Curate, connect, and discover
I fee like, with all my criticisms, it's about time I talk about what I do like about the show.
Firstly, I love Ron. He's very relatable - not instantly good at everything, but tries. He's always got Kim's back. He's not afraid to be himself, most of the time. And the way he treats Rufus like his best friend is sweet. His willingness to help his enemies is also very sweet.
Fun Fact: Rufus was put in the show because the execs requested an animal sidekick. So, they chose one that you couldn't just go out and buy, and it let them make people say "naked" a lot.
Secondly, I love the villains. Most shows of the time had villains where all their motivation is the same - money, power, etc. It can be kind of boring.
But that didn't happen in Kim Possible. Their villains were interesting, and a nice break from the usual mold.
Drakken? Recognition and revenge.
Shego? No one really knows. Hatred of her brothers is a good guess, though.
Senor Senior, Senior? Bored during retirement.
Senor Senior, Junior? Wants to be a pop star.
Duff Killigan? Revenge for being banned from every golf course in the world.
Motor Ed? Just wants to build the raddest vehicles ever.
Adrena Lynn? Revenge for being exposed as a fraud.
The Fashionistas? Fashion's too expensive.
DNAmy? Just wants real cuddle buddies.
Even the ones who did want money and/or power had interesting methods of going about it.
Monkey Fist? I am going to master Monkey Kung Fu.
Frugal Lucre? I am going to hold the internet hostage unless everyone in the world pays me $1. (This would work on me. I'd be giving him a dollar.)
Mathter? Turn someone into a guy who destroys everything he touches. (Actually, I'm not 100% sure what his goal was. Power, probably, but then what?)
The villains were genuinely entertaining. There's no other show where you're going to be fighting an angry Scotsman who's launching exploding golf balls at you, or a British master of Monkey Kung Fu.
Lastly, I like that, when Kim and Ron made new friends, they didn't immediately become new teammates. They might help out on a mission that's in their area of expertise, but they're not all joining the team right away, if ever. It's nice that Kim and Ron were able to have friends to just do normal stuff with.
Honestly, there is a lot to like about the show. There is a lot that I like about the show. But those are the three big ones I felt like mentioning.
If I listed everything I love about the show, this post would be too long to read.
Thoughts on the Ron/Monkey Fist rivalry?
They were great foils to each other; Monkey Fist craves power and is obsessed with monkeys, while Ron doesn't desire power and is afraid of monkeys.
But Ron is the one meant to become the Mystical Monkey Master.
Honestly, it was probably Ron's humbleness and the fact that he doesn't want power that made him worthy of it in the first place.
You know, only pure of heart can become the Monkey Master, or something like that.
One thing that irks me though is, even though Monkey Fist knows Ron is meant to be the Monkey Master, and thus usurp the power from him, he still refers to Kim as his arch-foe.
Which makes no sense.
He should be declaring Ron as his sworn enemy because Ron is the one meant to take the Monkey Power from him and Kim is just a teenage girl who saves the world.
But, then again, the show is all about Kim.
Kim's the one who saves the world and Ron is her bumbling sidekick, so of course Kim is his arch-foe, even though Ron is the established, pre-destined threat to his plans.
It's probably his ego that keeps him from acknowledging Ron as his arch foe, but I'd still think it'd be cool if one of the villains, other than Gil, actually viewed Ron as a serious threat.
And Monkey Fist is the perfect mandrill for the job.