totally agree with you on lmks pacing, it works for me because pretty much every plot element thats supposed to matter, even if it only lasts for 2 or so episodes (i.e possessed wukong) is treated with weight

that and there arent characters/scenes that take away a substantial amount of spotlight from other things that could be focused on (smartie kid not withstanding)

YES EXACTLY. EXACTLY

Like, with possessed Wukong specifically I got everything I could have wanted from it. We had him attack MK no less than 3 times, we had MK trying to reason with him (and failing), we had MK believing in SWK (and getting him back), we had possessed Wukong fighting Macaque, it retroactively added to Wukong's "reaching for more power/immortality" arc in sick and twisted ways. I love it here.

And, look. I said *maybe* you could cut Smartie Kid from s3, with tears in my eyes, because honestly I love that episode and what it contributes. It shows us how Wukong is going to gain his strength back, and most importantly it re-establishes MK's powers and shows us how he's feeling about not having those powers. That and 3x03 takes a big bright highlighter to the fact that MK's "someone special"/"hey it's not normal that he can lift the staff", and I love that MK get's his powers back playing a rigged game. I also love that MK literally bets his friends in order to force himself to win (aka "going too far in the pursuit of power", because that's what monkeys do). MK deciding he was going to be the "smart one" after losing his sense of identity as the "Monkie Kid" is such a him choice. That was so MK of him. Plus, I think it's a nice transition episode between "The Great Grand Dragon of the East" and "The Winning Side".