Winter Solstice Special: "Snow Way Out" Review

Season 1, Episode Number Apocryphal, Original Air Date: October 5, 1998 (JP), December 18, 1999 (US)

Hello everyone: happy winter solstice.  First off, Star Wars was great. Second, given the recent success of “Pokémon Sword and Shield” and the new anime; I think I will review something that gives me a chance to say: and now for something completely different! Yes, I know I’ve talked about individual episodes before, but here’s one I haven’t that’s a rather curious piece for how it’s aired. More on that later, but for now: let’s open up “Snow Way Out!”

We open on a fork in the road that leads to a mountain range, with everyone getting caught in the cold. I have a bad feeling about this…

Also, Ash addresses Pikachu as “Pik.” I’ve nicknamed my Pikachu many things over the years: “Pik” is not one of them. Rather than turning back, they decide to “stay the course.” Ha! Never heard that one before.

They decide to keep going to the peak, but the iron in the mountains is throwing off the magnetism of Brock’s compass! I guess it would be a while before they came up with Nosepass (whose nose always points to magnetic north), let alone other monsters that evolve in a magnetic field.

Misty then demands Ash do something to get them out of the mess they’re in, and Ash sends out Pidgeotto as a sentry to find a way down the mountain! Pidgeotto finds one, and they continue on their way.

Elsewhere, while Meowth and James are bothered by the cold; Jessie is not. We then get a flashback to when she was a little girl: due to her mother being missing, presumed dead on a mission, one of the foster homes she was in was so poor that they had to eat snow because of the low food budget; a “snowgasboard” as she calls it. Though the episode order in canon may be debated, this element is still canon.

Puffing up their balloon, they decide to go catch up with the “twerps” before it gets dark. However, it takes so long to say their motto that it floats away as the clouds roll in and a snowstorm kicks up!

As Team Rocket chases their errant balloon, our heroes must find shelter from the storm before it consumes them all! Brock gets the idea to start digging a bivouac in the snow, but Pikachu is nearly blown away by the strong winds!

Pikachu almost falls down the cliffside, but Ash sends out Bulbasaur to hoist him up with Vine Whip! Unable to find their way back to the others due to the storm, they then take shelter in a cave until it passes!

With the help of Charmander, they’re able to get inside the cave just in time! As for why Charmander is there as opposed to Charizard: there is a reason for that, and it’s related to the airing order being shuffled because of the “Electric Soldier Porygon” incident. More on that later, but for now: Squirtle and Bulbasaur help seal off the door of the cave until morning. 

As they all huddle around Charmander for warmth, elsewhere; Team Rocket isn’t doing as well. Also, on top of roughly 24 seconds of footage being cut from this scene (maybe they’re somewhere with the old man from Scene 24), 4Kids redid Meowth’s matches into candles; somehow glossing over you’d need something to light the candles as well as showing the used matches anyway in the next part. Remember: only YOU can prevent wildfires and continuity errors!

Now, comes the most-recognized part of the episode: as the storm rages on, Ash orders everyone back inside their Poké Balls; but Pikachu refuses! Not only that, the others pop back out to help Ash stay warm through the night! While I will discuss how the airing of this episode has led to some confusion about its place in canon; I can’t deny how much emotional weight this scene has, further compounded by Ash confiding in his Pokémon and subtly crying as “Tears After the Cloudy Weather” plays in the BGM.

The sun rises the next day, and the storm has broken as Ash reunites with Brock and Misty. After sharing some banter about their respective nights; they continue down the mountain pass.
They find the Meowth balloon blown near them; so they set about fueling it up so they can ride it down the mountain! Well, I guess it’s only one step above “borrowing” a bike.

So, with Vulpix’s help, Ash, Brock, Misty and Pikachu ride the balloon back down the mountain into the next town. We then close on Jessie, James and Meowth resting in a hot spring in the mountains.

As an added bonus, the Pikachu’s Jukebox segment is the title track from the “2BA Master” album! Finally got it on a digital sale earlier this year, been listening to it a lot lately.

While many elements from this episode were canonized in later ones (notably Jessie’s foster care and Ash’s night in the cave); the airing order is a strange one. In both the Japanese and English airings, the episode was to be a companion piece to “Holiday Hi-Jynx”; but both ended up being postponed due to the “Electric Soldier Porygon” incident, not airing until way later than intended. Hence why Ash has a Charmander and not the Charizard it became, and why Misty’s Togepi isn’t present yet. This has also caused some confusion on official home media releases and digital streaming. Though the Pokémon TV service puts it in between “It’s Mr. Mime Time” and “Showdown at the Poké-corral,” I am one of many who sees the episode’s numbering as apocryphal. Oxford defines the adjective as “of doubtful authenticity, though widely circulated as being true” or “belonging to the apocrypha.”



As for the episode itself: while it’s not my favorite one, “Snow Way Out” is an overall solid experience with some good animation for its time and surprisingly heartfelt moments. It may not be in rotation as much as some others, but I do like to put it on once every so often; so I can recommend it for that at least. What else can I say: “it’s rock climbing, Joel.” I hope you all have a good winter’s tidings, and I will see you all again soon.