Ok, firstly, I am geeking out right now.  I am geeking out in the most geek-tastic way as I watch Hero Envy Episode 23 on a 42" LCD TV hooked up to a spare laptop.  Sure, I realize this is old hat but I've held off buying a LCD TV for years, being the cheap assed bastard that I am, and the 26" tubed HD I've had for the last few years, while great, is difficult to manipulate in its cabinet in my movie room/bar and does not have four (4) HDMI inputs as well as three (3) other AV inputs and, of course the standard cable input - BAH on that.

So I got my TV a week ago, got my HD cable and 1080p DVD player (I refuse to go blu-ray until the DVDs are under $20 - see above comment concerning me being a cheap-assed bastard) hooked up and just today my 2.4 GHz keyboard and mouse arrived so I'm able to use my spare laptop to surf the web, watch Hero Envy, and catch up on back episodes of Chuck.

You see, that's the whole circle of geek there.  I'm using my TV to watch TV on a computer over the internet and it's show about geeks who do this type of shit.  Hell, I could be Orson.

OK, if Orson were older, less cool, and had no talent.  Hell, it's something.

But back to this review of Hero Envy 23 - The Man Who Knew Not Much.

Let's get something out of the way.  In my episode 22 review I mentioned the multi-partness of the episodes with the inter-woven plots and storylines and I was 100% right on that.  I just missed the number of inter-connected episodes.  Hell, at nearly 30 minutes again, this whole story line could well be done as a stand-alone DVD with Behind the Hope being included, out of order, as a backstop and with special features including a commentary version.

That's my idea and I'd love to see it happen.

So, obviously, I enjoyed the episode.  We see the plot line develop and the characters expand on their back-stories and we even see the return of some two dimensional characters from earlier episodes in more fully fleshed out roles.  The 2-d comment is not meant as a criticism.  In the episode in question they characters served their required functions.  In this episode, that function has expanded and so have the characters.

We also see some truly classic physical humour.  Props to ETrane for both his being a good sport and his playing the part to the hilt.  My favourite scene with him was, perhaps, the least expected.  Picture JB's erstwhile friend, Noonan, making a comment to Underground Toy Dealer (this alone was a friggin' hilarious reference - it put me in mind of 'boy with ice cream cone on nose in traffic' -  you have to be a credit reader at the movies to appreciate this) which end with "FDR?"  Pause for UTD reaction, then Noonan continues "Too soon?"

Whoever wrote that line, honestly, friggin' brilliant.  You've got a historical reference and a socially unacceptable reference and an action-reaction-reaction scene and it all is done as a throw-away line that folks may not even understand or appreciate.

And that's the essence of what makes me come back for more and more Hero Envy.  These folks don't just go for the easy joke and move on, rather they bother to interweave real conversation from real assholes into the script so that people like me can catch about 30% of what's going on and feel special.

Hell, I know I miss a lot of the references and that's fine.  They are not exclusive to the plot, just add-ins that people who follow different genres will get and feel that special glow you get when you know you've caught something most people will either miss or just not have the background to understand. 

Let's say it together; it's a smart show about idiots.  Oh, we know they are not idiots, but we also know that people who don't get geek culture, who, even today, believe their plastic life is somehow more valid than our pursuits, these people think we are idiots.

As we explain things to them and fix their lives and wonder how they manage to dress themselves in the morning much less shower and drive a vehicle.  Gee, that was a bit maudlin.  I'd ask for volunteers to slap me upside the head but I'm not sure I have that kind of time.  tell you what, meet me at NYCC instead and you can participate in "Pushups with Pugilist"  The challenge is 50 pushups in 30 seconds and since I'm still trying to get flexibility and strength back from my surgery in late September, I'll probably only be able to do this twice at the most.

Damn, I am all over the place aren't I?

OK, let's peg this episode at a solid 9.5.  It was smoother than The Game is Afoot and even after a few reviews of it I can't find a production issue.  The best thing, no real surprise, that you can get dropped in the middle of this and still enjoy the hell out of it. 

Well done guys.