In Mermicorno: Starfall season 1 episodes 5 and 6, Astra tries to guide her team as they practice their creative forces, while Ika Inkblot sends Sawtooth and his Squidians to capture them and their magic. When Squishella finally uncovers her creative force, she learns a valuable life lesson about the importance of friendship and the strength that comes with being yourself.
But when Astra connects with Dark Pearl, the group may have to accept that their quest is more difficult than they imagined.
Mermicorno: Starfall episode 5 recap: Practice Makes Perfect
While Astra tries to figure out how to use her creative force, Gwen and the rest of the group play a made-up game of fin ball. They convince Astra to play with them in the hopes she can create a net.
A giant snowball is formed and hits Astra before the net can be made. The blow rolls her to a shell, and upon the touch of her horn, a giant shell rises from under the ground.
Mistaking it for an arcade with cookies, the group enters to find a training ground where they must use their creative force to pop bubbles that are scored by a system. Believing this to be the ideal opportunity to train and prepare for Pearl Girl's rescue, Astra leads the team in their training.
She has several flashbacks to the group training here and hopes she can be the person she once was. Trouble is her guidance becomes a disadvantage as each Mermicorno fails to hit any of the bubbles.
Squishella is equally frustrated as she does not know what her creative force even is. The more the group practices the worse they become until Astra begins to have a mental breakdown.
Suggesting Squishella, Nautique, and Kameko go outside, Gwen uses the opportunity to try to help Astra. She reminds her of how the person she is now is just as helpful as her old self.
But trouble is brewing. Fed up with constant failure, Ika Inkblot sends Sawtooth and his two Squidians to find the Mermicornos by using a pearl to track their magic. This leads them straight to the arcade where our friends are easily captured.
When Sawtooth and the Squidians get into a scuffle, Astra remembers that the training recording instructed the Mermicornos to have fun. Together they play a game of fin ball where Astra's creative force creates an arrow and then a proper net.
With the bad guys defeated, the group escapes leaving Sawtooth and the Squidians behind in the sand.
Meanwhile, back at the Pearl Kingdom, Royal Mother Pearl is stressed while trying to figure out why specific towns have been attacked and turned into ghost towns. Barb insists she take a break but Royal Mother Pearl misinterprets the break to exercise as a way to create another visual map of the ghost towns.
As luck would have it this is how Royal Mother Pearl makes the discovery that the ghost towns are of the constellations Pegasus and Pisces, the same constellations that fell during the Starfall.
Mermicorno: Starfall episode 6 recap: When You Squish Upon a Star
While daydreaming about being a star Squishella collides into a street sweeper fish who also happens to clean off traces of the ooze trail leading to Ika Inkblot. Ahead of them is the city Octokyo where Squishella and Nautique met.
When Squishella finds out that Pop Star Princess will be performing that evening, she begs Astra to go. Astra agrees and decides to contact Royal Mother Pearl for some advice about her search for Pearl Girl.
During their conversation via hologram call, Royal Mother Pearl shares her discovery and admits to playing with Baby Bones and his family during her downtime. But perhaps the most important information shared is that Mermicornos can connect with a talisman, by using something that connects them to that person.
Astra believes her talisman can be the locket she made for Pearl Girl for her Adoptaversary. Meanwhile, the rest of the group tries to get tickets to see Pop Star Princess but her concert at the Clamshell Bandshell is sold out.
As luck would have it, when the owner Snippy Starboard hears Squishella sing some of Pop Star Princess's tunes, she offers to give the group a backstage tour. Nautique is weary as the group promised to meet with Astra after they acquired tickets.
During their tour, Nautique notices an odd machine that Snippy will not let him investigate. After the tour Nautique tries to warn Squishella of Snippy but she's made an offer she can't refuse.
Snippy wants Squishella to open for Pop Star Princess every night which means she'll be too busy to help Astra find Pearl Girl. She agrees, much to the dismay of Nautique.
Astra's attempts to turn the locket into a talisman fail when it breaks in half. Nautique and Squishella's friendship ends too with a rip of a fan club card Nautique had made.
Remembering Royal Mother Pearl's moral of taking time to help those in need, Astra rallies up the group to attend the concert in support of Squishella. Before the concert can begin, she discovers that Pop Star Princess is a hologram and the real singer is Penny, a shy shrimp.
She too will be replaced by a hologram. It's the cost of being famous which Squishella does not agree to.
During the concert, Squishella and Penny sing as themselves where it is revealed that singing is Squishella's creative force. At the end of the episode Astra's locket is fixed thanks to Squishella's voice and connects to Pearl Girl or rather Dark Pearl, shocking Astra.
Mermicorno: Starfall season 1 episodes 5 and 6 review
Now that the group, aside from Kameko, has discovered their creative force, it's time to really buckle down and rescue Pearl Girl, but how? Pearl Girl has revealed herself to be Dark Pearl, who may be under the influence of Ika Inkblot due to the dull pearl she wears around her neck.
Could it be that Ika Inkblot needed Pearl Girl to obtain the magic used to create Mermicorno Kameko? It seems plausible.
As the story progresses, the episodes continue to tell a tale while effectively theming the episode around a lesson, moral, or problem that needs to be solved. In other television shows, this tactic comes off as side quests which can often affect the story in both good and bad ways.
In the case of Mermicorno: Starfall this does not alter the story to the point it drags out to the point of pointlessness. It enhances the story as each obstacle helps our group learn more about themselves and each other.
Where, in these cases, the importance of taking a break, valuing your true friends, and putting others before yourself are key components to being well-rounded. There are several aspects of life where overworking ourselves becomes a negative and the importance of taking time for self-care and reflection can often lead to desired results.
As much as we all want to achieve our dreams, we must do so in ways that we feel comfortable while not sacrificing the friendships we make along the way. We are technically midway through season 1, and it seems Ika Inkblot's evil plans are affecting the entire Pearl Kingdom.
Could this all connect to Kameko's father?
Stream Mermicorno: Starfall season 1 on HBO MAX.