There's Something About Hook Foot

 

I honestly enjoy this episode but it suffers from a lot the usual problems that season two has; which is namely that it’s pointless. 

Summary:  The group have recently begun to notice a change in Hook Foot's behavior and discover he has developed romantic feelings for a mermaid named Seraphina, but is nervous about his upcoming first romantic date with her. Rapunzel and Eugene attempt to help Hook Foot by offering him advice, but realize they have a difference in opinion on how Hook Foot should behave. Eventually, Hook Foot and Seraphina's first date arrives and despite a rocky upstart, Hook Foot and Seraphina grow closer and fall in love. However, Water Goblins suddenly appear from the ocean and are after Seraphina, who is revealed to be a thief after stealing a priceless delicate pearl.

It’s Time to Talk About Hook Foot

I’ve touched upon it earlier, but as this is the first episode to give Hookfoot any focus, now is the appropriate time to dig into this.  

Hookfoot is useless. He serves no real purpose to the over all story. He was a last minute addition to the cast and half of the writing team didn’t even want him there. Either Chris or Ben, the showrunners, overruled the crews complaints and forced the character into the season for no real given reason. In fact the only clue we have is that Hookfoot’s VA happens to be friends with Chris. 

If you want to give more work to your buddies or you happened to like the character, than it’s your job as the head-writer to give an actual reason for why the character is there. Especially in a tv show where you have a limited time frame. Doubly so when your target audience is a bunch of pre-teen girls. 

Because like it or not, when you’re selling a piece of media to a built in audience, like with Tangled, you do have to keep that audience in mind. You’re not just writing for yourself when you’re working with a franchise that you did not create. Chris acts soooo offended when his audience doesn’t gravitate towards what he enjoys, but it’s not like he owns these characters nor this franchise and his behaviour is quite frankly immature and short sighted. 

And I’m not hating on Hookfoot here. The writers did the best they could and managed to make him likeable despite being stuck with him. But he doesn’t need to be here. He is a distraction, because without him, we could have gotten more focus on other important characters. 

Hookfoot, in essence, is a symbol for everything that is wrong with the mismanagement in Tangled the Series. 

I Really Like Seraphina; Shame She’s Pointless

Guys, Seraphina just might be my favorite character design in the whole show. I love her. I love this curvy rock-a-billy half-shark mermaid thief/con-artist. What a cool concept! What a refreshing take to see someone who isn’t your typical size two wears floofly dresses princess being shown as desirable, feminine, confidante, and competent. 

And she is bloody wasted! She only appears in this one episode and is only here serve as a plot device to make Hookfoot more sympathetic. That’s it. And because Hookfoot is written out of the show in this season, we never see her again in the series proper and never see her story play out on screen like we should. 

How much better would this episode have been if Hookfoot didn’t exist and this was a Lance episode instead? Because Lance gets zero development after season one, despite sticking around for the whole series. This not only could have furthered developed him (while also getting rid of his annoying crush on Adria) but it could have left the door open to seeing Seraphina again and getting more of her story as well. 

And before a certain someone jumps down my throat about writing out the only disabled rep in the show, know that Hookfoot isn’t real rep but a token. His disability is a joke to the writers and nothing more. Had you streamlined him and Lance into one character instead, you could have gotten some actual real rep.    

I Miss This Version of New DreamRemember when Rapunzel and Eugene would have actual genuine disagreements? Remember when they both would honestly learn from one another? Remember when Eugene wasn’t a doormat? 

Yeah, me too. 

Man, what on earth happened during season three? 

Anyways, this is one of the few lessons in the show that they don’t outright contradict later, and it’s a pretty sound one. Yes, you do need to be true to yourself if you’re looking for a lasting relationship, but you also need to put in effort into making that relationship work. Don’t hide your interests or try too hard to be ‘smooth’ but don’t come to a date looking like a slob either. Show that you care and don't take the other person for granted. 

My That Sounds Interesting; Shame We’ll Never Explore It More Remember “Show; Don’t Tell”. We’re drip fed all this exposition but we never actually get to see it play out. Moreover, because we lose Seraphina, we miss out on seeing her world and the interesting aspects that are hinted at here. 

Why is the pearl so important? What makes it special to any other pearl? Who are the Vodniks? What is their relationship to mermaids in general? Why isn’t Rapunzel, a princess, trying to use diplomacy when meeting with law enforcement from another kingdom?  

Look, Shorty Being Useful!Shorty is only plot important like three times in the show. So I’m making note of this and any other time he’s useful. 

It’s not a great track record. 

This Ending Is The Episode’s Saving Grace, But It’s Not Enough What makes Hookfoot likable is this ending. It’s sweet and sad, and makes him a sympathetic character. However it winds up meaning nothing in the end. We’re given no further reflection on how this impacts him as a character. We never meet up with Seraphina again. And their story is resolved off screen with no explanation come the series end. 

Conclusion

It’s a decent episode, with a poignant end, but it’s emblematic of the larger problems with season two. The episode and the character of Hookfoot is a time sink which has greater ramifications later on down the line.