File type: Text File (.txt) [Download]
-----------------------------------------
[the Dexter's Laboratory theme song plays]

Dustin: yeah i know what you might be thinking why am i doing another Dexter's Laboratory thing for the Season 4 finale of Woodfox Talks & Rants? well the show pretty much deserves it :)

Dustin: Dexter's Laboratory is widely known for being the very first Cartoon Network original not counting Moxy or Space Ghost to premiere on the channel after What A Cartoon! and is very much timeless each episode can be good, bad or be the Chris Savino revival either way without it we wouldn't have other Cartoon Network classics like Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, Codename: Kids Next Door and of course Steven Universe

Ken: Yeah. Kind of a shame that modern CN has kinda... forgotten this one.

Blake: But we�re here to pay our respects to an incredible episode; one that was somewhat meant to be a series finale, and was a three way crossover between the three skits that made up all of Dexters Laboratory

Dustin: indeed today in this Season Finale we're taking a look at the short lived Series Finale of Dexter's Laboratory Last But Not Beast! let's get into it

Dustin: the story begins with the speedy neighborhood around Dexter's house in the morning including Dexter's parents who both speed through their morning routines just in time for the schoolbus to show up Dexter's mom and Dee Dee walk up to Dexter's room and it shows NOT Dexter but a foreign exchange student from Japan named Toshi asking if it's time for family togetherness time like he does back home but Mom says it's time for the first day of American school like he doesn't know what she's saying [i miss comedy like that] so Toshi & Dee Dee run out of the house and into the bus with Mom wondering how Dexter's doing over in Japan

Ken: He's in a rush to get to school, and skips out on togetherness time with Toshi's parents. Once at school, he decides to show off a couple of his inventions, but... he gets outclassed. Mecha anime was the fantasy isekai of the last generation, so it makes sense.

Blake: however, things go too far and a teacher comes along in her mech to scold Dexter and the two boys. However, Dexter couldn�t stop his missiles from going off, and they end up going inside of a dormant volcano. The teacher explains that inside is a monster named Badaxtra, and when Dexters missiles hit, they awoke the monster, sending him into a terrible rage

Dustin: so Dexter flies off feeling guilty for sending the monster out like that and heads back home to figure something out or else the world will be destroyed, in part 2 some flying machines zoom past as they belong to the Global Security including Agent Honeydew however their guns are ineffective and some of them get destroyed by Badaxtra's blade face then some of the agents try hogtying it but the cables get tail chopped and one of the out of control ships crash into Honeydew she gets out unscathed but it seems Global Security can't stop Badaxtra so Honeydew calls the Global Commander to send help

Ken: The Commander recruits the Justice Friends to deal with Badaxtra. Not just the usual trio of Major Glory, Valhallen, and Krunk, but Living Bullet, White Tiger, Capital G, Sam-R-I, and Tiki Torch. They do their best... but even they end up getting crushed.

Blake: even the commander tries to stop Badaxtra... but given that he�s just seen on a TV monitor, he was easily stopped Honeydew then results to using her psychic energy link to contact Monkey. By this time, Dexter returns from Japan to find something to stop the monster.

Dustin: once Dexter comes home Monkey receives Honeydew's psychic link and flies off to save the day meanwhile Dee Dee is shown giving Toshi a tour of the lab even bubbling him in one of Dexter's inventions just in time for Dexter to run in saying he needs help to fight Badaxtra with a new invention but he needs three more helpers Dee Dee is one so Dexter makes a sacrifice he goes to Mom & Dad who aren't even phased that he just came home from Japan so quickly and he tells them not to freak out they agree so Dexter then opens the bookcase to the lab and Dexter's parents' reaction says it all XD this leads us into part 3 where we see Monkey do battle with Badaxtra but even he's too overwhelmed by a single blow by his axe claws

Ken: After explaining the situation to his parents, Dexter, Dee Dee, Mom, and Dad, set out with Dexter's really greatest invention, which is broken into four seperate vehicles at first [helicopter, jet, van, and speedboat], but then, they all come together into one super robot, ala the Zords from Power Rangers. Actually, the song used is quite similar to the classic Power Rangers theme.

Blake: They try to fight against Badaxtra in their current positions, but things don�t start out well because they�re lacking coordination. It�s up to Toshi to tell them the story of a boy who stopped a dragon and the people surrounding the boy gave him strength through luck. So after changing positions, the family tried again and things seem to be going well... until...

Mandark: stand aside peons and make room for the real genius!

Dustin: yup Mandark comes in out of nowhere to steal Dexter's thunder again as he brings out a ray gun to try and destroy the monster however the ray does something else... the monster feeds on the ray making him bigger and stronger and as a result Mandark gets eaten machine and all talk about sudden instant karma...

Ken: Because of Mandark's ego, Badaxtra is starting to overcome the MegaBot, but Monkey intervenes, crashing into the robot's power core to supercharge it, giving it one last chance to fight back. And this time, the fight really does end. Badaxtra is reduced to gooey giblets, the family is alive and well, and the day is saved.

Blake: The family meet up with Monkey and congratulate each other on a job well done. As they share a laugh, monkey�s mask slips off and Dexter recognizes him as his own pet Monkey...  how he didn�t figure it out beforehand, I�ll never know.

Dustin: when Dexter mentions the lab his parents turn to him saying they need to have a discussion about the secret laboratory business but just in time Dexter wipes their memories of the day's events like he usually does and so does Monkey towards Dexter with the same invention then Mandark who is surprisingly still alive after being eaten and blown up in the fight decides to parade for "his" win on saving the world from the giant monster making Dexter wish that he could have saved the world from the giant monster since his brain was wiped clean so this moment would be forever remembered by Dee Dee, Monkey, Mandark and all the citizens of the world including the TV viewers like us

Dustin: i gotta say this was a really amazing series finale! while the show would continue on afterward with the TV movie Ego Trip and the Chris Savino revival series this episode will always be Dexter's definitive end... if they ever do make a Complete Series DVD for America [seriously there's a complete series DVD on Amazon and it's for Region 4 Only that sucks!]

Ken: It does a great job in bringing together all three of the main shorts of the series, and giving a reason why these three would cross over.  What came next did leave me a bit confused. While I like how one of the episodes was about how Mom and Dad met, it had things that left me confused. Such as Mandark losing any good qualities he had and just going full supervillain.

Blake: and this would be the last time that Dexter was officially voiced by Christine Cavanaugh. She did voice in some season 4 episodes, but for the most part, Candi Milo took over as the voice of Dexter. Afterwards, Cavanaugh retired from voice acting in 2001, and sadly passed away in 2014. Christine Cavanaugh, we miss you.

Dustin: overall the episode felt like an amazing finale to one of the greatest Cartoon Network shows ever while Steven Universe did it twice as better over 20 years later this will be a great finale to me at least for my rating i'd give it the full 10 out of 10 even though it made more after this i still find this a better ending than Dee Dee and an ostrich suddenly switching places how about you guys?

Ken: Very much so.

Blake: this is one of my most favorite episodes of Dexters laboratory, and this always will be a ten out of ten for me.

Dustin: well this concludes this season of Woodfox Talks & Rants we gotta get ready for a new season see you next time guys!

~skullz, Fuwa & Ken out