Review: Hotel Transylvania: The Series “Bat Flap Fever; Thumb and Thumber”

Thumb’s up?

Overview (Spoilers Below)

“Bat Flap Fever”

The Episode begins when Mavis gets a package in the mail from her Dad at the Vampire Council. In the note, it says that he signed a “Monster Endorsement Deal” where he gets to name a prototype sample and calls it the “Mavy Wavy’s” and sends it to Mavis which is basically a bat-shaped hang glider that turns out to be heavy and completely impractical for her small physique. It starts to mess with her social life to the point that she angrily throws it out the window, only for it to land in the Cartwright’s household and around the waist of Kitty’s husband Donald.

The rest of the episode is spent on Mavis quietly attempting to fix her mistake while the adult monster characters are being complete idiots about the matter after finding out the prototype is in the hands of the human neighbors. Mavis eventually owns up to her mistake by secretly confessing to her father via a magic crystal ball about her screw-up and the episode ends when Dracula calls off the assault on humans but briefly mentions to Mavis about having another “Mavy Wavy” prototype product sent her way that’s somehow even more embarrassing.

 

“Thumb and Thumber”

The episode starts off when Hank uses a “home DNA test” to determine where his left thumb came from since being Frankenstein-monster made him curious enough to wonder whom each part of his body previously belonged to. The results say his thumb comes from Mavis’ Dracula bloodline which begins to gain Lydia’s favor to the point that just his thumb is getting a portrait in the “hall of Draculas” along with Lydia simply giving Hank everything that Mavis she hasn’t earned or achieved yet in her family birthright.

Most of the episode gets pretty cringe-worthy & nonsensical with minor unfunny gags along with Mavis attempting to sabotage a Dracula family ceremony that Hank is brought into it simply because his thumb is related to a Dracula ancestor. It’s not until Hank invites Mavis to the ceremony is when Mavis has a sudden change of heart and she jumps into her own prank to save him since she realized that Hank was never a jerk about his status, to begin with. The episode ends on a bizarre note when Hank’s vampire thumb turns to be a misplaced Toe of Lydia’s father and Mavis’ Uncle Gene but at least Hank & Mavis still remain friends.

Our Take

If there’s anything to take away from “Bat Flap Fever” it’s how telling small lies can sometimes lead to potentially devastating consequences. Mavis did try to make an effort to give her Dad’s test-product a shot but I felt this could’ve all been avoided if she just put it back in the shipping box instead of chucking it out of her bedroom window.

As for “Thumb and Thumber”, the episode attempted to be a cautionary tale on how jealousy can drive a person to do atrocious things. I know we’re supposed to feel bad that Mavis is getting the shit-end of the stick, but Lydia has always been terrible towards her so there’s no shock or surprise when Lydia gives Hank more attention over just his Vampire thumb alone. As for the twist ending, I kinda saw it coming a mile away that everything would go back to normal afterward.