Enchanting Grom Fright
Some
episodes, more than others, delve deep into potentially creative ideas, but
they’re almost always sure to be a great showing of characters. With this episode, both the character moments
and its imagination go hand-in-hand for an unforgettable experience.
From
the title, the episode’s background is full of exciting intrigue, centering on
a social event called Grom, an obvious spoof on prom. Thoughts are then set on the fun idea of a
big party with many favorite characters, but the creative aspect lies within a
dark secret of Grom. While Luz expects
it to be just a party, she soon learns that it isn’t exactly an honor to be
named official royalty for the event.
This becomes especially clear after Amity is announced as this year’s
Grom queen, and she’s visibly distraught.
Luz soon gets the details behind these feelings as Amity confides in the
mythos behind Grom. The appointed
royalty has to go below the dance floor to challenge Grom, which is actually a
demon who brings people’s biggest fears to life. Amity is deathly uneasy about facing her own
worst fear, claiming it to be highly embarrassing. By now, it should be known that dealing with
embarrassment is something that really effects Amity, especially since she doesn't feel safe being true to herself around most people. For that, her unease of the
situation definitely brings her sympathy, but it’s all the more fortunate
that she has Luz in her life to help her through everything.
A lot should be said about the character-driven area of the episode. Driving much of this story is Luz and Amity’s dynamic and exactly how far they’ve come at this point. Amity’s respect for Luz has now blossomed into something bigger than anyone could have imagined, more vocal than ever on what’s on her mind around her. There are even several instances of Luz's ways being a healthy source of levity while Amity’s going through something so stressful. As for Luz, she’s easily the best friend Amity could ask for with the lengths she goes to help her out. Sure, wanting to help others is Luz’s general thing, but there’s something extra put into her efforts when it comes to Amity. Like in other episodes with them together, Luz seems much more sincere than average around her, and is self-conscious of what she thinks. This definitely holds true in this case when after hearing of Amity’s dread of being chosen as Grom queen, Luz instantly wishes she could take her place, and it feels from the heart.
At that, Luz follows Amity’s lead in training
for the task, preparing herself for any big fears she may face. When they start out as relatively minor
freaky things or gross-outs, Amity pushes her to look into something deeper,
more psychological, alluding to how deep her own big fear is. Luz comes to the conclusion that her big fear
is Eda believing that she’s fragile and will never make it as a true
witch. Considering Luz’s main goal since
coming to the Boiling Isles, this is a logical assumption. It even has a basis
from her getting laughed at by Eda when first suggesting taking Amity’s place
as Queen. On a side note, Eda’s
reactions to Luz facing Grom does have a caring atmosphere to it, as she’s
visibly worried for Luz’s safety. Like
how the story shows off a lot of layers to Luz and Amity’s dynamic, Eda stands
out with her own character study as well.
As for this being Luz’s biggest fear, the final results show that these
things are far more complex than one could imagine.
Throughout
the episode, there is acknowledgement of one long-standing element that hasn’t
been touched upon since the series premiere.
It is the fact that Luz came to this world or witches and demons without
her mother knowing, and ditching the summer camp she was supposed to be sent
to. She’s been lying all this time, and now
they’re starting to catch up with her as her mother constantly texts her asking
about camp, and Luz can barely respond.
There is a lot of merit to this direction as most can expect that she’d
never get away with abandoning her assigned camp and hiding from her home
dimension forever. All the while, Luz is
visibly concerned about the texts she’s getting, and she knows she’ll have to
face her mother about the issue eventually.
The fact that she doesn’t even mention them when grilled about her
biggest fears gives big impressions that she’s just as put down by this as
Amity is by her fear. Nevertheless, this
all leads to big stakes in the climax as Grom itself arrives.
Now
Grom, the event, may look like your typical prom, but that hardly matters
because the general atmosphere of such an affair is always a joy to see. The outfits are snappy and diverse, there’s
solid commentary on the affair from Gus and King, and in general, a big party
is the ideal setting for a memorable experience. To enhance the experience though is a good
dose of endearment from the story’s main characters and the built-up facing of
Grom the creature. As Luz prepares to go
in and fulfill her obligations as queen, she and Amity have a moment that speaks volumes of where their relationship has come to. Amity is fully upfront with her gratitude for
what Luz is doing for her as well as everything she’s seen her accomplish since meeting
her, and her words feel at their most genuine.
You can’t help but get fully invested in how intimate they are in this scene, and
it grows even more when Luz adds to it with playful banter and an affectionate
glance mirroring Amity’s. After this,
Luz is all set to face Grom while Amity is left visibly guilty about having Luz
face her battles for her. That’s only a
natural reaction following such intimacy. Now Luz does manage to handle Grom well at
first, only dealing with her minor fears that come her way. Then everything changes as Grom literally
reaches into her head, a genius way to read her deepest thoughts. To her shock, the fear doesn’t really relate
to being seen as fragile, but the one thing Luz has actively tried avoiding,
being confronted by her mother.
Even
though the sight of Luz’s mother coming through the door to the Demon Realm is
just a vision, it feels very real.
Looking back on her feelings about her daughter’s fantasy intrigue, her
shock of the place, Luz holding weapons and working magic, and that she’s lied
to her feel very authentic. One might
think that won’t be too far off the mark should Luz’s mother actually find out
the truth, and coming from Luz’s mind, she may very well be predicting what it
will be like. It’s a thought so
monstrous that she puts herself on the run from Grom as it chases after her
with that vision of her mother on its head, creepily asking why she’s avoiding
her. Then there’s a big twist to the
matter when Amity suddenly appears ready to protect Luz and take Grom’s bullet
that was always meant for her. Yes, she's really willing to put her status, reputation, and even her state of being on the line so Luz won't have to suffer; that's huge devotion right there. The
results end up revealing a lot about Amity as Grom takes the form of her
biggest fear. Given what’s known about
her, you’d think that it would be not being good enough for the Emperor’s Coven
or facing horrible abuse from her parents.
However, what Amity fears more than anything is apparently
being rejected by someone. It all
relates to a note she’s carried around for the whole episode which she
described as private. After Grom rips it
in half, representing rejection, everything falls into place.
Luz
finds one half of the note revealing that Amity was going to ask someone to
Grom, but was too scared to be upfront with it. Being the good friend she is,
Luz offers to go to Grom in place of whoever Amity wanted to ask. The thing is, while Luz says she’s doing this
as a good friend, the potential for something more between her and Amity is
very much there as they face Grom together.
How they do so involves a very elaborate dance that seems far too
intimate to be written off as simply something between friends. There’s excessive spins dips and catches, a
fair amount of gazes into each other’s eyes, and they both seem perfectly
comfortable getting very close to each other.
I’d also like to think that the strong positive emotions of being together enhances each other’s
magic. As a result of that, Amity’s abominations and Luz’s glyphs are strong enough to beat
Grom by having a big tree grow inside of it. Said tree feels like the ultimate culmination of all the devotion, compatibility, and
importance they’ve developed for each other across all their starring roles
together. Helping its appeal is exactly
how the dance is animated, going a lot smoother than the usual visual
aesthetic. This way, it’s a sequence
that stands out as a real work of art that easily resonates with the
audience once it’s over.
Going
back to the undertones of the dance and Luz and Amity’s chemistry, it’s soon
revealed that the person Amity wanted to ask out to Grom was Luz. In other words, it is explicitly stated that
Amity is full-on in love with Luz, a major milestone for their budding
chemistry, and we’re only on Season 1.
After all her intrigue she’s had in her, it’s interesting that this
turned out to be a milestone for her development, and give several new meanings
to her not wanting to face her fear or have it exposed. Also, when you consider that Disney is the
one animation company without a lot of strong LGBT representation, outright
saying that Amity loves another girl is pretty huge for them.
Since Luz doesn’t see that the letter was for meant her, how she feels for Amity is unclear as of now, but the intimacy of the dance and her seeming to go
above and beyond for Amity leaves good hope.
In
the end, they both have a great time at the rest of Grom together, further
enhancing their bond, but the fact remains they’ve still yet to face their
biggest fears. Amity got to enjoy the
night with Luz, but did so by making her believe she was into someone else,
meaning she still has a ways to go before she’s ready to say her true
feelings. Likewise, Luz never actually
faced her mother, and feels like she doesn’t deserve the praise she’s
gotten. Fortunately, she’s able to take
the first step towards facing her big fear. She texts to her mother, highlighting some specific details of this very night, including that she's glad the friends she’s made helped her through. It’s positive development for showing that
even when you don’t conquer your fears, there are still ways to prepare yourself for
the inevitable. At the same time, we end
with a legit reason for why Luz’s mother hasn’t been suspicious of her not
being at the camp. A short shot reveals
that someone’s been forging letters in Luz’s name saying how great camp has
been, intending to convince her mother that everything’s fine. This leaves an air of mystery for later on as
to who’s writing the letters, and a big way to raise the drama.
This
is no doubt another instance where everything going into the episode comes
together to craft a satisfying whole. The
premise is big on imagination, the backdrop is lively and fun, the story
naturally flows and covers big questions, and the character dynamics are
nothing short of pure. Great, honest
LGBT representation certainly helps too.
It’s an iconic experience of the series standing as something special,
and possibly allowing the entire show to define a new generation.
A+
Fan Art
The Ranking
1. Enchanting Grom Fright
2. Understanding Willow
3. Lost in Language
4. Adventures in the Elements
5. The Intruder
6. Covention
7. Escape of the Palisman
8. The First Day
9. I Was a Teenage Abomination
10. Witches Before Wizards
11. Something Ventured, Someone Framed
12. A Lying Witch and a Warden
13. Sense and Insensitivity
14. Hooty’s Moving Hassle
15. Really Small Problems
16. Once Upon a Swap
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