Adventure Episode 22: Forget About It!

In this episode, it's the Demidevimon show! That rambunctious little scamp tries to get TK to abandon and forget about his friends. It's an awful way to achieve his real mission.

I've gained a new appreciation for Demidevimon. I was never a big fan of his the first time watching through, but in his debut performance he's nothing but a scene-stealing, quick thinking, manipulative son of a bitch. I loved it.

Maybe my former distaste for his character is due to what lies ahead. This is a weird set of episodes coming up here in the void between Etemon and Myotismon. Most of them have the same pattern: Demidevimon smooth-talks someone into keeping one of digidestined at bay, the digidestined suffers along without fighting, Sora quietly nudges things back on course, Demidevimon is exposed, curses the day and flies off. It's not an award-winning formula, and it's a good thing it doesn't last long. But for now, it's a winner.

What a great move to have Tokomon fill in the blanks of what happened during Tai's absence. It's a rough story and there's no better perspective than from the youngest member and the weakest Digimon. Tai's significance to the team had sort of just been assumed and he had become the leader so naturally that no matter how many times he screwed up (which was practically all he did in the last arc), nobody imagined anyone more pragmatic or thoughtful in charge. It's amazing how headless the digidestined were without him. As the futility mounted and the weeks went by, once Sora thought it best to venture out on her own, everybody else came to the same conclusion and split.

The conclusion we have to draw from it is that Sora, Izzy, Joe, Mimi and Matt each figured they would be more effective on their own. It's a sad scene when Matt drops his brother off at an abandoned amusement park and heads off himself. As much as Matt says he's upset that everybody wanted to venture off on their own, secretly he wanted the same thing. A week later, TK is broken.

It's a perfect time for Demidevimon to grace the scene and “offer his services” finding Matt and getting an answer. He maintains the buddy-buddy attitude with everybody, even when he delivers the bad news to TK and absorbs Tokomon's mistrust. In an epic move, he plays the race card, accusing Tokomon of prejudice. After all, just because Demidevimon looks totally evil can't possibly mean that he is. Tokomon, being the racist monster he is, attacks Demidevimon and earns TK's wrath. When Tokomon refuses to apologize, TK casts off his digivice and tag and runs off. It's good engineering.

It also establishes Tokomon as a pretty hardy character too. The In-Training levels don't get a whole lotta love, and in fact Tokomon evolves to Patamon this very episode. But for once, Tokomon steps into the spotlight and shows himself as a fiercely supportive ally that will do everything he can for TK, even as TK doesn't appreciate it or lashes out against it.

What's funny about Demidevimon's plot is that his ultimate purpose was to render the Crest of Hope unusable. This would have been accomplished if he had done nothing at all. TK was quickly losing hope and didn't really need a push to abandon the notion that Matt would return. In fact, the only reason it glows was because Demidevimon pushed and provided the adversity needed. The crest can't grow if it's not tested, and Demidevimon's inevitable exposure offered just enough encouragement to TK: for all he knew, Matt was still determined to come back and that's reason enough to keep believing.

Streetlight! People!

My Grade: A-

Loose Data:

• So... uh... everybody else I can kinda understand, but what compelled Mimi to split apart from the group?
• Not only is it the first appearance of Demidevimon, it's also the first appearance by the random swan boat! The random swan boat- sending digidestined off to find themselves since 1999.
• It's a shame Tokomon evolved, because I want to start calling him Flopsy now.
• What's with dramatic evolutions to Rookie always followed by said Rookie getting its ass kicked? First Agumon in episode 17, and now Patamon gets tossed around. Thankfully he steps up because losing to Demidevimon in a fight would have been really humiliating.