Who Wants to be a Superhero 2, Episode 2: Stung

A quick note – I was able to find out that the Feedback comic was released a couple weeks ago. I’m going to try to find a copy and let you know what I think. On the other hand, I was unable to find Feedback’s TV-movie. Was anyone out there able to catch it?

Last time out on Who Wants to be a Superhero? the chosen ten (is it bad that I can’t remember half of them on sight?) set out to rescue Stan Lee from a supervillain kidnapper. The Defuser’s blue team succeeded, but Hyper Strike’s team failed the mission. No matter, it was all a test from Stan. The next test was to try to get information from a robbery victim. Mr. Mitzvah was rude and Braid talked only about herself. On the way out, the team was faced with the jacking of their vehicles. It was another test to see who would pay attention to the people and animals in peril. In the end, Braid was eliminated.

Back at the lair, they discuss the challenge and Braid’s elimination. Hygena gets emotional and Ms. Limelight says “like” a lot. Defuser thinks she lacks self-confidence and challenges her to not say the words “I’m scared” or “I’m afraid” for the next 24 hours. Insert obvious Jack Bauer joke here.

Mindset raises an eyebrow, and tells her he thinks it’s a part she’s playing. Ms. Limelight basically yells at him, she’s heard that she’s fake her whole life and she doesn’t know why. The rest of the gang turn against Mindset, who says he’s just being honest. Whip-Snap tells her people pre-judge her all the time (for being mannish-looking), she’s just got to have self-confidence. Ms. Limelight thinks she has to prove herself now.

Next morning, the conversation is interrupted by a “Breaking News” bulletin on the StanScreen. Supervillain Bee Sting (who we saw at the end of last episode) has escaped and is headed toward a school. “That’s not far from here!” Mr. Defuser expositions in a painful moment. Stan appears and says that they’re the only ones who can solve this problem.

At the school, the team is trapped by a large, easily escapable net reminiscent of when Spider-Man would “shoot a web” on someone on The Electric Company and they would thrash around for a while and try not to accidentally escape. Anyway, one of those great, cheesy “spinning-logo” transition deals, and the heroes are separated into two teams, each locked in a transparent plastic box, like an isolation booth.

A nearby door opens, revealing (along with some bees, who appear to not want to hang around) another StanScreen. Are those available at Super Best Buy? All the trendy supers seem to have them. On this one, Bee Sting appears and overacts like William Shatner after a case of Red Bull. It’s a spelling bee. Get it? The first team to spell three words correctly will earn everyone’s freedom. Oh, and there’s a sign above the cages that says “Superhero spelling bee today only!” Apparently Fast Signs delivers even if you’re a supervillain on the run! Handy.

The first word is “besieged.” Defuser starts to spell and is buzzed wrong – it’s “BEE – sieged.” The teams figure it out. Bee Sting tells them the next person who messes up will be putting their team in grave danger. Aren’t they already in grave danger?

The next word is “bee-rate” and Mindset spells it “berate,” saying he refuses to play her games. Interesting. Hygena isn’t happy. Bee Sting introduces his team (which consists of Mindset, Hygena, Whip-Snap, Mr. Mitzvah, and Hyper Strike) to her little friends. Bees, of course. A thousand of them. Whip-Snap looks like she is about to explode in rage. There would be a Mike-sized hole in the side of that cage if it were me.

Hygena grabs the next word, telling us that her two biggest fears are enclosed spaces and bees. She says that she wants to let kids know that proper spelling is important, especially if you don’t have spell check. But she’ll play the game anyway, and spells “bee-numb.”

The next word is “bee-nightedness.” Ms. Limelight spells it with a “k,” causing bees to be released in their box also. She tells us later that she was terrified, but refused to break her promise to Defuser, who himself tells us that it was terrifying. At the challenge, he tells his team just to stay still and close their eyes if need be.

The next word is “bee-rserkers,” which isn’t really even a “bee” word in the first place. Hyper Strike spells it with a “z,” and Bee Sting laughs. It’s up to 3000 bees, which Hyper Strike tells us got intense. He was stung in the mouth. Mindset, interestingly, is relegated to the back of the box, as far away from the buzzer as possible.

The next word is “bee-twixt,” and Mr. Mitzvah rings in. He has a scarf of some sort covering his eyes and ears, and he is holding his nose shut. Hyper Strike thinks it’s dishonest. Is it dishonest when Batman pulls the perfect item for the situation out of his utility belt? Well, yeah, it’s a cheat for the writers, but that’s not the point. He spells it correctly and team two has two correct. If I were on the other team, I’d just hang loose and hope it ends quick.

Of course, Basura rings in on the next word, “bee-zoar.” Talk about obscure. Did no one on the staff have a dictionary? Anyway, Basura spells it “beezour” so they get 3000 bees. Hygenia (who really shouldn’t open her mouth that wide in a small booth with 3000 bees) misses one, giving her team 10,000 bees. I almost don’t believe that, but looking at the wide shot, there’s a heck of a lot of bees there.

Defuser gets one right for his team, making it 2-1, followed by Ms. Limelight spelling a word right, tying the game. Team two still leads in number of bees, 10 grand to 3. Whip-Snap is reacting much as I would, bunched into one tight muscle and trying not to pulverize her own teeth from the clenching.

“Greek-boy,” or Parthenon, misses “bee-nign” and up his team to 10,000 bees. Finally, Basura (who, Bee Sting reminds us, is supposed to have insect powers!) wins for her team in a come-from behind effort. Bee Sting mentions that maybe the other team would have done better if “the bald guy” (Mindset) would have played along, causing Hyper Strike to glare at him again.

I note that, for having won their freedom, they don’t seem to be released. Perhaps there was an escape route and their job was to find it instead of standing around, playing Bee Sting’s game. I’m reminded of Peter David’s column where he can’t believe how often supervillains play by the rules. If this were my show, Bee Sting would leave and say, oh, by the way, figure out your escape yourself. And Stan would say “while you were playing school, Bee Sting kidnapped the mayor!”