Episode 263 - Grandma Matchmaker

Oh hey! DragonCon is this weekend! If you happen to be at the con, I'll be on the Power Rangers Samurai panel, Friday at 4!

Right, so this episode. Everyone I've spoken to (hey, Mark!) has gone all "UGH, I AM SO SORRY" but... Ashley and Carlos go on a date. I can't hate this episode.

UM, I HAVE MENTIONED I SHIP ASHLEY/CARLOS, RIGHT?

We open in the park, when a taxi pulls up, and a woman in the most hideous outfit ever gets out. Seriously, green overalls, and a pink hat, and watermelon earings? She's Ashley's grandmother, who apparently takes fashion lessons from Claudia Kishi. She has a file with her that apparently contains info on Ashley's future husband.

Did I mention that the grandmother is a HORRIBLE ACTRESS?

Anyway, I don't actually have a problem with matchmaking plots, because.... seriously, most fanficcy trope ever, y/y? And frankly, Ashley's grandma is TOTALLY a Jewish grandmother. Seriously, I know her. I do find it a little creepy that her grandma is talking about kids while Ashley is in high school. (Okay, maybe not a Jewish grandmother - she's not pushing food on her.)

Ashley decides to get out of it by introducing Carlos as her boyfriend, and grandma immediately starts molesting him. She is so creepy.

LOOK, I DON'T EVEN CARE BECAUSE ASHLEY AND CARLOS ARE GOING TO GO ON A DATE AND MY SHIPPER HEART IS DELIGHTED.

Communicators go off, and Ashley and Carlos try to run off, but grandma follows them to ask about drink options. Meanwhile, the other Rangers are getting their butts kicked by a monster who lays really bad eggs. They destroy the monster, but she's laid her eggs all over the city.

Carlos is all "look, we can't just PRETEND forever" and TJ is all "SURE, GET MARRIED." TJ understands.

Carlos tells Ashley's grandmother the truth, and Grandma clearly sees that they are MFEO, so she decides they should go on a first date. The other Rangers think this is HILARIOUS, but to be fair, if someone tried to force me into those shirts, I would agree. They go to an amusement park with the other Rangers spying on them, and grandma constantly calling to interrupt and give bad advice and insist that they hold hands.

Also, she makes them share a milkshake.

LOOK, I AM JUST SAYING, THIS SHOULD END WITH CARLOS POINTING OUT THAT HE DIDN'T WANT TO PRETEND BECAUSE HE REALLY DOES LOVE HER, AND THEN THEY MAKE OUT.

Anyway, the date gets interrupted by the bugs hatching and starting to eat the whole city, including BUILDINGS. Ashley's grandma refuses to leave without Ashley, so Ashley leaves with her while the others Morph to take care of the plague of locusts.

The weapons are eaten by the bugs, and clearly the bugs should be hanging out with Pudgy Pig. The bugs all combine into one monster which starts to beat them, so Alpha calls her to hurry up. Ashley calls out at her grandma for smothering her, and a random cop selects Ashley and her grandmother to escort out of the chaos, ignoring all the other people running around. Ashley shoves her grandmother at the cop and heads off to the battle, but grandma is not having it, so she flips the cop and steals his car.

You go, badass grandma!

Ashley is about to get beaten by the monster, when grandma hits him with a cop car. She tries to do it again but has somehow lost control of the car and... I don't even know. This stopped making sense a long time ago.

Grandma is all apologetic about interfering but Ashley tells her that no, she's great, and wonderful and she has a grandma just like her, and she wouldn't want her any other way. Ashley then defeats the monster, which grows after and we get a fight scene or whatever. The bugs try to eat the zord, so the new toy is summoned to shoot the bugs off them. Whatever. They they punch the bugs. The end.

As everyone carries grandma's stuff to the cab, we discover that grandma is now matchmaking for Adelle.

Fish: 4.

Fic we want: GEE, I WONDER IF THERE SHOULD BE ASHLEY/CARLOS OR SOMETHING.

Episode 202 - Ranger of Two Worlds - Part 2

I was already cranky before this episode started, and now I'm EXTRA cranky. And unlike Queenriley, I didn't even have anything to drink to dull the pain.

WHATEVER.

Look, this episode should be awesome. It's our first teamup! You know what my feelings about teamups are? Pretty much that they are the BEST THINGS EVER. And it isn't even that I have an objection to the old!Billy plot. I don't even really have an objection to him moving to Aquitar. It is the execution of this combined with the poor acting on the part of fake!old!Billy and the poor dubbing that PISSES ME OFF. Well, that and the behind the scenes thing, but we've ranted about that before and I'm going to try not to curse a lot.

So, the episode begins with the Zeo Megazord under evil control with Billy stuck inside it. The other Rangers realize that hey, they have another Zord, so they take off after it, in what should be a great Megazord vs Megazord fight. Of course, they promptly lose control of their Zord to the ugly purse monster (because Finster is the best), while Cestro hits a control panel a few times which allows them to teleport Billy out.

Bulk and Skull are taking their detective license test (completely unsupervised) and a monster attack starts. They assume that this is part of the test and just keep working. Oh boys. They are... not very smart.

The Rangers decide to summon Auric, who attempts to convince the monsters that they are behaving badly. Seriously, he asks them if their behavior is really fair to the citizens of Angel Grove. How great is that? Kat's plan to take control of the Megazords again works, but wasn't much of a plan. They just... jump in, and also take advantage of the fact that Ugly Purse Monster is stupid.

Meanwhile, Delphine suggests that they use the Fountain of Youth Water from Aquitar and summon Cestria to bring it, and we're busy all capsing NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for a while, and also we're distracted by old!fake!Billy's weird folksy southern accent. Also, Cestria's outfit is the fugliest thing I've ever seen on this show. So Billy leaves with Cestria to get more treatment, and he doesn't even say goodbye and there is some SERIOUS RAGE.

While we're busy protesting Billy's departure, we get our first real teamup. THIS SHOULD BE AWESOME. 11 Rangers fighting together? WHY IS THIS EPISODE NOT GREAT? The Aquitians are just awesome and I love Delphine and just... why are they in such a shitty episode? Anyway, while the Aquitians + Jason handle the Cogs, the other Rangers calls their Zords to fight the monster, which includes such things as Kat and Tanya's zords doing the care bears stare. Then the monsters combine into one monster, and the Zeo Rangers summon their Zords and are all "yeah, we're done playing around" so they just pretty much bring out all the toys and smash the monsters to bits.

Bulk and Skull discover that a) they passed the test and b) they only passed because the examiners were impressed that they finished the test during a monster attack and promptly pass out into their ice cream.

AND THEN IT HAPPENS. We honestly debated just pasting our chat, but it's just a giant string of profanity interlaced with "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" so that's pretty pointless.

Cestria and Billy call and it is SO BADLY DUBBED and the words don't match the mouth at all and it doesn't even SOUND like Billy and DISTRACTED BY RAGE and basically for some reason Billy is staying behind to marry Cestria OR WHATEVER. Personally, I choose to believe one of the following possibilities.
1-The anti-aging thing actually worked too well and Billy is about to be 10 again and doesn't want everyone to feel guilty. (THIS IS BACKED UP BY HIM "BEING SPEECHLESS" AND VANISHING FROM THE SCREEN)
2-Billy is actually going to be busy creating the Turbo and/or Phantom powers and/or has been offered the opportunity to be a Grid Master.
3-BILLY CRANSTON, INTERGALACTIC SUPER SPY. Someone write me this immediately.
4-He's actually headed back to Earth to join Torchwood with Trini and Zack.

Fish: FIVE. ALL THE FISH.

Covered in food: REALLY, BULK AND SKULL? REALLY?

Fic we want: There are four possibilities up there! *points*

Episode 181 - Game of Honor

Oh look, two Adam/Tanya episodes in a row! I am so happy! *does a little dance*

So, the episode begins with Adam running through the forest in a sweatshirt. A sweatshirt. Really? Look, I understand that he probably has some body armor on underneath, but a sweatshirt? He has NICE ARMS.

Anyway, Adam is being attacked by ninjas, and he fights them, and beats them all. Because frankly, he is that amazing. He finds some weird glowy disc on the ground, and the ninjas stop attacking. That's right, Adam just beat all the other Rangers. Because he is that awesome. (Personally, I feel that Billy should have been allowed to join in on the attacking. Turns out that this is Adam's version of training for a kung fu tournament. Hell yeah. :DDDDD

They discuss the device, and Tommy suggests that they take it to Billy. That is one of the smarter things that Tommy has ever done. The device apparently has some sort of energy, but they aren't quite sure what it is.

On the beach, Adam is showing off with swords! I'm not sure why he's using swords for a sparring competition, but I appreciate the sight. So does Tanya, who is clearly enjoying the view. Her asshat ex-boyfriend shows up, along with Veronica from the Angel Girls Club. Turns out Shawn is competing in the competition as well, and Tanya says "we're" training for the tournament. I'm sorry, Tanya, I find couple speak annoying as hell. I love you, but no. Adam is training. You are watching. Shawn claims that he has a secret weapon, one that will let him win the tournament and become a Ranger. Tanya says that Adam does too - it's called honor. And Shawn, you will never become a Ranger. Sorry, no asshats allowed. (This season.)

At the detective agency, Bulk and Skull are in suits, and they look pretty great. Detective Stone says that some trees in Angel Grove Forest are disappearing, and Skull suggests beavers. Beavers! That is great. But they go investigating, and we get some more shots of Adam showing off. Bulk and Skull keep investigating, and then they see some more of the shiny things. They go investigate, and a monster promptly shows up. Bulk and Skull get themselves kidnapped. Again. We should probably get a tag for this.

Up at the Power Chamber, Billy shows off what the medallion can do - it turns someone invisible! This lets them figure out that Mondo is hiding an armada in the forest. I don't know why he's doing it in Angel Grove when he has a moon base, but whatever. Oh, and it turns out that Shawn has a medallion as well, and that's his secret weapon. I don't see why he thinks this will work - so the judges aren't just going to immediately disqualify him when he vanishes? REALLY? REALLY? Logic, it does not work like that. Everyone is failing today.

Bulk and Skull are still being held captive, and Skull is playing the harmonica. It is adorable. Bulk tells him to stick to the piano. I love them. :D

Adam has made it to the finals, but he's summoned back from the tournament to go fight. They rescue Bulk and Skull (who are sleeping, since they are clearly used to this by now) and then there's a Zord fight and I don't actually care that much. Billy fires a laser at the moon and destroys the power source for the invisible things. "They sank my battleships."

At the tournament, the finals are Adam vs Shawn. Bulk and Skull explain to Detective Stone that Bulk covered himself in poison ivy when they disguised themselves as trees, but that they escaped from the Machine Empire using brute force. Their fake!Daddy is so proud of them.

Shawn decides not to use the medallion, and Veronica is so confused by this. For some reason, Adam doesn't instantly beat Shawn. I guess he's worried about looking bad in front of Tanya or something. Tanya wishes Adam luck, and calls him sweetie! Most adorable couple ever. In the fight, Adam is red, and you guys, AU where Adam is the red ranger. Make it happen! Adam wins, best 2 out of 3! Shawn apologizes for being a jackass, and Shawn tries to hug Tanya, and Adam is all "break it up." FAAAAAAAAAAAVORITES.

Fish: 2.5

Fic we want: Red Ranger!Adam! And more Adam/Tanya. I always want more Adam/Tanya.

Episode 162- Every Dog Has His Day

If we could strike this episode from canon, we would. I'm on my third beer, and I still spent most of the episode wanting to headdesk. I wanted to make this entire recap be "And this episode is Kat running around failing a lot. It made me mad, but I had beer, and it's Chanukah, so all was well. The end." but I didn't think that would fly. So you get this instead.

But! It's the first night of Chanukah! Chag sameach! We're celebrating with alcohol and I am drinking my, unironically, favourite beer. He'Brew, the Messiah Bold. It's the beer you've been waiting for. And it's kosher. We did a group menorah lighting downtown tonight and then did candles and a present per Small Person at home. Emo Kid spent the hour leading up to his bedtime running around "singing" (by singing, I really mean screaming at the top of his lungs) "Oh Chanukah Oh Chanukah, I light the menorah! I want a party! We'll all dance with Dora!" over and over and over again. But Small People are in bed. And I have beer. And it's been a good first night of Chanukah. Except... well...

This episode is NOT a good way to celebrate Chanukah.

We start off with Kat presenting her completed Civics class project (and watching poor Steve trying to get that out during the outtakes just made me want to laugh). She has trained the very first police dog for the Angel Grove Police. Why they're letting a HIGH SCHOOLER train their search and rescue dog, I have no idea. Based on this episode, she clearly doesn't know what she's doing.

So Bulk and Skull end up in charge of bathing the dog. Instead they bathe themselves. And then the dog runs away. So they go tell Lt. Stone about it, and Kat overhears, so she has to go find the dog too. She ends up outside a cave, where she discovered Cogs trying to disrupt a lava flow (Kim's zord used to live here!) and destroy Angel Grove. So now Angel Grove has mountains, beaches, glaciers, and lava flows? It really is it's own country! Clearly, Angel Grove is Iceland (except the geography still doesn't make sense, even if it's Iceland, but we'll ignore that for now). Angel Grove just got TEN TIMES cooler in my book. *loves Iceland and snuggles it close*

Kat morphs and runs off searching for the dog again. Except oh noes! She falls down! And force demorphs! And breaks the communicator! And twists her ankle! And must run away from cogs on a twisted ankle where she can't morph or contact anybody! If my head hit the desk any harder, I'm afraid I'd break the desk.

So she finds a hiding spot and attaches her broken communicator to the dog's collar. He goes straight to Rocky, Billy, and Tommy. They are about to follow the dog back to Kat when Bulk and Skull, finally having found the dog, take him back to Lt. Stone. Billy goes to the Power Chamber to try to get a fix on Kat's last known location while Rocky and Tommy morph and go look for her. On the awesome bikes they got in the very bad splicing at the beginning of this episode. Why they don't just have Billy locate her and teleport her out we have no idea. I mean, he can teleport a baby FALLING THROUGH MIDAIR and yet he can't locate Kat? Whatever.

The dog manages to get away again and finds Kat. He brings her the zeonizer. How he knew to go get it, we don't know. The fish told him, we suppose. She morphs and is MAGICALLY ALL BETTER. Except partway into the fight against the cogs and fire hydrant monster that found her, she twists her ankle. AGAIN. OH NOES. Tommy comes to her rescue (are we supposed to swoon? Because I'm kind of... well... not).

A very boring fight ensues. They win. Of course.

Back at the Youth Center, Tanya and Kat tease Bulk and Skull because the dog outranks them and will likely be their boss soon. This is not funny. And Tanya and Kat really need longer skirts. And better hairstyles.

I need another beer.

5 fish. All the fish in the world. This is the episode that made more people dislike Kat. And I can't blame them for tuning out after this one. She could have been SOOOOOO much better.

Episode 161 - Rangers in the Outfield

I promised Queenriley that I wouldn't spend the whole recap going "ADAM/TANYA I SHIP THEM SO HARD" so let me get this out of my system now.

ADAM/TANYA OTP <33333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Um. Possibly I love this episode. It has my favorite things! Baseball! Adam being adorable! Tanya standing up for herself! Shawn getting what's coming to him! FAAAAAAAVORITES.

Pretty much, if there wasn't such a boring Zord fight, and if Adam's wardrobe didn't suck so hard, this might be my favorite episode.

Anyway, we open with a baseball practice. Adam and Rocky are on the team, and they are both very pretty. Tanya shows up to watch the practice because her asshat boyfriend Shawn is on the team. Adam tells Tanya that Shawn's nickname is the Sultan of Swat, because he's like Babe Ruth or something. Whatever. What Shawn actually is would be a grade A asshat.

A pitch comes towards them, and Tanya catches the ball and throws it back. She has never held a baseball before, but she is A++++ awesome at it. The coach sends his pitcher to take a shower, and then has Tanya pitch. She strikes out Shawn, because she is awesome. Especially considering the shoes she's pitching in. And the skirt.

Later, Shawn is being mocked by his friends for being struck out by his girlfriend. He comes over to Tanya, where the Rangers are all congratulating her for being so awesome. Shawn is all "Yeah, well, it was luck. I wasn't concentrating" and then there is RAAAAAAAAAGE. Everyone defends Tanya for being awesome, and she sticks up for herself, and if Adam wasn't wearing a ridiculously baggy sweatshirt, this would be the greatest ever. Adam invites Shawn to go to batting practice with them the next morning, and he admits that he needs the practice.

Meanwhile, Prince Sprocket comes up with a plan to use the batting cage thing so that if someone hits something, they'll be stuck in a monster. Bulk and Skull are supposed to be doing "refuse removal" but they try to bat, and fail to hit anything. Rocky, Adam and the asshat show up, but Shawn forgot his batting gloves, so he leaves. Rocky hits something, and is then trapped. Adam is very concerned.

Cue giant ridiculously boring fight scene. It took up half the episode, but it was just really boring. Tommy manages to get himself also captured, which means he's able to hand Rocky his zeonizers, and then they summon zords and use the stupid battle helmets, and blah blah blah, sword destroys robot. I don't really care.

Now, we get to the important part! The game! It's the bottom of the 9th, and Tanya is still pitching. A whole game? That is pretty damn impressive. She's clearly getting tired, though. She throws two strikes, but the guy manages to hit the last pitch, and it looks like it's going to be a home run, but Rocky manages to leap up and catch it! Because he's awesome!

I would have liked it if Tanya had managed to strike the guy out, but Queenriley had a good point - the next part wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying if she had. You see, Shawn shows up to yell at her for nearly blowing the game, but Adam defends Tanya, pointing out that it's a team sport, and she only had a 1 run lead, and you know, she did a great job overall. Shawn tells Tanya she's not good enough, and Tanya has had enough and dumps him. BECAUSE SHE IS AWESOME AND DESERVES BETTER. Like the guy in green standing next to her.

Adam tells her he's proud of her, and she's all "well, I guess I did ok with the game" and he's all "NO. For being awesome and realizing you deserve better!" Tanya is sad because she's lost a boyfriend, and Adam is so clearly going "Hi! RIGHT HERE" but sadly there is no smooching. :(

Possibly because Rocky shows up to cockblock them.

STILL. THIS EPISODE. HEARTS!

Fish: 2. The splicing in the fight scene was pretty ridiculous, and Tanya did learn baseball pretty fast. But you know, she's that awesome.

Fic we want: ALL THE ADAM/TANYA IN THE WORLD. ALL OF IT.

Episode 158- A Shooting Star

This episode can be summed up in two sentences. Cheating is bad, guys, just in case you didn't know. And the wardrobe department is seriously messed in the head this season.

So basically, we have two storylines. In one, Tanya is distraught at being the new kid in school. She's made a friend in Shawn, a boy she's tutoring in Algebra. There is flirtation! Shawn is a dumbass though. He wants to cheat, not study, and so he shows Tanya he has the answers to the test. She can't support him in cheating and so he throws a hissy fit trying to manipulate her by doing a friends-break up with her. She is clearly too awesome and doesn't fall for it. In the end, he realizes she's right and he turns the test answers into Principal Caplan. He goes to her for help and apologizes. Her respect is important to him (uh, for now, but we totes know what you're up to later, Shawn, and you're a jerky jerkface who deserves at least a slap, if not a kick in the balls, preferably both... and for you, we make a new tag, Sir) and she, after a minute of teasing, agrees to help. Problem solved. Or is it?

In the other storyline, Billy is building the Zeo Zords in a Super Secret Location. That the Cogs ferret out in all of about a minute. He's even skipping school to build the zords, which isn't surprising because he could show up for tests only and still get 110%. Once again we wonder why in the world Billy didn't graduate at the age of six and have his Master's by the time he was ten. Based on the fact that all the boys are wearing long sleeves, jackets, and baggy clothing, effectively covering them completely, I think it's safe to assume it's probably January or February and it's cold out. So why why why are the girls wearing scrap fabric for skirts and tight tops? Really? I mean, I don't think those skirts could get any shorter if they TRIED. And alas, this is a trend that continues all season. Anyway, Billy finishes the Zords and, despite warning them it's not safe to use them yet, the Rangers have to go fight their first Machine Empire monster. The battle is boring, but the Zord is pretty awesome and Adam is happy to finally have a cool Zord, however brief that may be (oh honey, if only you knew what was in store for you next season... because I am literally the only person in the world who LOVES minivans and did even as a teenager). They win, of course, and King Mondo is distraught.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull still have Rito and Goldar enslaved. Rito is now wearing a French Maid's outfit. Goldar gets snippy, but Rito grovels. It's... still very disturbing.

Fish: 2.5. It wasn't bad, overall, but... well... yeah. It's still Power Rangers.

Episode 117 - Ninja Quest - Part 2

Previously, on Power Rangers - OHHOLYSHITTHEZORDSBLEWUP!

Wow, this is a really effective opening - the Rangers are wandering through the rubble. Flames and smoke and utter destruction... it's pretty gut wrenching. The last time the Zords were destroyed, it was awful bad, but it was nothing like this. There was no close up inspection of the damage, and just... heartbreaking. Especially when they realize they've lost their powers as well.

Billy says it's going to be a long walk back to the Command Center, but... um... Billy, honey? What happened to the radbug? I like that car! (Maybe it's just that 6 of them won't fit? Look, Aisha and Kim are tiny, they could squeeze in!) And how long does it take them to walk to the Command Center anyway? I mean, it's miles away, there's no way they can get there that quickly.

At the Command Center, Tommy wants to know if Billy has good news, but there really isn't any. Apparently the central processor has been damaged, and Billy has no idea how to fix that at all. However, Adam is smart, and he asks where their powers came from. That's a really good question! So Zordon tells us that according to legend the coins and Zords were created by this guy named Ninjor, who supposedly lives in a Hidden Temple, and may be just a legend. And then Alpha asks about the suspiciously convenient plot device map that they found, and the Rangers decide that they will go and find the temple. They get into that stance from the end of the movie from when they're bringing Zordon back to life, and we briefly take time to marvel at the fact that Aisha is almost as short as we are! (Tiny and adorable, for real.) And also to discuss how ridiculous short Kimberly's shirt is, and to ponder why she's wearing long sleeves and shorts. What the hell, wardrobe department?

Back in Angel Grove, Bulk and Skull are carrying out Bulk's plan of joining the junior police patrol. When asked for their reason for joining, Skull answers to "impress the girls." When told they need a better reason, Bulk answers instead that they meant to say "to protect the girls!" .... Well, it's a start, anyway. Skull notes that it's a lot of running, which is clearly practice for when he remembers that he's a Time Lord. But Bulk drags him off to register anyway.

Up on the moon, Rita and Zedd are celebrating their defeat of the Rangers, and Rita uses her new telescope to spy on her eggs. As much as we're going to miss the putties, I still have a soft spot for the tengas. And Rito is a pretty awesome brother! (And he calls Goldar "Goldie." I totally ship Goldar/Rito.) Rita is very excited to get her own Tengas, and Rito starts going on about how hard Rita is to shop for, and starts telling the story of how at one point she got a dragon for her birthday but she really wanted a planet, so she used the dragon to burn down the house. I feel that more details about this incident need to exist. Get on this, fandom!

Rita notices that one of the eggs didn't hatch, but Rito tells her it's a vampirus monster, which is apparently too nasty for Finster's taste. Exciting! Zedd then manages to spy on the Rangers in an alternate dimension with the desert or whatever, and somehow knows that they're headed to Ninjor's temple. ... If Zedd knows where the temple is, why hasn't he destroyed it? But Rita has a plan - wait for the Rangers to find the temple, plant the vampirus egg in front of the entrance, and then destroy the Rangers! That is... a good plan! You go, Rita!

The Rangers are wandering through the desert, and we get distracted by how damn pretty they are. Seriously, there aren't a lot of notes from this part of the episode, unless you would like to hear us discuss how it isn't fair that Adam is the only one not showing off his arms, and how adorably floppy Rocky's hair is.

But things actually happen on their quest. Kim picks up a rock, which bursts into flames and destroys their map, and then Aisha gets caught in some quick sand but the other Rangers pull her out. (... I am not going to comment on the fact that it is the two female Rangers who run into the traps, because I will just get grumpy and start sighing "OH, SHOW" and not in the good way.)

They then find a formation of rock that might lead to the temple, and then get attacked by Tengas. The Tengas promptly kick their butts, and the Rangers find an opening in the rocks, and go through. Adam leans against a rock, which opens up another hidden door. They go through, and come to a dead end. Tommy runs towards the dead end in anger (maybe he was going to punch the rock?) and disappears through it. The other Rangers decide to follow, and the to be continued flashes on the screen...

Fish: 2.5. Convenient plot device indeed.