Snakebit

 The third episode of this season, and it's focused on Jay. I like that the writers are using the first couple of episodes to properly introduce the other ninja, since the pilots were a bit lacking in that regard.

Also, this is one of the two episodes I never rewatched as a kid, due to being scared of the scene at night, where the Fangpyres atatck.

But let's go about this in chronological order, shall we? The episode opens with the ninja cleaning up their new base, when Jay's parents arrive. They mention that they live on a junkyard, First Doctor-style, and generally follow the stereotype of the embarassing parents. 

When they return to the junkyard, it is night already, and they are attacked by the Fangpyre, another tribe of Serpentine that Lloyd freed at the beginning of the episode. These snakes turn random pieces of junk into snake-junk with their venomous bite, and even bite Ed and Edna.

The next day, the ninja head for the junkyard, but without their dragons, as they have flown off to the Spirit Coves to shed their scales and mature.

Having arrived at the junkyard, the ninja fight the Serpentine, but when Fangtom and Lloyd escape on a snake helicopter, they have no way to pursue them and get the antivenom in the staff. To help them, Wu explains that the Golden Weapons can be turned into vehicles, allowing Jay to summon a jet, which he uses to steal the staff.

Pursued by the Fangpyre, the ninja make it to the Destiny's Bounty, where Nya gives the antivenom to Ed and Edna, and Jay activates the Bounty's flight mode, allowing it to take off and escape the pursuing snakes. The sudden take-off does, however, caus eNya to lose the staff, which falls down and lands with the Serpentine.

Various Observations:

-How have I never noticed how Kai sleeps?  That looks really funny, props to whoever had the idea to put that in the background.

-More talk about the ninja having to reach their full potential. By this point I'm half convinced that this actually was foreshadowing for their True Potential, but the writers decided to change the term later this season.

-Now for some more Spinjitzu weirdness: Apparently regular Spinjitzu can also absorb objects, like the Tornado of Creation. It just can't create something new from them.

-Also, who's going to a garage sale in the middle of the desert? How would people even find it?

-Apparently the Bounty had a generator and electric lighting. I was under the impression that such things didn't exist in Captain Soto's time.

-I also have to wonder where Wu went while the ninja were repairing the Bounty. With Nya, I'd imagine she was working on building her Samurai X gear, plus we know she has a base in the desert later on, so maybe she was looking for a good place to build it. Wu, however? Where'd he go?

-The big screen is also shown in this episode, and now I have to wonder if it was also a relic of Captain Soto's days. 

-The bounty has a periskope. Huh. That ... literally never comes up again, right? Why does it have a periskope? It's a ship! If it's underwater, you've already messed up!

-We also learn that Jay was the one who modified the Destiny's Bounty so it could fly. I always remember Nya working on it as well, but I guess I must have been mixing it up with the Bounty's repair in season 4.

-Jay's theme of trying to be someone he's not is introduced here, with him being ashamed of, as far as he knows, being born on a junkyard, and not wanting his friends to know.

-Why does Wu pick on Jay? Last episode he started a food fight, true, but it felt like he was, in some way, defending Zane. Maybe that comment would have been better if Kai said it. I could see him making a joke about that.

-The tomb of the Fangpyre has great ambience, I love it ... But why was it built under a graveyard? The other tombs are in desolate, out-of-the-way sorts of places. Why not this one?

-Also, it apparently opens if you press a stone into floor. So stepping on what looks like a random stone is enough to unleash the Fangpyre. Really not impressed with the security of these tombs. Eh, at least Lloyd is absolutely adorable.

-Interesting that the Fangpyre hate the Hypnobrai. Serpentine racism is a concept I never thought about, but it would make sense, particularly since the tribes have been locked away with only their own kind as company.

-I love the detail of the tire marks on the ground of the junkyard showing Ed's lacking driving skills (and the wonky brakes). It's a nice touch.

-So ... Ed was building a mech for Jay. That's honestly sweet. And makes it kind of hilarious that Nya, Lloyd, Kai and Cole all got a mech before him.

-Wait, Ed was walking towards the trailer, and yet he missed the bright red snake-man standing atop it? Wow, he really needs glasses. I get that it was dark, but still.

-By the way, I love the look (looks?) Fangtom gives Lloyd when he does his evil laugh. This episode generally has a lot of fun background details.

-Fangtom refers to his tribes as "boys". Are all Fangpyre male? Granted, they may be using the term in a gender-neutral way. If so how does gender even work, if one Fangpyre can have two brains? Could they both have different genders? If Fangpyre are male-only, however, then what does that mean for those turned into Serpentine by their bite? Does their bite give you free gender reassignement surgery?

-Inanimate objects are turned into Serpentine almost immediately, whereas humans take much longer. Is it because they have a much more complex body? There's some interesting stuff you could explore.

-Cole mentions his mother, but both the last episode, and the one with his True Potential firmly establish that only his father is around anymore. Not neccesarily an oversight, he wasn't actually taking to her, but still interesting.

-There are some ruins near the Bounty. Odd, once you consider that the desert has to have been an ocean once upon a time, given the presence of the Bounty. Maybe there was a Merlopian settlement here?

-Why did Edna's coat change color? It looks like it was stained green. Is it turning into a Serpentine too?

-Once again, Nya is shown to be just as capable as the ninja. I love it!

-Oh my god, Lloyd has a snake radio! I want one! Why couldn't this be the ninja's pet starting from season 11, rather than a random chicken?

-And by now all of Ed and Edna's clothes are green ... including the stains on Ed's clothes. Looks like they're turning into ... snake oil! Now that I think about it, I suppose it would be pretty awkward if your underwear suddenly came to life, no? That aside, why does everything turned into a snake by the Fangpyre become green? Those are Venomari colors, why not red and white? Common ancestry, maybe? But if anything, the Fangpyre should be more closely related to the Constrictai, as their powers both have physical effects, while the Venomari and Hypnobrai work in a mental way. I hope this is the sort of stuff people in Ninjago study.

-Once again, Jay is the first to learn a new technique; in this case the ability to create a vehicle with a Golden Weapon. The way things are phrased, it sounds like the vehicle depends on the wielder, not the weapon, so I'd be pretty interested to see, say, Jay use the Scythe of Quakes instead to create an earth-powered jet. Also, is it just me, or does it briefly look like Jay is about to achieve Airjitzu?

-Alright, Wu wishing his flute could turn into a vehicle made me laugh. That's really funny.

-With their new vehicles, Kai, Cole and Zane are now established as knowing how to drive. Jay still struggles with his jet, which makes sense, because not many people know how to steer one.

-So, the Rattlercopter apparently doesn't need a pilot, since it's sentient. In which case, why do Fangtom and Lloyd have to ride this precarious platform without guard rails, instead of being safely seated in the cockpit?

-Apparently, the elemental vehicles disappear as soon as one loses focus, in which case, aren't they basically just the same as the Elemental Dragons later on? I suppose it would make sense that there is some relation, with the vehicles simply being easier to summon, as the Golden Weapons help with creating something.

-Continuing the trend of Nya being the most competent team mate, she is the one to save Jay after he falls down, even if the fall logically would still have killed him. Also, she canonically knows how to drive as well.

-So the antivenom immediately makes Ed and Edna return back to normal. Would it also have worked if someone was fully transformed?

-The button that makes the bounty fly has the Fangpyre symbol on it. Was that intentional? It doesn't feel correct.

-I've always felt that the way the ninja lose the Fangpyre staff was really anticlimactic. Nya just loses her grip on it? Then again, I suppose that this is a consequence of Jay trying to act cool, and not explaining what the button does, leading to Nya not bracing herself for take-off. Yeah, actually, this works pretty well if you read it as being the result of Jay's main character flaw. No clue if it's intentional, though.

-For your regular check-up on the mystery of the green ninja, there is another, rather subtle, hint in this episode, as the snake's mech is, of course, colored green. Once you take into account that it represents Jay, it seems like it would be a hidden piece of foreshadowing. I like that there are clues pointing towards all the ninja, it keeps things interesting, and distracts from the obvious clue pointing at Lloyd.