Review: Blark and Son “Chimpy Strikes Back”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Son’s brother Chimpy returns to exact his revenge against him. When Chimpy kidnaps Blark, Son must prove his manliness by rescuing him.

Our Take:
The season two premiere introduced the show’s viewers to Son’s chimpanzee brother, who wasn’t monkeying around in terms of attempting to kill him. Eight episodes later, the psychotic chimp has finally returned with a thirst for vengeance. It looks like chimps really can hold grudges for long periods. “Chimpy Strikes Back” sees Son once again tackling the process of manhood after having an argument with Blark about not being the man his father wants him to be. Once Blark gets taken away from him, the episode quickly transforms into a wacky and surprisingly sincere rescue mission that made me go wild.

The show is continuously known for combining bizarre humor with coming-of-age life lessons, and this episode is no exception. The comedy works very well in representing its jungle-like setting that’s straight out of “Predator”, as well as its dialogue and the unexpected twist near the end. Instead of a cliched showdown between Son and Chimpy, the show took a more genuine approach by allowing Son to empathize with him and his troubling past. That sequence was something that I didn’t expect to happen as I was watching this episode. However, I was glad that it went in that direction because it represents adulthood’s essential traits: empathy and compassion. It’s too bad that Chimpy met his grisly end at the hands of Stacey just as he’s about to change his ways. Now he’s going to spend the rest of eternity as a corpse in Son’s room. It was a creepy way of ending the episode off, but it was also hilarious nonetheless.
The episode involving Chimpy’s revenge could’ve gone in a more straightforward and formulaic direction. However, the writers managed to keep the focus exciting and funny by providing a suitable mixture of humor and heart. It goes to show that being a man doesn’t always involve fighting battles with fists. It also requires sympathetic words. It looks like Son might be one step closer to becoming a full-fledged man just like his father.