S2E04 - Razor's Edge

[MoDaD]

"Not only have I destroyed the SWAT Kats, but their reputations as well," but still, it seems a little backwards.

I can see things from your point of view, but here's why I think Dark Kat's actions regarding this point make sense (and feel free to disagree, as this is entirely subjective):

1. The public wouldn't know the SWAT Kats are dead, just Dark Kat and Hard Drive. Dark Kat is sadistic, and wants the SWAT Kats to suffer a horrible, drawn out death (the conveyor crusher). Once they're dead, he doesn't want to leave any evidence (rigging the factory to explode). I'd assume that factory was going to be a pile of smoldering rubble regardless of an escape attempt or not.

2. Ruining their reputation postmortem is useful because Dark Kat can continue to operate secretly, keeping the attention on the "SWAT Kats" and away from himself while he completes his objectives, demoralizes the city, and weakens the position of the city's elected leadership that had both passively and actively backed the vigilantes.

3. He can later have the SWAT Kats "die" in a confrontation with the authorities once the ruse is no longer useful, the ruined reputation denying the heroes the label of martyrs, further serving Dark Kat's sadistic desire to effectively kill the SWAT Kats both literally and metaphorically.

As you've shown, the way things are portrayed in Night of the Dark Kat are admittedly clunky, but I can see what they were trying to attempt, and I still think it pales in comparison to the level of (enjoyable) absurdity displayed in Razor's Edge .

[SwatKatsFan1]

Kooshmeister, I'm confused. How would Tan and the Yakuza see Dark Kat as a threat? They need each other. Dark Kat promised to make Tan expand his criminal operations as long as he gets a large share of his profits and Tan has ninjas that are all hopelessly devoted to him. So I don't get it.

[Kooshmeister]

Criminals, especially organized crime, are highly territorial. Dark Kat doesn't generally share; either people work for him or they don't. Even in the "alliance of evil," he made it clear that he was the bossman. He came up with all the plans and let everyone else do the legwork. If a Megakat City Yakuza existed, he'd see them as a threat if they didn't work for him. And since they wouldn't wanna work for him, being incredibly territorial mobsters, they'd likely see Big D as a threat. But I think it's obvious most of this is in a fanfic of some kind. Therefore what the characters do and don't do is entirely up to the author.

[SwatKatsFan1]

Good point

[Cait]

Another good episode, indeed. Just loved how deep they go with Jake's feelings.

the fake elderly couple in Razor's Edge. How were they not found out sooner? By someone besides Razor?

I didn't thought about that... But as you all deduced, probably Dark Kat prepared everything from the begining, as always. Sometimes I see Dark Kat as a genius, always having everything planned to the last detail, knowing that much about technology and even keeping in mind the most insignificant things. He even go through Razor's mind this time LOL What a pity such a great mind is at the dark side... <u_u">

[Echo]

This episode to me explains why it's hard to be a hero, poor Jake/Razor has to accept the fact that when he launches his weapons there's a risk that he might hurt someone. And seeing him sitting on the couch so depressed just broke me.

[Kooshmeister]

Dark Kat was able to get help from Charlie Tan (the leader of the MegaKat City Yakuza) with his scheme and that would work since that would explain where the ninjas came from

]

Well, we now know those guys aren't ninjas; they're spec ops types, what the model sheets call kommando-kats. "Dark Kat's Kommando-Kats," specifically. So they're his henchmen, not on loan from another criminal. And if they're hopelessly devoted to anyone, I think it'd be Big D, considering their purple fur.

However, fanfic's fanfic. I myself wrote Steel as being the lieutenant commander back when Chance and Jake were still in the Enforcers in The Radical Beginning, in defiance of the line about him being green in The Wrath of Dark Kat, simply because I thought he and the corrupt Commander Ashland played well off of each other. So when it comes to fan works, go nuts.

[marklungo]

Mark Lungo tells me that the same guy who wrote this episode also later did the Biker Mice from Mars episode Modo Hangs It Up, which had essentially identical circumstances. Can anyone confirm whether the people Modo is supposed to have injured, resulting in his crisis of conscience, were faking it, too?

Almost six years later I finally have an answer for you -- yes! Instead of hiring two random thugs like Dark Kat, Lawrence Limburger gets his nephew to play injured for him.

[Kooshmeister]

Does it play out more believably there, if nothing else?

[marklungo]

Does it play out more believably there, if nothing else?

I don't remember. I haven't seen the episode in years.