HydroWorld: Hydroplanetary Adventures - Season 1, Episode 64: “Lying Down The Law”

The episode first opens to 11-year-old Supreme Admiral Commander Nolan Dines typing a document on his computer in his enormous Hydrocave bunker aboard the ginormous, ultra-futuristic, and hydroaerodynamically-streamlined Hydrohovership Helicarrier Hovercraft. Then, now knowing where the Hydrocave is located, Nolan’s younger sister Mila slides in from behind him and asks him what he is doing. Nolan tells Mila that he is busy preparing for the imminently upcoming HydroWorld International Leadership Summit in Hydroridge Falls and cannot be disturbed from his work.

Mila annoyingly walks off and starts exploring the Hydrocave without Nolan’s permission. On her command, an Automated platform carries Mila throughout the enormous, futuristic Hydrocave, as she gasps in awe at the endless deployment bays of Nolan’s countless, massive Hydro-Vehicles. Surprised and astonished, Mila returns to the central computer landing and tells Nolan that she never knew he had owned so much stuff. Nolan impatiently sighs and briefly acknowledges her before reminding that he has to leave for the summit the very next day and really needs to finish his work without any more distractions or interruptions. He then instructs her to get out of his Hydrocave immediately and never tell anyone else she was there. Mila hesitantly obeys and departs the Hydrocave at once.

After the intro theme and episode title, we cut straight to the Helicarrier’s massive, futuristic auditorium, where Lieutenant Hale from Hydro Heartlake City is seen at the podium giving a speech before thousands about the importance of passing new legislation to help the minority communities in HydroWorld, which presently fall lower on the HydroWorld government’s priority list when their annual spending bill is passed every year. To mitigate the issue of poverty and scarcity, Hale and her team suggest that the Hydro Elite Rescue Squadrons Forces repurposes and invests more of their unused money, vehicles, structures, and resources towards these less fortunate communities.

Hale also explains that the entire HydroWorld Congress has already voted in favor of the new government donation bill, and during the upcoming International Leadership Summit, she and her team plan to propose the new bill to Supreme Admiral Commander Nolan Dines, who oversees the entire agency. With his consent and approving signature, the new law can help eliminate poverty, better support the lower-end communities of HydroWorld and enhance access to a better quality of life for all people. The entire auditorium erupts in applause as Hale finishes and leaves the podium, with Assistant Commander Bulldog taking her place. Many of Nolan’s best friends, classmates, and peers are all seen in the audience clapping and cheering in approval of Lieutenant Hale’s plan. Bulldog thanks Hale and reassures the public that he has no doubts Supreme Admiral Commander Nolan Dines will be happy to approve and sign the new donation bill into law with open arms.

After leaving the auditorium, Commander Bulldog and Lieutenant Hale unexpectedly encounter Commander Nolan Dines walking through the hallway corridor from his Hydrocave. Commander Bulldog introduces Nolan to Lieutenant Hale and they briskly shake hands. Nolan explains that he is on his way to a travel briefing for the International Leadership Summit and looks forward to seeing them both there before continuing on his way. Commander Bulldog tells Lieutenant Hale that he is a very kind-spirited and hard-working supreme commander, and that he doesn’t know what HERSF would ever do without a Supreme Admiral Commander like him to lead the charge. Lieutenant Hale agrees and explains to Commander Bulldog that many of the clients and students she has worked with aboard the Helicarrier have said very positive things about how grateful they are to have Supreme Admiral Commander Dines in power, and she looks forward to hearing what new ideas he brings to the table at the International Leadership Summit.

After his travel briefing, Supreme Admiral Commander Nolan Dines finds some of his best friends and teammates eating together at a large round table in one of the Helicarrier’s enormous Colony Core courtyards on the way back to his family’s quarters. Tasnia greets Nolan, offers him a seat next to her and tells him that she can’t wait to attend the International Leadership Summit with him. Nolan says that he is looking forward to it as well and mentions that he met Lieutenant Hale in the hallway, who will also be joining them when they depart for the summit next day. He also explains that he has received several e-letters and reports regarding the poverty gap in the HydroWorld economy and plans on presenting a legal proposal before Lieutenant Hale and the council that may benefit the minority communities. His many friends at the table perk up at this, suddenly excited that their Commander is finally starting to think about other people besides himself. When Krissalyn anticipatingly asks him what it is, she and everyone else at the table are instantly disappointed when Commander Dines talks about destroying and demolishing the old minority communities and rebuilding them into new freedom megacities that would provide much better job, housing, and living opportunities for the lower-income citizens of HydroWorld.

After no one at the table responds for a few seconds, Nolan’s best friend Alyssa chimes in and explains that while she agrees that poverty must be addressed, she doesn’t see any financial justification for spending more money to build new cities when existing cities can be improved at much lower costs. When over half the table nods in agreement, Nolan’s friend Zac adds that tearing down the older communities and building new cities would most likely create many more problems than solutions, creating significant interruptions in essential life services required for the survival of residents in these communities while costing the government far more money than is legally available. Luciana Vega, also present at the table, states her agreement and says she sides with Zac on his opinion. Nolan respectfully disagrees with Zac and insists on waiting to hear the presiding committee’s thoughts at the summit before making any final decisions.

Nolan’s friend Aliya then takes the opportunity to tell him about the presentation she and the other kids had attended earlier that day and explains Lieutenant Hale’s donation bill proposal. Offended to hear Lieutenant Hale’s foolish proposal to drain important HERSF resources for an irrelevant cause, Nolan frowns at his friends in disagreement and suddenly rises out of his chair, telling Aliya that he has heard enough and needs to go pack up his things for the summit. As he walks away, Tasnia, Alyssa, Autumn, and Krissalyn are all seen looking at one another in confusion as Aliya asks Paisley if she had said something wrong. Paisley shrugs as Liann calls out for Nolan, but Nolan doesn’t respond to her and exits the courtyard.

Mila is then seen returning to the Hydrocave and nearly runs into a large and heavy green rolling suitcase. When she notices the smaller blue rolling suitcase sitting next to it, and sees Nolan carrying a large backpack towards them, she asks him if he is going on vacation. Angry and annoyed with what Aliya had said previously regarding Lieutenant Hale’s proposal, Nolan tells her that he is not going on a vacation but must travel to Hydroridge Falls with his assistant commander and teammates for the International Leadership Summit the next day. He explains to his younger sister that he will be gone for several days and absolutely forbids her from going anywhere near the Hydrocave or his bedroom for any reason at any time under any circumstances while he is away. He then sends her out of the Hydrocave for the last time that evening as Nolan is seen shaking his head in frustration while setting his baggage down by the Hydrocave exit.

At dawn the next morning, futuristic shuttle trains are seen pulling into the ground transportation terminal of the Colony Core International Hydroport. Some of Nolan’s teammates are seen passing through the Hydroport Security checkpoint and hanging out in the departure lounge with their baggage. We then see a giant, futuristic Hydrofoil Hoverboat Airship ground effect vehicle docked in parallel with one of the Hoverport’s water boarding piers. A Playmobil charter bus is seen driving up the enormous craft’s boarding ramp in the background as Lieutenant Hale and her team arrives to greet Assistant Commander Bulldog, who leads them onto the ship with all their luggage in tow. Nolan’s friends are seen conversing at the foot of the craft’s boarding ramp as Supreme Admiral Commander Dines himself arrives with his backpack and both of his rolling bags.

Aliya greets Nolan and asks him if he is okay. Nolan responds telling her that he’d rather not talk about it and just needs to get on the ship. Tasnia places a hand on his shoulder and tries to sooth him by saying that they’re his best friends and he should feel free to tell them if there is in fact something wrong. Nolan tells his friends that it’s not their fault he’s so frustrated but he needs to make his proposal heard by the committee during the summit so that resource-draining donations are no longer necessary. Just as Autumn opens her mouth to object, Nolan storms up the ship’s boarding ramp taking all his bags with him and leaves his friends behind. Assistant Commander Bulldog follows behind Nolan and urges his friends to get on the ship before it leaves the Hydroport without them.

The Hydrofoil Hoverboat Airship’s many massive ducted propellers spin and blur with rapid speed as the boarding ramp is raised, the air and water control surfaces are tested, and the enormous craft pushes back from the Hydroport Hoverboat departure gate at the marshal’s direction without delay. We then see the enormous craft rapidly accelerate out of the Hydroport’s safety zone, lift onto its massive hydrofoil wings, and take off into the air towards Hydroridge Falls. Inside the pressurized passenger cabin, we see Nolan’s friend Nova on her tablet playing a video game next to Liann and Aliya who are socializing and laughing. Then we see Nolan with his head down on the seat back tray table in front of him in an adjacent row.

Tasnia walks up to Nolan and asks him if he is okay, worried about how he had reacted the previous day in the courtyard and again at the Hydroport prior to the Hoverboat’s departure. Nolan tells Tasnia that he doesn’t feel like talking about it and just wants her to go away. Feeling sorry for Nolan, Tasnia slides into the passenger seat next to him and places her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. When Nolan repeats his demand for her to go away, Tasnia promises that she’ll leave him alone momentarily but she first wants to know why he’s so upset. Nolan sighs and checks to make sure no one is listening before telling Tasnia not to repeat anything he is about to say to anyone else. When Tasnia promises not to tell anyone, Nolan states that he feels really uncomfortable with Lieutenant Hale’s proposal and insists that his original plan of building the freedom cities be followed instead. He recognizes that Lieutenant Hale’s bill is only waiting on an approval signature from him and fears that everyone will pressure him to agree to her proposal, but he firmly and clearly refuses to take any action that will act against the Hydro Elite Rescue Squadrons Forces’ best interests.

Tasnia respectfully tells Nolan that she personally believes Lieutenant Hale has the right idea of generously donating existing resources to help the poor versus spending hundreds of thousands of credits trying to build new cities. She also believes that everyone working for the Hydro Elite Rescue Squadrons Forces has more than enough resources at their disposal already, and giving a small fraction of them to help the poor would not do any harm. Furious and offended by her words, Nolan suddenly yells at Tasnia in disagreement and demands that she get well out of his sight immediately. When Tasnia reluctantly doesn’t move, Nolan grabs his things, rises out of his seat, and stomps toward the Hoverboat passenger cabin exit. Heads turn all throughout the cabin as he slams and seals the bulkhead doors shut behind him. Even Nova briefly looks up from her device, startled by the noise. We also see the six WellieWishers (Ashlyn, Camille, Willa, Emerson, Kendall, and Bryant) exchanging confused expressions a few rows back. Supreme Admiral Commander Dines is then seen storming down the corridor from the passenger cabin in anger as his personal assistants Freddy and Samson climb onto his shoulders and tell him to calm down. Annoyed, Nolan flicks them both off his shoulders and they plummet to the corridor floor.

Many hours later, the Hydrofoil Hoverboat Airship approaches Hydroridge Falls and prepares to land in the summit complex. Bulldog, Hale, Nolan, and all his friends are seen queueing in the Hoverboat’s cargo bay as the boarding ramp lowers for them to disembark. National Political Leaders and Representatives from all over HydroWorld are seen shaking hands with Nolan and some of his friends as they gather in the lower summit chambers upon stepping off the Hoverboat. Once everyone gets settled at the large black committee table on the uppermost floor for the opening session, we see Commander Bulldog at the front of the room welcoming everyone to the HydroWorld International Leadership Summit. He then goes on to introduce Supreme Commander Nolan Dines and Lieutenant Hale.

Nolan affirms that he and his teammates feel honored to represent the Hydro Elite Rescue Squadrons Forces, and Lieutenant Hale expresses her gratitude to Assistant Commander Bulldog for inviting her to be present before discussing the materials that she hopes will be covered during the summit. When no one presents or expresses any disagreement with Hale’s bullet points, she goes on to explain her Hydro Heartlake City team’s proposal of asking HERSF and it’s Supreme Admiral Commander to consider diverting and donating some of their unused resources to the benefit of the lower-class minority communities. We can see Nolan scowling and scoffing at Lieutenant Hale in disagreement as she explains the details of her proposal. By the time Hale finishes talking, everyone at the table but Nolan is nodding in agreement. When Bulldog asks if there are any in favor of Hale’s plan, everyone but Nolan responds. But when he asks if there are any opposed to Hale’s plan, Nolan steps forward and shouts his disagreement in anger.

Nolan reinforces that as Supreme Admiral Commander of the Hydro Elite Rescue Squadrons Forces, he would never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, agree to engage in any act that would even remotely contradict his sole mission of protecting and defending the citizens of HydroWorld, regardless of whether or not it impacted a small fraction of the Hydrohovership Helicarrier Hovercraft’s population. He further states that he is not legally responsible or accountable for the wellbeing of individuals within the minority population, especially in cases where the safety of the majority population would otherwise be compromised by diminishing the HERSF fleet for an irrelevant cause.

Many of Nolan’s friends at the table are seen exchanging worried glances as their Supreme Admiral Commander rambles on about his refusal to approve Lieutenant Hale’s plan. Nolan then finishes by stating that he has already made his final decision and that for the reasons he stated, he would never, ever, ever sign such a counterproductive donation bill into law before promptly dismissing the meeting and turning to exit the chamber. Lieutenant Hale rises out of her seat and tells Nolan that her plan would not place HERSF at any disadvantage, but would help lift the minority communities out of an underfunded state to stabilize onboard housing rates. Unconvinced, Nolan shakes his head in disagreement and tells Lieutenant Hale that she has no idea of all the damage her proposal would do to the people of HydroWorld before turning and walking out of the room. Heads bow in disappointment all around the table as Commander Bulldog recommends that the summit committee turns in for the night and reconvene at the end of the week.

That evening, as the night rolls in, we see Nolan sitting on his private suite bed in frustration.