With my posts in the “Top 50 Episodes Countdown” I thought it be kind of funny to look at the very WORST episodes from Thundercats. Unlike the Top 50, I’m going to post the Bottom 15 all right here in one post because, quite frankly, these episodes don’t deserve the extra effort, lol.
15) The Trouble with Thunderkittens = I thought this was a fun concept for an episode with the Thunderkittens stealing the TCats weapons to practice with them, only to have them stolen by The Mutants. The major problem with this episode was the animation which was, in my opinion, by far the worst of the series. Visually, this episode is an eyesore. Transformers fans would probably liken it to the disaster “Carnage in C-Minor” (although this episode is not even close to being as bad as that, lol)
14) Cracker’s Revenge = This is one of Overgard’s weird ones as he unites The Lunataks & Captain Cracker for one last hurrah. Aside from making The Lunataks look like inept goofballs (which I thought we got enough of in Exile Isle), I think this one takes the cake when Snarfer sings “Rocketship Baby” or something like that. It was just unbearable. Other wise the episode is OK, and many would say I’m being kind, but that song just did me in.
13) Locket of Lies = Pointless seems to sum up this episode perfect. The TCats get the Locket of Lies, which is a false compass made by Mumm-Ra which leads them into a seemingly inescapable pit. In the end, Lion-O just uses the Sword to get out, and that’s it…and they really missed a chance to do something with Snarfs Egbert & Oswald as they were fighting with each other throughout the episode, & the obvious way to end it would have been to have them work together to find a way to save the T-Cats…but the way they did it, the whole episode just feels like a big pile of nothing.
12) The Chain of Loyalty = Another bad Treasure of Thundera episode, but in this one the problem is with the artifact itself. The Chain of Loyalty which, when broken, will cause the Thundercats to fight amongst themselves…what!!! First of all, if that artifact exists, then why didn’t Jaga take the Treasure with them when Thundera exploded? I would think that thing would be fairly well protected. And most of the other pieces of the Treasure served some kind of purpose like the Book of Omens, Key of Thundera, Totem of Dera, Mirror of Truth, and in the case of the Double Headed Dragon of Doom, they were trying ot keep a cursed artifact out of evil hands. But who on Earth made the Chain of Loyalty??? Who thought it would be a good idea to make something like that? And there is also a whole issue of Free Will. So the T-Cats aren’t loyal to each other out of choice? They are under the spell of the chain? There are some severe holes in logic with the concept of the object that drives the plot, which causes me to not like this episode.
11) Helpless Laughter = This one gets on there for one reason: Look at what they did to Mumm-Ra at the tail end. To watch The Everliving Source of Evil get forced into a fit of the giggles and start cracking really bad jokes was almost surreal. To me, that was a clear sign that the show was on its last legs because that would have NEVER happened in Season 1. Later on Mumm-Ra had lightened up a little bit, and we’d seen him used for comedy (Bracelet of Power), but this was more than I was willing to accept. Mummy Overboard!!!
10) Well of Doubt = This episode was another one that sort of indicated to me that the show was over, and they were out of ideas. Baron Tass ranks right up there with Scrape as one of the least interesting villains in the series, and the way this episode is presented, it was like Thundera was headed into a new Golden Age with them rebuilding the capital city & more & more Thundartians coming home. Despite being lackluster in almost every way, I will give them credit for giving Snarfer a little bit of abuse at the tail end.
9) Mumm-Rana = I already said it in my review of “Mumm-Rana’s Belt” but I really don’t like the concept of a Good Guy, Female, Mumm-Ra. It was just too contrived for my tastes. And she’s a bit of an idiot too. How is it that Mumm-Ra knows all about the TCats & The Mutants, and she doesn’t know anything about them? And how is it that the TCats & Mutants had never heard of her before? You’d think somebody would have informed them at some point. Thundercats had some great allies throughout the show, but Mumm-Rana wasn’t one of my favorites. And there was also that whole problem of Lion-O, Tygra, & Snarf being “exiled” but not really as they were dropped off right by Castle Plun-Darr. Why didn’t you just lock them up in Castle Plun-Darr? I mean what the baddies did wasn’t exile or imprisonment. It was a minor inconvenience.
8) Hair of the Dog = You know, when The Ancient Spirits of Evil came down on Mumm-Ra really hard, culminating in him being banished at the end of “The Last Day” I couldn’t help but recall this little doozy and think to myself “Oh sure Mumm-Ra fails alot, but there was that one time you guys screwed him over and gave Snarf Super Powers” Snarf-Ra The Everliving was just surreal, and anybody who hates Snarf will probably cite this episode as part of their argument.
7) Sideswipe = This was Overgard’s first episode that was really weird. Sure some of his previous installments had their moments, but this one was the first one that really left me scratching my head. First of all, the whole episode is driven by a traffic violation by Chilla. Um ok? Second, its established that the Brailboard is actually an image from Lynx-O’s mind…what!!! And there are other bits of weirdness too. When did Vultureman become a guardsmen for Sky Tomb? Why would Snarfer have to pick up Mexican food by going to Outer Space? Its just a really weird episode that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
6) Mechanical Plague = This was one of failed potential. The title sounds cool and the premise is kind of cool, but overall, this one feels like an episode that they wanted to make as cheaply as possible. They reused several animation bits from previous episodes and the episode has very little dialogue to the point that it feels like a silent movie at times. Like “Locket of Lies”, the episode feels like a pile of nothing.
5) Runaways = I know the Thunderkittens are children and there are certain things you can do with them that you can’t do with the adult Thundercats, but I felt like having them run away out of boredom was too childish and honestly, out of character for them. They had run away before in “Mongor” & “The Time Capsule” but that was out of a desire on their part to help out or make up for a mistake. And of course, Kudi is probably the most ridiculous looking character in the show…yes even more so than the Ro-Bear Berbils.
4) Dream Master = The worst episode of Season 1, in my opinion. Basically the episode was just “The Mumm-Ra Berbil” retold with a really bizarre concept that I still don’t completely understand. So Mumm-Ra takes out the Thundercats one by one by attacking them in their dreams? So I guess Mumm-Ra’s been taking lessons from Freddy Kruger. He controls their “Dream Selves” and then decides the next night to destroy them…which begs the question why didn’t he just do it right after he beat them all? I guess this episode is one of those bizarre concepts that either you get or you don’t, and I don’t get it.
3) Swan Song = BORING!!! BORING!!! This one was just painful to sit through. Of all 130 episodes, I think I’ve watched this one the least because it works almost like a sleeping pill. I hate to step on any toes here, but there is a reason I don’t like Fern Gully or Captain Planet. The message of Environmental protection is not bad in of itself, but when it gets taken to a ridiculous extreme, its makes for some painfully preachy and downright boring storytelling, and that’s what we get here basically.
2) Exile Isle = Oh where to begin with this one. Scooper??? Yeah he sucked. How about The Lunataks losing their vehicles…when did that happen??? And where did the Thundercats suddenly get the technology to teleport somebody to another planet??? Shouldn’t that make the trips to New Thundera a little less stressful? And since when was it possible for the Hover Cat to fly into Space??? And how about that whole bit where Lion-O uses ridiculous methods to defeat The Lunataks, making them look probably worse than The Mutants. And what was the point of having Lion-O leave behind the Sword of Omens in fear of it being destroyed only for him to summon it anyway? I remember reading a short synopsis for this one when I was younger and it basically said “The Thundercats basnish The Lunataks to the realm of Exile Isle” which sounded cool! But when I saw it on Cartoon Network for the first time, I was like “WTF???” It was weird, and parts of it really didn’t make much sense.
1) The Circus Train = Poor Overgard…I’ve got him for the 3 Worst Episodes in the series, but this one was just ridiculous. And unlike an episode like “Exile Isle” you really can’t ignore it or skip over it because it effected the direction of the series by writing out The Mutants & The Lunataks as regular characters. And what a sorry way to do it. You have a Bounty Hunter that drives a Circus Train and has a talking Crow sidekick (that sounds like Groucho Marx) team up with Wily Kat to take care of them? Wow. That sucks. And the villains came off looking like morons here. Did Slithe actually think there was a Magnificient Merna? And you think The Lunataks were just slipping on banana peels the way they fell for those traps. And what about TugMug’s all too sudden turn on Luna? That came out of nowhere. Basically, a stupid concept & plot combined with the main villains being written out of the show in humiliating fashion makes this one I’d love to forget and my pick for worst in the series.