Quarreler's Pass / Toadcatcher- (Amphibia Season 2 Episode 4) - 'Toon Reviews 49

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Quarreler’s Pass

A particularly unpleasing story setup involves characters incessantly arguing.  Somehow, when this show features characters arguing, it’s honestly kind of fun to an extent.  It’s probably because of the overall strength of writing its characters and their solid chemistry and witty interactions.  Also, when you’re out on the road for a long time, things like petty arguments between siblings are bound to happen.  

The main sibling relationship of this show, Sprig and Polly, is actually very healthy and full of heart based on what’s been seen up to this point.  In fact, I can only think of at least two cartoons with conflict between them.  The long trip to Newtopia seems to be enough to rise up another one here.  

The actual nature behind their bickering though is still noticeably mixed.  The entertainment of Sprig and Polly’s arguing is very high mainly through them being able to perfectly mimic each other’s voice.  While the arguing is staged as funny though, it is concerning that the plot has to be tailored and retconned to justify the occurrence.  Anne and Hop Pop are reasonably annoyed by it, claiming that it’s lasted for weeks.  I don’t see how the audience can buy that when Sprig and Polly have appeared on fairly good terms as of now.  It feels like the only reason this claim is made is to warrant the elders of the trip to drop off Sprig and Polly at a place called Quarreler’s Pass.  It’s a stretch of road where two kids who can’t get along must face obstacles to work out their differences and overcome all squabbles.  

So the focus for most of the runtime is on Sprig and Polly doing what they can to get through the pass. Despite them being there for excessive arguing, their overall chemistry is still handled rather well.  Even at their worst, they don’t get too deep into their fights to keep themselves from overcoming the obstacles.  In fact, at the first obstacle, their bickering has them recall a past difficult event to find their way around.  

Plus, the compatibility sticks as proven by a following montage complete with a short yet catchy musical number through various obstacles.  Even though the point of the Plantar kids taking this pass is to get them to stop fighting, their dynamic isn’t one note.  

Fighting persists though as another obstacle brings Sprig and Polly nuisance and conflict, albeit from something as petty as accidentally stepping on each other.  The issue of the pettiness is that Sprig and Polly split up.  It’s a jarring and one-sided shift from the earlier strong sense of teamwork.  Now in splitting up, Sprig and Polly end up in one challenge to make sense out of everything.  The different paths they take face them with giant worm creatures called olms intending to devour them.  Running from them leads them to a central cavern of bones, as well as a reveal that the olms are two parts of one body.  In their threat though comes bickering from the creatures, and while it’s connection to Sprig and Polly is treated like a big discovery, it honestly couldn’t be more obvious.  Still, it’s rewarding that Sprig and Polly grow sense resourcefulness from this.  Their annoyance at the creatures help them to see why they were left to the pass, and their mimicking talents are put to good use.  Then the cartoon ends with them back with Anne and Hop Pop in the middle of a humorous take on small talk.  

In other words, this whole cartoon is a basic sibling rivalry story with a basic conclusion.  However, in spite of inherent faults with arguing stories, it’s executed in a reasonably enjoyable way overall.

B+

Toadcatcher

Though Anne is the main character out of the three girls transported to Amphibia, it’s a nice touch to also look in on how her friends have been getting by during this time.  At this point though, we’ve only seen what’s become of one of her two human friends, Sasha.  Landing amongst the toads, she started out as their prisoner, but through manipulation and lust for control, she quickly rose to their commanding officer.  These powerful traits were also central to her friendship with Anne back home, though it’s also clear that she cares for her friends.  

Speaking of which, the start of this cartoon wisely dedicates her first moments this season to her reaction to her tense encounter with Anne at the end of Season 1.  She throws herself into intense training of daring moves and fighting to the death.  She shows no hesitation to annihilate dummies of the Plantar family, but when it comes to Anne, even she can’t bring herself to be as murderous.  In other words, Sasha’s will to fight is strong, but there’s meaning in her bond with Anne.  By contrast, Sasha’s confidante, the former captain of the toads, Grime, is surprisingly not as motivated to fight as he used to be.  He’d rather laze around watching trash TV, eating junk food, and growing a beard, all while feeling like a shadow of his former self.  Sasha doesn’t accept this and often berates Grime for his lack of motivation.  To her point, there is proof that he should be acting with more urgency.  His failure to control the frogs has made Grime an enemy to the Amphibia royalty to the point of being branded as a wanted criminal.  

There’s even a legit Newtopia official shown to be after him known as General Yunan.  As a character, Yunan leaves a very strong impression, appearing serious, but when no one expects it, she demonstrates much charisma and flamboyance.  Much of this is shown through a gimmick of giving a long passionate monologue of her accomplishments when introducing herself.  This should get old, but it’s reasonably amusing. As she puts it, repeating it helps the mentions of her accomplishments stick.  She’s expectedly after Grime, though the way she finds him is through a convenient mention of all the details in a conversation that sounds forced.  

Anyhow, Yunan tracks Sasha and Grime down and proves she’s more than just eccentricities. She shows some pretty destructive moves and claims her army slowed her down, hence why she’s alone.  That’s enough to send Sasha and Grime on the run, bringing the contrast in how they approach situations of battle back to the forefront.  During the action, there’s an explore of character where Grime’s lax attitude allows him to get to the core of Sasha’s obsession with fighting.  It’s not really because of a lust for power and winning battles, but rather because she’s hurt by how much her dynamic with Anne has changed, which Sasha admits truth to.  The best thing she can do now is to not lose another friend in Grime, and when that’s out in the open, they’re able to work together to decisively beat Yunan at her own game.   Yes, even among the most aggressive, there’s good heart in character bonds.  While they are certainly multi-layered from moments like this, they still pose a threat as the day’s events inspire Sasha and Grime end the cartoon setting their sights on conquering Amphibia.  

On the whole though, that’s just the overall strength of this story where the characters involved are capable of showing aggression, emotional depth, and chemistry all at once.

A+

Series Ranking

1.      Reunion

2.      Toad Tax

3.      Anne vs Wild

4.      The Domino Effect

5.      Toadcatcher

6.      Prison Break

7.      Anne of the Year

8.      Contagi-Anne

9.      Best Fronds

10.  Family Shrub

11.  Hop-Popular

12.  Anne Hunter

13.  Wally and Anne

14.  Children of the Spore

15.  A Night at the Inn

16.  Handy Anne

17.  Lily Pad Thai

18.  Dating Season

19.  Anne or Beast?

20.  Combat Camp

21.  Cursed!

22.  Snow Day

23.  Civil Wart

24.  Stakeout

25.  Croak and Punishment

26.  Taking Charge

27.  Flood, Sweat, and Tears

28.  Bizarre Bazaar

29.  Trip to the Archives

30.  Anne Theft Auto

31.  Hop Luck

32.  Quarreler’s Pass

33.  Hop Pop and Lock

34.  Plantar’s Last Stand

35.  Fort in the Road

36.  A Caravan Named Desire

37.  The Big Bugball Game

38.  Fiddle Me This

39.  Truck Stop Polly

40.  Family Fishing Trip

41.  The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar

42.  Girl Time

43.  Breakout Star

44.  Grubhog Day

45.  Cane Crazy

46.  Sprig vs Hop Pop

47.  Cracking Mrs. Croaker

The next Amphibia review reveals the radically different social class One-Eyed Wally crew up in, and one spot on the trip poses as a big tribute to Gravity Falls.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, it's time to journey "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" in 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. 

Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances - (The Owl House Season 2 Episode 4) - 'Toon Reviews 48

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:

Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances

You know a new season of a show is doing a lot right when it gets down to business of expanding upon what was previously established.  It’s like the series itself knows exactly what it’s audience wants to see.  Some could say that the show is merely rushing things, but to me, no perspective is objectively right or wrong.  If you ask me, I’d say that how fast things come isn’t an issue with how well-executed and impactful the big moments and reveals have been.  The ones this episode presents are no different.  It covers a lot about the past and background of present characters, introduces new ones, and leads their story threads in compelling new directions.

Much like the previous episode, one of the key subjects here is backstory.  In fact, a major backstory for Eda kicks things off, in the process broadening the world and lore of the series.  It follows her when she was just a teen, having only recently discovered her curse.  It’s here where it’s revealed exactly what Eda sees whenever the curse enacts.  She suddenly appears in a dark void and for some time is chased and tortured by an owl beast, the original one implanted into her soul.  It only disappears when she wakes up, but she’s always left with the knowledge that she turned into that beast in reality.  Already, you can tell the benefits of this episode as it broadens the context of many established things like Eda’s constant blackouts and the meaning of the void she often sees herself in.  

Even that’s not all when it comes to reveals.  The flashback shows that Eda was instantly put into the care of many covens to try and treat the curse, but apparently no treatment could eradicate it.  One prominent figure here is a newly revealed member of Eda’s family, her mother Gwendolyn.  You can tell she was very dedicated to her daughter’s condition, wanting to do anything to cure it.  However, there’s also an air of darkness to this impression as she’s shown to have berated the present healer who said the curse may never be able to be cured.  Not to mention, she just balked at the idea of methods merely good to ‘keep it at bay’ instead opting for harmful methods like cutting the curse out.  It was even enough to have young Eda flee away from home, thus leading her to stumble across her old portal to the human realm just lying around in the ground.  Her showing no hesitation to go straight through the portal as her mother came looking for her is a telling sign of a strain in family relationships.  Right away, the episode shows immense promise in what it reveals, develops, and what it sets up from first impressions of newly introduced characters.  What’s more, the potential is further realized with what the rest of the episode offers in present day.

Following Eda getting ready for the day, checking in on Luz’s attempts of finding a way to the human realm, and reassuring Lilith who starts feeling the effects of the curse herself, this routine soon clashes with memories of the past.  To everyone’s surprise, Gwendolyn suddenly drops in for a visit with exciting news for Eda.  From the signs of her old age and claims that she’s been hard at work at this for 30 years, Gwendolyn seems to have strong motherly dedication, even after such a long time.  Along with a very enjoyable personality and spunk, she really demonstrates some good appeal.  However, aspects like her earlier shown willingness to dark methods and brushing Lilith off when she greets her leave enough suspicion of how much she should be trusted.  For that, when she says she finally as a cure for Eda’s curse, there’s a good cause for complicated feelings on the matter.  It’s great that Gwendolyn genuinely wants to help her daughter, but her earlier suspicions have it make sense that Eda would be quick to send her away.  Plus, according to Eda, Gwendolyn comes every year saying she has a cure for the curse, but nothing ever works, making for a good cause for a lack of trust.  Still, given the magnitude of her condition, it’s also understandable that others would be willing to take a chance with Gwendolyn’s methods.

Luz, in particular, has always been sympathetic of Eda dealing with the curse, and that empathy has her go along with Gwendolyn’s attempts.  Interestingly, she relates to Gwendolyn’s cause on a personal level, connecting her rift between Eda to her rift with her own mother in the human realm.  So, she teams up with Gwendolyn, and willingly follows her lead to a mysterious wizard going by the name of Wartlop.  To further show her dedication to Eda, Gwendolyn is shown to have spent all these years travelling across the Boiling Isles to uncover rare treasures.  These treasures are the key to an ancient tome of Wartlop’s said to hold the cure for Eda’s curse.  From the majestic appearance of the wizard and his wise sounding words, one could be right to believe that Gwendolyn has the right idea.  

Later on though, this turns out to be the basis for her faults as a character.  As she and Luz follow the tome, its strategies don’t seem to do any good in healing the curse, and only cause Eda harm.  Demonstrating solid judgment and wit, Luz ignores Gwendolyn’s claims of only the worthy being allowed to look at the tome and seizes it.  Through deducing random treatments tied to random ailments, Luz instantly recognizes that Gwendolyn’s been following a scam this whole time, and wishes to call these stunts off.  Gwendolyn, however, is too invested in what she dedicated many years to, and understandably refuses to believe that the treatment is a fake, even with the odds against her.  If that’s not enough, she’s not shy to voice her disdain for the elixirs Eda uses to calm the curse because they don’t even get rid of it.  All throughout, it’s interesting that Gwendolyn never comes off as unlikable.  She stubbornly holds onto what’s revealed as a lie, but it’s clear that these traits come from a place of love.  She’s deeply flawed, but her intentions make her understandable, investing the audience, and giving enough hope that she can see sense.

That said, ignorance to facts isn’t the only fault in Gwendolyn’s character.  As her introduction showed, while she’s quick to help Eda, she’s neglectful of her other daughter.  There’s a lot of emphasis on this fact through what’s seen of Lilith upon her mother’s arrival with talk of a lack of attention leading to absolute dread and disdain.  She even brings down King’s hopes of ever getting to know his own parent.  Frankly, it’s impressive how much character Lilith is able to express from just laying down on the couch eating ice cream that feels way more like a stand-in for something else.  If that’s not enough, Lilith’s negative emotions over her mother aren’t just played for laughs.  The stress and disdain from her line deliveries are so huge that they tie into something darker and heavier.  As Eda warned earlier, the curse the sisters share intensifies when stressed, so Lilith ends up facing a flare-up of it as a result of her tirade. To make matters worse, Gwendolyn has cleared out every bit of elixir Lilith could be using to calm the curse.  So, just as Eda succumbs to the curse and turns into a monster after finding out what Gwendolyn was doing, Lilith does the same, turning into a monster of her own for the first time.  The issue of the curse was bad before, but with two mindless beasts, who on the inside are just Eda and Lilith running from their own internal beasts, it’s much darker.

The situation now majorly intensifying, Gwendolyn is left to contemplate over her role as a mother.  At first, she doesn’t see that she’s been flawed this whole time, with Luz leaving to the conclusion that she still needs time.  However, it’s through Luz leaving that gets Gwendolyn to start getting a better understanding.  She decides to see for sure if Wartlop really is a scam after all, and through visiting his lair, she discovers that all this time, he was just three demons in a trench coat.  Personally, if that’s the truth behind Wartlop, that is one impressive cover-up.  Upon realizing she’s been following a lie, Gwendolyn sets into motion a grand way of redeeming herself as a mother.  She faces the demons, exposes them, the uses her magical abilities to intimidate them away, and she has a very powerful threat all things considered.  

To further show that she’s understood the fault in her actions, Gwendolyn even takes full responsibility to calm the curse within her daughters.  When they’re at their worst, she does the right thing by approaching them not with force, but with love and understanding.  With Eda, she admits that she was wrong to try and force the curse out when Eda found a way to at least tame it, ultimately making it worse.  In addition to calming Eda, on the inside, this showing of motherly love appears to make her powerful as her internal demon gets smaller and loses control.  For Lilith, Gwendolyn gives a sincere apology for neglect despite seeing Lilith as self-sufficient.  Though Lilith doesn’t control her curse as well as Eda, she’s still calmed enough for her and Eda to get their needed doses of elixir.  That’s what makes Gwendolyn so endearing.  She may have done flawed practices and her mindset might be hard to follow, but it’s clear that she means well in everything she does.  Through wanting to do well, she’s capable of realizing her faults, and even in her old age, she does whatever it takes to make up for them.  For the grand spectacle that comes from the resolution, you can’t help but find her admirable just from doing her best.

The most rewarding thing to come from a dark story setup such as this is some sort of positive conclusion.  That’s very much what comes from the conclusion to this episode thanks to Gwendolyn’s overall development.  Eda becomes more open to having her mother in her life again, and even seems to understand that she was trying her best.  Lilith has an even bigger development to her own arc where after spending so much time at the Owl House, she chooses to go home with Gwendolyn.  It’s sudden after staging made it seem like she’d be a mainstay through appearing with the main characters for so many episodes, but it’s a smart move regardless.  In order to truly grow and develop, going home to catch up and reconnect with her mother is really the way to go since Gwendolyn’s neglect was a major cause for her grief.  Gwendolyn even shows no hard feelings towards her after hearing that Lilith initiated the curse in the first place.  In fact, she regrets not knowing about it sooner so she could offer some assistance.  

Luz deserves praise here too, for it was because of her Gwendolyn was able to see a light or sense, and actually realize her faults.  That’s just another reason why it was such a good thing for her to come to the Boiling Isles, and why it’s pretty emotional that she’ll have to return to her realm someday.  Speaking of which, Gwendolyn even offers major setup for some of the events of the following episode.  There’s lore from reveals that a human lived on the Boiling Isles ages before Luz, and a substance called Titan’s blood that has human world things leak to the demon realm.  Luz is even directed to learn about it at the library which also has something that the man who lived here left behind before mysteriously disappearing.  

Paving the way for what’s coming immediately after this episode is a smart move already, but even here, this episode goes an extra mile.  Luz expects that she’s completely missed her assigned summer camp, and that means her mother in the human realm is worried sick about her since she never went there.  Just after she ponders this, there appears to be proof of this point with the scene cutting to Luz’s mother crying.  In a bold staging move, just as the scene sets you up think she’s crying over Luz, it’s actually over something completely unrelated.  As it turns out, Luz’s mother is still unaware of where her daughter’s really been all this time.  The last seconds of the episode feature what appears to be a doppelgänger of Luz in her mother’s presence, as if nothing changed from the original plans.  Hiding her in the shadows is a moody yet ingenious way to show that what her mother believes is truly not what it seems.  Plus, lots of questions are left to ponder; how did this doppelganger get here; why is it here; how is it so convincing?  Answers to all those questions will appear in time, just so you know. As you can see, in addition to answering questions, this episode leaves just enough to keep up the intrigue and keep the overall series fresh and better than ever.

There’s no doubt that this episode is another winner for the series.  In fact, it’s much more rewarding than one may think.  Through defining its characters so well, giving many compelling developments to them and their world, and keeping things exciting for the future, everything comes together.  Big things are being done this season, many of which fans have anticipated for a while, and it has the right leadership behind it to keep up its promising appearances.

A+

Fan Art

Series Ranking

1.      Enchanting Grom Fright

2.      Agony of a Witch

3.      Echoes of the Past

4.       Escaping Expulsion

5.      Understanding Willow

6.      Lost in Language

7.      Adventures in the Elements

8.      The Intruder

9.  Covention

10. Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances

11.  Young Blood Old Souls

12.  Separate Tides

13.  Escape of the Palisman

14.  Wing it Like Witches

15.  The First Day

16.  I Was a Teenage Abomination

17.  Witches Before Wizards

18.  Something Ventured, Someone Framed

19.  A Lying Witch and a Warden

20.  Sense and Insensitivity

21.  Hooty’s Moving Hassle

22.  Really Small Problems

23.  Once Upon a Swap

The next Owl House review indeed follows up on Luz learning of an old human living on the Boiling Isles while also giving strong development to her relationship with Amity.  However, the most focus is on Gus exploring magic outside his area of expertise on an adventure with students from another school.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, Amphibia Season 2 really gets going with "Quarreler's Pass" and especially "Toadcatcher."

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