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Cornball!
The
prejudice between Mewmans and monsters may be relatable to real world
prejudices, but the execution doesn’t make it very pleasant. There’s little to no prompting for monsters
to be as hated as they are. At best, the
hatred is backed up by the statement that the king of monsters, Globgor, ate a Mewman king, but given what’s done with that reveal, it’s not enough
warranty. However, giving Season 4
credit are legitimate steps in settling this unfair prejudice once and for all,
something Season 3 tried and failed to do.
For this episode, Star has arranged a fun-sounding match for a sport
called Cornball, only this time it’s integrated with both monsters and
Mewmans. Confident that both groups will
come together because of this, she’s even convinced Buff Frog and his children,
who have now grown significantly, to come watch.
Considering that nothing’s been said about Buff Frog since he left in
“Is Another Mystery” it’s kind of contrived that he just shows up after a long
absence at this episode’s start. I
suppose it’s believable enough that his most talkative daughter, Katrina, has
secretly kept in contact with Star even if that’s also never been seen. When watching the game, a lot of principal
characters spice things up in their own distinctive way. Eclipsa takes the role of a great caring
mother as she spends most of the game looking for Meteora and making sure she
behaves herself. Marco and Kelly also
have great chemistry as they commentate on the game with Kelly being all
enthusiastic about everything while Marco struggles just to read the
rules.
As for the actual game itself,
it’s majorly held back by the established denseness of the monsters and
Mewmans. Not one member of each group is
willing to give the other group a chance.
Rather than complying with integration, monsters play with monsters and
Mewmans play with Mewmans. Then
everyone, including the audience members, get mad at each other over nothing
substantial and break out into a brawl.
Not even Star’s magic is enough to stop all this, but Buff Frog is
starting to become convinced that it’s still doubtful if he and his children
will ever return to Mewni.
However, this
is when progress has an endearing way of improving attitudes for the
better. The kids, monsters and Mewmans
alike, notice that there’s no cornball game they came to see. To make up for that, they leave the stands
and set up their own game. Unlike the
adults though, none of them see anything wrong with the other group. They get in real cornball on their own and it
comes together to sweet effect. What’s
more, their game gets the attention of their parents, and instead of forcing
their kids away from the other species, they’re happy that they get along well
despite who they are. Adding in another
exciting commentary from Kelly cements this game as an exciting payoff to so
much time spent on unwarranted bigotry.
Heck, there’s really only one monster and Mewman argument after this
game, showing that things are getting better.
In the end this game is the
reason the new Mewni generation convinces Buff Frog to return. Ultimately, if you can tolerate a big showing
of the shallow prejudices, you’ll be in for a great payoff filled with genuine
hope for the future.
A
Meteora’s
Lesson
The
idea of having a half-monster daughter surprisingly turns out to be very
cute. Meteora, being such a daughter to
Eclipsa, proves this as this episode touches upon her magical roots. It especially brings her second chance at
life to a great new start considering how destructive she became during her
first one.
This episode is all about her
learning to use magic without a wand, something even Eclipsa can’t accomplish
easily, and it’s all taught to her in interesting ways. With Eclipsa out for the evening and Janna
being totally incompetent as her babysitter, Meteora’s real care comes from
Glossaryck. His moments with her aren’t
even the first time he’s taught her as it appears. He asks Meteora if she’s been brushing up on
the ability to dip down, which is what performing magic without a wand is
referred as. Seemingly deliberately
ignoring that she’s just a baby who can’t understand things easily, Glossaryck
decides to take Meteora on a trip through the ages.
By extension, it gives visual insight on the fascinating
history and world building the series has built up for a long time. Their guide is a bald giraffe known as
Reynaldo who specializes in rhyming riddles.
Tastes on Reynaldo’s riddles may vary, but they do give the first
insightful bit of world-building in the episode. First of all, this very being used to be a
member of the Magic High Commission, and his interest in riddles got him
expunged from the group. When Glossaryck
and Meteora make their first stop, Reynaldo silently refers to Glossaryck as
his dad. It’s the only verbal
confirmation that tells where the magical beings of the Magic High Commission
came from, meaning that everything they’ve done is because of Glossaryck. Concerning, this is also the background of
their scandalous things.
The world
building doesn’t stop there either. Glossaryck
presents first hand to Meteora all of the key moments in Mewni history, though
he also guides the people in the flashbacks along with callbacks to older
episodes. They first come across a ship
of Mewmans on the shores of Mewni. They
look dazed, suggesting they’ve been in the anesthetic Realm of Magic. Quickly settling the matter, Glossaryck reads
the Mewmans the pop-up book of Mewni’s history seen in “Mewnipendance Day”
right down to telling the abridged story.
He also incites the creation of the wand by taking Meteora’s rattle, and
powering it with a baby unicorn from the Realm of Magic, and giving it to a
female Mewman. Plus, he sets the
groundwork for the more obscure Stump Day by telling the Mewmans to huddle
around a stump during a storm.
Finally,
Glossaryck and Meteora visit a flashback of an army of lizards led by Toffee
which is apparently the same flashback where Glossaryck broke his arm. It seems like taunting Toffee is very
deliberate where just as the young, less collected lizard king is about to
break Glossaryck’s other arm, something clicks in Meteora. She proves to be
more than just a babbling baby and successfully dips down, unleashing magic,
and saving Glossaryck. Toffee showing disdain
for the baby’s magic is pretty telling of what becomes of magic later on. As a result, Glossaryck saying magic is in
good hands as Eclipsa returns home to Meteora unbeknownst is totally ironic. I guess that’s one of the interesting ways
this look into Mewni history works.
A
The Ranking
1. Escape from the Pie Folk
2. Meteora’s Lesson
3. Swim Suit
4. Cornball!
5. Yada Yada Berries
6. Moon Remembers
7. Ghost of Butterfly Castle
8. Ransomgram
9. Butterfly Follies
10. Kelly’s World
11. Surviving the Spiderbites
12. Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell
13. Down By the River
14. Out of Business
15. Lake House Fever
16. The Ponyhead Show
17. The Curse of the Blood Moon
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Marco finally becomes a knight, and Eclipsa is apparently kidnapped, leaving Star and her friends on a crazy quest to find her.
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.
