Monster Bash (Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 3 Episode 13) - 'Toon Reviews 27

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Monster Bash

Much of this season has covered Star being vocal about how unfair monsters are treated by Mewmans.  She’s proven capable of putting her reckless traits aside and notice legit issues.  The only problem is that certain steps in her plan to end the prejudices seem to come without warranting.  This continues here when she throws a party for all monster and Mewan youths.  The event would have had more value to it if past episode featured the plans getting underway.  This can be forgiven for how Star has everything under control. 

By just putting monsters and Mewmans in the same room, everyone hits it off well.  Some bond over interests and one monster even helps a princesses with her own problem.  It’s truly impressive how Star heals the years of discrimination so easily.  However, external forces ruin her legit progress.  During the party, a monster and a princess end up in the cellar and are ambushed.  The princess returns, but the monster and a few others are gone.  From here, all the legit bonding of monsters and Mewmans goes to waste.  There’s blaming over what species is worse which is totally out of line.  It could have been avoided if the princess just explained what really happened, but she never does.  Also, how could the monsters be blamed if they’re being taken, and why would the monsters be quick to blame the Mewmans when they were so open to bonding with them?  I wouldn’t be so concerned with this direction if the monsters and Mewmans didn’t get along earlier. 

When Star and Marco investigate, they find the monsters imprisoned by Mina Loveberry, and her role here further botches the prejudices.  She’s here for one specific monster, but she’s imprisoning teen monsters who did nothing wrong.  How is that fair? I know Mina is crazy, but she’s also known to keep focused on all assigned tasks.  Why the deviation?  Her true target appears when they run into Ms. Heinous who was stalking the party from the sidelines.  Her cheeks glow, which reveals a hidden baby room.  Following this is a gentle sequence where she looks over the room and recognizes everything, including dolls of Eclipsa and her monster husband.  It even causes her appearance to become more monstrous.  The takeaway is that Ms. Heinous is actually Meteora, daughter of Eclipsa and a technical part of the Butterfly family.  Despite Meteora sounding genuinely restrained as she looks over her old room, Mina irrationally attacks her in a much more monstrous form.  There’s a fun intense battle with Mina where everyone gets a chance to throw punches, even though she overpowers them all.  It also sets up something huge with Meteora escaping while everyone’s fighting and her monstrous form flourishes. 

As for the Mewman vs monster conflict, it ends up going nowhere when Rhombulus and the royal guards close down the party.  They also only serve the Mewmans and imprison the monsters.  The big kicker is that the Mewmans show no sympathy to the monsters they befriended, and Star is berated for even hosting the party.  No one, not even Star, brings up that its cause would have worked if Mina didn’t show up when she did; the party’s downfall was a total freak event.  Plus, the Mewmans’ unwarranted attitudes towards monsters fuels the issue with frustrating denseness. 

As you can see, the prejudice issue has no real weight to it, making for a very flawed portrayal of the theme.  However, what elevates this episode to greatness is Star’s portrayal and a dark twist setting up events to come. 

A-

The Ranking

1. Moon the Undaunted
2. Deep Dive
3. Stranger Danger
4. Sweet Dreams
5. Return to Mewni
6. Rest in Pudding
7. Night Life
8. Demoncism
9. Toffee
10. Monster Bash
11. Club Snubbed
12. Puddle Defender
13. Sophomore Slump
14. Starfari
15. Lint Catcher
16. Princess Turdina
17. Scent of a Hoodie
18. King Ludo
19. Marco and the King
20. Death Peck
21. Book Be Gone
22. Trial by Squire
23. Lava Lake Beach
24. Ponymonium

The next Star vs the Forces of Evil review puts all this season's plot points on hold to do a Christmas Stump Day special.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is another holiday special, the Veterans Day special from Hey Arnold.

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.