Yeah, Meowth doesn’t really belong here – he’s probably taken a wrong turn somewhere, since this is definitely not Team Rocket.

Of course there’s little point in blaming the feline – for one thing because felines tend to be utterly immune to blame, and for the other thing because there are quite a few similarities with Team Rocket that go some way toward explaining Meowth’s confusion, to wit:
– the rose
– the boilerplate dialogue switching between the speakers
– the overdone and ineffective attempt at posing a threat
– the display of confidence totally at odds with the fact of utter defeat
– the random costumes in bright colors

A potential counterpoint would be the fact that both of these guys are male and blond, but with Team Rocket’s love for disguises and cross-dressing, that doesn’t hold too much water, even ignoring the fact that everyone around here is pretty androgynous to begin with.

So, anyway – they aren’t Team Rocket, but who they are, and if they are any more competent or successful than Team Rocket, remains to be seen. Up to now, they haven’t been, but past performance doesn’t predict future performance, according to stock experts. Who, of course, might not be any more competent or successful than Team Rocket, either, but at least they tend to fail without doing an elaborate introduction sequence beforehand…

More on Thursday.