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The Owl House Season 3, 1st Special Review

Trauma is something that nearly everyone has to deal with at least once in their lives. It often comes in the form of a painful experience, leaving deep, long-lasting scars on a person’s psyche. Trauma can take the happiest people and leave them a shell of their former selves, and they may never recover from it. And as The Owl House enters its third and final season, one shortened to three forty-minute specials, it’s clear that the big theme is dealing with the trauma Luz and her friends have gone through. Given how the show’s an animated horror, it seems only fitting that the first special is a Halloween one.

Warning: I will be doing everything I can to avoid spoilers, because I think this special has to be seen to appreciate what Dana and her team have done. Thanks to Disney, they took what little time they had left and gave us a masterpiece.

What Could’ve Been

I already discussed at length the opening 6 minutes to ’Thanks to Them’ last week, but I wanted to add some more thoughts before I talk about the big themes of this special. As I’ve already said, I grew upset learning that Disney shortened the final season of The Owl House to 3 specials. And seeing everything that Luz and the Hexsquad got up to in the montage only reinforced the idea that we got cheated out of an amazing season. Getting to know how the Hexsquad adjusted to life on Earth would’ve been amazing to watch. However, Dana and her team make up for it by packing the first special with plenty of smaller moments that showcase the growth of the cast.

Seeing Hunter geek out over a parody of Star Trek alongside Gus was adorable to watch; those two are brothers, and nothing can convince me otherwise. 

Plus, I loved the Easter egg that the crew out in about the Duolingo bird, referencing the memes of him and Hooty being besties. And the Giraffes. No wonder they got banished.

Camilla Was Never a Bad Mom

Funny moments aside (and there are plenty,) the heart of the special revolves around three people and how their traumas affected each of them.

Firstly, we have Camilla. She’s gotten a lot of hate in the fandom for being called a bad mom. While I knew she could do better, I never saw her as a bad parent. She was a single Mom who truly wanted what was best for Luz, but, as we learn throughout the special, she was influenced by her own negative experiences growing up. She truly wanted Luz to have a better childhood than she did and did appreciate her daughter’s uniqueness. Her worries, though, led her to repeat the cycle of negativity unintentionally and made her daughter feel unwanted on Earth. 

Camilla, it’s not you or Luz that has a problem. It’s everyone else that has a problem!

Hunter Haunted by Spectre of Belos

Then, we have Hunter. His entire life’s been one big, traumatic rollercoaster, thanks to Belos. His “Uncle” lied to him, manipulated him for his ends, and tried to kill him. While he eventually learns how evil Belos truly is and turned against him, it’s clear throughout the special that Belos has a grip on him, even now. What’s worse is that he’s too scared that his newfound family will reject him when they learn of his Grimwalker status, hence why Belos still terrifies him.

And yes, as many of us thought, Belos remains alive, albeit in a state akin to Lord Voldermort after baby Harry bested him. While I won’t say what happens, I will say that there’s a moment where Hunter makes everyone watching so proud. 

Luz: this Mama Was Not Ready for Trauma

Lastly, we have Luz herself and holy Titan. I could write a separate article on how much trauma Luz has endured. The upbeat and optimistic girl who sought to start a new life on the Boiling Isles is almost nonexistent. The guilt over her role in the rise of Belos and what happened to the Boiling Isles, combined with the horrifying events leading up to the Day of Unity, have broken her. At one point, she even contemplates if it had been better had she never existed in the first place. It’s never stated explicitly, but older fans could understand that this is a red flag for suicidal thoughts. They put that in a Disney cartoon!

I truly felt for Luz in this episode. While I never had a childhood as bad as Luz, I was always different, thanks to my ADHD. I had plenty of friends, but I still found it hard at times to relate to other people. Combined with my tendency to act out, it made things difficult for people at times. Thankfully, I did find people who appreciated me for who I was and did have friends.

Luz did so, as well. This whole special was, essentially, a way to remind her that she’s not the screw-up she thinks she is. She changed the lives of so many people on the Boiling Isles for the better, and when the time comes, Luz’s loved ones return the favor. She’s not to blame for the trauma and suffering inflicted by Belos. They tell her that Belos would’ve risen to power without her help. Their unconditional love and support is enough to help Luz get through one of the lowest points in her life, and gain the resolve to return to the Boiling Isles.

The Owl House Firing on All Cylinders

Thus, the special ends with the group finding a way back to the Boiling Isles. While they don’t know what they’ll find there, they’re more determined than ever to stop whatever Belos and the Collector have planned. Unfortunately, we must wait months for the final two specials to air. However, I’m perfectly fine with that.

The Owl House may be coming to a premature ending, but it’s clear Dana intends to end with a bang. If the last two specials are even half as amazing as this was, then it will be well worth the wait. Dana and her team took the best of a terrible situation and gave us an animated masterpiece. This is the sort of thing that I want to see The Owl House do in its final season. Despite being out through the ringer, the show keeps on moving forward with its head held high. I can respect that, Dana!

I Give “Thanks to Them” a 5/5

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Amphibia Season 2, Episode 11 Review

While we won’t be seeing more of the show until 2021, Disney was nice enough to give us one more new episode of Amphibia to tide us over until then. And it’s a Halloween special, to boot! Granted, this won’t be the first time Amphibia has given us episodes that are perfect for the Halloween season. That’s not the point, though. The point is that we got some more Amphibia, and I’m not passing up a chance to review it. That, and I want to give my two cents on the stories being told.

The Shut-In Night

Taking us back to Wartwood for the first time this season, everyone’s getting ready for the Blue Moon Shut-In. It’s where they give each other supplies so they can board themselves inside their houses. This way, they can avoid looking at the Blue Moon and turning into hideous beasts. They pass the time by telling each other scary stories, all of which Anne says is just like Halloween.

Sad as it is, but Anne’s more right than she realizes. Thanks to COVID-19, Halloween in 2020 will be far more subdued. Trick-or-Treating has to work around social distancing, and I’m betting parties will be fewer in number. Heck, there may be people who will spend Halloween shut inside their homes!

Enough about that, though! It’s time for me to give my thoughts on each of the Plantar family’s stories! First up is Anne’s and its called…

Phone-Mo

Anne’s story takes place on Earth and is about Anne, renamed Anna. One day, some of her friends show her a video with the most adorable animal that any of them have ever seen! However, that video happens to be cursed! One by one, everyone who watched the video disappears, leaving behind only their phones until only Ann-a remains.

Before I go any further, I need to say this: there are human versions of the residents of Amphibia!

I had to pause the episode so I could gush over this. Matt Braly and his team were willing to give us human versions of Anne’s frog friends for this one episode. Somewhere in the world, some intrepid fans are making fanarts and fanfics based on this entire premise. FANDOM POWER

Gushing aside, I liked Anne’s story. It’s a homage to the 2002 horror film The Ring, reinvented for the age of social media and smartphones. The one difference being that monster won’t stop chasing you even if you share it with someone else. Fortunately, Anna learns the secret to defeating the monster: trolling, dislikes, and negative comments. I don’t know if that’s brilliant or a subtle commentary on the prevalence of trolling online. Fortunately, I don’t let trolling get to me.

Dead End

In Hop Pop’s story, he’s a young frog with a luscious pompadour, making his living as a wagon driver. One day, he picks up his next customer, a mysterious figure called Mr. Littlepot. And at every place they stop at, someone meets a swift end!

In case you haven’t figured it out, Mr. Littlepot is the personification of Death, made all the more menacing by the fact that he’s voiced by Mr. Sulu himself, George Takei! I may not be an uber-fan of Star Trek, but I love George Takei and his amazing voice. Hearing him play Death personified brings the perfect balance of menace and gentlemanly charm. Really wish I got his autograph at that sci-fi concert (I’m not making that up.)

As for the story itself, this had to be my favorite of the three. A tale worthy of the likes of The Twilight Zone. Don’t deny it: a normal guy driving around Death as he does his job is classic Twilight Zone.

Skin Deep

In our final story of the night, Sprig tells the story of how he and Ivy came face to face with the one called the Seamstress. What is the Seamstress? They say that it’s a being who lives in an old shack in the woods, taking any frogs that come near her lair and using their skins to cover herself. And Sprig and Ivy end up stuck in her home while looking for their bug ball.

The twist to this story is that the Seamstress is actually a glass frog, a species of frog with see-through skin that makes its organs visible. I think the moral of the story is that people have to comfortable in their own skin, but I forgot about that after Ivy burned down the Seamstress’ home.

Good Times In Amphibia

Overall, I liked the Amphibia Halloween special. It brought back many of the characters from Season One, gave us something to carry us through the long winter ahead of us, and gave the writer’s a chance to cut loose and have fun. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved.

As I said at the start, though, this wasn’t the first time that we’ve seen Amphibia give us episodes with a premise that could fit for Halloween. We already got that with “Night at the Inn” and “Children of the Spore“, each of which has a pretty scary premise. In a pretty cool call-back to those episodes, though, Polly tried to use them both for her scary story, only for it to fail since they all lived through it. They even gave us title cards and everything.

Personally, though, I was kind of hoping that an Amphibia Halloween special would see the return of that mind-controlling mushroom. I mean, the ending to the latter did imply that!

Aside from that, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this Halloween themed romp in Amphibia. If anything, it’s only gotten me more hyped for the back half of Season Two in 2021. Yet another reason why I have to survive this year!

Oh, and that curse turned out to be real.

I Give “The Shut-In” a 4/5

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