Star vs. The Forces of Evil Review: Diaz Family Vacation / Brittney's Party

Well, Stargazers, it’s that time. The time where a Disney network puts one of their shows on a really-long, super-erratic, very-frustrating hiatus. And during this hiatus, fans of that show goes into a certain withdrawal that only be fixed by watching the episodes that have aired and eagerly awaiting the day it returns (well, when the network announces the return on social media). In this case, after only five episodes, Star vs. The Forces of Evil is off the air and on a hiatus until June when it returns for more of Season 1.
This is understandable in the case of animation, as it takes months for an episode to be written, re-written, storyboarded, animated, voiced, mixed, edited and finished before it can even be watched by producers before being shifted off to the network to air. Even for them, it’s a pain to wait through a month or two for the next episode to air.
And in the case of Star vs. The Forces of Evil, it’s even more of a pain, not only because it just began airing, but also because I need to keep this blog running and fill up a month. Oh well, let’s take this review segment to sudden pause with my thoughts (along with long abridged versions) of Episode 5.

First off, it’s…

In it, After inviting the Diazes on a trip to Mewni as a last minute anniversary present, Star and Marco must save them from a many-headed serpent.
The ep begins inside Star's expansion pack bedroom, where she is talking with her parents, The King and Queen, but is bored. The Queen notices the dimensional scissors, but Star manages to pass them off as regular Earth scissors, even when a portal with a monster hand appears. The King cuts their convo short because he has to give a royal lecture. The Queen is exasperated and greets their daughter goodbye. Marco comes in and tells Star about his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz's anniversary, and that he has a gift. Star is perplexed and feels saddened that she didn't give them a present as well. Marco tells her that he'll share credit with her, but she declines, saying she wants to try to find a suitable gift, as they're "actually cool". Marco is perplexed by this, wondering how they could be..."cool".
Downstairs, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz are enjoying time to themselves. Really enjoying time (Eugh) Marco gives them the anniversary gift: fanny packs, which the two...sort of like. Feeling guilty about not giving them a gift, Star bursts into revealing that her gift is a trip Mewi. Both Diaz parents are overjoyed at the present. And through the magic of her Dimensional Scissors (and a nice jump cut), Star takes the Diazes to her wonderful homeland--world--dimension--whatever.
--You know, I could find a lot of things I can tolerate more than watching a woman grabbing on a man’s pubic hair in the name of love. A LOT. Cause that was gross. (But that is funny, though)
--That blanket is so...not age-appropriate.
--Oh, and those items Marco carries in his fanny pack? Remember them. Seriously.

On Mewni, Star shows the family what life for normal citizens is like. And it’s very interesting. I mean, a child is eating a unicorn. And the open-air market isn’t any better. But things get worse (at least for Star) when she finds her father at a tent selling weapons, checking out a spear. She freaks out and runs away, before he notices. She finds Marco and hides him in a fence blocking a Mewni-an hybrid of pigs and goats. She tells him that if he finds out about her taking the Diazes here, her life is over. Star tries to keep them out of the way by taking to “Mewni’s natural beauty” aka the Forest of Certain Death.
--Be honest, you knew that when the counterfeit guy opening his cape, he really wasn’t flashing himself. But if you did...that’s very sad. But it was hilarious when the Diaz parents took out their cameras, right? Right??

The four walk through the forest, filled with creepy-crawlies that’ll make make you out your skin, and only Marc notices what’s happening. After trying to warn Star and his parents of his discoveries, yet ends up unnoticed, Marco instead keeps on going. Meanwhile, Mr, and Mrs. Diaz continue their trek through, like they’ve gone on a trip to Jellystone, and also continue to be blissfully unaware of the dangers surrounding them (at this point), while Star follows them and tries to stop them. While they take pictures of a baby creature, Star still finds her father wherever she is, this time checking the ground dirt...for some reason. Again, she grabs Marco and tells him she has to cut their other-dimension vacation short. But before this could happen, they find the two have slipped off and (through their footprints leading the way) and went into a cave that looks like a skeleton.

--”Nothing makes you feel more like a man than going to the bathroom in the woods.”
I know, right? Can’t argue with that.

Inside, they find Mr. and Mrs. Diaz’s clothes off and wonder where they are.
(Lemme stop here for a second and mention this:
if me and my family were on a trip like this, and my parents ended up in a cave with their clothes taken off, I’d assume the worst right away: Either (and God forbid) they end up dead, or...This

Part 2: This Time It’s Personal...ly Dirtier. Eaugh!
And now back to our regular-written review.)
Star looks around and finds a nostril of a large creature. It wakes up, and is revealed to be seven-headed, 28-eyed dragon and scares Starco. Marco signals for the exit, but Star tells him that his parents are in it’s stomach. The two fight off the monster (Star), with Marc’s pack helping along the way, including his blanket shielding them, and his miniature book of knots teaching them what stopped the dragon (tying its heads together in knots [which itself gets tied into a knot]) and ending the fight. After all’s said and done, King Butterfly comes back a third time (this time wearing nothing a loincloth--eaugh) and is about to get his Tarzan on to fight the dragon, but stops when he notices his daughter in the same place.

Marco tells them both that his parents are still inside the dragon; the King then cuts open the dragon (which I will hopefully assume is dead before it happened), and frees whomever is inside. It isn’t the Diaz parents, but is some Mewni-ans trapped earlier. Marco is extremely worried and runs into the creature’s corpse, looking for his mom and dad, while Star and her father watch on in heartbreak. Fortunately, and thankfully, they’re A-Okay, and they’re enjoying themselves in a nearby hot spring (Aww... I knew it!!), celebrating the fun trip and their anniversary.

--For a short moment, I really thought Marco’s parents would be gone forever. The look on Star and the King’s faces, along the sad incidental music playing in the background, really made things worse. Fortunately, they weren’t, and I figured that this wouldn’t, because if I did, I would’ve destroyed my laptop and cried my eyes off and my heart would burn like Tom’s angry face. Thank goodness this show wouldn’t go this far this early. We don’t need another Disney show to pull at our heartstrings, then rip them out and play double-dutch with them while we’re screaming and crying in agony.

(hint hint)

After being offered to join them, King Butterfly puts the rest in the spring to talk to Star about her leaving Earth and re-appearing in Mewni. Star tries to answer but stops at “fanny packs” and asks him the same thing, since he was supposed to give a lecture. He responds with some gibberish that also ends in “fanny packs”, and then reveals that he finds his duties on the Royal Throne boring, and takes a hobby in fighting monsters (just like Star; Like Father, Like Daughter. How Sweet). The two make up and hug, before the King summons his assistants and leaves. Marc comes by and tells Star that it’s nice to see her Father and her bonding on something and he has a wild side. He then covers her eyes, as his dad walks by naked. He then says he wishes he wouldn’t see that side.

--Gosh, Mr. Diaz is hairy as I don’t know what. Even Stan doesn’t have as much carpet when shown.

I really like this halfer. Not only did we get to see more of Star’s parents (especially her dad, the King, since the last time we’ve seen him was in “Star Comes to Earth”), we also get to see more of Mewni and find that it isn’t just a kingdom, it’s like all the other books and TV shows where underneath a kingdom there’s a land where normal peasant-like people live. Sure the same cliches are there like people selling stuff in the black market and some citizens acting creepy (read: the child eating the dragon), but I’ve honestly enjoyed seeing more of Mewni in this episode. And the twist of Star giving a trip to it as an anniversary present for Mama and Papa Diaz was really cool (just like their anniversary). I really can’t wait to see more episodes in Mewni and explore more parts of, see what Star’s life was like as princess of Mewni (more than the bits and pieces we’ve gotten in the few episodes so far), as the show has begun to have as many episodes that take place during Star’s stay on Earth, Mewni and the many dimensions that Starco travel through. Since there are 13 episodes in this season (that is until Disney XD announces orders more episodes--which will happen any day now, I know ), there will be a short time to see what adventures Starco goes on.

As that part where it would seem like it would’ve been the end for Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, I honestly felt dismayed and saddened. That’s the power of the animation and music. Again the producers know how to balance the light scenes and dark scenes, the comedy and action, and Western Animation and Anime in every episode. And I LOVE that. I’ve never taken more joy than to watch a TV show go light, then dark, and then light again and then dark again, and then even darker, then back to light to finish. It riles me up well enough to not keep my eyes away.
Also, it’s really cool to see King Butterfly get some limelight shone on him a little here, being (if I may use a bad word for better understanding) a badass (well, almost) by (again, almost) getting a crack out of the dragon as a hobby. I mean, guy looks ripped. Seeing that he has the same hobby as Star is a really cool thing. And the talk they have is just a really sweet thing; not as king and princess, but as father and daughter. You can just feel the love and warmth from that.

Bottom line this was one of the best episodes I've seen this season so far. (That’s right--this early). I guess it can be possible to make a great one so early. And speaking of best, this isn't one of them, but is good on it's own. It's...

Star must fight off Ludo and his army of monsters when they crash Brittney Wong's birthday party.
The episode begins at Echo Creek Academy, where Star is basking in the glow of being popular with fellow students, all of them wanting her to notice them. She then notices a line and (being a fan of them) walks to it; it’s a line for invitations to Brittney Wong’s birthday party. Brittney passes them out to the lucky few students; almost all of them being on the cheerleading squad. She goes to Star and doesn’t give her a invite, telling her she would “when pigs fly”, which is enough for Star to whip one up from her magic wand. But since Brittney doesn’t buy it nor give her the RSVP, Star has a plan.
“iiiI’m going to her partyyyyyyy”, she whispers.
--The Latino guy really should’ve thought about the consequences before getting “zapped” by Star. Doesn’t stop this from being funny though.
--Unless you have eagle eyes, you probably wouldn’t have noticed this the first time. During the line part of this act, Alfonzo was at the front of the line. Nice to see him again for the sake of consistency.
--Seriously, does anyone not notice that hair flip turns Brittney’s head. It may that she’s a possessed being cursed by a demon to be an evil, cruel teenage girl who terrorizes everyone who isn’t on the same social level as her, becoming a queenpin of the local place of higher learning and lower-level sports. Or it’s some funny Running Gag the animators pertained to her because of her Alpha B-word personality.
--Also, while the voice of StarFan gone over my head the first time, I read this tweet by earlier this week that reveals that she was voiced creator Daron Nefcy. And hearing it again makes me think that either it’s the same voice or she has some impressive VA range. Either way, good for you, Ms. Nefcy.

Later that day at the Diaz Family Home, Star and Marco talk about the party before the bus arrives. The two sneak on via Star’s “Rabbit Rocket Blast” transportation spell and land on the roof. Buff Frog, whom someone should’ve noticed and reported to the FBI by now, notices this and reports his latest finding to Ludo. In the bus, everyone invited is tortured by--I mean treated to Brittney’s karaoke singing, until Starco crashes in (literally, through the roof). Brittney is angered by this, while Star is amazed by her tiny hat, poofing up one for herself. Marco is doing pushups in front of Jackie Lynn (and--in his thoughts: wants to play it cool--in reality: gasps for about 7 seconds) but crawls away thanks to a speed bump making him nauseas. Star tries to beatbox for Britt, but is pushed out of the way. Brittney asked the bus driver to stop, but he can’t because of bumper-to-bumper traffic. During the wait, while Brittney wants everyone to watch her open presents, Star gets the feeling she wasn’t invited.
--In this scene, Marco reveals he gets carsick. This may be completely different from the reason I’m gonna mention, but in “The Other Exchange Student”, during the family trip to Isolation Point, Marc is seen perfectly fine in the family van, singing along with his mom and dad about the picnic with Gustav. But there is a difference:
The Diaz Family Van is something Marco has rode in for years and is comfortable in, whereas
the party bus Brittney’s party is held in is something he’s never been in before and can make him potentially sick after a long time inside. So there’s a big difference and his point is valid.
--The bus driver has a lazy eye. Just...putting this there.
--Star calling Marco “homie” pretty much gave me life for a moment.

Star tries to liven up the party by making a laser-eye dog that makes a great laser-light show, but Brittney whips it away. “Not cool”, Star says in her mind.
Meanwhile, Marc tries to talk to Jackie lynn, but his motion sickness is destroying the plan. He baby steps his way to Jackie (read: still on the swivel chair), but is stopped by Buff Blond Boy (who, as of this writing, and my learning from the Wikia, is named Justin), who carries a big plate of clams and asks if it smells bad. This triggers Marco to get even more sick and walks (slides) off to barf. Brittney stops him and makes him swallow the vomit. Star does all she can to cheer everyone up and liven up the party (like make the bus interior like a bouncy house and install a hot tub on the roof), but her efforts were met with dry quiet shade by Brittney.
--It was at the point where I thought Star has that bad, reckless side inside seeping, yet it's held back by her sweet, kind, girly girl side we know and love. And when it comes out, all Heck could break loose. And it made me think…it’s creepy. It’s really creepy. Seeing her act nice, and then when someone doesn’t comply, she just does what she wants to do. And that’s unsettling. Even if she wanted to help make the party better, it still was creepy in those little parts.

When the bus finally stops, Brittney kicks Starco off, unfortunately at the stop where Ludo was waiting for them. (Round 5) Star and the Minions face off on the roof, and Star is clearly kicking monster-butt. (all while Ludo is chowing down Oysters) When the bus ride to Evil is reaching home stretch, Star calls on Marco to take the wheel. Mac complies, but is having trouble thanks to his sickness. He holds off just enough to knock out TEPB to make the drive. But the henchman’s face on the gas makes it insanely worse, and Speed-s up the vehicle. Marco swerves the bus around for it to hit a fire hydrant, flip it several feet in the air and hit the ground. Fortunately, everyone survived happy and enjoying themselves; Unfortunately, the minions also survived--scathed and ready for Ludo’s wrath again. Marco and Lude reach a trash can to puke, but Jackie Lynn comes by to call them “Party Animals” (like they’re drunk).

Brittney is very angry, but everyone congratulates her for the awesome party. Star comes in to talk with Brittney, but she isn’t having it whips her hair and leaves. (Jeez, what a bitch!) Marco comes by and tells Star that what she did was great, and when he ever has a party, he’ll come to her to plan it. The halfer ends with Marc again running to the can to chuck, while Star watches on.
--I really liked the part where Three Eyed Potato Baby got comfortable in his side-role as new bus driver (seatbelt on, mirrors arranged, driver’s cap on and fitted; everything.)
--Also, Brittney and Ludo’s gal-pal-like gab about their shared hatred of Star is also really funny.
--Thank goodness Giraffe-man didn’t reach the same fate as Alan’s giraffe in The Hangover Part 2. Eaugh.
--Also, it’s great to see Spike-Balls again, this time signaling the bus through the dimension portal. I know he’ll appear again in future episodes, but still; I think he’s my favorite minion.

Okay...I’ll get the thing I don’t like out of the way first. (And trust me, it’s just one thing)
Star in this episode was...pretty creepy. All from the thing she says earlier when she was shunned by Brittney and when Brittney whacked the lazer puppy off her hand. But you know what, I think I see why. Maybe Star secretly doesn’t like Brittney and snuck on the bus in revenge because of being a jerk, and making it better was her way of that revenge and reveled in her being angry. Maybe she has that side. At first I didn’t like it, but after seeing Brittney be bitter from start to finish, I was happy it happened. It was still creep though. Also, I really didn’t like Brittney’s behavior throughout the entire episode, but we all can agree that we all hated it anyway.
As for the rest of the episode, I liked it very much. Watching all the “adjustments” Star made to the party was really cool and really nice, and even made even really enjoyed themselves. Even if she just didn’t realized that she wasn’t invited and came in like she owned the place, Star did great making the party better.

Again, this was a very solid episode there were some parts that I didn't like; although I can chalk those up to disgust and that I'll get over them with later watching's. Putting them aside, this was really good, really fun, and can pull the heartstrings well when it can. I enjoyed the visit to Mewni, the Diaz parents celebrating the anniversary, King Butterfly being a badass, and him and Star bonding for a little bit (so sweet), along with Star doing her best to make Brittney's party much better--and succeeding. This was quite a fun episode, and I really made the right choice in finding this one of my favorite episodes of the season so far.

Well, Stargazers, this hiatus is here, and will be in affect for the month of May. And all we can do is be sad, cry and cry some more, knowing it will be a while before the series comes back in June...or we can rewatch these first five episodes over and over again to soften the blow until it returns in June, and be happy and excited now that our favorite show has returned and has given upon us more reason to laugh, cry, amaze and laugh again. I know it'll be awhile but we can hope that the next several episodes will be just as great as the last several have been. Oh who am I kidding? Of course they'll be as great! Or even better, who knows??

As always, I would like to thank the SVTFOE Wikia page for aiding me with the information that only they can provide for me to do these reviews.

And to you guys for joing me every Friday night to read my reviews. I'm always grateful for your tuning in and response. Since this is the end of the Star vs. The Forces of Evil Review for now, I hope you'll join me here at Maroon Mondays for my other segments until its return. You'll never know what enjoyment you'll find here (if any).

So until June (or August or whatever, if Disney XD continues to hold it, along with its other animated shows for another month in this Gosh-awful hiatus), I'm Andrew, saying
Reach for the Star, and Keep Looking Up! ...at your TV screen
(and maybe the Internet for them to announce the return date.)