Review: The Owl House “Sense and Insensitivity”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

A passing book fair inspires Luz and King to team up to write their own novel to gain literary stardom, only to be manipulated by a slithery agent, Piniet. King ends up writing over Luz’s contributions and taking credit, disappointing Luz and catching Piniet’s eye, but when he can’t replicate the success on his own, Luz is captured and the two are forced to make amends and collaborate to escape. Elsewhere, Eda overhears Lilith looking for a Bloom of Eternal Youth and tries to take it herself to possibly counteract her curse (which apparently causes her to grow old?). But they soon find out that it was just a ploy to trap them both, though their advanced magical ability quickly gets them out. Lilith lets Eda go, hoping that she’ll join the Emperor’s Coven on her own some day.

OUR TAKE

Owl House returns after four months off to premiere the back nine of its first season, but unfortunately it’s not really a strong start. Then again, this series hasn’t really had a lot of strong episodes before now, but after this long a wait, I guess I expected something to help hit the ground running. This IS the first season and character dynamics and plots are still forming, so there’s a bit of slack to be given here, but that slack tightens with each following episode, so it’s gotta get it act together soon. As for what this episode actually covers, we have a main plot that builds on Luz and King’s friendship and a side plot that builds on the strained connection between Eda and Lilith.

The last time Luz and King got an episode together was the fourth episode, “The Intruder”, which revealed Eda’s curse and monster form, as well as showing more of how King desperately wants to be taken seriously as a demon which Luz tries to connect with him on even when it’s not really the time. Here, becoming an author acts as a substitute for King reclaiming is alleged former fame, so it makes sense that his drive to get fame would override his wanting to be a good friend to Luz. As a result, we actually get to see Luz get angry for once, something that I don’t think she’s even done at Eda or Amity. Now, I’m not saying that we should force moments to get her angry, but putting her in situations that bring those emotions out are part of how we can learn about her values and how she reacts when those aren’t respected. That said, the author plot feels pretty disposable, which is part of what makes this feels kinda limp as the one to kick off the show’s return.

The other plot with Eda and Lilith potentially has more going for it, as the strained bond between these two sisters looks to be connected to some of the major mysteries of the series, but while it does provide some interesting moments that shed some light on their unique relationship, it also kinda falls apart when you think about some things. The main thing being that somehow both of these adult witches, one being the Boiling Isles’ most wanted criminal and the other being the head of the Emperor’s Coven, were both very easily fooled by some schmuck with a fake map. Wasn’t this something that Luz fell for in the second episode that Eda seemed like she had learned to avoid? We also get some more info about Eda’s curse, which previous caused feathers to bloom on her body when it was acting up, but now…causes aging? Does that mean Eda just LOOKS old or that Lilith keeps herself looking YOUNG?

That said, I’m glad to see the sisters getting to bond to show their relationship isn’t entirely antagonistic, but the scenario to put them there ends up feeling so artificial and forced that the flaws become more distracting than they should. I also feel like Lilith shouldn’t be letting Eda get away (kind of odd considering Lilith said last time she showed up that she was done giving her leeway), but rather that Eda should show that she’s clever enough to get away whenever she wants, but maybe that’s later. Owl House still proves to be not really firing on all cylinders, but it’s interesting enough to see the process. Next time, we cover an episode that everyone has probably already seen because it aired months ago in Turkey!