There is a part of me that watched Wizards Beyond Waverly Place that gets somewhat sad. It’s not because it’s bad, it’s more because there is a part of me that realizes how fast my youth went and how I somehow forgot to appreciate the things I did when I was a kid.
You know – the things that meant something to me – like just having fun and really enjoying moments. There were so many things that we’ve forgotten over the years when we grow up, but looking back on being young, there was such an innocence.
And a fun to television.
While I won’t say that Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is perfect, because it’s not, it does the job it’s supposed to. It entertains. With every episode it does keep getting better and better because it finds its footing. And finally it reverts back to the original premise – where someone is after Billie because she is part of a bigger prophecy.
And what that is – we’re not really sure yet.
But what I am sure of after this episode is that Billie does have decent luck. She has decent luck because things work out even when she’s doing things wrong. There is a purpose.
In this episode, Billie is trying to study as someone from WizTech is coming to test her on how well she is doing. This is a big thing for her, as well as Justin. How she does reflects on the both of them.
While she thinks she has a week, Roman remarks that he could easily be a wizard (basically). So Billie decides that she’s going to give him her powers for an hour. An hour doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but it can be. It truly can be when you’re doing something that you aren’t supposed to.
The lesson – the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Roman isn’t a natural at being a wizard. I think that the show sets up perfectly that it may seem unfair that Roman and Milo didn’t get powers, but there is reasoning. It sets up that everything is always changing and we don’t know what to expect all of the time.
But what we do know is that in an effort to just prove Roman wrong, Billie isn’t going to think about what she’s doing. She’s just going to do it. Billie and Roman don’t read the fine print on the Wizard Glass, which says transferring her powers to a mortal is against the law. It’s really bad.
This has to be the moment where the test giver shows up and we do get to see Billie and Roman do the right thing, after lying initially. Neither seem to know how to deal with the initial fallout, but the truth does come out. It goes to show the type of person that Billie is deep down, where she thinks that she can skirt the truth, but knows it always comes out.
Billie is a person who does learn things by doing. She learns by seeing things through, but it’s a quality that both her and Alex share – their love for people that forces them to never give up and always see things through to the end – that makes her more relatable to people who have watched from the beginning. They are very different, but also very much the same.
When it turns out that the test giver is a shape shifter after Billie, the two work together, along with Justin and the real test giver to make sure that Billie can save them all. Billie still wants to come clean, but the real test giver has no idea what Billie is talking about. She’s at a loss.
While Billie and Roman both learn a lesson from the experience, I have to admit that one of the things I missed the most was Winter in this episode. I really would love to see the friendship between Roman, Winter, and Billie expand. I feel like we’re missing that from this show, but also would love to see their friendship develop not only over wizard things, but also in real life things.
The mortal relationships element is missing.
What I did love though that even with everything that is happening, Justin is focused on who is after Billie. He’s grown to care for her, but he’s also in need of protecting his family. I think that it’s important that we see both sides of that – but again – part of that is missing. I would love to see Justin spend more time with his family.
That’s one thing that Wizards of Waverly Place did well, the family dynamic. I need to see this family connect. I need to see the parents really connecting with the kids and understanding them? There are too many missed opportunities going on here.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- I had a hard time believing that Justin would just be like sorry Milo, Daddy can’t be your team mate for Pickleball today
- Giana is a natural Pickleball player, but for being from State Island, am a little shocked she got played
- Milo isn’t coy about his deals and rats himself out easily
- Billie’s fashion is 100
- The shapeshifter being taken care of at the end – who is after Billie? Is it Max?
