Frank Becker

Ernie Schmidt

Rebel heroines Netossa and Spinnerella reminisce about that time before they'd quite joined the Great Rebellion, when Spinnerella was deceived by the Horde into thinking the rebels were the bad guys and had kidnapped her best friend. Ha ha! We can all laugh about it now, but at the time it was somewhat stressful...

Princess Adora (She-Ra), Bow, Netossa, Spinnerella, Kowl, Madame Razz, Broom, Spirit (Swift Wind), Light Hope

Grizzlor, Catra, Mantenna, Hordak, Imp, Shadow Weaver

various rebels, Horde soldiers, woodland creatures (including deer, fox, chibbet), various villagers (including three-piece band)

wagon, Horde tanks, ground buster

Gathered around a fire in the center of the rebel camp are a couple of random rebel guys, Princess Adora, Bow, and two new faces: Spinnerella and Netossa. Together, the four officially licensed characters remember back to when they first met - before Spinnerella and Netossa had even heard of the rebellion, and their heads were filled with more frivolous things. The four will be trading the narration back and forth as they relate the different parts of the story, but it begins with Bow, who remembers that they first met these two newbies just after a Horde attack on a rebel patrol...

The Horde forces, consisting of Grizzlor, Catra, Mantenna, an army of robot soldiers, and a few tanks, seem to have Bow and his men pinned down. Luckily just nearby is Princess Adora, who in true Disney princess fashion is in the middle of feeding the cute forest creatures with the help of Madame Razz and Broom. Overhearing the noise of an entire enemy army, Adora decides She-Ra's help is needed, and soon the golden heroine herself is on the battlefield. With very little effort She-Ra deflects a blast, blows up a tank, and convinces the robot army to turn and run. Seeing their forces in flight, Catra grudgingly decides it's time for her and her minions to retreat as well, and the rebels are once again saved.

Watching this battle from the safe viewpoint of the cozy town of Thaymor are Netossa and Spinnerella. They're on vacation from their home in some other distant part of the planet, and are looking to have a good time. They've heard the local inn is a happening joint, so they rent themselves a room and head to the tap for dinner and a show. Little do they know that their presence in town has been noted by an observer with sinister intent.

Back in the Fright Zone, Hordak is very displeased with the performance of his three soldiers Grizzlor, Catra, and Mantenna. He and Imp are sick of hearing all their She-Ra-related excuses, and the Horde commander concludes his post-battle meeting by dumping his sub-par employees down the throne room trapdoor. Tactfully appearing just after this punishment has been meted out is Shadow Weaver, who tells Hordak she has her own idea for confounding the rebellion. You see, she's heard tell that one Spinnerella is in town. Weaver explains that Spinnerella has the power to "dance" (really it's just spinning) and create a great whirlwind. The wind should be strong enough to push away the enchanted guardian trees in the Whispering Woods - giving the Horde access to the rebels' base. Hordak loves this idea, and gives the OK for Shadow Weaver to implement it right away.

Of course, to get Spinnerella to do as they want, the Horde need a way to get her on their side - and Weaver has just the plan for that. She tracks the two ladies down at the Thaymor inn and, in the disguise of a non-evil-looking old woman, watches Spinnerella dancing to the music of the house band. With Spinnerella having spun herself outside, Weaver catches Netossa walking by herself and traps her in a bubble-shaped force field. She then approaches Spinnerella, who's started wondering what happened to her friend, and assures the young girl that she can help with the search.

Weaver's "help" involves a visit to the Fright Zone and an introduction to Hordak, who plays along with the charade by informing Spinnerella that her friend has been captured by the rebels. (In actuality, Netossa is locked just nearby in a dungeon cell, busily verbally abusing the robot soldiers minding her.) Hordak claims that the only way to free the prisoner is to break into the rebel base in the magical Whispering Woods - and neatly manipulates Spinnerella into offering her windy services. Moving quickly past any second thoughts or uncertainties Spinnerella might be feeling, Hordak gathers an army and a fleet of vehicles and moves on the forest, with the whirlwind girl placed at the head of his column.

When the Horde arrive at the forest outskirts, Spinnerella's powers prove capable of doing just what Shadow Weaver was hoping, blowing over the trees and making an open highway for the enemy forces. Razz, in the air on Broom, feels the strengthening winds and spies out their cause. She brings news of the mysterious Horde whirlwind back to her friends. Bow and Adora mount to the top of a lookout post to face the oncoming army while Razz goes off to rescue the woodland critters, who are spooked and in danger of getting squashed under tank treads. The rebel defenders finally get a look at what's causing the wind when the mini-tornado blowing their trees and hair around gets in hailing distance and resolves itself into Spinnerella.

Of course, Bow and Adora are just confused when the twirly girl demands that they return "Netossa" - they've never heard of the guy, and they don't have prisoners. Shadow Weaver and Hordak assure Spinnerella that the rebels' professions of innocence and ignorance are just lies and deception. Adora sees there's some deeper game being played here and that she needs to get to the bottom of it; so telling Bow to hold down the fort while she goes to get "help," the princess finds a quiet spot to turn into She-Ra and sends a psychic message to everyone's favorite exposition tool, Light Hope. The beam obediently appears before She-Ra and, when asked who Netossa is, explains all the parts of the plot that our heroine has been missing.

She-Ra's course is now clear, and it involves a standard Fright Zone jailbreak - the kind that seems to happen every other day around here. She whistles up Swift Wind (who really should have been standing right there, since she transformed her horse just before making the Light Hope call) and flies off to the Horde fortress. Then it's just a quick nip inside to smash up some robots and free Netossa. Netossa even aids slightly in her rescue by doing that one thing that her name indicates that she can do, netting a total of one Horde soldier. The freed prisoner is all a bit confused about what the heck is going on today, and has never even heard of her savior. Once Netossa's stuffed behind She-Ra on Swift Wind's back and the pair are winging their way to the Whispering Woods, our heroine delivers the SparkNotes summary on Etheria's Evil Horde problem and the Great Rebellion fighting it, then explains the Horde's specific evil plot of the day involving Spinnerella. Netossa's job once they land will be to set her sister straight on who the good guys and bad guys are.

Fortunately, Bow and his crew have managed to somehow hold off the Horde attack while She-Ra's been gone (the rebel defense seems to have consisted of a long argument between Bow and Hordak), and when She-Ra lands at the battle lines she has Netossa ready to deliver to Spinnerella. The reunited pair embrace and Netossa sets her friend right on what's been going on. Spinnerella, realizing how thoroughly she's been duped and understandably unhappy about it, turns her powers on her deceivers and blows a tank away, which seems to be enough to convince the entire army to leave.

Everything's been straightened out now; everything except the trees, that is, and Spinnerella feels pretty bad about the damage she's done. She-Ra suggests a solution: why not just spin again, in the opposite direction? Declaring this a great idea, Spinnerella does the deed, neatly blowing all the trees back into place. Back in the present, our heroes celebrate the one-year anniversary of that first meeting, and of Netossa and Spinnerella joining the rebel cause. They share a hearty cheer in support of the rebellion.

• Spinnerella: It's hard to believe that a few months ago, we were only interested in having fun. (Spins, for no good reason)
• Hordak (to his minions): She-Ra, She-Ra, She-Ra - that's all I ever hear from you! I want her stopped.
• Shadow Weaver (of Spinnerella): She can spin so fast that she can create a whirlwind; a whirlwind powerful enough to knock down trees.
• Hordak (clearly feeling pumped): Today, we will crush the rebellion! She-Ra will be my prisoner. All of Etheria will be mine. Crush the rebellion!!
• Madame Razz: Oh deary my. They must have moved that tree again. / Broom: Hey, no time to waste, Madame - but please, watch your steering!
• She-Ra: Who is Netossa? I must know quickly, or Whispering Woods is doomed. / Light Hope (in extreme deus ex machina style, greatly shortening the storytelling for everyone): She is a friend of Spinnerella, the whirlwind girl. Hordak has imprisoned Netossa and lied to Spinnerella. / She-Ra: He told her that the rebellion captured Netossa? / Light Hope: Exactly. But the truth is, is that she's in the Fright Zone, in one of Hordak's dungeons.
• Rebels (as one): Long live the rebellion, and long live free Etheria!

• She-Ra mounts Swift Wind and flies off: As she heads to the Fright Zone to rescue Netossa

One full

11:52 - Loo-Kee is looking down from his usual perch in the high branches of a tree, in the upper-right quadrant of the screen, in an establishing shot that leads into the rebel camp. Somewhat unusually for our adorable little stalker, his face is turned away from the action.
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee would have done better today to suggest that his audience not get hoodwinked as easily as Spinnerella was by Shadow Weaver in today's story. Maybe a "don't trust hooded ladies who float a few inches off the ground"? Instead, Loo-Kee reminds us of the damage Spinnerella did to the Whispering Woods, and advises us to protect plants and trees. Well, yeah, I guess.

Tell us a story: So glad to have another episode to add to this category! It's a strange use of the category, because the characters in the present-day portions of the episode are telling a story to each other about past events in which they all took part - things about which they seemingly shouldn't need to be reminded. But I'll take it!
Changing hearts and minds: Since the very ignorant Spinnerella and Netossa need to be convinced that the rebels are the good guys and the Horde are the bad guys
Landmark Episode: For its introduction of new characters

• Literally the only thing on writer Frank Becker's IMDb page is his single writing credit, for this one episode of She-Ra. I tried to learn more about him but anything the internet might tell me is confused by the fact that he has such a common name. He may also currently be an octogenarian novelist known for a frightening and heavily Christian-themed series of books about how liberals are destroying America - or that might be some other guy.
• As unlikely as it may seem, given a target audience which would hardly have been considered intellectual or literary-minded, today's episode title most likely references a famous Walt Whitman poem, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." It was an elegy to the then-recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
• We're immediately introduced to two never-before-seen characters today, in Netossa and Spinnerella. I'm placing them with the rebels category-wise, even though we'll find at least one of them questioning their loyalties today - their action figures were definitely billed as good guys, and they're solidly in the rebel camp (literally) in the frame story. Interestingly, those action figures would not be released until Mattel's third wave of POP toys, in 1987 - after this episode aired. This may be part of the reason why the animated Spinnerella has a slightly different color scheme than her toy version. I think we (rather sadly, for the cause of inclusion) have to consider Netossa the very first brown-skinned main character to appear in the series.
• In the flashback that comprises the majority of today's episode, we first find Adora absurdly feeding birdseed to various forest animals - including what looks to be a fox, who I suppose doesn't mind seeds but would no doubt rather be chowing down on a chicken. (The sequence gave me fond memories of the similarly cheesy opening of the amazing Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Commando (1985).) Also included among the creatures is one that she specifically names a "chibbet." This critter is nearly identical to one that showed up (with different coloring) multiple times, as a sort of running gag, in 67031's "The Reluctant Wizard." At the time, since it wasn't named in that story, I came up with the prophetically similar identifier of "squabbit," based on its seemingly sharing physical characteristics with a squirrel and a rabbit. I assume whoever gave it its official name thought the non-rabbit half was closer to a chipmunk.
• Unusually, Adora's first transformation into She-Ra today happens entirely off-screen. Perhaps this was some particular delicacy on the part of our creative team, who realized it would be weird to have Adora narrating for her friends the part in the adventure where she turned into her secret alter ego. If so, they forgot their delicacy by fifteen minutes in, when the first and only on-screen transformation finally occurs.
• In Netossa and Spinnerella's part of the narration, they visit the town of Thaymor, the scene of the very first visit to Etheria in 67001. The town also put in an appearance in the beginning of 67023's "The Crown of Knowledge." The heroines choose to patronize Thaymor's very popular chain, the Laughing Swan Inn, where a newly arrived Adam and Cringer ate and whose franchise, we just learned, has given Etherians several centuries of good times (see 67076's "Brigis").
• We get some very typical and satisfying villain hijinks today with Hordak and his soldiers. First, toady Imp earns the support of his boss and the ire of Catra and crew; then, Hordak gets his trapdoor jollies. It's an extra-large trapdoor today, big enough to drop Catra, Mantenna, and Grizzlor through.
• Shadow Weaver makes herself yet another female disguise today. We've seen her as a little girl in 67020's "Three Courageous Hearts," we've seen her with pigtails in 67055's "Loo-Kee Lends a Hand," and she opted for a blonde bob to flirt with Bow in 67049's "For Want of a Horse." Today, rather than pretty and young, Weaver goes old. In fact, her old woman disguise is interestingly almost identical to the old woman Castaspella was stuck as in the events of another "Tell us a story" episode, 67019's "Enchanted Castle."
• The cell Netossa is thrown in looks like the same one Perfuma briefly visited in 67063's "Flowers for Hordak." I guess they cleaned out all those flowers... The exterior shot of the cell makes it look like the place where Prince Adam was being kept in 67015's "He Ain't Heavy."
• When Spinnerella's winds really get going, we get a quick shot of various forest animals spooked by the commotion, a couple of which look much stranger than the creatures Adora was feeding earlier. There's a sort of elephant/armadillo hybrid, and a hopping dinosaur/crocodile/lizard thing. See stills above.
• A few minutes later, we see some of the earlier woodland creatures again, only this time the fox-like animal Adora was feeding has had its snout shortened, making it look much more like a cat. Weird!
• Today's evil plot centers around the protective nature of the Whispering Woods, something that's been well established since back in 67011. I was just contemplating the nature of this protection in the commentary for 67076; today we find that a strong wind is good enough to hold back the enchanted trees.
• The whole time we've been visiting the rebels in the woods, I've gotten only the vaguest of ideas about the wooden nature of the barricades surrounding their central camp. Today for the first time I realized that the camp seems to be situated in the hollowed-out center of a gigantic tree stump. We see Bow and Adora climbing a ladder and scaling the upper rim of the trunk, from whence they're able to see the oncoming line of Horde tanks with Hordak in the lead.
• Spirit the horse makes a late and very brief cameo in the episode, thrown into the mix during Adora's transformation sequence even though there was no previous evidence of the steed's proximity.
• Also arriving late to the party is Light Hope, who very unusually manifests in the Whispering Woods - I suppose to save She-Ra the trouble of having to fly all the way to the Crystal Castle. Light Hope made a long-distance call to Loo-Kee in 67055, and similarly summoned Adora by remote telepathy in 67040; but this is the first time we've seen the light beam seemingly physically transported to She-Ra's location. See commentary.
• Ending credits variation: The alternate background painting of Castle Bright Moon continues its solid run in the ending credits.

• A very impressive Horde force, consisting of many robot soldiers, multiple tanks, Force Captain Catra, Grizzlor, and Mantenna, decides to immediately retreat when She-Ra shows up - even though She-Ra is all by herself on the edge of a mountaintop against the three main Horde minions. Show some backbone, why don't you! We've seen Horde members under worse odds decide to try to attack She-Ra before - as a random for-instance, consider the attack at the end of 67032's "Friends Are Where You Find Them," where Catra, Leech, and Grizzlor (with no soldier backup and no tanks) decided to take on She-Ra and Bow.
• Homoerotic undertones: I don't get much of a chance to pull this sub-category out for POP, but consider Exhibit A: Netossa and Spinnerella. They're two close female friends who hang out together all the time, go on vacation together, and want to go out on the town of an evening and do some dancing.
• It's hard not to lose a lot of respect for Spinnerella while watching this story. You're approached by a mysterious woman with a raspy voice and her face hidden by a hood, who somehow already knows your friend is missing... and you... trust this person to help you? (By the way, we just saw that Shadow Weaver could disguise herself as a friendly looking old lady; I guess she didn't need to, since Spinnerella is so incredibly gullible, but why not use that disguise for this bit?) The strange woman takes you to a place called the "Fright Zone" and the planet's evil dictator, Hordak - who, if you've lived on Etheria for more than five minutes, you've probably heard about - and you still go along with it? Spinny, my dear, you need to sit down with my friend Loo-Kee for a little while, so he can learn you some basic common sense.
• Part of the ease of the Horde's deception of Spinnerella lies in both her and Netossa's complete ignorance of the political situation on Etheria. Not only are they utterly unaware of there being a rebellion on the planet (as Netossa eventually confesses), they also have never heard of She-Ra. There were moments early in the series (see 67006, for example) when it seemed to make sense that word hadn't gotten around yet about our beefy blonde; but you'd think anyone on the planet would know of her by now - even taking into consideration the fact that most of the events in this story are happening one year in the past. You could explain the pair's misunderstanding away if you assume they've come from a different planet entirely to vacation on Etheria; but Spinnerella specifically states in her narration that they'd "come to this part of Etheria for a vacation," suggesting their home lies in some distant country on the same globe. (Ironically, even though neither Netossa nor Spinnerella knows anything about the Horde or the rebellion or She-Ra, Spinnerella has somehow gotten a recommendation to visit the Laughing Swan Inn. It's world famous!)
• The foreground drawing in the panning shot showing Horde soldiers grouped around a few destructo-type tanks in the Fright Zone is identical to the grouping of soldiers and tanks shown in the episode's opening Horde ambush. The only thing that's changed is the background painting.
• Animation error: A shot of trees leaning to the side under the first breezes of Spinnerella's "dancing" has one bit of blue foliage flickering back and forth between its correct color and white. A later, similar shot near the end of the episode has a bit of foliage flickering between blue and purple.
• Conspicuous by their absence in this episode about the Whispering Woods are the sentient race of beings who are supposed to live there: the Twiggets. We have seen Twiggets this season - in fact, there was a whole carnival full of them in 67069 - but for some reason today it's as if somebody with a time transformer went into the past and painted them out of Etheria. The only inhabitants of the forest Razz is concerned with saving are the animals who don't wear cute little leaf hats.
• The appearance of Light Hope apparently in person in the Whispering Woods is the latest slide down the slippery slope in moving the goalposts on Light Hope's rules of existence - or however you want to mix your metaphors. It seemed fairly clear in Light Hope's origin story (67022's "The Crystal Castle") that the entity had no ability to travel, since they requested that She-Ra come and visit every once in a while - a sort of pathetic request from a lonely light beam. Now it seems they can go ahead and do the visiting themself? Bah. This isn't quite as bad, however, as the Sorceress breaking her own rules about not being able to leave Castle Grayskull in her human form (see MU043).
• Animation error: Or at least a pretty shoddy shortcut. A brief bird's-eye view of Hordak standing in his truck while gripping the top of the windshield reveals that the interior of the truck is completely empty: no visible seats, no steering wheel, no dashboard, nothing. I guess he went for the base model!
• Continuity error: Up until the moment that Spinnerella uses her wind power on a Horde tank, every other shot of the vehicles has shown them with gun muzzles at the ends of their top barrels. But the flying tank has the suction-cup-type battering-ram attachment we've seen used in a version that Hordak himself changed into, in 67055.
• In this final battle, we find the Horde caving just as quickly as they did in the opening, with Hordak backing out as soon as Spinnerella kicks over that one tank. Weirdly, when Hordak orders a retreat his truck - which clearly has no other occupants but him - immediately goes into reverse. Is it voice activated? That would explain the lack of steering wheel!
• There's quite a dichotomy to be seen between today's two "sisters," Netossa and Spinnerella. Spinnerella's abilities are so powerful that the Horde uses them to effectively knock over an entire enchanted forest. However, this whirlwind girl also comes off as pretty dumb, or at least easily suggestible. (She-Ra even has to coach the girl on how to use her own powers at the end of the episode, to undo the damage to the Whispering Woods.) Netossa, on the other hand, is never once considered as a potential Horde pawn; she's easily trapped in a bubble, and spends her entire imprisonment impotently shouting empty threats at her captors. When she finally does use her "powers," Netossa only manages to toss one net at one Horde soldier - surely the easiest target on Etheria. But she's seemingly quicker on the uptake than her partner when She-Ra shows up to give her some real talk.
• A fun, interesting episode, which gave me a lot to think about and gave us some new characters. It wasn't the greatest story ever, but it performed its basic function of providing wholesome entertainment.