Episode 19: The Pit
Original Air Date: April 28, 2012
Episode Written by: Todd Garfield, Directed by: Mitsuo Kusakabe
Article by: Purrsia



WB Summary:
Lion-O and company come upon a Dog City where they unexpectedly find a cat: Pumyra. This comes as a surprise since they believed all the cats were enslaved by Mumm-Ra, but an even greater surprise is that this cat has no love for Lion-O and, in the end, he's forced to face the cat down in a death match - and she's not pulling any punches. Meanwhile, Panthro runs into an old friend turned enemy, Dobo.

Purrsia's Synopsis:
On the search for supplies, the Cats come upon a city of canines - a city Panthro knows all too well and is in a rush to get in and get out of. The kittens want to go off in search of tasty bone stew, with Lion-O sending Snarf to keep after them. The adults, meanwhile, discover a poster touting a cat woman's fighting skills in the city's infamous Pit. After witnessing the brutality of the Pit, Lion-O demands to speak to the dog in charge.
Turns out, Dobo and Panthro are old friends. But before more can be discussed bout the feline fighter, she's up to fight Gormax next in the Pit. Lion-O thinks she doesn't have a chance.

Meanwhile, the kittens have found their bone stew. They've also found that apparently, all slums have pick-pockets, catching one in action. He's a racoon named, amusingly, Tookit and the little scamper runs his scam on the kittens. Once Kit realizes her flute is gone, the trouble to get it back begins!

Pumyra wins her bout with Gormax, pleasing Dobo as her skills are making him a fortune. Lion-O offers to buy her freedom, but Dobo seemingly knows the Cats have no money and explains she'll win her freedom if she wins 100 fights. Lion-O hints that it sure would be a shame if she escapes. Later on, Lion-O sneaks to the dungeons to free the girl, but surprisingly, her rebuffs alert the guards and Lion-O is captured as well. Dobo disarms Lion-O, and announces Lion-O will be the next to fight Pumyra.

Dobo gives the Sword and gauntlet back to the other Thundercats, and explains he'd rather see Lion-O in the Pit for trying to steal Pumyra than turn him in to the authorities. He also cuts Panthro a deal - Lion-O can be free after only one fight IF he wins. It's then revealed how the two know each other. Back in the day, Panthro was a prisoner of war, Dobo a theif. They would often paired as a team in the Pit, as those in charge at the time thought it amusing to see a dog and cat fighting together. They became friends, relying on one another to survive. Until Panthro escaped and left Dobo behind.
Back in the city, Kit and Kat track down Tookit and demand their items back. He reveals he's a kleptovoyant, taking things that appear useless until its usefulness reveals itself later. He's unwilling to just hand over the items, instead challenging the kids to prove their own prowess in stealing.

In the dungeons, Lion-O tries to figure out why Pumyra is so hostile toward him. She's upset that he's done nothing to help the surviving people of Thundera, many of whom have been sold into slavery. She vows that when they get in the arena, she'll tear him apart. And true to her word, she starts to do just that. But Lion-O won't fight back, only making defensive moves. Dobo is confident cats don't have the loyalty to stick together, and one will end up defeating the other.
In the village, Kit and Kat steal what's required of them by Tookit if only to prove they can so they can get their own stuff back. The kids intend on giving the items back, their pick-pocket days behind them, but the victims catch on before that can be done, and madness ensues. The items taken prove useful in letting them escape capture. The charming Tookit scampers off again before giving the kids' items back, so they're off after him again.

Meanwhile, Lion-O still struggles against Pumyra's deadly intent. He tries to plea and reason with her. But she won't back down, urging him to stay down so she can end it quickly for him. He refuses. Up in the stands, Panthro and Dobo are have their own hashing out of things to do. Dobo learns Panthro fled because he learned his next fight was a death match against Dobo, and he feared he'd have to defeat his friend. In the arena, Pumyra finally comes to the realization that she doesn't want to kill her king right when she had Lion-O right where she wanted him. Dobo, having earned his respect for their loyalty to one another, sets them both free.
Afterward, Pumyra tends to some of Lion-O's injuries and he asks her about the other slaves she spoke of. She reveals they are in a mine not far from there, in a place called Plun-Darr mountain.

Quotes:

"We used to hang out with them all the time in the slums of Thundera. They make the best bone stew." - Wilykat, on dogs.

"The lizards are bad enough. We can't afford a war with the dogs, too." - Panthro trying to reason with Lion-O.

"I was naive to have expected loyalty from a cat." - Dobo, on Panthro escaping without him those many years ago.

"I did what I had to do so I could fight another day." - Lion-O, explaining to Pumyra where he's been all this time.

Facts of Note:

The Pit is where criminals and slaves fight to the death, and can win their freedom if they survive 100 fights.
Tygra appears to have prejudice against dogs.

Classic Compare/Contrast:

First of all, Pumyra is a character from the OS, updated here. Her design in the new show is fairly similar to the old one. Although, I do have to say Andy Rooney's ghost called and wants his eyebrows back :-p Her weapon of choice has changed some - although it still flings projectiles, the device itself is built into an arm guard, and appears like a mini cross-bow instead of the cat-tail like sling the OS character used.
As far as how she is introduced, there's some differences for sure. In the old series, she and two other regular Thunderians were left behind on Thundera. Jaga had no choice but to flee and could not rescuse them - a notion that haunted Lion-O since. It turned out, they got rescued by a Berbil ship passing by and ended up stranded on an island on Third Earth. In a somewhat similar situation, they ended up captured where the Thundercats had to rescue them. But unlike the new show, nobody harbored resentment for being left behind etc.
The place where the slaves are being held in this ep is called Plun-Darr mountain, perhaps a cross between Castle Plun-Darr and Firerock Mountain of the old series?
As a side note, the dogs, Dobo in particular reminded me of Brett Booths work in the Wildstorm comics, in the Dogs of War series. Not a classic series comparison per se, but it's a similarity nonetheless.

Purrsia's Two Cents:

It is awesome to see Pumyra enter into the new series. Her design is pretty faithful to the old character, with some updates. Probably the only thing that bothered me was the eyebrows (see: Andy Rooney remark in the compare/contrast section). Interesting to see her resentful toward Lion-O - in the old series, she and her companions were rather passive about being left to die on Thundera :-p
But it seems we're off on another side adventure, which presumably will continue with the attempted rescue of the slaves. What about the stones? Is Mumm-Ra out collecting them instead as they feared would happen? Who knows. Mummies do have their brains removed after all *sigh*
I thought Pumyra's change of heart was a little abrupt, too. So over all just a medium ep for me on the likability scale. And...did the kittens get their stuff back? I don't recall a resolution to that sub-plot either. But honestly, even as cute as they were, instead of that sub-plot that time could have been better spent maybe showing what Mumm-Ra IS doing. Someobody's gotta talk about or be working on the main stone story arc. Right??

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