Ah, “The Owl House”. Having finished up its second season just recently, the show has gone down as one of Disney Channel‘s modern classics, as well as one of their best shows in general. I got to catch up with season 1 around the time that was finishing up, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
But with this review series, it’s time to see how it holds up under scrutiny. I have no doubt that my love for the show will remain just as strong as ever, but it’s time to really dive into it with a more critical lens and see just how good it is. And this journey starts off with season 1 episode 1, ‘A Lying Witch and a Warden’.
Obviously, this is the first episode, so it’s fair to be a little more lenient on it than ones that come after. After all, this is where it all started when the crew were trying to get into the swing of things. But I have to say, as far as being a first episode goes, ‘A Lying Witch and a Warden’ still holds up really well. It’s certainly not perfect, but it proves a solid start to a series brimming with potential.
The main protagonist, Luz Noceda, is effectively introduced right in the very first scene. The episode kicks off with her giving her book report about “The Good Witch Azura”, and the way she does so is…unorthodox, I’ll say. The scene depicts Azura fighting off an evil dragon, and it starts off like your typical fantasy combat scenario, with all the flowery talk, epic music, and magical elements mixed in. All of this is undercut once Azura uses her magic staff as a rocket launcher to defeat the dragon, and said dragon gives his final words: “No! My only weakness! Dying!”
Just from the way this scene plays out, we’re given a great indication of what kind of person Luz is. As far as we know, the scene she’s describing here may not have happened the way she says; it could be playing off a badass version of the character that exists in her head, showing her idealization of the fantasy hero that she’s grown to love. The dialogue she chose for the dragon’s death, which is definitely hilarious in its own way, also indicates to us that she has her own quirky way of thinking, depicting the death with a dose of goofiness to offset the more serious tone. To top it all off, we get given a sense of how she was going to present it to the class, using live snakes as a visual and a bunch of fireworks for the act 3 closer.
Everything I just described is established in just the first minute, and it tells us everything about who Luz is as a person. She’s quirky, weird and loves being weird, has her own creative way of expressing herself, and as shown by her interaction with her mother, she’s self-aware enough to know when she’s pushed it to the point of harming others. Luz manages to be endearing before the plot‘s even kicked off.
Speaking of her mother, the episode is very careful with how they write her. It would have been easy to simply have her be totally against Luz’s odd behavior, but she clearly cares for her daughter and wants to see her succeed, whether socially or academically. She may not get much screentime in this episode, but what we do get is heartwarming and bittersweet in all the right ways.
Because of the chaos her book report caused, Luz is forced to be sent to Reality Check Summer Camp where she’ll learn to think inside the box more, but while her mother’s gone, an owl arrives and takes Luz’s Azura book. As Luz gives chase, she ends up going through a magical door, leading her to the central setting of the show, The Boiling Isles.
As far as fantasy settings go, the Boiling Isles is among my personal favorites. The creature designs for this world are very creative, often mixing imaginative and creepy in equal measure, the casual danger of it all gives it a very unique comedic flair, and the fact that it‘s where all of humanity’s myths originate is a nice touch. Even giraffes came from here, apparently, which I’d say makes perfect sense, lol.
And yet despite how deadly it often is, the episode gives it plenty of levity to keep it fun, whether it’s the previously stated casual way it treats deadly situations or their fascination with human artifacts. These are beings that can cast spells far greater than we can imagine, and yet they’re fascinated by a working television. With Luz finding a place to call home in this world, it’s a nice way to balance it out that the residents of this magical world will also gain insight of their own through her presence there.
It’s here we’re also introduced to Eda Clawthorne, the Owl Lady, voiced by Wendie Mallick. Eda is established as a wanted criminal of the Boiling Isles, constantly under threat of getting capture by the Emperor. Who the Emperor is remains to be seen, but the details around her history are just vague enough to make you want to learn more about her.
As for her personality, she’s snarky, opportunistic, confident, and often sarcastic, but as her dynamic with Luz and her little demon pet King show, she also has a soft side that can flourish given the proper treatment. At the start of the episode, Eda sees Luz as simply a means to sell more of the trinkets she gets from the human world, a way to take advantage of these objects and get more business. But as Luz decides to help her get King’s crown back, she realizes that she really does value Luz as a friend and potential pupil, which comes to fruition once Luz decides to stay. Plus, the fact that she went through all this trouble just to get King his crown back(which doesn’t actually give him any powers at all) goes to show that she does legitimately care about those close to her and isn’t just greedy and egotistical.
That leads me nicely to King himself, who is a major highlight for me here. Voiced by Alex Hirsch, King thinks and talks highly of himself, often boasting about how deadly he is, which is offset both by how cuddly and adorable he is and the fact that his army consists of stuffed animals. Only Alex Hirsch can deliver a serious declaration of battle while throwing in a cute name. The fact that he’s using his Bill Cipher voice just makes it even funnier.
The episode also briefly establishes Hooty, the guardian of the Owl House itself. Also voiced by Hirsch, the owl only gets a few seconds here, but he makes great use of this screentime. He‘s established as the type to want to have fun with others and isn’t very good at reading social cues. Given his voice, it would have been easy for him to come off as annoying, but the episode shows that he is a rather fun character.
As a pilot that sets the whole show up, the episode works very well. The central characters all get effective introductions, the comedy is on point, and the ending leaves you eager to find out where it all goes. But of course, I do have to bring up the one major issue that holds this episode back from being truly great: its handling of the message.
Now, the message itself I really like: don’t be afraid to be weird no matter what people say. That’s a great message and I’m totally behind it. I’d also be lying if I said the side characters at the Conformatorium weren’t enjoyable in their own right. Each of the prisoners has a unique way of expressing their weirdness, and the titular Warden is a nice blend of legitimately threatening and entertainingly comedic in how he plays off of Eda rejecting his advances.
That all being said, I do think the message is a little too…on the nose here. It’s one thing to simply have the message in there, it‘s another thing to have the main character spell it out multiple times. At a certain point, it comes off as a touch condescending. We get it, being weird is what makes you special. I would have been fine if the episode relied more on visual storytelling to get the message across, or at the very least didn’t feel the need to outright say it several times.
Other than that, I do have to give credit that the Conformatorium being a thing does establish something important about the Boiling Isles. It’s a world where there’s a certain norm that has to be adhered to, or else you’ll literally end up in prison. Under this Emperor’s rule, there’s a legitimate sense of danger for Luz, someone who embraces her weird side. But as the climax shows(which contains an excellent callback to her ”act 3 closer” fireworks), she’s willing to fight for herself and others’ right to express themselves, no matter what this Emperor has to say. The battle between the two sides has only just begun, and we’ve yet to see the Emperor just yet.
Overall, ‘A Lying Witch and a Warden’ is a very good start to the series. If the message wasn’t practically spoon-fed to us, I would rank it higher, but as is, it showcases a lot of promise for what’s to come in the future. And we’ll see exactly how they follow up on Luz’s decision to stay in the Boiling Isles when we cover the next episode next Monday.
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