Original Air Date: November 14 2015
Opening:
Wow this is a bit of a long one, sorry guys and also sorry on being a bit late Life kinda got ahead of me. So I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but both Wikipedia and IMDB both only have 2 more episodes scheduled for this season. I should obviously know this but I really don’t. Is that it for season 1? Let me know down in the comments. But for now enjoy my recap and review on Episode 8: Hitchin’ a Ride. Wait isn’t that a Green Day song? Huh. Anyways on with the show.
(Edit:) Just looked and there’s more than just 10, just only 10 listed as of right now.
Recap:
This episode opens on unnamed planet, the CryptoCube aka Boom Box map according to Star-Lord lead them there. Rocket just had to lend his two cents but failed to follow through. Way to go buddy.
Good one buddy! Not really but you tried. A for effort.An alarm is tripped and the team argues whodunit. The trap springs to life and lights rockets tail on fire. Ok now I feel bad for making fun of him. So Rocket now has to save them, using his pocket dimension thingy he stole from The Collector way back, but someone’s been using it to clean the ship… Rude.
And you didn’t notice how quick the ship was cleaned?Then Star-Lord makes the most overused tree pun ever to tell Groot to get them out of there. “Make like a tree and Leave.” Wow. Just when I thought his puns couldn’t get any more ridiculous. They end up in a mining facility empty and of course Star-Lord has to mess with the echo except it echoed back the first thing he said, awkward. Oh and apparently the Vashta Nerada from Doctor Who show up wait never mind, but they get attacked by it. And opening!
Don’t you dare finish that pun Quill, oh geeze he did.They fight the darkness thingy, still no name yet. And Gamora warns them not to touch it and Drax just stabs as usual. Oh wait Gamora called them Symbiotes. Well here’s our Spidey Reference we’ve been waiting for, wait you haven’t been waiting for it? Just me? Oh ok. Drax gets overtaken and become Venom Drax. Fun times.
Venom Drax mad. Venom Drax Smash! Wait wrong show again.Groot fights him to hold him back. Star-Lord and Rocket use their flame guns to hold them back thus saving Drax in the process. But they adapted and worked into the firewall. Hello computer analogy. I guess they are cranking up the heat for references these last few episodes this season.
Wrong team, right idea.They try to escape in a mine cart. Apparently when Star-Lord was a kid he saw an Indiana Jones film, I think, a lot as a child and is replicating it. Also he explained movies to Drax, he isn’t a fan.
So you’re telling me that he didn’t do all of that in the movies?Off they go and Star-Lord discovers the speakers and because it’s him we now get the funky beats of Shake Your Groove Thing as they fight off the Symbiotes.
Oh good! A fun track for a fun cart ride!
OH NO I was so wrong, make it stop. Disco go away!Gamora notices the track ends abruptly and gets Drax to Brake, wait no wrong he ends up breaking the brake. Yep. Oops. Did you forget he’s a literal being?
Your use of word choice around Drax needs to be super specific, or this just might happen to you.They fly off only to land back on the track. Groot gets attacked and they clearly can’t use fire, because he’s a tree so Drax had to do the next best thing, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. style and chop his arm off. Groot wasn’t too happy about that.
Woah I’m getting flashbacks, no not the arm!They use the power of music to get through a wall and Groot wants it to stop as they reach the actual end of the line.
Sarcasm really doesn’t work when you have to explain it.Yondu returns to take the CryptoCube to Korath. Star-Lord strikes a deal saying the Ravagers can have everything in the mine, bad idea. And the Symbiotes come attacking. Now they have to protect them. The whole bonding issue would make the Ravagers worse. Rocket digs through his pocket dimension thing for a weapon but finds an interesting item.
And the Greatest Weapon is a pair of Star-Lord’s Underwear!This actually proves useful when Rocket decides to use his pocket dimension to trap the Symbiotes. Though I have a real bad feeling about this idea. And I thought Star-Lord had bad ideas. Cue montage! They leave and off they go except one. Next stop no idea, but we get to see a baby Groot arm on adult Groot body. So that’s cool!
Not sure buddy, but hey the arm’s growing back in nicely.Groot tries to get out of his chores when we find him dusting the ship with leaves. And it looks like the engine went out and Star-Lord lost his tape player. Probably left it on the mine cart… Just saying. The Symbiote follows Groot and Drax and fuses with Drax. And causing hallucinations to the others. Oh and changing the map to the Kree Homeworld probably a bad idea. Once again Gamora is the first to come to her senses and spots one before it tries to bond with her.
Either that or you’re going crazy, you do hang with Quill all day.The Symbiotes continue to echo through the ship while Star-Lord looks for his “tunes.” Come on dude you should have picked up on this by now. Wait is that, yep and we have an Invasion of the Body Snatchers reference wow! Star-Lord finds Gamora and Drax in pods and tries to rescue and then it pans over to a shadowy Groot like figure.
Thank you Captain Obvious.Rocket still is fixing the ship and what do you know Venom Groot is here to help. Star-Lord comes in to rescue with flames, umm I’m going to make a quick side note. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING STAR-LORD YOU REALIZE HES WOOD RIGHT? Ok wow. That felt good. And now it’s just Star-Lord and Rocket. And for Pete’s sake Star-Lord it’s Symbiote not Kumbaya. I swear he’s going to be the death of everyone.
Why does he not get it? Everyone else did!Rocket and Star-Lord escape and now they have to fight back. There’s no other way. Venom Groot ripped out the comms. So Rocket creates a music gun. Creative! Venom Groot breaks in and now tells the plan to the remaining two. Take the cosmic seed and repopulate. Music gun activates and is surprisingly effective saving Groot. Ok well not really. Oh man not again. I cried the last time he died.
Cue waterfalls of tears, for the third time.Rocket tries to find something to grow him back and is freaking out and a once in a while miracle happens, Star-Lord has a good idea. The arm that got chopped off happens to be in the dimension storage thing. Rocket is about to head in when the age old discussion of 1, 2, 3 or 1, 2, 3 go should be used. Wow.
There are only a handful of times where his plans actually make sense. This is one of those times.Now inside of Dimension thingy it’s all greyscale, neato! Now begins the task of sifting through everything to find Groot’s arm. Rocket finds the hive and sound blasts them. The scene is cool since the gun’s muzzle flash is the only color in the scene. Back on board the Milano Star-Lord takes the controls to then be Facetimed by Yondu. Impeccable timing there. And they take him captive.
Umm hold on a moment, didn’t you almost let him get eaten?Drax wakes up in the pod and fights his way out to see Gamora already out. Back to Rocket he finally finds the arm and pulls his laser knife for some Precision Dis-Arming. Wow these puns are bad.
Clever dog, I mean raccoon.Back to Star-Lord Yondu finds the storage vial and Star-Lord begs for him not to open it. But Yondu opens it anyway and out comes Rocket before the Symbiotes arrive. Bad call… They escape after meeting back up with Drax and Gamora. Back on the Milano Star-Lord says hold onto your shorts. And boy does Drax hold on for dear life.
Once again choice of words make all the difference with Drax.Yondu and crew leave cursing the Guardians in a Scooby Doo fashion as the ship becomes over run. Oh and apparently all of Rocket’s tools come built with explosives too. Huh.
We’re blasting off again thanks to you meddling kids and your mangy raccoon!They get Groot back into a pot in what looks to be the weirdest incarnation of little Groot ever. I think I’ll be having nightmares for weeks about this one. And the episode ends with Rocket now on cleaning duty.
Nightmare fuel: Tree EditionFinal Thoughts:
So this episode was kind of a heavier episode. More references than I can count on both hands, Groot almost actually dying again, and disco. There are some gripes I have with it. Mainly the absurd amount of puns but that’s really Star-Lord’s schtick. But this episode did give me some great moments to mention and I did laugh for quite a bit so there’s that. And to my knowledge there’s only 2 more episodes this season so who knows what’s next. Do they find the Cosmic Seed? Where’s Thanos? What are the Avengers up to? Who knows? Stay tuned though. It should be a wild ride.
Guardians of the Galaxy airs Saturdays only on Disney XD