Welcome to the review of Buddy Thunderstruck episode one, "Buddy Double"! If you've not yet seen the show, stop reading here and go watch it. This is non-optional required watching!

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Summary

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tldr a body double is hired to destroy Buddy's reputation and land him in jail so that he misses the weekly race.

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Episode 1 opens with a scene of the weasel character, Mr. Weaselbrat, hanging a picture of Buddy on his wall. Buddy, accompanied by Darnell, then crashes into Weaselbrat's house, smashing a hole in the wall. Buddy apologizes and offers to pay for repairs, saying that he needed a shortcut, as he's late for the weekly race. Weaselbrat tells Buddy that he doesn't mind, in fact he feels privileged to have the new addition to his home, since it was made by Buddy. Buddy then drives off through the other side of Weaselbrat's house. As Buddy leaves, sheriff Cannonball and his deputy Hoisenberry drive into the same spot Buddy had, and Cannonball swears that, someday, he'll catch Buddy and throw him in jail. This scene establishes Mr. Weaselbrat as a Buddy Thunderstruck superfan (his primary character trait) and Sheriff Cannonball's grudge against Buddy.

It then cuts to Buddy driving to the track with Darnell. arriving at the track. They're discussing how to celebrate Buddy's inevitable win in tonight's race, but don't decide on anything. The camera cuts once again, this time to the track. the race has already started as Buddy crashes through a billboard advertising one of Buddy's opponents, Tex Arcana Jr. Nick The New Guy, the weekly race's commentator, then announces that Buddy has arrived just in time to participate. Now competing in the race, Buddy passes other racers effortlessly, all the while casually chatting with Darnell. Buddy passes into the lead, before held by Tex Jr. Tex Arcana Sr. is frustrated by this, cursing Buddy for taking the win from his son. Buddy passes the finish line, winning the weekly races once again. Buddy receives the award money and trophy, giving them to his aunt, named Auntie Uncle. Buddy assures Auntie Uncle that the money will keep her trucking company, Thunderstruck Trucking, afloat for at least another week, and so tells her not to waste it. She then turns to the crowd off camera and announces her intention to host a party.

The primary conflict of the episode is then set up. Tex Sr. had overheard Buddy and Auntie Uncle's conversation, and states his intention to prevent Buddy from winning the next race, so that Auntie Uncle is forced to sell her company to him. To do this, Tex Sr. hires a body double to impersonate Buddy and destroy his reputation. The body double is Jacko Alltrades, a jackalope who holds many different careers throughout the series. Jacko then goes around town, generally being a nuisance, destroying property and insulting anyone he can. Buddy and Darnell are currently traveling on a delivery job, and so Buddy isn't able to defend his reputation to the townspeople.

When Buddy and Darnell come home from their (Buddy's?) job, they're shocked to see that everyone now hates them. Unable to figure out why they're suddenly hated, they decide to go to the convenient store, Zeil's, owned by a crow named Leroy. While there, Buddy's double enters and robs the store. Initially Buddy thinks that the body double is merely a fan dressed like him, but Darnell points out that the double is most likely the cause of Buddy's destroyed reputation. Buddy then attempts to apprehend the double as he leaves, but he escapes.

Getting in the truck and preparing to leave, Buddy realizes that he and Darnell forgot to buy any snacks in the commotion. While waiting for Darnell to go inside and buy something, Buddy is pulled out of his truck and arrested by the sheriff. Later in jail, Sheriff Cannonball and Deputy Hoisenberry celebrate having finally captured Buddy (they also jailed Darnell for some reason) and taunt him while he's behind bars. Buddy initially mopes at the loss of his reputation and the likely future bankruptcy of his Aunt's company, but gets an idea. He challenges the sheriff and deputy to a dancing competition and uses the distraction to escape.

At the race, Tex Sr. is gloating over his future purchase of Thunderstruck Trucking when Buddy jumps through the same billboard he jumped through earlier in the episode, entering the race. Tex Sr. commands Jacko to stop Buddy, and Jacko enters the race himself. Seeing two Buddy Thunderstucks, the audience realizes they've been tricked, and one's and imposter ((())). Buddy wins the race, coming in second as well as first thanks to his double. Jacko is arrested, and Buddy's awarded both the first and second money awards. Thunderstruck Trucking is safe once more, at least until next week.

As Buddy drives home, a mysterious figure observes him silently...

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Criticisms

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For reference, anything below a 5 is bad, anything above a 5 is good, and a 5 is average.

tldr the plot and dialogue could be better. Darnell isn't introduced well, but Buddy is, and the comedy is serviceable.

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General Disclaimer

I won't be evaluating things like the quality of the animation (very good; emmy nominated) or the pacing, since those are features constant throughout the entire series and I don't want to repeat myself.

The Writing

4/10

The plot is pretty generic for a cartoon, the antagonist tries to sabotage the protagonist for personal gain. Generic doesn't mean bad, and I'm certainly not looking for complexity from a kid's cartoon, but what happens in the story of this episode really isn't that interesting. There are a few plot points introduced in the episode that just go nowhere. Tex Sr.'s desire to own Thunderstuck Trucking is never mentioned again, and neither is the company's troubles. Another thing that's dropped entirely is Buddy's job as a trucker. He's never seen again to go on delivery jobs, and even the company itself just fades into the background. Some of the dialogue is clunky, too. Being the first episode, the creators had to introduce a lot, and they decided that the best way to do that was to have the characters announce certain things in a way that's obviously exposition.

The Characters

6/10

Most characters in the show are one-track. Weaselbrat is Buddy's superfan, Nick the New Guy is the comedic announcer, and Tex Sr. is a greedy businessman. This is fine, since they're secondary characters, but I do take issue with Darnell in this episode. He's one of the two main characters, but despite that, he isn't given more development than the secondary ones. In this episode, his only role is as Buddy's best friend. This wouldn't be a problem if it was an episode where he just doesn't have a big role, but this is the first episode of the the series. He should have a better introduction than this. Buddy's character, however, is done very well. He's the town's local celebrity and its greatest racer, so he has a big ego and cares about what people think of him, but he's written more complex than just that. Buddy is shown to care about things outside of just his own ego. He has active investment in his Aunt and her company, and his interactions with Darnell on the track says a lot. In casually chatting with Darnell about what they're going to do later, it reveals that he isn't racing just for the money or fame, but because he enjoys his best friend's company. The writers could've easily just made Buddy into an arrogant celebrity architype, but they went beyond that.

The Comedy

6/10

Buddy Thunderstruck is primarily a comedic show, so the quality of the jokes is a little more important than most other parts of it. Even in a comedy with terrible writing one dimensional characters can be good, so long as its jokes are. This is also one of the most subjective categories, so just taking someone else's opinion on it may not be advisable, but I digress. The comedy and overall pacing of the show is fast, which really works for me. Slower paced comedy I just don't find funny (which is why I hate stand up). It can also be pretty witty at times, though this episode in particular isn't anything special in regards to that. Most episodes are funnier than this one, but it's still mildly funny, and I did want to share one joke I found amusing.

Overall

6/10

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Final Thoughts

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Out of all Buddy Thunderstruck episodes, I'd deem this the worst one. The comedy in the rest of the series is better, the characters more developed, and the writing better. The information in the episode isn't necessary to understand the rest of the show, either. If you were to watch Buddy Thunderstruck, I wouldn't blame you for skipping this episode. I wouldn't even watch this episode just to see Buddy's characterization, as that's also covered better in subsequent episodes.

Also, Buddy is Brian Atkinson and Darnell is Ted Raimi. I don't know how a show as unknown as this pulled them.