Miraculous Watch-through 4: "Mr. Pigeon" and "Evillustrator"

Right, time we got back to these things. As ever, I'm going by the order on the British Season One DVD, which means that our first episode today is one that has become a bit of a cult classic even within the Miraculous Ladybug fandom! Let's get to it right away. As usual, I assume readers have seen the first two seasons.

S1E06: Mr. Pigeon

This is not even in the top three silliest things in this episode

Perhaps one of the greatest cartoon episodes of all time. It takes a concept that many would find ridiculous... and makes it even more ridiculous! The titular Mr Pigeon is, on the face of it, a pretty silly villain – he can fly about on pigeons and threaten to make them poop on people en masse and, er, that's it. Okay, they can apparently hold up the infamous no. 33 bus too. Pre-akumatisation, Mr Ramier doesn't really have a leg to stand on regarding his bird-feeding, which perhaps makes him one of the less sympathetic akuma victims. In the end, he's defeated more easily than some villains, albeit by a truly ludicrous Lucky Charm trick involving popcorn.

Bowler hats (as we call "derby hats" over here) seem a strange topic for a design contest, but oh well. The whole "feather allergy" thing is pretty stupid: even someone as terminally dense as Marinette should have made a connection once Adrien started sneezing! (As an aside, Adrien winks at Marinette as she wins the contest.) Mind you, Cat Noir thinking a police cap and "La Marseillaise" will overshadow his catsuit and moonwalking is almost as dim. We get another nudge of Chloé's Ladybug obsession with the ladybird plushie in her hotel room – and a certain bear we'll see again later. Oh, and Hawk Moth says "Miraculouses". Make up your mind, man!

Quote: Mr Pigeon: "Power to the pigeons!" If only John Lennon had gone with that in the first place.

S1E07: Evillustrator

In all honesty, Cat Noir can be fairly obnoxious sometimes

Back down to Earth now with a more normal episode, at least by the standards of this show. Interesting to see someone have a crush on Marinette (rather than Ladybug) – I think Nathan is the first boy to do that. We also meet Ms Mendeleev. Unfortunately. Unlike some episodes, the akumatisation is rapid – Hawk Moth is on screen inside two minutes. Evillustrator is that nice mixture of fun, dangerous and creepy – that last especially when he decides to turn up in Marinette's bedroom; yikes! And this is our first good look at the toxic "friendship" between Chloé and Sabrina.

The Lucky Charm in this one actually makes some vague sense, as I can believe a super-agile yo-yo wielder like Ladybug being able to use a bouncy ball like that. Wish I could! A good job too, as being cut in half by whirling saw-blades seems a bit much even for Chloé, though given Evillustrator's "...she'll never forget!" line I doubt he would actually have killed her. Oh, and Hawk Moth apparently wants to "rule the world!" How disappointingly generic. I'm glad we start to discover a more interesting motivation for him later in the series!

Quote: Ladybug to Cat Noir: "Fewer puns, more action!" Aw, spoilsport. We want both!

Next time, I'll look at another cult classic in "Rogercop", while the straw-chewing of "Copycat" will also be under the spotlight.