Winx Club - "Save the First Dance" Talkback

[Freedom Fighter]

Moving on, here's the talkback for Episode 3 of "Winx Club," entitled "Save the First Dance." Any guesses as to what it's about?

The story so far...
After learning that she has 'Winx,' Bloom, with some convincing from Stella, has decided to attend Alfea School in order to hone her powers. Upon arriving there, she meets her roommates: Tecna, Flora, and Musa. As Bloom gets her first trip in the realm of fairies, witches, and warriors, the 'Senior Witches' appear, looking to finish the job that Mr. Knut (still looking for the right spelling) didn't finish... sort of. They go after Bloom in order to get to Stella. But Stella and the other girls save Bloom from the evil Witches. But now Bloom's secret is out... but luckily, she gets to stay at Alfea.

Will Bloom prove she's worthy of a spot at the prestigious school for fairies?

Showtimes are 8 and 10:30 a.m. EST again, check local listings (Fox Box). Keep spoilers for future episodes (if you've seen them) in the spoiler boxes, please. And can we please keep on topic and not bash other shows?

Also, beginning this week, I'm going to try to put the talkback threads up the night before, as I am now. This covers me in case I oversleep or don't have time to make a thread before the show starts.

Enjoy, and remember, comments and constructive criticism only!

[sag_2002]

HERE WE GO!!! The show has ended, and it's Insta-Review time!

Well, as expected, we got a big dance, just as the title suggested. Naturally, the Senior Witches were there to ruin the party, this time going after Stella's Solaris Ring. Luckily, Bloom heard the whole thing and warned the girls. Together, they create a counterspell that temporarily stops the witches' wrath.

But Bloom isn't out of the woods yet. She encounters the Treacherous Trio, and is about to fall to her doom, when the MAGICAL GLOW OF EXTREME JUSTICE intervenes. And you know what happens when someone starts glowing on these types of shows... CUE THE MUSIC!!!

Yes, after 3 long, agonizing weeks of watching her either distract the bad guys or just plain get trapped by them, Bloom finally discovers what Stella has been saying to her all along: She has Winx. And she uses her new powers quite well, dodging the Seniors' attacks, and escaping Icy's ice coffin.

So, this was pretty much Bloom's day to shine, and she failed to disappoint. She created her first spell, got her full Winx powers, and did pretty well against the Cloud Tower girls. All that makes for a 4 Star episode.

[Tommy Lawson]

Well, I don't have nearly as positive a review for this episode. Personally, most of this episode had a "been there, done that" feel to it, even for only the 3rd episode, because the basic cliches were there- you don't get powers until you're faced with the ultimate challenge, the antagonist witches are the worst of the worst at their school, and the max-out the credit card on shopping routine. Ugh, somehow, if this were the only episode to base this show off of, I'd consider it to be far too one-dimensional. I'm hoping the witches have more motivation to get the ring than just to be evil witches, since I consider that far too simple an explanation for a season-long story. I'll keep following it though, although right now I definitely consider it far from the best cartoon ever made.

[RZetlin]

This show still rates as one of those show which I can't watch for five minutes.

What grates me the wrong way is the "valley girl, cluess" stereotypes that goes on in the show. It just feels shallow if the girls only talk about are fashion, hair styles, and mid-riff clothing.

BTW, whouldn't the dance take place at the end of the school year?

[Freedom Fighter]

Okay, I gave it a 3 out of 4. Here's what I thought...

Pluses...
+ I'm really starting to grow on Flora's voice (no pun intended).
+ I like Bloom a lot... even though her development to full Winx power was rather quick.

Minuses...
- The transformation sequences are still unimpressive.
- I'm getting more annoyed with each episode with Stella's voice.
- The theme song would probably be likable if there weren't lyrics!

Other Observations...
* It still bugs me that the three schools are so close together. If Cloud Tower gives them so much trouble, Alfea should consider moving their campus elsewhere. Though that might not necessarily work... the witches might follow them to their new location.

Favorite Quote...
Yeah, had to start these like I did with a certain other talkback. Anyway...
"1, 2, 3, come back ring! 4, 5, 6, stop that thing! Boy, was that pathetic!"
- Bloom, while chasing after Stella's ring

True, it was a corny line, but corny can be funny sometimes too.


Good episode, scores the same as last weeks. Now, in case anyone's curious, some stats from the first two weeks of "Winx Club."

Toon Zone Ratings:
Episode 1, "It Feels Like Magic," 2.44 average (out of 9 votes)
Episode 2, "More Than High School," 2.33 average (out of 8 votes)

Show Ratings (Kids 6-11), as posted here on Toon Zone:
Episode 1, "It Feels Like Magic," 0.6 rating (both 8 and 11:30 shows)
Episode 2, "More Than High School," 0.6 rating (8:00) and 1.2 rating (10:30)

A few notes... last week's 10:30 a.m. show was the highest-rated broadcast in the Kids 6-11 demo on the Fox Box, which shows some promise. But the real test comes with the next two weeks, as the show settles into its normal summer slots, and then in September, when the Fall season officially begins.

Whether "Winx Club" can hang with "Ninja Turtles," "Sonic X," and the rest of the shows remains to be seen.

[loyalheart]

i agree with tommy about the "been there done that" feel to the episode and hopefully future episodes bring something different but next week's episode doesn't look too promising for that.

hopefully in the next year or two we can see more story and less tween-stuff with these type of series...

[sag_2002]

Ok, got a few more thoughts, now that I've gotten the chance to let today's episode sink in.

-I agree with Freedom Fighter, Flora's voice is starting to grow on me. I also agree on Stella's voice. Oh, and if you think it's bad now, just wait.

-Kiko, Bloom's rabbit, continues to steal the show, although it's still a mystery as to why he was able to follow Bloom into the magic realm (although I'm sure that will be explained in due time.)

-Aw, no Mr. Knut today. Oh well.

-The diolouge wasn't too bad today. My personal faves were Bloom's attempt at recovering the ring, and Flora's "Spell of the Month" line.

-Of course, the REAL fun part, IMO, came in act 3. Bloom vs. the Seniors, Round 2. This time, it was a draw. The Witches did some damage, but Bloom was able to escape Icy's Ice Coffin, which was not explained, and came out of the deal with her full Winx powers. So, I'd say Bloom did pretty well for herself today.

Next Week: Ah, nature. The peace, the serenity, the beauty. But after you see what happens when the girls go on a nature hike from Hades, you may never want to leave your house for the rest of your life. "The Voice of Nature" comes calling Next Saturday. See ya then.

[RayChuang]

Winx Club doesn't really hit its stride until around Episode 6, if the person from France who've seen the episodes already shown on European TV has mentioned. I'll wait until Episode 7 to make a real opinion on the show. :)

[Freedom Fighter]

I may extend my contract, then, as I was going to make a decision about the show after Episode 5. Waiting two weeks won't be a problem... as long as the show doesn't get any worse before then.

[loyalheart]

yeah im not gonna stop watching, it's decent but i hope for something more.. eventually while we watch these tween-heroe shows, we'll find one with alot of story to it also.

[Blue Priestess]

Like most of you, I thought this episode was kind of 'eh'. Some good moments, mostly filler. Probably a two and a half out of four.

And I'm with the consensus on Stella's voice. How can someone stretch a one-syllable name like "Bloom" out to three or four every time she says it?

But thanks to a German episode guide, I've decided to stick it through. Despite the bad FreeTranslation.Com English (which translates all of the pronouns referring to characters as 'it'), it sounds like it does get more interesting and will be worth sticking around for in the end.

[raykremer]

Aberzombie and Witch! LOL!

I'm still getting the "it's all been done before" riff from Winx Club, but it's not bad for what it is.

[shogunthethird]

I could take this more seriously if it didn't have this whole "retarded bastard child of Sailor Moon, Totally Spies and Harry Potter" stink surrounding it (and we're not even talking the good parts of HP here either)

[carlos saudelli]

There is much more than this and if 4 Kids has not cut or edited too much the series you will be completely understand the power of this series on the sequence of episodes from 8 to 10 and from 14 to 19.

The first 5 episodes are not surely the best of this show.

Episode 9 for example has some action scenes like never seen before.

Of course I do not know if the US version follows the European one. Frankly the show is even a little bit spicy (sexy) in some part along the 26 episodes, still remaining a cartoon for children, but I do not know if in USA you have some kind of censorship.



This show still rates as one of those show which I can't watch for five minutes.

What grates me the wrong way is the "valley girl, cluess" stereotypes that goes on in the show. It just feels shallow if the girls only talk about are fashion, hair styles, and mid-riff clothing.

BTW, whouldn't the dance take place at the end of the school year?

[carlos saudelli]

Flora's voice is very nice and sweet in the italian version. I bought a DVD here where there is also the English version (probably not the US version) and the voices of the 5 Winx are very good too.

[QUOTE=Freedom Fighter]Okay, I gave it a 3 out of 4. Here's what I thought...

Pluses...
+ I'm really starting to grow on Flora's voice (no pun intended).
+ I like Bloom a lot... even though her development to full Winx power was rather quick.

[Tommy Lawson]

I'm wondering what the Italian theme song is like. Is it the same as the one heard at www.winxclub.com (http://www.winxclub.com/) ? Does it use the same music with different lyrics than the US Version? You can see the US version of the opening at www.winxclub.tv (http://www.winxclub.tv/) or http://www.4kidsentertainment.com/properties/winx.html .

[oranthal]

I'm wondering what the Italian theme song is like. Is it the same as the one heard at www.winxclub.com (http://www.winxclub.com/) ? Does it use the same music with different lyrics than the US Version? You can see the US version of the opening at www.winxclub.tv (http://www.winxclub.tv/) or http://www.4kidsentertainment.com/properties/winx.html .http://www.pummeldex.de/news_article.php?infoid=4233

You can download it there. It's actually video file, WMV to be exact, so you'll need Windows Media Player to play it. The song is kind of catchy though I don't know what they're saying is there Italian lyrics on the page.