Stormer

MARY PHILLIPS
Overview
 Stormer is the Misfit who is portrayed as having the 'good heart'. She's a star, in my opinion, but she's never quite strong enough to stand out against the wilder ideas of Pizzazz, Roxy or Jetta, except when none of them are around to see it. She has a conscience (she won't let Jem be framed for theft in 'Truly Outrageous/Frame Up', nor will she allow Aja and one of the jazz players to get hurt in The Jazz Singer due to her own actions). She's also fairly obviously the youngest Misfit. I tend to term Stormer the SWEETHEART Misfit. Most of the time, too, she wears a red daisy in her hair (as you can see from the many screen captures) and I've always interpreted this as a symbol of her inner sensitivity - the Mary Phillips who exists behind rock star Stormer :) She doesn't always wear the flower, but in early episodes it's almost always in evidence, unless she happens to be wearing Makin' Mischief, which has a hairtie in animation (darn Hasbro promotions!! LOL) In a way, too, she's the ultimate Misfit of them all. Why? Because she's the misfit among the misfits themselves! Of all of them, she has the potentially good background, "normal" morals and outlook, and she's often a little bit out of her depth in the mischief making stakes. So, as well as being the sweetheart Misfit, she's also the MISFIT misfit :D

Background
Stormer's background is rather elusive. We don't know things about her childhood at all, except that she has a big brother, Craig, and that's basically it. There is a house in Los Angeles which Stormer and Craig both appear in - so this is probably the Phillips home and therefore Stormer's roots are most likely in Los Angeles itself. However, we never see parents for Stormer and Craig. The possibilities are either that they've passed on, or that Stormer or Craig did something so terrible that the pair of them were disowned. I tend to go with the first assumption - that Craig and Stormer are orphaned. However, the girl was brought up with good values. Her family probably weren't rich in terms of Pizzazz and the endless Gabor millions, but I suspect she came from a comfortably off Californian family who were fairly close-knit and which taught her various good things growing up. Not much more can be said about Stormer's background, but I strongly suspect she knew Roxy in some capacity before the band took off. I might be wrong, but there's just that bond between them, even early on.  Craig's constant travelling within Europe is possibly the reason also that Stormer has such a keen interest in everything English - it's her who points out the Tinkerbillys at the club "direct from London", it is her who admits she loves Jetta's accent and it is her who sparks off the visit to Wissex by declaring that she'd "love to go to England".  Who knows, maybe there's some English (or Welsh, Phillips being a Welsh name I believe) in Stormer's roots also, which would explain why Craig is always overseas.
One other, rather touching remark Stormer makes in Bands Break Up also hints that her childhood, even though probably a loving one, was not always an easy one. She confesses to Kimber "You gave me something else noone ever did. Sincere friendship." Perhaps this is indication that Stormer's natural reticence and shyness, which makes itself apparent on more than one occasion, has impeded her when making friends. (It also indicates that the Misfits' tough love friendship policy is sometimes not enough for her, and she needs an outlet to confide in and vent her feelings to.) Her wistful expression too when Jerrica welcomes Kimber back into the fold indicates that maybe something was still missing, even in Stormer's rather more positively portrayed background. I think family is important to Stormer and she misses having Craig so far away.

Personality
This is where things become a bit blurry. Stormer's personality is hard to make out, and this can be largely laid at the door of the different perceptions of her as portrayed by the series writers. Some tackled her as a Misfit, others understood her subtle differences from the others. Either way it creates a semi schizophrenic baby Misfit at times.
 She isn't quite sure how to handle the situation in 'Island of Deception' where the Misfits and the Holograms are forced to work together - it seems that she'd very much like to be friends but she's afraid to show herself to be too amiable to the 'enemy' whilst Pizzazz and Roxy are around. She also reacts to the flirting of the island's hermit with a sincerely confessed 'Love's not easy for me', which suggests that perhaps she's been hurt by guys in the past also. Some have suggested that she says it because she's a Misfit and Roxy and Pizzazz are in her way, but that's obviously not true. At no point on the island, during all of Angus' rather over the top flirting and flattery, do either Pizzazz or Roxy interfere or mock Stormer at all. The "Love's not easy" remark refers to something else altogether (And perhaps was going to be the cue originally for Jem and the Hologram;s song of the same name, since that episode had only 2 songs...but I digress).
Stormer to me is a girl who has potential but doesn't believe in her own ability, and she gets dragged  into things she isnt prepared for.
Having said that, Stormer has a mischievous side to her, too. Although she finds the idea of a video on friendship and goodwill 'nice' and occasionally asks whether they should 'really be doing this', she is still entertained by certain of her colleagues' pranks, and joins in with Roxy in The Beginning/Truly Outrageous when the Misfits are tossing Jem's junk out of the back of the van. In classic Misfit style, she can be wicked, too. In Culture Clash it is Stormer who sets off the explosions of Fitzgerald Beck's sculptures on the stage,and in 'Disaster/Truly Outrageous' it is Stormer in the Makin Mischief video who puts up the volume on the guy's radio. I think she looks up to Pizzazz and Roxy in a confused kind of way - its fairly clear she's the youngest and she wants to be like them only knows she never totally will be. It's as the series progresses that more of the 'nice' Stormer shows itself, especially in 'The Band Breaks Up'. I think this is mainly because by then she's realised that she matters to the band in her own right and she feels more secure and less pressurised to be something she's not. I like Stormer when she's being wicked and when she isn't...she has a good sense of how to survive with the band, and she's a very clever character in her own way, if  intimidated some by her companions. It's also important to mention that she has a good strong obstinate streak in there too - it runs in the Phillips family!!
She's less bitchy towards the Holograms after The Bands Break Up, too (perhaps because she gets the chance to properly get to know them and they arent an unknown enemy any more). This is significant - between Talent Search and The Bands Break Up is the watershed between Stormer as a follower and Stormer who branches out for herself. You rarely, if ever find Stormer deviating from her orders before Talent Search...even during it she's vulnerable to her companions. But first Craig's intervention and then her stint with Kimber give her self-confidence and she develops and blossoms from there. She's a sweetheart deep down :)
Stormer has a lot of good in her, and towards the end of the series is beginning to make her own decisions - for example in 'Britrock' when she goes to London to see Craig instead of taking her part in Jetta's carefully planned charade, and when she voices her concern for Pizzazz in 'The Stingers Hit Town' without fear of being shot down by her bandmates. (Not to mention her cheeky remarks in the last episode, when the Misfits come to call their truce. I swear that if anyone was behind that truce, it was her!) She also has a definite sense for the romantic - Jem's performance of  'Cant Get My Love Together' in Broadway Magic brings tears to her eyes (see screen capture!), and she suggests in Island of Deception that maybe Rio and Jerrica think the boat is simply romantic.
Stormer has a few fears. She has several run-ins with big cats - Aztec Enchantment, Rock and Roll Express, and Music is Magic, to name three episodes where this happens, and she has to rid Kimber's hand of the bug in Island of Deception with a stick, which suggests she isn't keen on creepy crawlies either. She also confesses to a fear of bats in the Rock Fashion Book. Her worst fear, however, seems to be being kicked out of the group, for the idea almost has her in tears in Talent Search when talking to Craig.

Stormer On Music
 Oh boy. Where even to start? Stormer is the creative genius behind the Misfits, simple as that. Without her composition talents, the band would be up a creek without a paddle (a fact they come to realise with a jolt when she walks out on them in Bands Break Up.) Though unsure of her ability (as I mentioned), Stormer also shows versatility of instrument, playing mostly keys (synth) but also electric guitar (lead titles, Congratulations: One Jem Too Many) and accoustic guitar (Stingers Hit Town) and drums (Starbright #3). So yes, she can dabble a bit, our Stormer :) In Bands Break Up it becomes clear that she is a composer perhaps more than a lyricist and I suppose it's possible the others/Pizzazz writes lyrics for the Misfits or at least dictates the subject matter to Stormer. But Stormer is the one who writes the tunes. It is Stormer also who endorses the idea of a new Misfit - even standing out against the obvious derision of Pizzazz and Roxy at the idea, claiming that it means "another instrument, a fuller sound, more complex music." Clearly the attitude, then, of a composer :)

Friendships/Roles
Though she is very different to the other Misfits, there is a bond between her and them, particularly, it seems to me, with Roxy, which develops especially over the later episodes. This bond can be seen in a number of places, for example Stormer knows Roxy can't read, and Roxy asks Stormer's opinion about Jetta joining the group. Also, the only time  (bar the time when she's not a Misfit) that Stormer raises her voice to Pizzazz is to tell her off for letting Roxy walk out on the group. Another key example of this friendship is in 'The Talent Search' at the Misfit press conference, when Jetta is asked about a rumour linking her to the British Royal Family, and Roxy murmurs in an aside to Stormer "If there;s a rumour, Jetta started it".
Stormer also seems to have a developing 'friendship' with Jetta, though there are less in the way of pointers here (not enough airtime given to letting it develop). In 'Roxy Rumbles', it is Stormer and Jetta who go after Roxy to see what's going on, and in The Stingers Hit Town (the Now video) Stormer and Jetta are together when the group 'hugs'. They also are together in the crashing plane in Rock and Roll Express, clinging on to each other for dear life as the aircraft plummets to the ground.
Stormer's other main friendship (and probably her most genuine friendship) is with Kimber Benton, her partner in music when she goes solo. The friendship is only really evident in 'The Bands Break Up', but there are friendly words exchanged between the two in the episodes 'Journey to Shangri-La' and 'Britrock', which indicates that it was more than a flash in the pan acquaintance.
 The Misfits are important in Stormer's world (whatever anyone thinks), because when she has an opportunity to leave the group and join the Holograms in The Bands Break Up, she declines. She knows the Misfits "need her" and I think that the only reason she stormed out in the first place was because she was feeling unappreciated, not that she actually wanted to stop being a Misfit at all. Twice in the episode she defects back to the Misfits (although conscience makes her keep her promise to Kimber) and this is evidence that Stormer feels like she belongs with the Misfits, she just wants some recognition for her hard work. She says herself to Kimber "The Misfits just want to exploit me" and to the Misfits "All I wanted was to be appreciated." As soon as the rest of the band come and admit to her that they need and want her back - a big deal gesture for girls for whom pride in front of the enemy is so important - she is happy to rejoin the group (on her terms, of course ;)). Unless she was entirely loyal to the Misfits in the first place, she would not have thought twice about taking up Jerrica's offer of a place in the Holograms. Conclusion? Stormer really isn't Hologram material :) and, much as she enjoyed her stint with Kimber, I couldn't imagine her buckling to Jem and Jem's will all too often. Stormer's musical concepts are a lot more dramatic and daring than the ones the Holograms generally embrace, and I could see many differences of opinion occuring if Stormer had changed sides and joined the Holograms.