NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

He-Fan

He-Fan title card
E42

Official Synopsis

He-Man smiles beside Melindra, who grins.

On Priman Independence Day, Skeletor tests a sonic resonator on a single Mutant fighter and cracks the shield. Melindra, a cheerful fan with a camera, spends the festivities hunting for He-Man while Minister Werban urges peace with the Mutants. Hydron, Flipshot and He-Man are sent to destroy the resonator and its ground station on Denebria, and Melindra ends up aboard the Colossus. The team lands and goes in on battlebirds, but she falls into Mutant hands, and the rescue costs them their surprise. As Skeletor's countdown runs out, He-Man asks the power of the good to guide his sword, and Primus is spared. The closing lesson is to be an original.

Morals by closing lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

The closing lesson is about peer pressure: you do not have to do something just because everyone else is doing it. Feel free to be your own person, do not be a follower, and be an original.

heman.org Episode Review

Is it possible to admire someone so much that you get in the way of the thing you admire? "He-Fan" builds a comedy around that idea, and it is a pleasure to find the show taking a lighter turn to try it. Melindra, a clumsy, cheerful woman who calls herself He-Man's biggest fan, heads for the Priman Independence Day festivities, where a speech by Werban is on the programme, because, as she puts it, who cares about Werban, she is going to see He-Man. She carries a camera, she is certain she will meet her hero if he shows up, and the script has fun letting her step on a young man's foot while she asks him where the hero might be; his relief when Mara calls him to the laboratory is a small gem.

Underneath the slapstick the episode carries a real argument. Werban tells the crowd that Primus should extend the olive branch to Skeletor and the Mutants and reach an agreement that gives peace in our time, another voice fears that Werban has no understanding of the true nature of evil, and someone reminds the room that this is a democracy where every voice has the right to be heard. Skeletor has already tested the sonic resonator, which cracks the shield, and when the argument over negotiating resumes, the reply that appeasing tyrants never satisfies them, it only encourages them to grab for more, arrives with the evidence to back it.

Put plainly, the story is about the difference between loving a hero and understanding what the hero's work costs. Melindra tells Hydron not to worry, because He-Man is with him; she is told to stay put and answers whatever you say, He-Man, you certainly know best; and then, of course, she is somewhere she should not be. She gets herself aboard the Colossus, which means the ship cannot be used to knock out the resonator, which means the plan has to change, which means the team lands and takes the battlebirds from behind. Every step of the mission is shaped by the person who was supposed to watch it from the sidelines.

The comic writing is at its best in her scenes with the villains. Slush Head is told to interrogate her and is told off in the same breath by Skeletor, who calls him bubble-brained, and she warns her captors that He-Man will get them. Skeletor says he could watch all day but has an invasion to take care of, treating her as an irritation rather than a prisoner, and the contrast between her chirpy confidence and his impatient menace is the funniest thing in the half hour. Earlier she cannot resist sitting in the hero's seat on the Colossus and narrating it, which tells us all we need to know about her.

The weakness is the climax, which rushes. Once the surprise is gone the team splits up, with Flipshot sent to Melindra and Sagittar and Tuskador told to take care of the tents, and the resonator, which Skeletor has said will soon be fully charged, is settled by He-Man asking the power of the good to guide his sword. After that a voice tells Master Sebrian that Primus owes its life to the Galactic Guardians and Melindra is asking Flipshot to wave at the camera, so the final fight happens in the gaps between lines. Presumably the slot demanded it, but the cost is that the danger to Primus, which the first act set up well, is resolved without much weight.

Verdict: a light, likeable entry that gets a great deal out of a single comic character. It leaves us laughing at the fan and agreeing, a little reluctantly, that the hero was right to say stay put.

Notes of Interest

  1. Continuity: The He-Man wiki says Melindra is a clumsy middle-aged woman who calls herself He-Man's biggest fan and carries a camera and a video album full of shots of him.
  2. Continuity: According to the He-Man wiki, the Sonic Resonator can make holes in the planetary shield around Primus, and Skeletor planned to fit smaller versions to the whole Mutant armada.
  3. Continuity: The He-Man wiki lists Caz in this episode as a non-speaking cameo.
  4. Continuity: Per the He-Man wiki, Werban is the secretary of the Inner Council and gives a speech promoting peace with the Mutants on Priman Independence Day in this episode.
  5. Voice cast: Don Brown voices four characters here: Hydron, Gepple, Quakke and Werban, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.
  6. Continuity: The He-Man wiki lists Alcon in this episode as a non-speaking role.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Slushhead
Evil

Slushhead

Episode screenshots

A woman in a wide yellow hat and coat looks up wide-eyed.
A woman in a wide yellow hat and coat looks up wide-eyed.
Melindra whispers to a woman in an orange hat in a crowd under a striped awning.
Melindra whispers to a woman in an orange hat in a crowd under a striped awning.
Rows of red seats packed with an audience face a speaker on a gold platform.
Rows of red seats packed with an audience face a speaker on a gold platform.
A dark-haired woman in white and two men in blue armor watch with arms crossed.
A dark-haired woman in white and two men in blue armor watch with arms crossed.
Adam grins with his head tilted.
Adam grins with his head tilted.
Adam sits with his hands clasped and a bag at his side among the audience.
Adam sits with his hands clasped and a bag at his side among the audience.
Melindra speaks with a smile, a green hat in her hand.
Adam, an elderly bald man and a dark-haired woman in white watch from the side.
A pink panel sits above a dark grille with glowing green and white lights.
Pink rings of energy streak across a cracking blue sky.
A crowd on steps scatters in alarm beneath a cluster of pink crystals.
Frightened onlookers stare upward beside a large yellow sleeve.
Adam talks to a dark-haired woman in white who has her back to the viewer.
Adam, an elderly man with a staff, a woman in white and Melindra stand together.
He-Man raises the Power Sword in front of a wall of flames.
He-Man raises the Power Sword in front of a wall of flames.
A green grassy meadow is ringed by dark bushes.
A brown spacecraft fires two spirals of pink rings from its sides.
A brown spacecraft flies through a cracked purple sky with an orange thruster glow.
He-Man looks up and to the side with parted lips.
He-Man looks up and to the side with parted lips.
He-Man stands with folded arms behind a red-haired man and a brown-haired man in blue.
A green-gloved hand points at a gridded map table.
A brown-gloved hand holds a small stylus.
Four mutants stand at the top of a purple map table scattered with small figurines.
Flogg points an armored arm and scowls.
Flogg points an armored arm and scowls.
The underside of a white spacecraft shows three red circular ports against the sky.
He-Man stands with two blue-armored companions and Melindra before a crowd on a staircase.
He-Man and Melindra appear on a monitor as Melindra flashes a peace sign.
He-Man looks sideways with a set jaw.
Melindra holds a small purple box and smiles.
Five robed men stand before a control panel, one with spiky blond hair and round glasses.
A dark-haired woman in white, an elderly bald man with a branching staff and He-Man look on.
A brown craft with a purple dome and orange thruster flies across a monitor.
A wireframe model of a mechanical device fills a monitor.
Globe and wave symbols appear on a black monitor.
A red-haired man and a brown-haired man in blue gaze ahead.
He-Man glances aside with one hand clenched at his chest.
Seen from above, an elderly man, a woman in white and onlookers stand on a blue floor.
Master Sebrian gestures with his branching staff as He-Man and two men in blue sit beside him.
Faint ghosted faces of an elderly man and others show through a clear panel.
Melindra touches her hat brim and chin beside a white ship.
Melindra wipes her eye and grins, holding her green hat.
Melindra climbs a ramp into a ship, seen from behind.
Melindra smiles from a seat inside a cockpit.
He-Man and two men in blue and red armor stride through a ship as the image fades.
A white ship with blue and red engines flies through the sky.
He-Man sits beside a brown-haired man in blue in a cockpit, a red-haired man behind them.
He-Man looks back over his shoulder while a red-haired man sits behind him.
He-Man stands among companions in red and gold as a brown-haired man glances right.
Seen from above, He-Man, a seated Melindra and two crew members sit on a ship's bridge.
He-Man beams while Melindra smiles with a hand at her chin.
Melindra frowns and looks aside under her hat.
Small battle birds sit in a hangar seen from above.
Melindra films with a video camera.
A man in a blue visor helmet and red breathing mask scowls.
Melindra holds a camera as He-Man grips a yellow handle beside her.
A white and orange mechanical bird craft flies through cloud.
Six white and orange mechanical bird craft fly together through clouds.
A blue radar screen shows a single red dot.
Melindra points her camera at a control panel at the edge of the frame.
Melindra stands small at the top of a ramp in a ship corridor.
Melindra stands behind a camera on a tripod.
A yellow rounded object rests beside a control panel with a graph screen.
A pink rock formation stands on a barren pink desert.
A blue satellite dish tilts on a pink rocky slope.
A yellow tube end juts out over a pink rock face.
He-Man and a man in a silver visor helmet crouch on a ridge and look out.
He-Man stands beside a man in a silver helmet and a man in a red mask.
Small brown craft fly above a pink desert beside a large grey ship.
A blue and grey gun barrel pokes through a tan wall with creases radiating outward.
Melindra drifts down a cliff beneath a floating disc with her skirt billowing.
Flogg stands with other mutants as Melindra stands in their grip.
Flogg stands with other mutants as Melindra stands in their grip.
A blue bow-tie shaped speaker device stands on a pole on a pink hillside.
He-Man and four armed companions peer over a ridge.
He-Man and several companions run down a purple slope.
Skeletor sits in a chair with his hands clasped as a mutant in blue stands at a table.
Skeletor sits in a chair with his hands clasped as a mutant in blue stands at a table.
A brown vehicle with a large black wheel sits beside small blue domes.
Small brown craft fly through grey clouds.
A blue circular dish with white arrow-shaped markers fills the frame.
Skeletor stands with a wide grin and his red eyes bright.
Skeletor stands with a wide grin and his red eyes bright.
Skeletor raises a clenched fist while holding his staff.
Wisps of smoke drift across a dim room where a figure in blue crouches in the corner.
Flogg stands at left as gold-armored and yellow mutants gather around a seated Melindra.
A dark-faced mutant in gold armor looks shocked as a hand pokes a stick at his chest.
A mutant in grey armor stands with his back to the viewer beside He-Man's shoulder.
A blue domed machine with a window sits against a rock wall.
Red laser bars stretch across the frame.
A mutant in red and white armor strides away, seen from behind.
He-Man's shoulder fills the foreground as small figures peer into a blue cylinder with dome windows.
He-Man looks sideways beside three companions inside a blue cylinder.
A tan domed hut has a dark doorway.
A man in red and a blue visor crouches atop grey barrels beside a blue cylinder.
Boots and blue trousers step across pink sand.
Melindra stands inside red energy rings as Skeletor sits in his armored chair.
Two grey dome huts fire pink bolts from their openings.
A large orange glowing dish sits with arrow spokes beside ribbed cylinders.
A white utility vehicle with a yellow seat stands among rocks.
A man in a silver helmet and Melindra stand under a pink overlay.
A man in a blue helmet and red breathing mask crouches beside a brown crate.
He-Man grins as rows of grey armored troopers stand in a bay.
A ghosted tank tread rolls across pink ground.
A hand holds the Power Sword upright against a cloudy sky and a rock face.
A large red oval glows inside a dark circle against a pink background.
Ghosted grey armored troopers run across rocky ground in a repeating sequence.
He-Man pushes against a brown machine with round vents as a man in blue runs beside him.
A grey mechanical cap sits atop a brown and white object.
A skull-faced craft with a spinning rotor hovers below smoke as two ships fly above.
He-Man and three companions crowd together in a ship cabin.
Melindra and a brown-haired man in blue look worried, he holding his head.
A brown-haired man looks down sternly as Melindra films with a camera.
He-Man talks with three companions gathered in the cockpit.
Adam looks on as a brown-haired man in blue gives a thumbs up beside a dark-haired man.

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