"I'm having second thoughts."
When Cantus and the Minstrels return and invite Mokey to join them on a walk, she thinks they've invited her to become one of them. Mokey jumps at the opportunity and leaves with them, to the dismay of her friends. She soon realizes the life of a Minstrel isn't what she thought it would be. Cantus then leaves her alone in the Singing Cave to see if she has what it takes to be a Minstrel by being able to hear its song. While she passes, she decides to go home, having realized her friends mean more to her than the Minstrel life does.This episode contains examples of:
- All a Part of the Job: The Minstrel way is not easy, says Murray in his verse of "Music Makes Us Real (Ping!)."Murray: [singing] If you think the gig is cool/Think again, you silly fool/It's no picnic in this school ... What we are is what we play/Never get a holiday/Ecstasy's the only pay/Music makes us roam, hey!
- Big Damn Hug: When Mokey returns home, she and Red share one.Red: Am I allowed to hug a Minstrel?
Mokey: Well... um... I don't know about a Minstrel, but you can hug me. Oh, please hug me! - Brutal Honesty:
- Red doesn't even try to pretend she's happy about Mokey joining the Minstrels.
- Cantus' reply when Mokey asks what will happen if she fails her test: a blunt "Nothing."
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The episode's title.
- Cryptic Conversation: Cantus tends to engage in this. Murray tends to lampshade it.Murray: Hey, get used to it. The guy appears out of nowhere, says, "Listen!" and then he's gone. It's enough to drive you up a boulder.
- Didn't Think This Through: Mokey is certain that joining the Minstrels is her destiny (she claims to hear an inner "Ping!"), but she doesn't consider the fact that she'll have to wander the Rock for the rest of her life, only seeing her friends when the Minstrels visit them. Red tries to remind her of this, but Mokey brushes off her concerns.Red: Mokey, will you stop pinging and think about what this means?
Mokey: Thinking has nothing to do with it. No. I hear my destiny calling. - Dumb and Drummer: Balsam, who plays the bongos, is The Ditz of the Minstrels, as he admits in his verse of "Music Makes Us Real (Ping!)."Balsam: [singing] I can barely tie my shoe/If I got some gum to chew/I can't count from one to two/But music's number one, ooh!
- Everybody Cries: Gobo, Wembley, Boober, and Red all cry as Mokey is saying goodbye to them.
- Everything Is an Instrument: The Minstrels demonstrate this to a skeptical Mokey by playing their instruments to the beat of water dripping from stalactites into a pond.Mokey: Oh, that's beautiful! I've never heard that song before.
Cantus: There are many songs you've never heard. - Follow Your Heart: At the beginning of the episode, Mokey sings "Follow Your Heart." Later, Cantus sings "Lose Your Heart (And It's Found)" to Mokey.
- Genre Savvy: Cantus.
- Home Sweet Home: Mokey decides to go back home to her friends, rather than spend her life wandering the Rock as a Minstrel.
- Jumped at the Call: When Mokey thinks Cantus has invited her to become a Minstrel, she eagerly begins assembling her costume.Mokey: I must prepare. I must answer my destiny. Ping!
- Magical Flutist: When Cantus is first seen playing his pipe, flowers start to open.
- Mystical Cave: The Singing Cave has stalactites that, when touched, each play a different note of a song.Cantus: If you lived in this cave by yourself for many, many, many days, you'd easily hear the whole song. All it takes is dedication, determination, and inspiration.
Murray: Also known as hard work. - Naïve Newcomer: Mokey leaves home to become a Minstrel, knowing practically nothing about what a Minstrel's work involves.
- No Listening Skills: When Mokey tries to entertain some Doozers by singing to them, not stopping to think what kind of music the Doozers like, Cantus tells her that this is her problem.Cantus: The Doozers know their songs. A Minstrel knows all songs. You hear, but you don't listen.
- Out-of-Character Alert: The Fraggles are so saddened over Mokey's departure that Gobo doesn't even try to lighten the situation with a postcard from Uncle Matt.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Mokey's friends beg her not to leave them, especially since it can be a long time between the Minstrels' visits.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Brool hints in his verse of "Music Makes Us Real (Ping!)" that he may have been this before becoming a Minstrel. It isn't explored outside of the song.Brool: [singing] Every time I turned around/All I heard was battle sounds/Till the Minstrel way was found/Music makes us one.
- Shout-Out: Cantus' line "All is all, is is" was previously spoken by a monk (played by Jerry Nelson, who would go on to play Gobo) in Jim Henson's experimental 1969 TV special, The Cube.
- Walking the Earth: The Minstrels wander the Rock, looking for Fraggles to sing medleys.
- Wandering Minstrel: Cantus and the other Minstrels, who wander the Rock.
- Wrong Assumption: When Cantus invites Mokey to "journey with us from here to there," he's asking her to join them for a walk. Mokey thinks he's invited her to become a Minstrel.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: After Mokey's test, Cantus assures her that, although she's not a Minstrel, she has the potential to become one.Cantus: Why, Mokey Fraggle, you could be a Minstrel, if...
Mokey: If... if I left home and Fraggle Rock and all my friends and everything I love. No. I can't do it.
Cantus: Oh, but you can. And maybe someday you will.
Mokey: Someday? Well... how?
Cantus: Good question. Answer it.
Mokey: No. I already have answered it. I'm going home, back to my friends.
Cantus: Yes, yes. But what will you do there? What must you always do?
Mokey: Uh... you mean... listen?
[The other Minstrels cheer.]
Cantus: I said you weren't a failure!
