I think I’m finally starting to warm up to this show.

I was a Teenaged Abomination

Blegh. I was actually kind of dreading this episode. I knew from the promos and title sequence that Luz was eventually going to meet a greek chorus of teenaged misfits attending a quirky magical highschool when I hoped it would just be our trio of protagonists. I could just envision a cold opening to the sound of lockers slamming and an upbeat electric guitar ditty as we’re dredged back through every tired high-school trope from virtually every cartoon from here to the early 90’s. *shudders*

To my immense relief, the episode uses the setting merely to highlight Luz’s dynamic with Eda. Growing malcontented with the Witch’s borderline hobo tendencies and piecemeal approach to teaching magic, Luz endeavors to infiltrate a magical academy. This comes to Eda’s chagrin considering her disdain for conventional thinking. Overall, I’m on her side in her assessments, at least regarding the portrayal of the whole magical school archetype anywhere outside of Harry Potter.

Along the way she meets the shy, underdog witch, Willow, the pompous teacher’s pet, Amity and the only slightly grating human aficianado, Gus. They’re nothing to write home about as far as supporting characters go, but they have some potential for development alongside the main cast. And I’m glad Amity is portrayed as no more than a mild nuisance as opposed to a stereotypical mean girl. The episode also introduces a villainous character, Principal Bump (I hope I heard that right. Bump? As in, “what goes bump in the night”?) Despite his creepy exterior he’s shown to give credit where it’s due, recognizing Willow’s precocious skill with plant magic. So, if a villain, he at least shows some depth.

My only real problem with this episode arises in the end when, forced to leave Willow behind in a spot of trouble, Luz rushes home to Eda for help. However, it’s revealed that Willow and Gus are simply set free and they then explain away any further loose ends. If the episode hadn’t languished so much time on King’s tussles with his garbage slug pet, they might have had time to give this plot thread a more climactic ending. As it stands though, I think we knew enough about what was going on for the episode to end on a high note.

Again, to my relief, it turns out that Luz’s escapade ended up getting her banned from attending the school, so at least it shouldn’t be in any danger of being overused (phew). Eda takes great pride in Luz earning her first wanted poster and making use of the seemingly innocuous macguffin she discovered in the garbage slug’s entrails earlier in the episode (let’s call it a Chekov’s seed). Overall, a pretty good episode. I enjoyed watching Eda and King’s banter, and Luz’s impression of a shoggoth.

Overall: 8/10