The Villains of Valley View Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Overnight Success

Since the dawn of time, villains have used cheating to get ahead. They play dirty, lie, and steal to get the upper hand. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.

On The Villains of Valley View Season 2 Episode 5, “Overnight Success,” Amy finds out that occasionally cheating works a little too well. 

Down at the cantina, Amy and Hartley discover there is a new contest going on that can help their band hit the big time. If they can just get enough followers, Mad Heart can win the grand prize and prove their worth to the world.

As with any prize, the promise of fame and fortune can go straight to our heads causing us to go to extremes to win. Oftentimes, it becomes even worse when we see the competition we are up against. 

Sadly, competition isn’t always healthy. Amy and Hartley feel like they’re behind the eight ball when they find out that their nemesis, Gem, has a music video, while all they are doing is handing out flyers. How can they hope to compete with only word of mouth?

It isn’t long before Hartley realizes they should do their own music video. Even though they won’t have the same budget as Gem, they can at least fight fire with fire. 

Coming at your competitors with a similar angle never seems like a bad idea. It helps bystanders to see both sides as equals giving them the ability to judge the basic content, not the bells and whistles.

It is a smart move on Hartley and Amy’s behalf and would probably work out fine if Amy didn’t have issues with her self-esteem. 

While never clearly stated, Amy doesn’t think the band is up to snuff. If she truly believed that their talent surpassed Gem’s band, she wouldn’t feel the need to hypnotize everybody that watched their video. She would be comfortable allowing others to see them for what they are worth. 

Nonetheless, Amy’s superpower does its job and it seems the rest is history.

Wait, not so fast. Hartley’s inquisitive nature gets the best of her. She understands their band is talented but also feels this large increase in the fanbase seems a bit too good to be true. 

Being a better friend than she used to be, Amy confesses what she did to the final edit of the video. In her mind, it is no big deal. 

This strikes me as a little odd. Just episodes ago, Amy pointed out that Hartley would be cheating if she used Colby’s power to get an edge on the competition in the Sunshine Club. This appears to me as a step backward for the character. 

I know I can’t expect the Maddens family to be perfect angels after just a little over a season’s worth of episodes, but I’d prefer a little more consistency. Even if this plot happened a few episodes earlier, I’d feel better about it. 

With the truth out in the open, Hartley compels Amy to break the spell her powers put on their fans. Continuing to be hard-headed, Amy refuses, putting their friendship in jeopardy. 

Being the bigger person, Hartley doesn’t take her frustrations out on her friend. Instead, she does whatever she can to reverse the effects of Amy’s antics. 

In Amy’s reluctance to right the wrong, things go from bad to worse. Since she wouldn’t take matters more seriously, a small misstep becomes a barbaric blunder. 

Eva: That plan sounds pure evil, I won’t let you do it without my supervision.

So often we refuse to do the right thing when the opportunity presents itself. We could fix the error we created by simply confessing to the misdeed and facing the consequences.

Instead, we do the exact opposite. We hope for the best in a bad situation without changing our actions.

Hartley’s attempt at a quick fix proves dangerous as the slightly enamored fans become completely obsessed. A small lapse in judgment has become a rather dangerous situation. 

Let this be a lesson to us all. Let fair be fair, even if it means losing to a slightly more talented person.  

After all, Mad Heart’s name wouldn’t be tarnished if Amy and Hartley simply followed the rules. Their efforts may not have won them the contest, but it still would have gotten them true fans. 

Elsewhere in the episode, Colby finds a nemesis of his own. The mischievous Daphne pulls out a handful of tricks to frame Colby. Her motives are silly at best but prove to be a fun time. 

One can’t help but wonder if Daphne will eventually become Colby’s love interest. 

The two tricksters seem right for each other in so many ways. I’m just hoping the relationship lasts longer than Jake and Starling’s. 

I enjoy it when the show splinters off from Amy’s narrative and focuses on other family members’ relationships. This fleshes out the rest of the cast giving a sense of realism to the show. 

So many times shows set their sights on a certain character, and everything revolves around them. It makes the more minor characters seem like plot devices. 

By giving them their own storyline, less popular characters feel more realistic, allowing viewers to accept them as living, breathing people. Even if it only involves Vic battling it out with the plumbing system.

The real trick is to combine separate storylines with a thread of morals that push a central theme home. The Villains of  Valley View haven’t got there yet, but I have confidence they will.

What did you think of this episode of The Villains of Valley View? How will Mad Heart regain its fan base?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

The Villains of Valley View airs Thursday at 8/7 on Disney Channel.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

‘Zombies: The Re-Animated Series’ Sets July Premiere Date on Disney Channel