Synopsis: Ma and Pa Gorg are going to a cottage for the night, causing Gobo to think this is the perfect time to map the Gorgs’ castle. Through a series of misunderstandings, all of the Fraggles and Junior get scared out of their wits… but then it’s okay?
The Gorgs have main character energy. Despite the show being called Fraggle Rock, despite this episode beginning with its focus on Gobo feeling bored because there are no longer any places to explore, and despite the fact that the Gorgs are most easily framed as the show’s antagonists, Ma, Pa and Junior want everyone to know that they’ve got stories of their own to tell. Far from throwing shade on the three oversized creatures, I’m here to say that this is exactly how every character on Fraggle Rock should be portrayed if the show wants to attain its goal of world peace.
One of the problems we face when working towards peaceful coexistence is conflicting motivations. In Fraggle Rock, we see this demonstrated in how each group of characters uses radishes. The Fraggles want radishes for their food, the Doozers need radishes to make building materials and the Gorgs grow radishes in order to make anti-vanishing cream. Even though they all have a similarity in their need for radishes, they generally feel fearful or hostile towards each other. But when everyone’s motivations are equally valid, how do we, the viewer, know who to call the hero? Who do we root for?
In media, that usually ends up being the characters we can sympathize with, the ones we know the most about, the ones the creators give the most backstory to. And that’s just what Fraggle Rock is doing so right. As demonstrated beautifully in this episode, the Gorgs have just as much lore, characterization and motivation as the Fraggles and therefore are on equal footing with the Fraggles. For instance, the Gorgs use such wonderful pet names for each other, and you just know that each name has an adorable story to go with it. Some of my favorites for the episode are Pa calling Ma “Empress of Shadows and Light” and calling himself “Ruler of Fire and Air.” Ma calls Pa “Ducky-kins” and calls Junior “Beastie of Burden.” Can we really call them villains if one of them has the moniker “passion fruit?”
They also have traditions and family history that Pa is particularly fond of observing. In this episode, we see the Gorgish Oath and secret handshake. Pa gives Junior the crown jewel to guard, then tests Junior’s dedication to keeping it safe. In previous episodes, they’ve made reference to the Fraggle hole as Kissing Rock and, in Sir Hurbis and the Gorgs, we learn how they came to live in the castle. These are tales that they hold important as what it means to be a Gorg.
To add to all of this, each of the individual Gorgs believe that they are the main character of their own Gorg story. Ma is living in a romance novel in which she is determined to get her happily-ever-after even though it often involves wrangling a reluctant husband and an oblivious son. In this episode we see her directing Pa and Junior to prepare for a second honeymoon at the cottage.
Pa lives in a King Arthur-style medieval myth where there are foes to vanquish and plots to unravel for the good of the kingdom. He is a character steeped in tradition and the ways of his ancestors. We see this in today’s episode by him entrusting Junior with the crown jewel and telling him to protect it at all costs. This being a rite of passage, a test to prove that Junior is worthy of the position that their family holds.
Junior can’t help but enact a coming-of-age narrative where he learns to befriend the tiny creatures that run through his garden rather than grow into the distaste that his parents feel for them, even as Ma and Pa also try to mold him into the next ruler of the universe. Junior demonstrates that here by enlisting the Fraggles’ help to foil the intruder who wishes to steal the crown jewel.
These three conflicting motivations make it an exercise in interdependence just for the Gorgs to cooperate with each other. And so the theme of accepting differences and finding common ground is reinforced even when the Fraggles aren’t involved at all. Coming to understand the Gorgs in this way helps us viewers learn that there is no single right way to be and that appreciating the background and culture of people who we wouldn’t normally perceive as main characters is an oversight that we must remedy for the benefit of all.
So the next time you see someone with main character energy, know that you have it too. And we can use that energy to better understand each other and make the world a more harmonious place.
Strongest Moment – At the end, after Junior and the Fraggles have teamed up to trip the monster lurking outside, we find that the intruder is Pa Gorg! A Pa Gorg who is finally proud of Junior for having passed the test of protecting the crown jewel. And after two and a half seasons of disappointment and deprecation, it’s nice to finally get to see Junior earning his father’s approval.
Weakest Moment – I don’t want to say that the story of this episode is weak, but its message isn’t as strong as we know the Fraggle writers can deliver. It follows the action of the Gorgs as a whole, Junior alone, Gobo and Wembley, then Red, Mokey and Boober. And because they all go from scared to scaring to misunderstanding to working together to achieve something they didn’t even know they were working toward makes it difficult to really pin down what we’re supposed to take away as the audience. There have been much more focused episodes on fear, feeling scared and even on how to avoid misunderstanding, just like the kind that we get in this episode.
MVG (Most Valuable Gorg) – Ma Gorg is the only character in this whole episode who doesn’t have ulterior motivation, who isn’t perpetuating a misunderstanding, and who isn’t looking to punish perceived dishonesty. All she wants is to go on a second honeymoon with her husband. And we should acknowledge and celebrate that.
Musical Highlight – Only one song this episode, “Big Boy Now,” sung by Junior because he gets to stay at home all by himself. And as silly a song as it is, I think it does capture the coming of age moment that this is for Junior. He sings it in a very open style with big vocals. He’s going to make himself some garlic popcorn (with peanut butter) but he’s also feeling proud of himself for earning this trust.
Coolest Puppetry Effect – Ma is packing half the castle to take to the cottage and that means a lot of luggage to stack onto a relatively tiny cart. And somehow, in these gigantic gorg suits, that they cannot really see out of, the performers manage to balance the baskets they’re carrying onto the already precarious load. That’s some nice work.
Darkest Moment – There are a couple of moments in this episode where various characters are convinced that they are in the midst of a haunting. And depending on how you feel about ghosts and spirits, that can lead to some very deep thoughts about Fraggle and Gorg ghosts and the afterlife and several topics that don’t generally come up when you’re dealing with puppets.
Gorgish Lore – There is a rite of passage among the Gorgs wherein they say an oath while doing a handshake and then they must spend a night protecting the crown jewel. And Junior passes with the help of the Fraggles.
Obscure Character Watch – We get to see the same painting in the Gorg’s castle as we did in Sir Hubris and the Gorgs, depicting the ancient Gorg ancestor and the hooded Sir Hubris. That’s pretty obscure.
One More Thing… – Doc invents a ghost detector to help Sprocket feel safe from ghosts. He is going to make a fortune if he can shrink it to pocket-sized. Ghost hunters love gadgets.
Okay, One More Thing… – Gobo’s hat collection gets some fine additions in this episode.
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By Katilyn Miller – [email protected]
