“The Owl House” Begins its End By Gaying Up Disney Beyond Recognition

Disney dropped the first of its final three mega-episodes of The Owl House over the weekend and it was everything fans could have hoped for — especially us LGBTQ+ pals. When season two was at its end, our ragtag band of youthful witches battled Belos on the Day of Unity and ended up trapped in the human realm, on Camila Noceda’s doorstep. “Thanks to Them” should have been ten episodes, but because Disney pulled the plug on the beloved series way too soon, showrunner Dana Terrace and her team had to pack a whole heck of a lot into one sitting, and they did it beautifully. There’s Luz & Co. getting settled into the Noceda’s home with Vee, Luz and Hunter dealing with the things they learned about themselves in the finale, Luz coming out and introducing her mom to Amity, brainstorming ways to open a portal back to the Boiling Isles, solving the mystery of the artifacts Phillip and Caleb left behind, and then a BIG BAD BOSS FIGHT. It’s swoony and heartbreaking and nuanced and smart and hilarious and — did I mention heartbreaking? Because it’s heartbreaking!

I don’t want to spoil too much. I know a lot of people have to wait for Disney+ to release the episodes, and right now it’s just available on The Disney Channel (and Disney Now, which you have to log into with a cable provider) — so I’ve decided to run down the fuck-it-we-do-what-we-want gayness that set the backdrop for the final season. These 45 minutes were gayer than every other gay Disney and Marvel thing combined, and that was clearly very on purpose.


Luz, of course, comes out with a montage video by her (wink, wink) production company, Lumity Studios.

She says she’s bisexual! Puts a label right on it! Do you know how rare it is for a TV character to say “bisexual” and for cartoon characters to use a label at all?

Bi flag!

Camila, of course, is delighted with the news and pulls Amity and Luz into a group hug while Gus transforms the kitchen into a queer paradise.

Mom of the Year, Camila Noceda, she’s got a bisexual LOVE bracelet on her nightstand.

Oh and she immediately puts on — and never takes off — a gay pride pin.

Vee’s camp friend, Masha, they’re nonbinary.

And they’ve got a crush on Vee who’s crushing right back on them.

When Luz comes out, Camila buys books called Always My Child and Parenting LGBTQ.

Lumity in the rain!

Lumity cosplaying their favorite fictional queers!

A page of Willow’s scrapbook with lesbian and bisexual stickers!

Camila has officially adopted a second queer daughter.

I can’t wait for everyone to watch so we can discuss this at length forever! The second mega-episode of season three lands in… 2023. Both too far away and too soon for it to be over.


Update: Disney Channel has put the whole episode up for free on YouTube — and it’s the #1 trending video!

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

13 Comments

  1. For many younglings – including my niece – this has been their first introduction to fandom. And the three rules of fandom still hold true.

    1. I ship it.

    2. FEELS

    3. The next episode comes out WHEN!?

  2. Heather! I started watching The Owl House on your recommendation and I’m absolutely obsessed. It’s a travesty that it will end this way AND I thought they executed the first of the final three episodes perfectly. Camila Noceda for mom of the year! This episode better win every GLAAD award it’s eligible for.

  3. I love how obvious of a “Screw you” to Disney the coming out scene was. First few minutes of the episode, over the top and in your face, very wholesome. I’m sure the uptight Disney executives that cancelled the show were fuming after seeing that!

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