Star vs. the Forces of Evil Review: Sweet Dreams / Lava Lake Beach

"Leave her alone, man! She's going through some stuff!" "We all are! Everyone's in a constant state of falling apart! EXISTENTIAL WAR CRYYYY!"
"Sweet Dreams" and "Lava Lake Beach," however drastically different in their focus, both take the interesting position of showing Star's increasing independence, and consequently, the effect that plays on Marco - the former explores it more on Star's end, while the latter explores it on Marco's. Honestly, I'm in full support of this advancement - after Season 2 went down so hard on Star, I'm happy to see the show mirroring that with Marco - but the means with which it explores the hardship on Marco's end are a bit... less than perfect.

First of all, though: "Sweet Dreams" is one of those episodes that relishes in its ambiguity. We're both subjected to so much and given so little to fully comprehend, but the episode wields that to its advantage.

First of all, there's the reintroduction of Star's, I'm guessing the name, "ultimate form" from "Toffee," which throws so much into question. It made sense in the circumstance, sure, but now Star is unconsciously deploying it to get Goblin Dogs, and that peculiarity to its utilization becomes the foundation of the episode. Instead of explaining it, though, Star vs. uses it as an opportunity to gauge the other characters in the room, namely Eclipsa. (Moon, however, serves to explain the danger and repercussions of Star's form-changing, and Ludo makes a choice cameo that's meaningless but warrants a mention in its hilarity.)

And how delightfully curious to pair the overarching ominousness of Star's new revelation with Eclipsa, who's already as ominous as they come - I say that out of admiration. Even if I'm not a fan of episodes existing solely to raise questions, the inclusion of Eclipsa really allows for a nice edge. As always, she's here to supplement Star with advice, and even if she remains largely in the shadows, we can grasp from her lack of surprise at Star's form-changing that she possesses some greater understanding, let alone a discerning familiarity, deeming it more an opportunity for Star to realize her capabilities. Whether or not we know her, she seems to know all.

In all of its openness, though, I think the most interesting moment is that final scene, where Star rejects Marco's Dimensional Scissors. This whole season has worked on reconstructing Star and giving her more grit as a character, and I don't think it's been on better, more courageous display. On Marco's end, though, it's considerably devastating. Since the start of the show, Star vs. has been hammering in the sense that both characters need each other, but Marco's finally being hit with the truth of the matter: they don't, or at least not to the same degree that Marco might've thought. (At least we can all agree that he didn't do much this episode to assist the general effort, I hope.)

It's with this that "Lava Lake Beach" indulges in exploring the ongoing conflict in Marco's mind... but it doesn't quite work. I'll talk a bit about the first half in the "Notes and Quotes" section, but let's face it: you didn't click on this to read about that, so let's just get into the nitty-gritty.

For the record, Marco's great here. He's practically trying to run away from all of his problems, yet finds them utterly inescapable. There's a sort of sadistic irony in Marco, with enough issues of his own to work out, being sent off to try to take care of Kelly's boyfriend despite both characters being in the same situation - even his earnest attempts to distract from everything fail him, and he gets dragged down all the same. In a sense, Kelly's boyfriend is Marco's foil by the very definition of the term, and their encounter is all the more painful until the reality of the situation finally gets uttered:

"Dude, you have Dimensional Scissors! You could be knocking back soda pops, and crushing pizzas in any dimension! And you're choosing to live with your unavailable crush? When it comes to making yourself miserable, you are the master, bro."

Subsequently, Marco literally attempting to run away from his problems was hilariously agonizing and brutal. Wherever he tries to run, he's surrounded by people in love, and every off-comment burns until he comes across Star and Tom kissing and accepts defeat. That's when the episode starts to get a bit questionable, and that's when Kelly gets thrown into the mix.

I'm not of the mindset that "Lava Lake Beach" is completely terrible, but it's the position it occupies as our introduction to Kelly (beyond quick cuts to her, at least) that makes it so frustrating. How odd of a trade-off that "Sophomore Slump" would go and so quickly shove Jackie aside and then dive right into another relationship almost immediately; even if Kelly very clearly grasps her position as rebound if anything happens further down the line - her self-awareness in his subconscious infatuation with Star at least keeps the episode from diverging too much - this is such a dramatic leap for the show to take, and it feels contrived because of it.

The main issue, though... is the jacket scene. The rest of "Lava Lake Beach" utilizes Kelly exceptionally in counseling Marco, which is always a nice way for the show to give her some personality, and I had no issues with that at all. It's when the show suddenly decides to express infinitely too much eagerness in calling together a shipping cult that I begin to question the episode's heartfelt facade. It just feels so... inorganic. I can understand Marco's general awkwardness and confusion, and I'm fine with the jacket transfer as symbolic of how Marco's life is at a crossroads and he doesn't know where his heart truly lay... but Kelly readily accepting that stifles everything and renders that sense frustratingly dull. It's a moment that takes advantage of how well the show can manipulate our emotions, but at the expense of grace.

What we need is to see Kelly and Marco's dynamic more meaningfully, because what we end up with is an unwarranted reward without any means to justify it. Considering how methodical of a show Star vs. is especially - heck, look at "Sweet Dreams" and how it denies us closure in any way - "Lava Lake Beach" is too instantaneous to feel satisfying.

Notes and Quotes:
-So... yesterday was fun. I'm just going to very casually be done with discussing my issues with this and that pertaining to "Starfari" for the time being, if not for the sake of mentally checking myself in avoidance of wrecking myself... though less jokingly, I'm trying to simply be content as the arbiter of some form of discussion. At the very least I'm going to try to be a little bit more fair, even if returning with "Lava Lake Beach" was... admittedly not the most graceful way of doing that.
-"What's this? Some sort of swords hand dance? This looks fun."
-I remain curious about what purpose Glossaryck is going to serve on the show; I assume the show wants to keep other priorities in check and that he'll be more formally addressed in time.
-"Being in love with your best friend is great!" Ouch.
-More subliminally, I'd also like to think Tom wearing one of Marco's hoodies might also compound onto Marco's insecurities and perhaps a newfound fear of replacement. My Freud's going off, I know.
-I'm chalking "giant existential hellhound" down as one of the show's more memorable one-off characters and I'm hoping we can see him back soon.
-I feel like the jacket scene could've worked if Kelly didn't embrace it. Cynical, yes, but it would allow us a glance at Marco's fragility without, y'know... that.

Final Grade: A-/B. The success in "Sweet Dreams" lay in the glorious unease it radiates and the openness to interpretation it bears; whether or not I have much to say on it, however, is largely a detriment of having an episode like "Lava Lake Beach" where I simply can't establish a position. But whereas the former succeeded it leaving everything fascinatingly ajar, the latter is forceful in its story-telling and manages to undermine the point of its existence. I'm sure my opinion of it will fluctuate, but for now, I'm chalking up a "B" - feel free to pull me either way in the comments.

For yesterday's reviews of "Princess Turdina" and "Starfari," CLICK HERE.