This is very frustrating, because the premise is absolutely great and one of the most mature of what is not really that mature a show. A premise worthy of the original 'Pinky and the Brain'. Animation and Edgar Allan Poe is a fascinating mix and Poe's work has been lampooned/parodied more than once in animation to good effect, including an episode of 'Tiny Toon Adventures' which had the genius move of having one of the greatest Poe interpreters Vincent Price providing voice work. So there was potential.
Potential that was not lived up to in most ways. "The Raven" is not a terrible episode and actually started off more than promisingly. Once Elmyra entered the picture however, it was a complete different story where it went drastically downhill and didn't recover. With a premise like this, "The Raven" had potential to be one of the best episodes of 'Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain'. But while not one of the worst episodes, it is one of the more frustrating ones.
Certainly there are good things about "The Raven". It starts off great, with some clever, witty wordplay and a genuinely creepy atmosphere. Did like the visuals early on too, suitably freaky and very atmospheric at their best and it makes for one of the show's most visually interesting and best looking episodes.
Brain is wonderfully deadpan and funny throughout, but especially in the first half. Maurice LaMarche's voice acting is spot on.
Unfortunately, this great promise wasn't sustained and once Elmyra appears the initial promise pretty much completely goes and one even forgets what the episode was about. Pinky is underwritten and his dim-witted-ness is taken to extremes this time. His and Brain's chemistry doesn't have the same spark. As one can guess, to me Elmyra is the biggest drawback. Not only are once again her character flaws completely overblown to childish and mean-spirited she comes over as a literal psychopath in a way that she didn't quite as much before. With her being over-used, this is a big problem and it makes the viewer question the target audience, one of the biggest crimes an animated show can committ in my view. Absolutely hated her uncomfortably bizarre and sadistic treatment of Pinky and Brain that felt very out of place within the premise, or at least to me it did.
Would have liked more polish and atmosphere more consistently in the animation. There is nothing dynamic or infectious about the music and the theme song has always grated. The character chemistry all round is not just disconnected and not there, it doesn't make much sense. After a clever first part that captures the essence of Poe well, it too early becomes very juvenile and cutesy as well as over-bizarre, things that are not my idea of Poe. The first part of the story was very well done in atmosphere, but too prematurely ran out of gas and became a typical 'Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain' episode, meaning predictable and over-simple. As well as unimaginative.
In conclusion, started great but became mediocre. 4/10.
Potential that was not lived up to in most ways. "The Raven" is not a terrible episode and actually started off more than promisingly. Once Elmyra entered the picture however, it was a complete different story where it went drastically downhill and didn't recover. With a premise like this, "The Raven" had potential to be one of the best episodes of 'Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain'. But while not one of the worst episodes, it is one of the more frustrating ones.
Certainly there are good things about "The Raven". It starts off great, with some clever, witty wordplay and a genuinely creepy atmosphere. Did like the visuals early on too, suitably freaky and very atmospheric at their best and it makes for one of the show's most visually interesting and best looking episodes.
Brain is wonderfully deadpan and funny throughout, but especially in the first half. Maurice LaMarche's voice acting is spot on.
Unfortunately, this great promise wasn't sustained and once Elmyra appears the initial promise pretty much completely goes and one even forgets what the episode was about. Pinky is underwritten and his dim-witted-ness is taken to extremes this time. His and Brain's chemistry doesn't have the same spark. As one can guess, to me Elmyra is the biggest drawback. Not only are once again her character flaws completely overblown to childish and mean-spirited she comes over as a literal psychopath in a way that she didn't quite as much before. With her being over-used, this is a big problem and it makes the viewer question the target audience, one of the biggest crimes an animated show can committ in my view. Absolutely hated her uncomfortably bizarre and sadistic treatment of Pinky and Brain that felt very out of place within the premise, or at least to me it did.
Would have liked more polish and atmosphere more consistently in the animation. There is nothing dynamic or infectious about the music and the theme song has always grated. The character chemistry all round is not just disconnected and not there, it doesn't make much sense. After a clever first part that captures the essence of Poe well, it too early becomes very juvenile and cutesy as well as over-bizarre, things that are not my idea of Poe. The first part of the story was very well done in atmosphere, but too prematurely ran out of gas and became a typical 'Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain' episode, meaning predictable and over-simple. As well as unimaginative.
In conclusion, started great but became mediocre. 4/10.