Winx Club: 2x15: The Show Must Go On!
Nov. 2nd, 2006 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsDue to some delays, my podcast will be posted today instead of yesterday. So first, an uncut ep summary. It's been a while since I posted a summary, so... here goes.
In a nutshell: Music on the menu for today, but with a good side of angst. Because it's not a show about teenage life if there's no angst. (And there are more song references to be found in today's recap!)
Recap: Bloom, Flo and the Specs went to Eraklyon to rescue Diaspro from technoninjas. Remember, that chick from the first season? In other news... Stormy and Musa had a SHOWDOWN! Stormy thought that she was going to steamroll Musa with her Gloomix, but she had another thing coming. Musa actually beat her, so Stormy swore REVENGE!!! Which is what this ep plays off from.
RF at night. Looks nice. Musa appears to be fourth-walling us if we've ever been scared by the sounds of silence. She explains that she will be performing at an RF concert in a few hours. Backstage, Musa (in a brand new hip-hoppy outfit!) preps for her performance, and then she comes out. But not her voice, however, and she sees that the entire audience is a bunch of robots in togas. Eh? The lights are slowly being switched off one by one as Musa continues, "Bloom thinks my voice is fantastic, and that the audience will cheer, dance, and sing along with me. She's convinced that tonight, the lights in my career will be switched on one after another."
Musa is walking in the dark. A spotlight shines on her a la Mr. Bean. From Musa's VO, it is apparent that she's talking to someone: "I remember. You once told me that to be able to sing, you have to trust your audience." Musa appears to be coming down with a dose of stage fright. She looks up into the night sky over the RF arena....
...which fades to a Japanese-inspired fairy realm, full of "islands" seemingly floating on air, each occupied by a single tree and a few graves. Musa is at one of them. Leaves are falling everywhere, and in her season premiere outfit, she is holding a bouquet of flowers. It becomes apparent that she is talking to the tomb. She places down the flowers in front of the tomb (which also has some incense lighted up) as she asks, "Mom, how did you feel the first time you were on stage?" We flashback to a lady in a kimono, performing at an opera to a full house. Everyone is amazed by her performance. Some guy who for some reason has an Abraham Lincoln vibe to me, is talking to a balding blonde guy. Abe tells him, "Your student shows amazing artistic maturity for her age." Baldie explains, "Well, she works hard, and has a great natural gift for music, which is quite rare." As we see Kimono Lady being given flowers, I assume by a much younger Musa, Musa continues speaking to mom. "I wish my debut could be like yours. Unfortunately, you won't be able to see me tonight. But I'll be singing for you." We fade back to Musa at the RF stage, as we head over to...
...Evil Guy's Pad. But there's no Evil Guy, or the other witches, to be seen anywhere today. We head straight to Stormy's room, where she is standing in front of her mirror. She's thinking a change would do her good, as she says, "Ugh, Musa. I sure hope you're ready for your concert. Hmmph. Because it'll be an evening you won't soon forget." She straightens out her distinctly cloud shaped hair into a more Darcy-like 'do, swaps her small green eyes for large sky blue eyes, changes her hair color to brown, and changes her outfit to blend in with the others. She uses her sweater to wipe a lipstick drawing of Musa off her mirror. "Musa, you're done. Muhahahahaha!"
The next day, at the gardens outside the RF arena. Brandon is with two girls. "Of course I'll win the sacred chalice tonight, but only if I get a kiss for good luck." The girls ask him if he likes strawberry or cherry lipstick, as Brandon says, "Boy, have I ever loved being me!" And then the two girls run off, and Brandon is bewildered to find two sticks of lipstick stuffed up his cape. Brandon sees Makeover, and tells her "I'm looking for someone to cheer for me in the finals." Makeover turns around and yells for him to "Get lost!" leaving Brandon bewildered.
And now, let's get the party started! We see a pair of legwarmers and boots dancing. We see two hands being raised into the air. It's Layla in her casuals, practicing her dance moves. She's in a bedroom with Musa and Francis, as well as Tune, Blinky and Piff. She continues to dance, and then stops for a bit.
We get a good look at the fivesome she's dancing in front of, before Layla counts off to 4, and launches into her musical dance routine at RF with Francis and Mirta, and in a different outfit. Notable is her green pants, with the left leg rolled up to show a long pink sock, with a small green legwarmer at the end.
Dancing. The crowd is enjoying it. Lockette is dancing with Messenger, while Chatta and Zing are dancing above them on stage. More dancing. And some more dancing. It's a great tune accompanied with a great dance. Even if it adds nothing to the plot...
(Riven is indifferent in the crowd. Heh.)
(Speaking of Layla's dancing, the substance of Layla's scene from last episode was that she was teaching Musa the dance she used against Stormy. In America, Layla shows off general dancing. Methinks they were setting up Layla to show off her dancing... they even have Layla offering to fill Musa's slot with her dance, yet all they show is the short practice bit before the concert. Hmm...)
Back to Musicfairy rehearsing. "I practice day and night for the concert, but not everything is going to go smoothly." Stella and Layla are watching her perform her song. Meanwhile, Makeover takes a peek, before running off. Stella thinks it's brilliant, for the 23rd time in a row. Stella wants to break for snack, but Musa wants her sax, and she wants to go over it once more. Stella throws her the sax and sticks out her tongue :D :D :D And Musa's yelling, "Are you nuts?! This saxophone costs a fortune!" (And I imagine that someone is typing, "It's more meaningful for Musa when that sax is her dad's... even if it's a bit incosistent with the later mention of dad throwing out all his instruments.") Suddenly, Saladin calls Musa over, because someone's visiting her: Her dad. Musa is very enthusiastic about her dad showing up. Makeover is thinking "Hmm... interesting" as she looks at the two. She even calls daddy "portly". Well, time hasn't been on his side, anyway.
So FG told dad that Musa was up to great things here, and he thought that she'd find her studying. Well, she must study a lot. She gets the best grades among the clique (a fact that still bewilders me to no end, since isn't it usually the nerdy, techno whiz, what have you, of the group who gets the best grades?). FG tells dad that there will be a big concert after RF's tournament, and since Musa is considering becoming a professional singer, FG has decided to give her a shot. Musa didn't expect dad to come here, but daddy isn't showing any enthusiasm. Dad asks if she does want to be a singer, and Musa says, "Yes. I wanna do it, for me and mom." Daddy decides that he and Musa will have things to discuss in private. Wonder why our geezer doesn't want Musa to be an all star?
Japanese fairy realm. Falling leaves. Burning incense. Fallen tears. Now, Musa mentions to her mom's grave that pappy has met Riven, and he was quick to dismiss him. Musa rightfully points out, "How can he judge someone he's seen for two seconds?" We watch the two argue over Riven, and dad calls him "a disrepectful arrogant rebel with no sense of responsbility!!... Everybody says so." Hey, the guy was born a rebel. Musa tells him that he just has a rivalry with Sky (so true!), but dad asks her, "Couldn't you have picked a prince at least?" Back with mom, Musa tells the grave, "Riven may not be easy to get along with, but at least he's honest." The real issue comes in now... "Mom, what's wrong with trying to follow your dreams? Isn't that what you and daddy did? You lived solely for music!"
RF garden. Layla is peeking around a tree. When love and hate collide, it's ugly. Daddy tells her that this will be her first concert, and her last at the same time. We pick up the conversation from here. "How can you say that?! Music was your life!" "I'm talking about your life! Where do you think all that dancing will get you when you're 30 or 40 years old? How will you support a family?" "I want to be a singer, not a dancer. Okay?" "And that's exactly what I cannot let happen. You think I enjoy arguing with you?" "Maybe. Why else would you be stressing yourself out like this? You like being angry?" "What happened to your mother hasn't taught you much, has it?" "You and mom taught me to believe in my dreams and to fight for them! Ugh, how could you forget that?!" "You shouldn't have said that Musa. You leave me no choice: I'm transferring you to another school. I'm sorry, but one day you'll understand!"
That's right, just because she wants to follow in her parents' footsteps, pappy has decided to transfer Musa, and take her away from the friends she's known for more than a year. Musa falls down to her knees, crying. Layla offers herself for Musa to talk to.
While everyone seems to love this episode for its angst, I end up finding a lot of it unnecessary. Her excuse to dad amounts to "You loved music, and I'm just following in your footsteps, that's all. Is that too much for you to accept?" It's a strong excuse in and of itself, but hello? She studies magic at a freakin' fairy school, and most of her magic powers (especially in her fairy gear) are music-based ("Sonic Mega Blast!"). And yet during the discussion, none of this comes up. No surprises then that daddy gets the impression that Musa is interested in music only because of her mom and her personal ambitions, and nothing else. I'll pick up the thread much later, when I can put things in better perspective.
Okay, back to the show. Opera. It's a flashback, in which where we learn about Musa's past. "My dad was a young musician who happened to see my mom's first concert." Backstage, dorky young daddy (which we did see in the earlier flashback to the opera) claims to have written a piece for cello and voice and he's pitching it to Kimono Lady. She says she's heading home tomorrow afternoon, so she'd like it tomorrow morning.
"In fact, dad hadn't composed anything at all. So he had to write the whole song in one night." Yipes! We see dad's pad. It has a small piano and a cello, and tons of paper strewn all over the place. "The piece was nothing special, but mom liked to sing it anyway." Show the two parents performing the song, and then the two kissing near the fridge. Eww.
They're in a concert as Musa goes on. "Mom and dad had a storybook romance. They were so in love. They lived and worked side by side." Show them getting married and throwing the bouquet! "But after a while, work became scarce, and their music careers didn't pay enough." Daddy is counting his bills, bills, bills, and he doesn't have many.
I swear that's the little-used Professor DuFour on the piano at mommy's next concert. "Dad wanted nothing more than to see mom fulfill her dreams." Layla interrupts, "And that's when you came into the picture?"
Flash cut to baby Musa, and her hair is already starting to grow into the headphone pigtails we all know and love. Watch her blow a spit bubble! "Even though they were very poor, they were very happy to have me. Dad used to say that the day I was born was the happiest of his life." Meanwhile, another concert. This time, dad is on the cello. Mom collapses. Everyone looks on as an unconscious "Waneen" is in dad's arms.
Birds. RF. Musa continues flashbacking with Layla. "Mom got sick. They barely had enough money to buy food, so... never mind medicine. Mom died, there was nothing we could do." The flashback from here is nothing but stills, a la Layla's tale about the pixie village. A still of mom's funeral. A still of dad angsting over mom's death. A still of dad smashing his own cello. A still of young Musa looking terrified. "Dad never got over it. He didn't play a single note ever again, and I became the only thing in his life." So in a nutshell, Dad's had quite an awful beautiful life. Okay, just awful.
RF again. Layla: "You know, I think your dad is just scared that if you follow a musical path, you'll end up like your mother." "Oh Layla. I want to be the fairy of music, and I don't want to lose either you guys or my dad." "That'll never happen Musa. Just give a great show and don't worry about anything else. Okay?" (BTW, this is where Layla offers to extend her dance slot in the US. Also, America never addresses the issue of the family's financial troubles, which is the main reason that Musa's dad is so anti-music.)
Musa, dude, now you say that you want to become the fairy of music? Here's a quarter. Call someone who cares! But honestly, this is the first time I've ever seen any parent so negative about their kid following in their footsteps. (Actually, there was once a pilot for Nickelodeon, "Constant Payne", where this was the central premise, though it doesn't actually come across in the pilot. But I digress.) It's kind of a like a reverse "Jazz Singer" or something.
A few more stills. Dad running through flowers with Musa. Musa looking happy. "Some days are filled with joy and sunshine, days you'll never forget." As we pull out from Musa and Layla at the RF gardens to the RF arena, we time lapse into the evening over some sorrowful music.
RF stage. Codatorta introduces Stella to duet with Musa. "And then there are moments where everything goes just right." Stella falls over :D :D :D "Sort of! Now this is Stella's part. My solo will come later."
And now, Musa and Stella with an upbeat 80's sounding pop duet. They sing, and then they sing some more... and Stella bumps her mike stand and has to pick it up. Then Stella bumps Musa with her rear. They keep singing, they keep dancing. For some reason, Stella is at Musa's side for much of the song. Stella falls over, while everyone's enjoying Musa's singing. Stella gets up and falls backward. Stella's mike stand is back up again as the song ends, and it drops again and its head hits the ground, creating massive feedback. She apologizes, and puts it back up. It swings violently and falls over again. More feedback! Stella comes across a bit too much as a another dumb blonde here...
After the duet, Codatorta brings on the Specs to perform the traditional fire dance. Starring a war-painted Sky and Brandon. In which the two of them twirl their fiery batons around and throw them to each other. While Brandon's twirling, he eyes the audience for the cute babe he saw this morning. Sky tells Brandon, "Brandon, you're not paying attention," and slaps his leg with his baton. Ouch!
Makeover looks around. Makeover finds her bait, and she thinks... "Musa won't be able to turn down the challenge, and I'll get to humiliate her in front of everyone." Makeover wants to take vengeance on Musa for beating her last week, and that's her perogative.
Backstage. "Those lights are for me. My big moment has arrived." Musa is in her outfit from earlier, prepping. Layla is peeking outside the curtains. Stella is powdering Musa. "Relax girl, you'll do great!" "It's just the first note. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose it."
Audience. Let's see who's here. Griffin. FG. The Griz. DuFour. WizGiz. That Abe lookalike from the flashback. Two elf girls are coming in. Layla: "Hey Musa, the elf muses came to hear your solo!" Stella: "Shouldn't tell her that..."
As Codatorta begins his intro, Musa covers her ears a bit and starts to go slightly off-key, as Stella says, "Uh-oh, she's gonna lose her note..." As Codatorta says, "It is with the greatest pride that I present to you our next performer. The real star of this evening..." Musa makes a last second prayer: "Please mom, be with me now."
Codatorta introduces Musa. The curtains open as Musa takes off her cape and runs out to stage. Everyone is standing for her. Riven is a bit surprised, and then much delighted, to see her on stage. Time for Musa to rock the party.
"This is a song I wrote called A Sky Without Moving Stars." Well, at least that's what I heard the first time. A few listens later, the title is in fact, "A Sky Without Moon and Stars". It's the song that she performed at the practice (incidentally, in the US she practices one song, and performs another). She starts to sing, and suddenly she has a guitar strung over her neck, and she's playing it too. The song was clearly written with her late great mom in mind. Layla and Piff are watching. HER DAD IS WATCHING! Mirta is watching. The other Winx are watching. Other random fairies are watching. The pixies are watching. Tune takes a tissue from Francis. "Tissues for the sensitive soul." Flo and Bloom take theirs. The Specs are probably watching (Timmy is definitely there). Standing ovation! They're already standing, but eh, what the heck.
Hey, I thought she was supposed to perform this song with her sax. Ripoff artists! (Kicks Musa in the shin. Okay, not really, but seeing her play the sax during a sorrowful ballad probably would have been something to see and hear.)
Makeover sneaks up on geezer dad. She unrolls her sweater to expose her Gloomix, and turns back into Stormy to attack him. This makes Musa very flabbergasted, as Riven makes his way around to take a look around at the fracas.
Stormy threatens the other people. "You all better relax, or the old man will lose more than his hair." HEH! Time for Stormy to challenge Musa all over again. Musa tells Stormy that her dad has nothing to do with this. Nice to see that even though she's staunchly against her dad's anti-music attitude, she's still willing to defend him. That's loyalty for you!
Riven keeps on moving around. "If you love this sweet pathetic old man..." HEH! "... come take his place. And if he moves another inch, he's gonna share your ugly fate."
Musa decides to take her up on her challenge and transforms. Stormy tells Musa the fairy, "Fire away Musa, but think what your sonic bombs will do to these people. Do you really want to hurt them???" Hey. Only I get to make the song references around here, Stormy!
Musa realizes this, and now she's got no wind beneath her wings (yeah, that reference was a reach). I don't know if her red boots were made for walking, but that's just what they'll do, as Musa walks up to the mike. Flora (incidentally, standing next to Mirta): "No Musa, don't give in to her!" Stormy sees Musa at the mike, and says, "Good Musa, we both know who's the strongest here!"
Whatever Stormy was expecting for Musicfairy to say into the mike (sweet surrender, perhaps?), she's got another thing coming. Musa says, "Listen. I need each and every one of you to help me. Let's all sing together!"
Backstage, Stella wonders if Musa's out of her mind, as Musa's voice starts moaning... "A sad song. How appropriate!" Riven continues running around. This time telling everyone, "Sing! Come on, you idiots! Do what Musa says! Sing along everyone! Trust me, she knows what she's doing!" Riven, actually being useful? I must be dreaming.
Everyone starts to join in, starting with the elf muses. Then the teachers. Musa tries to get the sound levels up. More Riven running around.
Stormy wonders, "Is this supposed to prove something?" as the crowd continues to sing. Meanwhile, one elf muse is noting, "Musa is channeling profound powers of music. That witch's evil soul will be overpowered!"
Back at the stage, Musa the fairy yells, "I feel the strength of your song!" as she claps her hands together and creates a small energy ball. Stormy's Gloomix goes out, and she says: "Oh no, what's happening to my powers?!"
The energy ball grows, and homes in on Stormy. She yells, "Oh no! Curse you Musa!!" as the energy ball hits her and blows her out of the RF arena. And Musa's comment is the most obvious music-related gag ever: "Stormy has left the building!" (Although to me, it looks more like she's casting an attack.) The crowd has another standing ovation, as Musa morphs out of her fairy gear back into her singing outfit. Stella and Layla congratulate her (yeah Stella, that was cool!) as we see yet another shot of the crowd's standing ovation. We see the teachers and elf muses.
Amore flies over to Musa (with Piff and Messenger) and asks her, "The magic was so strong. You think Stormy is...?" Musa doesn't even let Amore finish as she answers: "Don't worry, the magic of a love song has never hurt anybody. You'll see. We'll hear from Stormy yet." You know, that's something I bet the others might be afraid to hear...
Riven helps Musa's daddy to his feet, being extra polite to boot, and daddy says, "You know, I was wrong about you..." and then he looks at Musa, and she's very happy.
Now, here's the place where I come in. So essentially, while angst is a necessary evil in shows with teens, I find that all that angsting over being transferred unnecessary. I have no doubt that daddy would never have even thought of transferring her if he'd known that she wanted to be a fairy of music. Heck, she could have just used that as her excuse during their "private" discussion. Something along the lines of, "Besides, I have magical powers and I get them from music. Isn't that why you sent me here in the first place?"
Still, Lori has claimed (in a few emails to me) that the long way around, so to speak, actually works, not just because it's more dramatic that way, but it's also consistent with the way the characters are (read: Musa being rather not open).
We see a wide shot of the RF arena, as we fade to the Japanese fairy realm. Musa finishes up her story. "But now it's over. I gave my first concert, and you were right. I trusted my audience, and everything else fell into place." Her dad walks in, the leaves stop falling, and Musa and her dad hug. "The power of music is truly magical. After all that had happened to us, I thought music divided people. But today I realized... that's not true at all." We see a picture of mom as we fade out.
Oh fudge. Over the end of the preview, which for some reason our broadcaster moves to after the credits, Stella barges into the pic to tell us there's a surprise.
And that surprise is... instead of the usual closing credits montage, we see the Winx girls performing the closing theme in the RF concert. Woo-hoo! Griffin's dancing. Concorda and a bunch of other pixies are dancing. Heck, everyone's dancing! Mirta and Lucy even get on stage to dance.
(Incidentally, when I saw the ep as part of a double ep airing, the credits were completely cut out. Ouch.)
Next, we conclude the filler with a Halloween party. With MITZI!!!
In a nutshell: Music on the menu for today, but with a good side of angst. Because it's not a show about teenage life if there's no angst. (And there are more song references to be found in today's recap!)
Recap: Bloom, Flo and the Specs went to Eraklyon to rescue Diaspro from technoninjas. Remember, that chick from the first season? In other news... Stormy and Musa had a SHOWDOWN! Stormy thought that she was going to steamroll Musa with her Gloomix, but she had another thing coming. Musa actually beat her, so Stormy swore REVENGE!!! Which is what this ep plays off from.
RF at night. Looks nice. Musa appears to be fourth-walling us if we've ever been scared by the sounds of silence. She explains that she will be performing at an RF concert in a few hours. Backstage, Musa (in a brand new hip-hoppy outfit!) preps for her performance, and then she comes out. But not her voice, however, and she sees that the entire audience is a bunch of robots in togas. Eh? The lights are slowly being switched off one by one as Musa continues, "Bloom thinks my voice is fantastic, and that the audience will cheer, dance, and sing along with me. She's convinced that tonight, the lights in my career will be switched on one after another."
Musa is walking in the dark. A spotlight shines on her a la Mr. Bean. From Musa's VO, it is apparent that she's talking to someone: "I remember. You once told me that to be able to sing, you have to trust your audience." Musa appears to be coming down with a dose of stage fright. She looks up into the night sky over the RF arena....
...which fades to a Japanese-inspired fairy realm, full of "islands" seemingly floating on air, each occupied by a single tree and a few graves. Musa is at one of them. Leaves are falling everywhere, and in her season premiere outfit, she is holding a bouquet of flowers. It becomes apparent that she is talking to the tomb. She places down the flowers in front of the tomb (which also has some incense lighted up) as she asks, "Mom, how did you feel the first time you were on stage?" We flashback to a lady in a kimono, performing at an opera to a full house. Everyone is amazed by her performance. Some guy who for some reason has an Abraham Lincoln vibe to me, is talking to a balding blonde guy. Abe tells him, "Your student shows amazing artistic maturity for her age." Baldie explains, "Well, she works hard, and has a great natural gift for music, which is quite rare." As we see Kimono Lady being given flowers, I assume by a much younger Musa, Musa continues speaking to mom. "I wish my debut could be like yours. Unfortunately, you won't be able to see me tonight. But I'll be singing for you." We fade back to Musa at the RF stage, as we head over to...
...Evil Guy's Pad. But there's no Evil Guy, or the other witches, to be seen anywhere today. We head straight to Stormy's room, where she is standing in front of her mirror. She's thinking a change would do her good, as she says, "Ugh, Musa. I sure hope you're ready for your concert. Hmmph. Because it'll be an evening you won't soon forget." She straightens out her distinctly cloud shaped hair into a more Darcy-like 'do, swaps her small green eyes for large sky blue eyes, changes her hair color to brown, and changes her outfit to blend in with the others. She uses her sweater to wipe a lipstick drawing of Musa off her mirror. "Musa, you're done. Muhahahahaha!"
The next day, at the gardens outside the RF arena. Brandon is with two girls. "Of course I'll win the sacred chalice tonight, but only if I get a kiss for good luck." The girls ask him if he likes strawberry or cherry lipstick, as Brandon says, "Boy, have I ever loved being me!" And then the two girls run off, and Brandon is bewildered to find two sticks of lipstick stuffed up his cape. Brandon sees Makeover, and tells her "I'm looking for someone to cheer for me in the finals." Makeover turns around and yells for him to "Get lost!" leaving Brandon bewildered.
And now, let's get the party started! We see a pair of legwarmers and boots dancing. We see two hands being raised into the air. It's Layla in her casuals, practicing her dance moves. She's in a bedroom with Musa and Francis, as well as Tune, Blinky and Piff. She continues to dance, and then stops for a bit.
We get a good look at the fivesome she's dancing in front of, before Layla counts off to 4, and launches into her musical dance routine at RF with Francis and Mirta, and in a different outfit. Notable is her green pants, with the left leg rolled up to show a long pink sock, with a small green legwarmer at the end.
Dancing. The crowd is enjoying it. Lockette is dancing with Messenger, while Chatta and Zing are dancing above them on stage. More dancing. And some more dancing. It's a great tune accompanied with a great dance. Even if it adds nothing to the plot...
(Riven is indifferent in the crowd. Heh.)
(Speaking of Layla's dancing, the substance of Layla's scene from last episode was that she was teaching Musa the dance she used against Stormy. In America, Layla shows off general dancing. Methinks they were setting up Layla to show off her dancing... they even have Layla offering to fill Musa's slot with her dance, yet all they show is the short practice bit before the concert. Hmm...)
Back to Musicfairy rehearsing. "I practice day and night for the concert, but not everything is going to go smoothly." Stella and Layla are watching her perform her song. Meanwhile, Makeover takes a peek, before running off. Stella thinks it's brilliant, for the 23rd time in a row. Stella wants to break for snack, but Musa wants her sax, and she wants to go over it once more. Stella throws her the sax and sticks out her tongue :D :D :D And Musa's yelling, "Are you nuts?! This saxophone costs a fortune!" (And I imagine that someone is typing, "It's more meaningful for Musa when that sax is her dad's... even if it's a bit incosistent with the later mention of dad throwing out all his instruments.") Suddenly, Saladin calls Musa over, because someone's visiting her: Her dad. Musa is very enthusiastic about her dad showing up. Makeover is thinking "Hmm... interesting" as she looks at the two. She even calls daddy "portly". Well, time hasn't been on his side, anyway.
So FG told dad that Musa was up to great things here, and he thought that she'd find her studying. Well, she must study a lot. She gets the best grades among the clique (a fact that still bewilders me to no end, since isn't it usually the nerdy, techno whiz, what have you, of the group who gets the best grades?). FG tells dad that there will be a big concert after RF's tournament, and since Musa is considering becoming a professional singer, FG has decided to give her a shot. Musa didn't expect dad to come here, but daddy isn't showing any enthusiasm. Dad asks if she does want to be a singer, and Musa says, "Yes. I wanna do it, for me and mom." Daddy decides that he and Musa will have things to discuss in private. Wonder why our geezer doesn't want Musa to be an all star?
Japanese fairy realm. Falling leaves. Burning incense. Fallen tears. Now, Musa mentions to her mom's grave that pappy has met Riven, and he was quick to dismiss him. Musa rightfully points out, "How can he judge someone he's seen for two seconds?" We watch the two argue over Riven, and dad calls him "a disrepectful arrogant rebel with no sense of responsbility!!... Everybody says so." Hey, the guy was born a rebel. Musa tells him that he just has a rivalry with Sky (so true!), but dad asks her, "Couldn't you have picked a prince at least?" Back with mom, Musa tells the grave, "Riven may not be easy to get along with, but at least he's honest." The real issue comes in now... "Mom, what's wrong with trying to follow your dreams? Isn't that what you and daddy did? You lived solely for music!"
RF garden. Layla is peeking around a tree. When love and hate collide, it's ugly. Daddy tells her that this will be her first concert, and her last at the same time. We pick up the conversation from here. "How can you say that?! Music was your life!" "I'm talking about your life! Where do you think all that dancing will get you when you're 30 or 40 years old? How will you support a family?" "I want to be a singer, not a dancer. Okay?" "And that's exactly what I cannot let happen. You think I enjoy arguing with you?" "Maybe. Why else would you be stressing yourself out like this? You like being angry?" "What happened to your mother hasn't taught you much, has it?" "You and mom taught me to believe in my dreams and to fight for them! Ugh, how could you forget that?!" "You shouldn't have said that Musa. You leave me no choice: I'm transferring you to another school. I'm sorry, but one day you'll understand!"
That's right, just because she wants to follow in her parents' footsteps, pappy has decided to transfer Musa, and take her away from the friends she's known for more than a year. Musa falls down to her knees, crying. Layla offers herself for Musa to talk to.
While everyone seems to love this episode for its angst, I end up finding a lot of it unnecessary. Her excuse to dad amounts to "You loved music, and I'm just following in your footsteps, that's all. Is that too much for you to accept?" It's a strong excuse in and of itself, but hello? She studies magic at a freakin' fairy school, and most of her magic powers (especially in her fairy gear) are music-based ("Sonic Mega Blast!"). And yet during the discussion, none of this comes up. No surprises then that daddy gets the impression that Musa is interested in music only because of her mom and her personal ambitions, and nothing else. I'll pick up the thread much later, when I can put things in better perspective.
Okay, back to the show. Opera. It's a flashback, in which where we learn about Musa's past. "My dad was a young musician who happened to see my mom's first concert." Backstage, dorky young daddy (which we did see in the earlier flashback to the opera) claims to have written a piece for cello and voice and he's pitching it to Kimono Lady. She says she's heading home tomorrow afternoon, so she'd like it tomorrow morning.
"In fact, dad hadn't composed anything at all. So he had to write the whole song in one night." Yipes! We see dad's pad. It has a small piano and a cello, and tons of paper strewn all over the place. "The piece was nothing special, but mom liked to sing it anyway." Show the two parents performing the song, and then the two kissing near the fridge. Eww.
They're in a concert as Musa goes on. "Mom and dad had a storybook romance. They were so in love. They lived and worked side by side." Show them getting married and throwing the bouquet! "But after a while, work became scarce, and their music careers didn't pay enough." Daddy is counting his bills, bills, bills, and he doesn't have many.
I swear that's the little-used Professor DuFour on the piano at mommy's next concert. "Dad wanted nothing more than to see mom fulfill her dreams." Layla interrupts, "And that's when you came into the picture?"
Flash cut to baby Musa, and her hair is already starting to grow into the headphone pigtails we all know and love. Watch her blow a spit bubble! "Even though they were very poor, they were very happy to have me. Dad used to say that the day I was born was the happiest of his life." Meanwhile, another concert. This time, dad is on the cello. Mom collapses. Everyone looks on as an unconscious "Waneen" is in dad's arms.
Birds. RF. Musa continues flashbacking with Layla. "Mom got sick. They barely had enough money to buy food, so... never mind medicine. Mom died, there was nothing we could do." The flashback from here is nothing but stills, a la Layla's tale about the pixie village. A still of mom's funeral. A still of dad angsting over mom's death. A still of dad smashing his own cello. A still of young Musa looking terrified. "Dad never got over it. He didn't play a single note ever again, and I became the only thing in his life." So in a nutshell, Dad's had quite an awful beautiful life. Okay, just awful.
RF again. Layla: "You know, I think your dad is just scared that if you follow a musical path, you'll end up like your mother." "Oh Layla. I want to be the fairy of music, and I don't want to lose either you guys or my dad." "That'll never happen Musa. Just give a great show and don't worry about anything else. Okay?" (BTW, this is where Layla offers to extend her dance slot in the US. Also, America never addresses the issue of the family's financial troubles, which is the main reason that Musa's dad is so anti-music.)
Musa, dude, now you say that you want to become the fairy of music? Here's a quarter. Call someone who cares! But honestly, this is the first time I've ever seen any parent so negative about their kid following in their footsteps. (Actually, there was once a pilot for Nickelodeon, "Constant Payne", where this was the central premise, though it doesn't actually come across in the pilot. But I digress.) It's kind of a like a reverse "Jazz Singer" or something.
A few more stills. Dad running through flowers with Musa. Musa looking happy. "Some days are filled with joy and sunshine, days you'll never forget." As we pull out from Musa and Layla at the RF gardens to the RF arena, we time lapse into the evening over some sorrowful music.
RF stage. Codatorta introduces Stella to duet with Musa. "And then there are moments where everything goes just right." Stella falls over :D :D :D "Sort of! Now this is Stella's part. My solo will come later."
And now, Musa and Stella with an upbeat 80's sounding pop duet. They sing, and then they sing some more... and Stella bumps her mike stand and has to pick it up. Then Stella bumps Musa with her rear. They keep singing, they keep dancing. For some reason, Stella is at Musa's side for much of the song. Stella falls over, while everyone's enjoying Musa's singing. Stella gets up and falls backward. Stella's mike stand is back up again as the song ends, and it drops again and its head hits the ground, creating massive feedback. She apologizes, and puts it back up. It swings violently and falls over again. More feedback! Stella comes across a bit too much as a another dumb blonde here...
After the duet, Codatorta brings on the Specs to perform the traditional fire dance. Starring a war-painted Sky and Brandon. In which the two of them twirl their fiery batons around and throw them to each other. While Brandon's twirling, he eyes the audience for the cute babe he saw this morning. Sky tells Brandon, "Brandon, you're not paying attention," and slaps his leg with his baton. Ouch!
Makeover looks around. Makeover finds her bait, and she thinks... "Musa won't be able to turn down the challenge, and I'll get to humiliate her in front of everyone." Makeover wants to take vengeance on Musa for beating her last week, and that's her perogative.
Backstage. "Those lights are for me. My big moment has arrived." Musa is in her outfit from earlier, prepping. Layla is peeking outside the curtains. Stella is powdering Musa. "Relax girl, you'll do great!" "It's just the first note. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose it."
Audience. Let's see who's here. Griffin. FG. The Griz. DuFour. WizGiz. That Abe lookalike from the flashback. Two elf girls are coming in. Layla: "Hey Musa, the elf muses came to hear your solo!" Stella: "Shouldn't tell her that..."
As Codatorta begins his intro, Musa covers her ears a bit and starts to go slightly off-key, as Stella says, "Uh-oh, she's gonna lose her note..." As Codatorta says, "It is with the greatest pride that I present to you our next performer. The real star of this evening..." Musa makes a last second prayer: "Please mom, be with me now."
Codatorta introduces Musa. The curtains open as Musa takes off her cape and runs out to stage. Everyone is standing for her. Riven is a bit surprised, and then much delighted, to see her on stage. Time for Musa to rock the party.
"This is a song I wrote called A Sky Without Moving Stars." Well, at least that's what I heard the first time. A few listens later, the title is in fact, "A Sky Without Moon and Stars". It's the song that she performed at the practice (incidentally, in the US she practices one song, and performs another). She starts to sing, and suddenly she has a guitar strung over her neck, and she's playing it too. The song was clearly written with her late great mom in mind. Layla and Piff are watching. HER DAD IS WATCHING! Mirta is watching. The other Winx are watching. Other random fairies are watching. The pixies are watching. Tune takes a tissue from Francis. "Tissues for the sensitive soul." Flo and Bloom take theirs. The Specs are probably watching (Timmy is definitely there). Standing ovation! They're already standing, but eh, what the heck.
Hey, I thought she was supposed to perform this song with her sax. Ripoff artists! (Kicks Musa in the shin. Okay, not really, but seeing her play the sax during a sorrowful ballad probably would have been something to see and hear.)
Makeover sneaks up on geezer dad. She unrolls her sweater to expose her Gloomix, and turns back into Stormy to attack him. This makes Musa very flabbergasted, as Riven makes his way around to take a look around at the fracas.
Stormy threatens the other people. "You all better relax, or the old man will lose more than his hair." HEH! Time for Stormy to challenge Musa all over again. Musa tells Stormy that her dad has nothing to do with this. Nice to see that even though she's staunchly against her dad's anti-music attitude, she's still willing to defend him. That's loyalty for you!
Riven keeps on moving around. "If you love this sweet pathetic old man..." HEH! "... come take his place. And if he moves another inch, he's gonna share your ugly fate."
Musa decides to take her up on her challenge and transforms. Stormy tells Musa the fairy, "Fire away Musa, but think what your sonic bombs will do to these people. Do you really want to hurt them???" Hey. Only I get to make the song references around here, Stormy!
Musa realizes this, and now she's got no wind beneath her wings (yeah, that reference was a reach). I don't know if her red boots were made for walking, but that's just what they'll do, as Musa walks up to the mike. Flora (incidentally, standing next to Mirta): "No Musa, don't give in to her!" Stormy sees Musa at the mike, and says, "Good Musa, we both know who's the strongest here!"
Whatever Stormy was expecting for Musicfairy to say into the mike (sweet surrender, perhaps?), she's got another thing coming. Musa says, "Listen. I need each and every one of you to help me. Let's all sing together!"
Backstage, Stella wonders if Musa's out of her mind, as Musa's voice starts moaning... "A sad song. How appropriate!" Riven continues running around. This time telling everyone, "Sing! Come on, you idiots! Do what Musa says! Sing along everyone! Trust me, she knows what she's doing!" Riven, actually being useful? I must be dreaming.
Everyone starts to join in, starting with the elf muses. Then the teachers. Musa tries to get the sound levels up. More Riven running around.
Stormy wonders, "Is this supposed to prove something?" as the crowd continues to sing. Meanwhile, one elf muse is noting, "Musa is channeling profound powers of music. That witch's evil soul will be overpowered!"
Back at the stage, Musa the fairy yells, "I feel the strength of your song!" as she claps her hands together and creates a small energy ball. Stormy's Gloomix goes out, and she says: "Oh no, what's happening to my powers?!"
The energy ball grows, and homes in on Stormy. She yells, "Oh no! Curse you Musa!!" as the energy ball hits her and blows her out of the RF arena. And Musa's comment is the most obvious music-related gag ever: "Stormy has left the building!" (Although to me, it looks more like she's casting an attack.) The crowd has another standing ovation, as Musa morphs out of her fairy gear back into her singing outfit. Stella and Layla congratulate her (yeah Stella, that was cool!) as we see yet another shot of the crowd's standing ovation. We see the teachers and elf muses.
Amore flies over to Musa (with Piff and Messenger) and asks her, "The magic was so strong. You think Stormy is...?" Musa doesn't even let Amore finish as she answers: "Don't worry, the magic of a love song has never hurt anybody. You'll see. We'll hear from Stormy yet." You know, that's something I bet the others might be afraid to hear...
Riven helps Musa's daddy to his feet, being extra polite to boot, and daddy says, "You know, I was wrong about you..." and then he looks at Musa, and she's very happy.
Now, here's the place where I come in. So essentially, while angst is a necessary evil in shows with teens, I find that all that angsting over being transferred unnecessary. I have no doubt that daddy would never have even thought of transferring her if he'd known that she wanted to be a fairy of music. Heck, she could have just used that as her excuse during their "private" discussion. Something along the lines of, "Besides, I have magical powers and I get them from music. Isn't that why you sent me here in the first place?"
Still, Lori has claimed (in a few emails to me) that the long way around, so to speak, actually works, not just because it's more dramatic that way, but it's also consistent with the way the characters are (read: Musa being rather not open).
We see a wide shot of the RF arena, as we fade to the Japanese fairy realm. Musa finishes up her story. "But now it's over. I gave my first concert, and you were right. I trusted my audience, and everything else fell into place." Her dad walks in, the leaves stop falling, and Musa and her dad hug. "The power of music is truly magical. After all that had happened to us, I thought music divided people. But today I realized... that's not true at all." We see a picture of mom as we fade out.
Oh fudge. Over the end of the preview, which for some reason our broadcaster moves to after the credits, Stella barges into the pic to tell us there's a surprise.
And that surprise is... instead of the usual closing credits montage, we see the Winx girls performing the closing theme in the RF concert. Woo-hoo! Griffin's dancing. Concorda and a bunch of other pixies are dancing. Heck, everyone's dancing! Mirta and Lucy even get on stage to dance.
(Incidentally, when I saw the ep as part of a double ep airing, the credits were completely cut out. Ouch.)
Next, we conclude the filler with a Halloween party. With MITZI!!!
