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
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