If you missed part one, click here before the guilt overtakes your whole life.
The early reviews of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock are in and it sounds like the critics are embracing the show. I'm particularly impressed with the way the reviewers are able to separate their childhood nostalgia from viewing the new show on its own merits; I myself have not had the chance to try it on and I expect I'll be going through a bit of a transitional period, but I have to say I'm enthusiastic.
If the show proves to be successful I think we can all expect a wave of negativity from the voices who can't, or won't, separate that nostalgia (I observe this all the time on the Scooby-Doo threads). I GET the emotional attachment, the original show was a kind of lightning in a bottle on par with Batman: The Animated Series. But let's also be fair, not all the original episodes were home runs. For every boat ride about white birds and death there was some jazz about the Gorgs' soufflé that just feels like hole filler.
So as a contribution to the cause I've selected thirty of the ninety-six episodes as my personal Fraggle pond for you to dip your toes into. "THIRTY?" you say, "That's a lot! That's three times the usual top ten list!" I KNOW that boulder-brain, I'm being nice. What I've done is taken each of the main Fraggles and the selected the five best episodes that showcase them, demonstrate character growth, or are just kind of awesome in some way; you can pick your favorite. And I've also included a selection of episodes that don't really settle on which Fraggle is the protagonist but are too good to ignore.
So grab your postcards and hold onto your radish bars because it's about to get a little bit silly in here.
Gobo's Decisive Top Five:
I've often wondered if statistically Gobo is the Fraggle least likely to be a kid's favorite. As the 'leader' his personality has fewer of the fun quirks the supporting cast gets and he tends to start out with an advantage as the voice of reason. But serving as the audience's surrogate, you're pretty much guaranteed to find Gobo at the center of any story that advances the overall mythology of the Rock. His weaknesses are usually his strengths not kept in check; confidence becomes arrogance, determination becomes stubbornness. And a lot of times his mistakes are the ones that have the most impact on others.
5. The Honk of Honks (season 5, episode 12)
I hate to direct you to the penultimate episode of the series right through the gate but this is one of the rare times a story can feel epic with almost nothing at stake. Gobo is tasked by Cantus to sound the titular Honk of Honks so the Fraggles can sing the Song of Songs; it's kind of a thing. Gobo has an often tenuous relationship with authority figures; in fact the Trash Heap is the only one who maintains his respect from the start of the series to the end. And while Cantus can give Gobo a loving dressing down, the answer always feels well-earned in the end.
4. The Day the Music Died (season 2, episode 18)
While a few miscommunications nearly bring on the end of the Fraggles' civilization, it's clear nobody is actually at fault. Sometimes shit happens because you don't have all the information you need; in this case, how much the Fraggles' survival depends on music. Gobo's fighting spirit is the savior here as he refuses to give up, even as the darkness is killing him (excuse me, putting him to sleep forever, much better). His last ditch effort isn't even intended as a long shot, it's just him deciding how he's going to go out. Perhaps dumb luck, or maybe he just knows even when he doesn't know he knows.
3. Gobo's Discovery (season 1, episode 21)
I wouldn't say self-doubt is a heavy topic, but it's definitely a complicated one, and pretty abstract for a debut seasons that's given us easily-resolvable conflicts about finding Boober's hat and going back to eating Doozer constructions. It's sad to see Gobo having an existential crisis, but it's even worse when you realize Fraggle Rock is the least qualified place to handle one. Fraggles know who and what they are, even a misfit like Boober has a grip on his identity. Nobody is going to be able to help him through it. In fact the only other character who goes through something similar in the series is Cotterpin Doozer, and we're a few seasons away from that support group.
2. Uncle Matt Comes Home (season 2, episode 5)
Throughout season one Gobo clearly had a trajectory of aging, going from about a ten year version of himself to a fifteen. With his Uncle Matt (literally the only parental figure for any of the Fraggles) exiting his life in this younger mindset, Gobo retains the idea of who his uncle is through the whole season. But with Matt's temporary return, both uncle and nephew realize that neither one is quite who they're expecting. Gobo has grown, and Matt isn't used to a teenager. Inevitably there's a blow up, even if neither one is clear on why.
1. The Bells of Fraggle Rock (season 3, episode 1)
This is the best Gobo (and Cantus) episode, and one of the most innovative 'Christmas' stories. At the core of it is an original solstice myth that every non-Gobo Fraggle accepts as face value; even Wembley doesn't budge on his belief in it. But Gobo can't accept a story without proof, and sets out to find the Great Bell at the worst possible time. Now with a short run time of 25 minutes the episode simply can't cover everything it wants to, but the believer/non-believer debate and the notion of spiritual betrayal are alluded to, hopefully enough to inspire real-world discussions. And there's nothing more chilling (get it?) than the moment Cantus finally drops the mystical shtick and challenges Gobo with logic.
Mokey's Five Inner Voices:
There's an episode I haven't selected for this list where Cantus and the minstrels offer Mokey a spot in their band. And as much as she wants to go with them and collect songs, her friends in the Great Hall mean too much to her. That spot, with one foot in a team mom role and one foot in the unknown, sums up Mokey. She's slightly older, wiser, and more intuitive than the others, and under most circumstances her life would be fairly drama-free. But she has friends with strong personalities. Like any empath, she tends to absorb the emotions around her, and when those eyelids roll back you know something's about to erupt.
5. Mokey's Funeral (season 1, episode 22)
One of the ongoing conflicts regarding Mokey is the fact that, like so many nurturers, she's treated as if she's incompetent when it comes to handling challenges of the physical world. She's a maternal figure to be protected, not allowed to get her hands dirty; all the more curious as she's the one who spends the most time around the Gorgs. It hurts when her ideas are pre-dismissed as impractical, and it's devastating when her poetry (read: soul) is mocked as irrelevant. For all their song bursts, Fraggles have a mean side, but it's a gentle heart like Mokey who's most likely to learn and use an unFraggle phrase like "F**k you" if she gets pushed far enough.
4. The Incredible Shrinking Mokey (season 3, episode 20)
Fraggles are innocently insensitive, which is harmful enough but usually resolvable without too many tears. So it takes an outside character (one shot Begoony) to tackle the family-friendly concept of an abusive relationship. Many times in the series an abstract idea is presented as concretely as possible; in this case Begoony's constant demands of Mokey literally begin shrinking her until she's just his plaything. Her way out is obviously much smoother than in real life incidents of abuse, but the point her is to start showing kids the warning signs. Suffice to say, if you start seeing yourself reflected in Begoony it's on you to get off that path.
3. The Preachification of Convincing John (season 1, episode 6)
Convincing John makes three appearances through the show's run and all three of them have made my list. It's not that I have a particular affection for the character, but from a story point of view he's very good at escalation. Funny thing, even in his debut appearance he doesn't have his own opinion, he's just doing what Mokey's asked him to do. The real conflict comes from Mokey's belief that eating Doozer towers is wrong, and she forces her belief on everyone else in a manner that raises some real questions about political power in the Rock. Fortunately Mokey also the type who's willing to admit when she's wrong.
2. The Secret Society of Poobahs (season 3, episode 10)
Family entertainment produces a whole lot of content that's classified as humorous, but very little of it is actually funny. This episode is really funny. The short version, Mokey's getting punked. Not maliciously so, the substantial network of pranksters isn't trying to make her look stupid; it's more like they're making themselves look stupid for the sole purpose of getting a laugh out of her. But Mokey's stuck so deeply in her own head that she can't see the humor. Hell, even at the end she only kind of gets it on her own, but she gets there nonetheless. Of special note, this episode is Convincing John's third and final appearance, and it's fun to see who he is without his 'Convincing' adjective at work. So...John Fraggle I guess.
1. The New Trash Heap in Town (season 1, episode 24)
Kudos to Fraggle Rock writing team for their selection of difficult topics, but sometimes I can't really tell if the end result works or not. The season one finale is a fairly light presentation of a highly nuanced issue, and I keep wembling between whether they should have gone darker or if the horror is best left in the subtext for the adults to discover. At any rate, this gets worse the more you think about it. The Fraggles are having the same collective nightmares and the Trash Heap's wisdom is temporarily cut off. So scared community needing relief. They turn to Mokey, but not just to hear her insights but to actually think for them. In other words the happy go-lucky Fraggle create and fall victim to their own cult. And it's a telling peek into Mokey's psyche how unappreciated, and possibly unloved she ordinarily feels that the sudden adulation takes hold of her immediately. All I can say is thank God she's willing to listen to reason over her own praise.
Wembley's Five Best Or Maybe Not:
From a writing perspective, Wembley is the go-to character whenever a situation needs someone to randomly walk in and ask for clarification on what's going on; i.e. the Doctor Who companion. As the proverbial 'child' character, Wembley's overarching arc most closely resembles what Fraggle Rock's creative team wants the audience to take from the show. Phase one: identifying the innocence in life and doing one's best to preserve it. Phase two: recognizing that sometimes innocence can't be protected and learning to adapt. Phase three: developing a wisdom to notice when the world would be better for actively creating a change.
5. We Love You, Wembley (season 1, episode 13)
It's telling how the Wembley-centric episodes seem to contain the highest concentration of one shot characters. Lou Fraggle, who nobody manages to bump into before or after this one encounter (raising some questions about the Rock's population) is his first. It's a real pity she doesn't stick around because her street-smart 'I-don't-have-time-for-this-shit' attitude is rather intriguing for a Fraggle to have. And maybe there's a variant world out there where Lou Fraggle is the star of her own series. But as is, she effectively plants a seed in Wembley's sycophancy (it will grow later) to ask the question "If I don't want this, why am I agreeing to it?".
4. Wembley and the Mean Genie (season 3, episode 9)
You've never heard the saying 'a heart of gold attracts moths' before because I just made it up, but it certainly applies here. Wembley was destined to meet a real bully at some point and I can't help but wonder how it might have played out if Wembley didn't have discovered power over the genie. But the important thing is that Wembley does manage to hold on to the aforementioned innocence (in this case seeing the best in people) all the way through, and the fact that he never presses his advantage probably makes him better than me.
3. The Secret of Convincing John (season 2, episode 14)
I'd love to watch this episode in a graduate school class for therapists. Wembley's defining trait of indecisiveness is played as a mental health issue with potential consequences; he almost gets Gobo killed because he can't decide where to tie off a security rope. Enter Convincing John with his bag of mind-control tricks to reprogram Wembley's brain. It goes poorly. Not only is it uncomfortable seeing Wembley decisive to the point of arrogance, but we get a peek at a deep rooted self-loathing that we never knew was there. And when you factor in that Convincing John has the same affliction, one wonders what kind of master manipulator Wembley could actually turn into.
2. The Gorg Who Would Be King (season 5, episode 11)
Junior Gorg's character development over five seasons reaches its conclusion when a mishap shrinks him to Fraggle size and he sees the world through their eyes. Wembley is the one who takes him under his wing, and in the process defuses a near-mobbing of Fraggles who seem ready to dole out some karmic punishment. That's how far Wembley's come by now, he knows what's right and he's willing to stand alone for it if he has to. "We're all connected" has been the theme of the show, but Wembley being the one to teach it to a Gorg is a resolution I don't think any of us were expecting.
1. Gone But Not Forgotten (season 5, episode 7)
Oh man. Arguably the best episode of the whole series, this is dealing with Mr. Hooper's death if we actually watched it on screen. Wembley makes a friend with a very short lifespan. And watches him die. That's pretty much the plot, of course the thing that makes it work is how much time they devote to processing the emotions that follow. Sometimes you just have to hurt it out and Wembley accepts that he's been changed forever by the experience. Death just is. And it sucks that that's all the resolution we get, but anything more than that is a lie. Just because.
Bonus- Five Shared protagonist Episodes:
The Challenge (season 1, episode 14)
It's advertised as a Red episode but it's just as much a journey for Gobo. While the hierarchy doesn't exactly resolve and there will be several points where we revisit this power struggle, Red makes her demand for respect pretty clear. It's subtle, but there's a turning point moment where Gobo asks her for permission to borrow one of her earlier ideas. As in life, you're not always aware of what you're learning.
Marooned (season 1, episode 17)
I think it was a misstep for later seasons to neglect the bond Red and Boober developed throughout season one. They don't realize it but they're actually very similar in a lot of ways; headstrong, highly opinionated, really brave in their respective elements and really afraid outside of them. Dave Goelz and Karen Prell's performances in this episode might be the unbeatable Oscar clip in all of Muppet history; they allegedly had half the crew in tears during the filming.
Fraggle Wars (season 2, episode 17)
Perhaps more of a Tri-Force episode featuring the Red/Mokey coin and one shot character Beige. The Bert Fraggles (see my previous post) are proudly unfun, and possibly the group Boober actually belongs with. The Ernies nearly come to violence with them over (to Red's understandable horror) not liking the same jokes. Sometimes conflict is inevitable, but it's crucial to remember what you're fighting for instead of just honing in on who you're against. When Red and Beige both realize that they want what's best for Mokey a peaceful solution presents itself.
Scared Silly (season 3, episode 13)
Okay let me get this out of the way; Boober is my favorite character, but he's really being a dick here. As cathartic as it is finally seeing him on the dominant side of scaring people, his treatment of Wembley in this episode is unforgivable. What was going to be the endgame? Give Wembley a nervous breakdown? Dude, not cool. Funny as hell, yes, but you were over the line and you knew it.
Wonder Mountain (season 4, episode 11)
The Fraggles do Looney Tunes. Street smart Red feels she needs to protect book smart Mokey from the street, and while her intentions are good they're inadvertently insulting. As such, Red winds up in whatever trouble she's trying to overprotect Mokey from and has to be bailed out. It's a natural conflict of interests, Mokey wants to have an adventure and Red wants to keep her safe. I can't really tell if a lesson is learned or not, but it's a great journey. Um, one question, didn't they technically leave the avalanche monster to die?
Boober's Five Greatest Worries:
So as much of a Fraggle Rock connoisseur as I am, you might think when I first heard about the series I was planted right in front of the HBO logo on day one. Well boy are you dumb. In 1983 I was ten (and eleven respectively) and starting to age out of children's entertainment, which is what the show looked like. I'd catch an episode here and there whenever we'd misplace the remote, but for a while I wasn't connecting with it. But then something about that grouchy misfit character with no visible eyes caught my attention. As an unwilling pre-teen with no resources for depression, the spark of representation suddenly crackled. Dave Goelz, the one (and currently only) mastermind behind Gonzo was about to throw me a life preserver in my sea of adolescence. Dude, PLEASE write an autobiography before we lose you.
5. Boober's Quiet Day (season 2, episode 23)
I wasn't a huge fan of the whole Sidebottom subplot, but it did give us this great screwball comedy episode about one little lie that snowballs into a whole charlatan performance. Sidebottom is Boober's fun side which he actively suppresses. If that doesn't make any damn sense, congratulations, you probably don't live with depression. But like anything ambiguous that you try to keep control of, it gets away from you in an instant. Boober wants a quiet day, but his fun side can't accept the boring act of asking for one, so he tells a lie. And then another. And again. And spoilers, he doesn't get his quiet day.
4. Boober and the Glob (season 3, episode 3)
I imagine Boober was a hard character to come up with stories for as his ultimate goal was to be left alone. But here again is a setup where too much fun was about to push him out of his comfort zone, in this case Joke Day. He tries to escape but trips over Cotterpin Doozer (a character you'd expect him to get along with) and then witnesses the arrival of a Glob that eats Doozers. The other Fraggles don't see it as something to worry about, but Boober worries about everything. And when he watches Cotterpin get swallowed, a seed of heroism begins to sprout in him.
3. I Don't Care (season 1, episode 15)
The promo to this episode was what got me hooked on the show. Boober is afraid of everything in Fraggle Rock, and between the Glob and the Terrible Tunnel it's hard not to see his point. But he finds a placebo to give him courage in the form of a lucky blanket that only seems to attract misery to him. As he gets angrier his friends only bounce between confused and insensitive towards his feelings. It's worth noting that the conflict gets violent before it gets resolved, which was the one line even the Fraggle Wars episode didn't cross.
2. Boober Rock (season 2, episode 2)
Well he finally does it. Boober pulls up stakes and moves away from the noise where he thinks he'll be happier. The experienced introvert can recognize why Boober moving away isn't ultimately going to work out for him; he needs other Fraggles. He may not be able to stand them on the surface, but Boober has always done the cooking and the laundry because he honestly wants to. But that's not an interesting story so let's go with Plan B; it's dangerous to go alone. The same killer plants that almost do Red and Lanford in in season three make their debut here, this time with an amnesia spray. Boober Rock isn't quite the horror tale that The Terrible Tunnel is, but you've got to give it credit; this is the only episode that smothers it's own song.
1. The Doomsday Soup (season 2, episode 19)
We don't tend to think of Boober as a fighter but when he has to throw down he can even make Gobo's jaw drop. Boober knows he's the black sheep, and a lot of his stories are about him trying to change something (himself or his situation) to alleviate that discomfort. In The Doomsday Soup, he starts with a reluctant acceptance that he's always going to be the odd one. A series of chemistry malfunctions creates a soup capable of turning Fraggles invisible, which the others treat as a blessing while Boober worries about the potential consequences. But for once he gets rewarded for staying true to his unpopular opinions when he witnesses the soup cause a rock quake. He's not believed, but safety is more important to him than approval; hence when he throws down against Junior Gorg and orders him out of the way. In that moment, Boober proves he's the Fraggle you don't want to screw with.
The Five Rules of Red's Club:
If there's one character who could survive in a solo spinoff from the series it's Red. The Fraggle Rock creative team was incredible, but I can't help feeling like Red kind of created herself in the same way that really dominant personalities like Bugs Bunny revealed themselves to the animators. Red is a very complex character, being both the star athlete and her own cheerleader, and yet without coming across as narcissistic. We're all driven by two conflicting needs, to be included and to be exceptional. Red probably comes the closest to finding the balance between the two. She knows her worth, even if she sometimes misjudges what she can do with it. I think we all need a Red in our life and wish we could be a bit more like her.
5. Red Handed and the Invisible Thief (season 3, episode 2)
Rule one: if you're going to fail, fail spectacularly. Red's self-confidence is more likely to get her in trouble than anything else as she demonstrates when she becomes convinced that her best friend is stealing her radish bars (yuck, by the way). Through a very thorough investigation Red figures out in the most embarrassing way that she's been eating them herself in her sleep. But watching her have to pull her foot out of her mouth and apologize to Mokey is an inspiration. Red's not afraid of being wrong, and that self-confidence extends to her ability to admit it.
4. Inspector Red (season 5, episode 10)
Rule two: 'I can do it' is your mantra, whether you can or not. Another crime takes place in the Rock and Red jumps at the chance to solve it. Alas, patience isn't her strong suit, and every time she gets a lead she misinterprets it as a solution. The mistakes she makes get progressively more humiliating for her, but they never deter her from the follow through. In the end she gets a flash of out-of-the-box thinking to save her own ass and pulls off a victory. Oh one more thing, can we take the Fraggles' "the punishment for false accusation is worse than the punishment for stealing" and apply it to the real world?
3. The Garden Plot (season 1, episode 20)
Rule three: you're stronger than you think you are. I believe Red's animosity towards Uncle Matt has to do with a resentment of how fearless he is. Fearless isn't the same as courageous (the former is closer to oblivious) but when you're focused on results the difference isn't evident. But because of Uncle Matt Gobo regularly goes one room into Outer Space, which automatically grants him a one-up on her. Red's need to prove herself isn't always the healthiest motivator, but MAN when it's time to act she's a force to be reckoned with. Not only does she save Fraggle Rock from an explosion, she takes down Junior Gorg by herself.
2. Playing Till it Hurts (season 3, episode 17)
Rule four: everyone has limits. Red hears her hero Rock Hockey Hannah is visiting from...um...Who-Knows-Where to watch her play (seriously, where do these one shot characters go?). The peek into Red's psyche is a nightmare sequence where we see her teaching herself the terrible advice we teach all of our athletes about pushing through the pain. 'I can do it' is a valuable mentality to get you started, but it's crucial to accept that sometimes you just can't. "I can't" is probably the hardest thing Red has ever had to say, and it's touching to see the moment get a stamp of approval from her hero.
1. Red's Club (season 2, episode 13)
Rule five: always ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing. Relationships are complicated, and even though Red got out of Gobo's shadow multiple times already, his 'voice of the group' still carries too much weight for her. The thing is, if their power dynamic were reversed it would be very effective (although we wouldn't get as many stories out of it). Red is a born leader who benefits from being challenged by a larger picture guy like Gobo; it's understandable why she resents his presumed position of doling out permissions. This whole episode is heartbreaking because we can see she doesn't really know what she wants, and she keeps driving wedges between her and people who care about her trying to figure it out. But it culminates in her most bad-ass moment of the series when she offers her service to Pa Gorg and them gives a 'screw this, I'm out of here' rescue to her friends. You go girl!
The Trash Heap has spoken. Nyeeeeah!
