Star vs. the Forces of Evil Review: Stump Day / Holiday Spellcial

"Tell us the story of Stump Day, Uncle River!" "Ha ha ha, you don't tell me what to do!"

"Hey Matt, didn't you say you were going to stop doing this?" I don't know, man, I just like keeping myself busy...

The holidays are always an interesting time for shows to create episodes because there's a very distinct vibe that they elicit: one of festive cheer to hold over fans for the next year and fill us with warm, fuzzy feelings for all of the characters. In that regards, Star vs. does everything right.

But, because I'm a jerkish reviewer who has to look at the other side of the coin - the merit - I'm going to cite some issues. That's not to say the episodes were bad, because there's plenty to like... but I have a self-important job to do.

"Stump Day" was at its best in making fun of holiday traditions. Think about it: the belief is that there's a gigantic, not-even-anthropomorphic stump that comes and strangles bad children to death. It's criminally absurd and dark as a visual, and then seeing that in practice makes it all the more hilarious. It's a gigantic stump. How utterly menacing of a sight. I hope the bark isn't too prickly. Making Star believe in its existence, too, was delightful in the insanity of her worship, and finding it to be well-reasoned pushed the joke even further when her paranoia checks out. (Having the intense climatic score accompanied by sleigh bells was the icing on the cake.)

It was also wildly successful on the front of all of the character reactions. At about midpoint through the episode, the focus shifts entirely on the rivalry between Marco - who arranged Star a quinceañera for Stump Day, not knowing it went against the rules of the holiday (and subsequently freaking out) - and Tom - who opted against it and argues that, in doing so, he knows Star better. It's nice and frank as it is, a harsh but well-deserved shot at Tomco as an item that points to the trajectory of the show, and it's wildly enhanced by all of the peripheral characters commenting upon the drama with comedically-detached or self-satisfied reactions in the face of the conflict, with both Janna and Pony Head shining in their unphased commentary. (I mean, Janna straight-up burns the Stump and Pony Head, about to die, begs for forgiveness while still giving Marco a hard time.)

The largest issue with "Stump Day," however, was that it just sort of balked at the prospects of being meaningful. It existed to incite conflict, but it closed it off with such a deliberate abruptness that I'm left wondering what the point of it is. I suppose now we, more than less, know Marco's true feelings towards Tom (and arguably towards Star), but where is the consequence? Things just happen only to evaporate immediately. The character relationships get viciously dissected but instantly reunited - out of circumstance, sure, but making their save from the Stump merely because it's past midnight and no longer Stump Day frustratingly undervalues everything else. That would be fine on a lot of other shows - my beloved Gumball, for instance, had an entire episode that deliberately dragged all of its characters to a certain death before cutting immediately to the credits at the climax - but Star vs. is built on investment, and "Stump Day" is theoretically so heavy that its abruptness rubs me the wrong way.

"A Holiday Spellcial" struggled with another issue entirely. It's not heavy at all, and it's not that it failed on the emotional front because of its writing; the issue lay in the fact that it's trying to communicate something emotional with characters that don't matter to us. The show already nimbly found a use for Spider with a Top Hat in his charming underdog story of the same name, but he's not a character asking for more development and there's nothing in terms of insight that he, as a character, can really yield.

As an episode, I'm not going to say it wasn't a fun and novel concept to throw around in its simplicity; the menacing All-Seeing Eye pops up at the Stump Day shindig inside of Star's wand and quickly goes around dispersing destructive secrets about all of the attendants in pursuit of truth. (All of this is under the pretense of a short scene where Marco argues that "It's always best to tell the truth" which, as the episode demonstrates, is arguable.) "Holiday Spellcial" has the most fun, though, prodding at weirder details than anything else, and that's where it excels the most. The truths it unveils, for instance, are all hilarious in their absurdity, like witnessing that a buff horse in fact wears a bodysuit or watching a Unicorn Octopus marvel, "Ooh, free stuff!" at a shelf before setting it on fire for no apparent reason. The plot is understandably cliched, so it makes up for it in the department of its relative specificity.

The big issue here, on the other hand, is that the episode feels a bit unwarranted, and the last thing we need right now is a breather episode that doesn't contribute to the show an ounce. It just feels hollow as a result. It's not bad, mind you... it's just not something that had a real reason to exist. We laugh, we feel, but ultimately, we forget. There's just not much to say.

Notes and Quotes:
-"It's the ultimate gift! Two boys are fighting over you!"
-"I'm truly sorry that I was so hard on Earth Turd! Except not really. 'Cuz he's improved as a person with my thoughtful criticism."
-The scene doesn't contribute too much, but I greatly enjoyed the brief breakdown of Stump Day traditions courtesy of River's presentation, especially considering the vagueness of the concept we've had in the past.
-Marco, entering Star's room at night: "Star? Are you decent?"
-I have no idea if the show is really planning on doing anything with the Marco/Kelly ship it's trying to sell; it should be made especially apparent now how meaningless that all is, especially with Pony Head addressing it outright, so what was the point of any of what the show was quickly building up if they merely point at it it's inexorable collapse?
-I liked Star's out-of-left-field, insanely aggravated, "Wait. You didn't believe in the Stump?" when her parents barge in on everybody being strangled... Now is not the time, Star.
-"Pin the Branch on the Stump." That'a all.
-Also, uh, is this how we're going to be using Jackie from here on out? I suppose it's an inevitability that's just about as uninteresting as the character.

Final Grade: B/B-. "Stump Day" was a nice examination of character relationships, but it's greatest issue was in its ability to really provide commentary beyond that or anything that'll last - it merely plants the seeds but bears no legitimate outcomes, which deflates the episode from leaving any impact. Meanwhile, "Holiday Spellcial" is charming, but it lacks the ability to have much of an emotional impact and comes across as pointless.

I get that we need good feels for Christmas, but they were vehicles for just that and not much else. Perhaps that's all a relief considering this is Star vs. that we're talking about, but it feels weirdly irrelevant placed next to everything else the show is trying to do. Again, though, there's really nothing wrong with the show being nice and sentimental for once; I'm just a pedant.

And now, yet again, we wait for the fortunes that next year shall provide.

For the last Star vs. review of "Monster Bash," CLICK HERE.