sorry to be a regect critical on main but my biggest issue with a regect atm is that it started off as a series making fun of mcyt horror stereotypes before completely giving into those same stereotypes. it's clear to me that, like many popular mcyt horror cc's, zab is a first-time writer, which is fine! i have to preface starting out is ok! but it's giving me the same vibes as the dsmp where the Potential is so rich and yet it doesn't quite Get There.
tonally, s2 is kind of all over the place. specifically, what frustrates me is 1.) micha's purpose in the plot, 2.) the overarching theme, 3.) it's not as funny as s1, and 4.) moe's storyline. season 1-early s2 of regect, while still setting up, had an overarching theme of "what makes a monster? what makes a person?" (ze's monstrosity vs regect's humanity), intertwined w the themes of abuse (micha's mistreatment, ze's relationship with his dad, eyes as who takes delight in abusing many children). going into s2, i really expected it to have some commentary on what trauma derived from abuse does to a person's humanity. regect and ze can be interpreted as survivors of abusers, with eyes having a sort of mentor/father relationship with regect (training him to become a monster) similar to how ze's dad sent him to boot camp.
the difference between ze and regect though is they both represent two kinds of traumas that come from abuse. regect's is cowardice; the inability to tell others the whole truth, his aversion to action, him not wanting to go into the whole. meanwhile, ze's is internalized toxic masculinity; turning towards violence, brute forcing things, yelling at people when angry. i'll say this over and over again but ze and regect r character foils (monster w human tendencies, human w monster tendencies), and it's now manifesting in how they respond to their trauma ie abuse.
so there goes issue no 1. i wished they honed in on this more instead of making it just a save micha plotline. bc to me, micha is not a fully-fleshed character in the same way ze regect moe or even eyes is - micha is a smybol for regect's humanity, and in general maybe even just human innocence. they r the catalyst for why regect is the way that he is, and his death should simply emphasize the monstrosity which is eyes. sure, maybe ze going into the hole and saving micha is a representation for refinding his humanity, but my issue is he still found micha WITHOUT listening to regect, WHILE brute forcing his way through. the thing is, i DONT want micha alive! their being is representative of a concept! and i was regect and ze to overcome and cope w their trauma by confronting eyes (and maybe ze's dad) together, NOT by saving micha like a damsel.
i genuinely wished this season honed in on ze and regect's relationship to their own trauma instead of just. showing clips of what happened to micha. bc even if u show what happened to micha, i rlly think the valentines special downplayed how evil eyes is. because i dont WANT micha to be a smart protagonist. theyre not a protagonist! it is more impactful for this kid to be a vulnerable victim of this fucked up entity to emphasize that the entity is EVIL. when you make eyes look dumb the entire abuser theme then looks dumb. esp bc i think eyes didnt trick micha enough. i also wished when ze was down the hole, eyes would emulate what ze's dad would say 2 him! rlly hone in on the theme of toxic masculinity bc why tap into it when ur not gonna explore it?
furthermore, moe's writing in s2 upsets me so much bc her story is Nothing like ze or regect's. ze and regect's stories r about admitting they are victims to powerful figures; moe's is about the idea of being able to progress despite doing something horrible. it is NOT the same. and it frustrates me because i LOOOOVE moe. my suggestion for this is if they pushed her arc to be in s3, after regect and ze solve their issues w trauma, because imagine them being alright admitting they're victims while moe watches knowing she has a history of mistreating people. what would she feel? what would the other two feel?
(also i hated ze admitted to his issues 2 moe only for him to brute force his way into the hole right after. like what was the point bro)
s2 is honestly a mess of trying to make smth lore while also keeping the vibes of s1, which is Jarring, bc there can be an emotional beat then BAM there's a weird joke. it's like they have a vague idea of the theme but they're giving into like. dsmp reference u kno when they make emotional beats Just Cus and we're like "wow!" until we realize it doesn't solve any of the prev established themes. it's giving that. ok rant over
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