Review: The Owl House “Witches Before Wizards”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Luz settles into life on the Boiling Isles, expecting to start her witch training straight away, but is let down by how mundane living with Eda proves to be. Instead of going to a school like most do, she’ll be doing chores for awhile. For today, she’ll be selling packages to people in Bonesborough, which slowly but surely chips away at her optimism and anticipation about her own personal “path to greatness”. That is, until she meets a wizard named Adagast who tells her that she is the “chosen one” to find a Celestial Staff. Eda and King laugh this off, but Luz goes on the quest anyway, soon revealed to be an illusion by Adagast (who is actually a giant squid) in order to lure out Eda to get rid of some competition. Despite the fact that the illusions tell her that she is special and chosen and worthy, Luz breaks free of them to protect Eda and defeat Adagast. In the aftermath, Eda tells her that she should decide for herself when she is worthy, because otherwise she’ll be waiting forever to start.

OUR TAKE

So I mentioned last week that the premise for this series sounded oddly similar to another recent Disney series released just a few months prior called “Amphibia”. As both shows are such close peers, being both created by different Gravity Falls alumni, having similar plots, and premiering so close together, a side by side comparison seems almost encouraged. Having watched two episodes of each now, I think I actually might like Amphibia more, as its pilot uses its plot in a far more intriguing way, leaves questions that got my mind racing and speculating about future episodes, and tackled lessons about friendship and communication that I really felt were relatable despite me being in my late 20’s. Owl House, meanwhile, feels skewed a bit younger, as well as not really being interested in its storylines beyond what’s in the moment (at least right now).

Though the comparisons with Amphibia can wait until the end of the season, so let’s focus on the show we’re covering now. This week shows us that Luz is gradually getting a clearer sense that the Boiling Isles, while much more magical and fantastical than her own home, is really just another location where she is still someone powerless and set apart from others. And while I hope that they put more focus on that aspect in later seasons, this episode mainly focused on the old lesson of doing the right thing over the easy thing, even when it’s hard. Or is it about knowing that people who will tell you things you want to hear aren’t always out for your best interest? Or is it that you should believe in yourself first? I feel like these are related lessons, but they seem so frayed in how they’re presented here, especially since the main takeaway is that Luz wants to get her magic powers by going through the proper channels now…but won’t tell her mom she didn’t go to summer camp.

Either way, while this series is doing an alright keeping itself at the usual standard for kids cartoons, it still somehow feels like it’s behind about a decade. I could probably just chalk it up to being “not for me” or having outgrown shows like this because they’re made for kids, but then why did Amphibia appeal to me so much more despite being for the same demographic? I suppose I’ll have to keep investigating that as we continue our tour through The Owl House.