Metal Fish

This is one of the most mature and best storytelling attempts made in the series. Once again they highlight Ariel's fascination with humans, except this time she gets much closer to them than ever before.

Storyline 1: Ariel and Flounder are visiting Archimedes, Ariel's newest friend. He's a specialist in human things, making him at outcast among the other Atlanticans, but is of course a magnet for Ariel's questions. Ariel and Flounder explore Archimedes' home in an old shipwreck, discussing humans and checking out all sorts of human things.

Storyline 2: Sebastian is leading his Crab Scouts on an expedition in the Wilderness. The Crab Scouts are a playful bunch, which brings them to odds with Sebastian's stuffiness and insistence that they follow the Crab Scout Manual for all their needs.

Storyline 3: A human man and his pet cat Penny are aboard a ship, waiting to go on an expedition of their own in a small submarine which looks like a metal fish. The human in particular is intrigued by the idea of merpeople, although his cat is a little skeptical.

The stories are brought together when the human and pet cat set aboard their metal fish and enter the underwater realm. The metal fish is spotted by Ariel, who immediately sets off after it, followed closely by Archimedes and Flounder. Sebastian, too, gets up close and personal with the metal fish, and knowing that it's the work of humans, he sets off with his Crab Scouts to inform King Triton.

But the metal fish turns out to be flawed, and a leak bursts through. The submarine is sent caveering through the ocean and gets stuck in a rock formation. Ariel is the first to reach the metal fish, and when she looks into the view-finder, she sees the human trying hopelessly to stop the leak. Just then he turns around and they meet eye-to-eye - both are amazed and rendered utterly speechless by the moment.

(Continuity error: In the movie, Ariel states that she'd never seen a human as close as she sees Eric on the deck, but in this episode Ariel gets much closer to the human submariner. It's not even the only episode of the series where Ariel does this.)

Ariel decides to help the human, but she can't figure out how. Just then King Triton, Sebastian and the Crab Scouts arrive. King Triton is, as expected, utterly furious. But Ariel and Archimedes manage to convince him that not all humans are evil, and humans and merpeople are closer than most people think. King Triton begrudgingly agrees to help, leaving Ariel to watch longingly as her first human "friend" leaves her world behind.

When the young man resurfaces, he brings with himself the delightful memory of Ariel, and decides to pen a little tale about it.

While I love this episode to bits, there are two things that stand out in my mind. First of all is Archimedes. He's a great new character, but to accept him into Ariel's world brings forth the pondering... Where is he by the time the events of the movie come around? He's obviously a better specialist in human things compared to Scuttle, so why would Ariel ever need to consult the sea gull when she has him? What happened to Archimedes?

Secondly is King Triton. His response to the human and Ariel's interaction with the human is strangely mild. I mean, let's compare this to King Triton from the movie, who totally loathes humans and loses his temper more than once because of Ariel's defence of them. The King Triton in this episode is much more tolerant of the human and of Ariel, and in my mind there is only one explanation I can think of. Between this episode and the movie, something really big happened; something that totally sealed Triton's hatred and fear toward humans; something humans did to him, or to his people. And I'll leave that thought at that.