Friday, November 6, 2020

Hooty's Moving Hassle - (The Owl House Season 1 Episode 6) - 'Toon Reviews 42

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Hooty’s Moving Hassle

Now the premise of this episode is mainly of madcap antics brought about by brash decisions, a very common plot in most TV shows.  These types of stories typically come off as existing for fun’s sake, but there a few instances here give these antics weight through development for characters and plot points. 

It starts off with foreboding promise with Eda discovering that her curse is returning, meaning she desperately needs her elixir to stop her monstrous transformation.  However, her supply is empty and she must get more from the market all while her newly established habit of getting way too into a card game called Hexes Hold’em interferes.  When it turns out her obsession cost her a chance at getting her elixir from her usual vendor, she must deal with a shady group of nighttime vendors as her only hope.  This all sounds interesting and is a welcome show of character for Eda needing to balance her free spirit with a sense of urgency.  Ultimately though, this instance giving her reason to go out for the night is merely a catalyst for what Luz gets up to. 

While out with Eda, she finds Willow and Gus sad because they weren’t invited to a moonlight conjuring.  It’s like a slumber party, only it involves bringing inanimate objects to life under a full moon.  Not helping is how they’re belittled by Amity via social media posts on how talentless dorks aren’t allowed at the conjuring she’s having with a gang of teens.  After her well-earned show of sympathy in the last episode, this behavior isn’t exactly welcome from Amity, though there is a slight catch to it.  When she and her friends are actually present, she doesn’t appear to enjoy taunting Willow nearly as much as the other teens, particularly a three-eyed figure called Boscha.  Still, everyone’s harsh words are taken to heart, prompting Luz to suggest making Willow and Gus feel better by holding their own moonlight conjuring.  

From here comes a sequence of events to drive the episode with Luz wanting to make wise mature decisions in the matter, but gets pressured into doing reckless fun.  Eda denies Luz’s suggestion for a moonlight conjuring, but she gives into how badly Willow and Gus want to do one, and they perform it while Eda’s out anyway.  Their plan to animate Gus’s figurine instead gets to Hooty and therefore brings the entire Owl House to life. Luz wants to do the right thing and put the house back, but her friends convince her to take it for a joyride.  From there, the episode mainly follows the goofing around that comes from a scenario as crazy as bringing a house to life. They’re mainly from messing with the mean teens and interactions with the high-pitched Hooty while he’s possessed.  All the while, it’s kind of a sorry sight that Luz does have the right mind to do the responsible thing, a welcome layer to her eccentric character, but she always gives into ignoring it.  I suppose you can’t blame her for going along with Willow’s plan to show off the animated house to Amity who puts up a mean post about humans though.

Before that can happen, the house is captured by beast hunters who plan to hold the house down and throw the kids who brought it to life off a cliff.  Given how obviously in the wrong this act was, it would be hard to say one could not have seen these consequences happening.  Luckily, the moment is highlighted by welcome development from Willow who explains why she was so desperate to do the moonlight conjuring and show off to Amity.  It turns out that she and Amity used to be best friends, but then Amity stopped spending time with her after she got her powers.  This is good information on both characters, but it doesn’t stand out as much as it could for being in a short scene of exposition and not enough details to elaborate.  Thankfully, there is a very elaborate exploration later on this season.  For now, the conflict is rounded out by Willow realizing her fault in the matter while Luz reminds her of her own power, and that it’s something she should be proud of.  At that encouragement, it’s Willow’s plant magic that saves the trio, and it really goes to show that she really is more powerful than she gives herself credit for.

Now, you’re probably wondering if anything becomes of Eda’s quest for elixir.  Well, it is part of a subplot, but given its importance from being tied to one of the core members of the cast, you’d think it would get more attention than the moonlight conjuring.  Also, it shows that Eda has had better performances before.  She finds the supposed vendor of her elixir, a short demon called Tibbles, and engages him in Hexes Hold’em to get it.  After being on top of the game, she suddenly forgets her tricks as Tibbles beats her and claims her as a bounty to send to the Emperor’s Coven.  While this does showcase how big capturing Eda is to many on the Boiling Isles, happening by suddenly losing at something she’s good at makes this scene fall flat.  Even flatter is how the situation kind of resolves itself with the animated Owl House passing by as its destruction to Tibbles’ booth helps set Eda free.  I just feel that it’s a cheap form of conflict resolution that could have come from a better place of cunning that Eda is known for.  

Still, I can’t fault the heart of the end where Luz’s friendship with Willow and Gus proves to be genuine as they share the blame for the mess the moonlight conjuring caused.  There’s also a surprise look into Amity’s character as the last scene shows her ‘friends’ were unable to animate anything all night while she’s shown on her own, distant from them.  It’s an indication that even if Amity hangs out with this gang, that doesn’t really mean she’s on friendly terms with them.  That said, she and Bosha do share some shock of Luz, Willow, and Gus’ moonlight conjuring getting innumerable social media attention.

This episode may not be the show at its best from what drives the plot and lackluster subplots, but even at that, intriguing developments add benefit to the appeal of the show as a whole.

B+

The Ranking

1.      The Intruder

2.      Covention

3.      I Was a Teenage Abomination

4.      Witches Before Wizards

5.      A Lying Witch and a Warden

6.      Hooty’s Moving Hassle

The next Owl House review takes us to a magical library where books come to life, and reveals the layers that make Amity Blight a truly amazing character.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Sprig vs Hop Pop" and "Girl Time" from Amphibia.
If you would like to check out other Owl House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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