Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again with another installment of Blast From the Past; and for this latest installment, I figured we'd mix things up a little. Usually when I do one of these, I'm talking about the first episode of the show, but seeing as today marks the end of Black History Month, I figured we'd cover a very special episode of this series. So without further ado, let's dive into Static Shock!
Before we can begin the episode, let's give a brief synopsis of the series. Static Shock premiered in 2000 and was about a young teen named Virgil Hawkins who, after being exposed to a dangerous gas during a gang fight that he was reluctantly dragged into, has electric powers. He, with help from his best friend Richie, uses these new powers to protect his home of Dakota City from others that were affected by the same gas he was exposed to in the incident called the "Big Bang" (These people are referred to as Bang Babies in the series) while also balancing the usual stuff that comes with being a teenage superhero.
The Show is a cartoon adaptation of the 1993 comic 'Static' created by the late Dwayne McDuffie for his comic imprint Milestone. McDuffie was also hired for the show as a story editor and writer.
Episode 8 is titled "Sons of the Father" and it begins with the Meta-Breed, a group of Bang Babies led by the shadowy dude you see in the picture above Ebon, robbing the Dakota Hills mall. It isn't too long however before Static comes in and breaks up the commotion. Ebon and Shiv (also pictured above) manage to give the hero the slip before the police arrive. However, their partner in crime Talon is not so lucky and is arrested.
As Virgil, Richie, and Virgil's father Robert, watch his his heroic escapades, Virgil's sister Sharon rants at Richie for always being over their house, a statement which Virgil echoes later as he expresses desire to hang out at Richie's, which his best friend reluctantly agrees to a meet up that following Friday night.
I should state this now and get it out of the way. While it's very apparent throughout the entire episode, It's in this scene here where I was really hit with late 90's/early 2000's slang; and while I can't speak for anyone who watches this episode, for me, it's not bad. Partially because I grew up with shows where people say "Phat" and partially because the actors, specifically Phil Lamar (voice of Virgil/Static) come off sounding very natural.
Meanwhile, back at the Meta-Breed hangout, Ebon is fuming about his lost to Static and vows to Shiv that they'll get back at the hero and get Talon out of Prison; and I have to tip my hat to Gary Sturgis who's voice work for Ebon in this episode. A good voice is very important for a villain and he manages to sound cool yet very intimidating here.
The next scene sees Virgil enjoying himself at the Foley household as he and Richie are about to enjoy dinner. But the whole mood of the episode changes when Sean Foley, Richie's father, comes home. It is immediately very apparent that Sean is not happy with the fact that Virgil, a young black teenager, is in his home and friends with his son. You see, Sean is a (assumedly) middle aged man who feels that the city he lives in has gone down the toilet thanks to people of...different race/cultures, in this particular case black people.
After dinner, and when he goes to brush his teeth, Virgil overhears an argument with Sean and Richie's mom where Sean says, and I'm paraphrasing here: Virgil's kind are no good and he hates having to put up with one of them in his house. This of course causes Virgil to leave, despite Richie's request not to. Once he leaves and Sean asks him what happened, Richie responds with: "My best friend's gone because of you and your stupid racism! I hate you!" And oh boy...
For one, I very much appreciate that the show directly calls this racism, but the way is done is...rather tacky if you ask me, especially because everything up until that line was handled with the seriousness, and the mood that it needed, and that smacked me in the face reminding me that this was a kids' show.
Anyways, the next day, after being consoled by his father, Virgil receives a call from Maggie, telling him that Richie's run away and hoping if he knew where he was. Putting his hero gear on, Static flies out in search of his friend, using their walkie talkies to try to find him. When he does, he reassures Richie that no matter what his father said, they'll always be friends; and right as they're about to take off, the sounds of sirens drive Static away to take care of business. But what neither of them know, Ebon was nearby, overhearing the conversation and when Richie's all alone, he kidnaps him,
While this is going down Robert and Sean (much to the latter's annoyance) search for Richie together, walking into an abandoned building where teenagers who have run away stay. It's here where Robert and Sean have a heart to heart, to put it mildly, where the former calls the latter out for his intolerance. How he keeps his nose buried in his work while the world changes around him and he refuses to; and he finally warns him that if he stays the way he is currently, he'll lose out on being a part of his son's life.
Back with Richie, he's being held hostage by Ebon and Shiv so that they can get Static to free Talon. But Richie resourcefully activates his walkie talkie to give Static a heads up to his location. While Ebon soon enough catches on to what he's doing, the two fathers break in and attempt to save the day but are mostly ineffective. Not before Static breaks in and stops them himself.
Richie and Sean reconcile and the episode ends with Sean and Virgil burying the hatchet and the three head to a comic convention.
Sons of the Father is as powerful an episode today as it was almost twenty years ago. The reason being that guys like Sean Foley are unfortunately still around today, and now that I think about it, are just as subtle with their bigotry. But it does paint a few optimistic messages. That those of intolerance aren't necessarily a lost cause. That sometimes it takes patience and maybe help from a younger generation for them to better understand people of different cultures. It won't be as easy as one big speech, but that if we persevere we will see greener pastures.
Another interesting message I got from this is that the mistakes and intolerance of one's family doesn't define a person as they are. Sean was a bigot while his son Richie, as stated in the show, broke free from that cycle of intolerance and made his own decisions on who he wants to be friends with and when he got tired of his father, he ran away from home and eventually patched things up with him. While the episode can be a little heavy handed, I think for a young audience, I think it was the right choice to make. I give the episode a wholehearted recommendation.
Static Shock is available on DVD and on The DC Universe Streaming App, where I got some of my pictures from if it wasn't obvious. Support the show officially and show the higher ups at DC that there is still a demand for the Static because in current times, he is a character that would thrive and it drives me up the wall that there isn't more done with him.
Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation.
Take Care...
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