Episode #35: Seer No Evil
Rating: ****
AD: 11/15/89
D: John Kimball, Rick Leon
SEd: Bryce Malek
W: Julia J. Roberts
RSC: Spinelli, Kirby, (Muldoon ?)
Voices: Corey Burton
Peter Cullen -- Monterey Jack
Jim Cummings -- cat huckster (the hamster?), Quigley
Tress MacNeille -- roller coaster voice, Cassandra, little boy
Notes:
The best of the very few episodes to focus on Chip -- all characters
in character in attitude re the efficiency of the predictions. Chip:
practical, thinks it's all bunk... UNTIL... has the courage to dare to
brave the elephant and help friends (determined, leadership abilities).
Dale: believes because he's gullible. Monty: believes because he's
had "experiences" (peripatetic) -- knows Cassy from past travels.
Gadget: has to be shown, then believes.
Chip the toughest character to focus on since he has no shtick -- no
glaring weakness/foible. (His Holmes obsession in "Pound" rang as
phony as a $3 bill.) Focus in on his practical mindset, hardheaded
leader image vs. the increasingly improbable fulfillments of Cassy's predictions.
Mystery angle brought in nicely by fact that some of the fulfillments are
due to Quigley's crooked activities.
Among the best-realized "subsociety" episodes. Animals have in
effect a miniature carnival of their own that ||'s the human world. (Roller
coaster, rides, games, fortune teller, etc.)
Focus on Chip's strong sense of duty to the RR -- over the course of
the series, he's the only char. Who doesn't quit the RR at one time or
another. Here his duty sense gets put to a stiff test (the STIFFEST!).
[Best written episode of the series, as it did a marvelous job of pulling
the viewer into it via the predictions. You can bet that the viewers were
watching for the "circle of light" after Monterey told the other Rangers,
"Keep yer peepers peeled."
Some fans thought that Cassandra was wrong, as Chip did not die -- but
Cassandra never predicted that; her words: "...the trunk shall fall..."
= the treasure chest, "...then thppppth..." = Abba Dabba giving
a raspberry and throat-splitting gesture to go with Quigley's comment about
there being one less varmit to worry about, "...then all is darkness."
= The chest is resting over the knothole in the floor, enshrouding Chip
in blackness. -- MP]