The Astronomers in Turtlenecks

"**The Astronomers in Turtlenecks**" is the fifth episode of *Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts*. It premiered on Netflix with the rest of season 1 on January 14, 2020. It was written by Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler and directed by Chris Copeland & Bridget Underwood.

## Synopsis

Kipo and the gang act like a pack to cozy up to the nerdy Newton Wolves and use their telescope to find the burrow people. The hunt is on.

## Plot

***Warning:** the following text contains spoilers about the plot or the series.*

After Jamack was taken away by the mother Mega Bunny, he hastily but carefully sneaks away back to the Mod Frogs base (after thoroughly covering up the Mega Bunny smell with cologne). Unfortunately, the base is an utter mess and Jamack's tie is cut by Mrs. Sartori, signaling his banishment from the army of frogs.

Jamack wanders Las Vistas by himself through rain and wind and Mega Pigeon guano and hallucinates Kipo's last words to him, "You need to do some soul searching."

Back with the gang, Benson leads them to an old convenience store overrun and hidden in vegetation. The place was Benson's secret spot that was now empty of food that he'd been hoping to find. It is also where he shares his idea of how to find the new burrow. There's a poster hanging on the walls about the Las Vistas Observatory, which has a telescope that can be used to find Kipo's people.. Wolf is immediately against the idea because the observatory is Newton Wolves territory, while Benson is mostly dismissive, because the Newtons are 'dweebs who only really care about learning', Wolf aggressively disagrees.

“They're dangerous! Wolves are predators! Every one of them.”
— Wolf
But Kipo is taken with the idea and believes the telescope may be the only way to find her people. Reluctantly, Wolf agrees, but only if they follow her plan.

Wolf explains that as a pack, the wolves will only really listen to another pack. She trains the rest on how to act like one, teaching teamwork and pack behavior. Since the Newtons respect knowledge, Wolf also nominates Kipo as pack alpha. However, Dave thinks as the oldest and best looking, it should be him.

Wolf's plan is to have the Newtons invite them for the night. And once the wolves are asleep, they'll sneak off to use the telescope. But Kipo is anxious and impatient and wonders why they can't just ask the Newtons to use it. Benson and Dave also point out that if they're trying to make nice with the Newtons, Wolf will have to get rid of the wolf pelt and weapon she carries on her. While apprehensive, Kipo reassures Wolf she has a pack: them.

While they head over to the observatory, they ask Wolf what her real name is. Wolf makes up the name "Bone Ripper" so Kipo picks "Jolene."

When they meet the leaders of the Newton Wolves, brothers Billions and Billions, they're recognized as a pack. Unfortunately, Dave speaks up first and takes the designation of alpha. With some quick thinking, Kipo is labeled Dave's student so she can share her knowledge. Dave takes advantage of the situation and claims Jolene (Wolf) as too dumb to talk and Benson is a robot he'd built. Kipo retaliates and says Mandu is Dave's wife. Convinced, the Billions invite the newly formed pack to dinner.

While they're served steaks for dinner (with a bowl of oil for Benson) the Billions start a presentation of all the knowledge they've accumulated, prefacing with an invitation that if the Newtons are suitably impressed they'll invite the pack to the dessert hunt.

The large production the Billions make is enough of a distraction Kipo believes she can sneak away to the telescope easily. Despite some lingering hesitation at seeing Wolf so uncomfortable, Kipo leaves anyway. When she enters the telescope room, Kipo overhears two wolves talking about finding the burrow humans for Scarlemagne. After they've sent a report off to Scarlemagne via Mega Flamingos and left, Kipo comes to the realization that Wolf was right being cautious.

That's when Kipo finds a bitter Jamack tied up for the Newton Wolves dessert. Jamack tells her she basically ruined his life, and explains that before Scarlemagne brought about an uneasy truce through shared fear, herds, packs, flocks fought each other in the chaos. And as the new leader, Scarlemagne wants Kipo's people.

Kipo defiantly states she's unafraid of Scarlemagne as she has her friends; her pack. Jamack laughs at her reasoning since his own pack abandoned him. Realizing essentially Kipo did the same to Wolf for her own selfish reasons, Kipo pityingly unties him. Jamack clumsily leaves and Kipo heads back without using the telescope.

Unfortunately, back with the Newtons, when offered the chance to offer up their own knowledge, Dave takes up the mantle and "shares" that the Earth is flat. The Newtons and the gang are aghast. Kipo returns and apologizes but is interrupted by Megan, the wolf, who bursts in to announce that dessert had escaped. When Kipo admits to letting Jamack go to Wolf, her disbelieving outburst attracts the room's attention.

Bad Billions insinuates that since they've no frog to hunt for dessert, they'll eat Kipo's pack. Wolf decides that she'll be the bait and lures the Newtons on a hunt. The rest of her friends follow, even knowing they'll be slow, they're determined to help Wolf. Wolf dons her wolf pelt and provokes the Newtons into a fight.

When Kipo and the rest catch up, something in her blood triggers her biology. Kipo's eyes transform so she can see in the dark. The pack works together to knock the Newtons out. When the moon appears behind the clouds, Kipo's eyes go back to normal. The only one to have noticed the physical change is Mandu.

The group returns to the telescope, Kipo believes they have to destroy it so that her people won't be found through it. Kipo apologizes again to Wolf for not trusting her about the wolves and deduces that Wolf must've belonged to a wolf pack before.

Dave and Wolf encourage Kipo to at least take a final look through the telescope before they bring it down. When she does so, Kipo catches sight of a billboard with the number 3.262 graffitied on it right before the telescope collapses.

## Credits

* **Written by**
	+ Christopher Amick
	+ Ben Mekler

* **Directed by**
	+ Chris Copeland
	+ Bridget Underwood

* **Storyboards by**
	+ Max Lawson
	+ Kalen Whitfield
	+ Zuke

* **Cast**
	+ Karen Fukuhara as Kipo Oak
	+ Sydney Mikayla as Wolf
	+ Deon Cole as Dave
	+ Coy Stewart as Benson
	+ Dee Bradley Baker as Mandu
	+ Jake Green as Jamack / Telescope Wolf
	+ Grey Griffin as Megan
	+ GZA as Bad Billions
	+ John Hodgman as Good Billions

## Transcript

You can find the transcript here: The Astronomers in Turtlenecks/Transcript

## Episode notes

### Songs featured

* "Ten Million & Two" by Yvonne Devaney
* "Didn't Come to Play" by Dope Saint Jude
* "Grrrl Like" by Dope Saint Jude

### Trivia

* Billions and Billions are likely a reference to late astronomer Carl Sagan. In addition to their clothing, which resembles his, he is often credited with the phrase "billions and billions."
	+ The Newton Wolves were even called the Sagan Wolves in early concept art for the series.
* Kipo uses her Mute powers for the first time in the series, but she would not know this until the next episode.
* After leaving the Newton Wolve's lyrical explanation of their collected knowledge, Kipo passes a photo of a wolf with the name "Old Dirty Billions". This is a clear reference to the deceased O.D.B of Wu-Tang Clan, which GZA, the voice of Bad Billions, is also a part of.
* Kipo guesses that Benson is taking her to see a mystical blind woman who lives in a tree that can see the future at the beginning of the episode. In Season 2, Kipo would actually meet three blind old mystic ladies who could foresee things in the future.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Season 1E5 · The Astronomers in Turtlenecks. tunefind.