The Experiment
There are three standout host segments in this episode. Two are hilarious, while the third is absolutely grating. The host segments are normally not especially memorable in this show, but sometimes they are so unique that many people will think about them before they even think of what happened during the movie viewing itself. This is one of those episodes.
The first notable segment comes in the form of the "catapulting torture" where Jonah is tied up and forced to have random things thrown at him by a tiny flinging mechanism. He is prosecuted for several random acts of annoyance and the execution of this gag is actually thoroughly entertaining to watch.
Next comes the gossiping Greek robot women in the form of Tom, Crow and Gypsy. It's a very funny bit, but what really shows it up among all of the other segments is the introduction and very quick exit of a new bot named M. Waverly. He comes in and attempts to flirt with the other bots, only to be met with aggression and a beating.
Then there is the not so great segment; the segment that they seemingly ran out of ideas for what to do. The final host segment after the credits roll on the movie, everyone sings at a high octave. They sing at a high octave, and that's it. They do this until the credits roll on the episode and it's grating. They obviously weren't trying to actually sing, they were just trying to go for being funny. This segment is definitely the worst host segment so far in the season.
The Loves of Hercules
The wife of Hercules is killed by a King, who is then killed by Licos so that he can succeed the king. As Hercules seeks his revenge, he finds himself in the middle of a devious plot to gain the throne and he falls in love with the current heir, Queen Deianera. In an effort to snare her love, Hercules must go through trials and battles to save the land from those who would usurp its control.
What makes this movie bad?
This movie is another example of pure cheesy joy and finds itself among the former MSTed Hercules movies, as they have become something of an MST genre all themselves. The plot is wonky and kind of hard to follow, taking stupid twists and turns that are simply there to pad out its time. However, it is entertaining, and not as boring as one would expect.
One especially comical exert from the movie comes in the form of the hydra scene. Hercules must fight an especially fake looking monster and try to kill it without laughing his ass off at the pathetically cheap, giant prop. It's just a ton of stupid fun by and by.
The Riffs
The greatest riffs, as with most of the Herculean films, comes from the title character. His nipples are tiny, he is very soft spoken, and his moral compass is so bent out of shape that his actions can be compared to that of a bipolar sociopath.
The riffs as a whole are fantastic. They only dip in quality here and there, but they pick up very quickly and quite often invoke a great deal of guffaws. These are not the greatest bunch of riffs ever seen, but the tone matches the pallet for a great result.
The Episode
A fantastic return to the Herculean Genre for the MST3K crew! Just when we thought that we saw the last Hercules movie on the show, here we see that they picked it right back up in their first returning season! This episode is great through and through, despite the sour ending segment. This is a proud addition to the Hercules collection and a definite recommendation to watch and laugh.