#wtnv episode 250

[a-slight-sweet-fiction]

Bracing myself to either be really happy or get like SO gut-punched about this new WTNV episode.

Since the episode still isn't up yet, I'm going to make a list of things I hope for:

I (obviously) want Kevin to survive this arc. Whether it's just one of them or both.

I want Charles to show up in some capacity. Or even just to be MENTIONED. PLEASE.

I want Carlos and Kevin to acknowledge each other directly in some way. Ideally I'd like it if they actually had a full conversation, even if we don't see it. It was obviously an important relationship in both of their lives at one time and I think if Kevin is going to deal with his emotions, he probably needs to acknowledge the ONE (1) person who we have EVER heard him ADMIT WITH HIS WORDS he was SAD about losing.

Speaking of emotions! Kevin has them! He has so MANY of them! And I want him to acknowledge THAT. That's actually far more important to me than any other character interactions. He HAS to break out of fake-happy jail if he's EVER going to deal with his problems in an actually helpful way. Even if joy continues to be a really important value to him, how can a person fully understand joy if they don't also understand the value of every other emotion? If they never feel anything other than "a joy that wrenches the soul?"

I hope Boy!Kevin's list of things he remembers (From the episode The Boy) gets explored. I desperately want to know more about his "sadness that warmed the heart."

And one final one that involves a spoiler about the episode title:

7. The episode seems to be called Father Kevin...which makes me fear that he's going to double down and somehow become even more of a religious zealot in a bad way. BUT...I'm still holding out hope he'll get away from the Smiling God/break the cycle of abuse/etc. Maybe he'll like...reclaim the concept of fatherhood on multiple levels (literal and also religious) and be able to start reparenting his inner child...? Because that's literally A Thing in inner child work, which is basically what this arc is.

[wt-nv-quotes]

Hit me with your best shot. Owww. Okay actually that sucked. Uh, please hit me with one of your worst shots, okay? Thank you. Ough.

[grimbeak]

wtnv episode that begins with a random person who we've never heard of before talking, and then another totally different person starts talking after them and as the episode progresses we go from unfamiliar names to less familiar names to very familiar names to cecil who sounds....very annoyed.....and we realize it's formatted like Toast and . charlevin wedding episode is what i'm getting at here that's all i wanted to say

[thevoiceofdesertbluffs]

The thing is also, I feel like this arc undid everything that The Mudstone Abyss did for Kevin. tmua was a good conclusion to his story and I wish we just got like. A catchup instead of whatever the fuck this was supposed to be.

[onehundredgar]

I was really geared up for a groundbreaking episode- season finale, Kevin in the title, Abby and Cecil’s mom and dad lore, The Boy and foster mom Tamika, anticipation of Carlos’ reactions to Kevin, Mother Lauren and her relationship with the Smiling God and Kevin, Charles the Theologist being perfect for the job since it’s a religious problem, great episode for a million guest voices…

This was- um- kind of underwhelming?

[the-voldsoy]

WTNV250 spoilers

[flying-fangirls]

[madzwashere]

Episode so bad that I actively started listening again

[asydicsydney]

MAN WHO IS NOT TALL AND MAN WHO IS NOT SHORT AND LABYRINTH MENTIONED AHHH MY FAVORITE BOOK THAT I NO LONGER OWN

[cowboyinternist]

big wtnv fandom thing that ticks me off is when something Happens and it isn’t mentioned in the next episode? people r like “ugh so they’re just NOT gonna mention what happened last ep 🙄” when like. a huge point in wtnv is that the episodes happen in real time. we do not hear every single broadcast and there is literally an entire month 1/2 between 250 and 251. wtnv episodes do not happen one after the other and that’s like. the entire point. he’s a reporter. that shit is old news now.

[vvanillavveins]

On the WTNV finale:

Look, i like Brinknor. They helped me fall back in love with Night Vale when i was feeling particularly uninspired. It's hard to put it into words; i have adhd & i struggle to remember big intricate plots unless something reoccurring has really grabbed hold of my attention, and before Brinknor, i was struggling to sink my teeth into anything attention-holding, so to speak. I guess i was becoming less enthusiastic in Night Vale's storyline as time went on, even though i couldn't really work out why. I just couldn't stop tuning out. But, with Brinknor, there came a bunch of shiny new plotpoints- at a faster pace. The show could actually hold my focus properly, and my wtnv fixation was suddenly up & running again.

All this is to say that i know it's just my impatience talking when i say that i wish that the loose ends of those new, interesting plotpoints had been tied up a little more by episode 250. I adore the way they write about Cecil's childhood and his family, and i want Kevin & The Boy's arc to be given the same amount of love, and attention, and time that the Palmer siblings' arc got. The same goes for Tamika. And Carlos. And Lauren, actually. Yes, i know she was a central figure in the last 2 episodes, and i loved that because she's one of my favourite characters. I fucking adore eldritch Mother Lauren. But still, it was all too vague to really learn anything new about her or the desert otherworld. And, above all else, i can't help but think of how wonderful it would've been if Charles and Donovan were included in the finale- especially Donovan.

When Kevin first came back in 2023, one of my silly little hcs as to why he was apparently in the Smiling God's bad books (and why he didn't mention Charles or Donovan) was that because Charles & Donovan aren't from Desert Bluffs they haven't devoted themselves to the Smiling God like the rest of the townsfolk. They wouldn't "smile" properly. One of my darker ideas at the time was the possibility of Kevin having to choose between making them part of his faith, i.e., making them "smile" like the rest of Desert Bluffs (which i doubt he'd go through with after his mudstone abyss arc), or having Charles & Donovan leave town (which i doubt they'd go through with), or, doing neither & keeping quiet about his life with them to avoid drawing attention. If he chose the latter and then got found out, it would make sense that he'd stop being the Smiling God's favourite. Obviously, i never thought any of that was correct- i was just having fun- and i was excited to find out the real story further down the line.

But that didn't happen, and we still don't really have many answers. Everything to do with Kevin, and Lauren, and The Boy got wrapped up in about 10 minutes flat. We've already had an emotional Fatherhood themed episode with Cecil & Abby; we didn't need another one just for the sake of it.

With the context of what we already know about Kevin's father, the ending of episode 250 was just uncomfortable. Sure, Kevin's talked about his father positively before, but that's always been in contrast with the actual content of his memories. It's always been made clear that the script/the writers disagree with Kevin's sunny outlook, and therefore the listeners should too. Those moments are there to demonstrate just how fucked up Kevin really is, and that his positivity is just a coping mechanism. But this time Cecil spoke for him, so we didn't get Kevin's usual sing-song rambling. It was calm, and collected, and matter-of-factly. And this time there were no sugar-coated descriptions of abuse, only genuine praise. We were actually supposed to agree with him this time, and it made the whole speech (and ending) sound hollow and forced.

I really didn't like this episode. It felt rushed. It tried to cover far too much far too quickly, and it failed. But, despite all that, i am hoping that future episodes will bring some sort of clarity about what happened. And hopefully some closure about Kevin and his family, too. I want loose ends to get tied up properly and i believe that maybe, with time, the important ones will be. Slow burning subplots are kinda quintessential to Night Vale's writing at this point anyway. Brinknor definitely missed the mark with this one, but they're still incredibly talented writers and i'm not ready to give up on them like some of the other fans on here.

Besides, i think that some of Night Vale's worst episodes are still incredible pieces of writing in their own right. The bad episodes are only bad in comparison to the dozens upon dozens of absolutely phenomenal episodes that make up the rest of a show that is, for the most part, a joy to listen to. So, here's to some hopefully better episodes in the future, i guess.

[a-slight-sweet-fiction]

A shorter, less wordy way to put my current feelings about Father Kevin is this:

I love that Kevin of Desert Bluffs is getting another chance to reparent his inner child and break the abuse cycle within himself! And I'm hopeful that this time around the loop he's in, he might have gained enough understanding and gentleness toward himself, and regained enough autonomy, to make it go differently. That's the good timeline, and I do think that's possible and even likely. Narratively that could be so amazing.

But now that he has regained that power over himself, now that he does have the information he needs and the power to choose something better...

If he ever starts making hot caramel for the kids a la Kevin's story in All Smiles' Eve, we should collectively get ready to take him out back like Boy Kevin originally wanted to do, right? Like, at that point we just have to throw away the whole man.

[wt-nv-quotes]

Here, there is a heavy stillness. But somewhere, thunder. Somewhere, snow. Somewhere, far away, weather.

[grimbeak]

i don't even really care about the possibility of never hearing from kevin again im mostly just mad about 250. like i never got the sense of loss from losing kevin i mainly got that from lauren. also the shock of that stupid ass abuse dialogue. but like. if we get an episode of kevin by himself without one of his partners (lauren / charles & donovan / cecil & carlos) then what's even the point.

[cosmicbeaniii]

I took a couple months break from WTNV after listening to 250+ episodes in three months, but I've caught up again and I'm so glad to draw these gay little gremlins again.

[radiohostkevin]

Wtnv 250 spoilers:

The whole episode being from Cecil's perspective really weakened the season finale, in my opinion. Guest voices would have helped tremendously, especially since the arc was focused on Tamika, Lauren, and Kevin. Instead, Lauren left Just Because, Tamika's change of heart happened off screen, and Kevin and the Boy resolved things... Sort of? It felt lackluster.

For an arc that's all about the possibility and inevitability of change the conclusion sure did stick to the status quo. It was so focused on returning things to normal that the stakes, and the emotional impact of the plot felt non-existent.