Adventures in Care-a-lot, episode 14

And so a new season of AiCaL begins, with two Trueheart-centric episodes.

Trueheart's Big Trip

This ep begins with Tenderheart and Harmony working on painting the library, which would be easier if they could agree on a color.  Unable to see the obvious compromise between pink and blue (purple, I would say, or maybe lavender), they call on Trueheart to give them advice.

  Since they're up on scaffolding, and Trueheart keeps walking as she waves to them, she doesn't notice she's about to take a tumble.  And what a tumble it is, with all kinds of twists and turns you usually see Oopsy take.  (The speculated Hugs and Tugs have another cameo here.)  The whole thing takes 40 seconds and ends with her in the fountain.  Once they find out she's okay, Harmony and Tenderheart start laughing about her stumble almost immediately.  Other bears involved in her trip start recounting the tale as if it's the most hilarious thing to happen in the entire history of Care-a-lot (and who knows, maybe it is), although Trueheart doesn't quite see the joke.

Word quickly spreads, and soon almost everyone is calling her "Stumbles" and laughing at her, driving her to tears (so cute!).  She runs off and takes refuge in the meadow, and Oopsy comes to comfort her, since he's usually the one on the receiving end of a tumble.  

Back in Care Square, the others finally realize that they hurt Trueheart's feelings and go on about it for a bit.  Meanwhile, Trueheart laments that everyone will remember her fall forever.  Oopsy tells her it isn't so, and the episode reveals its true intent: it's a clip show!  Using clips from last season, Oopsy reminds her of all the mishaps he's been through, and how no one remembers them anymore.  Feeling better, Trueheart goes to confront the others and give them a piece of her mind.  She and Oopsy ride into Care Square, and Harmony and Tenderheart immediately come up and apologize.  She still points out that they hurt her feelings, and they all hug and make up.  Aww.

With that resolved, they go back to the original problem of the episode: should the library be painted pink or blue?  Still not going with the obvious compromise, Trueheart comes up with a solution: pink hearts on a blue background.  Although Harmony and Tenderheart like the pattern, both feel that their color should be more prominent, leading to a face-off, and then both of them falling off the scaffolding and into a stumble quite similar to Trueheart's.  As they say, what goes around comes around.  In the fountain, they ask if they will get as good as they gave, but Trueheart, being a forgiving sort, tells them they'll only laugh if they (Tenderheart and Harmony) think it's funny.  And they do, so the episode gets to end with everyone laughing, as always.

Bumbleberry Jammed

It's bumbleberry picking time in Care-a-lot, and all the bears are out in Rainshine Meadows, picking away.  Cheer finds Grumpy and is surprised that he likes bumbleberries, although I'm not entirely sure why.  Grumpy anticipates making bumbleberry jam, although seeing all the other bears gives him doubts that he'll have enough.  He goes in quest of a bush that isn't already picked over, but with everyone else doing the same thing, the pickings are slim.  Just when he thinks he's found one, out pops Surprise, to his dismay.  In his search, he enters a farther part of the meadow and stumbles on the biggest (and oldest, he speculates) bumbleberry bush ever, with the best-tasting berries.  He instantly rushes home to make some bumblebery jam, and the results are stunning.  Unfortunately, the smell of his cooking jam attracts unwanted attention from Cheer.  Grumpy tries to throw her off the trail by telling her he's just washing his socks, and it almost works, until Cheer realizes that no Care Bear wears socks.  Grumpy, meanwhile, realizes that he can't tell anyone about the bush, or they'll all devour his discovery.

The next day, Grumpy sneaks out to the bush to get more berries, but Cheer happens to see him while picking some more berries of her own.  When he doesn't answer her call, she sneaks after him and discovers the bush.  Grumpy tries to convince her it's a normal bush, but one taste is all she needs to see this is far from the truth.  She demands to know why he lied to her, and Grumpy admits that although he knows lying is wrong, he didn't want the others to converge on the bush, depleting it of berries.  Surely Cheer can understand that, right?  Apparently not, as she urges Grumpy to share the berries.  Grumpy again tries to throw her off track by promising to share once they've picked enough for the two of them.  Cheer insists that she can't lie to her friends, but Grumpy tells her to think of it as a secret, not a lie, and Cheer grudgingly accepts it, mostly because Grumpy keeps winking at her.

Cheer heads back to Care-a-lot, and instantly runs into Trueheart.  She tries to hide what she was doing, but you simply cannot lie to Trueheart (this is her special Care Bear ability, after all), and she spills everything.  Realizing that she's compromised her 'secret,' she says she has to tell Grumpy.  Trueheart misinterprets this into meaning that she has to tell Grumpy about the berries, and Cheer doesn't bother to correct her.  As Cheer runs off, Trueheart helps herself to the berries.  Meanwhile, Grumpy is polishing his jars of bumbleberry jam when Cheer bursts in and confesses that she told Trueheart everything.  Grumpy reassures her that he'll take care of Trueheart and sends her on her way.  Despite his reassurances to Cheer, Grumpy knows that Trueheart will tell everyone else about the bush, if she hasn't already.  But he comes up with a sneaky plan...

The next day again, Trueheart and Cheer are out in the meadow, trying to find the bush for more berries.  Cheer reveals the bush's hiding place, only to find the bush has been dug up!  The two of them go to confront the obvious suspect in his home, but Grumpy hedges when accused.  Unfortunately, the bush is visible from the doorway, so Grumpy confesses.  Since there's only a few minutes left in the episode, he makes with the lesson-learned speech: he got carried away with his selfishness (and so did the bush, notes Cheer).  Trueheart lays on the "lies are wrong" and Grumpy is powerless before her, going into an explanation of his actions.  Just as he promises  not to lie or be selfish, the bush's leaves all fall off.  "Uprooting the bush is killing it!" Trueheart interjects (seriously, that's what she says), as Grumpy feels remorse.  

The natural solution to this problem is to take it to Share, which is what they do.  Share tells them that the bush is still savable, and Grumpy gives her a big hug (mostly to make up for all the Grumpy/Cheer stuff in this episode, I say), and promises to do whatever it takes to bring the bush back to full health.  The others promise to help with the bush's treatments, too.  Share tells them that it will be a good long time before the bumbleberries grow back, although the animators have Cheer doing the actual talking.  Share also points out that this means no more jam.  Luckily, Grumpy still has three jars, which he gives to the girls as the episode ends.

I've said it before, but I'm always glad to say it again: Grumpy is so cute when he has to learn a lesson ^_^  And the fact that Trueheart plays a major part in both episodes puts both of these pretty high in my book.