These two babygirls right here?? They are actually an example of Viv’s capacity for GOOD writing and y’all are just being PICKY and IMPATIENT. (And also we as a society just hate teenage girls) but ANYWAY these two and their relationship issues are completely valid and I guess I’m going to crawl out of my cave to let everyone know why.
Here’s the deal: the issues between Stolas and Octavia aren’t just some lazy writing or a rehash of the same conflict over and over again. They’re a realistic portrayal of a messy, complicated, and evolving parent-child relationship. Both Loo Loo Land and Seeing Stars serve specific narrative purposes, and they build upon each other to lead us to where we are now. So let’s break it down.
“Octavia has had no character growth.”
“She’s whining about the same thing over and OVER!”
Friends. Colleagues. Members of the Jury. Loo Loo Land and Seeing Stars were both stories that highlighted two very related but very distinct insecurities Via has about her relationship with her father. These episodes also serve to illustrate Octavia’s growing frustration and hurt with Stolas, which leads very cohesively to the big, dramatic reckoning these two have in Sinsmas.
Ok so let’s talk about the main conflict in Loo Loo Land. Octavia feels cut off from her father’s focus and attention, and she is watching her parent’s “happy” marriage (sweet girl doesn’t know any different) fall apart due entirely (from her perspective) to Stolas’ own actions and his desire for a new boyfriend.
Stolas, on the other hand, is in the middle of a newfound sexual awakening in his mid-thirties, and for the first time in 17 years, he has an emotional investment (infatuation, really) with someone other than Octavia. He’s finally prioritizing his own happiness after over a decade and a half of repression. For the first time in his life, he’s experiencing sexual and emotional (well, something close to it) fulfillment, and it’s exciting. But in his excitement, he’s not fully grasping how this shift is affecting his daughter. She’s used to being the center of Stolas’ world - he has no significant friendships or meaningful relationships outside of his abusive marriage and his relationship with Via. And now this “red dickhead” is taking up all of Stolas’ attention. And her dad is being fucking weird about – it flirty, distracted, and just…not like himself. She’s scared and confused. (And masking it by being a teenaged asshole, as they do.)
Loo Loo Land is all about introducing Octavia’s fear of being replaced and how that insecurity plays into her perception of her father. She’s grappling with the chaos of her family falling apart and the sudden shift in her dad’s priorities. Her fear is completely valid—Stolas’ attention is being pulled in new directions, and his attempt to address it by dragging her to a theme park she’s clearly outgrown only highlights how little he’s tuned in to her emotional needs.
The “resolution” we get in this episode isn’t meant to fix their relationship. It’s about Stolas realizing, in a very surface-level way, how his choices are affecting Octavia. When he reassures her that he’s not running away with Blitzø and still loves her, it’s a quick Band-Aid over a much deeper wound.
Let’s be real: no one thought that a 30-second conversation was going to magically solve all their issues, right? They didn’t even touch on the core of the problem. What we’re seeing here is just one piece of a much larger conflict. Stolas and Octavia are still disconnected—Stolas doesn’t fully understand how to parent a teenager, and Octavia doesn’t yet trust that her father can balance his happiness with her needs.
This episode isn’t about neatly wrapping things up. It’s about laying the groundwork for the ongoing tension between them. It’s about showing us where the cracks are forming so we can understand how this father-daughter relationship is evolving (and sometimes devolving) as the series progresses. And that’s good writing. It’s messy, it’s unresolved, and it’s painfully realistic.
Seeing Stars picks up where Loo Loo Land left off, but it shifts the emotional focus from Octavia’s fear of abandonment to her growing anger and frustration with Stolas’ repeated failures to prioritize her. This isn’t a rehash of the same conflict—it’s an escalation, a deeper dive into how these unresolved issues have festered.
The conflict in Seeing Stars is related, but not identical to the conflict in Loo Loo Land. First, it shows the audience that Octavia is experiencing a pattern of her father falling short in his emotional connection with her. It’s showing us how far her parent’s relationship has deteriorated and how it continues to affect her.
From her view, Stolas hasn’t changed. He’s still putting everything else—his messy personal life, his relationship with Blitzø—above her. And now she’s bitter. The dad who once made her feel like the center of his world now seems to be building a new one where she’s an afterthought.
Stolas is trying, but trying isn’t always enough. He’s juggling a chaotic divorce, a complicated situationship, and his own mental health struggles, and he’s failing to keep up. The special night he promised Octavia? It gets buried under the mess of his crumbling life. To him, this is an unfortunate oversight. To her, it’s a betrayal.
And let’s not forget the family dynamics here. In Seeing Stars, Stolas isn’t just dodging Stella’s wrath anymore—he’s actively fighting back. This adds another layer of tension. He’s distracted by the war zone that is their home life, and in the process, he completely forgets the meteor shower. It’s a once-in-a-century event, planned years in advance, and he still forgets.
The main conflict here is 1. Dad STILL isn’t keeping his promises and 2. he is STILL too preoccupied with (from Via’s perspective) uprooting their lives for his new boyfriend.
And now, instead of feeling sad and abandoned, Octavia is feeling angry and betrayed. Dad forgot about her again. Maybe dad doesn’t even think the interests they used to share together even matter anymore because he’s starting a new life with his shitty boyfriend. Maybe she doesn’t even fit into the picture anymore.
Stargazing was something they planned together, something meaningful to her. But once again, her dad drops the ball, preoccupied with divorce drama and, from her perspective, his “shitty boyfriend.” This time, she’s not just sad—she’s angry. So then she runs off and does impulsive shit (as teenagers do, with their uncooked prefrontal cortex and all that). She lashes out by running off with the grimoire, an impulsive act of defiance and a desperate cry for attention.
Seeing Stars explores Octavia’s shift from sadness to anger. It’s about her realizing that her dad’s promises often go unfulfilled and that his focus still isn’t on her. The conflict here isn’t just about a forgotten meteor shower—it’s about the pattern of Stolas falling short and the impact of his actions (and inactions) on their relationship.
The resolution is, once again, surface-level. Loona’s “dads are stupid, but they try” pep talk helps soothe Octavia’s immediate feelings of hurt, and Stolas showing up to find her proves that he does care. But just like in Loo Loo Land, this isn’t about fixing the deeper issues—it’s about showing us the cracks in their relationship and how they’re widening.
Loo Loo Land explores Octavia’s fear of being emotionally replaced by Stolas’ new relationship and her anxiety over her parents’ crumbling marriage.
Seeing Stars delves into Octavia’s anger at Stolas for (in her eyes) continuing to prioritize his relationship drama over their bond, showing her frustration with his perceived lack of change.
These episodes don’t just repeat the same conflict—they illustrate to the audience the rising tensions and insecurities within Octavia. Both conflicts are superficially resolved with moments of affection and reassurance from Stolas, but these do nothing to address the deeper pain and insecurity Via feels because of his choices.This lack of meaningful resolution explains why, by the time we see her in Sinsmas, her emotions have escalated further.
This isn’t lazy writing or repetitive storytelling. It’s a realistic portrayal of a teenager grappling with her father’s shortcomings while he struggles to figure out how to parent through his own chaos. The unresolved tension in these episodes builds toward their eventual confrontation in Sinsmas, making that moment feel earned and emotionally resonant. It’s messy because relationships—especially ones strained by divorce, betrayal, and growing pains—are messy.
