MovieChat Forums > The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994) Discussion > Weird things in this show I never picked...

Weird things in this show I never picked up on when I was a kid

posted 7 years ago by gasmaskproductionsbooks
8 replies | jump to latest

Going back and watching this show as an adult for nostalgia's sake, there are things I've noticed in it now that I never noticed before:

#1: The product placements. The one I've noticed the most is Alex's Dole logo t-shirt, but there have been numerous others. How many companies were sponsoring this show, or were the product logos just there to give the town of Paradise Valley a more realistic appearance? And what's with all the eco-freaky stuff, too? Posters that say things like "a tree is a terrible thing to waste" in the school, the constant episodes with Nicole's anti-corporation environmental trivia, the scene where Alex and her friends are watching the clouds and then they say the clouds look weird, and it turns out to be smog, the "Green Day" episode... I mean, I know TSWOAM has a chemical plant, but really?

#2: Vince's references to the 1970's film 'Taxi Driver': from the time in the 'Bad Girl' episode where Vince talks to himself in the mirror and quotes direct lines from the film, to his entire soldier motif despite him not being a soldier at all, to his crew cut and his slightly psycho personality... this isn't necessarily that weird, but it's still something I never picked up on as a kid because I had never seen 'Taxi Driver' until about two years ago.

#3: What's up with Danielle's crazy childhood? In the episode called 'The Secret', Annie and George say that the house on the edge of town had a nutty woman there who never let her kids outside and locked them up in the basement. And then at the end of the episode, it turns out that the house's ghost is Danielle Atron's grandmother and that Danielle was raised by her before she ran away to go to university when she was Alex's age, and there are mentions throughout the series of Danielle's father being dead, so, let me get this straight... Danielle Atron was an orphan who was raised by her grandmother, ran away from home to go to university when she was fourteen, and now her grandmother is a ghost?? That's kind of sad, but still, what the hell? And in the episode where Alex breaks into Hunter Reeves' bedroom, what's with the newspaper clipping that says "CEO Danielle Atron narrowly escapes fire at rival chemical plant"? Did the rival plant try to kill her, or did she set the fire herself?

#4: Where's Ray's mom? I used to have the TSWOAM Book series when I was a kid, and in the book 'Zappy Holidays' it says that Ray's mom died of an illness when he was a little kid. Why does it never mention that in the show?

#5: Danielle wants to win the FDA's approval from all members, so she singles out the guy who disapproves her and has Lars dress him up as a woman after drugging him? That's their big plan?

#6: In the 'Paradise Lost' episode, Alex says she has a bad dream, and Ray asks her, "what, you mean the dream where Vince dresses up as a male nurse"? CREEPY!

#7: In the "The Doctor" episode, the doctor tells Louis that he's going to give him a "kidney twister and a testicular spike". Do I even want to know?? O_o

#8: What was with Lars' wife, Yvonne? All he says is, "she's really shy", but she doesn't say a word at all, not to anyone! And something seemed kinda 'off' with her and Lars. But what made Lars go so evil? In the first episode he seems like a bit of a creep but not really an evil guy, but then Danielle starts talking about "hunting down the accident kid" and even though he seems really worried about it at first, he just goes right along with it like it's perfectly normal, even going so far as to try to murder George with explosive chemicals!

#9: Why did the show go from an innocent, funny story about a girl with superpowers evading bumbling plant employees and surviving the horrors of junior high, to such a dark show where there's everything from murder attempts to shady events in the 1970's, when GC161 was first discovered?

#10: So, just how much did Dave really know? In "The Test", he seems shocked to discover that the kid from the accident is Alex Mack, but then in "Paradise Regained", he confesses to Alex that he knew she was the accident kid all along. In "Green Day" he tells Danielle and Lars that he's "not the dumb guy you thought I was. I knew you were doing something illegal down here and that you needed me to keep quiet, or it'd wreck your whole scheme". How much did Dave really know about not just Alex, but GC161 in general?

#11: How come Barbara thought Vince was creepy, but in any of the episodes where she has to work alongside him, she gets along well with him? Did she feel sorry for him or something?

#12: How come Danielle's always kind of rotating between three different business-type hairstyles in the series, but then in the last two episodes, she has it cut right short into this weird spiky look? It's like she glued a hedgehog up there!

#13: In "The Creeper", Alex says to the doughnut shop waitress, "Gloria, wrap up two double-sprinkled and a couple of fat milks. Louis and I got some work to do." What the *beep* are "fat milks"? At first I thought she said "low-fat milks", but I replayed it with subtitles turned on, and it's just "fat milks". That sounds so disgusting! I guess GC161 isn't the only mysterious, weird liquid substance let loose in Paradise Valley...

#14: So, Danielle's always yelling at Barbara and threatening to fire her, she threatens to fire Vince, she's always mad at Dave and insulting him, and at the slightest little wrong thing any employee does, she snaps at them. So how come in "The Creeper", Dave hugs her, lifts her up and spins around, and she just stares at him and walks away without yelling at him or telling him off? Is it that she doesn't want to get mad at him because he might blackmail her by threatening to tell the cops about the GC161 accident or something? And if this episode is after the ones where he figures out that Danielle is so corrupt, why would he want to hug her? Shouldn't he be wanting to report her?

#15: Vince's home decor looks like what you'd find in the Danvers State Mental Hospital. Those black-and-white psychological test paintings, very weird.

#16" Did Alex's aunt Ashley seriously just say she was a jackass? Wow, I could see that being on a kids' show today, but in the Nineties? How'd they get that past the radar?

Anyone else notice some weird things going on in that show that you never picked up on as a kid?

Canada, eh? 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 :)

"The 21st century is all flash but no substance." ~ Smog City

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 7 years ago

2. Actually other than the "you talking to me" scene and his military attire later in the series I never really saw too many similarites. I see him as a mild reference to Travis but that's about it.

3. I feel like the Haunted House episode raises more questions than it answers. I mean showing the "Atron" name outside the house I was like WTF? But yeah I guess it's safe to assume that Danielle was locked in the basement as a child and then abandoned her grandmother later on. What that exactly does for the story I am not too sure.

5. I always assumed that the drug they put in his coffee made him go crazy and he put the dress on himself. Either way that was pretty dark for a series that was supposed to be directed towards children. I loved that episode by the way, I felt that was really the one where the gloves came off and we saw how evil that corporation was.

6. I actually never really thought that was anything that bad.

8. I feel like Danielle brought Lars in because he was as evil as she was. And by the way was he not the most obvious bad guy ever. When Barbara tells Alex "something about him I don't trust" I was like "well no sh!t, whatever gave you that idea?", LOL. But in Lars' very first appearance he tries to murder George and Kramer so I figured he was evil from the very beginning.

9. I have no idea why the show stopped being so campy but I liked it. The last 8 or so episodes were amazing and surprisingly intense. I mean I felt like I was watching a PG-13/R rated movie. The scene where Alex tells her parents is really powerful stuff for a kids show ( by the way props to Michael Blakely, that was a good performance).

10. Up until the Test he had no idea Alex was the kid. In that episode he legitimately for the first time realizes that its Alex. As for why Alex said he knew the whole time in the last episode she may have been referring to the time from The Test onwards or maybe she assumed incorrectly that he knew the whole time and Dave didn't correct her because either he didn't think it would be appropriate or he was too overwhelmed with emotion to say anything. As for GC-161 he didn't know much about it before the accident, as he worked with Vince he learned more and more about the chemical and when the monkey got contaminated that is where he found out about all of the powers. Then he started stealing information and giving it to George Mack (by the way how did George not know immediately it was Dave leaving him the envelopes, I mean that was beyond obvious).

11. Well sometimes you just have to work with people

14. I think Dave was just so happy he forgot where he was at the moment and Danielle didn't want to yell at him right in front of all the other people in the scene. Remember she always puts on a smiling face when she is in the public and doesn't show her true nature to people until they are behind closed doors. Another example is in the episode where Dave lies and says he drove Alex and the woman to the hospital, Danielle stands beside him in the press conference and Dave puts his arm around her and then Danielle smuggly and discretly slides it off, it's easy to miss but it once again reinforces this point about her character, she's phony.

16. Yes she did, like we discussed earlier this show seemed to get away with a lot for a TV-Y series. I can't remember but I seem to think this show had some sexual references also, can't put my finger on it though. I think this would work really well if they rebooted it, toned down the campieness/goofiness focused more on the plants schemes and made it for young adults. Maybe carrying a TV-PG or TV-14 rating (PG-13 level stuff). Keep all the epsiodes around the tone of episodes like The Return, Lies and Secrets or the final episode.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] gasmaskproductionsbooks 7 years ago

2. Yeah, I don't know if Vince himself is supposed to reference Travis from Taxi Driver, but maybe the directors just liked the lines from the film and thought it would be comedic for Vince to say them. Since Vince was a navy SEAL maybe the show's creators wanted to give him lines that Travis, a former soldier with mental problems, said in the film? I honestly have no idea. Maybe it was just a comedic reference and Vince wasn't based solely on Travis, I never thought into it a whole lot until now.

3. I don't know what the "locked in the basement" thing does for the show, either. Maybe they just wanted to develop Atron's character more from just the typical evil corporate executive and give her more of a background? Or maybe they thought that by putting that stuff in there, it would partially explain what kind of trauma from the past might've led to her corruption. It's one of those things that, like you said, raises more questions than answers. Maybe by implying that her childhood was really tragic and full of abandonment and abuse, the producers thought it would be the influence that drove her to be so cold and indifferent towards everyone? I don't know.

5. I loved that episode as well; TSWOAM is a fun show but that was one of the first episodes where it dared to be more serious. Alex begins a serious relationship (even if at this point it's just friends) with Hunter, and Danielle and Lars both prove just how far they're willing to go to keep GC161 a secret, from Lars trapping Hunter in the air duct and drugging Johns, to Danielle supposedly having Hunter's dad killed off in the past.

8. Lars definitely gives off a creep vibe, but when I was a kid, it wasn't until he actually tries to kill George that I suspected him to be as evil as Danielle. Maybe I was just too young at the time to really pick up on all the subtle hints that point to him being a bad guy, but watching it again now, there's really something 'off' with him. That thing where he's always skulking around behind Annie, sneaking into her bedroom to steal a disc, who does that? And the way he is easily able to fake concern. After the explosion he sets up, he is playfully joking with Danielle about "finding a new head researcher" while smoke fills the office, but he instantly changes to "I heard an explosion! Are you guys okay?" when George and Kramer are in earshot. Lars' appearance reminds me of a sleazy used car salesman.

9. I totally agree. Growing up, I loved Alex's cheery, funny, psychedelic small town world, but when the show got more serious, it managed to pull off an atmosphere that usually only shows with an adult audience can accomplish. Since Alex was sixteen, she wasn't a little kid anymore so I think the show needed to catch up with her age, and it did that really well in the last few episodes.

10. Oh yeah, it was obviously Dave leaving George the envelopes, but as usual, George is kinda slow to pick up on things. I mean, his daughter had telekinetic powers and it took him four years to figure that out. Still, although a running gag in the series was that he was often too distracted to see anything weird going on right in front of him, as the series neared an end, George's character got more depth and began to question GC161 and Danielle's motives in having it researched. Like he says, "Ms. Atron, I'm no idiot!" I think he was really getting the true idea of what was going on by that point.

14. Wow, I never even noticed that but you're right, in the "Leaving" episode, Danielle is able to fake an attitude of respect towards Dave even though she resents him. If there's one good thing to say about Danielle, she sure is a talented actress when it comes to public relations.

16. Yup, the show had a few sexual references and there was some controversy over the "naked Alex" scene in the first episode as well as a couple of innuendo jokes, but most of those were well-hidden. If the show were rebooted, I doubt it would turn vulgar or crude but I agree, the jokes would probably be more in the open and would likely work better in a show geared towards older viewers. I've heard that the director wants to do sort of an Alex Mack movie, where Alex is married with children. However, most of the former actors/actresses have moved on to other roles, Robyn's actress is somewhat off-the-radar right now, Danielle's actress died of an illness a couple of years ago and I haven't heard anything about Louis' actor in years. Still, I'd love to see what becomes of Alex in the future and whether she still has the powers or not. I'd like to believe she kept the powers, but who's to say?

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 7 years ago

Another thing I noticed, not sure if this is supposed to mean anything but the first episode begins with a sunrise and the last episode ends with a sunrise.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] gasmaskproductionsbooks 7 years ago

It might just be mirroring the original episode, maybe alluding to Alex keeping her powers and not taking the antidote, keeping it a secret from her parents, just like she kept her powers and kept a secret from her parents when the series first started? I don't know, but it is an interesting point. Alex also uses her zapping power at the end of both episodes to cause a surge of electricity that affects the whole town. In the first episode she makes everyones' lights flicker on and off when Atron is in her car vowing to find Alex. In the final episode, Alex seems free of Atron and the chemical plant, and uses her powers to zap the clouds over the whole town (the final scene with her standing there in front of the town with the sunrise is really powerful and impressive). Maybe they were just trying to allude to the pilot episode...?

Canada, eh? 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 :)

"The 21st century is all flash but no substance." ~ Smog City

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 7 years ago

Yeah I figured that was what it was doing. It's kind of a neat, subtle call back to the very beginning and I didn't pick up on it until much later. This show definitely has a ton of stupid moments but it's really deeper than a lot of people give it credit for. I feel like the writers wanted to do something bigger with it but had to gear it towards children because it came on Nickalodeon. By the way was Danielle seriously drinking liquor? How did Nickalodeon ever allow that?

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] gasmaskproductionsbooks 7 years ago

Yeah, she and Lars were both drinking liquor. I think in "The World Without Alex", Danielle is also drinking a martini when she is afraid that Barbara has escaped the plant. Sometimes kids' shows get around the featuring of alcohol by claiming that the alcohol featured on-screen is something else, like fruit punch or apple juice or fizzing lemonade or whatever (but the viewers still know what it really is). Then again, I don't know if it would've been such a huge deal. Danielle and Lars were the show's antagonists and I don't think too many kids looked up to them as role models. None of the protagonists drink liquor. In "Alex and Mom" though, they did have bottles (possibly wine bottles?) chilling on ice amidst the catered food. It depends on what audience and age range the show in question is aimed at and the rules about alcohol/drugs placed in the show. TSWOAM is a kids' show but I think the producers wanted the adults to act like adults and behave more realistically, especially since a lot of adults watched the show with their own children. I agree, TSWOAM is a lot deeper than people realize if you view it a little more closely. When I was a little kid I just thought it was a fun show, but now it seems that there was a lot of stuff I missed.

Canada, eh? 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 :)

"The 21st century is all flash but no substance." ~ Smog City

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 7 years ago

Uh yeah when Alex and her friends had to fill in as the caterers, they never established that was grape juice or whatever, as far as I am concerned that was champagne and Alex even had a glass, not to mention her friends (Scott, Ray, Annie, Robyn, Nicole, etc) were clearly serving it which is illegal.

By the way I have noticed some similarities between this show and Breaking Bad. Both of them involve science and scientific concepts are often used as symbolism, both of them involve the main character with a secret (cooking meth, having superpowers) and it's always anticipated to know how other characters are going to react when they find out the secret (and in both shows it's not a pleasant reaction), both shows have two different storylines going on (what is going on with the family/personal lives and what is going on with the chemical plant/meth business) and in both shows these two storylines converge and all plot points are wrapped up in the end, things turn out alright for the heros and the villains are punished. Finally both shows end with something left up to interpretation (Did Alex take the antidote?, where does Jesse Pinkman go from here?)

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] gasmaskproductionsbooks 7 years ago

Yeah, Alex Mack does remind me a lot of Breaking Bad. I think if Alex Mack had been a more adult show or more serious show, it really could've earned the same praised reputation as Breaking Bad. I think the producers of Alex Mack did want to make the show more mature towards the ending seasons, but they had to keep a balance between what would make the show more serious and mature, and what was more appropriate for child viewers.
In "Alex and Mom" you're right, I think Alex is drinking champagne. It's hard to tell, but it's a little obvious, especially since the glass she's drinking from is a traditional style of champagne glass, and those fancy bottles don't really imply grape juice.
This doesn't have much to do with the show, but recently I noticed that in the accompanying book series, in the book called "Truth Trap!" Alex is filling out an alcohol/drugs questionnaire at school and she considers writing down the time she apparently tried champagne at an event, and thought it tasted bad - maybe that's a reference to her drinking the champagne in the "Alex and Mom" episode?

Canada, eh? 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 :)

"The 21st century is all flash but no substance." ~ Smog City