S1E07 - Night of the Dark Kat

[Kooshmeister]

Here I go being controversial again...

It's probably been brought up before, but Callie comes off weird in this episode. To understand my issue with her behavior, we have to look at things from the characters' P.O.V. We know Hard Drive is the one flying the jet, but they don't. For all they know, it is the SWAT Kats in there. This means Callie is, intentionally or unintentionally, prioritizing the survival of the SWAT Kats over protecting the citizenry. Or at least it can come across that way.

Callie: You can't just shoot them down!

Yes, he can. Don't you want to stop the destruction...?

Callie: We have no proof it really is the SWAT Kats!

So? While she's right, that's a non-issue at this point. Whoever is in the Turbokat doesn't change the fact that it is an immediate threat that must be taken down. That is the only priority.

Feral: [winces at a fifth explosion] That's proof enough for me!

Sorry, Feral has the right idea; his (mostly unjustified) low opinion of the SWAT Kats notwithstanding, he's completely in the right to put the safety of the city above all else in this matter. Callie, in contrast, picks a weird time to press the issue of the SWAT Kats' innocence (i.e. during the actual attack when decisive action is needed). It makes her seem like she has really shewed priorities.

[AkaneKitty]

This also looks like Feral is vilified for doing his job/what he's supposed to do: Seeing an active threat against the city and attempting to take it down.

While the viewers know that it wasn't the swat Kats Feral didn't and, as pointed out, neither did Callie. I can understand believing in your friends but this should have given Callie a bit of a pause. So this twists Feral and Callie's characters. Feral is vilified and Callie blind faith hurts her.

Callie reluctantly going along with Ferals action would have done better. Her wanting to believe the SK wouldn't do something like this but having to put the welfare of the city and its katizens above her belief would be understandable and make her look less like a SWAT Kats cheerleader.

Edited to add: This is also another missed opportunity to define Feral's character.

Want to make him a non villainous antagonist? Have him make the hard decision to take down the jet because the risks that is the SKs going rouge is too big of threat to the city.

Want him as a villain? Have him know the SWAT Kats aren't on the jet and have him issue the order to shoot it down anyway.

Sighs. I gotta make that post regarding perception of Feral and what was presented during the show.

[Prettyshadowj26]

The Excited thing is when Callie throw the money bag at Dark Kat

callie-briggs-003-money-toss.gif (471.42 KiB) Viewed 6216 times

[Kooshmeister]

Oh, that's definitely an awesome moment. It's just that the episode also contains the very bizarre situation described above.

[Mikazo]

This is also another missed opportunity to define Feral's character.

Want to make him a non villainous antagonist? Have him make the hard decision to take down the jet because the risks that is the SKs going rouge is too big of threat to the city.

Want him as a villain? Have him know the SWAT Kats aren't on the jet and have him issue the order to shoot it down anyway.

Hey, this gives me an idea. Maybe as a running gag in the show, Feral could constantly be finding himself in these absurd moral and ethical quandaries that have no clear solution.

"Feral, that runaway train is about to hit five people! If you divert the train to the other set of tracks, you'll save those five, but the train will hit another person!"

[Kooshmeister]

Callie: Let’s just say I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. Now why’d you destroy half the city?

So, this apparently means Callie did think it really was them in the Turbokat. Which means she was fooled by the voice simulator just like everyone else, but still trusted them. Boy, the SWAT Kats really can do no wrong in her eyes, can they?

[AkaneKitty]

Callie: Let’s just say I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. Now why’d you destroy half the city?

So, this apparently means Callie did think it really was them in the Turbokat. Which means she was fooled by the voice simulator just like everyone else, but still trusted them. Boy, the SWAT Kats really can do no wrong in her eyes, can they?

Wait...What?



So if that's the case, why is Feral derided for trying to do his job here? Why is Callie allowed to have doubts but Feral can't act on what he sees and hears and is made the bad guy for not believing the poor SWAT Kats?

I just can't at this. If anything Callie should understand Feral's viewpoint, even though she wants to believe the SKs.

[MoDaD]

I just can't at this. If anything Callie should understand Feral's viewpoint, even though she wants to believe the SKs.

That exchange as presented has always been clunky and (probably) unintentionally hypocritical from a writing standpoint, but I'll go ahead and theorize that perhaps Callie had envisioned the SWAT Kats had fallen victim to the kind of villainous trap like that used by the Penguin in Batman Returns, where the Batmobile/Turbokat has been hijacked remotely with Batman/The SWAT Kats helplessly trapped within while it goes wreaking destruction in the city.

Or, perhaps she suspects they're being coerced, and that somehow an even greater evil is being prevented by their actions. I.e. "I'll set off a bomb that destroys the city if you don't follow my instructions to...destroy the city" kind of situation.

Admittedly, these are all reaches, but in a world plagued by hyperbole and comic book level nonsense, perhaps Callie's just developed a sense of situational awareness (conveniently absent at other times) that's telling her things aren't as they seem?

Either way, Feral should still try to shoot them down

[Kooshmeister]

Okay, that works for me.

[Echo]

I love this episode because of how animated it is, and I got some funny in between shots. xD