So this episode is yet another case of being decent on it’s own and also an okay set up for events in the first season, but completely falls apart due to later story arcs. So strap in folks, this will be a long one. So this episode is yet another case of being decent on it’s own and also an okay set up for events in the first season, but completely falls apart due to later story arcs. So strap in folks, this will be a long one.
Summary: A science exposition is held in Corona; Cassandra has a chance to go on guard duty, but must finish her lady-in-waiting obligations first. Varian bargains with Cass to help finish her chores if she agrees to assist him in his demonstration. However, Cass accepts an assignment to guard the famous scientist who is judging the contest and is thus unavailable. When things go wrong, though, she chooses her friend over duty. Meanwhile, Rapunzel tries to make an entry for the science fair.
Nine Episodes In and this is Cass’s First Real Conversation with Her Dad
According to this episode and later revelations, Cass’s relationship with her father is a big part of her driving motivation. Yet we haven’t gotten any real insight into what that relationship actually entails until now. Heck we still barely get any real answers as it’s only two scenes that doesn’t tell us much. And those two scenes are it. After this point, they won’t have another conversion until the season one finale and then a few short flashbacks in season three. That’s not enough.
The Show Never Actually Tells Us Why Cass Isn’t a Guard Already
The show makes it really clear that Cass hates being a handmaiden and wants to be a guard but it never explains why she stays in that position. She’s a grown woman and, as revealed in later seasons, she has other options then just those two. So why?
Is Cap just being overprotective? Is she only looking for his approval and doesn’t actually care about being a guard? Are there legitimate reasons holding her back, like her stubbornness and temper, and is the handmaiden thing a deal to prove that she’s responsible first? Is it really Frederic putting her to work, now that she’s an adult, to earn her keep because she’s of a lower class? Like what is it?
We could theorize all day long, but the very fact that we have to guess the circumstances that lead to the decisions/actions of the main deuteragonist is in of itself a flaw.
There’s not a Strong Enough Connection Between Cass and Varian
The whole point of the episode to build a bond between Varian and Cassandra. So that when their relationship falls apart later in the show, we’ll feel sorry for them. The problem is, much like Cass and Cap, this one episode is not enough to establish that they are friends. Because the very next time we see them together she’s abandoning him the same as everyone else.
From there on out, they’re either beating the crap out of each other or ignoring the other’s existence. Ergo, the audience has very little reason to care weather or not their relationship will be mended. Especially after the third or fourth fight and you’re sitting there wondering why they ever bothered to make them friends to begin with.
The Parallels Between Them are Shallow
However the show keeps throwing Cass and Varian together because they share some parallels and the show wants you to notice that. Only, much like with the last episode with Trevor and Jr, nothing comes of those parallels. The characters don’t ever learn from each other.
Moreover, what they have in common is nothing substantial. For all their similarities (both being villains, both being Rapunzel’s ‘friend’, both having strained relationships with their fathers ect.) the differences between them actually makes them pretty incomparable. Cass and Varian have completely different motivations, goals, and circumstances informing their decisions. So while their actions might be vaguely similar, their driving conflicts are not.
Which leads to another problem
The Show Underserves Both Characters By Forcing These Parallels
Look I could spend ages on this topic, as it’s one of the underlining core structural problems within the show, but I’m on a time constraint and we still got three seasons to cover so here’s the gist of it.
Cassandra and Varian are forced to compete for both screen time and plot importance within the series in order to make them both fit into the story. Even though there’s no real reason for them to both inhabit the same role to begin with.
The end result is that Cassandra is shoved into a part she wasn’t designed for, causing her to act out of character and to lose her agency within the story. Where as Varian’s interpersonal conflict is downplayed and diminished despite being the conflict that holds the most tension, not just out of the two of them, but out the whole show.
You could easily have turned Varian’s story into the actual main plot of the whole series as it covers every point in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and isn’t something that can be resolved with a short conversation.
Yet he’s shoved to the side into order to give Cass room to take over, even though her conflict lacks most of these greater needs and can be easily resolved. And Varian isn’t the only character to be reduced in this manner, as we’ll see in later episodes.
If the writers had always intended for Cassandra’s arc to be the driving force of the story since the beginning then they needed to give Cassandra’s personal conflict the most tension. Either by writing her a whole new conflict or by not adding in characters who have more pressing needs than her.
Fernanda Pizazzo Gets Done Dirty
She wins the science fair by inventing an electromagnet, yet the show tries to pass her off as a con artist because she showboats while presenting her creation. But no, the electromagnet actually works and is part of the climax of the episode. She really did invent it, which is impressive, and the ‘what does it do?’ question is uncalled for because a magnet that can lift heavy objects has lots of applications.
Also Fernanda is one of only four named WoC characters in the show and all four of them are presented as being ‘shifty’ in some regard. That’s probably not intentional on part of the writers, but it’s not well thought out and serves the show poorly
Cassandra Doesn’t Learn Her Lesson
This is just a repeat of her lesson in Challenge of the Brave, which in turn is the driving conflict of later seasons; Cassandra selfishly putting her ambitions over others’ well being because she wants validation. That might be fine for an episode or two, but for three whole freakin seasons!?
Having to watch her spin her wheels relearning this same damn thing over and over again gets old fast. And once again, any conflict that can resolved with a ten minute conversion is not one that should be driving the main plot of a three season long show. The speed of the resolution needs to fit the narrative’s length in order to feel drawn out.
Also this repeated behavior just reflect poorly upon the character and fails to make her endearing to the audience. Something that you really, really need to be doing if you want to make her sympathetic during said conflict.
This is a Lie
Granted, it’s intended to be a lie for story purposes, but after serving that purpose, it’s then quickly forgotten about because the show refuses to hold the protagonists accountable for their actions. So I’m pointing it out because the writers sure as hell won’t.
Conclusion
Like I said, on it’s own or as a part of the first season’s story arc, this is a pretty solid outing. However, it also foreshadows one of the worst aspects of the later seasons and can be hard to rewatch once you’ve realized it.
