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The
Bogbeast of Boggabah
Just to further prove how much of a detour the previous Christmas episode was, this one features two segments that follow up on the recent major plot points and reveals. Well, this one has the right idea to investigate the depths of the reveal at first.
Star is rightfully keen to start looking into
Ms. Heinous’ status as Eclipsa’s daughter Meteora. However, her attitude makes her come off as
reckless, impulsive, and not very mature, someone Moon cannot and does not take
seriously. It’s no surprise that making
a mess in her mom’s office and yelling at her does not work in Star’s
favor. I know I certainly wouldn’t want
to listen to someone like that. That
said, what Star wants to discuss is still important to the Butterfly family as
we as an audience know. Because of this,
it’s concerning that what this episode instead decides to focus on is
completely unrelated.
River notices Star
looking impatient and impulsive with what she’s trying to do and is quick to
invite her along on a supposedly very important hunting trip. They venture down to the swamp to search for
a creature called the Bogbeast of Boggabah.
However, there really isn’t much hunting involved at the swamp. Really, much of what Star and River do is a
bunch of initiations before they can actually look for the Bogbeast. They include trying to sweat in a sauna,
camouflaging themselves by letting leaves come to them, braiding hair, and
painting ancient markings all over their bodies. Most of these scenes are just overly long
gags of something so mundane an inconsequential. Since none of these initiations don’t have
any apparent baring on anything associated with hunting, it’s hard not to side
with Star getting annoyed by them. She
may be impulsive but even without the shady information on her family, all this
is seems like a waste of time. At least
the ways her impatience backfires on her make for many solid laughs and funny
outcomes. However, frustration
overpowers again when River declares they have to do all the initiations all
over again and that Star’s actually not ready when they’re so far in the
process. At this point, it feels like
he’s just messing with Star and the audience as we know it.
As it turns out, it very much appears that
way when Star hears a roar at night and rushes after what she thinks is the
Bogbeast. She falls into mud, and that
gets the attention of River and all the inhabitants of the swamp. There really was no actual Bogbeast of
Boggabah after all. That’s just a name
for people who act impulsively before thinking things through. This could be looked at as a twisted ploy to
get Star to embarrass herself.
Thankfully, that possibility is quashed when River says he did this so
Star could be reminded of all her strengths and learn to relax so that she’s
not held back by herself. That’s a very good lesson for Star to learn, and
anyone in real life too, and when you look back at everything, the lesson is a
good tie. Star is known for being
impulsive and acting without thinking, and the start of the episode is proof of
this, so she should be getting a true lesson to overcome all that.
It’s just the presentation of it that loses
points for being overlong, not all that funny, and the actual swamp and its
inhabitants not amounting to anything later.
The people show up again, but aren’t too productive in the main
plot. Basically, this episode is a
slight detour from what’s important, but by the end, it all works out thanks to
its morals.
B-
Total
Eclipsa the Moon
A winning formula for a work done in any medium is the team
up of two unlikely characters. It makes
for interesting chemistry from the interactions and clash in approaches making
for strong comedy and potential build up for a more genuine bond. In animation, the personalities of the
featured characters seem to be better realized since they can easily be drawn out
and are far more appealingly expressive.
This is where the great appeal of this episode lies.
It shows what happened with Moon after she
forced the ever impulsive Star out of her office in the previous episode. Even with her daughter’s attitude, Moon
nicely trusts Star’s claim and looks into it on her own after a while. She starts with the simplest practice of
going straight to Eclipsa and have her point out her daughter from the
Butterfly family records. However, the
funny thing is Eclipsa doesn’t recognize the Queen of Mewni after her at all
and remembers her only daughter being very monster-like. In a very interesting turn for Eclipsa, who’s
been calm and collected, with a fine eye for fun, she seems genuinely concerned
and emotional about her daughter. That
makes her much better-rounded and multi-layered, so she’s a very appealing
character to follow.
Happily, that’s
just what we do in this episode as she and Moon team up and search for the
truth about Eclipsa’s daughter in the royal archives. Along the way, all the great things about
team ups of unlikely characters are on full display. The clash of personalities is especially
winning entertainment when you consider how much Moon has insisted that Eclipsa is bad news. However, Eclipsa
practically makes the mission. She may
be sentimental when thinking about her daughter, but is still very playful
through the explore of the archives.
That’s a very unique perspective for a serious mission to tell the
gritty truth of the rulers of Mewni.
She’s hiding under Moon’s dress even when she doesn’t have to. She's unlocking
doors like hitting buttons in a game. Moon gets wild suggestions from her like wiping a
guard’s mind. She makes up songs to remember her way. Even in the most serious situations, she makes petty excuses for
taking a long time to help Moon who gets stuck in a rat hole. All throughout, Eclipsa’s a joy to watch and
impresses for being a child in a woman’s body yet still very productive. Her ways contrast greatly with Moon’s who’s
very freaked out by working with the ancient queen of darkness. She just wants to get the mission over with
and is reluctant to going along with Eclipsa’s nonconformist, sometimes risky
strategies. She’s not even comfortable
when she ends up doing them herself such as wiping that guard’s memory.
Despite their differences, Moon is still very
much considerate of Eclipsa’s worries of her daughter. It’s like she’s starting to think twice about
billing Eclipsa as evil which is good because she honestly doesn’t seem
anything of the sort. The ending further
makes this feel appropriate when they both find Eclipsa’s scroll in the archive
and find that the name of Eclipsa’s daughter has been hastily covered up. Not only does it thicken the mysteries of the
Butterfly family, but solidifies Moon and Eclipsa as a good pair.
Whether they want to work together or not,
they work off each other well, and understand they’re both after a common
goal. As a result, you get a positive
feeling about the idea of them working together more.
A+
The Ranking
- Total Eclipsa the Moon
- Moon the Undaunted
- Deep Dive
- Stranger Danger
- Sweet Dreams
- Return to Mewni
- Rest in Pudding
- Night Life
- Demoncism
- Toffee
- Monster Bash
- Club Snubbed
- Puddle Defender
- Sophomore Slump
- Starfari
- Lint Catcher
- Princess Turdina
- Scent of a Hoodie
- King Ludo
- Marco and the King
- Death Peck
- Book Be Gone
- The Bogbeast of Boggabah
- Stump Day
- Trial by Squire
- Lava Lake Beach
- Holiday Spellcial
- Ponymonium
The next Star vs the Forces of Evil review follows the long awaited trial for Eclipsa answering the question of what happened to her daughter, and we also learn what happened to Ludo.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews from Hey Arnold is "Weird Cousin" and "Baby Oskar."
If you would like to check out other Star vs the Forces of Evil reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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