Review: Star vs. the Forces of Evil “Scent of a Hoodie; Rest in Pudding”

“When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I’ve done
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed…”

Overview (Spoilers Below.)

“Scent of a Hoodie”

Immediately picking up after the events of “Battle for Mewni” where Star eventually destroyed Toffee with the help of Marco, Ludo, and her mother’s help, Marco & Star decide to go their separate ways so Star and her family can help rebuild Mewni. with King Butterfly rewarding Marco with a blue cape for his efforts in helping their family. Before Marco leaves, he tells Star to let him know if she finds his missing red hoodie. However, it’s later revealed that Star secretly kept it as a memento. Understandably, Pony-Head expresses concern towards this unhealthy behavior over a hoodie and throws it down the castle laundry chute due to it needing a good wash.

Much of the episode at that point is spent on Star chasing after the hoodie down the chute out of desperation where her and Pony-head encounter Sir Lavabo, the “Knight of the Wash” who hilariously takes his job a little too seriously and wants to wash it which at first doesn’t bode well for Star, but eventually she owns up to her petty attitude and lets Lavabo do his job where he gives Star the newly clean hoodie and gives thanks, Pony Head for helping her learn that memories & experiences with people matter more than a smell on their clothing. Deciding that she doesn’t need the hoodie anymore, Star sends it back to Marco on Earth, and he notices that it kind of “smells like Star”.

“Rest in Pudding”

During a memorial service held for Lekmet, (Who died during the Season 2 finale “Starcrushed”) Star notices an image of Glossaryck in the punch bowl who also supposedly died after Battle for Mewni. When Queen Moon sees Star awkwardly making a scene, she privately attempts to help her cope with her loss with a strange nursery rhyme. Later that night, Star sees Glossaryck again in her bathroom mirror and decides to call Janna who suggests that if Glossaryck really is a ghost, he may have “unfinished business”. The rest of the episode starts to build-up in atmospheric creepiness when Star takes Janna’s advice by attempting to give the destroyed magic book remains that Glossaryk was tied to, a proper burial but despite Star’s attempts in doing so, the book remains creepily keep reappearing and her visions get worse.

By the 3rd act is when things start to get intensely emotional as Star for better or worse, vents out everything she ever wanted to say to Glossaryck after dumping the book remains in the magic well of the “Mewni Sanctuary”. It’s quite an emotional speech but for all the right reasons as Star’s voice actress Eden Sher shows range to her acting skills by properly conveying a vulnerable yet frustrated side to a young girl who is slowly comprehending the permanence of death. At first I thought the episode would just stop right there but strangely enough, an explosion of water from the Sanctuary shoots out of the well of magic and Star notices something glowing inside and the episode cryptically ends when Star barges in on her parents next morning and reveals that Glossaryck has returned, yet incoherently speaking gibberish.

Our Take

Disney XD sure knows how to hype a fanbase since they felt the need to show the Battle for Mewni special 2 hours before releasing this episode to kick off this two-week event. Both episodes shared a common theme of loss and moving forward but in different ways.

While “Scent of a Hoodie” felt eerily similar to the Regular Show episode “Laundry Woes”, it managed to set itself apart with a much better ending that purposely danced around the possibility of Star & Marco as a couple yet didn’t leave me feeling infuriated like the forced “will they?/won’t they?” drama that the Mordecai & Margaret dynamic was infamous for.  Star’s love for Marco is seemingly one-sided, but at least she’s now mature enough to know she hasn’t lost him as a friend.

As for “Rest in Pudding” the Mewni dimension needs to rebuild, and people who lost their family and loved ones need closure. But out of all the death & chaos from that event, Star is learning to move forward in small steps, but I’m hoping we’ll get answers to why Glossaryck is immediately back in the later episodes even if he isn’t in his right state of mind.