I have this one and the next one all set up, so you'll see episode 20 up within a day or two. The first ep this time around was all kinds of cute (and makes me think that Trueheart needs a paramour, seriously), but the second one bugged me to no end (no pun intended, though).
Harmony: Unplugged
What better way to kick off a Harmony episode than with a song? Accordingly, Harmony and Trueheart just happen to be walking around Care Square, and Trueheart spurs Harmony on to sing about all the friends they meet. That includes Share in the candy shop (where Trueheart explains about the 'singing about the bears we meet' thing, and Love-a-lot doles out some praise that Harmony modestly dismisses), and Funshine and Cheer, who are playing a pong-like game of Belly Ball. Later, Trueheart has an inspired idea: Harmony should give a concert of all the songs she sang that day for all of Care-a-lot! Harmony likes the idea, since she apparently got a lot of ego-stroking during her tour of Care-a-lot. Trueheart adds to this by sucking up to her a bit, and gets the honor of being Harmony's manager for her trouble. A little later, the two brainstorm ideas for the concert, and Harmony sings an uninspired song about Trueheart, but Trueheart says it was good anyway, and continues to suck up to her as Harmony declares herself the best singer in Care-a-lot (just wait until Heartsong Bear shows up, honey).
The next day (or maybe later the same day), Trueheart and Harmony are handing out flyers for "Care-a-lot Concert Time" and Harmony's ego continues to grow, as she claims to be the only one singing, even though Trueheart thought she'd be a back-up singer, and what about all those birds that have been hanging around Harmony lately? 
Still, Harmony insists that since she's the main attraction, she should get her name in the title of the concert, and what does she need back-up singers for? As Harmony skips out on flyer duty, Trueheart starts to see the damage all her sucking up has done, but is powerless to stop it.
Still, Harmony insists that since she's the main attraction, she should get her name in the title of the concert, and what does she need back-up singers for? As Harmony skips out on flyer duty, Trueheart starts to see the damage all her sucking up has done, but is powerless to stop it.In preparation for the concert, Harmony gets a new wardrobe, including an Elvis-style cape. She tests it out by flinging it dramatically at the (imagined) crowd, and then orders Trueheart to pick it up. Trueheart complies for reasons that probably have to do with her being the manager, but still feels a bit spineless to me. Harmony also demands water, and retires to her trailer. Tenderheart can't help commenting on the change in Harmony, and tells Trueheart that if she doesn't like it, she should say something. Trueheart tells him that she doesn't want to upset Harmony before the concert, since everyone's looking forward to it and all. Later, she runs into Cheer on her way to Harmony's dressing room with her latest demands (including only green gummy bears). Cheer commends Trueheart on her commitment to friendship, but Trueheart is starting to think she's just being used by Harmony, as she displays the mile-long list of demands Harmony wrote. Cheer confides in her that she knows some bears have decided not to go to the concert because of Harmony's new conceited nature, and Trueheart can't blame them, since Harmony changed all the songs to be about herself instead of others (not to mention very loud). Cheer also tells her to tell Harmony how she feels, and by now, Trueheart is more receptive to the idea.
Trueheart approaches Harmony as she rehearses and pours her heart out about being left out of the concert and only fulfilling Harmony's impolite demands, but Harmony is having none of it,
stating that it's her right as the star of the show to be pampered. Trueheart tries to put her talent in perspective by reminding her that it's just her character trait to be a singer, like it's Grumpy's to fix things, and Oopsy's to continually fall down without actually getting hurt (seriously, she says that). Harmony sees her point, but is distracted by cupcakes, and nearly misses Trueheart telling her about the bears who won't be coming to her concert. Harmony claims the others are just jealous, and Trueheart tells her, no, it's because she's gotten a big head. Harmony flips out at this and kicks Trueheart out, but Trueheart's all "You can't fire me, I quit!" and the two go separate ways.
The night of the concert arrives, and the only one in the audience is Trueheart. She explains to Harmony that she tried to get the others to come, but they were so turned off by Harmony's ego that they declined. Trueheart also reminds Harmony that she tried to warn her, and Harmony finally sees the results of her ego-tripping. She spouts out the typical "I've learned my lesson" stuff, and denounces her cape. She wonders if she can be forgiven (and I'm with Trueheart's expression there. The situation does not call for that level of dramatics), but Trueheart forgives her, which is a start. Harmony wishes she could get everyone to come to concert so she could apologize all at once; Trueheart puts her mind to the task and comes up with a plan!
Later on, with everyone gathered at those picnic tables, Trueheart gives Harmony a short introduction, and then Harmony rips off Oopsy's song from Oopsy Does It as her apology song. But everyone forgives her anyway, although Wingnut is visually aroused by her song, strangely enough.
King of the Gobblebugs
This episode begins at night, with Grumpy chasing Grizzle in his garage for some reason. Somehow Grumpy flips Grizzle into a barrel of sticky glue and chatises Grizzle for trying to steal his tools. What? Turns out this was all just a story Grumpy was telling to the others around a campfire. Oopsy proclaims it the best story yet, and so
Cheer tells him to tell a story, too. Unable to think of anything,
he tells the others about the ladybug he saw the other day. From the bears' lackluster reaction, he realizes that they weren't looking for true stories (and Grumpy's story was obviously not true, c'mon), so he adds to the story, telling how the ladybug was really a huge gobblebug (the titular king). At the end of his story, Grumpy declares it time to go home (but I thought they were camping? There's a tent in the background and everything), so they do. This was the first sign of the stupidity of this episode, which, up to this point, I had assumed would be about all the bears telling campfire stories. Not so, unfortunately.
The next day, Funshine organizes everyone into a mob to go find the king gobblebug, and there's the obligatory shout-out to the original gobblebug episode. Wait, they thought Oopsy's story was true? When they were pratically begging him to embellish his story? Oy, oy. Just as everyone leaves, Oopsy finally gets out of bed, but only Wingnut is around, and he missed the crowd gathering, too, so he has no idea what's going on. Oopsy knows he's "late, but not that late," which I think is a reference to "the late Dentarthurdent," but I'm not sure. At any rate, the two of them decide to go search in the opposite direction of where everyone else went.
Over in Rainshine Meadows (where Oopsy claimed to have seen the gobblebug), everyone searches high and low, but to no avail. Grumpy hypothesizes that the gobblebug has already left, despite the fact that nothing is, y'know, eaten. As the other bears imagine the places it could have gone, Cheer realizes that Oopsy is nowhere to be found, and goes to look for him while the others continue searching for the gobblebug.
Cheer flies on her rainbow over Care Square until she finds Oopsy, and Share shows up out of nowhere. She tells Oopsy how worried she's been (for all of three minutes 9_9), causing Oopsy much confusion. Share clears up his confusion by mentioning the king gobblebug, and smothers Oopsy in a hug. Oopsy does not see fit to clear up the confusion, instead trying to persuade the two girls that the gobblebug has probably flown off to greener pastures, but the girls are persistant. Share gets Oopsy to give a better description of what the bug looks like, and his made-up description sounds fishy to Cheer. Oopsy tries to cover by saying he didn't get a good look after he 'frightened it off with his mighty roar,' but Cheer's skeptical look is strong enough to get the truth out of him. Oopsy admits to just wanting to tell a good story (which, again, the others practically demanded), and Share chastises him for making everyone worry and waste all that time and energy looking for the bug. Still, what's done is done, and the fastest way to get the truth to everyone is to split up.
Oopsy goes to find Grumpy first (get the worst reaction out the way first, eh?), and doesn't consider that he'd be anywhere but his garage. There's an offscreen crash and Oopsy ends up in the barrel of glue from Grumpy's earlier story. There is much sticky walking and things sticking to a glue-covered Oopsy. Even Wingnut can't loosen any object without it getting stuck to him as well. Oopsy theorizes that a bath might help, and heads for the fountain.
Meanwhile, Grumpy, Funshine, Tenderheart, and Surprise arrive in Care Square, unable to fathom why they haven't seen a sign of the gobblebug by now. They are rewarded with a sight of Oopsy shambling towards them, looking for all the world like a king gobblebug (maybe). They run off to hide, and Oopsy calls after them, but they only surmise that the bug ate Oopsy, not that it is Oopsy. Oopsy stumbles into the candy shop and ends up with his eyes covered, which leads to more stumbling around. Wingnut tries to explain what's going on, but Grumpy and Funshine charge into the fray without listening, capturing Oopsy with a cloud, encasing him in a sun cage, and giving him a Care Bear Stare.
It's at this point that Cheer and Share show up, and laugh at both Oopsy's appearance and Grumpy's pride in catching the 'king gobblebug.' They tell the others to look closer, and suddenly the truth is out. Oopsy explains how he came to look the way he does, and Grumpy facepalms (I love it!). Oopsy also confesses about the story being fake, and Funshine is all "What? Why?" As if he wasn't there the night before or something. Oopsy explains that he wanted to be more interesting, making Grumpy gripe, "Oh, you're interesting, all right." Funshine clarifies Grumpy's statement, but from the way Grumpy rolls his eyes, he obviously feels his statement said it all. Cheer advises Oopsy to keep practicing and he'll be a storytelling pro in no time (or maybe just add a "this is not true" disclaimer at the beginning of his stories), and admits that she and the others should have checked the facts with him sooner. There's some talk about Oopsy being special and keeping the others on their toes, but eventually Oopsy apologizes for messing up Grumpy's garage, so the episode can end with him helping to clean it up.
Bonus Screenshots:
Harmony Unplugged
King of the Gobblebugs
No comments:
Post a Comment