Quest Buy is closing! Kelly shows Marco around her dimension! | Wraith's Journal #52 [S4E7 - Out of Business and Kelly's World]

Journal #51 [S4E5/6]

Doing this episode on its own a bit early to dedicate a full post to Episode 8. Quest Buy is closing so Star and Marco rush over to get things before it's gone.. literally! Marco and Kelly return a library book in Woolandia and have fun along the way! A reprieve from the stress of managing the kingdom. Let's get to it!

~

Star gets a ransomgram letter that Quest Buy (QB) is going Out of Business! Marco is excited since his trips to QB haven't exactly gone well in the past, but Star reminds him that QB is the only place he can get his privacy wallet. Marco calculates how many he'll need for the rest of his life, which is sixteen. Star, Marco and.. Janna go to Quest Buy!

~Yeah, Janna's here now. Don't worry about that. Seriously, don't. I mean, I'm fine with friends just randomly turning up when you live halfway across the multiverse with no explanation. Everything happens for a reason, right?

The place is absolutely packed with last-minute shoppers (this is why I shop online). Marco is unable to get his wallets before they're snatched up, but Janna takes a sloth employee's outfit and sneaks them into the back room (because of course she does).

The back room's shelves are.. completely empty except... Exactly 16 wallets spawn on a shelf next to Marco. Star deduces that the room can read their minds, so Star imagines a unicorn cake filled with raspberry, which spawns nearby.

The trio have fun spawning things for a while until one of the sloths turns up. The sloth is unfazed, and explains that "everybody who wanders back here's brain turns to goo". Further, "You're in a magical room that turns all your needless desires into pointless realities." Janna proceeds to spawn 2 baby Marcos with wheels for hands "wheeeeee!".

~Funny that this power is technically available to anyone. Star once said that QB has "literally everything in the universe here" (Gift of the Card). Is everything at QB because of people (and their desires), or is it just there?

The sloth shows other people who wandered back here - they're all in cages and they've been driven mad by the ability to conjure anything with their mind. Star says it's time to go, but the sloth doubts they can get to the exit without creating more "needless desires". Star shows up the sloth by spawning a dancing penguin baby, Marco a talking bike named 'Wheelie', and Janna several 'evil Marcos with a mole on the other side of their faces named Ocram'. Star tells the sloth that they've already got everything they want in each other, so the friends take their leave.

Marco pays for his 16 wallets. Janna remarks, "Yeah. It's a shame [Quest Buy is] gonna be wiped from existence, never to be seen from again. The sloth declares Quest Buy closed, and everything vanishes, leaving an empty room with a big 'Out of Business' sign. "What a weird, weird, sometimes terrifying, magical place" ~Star.

~Weird place. I get it, this is basically a filler episode (one with some really drawn out moments), but the metaphor of 'magic being abused and causing problems' almost seems a little too deliberate. 'I can make anything I want!' 'This place has everything in the universe!' Like, life isn't meant to be that easy. Sure the folks in those cages could make whatever they wanted by imagining it, but it drove them insane. Credit to Star though for staying focused and only leaving with her friends and Marco's wallets.

~Yeah, kind of a 'meh' episode. It's kind of slow, and a bit too weird, even by this show's standards, but it had a couple good moments and it's a decent little adventure all the same.

~

~I actually really like the worldbuilding in this next episode. Woolandia is a whimsical, intriguing place. I'd love to know more about it. It's just so lovably weird. Love expanding the world of this show.

Woolandia!

Marco ventures to Kelly's World, Woolandia, to take her up on the offer to make tortas ahogadas. Marco arrives at Kelly's house, and is invited in after her dad tries to fight him - in a friendly way.. I think. Kelly also confirms that her people are called 'Wooletts'.

Kelly is visibly depressed, and annoyed that Tad (who didn't actually perish in the battle with Meteora) keeps calling her, updating her on his life.

~That is totally not a healthy relationship, even though they've broken up.

Marco offers to spend the day with Kelly while she runs her errands, including returning a library book. Kelly gives him a large wig for "padding".

Kelly's house is actually her mom! She's house-sized! Kelly and Marco take the bus, which is also a living being that resembles a dog, just bus-sized. Marco commits a faux pas by refusing to fight an elderly Woolett for his seat on the bus, but Kelly and Marco run away from the commotion.

Marco and Kelly continue on foot and.. are getting along quite well. They were always hanging out with other people before. They settle on a bench and check out the book Kelly has. It's a book about Woolett fighting styles, including 'Dual Mode' where 2 people fight together, and something else that's 'illegal in 12 dimensions'. They keep happily checking out the book together until the sun (which punches away the clouds) starts to go down.

Tad sends Kelly another message, and Marco shows her how to block him and be done with him. Kelly realizes that the library closes in 5 minutes - apparently the penalty for a late book is the removal of one's hair (oh no!). They rush to the library, which is thankfully nearby, and Kelly returns the book.. which was actually due yesterday.

Kelly, who was already depressed, resigns herself to her fate. Marco stands up for Kelly and challenges the librarian to a fight. Kelly hands Marco a dagger while she draws her family's ancestral sword. Cue epic fight scene where Kelly and Marco execute several fighting moves from Kelly's book! They even pull off 'Dual Mode' and defeat the librarian and her minions!

Librarians are serious business

Kelly and Marco celebrate their win, but get interrupted by.. Tad calling Kelly again.

Marco: ...I thought you blocked him.

Kelly: I.. I couldn't do it. I know it's not smart, and I am ready to move on, but...

Marco: Actually, I think I might know how you feel. I mean, I don't want to have feelings for Star, 'cause they're getting in the way of... other feelings [visibly blushing].

Kelly: [visibly blushing] Oh! Wow. Yeah. Then, um... I guess you do know exactly how I feel.

Marco: Oh, yeah. Cool. Sure is a bummer about the timing of these feelings.

cue fireworks and romantic music

Kelly: Buuut.. if we're honest about it, then maybe we could be break-up buddies?

Marco: What's that?

Kelly: Well, you kinda help each other forget your old feelings. So you can move on. [kisses Marco on the cheek] Also, you can kiss when the mood is weirdly romantic. [holds hands with Marco] And you can hold hands.

they leave the library, holding hands and talking about random stuff

~I mean, it's a cute moment. But like, we can also clearly see that Kelly isn't over Tad, and Marco isn't over Star. It was also cool how in-sync Kelly and Marco were while fighting, even though they've never really connected like this before.

~I dunno, people have told me that there were always subtle hints about Kelly and Marco liking each other, or that it was supposed to be a "slow burn", but I just don't buy it. I get it, Marco and Kelly got along back in Lava Lake Beach, but that was ALSO when Marco had JUST realized he has a crush on Star, and Kelly and Tad had broken up 'for good'. It feels like, since Marco had finally confessed to Star in Booth Buddies, and Star didn't really say anything about it, that Marco is just feeling kind of lonely (kind of like Star was when Marco stayed on Earth for a time) and needed someone to connect with. I can also point to Star and Marco always being in sync while fighting (first in Episode 1, and at least another example in Lint Catcher even though they had been apart for weeks if not months).

~I wish Kelly and Marco had made 'breakup buddies' just being friends, so they can help each other get over their respective crushes and have fun together platonically. This half-baked romance just feels.. off, to me.

~

So, the last Quest Buy episode ends on an ominous note about things disappearing, but has a good lesson about not abusing the power to create literally anything you want. And Kelly and Marco's trip through Woolandia is fun, if not ending with a bit of teenage relationship chaos. It is what it is.

Next time we're finally tackling something that has been hanging around since Season 1! The Blood Moon rises once more...