#wctmib

[darkpoisonouslove]

Idk why but of the Trix Darcy kinda seemed "off" or "out" for me in the reboot. Does that make sense? She never seemed to be really in that take over everything attitude but just go with the flow (Icy and Stormy). And in so many scenes Icy and Stormy were paired up while Darcy was with some fourth like sitting with Damien during class or doing school work with Diaspro. I just think most of the time she seemed like she actually could've been a teacher's favorite and would've preffer to just chill in their dorm than running around in a forest.

And then her crush on Riven... Like girl, where is your bad bitch? OG Darcy liked Riven and yes Icy and Stormy were able to mock her about it but just bc of the fact that she actually has feelings. And not bc she was so embarrassing about it. Like "darcy x riven forever"? GIRL YOU COULD'VE HAD EVERYONE! And you're crushing over a so called "bad boy" like that just to never mentioned it again during the rest of the show? For a sec I was so hyped for it until they failed her/them so bad. And the glasses! Her cute and aesthetic glasses...

Tbh they're all off. Failing - several times - to hit Bloom with their magic even though she's standing a few feet away with nowhere to go was so fucking pathetic. I don't know what Rainbow was thinking. Why even bring them back if you're just going to make them lackeys for the biggest loser of a villain ever? Like at least when they were in seasons 6, 7 and 8, they were working for themselves and openly or at least secretly against the other villains, which saved them from being in the awkward position of playing henchwomen for the most cringefail villains ever invented. But here it's just... they're dead, Rainbow, stop kicking their corpses, jesus!

It also really feels like out of the three of them Icy is the only one who actually has any plans and ideas whereas Darcy and Stormy are just there to be her cheerleaders. But Darcy certainly is at an even bigger disadvantage thanks to that bit about Riven that they completely failed to follow through on. I think maybe the reason why she was paired with Diaspro is because she will get the Diaspro treatment but even worse. Instead of Musa having to lose Riven to her, at least initially, Darcy will be into Riven and want him to join her but he will just choose Musa like Sky chose Bloom and Darcy will be left humiliated. Once again - THEY'RE DEAD, RAINBOW, STOP KICKING THEIR CORPSES!

You know, when I first heard that they had to divide into couples in that episode, I genuinely thought that Darcy and Stormy would be together or with some of the Winx and Icy would be paired with Bloom. That would have made the most sense! But again, I think this was, possibly, a visual clue about Darcy and Diaspro occupying similar roles aka as the rivals that Winx girls have to face for the attention of their crushes who will be discarded as soon as they're used for the narrative to make it clear that Musa and Bloom respectively are a lot more desirable. It's, uh... it's not looking good for any of the Trix but especially Darcy.

The episode where she turned out to be the prince that Stella went on a date with honestly made her seem more into Stella than she was into Riven and I'll tell you what, I'm not opposed to that, though they clearly aren't going there anyway. So that thread with Riven is just left hanging there until it's convenient to bring it back to subject Darcy to his rejection in favor of Musa. Og Darcy would never but, like I said, the Trix are already starting out as losers so this fits right in with what their characters are in the reboot. So sad that Rainbow is butchering them now too (I mean even more than they've already managed) when they were the only part of the reboot that actually looked good in the middle of this AI-generated nightmare.

[darkpoisonouslove]

What the hell were those two Specialists "guarding" Bloom going to do anyway? Even if they hadn't been so easily duped by Riven.

So the Winx failed at finding Diaspro but are conveniently back to help Bloom? No fucking stakes ever, I guess. It's just not allowed!

Man, that "transformation" of Damien's is the fugliest thing I've ever seen.

What. THE HELL. are those creatures that are accompanying Damien? Are they from the Omega dimension as well?... I admit that I might have missed something, though Rainbow not explaining their shit is even more likely.

Great job, Stella! You got all the monsters except for the one that manifested wings and is holding Bloom! You know, the same one that could carry her away at any moment! But not to worry! It's not like that one was the most important one to get rid of and should have been the priority!

Well, THAT was anticlimatic. And if you think I'm being repetitive, try watching this slop. If Sky could just disintegrate the monster so easily and save Bloom without breaking a sweat, why were the Winx struggling so bad? Damien isn't powerful enough to justify them failing so badly to help Bloom.

You know Diaspro's evil now because a) she won't stop cackling and b) her wings disappeared and her outfit became a darker color. Frankly, making her become a witch (and want to) is... stupid. But what baffles me is that Faragonda said that there's nothing more powerful than knowing who you are even if that leads to darkness, which is definitely incongruent with their "fairies are good and witches are evil" shtick that they've reinforced a million times. Hey, Rainbow, can you keep your story and themes coherent for three seconds or is there a higher power that is literally preventing you from doing that? It's literally hard to make your show so contradictory but they manage to do it over and over and over again.

[darkpoisonouslove]

"We have to keep this a secret" she says after they just plugged the hard drive containing a ton of information about her birth planet into the school system. Amazing work, everyone!

What is Griffin's problem? I mean, I can understand not wanting to talk to Diaspro but you're the fucking headmistress (well, one of them anyway). You kind of have to listen to your students and maybe not mock them to their faces. Who are you? My high school history teacher?!

Okay, actually the spoiled princess comment tracks and I see why that would annoy Griffin but the mean streak? Laughing in a student's face and telling them they ain't shit is also mean. The call is coming from inside the house.

Oh, and they're back on the witchphobia bullshit with that "one tiny trace of darkness immediately makes you a witch; only if you have no darkness at all can you be a fairy".

I don't mind the Diaspro and Trix team-up but can we have it last more than an episode? Also, Icy be less gay challenge impossible.

Ooh, I loved Diaspro making a laser grid and almost slicing Bloom to pieces with it! That is a really good answer to Bloom's Dragon Flame and makes Diaspro's powers more interesting. Unfortunately, it was over before it could begin.

[darkpoisonouslove]

I was going to say that they didn't waste any time getting this episode off the ground... but they actually did. Still, Bloom being partnered with Diaspro was obvious and I am preparing for this episode to possibly pmo even worse than any of the previous ones.

Riven vs Sky was also a given. This could have been considered good writing if any of this show had good writing and anyone had bothered to establish characterization and character motivations. Instead, we're just drifting through the plot and looking for any excuse for cheap drama (and I do mean cheap, such as getting Bloom's powers back in the same episode that she lost them). I am always down for Sky being sucker punched in the face, though so... yay, Riven?

Gee, I wonder what could be wrong with Riven. Not like we were all under a spell that made us evil last episode. I know they think the spell is done but Vexius has turned literally everyone (excluding the teachers) evil atp so I feel like they might have figured that out if they gave a little bit more of a fuck about Riven.

Oh, god. Now I have to watch Damien being jealous of Riven of all people? The random guy that his "father" brainwashed to work for them? That's so embarrassing for him. And here I thought that he was Rainbow's new shiny toy and they wanted to integrate him into the cast rather than turn him into a total clown.

Riven's hatred of Sky has literally not been foreshadowed in any way. They're back on their "bring your own lore and emotions from the original show" bullshit.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Fuck, I spoke too soon. The Winx are evil now too. And the Specialists. This would be a lot more interesting if we had seen them have some genuine frustrations with each other since they haven't known each other all that long and are still figuring out how they fit together. And then the spell making them say those things out loud in the least tactful way possible, which would leave them at an awkward place once it's broken. This is just manufactured drama instead that has absolutely no emotional basis.

And here's the obligatory "Riven gets turned evil by the current villain" subplot. Sigh. They don't have a single original idea left.

What the hell did Bloom apologize to Damien for if she's just going to go back to the "your father is evil and is using you" approach? I mean, she's not wrong but why apologize for saying that to Damien when you're just going to keep going with it?

Flora on Damien violence is great, actually. Just... the WInx bullying Damien. Best thing to come out of this entire season tbh.

Griffin and Faragonda are just walking through what seems like different dimensions of absolutely nothing at all. Why hasn't it occurred to them yet that they might have fallen for Vexius' trap? Like, at least make the trap look like they're actually going to places where he could be hiding ffs!

Okay, so Bloom doesn't need to strain herself and think because Daphne is doing it for her but what is everyone else's excuse?

Love how no one's noticed yet that Riven is missing. People love to hate on him but considering the way his "friends" treat him, it makes sense that he's acting the way he is. Oh, finally, someone noticed! And of course, it's Timmy. It's too much to expect Sky and Brandon to care.

I thought the show trying to pretend that the Trix needed Riven was ridiculous but this is even worse.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Bloom managed to get a second transformation but now she suddenly needs magic lessons and can't concentrate long enough to direct her magic? I swear this season is all out of order. If they had shuffled some of these plot points around... well, it wouldn't have been good but it might have been slightly more coherent.

I understand training Bloom to make sure that she's not forced to surrender her magic again but why the fuck are we laying the defense of the entire school on her shoulders?! What the fuck are the teachers going to be doing? Sitting back and watching her fail (potentially)?!

Wonderful. We're told how great of friends the Company were and we're told how great of friends the Winx are and meanwhile, the writing conveys absolutely none of that. Also, I know they want to do the "Winx are the new Company" thing again but surely the teachers can cast a fucking shield spell instead of leaving the protection of the entire school to the Winx! At least in the original when we did that, it was s3 and the rest of the fairies were also helping.

Is there anyone in this entire show that will not turn evil while being under a spell?! This is becoming really repetitive and boring! And of course, none of the Winx are affected. Not that we need another dark Bloom fiasco but... come on!

"Aren't those two friends?" "Yes, but they're witches [so it's normal for them to be fighting]". Ah, it's nice to see that the anti witch agenda never sleeps!

You mean to tell me that Griffin and Faragonda remembered that they could and should do something instead of leaving everything in the hands of freshman students?

[darkpoisonouslove]

I didn't want to talk about the Omega creatures but what the hell are those? Omega is supposed to be an ice prison. Even if these are there to take the place of the ice snakes as the "guards" in the prison, why? And how did Vexius get them out of there if they're supposed to be guarding the Omega dimension? Besides, if the Winx defeat them now, then going to the Omega dimension to get Saladin (which I'm assuming we're going to do at some point rather than just let him rot in there forever) will be less suspenseful when they already know how to deal with the "guards". Atp the best thing they can do is have the Winx defeat (and destroy) the Omega creatures, which leaves the prison without guards and allows the prisoners to escape. That way the Winx will be partially responsible for the chaos that that would create and we could hopefully get a better villain in here somewhere.

I'm shocked that this fight actually has stakes. I thought Rainbow had forgotten what those were.

Their weak spot are the gaps between their plates. No shit, Sherlock! This is literally armor 101 and it's not actually hard to figure out by just... using basic fucking deduction skills.

We're back to the AI commercial but I don't have it in me to be angry about that when there's plenty of other stuff to choose from.

That scene with Griffin made no sense at all. We have not seen her do any of those things, aside from take the Trix' powers away for one episode so the scene can't resonate emotionally. It's as flat as everything else on this show and lands directly on its face.

I didn't think they could make this any stupider. Hey, dipshit, you have the Dragon Flame and so did the royals of Domino! Which royal family do you think you belong to?!

[darkpoisonouslove]

The cringe! The cringe is real and powerful!

They're coming after Tecmy now. They need to be stopped! How is Stella more excited about Timmy's gadget than Tecna is? Also, this cold shoulder she's giving him came completely out of nowhere. They were super in sync in the previous episodes.

Wait, we're going to Zenith? But at what cost? They're acting like Tecna has been a perfect robot her whole life when that was definitely not the case on the og show.

You know what, since the plot has reached new levels of stupid, I wouldn't mind them actually exploring Zenith a little... But they're just doing pointless shenanigans here. Nothing that actually helps us understand Tecna as a character more.

Aaaaaaand I spoke too soon. I guess it makes sense for Tecna to be as she is if her only frames of reference for her behavior were her robot friends but... this has started feeling like an AI commercial now... which I guess was to be expected from Rainbow.

Okay, never mind, complaint cancelled (for once). This is actually actively warning the viewers of the dangers of using technology to replace human connection too much. Sure, it's very spoonfed to the audience but with Rainbow's track record, I will take this. Phew, we managed to avoid the worst possible thing that they could have done here and this subplot, while not well executed, does seem pretty... relevant? Is that a very timid W for the reboot?