Sweet Bee's Home

A scout named Sweet Bee, sent ahead by the colony ship called The Hive, reports a promising planet, and Hordak, told her craft is unarmed and peaceful, orders it shot down. Adora and Adam, visiting, see the shot, and as He-Man and She-Ra they gather Mermista and Frosta and ride Enchanta to the Polar Sea. Enchanta is stung by the Horde, and while He-Man and Frosta fend off troopers, She-Ra and Mermista dive, beat a robot crawdad and pull out the pilot. Sweet Bee explains that her people fled a supernova and that the whole hive is already on the way. Etheria belongs to the Horde, so the news is bad, and Shadow Weaver, using the captured ship, tells the hive to come ahead. The rebels storm Hordak's hangar, but the radio and rockets are wrecked, so He-Man and She-Ra push the ship into space by hand, and Sweet Bee is launched on her way. Loo-Kee closes with a word about moving to a new home.

Loo-Kee: "Hi! I'm Loo-Kee. Did you find my hiding place today? If not, try again. See me now? Here I am! Today, Sweet Bee and her people were trying to move to a new home. If your family ever has to move, try not to be sad. You may be leaving old friends, but you'll be making new ones, and that's really something to look forward to. See you soon!"

Sweet Bee: "I was just looking for a new planet to settle."

Hordak: "Ten-thousand new slaves to do my bidding."

She-Ra: "There's more than one way to get into space."

He-Man: "Right you are, She-Ra."

Sweet Bee's Home asks what a safe place is worth when the sky above it belongs to somebody else. Sweet Bee wants a planet, Hordak wants slaves, and the episode keeps those two wishes on a collision course while the rebels steer between them.

The setup is brisk. A scout reports good air and plenty of water. Hordak hears that the craft is "completely unarmed" and "on a peaceful mission", and he orders it shot down anyway. That one beat shows the Horde's cruelty without a speech, and it gives Sweet Bee a reason to need the rebels before she has met anyone.

The character work is uneven but lively. Sweet Bee is a scout with a job and a worry, and her explanation is clear enough that nobody needs to repeat it. Her people built The Hive to escape a supernova, and she was sent ahead to find them a home. She puts it plainly with "I was just looking for a new planet to settle." The writing then hands She-Ra the hard line, which is that Etheria is ruled by the Horde and that Hordak "will surely enslave them". That keeps the rescue from being a simple favour, since the heroes cannot offer her what she came for.

The standout scene belongs to the villains. Shadow Weaver takes the controls of the captured ship, puts on "a little disguise" and answers Drone 7 as though she were Sweet Bee. The hive wants a report, and she gives one that sounds friendly and warm: "The planet is peaceful, with friendly people. Come ahead." Hordak's reaction is pure appetite. "Ten-thousand new slaves to do my bidding." The scene turns a rescue into a race, because the rebels now have to get the ship back and also warn a whole hive before it flies into a trap.

The ending pays that off with some invention. The radio is gone and the rockets are destroyed, so Sweet Bee can warn no one and cannot blast off. Sweet Bee still has steering jets, and She-Ra says muscle can do the rest. "There's more than one way to get into space." He-Man and She-Ra hold up the underside of the ship and push it skyward together. It is a silly image and a good one, and it lets the two heroes finish the job side by side instead of taking turns.

The weakness is the time spent on Frosta and He-Man. Frosta clings to him for most of the trip, and one of the rescuers has to say, "If you could leave Frosta alone for a minute, He-Man, we could use a hand." The joke works once. It keeps coming back and eats screen time that could have gone to Mermista, who dives with She-Ra and then has little to do. The fate of The Hive is also left open, and we see only one of Sweet Bee's people, on a viewscreen, plus Mermista's hope that they find "a nice planet soon."

As a Season 2 entry, this one is small and tidy. It has a clear threat, a likeable guest and a Hordak scheme that nearly works because it is cruel and cheap. It is not among the deepest episodes, but the final push is memorable, and the Loo-Kee talk about moving to a new home fits the story that comes before it.

cereal:geek's commentary on Sweet Bee's Home, with behind-the-scenes detail on how the episode was made.

1. Continuity: Prince Adam is visiting Adora when the Horde fires on the scout craft, and he says "Sounds like my vacation's over."
2. Continuity: Enchanta, the pink swan-like bird the heroes ride to the Polar Sea, is stung and falls, and later "Enchanta's recovered from the stun beam."
3. Continuity: Mermista is first seen at the Crystal Falls, and Frosta tells She-Ra the Crystal Falls are "too warm for my tastes."
4. Production: Written by Bob Forward and directed by Tom Tataranowicz, and first aired on 1987-10-17.
5. Note: A trooper reports that the scout ship is unarmed, and Hordak orders it destroyed all the same.