#matt why are you such a brilliant storyteller

[hughjidiot]

(Okay I'm sick and annoyed and need to vent about Amphibia for a minute. Disclaimer: this is my own opinion, no shade if you disagree with some or all of what I have to say, blah blah blah.)

I really wish the Amphibia fandom would stop blaming Disney as an excuse for season three's poor storytelling decisions.

Please keep in mind I am not defending corporate executives and Standards & Practices. Hell S&P are the ones directly to blame for the True Colors fiasco; if they were so worried about how the target audience would react to Marcy being stabbed, they should have voiced their concern long before the episode was fully animated, let alone ready to air. Per the word of one of the crew members we can also blame corporate for Anne not talking about the events of True Colors and how they affected her, which is why it had to be delegated to her section of Marcy's Journal.

But tell me, did the executives forbid Anne showing any emotion towards Sasha and Marcy? Clearly not since we got that moment in Froggy Little Christmas showing Anne looking pained when writing letters to her friends' families - if more little moments like that had just been sprinkled throughout season 3A, it would've gone a long way to showing that Anne actually did miss her friends.

Did executives forbid Sasha and Marcy's parents from showing up? No, we have confirmation from Matt himself that the crew made that choice because "they didn't wanna excuse Sasha and Marcy's actions." Which to me sounds like bullshit considering they did show Andrias' father, which explained his actions without excusing the horrible things he did.

Oh and we also have word from Matt that Marcy's possession - in my view the single biggest storytelling blunder in the series - wasn't because the network demanded it. It was because they wanted a cool fight scene between Marcy and Anne and/or Sasha, but couldn't come up with a good enough reason why Marcy would willingly try to hurt her friends, which necessitated the possession. Yes, sacrificing any natural character development for Marcy was totally worth it for a single cool fight scene. Brilliant writing, dude.

Again, I'm not here to defend Disney executives or S&P, because they absolutely suck. But don't go using them as an excuse just because you don't wanna accept that Matt and the Amphibia crew made some objectively bad storytelling choices.

[katherineholmes]

SEND ME A FANDOM (+ number) AND I WILL TELL YOU: 1, 2, 3, 15, 17 and 18 for TVDU fandom.

SEND ME A SHIP (+ number) AND I WILL TELL YOU: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 14 for Elejah and Klena.

SEND ME A CHARACTER (+ number) AND I WILL TELL YOU: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 for Elena, Klaus and Elijah.

Thank you so much for this question, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so flattered before. It means a lot to me that you want my opinion/answer on so many questions!

Since these are long, I’m going to answer this in three parts!

Fandom

The moment in the story that I started shipping my OTP from this world?

Well, my OTP is definitely Klena, and I think I started shipping them in episode 11 of season 2. Elena goes to Slater’s apartment to send that message to Klaus - the doppelgänger is alive and ready to surrender. And 14 year old me was immediately like 😍🤭👀. After that, Klaus asking Elena to save a dance for him and all was just….loaded.

Like, even before they met, there were these vibes and I was just in love with them. The way he holds her at the sacrifice, their chemistry during the prank night episode, it definitely got to me. They’ve been waxing and waning in my mind since then.

My three favorite characters and why I love them so much.

The first is, of course, Elena. That very first scene in the cemetery where she’s writing in her diary had me hooked. I was so intrigued by her loneliness and her depression, someone I could identify with, who was so internalised. I’d always felt weird about being an introvert, and Elena was one of the first characters that I identified with. Now, after a decade, I can also identify with her grief, and it’s just that much more personal to me.

The second is Klaus. When he first came on the show, I wasn’t sure what to make of him. I def found him attractive 😅 but I thought there was more to him that I needed to see. I thought, multiple times “what an asshole”, but I could also recognise his loneliness and his fear of being abandoned, and they just resonated with me. By s4 of TVD, I was already in love with him, and followed him onto TO. (That was for Elijah too 🤭)

And third, I think, is Cami. I loved Cami, I saw her as this girl trapped in darkness, and trying to find her way out, until eventually she didn’t want to find a way out anymore. It was nice to see someone who was somewhat ordinary getting trapped between these vampires. The beginning of her relationship with Klaus is so fascinating to me, like she obviously sees him as a tortured soul, while he is actively hurting her through his mind control. But she fights back, and she’s tenacious, she’s probably one of the few people who fights against Klaus’ compulsion and then gets out of it. Refuses to play by his games but also plays him sometimes to get what she wants. Her struggle with vampirism was so, so real, and both her deaths were the saddest I’ve seen in that universe.

Which scene I would like to erase from the universe and why.

Ugh, the entire torture episode. Where Damon and Stefan (the saviours 🙄) both torture Elena to turn her humanity back on. Get Katherine to help too, just disgusting. That episode shows just how much internalised misogyny some of the show runners themselves held.

Which character I would choose for the chopping block if I knew the writers wanted to kill someone?

Probably Matt. Like, I like him well enough, but after a certain point, what does he even bring to the table?

The world-building aspect of the story I have the greatest admiration for.

The Originals for sure! I absolutely love s3 of TVD but s2 is so fucking good. The build up is amazing, first we’re introduced to Isobel, then that Katherine entry (like damn), just when we think she’s the baddest, Elijah shows up and scares the fuck out of Katherine.

And then, this intense build up to Klaus and sun and moon curse, only for us to learn that it was all fake, and to know about the real curse. It’s just…. Brilliant storytelling. Like yes, there are loopholes, and it’s the CW, but it’s just so well paced. I’ll be honest though, once the originals show up, it feels like we go into a different level. So much of the credit for that goes to Daniel and then Joseph, they were both brilliant, and they brought something unique to their roles that made us want to see them more. They elevated every scene they were in and Paul, Nina and Kat were the only ones who could keep up imo, at least in terms of screen presence.

The perfect number of books/seasons/movies needed to tell this story properly.

I think 4-5 seasons were more than enough. I’m not a fan post s4 (and s4 hangs on by a thread).

[elahogn]

Alrighty. I finally made it through Campaign 1 properly. And Matt really is the greatest storyteller of our time. It's so easy to understand why his world managed to captivate so much attention and love, building CR into what it is today. His world is so vivid and diverse, with so much depth and history to unveil, all story knots would be resolved in some shape or form, and it's fascinating to think every individual living in that world is having their own story revolving without the main cast know about it but Matt would have it somewhere in his stacks of papers.

Beside me gushing about Matt's worldbuilding, a few random thoughts about VM under the cut.

TLDR; I love Grog. Do yourself a favour and start with Mighty Nein.

Grog is definitely my favourite in the main VM. You can't tell me any reason that would make me unlike Travis in any way. It takes an incredibly smart person to play a dumb one in a fantasy world as perfectly as Grog and Travis did it amazingly well. I can clearly see all the thoughts going through Travis's face whenever he decides to do some dumb action as Grog, and it's so much fun to watch! It's cool to see how frustration and boredom of being left out of the planning process as Grog in VM influenced Travis to take on the talking role of Fjord in M9 (which turned out be too much of a burden as face of the group as well) and to the grumpy old man who can just chime in or peace out whenever he wants of Chetney in BH. In this group of so many worriers, Grog, doing whatever he wanted is the necessary role for stories to progress! His interaction with every single one in the group is just brilliant to watch. Despite how much Travis dreads shopping episodes, I think he always did quite well to make it an entertaining one.

About Pike, I love Ashley, and I really hope she's had more time to play as Pike than she did during the campaign. Cuz every single time that Ashley managed to appear in an episode, she played Pike so much differently than how Matt or anyone else piloted her. She's a sweetheart but she also loves to fuck shit up as much as Grog, and i think that's the key of their friendship. I wish I could see her more than a deus ex machina who jumped in anytime anyone needs a Revivify. I think Laura said in one of the Talks episodes that Ashley is like the big sister who gone off to college and only join their game anytime she's back home for holiday and that's a perfect description.

Scanlan sure is a fun one to watch. It's hard to deny Sam himself has Charisma of 30. I do enjoy Tary a little bit more though cuz I'm not 100% into the dirty jokes of Scanlan. But it's great to watch Sam played a brilliant bard as he did with Scanlan. All of the small moves he made, especially in the fight with Vecna, were extremely smart and well calculated. Scanlan stomped out of the party cuz he thought the team didn't care for him, and it was the first time the show actually got my attention. The bits before that really just feel like a drag for me. It was a necessary point of the story, and after that point, they all seemed to be a little bit more open, more expressing their emotions to each other than dancing around the big elephant in the room like a circus. He came back to the group after a bits but I feel he was still treated a bit like a side character to the half-elves' story.

Which brings me to the half-elves of VM. I'm aware of the discord during that time about Marisha and Laura of how they played Keyleth and Vex. But to me, no one has a more main character syndrome than Vax. Liam is great as an actor. He has intricately crafted backstory for each of his characters, and he acted accordingly. Liam has a full description of whatever his character is doing or saying, and it's beautifully executed with Caleb, the tragically sad wizard, and the Orym, the anime fighter. But with Vax, it just feels out of place, and his way of circling around whatever problem he wanted to talk about is just frustrating to watch. Anytime Vax did any of his "cheeky little prank of affection", it just came out as mean joke to me. The bit of shaving off Grog's beard, stealing Tary's armor or even his bit with Grog to prank Scanlan, getting a good laugh out of other characters' reactions but they all just felt rather mean in the end. I tossed my 2 cents on his deal with the Raven Queen before. Yeah, I think he harvested what he sow. He tossed himself in the deal, and it's quite a selfish act than anything. Yes, I said it. He's a selfish one, acting like he's the saviour of them all by doing the sacrifice. In the last episode, Matt played the Raven Queen beautifully, and I have to skipped most of Vax's speech cuz all I can feel was how selfish he was, and no one has that much time to say goodbye to their loved one before leaving the living realm. Why was he praised for throwing himself in the fire headfirst? What he needed was a therapist, not everyone praising him as a hero! If anyone needs a sad brooding male character to swoon about, I think Percy was a better choice.

And the other half of the twin, Vex. She was not my favourite from the start with all of her haggling and act of power against whoever passed her path. I think she was the weaker one of all the characters that Laura has played. Her motive and story felt quite flat and predictable. She actually got a little bit better after her relationship with Percy and Tary, which made her a little more tolerable till the end of the campaign.

And Keyleth really just felt like a separate entity to Marisha. And I think that jarring difference made it kinda hard to watch. Cuz 1 minute Keyleth was having a moral crisis about taking some lives and another minute was Marisha having a time of her life throwing dices at the table. Can see that Keyleth is a part of Marisha is some way, finding her path among the people, having the power and potential and her journey to prove herself (like Beau as well), and the emotional vulnerable that can still be seen in Laudna. But it's kinda hard to overlook the detachment between Keyleth and Marisha, especially when I can see more of Marisha having fun at the table while Keyleth was peppered in here and there.

I genuinely love Taliesin as a player in all 3 campaigns at this point. He played Percy perfectly as a bastardly smart one who gives no fuck about the deities till the end of the campaign despite meeting more gods than any god-worshipper in that world ever dreamt about. His actions and character choices fitted Percy perfectly, his backstory was interesting enough to get me through the Briarwoods arc, but truthfully tho, Percy in battle gets boring after a while. It's the same with Vax and Vex. Damage, damage, damage, and if the enemies were lucky enough, they can stand for half a second more for the others to take them out. I guess that contributed to why Taliesin played a totally new class in campaign 2 with Molly, and played a mobidly happy Death cleric with Caduceus and throw a dice for every Rage with Ashton. With Percy, I'm glad to see whenever he tinkered something for his friends or any conversation that he was emotionally prepared enough to initiate. And science bros thing with Tary brought out a more lighthearted side of Percy. We all know that feeling when we suddenly find someone who is in the same fandom and understand what the shit we are talking about.

Everything started somewhere, and CR started with Vox Machina, and I appreciate it, even though it is not totally my cup of tea. It's clear to see how everything is better in the later campaign, from the production to the story pace, the characters, and their relationships. But truely, though, do yourself a favour and start with Mighty Nein.

Watching about 1/3 of CR1 (this is my 3rd attempt to watch VM) and I realize why I didn't like Vox Machina as much as I love Mighty Nein and Bell's Hells: they hold too much of an important position within the political scene of the story! Personally I just don't enjoy watching them bargaining with political NPCs, as well as watching them agueing among themselves over loots and gold.

I understand the appeal when characters are powerful and taken seriously in their own story but it's so much more fun watching a ragtag group like The Mighty Nein doing odd jobs to build trust in the Kryn Danasty or Bell's Hells being oddly charming enough to get trusted by NPCs for anything.

[nott-gay]

Oh my god oh my god oh my god

I knew about the Sun Tree bodies and what they were beforehand but oh my god

I’m seriously shaking and holding back a sob what the fuck what the fuck

[sparring-spirals]

Thoughts on the ending of the last episode?

Hmmm.

From an as-is, the scene exclusively by itself, exciting! Kind of hilarious, in the way that only Bell's Hells can be. And of course, we all love Kiki. (I have a tendency to use "we" when I just mean I, but this time I am absolutely bringing you all in with me. WE love Keyleth. 😌) Also the cast is having a fucking blast, and you can tell.

From a broader perspective, I had my reservations before about bringing Keyleth (or any VM member) directly in for rez- a lot of them fueled by personal preference and opinions about storytelling and narrative and like. Just my personal opinions on shared universes and callbacks. Those opinions still stand. This did not mean before, and still doesn't, that the story being told now is bad or worse in some form! It just might look a little different now. Bringing Keyleth and VM folks in, explicitly and as NPC characters, to directly handle or play a part in the resurrection of a main PC in this campaign, absolutely alters elements of the narrative that is potentially being pulled together, and so I'm like. Mentally calibrating for that.

Keyleth and other Vox Machina folks are going to be NPC's now, I think. Which is good, IMO, in part so that the other cast members can focus on playing their current characters and because. They are NPC's now, in all the ways that the story reflect and in prestige and because. Their campaign ended.

It also means that now, no matter which way we squeeze the lemon, Vox Machina as characters are now irreversibly intertwined with Bell's Hells. Whether the resurrection succeeds or fails, the connection is there, the problems and goals and hopes of the characters have a tie to each other (not to mention precedence, for how future problems might be addressed or solved, although that is obviously dependent on how Matt and co decide to handle it).

And the thing is, Vox Machina are NPC's now, but they were PC's before, and so that changes things. We know they are fully fleshed out characters with backstories and motivations and we want to honor that. Even if a person hasn't actually watched C1, there's still a bit of that drive there, to look at all these little actions and words and pin them up against a bright and brilliant and fleshed out backstory, to dive into reasons why and hopes and motivations. Because they're there, and we know about them, and we're inclined to care about them, root for them, wonder about them in a way we probably wouldn't, if they were just NPC's. Even beloved ones.

In a shared universe kind of situation, this is a plus. This is the benefit, that you love many things and you could get the joy of watching them intersect and grow. Grow together, even! Or at least interact, and then you get to speculate about these characters and things you love all over again.

I, very personally, don't prefer shared universes for this particular reason. I'm not the biggest fan of- idk how to phrase it. MCU style crossovers, I suppose? Which can often lean on things like referential weight, or end up with stories where there is hefty amount of "main cast" characters you're intended to root for and know about to really enjoy it.

I love stories that stand completely on their own, where you can drop in with no real context and watch these characters grow and interact and mess up and love each other and unstand and get the weight of all of it. I am an absolute sucker for those kinds of stories. Similarly to how so much of the M9's entire... shebang was independent of the previous campaign and characters, if impacted by ripples here and there.

I was hoping for the Bell's Hells, that they would get a chance to grow and tell a story fully and completely their own, with the space that independence provides to focus on each of them, as they are, without needing to actively share stage with the previous campaign characters. Tying in previous campaign members to key moments right in front of us (and not in backstory) makes that more difficult, and I'd argue even somewhat-frequent cameos leave us in a space where we are often thinking about prior stories and external characters. The Bells motivations are tangled and weighed, in a sense, against the motivations and thoughts and hopes of these other characters and past stories, and IMO, it leaves just a little less space for us to explore the Bells, as they are, in current space.

Its arguably not guaranteed that, cameos and touch points continue, but- like I said. Getting to bring folks back in, or refer to them is one of the benefits of a shared universe. The cast- and a lot of us! Love these characters. Why not, if we have them here and invested, now, right?

so. You know. I'm just kind of recalibrating a bit, just in case. I'm still enjoying the interactions, at face value, and crossovers are cool, and again, I love Keyleth. beloved. Thinking about how this impacts Vex and Percy and Keyleth or how Pike and Grog or Scanlan might get roped in is fun.

But I'm also takin some energy to adjust some personal expectations about where this brings us in the future, esp for the Bells especially. just in case.

[luckthebard]

I'm gonna say something potentially controversial here, but I've been thinking a lot about some of the complaints regarding the final story arc of campaign 2. And I think it would really benefit a lot of the fandom to consider how much of that disappointment came from the tension between expectations of written narrative story beats that need to be resolved, and the reality that what we're all watching is not a traditionally crafted narrative, but a D&D game.

To get a bit more specific: The idea that the Cerberus Assembly was "abandoned" as a plot point or final arc is the one I see most often. But let's imagine what that would have looked like. Going after Ludinus and Trent would not have involved direct confrontation. It would have been of high importance to two characters (Beau and Caleb) far more than others, and utilized their skillsets more. It would have had quite a few moments of stalled momentum and downtime, because it's not a situation that lent itself to epic battle, but rather a politically delicate one requiring patience. Furthermore, for all that some people love to accuse some of the players of "main character syndrome," ending the campaign with an arc like that would absolutely have prioritized some characters over others, and given other players relatively little to do. And that's something important to consider, as a DM.

And that's sort of the crux of it. I'm far from belonging to the twitter ttrpg crowd that hates on D&D as a system every chance it gets, but the fact is D&D is a system that is better at supporting some kinds of narratives over others - just on the level of making sure everyone at a table can participate equally and have fun! And while D&D could support a slow-burn espionage arc, if you really wanted it to, that is not the kind of story I would run as a DM for 7 players, particularly if it's the kind of story that would lead to several of the characters best positioned sitting around and doing nothing. (As an aside, I could totally see a CA arc like that working far better at a smaller table. The effectiveness of the system is also related to the dynamics at the table and the number of players.) As a DM, one of the first priorities is to make sure all of your players feel engaged, involved, and that they can be active participants in the narrative, and feel heroic. The Somnovum arc was not only something that called and tied back to a lot of the themes of the whole campaign, it was also connected emotionally to every character through Lucien/Molly. That is absolutely not true of the Cerberus Assembly, which is why I'm of the opinion that, had the CA been the final arc of the campaign, it would have fallen flat.

This is the same issue around "why didn't they do a full game session resolving Zeenoth and Beau's dad?" - because while as a narrative that trial would have been interesting for Beau, what would the other players have been doing in such a scenario of several gaming sessions besides just sort of sitting around or getting into trouble and "derailing" the main focus? (And this is almost another point entirely, but I think this is at least some of the problem some people had watching the episode where Caduceus reunites with his family - that was very heavily RP focused on one character, and so when other players at the table were asked what they were doing in order to keep them engaged, they took actions that viewers perceived as taking away from what would have, in a traditional narrative, been the sole focus of the whole 4 hours - Caduceus RPing with his family. Tension, again, between traditional narrative expectations and storytelling through a gaming system.) At the end of the day, Critical Role is a D&D game, and as a game it is going to shift toward and support some narrative pathways more than others simply because that is the best way to keep all of the players involved and playing a game.

And here's the final thing: neither of those two storylines I pointed to actually got "dropped" - they were just RPed and addressed in the epilogue, which largely operated outside of the confines of the game system and focused more on pure, individualized RP. Matt even said something to this effect in the wrap-up -- the Cerberus Assembly take-down would probably work better as a story outside of the confines of D&D. It's, frankly, a little weird to me how often I still see people claiming these things "weren't addressed" when the epilogue clearly spent time making sure they were. I would read the hell out of a "Caleb and Beau take down corrupt government officials" book. Likewise, I think "Beau and Yasha wander the wastes of Xhorhas" would make a brilliant comic book. If the D&D game is the structure for the story, then yeah, some individual character narrative beats might not get resolved in the game itself. That's what the epilogue was for! And the reason I think this happened in C2 in a way it didn't in C1 was, the C2 characters were created differently and just individually had more complicated narratives and problems. C2 pushed a little more against the confines of what D&D is able to accomplish in supporting a narrative, which was both fascinating to watch and just exposed the difference between traditional narratives and gameplay narratives all the more.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Drafting the Adventure: What you’ll need before you set out

A friend recently asked me how I prepare for my sessions, and on a larger note, how I prepare for my campaigns. Ironically I wasn’t prepared for this question at all, so I ended up making an absolute hash of describing my process. In formulating my answer for a second attempt, I realized I had a pretty good guideline for those who want some help in the tricky sections of building a campaign.

So this is for my friend, and all those DMs out there that want to improve their storytelling skills. I can’t promise this’ll be the awnser in every case, but just like using plot structure to plan out a book, it’ll provide a scaffolding on which you can improve and improvise through your successive drafts. 

(Since this is mostly a writing guide I’ll presume you’ve found yourself a gaggle of players who can play semi-reliably, you’ve already agreed upon a system, and are now looking at pitching them a game. ( Check out the Brilliant Matt Coville’s video on pitching campaigns HERE) )

What you’ll need first: 

An Idea for what your players are going to be doing during this campaign. ( The Centeral Gameplay Pillar) This is one of the most important things that I almost always see new dungeonmasters skipping, mainly because they’re so excited at the idea of playing ANY d&d that they presume that the default “Catchall Generic Fantasy Adventure” is a strong enough premise to sustain an entire campaign. It’s not. By trying to include every spice on the spicerack your writing ends up a confused mess and your players end up creating characters that conflict with one another on thematic and even genre levels. This IDEA is also not reliant on the STORY: what your players are doing and why they’re doing it can be two related concepts with one inspiring the other, but even if you don’t have the story on lock at this point ( and you shouldn’t) you need to know what the primary mode of gameplay is going to look like.

 For a few media examples:

Lord of the Rings is a story about TRAVEL, with every new adventure being a new region the fellowship needs to get through in order to reach their goal, navigating hazards unique to that terrain in the process. The lore, the thematics, and the brewing battle between Sauon’s forces and the forces of good? All of those are emergant from the process of traveling.

 The Witcher is about MYSTERY, with Geralt being confronted with an unknown threat and being forced to figure out how it’s killing, why, and how to overcome it. While the franchise does include grand politics and world ending threats, Geralt always approaches them as someone who needs to gather clues and work out true motivations before he can act. 

The Mandelorian is about BOUNTYHUNTING, with every new job bringing a new series of challenges that Mando needs to face off against. Rather than sussing out hidden motivations, our heavily armored protagonist generally has all the information he needs, the fun of these hunts comes from seeing just how things go wrong when he’s forced to take stupid risks. 

Comb through your notes and inspirations and find that central gameplay pillar, even if it only happens a few times over the course of your campaign: Big Tactical Setpiece battles are great to punctuate the different acts of your game, where as the rest of your adventures can be about the diplomacy and logistics that determine where and how those battles are fought. A piracy or heist game only needs a few big scores, with the remainder of the adventures being about acquiring the tools/information necessary to pull it off, and the ensuing fallout once the plan goes awry. 

Once you have this central pillar established, THEN you can pitch your party on what the campaign is about, including details like the setting or genre or level of grittiness. Players are going to make wildly different characters if you pitch them on a retro scifi travel game, than if you pitch them on a gothic horror bountyhunting game, than if you pitch them on a classic fantasy dungeoncrawler, but its important that they’re clear on what they’re going to be doing before they start brainstorming their role in it.

 Also note that  not all players are a genresavvy as we DMs, so be sure to be upfront about what’s involved in the central pillar, include a few teases at hypothetical adventures along with your pitch, so they can get a feel for it. 

Next Step: The Pilot/Beta/Crash test Adventure

While the idea of a session zero has grown in popularity, I think there’s an equally important technique that we’ve yet to codify, and that’s “The Pilot Adventure”; a self contained story that shows the adventurers doing a condensed version of what they’re going to be doing for the rest of the campaign, a bitesized example of that centeral gameplay pillar so that the players gets a taste of what they signed up for. The pilot is also directly personalized to the characters’ motivations and capabilities, a challenge they’re eager to face and more than capable of tackling, so we ( and our players) can see them in action and begin to form a dynamic. 

TV shows have pilots to ensure that everything works, the actors are right for their roles, the setup is compelling for an audience, and that the production team can get everything done within their budget and on time. Likewise a pilot ADVENTURE is for you the DM to run through and A) Check to make sure things will run smoothly B) Identify those areas that will be trouble, either with the party, your prep, or the gameplay itself and make improvements on next time. 

If the pilot messes up, you fix it before you continue, and if it messes up BADLY, you just do it again, adjusting as you go. For this reason I highly recommend isolating the pilot from the larger meta-plot, using gameplay and thematic connections to the larger story but saving any actual exposition for when you’re sure things will work.   To use lord of the rings as an example once again, the journey from the shire to Bree to weathertop is actually pretty tame, evoking the challenges of the journey the fellowship will later go on, but with much more manageable stakes. It’s only after we get to the council of Elrond that we get the full meta-plot infodump, learn Aragorn’s backstory, and lay out the history of the world that’ll pave the way for the epic battles ahead. 

Once you’ve pitched your party on your campaign ONLY worry about the Pilot Adventure, build it out as much as possible and leave everything else in the campaign for later. Just focusing on the one adventure for the time being will prevent you from getting distracted with material the party may not ever see, and will teach you exactly how much work will be needed for each adventure going forward

Finally: Getting your Players into your Story With the Onramp

Remember what I said about keeping your meta-plot isolated from the Pilot? Well there’s an art to de-isolation, and it begins with a technique I like to call “ The Onramp”. In any epic story, there are the personal stakes ( what the players/characters/readers care about) and then there are the grand stakes ( what the world/story cares about), SO MANY DMs fail at building personal stakes, in no small part because they don’t know who their party is going to be when they have the original idea for their campaign. Its hard to plan for big character moments in the plot when those those characters don’t exist yet. 

Starting with a personalized Pilot adventure within the world of our larger campaign lets us start building connections between what the players/characters want, and the challenges the world is about to throw at them. The standoffish loner who only wants to get paid is going to bail if they’re confronted with a life-or death challenge, but if they’ve spent a couple of adventures building a rapport with their fellow heroes, they might go against their better judgement for the sake of their dawning friendship. Likewise, a common sellsword is thoroughly out of their depth when confronted with a the threat of word-changing magical disaster, but starts to have options if they’ve made allies with a powerful npc spepllcaster who’s had a couple sidequests for them and identified whatever items they pulled out of the starting dungeon. 

Onramping is an ongoing process, and it requires some extra ( but very satisfactory) legwork for you as a DM. What’s the BIG story going on in your campaign world? What’s the big action setpiece that you’re imagining for the end of this arc? Work backwards from those and figure out how the circumstances that led to that might create knock on effects that’d get your players involved. Cult planning a big demon-lord sacrifice? Word of a gang of slavers reaches them, attacking travlers across a nearby stretch of road. Enemy nation invading across the mountains? The NPC that hands out their bounties is part of the local garrison, and the party encounters some of the enemy scouts while hunting a monster for them. 

Generally when I’m building an Onramp, I follow up the rather scripted Pilot adventure with a mini-sandbox, I dangle adventure hooks that apply to different interests the party may have, all of which eventually Onramp them into the main plot. If they don’t like signing up with that faction or following that rumor or traveling to that particular region? that’s all good, there’s another Onramp waiting for them in just a little bit, and I can use the extra time to flesh out the main story summore. 

I hope this is helpful for you DMs out there, especially those like me that live for those epic, meaningful story moments and wish there was more advice out there for creating those sorts of narratives. For a long time the philosophy has seemed to be “ Just do whatever at the table and it’ll all be worth it in the end”, but I think practicing with these storytelling techniques is one of the main ways we’re going to make ourselves better Dungeonmasters. 

Thankyou for reading all the way to the end, if you liked this, would like more DM advice, and a wealth of ideas you can use to jumpstart your own campaigns, please check me out at @dailyadventureprompts. 

[eyeswideshutttt]

so it’s time to make some conclusions about house of the dragon after season 1 finale.

top 10 episodes in my opinion:

1. episode 5 “we light the way” (that was peak hotd, from thriller mini-film with daemon and his wife to tragedy with wedding, love affairs and murder. and then we have dangerous truths, schemes and the change and downfall of some characters because of them (alicent’s change because of accidental (criston) and intentional (larys) truth she’s been told and criston’s downfall because of his wounded ego and honour), and the end of rhaenyra’s youth, the realisation of her fate, the regrets and bitterness. just chief’s kiss).

2. episode 10 “the black queen” (it was a great finale, despite spoiling myself with many things i still enjoyed it, it was very monumental grand ending of a season with epic scenes and with a well crafted set up for future events, the whole episode felt very dark and with a sense of tragedy).

3. episode 4 “king of the narrow sea”(something about that episode felt so unique and fresh, i loved the looseness, the free spirit, the fire daemon brought in rhaenyra. the not so innocent and fortnight rhaenyra when she confronted alicent and her father about daemon (and it also was perfectly directed, especially i’m in love with scene of rhaenyra following daemon in the throne room at the beginning).

4. episode 8 “the lord of the tides” (viserys and his love for rhaenyra made this episode, the most emotional and peaceful one, the domestic vibes were well balanced with powerful scenes such as daemon cutting vaemond’s head and aemond’s hilarious and brilliant toast. oh god and the music was devastatingly beautiful).

5. episode 3 “second of his name” (once again a well balanced storytelling: the peaceful start that gains its pace slowly but strongly. i loved the quietness of the powerful scenes that hit you with a force by brilliant directing and acting).

6. episode 1 “the heirs of the dragon” (the beginning, that made me instantly caught up in that universe, the funeral scene is still one of my favourites, made me fell in love with rhaenyra. overall strong start).

7. episode 6 “the princess and the queen” (the first episode after a big time jump and one of main actors’ changes that actually made you used to them real quick because you almost instantly recognise the already beloved characters although the changes of a characters were also noticeable and palpable, i also liked that it was a very eventful episode with many wtf moments).

8. episode 7 “driftmark” (this episode was also very eventful and wtf moments were also present and overall it was a fantastic episode but it was the first time something felt off to me watching hotd. i don’t even know what it was i couldn’t tell).

9. episode 9 “the green council” (it is tied with episode 7 i would say. i liked that we were able to see greens’ perspective and what was happening from their point of view it was a clever choice to make audience feel conflicted. also the whole sequence of looking for aegon was fantastic and the final scene with coronation and rhaenys’s entrance was one of the coolest in the whole show but some plot felt tedious).

10. episode 2 “the rogue prince” (actually i really love this episode that scene alone with rhaenyra and rhaenys is one of the greatest in the whole show, i was in awe how well written and acted it was).

let’s put top 10 characters here as well:

1. rhaenyra

2. daemon

3. aemond

4. rhaenys

5. viserys

6. alicent

7. jace/luke (i love them equally idc)

8. aegon

9. otto

10. larys

and also top 10 performances because why not:

1. paddy considine

2. matt smith

3. milly alcock

4. emma d’arcy (actually they are tied with milly)

5. olivia cooke

6. rhys ifans

7. eve best

8. ewan mitchell

9. tom glynn-carney

10. emily carey

[sleepykittypaws]

Celebrate the Olympic Spirit

Sure, the Olympics aren’t a holiday, per se, but the every-four-year, or two if you count both Summer and Winter editions separately, massive international sporting events sure seems like a reason to celebrate, especially given their recent, unprecedented delay. And what better way to get into the Games mood, than by watching a sports movie?

Here are my favorite motivating, inspirational, and aspirational tales of athletic derring do…

Favorite Sports Movies

The Cutting Edge (1992) - This figure skating romance was released around the 1992 Olympics, and actually name-checks that year's winter host city, Albertville, more than once.  It's not good in the traditional sense of great storytelling or athletic veracity, but I loved it so very much I saw it three times in the theater as a teen. Watching it at some point during every Winter Games is a tradition for me so, yeah, I can’t help it, I love this silly sports movie/romance, which also features a bit of holiday feels.

Wimbledon (2004) - It's a rom-com. It's a sports movie. It's a rom-com sports movie that really should be better known. Notting Hill but set at tennis' best-known event. Paul Bettany and Kristen Dunst have surprisingly great chemistry, and there's more sports-related tension than you'd think.

Friday Night Lights (2004) - A football movie for people who don't really like football. a.k.a. 🙋‍♀️. The TV series it spawned is also brilliant (”Clear Eyes, Full Hearts,” indeed), and well worth a watch, but the original movie, starring Billy Bob Thornton, is, honestly, a masterpiece. Definitely Peter Berg's best work and the original book, written by Berg's cousin, Buzz Bissinger, is a great read.

Muriel's Wedding (1994) - You mean you forgot this Australian export, which made Toni Collette a star, was a sports movie? Yep, one of my all-time favorite movies, of any genre, this absolutely brilliant, ABBA-soaked comedy is not only a girls-night go-to, but also a stealth Olympic sport classic.

Remember the Titans (2000) - OK, football isn't in the Olympics, but it sure does make for a good sports movie setting. Even if this early 1970s-set story is most definitely Disney-fied, Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Ryan Gosling and a baby Hayden Panettiere really sell this sort-of true story.

Invictus (2009)-Rugby isn't an Olympic sport, or even one most Americans know much about, but this Matt Damon-led, Clint Eastwood-directed, based-on-a-true-story tale made me care about a sport I'd only tangentially knew even existed before watching.

Hoosiers (1986)-I grew up in Indiana so, by law, I have to include this basketball classic on any "best of" sports movie lists. Also, it actually is really very good.

Rudy (1993)-Ditto the above. But, again, it's hard not to root for Sean Astin (and Jon Favreau!) in this love letter to the Fighting Irish. Plus, there’s no better scavenger hunt task or TikTok challenge than going into a bar and convincing a patron to allow you to put them on your shoulders and march around chanting, 'Rudy, Rudy, Rudy.' 

Miracle (2004) - Given how much more popular the Summer Olympics are, it's weird that the Winter Games seem to get all the good movies made about them, but this Kurt Russell-led true tale is another Disney sports movie classic.

McFarland, USA (2015) - Disney, and Kevin Costner, just really know how to make a sports movie, damn it! This movie made me care about cross country for which it, too, could have carried the title Miracle.

A League of Their Own (1992)-The best baseball movie ever. Yeah, I said what I said. Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty—even Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell are making it work. 1992 was a weirdly great year for sports movies.

Moneyball (2011) - A movie about baseball, and math, and yet it's also great, I swear. In addition to all of the above, it's also a stealth Christmas movie and maybe Chris Pratt's best non-Marvel, movie role.

Creed (2015) - This surprisingly effective Rocky reboot starring Michael B Jordan as Apollo Creed's illegitimate son has spawned its own movie series which, in many ways, exceeds the original Rocky franchise.

Rocky Balboa (2006) - Maybe it's because I was a toddler when the original Rocky came out, so only saw the ever-worse sequels as a kid, but this mid-aughts return to the character for Sylvester Stallone, as both writer and actor, is a triumph.

Eddie the Eagle (2016) - That Hugh Jackman features in as many movies (spoiler alert) on this list as Kevin Costner surprised me, too. This story of the English ski jumper who became infamous for being, well, less than golden, is one of those non-Olympic triumph stories that really works. If you're going to watch one underdog-at-the-Games movie, I definitely prefer this this to the more ubiquitous Cool Runnings.

Love & Basketball (2000) - Only because I'm an anglophile is this great, chemistry-filled Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps college basketball romance not my favorite sports-movie-meets-rom-com.

I, Tonya (2017) - Margot Robbie and a nearly unrecognizable Sebastian Stan are perfectly cast in this sarcastic, highly stylized look at the Tonya Harding scandal.

Pride (2007) - Apparently I like this swimming movie, which I think almost no one saw, better than critics, but I found this 1970s-set, Terrence Howard-Bernie Mac-starring story of inner city kids excelling in the pool emotional and entertaining.

Field of Dreams (1989) - This Kevin Costner magical realism baseball classic is often goofy and imminently tease-worthy and yet…It also works. Maybe it's no surprise that someone who loves cheesy Christmas movies as much as I do would have a soft spot for Field of Dreams.

42 (2013) - Chadwick Boseman is absolutely fantastic as legend Jackie Robinson. One of those movies that's ostensibly about baseball, but is really about so much more, except not in a pretentious way.

Race (2016) - Before Jason Sudeikis was Ted Lasso, he was famed track coach Larry Synder in this Jesse Owens biopic that is far from perfect, but still important. Plus, I honestly don't think Stephan James got enough credit for his relatively nuanced portrayal of Owens.

Goon (2011) - This overlooked gem starring Sean William Scott as a semi-pro hockey player whose main skill is his ability to take, and dole out, a beating, is surprisingly great.

Real Steel (2011) - This is a robot-boxing movie starring Hugh Jackman that is basically Rocky meets Over the Top—and yet it's actually really good. Yeah, I was surprised, too.

Forget Paris (1995) - OK, so maybe Billy Crystal playing an NBA referee doesn't really make this a sports movie, but it does begin and end (spoiler alert) at real NBA games, and I will die on the hill that this rom-com co-starring Debra Winger is wildly under-rated.

Bend it like Beckham (2002) - This girl-power sports movie has some highly questionable romantic dynamics (the coach is their love interest???) but this Parminder Nagra-Keira Knightley movie is also a heckuva sports movie and an inspiring immigrant story.

Bonus Pick: The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso is one of the best things I watched in 2020, and I'm sure of that, because I watched it twice since, just to be sure. Jason Sudekis is absolutely perfect as an American college football coach taking over a UK Premier League team. This sweet show with a heart of gold is smart, funny, and absolutely impossible not to love—even for a cynic such as myself.

More Sports Movies Worth Watching

For someone not very into sports, I am, apparently, into watching movies about sports, so while not a comprehensive listing of the entire, vast genre, here are a few more suggestions I personally think are worth watching.

The Miracle Season (2018) - This movie about high school volleyball champs whose star player dies suddenly stars Helen Hunt and is a lot better than you'd think based on its tiny budget and, honestly, fairly small story. Just missed making my Top 25.

The Way Back (2020) - This Ben Affleck as a drunken high school basketball coach movie is a lot better than expected. Released just as the pandemic kicked into high gear, it was overlooked last year, but worth seeking out.

Fighting with My Family (2019) - Does it count if it's a show, not a sport? Either way (but that's why this isn't in my Top 25), this stealth Christmas movie/love letter to the WWE is a lot better than it ever needed to be thanks to some really great performances from Florence Pugh, Lena Headey and directer Stephen Merchant. Even The Rock reins it in.

Warrior (2011) - You couldn't pay me to watch an actual UFC bout, but this Tom Hardy story of (literally) battling brothers is incredibly compelling and well done.

Win Win (2011) - This movie isn't really enough about wrestling, even though its ostensibly centered around the sport, to make it into my Top 25, but it's still really good, and Amy Ryan gives an outstanding performance.

Fever Pitch (2005) - Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon star in this remake of a UK film whose ending they had to shift when the Red Sox unexpectedly won the World Series.

Fever Pitch (1997) - This Colin Firth-starring, Arsenal-centered original is much smaller, more realistic and arguably better than the big budget Barrymore-Fallon redux.

We are Marshall (2006) - A real-life sports tragedy made into a sports-movie tearjerker starring Matthew McConaughy. And my tears were very much jerked by the end.

Coach Carter (2005) - Samuel L Jackson plays real-life basketball coach Ken Carter and, because it's a Disney movie, doesn't use the F-word even once. Now that's a feat worthy of its own sports movie.

Invincible (2006) - Yes, it's Mark Wahlberg, and another based-on-a-true-story, Disney sports movie that hits all the cliches, but dang it, that works on me. It just does.

Glory Road (2006) - If you're sensing a theme with me and Disney sports movies…Well, you're not wrong. This look at the first all-Black starting lineup at the 1966 NCAA Final Four does, unfortunately, center white coach Don Haskins, played by Josh Lucas (though I always mis-remember it as Josh Charles), making the important story it tells less than what it should be, but it still mostly works.

Million Dollar Arm (2014) - Admittedly one of the lesser Disney sports movie entries, and another that centers a white guy in a film mostly about people of color (not a great look), this Jon Hamm movie about a scout seeking an Indian cricket star who can make it in the Major Leagues still mostly worked for me.

The Mighty Ducks (1992) - One of the few movies on this list aimed directly at kids, this beloved peewee hockey saga actually is cute, and mostly does hold up.

Cool Runnings (1993) - Kind of shocked this movie that is part White Savior-movie and part-wacky kids movie essentially making fun of a real group of athletes of color came out in 1993 and not 1973, but the earnest charm of John Candy and a general Disney gloss keep this from being totally unwatchable and mostly just mildly, rather than extremely, offensive. Not really recommending, but feels like it belongs on an Olympic movie list.

Nadia (1984) - This made-for-TV, mostly true biopic, starring Talia Balsam as Nadia Comaneci, was a Disney Channel staple in that network’s early days. 

Munich (2005) - It's a movie with the Olympics very much at its heart—namely the 1972 Israeli athlete hostage tragedy—that isn't really about the Olympics at all, but this Steven Spielberg-directed movie about national revenge is compelling, if problematic if you think about it for too long.

American Anthem (1986) - Is this Mitch Gaylord-Mrs. Wayne Gretzky (a.k.a Janet Jones) starring movie good, realistic and/or well-written? No, no and none of the above. But did I still watch it 8,000 times as a kid on HBO? Yes. Yes, I did.

Men with Brooms (2002) - Once, on a business trip to Canada, my husband was stuck in a hotel that only got three channels, and one of them always seemed to be showing curling, which actually got him weirdly into this obscure sport. This movie wasn't quite as fun as I hoped, but it's still a mostly charming, if slight, Canadian classic.

Unbroken (2014) - The harrowing and incredible real-life story of Louis Zamperini deserved better than this Angelina Jolie-directed movie delivered, but it's still a serviceable version of a worthy tale.

Chariots of Fire (1981) - I remember being bored out of my mind by this movie trying to watch this movie on cable as a kid, but no denying that, if nothing else, the score is iconic and indelibly linked to sports-movie magic.

Without Limits (1998) - Jared Leto’s Prefontaine beat this one to the theaters, but this Billy Crudup-starring film is the better of the two movies about the life of running pioneer Steve Prefontaine. There’s also a 1995 documentary, Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story.

Personal Best (1982) - Mariel Hemingway’s story of ambition at odds with love, is a sports and LGTBQ+ classic. 

Olympic Dreams (2019) - The story of how this small, meandering movie was made during the 2018 Winter Games is, unfortunately, more interesting than the movie itself, but there is some charm in watching Nick Kroll as an Olympic dentist making his way through the real Village, while interacting with real athletes.

Foxcatcher (2015) - This excellently-acted story is more true crime than sports inspiration, but if you're seeking a look at the dark side of the Games—and don’t want to turn on a doc like Athlete A—this is very dark tale indeed.

Seabiscuit (2003) - Every great athlete deserves to have their story told.

Any Given Sunday (1999) - Oliver Stone and Al Pacino take on pro Football. 'Nuff said.

The Replacements (2000) - I mean, the movie isn't amazing, but Keanu Reeves is super charming and Gene Hackman is always worth a watch.

The Program (1993) - Another bit of a dark-side-of-football take, worth it if only for the fantastic cast: James Caan, Halle Berry, Omar Eps, Joey Lauren Adams.

Everbody’s All-American (1988) - Not a movie I particularly love, but this Dennis Quaid-Jessica Lange football story that spans decades has always stuck in my memory.

Bull Durham (1988) - Just let Kevin Costner play actual baseball already.

[thecrownnet]

The 11 Best Netflix Original Productions – Movies and TV Shows

#2 ‘The Crown’ (2016 – ), Peter Morgan

Quite possibly one of the best TV shows ever, as proven by its historic sweep of awards at the Golden Globes 2021 by winning the most number of awards, ‘The Crown’ continues to enthrall audiences all over the world. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and her family’s life and the global events that shaped them make the basis of this series, spanning decades starting from the Queen’s life as a princess to becoming a young monarch, to now ruling as a stable monarch. The latest instalment saw the lives and tales of Princess Diana and Prince Charles brought to screen with award-winning performances from the remarkably passionate Josh O’Connor of ‘God’s Own Country’ fame, and the powerfully delicate Emma Corrin, who both won Golden Globes for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. The show also won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series.

The delicately nuanced storytelling by Peter Morgan, with actors portraying their real-life counterparts essences rather than being caricatures, is what sets this show apart from the rest. The brilliant performances by the powerhouse actress Claire Foy as young and responsible Queen Elizabeth, with the talented Matt Smith as the insecure yet commanding Prince Phillip and the mesmerizing Vanessa Kirby as wild and colorful Princess Margaret – set our screens on fire as royalty seeped into living rooms all over the world. Oscar winner Olivia Colman’s tour-de-force portrayal of the middle-aged Queen, and Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter’s pointed portrayal of the “ignored” Princess Margaret keeps elevating this show to new heights.

With the recent Oprah interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, interests in the royals is at an all-time high. We are extremely excited for Season 5. The prior seasons are all available to binge on Netflix.

#1 ‘The Irishman’ (2019), Martin Scorsese

There’s only one Martin Scorsese. His epic adaptation of ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’ spans several decades in the life of hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro) and his pivotal relationship with Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

‘The Irishman’ stands out amongst recent gangster fare because it prioritises pathos over cheap thrills. It isn’t as good as ‘Goodfellas’, nor is it as overtly entertaining as ‘Casino’, but it is deeper. In ‘The Irishman’ Scorsese presents violence differently than he has done before – the focus is on the ramifications of murder rather than the act itself. The film’s exploration of death feels as existential as that in ‘Silence’, Scorsese’s epic about Christianity in feudal Japan. The film doesn’t just show death, it is about dying. The performances are fantastic all round, particularly from Joe Pesci, and from Robert DeNiro, whose turn as Frank Sheeran is one of his most underrated performances. Contrary to popular belief, the length of ‘The Irishman’ isn’t a big deal – it’s three and a half hour runtime makes sense given the scope of the story.

The film’s only major fault is the at-times distracting de-ageing, which I suspect may age like milk. Still, I can see the heart at the centre of the narrative resonating for years to come. ‘The Irishman’ is the Netflix original that has stayed with me the most since its release, which is why it is the best.

Honourable Mentions:

‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (2020). ‘Mank’ (2020). ‘The Trial Of The Chicago 7’ (2020). ‘Dolemite Is My Name’ (2019). ‘Ozark’ (2017-). ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020). ‘House Of Cards’ (2013). ‘Daredevil’ (2015). ‘The Social Dilemma’ (2020). ‘Roma’ (2018).

[aion-rsa]

Unforgotten: the Clues in the Titles and Why Every Detail Matters

https://ift.tt/3b8wdBf

Warning: contains spoilers for Unforgotten series 1-3

“You’d be surprised,” says Peter Anderson, creative director of the studio behind the title sequences for hit ITV crime drama Unforgotten. “You can show something really on-the-nose, and people won’t get it until they’ve been told. We fret and worry about giving too much away but the clue is only triggered when you know the context.”

Each 40-second title sequence for Unforgotten is a curated collection of purpose-filmed scenes designed to go where the drama can’t – namely, inside the characters’ heads. Every series starts with the discovery of a long-buried body, then introduces viewers to a guest cast of characters whose connections to each other, and to the historical murder, gradually unfold. It takes six episodes to solve the mystery, but right from the start, the abstracted and symbolic images created for the title sequence already hold all the answers. 

“Some of the images are big clues,” explains Anderson. “With the current series titles, there were some things that were taken out and then went back in, that are incredibly poignant, really incredibly amazing clues, I can only be ambiguous about it at this stage.”

Our new titles, full of little teasers and clues. Made by the brilliant @PAndersonStudio #OneDayMore #Unforgotten 4 https://t.co/rE5XAo5lx6

— Chris Lang (@ChrisLangWriter) February 21, 2021

How the series four title sequence relates to the new story, airing on Mondays at 9pm, is currently anybody’s guess. The meaning behind its images – a smashed car window, an allotment, a discarded fountain pen, to pick just three – will only become apparent after the finale. “You should have a relationship with the title sequence that grows as the drama grows,” says Anderson. Look back the title sequences for previous Unforgotten series and that’s exactly so – they’re transformed by hindsight.

Take the series two montage, which opens with a shot of a pub table and three empty drinking glasses. Atmospherically, it’s a lonely image, but hardly ominous. In the finale, the scene is revealed to be a turning point in the investigation as the place where the murder suspects gather and the truth is finally told. It’s a terrible truth about three lives irreparably damaged by childhood sexual abuse, and provides the answer to another title sequence mystery. The dreadful significance of a previously unexplained shot of an empty yellow tent is made clear in a heart-rending monologue from Mark Bonnar, who plays lawyer Colin. The abuse Colin suffered as a child began aged nine, on a camping trip. Each week, viewers have been shown the tent from his memory – a formative moment that haunts the titles in the same way it haunts the character.

“That’s one of those occasions where the titles are showing you something awful and poignant, a game-changer,” says Anderson. “In a way, the tent is the scene that forms the whole story of the drama, but it’s in the titles. It’s not a flashback, it’s been allowed to be in this other place, this place that says to you, ‘Before you watch this drama every week, think about some of these things’.”

Copyright: Peter Anderson Studio

Not every image is necessarily a clue. “Some of them are setting the scene, some of them are memories that form the characters, some of them are about placing the different time zones that you’re in.” Unforgotten is a time-travelling series, says Anderson. “The titles are showing us that we will be in memory.”

All four series titles share the visual metaphor of unsettled dust motes floating from scene to scene. “It’s talking about how, the moment Cassie and Sunny (the show’s detective leads played by Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar) come knocking on your door with news or an accusation, it unearths a whole series of events, whether you’re innocent or guilty. The dust, your past, is unsettled. That thread follows through all the title sequences, it’s about the everyday becoming disrupted and changed.” 

Clues and reminiscences are purposely blended in the Unforgotten titles. Some memories may be more important than others, but nothing is frivolous, says Anderson. In the series two sequence, even a glimpsed pan of peas boiling on a stove feeds into the working class roots of a now wealthy, knighted business tsar. “Even the peas have a job to do because they’re taking you back inside the head of a character.”

“One that pops to mind is a car crash scene from the series one titles. It’s the moment that one of our characters was in the crash that put him in his wheelchair. That’s not something shown in the drama, but that’s a moment that formed that character, a lot of his traits come out of this awful thing that happened.”

Read more

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Unforgotten series 3 writer: “we live in uncompassionate times”

By Louisa Mellor

Books

Why Unforgotten fans should read Reservoir 13

By Louisa Mellor

Title scenes are a different type of narrative that hark back to the silent movie era, Anderson explains. “It’s about subtly extending the storytelling, extending the characters through their memories, taking you to a place that formed them that the drama doesn’t have the time to show. It might be referred to in dialogue, but we can actually make it in the titles.”

They can make it, but not wanting to give the game away, they also have to obscure it. “Something that seems abstract often is laced with meaning,” he says, citing a tiny snippet in the series three credits where we see a close-up of a deer’s eye. The deer turns out to be a plot point, as the animal hit by an underage driver whose father suspects him of having killed the victim. In the same sequence, a poetic scene shows grass and flowing water. “To the viewer that will just be abstract and atmospheric, but actually, that’s the moment when the river broke its banks and carried away the body.”

The Unforgotten titles incorporate the settings used in the show, but – until this series because of last year’s Covid-19 restrictions on set visits – were always purpose-filmed by Anderson’s studio and not compiled from existing footage. They’d pop in to a set while the production was on lunch and get the coverage they needed, borrowing key props and costumes. That’s how a necktie worn by a character revealed to have a sadomasochistic fetish is glimpsed binding the hands of a young woman (a Peter Anderson Studios intern, being useful on her first day) in the series two sequence. A suitcase used to contain and dispose of a murder victim is spotted sitting innocently at the bottom of a wardrobe. “We have access to all the costumes, the props, the poignant clues from the drama itself. The detail that’s in there comes direct from the drama.” 

Copyright: Peter Anderson Studio

Each Unforgotten title sequence begins life as around 100 short scenes written by Anderson after reading all six of that series’ scripts. It’s unusual to be granted such breadth of access in TV drama, which is part of what makes the title work on Unforgotten so special. The entire Mainstreet Pictures team, from creator and writer Chris Lang to the producers and directors, collaborate on whittling down the list of scenes until they say everything they need to, without giving anything away. 

This kind of devotion from a production company to a TV title sequence is rare in the UK, says Anderson. He’s experienced it precious few times in his career: with Neil Gaiman creating the stunning 2D animated titles for Good Omens, with Steven Moffat and the producers of BBC One’s Sherlock and Doctor Who – for which his studio made the series seven titles starring Matt Smith – and here, on Unforgotten.

Lang tells Den of Geek that he’s never worked on a series with such a symbiosis between the titles and the drama. “We meet at late script stage, when the characters are fully formed, and then we decide together which echoes, teases and clues we want to put in to the opening sequence.” Lang describes the titles for each series as a mini drama of their own, easing the audience into the world of the show. In dramatic and storytelling terms, he says, the titles do a lot of heavy lifting.

“Chris will say ‘Can we add this scene? Because this is why that character was formed’, explains Anderson. “I can’t extend a character’s story in the way that the writer can. He knows implicitly how he’s formed his characters, he knows their past. He knows which memories are important”. It’s about understanding the detail of every bit of storytelling, “that even a half-second snippet really matters.”

Copyright: Mainstreet Pictures

One character-forming scene that’s only a half-second snippet in the series three titles shows a young child being hugged by a woman. The costume, backdrop and lighting suggest the 1960s, putting us in the realm of memory. In that half-second, Anderson confirms, we’re inside the mind of Dr Tim Finch, an extremely damaged man played by Alex Jennings.  “It’s just meant to be a flicker of time showing an overbearing mother that formed part of his character. If you look at the detail of that shot, what’s important is the fact that he’s being smothered and the smothering therefore has a psychological effect on him growing up.” 

Another key memory scene – a child’s-eye perspective of a woman peeling potatoes at a sink, which relates to the moment a character told her mother she was being abused by her father – was coincidentally filmed in the same location: Anderson’s kitchen at home. “I have a 1950s house with a genuine 50s kitchen with a genuine 80s wall with a genuine 70s floor, so as a location, it’s utterly fantastic for time travel,” he laughs, angling his laptop camera down to show a tiled floor fans will recognise from several of the Unforgotten title sequences. 

In the US, Anderson explains, TV titles are highly paid for, but in Britain it remains a lo-fi business. When his studio created the fast-paced title sequence for high-profile Sky One drama Lucky Man, for instance, instead of closing the roads and wiring up a street with cables to film the fast-paced street scenes, they did it using an actor from Starlight Express roller skating through London wearing a GoPro.

Copyright: Peter Anderson Studios

Series two’s yellow tent scene was filmed using vintage camping equipment pitched in the park next to Anderson’s home. “That was me and a cinematographer on the side of a hill. We set it up meticulously with an oil lamp from the period. We wanted the light to be perfect, so for just that one scene we probably spent between three and four hours shooting.”

A television drama often won’t have the time to be so indulgent with its photography, he says. For the series three titles, his studio shot Bristol Bridge in the early hours of the morning, starting off in the dark and the snow, waiting until the light was just so. Production arranged the official permissions, the hotel, everything so that Anderson’s team could film just two scenes of no more than a few seconds each. It’s proof, he says, of how much everybody involved cares and how every detail matters – something well worth remembering the next time your finger hovers over that ‘Skip Intro’ button.

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Unforgotten series 4 continues on Mondays at 9pm on ITV1.

The post Unforgotten: the Clues in the Titles and Why Every Detail Matters appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[aaronmaurer]

TV I Liked in 2020

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

Was there ever a year more unpredictably tailor-made for peak TV than 2020? Lockdowns/quarantines/stay-at-home orders meant a lot more time at home and the occasion to check out new and old favorites. (I recognize that if you’re lucky enough to have kids or roommates or a S.O., your amount of actual downtime may have been wildly different). While the pandemic resulted in production delays and truncated seasons for many shows, the continued streaming-era trends of limited series and 8-13 episode seasons mean that a lot of great and satisfying storytelling still made its way to the screen. As always, I in no way lay any claims to “best-ness” or completeness – this is just a list of the shows that brought me the most joy and escapism in a tough year and therefore might be worth putting on your radar.

10 Favorites

10. The Right Stuff: Season 1 (Disney+)

As a space program enthusiast, even I had to wonder, does the world really need another retelling of NASA’s early days? Especially since Tom Wolfe’s book has already been adapted as the riveting and iconoclastic Philip Kaufman film of the same name? While some may disagree, I find that this Disney+ series does justify its existence by focusing more on the relationships of the astronauts and their personal lives than the technical science (which may be partially attributable to budget limitations?). The series is kind of like Mad Men but with NASA instead of advertising (and real people, of course), so if that sounds intriguing, I encourage you to give it a whirl.

9. Fargo: Season 4 (FX)

As a big fan of Noah Hawley’s Coen Brothers pastiche/crime anthology series, I was somewhat let down by this latest season. Drawing its influence primarily from the likes of gangster drama Miller’s Crossing – one of the Coens’ least comedic/idiosyncratic efforts – this season is more straightforward than its predecessors and includes a lot of characters and plot-threads that never quite cohere. That said, it is still amongst the year’s most ambitious television with another stacked cast, and the (more-or-less) standalone episode “East/West” is enough to make the season worthwhile.

8. The Last Dance (ESPN)

Ostensibly a 10-episode documentary about the 1990s Chicago Bulls’ sixth and final NBA Championship run, The Last Dance actually broadens that scope to survey the entire history of Michael Jordan and coach Phil Jackson’s careers with the team. Cleverly structured with twin narratives that chart that final season as well as an earlier timeframe, each episode also shifts the spotlight to a different person, which provides focus and variety throughout the series. And frankly, it’s also just an incredible ride to relive the Jordan era and bask in his immeasurable talent and charisma – while also getting a snapshot of his outsized ego and vices (though he had sign-off on everything, so it’s not exactly a warts-and-all telling).

7. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

This miniseries adaptation of the Walter Tevis coming-of-age novel about a chess prodigy and her various addictions is compulsively watchable and avoids the bloat of many other streaming series (both in running time and number of episodes). The 1960s production design is stunning and the performances, including Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role, are convincing and compelling.

6. The Great: Season 1 (hulu)

Much like his screenplay for The Favourite, Tony McNamara’s series about Catherine the Great rewrites history with a thoroughly modern and irreverent sensibility (see also: Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette). Elle Fanning brings a winning charm and strength to the title role and Nicholas Hoult is riotously entertaining as her absurdly clueless and ribald husband, Emperor Peter III. Its 10-episodes occasionally tilt into repetitiveness, but when the ride is this fun, why complain? Huzzah!

  5. Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC)

A limited (but possibly anthology-to-be?) series from creator/writer/director/actor Jason Segal, Dispatches From Elsewhere is a beautiful and creative affirmation of life and celebration of humanity. The first 9 episodes form a fulfilling and complete arc, while the tenth branches into fourth wall-breaking meta territory, which may be a bridge too far for some (but is certainly ambitious if nothing else). Either way, it’s a movingly realized portrait of honesty, vulnerability and empathy, and I highly recommend visiting whenever it inevitably makes its way to Netflix, or elsewhere…

4. What We Do in the Shadows: Season 2 (FX)

The second season of WWDITS is more self-assured and expansive than the first, extending a premise I loved from its antecedent film – but was skeptical could be sustained – to new and reinvigorated (after)life. Each episode packs plenty of laughs, but for my money, there is no better encapsulation of the series’ potential and Matt Berry’s comic genius than “On The Run,” which guest-stars Mark Hamill and features Laszlo’s alter ego Jackie Daytona, regular human bartender.

3. Ted Lasso: Season 1 (AppleTV+)

Much more than your average fish-out-of-water comedy, Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso is a brilliant tribute to humaneness, decency, emotional intelligence and good coaching – not just on the field. The fact that its backdrop is English Premier League Soccer is just gravy (even if that’s not necessarily represented 100% proficiently). A true surprise and gem of the year.

2. Mrs. America (hulu)

This FX miniseries explores the women’s liberation movement and fight for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and its opposition by conservative women including Phyllis Schlafly. One of the most ingenious aspects of the series is centering each episode on a different character, which rotates the point of view and helps things from getting same-y. With a slate of directors including Ryan Bowden and Anna Fleck (Half-Nelson, Sugar, Captain Marvel) and an A-List cast including Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale, Tracey Ulman and Elizabeth Banks, its quality is right up there with anything on the big screen. And its message remains (sadly) relevant as ever in our current era.

1. The Good Place: Season 4 (NBC)

It was tempting to omit The Good Place this year or shunt it to a side category since only the final 4 episodes aired in 2020, but that would have been disingenuous. This show is one of my all-time favorites and it ended perfectly. The series finale is a representative mix of absurdist humor and tear-jerking emotion, built on themes of morality, self-improvement, community and humanity. (And this last run of eps also includes a pretty fantastic Timothy Olyphant/Justified quasi-crossover.) Now that the entire series is available to stream on Netflix (or purchase in a nice Blu-ray set), it’s a perfect time to revisit the Good Place, or check it out for the first time if you’ve never had the pleasure.

5 of the Best Things I Caught Up With

Anne With An E (Netflix/CBC)

Another example of classic literature I had no prior knowledge of (see also Little Women and Emma), this Netflix/CBC adaptation of Anne of Green Gables was strongly recommended by several friends so I finally gave it a shot. While this is apparently slightly more grown-up than the source material, it’s not overly grimdark or self-serious but rather humane and heartfelt, expanding the story’s scope to include Black and First Nations peoples in early 1800s Canada, among other identities and themes. It has sadly been canceled, but the three seasons that exist are heart-warming and life-affirming storytelling. Fingers crossed that someday we’ll be gifted with a follow-up movie or two to tie up some of the dangling threads.

Better Call Saul (AMC)

I liked Breaking Bad, but I didn’t have much interest in an extended “Breaking Bad Universe,” as much as I appreciate star Bob Odenkirk’s multitalents. Multiple recommendations and lockdown finally provided me the opportunity to catch up on this prequel series and I’m glad I did. Just as expertly plotted and acted as its predecessor, the series follows Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman on his own journey to disrepute but really makes it hard not to root for his redemption (even as you know that’s not where this story ends).

Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim)

It’s hard to really describe the deadpan and oddly soothing humor of comedian Joe Pera whose persona, in the series at least, combines something like the earnestness of Mr. Rogers with the calm enthusiasm of Bob Ross. Sharing his knowledge on the likes of how to get the best bite out of your breakfast combo, growing a bean arch and this amazing song “Baba O’Reilly” by the Who – have you heard it?!? – Pera provides arch comfort that remains solidly on the side of sincerity. The surprise special he released during lockdown, “Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera,” was a true gift in the middle of a strange and isolated year.

The Mandalorian (Disney+)

One of the few recent Star Wars properties that lives up to its potential, the adventures of Mando and Grogu is a real thrill-ride of a series with outstanding production values (you definitely want to check out the behind-the-scenes documentary series if you haven’t). I personally prefer the first season, appreciating its Western-influenced vibes and somewhat-more-siloed story. The back half of the second season veers a little too much into fan service and video game-y plotting IMHO but still has several excellent episodes on offer, especially the Timothy Olyphant-infused energy of premiere “The Marshall” and stunning cinematography of “The Jedi.” And, you know, Grogu.

The Tick (Amazon Prime)

I’ve been a fan of the Tick since the character’s Fox cartoon and indie comic book days and also loved the short-lived Patrick Warburton series from 2001. I was skeptical about this Amazon Prime reboot, especially upon seeing the pilot episode’s off-putting costumes. Finally gaining access to Prime this year, I decided to catch up and it gets quite good!, especially in Season 2. First, the costumes are upgraded; second, Peter Serafinowicz’s initially shaky characterization improves; and third, it begins to come into its own identity. The only real issue is yet another premature cancellation for the property, meaning Season 2’s tease of interdimensional alien Thrakkorzog will never be fulfilled. 😢

Bonus! 5 More Honorable Mentions:

City So Real (National Geographic)

The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)

How To with John Wilson: Season 1 (HBO)

Kidding: Season 2 (Showtime)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs The Reverend (Netflix)

[livlepretre]

One of the eps I remember best from tvd (4x06) was the ep where Jeremy killed one of the hybrids and Tyler went apeshit but no one else in the mf gang cared, because the hybrid wasn't a part of their in-group. And it was in character for them not to care (except maybe Caroline/Bonnie) because that’s exactly the kind of person most of them would consider expendable, but we finally got to see civilian casualties having an impact on one of the mcs. (1/2)

(2/2) It's something I always hoped tvd would explore more, esp because it was usually werewolves/hybrids/witches who were considered expendable in the mf gang’s messed up vision of life, but I think they were too afraid of their mcs being considered full-fledged villains. Vamps didn’t have a lot of weaknesses in the show and it would have been interesting to explore the slow moral degradation that comes with having instinctual urges to hurt people to survive but alas.

Oh this is EXACTLY what I am talking about when I say that the show was, at least at some point, telling a story about the characters growing increasingly disaffected from the rest of humanity/completely sliding off the moral rails and losing it. It’s a really dark story. I was convinced they were telling it in the early seasons of the show, but by season 4 I start to wonder if it was an accident. And this is also why I have always LOVED Tyler Lockwood, because he is, for the most part, the only one who holds onto his human decency. (I would also argue that Bonnie does too, at least, up to the parts that I’ve actually seen. I don’t know anything about seasons 7-8; Matt pays a lot of lip service to this, but he also had an extended affair with Rebekah which basically discounts him in my opinion. It’s funny, because I disliked Bonnie in seasons 1 and 2 because she was so against Damon and that was frustrating and felt like a killjoy to me; but growing up a bit and rewatching her storyline, I realize that she was the one with her head on straight and she was right to be disturbed by Elena growing closer to Damon and Stefan, and that her planning to kill Damon at the end of season 1 probably would have been for the best...) 

It’s interesting that you bring up whether or not this makes the main cast members villains or not. I actually disagree that it’s mostly werewolves/hybirds/witches who die-- we see a high mortality rate in the first few seasons of regular people-- Vicky, the woman who owns the house in 1x17, the man Caroline kills in 2x02, the sheriff’s deputies in 2x05, the classmates who die during 2x07, MORE classmates who die in 3x05... and it’s always amazing to me how Elena and Caroline and pretty much the rest of them are either complicit or don’t really care. You’re totally right. They don’t care unless it’s one of them... and even if it is, so long as it’s not permanent, they’re still all awfully forgiving... especially Elena, who manages to forgive Damon for murdering her brother. It really goes to show you how framing main characters like they’re good and rational and empathetic can make us overlook all the times they prove that actually they’re not. And it’s great storytelling because they didn’t start out so messed up-- it’s just that the show ever failed to explicitly address it. Like, when they killed that hybrid, Tyler COULD have really laid out all the ways they’ve all gone off the rails. 

Your point about exploring how it’s not really becoming a vampire that makes someone a monster, but it’s the things they are driven to do in order to survive, the unbearable instincts... that’s my favorite element of tvd vampires. I really like that it’s not a question of having a soul or not. It’s that they’ve transformed into something with hungers that are basically impossible to control, and they experience the horror of craving bloodshed as much as their victims do. The body horror is A+. The way that they inevitably slide into despair over it, which is what makes them eventually just give in, and then revel in it... tvd has a lot of brilliant ingredients, and I really do think the first two seasons are some of the very best on tv, and certainly amongst the top in the genre... it just really, really fails to ever take those ideas anywhere, and I think it’s because it abandons it’s role as a psychological horror piece and instead becomes... like a romantic drama? When it should have remained Romantic, as it was in its prime? Idk, I feel like there is nothing frightening in tvd by the time we get to season 4. And the fear was a very real part of its appeal. Horror at the vampires, at the process of unraveling psychologically until they are forced to look into the abyss and the abyss looks back at them, horror at the human characters succumbing to their influence, and abandoning all of the basic principles of empathy and compassion and morality that ultimately guide us. But to explore those things, the show would have to give up on Damon being likable and heroic; they’d have to be willing to take their sweet main ladies and acknowledge that they had transformed 2 out of 3 of them into monsters; and they would have to stop pretending that vampires are ever good. That’s the curse of vampirism-- it brings with it an inevitable fall from grace. 

[oosteven-universe]

Riptide: Draken #1

Riptide: Draken #1 Red5 Comics 2020 Written by Scott Chitwood Illustrated by Danny Luckert Coloured by Matt James Lettered by Troy Peteri    Soon to be a major motion picture, the Riptide series continues with an all-new adventure! When a mysterious creature attacks subsea equipment at a North Sea oil platform, a team led by Alex is sent to investigate. But Hannah and her documentary crew find the first clues in an unlikely place – Loch Ness!    Thrilled and a little disappointed not gonna lie.  The original story had the waters recede and a group of survivors who were the focus of that one and I loved the concept and honestly I was hoping to see more of that.  Thrilled because this is here however, as the story itself is solid, interesting and engaging and I can see how this fits in.  Though I am unsure which will be a major motion picture, please let it be the original story please please please, it doesn’t matter because what Scott has created here is absolutely this crazy world where strange things happen in the oceans.  I mean count me in, now if he could just take Meg and make that a comic book series too, because who doesn’t love crazy scary stories based in the ocean?    I am a huge fan of the way this is being told.  How we see the story & plot development constantly moving forward through how we see the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well.  The opening is bloody brilliant by itself and that it only serves as a precursor to the main story is almost, notice I said almost, disappointing as well.  I mean that would’ve been one hell of a tale!  The character development we see is strong and while we kind of get a feel for them when we first meet them the more we see them the more interesting they become.  It’ll be interesting to watch how far in any given direction Scott is going to take them.  The pacing is perfect and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and the cast of characters it’s easy to see how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.    I am also a fan of how this is structured and the layering within the story itself.  I like how the different factors are at play and seeing how the differences between them are stressed and set up something that’s going to happen.  I can’t wait to see how things play out.    The interiors here are really rather nice.  The linework that we see is sure, strong and steady and how the varying weights are being utilised to showcase the detail work that we see is extraordinarily well rendered.  How we see the backgrounds are incorporated so that they enhance the moments, expand what we see as well as bringing us some great depth perception, a sense of scale and this overall sense of size and scope to the story.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a talented eye for storytelling.  The colour work is incredible to see.  How the radar with it’s colours and how we see flesh tones define faces is magnificent work.  Seeing the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work really shows this talented eye in how colour works and is able to work to bring us the most realistic work. ​    I am in love with the idea of the book, how we see it unfolding and just the sheer way that this fits into the world that has been created.  Oh how I would love to see the waters recede here and learn the secrets of the mystery creature.  Regardless this is fun and if you all haven’t had the opportunity to read this than I highly recommend that you seek it out and see why I hold this in such high regard.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home Edition May 8, 2020 – CLEMENTINE, SPACESHIP EARTH, BLUE STORY, VALLEY GIRL, ARKANSAS, HOW TO BUILD A GIRL and more!

And the summer that never was continues with no new movies in theaters unless you include a number of select drive-ins scattered across the country. There’s a lot of new stuff out this weekend, some good, some bad, but we’re getting to a point where every distributor big or small is dumping their movies to VOD in hopes of making money. But I guess that means there’s a lot more options of things to see, right?

The Virtual Oxford Film Festival continues this Friday with the virtual premieres of Steve Collins’ comedy I’ve Got Issues and the unrelated doc feature, I Am Not Alone (Note: both of these are only available for folks in Mississippi!). Also, the Hello, Gorgeous Shorts block (love the names they come up with to put these shorts together!) will debut with 8 new shorts, including Bad Assistant. You can get tickets to all of these things at the festival’s Eventive page.

For the next few days only, you can also win the Oxford Film Festival award-winning short Finding Cleveland right here for free! The film directed by Larissa Lam that follows husband Baldwin Chiu’s journey to Mississippi to investigate his roots will have its feature version, Far East Deep South, premiere as part of Oxford’s virtual festival in June.

One of the better films I watched this week (I guess that makes it this week’s “Featured Film”) is Lara Gallagher’s feature debut CLEMENTINE (Oscilloscope), a seemingly simple two-hander indie drama showcasing two fantastically talented actors in Otmara Marrero and Sydney Sweeney (HBO’s Euphoria). Marrero plays Karen, a young woman looking to get away after ending a relationship with a significantly older woman, deciding to break into her lover’s isolated lakeside home. There, she encounters Sweeney’s Lana, a mischievous younger teen of indeterminate age who Karen befriends. The two of them get closer as Karen is still in mourning for her previous relationship, but as she learns more about Lana, things clearly aren’t what they seem.

Gallagher has written a sweet and subdued character piece that at times veers into thriller territory but never goes so far across that line to take away from the drama. At the film’s core is the mystery about the two young women and their respective pasts, because we don’t even learn that much about Karen before heading to the lakeside house.

where there’s a lot of mystery about both of the young women at the story’s core, There were aspects of the movie that reminded me of the recent dramatic thriller Tape, where there’s also an aspect of sexual abuse and revenge, but it really never goes to places that might be expected. I’m a little bummed that I missed this at Tribeca last year, and part of that can be blamed on the enigmatic title which doesn’t really give a sense of what the movie is about at all. But Gallagher and her cast have done a fantastic job with a film that’s not necessarily easy to define or describe but leaves you with a warm feeling that films like this can still be made. (See Never Rarely Sometimes Always as another example of this.)

Now might be the perfect time for Matt Wolf’s new doc, SPACESHIP EARTH (Neon), which is all about the eight people who locked themselves into Biosphere II in the early ‘90s with the plans to live inside the ecologically self-contained environment for two years. Neon had two amazing scientific docs in 2019, Apollo 11 and The Biggest Little Farm, both which were in my Top 10 for the year, so imagine my disappointment when neither of them received Oscar nominations. Wolf previously directed 2013’s Teenage and last year’s Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, the latter being a decent doc using archival footage, and Spaceship Earth mixes all of the amazing archival footage with interviews with many of the key characters. In case you weren’t familiar with Biosphere II, it was an experiment set up where 8 individuals would spend two years inside an environment that’s meant to be fully self-sufficient. Wolf’s film goes back to the start of what was essentially a theater group who put together a number of global projects before tackling Biosphere II, a project that wasn’t taken very seriously by the scientific community because there were no scientists among the group. It was seen as “ecological entertainment” by some and a cult by others, and those feelings increase when it was discovered that not everything is what it seems. When an accident causes one of the “biospherians” to have to go outside, she ends up sneaking things back into Biosphere II, which is against the rules set up by the group. It’s a fairly fascinating doc if you were around during this time but only heard about it filtered through the news and the PR, but Wolf’s film goes deep into the project and the controversy surrounding it, as well as when it inevitably goes wrong. Wolf manages to get many of those involved, including the group’s leader, John Allen, and there’s even an appearance by another figure from U.S. politics who had their own documentary just last year! This is a really strong doc that is getting a digital release and apparently, it will even be screened on the sides of some buildings, which is a cool idea in this time where there aren’t many theaters.

A relatively big hit in the UK, BLUE STORY (Paramount), the directorial feature debut of British rapper Rapman, adapted from his own YouTube series, is now available via digital download, having originally been planned to get a US theatrical release in March. It’s about the friendship of two young British teens, Timmy and Marco, from the Peckham area of London but from opposite sides of what’s become a violent street gang feud. I saw this movie way back on March 11, and I had to rewatch it more recently since I had forgotten whether I liked it or hated it. I’m probably somewhere more in between, as I thought the young leads, Stephen Odubola (Timmy) and Micheal Ward (Marco), were both terrific in a movie that generally had some storytelling and pacing issues. 

Honestly, I didn’t understand a lot of what was going on due to the heavy accents (even with the necessary subtitles), but it also didn’t really stand up to last year’s Les Miserables,  a film set in a similar setting in France, but that one  was nominated for an Oscar after being submitted by France. Besides writing and directing, Rapman also acts as the film’s ad-hoc narrator through a number of raps that gives his film a bit of a hip-hop musical feel. I’m not sure I was crazy about this decision since a lot of the time he is recapping something that we just saw take place.

The film definitely has a unique energy, as the first half alternates between youthful innocence and faux machismo, neither which generally does very much for me.   I did enjoy the film’s romantic underpinnings as it shows young love between Timmy and a classmate named Leah (Karla-Simone Spence) , but that storyline comes to an abrupt and shocking halt about 45 minutes into the movie before the story jumps forward three years into something very different.  (To be honest, the romantic aspects were handled in a far more interesting way in the recent indie Premature.) The movie does get far more dramatic and tense in this last act, while it also shows what a talented cast Rapman has put together in order for them to shift gears into the very different tone the movie then takes. It’s a jarring change, but it adds to what Rapman was trying to do in making Blue Story an almost-Shakespearean coming-of-age story set against an authentic urban landscape. I’m not 100% sure Blue Story will connect with young urban Americans in the same way as it clearly did in the UK, because the dialect and slang that pervades the film often makes it difficult to follow, but it’s quite a striking debut from the rapper/filmmaker.

Next up is VALLEY GIRL (Orion Pictures), a musical remake of Martha Coolidge’s 1983 movie that introduced many people to one Nicolas Cage. The new movie is directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg (A Deadly Adoption, “The Mindy Project”), and it stars the wonderful Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) as Julie Richman, the valley girl of the title who is going to high school with her valley girl friends but becomes enamored with the punk kid Randy (Josh Whitehouse), who comes from a very different world. I’m not sure what else I can tell you about Valley Girl, since I’m under embargo on this one until Friday, so I’m not sure if I can tell you if it’s good or bad. I will say that if you like popular ‘80s groups like Modern English and others, the movie may give you a smile. It also stars Alicia Silverstone as the older Julie, telling her own daughter this story in a framing sequence, as well as Judy Greer as Julie’s mother and others, such as Mae Whitman, who can really belt it out in her role as Randy’s bandmate, “Jack.”  This is supposed to open in some of those aforementioned drive-ins, as well as being available digitally.

Getting away from this week’s musicals, Clark Duke co-wrote and stars in his feature film directorial debut, ARKANSAS (Lionsgate), based on John Brandon’s novel. I haven’t read the novel, but Clark plays a lowlife named Swin, a drug-runner along with his partner Kyle (Liam Hemsworth), both of them pretending to be park rangers. Kyle is particularly interested in learning more about their enigmatic boss, the Arkansas-based drug kingpin known only as “Frog,” but their business arrangements get more complicated.

I had a few problems with this movie, much of it coming from the relatively weak writing that comes across like it was made by someone who has watched way too many Scorsese or Tarantino movies without really understanding why those filmmakers’ movies are so brilliant. I hate to say it, because I generally like Duke as an actor, but casting himself in the role of Swin without doing much beyond growing a moustache to make himself look sleazier really didn’t much for the material. He was a very odd pairing with the rugged and tougher Hemsworth.

The best part of the film is when it flashes back to 1985 West Memphis and we meet the actual “Frog,” played by Vince Vaughn, and we see him interacting with Michael K. Williams’ “Almond,” who he betrays to take over his drug business. I liked this bit of the movie even if Vaughn’s accent wasn’t great, but then we’re back to Duke and Hemsworth in present day, and that doesn’t hold up as well. Clarke overcomplicates things by creating a non-linear narrative that jumps back and forth in time and between two storylines – again, like Pulp Fiction – but the storytelling and dialogue doesn’t do enough to make up for the confusion this cause.

Clark certainly has brought on some decent actors, such as John Malkovich and Vivica A. Fox, but making himself the focus of much of the movie compared to the far more charismatic Hemsworth, hurts the movie more than helps it. I didn’t hate Eden Brolin as Swin’s love interest, Johnna, but they really didn’t enough chemistry to make them believable as a couple.  Don’t get me wrong. I definitely commend Clark on taking on such a big project as his directorial debut, and it definitely grew on me, but it’s an erratic piece that pays tribute to far better films and that is its biggest detriment.  Originally planned for a theatrical release on May 1, Arkansas will instead hit Apple, Amazon, On Demand platforms, DVD and Blu-Ray on Tuesday.

Beanie Feldstein from last year’s Book Smart stars in Coky (“Harlots”) Giedroyc’s HOW TO BUILD A GIRL (IFC Films) as Johanna Morrigan, an ambitious 16-year-old from Wolverhampton, England who gets a job at music magazine “D&ME.” She creates an alter-ego pseudonym for herself in Dolly Wilde, and quickly learns she has to be mean in order to succeed and earn the respect of her peers as one of the UK’s most hated music journalists, even after falling in love withs (and then betraying) rock star John Kite (Alfie Allen, who also was on “Harlots”).

Based on British journalist Caitlin Moran’s 2014 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, I definitely should have liked this movie more, having been a regular reader of the Melody Maker around the time Moran would have been writing for it. The screenplay she’s co-written adapting her own book isn’t great, and everyone involved just seems to be trying too hard to be funny and failing miserably.

I guess the biggest issue, once you adjust to Beanie Feldstein’s British accent, which falls somewhere between Harry Potter and the Beatles, is that it’s hard to care about her character even a little, since she’s acting all quirky one second and then becomes a monster as the film goes along. Johanna is just annoying and when she transforms into “Dolly,” she becomes even worse.

Paddy Considine plays Johanna/Dolly’s father, who still has aspirations of being a rock star after giving birth to a huge brood of children. There’s a few other small roles from other actors like Emma Thompson, Michael Sheen and Gemma Anderton, many of them portraying Johanna’s author inspirations talking to her from her wall of idols.

How to Build a Girl is just another example of the sad state of British comedies, although there are a few shining stars like last year’s Yesterday, which was in my top 10, and this year’s Emma. This one just isn’t particularly funny, and there’s a general feeling of been-there seen-that, as it tells a fairly typical rise and fall story where Dolly’s debauchery turns into an awful human being, and it’s not like I liked her much to begin with.  She isn’t as funny as intended and then she gets awful, and it’s impossible to feel bad for her when things ultimately go wrong. Anyway, five minutes later, everything is fine.

It’s the type of autobiographical thing that a writer writes to make themselves look like some kind of hero, and it reminds me a bit of last year’s Blinded by the Light in some ways. h I know a lot of people liked the movie, but I wasn’t really a fan at all. This movie is even less funny and not particularly original, making it feel about as pretentious as the British music press became in the ‘90s. Either way, it will be available to watch at home via VOD as well as in some open drive-ins where applicable.

There are a ton more movies this week, and unfortunately, I didn’t get to fully watch many of the movies below, though I still hope to watch more of these over the next few days and may add a few more reviews.

I heard good things about Christophe Honoré’s comedy ON A MAGICAL NIGHT (Strand Releasing), particularly about Chiara Mastroiani’s performance as Maria, which won her an acting award at last year’s Cannes. She plays Maria, a woman dissatisfied with her marriage of 20 years, who moves into a hotel room across the street after getting into an argument with her husband (singer Benjamin Biolay). I haven’t gotten through it yet as it seems, like so many French movies, to be very talky, but I’ll try to get to it. It will open virtually as part of Film at Lincoln Center’s virtual cinema, following its debut at the “Rendezvous with French Cinema” series that was unfortunately cut short midway this year.

Also continuing this weekend is Cinema Tropical’s “Cinema Tropical Collection” of Brazilian films, this week’s being Caetano Gotardo’s YOUR BONES, YOUR EYES,  in which the filmmaker stars as João, a middle class São Paulo filmmaker who has long conversations and monologues with the people around him.

There are a few other docs available virtually this week, including Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s REWIND (FilmRise), a collection of home videos from 20 years ago, when his father would film family gatherings but also documenting a family secret that would lead to a media firestorm and a court battle.  The film will be available to stream and download on iTunes, Prime Video, GooglePlay and Microsoft this Friday, and then will air as part of PBS’s Independent Lens on Monday, May 11.  

The Maysles Cinema in Harlem is continuing its virtual cinema with Alex Glustrom’s MOSSVILLE: WHEN THE GREAT TREES FALL, which will be available for a 48-hour VOD rental for $12 from Thursday through April 14 with a Zoom QnA with the filmmakers on Saturday at noon Eastern. The film centers around Mossville, Louisiana, a community founded by former African-American slaves that has been overrun by petrochemical plants and toxic clouds that have forced residents from their homes. Glustrom’s film focuses on Stacey Ryan, a man who refuses to abandon his family’s land and fights for his own human rights.

Apparently, William Nicholson’s HOPE GAP (Screen Media) is getting a second chance to be seen on VOD after a rather half-hearted theatrical release on March 6. It stars  Annette Bening as Grace who is dealing with her husband of 29 years (Bill Nighy) leaving her and how that break-up affects their grown-up son (Josh O’Connor).

Following its premiere as part of the virtual Tribeca Film Festival, Emily Cohn’s sex comedy, CRSHD (Light Year), will get a virtual theatrical release in New York, LA and other regional markets. It stars Isabelle Barbier as college freshman Izzy Alden who goes with her best friends (Deeksha Ketkar, Sadie Scott) on a journey to help Izzy lose her virginity.

Also in select theaters, on demand and digital this Friday is José Magán’s The Legion (Saban Films/Paramount), starring Mickey Rourke, Bai Ling and Lee Partridge. It takes place during the invasion of Parthia where two Roman legions are brought to a standstill in Armenia’s snowy mountains where they’re dying from the cold. Their only hope against the cold and the Parthian patrols is half-roman soldier, Noreno, who must cross the mountains to find the men who can help them change the course of this losing battle.

On VOD starting Thursday is Spa Night director Andrew Ahn’s Driveways (FilmRise), starring Hong Chau from HBO’s “Watchmen” and Alexander Payne’s Downsizing as Kathy, a single mother who is travelling with her 8-year-old son Cody (Lucas Jaye) to her dead sister’s house with plans to clean and sell it. There, she befriends a Korean war vet named Del (played by the late Brian Denneny), who quickly bonds with her young son.

Also in theaters and On Demand is Tom Wright’s Walkaway Joe (Quiver Distribution), starring David Strathairn and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a film about an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a wandering loner, who helps the boy look for his father in pool halls across the country.

STREAMING AND CABLE

This week’s Netflix offerings including the comedy special, Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill, presumably taped at one of his nights in residency at the Beacon Theater. The hour-long special is now available and has been said might be Seinfeld’s last special. The Michelle Obama doc, Becoming, will also be on Netflix by the time you read this. It’s the first feature length doc from Nadia Hallgren, and its produced by the Obamas, much like the recent Sundance opener, Crip Camp, and last year’s Oscar winner, American Factory.  The second season of Dead to Me also debuts on Friday as well as a number of other series.

In case you missed it earlier in the week, you can now watch last year’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+, which means the entire nonology is now on Disney+. You can also watch a new docuseries about the making of last year’s hit, The Mandalorian, called Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, which has Jon Favreau doing roundtables with some of the creatives with the first episode, “Directing,” now on the service and the second episode, “Legacy,” premiering on Friday.

The new Hulu animated series, Solar Opposites, will premiere on the streaming service this Friday. It’s the new series co-created by Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan (respectively the co-creator and former head writer of Rick and Morty), and it features a voice cast that includes Roiland, Thomas Middleditch, Mary Mack and Sean Giambrone with a huge line of guest voices, including Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Christina Hendricks, Tiffany Haddish and many, many more!

The final film in Lionsgate’s Friday Night at the Movies will be Keanu Reeves’ John Wick, which will show for free on the Lionsgate website on Friday night starting at 9pm Eastern.

Next week, more movies not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[puppetmaster55]

Thoughts on VLD

What is there to say about this series? How does one encapsulate in one sentence all that this was, all that it ultimately came down to be?

You can’t.

But, in this essay, I will try.

So, let’s start with the simplistics.

The first two seasons are the strongest of the series, with the tightest storytelling and does so much to convey things about the plot and characters to the viewing audience at a pretty fast pace, one that makes you want to keep watching.

The characters, all of them, throughout the series, are memorable. They are unique personalities and are pretty decently individualized in design. They’re great, and I love them. The lore, too, I love.

...I came into this series with about as much understanding of what voltron is, as any new viewer. The most I could say about it is what Deadpool described it: five mini lion bots come together to make one giant megabot.

I thought it was gonna be a lot like power rangers. But, like, in space (no, not like that one iteration of power rangers literally called Power Rangers In Space).

Instead, the series looked gorgeous, the animation from beginning to end is stunning, the music incredible, the voice acting stellar.

And the writing?

The writing had so much potential, the kind of potential that you can physically see on the screen.

But getting back to the point. The first two seasons are the strongest, and for one simple reason.

The protagonists had a clearly defined end goal: to defeat the antagonist.

Voltron must defeat Zarkon.

And they do! In the incredible finale, Voltron defeats Zarkon at the end of the second season, culminating the end of the first arc.

Which makes everything that happens afterward hurt so much more.

Because what happens next? What happens when you have the protagonists defeat the antagonist one-third of the way through the series?

A mess, apparently.

Lotor comes into the scene, and is framed as an antagonist, until he isn’t, until he is, until he isn’t. Shiro returns, but not even the writing can decide if this is Shiro But Brainwashed or Clone Shiro. And then he is a clone, but he’s brainwashed, but he’s evil, but he’s not, and also the Shiro from before is dead, and…

Yeah, they needed better writing.

The clone storyline was something that, done well, I would have accepted wholesale. As it stands, it was drawn out for far too long, criminally underexplained, and had an ending that I am still upset about.

The Galra Empire was the enemy, with the Galra being the enemy, until they weren’t, and then they were, and then they weren’t again. And while I love the Blade of Marmora, and I love the idea they presented of things being murkier as the dismantling of the empire happened, and while “what do we do with the Galra afterward” is a great question… we didn’t get that.

The Galra Empire effectively was reformed under the Blade, in the end.

And Allura died.

Every character deserved better. No one had any real development after the second season, since they didn’t have a goal anymore to grow towards, no end villain that the series was building up to.

And no, Honerva doesn’t count at this point. She could, but with what her final endgame was… no. Her endgame is not what the series was building up toward.

Frankly, there’s only tenuous connections between the starting point and the end point of the series, and while protagonists evolve (I guess we can count what happens as character evolution) and new antagonists appear, where a series like this ends should be the rightful culmination of where it began.

Which isn’t to say that it couldn’t have had a better ending, that we couldn’t have kept Zarkon’s defeat at the end of s2 and still had a great ending without him. It was there, for sure (yes I know, this is getting into my fix-it territory).

But with season 3, with the dogged determination to put Keith in the leadership spot, came the dismantling of what could have been a great series. Allura’s leadership was undercut, and everything she tried to do she somehow got punished for (connecting to Altean culture? Oh, her new love has been hiding a secret Altean colony whose members worship him and whom have had a number of their people straight-up die/get siphoned for quintessence. Build the coalition? Oh, it’ll fall apart as the war starts back up. Make a new Voltron? Oh, it’s gonna be used for Eeeevil).

Allura sacrifices and sacrifices and loses more and more until all she has left to give is her own life.

I have never read The Giving Tree, but at this point I don’t think I have to. Is it at all like Allura’s treatment? Yes? Okay, I don’t need to read or know anything more.

Pidge finds her family, after a pair of fake-outs that, while yes one of them does provoke a lot of emotion, amount to nothing that really challenges her. She’s never presented with a situation where she has to choose between helping her team or finding her family, not intensely.

Lance constantly worries about his place on the team, and it’s never addressed or resolved and in the end he comes across as depressed and sad and deciding that his only worth is loving Allura. He’s never given support by his team, instead they end up mocking him or making fun of him or not standing up for him when a literal god-like entity does the same.

Shiro dies and dies again and again, losing more and more with each death, until he ends up losing even the most basic of story points afforded to him (defeating Sendak) or even being a main character.

Hunk… gets one arc, in the first season, and then gets the arc steal from Lance on Earth. He doesn’t get anything else. Once upon a time he was an engineer, a brilliant one, and in the end… he wasn’t. Yes, he was also always something of a gourmand and a chef and he ended up being a chef.

Which… yes, that’s nice and fits what he liked to do, but not at the expense of the series completely forgetting that he was a brilliant engineer.

Keith… honestly? He was better in the Red Lion, as the red paladin. He took too much spotlight away from the others, the story twisting itself to make him out as the better person even when he was shoving his way out of Voltron. The narrative forcing him to combat Shiro for a spot that he shouldn’t have: the central protagonist. There’s even an entire episode about it, where they literally fight and in the end the Black Lion flies to save Keith, the Black Bayard appears for Keith, and much later on the original black paladin gives his approval to Keith.  

He comes out of the series with a magical dog, a magical sword, an alive parent, the status of leader, and the status of main character. Of those, only one we have seen him struggle to retain (the magical sword).

Lotor was set up and played out as an antihero, someone who tried hard to do good but through evil means, someone with a terrible past that he was working hard to overcome and be better than, and… he ended up accused of something that we still don’t know if he really did, was pushed to the breaking point and then left for dead. He was accused of becoming his parents whom he didn’t want to become anything like, was forced by the plot to become that which he dearly didn’t want to become, and died horribly for it.

I could go on, could list out characters that were underutilized (Coran, Kolivan, Matt, Olia, Slav, the rebels, the blade, the coalition, the generals… basically the whole group of side characters, and half of the main characters) but instead…

Lost potential.

Wasted potential.

These are the most I can say of this series. There was potential, even to the very end there was potential. But instead there was nothing left that didn’t get explore enough, didn’t get anything enough.

The potential is there, more than enough to fuel fandom for years, but none of it got explored or developed within canon.

Lance got a sword upgrade, and did nothing with it.

Hunk got a turret upgrade, and nothing came of it.

Keith got a teleporting cosmic dog, and… honestly? When it went off was so strangely placed that it didn’t feel like a payoff. That whole fight with the druid felt so strangely done, that I didn’t feel as engaged as I should have been.

They could track the comet in s3? Well then why did Voltron stop tracking the comet entirely.

Pidge and Hunk were combining Galra and Altean tech and using it to improve the Castle? Well then why was it someone who didn’t do exactly that to build the Atlas. Why was it Sam Holt and not Coran, Hunk, and Pidge leading the construction?

Why, then, did we have to have that weird backdoor pilot to the MFEs in the middle of season 7? Well because they’re a better found family than our Paladins, apparently.

Seriously, they are. The MFEs are a group of people all brought together and become more like a found family than our Paladins, simply because we see them all dining together, and hanging out when they’re off-duty. They come across as actual friends, having actual conversations with each other instead of grouping off and low-key antagonizing one another when they have half a chance.

Our Paladins are not a found family. I hesitate to say that they’re even friends. At best they’re close workplace colleagues. The Paladins we assume would be friends (Lance and Hunk, the Garrison Trio) are not, and we’re heavily lacking in seeing them together in groups. Shiro and Hunk don’t share a conversation, nor do Keith and Pidge, and Lance is just… again, I use the term “workplace colleague” to describe his relationship with anyone on team Voltron.

I’m biased toward Lance, I admit that, but even then I still wanted more. Not just for him, but for everyone. They are all fantastic characters in an incredible world and they deserved better writing than they got.

Entire elements are missing from the story, to the point where having transcripts of showrunner interviews is required to understand what’s happening.

And that’s not good.

Shiro is revealed as gay in the same scene where he’s revealed to be slowly dying of an unnamed illness. It’s not explained in the series that he was ever cured, or that his clone was ever cured.

Shiro is brought back to life, is saved from a permanent death by the Black Lion, and what comes from it is… he’s suddenly not a part of Voltron anymore.

No, really. Discount anyone who heard from that interview, and just from the text of the show nothing about Shiro has said that he was unable to fly the Black Lion, or is no longer the Black Paladin. Nowhere in the text of the show does it say that, only that for some unknown reason Shiro just isn’t a part of the team anymore.

The mark of a good story is that you can create meta connecting the lore and everything tracks perfectly. You’re as much filling in the blanks as you are discovering that there are no holes in the story. It’s not necessary to understand the story, but the meta uncovers new depth and puts to words why and how the story comes together.

The mark of a poorly done story is that you have no choice but to create headcanons and fanon to get everything to track. The more you’re filling in the blanks the more you’re discovering that the holes get bigger and bigger, and there are more and more of them. Eventually you’re not doing meta, you’re doing fix-it fic. The difference is that meta helps understand the story, while fix-it fic makes the story make sense.

In an earlier point I said that the first two seasons are the tightest and the best of the series, and I meant it. I still mean it, even in light of the series itself.

To make a good series, or to make a story, means that there needs to be an end goal, something for the plot to have a climax toward, and all the development to build up toward.

Fitting that, is the first two seasons. And only the first two seasons.

Everything that happens after the first two seasons, lacks something that it was all building up toward. The series lacks something that it was all building up toward. From the start, the thing that it was building up toward was the defeat of Zarkon. Which was what we had happen one-third of the way through the series.

If Zarkon was not the end goal for the series, then the tilt-shift should have been better done.

If the clone storyline was meant to exist within the series, then it should have been better done.

There is a way to have kept a solid track, where Haggar/Honerva was the Final Villain, that could have had good buildup. There was a way to have the clone storyline, and to have the Lotor storyline, and not have it all feel like set dressing to the Next Big Battle.

Everything from season three onward is a series of events with little connection or bearing beyond “here’s a set of character names and putting them into different events with different accessories that have no bearing beyond the episode they appear in” and even then it’s a stretch.

Oriande meant nothing. The White Lion meant nothing. Atlas meant nothing. Sincline meant nothing.

Kuron meant nothing.

Lotor meant nothing.

They were all pretty set dressing on the way to the Next Big Battle.

All of it was either buildup with no payoff, or payoff with no buildup.

VLD, in the end, was like a flat painting that tried to play at being a sculpture without any of the necessary work. It looks pretty, and has great individual parts, but the depth is fake and only gets even more fake when more fake depth is piled on top of it to distract from all the depth that isn’t there.

And eventually, it got to the point where you can see the seams.

The final two seasons were written with certain things in place, and then the final season was rewritten, supposedly because Keith was most desired in the Black Lion. And then that gave us most of what we got for the final season (subtracting the late-stage additions).

But those certain things that the final two season were written with?

Shiro’s return to the Black Lion.

Keith’s return to the Red Lion.

Lance’s return to the Blue Lion.

Allura taking up the helm of the Atlas.

But season eight was rewritten, late in the game, so season seven was altered into what we got, removing all of that.

Removing Shiro entirely.

At least until he was put back in.

Others have said it better, the copy-paste theory. They’ve also said it better about the morals and lessons the latter part of the series meant viewers to take away compared to the early part of the series.

But honestly? Whatever better version there ever was, it’s long gone. All we can do is see in the final two seasons the ghosts of that better version, in the dialogue (Shiro’s lines are now Keith’s, Keith’s are now Lance’s, and Lance’s are now merged into Allura’s and Shiro gets the scraps) and in the visuals. The furthest that better story ever got was into the storyboards, working with those scripts, and other than that it is long gone. There’s no getting it back.

So… what do I have to say, in the end?

We got so close to a perfect iteration. By hook and by crook, we got close to something great. 

Maybe next time we can actually have it within our grasp.