Good pilot with good world-building. Portrays the oppressiveness of poverty and the ads-drenched life in a cyberpunk city much better than the game. Plot is a bit cliche though but the episode spreads enough clue for build up in future episodes. Really like the visual cues they use to evoke character's emotion, such as the shot on David's shaking legs when he's anxious.
This is the best episode of Star Wars Visions. It didn't try to bite more than it can chew (didn't misunderstand the whole Jedi/Sith trope like the other episodes do) and the 15 minutes duration didn't overstay the welcome. This is the episode worthy of its own series; even as it stands, with the air of mystery like that, it already feels like a pilot episode.
Anyway this is the one that I would say a proper Star Wars in anime form. This could pass as one of Expanded Universe episodes, perhaps sometime before The Phantom Menace (they even get the hairlock right!). It plays the classic master-apprentice dynamics with a cautious wise master teaching his over-eager apprentice itching for action (the dialogue about Jedi philosophy was excellent - something that sorely lacking in the new Disney Star Wars). They were drawn by the power of a dark entity, that might seem to have more secrets than what meets the eye (again, they did it right with the signature yellow-eyed dark side wielders!). There is enough suspense in this episode that I got to watch this seriously, and they also did the action choreography right as with other TRIGGER anime. Great characters as well.
My only complain about the episode is the kind of abrupt climax. Though if this is supposed to be a tease, then the episode did it really right.
The episode is built upon faulty premises.
Lightsaber prowess and force power are two different things. You can be proficient in lightsaber combat without having ANY force-sensitivity (e.g. Grievous) and the other way around, you can be masterful in force but lacking in lightsaber feat (e.g. Jocasta Nu).
Lightsaber crystal also doesn't reflect the wielder's sensitivity to sides of the force. You can be a morally uptight Jedi wielding red lightsaber (e.g. Adi Gallia) and a sith wielding blue (e.g. Exar Kun, or Anakin after he fell to the dark side. Notice when he was knighted as sith by Palpatine his saber's color DID NOT turn red). Red crystal is actually a synthetic color that can't be generated by lightsaber crystal. Sith forged it intentionally to channel their dark side.
HOWEVER the execution of this episode is good especially compared to other episodes so far.
The faulty premises end up being an important plot point, and a good one at that. Characters are quite well-developed given the very brief duration (perhaps except the villains). World-building, although sparse, gives quite a good idea of how lives looked like on that planet. Animation is really well-done especially the lightsaber combat and the chase scene. And the music is reminiscent of Star Wars without having to be exact copies of the films, which I really appreciate.
So if Production IG is given a much better brief to the mechanics of Star Wars universe, I believe they are much better suited to produce more Star Wars films than Disney currently does.
The episode really excels in the soundtrack, really brings the classic, fantastical Yuki Kanno feel. The simple flat visuals helps in creating that mystical anime feel. The two match perfectly with the local community theme going on. I like that that the episode depicts the world of Star Wars as a plural one. Not everyone follows the religion of the Force-sensitive; some who do may have their own religion, and here it's called as Magina. Very fascinating. Great world-building.
However the episode suffers from the same issue like most episodes so far. Simple storytelling, and dumb villains. Kinda disappointing seeing battledroids as yet another parody. Too focused on the role of the Jedi as well. Wish they had focused on the Magina believers more.
This is TRIGGER's usual Gurren Lagann nonsense that borrows Star Wars props - not even the concepts, just the props because lightsaber crystals and hyperspace don't work like that. Story is the usual TRIGGER's "believe in me that believe in you" thing as well, with nothing novel to enjoy. Which is fine to be honest, but they should've stick with the things they usually do best: the fight animation, which we don't get that much.
I like that they throw some references to Sequel Trilogy (The Last Jedi) with the Star Destroyer being torn in half. But the climax doesn't stand on a strong enough ground to warrant that extravaganza. For that matter I'd rather watch Gurren Lagann than this. Art style is kinda unique though, I give them that.
I think the most interesting part about alternative history is imagining in what ways that the trajectory of history would differ from our own. Asking if it would be plausible for women in this timeline to fly and be astronaut is a wrong question; the better question to ask is how.
This episode takes "Soviet launching women on Mars" as its turning point among others - and it leaves more to be desired, as I wondered how the political climate that Gordo mentioned in passing (civil rights movement), the USA at the state of decline, and the "race for the base" would've factored in this decision. Since this show so far has not been a political thriller/drama, the questions remain unanswered and left as an exercise for the viewers, and that's fine I think. The episode instead focused on character relationships: between the Nixen Vixens (as one commenter put it) and between the other already established characters.
Although some parts of it are rather tacked on (the fanmail scene especially), it was interesting to see how Tracy was downplayed as "astro wife" due to the tokenistic demand by "the upstairs", her struggle overcoming it, and her conflict with Gordo. The bait and switch at the end is also nice with Tracy struggling with the exercises and the reveal at the end.
The best part however comes from the very 70-ish naming ("Moon Maiden" and "Meteor Maid"? Fancy) and the discovery of ice on the surface of the moon. Seems like it's getting scifi-ish from here.
Decent pilot. The episode takes its time to introduce the characters and possible tension. It pays off in the last half of the episode - the landing sequences is quite tense - however I think the episode could've asked a better alternative history if the landing actually fails. Still wonder where they will take us from here though.
This is certainly not The Boys' strongest season finale. The plots feel awkwardly resolved and the key plot points they've been developing just ended up as nothing. It feels really underwhelming. Of course there are some positive notes about this finale as well but bear with me, let's go through three most crucial problems for me.
First, Black Noir. What a disappointment. They've been building up Black Noir for at least four out of eight episodes in this season. They even showed him as a person, a real individual with emotion and vivid imagination this season after the previous two he had only been a mute killing machine. And he went down just like that. Sure the conversation between him and Homelander was tense - but that was it. Unfortunately, Black Noir's imaginative flashback, as I've suspected in the previous episodes, serve as nothing more than plot device to move the story forward.
Second, Soldier Boy. The hunt for the ultimate weapon to destroy Homelander ultimately just ended up in vain. Where did it go, the riled up spirit of The Boys in bringing Homelander down? They have the weakest excuses to portray this change of heart. With M.M.'s plot, well, I guess, okay, as he has his own personal vendetta against Soldier Boy, it's still understandable. This is to put aside that they went with the "Soldier Boy kills my family" plot too easily (we didn't get to ever see what actually happened and it's brushed off as nothing more than "racism", which is quite disappointing since there were plenty of rooms for flashback this season).
But then there's Butcher. He ended up beating down Soldier Boy because Soldier Boy hit his kid? I mean, sure it's his kid, but where's the man-with-a-mission-to-kill-Homelander-no-matter-what-it-takes that we've seen for all these three seasons? If Butcher was a little smarter - and he actually is with his cunning tactics and all! - he could've stopped Soldier Boy for a while, let Homelander pats Ryan's back, then when Ryan is out of sight just finish off Homelander by then. Soldier Boy doesn't even seem to hold anything against Ryan (especially after he knows Ryan is Butcher's son). The whole charade about beating up Soldier Boy is a really weak plot point just to let Homelander alive to be the ultimate big bad in next seasons.
Still here? We'll get to Homelander but let's talk about Maeve briefly. What's her end goal? At first she seems to be an ally ready to take down Homelander, but when it comes to actually facing Homelander she can't see the forest for the trees. Rather than staying true to her goal to kill Homelander, she was just absorbed with herself, punching Homelander around only to get herself beaten. Sure, Maeve isn't the most tactical ones, but she's been supplying Butcher with everything so far.
Last, Homelander. As soon as the fight ends, my biggest question is: what would be Homelander's yet another reason to NOT kill Butcher, Hughie, and co? Our Boys have been picking a fight with him since Season 1. It's clear our protagonists are pests to him, but he keeps giving them leeway. At this point isn't it easier to just get rid of them all when Ryan's not looking to prevent our Boys messing up with him again? There's a fan speculation that predicted Homelander is going to be depowered, then he's going to live the whole Season 4 under Vought's protection while our Boys track down the biggest big bad: Compound V. I think I like that better since it's going to show how Homelander will struggle with his weakness and humanity. But I guess the showrunners wanted to keep on getting Homelander more unhinged and even more unhinged and violent, as shown when he lasered a guy in a parade. With this direction, I'm expecting the show to end in a high note with chaos everywhere like perhaps in the comics. I just hope they don't prolong this much further - maybe Season 5 at most.
Then there's some plot devices like Tempo V, powering the army with V, etc that are left unexplored, which feels a bit like nothing more than filler to get the plot moves forward. And the fact that they kind of go with cliffhanger in this finale reminds me of Season 1's rather weak, cliffhanger-ish finale as well (perhaps that's their pattern: the real season finale is in the even-numbered seasons).
That said, this episode is still quite entertaining as it kept me guessing where the plot would go. It's not as frantic and riled up as Herogasm (Eps 6) and the direction is not quite satisfying, but it's fine. The theme of this season is "family", they stay true to that up to the finale. Soldier Boy's dialogue with Homelander is good. Talk about how toxic upbringing would make you become toxic as well, while thinking you can do better than your parents.
I like that they are planning to use the political plot with Neuman in Season 4 (I thought it was going to be wasted after the nice development in Season 2) as The Boys' forte is taking a jab at politics and corporatism. I do hope we will see what Stan Edgar envisioned as Vought "getting out of the supe business in the next five years."
I also like what they did with Ryan, coming together with Homelander, and the way Homelander is normalizing Ryan to violence. This is the consequence of Butcher's acting asshole-ish to everyone and sure hope our Boys will see the consequences of his action, especially with the sweet reunion with everyone at the table in the end (feels like the calm before the storm).
All in all, not a bad finale, but a bit too disappointing in the way they resolve the plots that have been built up all this season.
Others might say that this is not as intense as previous episode, which might be true in terms of action and moving the plot forward. But I find this episode is still intense in a different way: more emotional investment.
"Family" and its unfortunately related cousin "abuse" seem to be the the theme that knits together different story arcs of the episode: the obvious Butcher flashback, Kimiko and Frenchie, MM with his family, Soldier Boy, and Homelander.
The episode kind of speeds up the pace in showing Soldier Boy's villainy through a recreation/imagination of Black Noir's flashback; although I'm not too comfortable that they present Noir's flashback at face value (instead of being an unreliable narrator), I think it still kinda works.
It is shown that Soldier Boy is an abusive, selfish bully with anger issues you would typically see among band leads or celebrity groups. While some have defended Soldier Boy's action by comparing him to Homelander ("at least Soldier Boy is not psychotic, emotionally unstable narcissist! He is a normal person not grown in lab!"), I think they missed the point of the show: the biggest issue here is exactly what would happen if people with power (influence) have additional power (literal superpower) while being protected by multi-billion dollar company. They possess all the impunity to wreak havoc. Like MM said, "no one should have the right to wield such power."
This theme of abuse is explicated with Butcher's flashback. No one is inherently "good" or "evil" - you are shaped by your upbringing. As the scenes between his memories, his reflection, and his projection in current time are cut seamlessly back and forth, Butcher slowly realizes that he mirrors the man he hated the most. Yet he fully accepts his succumbing to that darkness while bringing Hughie with him through his personal vendetta against the supes - not caring about the risk towards others who he claimed he loved. Even with parents, one may grow to be a contemptuous person if they live in an abusive family, and it's a cycle that is very difficult to break. Butcher's flashback is certainly the spotlight of the episode for me.
Even with Kimiko's story in the background (her saying that V only explicates what kind of person you are), considering that we've been shown how the character's social lives shaped them into what they are now - Kimiko with her abducted kid background, Hughie's insecurity with his zero to hero job, etc - the message stays strong, countering the superhero cliche of inherently morally good and evil person.
I'm hoping this dynamic could be further explored in the next episode (or season) with the Soldier Boy and Homelander encounter when it's revealed that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father, at least he feels so. An abusive father meets a narcissist kid-who'd-wanna-be-a-father. The ending of this episode becomes revealing when tied up to the earlier convesation between Homelander and Maeve: with Homelander echoing Soldier Boy's words that he "used to dream of having kids" with Maeve, it becomes apparent in this episode that the relationship between Homelander and Maeve (and Soldier Boy and Crimson Countess) it is not something exactly out of pure love.
"Having kids" is not a romantic statement: it's a purely masculine, self-centered ego of having someone of your blood - of your similarity - that you can be proud of. Who the partner is doesn't matter; they are only means to that end. And in that Soldier Boy shares something in common with Homelander as shown through his delight of accepting Homelander readily as his son, albeit lab-grown. He only wants to see a better version of him.
Last but not least, I love the jab at corporate this episode still throws. Ashley spinning breaking news about Starlight in a similar way Disney would spin stories about their abuse and mismanagement; and that A-Train being zombified, again, with the heart of Blue Hawk embedded in his body, serving only as Vought's puppet. I'm not sure if that's the most satisfying end to A-Train's arc, but seeing his disappointed, grim look, his lack of agency, I guess the character suffers a lot. I just hope this will be the last of his arc and the show doesn't squeeze him further.
That said, with the reveal at the ending, I am not sure I am 100% satisfied as I was expecting Soldier Boy bringing down Homelander, or rendering him powerless by the end of the season. Looks like Homelander will continue to be the main villain. I just hope they don't prolong the "mentally unstable" trope too much and find ways to keep the show interesting. Looking forward to the finale.
Most solid episode of the season so far. Nothing extraordinarily amazing, but it's just The Boys at its best like in the first half of Season 1.
What I like the most is that everything that happens leading to the climax in the Herogasm is just frantic, chaotic, a lot of stuff happening at once, unplanned, unpredictable, and consequently, tragic. Just a lot of things coming out together at the same time, including the tying up of loose ends of plot points (e.g. with A-Train's demise and his conflict with Hughie).
The episode keeps the comedy and jab at corporate speak intact, but does not overdo it so we get straight to the crux of the matter. From Homelander, Starlight, Kimiko/Frenchie, Hughie, A-Train, even Ashley - the plot revolving around those characters are about what makes them really them. They all have struggled with the question whether power (be it through V or executive position) made them into a terrible person they do not like, but it is all actually on them. Power only explicate their attitude. Like Butcher in the previous episode said, "With great power comes the absolute certainty, that you will turn into a right cunt."
It was interesting to see how each characters react: Hughie portrayed as an insecure man, A-Train tasting his own bitter medicine, Starlight getting tired of the play-pretend and politicking she has played all over the years, and of course, Homelander being Homelander. I find it especially best with Hughie and A-Train. Hughie, when in S1 he acted as our moral compass, here we see him as someone fragile, a man unable to keep up with the pace of the world he's living in and feeling defeated by his girlfriend for not being a breadwinner. A-Train, a great end to his arc, as he realizes that he has caused so many harms to others due to his toxicity, he realizes that he can only bring a little bit of justice for his own brother. He can't run away from his past like Frenchie said, I think it's very poetic.
Also it's refreshing to get a brief character development with Soldier Boy. Hoping that there is more to this character in the next seasons to come.
Last but not least, the fight with Homelander was intense. The unexpected Butcher x Hughie x Soldier Boy tag-team is great, especially with the confused, defeated look Homelander gave to them. I'm expecting this will drive Homelander even uncontrollable, especially now with his inner monologue and everyone either against him (Starlight, Maeve, if she is still there) or leaving him (Noir and possibly A-Train). The show seems to be planting the seed of conflict between our Boys in the future to come. Hopefully this will pay off.
They've been drawing parallels between Payback and Seven every now and then, but this episode shows the clearest. The sad thing is, if Soldier Boy is Payback's Homelander, and the team both hated their lead and tried to redeem themselves like Maeve do. then what a writing to show that Butcher is not a main character you should sympathize with. He is pragmatic, calculative, cold-blooded murderer sacrificing the redeemed Crimson Countess and Gunpowder who never liked Soldier Boy.
I find it interesting that there are parallels with Season 1 here. Butcher is back to his cold-blooded self and the compromise they're making with Soldier Boy reminds me a bit of similar ones they made with Starlight when they first discovered her. However Hughie, besides his power, seem to have not progressed much as a character, as he resorted to his confused, worst decision maker habit like we've seen in Season 1.
Other than that, the episode feels a bit lighter compared to the first three, not as packed but still better paced than the previous episode. Only 3 episodes left. Curious where they will take us. Hope this pays off.
Up until this episode The Boys Season 3 has been solid with only a few dents, but this episode the dents are getting bigger and they're kinda showing.
First of all, everything doesn't seem to be too well-paced here.
Butcher and Hughie just had a convo in previous episode about not showing him taking Tempo V, but then in the lab he just outright stormed the bullets and showing off to the others about his newfound power. And same with Hughie, who somehow got a dose too. Worse thing the lab situation doesn't seem to be even that bad. They don't seem to be outnumbered nor outgunned, and they've seen worse before. Facing Gunpowder, it's understandable why they'd need a V; but this? Seems kinda forced to me as if the writers need to just waste those Vs already.
Still on the lab: The Soldier Boy reveal seems to be a bit hurried. Butcher suddenly randomly opening up stuff while in fact they realize they're onto something dangerous which may or may not have Soldier Boy in the lab is not just reckless (we know Butcher is) but dumb. Aren't they there to find a superweapon? When Soldier Boy escaped, they just ended up stopping the search and went back home. Granted there's the situation with the team, but the whole thing about this supposedly mysterious Soldier Boy and the search for superweapon just feels really anticlimactic.
Then, the thing with Vicky and Stan Edgar. The way she outted Edgar is a surprising twist, and I kinda like that Homelander Magneto-esque speech about choosing their own kind. But it seemed to be paced oddly interspersed between fillers and actions going on with The Boys.
There are a few death flags as well (though hopefully it's just false ones): either KImiko or Frenchie or both with their "one last run" convo; MM with the "you're natural-born leader" convo; and of course Alex/Supersonic with the "I'm gonna help you cause it's the right thing to do." That's just a straight death flag and it's proven true by the end of the episode - which again, is kinda odd paced, seemingly coming out of nowhere.
To note that this isn't a bad episode at all, but it feels like things are kinda jumbled here and there, making watching especially the second half a bit tedious. Not to mention that the first half isn't as packed and well-structured as prev episodes (it's the moment they started playing the "3 seconds still shot" too much that I felt that it's a bit too filler-y). The A-Train Pepsi parody is well done though - The Boys is always the best at parody but I hope they can do more than that.
Hopefully it will get better.
Solid episode all around. The Boys staying true to its criticism on woke capitalism (carnivals overselling LGBT empowerment) while portraying how the supes despite being antagonists are still human. Loved that scene with Kimiko and Crimson Countess: showing Kimiko's childhood innocence and Crimson Countess' human side. And this episode returns to remind us that Butcher is not a hero, but a cruel, supe-hating murderer.
This first episode does take its time to show the transition from the one-year-off screen-peacetime to the action again. So it is no wonder they spent the first half of the episode rather slowly, showing the peaceful lives of the cast. They don't shake off the uncomfortable feeling of Homelander's unpredictability though; every time he's on screen I'm never so sure what would happen next. Not to mention that there's also Neuman, every time she's on screen I can't get rid of the feeling that anything something explode at anytime.
I like that they still play the vulgar sex, gross violence, and not-so-subtle allegories (Homelander being jerked off) like in previous seasons. But like the other reviewer said, I hope they don't rely too much only on those tropes and offer something new to the table.
Good episode. Kickstarted the season and made me curious of what's coming. Fares much better than the Brotherhood version here. The episode shows the consequence of Ed and Al's action to the city rather than just showing them wreaking havoc. It also shows Al as a more empathetic side compared to Ed.
This is a good episode for two reasons:
As a pilot, this sets the tone directly. Not overdone humor, enough action, and enough world-building. The mechanics is there, brief background of our protagonists are there, and the conflict is there. Ed came off as a reasonable but still haughty/bratty state alchemist. Compare this to the pilot in FMA: Brotherhood which introduced too many characters, etc, which gets confusing.
Compared to the same episode in FMA: Brotherhood, this one explains much better why the priest was beloved by his people. The people are not just blind fanatics mesmerized by miracle, but benefit materially from him. There is also enough character development between Ed & Al with the others so they don't come off as haughty edgy atheists barging to people's door. More time to set the tone and silently establishes the bigger antagonists as well.
The only thing jarring here is the people just have to be brown just because they live in desert lol. Stereotype of very 2000-ish anime.
Not sure what was wrong with the episode, but the science vs religion contrast feels a bit tacked on, and the conflict as well as the resolution feels really hurried. The citizen seems to be too foolishly gullible to believe the antagonist with no strong reason except 'muh miracles'. The antagonist seems pretty dumb to reveal his grand plan just like that for the plot to keep on going. And, the worst is, Ed sounds like an edgy Reddit atheist with his haughty "god doesn't exist" speech.
Weak pilot. Too many characters introduced, mixed with some out of place humor. Worst is that this episode shows both the state alchemists as unorganized, reckless institution (no plan at all to anticipate attack on central) and the Ice Alchemist as incompetent offender (with all that spectacle he really doesn't seem to plan anything in advance, as he gets beaten by Elric bros).
Last two episodes have been good, kinda shows the dynamics between characters (Clay being so petty with the new guy and Gemma keep trying to maintain her matriarch role). The only downside here is the a bit poorly executed gunfight.
I guess this episode has little bit of everything. There is a bit of suspense of the barn invasion. There is a bit of action in the final showdown, of course. There is a bit of Justice League cameo. There is a bit of character development during the mission preparation. There is a bit of wrapping up the story (each characters' fate, tying up loose ends, and Peacemaker making peace with himself). And there is also some stereotypical eco-message slipped in (I guess since this is the anthropocene and Thanos' ecofascism seems to be popular...).
It's not a gripping finale, but it does what it does well for an action comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Highlight would be: I like that they keep Goff alive because Peacemaker's personal connection and Judomaster also alive with his chips-eating habit. I also liked that they're setting this up for future DCEU but not too blatantly obvious that they had to throw away the standalone-ness of the show like MCU/Marvel Studios usually do.
It ties all loose ends and give some resolution to Peacemaker as a character. Despite not having much progression in the plot, I don't think it's a bad episode. It develops Peacemaker, Adebayo, and Harcourt more, even though I hoped we could've seen more from how Peacemaker and Harcourt handled what happened in the episode. Characters in the show, though, do feel expendable, and I kept wondering if they'd kill Eagly. Thankfully they didn't.
James Gunn really liked the idea of shoving stuff into people's mouth huh. He did it in The Suicide Squad, he did it again here.
It's decent. I mean, I understand that they want to focus on character development and team building in this episode. But it seems pretty rushed at certain points. Like: 1) when Economos shows up with a chainsaw in an instant. It almost feels like deus ex machina; 2) when Adebayo discovers that Murn is a butterfly. How does Murn even know that Adebayo is wearing X-ray vision? The whole sequences just felt pretty rushed to me, even down to the Adebayo being thrown; 3) The resolution with Chief Locke and Detective Song. There was this tension building then the sequences switch back to Peacemaker and the gang.
It's obvious what they're trying to do, and I know they don't take themselves too seriously, but it feels like they kinda take a shortcut to do that. Even the action sequences are lacking and look a bit low budget (camera shakes and the poor explosion effect). They wasted more time on toilet jokes and quippy banters. The crude jokes worked in the first few episodes but it has ran out of its novelty by the 5th episode. It's watchable, still, but I guess only if you have that much time to kill.
"You don't like illegal aliens? These are real illegal aliens."
The show has finally started to get its grip. There's an enough amount of comic book references for the fans, enough comedy for people who watch it for the jokes, enough character development, and enough plot moving on - especially with the scene with Judomaster and the one in the ending. The only thing lacking here is the camera works during the brief action sequences; its dizzy, inconsistent, and doesn't convey the action at all.
This could've been Episode 2 as this is where things finally start to get going. Pace has been much better - if in the first two episodes I felt the need of fast-forwarding, at least in this episode I didn't feel any of that.
Show has been relying banters, irony, and sex jokes for its comedy but this episode shows some physical humor as well. Action is there but not as fleshed. Don't seem like the Peacemaker we saw in The Suicide Squad, but I guess it's supposed to be a character development.
I quite liked that they treat the quippy one-liner spouter Adebayo as seen as the dumber person by other characters, which kinda shows how ridiculous it is to be quippy in serious situation - like a slap to MCU face. I also liked they slipped in the derogatory "cape shit" to refer to superheroes/supervillains.
But I guess the episode swings between jocular and serious moments a little too hard, and it's a bit difficult to get the tone they're trying to convey here. I get it that this show is an action comedy show, but it would've been great if they can maintain a tone a bit more consistently. The drama between the couple is a bit too overdone, as well as the dick joke between Vigilante and Peacemaker, and the part where Peacemaker had to jump from ledges. I guess it's a bit too much for a 45 minutes episodes - too little substance.
It's fine overall but I hope this doesn't end up as "Deadpool but DCEU".
It's different, to say the least. Kinda nice to actually have an anti-hero in a world laden with superhero stuff, and the awkward, crass one at that. Considering Peacemaker's racist background, looking forward how to the show will handle that aspect without resorting to typical MCU style "kumbaya" take.
Not the finale we need, not the finale we deserve either... I was expecting at least a 90 minutes run. But regardless of the amount of them being cut, and sped up, I'm glad it was not a jumble mess like Season 5 finale.
A lot in the episodes feel like a callback to Season 1: the Rocinante dinner time (like the one they had with Alex and Miller), the landing and assault on the Ring surface (like the Assault on Thoth), and the negotiation/politics (like the whole Errinwright debacle). They were not as intense as the 1st Season given the time constraint, but enough to get all the things going.
The space battle leaves something to be desired, esp. on the UNN & Mars side (very far from the tenuous chaotic high command conflict back in Season 3), and the Belters' side could have more improvement (wish we could see more from the old guy Walker), but it's enough to convey the direness of the situation. Holden's crew raid is executed better than the space combat side, just like in the Thoth Station assault. Marco's demise was a bit cut short however, which feels a bit anticlimactic after they all went through. Similarly, the roundtable meeting was very simplified, without much tense and direness like we see during the tension between Earth Mars in Season 1-3 (like in Bobbie's trial), but at the very least it gives enough reason for a resolution to come up and conclude the series.
Again, this could've been more: it has improved from the less than average Season 5, but still it was not a very satisfying conclusion to this fantastic series. Alas, this is what we have. I hope we could still see more from The Expanse.
The first two episodes were weak but this one is The Expanse back at its finest. I really liked how they get up close and personal with the crews in each ships/stations - Rocinante, Tynan, Pella, even Ceres - but then they also zoom out and see things in bird view. The Expanse has always been the strongest in world building, and this episode they show it really well when the characters were observing the news. The politics is also slightly back in with the combined forces of Earth and Mars dealing with Marco leaving Ceres. I also liked how they return to working on Naomi's character as well as they did before: with simple, short dialogues between Naomi and Holden about Naomi recovering from Pella incident and working on her best as data analyst. About Naomi, in the last sequence I also liked that it was not Naomi who pulled the trigger off (I was expecting some typical melodramatic "no don't do it" stuff), but it was Holden.
I usually always have many good things to say about The Expanse, and it saddens me that I don't have lots of good to say about this episode. It feels almost like filler episode. Like in the first episode, the scene with the girl and the animals took way too much time (more than 5 minutes) - it almost feels like a Walking Dead filler episode.
The action scene is nice, but the scene with Clarissa/Peaches on steroid have been very weirdly directed in the last 2 seasons. What happened to the fast-paced tiger brawl like when she was first introduced? The effect is really poorly done - they could've learned a thing or two from how Dennis Villeneuve directed Bene Gesserit's The Voice to evoke something that is visually strong.
The only redeeming point here is Drummer's crew interaction with the old guy, which makes a good dynamic and illustrate what's been going on since Marco's uprising. This is particularly important considering the world building has been very lackluster since Season 5, which is a disappointment. Considering in this final season they only have 6 episodes. I was expecting it to be more dense given the limited episode. Alas, this is what we got.
