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Recap / Star vs. the Forces of Evil S1 E23 "Marco Grows a Beard"

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Things just got hairy.

When Marco decides to grow some facial hair to impress his crush Jackie, Star takes it upon herself to magically speed up the process. Naturally, it doesn't take long for the Diaz household to be overwhelmed with hair. With her wand lost among the follicles, Star must save her friend without magic and keep the wand out of the hands of Ludo and Toffee.


Tropes:

  • Armor-Piercing Question: Toffee asks a series of them, when Ludo blames the monsters for not getting the wand when he was largely to blame for their failure to begin with. The monsters pondering these answers lead to them kicking Ludo out.
    Toffee: What kind of leader throws you into a pit of hair, makes you do all the work, and shows you no appreciation for your sacrifices?
  • Atop a Mountain of Corpses: Preteen Star is shown atop a pile of skulls looking adorable.
  • Badass Adorable: The talking Laser Puppy shows Star memories of herself as a preteen who kicked monster ass without her wand.
    Star: Oh my gosh, I was adorable.
  • Bound and Gagged: Marco ends up this way when his beard gets out of control.
  • Chekhov's Boomerang: With her wand and garden shears out of reach, Star ends up using a laser puppy in the Diaz household to start shaving, and to reach the wand.
  • Dreaming of Times Gone By: During Star's inspirational dream, the Laser Puppy brings up all the times she's beaten monsters without the wand as a kid.
  • Eagleland: Marco chants "USA! USA!" to celebrate when he thinks he successfully grew out a beard.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Star wanted to give Marco a beard. What she got was enough hair to flood the house.
  • Imagine Spot: When Star tries to think of how a normal person would handle things, the closest she can come is a daydream about a dolphin flailing away at a computer while chanting "Work, work, work, work..."
  • Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After Ludo's forces fail to steal the wand, Toffee uses his Mean Boss tendencies to turn the minions on their master and take over his castle.
  • Mundane Utility: At the beginning of the episode, Star's been using her wand to do everything, walk to school, open her locker, give Marco a beard... This trope is deconstructed to a degree, as Star's over reliance on her wand causes her to have a Heroic BSoD when she gets too tired to cut through the hair flood manually.
  • Never My Fault: Ludo blames his army for their failure to get Star's wand, even though it was him who had the wand at his fingertips and failed to take it. Toffee uses this attitude to convince the monsters to turn on Ludo.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Toffee exploits this trope with the monsters.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: Marco's hair after Star enchants it, oddly enough. When he picks up a razor to shave it, it immediately grows and leaves him Bound and Gagged. When Star brandishes lawn shears and cuts her way through, it quickly gets rid of the shears and binds her in turn. If not for the laser puppy, she would've been trapped there.
  • Not Helping Your Case: After Toffee successfully turns Ludo's own army against him by calling out his poor leadership, he continues to belittle them, calling them "stupid imbeciles". They immediately toss him outside on his rump.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Normally Mr. and Mrs. Diaz adjust to the weirdness and monsters that Star brings with her. They're a bit shocked to encounter the monsters after coming home from the grocery store.
  • Opinion-Changing Dream: When Star is about to give up on getting her wand back and lays down for a nap, she has a dream where one of the Laser Puppies reminds her she can be tough and strong without her wand.
  • The Starscream: Toffee's plans in the previous episodes finally comes to fruition as he successfully turns Ludo's army to his side and deposes Ludo himself by the end of the episode.
  • Unwanted Assistance: Star uses her wand to give Marco a beard, even though he told her he wanted to grow one on his own.
  • Wham Episode: Toffee takes advantage of Ludo's Mean Boss tendencies and his latest failed mission to stage a coup, turning Ludo's minions against him and getting him thrown out of his own home.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Ludo is terrified of hair, mostly because of a childhood experience with a hairy "tickle monster," and also because so much as touching it causes him to laugh uncontrollably.

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