Recap / The Little Mermaid S 2 E 2 Calliope Dreams

Ariel and Flounder are swimming when a ship drops a harp overboard. Inspecting the “stringamajigger,” Ariel soon figures out that it is a musical instrument. Sebastian refuses to teach her how to play it.King Triton has a surprise for Ariel: a sea calliope. Triton says that he has always dreamed that Ariel would learn to play the sea calliope. Ariel isn’t interested, but she tries to put on a happy face for her father’s sake.Sebastian tries to teach Ariel how to play the sea calliope, but the first lesson is a disaster. The loud, discordant noises of the sea calliope awaken the ancient Seaclops, a sea monster that is very cranky to be woken up.King Triton stops by to see how Ariel is progressing. Despite her awful playing, Triton is supportive, saying she has lots of potential. As he talks, Triton waxes nostalgic, recalling how his Grandfather Neptune used to play the sea calliope. Ariel is the first person in their family to play the sea calliope since Neptune. Neptune’s calliope had been mysteriously destroyed long ago.Ariel takes a break from practicing so she can play her “stringamajigger.” In the meantime, Sebastian plays the sea calliope. The Seaclops keeps trying to get back to sleep, but wakes up again each time it hears the calliope.Triton finds Ariel and tells her that he would like her to give a concert on the sea calliope for the Atlantican court that very night.

At the concert, the awful noise of the calliope attracts the Seaclops, which crashes into the concert hall and tears the sea calliope apart.

Ariel: I thought the Seaclops was supposed to sleep a thousand years!

Sebastian: That’s why he’s so upset! You woke him up 600 years early!

The Seaclops chases after Ariel because of the necklace she is wearing, which looks like a calliope. Ariel and her friends realize that a different kind of music might help the Seaclops go back to sleep. Sebastian tries playing a series of instruments, but the Seaclops hates each one. Ariel gets to her harp, and the soothing sounds of the strings cause the Seaclops to calm down and go back to sleep. Triton arrives and uses the magic of his trident to move the Seaclops to a quieter resting place, while the Atlantican guards put some earmuffs on the Seaclops for good measure.

Back in Atlantica, Triton looks sadly at the destroyed calliope and tells Ariel he’ll get her another one. Ariel finally admits her true feelings for the calliope.

Ariel: I like the sea calliope…even less than the Seaclops likes it.

Triton tells Ariel she always has the right to say no, but he can’t help but be sad that no one in the family wants to play the sea calliope. Ariel says she thinks she knows of someone who does.Later, Triton sits at the new, quieter sea calliope, playing it quite well. Ariel tells him that Grandpa Neptune would be proud.

Tropes

• Bait-and-Switch: The Seaclops is seen to get more and more angry as it approaches the sea calliope. As Sebastian plays the calliope, a huge shadow falls across him from…King Triton, who has come back to see how Ariel’s lessons are going.
• Didn't Think This Through: Triton is so excited about Ariel playing the sea calliope that he schedules a concert for her to take place less than a day after she started playing.
• Dreadful Musician: Ariel is terrible at playing the Sea Calliope, but she picks up how to play a harp without any training at all.
• The Freelance Shame Squad: Ariel’s sisters can tell that she’s miserable before the concert even starts but laugh at her when they hear her awful playing.
• Instant Expert: Averted. Triton apparently expects Ariel to be one at the sea calliope (to the point that he has her give a concert when she’s had less than a day to practice) but she isn’t.
• Running Gag: The Seaclops keeps getting hit on the head by falling objects, including a piano, bathtub, and meteorite.
• Series Continuity Error: A minor one. This episode shows that harps are human instruments unknown to mermaids, but the movie had a carp playing a harp during the Under the Sea musical number.
• Tap on the Head: Happens multiple times to the Seaclops as a Running Gag.
• Tempting Fate: The sailors keep promising Mr. Mozart to take good care of his harp, piano, and bathtub, but each one falls into the sea.