Episode Recap
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Monkey Fist Strikes
| As she and Ron are hanging hundreds of feet in the air, clinging to the rocky face of a tall mountain, Kim uses her wrist-mounted palm-pilot to track an eaglet (baby eagle, that is) with an injured wing…by a flashing electronic band around its leg. While a screaming Ron and Rufus hug the rocks far below her, Kim finds the eaglet in a dark cave on a ledge. While Ron tries to haul himself onto another ledge (he instead yanks his pants down...again), Kim tucks the eaglet into the leather pouch on her belt and parachutes to the ground…using a stylin’ purple silk chute. After handing the rescued eaglet (a most rare breed) to a park ranger on the forest trail, Kim answers her video-cell phone...it’s her dad. Instead of being proud of her, however, he’s upset with Kim because she’s missed yet another family game night. (Her being on the other side of the country, where it’s still day, doesn’t help at all.) Never mind that this was an emergency, Dr. Possible scolds his daughter; her cousin Larry is very disappointed. Actually, Larry is 50% of the reason Kim ditched family game night; he’s creepy, annoying, and obsessed with role-playing games. Meanwhile, Ron drops headfirst into the back of a truck. (Kim didn’t even bother to save him and Rufus; loyal gal, ain’t she?) After Kim literally spends 24 hours (all the way home) explaining all the things she can’t stand about Larry, it turns out that he and Ron both enjoy the videogame Fortress…and the comic books it spawned, as well as the movie Ios, all of which Kim considers a stupid waste of time. At school, Kim finds a message on her website from Lord Monty Fiske, the famous archaeologist. He has discovered the location of a rare artifact, in Cambodia, but needs Kim’s help to get it. Kim and Ron get a lift to Cambodia from a squad of commandos (whom she has previously assisted, while Ron almost got them killed) and their troop-transport plane. She enters a dank, hot jungle flittering with insects…and spots the vine-and-leaf-covered ruins of a monkey temple in the distance. Said matter is complicated when Ron’s simian-phobia kicks in; he once had to bunk with Camp Wannaweep’s mascot, Bo-Bo the chimp, and has been terrified of monkeys ever since. The teens are greeted by Lord Monty Fiske and his valet, Bates. Ron doesn’t trust Fiske, although Lord Monty is a highly-respected scholar and explorer; the sentiment is mutual. Kim negotiates a maze of booby-trapped tunnels to reach a solid-jade monkey-statue…which, supposedly, will generate “mystical monkey power” when aligned precisely within the temple. Braving everything from fire to spikes to snakes, Kim retrieves the jade monkey for a grateful Fiske. Kim and Ron spend the night at Lord Monty’s jungle-camp, where a ninja attempts to steal the jade monkey. The ninja uses Ron, who’s stuck in his sleeping bag, as a weapon to fight off Kim…who vows to get the jade monkey back. Back home the next morning, Kim’s aunt June invites the entire Possible family over for dinner on Saturday…another potential “game night” for Larry, who never has friends over. (Can you blame them?) Yet Ron, being Ron, would love to meet Larry...who sounds to him like a fun guy. Wade discovers that there are actually four temples like the one Kim raided in Cambodia, each with its own jade monkey statue. All four jade monkeys are needed to give the owner “mystical monkey power.” At his rambling stone Castle in the remote English countryside, Lord Monty Fiske reveals to Bates why he hired Kim Possible to handle those primitive booby traps and retrieve that jade monkey: he didn’t want to injure his big, hairy (transplanted) monkey-hands and monkey-feet. Fiske himself masqueraded as that thieving ninja, to throw suspicion off himself. Lord Monty has built his own monkey-temple within Castle Fiske; now, with all four jade monkeys in his possession, “mystical monkey power” will be his. Elsewhere, Kim and Ron decide to consult Fiske about the legend surrounding the jade monkeys and temples. The appointment is set for the weekend…when Kim is expected for dinner with her relatives! Saturday night finds Ron at Castle Fiske, alone. Back in Middleton, Kim greets Larry…who, this evening, is masquerading as “Othar,” from the movie Return to Ios. He proceeds to show off his collection of Ios action figures. Kim works hard at looking impressed. Back at Castle Fiske, Lord Monty shows up in a black martial-arts outfit. He reveals himself to be a grandmaster of “monkey kung-fu”…technically, “Tai-Shing-Pek-Kwar.” Then he stands in the center of all four jade monkeys and is hit with a burst of glowing light. With his newly-achieved mystic monkey mojo, Lord Monty Fiske becomes LORD MONKEY FIST. Back in Middleton, it turns out Larry’s been following the career of Lord Monty Fiske for some time, long enough to know about his grand-mastery of Tai-Shing-Pek-Kwar. Realizing that she and Ron have been set up, Kim attempts to warn her sidekick, although Larry would rather play Star Trek. Back at Castle Fiske, Lord Monkey Fist is about to destroy Ron when his serenity chimes go off; it’s time to meditate, since Tai-Shing-Pek-Kwar is half mental. (No way! If that's not the worst type of dramatic cheat, I'm Jackie Chan.) Ron uses the opportunity to escape, with Bates in hot pursuit, but is finally cornered by Lord Monkey Fist. Back in Middleton, Larry explains the fundamentals of Fortress level nine: To defeat the Cloud Guardian, you must drink from his enchanted well (don't ask)…thereby becoming that which you fear most. This gives Kim an idea. She passes this data to Ron, thousands of miles away. Back at Castle Fiske, Ron flees to the monkey temple’s center, surrounded by the four jade monkeys. He becomes an instant grandmaster of Tai-Shing-Pek-Kwar, and proceeds to fight it out with Lord Monkey Fist. Bates tries to clobber Ron from behind with a fireplace poker, but Rufus—also magically endowed with “mystical monkey power”—prevents him from doing so. But then Lord Monkey Fist gets the upper hand against Ron and prepares to finish him off. Again Rufus comes to the rescue, this time by knocking over all four jade monkey statues, which shatter. (Jade is the toughest substance found in nature; would it really break so easily?) Back in Middleton, Kim sits through numerous “fan-fic” stories written by Larry. Then Ron shows up and, fascinated, begs Larry to continue. While they happily discuss the rebellion on Bernalus (don’t ask) and the Shrieker Rebellion from Moon Beyond Ios, Kim seizes the opportunity to bail and head home. |
