Bob Forward

Ernie Schmidt

Loo-Kee gets an adventure, a family reunion, and a new girlfriend in today's exciting tale, where She-Ra assists our elfin friend in rescuing his captured people from the terrible prison on Beast Island!

Spirit (Swift Wind), Princess Adora (She-Ra)

Shadow Weaver, Catra

Koo-Kee, Paa-Pee, Laa-See, terror terriers, Loo-Kee, prisoner, Horde soldiers, various Kon-Seals, Slime Pig

Catra's airship, batmeks, Horde "sneaker"

Run for your life! The chase is on, because some Loo-Kee-like folks are being hunted by robotic dogs through the jungles of Beast Island. There are three of these unlucky elfin critters, all with blue hair, colorful clothing, and bushy squirrel tails just like Loo-Kee. The first one to get captured is named Koo-Kee - he trips during the pursuit and the dogs get him. Then it's just the mustached Paa-Pee and the young girl, Laa-See, left heading for the island's coast. They really are the only ones left, because as we glean from their conversation, all the other Kon-Seals (the name of their people) have been captured by the Horde, thanks to these mean robotic "terror terriers."

Running out to a high rocky shelf, Paa-Pee and Laa-See turn at bay, with a pair of salivating dogs closing in. In desperation the Kon-Seals dive off the cliff, and the dumb dogs follow them. The robots plunge into the waters far below and disappear; but our clever friends have grabbed handholds (tailholds?) on the rocks just below the top. While they're hanging there, Paa-Pee takes a moment to tell his friend that they need to get to the Whispering Woods to enlist the aid of his son, Loo-Kee. Then he climbs up, cautiously, to see if the coast is clear.

Unfortunately it's not. Shadow Weaver and Catra - for your information, they're who let the dogs out - are just above, and not particularly pleased that their expensive hunting tools have been lost in the waves. Seeing he's caught, Paa-Pee loudly tells the Horde minions that there's no one else around but him, and Laa-See takes the hint: she drops down into the water and starts swimming.

Later, just near where the same waters lap against the shores of the Whispering Woods, we find Princess Adora sitting by the fire with her horse Spirit, preparing to enjoy a flame-grilled thermo frank. But when she goes to spread mustard on her weenie, she finds it has vanished out of her hand! The culprit, quickly plucked out of the bushes by the half-amused, half-irritated princess, is Loo-Kee. (I guess he's gotten a little less shy about showing his face around the rebels since he helped save them all in Season 1, Episode 55's "Loo-Kee Lends a Hand" - 67055.)

Adora doesn't have time to grill a replacement frank for the one Loo-Kee's eaten, for their meal is interrupted by the faint sound of female cries of distress. Tracking the sound to the water's edge, they find little Laa-See struggling in the water, unable to climb up the sheer cliffs on the coast. Adora and Loo-Kee form a chain to reach down from the heights and pull up the young lady, who quickly shifts to batting her eyes and flirting with Loo-Kee as soon as she's on land.

The heroes take Laa-See over to the fire to dry off and tell her story. It seems the Kon-Seals living on Beast Island - concerned at the plight of the human prisoners Hordak keeps there, but too weak to mount a prison break - have been sneaking food and comfort to the unfortunates. But they were caught in the act, leading to the Horde hunting party whose conclusion we saw in the episode's opening minutes. Loo-Kee is dismayed to hear his father has been captured along with all his other fellow creatures, and is eager to assist - but what can a pair of little Kon-Seals do against the might of the Horde? And how will they cross the sea again to get to the island?

Well, good news on that score: our little buddies are about to get some help. Adora walks off into the trees with her horse for a moment, and back comes the Princess of Power and her winged steed. She-Ra and Swift Wind let Laa-See and Loo-Kee hop a ride into the sky, headed for Beast Island. Somehow or other, though, either the missing Kon-Seal has been detected, or She-Ra's approach has; because our heroes are soon intercepted by Catra, riding in her airship and accompanied by a small fleet of batmeks. She-Ra uses her sword's deflecting and transforming abilities to zap and lasso the robot ships, then carves a gash into Catra's engines, sending the feline villain crashing into the sea. The defeated force captain can only shake her fist from the floating wreck of her downed vessel as She-Ra continues unimpeded to her destination.

Arriving at the island without further incident, She-Ra and her Kon-Seal buddies scope out the situation and see they have their work cut out for them. The tiny prisoners are being kept in a big open yard, but it's ringed in an energy fence and guarded by tall towers bristling with guns, and lots of planted freeze cannons. Plus, it seems Catra got picked up by a jetcopter and has radioed ahead to the island about the company coming, so extra guards are on duty. What to do? Laa-See, having a brainwave, points out the exit tunnel by which she and her people were getting into the dungeons; it's blocked up with a boulder now, but that's hardly an obstacle for our buff blonde beauty.

So our rescue party stealthily picks their way into the caves; but they don't realize their infiltration has been watched, and there's an icky trap waiting for them! A trapdoor springs open beneath their feet, and only Loo-Kee is quick-thinking enough to grab an outcropping with his tail. She-Ra and Laa-See fall straight into the disgusting Slime Pit, which saps their powers and leaves them feeling helpless. They also have to sit through a gloating taunting from Catra, delivered over a bony loudspeaker. Laa-See is thoroughly bemoaning her fate when she's interrupted by an objecting voice. It's one "Slime Pig" (at least, that's what She-Ra calls him, and he doesn't correct her), a cheerful pig wearing a jumpsuit and goggles, and he's here to tell us of the wonders of slime. The heroes aren't buying his sales pitch, though: they just want to get out. Slime Pig admits he has a little vial of stuff that will dissolve the slime, but he doesn't see why he should hand it over.

The impatient Loo-Kee, seeing a chance to help, drops down on top of the porcine person and wrests the vial away; but when Loo-Kee triumphantly shows off his prize, She-Ra chides him. Stealing is wrong; the vial was Slime Pig's property, and Loo-Kee had no right to take it away. Abashed, the thieving Kon-Seal gives back what he's taken, and Slime Pig is so pleased at how things turned out that he uses the stuff after all. The heroes gratefully find themselves de-slimed. Slime Pig even points them to the door in the ceiling that leads out, and the muscular She-Ra knocks over a rocky pillar to get them up to it.

At the top, our heroes break out of a grating and come up onto the surface in the center of the prison yard. Then it's time for an exciting battle, in which She-Ra does 99.99% of the work, smashing up guards and guns and busting a hole in the fence so the Kon-Seals can make a run for it. Catra makes her own try to pay She-Ra back, leaping at the heroine in her cat form; but the kitty only ends up flung down the hole in the grating, landing smack-dab in the Slime Pit. Afterwards, She-Ra accepts the thanks of the gathered rescued folk, and everyone enjoys imagining how the slime-drenched Catra is getting on with old Mr. Slime Pig. (The answer, as we viewers see, is: grumpily.)

• Catra: You may have destroyed my batmeks, She-Ra; but you still have to deal with meeee! / She-Ra (seductively): I was waiting for you, Catra.
• Slime Pig: Slime is, uh, great stuff. It's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's uh - / Laa-See: Gross! / Slime Pig: Yeah, but it's a wonderful sort of grossness.

• She-Ra spins freeze cannon in a circle: To break the Beast Island prison's force field fence

One full

4:01 - That @#$%#&*# little elf got me, folks. Lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that he was going to appear in live action in this episode - and by the fact that he didn't hide in the similar-format 67055 - I wasn't keeping my eyes peeled as much as I should have, and missed the fraction of his body that can be seen lounging against a rock on the right side of the screen, in an establishing shot of the Whispering Woods, before Adora finds him.
Did I spot him? Sniff - no. No, I didn't.

After revealing that he has shamefully betrayed the viewers' trust by also hiding in the episode in which he starred, Loo-Kee reminds us of the blatant lesson he himself was taught today, about how he shouldn't have stolen Slime Pig's slime-dissolving formula. "There's no good reason for taking something that doesn't belong to you." He claims he will be sure to remember this lesson, so we'll have to see whether that remains true, and watch out for other "stealing is wrong" PSAs in this season. (See 67090!)

Love is in the air: It's not a main part of the story, and oddly isn't addressed again even in the ending scene, but there is clearly some heavy attraction going on when Loo-Kee and Laa-See first meet each other. And after all - look at the title!
Hordak-less episodes in Season 2: Is our Horde commander trying to step out of the limelight? He's only appeared in two of this season's first six episodes.
Landmark Episode: Marking the first episode of this second season that I've considered landmark, because of the Loo-Kee-related content.

• If you have any knowledge of the series writers, today's scribe will need no introduction. Bob Forward may have only contributed to two MOTU scripts, but this is his eleventh She-Ra story, and he also shared credit on the Christmas Special. He's become a personal favorite of mine, dependably delivering solid and fun adventures.
• We open on the familiar location of Beast Island, a recurring site for Horde depredations from as far back as the second episode (67002). The last time we were here was in the notorious 67057's "Jungle Fever." Hopefully this story can help wipe out the stain of that last one!
• And if the title didn't make it clear enough, we very quickly have confirmation that today's story will directly feature fellow members of the tribe of the elusive Loo-Kee, when three of their kind come rushing out of the bushes. Our original elfin friend, Loo-Kee himself, has appeared - in hidden form - in every episode of POP since 67006, with only one exception (67018's "Horde Prime Takes a Holiday" - check out the PSA section of that episode and you'll get an idea why); however, in only one other episode aside from this one, 67055's "Loo-Kee Lends a Hand," did he take part in the action. And this is the first and only episode to show others of his race.
• We're finally going to get the lore on Loo-Kee and his people that was missing from 67055; including the name of his race: Kon-Seals (spelling per Wiki Grayskull).
• Incidentally, I never expected to have it explained how Loo-Kee ended up hiding on Beast Island in 67012's "The Prisoners of Beast Island." In this episode, we learn that apparently many of his fellow Kon-Seals live there, so that they can minister to the prisoners of the Horde dungeons. Maybe Loo-Kee just happened to be visiting in 67012!
• It turns out that mustached Kon-Seal, Paa-Pee, has a name that's an un-subtle clue to his relationship with Loo-Kee: yep, that's Dad.
• Shadow Weaver threatens the Kon-Seals with "the Slime Pit," an interesting reference to the Mattel playset by that name, released the same year this episode aired. The pit does eventually make an appearance in the episode, though it bears little resemblance to its toy version - even the slime is the wrong color!
• Good news for all true non-vegetarian Americans everywhere: hot dogs exist on Etheria! Only they're called "thermo franks." They even come with mustard!
• Voice actor Linda Gary uses almost exactly the same voice for the dainty Laa-See that she's used for Orko's girlfriend Dree Elle - making it very clear what direction Laa-See's relationship with Loo-Kee is going in.
• The flashback scene depicting the Beast Island dungeon shows cells for human prisoners that look suspiciously like the cells that were holding Beast Island's beasts, back in 67012.
• Note that Loo-Kee's problems pull Adora and Spirit out of the Whispering Woods almost immediately, giving us no time or reason to include any other rebel characters today. It's a short list!
• We see Catra flying around in a ship that looks to be the same model she used in 67051's "My Friend, My Enemy." Of course, she'll have had to have bought a new one or had some major repairs done since last time, when She-Ra tore the engine right out of it.
• Swiss army sword: It's a "sword to double lasso" day today, so that She-Ra can rope two batmeks at once. She pulled something similar in 67041's "Glimmer's Story."
• Perhaps a slip of the tongue? The Horde soldier who beams up the downed Catra welcomes her aboard with a salute and the title "Force Commander." I thought Catra was a "Force Captain," like Adora. (A later scene has another Horde soldier calling her by the correct rank.)
• It doesn't look like Hordak will be appearing in today's episode, which is a real shame for him, because he misses seeing one of his favorite things: people falling through a trapdoor. Just think how much he'd enjoy the sight of She-Ra and Laa-See plummeting down into the Slime Pit!
• The Slime Pit on Beast Island has a weakening effect on people who fall into its slime - which makes a lot of sense, because otherwise what would be the point in drenching people with slime, aside from whatever enjoyment viewers of Nickelodeon in the 90s used to get from watching it happen? It would be like the seemingly pointless "torture" method of dropping rebels in dunk tanks, enjoyed by Hordak and his minions in 67011's "The Peril of Whispering Woods."
• Some minicomics trivia about the Slime Pit, since I'm in the process of reading all the old MOTU illustrated adventures packaged with the toys: in the comic that advertises the playset, "Escape from the Slime Pit!" the slime does more than just weaken the people who get doused with it - it also turns them into zombie-like slaves of Hordak!
• Our heroes' time in the Slime Pit brings us a completely unexpected bonus character, in (as She-Ra so politely names him) "Mr. Slime Pig." There was no sales-based reason to create this character, since the playset didn't come with a pig; so I have to think the only reason he was inserted was to give our heroes a creative escape route from the pit - and to teach a non-sequitur, heavy-handed lesson about respecting other pigs' property.
• She-Ra's trick of rolling up the ground to stop Horde soldiers is something she did before, to stop (oddly enough) a fire, in 67037's "The Anxious Apprentice." I'm almost certain He-Man has done this before as well, but I can't think of a specific occasion.
• We see another instance of Catra being able to speak in her usual voice while in her cat form - a talent I first noted in 67062's "Magicats."
• Ending credits variation: Yep, it's the Castle Bright Moon background painting again, not the Crystal Castle one that was such a mainstay of Season 1.

• The first Kon-Seal to appear on screen looks so exactly like Loo-Kee that I was certain it was him. Even when he gets captured and Laa-See says the guy's name, I assumed she was calling him Loo-Kee. I was not disabused of this incorrect notion until two minutes later, when Paa-Pee declares his intention to go find Loo-Kee. I guess this other guy is named... Koo-Kee? The only difference in features between the two is that Koo-Kee has shaggier hair that sweeps out in wings to either side. A close comparison also reveals that the stripes/colors on Koo-Kee's wrist and leg warmers are slightly different than those of Loo-Kee. Still, I bet these two have to wear name tags at the family reunions!
• So the big question all of us should be asking immediately, when we watch the Horde hunting down the very last of all the Kon-Seals on Beast Island: how? How did the Horde find them? Their whole schtick is not being found. Their name literally means hide. Yes, they wear bright colors; but if those robot dogs are accurate at all, they're totally color blind, man.
• The preceding argument is a double-edged sword, of course, because if the robot dogs are like real dogs, they'll also have an excellent sense of smell, and be deadly accurate trackers. Since we see the mechanical creatures somehow salivating in multiple scenes, I think we have to assume they are very dog-like. So maybe the Kon-Seals got sniffed out.
• Then again, in the following scene Adora very easily grabs the frank-nabbing Loo-Kee out of the bushes; so maybe these guys aren't as good at hiding as we've been led to believe? (This is an amazingly ironic statement, by the way, given that I was unable to find Loo-Kee's hiding place today.)
• The presence of Loo-Kee's father in this episode immediately begs the question: where's Mom? Is there a terrible tragedy at the root of this single parent situation? Maybe Maa-Mee had a substance abuse problem and skipped out when Loo-Kee was still a tyke - that would explain our elf's interest in turning his audience away from drug use (see 67039's PSA). Or maybe the mom couldn't stick it out living on Beast Island, which after all doesn't seem like the safest of neighborhoods, even if you are really good at hiding. The most likely explanation, of course, is that our Filmation writers were keeping a "Loo-Kee's long-lost mom is found" episode in their back pockets for a potential Season 3.
• Some of the drawings of She-Ra in this episode seem like they were drawn by a new Filmation staff member, making her face look a little off. In other cases - such as some closeups where She-Ra is trash-talking Catra - the animators choose to reuse facial expressions that have the heroine looking jarringly and inappropriately upset or sad.
• Animation error: As the downed Catra shakes her fist at our departing heroine, a corner of the villainess's cape peeking out on her left side flickers between the correct shade of lilac and flesh color.
• Continuity error: In one scene, Catra prepares to radio ahead and warn the garrison at Beast Island to expect She-Ra and some Kon-Seal friends, who clearly have a considerable head start on the Horde captain. In the very next scene, we can see Catra already posted at a prison tower, watching out for the heroes' approach. This seems to be an animation error, as subsequent dialogue has our heroes continuing to discuss the idea of Catra getting a warning message to the guards, not being there in person.
• In the lore section above, I theorized a few reasons for why the character of Slime Pig was created and included in today's story. Here's another: Slime Pig is a very insensitive animated depiction of the targeted demographic for the Slime Pit playset. Then again, maybe those slime-loving children (I never owned the Slime Pit, but I'm not saying I wouldn't have enjoyed having it, so I guess you can count me among them) would have loved imagining themselves as a jumpsuited pig with safety goggles.
• The abrupt moralistic claptrap rammed into the Slime Pit scene, with She-Ra lecturing (of all people) Loo-Kee on the ethics of stealing, is bizarre and inexplicable. If anyone should already know about right and wrong, it's Loo-Kee. He's been handing out morals for 64 previous episodes. Can't we just wait until the PSA to hear this nonsense?
• Also - Slime Pig, who loves slime, for some reason has a vial of stuff that will dissolve all the slime? And it's exactly the same color as the slime? And he keeps it on his person in an uncorked, open container? Okay. Just checking.
• Today marks another stage in the evolution of Beast Island, which changes slightly in population and composition in its every appearance. I won't go over all the previous iterations - I did that fairly well in the lore for 67057 - but just to state some of the new things we see today: there's an outside prison yard for holding the Kon-Seals, some weird floating freeze cannons, not a single beast to be seen anywhere (unless you count Slime Pig), and (perhaps an explanation for the lack of living beasts) a whole heck of a lot of bones. Whether or not they're the result of cruel over-hunting of the local fauna on the part of the Horde forces, the skeletons make for some lovely background paintings, particularly in the scenes preceding the Slime Pit sequence.
• An issue it took me a while to think of, but leaves me feeling weird about this whole enterprise: the Kon-Seals got busted for giving food to the other prisoners on the island. So there are other prisoners on the island. Yet when She-Ra leads the jail break, all she's concerned about is freeing the cute little ones, not the big human-sized ones. That's racist, She-Ra!
• Animation error: The bewildered guard manning the freeze cannon, whom She-Ra cuts loose from his cannon's ground tethers, is missing the standard Horde logo on his chest.
• It would perhaps be unfair to consider this another continuity error or animation error, but: the number of Kon-Seals seems to vary considerably from scene to scene. In the earlier shot of the prison yard, we see almost twice as many critters as we do in the final, post-rescue scene. Also in the earlier scene there were actual babies, including even nursing infants (!), which are not visible in the later ensemble shot.
• Strange that Loo-Kee and his father have zero direct interactions in today's episode. There's not even a "I knew you'd come for me, Son!" or a "I'm so glad you're safe, Dad!" line to be had. You also have to wonder why Paa-Pee is living among friends on Beast Island while his kid is apparently the only Kon-Seal in the Whispering Woods. Is there more family drama behind this estrangement?
• Here's my Loo-Kee back story head canon: Maa-Mee hated her life on Beast Island so much that she turned to eating wacky mushrooms as a solace. She finally abandoned her husband, taking baby Loo-Kee with her to the Whispering Woods; but by that time she was already hooked on the shrooms. She spiraled down into addiction and eventually was deemed an unfit caregiver by the Twigget child protective services. She was put into rehab, leaving Loo-Kee to a troubled childhood under various Twigget foster families. Finding everyone he met imperfect and sinful and ultimately disappointing, Loo-Kee drew away from the world, obsessed with moralistic behavior and hiding places. I'm available to write the script for the gritty modern Loo-Kee reboot movie!
• Soundtrack error: Unusually, there are a few moments in today's episode where the backing music seems to experience a sudden drop in playback speed, resulting in some very sickly sounding nastiness. One example comes right near the end of the episode, when we cut back to Catra for the final joke.
• Personal achievement (or lack thereof): It's a sad day, people. The streak is broken! For the first episode since 67007, I failed to locate the hiding place of Loo-Kee on my first watch-through. It's useless to make excuses and claim mitigating circumstances (namely, that I didn't think he'd be hiding in this one); I should have been looking for Loo-Kee, and I wasn't. I let you all down, and I'm sorry. I can only say that I will try to be better in the future.
• My own viewing failures aside, this was a fun enough episode. It was cool to learn more about Loo-Kee's people and see so many variations on his elfin character design. I think the concluding action scenes could have been more imaginative, but - you know - enjoyment was had.