At Alfea, the five Winx girls are in Miss Griselda's office. Griselda explains the dangers of sneaking into Cloud Tower, and mentions that the loss of their powers is only the beginning of their punishment, that they are also not allowed to leave the Alfea campus for the next couple of days. Stella jokes about being "forced" to veg out all weekend isn't much of a punishment. Bloom laughs. Tecna does not find Stella's comment amusing. Griselda goes on to tell the girls that there will be no "vegging out," that they must clean the school from basement to belfry. It is not clear whether or not Griselda was planning on having the girls clean the school from the beginning, or she decided to add to the punishment after Stella's comment. Also, it is funny to hear Griselda trying to use the girls' slang... always sounds so awkward. Also, yay for Griselda using the word "belfry." One of those words that just isn't used as much as it needs to be. Griselda whips up some brooms and buckets for the girls to clean with. You know, at the very least, Griselda could've given the girls some mops, too. Tecna is confused by these newfangled gadgets that Griselda has conjured up. We love Tecna!
Tecna: What a curious-looking remnant of primitive technology. Perhaps there's an online manual in my--
Griselda: You won't need a manual, Miss Tecna.
Tecna: Oh, no manual?
Musa: Don't worry, Tecna, it's not that complicated.
Flora: Yeah, the only manual we'll be using is manual labor.
Tecna: Exactly, if we had a manual for the labor, we'd be more efficient at--
Everyone starts laughing at Tecna.
Tecna: What's so funny? I was not joking.
The simplest of things so confuse Tecna. Apparently Tecna's never done any manual labor in her home world. And she's so genuinely puzzled why everyone else is laughing. Poor girl. And we didn't even get to her infamous bucket scene yet! Griselda starts yelling at the girls for laughing, and orders them to get to work.
In one of Alfea's lecture halls, Bloom and Musa are busy cleaning the bleachers, and Musa asks for "H to the E to the L to the P" from Stella, who's just sitting by, watching. Bloom and Musa blame Stella for getting them into this mess, for her comment about vegging out. Though Griselda may have been planning this punishment, anyway. Musa and Stella get into a yelling match. Stella feels, as a princess, she shouldn't have to work, forgetting that Musa is also a princess. For whatever reason, Stella feels she's an important princess, and Musa isn't. What, because Musa doesn't act as much like a stereotypical princess? Sure. While they're arguing, Bloom prepares a bucket filled with water, carries it over while Stella's distracted with Musa, and throws the water onto Stella! Stella just sits there, arms stretched out, completely motionless from shock, as Musa laughs. Bloom proceeds to splash some water onto Musa.
And for one of the most memorable scenes in the series, this gem of a scene: Tecna Vs. the Bucket. On a staircase, Flora and Tecna have a broom and bucket. Tecna picks up a bucket, carefully inspecting it, trying to figure out what is done with it.
Tecna: Thanks, but I know I can figure out the secret of these strange objects by myself.
Flora: That's called a bucket.
It seems so silly that Flora has to tell Tecna what the object is as if Tecna were a baby. Tecna's just so proud of herself when she figures out what a bucket is used for. Trouble is, she figures it's used as a sort of helmet for the head, and wears it as such. Buckethead Tecna is so cute! Tecna figures, with its long handle, that the broom must be used to reach high places, and waves it at a picture high above the stairs. The picture comes crashing down, nearly bonking Tecna on the head on its way down. Of course, she was wearing her "helmet" at the time, so she'd have been protected....
Tecna: Good thing I figured out how to use the bucket.
Flora: ...yeah, let's go find Bloom.
Flora's so sweet, so patient with Tecna. Flora and Tecna enter the room with the other three girls, all of them looking exhausted and soaked. They ask if the girls are OK. Stella says that Bloom taught them an Earth sport called "water fight," and that she won. Musa insists that she won. Flora and Tecna, though, are more worried that Griselda will see the mess. Griselda, of course, enters the room at that very moment, telling the girls that Charmed Life, some famous band with the fairies, and tries to get the girls hyped about a concert with them tomorrow night. Then brings them down, telling them they can't go since they have so much work to do, and maybe if they're lucky, one of their classmates will bring them back a T-shirt. There were nicer ways Griselda could've told the girls they couldn't go to this concert. Griselda's methods are just so mean-spirited. She must've had an unhappy childhood, or something.
Over at Cloud Tower, the witches are all having dinner. Eggs and crescent rolls look more like breakfast to me, but then the timing in the episode would be all screwed up. Guess they're just having breakfast food for dinner. Several background witches can be seen, but in particular, we get our first look at the only two student witches, besides the Trix sisters, who anyone gives a lick about--Mirta, the cute button-nosed red-haired witch, and Lucy, the somewhat ugly green-haired witch. They're not named yet, though. Stormy and Darcy complain about letting the Winx girls sneak into their room in last week's episode. Which is partly their own faults for being unusually careless last week. Icy comforts them, telling them that since Stella's ring did not have the dragon's power they were looking for, that they'll go back to Alfea to look for it, then destroy their entire school. Mirta, from a table far from the Trix sisters' own table, pipes up, asking why they hate Alfea so much, and that, in some ways, Alfea's "kinda' rockin'." So sweet, yet so naive. Stormy mocks her, and all the witches, minus Lucy, start laughing like they've never laughed before. Mirta looks completely embarrassed, and starts crying. Stormy starts mocking Mirta more. Darcy throws a glue blob at her face, to help her "save face." Or more importantly, suffocate her for a minute. Lucy, worried, rushes to Mirta, saying that she needs help, that she can't breathe. Darcy calls her stupid for not realizing it only lasts for a minute. The witches are all in absolute hysterics at this point. It's a wonder they're able to breathe. Miss Griffin walks in with an announcement to her students:
Griffin: Attention, witches! The precious princess of Alfea have booked Magix Stadium tomorrow night for some wretched music concert, so our "Money for Monsters" fundraiser has to move to the elementary school auditorium, so plan accordingly
Griffin: ...worthless do-gooding pixies!
Such great delivery on Griffin's part: she states the announcement very matter-of-factly, then, walking away, mutters that last part to herself. Icy says with Alfea empty, it'll be the perfect time to go there.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
The next day at Alfea, all the students and faculty, minus the Winx girls, are boarding hoverbuses for the concert. Apparently, the faculty isn't just there to watch over the girls, either: at least one seems to be "in" with what's cool:
Palladium: I don't want to miss the opening act!
Inside the hallways of Alfea, the Winx girls are standing about. Musa says the band isn't good anyway, but it would still beat cleaning duty. So Stella loves the group, but Musa hates them. Guess Charmed Life isn't hip hop. Stella says they could call up the boys.
Flora: Right. I'm sure they'd just flip at the prospect of helping us clean.
Bloom likes Stella's idea, though, and decides they could lie to the boys to get cleaning help from them, claiming to need their heroics and bravery. Tecna thinks Griselda would disapprove, but Bloom mentions that Griselda never said they couldn't have the boys over. Can't argue with Bloom's logic. Musa, Bloom, and Stella cheer over the idea; Tecna and Flora aren't as wild about it.
Outside, now night, the four Specialists arrive on their hovercrafts. Stella is outside to greet them, as Prince Sky asks exactly what kind of heroics and bravery the girls need.
Inside, Musa explains to them the complexities of using a broom as if it were a mop. It seems to work, anyway. But Musa, these guys aren't Tecna: I don't think they need the explanation. "Here's the Girl, and This is the Beat" is playing on a boombox in the room. Bloom throws the guys their brooms. Flora turns the volume up on the boombox. Everyone, minus Riven, dances to the music. Kiko accidentally throws a stick at Lady, Prince Sky's dog, and then acts all innocent.
Musa: You've heard of hip hop? Well this is hip mop.
Riven: Lame.
Gotta' agree with Riven there. The girls are all in new dresses, having finished all the cleaning. The outfits are for this episode only. Descriptions for these dresses are provided by Lori, and are in the "Other Stuff" section at the bottom of this summary. Musa throws four CDs all so precisely into four boomboxes. They're all dancing, with Bloom dancing with Stella. Stella pushes Bloom to dance with Brandon.
Outside, the Trix sisters materialize, but hear noise coming from inside the building. The sisters look through a balcony into a window. Inside, Tecna worries about dancing, telling Timmy she doesn't know any dance steps. Timmy tells Tecna she shouldn't dance. Real good way to win a girl's heart, Romeo. Riven rightly makes fun of Timmy. Musa dances into the area, and everyone, save for Riven, cheer Musa on, on how great a dancer she is. Riven walks out to the balcony for air, as the witches go back to the ground, so as not to be seen.
On the ground, Icy isn't going to let the fairies and Specialists stop them from looking for the dragon fire. Stormy is upset that the fairies are dancing, as if their dancing was to say that they felt superior to the witches. Um, Stormy? You're a bit paranoid--they have no idea you're even there. Icy tells her sisters to prepare their Wisperian crystals. The crystals form a triangle, which goes through a wall. The witches cast a spell to go through the wall themselves. The three form a circle, as Icy chants a spell to bring forth a minotaur.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
The Specialists are telling the girls about a recent battle they were involved with. Stella asks Brandon if he wants their last sandwich. He declines, but says he's thirsty. As Stella pours into a glass what looks like orange juice, there's a small tremor. They look outside, and see something large being thrown from a second-story window, shattering into pieces as it hits the ground. For the life in me, I cannot tell what the object was, exactly. Riven whistles for the guys' hovercrafts, to get to the area where the damage occurred.
Timmy: This damage was caused by some kind of creature!
Tecna: Hmm... a very big creature.
Riven: Really? Tell us something we don't know!
Tecna: It's three meters tall and weighs close to a ton. Its fur is gristly, not soft, it walks upright, has horns in addition to multiple clawed limbs, and it leaves off a foul, musky odor.
Stella: **laughing** She told you!
Sky tells the rest of the guys to get their weapons ready. The Winx girls insist they're going to. Riven tells them to just go hide somewhere, that they'd just get in the way.
The Trix sisters are following their crystals in search of the dragon fire, which are actually chasing the girls. Stella has a very awkward-looking way of running. The Trix sisters stop, as Icy senses someone here. It turns out to be Icy's stalker baby duck. Icy screams at it, blowing it away, and uses her ice coffin on it.
The Specialists are carefully looking for the monster. Timmy provides light, and Brandon notices all the damage around.
Elsewhere, the Winx girls are sneaking about. Flora's worried about how quiet it is. Bloom thinks maybe the creature went away, but Flora senses the creature's presence. Musa bumps into the minotaur. The minotaur turns around, spraying snot onto Stella. Stella prepares to fight the creature, complaining, until Flora reminds her that they don't have their powers. The five girls run away, with the minotaur chasing after them. Right as the girls leave, the Trix sisters enter through the floor, and Icy notes that the dragon fire keeps moving.
As the girls are running away, Flora trips. Musa passes right by her, but Stella pauses for a moment to help Musa back up. Really kind of Stella to do that, putting herself in danger to help Flora. One of our first signs of Stella not putting herself at the center of the universe. The girls continue running, as the minotaur creates a small tremor that pauses the girls temporarily. The minotaur lunges toward Tecna, but, using her amazing Spiderman skills, seems to wall jump above it. The minotaur crashes into the wall, getting his horns stuck. Stella sprays the monster with perfume, hoping to make it smell better. The minotaur frees itself, and the girls go off running away again. Musa runs slower than the other girls, for whatever reason, and wall jumps to the ceiling. For not having any magical powers, these girls sure have amazing acrobatic skills.
The Specialists arrive at the scene of the action. Riven's happy that there's finally a party now. Riven's definition of "fun" still makes more sense than Tecna's. Brandon congratulates Musa's acrobatic skills. Riven tries fighting the minotaur by himself. He yells at Brandon, Timmy, and Sky, who want to help, that he can handle the minotaur by himself. The minotaur knocks Riven through a window to another room. The Trix sisters find Riven unconscious, and Darcy notices a dark energy coming from him.
Darcy: Can we take him home, Icy?
Aww... puppy love. How cute, however superficial Darcy's little crush may be--which is very. Stormy is irritated that Darcy gets crushes on a lot of guys. So I guess Riven isn't her first pet project. Icy says Riven may be of use to them later.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
The Winx girls wonder how they can defeat the minotaur, as Stella brings forth the brooms and buckets, telling the girls she has an idea. The girls make a lot of noise with the objects to draw the minotaur's attention. The minotaur lunges toward them, as the Winx girls run away. Bloom and Musa squirt suntan lotion, or some unknown liquid, onto the floor, and the minotaur slips, crashing into the duck, walking around aimlessly, and they both fly through a window. Stella's plan worked! Kindness and ingenuity! Nice to see her trying to make up for last week's debacle. The girls head for the unconscious minotaur, and wonder where it came from. The duck pops out from beneath the minotaur, crying for its mommy. Bloom remembers that the duck is stalking Icy, and Tecna figures that the Trix sisters must be about.
The group of nine heads for Miss Faragonda's office, thinking the Trix sisters will go there to use Faragonda's all-seeing crystal ball to find the Solaria ring. Which, oddly enough, the Trix sisters have given up on. Though the Winx girls don't know that yet, I guess. Everyone hides as they hear the Trix sisters about to enter Faragonda's office. Icy says the dragon fire must be in the room, as the Wisperian crystals are acting wildly, but isn't sure where exactly it is hidden. She says they're going to trash the room looking for it, but Bloom says she will not allow the Trio to do that. Miss Faragonda enters her office at that moment, and Bloom tries to hide in Miss Faragonda's desk as if she were an ostrich. Faragonda sees her, of course. Bloom claims she was just looking for something. Cute Bloom moment.
Outside, the Winx girls give their goodbyes to the Specialists, preparing to head back for Red Fountain. Sky gives Stella a kiss. Great expression on Stella's face: she was so not expecting that. Timmy is a geek flirting with Tecna. Faragonda asks Griselda to remind her to write a letter to Red Fountain to tell them about how the boys came to help the girls when they called them about their minotaur problem. Ah, naive Faragonda. Wasn't quite that innocent. Faragonda also scolds the Trix sister, telling them that she is sending a letter of complaint to Miss Griffin, hoping that she disciplines them properly, and that she will return their powers after Miss Griffin gives the word. The Trix sisters refuse to acknowledge Faragonda's existance. To such an extent that Icy is even ignoring the duck that's kissing her cheek. Gotta' hand it to them for their strong will. Griselda yells at the girls to go to Faragonda's office first thing in the morning.
The next morning, in Faragonda's office, she is telling the girls how brave and resourceful they were, but tells them next time, to clean up after they party, so as not to make another mess after cleaning up, telling the girls that's how she used to do it. She believes the Winx girls have learned their lessons, and returns their powers. Later, when she's alone in her office, Faragonda wonders about the dragon fire power, thinking it was just a myth. But she realizes the Trix sisters believe it to be real. She realizes it is definitely not in Stella's ring of Solaria. If the Trix sisters were right, she wonders how the dragon fire got here, and who has it.
Bloom: White t-shirt with blue sleeves, blue miniskirt, blue legwarmers, white sneakers.
Stella: Long white camisole-type top that would make a better dress, green belt (worn over the top), dark orange pants with lace cuffs, sandals.
Flora: Lime green and teal tank top with flower details on one side, teal pants, lime green gauzy sash thing around waist, sandals.
Musa: Dark blue tube top, long blue fingerless gloves, short blue skirt with an M on it, socks and blue sneakers.
Tecna: Lime green and purple athletic-style top, short purple skirt, green socks, purple sneakers.
And my own personal opinions on the outfits: Flora's style is absolutely adorable! It's a bit flowery, a bit exotic-looking, and quite beautiful, overall. Musa's outfit is a good second place, with certainly a less flowery and exotic look, but with a more "hip hop" look that, while hip hop itself is annoying, Musa looks great in her outfit. Tecna comes it at #3, with a nice outfit, and appropriate for Tecna, is overall less "exciting." Bloom is fourth, with a cute outfit, but just "plainer" than everyone else's. And Stella's is fifth. Sometimes I wonder about the poor girl's sense of fashion, or moreso, why she sometimes seems to have none. Blargh!
As for the episode itself, it was very good. It has the infamous bucket incident. It has Mirta's debut. It has a few nice Stella moments. Flora's adorable, if not also underused. Riven's a cool guy, being grumpy all the time. And of course, Darcy's little puppy love. Gotta' love that.
9 out of 10 on the old scale.
