Review: Star vs. the Forces of Evil “Lint Catcher; Trial by Squire“

Lint rollers unite!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

“Lint Catcher”

The episode hilariously begins when Star sings to into her Burrito Until Marco shows up at the most awkward time to discover Star’s casually with Tom and due to a series of misunderstandings, Marco learns the hard way that the Cape he’s been wearing since “Scent of a Hoodie was never a status symbol of Knighthood, to begin with. In order to earn the legit rank of Knight, Marco has to become a squire first in which Star’s solution is to make him one to the Laundry Knight, Sir Lavabo. As the two catch up, Marco explains the Jackie breakup in which Star ends up giving Marco the cold shoulder less than 5 mins in that her and Tom are now an Item before introducing him to Lavabo, and much to Marco’s apprehension, Marco points out that Star actually has the power to put him in a higher squire position but Star mistakes Marco’s logic for him being ungrateful, but it isn’t until Star visits Eclipsa is when she encourages Star that she actually has this power and that no Squire has ever survived more than a day in the laundry room.

Much of the episode at that point is spent on Star & Marco facing mortal danger in the form of a grotesquely large purple lint monster but after defeating it, they learn that Lavabo was the only other Squire that’s ever survived to achieve Laundry Knight status. Afterwards, Star tells Marco that a lot has changed in her life since he left, and right now she just wants to focus on being a better princess. Realizing the effect his presence possibly has on her, Marco apologizes for dropping in on her so abruptly and offers to leave, but instead, Star takes Marco to one of the castle towers and uses her wand to teleport his old bedroom to be part of the castle, with Star anointing Marco as her personal Squire confidently assuring him that she doesn’t have to be a Knight for her to give him this status.

“Trial by Squire”

The episode begins when a Sale at the mystical store Quest Buy is happening where Star & Marco partake by camping in the store in preparation for a “Midnight Sale Event” until they encounter members of their Butterfly Kingdom’s Royal Guard along with their squires including a young redheaded girl named Higgs. At first, the convo starts out pleasant until a series of cruel pranks by the veteran Squires who obnoxiously flaunt their disrespect towards Marco & Star for even trying to get supplies. The rest of the episode is spent on a series of comedic setpieces from the Squire’s pranks which were sometimes funny but eventually, we do get a direct an answer to why they’d express such disrespect for the two when Marco finally confronts Higgs about it.

Higgs explains that their collective disdain stems from the fact that Marco technically never earned his squire status as it was just handed to him while everyone else had to go through extreme hardship by working twice as hard. Eventually, Marco wonders why Star even made him a squire in the first place and she explains that she did it in an effort for both of them to hang out more and “do silly stuff” while assuring Marco that she’s a princess who doesn’t need any knight-related items when she has a Magic Wand. The episode ends on a fun lighthearted note when Marco picks out all the gimmicky things Star wanted to buy and they end up having fun with the stuff in the checkout line, even if they look ridiculous to the other Squires & Knights that were jerks to them.

Our Take

In “Lint Catcher”, What’s easily the funniest scene alone was Star singing the “Burrito Song” it’s every bit as typical & random as Star tends to get over the simplest of things. In my last review, I kinda predicted in that Tom’s dramatic change would solely exist just as some sort-of roadblock to make the idea of Star & Marco’s possible romance unattainable despite not seeing much of Tom in the episode at all. While Star’s potentially dangerous ancestor Eclipsa still remains an enigma to both Star and the audience, It was great that she made Star recognize the perks of her Princess status along with the idea of having Marco around isn’t as bad as she expected even if the writers are having Star friendzone the shit out of Marco for the sake of “will they?/won’t they?” drama.

The latter episode “Trial by Squire” also excelled as it introduced more characters in the form of the Butterfly Kingdom’s Royal Guard along with their Squires with the standout character being Higgs. Realistically, It makes sense that Marco wouldn’t be immediately welcomed by the other Squires due to the way he got his foot in the door, but let’s hope he eventually earns their respect at some point in future episodes. Also, the very end had a tiny Gravity Falls reference which I thought was a fun little nod to the series that I’m sure will please fans when they spot it.

As foreshadowed in the colorful Season 3 Intro, It’s clear the dynamic has now changed dramatically with Marco now living in Mewni, while Star has to juggle her royal duties and Tom romantically being part of her life once more.