Calvin and Hobbes: The Series/Recap/S3 TVM 1 The Five Calvins

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Before the episode proper begins, the Special Edition Title appears - it involves a Deliberately Monochrome Calvin showing up and quoting the First Doctor from Doctor Who goodbye speech. From there, the Peter Davison-era Doctor Who theme plays, overlaid on clips from past episodes.


The story proper begins with Calvin at school. He's bored out of this skull, as there hadn't been any attacks or anything lately. In fact, the other four protagonists are also resting peacefully.

However, in an alternate universe, a mysterious figure dips a scoop into a bowl-like object, and snatches each of Calvin's three alter egos from their home worlds into another dimension via tornado, causing Calvin great pain in the process. Though nobody cares at first, he soon draws their attention. Indeed, more tornadoes arrive in the real world to suck the other four protagonists. Calvin is left fading in and out, paraphrasing the Fifth Doctor.

"A man is the sum of his memories, you know? And I'm not even more so."

Sound familiar? It should.

Anyway, shortly afterwards, he's sucked up by the last tornado, and the shadowy figure organizes his victims (represented as figurines) - Andy and Tracer Bullet, Socrates and Stupendous Man, Sherman and Spaceman Spiff, and lastly Calvin and Hobbes.

Elsewhere, Holographic Retro is tied to a chair. An evil voice addresses him, asking him to save Calvin and Hobbes in exchange for planetary control.

Several smaller tornadoes deposit everyone in various places in the Death Zone, along with the cardboard box. H. Retro, who is viewing this through a screen, is given both The Seal of the Good Man and a transmat recall device before teleporting off into the Death Zone.

Spiff wakes up in a Hall of Mirrors, and after some confused crashing into the walls and finding a piece of paper, he meets up with Sherman, neither batting an eye at how he could meet a non-physical entity. A Dalek shows up soon after, which they easily outsmart. Meanwhile, "Stupey" and Socrates run away from a Cyberman, the former picking up another sheet of paper while they do so. Tracer Bullet, wandering around the small country road, finds Andy hanging from a cliff and saves him using a vine.


The Tropes of Rassilon:

Spaceman Spiff: Hmmm. A hall of mirrors. This is kind of like one of those things they have in fun houses.

(pause)

Spaceman Spiff: If fun houses had pieces of broken jagged glass all around and forcefully bring you to them, then sure. A fun house.

"Wow. R2D2 really let himself go."

  1. Calvin is the Fifth, Spiff is the First, Stupendous Man is the Second, and Tracer is the Third.
  2. Hobbes is Tegan, Sherman is Susan, Socrates is the Brigadier, and Andy is Sarah Jane