Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Sense and Insensitivity - (The Owl House Season 1 Episode 11) - 'Toon Reviews 42

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Sense and Insensitivity

This episode falls into the simplistic category when it comes to subject matter, but as this show has continuously proven, it can still offer insightful development to major elements.  In this case, the things our main trio gets up to may seem like simple things they’re trying on the surface, but they end up saying a lot on their background.  To some extent, they even offer new layers to their relationships with others.

The main topic is a writing competition where the winner has a chance at major fame and fortune.  For what it means for the main players of the series, this news offers something interesting for Luz’s background.  While she’d really like to become a witch, in a world where that really can’t happen, she’s set her goal on becoming a writer.  In a broad sense that’s a very logical career outlet for an eccentric fantasy lover like herself.  However, King is even keener on entering the competition, mainly for the fame and attention he finds that bestselling authors seem to get, lining with his constant lust for power.  He and Luz team up for their entry resulting in a very believable part of the creative process.  They both have different ideas on how their story should go with Luz wanting something sparkling, dramatic, and big on romantic tension, while King wants to go all dark and violent.  You’d think they get along fine at first, but then King’s desire to be the best brings out his less than appealing qualities.  When Luz leaves the room, he completely hijacks the creative process and makes the story all about what he wants without any consent from his partner.  This leaves Luz understandably upset, conceding that if this is how King is going to act, he should just write the book himself.  As inconsiderate as King feels in this scenario, it is technically in line with what he really wants in life.  He’s seen himself as someone worthy of absolute reign, but all past instances of this have come off as pretentious and lacking any real bravado.  That said, it’s a pretty low point for him to just take over something Luz was so passionate about without talking things over with her.  That’s just being a bad friend, not to mention unethical if this was applied to the real world.

As the story goes on, King’s unethical means both get him what he’s after, and offer consequences for his rashness and unfriendly decisions.  He has a chance encounter with a shady publisher called Piniet, who happens to be head of the writing competition.  Through his power of getting the whole story just by thumbing through King’s draft, he sees it as the best entry, and has it published into a bestselling novel.  This in turn gives King the well-respected status he’s been after, and best of all, it’s real and has basis in a true talent and accomplishment.  The fact that King achieved this through betraying Luz and her visions remains, but even when he’s all high and mighty as an author, he still has some heart to him.  This is especially apparent as he tries to civilly invite Luz to a party honoring his book, although she seems to refuse.  That said, this actually offers a welcome growth in character for Luz.  She always wants to see the best in everyone she meets. Now it’s hard for her to deal with the fact that one of her friends, and one she loves to shower with love and affection at that, has seriously wronged her. 

Nevertheless, she aims to hold back her negative emotions and support her friends’ success.  It’s at this point though where King discovers the dark side of the creative industry.  After finishing one book, Piniet expects him to have sequels ready to go quickly, but the draft King happens to have is not up to the high standards of the predecessor.  He believes that he’s at his best when rebelling against Luz’s flowery story ideas which he flat out admits to her when he sees her at the party.  This is enough for Luz to completely drop her usual cheerful self and be vocal about her anger and frustration over King’s lack of consideration for her visions and tastes.  Departing from her usual nature as it is, this is honestly very good for Luz since she’s being completely open about her stance on matters and vocal of her beliefs.  It may make her look aggressive, but it’s still the healthiest thing to do in this case.

Then the creative process works its way into the climax when word gets out that Luz is key to King’s success, so Piniet has them trapped in a shrinking box.  Their only way out is to write a quality work quickly or else they’ll be deformed into small cubes which has disturbingly happened to many other authors Piniet holds in a suitcase.  As Luz puts it, this is a toxic setup that’s sure to result in burnout and unrealistic expectations.  I mean, how can anyone put together something great without time to prepare and process it?  Anyway, there’s a nice moment of confiding where Luz further tells King off for his faults in all this, mainly how he can’t compromise, and King explains his behavior.  He admits that he’s unable to live his dreams the way she and Eda have, so when the competition was announced, he was desperate to make the most of it. Only now does he admit that he went too far with them through hurting Luz, one of his truest friends.  This in turn makes Luz’s claim that her friendship with him is one of the best parts of the dream truly meaningful, paving the way for a creative resolution.  With a draft of Luz’s story, they’re able to distract Piniet and then get him with Luz’s light spell which is used to set it on fire and later get the contract that started all this to destroy it.  As for King’s status as a writer, he ultimately loses it, especially when the tiny Dana Terrace self-inserted caricature appears with her draft, which goes a little too far.  Even so, I’d say that for how he and Luz grew from this experience, it’s rewarding enough that their friendship is now stronger.

For a more plot-relevant development, this episode features an interesting subplot of Eda.  She’s still visibly worried about her curse and how it’s intensifying, and her attempt to find a new way to quell it leads to something meaningful.  She spots Lilith picking up information about a flower called the Bloom of Eternal Youth which she’s trying to secure for Emperor Belos.  To stop the emperor’s desire from coming to pass as well as disprove Lilith’s claim that her age is holding her back, Eda decides to go after the flower herself.  The quest turns out to be a good bonding experience for these witch sisters.  While searching for it, Eda and Lilith cross paths, and surprisingly aren’t immediately tense with each other and are even honest about what they’re after.  That said, Eda does show off usual mischief associated with siblings by racing off to the plant to beat Lilith who can’t catch up to her.  At no point does this ever seem ill-intended or malicious, but rather playful and jovial.  Eda even breaks from this mindset to save Lilith from a giant spider creature at one point, stating that for all the complexities of their relationship, it doesn’t change that they’re sisters.    

As for the flower, if an earlier scene of the dealer giving them both identical maps was an indication, it’s not a surprise that it was all a scam he set up for them.  This, however, turns out to be a high point for the sisters’ time together as they show great compatibility in facing the figure who conned them.  It’s not shown how they do it, but the implications are still worthwhile.  That’s not even all, as it closes with a good moment of heart.  Lilith could just take Eda to the Emperor’s Coven now that she has her, but she doesn’t.  She has the decency to let Eda have that choice, while also stating that the emperor himself holds the key to healing the curse.  Eda civilly states that she still wants no part of the coven and that she’s still trying to cure the curse herself, but she’s still grateful for the time she spent with her sister.  It’s clear that Lilith is too, and in a good showing of her complexities, she’s visibly distressed that this may be the last time they get along as well as they did.  That’s enough to show the heart of this character dynamic, as well as set up what’s to come.

While there are bigger and more interesting episodes, this one is still very solid.  Through the simple adventures, characters are better understood, develop significantly, and even show more pleasing sides to their connections with others.

B+

The Ranking

1.      Lost in Language

2.      The Intruder

3.      Covention

4.      Escape of the Palisman

5.      I Was a Teenage Abomination

6.      Witches Before Wizards

7.      Something Ventured, Someone Framed

8.      A Lying Witch and a Warden

9.     Sense and Insensitivity 

10.  Hooty’s Moving Hassle

11.  Once Upon a Swap

The next Owl House review is on an episode fitting for this time of year, as Luz is taken to a snowy place to learn a new spell while also potentially get closer to Amity, and in the process gets a better understanding of the nature of magic.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, it's "Grubhog Day" and "Hop Pop and Lock" in Amphibia.
If you would like to check out other Owl House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

1 comment:

  1. Well, here it is. My least favorite episode of The Owl House (as of now). There aren't many fillers in this show as whole, but while many people found them weak, I still found them really enjoyable.... eeexcept for this one. There is one element that heavely damaged the episode to me, and that would be... the bullshit ex-machina ending of the A plot. The solution of the main plot comes out of nowhere, and botcher the whole moral of the episode. That alone ruined the enjoyment of the episode to me, and the B plot and the writing jokes are not enough for me to forgive that ending. As of now, Senses and Insensitivity stands as my least favorite episode of The Owl House. Hopefully nothing worse happens in the future.

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