Review: Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja “Big Trouble in Little Norrisville / Winner Takes Ball”

Spoilers Below

“Big Trouble in Little Norrisville

Randy and Howard end up in Little Norrisville on a class trip, but they get bored so they mosey on into a novelty store. Randy wants candy, but Howard buys a statue or ‘idol’ for ten bucks. The idol allows Howard to make a bunch of wishes, but they end up hurting people in the process. We eventually find out that the statue houses a sorcerer’s ball which Howard uses as a weapon against Julian during his battle with Ninja. Julian is defeated, the sorcerer’s ball is useless, and the guys head back to class. The remaining juices from the ball ends up in the sewer which leads us to…

Our Take

Is Randy Cunningham picking up steam or WHAT? As a matter of fact, it looks like we are counting down until the end of season two of Randy, and I am getting rather amped for the finale. As for this episode, I thought something was going to be different when we didn’t consult the Nomicon, and I had no idea that this episode was giving us juice that led into the next one. Twits and turns in every way, Randy is getting pretty exciting.

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Winner Takes Ball”

The water being contaminated. This leads to all of Norrisville being possessed by Julian with orders to dig holes until power balls are found. Randy has one, Howard starts digging holes and finds another. An epic battle ensues, but Julian makes Randy pick beating him OR saving Howard. Howard is saved which means Julian heads off with his sorcerer’s balls and a war is about to throw down.

Our Take

I was kind of wondering where the hell the Sorcerer was during the entire battle between Randy and Julian. In any case, a rather enthralling battle sequence that had a twist no one saw coming. It’s very rare that you see an episode end for an animated series with a conclusion that sees the villain the victor. I’m also enamored by the way the producers are able to tell a pretty good action story with the ninja and Julian, and yet still keep Howard in play and making him funny without being a pest. There’s a lot going on, and the rest of the way sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun.

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