In Flora's and Bloom's room, Flora is packing her potions and plants too, with Chatta's help. Bloom comes in, saying she had just said goodbye to Sky, and won't see him all summer. Flora says summer vacation is a lot shorter this year. Seems like it would've been shorter last year. You know, the one where the schools all shut down during the army of decay attack? Wonder what would've made summer vacation shorter this year. Bloom doesn't want to go away right after a fight with Sky anyway.
And in Tecna's room, she is analyzing the percentage of her stuff to go into three suitcases. Digit and Tecna agree that it's a good idea to organize her stuff in this manner. Tecna then leaves the room, with the suitcases floating behind her. And we also notice that Tecna has a different voice actress this season. This voice sounds younger and more emotional, while still sounding British and somewhat stuffy. Though honestly, I like her original, colder voice more.
Outside, Stella, Flora, and Tecna are waiting, as Bloom, Layla, and Musa are carrying out plants. Layla says that she and Musa aren't going home for summer vacation, and can help Bloom carry her stuff. Bloom says it isn't necessary though, and uses a spell to have the suitcases come to her. Stella asks what Layla and Musa have planned. Layla says they're going to the beach. Bloom's luggage is attacking, though! Lockette saves Kiko, who was riding on the luggage, as Layla tries to stop the luggage herself, with quite good acrobatics. Layla is successful, but Lockette drops Kiko right on Layla, and she crashes into Stella's luggage. And Stella naturally gets upset over all her clothes being mixed up again. Stella gets excited to see a Sungram from Solaria in the sky, though, and a hologram of Wanda, the official palace messenger, appears from it, and announces the official Princess Ball on Solaria. Stella is surprised, as she was not expecting to have this Princess Ball. Bloom feels stupid, asking what a Princess Ball is. Layla explains that it's held for when a princess is ready to officially enter royal society. Musa adds that they used to announce the princess' future husband for arranged marriages years ago. Layla adds that some kingdoms still do that. Stella's father, in a cheaper hologram than Wanda's, appears to tell Stella that she will love the party, and that he has a surprise announcement that will make Stella very happy. Stella says that everyone is coming with her to Solaria. Bloom starts to ask something sounding questioning, but Stella will hear nothing of it, saying that this ball only happens once in a lifetime.
Elsewhere, in space somewhere, a prisoner transport ship enters the Omega Dimension. One guard says they're delivering three prisoners, and to activate the pods. An male prisoner worries that they're sending him "down there," but the guards tell him he isn't bad enough, and that the three ladies they're sending "down there" have to have been really bad to get this punishment. Wonder who this prisoner is, and what he did, and all that. He's apparently not as cocky as the Trix, anyway. They send down the three pods, which turn into icicles as they crash down to the surface of a planet. Seconds after impact, Icy breaks out of her icicle pod, saying that they can't freeze her already-frozen heart. Wonder how they captured the Trix in the first place? I mean, they seemed more or less fine at the end of last season. Questions, questions.
Back at Alfea, Tecna says she can just upload her facebook to invite everyone in it, but Stella tells her that she wants to keep the guest list under a thousand. Musa says it's great that Stella's Dad is throwing her this Princess Ball, and that not a lot of Dads know how to do this sort of thing. Stella says hers doesn't either, and that her Mom is the party planner. Bloom says maybe her Mom is helping, and Stella decides she may be right, and that her parents getting back together may be the big surprise, and gets very hyped up about this being the big surprise, and combines all her clothes together, since she won't have to worry about having to match outfits for two homes. You're getting a bit ahead of yourself, Stella. You're setting yourself up for big disappointment if that's not the news, after all. And what's with Musa's odd, dreamy look? Stella's going to rent a limo and buy a dress, and wants her friends to go with her. Musa says she and Layla are going to the beach, but Bloom says she'll go with her.
Back on the Omega Dimension, Icy releases her sisters from their icy prisons. They seem somewhat pleased that they're "tough enough" to be sent here. I guess it hasn't sunk in quite yet that they ain't exactly going to have fun here. They see snakes around. Stormy figures that they're just snakes, and can't be that tough. Until one shoots down a flying creature, turning it into ice, and it drops and shatters on the ground. Stormy actually looks kinda' worried, too! So much for that tough front.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
In Magix, all the Winx girls except Layla are around. Tecna goes over the people who have RSVPed for the Princess Ball: Riven, Helia, Brandon, Timmy, and Mirta. Yay, Mirta! Bloom asks about Sky. Tecna says he hasn't replied yet. Bloom worries that if he gets back to Eraklyon before getting the invite, that his parents won't let him go.
Stella says their first stop is for pizza, that you need fuel up first before shopping. Bloom says this place makes the best pizza. She'd better not tell her Mom that, since back in Season 1, Vanessa said that her homemade pizza with extra cheese was Bloom's favorite. The cook puts Stella's pizza on the counter, but it's quickly taken by another girl. The cook says the next won't be ready for another ten minutes, and the girl says Stella won't mind waiting. She and Stella get into a tug of war over the pizza, and it winds up spilling over both of them. I'd love to know how one pizza manages to scatter in opposite directions, myself. They both complain about getting their designer clothes dirty, and both use spells to remove their messes on their clothes. The girl asks if they're Alfea fairies. Stella says yeah, and asks what she is. The girl answers that they're Betas. The girl's two friends do a little cheer about Betas rocking. Bloom asks if they could get along. The girl's friends say Chimera is having a Princess Ball. Chimera being the new girl, in case it wasn't obvious. Bloom says that's cool, that Stella is also having a Princess Ball. The girls say Chimera is shopping for dresses. Bloom's expression is absolutely priceless! She is obviously very annoyed by these girls, but just wants to keep peace. As opposed to Flora, who seems downright oblivious to these girls' attitudes.
Flora: So are we, so we actually have a lot in common. It's so nice to meet fairies from another magic school.
Chimera: Whoa, what are you made of? Gumdrops and sugarplum pie?
You go, Chimera! Flora kinda' deserved that. Stella yells at Chimera not to dis Flora. Bloom tries to get Stella out of the pizza parlor before the situation escalates. Stella has to make one final comment of course, telling Chimera that her preteen-meets-goth look is *very* appealing on her. Tecna "snaps," getting praise from Stella, and irritation from Bloom. And Bloom's right. Gotta' say Bloom's been great during this whole Chimera thing, trying to keep cool, while at the same time not being a complete wuss, either.
Outside, Bloom looks inside a shop, noting that the shop has all the designers. Musa says she's going to get her hair spelled, then going to meet Layla at the beach. Flora and Tecna decide to check out the second floor of the shop, as Bloom goes with Stella to find a dress on the first floor.
Bloom thinks the virtual dressing room is really neat, which allows someone to try on various outfits virtually. Stella virtually tries on a bunch of various outfits, and for that matter, Bloom joins in the fun as well. They even try on a couple of very Jem-looking outfits. Heck, Stella's hair even goes from blonde to pink! Stella finally decides on a red dress, available not far from where Stella is. But nearby, Chimera is also trying on the same virtual dress, and decides she wants it as well. Stella sees, and goes up to her to say there's only one dress like it, and it's hers. Chimera tricks Stella by saying her shoes are untied, and pushes Stella down when she looks down. Chimera then casts a barrier lockdown spell to keep Stella and Bloom in the dressing room while Chimera and her friends go to get the dress.
Back in the Omega Dimension, the Trix are running from the killer snakes. Stormy tries to blast one of the snakes, but it doesn't do anything. Icy directs her sisters down a hole, but while Icy gracefully makes her way down, Stormy and Darcy get a little more hurt falling down. Icy notices a prisoner named Baltor encased in ice. Stormy notices the plaque on his ice prison says he was sentenced to an eternity, and wonders what he did to get that. Icy wonders if he's awake, and tells him to blink once if he sees her. He doesn't blink, but Stormy still figures Icy should free him, so he could be used as bait for the snakes. Icy says it has to be him or them, but Baltor easily defeats the snakes without any problem. The Trix are impressed. Baltor says he was trapped in the ice cube for seventeen years, and awake the whole time, and that being trapped so long gave him lots of time to think about revenge. Icy suggests they break out of the Omega Dimension together. Baltor tells the Trix sisters to follow him, but Icy and Stormy get upset with his giving them orders. Baltor coyly agrees, saying that it would be foolish of him to try to order them around. Nice to see Darcy was smart enough not to try to get on his bad side. Icy and Stormy seemed to miss where he was seemingly stronger than they were.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Bloom and Stella struggle to break free from the dressing room, and in short time succeed. Stella hunts down Chimera, and tries to beat her to the dress. They get ahead, but Chimera starts blasting at Stella.
Bloom: They're attacking us over a dress?!
Stella doesn't think much of it, and starts attacking back, and Bloom and Stella even dart into traffic to get away. Chimera gets very angry, and sets off a temper tirade attack, which sends random blasts in all directions. Even her friends try to calm her, though unsuccessfully. One blast shoots a balcony that a couple of puppies were on, so Bloom and Stella transform to their winx forms to safely lower them down. Seems like they could've easily done that without transforming to save time, really. I mean, we know they can cast spells without transforming, right? They get to the store too late to buy the dress, though: Chimera is there to rub Stella's face in it, too. Stella tells the worker that she's the Princess of Solaria. The worker says that Chimera also said she was the Princess of Solaria. Or that she would soon be. Bloom and Stella are confused. Of course, we can figure this out. Big announcement from Daddy, plus new Princess of Solaria soon... looks like you'll be getting a new stepsister, Stella!
Back in the Omega Dimension, the quartet find the gate to Tides. Icy says it looks sturdy, but Baltor says that if they can create a small hole in it, he can get his energy outside the gate and take it down. Icy blasts the gate, but the blast shoots back at the Trix. Baltor says the gate is reinforced with magic. Icy gets an idea, to get a snake to chase her to the gate. The snake blasts at Icy, but she deflects it down to the gate, and has Darcy and Stormy join in with blasting the gate. They are successful in getting a hole in the gate. Baltor says he likes Icy's style. Icy likes his as well. Baltor seeps energy through the gate, and the mermaid guards on the other sides are knocked out, gain his mark, become his minions, and he gets their powers.
Stormy: How do all these guys get minions?
Icy: I don't know, but we got to get some, too.
One of the great mysteries of movies and TV. Baltor declares that Tides will be his.
Layla and Musa find the other four Winx girls on the beach. None of them are wearing beach attire, either. And Musa's hair is now much longer. Boo! Stella compliments Musa's new hair. At least the show acknowledged the change, instead of pretending Musa always had long hair. Stella says she couldn't get the red dress she wanted, but she shows them the pink dress she did get. The Winx girls all like it. Stella says that she wished they could have seen the other dress. Bloom tries to encourage Stella to be more optimistic, that she has the Princess Ball, summer vacation, and her parents are getting back together. Bad Bloom, letting Stella convince you that's definitely what the announcement is. Right as Bloom asks what could make things better, the five Specialists show up, and the girls all go immediately to their boyfriends. Bloom is happy to see Sky too, and apologizes for the fight. Wonder what the fight was, anyway. Guess it happened sometime between this episode and the last episode. Layla senses something amiss, though.
Layla: Something is wrong.
Riven: Yeah, I know, I should change the station.
Layla is talking about the ocean, though. And we see bubbles and steam coming up, as well as a tidal wave. You know, the way Layla said "something is wrong," I was expecting something like she sensed something wrong with her homeland. Not "oh my God, everybody's in danger!" Seems like that should've gotten more of a sense of urgency in Layla's voice for this.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
The girls transform to their fairy forms, and try to hold the wave back with beams, as the Specialists get everyone out of the water. The fairies release the wave too early, though, since the Specialists seemed to have missed one girl. Layla flies down to rescue the girl, then surfs the wave to the shore. And that was a surprisingly calm impact with the shore, too. Tecna and Timmy declare the wave's appearance as a big-time anomaly. Layla says it was caused by a dimensional shockwave, caused by something terrible happening to the heart of all oceans. A mermaid appears nearly in the water, calling for Layla. Layla recognizes her as Sirene. Sirene says to Layla "codeword sandbar." Layla realizes it means her realm is in trouble, and she's needed. The other girls want to come with, but Layla says that they can't, that she'll be traveling through the ocean itself.
Outside the gate, Icy tells Baltor of how cool his powers are, of creating minions and taking their powers. Baltor says he's only beginning, and that they can only imagine what he has in store for the rest of the realms.
Aside from that, a fun little episode, that really felt almost more like an episode in the middle of the season, rather than one to start it off. Well, at least if you don't count Baltor's introduction, I guess.
And speaking of Baltor, it looks like he should be a more interesting villain than Lord Darkar last season. Darkar was just a very stereotypical villain from countless cartoons. Baltor seems to have more of a personality, more flair to him. We'll see how that works out in the upcoming episodes.
Chimera looks like she'll be a lot of fun, as a big rival for Stella. And seemingly soon-to-be stepsister, too. She's pretty selfish and stubborn... probably what Stella would've been more like if she hadn't had her Alfea friends. Hope to see a lot more of her in the future!
8 out of 10 on the old scale.
