Let the Music Play

Disc 2

I have to admit that this disc isn’t nearly as good at disc one. But I have high hopes for disc 3

#7 I Want to be You, rather amuses me. Red, is the sporty one, I’m sure it’s no coincidence that her hair looks like pom-poms. And Red is also an attention whore. But it seems that everyone wants to listen to Mokey’s crap poetry instead of watching Red do her tricks. So, sick of that stupid hippy getting all the attention, Red decides to be just like Mokey. She lets her hair down from the pom-poms and dons a frumpy librarian burlap sweater, and starts to wax poetic. Until the others notice. And we learn 2 valuable lessons. 1. always be your self. 2. there’s no reason to value one skill over another, poetry is just as valuable as diving into ponds. (and according to me, they're also both equally worthless)

#8 The Terrible Tunnel. I can’t remember the lesson of this one, it must not have been very good. Maybe it was something about facing fears, or believing your friends. It was only memorable for the fantastic muppet creepy crawlies, and a really good song at the end. The fraggles find the “terrible tunnel” from which no fraggles have ever returned alive. And they return alive, changing the story.

#9 The Lost Treasure of the Fraggles. You can imagine how this one goes. Red and Gobo find a treasure map, and being a greedy attention whore, Red doesn’t want to tell the other fraggles. The treasure is supposed to be a million diamonds. But you see, fraggles don’t have much use for diamonds, unless they’d make great skipping stones. But when the map leads them to the Gorg’s castle, they call in their friends. And they find the treasure, take it back to the fraggle cave. And the prize is none other than a magical glowing music box. Light comes from out of that circular thing with holes in it that makes the box play, like a million diamonds. And the treasure, and the greatest gift the fraggles have is music.

#10 Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk. Gobo gets trapped in Doc’s workshop because Doc finally decided to board up the hole, and the fraggles spend the whole episode trying to figure out how to get him out. Boober, the paranoid, yet realistic one tells the others and goes back to the hole, but one lone fraggle isn’t strong enough to tear down the boards. Red and Wembly go to consult the Trash Heap, and she gives them her usual useless advice “don’t cry over spilt milk,” because a few seconds earlier she spilled the last of her milk. And of course the fraggles take it literally—where they get milk, I don’t know. And stupid hippy, Mokey, just decides to mull the situation for an extremely long while, instead of acting. And then she sees the doozer catapult, and requisitions it without even bothering to ask the doozers (who a few episodes earlier she was so concerned with). And they all take their methods to the boarded up hole, and, individually they don’t work. Spilling milk, and then not crying over it, doesn’t have much impact. Neither does worrying. And it’s only when they work together, and boober accidentally gets catapulted through the board that Gobo can go safely back to fraggle rock.

#11 Catch the Tail by the Tiger. You see, catching a tiger by the tail would be the easy way to do things. And they sing a whole song using backwards metaphors. In this episode Uncle Traveling Matt doesn’t send his usual postcards, and Gobo starts to worry, and decides he has to go into outer space to find him. Of course outer space is the scariest place for a fraggle to go, just going into Doc’s room is enough to give a fraggle a panic attack. So, all the fraggles are worried about him. But Red disguises her worry with contempt. “you’re not REALLY going into outer space, when will you drop this charade” (okay, she probably doesn’t say charade, but you get the picture). And she’s even more of a jerk than she usually is to him for the entire episode. And after a very touching moment between Red and Mokey (that Gobo never sees), Gobo comes back and announces he got his poscard, and doesn’t have to go. Like the trash heap said, Matt just had the flu. Except for the cool song, this was not a very good episode.

#12, The Finger of Light Once a year, or something, on Ruler of the Rock day, the elder Fraggle calls for a game. Fraggles must follow him over a perilous path, and whoever is left at the end has a chance to make 3 decrees for the betterment of all fraggles. The finger of light will shine down on the one chosen at random. So the fraggles go, Gobo, Red, and Mokey (just to watch, because she’s too much of a stupid hippie to want any power), along with some new, creepy, gimpy fraggle who we’re told wants to start a cult, but we never find out exactly the wishes he wants. I don’t really know the point of this character, and I hope I never see him again because he’s creepy and ugly, the 1-2 punch of my dislikes. So, of course Mokey wins, and she tries to turn it down, but can’t. And she accidentally wastes her first 2 on “please don’t stand on my tail” and “please stop shouting.”
And after seeing all the picket sign holding fraggles posturing for this or the other thing, she realizes she can’t please all fraggles all the time, because someone will always want something different. So for her last decree she orders Wembly to balance a pickle on his nose. Everyone rejoices, and balances pickles themselves. You see, what’s the point of doing things if they’re not fun? This was also not a very good episode.

I haven’t finished disc 3 yet, but there’s a super-good episode involving Wembly. So I hope disc 2 was just a bad patch, and it gets better again. Stay tuned for the next chapter.