Synopsis: Traveling Matt returns to Fraggle Rock, has a feud with Gobo, and then stumbles on a magic portal.
Original air date: January 27, 1986
Y’all, this episode stinks. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Fraggle Rock, and a part of me feels like the show can’t do any wrong. And yet, there have been times when they delivered a clunker. Almost worse, this episode comes packed with a memorable and important sequence that makes it impossible to skip.
In “Uncle Matt’s Discovery,” Traveling Matt retraces his steps from the season two episode “Uncle Matt Comes Home” and… well, comes home. While sneaking back through Doc’s workshop, he gets mistaken for one of the garden gnomes that Doc is working on repainting, and he flips out when seeing Doc spray paint one of the faces. He assumes Doc is a “face-eraser” and flips the heck out. And honestly, I get it!
Matt races into Fraggle Rock, hides under a table, and gets ridiculed for being scared. And in classic Matt form, he immediately denies ever having been scared.
Now, we see Matt panic a lot through his postcards, but he insists on keeping his reputation of being a brave explorer, so it’s no shocker to see him act the way he did. Anyone who’s met Matt would know this about him. And that makes Gobo’s reaction all the more baffling.
You see, Gobo pulls a real dick move and chews his uncle out, not for being a scaredy Fraggle, but for lying about his feelings. And folks, this is not a good look for our boy Gobo. He’s downright cruel and – dare I say – abusive.
Gobo drives a wedge between himself and Matt, and after the requisite “you go your way, I’ll go mine” rift, they reunite and discover a new cave. (Dang, but there are a lot of caves down there.) This cave features magical porticos that can whisk the Fraggles to seemingly anywhere in the world. And honestly, this part of the episode is pretty dope. And important!
We see Gobo and Matt enter three different caves. The first takes them to Australia. Or, we assume it’s Australia, because we see kangaroos. So I guess it could also be the Bronx Zoo. The second cave takes them inside a little girl’s closet, thus kicking off a series of events that will be followed up in the documentary Monsters Inc. And the final cave whisks them away to the magical land of Doc’s front yard. Wow, what a dream.
This whole episode is like a broken roller coaster. Most of the story is dedicated to Gobo shaming Matt for having feelings. Sure, Matt isn’t being honest with himself or his nephew, but the absolute worst way to help someone who’s having trouble with their emotions or anxiety is to shout at them and shut them out. Gobo needed to spend some time in Fraggle jail for this one.
But then, just as I was ready to write this episode off as a clunker, we get that cool and bizarre sequence with the teleporting caves. It’s a great bit of Fraggle magic, and it opens the world up to a lot of possibilities, and a new level of Fraggle Rock‘s overall theme of interconnectivity. But beyond that, this is a seed that Fraggle Rock is planting that will come to bloom in the series finale. No spoilers, but these new teleporting caves are key to the whole concept that “you cannot leave the magic,” not only connecting Fraggle Rock to many different locations, but giving humanity a physical connection between your childhood bedroom, the Outback, the desert, a wintery farmhouse, and your own backyard.
Adding to the ups and downs and all arounds of this episode, it also seems to be missing an ending. It’s super abrupt, not even wrapping with a Doc and Sprocket moment. But I dunno, after all this, maybe it’s best for the episode to end as quickly as possible. Just like… this.
Strongest Moment: While painting the garden gnomes, Doc asks Sprocket to pass him the “flesh tone” paint, but Sprocket gives him the purple instead, showing that he’s colorblind – both in the “can’t see color” way and in the “be more specific, there are many flesh tones, Doc, you racist.” If Sprocket could talk, I’m sure that’s what he’d be saying.
Weakest Moment: “Being a liar is worse than being a coward.” Oh, just shut up, Gobo.
MVF (Most Valuable Fraggle): Traveling Matt gets the crown for getting a full episode to showcase his range.
Musical Lowlight: There’s only one song in this episode, and it’s “I Don’t Understand Him.” And gang, this might be my least favorite song to appear on Fraggle Rock. When I looked it up on the Muppet Wiki in preparation for this review, no songwriters were listed, so I assumed it wasn’t a Balsam/Lee joint. But nope, it turns out even geniuses have off days.
Coolest Puppetry Effect: Gobo and Traveling Matt fall down a hill, and they seemed to have just rolled the puppets up into balls and yeeted them past the camera. This is my kind of puppetry.
Darkest Moment: Traveling Matt is shamed for having anxiety about his fears. And that’s just as dark as any of the life-threatening stuff we see elsewhere in the series.
Fraggle Lore: Before finding the new magic caves, Gobo and Matt come across an ancient Fraggle statue to warn them away. There’s not much commentary about why it’s there or about the historical implications, but I love that ancient Fraggle relics might just be around any corner.
One More Thing…: When Gobo and Matt are outside Doc’s house, we get both a rare view of where Doc lives when he’s not in the workshop, as well as some special shots of the characters outside. I sort of wish this sequence went on a little longer, but I’ll take the tease.
Okay, One More Thing…: Matt refers to himself as “Traveling Matthew Fraggle,” making it sound like he goes by his middle name. And dang but I love that.
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by Joe Hennes – [email protected]
