Frank15's Winx Reviews: 1x04-1x06
May. 7th, 2026 11:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsIn which Frank15 questions the girls calling themselves the Winx Club, comes across the first notable instance of a 4Kids change causing a plot hole (though fair warning, I had to point out it was a change), and gets frustrated at some bad decisions on Bloom's part
The Voice of Nature
...or Third World Tecna
In Blackmud Swamp, a ways from the Alfea grounds, Professor Palladium is holding class, despite being allergic to the outdoors. One student, Dalia, complains that she shouldn't even be in the class, since she's from an urban realm, and a tick bug bit her. Tecna's very out of place too, and she's not complaining. Then again, maybe if some bug bit Tecna. Palladium starts panicking, while also keeping his cool, telling the students that they must make it through the swamp to the crystal clearing, without using magic, using only the voice of nature as their guide. Bloom notices how squeamish Palladium is. Stella's wearing a cute little safari hat.
The girls walk forth, right into a muddy puddle. Stella complains about the mud. Tecna notices bubbles that could indicate an unfriendly subterranean sludge slug, and is ready to perform a spell, but Bloom stops her, reminding her not to use her magic. Musa tells them that the bubbles are actually some sort of gas, and to get out of the area. Safely behind a large log, Bloom throws a small log at the bubble, popping it, and releasing medusal gas, which would have turned them all to stone. Tecna's embarrassed that her information was wrong. Poor Tecna... you can feel her pain.
Flora: That tree turned to stone.
Stella: Turned to stone? Talk about being statuesque!
Yes, that is an incredibly lame joke. Stella should be ashamed. The Winx girls, though, are all laughing their little heads off, like it was the funniest thing in the world--except for Tecna. Tecna appears completely dumbfounded as to what was funny, and why everyone is laughing. I love Tecna that much more for it, too.
Over at Cloud Tower, the Trix sisters enter their room, and Darcy complains that Knut sent a text message saying he'd be there. Darcy finds Knut in her closet, and is not happy about the ogre stinking up her clothes. Icy yells at Knut to wash up, as the baby duck from last week pops out of the closet as Knut squeezes out. Icy's feeling exhausted from the duck's presence, and flings it across the room. Icy starts yelling at Knut, asking what was so important that he couldn't just text message them about it. Knut says he was sneaking around Red Fountain, and that a team of specialists were preparing to take the troll--the one from the first episode--to the authorities. Icy complains that she doesn't care, but Stormy warns that if the authorities use an interrogation spell, the troll could spill the sisters' plans to the authorities. Score one for Stormy! Icy then decides that they must free the troll from the specialists, then get rid of the troll permanently.
Flying in a ship, the Specialists--Prince Sky, Brandon, Riven, and Timmy are bringing the troll to Magix. Timmy goes back to the troll in the back of the ship to check up on it, as Riven flies out in front. Soon, something shakes the ship, and causes it to crash near the group of five fairies.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
The five girls run up to the ship, and find the Specialists there. Musa makes lovey-dovey faces at Riven who just sneers. Complete with pinky in her mouth. Riven says that they didn't crash, but just made an emergency landing. Sure, Riven. Sky starts talking about the troll they were transporting, but Brandon tries covering the troll up, though Sky blurts out about the troll anyway when finding the troll escaped. Riven says the troll can't get very far, since it's in shackles, but Sky finds the shackles loose in the mud. The girls tell the guys that they're on a class assignment.
Riven: So then get back to your little exercise, girls, and leave this job to the Specialists.
Stella: When are the Specialists gonna' get here?
Riven starts to confront Stella, as Sky tries to break the two up, trying to calm Riven down, though not too successfully. Tecna worries that the troll might meet up with the other girls in their class. Bloom thinks they should go along with the guys anyway, though Stella doesn't like the idea. Flora doesn't either.
Flora: Yeah, he was rude. I say we get back to our assignment, and let Riven deal with it.
Stella: Flora's right, Bloom. If Riven wants to get eaten, I say bon appetit, right?
Flora: That's not quite what I said.
Tecna interrupts, asking the girls if they noticed the patterns of the burn marks on the ship, that they indicate that the ship was taken down from the outside. I'd wager they didn't notice, Tecna. Flora asks if it means someone shot down the ship, and Tecna affirms this. Flora decides they should investigate.
In a muddier section of the swamp, the girls notice that the troll's footprints get less and less deep, meaning a levitating spell must have been put on it from someone else, since trolls themselves cannot perform magic. Flora wonders how they can find the troll without the footprints.
Bloom: Maybe the voice of nature can give us a clue.
Flora: That's right, the voice of nature!
Tecna: What do you mean "voice"? I can't hear a thing.
Bloom seems to sense something--the voice of nature.
Tecna: Well? Did Mother Nature give you any advice?
Bloom says she knows the right way, and points to a creepy dark forest. Flora says she can feel it, too. The girls trudge forth.
Tecna: Yoo-hoo, nature, I'm listening.
In the swampy forest, the Specialists are being strangled from tree branches. Timmy says they should stay calm, but winds up screaming anyway. A short distance away, the five fairies come across plants that Flora calls quietus carnivorus, plants that hate noise, so she warns the girls to be quiet. Stella decides to test Flora's theory by whistling loudly, which causes the plants to hang her upside down. Stella loses her hat, too. Of course, why Stella would do something so boneheaded in the first place, like making noise when Flora told her not to, is anyone's guess. Stella may not be the smartest person at Alfea, but she's usually got more common sense than this. Bloom eventually gets Stella to quiet down. The vines drop her hard on the ground, getting Stella's clothes quite dirty, as Stella grumbles to herself. The girls find the Specialists wrapped in the vines.
Riven: Stay away! These vines belong to incredibly dangerous, bloodthirsty, man-eating monster plants!
Musa: They only eat loudmouths, so you should pipe down.
Flora calms the plants down, telling them they can relax, and the plants release the Specialists. They decide to get away quickly. Brandon mentions how happy he is to see Bloom. Bloom says they should all look for the troll together, "safety in numbers and all." Riven doesn't like the idea, but the other Specialists are going with the girls, so Riven goes along, however reluctantly.
The team of nine get to a small lake. Tecna declares that they'll need to hop across little floating islands to get across the lake. Very much like a video game. The little islands are wobbly, though; Tecna figures the best way to deal with that is to hop from island to island very quickly. The others follow Tecna. Tecna's having a blast jumping from island to island, too... she seems to get the biggest kick out of it. Nice to see Tecna's fun side. "It's Gonna' Get a Little Bit Crazy" plays as they're all island-hopping. Riven falls into the water, near a whirlpool. Tecna reaches to get Riven out, and Timmy reaches to get Tecna out, being pulled into the water. Bloom and Brandon help pull Timmy out, and wind up helping them all get out. Poor Tecna, hanging on for dear life... looks so frightened.
A little farther on, they all hear the troll. Bloom hears Amaryl, one of her classmates, screaming. Sure enough, they find, behind a bush, the troll threatening Amaryl and two other classmates.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Bloom realizes the troll is the same as the one who was working with Knut. Sky tells the girls to distract the troll; they don't particularly care for the idea, but go along anyway. Brandon and Timmy will pin the troll down, as he and Riven put the shackles on the troll. The girls walk out behind the troll, as Bloom calls for the troll's attention, hoping it remembers her. The troll indeed does remember Bloom and Stella, and goes for Bloom and the other girls. Brandon and Timmy do get the troll down to the ground, and Sky and Riven attempt to put the shackles on, but the troll knocks them away, and runs off. Amaryl goes up to the guys to complain about how worthless of a job they did with the troll, as her two friends laugh, and the three run off. Sky isn't appreciative of their comments. Bloom sits beside Sky to comfort him, telling him how brave he was. Sky just sees that he failed. A few feet away, Riven and Sky are fighting about who's fault it was that they didn't capture the troll, but ultimately all four Specialists agree that its all their faults together, and call a temporary truce.
Deep in the forest swamp, the Trix sisters are waiting for the troll. They are wearing a perfume to attract the troll. As they're waiting, the duck runs up to Icy, excitedly. Icy, frustrated, encases the duck in ice. The troll arrives, and the Trix sisters send the troll to limbo. Oddly enough, the troll does not seem to even care. The Trix sisters teleport back to Cloud Tower.
A short distance away, the group of nine are approaching the spot where the Trix sisters were. Bloom and Flora try explaining the voice of nature to Brandon, telling him that it isn't a sound, but something you feel inside. Sky can't feel anything. Tecna mentions she can't either, but they can trust Bloom and Flora. Bloom senses something real cold. Stella feels negative energy, too, as does Tecna. Except in Tecna's case, she quite literally feels negative energy. Emphasis on "negative." Tecna says singed charged ions in the air indicate dark magic. She may not get the whole nature thing, but when it comes to atoms, Tecna's your girl! Musa figures that if the troll worked for Knut, and Knut worked for the Trix sisters, then the Trix sisters were there. Bloom finds duck feathers on the ground, and remembered last week's spell, causing a baby duck to stalk Icy. I'm not sure how they knew which sister, specifically, was being stalked by the duck, though. They still don't know what the Trix sisters are up to, though.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
The Specialists' ship lands in the crystal clearing. Um... when did their ship get fixed, exactly? The guys let the girls out. Brandon says that they're not really allowed to leave the ship, so they can't walk them out. Professor Palladium walks up to the girls, telling them that since they're by far the last to arrive, they get zero points in punctuality. But that they get thirty points for generosity, thirty-five for initiative, forty for courage, and fifty for the ability to listen to the voice of nature, giving them the highest score in the class. Amaryl complains, seeing the whole thing as a race, but Palladium explains that the journey is sometimes more important than the destination.
At Red Fountain, the Specialists complain about having to clean the griffin stables. Sky makes a disgusting "guy" joke about the griffin. Good reason not to like him much.
In their room, Bloom tells the other four girls that since they're an awesome group, they should have an awesome name. Tecna likes the idea, saying that a name is good for quick reference. Especially nice when writing these summaries. Easier than saying "the five girls" over and over.
Stella: The right name would give us that certain something. We could be called something like the Wonder Five. Or the Stella Five. The Power Troop! Or the B.S.M.T.F.!
Musa: B.S.M.T.F.?
Stella: Check it: beauty, style, magic, taste, and flair. And those are also the first letters in each of our names!
Now if that isn't a reference to W.I.T.C.H., I don't know what is. I'm sure most of the similarities between the two shows are completely coincidental, but that has got to be a jab at W.I.T.C.H. The other girls, not liking Stella's ideas, think Bloom should come up with a name. Bloom made a little Winx Club logo--same font as the title for the show--shows it to the other girls, and says they'll be known as the Winx Club. Kiko shows a little scribble scratch paper--I guess it is his logo he drew. Tecna does not seem to particularly care for the name Bloom came up with. And considering "winx" is just a generic term at Alfea, it makes sense that Tecna would be unimpressed with the name. It would be like a normal high school clique calling themselves "The High School Students." Obviously not a very popular clique.
Other Stuff
Very good episode. There's no magic--at least not from our Winx girls--and the Trix sisters, while in the episode, are pretty forgettable here--but the Winx girls themselves are great. Mostly Tecna. Tecna. Tecna.
It's great to see Tecna out in nature, where she's obviously not used to being, and certainly does not understand the whole "voice of nature" thing. We also get to see her lighter side, finding the island-hopping to be fun. And her perfectionist side, feeling bad about being wrong about the sludge slug. And her normal sense of humor, by not laughing at Stella's truly awful joke.
Speaking of Stella, this isn't really her shining episode: there were definite parts where she could be downright irritating, particularly with the quietus carnivorus plants, where she started making noise for absolutely no apparent reason.
As for the boys... they're in the show a lot, though fortunately, there isn't really too much romance. A little between Bloom and Brandon--gag me--and a little bit of Musa showing feelings toward Riven, none being returned back to her--but that's it. Fortunately.
8 out of 10 on the old scale.
Date with Disaster
...or Stella Goes Crazy
We start off in the Alfea kitchen, with Bloom, Flora, Tecna, and Musa peeling potatoes. A bunch of them, for a potion that's intended to make Bloom a good-decision maker. The head chef, called the Maestro, walks in and complains about their use of the kitchen. He seems pretty protective of his kitchen, and doesn't like their using the potatoes for their potion. He also complains that they're cooking omelettes without "love." Obsessed much, Maestro?
When Bloom flips her omelette, it gets stuck up in the fan, and Flora, trying to turn it off, accidentally sends the fan going much faster. It also sends Musa in a bad rap. The Maestro complains about rap, and shows his appreciation of opera, which I suppose is better than rap, at least. When Flora finally figures how to turn the fan off, the omelette is thrown into the Maestro's face, who threatens to bring back "the headmistress," so they'd better clean up and clear out. Stella comes into the kitchen, uttering one of the more annoying recent words to creep into English:
Stella: What's the sitch in the kitch, girls?
If I never hear "sitch" again in my life, it'll be too soon. Tecna complains that Stella agreed to help them in the kitchen, but Stella says she had a good reason for not being there to help: she'd just gotten an invitation from Prince Sky to go on a date to the Black Lagoon cafe. She had been trying to figure out what to wear, and wants her friends to help her with that decision, leaving the kitchen unattended.
Stella's got a dang huge closet. Flora politely asks if she could borrow a black dress of Stella's sometime, but Stella rudely goes into "Me me me!" mode, whining that they're supposed to be helping her. Tecna picks up a rather ugly dress, fuschia with purple triangles and frilly edges, and mentions that there must be an excellent story behind it. Stella claims to have designed it. And she's supposed to be the biggest into fashion... yeah....
Tecna: Where in the realms did you get that thing, Stella?
Stella: I designed it!
Tecna: Oh, well, it's very...
Stella: Very what?
Bloom asks if Brandon will be there. Stella says no, that Prince Sky gave his servant the night off. Bloom doesn't like Stella calling Brandon a servant, saying he's the First Royal Squire. Stella considers bringing her Ring of Solaria on her date, but decides against it, thinking she won't need it, and hands it to Bloom for safe keeping.
Musa notices something burning, and shortly the other girls do as well, and rush to the kitchen--the flipweed needed for Bloom's potion is burning. For no apparent reason, Musa knocks a stack of books out of a passerby's hands. The girl wasn't in Musa's way, and it's not that Musa crashed into her by accident, but that Musa stopped for a second just to deliberately knock the books out of her hands. Rude much, Musa? The girls, save for Stella, rush into the kitchen; Flora stops to grab a fire extinguisher.
It seems Miss Griselda beat the girls to the kitchen, and is all ready to scold and punish them, as well as put out the fire. It's funny--the Maestro said he was getting the headmistress--which would be Miss Faragonda--to the kitchen, but instead we see Miss Griselda there, who apparently the Maestro complained to instead of Miss Faragonda. Flora then comes running in, but trips, accidentally setting off the fire extinguisher right in Miss Griselda's face. She decides they must cook dinner for the entire school, though the girls figure that they can still finish Bloom's potion while doing so.
Cut to Cloud Tower, where our witchy Trio is talking about Stella's date: it seems Brandon did not send Stella an invitation for a date, but the witches did. Stormy obviously has something against love. Icy likes that not only will she steal Stella's ring, but also break her heart. It's win/win for our Trio!
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Back at Alfea, we're in the girls' rooms, and Musa's complaining that Riven hasn't asked her out. And when did Riven show any interest in you anyway, Musa? Bloom doesn't understand why Musa would want to go out with him anyway, since he was rude last week, on the nature hike. Tecna says boys sometimes act rude when they're "crushing"--a word Tecna clearly did not want to use.
The next morning, Stella's screaming wakes the other girls up. Bloom's guessing Stella's date did not go well, and decides to ask Stella about it. Bloom asks Stella if she's OK, and she puts up a phony "everything's fine, leave me alone" sort of attitude. The other girls press about the date, to which Stella gives us this classic, very deadpan:
Stella: It was very romantic.
It wasn't that she said it... the way she said that line, absolutely classic! After pressed some more, Stella yells at them for not having lives of their own.
In Professor Wizgiz's class, he has the class' heads turned into pumpkins. They simply say "decapidumpkin" to revert their heads to normal... except it doesn't quite work for one random girl, who Wizgiz frightens with a mouse, which apparently being scared changes her head back. The mouse seems to be his Grandfather, for whatever reason, turned into a mouse. A bit of foreshadowing, perhaps, with the pumpkins, and the mouse that Wizgiz can't change back? Or likely just coincidental, and I'm looking deeper than I should.
Stella's still not come to class, and the girls are wondering/worrying about her. In particular, Bloom and Flora are worried, and Tecna seems not to care what Stella's doing, due to her being rude earlier. Professor Palladium's name is mentioned, even though he's not in the episode.
Bloom goes back to the room, and sees it not only Stella's bedroom ruined, but everywhere in their little living area. She eventually finds Stella, who is in a really angry mood, even throwing a chair. Stella says she's looking for the ring, which Bloom mentions that Stella handed her the ring last night. Instead of just asking for the ring back, Stella decides it be better to throw a raging witch ball at Bloom, which she dodges. Raging witch ball seems to just be a fancy name for an ordinary ball of energy used for attack purposes. Before the other fairies come in, Stella leaves as a ghostly trail of some sort.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
The other fairies are not happy to see their room ruined, or to hear that Stella threw a raging witch ball at Bloom. Tecna and Musa are plain pissed with Stella, though Bloom and Flora are more worried that Stella is in danger, perhaps acting against her will, perhaps with a spell on her. Musa figures they should find out from Prince Sky himself if anything happened to Stella last night, and off to Red Fountain the girls go, still Stella-less.
We find out that Prince Sky can't leave the Red Fountain premesis thanks to the troll mishap in last week's episode. We also find out that Prince Sky can't read, so he couldn't have written the invitation, anyway. A dog is jumping up on Tecna, frightening her a bit, likely due to not having dogs where she's from. Then again, I'd probably react the same way, so I really can't blame Tecna. "Codatorta the Terrible," as Brandon calls him, is yelling at the boys, so they have to go back to work, and the girls decide to check out Magix.
Codatorta: Less flirting, more fighting, boys. You're not in manners school, you're in heroics school, now get back to your practicing and finish cleaning those stables.
The invitation said that Stella would meet Prince Sky at the Black Lagoon Cafe. Tecna says her search engine can't find it, so Bloom decides to use her search engine: asking people around the city.
Random Passerby: Well, there is a black-eyed pea, but that's a legume, not a lagoon.
So stupid, it's funny. Anyway, as the girls ask around town, "Searchin'" plays. Nice enough song. Tecna and Bloom get into an argument: Bloom insists they need to keep looking for Stella, and Tecna says they should just give up, that Stella was rude, and she doesn't care whether or not Bloom took the good decision potion. Musa, fairly quiet, is still with Tecna, and Flora just wants everyone to get along, though she's likely still with Bloom on the issue.
Anyway, a goofy-looking guy, who looks suspiciously like Knut if he were a human, tells the girls he's heard of the Black Lagoon Cafe. He "tests" the girls, saying they might not be hip enough, but all they need to do is tell him they are hip enough and he gives in, and tells them where this cafe is.
The Black Lagoon Cafe is a tiny little cottage by an orange oak tree, but Tecna and Flora feel something wrong. Flora feels the tree is dead, and an illusion spell goes away. Mirta's got competition, apparently. The quaint little cottage is actually an old abandoned haunted house-esque place, and Knut's running around inside. Stella reveals herself, traps the fairies in the college, and calls the girls pixies. Tecna goes through a longer-than-usual transformation sequence, and uses her firewall shield to get the others to safety.
Musa: Friend or not, she's gonna' get mused!
Flora: She's gonna' get Mused? What's that?
After Stella calls them pixies again, Bloom figures that it isn't Stella, but must either be Icy or Darcy. I'd love to know how Bloom ruled out Stormy. Considering the number "Stella" did on the girls' rooms, I might have guessed Stormy would've been suspect #1. It is indeed Darcy. Knut goes back to ogre form after begging the Trix. Our Trio shows Stella trapped midair in a bunch of weird rings.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Icy agrees to release Stella from the mortal coil--which will shortly squeeze her to death--only if Bloom gives up the Ring of Solaria. Flora, Tecna, Musa, and even Stella want to fight the witches. Darcy and Stormy say "Bring it on." in unison, which is cool and spooky. Bloom, going into a nifty solo spotlight, does not want to fight, and gives up the ring. Somewhat surprisingly, the Trix actually keep their end of the bargain, and let Stella go. Guess they started hating the Winx girls more as the series went on?
On a cute little bridge, Musa and Stella compliment Bloom on her good decision skills, saying how it was good she took the potion. Tecna's a bit miffed Stella went on the disastrous date to begin with. Bloom mentions it's lucky that she remembered to mix in the mandrake beet, but Tecna says it was supposed to be a mandrake root, meaning Bloom got the potion wrong, and she's just a natural good-decision maker.
Bloom: You know girls, the witches may have scored a goal, but they haven't won the game.
Tecna: What game?
Stella: It's an expression, Tecna.
Heh. However intelligent Tecna may be, she just doesn't get some simple expressions like that.
Other Stuff
A quite enjoyable episode. It was interesting to see the girls' different personalities clash, particularly Bloom's and Tecna's. Bloom's stubborn at times, but today, she was certainly right. In particular, the scene with Stella deciding on an outfit was fun.
Stella, Stella, Stella... as petty and selfish as she can be at times, she's a good person. Tecna seemed unusually harsh on Stella, even after Bloom figured that she may be being forced to act in that destructive manner. I guess Tecna could not logically understand how Stella wouldn't have been acting on her own free will.
Once Darcy, disguised as Stella, found out that Bloom had the ring, why did she not just ask Bloom for the ring? Honestly, the whole "destroy everything" method of searching for the ring seems more Stormy's, or even Icy's style. Not to mention, she probably could've gotten the ring easily simply by asking for it. To think Darcy's usually the smart one.
Flora actually wanted to fight the Trix, rather than give them the ring. Seems so un-Flora like.
8 out of 10 on the old scale.
Secret Guardian
...or Blonde Moments
At Cloud Tower, the Trix sisters are in a trance-like state in their room, humming, sitting in a circle, floating above the floor. Energy floats around them all, but it explodes, and they all collapse after one painful-sounding hum. Knut walks into the room, but Stormy tells him to just go back to sleep. Icy starts yelling about not being able to use the ring of Solaria's full power, and yells at Darcy whether she really checked all the possible spells for the ring. Darcy is exasperated, and not happy with Icy's throwing blame around. Stormy notes that they probably need more than just a spell and incantation to unlock the ring's potential, to which Icy threatens her to come up with something, or she'll turn Stormy into a puppy. Stormy's expression of being startled is priceless when Icy is yelling at her. Icy then threatens the ring itself, daring the ring to keep defying her, and throwing it against a wall carelessly. Stormy may not be the "stupid" sister after all. I mean, she is trying to help.
Meanwhile, the Winx girls are in their room. Bloom reads from a large book she'd gotten from the library, containing information on the Solaria ring.
Bloom: The ring is so powerful because it was created directly from starlight, the most pure source of magic in the universe. But what's really interesting is that some say the ring is extra special, because it's made of the same light that created this legendary creature called the Great Dragon. Do you know about this, Stella?
Stella: Well, yeah, I know all about the starlight stuff, but the other stuff makes me think I should have it reappraised.
Bloom realizes they need to get Stella's ring back, that the Trix sisters can cause harm with the ring. Stella says she needs it just because she's useless without it. Bloom starts talking about a restricted book she found about the Great Dragon, though was only allowed to read one 4-line paragraph, about a myth of the Great Dragon creating the entire magical dimension. When Bloom starts talking about the Great Dragon, she's in her room, telling it to her friends. But a few seconds later, she's talking about it to herself in the hallway. Bad direction here, folks? Miss Faragonda stops her in the hallway, having overheard Bloom talking about reading a book from the restricted vault, and calls Bloom to her office.
In Miss Faragonda's office, she explains to Bloom two chapters she was once allowed to read. And it's easier if I just let her explain it:
Faragonda: It described the beginning of the magical universe. First, there was a great solar explosion, and from that fiery starlight, an enchanted dragon was born. The dragon then used her fire to create all the different fairy worlds and spread like the magic accross the universe. At the end of her journey, the dragon landed on the world that would become known as Sparx, the center of the magical universe. She made it her home; and eventually became one with the very planet.
Bloom: That's a great story. Where is Sparx? Is it real?
Faragonda: It was, but sadly, Sparx doesn't exist anymore. It's said that a coven of evil witches went there seeking the Great Dragon's power. When they failed to get it, they destroyed the entire planet.
Faragonda's still curious how Bloom got into the restricted vault. Bloom isn't sure herself, telling her the vault just opened and led her in. Faragonda tells her she was then meant to go in.
Back in their room, Stella complains about needing her ring again, and not being able to do anything without it. Tecna and Flora talk about a quiz tomorrow that counts for half their grade, so Stella needs her ring. Half their grade for one little quiz? When I was in high school, even the final exam was only a third of the grade, so half their grade for one measly little quiz? I don't think so! Bloom says they can cast a hypnosis spell on the witches while they're asleep, then make them give Stella the ring. Tecna says she can download a map of the interschool tunnels so they can find their way around. Bloom gives a dippy little "all for one and one for all" pep talk.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
The five Winx girls walk through the underground tunnel. Flora asks where Tecna's map is. Tecna says she memorized it. Bloom comments how she memorized the cafeteria menu for the whole school year. Ah, Tecna's strange definition of "fun." Gotta' love her.
Knut sweeps the Trix sisters' room, complaining about not having a vacuum cleaner to use. Icy yells at Knut for complaining, and he mentions he was just commenting on the exercise he's getting sweeping. Icy yells at him to meet them in the forest, as the sisters are going there to consult the dark force about the ring. He starts grumbling about not having a vacuum again, and Darcy threatens him. As the Trix sisters exit, Knut continues grumbling, as he accidentally sweeps the duck into a wall, and sweeps the ring into a large pile of dust. I'm amazed at how careless the Trix sisters are here--of the three of them, none of them thinks to keep the ring on them, or at least in some safe place.
The Winx girls come to the outside of the Cloud Tower building. The girls hurry inside, and immediately enter the Trix sisters' room. Tecna casts a spell to lead them to Stella's ring. Tecna finds a voodoo doll, and wonders who it's meant to be. Tecna feels bad for whoever it is. I wonder too--I can't figure it out myself. Musa finds a baton-looking object, but spikes suddenly shoot out from it, and she drops it. Tecna quickly throws down the voodoo doll nervously. Bloom finds the ring in the dust pile, and Stella is insulted that the witches would keep her ring there.
On their way out, Bloom insists on looking inside the Cloud Tower book chamber, wanting to read more about the Great Dragon. Guess Bloom also memorized the map, since she seemed to know just where the book chamber would be. Tecna is completely against it, but Bloom ignores her. The other girls should've tried harder to get Bloom to listen to Tecna. Bloom finds the book on the Great Dragon, but as she opens it, a bright light shoots from it. Shoulda' been a clue to get out... does Bloom really want to face off against every witch in Cloud Tower? This sets off an alarm in Miss Griffin's office, who decides to punish the pixies for daring to enter Cloud Tower. The girls can't read the book, so Tecna insists that they all hurry and leave. Musa tells Tecna to "chillax." As if Musa weren't foolish enough not to heed Tecna's advice, she has to say "chillax." Blah. Bloom tells Tecna that she doesn't know where she comes from, or anything about herself, and that she has to look herself up. Tecna tells her she needs to hurry up. Bloom finds her book conveniently sitting out on a small desk. Tecna says it's too much of a coincidence, telling the girls that just finding the book there is very odd, and that it's probably a trap. Stella says the witches were probably just looking Bloom up. As intuitive as Stella can be, I don't buy this. At least at this point, the witches don't really give a damn about Bloom. Bloom insists that, even if it might be an obvious trap, that she has to look inside the book anyway, to find out who she is. Bloom proceeds to open the book, and it grabs her. The book says it'll destroy the Winx girls--or actually Miss Griffin, as she's voicing the book. She dares the fairies to try to break out.
It finally dawns on the other four girls that they must escape, but Griffin removes the door leading out. Tecna tries to blast open a door, but it doesn't work. The girls transform to their winx forms, via the usual transformation sequence. The five girls blast open a passage to escape through a passage, but Tecna declares it an illusion tunnel, and that the layout for Cloud Tower changed here, as this area was not on her map, and that someone has screwed around with their perception and reality. Still with me? Good. Little red buggies surround the girls from all directions, and with one bite they'll die. Musa mentions that the bugs infested her friend's castle, and Musa never saw her friend again. I feel bad for Musa and her friend. It'll likely never be explored, but I want to know who Musa's friend was. Then again, I guess first things first... we still need to know about Musa's parents.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Stella says she'd step on the bugs if she weren't wearing her winx boots. I doubt that. Bloom asks the others to help put up a fire shield to keep out the bugs. Stella notes that the bugs seem to be getting fried, but Bloom says they're actually getting stronger. Flora tells the girls to fly up, where the bugs can't reach them. Stella looks cute here. Flora says that when they need to get rid of bugs in her realm, they use the bugs' natural predators. She calls an anteater-mammoth-sloth-looking creature, which proceeds to eat and squash all the bugs.
Stella: That's one of the grossest and coolest things I've ever seen, and it works!
Flora goes on to ramble about how safe, effective, and environmentally friendly a method the creature is to pest control. Sounds too much like Captain Planet for my liking. Stella notes that the remains of the bugs are turning into mud. Musa mentions that it's actually slime, as Stella starts laughing to herself for absolutely no apparent reason, then screams and runs when she finally notices. Watching this episode, it's understandable why some people may not like Stella. The girls all run away, when Tecna--who else, gets the idea that flying away would be smarter than just running away. Go Tecna! She looks bizarre in her "ready to attack" pose, though. When they reach a dead end, Tecna takes charge, telling the girls to prepare for attack. They blast at the slime monster, destroying it. The monster explodes, but Tecna had the girls protected behind her firewall shield.
Stella finds a door, but it's locked; Tecna just charges straight through. Again, go Tecna! Tecna says this was supposed to be the grand ballroom, but it's a dingy little room full of junk instead. A lone puncture beetles enters the room, ready to attack the girls. Musa's cute when she's shivering here. Stella immediately blasts it with a large fireball, setting the entire room ablaze. Flora complains that she could've just conjured up another bug-eating creature, instead of having Stella set the entire room on fire.
Stella: I always say when it comes to bugs, you can never have enough fire. Ehhahahahaha, good one, Stella!
Aside from being one of the world's lamest jokes, it's just plain moronic on Stella's part. Is she completely oblivious to everything that's been going on?! For the life in me, I don't understand why Stella is such an imbecile in this episode. Flora gives a cute little cough. Tecna says the fire is too big for them to be able to put it out with their magic. For Bloom, the entire room goes dark, with her spinning in the spotlight, with a voice speaking to her. The spotlight thing, for those confused what I am actually talking about, is the same as the scene in the theme song that goes "keep on searching far and wide," only slower. And without the theme playing, of course. The voice tells Bloom she can save her, to trust her, that Bloom knows her, that she used to watch over Bloom. The voice leads Bloom straight into the fire, which worries Stella. It's your fault for the fire to begin with, you know, Stella.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
The girls try to stop Bloom, but then realize that Bloom actually found a secret portal that leads to the underground tunnel. Even though Musa uses yet more annoying slang here, her "hoppy" expression is adorable. The girls hurry and slide down, with the fire chasing behind them. I'd love to know how the fire is just chasing them through, myself. They all land on each other.
The girls are up and well, walking through the tunnel. Bloom explains how she heard a voice that led her to the portal that led them to the underground tunnel. Stella explains that they at least got the Solaria ring back, and that's what's important.
In the hallways of Alfea, the girls talk about how tired they are, but run into Miss Griselda, none too happy, blocking their dormroom door. She brings them to Miss Faragonda's office. Faragonda yells at the girls how they are not allowed inside Cloud Tower, much less breaking into Cloud Tower at night. Griselda chimes in every now and then to belittle the girls more. She likes making them feel worse. Not sure why she's got that stick up her butt. Miss Faragonda wants the girls to explain themselves, but Griselda complains that it should not matter why they went to Cloud Tower, that they must be punished to the extremes regardless of their reasons. Again, why does Griselda seem to hate the students so much? It's like she's afraid they might actually have a good reason, so she doesn't want to give them the chance to explain themselves, since Faragonda might, heaven forbid, lessen the punishment if she knew what was going on. Griselda suggests punishment 4B, which takes away the girls' powers.
Stella looks at the bright side, that at least they don't have to go to classes for a week. Flora is worried about having to catch up when they get their powers back. Tecna complains about not being able to use the Internet, and Musa complains about not being able to finish her spell to hit the perfect high note for the demo she was working on. Bloom worries that the Trix sisters will come after them when they realize Stella has her ring back, and they won't have their powers to fight against the witches.
Other Stuff
Tecna.
...what? That's not enough? Seriously, this episode was bad. B-A-D, bad. Probably the worst episode of the first season. Tecna is the only reason I even gave the episode a 3. And aside from the other bad points, the search for an exit was just fairly dull to sit through.
Tecna was great: smart, level-headed, used common sense, and just all-around good friend here.
Bloom, though... it's her fault the Winx girls got in most of this mess in the first place. Guess she needed the good judgment spell after all. Sure, Bloom wanted to know her past, who she is, and all, but there's a time and place for that, and a time to exercise caution. Cloud Tower is not the best place to make such decisions on a whim. Through her own selfishness and stupidity, Bloom put all her friends in great danger, and essentially created most of the very contrived plot for the episode.
Stella does not get off that easily, either. Stella was unbelievably stupid on a number of occasions here, especially with the setting fire to the room they were trapped in. She's easily redeemed in other episodes, but really, this episode puts Stella in a very poor light, making her look like a stereotypical idiot blonde girl.
As for Musa, she was on and off good and annoying.
...oh, was Flora there? I almost forgot.
Even our lovely Trix sisters... how could they just forget about the ring like that? If nothing else, I'm ashamed that Darcy would forget about it like that. She redeems herself in other episodes, at least.
In "Spelled," Bloom didn't know how to find books in the library. So how come she was able to find her way around in this episode?
3 out of 10 on the old scale.
The Voice of Nature
...or Third World Tecna
In Blackmud Swamp, a ways from the Alfea grounds, Professor Palladium is holding class, despite being allergic to the outdoors. One student, Dalia, complains that she shouldn't even be in the class, since she's from an urban realm, and a tick bug bit her. Tecna's very out of place too, and she's not complaining. Then again, maybe if some bug bit Tecna. Palladium starts panicking, while also keeping his cool, telling the students that they must make it through the swamp to the crystal clearing, without using magic, using only the voice of nature as their guide. Bloom notices how squeamish Palladium is. Stella's wearing a cute little safari hat.
The girls walk forth, right into a muddy puddle. Stella complains about the mud. Tecna notices bubbles that could indicate an unfriendly subterranean sludge slug, and is ready to perform a spell, but Bloom stops her, reminding her not to use her magic. Musa tells them that the bubbles are actually some sort of gas, and to get out of the area. Safely behind a large log, Bloom throws a small log at the bubble, popping it, and releasing medusal gas, which would have turned them all to stone. Tecna's embarrassed that her information was wrong. Poor Tecna... you can feel her pain.
Flora: That tree turned to stone.
Stella: Turned to stone? Talk about being statuesque!
Yes, that is an incredibly lame joke. Stella should be ashamed. The Winx girls, though, are all laughing their little heads off, like it was the funniest thing in the world--except for Tecna. Tecna appears completely dumbfounded as to what was funny, and why everyone is laughing. I love Tecna that much more for it, too.
Over at Cloud Tower, the Trix sisters enter their room, and Darcy complains that Knut sent a text message saying he'd be there. Darcy finds Knut in her closet, and is not happy about the ogre stinking up her clothes. Icy yells at Knut to wash up, as the baby duck from last week pops out of the closet as Knut squeezes out. Icy's feeling exhausted from the duck's presence, and flings it across the room. Icy starts yelling at Knut, asking what was so important that he couldn't just text message them about it. Knut says he was sneaking around Red Fountain, and that a team of specialists were preparing to take the troll--the one from the first episode--to the authorities. Icy complains that she doesn't care, but Stormy warns that if the authorities use an interrogation spell, the troll could spill the sisters' plans to the authorities. Score one for Stormy! Icy then decides that they must free the troll from the specialists, then get rid of the troll permanently.
Flying in a ship, the Specialists--Prince Sky, Brandon, Riven, and Timmy are bringing the troll to Magix. Timmy goes back to the troll in the back of the ship to check up on it, as Riven flies out in front. Soon, something shakes the ship, and causes it to crash near the group of five fairies.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
The five girls run up to the ship, and find the Specialists there. Musa makes lovey-dovey faces at Riven who just sneers. Complete with pinky in her mouth. Riven says that they didn't crash, but just made an emergency landing. Sure, Riven. Sky starts talking about the troll they were transporting, but Brandon tries covering the troll up, though Sky blurts out about the troll anyway when finding the troll escaped. Riven says the troll can't get very far, since it's in shackles, but Sky finds the shackles loose in the mud. The girls tell the guys that they're on a class assignment.
Riven: So then get back to your little exercise, girls, and leave this job to the Specialists.
Stella: When are the Specialists gonna' get here?
Riven starts to confront Stella, as Sky tries to break the two up, trying to calm Riven down, though not too successfully. Tecna worries that the troll might meet up with the other girls in their class. Bloom thinks they should go along with the guys anyway, though Stella doesn't like the idea. Flora doesn't either.
Flora: Yeah, he was rude. I say we get back to our assignment, and let Riven deal with it.
Stella: Flora's right, Bloom. If Riven wants to get eaten, I say bon appetit, right?
Flora: That's not quite what I said.
Tecna interrupts, asking the girls if they noticed the patterns of the burn marks on the ship, that they indicate that the ship was taken down from the outside. I'd wager they didn't notice, Tecna. Flora asks if it means someone shot down the ship, and Tecna affirms this. Flora decides they should investigate.
In a muddier section of the swamp, the girls notice that the troll's footprints get less and less deep, meaning a levitating spell must have been put on it from someone else, since trolls themselves cannot perform magic. Flora wonders how they can find the troll without the footprints.
Bloom: Maybe the voice of nature can give us a clue.
Flora: That's right, the voice of nature!
Tecna: What do you mean "voice"? I can't hear a thing.
Bloom seems to sense something--the voice of nature.
Tecna: Well? Did Mother Nature give you any advice?
Bloom says she knows the right way, and points to a creepy dark forest. Flora says she can feel it, too. The girls trudge forth.
Tecna: Yoo-hoo, nature, I'm listening.
In the swampy forest, the Specialists are being strangled from tree branches. Timmy says they should stay calm, but winds up screaming anyway. A short distance away, the five fairies come across plants that Flora calls quietus carnivorus, plants that hate noise, so she warns the girls to be quiet. Stella decides to test Flora's theory by whistling loudly, which causes the plants to hang her upside down. Stella loses her hat, too. Of course, why Stella would do something so boneheaded in the first place, like making noise when Flora told her not to, is anyone's guess. Stella may not be the smartest person at Alfea, but she's usually got more common sense than this. Bloom eventually gets Stella to quiet down. The vines drop her hard on the ground, getting Stella's clothes quite dirty, as Stella grumbles to herself. The girls find the Specialists wrapped in the vines.
Riven: Stay away! These vines belong to incredibly dangerous, bloodthirsty, man-eating monster plants!
Musa: They only eat loudmouths, so you should pipe down.
Flora calms the plants down, telling them they can relax, and the plants release the Specialists. They decide to get away quickly. Brandon mentions how happy he is to see Bloom. Bloom says they should all look for the troll together, "safety in numbers and all." Riven doesn't like the idea, but the other Specialists are going with the girls, so Riven goes along, however reluctantly.
The team of nine get to a small lake. Tecna declares that they'll need to hop across little floating islands to get across the lake. Very much like a video game. The little islands are wobbly, though; Tecna figures the best way to deal with that is to hop from island to island very quickly. The others follow Tecna. Tecna's having a blast jumping from island to island, too... she seems to get the biggest kick out of it. Nice to see Tecna's fun side. "It's Gonna' Get a Little Bit Crazy" plays as they're all island-hopping. Riven falls into the water, near a whirlpool. Tecna reaches to get Riven out, and Timmy reaches to get Tecna out, being pulled into the water. Bloom and Brandon help pull Timmy out, and wind up helping them all get out. Poor Tecna, hanging on for dear life... looks so frightened.
A little farther on, they all hear the troll. Bloom hears Amaryl, one of her classmates, screaming. Sure enough, they find, behind a bush, the troll threatening Amaryl and two other classmates.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Bloom realizes the troll is the same as the one who was working with Knut. Sky tells the girls to distract the troll; they don't particularly care for the idea, but go along anyway. Brandon and Timmy will pin the troll down, as he and Riven put the shackles on the troll. The girls walk out behind the troll, as Bloom calls for the troll's attention, hoping it remembers her. The troll indeed does remember Bloom and Stella, and goes for Bloom and the other girls. Brandon and Timmy do get the troll down to the ground, and Sky and Riven attempt to put the shackles on, but the troll knocks them away, and runs off. Amaryl goes up to the guys to complain about how worthless of a job they did with the troll, as her two friends laugh, and the three run off. Sky isn't appreciative of their comments. Bloom sits beside Sky to comfort him, telling him how brave he was. Sky just sees that he failed. A few feet away, Riven and Sky are fighting about who's fault it was that they didn't capture the troll, but ultimately all four Specialists agree that its all their faults together, and call a temporary truce.
Deep in the forest swamp, the Trix sisters are waiting for the troll. They are wearing a perfume to attract the troll. As they're waiting, the duck runs up to Icy, excitedly. Icy, frustrated, encases the duck in ice. The troll arrives, and the Trix sisters send the troll to limbo. Oddly enough, the troll does not seem to even care. The Trix sisters teleport back to Cloud Tower.
A short distance away, the group of nine are approaching the spot where the Trix sisters were. Bloom and Flora try explaining the voice of nature to Brandon, telling him that it isn't a sound, but something you feel inside. Sky can't feel anything. Tecna mentions she can't either, but they can trust Bloom and Flora. Bloom senses something real cold. Stella feels negative energy, too, as does Tecna. Except in Tecna's case, she quite literally feels negative energy. Emphasis on "negative." Tecna says singed charged ions in the air indicate dark magic. She may not get the whole nature thing, but when it comes to atoms, Tecna's your girl! Musa figures that if the troll worked for Knut, and Knut worked for the Trix sisters, then the Trix sisters were there. Bloom finds duck feathers on the ground, and remembered last week's spell, causing a baby duck to stalk Icy. I'm not sure how they knew which sister, specifically, was being stalked by the duck, though. They still don't know what the Trix sisters are up to, though.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
The Specialists' ship lands in the crystal clearing. Um... when did their ship get fixed, exactly? The guys let the girls out. Brandon says that they're not really allowed to leave the ship, so they can't walk them out. Professor Palladium walks up to the girls, telling them that since they're by far the last to arrive, they get zero points in punctuality. But that they get thirty points for generosity, thirty-five for initiative, forty for courage, and fifty for the ability to listen to the voice of nature, giving them the highest score in the class. Amaryl complains, seeing the whole thing as a race, but Palladium explains that the journey is sometimes more important than the destination.
At Red Fountain, the Specialists complain about having to clean the griffin stables. Sky makes a disgusting "guy" joke about the griffin. Good reason not to like him much.
In their room, Bloom tells the other four girls that since they're an awesome group, they should have an awesome name. Tecna likes the idea, saying that a name is good for quick reference. Especially nice when writing these summaries. Easier than saying "the five girls" over and over.
Stella: The right name would give us that certain something. We could be called something like the Wonder Five. Or the Stella Five. The Power Troop! Or the B.S.M.T.F.!
Musa: B.S.M.T.F.?
Stella: Check it: beauty, style, magic, taste, and flair. And those are also the first letters in each of our names!
Now if that isn't a reference to W.I.T.C.H., I don't know what is. I'm sure most of the similarities between the two shows are completely coincidental, but that has got to be a jab at W.I.T.C.H. The other girls, not liking Stella's ideas, think Bloom should come up with a name. Bloom made a little Winx Club logo--same font as the title for the show--shows it to the other girls, and says they'll be known as the Winx Club. Kiko shows a little scribble scratch paper--I guess it is his logo he drew. Tecna does not seem to particularly care for the name Bloom came up with. And considering "winx" is just a generic term at Alfea, it makes sense that Tecna would be unimpressed with the name. It would be like a normal high school clique calling themselves "The High School Students." Obviously not a very popular clique.
Other Stuff
Very good episode. There's no magic--at least not from our Winx girls--and the Trix sisters, while in the episode, are pretty forgettable here--but the Winx girls themselves are great. Mostly Tecna. Tecna. Tecna.
It's great to see Tecna out in nature, where she's obviously not used to being, and certainly does not understand the whole "voice of nature" thing. We also get to see her lighter side, finding the island-hopping to be fun. And her perfectionist side, feeling bad about being wrong about the sludge slug. And her normal sense of humor, by not laughing at Stella's truly awful joke.
Speaking of Stella, this isn't really her shining episode: there were definite parts where she could be downright irritating, particularly with the quietus carnivorus plants, where she started making noise for absolutely no apparent reason.
As for the boys... they're in the show a lot, though fortunately, there isn't really too much romance. A little between Bloom and Brandon--gag me--and a little bit of Musa showing feelings toward Riven, none being returned back to her--but that's it. Fortunately.
8 out of 10 on the old scale.
Date with Disaster
...or Stella Goes Crazy
We start off in the Alfea kitchen, with Bloom, Flora, Tecna, and Musa peeling potatoes. A bunch of them, for a potion that's intended to make Bloom a good-decision maker. The head chef, called the Maestro, walks in and complains about their use of the kitchen. He seems pretty protective of his kitchen, and doesn't like their using the potatoes for their potion. He also complains that they're cooking omelettes without "love." Obsessed much, Maestro?
When Bloom flips her omelette, it gets stuck up in the fan, and Flora, trying to turn it off, accidentally sends the fan going much faster. It also sends Musa in a bad rap. The Maestro complains about rap, and shows his appreciation of opera, which I suppose is better than rap, at least. When Flora finally figures how to turn the fan off, the omelette is thrown into the Maestro's face, who threatens to bring back "the headmistress," so they'd better clean up and clear out. Stella comes into the kitchen, uttering one of the more annoying recent words to creep into English:
Stella: What's the sitch in the kitch, girls?
If I never hear "sitch" again in my life, it'll be too soon. Tecna complains that Stella agreed to help them in the kitchen, but Stella says she had a good reason for not being there to help: she'd just gotten an invitation from Prince Sky to go on a date to the Black Lagoon cafe. She had been trying to figure out what to wear, and wants her friends to help her with that decision, leaving the kitchen unattended.
Stella's got a dang huge closet. Flora politely asks if she could borrow a black dress of Stella's sometime, but Stella rudely goes into "Me me me!" mode, whining that they're supposed to be helping her. Tecna picks up a rather ugly dress, fuschia with purple triangles and frilly edges, and mentions that there must be an excellent story behind it. Stella claims to have designed it. And she's supposed to be the biggest into fashion... yeah....
Tecna: Where in the realms did you get that thing, Stella?
Stella: I designed it!
Tecna: Oh, well, it's very...
Stella: Very what?
Bloom asks if Brandon will be there. Stella says no, that Prince Sky gave his servant the night off. Bloom doesn't like Stella calling Brandon a servant, saying he's the First Royal Squire. Stella considers bringing her Ring of Solaria on her date, but decides against it, thinking she won't need it, and hands it to Bloom for safe keeping.
Musa notices something burning, and shortly the other girls do as well, and rush to the kitchen--the flipweed needed for Bloom's potion is burning. For no apparent reason, Musa knocks a stack of books out of a passerby's hands. The girl wasn't in Musa's way, and it's not that Musa crashed into her by accident, but that Musa stopped for a second just to deliberately knock the books out of her hands. Rude much, Musa? The girls, save for Stella, rush into the kitchen; Flora stops to grab a fire extinguisher.
It seems Miss Griselda beat the girls to the kitchen, and is all ready to scold and punish them, as well as put out the fire. It's funny--the Maestro said he was getting the headmistress--which would be Miss Faragonda--to the kitchen, but instead we see Miss Griselda there, who apparently the Maestro complained to instead of Miss Faragonda. Flora then comes running in, but trips, accidentally setting off the fire extinguisher right in Miss Griselda's face. She decides they must cook dinner for the entire school, though the girls figure that they can still finish Bloom's potion while doing so.
Cut to Cloud Tower, where our witchy Trio is talking about Stella's date: it seems Brandon did not send Stella an invitation for a date, but the witches did. Stormy obviously has something against love. Icy likes that not only will she steal Stella's ring, but also break her heart. It's win/win for our Trio!
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Back at Alfea, we're in the girls' rooms, and Musa's complaining that Riven hasn't asked her out. And when did Riven show any interest in you anyway, Musa? Bloom doesn't understand why Musa would want to go out with him anyway, since he was rude last week, on the nature hike. Tecna says boys sometimes act rude when they're "crushing"--a word Tecna clearly did not want to use.
The next morning, Stella's screaming wakes the other girls up. Bloom's guessing Stella's date did not go well, and decides to ask Stella about it. Bloom asks Stella if she's OK, and she puts up a phony "everything's fine, leave me alone" sort of attitude. The other girls press about the date, to which Stella gives us this classic, very deadpan:
Stella: It was very romantic.
It wasn't that she said it... the way she said that line, absolutely classic! After pressed some more, Stella yells at them for not having lives of their own.
In Professor Wizgiz's class, he has the class' heads turned into pumpkins. They simply say "decapidumpkin" to revert their heads to normal... except it doesn't quite work for one random girl, who Wizgiz frightens with a mouse, which apparently being scared changes her head back. The mouse seems to be his Grandfather, for whatever reason, turned into a mouse. A bit of foreshadowing, perhaps, with the pumpkins, and the mouse that Wizgiz can't change back? Or likely just coincidental, and I'm looking deeper than I should.
Stella's still not come to class, and the girls are wondering/worrying about her. In particular, Bloom and Flora are worried, and Tecna seems not to care what Stella's doing, due to her being rude earlier. Professor Palladium's name is mentioned, even though he's not in the episode.
Bloom goes back to the room, and sees it not only Stella's bedroom ruined, but everywhere in their little living area. She eventually finds Stella, who is in a really angry mood, even throwing a chair. Stella says she's looking for the ring, which Bloom mentions that Stella handed her the ring last night. Instead of just asking for the ring back, Stella decides it be better to throw a raging witch ball at Bloom, which she dodges. Raging witch ball seems to just be a fancy name for an ordinary ball of energy used for attack purposes. Before the other fairies come in, Stella leaves as a ghostly trail of some sort.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
The other fairies are not happy to see their room ruined, or to hear that Stella threw a raging witch ball at Bloom. Tecna and Musa are plain pissed with Stella, though Bloom and Flora are more worried that Stella is in danger, perhaps acting against her will, perhaps with a spell on her. Musa figures they should find out from Prince Sky himself if anything happened to Stella last night, and off to Red Fountain the girls go, still Stella-less.
We find out that Prince Sky can't leave the Red Fountain premesis thanks to the troll mishap in last week's episode. We also find out that Prince Sky can't read, so he couldn't have written the invitation, anyway. A dog is jumping up on Tecna, frightening her a bit, likely due to not having dogs where she's from. Then again, I'd probably react the same way, so I really can't blame Tecna. "Codatorta the Terrible," as Brandon calls him, is yelling at the boys, so they have to go back to work, and the girls decide to check out Magix.
Codatorta: Less flirting, more fighting, boys. You're not in manners school, you're in heroics school, now get back to your practicing and finish cleaning those stables.
The invitation said that Stella would meet Prince Sky at the Black Lagoon Cafe. Tecna says her search engine can't find it, so Bloom decides to use her search engine: asking people around the city.
Random Passerby: Well, there is a black-eyed pea, but that's a legume, not a lagoon.
So stupid, it's funny. Anyway, as the girls ask around town, "Searchin'" plays. Nice enough song. Tecna and Bloom get into an argument: Bloom insists they need to keep looking for Stella, and Tecna says they should just give up, that Stella was rude, and she doesn't care whether or not Bloom took the good decision potion. Musa, fairly quiet, is still with Tecna, and Flora just wants everyone to get along, though she's likely still with Bloom on the issue.
Anyway, a goofy-looking guy, who looks suspiciously like Knut if he were a human, tells the girls he's heard of the Black Lagoon Cafe. He "tests" the girls, saying they might not be hip enough, but all they need to do is tell him they are hip enough and he gives in, and tells them where this cafe is.
The Black Lagoon Cafe is a tiny little cottage by an orange oak tree, but Tecna and Flora feel something wrong. Flora feels the tree is dead, and an illusion spell goes away. Mirta's got competition, apparently. The quaint little cottage is actually an old abandoned haunted house-esque place, and Knut's running around inside. Stella reveals herself, traps the fairies in the college, and calls the girls pixies. Tecna goes through a longer-than-usual transformation sequence, and uses her firewall shield to get the others to safety.
Musa: Friend or not, she's gonna' get mused!
Flora: She's gonna' get Mused? What's that?
After Stella calls them pixies again, Bloom figures that it isn't Stella, but must either be Icy or Darcy. I'd love to know how Bloom ruled out Stormy. Considering the number "Stella" did on the girls' rooms, I might have guessed Stormy would've been suspect #1. It is indeed Darcy. Knut goes back to ogre form after begging the Trix. Our Trio shows Stella trapped midair in a bunch of weird rings.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Icy agrees to release Stella from the mortal coil--which will shortly squeeze her to death--only if Bloom gives up the Ring of Solaria. Flora, Tecna, Musa, and even Stella want to fight the witches. Darcy and Stormy say "Bring it on." in unison, which is cool and spooky. Bloom, going into a nifty solo spotlight, does not want to fight, and gives up the ring. Somewhat surprisingly, the Trix actually keep their end of the bargain, and let Stella go. Guess they started hating the Winx girls more as the series went on?
On a cute little bridge, Musa and Stella compliment Bloom on her good decision skills, saying how it was good she took the potion. Tecna's a bit miffed Stella went on the disastrous date to begin with. Bloom mentions it's lucky that she remembered to mix in the mandrake beet, but Tecna says it was supposed to be a mandrake root, meaning Bloom got the potion wrong, and she's just a natural good-decision maker.
Bloom: You know girls, the witches may have scored a goal, but they haven't won the game.
Tecna: What game?
Stella: It's an expression, Tecna.
Heh. However intelligent Tecna may be, she just doesn't get some simple expressions like that.
Other Stuff
A quite enjoyable episode. It was interesting to see the girls' different personalities clash, particularly Bloom's and Tecna's. Bloom's stubborn at times, but today, she was certainly right. In particular, the scene with Stella deciding on an outfit was fun.
Stella, Stella, Stella... as petty and selfish as she can be at times, she's a good person. Tecna seemed unusually harsh on Stella, even after Bloom figured that she may be being forced to act in that destructive manner. I guess Tecna could not logically understand how Stella wouldn't have been acting on her own free will.
Once Darcy, disguised as Stella, found out that Bloom had the ring, why did she not just ask Bloom for the ring? Honestly, the whole "destroy everything" method of searching for the ring seems more Stormy's, or even Icy's style. Not to mention, she probably could've gotten the ring easily simply by asking for it. To think Darcy's usually the smart one.
Flora actually wanted to fight the Trix, rather than give them the ring. Seems so un-Flora like.
8 out of 10 on the old scale.
Secret Guardian
...or Blonde Moments
At Cloud Tower, the Trix sisters are in a trance-like state in their room, humming, sitting in a circle, floating above the floor. Energy floats around them all, but it explodes, and they all collapse after one painful-sounding hum. Knut walks into the room, but Stormy tells him to just go back to sleep. Icy starts yelling about not being able to use the ring of Solaria's full power, and yells at Darcy whether she really checked all the possible spells for the ring. Darcy is exasperated, and not happy with Icy's throwing blame around. Stormy notes that they probably need more than just a spell and incantation to unlock the ring's potential, to which Icy threatens her to come up with something, or she'll turn Stormy into a puppy. Stormy's expression of being startled is priceless when Icy is yelling at her. Icy then threatens the ring itself, daring the ring to keep defying her, and throwing it against a wall carelessly. Stormy may not be the "stupid" sister after all. I mean, she is trying to help.
Meanwhile, the Winx girls are in their room. Bloom reads from a large book she'd gotten from the library, containing information on the Solaria ring.
Bloom: The ring is so powerful because it was created directly from starlight, the most pure source of magic in the universe. But what's really interesting is that some say the ring is extra special, because it's made of the same light that created this legendary creature called the Great Dragon. Do you know about this, Stella?
Stella: Well, yeah, I know all about the starlight stuff, but the other stuff makes me think I should have it reappraised.
Bloom realizes they need to get Stella's ring back, that the Trix sisters can cause harm with the ring. Stella says she needs it just because she's useless without it. Bloom starts talking about a restricted book she found about the Great Dragon, though was only allowed to read one 4-line paragraph, about a myth of the Great Dragon creating the entire magical dimension. When Bloom starts talking about the Great Dragon, she's in her room, telling it to her friends. But a few seconds later, she's talking about it to herself in the hallway. Bad direction here, folks? Miss Faragonda stops her in the hallway, having overheard Bloom talking about reading a book from the restricted vault, and calls Bloom to her office.
In Miss Faragonda's office, she explains to Bloom two chapters she was once allowed to read. And it's easier if I just let her explain it:
Faragonda: It described the beginning of the magical universe. First, there was a great solar explosion, and from that fiery starlight, an enchanted dragon was born. The dragon then used her fire to create all the different fairy worlds and spread like the magic accross the universe. At the end of her journey, the dragon landed on the world that would become known as Sparx, the center of the magical universe. She made it her home; and eventually became one with the very planet.
Bloom: That's a great story. Where is Sparx? Is it real?
Faragonda: It was, but sadly, Sparx doesn't exist anymore. It's said that a coven of evil witches went there seeking the Great Dragon's power. When they failed to get it, they destroyed the entire planet.
Faragonda's still curious how Bloom got into the restricted vault. Bloom isn't sure herself, telling her the vault just opened and led her in. Faragonda tells her she was then meant to go in.
Back in their room, Stella complains about needing her ring again, and not being able to do anything without it. Tecna and Flora talk about a quiz tomorrow that counts for half their grade, so Stella needs her ring. Half their grade for one little quiz? When I was in high school, even the final exam was only a third of the grade, so half their grade for one measly little quiz? I don't think so! Bloom says they can cast a hypnosis spell on the witches while they're asleep, then make them give Stella the ring. Tecna says she can download a map of the interschool tunnels so they can find their way around. Bloom gives a dippy little "all for one and one for all" pep talk.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
The five Winx girls walk through the underground tunnel. Flora asks where Tecna's map is. Tecna says she memorized it. Bloom comments how she memorized the cafeteria menu for the whole school year. Ah, Tecna's strange definition of "fun." Gotta' love her.
Knut sweeps the Trix sisters' room, complaining about not having a vacuum cleaner to use. Icy yells at Knut for complaining, and he mentions he was just commenting on the exercise he's getting sweeping. Icy yells at him to meet them in the forest, as the sisters are going there to consult the dark force about the ring. He starts grumbling about not having a vacuum again, and Darcy threatens him. As the Trix sisters exit, Knut continues grumbling, as he accidentally sweeps the duck into a wall, and sweeps the ring into a large pile of dust. I'm amazed at how careless the Trix sisters are here--of the three of them, none of them thinks to keep the ring on them, or at least in some safe place.
The Winx girls come to the outside of the Cloud Tower building. The girls hurry inside, and immediately enter the Trix sisters' room. Tecna casts a spell to lead them to Stella's ring. Tecna finds a voodoo doll, and wonders who it's meant to be. Tecna feels bad for whoever it is. I wonder too--I can't figure it out myself. Musa finds a baton-looking object, but spikes suddenly shoot out from it, and she drops it. Tecna quickly throws down the voodoo doll nervously. Bloom finds the ring in the dust pile, and Stella is insulted that the witches would keep her ring there.
On their way out, Bloom insists on looking inside the Cloud Tower book chamber, wanting to read more about the Great Dragon. Guess Bloom also memorized the map, since she seemed to know just where the book chamber would be. Tecna is completely against it, but Bloom ignores her. The other girls should've tried harder to get Bloom to listen to Tecna. Bloom finds the book on the Great Dragon, but as she opens it, a bright light shoots from it. Shoulda' been a clue to get out... does Bloom really want to face off against every witch in Cloud Tower? This sets off an alarm in Miss Griffin's office, who decides to punish the pixies for daring to enter Cloud Tower. The girls can't read the book, so Tecna insists that they all hurry and leave. Musa tells Tecna to "chillax." As if Musa weren't foolish enough not to heed Tecna's advice, she has to say "chillax." Blah. Bloom tells Tecna that she doesn't know where she comes from, or anything about herself, and that she has to look herself up. Tecna tells her she needs to hurry up. Bloom finds her book conveniently sitting out on a small desk. Tecna says it's too much of a coincidence, telling the girls that just finding the book there is very odd, and that it's probably a trap. Stella says the witches were probably just looking Bloom up. As intuitive as Stella can be, I don't buy this. At least at this point, the witches don't really give a damn about Bloom. Bloom insists that, even if it might be an obvious trap, that she has to look inside the book anyway, to find out who she is. Bloom proceeds to open the book, and it grabs her. The book says it'll destroy the Winx girls--or actually Miss Griffin, as she's voicing the book. She dares the fairies to try to break out.
It finally dawns on the other four girls that they must escape, but Griffin removes the door leading out. Tecna tries to blast open a door, but it doesn't work. The girls transform to their winx forms, via the usual transformation sequence. The five girls blast open a passage to escape through a passage, but Tecna declares it an illusion tunnel, and that the layout for Cloud Tower changed here, as this area was not on her map, and that someone has screwed around with their perception and reality. Still with me? Good. Little red buggies surround the girls from all directions, and with one bite they'll die. Musa mentions that the bugs infested her friend's castle, and Musa never saw her friend again. I feel bad for Musa and her friend. It'll likely never be explored, but I want to know who Musa's friend was. Then again, I guess first things first... we still need to know about Musa's parents.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Stella says she'd step on the bugs if she weren't wearing her winx boots. I doubt that. Bloom asks the others to help put up a fire shield to keep out the bugs. Stella notes that the bugs seem to be getting fried, but Bloom says they're actually getting stronger. Flora tells the girls to fly up, where the bugs can't reach them. Stella looks cute here. Flora says that when they need to get rid of bugs in her realm, they use the bugs' natural predators. She calls an anteater-mammoth-sloth-looking creature, which proceeds to eat and squash all the bugs.
Stella: That's one of the grossest and coolest things I've ever seen, and it works!
Flora goes on to ramble about how safe, effective, and environmentally friendly a method the creature is to pest control. Sounds too much like Captain Planet for my liking. Stella notes that the remains of the bugs are turning into mud. Musa mentions that it's actually slime, as Stella starts laughing to herself for absolutely no apparent reason, then screams and runs when she finally notices. Watching this episode, it's understandable why some people may not like Stella. The girls all run away, when Tecna--who else, gets the idea that flying away would be smarter than just running away. Go Tecna! She looks bizarre in her "ready to attack" pose, though. When they reach a dead end, Tecna takes charge, telling the girls to prepare for attack. They blast at the slime monster, destroying it. The monster explodes, but Tecna had the girls protected behind her firewall shield.
Stella finds a door, but it's locked; Tecna just charges straight through. Again, go Tecna! Tecna says this was supposed to be the grand ballroom, but it's a dingy little room full of junk instead. A lone puncture beetles enters the room, ready to attack the girls. Musa's cute when she's shivering here. Stella immediately blasts it with a large fireball, setting the entire room ablaze. Flora complains that she could've just conjured up another bug-eating creature, instead of having Stella set the entire room on fire.
Stella: I always say when it comes to bugs, you can never have enough fire. Ehhahahahaha, good one, Stella!
Aside from being one of the world's lamest jokes, it's just plain moronic on Stella's part. Is she completely oblivious to everything that's been going on?! For the life in me, I don't understand why Stella is such an imbecile in this episode. Flora gives a cute little cough. Tecna says the fire is too big for them to be able to put it out with their magic. For Bloom, the entire room goes dark, with her spinning in the spotlight, with a voice speaking to her. The spotlight thing, for those confused what I am actually talking about, is the same as the scene in the theme song that goes "keep on searching far and wide," only slower. And without the theme playing, of course. The voice tells Bloom she can save her, to trust her, that Bloom knows her, that she used to watch over Bloom. The voice leads Bloom straight into the fire, which worries Stella. It's your fault for the fire to begin with, you know, Stella.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
The girls try to stop Bloom, but then realize that Bloom actually found a secret portal that leads to the underground tunnel. Even though Musa uses yet more annoying slang here, her "hoppy" expression is adorable. The girls hurry and slide down, with the fire chasing behind them. I'd love to know how the fire is just chasing them through, myself. They all land on each other.
The girls are up and well, walking through the tunnel. Bloom explains how she heard a voice that led her to the portal that led them to the underground tunnel. Stella explains that they at least got the Solaria ring back, and that's what's important.
In the hallways of Alfea, the girls talk about how tired they are, but run into Miss Griselda, none too happy, blocking their dormroom door. She brings them to Miss Faragonda's office. Faragonda yells at the girls how they are not allowed inside Cloud Tower, much less breaking into Cloud Tower at night. Griselda chimes in every now and then to belittle the girls more. She likes making them feel worse. Not sure why she's got that stick up her butt. Miss Faragonda wants the girls to explain themselves, but Griselda complains that it should not matter why they went to Cloud Tower, that they must be punished to the extremes regardless of their reasons. Again, why does Griselda seem to hate the students so much? It's like she's afraid they might actually have a good reason, so she doesn't want to give them the chance to explain themselves, since Faragonda might, heaven forbid, lessen the punishment if she knew what was going on. Griselda suggests punishment 4B, which takes away the girls' powers.
Stella looks at the bright side, that at least they don't have to go to classes for a week. Flora is worried about having to catch up when they get their powers back. Tecna complains about not being able to use the Internet, and Musa complains about not being able to finish her spell to hit the perfect high note for the demo she was working on. Bloom worries that the Trix sisters will come after them when they realize Stella has her ring back, and they won't have their powers to fight against the witches.
Other Stuff
Tecna.
...what? That's not enough? Seriously, this episode was bad. B-A-D, bad. Probably the worst episode of the first season. Tecna is the only reason I even gave the episode a 3. And aside from the other bad points, the search for an exit was just fairly dull to sit through.
Tecna was great: smart, level-headed, used common sense, and just all-around good friend here.
Bloom, though... it's her fault the Winx girls got in most of this mess in the first place. Guess she needed the good judgment spell after all. Sure, Bloom wanted to know her past, who she is, and all, but there's a time and place for that, and a time to exercise caution. Cloud Tower is not the best place to make such decisions on a whim. Through her own selfishness and stupidity, Bloom put all her friends in great danger, and essentially created most of the very contrived plot for the episode.
Stella does not get off that easily, either. Stella was unbelievably stupid on a number of occasions here, especially with the setting fire to the room they were trapped in. She's easily redeemed in other episodes, but really, this episode puts Stella in a very poor light, making her look like a stereotypical idiot blonde girl.
As for Musa, she was on and off good and annoying.
...oh, was Flora there? I almost forgot.
Even our lovely Trix sisters... how could they just forget about the ring like that? If nothing else, I'm ashamed that Darcy would forget about it like that. She redeems herself in other episodes, at least.
In "Spelled," Bloom didn't know how to find books in the library. So how come she was able to find her way around in this episode?
3 out of 10 on the old scale.
