Review: Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. "Future Shock"

Why does this show always have to revert to toilet humor?

Literal toilet humor. Minus the humor.

Is toilet humor just their placeholder for actual jokes? I mean, I’m not a prude. But Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. is swimming in more gross-out humor than Captain Underpants.

Plot
When team members start devolving, the one left unaffected has to take charge and save the day. You know what? I prefer when they did that plot on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. At least there, they didn’t rely on toilet humor. And come on, you’re telling me that the combined forces of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, S.H.I.E.L.D., and whatever other scientific geniuses and superheroes the Earth has couldn’t stop a meteor from wiping out civilization as we know it? And all these geniuses and heroes conveniently disappeared after the apocalypse, letting the High Evolutionary reign for a thousand years?

Bull. Crap. That meteor would end up in the Negative Zone in a heartbeat, or diverted by Thor, or something like that.

And now that I mention it, a meteor that size hitting the Earth wouldn’t just end civilization as we know it, it would probably make Earth inhospitable for us whether or not we were lizard-men. I seem to remember that there were gigantic lizards a few million years ago that had some issues with similar circumstances.

I don't see the logic in any of this.

Themes
I honestly can’t tell you what this episode is about. At first, it seems like a lesson in judging people because of their intelligence, what with all the insults thrown at Skaar in the beginning. But at the end, the episode takes a left turn into a lesson about friendship that really comes out of nowhere. I mean, Hulk even starts making a list of all the things they’ve learned today. Why not toss in “remember to brush your teeth” while they’re at it? I doubt Skaar does that either.

Characters
High Evolutionary (Corey Burton)
Wasted. Corey Burton’s here to do a poor man’s Brainiac, and nothing in his performance stands out. But to be fair, his material sucks, and the High Evolutionary’s main gimmick does not resemble actual science in any way.

High Evolutionary, I award you no points and may Odin have mercy on your soul.

I’m okay with bending the laws of science in fiction. But the High Evolutionary’s whole deal depends on a fundamental misunderstanding of evolution, and that bugs me right down to my core.

Animation
The High Evolutionary’s design, while faithful to his comic book incarnation, is nothing special. And Hulk’s super-evolved form was really disappointing. And the lizard-men were nothing to write home about. And the future paradise of Earth was pretty generic. I mean, at least “All About the Ego” had CGI bad enough to actually talk about. This episode’s look is just kind of bland and nondescript.

Final Thoughts
This is an unremarkable episode dragged further down by toilet humor, terrible science, and a moral that can’t decide on itself. A couple of the jokes might find their mark, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Next time, we get the obligatory Star Trek homage episode. See you then.