Recap / Fraggle Rock S 1 E 16 Capture The Moon

♫ Shine on us now, shine on us! ♫

Once a month, when the Fraggle Moon (the full moon's reflection) appears in the Great Hall's pond, the Fraggles celebrate the Festival of the Moon, and one of the Fraggles is chosen as Moon Greeter, who gets to choose a way of greeting and honoring the moon. This month, it's Gobo's turn.

Wanting the moon for the Fraggles so they can have its light every night, Gobo proposes they capture the moon. Everyone laughs this off, but when Junior drops the bucket down the Gorgs' well (the Fraggle Pond) and gets his head stuck looking for it, blocking the Fraggles' view of the moon, they assume that Junior stole it.

Gobo, Mokey, and Wembley go to the Gorgs' garden to retrieve the moon, filling the bucket with water and bringing it to put the moon in. They search Junior, who has gotten unstuck and is asleep in the garden, but they fail to find the moon. As Gobo worries that they'll never see the moon again, the clouds uncover it, and they see its reflection in the bucket of water. Thinking the moon has escaped from Junior by hiding in the bucket, they take the bucket back to the pond—but clouds are now covering the moon again, and its reflection is nowhere in sight. While the Fraggles are wondering what's going on, Gobo accidentally knocks the bucket into the pond, just before the moon reappears. Reasoning that it must have kept moving until it came home, he realizes that he doesn't need to capture the moon, even if he could.

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This episode contains examples of:

• All Just a Dream:
  • Junior thinks his seeing Fraggles is this when his head is stuck in the well.
  • Gobo, Mokey, and Wembley wondering if the whole event was this.
  • Doc hoping that his being kept awake at night by Sprocket's insomnia is this.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: Wembley does this when Gobo laments that they'll never see the moon again.
  Gobo: Well, there's nothing left for us to do.
  Mokey: There must be.
  Gobo: We have to go home and tell the Fraggles they'll never see their moon again.
  Mokey: No, Gobo! I just don't believe it. You can't take the moon away from the Fraggles. Why, that beauty is part of us! It's inside you. It's inside me...
  Wembley: [who has just taken the lid off] It's inside the barrel!
• Berserk Button:
  • In the UK version, the Captain is visibly startled to the point of rage when Sprocket wakes him up a second time when howling in terror at his sleep-aid record.
    The Captain: [gasps as he is awoken, only to find Sprocket howling] OH, SPROCKET! [angrily throws newspapers onto his desk] Sprocket, for heaven's sake, you nearly scared the life!
  • The Captain then realizes that the gramophone has kept Sprocket howling. He removes the disk and angrily smashes it.
• Cane Fu: The World's Oldest Fraggle keeps doing this to Henchy.
  World's Oldest Fraggle: The ceremony will now begin. Listen up!
  Henchy: [whispering] They are listening.
  World's Oldest Fraggle: Don't sass me! [He bops Henchy on the head with his cane.]
• Correlation/Causation Gag: When Junior gets his head stuck in the well, blocking the Fraggles' view of the moon, they think this means he's stolen it.
  Gobo: We'll set you free if you give us back our moon!
  Mokey: [whispering] Set him free? We can't do that!
  Gobo: Shhh!
  Junior: Give you the moon? I can't do that!
  Gobo: Can't or won't?
  Junior: Uh... both?
  Gobo: See? He does have it!
• Counting Sheep: Inverted. Pa pulls Junior out of the well, then suggests he count the stars to keep himself awake so he won't have nightmares about Fraggles (which he always has on the night of a full moon). It doesn't work, though, and Junior falls asleep in the garden.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Red makes a snarky comment about the previous month's Moon Greeter.
    Mokey: Last month, Finny Fraggle wrote and recited seventy-four verses of an ode to the moon. It was rapturous.
    Red: Is rapturous the same as boring?
    Wembley: I don't think so.
    Red: Then she's wrong.
  • The Captain has his own snark at the end of the UK version of the episode. Once Sprocket has finally fallen asleep, all his visibly weary master can say is this:
    The Captain: Next time there's a full moon, I'm the one that'll do the howling.
• Deer in the Headlights: When Junior gets his head stuck in the well, the World's Oldest Fraggle yells, "It's a monster! Run for your lives!" Most of the Fraggles start running, but Wembley is too petrified to move, so Mokey carries him away.
• Dreaming the Truth: Subverted. Gobo's idea of capturing the moon comes to him in a dream. At the end of the episode, he realizes that he can't capture the moon.
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: In his latest postcard, Uncle Matt tells of his trip to Rainbow Farms (a chicken farm), where he thinks rainbows are hatched from eggs. While waiting for one to hatch, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he is disappointed to see the empty eggshell, but then looks out a window and sees a rainbow.
  Uncle Matt: [voiceover] Oh, how quickly they grow up!
• The Freelance Shame Squad: Nearly all the Fraggles at the Festival laugh at Gobo's idea of capturing the moon.
  Gobo: Well... well, what's wrong with the idea? I mean, in my dream, it was wonderful!
  [The assembled Fraggles start laughing harder.]
• Help, I'm Stuck!: When Junior looks into the well for the bucket, he gets his head stuck. Later, Pa finds him and pulls him out.
• Holiday Episode: The Fraggles are celebrating the Festival of the Moon.
• Hypnosis-Proof Dogs: Doc plays a hypnotic recording to try to help Sprocket sleep. It works only on Doc, though.
• Insomnia Episode: Sprocket can't sleep during a full moon. Doc tries to help get him to sleep.
• Inventing the Wheel: Wembley says he's done this but can't get it to work, as it keeps rolling away. It does make a good lid for the bucket, though.
• Large-Ham Announcer: The World's Oldest Fraggle.
  Henchy: The World's Oldest Fraggle will now welcome you to the monthly Festival of the Fraggle Moon!
  World's Oldest Fraggle: Welcome to the monthly Festival of the Fraggle Moon!
• Layman's Terms: When Gobo, Mokey, and Wembley are about to search Junior...
  Mokey: This is scary!
  Wembley: And frightening too!
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": All the Fraggles, when their moon disappears, and when they see Junior staring down at them after he gets his head stuck in the well.
  World's Oldest Fraggle: It's a monster! Run for your lives!
• Mistaken for Thief: The Fraggles think the moon in the sky is the Gorg Moon and that its reflection is the Fraggle Moon. When the reflection is covered by Junior's head, then by clouds, they assume the Fraggle Moon was stolen.
• Mistaken Identity: The World's Oldest Fraggle thinks Gobo is his Uncle Matt, until Henchy corrects him.
• Monumental Theft: The Fraggles think this has happened to their moon.
• Pajama-Clad Hero: A non-heroic example. Junior is wearing radish-print pajamas.
• Plagued by Nightmares: Downplayed. Junior always has nightmares about Fraggles during a full moon. This leads him to try to stay awake.
• The Sleepless: Junior tries to be this so he won't have nightmares.
• Stargazing Scene: At Pa's suggestion, Junior begins counting the stars to try to keep himself awake. It doesn't work.
• Summoning Ritual: The Fraggles have one for their moon, complete with a song: "Shine On Us Now (Moon Come Soon)."
• Tired After the Song: After Junior gets his head stuck in the well, Gobo says they'll set him free if he gives back the Fraggle Moon. Junior says he can't, then adds that he hates these dreams and wishes he could wake up. This gives Gobo, Mokey, and Wembley the idea of singing him the Moon Lullaby, "Sail Away," to put him to sleep so they can go to the Gorgs' garden and search for the moon. It puts Junior to sleep—and puts the three of them to sleep as well.
• Title Drop: Gobo does this with the episode's title when he announces his plans for the moon.
• Unconventional Food Usage: As a way of honoring the moon, a Fraggle called Weird Marvin once made a statue out of carved radishes.
• Warm Milk Helps You Sleep: It doesn't help Sprocket, though.
• Wolves Always Howl at the Moon: And so does Sprocket.

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