Episode 44 - My Two Bobs

Last week's episode saw the resolution of the first of Season 4's arcs, concluding the Daemon plot line which had it's seeds planted in Season 3. Following that resolution emerged a new plot - a second Bob who hasn't been degraded in the Web like the Bob who Matrix found in The Web. Is this Bob the copy? What if the old Bob's the copy? Which one will Dot marry? These three questions serve as the main driving plot for the majority of this arc, and this first episode manages to set this up pretty well.

With a new arc comes a new intro. This time, we get Bob narrating with a similar monologue to the first season (albeit shortened to fit the 30 second intro) over clips from the previous arc and a few clips of what's to come.

Following this intro, we begin the episode with a sitcom styled opening complete with a laugh track. Dot enters the diner, which is met with cheers from the studio audience. The audience boo's Cecil's intolerance for Enzo's antics, and laugh at Enzo's antics. When Glitch Bob (the Bob who merged with Glitch) enters the Diner, the audience is silent. He gets knocked over by Enzo, who instantly runs off after doing so. Then the second Bob enters, and is met with cheers as his shadow hangs over Glitch Bob's. Bob 2 sits down and joins Dot, who instantly gets doughy eyed. When Glitch Bob gets up, Dot gets overwhelmed. We then get a parody of the Brady Bunch intro that displays the title of this arc, 'My Two Bobs'.

It turns out this sequence was a dream of Dot's, and she's confiding all her feelings to Phong. She says that she's been having these dreams since Bob returned. When Phong asks her which one she's going to marry, she says that she doesn't know. At the Diner, the two Bobs are sat opposite other and are attempting to engage each other in conversation. Both Bob's seem convinced that the other is the copy and that they are the original. However, this conversation is cut short by the system voice announcing an Incoming Game.

Over in Lost Angles, Matrix is conducting a training exercise with the CPU's - involving the use of live ammunition. AndrAIa finds out about this and instantly puts a stop to it, interrogating Matrix about what he's doing. Matrix says his enemies don't use blanks, and that now they've won, he's not sure what to do now. AndrAIa says that they now relax, but then they hear the voice announcing the Incoming Game, something which seems to excite Matrix.

Both Bobs, Enzo, Matrix, and AndrAIa begin to head towards the game together. Matrix gives Enzo an order that he's not to go into the game since they have no idea what Hexadecimal has done to it. This is echoed by Dot when she shows up. She also orders that Glitch Bob doesn't enter the game because of what happened the last time he tried to ReBoot (something that Bob 2 seems all too eager to hear about). AndrAIa elects to stay behind with Glitch Bob and Enzo, and then Matrix and Bob 2 enthusiastically leave to fight the game.

Glitch Bob, AndrAIa, and Enzo go to Al's in order to get Bob an Energy Shake since he has no chance of getting served by Cecil. Glitch Bob isn't in the best mood, feeling that Dot 'couldn't wait to get rid of him'. AndrAIa tries to reassure him that she's just a busy sprite and has to check in with Mouse and Ray. Then an anthropomorphic '&' gets thrown out of the diner, with Al's Waiter telling him 'And Stay Out!'

Inside the game, Bob is concerned about not being able to access Game Stats without Glitch, but luckily Matrix is familiar with this game as he played it when he was younger. They're in the final level of a game called 'Patsu Hebi X', a multi level fight game with a twist. Matrix and Frisket ReBoot, with Matrix becoming a cross between Ash Ketchum from Pokemon and Goku from DragonBall Z, and Frisket becoming a puppy version of Pikachu from Pokemon. This amuses Bob, but this changes once he ReBoot's and finds himself trapped in a small dodecahedron.

Mouse is giving her report to Dot, and tells her that in spite of some minor system problems (presumably Hexadecimal), the net mostly appears to be back to normal, as if Daemon was never there. Mouse then swiftly switches the conversation to which Bob Dot has chosen. Dot tells her she can't tell her which one, as she doesn't know herself.

Back in the game, Matrix explains to Bob how the game works - Bob is a creature called a Patsu Hebi X, and Matrix is his trainer. Matrix keeps Bob inside the tiny container and releases him to fight for him. This is something that disturbs Bob greatly, but before it can be discussed further, the User arrives on a boat, ready to fight. The user unleashes his creatures, but Matrix is able to use 'Bobzilla' to defeat them using both his 'Atomic Nostril Blast' and his 'Atomic Bottom Burp'. However, after Bob has defeated a handful of his creatures, The User sends out more. Bob asks Matrix for help, but Matrix can only call strategy and is unable to fight the Hebi X's. To make matters worse, The User has a full set of 150.

In Al's Diner, some disgruntled binomes get ignored by Al's Waiter, and find themselves reminiscing about the good old days when they were viral since they got more respect back then. They then turn to a timid binome next to them who says he was never Viral and begin beating him. Enzo reassures Bob that being a copy isn't so bad since he's a copy himself. Bob takes this on board, feeling that it doesn't make a difference if he's the copy since he's always been him.

Back in the game, Bob is overwhelmed by the User's creatures. He calls for Matrix to help, but Matrix says it's against the rules. Bob points out that Matrix is a renegade and could cheat. Matrix then appears to be heading towards the user with a flying kick, but it turns out that he was just against a background with Frisket running on a treadmill. Matrix then hits the user, who prepares to strike back (something which doesn't phase Matrix), but just as he's about to strike, Bob steps on him, ending the game. 

Glitch Bob, AndrAIa, and Enzo watch the game leave. Glitch Bob, while happy they won, finds it strange not being in there with them. Bob and Matrix gleefully reminisce about the game, and Bob calls Matrix 'Enzo', which he doesn't seem to mind coming from this Bob. Bob then ends up ruining the mood by asking Matrix if he 'fancies a game of Jet Ball'.

Dot storms into Phong's Office, and seems very frustrated about the appearance of the second Bob since it's messed up her plans. She felt she could finally be happy with Glitch Bob since Daemon, Hexadecimal and Megabyte were all gone, but the appearance of the second Bob has complicated matters as she now has to pick one of them. She explains to Phong that when she sees Glitch Bob, she's reminded of all the horrible things they've been through, whereas with Bob 2, she's reminded of the good times and that being with him feels like 'coming home'.

This is a fairly good start to the arc which sets up the status quo of this particular story. The plot feels a lot slower paced in comparison to Daemon Rising, but there doesn't appear to be much tension or high stakes in the plot. This can make the overall plot of the episode feel less engaging in comparison to what we've had since Season 2. However, there is some great stuff in this episode, namely the humour and some character moments.

One of my favourite moments in this episode is the part where Matrix is training in Lost Angles and his conversation with AndrAIa afterwards. Matrix has been fighting pretty much his entire life, having fought through the games to get back to Mainframe and then battling Megabyte upon his return. Even after Megabyte was defeated and Mainframe was restored, there wasn't much respite as the Mainframers were instantly in battle against Daemon. Now the fighting is over, Matrix feels somewhat at a loss and isn't sure what to do with himself. This is a great moment, and it would have been great to explore this aspect of the character more in the series since as a whole, Matrix doesn't get as much to do in this arc and it would have been great for him to get some development with him trying to find peace after a lifetime of fighting.

Last week, I mentioned that Dot appears to have PTSD. The arrival of the second Bob now appears to have heightened this since now she associates Glitch Bob with all the traumatic things the characters have experienced. The fact that Glitch Bob has scars from his time in The Web probably doesn't help matters as I imagine they serve as a physical reminder of all that pain. However, Bob 2 looks like the Bob she remembers falling in love with, and even sounds like him (literally since they brought back Michael Beneyar, the voice of Bob in the first two seasons to do his voice). Also adding to the confusion is that it's not clear which Bob is the original and which is the copy since the scans are inconclusive.

Glitch Bob also has some baggage to deal with, finding himself sidelined due to his failing Glitch powers, something that leaves him out of going into games, a problem which this new Bob doesn't have. While his friends aren't giving up on him, he feels like this new Bob is replacing him. This carries on Bob's arc that started in Daemon Rising with him at risk of fragmentation by use of his powers, but now that's heightened with a Bob that's able to do things that he can't. To make matters worse, this new Bob sews a seed of doubt in his mind that he might not be the original Bob since he looks closer to the original.

In terms of this episode's humour, the highlight of the episode is the Game Cube, which is a parody of anime such as 'Pokemon' and 'Dragon Ball Z'. The attacks that Bob uses in the game as well as some of the creature designs kind of highlights the absurdity of the franchise, alongside Bob's line about how he finds it sick that you keep creatures in cages and get them to fight for you. The sequence also pokes fun at how some anime shows attacks by having characters placed in front of a background made up of coloured lines. 

While the story isn't quite at the level we've had since Season 2, this kicks off this arc to a good start and presents us with the main conflict for this early part of the story. The slower pacing feels somewhat relaxing after the sometimes too quick pacing of the previous arc, allowing us to catch our breaths for a little while. Dot appears to have made her decision by the end of the episode, but is it a final decision? 

Next week: Glitch Bob decides to try and separate from Glitch in 'Life's A Glitch'