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"The M.O.D.O.K. That Time Forgot!" is the second episode of the first season of M.O.D.O.K.. It premiered on Hulu on May 21, 2021.
Synopsis[]
In an effort to win back his wife Jodie, M.O.D.O.K. takes her traveling through time to a Third Eye Blind concert they missed years ago.
Plot[]
Lou and Melissa are picking things to claim for the divorce, though neither of them want the Super-Adaptoid, much to his consternation. MODOK tries to "comfort" the kids, but it is quickly apparent that he still wants to stay with Jodie and the kids are only mildly bothered by recent events. MODOK tries to bargain or make up excuses to stay in the house, but Jodie is not having any of it. The kids find a collection of CDs (which bothers them because they are viewed as dated technology) and MODOK and Jodie reminisce on a CD for Third Eye Blind. Jodie remembers that when they were in college they were planning to attend their concert, but that something prevented them from going, to which they cannot remember. MODOK makes one final bid to stay, but is ignored while the Super-Adaptoid admits that he does not want to move into MODOK's studio apartment.
At A.I.M., MODOK tries to hack into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database to locate his wrist mounted time machine that was "stolen" from him so that he can take Jodie back in time to the Third Eye Blind concert. The computer suddenly locks him out for sixty seconds, due to a new implemented mandatory break by Austin. He tells MODOK that he should thank him for allowing him and his co-workers breaks. This angers him and he mentally decides that his main goal would be to kill Austin in the past and bluntly asks him what he is deathly allergic to, to which Austin casually tells him that it is strawberries. MODOK and Gary sneak into S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and break into the collateral room where MODOK finds the time machine while Gary finds the Celestial Chrono Crystal, which is needed to power the machine.
MODOK finishes collecting his things for the moving van as Jodie prepares to say goodbye to him. He then offers the chance to take her back in time to the Third Eye Blind concert with the time machine. While reluctant to go along with him, MODOK insists that it is a "civil goodbye" and that he wants to make it up to her so that they can remain friends. She agrees and MODOK creates a portal for them to travel back in time. They arrive at Kirby University, but have come four years too early. MODOK blames Jodie for her gold bangles, but she points out that his chair is made of metal and thus the plausible reason. Inside the college, a younger MODOK tortures his roommate for eating his ramen. He looks out the window to see the older MODOK and Jodie fighting and flies out to speak to them. MODOK fixes the time machine as he and Jodie enter the portal while the younger MODOK gets sucked in.
MODOK and Jodie arrive in the proper time and excitedly dance among the crowd at the Third Eye Blind concert. While happy, a marketer selling a series of coincidental items, reminds him to kill Austin, though Jodie sees him leaving the concert. MODOK finds the childhood bedroom of Austin and attempts to drip strawberry yogurt on him, but Jodie arrives to stop him; angered that she was merely a "plus one" on a business trip. The younger MODOK arrives and steals the time machine after seeing that his future self is subservient to his wife. They fight, during which the Chrono Crystal gets shattered and embeds itself into the young MODOK's face before he gets sucked into another portal. Worried that MODOK might be in danger, they check on him and learn that he is still fine as well as the reason they missed the concert to begin with, Jodie discovered she was pregnant with Melissa.
MODOK reveals that he did not actually build the time machine, rather it was built by Monica and that he "indented" the time machine by sitting on it while she was inventing it. They head to Van Lente Elementary's science fair where young Monica had just created a regenerating fruit tree in an effort to cure world hunger and make it more eco-friendly (a far cry from her more sinister adult self). Jodie asks that she build a time machine for them so that they can return to the future, but Monica, still rather young, does not have the knowledge yet to help them, worrying Jodie. While they were talking, MODOK accidentally kills Monica's plant and he and Jodie hurriedly leave. The judge, seeing the destroyed plant, instead awards a rather pathetic electric potato and tells young Monica to let the boys do the science; instilling her with evil motivations. Now trapped in the past, Jodie angrily tells MODOK she wants nothing to do with him and they split.
Nine months later, MODOK has been living in an IKEA and delusionally made a fake Jodie out of meatballs. He is kicked out and visits the old house he and Jodie used to live in with the intent to break in and rob the place. Jodie arrives, revealing that she has been living in the woods and eating squirrels, and forces MODOK to look inside the house where they are shown raising an infant Melissa. MODOK gives her her pink floating chair, much to her delight. MODOK and Jodie watch as they see them have Lou, move out of the house with a primitive Super-Adaptoid, have Thanksgiving dinner (where the turkey comes to life with the intent to kill) and spend quality time together. MODOK and Jodie grow old throughout seeing events from their past and grow closer to one another.
In the present day, Old Man MODOK and Old Woman Jodie rush out of the bushes and destroy the time machine before MODOK and Jodie travel back in time; erasing their development. They disappear before they inform them that they belong together. Jodie easily deduces that their time travel was botched and tells MODOK that he needs to go and solemnly leaves with only Super-Adaptoid to accompany him. They move into a rundown apartment where MODOK reminds Super-Adaptoid that he still plans to turn the world into his perfect utopia. He goes into the bathroom where he proceeds to sing "Semi-Charmed Life", but the it gets ruined by Super-Adaptoid. Meanwhile, the younger MODOK has arrived in the present and plots to take control of his future.
Cast[]
- Patton Oswalt as George Tarleton/M.O.D.O.K., The Anomaly
- Aimee Garcia as Jodie Tarleton
- Melissa Fumero as Melissa Tarleton
- Ben Schwartz as Lou Tarleton
- Wendi McLendon-Covey as Monica Rappaccini
- Beck Bennett as Austin Van Der Sleet, Tyler
- Jon Daly as Super-Adaptoid
- Sam Richardson as Gary
Trivia[]
- The title is a reference to the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel The Land That Time Forgot.
- The name of the college that MODOK and Jodie attended is Kirby University, named after MODOK's co-creator Jack Kirby.
- The name of the elementary school Monica attended is Van Lente Elementary, named after Monica's co-creator Fred Van Lente.
- Monica losing the science fair is a nod to her actual comic book background. In the comics, Monica mentions that her first invention was an electric ham slicer, but that it lost to a tomato sauce volcano; an event that she was never able to get over.