Changes: The Usual Suspect

Revision as of 23:30, 16 December 2019

"The Usual Suspect" is the fifth episode of the third season of Static Shock. It first aired on February 22, 2003.

Plot

Virgil accidentally bumps into a large boy at school and insults his size. The boy—Marcus—spent time in juvenile hall, but he wants to turn his life around, so he goes to Virgil's sister, Sharon, for counseling (she has an internship at the community center). A huge Bang Baby goes on a rampage through the city by attacking a policeman, trashing the auto show and destroying another kid's car.

Virgil and Richie investigate and learn that Marcus has a link with all the crimes, and think that when he gets angry, he turns into the monster and destroys what he's mad at. They don't have proof against him, though, so Virgil goes to insult Marcus, hoping he'll turn into the monster in front of everyone. When he doesn't, Virgil runs away to avoid getting beat up. Richie learns that Marcus couldn't have been the monster because he was in counseling with Sharon at the time of the attacks. The monster attacks Virgil and he figures that the monster is Marcus' ex-girlfriend, Tamera Lawrence.

Virgil changes into Static and fights the monster, who admits that it's her and she did it because Marcus broke up with her, and she got turned into a Bang Baby during the Big Bang. After defeating her, Virgil and Richie agree to look at all the facts first and to never judge people simply by appearances again.

Virgil apologizes to Marcus for insulting him, and Marcus is willing to forgive Virgil, mostly for Sharon's sake, since she and Virgil are siblings. However, Sharon starts angrily chasing after her brother after he makes one too many wisecracks.

Continuity

Sharon refers to the trip to Africa the Hawkins family made in "Static in Africa".
Tamara Lawrence returns in "Power Outage"; oddly enough, she does not appear depowered, keeping her Monster appearance throughout the episode.

Background information

Home video releases

Static Shock: The Complete Third Season (DVD)

Production inconsistencies

No director is credited.
When Tamara becomes her normal self in the end, her shirt is gray. However, its green when she is put in the ambulance.
When Static wraps Tamara in the merry-go-round poles, he says something about how he's going to beat her with sound. When he says it, his voice has the same two-tone sound to it as Tamara's.

Trivia

This is Frank Welker's only appearance in which he does not provide the voice of an animal or creature. Instead, the monster is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who is often considered Welker's successor. This is marks Frank Welker's last credit on any DCAU show.
Virgil hides under the same bridge in the park as he did in "Winds of Change"; it has apparently been rebuilt as he wrecked it fighting Slipstream.

Cast

Actor	Role
Phil LaMarr	Static/Virgil Hawkins Dion (Uncredited)
Jason Marsden	Gear/Richie Foley Cop #1 (Uncredited)
Michele Morgan	Sharon Hawkins
Maria Canals	Shelly Sandoval
Gustavo Rex	Officer Rojas
Frank Welker	Officer Packard
Sean Patrick Thomas	Marcus Reed Cop #2 (Uncredited)
Ariyan Johnson	Tamara Lawrence
Dee Bradley Baker	Monster Cop #3 (Uncredited)

Uncredited appearances

Quotes

Sharon: For a long time, you've chosen to diss my cooking. Now I've chosen to stop making your meals.
Virgil: Say what?
Sharon: Ahh, that was really cleansing. I feel empowered!
Virgil: Right. She's empowered, and I'm starving.

Marcus: (realizing who the Monster really is) Tamara?
Monster: That's right, sweetie.
Marcus: But how—?
Monster: Remember that night you broke up with me? I went to the docks, looking for you, hoping to get you back. You weren't there.
Marcus: So the Big Bang got you.
Monster: Yeah, but not you. You walked away clean—from me and everything else.
Marcus: So you blamin' me for what happened?
Monster: Oh, yeah. Before, only my heart was hurting. Now, everything hurts. I tried to control it, but you've got no idea what it's like to live with a monster inside of you.

Marcus: Tamara said I don't know what it's like to live with a monster inside of me. She's wrong.
Sharon: The difference is you can tame your monster. You can even make it go away. It's up to you.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | production = 30
 | airedorder = 29
-| animation  =Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.
+| animation  =[[Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.]]
 | writer     = [[Len Uhley]]
-| teleplay =
+| teleplay   =
 | director   =
+| prevprod   = "{{ep|Gear}}"
+| prevaired  = "[[Shebang]]"
+| nextprod   = "[[Shebang]]"
+| nextaired  = "[[A League of Their Own|A League of Their Own, Part I]]"
 }}
-"'''The Usual Suspect'''" is the fifth episode of season 3 of {{ss}}. It first aired on February 22nd, 2003.
+"'''The Usual Suspect'''" is the fifth episode of the third season of {{ss}}. It first aired on February 22, 2003.
-==Plot==
+== Plot ==
-Virgil accidentally bumps into a large boy at school and insults his size. The boy&mdash;Marcus&mdash;spent time in juvenile hall, but he wants to turn his life around, so he goes to Sharon for counseling. A huge Bang Baby goes on a rampage through the city by attacking a policeman, trashing the auto show and destroying another kid's car. Virgil and Richie investigate and learn that Marcus has a link with all the crimes, and think that when he gets angry, he turns into the monster and destroys what he's mad at. They don't have proof against him, though, so Virgil goes to insult Marcus, hoping he'll turn into the monster in front of everyone. When he doesn't, Virgil runs away to avoid getting beat up. Richie learns that Marcus couldn't have been the monster because he was in counseling with Sharon. The monster attacks Virgil and he figures that the monster is Marcus' ex-girlfriend, Tamera Lawrence. Virgil changes into Static and fights the monster, who admits that it's her and she did it because Marcus broke up with her, and she got turned into a Bang Baby during the Big Bang. After defeating her, Virgil and Richie agree to look at all the facts first, and never judge people by appearances again.
+Virgil accidentally bumps into a large boy at school and insults his size. The boy—Marcus—spent time in juvenile hall, but he wants to turn his life around, so he goes to Virgil's sister, Sharon, for counseling (she has an internship at the community center). A huge Bang Baby goes on a rampage through the city by attacking a policeman, trashing the auto show and destroying another kid's car.
+Virgil and Richie investigate and learn that Marcus has a link with all the crimes, and think that when he gets angry, he turns into the monster and destroys what he's mad at. They don't have proof against him, though, so Virgil goes to insult Marcus, hoping he'll turn into the monster in front of everyone. When he doesn't, Virgil runs away to avoid getting beat up. Richie learns that Marcus couldn't have been the monster because he was in counseling with Sharon at the time of the attacks. The monster attacks Virgil and he figures that the monster is Marcus' ex-girlfriend, Tamera Lawrence.
-==Continuity==
+Virgil changes into Static and fights the monster, who admits that it's her and she did it because Marcus broke up with her, and she got turned into a Bang Baby during the Big Bang. After defeating her, Virgil and Richie agree to look at all the facts first and to never judge people simply by appearances again.
+Virgil apologizes to Marcus for insulting him, and Marcus is willing to forgive Virgil, mostly for Sharon's sake, since she and Virgil are siblings. However, Sharon starts angrily chasing after her brother after he makes one too many wisecracks.
+== Continuity ==
 * Sharon refers to the trip to Africa the Hawkins family made in "[[Static in Africa]]".
+* [[Tamara Lawrence]] returns in "[[Power Outage]]"; oddly enough, she does not appear depowered, keeping her Monster appearance throughout the episode.
-==Background Information==
+== Background information ==
-===Production Inconsistencies===
+=== Home video releases ===
+* [[Static Shock: The Complete Third Season (DVD)]]
+=== Production inconsistencies ===
 * No director is credited.
+* When Tamara becomes her normal self in the end, her shirt is gray. However, its green when she is put in the ambulance.
-===Trivia===
+* When Static wraps Tamara in the merry-go-round poles, he says something about how he's going to beat her with sound. When he says it, his voice has the same two-tone sound to it as Tamara's.
-* This is [[Frank Welker]]'s only appearance in which he does not provide the voice of an animal or creature. Instead, the monster is voiced by [[Dee Bradley Baker]], who is often considered Welker's successor.
+=== Trivia ===
-* Virgil hides under the same bridge in the park as he did in "[[Winds of Change]]"; it's apparently been rebuilt as he wrecked it fighting [[Slipstream]].
+* This is [[Frank Welker]]'s only appearance in which he does not provide the voice of an animal or creature. Instead, the monster is voiced by [[Dee Bradley Baker]], who is often considered Welker's successor. This is marks Frank Welker's last credit on any DCAU show.
-==Cast==
+* Virgil hides under the same bridge in the park as he did in "[[Winds of Change]]"; it has apparently been rebuilt as he wrecked it fighting [[Slipstream]].
+== Cast ==
 {|class="wikitable"
 |-bgcolor="#cccccc"
@@ Line 30: / Line 48: @@
 !Role
 |-
-|[[Phil LaMarr]] || [[Static|Static/Virgil Hawkins]]
+|[[Phil LaMarr]] || [[Static|Static/Virgil Hawkins]]<br>[[Dion]] (Uncredited)
 |-
-|[[Jason Marsden]] || [[Gear|Gear/Richie Foley]]<br>[[Dion]] ''(uncredited)''
+|[[Jason Marsden]] || [[Gear|Gear/Richie Foley]]<br>Cop #1 (Uncredited)
 |-
 |[[Michele Morgan]] || [[Sharon Hawkins]]
@@ Line 42: / Line 60: @@
 |[[Frank Welker]] || [[Packard|Officer Packard]]
 |-
-|[[Sean Patrick Thomas]] || [[Marcus Reed]]
+|[[Sean Patrick Thomas]] || [[Marcus Reed]]<br>Cop #2 (Uncredited)
 |-
 |[[Ariyan Johnson]] || [[Tamara Lawrence]]
 |-
-|[[Dee Bradley Baker]] || Monster
+|[[Dee Bradley Baker]] || [[Tamara Lawrence|Monster]]<br>Cop #3 (Uncredited)
 |-
 |}
-===Uncredited Appearances===
+=== Uncredited appearances ===
-* [[Frieda Goren]]
 * [[Daisy Watkins]]
+* [[Dion]]
+* [[Frieda Goren]]
-==Quotes==
+== Quotes ==
 {{Quotes
 |
-'''Sharon:''' For a long time, you've chosen to diss my cooking. Now I've chosen to stop making your meals.<br>
+'''Sharon:''' For a long time, you've chosen to diss my cooking. Now I've chosen to stop making your meals.<br />
-'''Virgil:''' Say what?<br>
+'''Virgil:''' Say what?<br />
-'''Sharon:''' Ahh, that was really cleansing. I feel empowered!
+'''Sharon:''' Ahh, that was really cleansing. I feel empowered!<br />
+'''Virgil:''' Right. She's empowered, and '''I'm''' starving.
 |
-'''Marcus:''' Tamera?<br>
+'''Marcus:''' ''(realizing who the Monster really is)'' Tamara?<br />
-'''Monster:''' That's right, ''sweetie''.<br>
+'''Monster:''' That's right, ''sweetie''.<br />
-'''Marcus:''' But how-?<br>
+'''Marcus:''' But how—?<br />
-'''Monster:''' Remember that night you broke up with me? I went to the docks, looking for you, hoping to get you back. You weren't there.<br>
+'''Monster:''' Remember that night you broke up with me? I went to the docks, looking for you, hoping to get you back. You weren't there.<br />
-'''Marcus:''' So the Big Bang got you.<br>
+'''Marcus:''' So the '''Big Bang''' got you.<br />
-'''Monster:''' Yeah, but not you--you walked away clean, from me and everything else.<br>
+'''Monster:''' Yeah, but not you. You walked away clean—from me and everything else.<br />
-'''Marcus:''' So you blamin' me for what happened?<br>
+'''Marcus:''' So you blamin' ''me'' for what happened?<br />
-'''Monster:''' Oh, yeah. Before, only my heart was hurting. Now, ''everything'' hurts. I tried to control it, but you've got no idea what it's like to live with a monster inside of you.
+'''Monster:''' Oh, yeah. Before, only my heart was hurting. Now, everything hurts. I tried to control it, but you've got no idea what it's like to live with a monster inside of you.
 |
-'''Marcus:''' Tamera said I don't know what it's like to live with a monster inside of me. She's wrong.<br>
+'''Marcus:''' Tamara said I don't know what it's like to live with a monster inside of me. She's wrong.<br />
 '''Sharon:''' The difference is you can tame your monster. You can even make it go away. It's up to you.
 }}
-{{Epbrowser
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Usual Suspect, The}}
-| series    = ss
+[[Category:A to Z]]
-| prevprod  = [[Gear (episode)|Gear]]
-| prevaired = [[Shebang]]
-| nextprod  = [[Shebang]]
-| nextaired = [[A League of Their Own|A League of Their Own, Part I]]
-}}
 [[Category:Static Shock episodes|Usual Suspect, The]]
+[[Category:Episodes written by Len Uhley]]