Operation Deep Freeze
Season 4 Episode 12
Themes: Working Together
Prominent Characters
Captain Barnacles
Captain Barnacles leads the Octonauts, and he encourages them to work together to overcome the challenges they face.
Peso
The medic of the Octonauts, Peso bravely volunteers to be lowered into the ice chasm to rescue his penguin cousin Ooju.
Tweak
Over the course of the episode, the inventive Octonaut Tweak creatively designs solutions for challenges the group faces, from an ice bridge to a new Antarctic research station.
Professor Natquik
Professor Natquick is an arctic fox who called the Octonauts for help from his post at the Antarctic research station. During the episode, his strong hearing comes in handy when he’s able to hear the penguins approaching.
Ooju
Peso’s penguin cousin Ooju gets distracted walking across the ice bridge with the other penguins, prompting a rescue mission after he falls into the ice chasm.
Plot Highlights
- While visiting the Arctic Polar Scout Emergency Post, the Octonauts see a call for help come through the system from the Antarctic. They’re confused because the research station at that location has been shut down for years, but they head out on the GUP-S to visit Antarctica and find the call’s source.
- On their way to the research station, the Octonauts bump into some of Peso’s penguin cousins swimming toward their nesting grounds. The penguins tell the Octonauts that they’ll have to make a long journey on land after their swim to get to the final location.
- When the group arrives at the research center, they enter it and find a journal and a half-eaten biscuit, but no one is inside. The station starts to shake and tilt, and they escape back outside. From there, they see a set of tracks belonging to an Arctic fox, and they follow the tracks to a cave.
- Professor Natquick, an old friend of Captain Barnacles, emerges from the cave. He tells them that he’s been there working on a new discovery, but now his research station is at risk of falling into an ice chasm. Twig uses the GUP-S to tow the research center back to safety.
- After his station is safe, Professor Natquick shows the Octonauts his latest discovery: sound recordings that he’s captured produced by icequakes deep beneath the surface. He suddenly hears something with his strong arctic fox hearing, and when he amplifies it for the rest of the group Peso confirms that it’s the sound of penguins walking.
- Concerned that the penguins will accidentally walk into the ice chasm, the Octonauts form a plan to warn them. Dashi tracks the penguins on her map, and they send up flares from the GUP-S at just the right moment to warn the penguins. They exit the GUP-S and Peso announces to them to stop walking, and they stop just before reaching the chasm.
- The penguins still need to make it to their nesting grounds, so the Octonauts need to find a way for them to get across the chasm. Twig suggests that they build a bridge, but they need to get creative for what they’ll build it of. They decide to dig a tunnel through the ice using the heated drill of the GUP-S, creating a melted pool of water under the surface. Then, they drill an opening between the tunnel and the chasm so that the ice flows out and freezes, forming an ice bridge between the two sides.
- The penguins waddle across the ice bridge, but Peso’s cousin Ooju gets distracted and lags behind. When an icequake hits, the bridge crumbles and Ooju falls down onto a ledge in the chasm.
- When Captain Barnacles suggests that one of the Octonauts will need to go down to rescue Ooju, Peso offers to go in case medical attention is required. The rest of the group hold onto a rope and slowly lower him down onto the ledge. There’s a close call when Ooju slips during the rescue, but they manage to pull him and Peso up safely.
- Peso bandages Ooju’s injured foot, and the penguins are back on their way to their nesting grounds. In the end, Twig constructs a new research station, the GUP-I, for the professor so he can continue his work.
Discussion Questions
After this episode, we encourage you to ask your child about what happened and discuss the episode’s events together. Consider using some of the questions below to explore themes such as working together.
- Can you think of a time during the episode when the group worked together? How did working together help them? Can you think of a time when you’ve worked together with others?
- How do you think Peso’s cousin Ooju felt when he fell off of the ice bridge? Do you think Peso was brave when he climbed down to rescue him?
- Did you think any parts of this episode were scary? How did you feel while you were watching?
