Review: Shimmer and Shine “Lightning In A Bottle”

Does this show capture said lightning?

Spoilers Below

In “Lightning In A Bottle,” Leah is teaching Shimmer and Shine how to play baseball. Well, not really baseball but how to use a ball and a mitt to play catch. During their game, they come across a lightning genie named Shaya who is chasing a rogue lightning bolt. Despite frequently telling the girls that he doesn’t need their help, Leah wishes for faster transportation in order to help him anyway. Shimmer gives them fast cloud-boards. Eventually, Leah catches the lightning bolt in a special bottle. But only after it destroys the marketplace. Leah uses another wish to get cleaning supplies so everyone can pitch in to clean up.

While this episode was a little more fun, there wasn’t a lot going on. Most of the episode was just spent chasing the lightning bolt. No one explained why one would want to wish for a lightning bolt or what use a lightning bolt would be. The closest we come to an explanation is Shaya uses his lightning bolt magic to make Leah’s cloud-board faster. I think the writers need to learn a lesson from some other fantasy writers. Magic is fine but it still needs to be based in the reality of your fictional world. That world becomes more real when you explain how or why things work. It’s bad form to say something works because that is just how it is. Give a little more background. Everyone would appreciate it.