Review: Tangled: The Series “The Way of the Willow”

Never invite Willow to a birthday party.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

When Queen Arianna’s long-gone little sister, Willow, shows up to celebrate the Queen’s birthday, things get irritating. Willow and her sister are polar opposites. Of course, Willow and Rapunzel share an instant connection based on their similar free-spirited personalities. (“You never wear shoes either?!”)

Tagging along with Arianna’s and Rapunzel’s mother/daughter Star shower date gives the Queen a chance to release her pent-up frustration with her sister. Not only did Willow barge in on the night of the Star shower, but her choice of a birthday present was based on how it would reflect back on her, not on if Arianna would actually like it or not. (The strange little creature’s near-constant rattle ringing is frequently used for comedic effect. Its discordant noises are hilariously out-of-place for a pet of the respected ruler of Corona.)

The rattle also serves as a means to bring the sisters together when it’s loss causes the little critter to…spit out copies of itself…that begins to rampage through the forest. This might be the craziest thing the show has ever done, and I’m counting last week’s musical number sang by a ghost. Utilizing Willow’s crazy flying kite contraption, the two sisters work together to return the rattle and save the kingdom from ruin.

Our Take:

After 15 episodes, Tangled: The Series dives deeper into Rapunzel’s relationship with her mother. While Willow and her interactions with Arianna were a good way to reveal more of the Queen’s character (think the Snuggly Duckling gang will keep mum about ‘Dare-ianna’?), the final conflict of the episode felt almost too ‘out there’ for me. Magical glowing rocks is one thing, but an annoying little furball spitting up copies of itself seemed to serve merely as a way to quickly bring the characters back on the same side, and it felt a little out-of-place in an episode that explored some deep emotional depth in Queen Arianna’s familial relations. To me, it may have been more interesting to leave out the creature exploits in favor of more time spent between Arianna and Willow. (I think the show has a quota of one epic action scene to fill per episode, but still!)

That said, it was great to get some insight into Arianna’s feelings about her sister, and how that dynamic changes her relationship with her daughter.