Rather than the usual gag monster, "Monster Con" has Juniper Lee facing off against a serious, non-ironic villain and a team of grim and capable warriors. The result is the darkest, most menacing foe in the series, although it's still firmly on a lighter level than the darkest episodes of Teen Titans or Justice League.
Much of the episode, unfortuately, is fluff, and it's not particularly entertaining fluff. Juniper has to attend a magical convergence (or "con," in a midlly clever pun as the convergence plays out like a supernatural convention), and prove herself to a magical world that idolizes Ah-mah, but barely knows Juniper. This seems inconsistent with previous episodes, with every demon and villain gunning for Juniper based on her reputation, but perhaps many of these monsters don't actually live in the mortal world or haven't been there in a long time. At any rate, it's ignored easily enough.
But there's not much else to that storyline: June fails to impress the monsters and Ah-mah eventually flees the onslaught of admirers, leaving June, Monroe and Rae-Rae to deal with the convention. Actual jokes are surprisingly sparse, and if this was all there was to the story, it'd be a flop.
But than the military team known as H.A.M. (Humans Against Magic) crashes the con, and things start to get interesting.
For the first time, a Juniper Lee villain doesn't seem ironically self-aware or slapstick: he's a bitter operative seeking revenge for, among other things, a lifetime of battles against the world of magic that seems to have left him more robotic than human. He and his strike team are a refreshing change from the sarcastic, smarmy villains of Junipers past: their dialogue is sparse and very realistic, exactly what you'd imagine from a military group dealing with the world of Juniper Lee.
Once these soldiers launch their attach, the episode turns very dark, very fast. Rather than the silly humor of a green goblin moaning "I don't wanna go to Fresno," we get such gallows humor as this:
Soldier: "You and the other abominations will be contained in a secure facility where you can't infect the world with magic."
Rae Rae: "How long will we be there?"
Soldier: "Don't know. How long do you plan on living?"
Of course, the other big feature of this episode is to see Ah-mah in action, and her battle scenes are suitably impressive (and more than a little reminscent of Robin's fighting style in Teen Titans). There are hints of a history between Ah-mah, Monroe and the anti-magic group, and June and Ah-mah kick butt Titans-style in a massive battle royale with the military squad.
The group's leader, never given a name in this episode, comes across as a kind of religious zealot, accusing Juniper of betraying humanity by fighting for monsters, and referring to the magical world as a nightmarish abomination that he's determined to destroy, for the sake of all normal humans.
It's a story we've seen before, notably in the X Men comics and movies, but to see such issues being raised in what, up until now, has been a very light-hearted series is a surprise, and a pleasant one. If Juniper Lee's had any weakness (apart from the flat, two-dimensional artwork), it's a lack of narrative focus, and hopefully this represents a lasting development in the series mythology.
This hope's bolstered by the lack of closure at the end: the villains may have lost their memories of the con, but they're still out there, and there seems to be far more to their story, as well as Monroe and Ah-mah's implied history with them, for this to be a filler episode.
Overall, this is easily one of Juniper's better episodes. The humor that pervades the rest of the series wasn't nearly as prevalent in this one, and what humor there was seemed flat compared to the mile-a-minute puns and pop-culture references of other episodes... but once the plot kicks in, it does so in a big way.
Parents don't need to start worrying about letting their kids watch Juniper Lee just yet, but older viewers are beginning to get some meat behind the show's witty flavormoreless
The three-day magic convention called "The Convergence" has opened in town and June attends it. All monsters go there to hear her speak. When a secret government agency named H.A.M. invades to capture the monsters, Ah-Mah is forced out of retirement to save the day.
 Lara Jill Miller |
Juniper Lee |
Amy Hill |
Ah-Mah |
 Kath Soucie |
Ray Ray |
 Carlos Alazraqui |
Monroe |
 Clancy Brown |
Lex Luthor / Tux Monster / Geek Monster #4 |
Guest Star |
Daran Norris |
Announcer / Artie / Greg |
Guest Star |
Amy Hill |
Check-In Monster / Geek Monster #3 |
Guest Star |
Lara Jill Miller |
Farm Boy Monster / Multi-Armed Monster |
Recurring Role |
S. Scott Bullock |
Agent #2 / Laughing Monster #1 / Roscoe |
Recurring Role |
Carlos Alazraqui |
Agent #1 / Vendor |
Recurring Role |
Watch Online
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
-
TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
-
QUOTES (3)
ADD QUOTES-
Ray Ray: I got a T-Shirt.
Ah-Mah: Really?
Ray Ray: Yeah, it says: "I went to Monster-Con and all I got was this stupid T-Shirt!" -
Monroe: Stupid Chimpanzee!
-
Monster: (about June) What a move! She makes Yoda look like Jabba the Hutt!
-
-
NOTES (9)
ADD NOTES-
Main Villain(s): H.A.M.
-
Credits: Ray Ray and Monroe hold a cookout with some of the monsters from Monster Con.
-
While Ray Ray is having a laugh with the other monsters, he mentions the Batoot from "Not in My Backyard," that was eating everything in their house, "... including the toilets. What is with you guys and eating toilets?".
-
The hand monster from "It Takes a Pillage," makes a brief cameo fighting off some of the members of H.A.M.
-
Ah-Mah's full name is Jasmine Lee.
-
Major Villain Bio: H.A.M.. It stands for "Humans for the Abolishing of Magic." It's a secret government of humans that use magic crystals in their suits to see monsters and they use high-tech devices to capture monsters. They are led by Lex Luthor.
-
We learn that Ah-Mah was one of the greatest Te Xuan Zes in history.
-
We get to see Ah-Mah in fighting action against evil demons as the Te Xuan Ze she once was.
-
"Con" is the shortened name in Sci-Fi and Anime circles for a convention, such as "A-Kon" or "Star Trek Con."
-
-
ALLUSIONS (7)
ADD ALLUSIONS-
Another Reference to H.A.M.:
H.A.M.'s mission is similar to that of The Huntsclan from American Dragon: Jake Long. Another fictional organization that have some sort of grudge against Magical Creatures.
-
Name: FOH
In the X-Men animated series there was a group called the Friends of Humanity who wanted to get rid of all mutants and the humans who liked them. -
Another reference to H.A.M.
H.A.M. is also used in the multiplayer online game Runescape. -
H.A.M.: Soldiers
The soldiers from H.A.M. look like Zodaic, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. -
Character: Lex Luthor
He is the arch-enemy of Superman. Clancy Brown has played the character's voice up to Justice League Unlimited, another current Cartoon Network series. -
Shirt: I Love Giant Robots
A monster in the crowd watching Juniper make her speech had a shirt saying, "I love giant robots," a reference to Megas XLR. It also might serve as a reference to the famous slogan made by the New York State Department of Tourism, "I Love New York." -
Monster: (about June) What a move! She makes Yoda look like Jabba the Hutt!
This is an obvious reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, where these characters are famous.
-
|
Friday
No results found.
Saturday
No results found.
Sunday
No results found.
|
-
Who here misses watching Juniper Lee?
08/25/1029
-
Juniper Lee now on Itunes!
07/14/101
-
Petition for season 4
06/18/103
-
Where can i find juniper lee..
06/17/105
-
How much do you know about Juniper Lee?
08/29/09145
-
Every Witch Way But Loose
S 3 : Ep 14
-
The Kids Stay in the Picture
S 3 : Ep 13
-
A Helping H.A.M.
S 3 : Ep 12
Aired 12/15/06
-
Food For Naught
S 3 : Ep 11
Aired 12/1/06
Season 1 Episodes
See AllEp 13
Monster Con
Ep 12
Meet the Parent
Ep 11
Take My Life, Please
Ep 10
Magic Takes a Holiday
Ep 9
The World According to ...
Ep 8
I'll Get By with a Litt...
Ep 7
Ding Dong the Witch Ain...
Ep 6
Enter Sandman
Ep 5
Not in My Backyard
Ep 4
New Trickster in Town
Ep 3
It Takes a Pillage
Ep 2
I've Got My Mind on My ...
Ep 2
I Got My Mind On My Mum...
Ep 1
It's Your Party and I'l...
-
Rtkat3 USER EDITOR
User Score: 769
-
shengongwu3000 TRUSTED
User Score: 1870
-
YamataDragon
User Score: 567
-
ChrisG0522
User Score: 355
-
Te_Xuan_Ze_7
User Score: 226
-
tearthgrrl1
User Score: 194
-
GeorgeFergus
User Score: 178
-
xcar_0982
User Score: 133
-
gideonbernstein
User Score: 118
-
warnerbroman
User Score: 86
More
Less
