Synopsis: Red tries to keep Mokey safe during her trip to see Wonder Mountain.
Original air date: March 17, 1986
Hey, hey! We’re back with more Fraggle Rock! This time, it’s an episode all about the friendship of Mokey and Red, which is nice; I like the two of them! It also has Doc and Sprocket in it. I like those guys too!
Mokey’s planning a trip to the famous “Wonder Mountain,” where she’s going to see the Aurora Fragglialis. She only wants to go alone, believing it will be a meditative experience and is only armed with a guide book and some radishes. Red, however, thinks Mokey is too unfocused and under prepared to survive such a journey all on her own. But, she promises Mokey she won’t try to interfere. And that’s where the episode ends! No, wait, that’s what would happen if this were a bad TV show. Which it’s not.
The first half of the episode plays out like one of those old Looney Tunes shorts with Porky and Sylvester, or Buttons and Mindy on Animaniacs – one character tries to keep the other “safe,” and gets brutalized in the process while the other is totally unharmed. Red trails Mokey along her trip and within like two seconds, she’s stuck in some bushes and it only gets worse from there. The second half becomes a little personal drama with some peril thrown in as Mokey realizes Red broke her trust and they’re being pursued by the dangerous Avalanche Monster (who wears cute little glasses).
Meanwhile, Miss Adarth hires Sprocket to guard her garden, and Doc worries he might get attacked by a ferocious animal. Also meanwhile, Gobo, Wembley, and Boober hold down the fort at Red and Mokey’s place by accidentally feeding Landford a bar of soap. And THEN, Joey buys Chandler an ugly friendship bracelet he doesn’t want, so… wait, no. Scratch that last one.
How does this episode factor into Jim’s vision of ending war? Well, I suppose one of the key steps in achieving world peace is trust, which is what the ultimate lesson of this episode is. Red learns that everyone has their own way of getting through life and we have to trust they’ll make the right choices, especially if they’re your friends. The episode also teaches us that you can succeed by turning your enemies against each other, as Red and Mokey trap the Avalanche Monster in the musical clutches of the Singing Cacti. In the end, everybody wins!
Now excuse me, I have to see the Aurora Fragglialis myself. I hear it’s shining down on Dallas.
Strongest Moment: That whole business with the Invisible Bridge is a fun, visual treat.
Weakest Moment: “Adventures in Landford-sitting” is fine, but I don’t think we needed it. There have been a number of episodes by this point where only a couple of the main characters appear, and we didn’t really them to clarify to us what the rest of the gang is doing during Red and Mokey’s adventure. Especially since nobody would be asking “Who’s watching Landford when Mokey’s away?”
MVF (Most Valuable Fraggle): I suppose it should go to Red for enduring so much hardship.
First Appearance Of…: The Singing Cacti, who returned very briefly in the Back to the Rock episode “Craggle Lagoon.” They weren’t hypnotizing people in that one – character growth! Speaking of…
Most Classic Moment / Musical Highlight: “Do the Sashy” is a great song with great vocals by Sharon Lee Williams. Mokey’s song “Just Don’t Know What Time It Is” managed to find its way to an official album release in the 90s, but I’d love a studio recording of “Sashy” (yes, I know they remade it for the new show. You know what I mean!)
Coolest Puppetry Effect: There’s a lot of cool puppetry things in this episode, from the invisible bridge to that crazy Avalanche Monster puppet. But the moment that stuck out to me is Mokey putting radishes in both her and Red’s ears without the use of a tape edit to keep them in place. Was it magnets? Pins? MAGIC??
Darkest Moment: Avalanche Monster is pretty scary, but the idea of being hypnotized and trapped by singing plants for the rest of my life is a horrible thought.
Fraggle Lore: The Aurora Fragglialis is their version of the Northern Lights, which happens once every 1,000 days. That’s just under three years per occurrence, which is about the same amount of time between seasons of Severance.
Obscure Character Watch: Believe it or not, folks, but our old friend GOBO shows up in this one! Crazy!
One More Thing…: So, like, is Wonder Mountain outside? Is this some part of the Earth we don’t know about or is it a hollow-Earth-type deal?
Okay, One More Thing…: Mokey uses the guide “Wonder Mountain on Five Radishes a Day,” a play on the book “Europe on $50 A Day,” a rare pop culture reference within the world of the Fraggles.
Click here to get trapped by singing succulents on the Tough Pigs Discord!
By Shane Keating
