Review: Space Dandy “Nobody Knows the Chameleon Alien, Baby”

What kind of stowaway is on the Aloha-Oe this time? 

Spoilers!

What a way to start off Space Dandy, with the Japanese intro…again. The Japanese intro completely sucks. This doesn’t even have the feel of Dandy, which the American intro does, surprisingly.  Anyway, we’re back at the ARC, where Dandy and the crew are trying to get more than two Woolongs for their terrible looking Baranian.  Once Dandy started to sweet-talk her, Scarlet put them right in place. On his way out, Scarlet plants the idea for Dandy to catch a Chameleonian and bring it back. back on the ship, and the narrator tells us that the Chameleonians are so rare, because no one knows what they really look like. In the ship, QT tells them that a Chameleonian is worth 100 million Woolongs, and Dandy sets a course to A Planet That Looks Like it Has Chameleonians. On said planet, Dandy mistakes Chameleonian for chameleon, and starts an alien fishin’ mission. QT then realizes that fishing is actually kind of fun. So, we get a look into his fishing journal.

Some time later, Dandy catches what he thinks is a Chameleonian, but Scarlet lets him know that it’s just a regular chameleon in her own special way. Back on the ship, QT is caring for his oversized black tsuchinoko for his blogs. While everyone is asleep, the tsuchinoko starts shifting. The next morning, Dandy thinks Meow used his toothbrush, Meow thinks Dandy ate his octopus flavored popsicle, and QT thinks they both used his phone to look up porn. As they’re arguing, a strange man is walking in the background. Of course, no one notices him until they do a roll call. They go to check on the tsuchinoko, and the old man is behind them. Yep, they have a Chameleonian.

Dr. Gel is getting yelled at by Admiral Perry, but Gel gets Perry to relax a bit when he tells him about his new secret device that ensnares any target he wants in space and time. Back on the Aloha-Oe, Space Dandy turns into a comedic Alien, with the crew ducking around corners to find the Chameleonian. Dandy meets up with Meow, who says he is going to check the engine room. Then Dandy meets up with Meow, who says he is going to check the engine room. Yes, that’s twice I wrote that, because the second time, Dandy attacks the second Meow, and brings him to the ARC. After three scans, Scarlet loses her lid, and tells them that they can only return when they find a real bounty. Back on the ship Meow and Dandy end up sitting on the alien, and mistaking him for a boombox. QT comes in, and then QT comes in. Meow and Dandy get them both, and tie them up.

At the ARC, Dandy of course gets distracted by a big ass, which lets the Chameleonian escape. Scarlet sees the three, and kicks them out. Then Scarlet sees the three, but they mistake the second Scarlet for the Chameleonian. On the Ship, Dandy finishes Dandy’s sentence. This time, instead of tying them both up, they have the first ever Dandy quiz. After Who Wants to Be a Dandy, they end up tied. Even the narrator has no idea who’s who anymore. After the introspection of a lifetime, Dandy stops caring, much to the chagrin of QT and Meow. That doesn’t Stop Gel and Bee, who have locked onto Dandy and Dandy. He engages the Hyperdimensional Magic Hand, which ends up nabbing the Chameleonian. Dandy ends up at Boobies, and no one knows if he is still the Chameleonian or not.

This show has dialed it up a lot since the dreadful, “Plants Are a Living Thing Too, Baby.” The comedy has been awesome, especially when the crew has to deal with the Chameleonian copies of each other. Even the narrator, who is usually spot on, was overly amazing. His usually sarcastic tone just drops to a “Yeah, I got nothing,” tone near the end. There was not a scene in this episode where I didn’t laugh out loud. Even the repeated scenes at the Alien Registration Center had me rolling. You don’t see Scarlet do much on the show, but you see a lot of her this episode, and it was great. She made Dandy look like even more of an idiot than normal. That is a feat in of itself.

That’s the basis of a great episode, to me. The episode really does shine when the crew meets the copy of a crew member, or when the Chameleonian takes the shape of a boombox or sofa. This really turned out to be a comedic take on Alien, well, except for the dying. There is something special when a show can take a tv trope, and completely flip it on its ass. Overall, this episode is really top notch. And if you aren’t watching Space Dandy, then  you are missing out on a real contender for show of the year.