television.

Currently Watching
-Euphoria
-Doom Patrol
-Castlevania

Arcane, Season 1 - 5/5 ✪

Oh my god I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. First of all, it is beautiful, which is something I never thought I would say about Leage of Legends. The bright colours and warm tones add life to each scene, and every shot feels like a painting. The animation is fluid, and the characters have plenty of life and eccentricity to the way they move - it feels like natural movement, with all of life's little eccentricities. The characters move in delightful ways, and I've seen enough of the reference .gifs on tumblr to know they put their whole asses into making them human.That's right, their whole asses. Not a half-ass in sight.

Can we stop and really think about all of the little Jinx pieces littered around Silco's office? He's so proud of her, and everything she does. He encourages her to be herself, and doesn't punish her when she does so.

J&SO ashtry

     Compare this with what we saw of Vander and Powder's relationship - which was nothing. From what is shown, Vander basically didn't acknoqledge Powder, and focused all of his attention and love on Vi. He encouraged Vi to take care of Powder, but not to ensure Powder was safe - he said it for Vi's benefit, to make it clear that Powder was Vi's burden to bear. Which, rude. To both girls.

     I honestly feel like I could write an essay on Arcane, and why I love it. Hell, maybe I should. MAYBE I WILL. But I won't put it here, I want these reviews to be a reasonable length lol. So for now, I bid you adieu.

     - June 05, 2023

Yellowjackets, Season 2 - 5/5 ✪

     Oh my god, this season was so so good! The ending is a masterpiece, honestly - I never saw it coming, not in a million years. The evolution of the characters is incredible, complex and true to form for each of the characters. And then there's Jeff! Sweet, sweet Jeff. his love is so honest and encompassing, it's like a warm hug.

     Watching Shauna devolve is making me question just how long she's been spiraling - has she ever truly recovered from being the team butcher? From everything she went through with the baby? Everyone came back a little bit broken, but this is on another level.

     There's also Natalie, which, holy moly does everything make sense now or what? No wonder she's so guilt-ridden. Whoof. This opens so many possibilities for her character, and I'm excited to see where The Past takes us.

     The pacing and delineation between the two timelines is masterful - there's no confusion, and whatever is happening in The Past is relevant in some way or another to what is happening in The Present. If something doesn't seem relevant yet, it's likely setting something up for a future episode. Everything is purposeful, and the story overall feels well planned. I think I'm going to be rewatching this again very soon.

     - June 03, 2023

Severance, Season One - 4/5 ✪

&nhbsp;    Let me just get this out of the way - Adam Scott is making a dumb face like, 80% of the time. It's an interesting choice to make, and helps delineate his character(s), but my god. What does this have to do with the show? Nothing! Did it impact my viewing experience? Hell yes! But that is neither here nor there, so let us move on.

     This show is equal parts funny and devastating, and truly encourages you to think about the borders of your reality, and how your experiences affect who you are and how you react to various stimuli. We are shown how deeply selfish humans are, and how desperate for connection we can be. Without our pasts to form us, who are we at our very core?

     When we discuss aspects of personality, we often find ourselves trapped in the age-old nature vs. nurture debate. How much of Mark S.'s personality was intrinsicly his, and how much was formed by the people surrounding him in the Macrodata Refinement Sector?

     From the beginning, Helly R. is a force to be reckoned with, as she has a strong sense of self worth and is determined to free herself of society's (Lumon's) restraints. Her goals and motivations are her own, and are completely separate from those of her "outie," Helena. In contrast, we have Mark S. Both aspects of his persona are following the company line, and it takes a strong external influence to jar him into action. I'm hesitant to call it complacency, but his innie's fear of repercussions align with his outie's reluctance to change and embrace alternative thoughts and ideas.

     It's an interesting character study, in any case, and one I look forward to exploring further.

     As a whole, this season drew me in, and forced me to think about what I was being shown, which is always a plus. The cliffhanger ending has me eagerly awaiting the next season, and I'm excited to see where the story leads. However, I would have liked to see a few more subplots resolved, especially the final episode. I understand why the writers chose to end on a cliffhanger, but at this point it feels too open-ended, and more like a mid-season break than the resolution of the first season. The writer's strike going on right now makes me nervous that the story won't get the ending it deserves, but we shall have to wait and see!

     -June 1, 2023

I'm almost done both Severance and Yellowjackets, so expect updates on both of them shortly.