| Ren and Stimpy: Kricfalusi's final two episodes part 4 |
| Wanting to comfort Ren, Stimpy gives him the job of being president of his fan club--which means answering all his fan mail. |
| As Ren and Stimpy sift through the huge pile of letters from kids, Ren is shocked and hurt to see that Stimpy has received all of the mail. This sequence builds very quickly. Ren is rapidly reduced to a more familiar Ren. As Ren hands each letter to Stimpy, the background behind him flares, accentuating his growing hatred. |
| Later on, as Stimpy sleeps, Ren sits at the edge of the bed. In what is the single priceless moment in this episode, Ren, unable to move and seeming very small, softly moans: "I was nice today." |
| This sequence tries to employ the same deliberate pacing of earlier episodes, but the timing is a little off. The sequence drags, somewhat, and the exaggeration is toned down because of it. The audience is allowed to correctly guess what is coming next, and the slow pacing is now working against the cartoon's intended effect. Once it becomes obvious that Ren is going to snap, waiting for it starts to become tedious. |
| Stimpy sees this and quickly shames him. Ren goes back to work, the hatred growing. |
| Seething, Ren plots (for what appears to not be the first time) to break Stimpy's neck. However, a mental attack intervenes, and Stimpy's life is spared. |
| Defeat. Ren has been crushed. (An argument could be made that this represents Kricfalusi's return to the show with his tail between his legs and his pride well-swallowed.) |
| As Ren's tirade has reached its summit, he looks at the bottom of the letter--and it's been sent by Stimpy! |
| Ren proudly reads the letter aloud in front of Stimpy, gloating and literally rubbing his nose in it. Stimpy looks quite hurt by this; not that Ren has a letter, but instead he is hurt by this unwanted glimpse into what Ren values, and why. |
| The next morning, Ren, disguised as Stimpy, gets the mail in order to tell the mailman not to deliver any more letters to Stimpy. However, there's only one letter--and it's for Ren! |
| "Cry all you want, Ren," Stimpy says. "No one can see you." |
| Ren collapses from shame into Stimpy's arms, sobbing. |
| However, there is a small crowd by the window watching (including one guy who bears a striking resemblance to Kirk Douglas) and laughing at poor little Ren, victim of h |
| This starts out innocently at first, and Ren seems to genuinely enjoy the job. This does not last. Soon he is insulting the fans with hate mail. |
| This episode doesn't have quite as many levels as "Sven" does. Although funny, it's not as extreme in some of the ways it should be, and perhaps too extreme in others. |
| For instance, Ren's two minute soliloquy on Stimpy is brilliant at first, but it becomes harder to laugh at as it progresses. Ren's hatred of Stimpy is very real. What might have been funny is now sad. Once again, this may have everything to do with the fact that this was Kricfalusi's final turn as a writer on the show, as well as the last time he did the voice of Ren. |
| What's more, there's a tangible moral associated with this episode, and it is resolved in a very standard way. This is a good episode, but it's not the classic than "Sven" is. |