I won't lie: hearing that Disney drastically shortened this show's final season felt like a stab in the heart-I mean, how could they do something like that to such a fantastic show? There's no way that Dana Terrace and her team could cram a season's worth of content into three 44-minute specials! It's unheard of!!
And yet somehow-SOMEHOW-the first of those three specials manages to pull off the impossible and pushes the boundaries of this show's unequivocally beautiful writing, animation and representation to new heights while also not forgetting what came before it. The beauty of then and now, fantasy and reality, dreams and nightmares, happiness and hurt, and youth and adulthood are phenomenally blended together in perfect harmony. And it's all paced so well.
There's a LOT I want to say about this episode, but talking about it would just spoil the experience for everyone else. This is simply a touchstone of an episode and you'd be a fool to not witness it for yourself.