Samurai Jack

Samurai Jack – Episode XVI: Jack and the Smackback

  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XVI: Jack and the Smackback
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Samurai Jack - Episode XVI: Jack and the Smackback

Throwback Thursday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. While offering quite a bit of action, “Episode XVI” isn’t one of the series more memorable episodes. The premise is simple enough, Jack (Phil LaMarr) is captured (offering some visuals of Jack in chains which reminded me of 1982’s Conan the Barbarian) and forced to compete in gladiatorial combat in the Dome of Doom. Jack’s first battle is with the talkative Gordo the Gruesome with successive fights against more fearsome competition ending in Jack squaring off against six competitors at once.

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Samurai Jack – Episode XV: Jack Tales

  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XV: Jack Tales
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Samurai Jack - Episode XV: Jack Tales television review

Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. Rather than offer a single adventure, “Episode XV” gives fans three separate tales. The first and third each showcase a failed attempt by Jack (Phil LaMarr) to get back to the past while the middle story (“The Metal Eaters”) is an odd interlude where Jack meets a bizarre family of cannibal robots focused on devouring his sword. Although Jack is defeated in both of the other tales, here he takes a step back allowing the robots to attack each other once the family realized each member is made out of the metal they hunger.

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Samurai Jack – Episode XIV: Jack Learns to Jump Good

  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XIV: Jack Learns to Jump Good
  • wiki: link

Episode XIV: Jack Learns to Jump Good television review

Throwback Thursday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. The first episode of Samurai Jack‘s Second Season is one of my favorites. After being denied access to a time portal by Aku (Mako) in the opening moments, a despondent Jack (Phil LaMarr) continues his wandering through the woods where he meets some new friends in a peaceful monkey tribe and the human (Jeff Bennett) raised by them. Jack’s new friends have a remarkable ability to jump good but they are defenseless against a more brutal tribe of apes that steal their food. In exchange for teaching them to defend themselves, the White Ape Tribe teach Jack how to “jump good.”

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Samurai Jack – Episode XIII: Aku’s Fairy Tales

  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XIII: Aku’s Fairy Tales
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Samurai Jack - Episode XIII: Aku's Fairy Tales TV review

Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. The First Season finale of Samurai Jack is an unusual episode as it is presented entirely from the perspective of the show’s villain, Aku (Mako). Frustrated with the growing hero worship for Jack (Phil LaMarr), Aku gathers children together and tells them a series of fairy tales in an attempt to present himself as the hero and paint the samurai as the villain.

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Samurai Jack – Episode XII: Jack and the Gangsters

  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode XII: Jack and the Gangsters
  • wiki: link

Samurai Jack - Episode XII: Jack and the Gangsters television review

Throwback Thursday takes us back to the adventures of the time-displaced samurai and his quest to make his way home. “Episode XII” is an odd episode, even for Samurai Jack. Stumbling into a den of low-level gangsters working for Aku (Mako), Jack (Phil LaMarr) decides to join the group in hopes of being taken his enemy. Prior to getting there, the samurai will get an old school gangster makeover and will have to battle three elemental warriors for control of a gem that offers the user control over water. While not one of the shows’ most memorable episodes, “Episode XII” does offer enjoyable action sequences, the odd styling of Jack dressed in a pinstripe suit, and it’s the closest Jack gets to defeating Aku up until the show’s finale. Only the “help” of his new friends prevents Jack from destroying the evil that is Aku and thus forcing his quest to continue.

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