Winx Club S8 E3

## Plot

Continuing where the previous episode left off, Obscurum has more Staryummies come through portals and eat the light of Lumenia's core. He wants to rule over Lumenia, but Valtor has to keep his promise. He escapes again when the Winx show up, and they finally learn what the little monsters are called. Tecna says this was his real plan all along. He used the river to distract them. The girls use their magic to get the Staryummies off the core. We finally see Bloom's dragon again! Stella blocks the portals to prevent the Staryummies from leaving. Flora stops them from attacking the others. They may not pack a punch, but they're annoying, and there are a lot of them. If they destroy the black holes, they can stop them from leaving with the light. Unfortunately, as soon as they destroy one, another opens up somewhere else. They're taking the light to Valtor to strengthen his powers. His new base looks amazing! He still wants to become the most powerful sorcerer in the magic universe. When he asks Obscurum about the status to the core, he's hung up on, due to his minion not wanting to tell him about the Winx interfering. Bloom says they need to find Obscurum. He's behind all the black holes. Flora saves some Lumens from some Staryummies… by simply standing in their way. Yeah, they're not the brightest monsters. Pun! When the girls finally find Obscurum, he summons Starchomps. They defeat them and turn them back into Staryummies, but the core has been completely drained. Obscurum escapes again. Bloom notes that the core is still intact, so if they focused all of their Cosmix powers on it, they could rekindle it. The transformation song plays again as they basically do a Cosmix convergence to restore the core. Obscurum returns to Valtor, who shows him that Lumenia's core is back to normal. He says the Winx will pay for this. Dorana thanks them for saving Lumenia. Even though Obscurum is still out there, they celebrate, since they still saved the day. Valtor is trying to think of a trap to get rid of the Winx once and for all, but Obscurum keeps distracting him. The girls rush back to Alfea when they realize they have a pop quiz in potions class. I honestly think the girls should be allowed to miss class when they have missions. After season 3, this was never a problem for them. And even then, in the earlier seasons they were usually punished whenever they snuck out at night or skipped class without Faragonda's permission, or if they did so under false pretenses. Aside from that, she was understanding about them wanting to fight evil. I have to wonder why no adults tried to tell them to leave villains like Darkar or Valtor to them though. Sure, when Valtor did fight the adults, he tricked them and kicked their asses, but still. Sky is at Alfea, and he reminds Bloom that they had a date almost two hours ago. Um, she was still on Lumenia, remember? For an important mission to save the universe? From Valtor, one of the most dangerous villains the magic dimension has ever faced? Idiot. I hate forced relationship drama. Bloom promises to make it up to him. Musa gets a call from Riven that night, but she doesn't answer it. Tecna plays some music and dances with her to cheer her up. Aw! Valtor's next target is a bright flying star ship with a city called Peripla.

## Review

Today's date is January 22nd, 2021. I binge watched all six episodes of season 1 of *Fate: The Winx Saga*. It was terrible. I liked the actors, and they deliver their lines well enough, even if some of those lines were really bad. The editing is mostly good, with only some stuff that I thought was dumb happening in the second and sixth episodes. Also, holy shit, one of the biggest detriments to this show is going to be its incredibly short length. I appreciate that it's trying to tell its own unique story, but when I walk away from it with more questions and "WTF were the crew thinking?" moments than answers and enjoyment, that's generally not a good sign. I don't care what anyone else says to try and defend or debunk it, they whitewashed Flora, then changed her name and made the real Flora an unseen relative of hers to avoid the inevitable backlash, meaning they knew exactly what they were doing, and that it was morally and ethically wrong and racist, and they knew how fans would react to it, but they still went through with it anyways! You know, I'm pretty sure that plus sized, non-white actors exist. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. They could've easily invented a newer, smaller role if they felt bad about recasting Elliot Salt. Also, that woman was playing a teenager while she was in her late 20s, and unlike with Daphne's actress in *Switched at Birth*, the makeup and clothes don't hide it. If anything, they draw even more attention to it. They cast an American actress named Paulina Chávez as the real Flora in season 2. Her birthday is only a few days before mine. They also whitewashed Musa, although I did really like how some of her hairstyles could've been seen as references to the animated Musa's old hairstyles from the first few seasons of the show. In reality, she's literally letting her hair down as she lets people in. She first told Aisha that she used to dance, when in the original show, Aisha was the one who taught her how to. Also, while I am a white girl with straight blonde hair and not a hairstylist and therefore have absolutely no right whatsoever to properly judge this, I think that all of Aisha's hairstyles are fire. Apparently the only thing that looks bad are the edges, and only because the stylists clearly tried to make them look like waves as another reference. So, there might also be queer baiting, homophobia, and biphobia in the first season? There are only two or three "major" named characters that are hinted to not be heterosexual, or entirely monogamous, but they never outright say that they're gay or bi, even though the show clearly has no problem saying those kinds of words, and they're also all evil by the end of the season, or at the very least, they're assholes who have sided with evil, manipulative, usurping murderers who are totally okay with coverups, genocide, and war crimes. They're confirmed to be in a threesome in season 2, but then they break up. And the creator, executive producer, and showrunner is a gay man! How does something that bad, wrong, and trope-y on so many levels even happen? Is Brian Young okay? Does he have some internalized self-loathing issues that he needs to work out through therapy? The amount of unfortunate implications is insane. There are only two "major" black characters, only one of them (the lighter skinned one) gets something resembling an arc in the first season, and it's not a good one. Then again, none of the characters had good or complete arcs, except maybe "Musa" learning to open up. Terra's is a generic one about her weight and standing up for herself, which she has no problem doing with Riven, but apparently she's gun shy around everyone else. Stella is in name only (Sino) and a manipulative and vile bitch with a Freudian excuse because her mom is an emotionally abusive bitch. She's the live action version of Diaspro 2.0. She's a combination of her and Chimera. There's a bit of a love triangle between her, Bloom, and Sky, though thankfully that's the one time the short length came in handy. I despise all love triangles. I can tell the actresses are trying their best, but some of the character interactions just don't seem super genuine because they don't happen often enough. I can't realistically believe that Stella ever became friends with the other girls in the suite because I never saw it actually happen onscreen until after she had already returned to Alfea, and even then, only with Musa after talking to her about her mother, Luna, the queen of Solaria, who is also in name only (Lino). She's basically Cassandra now. Musa can't personally relate to this at all because her mom is dead and was actually a good person (presumably). It would've made slightly more sense to have that heart to heart with Bloom, whose parents are also in name only (Vino and Mino). I guess they could've told the others at some later point offscreen, but still. It just feels like so much is missing or was cut. Dane suddenly turns into an asshole, because, and Riven suddenly regrets turning him into one, because! And so on and so on. Contrary to what CW-esque people like Greg Berlanti or Marc Guggenheim seem to think, not all teenagers are only interested in sex and drugs, nor do they all like watching other, older people play teenagers that pretend to have sex or do drugs on TV. I never saw or heard the word Winx in the actual show. Apparently the title comes from the name of their suite, and the fact that fate (or rather, fata) is Italian for fairies. Also, the lack of lighting sucks. How am I supposed to enjoy the few moments of actual fighting when they happen in the woods, at night, in the dark? Sure, that means it's easier get away with shoddy VFX, but still. It's hard to describe what the Burned Ones even look like, except large burnt corpses that generally function like zombie cheetahs. Oh, they're usually alone? Nope, now there are at least five or six of them! There really needs to be more color too, and I mean good color, not color coded outfits. This isn't *Power Rangers*. ***Everything*** that goes into making anything creative was just so screwed up on such a fundamental level. Believe it or not, there *were* actually a few moments where I found myself liking the show, only for something terrible or tone deaf to happen to remind me that this is supposed to be for people who like constantly dark, edgy shit that makes no sense, like CW's *Riverdale* or Netflix's own *Chilling Adventures of Sabrina*. Yes, I know they're based on the dark versions of the comic books, but I also don't care, especially since in this case, Winx Club doesn't have that basis and never did. Its comic books are as bright and colorful as the original show. And I'm sure there was plenty of stuff that I missed that other reactors and reviewers pointed out. Darkness and seriousness loses its purpose without light and levity. Plus, being dark and serious doesn't automatically mean that something is good or will appeal to an older or wider audience. Bloom's "transformation" at the end was kind of cool, but we were all expecting it because it was mostly already shown in the trailer. She never actually used the wings to fly, and they shrank once she was back on the ground, although I think that makes them look a bit more like a fiery red version of her first fairy form wings. Plus there was a ton of blatant foreshadowing for it. Am I just too genre savvy now? Is that what's happening? I personally thought that most of the music was generic edgy trash. You were filming in Ireland and almost everyone sounds British! Incorporate some authentic or memorable music at least! I thought the water in the background was going to be Bloom controlling another element, since their first year at this Alfea is all about the element they were born with, implying that they'd learn to use other elements in later years, and Bloom did it earlier than normal because she's super powerful, but nope! It was just Aisha using water so Bloom wouldn't hurt her or Stella when she unleashed her full power. Musa and Terra weren't even there. Tecna probably doesn't even exist. There are nods to the animated series, like Solaria, Eraklyon, Andros, Linphea, Stella's ring, Queen Luna, Mike and Vanessa, the Dragon Flame, convergence magic, the Company of Light, the Army of Darkness, Queen Marion, Sky wearing blue, etc. But that's just not enough for me. I'm still not sure if I'll review it, but I'll watch the second season, if only to see if they actually do bring in Flora and Tecna, redeem Riven and Dane, and possibly bring Farah back to life, because Dragon Flame. That's how low my expectations are. Farah is not brought back to life, but her actress does appear again, unlike the original actress for Rosalind, who is clearly recast and then unceremoniously killed off by Bloom only. Stella, Terra, and Aisha transform, but I didn't like it. The villain was a bland adaptation of Valtor that Bloom has no personal connection to. We learn that Beatrix is actually an adaptation of Stormy. She had two sisters named D'Arcy and Isobel, but then she's murdered mid-sentence in the finale without it going anywhere. And none of it ever will, despite the obvious plans to bring her back, because Netflix cancelled the show. Which was honestly for the best in my opinion. Season 2 was better, but it was still bad. Dane becomes pointless. Some of the outfits are slightly better, at least color wise. Riven and Musa actually interact. Aisha actually has a plot to herself. I found Musa's plot to be actively harmful. She willingly gives up her powers, and when she gets them back, she chooses to wear painful cuffs instead and keeps training to be a Specialist. She hates the powers that she was born with *that much*. I guess it could be an interesting trans allegory, like Warren in *X-Men The Last Stand*, but still, the implications are… concerning. It honestly feels to me like it's almost encouraging… you know. The S words. The cuffs make you bleed and are placed on your wrists. 1-800-273-8255 is the phone number for a hotline if you're thinking distressing thoughts. They are open all day, every day, and can speak English and Spanish. 988 is the phone number for the U.S. mental health hotline. The one named trans character is evil until the very end, because of course he is, and I don't think they ever confirm that he's trans in the show itself, which makes the representation invisible and meaningless in my opinion. Terra's dad and brother leave midway through because they're pointless now. Terra does realize that she's gay though, comes out to the girls, and gets a date with a Specialist by the end, so I guess that's nice. Stella actually has a really sweet friendship with Beatrix, but that takes time away from her bonding with the other girls. She also doesn't tell them the truth about not leaving campus. It's not that she doesn't want to; it's that, thanks to Rosalind and her family, she is *physically unable to* thanks to a gem thing implanted into her back that makes her bleed way more than the cuffs do and stops her from using her powers to turn herself invisible. Sky actually finds out about this, but he doesn't tell anyone, and it never goes anywhere. The one scene that I genuinely enjoyed was when Sky and Bloom visited Silva's house. It took place during the day, it was brightly lit, sunny, and colorful; the actors/characters actually joked, laughed, smiled, flirted, and had legitimate chemistry with each other; and it was set to a Taylor Swift song. But that was it. There were also horses, and it is scientifically proven that horsies are the best and make everything better. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to detox from this shit show to music and animation that is actually good, like *Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur*.