Calvin and Hobbes: The Series/Recap/S3 TVM 2 Thunderstorm

"After he is accidentally freed from his prison, Dr. Brainstorm's insane rival, Dr. Thunderstorm, attacks the Earth.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6"

After Dr. Brainstorm's most prestigious project yet, the Doom Satellite (which tampers with several other satellites), is utterly wrecked by Calvin and company (because DirectTV's satellite was shut down by him), a stray laser blast from the battle ricochets towards Earth, unknown to anyone...

It burrows through pavement and dirt and eventually hits a shiny chrome sphere, releasing a Killer Robot - Shadow. Newly awakened, he rushes off to a cold landscape, where he goes into an abandoned lair, awakening another evil trapped in stasis - Thunderstorm, his master. Bemoaning post-stasis trauma, he switches on the lab, upon which he finds out he's been sealed for five years because of Dr. Brainstorm.

As Calvin holds a secret GROSS meeting with Hobbes in his room (thanks to Rosalyn), Dr. Brainstorm returns to his lab defeated. Before he can leave to think of Super Plan B, he gets a call. It's Thunderstorm and Shadow, shocking the heck out of both him and Jack. The message contains little more than a declaration that he's going to Take Over the World. When it finishes, Brainstorm immediately starts ranting and raving about him, before suggesting they build a Trojan Horse to fool him. Jack figures that he;d probably need Calvin and Hobbes' help, but...

"Brainstorm: Oh, no. Oh no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not! Negative! No way! Never! And in case you didn't pick on that, NO!

Jack: Right. Now how about you tell me why it is that when you need help, you refuse it.

Brainstorm: Because I want to be the heroic villain, okay? There's got to be at least one time where I'm the one who has a victory!"

Nonetheless, Jack teleports over to Calvin and Hobbes to discuss things with them. Via flashback, he reveals that the two had a pretty big Sibling Rivalry going on - Thunderstorm was Always Someone Better to Brainstorm, until the latter accidentally trapped the former in stasis. Calvin gathers the rest of the gang, Hobbes vanishing as per usual.

Back at Thunderstorm's lab, Shadow's duplicator is shown for the first time. He gets a call from Brainstorm, whom he mocks. After he attempts to send one of the Shadows to assassinate him, the gang bust through the entrance of his lab to stop him. He sics a Shadow at them, which they easily defeat. Unfortunately, its clone is also a Technopath, and traps the boys with wires before the MTM saves them.

After some more battling, Shadow initiates the "Last Resort Robo-Launcher" -

Tropes:
"(on the cliched-ness of "I'm Your Worst Nightmare") "It's like having 555 for a phone number.""
 * 555: Conversed by Andy:

""I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW IT DOESN'T! JACK IS EQUIPPED WITH AUTO-REPAIR NANOTECHNOLOGY, NOW! THAT ARM IS ON THERE FOR GOOD! WE HAVEN'T EVEN USED THAT GAG SINCE OUR FIRST APPEARANCE ON THE SHOW!""
 * Arc Welding: According to Dr. Brainstorm, everything he's done in the series thus far was leading up to the Doom Satellite.
 * The Bad Guy Wins: Discussed by Brainstorm.
 * Barrier Warrior: The MTM.
 * Big Bad: Thunderstorm.
 * The Dragon: Shadow.
 * Character Title
 * Cobweb of Disuse: Several litter Thunderstorm's lair.
 * Continuity Nod: Calvin mentions Brainstorm's earlier plot to steal the world's electricity.
 * Thunderstorm references Jack's left arm being loose, which infuriates Brainstorm:


 * Desperation Attack: Shadow's "Last Resort Robo-Launcher".
 * Department of Redundancy Department: Brainstorm defying Enemy Mine.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: The boys' reason for stopping Brainstorm yet again? DirectTV's satellite was shut down by him.
 * Doomy Dooms of Doom: The Doom Satellite.
 * Dramatic Shattering: Some guy drops a coffee cup when he witnesses Shadow's reawakening.
 * Dynamic Entry: Calvin and co. bust through Thunderstorm's lab's entrance.
 * Enemy Mine: Defied by Brainstorm; ends up playing it straight.
 * Evil Counterpart: Thunderstorm and Shadow to Brainstorm and Jack, respectively.
 * Expospeak Gag: When Thunderstorm reveals Shadow's Concentrated Electrical Manipulator (basically technopathical abilities).
 * Flash Back: One reveals Thunderstorm's rivalry with Brainstorm - the former was Always Someone Better, and the latter accidentally trapped him in stasis, essentially saving the world and fueling his own ego.
 * Force Field: The MTM can make one.
 * And to everyone's surprise, the Doom Satellite has one as well.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: One kicks off the plot of this TV movie.
 * Good Thing You Can Heal: A villainous example with Shadow.
 * Human Popsicle: Thunderstorm.
 * I'm Your Worst Nightmare: Calvin says this to Thunderstorm, and Socrates remarks that it wasn't even remotely threatening since it's been overused.
 * Kill It with Fire: Shadow has Dual-Wielding dual laser cannons in his palms that can blast fire.
 * Lemony Narrator: He comments on Shadow looking like Jack during his "evil" episode.
 * He also Lampshades Shadow's "The Grudge-like" manner of crawling up.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Everyone else is shocked when Dr. Brainstorm makes a reasonably serious-sounding threat.
 * Not to mention how he actually thought his plan through for once.
 * Made of Iron: Shadow, who at one point survives several blasts of fire, the Scream Horn, and several lasers from the heroes.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Brainstorm's Catch Phrase actually knocks Jack off his feet at one point.
 * Medium Awareness: "It's a long story and should probably be done with a Flash Back..."
 * Also see the second Continuity Nod above.
 * Me's a Crowd: Shadow has a duplicator.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: If Calvin hadn't reflected that laser, this TV movie wouldn't have happened.
 * Oh Crap and OOC Is Serious Business: Brainstorm and Jack do this upon finding a recording from Thunderstorm.
 * Indeed, the latter's fear of him is what drives Calvin and Hobbes to realize this is serious.
 * Palette Swap: Thunderstorm, to Brainstorm.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Hobbes' tendency to do this is Deconstructed.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Thunderstorm and Shadow.
 * Technopath: Shadow.
 * Trojan Horse: Brainstorm suggests doing this to fool Thunderstorm.
 * Wall Crawl: Shadow can do this.
 * Wham! Episode: A series which has had nothing but easily defeated villains up to this point suddenly gains a competent one, which the series' main villains fear greatly.
 * Wolverine Claws: Shadow has these.