she falls for him big style? It's interesting
to note that in the scripting (though not the episode), Pizzazz tells the
other Misfits that she is in love with Riot, and pretty much asks them what
they're gonna do about it. It seems strange that someone who has spent so
long being such a lone character should suddenly develop such an emotional
dependance on a character, particularly one who shows no sign of reciprocating,
and even goes so far as to manipulate her to his own ends.
It is Pizzazz, though, and not Riot who does the most damage to the Misfits
in the end. It is Pizzazz who trots off to shows without the others, who
flirts and fawns over Riot and makes a fool of herself in public. It's Pizzazz
who, when faced with an ultimatum from her bandmates, chooses Riot over them
and their music. And, saddest of all, Pizzazz's apology at the end of the
episode is Riot driven - she is no longer her own woman, but has been broken
by his influence. Since Pizzazz is the Misfits, the weakening of her character
can be seen as metaphorical for the weakening of the band itself. No Pizzazz,
no Misfits.
The others seem to understand this. For a group who are not always perceptive
to the more sensitive side of each other's characters, there is a definite
understanding between Roxy, Jetta and Stormer that Pizzazz is somehow essential
to the group and that there is no way to go on without her. Interesting is
the fact that, while in Roxy Rumbles and The Bands Break Up there are attempts
to continue without certain members, there is no attempt to do this in Stingers
Hit Town. They level up the ultimatum, and when Pizzazz chooses Riot, Roxy
says bitterly "Its goodbye to the Misfits."
The music video "Lovesick" paints a clear picture of what has become of the
Misfits and their lead singer. Pizzazz is made to dress up as a little girl
by Rapture (a strange little girl, too!) but in the video she is depicted
as a puppet or a theatre patient, over which Rapture has complete power.
The other Misfits are there too, but they are helpless bystanders and unable
to reach in and pull her out of her delusions. Lovesick is the only Misfit
song which really dwells on love in any kind of serious way, and it's clear
from the lyrics that Pizzazz is not entirely sure herself what is going on.
I don't tend to think of Lovesick as a proper musical performance, but a
montage of what is happening inside Pizzazz's own head. She's out of her
own control and she knows it, but she can't do anything about it, because
Riot keeps pulling her strings and Rapture keeps getting the better of her.
Although Pizzazz is the main thrust of the Misfit part of the episode, the
others play vital parts too. Jetta calls Pizzazz their "fearless leader",
emphasising how they see her, and she and Roxy, though sworn foes are able
to get together to "have a long talk" with Stormer about the band before
coming to Pizzazz with the ultimatum. Pizzazz's stranglehold on the band
is effectively broken in this episode because her leadership skills desert
her, and as a consequence it allows the other Misfits to take decisions for
themselves about the future of the group. In this it seems to be Stormer
who emerges the strongest. I don't think that Stormer is really ever going
to lead the Misfits in a world without Pizzazz, but in terms of getting Roxy
and Jetta to put aside differences and discuss the problem at hand, I think
she must have played an important role. It is, after all, Stormer who stands
in the middle of the Misfits, arms folded as she declares the ultimatum.
It is Stormer's house which they gather at after Pizzazz chooses Riot, to
commiserate with each other on the loss of their band. Stormer has become
something of a quiet force by this point, holding them together and keeping
their focus on what's important.
In the case of Roxy and Jetta, both are strong and defiant characters but
neither one really acts out against Pizzazz very often in the run of the
show. Jetta is generally Pizzazz's sidekick anyhow, and Roxy does not often
speak up to complain. Yet in this episode, without Pizzazz's driving force
over them, both girls speak up and make their own feelings very clear. It's
Roxy who interrupts and informs Pizzazz in no uncertain terms that she wants
nothing to do with Eric's plan to get Riot and the Stingers back to the Gabor
place. Jetta too is defiant on this point, and it's Jetta who observes that
Pizzazz is not simply sick from eating Rapture's raw liver, but 'lovesick'.
Of course, although the final Misfit scene in the episode is dictated largely
by Riot's influence over Pizzazz, it has to be also seen as the most positive
Misfit scene there is. As has been mentioned to me a few times, the group
could have been split up at the end of the Stingers Hit Town, since they
were no longer to be mainstream villains for the show. Yet that wasn't the
case. I have to take my hat off to Christy for the final Misfit scene of
this episode - the hug. Hugging is not a characteristic Misfit behaviour,
but, down and out as Jetta, Stormer and Roxy are, they still wish that Pizzazz
was with them. When she comes in and makes her halting apology, the hope
and excitement among the other Misfits proves beyond all doubt the loyalty
and band feeling there is between the group. I like to think that, if Pizzazz
hadn't wanted to make up the quarrel, she would not have let Riot make her,
but honestly, that's just my Misfit bias coming through. What cannot be doubted,
however, is the genuine enthusiasm of Roxy, Jetta and Stormer to have their
leader back again.
And yet, in so many ways she is no longer their leader. It's open season
on Misfit democracy now, and we see again in the Now video how in particular
Stormer has developed. When Pizzazz seems to be reaching out for Riot in
the video, it's Stormer who comes to her, leading her away from his teasing
ghost and back to the Misfits, whereupon her wistful expression becomes a
smile (see capture for very sweet wistful expression.) Then Roxy and Jetta
join them, hand in hand they run down the beach and hug on the shore once
again, as a truly reunited group. The ending is bittersweet for my favourite
bad girls, but in a lot of ways, it's worth it to have that ending for them.
My regret is that we saw little of Misfit behaviour after this episode. It's
my strong feeling that after Pizzazz's weakness in Stingers Hit Town, her
grasp on the Misfits is no longer all-encompassing, and that the others find
more and more avenues to speak up and go their own ways. Not that I think
that they are on the verge of a split at the end of this episode - not after
Pizzazz's return - but just that the balance of power has shifted, and the
Misfits are not quite the same band again.
THE STINGERS and THE CONCEPT OF WINNING
There is a heck of a lot that can be said about the Stingers, and
most of it I've said in their character biographies, so I won't repeat myself
here. We are first introduced to the concept of the new band via an old favourite
- LinZ Pearce, who calls Jerrica up with her hot tip for this new group.
Unfortunately, of course, Eric Raymond is also interested in the new group,
so this allows the Stingers to play Starlight Music and Misfits Music off
against each other. It is unusual for the bad guys to win in an episode over
the heroines, but in this two parter this is precisely what happens. Riot
tempers it with the fact that he won't consider himself to have won until
Jem is his, but in essence, they do get what they wanted. They have a recording
contract, they have control of a big stake in a powerful music company, and
all of America awaits their music. My feeling about that is ambivalent. As
a staunch supporter in general of the underdog group, it's refreshing to
have one such group triumph. And yet, the Stingers are dangerous in so many
more ways than the Misfits ever were. Winning to the Misfits meant simply
to get one over on Jem. Winning for the Stingers is not simply to be better,
but to be overwhelmingly the best. Riot considers himself to be perfection,
and will not tolerate anything less than that for himself or for his group
(yeah, slight ego complex going down there, I think.) The Misfits do not
play the game, and cheat, lie and pull pranks, but the Stingers are a different
class of villain. Their badness is strongly psychological and on many more
levels than those of the Misfits. Rapture is a dangerous conartist, who convinces
a woman that a worthless piece of rock is a priceless spiritual heirloom,
but she also goes to the lengths of making Pizzazz drink a concoction including
raw liver, simply for her own amusement. Pizzazz is sick as a result, and
this is the first real glimpse of how manipulative Rapture can be. She is
not just smart, not just manipulative, but smart and manipulative in a dangerous,
clinical way. I don't want to name any character evil, but Rapture is not
averse to dropping as low as possible to score a hit. If it's for her own
amusement - scaring the heck out of Terri with the vampire teeth on the teddy
bear, for example - or if it's for the Stingers, she will go to whatever
lengths it takes.
Riot and Minx are less dangerous than Rapture in many ways, though Riot is
a blatant chauvenist and that never really changes. The Stingers are a much
more centred group than the Misfits are in that they are self-confident,
even arrogant about what they can do and how well they can do it. The Misfits,
though they boast and cry that they are the best are all deeply insecure
characters trying to make themselves big for the camera. The Stingers really
are what the Misfits want to be, and that too makes them a force to be reckoned
with. It is this which makes them victorious in The Stingers Hit Town. Riot
says that he can control Eric, and despite Eric's skill in that department,
I believe he is telling the truth.
To summarize, winning one moment of glory will never be good enough for the
Stingers. They will always want more.
THE PERFECT MAN...AND THE PERFECT WOMAN
Riot's obsession with Jem seems hardly a real obsession at all, to be honest.
We are led to believe that she 'seduces' (I use the word in an innocent sense)
his mind with her beauty and her performance of Like a Dream. Like A Dream
is the most hackneyed old Holo-song by this point (the only song to make
three episode plays), so it can't possibly be the song that sends him into
raptures. Perhaps it is indeed her appearance. There is a very real irony
here. Riot looks for absolute perfection, in himself as much as in those
around him. In Jem he believes he's found the perfect woman, based entirely
on how she looks. But Jem is not real, and maybe there is a subtle message
here to people watching that no real person is perfect, and that Riot is
chasing a dream. Maybe that makes Like A Dream a more logical choice of song
after all, for it is indeed an illusion that he begins pursuing in Stingers
Hit Town, still pursuing it by the end of A Father Should Be.
What should be no surprise by now is that Jem is attracted to Riot for his
charisma (and hopefully not for his hair). Well, she's already in love with
Rio as two women, we know that her sense of romance is seriously cockeyed
as it is. It's almost, though, as if Riot's pursuit of Jem gives Jem yet
another freedom away from the confines of being Jerrica. For ages she has
fought two personalities against each other for Rio's affections, because
she has forgotten which she is around Rio and given him such mixed
vibes neither of them really know where they stand. Yet Riot has no interest
in Jem's real identity. He does not care who she really is, only that she
is, in his eyes, perfect. I am still of the opinion that Jerrica is approaching
critical mass in the sanity department by this point in the series, because
Jem has become a personality in her own right who is competing for the right
to the body in which they both live. On that premise, the fact Jem can begin
an entirely new relationship with a total other guy is completely natural.
Jerrica even speaks of the divide she feels herself - that as Jerrica, she
feels none of Riot's magnetic charisma, but as Jem, she can't seem to refuse
him. Whether Riot can switch charm on and off like a lightbulb remains to
be seen - it is a theory that has some support and grounding - but to me
this is far more indicative of Jerrica having personality issues with herself.
Riot behaves exactly the same towards Raya, Kimber, Aja and Shana - but Kimber
falls for him, Raya and Shana seem quiet and undecided, and Aja is vehemently
against him. If he could turn charm on and off, then he would be charming
either all of them, or none of them. The same goes for the Misfits. On their
first meeting, Pizzazz goes doolally and can barely talk. But at this point
Riot has no idea that the house is necessarily Pizzazz's or that he is speaking
to one of the richest girls in America. Yet only Pizzazz falls for his charm.
Even Stormer, the romantic, sees Riot as nothing but trouble.
Of course, at the end of the day, however free she might try to make herself
as Jem, Jem is really always Jerrica, and it's Jerrica who makes the ultimate
romantic choice - Rio. Riot is not deterred - just determined to keep going-
but Jerrica's split personality theme is one which becomes increasingly more
plot-important as the series goes on (The Day The Music Died and Midsummer
Nights Madness particularly involve it, as does Beauty and the Rock Promoter
depending where in the sequence you put this.)
ERIC: THE BUSINESS MOGUL
Oh, Eric. Poor old Eric is vilifed up to his ears by fans of the Jem show.
And yet he is a very powerful and important character often in the dynamics
of the group(s) he works with. This episode is one of his strongest for the
manipulative ability that often gets forgotten in the wake of Jetta's and
Rapture's own. First of all, he convinces Harvey Gabor to sell Misfits Music
to him. Then he convinces the Stingers to join him at the music company,
which he agrees to part split with them in order to win them over. He knows
they'll turn a profit - and he knows it's a move Jerrica won't dare make
with Starlight Music. And then, there is his judgement of the Pizzazz situation.
While sometimes in the show Eric has underestimated Pizzazz, this is not
one of those times. Pizzazz has always been strong and the thing in the way
of him having complete power over Misfits Music and the profit. They are
a thorn in his side, and yet, businessman as ever, Eric does not want to
be rid of the Misfits. He makes a shrewd, strategic judgement based on how
well he knows Pizzazz. Not only does he take the gamble of sending the Stingers
to the Gabor place (which could so easily not have worked out), he also pushes
Pizzazz to chase Riot, spying in him a way of controlling the singer's wild
behaviour and reckless outbursts. Pizzazz's new love for Riot means that
she can be more easily manipulated, and Eric knows this. Yet he also knows,
with little doubt, that without the music company that he now owns, the Misfits
as a whole have nothing. All he has to do is get the Misfits back together
at the end of the day, knowing they have few other options, and he has the
best of both worlds. A music company, finally (after two series) to call
his own, two major bands turning profits on his books, and finally, control
of the Misfits.
And to think how easily Eric gets dismissed ^_^.
There is another aspect to all this, though. While he is a brilliant tactician
and has a shrewd business brain, Eric's personal life and attempts at one
are feeble. He is flirted with by Minx, then pushed aside, something which
he doesn't see coming and doesn't quite comprehend. He seems quite happy
to forgo most of the trappings of life outside work for that inside work,
selling everything he owns to buy the music company. This seems a blatant
way of compensating the part of his life he's not good at and replacing it
with the part of his life he is good at. His workaholic behaviour is a theme
throughout the series, but never quite so strongly as it is here. In short,
Eric puts everything on the line to be in control of his business prospects
- and, in the end, succeeds.
MINX, RIO, JERRICA and JEM
Oh brother. I really want to say as little as possible about the
Jem, Jerrica and Rio love triangle, since I've mentioned Jerrica copiously
above, and I really have nothing much to say about Rio and his usual jealousy
behaviour. Minx's addition to the theme does not really make that nauseating
love triangle any more appealing as a love square, but at least it adds someone
to the mix who isn't actually two timing one of the others. Nor does she
have two identities. Though it's unclear what Minx is really like from just
this episode (more in character biography), she obviously has an interest
in Rio, and whether it's merely for the challenge or out of genuine affection
at this point is not really for sure. Yet she has every right to pursue Rio,
as a free and single girl with no prior attachments. She even makes a game
of it, and uses him as best she can for her own amusement as well as to further
the cause of her band. Stinger behaviour seems often to be a double-pronged
attack, and is rarely the direct approach, and Minx's assault on Rio and
Jerrica (or Jem's) relationship is one such thing. Though later in the series
it might be surmised that she has genuine feelings for Rio, at this point
she is providing the distraction, and backing up Riot's move for Jem while
enjoying herself.
CONCLUSION
For just the Now sequence, I have to give this a good rating. I have never
yet forgiven Rapture for the raw liver incident, yet in many ways she is
the most intriguing new character introduced in this episode. This is the
last time Christy herself introduces new characters to the show through one
of her own episodes, and the class shows. Despite the bittersweet nature
of it, all three groups are shown in such a deep and important way as they
all fight their own personal battles. Jem's world will never be the same
again.
Episode rating: 8/10.
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