Fraggle Rock: Complete Third Season

BY Cam LindsayPublished Oct 26, 2007

It’s a little difficult to discuss the third season of a show that really didn’t evolve much from its first season because hey, Jim Henson wasn’t exactly going to start subjecting the Fraggles to storylines filled with sexual relations and committing criminal offences. In fact, the Fraggles don’t really do anything that exciting, other than solve their temporary, blinkered dilemmas. Without getting cynical, there’s little else to say other than that Jim Henson’s underground playground is a wonderful utopia for children to learn important messages about friendship, communication and as they say, "life skills.” For instance, Mokey learns not to make a promise she can’t keep; Philo and Gunge learn not to run away; and Mokey foolishly joins a Stone Cutters-like cult called the Secret Society of the Poohbahs. Kids, don’t join cults. It’s that simple. There is some great fun to be had in season three that indulges some curiosities, like Sprocket the dog finally getting through the wall and running loose in Fraggle Rock, learning the origins of Gobo’s uncle, Travelling Matt, and how about Sprockets doing an impersonation of the Swedish Chef Muppet (awesome)? As the featurette "The Cave of Fraggle Tales” points out, the series began experimenting with its storytelling, which is a little far-fetched, considering these are episodes where the basement of the Gorgs floods or Pa Gorg gets stuck on the roof of the castle. Instead, the episode I found to be the most progressive is "Home is Where the Trash Is,” which introduces the first real villain (we shouldn’t count the Gorgs in that category), Wander McMooch, who captures and enslaves Philo and Gunge when they wander away from Marjory the Trash Heap. It’s interesting to see the notion of evil showing its ugly face in Fraggle Rock, considering to this point it was virtually non-existent. Aside from the aforementioned featurette, there are a handful more concerning the puppetry and production design, but if you’ve seen either of the two previous seasons on DVD, there’s little to treat yourself to. Plus: interviews, promos.
(Hit/Fox)

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