Episode Review
The Lost City of Kongoland
Friday, October 6, 2006, 9:30 AM - 12:36 PM
Summary (9:30 PM - 9:31 AM)
Since Seasons 1 and 2 of the series will be coming out on DVD on
February 13, 2007, I will not be including summaries in these reviews
for the rest of Season 2. If you're reading this review before you get
the DVD set, you can read a short summary of the episode at
http://ldloveszh.tripod.com/cnepis.html#lostcity
Misc. Tidbits (9:32 AM - 9:35 AM)
The episode was written by Dennis O'Flaherty.
The episode originally aired on Saturday, November 10, 1990, as the
tenth episode of Season 2 and the twenty-third episode of the series.
I first saw this episode on NBC, then possibly on The Family Channel,
and finally "Captain N & The Video Game Masters".
Interesting Notes (9:35 AM - 12:04 PM)
The title is white with no quotes.
Kongoland is a primeval world.
Kongoland has a library. It has a crystal that projects a holographic
history.
A thousand years ago, Kongoland was ruled by an ancient city. The city
was brought to life by Konga, witch doctor of the ancient Kongas, who
held a mysterious power over all plants. An earthquake sank the city,
but Konga vowed that it was rise again and that whoever finds his
treasure will gain his powers.
Simon watches something called "General Morgue".
Kevin's Zapper beams are blue in this episode.
Kevin's weapons don't lose power in this episode.
Great Lines (9:40 AM - 12:08 PM)
Major Domo: "The Lost City of Kongoland is rising after a thousand
years - just like the ancient prophecy said!"
Prince Plenty: "That's nice."
Major Domo: "Right in the middle of Donkey Kong's front yard."
Prince Plenty: "What?!"
Lana: "How did my father keep up with all this?"
Kevin: "By taking a break once in a while, I'll bet."
Simon: "Abandon ship! Women and Simons first!"
Lana: "Simon, wait! I can abandon the ship but not my duty!"
Konga: "Foolish mortal."
King Hippo: "Uh, what's a mortal?"
Eggplant Wizard: "It means you don't live forever."
Konga: "Exactly, and you're not going to live to see tomorrow."
Konga: "Animals have ruled the jungle long enough. It's time for the
plants to take over."
Guys: "Long live Princess Lana! Hooray!"
Kevin: "Sounds to me like Videoland thinks you're the greatest,...and
so do I."
Dumb Lines (11:37 AM - 12:10 AM)
Kevin: "If the headdress is the treasure, it must contain the power of
Konga."
Um, duh, Kevin. Didn't you already figure that out a few scenes ago?
Rant (9:36 AM - 12:36 PM)
This episode was written by Dennis O'Flaherty. Other episodes by him
that I've reviewed are "Having a Ball" and "The Big Game". They're
both good episodes. Let's see how well that he does this time.
This is a Kongoland episode, which means it isn't really based on any
game; it just uses Donkey Kong. If I come across any actual "Donkey
Kong" gameplay, then I'll let you know.
When we get to the Palace of Power, we get one of the stupidest scenes
in the entire series. Lana is holding audiences with seemingly
everyone that has any kind of mundane grievance. Currently, she's
trying to settle a dispute over which of two guys owns a cow.
Seriously. The ruler of Videoland is wasting her time, trying to
decide who should get a cow. Apparently, Lana has never learned how to
delegate authority to local leaders. Then again, judging by her
conversation with Kevin, it seems that her father never learned to do
so either. Or maybe he did. Maybe he took only the most important
cases and delegated everything else. Maybe Lana just hasn't figured it
out yet, which would be...sad.
Anyway, what makes this worse is that, judging by Kevin's suggestion,
it seems Lana hasn't taken a break from holding audiences since she
started (after the previous episode). This is a horrible retcon,
because it makes Lana's lack of official activity during the previous
22 episodes of the series make Lana seem very lazy, negligent, and
uncaring.
Lana decides to use a trick that her father used, which seems very
similar to a trick that King Solomon once used (1 Kings 3:16-28).
Does the Palace of Power really have a royal cook, or is Lana just
saying that for the trick to work? The Palace might have had a royal
cook when her father was ruling Videoland.
Why does the warp stay open for so long?
Since Prince Plenty came out of the warp after Simon, does that mean
that Simon was in Kongoland? Was he visiting the tree trimmer (see "In
Search of the King")?
The history of Kongoland is interesting, even if it is entirely made
up.
I wonder if Konga ever used the sap of the junga-junga tree to put
people under his power (see "The Invasion of the Paper Pedalers").
How does Mother Brain know about the treasure? I guess she was spying
on the N Team and Prince Plenty with her mirror.
Sheesh. How can Hippo and Eggy survive after being squashed by Mother
Brain?
Did the N Team go to Megaland to get the box of gadgets from Dr.
Right, or did he warp the box to the Palace or Kongoland?
Why would Dr. Right include a whistle that attracts poisonous birds?
And how does Kevin know about these "nedpeckers"? Are they in his
version of "Donkey Kong"? Or that mysterious game where the N Team has
to rescue Princess Lana from Mother Brain (see "Kevin In Videoland")?
I love how Lana beats Kevin to saving the N Team. You go, girl! See
how useful that Lana can be with a weapon?
Simon makes a reference to Kevin being from California (see "The Big
Game").
By calling Kevin "Captain California" and then suggesting that the
team needs a new leader, is Simon stating that Kevin is the leader of
the N Team?
Sheesh. Simon, showing off, angers Donkey Kong and puts the team in
danger. Why is he on the team again?
Why does Kevin salute Lana and say "Aye, aye, captain"? Is Lana the
captain of the N Team or the captain of that junky boat that they're
on?
Why does Kevin hold onto Gameboy when jumping out of the boat? Gameboy
can fly.
Why does Kid Icarus need springs? He can fly, too!
Lana pulls out the map from somewhere below her waist. One of her
boots, of course! I mean...where else could she keep it?
Great. Clumsy Simon set off a trap.
First the hat and now the giant boulder. It seems Dennis O'Flaherty is
comparing Simon Belmont to Indiana Jones.
Incidentally, this is the second "Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Doom" reference in the series (see "The Most Dangerous Game Master").
Lana runs a lot more than needed to push Simon out of the path of the
boulder. She was standing right next to him.
Ah, so it wasn't a trap, after all. It was the way to find the
treasure. I'm giving Simon a point for that.
Simon has a "jungle dictionary"? Not an "Ancient Konga dictionary"?
I love how Simon hesitates at reading the rest of the translation to
Lana and then, at her insistence, blurts out a rather rude, rough
translation. :P
We don't quite see Eggy grabbing the hat from Simon. We seem him
reaching for it, and then we see him running away. Weird.
I love the grin on Lana's face when she's possessed by Konga.
Kevin's face looks weird when he's firing at the flying plants for the
first time.
I love how Eggy complains and whines with MB over her plan. :P
This episode's featured song is something that I call "She Freaks Me
Out". It's hilarious to hear these lyrics while an action scene is
going on. I don't know what it's a parody of, if anything. Does anyone
know?
Why does Lana not remember what happened, when Konga claimed that Lana
could hear them?
How could Simon survive for so long while wrapped up? Was his nose
partially uncovered?
So Lana felt like she was sleeping while possessed by Konga? That
seems to contradict events earlier in the episode.
How'd the cow guys get into the Palace of Power? Who let them in?
Lana's been ruling Videoland for only one year? Well, according to
those guys' calendar, anyway. Who knows which world that they're from?
When they cheer for Lana, the voices sound like a lot more than two
people.
The episode ends on an ultra-cute note - with Lana grinning and
blushing after being kissed by Kevin, and all that he did was kiss her
hand.
Lesson: Have confidence in yourself.
This episode is average. It's not as good as Dennis O'Flaherty's other
two episodes, but it's okay. I love seeing Lana in action early on,
and I love how "she" is forceful later, even if it's really Konga
doing everything.
As for what to cut out, I can't think of any filler in this episode.
Overall, "The Lost City of Kongoland" is an okay episode.
Usefulness ratings:
Kevin: 9 (warning the rest of the N Team that nedpeckers' beaks are
poisonous, getting the idea to use the springs, defeating 2 flying
plants, defeating 1 walking mushroom, defeating 2 flying plants,
helping to set Donkey Kong free, getting through to Lana)
Lana: 8 (driving away 6 nedpeckers, pushing Simon out of the path of
the boulder, taking off the hat)
Simon: 3 (providing Lana with a way off of the boat, defeating the
vine, setting off the mechanism to find the treasure)
Mega Man: 0
Kid Icarus: 3 (defeating 2 flying plants, helping to set Donkey Kong
free)
Duke: 0
Gameboy: 0
Mega Man, Duke, and Gameboy surprisingly don't do anything useful. In
the second encounter with the flying plants, I gave Kevin 2 points and
Kid Icarus 1 point, because it seems to me that Kevin can fire faster
than Kid Icarus, since the latter has to load another arrow into his
bow. I gave Kevin and Kid Icarus a point each for setting Donkey Kong
free, because it was his actions that led to Konga's defeat.
The running total usefulness ratings for this season so far are:
Kevin: 78 (10 episodes)
Lana: 26 (10 episodes)
Simon: 18 (10 episodes)
Mega Man: 19 (10 episodes)
Kid Icarus: 22 (10 episodes)
Duke: 7 (10 episodes)
Gameboy: 14 (10 episodes)
Lana is still ahead of Simon in this season's competition for the
moment. Lana has also surpassed Mega Man and Kid Icarus for the moment
and moved into second place. We'll see how long that she stays there.
The running total usefulness ratings for the series so far are:
Kevin: 125 (23 episodes)
Lana: 35 (23 episodes)
Simon: 39 (23 episodes)
Mega Man: 36 (23 episodes)
Kid Icarus: 45 (23 episodes)
Duke: 21 (23 episodes)
Gameboy: 14 (10 episodes)
Lana is still in 5th place. We'll see how long that she stays there.
That's the end of my review of "The Lost City of Kongoland". I have
"Once Upon a Time Machine" listed for Saturday, November 17, 1990
(though a lot of my air dates might change when the DVD set comes
out), so I'll review that next. See you all in my next review!
Mark Moore
