If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
The Ponyhead
Sow
In
my reviews of Season 3, I pointed out that a major weak point was the presence
of Pony Head. Whenever she had a big
role to play, her overly rude and obnoxious attitude always put a damper on the
experience. At times, she could even become
unacceptably authoritative, even over her own family. To be fair, her roles in Season 4 are a tad
better than those in the previous season, but that’s honestly not saying
much. Having her appear in her own
variety show certainly doesn’t help her cause.
If that’s not all, unlike most of her starring roles which are more
light-hearted side stories on frivolous matters, this one ties into one of the
major plot threads of this season.
When
Star hears that Pony Head has her own show, she advocates to have Eclipsa
perform there in an attempt to get the Mewmans to like her. However, in spite of the show needing to work
for a productive cause, Pony Head does nothing but waste everyone’s time with a
collection of scenes all about her. From
rambles on shallow inconsequential matters to musical performances that don’t
even have actual singing, it really doesn’t deliver on promised
entertainment. Honestly, more charm and
entertainment come from a segment that’s said to happen, but never really does,
and it doesn’t even feature Pony Head.
It's Marco and Kelly in a cooking segment that never goes anywhere. At least out of it are a few nice
interactions foreshadowing them really becoming close later in the season, but
also disappointment with what becomes of that later on.
There’s also the fact that she has her creepily happy seahorse boyfriend
hack all of Mewni’s broadcasts so that they can’t turn off the show. Attention may be necessary for the program,
but it goes too far if they’re going to force people to watch.
The biggest issue is that Eclipsa is
constantly stalled with Pony Head showing no consideration or cooperation to
what the show needs to do with her. All
she does regarding her is insult her proposed talents, and has her sisters
solely focus on her appearance, resulting in something incredibly gaudy. Star even goes as far as to question why she
even listens to Pony Head which I really can’t fault for her asking. I also can’t fault her convincing Eclipsa to
just ignore direction and go out and do her own thing.
The result is Eclipsa performing a moving
ballad on a guitar made of bones straight from the heart. It highlights all her turmoil of suddenly
appearing in a whole new age, but remains positive and caring to her subjects,
striving to be a good loving queen. It’s a true testament to why she’s such a
great character. Frustratingly though,
the Mewmans are still really bitter about Eclipsa and keep disliking the
show. Maybe the argument can be made
about being forced to watch it, which is understandable, but it feels like they
don’t know a great performance when they see one. At least Eclipsa proudly declares that she’d
rather be hated for who she is than liked for what she isn’t which is a great
attitude. In addition, her performance
gets one like from a child, a decent form of hope for her cause.
This episode shows that just the presence of
Eclipsa is enough to make anything better, otherwise it’s just another
unpleasing starring role for Pony Head.
Surviving
the Spiderbites
For
the most part, the hatred towards Eclipsa and monsters has been largely
unjustified. While the new Queen of
Mewni does have a few understandable points of concern, monsters have acted
perfectly civil and respectable, yet the populace is too dense to see
this. In fairness to the last episode,
it did start a sign of the Mewmans starting to turn around. This episode continues the trend by showing
some form of openness, but also an introduction to a major plot point that goes
nowhere.
There’s an important meeting
with rulers of another kingdom called the Spiderbites, but Eclipsa is nowhere
to attend, so Star has to stall for her.
When the Spiderbites show up, they show the same amount of denseness as
most Mewmans. You can tell all the
effort Star put into the affair with silverware, artwork, and even an elaborate
dance routine performed by younger monsters.
However, King and Queen Spiderbite completely bash it all while their
daughter, who’s made a few appearances before, is very engrossed in her mirror
phone. Hearing so many complaints and no
consideration for the effort is understandably frustrating. In fact, Star lashes out at them all with the
real problem for this entire aspect of the series. It’s not the monsters who are the problem;
the Mewmans just have bad unwarranted attitudes towards everything.
By perfect timing, the Spiderbites then prove
that they’re not as closed-minded as they seem. Back in the episode “Monster Bash” Princess Spiderbite bonded with a slime monster over how his fluids got
rid of a huge spider bite on her head.
Their genuine bond was questioned when she didn’t vouch for him when he
was arrested in the end, but this episode confirms that their friendship is real. They’re even romantically involved, and her
parents are in complete support. As
great as this is to see, a deeper layer to the matter is revealed out of
this. The Spiderbites are actually fine
with monsters, but their real hatred is over Globgor, the king of monsters, and
since Eclipsa’s married to him, they don’t trust her either. The reason for the disdain is also very
legit, as it’s over him devouring Eclipsa’s Mewman husband who happened to have
Spiderbite blood. Apparently, all the
things Star showed them have a connection to Globgor which is why the family
was so bitter.
When Star later finds
Eclipsa digging for something, she’s quick to see fault in what Star put
together as well, but knows how to set things right. Through apologizing for being late, acting
civil with the guests, and proving that her monster husband is not escaping his
crystals, the Spiderbites are most satisfy.
They leave with a promise for alliance, signaling the promise of
Eclipsa’s reputation getting a much needed improvement. The shocking reveal about her husband still
leaves a foreboding tone. Eclipsa also claims that she was
digging for pieces of the long destroyed Book of Spells she can repair with
special silk worms that Glossaryck owns. Star is then
revealed to have a piece of it in her closet, and keeping it secret is her way
of showing her own form of distrust in Eclipsa.
While this makes the story interesting, nothing about Globgor eating
Eclipsa’s Mewman husband is touched upon at any other point. The truth is said to be complicated, but we
never get the truth, and this is actually a legit cause for his bad reputation too. While this episode has its good benefits, it
also has pretty sloppy storytelling beats that can’t be ignored.
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode about the sendoff of Quest Buy, and Marco and Kelly starting to get closer.
B
The Ranking
1. Escape from the Pie Folk
2. Swim Suit
3. Yada Yada Berries
4. Moon Remembers
5. Ransomgram
6. Butterfly Follies
7. Surviving the Spiderbites
8. Down By the River
9. Lake House Fever
10. The Ponyhead Show
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode about the sendoff of Quest Buy, and Marco and Kelly starting to get closer.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment