[7.6/10] I liked both the emotional trajectory and the mystery/heist elements of this one. Bean’s rebellion and change of heart is some pretty standard, arguably TGIF-style storytelling, but putting it into a very non-TGIF setting and tone helps give it some extra zip. Bean is initially angry at her dad for being hard on her (at least by Zog standards) and so feels justified in assisting the overtaxed elves in a heist of the Dreamland vaults. As she later describes it, she’s doing a bad thing for a good reason, which is right up her alley (or, rather, right up Elf Alley).
But then she sees her dad genuinely delighted by the elves, having an epiphany about how poorly he’s treated them, to the point that he wants to return all their money back to them, and it gives Bean an epiphany of her own. She realizes she’s been hard on her dad right back, that he, like her, can be a good guy when given the chance. Seeing her work so hard to set this heist up, and then strain so hard to stop it after her change of heart, gives the episode a very nice cadence.
The heist itself is a lot of fun too. While the beats of this sort of thing, and the spoofing of them, is half the point, the whole elf circus conceit is good for some strong laughs (including Zog’s and Derek’s commentary) and some creative animation. I’ll admit that the “blank-O” elf name jokes are starting to become a little repetitive, but otherwise the little touches like Shelly the strong elf’s lines, or the acrobatics useful for both circus acts and theivery, are very fun.
Plus, there’s tons of great setups and payoffs here, from chocolate coins to elven body hair to the simply act of whiskey drinking. The troll reveal works well in context, and fits with Bean’s usual “bit off more than she could chew” routine. And it’s nice to see Luci being the one who cleverly saves the day, rather than just jerking people around.
Overall, this is an episode that picked up steam as it went, marrying a heist story with a personal growth story in a way that enhanced both.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-10-01T22:39:14Z
[7.6/10] I liked both the emotional trajectory and the mystery/heist elements of this one. Bean’s rebellion and change of heart is some pretty standard, arguably TGIF-style storytelling, but putting it into a very non-TGIF setting and tone helps give it some extra zip. Bean is initially angry at her dad for being hard on her (at least by Zog standards) and so feels justified in assisting the overtaxed elves in a heist of the Dreamland vaults. As she later describes it, she’s doing a bad thing for a good reason, which is right up her alley (or, rather, right up Elf Alley).
But then she sees her dad genuinely delighted by the elves, having an epiphany about how poorly he’s treated them, to the point that he wants to return all their money back to them, and it gives Bean an epiphany of her own. She realizes she’s been hard on her dad right back, that he, like her, can be a good guy when given the chance. Seeing her work so hard to set this heist up, and then strain so hard to stop it after her change of heart, gives the episode a very nice cadence.
The heist itself is a lot of fun too. While the beats of this sort of thing, and the spoofing of them, is half the point, the whole elf circus conceit is good for some strong laughs (including Zog’s and Derek’s commentary) and some creative animation. I’ll admit that the “blank-O” elf name jokes are starting to become a little repetitive, but otherwise the little touches like Shelly the strong elf’s lines, or the acrobatics useful for both circus acts and theivery, are very fun.
Plus, there’s tons of great setups and payoffs here, from chocolate coins to elven body hair to the simply act of whiskey drinking. The troll reveal works well in context, and fits with Bean’s usual “bit off more than she could chew” routine. And it’s nice to see Luci being the one who cleverly saves the day, rather than just jerking people around.
Overall, this is an episode that picked up steam as it went, marrying a heist story with a personal growth story in a way that enhanced both.