Freeze Day
The main plot is yet another instance of fun and hijinks from
Star’s magic, but it’s still a ton of fun with great moments
from the characters involved. Star’s
wand spell here is freezing time which is cast when Marco panics about being
late for school. It’s not because of
needing to be in time for class or to keep up a perfect attendance record. It’s all about being there for something as
simple as nodding at his crush, Jackie Lynn Thomas, who apparently passes by
his locker at a specific time every day.
Even if what Marco wants to do is a relatively minor concern, it’s still
great that Star reserves her spells to help him. At the same time, she also allows Marco to
take advantage of time being frozen as they spend a lot of time messing around
with everything immobilized.
Personally, I wouldn’t call this too reckless because when it’s revealed
that Star can’t unfreeze time, it’s made clear that this would’ve happened
regardless of her and Marco’s lollygagging.
You see, they have to travel to a dimension called the Plains of Time to
fix time, and they learn the reason time hasn’t gotten unfrozen is because
Father Time was knocked off his wheel when the spell was cast and didn’t get
back on it. Now, Father Time himself is
a pretty enjoyable character for finding pleasures in simple things like mud
which is believable considering all the time he spends running on that wheel to
keep time going. Of course, he’d jump at
the chance for a break from it even if time needs to keep going. So, Star and Marco chase Father Time through
the plains which provides the bulk of the episode’s creativity particularly
with clocks that alter their ages. It’s
only when they track Father Time in a part of the plains that record all of the
universe’s history which houses a one-eyed creature that shows the lives of
anyone it looks at. It’s a truly
creative addition to the dimension and makes for cute looks at Star and Marco’s
childhoods. As for Father Time, Star and
Marco see firsthand that he really hasn’t done anything besides running on the
wheel, so they set something up for him to see everything while doing his
job. This is a more interesting and
considerate direction for the story to take than the easy route of convincing
Father Time that boredom from his job is something he has to deal with. The adventure also proves beneficial for
Marco when they get back with time working properly. He not only nods at Jackie, like he’s done
for years as shown by the creature, but even talks to her. It’s just a simple “hi” but it really is a
good first step in the progress of his relationship with her. Ultimately, I can say that this spell-hijinks
episode is made good by the character development woven into the mix. 9/10
Royal Pain
After seeing how Star and her father, King River, are
more in common than they may seem in “Diaz Family Vacation,” an episode of them
spending time together would be a pleasing one to look forward to. Well, in this episode, he comes to stay with
his daughter after getting kicked out of the castle in Mewni, and his presence
becomes annoying to not just Star, but the audience as well. At first, their interactions are pleasing
with River approving of Star’s recklessness with her wand. The two share a lot of nice
scenes of exploring what Earth has to offer and putting their own spin on them
such as throwing random things into the toilet as they watch the water go down
and using their own powerful clubs while playing miniature golf. However, as time goes on, River
becomes too destructive for everyone around him, and Star’s growing annoyance
is easy to see. She may be reckless too,
but even earlier in the season she’s had some restraint. What her dad’s doing is going too far. It just gets worse when he acts like a slob
late into the night when Star isn’t even remotely up for messing around, and
the next day, he throws a wild party with all his interdimensional friends without
any notice to his daughter's feelings. As
frustrating as it is to see Star have to put up with this unruly behavior, she
never seems to take the hint that the way her dad’s acting is similar to how
she sometimes acts around Marco, especially since he’s constantly suffering in
this episode by getting his socks wet.
Fortunately, Star goes on to see Marco’s point of view when she takes
care of an uninvited party guest, a living sun called Helios, who harasses
everyone at the party in his own way complete with a spell that nicely connects
to Marco’s wet socks problem. Plus, River realizes how inconsiderate and reckless he’s been too which is the
best payoff to his grating antics we could get.
Ultimately, they both learn to give others a heads-up before acting, and
that does wonders not just for Star and her father’s bond, but also for Star and
Marco’s bond. This episode can get
tiresome with how much emphasis is on the recklessness of the central
characters, but the payoff makes everything worth it. 8/10
The Ranking
- Blood Moon Ball
- Mewberty
- Diaz Family Vacation
- Fortune Cookies
- Sleep Spells
- School Spirit
- Party with a Pony
- Freeze Day
- Quest Buy
- Monster Arm
- Cheer up Star
- Star Comes to Earth
- Brittney’s Party
- Matchmaker
- Lobster Claws
- Pixtopia
- Royal Pain
- The Other Exchange Student
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where, after so many mentions and scared reactions from certain characters, we finally pay a visit to "St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses."
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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