"A Growing Problem" is the first segment of the twentieth episode of Miles from Tomorrowland. It premiered on August 13, 2015, alongside "The Tardigrade Escapade".
Plot[]
In the bio-garden, Leo is busy watering the plants when Miles and M.E.R.C. arrive. Miles offers Leo to play Lazerang, but Leo is busy with his biocollection. He then shows Miles and M.E.R.C. a moonflower, a plant which only blooms under the right kind of light. The first two lights do not work, and Leo says he has no luck finding the right light. After being asked by Miles, Leo says that the moonflower blooms on its home planet Narcisa, but if he can figure out how to make it bloom in the bio-garden, he will surprise Phoebe with a whole bunch of them. After that, Stella informs them of a call from the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.
Admiral Crick offers Admiral Watson some purple sparkle-lillies, but Watson says he likes them to be yellow before assigning the Callistos a new mission: to save an entire planet. Phoebe is amazed to see that it is planet Narcisa, the planet where moonflowers live. The Admirals say that since it has plenty of water and oxygen, TTA ships stop there on long-distance trips. Now, they used to, because the planet is being overgrown by an aggressive space moss, which is grey, smells bad, and is using up the water and the soil. Leo realizes that if the moss continues to grow, none of the other plants on the planet will be able to live, not even the moonflowers. Since the moss has become a huge threat and could even spread to other planets, the Admirals had to call in the SpaceGuard, and they are having trouble, so they asked the Admirals to assign Leo to the "mech division" of the mission. Crick thinks it is a "mech-spertise", a mix between mech and expertise, and laughs when no one else does so. Miles thinks that the technology looks like an Exo-Flex suit, and wonders if the Callistos will use them on the mission. The Admirals say that the SpaceGuard will give the Callistos their orders once they arrive on the planet. Phoebe then sets a course for Planet Narcisa.
Once there, Phoebe realizes that this does not look like the same planet, and Loretta did not think it was that bad. After landing, the Callistos meet Captain Joe. Miles thinks that they must have lots of Exo-Flex suits to clear up the mech, but Joe disagrees, stating that they have just the one: the Space Gardener mechrobot inside a station. Miles thinks this is the greatest thing he has ever seen, and Loretta believes that this kind of tech must be unstoppable. Joe says that the suit is designed for clearing overgrown areas for construction, and if the original moss core is pulled up, the rest will be shriveled out. The only problem is that the moss is so fast and so strong, that it will tear apart the suit, in its current design. Leo decides to take out the cockpit to make it lighter and faster. He also decides to steer it remotely, meaning piloting it wirelessly from the station. Miles thinks he can do so, but Joe says that this is a job for the SpaceGuard.
After setting up the control area, Joe decides that while he is controlling the robot, he could use Miles to keep an eye on things, and Miles accepts. However, Loretta finds out through her calculations that when the timer runs out, the whole planet will be covered with moss, and stopping it will be impossible. Joe then controls the robot from the station, and activates his helmet display. Miles warns Joe about moss coming up, and Joe thanks Miles for that. After dodging more moss, Joe is told by Loretta that the moss core is forty-five degrees southeast of him. Joe sees it up ahead, but the moss catches the mech. The mech escapes again, but not before the moss takes out its remote antenna. As a result, Joe can not control the robot. Leo then decides to pilot the mech manually. Despite the cockpit being taken out, the controls are still there, and if someone can get inside there, they can still control the mech. Miles decides to do so, and Joe promotes him from navigator to pilot. Phoebe tells Miles that M.E.R.C. can fly him in, and out if things get dangerous.
M.E.R.C. then takes Miles to the mech, and before entering it, Miles tells M.E.R.C. to watch his back. After pressing some buttons, Miles gains control of the mech. Miles is able to successfully dodge the moss, even sliding through when the path gets narrow, and eventually gets to the core of the original moss. However, Miles has difficulty pulling it out, and decides to launch the mech's boosters to shrivel up some of the moss. Miles then tells Leo that each plant likes and does not like different things. He then tells Loretta to check her Bracelex, and Loretta finds out that moss is vulnerable to heat. Despite not having enough heat to get rid of all the moss, Miles has it where it counts: at the core. He then activates the mech's boosters again, shriveling up more moss. Eventually, Miles pulls the moss core out, causing the moss to shrivel up all over the planet, completing the mission.
Miles then takes the mech to the station, with the moss carrying a moonflower. Miles tells Phoebe that Leo told him that she likes moonflowers, so they got her an entire planet full of them. Phoebe thanks everyone, and the moonflowers bloom all over the planet.
Cast[]
- Cullen McCarthy as Miles Callisto
- Fiona Bishop as Loretta Callisto
- Olivia Munn as Phoebe Callisto
- Tom Kenny as Leo Callisto
- Dee Bradley Baker as M.E.R.C.
- Grey DeLisle as Stella
- Danny Jacob as Watson
- Diedrich Bader as Crick
- Adrian Grenier as Captain Joe
Trivia[]
- This episode, along with "The Tardigrade Escapade", was dedicated to NASA scientist Claudia Alexander, who died of breast cancer on July 11, 2015 in Arcadia, California.
