1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. Welcome to Red Panda Report. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,240 Buckle up for two-fisted pulp action as I talk about the terrific Tuislem of Toronto. 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:17,040 Red Panda Report, Episode 28, will be covering Red Panda Adventures, Episode 28. Here is 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:25,880 the copy written and directed by Greg Taylor, who writes and directs the episodes of Red 5 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,520 Panda and starts with the voice of that marvelous masked mystery man. 6 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,440 If you play the game long enough, it is only a matter of time before others know your moves 7 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:40,400 as well as you know theirs. But when just such an old foe joins forces with a new organization, 8 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,180 the game is rigged against the Red Panda before it begins. When they begin taking pieces off 9 00:00:45,180 --> 00:00:51,840 the board, will our heroes risk everything to get them back? Will either of them survive 10 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:53,880 the opening gambit? 11 00:00:53,880 --> 00:01:01,240 Okay, so sorry, I got thrown off because that one had a typo in it, which is very rare. Greg 12 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,960 Taylor is usually tremendously on point, but in this instance, he had a little bit of a 13 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:12,080 faux pas. Not that I want to highlight and mock and, I don't know, badmouth, that's not 14 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:19,520 the kind of person I want to be in general at all. But also, I don't like doing that 15 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,880 as far as my coverage of things is concerned because I'd rather talk about what I like 16 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,800 about something and what the strengths of it are rather than the weaknesses. Although 17 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:31,120 if the weaknesses present themselves as an issue to be discussed, then they will be discussed. 18 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,240 Anyway, so yeah, there was a little bit of a typo there which threw off my performance. 19 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:41,400 Also, yeah, things are a little bit weird right now, and that's okay. I'm making some 20 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:47,760 adjustments, some micro adjustments to make sure I'm getting everything done the way I 21 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,360 need to get it done and when I need to get it done and such, and I'm being vague on purpose. 22 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,760 Anyway, on with the show. So what are my thoughts about this episode of The Opening Gambit? 23 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:03,400 I like it a lot. It's very interesting. The thing that happens, probably that's the biggest 24 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,800 deal is, well, there's a couple things that are all a big deal. One, one of the agents 25 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:16,520 of the Red Panda gets abducted by a criminal organization, specifically by Kid Chaos who's 26 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:22,320 taking point on this operation. For, did they say the name of it? It's just the syndicate 27 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:29,240 for now is what it's called. Anyway, so Red Panda takes point, Kid Chaos, an enemy of 28 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:35,320 the Red Panda takes point on this, and we don't know much about Kid Chaos because he's 29 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:40,000 only been mentioned in passing once before when Red Panda, when Flying Squirrel mentioned 30 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:46,040 the fact that Red Panda went back in time to battle him along with a super team of sorts, 31 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:53,720 which could have been the Justice League. No, not the Justice League, the Justice Team. 32 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,640 I can't remember what they call them, but they're a New York based superhero team that's 33 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:05,520 supposed to be kind of like an homage to the Golden Age. Justice League of America, I think, 34 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:12,600 is the idea. Anyway, I don't quite remember everything about them. They have a, is it 35 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:17,400 Miracle Max or Miniature Max? Anyway, they have a guy named Max who can shrink himself 36 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:22,880 to Molecule Max. That's his name. He can shrink himself down to the size of a, you guessed 37 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:29,520 it. You had it right on the first try, a molecule. Anyway, so yeah, he teamed up with Molecule 38 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:34,680 Max and the other members of his Justice Society. Is that what it could be? Justice Society 39 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,600 of America? I don't remember what it's called now, but anyway, that's who he teamed up with. 40 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:43,360 Thanks for mentioning it. Maybe, I don't know, six episodes or so ago. And here we get to 41 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:49,920 see the actual first time that they have been together. When would it have been? It would 42 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,200 have been when they dealt with somebody who was doing time travel and Red Panda said he 43 00:03:54,200 --> 00:04:01,760 didn't believe in time travel. And maybe it was the Baboon McSmoothie episode. Anyway, 44 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:09,880 whatever, it doesn't matter. That's a distraction. Anyway, this one, this one was a lot of fun 45 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:17,640 and and yet I still had a problem with it, which is this, that for some reason, despite 46 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:24,480 the fantastic job of writing that he does, and by the way, I'm talking about Red Panda 47 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,840 for those who have missed it, those who have forgotten, I'm talking about Red Panda and 48 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,480 I'm listening to it again. And this is the third or fourth time. It's probably my, this 49 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,600 might be my fourth complete time of listening through the entire series. Why am I going 50 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,400 back to it again? Because it's that darn good. And what do I mean by it's that darn good? 51 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:50,040 One, it's, it tells basically one single story. And it does it all from Taylor's perspective 52 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:56,840 alone over 120 episodes plus the books. There's five books, I think. Pirate of Peril, Android 53 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:07,320 Assassins, Mindmaster. I can't think of the other one. I think it's just four books, maybe. 54 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:15,120 Anyway, still excellent books. Anyway, yeah, so here's the thing, you could buy the books. 55 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:21,160 I think they're all out of print now. But Taylor has been kind enough to share the episodes 56 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,440 on the Dakota Ring feed. So if you want to check those out, you can look for them and 57 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,520 find them there. They're excellent. And the books are really, really good. So I mean, 58 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:35,200 this guy's a very talented writer. And his humor is typically on point. The action, the 59 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:41,400 drama, it's all there. And also, you know, it's done in the audio, audio drama format, 60 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:47,560 and it's excellently executed. And it's all very well crafted, except for this episode, 61 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:55,360 he had the he's right there. Or he's right behind me. Isn't he gag? Sated once, clearly. 62 00:05:55,360 --> 00:06:02,040 Like, plainly stated in that exact language. Perhaps, or once for sure, perhaps twice. 63 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,480 And there was somebody behind somebody. And it was a dramatic turn or a comedic turn or 64 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:11,280 ironic turn or whatever, like four or five times in the episode. And I thought that was 65 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:16,400 a little strange. I thought it was a little strange. I thought it was a little not lowbrow, 66 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:22,480 but just kind of beneath Taylor's level of skill. And I was surprised that it, you know, 67 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:28,000 broke out that way, that it happened that way. It was strange to see him relying on 68 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:35,960 that. I don't know. I don't want to be unkind. But it does feel a little bit as if he was 69 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:42,960 relying on that construction, that joke that I don't know what you call it. Could that 70 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:47,080 be a trope? I guess that you could call that a trope. I was gonna say leitmotif, but it's 71 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,360 not really a leitmotif either. I guess it would be a trope. That's what I would have 72 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:56,440 to call it. And it's a trope that I very much dislike. It's something I've, it's a trope 73 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:00,240 I've disliked since I was a kid. And I don't get it. And I don't understand why people 74 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:08,720 think it's funny at all. And yeah, I'm, I'm surprised that Taylor used it so liberally 75 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:14,120 in this episode. Switching gears to be more positive and talk about something that Taylor 76 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:21,280 didn't use liberally. Kid Chaos. This is his fifth appearance as far as the story is concerned. 77 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,840 He's, this is his first appearance in an actual episode. There was one other mention in this 78 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:32,280 is his second mention, but first appearance, but it's his fifth encounter, let's call it 79 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:37,800 with red panda and flying squirrel. And I'm pretty sure, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah. They 80 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,000 make reference to, there's banter and references to their history with each other. And that's 81 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,760 what's being referred to in the copy of, you know, knowing each other's moves so well. 82 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:51,640 So this is again, their fifth encounter and Kid Chaos is a delightful character. He's 83 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:56,160 very entertaining and I don't know how much he appears in the future. I'm going to say 84 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,760 at least two other times, if not three other times, he is featured heavily in one of the 85 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:07,080 books and he's fantastic. Really is really truly is a wonderful character to spend some 86 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:13,920 time with. And yeah, he's really enjoyable. And I very much enjoyed, well, yeah, as you 87 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:19,600 can guess, as you can guess, I very much enjoyed his, him as a character. And it's a lot of 88 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,320 fun. I can't tell if he's supposed to be a joker type of character or if he's supposed 89 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:27,440 to be somebody else. And I don't know who that would be because I don't have enough 90 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:34,520 knowledge of the pulps and I don't have enough knowledge of like a wide gamut of superhero 91 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:42,400 rogues galleries. And I don't know, even though Batman is based on the shadow, I don't know 92 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:47,800 that his rogues galleries based on the shadows rogues gallery and if there's any crisscross 93 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:54,520 or any overlap between them or not. I know. Well, yeah, sorry. I'm, I was just about 94 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:59,760 to start flexing for no good reason. So I will not do that. And instead I will say, 95 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,960 I don't know who could cast this was to be based off of or if he's an entirely original 96 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:11,040 character, but he's definitely a very well executed character regardless. I want to divert 97 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:16,600 real quick before I get out of here and say that I want to tick note of or make note of 98 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,240 some special things that happened with the characters in the world of the red Panda. 99 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,360 We get to see that, you know, this is the first time ever. So many agents have been 100 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:31,920 joined together. We get to see Harry Kelly making some career advancement, you could 101 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:37,320 call it in the red pandas organization, which is super cool. Very interesting to see that 102 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,800 sort of thing happen over the course of the series. We get to see stuff happen with Spiro 103 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:46,060 like his mind gets wiped for a little while based on a post-hypnotic suggestion that red 104 00:09:46,060 --> 00:09:50,520 Panda left him as a safeguard against people doing this, you know, you know, bad people 105 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,800 doing this very, this very thing using one of these agents against them. And then we 106 00:09:54,800 --> 00:10:00,160 see his memory restored, which is really cool. We get no clear hints of who this syndicate 107 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,720 is, but the way the guy talks, he's got like this, I don't know, almost religious fervor 108 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:10,000 or something about, I don't know, purifying the streets with criminal activity or whatnot. 109 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:16,320 So I think this may be a hint that this is something dealing with the Nazis, the Nazis, 110 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,840 the Germans, you know, it's the Nazis in red Panda. That's, that's what he ends up dealing 111 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:25,840 with a lot. So it very well could be that, but I'm not 100% sure. But it is nice that 112 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:37,880 it is setting up an overarching plot. And we also get to see featured a classic gag, 113 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:45,600 which is the red Panda using disguise makeup on himself. I don't, I feel like this is something 114 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:51,200 the shadow does as well. And yeah, I feel like this is something the shadow does as 115 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:59,040 well. And I don't know. There's been at least an episode per season where red Panda has 116 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:03,280 done it, but we've also heard mention of him doing it in the past. Like in the episode 117 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:12,800 with the circus family, he mentioned that he used a disguise and, you know, he uses 118 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,760 makeup disguising skills on himself to make himself look like a different person. And 119 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,440 they knew he wasn't really who he said he was and he wouldn't give them a name. So he 120 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:27,520 just kept using that face for them, that disguise for them. And, you know, whatever it worked. 121 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:32,920 There's the history of it and that's a historical mention of it. And we get to see it actively 122 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:38,640 used a few other times, which is a lot of fun. Overall, the episode was a lot of fun. 123 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:43,720 It's episode 28. So we're one quarter into season three, each season being 12 episodes. 124 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:49,000 And we don't really know where the season's going just yet, but we're, I guess, starting 125 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:55,800 to feel the development of this plot happening, this, this overriding overarching plot of 126 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,360 something's happening, something's trying to get at the red Panda and the flying squirrel. 127 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:07,000 And we need to figure out who or what that entity, that organization is. And I would 128 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,800 think that the rest of the season should be us unraveling, seeing red Panda and flying 129 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:17,640 squirrel unravel the syndicate. But let's see what happens next time. 130 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,760 Leave your thoughts, comments, questions. I would love to hear feedback from you and 131 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,640 talk about this episode. And please remember to check out Karuv, Midnight Angel, my short 132 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:33,840 story that is very much pulp and red Panda inspired. And it's not going to take long 133 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,720 to read. In fact, you can listen to me read it to you if you don't, if you like, just 134 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:43,440 by following the link in the show notes. I hope you enjoyed that. Like, share and subscribe. 135 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,360 I invite you to comment, ask questions and share your thoughts with me. It's always more 136 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:51,600 fun when you're part of the conversation until next time. Be well and hold high the lamp 137 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:57,000 of justice. Visit MJMunoz.com for more of my work and help me build up the Fortress 138 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:22,000 fiction.