#TJIS DOES NOT LOOK GOOD FOR ME AFTER MY LAST POST BUT THIS IS AN OLD BUILDING I SWEAR IT'S NOT ME BEING THAT DIRTY

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BRO DID I JUST SEE A FUCKING RAT IN MY APARTMENT

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RvB Season 17 Review

Red vs Blue: Singularity has ended, and with it, so has the arc that started with Season 15. So, what did I think? This is my first formal review, so forgive me if it's a little sloppy.

I'm going to look at this season from multiple angles:

How did it look and sound?

How did it treat its heroes?

How did it treat its villains?

How good was its story?

How well did it conclude the Shisno Paradox arc?

Sound and Visuals

First off, this season has a great soundtrack. Aside from the synth rhythms that have been a staple of this arc continuong to be really fun, the new songs by Trocadero are really amazing. Seriously, if you haven't heard Enemy and Blood Gulch Blue, go listen to them right now.

SFX are still good, not much to talk about there. The portally noises and Huggins zooming and such still sounds cool.

I want to take some time to talk about the visuals though. One thing that this arc has done particularly well (S16 and S17 especially), is aesthetic. The cosmic elements here are really unique to the series, and I love the look. From the majestic, mythological armor choices of the Cosmic Powers (Labyrinth this season in particular looks like a Spartan Cyclops and it's great), to the structures, like Chrovos' Prison, Starseeds, the Labyrinth, I just love their aesthetic. The black holes in the Labyrinth look truly terrifying, and the "big bang pre-bang" we see in episodes 6, 7, and 12 is also just breathtaking.

In terms of animation, I love this season. We didn't get a whole ton, but what we got was amazing. The highlights to me were Wash pulling a gun on Genkins, Genkins getting impaled (ANIMATION IN CE YEEEEET) Carolina v Carolina, and The very short Genkins v Labyrinth. I especially love the latter because of how Genkins' holographic body glithces and reverts to his true form a bit every time he gets hit. It just looks great. I also think the Carolina fight was the best fight scene in terms of choreography this entire arc! I think Donut vs O'Malley still wins in terms of sheer spectacle, but tjis fight was really well done. Kudos to the animation team!

Heroes

Singularity took a huge risk by making Donut, who up until this point was little more than a running gag, into its protagonist. And it worked amazingly! In just 12 short episodes, Jason took the development he and Joe started in S16 and brought Donut into the limelight as a fully fleshed out, three dimensional character. And it felt totally believeable! Dan Godwin did amd amazing job this year as Donut, and this season really gave him a chance to show off his talents.

The next most major character is Washington. Wash has been my favorite charavter since I first met him in Recovery One all those years ago. I loved his arc last season, and this arc really did well by him. Having this season to be like the fandom's goodbye to the badass, tough-as-nails Wash we know and allowing us to ease ourselves into the idea that he's going to need some help from now on was really great. And I love how he and Carolina had their reconciliation, it was all beautifully done. Hats off to Shannon and Jen, they did and incredible job this season.

As for the other Reds and Blues, they didn't get a whole lot to do, but most of them at least had a few good moments:

Caboose talking about grief and beating up Genkins/Church was an unexpectedly powerful scene.

Tucker's scene in episode 9 where he had his revelation about leadership was also awesome. I'm one of those people who wasn't the greatest fan of how his character was treated in season 16, and I think this scene not only "fixes" that, but it also turned it into a cool part of his arc.

Sarge's whole labyrinth experience was a really cool moment for his character and the arc he's sort of had in the backround the last few seasons (I wrote more about it in another post)

Grif had some great moments. After being the main man in S16, he's taking more of a backseat, but his development is still very much intact. He's fully onboard with the plan once he's woken up. His conversation with Huggins was great (although it does suck they never met again to have resolution), his talk with Kai in the finale was really emotional, and getting the Grif sibs backstory was a welcome touch. Geoff and Becca really nailed it in that episode.

Lopez and Simmons really had nothing to do this season, unfortunately, but oh well, and least Lopez is literally older than time now lol

Villains

So in Singularity, we start out with Chrovos as our main villain, with Genkins as their lackey. I must admit, while Lee Eddy gave a fun performance as Chrovos, I still prefer Ray Schilens' take on the character. Chrovos was not my favorite villain, but they were serviceable enough for the first half of the season, and they had some fun monologues.

Genkins, however, really surprised me. When he was revealed to be evil last season, I was kinda ambivalent. I didn't really care about him, and he seemed just a tad too ridiculous. This season, especially in the back half, really changed my mind. Jason leaned into the ridiculousness of Genkins and made him full on maniacally insane. And I loved it. His insane twitches and cackles were a delight to watch and hear. I loved it when he betrayed Chrovos, because he was the more present and charismatic threat anyway, and it was exactly the kind of thing the "god of tricks" would do. Ricco Fajardo did an amazing job, one of the best performances of the season.

Story

In terms of story, I think Singularity is a vast improvement of The Shisno Paradox. That season started strong, then felt like it treaded water for 10 episodes, then quickly rushed to a finish. Singularity, on the other hand, moves very quickly. A bit too quickly in some cases. The first half of the season is extremely tight. The very first episode sets up the plot, with the introduction of the Everwhen, and Chrovos explaining time travel. I loved this explanation, and wrote a whole post about it here. Suffice it to say, time travel really confused me in S16, but S17 made it make sense in my mind. Donut find Wash, Wash visiting the Freelancers, and the two of them waking the Reds and Blues, all felt natural and felt like no time was wasted without feeling rushed.

Episodes 7 and 8, 7 especially, however, start to get a bit dull. The majority of both episodes is just spent explaining time travel again to the reds and blues. Not much happens. Which is a real shame, because SO MUCH happens in the last three episodes that it feels like it could have benefitted from adding in another episode to more fully flesh out the Labyrinth and the ending.

However, I do love the ending. Everyone's Labyrinth scenarios (except Simmons', which was really lame) were really good and offered neat insight into their characters. And the final twist with Genkins becoming Chrovos after going back to the beginning of time was incredible. Over all, I really like the story this season.

As an arc ending

I think Singularity did a great job. The Shisno Paradox ended on quite a crazy cliffhanger, with so many loose story threads and gods and such high stakes that it felt impossible to wrap up in just one more season, let alone a 12-episode season. But Singularity took all of that and made it work by bringing it to a smaller, more personal level. Tons of gods? Singularity just focuses one two, Genkins and Chrovos. Time travel through all of time? Singularity just focuses on the timeline of the show. It all makes the sotry feel more personal amd grounded, even with all these cosmic events happening. Amd I think it wrapped up the story that started in S15 and ramped up in S16 extremely well!

Final Thoughts

Over all, I think that Season 17 is my favorite season since Season 13 (my personal favorite). It was a really strong season, and I can't wait to see what happens next. I do hope Jason Weight stays on to write, as he has done an incredible job this season and the episodes he worled on last season.

I give Red vs Blue: Singularity an 8.75/10!

[donaldmckenzie13]

September has been a bit of mixed-up month for me. The first part of the  month was back to church time after the summer. The second part of the month, I’ve been on holidays. My reading has also been mixed-up. At one point I had at least six books on the go at once. I’ve managed to finish three of those ones, along with several other books. Almost everything tjis month has been oof the detective fiction nature, although three of them relate to a food loving detective.

Previous Months

March, April, May, June, July, August

Next month I plan on doing a whole lot more reading around the subject of food. Including at lest a couple of books that I intend to devote full posts to. So, with that out of the way, here’s what I read this past month.

My first September reading choice: Death on Tap by Ellie Alexander

Death on Tap – Ellie Alexander

Death on Tap is the first book in Ellie Alexander’s second mystery series. Her first series is the Bakeshop Mysteries. The protagonist in this series is Sloan Krause, a brewer in the town of Leavenworth, Washington, a town that has built it’s reputation on being a Bavarian themed town known for it’s beer.

This has the classic elements of many cozy novels. It opens with her catching her husband cheating on her. He is wealthy, and self-absorbed like most of the husbands in cozy novels. The big difference is that his family loves Sloan, an orphan who had no family until she met her in-laws. She works for them as a brewer and is very good at her job.

After catching her husband cheating oon her, she takes a job, on the advice of her brother-in-law, with a handsome new brewery owner. However things go sideways as on the morning after the brew pub’s soft opening a rival brewer is found dead in the fermenter. Sloan’s ex is the prime suspect, and whatever her feelings about what he’s done, she’s intent on proving him innocent.

As the case unwinds one of the differences in this novel is that the local police chief seems to be somewhat open to accepting Sloan’s help in solving the murder. The pacing is crisp, and the sub-plot around her ex and his fling as an interesting layer to the story without bogging it down. I also like that the book ends without giving any direction as to which way her relationship with the her boss at the new pub will go.

On the whole I enjoyed the bits about brewing and beer tasting. LIke all these books I find that the relationship between the work load of the ficitional brew pub and the reality of opening any new business seems to be stretched the most. I definitely intend to pick up the next two books in this series.

Book one in the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny

The second book in the Armand Gamache seriees

The Cruellest Month the third book in my September reading through the Gamache novels

Still Life, Dead Cold, The Cruellest Month – Louise Penny

Louise Penny is a Canadian writer of detective fiction, and creator of the Armand Gamache, Three Pines mystery series. This series was reccomended to me as being similar in character to the Bruno series. Particularly in the way that good eating has a place of prominence for both detectives.

Three PInes is an almost mythical town, set in rural Quebec. A former United Empire Loyalist haven, it’s a too good to be true town that’s a home to artists, outcasts, the lonely, and quite frequently, murderers. Each of the crimes being investigated by Gamache has a connection to the town and it’s past.

Alon the way he comes in to contact with a core of villagers, Peter and Clara, the artist, Ruth, the poet, Oliver and Gabri, the gay couple who run a bed and breakfast, and Myrna, the former psychologist who gave up that position to open a bookstore. This group of friends helps, in various ways, in the solving of the crimes. They are a merry band who spend much time together eating and drinking and enjoying life.

In addition to the villagers Gamache has his team of detectives. They are intensely loyal to him, and as these stories progress we learn more about why this is so. Gamache’s strength and weakness are the same thing. He sees it as his role to take on the broken and weak and hlep them move to being strong and whole. He has sacrificed promotion and glory to do this.

Yet in all this he is a happy and contented man with a loving wife and family, and this loyal team, along with his best friend and boss Superintendant Brebeuf. However, as the series progresses we find out there is a case from his past that also continues to haunt him. He brought in a crooked Inspector (Arnot) and the negative light it shone on the Surete has made him some powerful enemies. Things are not what they seem in his team, particularly with the miserable detective Nichols and detective Lemeiux.

The best part of the books is that Penny draws great characters. Both as individuals and in the way that they interact with each other as a community. One of the best things about the characters I like is that they grow as the series progresses and there is always something new to learn about them.

She also does a great job with the atmosphere and the setting of the novels. She gives great descriptions of the countryside and houses with out slipping over the line into the habit of giving too much detail. Her food descriptions are also good, although I get a feeling that they are pulled from Chatelaine’s food trend of the month.

The one part of the books that I find hard to swallow is the background surrounding the Arnot case and how it played out. Without giving too much away, I found the suicide aspect of the story too far-fetched. It was far-fetched in Dorothy Sayers day, and even more so today. However, I will most certainly keep up with the rest of this series.

Lincoln Lawyer, the first book in Michael Connellys legal series

The Lincoln Lawyer – Michael Connelly

Last month I read Black Echo, the first book in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch detective series. At the end of the book there was an intro into one of the Lincoln Lawyer books. The Lincoln Lawyer is another Connelly series, but in this case the main character is a lawyer. He is the half-brother of Bosch, but that doesn’t really come into play in this opening novel.

Mickey Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of the back of his car, the titular Lincoln. Twice divorced, he has a difficult relationship with his first wife, a prosecutor, and a better relationship with his second wife, who serves as his legal assistant.

One day he gets the trial of his life dropped into his hands. He is asked to defend Louis Roulet, a lawyer accused of a violent rape. He takes the case, but as it progresses he discovers may not be as innocent as he claims. It also turns out that Haller may have helped send an innocent man to prison.

As the case progresses Haller is faced with a difficult choice, one that he fears may cost him his career, and maybe more. His actions have some disastrous consequences along the way, and in the end he knows that his only shot at redemption is to try and take down Roulet.

The action is fast paced, and Connelly has clearly done a thorough job of researching how courtroom procedure works. I’ll be picking up more of these books, especially when I’m looking for something of a page turner nature.

Cover photo for Ian Rankins Even Dog in the Wild

Even Dogs in the Wild – Ian Rankin

After having Rather Be The Devil during August, I did something a little bit different and read my way backwards in the John Rebus series. This book involves a potential gang war in Edinburgh. A series of figures have received a threatening note, among them Big Ger Cafferty.

There are rumours of Glaswegian mobsters moving into the city adn a special team has been set up to monitor. This allows Malcolm Fox to be involved in the action as liaison. We also see a growth in his relationship with Siobhan Clarke. Rebus and Cafferty may both be retired, but when there is crime on the streets of Edinburgh we know that they will both be nearby.

Darryl Christie is featured prominently in this book as he is in Rather Be The Devil. We learn about his relationship with Cafferty. We also learn a bit more of the relationship between Rebus and Fox. There is also a story about the father-son relationship between the Glaswegian mobsters. This makes a good secondary story on the back of the main mystery.

I found this one of the most engaging Rebus books that I’ve read. Looking forward to his new one in October.

            Another month has come and gone. Check out my September reading round up. #bookbloggers #cozymysteries #threepinesmysteries September has been a bit of mixed-up month for me. The first part of the  month was back to church time after the summer.