We're here! I'm going to start this review with the big caveat that my memory of campaign two of Critical Role is shaky as fuck. Like. With the Vox Machina stuff I was frequently making comparisons between the stream and the show, and here I'm going to try to do less of that because a) I don't remember what order shit is supposed to happen in, and b) I understand that this adaptation is going to be a lot looser about a lot of stuff. That said, same with Vox Machina, if there are particular moments or character beats that I remember and I have a comment about how they've adapted it, I'm going to say something! Let's dive into our first episode. I'm soooo hype for this, y'all.
Cons:
In a way, the pilot episode of any show feels too early to have a "cons" section, because for the most part the things I want to note here are "wait and see" kinds of things. And even my critiques are very much in the category of nitpicks. That's another caveat I should give: I think The Legend of Vox Machina is stellar television, and I expect this show to be stellar too, so anything I'm complaining about is coming from a place of holding the show to a very high standard.
So. Couple little things:
Nott's voice. I think it'll just take me a minute to get used to it, but I did have a flash of going "yeesh, this is going to be a lot to listen to." When it was Sam at the table, he didn't maintain it at its screechiest and scratchiest most of the time, because... well, because that would be a nightmare for him as a performer lol.
Starting a new story with lots of lore is always a challenge, so I don't want to grade them too hard on this, but I did feel like there were some moments that got a little boring/exposition-y. Honestly, I'm genuinely super hype that this show is twice as long as TLOVM, but as I was watching this I did have the thought that three minutes could have been trimmed from the episode just by tightening up the pacing slightly. Kind of like how I often think an extra three minutes would fix pacing issues on the VM show. So like. Let's donate three minutes of M9 over to that one and we'll be golden.
The way the Volstrucker magic looks... I'm really excited about how all the magic is going to be explored in this show, they've said a lot about that in the promo and it already looks really cool in a lot of cases... but there's something almost too... sci-fi-like about the Volstrucker green arm glowy lights? And like, Ikithon's little magic blade that cuts people's skin open... I don't know. I'm excited to see more, but the bright glowy lights of it all almost felt like they were just a little too crisp, or in a slightly off color palette or something. I don't know how to articulate this. Like I said, nitpick.
This is very much a "wait and see" element, but... the character of Owelia. This Volstrucker character is one that is essentially a creation of the show. I looked her up on the CR wiki and technically she is a named character that gets mentioned in passing by Trent at one point in the campaign. I like the idea of adding more texture to this whole world of villains since obviously we're going to be incorporating them into the story from the jump here. But... I did have the thought... why not just have it be Astrid. Feels a little crowded to introduce the Volstrucker trio at the beginning, then have another one also there, separate from them, to go beat Beau up in an alley or whatever. I guess they're wanting to save Astrid up in terms of her narrative role, but as of this moment I don't really understand why it couldn't be Astrid who's stirring shit up with the Cobalt Soul from the jump. Would make the story cleaner, wouldn't it?
There's literally one shot in the episode that I specifically want to comment on, and it's the shot of the old lady on the ground after Beau has knocked her out. Killed her? I don't know! This shot of her still and silent old lady body on the ground really bothered me, not because I mind either way whether Beau has murdered this woman or not, but because the difference between "knock out a person trying to shoot me" and "kill a person trying to shoot me" is a pretty big distinction, and I literally wasn't sure what I was meant to think had happened there. Could have used a shot of that old lady stirring on the ground, or a sign of her breathing at least. It really looked like Beau did a murder, which would be... uh... I mean, it's not out of tone for the show as a whole, but it does feel out of character for Beau to do casually and without comment.
And last on the complaining front, just a couple of eye-roll lines of dialogue. The supervisor guy who was with Beau on their investigation was cartoonishly (you know what I mean) blunt about his racism against the Kryn. He literally says "they're not like us. They're savages." And it's just... okay. I get that he's corrupt and he's either in on Zeenoth's betrayal or at least being manipulated, but surely there were more subtle ways you could have indicated his bigotry. It was so over the top that it makes Beau's naive belief in the Cobalt Soul seem a little strange. And speaking of that belief, it was also a little inauthentic how quickly Beau bought into what Dairon was saying and decided it was all bullshit. She had a super blunt and inelegant moment where she says: "I'm nothing, just like Zeenoth always said." Perhaps a wee bit on the nose. Like I said, I'm not going to grade them too harshly for it, but I did feel like the script was one final pass away from being perfect in those moments.
Pros:
But enough of that! We're here, I'm vibrating out of my skin with excitement, so much to discuss. To start with just like, some general animation comments: The settings are so lush and interesting and look distinct from anything we saw in Tal'Dorei in the other show, while still feeling part of this sprawling fantasy world. There were multiple points I felt like pausing just to admire the architecture or layout of a room. I feel like the movement, the fight sequences, they're even more elevated and complex and gorgeous than what we've seen in TLOVM. The opening scene with the Volstruckers, the chase sequence with Caleb and Nott, the fight between Beau and Owelia... all so fucking incredible. And that bloodbath from Yasha there at the end? Wow.
Speaking of that, we meet four of our main characters in this episode, and I like how each one is first viewed through a very quintessential aspect of their character, at the start of their arc. Caleb is pathetically getting beaten up by some guys on the street. Nott's first action on screen is to dart past like the sneaky rogue she is, and steal Caleb's shit. Our first view of Beau is in investigation-mode. And Yasha is doing a brutal, wide and sweeping slaughter... yeah. That's them. I'm excited to meet Jester, Fjord, and Molly as well.
To start with Caleb and Nott, I want to compliment the way they're setting up their dynamic already. So many of the pieces of them that are going to grow as time goes on. You've got their compatible but complex motivations: Nott was going to turn in this stranger for a reward, but when she saw his magic, she started thinking of using him for another purpose. Caleb is not a trusting fellow but he's also a little too broken to resist help when it's offered to him. I love the moment that Nott witnesses Caleb's grief and feels genuine sympathy, but also you know that her motivations aren't as simple as just wanting to help this poor sad man out. We also see hints of tragic backstory for both of them, with Nott looking down at that button and all the drinking, and then Caleb with that HEARTBREAKING scene of summoning Frumpkin (as yet unnamed on screen) and then the magic crumbling and seeing him fade away. So, so sad and beautiful, obviously it hits harder if you know more of why this stuff is happening, but I think even on its own it's an intriguing way to introduce that there's a lot of tragedy waiting for us as we continue.
I think from the above you'll see that I have the most qualms about Beau's story, just with kind of the lack of subtlety happening. But that said, having the starting beat of her character be that she learns that the Cobalt Soul is bullshit makes a lot of sense narrative-wise with what happens in the campaign. Lots of exposition to set this up, but I think by the end of this episode even a new watcher would understand the gist, here. The Cobalt Soul is supposed to be an independent body of knowledge, and there's corruption, and Beau has found out that her mentor Zeenoth is at the center of that, and she is also meeting a potential new mentor, Dairon, who can help her fight the rot from the inside. I loved Ming-Na Wen as Dairon and Jonathan Frakes as Zeenoth, what powerhouses, what fun material!
Yasha's introduction is really interesting to me. I kind of wondered how they'd deviate her from her origins in the stream, but it looks like she's not working at the circus with Molly, which is a pretty big backstory change indeed! I'm on record thinking that some of the Pike material they came up with in TLOVM to correspond to Ashley's absences in the stream are kind of clunky. They have the opportunity to start fresh here, with all these massive structural changes, and I hope that it doesn't feel like Yasha is still being adapted with that Blindspot-caused absence in mind.
Speaking of the structural changes: I have been on record with lots of people about my guess that the show would start basically exactly as it did. I don't mean with the beacon heist necessarily, but I've been saying from the start that if they're changing structure, the whole show should start, minute one, with the Dynasty, and the beacon, that we should meet those characters first, establish the importance of the beacon and the tension between Dynasty and Empire, and have that be the driving energy of the entire story from minute one. I'm thrilled they're structuring it that way! I'm thrilled to have gotten a glimpse of Ludinus at that Empire counsel meeting. I'm thrilled that Beau is investigating the beacon even though she doesn't know it, and that Trent is up in the mix, and that all of these things are interwoven so smartly at the beginning.
If Vox Machina is a party of "nobodies" who decide to be heroes, the Mighty Nein is very much what their name suggests: The Mighty No. A lot of the campaign, especially in the earlier sections, was defined by them all running from stuff they weren't prepared to deal with. Fjord, Nott, Caleb, Beau, Molly, Jester, all of them searching for belonging but also defined by running from who they can't afford to be anymore. So it makes sense for characters like these, that the world itself pulls them in, forces them to get involved against their will. I know Vox Machina have personal stakes too, but the trajectory of their journey as individuals and as a group feels very different to this, which I think is a smart way to make the groups feel distinct and give the shows different flavors/tenors. This super doesn't belong in this review but since I'm speaking more generally about VM and M9 and their hero's journey as a group, I'll say that Bells Hells has yet another trajectory. They aren't the nobodies who become heroes, or the people on the run from their pasts. They're the nobodies who shouldn't be the heroes, the ones who know they don't belong in the story they're forced to tell, and who have to step up and make the call anyway. I love how expansive and interesting Exandria is as a setting, that it can hold these various archetypes and journeys and interweave them in such a sprawling, messy, but ultimately compelling way.
I could go on, but I've still got two more episodes to watch, so I'll leave it here for now! Oh, Mighty Nein. We're finally here!
8/10
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