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Stephen Perry Reviewed by Purrsia  Mumm-Ra, noting activity in the Kingdom of Webs, investigates via his cauldron and finds Spidera emerging from her cocoon. Wanting to know more, Mumm-Ra calls on Nemesis, Sorce of Darkness to explain. Nemesis explains that Spidera is the new Queen of 8 Legs. Such sparse information inspires Mumm-Ra to want to trap Lion-O in the Kingdom of Webs. Using the guise of the Diamond Fly, he puts the plan in motion. Meanwhile an unsuspecting Lion-O is lounging about in the countryside. That is, until the Diamond Fly flutters by, innocently crying for help. Leaping up, Lion-O looks around and decides to ignore the Sword's warning growl because he doesn't 'see anything'. Hooo boy. That's what you have the magic Sword for *groan*. The Diamond Fly flutters before Lion-O and shines brightly into his eyes. Soon, all the ThunderCat Lord can mutter about is the 'pretty lights' (gee, what a shock that he's distracted by shiny objects hehe!). As she leads him to his doom, Snarf bounds out of the Lair looking for Lion-O. He becomes worried when he finds the Sword and Shield lying against a rock unattended. Luckily, he catches sight of Lion-O right before he disappears behind a stand of trees. He tries to get Lion-O to snap out of it (with dialogue that's been immortalized in the famous outakes) to no avail. The Diamond Fly reveals itself to Snarf as Mumm-Ra. Lion-O, still in a trance, doesn't notice so Mumm-Ra continues to spell out his plans for Lion-O to the incredulous Snarf. Just then, a spider appears and snares Snarf in a web. Lion-O comes to his senses - probably due to Snarf's shrill voice - and Snarf is able to warn him about Mumm-Ra before being hauled off by the spider. After briefly dealing with Mumm-Ra, Lion-O heads into the Kingdom of Webs to rescue Snarf. Snarf is found in a huge web, wrapped tight in a cocoon with only his furry head sticking out. Before Lion-O can do anything about it, a talking spider snares him and boasts that he's wrapped in webs of steel. Amazingly, Lion-O breaks free on his own - guess those steroid laced muffins Snarf had been handing out with breakfast paid off. Now, only Spidera herself stands in Lion-O's way. He wisely calls the others, as this is no little spider needing to be smooshed with a shoe. Before the others get there, Spidera manages to throw Lion-O into another web and disarm him. In the mean time, Snarf manages to break partly free. When the Tank arrives, Spidera moves in to attack. Oddly, Panthro's fear of spiders doesn't elicit any shrieking from him hehe. At any rate, there's a nice running sequence featuring Cheetara. That is, until she gets caught in a web. At least Tygra manages to get the Sword to Snarf before he's rendered equally useless. Snarf tosses the Sword of to Lion-O, where it lands on the web he's trapped in, just out of his reach. Yes, this is the scene that inspired me to coin the term LFS (Lion-O Flake Syndrome) - just call the Sword to your hand, dingleberry!! After brief grunting and struggling to reach the Sword, Lion-O succeeds, calls the signal again and the other Cats find renewed strength. Together, they blast at Spidera, driving her back deep into the caverns of the Kingdom of Webs. When she's back far enough, they cave in the entrance and trap her. How tidy. Snarf to Spidera: "Whoever you are, I'd let me go if I were you. I'm a ThunderCat!" Spidera (after poking Snarf in the belly): "Thunder Food." "I'll have you out in two shakes of a cat's tail." - Lion-O to Snarf. It would seem fully established here that the calling of the cat signal brings the Cats renewed and increased strength. PKELL: Not a remarkable or memorable episode, but I just watched it again and I liked it. I don't know why this particular episode never really stuck with me as a kid, because it is quite fun. Spiders always make for great villains. Its an animal that people see as undeniably evil, and the sight of webbing inside of a dark area always makes for a spooky setting. I think almost every action show from 1980-1995 had some kind of a spider monster or villian for the heroes to defeat. (heck even Spider-Man had Venom and the Spider Slayer Robots) Anyways, fun episode. leppardra: Another story by Stephen Perry. It's not a stand-out and I have a few issues with it. For one thing, it's not one of the better animated episodes. Spidera could have been scarier-looking like the lesser spiders were. I didn't mind the talking spider that snared Lion-O, but how did it know who Lion-O was though they had never met? Are Third Earth spiders telepathic? And I think the remaining 'Cats should have known not to drive the ThunderTank headlong into a giant web. Spider webs do tend to trap things, after all.
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