Summary: BoJack returns home and tracks down Hollyhock's mother. He visits her fathers in Wichita and gives them the number to Hollyhock's mother. BoJack agrees to do the Philbert show for Princess Carolyn. Hollyhock calls BoJack and is happy for him to be her brother. Todd takes Princess Carolyn into to woods to give her a pep talk. He sees the clown dentists have become rabid and turns them into a business with Yolanda's help. Yolanda asks him out, revealing she is also asexual. Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter buy a new house and take an impromptu trip to Hawaii. They don't make it there, but have a nice night together. Mr. Peanubutter gives Diane a Belle-room like she wanted but Diane is upset by it.
The Good: This was a surprisingly uplifting finale for BoJack. Every other season of the show ended with BoJack doing something terrible, with the finale ending with a slightly optimistic message promoting the possibility of change and moving forwards. But this season was different. BoJack did not do anything appalling to conclude this season, and instead he did everything right to prove that he has changed to a degree, and because of this, the tone for the final scene isn't just hopeful for the future, it's celebrating actual change and success for BoJack. That's so refreshing, and it makes the end of this season feel very memorable. BoJack's story is very strong. He is clearly pained by losing Hollyhock, and he struggles to move forward in life without resolving what happened with her. It's so sweet to see him hunting down Hollyhock's mother and getting the information to her, even if he doesn't get to see her himself. He's clearly not doing this because of selfish reasons, he genuinely wants to help her and that is refreshing to see. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the animation style from "Stupid Piece of Sh*t" return. Having this animation in a scene where BoJack recounts the good that he's done shows great character development from before, when the animation only happened when BoJack was destroying himself with his thoughts. The final scene is, of course, terrific. BoJack was suitably rewarded for the good that he did with Hollyhock's phone call, and hearing her accept BoJack as an older brother, and seeing BoJack genuinely smile at this was so heartwarming and cathartic. Sometimes the simple facial animations in this show can be so powerful, and this is a perfect example of that. In contrast to BoJack who has finally figured it all out, Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter fall apart in the most tragic fashion in this episode. At the start of the episode, this story looked like it was going to be a way to reignite their love and move forwards with confidence. There's some wackiness as they look for a new house together, the impromptu trip to Hawaii to help organize their fears for the future was very in-line with how they do things, and that sweet night at the motel told us exactly what it is they enjoy about each other. These two can be so good as a couple, and the past couple seasons have done a wonderful job of making us care about these two. This makes the story's conclusion so sad and tragic. In spite of all the good that happened, the problems still remain. Mr. Peanutbutter is insecure with Diane, and Diane is consistently frustrated by how Mr. Peanutbutter listens but never truly understands how she lives and what she wants. The Belle-room going so wrong was very sad to see, considering how much work both of them had put into the relationship. But saddest of all was certainly Diane's final line, which spells doom for their marriage. Hearing her choke out "I'm so tired of squinting" was a brutal moment, and it's a tragic culmination of the conflict between Diane and Mr. Peanutbuuter that has gone on for a few seasons. They have their moments, but sometimes it's just too much work for them to keep it together. The election was a bad time for them, but their problems persisted even without the election. In the end, it looks like it has become too much for Diane to put up with. Todd and Princess Carolyn don't get as much focus, but their story is solid enough. Todd's story is packed with the usual silliness, though not to the best results this time (see: The Bad). However, things ended in a surprisingly sweet way for him. After finally solving the clown dentist problem, Yolanda asks Todd out, and it's clear that Todd is trying to take himself out of the reckoning because he is asexual and thinks that will be an issue. But Yolanda is also asexual, so Todd has an opportunity here. The final shot is beautiful as we pan out to see everyone around Todd dressed up in his same clothes. On the surface, it's a gag based on the joke earlier in the season where Todd's clothes become trendy, but the deeper meaning is clearly to show that Todd is noticing that there are people like him out there in the world and that it's not as lonely as it initially seemed for him. That's a very positive message. Meanwhile, Princess Carolyn looks to have finally reestablished herself. Todd giving Princess Carolyn her own speech is a fun moment, and I like that his intervention finally allowed her to see the way forward again. The scene between BoJack and Princess Carolyn is sweet as they look to have left their problems behind them to move forwards. BoJack is finally able to treat her the way she deserves, and he is happy to help her out and encourage her on her way to making a new family, with adoption looking like the likely way forwards. This scene is excellent, giving Princess Carolyn some closure with BoJack, and further highlighting the genuine change within BoJack as he is able to treat Princess Carolyn much better than he did last season or any other time in this season. A few little things amused me in this episode. The VR housing is a fun idea for a scene, and I liked Mr. Peanutbutter heading to the VR bathroom to end off that joke. As a "Friends" fan, I had fun with Hollyhock's jokes about Chandler. The gas station that Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane went to had a fun sale for beef jerky and "beef friendly" which made me smile. I also had to laugh at the accuracy of the new bridge to Hawaii immediately becoming clogged by traffic. Lastly, I like that Hollyhock also hates honeydew, and calling it "the Jared Leto of fruit" was pretty funny. The Bad: The clown dentists in the woods strays a little bit too far into absurdity for my liking. Absurdity is funny in this show when it comes to decisions that characters make, and stupid things that they say. But when it comes to sheer ridiculous ideas like the clown dentists being randomly left in the woods (they don't have lives to return to?) where they contract rabies and become zombies, that's a step too far. Furthermore, Yolanda as a character is damaged by going along with Todd's dumb business scheme. Her dynamic with him worked because she was logical, and that clashed with Todd's stupid ideas. They don't have that dynamic anymore with Yolanda actively helping him with one of his dumb ideas. The Unknown: Will BoJack be happy in his new TV show? Will he see it through? What drama will happen on this show? Is Hollyhock going to stay in BoJack's life? Will this be the end of Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter's marriage? Best Moment: It's tough to choose between Diane and BoJack, but I'll give it to the feel-good ending scene as BoJack can finally smile happily now that he's saved his relationship with Hollyhock and earned some respectability. Character of the Episode: Everyone had a good episode, but I'll give it to BoJack for finally changing for the better to some degree. Conclusion: This episode ended season 4 on a very strong note. This concluded storylines satisfyingly, and it feels more effective than most of the previous finales because it spends more times concluding stories than setting up new ones. Season 4 was the best season so far. It may not have been the most consistent, but there were so many standout episodes that provided the very best we have seen from this show. "The Old Sugarman Place", "Ruthie", and "Time's Arrow" alone are fantastic enough to make this season worth it, but there are plenty of other fun experiences throughout like "Stupid Piece of Sh*t", "Hooray! Todd Episode", and "Underground" to name a few. Overall, I liked a lot of the stories that were told this season. After three seasons of BoJack doing bad things, it felt refreshing to see season 4 go in a different direction, and the result is the most unique and memorable season so far. I enjoyed almost every new thing that was introduced, including BoJack's relationship with Hollyhock, the new direction of Todd's character, the election storyline, and the time spent exploring Beatrice and her story. Overall, this season encompasses the best I've seen from this show so far, and it will probably be tough to top the quality that we saw here. Score: 69
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Summary: Beatrice recalls her past in her head. As a child, she caught scarlet fever and was traumatized by her father ripping away her doll from her and burning it. As she grew up, she got an education but Joseph tried to force her to marry Corbin Creamerman. In protest, she has a lovely night with Butterscotch, who crashed her party. Beatrice gets pregnant and tracks down Butterscotch who decides that they can start a family together. Over the years, they grow bitter. At an old age, Butterscotch admits he got Henrietta, their maid, pregnant. Beatrice convinces her to give up the baby for adoption. In the present, Beatrice recognizes BoJack. BoJack shares a nice moment with her, telling her she is back in Michigan.
The Good: This is a special episode, and you can tell from the very first scene when the point of view stylishly switches to Beatrice, entering the complete blank slate that is her mind. I've never seen a TV episode tackle the effects of Alzheimer's on such a personal and creative level before, making this a unique experience. The visual style is masterful, and you are constantly reminded that you're watching memories inside of a person's mind. The scribbled out and blank faces all over this episode are deeply unsettling, and it's creepy seeing pieces of different memories popping up briefly throughout the episode with occasional connections to the present day reminding us that Beatrice is living her current life while her brain is trapped in the past. Little details like the childhood slide being exaggerated in size to represent child Beatrice's fear of the height, and Honey's presence always being a frightening shadow do a great job of representing that we are watching events in the way that Beatrice perceives them. These are brilliant stylistic choices. The style only works if there is substance, and there is plenty of it in this episode. This episode is an in-depth portrayal of generational trauma, exploring how the struggle and suffering that Beatrice went through was passed down to BoJack and Henrietta. In doing this, "Time's Arrow" manages to make us sympathize with a total monster, making us understand the source of Beatrice's pain and why she ended up becoming such a miserable figure in BoJack's life. Her life with her father is absolutely awful. Back in "The Old Sugarman Place", much of Joseph's horrible fathering was played for laughs, but here there is no disguising how monstrous he is towards Beatrice. It's no wonder that Beatrice was so desperate for an escape, and it's sad to see how she was tempted by Butterscotch, who comes off as a charming knight in shining armour to sweep Beatrice away from her bland life and save her. But life is not a fairy tale, and ultimately Butterscotch doesn't offer the solace that Beatrice needed. Tragically, right when it looked like Beatrice may have found something in Corbin Creamerman, her pregnancy takes her back to Butterscotch, and into a terrible life. Beatrice's new life started off with such hope and it is sad to see Beatrice's optimism ground out by financial pressures, Butterscotch's stubborn pride and general awfulness, and an inability for Beatrice to give up her baby due to unresolved trauma with her childhood doll. The passion goes out from her, and all Beatrice is left with is her own wit, which she promptly uses to destroy everyone and everything that she thinks is contributing to her misery. It's an awful thing for her to do, but we can understand how she ended up here, and I sympathize with her for being a victim of bad life decisions that she will never be able to undo. The generational trauma idea is portrayed in some really brilliant ways. It's so sad to learn why Beatrice was always so degrading to BoJack. Beatrice chose this life with Butterscotch over the life her father wanted for her, so she put an unfair amount of pressure onto BoJack to be worth it to justify her decision. But Beatrice's expectations were unrealistic, and combined with Butterscotch being a constant source of frustration, she was never going to be able to provide a good home to raise BoJack in. Furthermore, the trauma goes back deeper as we eventually learn that Beatrice was traumatized at an early age by her father forcefully burning her doll in such a cold and callous manner, and this resulted in Beatrice being unable to give up BoJack due to her trauma, condemning BoJack to growing up in an abusive household. Even more tragic is that Beatrice ultimately becomes her father as she traumatizes Henrietta in a similar way by not allowing her to hold the baby she's giving up for adoption. The climactic scene intercutting Beatrice's burning doll, Henrietta giving birth, and Beatrice giving birth is phenomenally edited and executed, offering some big moments and providing a huge catharsis that sums up the main ideas of Beatrice's story perfectly. I was surprised and impressed by the Hollyhock twist. Hollyhock being BoJack's daughter felt so obvious and logical that I never even considered another possibility, but this reveal makes a ton of sense. I also have to applaud the show for demonstrating restraint. We are never told that this baby is Hollyhock, but the show trusts that we will know anyways. A lot of other moments throughout Beatrice's story had emotional resonance. Beatrice trying to convince Henrietta not to throw her dreams away for a future with Butterscotch that looked too good to be true was a fantastic moment. Poor Beatrice had the root of all of her suffering exposed again, and it's no wonder that she sounded so desperate to help Henrietta as this is the closest she can ever come to correcting the mistakes she made in her life. The detail that Butterscotch uses the same connection to his dead mother to win over Henrietta is deeply sad, a sad moment of acceptance for Beatrice as she faces yet another reminder that nothing about Butterscotch was real and that she was essentially scammed into this marriage. Lastly, I really want to call attention to Joseph's horrifying demeanour as he burns Beatrice's doll. Instead of allowing her to process her feelings, Joseph tells her that things need to happen with such a neutral unsympathetic voice, and forcibly burns Beatrice's doll so suddenly without allowing Beatrice time to process what is happening. It's heartbreaking how little he cared, and that final line of "one day this will all be a pleasant memory" is so painfully false, and you can tell that it stuck with Beatrice throughout her life. At the end of the exploration of Beatrice's mind, the episode has one last incredible gutpunch to throw our way as we resume in the present day with Beatrice finally recognizing BoJack. Earlier in the season BoJack had expressed his desire to rage at his mother once she recognized him, and after Beatrice drugged Hollyhock, I'm sure that most viewers would have wanted to see this happen. But following this episode's horrifying experience in Beatrice's mind, the tone has changed a lot, and there's a greater sense of tragedy in Beatrice's confusion. I think it's absolutely sweet that the show chose to give this character a somewhat positive moment at the end of the episode as BoJack describes a childhood memory of Beatrice at the lakeside cabin before all of the trauma and pain entered her life. This is also an extremely powerful moment for BoJack, who had every reason to not care about his mother and allow her to feel pain. But he chooses to share a moment with her, which is indicative of how no matter what Beatrice does, BoJack deep down just wants to have a mother who he can share a nice moment with. This scene has such a sad undertone, and it ends with a fascinating final line as BoJack asks Beatrice if she can taste ice cream. But as we learned in "The Old Sugarman Place", Beatrice was not allowed to have ice cream, so the illusion was ruined in this moment. But Beatrice, like BoJack, is content to let the illusion play out because it is better than the reality that she and her son have to face, and the episode ends with mother and son tragically sitting in a fake reality where they are both happy, just wishing that this illusion will last for longer than just a few moments. This scene is a perfect conclusion to the most emotionally complex, devastating, and thought-provoking episode yet. There are a couple funny details that I appreciated in this episode. Corbin's goat scream after Beatrice vomits on his is completely unexpected and really funny. Butterscotch giving Beatrice a number to a pizza parlour in Brownsburg is very similar to BoJack giving random women a number to a sandwich shop in Temecula. I guess being an asshole is genetic. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: Will this be the last time BoJack ever talks to Beatrice? Best Moment: In an episode chock full of excellent moments, that sweet final moment between BoJack and Beatrice managed to stick with me the most. Character of the Episode: Beatrice. Conclusion: This was an experience unlike anything else I've watched. A beautiful look into the fraying mind of Beatrice, showing us what made her into the monster she is and how she transferred her traumatic experiences to the next generation. This episode is a masterpiece and hits like a truck when you watch it. Another absolute winner from season 4. Score: 89 Summary: Hank meets with Toro, who is sending hitmen to kill Barry. Fuches calls Hank and learns about this. Barry meets with Lon and learns that Gene has told Barry's story. He calls Hank to kill Gene, but Hank blows him off and refuses. Barry meets with a witness protection agent and notices a man is there to kill him. There is an attack and everyone in the room is killed except Barry. Barry escapes. Lon meets with Jim who takes him to his garage. Gene is fearful that Barry will come after him after making his deal and tells Tom what he told Lon. They go to hunt down Lon and find out he talked to Jim. Tom flees, leaving Gene to face Jim. Sally starts a teaching class and uses Gene's method on Kristen. Everyone else is horrified and leaves, but Kristen stays.
The Good: This is peak "Barry", combining humour and drama masterfully. On the dramatic front, Barry's story is really sad to watch. He's so broken, and angry, and utterly soulless. It's far removed from the socially awkward and relatable figure he was in season 1. Now he's at his worst, and every scene here reflects that. After speaking with Lon about Gene, Barry falls into a fit of absolute rage at how Gene is ruining his deal as well. Barry has been frightening when angered, and in this episode he falls to a whole new low, raging at Lon, and then raging on his own (though amusingly a bystander witnessed the whole thing). This sets up Barry calling Hank, a scene that absolutely steals the show. Barry is pathetic and manipulative here. He has called Gene and he has called Sally, but here he only carries Hank when he wants something from him, and he tries to manipulate Hank into giving him what he wants. It's desperate and pathetic, and this time Hank can see that too. Seeing the sheer hurt, betrayal, and pain in Hank's face contrasted with Barry's sadistic desperation, frustration, and rage is starkly impactful. Seeing this long-running friendship finally dissolve is very sad, and hearing Hank accuse Barry followed by Barry's angry response confirming the worst is very painful, and I can't help but feel for Hank who has lost his friend. Despite this intense emotional drama, "Barry" still leaves plenty of room for comedy. The opening of the episode sees Hank and Cristobal meeting "Toro", which is where the episode pulls out a very fun Guillermo Del Toro cameo. This scene seems like your typical arrangement of a hit, but it takes a delightful turn when Hank starts instead criticizing a gadget podcast that Toro is clearly a huge personal fan of. It's so funny to hear Hank complaining about this podcast because of the non-functioning gadgets, and being forced to only imagine them since he often listens to the podcast while driving. The best part about this joke is that it comes back later when the two podcast hosts try to kill Barry and the pen gadget blows up, becoming completely ineffective. This final scene is so fantastic for a lot of reasons, not just the comic timing of the gadget not working. Fred Armisen's facial expressions as he works up to killing Barry are so funny, and I love that Barry's mass murderer instincts kick in and he immediately figures out that this guy is here to kill him. The wacky action involving a ceiling sniper that follows is a ton of fun, and the sheer violence that accompanies the wacky ridiculousness has become a signature touch of "Barry". I really enjoyed this ending scene. More on the comedic front is Gene's story, and the laughs here are fantastic. Last episode got its laughs from Gene's vanity and narcissism, but this episode instead gets most of its comedy out of Tom's absurdity through visual gag after visual gag. I adore the variety in humour between episodes, and it makes both of the last two episodes equally memorable in terms of comedy. However, I give the edge to this one because the visual humour was so good, and it made me laugh more. The wide shot setting up Tom crashing the car was a hilarious delight, you have an idea of where this is going, but the execution is tremendous. Breaking into Lon's house was even funnier, and got a lot of comedy out of keeping Gene and Tom outside of view of the camera. Tom throwing a rock through the window is so funny because we don't see what he's doing until it happens; hearing Gene falling into broken glass and Tom fumbling around through the kitchen is funnier because we are left to fill in the holes with our imagination. Then a terrific gag of Lon's wife being in the backyard the entire time with the backdoor unlocked makes the entire break-in even more absurdly funny. Add on one final gag of Tom throwing Lon's monitor into the pool in the background and the scene is a masterclass in comedy (nothing is even stored in monitors so this is absolutely meaningless to add the cherry on top). The episode has a few other terrific comedic bits. Having Fuches get yet another change of heart after seeing himself and Barry in "Rain Man" is a hysterical moment. Seeing Fuches have a change of heart in practically every single episode now is really funny, and is a clever self-parody that makes good use of the character. The torture done to Lon was outrageously unexpected. I was afraid that Jim may have cut out his tongue, so when he started speaking German, I was baffled in the best possible way. The real kicker is that Lon's snack of choice seems to have changed as well from Skittles to Haribo gummy bears, making his German transformation even more authentic in hilarious fashion. Sally has her own story in this episode, and most of it is really good. It's amusing to see her taking Gene's role as teacher, and she adds some typical Sally flair to make things enjoyable. I don't think we've seen Sally with glasses before, so if she just grabbed them to look more professional, that's a good touch. I also like that she simply skips the "boring" parts of class so that she can only teach the parts that she likes. As fun as this is, the most impactful part of this storyline was her dressing down of Kristen, which was done in the same way that Gene did with her. Sally was ruthless and cruel, but the result was that she drew something out of Kristen that Kristen never would have unearthed otherwise. The class reacts poorly to this, but it's telling that Kristen comes back for more, highlighting that even though Sally may be in the wrong for subjecting others to the challenges that she faced, it still ultimately bears fruit. I appreciate the complexity in this story, and Sarah Goldberg is great as always. The Bad: Sally's story is starting to feel like a disconnected side story again, so I hope that she can get back in touch with the main plot to avoid similar problems as last season. Her story also has the one moment of weak writing in the episode. When she executed Gene's acting strategy, I was confused about how everybody decided that it was abusive. This caught me off guard because nobody raised this point in Gene's class, furthermore she used a type of strategy that we commonly see from coaches and acting teachers, so this is far from abnormal behaviour, and most certainly not abusive. Furthermore, students usually won't have the courage to confront teachers like this about abuse, so there's a sense of realism that is lost when absolutely everyone up and leaves after that. Add on how inconsistent this type of moral behaviour is in the world of "Barry" where people are often shown to be too stupid or ignorant to notice these things, and the scene feels out of place in this show. The Unknown: Batir has returned and is possibly planning on eliminating Hank's new operation. Where is this storyline heading? What's next for Fuches? He has been a bit adrift in this episode. Where has Barry gone? Will he try to escape prison? Why is he missing? What the hell did Jim do to Lon to make him German? Best Moment: Barry's phone call with Hank. Character of the Episode: Hank. Conclusion: This is "Barry" at its dark, comical best. There are some emotionally charged scenes here that hit like a truck, but they are interspersed with some absolutely hilarious sequences that are a blast to go through. The best episode of the final season so far. Score: 73 Summary: Fuches tries to convince others in the prison to help him and Barry. He tells Barry that the FBI made him wear a wire but he refused. Barry meets with Sally who is horrified by him but tells him she feels safe with him. After this, Barry meets with the FBI and cuts a deal with them. Hank and Cristobal pitch their new sand business to a couple of gangs. Hank tries to get the group to help break Barry out of prison. Cristobal talks to him, and after Fuches calls to say Barry is speaking with the FBI, Hank decides they have to kill Barry. Gene puts on a one-man show for Lon to tell an exaggerated story of his relationship with Barry. Sally finds that she has no future career in acting. After talking with Gene, he suggests that she teach.
The Good: Last season I talked a lot about how episodes were hurt by the sheer quantity of disparate stories being told, as it resulted in episodes feeling disjointed with lots of short scenes and minimal story progression in each episode. Thankfully, this season so far seems to have broken that habit, at least in these first two episodes. There are fewer stories being told in this season, scenes are given more time to breathe, and every story thread has meaningful connective tissue that makes this feel like one clear story instead of a series of different story threads. I've really enjoyed the different feeling of this season so far. Barry's time in prison has been fun to watch, and Fuches' presence keeps things feeling light. He's so emotionally charged, and makes such braindead decisions sometimes, and it's really funny. His attempt to win over the prison by interrupting TV time and giving everyone obnoxious nicknames was quite funny. Fuches seems to think he has everyone playing in his hands, but he lacks subtlety and ends up never accomplishing what he wants to. This is also exemplified by Fuches trying to tell Barry how he had to turn on the FBI for trying to break him away from Barry to try and give him some points. But nobody buys it. The cops obviously don't buy it, and Barry doesn't buy it either, knowing full well that Fuches is full of crap. Because of that, is it any surprise that Barry seems to have betrayed him by the episode's end? Barry is a shell of who he was before, and after a phenomenal scene with Sally (see: Best Moment), I could totally buy into Barry coldly sacrificing Fuches and Hank for his future. Hank and Cristobal remain so much fun to watch. Their coordinated pitch meeting for the two gangs was charismatic, silly, and perfectly in character for the both of them. The direction was superb, the comedy was perfectly timed, and they were convincing enough that I could honestly buy into the gangs agreeing to get into the sand industry. I also can't help but feel bad for Hank here. He saw Barry was arrested and immediately got to work trying to get him out only to learn that Barry never cared and was immediately willing to sell him out. It's a sad moment for Hank who finally realizes how one-sided this friendship has always been, and true to form to the show, the scene ends with a fantastically funny line delivery of "we have to kill Barry". As great as Hank was, it's Gene who steals the show this time. Poor Gene just can't help himself. He's such an attention-seeking person and despite his best judgement he does something really stupid by contacting Lon and telling him an exaggerated story of what he did. I couldn't help but laugh in amazement when Gene desperately tried to confirm that he was an "anonymous source". This is going to blow up in his face, I'm sure of it. It helps that everything we see of Gene is absolutely hilarious. Lon catching up to him before he can put up his stupidly obvious letters that anybody could pick up is really funny, as is his impression of Barry and his laughably inaccurate readings of what happened in his conversations with Barry. Henry Winkler kills it here, and I was having a good time in all of his scenes. His story culminates nicely with a moment between him and Sally. Sally comes in with accusations, but Gene does well to focus on how they are both victims of not only Barry, but their own hubris, before giving her some advice on how to move forwards. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: Did Gene really do all of this just for another taste of fame? Jim will inevitably find out about this. What happens then? Who is Toro? What plan did he have to get Barry out of prison? Is he going to try to kill Barry now? What is the purpose of Barry's hallucinations in this season? We see flashbacks of his childhood with Fuches, and some hallucinations of a better life with Sally, similar to what we had in season 1. I'm curious to see if these scenes are leading somewhere. Will Sally start to teach acting? It does parallel nicely with Gene, since both of them were cancelled by the industry. Is Barry really going to make a deal with the FBI? Is he going to give up everyone? Who is the person he is taking with him? Is it Sally? That seems to be the obvious answer. Could it be Fuches? It would be funny if he was taking Fuches all along, but Fuches jumped the gun by freaking out and calling Hank. Best Moment: Barry and Sally's scene is outstanding television. It makes sense that Sally only came back to make sure that the murder that traces back to her is covered up. But she stays around after that, and this totally changed the dynamic. At the start of the conversation, Barry looked like a shell of a man who was ready to say farewell to this chapter of his life. He was repentant, apologetic, and seemed to understand that he never deserved Sally to begin with. He has accepted what went wrong in his life. Bill Hader conveyed this masterfully, and he looked terrifying, like a broken, soulless man throughout this scene. But then Sally makes a mistake by telling Barry that she feels safe around him. And Barry latches onto that. The acceptance vanishes in an instant, and suddenly all that Barry sees is an opportunity to get Sally back, and then his desperation comes out. Sally runs away, but the damage has been done, and it's so sad to see Barry reduced to this pathetic, disillusioned mess. Such a good scene with phenomenal acting and writing. Character of the Episode: Gene. Conclusion: "Barry" is back to doing what it does best in marrying drama and comedy in a way that is tremendously entertaining. This is a great episode to shift season 4 into gear. Score: 69 Summary: Barry is taken to prison and is heartbroken by Gene's betrayal. Fuches is terrified of Barry being in his cell block and cooperates with the cops to wear a wire to bust Barry. But when Barry apologizes to Fuches and says he was right, Fuches has a change of heart. Gene has a taste of fame after busting Barry, but Jim wants to keep off of the media. Gene contacts a reporter posing as Jim. Sally goes back home to her unsupportive parents and struggles to process that she was dating a murderer. Hank and Cristobal set up in a place in Santa Fe, but Cristobal wants to get into the sand business. Hank is reluctant, but after seeing Barry was arrested, he is ready to return to LA.
The Good: This episode is your typical season premier so there is nothing too spectacular here, but the episode is very competent in terms of establishing where our characters are currently at, and what conflicts they are going to face this season. Barry is still the most fascinating part of this show, and the character is a joy to watch here. We get to see Barry reach a level of mental fragility that he hasn't ever hit before. Now that he's been betrayed by Gene, we see a furious, self-destructive, and disappointed version of Barry. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't realize that he is the problem, and instead lashes out at Gene for taking away his chance to be a better person. It is highly evocative to see Barry lashing out at a poor prison guard who tried to help him and reaffirm him, an interaction that results from Barry's fury towards Gene. Barry's change following his arrest has led to yet another reunion with Fuches. This episode is reminiscent of season 2 with Fuches once again trying to sell out Barry to save his own ass, only to immediately have a change of heart the moment Barry starts saying nice things to him. Fuches is so emotionally driven, and Stephen Root plays this aspect of him to peak hilarity. It's darkly funny to see Fuches unsubtly trying to get Barry to confess to a murder while desperately trying to stop himself from embracing him, only to give in by the episode's end, destroying the wire and reconnecting with Barry. These two are almost like a will-they-won't-they couple with how they go from love to hate so frequently, and I get a good laugh out of that. Part of what made season 2 so effective was how it dove into Sally's personal life to make the character easier to sympathize with and understand. Season 4 seems to be taking a similar approach by exploring Sally's family, and immediately we can see why Sally is so self-absorbed after we spend a single scene with her mother. Sally's parents are opposites and it's clear that they have had a huge impact on her upbringing. It's quite devastating how cold and callous Sally's mother is, and her father goes too far in the opposite direction, being caring to the point of over familiarity and treating her like a child. It's sad to see that this is all Sally has for family, and their inadequacy is immediately prevalent with how poorly they support Sally when she realizes that Barry was a murderer the entire time, and that she had no idea. Hank and Cristobal remain fun. I appreciate that the show is not ignoring the terrors that Hank went through in the season 3 finale, and we see that he's suffering from PTSD. It's in-character that Hank would be unable to let go of Barry, and seeing that he was imprisoned will likely lead to Hank trying to get him out of jail. As is always the case with Hank and Cristobal, there is a fun new story introduced here where they are going to try to get into the sand industry, paralleling it to the drug industry in an amusing way. The Bad: Nothing. Very solid episode all things considered. The Unknown: It looks like Barry and Fuches are connecting again. Will they try to get out of prison together? Will Gene be able to handle court? Will he be able to stay away from the media? He's always been Best Moment: Barry letting out his rage at Gene towards Birdwell. The subtext was clear, and Barry's fuming words for Gene were powerful and terrifying. It looks like Barry has turned a corner into darkness after what happened. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: A rock solid season premiere that sets up new stories and lays an interesting foundation for the final season. Score: 67 Summary: Hollyhock passes out in BoJack's bathroom during a game of uno. She is taken to a hospital and BoJack can't get an update until her eight dads arrive. He learns she overdosed on amphetamines and is not allowed to see her. BoJack discovers Beatrice had been spiking Hollyhock's coffee. Angrily, BoJack takes her to a bad retirement home to leave her there, but she says his name. Woodchuck and Jessica Biel continue to have a ridiculous political battle, but Diane seals Woodchuck's victory by publishing an article on how Jessica Biel hates avocados. Todd's clown dentist venture comes under fire and he has to perform a show to keep it alive. Todd helps Princess Carolyn secure a job opportunity by meeting with Turteltaub to propose a TV show. She forges a signature to attach BoJack to the project. Todd's show is not good enough and he has to shut down his business.
The Good: The structure of this episode is really unique as we get to see three separate storylines told in their entirety back to back to back. All three storylines are fun, with the tone becoming more and more serious with each storyline. The first storyline shows the conclusion to the political storyline that's been going all season, and it more than delivers a satisfying conclusion. The political angle has been ridiculous since minute one, and it ends on a suitably stupid note. The montage of Woodchuck's hand-related rivalry with Jessica Biel is quite funny with a lot of amusing little details. Could there have been more thematic relevance and seriousness to this political storyline? Maybe. But the show chose not to do that and was very consistent with the ridiculousness, so it worked overall. The story also had the underlying role of creating more distance between Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane. Even in this episode, Diane comes up with such a stupid plan to ruin Jessica Biel, and it worked spectacularly well, but she has to put up with Mr. Peanutbutter acting like this was a team effort. Tensions between them have been set up well throughout the season. The second storyline features Todd and Princess Carolyn. Princess Carolyn is obviously in a bad place right now after all that happened, but she finds a calling in making this new TV show that personally appeals to her by being called "Philbert". Even still, she's in no fit state to pull this off herself, so Todd has to help her make this a reality, once more showing his giving side. The ridiculous caper with the clowns setting up a meeting with Turteltaub is pretty funny, and I love that earlier in the episode we inexplicably see Princess Carolyn flying through the sky in the background, setting up this moment. Todd's clown dentists look like they have run their course after the performance failed, but they brought a lot of levity to this show and were a joke that worked exceptionally well. Lastly, we get to the BoJack storyline which is far more serious as Hollyhock gets sent to the hospital. Perhaps the most painful thing about this fall for BoJack is that he doesn't know what he did wrong this time. Sure, he didn't notice Hollyhock's appearance changing because he's ignorant when it comes to these things, but outside of that, he didn't do anything outrageously wrong like trying to have sex with Penny or leading Sarah Lynn to her death. That makes this loss so much more painful for him, and it gets worse when he discovers the true culprit: Beatrice. Ultimately he believes his mistake was bringing Beatrice into his house, and watching him lash out at her was sad and affecting. The episode ends on a curious cliffhanger with Beatrice finally recognizing him, and I'm interested to see what happens next (see: The Unknown). Lots of little things in this episode. I enjoyed BoJack playing uno like he was playing poker. The story of Woodchuck's hands was really funny, and there are so many funny newspaper clippings that are absolutely worth pausing to read. My favourite aspect of them is the recurring "Baby Billy the Balloon Man", a 17 year old with dwarfism giving his opinions on hands. Tom gets a great line here after Jessica Biel accuses Woodchuck of taking hands from a pedophile/murderer, saying "well if you have to murder somebody". The saga of Mr. Peanutbutter's banners continues with the latest entry "hooray for Woodchuck and if he doesn't win write I'm sorry Woodchuck". The Bad: Nothing I'd call bad. The side stories aren't nearly as interesting as what's going on with BoJack and Hollyhock, but I would not call them bad by any means. The Unknown: Will BoJack be okay with working on Philbert? How will he react to Princess Carolyn forging his signature? Will this new TV show get Princess Carolyn back on her feet? Will BoJack ever see Hollyhock again? Is there any way that he can make up for what he did? How will BoJack react to Beatrice finally recognizing him? What's next for Todd after his latest business venture failed? Best Moment: BoJack's terror after realizing he was responsible for what happened to Hollyhock was sad and painful to watch, but even better was the immediate realization we saw afterwards that Beatrice was the one spiking the coffee. BoJack's rage and frustration was very real, and seeing him unleash it against Beatrice who no longer understands anything in her current state is really sad. Character of the Episode: BoJack. Conclusion: This episode had a weirdly fun structure featuring three easy to enjoy stories while setting up the season's endgame. Not one of the show's best episodes, but a very easy one to enjoy. Score: 68 Summary: Bo Katan retreats and prepares a counterattack. Mando escapes from captivity and Grogu finds him. They head to Gideon's command center and find a bunch of clones which they promptly destroy. Gideon angrily confronts them afterward and Mando fights him. The fleet escape the capital ship and send reinforcements to Bo Katan, engaging Gideon's forces. Bo Katan arrives to fight Gideon, while Mando leaves to save Grogu from the Praetorian guards. Mando kills them. Gideon breaks the darksaber, but the capital ship crashes into the base and kills him. Grogu protects Mando and Bo Katan from the fire. The Mandalorians successfully retake Mandalore. Mando contacts Teva to do independent work for the New Republic. He settles down with Grogu in a cabin on Nevarro.
The Good: It took a while, but the focus finally shifted back to Mando for this final episode, and the episode is stronger for it. There are some good action scenes here, especially the one where Mando fights guard after guard on the way to the command center, and this allowed me to remember how much I missed watching Mando solve problems on his own. We haven't seen enough of him in his own show this season (see: The Bad), but this season finale spends a good amount of time with him at least. I liked how conclusive the ending felt with Mandalore retaken and Mando moving on to a new, yet familiar, chapter of his life with Grogu under his care. The Bad: But despite that, so much of this episode was poor. This entire season has been built around Bo Katan, so even though we shift gears back to Mando for this episode, he doesn't have any interesting story to tell. This season has let him down in terms of creating a story for the character. We've essentially just had a few sporadic moments of fatherhood, including some cheesy scenes here where he adopts Grogu and makes him an apprentice through a pretty stupid technicality that continues to undermine the Mandalorian culture. This is not a good enough story to build a season around, and the result is that Mando feels like a passenger throughout the entirety of season 3, which is problematic because seeing this character is the main hook of the show. Even more disappointing is Bo Katan. She essentially hijacked this show for season 3, and the show failed to come up with any compelling ideas for her to make this worth our time. She's just guilty about past mistakes and has to rise up to lead her people to success this time. It's such a simple storyline with little intrigue or conflict for her to deal with. Her rivalry with Gideon is poorly fleshed out and never becomes interesting. I'm extremely disappointed with the simplicity of Bo Katan's storyline. A few episodes ago I raised up an interesting possibility where Bo Katan may be using the Mandalorian groups for her own ends, and may have ulterior motives for everything she is doing. But sadly, the show is never interested in introducing such nuance to its characters. Everything ended up being exactly how it appeared on the surface involving Bo Katan, and that was the single least interesting direction that the story could have gone. I wish there was more to this. Gideon ended up being a spectacular disappointment. Every season he came in, talked big, and promised a menacing new threat. And every season he proved to be absolutely incompetent, getting soundly beaten almost immediately with no victories or accomplishments to make him feel like a threat. Because of this, he was sorely in need of some success this season to make him feel like a worthwhile antagonist. And the show completely let him down. Gideon manages to escape imprisonment off-screen, comes back for two episodes, and after what felt like hundreds of moments of typical villain incompetence, he finally dies in the most anticlimactic way imaginable. What a waste of Giancarlo Esposito, who can be such an asset if used correctly. Instead, Gideon was incompetent at every turn, and the grandiose performance rings completely hollow when you realize he's all bark and no bite. We finally learn what his grand plan was in this episode, and it's the most unoriginal, boring answer imaginable: he wants to clone himself and make himself stronger. Even worse than this is how we learn about the plan. Gideon gives an awful villain monologue to Mando explaining his entire plan for no reason at all. This is one of the worst villain tropes out there, and the execution in this show is terrible. Even Giancarlo Esposito could not salvage something from the terrible dialogue he was given. There was so much tonal dissonance and bad writing in this episode. For tonal dissonance, this episode had too much dumb childish comedy in the middle of intense scenes. While Mando is risking his life fighting guards, why do we cut to a dumb scene with R5 fighting an army of mouse droids? It completely takes me out of the moment. Even worse is when the Praetorian guards corner Grogu, and instead of killing him immediately like they should, they break the mech and completely fail to catch Grogu as he leaps around. This completely broke my immersion, and seeing Grogu laughing is absolutely stupid. We have seen that Grogu does understand when he's in danger and is often afraid, so to see him laughing in this life or death situation is not only tonally wrong, it's a total misinterpretation of the character for the sake of bad humour. As for bad writing in this episode, I can honestly go on forever. Last episode Gideon told his men to take Mando to the debriefing room. I thought maybe Gideon had a plan for him. Maybe he wanted something. Instead this was just an idiotic convenience so Mando can escape, and Grogu can somehow find him in the middle of an imperial base, and Gideon is somehow totally fine with this. Gideon looks so stupid for letting this happen, and even though he knows exactly where Mando and Grogu are, he does nothing and allows them to destroy his clones! This is horrible writing because Gideon makes the single stupidest decision at every turn, making everything nice and convenient for our heroes. Last episode the Praetorian guards were ruthless and intimidating. Already they have been wasted because this episode sees them not show any degree of ruthlessness and they are disposed of with frustrating ease by Mando. Now I will never view these guys as a threat ever again. The crash at the episode's end is similarly poorly written. An entire ship has crashed into this base, and you're telling me that Grogu can just use the force on some flames and that's enough to allow Mando and Bo Katan to survive? That makes no sense. Would they not get crushed by debris? How about the force of the explosion? How do they get out of there if Grogu is only holding back the flames? None of this makes sense. The handling of the darksaber gets a section of its own. This artifact was a massively important plot thread throughout the entire show. There was such fascination surrounding who owns it, how people can get it, and what it means to Mandalorian culture. After we saw a contrivance to get it back to Bo Katan, now thie darksaber gets broken in the most anticlimactic way possible. What the hell? Why did we bother investing in this thing if it breaks so easily, and nobody really reacts to it at all? The destruction of the darksaber doesn't get brought up again, and it has no relevance to the episode at all. After so much of the season 2 finale and the intrigue heading into season 3 was centered around the darksaber, I can't help but be massively underwhelmed with how it was handled this season. The Unknown: So Gideon's grand plan was to clone himself and give himself the force. Is that all there is to it? Is he dead now? Or has he managed to survive this season too? With the discovery of clones of Gideon, I have to ask if there is another clone of him out there somewhere. Is the darksaber destroyed for good? Can it not be fixed? How does this affect the Mandalorians? Will Grogu get his mech back at some point? Or has the show moved on with the new IG-11 marshal in Nevarro? What will come from Mando working with Teva? How much more will we see of Mandalore and Bo Katan in this show? Best Moment: Mando setting us his new life was a nice, sappy conclusion. Character of the Episode: Mando. Conclusion: Ultimately, this was a deeply disappointing finale to a deeply disappointing season. This episode was anticlimactic, poorly written, sloppy, and overall unsatisfying in just about every way. Season 3 was also deeply disappointing. This season was a disjointed, unfocused mess that stumbled at nearly every turn. I feel like the idea and expectation of season 3 ended up being much better than what we got. A season where Mando and Bo Katan team up to unite the Mandalorians and retake Mandalore while also defeating Moff Gideon sounds like it should be a good time. But the season was so messy, it failed to tell compelling stories, and the writing was even worse than it had been in previous seasons. Add in a couple of awful episodes in the back half of the season when the show should have been ramping up to something great, and we have a season that fails on almost every level and is even worse when you look back on it. I hope season 4 can get this show back on track. Score: 46 Summary: The zombie apocalypse happens and Joel’s daughter dies in the chaos. 20 years later, Joel is a smuggler working with Tess, his partner. They are given Ellie, a girl who is immune, and tasked with bringing her across the country by the Fireflies, a terrorist group fighting military control. Joel and Tess leave Boston with Ellie but Tess is bitten and dies soon after. Joel and Ellie slowly grow closer as they travel together. They meet Henry and Sam in Kansas and help them escape, but both of them die. Joel and Ellie go to Wyoming where Joel finds his brother Tommy in a new settlement. Joel and Ellie leave to a Firefly hideout but they have left and Joel gets injured. Ellie nurses him back to health through the winter and has a close call with another group of survivors. Joel and Ellie make it to the Fireflies and Joel learns they have to kill Ellie to make a cure. Not willing to let this happen, Joel kills everyone and takes Ellie out, lying to her about what happened.
The Good: Zombies have developed something of a bad reputation in the media in recent decades. Overexposure to formulaic zombie games, the longevity of “The Walking Dead” and its many spin-offs, and the release of dozens of zombie movies in the early 2000s has made the concept of zombies feel as unoriginal and overdone as your average teenage drama show. But contrary to the norm, “The Last of Us” shines because of its unique spin on a post-apocalyptic TV show. Zombies have been done before, but never like this. This show manages to make the outbreak feel so real and terrifying in a way that most other forms of media fail to. Most striking is the fact that we’re given a very plausible reasoning behind the outbreak, with fungus taking over the bodies of humans resulting in a fast-spreading disease that can’t be cured. So many excellent scenes early in the show make this feel absolutely terrifying. The first scene of the show establishes the concept in a creative and engaging way, and the first scene of the second episode shows how futile resistance is and how screwed humanity is in the face of this fungus. These scenes together also nicely show how humanity had the capacity to anticipate this problem, but it was ignored and now we pay the price for it. These two scenes captivate through showing how man is often at the mercy of powers beyond our control, and the way these ideas are communicated is reminiscent of “Chernobyl”, which is very high praise to give to a zombie show. As good as the premise might be, we need a strong emotional core and a compelling story to make it worth investing in this world. Thankfully, the show immediately understands this and focuses on giving us that emotional core from the very first episode. There is a terrific sequence in the first episode that shows the sheer chaos that comes about from the zombie apocalypse, but everything that we see is from the perspective of Joel and Sarah. The first few scenes in this time period are fixated on the bond these two have, while we subtly realize what’s going on in the background, and that is far more terrifying as we can do nothing but hope that these characters realize what’s happening and get out okay. The fantastic outbreak sequence works so well because we are invested in Joel, Sarah, and Tommy and seeing them gradually give in to fear and the primal need for survival in the face of such horrors is absolutely engaging. By the end of the sequence, Sarah is dead and Joel is in tears, and the show has successfully emotionally invested us into the narrative before the real story even begins. This is masterful storytelling and is a textbook example of how to hook an audience to get the most out of the story you are telling. The emotional core doesn’t end there either. The best thing about this show is that the premise of a zombie apocalypse never takes over the show, and it certainly never distracts from the emotional core. And that core is the relationship between Joel and Ellie. At its heart, this show is never about the zombies or about how the world ended. It’s about a man who rediscovers his humanity by connecting with a loveable young girl that reminds him of his deceased daughter. This is such a beautiful idea for a story, and there is loads of emotional impact within these 9 episodes. Joel and Ellie are well-written characters beautifully realized by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. These characters feel real in their mannerisms, behaviour, and their interactions with one another. Because of this, it’s easy to invest and care about them, elevating every single episode of the show because I’m so interested in seeing how they develop. Joel is a hardened survivor who does what’s necessary, which is always refreshing in a post-apocalyptic show. But he’s not static, and throughout the season he learns what it’s like to have somebody to care about again and to love someone again, a sweet human story to tell with a character who looked like he lost his humanity decades ago. Meanwhile Ellie is a really well-written teenager who is smart and sarcastic, while also still being unaware of the realities of the world around her in certain ways. She is able to ground Joel through her wacky interactions with him, while Joel is able to teach Ellie what she needs to know in order to survive. Their relationship is natural, develops beautifully throughout the seasons, and culminates with such a fascinating change following Joel’s decision to murder all of the Fireflies in the season finale. Every episode offers something new to this relationship, and I was thoroughly entertained following these two for all nine episodes. Another constant delight throughout this first season was the world-building. The visuals in this show look absolutely incredible, and they sell this post-apocalyptic world to me, making it feel more real than what would be possible in a lower budget show. Every episode offered some new visuals and locations, and I was consistently amused by Ellie’s reactions to sights that she has never seen before. But even more than the visuals, I looked forward to seeing the new people that Joel and Ellie would encounter in every episode. So much of the allure of this world came from seeing what kinds of different societies existed in this world and what kinds of people populate it. Nearly every episode showed us new groups of people and told us new stories that were engaging and intriguing to follow. Some stories were expanded on greatly, with Bill and Frank’s relationship being an enormous highlight, as was Henry and Sam’s story. But even other smaller characters were fun to meet, like the old couple in the cabin. Every new episode offered a fun new group and a fun new story. I mentioned Bill and Frank already, and I found their arc to be one of the most beautiful and compelling parts of the show. Kathleen’s settlement had issues (see: The Bad), but I was gripped by Henry and Sam’s story as these two poor kids try to evade a literal manhunt. Tommy’s successful communist settlement was unique, and it was nice to see a successful and peaceful group instead of sheer brutality for once. Lastly, I quite enjoyed the time we spent with David’s settlement, and the cannibalism twist was very affecting. The Bad: I praised the way this show handled the zombie apocalypse, and I stand by that. But I have to ask, where the hell are all of the infected? They have a presence in the first couple episodes, but as the show goes on they seem to be mysteriously absent. I get that the show may have wanted to reduce the needless action sequences from the game, but I find it hard to believe that the infected have such a limited presence in this world. It raises the question of why FEDRA can’t take back the world, because it seems like the infected are hardly even around anymore. Furthermore, this show has such great world-building, but I need to see the infected roaming the abandoned areas to buy into this world being uninhabitable and the show does not give us that. Zombies are good in small doses and can provide thrilling action sequences, but the show never lives up to the potential that a zombie apocalypse can provide, especially with zombies as ruthless, fast, and terrifying as the ones presented in this show. I really wish that this season had been longer, maybe 13 episodes or so. What makes TV stand out compared to movies is its longevity. We invest so much time with the characters in a TV show, and that longevity allows us to grow to care for these characters so much more than in a movie because we spend so much time with them and grow attached. This show had such compelling characters in Joel and Ellie, but I never felt like I cared about them as much as I should have because I didn’t get that sense of attachment through longevity with them. This hurt the show later in its run especially as some of the more emotional moments didn’t hit as hard as they otherwise could have. Additionally, several episodes in this show spent long periods of time away from Joel and Ellie (“Long, Long Time”, “Endure and Survive”, “Left Behind”), giving us an even smaller amount of time with them. Because of that, I wish the show had been longer so that we could spend more time growing attached to these characters and the bond that they have. There’s certainly potential to tell more stories in this world and to create more problems for Joel and Ellie to solve, so the show feeling stretched out surely would not be an issue. Budget may be a factor, but this show was always going to be a hit, so having some extra episodes would not have hurt. Perhaps I am being a bit greedy here, but this show could have gone from great to amazing if we had a little bit more time to grow attached with Joel and Ellie in between the huge story moments that we got in every episode. A few specific storylines didn’t work too well for me. Ellie’s flashback with Riley was executed well and told a nice story, but its lackadaisical pacing, predictable outcome, and lack of suspense hurt it badly. The Kansas City settlement was the weakest and least compelling group of people, and I couldn’t quite buy into the idea of it. Kathleen was miscast and poorly executed, and I never bought into her as a leader that inspires her followers to commit the volatile deeds that they did. Best Episodes: E01 When You’re Lost in the Darkness: An instantly engaging pilot episode that’s particularly helped by its exceptional 30 minute opening sequence that tells a compelling story surrounding the outbreak with Sarah’s death being an enormous gut punch to cap it off. E03 Long, Long Time: The best episode of the show. This episode is primarily focused on the story of Bill and Frank and develops their relationship with beautiful realism, before concluding it in a heartbreaking and powerful way. Add on some quality scenes with Joel and Ellie, and this episode is a huge winner. E05 Endure and Survive: This one wasn’t without its flaws, but the story of Henry and Sam was engaging and memorable, concluding with the devastating deaths of both characters. Worst Episodes: E07 Left Behind: There isn’t a bad episode in this show, but this one is the weakest and most flawed of the bunch. It tells a decent story with good acting and writing, but the episode drags on without any suspense, testing my patience at numerous points. Conclusion: “The Last of Us” had a great first season. Yes, I have my quibbles because I’m mean, but looking beyond those, the experience of this first season was nearly magical. This is a story that understands the value of immersion into a world, and emotional investment into its characters, two essential aspects of a great TV show that often get overlooked by many TV shows out there. This dedication to storytelling values ensures that every episode has me invested, every character beat is interesting to follow, and every suspenseful scene has me at the edge of my seat. This show works very well and will provide entertainment to everyone. I also have to address that this show is an adaptation of a video game. As an adaptation, this is absolutely as good as it gets. And for people who question the purpose of this adaptation, I have to bring up how the existence of this show has allowed people who have never picked up a video game to experience the beautiful story of “The Last of Us” while providing another version of this story for existing fans of the game. This first season is a great standalone season for everyone, and while it isn’t perfect, it’s a show that I can comfortably recommend to just about anyone. Now, the challenge will be to continue this story in a compelling way. "The Walking Dead" was another zombie show with an excellent first season that fell off almost immediately. Hopefully this show remains compelling as it continues. Summary: A flashback shows a pregnant Anna kill an infected but she gets bitten. She delivers the child anyways. Marlene finds her and takes the baby, Ellie, and kills Anna. In the present, Joel and Ellie arrive in Salt Lake City. They get knocked out and captured by the Fireflies. Marlene explains to Joel that Ellie is being taken for a surgery that can develop a cure but will kill her. Joel is escorted out but he turns on his captors and kills everyone, getting Ellie out of surgery. Marlene begs him to stop but he kills her too. Ellie wakes up later and Joel lies, saying the Fireflies stopped looking for a cure. They return to Tommy’s settlement.
The Good: The episode started on a good note with the flashback. It’s good to see Ellie’s birth under sad circumstances, and it also explains her immunity and how Marlene knew Ellie’s mother. In the present, this episode has an air of sadness to it. Not only because of Ellie’s sullenness following her experience with David, but also because their journey is nearing the end and there’s a sense of finality in the air. Joel opens his heart to Ellie in this episode more than he ever has before in an attempt to get her to stay with him, making it clear that Joel prioritizes his new “daughter” over any attempt to save the world. Joel tells her that she saved him, tells her about the time he nearly killed himself, and puts in plenty of effort to cheer her up. This is the most fatherly he has been, and it’s clear that he’s afraid of losing her. This makes his choice later in the episode the most obvious decision. The cure is being developed, but Joel isn’t willing to sacrifice Ellie for that. The show does a fantastic job of painting this as a grey decision. Joel is fighting for his family, but we get to see the mass murder in his wake as he saves Ellie, killing innocent after innocent, culminating in him gunning down Marlene after she disarmed herself to give him another chance. It’s dark and harrowing watching the main character kill innocents, and it leaves us with a fascinating question of if what Joel did is right. Pedro Pascal is superb in this episode, and even more interesting than what happens is how Joel lies to Ellie about it. Joel did what he had to in order to save her, knowing full well she would never have supported it, and now he has to live with that. And if Ellie figures it out, she’s going to have to live with that knowledge too. The Bad: It was disappointing not to see the infected play any role in this episode. I understand that the show focuses on humanity, but it’s quite shocking how small of a role the infected played in this season, and they barely existed past episode 5. This final episode could have given them a bigger role. I also feel that this episode was a bit too short for what it was doing. I would have liked to see some more time given to the conclusion of the season, giving the characters more time to stew with what happened. The Unknown: Will Ellie learn what actually happened from Joel? Does she already know deep down? Will Joel be able to live with what he’s done for Ellie? Best Moment: The final moment is a thing of beauty. Ellie asks for the truth, and Joel calmly lies to her face. Does she know he’s lying? Can she accept what happened? Does Joel know that she probably knows? Lots of fascinating depth. Character of the Episode: Joel. Conclusion: A powerful, thought-provoking, and sometimes fascinating finale that fits “The Last of Us” perfectly. I had my gripes, but this was lovely overall. Score: 70 Summary: Ellie goes hunting and encounters David and James. She holds David at gunpoint and David agrees to give her medicine. Ellie takes the medicine and leaves. David returns to his camp and decides to go after Ellie. The next day, David’s group comes after her and Ellie is captured. Joel wakes up and is found. He kills several of David’s men. Ellie is captured and learns David is a cannibal. She fights out and kills James and David. When leaving, Joel finds her and hugs her.
The Good: It’s a lot of fun seeing Ellie surviving on her own, showing us how far she has come. The way she handles David and James is amusing, especially with how she imitates Joel’s typical behaviour in these situations. David is a unique character for Ellie to contend with. He seems like a bit of a zealot, but he feels endearing enough where Ellie can let her guard down around him, and the reveal that he’s more sinister than it initially seemed was well handled. I enjoyed his conversations with Ellie as Ellie gradually realizes how depraved and horrific this man really is. The second half of the episode raises up the suspense in a great way. Everyone hunting for the injured Joel was gripping, and it was great to see Joel pulling out all the stops to get to Ellie. Meanwhile Ellie having to fight the sinister David is a terrifying situation, and it makes Ellie brutally murdering him feel really cathartic. No teenager should ever contend with a predator like that no matter what world you live in, and it’s easy to sympathize with the trauma Ellie just went through. The final moment as Joel reunites with Ellie and comforts her was sweet and emotional. The Bad: Unfortunately David became a bit of a cliche villain by the end. He started monologuing and taunting Ellie towards the end, becoming comically villainous for no real reason. Some little things did not make sense. Why was Joel able to kill so many men without anybody being alerted about what’s happening? What happened to the rest of David’s settlement? Where did David take Ellie? How was Joel able to find her if they were away from David’s settlement, and if they were in David’s settlement, where was everyone else? The Unknown: What’s left of David’s settlement? Will we see it again? Best Moment: A scarred and terrified Ellie being hugged by Joel after murdering David. Character of the Episode: Ellie. Conclusion: This episode focused on an interesting and engaging new group, putting Joel and Ellie in a high intensity situation. Some flaws crept up in the episode’s second half, but this was good overall. Score: 68 Summary: In the present Ellie treats Joel’s wound. Flashbacks reveal Ellie’s relationship with her friend Riley. Riley comes back from a long absence, having joined the Fireflies. She takes Ellie to an abandoned mall where they have a fun time and ultimately kiss. They are suddenly attacked by an infected and both get bit. They sit together until the end.
The Good: Ellie and Riley’s relationship is well done and they are fun to watch together. It’s very important that these two are likeable and have a sweet relationship for this episode to work at all, and thankfully the episode knocks this relationship out of the park. The acting and writing is great and makes this dumb decision to go into the mall for a night of fun feel human, real, and tragic. I also enjoyed the thematic discussions that further explored the differences between FEDRA and the Fireflies. I would have liked to see more of this in earlier episodes, but I’m glad that we’re at least getting it now. The Bad: This episode is painfully slow and long for what it accomplishes. We know what’s going to happen in this episode. We know Riley is doomed and we know that Ellie is going to be bit and captured by the Fireflies. Watching this all happen in slow-motion is not particularly exciting or interesting, regardless of how well written, acted, and produced the episode is. If the story isn’t engaging enough, then no amount of excellence from other aspects can make up for that. Unfortunately, there is not much tension in the episode at all, and I couldn’t connect much with Riley since I knew she was doomed, and that stopped me from feeling the dread and suspense that I was supposed to feel. I also have to question the necessity of this episode since we did not learn much of note considering how lengthy this episode is. I’m also disappointed that we did not get to see Ellie contending with Riley dying while she remains alive. Surely that’s a powerful idea that deserved to get some time at least. Lastly, I didn’t quite feel Ellie’s desperation when she was trying to save Joel, and I think that’s because we haven’t spent enough time with them together to make me feel the connection I am supposed to feel. I wish this season had been longer. The Unknown: What happened to Riley? Did Ellie kill her in the end? Will Joel recover properly from his injury? Best Moment: Ellie and Riley both realizing they were bit and that their lives are over was harrowing and sad. Character of the Episode: Ellie. Conclusion: This episode was well-made and told a nice story, but it had significant problems with suspense, pacing, and engagement, holding it back a lot. Score: 63 Summary: Joel and Ellie reach Wyoming, and with some guidance from an old couple, they find Tommy. Tommy has a wife, Maria, and a safe community. Joel is concerned for Ellie and wants Tommy to take her to the Fireflies. Ellie is upset and has a big argument with Joel. The next day, Joel ultimately goes with Ellie. They go to the Firefly headquarters at a university but find that they moved. Joel fights off some bandits but gets stabbed in the process. Later, he collapses.
The Good: The opening sequence in the cabin is really good stuff. I continue to be interested and entertained by the types of people living in this world, and this funny old couple living on their own in the woods is another fun encounter. It was nice to see Joel finally reunite with Tommy, and their interactions throughout the episode are good. It’s clear that they love each other and missed each other, but there are still tensions between them due to their past. This all builds up beautifully to Joel finally opening himself up to Tommy about his concerns regarding Ellie, which is a fantastic scene. Much of this episode is spent on Joel and Ellie’s conflict, and both characters are written well throughout. Their fight feels real, and I like that the both of them being able to unburden themselves leads to them having an even stronger bond after they leave Tommy’s settlement together. The episode’s final scenes at the university are solid with some mild tension and a big surprise when Joel is badly injured out of nowhere. The Bad: This is a slow episode with much less tension, suspense, and character exploration than previous episodes. Considering that the episode is structured around a melodramatic confrontation between Joel and Ellie, it doesn’t have the same level of storytelling as what has come before. Obviously Joel and Ellie won’t part ways, so I had very limited interest in their conflict. Despite being written well, their conflict is less interesting due to how overly dramatic and predictable it is. The Unknown: Will Tommy’s settlement survive? Will the story go back there? How badly is Joel injured? I presume he’s not dead. Why did the Fireflies leave? Why did they go to Salt Lake City? Best Moment: Joel finally opening up by talking to Tommy about his fears. Character of the Episode: Joel. Conclusion: This episode was solid enough, but a bit too melodramatic for my taste. Certainly the weakest so far. Score: 64 Summary: Henry and Sam are being hunted for collaborating with FEDRA and getting Kathleen’s brother killed. They are left alone without food and follow Joel and Ellie. The group makes a deal: Henry leads them out while Joel fights any infected on the way. Joel agrees, and while traveling together, Joel and Ellie grow close to Henry and Sam. On their way out, Kathleen finds them and tries to capture them, but a bunch of infected are released. Everyone in the resistance is killed but Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam escape. Sam has been bit and tells Ellie who tries to heal him. The next morning, Sam turns and Henry kills him before killing himself.
The Good: Henry and Sam are immediately compelling as characters. Even though they are being hunted, we are able to easily connect with them since Henry seems to be doing everything for his younger brother, a justifiable reason for him to rat out others. That this episode endears us to them before we catch up with Joel and Ellie is impressive. The opening scenes also do well to show us how FEDRA was defeated and the horrors that have happened in Kansas City since. The rest of the episode is mostly fantastic. The interactions between Joel, Henry, Ellie, and Sam are terrific and well written. The connections they make with one another feel real, and it’s sweet to see Ellie finding a companion to be a kid with, while Joel is able to begrudgingly respect Henry for all he has done. This makes the episode’s conclusion so much more tragic (see: Best Moment). The scenes in the underground daycare and between Ellie and Sam in the motel are well written and brutally affecting. I really like that the infected didn’t make an appearance until the end of the episode. It would have been easy to include a meaningless action scene in the sewers, but the writers showed restraint, understanding that things would be way more tense if there was only one big action scene at the end. The action was mostly well done, and it gave the episode a suitably cinematic climax. The Bad: There are some weakly written moments in the climax. When the cars arrived, I was very surprised at Ellie, Henry, and Sam all running away in plain sight instead of hiding in the woods. Even in a panic, what they did was massively dumb. Joel having such pinpoint accuracy in his aim was very unrealistic throughout that climax. I also found it a bit convenient how the infected all poured out when they did, and also how the truck happened to hit the single spot where they were all at. Kathleen did not work as a character for me. I just don’t buy her as a leader and I found it hard to believe that people would follow her to do all of this. Surely somebody out there would stand by her brother’s morality and refuse to treat the FEDRA men so barbarically. Sending everyone and everything to kill Henry is such a bizarre decision, there’s no way that nobody disagreed, yet that’s what the episode tries to make us believe. The Unknown: What’s next for Joel and Ellie? Are they going to successfully walk all the way to Wyoming? Best Moment: Henry killing Sam and killing himself was a real tearjerker with outstanding acting. We grew to care quite a bit for these characters throughout the episode so seeing such an awful fate befall both of them is absolutely devastating. Even though it is somewhat predictable that these two would die, the episode did a great job making this heartbreaking. Character of the Episode: Henry. Conclusion: A crushing episode with a devastating ending. This is an emotional high point in the show and you can’t help but feel awful for Henry and Sam. Unfortunately, the weak story surrounding Kathleen and some poor writing drags this down, but the emotional experience is excellent. Score: 74 Summary: Ellie and Joel continue to bond as they travel on the road together. They arrive in Kansas City where the road is blocked. They are ambushed looking for a way around and kill some soldiers. They become fugitives in a community where a resistance has destroyed FEDRA. Joel and Ellie hide out in buildings while the resistance, led by Kathleen hunts for them. They climb up a building but are awoken with two people holding guns to their heads.
The Good: I liked a lot about this episode. Joel and Ellie remain the heart of the show and their growing relationship in this episode is beautiful to watch. I went from laughing at their interactions to finding it genuinely sweet and beautiful that Ellie was able to make Joel smile and let his guard down a bit by the episode’s end, rediscovering the passion that was once in this man when he was a father. Joel is an excellent character. The reminder that he has killed innocents to survive was chilling, especially since he had to admit it to Ellie. I appreciate that this show isn’t focused on a character with a distinct moral compass. Joel isn’t a particularly good person, and that’s so much more interesting than a cookie-cutter protagonist which would be out of place in such a cruel world like this. The visuals in this episode continue to be phenomenal and I love the post-apocalyptic world. The Hank Williams sequence was magnificent to behold. I liked the scenes in Kansas City. The shootout was tense and climactic with a great moment in Ellie getting her “first” kill. There is good suspense in Joel and Ellie having to think on their feet and travel in buildings while being hunted. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: Who is Kathleen? How did she defeat FEDRA? Why is she in charge? What was that cracked and damaged ground? What happened there? Is it a type of zombie? Who is Henry? Why is Kathleen after him? How are Joel and Ellie going to escape the city? Who are the two people they encountered at the end? Best Moment: Joel and Ellie bonding a little bit before sleeping felt earned after all they have been through so far. A beautiful moment that sold me on these two developing a father/daughter relationship. Character of the Episode: Ellie. Conclusion: This is not as action-packed as the first two episodes, and not as emotional as the third. However, the world-building and relationship-building was excellent here, and this still ends up being a very enjoyable episode. Score: 68 Summary: A flashback tells the story of Bill and Frank. Bill is a survivalist and he avoided evacuation. He roped off a part of his neighborhood and lived alone. He lived in peace until Frank arrived. He let Frank in and they developed a relationship. After 20 years, they became friends with Joel and Tess but have grown old. Frank has mobility issues and decides that he wants to die. Bill decides to die with him. Joel and Ellie walk together and arrive at the neighborhood. They see what happened to Frank and Bill, take what they can, and leave in a pickup truck.
The Good: Bill and Frank’s story is the highlight here. Their story has no bearing on the main plot, but I’m still glad that we got this story because it was touching and powerful, while developing a significant core theme of the show. Bill was a survivalist that enjoyed a life of isolation, merely surviving and doing little else. But when he met Frank, he found purpose in his life greater than survival. This story highlights the importance of love and family in life, and seeing this sweet man Frank open up the tender side of Bill is heartwarming and beautiful. I love that the end of their story had nothing to do with zombies. Instead, the episode took a more human direction by having them simply grow old together and choose to die together once they felt fulfilled. Frank’s final day is heartbreaking and uplifting at once as Bill and Frank have one final great memory together and die together feeling fulfilled. What a beautiful story, one that I will not soon forget. Even though this had nothing to do with the main plot, the story was so compelling and powerful that it is a more than worthy addition to the show, and has a damn good chance of being the single best thing in this first season. Joel’s story ties brilliantly into this, as Bill learning to love and find purpose could very well be a mirror for Joel’s arc, where he may have to learn to love and find purpose through taking care of Ellie. Their relationship continues to be fun in this episode. Seeing Joel and Ellie go from new location to new location discussing various things and growing closer throughout the duration of the episode is surprisingly fun, and it’s every bit as enjoyable as any action sequence that could be thrown at us. I am enjoying these character-building scenes. The Bad: Bill shooting out in the street with no cover is silly. A survivalist like him should know better. The Unknown: How is Joel going to process Tess’s death? It seems like he is ignoring his grief. Will he grow closer with Ellie now that it’s just the two of them? Best Moment: Bill and Frank’s last day together portrayed wordlessly with a beautiful score in the background was masterful. Such an emotional conclusion to their story. Character of the Episode: Bill and Frank. I have to give it to them both. Conclusion: This was incredible stuff. We got a touching stand-alone side story about two easy to love, well-written characters while the relationship between Joel and Ellie continues to develop. What’s not to like? Score: 80 Summary: A flashback shows the outbreak of cordyceps in Jakarta. In the present, Ellie tells Joel and Tess that she is being transported to make a cure. Joel and Tess take her through Boston and cut through a museum when the main path is blocked. They get attacked by clickers but escape. Joel and Tess get to the meet but find that everyone has been killed. Joel wants to go back but learns that Tess has been bitten. Tess stays behind and dies, encouraging Joel to take Ellie ahead.
The Good: The opening sequence was really well made and it explored the fungal outbreak in a compelling way, perfectly capturing the despair of the situation. In the present, the story is strong. Ellie’s dynamic with Joel and Tess is a lot of fun, and I enjoy how she is realistically childish. She’s curious and she’s annoying, but she doesn’t behave stupidly; she behaves like an actual teenager. I enjoyed Ellie’s reactions to the outside world. The world is beautifully portrayed in this show, and the high budget is absolutely paying off. Visually, this episode is absolutely stunning, and seeing a proper rendition of this post-apocalyptic Boston makes the world feel much more immersive. The museum sequence with the clickers was great and filled with tension. I thoroughly enjoyed this sequence. Tess’ death was a moving moment and it’s sad to say goodbye to her so quickly. You feel for Joel when he realizes what’s happening, and Tess’s sacrifice has some power to it, even when we only knew the character for two episodes. The Bad: The zombie kissing Tess before she died was more weird than compelling, and it didn’t quite work for me. The Unknown: Who are Bill and Frank? What will Joel and Ellie find there? What’s their next step now that Tess is gone? Best Moment: The tense sequence in the museum with the clickers. Character of the Episode: Tess Conclusion: A solid and tense episode of story progression. There’s lots to enjoy here, and I continue to enjoy this show. Score: 69 Summary: A zombie outbreak happens in 2003, and in the chaos of escaping, Joel’s daughter Sarah is killed. 20 years later, Joel is a smuggler working with Tess. He’s trying to get a car to drive to Wyoming to help his brother Tommy. While trying to secure a battery, he encounters Marlene and the Fireflies, a group of terrorists fighting the military. They give Ellie to Joel and Tess, asking them to get her to Wyoming. While escaping, they discover that Ellie is seemingly immune to infection.
The Good: The opening 30 minutes is tremendous. The tension is palpable throughout because we know what to expect, and watching the world descend into chaos is masterfully executed. Joel, Tommy, and Sarah are fantastic, realistic characters to follow and watching them desperately attempt to survive is compelling. Sarah dying at the end is a shock and Joel’s grief in that moment was phenomenally acted. This would work well as a standalone movie, it is excellent. I enjoyed the look of the post-apocalyptic world, and it makes sense that the military would have such a tight lockdown on everyone and everything. The episode does well to establish resource scarcity and the struggles that everyone faces. Tess and Marlene are intriguing new characters as well. The Bad: The show was adequate in introducing the new world, but it was not particularly compelling and it did not capture my imagination like it should have. Things felt surprisingly flat, and the characters didn’t grab me after the timeskip like they did before. It’s a shame that the second half was a bit of a let down. The Unknown: What did Marlene tell Ellie? Why was she so important? Is it because she’s immune? Where is Tommy? Is he a Firefly? What happened to him after the world ended? Will Joel embrace Ellie as a daughter surrogate? That seems to be the direction that the show is going. Best Moment: Sarah’s death was devastating and tremendously well acted. Character of the Episode: Joel. Conclusion: The first half hour of this was superb television, and while things did slow down a bit after that, this is still an excellent pilot. Score: 72 Summary: Kane is a spy and informs Gideon that the Mandalorians are going to retake Mandalore. Gideon gets reinforcements from his allies. Bo Katan unites the Mandalorians and they leave for Mandalore. On Mandalore, the group meets up with another clan that has survived on Mandalore. They are loyal to Bo Katan and follow her. Bo Katan admits that she surrendered the darksaber to Moff Gideon, who betrayed her. The group get attacked by a monster and go underground to the great forge. However, it's a trap as Gideon is waiting for them. He has new troopers with Beskar that attack. Mando is captured, and Paz Vizsla is killed. The others escape.
The Good: Gideon's return is welcome for the show. He comes back and brings the plot some much needed urgency and tension as he works to stop the Mandalorians from reclaiming Mandalore to further his own agenda. It's interesting and exciting to see Gideon interacting with other Empire loyalists, showing that there is a growing threat right underneath the New Republic's nose. There's also a neat reveal showing us that Kane is still working for Moff Gideon. The opening sequence works so well at providing urgency, and it's helped greatly by Giancarlo Esposito's electric performance. I liked most of the set-up done in this episode. Mando and Bo Katan's relationship continues to develop in a nice way. They have developed a mutual respect with the journeys they have been through together, and Mando telling Bo Katan that he will be loyal to her was a good moment to conclude the tensions they have had against each other. I also quite like that the show is examining Bo Katan's anxiety of being a leader combined with the guilt of her letting down her people during the Purge when she surrendered to Moff Gideon. This is good additional depth for the character, and I like it a lot. The highlight of this episode is the action sequence at the end. This is a lengthy sequence that is packed with suspense because it felt like anything could happen. The action is beautifully choreographed, the situation is easy to follow, and Gideon's presence and interactions with Mando and Bo Katan are immensely fun to watch. It's always good to see the villain behaving competently, and Gideon is quite ruthless in his approach here, which I appreciate. I really liked the introduction to the Praetorian guards. They were strong and intimidating with how easily they disposed of Paz Vizsla, and I hope that they will be a major threat in future seasons. The Bad: Paz Vizsla's sacrifice falls a bit flat because it feels unnecessary and it feels like familiar territory for "Star Wars". How often in "The Clone Wars" did we see this exact same type of heroic sacrifice from characters who were one-dimensional and not fully fleshed out? It works better there in a children's animated story, but in a more mature live-action show it feels cheesy. It's also quite amusing that Paz Vizsla claims that there are too many men to kill, and yet he somehow manages to kill every single one himself. Every Mandalorian could have just stayed and they would have been fine! The fight over the chess game was stupid. It's melodramatic and predictable enough as is, but I'm baffled by the Mandalorian culture indicating that nobody can step in and stop this fight. Why?? This is infighting, and immature infighting over a stupid debate. Why on Earth should this not be stopped, and why wouldn't Bo Katan, the leader, do something about this? Perhaps even stupider is when Grogu stops the fight and everyone applauds him for it, with Bo Katan telling Mando that he taught him well. WHAT?? So nobody is supposed to stop this fight for some unknown reason, yet when somebody does interfere they get praised for stopping it? What the hell is this? I can't make heads or tails of what is supposed to be happening in this scene. It's very sloppily executed. Of course a random monster attack happens and forces the Mandalorians away. I bet we will never see this thing again for the rest of the series. It's disappointing because I love seeing world-building in this universe, and I would love to know what this monster was and why it was there. Instead, we get no details about it and limited reactions questioning what it was. It will ultimately go down as just another meaningless spectacle. The Unknown: Is Thrawn going to come back? Will he play a role in this show, or will he only be in the Ahsoka show? What is Project Necromancer? My best guess is that it's the plan to bring Palpatine back from the dead. Why did Gideon take Mando to the debriefing room? Does he have a plan for Mando? Or is this just the villain doing something dumb for the convenience of the story? Is the Mandalorian fleet going to get wiped out? Will their reinforcements help Bo Katan and the other Mandalorians escape? Best Moment: The action sequence at the end of the episode was exciting and intense with great direction. It had me at the edge of my seat at times. Character of the Episode: Moff Gideon. Conclusion: A good episode that gets the season moving again in time for the finale. This was the most important and high-stakes episode of the season, and it delivers an action-packed and adventurous episode with some good moments. There is still some stupid writing and cheesiness, but overall this is entertaining. Score: 66 Summary: Mando and Bo Katan head to Plazir-15 to get Bo Katan's army but they are diverted by the planet's rulers who want help for their malfunctioning droids. Mando and Bo Katan track the malfunction to Helgait, who is a Separatist. The rulers allow them to meet the Mandalorians and Bo Katan challenges Axe to a duel for leadership of the army. Bo Katan wins. Mando surrenders the darksaber to her.
The Good: This episode has some decent references to the prequel movies with the presence of battle droids, separatists, and a mention of Count Dooku. It makes sense that separatist loyalists would still be around, and I appreciate that the show touched on this idea. The final scenes of the episode had some good stuff to them. Everything that came before was useless filler, but the ending had enough plot relevance to keep me engaged. Bo Katan fighting Axe was decent fun, and it felt triumphant to see her back on top after how miserable and alone she was at the start of the season. The Bad: From the first minute, this was a bad episode. The opening sequence is intended to reintroduce Axe and his group of Mandalorians, but the sequence is really bad. We're thrust into a random situation where a boy has run away with a girl and has to be retrieved. The show actually attempts to flesh out this relationship, and it does so with some of the most disjointed and clunky dialogue I've ever heard, voiced by voice actors who are doing a terrible job. On top of that, the introduction of the Mandalorians is also awful. The dialogue is again terrible, completely lacking in subtlety with characters simply saying everything that the writers want us to know. Lines like "we're privateers, individuals for hire" and "we are [honourable] kid, all it takes are a few credits" are so cheesy and predictable, illustrating their point without a shred of subtlety. And this is not just localized to the opening scene. The whole episode is written with spotty dialogue like this. The main story is the purest definition of filler and a waste of my time. The Plazir-15 plot is filler because if you remove it from the show, absolutely nothing is lost. Bo Katan and Mando could have easily gone straight to Axe without any issue and nothing would have changed at all. Instead, the rulers of Plazir-15 are inserted into the story as a needless "obstacle", providing a random task for Mando and Bo Katan to complete, a task that I have zero investment in, wasting my time until these two inevitably complete the mission so they can move on to the important stuff. The entire story was a yawnfest. We get a sloppily executed mystery story, and it is painfully bland because it's one of those stories that gives you no reason to emotionally invest and tries to make up for it by throwing in a bunch of random plot. It doesn't work at all. The Helgait twist is extremely predictable (just look at his name, for god's sake), and it adds nothing of note to the show since separatists have played no role in this series up until now. It feels more like a poorly hidden Easter Egg instead of something interesting in the world. The rulers of Plazir-15 are terrible. Jack Black and Lizzo completely took me out of the episode, and it feels like these characters only exist to justify these cameos. They were boring and nothing meaningful was explored with them at all. The planet of Plazir-15 could be a good opportunity to explore a different society in this world with unique living conditions, but this episode does not even attempt to explore any of the deeper ideas behind this story. That's very disappointing. Oh, and we get a dumb scene where Grogu gets knighted. I literally could not care less. The ending of the episode sees Bo Katan get the darksaber back, and I could not be more disappointed with how this happened. Mando is able to give it back to her through the silliest of technicalities which makes the culture behind the darksaber seem like a joke. It also raises the question of why Bo Katan didn't just fight Mando and have Mando throw the fight so she could get it back. Furthermore, this cheap technicality concludes the arc of Mando having the darksaber in such a disappointing way. Mando getting the darksaber for himself was a pivotal moment in season 2, and now it has been undone in the most uninteresting way imaginable with minimal conflict or drama. That's a damn shame. With Grogu retrieved again and the darksaber back with Bo Katan, season 2's ending feels almost completely pointless now. It hasn't even been a full season since then, and we are already back to the status quo for Mando and Grogu. The Unknown: Was Bo Katan's army the group that freed Gideon? Was that one of the jobs that they did? Is Bo Katan going to keep the darksaber for good now? Best Moment: Bo Katan fighting Axe was the one moment that felt like it had actual stakes. Character of the Episode: Bo Katan. Conclusion: This is what I don't want to see from "The Mandalorian". 90% of this episode was spent on a meaningless filler side story, and the other 10% was a poorly written, disappointing resolution to a long-running story thread. With only two episodes left in the season, we desperately need to see something better from this show. Score: 43 Summary: In a future world, Princess Carolyn's descendant Ruthie tells the story of Princess Carolyn's bad day. In the present, Princess Carolyn is fired by Courtney Portnoy and finds out her family heirloom necklace was fake all along. She learns from Charlie that he gave an offer to Judah that she never learned about. She goes to a doctor's appointment and learns she miscarried. She can't bring herself to tell Ralph and goes to the office. She fires Judah and gets drunk in her other apartment. Ralph goes to see her and finds out. They get into an argument and break up. Princess Carolyn returns to her office and is called by BoJack, who had a bad day failing to get adoption information for Hollyhock.
The Good: This episode did a magnificent job of portraying the worst possible day for Princess Carolyn. The writing here was brilliant as the episode gradually escalated the stakes for Princess Carolyn as she goes from career setback, to family setback, to personal setback, to losing the most important relationships in her life, leaving her with absolutely nothing by the end. It can be tough to create that feeling of pure despair and emptiness that accompanies a character losing everything, but this episode nails that feeling, turning this into quite a sad and memorable experience. We have seen nothing but good things in her relationship with Ralph, so seeing Princess Carolyn's inability to process her miscarriage destroy that relationship is heartbreaking, especially knowing that she has essentially lost her dream of a perfect family life with this break-up. Just as heartbreaking is Judah being fired. We've seen Judah be an ideal employee that genuinely cares for a long while now, and it's very sad to see him get abruptly fired, leaving Princess Carolyn without one of her most dependent and reliable confidants. These two scenes work very well because I understand why Princess Carolyn felt the need to cut off these relationships even if she did not want to. The presence of Ruthie in this crazy alternative world is a fun idea that brilliantly sets up a sad twist ending. The final moments where it becomes clear that this happy ending we were promised by Ruthie was fake and Princess Carolyn just has to deal with her life crumbling around her is devastating. I went through the episode believing that there would be a happy ending, and revealing the sad reality was tremendously effective. On a lighter note, the alternate universe had some fun jokes too, including the weird bean system, and the teacher bot getting frustrated by the BoJack and Diane B-story. BoJck's side story is effective too. Not only does it offer some much needed levity, but it intersects with Princess Carolyn's story in a meaningful way to end the episode (see: Best Moment). There's some lovely irony in contrasting BoJack's "worst day ever" with Princess Carolyn's, while also showing us why Princess Carolyn has kept in touch with BoJack for so long since he does offer something of a safe space for her when she has had an awful day. Lots of fun little things. The biggest laugh of the episode was Princess Carolyn returning to her apartment to see Todd's horrific clown dentist business getting underway. I loved Ralph's business ideas written on the board, with the most amusing being a crossed off "Halloween in January" idea because it has "already been done". Princess Carolyn's cat ancestors being portrayed as real-life cut-outs was creative and funny, and it made for a memorable sequence. I liked the George Clooney/Jurj Clooners line which highlighted how self-aware this show can be sometimes. Lastly, I was amused by BoJack getting Diane to come alogn with him by saying there was a "feminism-related emergency". The Bad: Nothing outright bad, but if that was the end of Princess Carolyn's relationship with Ralph, then that was surprisingly abrupt. Most break-ups would not happen so quickly and definitively in these circumstances. I hope there is more to their story. The Unknown: Are these decisions going to be permanent? Is Princess Carolyn and Ralph's relationship over? Is Judah gone for good? Will Princess Carolyn keep trying to get pregnant or is she going to end up adopting? Is Todd's clown dentist venture legal? It seems like this is going in the wrong direction. Best Moment: BoJack calls Princess Carolyn and for once she seems like she could use his company. As BoJack obliviously prattles on about his "horrible" day, Princess Carolyn gives us the sad reveal that all of those promises from Ruthie that told us there would be a happy ending were false, just something in her imagination to help her process everything that she has lost. This was a real shock to me, and the moment was so real and relatable (we've all had those days) so it works tremendously well. Character of the Episode: Princess Carolyn. Conclusion: What a sad, powerful episode. I think just about everyone can relate to having those truly awful days, and seeing Princess Carolyn go through setback after setback until she had nothing was absolutely heartbreaking. Score: 80 Summary: Gorian Shand attacks Nevarro and Greef calls for aid. Teva, a New Republic captain, sees the order and goes to the officials but they refuse to help. Teva then goes to the Mandalorian covert to let them know. Mando proposes that they help Greef, and they agree to go. The Mandalorians defeat the pirates and Gorian dies when his ship crashes. Greef gives the Mandalorians a new home on Nevarro. The Armorer speaks with Bo Katan and selects her to bring other Mandalorians to retake Mandalore. Teva finds a destroyed ship out in space and realizes that Gideon escaped imprisonment and Mandalorians helped him.
The Good: This episode was a good way to connect several of the disparate plot threads from early in the seasons. The pirates, Greef in Nevarro, and the New Republic storyline came together nicely to create the main conflict as pirates attacked Nevarro and a New Republic captain found a surprising amount of resistance when trying to help the planet. This continued the thematic exploration of the New Republic that the show has done really well so far. Clearly the new government is just as corrupt as the last, and these scenes nicely set up the New Republic as the new major villains in this universe. Teva is trying to genuinely help, and you feel for him when he has so much trouble with a simple request that is going to save lives. Much of this episode sees the Mandalorians saving Nevarro and it's decent stuff. Teva interacting with the covert is fun, and it's nice to see Paz Viszla stand up for Mando, agreeing to help Greef. The action scenes are well shot and entertaining as usual, and I had a good enough time watching them. The ending of the episode impressed me the most. This season has felt like treading water for much of its run, but the final two scenes finally injected some momentum into the plot, making it feel like we are going somewhere. Bo Katan has earned the trust of the covert and seeing the Armorer put faith in her to bring Mandalorians together is sweet. Now we have a goal and a plan for the season: retake Mandalore with the help that Bo Katan brings back. This is solid stuff and makes me excited for what's to come. Even better is the reveal that Gideon had escaped, bringing back a key antagonist to watch out for in the second half of the season. The final scene is intensely shot and great, and it offers a great new mystery as a Mandalorian seemingly helped Gideon escape. The Bad: The pirates never feel like a genuine threat, just the usual threat of the week. As a result, there's no tension here and the well-produced action scenes are wasted here without any suspense. These action scenes are technically fine, but they lack that level of investment to make me engaged with what I'm watching. It's a familiar problem for "The Mandalorian". The main characters quipping also doesn't help things at all. Mando comes into a 1:10 battle, but since he's quipping with Greef there is zero suspense whatsoever and we know Mando will be fine. Another familiar problem is how this series handles crowds. These crowds are unrealistically gullible and always seem to agree with whatever any person says at any given time. Mando and Paz Viszla addressing the crowd of Mandalorians became a weak scene because the crowd reactions were laughable as they went with the flow in literally every moment. A lot of little things bugged me about this episode. There were some clear budget problems when Nevarro completely evacuated, and the whole settlement hilariously seemed to be just a couple dozen people. They didn't even have any children for that school in the previous episode! I was also unimpressed by the lack of shields on Gorian Shand's ship. Surely a ship this big will have some sort of shields so that your average starfighter can't easily take it out. Yet there are no shields mentioned whatsoever. I'm frustrated by the turrets on the ship. They always fire and never hit anything in these fight scenes, so what's the point of having them? Lastly, how did none of the pirates in the building hear the Armorer coming? She was loudly murdering people a couple feet away from everyone else, and yet nobody reacts to her? That's impossible to believe. The Unknown: Who broke Gideon out? Was it Mandalorians, or were they framed? Why would Mandalorians help Gideon? Where is he now? What is he doing? Will we see Vane again? Will Bo Katan be able to recruit more Mandalorians? Will she take the dark saber from Mando? Best Moment: Bo Katan being chosen to retake Mandalore finally gives this season the forward momentum it desperately needed. Character of the Episode: Teva, he made an immediate impression. Conclusion: The ending of this episode provided a much-needed injection of momentum into this third season, and there was some nice integration of plot threads in this episode. But other than that, this was just another typical episode of "The Mandalorian". Score: 59 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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