Episode 46 – The Perils of Peekblue

In which Sea Hawk reveals yet more of his innumerable enemies.

The Etheria storyline takes centre-stage this week, with a typically crazy Sea Hawk plan which involves the rebels making contact with Prince Peekablue, a secretive individual with the power of far-sight: i.e. he can see a really long way, and will thus be able to give the rebels info on where Adora and co. are.

Sea Hawk: “Don’t worry, there is a reason for this. Honestly, there is.”

Naturally, there’s a problem, and in this case it’s that Peekablue can only be seen at an exclusive underwater nightclub patronised primarily by Etheria’s criminal underworld. This is pleasingly mental, especially since it involves Sea Hawk, Mermista, Perfuma and Scorpia dressing up in 1920s outfits and blagging their way into said club. Unfortunately, once they get there, Sea Hawk notes that pretty much everyone in the room hates him and so he’ll have to hide. Consequently, even before things really go tits-up, things have kind of already gone tits-up.

Did I say things went tits-up? Right – that’s because Peekablue isn’t actually at the nightclub at all. Consequently, despite some excellent undercover work from Scorpia – who gets so into her role that she leaps up on stage and performs a jazzy song – the team don’t find him. Instead, they find Double Trouble, who gives them the intel that the Horde have set up a blockade around Etheria to prevent Adora’s return.

Scorpia: “A left-field career development, I’ll admit.”

This is fairly useful info, in fairness, but it’s perhaps not worth the cost of gathering it. Spinnerella, newly chipped and under Horde Prime’s control, has ensured that the night club is full of chipped Horde zombie-people, and in the ensuing fracas, Mermista and Scorpia get chipped too, though Perfuma, Sea Hawk and Double Trouble escape.

Meanwhile, back at the rebel camp, Spinnerella has been busy, infecting King Micah with Hordiness and then launching an attack on Netossa, Frosta and Swift Wind, who only just manage to get away. As the episode ends, Perfuma manages to get a message to Adora, warning her of the blockade, and suggesting she not come back to Etheria. Yeah, like that’s going to work, Perfuma. If you want Adora to do something, you have to tell her the exact opposite.

In today’s adventure…

Perfuma is good enough to spell it out this week, which is good, since it saves me the bother of trying to find a moral hidden here somewhere. Basically, the message is that you can do whatever you want, if you put your mind to it.

Perfuma: “I’m sorely tempted to put my mind to decking you, Sea Hawk.”

Character checklist

The lead performers today are Scorpia, Mermista, Perfuma, Sea Hawk and Double Trouble, and there’s a fair bit of screen time for Spinnerella, Netossa, Swift Wind, Frosta and King Micah. There are also lots of patrons of the underwater nightclub, including one who goes by the name of Swen – though luckily she’s nothing like the dreadful Filmation Swen who still occasionally haunts my dreams. Finally, we get a few scenes involving Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Catra, Entrapta and Wrong Hordak, just to ensure we hadn’t forgotten about them. As if we could.

Insults

Double Trouble, in  disguise as Prince Peekablue, describes everybody in the nightclub as “misfits of the sea, outlaws of the land”, though I feel this was meant to be affectionate rather than insulting. Otherwise, there are no insults here today.

Oh No, Bow!

Despite only appearing for about 45 seconds, Bow still manages to make a fool of himself by distracting Adora when she’s trying to become She-Ra. Okay, yes, Glimmer, Catra, Entrapta and Wrong Hordak distract her as well, but this section is called Oh No, Bow! for a reason. And that reason is that I hate him.

Adora: “Making that stupid simpering apologetic face isn’t going to save you from violence, Bow.”

Does it have the Power?

I have to admit, I was concerned. Of all the original series episodes to do an updated version of, The Perils of Peekablue is most definitely not the one I’d choose. Luckily, other than the re-use of the name, this episode bears no resemblance whatsoever to the rather dull original. In fact, it’s by far the most downright entertaining episode of this series for quite some time: the underwater undercover mission is great fun, with good comedy value from both Mermista and Sea Hawk, which is especially welcome after the disappointing efforts of Mer-Mysteries and Boys’ Night Out.

Once the comedy turns to drama, the episode is still bang on the money: Scorpia proves herself a worthy member of the rebellion both by being the one to discover Double Trouble and then by sacrificing herself to save the others. The action sequences are pleasingly riveting; there feels as though there’s a lot at stake here, and it’s fantastic that not everyone gets away unscathed, in fact resulting in a good third of the rebellion being now under Horde Prime’s control.

Mermista: “Don’t worry guys, it’s just some bangin’ new contact lenses.”

I have a slight worry that the chipping thing is a bit of a get out clause for the series no longer having any particular villains other than Horde Prime: Catra, Scorpia and Shadow Weaver are now turned to the rebels’ side, while Hordak seems to be out of the picture altogether. By turning our heroes evil – and also establishing via Catra that they can be turned good again – the writers have possibly missed a chance to introduce some genuinely nasty baddies: I had hoped, when the whole Horde armada appeared, that we might finally be going to meet Mantenna and Leech, but I’m not expecting that any more.

Still, in the confines of this episode, the chipping business works well; it may get tiresome in the future if we go down the route of “who’s been chipped today?” too often, but for now, it makes for exciting viewing. Indeed, I’d go so far as to pronounce this the best episode of the series since I don’t know when. Top marks.