You can even use that to deliver a (not too blatant) lesson about teamwork and cooperation! I'm sure Mylène didn't need a minute-long inspiration speech to get her to use the Miraculous the mere thought of the environment being carelessly destroyed should have inspired her enough.Īs for the rest of the episode, use it to show Ladybug, Cat Noir, Polymouse and their teammates doing a more complicated plan, with more action against the mini-Malediktators. Marinette regained the courage to become Ladybug without a word, only when she saw her favorite city in danger. Like the polluting car scene in "Startrain", for example.Īs for the "face your fears and stand up for good" thing? Do it like "Stoneheart". Or to be less annoying, just imply, but not outright state, that people are destroying the environment and that we should do something about it. Drop a bunch of inspirational lines at the start and end of the episode and don't pick up on it throughout the rest of the episode. So, how do you get the message across while still making the episode plot-relevant?ĭon't make the message the main part of the episode.ĭo it like the Battle of the Miraculous. Pegasus and the others barely did a thing! Oh, and did I mention that all the inspirational and motivational stuff takes up more than half the episode? In fact, the fight scene was so rushed that it feels like it was forced in to make it count as a Miraculous episode. The only major plot point is that Multimouse is replaced by Polymouse, and she isn't even used that much! And when she got a Miraculous, it was one that was already shown in Season 3. While there were hints that Mylène was an activist before this, such as when she planted trees (off-screen) in "Party Crasher" and a webisode saying she's into politics, the episode suddenly accelerates her into a Thunberg-esque activist who readily challenges governments. This episode's character development is poorly executed.
The previous episode, "Gabriel Agreste", had Félix discovering Shadow Moth's identity, and the next one, "Guiltrip", showed us the powers of the Pig Miraculous. And you didn't even ask for it!Īlso, it's odd for a show to suddenly drop a "very special episode" in the middle of a plot-heavy season. You immerse yourself in a slice of the lives of fictional characters only to get hit by an inspirational quote like a truck. It distracts from the viewing experience.
It's persevering even though you're scared" (which, might I may add, is a direct quote of an anonymous inspiration quote) come up so randomly within the show's mostly natural dialogue that they stick out like a sore thumb. Lines such as "True courage is not the absence of fear. If you read those lines out of context, you won't realize they came from a kids' cartoon. Mylène's speech to Mayor Bourgeois and Ladybug's speech to Mylène in the sewer are so mind-numbingly inspirational. You can tell the writers so desperately wanted to get the message across that they forgot they were writing for a cartoon, not a Greta Thunberg speech. Activism and protests are some ways to do it, but many protests have been crushed by police." There is no one "miracle" solution to stop it for good, so kids and adults have to face their fears, realize their own special superpowers, and work together to save the environment and the future. Unfortunately, it includes destroying the environment and pretending it's actually good. "Corporations, governments, and the police sometimes do bad things, even collaborating with each other to hide it. In fact, it is so inspirational that I can't summarize the episode's lesson in one sentence. Unlike most episodes, it delivered not only an obligatory moral, but also depths of sociopolitical commentary that even some adults are willing to shy away from.
"Mega Leech" is one of the most unprecedented episodes in children's cartoon history. So, without further ado, an essay on "How not to write an inspiration episode". I'm posting it again because I feel my original post didn't encapsulate my thoughts well. I don't know if you remember it, but I posted something like this a few months ago.