Time for episode 13, "A Great Secret Revealed". This title hints that a big secret is coming to light this episode. 4kids called it "Meant to Be". I think it refers to how Bloom was always meant to be a fairy. I don't think either one is particularly better, so no points to anyone.
I do wonder, what's Bloom's legal situation? As far as anyone knows, Bloom just disappeared from home and school and hasn't been seen. I doubt Mike and Vanessa have the necessary paperwork to explain that their daughter is studying on another planet. It's something that they shouldn't be able to get away with without at least a handwave, but this is a kids show. Stuff like that probably isn't thought of by the kids.
Bloom is home in Gardenia helping her mom in the kitchen. Vanessa asks Bloom how long she has off. She gets a week off. Vanessa doesn't think it's very long. Bloom thinks it's better than nothing. Certainly better than getting only one day off. Does Alfea have weekends? Vanessa helps Bloom cut the carrots, noting that home economics isn't Bloom's strong point. It's true, blowing up is her specialty.
Vanessa assures Bloom that she's grown over the last few months. They then notice the oven is on fire. Before it gets out of control, Bloom puts out the fire with magic. This is why I like mage in this series. It's able to help with more mundane things in addition to magical threats. Vanessa is glad the kitchen is safe. Bloom says she only saved the kitchen. Vanessa Bloom's powers are stunning, even if she's not a good cook. Maybe Bloom should just create her food next time she cooks. Bloom says that while Alfea doesn't offer home economic classes, it's a great school for fairies.
Bloom is biking through the city. Mike then pulls up next to her in a fire truck. Mike and his coworker say hi to Bloom, and Mike tells Bloom he'll see her at dinner. Mike drives off. As Bloom heads back, she's spotted by Mitzi. She tells Mitzi she's on break from school. Before she can leave, Mitzi gets in her way. She tells her that everybody in class was asking why she left. Bloom says she switched schools. Technically correct, though a few important details seem to be left out.
Mitzi interprets that as Bloom being unable to keep up with Gardenia high school. Bloom is slightly shaking. Hopefully she'll deck Mitzi soon. Not because I hate Mitzi, but it'd be fun to see her get decked. Bloom says she's at a college for very special girls. Mitzi doesn't believe her. I'm surprised she didn't think that meant a school for special needs girls. Bloom bikes off, to Mitzi's irritation.
Bloom continues to bike while thinking that Mitzi hasn't changed a bit. Bloom thinks she's different from how she was though. Nothing will ever be the same for her again. Then she spots an aura above a man. After rubbing her eyes to make sure she isn't hallucinating, she realizes this means she can see the true nature of people. The aura briefly stops to sniff some flowers. She looks at another woman to test this, and the woman's aura lectures Bloom that it's rude to stare. Bloom apologizes. Not all auras are nice. She didn't realize she had this power, since it never appeared on Magix. I'm guessing she can do this because Earth people have had all of their magical defenses stripped away by a certain group of wizards. It's odd this doesn't appear more often though.
Bloom heads to a flower shop. There, a creepy guy in a car rolls down his window and looks at her. Stalker. Bloom heads in the shop. Inside, Vanessa is talking with two men. Vanessa introduces Bloom to her future business partners, Mr. Bonner and Mr. Brown. Vanessa is about to become the co owner of a chain of flower shops. As Bonner and Brown continue to say this is a good deal, Bloom looks at their auras. They say that when Vanessa signs the deal they'll kick her out and build a supermarket. Not sure if these guys are trustworthy.
Once the two men leave, Vanessa asks Bloom what she thinks of her as a businesswoman. Bloom hesitates and starts cleaning up the shop. Bloom asks how she found them. Vanessa tells her they found her. Bloom explains her aura seeing powers and that their conmen. Vanessa isn't too sure. Bloom tells her mom to trust her. Normally I would say it's dumb to take business advice from a 16 year old girl, but Bloom is probably on to something here. The weird guy from earlier drives Bonner and Brown away.
Sometime later, Bonner and Brown are surprised that Vanessa wants out of the deal. Vanessa says she decided she's happy with how things are now. After failing to get her to reconsider, they start getting threatening, saying that accidents can happen. Like their car "'accidentally"' catching on fire? One of them sweeps a flower pot off the desk, and it breaks on the floor. The two leave saying she'll regret it. Bloom fixes the pot, to Vanessa's relief. Magic is awesome. A montage of Bloom doing stuff with her parents and Kiko plays. The song here is notable, as I think the name of it is "Magical Bloom" the original name of the series.
Bloom and Vanessa are in the flower shop when a brick is thrown through the window. No one is outside by the time they check. Bloom turns the brick into a sponge and uses that to fix the window. I'm sure that made sense in her head. Later, a pair of guys on a motorcycle drive by and smash a vase with a bat. Bloom was a few feet away from getting her head bashed in. Man, these guys are putting in a lot of effort for one little flower shop. Bloom repairs the vase, only looking afterwards to see that no one's looking.
Later, Bloom and Vanessa enter the shop, only to find that it's been completely trashed. Plants are strewn out, and the floor is filled with junk. Bloom thinks they were hit by Bonner and Brown. Vanessa is reluctant to agree, saying it could be burglars. Bloom checks the cash register and discovers the money is still there. If those two are willing to vandalize property like this, why didn't they just take the money? Bloom says those two are trying to scare her. She claims auras never lie. How does she know that?
At home, Mike wants to report them to the police. Vanessa says she can't prove it was them. She could probably ask for an investigation, though I'm no expert on these things. Mike wants to do something. He then burns his mouth on tea. That's something. Mike says they'll hook up an alarm next morning. The two parents head to bed. Bloom has a strange feeling.
Bloom is in bed. She wakes up screaming, apparently having been dreaming that the shop is on fire. Her parents check up on her. She says she had a vision and that they need to go to the shop. They drive to it, finding the shop in flames.
Mike quickly calls in the fire department, telling them to get here quickly. He assures Vanessa that soon it'll be put out. Bloom says they have to do something now. Mike tries to stop her, but Bloom insists that she can do something, since she's a fairy. Her specialty may be fire, but I hope she doesn't think she can solve this by blasting it with fire. Mike says he's coming with her.
The two are inside the shop, surrounded by a barrier made by Bloom. Bloom isn't afraid. She then gets a vision of a younger Mike fighting a fire. He hears a baby and heads inside the building. In there, the baby has a barrier surrounding her, protecting her from the fire. Mike takes the baby. Somebody must have been terrible parent. Bloom snaps out of it when Mike hears a man yelling for help on the floor.
Bloom recognizes him as Bonner's and Brown's driver. Mike helps him out of the shop. Bloom assures him that she'll take care of everything. With some effort she puts out the fire just as the fire truck arrives. Beaten by a teenage girl. The Gardenia fire department is probably going to be embarrassed.
Bloom is outside as the firefighters finish off what's left of the fire. The driver thanks Bloom. He explains that he started the fire, but then he got trapped by it. He won't be arsonist of the year. Vanessa asks if Bonner and Brown sent him to do it, which he confirms. They wanted to scare her since she didn't want to sign the contract. Mike tells the driver he's in trouble. The driver agrees, but also says he'll tell the police everything about their scams. He says he's sorry. He's probably doing this to get reduced time in jail. Bloom sees it differently and realizes he's sincere. Seeing his aura likely helped with that.
Mitzi is annoyed that Bloom has become a celebrity. This is nothing. In four years she'll be a lot more famous. Mitzi is watching her get interviewed on TV and thinks the whole thing is sickening. Somebody has an irrational hate for someone else. Why does Mitzi hate her anyway? It's probably just fun for her.
While eating, Vanessa says she'll build a bigger shop with the insurance money. Mike wants the best alarm system money can buy. Mike and Vanessa see that something is wrong with Bloom. She tells them about the vision she had at the fire. Her parents have a guilty look on their faces. Vanessa says they should tell her. Mike tells Bloom that baby in the fire was her. Bloom is naturally shocked.
16 years ago, Mike saved Bloom from a fire. Nobody knows why she was there. Apparently the flames seemed to protect her. She was calm then, and they immediately realized that Bloom was a special child. Bloom is more concerned and shocked with the fact that she's not their daughter. Well, she's not their biological child. With tears, she asks why they never told her. Mike says they were going to tell her when she was old enough to understand. 10 seems like a reasonable age. 14 at the latest. Then again, what do I know about raising a child. When everything got crazy with magic, suddenly there was no time for anything. Vanessa says they didn't want to hide things from her, and she's still the most important person in their lives. They love her, and Bloom still loves them. To her, they're the best parents in the world. She took that surprisingly well.
Cue montage of pictures from her childhood. She's at Alfea now, and Musa and Flora tell her to cheer up. Adopting her was a great act of unselfish love. Tecna agrees. Musa says she's a lucky girl, which is why she should smile. Bloom is certainly luckier than Musa in any case. Bloom agrees that her parents are amazing. Stella asks what she's going to do now. Bloom wants answers. Who are her real parents, and who is she.
Tecna asks if she absolutely wants to find out. This is the second time she's cautioned Bloom about looking for the truth, with the first being in episode 6. Seems odd. Bloom doesn't think she has a choice. Flora says the search could be long, difficult, and painful. She's saying this for Bloom's own good since she doesn't want Bloom to suffer. Bloom's going to suffer no matter what, so why not get some answers. Bloom wants to find out about her past more than ever.
Stella says they'll be with her. Her favorite sport is sticking her nose in other people's business after all. All the Winx are ready to help her. They join hands and have a group hug. End episode.
This was a more emotional episode, not having much plot or action. The important thing was Bloom learning that she was adopted, sending her on her quest for her past that will last the rest of the season as well as much of the next two seasons and the first movie. This is the start of Winx Club's Myth Arc. Other than that, not much happened.
Bloom was a real sweetie this episode. While I'm sure helping out the shop isn't the most exciting thing for her, she still helps out both conventionally and magically. She wasn't afraid to tell the truth about her mom's new business partners, and didn't agonize over confronting her parents over her dream. She was shocked to learn she was adopted, but she didn't hold that against her parents. For once I'm not annoyed at her. This may lead you to believe that when Bloom is focused on, I like her more. That is sometimes true, but that will eventually change. She's also determined to find out her history.
Mike and Vanessa were in over their heads. They've been like that ever since discovering magic exists, but they still don't know what to do. To be fair, there probably isn't any handbook explaining what to do in this situation. They should have told Bloom much earlier, but this isn't an easy situation for parents to explain. Either way, they're still good parents who deeply care about their daughter, even if they aren't biologically related to her.
Mitzi was kind of a jerk who dislikes Bloom. That's how she is, and that's how she will be until she grows up. Which she will. Until then, she's simply an annoying pest to Bloom. Without any connection to magic, there's really not much to do with them. Bonner and Brown were conmen who wanted to make money. Nothing complicated, though they did take their scare tactics beyond reason. They should have just moved on to a new victim. The driver wasn't much better, but being saved seems to have given him second thoughts on what he's doing with his life.
The other Winx were supportive of Bloom. That's it unfortunately. It would've been nice to see them with their families on their planets, if only to get some perspective on what their lives are like. Stella trying one last time to stop her parents from divorcing or just partying with friends on Solaria. Flora living among the plants with her family. Musa practicing her music, and possibly being at odds with her father. Tecna confirming to us that she has a family, which we haven't seen as of halfway through season 5.
Not the best episode overall, but it was nice family bonding time for Bloom. The main plot with the Trix has stalled long enough however, so it's time for that to come up again. Bloom should also start looking into her past soon.
