"Ralphie Bear is Back" is probably the most... confusing episode of the series. Not just in what's within the content, but exactly in determining how exactly I feel toward the episode. Because when I first watched this episode, I pretty strongly disliked it, for reasons I will describe as we go along, to the point of genuinely leaving me in a bad mood afterward. So naturally, I was not exactly looking forward to revisit this one. And while I found myself warming up to certain aspects and ideas, more problems ended up arising as well.
Right when the character of Ralphie Bear and his animatronic is introduced, it becomes incredibly clear this is meant to be a sort of take on "Five Nights at Freddy's", although unlike "Castle Crawl" it's not represented by an in-universe take on the actual game, moreso just kind of resembling it in circumstance. Already, this put the episode at a disadvantage for me personally, since I felt a game as mainstream as that was passé for a show like this, as well as it being of one of my least favorite genres. And unfortunately, a lot of the problems kind of lie in that. Most of the episode takes place in rustic and/or dusty-looking environments, which is a pretty far cry from the more futuristic or domestic areas we tend to see, and one that didn't quite appeal to me. It simply looked a little too old-fashioned for a show that for the most part embraces modern technologies, nor does it add much to the immersion, which is only made worse by how little otherworldly actually happens beyond a psychotic robot.
The episode is smart, however, to make this less about the monster attack and more on how Miko and Five each perceived the character (respectively, being scared to death of it to the point of kicking it on a trigger, and looking up to the character despite never properly meeting them), and I think they both work well. Five and Miko are both highly firm in their positions, but they never let it overshadow how much they care about each other. While Miko being the supposed "Birthday Ruiner" is made pretty obvious with many cues, they make it clear that Miko doesn't spill the beans - not really because she's worried Five will hate her, moreso not wanting to rain on his parade. And when she finally does do so, Five sympathizes with her opinion and starts to see where she's coming from. It's a good testament to just how strong the leads and their bond is.
However, it's all brought down by just how annoying it gets. Specifically, the glitched Cakey Von Smasher going "I'M GONNA SMASH YOUR - HECTOR". It's pretty amusing at first, and I like that the logic is that its AI got confused by Ralphie Bear missing his cue, but the line is repeated 37 times all through a metallic, broken filter. You can only imagine how grating it becomes. Similarly, I feel the character motivations start to become repetitive after a while, probably because there's very little to the actual story with not even a subplot to break it up (apart from a throwaway scene with Phil early on that amounts to basically nothing) - and even with that in mind, while there's a good twist here and there (even beyond the aforementioned dynamic), there's an unusual number of details and plot points that just don't make logical sense, which I will be sure to point out in the screencaps below.
I guess in the end, while I can't say "Ralphie Bear is Back" was as unenjoyable an experience as I remembered, there's just too much that's off about this for me to reasonably call it good either. I understand some of the problems I mentioned may come down to personal preference, and if you can give me a fresh perspective I'd love to hear it, but this is definitely the episode I will find myself revisiting the least.
It honestly took me too long to realize this is the same arcade we saw in episodes like "Age of Hinobi" and "Smashozaurs", partly because we don't normally see it from this angle. I also want to point out that this commercial states that it's been open for 15 years, because it just doesn't seem right. Does video game technology progress faster in this universe or something?
Miko's trigger-hit is immediately foreshadowed when she hears Five first express excitement over Ralphie Bear. Also, that animation error on Five's eyes.
Five's slideshow about Ralphie Bear's history and decline has a lot of surprisingly subtle foreshadowing that one isn't likely to pick up on in first viewing, which I have to give major kudos for. Note how uproarious they are about seeing a cheesy animatronic, and if you think it's exaggerated, that suspicion turns out more accurate than you think.
There's also this security image. The focus is obviously kept on the decapitated robot and this being framed like a police scene... but then look at how familiar that girl on the table there looks. It's neat they hid the reveal in place sight like this, but on the other hand, this ends up raising more questions as to how the heck people didn't pin the "Birthday Ruiner" when this picture leaked. Especially considering she was apparently shunned at school after this happened... these points do not add up.
These aren't quite some of the best faces from Top Draw (it's honestly hard to tell this episode was even them most of the time), but the contrast and little touches like the red skulls make them humorous anyway.
There's a scene with Phil where he discovers a drawer of arcade tickets, and is excited upon hearing he can still redeem them. You'd think it's going to turn into a subplot, but they pretty much forget about it until the end, which even then proves underwhelming. Shame.
...Is that SpongeBob?
This is the day of the theater's re-opening, right? Why is it still full of cobwebs and tarps? Man, this arcade just isn't good at upkeep.
We learn a lot about Five from his flashback about him saving up money for the birthday show. His father and Casino get some welcome cameos, and we also find out it's how he started working at the food truck. I like that they left you to think about why he stuck there afterward.
This is some good moody lighting for sure. The candle reflecting on their faces, a little more light shafting on the walls from the chandelier... really creates a sense of dread in what looks pretty cheery without it.
And in comes Miko's kick of Ralphie Bear, which manages to show so much power in just this one frame.
This is one of the cooler Hinobi gadgets: a portable digital door lock leaving it temporarily impenetrable. I'm sure we would all love to have one of those in our lives.
While I don't fully understand how this lock hack works, and Smasher droning on can make it hard to listen to, this is a pretty dang impactful scene in terms of momentum and tension.
This is up there with the mop in "Tutorial Mode" as one of Glitch Techs' finest bits of throwaway animation.
I suppose it figures because of the source material, but jump-scares just seem so beneath this show in my opinion.
"Jinkies, a secret door!" Yeah, this episode is also pretty heavy on external references; there was also an Addams Family one earlier. Not going to act like they're amazing, but Monica Ray's delivery for this one is pretty cute.
Miko gets some pretty fun expressions here once Five starts to realize what's going on. And again, I have to complement that they're making it clear that her reluctance was all for his sake.
And here's young Miko. Protect her at all costs. Spoiler alert, this is not all we'll see of her.
This impact isn't as visually strong as the others, but the aftermath of it knows how to get the mood across. Miko's expression is a great 'what the f*** did I just do" kind of face.
See, this is what I was referring to with the environment feeling out-of-place for this show. This and several other backdrops aren't badly composed by any means, but it's just not what I want to see when I turn on this type of program. It just takes me out of the experience.
Is this a Shining reference with the head-on door shot and the axe? Considering the two mentioned earlier, it wouldn't surprise me. Also Five says around here "I really miss your original line"; my sentiments exactly.
Miko donning a Ralphie Bear costume to get Cakey Von Smasher's AI back on track is pretty clever, both in terms of resolving the physical conflict and giving Miko a means to conquer her fear.
Even the climax, while not badly chereographed, is so brief and uninteresting compared to the others we've seen. That said, I'd be lying if I said this shot of Miko and Cakey dangling wasn't very effective.
"You did it Ralphie, you saved my birthday!"
"Uh, Five, you know it's me, right?"
"Just give me this moment, Miko."
Even in the weakest episodes, there's some truly heartwarming exchanges to be had.
Jimmy Alcorn here knowing about glitch phenomena is a solid twist, since it's played matter-of-fact and it's the kind of thing that people may not think about when watching this show but makes so much sense in hindsight.
And after being forgotten about for 15 minutes, Phil reeneters just to kick the new Ralphie "Bore". Cool visual to end on, but then... why does the commercial explicitly state Ralphie *Bear* is back on the showroom? Maybe I just shouldn't question this episode anymore, there's much better ones to focus on.
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