My biggest issue with the first season of Hazbin Hotel was the pacing. It often felt like important events and character moments were skipped or rushed because of the limited eight-episode runtime. So, after learning the second season was also eight episodes, I was concerned the issue would repeat itself. Well, after seeing the final two episodes of Hazbin Hotel Season Two, I can happily say that I was wrong because the pacing this season has been great. The penultimate episode, “Weapons of Mass Distraction”, follows up from where “Scream Rain” left off, with Lucifer being lured into a trap set by Vox. Lucifer is immediately captured with the use of Angelic weaponry, but he is more antagonized by Alastor than Vox. It is quite humorous to watch Vox’s captives have more beef with each other than their literal captor. Not only that, but it leads to one of my favorite songs of Hazbin Hotel, “Brighter”, which fully reveals Vox’s backstory. In life, Vox was named Vincent Whittman, a weatherman so envious of those around him that he killed again and again to reach the top. Eventually earned a cult-like following, this all culminated with him giving a speech in a pool, ranting about being “baptized into a new era of entertainment.” Overlooking the pool are dozens of suspended TVs, which turns out to be a rather poor decision design wise because one of these TVs falls and crashes onto Vox’s head, killing him and sending him to hell for his murders. Vox’s death is both gruesome and ironic, considering his hell-form has a TV for a head.
It is also a deserving end considering all the murders he committed in life.
It also may explain how Vox became so powerful in Hell because, when the TV kills him, it also electrocutes all of his followers standing in the pool as well. So, when Vox arrived in Hell, he already had a group of loyal followers to use. Through this, we can see that Alastor is actually right in his understanding of Vox. He always has a desire to be “brighter,” never satisfied with what he has, but relies on others to gain his power, whether that be his followers or the Vees. We see this with him hypnotizing Angel Dust into publicly bad mouthing the hotel and supporting the Vees. He uses this event to unveil his weapon, powered by Lucifer, which he fires at Heaven, destroying Sera’s barrier. Although terrifying for Heaven, it was funny for me, what with the shot of Peter being spun around when Vox’s weapon punches through the pearly gates.
This moment got a good chuckle out of me.
Vox gives Heaven 24 hours to surrender, and the turmoil this causes leads into the episode’s second song, “Live to Live”, where Pentious advises Sera on her next move, with a great callback to last season’s “It Starts with Sorry.” While this is happening, Vox continues to fall into Alastor’s trap, further distancing himself from the Vees, and is also manipulated into inviting Charlie to his party. Following Vox’s invitation, Emily arrives to help Charlie, and the group formulate a plan to rescue Angel Dust and stop Vox. Baxter is key to this plan, and more than willing to help, showing his role in the season.
I think Baxter’s characterization is a little wonky, since his initial goal of proving the hotel wrong has been completely brushed aside, but it is not a big deal.
The newfound confidence of the hotel results in the final song of the episode, “When I Think About the Future”, which calls back to multiple songs sung previously in the season, before setting up the big finale. That finale, “Curtain Call”, kicks off with the hotel crew going through their plan to stop Vox, free Angel from mind control, and show everyone that Pentious was redeemed. Two things, though. First, it feels like a scene was skipped over where the characters realize Angel was brainwashed, since in the final scene of Episode Nine they were confused about him siding with the Vees. Second, I still find it pretty convenient that Pentious is not allowed to leave Heaven. They just say he is not allowed to leave and provide no reason why.
I just wish they would explain why Sir Pentious cannot leave Heaven.
At Vox’s party, Baxter attempts to provide a connection with Heaven to show Sir Pentious’ redemption, while Cherry and Husk go to save Angel Dust, and Charlie distracts Vox. The plan quickly goes awry because, although Baxter is hilariously able to silence Vox, Velvette and Nifty fight around him, while Cherry and Angel Dust are ambushed by Valentino. The fight quickly grows, and Charlie is unable to get a signal to prove her point, leading to the best scene of the finale. Vox mocks her and, in his moment of triumph, orders her to admit his power. Unexpectedly for Charlie, Alastor chimes in, using their deal to force her to admit that Vox is the strongest sinner in Hell. This breaks Alastor’s contract with Rosie and, to top it all off, Vox celebrates his victory by landing his hands on Charlie, breaking his contract with Al. Alastor’s laughter as Vox falls right into his trap was great to see. You can see how he perfectly planned all this right from Episode Four and it went off without a hitch.
Vox and Alastor’s rivalry has been a highlight this season.
And if you thought the fight between Alastor and Vox in that episode was hype, you have not seen anything yet. Watching the two old friends turned rivals fight at full strength is greatly improved by some top-notch animation. The budget for Season Two clearly went up after Season One’s success. Vox predictably needs help from his giant robot shark, but this allows him to get back to his weapon and shoot wildly at Alastor. This has the unfortunate side effect of decimating Pentagram City with an angelic blast, killing many sinners for good. So, Hell’s entire population just saw their supposed savior annihilating a bunch of them. Yeah, there is no coming back for Vox’s reputation after this.
As Alastor predicted, Vox really did lose his marbles in Act Three.
Even the Vees are sick of Vox’s antics because, after their respective fights, they stop him from blowing them all up just to kill Alastor. Valentino rips off Vox’s head before attempting and failing to leave with him and Velvette. Say what you want about the Vees, but they do care about each other. Well, Valentino and Velvette do at least; not sure about Vox at this point. However, while Vox is finished, his weapon remains. For a moment, it looks like Emily is going to sacrifice herself to save Hell, but this is thankfully instead used to build into the final song of the season, “Hear my Hope,” where all of Hell’s overlords band together to stop the explosion.
Admit it, we all thought Emily was going to self-sacrifice at first.
“Hear My Hope” is a hopeful, and emotional song with two interludes. The first sees Lute and Abel arrive, and the former attempt to get her revenge, only to be stopped by Abel in a moment of character growth. While this moment is well sung, I kind of feel like it needed a little more build up, and it kinds of just feels thrown in there. The second interlude of the song is far better, and sees Rosie confront Alastor, who threatens to let everyone die unless she fixes his staff. What is interesting to me about this part is how Alastor says, “You’ll watch them die, unless you do,” making it seem like Rosie cares for Charlie and the others. This adds more layers of mystery to Rosie, of which I have seen a few theories about. One such theory is that Rosie is Lillith in disguise, which would retroactively make her talk with Charlie about Vaggie in Season One a lot more emotional. Although, if Rosie is Lillith, then that raises the question of who the Lillith in Heaven is? But that is just a theory.
A Hazbin Hotel theory!… I’m sorry.
Rosie fixes Alastor’s staff, and the two join the circle, along with Velvette and Valentino, much to Vox’s dismay. The power of friendship puts an end to the explosion, saving Hell. From here, Lucifer pulls himself from the remains of the weapon, Sir Pentious proves his redemption to Hell, and Angel Dust decides to go back with the Vees because he believes he is a danger to the hotel and his friends. I originally did not like how Angel was playing very little role in his own rescue, but it seems like they are setting up an arc for Season Three here, so I will reserve judgement on that. As for the Vees, Valentino has had to become the face of the organization. Speaking of face, Vox is still just a head, and I think it would be pretty funny for him to remain that way for the foreseeable future. He has had his time in the spotlight, but man did he ever shine brighter. The writing team quickly proved me wrong with how much of a convincing threat Vox would prove to be. For next season’s antagonist, I am pretty confident it is going to be Alastor, based on things Viziepop has said. It makes sense too, what with Alastor having no more strings, and being free to do whatever he wants.
Alastor’s official villain arc may be about to begin.
Back at the hotel, it sees even more success, but for the right reasons this time. Surprise, surprise, Vaggie has also kept her name but dropped the E. Blitzo would approve. Still, I am glad that this storyline did not take up as much time as I thought it would back in Episode One. The final scene of the season sees Lillith finally call Charlie back, ending on yet another Lillith cliffhanger. Hopefully, Season Three will arrive sooner than Season Two did, and keep up the quality. Overall, Season Two was a vast improvement over the first. The pacing, animation and songs were so much better. Speaking of the songs, I am currently planning to do a top ten list of my favorite Hazbin Hotel songs. So, you can expect to see that in the next few weeks or so.
A few weeks back, Hazbin Hotel gave us one of its best episodes with “It’s a Deal.” Well, I am pleased to say that Season Two continues to exceed expectations with Episodes Five and Six, “Silenced” and “Scream Rain,” both of which have standout factors that place them above other episodes. “Silenced” has the best animation of the series so far, and “Scream Rain” is easily the funniest episode of Hazbin Hotel yet. Episode Five begins with the musical number, “Bad with Us”, which is used to depict Vox going around to recruit other Overlords for his plan to attack Heaven. The song has a few humorous moments, like Vox’s attempts to recruit Carmilla, embarrassing both Valentino and Velvette. It also shows off the extreme talent of Christian Borle, as he sings through multiple different musical subgenres to appeal to different Overlords.
It makes so much sense that Vox was a cult leader, given how convincing he can be.
Meanwhile, at the Hazbin Hotel, Charlie is desperately trying to get Emily and other angels’ attention, leading to Vaggie asking Lucifer for help. It is here that we get the perfect explanation for why Lucifer lets the sinners do as they please. It is revealed that, since Lucifer being in Hell is a punishment, he is unable to harm sinners, meaning he has had to watch them abuse each other for thousands of years. This explains why he was so nihilistic back in Season One. It also answers my question of how Vox would be able to take over Heaven, since I figured Lucifer would try to stop him. However, just because Lucifer cannot harm sinners, does not mean he is unable to bluff them into thinking he can. At the same time, it is revealed that Emily and Sera are actually watching Charlie, but Sera has doubts about helping, unsure how she can make up for what she has done Pentious provides both good advice and a pretty great callback when he tells her, “A wise woman once told me, ‘It starts with sorry.’” About Pentious though, I do find it strange that Sera and Emily did not bring him with them when they decided to appeal to the Sinners. You would think seeing one of their own redeemed might sway some of them? Unfortunately, Pentious is still unable to leave Heaven for undisclosed reasons, which does feel a little too convenient.
Just replace Lute with Pentious and I think this whole scene might have gone a little better for Charlie.
The angels travel to Hell and Charlie convinces them to go with her to apologize at one of Vox’s rallies, a decision which I am sure we can all agree was an excellent one with absolutely no chance of backfiring, just like every other decision Charlie has made this season… right? At Vox’s rally, we potentially see the beginning of Alastor’s plan, with him goading Vox into pushing Valentino and Velvette to the side in favor of himself. Vox’s show is quickly interrupted by Lucifer, however, kicking off the second song of the episode, “Vox Populi.” The first half of the song is a Lucifer solo, which is great, before Vox takes over the song, exposing Lucifer’s weakness to the crowd, going so far as to even bring up Lillith to his face. It is here where we get our first showcase of excellent animation, with the camera panning around Lucifer circling an unimpressed Vox.
The animation during this song is the best of the series.
Following this, Charlie and the angels arrive, but Vox is able to quickly turn the situation against them, which Charlie really should have expected at this point. Vox certainly does not have to try hard, what with Lute calling him demon filth (seriously, why did they bring her?), the angels apologizing for genocide with gift baskets, and Sera revealing her true form and stating demons like Vox were the reason she approved the Exterminations. Vox uses this to build into the final song, “Vox Dei,” a short number but probably my favorite of the episode for the sheer aura it provides Vox. I will admit that at the beginning of the season I had my doubts about whether Vox could be a threatening antagonist, but this episode more than convinced me. The animation for this scene is once again amazing, with another panning shot perfectly showing Vox’s threatening presence.
I apologize, Vox. I was not familiar with your game.
On top of that, it is abundantly clear that Vox is meant to represent extreme right-wing rhetoric in media, given his statements of “manifest destiny”, “make Hell great again”, and “I’m the furor (führer)”. It is not subtle, but it is definitely effective, both on the viewer and the angels, who flee, leaving Charlie alone. She returns to the Hazbin Hotel, infuriated with her father and Vaggie. It is here we get the long awaited calling out of Charlie, with Vaggie pointing out how she is making things worse by not listening to her and engaging with Vox. Seeing Charlie finally be called out was both a great moment from Vaggie and a worthy conclusion to another really good episode with stellar animation. Following “Silenced”, we move on to the funniest episode of the series so far, “Scream Rain.” The episode opens similarly to the last one, with Vox attempting to convince Carmilla to join his cause. He enlists the help of Velvette to do so, who delivers the most totally not fake apology of all time.
Wait… you mean this smile ISN’T genuine?
In the end, Vox does convince Carmilla by leveraging her daughters’ safety. As for Velvette, if last episode saw Valentino souring towards Vox, now it is her turn. Vox belittles her and he did not even need to feel inferior to Alastor to do so. Back at the hotel, Charlie and Vaggie are still at odds but have to work together after word of Carmilla supporting Vox spreads. They go to confront her together, leaving Nifty in charge, since Husk quit because Alastor is no longer there to force him to work at the hotel. Afterwards, we get our first song of the episode, “Love in a Bottle”, which sees Husk return to his old ways at a casino, winning again and again, until he eventually loses and falls into a drunken stupor. The song is both catchy and sad, what with Husk’s spiral.
Plus, hearing Keith David sing is always a win.
Meanwhile, upon Charlie and Vaggie’s meeting with Carmilla, we get the first of a few great laughs in the episode, with Carmilla complaining about “lesbian drama” while Charlie shouts at her for helping “the TV man!” We also get a surprising look into Vaggie’s past when Carmilla reminds her of her time with the exorcists. Through brief flashes, we see Vaggie and another exorcist recruit being mistreated by Adam and Lute. It looked like whoever this other exorcist was, they were close to Vaggie. Even stranger is the appearance of the exorcist woman. They all look alike, with the same hair coloring and facial features. It makes me wonder if this was a deliberate choice by Adam or something else? Before we can get answers, the scene transitions to Husk again, where he is shocked to see Angel Dust singing in drag at the casino. Husk’s shocked “Angel!?” got a good laugh out of the me, and the following song from Angel, “Losing Streak” is so good it makes a few of the sinners in the audience question their sexuality. Unfortunately for Angel, Vox has plans for him, which we see when he requests his time from Valentino. Both he and Velvette diss him for using them, to which Vox attempts to lay on the charm until, of course, Alastor starts goading him again. Seeing Alastor spin in the chair to reveal himself got another big laugh from me, and the idea that he and Velvette were just gossiping about Vox is very humorous and already inspired multiple fanarts. As for Vox, Alastor triggers his inferiority complex again, and he tries to force Valentino to comply. This ends with the funniest moment in all of Hazbin Hotel for me, when Valentino storms off while speaking in Spanish, Vox makes a racist remark, and Valentino responds, “I’m from fucking Flordia!” and then decks Vox in the face with a glass.
Sadly, this humor would not last long. Just ask Angel.
While hilarious, this scene also pushes Alastor’s plan further. He has spent the past two episodes manipulating Vox into pushing the other Vees away, and it definitely seems to be working. I would not be surprised if Velvette and Valentino betrayed Vox in the last two episodes. How this will tie into the rest of Alastor’s plan remains to be seen. While Alastor’s plotline is still ongoing, Charlie and Vaggie’s fight is thankfully resolved this episode, when Charlie realizes the error of her ways, and goes all out on an apology by making a romantic setting for her and Vaggie. This culminates in the last song of the episode, “Easy”, which shows how good Vaggie is for Charlie because, when she gets overwhelmed, Vaggie soothes her back to calmness. Well, “calm” is probably not the right word considering the whole song is pretty much a substitute for Charlie and Vaggie doing the do, proven by it ending with the two of them in bed.
I am glad see Charlie changing while continuing to get closer with Vaggie.
The episode goes from one couple to a potential one, cutting to Husk and Angel talking in the aftermath of Angel’s performance, where the two further connect, before Angel has to leave for a job. It is here that the episode goes from funny and feel-good to depressing, when we finally get the scene of Vox hurting Angel from the trailer. A big twist also happens here because Vox reveals that he has been hypnotizing Angel into spying on the Hazbin Hotel, which is how he knew numerous things, such as the fact that Lucifer could not hurt him. Vox now plans to use him to make Charlie kill herself somehow, but we will have to learn the details on how this will work in the final two episodes. Another interesting detail are the eyes watching Angel when he enters the apartment. These eyes have been seen throughout Hell, but this is the first time the show has deliberately focused on them. They do not seem connected to Vox, so I am interested in seeing what the explanation is, although I think this might be foreshadowing for future seasons.
Seriously, what is up with the eyes?
Angel Dust is not the only factor is Vox’s plan though because we see him imitate Charlie’s voice to draw Lucifer in, planning to use him as a power source for something. Vox’s plans are going to come to their climax soon but, with him pushing aside Valentino and Velvette, Cherry and Husk’s suspicions about Angel’s location, and Alastor’s currently unknown plan, I think it is pretty safe to say this will all blow up in Vox’s face in a spectacular and satisfying fashion. We will know in an hour, when the final episodes of Season Two drop. As for Episodes Five and Six, they are both great, with excellent animation and hilarious moments. Season Two has exceeded my expectations so far, and I hope the last episodes will not disappoint.
Hazbin Hotel’s second season started strong with its first two episodes. Now episodes three and four continue the formula of the second being better than the first. “Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors” is still a lot of fun in its own right, though. The episode begins with Charlie in mid-freakout over Emily’s reveal that Sir Pentious has been redeemed. But, if you thought that Charlie’s spiraling would halt because of the good news, this is unfortunately not the case. If anything, Charlie spirals more, making bad decision after bad decision, which only furthers Vox’s plans.
Hopefully, Charlie has learned her lesson about the media after these two episodes.
I have seen some people complain that Charlie is acting out of character here, but I honestly do not see it. Charlie was shown to be an emotional wreak in Episode One following Pentious’ supposed death and, given her personality, of course she overcompensates when learning he is alive in Heaven. This is most likely part of an arc for Charlie, which we will see resolved by the end of the season. Unfortunately, Vox and Velvette are quick to take advantage of Charlie’s character flaw, marching into the Hazbin Hotel at Charlie’s invitation, ready to blacken her name again. They get ample opportunity when Charlie announces Pentious’ redemption but, as we suspected, she is not believed because she cannot prove it since Heaven is in lockdown. Charlie decides to redeem Angel Dust, ignoring his warnings about the Vees. This leads into the song “Speedrun to Redemption”, where Charlie attempts and fails to redeem Angel by following Pentious’ example. The end result is her staging a fake rescue, with Husk tied to train tracks while Angel plays the hero. As for Charlie herself, she plays the diabolical mastermind, Danny Do-Bad. Watching Charlie play at villainy was so over the top and cringeworthy, but oddly enough to such an extreme that it became funny.
NOT DANNY DO-BAD!
Vox turns the scene potentially deadly by interfering, leading to Angel actually having to try and save Husk. Vaggie finally gets through to Charlie, convincing her that Angel Dust needs to be redeemed his own way, but this builds into Vox revealing Angel killed his dad, which was the sin that landed him in Hell. In a similar moment to when Valentino assaulted Angel in Season One, Charlie’s demon form begins to emerge, showing just how much she values her friends. She even manages to get under Vox’s skin, maintaining that she believes anyone can be redeemed, even him. As for whether Vox actually will be redeemed in the future, that is going to take a lot of work given his many sins and current actions. Charlie’s storyline is not the only one this episode because we also follow Cherry deciding to stay at the Hazbin Hotel. Given the romantic tension between her and Pentious, Cherry is hit the hardest by the news of his redemption, going to Baxter for information because he used to work with him. It is here we learn that Baxter was the one who helped Pentious create the Egg Boys, before Pentious took them away to protect them from Baxter’s experiments, and to continue his feud with Cherry. This builds into a song between Pentious and Cherry, reflecting on their many battles titled… “Piss”?
Leave it to Hazbin Hotel to title a love song “Piss”, I guess.
In the aftermath of Vox’s hit piece against the Hazbin Hotel, we see many residents returning their keys to leave, while Cherry takes a key, telling Angel she intends to stay . I look forward to seeing her and Pentious eventually reunite and how their relationship will progress. “Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors” is another solid episode, but it is far exceeded by Episode Four, “It’s a Deal,” which I would go as far to say is not only the best episode of the season at this point, but the best of the show so far. The episode follows two central storyline’s, Charlie and Alastor’s the first of which is the funnier of the two. Charlie continues to underestimate how badly Vox and his minions can shape a narrative, planning to go on live tv with Nifty to try and change the hotel’s image. It is here Charlie talks with Katie Killjoy who, of course, does everything she can to paint Charlie in a bad light, including making it seem like she wants Sinners to be killed. As a last resort, Charlie calls on Nifty for help, and we get out first Nifty solo song, “Clean it Up.” Not only is this song really catchy, but it is also hilarious.
The Adam Slayer has quite the song.
The first half is Nifty talking about how disgusting the hotel is, which she views as a good thing because she loves cleaning it. The second half of the song is sung entirely in Japanese with an anime style, and it is here where Nifty talks about the actual good qualities of the hotel. What makes this funnier is that Charlie asked her to “help differently” and Nifty interpreted this to mean singing in another language. If Charlie had just let Nifty keep singing in English instead of interrupting her, everyone would have understood the good things about the hotel. Although, there obviously have to be some sinners who speak Japanese, so it would be pretty humorous for a bunch of them to show up at the hotel because they understood Nifty’s message.
I did not expect an anime style song in Hazbin Hotel but I am glad we got one.
As for Nifty believing in Charlie’s dream while thinking Sinners are trash, it makes her even more endearing. In fact, I would go as for to say that Nifty is my favorite character in Hazbin Hotel at the moment. She always gets a laugh out of me, and it is for this reason I love her more than Alastor. This is not to sell Alastor short because he is also fantastic in this episode. Alastor has barely been present in the last three episodes, so I was glad to see him finally get a focus here. After another spat with Lucifer, Alastor decides to quit the hotel, and goes to tell Rosie the good news. Too bad she wants him to stay at the hotel, and he has no say in the matter because she is his soul owner. Yes, the big mystery of who owned Alastor’s soul is revealed to be Rosie. The two seemed like genuine friends in Season One, so I did not see this coming. It changes the whole context of Alastor bringing Charlie to Rosie for help. We also get a reveal of Alastor’s backstory, like we did Sir Pentious’ in Episode Two.
I did not expect an Alastor backstory this quickly, even though I asked for one in my previous review.
Alastor was a radio broadcaster and serial killer in the 1930s, who was mistaken for a deer by a hunter and shot. However, before his death, he made a deal with Rosie for power. In return, he would do some unknown job for her. What this job is, we still do not know, but it is safe to say it has something to do with his presence at the Hazbin Hotel. While answering the question of who owns Alastor’s soul, this twist also raises a bunch of questions about Rosie. Who is she really, and why does she want Alastor to help Charlie? Whatever the reason, I would wager it has something to do with why both Alastor and Lillith disappeared seven years ago. It was also revealed this episode that the Exterminations also then, so something big happened seven years ago that we are not yet privy to. Angered about not escaping his deal, Alastor then comes up with an unknown plan, leading to him confronting Vox, Valentino and Velvette.
This fight is very well animated.
Nifty and Husk also get involved, but the fight ends with Alastor making a deal to be Vox’s prisoner, so long as Vox does not lay a hand upon Charlie. What follows is a barrage of humiliation for Alastor, with Vox dragging him throughout the city, bragging about defeating him. Whatever Alastor hopes to gain from this, it has to be worth the humiliation because there is no way he would subject himself to it otherwise. Perhaps Charlie’s deal to do him a favor will come into play again? But even though Alastor is Vox’s prisoner, he still gets under his skin more than anyone. We get another flashback, this one proving that Vox and Alastor used to be friends. Or at least that is what Vox thought, because the moment he suggests a partnership to Alastor, the Radio Demon laughs in his face, calling him pathetic and weak. I never thought I would feel bad for Vox, but Alastor’s rejection was so cruel it had me temporarily forgetting how terrible of a person he also is.
“The worst he can say is no,” my ass!
It is also pretty funny to think of how hypocritical Alastor is. He judges Vox for needing the Vees while he conveniently forgets he owes his power to Rosie. Back in the present, Vox attempts to regain control through the song “Don’t Your Forget” (itself a reprisal of a song Rosie sung with Alastor earlier), which references Season One’s “Stayed Gone.” The episode then ends with Valentino saying the two should just screw already. While you could cut the sexual tension with a knife in this moment, unfortunately for Vox, Al is asexual. Kidding aside, Episode Four is definitely my favorite of the series so far. It reveals a lot of Alastor lore, has great action, and funny Nifty moments. What more could a Hazbin Hotel fan ask for? Season Two has been great so far, and I hope the quality can continue later tonight with Episodes Five and Six.
Before starting the final episode of Arcane, I was excited but also nervous.
I am sure we have all had instances where there is a show we are really enjoying but then the ending drops the ball.
While I mostly doubted this would happen, I was still concerned the conclusion would be a little rushed because it felt like some things were glossed over in previous episodes, most notably the Piltover and Zaun conflict.
Thankfully, Episode Nine, “The Dirt Under Your Nails” is a great ending for Arcane, which opens the door for more stories set in this world.
Sure, I do think the finale would have benefitted from having more scenes but, overall, it is still a more than satisfactory conclusion.
“The Dirt Under Your Nails” begins by showing the disturbing direction of Jinx’s “break the cycle” comment from the previous episode.
She cuts her hair, burns down the Last Drop and then attempts suicide by triggering one of her bombs.
We can only watch in horror as the explosion begins to eat away at Jinx in slow motion, until that motion thankfully rewinds with the arrival of Ekko and his Z-Drive.
I remember screaming, “Ekko, you bloody legend!” when this happened.
What follows is a thoroughly depressing sequence of Ekko continuously trying to talk Jinx out of killing herself, only to rewind every time he fails.
With every attempt, he is more injured from the explosions and Jinx heartbreakingly notices this so attempts jumping at one point, so she won’t hurt him.
Ekko is finally able to get through to Jinx, talking to her vaguely about his time with the alternate universe Powder.
“No matter what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new. Someone worth building it for.”
The depressing scene ends on a thankfully hopeful note with Jinx considering Ekko’s words.
This scene was honestly one of the hardest to watch in all of Arcane.
Watching Jinx attempt suicide over and while Ekko kept desperately trying to save her delivered gut punch after gut punch.
And to think Ekko would have probably never been there to save Jinx had it not been for the alternate version of Powder teaching him to not give up on her.
Following the final opening of the show, we see Vi, Caitlyn, Jayce and Mel planning for the final battle in Piltover.
The plan is to hold the Noxians off, thus buying enough time for Jayce to disable the Hexgates before Viktor reaches them.
This proves difficult when fighting an experienced warrior such as Ambessa, especially when she is aided by Rictus’ magical runes.
However, she does provide a target for Piltover’s forces, as a Noxian corrupted with Shimmer brings out Viktor’s cocoon to bring him to the Hexgates.
Loris tries to shoot the egg, but he is quickly killed when the Noxians break through their defenses.
Speaking of Loris, I have to ask what exactly the point of him and the rest of Caitlyn’s squad were?
With the exception of Maddie, they’re all pointless, especially Loris who just acts as Vi’s friend for a few episodes before dying.
Getting back to the fight, Caitlyn uses the Grey to provide cover, giving her team the chance to blow up Viktor’s cocoon.
However, the bomb has been sabotaged by Maddie who is a Noxian spy, as predicted by many.
“I did appreciate your warmth,” she says, as she is about to put a bullet in Caitlyn’s head.
Damn, that’s cold.
It also makes it incredibly satisfying when Mel deflects the bullet using her magic, killing Maddie.
What’s even more impressive is that Mel did this behind a closed door before making her dramatic entrance.
Her dramatic entrance has nothing on Jinx’s though, who arrives with brand-new drip.
She also flies a hot air balloon constructed from her old hideout and even has a soundtrack to hype up her and Ekko’s arrival, with “Come Play” acting as their hype train.
Jinx’s smoke bombs act as cover for Sevika and the other Zaunites (who Jinx and Ekko convinced to help off screen), and they ambush the Noxians.
This gives the Piltover/Zaunite team enough time to blow up Viktor’s cocoon… only to learn he has long since left it, proving this attack to be a diversion.
At the Hexgates, Jayce is confronted by a full transformed Viktor.
His design is especially intimidating, with his messiah-like cloak, runes floating around his head and, of course, his mask now being his actual face, with the remains of the old one still being visible.
At the same time, Viktor’s avatars arrive on the battlefield, turning the tide again, as they infect most of the Piltovan and Zaunite forces, including Sevika.
This leaves Caitlyn and Mel to face off against Ambessa.
She proves to be unstoppable with the runes she has, so Caitlyn removes them at the cost of her eye.
This allows Mel to send Ambessa to the world of the Black Rose, where she is immediately captured by the mysterious sorceress who inflicts a fatal injury.
However, Mel intervenes, rebelling against the Black Rose’s control.
The sorceress seems surprised by this but, honestly, I don’t know what she expected.
She admitted to killing Mel’s brother and even murdered her friend right in front of her.
In what world would she ever trust them?
If they wanted to recruit her, they should have gone about it in a way that made them seem much less insidious.
After rescuing Ambessa from the Black Rose, she passes in Mel’s arms, her dying words being, “You are the wolf.”
And so Ambessa dies, defeated yet content in her daughter’s strength.
It also seems that Ambessa’s forces become loyal to Mel after her death, which is interesting in its implications about Noxian culture.
Did Ambessa leave orders for them to follow her daughter in the event of her death, or do they follow her simply because she had the strength to defeat Ambessa which Noxus values?
The Noxians may be out of the fight, but Viktor and his avatars remain.
This, sadly, includes Warwick, who has had all humanity stolen from him.
It is truly tragic to see Vander, nothing more than an animalistic shell of his former self, fighting his own daughters.
Their fight, leads to Jinx crashing her balloon, knocking Ekko unconscious.
As Jinx and Vi prepare to fight Warwick, Jinx tells her sister, “I’m always with you, even when we’re worlds apart.”
Meanwhile, Viktor harnesses the power of the Wild Rune, and levitates himself to the top of the Hexgates, passing Jinx and Vi.
He then uses it to begin his “glorious evolution” of connecting everyone, whether they want it or not.
This includes Ambessa’s forces, proving she really was out of her depth when dealing with Viktor.
Vi, Jinx, Jayce, Caitlyn, Mel, Sevika, they are all being absorbed into the glorious evolution and no one can stop it… except for the Boy Saviour.
Ekko rushes in on his hover board, wielding a broken piece of clockwork.
Quite fitting, given his time travel ability.
It is an ability he uses to its full potential here, using the Z-Drive to avoid the attacks of Viktor’s avatars.
That is until Ekko is stuck in a situation where four seconds is not enough.
Left with no other choice, he pushes the Z-Drive to its limit, going even further back in time to throw the device in Viktor’s face, where the Wild Rune explodes outwards.
In doing so, Ekko allows Jayce enough time to convince Viktor to stop, saving everyone.
Ekko definitely lived up to the title Jinx gave him of “Boy Saviour,” not only saving Jinx from suicide, but also saving pretty much everyone else in the world as well.
He is absolutely my favorite character of Act Three, which is a massive step up since he barely featured in the season’s first two Acts.
Inside the dimension Viktor resides, Jayce shows Viktor the horrible outcome of his glorious evolution by embracing him.
Through this, we also see the identity of the mysterious figure who rescued Jayce as a child: Viktor himself.
“There is no prize to perfection” the future Viktor tells Jayce. “Only an end to pursuit.”
Yet another fantastic line in this fantastic story.
I had heard the theory of Viktor being the one who rescued Jayce and to see it confirmed was great.
Usually, whenever time-travel and alternate universes get thrown into the mix of a story, it gets messy, but Arcane uses it perfectly.
The rules of Ekko’s time travel and the buildup to Viktor’s reveal allowed the story to flow without breaking any suspension of disbelief.
It is through Jayce wanting his partner back, Viktor learning what the consequences of his own actions will be, and seeing the ingenuity Ekko developed without the glorious evolution that convinces Viktor to stop.
However, this is not an act he has to do alone, for now that Jayce has his partner back, he is not letting go.
In a brilliant, dazzling sequence of animation, Jayce and Viktor finish their work together, putting an end to the glorious evolution.
The two vanish, their physical forms being sucked into a vortex, leaving their fates unknown.
Personally, I feel like this is a fitting end for both characters.
It is not the only ending for a character we get in this finale though because next, much to my dread, was Jinx’s conclusion.
Back when the season got leaked, I was spoiled about Jinx and Viktor dying, so I spent much of the episode praying it would not happen.
But, when I saw Vi standing over a fallen Warwick, and remembered a shot from the trailer which showed her screaming in grief as someone fell, I knew where this was heading.
Sure enough, Warwick wakes up and attacks Vi, only for Jinx to save her and then be left dangling over a ledge.
Warwick is pulling her down, and only Vi’s gauntlets are keeping them from falling.
Jinx realizes their weight will cause the construction to fall, killing Vi as well, so chooses to sacrifice herself.
“Always with you, sis,” she reminds Vi, before pulling the Hex Crystal out of the gauntlet, and falling with Warwick.
Before they hit the ground, Jinx activates one of her bombs, supposedly killing them both.
I say supposedly because I don’t think Jinx is dead.
This is not just blind hope though because there is some evidence to back it up.
For starters, when Jinx triggers the bomb, we don’t see her consumed by the explosion, like we did during her suicide attempt.
What we do see, although briefly, is a purple shimmer blip before the explosion, suggesting that Jinx used her shimmer abilities to get out of the way.
Later, we see Caitlyn inspecting the remains of Jinx’s bomb, while looking over air duct schematics.
This implies they never found Jinx’s body, and Caitlyn is researching if it is possible for her to have escaped through their air ducts.
Then there is the final shot of Arcane, which is of an airship flying away.
At the beginning of the story, Jinx said she would fly in an airship one day.
Along with this, the following “The End” title is in the glitches Jinx sees whenever she hallucinates.
To me, this is all hinting to Jinx surviving the explosion, and then leaving Zaun and Piltover, taking her hallucination of Silco’s advice.
The hallucination told her, “Jinx, I think the cycle only ends when you find the will to walk away.”
Well, now Jinx is walking away, or flying away, I guess.
It also works with her earlier statement to Vi, “I’m always with you, even when we’re worlds apart.”
This is all circumstantial evidence, but it’s what I choose to believe.
To be honest, I would be pretty disappointed if Jinx died right after Ekko convinced her to live.
So, yeah, my headcanon is that Jinx survived, and it will stay that way unless her death is confirmed in a subsequent show.
But what about the other characters’ endings?
Well, as I said, Jayce and Viktor’s sendoff is fitting.
Vi and Caitlyn’s final scene shows them together, which is nice.
Ekko’s ending is sad, since he is mourning Jinx.
Mel looks to be heading back to Noxus, with a mysterious multiple-eyed crow following her.
This seems to be suggesting a Noxus storyline will be the next show set in the Arcane universe, which is something to look forward to.
We see that Singed has successfully resurrected his daughter.
I find it hilarious that Singed, the character responsible for at least 90% of the tragedy and conflict in this show, got the happiest ending out of every character.
Finally, there is Sevika, who we now see has a seat on the council as a representative of Zaun.
This, I have issues with.
I do believe it is a good ending for Sevika, but the issue is we got almost no buildup to it.
Sevika had absolutely zero lines in Act Three, and this makes me wonder if she had a storyline that was cut for time.
As a result, there are multiple questions surrounding her ascension to the council.
How was she chosen?
What do Vi and Caitlyn think about it since they fought her numerous times?
Does this mean Zaun has independence now and, if so, how did that happen?
That last question points to the extreme lack of screen time the Zaun and Piltover conflict got in Act Three.
This is my biggest issue with Season Two.
Season One was all about the conflict between the two cities but that fell to the wayside with the threat of the Noxians and Viktor in Season Two.
I understand why but, as someone who was invested in that part of the story, I wanted a better resolution for it.
This is not the only thing I believe was cut for time with the ending.
We do not see Mel’s reaction to Jayce’s death, and Vi and Ekko do not share a single word the entire season.
It just feels like a lot was cut out from the season and it is this that makes me prefer Season One.
That being said, Season Two is still great.
The character work is excellent, the animation is groundbreaking, and I once again teared up at multiple points.
As for “The Dirt Under Your Nails,” it is an excellent finale, even if it feels like it could have used more scenes.
Overall, Arcane has been a terrific experience, and I cannot wait to see the next show in its universe, even if I have to wait years for it again.
To celebrate Arcane, I will be rewatching the show in its entirety.
Once I have done that, I will put out a Top Ten Characters and Episodes List, so be on the lookout for that. Arcane is an excellent show, and I am so thankful to have experienced it.
Once it got under my nails, I just couldn’t clean it out.
It is just my luck that when I was about to go to bed, a new trailer for Arcane Season Two dropped. So instead of doing the healthy thing and going to sleep, I spent the next hour going frame by frame and trying to guess what was happening. Now, I am ready to put my thoughts down. This trailer is great and does an excellent job of making me more excited for Season Two than I already was. It once again does not reveal the fates of Jayce, Viktor and Mel, whose fates were left uncertain by the first season’s cliffhanger, which I appreciate. It begins with a voiceover of Vi telling Caitlyn that she was right, and her sister is gone told over shots of Jinx shooting the rocket at the council. Emerging from the smoke onto a battlefield, Caitlyn says, “I want to tear that laugh from her throat forever.” This, combined with evidence from the prior teaser trailer, makes me more certain than Caitlyn’s mother was killed in Jinx’s attack. Vi declares she is ready, but the shots of her looking unsure of herself in an Enforcer uniform and then screaming and crying as she beats a punching bag tells us she is anything but ready.
Out of all the characters in this shot, Vi looks the most unsure.
Next, we see Ambessa telling someone, probably Mel if she survived, that they must declare martial law. We see the effects of this as Ambessa’s Noxian forces arrive, Enforcers set up barricades, and an Enforcer even beats one of Ekko’s people with a baton. Since the Firelights are also a target, that means Ekko is probably going to have to reluctantly work with Jinx, since she has become a symbol for Zaun in the wake of the attack. Sevika herself says this, as we see shots of Vi looking at artwork of Jinx and Vander, and people touching Jinx as they pass her. These people also seem to have dyed their hair blue to resemble Jinx, showing their devotion to her. Further proof of Jinx’s revolutionary status is someone, who the trailer implies to be Jinx, holding up a blue flair to which the citizens of Zaun raise their fists. However, despite what the trailer implies, I do not think it is Jinx holding up this flair. The hand does not look slender enough to me, and there is no nail polish. Could it be someone co-opting Jinx’s cause?
There is another reason I do not think this is Jinx but I will get into that later.
The following shots are far from reassuring, as we see Vi reaching out for someone while appearing distraught, and a match falling, after which Jinx says she wants, “to watch it all burn.” The match hits the ground, and we see a mixture of paint and smoke bombs explode throughout Piltover. As the trailer declares that “This November every ending has a beginning”, we get more action shots of Theriam/Chuck taking part in the fighting, Ambessa leading her forces, a strange circular structure exploding next to a bell, and Warwick emerging to wreath chaos. We then get probably the most bizarre shots of the trailer, as we see a group of similarly dressed people. Their bodies begin to glow, their eyes turn white, and they begin levitating up, while strange patterns emerge on their skin, both natural and metal looking. These metal looking parts makes me believe Viktor has something to do with this, since his leg looked similar after he messed with the Hex Core last season. “The Arcane is waking up” an ominous female voice states, while this is happening, only furthering my belief Viktor is involved with whatever is happening here.
Looks like whatever Viktor’s up to this season might be the big threat.
Yet more action shots follow, as we see more of Vi’s fight with Jinx, Caitlyn and her squad fighting the Chemtank goons, Ekko and the Firelights taking part in a battle, Jinx shooting something, and Heimerdinger being thrown to the floor by an explosion. The shot of Jinx shooting is of particular interest because one of her fingers is a prosthetic. It has been theorized that Caitlyn will shoot it off and, if this does happen, then that only adds fuel to the fire of my theory that the person raising the flair is not Jinx because their finger is perfectly fine. With these action shots done, Ekko then says, “sometimes taking a leap forward, means leaving a few things behind.” It would not surprise me if he was talking to Vi about Jinx in this scene. We then see what I think might be a younger version of him pulling on some kind of chain. Another shot of Hextech shenanigans follows, before we see Vi decked out like some kind of punk rocker, standing in a ring and raising a fist to a cheering crowd. This shot is interesting because it makes me believe even more that we are going to get a time skip, most likely after Act One. There are multiple points in this trailer where characters are sporting different outfits and hairstyles. Some of them, most notably Vi, even look a little older, making me think at least a few years have passed.
Time skip or not, Vi has clearly had it rough.
Back to the trailer itself, we then see Sevika potentially about to kill Caitlyn, before an explosion blows them apart. As Vi declares, “this has to end”, we see Jinx crouched down with a bloody nose. This shot may not seem important at first glance, but I would argue it is because of the environment. Earlier in the trailer, we saw Ambessa looking threatening against an orange backdrop. The shot of Jinx having a bloody nose has an extremely similar looking background. This makes me believe we will get a fight between Jinx and Ambessa. Ambessa certainly has plenty of reason to want Jinx dead, considering she attacked her daughter with the rocket and may have even killed her.
A Jinx vs Ambessa fight would certainly be hype.
Ambessa will have to get in line to take a shot at Jinx though because we see Caitlyn apparently attempting to do just that, as she powers up her Hextech rifle. We then get another shot of Ambessa fighting but this time she curiously seems to be battling Enforcers, unless my eyes are deceiving me. Maybe it is just a training session for the coming fight against Zaun but those weapons she wields look plenty deadly for this to be just practice. The next shot sees Vi carrying an unconscious person out of a building, as the top of it explodes behind her. The trailer does a good job of obscuring the person’s face so I cannot tell who Vi is rescuing. They do appear to be wearing an Enforcer uniform though, so it is probably Caitlyn.
Vi seems pretty determined to save this person.
Speaking of Caitlyn, we see her glaring up at a hooded Jinx, who may be post time skip due to how different she looks, although it could just be an outfit change. The shots are probably not connected though because it looks like Jinx is piloting an airship here, something which she said she wanted to do all the way back in Episode One. It would be a good way to bookend the series. Arcane begins with Jinx saying she wants to fly an airship, and it ends with her in an airship. Jinx is also wearing a hood, possibly meaning that she is the hooded figure we see earlier in the trailer, but her hood has a different pattern, so I doubt this. Following Jinx’s declaration of, “Then stop me”, we see Ekko giving Vi a ride on his hoverboard. Ekko also has Jinx graffiti on his chest, possibly signifying they are fighting her. The two shoot up into the sky, ending with Vi leaping off to fight.
This could be Vi trying to reach Jinx in the airship she is piloting.
The trailer then ends with a series of quick shots which I had to go frame by frame to see what was happening. The first shot shows a mysterious figure holding a ball of energy similar to ones seen earlier in the trailer. The figure reminds me a lot of the man who saved Jayce when he was a kid so maybe that is connected? We then see someone carrying a much younger Jinx away. This probably takes place at the bridge where she and Vi lost their parents, before Vander adopted them. Following this, we get a shot of Ekko pulling a cord on some device, causing it to light up. Next, we see Caitlyn struggling against a Chemtank. The subsequent shot possibly shows us Viktor, as we see a figure with a cane and Hextech emerging from their wrist. Then we see a shadowy figure resembling Silco. This shot most likely confirms that Jinx is going to be hallucinating Silco this season. In one of the most epic shots of the trailer, we then very briefly see Vi facing off against Warwick. She is also wearing the jacket I think older Vi is wearing, so this confrontation will likely take place post time skip.
This is one of the confrontations I am looking forward to the most, based on a theory about Warwick’s identity.
The final shots show Heimerdinger pressing a button, followed by an explosion during the Jinx and Vi fight, though the two are probably unrelated. And, with that, the trailer comes to an end, hyping me up even more for November. That being said, it will not be easy for a lot of people to go into the Second Season blind, what with it leaking and certain people just loving to ruin things. I have also probably been spoiled, unfortunately. Right after the leaks came out, I saw a post spoiling the fates of a few important characters before I could look away. I have no idea if what I saw was a legitimate leak or just somebody trolling (I sincerely hope the latter), but, either way, I am still excited for the season. Hopefully, it can be just as fantastic as the first and, if the trailers and brief scenes we have been shown so far are any indication, it certainly will be. I shall be counting down the days until the Second Season airs in November.
Growing up, the Total Drama series was a cartoon I greatly enjoyed. I had a lot of fun going into every episode guessing which contestant would be voted off. So, when I learned that the series had been revived with a reboot in 2023, I decided that it would be fun to rank the seasons, including the newest one. Unfortunately, distribution for the reboot has been quite poor. I found it immensely difficult to watch in New Zealand. Well, after a lot of searching, I finally watched the new season and will now rank it alongside the others. Before we begin, however, I have to state a few things. First, I will not be ranking any of the Total Dramarama seasons. That is a show I refuse to watch on basic principle. Second, this ranking will contain spoilers so make sure you have watched all of the seasons before you read it. With those things made clear, let’s begin the ranking.
8. Total Drama All Stars.
All Stars is, without a doubt, the worst season of Total Drama and this is a shame because of how much potential it had. I mean, a season where the old cast and the new cast compete for the million dollars while forging alliances and rivalries with one another? That sounds great. However, what sounds great in concept does not play out well in reality. For starters, the new cast had only been around for a single 13-episode season. Therefore, the viewers would obviously care more about the old cast, who we had got to know for three 26-episode seasons. Another issue is thatthe new and old characters rarely interact in meaningful ways. They mostly just stick to their own original groups, with the only significant interactions resulting from Sierra obsessing over Cameron, and Courtney getting together with Scott. The former is unbearable to watch, and the latter is ruined in the infamous “Sundae Muddy Sundae” episode, which is one of the worst episodes in all of Total Drama because of how it derails Courtney’s character just to get her eliminated. Unfortunately, character assassination is the norm for All Stars, as many characters are completely different from their former selves. Duncan cares way too much about what other people think of him, Gwen’s feelings about cheating with Duncan are constantly contradicting themselves, and Alejandro and Heather both make unusually stupid decisions which lead to their eliminations. These moronic choices are sadly widespread among the characters. It appears that a lot of them drank stupid juice before their time on All Stars, and most of this is because of the worst character in the entire season: Mal. Mal is the evil alternate personality of Mike and is one of the worst antagonists in the entire series. All he does is break stuff with seemingly no plan, and it feels like the only way the writers could think to make him seem evil was to just give him an edgy appearance and dialogue. Mal is such a terribly written villain that the writers literally had to make the other characters stupider just so he would not get caught. Alejandro reveals he has a video of Mal’s crimes to his face, and Zoe and Cameron somehow do not realize Mike has been taken over by an evil personality, despite them knowing him very well. Then there is the whole journey through Mike’s subconscious, which is just a massive eyeroll of a storyline because Total Drama is supposed to be a reality show. How are the cameras getting into Mike’s subconscious? Even worse is how this builds into the finale, “The Final Wreck-ening”, which is the most anti-climactic season finale of the series. Mal is literally defeated with the press of a button. This season (and the following one) also has Chris at his absolute worst, with him being shown to starve his interns. All Stars fails to live up to its potential, while having constant character assassinations, and whatever good storylines it does have are ruined in the “Sundae Muddy Sundae” episode. It is, without question, the worst Total Drama season.
7. Total Drama Pahkitew Island.
All Stars may be the worst Total Drama season, but Pahkitew Island is not far behind it. The main reason this season is so terrible is the cast. Pahkitew Island has the worst original cast of any of the seasons and this is in large part due to the stereotypes these characters are based off. Now, were the characters in the original Total Drama Island based off stereotypes? Yes, but the thing is that these characters were more than just their stereotypes. In Pahkitew Island, the stereotype is usually the contestant’s sole defining trait. Leonard thinks he is a wizard and that is it, Ella acts like a Disney princess and that is it, Sugar is a Honey Boo Boo parody and that is it. Also, notice how absurd those characteristics sound? Well, this is another problem with Pahkitew Island’s characters because it feels like the writers ran out of teen stereotypes so they just gave the contestants the most extreme traits that they could think of. All of this ultimately results in characters who are absurd while somehow also being boring. Even some of the characters who start off well, like Dave and Scarlett, are eventually turned into insufferable over-the-top villains. By the end, there were only four characters in the entire cast who I liked, these being Sky, Samey, Jasmine and Shawn, but Sky is just okay, and Samey was eliminated before she could realize her potential. Shawn and Jasmine, on the other hand, are the shining lights of Pahkitew Island. Shawn’s constant fear of the zombie apocalypse is always funny, and Jasmine is likeable from the get-go, as shown by her taking Samey under her wing. Her and Shawn also somehow work together as a couple and their growth across the season is satisfying to watch. Jasmine learns to accept Shawn’s weirdness, and Shawn learns to put his fear of zombies aside for Jasmine. Had it not been for these two characters then Pahkitew Island very well could have been the worst season in my eyes, for there are many other bad qualities about it. Chris continues to be a psychopath, both starving the contestants and giving them food poisoning. He even goes so far as to not care if they die when Scarlett takes the island hostage. Speaking of the island, just like in All Stars, the season fails at most of its concepts which actually had potential. In Episode Ten, “Scarlett Fever”, it is revealed that the entire island is mechanical. If this had been known from the beginning, it could have given Pahkitew Island a unique flair. Instead, the mechanical nature of the island is revealed far too late for it to have any meaningful impact, leaving us with fairly standard challenges competed by a mostly terrible cast. In the end, all I can say about Pahkitew Island is thank God for Shawn and Jasime because this season would have been a whole lot worse without them.
6. Total Drama Action.
I just want to make clear that there is a massive leap in quality between Pahkitew Island and Total Drama Action. While Pahkitew Island is a bad season, I would say that Action is a pretty good one. That being said, I was surprised to find this season ranking so low because it used to be my favorite as a kid. This was mostly because of the challenges since, as someone who loves movies, the film-based challenges really appealed to me back then. They definitely still appeal to me now, with challenges like the superhero contest, the murder mystery, the rock star biopic, and the animal-buddy competition being some of my favorites in all of Total Drama. Another thing Action does a great job of is giving characters who did not have enough screen time in the first season more time to shine. Characters like Lindsay, Harold, Courtney, Justin and Beth get way more to do in Action. This is especially the case for Beth, who makes it all the way to the finale with Duncan. However, this is where some of my issues come in because, although I like Beth, she is just not strong enough of a character to be a finalist, and her character dynamic with Duncan is poor, making for a bit of a disappointing finale. It honestly felt like the writers were setting up Lindsay or Harold to be finalists more than Beth. The finale would have been way better if it had been those two characters going against each other, or one of them against Duncan. Unfortunately, this is not the only issue because Action does treat quite a few of its characters poorly. Lindsay accidentally voting herself off was embarrassing and Owen’s return near the end of the season was pointless. Worst of all is the treatment of Trent. Apparently, Cartoon Network wanted Gwen and Duncan to get together but, in order to do that, the writers had to break up Gwen and Trent. They decided to do this by making Trent go nuts, forcing Gwen to break up with him. This came at the cost of Trent’s entire character, as he started throwing challenges for her. He was also bizarrely given a sudden obsession with the number nine, which the writers acted like he always had, when he clearly never did until this season. There are other bits of character derailment in this season, but Trent definitely gets it the worst. All of that being said, there is still a lot to like about Total Drama Action. As I said, many of the challenges are favorites of mine, a lot of the characters were given chances to shine that they were not before and, although the finale is a bit of a let-down, it does have a pretty good arc for Chris and Chef’s friendship. Action may not be as good as I remembered it being, but it does have a lot to like.
5. Total Drama Revenge of the Island.
After World Tour, the writers decided to take a risk by returning to Camp Wawanakwa with a brand-new cast. This was the series’ first attempt at a new cast after the original and, honestly, I think they did a pretty good job. Almost all of the characters have distinct personalities, whether I liked them or not. I say “almost” because Staci cannot even be called a character, as she is just the trait of insufferably repeating lies about her family. Although, to be fair, Staci was created to be this way since she is the first to be eliminated. Aside from her, every contestant has plenty of defining characteristics. This does become an issue with how short the season is, however. At the beginning of the season, I was the most interested in Dawn and B. This was because they had interesting personalities, but they were both eliminated before they could be explored further. If Revenge of the Island had been the length of prior seasons, instead of just 13 episodes, we could have got more time to know the characters. Thankfully, the ones who make it further into the season, like Brick, Zoe, Cameron, Lightning, Scott and Jo, all prove to be interesting. Along with this, the setting of Camp Wawanakwa is well defined, with it feeling both nostalgic, due to it being the setting from Season One, and new, due to the toxic waste affecting the island. This leads to quite a few interesting challenges where the mutated animals prove to be a threat. At the same time, this does impact Chris’ character negatively, since he intentionally used the island as toxic waste dump. He had been growing progressively crueler in Action and World Tour, but Revenge was the first season to take it too far with his character, and All Stars and Pahkitew Island unfortunately made him worse. So, there is a lot to like and dislike about Revenge of the Island. It has an interesting cast and an interesting setting, but the short length of the season means we don’t get to know many of the characters as much as I would have liked, and this was the first season to really character assassinate Chris. So, why is it above Action then? Well, because of the finale, “Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown.” The rivalry between Cameron and Lightning was built up pretty well before the finale, and the episode’s focus on the theme of brain vs. brawn made for a compelling final fight. It makes for a great underdog story when Cameron actually wins, if that is the ending you see based on whatever country you are watching it. Also, the season ends with Chris getting blown up and then arrested for his crimes so that is satisfying. In the end, the finale of Revenge of the Island was much more gratifying than Action’s and that was enough to push it up to number four on this list, despite the season’s issues.
4. Total Drama Island Reboot.
I know the reboot is technically two seasons, but I decided to rank them together since I watched them back-to-back. After so many years absent, Total Drama made its return to the island with another set of brand-new contestants to compete for the million dollars. Thankfully, this new cast is great, and we get to know each and every one of them. Some are done better than others but, overall, they all make an impression. Julia, Bowie, and M.K make for compelling antagonists, especially Julia who is delightfully cunning in her manipulation. As for the more positive characters, Raj and Wayne’s friendship is endlessly endearing, Damien has an excellent arc in the first half of the reboot, and Zee’s laidback personality gets a lot of laughs. The funniest character of the season for me though, has to be Scary Girl. Every morbid thing that comes out of her mouth made me laugh, and I hope she gets more to do in a hypothetical third season (along with Damien). So, the new characters are pretty great, but what about the old ones of Chris and Chef? Well, Chris is voiced by Terry McGurrin instead of Christian Potenza, but his new voice actor does a great job of playing the character. Chris is still psychopathically cruel in the reboot but, what makes this more acceptable is Chef, who seems quite different from prior seasons. In the reboot, he is often concerned about the condition of the campers, making him a great contrast to Chris, with the two playing off each other well. Speaking of playing, the challenges in the reboot are all mostly fun, with them creating a lot of interesting character interactions. As for the two finales we get in the reboot, both are solid. Priya makes for a good winner, although I honestly would have preferred Bowie. As for Wayne, he is also a good winner, but I do wish he got more screen time before his victory. One downside to these victors is that, unfortunately, there is no alternate ending where we get to see someone else win. I would have liked to see what would happen if Bowie, Julia or Caleb won. Sadly, this is not my only issue. For starters, in the second half of the reboot, there is a romantic storyline between Priya and Caleb, which takes up too much time and simply goes on for far too long. I liked it in the beginning but it more than overstayed its welcome. If it had ended just two or three episodes prior, then I think this storyline would have been received a lot better. I honestly don’t think there’s a way Episode Five could have been well received, though. Fart humor has always been a part of Total Drama, for better and mostly for worse, but this is by far the worst use of it. “Jurassic Fart” is so painfully unfunny to watch that it ranks right up there with “Sundae Muddy Sundae” as one of Total Drama’s worst episodes. It is these things that hold the reboot back from taking a higher spot in the ranking. However, as stated, there is still a lot to love about it, like the new characters and a much more bearable Chris thanks to his and Chef’s new dynamic. I hope we get a Season Three of the reboot because I would like to see more of these characters.
3. Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race.
Growing up, my family and I used to love watching The Amazing Race. It was one of my favorite reality shows as a kid, so I was pretty much guaranteed to like The Ridonculous Race. Unless of course it was botched to the same degree as All Stars and Pahkitew were. Thankfully, this Total Drama spin-off show is great, as a cast of 18 teams travel around the world and compete in challenges for one million dollars, all guided by Don, the new host. This cast is almost entirely new, with only a few characters from prior seasons returning. But, wow, do the writers do these old characters justice. Geoff is as fun as he was in Island, and his friend Brody increases this fun to make them an especially enjoyable team to watch. Then, there is Noah, whose character continues to improve from World Tour. His friendship with Owen is charming and his growing romantic relationship with Emma is endearing. And then there’s Leonard who… okay, why the hell is this insufferable character back? Just so they could have someone to boot off first? Okay. Yeah, not gonna lie, a lot of the early boots are pretty meh characters, and some of the other teams definitely overstay their welcome, most notably the Daters, Ryan and Stephanie. However, for every meh team there is a great one. The Sisters grow more likeable with each episode, the Father and Son are great, the Rockers are a lot of fun, and the Goths are endlessly hilarious. Then there are the Ice Dancers, Jacques and Josee, who are among the best villains in the series, right alongside Heather, Alejandro and Julia. Their rivalry with the Police Cadets is also fun to see play out. As for the Police Cadets themselves, MacArthur’s general craziness gets a lot of laughs, and Sanders plays off this well as the straight man to her partner’s insanity. As for the finale, it is a pretty good one. The Ice Dancer’s elimination is extremely cathartic, given all of the cheating they have done, and the ending where the Police Cadets win is satisfying. My criticism come with the other team of finalists, the Surfer Dudes. While Geoff and Brody are deserving of winning, I cannot help but feel like Emma and Kitty would have been better finalists. That is not a huge criticism, though, more of a nit-pick based on preference. The finale of the Ridonculous Race is a more than satisfactory conclusion to a great parody of The Amazing Race.
2. Total Drama Island.
The original season of the show, I had just as much fun rewatching Total Drama Island as I did seeing it for the first time when I was a kid all those years ago. The original cast is by far the most iconic, with Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet welcoming 22 contestants to Camp Wawanakwa for the first time. Each of these campers are based off teen stereotypes but, like I said when I was talking about Pahkitew Island, there is more to them than that. Duncan, despite being a bad boy, has a softer side to him. Owen may be a fart joke machine, but he also has a heart of gold. Gwen is the goth girl with a fierce streak, who is also a loyal friend when the other characters push past her walls. Unless of course that character is Heather, who breaks down those walls with a sledgehammer of meanness. Heather’s title as the Queen of Mean is perfect for her this season, as she plays the role of the antagonist we all love to hate, and then cheer at her inevitable downfall. Almost all of the characters are fantastic, except for a few of them, like Katie and Sadie who take the title of the most annoying Total Drama characters for me. But, aside from them, and a few others, the cast of the original Total Drama Island is great. Izzy, Lindsay, DJ, Geoff, Bridget, Leshawna, Harold, Courtney, all of these characters and more are memorable. Even Chris and Chef are at their best in this first season, with them actually seeming to care about the camper’s safety (even if it was just to avoid a lawsuit). These memorable characters all make the first season more interesting when they are pushed to their limits in the challenges, resulting in various great episodes like, “Dodgebrawl”, “Paintball Deer Hunter”, “Hook, Line & Screamer”, and the finale “The Very Last Episode, Really!” Speaking of that finale, it was great to see Owen and Gwen go head-to-head, even if I prefer Gwen as the winner to Owen. The extra episode “Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island” may be the best episode of the bunch, with it perfectly setting up the events of Action. Overall, this first season is great, with my only criticism being a couple of inconsistencies and a few ridiculously unfair eliminations, most notably Leshawna’s. Otherwise, this is one of the best seasons. Total Drama Island was the beginning of this series, and it started it off with a bang.
1. Total Drama World Tour.
When I decided to make a list ranking the Total Drama seasons, I knew which season was going to take the top spot. Sure enough, when I finished my rewatch, Total Drama World Tour was my favorite. This is hardly an unpopular opinion, as many other fans of the series also have World Tour as their number one. It is a position the season has more than earned. The first season to take its contestants around the world, World Tour stands out from the rest of the series with a unique feature. This feature is Chris requiring the contestants to sing to progress, resulting in numerous fantastic songs, such as “Come Fly with Us”, “Gwen’s Face”, “Condor”, “This is How We Will End It,” and many, many more. Along with these great songs, the characters singing them are also highlights. World Tour continues what Action started by giving previously minor charactersmore time to develop, namely Noah, Tyler, and especially Cody. Speaking of Cody, he comes with an attachment this season, since Chris adds two new contestants, Sierra and Alejandro. At first, Sierra was annoying and creepy, but she grew on me by the end. As for Alejandro, he is, without question, the most intelligent antagonist in the entire series. His rivalry and simultaneous romantic chemistry with Heather is also fantastic. Speaking of the Queen of Mean herself, the writers of World Tour did the impossible by making me cheer for her against Alejandro. Turning Heather from the manipulative antagonist of the first season into the anti-hero of the third was a great idea which more than paid off. This resulted in the season finale, “Hawaiian Punch”, being the most satisfying finale of the entire series for me. Watching Heather kick Alejandro where it hurts, slide him off the mountain, and then drop her sacrifice into the volcano to win the million was immensely gratifying. And, again, Heather was a character I and many others despised in Island. Her transformation into this anti-hero figure in World Tour made Heather my favorite character in all of Total Drama. All of these great qualities combine to make World Tour the best season in my eyes. However, despite this, I would still not say it is a perfect season because there are a few issues I have. For starters, the character of Blainley really served no purpose in this season, given that she’s brought into the competition late and eliminated just a few episodes after. You could remove her from the plot and nothing significant would change. At least it’s fun to laugh at her expense during the “Her Real Name Isn’t Blainley” song. The second issue I have with World Tour is its portrayal of cheating. Bridget is forgiven by Geoff for trying to cheat on him with Alejandro way too quickly. Then there is the infamous Gwen, Duncan and Courtney love triangle. I have already gone over how this plotline led to the derailment of Trent’s character in Total Drama Action but, in this season, it weakens Gwen’s character as well by painting her as a hypocrite. Gwen was distraught when she thought Trent cheated on her in Island, yet she kisses Duncan when she’s friends with Courtney. Honestly, I thought the show was doing a good job building a friendship between Gwen and Courtney, until they brought Duncan back and the love triangle with it. If anything, though, the fact that I name these issues and still proclaim World Tour as my favorite season of Total Drama should show how fantastic the rest of this season is. It is so good that I am able to ignore its issues and enjoy myself. Out of all the seasons, Total Drama World Tour is the undisputed best for me. But I hope to see more seasons in the future. Fingers crossed that the reboot will be continued, with better distribution this time.
It is undeniable that Hayao Miyazaki is the most celebrated anime director of all time. Over the decades, he has delivered beloved film after beloved film, most notably Spirited Away. My personal favourites of his are Princess Mononoke and The Wind Rises. So, when I got the chance to see a Miyazaki film in theaters for the first time, I took it. The Boy and the Heron is set in World War Two Japan and follows Mahito Maki, a young boy who loses his mother in a fire. His father later remarries Natsuko, the sister of Mahito’s mother, and the two travel to her estate. It is there that Mahito encounters a sinister talking Heron, who eventually convinces him to travel into a supernatural world where his mother supposedly awaits him. And so begins another fantastical Miyazaki journey.
Much like Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron sees our main character transported into a supernatural realm.
The film looks excellent, with the hand-drawn style of Studio Ghibli being very striking on the big screen. Along with this, the voice acting is solid, at least for the English dub version. Yes, I saw the dub over the sub, though this was mostly because all of the sub showings were late at night. That being said, the English voice actors all did a good job, with Luca Padovan, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Florence Pugh, and Dave Bautista all giving life to their characters. This is especially true for Robert Pattinson who voices the heron. I was genuinely shocked when I heard he played the character because I did not recognize his voice at all.
The Heron starts the movie quite creepy and untrustworthy.
Along with the animation and voice acting, the music also does a great job of bringing you into the world, with all of this being tied together by the story. Mahito’s personal journey throughout the film is quite relatable, doubly so because we can see how Miyazaki put much of himself into the character. One of the central themes of the movie is legacy, which shines a light on how Miyazaki is thinking of his own legacy, especially since this is supposedly his final film. If it is then he chose a good one to send himself off on.
The film takes on an entirely new meaning when you look at it in the context of Miyazaki’s career.
The Boy and the Heron is another Miyazaki great, with expectedly stellar animation, music, and voice acting, along with a story that has relatable themes. I would rank this film highly among Miyazaki’s catalogue, maybe even in my top five favorites of his. And, if this is truly the last Hayao Miyazaki film we ever get, then I am glad that I saw it in theaters.
After seeing Makoto Shinkai’s fantastic Your Name, I immediately bought a ticket to his next film Weathering With You, which I had the pleasure of watching last night.
And, yes, I said pleasure because Weathering With You is another great film from Shinkai.
While I did not feel as emotionally involved as I did when watching Your Name, I still cannot deny that Weathering With You is a mesmerizing film with amazing animation, relatable characters, and an intriguing story.
Mokoto Shinkai has done it again, delivering another great anime film with Weathering With You.
The story follows Hodaka Morishima (Kotara Daigo), a high school student who runs away to live in Tokyo, which is experiencing an unusually long sequence of rainfall and storms.
It is there that he meets Hina Amano (Nana Mori), a girl with the power to make the sun come out through prayer.
What follows is a moving romance between the pair as they work together to bring sunshine to the people of Tokyo.
The first thing I have to praise about Weathering With You is, of course, its incredible animation.
Shinkai is an absolute artist when it comes to animating his films and Weathering With You is no exception, having numerous jaw dropping shots of animation.
The way the rain and sun look in this anime is just gorgeous, which serves to bring the audience into the story a lot more.
The animation of Weathering With You is fantastic and needs to be seen in theaters.
As for the story itself, the romance of Hodaka and Hina being wrapped up in this supernatural plot provides numerous interesting and moral questions about climate change that I found to be quite compelling.
The movie is also pretty funny as well, with probably my favourite gag being the cat Rain’s constant judgmental looks.
The side characters of the film are also likeable and you understand where a lot of them are coming from.
For example, a man that Hodaka meets upon arriving in Tokyo, named Keisuke Suga (Shun Oguri), had an interesting motivation by the film’s third act that, while never outright stated, was heavily implied, making his involvement more interesting.
The implied nature of Suga’s arc in the third act made his role in the story work perfectly.
The music is also great with the song “Grand Escape”, which played in the trailer, being particularly special.
There are even appear a few Your Name cameos for fans of that film as well.
Speaking of Your Name, though, this is where I have a problem with Weathering With You because it follows a lot of the same story beats as Shinkai’s previous film.
I remember sitting in the theater and thinking, this is just like Your Name! This did not ruin the experience but it was pretty noticeable by the film’s third act and ending.
Still, I found Weathering With You to be another great Shinkai film, and is one I would highly suggest watching in theaters so you can see the gorgeous animation on the big screen.
It is my favourite animated film of the year so far.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 