We’re here again! Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity” leaves us with our mouths open. This episode comes full circle and shows us that everything we thought we knew was just an illusion. An alumni dinner will be the focal point for an episode that masterfully flips the pieces on the board. Ready?
Here we go!
Shared Duel
Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity” begins where the previous episode ended: with Saul in Sky’s room. He took a risk to talk to him again and, although Sky rejects him, for a moment he shares with Saul silent mourning for the home they built together years ago. But soon Sky berates himself for getting carried away like this and contemptuously returns the sword Saul gave him. It’s a symbol of Sky’s rejection.
Saul tries to apologize to Sky and tries to make him understand or at least listen. But he is not ready, he wants Silva to leave, to disappear forever from his life, and Saul…does it. In reality, Sky doesn’t want him to disappear, it’s just that his rage doesn’t let him see beyond it, but Saul realized that Sky wasn’t ready to see beyond his anger, not yet.
The downside is that Saul pays for the risk he takes with his freedom. Toby protects his children with everything, even if he has to betray a friend to do so, and Andreas manages to catch Silva… although this has an unexpected ending.
The Moment of Truth
The alumni dinner is central in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.” It’s where the Winx intends to expose Rosalind and Stella plans to get an ally in the war against her mother to get rid of that gem. But nothing goes as expected. Stella’s uncle is a dick so I applaud Sky and Stella when they set the record straight for him. Although that means that Stella has no chance of ripping the gem from her body.
She didn’t want anyone to find out about it but Sky not only finds out, but he sees her trying to rip the gem off. Stella fought not to be vulnerable with anyone but he is Sky, he saw her in her worst moments and she can’t take it anymore. So she cries in his arms like so many other times knowing that she will not get a look of compassion from him but understanding and support.
And while everything goes wrong for Stella and everyone makes it clear to her that no matter how Princess she is, she no longer enjoys privileges, Bloom tastes the honey of popularity in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.”
Rosalind keeps displaying Bloom like a big trophy and she feels special. Also, Rosalind speaks honestly to her for the first time about her gray morality and convinces her that she does what she does for the greater good, just like she does in the end with everyone else, to the dismay of Stella.
Your Newfound Popularity
Perhaps what Rosalind says is true. That is, the enemy of the fairies is dangerous and they must find a way to kill him. But the end doesn’t justify the means. Let’s not forget that Rosalind killed Farah — as far as Bloom knows she made her disappear — she manipulated Bloom and didn’t stop at getting anyone out of the way to get the power she now has. The good that Rosalind is trying to do doesn’t justify her actions.
But, as Stella points out — and I love that she tells Bloom — Bloom is blinded by privilege. It feels good to be the hero who saves the day, to feel special. And that’s the problem with people like Rosalind.
They make you feel special, they manipulate you to convince you that everything they do is justified while they give you a few crumbs of privileges but, when they get tired of you or you are not useful to them, they kick you out and treat you like garbage. Unfortunately, there’re many people like Rosalind.
Right now, Bloom is tasting the honey of privilege but all Rosalind is doing is manipulating and using her, once again. And, once again, Bloom begins to fall down the rabbit hole trusting Rosalind and it is, by all accounts, a bad decision. Although Silva came back and that’s a nice knock on Rosalind’s part, I’m going to give her that.
Consequences
For her part, Musa ended up listening to Aisha and stopped using her powers with Sam, but the damage was already done, as we saw in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.” Continually repressing Sam’s feelings led him to accumulate anger and now he’s willing to kill Rosalind, he sees no other option. Sam is not a murderer but he’s determined to become one and Musa doesn’t know what to do to stop him. She only has to confess what she did, so that Sam understands that it isn’t him speaking, it’s his repressed anger.
As expected, Sam’s reaction is furious, he is mad at her. Much of Sam’s anger is directed at Musa and it’s a hundred thousand times worse for all the pent-up anger he feels. Sam doesn’t even want her to touch him, he can’t be in the same room as her right now. Musa manipulated his feelings without his consent. Musa just wanted to make things better, but as we said in our review of episode 1, hell is full of good intentions.
She didn’t want any of this to happen, he just wanted to help in the best way she knew how, the only way she felt she could and that she feels guilty is just one more proof of that. Everything got out of hand. But it doesn’t matter anymore, she has to find Sam before he does something he’ll regret later.
Terra is the only one who can help her with that. She has to know…everything. And it’s the first time we’ve seen Terra treat one of her friends this hard. But she is right. We all need to feel, even bad feelings, to process and get healthily rid of them.
If we just suppress them, they will eventually come out, we will end up exploring and doing something that will never go back, just as Sam planned in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.” Musa took that away from Sam, meaning well and not imagining the consequences it would have, but she did. It wasn’t the right decision.
And while I think Terra is right, I don’t think this was the right time to say it. Musa feels guilty enough already and she is desperate to find Sam and stop him from killing Rosalind. This was not the time to make her feel worse, even if Terra spoke the truth. It’s like making firewood from a fallen tree or kicking Musa on the ground.
Breakups
In the end, they manage to find Sam and he ended up coming to his senses and not doing anything he would regret. But that doesn’t mean that everything is solved. Now that Sam knows the truth and is away from the influence of pent-up anger, he thought seriously about his situation. He can’t go on like this.
He is not well and staying in Alfea only makes it worse. It’s no longer safe for him or his father. Sam understands why Musa did what she did, she did it for him, but if he stays in Alfea, he will end up doing something crazy. Musa is the only good thing in his life and the only one who grounds him but he knows it will come a moment that not even she will be able to do it. So Sam must go with her father… and he cannot continue with Musa.
Sam is not in a good place and he needs to be alone for a while, it’s unfair for him to ask Musa to wait for him indefinitely, so they should break off their relationship. I have to admit that I cried when she said goodbye to him because Musa loves Sam and Sam’s words hurt her so much… she just wants to be with him and wants to convince herself that this is just a phase that will pass soon, but deep down she knows that it isn’t. Who knows if fate will bring them together again, for now, they must separate.
I also cried at the farewell of Terra and her father in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.” Terra never reproached him for his attitude because she understood why he did it. But to see her father saying how proud he is of her and realizing that Terra belongs at Alfea is…everything to me.
Betrayals
Bellatrix’s betrayal has dire consequences for the trio that she, Riven and Dane formed. Honestly, I’m happy that this trio ended up in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity” because I think it was a very toxic relationship for everyone involved. They used each other to hide from their problems instead of facing them. And if Dane wasn’t such an asshole, I’d feel a little sorry for how badly he has it in this episode… but I can’t find in my heart an ounce of pity for him #sorrynotsorry.
This brings us to, what exactly is going on. This trio was linked in a bit strange way, like in a chain. To Riven, it was always Bellatrix and Dane was the complement to their relationship, a complement that Riven cares about, but not to the degree that he cares about Bellatrix. For Dane, it’s just the other way around. Dane cares a lot about Riven, and in Dane’s case, Bellatrix was the foil to the relationship.
Now that Riven has definitely broken up with Bellatrix in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity,” Dane tries to make sure that nothing changes between him and Riven because for Dane, Bellatrix’s departure doesn’t change the essence of things, but it does for Riven. This time, Riven tried to be gentle and not hurt Dane because he cares about him — which shows that, deep down, he’s a good guy — but he also can’t force himself to feel something he doesn’t.
Riven hurts the breakup with Bellatrix but, above all, her betrayal. So he does what he usually does and tries to ignore that pain by concentrating on something else… on Flora, more specifically. He flirts with her again and Flora plays along. It’s just a game, for now. Although I agree with Terra, clearly this is a bad decision.
Disappointments
Bellatrix is also not having a good time in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.” Her having to betray Riven is eating away at her insides because she cares about him and, to top it off, it was no use. She saved Andreas’s life at the time, but it did nothing for her to gain Rosalind’s trust.
So she looks for Stella. It’s the first time she’s done it. Until then, they were casual encounters, but now she dares to lower her defenses and show vulnerability to go find Stella. Bellatrix dares to admit that she needs her.
But Stella can’t go with her at the moment. To the Winx, Bellatrix is her enemy and their pseudo-friendship is a secret. What would the Winx think if she suddenly left with the enemy or opened the door to their room like it was nothing? So Stella rejects her. And Stella’s rejection is the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Bellatrix. She thought that she, at least, could count on Stella, even if she couldn’t count on anyone else. Bellatrix thought that Stella cared for her, what a fool she had been.
When Bellatrix is faced with emotional difficulties, she is used to lashing out to protect herself from them. She learned to lash out at everyone to get them away before they damage her. So that’s what she does when she goes to find Andreas and Dane.
Dane is just a distraction, one she desperately needs, but when he too rejects her, she attacks him with all her venom. And though Dane hits back and his words hurt Bellatrix, she’s not one to let her pain show, so she takes it upon herself to deal the final blow to Dane. After all, she’s alone, that’s how it always was.
It’s time for her to receive solitude again as an old friend, having someone who cared about her was just a mirage for Bellatrix, she just found out, although the truth is that nothing is further from reality. And Bellatrix will understand in the following episodes when they manage to rescue her. Bellatrix’s relationships may not be at their best right now, but she has a lot of people who care about her, despite themselves.
The Best Laid Plans
Aisha has her whole life planned out and the dinner held at Alfea in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity” is a key part of her plan. Particularly, I’m more of Flora’s style and I don’t even have lunch planned for the day.
However, this is important because Aisha’s plan doesn’t include love, so it’s difficult for her to take risks for Grey, he doesn’t fit into her plans. Aisha is a person who likes to be in control in all aspects of her life, she has a plan and doesn’t deviate from it. But Grey is a deviation. And she can’t bring herself to throw it all away.
It’s like jumping into the void and it may not work. It seldom does. But, as Flora tells her, that’s not life. Living without love, without passion, living in fear is not living. It can go wrong, yes, but it can also go right.
Does Aisha really want to miss out on a wonderful experience just because of her fear? And if it goes wrong, it wouldn’t be the end of the world either, it would just be one more lesson in her life. It’s time for Aisha to get out of her comfort zone and let go, it’s time for her to forget about planning and live in the moment.
Aisha can take on a monster ready to steal her magic, for God’s sake, she can’t be afraid to live and love. So she takes a giant step and agrees to live in the moment with Grey, she lets him into her life, embracing what she feels with no idea of her outcome. For someone as analytical and a control freak as Aisha, it’s a big step, one that assumes she’s trusting Grey with her eyes closed. We just hope he doesn’t betray that trust.
Fashion Tips
I don’t want to end this review without mentioning the disastrous styling in Fate: The Winx Saga 2×03 “Your Newfound Popularity.” The dinner the Winx attended was fancy and only Bloom wore a proper and flattering outfit. She looked like a queen.
Stella was also wearing an elegant and appropriate dress… although I don’t think the dress did it too well, at least it shows that the producers tried. As for Flora and Aisha, I think their outfits were too casual for the occasion, but they tried too.
However, with Terra, they didn’t even try. She simply put on whatever pants and t-shirt she can wear every day and added a suede jacket to make her outfit look classy. Why the hell don’t they dress Terra properly? And I’m not just referring to this specific scene, but the show in general.
There are modern and beautiful clothes for non-normative bodies. There are beautiful pants and also plus-size dresses. It’s true that, unfortunately, these clothes only exist in online stores, but perhaps the link should be passed on to the producers so that they start dressing Terra in decent clothes that fit her well. We said what we said.
Fate: The Winx Saga season 2 is available to stream on Netflix and we’ll be back with the episode 4 review tomorrow.
