Season One: Exploring THE WORLD HUNGER SHINDIG
Britrock website copyright EA Woolley
THE WORLD HUNGER SHINDIG
Technically speaking, this is the first episode after Truly Outrageous
and Starbright. We're really early in Misfit and Hologram history here
- maybe about a year in - and the dynamic is still being figured out.
But there are some distinct differences in characterising, even this
early on. We're in Texas, giving a charity showdown for starving kids
in Africa. Read on...
PIZZAZZ and SEAN HARRISON
People have a lot of fun with this one. In fact, recently the
question was put to Christy herself - what was the deal with Pizzazz
and Sean Harrison? Christy's response was simple - she did not create
the "Sean" character, and could provide no further insight. That being
the case, let's get down to speculation.
Though already by this time we've seen Pizzazz in the role of flirt and
wannabe womaniser, her attentions have almost always been directed at
Rio (or in Starbright, also Nick Mann). Here, however, is the first
swing away from that tedious and very unbelievable romantic curve. At
the Shindig, Pizzazz accosts Sean and she knows him by name
immediately. What's more important, though, is that he also knows
HER - and he knows her by the name "Pizzazz", not Phyllis. This
tells us a few things - most significantly that he knew her AFTER the
band began. (Either that or the name Pizzazz is somehow an incorporated
childhood nickname and not a stage name at all. This isn't impossible,
since there are occasions where even Harvey calls her Pizzazz. But for
now, we'll stick to theory one.) Since Sean is in the public eye and is
some kind of teen heart-throb, it's possible that he and Pizzazz met
either while he was in the States or while the Misfits were in England,
at some point between inception and the Starbright movie fiasco.
Pizzazz's behaviour towards Sean is flirtatious and almost coy. Unlike
with many of her love interests, she goes to great direct lengths to
get his attention on her and away from Kimber. This isn't a strategic
flirting moment like in Hot Time In Hawaii. She and Sean have some kind
of "past". What that past entails is really up to the viewer, but I'd
hazard a guess that it was a one night stand and that Sean really
regrets it ever happening. Pizzazz is not the relationship kind of
girl, but it seems perfectly plausible to me that she'd target and
seduce a man who was everyone else's heart-throb. It's also worth
noting that Sean has gone through some kind of character overhaul since
the last time they met. Pizzazz says to him that he used to know how to
have fun...and Sean tells her to grow up. This is clear indication to
me that Sean was once as wild as the Misfits, but something happened to
clean up his act. And now he's settled down, he has his sights set on
Kimber Benton instead, which just incites Pizzazz to more rage. I
really do think that this is more than just another Pizzazz vs Kimber
love stake. Sean was Pizzazz's first and - as Rio observes in an
earlier episode - she doesn't take rejection well. But stalking him
behind a tree and forcibly taking him to a club where the Misfits drum
up a storm are beyond her usual tactics. I don't know that she's in
love with him...but she's clearly not happy with being pushed aside.
KIMBER and SEAN
HARRISON
So, onto Kimber. It has to be said - and I have discussed this when
reviewing Scandal also - that I do not like Sean's behaviour a whole
lot. We know he was some wild child and he's reformed - perhaps not
entirely. He likes Kimber, true enough, but there's a tragic mixture in
both this episode and that one of her naivety coupled with his bad
excuses. When Kimber sees him driving with Pizzazz, after the accident
with the hay wagon, she says that she'll never trust him again. Yet,
ten seconds later, when all he's said to her is "Pizzazz lied", she's
all over him. In Sean's defence, he was conned by Pizzazz into going to
the club. But then, he had the choice not to go and he must've realised
pretty quickly that Kimber was not involved in the trip. In fact, he
tells Pizzazz straight that he wants to "go back to the lodge and find
Kimber". That intimates to me that he knew all along she wouldn't be
there - but he took the ride anyhow, just to see if anything had
changed. It's called keeping your options open, I guess - but it's not
very gentlemanly behaviour.
There's probably not enough room on my website to discuss Sean and his
abysmal English accent, either. What the voice coaches were trying to
do with him I've no idea, but you only know that he actually is British
by the fact it's announced at the start. His vocabulary is just as bad,
if not worse, because many of his epithets would not look out of place
in a pre-war novel. So aside from being a smarmy creep - he effectively
talks like his own grandfather.
And what does Kimber see in him again?
ERIC and THE HUNGER SHINDIG
Well, what would an early episode be without Eric scheming behind the
scenes of some big deal show while his Misfits quite literally run riot?
Eric's plan is simple - knock Jem and co out of the bill for the
performance and slip his act in in their place, giving them a slot on
an album that's going to be released all over the world. Of course,
Pizzazz's driving and the girls' lack of willingness to share rooms are
things he doesn't take into account, but then, the Misfits are fairly
naive in this episode. They're still at the stage where they let Eric
and his henchmen do the dirty work for them, without really knowing or
caring what's happening behind the scenes. This is one of the episodes
involving the infamous Zipper, and, like in Hot Time In Hawaii and in
Truly Outrageous, it's essentially him getting his hands dirty. It's
Zipper who organises the kidnap of the Holograms in the ravine, and
it's Zipper who is stealing money from customers at the Shindig ticket
office in order to give Eric a tidy profit. Of course, we know Zipper
isn't entirely loyal to Eric, but to his own greed - and we see it when
he tries to steal Eric's case of money after his boss leaves the
office. Maybe he doesn't like Eric's statement that he's paying Zipper "a flat fee", and not on commission.
Knowing all of that, then, and knowing that Eric is a really bad man to
do business with, it's surprising to find that he's actually a legit
part of the Shindig set-up. He's been hired by the organiser, even
though she knows he's a rat...and that doesn't make clear sense to me.
Why play with fire when you know you're just going to get burned? Is
there something else to this tale that we don't know...?
Overall, it's very important to note that Eric is the one doing all the
wheeler dealing in this episode. Though the Misfits undoubtedly expect
it to be done, they play no part in it, and though they do cause some
chaos of their own - they are certainly not in on the embezzling act.
In fact, when this is discovered, Pizzazz comments on the fact he told
them that there was "nothing in it" for him. Clear early episode
example of Eric using the Misfits to forward his own ends!
SYNERGY
Ah, I do love Synergy. It's hard to believe, watching many of these
episodes, that anyone could believe that this computer operates only to
orders and her given programming. Synergy is a sentient being, capable
of understanding and protecting the Holograms without Jerrica even
needing to give the word. In the ravine, while kidnapped by Zipper's
men, Jerrica only has to say "showtime, Synergy!" and suddenly there is
rain and water and craziness in all direction. How did Synergy know
what to project? Was it Jerrica's plan or was Synergy listening to the
warning that it was flash flood season, deciding to put this to her own
good use?
And then again at the end of the episode, Synergy has her moment of
glory. While Jem is trapped up on a ledge high above the stage, the
announcers are about to give the Misfits' names, when Synergy overrides
what he's going to say and announces herself, "The Truly Outrageous Jem
and the Holograms!"
This might seem like a simple hero ploy, but I don't think so. We know
from other episodes that Synergy is nuts about keeping herself a
secret. Yet, here and now she's risked herself by making an
announcement in a public place, just to defend her "children". It's
what Emmet asked of her, no doubt about that, but had there been
investigation after the show into the unfamiliar female voice making
the announcement, well, potentially it could have been the worse for
her.
So, one thing is more important to Synergy than her own safety - and
that is the safety of her girls. Aww.
SHARE...or NOT...
The Holograms' music in this episode is all kind of nauseating.
Aside from a very high note in "We Can Make A Difference", there are
several "interesting" observations to be made on their (effective) two
performances. At one point, Jerrica is shown atop the cart singing (not
as Jem, but in her true identity). This could mean several things. It
may mean that it's Jerrica who cares about the cause and that she's
using Jem to front it. It may mean that the animators had a mental
breakdown that day and forgot to draw her with pink hair. It may show
us that Jerrica is still the dominant personality. Or it may just be
what it seems - Jerrica taking part in something with her friends, and
just happening to have the microphone.
This is all well and good, of course, but then we reach the other end
of the spectrum. At the very start of the episode, Eric makes a deal
with the organiser, saying his girls want to be in the Shindig. The
organiser agrees, but says that they can't be on the live album unless
one of the other bands drop out (kicking off the entire
sabotage-the-hologram predicted plot). So, we already have it that the
Misfits can be part of the Shindig, regardless. What we don't know for
sure is whether they'll get their live album slot.
So, we come to the end of the episode. The Holograms are, naturally,
quite ticked off about the fact Aja, Jem and Shana have been trapped in
a room intended to hold them till after the performance. And they're
also a little ticked off that someone was trying to steal a bunch of
money from the office along the way. All this is well and good. But as
is so often the case in these episodes, aside from telling tales on
Eric (which he probably deserved!) they take it out on the Misfits.
I reiterate the fact that the Misfits *were* allowed to play in the
Shindig, even if they were not allowed on the live album. And Jem's
final song is called "Share a Little Bit." So why is it then that, with
the utmost hypocritical irony, all through this song about "sharing",
Jem and co are basically refusing to share the stage with their rivals?
If there ever was an ugly bit of stage management that showed the
Holograms up, this would be it!
CONCLUSION
The first glimpse of the Kimber vs Pizzazz rivalry and the intriguing
additional fact of Sean Harrison's first performance in the Jem
cartoon. In many ways, though, this episode is formulaic, and doesn't
really challenge in terms of plot.
Episode rating: 7/10.
Original site concept c. 2001
This version c.2014
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