Entertainment
The Infamous Buffy Episode That Nearly Got Fan-Favorite Character Canceled
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is considered one of the most revolutionary shows in television, and rightfully so: it ushered in a new era of quippy genre superheroism, essentially paving the way for the later rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On top of its whip-smart writing, the show was also filled with amazing and hilarious characters that you couldn’t help but love. This included Cordelia Chase: she was written to be a vapid mean girl, but fans loved her so much that she helped launch Angel, Buffy’s very successful spinoff.
However, if the Buffy producers hadn’t dubbed over a line from one of the show’s most infamous episodes, Cordelia wouldn’t have been such a fan-favorite; in fact, she would have been canceled altogether! The episode in question is “Go Fish,” which has a scene in which Cordelia makes fun of the idea that all humans are inherently equal. That’s bad enough, but in a line eventually dubbed over, she appeared to defend the practice of slavery!
Cordelia Like You’ve Never Seen Her Before
In “Go Fish,” Buffy and her friends have several run-ins with Sunnydale High School’s swim team, who seem especially aggro (even by the standards of jocks). It turns out that their coach has been giving these athletes something much worse than steroids: he and a crazy nurse have altered these swimmers’ DNA, which periodically transforms them into gill monsters straight out of Creature From the Black Lagoon. Eventually, the monstrous team kills both the nurse and their coach; most of them (including a recently transformed Xander) are given healing treatments, while the swimmers past the point of no return swim out to the ocean, their humanity fully lost.
Relatively speaking, Cordelia doesn’t play a major role in “Go Fish,” but she does have a memorable exchange with Willow and Xander. Willow (who has been teaching the computer science class after Jenny Calendar’s death) complains about a student asking her to change his grade, which Xander gripes is “wrong” because “It’s a slap in the face to every one of us that worked hard and studied long hours to earn our D’s.” That’s when Cordelia mocks Xander for “being the voice of the common wuss” and archly tells him that “certain people are entitled to special privileges. They’re called winners. That’s the way the world works.”
Cordelia Nearly Got Canceled
Instead of backing down, Xander asks her “about that nutty ‘all men are created equal’ thing,” which she deems “Propaganda spouted by the ugly and less deserving.” Xander says he thinks Lincoln said that, and after Cordelia insults Lincoln’s appearance, Willow clarifies that the quote came from Thomas Jefferson. Cordelia replies, “Kept slaves, remember?” But if you watch the screen carefully at this moment, you will see that her lips keep moving after she finished talking.
That’s because actor Charisma Carpenter had to redub her original dialogue. When filming the episode, she originally said, “Kept slaves. Got any more?” The script says that she poses this question as “a challenge,” which may imply she was challenging Willow to produce more factoids about Jefferson, or maybe challenging her friends to cite more problematic people who spouted virtuous things. However, I believe the line was dubbed over for a more sinister reason: the producers realized that it sounded as if Cordelia was actually supporting slavery.
Asking “got any more?” after mentioning that Jefferson “owned slaves” may have made the audience think that Cordelia wanted to have slaves of her own. That might sound crazy, but keep in mind that she is a spoiled rich girl (daddy hasn’t been busted for tax fraud yet) who likely did have the modern equivalent of servants helping around her house. Plus, it’s far easier to believe that Cordelia was making a pro-slavery comment when her previous dialogue had her openly mocking the idea that everyone is created equally.
The Producers Quietly Saved This Fan-Favorite Character
By having Charisma Carpenter redub the line, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer producers removed the challenge from her voice; now, she simply reminds everyone that Thomas Jefferson was a bad man who owned slaves. This helps make Cordelia’s prickly mean girl a far more tolerable character and keeps her from getting canceled by the fandom. Which is good, because it would only be a little over a year later that Cordelia departs Sunnydale to go start a new life in Los Angeles as part of the Angel spinoff, whose titular hero she helps solve cases and fight crimes.
“Go Fish” is already an infamous episode because the fish monsters nearly assault Buffy in a very intimate way while the coach leeringly says, “boys have other needs.” Fortunately, this Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode dodged another scandal by redubbing a line that would have made Cordelia Chase a fan of slavery. Now, without that problematic dialogue, we can enjoy Cordelia for who she really is: the head b*tch in charge of any situation who isn’t afraid to put fellow students in their place!
Entertainment
Nintendo announces Star Fox 64 remake for Switch 2
Nintendo is remaking Star Fox 64, reviving the retro gaming classic for the Nintendo Switch 2. Announced during a surprise Nintendo Direct livestream on Wednesday, Star Fox will not only upgrade the graphics, but also add new features updating it for modern gamers.
Also known as Lylat Wars, Star Fox 64 is a 1997 rail shooter developed for Nintendo 64. Playing as humanoid fox Fox McCloud, players defend the fictional Lylat star system by shooting down enemies and dodging obstacles in his spaceship. Star Fox 64 was a significant hit that is still fondly remembered today — and also spawned the classic meme “do a barrel roll.”
Now Fox McCloud is back in Star Fox, sporting “a more animal-like design” alongside fellow Star Fox team members Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad.
“Star Fox is based on the Nintendo 64 game Star Fox 64, but the visuals have been completely updated,” said Nintendo senior executive officer Yoshiaki Koizumi, speaking via a translator during the prerecorded livestream. “All of the characters in the game have also been redesigned.”
Nintendo states that level layouts will be the same as in Star Fox 64, and that the banter between the Star Fox team is returning. Star Fox 64‘s vehicles are back too, with players able to pilot the Landmaster land vehicle, Blue-Marine submersible, and Fox McCloud’s trusty Arwing spaceship. And yes, it will be able to do a barrel roll.
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Credit: Nintendo
Credit: Nintendo
The remake does make a few changes though, with new mission briefing cutscenes placed between stages to flesh out the story. Star Fox will have online multiplayer and matchmaking too, allowing players to work in teams and compete against each other remotely. The game will still have local co-op, but rather than the split-screen days of yore, players will be able to share Star Fox from a Nintendo Switch 2 to other local Switch devices via the GameShare.
Interestingly, Star Fox will let players split pilot and gunner controls for a single vehicle if they so choose, which seems like a handy co-op option for getting younger children involved. Players can also use a Joy-Con 2 controller like a mouse for more precise targeting, or go completely old-school with a Nintendo 64 controller.
Star Fox offers character avatars in the Switch 2’s GameChat as well. This feature tracks players’ head and face movements via webcam, animating characters to match it in real time and displaying this to others using Nintendo’s voice and video chat system.
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Reaction to Nintendo’s announcement has been mixed. While some are excited about the prospect of a new game in the Star Fox franchise, others have criticised the hyperrealistic look of its anthropomorphic animal characters, or bemoaned the fact that it’s a remake instead of a new original game in the series.
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This isn’t Nintendo’s first Star Fox 64 remake. The company previously remade the game for Nintendo 3DS in 2011, entitled Star Fox 64 3D. Then in 2016, the Japanese gaming giant released Wii U reboot Star Fox Zero. A decade later, a new version of Star Fox 64 is now on its way, and it won’t be long to wait.
Star Fox launches on June 25 for $49.99, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. Pre-orders are open now.
Entertainment
Mortal Kombat II review: The bar is in hell for video game movies, huh?
How many times do we have to go through this?
Yes, Mortal Kombat has been a massively popular video game franchise since its spawning in 1992. Yes, its over-the-top kills and thrillingly scornful catchphrases make the fighting games incredibly fun. But despite several attempts including 1995’s Mortal Kombat, 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and the 2021 reboot, also titled Mortal Kombat, not a single good live-action movie has been made from this IP.
Yet here we are again with another ugly, nonsensical mess, this time called Mortal Kombat II.
Mortal Kombat, the last film in this much-flubbed franchise, centered on Cole Young (Lewis Tan), a descendant of Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), who’s a fish out of water in the titular fighting tournament world. This time, he’s relegated to a tertiary character, so the sequel can pivot to a new fish out of water, Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), a washed-up ’90s action star who’d rather crush a beer than a spine. However, when a malevolent conqueror named Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) threatens Earthrealm, it’s up to Cage and a coterie of super-powered fighters to win a Mortal Kombat tournament to save their world.
Wisely, Warner Bros. led with Cage in their early promos, releasing teasers that showed a cheeky self-awareness of the Western martial arts movie while suggesting Mortal Kombat II would be funnier than its predecessor. Frustratingly, this is another example of good trailer, bad movie. And a big part of why is that Cage feels like he’s been wedged in, rather than centered on, for a new perspective.
Mortal Kombat II is a befuddling eyesore with sub-zero emotional depth.
Adeline Rudolph as Kitana.
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Mortal Kombat (2021) director Simon McQuoid is back with muddy CGI settings, rubbery CGI fighters, and much of his movie’s cast reprising their roles. Along with Tan and Taslim, Jessica McNamee is back as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion.
Joining the fighter line-up opposite Cage are fan-wielding Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), staff-armed Jade (Tati Gabrielle), the many-fanged Baraka (CJ Bloomfield), and Ford as brutish conqueror Shao Kahn.
Now, you might think that’s too many characters to create meaningful story arcs over the course of a 116-minute runtime. And you’d be right!
Sure, screenwriter Jeremy Slater could have narrowed the focus to Cage’s experience to better create a moving narrative, while still folding in the requisite fighting, brawlers, and game allusions. But hey, why not split the story focus between Cage, whose gruff has-been attitude pitches Mortal Kombat II toward a promising Galaxy Quest vibe, and Kitana, whose rebellious warrior princess thread is reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Gamora as she battled Thanos and her “sister” Nebula. But here, Thanos is Shao Kahn, who murders Kitana’s dad in the film’s glacially paced opening sequence. And Nebula is Jade, Kitana’s bestie/guard since she became Shao Kahn’s prisoner as a girl. (If you want more backstory, fret not, there’s plenty.)
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Tati Gabrielle as Jade.
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Cage won’t even show up for the first 14 minutes of Mortal Kombat II. In that time, the sequel plunges into the same grim and self-serious atmosphere that made McQuoid’s first Mortal Kombat a bore. Sure, the fight scenes are really violent and bloody, befitting the film’s R-rating. But the fights feel disconnected from the storytelling. Worse yet, these battles are shot with very little visual logic, meaning some big blows just don’t hit.
And yep, there sure are recreations of memorable characters, their costumes, weapons, and catchphrases. But the major important distinction between this rebooted movie franchise and the games is, the games were fun.
The most fun Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II can offer is Kano, the only character who resolutely refuses to take things seriously.
Karl Urban shines, but Josh Lawson is Mortal Kombat II‘s MVP.
Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, and Josh Lawson as Kano.
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
As Cage, Urban brings with him an American arrogance that shakes up the seriousness of the Earthrealm battlers. He’s snarky where they’re stern, creating a feisty dynamic that borders on amusing. But as Cage’s clichéd plot line demands he become a selfless, brave hero, he becomes more grave and less giggle-inducing. Thank the gods for Lawson’s Kano.
This crusty criminal and unrepentant asshole died in the last movie, but like other MK fighters, he’s resurrected for this sequel. Thankfully, rather than being brought back as another humorless revenant, Kano is as chaotically insulting as ever, slinging barbs with reckless abandon. When he mocks necromancer Quan Chi (Damon Herriman) for his “eyeliner,” I howled with laughter. And for a brief moment I thought that between Cage and Kano, this movie might actually begin to get fun!
Alas, my hopes were squashed like a skull under a warhammer. Kano and Cage get to be comic relief, while Kitana broods and a new quest kicks off to heist a magical gem from Shao Kahn, which he effectively uses as an immortality cheat code. Again, life-or-death battles and a heist into the heart of a tyrant’s castle? This should be exciting and entertaining!
Inexplicably, McQuoid bleeds any tension from these sequences with a mangled visual language that makes fights hard to follow and the quest feel like an afterthought. Suspense cannot build because in every other scene, Slater’s script delivers another exposition drop to explain the tournament, the realms, the revenants — on and on! Video games are a visual medium. Movies are a visual medium. Yet much of this movie feels like I got locked into a tedious podcast.
In the end, Mortal Kombat II feels like the wretched compromise of two movie pitches. One is a sequel that closely follows the saga and dolesome tone of the last movie. The other is an action-comedy in the vein of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Whether it’s Kano reading other fighters to filth, or a sequence where Cage is chased around a village by a rampaging Baraka, there are moments where Mortal Kombat II flirts with not taking this IP deadly seriously. But then McQuoid pivots back to a tone that’s less Shogun and more Iron Fist. And as sloppy and artless as this adaptation is, it probably won’t matter.
Gamers need to demand more of video game movies.
CJ Bloomfield as Baraka.
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s long been a cliché that video game movies are traditionally bad. I was recently disappointed by the Until Dawn movie and moved to consider my own mortality over the vacuousness of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. And yet, studios keep plugging along with these movies “for the fans.”
Don’t be fooled. That’s a cynical sales pitch that assumes gamers love the source IP so much that studios don’t need to bring skilled filmmakers or spend the money on top-notch fight choreography, stunts, or visual effects. They believe the fans will come regardless of what they actually put on screen. And maybe they’re right! After all, critics warned that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was a soulless sequel with more allusions than entertainment. But it’s nearing a billion dollars for worldwide box office. So, why should studios change strategy?
Warner Bros hired a commercial director to make his feature directorial film debut with Mortal Kombat, and now he’s back with a muddled vision that’s an ugly and lifeless slog. But if fans go to the theater or stream this exhaustively on HBO Max, like they presumably did its predecessor, then the bar is in hell, and it won’t be raised.
At least we have more Last of Us to look forward to, right?
Mortal Kombat II opens in theaters on May 8.
Entertainment
This robotic pool vacuum is basically a Roomba that can swim, and it’s $449 off today
SAVE 35%: As of May 6, you can get the Beatbot AquaSense 2 for $849 at Amazon, down from $1,298. That’s a 35% discount or $449 savings.
$849
at Amazon
$1,298
Save $449
I don’t have a pool (well, not a personal one, anyway; I live in an apartment complex), but I do have a robot vacuum, and I know the joy of watching a little machine clean my floors while I do other things. If you apply that same logic to pool maintenance (which I imagine is a lot more annoying than keeping your floors clean), then investing in a robo pool cleaner makes a lot of sense.
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And, right now, you can get one of Amazon’s top-rated models for a fraction of the price. As of May 6, you can get the Beatbot AquaSense 2 for $849 at Amazon, down from $1,298. That’s a 35% discount or $449 savings. It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen this model go for. The only problem? Amazon marked this as a “limited-time deal,” and the countdown clock shows it ends in about 16 hours.
This thing works just like an indoor robot vacuum; it maps out its cleaning path and then uses an onboard 4-core CPU and 16 sensors to navigate using an S-path for the pool floor and an N-path to scrub the walls and waterline. It also has a “Double-Pass Scrubbing” feature for the waterline, so it’ll get the grimiest spots twice per pass. Bonus: When it’s done cleaning (or when the battery runs low), it automatically parks itself at the surface of the water so you don’t have to go diving to retrieve it.
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