Quarantine Control #6: Drive to a Marvelous Academia

It feels like we’ve been staying at home to stop the spread of the Coronavirus for years now, which hasn’t been helped by the too-active news cycle covering each rapid development. But it hasn’t even been two months since this all started. Just the same, it hasn’t been two months since the Quarantine Control feature started either, where the Damage Control staffers (primarily Joseph, Angela, and Geoff) have documented how we’ve been spending our time under continuing stay-at-home orders and recommendations. (Though a couple of them still work “essential” jobs.) Fortunately, we still have plenty to watch, and we’re perfectly willing to share them.

Joseph Daniels

Canada’s Worst Driver (2005)
Source: YouTube, among other places (both legal and less than legal)
Episodes: 112-116, depending on which ones you count

The other day, a stray thought entered my head.  “I should check and see what I’ve missed with Canada’s Worst Driver, and find out when this year’s season begins.”  I’ve admittedly not been as attentive to what certain networks like Discovery Canada have been airing as of late.  To my surprise, the show was cancelled after the fourteenth season, so it’s no wonder I never made time to watch the show last year, the final episode aired in 2018.

“Great!” was my next thought.  “I should watch the entire series from the beginning and enjoy once more some of my favourite memories of the show.”

Canada’s Worst Driver, unlike some of its foreign counterparts, positions itself as a show trying to educate both the public and the bad drivers who are nominated to be on the show each season.  While there are some criticisms one could make about the show’s format and the type of help these bad drivers would sometimes need but not receive, it’s still a pretty educational look at what to do and what to avoid on Canadian roads.  (Well, on roads in general.)

The show’s contestants were from all walks of life and each had their own issues.  From the speed demons to the slow and over-cautious, Canada’s Worst Driver showed how both of these driving habits could be a hazard on the road.  Contestants on the show could be simply uneducated, they could be struggling with anxiety, they could be suffering from physical disabilities that prevent them from being safe on the road and simply not care to improve.  Certainly, a few of the contestants on the show were frustrating to watch because they acted like they didn’t want to put in the effort to change, they just wanted to somehow be told they’re not the worst driver in Canada without earning that praise.

One of my favourite moments in Canada’s Worst Driver came in season two, when Colin Sheppard employed stunt driving techniques to intentionally fail all three challenges in one of the episodes.  It turned out that he was intentionally driving badly just so he could get on television and when he was found out, they expelled him.  Similarly, in season six, it was revealed in the second episode that Scott Schurink was using a friend’s insurance in order to drive, and his friend got so fed up with him that, during that second episode, he cancelled his insurance.  Thus, with no insurance, Scott was not legally allowed to drive any car and he was kicked off of the show.

The show had its poignant moments, too, like when it allowed Crystal in season five the opportunity to leave the show in order to mourn the loss of her brother-in-law, who was killed by a careless driver in Ontario.  This driver did not face any consequences for his actions other than a $128 fine for failing to yield.  The loss of her brother-in-law was a perfect example of the type of consequences that the series was trying to help prevent.

If that tragedy didn’t prevent an accident or two, then perhaps Aaron in season seven did.  Aaron himself was the victim of an accident which left him in a coma.  Once he recovered, he’d discovered that he lost a lot of his road skills and had himself become a bad driver, struggling to get better.  He appeared on the show and despite that the judges felt that he could’ve graduated earlier, he refused to leave until the final episode of the season, so that he could use the final road test to prove to himself that he was fully recovered.  During his stay on the show, he would constantly serve as living proof that bad driving has consequences.

The series was not above changing the formula a little bit.  Season nine had a lot in common with shows like Survivor which invited back famous contestants from prior seasons.  It was called “Canada’s Worst Driver Ever”; the worst drivers or runners up from prior seasons who were willing to return to the show all tried their best to learn enough to keep themselves from being called the worst driver they’ve ever had, but either the drivers had already improved themselves to the point where they didn’t need to be on the show in the first place, or they were too far gone for the show to help them.  One contestant ended up going to a psychological clinic about halfway through the season, for example.  Out of nine returning contestants, only four were judged improved enough at various points in the series to graduate from the Driver’s Rehab Centre, and that’s the lowest rate of graduation of any season of the show.  Even the fourteenth and final season, which only had seven contestants, managed to graduate five of them.

The series is available on YouTube, both officially and pirated, and according to Wikipedia, is apparently available on places such as the iTunes Store and Crave, but only in Canada.  Unfortunately, outside of Canada, you’ll likely have to settle for watching the pirated uploads on YouTube.

 

Geoffrey Barnes

I’m still making my way through my too-expansive movie backlog, which ballooned after subscribing to streaming services. But I’m mostly happy with the progress I’ve made. In fact, I’ve had a marvelous time in the last week, in a manner of speaking.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1
Source: Blu-ray
Episodes: It’s a movie

Guardians of the Galaxy reminded me of why I enjoy the standalone Marvel films that focus on establishing the cast of characters and the world surrounding them. This one is largely disassociated from the Marvel Cinematic Universe established in previous Marvel films at the time it released in 2014, thanks to taking place on other planets and locations in outer space. The movie focuses on establishing the GotG cast, including Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, Drax, and Rocket Raccoon, who are primarily fighting against Ronan the Accuser. It’s the latter who helps show how this movie will tie in to future Marvel films in his quest to retrieve an artifact on orders from Thanos. But Thanos himself is more in the background of the film while the attention is focused on the other characters.

Marvel films largely have a reputation of taking themselves seriously while not forgetting their light humorous aspects, which is fine. But I liked how the producers didn’t hesitate to include the GotG comic franchise’s sense of humor, along with implementing use of more, let’s say, jovial slate of music tracks compared to other films in the MCU. The real skill from the writers was making sure all that humor and lightheartedness segued well with the serious aspects of the film, which it thankfully does. None of the characters are annoying about this, or feel out of place. Despite its large cast compared to MCU films at the time, every character gets good development over the course of its two-hour runtime.

There was no way I could go without remarking how good it all looks. This isn’t surprising with a big-budget Marvel-branded movie produced by a then-soon-to-be megacorporation, but damn does it look splendid thanks to the producers having an opportunity to design locations that don’t take place on Earth. It’s easy to be cynical about the MCU at this point, but I have no problem singing the praises of a colorful one with a solid sense of humor given how dark and cynical takes made comic book film adaptations popular again.

I’m very late to the party with watching this, but it’s still enjoyable even after knowing some of the late-game MCU twists. I’ll get to the second one eventually.

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Source: Blu-ray
Episodes: It’s a movie

Meanwhile, Age of Ultron couldn’t be more of a “typical” Marvel film. The Avengers movies have been all about assembling as much of the cast as possible to fight a larger-than-life villain, with the main team led by Captain America and Iron Man here fending off against the robotic-but-formidable and titular Ultron. He’s accompanied by Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, characters the movie humorously don’t come close to acknowledging as the offspring of the X-Men franchise’s Magneto. Disney/Marvel and Fox weren’t on the best speaking terms at the time. The movie didn’t offer any surprises for a Marvel film, being full of pretty fights with dizzying stunts and special effects, alongside themes of internal conflicts and typical superhero drama as the team fights Ultron head-on.

In fact, it often felt like Age of Ultron needed to top the previous Avengers film by featuring a few too many characters. In addition to the main heroes and villains, already enough, several comparatively smaller characters introduced in previous films like War Machine and Falcon make appearances, along with characters I don’t want to name here despite this film being about five years old. It struggles to balance all of them, though the main heroes still receive a little development and tease further conflicts that could emerge in the future.

Its story and resolution are rudimentary for a modern comic book movie, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it all the way through. People don’t watch these movies in droves because they’re the most riveting films; they’re sitting in front of screens because they want an entertaining popcorn film that distracts them from the horrors of the outside world — horrors that have massively intensified since 2015. Age of Ultron more than succeeds in that.

There’s nothing wrong with criticism — it’s, in fact, quite necessary for the entertainment world. But heartless cynics will call anyone who enjoys movies like these sheep, and you have my word to not give a shit about anything they have to say if you enjoy them. Don’t waste time defending liking what you like. Hell, I’ve already spent too much time on this here, so let’s move on… to the next Marvel film.

Ant-Man
Source: Disney+
It’s a movie

Ant-Man appeared to be similar to Guardians of the Galaxy in how it would focus on establishing its characters rather than linking it to the MCU at large. That’s largely true. Much of the screen time is devoted to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), an ex-felon and thief who eventually becomes the successor to more well-known Ant-Man identity Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Lang receives constant tips from Pym and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) in the fight against Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) and his Yellowjacket suit, the latter of whom intends to use his powers for nefarious reasons.

This movie released in 2015, during a time where Disney and Marvel started getting more concerned with including every movie within the MCU at large. So, it’s not surprising that this movie is more blatantly attached than prior purportedly standalone films — especially through the post-credits scene. Given how obscure Ant-Man is and how often he hasn’t been taken seriously outside the comics, I don’t blame them for giving extra reasons for the audience to check it out. But connecting it to the MCU isn’t done at the expense of the other characters, who are firmly established.

It’s also good at balancing seriousness with humor, instead of letting the latter theme take over. The concept of a hero who can shrink himself sounds like one rife with slapstick comedy, and while it contains those moments, those powers are used for serious and entertaining purposes — especially in the latter half of the film. It helps that they have serious inspiration to draw from with the comics, and that its big budget allows for them to utilize its effects, which let the team get creative with making small environments appear large.

It couldn’t be more evident here that I enjoyed this last marvelous week, which I guess makes me sheep for the works of a soulless (or, dare I say, Heartless) megacorporation. But how can something so bad feel so good? It’s fine to give in sometimes, but never be hesitant to criticize.

 

Angela Moseley

Even as various states prepare to end their lockdowns way too early, work at my essential job continues. In fact, I’d say at my job we have surpassed holiday hours in terms of volume. The only difference here is the lack of temporary hires and no vacation lockouts. This is critical, as I will actually be able to enjoy a vacation next week. In the meantime, TV and movie watching have slowed down a little, but I have been gaming more during the weekends. I’ll be talking more about that next week. For now, enjoy a short contribution from me.

My Hero Academia, Season 4, Overhaul Arc (2019)
Source: Crunchyroll
Episodes: 15

My Hero Academia is a show that I’ve previously written about. I think recommending the entire series would be a bit much, given we’re five years and nearly 100 episodes in. Instead, I’ll talk about the last season that aired and just one story arc from that. You’re going to need some familiarity with this series to fully enjoy this recommendation. 

While My Hero Academia, season four started off a bit slow, it was clear that the Overhaul Arc was going to be a change of pace. While the philosophy, characters, and conflict it presented were good, the villainous Overhaul really made these episodes. 

The season starts off with a meeting of the League of Villains and Overhaul, leader of the Shie Hassaikai, a yakuza group. Overhual lies about wanting to join the league in order to get close to their leader, Tomura Shigaraki. In reality, Overhaul wants to restore the place of Shie Hassaikai as leaders in the crime world and negotiations break down between the two villain groups. One member of both sides is killed in a brief scuffle. The two groups eventually come to an uneasy truce with Overhaul borrowing a few members of the League for his yakuza group.

On the hero side of things, Izuku Midoriya manages to land an internship with Sir Nighteye. Nighteye was the former sidekick of All Might. The two of them parted ways when the sidekick looked into his boss’s future using his quirk, Foresight and begged the number one hero to stop after foreseeing his death. Sir Nighteye accepts Midoriya as an intern, but cannot accept the fact that All Might has chosen him as his successor instead of Mirio Togata. Togata was trained personally by Sir Nighteye and is considered to be a more fitting successor. 

While out on patrol for their internship, the two student heroes come across Overhaul out with his daughter, Eri. Eri is clearly frightened and Midoriya wants to help her, while Togata insists they don’t get involved. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the wrong decision, as it’s revealed a few days later that Shie Hassaikai has been selling bullets that can temporarily remove quirks to criminals, and the criminals have been using those bullets on heroes. At the same time, the criminals have also been using quirk enhancing drugs. The source of these dangerous items? Overhaul’s daughter, Eri. Her quirk has been harvested from her blood and fashioned into these special bullets. If Sir Nighteye’s interns had taken Eri from Overhaul when they had the chance, a raid on Shie Hassaikai wouldn’t be needed. However, it’s too late and the raid happens. It doesn’t go well as Overhaul turns out to be a formidable villain, and even with his eventual defeat the losses for the superheroes are massive. One loses their powers, and other loses their life.

As far as arcs and action go, this one was decent enough. Overhaul’s attitude and the impact it had on others were the standout moments of these episodes. Overhaul is a villain who cares very little about people, often seeing them as tools. Sure, he’s willing to give those society has cast aside a second chance and has nothing but respect for the yakuza boss raised him. That said, even in a yakuza organization he had to be reminded by the boss that people are not just tools. In a misguided attempt to restore the glory of the yakuza, he doesn’t care who he steps on among the way.

In his eyes, a society of superheroes and superpowers needs to disappear. Things were better before quirks suddenly manifested in the population and quirk-based might didn’t make right. Society wasn’t lawless and it was ruled from the shadows by organized crime. Of course, Overhaul wouldn’t be a villain if he didn’t have some level of hypocrisy. He uses his own quirk and cunning to rule over people he deems less than, and is generally a misanthrope. In an evil vs evil scenario, he’s actually outwitted and taken to task by the League of Villains. This wouldn’t have happened had he seen the League as more than tools in their negotiations. At the end of his arc, Tomura Shigaraki calls him out on his absolute hypocrisy in a surprisingly satisfying moment. This reminds you that while organized crime is a powerful force, a league filled with supervillains willingly working is far more terrifying.

The Overhaul arc won’t impress you if you’re not already a fan of My Hero Academia. And the shonen formula can get stale, but the evil vs evil vs good nature was a fun ride.

 

Stay-at-home orders and recommendations aren’t due to be lifted in select territories around the world for a while, even though too many are foolishly opening up earlier than they should be. But even those opening up are doing so with restrictions, with continued recommendations to stay home as much as possible scattered about. Entertainment venues also remain closed. The best entertainment is being and will be subsumed at home, and since you can read these entries while there, Quarantine Control will return.