To be honest, I have been reluctant to continue this episode-by-episode analysis. Maybe I’m just missing something, but these two episodes in particular really brought home for me how off everything has felt so far. I’m not sure if it’s something to do with characterization, with pacing, with plot – I’m just not sure. The aesthetics that make the series what it is are still there, but – for me, at least – something feels badly out of place with last week’s episodes. With that being said, here are my thoughts on “Lint Catcher” and “Trial by Squire.”

“Lint Catcher”

It’s difficult for me to know what the intended reaction to these episodes are. Judging from the mixed reactions I’ve seen from others, I’m not alone in feeling this way. For example, I got actually angry when the knights laughed at Marco and when River told Marco that he thought he’d never see him again. None of this makes much sense to me: the guards are the ones who let the kingdom get taken over by rats – while Marco was doing his best to bolster River and resist Ludo’s kingdom – and River has, by this point, spent more time together on-screen with Marco than with any other character! River, of all people, should know that Marco really cares about Star, earned his own pair of dimensional scissors, and enjoys adventuring. What we learn about him in “Lint Catcher” really makes him look like a jerk. (And why does Moon need to ask about it? She was standing right there when he said it.) Just utterly bizarre.

And it was only after watching “Lint Catcher” that I realized that there’s no real reason for Star and Marco to say goodbye in some big, dramatic fashion in “Scent of a Hoodie”: Marco has his scissors, and Star can call Marco using her compact mirror – just as she does with Janna. So … what’s the issue, again? Oh, right – the writers need to get Marco temporarily out of the picture so that Star can fall for Tom so there can be more needless drama. It’s all contrived and ham-fisted.



Last week’s episodes cheapen the roller coaster of emotions that we got in the second season – we saw, after all, a slow burn, starting in “My New Wand!”, in which Star’s crush on Marco is slowly revealed and developed. And, as an audience, we invested a lot of time in watching that slow characterization. For Star to simply run to Tom in the space of two episodes is … well, speaking as an audience member, I certainly feel cheated.

I understand that Star is a teenager, and perhaps the writers intend for her to come across as shallow and even a little sadistic – which is pretty unpleasant to watch in my favorite character – but these changes seem to just suddenly come from nowhere. Remember: prior to season three, the last time Star even spoke to Tom on-screen was in “Friendenemies,” where she insisted that she wanted nothing to do with him:

So what changed between “Friendenemies” and “Club Snubbed”? I’ve already given my thoughts on “Demonicism” – nothing about that episode seems sincere in the slightest, and unfortunately, that keeps adding up as season three progresses.



One result of this breakneck pace is that Star comes across as increasingly shallow, callous, and manipulative. The ending of “Lint Catcher” makes it seem as if Star is simply taking advantage of Marco:

Is it supposed to come off as a heartfelt moment? It really doesn’t, since Star re-establishes her friendship with Marco in terms of one of his being subservient to her instead of Marco being on equal footing with a fellow adventurer. The subservient nature of their relationship is emphasized moments earlier, in what is apparently intended to be a joke, with Star commanding Marco – like a dog – to sit:



It’s really difficult for me to see this moment as anything but a twisted version of what a friendship should be. Here we see a Star who is fully aware of the imbalance of power between her and Marco, who knows Marco no longer has anyone backing him up – he is completely alone on Mewni – and she uses her power to control Marco so that she doesn’t have to deal with her feelings – never mind poor Marco’s feelings! Marco is the one who takes the brunt of the fallout from Star’s confession. As I mentioned earlier, it’s almost sadistic. And compare Star’s behavior in “Lint Catcher” to Star in “Sleep Spells”:

What changed? It isn’t clear – the change seems to have come from thin air, so far as I can tell. Perhaps Eclipsa has some kind of power that makes everyone act like an arrogant idiot.

“Trial by Squire”

I have little to say about this episode. It is depressing, and Marco is starting to seem more and more like Charlie Brown as time wears on. Did the show get some new writers who hate Marco? They’ve made it rather obvious, if so.

I truly don’t get where the idea that Marco hasn’t earned his place on Mewni has come from. We’ve seen Star and Marco adventure together for two seasons, and he’s fought alongside her as much as possible. He puts in the time to practice self-discipline and train himself physically and mentally. He’s performed superhuman feats of strength and endurance and has even earned his own pair of dimensional scissors.

And in “Trial by Squire,” Marco keeps getting mixed messages: how seriously is he supposed to take being a squire? The gravity of Star’s speech in “Lint Catcher” implies that it’s to be taken somewhat seriously, at least, but in “Trial by Squire,” it’s clear that Star just wants to have fun and not take things too seriously. (So much for being a better princess, then.) Yet Star is the one who has established their friendship as being contingent on Marco’s ability to perform as her squire. It’s a very confusing relationship, especially in light of how the other knights treat their squires. The whole concept leaves me thinking that their relationship is headed toward some dark and unpleasant places – and for no clear reason as to why.



Overall, I have to say that, in my opinion, the writing for these two episodes – and last week’s episodes in general – is just uneven in terms of characterization and pacing – even, at times, taking steps back from progress we’d made in the second season. What happened to the clever dialogue and the consistent characters of the second season? Why is Marco suddenly a charity case who everyone thinks is a jerk? Why is Star suddenly so keen on using her power as a royal to control and manipulate other people – including her best friend? Man, I don’t even know.



I’m willing, of course, to give next week’s episodes a fair chance – I won’t let this last week prejudice me. Perhaps the new episodes will give what has already happened some perspective. We shall see.

