Saturday, March 9, 2019

Sweet Dreams / Lava Lake Beach (Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 3 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 27


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Sweet Dreams


Back in the fourth episode, we were introduced to Star’s special butterfly form which she took to defeat Toffee.  It was certainly one of the technical and magical highlights of the season, but it was given very little prompting apart from being seemingly activated by Star grabbing a piece of magic.  You’d think that something this big would be explored immediately, but that’s only happening now after several episodes of varying subjects.  Nevertheless, what we do get out of Star’s butterfly form is very interesting. 
The reveal starts innocent enough with Star having pleasant dreams of flying around with some of her favorite things like goblin dogs.  The catch is that as she sleeps, she unknowingly experiences what she dreams about in real life. The evidence is from goblin dog wrappers and later the big goblin dog truck in her room.  It’s here that Marco realizes that these instances are when Star goes into her strange magical form, and Star is understandably disturbed by this happening in her sleep.  Not helping is the meaning behind all this when Star asks her parents about this without directly mentioning it happening to her.  Moon says it’s only supposed to activate in times of need while River says it happening unintentionally could lead to catastrophe and the given person being locked away.  The latter perspective is particularly disturbing since it’s very unclear if River was joking or not. 
Anyhow, these circumstances are all the incentive Star needs to try and get her new magical transformation under control without anyone knowing.  She takes extreme precaution by having Marco watch over her as she sleeps, and having herself be chained hard to her bed.  That said, it’s no surprise that nothing is going to stand in the way of this extreme ability.  Also, it’s a good thing that Marco has his leg attached to Star’s chains so to feel her transforming instead of staying asleep himself. 
From there, he notices Star already in her butterfly form straining at the chains and forming a portal that leads them both into a magical void.  He witnesses firsthand what Star’s been flying through every night, and as he tries to get her to go back through the portal, her form disappears as she wakes up.  Then just as it looks like they’re both going to be stranded in the void forever, they’re rescued and pulled back to safety by no one other than Eclipsa. 
 
She and Star then have another nice conversation made enjoyable by Eclipsa’s charm and savviness to the whole thing.  Once again, she astounds with meaningful advice that may go against the rules, but has plenty of benefits for Star.  Venturing into the void in her new butterfly form really is a good way to see what Star is capable of, so her final decision to not try and stop it is worth getting behind.  Then again, this is one of the better ways to keep Eclipsa’s true morality ambiguous.  What Star is capable of might not be enough to keep her out of danger and she could get in trouble if others find out it happens randomly.  That also gives weight for Marco worrying for Star following her decision. 
Though all this probably should have come sooner, the episode is a nice exploration of a new magical ability leaving good ideas of what could become of it.
A


Lava Lake Beach

One common weak point in shows is an overreliance on romance plots.  When a show has huge lore and a major underlying story, major focus on love matters distract from truly important details.  It also adds in a lot of unneeded drama when there’s already lots of it.  This episode is one of those episodes to introduce a possible romance.  While it’s still very nice, the problems with romance episodes of plot-related shows are very present. 
We have our heroes hanging out in an underworld beach getting ready for a special event called a soul rise, and Marco feels left out.  It’s understandable since one of the reasons he wanted to go back to Mewni was to be with Star.  However, not only has Tom shown improvement, they’re now at the point of saying they’re together without hesitation.  This leaves Marco without a chance to get this intimate with his best friend.  It’s like his previous romance with Jackie Lynn Thomas ended for nothing.  At the same time, it’s hard to overlook that Marco is still with Star as her squire and has had significant involvement in this season’s more plot-heavy aspects. It doesn’t totally make sense to bring so much drama out of all this. 
With this direction though, the episode has Marco get closer to Kelly, an interdimensional being with a lot of hair.  However, they do bond over something they have in common.  Just as Marco faced a breakup, Kelly has too, constantly with her hairpiece of a boyfriend, Tad, in fact.  She’s an emotional wreck, but not for the reason you’d think.  It’s all because she can’t stand being a girlfriend anymore, but Tad won’t get it.  It’s a decent play on expectations at least and it’s a creative occurrence of Marco needing to actually go into Kelly’s hair to talk to Tad and get him to leave. 
However, their conversation there is pretty problematic.  Tad is a sad wreck waiting to get back together.  Marco says it’s like what happened with him when he and Jackie split, but I don’t see how that’s so.  Marco knew exactly where he was going to go when his breakup happened, and even if he didn’t get together with Star, he was plenty content. 
 
Speaking of which, Tad leaves a suggestion that just like how he’s making himself miserable being around Kelly, Marco is making himself miserable hanging around Star.  It’s here where it really feels like the episode is forgetting that Marco is doing that because he’s her squire.  He may not be romantically involved with Star, but he’s still a very loyal confidant which we’ve seen enough of so far.  It at least drops the legit suggestion that Marco has feelings for Star, so that gives some weight to Tad’s statement.  In addition, the conversation makes a scene where Marco walks among other interdimensional couples on the beach, most of which being best friends, somewhat emotional.  Fortunately for him, his advice is successful in getting Tad to move out.  Plus, the last scene where he and Kelly watch the soul rise together for the thrill of the event and not for love, signaling Marco’s birthday apparently, is very sweet. 
However, given the direction of the episode, all of this suggests that Marco is going to start a new relationship with Kelly.  They have potential to be a good couple, but we hardly ever see them as a couple afterwards so there’s not much weight to them being together.  If anything, Marco continues to be closer to Star as her squire for much of the episodes to come, so what he goes through has very little of a point to it.  The episode's nice and charming on its own, but the nature of romance plots and how little it ties to the rest of the series really hold it back.
C

The Ranking
  1. Moon the Undaunted
  2. Stranger Danger
  3. Sweet Dreams
  4. Return to Mewni
  5. Rest in Pudding
  6. Demoncism
  7. Toffee
  8. Club Snubbed
  9. Puddle Defender
  10. Sophomore Slump
  11. Starfari
  12. Lint Catcher
  13. Princess Turdina
  14. Scent of a Hoodie
  15. King Ludo
  16. Marco and the King
  17. Book Be Gone
  18. Trial by Squire
  19. Lava Lake Beach
Be sure to stay tuned for the next Star vs the Forces of Evil review heavy on pigeons and Pony Heads.
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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