My Review of The Owl House season 2 episode 12 Elsewhere and Elsewhen · 12:46am Mar 27th, 2022

Grading Scale:

A (fantastic episode)
A- (an excellent episode with at least one flaw)
B+ (a great episode with a couple of flaws)
B (a good episode which still could have been better)
B- (a good episode with numerous flaws but still rewatchable)
C+ (a decent episode)
C (eh... it’s not terrible but not good either)
C- (it’s not worth rewatching although it does have good elements)
D+ (a bad episode with a few good things in it)
D (a really bad episode with wasted potential)
D- (a terrible episode with badly written characters and butchered moral)
F (horrible and unwatchable)

Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with more The Owl House content! This evening, I will be reviewing the twelfth episode of season 2 entitled: “Elsewhere and Elsewhen”. This is one of the most lore-heavy episodes I have ever watched in this show so far. In all honesty, this was nowhere as good as the previous episode but it was nonetheless worth the hype and somewhat met my personal expectations. In this chapter, we are re-introduced to Lilith and Gwendolyn as they return to the owl house with family relatives they brought over. For Luz, she is more eager than ever to learn more about Philip Wittebane—the creator of the portal door. With Lilith helping her, they both set off for a remarkable and unforgettable journey.

The plot for this episode was a little basic but serviceable, but the pacing was so bad I couldn’t fully register every single thing that was said or happening. It went way too fast since they wanted to get everything done in one episode with the dialogue and storyline. That’s literally the only issue I have with this episode; other than that, it was a pretty good chapter...an intriguing one at that too.

I wasn’t expecting to see Philip Wittebane for the first time in this series. I mean, wow, I never imagined him having a beard and sounding so innocent. But like what they always say, things are not what they appear. Why? Because later on, spoiler alert, Philip turns out to be a selfish douchebag who attempted to sacrifice Lilith just so that he could gain the means through which he could directly contact The Collector. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by that since I had a feeling he was gonna turn out to be bad later on. And boy, was I right!

As for the ending, I didn’t expect to see Philip absorb the life force of a palisman to ease his mortal wound and the pain he was suffering......just like how Belos does it! This is the biggest proof we have that Belos and Philip are one and the same! The more we dig deep into his background, the more interesting it gets! I love it!

The auntie/niece interaction between Lilith and Luz was adorable and beautifully well-written. I enjoyed every frame of it and every minute of it. Hopefully, we get more Luz/Lilith moments throughout the rest of the show. Oh, and I was a bit happy to see Dell Clawthorne, the father of Eda and Lilith, return after all these years of not seeing his daughters. It must have been hard for Eda to see him again face to face. Some family reunions—especially with those who love and care for us deep down—can be difficult but they’re important whether we realize that or not. Just great writing right there.

This gets a solid B! Good episode; although it could have been executed better, it was still a great watch. Lastly, this scene is legit the best part of the episode, and I can’t stop replaying it. Frankly, he rightly deserved it after what he did.