In episode two “Racing the Clock” the show introduced us to Hexadecimal, the secondary antagonist of the show. However, despite being an okay debut at best, one could say it really didn’t say much about her character. All we really got out of the episode is that she’s some creepy masked lady who lives on the island of Lost Angles, and that Megabyte has a problem with her. Other than that, we didn’t really know the true extent of what made her such a credible threat. Thankfully it wouldn’t take much longer to see the true chaotic side of the self proclaimed queen of chaos. It’s time to review “The Medusa Bug”, AKA the real debut of Hexadecimal.
We open the episode at Dot’s Diner, as Enzo is trying to get Dot to take a break from all of her duties with the many businesses she has within Mainframe. Despite Enzo even telling Dot that she should keep a promise, Dot is having a hard time not being preoccupied with work. We also see Bob’s car for the first time, which while spiffy, runs like a piece of junk. Despite Dot’s best efforts to stay, she’s dragged with the others to take a picnic.
Meanwhile, at Lost Angles, we see Megabyte roll in on his limousine in front of Hack and Slash. Megabyte tells the dimwitted duo that after all the time lying and manipulating Hexadecimal, they were finally able to get an item called the Medusa. Megabyte believes the Medusa to be a powerful weapon that Hex was clearly hiding from him, and he has plans to use it. However, his gloating doesn’t last too long as an angered Hexadecimal heads his way. Hex tries to get him to give it back. When Megabyte refuses, she goes with the best strategy she knows… destroying them all.
And here’s where we see the true extent of what Hex’s powers are. Other than the ability to teleport and fly, she can control the nulls to do her bidding. But if that wasn’t enough, she’s a literal bottle of energy, with the power to not only shield and absorb damage, but use energy blasts emitted from her hands. These alone make her a bigger threat physically than Megabyte. And the thing that really makes her a scary individual is the level of pure enjoyment he gets from causing chaos and suffering. How she changes her mask to a demonic smile that is so in love with her malevolence just sends chills up ones spine. I’m not even that ashamed to admit, this scene actually made me scared of Hex for a long time. It is that effective in building the character.
Megabyte manages to escape with the Medusa, and tries to send his infected cronies, and his of course, the moronic Hack and Slash, to deal with Hex. Despite the impressive weaponry, they are easily destroyed. And then Hex just leaves, feeling bored. Back at Silicon Tor, Megabyte tries to activate the Medusa, only to suddenly see his body turning to stone. He realizes that this was no weapon, but a viral bug. Hex appears on, a vid window, gloating with psychotic glee as Megabyte is turned to stone, and Mainframe is being slowly being turned as well.
Another bit of character love I have for Hex is her laugh. Shirley Millner, voice actress for Hexadecimal, not only gives a brilliant voice performance, but the laugh she gave Hex is so frightening, and so psychotic, that it would give The Joker a run for his money. It’s the perfect icing on this cake of chaotic insanity. It also helps that her background music is so fitting, with a very creepy sound to it.
Back to our heroes, who didn’t go far due to Bob’s cruddy car. But their enjoyment is put to a halt as they see the bug turning everything to stone, even Frisket. Bob is unable to learn what the bug is, and after some tension with the car failing so more, they eventually escape in time and make it to the principal office. And for once, Phong actually helps without having to play that stupid game. Phong tells Bob that since he’s a guardian, he could be immune to the virus. It doesn’t take long for them to realize that Hex is responsible.
As Dot and Enzo work to evacuate the city, Phong gives Bob the only thing they have, which is an erase command shaped as an eraser. The citizens of Mainframe bunker in the principal office, as Bob goes to use the command to destroy the bug. Hex watches on, ogling Bob while she’s at it. Bob drops the virus delete, and it works for about a second, and fails. Despite trying their best to shield the principal office, it’s all too late as the city and its inhabitants all turn to stone.
However, Bob manages to break free from the infection, and realizes he’s the last one not turned to stone. Now he’s more determined to stop Hexadecimal. Meanwhile, Hex is in glory of her victory, and her collection of stone victims. Even her pet Scuzzy has been infected. Hex begins to be bothered by the silence, even angered, as it starts to slowly dawn on her the mistake she’s made. Bob confronts Hex, and tries to infect her, but it doesn’t work. After a quick battle with her, Bob begins to lay the unfortunate truth. With everyone turned to stone, Mainframe if no predictable, quiet, and calm. No more battles with Megabyte, no moving inhabitants, nothing but calm. Hex can’t handle such a fate, and stops the bug with a simple finger snap.
The episode ends as Mainframe is safe, and the heroes try to relax with a picnic. But that is put to a stop as a game drops.
The Medusa Bug is probably the best episode of the season. And while it seems unfair to say that so early and with 9 episodes remaining for season 1, it’s still a fair thing to say. Everything is perfect in this episode. The pacing, the conflict, the resolution. And for the first time in the series, Bob doesn’t come off as either naive, or headstrong. He knows Hexadecimal’s nature, and knows how to play with her through simple reverse psychology.
And speaking of Hexadecimal, she’s the real star of this episode. With this being her second outing, it outshines her first appearance, and really shows off how much of a threat she really is. She literally turned Mainframe into a rock, and if it wasn’t for the lack of chaos that would come from such a horrible mistake, she could have won the day. She also apparently could be infected with the Medusa if not for the ability to fly and levitate, which makes the threat in the episode all the more interesting.
The episode also didn’t have a game involved until the last scene of the episode, which helps to show how the world in Mainframe is strong enough to build stories around without needing games as a way to spice things up in the story. But for the most part, with the exception of Racing the Clock, most Hex episodes don’t revolve around games.
The only real problem I have is that this is the last appearance for Hexadecimal in season one. It’s unclear if they were out of ideas for her so early in the season, or just felt it was safer to use her more in season 2. Either way, for the last appearance this season, it was definitely effective.
In the end, “The Medusa Bug”, and “The Quick and the Fed” were two solid episodes that show the early signs of the strength and evolution for the show, and that there were some original and brilliant spins on classic story ideas. It’s just too bad it falls right off the cliff and into the cliche abyss with the next episode.