Henry the man-Beast snap judgements ( spoilers)
Henry has a Girlfriend, and she looks like Mischa Barton younger sister, and just as Henry is making the transition into adulthood, he accidentally hits a switch on a gadget in the man-cave and symbolically turns into a were-beast, due to speeded up testosterone . Its a clever analogy between the difference between the hairless child and the beast that comes from the Id of the adolescent.
It looks like Captain Man really has a friend his own age in Woz, which changes the dynamic of the show,somebody he can actually talk to and joke around with.
The epode revolves around Henrys Date at a fancy restaurant , and how does Henry get the money for the date -he steals 100 hundred dollars from Captain Man-his very first act as a adolescent. As the elements of his transformation accelerate, Henry becomes more aggressive, grow arm pit hair, begins working out, becoming more macho, and more obnoxious.
While on the date with little Mischa he gets hairier and hairer and almost gets into a fight, he orders his steak rear-very rear-not cooked at all. while he digs in, Jasper arrives in a bad mood, because Henry-very unhenry like has ditched Jasper for his little girlfriend, Jasper throws a salad in Henry's face and Henry retaliates with a steak slap to the chops of Jasper. One of the very first Steak slaps i have ever seen.
Its interesting that the more Henry acts like a beast the more he acts like another Syder creation Sam Puckett.
Captain Man arrives to save the day, Starting a fire in a Bread Basket, Charlotte is also there, and this adolescence thing must be contagious because Charlotte takes a whole bowl of mints.
Woz figures out a way to reverse the process but not before , one of the weirdest moments of the show, when Woz turns Henry into a girl.
Free of his supercharged Testerone, Henry meets up with his girlfriend, she sneaks in through his bedroom window, what is it with Henry window anyway, he is on the second floor, and people just walk right in his window like they are walking in off the street, you have to admit its a brave new world for teens, back in the old day when a guy wanted to talk to a girl and invite her over, the phone would ring in the girls house and Dad or Mom would know exactly what was going on, now , with cell phones and Facebook, and texting, they bypass messy things like snooping parents.and if the girl can just enter through the bedroom dinner, they really have the best of both worlds .
Henry who is back to normal, reveals his chest-"Smooth" to his girl who respond with the catch line " I like it," It looks like Henry is going to kiss his Girl, when Jasper suddenly barges in, in a perfect Kiss block, and then Steak Slaps Henry in the face, ending the episode with a good bellylaugh.
This was one of the few episodes that works as a metaphor for its main theme, as Henry got a girlfriend and moved out of his childhood years and into the confusing adolescent years, all three of the main kid characters showed adolescent tendencies, everything from jealousy, stealing, and violent behavior.
Adolescence is a tricky time, as the body grows and the Brain grows synapses , which i will shed later, the person moves away from childhood and towards a search for independence , a striving to create their own unique way in the world, its a time of risk taking and wanting to experiment , all of the characters in this episode do things they have never done before.
As the show was picked up for a second season-the body changes we will see in the next year will not be so easily reversed. Characters will get taller, their voices might change, the smooth skin might grow blemishes, mother nature and time are a lot more dangerous then any device in the man cave.
The question is: will we see more of Henry girlfriend, or will the next time we see her be a new Dan Snyder sitcom because she is the perfect type, pretty and can act. Is this the next Justified, or Icarly girl?