my favorite thing. my FAVORITE thing about this episode. was that when alador reached out for a hug, Amity stopped him and went for a handshake (or grab, I'm not sure). I dunno if that's like, ~important representation~ or just a me thing based on my personal responses to trauma and interpersonal conflict, but I really appreciated that she didn't just let him all the way in immediately after that one brief conversation. That's something I don't see as much on other shows that TOH does really well. Part of it is about a message of self-worth, which I do think is important on a larger scale, but I also just personally resonate with not being comfortable returning to "normal" or "okay" with someone after they've hurt you.
usually with my fandoms there's one or two characters or relationships i'm focused on above all else, but i don't really have that with the owl house? like sure i have characters i'm more invested in than others but the last three episodes i was like "raeda and lumity!!!" "aunt lilith and philip wittebane is belos reveal!!!" "hunter making friends!!!" and all with the same energy
I’m sorry but there’s just so much to take away from Eda wrapping Luz up in her jacket while she’s opening up about being upset.
Despite the firm tone in her saying “spill it”, right after Luz deflates and sits down,
Eda softens and right away wraps her in her old letterman jacket, a way of telling her that it’s safe to open up to her, and that she’s there. Followed by resting a hand on her lap. She knows one of Luz’s favorite forms of comfort is touch.
Then King brings up a solution, “you need a healthy distraction!” which, although helping Amity didn’t end up being “healthy” at first, he was telling her to care for herself.
Sure, Luz didn’t tell them the whole story (I want to hope she did later), but the way they show Luz they’re there for her is so sweet. Luz needed that.
I fucking love how instead of getting on Edric’s case about “messing up” the potion, Eda encouraged him to continue experimenting by looking on the bright side and the positives that came from it instead of focusing on the negatives. THAT is what encourages kids to keep trying and going on to do incredible things, not belittling them for making mistakes.
I think what breaks me the most about the scene where Luz opens up is that the whole thing is Luz trying not to be a burden. The whole thing is Luz saying “it was a long time ago,” or “not an issue anymore” or “I was dumb.”
It’s the way she speaks slightly faster, tone slightly higher, voice strained. The way she makes herself smaller and even physically tries to take up less space. She doesn’t know what to do with her hands.
It’s the way she’s completely ready to be dismissed, completely ready to say its not a big deal before someone beats her to it. The way she basically says ‘I know I had a lot going through my head at the time, and it was weighing heavy on me, but it’s not an excuse for what I did.’
The fact that she says, with somewhat of a smile, “it was a long time ago so…” before she turns to look at Amity and realizes she can’t brush this off.
It’s not that Amity is mad, it’s that she can tell this means a lot. It’s the fact that Amity probably put together the fact that her whole mission with her own dad has probably made Luz feel worse. Amity’s done nothing wrong, of course. She had no way of knowing, but it must still feel gut-wrenching regardless.
So Luz explains. And what breaks her isn’t admitting that it’s the anniversary, or that her mom isn’t with her, its that she “doesn’t have any flowers.” and the voice acting is so good. and her little voice break there is so telling.
Because she has a door to build, and a stupid dictator to keep an eye on, and by comparison her tradition feels so small… she doesn’t even have any flowers.
She ends with “I was dumb.” and in the chaos Amity doesn’t get to comfort her in the moment, but does promise to help. She listens, and announces that yes, they will get flowers. They will do something about it.
Amity redemption arc this, Hunter redemption arc that. Let’s take a moment to appreciate Skara’s quiet background arc of realizing Boscha’s bullying and elitist mentality were wrong, breaking out of her influence, making better friends, and befriending and joining a Flyer Derby team led by Willow, who she previously supported Boscha’s derision of. Because bystander syndrome and passive enabling of cruelty are extremely common and insidious vices we all struggle with, and they take effort to overcome!
Willow says of her team that “at one point or another, [they’ve] all been misjudged” - including Skara, who unlike “half-a-witch Willow”, younger human nerd Gus and rebel against the one-track system Viney, has always been in the popular crowd. But Boscha and others (even arguably Willow herself) did misjudge Skara: the size of her heart, brain and strength of character.