The Legend of Vox Machina: Belly of the Beast (2x11)

Another great episode, sorry to be a broken record!

Cons:

This whole show, I've been so impressed with their ability to get in all the most iconic lines I remember from the stream. Even if the circumstances changed, most of the epic dialogue has made it in. This was the first time I fully expected a line to be in a scene, and it didn't come. During the Scanlan and Kaylie scene, Scanlan said during the stream something along the lines of "of my many faults, ego is one of them. So now, knowing you're a part of me, makes me love you even more." It was a line so good that Matt gave him advantage on his persuasion check. I was sad it didn't make the cut! I feel like thematically it still would have worked. It's funny, but also it still works for the tone of the scene.

The immovable rod being replaced with a sword that Kaylie gives Scanlan is fine, but I wish there had been one line of dialogue somewhere to explain what the sword did, as it ends up being so pivotal later. Maybe I'm underestimating the viewers and it's completely understandable as is, just a small note.

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Killbox (2x10)

Goddamn, this show is something special.

Cons:

I'm not sure the utility of Kaylie coming back to witness the Kill Box fight. It feels like the exact same effect could have been achieved if Kaylie and the rest of the band had turned up after Kevdak's defeat, saying they'd gotten word that the herd was no longer going to be a problem. Having her around doesn't add anything, other than just a hint that she's trying to stay close to Scanlan for some reason, but I think that could have been achieved after the Kevdak battle.

The only complaint I have about the Kill Box fight sequence is that I wanted even more of it, which seems selfish because it was pretty incredible! I think the one thing that would have elevated it even just slightly, would be a bit more combo action. We saw each individual of Vox Machina fucking shit up, per Grog's instructions, and then obviously the awesome Vex and Grog combo there at the end, but my favorite part of the fight sequences is watching how all the different fighting styles and magics support and enhance one another. This fight had a lot of impressive single character actions, and then a lot of characters shooting a bad guy to protect each other, like Vex shooting bad guys near Percy and vice versa, which I obviously love, but I could have used some more combo creativity. This is such a nitpick though, it's only remembering the stream, how the Kill Box episode was one long combat from start to finish, and how fucking insane it was... when it ended here I was still eagerly wanting more.

The Legend of Vox Machina: Test of Pride (2x09)

Knowing that this batch of episodes contained the Fey Realm stuff, if someone would have told me the Westruun-only episode might be my favorite of the three, I wouldn't have believed them. But... this might be my favorite of the three! The glow-up that Scanlan, Grog, and Pike have all gotten as characters this season, from characters I loved because I already knew them from the stream, to fully realized creations in their own right... it's a beautiful thing to behold.

Cons:

I feel like the way Grog's backstory was framed was the slightest bit confusing, specifically as regarded Pike's knowledge of it. Where we land is that Pike knows how they first took Grog in, but didn't know the full extent of what Grog had been made to do with the herd. What's confusing is that in the flashback, younger Pike thanks Grog for what he did for her grandpa, but when present-day Pike is hearing the story of Grog sparing the old man's life, she says "Grandpa Wilhand?" like she's confused or this is brand new information. The backstory finishes with Pike being like "I never knew..." but yes she did, we just heard Pike thanking Grog for it in the past! I think this is just a small adjustment, where present-day Pike needed to make it clear that while she knew the basics, she never knew how bad things had really been.

I've got to say, I'm not really sure what to make of Ripley's involvement here. Is she going to come into play in some major way in this season? Are we going to get... you know... the culmination of Ripley's story... ahem... in the next three episodes? I kind of don't see how, since we've still gotta do the Kill Box and Umbrasyl. And if Ripley's just here to wave her hand and say "remember me, I'm Ripley and I'm still here", it feels a little odd. I don't know, we'll see. It's not like she's taking up a lot of our time, anyway.

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Echo Tree (2x08)

Ahhhh Percy and Vex my babiesssss.

Cons:

I've been thinking about the "Lady Vex'ahlia" moment and why I'm not 100% happy with this adaptation. I'm pretty happy, but there was something holding me back from loving it unconditionally. First of all, they changed the kicker line to: "Despite your relationship, do watch your manners towards a noble." Instead of just ending on "do watch your manners" which is stronger and cleaner. I think the point would have gotten across without adding the extra words. But more important than that, I think the atmosphere of how that happened on the stream was just so... intense, and memorable, because it was in front of a live audience, there were screams and applause, and you saw Laura's overwhelmed reaction. And Syldor was legitimately put off-balance by it. It was a blow that landed.

Here, I didn't need it to be a big huge mic-drop moment, I'm fine with it happening in only private company the way it would have from the stream version too. But I don't like the change that Syldor doesn't even hesitate before scoffing at it and saying it's just a stupid ploy. I wish he had been a little unsettled. I wish we'd seen him offended or confused or just... at all affected by the whole thing? He brushes off Percy's big grand gesture, and he brushes off Vex snapping at him, as if it doesn't matter at all. I get that there needs to be some build to something bigger, but I feel like it made the moment less fun because of it.

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Fey Realm (2x07)

If I've had one consistent complaint about this show all along it's been that I wanted a bit more downtime between the big, huge plot developments. And this batch of episodes gave me all the high-octane action and adventure I could want, and plenty of that slower character development stuff too! I'm so happy!

Cons:

This isn't specific to this episode, but I've been praising how all the various relationship dynamics have their little moments along the way, how impressed I am by the attention being given to all sorts of subtle dynamics in the background. For some reason, this episode made me realize that one relationship we've kind of lost out on in this season two is the Keyleth and Percy friendship. I hope we can get a moment or two with them coming up, or maybe some good stuff in season three.

For the most part I am really, really, pleased with the changes to Grog's story-line. However, from a pacing perspective, with regards to the fight to come with Kevdak and all that, I would have changed this around a bit. See, here what happens is that Grog makes his near-fatal error in stabbing Pike, and then immediately he overcomes the sword's influence and destroys it, then suffers consequences he needs to deal with in the aftermath. We know that coming up, he's going to have to face his evil and powerful uncle. In the stream, one of the things that was so cool about Travis's struggle with Grog was his desire to use Craven Edge during that fight: sort of a "one more time won't kill me" logic. In adapting it for animation, I think I would have kept the scene mostly the same, but not had Craven Edge actually destroyed: have it left somewhere, buried in rock or in a pocket plane or something. Then, when Grog is trying to muster up the courage to beat his uncle, have him reaffirm and hold to his choice to leave Craven Edge behind, because his strength lies elsewhere. It's a small thing, but I think the time between Grog realizing he needs to be rid of Craven Edge, and the time when Craven Edge is affirmatively destroyed/out of his reach forever, was too quick. There should have been one more step on that journey for him, in my opinion.

The Legend of Vox Machina: Into Rimecleft (2x06)

Eyyyyy we're splitting the party, this should be good.

Cons:

Okay. So. Keyleth encouraging Vax to talk to the Matron of Ravens... I get why they added this little detail in, but to be honest it's a characterization change I'm not sure about. Keyleth in the streams has always  been very dismissive or even distrustful of the gods. It feels weird that she should be the one to gently nudge Vax towards exploring that relationship. Maybe I'm misremembering and Keyleth says something to him in the stream too, it's hundreds of hours of gameplay and character choices aren't always 100% consistent, but this just rang false for me as a Keyleth moment.

Literally I have no other complaints though, this episode is perfect.

The Legend of Vox Machina: Pass Through Fire (2x05)

KEYLETH MY BEST FRIEND KEYLETH. I love her so much. She was made to pass through fire! I'm weeping!

Cons:

Okay, okay, I loved this episode, but I do have to say this: people are always joking about Keyleth basically just... being the Avatar from The Last Airbender, and... yeah. The fact that her eyes glowed a solid white before she entered the Avatar State - I mean, became a Fire Elemental for the first time - didn't really help with that comparison. It's a little much, I'll admit. Still cool, but c'mon. I was thinking on this, and I think part of the problem was that while in isolation, Keyleth's big moment passing through fire was perfect and I genuinely adored it, it felt like a culmination with very little build. I don't know how they would have done this pacing-wise, but maybe one more scene in an earlier episode where Keyleth is talking about her Aramente, mentioning how she needs to figure out how to face it, would have led to this better. I also might have liked this better if her dad hadn't been around? This is a small thing, but I feel like we almost played our cards too soon, giving Kiki this glow-up, when her true culminating moment taking place with her people comes much further down the line. If they had maybe saved having her dad around for that later moment, that could have been cool.

This is a tiny thing but I don't like how Pike calls Grog "buddies" like... in the plural? Why isn't it just "buddy"? Drives me a little crazy every time.

The Legend of Vox Machina: Those Who Walk Away (2x04)

I got the Vax punching Percy scene, I'm a happy camper.

Cons:

I can't overstate how much most of my complaints about this show are nitpicks. It feels like we've gotten such a bounty, something so much better and cooler and more intense than I ever could have hoped for. So when I'm talking about things that missed the mark for me, it's really only a matter of being thorough. Of being so impressed with this show that I expect the absolute best from it. My complaint is a little difficult to articulate, but during the pivotal Vex resurrection "take me instead" scene, it felt like the pacing, or the blocking, or maybe both, were just slightly... off.  Pacing-wise we go from the weeping at the end of season three to suddenly everyone being like "oh yeah, shit, we should be trying to save her", which just felt like they prioritized the fucking stunning ending of episode three over the beginning of episode four making sense, a little? Vax is sobbing like he believes she's really dead, and then suddenly he says "somebody do something!" like he's still in the middle of figuring out what's going on. Just a little awkwardness there.

There's this particular shot where Vex's spiritual self has flowed upward, and there's the golden thread connecting the twins, and the Matron of Ravens is looming over them, and it just looked kind of awkward with Vex's form laid out in this weird ghostly way... I think if I were going to do this, I wouldn't have had Vex's soul float out of her body at all, I would have kept the string connecting Vax to where Vex lay on the floor. Or I would have done a less tangible representation of Vex being taken away, like an orb of light or something. Like I said, this is nitpick-y to the extreme.

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Sunken Tomb (2x03)

Liam O'Brien, how dare you...

Cons:

This isn't really a con, so much as a point of confusion... where did Kash and Zahra go at the end of the episode? They seemed to find Purvan's tomb and wander down it, but then Percy also found the tomb? So they're in the wrong place? It just felt strange that they ended up somewhere else with no resolution or cliffhanger for those characters. I guess we'll find out in episode four?

Pros:

Such a good blend of tone in this episode. So many funny moments, and then mixed with such abject tragedy... the basic structure of the plot is just that the gang goes on a journey to find the Deathwalker's Ward, which is the first Vestige of Divergence they've been told about. Along the way they banter, they fight weird fish people monsters, they have a not-so-friendly rivalry going with Zahra and Kash...

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Trials of Vasselheim (2x02)

I've got to say, this show is bringing such joy into my life right now...

Cons:

I thought visually that Vasselheim wasn't quite as cool looking as I wanted it to be? Individual details were cool, but the first view of the city as a whole, that first big sweeping view, wasn't quite as impressive as what we saw of Emon or even Whitestone. I don't know, maybe I need to re-watch to appreciate it more.

This is an exposition-heavy episode, what with Highbearer Vord briefly meeting Vox Machina just to tell them no, then to the Slayer's Take, then down to see Osysa. It's a lot of information imparted very quickly, about the ancient history of this world, and setting up the Vestiges of Divergence fetch quest, and meanwhile we're cutting back to Grog's subplot. So once again I'm in the position of saying I enjoyed all the individual things I was seeing, but wish there was another five minutes so the transitions between all these different scenes and characters and concepts could have a bit more breathing room.

The Legend of Vox Machina: Rise of the Chroma Conclave (2x01)

We're back!!!! Since I have three of these to review, I'm going to try (and probably fail) to keep each review quick and snappy.

Cons:

I think one of the things about this show is that I want more of it? So I might criticize the pacing of a lot of the episodes, and that's because when the characters do get a moment to breathe and check in with each other, I'm enjoying it so much that I just want more. For this particular installment, I could have used a bit more time there at the end in Whitestone. Cassandra and Keeper Yennen being conveniently right by the Sun Tree when everyone emerged felt like such a blatant way to tighten up the pacing, and everything was moving so fast that we didn't even really have a chance for Keyleth to say hi to the Sun Tree, or for us to check in with Percy a bit more about how it felt to be back home. It's good, don't get me wrong, the details they do choose to include are excellent, I just feel that I haven't been given all the things I'd love to see. If every episode were just five minutes longer, I think it'd be more or less perfect.

Uriel's death felt a little... unceremonious? And honestly I think that's okay, I think it makes sense that it happens fast, and amidst chaos, but it feels odd to me that our main characters don't even seem to know that the Sovereign has been killed. They know Emon is in terrible trouble and that the dragons have taken over, but Uriel's death happened so quickly and never got remarked on again. It's a small thing, I'm sure we'll get more focus on the implications of this when we're back in Emon later down the road.

Bob's Burgers: Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang (13x11)

I started watching Bob's Burgers a couple of years ago, but per my own self-imposed rules about reviews, I am just now getting to write my very first review about the show, having caught up to current episodes airing! This is a fun show, a distraction for my brain, good vibes and calming colors. I might not have a ton to say week to week, but let's dive in!

Cons:

I think of all the stories happening here, Gene's was probably the least interesting to me this week. He has a song stuck in his head, a jingle about fish delivery, and he keeps singing it over and over. The only real "punchline" here is that by the end, Louise has the jingle stuck in her head too, which Gene thinks of as a victory. It's not bad, it's just a background gag that didn't really do much for me.

His Dark Materials: The Botanic Garden (3x08)

Woof! Okay. Let's talk about it.

Cons:

The thing is, yeah, this episode has the problem it was always going to have, in that it feels disconnected from the rest of the story in a lot of big, obvious ways. We went through so much with Asriel and Coulter, and they barely get mentioned here. Characters like Iorek get barely a sendoff. The aftermath of Asriel's war isn't fully addressed; obviously it's implied that the Magisterium is going to go home with its tale between its legs and none of the angels on Metatron's side are going to bother anyone anymore, but we don't really see much of any of it. The Gallivespians, the other witches besides Serafina, they don't get their due here. This is how the book ends, too, I'm not saying they had a lot of choice in it, but I think the structural problems that have plagued this season are apparent when you have a finale that is kind of doing its own thing, almost entirely cut off from the plotty buildup leading to it.

Father Gomez coming to do his murdering, and Balthamos showing up to thwart him is also something from the books, but again it felt shoe-horned in. I get that I'm kind of contradicting myself, as this is an element that does tie back to earlier in the season, but it feels so disjointed, like, God is literally actually Dead, dude. Move the hell on.

His Dark Materials: The Clouded Mountain (3x07)

Dayummmm I'm gonna cry so much when I watch the last episode, it's not even funny...

Cons:

The thing is, this show never should have tried to pull off an action movie. The special effects don't pass muster, they're forced to rely on shortcuts that just aren't all that visually interesting... angels and witches are having an epic battle but we can't really see it, human troops are valiantly dying for the cause but it's in dark snippets we can barely focus on. The Gallivespians continue to have not enough to do. It's not a matter of what's on the screen being bad, so much as it is a matter of them not being able to put stuff on the screen that should be there, if they really want it to.

Underpinning this problem with effects is a bigger one of Asriel's motivations. This whole time, his vendetta against God himself has been sort of a weak point. In the books, Asriel is more of a distant figure. By giving him so much screen-time in this final season, we sort of shine a spotlight on the fact that his whole war is a little silly and kind of useless. In the end, it's all about Lyra and the prophecy. So why is Asriel bothering with all of this? Is it just a distraction, a la the battle at the black gates in The Lord of the Rings, so Frodo can destroy the ring, or in this case, so Eve has the chance to "fall" the way she's destined to do? I don't know. When you really look at it, kinda weaksauce.

His Dark Materials: The Abyss (3x06)

Man, I got super weepy with this one.

Cons:

I felt like of all the emotional gut-punches in this episode, the one that wasn't as effective for me was Will and his dad. I think this goes back to an error in judgment from the second season. See, in the books, Will and Jopari never get to have a conversation as father and son while they're both alive. This is the first time, in the land of the dead, that they're getting to talk. But here in the show, they got to have a big chat and a slow death scene at the end of season two, so this additional scene just didn't really add all that much? I mean, don't get me wrong, always glad to see Andrew Scott, but other than his hint about how Will belongs in his own world, and instructions on finding his daemon, it felt devoid of the emotion I was wanting to feel.

I should say an overall weak point of the season has been the Gallivespians. I think they might be kind of weak points in the books too, but I remember feeling a deeper sense of connection to them such that when there were moments of tension and action, or even tragedy, it mattered to me. In the show, if you replaced all the Gallivespian characters with literal drone cameras that flitted around after the human characters, I'm not sure it would make any real difference.

His Dark Materials: No Way Out (3x05)

This was an excellent episode!

Cons:

The stuff with Mary Malone continues to be a weak point, and honestly I think that's the consequence of trying to adapt this story in the first place. Atal and the others of her kind are interesting in theory, but they feel so random, so disconnected from the rest of the journey. And they're not quite as weird and alien as I always thought of them from the books, so I think in the back of my head I was really looking forward to the Mulefa and then I saw them and it was sort of a letdown. What Mary learns here about Dust and how it's dying is really important, but with so little time spent setting this up, it feels like it could have been learned elsewhere and without Mary even existing as a character.

I kind of missed checking in with Asriel this week; his plot is "keeps getting ready to do war in the background", which, fine, but I think more of an impending sense of his presence would be helpful.

And my eternal complaint that the daemons should be more integrated into the story. We see how much Lyra is suffering without Pan, we see Mrs. Coulter about to be separated from her own daemon... I think what would be helpful is if we saw the other daemons with the Magisterium characters a bit more. Heard them talk, watched them interact with their environment and bring key insights into certain moments, instead of just feeling like an afterthought.

His Dark Materials: Lyra and Her Death (3x04)

There's a weakness in this episode that I think carries over from the book too, maybe, but I think the problem is exacerbated here... let's discuss.

Cons:

I know how this story ends, so I get why Lyra is headed for the land of the dead. I know how it all connects. But the story we've been told thus far... Lyra going after Roger when the cost is so extreme, just doesn't quite fit. The heart-rending scene with Pan where she's leaving him behind would work a lot better if a) the audience understood why Lyra going to Roger was more important than staying connected to her very soul, and b) if the daemons were better represented throughout the show. As it was, the performance from Dafne Keen was phenomenal, but the buildup did not lead to this moment having the impact you would want it to, because in the back of your head you're just going... Lyra, don't leave him, then... I'm sorry, it's sad that Roger died, but you can't actually help him now, so why are you doing this?

His Dark Materials: The Intention Craft (3x03)

Oh boy, I can't wait for episode four, I have a feeling it's going to make me a little weepy. But let's talk about this one first!

Cons:

The effect on the Gallivespians is... weird. They've got the scaling situation going, but it doesn't ever really feel like they're in the same place? Like when Lady Salmakia is talking to Lyra and Will, it doesn't feel like they're actually physically near each other. And the scene where she attacks them, angry about the knife being broken, it really did feel like the kids were flinching away on cues from someone off-camera, not to an actual living person existing in their environment.

Mary Malone... it's strange that we're not making progress quicker with her. She's on her journey, and I know where it's going, but there are five episodes left the show, and we're just now getting to the point that I think of as the beginning of her story? So I don't know, that's a little odd, pacing-wise.

Also odd for pacing was to have Balthamos come back for like two seconds just to say "oh, you're going to the land of the dead. Okay, bye, then." I guess I'm glad to see him, but not really sure what the point was there.

His Dark Materials: The Break (3x02)

Oh boy oh boy!! It's so fun to be someone who knows roughly what's coming, because shit is already getting wild.

Cons:

So I'm going to have a lot of praise for Ruth Wilson, who plays Mrs. Coulter, in a second, but there was one part in the script that I wasn't as wild about. The moment when Will has Lyra and is about to use the knife to run away and leave Marisa behind... see, this is such a pivotal moment, such a key lynchpin of the story, and I wanted Coulter's behavior to be a little more, what's the word, deranged? Unsettled? As it was, it felt like she was still in almost entirely manipulation mode, playing off of Will's feelings about his own mother to get what she wants. And that's such a key part of Marisa's character, her skilled manipulation, I get that... I just wanted this moment to be used to show the ways in which she's unraveling a bit more. A subtle thing, that I'm having a bit of a hard time articulating, but there it is.

I really like Balthamos in this adaptation but I wish there had been a bit more time with him as he's processing his grief and his purpose in life now that Baruch is gone (RIP, buddy, we hardly knew ye). I recall in the books really getting to watch this angel go through, like, a crisis of faith? It was strange and lovely and painful, and I feel like we didn't get enough time with it here. Maybe as the season goes on we'll fold that concept in better, who knows.

His Dark Material: The Enchanted Sleeper (3x01)

We're back, and it's the final season! This episode picked up right where we left off, without missing a beat. My thoughts and feelings are remarkably similar to how I think I was feeling a couple years ago when season two was on the air. Let's dive in.

Cons:

The church stuff is such an important piece of the puzzle especially here in the third season/book, but I still find myself the most bored whenever we flip back to dealing with Fra Pavel, and that whole world. It's not that it's bad, necessarily, it's just sort of... dour, and slow, in a way that I don't feel gripped by.

I also thought Will and Iorek's interaction was a bit oddly paced? I get that there's a lot of book to get through very quickly and we only have eight episodes to do it, but Will finds Iorek, immediately challenges him to a duel and then uses the knife to cut through a bit of his armor, showing that he has a weapon too powerful to beat. This is straight from the book, and yet it felt very contrived and way too easy that Will would think of this idea right away and it would work so neatly. Maybe a small thing, but just thought I'd point it out.

An eternal complaint I have about this show is that the daemons are not front-and-center enough on the screen, which makes it easy to forget about them sometimes. Which is a problem, when so many key story elements are contingent on whether or not a person has a daemon with them or not. More visible daemons, please!