The Book of Rannells: Princess Power: Season 2, Episode 9 – “Little Shop of Princess Horrors” (2023)

Silly episode, although there’s a decent amount of Andrew Rannells, so that’s nice. And props for the musical theater reference in the title for an episode that features both Rannells and Chita Rivera (with bonus Jenna Ushkowitz from Glee)!

The four royal families are having their annual bake-off, with each team making two desserts featuring their island’s signature fruit. When Penny’s little brother forgets to bring enough pineapple along to the contest, Penny decides to fix the problem with “science,” using a growth serum she invented on a single pineapple. Before you know it, there’s a giant sentient pineapple causing havoc at the bake-off.

The bake-off stuff on its own is cute. I like that Rita decorates her raspberry scones with so much fondant and gold leaf that the judges don’t know how to eat it—in the face of “less is more,” her motto is “more is marvelous!”

But of course, the main action kicks off when the pineapple starts skittering around eating people’s entries and making a ruckus. It could be argued that, like in the sleepover episode, where Penny goes wrong is in not going to her friends for help with her initial problem, but once the pineapple starts running amok, she’s quick to own up to it and the other princesses are quick to pitch in.

Side note: I remember in the first episode I watched of Princess Power, I liked that the princesses used “they/them” pronouns for a whale, since they didn’t know the whale’s gender. They do the same thing here with the pineapple, and for all that this is a goofy story, the low-key demonstration of how easy it is to say “they/them” is pretty neat.

King Barton is one of the judges of the bake-off, along with Penny’s great aunt (Rivera’s character.) He’s super into it, carrying around his golden whisk trophy and telling the contestants to, “Break an egg!” At one point, he also exclaims, “What in the pannacotta is going on here?”, which is silly and cute.

Of course, the only trouble with Barton judging the contest is that it leaves Bea and Sir Benedict to represent Team Blueberry. He’s visibly befuddled when he checks in with them and finds them having a utensil fight instead of baking.