Summary: BoJack tries to win over Kelsey, and they ultimately end up bonding as the episode foes on. Diane babysits Irving, Kelsey's daughter. Mr. Peanutbutter goes to a spa so Todd looks for something to do. He finds a chicken that escaped from Chicken 4 Dayz and grows attached to her. When the police go looking for her, he ropes in Diane and Irving to help bring her back to Gentle Farms. After doing that, they realize it doesn't feel right so they save all of the chickens and free them. They are arrested, but BoJack has a celebrity connection and frees them.
The Good: I loved the thematic exploration of consumerism throughout the episode. This episode covers the fantastic concept of how eating meat works in this universe, which is detail-work that I really appreciate. The world feels so much more real in all of its absurdity when little things like this are addressed. Anyways, the handling of food-chickens in this world is a brilliant opportunity to explore consumerism problems in this world, and I like that the episode lightly examines how painful and unethical these slaughterhouses are, a problem which is exacerbated by the fact that animals are humanoid beings in this world. We see Diane and Todd realize this and attempt to make a change, celebrating what they have done by the episode's end. But, in a delightful twist, the whole ordeal was used as marketing by Chicken 4 Dayz, who are profiting more than ever from what happened. Diane and Todd may have done what they felt was right, but the real evil still lives on in the world in spite of their efforts. Lovely storytelling. Thematic storytelling is not all that is offered. This episode pushes Mr. Peanubutter and Princess Carolyn to the side (but still incorporates them with two funny jokes) in order to focus on the rest of the cast in meaningful ways. Todd is the star here, and the show does well to acknowledge his wacky hijinks in a way that very nearly breaks the 4th wall. Todd has found his groove in this season as someone who has a good heart and always goes with the flow, often ending up in the most random situations. His personality has been far more consistent than season 1, and he is far easier to enjoy because of that. BoJack isn't as prevalent throughout this episode but he has a love story where he slowly breaks through to Kelsey and ultimately gets her to open up and has a short moment of connection with her. It goes to show that BoJack can be a good and caring person as long as he gets out of his own head. I'm pleased to see that Kelsey is growing as a character. We learn a lot about what makes her tick in this episode. Lastly, there's Diane who sees a bit of herself in young Irving, the sassy rebellious teenager. Diane has grown up, but as we saw in previous episodes, she's terrified of being unhappy and without purpose, so she takes Irving as a personal challenge to prove that she's still young and can change the world. This arc was incorporated nicely in the episode, and even led to some funny jokes ("you wouldn't understand"). Furthermore, Diane has a nice moment with Todd where she gets to see that her inherently negative opinion of herself is not necessarily shared by the others who know her. The police subplot aged brilliantly and has some terrific jokes. Meow Meow Fuzzyface (incredible name) is wonderfully realized as a loose cannon, and the jokes about the incompetence and lack of responsibility in the police department were brilliant ("we'll probably make the right call"). I also very much enjoyed the parodying of police ideas, like the dramatic sunglasses scene, "we know the chicken crossed the road, but the question is why", and Fuzzyface's dramatic realization that Todd's wife was a chicken. The humour was top-notch in this episode overall with several genuinely funny moments throughout. MSNBSea returned from season 1 and was as fun as ever with Tom's feud with Randy, his ex-wife joke followed by a haphazard attempt to not get cancelled, and a hilarious graphic saying "Yolk Go Oh No!". Todd hiding Becca's identity was funny and it led to some cleverly written dialogue to allow for Becca to communicate (almost) naturally. There's even a bit of slapstick here with the hilariously over-the-top racket that Todd causes after sneaking into Gentle Farms. The Bad: This is a cheesy episode at times, and those who are more enthused by the emotional stakes of this series may be more disappointed. It's fun harmless comedy, but not a significant episode by any means. This is much more of a character-centric and comedy-centric experience, which has its downsides. I wish that this episode had gone further in its themes a little bit. There was a golden chance to tie in with vegetarianism which was unfortunately not capitalized on in this episode. It's a shame not to see vegetarians even acknowledged in this episode. The Unknown: Will we hear from Chicken 4 Dayz or Gentle Farms in the future? How was Gentle Farms affected by Todd and Diane's actions? Best Moment: I loved the irony of the ending. Diane saying they really made a difference contrasted with nothing having changed at all. Brilliant comedy that fits with the theme of consumerism. Character of the Episode: Todd. Conclusion: A surprisingly good episode. This was funny, explored the characters and their relationships nicely, and tackled interesting themes through a clever concept. I doubt that this is anyone's favourite episode, but it does enough right to be another quality experience. Score: 68
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Summary: Mr. Peanutbutter throws a surprise party for Diane on her birthday, which Diane did not want. They fight and everybody leaves. Todd and Princess Carolyn see a child that looks like Vincent. Pricness Carolyn meets with Vincent in her apartment and they break up. Todd hides in Princess Carolyn's car where his phone falls in love with Princess Carolyn's phone. BoJack and Wanda leave, and BoJack is afraid that he's moving too fast with her. Wanda tells him a long joke, reinforcing that they should just wait and see where things end up. Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter get into a fight, but ultimately open up to each other with Diane telling Mr. Peanutbutter that she is not happy and realizing that he doesn't want her to go to Cordovia.
The Good: I love the idea and structure of this episode. The episode tackles a theme of love and relationships, and the episode's structure makes this feel like a case study of the relationships in the show. There are three distinct thirds to the episode, each one offering its own insight on the theme, with the episode getting progressively more dramatic and emotional with each storyline. I love this idea, and it is executed brilliantly. The episode starts with Todd and Princess Carolyn, who have a very light-hearted, entertaining experience compared to the rest. Princess Carolyn finally breaks up with Vincent, after amusingly still failing to realize the obvious truth that he's just a child. Todd's run-in with love is even sillier as he gets to experience two phones falling in love and being tortured by it, a funny idea. While these stories are quite dumb on the surface, they do offer a unique view of relationships based primarily on lust and thrill-seeking, highlighting how shallow they are and how these types of relationships don't have the strength to last. BoJack and Wanda's story is a good exploration of fear and insecurity in a relationship. Of course BoJack is terrified now that he is committed to living with Wanda, and of course he lets the fear get to him. Wanda is the voice of reason for him, and she provides a terrific demonstration of the value of being patient and waiting to see if things work out or not. Her long-winded joke was good, and it served a great purpose in the story. I also liked the involvement of the deer, which provided some clever symbolism of overcoming fear with how the deer refused to go to the hospital. Lastly, we come to Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter who have the most serious and emotionally intense part of the episode. I was really impressed by the depth that these two received. They were never all that interesting as a couple in season 1, but here they feel frighteningly real. We understand why there is conflict between them, but the episode also takes the time to show why they love each other and why they work to begin with. Seeing such a brutal fight slowly deescalate when Mr. Peanutbutter attempts to communicate with her, allowing Diane to see the intention behind his surprise party felt so real. Just like in real life, it's hard to point out a villain in this argument. Mr. Peanutbutter could have listened and not had a surprise party, but he put in so much effort for Diane and spent the whole day giving her what she wanted. Meanwhile Diane is suitably frustrated with how Mr. Peanutbutter ignored her wishes to throw a party that she explicitly said she did not want, but she can't help but feel ungrateful upon realizing how much effort Mr. Peanutbutter put in and how he genuinely does love her and try to listen to her. Seeing these two argue, reminisce, make up, and resolve the real issue at hand (Diane wanting to go to Cordovia) was written so well. Speaking of the real issue, I appreciate the amount of effort that the show put in to make this argument feel real. Just like in real life, the source of the argument is completely different from what sparked it. This was never about Tony Curtis, or even about the surprise party, but it was about how Diane (reasonably) wanted the freedom to go to Cordovia, and Mr. Peanutbutter (also reasonably) did not want her to go. There are many layers of frustration that sparked this argument, and I appreciate that the episode showed all of this to us. But to do this while still putting in effort to make us understand why these two are together is high quality storytelling. In just one episode, Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter went from a couple that I felt indifferent about and even disliked at times, into a couple that I genuinely care about, and I now want to see them put things together and stay together. As always, there were nice little details that amused me. Mr. Peanutbutter continues to have problems with his banners, as the birthday banner says "Happy birthday Diane use a pretty font". Todd got the episode's best laugh when he finds Herb's ashes and thinks that it's a jar full of weed, an excellent continuity joke. Mr. Peanutbutter gets more fun dog jokes when he mixes up what a ballroom is and when he explains how Dian coming home is the most exciting part of his day. The deer getting hit by the car was a clever idea, and I liked that Wanda being an owl came into play with her night vision. The Bad: Todd and Princess Carolyn's story is quite silly compared to everything else, and as such, it is the least interesting to watch. While I find Vincent to be amusing, the joke about him is only funny for a little while. Vincent was given far too much screentime in this episode, so the comedy got stale relatively quickly. The comedy in this episode overall is not anything special. There are a few chuckles here and there, but I found most of the jokes to be lacking, only providing a mild chuckle at best. This episode has some terrific storytelling, but it doesn't offer much for comedy, which is important to still include because this is still an animated comedy. The Unknown: So is Tony Curtis dead? Best Moment: Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter in the jelly pool finally being open and honest with each other. Character of the Episode: Diane. Conclusion: This was a fantastic concept episode which offered a surprising amount of storytelling depth. It's not the funniest episode, but it's still a very good one, the best of the season so far. Score: 69 Summary: Herb died and BoJack goes to the funeral. He briefly meets with Charlotte and then reunites with the Horsin' Around cast. They get sent on a "treasure hunt" for Herb's gold and discover that he might have been murdered by Henry Winkler. When BoJack confronts him, and Henry reveals that he stole the book Herb was writing because it was terrible and he didn't want to damage Herb's legacy. Meanwhile, flashbacks show the connections Herb made with the cast members. Todd goes on a side adventure where he learns to be confident and cool.
The Good: I always enjoy stand-alone episodes, and having an episode dedicated to Herb's death was a great utilization of the idea, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations (see: The Bad). Regardless, I enjoyed what this episode had to offer. The cast reunion is fun to see, especially with how everyone has changed and gone through vastly different lives from when they were all together. I quite liked the flashbacks with Herb, which offered some insight into Herb's values and how each of the cast members failed to respect the idea of family that Herb tried to instill within them. These four were supposed to have each other's backs, but they have all gone in wildly different directions and there is always tension between them. The show conveys this sad idea in a typically light-hearted way and it works well. All of the flashbacks have character-specific jokes, and this episode never tries to take itself too seriously. Herb's death itself is treated as a joke and a damn good one at that as Henry Winkler reads out Herb's brilliant final tweets. The light-heartedness is an asset of this episode, and it makes the treasure hunt for Herb's gold into a more enjoyable storyline. I think that the side stories were a highlight of this episode and both were fairly effective at creating some extra laughs. Princess Carolyn is quite disgusting at the funeral as she looks for business, and I loved how she ended up getting punished for this by having to make such extreme lies about her friendship with Herb, hilariously spurred on by Mr. Peanutbutter, who acknowledges his true motives for being there unlike Princess Carolyn. Todd's story is a lot of fun. It's sort of filler, but seeing Todd going around like such a badass is charming and effective. What Todd brings to the table is becoming clearer this season. He's the guy that has these fun side plots, and they work because Todd has a good heart that we can connect with. I love the way that Todd loses the money BoJack gave him (picked up by a mouse, who is grabbed by a hawk and then hit by a plane), which is the most comically absurd thing imaginable. There are a few little funny bits as always. I enjoyed the Steve Urkel jokes in the Todd story, and Maggie Gyllenhaal being turned into Maggot Gyllenhaal is a fantastic idea. The Bad: The mystery parody doesn't work well. There aren't enough creative jokes to make this parody feel worthwhile, and shoehorning a mystery into this episode detracted from its more emotional qualities without any upside. I wish that more time was spent on the idea of BoJack looking to put some meaning on Herb's death. So much of this idea is told through a cheesy and heavy-handed speech by Henry Winkler at the end, and it isn't an effective way to get me thinking about the idea. "Brand New Couch" did a far better job of emotionally engaging me into an idea because it took more effort to explore its central themes. I wish that this episode had done the same. I expected more from Herb's death, especially considering how BoJack and Herb's last scene went. I expected that Herb's death could have been pivotal for BoJack's character and could have led to another fascinating character introspection. Instead, Herb's death feels quite insignificant because it's in an episode that is otherwise entirely disconnected from what season 2 has been about so far, and it doesn't seem to have affected BoJack in any meaningful way. Perhaps I will be proven wrong in upcoming episodes, but this didn't feel as emotionally significant as it should have been. The Unknown: No real questions after this episode. Best Moment: The ending scene of Herb saying "the future is bright" as he and BoJack look at a fake horizon was surprisingly melancholy and effective. Beautiful imagery to have a bright blue scene covering up a sad purple sunset. Character of the Episode: Herb. Conclusion: This episode didn't go as far as I expected with Herb's death and it had some cheesy bits. Still, it told an overall effective story that created some funny moments and a burst of emotional resonance by the end. Score: 64 Summary: BoJack is frustrated that everyone he hooks up with knows everything about him because of his book. He's delighted when he meets Wanda who was in a coma for 30 years, and they get together. Wanda meets Alex and BoJack gets jealous. Meanwhile, Todd opens up his own Disneyland and Mr. Peanutbutter shoehorns himself into the business, creating problems until Todd kicks him out. BoJack apologizes to Wanda and asks for her to move in with him and she agrees. Todd's Disneyland burns down and he makes up with Mr. Peanutbutter.
The Good: I enjoy the commentary of how fame makes it tougher to live a normal life. Now that BoJack has had a book written about him, his whole life is on display for the world and he finds it to be highly discomforting for him. It's funny to see that his desire to escape from this immediately gets him to appreciate Wanda, setting up a relationship between them. And of course BoJack's self-sabotage comes into play as he nearly crashes his new relationship through the habits we saw him display in season 1: jealousy, poor communication, and inability to let things go. This story was decent, and I appreciate the consistent writing of BoJack's character. Todd's Disneyland story is amusing, and it's a good use of the character. I hope that this is an indication that the show will be writing Todd more consistently this season with a more defined character. This episode paints him as a free spirit who does what his heart wants him to do. The conflict with Mr. Peanutbutter is very phoned in, but it feels like an attempted parody of characters coming into conflict with each other. There is mild success with this idea. The little jokes are great as always. The background jokes remain excellent with some creative posters in the doctor's office when Mr. Peanutbutter was getting the cone removed, and the banners at BoJack's party are good for a quick chuckle. The animal jokes are still utilized well with Mr. Peanutbutter "barking" at the fire trucks, the judge being called "your otter", and BoJack saying "you vultures are killing me" being taken too literally. Some other moments offered good laughs. Everyone's shared love for communist Alex is funny, and BoJack gets the episode's funniest line involving Alex (see: Best Moment). I also laughed at BoJack insisting that he never heard of Todd's Disneyland, and the Diisneyland typo in court. The Bad: This episode feels almost like filler with the exception of BoJack's new relationship. Coming off of how the previous episode focused so heavily on BoJack's misguided effort to change, it was jarring to see this idea not even addressed. It's good that this episode focused on its own story, but it didn't flow smoothly with what we saw in the last episode. There is a sense of simplicity in the thematic exploration in this episode which wasn't present in the previous episode. BoJack's self-sabotage in relationships was not given the same level of depth that his brand new attitude was in the last episode, and that made this a less interesting experience. Furthermore, the Disneyland side story had its amusing moments, but was ultimately extended filler with very little substance to offer outside of comedy. While the parody conflict between Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter can be fun, it ultimately makes it harder to take the BoJack/Wanda conflict seriously since we are being told not to take things seriously in the other storyline. The Unknown: Where will BoJack's relationship with Wanda go? Best Moment: "Slap my salami, the guy's a commie". Character of the Episode: BoJack. Conclusion: A fine enough episode that does well to entertain me, but offers nothing particularly memorable in terms of drama or jokes. Score: 60 Summary: In flashbacks, BoJack is belittled by his mother in childhood and adulthood. In the present, BoJack adopts a new attitude so that he can be a better person. He has thrown out the couch, so Todd is looking for a new place to sleep. BoJack picks up Diane and goes to work for the new movie, but his new attitude prevents him from performing well, unsettling him. BoJack talks to Diane about it. At the set, BoJack answers his mother's phone call and is disheartened by her words. He gives up on his new regime and is able to act properly again. Princess Carolyn works on a new project but it ends up as another failure.
The Good: This show still maintains its ability to hit your emotions, and early into season 2, it seems like this will be tapped into more often than it was in season 1. Despite this being a season premiere, it tackles some heavy moments, and they work really well in crafting a story. This is especially notable in the episode's examination of BoJack's relationship with his mother and that damage that did to him. The episode starts brutally as Secretariat's encouraging words to BoJack are barely even legible to him because his parents are too busy fighting in the background, and the follow-up for BoJack is more belittling from Beatrice. It paints a powerful picture of a traumatic childhood, and I appreciate that the cruelty wasn't played for jokes like it was in season 1, highlighting that this show is learning to take its mental health themes more seriously. BoJack's trauma doesn't end in childhood though, and a follow-up scene shows that this same unbearable belittling continued well into BoJack's career and has cemented itself in his psyche. This builds up to a ruthless climax as Beatrice calls BoJack in the present, and following a surprising apology, she bleakly tells him of the hopelessness of recovering from such a dark upbringing, a powerful bit of dialogue to base the episode on. The thematic core of this episode explores how it's unfeasible to restart your life with a new personality, and it explores this idea masterfully. The aforementioned Beatrice scene is so effective because it also serves as the centerpiece for the exploration of this theme, affirming that no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to escape your past and the person you have become. Throughout the episode we see that BoJack has taken lessons from last season and is actively trying to change, and for a bit it seems to be working. But it only seems to last a day, and BoJack's new attitude has immediate detriments on his career, highlighting how trying to make such an extreme change will never work because it will affect other aspects of your life that you value. In this case, BoJack's new attitude destroyed his ability to act, and he had to give up on making this enormous change to be able to continue his career. This serves as a perfect indicator of how hard it is to manifest true change, and that these silly audiobooks are not the solution to being a better person. Furthermore, I enjoy how one bad day for BoJack was enough to send him on a backward spiral, and it's likely now that he will give up on his new regime just because of this one failure. There are some other interesting themes skimmed over in this episode. I love that the show acknowledges how a "character consultant" like Diane would go underappreciated due to the vanity of directors, and she's immediately sidelined. I got a good laugh at the scan done on BoJack's head, which is a joke that aged magnificently since we now see major companies like Disney digitally inserting deceased/aged actors into movies. The jokes are pretty good, and there's lots of things I laughed at. I really laughed at Debra tripping over the cable and destroying everything, with a follow-up memorial being created for her "destroyed" face. Lennie being stuck on his back during this sequence is another great animal joke. On the topic of these animal jokes, I really liked the presence of "ewe haul", and Mr. Peanutbutter's cone as a result of him attacking his own reflection. The Bad: This episode goes a bit too hard into poking fun at encouraging audiobooks. There are so many metaphor jokes and jokes about BoJack's new attitude, and they are more irritating than funny. This show is usually more clever than this; these jokes are so simplistic that they carry no comedy with them. Rutabaga is a curious new character (see: The Unknown), but I'm not pleased with how this character has started off. He did not make an impression at all and offered no real comedy. His presence padded out this episode with an ultimately unnecessary side story for Princess Carolyn that treaded on familiar ground (Princess Carolyn working hard and failing was thoroughly explored back in "Say Anything"). The only thing amusing about Rutabaga is his ears, but that is only entertaining once. Todd doesn't get much in this episode with his side story about accepting BoJack's new couch. At least the writers had the decency to put much of his storyline in the background of other scenes, but it was entirely superfluous and uninteresting. The Unknown: Did BoJack hear Secretariat's words for him, or was it totally drowned out by his parents' fighting? Who exactly is Rutabaga and what is his purpose? Will he be a potential romantic interest for Princess Carolyn? Is this it for BoJack's brand new attitude? Will he find other ways to become a better person? Best Moment: Beatrice telling BoJack the hard truth that he will never be happy because he can't escape his past and who he is like he has been trying to. Character of the Episode: BoJack. Conclusion: Season 2 has started strong with a profound theme study mixed in with some fun style and humour. It's not perfect, but this was a great start to the second season. Score: 68 Summary: Tyler is captured by Wednesday who plans to torture him but the students turn her in to Weems. Wednesday is expelled and she meets with Eugene on her way out, learning that Marilyn is the culprit. Weems shapeshifts into Tyler and Wednesday uses that to make Marilyn confess. Marilyn kills Weems and captures Wednesday, using her to resurrect Crackstone. Thing warns everyone else who start evacuating the school. Crackstone mortally wounds Wednesday but Goody saves her. Wednesday confronts Crackstone and defeats him with help from others. Enid becomes a werewolf and takes out Tyler. The semester ends and Wednesday goes back home on good terms with everyone.
The Good: Uh… the production was pretty decent here, especially in the monster fight. The Bad: Everything was bad here. The opening scene is laughably stupid. Why would Wednesday only call other children to subdue Tyler, what were they going to do if he transforms? Why did they agree to help anyways, especially since they just left and reported Wednesday right after capturing Tyler. What the hell was the thinking on their part? Surely they would know that they need to get a confession, so why are they so disgusted with Wednesday? And holy hell, why did they leave Wednesday alone with him??? I’m stunned with how Enid and Bianca are apparently now good friends with Wednesday. Enid has a very valid reason to dislike Wednesday, and yet she forgives Wednesday even though the character has done absolutely nothing to atone or seek forgiveness. Why the hell is this show rewarding a character when she doesn’t deserve it and acting like this is a wholesome moment? It’s not. Bianca is even worse. These two hated each other’s guts, but apparently one tiny moment of connection from a few episodes ago turns them into friends who respect each other. Huh? I feel like I missed an entire storyline here. Bianca’s character change this season is so sloppy because she changes at the blink of an eye for seemingly no reason. The main plot elements were terrible too. The show could have played up Wednesday being unreliable by making us question if Tyler was even guilty. Instead we get this cheesy, abysmal evil monologue from Tyler, completely contradicting the fact that he seemed to be into Wednesday. This moment fizzled out the tension and made Tyler into a boring, unoriginal villain. Speaking of boring unoriginality, nothing about Marilyn was interesting. She was as bland as can be, and I have to laugh at her reveal scene. The Weems twist was obvious and it bothers me so much because Weems had no reason to listen to any of Wednesday’s inane accusations at this point, nevermind work with her to take out Marilyn. And why the hell didn’t Weems tell anyone? She took such a needless risk to confront Marilyn with no weapons and died for her stupidity. I’m also extremely frustrated that Wednesday was never adequately punished for her constant accusations. Wednesday finally got it right by the end and the show seems to believe that the ends justify the means, showing a distinct unawareness with how fundamentally unlikable these accusations have made the main character. The episode’s climax is also terrible. Crackstone ticks off every single cliche and the final “fight” against him was bland and anticlimactic. Add on ridiculousness like quipping in life-threatening scenarios, the cop car tires being slashed while nobody notices, Crackstone’s random unexplained magic powers, and a Deus Ex Machina to bring Wednesday back to life that made no sense, and you have a truly nonsensical final act that features some of the worst writing on the show. The ending feels incredibly cheap. Instead of creating storylines for next season, the show slaps on an unsubtle ending monologue with unanswered questions in an attempt to raise interest for a second season. It ends up feeling like a cheap cliffhanger, and completely out of place. I haven’t seen such an embarrassment of a season-ending scene in a long time. The Unknown: What is Tyler’s fate? What happens to Gates? What’s next for this show? Who is stalking Wednesday? Best Moment: Wednesday speaking with Eugene, now awake. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Conclusion: This season finale didn’t have any original or interesting pieces whatsoever, and it had as much impact as a wet fart. A terrible end to what has been a bad first season. For more extended ranting about season 1, click here. Score: 34 Summary: Wednesday notices somebody at Walker’s funeral - it’s her uncle Fester. With Fester, she learns of a diary in the Nightshades library and identifies the monster as a Hyde. She follows Xavier and sees him meeting with Kinbott. Wednesday goes on a date with Tyler and returns to the dorm and the place was ransacked with Thing stabbed. Fester saves Thing and has to leave as Galpin is onto him. Wednesday confronts Kinbott, thinking she is Laurel Gates. After Wednesday leaves, Kinbott is killed by the monster. Xavier is arrested under suspicion of being the monster. Wednesday kisses Tyler and has a vision, realizing he is the monster.
The Good: Fester is a lot of fun and he makes me wish that this show played up the comedic “Addams Family” aspects. Fester brings a uniquely funny energy to the show, and his interactions with Wednesday are a joy. Thing almost dying had some emotional depth to it since I bought into Thing being important to Wednesday. Jenna Ortega kills it again as Wednesday struggles to hide her emotions. The Tyler twist was obvious, but it’s a good moment to end the episode on. The Bad: This episode suffered from typical mystery narrative problems. The focus is all on setting up an obvious ending twist, making this episode hinge heavily on plot, exposition, and meaningless surprise, lacking in emotion. So much of this episode is dedicated to misdirecting us with Xavier and Kinbott that it forgets to add an emotional undertone. Wednesday is inexplicably convinced about Xavier and Kinbott over flimsy evidence, and she stupidly confronts them multiple times instead of taking action (which she should have done if she was so certain they were guilty). It makes her look stupid, and if she was correct, she would have been killed well before she told anyone. It’s difficult to watch these scenes because of Wednesday’s bad decision-making and because it’s incredibly obvious that the show is misdirecting us - it’s a mystery show, obviously there will be a twist at the end. The date with Tyler is totally flat emotionally, and a result of that is that the reveal that he is the monster does not have the desired emotional impact. I felt very little when Wednesday realized that the man she chose was the monster. Thing almost dying was a shock, but ultimately it was a meaningless moment. He didn’t die and there was no fallout from this, making it a cheap attempt to get some emotion by faking a character death. The Unknown: Why did Tyler kill Kinbott? Who is Laurel? Will he realize that Wednesday knows about him? Will people believe that Tyler is the Hyde? Will Wednesday be able to clear Xavier’s name? What happened to the diary? Why did it need to be stolen? Best Moment: The comedy should have been the main part of the show because it always stands out. I got an unexpected laugh out of Wednesday saying “Of course the first boy I kiss would turn out to be a psychotic serial-killing monster. I guess I have a type”. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Conclusion: The climax of the show has been set up, and while some things were done right, I wish that this show had focused more on comedy than a generic, uninteresting mystery. Score: 54 Summary: Wednesday has a vision of Goody and seeks out the Gates mansion. She sees Walker leave and set up a meeting with Galpin, but Walker is hit by a car on the way and dies in the hospital. Nevermore goes into lockdown, but Wednesday sneaks out with Tyler and Enid to go to the mansion. They see that someone has been living there and the monster attacks, hurting Tyler. They treat Tyler but Galpin finds out. Weems is furious but agrees not to expel Wednesday, but it’s her last chance. Enid is furious about being put in danger and moves to a different room.
The Good: Wednesday investigating the mansion is good stuff. The atmosphere is spooky and there is a consistent sense of tension that makes the scene engaging. It’s an effective use of horror to create an exciting experience. I really like that Wednesday’s poor social skills lead to the character being punished. She prioritized herself and the case, and it leads to her ignoring the desires of her friends, alienating them all from her. In a lovely scene, this ends up hurting Wednesday who did not realize how attached she has become to Enid. Jenna Ortega has been excellent in the whole series, and this is some of her best work. Bianca and Lucas have an alright scene that may lead somewhere, so I’m tentatively putting it in The Good. Walker’s death caught me by surprise and elevates the stakes of the story nicely. The Bad: This series can’t shake the sense of flatness brought on by the early episodes. Though this was more eventful and engaging, I struggled to connect with the characters throughout. I feel ambivalent after watching a lot of bad television. Tyler’s relationship with his father is weak. They have had the exact same scene three times now. A lockdown happening at Nevermore feels long overdue, and it’s absurd that Wednesday is still somehow able to escape with no issues. The appearance of the monster in the mansion was poor. Tyler seemingly died and nobody reacted, and I was beyond frustrated when Enid and Wednesday didn’t immediately run upon escaping the dumbwaiter. Wednesday’s lack of survival instinct completely alienated me from her as she put lives in danger at every turn, be it herself or someone else. This disregard for life works well in a comedy with no consequences, but in a drama series it feels so unrealistic and makes me irritated with the character. The Unknown: How is Crackstone coming? Isn’t he dead? Is he being resurrected somehow? Are Bianca and Lucas genuinely turning a corner? How will Lucas react to his father’s death? What did Walker learn before he died? Who was driving the blue cadillac? Is it Laurel Gates? How did she fake her death? Where did she go after being found out? Is Tyler the monster? It makes the most sense, explaining how he survived. Best Moment: Enid leaving Wednesday for her selfish actions. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. I suspect this won’t change. Conclusion: There is some good stuff here with the mansion sequence and Enid’s fight with Wednesday, but otherwise it’s another unengaging episode with weak writing. Score: 56 Summary: It’s parents weekend and all of the parents arrive. The coroner has shot himself over guilt under suspicious circumstances. His death allows for Gomez to be arrested for murder and the Sheriff arrests him. Wednesday investigates what happened and from her father and mother, she learns that Garrett Gates tries to kill Gomez and Morticia murdered him on instinct. However, Gates had been instructed by his father to kill everyone in the school through poison. Confronting the mayor with this information, Gomez is released. Wednesday also confronts Weems, confirming that Rowan is dead and she covered it up. A mysterious message is lieft saying “fire will rain”.
The Good: The family weekend allowed the show to focus on familial themes and there is some decent stuff here. We see Wednesday start to open up with her mother, Enid speak up against her mother, and Bianca deal with being forced into a family business. This show isn’t doing anything three-dimensional with its themes, but it at least reinforces how bad it is to force kids to live the life you want them to live. The Gomez plot is okay and I appreciate the use of multiple perspectives to tell this story. I liked the dichotomy of both Walker and Weems being exposed for their cover-ups being motivated by trying to “keep the peace”, a petty excuse for self-gain. The Bad: It is hard to invest in Gomez’s past since it’s so far removed from the main story. Morticia and Gomez are poorly played and boring, so I didn’t care much for them. Gomez being released did nothing for me emotionally, and him making peace with Galpin was unearned. This story feels like extended filler since it didn’t offer much for the main plot and wasn’t good enough to justify its inclusion. This episode had some decent twists and turns, but every twist came through exposition, removing any sense of suspense or drama. The Unknown: How did Bianca get into Nevermore? What exactly does her mother need her for? Will Bianca cooperate with her? Who killed the coroner? Obviously he did not commit suicide. What happened to Goody? How did she die? What does that message at the end mean? Who wrote it? Best Moment: Wednesday confronting Weems. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Conclusion: This episode had some unique ideas in the story that it was telling, and as such, ends up being better than most of what came before. However, a feeling of pointlessness and lack of emotion drags it down. Score: 53 Summary: Wednesday investigates Xavier and learns he is having dreams about The Monster. She investigates with Eugene and tracks some evidence to present to Sheriff Galpin. The Rave’n ball happens and Thing intervenes to get Wednesday to go with Tyler. Eugene ends up investigating the monster’s cave himself. At the ball, Lucas goes with Enid and sets up a prank spraying blood on everyone. Enid shuns him, and she ends up kissing Ajax. Wednesday has a vision about Eugene and runs to him, but he has been attacked by the monster.
The Good: The black comedy with Wednesday is fun, especially at the beginning in the morgue and her spooking Enid. Bianca and Wednesday bonding was a sweet character moment. Even though it doesn’t feel earned, it’s leagues better than everything else going on. The Bad: Where to begin. Wednesday breaking into a morgue and not being found out is absolute insanity. There’s no way you can convince me that the owner found her, touched her face and did not realize she was still alive. These leaps in logic keep happening, and while they work in comedy, they absolutely do not work in drama, and this show is sadly more teen drama than comedy. Xavier and Wednesday’s stuff is also bad. Their dialogue is wooden, and it’s hard to believe that Xavier wouldn’t immediately assume Wednesday saw his art gallery, which is not locked or anything. Also, how the hell does he manage to have a private building to himself that nobody else uses? Xavier should never have bought into the idea of Wednesday asking him to the dance. He’s an idiot. The ball is such a typical teen drama story and it leads to a world of melodramatic garbage. Enid and Ajax trying to make each other jealous because of bad communication ending with an unearned kiss is really bad storytelling. Lucas organizing the most expensive and absurd prank ever is such a dumb idea, and I struggle to see how these kids managed to get access to a truck full of paint. They also vandalized a school, which is a serious crime, and took no effort to hide their involvement, painting these bullies as two-dimensional idiots that would never exist in the real world. If they aren’t seriously punished for this, then this show is even stupider than I thought. Then we get a love triangle with Wednesday, because of course we need a love triangle in this teen drama. Ugh. Eugene may have died at the episode’s end and I felt nothing because the show failed to adequately build this up. Instead it wasted our time with a melodramatic ball, ensuring that we would have no real investment or emotion when Eugene gets messed up. The Unknown: Why were the toes taken off the bearded man? What is the monster collecting? Why is Xavier having dreams? Is there resentment between Weems and Morticia? Will Lucas and the others face consequences for what they did? Is Eugene alive at the end or did he die? Best Moment: Wednesday and Bianca reflecting on their differences. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Nobody else ever stands out. Conclusion: This was more of the same, with the ball storyline bringing out the melodramatic worst of this show. Somehow this show is consistently getting worse every episode. Score: 40 Summary: Wednesday meets the Nightshades, but refuses to join. The next day is Outreach Day, and Wednesday goes to Pilgrim World to investigate her visions. She learns that Joseph Crackstone burned outcasts and his actions are covered up. She continues investigating and believes she has to fight him to prevent a tragedy. Enid gets a date with Ajax but is stood up when he stones himself. Another murder happens.
The Good: There is a nice theme set up regarding the history of pilgrims abusing natives, and how it is wrong to cover this up. This was nicely conveyed and Wednesday and Weems debating this topic was interesting. The ending sequence was nicely put together, highlighting characters in pain to a beautiful rendition of “Nothing Else Matters”. “Space Song” is also here, cementing that this show has a fantastic soundtrack. The Bad: The Nightshades reveal at the start was anticlimactic and disappointing. What a flat cliffhanger that ended up being. The Pilgrim World scenes were poor with such cheesy character moments. We get another bland bully scene. These bully characters suck because they are just two-dimensional bullies given zero depth. The romance between Enid and Ajax is even worse, and is extremely cheesy. Lame teen drama is some of the most predictable, boring, and uninspired storytelling out there. Wednesday’s investigation is so boring, and it devolved into a glorified MacGuffin hunt in this episode, which is never fun to watch since it is filled with exposition and lacks suspense. The plot also overpowers character writing in MacGuffin hunts, giving no emotional value. The statue explosion is the height of absurdity and stupidity. Wednesday is a great character for comedy, but she doesn’t work in a serious story because allowing her to organize this and get away with it is totally unfeasible in a realistic scenario. The Unknown: What are Weems and Walker up to? Why are they working together? Who was the bearded man? Was he just a homeless man? Why did the monster kill him? Will Wednesday be framed for this? Her fingerprints are all over that cabin. Where did Xavier go at the end? How did he get that scratch? What is Eugene doing in the woods? Who is the monster? Best Moment: Wednesday and Weems discussing Crackstone’s past. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Conclusion: Another weak episode. There are some bright spots, but the sloppy storytelling continues. This show has been far too “Riverdale” for my liking. Score: 46 Summary: Wednesday reports on Rowan’s death but is shocked when he returns alive. Rowan is expelled and Thing follows him but loses him - Rowan was a shapeshifter who transformed into Weems. Wednesday investigates Xavier and overhears him talking with Bianca. She is annoyed with Bianca and decides to help Enid win the Poe Cup ahead of Bianca. They do so. Wednesday discovers a clue leading towards the book she saw and she finds a secret library but she is caught by someone.
The Good: The mystery has some nice depth to it now with some new questions being raised through Wednesday’s visions, the shape-shifter, and more. I enjoy Wednesday’s interactions with everybody. She is the beating heart of this show. I find her dry remarks to be entertaining, and I’m liking the suggestion that her character arc will be to learn to be more social and emotional. The Bad: Wednesday is almost irritatingly perfect at everything. It becomes ridiculous at a certain point. The dialogue and acting is still poor, and the side story involving Bianca is impossible to care about. Bianca is a bland high school villain who I have no interest in seeing more of. The writing is terrible at so many points. This show wants to be like “Harry Potter” but it is not successful because it does not have any rules established, failing to make Nevermore feel real. To mention a few examples, Wednesday is somehow able to sneak into whatever room she wants, she’s able to distract people in the stupidest of ways, the sirens are allowed to blatantly cheat in the Poe Cup and astonishingly nobody notices, we never understand why the Poe Cup exists or why we should care about it, there is a literal murder attempted in the Poe Cup with axes, etc. There are so many cases of poor writing, highlighting how this episode fails at building a fleshed out world. The Unknown: Who is the shapeshifter? Is it Weems, or somebody pretending to be Weems? What was that conflict between Xavier and Rowan? What is the significance of that book? Who kidnapped Wednesday at the end? Why is there a secret library? Who made it? Who was the girl in the vision? What did she mean by Wednesday being the key? Best Moment: Wednesday opening up a little bit to Thing. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Conclusion: Another mediocre episode with instances of bad writing dragging it down further. Score: 48 Summary: After an incident where she released piranhas in a pool, Wednesday is sent to The Nevermore school for outcasts where she tries relentlessly to escape, fearful of becoming like her mother. Wednesday gets to meet her schoolmates while a mysterious monster commits murder in a nearby forest. Wednesday tries to escape from a therapy session, making a new friend Tyler, but she is caught. Soon after, she arranges to escape from a festival with Tyler but is distracted when a schoolmate Rowan runs into the woods and she has a vision of his death. She tries to protect him, but Rowan reveals he was told he has to kill her if she comes to Nevermore. However, he is suddenly killed by the monster.
The Good: The monster universe is a neat concept and makes this show stand out more than your average high school drama. Wednesday is far from spectacular as a main character, but her deadpan delivery and comical level of angst is amusing and carries the show. I like the existence of “Thing” who is a fun subversion of the creepy severed hand motif, turning it into a cute “pet” of sorts. The Tim Burton style makes this show immediately visually interesting. The Bad: This show doesn’t grab you much from the onset. The pacing is painfully slow, there is no real hook to interest you throughout the episode, and the characters are two-dimensional and bland with awkward unrealistic performances. The side plots in this episode were uninteresting, like the fencing match and Wednesday bonding with Enid. It was problematic that the main mystery plot did not get going until the episode’s end. This meant that this first episode meandered for almost 50 minutes, stalling out time when we could have got to the point in a much quicker way. The mystery isn’t very good either. It’s simplistic and will likely lead to some predictable “surprise” twists. I suspect that the idea that Gomez is a murderer will predictably go towards him being framed in the past. There are troubling signs of poor writing. Wednesday being able to escape the principal so easily is ridiculous, and I rolled my eyes at the fact that Wednesday just happened to have access to two full bags of piranhas in high school. The Unknown: How does this world work? Are monsters simply accepted? Is anything done to control them? Who is the monster murderer? Why are these murders being committed? Why is Wednesday coming to Nevermore such a problem? Did Wednesday’s father kill someone? What is Thing? How was it created? What are Wednesday’s visions? Why does she get them? What is the burning tree and book that she saw? Best Moment: Wednesday is fun. Hearing her say “rope, shovel, hole” in response to Enid tells us everything we need to know about the character in an amusing way. Character of the Episode: Wednesday. Conclusion: This had some admirable qualities, but nothing about this first episode suggests anything more than mediocre to average television. Score: 53 Summary: Wednesday is sent to Nevermore a school of outcasts and struggles to fit in but makes friends. There is a monster doing murders and Wednesday seems to be getting framed so she starts investigating. She uncovers a plan laid by the town's founder Joseph Crackstone, who aims to murder all outcasts, tracing back to Wednesday's ancestor. Eventually Wednesday finds out the culprit is Tyler, who she was becoming romantically involved with. Wednesday joins forces with her friends and authorities to capture Tyler, and the mastermind behind the plan, Marilyn, one of the dorm mothers, Having solved the case, Wednesday goes back home for the semester.
The Good: Jenna Ortega as Wednesday steals the show, and she is one of the few things I enjoyed. Wednesday is a good comedic character, her lines are creative and the deadpan delivery makes them amusing. It's fun to see Wednesday interacting with people because we know that she will be snarky with them. Tim Burton's directing style gave this season some visual flair in the episodes he directed, and it helped bring Jericho and Nevermore to life. The production is quite good in this series with memorable sets, costumes, make-up, and choreography. Visually, I have no complaints about this show. The music choices were also excellent, with some lovely tracks being played at various points in the series. The Bad: So many problems. Going into this show, I was expecting a comedy horror series, perhaps combining "The Addams Family" with some genuine scares to create an interesting comedic thriller-style show which would be interesting. Instead what I got was a cross between the worst of "Harry Potter" and "Riverdale" with an "Addams Family" reboot slapped on top to get people to watch. This show was packed to the brim with teenage melodrama, indulging into practically every trope imaginable. Things like love triangles, popular characters being villains who are "humanized" later, characters fighting and forgiving each other seemingly on a whim, the authorities being incompetent, and many other tropes are present in this show, and it severely detracts from the story that the show is trying to tell. The main mystery storyline is absolutely terrible. There is no reason to emotionally invest in this story, and it is completely uninteresting the whole time with obvious red herrings, boring twists, and a wholly uninspired conclusion. The main plot goes nowhere interesting with zero thematic value. All it leads to is the return of a villainous character who is blander than an uncooked potato left out to rot in the sun. This mystery storyline is the most bare-bones I have ever seen, and the severe lack of originality in the main plot of this show is indicative of how this show is nothing more than a cheap money grab that has zero interest in trying to be a genuine TV show. The pacing is also terrible. The only thing that makes a wholly uninspired plot worse is when a TV show wastes my time and drags out the development of the plot with constant uninteresting MacGuffins, with reveals coming at a low density, testing my patience significantly. The result of this slow pace is a complete loss of suspense, a large influx of filler, and the sense upon completing the show that I have wasted my time watching it. The first half of the show is filled with storylines that go nowhere, padding out the runtime of the show significantly. Storylines like Bianca's rivalry with Wednesday, Lucas' arc, Weems and Walker's alliance, and Gomez and Morticia's involvement with Wednesday have zero pay-off by the end of the series, revealing these stories to be useless fluff in a series that plods on for way too long. The side characters are not very good. Each and every new character is no more than a two-dimensional stereotype, the kind of lazy and shallow characters that you always find in mediocre teen dramas. Pretending that this show is more than just a generic teen drama is simply lying to yourself. Looking at these characters reveals that in truth. Bianca is one of the more "complex" characters, yet she is a character type in every one of these shows: a popular girl who ends up at odds with the main character, but is revealed to secretly hate her own popularity. Nothing about Bianca suggests that the writers treat her as anything more than this archetype. Enid also is uninspired, a typical high-energy sidekick with nothing unique about her. Xavier is another archetype, the snobby rich kid that ends up being worth more than it initially seems. And Tyler is even worse, the kind and thoughtful boy who ends up being a snide and evil villain. The repetition of these pre-established tropes highlights how this show fails to have a single original bone and is perfectly content with being mediocre. Wednesday is a fun character to watch, but her story is terrible. The story should be that she has to learn to be more open with her emotions and to learn to empathize with other people, and without doing this, she will never succeed in social settings. This seemed to be the arc for several episodes with Thing and Kinbott helping Wednesday open up, Weems being an effective foil for her, and conflicts coming up with Xavier, Enid, Tyler, and Bianca. Instead, these storylines resolve without Wednesday having to grow or even put in any effort to show that she cares. We're just told that the side characters should always accept the worst from Wednesday and accept her for who she is, which is such a cheap and unrealistic cop-out because Wednesday behaved poorly and is now being rewarded for her behaviours and being told not to change. It is insulting that the character isn't allowed to have an arc because the show bafflingly tries to justify everything she does as correct, even though it is horribly, horribly wrong. Wednesday is a Mary Sue whose flaws are ultimately glossed over with the show pretending that she's so perfect, and that makes for an irritating character arc that completely drives me away from the show. The performances are also very bad. The few good actors here aren't given enough material to really shine, and the majority of the actors are putting in such stuff, uninteresting portrayals, making bad writing seem even worse with how poorly thought out the characters are. The Addams Family, barring Wednesday, are all guilty of this, feeling more like drab caricatures than actual characters. Weems could have been interesting, but Gwendoline Christie can only do so much with such a poorly written storyline. Almost all of the main student characters have no real charisma or eye-catching ability with the exception of Jenna Ortega. The world-building isn't good either. A Monster high school could be a fun idea, but it needs the appropriate amount of world building to work. This show fails at this on every level. We aren't ever told how this world operates with the presence of outcasts and monsters, and what it means to be a monster in this world. We're told that they are an oppressed minority, but we never get to see how they are oppressed in public. Even on a smaller scale, the rules within the school are poorly defined. We aren't told of any curfew, and I feel confused by how easy it is for Wednesday to escape every night, especially since she is a potentially dangerous outcast. We also rarely get to see any actual schoolwork done, as every episode highlights some new event, and I often forgot that the setting of the show was within a school because of how little of a role the school played in the show. I also rolled my eyes at things like the Poe Cup, which feel like shoehorned events rather than something to actually care about. This show may have been more forgivable if it had good writing, but it did not. In no place is this more apparent than the outrageously bad season finale, which is filled to the brim with horrible writing decisions. More specific examples are in the review of that episode, but the final act of the show is a nightmare to watch. The resurrection of Joseph Crackstone is such an anticlimax because Crackstone is not a real character, he's just some cliched "bad guy" for the hero to fight that was slapped on in this show. The fight against him has zero emotional stakes, and it invokes every single cliche that you would expect from a final battle with absolutely nothing interesting going on. Everything after Crackstone's defeat is utter garbage. We get an extended section of TV show where Wednesday is treated as the second coming of Christ, tying in to my comments earlier where the show tries to justify every part of Wednesday's actions. And as if that's not bad enough, the show then concludes with a haphazard attempt to create mystery to get people to tune in for a second season. In one of the laziest and most insulting scenes ever, the final sequence raises brand new mysteries that were never built up before through some lazy narration in an effort to get people to tune in for season two. This was so badly executed and lazily slapped on to the ending of the show that it left me stunned. In a way, it summed up the show perfectly for me. At every turn I did not expect that the show would get worse, and somehow it managed to disappoint me each and every time. The Unknown: I don't care enough to ask questions about a second season. Best Episodes: E01 Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe: The pilot had some hopeful aspects to it and provided a better experience than much of what came after. E06 Quid Pro Woe: This episode had some good scenes, making it one of the better ones. Worst Episodes: E04 Woe What a Night: An episode that was more melodramatic teen drama garbage than anything else. E08 A Murder of Woes: The season finale was the worst episode of the show with horribly uninspired storytelling and one of the worst climaxes in recent memory. Character of the Season: Wednesday. Conclusion: Expecting anything more than a lame-duck teen drama from this show was a mistake. This had definite potential, but it squandered it by being one of the most unoriginal pieces of television I have ever seen, bastardizing an established property and never rising above and beyond any of the tropes and cliches that are so commonly present in the teen drama genre. "Wednesday" made every mistake in the book, and it went from being simply a mediocre TV show to being a bad one by the end, continually getting worse and worse with its writing, flatter and flatter with its performances, and less and less original with each episode. Watching this show hurt me (though not as much as "Riverdale"), and if you have any expectation of quality from the TV that you watch, stay far away from this embarrassment. Don't let the ratings and the popularity fool you; this is not a good show. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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