Adventure in China is the tenth episode of the first season, and the 10th episode overall, of the Jem animated series.
Synopsis[]
The Holograms are invited to perform a special concert in China. The Misfits tag along and take notice of Jem's reluctance to part with her star earrings while going through customs. They steal the earrings, leading Jerrica and the rest of the girls in a race against time to recover them in time for the concert.
Fortunately, the situation is resolved thanks to Lin, a Chinese little girl fan of Jem, who received the earrings from her father and gave them back to Jerrica as a gift. In the end, the show is a success and Jem gives Lin a copy of her earrings.
Plot[]
Jem and The Holograms fly via Air China to the People's Republic of China. From the plane, the air hostess talks of the Great Wall of China, which is one of two places the girl group have been invited to perform at by the Chinese government. The Holograms marvel at the landscape and talk of their luck at performing there. The Misfits appear to be on the same flight, but in a different section. Eric Raymond asks Roxy if she is interested in the sights below them, but she is uninterested and claims no one cares about the historic site - even though Stormer does. Roxy is jealous that Jem and The Holograms are having big performances in China, and thinks that The Misfits' tour is second-rate.
Jem and The Holograms land at the airport and are greeted by hundreds of fans, enthralled by the amount of people waiting for them. The Misfits notice this and compare their much smaller crowd, holding a sign spelling their band name wrong: "The Misfats". Roxy doesn't notice the mistake, though. Inside the airport, Jem and The Holograms and Rio are entering customs. They are asked to remove all jewelry and metal objects so they can pass through the security point, and Jem's earrings cause the sensor to go off when she walks under it. The security guard asks her again to remove them, but she remains hesitant due to her fear that her hologram won't work when removed. Luckily, a government official requests that the girls be let through, as they were personally invited by the chairman. They walk through the detectors and enter a shiny white limo which takes them to where they are staying. Behind them, in a black limousine, The Misfits are wondering why Jem wouldn't take off her earrings. Eric gets an idea, saying that he'd find a way to get The Misfits to perform, and then asks the driver to go to the nearest jewelry store.
Back at their quarters, The Holograms indulge in a mineral bath. Jem takes off her JemStar earrings before entering the water as she worries the water could short the circuits. This sets up Eric's plan and Roxy sneaks in to steal the earrings. Once Roxy has left, Jem suddenly reverts back into Jerrica and notices the earrings are gone. Citizens are already gathered to see Jem and The Holograms perform, but Jerrica tells the Government officials that the concert will have to be canceled because they ran into a big problem. The officials decide that The Holograms have a lack of obligation and allow The Misfits to take their place. The Misfits gloat and go onstage gleefully. The Holograms run into Rio on their way back to the hotel, who questions Jerrica's arrival and the concert cancelation. Jerrica makes up a lie about why Jem can't perform and they turn to leave, but they notice The Misfits all wearing a version of the stolen earrings.
After their show, Jem and The Holograms approach The Misfits and demand the return of the earrings. The Misfits turn this into a game, tossing the earrings back and forth between them. They then jump onto a rickshaw, speeding away with the stolen jewelry. The Holograms follow in tow and The Misfits sing "You Can't Catch Me". They climb up a mountain in attempt to catch up, but Aja dislodges a sculpture and the stone tumbles down toward Jerrica, Shana and Kimber. They finally reach The Misfits, but the chase was to no avail, as all three pairs have been thrown out of the train - one into a textile basket, one at at the site of an archaeological dig, and the last inside a garbage can. Jem and The Holograms perform "Something Is Missing In My Life" out of despair. Throughout the song, the earrings are sent to different parts of China and mass produced in a factory to be sold all over the world.
The girls peruse through shops and restaurants in Beijing, before finding a magazine which contains an advert for the JemStar earrings. The group head over to the factory where they are being made and request to see the manager who holds the presumed real pair. Jerrica retrieves the pair; but they also turn out to be one of the fakes. Disappointed, they head to the museum to see some Chinese art. Lost treasures of the Ming Dynasty were to be displayed, as the artifacts had been recently recovered. Aja spots a pair of JemStar earrings being presented and calls the group over. Jerrica attempts to take them, setting off the alarm in the museum and tries to take off. The security guards surround the group and laugh when they try to explain the situation.
Meanwhile, back at the Great Wall, the Government officials are threatening that if Jem and The Holograms don't arrive, the show is canceled. The Misfits once again jump at the chance to take over. Back at the museum, the curator of the museum arrives and analyses them with a magnifying glass. He identifies that they were made in the 20th century and allows them to take the earrings. After trying them on, Jerrica discovers she has found yet another fake set. They return to their concert empty handed and come across two children fighting. The little girl, Lin, pushes the boy away from her and Jerrica commends her bravery. She reveals that the boy wanted the pair of JemStar earrings she was carrying. Jerrica tells the excited fan that Jem won't be able to do the concert after some bad luck, and gives her the earrings as a symbol of good luck.
It is time for The Misfits to perform after the officials declare Jem and The Holograms won't be arriving, and Jerrica tells the group that she felt awful for letting her fans down. It is at that moment that the earrings given to her by Lin emit Synergy's voice, and transform Jerrica into her alter-ego while also giving the brand new clothes for the performance thus meaning the pair Lin had were the real ones. They celebrate their luck, and rush onstage to get back their performance. Jem dedicates their song "Love Unites Us" to Lin. After they finish, the Government officials are so happy with the feedback from the concert they welcome The Holograms to come back any time. Jem hops off the stage and finds Lin, thanking her for her gift and hands her a new pair of JemStar earrings.
Songs featured[]
- "You Can't Catch Me" - The Misfits
- "Something Is Missing In My Life" - Jem and The Holograms
- "Love Unites Us" - Jem and The Holograms
Quotes[]
- Jem: My father gave me a similar pair of earrings once. So I think I know what they mean to you.
- Eric: Roxy, don't you want to see the view?
- Roxy: Who cares about seeing a big wall, right, Stormer?
- Stormer: (quickly looking back to her magazine from the window) Uh, right.
- Aja: Do we have to listen to the Misfits doing our concert?
- Shana: Yeah, let's get out of here!
- Jerrica: (after swiping another set of the Jemstar earrings from a display case at the museum) Excuse me. I don't know how to say this. The earrings that were in that case belong to me.
- Guard: Oh, then you must be a princess of the Ming Dynasty.
- Jerrica: Kimber, if these earrings were the real thing and not just another copy, I'd contact Synergy and have Jem thank Lin in person. The look on her face when I told her Jem and the Holograms wouldn't be doing the concert was just too much to bare. (the Jemstar earrings begin to glow)
- Synergy: What are you talking about, Jerrica? Why shouldn't Jem and the Holograms do the concert?
Notes[]
- Because of the odd clothes changes, it is very hard to tell how much time has passed in this episode. It's presented as if it takes place in one day, which means that the two fake pairs managed to become part of an art exhibit and reproduced by the millions at a jewelry factory in less than 24 hours.
Gallery[]
Goofs[]
- When Jem comes out of the mineral bath and the hologram fades, Jerrica is fully clothed and not wearing a bathing suit.
- By the end of The Misfits' song, The Holograms have somehow managed to change from their concert costumes into street clothes, even though The Misfits are still wearing the same dresses they wore at their concert.
- The Misfits have already changed out of their disguises by the time they reach the train, but at that point they are wearing their standard Misfits outfits instead of their concert dresses.
Trivia[]
- The song The Misfits are singing in the background during the first concert on the Great Wall of China is "Winning Is Everything", last heard in the episode The Beginning.
- Although it's credited that Jem and The Holograms sing "Something Is Missing In My Life", it is Jerrica the one who actually sings it.
- This is the second time The Holograms have been out of the country; the first being Paris, France in Kimber's Rebellion, and this time to Beijing, China.
- This episode reveals that Aja is bilingual and able to read Mandarin.
- When The Holograms are informed they won't get to play at the Great Wall, Aja starts crying. This could be due to the fact that, since her roots may come China, she's disappointed she won't get to play in her home country.
- While The Holograms are going through customs, Jem's true identity is close to being revealed as the guard almost forced her to take off her earrings.
- The Misfits never established the connection that Jem is actually Jerrica, since both use the same pair of earrings (even Jerrica said at one point: "I think you have something that belongs to me", revealing that those are in fact her earrings).