Them's the Breaks Kid - (The Owl House Season 2 Episode 15) - 'Toon Reviews 48

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Them’s the Breaks, Kid

Considering that the characters of this show are put through dangerous and emotional challenges of life very often, it’s rewarding for them to get more pleasant starring roles.  As a way of giving the cast as well as the audience a break from drama, this episode fits such a pleasant criteria.  Through looking into the past of one of the central characters, it brings interesting background to one of the most standout relationships of the series.

There’s a more simplistic tone to this episode to sell the positive feel made noticeable by how it all unfolds.  Eda notices Luz hard at work trying to learn more glyph combos and that she really misses her mom, suggesting her becoming more open with her problems after last episode.  To cheer her up, Eda tells Luz a story from her past, the day she met her love interest, Raine Whispers, and this is where the bulk of the episode unfolds.  It’s a journey to the past that gives Eda’s younger days the most focus they’ve ever gotten after short references and flashbacks in past episodes.  Now the show has come to an episode that’s a full-on flashback, immersing itself in what life was like for the character long ago.  To set itself up, there’s a focus on established elements of Eda’s past.  In addition to cameos of younger versions of well-known adult figures, Eda’s background is established with a look at her relationship with her sister Lilith.  They were said to be very close when they were younger, and what’s seen here confirms it.  They’re shown to have different perceptions though with Lilith very studious and Eda being very outgoing with mischief and leisurely fun like grudgby.  Above all, they frequently talk of a now outdated shared dream of joining the Emperor’s Coven, though in Eda’s case, it feels like it was more of a way to keep up connections.  For that, where the story goes does raise a few stakes for her.

Hexside, which Eda had attended in her younger days, is revealed to have had a significant difference in its management.  At this time, it was run by a different principal named Faust while Bump held the position as vice principal.  Faust is shown to be a practical tyrant, giving out harsh punishments, especially expulsions, for even the most minor offences.  All the while, Bump would point out how these punishments are too extreme, which would ultimately leave the school without a lot of graduating students.  That’s not even mentioning frequently stated beliefs that no student is beyond redemption.  It’s kind of no wonder that Bump is so caring of his students now and adds strong emotion to a more recent expulsion he was ordered to enforce.  Anyway, since Eda’s recklessness at school has been referenced a lot throughout the show, it’s not surprising that it caught up with her at this point.  One act of delinquency too many caught the attention of Faust, and it proved to be more serious than average.  This act basically left Eda doomed to be expelled, but she did have one shot at getting out of it.  The school system of the Boiling Isles has a seminar for gifted students every year.  Eda would have to bring back a blue ribbon for Hexside from there to lift all her charges, and more importantly, secure her future with a good connection.  However, she would get an even better connection from this seminar, little did she know.

Because of her boisterous ways and love of destruction, it’s not surprising that the seminar and all its challenges based on certain disciplines proved difficult for Eda.  This only added to her bad situation, but it was also the perfect time for her to get some reassurance.  

While sitting alone, she happened to come across another student from a different school, the non-binary figure themselves, Raine Whispers.  They were here for the basic purpose of getting a scholarship to an even higher education, and even had experience with earning blue ribbons in previous years.  Despite being set up to think highly of education, Raine was a more adventurous free spirit at heart, a contrast to their more restrained and less confident persona nowadays.  It was a perfect blend of practicality and liberation for Eda, so much so that they both bonded and got along very well from the very moment they met.  Furthering this promising chemistry, Eda and Raine would stick together for the rest of the seminar, and their talents put together would get them through the challenges.  Again, it’s impressive to see how well they got along after just meeting and how quick they invest the audience in their potential as a couple.  It’s like an ideal portrayal of young love, though knowing what would become of them in later years makes them more realistic.

Interestingly enough, Eda and Raine’s compatibility would soon bring challenges of its own to the seminar.  With its moderator being plant coven head Terra Snapdragon, she had intended for them to be grueling enough to really break the students participating.  Then again, she’s clearly demented, so that makes perfect sense.  Now, because Eda and Raine have made the challenges seem very easy, mainly from Eda’s more mischievous approaches to them, Terra had the last challenge be especially dangerous.  Students would be broken into groups of witches in covens and wild witches and fight to earn their blue ribbons instead of everyone getting one. 

If that wasn’t enough, Eda and Raine were on opposite sides.  They’d have to use their magical abilities to protect themselves and beat everyone.  Of course this would be very difficult for two witches who just met and seriously bonded, but as was true with many connections in this show, the genuineness of this one won out.  When Eda and Raine were the only ones left, they astounded the masses by at first appearing to attack each other, but then start working together to beat Terra.  Bold as this was, it would mean that no one would get blue ribbons after all spelling Eda’s expulsion.  Then, in an admittedly convenient fix, Terra would agree to put in a good word for Raine and especially Eda seeing that both their magical abilities had great potential.  Considering how they would later handle Raine, there’s no doubt an ulterior motive here as opposed to a genuine compliment.  

For the sake of the flashback though, it’s nice that it ends with Raine deciding to transfer themselves to Hexside.  This in turn would guarantee them and Eda being practically inseparable for the rest of their time at the school, especially since Lilith was now deep into Emperor’s Coven studies.  Even if all this happened a long time ago, with how much Eda has to endure in the present, any look back at a happier time for her is welcome and adds somewhat to her background.

This flashback is a welcome way to answer questions on how the relationship of Eda and Raine began.  However, knowing that they were very close from the day they met makes it somewhat somber that they’re estranged and distant from each other now.  At the same time, the episode ends with compelling depth and complexity to that truth.  Raine is still shown to be under the watchful eye of Terra who continues to bring them tea.  This in turn requires the audience to look back at the seemingly little details of the flashback.  During that story, Raine performed a special bard spell to improve the taste of any drink by blowing on it with a whistle.  In the present, when they’re given Terra’s tea intended to keep them brainwashed, they perform the same spell to nullify its effects.  In other words, Raine was never brainwashed at all and was faking it to make Terra merely think they were on the emperor’s side.  This also means they were faking all the attacks and the claims of believing they haven’t seen Eda in years despite how genuine they feel.  

There’s also one more big reveal where they’re working with other coven heads to get information on the Day of Unity.  It apparently involves draining the magic of all witches in covens during a solar eclipse which could no doubt bring a lot of harm to them.  There’s a suggestion that somehow Eda can help stop it, but Raine refuses to put her in danger again.  As noble as it is that they’re still fighting hard for the good of all witches and want to protect Eda, there is a bit of a drawback to their actions.  Keep in mind that Raine broke up with Eda because she kept leaving them out of worrisome matters and wouldn’t let them help her.  Now, Raine is doing the same thing where they’re leaving Eda out of important information that could harm all of the Boiling Isles for her protection.  Through doing so, they’re putting Eda in a world of worry for their safety considering how it really did feel like they were acting against their will.  This sets up many questions on how Eda will react when she finds out the truth that last until they eventually do reunite.  Either way, this along with their clear chemistry right at the day they met do present Eda and Raine as a very interesting couple.  They started out healthy, but then ran into major complications over time, and while they mean well, they lack what’s necessary to overcome them, at least until recently.  Since they clearly still love each other, there’s enough hope that they can work out after all, and that’s enough to invest the audience in what will happen next.

This episode is one of the simpler ones of the second season, but it’s a welcome and well-placed break from the drama and emotions currently going on.  It makes good use of its break by looking into characters’ backgrounds and tells a story that’s charming and entertaining in the scheme of character development and as its own thing.  Yet, it still manages to fascinate and build anticipation in the little ways it does further bigger things to come.  In a way, these simpler moments in the characters’ lives are a good way to build care in them as the show sets out to put them through bigger challenges once again.

A

Fan Art

Series Ranking

1.      Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door

2.      Reaching Out

3.      Enchanting Grom Fright

4.      Eda’s Requiem

5.      Follies at the Coven Day Parade

6.      Yesterday’s Lie

7.      Agony of a Witch

8.      Elsewhere and Elsewhen

9.      Hunting Palismen

10.  Echoes of the Past

11.  Escaping Expulsion

12.  Understanding Willow

13.  Lost in Language

14.  Adventures in the Elements

15.  The Intruder

16.  Covention

17.  Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances

18.  Eclipse Lake

19.  Through the Looking Glass Ruins

20.  Them’s the Breaks Kid

21.  Young Blood Old Souls

22.  Any Sport in a Storm

23.  Separate Tides

24.  Escape of the Palisman

25.  Wing it Like Witches

26.  The First Day

27.  I Was a Teenage Abomination

28.  Witches Before Wizards

29.  Something Ventured, Someone Framed

30.  A Lying Witch and a Warden

31.  Sense and Insensitivity

32.  Hooty’s Moving Hassle

33.  Really Small Problems

34.  Once Upon a Swap

The next Owl House review is a huge one for reveals when Luz and Hunter end up in the mind of Emperor Belos and are traumatized by what they end up learning.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews ins "New Wartwood" and "Friend or Frobo" 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. 

The First Temple - (Amphibia Season 2 Episode 14) - 'Toon Reviews 49

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

The First Temple

At this point, progress can really start being made with the main goal of the series.  Anne and the others have ideas about getting her home with the music box that brought her to Amphibia in the first place, as well as getting it to work again.  It involves adventures to three different temples to bring color back to the gemstones that give the music box its power.  This in turn opens up the promise for exciting adventures with creative scenarios, and this voyage to the first temple delivers on all that and more.

Anne and the Plantars are joined by Marcy for this temple who shows that she’s more than up for the challenges it’s said to come with.  Now, each of the three temples is said to highlight specific virtues, and the first one is all about intelligence.  It comes with puzzles that have been attempted and failed by many throughout the years, but given her established intellect, Marcy is confident enough to actually make it.  With knowledge of the temple’s location and her own giant bird to make travelling much faster, she leads the way throughout the adventure.  In the process, the entire escapade stands out not just through the temple’s puzzles, but also through the characters going through everything.  

In Marcy’s case, the creative challenges and her established character traits go hand-in-hand.   They tie into one area of Marcy’s character that seemed clear right from her introduction, but is much more prominent here.  Like most people in the spectrum, she gets very fixated on specific things and tunes out the rest of the world around her.  This is emphasized by a set of flashbacks where she’d get into certain interests to the point of ignoring everything else, including Anne in uncomfortable situations.  Marcy may have reasons to be proud of this as her talent of being in the zone, but despite the humor of these flashbacks, it does bring up a legit problem to her as a friend.  

As a result, the challenges of the temple she leads everyone through are a perfect fit for her and helpful to the cause, but raise the stakes for everyone’s safety.  Covering the first two challenges, they present the kind of brainteasing and intense knowledge that Marcy would easily connect with well.  However, through getting deep into the intellectual area of the challenge, she’s once again unaware of the danger that comes with it.  For the first challenge, she finds a rubik's cube she has to put together, but all her moves change the orientation of the chamber, sending Anne and the Plantars in all directions.  Then the next challenge with a room full of tiles has her try to find the meaning to a riddle about hue.  There are only two tiles with the correct hue, and while Marcy can step on one of them, someone else is at risk of missing the other and facing death by flames or crushing.  Each challenge already lives up to their intrigue with their setup and creativity which is always great to see.  However, with how easily everyone is put into danger from Marcy getting into solving them, they stand out more for featuring something for one of the characters to work through.

Of course, Marcy isn’t the only character to stand out since this is Anne and the Plantars’ adventure too.  While Sprig and Polly are mostly observers here standing out with witty remarks of the temple’s dangers, Anne and Hop Pop have an interesting thing to work through.  This adventure coming right after Anne discovering that Hop Pop buried the music box behind her back and lied about it, their role brings in most of the drama.  It could be argued that Anne forgiving Hop Pop for what he did was too abrupt and didn’t last long enough to match the weight of the action.  In a way, it feels like that was the point because that course of action is clearly not forgotten.  When everyone starts the adventure thinking what happened is behind them, it comes as a shock that there’s a lot of awkwardness and discomfort when it’s brought up.  Of course, Anne and Hop Pop face the most of it whenever they interact, though they do try to not bring it up directly.  It’s not until the second challenge when they start getting more direct with it still being on their mind.  Anne is willing to help Marcy complete the challenge largely because she feels like Hop Pop is mainly concerned of protecting his family.  To her, that means just Sprig and Polly while she, an outsider, is less important.  This is clearly not true, though it does add depth to Anne’s established hurt feelings over Hop Pop’s actions.  Understandably, Hop Pop is upset by Anne’s way of thinking, especially after believing that she forgave him.  It soon becomes clear that Anne forgiving Hop Pop was just her attempt to keep peace and have things remain the way they were, but really she was ignoring her issues with him.  The fact is they’re still there building up inside her, and the debate over how to get through the tile challenge only results in an explosion of arguing that lasts for an hour.  To say the least, this is an interesting approach to the concept of dealing with a close one disappointing a fellow comrade.

Both the character moments and what the temple has to offer reach their climax at the last challenge.  It’s a giant game of flipwart, basically this world’s version of chess, where Marcy controls pawns via a smaller board while Anne and the Plantars are roped in as game pieces.  With the main board being huge though, it’s open to getting destructive with how it takes out opposing pieces.  Everyone rightfully fears for their lives, but Marcy, said to be a champ at flipwart, just sits back and enjoys the fun of the game.  To be fair, she does make a good attempt to keep everyone safe, but their worries are still ever-present.  The one thing to snap her back to reality is when she’s close to winning, but the game itself doesn’t play by the rules.  As a result, her applied knowledge doesn’t work, so she’s put in a panic over what to do.  

In the process, Anne and Hop Pop confront each other over their issues about what happened with the music box.  Under the control of the flipwart game, Anne, on the enemy side, is forced to aggressively attack Hop Pop.  She maturely says that even if she’s still mad at Hop Pop, it would be going too far to try and hurt him, especially like this.  In response, Hop Pop explains precisely what it’s like for people to be on the receiving end of other’s anger.  He’s emotionally hurt by Anne constantly rubbing it in that he let her down and not moving on from it, like his mistakes are all there is to him.  It’s a perfect showing of why it always hurts a story when anger, justified or not, goes too far.  Confronted by his feelings, Anne responds by saying that she understands and knows Hop Pop isn’t bad, but still needs time to get through the pain of his actions.  This in turn brings what may be the most fitting conclusion for these types of situations, and it’s all highlighted by strong emotions and characterizations.  

Further enhancing the moment is an epiphany of Marcy where upon seeing Anne and Hop Pop’s moment, she decides that it’s not worth trying to win at flipwart.  She throws the game, meaning she failed the temple’s challenges, but at least everyone is safe.  

Then in a twist, this move turns out to be rewarding after all.  The temple leads everyone down a path to the outside to what seems like a common outhouse.  The truth is, this is actually a reward for Marcy showing humility by losing flipwart for the sake of her friends, a sign that there’s depth and maturity despite her inherent flaw.  Within this outhouse, Marcy takes one of the music box’s stones and charges it, visualized by a green glow in her eyes draining as the stone itself becomes green.  Such an occurrence gives a good idea of what to expect from the rest of the recharges, and foreshadows a truly major playoff later on.  A break between now and the next temple adventure is called for going forward, but after how well this one turned out, this feels warranted to make them feel like special events.

However, before wrapping up, there’s one more scene over in Newtopia staged to build up events to come. It’s also one to further build up King Andrias as a total enigma.  It starts with a report from General Yunan on how some political situation has escalated to the point where a lot of disruptions to natural order have occurred.  Among them is a report on toads meeting up to discuss something big and a reminder of Grime’s new status as a traitor.  All of this begs a lot of questions for future events, especially since they tie a lot into what will come next for Sasha in the main story.  That said, the biggest thing to this scene comes after Andrias gets a message from Marcy informing that one of the music box’s stones has been recharged.  He nonchalantly dismisses the report and then heads down to the castle basement.  Slowly dropping his laid-back and light-hearted mannerisms, he addresses someone about a prophesy being undone and that revenge will soon be obtained.  He says all this to a dark multi-eyed creature, and it’s here where we come to an end.  The biggest points to this scene are how suggestions to Andrias’ true nature are very strong and can go either way.  His good friendly attitude is convincing, but dark moments like this as well as earlier talks of pieces of a plan and his proposition to Marcy bring a prominent darkness.  There’s also a lot to ponder with who this creature is and the meaning behind the prophesy which is no doubt related to the stones being charged, all of which will become known come Season 3.  Nevertheless it’s a sign of a strong story when it delivers long awaited events and leaves a lot to look forward to all at once.

As a work designed to signal a major turning point in the show, the passion gone into it is clear.  There’s imagination in the featured challenges, many characters stand strong, and there’s strong build-up for major future events.  It’s an all-around package of greatness only the best and most visionary storytellers can deliver.

A+

Fan Art

Series Ranking

1.      Hopping Mall

2.      Reunion

3.      Marcy at the Gates

4.      Toad Tax

5.      The First Temple

6.      Anne vs Wild

7.      The Domino Effect

8.      Toadcatcher

9.      Prison Break

10.  A Day at the Aquarium

11.  Anne of the Year

12.  Contagi-Anne

13.  The Shut-In

14.  Best Fronds

15.  After the Rain

16.  Family Shrub

17.  Hop-Popular

18.  Anne Hunter

19.  Wally and Anne

20.  Children of the Spore

21.  A Night at the Inn

22.  Handy Anne

23.  Scavenger Hunt

24.  Lily Pad Thai

25.  Dating Season

26.  Anne or Beast?

27.  Combat Camp

28.  Little Frogtown

29.  Cursed!

30.  Snow Day

31.  Civil Wart

32.  Stakeout

33.  Croak and Punishment

34.  Taking Charge

35.  Flood, Sweat, and Tears

36.  Bizarre Bazaar

37.  The Plantars Check In

38.  The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers

39.  Wax Museum

40.  Return to Wartwood

41.  Sprig Gets Schooled

42.  Swamp and Sensibility

43.  Trip to the Archives

44.  Anne Theft Auto

45.  Hop Luck

46.  Ivy on the Run

47.  Night Drivers

48.  Quarreler’s Pass

49.  Hop Pop and Lock

50.  Plantar’s Last Stand

51.  Fort in the Road

52.  A Caravan Named Desire

53.  The Big Bugball Game

54.  Fiddle Me This

55.  Truck Stop Polly

56.  Family Fishing Trip

57.  The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar

58.  Girl Time

59.  Breakout Star

60.  Grubhog Day

61.  Cane Crazy

62.  Lost in Newtopia

63.  Sprig vs Hop Pop

64.  Cracking Mrs. Croaker

The next Amphibia review covers Marcy's first day in Wartwood, and the robot finally catches up with the Plantars and befriends Polly.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Them's the Breaks, Kid" from The Owl House.

If you would like to check out other Amphibia reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.