Our monster-slaying baddies, Astrid and Lilly, are experiencing growing pains as they each lean into their high school crushes. As if there wasn’t enough strain on their BFF-ship already, in this week’s antepenultimate episode of Astrid & Lilly Save the World, “Hair,” (Written by Noelle Stehman & Betsy Van Stone and directed by Danishka Esterhazy) The Breakfast Club meets horror when besties Astrid and Lilly and a group of students serve Saturday detention at Pine Academy High School with a hellish guest that resembles something of a human-arachnid hybrid.
“Lesbihonest” | After vandalizing Vice Principal Michelle Knight’s (Megan Hutchings) dance décor, Astrid (Jana Morrison) and Lilly (Samantha Aucoin) are sentenced to serve Saturday detention in the Pine Academy library. Vice Principal Knight punishes the girls by making them create a life-size angel and demon to replace the ones that were wrecked. Lucky for the duo, they’re accompanied by trouble makers Sparrow, Candace, and Tate (Kolton Stewart). Eggs (Michael McCreary) is also present and busy chipping away at the mystery surrounding Astrid and Lilly’s connection to the number of disturbances he’s observed in the night’s sky.
With Sparrow (Spencer Macpherson) in the picture, Astrid is losing focus on the monster-hunting mission and Lilly is being forced to pick up her slack. Astrid might be hyper-fixated on her boy toy, but “lesbihonest”, she isn’t the only one distracted. Since kissing Candace (Julia Doyle) at the school fair, Lilly’s secret crush has been prioritizing her thoughts just the same. How is Lilly going to tell Astrid that she’s falling for Candace, the girl who’s the Regina George of Pine Academy High School? Secrets of this magnitude can only lead to trouble, and for Lilly, this means manifesting a portal in her dreams through which a nightmare monster crosses to unleash its terror on Copper’s Cove, Ohio. The Somnium Viatore is a ruthless predator. She envelopes her victims in a cocoon spun from her hair that slowly dissolves flesh into a soupy mess for her later consumption.
Secrets, Secrets | When VP Michelle instructs Lilly to fetch a Diet Coke from the cafeteria, Lilly asks Candace to join her. She takes this opportunity to ask Candace what their kiss the night before meant for them. Candace is hesitant to make their relationship public, explaining that it would be nice to have some time to themselves before others are given the chance to pry into their business. Candace reassures Lilly with a kiss, only to be unknowingly seen by Tate. The lip-lock comes to a sudden halt when Lilly catches their second looky-loo – the spidery Somnium Viatore!
Lilly rushes back to the library and discloses the frightening news to Astrid that the monster she saw in the cafeteria is the same toothy creature she’s been seeing in her nightmare. The girls hit up their office, aka the lady’s room, and get to work on researching how to annihilate the Somnium. From their notebook they learn that they’ll need to collect are a pair of scissors to collect hair for the orb and an old school camcorder to trap her in. Additionally, the girls read that any and all superpowers are rendered useless against the two-legged spider creep. Even worst, the Somnium Viatore only could have entered their world through the mind of someone with a secret, adding to Astrid’s suspicion that Lilly is hiding something important from her and widening the already gaping fracture in their friendship. Secrets, secrets are no fun.
Outed | Astrid and Lilly set out to gather their vanquishing tools, but the friction between them is becoming unbearable. Astrid goes in on Lilly again for hanging out with C-bomb Candace, and in an effort to deflect, Lilly lets it be known that she found out about Astrid hooking up with Sparrow in the backseat of her car. As the pair continue to bicker, their classmates are being snatched up by the spider freak one by one. Before you know it, the girls find themselves wrapped snugly in a wet hair cocoon with the rest of the detention detainees.
RELATEAD | “Astrid & Lilly Save the World” Episode ‘Lips’ Recap: Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby!
Hanging in a storage room waiting for their skin to melt away becomes the perfect opportunity for the girls to divulge the fact that they’re monster hunters. Candace speaks for everyone when she states, “weirdly, I’m not surprised.” In the spirit of spilling the beans, a spiteful Tate outs Lilly and Candace. Astrid is the first to shame Tate for outing the couple, only to then rip Lilly a new one for getting involved the resident mean girl. Turns out Astrid is right to question Candace’s sincerity because Candace’s response is to deny dating Lilly. Lilly makes the heartbreaking realization that Candace wants to keep their relationship hush-hush because she is embarrassed about falling for the high school outcast. Once again, we’re reminded that Candace is called C-bomb for a reason – ick.
Lilly Saves the Day | Lilly’s heartache doesn’t stop her from being the badass bitch that she is. Just as the Somnium Voltaire makes an appearance, Lilly uses a pair of scissors from the craft project to cut her way out of the cocoon and rescue Astrid and the gang before the monster has the chance to turn them into human stew. The monster hunters are able to work together just long enough to safely vanish the arachnid wannabe to a videotape and drop her stringy hair clippings into the orb.
Astrid and Lilly’s successful monster-killing mission has no effect on their crumbling friendship. When Brutus (Olivier Renaud) arrives at the school to inform them of the Guardian’s very real presence in Copper’s Cove and his plan to open all of the portals on the next full moon, he finds two defeated best friends with little to no fight left in them. Will Astrid and Lilly mend their relationship before it’s too late?!
Hey Monster Hunters. This week’s episode of Astrid & Lilly Saves the World was a doozy for the heart, am I right? Do you think our girls will make a come back on the bestie front and knock out this Guardian creep? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.
And, P.S., never out anyone. Okay, biyee!
Astrid & Lilly Save the World airs Wednesdays at 10pm on SYFY.
Dani grew up on the West Coast in sunny California. With a passion for film and television, she’s always on the hunt for binge-worthy flicks with diversity and positive representation of Womxn, the LGBTQIAN+ community, and other marginalized groups. Favorite genres include supernatural dramas, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and magical realism. Dani’s current favorite shows are Motherland: Fort Salem, Killing Eve, Dickinson, and Euphoria.