#no shade to anyone who liked the episode btw im glad you all had fun (im being genuine i promise)

[basebulb]

what do you dislike abt the episode? /genq

Lucky for you, I just rewatched it today for the first time since it leaked! There were some parts that were better on rewatch, and some parts that... well...

(For the record, maybe I'm thinking a little too hard about this object show for kids on the internet. But even when I was a kid on the internet, I was still criticizing it. In a way, it's nice getting back to my roots, pfft.)

Lightbulb. LIGHTBULB. LIGHTBULB, WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?! Out of all the avenues I expected the writers to take the "My friends are my power!" character, I didn't expect them to go with "... which is why I can't function without them!". What a way to just take all the agency out of her character! There's nothing wrong with the comic relief showing some vulnerability- far from it, actually, I think Lightbulb's vulnerable moments are what makes her such a strong character- but this end result just makes it feel... cheap? Pointless? And not the kind of pointless the show wants it to come across as. This didn't feel like Lightbulb bowing out because she felt like the stress of the show wasn't worth it, it feels like Lightbulb giving up because there's no way she could win by herself (And man, doing it for Lightbrush ship fodder? Come on... hey, I'm not saying this because of my ship biases, I promise. But the shipteasing just added to how cheap it all felt- like a romcom protagonist abandoning her prospective career just for the man (er, brush) that she loves. Way to tie a girl down...).

The writers trying to frame Suitcase as having been an active player the entire time is insane. And... wrong? Suitcase voting out Nickel was pretty much the only active choice she made the entire season! And do any of her choices following that lead to her winning challenges? Nope! In Episode 13, she literally spends an ENTIRE EPISODE ignoring the challenge and needs THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE to help her beat Fan. Just because she has a handle doesn't mean she needs to be carried the entire game! At least they're taking her in an interesting direction now... although I can't imagine how they'll make her (incredibly obvious) win feel satisfying. (And hey, how come they all brushed over Suitcase getting help from Taco to win a challenge, but got mad at Knife for hiding Taco's involvement?)

Despite how genuinely great that Taco song was, I feel like she gets a little lamer every time they make her emote. That shattering scene made me burst out laughing the first time I saw it. And the second.

There's nothing wrong with Taco having angst over Season 1, but I just wish they'd handle it without the subtly of a frying pan to the face.

... But hey, it wasn't all bad. At least she got a good song out of it. The crew REALLY upped their songwriting game, and Taco's VA did a great job! Kudos to them.