[6.8/10] Against all odds, I kind of like the twist here. It became clear pretty early that Puck was pulling the strings, but the idea that this whole thing was a loophole so that he could accomplish Xanatos’s body switching routine in the guise of a “lesson” for young Alexander is fun in a farcical sort of way. There’s even some good motivations and restrictions to help justify it all, with Xanatos wanting to free Coldstone as a thank you to Goliath, and Puck only being able to do the soul transference trick if the soul is willing.
But good lord is a convoluted path to get there. Keeping track of who was inhabiting what body, who was posing as whom, who was bewitching someone else, and how it all switched at various points was a headache. It also required a lot of convenient magic to keep the good guys from catching on to the scheme. And it also required a lot of willing suspension of disbelief for various characters not to realize their dear friends weren’t acting like themselves.
Plus, there’s the toy commercial factor rearing its ugly head again. Hey, maybe someone in the writers’ room really did want to introduce Coldsteel and Coldfire as a way to resolve the Coldstone situation. I do appreciate, as the show wraps up its run with the original creative team, that it hasn’t forgotten about Coldstone and his plight. But I’d bet dollars to donuts that this episode started with the action figures and made the show work backwards rather than the other way around.
Still, I do appreciate the show exploring the new status quo after Oberon’s attack a bit, even if it takes a lot of idiocy and body switching to get the clever ending.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-19T20:47:26Z
[6.8/10] Against all odds, I kind of like the twist here. It became clear pretty early that Puck was pulling the strings, but the idea that this whole thing was a loophole so that he could accomplish Xanatos’s body switching routine in the guise of a “lesson” for young Alexander is fun in a farcical sort of way. There’s even some good motivations and restrictions to help justify it all, with Xanatos wanting to free Coldstone as a thank you to Goliath, and Puck only being able to do the soul transference trick if the soul is willing.
But good lord is a convoluted path to get there. Keeping track of who was inhabiting what body, who was posing as whom, who was bewitching someone else, and how it all switched at various points was a headache. It also required a lot of convenient magic to keep the good guys from catching on to the scheme. And it also required a lot of willing suspension of disbelief for various characters not to realize their dear friends weren’t acting like themselves.
Plus, there’s the toy commercial factor rearing its ugly head again. Hey, maybe someone in the writers’ room really did want to introduce Coldsteel and Coldfire as a way to resolve the Coldstone situation. I do appreciate, as the show wraps up its run with the original creative team, that it hasn’t forgotten about Coldstone and his plight. But I’d bet dollars to donuts that this episode started with the action figures and made the show work backwards rather than the other way around.
Still, I do appreciate the show exploring the new status quo after Oberon’s attack a bit, even if it takes a lot of idiocy and body switching to get the clever ending.