Jun
6
I was on the fence as to whether or not I’d be live-blogging any more episodes of Meerkat Manor, but since I was going to be watching anyways, I figured why not? Glad to have everyone back for another season, so lets get to the action!
When we last visited Meerkat Manor, Maybelline had led off a splinter group of Whiskers, forging the founding of another meerkat clan in the Kalihari: the Aztecs. Now Flower’s legacy lived on with two daughters serving as dominant females of rival mobs. Rocket Dog was still at the helm of the Whiskers and still trying to escape her mother’s shadow.
(Full recap of last season’s finale can be found here.)
It begins!
Episode 1: To Have and To Have Not
- Wait, where the hell is Samwise? You mean we have to listen to Rizzo? -50 points for Gryphendor
- New title sequence. Meet the residents (instead of meet the Whiskers): Commandos! starring Nikita (Hannibal?), Aztecs starring Maybelline, and the Whiskers starring Rocket Dog
- Starting w/ a timelapse sunrise and a panoramic view of the Kalihari, we see a clan of meerkats. Rocket Dog and Maybelline are both struggling with reigning in their new mobs. Lots of OTJ training is required.
- Everybody’s up, flies are buzzing, and there’s plenty of chattering over morning coffee at the burrow. Rocket Dog has a large crew to manage. Usually new managers start with smaller branches before taking over the home office, so her promotion to dominant female of the Whiskers is quite an achievement. The youngsters are rasslin (Axl and Rufus). Grampa Zaphod is the last up this morning, showing off is new radio collar. Zaphod’s still hanging around, which is probably putting a damper on Rocket Dog’s dating scene, but his experience is definitely needed in guiding a group this large.
- And off we go for breakfast. And there’s a snake. Snake!?! Snake! Heading towards the Aztecs pad. Apparently most of Maybelline’s followers returned to the Whiskers, leaving her with just 7. Apartment shopping is on the menu for today, but something seems off. Could it be our first cliffhanger-esque commercial break of the new season? Yup!
- I know I’ll get used to it, but I’m not digging Rizzo’s voice as the narrator. Sure, it’s better than Whoopi’s job on the Flower movie, but that’s not saying much. Bring back Samwise!
- Back to the action… perhaps another false alarm? No! A big snake! Nostrils flaring, the puff adder is just chilling, not budging. Murray tries to sneak up on the snake… watch out Murray! Whew, he smartly backs off. Whazzat? Bird? Maybelline sends the troupe back down into their tiny little burrow. Not a good start to the day.
- Meanwhile over in Whiskerton, it’s a feast! Or maybe not. Slim pickings, so they snack on ants. The group is spread out over a large area, and there’s plenty of sibling fighting. As she tries to reign in the fighting, half of the mob takes off on her. Her lead calls bring them back, so no new splinters today.
- Mitch is at his usual guard duty post, and he’s spotted someone. Who’s that? A roving male? Since the Kalihari isn’t located in West Virginia, Rocket Dog will need a roving male to mate with if she wants pups this year. But as usual Grampa Zaphod chases off Rocket Dog’s would be suitor. Dammit Dad! Why do you keep running off my dates.
- Ah, the ol’ ladder in the back window trick! The rover makes his move anew! But Grampa Zaphod is wise to the rover’s tricks (he’s no stranger to roving either) and he manages to drive off Rocket Dog’s potential mate one more time, with the help of Rocket Dog’s brothers. One problem. Grampa Zaphod had traveled a bit too far with his turn indicator flashing, and now he and his boys are lost. Rocket Dog scans the horizon looking for signs of her suitor or the rest of her gang.
- Commercial break over, and Rocket Dog’s boys still haven’t returned. Her lead calls are getting desparate, and no answer from Dad. Oh well, back to eating.
- Axl has found a millepede. Good eating if he manages to rub off its coating… and if he manages to keep it. Rocket Dog’s the boss, so she gets first dibs at the buffet. Axl tries to defend his meal, and succeeds! (classy close-up of the headless millipede, glad I already ate)
- Apartment hunting continues over with the Aztecs. The manor is in a bit of a housing crisis, so pickings are slim for the Aztec crew. Maybelline finds a place with a huge front door, probably the home of something much larger than a meerkat at one time (or still?). Down they go to check out the new place. Ah, it’s vacant. But what lived there previously? What the hell is that?!? Anteater? Aardvark? Aardvark! We have an Aardvark sighting! The Aztecs move on in search of a vacancy.
- Over at the Whiskers, Rocket Dog is leading the remainder of her clan home. On the way, someone sounds the alarm. Something in the bushes… a commercial break? Naturally.
- Back from break, a mystery meerkat on the horizon. Could it be Zaphod bringing the boys home? No! It’s a suitor for Rocket Dog! (Okay, I was willing to give her a shot, but seriously, the narration sucks. Not just the reading, the text is overly dramatic and too romantic. C’mon, we’re talking about meerkats having sex, this isn’t Shakespearean love poetry). But no! he’s not a suitor, he’s a scout! It’s the Commandos! Nikita the pup-eater! (Now they finally reveal that Hannibal is dead.) Going head to head with Nikita would be more than a mere cat fight (get it? mere cat fight - meerkat fight? they must’ve wrote the narration during the writer’s strike). Tails up, the Commandos! come a war dancing. What to do, Rocket Dog? Fight? Flight? Tick tock, tick tock. To war? No, it’s a retreat! The Commandos! drive them off their land. Tough break Rocket Dog.
- Maybelline has found herself a new burrow, or so it seems. Angie heads below to check out the new place. The smell is off, but nothing else seems wrong with it. Well, maybe not. What’s that thing? A mongoose! That’s his home, apparently. Murray, having failed at scaring off the snake, seizes the opportunity to scare off his mongoose cousin. Scat! The mongoose limps off, evicted.
- Now with a new burrow, Maybelline seems to be getting the hang of this leadership thing. Unlike the Whiskers who are holing up at a bolthole for the night. Losing both her home and 8 relatives, Rocket Dog’s day was chock full of suck. Rocket Dog’s leadership stock plummets, while Maybelline’s shows signs of resurgence.
- Next time, there’s love on the horizon for Rocket Dog (finally)
Have to say, I wasn’t impressed with the start of season 4. This was a pretty typical do-nothing episode with very little action. As for the narration, let’s just say I am so far unimpressed. The voice I can get used to (bring back Samwise!), but the cheesy-overly dramatic intonations I could do without. It seems that Animal Planet has dialed up the anthropomorphism this season.
Feel free to leave your comments about tonight’s episodes in the comments, but please no spoilers. Don’t care where you read it; don’t care if it’s true. No spoilers. Comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately if you’ve never commented here before.
Also, let me use this platform to plug my weekly humor column: Dr. Smitty, please report to service bay #2″. Be sure to check it out!
I just discovered this series last year. I fell in love with the great stories, the drama, the love, etc. You have obviously watched much longer than I have. Still, I loved the start of the season. http://meerkatmania.blogspot.com/
Agree about SC narration; and the writing was a bit “Edge of Night”-like. Hope they fix that.
It did seem a rather bland start to the season, after last year.
Wish we knew what or who knocked off Hannibal.
Enjoyed your blog and comments.
I’m not to sure about the new narrator. I really liked Sean. I agree last nights episode was a bit dull. I have read that this season won’t be as sad as the past but there is some really sad news about one of the meerkats. I don’t want to say anything but it’s not something we will see in this seasons shows because it happened after filming ended.
snowgoer, I’ve heard some rumors too about some yet to be revealed happenings on the show. Ever since I started blogging the episodes, people love leaving comments and sending me emails chock full of spoilers. I know where to find the information, I just choose not to read it.
COMPLETELY dissapointed with the new narration! I have nothing against her but Sean was “the voice” of the Meerkats and the voice is not right that it’s different now. I am a woman but for some reason I just feel that all of the really great animal shows have mens narration…PLEASE BRING BACK SEAN!!!!!
[...] This first episode of the Meerkat Manor season was titled “To Have and to Have Not“. [...]
DATE OF NEW PROGRAMING
WANT NARRATOR SEAN ASTIN
NO OFFENCE TO THE LADY JUST RATHER HAVE
SEAN’S VOICE AND COMPASSION