Shortstember: Eye of the Beholder

Season 2- Episode 58

Wha’ happen

One of the big challenges for adapting Aladdin as a tv series is the absence of Jafar, one of the all time GOAT Disney villains. So props to the creators because TV Aladdin has an impressively deep bench of villains, ranging from the comically inept to the terrifyingly powerful. Firmly in the latter camp was Mirage, a literal goddess of evil voiced by Bebe Neuwirth.

They’re crafty, those furries. I’ll give them that.

This episode begins with Mirage in her evil dimension known as Morbia (where it’s always Morbin’ time) arguing with Fasir, another recurring character in the series. Fasir is basically a blind, mystically powered mysterious old person who’d show up randomly to give Aladdin a quest to go on. He’s Aladdin’s Madam Webb.

Okay, that’s a Morbius and a Madame Webb reference. Let’s see if I can get Venom and Kraven in there.

Fasir and Mirage are arguing over whether evil will ultimately triumph over good. Fasir claims that love is the greatest power in the universe and Mirage hisses that love is weak. Then Fasir is all “have you not seen my servant Aladdin?” and claims that Aladdin’s love for Jasmine is stronger than all of Mirage’s power. And Mirage is all…

In Agrabah, Jasmine is out shopping in the marketplace with, of all people, Iago. This episode takes place really late in the series and I absolutely love the fact that by this point Iago has gone from plotting Jasmine’s death with Jafar to basically being her sassy gay best friend who fake-flirts with her and it’s kinda adorable.

They’re interrupted by a mysterious merchant woman who tries to sell her some lotion by preying on her insecurities about ageing. Jasmine says that her man loves her no matter what and Mirage (for it is she in disguise!) says that men are fickle dogs who will dump a girl over a single wrinkle to which Iago replies “that’s true! I do it all the time!”

“I use women, kids!”

Just then Aladdin arrives and it’s fucking hilarious. He just jumps into the frame with this ridiculously overly zany music sting, like he’s the wacky comedy relief neighbour about to drop his catchphrase.

“It’s Aladdin time!” “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!”

He tells her he just had to see her beautiful face again and she says “Oh! So you love my beautiful face do you?” and he, get this, says “yes” because the poor idiot chump thinks that’s the right answer. Worried that he’s going to dump her for a younger model (she is 17) she buys the lotion and applies before going to bed. And when she wakes up.

Was there…like…a roster in the studio? For whose fetish got to be catered to this week?

Genie tells the others that there is a magical tree who’s fruit can heal anything so they set out on a quest for the tree. They encounter many obstacles but Jasmine slowly starts to become more and more snakelike. Mirage is at first baffled that Aladdin is still with Jasmine but realises that he’s just hoping out hope that she can be returned to normal. On the journey, Jasmine has to save Aladdin from falling and almost kills him because the barbs on her tale are venomous. They finally reach the tree but Mirage casts a spell that causes all the fruit to wither, meaning that Jasmine is now permanently stuck as a snake. She tells Aladdin to leave her as she can’t even touch him now without endangering his life. Instead, Aladdin uses the last of the lotion to transform himself into a snake so that they can be together.

It looks like someone swapped the heads on two different action figures.

Mirage is furious but Fasir appears and tells her that just because she lost is no reason for Aladdin and Jasmine to suffer and changes them back to their human forms. They kiss and swear that they will love each other forever, and Fasir, watching from a distance, says that one day he Mirage will realise the truth and realise that she loves him and will back with him because apparently they were once an item but she broke up with him when she became evil.

Appareretly, his true power is “cope”.

How was it?

I really enjoyed this. Jasmine and Aladdin have always had one of the more interesting relationships of any of the Disney leads (no doubt helped that they had three movies and a long ass TV series to explore it). But I’m a sucker for a good “true love conquers all story” and this is a genuinely sweet one.