Wing it Like Witches
After
so much time getting to know the main members of the cast and watching them
grow, the show has reached the point where they feel fleshed out enough to
enhance any plot. In this episode where
sports take the forefront, everyone involved makes the experience all their own
and big on unique charm.
As
popular Boiling Isles sport, grudgby, becomes the hot topic, focus is also shown
on the major character developments that have occurred lately. Boscha, established as the grudgby champ of
Hexside, expects major worship, but in a surprising twist, everyone is far more
interested in Willow than her. It’s huge
enough when you consider how Willow was a major outsider from her peers back in
the beginning, but even better is that this shift is mainly all on Willow
herself. She became more confident in
her abilities ever since patching things up with Amity, and now she’s accepted
for who she is. In addition, Amity also
holds up her word of not letting Boscha pick on her by putting her cold
mannerisms to good use by telling Boscha off whenever she goes into petty rants. It’s developments like this that give the
show and its cast great benefits if you ask me.
However,
Boscha, being one-dimensionally mean, can’t accept this and proceeds to
relentlessly pick on Willow, and by extension Luz and Gus when they try to
stand up for Willow. In a disturbing
sense, grudgby season is so big around school that Boscha easily gets away with
things. When you look at just how badly
she bullies Willow and the others, it’s hard to sit with. It’s just lucky that Luz is the kind of
person who will do anything to help her friends in need, and how she goes about
it features a lot of character endearment.
In a rare instance of her asking for advice on how to go about things,
Luz quickly turns to Amity when she sees her passing by. In the process, you can’t help but feel the
charm of how much of an effect Luz has on Amity now. With her love for her being firmly
established in the last episode, Amity is a flustered, blushing mess who’s
simply crazy over Luz. Given how she was
introduced and how she continues to strive to look studious, this can be seen
as a fascinating layer for Amity.
Despite this, she’s still able to assert herself well enough to help
give Luz ideas on how to deal with Boscha, and Luz, tending to really value
Amity’s opinions, takes them to heart.
That being said, what Luz ultimately does has a lot of concern
points. After Boscha performs one more
brutish act of bullying, Luz immediately says that Willow challenges her to a
grudgby match, all without Willow’s consent.
One can easily predict that little to no good comes from forcing
conflict onto anyone. The following direction agrees with this sentiment while
further showcasing interesting developments.
In
addition to wanting to be a good friend, Luz is also using this scenario as an
opportunity to do something we haven’t seen her do in a while; apply the mythos
of Azura to real life. She and her
friends being underdogs challenged to a sport makes her think things will play
out just like a sports movie she loves.
She has all the mechanics played out with an upbeat coaching attitude, a
creatively staged training montage, and the perfect idea for a game-winning
move. While her intentions are good and
her practices entertaining, what ultimately happens teaches Luz something that
was kind of a long time coming. She’s
still pushing Willow and Gus into a sport they know little about and having
them perform a complex move certainly doesn’t help. Even when they’re clearly tired from it, Luz
still wants them to keep on trying. Ultimately, Willow stands up to Luz and
bluntly calls her out for her practices, even going as far as to step away from
her. As dramatic as this is, it’s
astounding that one of Luz’s biggest character flaws has gotten one of the most
realistically staged repercussions one can expect.
Out
of this slight fallout is endearment when Luz once again gets meaningful advice
from Amity. This is particularly sweet
since earlier, the very thought of being on the same sports team as Luz left her
seemingly too flustered and love-struck to join in. Thankfully, that wasn't enough to stop her from giving Luz the emotional support she needs. As Luz confides what happened, Amity reveals
that when it comes to grudgby, she was once a lot like Luz. She used to be captain of the team, and in
one game, she pulled off the same Azura-based move to win. However, it ended up hurting much of the
team, and she was so ashamed that she quit and never played again after
that. The big thing about this is that
this was all before Luz came into Amity’s life and when she was cold and
uptight about all her successes. It’s
very nice to know that even back then, Amity had some consideration for others
and never really wanted to harm anyone.
Moments like this greatly balance her appeal where in addition to
adorably crushing on Luz, she’s still extremely helpful to her causes. This case is no exception when this talk has Luz decide to
quit the grudgby match on Willow’s behalf and take the blows of Boscha’s
attacks. Tapping into her natural
tendencies to protect the one she loves, Amity rushes to get Willow and Gus to
help Luz, in the process inadvertently saying exactly what she loves about
her. Despite her trying to hide it, you
get the feeling that at least Willow can see something’s up with her feelings
for Luz; in fact she may be the only one who notices. Either way, the featured character moments do
their part to come together as a solid way to fix the prior drama and lead into
the long-awaited grudgby game.
Luz
is saved from Boscha’s attacks, Willow calls for the game to go on again, and
Amity even joins their team, proudly declaring she’s made her social life
better out of this decision. All of this is very pleasing,
and with the teams together, the game goes on to enjoyable effect. Magic moves and obstacles keep things
exciting, but little character moments all throughout make it a standout moment
for the episode. Willow’s confidence is
at a new high when facing Boscha, Amity further charms as being protective of
Luz during her plays, and Luz even picks up another spell in the process. The last play of the game is an exciting end
with everyone confident enough to try that intense play Luz was pushing for and
they pull it off well. Granted Boscha
still wins just by picking up a special artifact, which Luz rightfully roasts
for being a stupid rule for all magic sports, but that doesn’t matter. Everyone, even Boscha’s team, shows more
appreciation for Willow just for being a good athlete, and good friend. It’s a true ending of justice with this
seemingly unredeemable jerk getting what she deserves. Amity is also given fitting attention too
with it revealed that in helping Luz’s move work, she ended up hurting her
leg. She gets one more adorable crush
moment when Luz offers to carry her, and I’d like to think it says a lot about
things. I mean, Amity insists she’s
fine, but Luz just happily scoops her up to carry her anyway. This suggests
that in addition to being a good friend, carrying Amity is something she really
wanted to do. In my opinion, this is a
good suggestion that they can them as a couple is a plausible outcome even if Luz doesn’t notice
Amity’s feelings at the moment.
Nevertheless, it’s nothing short of rewarding to see Amity accepted as
part of her main circle of friends now, especially when episodes like these
showcase their great appeal.
In
a more plot-oriented direction, focus is also on Eda reliving her past as a
star grudgby player. This is mostly a
background for yet another encounter with her sister Lilith once again after
her to get her to join the Emperor’s Coven.
The thing is, she’s now giving weight for Eda to join. Apparently Emperor Belos has big plans he
somehow needs Eda to be a part of, begging a lot of questions. Even with this weight, Eda uses the leisure
of grudgby as an attempt to duck out of the Emperor’s hold again. She thinks she can easily beat Lilith, but she's reminded that she was not grudgby captain like she thought. Lilith was actually captain, and this claim leaves a strong suggestion that she’ll win and Eda will finally have to face the Emperor. During the match, with its own share of
magical surprises courtesy of Hooty, they both seem evenly matched, though Eda
comes off pretty strong character-wise.
She plans on using her special brand of tricks to win, but Luz
apparently cleaned out her box holding them.
However, she goes along with playing fair, and ultimately wins. Also, as a continuation of the events of
“Sense and Insensitivity,” she still shows good sisterly love to Lilith,
allowing her to take one of her rings back to the emperor. However, there’s still some foreboding undertones
from Lilith lamenting going back empty handed, and that she won’t be facing Eda
alone next time. With all this said, the
episode gives the audience something big to look forward to on top of the
charming character moments.
The
main players come together in this episode to show off how they’ve grown, how
they continue to grow, and how they go about favorite pastimes. At times it’s held back by some unpleasing
moments and obvious bad choices, but as a character-driven work, it’s a winning
entry for the series when all is said and done.
However, with this episode, it’s time to officially move into darker territory…
A
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. Wing it Like Witches
9. The First Day
10. I Was a Teenage Abomination
11. Witches Before Wizards
12. Something Ventured, Someone Framed
13. A Lying Witch and a Warden
14. Sense and Insensitivity
15. Hooty’s Moving Hassle
16. Really Small Problems
17. Once Upon a Swap
As was previously mentioned, the next Owl House review is going to venture into darker territory where matters of Eda's curse and the emperor take the forefront, and lead to emotionally devestating results.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews are the Amphibia episodes, "Cursed" and "Fiddle Me This."
If you would like to check out other Owl House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
Yet another underrated episode that I loved so much. Thanks again for the review sir! This show really needs support.
ReplyDeleteYeah I wouldn't put it past Willow to notice Amity's "subtle" feelings. I mean we know she has two dads's, so she's probably seen gay panic a lot:-).
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