i'm currently reslistening s2 while waiting for new peachyville content and i just got to e23 "Alright" (the episode that takes place in the church of the doodler where we get to re-experience the s1 dads via the memories of the place itself, which i personally think is peak storytelling, i love it) and i have to put my thoughts somewhere so here we go:
- s2 never really clicked for me the way s1 did and i know i'm not alone with this feeling. in e23 anthony himself exhaustedly claims that the show is all of a sudden so much better as soon as the players get to play the s1 dads, and i have to agree. the players seem relieved to get back into their old characters, the conversation flows a lot better, i felt myself relaxing bc this was the podcast that i've grown to love. s2 never felt like this to me, before and after.
- henry screaming at lark/sparrow for wanting to sit on the throne hit me like a brick. the acting, the emotions. both anthony and will were so deeply in character that i can only imagine the tension in the recording-room. will screams regularly while playing normal but it never got to me like this.
- s2 depends heavily on the themes of apathy and ignorance of teenagers and while i think that this is fun in theory i find myself regularly dragged down by the underlying mood of s2. these characters don't want to be the heroes. and not like in an anti-hero way, just in a "i am a child, leave me out of this" way and i find it personally exhausting that the narrative keeps pushing them to action. they shouldnt have to do this and i don't think it is a lot of fun watching them struggle. s1 was so clearly motivated by these characters who were by no means perfect, but perfect for the narrative. they didn't want to be the heros either, but stepping up (hehe) was their responsibility. the s2 teens had nothing to do with any of the damage that was done and i don't feel like they should have been put in the position they were put in.
- the contrast between e23 which was carried mostly by the emotions and actions of the s1 characters and the beginning of e24 was just baffling to me. the teens try to talk to scary about her emotions in the beginning of e24 and this conversation is so awkward and inconsequential that i am actually amazed they didnt just cut it. i know it's the whole point of scary as a character to act as the depressed teen who doesn't want to feel better but in this scene beth made it seem as if there was really nothing behind these catchphrases. will is a master at putting other players on the spot of explaining their emotions with the sort of characters he plays but when there is no answer to the question of "how are you, really", the character kind of falls apart for me. even glenn would have had an answer to that question. and again, i understand that the point of the teens is to be teens and not have worked through all their emotional bagagge, but it all just feels rather empty at times. especially scary.
- you can really hear how tired anthony was throughout all of s2. in some episodes more then in others, but he definitely did not ejnoy a lot of it. that is no secret, he said so himself in the aftershow, but i have to admit it doesn't help the tone and flow of the show. it just adds to the exhausted, moody kinda storytelling, which is fine, i just can't imagine that it was their intention while working on s2. and i feel kind of sorry imagining that anthony had to sit through the season with similar feelings.
- this is a whole other post, BUT i'm not saying i want more episodes with the s1 dads. i personally don't need all the specials, all the one-shots, all the stuff they put into the timeline for canons sake. none of it worked for me the way s1 did. and i think they should stop at some point soon, bc i feel like at this point they are just repeating catchphrases. take a break. come back with something new. it will be better than working old characters to death.
