Snaketastrophy is the eighth episode of the eleventh season, and the 106th episode overall of LEGO Ninjago. It aired on July 13, 2019, in the United States, on August 12, 2019, in Australia, and on August 30, 2019, in Canada. It was paired up with "Ninja vs Lava."
Extended: Fred Finley, an anchorman for NGTV news, breaks the story of a new impending crisis affecting NINJAGO City - an invasion of scorching Pyro Vipers! As Fred covers the invasion, Gayle Gossip is forced to cover the mundane news of puppy petting day at the Fur Mart. However, it's tough to keep a good reporter down. Gayle chases after some of the serpents. Aspheera spots Gayle filming her and confronts the reporter, revealing her purpose: she is seeking one of the Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu in order to have her revenge on the "Treacherous Deceiver" who entombed her. Aspheera learns (inadvertently) that one of the Scrolls may be on display at NINJAGO Museum of History. She heads to the museum, forcing Gayle and her cameraman Vinny along with her. Elsewhere, the ninja return to NINJAGO City just in time to save Fred Finley from an enormous Serpentine creature. The ninja learn that Aspheera is headed for the museum and race after her, hoping to obtain the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu before she can...
Plot
Back in Ninjago City, NGTV is reporting live on the attack by the Pyro Vipers as Fred Finely, their number one reporter, was out live at the scene. Finely talked about a change in the weather as it was raining fireballs and when the fireballs make contact with the ground, it turns into an Elemental Cobra. At the end of his report, he also questions why the Ninja aren't here to save the day as the people flee from danger.
NGTV then turns to Gayle Gossip who is reporting on a puppy-petting competition, much to her annoyance. As she is reporting, a fireball falls from the sky and turns into an Elemental Cobra, attacking the puppies and the people petting them. After the interruption, Gossip decides to change her report as she ventures after one of the Elemental Cobras.
NGTV then goes to commercial break with the first commercial being about Smith Daryll's car dealership. After he is done advertising, his dealership is under attack by Elemental Cobras as the cars were destroyed.
The second commercial is about sunscreen featuring Fireblock SPF 3000. It turns out that the product doesn't actually work when the narrator reads the description, and when the actress puts the sunscreen on, she experiences an allergic reaction mentioned by the narrator.
The final commercial is about Laughy's Karaoke Club and its recent renovations that allowed a reopening of the bar.
NGTV returned live as they turned back to Fred Finely who decided to do some interviewing and ask questions about the Ninjas' whereabouts. Although the first person ran away and the second showed no optimism, the third interviewee, a child, believes the city should have hope that the Ninja will return, but before he could finish, Finely caught sight of a Elemental Cobra and decided to interview it. When asked what was its purpose in Ninjago City, the Elemental Cobra responded about causing pain and killing everyone.
After Fred Finely's report, NGTV turns to Gayle Gossip who is actually reporting on the Pyro Vipers as well. After jumping some buildings, they find Fire Fang and saw that the Elemental Cobras are surrounding Aspheera who demands them to find the "Treacherous Deceiver." While Aspheera is talking, a Elemental Cobra finds a model of the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu which is located in the Ninjago Museum of History. Uncertain of where the museum is, Aspheera demands its location and plans to learn this new martial art to use against the "Deceiver." With all of this on tape, Gossip continues to report only to be spotted by Aspheera. After arguing whether the Ninja will return, Aspheera demands Gossip to tell her the museum's location, in exchange for her life. Before Gayle could do anything, a scared Vinny quickly tells Aspheera the museum's location, until realizing his error. Knowing where the museum is, Aspheera has the two captive.
Back inside the newsroom, a horrified Dan Vaapit decides to do a panel discussion with Andrea Thomson and May Robsen, but both of them share the same opinions on "Snaketastrophy." After moments of silence, NGTV turns back to Fred Finely who finds no one to interview. As he looks around, he is suddenly picked up by a Elemental Cobra and nearly devoured; however, the Ninja return and destroy the Elemental Cobra. After Finely tells the Ninja where Aspheera is, they immediately head to the Ninjago Museum of History.
Aspheera then intercepts the TV and makes a public announcement. She promises she will find the "Treacherous Deceiver" and have revenge or burn all of Ninjago until she does find the traitor. But just as she was about to finish, Dan notifies that Ninjago City News is coming to its conclusion just as an Elemental Cobra storms the place.
Jay, Kai, Zane, Nya, Benny, Leroy, and Mr. Whiskers' Owner also make appearances in this episode but do not talk.
This episode marks the first appearance of Fred Finely in the television show, after multiple appearances in books, as well as in a set from The LEGO Ninjago Movie.
The title of episode is a pun to the word, catastrophe, meaning an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress.
This episode is unique, as its style is more sketch-comedy, instead of story-plot driven.
At the end of the episode, the Ninja return to Ninjago City.
This is the second episode focusing on those other than the Ninja and said people's reaction in a situation. The first being "The News Never Sleeps!."
One of the newscasters remarks on how the city gets attacked over and over, a reference to the myriad of times the city has been attacked.
Every time Fred Finely goes on air, he remarks about how many awards he has gotten. Interestingly, every time he remarks about the awards, the number of them goes up, indicating that he may be lying about the number of awards he has gotten. This means he likely has less awards than he claims, or that he may in fact have none at all.
This episode marks Dareth's 40th appearance overall.