The Perils of Peekablue

Hordak lets a prisoner, Peck, escape from his dungeon to test a new machine, the grabber, and recaptures him. Shadow Weaver cannot see into the Whispering Woods, so she names Peekablue, whose mystic vision can see anywhere. Horde robots seize Peekablue while she is telling Adora about Adam, Cringer and Orko, and Shadow Weaver puts her under a mind spell. Guided by her, the grabbers take Bow and Glimmer. Adora puts Keeber in charge of the rebels and lets a grabber carry her into the Fright Zone, where she finds the others shackled in the dungeon beside Peck, who has been there six years. As She-Ra she frees them, sends Glimmer to sneak Bow and Peck out, and then goes after Hordak and Shadow Weaver, and Peekablue is free of the spell in the fight. Back with the rebels, Keeber explains his hatred of Hordak, and Peck turns out to be the father he lost six years before. Loo-Kee closes with a warning about drugs.

Loo-Kee: "Hi! Here's Loo-Kee again. Did you find my hiding place today? If not, try again. Do you see me? Here I am! In today's adventure, Shadow Weaver controlled Peekablue's mind, and made her do wrong. Drugs can do this to you. They can mix you up so much that you can't tell the difference between right and wrong. So please, if someone offers you drugs, say 'no'. See you next time."

Peck: "I'd rather be in jail for 10 years, than be a mind slave for 10 minutes."

Shadow Weaver: "When I change someone's mind, it stays changed."

Hordak: "Oh, you say the sweetest things, my dear."

Peekablue: "I was never so frightened in my life."

Bow: "Because, now Keeber gets to collect six years of back allowance."

Some of the worst things done to a person leave no mark. Peekablue is taken, not hurt, and what the Horde takes is her will. The episode keeps returning to that idea. One prisoner says it plainly: "I'd rather be in jail for 10 years, than be a mind slave for 10 minutes." Nothing else in the story is as pointed as that line, and it comes from a man who spent six years in Hordak's dungeon.

The plot is built around a gap in Hordak's reach. Shadow Weaver tells him her magic cannot see into the Whispering Woods, and he has a new machine, the grabber, that needs a target. Peekablue's vision can find anything, even in the Woods, so she becomes the missing part. It is a neat bit of logic. The villains do not need a stronger weapon, only a friendly person who can be made to point it.

That is why the early scenes with Adora matter. Peekablue tells her what Adam, Cringer and Orko are doing, and the talk is warm and domestic. When Adora asks her to move to the Woods for safety, she answers, "I'd be afraid to be a part of the Rebellion." That fear is her character. It makes her a believable victim and, later, a believable hero. When She-Ra praises her bravery, she says, "I was never so frightened in my life."

The standout is the conversion scene at Hordak's throne. Hordak flatters her and asks for help. She refuses: "I wouldn't work for you in a million years, you cruel, evil, heartless tyrant." Hordak replies, "Oh, you say the sweetest things, my dear." Then Weaver steps in, and her line is almost cheerful: "When I change someone's mind, it stays changed." A few seconds later Peekablue answers, "Yes, masters." The scene is short. The defiance is real, the cruelty is calm, and the change in her voice carries the whole moment.

The weakness is the rescue. Peekablue is enslaved for most of the story, and then She-Ra says she will "take care of Peekablue" and the next scene has her free in a flurry. A cry of "Oh, drat!" and a scuffle later, the spell is gone, and Peekablue's first words afterward are "What? Uh, I'm free!" with no sense of what the spell cost her. A mind-control plot that has been so serious about the cost earns a firmer release than that. Keeber's reunion with his father is also a lucky meeting. Hordak's offhand remark about a man jailed for splashing mud on a trooper sets it up, so it is fair, but it is still a coincidence.

Still, the episode gets a lot out of a simple setup, and the back half moves at a good clip once the leaders are all in the dungeon together. Adora walks into the Fright Zone by letting the grabber take her, which turns Hordak's best tool against him. Peck and Keeber give the ending a human note, and Bow's last joke about back allowance keeps it light. It is a strong Season 2 entry, and the Loo-Kee talk about drugs follows directly from Shadow Weaver's spell.

1. Continuity: Peekablue tells Adora about Adam, Cringer and Orko, tying the episode to He-Man's circle.
2. Continuity: Hordak mentions jailing a man for splashing mud on a trooper, and that man turns out to be Peck, Keeber's father.
3. Note: Shadow Weaver says her magic cannot see into the Whispering Woods, which is why Hordak wants Peekablue.
4. Note: Peck says he spent six years digging a tunnel that "just led deeper into the dungeon."
5. Production: Written by Bob Forward and directed by Ernie Schmidt; first aired 1987-09-12.