Woo! After nearly a month of no Star vs The Forces of Evil, we got it back last week, and then a week after that we get the season finale?

Could things be any more exciting right now?

(Spoilers)

Well, being that this is Star, we were more or less promised two things: weird, and wild. Did it deliver? Ohhh yes.

The premise of the episode is fairly simple: Now that someone competent is in charge of the monsters, Marco is kidnapped, and Star will do anything to save him – even sacrifice the wand.

I can’t really give much more of a description than that – it’s a brilliant episode that can be succinctly summarized, and that’s part of its charm. It doesn’t try to surprise us with the unexpected, it just takes a simple story and executes it beautifully.  The animation throughout the episode is utterly gorgeous, the dialogue is spot-on, and we’re left with a ton of questions ready for season 2. And of course, we get to see just how close Marco and Star have come over the course of the series – she sacrifices her wand for him, people!

And really, there’s not much more I have to say about that, people. It’s a great season 1 finale for a great show, and my one regret is that we have to wait until next year for season 2.

Upgrade . . .

Pros

• Double length episode!
• With Toffee in charge, the monsters seem like a much more credible threat
• Regenerated wand
• Enough unanswered questions to get me excited for season 2

Cons

• The long, long wait for season 2

9.5/10

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Well, after weeks of waiting, Star vs. The Forces of Evil returns, with two fantastic new stories for us. Is it exciting? Yes. Yes it is. And with this being the penultimate episodes of the first series, I think it’s only fair that we’re entitled to high expectations. (Spoilers ahead!)

First off, I need to offer my apologies on behalf of myself and our other writers – it seems that we’ve all been moving home at the same time. This can only be a result of living together, and we’re all very sorry for that. Now, on with the review!

The first story, ‘Interdimensional Field Trip’, has Star deciding to take her classmates to a museum in (surprise) another dimension. She then has to try and protect her classmates from various dangers the museum possesses. Meanwhile, Ms. Skullnick, turned into a troll in a previous episode, laments her age.

It’s a fun enough story, with yet more focus on Marco’s seemingly hopeless crush on Jackie Lynn Thomas, and some amusing moments with Alfonso and Ferguson. For me, however, the break-out character in this episode is Janna. A minor character who first appeared in ‘Mewberty’, Janna is straight-up weird, and every line she delivers makes me laugh out loud. More Janna, dammit!

The second story, ‘Marco Grows a Beard’, is the standout of this episode, though. Using her magic wand, Star helps Marco grow some face fuzz, which quickly takes over the entire house. After losing her wand in the hair, Star is tasked with saving Marco – without magic! Meanwhile, Ludo and his forces take this opportunity to attempt to snatch the wand while it’s separated from Star, leading to one hell of a hairy situation!*

Like the previous episode ‘The Banagic Incident’, we get another Star-focused story, with some adorable flashbacks to Star’s childhood and some entertaining monster-fights. But what really makes the episode shine is Toffee’s manipulation of the monsters, and his ousting of Ludo at the end of the episode, while predictable, was smooth and entertaining, and a great set up for next week’s season finale, ‘Storm the Castle’.

Overall, this was a really fun couple of episodes, with some great moments, and I for one am psyched up for the finale.

Pros

• Toffee's betrayal
• Great throwaway gags
• Janna is nuts
• Brilliant set up for next week's double-length episode. 

Cons

• No real follow-up from Star's apparent annoyance at Marco from the end of the last episode. 

7.5/10

*Please don’t hate me, but I just had to use that pun.

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