"Teela's Quest" classic review thread

[Spacedust]

Another Monday, another classic review thread...

This week's episode is the classic "Teela's Quest", the second episode originally broadcast, one of the most character developing episodes of the show's run, laying in place a number of themes that would continue throughout the series, and deservedly popular with fans. It is one of my personal all-time favourites. (I'm surprised this episode hasn't been covered before)

Using Man-At-Arms' new memory projector, Teela is upset that she can't recollect anything about her mother. She decides to head of to ask the Oracle of the Crystal Sea, the only one who might be able to tell her of her mother's identity. Orko lets slip to Adam and Cringer about Teela's sudden trip to the dangerous Crystal Sea and, as He-Man and Battle Cat, they set off after her. At Snake Mountain, Skeletor and Mer-Man are watching Teela, and Mer-Man asks permission to follow Teela, to capture her and use her as a sacrifice to the sea demon Bukull...

Let's hear what you have to say on this landmark episode. As always, I'll be adding my own review in a while...

[manny]

this is a classic and fave of mine the reason being is that its got awesome action the epic storyline with adams mom showing and telling adam what it was like on earth and what she did before she became his mother. next you have the major storyline with teela trying to go find out who her mother is, someone that we see later in future eps makin sure shes protected by heman manatarms or the sorceress. You learn alot bout merman and also his past w maa teela and zoar by the end of the ep you have the oracle telling teela but then the sorceress tells her, wiping out the memory with a simple tear, very emotional scene
its a perfect 10

[Spacedust]

"Teela's Quest", the second broadcast episode of the original series, is a very memorable episode, notable for introducing several threads that would be visited many times throughout the course of the series.

After the action-packed first episode, "Diamond Ray of Disappearance", here we are presented with a story that, while still having action, gives us a lot of background on the characters.

Things start off with a great shot of Marlena Glenn's spacecraft stuck in the middle of an asteroid storm, as we learn of how Marlena was forced to make a crash-landing on Eternia.
(As a side note, I'm glad that Filmation didn't run with the suggestions in the series bible that Beast Man, Evil Lyn and Tri-Klops were human passengers on her ship that were mutated in the crash).

The first chunk of the story, with both Queen Marlena's flashback, and Teela wondering about her true parents, as well as the rather whimsical-paced dialogue, are great for character development.

The sequence of Orko using his magic in Man-At-Arms' workshop to make a music box present for the King and Queen, only for it to turn out to be bomb parts, is really nothing more than padding, as it is nothing to do with the rest of the story, but it doesn't really matter and doesn't spoil the episode in any way.

This episode features some of the best use of the background music during the series, and is a case that makes me really yearn for a release of the score on CD one day.

There is a classic Orko line as he finds Teela upset - "Why the long face Teela? Did Cringer use your shield as a water dish again?", immediately conjuring up an amusing image of Cringer up to mischief.

Skeletor takes a backseat in this story, allowing Mer-Man to take centre stage, working as a cold-blooded (no joke intended) solo villain as he did in several first season episodes.

The Oracle of the Crystal Sea is expertly voiced by John Erwin, sounding almost hypnotic.

This episode is a great showcase of how so many of the characters in the series, not just He-Man, have such a rich history to them, and was one of the key things that hooked many, myself included, on the series in the first place.

I like the design of Mer-Man's fish men followers. It would have been nice to see these again; As far as I can recall, the only time one was seen again was in a cameo in "Heart of a Giant" at the end of the season.

The notion of Mer-Man planning a sacrifice for Bakull is quite dark, and something that Filmation definitely would not have used later in the series!

There is an animation / continuity error, as He-Man throws his sword to Teela, only for it to then be seen on his back in close-up shots.
Also, Bakull's exact size is a bit inconsistent, and seems to vary in different shots.

At the climax, He-Man rescues Mer-Man from Bakull, commenting afterwards that "Any life, even an evil one, is worth saving", another notion that would be touched upon throughout the run of the series.

The story's closing moments, with Teela learning that her mother is none other than the Sorceress of Grayskull, and that one day Teela will assume this position herself. The Sorceress erases this information from Teela's memory, with the classic line "She will only remember that her mother was a woman who loved her very much."
All that, rounded off with the Sorceress' line "I leave her secret with you, He-Man. You can, I assume, keep a secret." to which He-Man responds "I've had lots of practice."

All-in-all, an absolutely CLASSIC episode.
If the first episode wasn't enough to hook viewers, then this one definitely was! (Even though it wasn't originally shown as the second episode here in the U.K., but that's another story...).
This is definitely one for my Top 10, even my Top 5.
It gets a top rating 10 out of 10 from me (bordering on 11 out of 10!!)

[American Hero]

Teela used the memory projector on Adam to find out why he was not around for practice. It was learned he went fishing. He picked the wrong time and place to do that.

[Spacedust]

Teela used the memory projector on Adam to find out why he was not around for practice. It was learned he went fishing. He picked the wrong time and place to do that.

err... yeah, he did.

[Todd Luck]

MOTU episodes varied a lot in quality and feel. Some episodes have silly characters and really obvious stock animation. Other episodes had writing and animation on a level that could give every cartoon ever made a run for its money. This is definately the later.

The episode had lots of substance to the writing with major plot reveals, lots of characterization, lots of neat ideas, and a emphasis on emotion and tension. The Bakul and the Shadowbeasts are two of the most memorable monsters on the show. The crystal sea looked great.

Probably one of the best episodes they did.

[romana]

Awesome episode, and my favorite of the entire series. This one episode, which aired very early in the series, does so much in terms of character development it's breathtaking.

A couple of little things stand out to me.

The first one is Skeletor's line as he's observing Teela leaving for the Oracle. "The woman Teela is off on some mission of her own." I remember, watching this eipisode in college when it first aired (yeah, I'm old) and just being bowled over that Teela wasn't referred to simply as "that girl" or "He-Man's friend." She had a name, she was referred to as a woman, and she was deemed important enough to actually monitor in some fashion. I also loved that she got to be smart fighting the Shadow Beasts. While Teela often suffers from "girl in distress" syndrome, she was often also allowed to be smart and brave, and I always appreciated that in the show.

In that same scene, it appears to be common knowledge, at least in Snake Mountain, that Teela is adopted. Neither here nor there, just found it interesting. Mer-Man refers to her as Man-At-Arms' ward.

John Erwin's voice as The Oracle is awesome.

And of course, the huge reveal at the end of the episode as to who Teela's mother is, is one of those moments in TV history that most people remember. People who never watched the show, or who only watched it casually remember this, and it always amuses me. This is one of the reaons why this episode is so well regarded, deservedly so, IMO.

[Kobra Kahn]

Watched this the other night. It's so brilliant. Firstly it was good to see Mer-Man get to go it alone, and the whole sacrifice thing was pretty heavy

And second, I loved the Oracle and how he told the story, I only wish that Teela was trusted with the knowledge...but perhaps it was for the best, they should have revisited the story more then they did.

Superb.