Because I’m so timely here is my celebration of the 30th anniversary of He-man and the Masters of the Universe..about four years to late. Oops.
When I was a kid in the 80’s I adored He-Man. I watched it religiously every day. I went to see the “Secret of the Sword” movie which introduced She-Ra. I had as many of the action figures, vehicles, and playsets that I could. I even went to at least one “live” show they had a local mall. I simply adored this show. I know today it gets made fun from the corny opening intro to the lame PSA’s at the end, the lack of violence due to the rules at the time (Just once I wanted to see He-Man PUNCH Skeletor), the fact that it existed to sell toys, and of course the idiotic innuendo that some insist on forcing on to this character. This show gets a bad rep, but man was it awesome!
It was part of my childhood and I loved it. However one thing I have noticed is that thirty-three years later, I don’t remember a lot of it. 130 episodes and only a handful stand out. Oh sure there are bits and pieces I may recall. For instance, I talked before how I remember Dree Elle’s song from “Dree Elle’s Return” but I had no clue for years what episode that was in or that Dree Elle was singing. Because the song was an earworm but the episode was meh. I guess it’s fair to say that a lot of episodes weren’t high art. Skeletor did something, and He-Man eventually stopped it. So I guess that it makes sense that many of the episode wouldn’t stand out. Some of the goofy stuff was really silly too. For years I forgot Cringer and/or Battlecat talked. Why did they talk??
But that doesn’t mean some of the episodes didn’t rise above the rest and stand out as either well told stories or really exciting fun. Here are ten episodes I never forgot, not all are probably the best episodes though many are. And of course this is all opinion, feel free to disagree.
#10.”Diamond Ray of Disappearance” (Season 1)
Kind of cheating a little here but I figured the best way to start this was with the pilot. And it’s a damn good pilot! It introduces the characters, has high stakes, and gives us some great action. In fact we see more of Skeletor’s evil minions than just Beast Man and Trap Jaw, which was rare. Skeletor had discovered the titular diamond ray which makes people disappear just by looking at it. Skeletor almost gets into Greyskull before He-Man can get the diamond and crush it. And kudos, it isn’t easy! He-Man isn’t often given limits it’s nice to see when he is.
#9.”Teela’s Quest” (Season 1)
Teela was an awesome character, especially for a female in those days. Yeah she still needed to be rescued but she was no April O’Neil either. She was captain of the guard and kicked seven kinds of ass. And here we learn she has real destiny. We know that Man at Arms is her father, but who was her mother? Well this fantastic episode explains that it was the Sorceress, and the reason it’s a secret is to protect her. And that final scene where this all revealed is just great. The episode not only gives us beautiful character moments but expands on the lore for this world. Linda Gary does not get the respect she deserves for effectively voicing pretty much all of the female’s in the show. Her Evil Lynn was fantastic! We recently lost June Foray who was remarkable, Linda Gary was right up there. She passed in 1995 but if you watched cartoons in the 80’s or 90’s you’ve heard her voice! By the way there was a sort of follow up later called “Teela’s Triumph” which should be considered honorary for this list.
#8.”Not so Blind” (Season 2)
Before I had any what a “blind episode” was, we have ourselves a blind episode. Of course I am referring to the cliche where a character in a show is blinded for an episode. But to be fair, they do a great job here. What makes this episode work? Very simple actually. Written by Robert Lamb the real star of the episode is Loos. A little boy who is blind and wants to meet He-Man. When Loos does, He-Man promises to take him on a journey with Ram Man. In the process, He-Man and Ram-Man are blinded also and it’s up to Loos to take charge. When I was growing up the stereotype was that blind people were idiots because they couldn’t see. Why people thought that I will never know, but here is my first exposure to the fact that being blind doesn’t make you useless. And we get a confident, fleshed out character in Loos. He sells an episode which would otherwise be gimmicky. And it’s nice to see not villain or antagonist for once.
#7.”Evilseed”/”Visitors From Earth”
You knew there had to be a tie! These are together because they are both meh episodes with something very special in them. The “Masters of the Universe” movie where He-Man visits Earth was awful. And the He-Man/She-Ra Christmas special was..corny. So is there anytime He-Man had an encounter with Earth that worked? Here we are my friends! Two astronauts crash land on Etermia and not only do they have to get their ship away from Skeletor, but they have to get back to Earth before a meteor smashes it! Actually this episode is only so so. But it does have some cool elements to it. Like seeing the two astronauts reacting to the world of Eternia. And being reminded again that Queen Marlena is an Earth woman. In case you didn’t know Adam is half human like Spock and Troi on Trek. The best scene is when He-Man sees Earth and takes a moment to appreciate that he is seeing the planet his mother came from. Nice scene. Speaking pf the Christmas Special, remember how corny it was when Skeletor saved the kids? Well in Evilseed he has to join forces with He-Man again. But this time he is in character and it works. The plot involves a plant-person thing called Evilseed making the plants overgrow Eternia. So the heroes and villains have to come together to defeat the threat. Evilseed is probably the most memorable villain the series produced, after Skeletor.
#6.”Quest for He-Man”
Kind of a corny one, for reasons that’ll be clear in a second. Paul Dini wrote many of these (including Teela’s Quest) and this one is…pretty good, not his best. Skeletor tricks He-Man into his trap, and he erases He-Man’s memory and sends him off to another dimension somewhere. Hopelessly lost. Yikes, as far Skeletor plans go this may be one the nastiest. And it’s kind of neat to see He-Man taken out of the action and allow his friends a chance to shine. So what makes it corny? The planet He-Man ends up has an environment that the planet has managed to ruin with pollution. Uh huh. Even better? The villain responsible is Plundor, giant anthropomorphic rabbit. Yeah so the episode becomes more about that than He-Man with amnesia. But it’s still good and the way He-Man gets his memory back is classic. Oh and we never get to see He-Man get Skeletor back, he enacts his evil plan and then vanishes from the story. So what did Paul Dini do after He-Man? Oh just a million episodes of Batman:The Animated Series and it’s subsequent spinoff’s.
#5.”Origin of the Sorceress” (Season 2)
J.Michael Straczynski is an amazing writer. He has done work on The Real Ghostbuster, Babylon 5, Twilight Zone not to mention in comics work writing Spider-Man, Superman and Wonder Woman. He is fantastic. And I haven’t seen or read any of his work. This is one of those writers who kind of went under my radar. Ok, there were two exceptions. I did the movie “The Changeling” which was excellent, and this episode of MOTU. He wrote a few others and for She-Ra but this is the only one this list. And it’s a fantastic episode as it builds on the MOTU lore and expands it. It’s pretty cool learning where the Sorceress came from, she a normal person at one point, and the subtle allusions to the She-Ra series made this even more memorable. It’s also nice to see her in on the action rather being passive like she often is.
#4.”Into the Abyss” (Season 2)
Written by Robert Lamb we have a fantastic character episode that works great. We open the episode with,er, the end of another episode. What’s really going is getting in some He-Man action since he will be Adam for most of it. Anyway, Man at Arms reminds Teela that she needs to stop treating Adam like a drill sergeant and have fun once in awhile. This seems to work until Teela falls into the bottomless abyss right outside Castle Greyskull. She lands on a ledge but is stuck. So it’s up to He-Man, Man at Arms, and Orko to help her. Yeah ok the plot is thin but man the character moments sell it. Especially the scene when the trio realize what happened, and since it’s a bottomless pit fear the worst! But the Sorceress realizes she is alive but needs help. This episode is fantastic, right down to one of the coolest He-Man transformations ever!!
#3.”BattleCat” (Season 2)
This story was written by D.C.Fontana (where have I heard that name before?) and is a great one. Yeah it’s another origin story (by the way “The Mystery of Man-E-Faces” was left off because I had enough origin stories, though that’s a good one). But what we get is some great moments between Adam and Cringer. And it’s nice to see Adam as a youth not to mention He-Man’s earlier days. The best is when Cringer is turned into Battle Cat. He-Man transform as usual which scares Cringer (of course). First He-Man says he is still Adam, which shows who he think is real. Then he accidentally blasts Cringer. Now aside from foreshadowing from the Sorceress he never saw that coming and is totally shocked. Which is a nice change of pace from other instances of heroes getting a power and others just kind of winking and then on to the action. The episode actually holds for a second so we see He-Man react and appreciate what’s happened. Nice. Course Fontana knows how to write characters, as she did in some of the best Star Trek episodes. Oh and FYI, I loved Battlecat!
#2.”A Friend in Need” (Season 1)
I loved this episode. First of all, He-Man transforms three times which was awesome! But seriously this episode is all about drug abuse. Rather than just slapping on a PSA at the end the whole episode is sort of a PSA. I also like that Skeletor is not the villain, it’s a new character that our heroes have already dealt with. It shows that there is a history here, and that Skeletor is not the only nuisance on this planet. So what is this episode about? Teela’s friend is Ileena is tricked into helping the villain when he gives her a potion that makes her feel really good and believe she can do anything. Get it? Yeah it could have been corny but it works for a few reasons. Since the main character is Ileena, we get a break from our heroes being the focus which is nice. The episode feels more like a sitcom in its pacing. And Linda Gary does a great job with Ileena, we feel her plight and want to see her redeem herself in the end. Which she does. Great episode. You all know I prefer character stuff over action, so is it any wonder I always loved this one? Brynne Stephens was a fine writer who did a lot of work in the My Little Pony franchise in the 80’s.
#1.”The Problem with Power” (Season 2)
Generally considered one of, if not THE, best episodes. Bob Foward and Leslie Wilsom wrote this script which is really heavy in the drama for a change. Skeletor tricks He-Man into punching a gateway which crumbles around some citizens…and kills a person! Yeah, they’re going there. Ok they could never kill a real person, it’s really a disguised minion who is reptilian or something and has no heartbeat. But while no death actually happens the episode plays out as it if did. With the people getting mad at He-Man, and He-Man feeling such sorrow for his irresponsibility he decides to turn his back on his powers. He turns back into Adam (the only time we see this) and tosses the sword into the bottomless Abyss. Wow. This is about as human as this character has ever been on this series. It’s like how people forget Superman is more than might and muscle, he cares for people and therefore will not kill. He-Man obviously feels the same, saying that his killing was a betrayal of the oath he took. It’s heavy stuff! Of course Orko stumbles onto the truth and all is well in the end. But this episode is a really good story about He-Man, and it really sells. I also like that even though He-Man gives up his power that doesn’t mean that Eternia is defenseless as Teela continues to act as Captain of Royal Guard. Sadly the one thing I hated in this episode is the end. Teela has been injured and He-Man picks her up. She wakes and is fine, but He-Man doesn’t put her down. He just carries her off into the subset. The scene is supposed to be sweet (there was always a romantic chemistry between the two) but as a child I thought it was really really lame. As an adult, ok it’s not that bad. It is kind of sweet.
Now don’t think just because I only listed 10 episodes that means there weren’t other. There were plenty of others. So what about She-Ra? As you might imagine being the girly show I didn’t watch it much. The only thing I enjoyed were the crossover’s with the He-Man show. It was rare for show’s to crossover back then and they did it several times. Yes, including that corny Christmas Special (that I watch every year). I also should mention Alan Oppenheimer who did a lot of the voice acting. He deserves his own article honestly, I spend a lot of my childhood attempting to imitate his Skeletor voice. And he did Falkor in Neverending Story????? No way!
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