Frank15's Winx Reviews: 2x13-2x15
Jun. 4th, 2026 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsIn which Frank15 enjoys Musa's concert, calling it "possibly the greatest episode", after getting frustrated at the lack of meaningful value in Diaspro's return episode
Gangs of Gardenia
...or Attack of the Clones
We start our story today in a dream Layla is having, harking back to a few years ago. Eleven, twelve, maybe? Her exact age isn't really specified, but she isn't exactly a toddler, either. Young Layla is in her castle, with the servants in the castle complaining that Layla was dancing with a commoner, that their dancing is not fit for a princess, that she is only to dance with another member of royalty, following his lead, and eventually, the servants all chant together that Layla shall do absolutely nothing. In the real world, Layla is having a rough night in her bed. Piff floats to her head, and puts her in a nicer sleep. Meanwhile, in Flora's room, as Bloom and Kiko sleep, Flora's up awake, and decides to write Helia a letter.
The next morning at breakfast, Layla, Bloom, Flora, and Stella are all at breakfast, along with Lockette and Piff. I guess they're all late, as most of the cafeteria is empty. Bloom is going to Earth today, and Layla wants to go with. Bloom says she needed special permission to go, but Layla and Stella continue trying to convince Bloom. As they're trying to convince Bloom to let them go, Piff snatches a cookie out of Layla's hand. Cute lil' devil. Bloom tells them that Earth isn't really that spectacular a place.
Stella: The planet that gave the universe platform shoes is happenin' in my book!
Heh. And all this time I figured, with no magical creatures, Earth was looked down upon. Guess Earth serves as a fashion plate for the rest of the universe. And conveniently, this would explain why Stella would've been on Earth in the very first episode: buying the new fashions for the new school year! Layla says she'd heard that Earth had the best music anywhere, right as Musa walks in and says second best. Her home planet obviously being the best, but heck, second best in Musa's book is pretty good! Musa hands out tickets for her concert at Red Fountain next week. Stella says they'll all be ditching class to go to Earth with Bloom. Flora does not seem to care. Too goody-goody to skip class, I guess. Someone should've invited Tecna, at least.
The four girls and their pixies are on a bus in Gardenia. Stella and Layla are glad to have a break from school. Bloom wants to talk with her Mom about trying to find out more about her birth parents. Layla thinks it would be a good idea to give Bloom some alone time, and they can find a dance club, though Bloom says that no good ones are open during the day. The bus gets stuck in traffic, and Stella is impatient, and starts to fly, but not too far off the ground before Bloom pulls her back down, telling her not to fly in front of the NMBs. Non-magical beings.
Back on Magix, Flora walks through a forest around Stonehenge-looking stones, which seems to be a place where couples hang. Flora finds Helia meditating on a rock, and she drops all her books, as well as an envelope with a special flower of love, and says whoever is getting the letter is a very lucky guy. Flora, embarrassed, says it's for her parents. As Helia walks away, Chatta flies by, complaining that she just blew a perfect opportunity with Helia. Chatta is right. Quit playing around, Flora!
Back on Earth, Stella, Layla, and Musa, pixieless, are outside a park. Stella explains that if they use their magic on people, aside from being against the rules, Faragonda would know that they're on Earth. Bloom worries about where the pixies are. Musa says that Piff is sleeping in Layla's hood. Stella says that Lockette was scared off by a dog, and Tune and Amore went looking for her. The others aren't worried, but Bloom frets that the people will flip out if they see the pixies, considering Earth people are not used to seeing flying pixies around.
In the park, Amore watches a young couple in love, happy seeing the people on Earth having such love. Tune talks to a little girl named Abby, telling her that she has excellent posture. A couple of policemen find her, tell her that her father's been looking for her on the other side of the park, and take her to him, neither noticing the pixies. They're confused, wondering why the police didn't see them.
Later, at the mall, Stella, Layla, and Musa walk with their pixies, wondering why the police couldn't see the pixies, yet the little girl could. They figure that non-magical beings cannot see the pixies, but Earth children are born with magic, but lose it as they get older. A young boy, Kevin, passes with his parents, getting hyperactive over seeing the pixies, and being pulled away as the parents walk on by. Tune yells at the parents to control their child. A policeman, probably just mall security, stops the three girls, asking why they are not at school. As Stella and Musa try to come up with explanations, Layla steps up, speaking in a troll language: the officer figures that the girls aren't from around the area, and lets them be. Layla breathes a big sigh of relief.
Back at Alfea, in Miss Faragonda's office, Griselda reports that she cannot find Bloom, Stella, Layla, or Musa anywhere. Faragonda hopes the girls are not in trouble. Griselda barks that the girls will be in trouble once she finds them.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Layla is asleep, by herself, in a chair outside a cafe, with Piff sleeping on her head, Tune fixing her hair, and Amore watching a young couple. Layla dreams of a time she met Anne, a girl about her age, who liked sneaking into the tower in Layla's castle, saying it's a great place to dance. Anne dances around, and Layla says she wishes she could dance like her. Anne offers to teach Layla, but then she's awakened when Musa and Stella return with food. Piff gets pouty for waking them up. Stella wants to know where she learned the troll language from, and Layla explains that as a princess, she had to learn hundreds of languages.
Stella: I can say "Do you have this in a size four?" in ten different languages, but I'm afraid that's about it.
Layla: I wasn't even allowed to pick out my own clothes. My parents only wanted me to look one way.
Tune: Prim and proper, I'm sure.
Layla: Yeah, that's it. It was such a drag.
Tune: Hmph!
Tune was just taken aback by Layla's comment! You could just imagine she was going "well I never!" in her own mind! Musa says Layla was probably forced to do the "laughing at unfunny jokes" routine royalty always seems to have to do. Stella says that's all last century, and that being a princess should be better than it was back then. Stella seems to come from a pretty stereotypical royal family herself... guess she's always been very strong-willed, though, and likely to insist things be what she feels is right. Layla seems weaker than Stella emotionally, and less likely to stand up for herself. Poor Layla. Musa says they should go hit the mall again, and Stella says she can pick out whatever outfit they like. Stella's gotta' approve, of course.
At Bloom's home, Bloom and Vanessa talk at the table. Lockette and Kiko fight playfully as they're talking. Vanessa talks about wanting to open her new flower shop for Mother's Day, but can't afford hiring help. Bloom suggests asking Aunt Caroline for help, but Vanessa complains that she'll try to take over, insisting on everything being done her way. Bloom brings up wanting to find out more about her birth parents, and wanting her parents' support in finding more about her birth parents, and where she comes from. Vanessa gives her support for Bloom, and asks what the heck Kiko's doing, not able to see Lockette.
Stella, Layla, and Musa walk down a street, in their new clothes, and find a dance club. Layla is excited, but Stella is not, saying that only losers, dropouts and rejects would be there in the middle of the day. And people playing hooky, apparently. Layla and Musa go in anyway, as Stella heads back for the mall a third time. A guy in a baggy white suit, half-buttoned yellow shirt, extremely loose tie, and very messy sticky-uppie purple hair glares as the girls enter.
Inside the dance club, Musa and Layla are gettin' down on the dance floor. Layla wonders why the same beat has been playing the whole time they've been in there, and encourages Musa to play DJ, putting some magic into the speaker. Musa does, and a new song starts playing for them to dance to. Everyone's enjoying it, except one girl who looks like the kempt sister of the badly-dressed guy earlier. But away from the dance floor, three guys, apparently triplets, all looking exactly like the badly-dressed guy we saw earlier. Freaky.
Triplet 1: I'm tellin' you, those girls are witches or sorcerers.
Triplet 3: Dude, the correct gender-specific term is sorceress.
Triplet 1: That's what I just said; weren't you listenin'?! Now go get me another soda.
Idiotic, yes. But then, these guys are obviously meant to be idiots. Funny in its own stupid way. These guys are also probably drunk: yeah, he said soda, but a colored bottle? A bartender? They may have soda behind the counter, but these guys sure weren't drinkin' no soda! Back on the dance floor, Layla daydreams back to her time with Anne. Layla feels too self-conscious to dance like Anne, but Anne tells her to dance as if no one were looking, and gets Layla to have fun dancing. Later, Layla cries on her bed, with Anne by her side, promising to write, and Layla crying for her not to go. After snapping out of her daydream, Layla thanks Musa for being her friend, telling Musa that her friendship really means a lot to her. Musa is appreciative, but confused where the heck the random thought came from. But no matter: they decide to have some more fun on the dance floor.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
As Layla dances on the floor, everyone else, Musa included, watches around her, cheering her on. One of the triplets goes behind Musa, threatening her. Musa, not about to be pushed around by some jerk, does some sort of weak sonic wave blast to his head, knocking him out. Musa worries she had just blown their cover, using magic against the guy. One of the triplets announces that the club has now become a private party for "The Suits," and orders all the other patrons to leave. A gang, I guess. That explains why they're all wearing the same baggy suits, but it still doesn't explain the whole identical triplets thing. Layla and Musa are surrounded by two of the girls who seem to be twin sisters of the badly-dressed guys, and SEVEN identical messy guys. SEVEN! Septuplets?! I think not! There's some serious cloning happening on Earth, apparently. I mean, this could easily be explained if they were on some planet where you could say identical septuplets were commonplace, but on Earth? Doesn't work. Lazy artists, or art designer, or art director, or something... even in a world of magic, this is just ridiculously far-fetched.
As Bloom and Stella walk down the street to the club, Amore and Lockette come to warn them that something is going on at the club, with Musa and Layla inside. At the club, Piff is sleeping on one of the steps outside.
Tune: Piff, do you have any idea how dirty these steps are?!
As unlikely as it would seem, four more identical guys are guarding the entrance to the club. Eleven-uplets?!?! No... no... it's clones. Definitely clones. Apparently, Earth has great hidden cloning technology. Bloom and Stella talk about how they can sneak into the club. Bloom says the pixies can go in, since the Suits cannot see them.
Back inside the club, the Suits tell Musa and Layla that their rival gang has challenged them tonight, and that they're going to help them with their magical powers, "or else." One of the Suits lassos Musa with his tie. Layla lets out powerful blasts knocking the nine gangsters down, wearing her out. The pixies fly in to help. Piff goes to Layla to give her energy back. Musa casts a spell on the speaker, causing a loud screeching sound. Amore puts a spell on a couple of the guys, causing them to fall in love with one another. So 4Kids has nothing against a possible minor gay couple, anyway. But... um... incest much? I mean, these guys are obviously identical whatever-uplets. I'm surprised Amore would go for that! Tune says Layla should be polite and offer the guys a soda; Layla puts a spell on the vending machine to shoot sodas at the gangsters. As Musa and Layla rush to an exit to a dark alley, Layla is pulled back by the gangsters, but Bloom and Stella are waiting by the exit, and successfully pull Layla toward them, causing the gangsters to fall down the stairs as Layla gets loose. But as the Winx girls escape the building, they're blocked by the gangsters.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Right as the gangsters are about to attack the Winx girls, Faragonda and Griselda teleport between them, and put a spell on the gangsters to put them fast asleep. Faragonda and Griselda are not happy.
In Miss Faragonda's office, she and Griselda scold the girls. Griselda says they broke two rules: leaving the realm without permission and skipping class without prior notification. Duh! That's the point of skipping class! Faragonda says they'll have to clean the entire school over the weekend. Griselda says there is to be no music while they're cleaning. Miss Faragonda, with an evil smile, says she isn't sure about that, that she wouldn't want the girls to be falling asleep while they're working.
Later, we see Bloom, who was cleaning an office, fast asleep with Lockette. In another room, Musa was cleaning near a piano, but is also fast asleep with Tune. In the auditorium, Stella is asleep, with Amore and Chatta sleeping with her. Wonder what Chatta was doing there. In the cafeteria, Flora and Layla are sitting on a clean floor, with Flora talking to Layla about Helia, and saying that in her realm, the guy is supposed to make the first move. Layla tells her that some rules are meant to be broken, but Flora isn't sure if this is one of them, but Layla's fast asleep now. Flora leans against her and falls asleep too, and Piff comes to join them.
Other Stuff
It was a bizarre episode. Like having eleven identical-looking humans. And the Winx girls not putting up much of a fight against regular, ordinary, non-magical humans. I mean, breaking the rules or not, you'd think they could've put up more of a fight against the gang. I mean, they beat the Trix sisters last season! These guys should've been pushovers! Having said all that, much of the episode was oddly enjoyable, despite the clones, and the lack of Trix, and the lack of much action. The Winx girls themselves shined, and that's good enough for a change of pace, right?
Speaking of the weird fight... why the hell did the guys pick a fight with the girls if they truly believed they had magical powers? I mean, that's just absolutely imbecilic on their part! The Winx girls could've easily killed them all, and for all the gang knew, they would have! Then again, I suppose the guys were intoxicated....
Tune really shined here, showing herself to be the insane little etiquette freak we all knew she was. And Tune's offense from Layla's complaining about proper attire for a princess, priceless!
Why was Tecna not invited to go to Earth, too? Why was poor Tecna left out? I mean, at least Flora had a chance to go to Earth, and just didn't seem interested, or just wanted to be a goody-goody and not want to break the rules. But it just seems unfair to just completely leave Tecna out of it.
And... yes, the clones. Must ask about the clones. WHY were there clones?! Is this a future Earth where clones have taken over parts of the globe? Or is cloning technology on this Earth so advanced that anyone can afford to just go to a clinic to get a cheap clone? I mean, none of the Earth people, Bloom included, seemed to be surprised to see so many identical-looking men, so apparently clones have become at least somewhat commonplace on this version of Earth. Personally, I want an explanation!
9 out of 10 on the old scale.
The Wrong Righters
...or A Thing for Zing
The episode begins with a fat guy eating meatballs. Ninjas sneak to his place, and identify him as Mr. Yoshinoya. One of the ninjas says that a group called the Wrong Righters had already kidnapped Diaspro before they could get to her. Mr. Yoshinoya says that it's OK, that they will still demand a random for her return.
In a cave--presumably the Wrong Righters' headquarters--Diaspro is tied to a rock formation going up to the ceiling. A dog goes up to Diaspro, with her finding it disgusting. One of the men of the Wrong Righters shows up to complain about Diaspro making her people of planet Isis go hungry because she's forcing them to spend their money on clothing, and forcing people into exhile for wearing more than one type of denim.
Diaspro: Head-to-toe denim is cheesy.
The making people hungry thing may be a bit harsh, but what's so wrong with having fashion police? Some people really need that! The Wrong Righters--two men, a girl, a young boy, a robot, and dog mascot--say they will turn her into a good person.
Outside Alfea for Palladium's class, where Tecna and Layla are strangely absent, Musa's demonstrating the usefulness of powers over the weather: Musa's created a small rain cloud directly over Bloom, pouring on her, who looks miserable and cold.
Stella: That rain spell was not hair friendly! You should create a spell to make the rain straighten your hair instead of frizzle it.
Palladium says they'll continue these presentations next week. Flora, looking oddly asmitten with Palladium, says she'll do her presentation on rainbow spells next week. If there was ever a moment to suggest that Flora might just have a crush on teacher! Musa and Stella joke about Palladium's new appearance. Flora looks as if she wants to beat the crap out of them, too! Like "don't you dare make fun of my baby!"
After class, Stella tells Bloom that Sky's parents will love her. As Stella leaves, Bloom tells Lockette that they'll be going to Eraklyon, where Sky will introduce her to her parents. Right after Bloom tells Flora that she'll be borrowing Stella's dress, Sky and Brandon arrive on their hoverbikes, ready to pick up Bloom and Flora. It seems pre-planned that Flora was going to go with Bloom. Flora says they still need to change, but Sky says they look nice enough for a casual dinner as is. But before they head off, Zing falls from a nearby tree, wearing a skull on her head, wanting to go with them to Eraklyon, thinking she might find a fairy to bond with there. Zing throws a rope latching onto Sky's hoverbike.
Flora: Oh, Stella said to tell you "hugs and kisses."
On a ship going through space, Bloom worries about Eraklyon manners. Chatta reminds Bloom to just chew with her mouth closed, and Sky tells Bloom to just be herself. An unknown pixie asks if mullets are in style in Eraklyon. After a second, Bloom realizes it's Zing, and Zing changes back to her normal form for a second to confirm Bloom's realization. Sky tells everyone to prepare for landing, though when they land, they realize something may be wrong.
In the throne room for Sky's parents, the King tells Sky that Diaspro was kidnapped, and they'd sent back the brooch Sky gave to her. So he must've liked Diaspro at some point! In a semi-flashback, we get to see a kinda' bad view of Diaspro's parents crying! The King shows Sky the ransom note they'd received from Yoshinoya. Sky and Brandon say they'll rescue her, but the King says it's not his place to do so as he is no longer Sky's fiancee, as the Queen says that the royal guard will take care of it. Bloom tries taking of for Sky, but is immediately shot down by the irate Queen. The King wants Sky to put on his royal cape for a press conference theyll be holding, and Sky runs off angrily, with Bloom tagging along behind. The Queen and King realize it might be a good thing, though, since maybe Sky will fall in love with his rescuee.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
In a forest on some planet, seemingly still on Eraklyon, the Wrong Righters are standing guard as they somehow know Sky is coming, insisting they'll right this wrong.
Sky and Brandon are in his room, preparing to get back Diaspro. Sky wonders if Bloom will be upset that he wants to rescue Diaspro. Considering Bloom's constant worry lately about Sky getting back with Diaspro, I'd wager yes. Brandon says he knows that Yoshinoya has kidnapped royalty before, and has an army of forest ninjas. Zing dresses ninja like, pulling off what looks like Robin Hood Daffy's routine with the buck-and-a-quarter staff. Which isn't what she's imiating, but it so reminded me of that. Zing rocks!
In the forest, Bloom and Flora are walking, with Bloom worrying that Sky wanted to rescue Diaspro because he still has feelings for her. Flora tries comforting Bloom, telling her that Sky's a hero-in-training, and rescuing people is what he does. And Sky probably feels he owes Diaspro that, at least, after his treatment of her last year. Chatta insists that Sky likes Bloom, but Bloom still mopes, saying that his parents don't like her. Can't argue that one. Bloom and Flora find the poppy portalis, which they need to teleport Diaspro to where they are, while one of them goes to where Diaspro is. They have trouble catching the poppy, though, which teleports itself elsewhere each time they're about to pick it.
In another part of the forest, Sky and Brandon fight the forest ninjas working for Yoshinoya, who have the ability to leap miles into the air! They take the ninjas down easily, but one of them, after downed, tells Sky that Yoshinoya was only pretending to have Diaspro in his clutches to collect the ransom, and that the Wrong Righters actually have Diaspro, not affiliated with Yoshinoya.
After Flora, Bloom, Sky, and Brandon find each other in the forest, Sky and Brandon tell them about the Wrong Righters, a group of social justice ninja-fighters, also interested in saving the environment. One of the Wrong Righters, unseen, shoots an environmentally-friendly arrow-feather toward them as a warning. They use Diaspro's brooch to help with a location spell to find Diaspro: Flora and Bloom have Sky and Brandon help with it, too. They find the way to Diaspro. Lockette senses the danger, and Zing notes something flying around at bug-like speed. Whatever that means. One of them shoots a feather speeding toward Flora, but Zing spots it, and takes the hit for Flora while dressed as a cowboy. Right then, several nets fall from the sky, arrow-feathers shoot from about everywhere, and a trap door leading to spikes sets off beneath Brandon. Sky rescues Brandon, and Bloom and Flora use their magic to protect themselves from the nets and feathers. Right then, the Wrong Righters appear before the group.
Bloom: That's them?!
I love Bloom's quick little analysis on the group! One by one, explaining how they fght against inequality, justice, and poverty; how they're there to save the oceans, lobby for education, and defend the underprivleged.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
After one of the Wrong Righters performs a freedom kick on Sky, Flora and Bloom transform to their winx forms. The girl shoots righteous lipstick at Flora and Bloom: Bloom is knocked pretty far back. The guy freedom kicking guy quickly gets Brandon electrocuted off-guard as he hurries behind him when he's trying to help Sky. Flora performs vine wrap on the robot, but the boy uses a missile thingy to knock Flora out. Sky gets tied up by one of the guys. As Bloom disassembles the robot with her powers, the girl uses knock-out powder on Bloom, from a little make-up compact.
Back at the Wrong Righters' headquarters, they're telling Diaspro what a terrible leader she is, telling her they'll teach her right from wrong. In a jail cell, Brandon figures that if they could show the Wrong Righters' the ransom note, that they'd see that Yoshinoya was just using them. Zing, Lockette, and Chatta appear outside their jail cell, outside the headquarters. Lockette and Chatta will help Bloom with an escape spell, while Zing goes to get the ransom note.
Back in the forest, it seems they've caught the poppy portalis. Flora explains again that one of them will have to go in exchange for Diaspro. Sky wants to go, but Bloom insistsshe goes instead, since she has powers she could use to escape. Bloom mentions she doesn't like Diaspro, and is only helping because she cares for Sky, though. Which bugs me a little, since still, Diaspro's done nothing to deserve Bloom's wrath. You'd think Bloom might be a little easier on the poor girl by now.
Back with Diaspro, she wants the Wrong Righters to give her one reason why she's a bad leader. The boy says she punishes people for wearing chipped nail polish. Diaspro says that should be a crime. Right as the boy is about to put some sort of special helmet on Diaspro, Bloom poofs into her place, with Diaspro in the forest with the others. What was the helmet for, anyway? To hypnotize Diaspro? Shock therapy? Anyway, Bloom immediately escapes. Of course, if Bloom could escape so easily, why couldn't Diaspro? She's magic, too.
Bloom goes back to the forest, with the Wrong Righters chasing right behind. In a nearby tent, Diaspro is with Flora, and suddenly realizes that it's wrong to punish her people for dressing below her standards. Whoa, one little talk with Flora was all it took to completely make Diaspro see the error of her ways? Yeah, a little inappropriately easy. Couldn't they have maybe made her feel just a little bad, without having Diaspro admit she was completely wrong, maybe? I love Flora's confused little "uh, okie dokie!" though, as if even she was astonished by Diaspro's unbelievably quick transformation!
Diaspro: Though I still believe that hair accessories should be considered a basic necessity.
Chatta: Actually, I completely agree with you on that.
In Sky's castle, Zing is in search for the ransom note, looking through a bunch of scrolls. She soon finds it and comes to Bloom and company and the Wrong Righters. They show the head Wrong Righter the note, and he does not appreciate being made to look like a kidnapper. Though he technically is, anyway. In the tent, Flora and Diaspro hear someone coming--it's the Wrong Righters, with Bloom and company, with Bloom telling Diaspro not to worry, that they're on the same team, now. The head Wrong Righter declares that they will go after Yoshinoya now.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Back in Sky's throne room, the King and Queen thank Sky and Bloom for rescuing Diaspro, and decide that Bloom would make a great queen someday. Course, it probably helps that Bloom's the long-lost Princess of Sparx--they'd probably be less accepting still if Bloom were a random nobody. The King wants the Wrong Righters gone, still, but Bloom says that she doesn't think it'll be a problem.
Outside the castle, the Wrong Righters argue about what they're going to do next, from saving the ocean, children's rights, robots' rights, stopping drilling, and saving the winged lyger. Flora, Brandon, and the pixies look in disbelief. As Bloom and Sky walk outside, with Sky happy that they now like Bloom, the Wrong Righters agreed to save the winged lyger, and head off. Bloom thinks about possibly being Queen of both Eraklyon and Sparx one day. Brandon suggests that Bloom take Sky to meet her parents. Sky worries about Earth manners, but Bloom just says back to him to be himself and he'll be all right.
Other Stuff
It was a fun, amusing little stint. Looking at it from a distance, it was a fun romp. But it was disappointing, with a good bit of wasted potential.
Namely, what happened with the Bloom/Sky/Diaspro triangle? Not a whole lot. We get that Bloom still feels uneasy about Diaspro, and Sky is willing to put last season's mess behind him to rescue her, but that's about it. Absolutely no insight on Diaspro's part whatsoever: we know she's got to be feeling something about the breakup, and it's unlikely she's forgiven Bloom, yet the whole situation was mostly ignored, which is a real shame.
Another problem with the episode: originally, there was a fight with Stormy Vs. Musa, who had to take on Stormy by herself. The US completely cut the entire bits out! Give me my Stormy fight! They could've fit that in if they'd gotten rid of the super-long "previously on Winx Club" bit at the beginning of the episode: it was torture waiting for that to end! Usually they seem a lot shorter.
Zing! Now, having gotten the two major problems out of the way, let's get to the good, and the good is Zing! Zing is just eternally silly, always playful, and likes dressing up as whatever suits her mood. Zing really made the episode a lot more fun than it otherwise would've been, and she just kinda' steals the show whenever she's around. She and Digit, easily the best two of the pixies. Now, having said that, it seems Zing's dress-ups as Spider-Man and Doc Ock were removed from the episode. Too bad, since those would've been the two I would've recognized. Seems likely there was a legal issue there.
The Wrong Righters were fun as stereotypical "bumbling" type villains. Obviously, the Trix are very anti-bumbling villains, so it made for a nice little change of pace. Course, now that we see they're heroes... might be fun to see them go against the Trix sisters, and see them getting their butts kicked!
This is the second episode in a row without any signs of Tecna whatsoever--I don't believe she was in the missing "Musa Vs. Stormy" fight scene, either (Layla was in it)! I mean, it makes sense that she wasn't in most of the episode, but she was even absent from Palladium's class, too! Where's Tecna been hiding? Is she back home for some reason? Is she sick? I wanna' know!
And finally... ninjas. Ninjas are always cool, so just with the addition of having forest ninjas, ya' gotta' give the episode some credit, right?
6 out of 10 on the old scale.
Magic in My Heart
...or Musa's Complete Redemption
To think they were originally going to name the show "Magical Bloom." Oh, would that have ever been completely out of place for this one: never has Bloom been pushed so far out of the spotlight as in this episode! She's had her fun, though: now it's Musa's turn to shine!
Oh, and remember the missing Stormy Vs. Musa fight in the last episode? This episode starts with that! Unlike usual, the episode starts right off the bat with action, with Stormy casting a spell on the roof of Alfea so she can get the Codex at Alfea.
Musa: Hey witch, it's 2 AM. Shouldn't you be hanging upside-down in a cave somewhere?
Stormy warns Musa of a big storm coming. Musa changes to her winx form. We get to see more of Musa's transformation than normal, too. Tune tells Musa to be careful. Stormy makes mention of the Gloomix she is wearing, the bracelet on her arm, that Lord Darkar gave her, then shoots a blast at Musa. Musa does a bass boost to knock Stormy down, then performs a neat-looking floppy rain dance spell to get rid of the Storm overhead. Layla taught her the dance, not that it's mentioned. Musa gives Stormy a cute Mirta-ish smile to Stormy before shooting a blast at Stormy that knocks her to the ground below. Some of the students, as well as Palladium, wake up inside Alfea, prompting Stormy to give up the fight. For the moment. Musa lies down, and Tune commends Musa on her victory.
In Red Fountain's auditorium, Layla asks Musa if she's ready for the big show at Red Fountain tomorrow night; it seems Musa will be singing, and Layla will be dancing. Musa's nervous, but Layla says she shouldn't be. Layla demonstrates her dance moves to Musa. Piff was sleeping on the speaker. Poor Piff got scared out of her sleep when Layla turned the beat on! Layla said she learned her moves from street performers. Tune, naturally, cannot believe that Layla would do such. Layla says she never told her parents what she was doing.
In Shadowhaunt, Stormy looks in a mirror, saying goodbye to herself. She casts a spell to change her appearance to a cute-looking straight red-headed fairy. For half a second, she even practices a really big, genuine smile! It's frightening when you consider that it's actually Stormy! Stormy wipes a drawing of Musa off her mirror.
At Red Fountain, it seems the big event has already drawn out the crowds, with specialists, fairies, and witches hanging around outside the building. Brandon is walking with a witch on each shoulder, shamelessly flirting. Oh, he says Stella agreed to let him do lucky-kisses for charity, so the jousting team can get new uniforms, but Brandon buddy, you're fooling no one: you think the witches are hot. One of the witches asks if they could leave him a little lipstick before they go to get their purses. Brandon agrees, to no one's surprise. After they leave, though, he realizes he hadn't been kissed, and that they actually left him with their sticks of lipstick! Witches love funny wordplay, apparently. I like these witches! Brandon, all-too-eager to find another girl to kiss him, asks Stormy-in-fairy-disguise as she passes by. Stormy yells at Brandon to get lost.
Back in Red Fountain's auditorium, Musa's practicing for her song at the concert at Red Fountain tomorrow night. Stormy, still in disguise of course, eavesdrops from behind the bleachers, thinking Musa sucks. Something tells me Stormy would get a kick out of the American Idol auditions! After Musa finishes, Stella tries to rush Musa along, saying she should go with that song, and that they should practice their number together. Musa isn't sure, though, and thinks maybe she should go with her song with a saxophone solo. Stella throws the saxophone at her. Musa yells at Stella to be careful with it, as it's her Dad's. Stella gives a cute, odd-looking sticking-out-her-tongue at Musa. Right then, Musa's Dad comes in, and they hug each other. Dad says he's surprised that Musa wasn't in the library. Miss Faragonda glows about how talented a musician Musa is. Musa asks if Dad is going to come to the concert tomorrow night, but Dad is upset, and wants to continue the conversation outside. All throughout, Stormy plots, realizing she could use Musa's Dad to get to Musa.
Outside, with Layla eavesdropping go Layla!, Musa's Dad complains that Musa's been telling everyone that he still writes songs and still performs, when he's retired years ago, and that he was embarrassed when Faragonda asked him if he had a new album coming out. What's angering Dad even more, though, is Musa's lying to Dad about what she's been doing at Alfea. Dad thought Musa was pursuing some legitimate profession, and is furious that Musa's been playing around with music. Musa reminds him that music used to be his life. Dad conveniently changes the subject that it's nothing to do with his life, but Musa's. We've all had this kind of discussion before, I bet. Musa's angry that Dad can't get over her Mom having died, but Dad quickly wants Musa to shut up about Mom. Guess we know where Musa's sensitive nature comes from. Dad finally threatens to remove Musa from Alfea if she performs in the concert tomorrow night. Dad leaves, Musa cries, and Layla goes up to try to comfort Musa the best she can.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
On what might be the roof of one of Red Fountain's buildings, Musa tells Layla about her past. Musa explains that her Mom was a classical music singer touring the realms with an opera company, which is when Musa's Dad first saw her. Musa's father was a prince, though his family disowned him when he decided he wanted to be a musician. Outside the theatre, he caught Musa's Mom, mentioned her amazing voice, and asked if she would be willing to sing a pop song he'd just written. That actually came out only semi-coherently. He's apparently not as smooth as Brandon with the ladies. The answer caught him by surprise, and since he didn't have a song finished yet, he'd stayed up all night to finish a song, "Magic in My Heart," for Mom to sing. She came by the next day and instantly fell in love with the song. And with Dad. Mom had rejected her classical training, and Dad his royalty, for their shared love for music, and for one another. And then Musa was born! So ultra-cute, too! Easily cuter than baby Bloom, no question about it! A few years later, they made a classical record, but on the tour, Mom got sick and collapsed, and eventually died. Dad was so upset, that he went on a rampage, destroying all the music in the house. End flashback, Layla says it sounds like music is still too painful for Musa's Dad. Musa cries, saying she can't perform at the concert, as she does not want to lose her friends at Alfea. Layla continues trying to comfort Musa, saying it'll all be OK, and that she can extend her dance routine to fill the time. It's not shown, but her routine had Mirta and Francis helping out!
In Layla's room, Musa and Francis--squee!--enjoy watching Layla's dancing on from either Layla's or Francis' bed. Aside from Piff and Tune, Glim is also watching! They all seem engrossed. It's not shown in the US, but it seems Layla got Francis and Mirta to dance for her number at the concert.
That night in Musa's room, though, she is having a nightmare. Musa runs onto the stage for the concert, dressed in a baggy-looking hip-hip-like outfit with a funny hat, but has lost her singing voice. She's also distraught to see only robots in the audience, though a single person is clapping. Tecna--you do remember her, right?--wakes Musa up from her nightmare, checking if he's OK. Musa tells Tecna of her nightmare, mentioning that she thinks the one person clapping was her Mom.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Musa goes out to the Red Fountain stadium, but is unable to sing. She teleports--at least I'm guessing it's teleportation--to her Mom's grave, asking Mom what she should do, and... heck. I like this, so I'll just let Musa take over for me:
Musa: Hey Mom. Hmm. So, I came here to ask for your support on something. Dad doesn't want me to be a musician, and I think it's 'cause he can't forgive you for leaving us, and I don't want to hurt him, and I'm scared of what might happen, but Mom, everything I am is music! And if I don't perform tonight, a part of me will be gone, so I'm gonna' do it. Please be with me.
I cried. Call me a sap. That night, at the concert, the seats are filled with students and faculty from all three schools, as Codatorta announces Brandon and Sky, performing the traditional fire dance of the elders--them dancing while throwing and twirling sticks with fires ablaze on both ends. Meanwhile, on the floor, Stormy is sneaking around, obviously still in disguise.
After Brandon's and Sky's act, Codatorta announces Musa to the stage, dressed in her hip-hoppy outfit. Musa's scared, Stella's telling her not to freak out, but when she goes on out, she loses her fear, and becomes truly happy. She sings "Magic in My Heart," again, the first song Musa's Dad wrote, specifically for her Mom to sing! It's a beautiful, cute, sweet song. Not hip hop in the least. It melts Dad's heart, even. Of some interest, Francis hands out Kleenex during the song--I could've used one myself! She also speaks for the first time in the show!
Francis: Here you go, pixie! Your friend is really amazing, isn't she?
And it's worth quoting for no other reason than it being Francis' only line so far! Aside from that, Riven smiles, which is kind of freaky. Also, Bloom finally appears in the episode, in the audience. She says not a word, though. Flora and Mirta also make audience-only appearances, too. After Musa's song, Stormy loses her fairy disguise and blasts Musa's Dad.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Stormy, floating above everyone, insists that everyone stay still, else she'll kill Musa's Dad. Except for Musa, who she wants to come to Stormy herself. Musa transforms, but Stormy doesn't want to fight--she wants Musa to surrender, else she'll kill Dad. Musa goes up to the microphone. Stormy's expecting one last concert, but Musa instead asks for everyone to sing with her. Musa hums "It Feels Like Magic." Everyone is confused, but Riven gets it: he goes around, insisting everyone to listen to Musa and sing along with her. They do, Stormy questions what's going on, then gets nervous, as Musa blasts her away. Slowly. It's funny seeing just how slowly Stormy's shot off. Slow motion attack, maybe? Musa detransforms. I think that makes only the third time we've ever seen a fairy revert from their winx form to their normal clothing, too. Or in this case, her hip hop-looking clothing.
Layla and Stella rush up to hug Musa. Amore asks how Musa blasted Stormy away, and Musa explains that the music gave Musa her extra power. Riven helps Musa's Dad up, and tells him that he thinks his daughter is amazing. Musa thanks her Mom. This looks like it's the end of the episode, but it's actually a fake ending, kinda'--we've got another little bonus, first!
Back on stage, after everyone's regained some composure after the Stormy fight. Musa is standing beside Codatorta, who introduces Stella, who trips on her way out. You know that has to kill poor Stella, tripping in front of almost everyone on Magix! Musa and Stella perform a cute little duet, "This is the Beat," doing exaggerated dance movements during the song. I'm not too fond of the song, but I still loved seeing Musa and Stella doing a fun little duet, with their silly little dancing.
Sometime after the concert, Musa and her Dad return to Musa's Mom's grave. Musa tells her Mom that the concert was a big hit, and that when she sang "Magic in My Heart," that it felt like all three of them were together again. Dad agrees.
Other Stuff
In case it wasn't clear before this point, this was a good, near-perfect episode.
First of all, considering Musa was wearing a Hip Hop-looking outfit with a ridiculous-looking hat, I think we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief that it did not lead to a horrid hip hop song!
"Magic in My Heart" was a great song, worthy of much praise: it's very different from the song used in the Italian version, but both are excellent in their own right. "This is the Beat," however, really does not compare to the Musa/Stella duet used in Italy, which was a fast little ditty with a great bridge and really cool instrumentals for the chorus. Still, it was fun to see the Musa/Stella duet, whatever it was they were singing!
Speaking of the Musa/Stella duet, the US was very kind to Stella, having her trip only a single time. In Italy, she was a much bigger klutz, falling down a second time, and knocking over her microphone twice!
And more about Stella, even if she didn't have any classic remarks today, she still added her fun Stella self to the episode, most notably when Musa was rehearsing for the concert!
And going off on a slight tangent, Brandon's scene of hitting on the witches was one of the most pointless yet entertaining scenes of the series!
Bloom. She was only in crowd scenes, did nothing unique, and had zero lines throughout the entire episode! Who'd have ever guessed such was possible!
And Tecna? However small her role was, it was still nice just to see her back, after being completely missing from the last two episodes. And hey, her role was still hundreds of times bigger than Bloom's minuscule role!
And Francis got her biggest role yet: an actual line! It might not be much, but having a line, watching Layla perform, and handing out Kleenex... still a much bigger role than Bloom got!
10 out of 10 on the old scale--possibly the greatest episode!
Gangs of Gardenia
...or Attack of the Clones
We start our story today in a dream Layla is having, harking back to a few years ago. Eleven, twelve, maybe? Her exact age isn't really specified, but she isn't exactly a toddler, either. Young Layla is in her castle, with the servants in the castle complaining that Layla was dancing with a commoner, that their dancing is not fit for a princess, that she is only to dance with another member of royalty, following his lead, and eventually, the servants all chant together that Layla shall do absolutely nothing. In the real world, Layla is having a rough night in her bed. Piff floats to her head, and puts her in a nicer sleep. Meanwhile, in Flora's room, as Bloom and Kiko sleep, Flora's up awake, and decides to write Helia a letter.
The next morning at breakfast, Layla, Bloom, Flora, and Stella are all at breakfast, along with Lockette and Piff. I guess they're all late, as most of the cafeteria is empty. Bloom is going to Earth today, and Layla wants to go with. Bloom says she needed special permission to go, but Layla and Stella continue trying to convince Bloom. As they're trying to convince Bloom to let them go, Piff snatches a cookie out of Layla's hand. Cute lil' devil. Bloom tells them that Earth isn't really that spectacular a place.
Stella: The planet that gave the universe platform shoes is happenin' in my book!
Heh. And all this time I figured, with no magical creatures, Earth was looked down upon. Guess Earth serves as a fashion plate for the rest of the universe. And conveniently, this would explain why Stella would've been on Earth in the very first episode: buying the new fashions for the new school year! Layla says she'd heard that Earth had the best music anywhere, right as Musa walks in and says second best. Her home planet obviously being the best, but heck, second best in Musa's book is pretty good! Musa hands out tickets for her concert at Red Fountain next week. Stella says they'll all be ditching class to go to Earth with Bloom. Flora does not seem to care. Too goody-goody to skip class, I guess. Someone should've invited Tecna, at least.
The four girls and their pixies are on a bus in Gardenia. Stella and Layla are glad to have a break from school. Bloom wants to talk with her Mom about trying to find out more about her birth parents. Layla thinks it would be a good idea to give Bloom some alone time, and they can find a dance club, though Bloom says that no good ones are open during the day. The bus gets stuck in traffic, and Stella is impatient, and starts to fly, but not too far off the ground before Bloom pulls her back down, telling her not to fly in front of the NMBs. Non-magical beings.
Back on Magix, Flora walks through a forest around Stonehenge-looking stones, which seems to be a place where couples hang. Flora finds Helia meditating on a rock, and she drops all her books, as well as an envelope with a special flower of love, and says whoever is getting the letter is a very lucky guy. Flora, embarrassed, says it's for her parents. As Helia walks away, Chatta flies by, complaining that she just blew a perfect opportunity with Helia. Chatta is right. Quit playing around, Flora!
Back on Earth, Stella, Layla, and Musa, pixieless, are outside a park. Stella explains that if they use their magic on people, aside from being against the rules, Faragonda would know that they're on Earth. Bloom worries about where the pixies are. Musa says that Piff is sleeping in Layla's hood. Stella says that Lockette was scared off by a dog, and Tune and Amore went looking for her. The others aren't worried, but Bloom frets that the people will flip out if they see the pixies, considering Earth people are not used to seeing flying pixies around.
In the park, Amore watches a young couple in love, happy seeing the people on Earth having such love. Tune talks to a little girl named Abby, telling her that she has excellent posture. A couple of policemen find her, tell her that her father's been looking for her on the other side of the park, and take her to him, neither noticing the pixies. They're confused, wondering why the police didn't see them.
Later, at the mall, Stella, Layla, and Musa walk with their pixies, wondering why the police couldn't see the pixies, yet the little girl could. They figure that non-magical beings cannot see the pixies, but Earth children are born with magic, but lose it as they get older. A young boy, Kevin, passes with his parents, getting hyperactive over seeing the pixies, and being pulled away as the parents walk on by. Tune yells at the parents to control their child. A policeman, probably just mall security, stops the three girls, asking why they are not at school. As Stella and Musa try to come up with explanations, Layla steps up, speaking in a troll language: the officer figures that the girls aren't from around the area, and lets them be. Layla breathes a big sigh of relief.
Back at Alfea, in Miss Faragonda's office, Griselda reports that she cannot find Bloom, Stella, Layla, or Musa anywhere. Faragonda hopes the girls are not in trouble. Griselda barks that the girls will be in trouble once she finds them.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Layla is asleep, by herself, in a chair outside a cafe, with Piff sleeping on her head, Tune fixing her hair, and Amore watching a young couple. Layla dreams of a time she met Anne, a girl about her age, who liked sneaking into the tower in Layla's castle, saying it's a great place to dance. Anne dances around, and Layla says she wishes she could dance like her. Anne offers to teach Layla, but then she's awakened when Musa and Stella return with food. Piff gets pouty for waking them up. Stella wants to know where she learned the troll language from, and Layla explains that as a princess, she had to learn hundreds of languages.
Stella: I can say "Do you have this in a size four?" in ten different languages, but I'm afraid that's about it.
Layla: I wasn't even allowed to pick out my own clothes. My parents only wanted me to look one way.
Tune: Prim and proper, I'm sure.
Layla: Yeah, that's it. It was such a drag.
Tune: Hmph!
Tune was just taken aback by Layla's comment! You could just imagine she was going "well I never!" in her own mind! Musa says Layla was probably forced to do the "laughing at unfunny jokes" routine royalty always seems to have to do. Stella says that's all last century, and that being a princess should be better than it was back then. Stella seems to come from a pretty stereotypical royal family herself... guess she's always been very strong-willed, though, and likely to insist things be what she feels is right. Layla seems weaker than Stella emotionally, and less likely to stand up for herself. Poor Layla. Musa says they should go hit the mall again, and Stella says she can pick out whatever outfit they like. Stella's gotta' approve, of course.
At Bloom's home, Bloom and Vanessa talk at the table. Lockette and Kiko fight playfully as they're talking. Vanessa talks about wanting to open her new flower shop for Mother's Day, but can't afford hiring help. Bloom suggests asking Aunt Caroline for help, but Vanessa complains that she'll try to take over, insisting on everything being done her way. Bloom brings up wanting to find out more about her birth parents, and wanting her parents' support in finding more about her birth parents, and where she comes from. Vanessa gives her support for Bloom, and asks what the heck Kiko's doing, not able to see Lockette.
Stella, Layla, and Musa walk down a street, in their new clothes, and find a dance club. Layla is excited, but Stella is not, saying that only losers, dropouts and rejects would be there in the middle of the day. And people playing hooky, apparently. Layla and Musa go in anyway, as Stella heads back for the mall a third time. A guy in a baggy white suit, half-buttoned yellow shirt, extremely loose tie, and very messy sticky-uppie purple hair glares as the girls enter.
Inside the dance club, Musa and Layla are gettin' down on the dance floor. Layla wonders why the same beat has been playing the whole time they've been in there, and encourages Musa to play DJ, putting some magic into the speaker. Musa does, and a new song starts playing for them to dance to. Everyone's enjoying it, except one girl who looks like the kempt sister of the badly-dressed guy earlier. But away from the dance floor, three guys, apparently triplets, all looking exactly like the badly-dressed guy we saw earlier. Freaky.
Triplet 1: I'm tellin' you, those girls are witches or sorcerers.
Triplet 3: Dude, the correct gender-specific term is sorceress.
Triplet 1: That's what I just said; weren't you listenin'?! Now go get me another soda.
Idiotic, yes. But then, these guys are obviously meant to be idiots. Funny in its own stupid way. These guys are also probably drunk: yeah, he said soda, but a colored bottle? A bartender? They may have soda behind the counter, but these guys sure weren't drinkin' no soda! Back on the dance floor, Layla daydreams back to her time with Anne. Layla feels too self-conscious to dance like Anne, but Anne tells her to dance as if no one were looking, and gets Layla to have fun dancing. Later, Layla cries on her bed, with Anne by her side, promising to write, and Layla crying for her not to go. After snapping out of her daydream, Layla thanks Musa for being her friend, telling Musa that her friendship really means a lot to her. Musa is appreciative, but confused where the heck the random thought came from. But no matter: they decide to have some more fun on the dance floor.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
As Layla dances on the floor, everyone else, Musa included, watches around her, cheering her on. One of the triplets goes behind Musa, threatening her. Musa, not about to be pushed around by some jerk, does some sort of weak sonic wave blast to his head, knocking him out. Musa worries she had just blown their cover, using magic against the guy. One of the triplets announces that the club has now become a private party for "The Suits," and orders all the other patrons to leave. A gang, I guess. That explains why they're all wearing the same baggy suits, but it still doesn't explain the whole identical triplets thing. Layla and Musa are surrounded by two of the girls who seem to be twin sisters of the badly-dressed guys, and SEVEN identical messy guys. SEVEN! Septuplets?! I think not! There's some serious cloning happening on Earth, apparently. I mean, this could easily be explained if they were on some planet where you could say identical septuplets were commonplace, but on Earth? Doesn't work. Lazy artists, or art designer, or art director, or something... even in a world of magic, this is just ridiculously far-fetched.
As Bloom and Stella walk down the street to the club, Amore and Lockette come to warn them that something is going on at the club, with Musa and Layla inside. At the club, Piff is sleeping on one of the steps outside.
Tune: Piff, do you have any idea how dirty these steps are?!
As unlikely as it would seem, four more identical guys are guarding the entrance to the club. Eleven-uplets?!?! No... no... it's clones. Definitely clones. Apparently, Earth has great hidden cloning technology. Bloom and Stella talk about how they can sneak into the club. Bloom says the pixies can go in, since the Suits cannot see them.
Back inside the club, the Suits tell Musa and Layla that their rival gang has challenged them tonight, and that they're going to help them with their magical powers, "or else." One of the Suits lassos Musa with his tie. Layla lets out powerful blasts knocking the nine gangsters down, wearing her out. The pixies fly in to help. Piff goes to Layla to give her energy back. Musa casts a spell on the speaker, causing a loud screeching sound. Amore puts a spell on a couple of the guys, causing them to fall in love with one another. So 4Kids has nothing against a possible minor gay couple, anyway. But... um... incest much? I mean, these guys are obviously identical whatever-uplets. I'm surprised Amore would go for that! Tune says Layla should be polite and offer the guys a soda; Layla puts a spell on the vending machine to shoot sodas at the gangsters. As Musa and Layla rush to an exit to a dark alley, Layla is pulled back by the gangsters, but Bloom and Stella are waiting by the exit, and successfully pull Layla toward them, causing the gangsters to fall down the stairs as Layla gets loose. But as the Winx girls escape the building, they're blocked by the gangsters.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Right as the gangsters are about to attack the Winx girls, Faragonda and Griselda teleport between them, and put a spell on the gangsters to put them fast asleep. Faragonda and Griselda are not happy.
In Miss Faragonda's office, she and Griselda scold the girls. Griselda says they broke two rules: leaving the realm without permission and skipping class without prior notification. Duh! That's the point of skipping class! Faragonda says they'll have to clean the entire school over the weekend. Griselda says there is to be no music while they're cleaning. Miss Faragonda, with an evil smile, says she isn't sure about that, that she wouldn't want the girls to be falling asleep while they're working.
Later, we see Bloom, who was cleaning an office, fast asleep with Lockette. In another room, Musa was cleaning near a piano, but is also fast asleep with Tune. In the auditorium, Stella is asleep, with Amore and Chatta sleeping with her. Wonder what Chatta was doing there. In the cafeteria, Flora and Layla are sitting on a clean floor, with Flora talking to Layla about Helia, and saying that in her realm, the guy is supposed to make the first move. Layla tells her that some rules are meant to be broken, but Flora isn't sure if this is one of them, but Layla's fast asleep now. Flora leans against her and falls asleep too, and Piff comes to join them.
Other Stuff
It was a bizarre episode. Like having eleven identical-looking humans. And the Winx girls not putting up much of a fight against regular, ordinary, non-magical humans. I mean, breaking the rules or not, you'd think they could've put up more of a fight against the gang. I mean, they beat the Trix sisters last season! These guys should've been pushovers! Having said all that, much of the episode was oddly enjoyable, despite the clones, and the lack of Trix, and the lack of much action. The Winx girls themselves shined, and that's good enough for a change of pace, right?
Speaking of the weird fight... why the hell did the guys pick a fight with the girls if they truly believed they had magical powers? I mean, that's just absolutely imbecilic on their part! The Winx girls could've easily killed them all, and for all the gang knew, they would have! Then again, I suppose the guys were intoxicated....
Tune really shined here, showing herself to be the insane little etiquette freak we all knew she was. And Tune's offense from Layla's complaining about proper attire for a princess, priceless!
Why was Tecna not invited to go to Earth, too? Why was poor Tecna left out? I mean, at least Flora had a chance to go to Earth, and just didn't seem interested, or just wanted to be a goody-goody and not want to break the rules. But it just seems unfair to just completely leave Tecna out of it.
And... yes, the clones. Must ask about the clones. WHY were there clones?! Is this a future Earth where clones have taken over parts of the globe? Or is cloning technology on this Earth so advanced that anyone can afford to just go to a clinic to get a cheap clone? I mean, none of the Earth people, Bloom included, seemed to be surprised to see so many identical-looking men, so apparently clones have become at least somewhat commonplace on this version of Earth. Personally, I want an explanation!
9 out of 10 on the old scale.
The Wrong Righters
...or A Thing for Zing
...or "That is what we call missing an opportunity."
The episode begins with a fat guy eating meatballs. Ninjas sneak to his place, and identify him as Mr. Yoshinoya. One of the ninjas says that a group called the Wrong Righters had already kidnapped Diaspro before they could get to her. Mr. Yoshinoya says that it's OK, that they will still demand a random for her return.
In a cave--presumably the Wrong Righters' headquarters--Diaspro is tied to a rock formation going up to the ceiling. A dog goes up to Diaspro, with her finding it disgusting. One of the men of the Wrong Righters shows up to complain about Diaspro making her people of planet Isis go hungry because she's forcing them to spend their money on clothing, and forcing people into exhile for wearing more than one type of denim.
Diaspro: Head-to-toe denim is cheesy.
The making people hungry thing may be a bit harsh, but what's so wrong with having fashion police? Some people really need that! The Wrong Righters--two men, a girl, a young boy, a robot, and dog mascot--say they will turn her into a good person.
Outside Alfea for Palladium's class, where Tecna and Layla are strangely absent, Musa's demonstrating the usefulness of powers over the weather: Musa's created a small rain cloud directly over Bloom, pouring on her, who looks miserable and cold.
Stella: That rain spell was not hair friendly! You should create a spell to make the rain straighten your hair instead of frizzle it.
Palladium says they'll continue these presentations next week. Flora, looking oddly asmitten with Palladium, says she'll do her presentation on rainbow spells next week. If there was ever a moment to suggest that Flora might just have a crush on teacher! Musa and Stella joke about Palladium's new appearance. Flora looks as if she wants to beat the crap out of them, too! Like "don't you dare make fun of my baby!"
After class, Stella tells Bloom that Sky's parents will love her. As Stella leaves, Bloom tells Lockette that they'll be going to Eraklyon, where Sky will introduce her to her parents. Right after Bloom tells Flora that she'll be borrowing Stella's dress, Sky and Brandon arrive on their hoverbikes, ready to pick up Bloom and Flora. It seems pre-planned that Flora was going to go with Bloom. Flora says they still need to change, but Sky says they look nice enough for a casual dinner as is. But before they head off, Zing falls from a nearby tree, wearing a skull on her head, wanting to go with them to Eraklyon, thinking she might find a fairy to bond with there. Zing throws a rope latching onto Sky's hoverbike.
Flora: Oh, Stella said to tell you "hugs and kisses."
On a ship going through space, Bloom worries about Eraklyon manners. Chatta reminds Bloom to just chew with her mouth closed, and Sky tells Bloom to just be herself. An unknown pixie asks if mullets are in style in Eraklyon. After a second, Bloom realizes it's Zing, and Zing changes back to her normal form for a second to confirm Bloom's realization. Sky tells everyone to prepare for landing, though when they land, they realize something may be wrong.
In the throne room for Sky's parents, the King tells Sky that Diaspro was kidnapped, and they'd sent back the brooch Sky gave to her. So he must've liked Diaspro at some point! In a semi-flashback, we get to see a kinda' bad view of Diaspro's parents crying! The King shows Sky the ransom note they'd received from Yoshinoya. Sky and Brandon say they'll rescue her, but the King says it's not his place to do so as he is no longer Sky's fiancee, as the Queen says that the royal guard will take care of it. Bloom tries taking of for Sky, but is immediately shot down by the irate Queen. The King wants Sky to put on his royal cape for a press conference theyll be holding, and Sky runs off angrily, with Bloom tagging along behind. The Queen and King realize it might be a good thing, though, since maybe Sky will fall in love with his rescuee.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
In a forest on some planet, seemingly still on Eraklyon, the Wrong Righters are standing guard as they somehow know Sky is coming, insisting they'll right this wrong.
Sky and Brandon are in his room, preparing to get back Diaspro. Sky wonders if Bloom will be upset that he wants to rescue Diaspro. Considering Bloom's constant worry lately about Sky getting back with Diaspro, I'd wager yes. Brandon says he knows that Yoshinoya has kidnapped royalty before, and has an army of forest ninjas. Zing dresses ninja like, pulling off what looks like Robin Hood Daffy's routine with the buck-and-a-quarter staff. Which isn't what she's imiating, but it so reminded me of that. Zing rocks!
In the forest, Bloom and Flora are walking, with Bloom worrying that Sky wanted to rescue Diaspro because he still has feelings for her. Flora tries comforting Bloom, telling her that Sky's a hero-in-training, and rescuing people is what he does. And Sky probably feels he owes Diaspro that, at least, after his treatment of her last year. Chatta insists that Sky likes Bloom, but Bloom still mopes, saying that his parents don't like her. Can't argue that one. Bloom and Flora find the poppy portalis, which they need to teleport Diaspro to where they are, while one of them goes to where Diaspro is. They have trouble catching the poppy, though, which teleports itself elsewhere each time they're about to pick it.
In another part of the forest, Sky and Brandon fight the forest ninjas working for Yoshinoya, who have the ability to leap miles into the air! They take the ninjas down easily, but one of them, after downed, tells Sky that Yoshinoya was only pretending to have Diaspro in his clutches to collect the ransom, and that the Wrong Righters actually have Diaspro, not affiliated with Yoshinoya.
After Flora, Bloom, Sky, and Brandon find each other in the forest, Sky and Brandon tell them about the Wrong Righters, a group of social justice ninja-fighters, also interested in saving the environment. One of the Wrong Righters, unseen, shoots an environmentally-friendly arrow-feather toward them as a warning. They use Diaspro's brooch to help with a location spell to find Diaspro: Flora and Bloom have Sky and Brandon help with it, too. They find the way to Diaspro. Lockette senses the danger, and Zing notes something flying around at bug-like speed. Whatever that means. One of them shoots a feather speeding toward Flora, but Zing spots it, and takes the hit for Flora while dressed as a cowboy. Right then, several nets fall from the sky, arrow-feathers shoot from about everywhere, and a trap door leading to spikes sets off beneath Brandon. Sky rescues Brandon, and Bloom and Flora use their magic to protect themselves from the nets and feathers. Right then, the Wrong Righters appear before the group.
Bloom: That's them?!
I love Bloom's quick little analysis on the group! One by one, explaining how they fght against inequality, justice, and poverty; how they're there to save the oceans, lobby for education, and defend the underprivleged.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
After one of the Wrong Righters performs a freedom kick on Sky, Flora and Bloom transform to their winx forms. The girl shoots righteous lipstick at Flora and Bloom: Bloom is knocked pretty far back. The guy freedom kicking guy quickly gets Brandon electrocuted off-guard as he hurries behind him when he's trying to help Sky. Flora performs vine wrap on the robot, but the boy uses a missile thingy to knock Flora out. Sky gets tied up by one of the guys. As Bloom disassembles the robot with her powers, the girl uses knock-out powder on Bloom, from a little make-up compact.
Back at the Wrong Righters' headquarters, they're telling Diaspro what a terrible leader she is, telling her they'll teach her right from wrong. In a jail cell, Brandon figures that if they could show the Wrong Righters' the ransom note, that they'd see that Yoshinoya was just using them. Zing, Lockette, and Chatta appear outside their jail cell, outside the headquarters. Lockette and Chatta will help Bloom with an escape spell, while Zing goes to get the ransom note.
Back in the forest, it seems they've caught the poppy portalis. Flora explains again that one of them will have to go in exchange for Diaspro. Sky wants to go, but Bloom insistsshe goes instead, since she has powers she could use to escape. Bloom mentions she doesn't like Diaspro, and is only helping because she cares for Sky, though. Which bugs me a little, since still, Diaspro's done nothing to deserve Bloom's wrath. You'd think Bloom might be a little easier on the poor girl by now.
Back with Diaspro, she wants the Wrong Righters to give her one reason why she's a bad leader. The boy says she punishes people for wearing chipped nail polish. Diaspro says that should be a crime. Right as the boy is about to put some sort of special helmet on Diaspro, Bloom poofs into her place, with Diaspro in the forest with the others. What was the helmet for, anyway? To hypnotize Diaspro? Shock therapy? Anyway, Bloom immediately escapes. Of course, if Bloom could escape so easily, why couldn't Diaspro? She's magic, too.
Bloom goes back to the forest, with the Wrong Righters chasing right behind. In a nearby tent, Diaspro is with Flora, and suddenly realizes that it's wrong to punish her people for dressing below her standards. Whoa, one little talk with Flora was all it took to completely make Diaspro see the error of her ways? Yeah, a little inappropriately easy. Couldn't they have maybe made her feel just a little bad, without having Diaspro admit she was completely wrong, maybe? I love Flora's confused little "uh, okie dokie!" though, as if even she was astonished by Diaspro's unbelievably quick transformation!
Diaspro: Though I still believe that hair accessories should be considered a basic necessity.
Chatta: Actually, I completely agree with you on that.
In Sky's castle, Zing is in search for the ransom note, looking through a bunch of scrolls. She soon finds it and comes to Bloom and company and the Wrong Righters. They show the head Wrong Righter the note, and he does not appreciate being made to look like a kidnapper. Though he technically is, anyway. In the tent, Flora and Diaspro hear someone coming--it's the Wrong Righters, with Bloom and company, with Bloom telling Diaspro not to worry, that they're on the same team, now. The head Wrong Righter declares that they will go after Yoshinoya now.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Back in Sky's throne room, the King and Queen thank Sky and Bloom for rescuing Diaspro, and decide that Bloom would make a great queen someday. Course, it probably helps that Bloom's the long-lost Princess of Sparx--they'd probably be less accepting still if Bloom were a random nobody. The King wants the Wrong Righters gone, still, but Bloom says that she doesn't think it'll be a problem.
Outside the castle, the Wrong Righters argue about what they're going to do next, from saving the ocean, children's rights, robots' rights, stopping drilling, and saving the winged lyger. Flora, Brandon, and the pixies look in disbelief. As Bloom and Sky walk outside, with Sky happy that they now like Bloom, the Wrong Righters agreed to save the winged lyger, and head off. Bloom thinks about possibly being Queen of both Eraklyon and Sparx one day. Brandon suggests that Bloom take Sky to meet her parents. Sky worries about Earth manners, but Bloom just says back to him to be himself and he'll be all right.
Other Stuff
It was a fun, amusing little stint. Looking at it from a distance, it was a fun romp. But it was disappointing, with a good bit of wasted potential.
Namely, what happened with the Bloom/Sky/Diaspro triangle? Not a whole lot. We get that Bloom still feels uneasy about Diaspro, and Sky is willing to put last season's mess behind him to rescue her, but that's about it. Absolutely no insight on Diaspro's part whatsoever: we know she's got to be feeling something about the breakup, and it's unlikely she's forgiven Bloom, yet the whole situation was mostly ignored, which is a real shame.
Another problem with the episode: originally, there was a fight with Stormy Vs. Musa, who had to take on Stormy by herself. The US completely cut the entire bits out! Give me my Stormy fight! They could've fit that in if they'd gotten rid of the super-long "previously on Winx Club" bit at the beginning of the episode: it was torture waiting for that to end! Usually they seem a lot shorter.
Zing! Now, having gotten the two major problems out of the way, let's get to the good, and the good is Zing! Zing is just eternally silly, always playful, and likes dressing up as whatever suits her mood. Zing really made the episode a lot more fun than it otherwise would've been, and she just kinda' steals the show whenever she's around. She and Digit, easily the best two of the pixies. Now, having said that, it seems Zing's dress-ups as Spider-Man and Doc Ock were removed from the episode. Too bad, since those would've been the two I would've recognized. Seems likely there was a legal issue there.
The Wrong Righters were fun as stereotypical "bumbling" type villains. Obviously, the Trix are very anti-bumbling villains, so it made for a nice little change of pace. Course, now that we see they're heroes... might be fun to see them go against the Trix sisters, and see them getting their butts kicked!
This is the second episode in a row without any signs of Tecna whatsoever--I don't believe she was in the missing "Musa Vs. Stormy" fight scene, either (Layla was in it)! I mean, it makes sense that she wasn't in most of the episode, but she was even absent from Palladium's class, too! Where's Tecna been hiding? Is she back home for some reason? Is she sick? I wanna' know!
And finally... ninjas. Ninjas are always cool, so just with the addition of having forest ninjas, ya' gotta' give the episode some credit, right?
6 out of 10 on the old scale.
Magic in My Heart
...or Musa's Complete Redemption
To think they were originally going to name the show "Magical Bloom." Oh, would that have ever been completely out of place for this one: never has Bloom been pushed so far out of the spotlight as in this episode! She's had her fun, though: now it's Musa's turn to shine!
Oh, and remember the missing Stormy Vs. Musa fight in the last episode? This episode starts with that! Unlike usual, the episode starts right off the bat with action, with Stormy casting a spell on the roof of Alfea so she can get the Codex at Alfea.
Musa: Hey witch, it's 2 AM. Shouldn't you be hanging upside-down in a cave somewhere?
Stormy warns Musa of a big storm coming. Musa changes to her winx form. We get to see more of Musa's transformation than normal, too. Tune tells Musa to be careful. Stormy makes mention of the Gloomix she is wearing, the bracelet on her arm, that Lord Darkar gave her, then shoots a blast at Musa. Musa does a bass boost to knock Stormy down, then performs a neat-looking floppy rain dance spell to get rid of the Storm overhead. Layla taught her the dance, not that it's mentioned. Musa gives Stormy a cute Mirta-ish smile to Stormy before shooting a blast at Stormy that knocks her to the ground below. Some of the students, as well as Palladium, wake up inside Alfea, prompting Stormy to give up the fight. For the moment. Musa lies down, and Tune commends Musa on her victory.
In Red Fountain's auditorium, Layla asks Musa if she's ready for the big show at Red Fountain tomorrow night; it seems Musa will be singing, and Layla will be dancing. Musa's nervous, but Layla says she shouldn't be. Layla demonstrates her dance moves to Musa. Piff was sleeping on the speaker. Poor Piff got scared out of her sleep when Layla turned the beat on! Layla said she learned her moves from street performers. Tune, naturally, cannot believe that Layla would do such. Layla says she never told her parents what she was doing.
In Shadowhaunt, Stormy looks in a mirror, saying goodbye to herself. She casts a spell to change her appearance to a cute-looking straight red-headed fairy. For half a second, she even practices a really big, genuine smile! It's frightening when you consider that it's actually Stormy! Stormy wipes a drawing of Musa off her mirror.
At Red Fountain, it seems the big event has already drawn out the crowds, with specialists, fairies, and witches hanging around outside the building. Brandon is walking with a witch on each shoulder, shamelessly flirting. Oh, he says Stella agreed to let him do lucky-kisses for charity, so the jousting team can get new uniforms, but Brandon buddy, you're fooling no one: you think the witches are hot. One of the witches asks if they could leave him a little lipstick before they go to get their purses. Brandon agrees, to no one's surprise. After they leave, though, he realizes he hadn't been kissed, and that they actually left him with their sticks of lipstick! Witches love funny wordplay, apparently. I like these witches! Brandon, all-too-eager to find another girl to kiss him, asks Stormy-in-fairy-disguise as she passes by. Stormy yells at Brandon to get lost.
Back in Red Fountain's auditorium, Musa's practicing for her song at the concert at Red Fountain tomorrow night. Stormy, still in disguise of course, eavesdrops from behind the bleachers, thinking Musa sucks. Something tells me Stormy would get a kick out of the American Idol auditions! After Musa finishes, Stella tries to rush Musa along, saying she should go with that song, and that they should practice their number together. Musa isn't sure, though, and thinks maybe she should go with her song with a saxophone solo. Stella throws the saxophone at her. Musa yells at Stella to be careful with it, as it's her Dad's. Stella gives a cute, odd-looking sticking-out-her-tongue at Musa. Right then, Musa's Dad comes in, and they hug each other. Dad says he's surprised that Musa wasn't in the library. Miss Faragonda glows about how talented a musician Musa is. Musa asks if Dad is going to come to the concert tomorrow night, but Dad is upset, and wants to continue the conversation outside. All throughout, Stormy plots, realizing she could use Musa's Dad to get to Musa.
Outside, with Layla eavesdropping go Layla!, Musa's Dad complains that Musa's been telling everyone that he still writes songs and still performs, when he's retired years ago, and that he was embarrassed when Faragonda asked him if he had a new album coming out. What's angering Dad even more, though, is Musa's lying to Dad about what she's been doing at Alfea. Dad thought Musa was pursuing some legitimate profession, and is furious that Musa's been playing around with music. Musa reminds him that music used to be his life. Dad conveniently changes the subject that it's nothing to do with his life, but Musa's. We've all had this kind of discussion before, I bet. Musa's angry that Dad can't get over her Mom having died, but Dad quickly wants Musa to shut up about Mom. Guess we know where Musa's sensitive nature comes from. Dad finally threatens to remove Musa from Alfea if she performs in the concert tomorrow night. Dad leaves, Musa cries, and Layla goes up to try to comfort Musa the best she can.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
On what might be the roof of one of Red Fountain's buildings, Musa tells Layla about her past. Musa explains that her Mom was a classical music singer touring the realms with an opera company, which is when Musa's Dad first saw her. Musa's father was a prince, though his family disowned him when he decided he wanted to be a musician. Outside the theatre, he caught Musa's Mom, mentioned her amazing voice, and asked if she would be willing to sing a pop song he'd just written. That actually came out only semi-coherently. He's apparently not as smooth as Brandon with the ladies. The answer caught him by surprise, and since he didn't have a song finished yet, he'd stayed up all night to finish a song, "Magic in My Heart," for Mom to sing. She came by the next day and instantly fell in love with the song. And with Dad. Mom had rejected her classical training, and Dad his royalty, for their shared love for music, and for one another. And then Musa was born! So ultra-cute, too! Easily cuter than baby Bloom, no question about it! A few years later, they made a classical record, but on the tour, Mom got sick and collapsed, and eventually died. Dad was so upset, that he went on a rampage, destroying all the music in the house. End flashback, Layla says it sounds like music is still too painful for Musa's Dad. Musa cries, saying she can't perform at the concert, as she does not want to lose her friends at Alfea. Layla continues trying to comfort Musa, saying it'll all be OK, and that she can extend her dance routine to fill the time. It's not shown, but her routine had Mirta and Francis helping out!
In Layla's room, Musa and Francis--squee!--enjoy watching Layla's dancing on from either Layla's or Francis' bed. Aside from Piff and Tune, Glim is also watching! They all seem engrossed. It's not shown in the US, but it seems Layla got Francis and Mirta to dance for her number at the concert.
That night in Musa's room, though, she is having a nightmare. Musa runs onto the stage for the concert, dressed in a baggy-looking hip-hip-like outfit with a funny hat, but has lost her singing voice. She's also distraught to see only robots in the audience, though a single person is clapping. Tecna--you do remember her, right?--wakes Musa up from her nightmare, checking if he's OK. Musa tells Tecna of her nightmare, mentioning that she thinks the one person clapping was her Mom.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Musa goes out to the Red Fountain stadium, but is unable to sing. She teleports--at least I'm guessing it's teleportation--to her Mom's grave, asking Mom what she should do, and... heck. I like this, so I'll just let Musa take over for me:
Musa: Hey Mom. Hmm. So, I came here to ask for your support on something. Dad doesn't want me to be a musician, and I think it's 'cause he can't forgive you for leaving us, and I don't want to hurt him, and I'm scared of what might happen, but Mom, everything I am is music! And if I don't perform tonight, a part of me will be gone, so I'm gonna' do it. Please be with me.
I cried. Call me a sap. That night, at the concert, the seats are filled with students and faculty from all three schools, as Codatorta announces Brandon and Sky, performing the traditional fire dance of the elders--them dancing while throwing and twirling sticks with fires ablaze on both ends. Meanwhile, on the floor, Stormy is sneaking around, obviously still in disguise.
After Brandon's and Sky's act, Codatorta announces Musa to the stage, dressed in her hip-hoppy outfit. Musa's scared, Stella's telling her not to freak out, but when she goes on out, she loses her fear, and becomes truly happy. She sings "Magic in My Heart," again, the first song Musa's Dad wrote, specifically for her Mom to sing! It's a beautiful, cute, sweet song. Not hip hop in the least. It melts Dad's heart, even. Of some interest, Francis hands out Kleenex during the song--I could've used one myself! She also speaks for the first time in the show!
Francis: Here you go, pixie! Your friend is really amazing, isn't she?
And it's worth quoting for no other reason than it being Francis' only line so far! Aside from that, Riven smiles, which is kind of freaky. Also, Bloom finally appears in the episode, in the audience. She says not a word, though. Flora and Mirta also make audience-only appearances, too. After Musa's song, Stormy loses her fairy disguise and blasts Musa's Dad.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Stormy, floating above everyone, insists that everyone stay still, else she'll kill Musa's Dad. Except for Musa, who she wants to come to Stormy herself. Musa transforms, but Stormy doesn't want to fight--she wants Musa to surrender, else she'll kill Dad. Musa goes up to the microphone. Stormy's expecting one last concert, but Musa instead asks for everyone to sing with her. Musa hums "It Feels Like Magic." Everyone is confused, but Riven gets it: he goes around, insisting everyone to listen to Musa and sing along with her. They do, Stormy questions what's going on, then gets nervous, as Musa blasts her away. Slowly. It's funny seeing just how slowly Stormy's shot off. Slow motion attack, maybe? Musa detransforms. I think that makes only the third time we've ever seen a fairy revert from their winx form to their normal clothing, too. Or in this case, her hip hop-looking clothing.
Layla and Stella rush up to hug Musa. Amore asks how Musa blasted Stormy away, and Musa explains that the music gave Musa her extra power. Riven helps Musa's Dad up, and tells him that he thinks his daughter is amazing. Musa thanks her Mom. This looks like it's the end of the episode, but it's actually a fake ending, kinda'--we've got another little bonus, first!
Back on stage, after everyone's regained some composure after the Stormy fight. Musa is standing beside Codatorta, who introduces Stella, who trips on her way out. You know that has to kill poor Stella, tripping in front of almost everyone on Magix! Musa and Stella perform a cute little duet, "This is the Beat," doing exaggerated dance movements during the song. I'm not too fond of the song, but I still loved seeing Musa and Stella doing a fun little duet, with their silly little dancing.
Sometime after the concert, Musa and her Dad return to Musa's Mom's grave. Musa tells her Mom that the concert was a big hit, and that when she sang "Magic in My Heart," that it felt like all three of them were together again. Dad agrees.
Other Stuff
In case it wasn't clear before this point, this was a good, near-perfect episode.
First of all, considering Musa was wearing a Hip Hop-looking outfit with a ridiculous-looking hat, I think we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief that it did not lead to a horrid hip hop song!
"Magic in My Heart" was a great song, worthy of much praise: it's very different from the song used in the Italian version, but both are excellent in their own right. "This is the Beat," however, really does not compare to the Musa/Stella duet used in Italy, which was a fast little ditty with a great bridge and really cool instrumentals for the chorus. Still, it was fun to see the Musa/Stella duet, whatever it was they were singing!
Speaking of the Musa/Stella duet, the US was very kind to Stella, having her trip only a single time. In Italy, she was a much bigger klutz, falling down a second time, and knocking over her microphone twice!
And more about Stella, even if she didn't have any classic remarks today, she still added her fun Stella self to the episode, most notably when Musa was rehearsing for the concert!
And going off on a slight tangent, Brandon's scene of hitting on the witches was one of the most pointless yet entertaining scenes of the series!
Bloom. She was only in crowd scenes, did nothing unique, and had zero lines throughout the entire episode! Who'd have ever guessed such was possible!
And Tecna? However small her role was, it was still nice just to see her back, after being completely missing from the last two episodes. And hey, her role was still hundreds of times bigger than Bloom's minuscule role!
And Francis got her biggest role yet: an actual line! It might not be much, but having a line, watching Layla perform, and handing out Kleenex... still a much bigger role than Bloom got!
10 out of 10 on the old scale--possibly the greatest episode!
