In JEM and the Holograms: Season Three, after finally getting fed up with the Misfits, Eric Raymond buys out Misfit Music and is determined to make it on his own. Jerrica needs more money coming into Starlight Music as well to keep up with the expenses from Starlight House, so she goes looking for a new band. Both she and Eric want to sign the new band from Germany called The Stingers. They are fronted by a typical 80’s hair metal looking guy named Riot who sports a true mane of blonde hair and an eye for Jem, which really irks Rio. Poor Rio, I really feel bad for him. He still doesn’t know that Jerrica is Jem, but he has feelings for both of them. To make matters worse, Pizazz is obsessed with Riot. She’s determined to get him away from Jem. One of Riot’s band-mates, Rapture, is torturing Pizazz by “helping” her get Riot and the other band-mate, Minx, is determined to steal Rio from both Jem and Jerrica. I think this is well beyond a normal love-triangle! Jerrica could make life a lot easier on herself if she’d just tell Rio that she is Jem. Once again Jerrica is jealous of Jem, which has got to be confusing. I mean it is bad enough to be jealous of another woman, but to be jealous of yourself is really bad! First, The Stingers move into Pizazz’s mansion but when they’re done with them, they move over to the Starlight House. The Holograms aren’t going to put up with the attitude problems that The Stingers turn out to be. In the end, Raymond wins The Stingers, but at what cost? Personally, I think they’re better off with Raymond and the newly renamed Stinger Sounds. The beginning of this final season of JEM and the Holograms is consumed with these love situations, but as the season goes on, they get more into other situations.
Jem is offered the role of Beauty in a rock opera stage production of Beauty and the Beast in London and the Holograms will play her sisters. It’s a pretty interesting concept actually. I’d enjoy a full version of it. The travel doesn’t stop in London though. Jem and the Holograms decide to go to Danse’s home country to shoot their new video and hopefully help Danse find more out about her family. They find a lot more than they bargained for. Later on, the band will end up back in England along with the Misfits. This trip will bring a whole lot of trouble for the Misfits, especially Jetta. Once they all get back on this side of the world, Jerrica finally cracks under the pressure of being both Jem and Jerrica and keeping everything running, so Jem runs away to Mexico with Riot leaving the Misfits as the only game in town. While it seems strange to think of Jerrica falling for someone like Riot, there really is more than meets the eye to him and at times, he does have some redeeming qualities, more like Stormer of the Misfits rather than a really evil person. Speaking of evil, Clash is back and determined to ruin Video and Jem and the Holograms in an episode called “Video Wars.” I really like the song called “The Last Laugh” from this episode. The final episode of JEM and the Holograms is a very good episode about families and what they are really all about. Ba Nee is once again the focus of the episode on her continual quest to find her father. You might remember her from the previous season as the girl who almost lost her eyesight. While it doesn’t feel like a true ending of a series, the episode does leave things on a very happy note and is a satisfying conclusion to a truly outrageous series.
JEM and the Holograms really was an influential series of the time to young girls. It showed that women can be the focus of a series rather than just the girlfriend, as they are in most shows. Jem and her friends stand on their own and take care of problems that arise without relying on men all the time. That doesn’t mean that they hate men, though. Rather, the show presents a balanced life of strong women. If you’re looking for a positive show for your kids, I think that these girls can still hold the attention of youth. Check out JEM and the Holograms: Season Three today!
