She-Ra 1x12-13, final thoughts
Mar. 15th, 2019 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urth posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
tori_reviewsSo this brings us to the end of this little side project. The AoS reviews are still slow going, so I'm probably looking for another easier side project, if anyone has a recommendation.
She-Ra 1x12: Light Hope
I can’t say I liked that one, it was pretty boring in a lot of parts and everything comes a bit too easily, and I don’t see how this can be resolved next episode without it coming a lot too easily. I do not understand the exposition we’re getting about this planet; partly because the planet seems a lot smaller with this reveal. Also, where did the Horde come from if they’re not from a different land on this planet?
Yet again I feel like I should connect with Adora in this episode, and there’s a couple moments I do, but the end result doesn’t feel like a character arc, it just feels like nothing has actually happened from all this. Exploring Adora having doubts about her place in all this, and ultimately rejecting the detached protector role in favor of her friends in a common enough story that it should be easy for me to connect with it; and if my problem were just that it was shallow, childish version of that I would acknowledge it as I have on other occasions. This just...wasn’t an arc. This was thinking they were ticking a check box on the hero’s journey, but not actually doing the work beyond saying they did it.
Yes there is some standing up against the decrees of the First Ones (and damn do they sound more Vorlon all the time), but it was never really an obstacle that had to be overcome, it was just...there. Maybe as baby’s first heroes journey it’s okay, but that doesn’t make it good.
She-Ra 1x13: The Battle of Bright Moon
This episode just felt long, and not in a good way. Not in a way where so much happened that it felt like more than usual. In a way, where halfway through the episode when it felt like it had already gone on too long I thought we had to be getting close to the end and they were actually going to end the season on a cliffhanger.
I will give the show this much credit, I kept expecting an obvious double cross from Entrapta that was going to save the day, but she stayed where she was and stuck with it. I still find it a little questionable in terms of the show’s message; and tied into something that’s been nagging at me the whole series that the good guys have magic and the bad guys technology. It’s common enough, especially in fantasy stories, that I don’t necessarily want to make a thing of it, but it lends itself to some iffy implications with me about people being naturally born with magic and those who try and use technology to even the playing field being evil.
To make my standard comparison to Avatar, this issue was there a little but it had a different flavor of world-building to it. The Fire Nation also had ‘magic’ powers and their type of magic power actually lent itself to the development of technology, and then once they started to have it they caused the other nations to develop tech a bit more slowly but there were people within those other nations who were still progressing tech development. So while on the surface, especially early on, their tech was used to make them more scary and a bigger threat, scratch the surface and the technology = evil impression wasn’t really there. Here...the First Ones are dicks (as most First Ones are), Entrapta is amoral especially when it comes to her interest in tech, and the Horde are the only ones who actually use it, that seems to be pushing a direction I’m not super on board with.
For saying I didn’t want to make a thing out of it, I guess I did.
But this episode is so boring. As I’ve said so many times through this season, it’s probably just fine for kids, but I don’t care about any of these people (aside from maybe Seahawk getting to burn another boat, and I don’t actually like Seahawk, I just find that a great running gag). Half the people I’m apparently supposed to care about in this episode have had a total of twelve lines between them all season. Plus I was rooting for the bad guys partly because they’re ever so slightly more interesting than the good guys and partly just so the series would have some stakes.
Because my mind started to wander and wish this had been the start of the story. Begin with failure. Maybe have Adora already be She-Ra but not be enough to hold back the Horde when they come in force like this (this scenario could have even worked now, call the first season the prolog to the real story that starts with them having to fight an enemy now more powerful than ever, at least leave the stones unpowered so there’s some danger); put her on a mission to learn and grown and find a way to gain back what was lost, both the kingdom and her own confidence. Or go back to the beginning and have newly promoted Horde officer Adora involved in a real attack (maybe on Scorpia’s kingdom), a large scale one like this where there’s a lot of destruction (they can’t really show death I’m sure, although a Mulan with the doll moment could be pretty powerful) and either during or after the battle Adora realizes she can’t be part of this. A battle like this should not be as boring and lifeless as it is, so I’m reimaging the basics into something with actual meaning.
Also, this kind of is Adora’s fault. Not really, I know, and she likely doesn’t even know that as Entrapta is a large part of why and they all still think she’s dead (it was like three days ago), but enough that I wish they had actually let her feel like it was and be a motivating factor here. But Catra’s motivation in causing this are all wrapped up in Adora, and if Adora had done a better job leading the assault on the Fright Zone (again, three days ago) Entrapta wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in this and allowed this sort of attack to be on the table. Even in the absence of making this something Adora has to come to terms with, this episode likely would have been better with a moral not summed up in the subtitle of My Little Pony.
For an episode I found very disappointing, I guess I had a lot to say.
Closing thoughts, and some I maybe should have done earlier
I may have stopped mentioning it, but the animation still looks like ass to me a decent amount of the time. In addition to looking bad, it’s also dumb; there were a lot of times this season when I would have to wonder where Adora just pulled her sword from as she never seems to be carrying it until right before it’s relevant.
I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but I despise the opening theme song; fortunately as a Netflix original it’s designed to let me skip over it. I watched it once, that was more than enough, every other time even the few bars before I could get to the remote were more than I wanted to hear. To be fair, I usually skip over theme songs, even ones I actually like, but I really didn’t like this one.
I stand by my running statement that this show is probably fine for kids, but I feel like at this late point I should probably explain how I use that logic. There has been some pushback I’ve seen in fandom in recent years about how just because something is for kids isn’t an excuse for it to be bad, and I agree with that; it is still however a reason to judge it differently. Plus I don’t necessarily think it’s outright bad by any standards, just not good and a lot of its flaws for an older viewer would be less clear to a younger one.
I’ve described this as baby’s first hero’s journey a couple times in these reviews and that sums up part of its problems. It’s why over the course of these reviews I’ve gone from thinking this show was probably fine up to about ten year olds to thinking of it as geared for six year olds (which is only a slightly different view since I never assumed it would be bad for six year old, nor think there are no ten year olds who might still like it). There’s also nothing wrong with a basic hero’s journey if something interesting is done with it even without deviating from that structure. But by the time most of us are ten we’ve seen enough basic heroes’ journeys to start to have opinions on if one is good or interesting or different, and this one is just kind of there.
The other childish leaning is how little it explores its own deeper issues. This is mostly in reference to Adora and the Horde (which I’ve discussed at as much length as I gave anything through these reviews), but it’s a little bit there with others too. I never really get the sense that this is a land ravaged by war, that all these teenagers in leadership roles have grown up surrounded by dangers and have enormous pressures on them to survive in a harsh world. If say, Mermista had been fatalistic instead of disinterested; or Entrapta obsessed with building weapons to use against the Horde rather than just in her own little world; or if Glimmer had to see why her mother was so protective of her when she’d already lost her husband to the war. Basically no opportunity is taken to flesh out the world or the characters to populate it. And kids who wouldn’t think to look for that depth aren’t going to notice its absence; that’s not an excuse why it can’t be there, kids could handle the depth if given to them, but they’re not going to be put off so much by the lack.
And yet I also stand by what I said a few times early on, I think little kids are going to have some issues with the story too. Maybe not the same ones, at least in all cases, and probably not to the same degree, but I think TPTB here...think the show is meant for an older audience than they’re actually writing for. They want the older kids, and the tumblr crowd, and the older fans with nostalgia to at least give the show a chance and hopefully find something to like in it; while still being able to use the excuse of it being for kids and a new thing that doesn’t have to conform to the old ideas. And I think that’s why the show ultimately feels kind of cynical; it wants everything, but offers very little.
As an overall view, I can’t say I like the show, and the more I think about it, the less I like it; while suffering the somewhat common paradox for me that now that I’ve put the effort in to examining why I didn’t like it, I’ll probably feel some need to keep watching it to see if those opinions hold. If I spent much time around kids I wouldn’t have a problem letting them watch this if they wanted, but I think it would depend on the kid if I recommended it. I wouldn’t recommend it to adults who maybe just want to see what’s up with it or are maybe looking to fill the Avatar void.
I can’t even say I see a lot of potential in the show. The actually potentially interesting elements are clearly ones they have no interest in, while the shallow cloying elements get a lot of focus. And that doesn’t feel like a choice they can unmake going forward. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I was left with. If I do watch the next season, we’ll see how it goes.
She-Ra 1x12: Light Hope
I can’t say I liked that one, it was pretty boring in a lot of parts and everything comes a bit too easily, and I don’t see how this can be resolved next episode without it coming a lot too easily. I do not understand the exposition we’re getting about this planet; partly because the planet seems a lot smaller with this reveal. Also, where did the Horde come from if they’re not from a different land on this planet?
Yet again I feel like I should connect with Adora in this episode, and there’s a couple moments I do, but the end result doesn’t feel like a character arc, it just feels like nothing has actually happened from all this. Exploring Adora having doubts about her place in all this, and ultimately rejecting the detached protector role in favor of her friends in a common enough story that it should be easy for me to connect with it; and if my problem were just that it was shallow, childish version of that I would acknowledge it as I have on other occasions. This just...wasn’t an arc. This was thinking they were ticking a check box on the hero’s journey, but not actually doing the work beyond saying they did it.
Yes there is some standing up against the decrees of the First Ones (and damn do they sound more Vorlon all the time), but it was never really an obstacle that had to be overcome, it was just...there. Maybe as baby’s first heroes journey it’s okay, but that doesn’t make it good.
She-Ra 1x13: The Battle of Bright Moon
This episode just felt long, and not in a good way. Not in a way where so much happened that it felt like more than usual. In a way, where halfway through the episode when it felt like it had already gone on too long I thought we had to be getting close to the end and they were actually going to end the season on a cliffhanger.
I will give the show this much credit, I kept expecting an obvious double cross from Entrapta that was going to save the day, but she stayed where she was and stuck with it. I still find it a little questionable in terms of the show’s message; and tied into something that’s been nagging at me the whole series that the good guys have magic and the bad guys technology. It’s common enough, especially in fantasy stories, that I don’t necessarily want to make a thing of it, but it lends itself to some iffy implications with me about people being naturally born with magic and those who try and use technology to even the playing field being evil.
To make my standard comparison to Avatar, this issue was there a little but it had a different flavor of world-building to it. The Fire Nation also had ‘magic’ powers and their type of magic power actually lent itself to the development of technology, and then once they started to have it they caused the other nations to develop tech a bit more slowly but there were people within those other nations who were still progressing tech development. So while on the surface, especially early on, their tech was used to make them more scary and a bigger threat, scratch the surface and the technology = evil impression wasn’t really there. Here...the First Ones are dicks (as most First Ones are), Entrapta is amoral especially when it comes to her interest in tech, and the Horde are the only ones who actually use it, that seems to be pushing a direction I’m not super on board with.
For saying I didn’t want to make a thing out of it, I guess I did.
But this episode is so boring. As I’ve said so many times through this season, it’s probably just fine for kids, but I don’t care about any of these people (aside from maybe Seahawk getting to burn another boat, and I don’t actually like Seahawk, I just find that a great running gag). Half the people I’m apparently supposed to care about in this episode have had a total of twelve lines between them all season. Plus I was rooting for the bad guys partly because they’re ever so slightly more interesting than the good guys and partly just so the series would have some stakes.
Because my mind started to wander and wish this had been the start of the story. Begin with failure. Maybe have Adora already be She-Ra but not be enough to hold back the Horde when they come in force like this (this scenario could have even worked now, call the first season the prolog to the real story that starts with them having to fight an enemy now more powerful than ever, at least leave the stones unpowered so there’s some danger); put her on a mission to learn and grown and find a way to gain back what was lost, both the kingdom and her own confidence. Or go back to the beginning and have newly promoted Horde officer Adora involved in a real attack (maybe on Scorpia’s kingdom), a large scale one like this where there’s a lot of destruction (they can’t really show death I’m sure, although a Mulan with the doll moment could be pretty powerful) and either during or after the battle Adora realizes she can’t be part of this. A battle like this should not be as boring and lifeless as it is, so I’m reimaging the basics into something with actual meaning.
Also, this kind of is Adora’s fault. Not really, I know, and she likely doesn’t even know that as Entrapta is a large part of why and they all still think she’s dead (it was like three days ago), but enough that I wish they had actually let her feel like it was and be a motivating factor here. But Catra’s motivation in causing this are all wrapped up in Adora, and if Adora had done a better job leading the assault on the Fright Zone (again, three days ago) Entrapta wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in this and allowed this sort of attack to be on the table. Even in the absence of making this something Adora has to come to terms with, this episode likely would have been better with a moral not summed up in the subtitle of My Little Pony.
For an episode I found very disappointing, I guess I had a lot to say.
Closing thoughts, and some I maybe should have done earlier
I may have stopped mentioning it, but the animation still looks like ass to me a decent amount of the time. In addition to looking bad, it’s also dumb; there were a lot of times this season when I would have to wonder where Adora just pulled her sword from as she never seems to be carrying it until right before it’s relevant.
I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but I despise the opening theme song; fortunately as a Netflix original it’s designed to let me skip over it. I watched it once, that was more than enough, every other time even the few bars before I could get to the remote were more than I wanted to hear. To be fair, I usually skip over theme songs, even ones I actually like, but I really didn’t like this one.
I stand by my running statement that this show is probably fine for kids, but I feel like at this late point I should probably explain how I use that logic. There has been some pushback I’ve seen in fandom in recent years about how just because something is for kids isn’t an excuse for it to be bad, and I agree with that; it is still however a reason to judge it differently. Plus I don’t necessarily think it’s outright bad by any standards, just not good and a lot of its flaws for an older viewer would be less clear to a younger one.
I’ve described this as baby’s first hero’s journey a couple times in these reviews and that sums up part of its problems. It’s why over the course of these reviews I’ve gone from thinking this show was probably fine up to about ten year olds to thinking of it as geared for six year olds (which is only a slightly different view since I never assumed it would be bad for six year old, nor think there are no ten year olds who might still like it). There’s also nothing wrong with a basic hero’s journey if something interesting is done with it even without deviating from that structure. But by the time most of us are ten we’ve seen enough basic heroes’ journeys to start to have opinions on if one is good or interesting or different, and this one is just kind of there.
The other childish leaning is how little it explores its own deeper issues. This is mostly in reference to Adora and the Horde (which I’ve discussed at as much length as I gave anything through these reviews), but it’s a little bit there with others too. I never really get the sense that this is a land ravaged by war, that all these teenagers in leadership roles have grown up surrounded by dangers and have enormous pressures on them to survive in a harsh world. If say, Mermista had been fatalistic instead of disinterested; or Entrapta obsessed with building weapons to use against the Horde rather than just in her own little world; or if Glimmer had to see why her mother was so protective of her when she’d already lost her husband to the war. Basically no opportunity is taken to flesh out the world or the characters to populate it. And kids who wouldn’t think to look for that depth aren’t going to notice its absence; that’s not an excuse why it can’t be there, kids could handle the depth if given to them, but they’re not going to be put off so much by the lack.
And yet I also stand by what I said a few times early on, I think little kids are going to have some issues with the story too. Maybe not the same ones, at least in all cases, and probably not to the same degree, but I think TPTB here...think the show is meant for an older audience than they’re actually writing for. They want the older kids, and the tumblr crowd, and the older fans with nostalgia to at least give the show a chance and hopefully find something to like in it; while still being able to use the excuse of it being for kids and a new thing that doesn’t have to conform to the old ideas. And I think that’s why the show ultimately feels kind of cynical; it wants everything, but offers very little.
As an overall view, I can’t say I like the show, and the more I think about it, the less I like it; while suffering the somewhat common paradox for me that now that I’ve put the effort in to examining why I didn’t like it, I’ll probably feel some need to keep watching it to see if those opinions hold. If I spent much time around kids I wouldn’t have a problem letting them watch this if they wanted, but I think it would depend on the kid if I recommended it. I wouldn’t recommend it to adults who maybe just want to see what’s up with it or are maybe looking to fill the Avatar void.
I can’t even say I see a lot of potential in the show. The actually potentially interesting elements are clearly ones they have no interest in, while the shallow cloying elements get a lot of focus. And that doesn’t feel like a choice they can unmake going forward. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I was left with. If I do watch the next season, we’ll see how it goes.
