'Toon Reviews 20: Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 2 Episode 20: Collateral Damage/Just Friends

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Collateral Damage

This is technically another episode of Star getting in trouble through recklessness which often vary in quality.  However, it has a noticeable distinction of starting while she’s understandably bummed about her recent huge losses. 

While dropping in on Janna’s detention to pick up trash with a stabby stick, Star rambles on about her problems and doesn’t pay attention to what she’s picking up.  One of those things is a statue of a popular possum in Echo Creek named Otis.  This situation of causing a problem through not paying attention is a common thing to happen in life, even to people who are good. In Star's case, it's nice that she has some regret for her careless action which is an appropriate change of pace from avoiding problems as usual. 

However, while Star understands that she messed up, the episode becomes devoted to the entire school never letting up on what happened to the statue.  It’s only within the first few minutes of students crying over the statue’s demise when it feels like everyone is going too far with their grief.  Yes, it’s appropriate to feel sad over the loss of something, but at the same time, they’re mourning an inanimate statue which is honestly ridiculous. 

The thing that pulls the plot through and makes it work though is Star taking initiative to do something about it, including making a new one to replace what she broke.  Unfortunately, the students are far too dense to move on, accept change, and get that Star was only trying to help them feel better.  They complain about the statue’s lack of similarities to the old one even though the differences should be obvious since this is clearly a replacement statue.  This just makes what’s going on even more ridiculous than it already is. 

To be fair, the episode does attempt to give legit reasons for why everyone is saddened by the statue’s destruction, and they’re brought about in an interesting way.  It’s told through a story illustrated with still old-world style photographs and narrated by Marco doing a pioneer accent.  It’s about how pioneers of the Bonner party traveling to the new world.  They ultimately decided to settle in the land of Echo Creek instead when they didn’t have enough resources to get by.  However, they had to fight a herd of possums before they could fully settle down. 

At first, the story makes it seem like the settlers actually hated the possums meaning that the grief everyone has for the statue is completely unwarranted.  Then the story ends by pointing out that even if it’s of an enemy animal to Echo Creek, the statue still commemorates the only time the town won anything and give it some identity.  It may not be a huge reason to hold the Otis statue in a high regard, but it does make everyone’s reactions more understandable.  Also, Star’s ultimate solution to the problem does justice for her character.  It's all because she truly gets that losing the Otis statue caused the school to lose their sense of self.  She gives an inspiring speech to encourage the students to play to their strengths and forge their own identity, and maybe even be better than a possum.  The fact that the speech works along with another version of that old-world style Marco narration, this ending is very impactful for Star's sake. 

While you do have to sit through a lot of ridiculousness to get there, what it leads to makes it all worth it.

A-

Just Friends

The friendship between Star and Marco has always been one of the biggest strengths of this show.  This is what makes this season’s plot point of Star developing a crush on him work.  We’ve gotten a few hints of this, especially in “Bon Bon the Birthday Clown”, and while could make Star possessive, she never feels that way.  She understands that Marco is with someone else.  However, like most people, her true feelings are unable to be restrained for long, but as this episode shows, she puts in a good effort to respect her friend’s love life. 

As a matter of fact, Star further attempts to stick to this fact by getting tickets for Marco’s official girlfriend Jackie Lynn Thomas to have her join them for a concert of their favorite band.  She strives to make the concert experience great for the three of them so to get used to the new dynamic, making her thoughtful. 

In the process, the group’s time together helps develop Jackie’s character.  Her portrayal is a far cry from just being a standard love interest with very few lines in Season 1.  She's laid-back and open for fun, having a similar idea for concert accessories to Star’s, and finding pleasures in things that get in the way of making it to the concert.  It’s these traits that have Jackie get along so well with Star, but she’s considerate of Marco too.  She's never hard on him for any mishaps he causes and quick to let him know that she wants him around.  Little moments like these have enough endearment to this group dynamic. 

It’s put to the test when the three guys finally get to the concert featuring a performance of the title song, “Just Friends.”  It’s a moving rock ballad that can speak out to anyone, especially the youth.  We all have people we’re particularly fond of in certain stages of life, but it’s a common occurrence that the person you crush on has someone else who means a lot more to him/her.  Through great synchronization in singing and the soothing nature of the tune, the song is a nice way to get the message across. 

It stands out even more with how it speaks to Star, and not just with how she and her concert companions lip sync to the song.  From early on in the series, she’s been supportive of Marco getting together with Jackie, and it shows that she knows that accepting this is the right thing to do. However, given how she herself now feels about Marco, seeing him get intimate with Jackie makes that hard to do.  That’s not even counting shots of other couples, including some to further represent the LGBT community, kissing as the song plays.  That's enough to make Star feel more left out since now she can only be “just friends” with practically everyone present.  The last scene of Star leaving the true love couple while taking out her jealousy by blasting a sign is a perfect representation of her interesting portrayal through.  She does what’s right by letting her best friend be with his girlfriend, but isn't exactly being happy about it. 

As a result the episode ends up being just a friendly watch with great character moments, an effective use of music, and a mature approach to one of life’s hardest aspects.

A+

The Ranking

1. Bon Bon the Birthday Clown
2. Ludo in the Wild
3. Into the Wand
4. Just Friends
5. The Hard Way
6. Hungry Larry
7. Raid the Cave
8. Running with Scissors
9. Game of Flags
10. Baby
11. On the Job
12. Sleepover
13. Is Mystery
14. Naysaya
15. Mr. Candle Cares
16. Wand to Wand
17. Page Turner
18. Starstruck
19. Girls’ Day Out
20. By the Book
21. Friendenemies
22. Crystal Clear
23. Collateral Damage
24. Gift of the Card
25. Starsitting
26. Star on Wheels
27. Mathmagic
28. Camping Trip
29. The Bounce Lounge
30. My New Wand
31. Heinous
32. Red Belt
33. All Belts are Off
34. Spider with a Top Hat
35. Star vs Echo Creek
36. Fetch
37. Goblin Dogs
38. Pizza Thing
39. Trickstar

The next Star vs the Forces of Evil has Star's life head towards a whole new direction because of a song.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is one of the last episodes of Xiaolin Showdown Season 1, "Mala Mala Jong."

If you would like to check out other Star vs the Forces of Evil reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 9: Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 1 Episode 3

Monster Arm

It’s interesting how a safe kid like Marco has proven to be useful in the fights we’ve seen so far not to mention turn out to be so skilled in karate.  Because of this, it’s great that we get an episode dedicated to these talents of his.  He’s shown to be competing for a karate competition against Jeremy Birnbaum who, in an amusing turn of events, turns out to be a bratty little boy.  Star’s magic is worked into the issue when Marco breaks his arm while practicing.  Using a spell book that came with her wand, which was never used before this which brings some unfortunate implications to Star’s personality, Star finds a spell to heal Marco’s arm, but it instead turns the arm into a monster tentacle.  Although this further shows Star’s tendencies to get reckless with spells as shown with a collection of scenes of Marco’s life being inconvenienced by the monster arm, it’s cool to see how Marco actually grows to benefit from what’s happened.  He not only beats a school bully with it and obtains more popularity than ever, but he also becomes stronger than ever for his karate competition.  As for Star, she also shows off a lot of admirable qualities when she takes it upon herself to fix Marco’s arm, literally staying up for hours to get the spell right before jumping in to use it.  She also points out that while Marco is benefitting from the arm, it could be a bad influence on him, especially when it talks to him and convinces him to take out all humans.  While Marco doesn’t get this at first, when the arm tries to actually destroy Jeremy Birnbaum, he finally sees sense just as the arm starts destroying the karate stadium.  Everything’s resolved with another battle with a creative magic display from Star where she turns a lot of random things into arms, and they prove helpful in getting her to finally defeat the monster arm, and turn Marco’s arm back to normal.  Ultimately, it makes the story kind of just come and go aside from a slight hint that this isn’t the last of the monster arm, but we are still left with a well-told story for Marco and Star making a significant step towards getting a better control of her wand.  So, there are some significant benefits here. 9/10

The Other Exchange Student

While Star’s friendly and loyal side has made her a likable character to get behind, with this episode, we learn of an unfortunate catch to this part of her character.  She’s so loyal to the Diaz family letting her stay with them while she’s on Earth, that she becomes possessive of them and their hospitality.  What’s more, as the beginning of this episode shows, she takes the Diaz’s treatment of her way too well which is a problem due to how excessive the treatment is involving them literally throwing a party for her every day.  It’s like Star thinks she’s the most important being in the world which is not a very likable trait to get behind.  This really comes to a head when an exchange student called Gustav from Scandinavia arrives.  He almost instantly wins over his hosts with his hospitality, thoughtful gifts, and especially his meatballs.  While Gustav seems like a really nice guy, Star completely dreads his presence the moment he arrives all because he’s getting a lot of attention from a family who don’t get to see him all that often.  It not only makes her come off as jealous, but also highly inconsiderate.  What’s more, it isn’t long before she starts making wild accusations about Gustav without any proof all for the purpose of making him leave so she can have her precious Diaz family to herself even if it would cost them the genuine happiness they’re getting from the visitor.  Granted, there are some suspicions that are justified such as her getting that Gustav’s faking his Scandinavian background after going through his bag, and catching some strange actions from him in the dead of night.  Still, her irrationality comes clear when she comes to the ridiculous conclusion that Gustav wants to cook the Diazs into meatballs making her still open to put a damper on their fun when Gustav invites them for a meatball picnic in the woods.  It does lead to a nice revelation to flesh out Gustav’s character.  Star really was right that he had something to hide.  He’s from a small unpopular town who wants to start his own meatball business to stand out, and Gustav isn’t even his name.  Everything else Star suspected about him is proven false as everything he did the previous night was related to the making meatballs…though we never get an answer of why he measured Marco’s parents.  This is welcome depth to Gustav’s character as opposed to him just being a happy visitor, but Star STILL is inconsiderate by being happy that he's leaving in exchange for her keeping his identity secret and even goes back to enjoying the unnecessary parties for her.  She really isn’t at her most likable here, but she’s still enjoyable for how funny and over-the-top she is, even when she’s acting jealous.  That good humor, Star being right in some instances and Gustav proving to be a likable guest character save this episode from mediocrity even if the issues are hard to ignore. 7/10

The Ranking

1. School Spirit
2. Party with a Pony
3. Monster Arm
4. Star Comes to Earth
5. Matchmaker
6. The Other Exchange Student

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where see more heart to Star and Marco's friendship in "Cheer Up Star" and when they go on a shopping spree and find Ludo at "Quest Buy".

If you would like to check out other Star vs the Forces of Evil reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 4

Ransom

Some of the best, and potentially strongest, bonds to portray in a film or TV show are family bonds, mainly because the people involved with them are those who are a part of you for life, so them finding a way to get along is what’s the most worth seeing from them.  However, siblings can get on each other’s nerves, especially when they’re very different, such is the case with Gerald and his younger sister, Timberly.  While he’s usually isolated from her to hang with his friends, Timberly is usually just what you’d expect from a cutesy little sister who also has a particular fascination for a TV show character called Wally, whose show honestly feels more like a commercial given his theme song just tells viewers to buy his toys.  Anyway, right at the start, it’s made clear that Timberly wants nothing more than to hang out with her brother, but Gerald doesn’t want anything to do with her.  On one hand, you can get Gerald’s feelings since Timberly is being a pest when he’s in the middle of something, but since there’s nothing really bad about her behavior, her feelings are understandable too.  This conflict is a significant force in the main plot which soon gets going when Timberly’s Wally doll goes missing with a ransom note in its place and Gerald and Arnold are roped into helping her find it.  The three are led into an entertaining detective case with a lot of interrogations with everyone they come across.  We have the debut of a kid called Chocolate Boy, serving as an interesting allegory for addicts, who talks when he’s fed malted milk balls, Harold being pushed to talk while he eats while also revealing he has his own Wally doll with an eye missing, and Curly getting out of his rather tense interrogation by revealing he does ballet.  These moments greatly display the appeal of these characters and are easily the highlight of the cartoon.  As for the resolution, when Gerald and Arnold feel that the only way to get Wally is to pay the ransom, they eventually discover that Timberly rigged the whole kidnapping so she could hang out with them.  While Gerald is unhappy that his sister lied this whole time, it’s nice that he understands the reasons for her actions which further showcases the appeal of sibling bonds.  It begs the question though that if Timberly lied about Wally being kidnapped, where did the doll go?  Plus, at the last minute we get a squabble that undermines the sibling bond only just witnessed, but it’s nothing compared to moments between Gerald and his other sibling who's older than him, but those are for looks at later seasons.  Overall though, despite its basic setup and little moments, this is a well put together and perfectly entertaining cartoon of sibling bonds. 9/10

Ms. Perfect

This cartoon is the introduction of a girl who would become one of the most prominent kids in the cast, Lila.  Right when she enters the main 4^th grade class, the cast, as well as the audience, gets a good taste of what she’s like.  She’s essentially every positive trait you can think of, being friendly with everyone, smart whenever there’s a question to be answered, knowledgeable on humorous anecdotes to share with everyone, and looking oh so adorable in appearance.  It’s no surprise why these qualities make Lila one of the most divisive characters to fans of this show.  A character with so much positivity with little to no flaws at all is not one most people can relate to making them feel unbelievable and at times grating especially with her constant usage of phrases like “ever so.”  For her debut appearance though, Lila seems to be utilized fairly well for this story.  Her unbelievably positive demeanor makes her seem perfect thus making other girls in the class like Helga, Phoebe, and Rhonda feel inferior and overshadowed, so they spend much of the cartoon going to incredibly harsh means to ruin her perfect image.  A lot of them backfire in hilarious ways, mostly leading to Helga getting beaten up by a student called Big Patty, but then they finally have a successful attempt that gets Lila covered in garbage.  When she refuses to come to school the next day and the other girls offer to bring over her homework, that’s when Lila’s appeal really shines through.  They discover that Lila lives in a poor part of the neighborhood with a decrepit house and little food, and her single father is struggling to get a job.  This sad background gives a whole new layer to Lila’s positive outlook.  It must be hard for her to remain this positive when her home conditions are so poor, and all she really wanted was to fit in and make friends, and because of the other girls’ cruel prank, she’s now without any hope to move forward.  One thing even better than this layer to Lila’s character is how this reveal genuinely gets the other girls to feel bad for how awful they were to Lila, especially shown through Helga giving an overdramatic speech about it.  They make amends with Lila just as her life slowly begins to turn around, and when she’s back at school, they all start accepting her perfect demeanor.  While this cartoon brings interesting background to Lila’s character, the background is unfortunately never developed further during the rest of the series with her enjoying her perfection for the sake of it, especially when Arnold (by the way, it's worth noting that this is the only cartoon in the series where he never speaks) gets involved.  So, for this being the only time Lila’s perfect persona is given depth, this cartoon is all the more exclusive. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Harold’s Kitty
2. Save the Tree
3. New Teacher
4. Ms. Perfect
5. Ransom
6. The Big Scoop
7. Hooky
8. Arnold Saves Sid

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Helga is put through a major emotional experience when she thinks she has a money-related disease in "Monkey Business" and Arnold and Gerald go fishing for the urban legend known as "Big Caesar."

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