ianwagnerwatches

I was genuinely enjoying season 8 up to this point. YOU ARE SO CLOSE TO REALIZING WHAT THE FANS WANT (silly, semi-improvised dialogue, high-scifi concepts, and filthy amateurism combined). I know that Justin Roiland was a lot to work with, and he was really only present for the first season-maybe the second-but this show lost it's corr long ago. I enjoy what I can in Rick and Morty, but this episode is easily the worst I've seem so far. Get your head out of your own goddamned ass. I will never watch this episode again.

This show is a lot of things: it's a visual marvel, bordering on a masterpiece. Arcane is one of the best looking 3D animated television series ever made. It also has a pretty good story (nothing groundbreaking, but certainly engaging). Due to the moderately engaging story, I postponed watching the penultimate episode without realizing it, and did the exact same thing with the final episode. This show leaves a but to be desired in terms of story, and even character development, but it's still a competent story. I think the worldbuilding does a lot of heavy lifting, which isn't a bad thing.

The only thing I seriously dislike about this show is the music. God, I think I actually hate the music. It feels like the music is trying to stand alone, refusing to be part of the "score" and insisting it deserves an award, and yet, it's mediocre. Boring pop rock and pop EDM that feels soulless in its execution, even if it is soulful on paper. The music ruins so many good moments, for me. It ruins the tone, too. I don't like the music. I should have named this review "I don't like the music at all."

This is the most emotionally impactful episodes of television I can recall. I have been destroyed and remade by this episode. There is a modicum of joy, a modicum of self evaluation, and a great piece of true suffering, such that justifies and gives meaning to everything we've been through up until this point. Once uppn a time, I watched this episode during a particularly intense come-up on psychedelics, and it made me feel psychotic. Without any spoilers, this episode made me want to kill a fictional character. That is very rare. In fact, I have never felt that way before. During this psychedelic episode, I watched this episode twice in a row and got something new from it each time. I thought it was 45 minutes long, for all of the development and emotional turmoil it incurred in me. "Angela" is perfection.