There's an exit out of the movie! Run for it!
Experiment
I tried very hard to keep a positive outlook on the idea of changing the host in the middle of a season. The whole idea sounded lousy but keeping a healthy dose of optimism is always key to enjoying your favorite show.
My optimism was crushed and my fears were all realized in full. Every single problem I foresaw coming was seen throughout the entire episode. The host segments in this episode were absolutely atrocious. I found myself skipping through them without even realising I was doing it. The acting is bad, even by MST3K standards. Emily Marsh doesn't seem interested in carrying the scenes, so much as she is wanting to end the scenes as fast as possible.
No one seems like they're even trying to seem excited. This is understandable, seeing how their first episode was in Season 13, when the sets were green screened and everything is geared down.
Beyond Atlantis
Some bad guys are trying to get rich by selling pearls and looking at old islands. They run into bug-eyed sea people or something.
What makes this movie bad?
Ev-er-y-thing. This movie is stuffed with a vague plot, paperthin characters and a whole bunch of womanizing. Nothing is interesting, everything is dull and there's swimming. Lot's and lot's of swimming. Subplots are stacked on subplots and you never get a sense of any accomplishment. All of the reveals that were supposed to be dramatic were shown already. Every man is an ass and there are pearls somewhere.
The Riffs
Just like pearls among oysters, the good ones are rare. With how terrible this movie is, the fact that the riffs induced only smiles and maybe one small chuckle really drives the hammer onto the thumb. The real problem is that their delivery was rather stilted and the riffs weren't great to begin with. It seems like they had entirely different writers along with the different hosts.
The Episode
This episode ranges among the worst in the entire series. It's not just the terrible riffs, the worse movie and the hosts that are in dire need of settling in. It's also the fact that the gender politics are in full glaring view. With all of the woke material in media these days, it's very disheartening to see that MST3K had gotten into the same pitfall. This show has never been in favor of womanizing, in fact, they point at the idea and shame it openly. This episode was so straightforward and the writing was so attached to The Message that watching it was just plain rough. This episode is not only deserving of an Aluminum Medal, it is also downright depressing.