[6.8/10] One of the ways you can tell you’ve become old and jaded is that you get utterly exhausted by Instalove. I totally understand that television shows, especially ones with ten episode seasons, have to move quickly, but the romance between Bean and Mora just develops too quickly for me to buy into.

It’s a shame, because I like the idea behind them. Both of them are princesses. Both know what it’s like to labor under the expectations of their communities. I especially like that the show gets personal and introspective with Bean over a sense of loneliness and whether or not love is in the cards for her. Mora’s ukelele song is sweet, and the idea of these two lost souls giving one another solace is a nice one.

But it just all plays very rushed and as romance by fiat rather than letting things develop at a more steady and believable place until we’re in full blown twue wuv town. Maybe it’s just a chemistry thing, since I was definitely rooting for Zog and his were-bear friend after just one episode, but it feels like “Last Splash” is shooting for something bigger than that, and can’t quite pull it off. It’s definitely one of those “Like the idea, but the execution leaves me cold” sort of things.

That said, it’s a bright shining star compared to the notion of Elfo being in love with the steamboat they’re all riding. What the hell was that? It’s like a pale attempt to do Futurama’s “Love and Rocket”, except with weak jokes and yet another character succumb to unamusing “madness.”

But hey, the backgrounds and artwork in general in this one were beautiful, so if the show can’t fully deliver on its writing and character, at least it can give us some lovely imagery to look at. That said, the “It was all a dream” double-fake-out after all that scenic and sonic beauty feels cheap and hacky.

Overall, this episode represents Disenchantment taking a big swing -- between the nature of the romance, a low-key talkier episode, and some introspection from Bean -- which I always admire. But the way the show realizes that didn’t click as well as I would have liked.

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