Monkey Challenge: The Fake Pilgrims

Something's not quite right...

This is an entertaining episode which spices up a typical Monkey plot with the novelty of the demons-of-the-week disguising themselves as the pilgrims to discredit the real pilgrims and ensure they are not welcome in any of the towns or villages they pass through.

Then, when Monkey and the others are weakened, dying of hunger and thirst, they strike!

Unfortunately, there was a small but fatal flaw in the fake pilgrims' plan - they're shit at fighting. The climactic fight, where Monkey turns himself, Pigsy and Sandy into an army of tiny versions of themselves to take on the fake pilgrims and finally defeat them.

There's a double delight to the fake pilgrims - not only do they look hilarious when in their disguises, their costumes when in their real forms are among the silliest the series has ever seen - and that's saying something. The silliest has to be the one that looks like an evil clown, with a white-painted clown face and a costume seemingly just made from dozens of balloons!

For a joyfully silly Monkey episode I'd recommend this one as being up there among the best of season 2.

And no sign of any evidence that this was too violent or gory for the original TV run - one of the fake pilgrims ends up getting chopped in half by Monkey, but it's done in a cartoony fashion with no blood.