Review: We Bare Bears “Hurricane Hal”

“Everything is Connected”

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

The episode begins in a structured framing-device narration with Chloe’s Teacher, Professor Lampwick (Voiced by Malcolm Mcdowell) explaining to the audience about how “everything is connected” and demonstrates this in a story that covers 3 sub-plots at once while showing how the Bears and by extension everyone else is reacting to their situation.

Sub-Plot: A

Grizz along with Ranger Tabes, teach the poppy rangers how to make their own Kites during a news report about the titular hurricane and just as they’re about to play with their Kites, Tabes orders the kids to go back inside, but asks Grizz to look after them during the storm while she runs an errand which at first seems fine, until things take a dangerous direction as Wallace is still out there playing with her Kite against the intense winds of the storm much to the distress of Grizz and the rest of the other rangers who just want her to go back in but the intense wind makes wallace lose her Kite in the wind and nearly blows Wallace up in the air to the point that Grizz uses his lasso skills to pull her back down with the help of the other rangers.

Sub-Plot: B

After Panda helps Charlie fix his car-door, Panda is stuck in Charlie’s car-house during the hurricane. But as the storm intensifies, Charlie begins to let his other wild animal friends in the car with them. To Charlie, this all seems well-intentioned and makes sense to his carefree nature, but It doesn’t help that Panda has an irrational fear of snakes which begin to make the situation comical yet problematic on Panda’s end. Much of the episode on their side is spent on a series of comedic interactions between Charlie, Panda and his animal friends but the chaos of the animals moving around Charlie’s car causes it to roll it down a hill with Charlie attempting to get them out of danger until Wallace’s Kite blocks the windshield. But in a big twist, Panda is saved by something extremely unexpected and jumps out of Charlie’s car before it crashes into a power line.

Sub-Plot: C

Chloe & Ice Bear struggle to get a ride in the middle of the storm after spending a day at the Roller Rink but are unable to get a phone signal to call a cab until Ice Bear has a solution which involves going into the sewers for shelter, only to later figure out they’re on a narrow subway tunnel and as a subway train gets closer, they attempt to escape but Chloe is almost in a dangerous predictabment until Ice Bear does the heroic thing and attempts to save Chloe but let’s just say, everything kinda falls into place if you can connect the dots at this point.

The episode ends when the storm finally stops and everyone recovers from the Hurricane’s aftermath while Lampwick further gets the point across about his message earlier in the episode.

Our Take

Much like the Grayble Adventure Time segments, It was an interesting way to approach the world of WBB while keeping things consistent in terms of entertainment value. During the 3-subplots, we see character moments of bravery and sometimes compassion from unexpected places. But in the third act when all 3 sub-plots slowly begin to converge in such a meticulous way, is where the episode truly shines.

I really wasn’t expecting Malcolm McDowell of Clockwork Orange fame to be in something like this which brought a big smile to my face. Despite having very little screentime, you almost forget about his a long track-record when it comes to voice acting for Cartoon Network in shows such as Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse and even the early-2000’s Teen Titans series as the British 60’s themed supervillain Mad Mod.