"The Remedy" vintage episode review thread

[Spacedust]

A nice number of posts on last week's thread, "Into The Abyss", (which maybe isn't surprising as it's a fan favourite). I'm almost back up to speed with my reviews now, so I should be reviewing that ep in a couple of days. (Like, aren't you so glad and stuff (!)).

Anyway, this week's episode thread is on THE REMEDY, another very late, non-Skeletor season one ep, and one of the very last ones we need to cover to make the season one episode reviews complete. The episode is notable for being one of just a couple from the series to have no real villain.

Brief plot overview:
Man-At-Arms' old friend and teacher Rohad is very sick and close to death, after being bitten by a small creature while rescuing a missing boy. Duncan and Adam seek guidance from the Sorceress, who tells them that Rohad was bitten by the venomous Dawber. The only antidote is a herb called vimwood, located for off in the Crystal Mountains. With a fierce storm knocking the Wind Raider out of the sky, He-Man leaves Man-At-Arms to repair it while he sets off to find the vimwood, facing the many perils in his path...

I'd like to hear what you have to say on this often overlooked episode. And whether you post your comments or not, don't forget to rate the episode in the poll.
My own review in a day or two. Maybe.

[manny]

i love this ep its one of my faves and defenitly a classic, theres no evil in this episode but we see rohad almost die which is pretty much unheard of in heman. this episode is full of action great storytelling and also has some moments of sadness and also seriousness. i feel this episode is usually one of the best eps of the entire series and usually never mentioned as one of the best as its truly underrated i give it a 10

[He-Fan]

Chris here...

I've been saying for years that "The Remedy" is quite possibly the most underrated He-Man episode ever! This is easily one of my favourites, for two primary reasons:

1) We get a rare look at Man-at-Arms' background. Although we do get some shots of Duncan in his younger days in some other episodes (notably "Teela's Quest" and also She-Ra's "Into Etheria"), this episode is the one that digs the deepest in dealing with Duncan himself. It's nice to see that Prince Adam's biggest mentor once had a mentor too!

2) The scene where He-Man gets down on his knees and begs - this scene is a perfect encapsulation of the morality that made the Filmation He-Man such a fantastic hero.

On top of this, I find this episode just a really enjoyable story with some very exciting scenes - I first saw this episode back in (I think) 2001, and it absolutely knocked me out! I've been a huge fan of the episode ever since!

Take care...

[2-bad]

There are so many reasons why i love this episode. It is an instant classic. the reason i like it is because:

1) It delves more into MAA's past than any other ep which was pretty rare.

2) We get to see Blackstars dragon horse with a new color scheme.

3) It takes He-mans character to a new level.

4) The scene where Rohad comforts Duncan even after he destroys the contraption is great.

There aot more reasons why this ep is so good.

10/10 from me.

[Spacedust]

"The Remedy" is an often-overlooked, tail-end of season one non-Skeletor episode.

Things start off with Man-At-Arms and Prince Adam testing out Man-At-Arms' latest invention, a "web cord" (a device that can shoot strong threads of 'web'). As is the case with a number of other episodes, things start off with testing Duncan's invention that just happens to be needed later on in the adventure. (They used to use a similar plot quite a lot in 'Knight Rider' too, with Bonnie / April adding a new feature to K.I.T.T. at the beginning, only for it to be conveniently needed later in the story, never to be used again afterwards; But that's for another website! )

When Teela enters to tell them about Rohad being very ill, the angle is slightly off, making it almost look like that she would have walked through a solid wall, not the arch she was supposed to.

The design of Rohad's friend, Meetro, is rather strange, looking like a dwarf with a silly hat and a big 'M' on his chest. He almost looks like a supermarket logo mascot!

There is a nice shade of colouring used on Rohad, making him look really ill.

We see a flashback to Man-At-Arms' younger days, when he was Rohad's student. It is always nice to see such a flashback; it adds a real depth and history to the characters.

As He-Man sets off on his quest, I really like the design of the giant octopus that pulls him under the water.

And this has to qualify as the most stock animation of He-Man used in any episode, it's like a show case off all of his moves - running, swimming, swinging through trees... just about every He-Man move in the Filmation library.

One thing I really like about this episode, is that is shows He-Man having advanced skills without resorting to the "silly He-Man feats" of other episodes. The best example of when he is running - we get a really nice shot of him racing along and over-taking some deer (or whatever Eternia's equivalent is). Advanced skills, but not totally ridiculous - I'm glad he wasn't running at a stupid speed like he did to create a vacuum in "The Once and Future Duke", for example!

At the climax of his quest, He-Man meets another spirit in a cave. There sure are a lot of spirits in caves on Eternia! (See "The Energy Beast", for instance).

And another notable moment in the series as He-Man is not to ashamed to beg for the vimwood that he desperately needs to save Rohad. Other heroes in other series would be far too proud.

There is a slight confusion in the story as we suddenly see Man-At-Arms back be Rohad's bedside. I had assumed that he was repairing the Wind Raider and waiting for He-Man. Else how would He-Man have made his way back to Rohad - bear in mind that Man-At-Arms didn't know that He-Man had the Tactril for help.

Anyway, He-Man returns with the vimwood just in time, and Rohad's life is saved.

This is quite a good episode. It is a nice change in that there is no villain of the story (the second season's popular "Into the Abyss" and "Not So Blind" being the only real examples of this).
It pretty much "does what it says on the tin". I have a feeling there may not be enough action or peril for some, but I find it a welcome change of pace. Not quite one of my all-time favourites and not one of my most watched episodes, but reasonable in it's own right.
I give it a fair 7 out of 10.

[The Cimmerian]

I gave it a ten.

the reason being is that it does a lot to flesh out Eternia as a living breathing world bigger than skeletor attacking grayskull. i love episodes that do this. Into the Abyss, The Dragon's Gift, Granamyr Returns, the house of shotoki etc. though they are toned down for the kids you get the sense of a deep mythological world, and you truly feel the importance of Eternia - that's one thing the MYP series lacked I think. Filmation didn't totally throw away the 'wandering barbarian' aspect of the original mini comics. and you see that in episodes like this.

[Hun]

I like this episode. It's not a favourite but it's good. I like the fact that the villain is really not a villain but a selfish man that in the end regrets what he has done. Although I thought he changed his mind a little too easily, it almost felt like they were in a hurry to wrap up the episode, so it felt a bit rushed. I like Teela's reaction and Adam's dialog is good. Pretty enjoyable episode.

[Spacedust]

I like this episode. It's not a favourite but it's good. I like the fact that the villain is really not a villain but a selfish man that in the end regrets what he has done. Although I thought he changed his mind a little too easily, it almost felt like they were in a hurry to wrap up the episode, so it felt a bit rushed. I like Teela's reaction and Adam's dialog is good. Pretty enjoyable episode.

Ummm... I know I'm slow... but are we talking about the same episode here?!

(You're not getting confused with "The Huntsman", are you??)

[HORDE TROOPER]

'The Remedy ' is a really cool episode. Its a refreshing theme and concept placing He-Man against the forces of nature and time .
Chris mentioned the begging scene, I also really dig the freeing of the dragon/beast creature from the web , despite the probable result of it jepodizing and hindering the outcome of the mission. Its all about the virtue with Filmation .

great ****.

[Hun]

Ummm... I know I'm slow... but are we talking about the same episode here?!

(You're not getting confused with "The Huntsman", are you??)

Haha. yes I was talking about the Huntsman. That was clever of you to know which episode I was talking about. It's strange I never get the titles mixed up, well I did now. Og well. The Remedy is an enjoyable episode. It's very nice to know something about Man-At-Arms' past. The was a little to much running on He-Man's part though. But the episode had a lot of love in it. 7/10

[Spacedust]

Haha. yes I was talking about the Huntsman. That was clever of you to know which episode I was talking about. It's strange I never get the titles mixed up, well I did now. Og well. The Remedy is an enjoyable episode. It's very nice to know something about Man-At-Arms' past. The was a little to much running on He-Man's part though. But the episode had a lot of love in it. 7/10

I have no idea how I guessed that, I think it's just because there was the 'Huntsman' a week or two ago and it was still in my memory. Do I get a gold star?

[Hun]

I have no idea how I guessed that, I think it's just because there was the 'Huntsman' a week or two ago and it was still in my memory. Do I get a gold star?

yes you do. It's so brilliant that figured out the episode I was talking about. I didn't even name a character, except adam and teela ans said they had good diolog

[zero42]

some of the points made here are really interesting. it's great to know i'm not alone if loving this one. this ep has the best wind raider crash in season one, and maybe the entire classic series. he-man runs into an invisible wall with some hilarious animation, he gets on his knees and begs, and we see young duncan (no mustache). for me those put in the top 3 on my classic series list. plus, that misplaced rant he-man goes on near the ending always makes me laugh: "..and if it hadn't been for a brave tactril, or man-at-arm's web-chord, which i'm sorry to say is probably been chewed to pieces by now by an unfriendly mandrone, i never would have made it." great ep!

[Spacedust]

Nice to see some of the old episode review threads are still getting read.

Maybe they'll be resurrected at some point.

[zero42]

Nice to see some of the old episode review threads are still getting read.

Maybe they'll be resurrected at some point.

what do you mean by 'resurrected'?

i'm watching them all from the start and i *so* wish i had found these reviews before now; i just watched ep93 today. all these opinions are really interesting to read, and i like all the tidbits of facts.

right now i'm just searching for the episode title, which is fine, but is there an index page of these reviews somewhere?