When I sat down to watch Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, the episode titled Perceptions turned out to be a surprisingly relatable story about human nature. The plot centers on Swinton who is completely terrified of talking to a beautiful girl named Kathy at his school. Everyone on his team and even their floating blob mentor Nimbar give him completely different pieces of advice on how to act cool to get a date.

Watching the guy stumble around trying to follow all these conflicting ideas made me laugh because we all remember that awkward phase in youth when we cared too much about how others looked at us instead of just being ourselves. While the main character is dealing with his regular school heartaches, the main villain Emperor Gorganus decides to stir up trouble by sending a disgusting alien monster named Slaygar to pollute the environment. The monster breathes out this terrible toxic gas that messes with the superpower energy grid, meaning the teens cannot morph and fight as a full team.

This forces Nimbar to send Swinton in all by himself to face the threat. It is a big moment for the youngest member of the group because he cannot rely on his friends to bail him out this time, and the stake feels real even with the very cheap costumes and bright rubber suits they use for special effects.In the end, Swinton manages to figure out that Slaygar has a major weak spot right behind his ears, and he takes the monster down solo.

The beauty of this ending is how it ties the monster battle right back to the personal life of the main character. Once he stops listening to all the noise and trusts his own brain to defeat the creature, he realizes he needs to do the exact same thing with Kathy. He just goes up to her as his true self and everything works out fine. It is a surprisingly sweet message for a cheesy afternoon kids show, proving that your own internal radar is always better than trying to wear a mask for the world.