Episode 109 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on September 25, 1991 and titled Black Fog of Terror in Funimation's dub, shows Garlic Jr.'s plan at work. The Black Water Mist blankets the Earth and turns people and animals alike into demons under his command. At Kame House the party becomes a nightmare, and Gohan ends up fighting his own family.
Summary
As the mist spreads across the planet, Garlic Jr. tells his father, Garlic, that the plan has succeeded. Chi-Chi, having discovered her son is gone, immediately suspects Krillin and sets off for Kame House in a plane.
Gohan, flying on Icarus, runs into a stampede of crazed animals and then into the mist itself. He is saved when Icarus shoves him into a small cave and blocks the entrance. At Kame House, meanwhile, Krillin struggles to catch the fish dinner he promised Maron while Yamcha and Bulma laugh at him. Chi-Chi's landing ruins the mood: she is furious and wants to know where Gohan is. Maron, in all innocence, teases her about her age and sends her into a rage, so that Master Roshi has to step in, sneaking a grope at the girl in the process. To calm things down, Krillin takes Maron for a swim.
That is when the mist arrives. Chi-Chi, Roshi, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar breathe it in and turn hostile, while Krillin and Maron, out in the water, are spared. When Gohan finally lands, his mother attacks him, Yamcha and Bulma go after Krillin and Roshi chases Maron. The Spice Boys then show up to explain: the whole Earth is infected, only the Sacred Water kept at Kami's Lookout can cure the victims, and Kami is in no position to help. Behind it all is Garlic Jr., a name Gohan recognizes at once. The four demons attack the boy and trap him in a magic barrier, but just then Piccolo appears, realizing that peace is over.
Our take
This is the episode that gives the saga its shape, with an idea Dragon Ball never uses again: instead of an enemy to punch, a threat that turns friends against the heroes. The infected behave almost like vampires, and the Spice Boys lay down the rules right away: the Sacred Water is the only cure. From here on, the saga is a race to the Lookout.
The heart of the episode, though, is comedy. The clash between Chi-Chi and Maron is one of the best-remembered moments of this filler run: a ditzy girl who, without meaning to, presses every button of the most feared mother in the series. In Japanese, Maron's remarks are more clueless than cruel, while the English dub made them noticeably nastier. Then the mist turns a family squabble into a real assault, and the shift in tone lands.
The limit is the same as for the whole arc: nothing here has any bearing on the main plot. As light entertainment written to fill the wait for the manga, though, it does its job and puts Piccolo back in the spotlight.
Trivia
- Filler episode with no manga chapters. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, with animation supervision by Kazuya Hisada, it drew a 21.0% share.
- Its flashbacks reuse footage from Dead Zone.
- The Son house looks different from usual: it sits on a hill, next to a hangar holding the plane Chi-Chi flies to Kame House.
- The edited English version digitally covered up Maron's swimsuit, which was quite revealing in the Japanese original.
- The episode's official synopsis claims Gohan escaped the mist by swimming with Krillin and Maron, but on screen it is Icarus who saves him.
Characters
- Gohan, Krillin and Maron
- Chi-Chi, Master Roshi, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar
- Garlic Jr. and the Spice Boys (Spice, Vinegar, Mustard and Salt)
- Piccolo and Icarus
- Kami and Mr. Popo, imprisoned