Predictions and Observations:
What a Doll!

Duel spirits, doll spirits…same diff. I think that this might just be a sign that Duel Monsters isn't the only thing with heart; I believe that anything you put your heart into has a heart of its own, be it the stage, a sport, or even (to be self-referential) a cartoon.

Maybe Alice should live in the Slifer Dorm now, where the real duelists live, whether it's actually their dorm or not.

Everyone seems to crush head-over-heels on *some*one in GX, or have someone with a crush on them, with few exceptions. Alexis had a crush on Jaden when he first arrived, but we haven't heard from that much since. Chazz always had a major, goofy-making crush on Alexis. Syrus, Chumley, and Bastion all had card crushes, several. I personally think there's something, though, between Syrus and Dark Magician Girl. Bastion had that whole thing with Tanya (poor guy…), and has made a comment or two since that has me a bit worried on this point (more on that later). I don't think that we've ever seen much of this regarding Crowler (naturally…) but for some reason I find myself wondering about him and Ms. Fontaine. There was the prize for the School Duel. It's plain that Jasmine and Mindy, at the very least (probably the entire female population of Duel Academy's student body, or most), like Atticus. Aster has been described as cute a couple of occasions. There was that business with Blair (serious crush, first on Zane, now on Jaden). To top it off, I wonder about that conversation between Zane and Alexis in Chazz-anova. So like I said, there's a lot more of that in GX than in the original, but in the original, things seem to be at a bit slower pace, more subtle. Most of those are debatable, even, and so, therefore to ward away emailed lightning bolts, I'll refrain.
Anyway, this is the first time we've seen Hassleberry go gaga over someone.

Wow—who designed a vaccuum cleaner that looks like Pharaoh?

I noticed that they arrived on boats. What the buses were about is a bit of a mystery, considering they sailed into Domino Pier when they arrived.

There were a lot of loose ends in this episode; it bugged me. I have a feeling that we're meant to take this as a one-episode wonder, but it's not. Why was Winged Kuriboh such a major part of this episode when he's been pretty quiet for most of their more serious adventures? What is it about Alice? Alice's eyes reminded me some of the "Sar" siblings' eyes; maybe it was just that they're creepy, but they *did* glow bright purple. Why did Bastion think he had seen her before, and what did his research turn up? To me it seems that his ending up unconscious in the middle of the forest with short-term amnesia and a splitting headache is a sign that he found something important that somebody doesn't want him to know. Why was Bastion such a major character in this episode anyway, aside from the fact that Hassleberry was in no condition to offer much commentary on the duel? Something's definitely fishy here, and I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of Alice, friend or foe.

That's about it. Next week's GX is Let's Make a Duel. `Night! -Clio

Note: Posted jointly with Capsule Monsters' The Fiendish Five II