Star vs. the Forces of Evil Review: Demoncism / Sophomore Slump

"Wow, he didn't even say goodbye. Not even a little claw wave or something." "Dude. It's a lobster." "Oh."

What I'm trying to emphasize the most in these reviews, beyond just the episodes themselves, is their interconnectivity and how the two play off of some common theme; of all shows, Star vs. would know to pair them up for a reason. The connection between "Demoncism" and "Sophomore Slump," though, is a bit less obvious and gearing towards the long run; on one hand, Star's practically moving on, and on the other, Marco's coming back around.

Interestingly, though, "Demoncism" doesn't just take the easy route and make Star the real protagonist that would be Tom. The whole episode is centered around him having a "demoncism" to exhume the anger out of his body, and throughout it all, Star is remarkably passive, and I think that's what makes the episode work so effectively.

While doing comments for yesterday's article, I briefly outlined what made Tom's character fall flat in "Club Snubbed," but to reiterate, anger is what defines Tom, and trying to rid that aspect of his personality is problematic considering that it makes him as defined as he is; the show ultimately corners itself, more often than not, in trying to use him. "Demoncism," surprisingly, could suggest the break in that vicious cycle that we so desperately need.

What's so quintessential to the outcome is that Tom is being used meaningfully without simply feeding into Star. Sure, she helps him make that ultimate realization, but Tom's actually standing on his own two feet throughout, and he's holding the episode together by virtue of his own strength of character, and that's a massive step up. And on the note of that realization... it's really effective. You can tell that Tom is actually making a sincere effort to better himself.

All of this makes "Sophomore Slump" all the more amazingly painful. It's the sacrifice of Jackie and Marco's relationship as Marco realize his feelings for Star, and that's a huge step... but a huge step in the wrong direction. Whether or not Marco was truly satisfied with his relationship with Jackie, now he's off to put on display whatever feelings he's been hiding this entire time. And you know what? It'll go horribly, horribly, oh-so horribly, extraordinarily wrong.

What's so fascinating to me about "Slump" is that it's designed to radiate with an external sense of satisfactory, yet with full awareness that it's a frustrating building-up in preparation for the crashing-down. Perhaps it's crushingly ironic how Marco's cape was the episode's introductory conflict, yet it goes unresolved in the end; he's not moving on when he should be, and it's joyously infuriating. The show knows how to mess with our minds, and gosh darnit, I'm trying to crack down on how.

But I digress. That's where both episodes get particularly interesting - they force Star and Marco to act on the spot and follow their instincts, in spite of their greater judgement.

Looking back at "Demoncism," consider Tom's underestimation of the severity of his treatment, which leads Star to assume the same; she thus contextualizes how the event would play out in her mind far differently than what ends up truly occurring. Because of this, she's woefully unprepared for the explosion that draws her back in, and without the ability to think the situation out, she's dramatically triggered to act on her instincts, revealing how much she really cares for Tom. Like it or not, there's nothing artificial here that we can just shrug off, and the show is challenging our preconceptions.

Knowing Tom's legitimacy thus serves to subconsciously make us cringe more at Marco in "Slump." He's just painfully oblivious to how much his wake-up call will sting when reunited with Star. He's basically ruining himself and setting up a disaster by virtue of his own naivety: he's being Season-2-Star'd.

Star's moving on; Marco's relapsing. I can't wait to see what sinister tricks the show's got hiding up its sleeve.

Notes and Quotes:
-If there's one complaint I do have with "Sophomore Slump" - and I do apologize for shoving it down here at the expense of not knowing how else to integrate it into the meat of the article - it's that it instantly reminds us that Jackie is nothing more than an asset. I just don't see the point of how much the series has built up tension with her for the show to suddenly render all of it - "Just Friends" especially - so superfluous, and so quickly. It's inevitable, of course, but the quickness with which the show pulls that out just doesn't bode too well.
-"Hey, this is Tom! I can't get to the mirror right now, so leave a message after the shriek." I like how much Star vs. goes and normalizes everything that it can; however lofty and magical things can get, there's still some strange reality behind it.
-"Ohh, what a nard! Look at how much water he needs now!" "He's a seahorse, Pony."
-"Wow, magic manacles. Magicles."
-As always, Sensei is such a hilariously vulnerable man-child with his towel cap and fragile heart.
-At last, the triumphant return of Marco's $650!

FINAL GRADE: A+/A. Okay, so let me defend myself a bit. "Sophomore Slump" is clearly the heavier episode with the heavier intentions, and it's brilliantly written, but it doesn't give the audience anything new so much as it finally makes the situation explicit. The way it conducts itself is brilliant, and I'll go so far as to acknowledge it as the technically more well-crafted of the two, but "Demoncism," with its subliminal efforts to further complicate the show's emotional tension, is the more revealing. "Slump" simply sets things in motion; "Demoncism" is the true incitation of whatever nightmare Season 3 is anxiously waiting to pull out against us, and I commend it for doing so with as much subtlety as it does.

Then again, I may be reading into the situation too much, though in my defense, that's kind of what the show is built on - leaving us with nothing but loose ends and forcing us to do with them what we can. Whereas the latter episode reaffirms, the former episode is what truly delivers the greater blow.

For yesterday's reviews of "Club Snubbed" and "Stranger Danger," CLICK HERE.

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Okay, so who's writing the "MARCO IS A LOBSTER" theory?