Dycus

Hang on, have we had an episode with King interacting with Gus and Willow before now? Well this is a terrific way to start their relationship. This is another one focusing on King and Luz's relationship and showing how much King really is like a little brother to her. In fact I think this episode really highlights just how young King is compared to the others. I can't say I'm proud of how many times I dismissed my own younger siblings while growing up due to their age.

On a brighter note we have our second run-in with Tibbles! Still a fun conniving antagonist. It's nice to see him in a more proactive postition rather than just an opportunistic swindler like in the last episode. And it would make sense he'd make King his mark as Eda and Luz were too smart to see through his ploys. Sorry King, but once again your young age and naivete strike again. It's a shame that Eda didn't roped up into Tibbles' ploy and got stuck with a seperate plot. But at least she got to punish him for his schemes with the candied apples and wild beasts.

I have to start this by saying I never cared for the magic school trope. Didn't care for high school the first time round and still don't jive with it no matter how many cool powers you add in. But Harry Potter was still a big deal when this aired (and unfortunately still is) so the producers wanted Luz going to witch school.

And it honestly isn't that bad an episode. Firstly I enjoy the Detention Crew. Viney, Jerbo and Barkus are fun characters that shine with what little screentime they get. And I do love that they all enjoy learning, which is a strange trope subversion for a school setting. You'd think more characters would love to figure out magic in a magic school but that's not always the case. Special shoutout once again to Principal Bump. What's usually a curmudgeon character ala Principal Prickly is a reasonable figure doing the best he can. He's trying to get money for the school, protects his students, and straight up breaks the rules for the sake of his students.

This episode has it all! Worldbuilding, terror, Amity, Hooty committing implied slaughter, you name it! To start, we have another glyph. And we learn where the glyphs come from. And while it isn't explicitly stated why the glyphs show up in nature, I think even the least savvy viewer can put together that the massive bones that make up the island have something to do with it. I simply adore this kind of stuff. Learning magic systems is always fun and how they're slowly revealing everything piece by piece makes it better.

We also get more of Amity. By this point the mean girl facade has thankfully dropped, at least around Luz. She still tries to act cooler than she really is, but we're seeing she's more human (witchy?) than she seems. Watching her struggle with learning new spells especially helps. It's also fun to see the twins show some more character as well. Especially Edric trying to eat a bat. Gotta love Ed.

Now I have to confess something: I never thought that Eda was a good teacher in the show. A good gaurdian, sure. A good teacher, not so much. And considering how she's willing to get Luz into the school she'd likely agree. But it's not that she's the worst at it.

I remember not being too enthusiastic about this one. But upon a rewatch it's not too bad. This is another one that explores King and Luz's relationship and how they don't always get along. King's ego drives him to make a bunch of selfish decisions that Luz is rightly upset over. But in the end it's great to see her help spring him out of trouble.

This is probably the first episode that we're really starting to see the sibling dynamic between these two. Not just because they're arguing though that tends to be an easy dynamic to use between siblings. There's a point where King wants to invite Luz to one of his book signings for no other reason than he wants her company. Even with his ego he still desires her acknowledgement. And despite being angry with the little demon Luz attends anyways. Peak sibling behavior.

Speaking of siblings, the b-plot with Eda and Lilith is superb. Seeing the same dynamic play out with the older duo reflects the same with the younger duo. Eda's more than happy to help out Lilith and vice-versa, despite being enemies. And seeing them work glowering over the weasel that tried to trick them is probably one of the best scenes in the entire show. Just the line "Woe to us our fates are sealed" while Eda cracks her knuckles is priceless.

A self-proclaimed "Internet Science Man" Forrest is an evolutionary biologist who uses TikTok and Youtube to not only teach evolution but also fight against misconceptions and misunderstandings on the topic. He also enjoys ragging on movies and videos made by the likes of creationist think tanks such as Answers in Genesis and Prager U. So many years ago, he made a video riffing on a film known as "Gramps Goes to College."

A simple task, poke fun at a movie about an elderly creationist going back to college to "totally own" all the evolutionists in higher education and be the coolest person in the world. Laughs were made, science was taught, and good ol' Forrest continued on with his year.

Until he got an email from the man who made the movie.

Gramps himself, Donald James Parker.

And Mr. Parker had challenged our dear Mr. Dr. Science Man Valkai to a debate over evolution.

And naturally, Forrest agrees!

And it goes terribly.

For Gramps of course.

The poor old man who was apparently told by God himself to fight against the evils of evolution found himself floundering before the absolute bottomless well of information that was Forrest. Who happily answered every one of the elderly gentleman's ever witty questions and hard-pressing philosophical conundrums with more scientific proofs and evidence than he ever expected to exist! (Despite claiming he had studied evolution himself)

Thoroughly humbled, Mr. Parker concluded the debate with a sound "agree to disagree" and all believed this to be the last to be heard of Gramps and Forrest's encounter.

This was two years ago.

And several months from the current date, Mr. Parker released a new movie on Youtube:

A film about Gramps (as himself) debating a well-known atheist podcaster and losing ever so terribly.

And then that same atheist falling in love with one of Gramps' daughters, seeing the errors of his atheistic ways, converting to Christianity, and becoming Gramps' new son-in-law!

You may call this horrifying, heinous, disturbing, and probably many other colorful descriptors! And Forrest would agree with you.

But mostly he found it hysterical:

(Word of warning this one is nearly 3 hours long but god is it worth a watch)

So you are all now aware of your shared existence with a man so petty and sour about losing a debate that he spent 2 years making a AI-ridden fanfic movie about the man that humiliated him in order to nurse his bruised ego!

And to round out the overlooked and underappreciated characters, we get an episode about Owlbert. I haven't given much thought about him other than as Eda's little sidekick. Probably why he needed a focal episode in the first place. It's cool to find out he was made by Eda which gives the two of them such a close bond. This is also the episode that we're first introduced to the concept of palismen. I love how the name's just a portmanteau of "talisman" and "pal." It's funny, it's simple, it works. It also combines the concepts of a magic staff with that of a witch's familiar which is extra fun!

As for the episode itself, watching Luz go through hell just to make up for her mistake reminds me of why I like her so much. The girl will go above and beyond for people she calls friend. And that includes a little wooden owl she hurt on accident. And then there's the Bat Queen.

Oh, the Bat Queen. I've only been upset over a couple of abandoned plot threads in this series and this is one of them. I was thinking that we would get some grand moment when it's revealed who she once belonged to. It's obvious now, somewhat obvious then, but I figured it would've lead to a world-bending event! But that never happened and I just have to deal with it.

This is our first Gus-centric episode and it's not a bad romp. I complained earlier that he feels like a token character up to this point so it's nice to have him in the spotlight. We get a better feel of his character in this, showing he's an unapologetic nerd when it comes to his special interests and loves to show off with his powers. That said he's very insecure.

It's mentioned here that he's skipped grades and feels like an outcast amongst his own peers. This leads him to make some pretty boneheaded mistakes in the name of keeping an image, namely telling Luz he got her ban from the school lifted. I do like that Luz was allowed to be mad at him for that while also still willing to bury the hatchet. I feel most kid shows would have her be too understanding given the situation.

So, this is my least favorite episode in the entire show. I really don't like body swap episodes. It's one of those things that tv shows are insistent on keeping around despite the events being weird and awkward. But I wasn't going to skip over it so here we are.

I'll at least give the artists credit, I love how they made everyone's faces match their new bodies. Eda's makeup is a universal constant apparently and seeing Luz's big eyes on Eda's face is pretty funny. King as Luz looks so dumb I can't help but find it hilarious. As for the content of the episodes, it's rather uninteresting. Eda!King is kind of fun with her becoming imprisoned by a pair of kitty cafe owners who coddle their victims to complete mindlessness. But King!Luz trying to impress teenagers and Luz!Eda showboating with Eda's magic powers ends as you would expect.

This episode is completely skippable in my opinion. The only thing that might save it from being completely missable is the inclusion of Lilith. She drops the fact that Eda used to want to join the Emperor's Coven when she was younger. But much like Willow and Amity being friends once this is something that can be inferred in future episodes. If I really wanted to fish for compliments we get some character from Boscha. But again, it's nothing that isn't extrapolated better in future episodes.

And thus begins the breaking of the Ice Queen. I find this episode important as it shows the softer side of Amity. Not to mention soften her to Luz which I'm sure we know how that ends. It's fascinating to find out that Amity's cold demeanor towards Luz isn't completely unreasonable. As far as she can tell, Luz is a delinquent that just wants to make her life harder. Nothing more than a bully who's trying to act sweet. This isn't helped by the human getting swept up into Edric and Emira's pranks.

Speaking of the twins, this is our first encounter with them and they don't leave the best impression. I know now that they mean the best for their sister but here they're simply awful. It makes me wonder if they were originally written to be antagonistic throughout the series only for the writers to change course later. Either way, can't help but think they're just mean-spirited in this episode.

This one is just okay and I remember not liking it that much the first time around. It's nice to have Luz doing things with her best witch buddies but it's still a low stakes adventure that feels skippable. There are some things worth mentioning though.

We get a little more characterization for Willow. For a scene we see her temper rise up again and later learn that she use to be good friends with Amity. Two elements that'll pay off soon. We also get to see Tibbles, a villain I kinda wished got more screen time. I'd like to think there were more episodes with him planned but alas, he's only in this one and one other. He's still a fun little bastard who's just as much of a con artist as Eda is, making the two of them good foils for one another.

Wish I could say more about Gus. Up to this point he's felt like a token character. It's like they couldn't do much with just Luz and Willow hanging out so they added an extra to fill out a dynamic. He gets a few funny moments but his character development is lacking compared to Willow's.

Lilith is in the house! And just like Amity she's terrible! The textbook case of the snob looking down her nose at all the plebeians around her. And naturally it's all to hide her true weaselly nature along with a very short temper. It's hilarious to watch Eda find ways to push her buttons in the most childish ways possible.

And pushing those buttons leads to the first of many wonderfully animated fight scenes! If people weren't interested in the show before this I'm sure the duel between Eda and Lilith would've caught more than a few of their attentions. It also a good show of the pair's personalities. Where Lilith uses on only a few reliable spells in the fight, Eda goes all out using every trick she can muster with visible glee. She even pulls out the force field spell we saw her use in the previous episode.

We also get an official meeting between Luz and Amity with less abomination goo and fleeing from security systems. Amity is still in full mean girl form when confronting Luz especially when the human refuses to back down. But we see a little bit of that icy demeanor crack by the end when she witnesses Luz's determination.

Apparently Terrace loves horror and I'd believe it with this episode. This episode is a classic horror movie that had to be scaled back for a child audience. I still adore the scene where King is being chased through the halls by the Owl Beast. They put all their extra effort into that scene and it doesn't go unappreciated.

This episode is probably also the most important so far as it not only explains how magic works but has Luz cast her first spell. In hindsight knowing how this all ends the scene is had me grinning. But even without that knowledge it's still fascinating as we're with Luz stumbling onto a secret of this world.

I haven't spoken much about King before now as up to this point he's really only been the spunky little mascot character that gets into trouble. But we finally get some focus on him to find despite all his bravado he's an insecure kid who wants friends. Him and Luz have an adorable budding relationship that'll pay in dividends when it's all over.

And finally Eda. You can see the Owl Beast twist coming a mile away but I'd like to imagine some ten-year-old out there was shocked anyways by it. And having the curse be analogous to chronic disease is inspired! It makes Eda's self-conscious behavior towards it more understandable as it's something many of us in the real world can relate to.

We finally get our tertiary cast! Willow, Gus, and a green-haired Amity. And to start things off boy was Amity terrible in the beginning. She becomes an absolute sweetheart by the end of the series but here at the start she was the most stereotypical mean girl you could make in a kid show. It is funny to watch her lose her temper over abomination Luz though.

As for the other two it's easy to focus on how much of a meek and timid person Willow started out as. But I'd like to mention just how much of a temper she had too. She almost beat the crap out of Luz with plants on accident! Gus is also kind of adorable in this first episode. His enthusiasm with everything Luz does is very endearing. I always felt he was a bit of a third wheel in the friend group (at least up until season 2) but he's far from a bad character.