Tangled: The Series S1 E4

## Plot

**Trigger warning:** Uncensored f-bomb in the second to last sentence; by the single bolded and underlined word. Not meant in a sexual way, but still including a TW just in case. There are also two more, one after Cass hides her best friend's frying pan and another during a rant about her. For I think the first time ever on this wiki, I'm going back and looking at prior episodes that I skipped over during my initial review of the show, if nothing else than to learn more about the characters and recurring plot points. It's also because yesterday, on August 22, 2022, Disney Channel's official YouTube Channel uploaded every single episode of the first season of the show (or at least the ones that it hadn't already uploaded before then). Because I have what some may consider controversial opinions about one of the characters on this show, as well as season 3 as a whole, I'm also going to mention that my opinions are (obviously) subjective, and if you feel differently about a character or plot, that's totally okay. If anything, I'd love to see things from your point of view and have it explained to me, especially since I personally think that when it comes to entertainment media, I'm normally easy to please. For reasons that I'm not sure I can properly explain or put into words, one of the main characters and their development throughout the show just rubs me the wrong way. While in town, Cass hears about the Challenge of the Brave, which is a fighting tournament that features fierce warriors. Whoever wins will get the respect of every warrior in the seven kingdoms. And then season 3 kind of retconned this by having a different tournament that Cass and Rapunzel also competed in take place just a few months before this, the difference being that it was between teams of two, all of the competitors were young women, and the tasks weren't just fighting. Cass alternates between training for the tournament with a smile on her face and handling her handmaiden duties with a frown while being envious of the noticeably all male guards. Maybe season 3 wouldn't have happened at all, or at least the way it did, if Corona had just taken a lesson or two from Elena of Avalor, which had multiple instances of female guards. Some kids that are watching Cass complete an obstacle course are more excited at meeting Rapunzel. She learns about the Challenge of the Brave and wants to compete too, but Cass lies and tells her that she can't, because it's invitation only. Rapunzel says she'll still cheer her on. Cass overhears some other warriors say that she's just here because she's the princess's lady in waiting. Eugene tells Rapunzel that anyone can compete. I'm pretty sure the only reason Rapunzel doesn't realize that Cass lied to her is because she's relatively naïve and oblivious to social cues, at least in this season. This is not helped by her dad confining her to Corona and Cass not being honest about how she feels and what she wants until push comes to shove, and sometimes not even then. The crowd and even a number of the competitors love Rapunzel. Cass dismissed her getting so far as luck or breaking some sort of rule, which hurts Rapunzel's feelings and makes her mad. She didn't get this far because of luck. The last event is the Dead Man's Circle, where each warrior battles with the weapon of their choice. Rapunzel picks a frying pan. It falls off the weapon cart, which Cass sees. Before she can tell the attendant, she instead hides it under a bench, leaving Rapunzel without a weapon, which could result in her being injured or even killed. Even though it's literally her dream job to be a royal guard, which is about protecting the kingdom and everyone in it, especially the royal family. What the fuck Cass? Looks like she's always had murderous tendencies. Rapunzel improvises by gracefully dodging attacks to knock people out of the circle. Cass pins the largest warrior, Wreck Marauder, and fights Rapunzel herself. The princess reminds her that they're supposed to be friends, and Cass tells her that a friend wouldn't be so oblivious. Imprisoned, abused, and manipulated for the first 18 years of her life, and later on has even more severe trauma to work through after some of her friends lie to, betray, and use her for their own goals, just like what Mother Gothel did! What the actual fuck Cass?! Okay, that's it, I wish you would've died in the final season, and possibly even stayed dead, or at least learned sooner or in a better way that bottling up your true feelings and not being honest with people isn't good or healthy. Rapunzel doesn't know what this competition means to Cass. Then maybe you should've fucking told her what it meant! To her, it's a way to prove herself to everyone, to show that she's more than just the princess's lady in waiting. Rapunzel tells her best friend that she doesn't just respect her, she looks up to her. She wanted to enter the competition because they're friends, but as her friend, she should've realized how important this was to Cass. No, stop. Do not apologize for something that isn't even your fault. Barbie taught me better than that. Wreck Marauder tries to attack her even though she's unarmed and taken by surprise, but Cass saves her and defeats him. However, Cass technically has part of one of her feet out of bounds. She declares Rapunzel the winner, and Rapunzel gives her the trophy, since she deserves it. The warriors and the crowd are now cheering her on. This is just for this episode though, because by episode 8 everyone except Rapunzel is back to treating Cass with no respect and not giving her a chance to do what she really wants for no real reason except to maintain the stupid status quo. I'm upset because no one ever learns the truth about the frying pan, and Cass presumably never tells Rapunzel, or apologizes for it or her earlier lie about the competition being invite only. This isn't just a one and done problem either, Cass continues to shirk off any potential character development about just plain being honest and open to anyone, even her supposed best friend, in later episodes too, and because of the writing, Rapunzel is almost always the one who has to apologize and is treated as being in the wrong, even though I don't think she is, mostly because she hasn't even experienced "normal" life (or at least as normal as one can be while being a cosmically powerful princess in magical, medieval-ish France) for a full year at this point. Aside from Pascal, she's literally never had a real friend before, and even if you count Eugene as another (human) friend instead of or in addition to being her love interest, or side characters like the thugs, Varian, etc., none of them are anything like Cass… except maybe Varian, but that's a season 3 thing that leads into what is easily this show's best song… but aside from that I feel like nothing is really done with it, either before or after said song. I think I like Rapunzel being "socially awkward", for lack of a better term, because she reminds me of myself and my fraternal brother and sister, especially when we're out in public. Yes, sometimes I'm embarrassed by them and their behavior, as well as my own, but if you try to bully or belittle them, then I **WILL** try to fuck you up and make you suffer. Why is it so hard for some people to just be nice, decent, and polite to strangers who they will likely never see or interact with ever again? Especially to people who work in the food, retail, or service industries. like my sister and I did for our first "real" jobs. You don't even have to be grateful or anything; just don't be an entitled prick. It's not that hard.