I resent you for running away, but I’m also thankful that you did.

Luz is finally forced to deal with the life she left behind, and it is A Lot.

Camila: What’s the box for, Mija?

NotLuz: Just…cleaning up a little.

Camila: Even this? You used to love making me tin foil swans!

NotLuz: Oh, I’m, uh, just looking for a fresh start. Camp taught me a lot, you know?

Camila: Yes, it sure did…

But evidently, Camila thinks that it’s just camp that changed her daughter…

NotLuz: A new life…

Luz: You!

I appreciate how this not-Luz has a different voice actress (the same one as Amethyst), but she only lets her “real” voice come through when Camila isn’t around.

Rewinding a bit, back at the Owl House, Luz has finally managed to make a working portal (kind of).

Luz: It…worked.

King: Did it? That looks real different from the old door.

Wonky portal or not, it’s the only chance Luz has had in months to communicate with her mom, so she’s gonna take it…but she’s working under the assumption that her mom just thinks she vanished, and thus it would be a simple matter of showing up and explaining things.

The first thing she realizes is that this is a very wonky portal indeed, leading her to an extra-dimensional space where her magic doesn’t work, the laws of physics are similarly wonky, and she can interact with whatever world she likes, but only through reflections.

Which leads us back to this situation.

Luz: So you can hear me.

NotLuz: You’re from the demon realm!

Luz: Listen, I just want to-

NotLuz: I’m not going back! I-I won’t go back!

Camila: Luz? Está todo bien? [Is everything alright?]

Luz: Sí, Mama! I just saw a spoiler for Monster Slayer Academia.

But the doppelganger panics and runs out of the house….right into one of the snare traps that have been popping up all over town.

NotLuz: So this is it. I’m gonna have to run, again. Why couldn’t this just work out?

Luz: Stop moving! You’ll make it tighter. […] I didn’t mean to freak you out. I just want to figure out what’s going on, okay? You’re a demon, from the Boiling Isles, aren’t you?

NotLuz: Mm-hm.

Luz: What’s your name?

Vi: I’m number five- I mean, I’m Vi.

Luz is communicating through a compact mirror, and Vi shows her true form (accidentally, because she’s so scared). But once Luz talks her out of the snare, they can have a calm conversation.

Vi: You must be Camila’s real daughter.

Luz: I am, but right now, I’m trapped in the Boiling Isles. Who are you, and why are you pretending to be me?

Vi: I’m…just looking for a place to belong. You were missing and Mom- I mean, Camila, seemed so kind, so I stayed with her, but I’ll go if you want-

Luz: Wait wait wait! Maybe we can help each other. Today I was gonna tell my mom where I’ve been, but because of you, she hasn’t realized I’ve been missing. So, keep living in my place! For now. When I get back, I can introduce her to the Demon Realm and help you find a place to live.

Vi: There’s one problem. I need magic to transform, and I, uh, just used the rest of it.

This is your whole problem, Luz. YOU DON’T THINK THINGS THROUGH. Vi just happened to show up after you left, and just so happened to be a benign doppelganger rather than an evil one, and you’re just gonna let your mom think it was you the whole time because it’s easier for you that way. Never mind telling your mom the truth, or how that whole situation might affect Vi, for that matter.

Anyhow, the first order of business is to find Vi some magical items so that she can shift fully back into Luz, and it just so happens that Eda’s magical playing cards are all the rage with teens.

Luz: Okay, we gotta be careful approaching high schoolers. Mark all your exit routes-

Vi: Actually, these guys are cool.

It turns out she met these guys at camp (which must have been very useful to Vi, considering it was all about living a normal human life).

Girl: Let me give you a reading first. You are running from your past, from a previous life that was not kind to you. However, the guilt and fear you carry will eventually catch you in a self-fulfilling prophecy that you won’t be able to escape from.

The “running from her past” part fits Vi, given what we later discover of her backstory, which certainly spooks her, but the “self-fulfilling prophecy” part leaves me inclined to believe that’s a more accurate reading of Luz’s situation right now…

Luz: Are you okay? Hey, forget what that girl said! I know what it’s like to want to run away from home. I did the same thing!

Vi: You and I are not the same. You had a mom that loved you, a home, a life, you had it good! And you still wanted to run away! I- I didn’t have a choice. My real name is Number Five. I’m a basilisk, and technically, I shouldn’t exist.

This is a situation where it’s easy to sympathize with both of them – Luz didn’t mean to run away long-term, but she discovered a support network in the Boiling Isles, both family and friends, which she’d never really experienced before. Her mom was basically all she had back home, but at the same time, that’s more than Vi ever had.

Vi: My kind went extinct a long time ago, but we were brought back. They wanted to know how we drained magic.

Luz: I met a basilisk once. She hurt a lot of people.

Vi: For many of us, all we knew how to do was feed. Some of us escaped, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he caught us again. That’s when I saw you and realized there might be a way out of this.

Camila: Luz? There you are!

Vi: Hello fellow human! Um, skin’s sure weird…

Camila: Very funny. But I was thinking, instead of taking the bus to camp, why don’t we drive? I’ve got the day off from work, and you’ll have full control of the playlist.

Vi: I didn’t mean to keep playing this role, but Camila was nice to me. I resent you for running away, but I’m also thankful that you did. I don’t know. It’s confusing.

Vi was able to experience “home” for the first time in her life due to Luz’s absence, but she couldn’t help judging her for running away from what was, in her mind, a pretty great life.

But then the plot rears its head.

This episode makes it clear that Eda had more interactions with the town of Gravesfield than it appeared at the beginning of the show – she managed to get banned from a coffee shop, for crying out loud! But it also makes sense, considering that she had the portal since she was a teen.

Then Vi discovers footage of her transformation into her basilsk form (from when she was caught in the trap).

Vi: What is all this? Have we been followed this whole time?

And then she gets caught in a more effective trap.

Jacob: Woah, it worked? I can’t believe it, are you real? After all this time, after setting up all those traps, I finally caught a living, breathing, demon! Oh, don’t be surprised. A few years back I had a chance encounter with another one of your kind. Yeah, at first I couldn’t believe what I saw, but after watching a couple of Mewtube videos I learned the truth: Witches and demons are real, and they’re all sent from Mars to harvest human teeth to power their time machine!

Vi: You…don’t actually know anything about us, do you?

Vi’s all ready to give up and consign herself to a life of (more) scientific tests, rather than attempting to patch things up with Camila now that she’d know her true nature. So, of course, Luz does it for her.

Luz: Mom, are you there?

Camila: Luz? I didn’t even hear you call.

Luz: Mom, so great to hear your voice.

Camila: Oh, it’s great to hear you, too? What’s wrong?

Luz: I found out who’s been setting up those traps, and he’s hurting a friend of mine. But first, I have to tell you the truth, about the last few months. Let me tell you about a place called the Boiling Isles…

So she FINALLY spills the beans to her mom, but naturally, she thinks it’s all just some elaborate role-play (since Luz is talking to her through the reflection in her phone).

But her mom is willing to “play along”, so Luz tells her to go to the museum to pick up her “friend”.

Jacob: Let me start by telling you the secret history of Gravesfield. In the 1600’s, this was a peaceful colony, until tragedy struck. Two brothers were lured into a realm of evil by a real witch, never to be seen again. People have stopped believing in the horrors of witchcraft, but I know the truth!

He’s the same sort of conspiracy theorist as Ronaldo, but I have to give this show credit for not making him out to be a “harmless” weirdo. LUZ is a harmless weirdo, not this guy.

Camila: Oh, wow! That is a very…convincing…costume?

But of course, Camila’s a vet, so she can tell the difference between a costume and actual scales.

Camila: Luz, come out. I don’t like this game anymore.

Luz: It’s not a game, Mamá. Everything I told you was true.

Camila: So…that thing has been living with me the entire time? It’s just a lot to believe.

Luz: Her name is Vi, and she may look different, but she’s not bad. Please! You gotta help her.

And between Luz’s pleas and Vi just being so obviously terrified, Camila relents.

Camila: Hello. This is all so confusing, but who knew I had such a strong girl living under my roof this whole time?

Then he proposes a dissection.

Camila: Stop! The president just called, yeah, and, uh…you know what? I don’t have the imagination for this. I will be taking this innocent child with me, and you will never bother us again. […] You better back the heck down, or I will tell the police you have been illegally setting up traps, and cameras, on private property.

Jacob: I won’t let you take away my discovery! I’m the good guy here!

Camila: Yeah. A lot of bad guys say that.

This is the first appearance of a recurring theme for this series: Bad guys often start (and continue) doing bad things because they believe it’s RIGHT, even when they’re obviously hurting people.

And in the night rain, Luz finds a reflection in the car’s headlights.

Luz: Mom, you were awesome back there! Thanks for being…cool about everything.

Camila: I’m trying to hold it together, I really am, but I have never been this scared before. The demon realm? Magic? How are you gonna get back here? Is this the only way I can touch you?

Luz, you really did not think this through…

Camila: As scary as this is, it really does seem like you’ve matured.

Luz: Yes! I’ve learned so much! Staying here was the best decision I ever made.

Camila: You chose to stay there?

Obviously, her mom doesn’t have a clue as to the context of that spur-of-the-moment decision.

Camila: Were you trying to live out some witch fantasy? Did you…did you hate living with me that much?

Luz: Mamá, no!

I hate to say I told you so, but if she’d just been honest with her mother from the start, they might have both been spared a lot of emotional turmoil.

Luz: I’m being pulled back!

Camila: No, no, no, no! When you come back, promise you’ll stay here! I didn’t mean to push you away. I swear, things will be different!

Luz: Mom, it’s not you, it never was!

Camila: Promise me, Luz. Please!

Luz: Okay, Mom. I promise.

i just can’t anymore

until next time