The Book of Rannells: Princess Power: Season 2, Episode 13 – “Princess Processional Professional” (2023)

This is Andrew Rannells’s last episode of Princess Power for season 2, though he isn’t in it much. Cute episode, and the conflict is believable.

Bea is going to be joining her dads in meeting with her subjects in the Blueberry “fruitdom’s” annual processional. She’s excited about it, but she gets stressed about her ability to ride in the processional when she can’t get her new horse, Bella, to cooperate. The other princesses come to help her work on strategies, especially Kira, who brims with love for/knowledge about animals.

Based on how things play out in the episode, it makes sense that Bea would struggle with riding Bella. For one, the girl is on and ready for action at all times, the opposite of a calming presence to make Bella feel safe and comfortable. For another, she approaches the task like it’s a sport to master, focusing on her own achievement and not really thinking about the fact that she has to consider this other living creature as well. Not to mention, she’s so gung ho about everything that she regularly starts diving in before Kira has even finished giving her latest piece of advice.

While this is Kira’s area of expertise and she takes point here, the other princesses pitch in as well. Penny offers up her robot as a simulated “bucking bronco” for Bea to practice on, and when Kira says the word “grooming,” Rita knows it’s her turn to shine.

It’s another episode of bookend appearances for Andrew Rannells, and most of his lines are in the opening scene. I enjoy the gusto with which he introduces Bea’s new horse as “Bella Brunhilde Blueberry!” Although really, while Bea is a prime contributor to her issues with Bella, King Barton needs to share some of the blame as well. In the scene where he gives Bella to Bea, he acknowledges that she doesn’t have a lot of experience riding horses. So he thinks the recipe for success is to put her with a brand-new horse who doesn’t know her on the day of the procession? Planning ahead is not your specialty, my guy.

The Book of Rannells: Princess Power: Season 2, Episode 10 – “Princess Surprise Party” (2023)

Cute but flimsy episode. Andrew Rannells (and Tan France!) are crucial to kicking off the plot here, but they’re not really in the episode that much.

Bea’s dads are determined to throw Bea a birthday party without her figuring out the surprise ahead of time. They enlist the other princesses to help keep her distracted while they get everything ready.

It struck me that one odd little similarity between Princess Power and Queer Eye is that these folks always have some kind of “event” to get ready for. In so many of the episodes I’ve seen, one or more “fruitdom” is gearing up for a festival, a talent show, a baking contest, etc. I just found that amusing.

Anyway, of course Bea keeps naively wandering just on the outskirts of her own party preparations, and her friends have to frantically divert them away while keeping her none the wiser. It’s super obvious that something’s up with them—they’re all acting wildly suspicious—but Bea doesn’t seem to notice anything is up. Maybe her dads didn’t have to work that hard to keep the party a secret?

In another entry in Princess Power’s use of gender-neutral pronouns, this episode is the first time I’ve heard the princesses use “they/them” for a human character, rather than an animal or a pineapple monster. It’s not specified that this character is nonbinary—rather, much like the earlier cases, the princesses seem to default to “they/them” for someone they don’t know, not wanting to assume their gender. The character could be nonbinary, or female, or male, or something else.

As I said, not too much of Bea’s dads, even though they’re the ones who give the other princesses their task for the episode. As such, there isn’t much that’s noteworthy for Rannells, although there are a few cute moments in the animation. King Barton and Sir Benedict are added into the usual “princesses mobilize into action” sequence that’s featured in each episode, with them riding a hang glider to the girls’ treehouse headquarters. And when Bea turns up at the treehouse, their flailing efforts to “hide” end in both of them trying to blend in with the coat rack.

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.