Despite being one of the two main characters, High-Five has kind of gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to lead roles. The instances where he and Miko share the spotlight together have consistently proven strong because they contrast and work off each other just that well, but not only has he gotten significantly fewer spotlight stories on his own, but the ones he got up to now - while they were charming in their own right with a good emotional core - were among season 1's weaker material overall (see "Adventures in Pet Training"). His subplots in other episodes can be amusing and charming in their own right, but they usually feel like throwaway roles, or are just plain forgettable.
I say this because "Ping" brings an emotional side to Five's character and makes me care deeply about him in a way that I didn't before watching this. We've seen that his family at the food truck care dearly about him, and he's been shown to have social anxiety, but only now are we truly delving deep into both of those. He starts out openly reluctant to visit Game Kingdom to see (and later fix) the newly-received Ping machine (an obvious Pong expy) due to how much the store reminds him of his incarcerated father. Yep, that is totally a thing in this Nickelodeon-produced children's series, and let me tell ya, they treat this with the respect it deserves. Basically, Emilio Nieves was a master coder who went to prison for white-hat hacking, and the scene where this is revealed is just dramatic enough to tug the heart while still feeling naturally integrated, with the reactions being appropriately solemn. And the emotional climax ultimately boils down to Five learning to not let such memories ruin time with an lifelong comrade in an active, welcoming environment - which enables him to perform a little light hacking himself to save the day.
And then there's the big threat of the episode - the Ping ball, a single square block who seems nonthreatening and mysterious at first, only to wreak havoc and then some upon gaining momentum - and, on top of that, is too ancient to absorb properly. Being the representation of a single pixel, and a very non-sentient one at that, it seems almost *too* simple a concept. And yet, they get unbelievable mileage out of it being an uncontrollable, unstoppable, ricocheting cube, causing major damage wherever it goes and only becoming faster whenever anyone attempts to stop it. This causes the energy to be some of the absolute highest the series has managed to reach, as a lot of the runtime is devoted to showing this green cube rush across the screen, sometimes with the camera, and the team doing everything in their power just to keep up. The peak of this comes near the end when Miko and Mitch attempt to catch up with it using a light-speed override on their gauntlets, which proves especially suspenseful as Miko is racing both off her gauntlet losing power and also the threat of the ping cube running into a power plant.
On top of that, the story is just so well-paced where the more slow, dramatic scenes and high-paced action scenes always seem to be spaced just right. Five's relationship with Game Kingdom and its manager Geraldine Lawson (voiced wonderfully by Cree Summer) has just the right amount of meat for the story to feel like it has more substance than just a chase, while everything with the Ping cube has more than enough thrills to keep the viewers' eyes glued to the screen and kept in suspense. All this makes "Ping" an unbelievably fun ride, and one of Glitch Techs' absolute best. But there is one other episode I would say manages to rank just above this one...
Here's Papi and Abuela Nieves, in what I believe is their first appearance past "Age of Hinobi". I appreciate how we get to briefly see how strong their connection with Five is before we get into his father, since it adds a distinct realism as to how he's actually getting along.
It's nice that Five is at first genuinely happy to see Geri and that she's getting a Ping machine. It's only when she mentions his recent absence from the store where he starts to show reluctance, hinting her words are hitting very close to home.
This is the only real look we get at Ping in action. The simplistic layout of both the machine and game are pretty impressively accurate to the real deal, right down to the yellow finish.
Zahra remarks that they're playing a "board game based on a video game based on a movie based on a cartoon". Funny enough line by itself, but I extremely appreciate how this little small talk makes the staff at Hinobi feel much more like they belong in a genuine work environment.
Geri's pure excitement over trying to tell Five about the unleashed pixel is delivered so well by Cree Summer with that Numbah Five-type voice. It helps that she's animated in a very 'alive' way with how much she changes pose in this one shot alone.
A rare look at the Hinobi vehicle dashboard. the controller being part of the little radio-thing is a cute touch.
Game Kingdom's interior is pretty much exactly like one of those independently-owned retro game stores you've probably encountered at least once in your life. The lighting makes this look so friendly and clean, too.
The buildup to the Ping ball's reveal is perfection. The low, trembling music... the very slow pace... Geri slowly nudging it out of the box... the green glow when it finally does come out... It's all brilliant.
The talk of the Ping pixel and what it represents gets surprisingly philosophical and portrayed just like a historical relic would, with how it's described as the first of its kind and how its creation was the birth of an entire industry. The music here feels straight out of Gravity Falls, and it adds so much to the atmosphere.
Just putting this here for meme fodder.
Our first look at Emilio, alongside a very 80s-looking computer with very 80s-looking hair.
I like how the Ping ball starts to gain momentum as Miko and Five mindlessly pass it back and forth during a conversation. You know this is going to lead to something, but it only sets in once Five starts to get annoyed and smashes it harder...
...Leading to it already causing massive damage across the arcade as it bounces across the walls. Even in this small environment, there's a definite sense of danger, especially with how the scene is paced and timed. The energy in these two caps from the same shot gives you a very good idea on what you're in for.
Five attempts to catch the block in a box, only for it to go below the ground and bounce back up, resulting in him being launched through the ceiling. This is an amazingly executed bit, with how the sound cuts for a second just before the launch and how rapid the action itself is.
This shot of Miko (on Ally) trying to push Five back down and fighting against birds is pretty weird though. It's trying to do that low-frame rate thing we've seen in a few other action scenes, but the birds flash across the scene pretty choppily and the actual push doesn't quite register like it should've. So odd.
Five zipping out of a building is yet another instance of amazing slapstick timing. We're going to get a lot of this for the remainder of the episode.
At one point, Miko begs BITT (or gives a "very dignified rant") to get help... only for him to get Mitch. Her reaction is pretty much censored with a loud sound effect. That, with the ORZ message onscreen, is pretty funny.
I like how they are able to break the action for about a minute by trapping the Ping cube in the trunk here, allowing Mitch to enter the story and also show a more action-based vice of his by underestimating the cube's power, letting it run amok once more.
I haven't yet brought up Mitch's disdain for old video games, calling them "repetitive, boring, and easy". I do wish they went further with this idea, but the fact he's forced to essentially play it in real-life becomes more fun with this in mind. Plus he reminds Five of the ability to blow things up, so it does serve the plot.
Heartwarming scene aside, note all the little artwork on the wall here. We've seen Karate Trainer 1, Smashozaurs, and Chomp Kitty before, but there's also a Pac-Man expy in "Spooky House", an unnamed Donkey Kong clone, a proper look at the Hinobi One console, a dino game seemingly reminiscent of Mario, a game named "Princess Sword" possibly referencing Zelda, and a Game-and-Watch looking handheld device called "Hinobi Hand". Gotta love the subtle worldbuilding.
But yeah, Five coming to terms with his emotions and how it intruded with his relationship with Geri is such a well-written scene. Geri might as well be a second mother to him, and I love it.
Miko and Mitch attempting to trap the cube in a portal loop does a great job heightening the tension. Things seem fine... only for it to turn into a massive blur, immediately break the technology, and launch out by ripping through the Earth. Damn.
This Miko where she learns about overclocking looks pretty off, mostly in the eyes, but it's a dang cute expression regardless. Plus it's neat that Mitch is willing to let Miko in on this secret, since he knows he needs her help.
As stated before, this chase scene is just absolute eye candy, and probably the single most high-octane scene of the entire series, certainly from a visual standpoint. The level of speed we're at here is downright incomparable, and Top Draw's animators have way too much fun mixing up the camera work, types of movements, and even the visual cues such as those colored trails. Plus we get that amazing blink-and-you-miss-it expression on Miko in the first cap, a very rare case of exaggerated slapstick expression work on this show. There's just so damn much to love and take in here, it's honestly overwhelming.
Which makes Miko's failure and equally well-animated tumble all the more heartbreaking for us.
I had to get an image of Five riding on Uni-corp somewhere. The soot on his face is a chuckle-worthy visual.
Something about this seemingly-blank expression on Geri after Five fixes Ping really hits home for me. It's like a caliber of thankfulness you just can't fully let out.
And of course, we have Five calling his father in prison. The black mustache looks out-of-place with the bluish hair, but man does their exchange serve as just the right, feel-good bookend for this dramatic story. And I'm sure it helped lift the spirits of any children watching this whose parents are serving time themselves. God bless you, Glitch Techs.