#Literally slonk that shit stupid style. Or something idc anymore

[ranboo5]

I'm sorry OK not to be a hater bc GenLoss on the whole is fantastic and I'm extremely excited to see the next generations+where it goes from here. None of my haterisms are killer criticisms I did on the whole really like it and I do think on a fundamental level it really works and Also I think people have been a bit harsh on the first two episodes

HOWEVER. Out of those criticisms Hetch is absolutely the strongest one and the one that I find hardest to forgive

For a character apparently written by the same person responsible for the absolutely fantastic and effective Squiggles, Hetch is abysmal. While I liked fine what he did – his role in ep3 is fine, I don't have beef with the evil concept I think it works, and the faux-reveal in the closet of ep2 is fantastic as a plot beat, and hell, the bit where he was obviously lying to Ranboo in ep3/the prereveal dynamic is compelling enough – almost all of his dialogue was trite, overwritten, overexplanatory sludge. The first time he appeared in episode 1 he elicited a reaction of "well that's a bit cheesy and blatant but I can forgive it." It did not get better. Hetch's dialogue is exhausting to me from a story perspective – none of what he explains conveys any information that isn't conveyed and conveyed BETTER by Ranboo's reactions. It wouldn't work with the way the Social Experiments deal with surveillance to not have Hetch's dialogue audible, but if you put that aside, cutting the vast majority of it out would lose you nothing and net you a more satisfying story that doesn't feel like it's trying to explain itself to you at every turn. Hetch saying the obvious is least egregious at the end of episode 2, because Ranboo's reactions really sell the value of the scene as a faux-reveal subverting how this kind of thing is Normally a Shocking Twist, but his appearance in episode 1 doesn't manage to be quite worth it in the same way, and when he's explaining things about the situation that doesn't make sense to matter as a direct lie ("Oooh the mall Changed when Showfall moved in", explaining the wire monster (a different can of worms), &c), it without fail feels overwritten and irritating – I feel like I want to fast forward through it. The villain monologue at the end is the worst and most harmful example of this – it's so cheesy, and overhammed, and next to Squiggles already giving literally all the necessary information for Showfall's role in this and intent for Ranboo in WORLDS more effective and haunting way and to Ranboo's as always fantastic unmatched breakdown acting (has never flopped), it's actually painful in a way only matched by the agony of listening to Amon showing up anywhere in StarCraft II. Hearing him explaining in excruciating detail how actually, if you didn't connect the dots, Hetch evil, by the way, in case you didn't know (like WOW, I guess the next reveal we're getting is Squiggles evil, in case we didn't know, and then we're going to turn to the camera and say "the moral of the story is the entertainment industry is dehumanizing, be sure to turn in your reading comprehension worksheets by Monday,") is awful, and the stupid "THE AUDIENCE HAS VOTED FOR YOU TO DIE" line is especially awful for leaving me groaning in exasperation over an otherwise viscerally affective last scene. (It doesn't help, also, that Ranboo's acting is just in a completely different league from that of Hetch's actor's, making the contrast seriously jarring)

Hetch's role in the story is fine – excellent, even, with what it says about the incentives of the entertainment industry and how alone and doomed the MC truly is – but that role doesn't necessitate "fleshing out" of a character any more than Squiggles' does, and frankly, Hetch already gets far, FAR too much screentime and tedious, condescending (much of it not in the fun way!) dialogue as it is. Again, I'm still excited to see more GenLoss, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if streamer ends up making me eat my words here, but like, as it is, I think it's a step in exactly the wrong direction to give Hetch MORE screentime

Floral Mel Days and I were discussing last night – it's likely that Hetch with his explanations and blatant dragging up of the pretty clear and surface level message (not a criticism! GenLoss wearing its identity on its sleeve isn't a bad thing and it does a lot of deeper and more subtle things with it) are a response to the audience reaction to c!Ranboo, which makes me, honestly, viscerally upset. While making GenLoss more accessible and, uh, possible to rewatch is definitely a sensible goal, GL's subtleties are easily its strongest aspect to me, even – hell, especially! – if they go over people's heads. It really does feel like Hetch is writing to people who are unable or unwilling to actually read into what the series is saying, and it feels really restrictive and sad, same as the Ranologues getting ditched. Hetch feels like trying to overcompensate for the worst of the esotericism of c!Ranboo lore with the most "ah, awkward improv" infodumps thereof, while also lacking entirely the character and pathos of c!Ranboo – a character and pathos that it takes time to build, and that, frankly, Hetch does not have enough of my good faith left of to enjoy

TL;DR: Hetch as a story element works awesome but Hetch's actual screentime almost all sucks absolute shit because it violates the principle of

I DON'T WANT TO SEE HETCH'S CHARACTER A LITTLE MORE