OT: HFPens Community Lounge: Or Ogrezilla and LOGiK's Nerd Thread ;)

[Ogrezilla]

Just finished Arcane season two. Pretty dang good. The series gets a 9.75/10.

I'm kinda upset it's over. But my wife seems open to watching it. I'll gladly re-live it.

It's gorgeous. I wish I had a projector.

Ep 9 was sadly my least favorite(and I still loved most of it) but ep 7 was like a 12/10 so I still agree with your rating.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

When I read about GRRM's ideas for characters in his books that he ended up changing, it's what makes me think the shit show we saw in the final few seasons was him and those ideas but he couldn't sit and marinate on it so he just gave them those ideas and then saw how awful they were and just slid into the bush like Homer to allow the creators to take all the heat.

https://screenrant.com/game-of-thrones-catelyn-stark-books-death-white-walkers-grrm-explainer/

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Arcane season 2 episode 7.

What the f*** did I just watch.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kind of glad this was only 2 seasons. Because the last 3 episodes make the final season of Game of Thrones look amazing.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Kind of glad this was only 2 seasons. Because the last 3 episodes make the final season of Game of Thrones look amazing.

hard hard disagree.

Arcane season 2 episode 7.

What the f*** did I just watch.

great TV. One of the shows best.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Spoiler: Arcane all

I think Act 2 was generally less focused the whole time, but it really showed up as an issue in the finale for me.

The one thing I think that really didn't land that could have been super easy to change was the Vi/Jinx ending. It was just entirely too telegraphed and really just not satisfying imo. Vi didn't have a single moment of real agency in the finale, and I hate that. Honestly just a conversation between her and Jinx where Jinx decides to leave and Vi stays with Cait would have been enough instead of the sacrifice/escape vague ending.

But I think the real problem with the season is that the whole show was built on two conflicts: Piltover vs Zaun and Hextech Good or Bad. The finale just handwaved Piltover vs Zaun away with a montage to focus on Hextech. And no disrespect to Jayce and Viktor who I liked a lot, but I think the Zaun stuff was pretty clearly the real heart of the show.

I generally like both Ambessa and Mel as characters, but I think this season would have been better without them. They took too much focus away while not being part of the main conflict at all, and their black rose plotline wasn't fleshed out enough to be worth the time it got imo. Just let them die in the jinx missile.

I think Viktor taking Ambessas place in the last battle as the big bad on the ground, leading the Zaun rebellion (planning to dupe them into becoming the husks in the end, obviously the story would need fleshed out) would have really tied it together better. And then Sevika could have actually had a role in the 3rd act. Plus I think the Jayce/Viktor ending could have had a similar main idea without being so scaled up and Ultron/spacey. Through the end of Act 2 it really felt like they were bringing to two conflicts together, but then they just punted on Viktor's connection to Zaun. Actually, Mel dying in the jinx explosion, Ambessa doing what she did up to this point and being killed in Ep 6 would probably work great.

Overall I still really enjoyed it, even the finale. But like I've said, it felt disconnected/unfocused compared to S1 in the end. And the Jinx/Vi ending in particular felt sloppy, even if I'm happy with the general outcome of Vi and Cait together and Jinx off on her own. The Vander bit in the finale just didn't land at all for me though. Honestly I think that bit bugs me more than everything else I said above.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

hard hard disagree.


great TV. One of the shows best.

In the end I was right about Jinx's arc so I feel justified but at what cost mate...

Spoiler

Vi became a passenger in the final 3 episodes, like you feel like her entire build up was pointless and even Jinx until what she ends up doing. It all feels like they kind of just lost focus on a lot of characters and suddenly went back to the Jayce Victor thing as an "ok here let's resolve this for fans..."

I feel like at best they could have made the episodes longer or added 2 more and fleshed it out. Because you jump into the multiverse type shit and Humperdinker or whatever his name is does the whole I'mma stay back bit and then they made a focus of that 4 second time loop bs, it felt like that episode went on too long and you wasted what precious time you had left with the show. I hated that. Because I got really invested like you and then it felt like the final 3 episodes were such a let down for what they built up.

The alternate world episode was ok but in the end I feel like a lot of the arcs were predictable.

Season 1 - 10/10
Season 2 - Episodes 1-6 - 10/10
Episodes 7-9 - 5/10

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Spoiler: Arcane all

I think Act 2 was generally less focused the whole time, but it really showed up as an issue in the finale for me.

The one thing I think that really didn't land that could have been super easy to change was the Vi/Jinx ending. It was just entirely too telegraphed and really just not satisfying imo. Vi didn't have a single moment of real agency in the finale, and I hate that. Honestly just a conversation between her and Jinx where Jinx decides to leave and Vi stays with Cait would have been enough instead of the sacrifice/escape vague ending.

But I think the real problem with the season is that the whole show was built on two conflicts: Piltover vs Zaun and Hextech Good or Bad. The finale just handwaved Piltover vs Zaun away with a montage to focus on Hextech. And no disrespect to Jayce and Viktor who I liked a lot, but I think the Zaun stuff was pretty clearly the real heart of the show.

I generally like both Ambessa and Mel as characters, but I think this season would have been better without them. They took too much focus away while not being part of the main conflict at all, and their black rose plotline wasn't fleshed out enough to be worth the time it got imo. Just let them die in the jinx missile.

I think Viktor taking Ambessas place in the last battle as the big bad on the ground, leading the Zaun rebellion (planning to dupe them into becoming the husks in the end, obviously the story would need fleshed out) would have really tied it together better. And then Sevika could have actually had a role in the 3rd act. Plus I think the Jayce/Viktor ending could have had a similar main idea without being so scaled up and Ultron/spacey. Through the end of Act 2 it really felt like they were bringing to two conflicts together, but then they just punted on Viktor's connection to Zaun. Actually, Mel dying in the jinx explosion, Ambessa doing what she did up to this point and being killed in Ep 6 would probably work great.

Overall I still really enjoyed it, even the finale. But like I've said, it felt disconnected/unfocused compared to S1 in the end. And the Jinx/Vi ending in particular felt sloppy, even if I'm happy with the general outcome of Vi and Cait together and Jinx off on her own. The Vander bit in the finale just didn't land at all for me though. Honestly I think that bit bugs me more than everything else I said above.

Like I said I loved season 1 and season 2 up to the first 6 episodes.

I feel like they rushed the final 3 episodes to resolve things and left a lot out and ignored things they made you give a shit about over a season worth of episodes with. It just jumped over a ton of stuff to wrap it up. I honestly felt like they should have told Netflix to eat a dick and still fleshed it out and then done a movie on Netflix.

That's the route I would have gone. Then you can really wrap it all up. The final 3 episodes left a bad taste for me for a show I really liked.


I'm gonna check out Pantheon, apparently it's supposed to be decent too?

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I'm gonna check out Pantheon, apparently it's supposed to be decent too?

That's next on my list.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Like I said I loved season 1 and season 2 up to the first 6 episodes.

I feel like they rushed the final 3 episodes to resolve things and left a lot out and ignored things they made you give a shit about over a season worth of episodes with. It just jumped over a ton of stuff to wrap it up. I honestly felt like they should have told Netflix to eat a dick and still fleshed it out and then done a movie on Netflix.

That's the route I would have gone. Then you can really wrap it all up. The final 3 episodes left a bad taste for me for a show I really liked.


I'm gonna check out Pantheon, apparently it's supposed to be decent too?

I don’t disagree, I just don’t think it was as big of a problem as you do. At least with eps 8 and 9. I think ep7 was perfect. An extra episode or even just an extra 20 minutes to jinx/vi/ekko would have gone a long way.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Connor McRapist finally can't pay his way out of this situation. What an absolutely horrid human being McGregor is. First he makes a joke of a whiskey, punches an old bloke, cheats on his wife constantly, and finally can't buy his way out of a rape.

The "incel" f***ing losers defending Connor are hilarious, some redneck inbred dipshit challenged me to a fight for saying Connor is a Rapist. Lol. Who challenges another to a fight off the internet? Also I know my strength, as a former boxer and rugby player, I am not serving jail time for teaching a wanker a lesson. Also I'm a f***ing adult that isn't a product of my parents being siblings like "Joe Stonk" lmao. f***ing wankbucket.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don’t disagree, I just don’t think it was as big of a problem as you do. At least with eps 8 and 9. I think ep7 was perfect. An extra episode or even just an extra 20 minutes to jinx/vi/ekko would have gone a long way.

I think it didn't hold up to the quality of the writing as the previous 15 episodes. 7 I will say was some artistic wanking that I guess they are allowed to have. But then you gotta give them 2 more episodes, 4 total, to finish this better.

8-9 felt rushed, they ignored the plight in Zaun and a lot of characters kind of just disappeared. Also Jesus Christ mate, that little wanker Isha blew herself up, felt like that whole part wasn't dealt with properly with Jinx. Vi also kind of just became a passenger in episode 8 and 9.

You might be missing the fact that I am saying this as a fan of the show. They did such a good job that when they phone it in, it's easy to see as it's not up to the insane quality of story telling they've maintained up to that point.

I felt even Caitlyn was used poorly, Sevika basically got ghosted until the last 5mins, Ambessa was annoying as shit and Mel having weird powers was still something I was trying to wrap my head around with the whole arc she had with her "brother" in that "realm." I feel like they should have just gone without the time jump and told Netflix that they're gonna do a movie so suck it.

Like two movies.

How are they going to give that f***ing twat Zach Snyder that many versions of his shitty movie and not let this be 3 seasons like it should have been?

That's next on my list.

I read it had 1 season but then another network took it over (amazon) and released a full second season. Netflix has just the 1 season. The iptv box has all of it thankfully.

I am all for animated shows - Castlevania was great, Invincible is also fantastic and of course Arcane.

I tried to watch that Vox thing, hard pass, it was stupid.

 

[Ogrezilla]

8-9 felt rushed, they ignored the plight in Zaun and a lot of characters kind of just disappeared. Also Jesus Christ mate, that little wanker Isha blew herself up, felt like that whole part wasn't dealt with properly with Jinx. Vi also kind of just became a passenger in episode 8 and 9.

You might be missing the fact that I am saying this as a fan of the show. They did such a good job that when they phone it in, it's easy to see as it's not up to the insane quality of story telling they've maintained up to that point.

I felt even Caitlyn was used poorly, Sevika basically got ghosted until the last 5mins, Ambessa was annoying as shit and Mel having weird powers was still something I was trying to wrap my head around with the whole arc she had with her "brother" in that "realm." I feel like they should have just gone without the time jump and told Netflix that they're gonna do a movie so suck it.

I mean I said all the same things. I just don't think it was bad enough to go from a 10/10 down to a 5/10. More like 7. I agree with every one of those points though. I also just don't think they needed to add all that much more to fix the issues. I wouldn't be opposed to a movie or two more episodes worth, but I think 20-30 more minutes would be enough to solve most of it.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I think it didn't hold up to the quality of the writing as the previous 15 episodes. 7 I will say was some artistic wanking that I guess they are allowed to have. But then you gotta give them 2 more episodes, 4 total, to finish this better.

I feel like Ep7 was really important for Jayce, Ekko, and Powder/Jinx's characters, not just some artsy side quest. For one its pretty important for Jayce/Ekko plot-wise. And it's exactly the kind of taking its time that I feel like everyone is saying they needed more of in the last act. I don't know, I genuinely think its in the running for best episode of the show. Would have loved to see a bit more of Jinx and Ekko after that.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I feel like Ep7 was really important, not just some artsy side quest. And it's exactly the kind of taking its time that I feel like everyone is saying they needed more of in the last act. I don't know, I genuinely think its in the running for best episode of the show.

7 had a lot of important parts to it for sure, but leading right into 8 and 9 made it feel almost disjointed because the pacing for 7 was good and then 8 and 9 weren't.

 

[Ogrezilla]

7 had a lot of important parts to it for sure, but leading right into 8 and 9 made it feel almost disjointed because the pacing for 7 was good and then 8 and 9 weren't.

Spoiler: arcane

It maybe would have been better an episode sooner. Or split up across act 2 in general, with act 2 including what became ep 8's jinx stuff and the act ending with Ekko stopping Jinx from killing herself. Then act 3 can be the extended version of the finale basically. But personally I don't mind that kind of "break" episode in streaming shows when they release all at once or multiple episode chunks. It's week to week shows where they bug me.

an episode following up Ekkos return with Jinx and Sevika rallying Zaun before the finale would have really gone a long way. And somehow involving Vi hopefully because sidelining her is far and away my biggest problem with the ending. Vi's personal arc just kind of ended without any real growth, Jinx just did all the growing for them and cut Vi out of the process.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Spoiler: arcane

It maybe would have been better an episode sooner. Or split up across act 2 in general, with act 2 including what became ep 8's jinx stuff and the act ending with Ekko stopping Jinx from killing herself. Then act 3 can be the extended version of the finale basically. But personally I don't mind that kind of "break" episode in streaming shows when they release all at once or multiple episode chunks. It's week to week shows where they bug me.

an episode following up Ekkos return with Jinx and Sevika rallying Zaun before the finale would have really gone a long way. And somehow involving Vi hopefully because sidelining her is far and away my biggest problem with the ending. Vi's personal arc just kind of ended without any real growth, Jinx just did all the growing for them and cut Vi out of the process.

Spoiler

Vi basically became Hulk in the first Avengers, Vi smash, Vi yell, Vi sad...Vi sad but now happy with one eyed hottie, lol.

Basically her arc in the final 2 episodes

But yeah the Jinx redemption, saw that coming and I'm not mad about it. I just never saw her as a full on baddie and she ended up doing more good than bad in the end and at least her arc was a good redemption but it also felt kind of empty when she fell and blew up. I felt like that should have had far more impact than it ended up having. Like Isha saving them, that felt more emotional than Jinx hugging her beast Dad with the bomb.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Spoiler

Vi basically became Hulk in the first Avengers, Vi smash, Vi yell, Vi sad...Vi sad but now happy with one eyed hottie, lol.

Basically her arc in the final 2 episodes

Spoiler: arcane

for sure. I really think something as simple as a basic conversation where she trusts Jinx, Ekko, and Sevika to gather the Zaun folks while she works with Cait on the defenses, and then her understanding that Jinx is leaving and choosing not to follow her, would have done it. It could have still been Jinx dipping out without telling her, but somewhere along the way Vi should have made a decision to live her own life and trust Jinx to live hers. Or hell, just Vi should have made ANY decision

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Also episode 7

"What were the inductors?"

Spoiler

Your ass blowing up. Lol

 

[Ogrezilla]

Also episode 7

"What were the inductors?"

Spoiler

Your ass blowing up. Lol

Yeah I loved that bit. Also

Spoiler

I was so damn ready to be so mad when he timewarped away because I thought it means Ekko would be gone; I was so relieved that they showed that Ekko stayed behind because I couldn't have supported them f***ing over another Powder

 

[Randy Butternubs]

The last 3 episodes felt a bit rushed. Well, maybe "rushed" isn't the right word. But Vi, you know the main character, seemingly took a backseat to what Jayce/Viktor had going on. The Jayce/Viktor stuff obviously mattered but it really, to me, felt like they pushed Vi's story to the background.

Episode 7 was Ekko centric which was needed. Then 8 and 9 kinda blur together for me but was more about the "big battle".

Anyway, still loved it.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I saw rumors that they are apparently working on 3 shows now. I hope one of them is just a fun little teen drama of the Ep 7 folks as a pallet cleanser between whatever trauma the other series focus on.

 

[Ogrezilla]

The last 3 episodes felt a bit rushed. Well, maybe "rushed" isn't the right word. But Vi, you know the main character, seemingly took a backseat to what Jayce/Viktor had going on. The Jayce/Viktor stuff obviously mattered but it really, to me, felt like they pushed Vi's story to the background.

Episode 7 was Ekko centric which was needed. Then 8 and 9 kinda blur together for me but was more about the "big battle".

Anyway, still loved it.

this is where I stand. I understand that a lot was rushed in the ending, but honestly that doesn't bug me too much. The Vi bit is the one thing that really felt actually wrong/missing as opposed to simply I wish I had more.