Elena of Avalor S1 E14

## Plot

Isabel is starting a new school that day. Elena arrives with her old backpack, which Isabel calls her go-pack. Some of their old things were found in the attic. The servants hid them there when Shuriki took over. Isabel has been home schooled her whole life, but now she'll be going to public school with the other kids. She's excited, but also nervous about making friends. Elena assures her that she's smart and funny and sweet, and everyone will want to be her friend. She's in Señorita Marisol's class. She sits next to Quique and Amara. They goof off and have no interest in learning, especially about science subjects like chemistry. They're only excited about going on a field trip to the Crystal Caverns the next day. They make fun of Isabel for being smart. It's mostly coming from Quique though; Amara is just laughing along with him. At recess, Isabel uses physics to help Amara at a game. Quique continues to make fun of her and even Amara, and he bullies the other kids into laughing with him. Elena sees that Isa's miserable when she gets home and talks to her. She tells her that it will get better, because the Isabel she knows can fix anything. Once Elena leaves though, Isabel misinterprets her message. She thinks that if she changes herself, she'll have friends. The next day, she shows up in a purple dress that I actually really like, and her hair in two buns, Princess Leia style. She also acts more… I'm not sure there's a good word for it. Bored? Detached? Uncaring? Lazy? The best way to put it is that she acts more like Quique and copies what he does. She even goes further, misbehaving in class and gladly taking the blame for it. Anyways, she left her go-pack at the palace. Elena decides to take it to her to give her an excuse to see her and figure out what's going on. She learns about their field trip and is allowed to chaperone. I love how Isabel is mortified at this, just like a normal kid would be with their parents. The thing is, Amara and Quique are more than okay with it, since it means they get to ride in the royal coach with her. Elena talks to Isabel in private after she acts rude to Señorita Marisol and herself. Isabel says that she "fixed" herself to make friends. Elena tells her that true friends like you for who you are, and you shouldn't have to change yourself. She says that they can talk about it more later that night, after the field trip. Quique gets bored and decides to play in a restricted section of the caverns. They're restricted because they haven't been explored yet. Isabel isn't sure that she should go, but just like in Olaball, she gives in to peer pressure and goes anyways. Elena notices that they're missing, figures out where they went, and goes after them. While playing, the kids run on a giant crystal. It's like a walkway or catwalk. Isabel hears cracking and wants to head back, since she knows that the structure isn't stable. However, Quique thinks that it is, and jumps on it to prove it. The crystal breaks off, and they slide down onto another crystal, which also breaks. They end up on a giant lily pad in a river. Isabel tries walking across the stem like a tightrope, but doing that would break the stem, and they'd float away. Why don't they just try swimming? Maybe the current's too strong for them. And Quique does later admit that he can't swim. Isabel calls for help. Elena hears them, and uses the jump rope in Isabel's go-pack to climb down to them. She tries to pull them in, but it causes the stem to start snapping again. She wants them to jump across to her, and she'll catch them. Isabel and Amara make it, but Quique is too scared to go. Elena decides to jump across to him, and they'll jump back together. Isabel says that Elena is bigger than him, and it might make the stem snap. Elena decides to lighten her load by leaving Isa's go-pack behind. She jumps across, and the stem does snap. She tries holding onto a vine, but that snaps too. Isabel gets an idea on how to save them by using the items in her go-pack. While Quique can't swim, I wonder why he didn't just hold onto Elena and she tried to swim to land? They have to get off before they reach the end of the river, because there's a waterfall not too far away. Amara has to use Isabel's goggles as a slingshot to shoot rocks at a crystal's weak spot; the narrowest part. This would cause it to fall onto another catwalk crystal, which would fall, and it would either block the flow of the river, or be low enough for Elena and Quique to jump onto, and long enough for them to walk to land. It's the latter case. Elena tries to pull them in by grabbing onto a tree branch, but that snaps too. Luckily, she's able to use it so that their impromptu raft avoids most of the sharp rocks that would've cut their lily pad to ribbons. Amara only has one rock left, but she misses. The day before, Isabel broke her go-pack, which makes sense, since it's over 41 years old, and was able to fix it by using a metal clip. She gives it to Amara to use as a projectile. The crystal breaks, and Elena and Quique jump onto it. Elena points out that Isabel saved them by just being her usual smart self. She apologizes for all the trouble she caused and figures out a way to get them out by making Avaloran rubber and putting it on their shoes so they can jump out of the cavern. Señorita Marisol punishes them by sending them back to school early and having them clean the schoolyard. Elena makes it fun by having them use the rubber to jump around. Quique finally respects Isabel for being smart.