Rewatch: #04: Little Secrets

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Steel wrote:

PROFESSOR TRIFFID and RHIZOME

Fun trivia of the week: Triffid is named after a group of carnivorous, highly venomous plants called the “triffids”, featured in John Wyndham’s 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark’s 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids. Since then, the word “triffid” has become a popular British English colloquial term to describe large or menacing-looking plants. Given that this episode is all about an innocent-looking plant turning into a giant, ravenous monster of a plant... TEAM LIGHTYEAR HAD IT COMING.

But on to the actual man himself. Triffid seems to be a very important Rhizomian, an innovator and pioneer of vega-genetic technology. He aspires, like all Rhizomians, for there to be galactic peace someday and no need for weapons, etc., but until then Rhizome will not be a sitting duck. Through the use of plants and natural means, they power their cities and bolster their defences. That is pretty interesting once you sit down to think about it. They’re like the ultimate hippies, but are technologically advanced without actually, you know, polluting the environment. I doubt anybody besides Booster, who’s lived on a farm, can really appreciate that. I know I like plants and flowers... but not enough to have everything I do involve them!

But the Rhizomians are on the right track. Sort of. They tend to be very passive about things, but that will be seen in other episodes. Triffid, though slightly passive, is more proactive since he actually sits down to develop all of these new technologies. He also has a very calming voice... until he gets mad. xD

Also, one more fun bit of trivia: Rhizome literally means “roots” in Greek, so the planet being called such is very apt. :3

I like Professor Triffid! He may seem a bit passive, but he really knows his stuff on the plants. I mean, I don't agree with living solely on plants, either, but I do agree that benefiting from plants and trees, like planting them and tending to them, will benefit us. We've got quite a lot of trees where I'm from, and they bring a lot of rain! Triffid, to me, reminds me of a school teacher I once had. Although he wasn't as hippish as Triffid is. xD

Steel wrote:RELATIONSHIPS

BUZZ and MIRA

Remember last week when I said Mira is mature? Well, she’s not so mature this week. But maybe she’s got a reason to be. Mira wants to prove herself capable in handling things on her own and having responsibility—perhaps not wanting to be in Buzz’s shadow all the time. But the way Buzz does tend to have all the glamour jobs—testing Triffid’s security system, being summoned by Nebula for a special meeting—her consternation is understandable. Especially when Buzz gives her mundane jobs to do that he isn’t arsed enough to do himself like paperwork.

However, by the end of the episode when the electro-plant has overrun Star Command, it’s Mira’s quick thinking that manages to subdue it and prevent Star Command from crashing into Capital Planet (although HOW that was possible WITHOUT them dying is beyond me). Even though earlier with Booster, her “simple” solution of “hiding” the evidence (aka, stuffing the plant into the garbage chute was... pretty dumb. She and Booster didn’t even go check the rest of the plant, seeing as Mira only shot off a chunk of it... I will chock this off to the writers being inconsistent. Besides this moment of idiocy that the writers put in, Mira proved herself to be capable where it counts, and Buzz at least has the decency to recognise that.

...Although she still shouldn’t have destroyed official reports. She could get court-marshalled for that! Star Command is a cross between the police and the military, after all. The military’s really strict about shit like that. Although I always thought that Buzz’s rookies got off easy... either because they’re Buzz’s rookies or the show is just dumbed down like that. I’m guessing the latter mostly, but the former probably plays its teensy tiny part.

Yeah, I don't get it, either. How did she suddenly go from mature to immature? But maybe it's what levy said; maybe it's that time of the month. xP It was a pretty stupid move on her part, but it could be that her desire to take on bigger responsibilities may have gotten in the way. After all, we know how much she loves being at Star Command, and she wants to do bigger things than just file paperwork-prove Tangeans aren't as...stiff with the Galactic Alliance. Although why Buzz doesn't do paperwork himself is pretty odd. Then again, he is pretty busy. Still, you think he would have the time to sit down and get through those papers!

And that's stupid, too! Why did she toss out those papers?! I know it's boring and all, but yeah; it'd be a BAD thing to toss out vital police/military documents. Not to mention, it's actually not boring. I once filed papers for my dad, and filing those papers is actually quite a lot of work! Boring? Nah! Anyway, yeah, I don't understand why the rookies got off the hook easily. They're newbies, sure, but that's not really a reason to let them off so easily. Meh, whatever.

Steel wrote:MIRA and BOOSTER

You saw them work together in “Gravitina”. Now you see them work together again to cover up Booster’s goof-up with the plant. I once heard someone say that when Mira and Booster work together, nothing ever gets done. But I would disagree. Sure, Booster’s almost childish thinking might hold them back every now and then, but they work together pretty well when they have to. Mira and Booster can get things done when they have to, like in “Gravitina”. Mira is the one more often than not in charge when they’re working together, but Booster has taken charge, s well, like in “Wirewolf”, but that’s something we’ll have to talk about when the time comes.

Suffice to say, Mira and Booster can make a pretty good team when they get down to real business. When not... maybe not that well. *recalls the silly vine-down-the-garbage-chute and facepalms*

I always thought Mira and Booster were like big sister and little brother; the big sister would take charge, and the little brother would be the backup. But even the little brother can take charge, too, when he's not acting...like the little brother.

Steel wrote:BOOSTER and XR

There’s not much to say on this team this time around, but whenever they’re together, they don’t get much work done. Also, XR is never the person you should turn to advice for! Booster, you ask XR advice on whether to tell Buzz about the plant-switching, even before this entire mess happens, and he tells you to keep it a secret! And when the plant has overrun the station, he tells you that you should have told Buzz! Booster, XR is really unreliable like that, so don’t go asking advice from him, please. (Although we all know that he will again in a future episode, like always, hurr.)

I will say this on XR, though. He is conniving and he is greedy. The tour with the children—I am really surprised he did not get in trouble for that, especially when the kids took the space suits and started floating around Star Command. Which also makes me wonder... where the hell were the rest of the Space Rangers in this episode, and with the size of the huge plant, why didn’t anyone else notice it?!

Also, where the bloody hell was Nebula this entire episode? Holed up in his office, scratching his butt and trying to readjust his shrunken space suit? Wait, don’t answer that, because I bet that’s the answer. *facepalm*

I don't have much to say on what Booster and XR are like when they work together. I will say this, though. They are like Timon and Pumbaa, Bulk and Skull, and Abbott and Costello: comedy teams of the thin guy and the big guy who get into mess after mess, and who balance each other out!

On XR, I agree with Steel. He is greedy and conniving. Why the heck didn't he get into trouble for it?! And where WERE the other Rangers?! My guess is, and this is the only possible explanation, they were all on missions. Stupid inconsistencies....

Steel wrote:KEY THEMES

SECRETS

If you didn’t catch this, you must have been tired when you watched this episode. Yes, boys and girls, as if it wasn’t obvious, this episode is to teach you not to keep secrets and not to lie about things. Because they can backfire, and blow out of proportion, and cause a whammy of a mess. It’s a good moral lesson for small children, because for the entire twenty minutes they see their favourite characters do stupid things that almost lead to everyone pretty much dying nearly because they didn’t find the spy in time.

(Just how did a Grub infiltrate Star Command anyway? You’d think that they had scans up for something like that. And don’t the LGMs think and feel as one? You’d think that they would have been able to tell that the LGM beside them was no real LGM.)

Although I gotta wonder, what is the point of this moral lesson when Buzz decides to keep their mess-up a secret too? Not much of a point with that now, is there? I also fail to see how the rest of Star Command failed to notice the mutant plant traipsing around and nearly causing them to crash on Capital Planet (logically speaking, shouldn’t they have started burning up on re-entry anyway?), especially after Rhizomians had to be called to collect the electro-plant? Who was recently on Rhizome, hmmm?

Darn plotholes... also! Who else noticed the pin-up Booster had in his closet?!

Yeah, that's pretty stupid, too. Why didn't anybody notice the giant plant, or the Grub within Star Command?! They are not exactly SMALL problems (unless you're short like a Grub or LGM) that can be ignored! Whatever...

...I don't want to know where Booster got the pin-up.

Steel wrote:QUESTIONS

1. What do you think of Rhizome and Triffid’s vega-genetic technology?
2. What do you think about the way Team Lightyear acted in this episode? Could they have done otherwise? Were they acting out of character, or in character?
3. How do you think the Grub slipped under Star Command’s radar like that?
4. Do you think the way Team Lightyear handled the electro-plant was realistic? Why?
4. What was your favourite part of this episode?

1. Like I said, it's awesome, but I don't see myself relying solely on it anytime soon. I think Rhizome's a pretty cool place, though. It reminds me a bit of the rain forest on Hawaii. It's beautiful! For some reason, it also reminds me of San Francisco. I don't know why. (shrugs)

2. Well, for the most part, I think they were in character, but because the rookies were rookies, they were acting (on behalf of the writers) what any newbie might do; hide the secret until it got out of hand. I didn't agree with how Mira acted, however. I mean, I think she would have tried to tell Buzz about the secrets...if she weren't occupied with her own, that is. I really can't think of anything else to say at this point...I'll come up with more for this answer if I think of anything else.

3. ...Maybe Zurg outfitted the Grub with a device that disguises himself as a Star Command LGM? I figure that since Zurg sent Warp to discover Star Command's workings and secrets, he must know how they function, and how they can gain entry into Star Command. Maybe he came up with a device to make the Grub to slip under the radar and to fool everyone. But even a clever ploy and device can't disguise one's true colors and loyalty to their respective leaders. Thus, XR figured out how to find the LGM, and there you have it.

4. Realistically? Nah. Fictionally? Sure!

5. I liked the part where Team Lightyear was in the Briefing Room, and they were all struggling to make sure Buzz wouldn't notice the secrets getting out of hand! I thought that was pretty funny. I also liked the part where Buzz has his own secret; he plays with his toys when no one's looking. I thought that was kind of cute. A bit hypocritical, (I don't like hypocrisy), but cute. :3

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