Welcome! Trying something new in an effort to not make me hate all the cartoons I loved as a kid. From now on, I’ll just be picking random episodes of random cartoons and doing my synopses. People read this and think they’re fun, so I want to keep doing them, but it gets hard when you begin hating what you’re watching.
Those of you who listen to the show know what a fan I am of the He-Man universe. And, obviously, that would include She-Ra and all the happenings on planet Etheria! Seeing as how the Princess of Power series was just re-added to Netflix, I decided to dial-up a random choice with a short title. That was legitimately my criteria: one word title. So let’s see how this fares on its own.
She-Ra: Princess of Power: S.1, E.14: “Friendship”
Originally Aired: September 25, 1985
Plot:
Because of He-Man, I’m a huge fanboy of FILMATION, the company that produced the He-Man/She-Ra series as well Bravestarr, Ghostbusters and others. Seeing the letters fall into place to form the logo at the beginning of each episode gets me absolutely fired up. I’m not even joking. I love it.
We get the opening where Adora explains her origin for those not in the loop. Fabulous secrets were revealed to her the day she held aloft her magic sword and proclaimed, “…for the honor of Grayskull.” All great stuff.
She explains how her friends in the great rebellion look to free Etheria from the evil forces of Hordak, the big bad here and his Horde. After all, this is a rebellion and she’s gonna rebel.
So we pick up in the Forest where Adora has received a letter from a woman who was her second in command while still working for the Horde which says she will be put in prison because Hordak blames her for Adora turning babyface and joining the Rebellion. She has to go help. Bow and others offer to come along, but Adora refuses and says she must go alone to make it harder to be spotted while trespassing in the Fright Zone.
She-Ra instructs Swiftwind, her trusty, winged steed to pay close attention because anything can happen. Just as she says this, she is dragged into a tar pit by a cyclops squid monster. She’s pulled completely under, but within seconds, Squidclops (my name, not her’s) is launched into orbit and She-Ra emerges unscathed, but dripping with tar. This is an easy fix as she just spins around really fast until the tar is no more and she’s back to a glisten. But of course.
Cut to Bow who is traveling with Cowl to provide Adora some backup. They’re just worried and want to ensure her safety. She-Ra and Swiftwind encounter an angry pterodactyl looking monster who isn’t happy to have guests. She-Ra reads this thing’s mind and is able to figure out that it has an injured wing. She presses her hand to it and magically heals the beast who is now her friend.The Princess of Power, folks: a cross between Jesus Christ and Mr. Miyagi.
I guarantee this comes into play later in the episode when She-Ra finds herself in a pickle.
She-Ra gets into the Fright Zone and switches back into Adora. She’s surprised by the ease of access as there should be guards stationed around, but plays it off as if they must be on lunch or something. She hears her friend, Lonnie, call to her, but wouldn’t you know, this was all just a trap put in place by Hordak to play on Adora’s kind nature to pull her back into captivity.
Lonnie pulls the ole SUHPRISE and out pops Hordak and the Shadow Weaver. Turns out, Lonnie had no choice as Hordak has been holding her father captive on Beast Island and this was her way of getting him released. But Hordak pulls the okey-doke on her too and won’t release him as promised. Lonnie must feel like shit.
Bow arrives in the Fright Zone and is immediately met by Horde Troopers that he disposes of rather routinely before encountering Grizzlor and a crew of Troopers. Bow outsmarts the shit out of them by killing the lights and is able to locate Adora in Hordak’s chamber. Hordak hits him with some sleep gas and things are looking bleak for the good guys. Cowl, however, is still around and is able to grab Adora’s sword and getting out through the window just before Hordak is able to secure the chamber. Hordak isn’t at all upset about losing the sword as he still has Adora and Bow in shackles.
Hordak takes Adora to Beast Island so the Shadow Weaver can again try to get control of her mind, but Cowl slips into the cell and delivers the sword so Adora can transform into She-Ra. Grizzlor comes to transport the prisoner and is shocked to find She-Ra where Adora should be.
She disposes of the baddies then frees Bow and tells Lonnie to come with them so they can free her father. Lonnie must realllllllly feel like shit.
They find Lonnie’s dad, but Hordak and some Troopers immediately attempt to thwart their rescue efforts. They pose basically zero resistance and She-Ra turns her sword to a lasso to swing up to the cage suspended high in the air to free Lonnie’s father.
Our heroes escape into the wilderness of Beast Island which is roamed by all sorts of monsters. There’s no way they’ll be able to get out of this alive. They’re met by all sorts of monsters who have laser eyes, but of course, She-Ra’s pterodactyl monster from earlier comes in to rescue them and fly the entire crew back to Whispering Woods. Friends come in all sorts of shapes, but we are lucky to have them all.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, I knew what this was going to be. What a ridiculous concept. If you’re expecting some cutting edge writing or thought-provoking stories, you’re not getting it here. We see how good of a heart Adora has and her willingness to help friends and then we get what I assume is their daily escape from the clutches of the Horde.
When it comes down to it, this was the 80s and, apparently, just what these cartoons were. She-Ra: Princess of Power did get a nice run of 93 episodes and had a pretty bad-ass toy line so there was obviously a market for it; especially at a time where there weren’t very many vehicles like this being presented to young girls.
All in all, if I were watching this series straight through, I can imagine it would become quite the chore as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and M.A.S.K. have for me beforehand, but as a standalone episode, it’s fine to look back the cheesiness of it and just accept it for what it is.
You don’t need to have seen the prior episodes as the background is given during the opening credits so you can just sit back and be thrown into today’s adventure which, to be fair, is not the worst thing in the world.
So, She-Ra, you still got it, girl. But don’t expect me to binge watch you and your friends anytime soon.
❤ Joe
Car JoeMeZ 