"Red Belt" is the fourth episode of the second season of Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
It premiered on July 18, 2016 alongside "Mr. Candle Cares".[1]
Synopsis
Marco finally decides to focus on earning his red belt in karate.[2]
Plot
The episode begins as Marco dreams of being stuck in life and seeing his red belt in karate slipping away from him. When he wakes up, he finds Star in his bedroom; wanting to put up a boy band poster in her room without using magic. She asks him for a hammer, but he doesn't have one. So she goes on a "scavenger hunt" to find one.
Later that day, Marco approaches his karate sensei and says he wants to advance to red belt, having been a green belt for five years. Marco's sensei doesn't believe he's ready, but Marco says he's willing to do whatever it takes. Thus, the sensei puts Marco through bizarre training that involves clipping the sensei's toenails, unclogging his toilet, doing his taxes, and cleaning his house windows.
However, as Marco comes to realize, the dojo sensei still lives at home with his mother, and Marco suspects that he's only been doing the sensei's chores. When Marco says he's more than earned his red belt, the sensei continues trying to dodge the subject until he breaks down and confesses that he himself never advanced past green belt either. Not knowing what to do with his life, he rented a dojo and ordered a set of instructional videos on how to earn karate belts, but the red belt video got stuck in his VCR. Marco decides to help his sensei track down a replacement video and earn his own red belt.
As Marco and his sensei search for a replacement video at a thrift store, the sensei quickly gets bored and goes to get ice cream and flirt with girls. Marco realizes that his sensei doesn't really want his red belt, and he turns his back on the pitiful man to get his red belt on his own.
Marco eventually tracks down the replacement video he was searching for in a small video store, but finds it is far too expensive. The store clerk offers to give Marco the tape for free if he beats him in a fight, and Marco agrees. Unfortunately, the store clerk turns out to be a large, muscle-bound man with considerable karate skill. When Marco's sensei enters the store, he helps Marco win the fight by reminding him of his earlier training. Defeated, the store clerk happily surrenders the video, and Marco and his sensei use it to advance to red belt.
Meanwhile, Star searches up and down the Diaz Household for a hammer to hang her poster. Her searching catches Mr. and Mrs. Diaz's attention. They realize that there isn't a hammer anywhere in the house, and Mrs. Diaz suggests they do something about it. As Star makes a mess of the house, she slowly loses hope. But with the intervention of Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, Star acquires the hammer she was looking for. At the end of the episode, Star successfully puts up her poster and cleans up the mess she made with magic.
Characters
Major characters
Minor characters
- Mr. Candle
- Students of Echo Creek Academy
- Love Sentence (mentioned/pictured)
- Angie Diaz
- Rafael Diaz
- Laser puppies
- Dojo Sensei's mother
- Rocket
- VHS Depot manager
Production notes
Songs
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Trivia
- This episode borrows several story elements from the 1984 film The Karate Kid.
- Adam McArthur revealed this to be his favourite episode.[citation needed]
Revelations and Continuity
- As of this episode, Marco is a red belt in Tang Soo Do karate.