Samurai Jack: Season One Review

After falling in love with Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal I became interested in watching his previous work Samurai Jack. If you are unfamiliar with Genndy’s name, you’ve still probably enjoyed his shows. His other shows include Powerpuff Girls, Dexters Lab, and Clone Wars (2003). 

In Samurai Jack the titular samurai is forced to flee his village after the return of the evil Aku. He spends years traveling around the world learning all the skills needed to end Aku’s reign before finally being able to defeat Aku in combat. However, before he can strike the final blow, Aku traps the samurai in a portal to the far flung future where Aku has reigned for centuries. It is here where the samurai adopts the name of Jack and sets out on his quest to return to the past. AND THAT’S JUST THE FIRST EPISODE!

Jack vs. Aku

The rest of the season Jack quests after various legendary items in an attempt to go back home. Jack being in the future makes the show a genre blend of both samurai and sci-fi films, not unlike the recent Mandalorian. Jack armed only with his traditional garbs and katana is often forced to face off against laser wielding robots. By the way, the shows action is terrific. It's energetic, frantic and intense. Jack often finds himself up against nearly unstoppable odds.

The first season has a bit of a tonal whiplash, however. Sometimes things can get pretty silly, with the likes of talking dogs; but the same episode has Jack facing off against hordes of robots in a guerrilla warfare style. Samurai Jack is at its best when it’s drawing from the likes of Kurosawa, and Sergio Leone films. Many lingering close ups on a character's eyes really help to build tension in a scene. While slow panoramic shots allow you to soak in all of the scenery. If you enjoyed The Mandalorian or any of Genndy’s previous works and still haven’t seen Samurai Jack, you owe it to yourself to give it a watch. 

A Young Jack Travels the World

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The Truth Behind Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Imagine waking up one day, your child, spose, mother, and father--everyone you know replaced by identical copies. Only you know they are different, and no one will believe you. This is the plot of Jack Finley's 1954 novel The Body Snatchers. It’s also a real world psychological condition.

Body Snatchers (and the film Invasion of the body Snatchers) is about a town whose citizens systemically disappear before being replaced by identical pod people. These replicas have the same physical characteristics, personalities, and memories as their original recipe counterparts. Eventually the remaining humans find some significant differences and send those aliens packing in true post war fashion. In the beginning, however, the aliens mostly fit in. Only their loved ones could tell something was off.

In chapter one of the book, Doctor Miles is told Wilma believes her Uncle Ira has been replaced by an impostor. After confirming “Every little move, everything about him is exactly like Ira’s”, Doctor Miles decides to talk to Wilma herself. On page 19 Wilma explains:

“Miles, he looks, sounds, acts, and remembers exactly like Ira. On the outside. But inside he’s different. His responses aren’t emotionally right. ....there’s something missing, and the same thing is true of Aunt Aleda, lately.”

Wilma's story is a textbook example of the psychological disorder known as Capgras Syndrome. According to Healthline:

“Capgras syndrome is a psychological condition. It’s also known as “imposter syndrome” or “Capgras delusion.” People who experience this syndrome will have an irrational belief that someone they know or recognize has been replaced by an imposter. They may, for example, accuse a spouse of being an imposter of their actual spouse. This can be upsetting for both the person experiencing the delusion and the person who is accused of being an imposter.”

Unfortunately for Wilma, none of the doctors had heard about Capgras. One of them even suggested a good old fashioned bleeding might help her out.

 

Body Snatchers is a pretty terrible book, yet the description of what Wilma was going through is so spot on, one can only assume Jack Finley knew somebody afflicted with Capgras Syndrome. He probably had no idea what the cause of the delusion was, but was inspired to write a story where people really got replaced by impostors. Mental health awareness has come a long way since the 1950's, but we still aren't where we need to be. If you’re interested in learning more about Capgras Syndrome, please check out this TED talk. It's how I was originally able to learn about Capgras.

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