Tough Luck

Tough Luck
Season 2 Episode 31

General Information
Setting	San Francisco, USA Killarney, Ireland
Aired on	March 16, 2002
Production Number	44
Credits
Written by	Dean Stefan
Directed by	Andy Thom
Produced by	Dean Stefan
Episode Guide
Previous Episode Pleasure Cruise	Next Episode The Chosen One

Tough Luck is the forty-forth episode of Jackie Chan Adventures.

Synopsis

Jackie acquires a cursed emerald, and must find a way to break the curse. Meanwhile, Finn, Ratso and Chow decide to leave the Dark Hand and form their own gang.

Plot

The episode began at a rock concert in Cleveland, Ohio with an announcer calling out over the speakers, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome... the Dark Hand!” Chow was playing the drums, Ratso the guitar, Valmont the cowbell, Shadowkhan the guitar, and Shendu was a stage prop. Finn swooped on stage as the leader, and won over the crowd. Then, all of a sudden, Jackie jumped down from a Section 13 helicopter onto the stage and punched him in the face for no reason besides, “You are off key!”, upon which a screaming and panting Finn awakened in his apartment. Deciding to get away from Chan, Finn decided to quit the Dark Hand for good, planning on starting his own crime syndicate instead.

At Uncle's Rare Finds, Tohru had just failed at selling an antique Chinese vase to a customer, and was being trained by Jackie and Uncle in the art of salesmanship, while Jade was left in charge of the store. Suddenly, a Irish looking customer entered the shop and hurriedly a lamp, desperately trying to sell Jade the Emerald of Killarney. Uncle recognized the emerald to his horror, explaining the nature of its legendary curse, that if the emerald is passed onto someone whom willingly accepts it, that someone becomes cursed with bad luck unless they themselves pass it onto someone else by repeating the process same process. Afterwards, Jade had a string of bad luck until Jackie willingly took it from her possession, unintentionally passing the curse onto him.

Meanwhile, Finn was staging auditions for his new crime syndicate in an old theater. The first auditionee (donning a yellow and black jumpsuit identical to the one made famous by Bruce Lee) attempted to demonstrate his skill with a pair of nunchaku until hitting himself in the face. The next auditionee was a man with a set of steel-capped teeth (a parody of Jaws from James Bond) attempted to chew through a plank of wood, only for his teeth to get stuck in the wood, ripping straight out of his mouth. Finally, a third contestant proceeded to put on an impressive display with a katana by cutting through several haystacks, but runs away after seeing a mouse. Disappointed at the turnout, Finn is joined by his former peers, Chow and Ratso, explaining that they too quit after Finn. Recruiting them into the gang, Finn proceeded to tell them about the Emerald of Killarney, having ascertained its whereabouts from the Irish looking man that had initially sold it to Jade, walking them into a dressing room with the man tied up inside.

Jackie, meanwhile, had been locked in a closet by Uncle to prevent him from spreading the curse until he could find a way to break it. Jade and Tohru showed up from the library with twenty three books on Irish legends. Uncle read about how the curse can only be broken by returning the emerald to the tomb in Ireland that it was stolen from. Jackie tried to make it to a cab, but lost Uncle's good luck charms, and nearly got run over by a truck, nine cars and a motorcycle before he got to the cab. However, seconds later, Finn and the others showed up in a car, attempting to pocket the emerald for themselves, whereupon the unlucky Irish looking man warns them about the curse, to which Finn brushes off by asserting, “I’m Irish and every Irish dude knows that that curse is a bunch of blarney!” At the airport, Jackie attempted to board a flight to Ireland, but ended up in the baggage check machine, and on the plane, he got squashed by the reclining fat, bald passenger in front of him.

Upon arriving in Ireland, Jackie was greeted by Jade; dismayed, Jackie tried to tell Jade that she was returning to San Francisco, but kept getting interrupted by people walking by and pinching him. When he finally asked Jade for an explanation regarding their behavior, she simply inferred that they were in Ireland and that today just so happened to be St. Patrick's Day, revealing that Jackie wasn't wearing any green, which explained why Jade was sporting a pair of green sneakers instead of her usual red ones.

Jackie attempted to acquire a green hat in order to avoid getting pinched again, as well as to blend in a little. However, Finn and the others showed up, demanding the emerald. While attempting to flee, Jackie's pants got cough on an uneven fence as Finn tried to seize the emerald, but Jackie managed to retrieve his pants, sending Finn sprawling off the fence which Ratso proceeded to smash down, prompting Jackie to run across the rooftops swinging onto a clothes line, grabbing a pink-polka dot bathrobe on his way down. On the street, he nearly got beat up by two locals named Seamus, a name Uncle warned Jackie about, and is subsequently grabbed by Ratso as Finn snatches the emerald and Jackie is thrown into a dumpster. Jade returns Jackie's pants to him just as Uncle calls Jackie, informing him that if the emerald is stolen, the curse will remain on Jackie forever, Uncle's point solidified when the garbage pipe's contents suddenly spew out on Jackie's head.

Luckily, Jade uncovered the location of Finn and his gang from a group of locals down at a pub by disguising herself as a leprechaun, where one of them tells her he found out about “some fellas” trying to sell the emerald down at the old potato factory. But then, as Jade is about to leave, one of the patrons speaks up and claims that if they catch the leprechaun, they'll get the pot of gold.

The Chans arrived at the potato factory and Jackie proceeded to enter, discovering Finn along with his gang whilst negotiating the emerald's sale over the phone. Reaching out for the emerald, Jackie accidentally activated the machine, alerting the gang of three. Chow and Ratso retained Jackie who willingly surrendered the emerald to Finn, effectively passing on the curse, allowing Jackie to fight back unhindered.

Meanwhile, Jade was chased by the pub patrons until she was eventually cornered. However, Jade stopped them in their tracks by conceding to them, agreeing to lead them to her “pot of gold”.

Upon willingly accepting the emerald, Finn discovered that the curse was real, to which agreed to remove if they left him alone.

Jade and the pub patrons came in as Finn gave the emerald to Jackie. The leader of the patrons asked Finn to “hand it over”, and Finn claimed that Jackie had it. However, the patron grabbed Finn, clarifying that he didn’t mean the emerald, with another explaining to Finn what he had already discovered the hard way, that “Every Irishman knows that rock carries a curse.” Instead, the patrons demand the pot of gold they allegedly stole from the leprechaun, prompting Finn, Chow and Ratso to make a run for it, with the angry pub patrons chasing after them.

Eventually, Jackie and Jade managed to return the Emerald of Killarney to its tomb, breaking the curse for good. He and Jade walked happily through the streets of Ireland, until a black cat came across Jackie's path, he broke a mirror and then stepped under a ladder. Jade surmised that all that accounted to “eighty years' bad luck”. Jackie wondered if that was all superstition, but it wasn’t when someone dumped trash on him right where "the Trash Bin goes".

Characters

Protagonists

Antagonists

Dream

Objects

Emerald of Killarney - Irishman, Jade Chan, Jackie Chan (x2), Finn

Voice Talent

James Sie - Jackie Chan, Chow
Stacie Chan - Jade Chan
Sab Shimono - Uncle
Clancy Brown - Ratso
Adam Baldwin - Finn
Noah Nelson - Tohru
John DiMaggio - Sheamuses
Jennifer Darling

Quotes

Jackie: (after being pinched a few times) Ow! (to Jade) Why does everyone keep doing that?
Jade: (while using her fingers) Because this is Ireland. You’re not wearing green. (Jackie looks down at Jade’s green shoes) And it is kind of St. Patrick’s Day. (Jackie is surprised at seeing all the St. Patrick’s Day decorations)

Jade: (comes into the potato factory with the pub patrons, and points to Finn, Ratso and Chow) Those men have it.
Finn: (looks surprised at seeing the pub patrons, turns to Jackie and hands him the Emerald) It’s all yours, dude.
Pub Patron Leader: (to Finn while holding out a hand) All-rightee, hand it over.
Finn: (thinking the leader means the Emerald) I just did. (points to Jackie) He has it. (Jackie looks surprised, but the leader grabs Finn instead)
Pub Patron Leader: Not the Emerald, you pig-ignorant gum!
Pub Patron #2: Every Irishman knows that rock carries a curse!
Pub Patron Leader: The leprechaun told us you lot stole her pot of gold! (Finn, Ratso and Chow exchange shocked looks with each other)

Broadcast

USA: The WB (Kids' WB) - Saturday, March 16, 2002
UK: BBC One (CBBC) - Saturday, September 7, 2002

Trivia

The names suggested for Finn's gang are all based on the names of famous bands, reflecting his love of music:
- "The Finn Experience", referencing The Jimmy Hendrix Experience.
- "Finn and the Revolution", parodying Prince and the Revolution.
- "Finn, Wind, and Fire", derived from Earth, Wind, and Fire.
- "The Rolling Finns" (this alternative is voiced by Ratso, and it's the only one suggested by someone else than Finn), a play on the Rolling Stones.
- "Finn Halen", based on Van Halen. Finn would later use this as his bidding name in "Half a Mask of Kung-Fu".
One of the men trying out for Finn's crime syndicate was dressed in a yellow jumpsuit using nun-chucks; this is a reference to Bruce Lee, famous martial artist and friend of Jackie Chan; the yellow jumpsuit would later be worn by Beatrix Kiddo in "Kill Bill Volume 1".

Episodes
Season One
The Dark Hand • The Power Within • The Mask of El Toro Fuerte • Enter the Viper • Shell Game • Project A, for Astral • Bullies • Tough Break • The Rock • The Jade Monkey • The Dog and Piggy Show • The Tiger and the Pussycat • Day of the Dragon
Season Two
Through the Rabbit Hole • The Warrior Incarnate • Snake Hunt • The Mother of All Battles • The Stronger Evil • The J-Team • Jade Times Jade • The Curse of El Chupacabra • Rumble in the Big House • Lost City of the Muntabs • And He Does His Own Stunts • Showdown in the Old West • Queen of the Shadowkhan • Origami • Shanghai Moon • The Lotus Temple • Armor of the Gods • Agent Tag • Tale of the Demon Tail • The Return of the Pussycat • Scouts Honor • Danger in the Deep Freeze • Into the Mouth of Evil • The King and Jade • The New Atlantis • The Eighth Door • Demon World (Part 1) • Demon World (Part 2) • Enter the Cat • Pleasure Cruise • Tough Luck • The Chosen One • Glove Story • The Chan Who Knew Too Much • Chi of the Vampire • The Good, the Bad, the Blind, the Deaf and the Mute • Shrink Rap • I'll Be a Monkey's Puppet • The Amazing T-Girl
Season Three
Re-Enter the J-Team • The Powers Unleashed • Viva Las Jackies • Aztec Rat Race • Monkey a Go-Go • When Pigs Fly • Rabbit Run • Sheep In, Sheep Out • The Invisible Mom • A Jolly J-Team X-Mas • Little Valmont, Big Jade • The Ox-Head Incident • Animal Crackers • Tohru Who? • Re-Enter the Dragon • A Night at the Opera • Attack of the J-Clones
Season Four
The Masks of the Shadowkhan • Samurai Ratso • The Amazing T-Troop • Black Magic • The Demon Behind • Fright Fight Night • Half a Mask of Kung-Fu • The Shadow Eaters • The Good Guys • Deja Vu • J2: Rise of the Dragons • The J-Tots • Ninja Twilight
Season Five
Relics of Demon Past • It's All in the Game • Black and White and Chi All Over • Dragon Scouts • The Demon Beneath My Wings • Mirror, Mirror • Antler Action • Clash of the Titanics • Stealing Thunder • Weight and See • J2 Revised • The Powers That Be (Part 1) • The Powers That Be (Part 2)