The Legend of Vox Machina is a retelling of the adventuring party from the first campaign of Critical Role. Vox Machina is made up of naïve half-elven druid Keyleth (Ray), cynical human gunslinger Percy (Jaffe), gentle gnome cleric Pike (Johnson), contemptuous half-elven rogue and ranger twins Vax (O’Brien) and Vex (Bailey), meathead goliath barbarian Grog (Willingham), and debauchee gnome bard Scanlan (Riegel), along with Vex’s bear companion Trinket. When they’re introduced, the party is hardly the sort of ragtag mercenaries to be considered as the saviors of Tal’Dorei, the continent upon which they call home. They’re more concerned about getting whatever coin they can get. It is out of desperation that they answer the Sovereign’s call for aid against a growing threat of darkness and as a result they find themselves in way over their heads contending against powerful forces of evil.

At its essence, Dungeons & Dragons is a group of people coming together to collaborate and improvise in their telling a story. The Dungeon Master serves as a guide and the players roll dice to determine how affective their actions are with the results impacting how the story goes. Thus the success of Critical Role can be attributed towards the storytelling abilities of Mercer as Dungeon Master and the others participating, with an emphasis on world-building and using the results of their dice rolls to create thrilling moments. An episode of the broadcast averages between 3-5 hours. The show’s first campaign, from which The Legend of Vox Machina is based off of, ran for 115 episodes. This provides hundreds of hours of content from which to use in adapting the stories told into a thirty-minute episodic series, not counting the hundreds more from the games played before they started broadcasting.

Working with the Critical Role party on tackling what would be a daunting yet intriguing task are a team of writers headed by Brandon Auman and Jennifer Muro. Together, they have labored to craft the overall narrative in a fashion that allows for viewers unfamiliar with Critical Role to be able to jump in without worry while pleasing those who had been engrossed in the fantasy adventures every Thursday night for years. To that end, they are successful in making The Legend of Vox Machina enjoyable to watch for any one interested in what all the fuss is about. Effort is taken to make sure that the series did not fall into the usual trappings in adapting material into another medium, spending time to allow for the stories and characters to develop while making sure only pertinent moments and events are presented. All the while the action would move along at a comfortable and exciting pace.

The first season is made up of twelve episodes. The first two episodes take a major event from the original home games, utilizing it to serve as the foundation upon which to reintroduce Vox Machina and set about their eventual growth as the unexpected saviors of the land. The remaining episodes adapt an early story arc from the broadcast, establishing Percy’s haunting and tragic backstory against a thrilling gothic drama of revenge and revolution. Both stories provide a fascinating exploration of Tal’Dorei and its inhabitants, presenting a realm of unique wonder and beauty destined to enchant viewers to want more as the series progresses. Much of the appeal lie in how familiar fantasy elements are mixed with modern influences, sewn together to create a majestic world that stands out from similar settings without being too different to be disconcerting for any one to watch.

Tal’Dorei may be vast and colorful, the world-building doesn’t overshadow the primary characters and their development. Both narratives flow at even paces so that the personalities of each party member could shine and remain true while acting upon whatever situation they found themselves stumbling into. Percy receives the most attention given the importance his heartbreaking backstory plays through the majority of the first season, though some of the others manage to receive enough of the spotlight for them to flourish with their own personal stories. The biggest highlights would be the evolution of Keyleth from shy girl to experienced warrior and Pike’s balancing between her friendship with the party with her devotion to her deity The Everlight. Despite the many flaws of which a few would often be proud of having, they are truly be characters audiences can grow to care for.

Of course, the biggest attraction to the series is that it is bringing the Critical Role stories to life through animation. To that end, they enlisted the services of Chris Prynoski and his studio Titmouse, Inc. Having worked on a vast array of shows in a wide variety of visual styles, the animation crew at Titmouse were more than up to the task of realizing a world and its inhabitants that had been created with the roll of some dice. Bringing aboard character designer Phil Bourassa, they are able to wonderfully redefine the look of the characters to move gracefully in animation while managing to maintain much of the features fans have adored over the years. Applying the same approach to the animated features of DC Comics superheroes in being illustrated with a stark graphic look with some fluidity to their motions, there’s a believability to how alive the characters are presented on screen.

The visual look of Tal’Dorei as a whole is lovingly made with a great many frames worthy of being paused so the beauty could be admired. The colors are quite vibrant, even when scenes occur in darkness and shadows. Like the storytelling, the art designs take the familiar approaches of the fantasy genre and infuse elements of modern aesthetics to create a fascinating sight of a world that is unique as it is comfortable. As is with how Mercer would describe actions in the broadcasts, there’s a great deal of inspiration from many of the anime and video game titles the cast had done voice work on. From the framing of fight scenes to the occasional exaggerated effects of character movements or reactions, they add to setting the visual approach of the series further apart from similar fantasy programs. It’s enough to elicit some awe at how everything comes together swimmingly.

Even with the original premise having been voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons, it cannot be understated how fantastic the performances are throughout the series. The core cast took the lines they had spoken before in the broadcasts and elevated them with some really dramatic deliveries. Kudos to Jaffe as he upped his game ten-fold in adding greater weight of pathos to Percy. Ray is an absolute delight, hitting all of the right notes for Keyleth throughout her evolution. Even Mercer, voicing characters such as the antagonistic Sylas Briarwood, would pour himself into delivering wonderful performances. They are bolstered by a star-studded ensemble supporting cast that includes David Tennant, Dominic Monaghan, Grey Griffin, Esmé Creed-Miles, Khary Payton, Kelly Hu, and more, bringing their A-game to help breathe magnificent life into the majestic world of Tal’Dorei.

Alongside the fantastic vocal performances is an outstanding music score by Neal Acree. The seemingly typical epic orchestra melodies that would generally accompany pretty much anything set within the fantasy genre are given unique arrangements that set it apart from other similar scores. Be it the inclusion of electric guitar riffs during exciting battles or the use of organs as part of the gothic horror themes played when exploring Percy’s haunting backstory, the music does wonders in elevating and bolstering the scenes to greater heights of thrilling drama. For kicks, there are a couple songs by Riegel thrown in to play along with his character being a bard. Much like Scanlan in general, some of the songs are fairly lewd in how they are performed, but they are nonetheless quite funny and once in a while help in lightening things up in the middle of situations that are otherwise serious.

The Legend of Vox Machina is the latest in a growing breed of animated programs aimed specifically for adults. The show revels in very adult themes and content due in large part to the influence of the anime and video games the main cast previously worked on and Mercer applied to the Critical Role broadcasts in great detail. These include some really ultra violence, very heavy profanity, and a couple sexual situations present. It’s enough to be quite shocking at first, certainly when the series kicks off with gory mayhem upon the first minute. While the writers do a lovely job adapting the material and ensuring growth and development with the storytelling, pacing could at times feel a little slow even considering that hours of roleplaying is being crammed into thirty minute episodes. And a couple of the main characters, in particular Grog, do not necessarily have much in interesting personal story arcs.

The unimaginable success of broadcasting the Dungeons & Dragons games played by animation voice actors has led to a dream fulfillment far greater than any one could have thought possible. The Legend of Vox Machina gloriously reintroduces and retells the stories of the characters and world first developed in a tabletop roleplaying game amongst friends, transforming into an animated series lush with majestic visuals, thrilling narratives, and colorful characters that any viewer, regardless of any familiarity with Critical Role, could watch and become emotionally invested in. Presented is an inspired and unique world of wonder brought to life with breathtaking, graphic animation and vocal performances that were delightful and magnificent to hear. The Legend of Vox Machina is crafted with great love and passion, resulting in a show that is nothing less than a critical success.

I’m going to skip the usual intro here and cut straight to the chase: Santa Inc. is bad. Like, really bad. Like, almost inexplicably bad. And based on the talent involved, I really wanted to like it. Both Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen are more than capable of being hilarious, and I’m game for raunchy yuletide comedy when done right. I should also stress that I’m very easy to please when it comes to Christmas specials and TV shows. Even the supposedly mediocre ones usually make me happy. So it’s kind of a big deal when I say I hated this.

And I’m clearly not alone. Santa Inc. has emerged on HBO Max without too much of a marketing push, and the only headlines the show seems to be making for itself are based off of how much people don’t like it. So what went wrong? Let it be known from the start that Santa Inc. is strictly for adults, and the show tells you this almost immediately. Within five minutes of the first episode, there have already been at least 15 strong profanities and a joke about how more Americans believe in Santa than they do in the holocaust. Moments after that, a reference is made to the size of Prancer the reindeer’s junk. Then there’s more profanity. Lots more profanity. Then there are “jokes” about women being sexually assaulted at work. And even more swearing.

Gee, I wonder why more people aren’t loving this…

Make no mistake. I am no prude by any stretch of the word, even when it comes to holiday entertainment. Robot Chicken has had plenty of hilariously dark Christmas specials over the years, American Dad! has brilliantly turned Santa Claus into a villain hellbent on killing the show’s main characters, and Family Guy’s Road to North Pole is required December viewing in my book.

But all of these examples had good jokes, all of them knew how to balance the crassness with warmth when needed (okay, maybe not Robot Chicken), and all of them didn’t simply think that characters using bad words constantly was enough to count as a punchline. Santa Inc. is a bafflingly misguided affair, trying to go out of its way to demonstrate just how crass it can be (an extremely rude word for female private parts is used at least once), while also wanting to show off just how “progressive” it is without feeling even remotely organic about it.

Yes, Santa Inc. wants to have it both ways–striving to offend its audience while also trying to provide some social commentary about women in the workforce. Handled well, this could work, but such a feat is a delicate balancing act which the show simply isn’t capable of pulling off. Nothing about the political comedy feels sincere. Characters will shout “my body, my choice!” at each other for no apparent reason. A positive shout-out is randomly made out of nowhere to Tonya Harding (I’m sure Nancy Kerrigan would beg to differ on that, but I digress).

And just how “feminist” can this series really consider itself when it includes a joke about Candy being unable to find her “rape whistle” at a time when she thinks she needs it? It all just comes across as hypocritical and even borderline upsetting, creating a sense of constant tonal whiplash which is hard for the viewer to get over even when the jokes do work.

And there are some laughs to be had here, but they come so inconsistently that it’s almost surprising when they do happen. Silverman is a very funny person, and she gives Candy plenty of comedic energy, but it’s a shame the material she’s given simply isn’t that good most of the time, or that the character becomes so unlikable after a certain point that it’s hard for the audience to want to root for her. Actually, that can be said for almost everyone on this show (save for a chubby college intern who works for Candy who is probably the only person in this series truly deserving of happiness).

Santa is largely a jerk here, which is a shame, since Rogen has a lovably dopey voice that would be capable of making him quite warm under the right circumstances. And I haven’t even mentioned Candy’s terrible mother (who constantly gets naked around her daughter, and fair warning to the sensitive, this show does have graphic stop-motion nudity), or her perverted, money-obsessed grandfather who would’ve felt like a badly dated Jewish stereotype years ago.

And that’s another problem–there’s no reason to want anyone on this show to succeed (apart from, well, the aforementioned chubby college kid). Santa Inc. is frequently stressing that Candy isn’t deserving of the mantle of Santa because of the way she treats her family and friends (even though they are making unreasonable demands of her), but also wants the viewer to be “outraged” if she doesn’t get the position. This makes the narrative “tension” tedious, as there’s no reason to care if she actually gets the job or not, since the show is constantly telling us that both potential outcomes would be a very bad thing.

All of this is a shame because a lot of work clearly went into making this. All animation fans know that stop-motion is a back-breaking labor of love for those who have the patience to do so, and the production values are quite impressive and smooth here, even if the series does essentially look like an overlong Robot Chicken episode. The designs of the North Pole and its characters are largely appealing (though I personally can’t get over how much Candy looks like The Count from Sesame Street for some reason), and there are a ton of great sight gags, usually involving stuff going on in the background, or small details like a striped prisoner uniform being made out of Christmas gift wrap. It’s just heartbreaking that all of this talent and effort was used on a series as lazy as this.

And yes, “lazy” is sadly the best word that can be used to accurately describe Santa Inc.. It has no idea what kind of show it wants to be, but it knows what kind of show it wants to be viewed as. Throughout the show, it’s made apparent that Santa is eager to make Candy his successor, but his primary motivation for doing so is all of the praise it will get him from the press for being the most “woke Santa” ever.

Ironically, that’s exactly what Santa Inc. is doing. It wants for people to look at it and go “wow, look at all of the bad words they’re using in this female-driven comedy” or “wow, the political themes of this show are really forward-thinking and current” (and, yes, the series seems to think it’s the first time anyone has ever pointed out that a lot of old white men are in charge of companies).

But that’s not enough. You need more than shock value alone to be funny, and you can’t call yourself “forward-thinking” when your show has a gay character who is a pathetic stereotype. That’s not how you create holiday magic. But it is how you give the streaming equivalent of a lump of coal. Bah humbug indeed!

Within the world of Runeterra, upon the continent of Valoran, there are two neighboring cities: Piltover and Zaun. Once before, the cities were united. Over time, Piltover would prosper and thrive from progressive technological advances. Zaun, on the other hand, descended into filth and ruin while struggling to survive. Divisions festered and before long a terrible battle between the cities left many lives lost. An uneasy truce was brokered and some form of co-existence was left in place, but that fragile peace is now in danger of shattering with the discovery of hextech. The mixing of magic and science has allowed Piltover to grow to greater heights and is leaving Zaun further behind. But placed in the wrong hands, hextech could be far more terrifying as it is majestic. With chaos and destruction seemingly inevitable, the destinies of many lives from both sides come barreling into a catastrophic collision course.

Arcane functions as a stand-alone narrative, so it is not a necessity to have even known anything about League of Legends beforehand. Obviously, those who are knowledgeable of the game would be more perceptive to details and would identify Easter eggs. But it’s clear from the start that the series is designed for everyone to watch, not just players. The game lacking a narrative is perhaps helpful in that there are not a lot of restrictions upon the series towards the storytelling and the world-building. While the game’s champions have pre-established backstories, they were less about being definitive than they were to give them personalities. Arcane serves to flesh out the champions who hail from Piltover and Zaun, bringing them to life in a way that they transcend all medium. I rather believe that when people think of League of Legends going forward they’ll think of the champions as they are in Arcane.

The series is developed by Riot Games creative director Christian Linke and creative designer Alex Yee. They are also among four people who shape the overall story. The other two consisting of senior narrative writer Connor Sheehy and the one outsider brought in to provide fresh perspective, Ash Brannon. Brannon brings along experience from mainstream animation, having previously been a co-director of Toy Story 2 and later director of Surf’s Up alongside Chris Buck. Working together, all four have managed to carefully craft the narrative to ensure that it would appeal to viewers unfamiliar with League of Legends while also satisfying the interests of fans. Moreover, they have placed their focus on making the emotional and exciting tale work so as to pull at heartstrings in fascinating and unexpected ways. It’s very clear that everyone is putting forth their best efforts and it shows quite magnificently.

Arcane concerns the origins of only a small fraction of the over 140 champions in League of Legends while also managing to introduce new faces specifically for the series. The result is the showcase of an ensemble cast of characters. At best, five featured champions from the game receive the most attention in the spotlight. Viktor is a scientist who wants to help mankind, but the terminal illness he has suffered since childhood pushes him to the brink of desperation. Jayce believes wholeheartedly in the potential of what mixing magic and science can do, leading to his discovery of hextech. He is then suddenly thrust into the dangerous waters of politics and is losing sight of who he really is. Caitlyn seeks to escape the shadows of her aristocratic parents, going so far as venture into law enforcement. She gets more than she bargained for upon seeing what the world is like outside of her sheltered life.

The heart of the story, though, centers on sisters Vi and Powder. Being orphaned has forced Vi to do what she can to survive the harsh realities of the world. She’s street-wise and quite strong for her build, but has a short temper and lacks patience. This is to protect herself from feeling vulnerable, particularly if she feels helpless to protect those she cares for. A heart-wrenching tragedy separates them and it is years before Vi is able to look for Powder. Unaware that time and the underbelly of Zaun have shaped the little girl into a whirlwind of mayhem known as Jinx. But even the most vile of people are afraid of just how unstable she truly is, and perhaps always was. Jinx is one of the faces of League of Legends. The game presents her as charming despite being chaotic, drawing inspiration from Harley Quinn. Arcane takes a darker turn, going deep in exploring her schizophrenia that results in some very heavy pathos.

The series is directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord. Two of the three founders of the European animation studio Fortiche, they are no strangers to League of Legends as they have worked on many music videos and animation shorts promoting the game. For those projects, they utilized the game’s visual aesthetic to create some lovely work. Arcane has given them the opportunity to explore their creativity in full and push the animation in a completely different direction. League of Legends is generally seen as colorful, clean, and vibrant. Arcane, on the other hand, is saturated, dirty, and graphic. This enhances the dark atmosphere of the story while allowing Charrue and Delord the chance to showcase a bold style that is mesmerizing to watch in motion. And it is through this show that the directors and their animators shine as unique visual storytellers who have great ideas to show and tell.

The world is brought to life with a fascinating mixture of computer generated imagery and traditional hand-drawn animation. This results in some amazing visuals that are breathtaking to watch, such as smoke emerging from an ignited torch or particularly when Jinx’s schizophrenia starts to overwhelm her. The animation elicits further awe from an astounding utilization of the cinematography. Incredible scenes such as the many fist fights Vi finds herself getting into or the various experimentation Viktor conducts are sights to behold and played out wonderfully. Even subdued moments such as those establishing a growing bond between Vi and Caitlyn are displayed lovingly. Everything comes together so well that they evoke the precise emotion of the scene and the viewer is able to feel it. To call the animation beautiful would be an understatement. It’s actually hard to describe in words just how good it is.

The characters are voiced by a delightful ensemble cast. Hailee Steinfeld perfectly matches the stubborn strength and aching vulnerability in Vi. Katie Leung is heavenly as the soothing and determined Caitlyn. Kevin Alejandro finds the right compelling tones for Jayce. Harry Lloyd in excellent as the suffering and desperate Viktor. Even the voices to a couple original characters have managed to stand-out nicely. Jason Spisak is magnificent as Silco, a man whose willingness to do bad things to achieve his goals masks surprising sympathy. JB Blanc is outstanding as Vander, a street-weary former revolutionist who houses Vi and Powder as children and struggles to maintain peace all-around. But Ella Purnell really shines the most as Jinx. The crackle in her voice adds weight to some amazingly dramatic moments of sorrow and insanity. The cast as a whole do a phenomenal job bringing their champions to life.

Music has played a major part in the popularity of League of Legends and it’s no different with Arcane. Composing the score is Alexander Temple, Riot Games senior composer, and Alex Seaver, a well-renowned musician known by the stage name Mako. The two more than deliver on the challenge of bolstering the drama and intensity of the narrative, creating melodies that are haunting as they are wonderful to hear. Their music adds that extra layer of ambience to further bring the world all the more alive on top of what is visualized. The presence of pop songs, particularly those of the electricpop genre, may not please everyone depending on their tastes. Truth be told, they’re minimal and they are at least nicely woven in so as not to be too distracting. I rather liked “Enemy” by Imagine Dragons as the main theme and the use of “Guns for Hire” by Woodkid is excellent in enhancing the scene it plays through.

Aside from the apparent divisiveness over the pop songs, the one worry about Arcane could be how dark the narrative is. League of Legends is generally colorful and tends to evoke fun despite the competitive nature of the game. Arcane is heavy and surprising emotional. There are light-hearted moments to be sure and not everything is all dour. But when the drama hits, it hits so hard that it will knock viewers down, wait patiently for them to get back up, and then knock them down again. Being the heart of the story, Vi and Jinx go through a great deal of challenging situations in their respective journeys and they often come out worse for wear spiritually. The increasing intensity of Jinx’s schizophrenia does not help. The majority of the episodes end on cliffhangers and they’re quite the doozy. Arcane is tear-jerking, presenting the notion that trying to achieve the idea of hope will have tragic consequences.

Arcane is a marvel to behold. There are not many video game adaptations that have been all that well received over the decades. This show eclipses them all, standing alone in a league of its own. The careful attention in crafting the narrative have resulted in an emotional story that is wonderful as it is heartbreaking. The animation is majestic, mixing computer generated imagery with traditional hand-drawn illustrations to display visuals that are breathtaking and awe inspiring. The champions are developed with great fascination and brought to life by a delightful vocal cast of performers. The music score is as haunting as it is beautiful, regardless of how one might feel about the presence of pop songs. This is one of the best shows to be created and it is merely the beginning. In managing to bring everything together so magnificently, Arcane is definitely an animated series that is, above all, legendary.

Reagan is a technical genius who is quite ambitious and takes her job so seriously that it edges her closer to becoming a psychopath. But while she’s good at her work, her people skills are in the toilet. As a result, management has forced her to share leadership of her team of unruly misfits with yes-man Brett Hand. Brett’s desire to always be liked by everyone is so great it brings to light how badly naive he is over what he is getting himself into. And while that’s enough of a headache for Reagan to deal with on any given day, she is also having to house her father Rand, the former CEO and co-founder of Cognito, Inc. whose unrelenting paranoia had gotten him fired for nearly exposing the Deep State as well as getting divorced from her mother.

Almost right off the bat, there’s going to be inevitable comparisons between Inside Job with Rick and Morty. Visually speaking, Inside Job follows along the recent path from some adult animated programs by looking as simple and as clean as possible so as to make the series as a whole rather pleasant on the eyes to watch. This also allows for more emphasis in surprising audiences during moments design for shock value. They are wisely not as often used in the show so that the impact hits just right in bolstering the narrative. And when they do happen, the animation is quite top notch. This is showcased in such scenes like one where multiple clones that are released from storage then begin to mutate and merge into a massive monstrosity.

The thing that really makes the look of Inside Job stand out from other shows is the visualization of the conspiracies at the heart of the show’s lore. There’s a combination of the familiar and spinning to the conspiracies each episode highlights, from the JFK assassination to the moon landing and beyond. In finding that middle ground to present something different, it’s an opportunity to spin them further visually. The moon landing conspiracy creates a fascinating approach that results in unique designs to take advantage of the unexpected twists. The episode also shows something that could conceivably be built towards later, displaying just a glimpse at how the Atlantis legend is played with. This adds an interesting appeal to refreshing ideas.

But while the visual approach to the conspiracies is fascinating, they take a backseat to the actual narrative, merely serving to highlight a specific obstacle Reagan faces in her social life. Exploration of the JFK assassination being the backdrop to her tasked with determining who in the company she should fire. An important social event with shape-shifting lizards bringing to light Reagan’s discomfort with hugging. The moon landing is the basis for her wanting to literally create space between herself and her father. With this much focus on Reagan, it means that the weight of the show hinges on how well she is developed throughout the series. In all honesty, Reagan ultimately comes off as one of the most fun characters I’ve seen in recent years.

To say Reagan is socially awkward would be underselling just how damaged she really is beneath the surface. While she progressively becomes open-minded to being more outgoing than she is introduced as, she has passed the point of no return in her ambition to eventually be in charge of Cognito, Inc. thanks in no small part to terrible parenting by her father and even her mother. The result is an amazing hodge podge of a personality that is equal parts megalomaniacal and equal parts endearing. Even at her worst there’s a feeling of wanting to root for her to overcome so that she’ll feel somewhat better at the end of the day. Reagan’s appeal is further enhanced by an outstanding vocal performance from Lizzy Caplan at the top of her game.

There is a downside to this. As great as Reagan turned out to be, all of the other characters have on the whole not been developed all that well. The team of misfits are essentially just there and don’t seem to have much purpose. This is certainly the case with Gigi, who heads the media manipulation, and Andre, the biochemist who gets off on the drugs he makes. There are attempts to examine Glenn, a human-dolphin hybrid super soldier, and Magic Myc, a psychic mushroom-like organism from inside Hollow Earth, but these are brief, secondary, and less interesting. There’s also JR, the current CEO who comes off as a duplicate to Stephen Colbert, but he too is limited to merely bossing Reagan and only slightly has a secondary plot near the end.

Brett and Rand have managed to get some legs as far as their development goes, though much is to do with their voice actors giving some great performances. Brett’s arc of being the a goody two shoes adapting to a work environment dedicated to deceiving the general public is slow and lacking actual progress. His only purpose seems to be to bring out a caring side to Reagan. If not for the vocal performance of Clark Duke emphasizing the naivety in a charming manner, the character might come off more of an annoyance. For Rand, it’s all about the vocal performance by Christian Slater. Putting a spin on the crazy old man act results in some of the most hilarious antics on the show and is quite fun to watch butting heads with Reagan.

While this review covers the first ten episodes that were available as of writing and that perhaps a lot more can be done once additional episodes are made, I can’t help but feel a strange sense that there was some rushing in the making of the show aside from the care that clearly went into developing Reagan. Creator Shion Takeuchi was a writer on shows such as Regular Show, Disenchantment, and Gravity Falls, so she has a good sense for storytelling. And she has the support of Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch, who serves as an executive producer and co-wrote an episode. In general, the writing and how the episodes are shaped is good. But there’s a lot to take in and maybe too much focus on Reagan to allow other characters to breathe.

Inside Job is a show that is worth checking out. The animation is very nice and there’s some great spinning of the conspiracies toward fascinating directions. It features one of the most fun characters in Reagan Ridley despite a personality that is as much conceited as it is appealing. But because there’s an absolute focus on her, most everyone else take such a backseat as to be greatly unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The hope is that Inside Job will get more episodes and time will be allowed to develop the other characters a lot more as well as further explore the conspiracies so that there is a proper balance to Reagan’s development. There’s great promise to this series and is one that Netflix will hopefully not cover up.

Visions is a short-form anime anthology series. Each episode telling a different story within the various eras of the Star Wars lore, including one set in an alternate timeline, and having a unique look and style from one another. Seven well-known anime studios, such as Production I.G, Science SARU, and Studio Trigger, provide the animation produced by nine directors who have worked on some of the most widely regarded titles to emerge from Japan. The English language track features an ensemble cast including the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lucy Liu, Neil Patrick Harris, Alison Brie, Simu Liu, David Harbour, James Hong, Jamie Chung, George Takei, and even Temuera Morrison reprising his role as Boba Fett.

It’s pretty clear from the outset that the studios and directors were given a great deal of creative freedom to tell the stories they wanted. By generally being set away from any of the major storylines within the Star Wars chronology and usually taking place in worlds previously unseen, each episode offered a greater exploration of the mythology without having to be concerned too much with the established canon. Perhaps more importantly, it allowed for the animation style developed by each director to breathe with the sort of life they probably would not have by sticking to a pre-determined visual look. The results are nine fascinating tales that make for truly unique viewings unlike any previous seen in a galaxy far, far away.

From a personal stand-point, the two biggest stand-outs from the series would be The Ninth Jedi by Kenji Kamiyama and The Duel by Takanobu Mizuno. As the first episode, The Duel perfectly sets the stage for how different from the rest of Star Wars the series would be. It is set in an alternate timeline that borrows more heavily from samurai and Japanese culture than any other to date and is even more inspired by Kurosawa films, to the point of being presented in largely black and white with film scratches present. Much can be attributed to Takashi Okazaki, the creator of Afro Samurai who served as the episode’s writer and character designer, providing the exact hook needed to draw audiences in from the start.

The Ninth Jedi offers arguably the most epic story in the series. Seemingly set many generations after The Rise of Skywalker, Kamiyama’s approach to hitting many of the Star Wars visual hallmarks in a short amount of time while managing to tell an engaging tale results in a wonderful episode to watch. How scenes are staged is one of the many appealing aspects to anime, which can also be said about many of the visual mediums utilized within the Star Wars universe. Combining those together to create iconic scenes can seem daunting, but Kamiyama seems to pull this off many times with ease as there are a lot of great visual moments to The Ninth Jedi that are exciting to watch, often over and over again.

Perhaps the notable downside to an anthology series is that some episodes, while not bad, are just weaker in comparison to the others. Such is the case, to me at least, with Tatooine Rhapsody by Taku Kimura and The Village Bride by Hitoshi Haga. I actually find The Village Bride to be a fascinating look at a planet’s traditions and culture being invaded, but I feel that the short runtime hampers the story a lot that it lacks proper development of the characters. Tatooine Rhapsody is a charming approach to seeing what one Padawan does to survive after the Jedi Purge. It just isn’t appealing enough against the other stories that seem to explore more interesting stories and characters, making it feel like filler.

What makes the remaining five episodes interesting is how, in nearly all of them, they take unique approaches to studying the battle of wills between The Light Side and The Dark Side of The Force. The theme is more prominent in The Twins by Hiroyuki Imaishi and Lop and Ochō by Yuki Igarashi, both exploring this concept through families experiencing divisions. The Twins pretty much goes right into it, leading to a grand outer space battle upon the surface of conjoined Star Destroyers. Lop and Ochō takes the slow burn approach, building tension before it reaches its culmination. Both episodes also examine the notion that blood does not necessarily pre-determine destiny, adding another interesting layer to their storytelling.

The appeal of Star Wars presented through the eyes of Japanese animation actually isn’t new. There are manga books that have adapted the original trilogy and The Phantom Menace. I still possess the two volumes of The Phantom Menace by Silent Möbius creator Kia Asamiya. Visions takes it a step further by allowing Japanese animators to present the Star Wars universe as they saw fit. In addition to how scenes are staged, the animators were interested in presenting the various worlds explored. This is realized with how detailed the backgrounds are, littered with the kind of life that anime has been able to showcase. These bring a sense of truth in scenes like the cultural wedding traditions shown in The Village Bride.

While each episode is produced under a different director, thereby presenting unique looks and animations to them, few are seen as radically different from one another to truly stand apart. The Duel would be one of the few. The other is T0-B1 by the lone non-Asian director Abel Góngora. T0-B1 could be seen as Góngora’s tribute to the late pioneer Osamu Tezuka in art style and with a story that is clearly inspired by Astro Boy about a child-like droid dreaming of becoming a Jedi Knight. Despite this, it manages to work rather well within the Star Wars universe without having to veer in a more cartoony direction of say the old 1980s shows Droids and Ewoks. It finds the right balance of family friendly and being slightly mature.

Out of interest, I watched the series with the English dubbing. The voice acting is very good and manages to stay as much in sync with the animation as possible. There’s something to be said that some of the actors try to approach the level of the original Star Wars where there’s an interesting mixture of sounding serious at times while tickling the edge of wanting to over act a little for the sake of fun. This is most notable in The Twins where Neil Patrick Harris and Alison Brie are clearly enjoying themselves in being able to explore all kinds of emotions within fifteen minutes. Otherwise everyone else puts in the effort to partake in the Star Wars universe and perform appropriately. And they’re done very well overall.

The music is quite interesting in that it does at times tries to incorporate unique melodies as opposed to sticking to the epic John Williams approach that tends to happen in any medium set in the Star Wars universe. To be sure, the almost familiar scores are still present in episodes like The Ninth Jedi, The Twins, and even Lop and Ochō. Keen ears may even catch moments were themes such as “Duel of the Fates” are utilized in fascinating ways. Others do try out different tunes to bolster their stories. The Duel, being influenced heavily by Kurosawa films, mimics the samurai melodies of composer Masaru Sato, while T0-B1 uses child-like tunes in ways that manages to correspond with the various emotions experienced.

Star Wars: Visions does exactly what it sets out to do. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, in particular the greater inclusion of incorporating samurai and Japanese culture even more so than George Lucas himself was inspired from. But there’s no denying that it offers a fascination approach in exploring the vast, diverse worlds within the Star Wars universe. With each episode presented by a different director and set in various eras throughout the mythology, there’s always something new to be introduced to. And with short-form runtimes, they don’t overstay their welcome and instead invite audiences to beg for more. It offers a unique approach in presenting an even wider galaxy far, far away one might want to visit again.

The series follows the misadventures of the Immediate Murder Professionals (or I.M.P.), hellspawn imp assassains who specialize in killing living souls on Earth. The boss is fast-talking, self-absorbed Blitzo (the “o” is silent). Employed are neurotic pushover Moxxie and his wife, overly excitable Millie, along with Blitzo’s adopted daughter, hellhound receptionist Loona. Travel from Hell to Earth is accomplished using an ancient book stolen from aristocratic owl demon Stolas, who Blitzo must engage in sexual affairs with in order to keep the book.

Helluva Boss was a surprise in that the pilot was announced and released in 2019 just a month after Hazbin Hotel came out. It’s reasonable to believe that creator Vivienne Medrano, whose projects are funded primarily through her page on the subscription-based crowdfunding service Patreon, managed to raise more than enough money to quietly develop the short-form series. While Hazbin Hotel will be continuing on through A24, Medrano has been self producing Helluva Boss since Halloween 2020 with episodes released on an infrequent schedule.

It goes without saying just how spectacular the animation is. The unique and vibrant visual designs are beautifully detailed that one could easily pause often to appreciate how each frame looks. Though Helluva Boss is in the same universe as Hazbin Hotel, there are just enough differences between them for Helluva Boss to stand out on its own. This is probably due in large part to the characters venturing through Hell and Earth and how they could visually coexist between the two realms despite the contradicting styles and color schemes.

This is a testament to how good Medrano and her crew are at being able to produce such high quality work independently. In particular to the background artists, led by Sam Miller. Miller and her team paint some of the most gorgeous scenes and landscapes that they can definitely be admired without characters populating them. And even with the contrasting vibrancy between Hell and Earth, they synchronize with the characters so well that the sight of demons sitting in an emergency room lobby would not look as out of place as it would sound.

As of writing, the pilot and two episodes have aired. All have been crafted to ideally work in the short-form format and still present a pleasant amount of story and character development. Co-writing the show with Medrano is YouTube personality Brandon Rogers, known for skits that really push the limit on what adult humor he can get away with. The two have managed to edit everything together to tell coherent plots and go all out with shocking adult content in a surprisingly compatible manner so that one aspect does not clash with the other.

In addition to co-writing the show, Rogers also provides the voice of Blitzo. Those not familiar with Rogers may be taken aback at how he manages to develop a charming personality for someone vile who treats most everyone awfully and has little redeeming qualities. One of the biggest draws to the show has been the inclusion of renowned voice actor Richard Horvitz. Horvitz voices Moxxie as if Invader Zim was suddenly a straight man and would once in a while spew profanity, which is a joy to hear. He also happens to serve as the show’s voice director.

Vivian Nixon voices Millie with a Southern spunk that adds to how delightfully sweet the character is. In the pilot, Millie was voiced by Erica Lindbeck, who also voices Loona. As Loona, Lindbeck perfectly encapsulates the moody teenager who wants nothing to do with everyone and everything around her. And then there’s Stolas. Voiced in the pilot by Brock Baker, he is voiced in the series by Tony-nominated Broadway performer Bryce Pinkham with unabashed ecstasy that it is breathtaking even with how adult and mature the whole show is.

The casting of Pinkham further illustrates Medrano’s love for musical theater. What’s more, the series has given her the opportunity to cast Broadway talents in guest roles that sound like they were a hoot to voice. They include popular Tony-nominated performer Alex Brightman as Fizzarolli, a sentient animatronic very much in the vein of Beetlejuice, and Barrett Wilbert Weed as Stolas’ goth teenage daughter Octavia. Keen ears will be surprised to catch former child actress Mara Wilson as fallen teacher turned demon Mrs. Mayberry.

Even in short-form format, Helluva Boss manages to slip in songs and musical numbers. More often than not, they wonderfully enhance either story or character development depending on the episode. In the pilot, the “I.M.P. Jingle” neatly outlines the core concept of the show while the end credits “Oh Millie” is a sweet insight into Moxxie and Millie’s marriage. The second episode features a beautiful lullaby “You Will Be Okay” that shines a light on Stolas’ paternal side and a delightful anthem “Loo Loo Land” that summarizes the theme park of name.

As funny and impressive as it is with just how dark of the black adult humor Helluva Boss manages to get away with, I’m sure there will be some viewers who might find this to be concerning and even overwhelming. The series includes some of the strongest streams of profanity spoken, the showing of intercourse even with covering, some really graphic killings, and Stolas. Medrano and Rogers do an excellent job making sure they do not detract from good storytelling, but so much of what is said and displayed can be regarded as very disturbing.

Even more so than Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss is definitely not a family-friendly program. The level of adult content pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable to such a shocking degree that audiences sensitive to all of this should not consider watching it. Those who are willing to brave through the fires of Beelzebub, however, may find what happens to also be a fun little show featuring outstanding high quality animation, an eccentric cast of characters, and some really nice melodies. Being both wild and delightful makes it one helluva show.

Luz is a teenager whose interest in fantasy borders on worrisome. As she is about to be sent to summer camp to accept reality, she stumbles into another dimension where her dreams are bizarrely real. Here she meets Eda, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, and her roommate King, a demon warrior whose diminutive size and personality makes him more adorable than terrifying. Feeling at home, Luz convinces Eda to let her stay and train as an apprentice despite having no magical abilities and there being a prejudice against humans in the land.

The Owl House is notable for being the fourth Disney animated television series created by a woman. Dana Terrace was a story artist on Gravity Falls and directed episodes of the current DuckTales series before she was given the chance to bring something new to the table in the form of a Dominican teenage girl learning about witchcraft in a fantasy world she has always dreamed about. If the first episode of a new show is the embodiment of making a first impression than Terrace made a pretty good one that showcases a vivid and unique imagination.

The premiere episode itself, entitled A Lying Witch and a Warden, does a nice job setting up and establishing the premise of the show and what can be expected as the series progresses while being a fun story itself. Everything moves along in a good pace so that enough happens without coming off as overwhelming. The characterizations of Luz, Eda, and King are quite clearly defined upon their respective introductions, making their personalities easy to recognize and enjoy. And the comedy hits the right notes to be quirky and genuinely funny.

The animation is quite lovely to look at. The designs play upon visualizations one might be used to from the fantasy genre and spin them in bizzare fashion. It’s not quite the PG fantasy world, as Luz comments, one would expect from a Disney animated series. Creatures encountered appear and are often opposite to their stereotypes. An example being little pink fairy has sharp teeth and an appetite for skin. And the color palette to the world is not quite lush or vibrant, instead finding a strange beauty in landscapes that are mutated and saturated.

A big part of the appeal to the show is the voice cast and how they enhance the presentation of their characters. Sarah-Nicole Robles perfectly captures the spirit and enthusiasm of Luz. She’s not over-the-top, so the excitement heard is pleasant and enjoyable. Wendie Malick is great as Eda. Instead of trying to sound like a typical witch, she provides her own flare to the character that’s rather charming. Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch voices King and provides the right fit for a character who thinks he’s one thing but is really another.

With just the first episode out, there’s certainly questions raised that will hopefully be answered as the series progresses. Preview trailers hint upon friends and enemies Luz will make at a school for magic along with an exploration of Eda’s past, so questions regarding those are sure to be addressed. A curious one to ask though would be how Luz will handle returning home. Staying in this dimension is a choice, but the impact of having to leave is sure to be an interesting one along with how she functions with the changes she’ll experience.

The Owl House is off to a pretty good start. The premise is unique enough that it allows for playing with fantasy conventions in a fun and quirky way. The characters are presented quite nicely, both in personality and in their vocal performance. The animation is lovely while breaking from stereotypical designs of the genre. It does raise some narrative questions that will hopefully be answered as the series moves along. Fortunately, the first episode makes a good enough first impression that the rest of the series is sure to be a real hoot.

Hell has a seemingly never-ending overpopulation problem. The solution Heaven has concocted is to annually send angels to exterminate demons. Desiring a more peaceful resolution, Charlie the Princess of Hell has opened the Happy Hotel. Her goal is to rehabilitate demons so that they may ascend to Heaven. Only the denizens of Hell have absolutely zero interest in becoming better souls, wanting instead to continue to indulge in their sinful vices. But Charlie is determined to make her optimistic dream come true, even if it is a lost cause.

Hazbin Hotel is an independently produced animated series. It has no real major backing aside primarily from what creator Vivienne Medrano has made through her page on the subscription-based crowdfunding service Patreon. To do so, she had to have possessed a delightful visual aesthetic and a fascinating storytelling approach to garner a large enough following to be able to financially amass a talented crew to produce high quality animation for the pilot episode. And that is exactly what Medrano has been able to do, winning over fans with her webcomic Zoophobia and a fan-animated music video to “Die Young” by Kesha that has nearly 50 million views on YouTube to date.

The animation is outstanding. The visual designs are unique and vibrant. The colors flow swimmingly and breathe the kind of life one might see from an animated series on Disney Channel or Cartoon Network. Sure everything looks rather demented and deranged, which is what you would expect with a setting like Hell. And yet there’s a beauty to how they all appear that they’re rather pleasing to the eyes. Each scene contains something appealing to look at, from the splendid characters to the amazingly defined backgrounds. It’s the kind of lovely animation that one can easily find themselves pausing often just so they can examine and appreciate all of the details throughout the frame.

For the pilot episode, Medrano and her co-writers Dave Capdevielle and Raymond Hernandez manage to fit just enough story into 30 minutes to be intriguing. There’s a nice juggling of moving the plot along at a decent pace with introducing a fairly sizable cast of characters. I think how they mapped everything out works quite well as I was absorbed into everything that I often forgot the episode ran for 30 minutes. A lot happens from start to finish, at one point two scenes jump around back and forth in a kinetic fashion that threatens to be too much. Fortunately, everything gets pulled back enough times to let the premise and the core story develop more comfortably.

What really makes the show enjoyable is the characters. Charlie definitely stands out as perhaps the only happy, uplifting soul within a sea of deviants. She is so charming and endearing that you feel for her whenever her positivity takes a hit. Her girlfriend Vaggie is caring and protective while having little patience with everyone else. Angel Dust, the hotel’s spider-like first guest, is so flamboyant and unabashed that he’s appealing even at his most despicable, which is quite often and intentional. But the show-stealer is new business partner Alastor, The Radio Demon. He is charismatic and extravagant with smile-inducing flare while making it subtly clear he is as evil as he’s feared to be.

Bringing these wonderful characters to life is an equally wonderful voice cast. Jill Harris provides just the right tone for Charlie to make her heavenly. Michael Kovach clearly sounds like he’s having a blast going as far over-the-top as he can with Angel Dust. Monica Franco gives a great voice to Vaggie that is a nice counter balance to the eccentricity of the other characters. Edward Bosco, of course, is just magnificent as Alastor. He fits the 1930s radio personality voice perfectly, certainly when aided by the sound effect to make it seem like he’s talking through a old-timey speaker.

A defining feature of the show is that it is a musical comedy. While it would be easy to mimic Danny Elfman given the look and setting, Medrano and her composers Evan Alderete, Gooseworx, and Thomas Ryan adhere to a more classic approach akin to vaudeville. Along with a melancholy rendition of “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”, the pilot features a heavy metal infused ballad with the fun “Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow” and the wonderfully inspired “Alastor’s Reprise” hearkens to the era it pays tribute to. Simply put, the songs are great.

There is of course the worry that the pilot is all that will be produced of Hazbin Hotel. That Medrano was able to fund a full crew to develop a program of high quality it astonishing. Yet there’s only so much that be done with a budget built mostly through Patreon. It took years for the pilot to be released after being first announced. Not to mention maintaining the same or similarly dedicated crew and continuing to produce the animation at such high quality is sure to be a challenge without financial stability. With that said, she has developed a following that was strong enough to get the pilot made. And with the finished product being as good as it is, there’s a chance a bigger audience will build to help increase the financial resources needed to produce more episodes.

Through it all, though, I strongly believe that Hazbin Hotel could possibly flourish into an amazing series. It’s for sure not for families and some will feel uncomfortable with the subject matter. Nevertheless, the outstanding high quality animation for an independent production, excellent characters backed by a wonderful voice cast, and the catchy inspired show-tunes make for a fantastic program well worth checking in to. It’s crazy, it’s strange, and it’s perhaps one of the finest shows of the year. Maybe even one of the best.

Of course, the pressure was on full force for Disney to produce a good show. After all, the original is almost universally considered to be a classic, coming from something of a golden age for the studio’s television animation when they were also producing Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers and Gargoyles (my personal pick for what might the Mouse House’s greatest TV series ever). But what many may not know is that DuckTales also has a rich history in comic books, something that the reboot wisely chooses to draw from instead of merely following the 80’s cartoon’s treasure map step-by-step. The result is something that simultaneously feels both nostalgic and fresh, which should satisfy those who grew up with the franchise while also pleasing newcomers.

One thing that raised eyebrows among many at first about the reboot was the animation style. The original series looked unmistakably “Disney” (not to mention expensive), while the reboot is angular and slightly “simplistic” for want of a better term. The characters are more similar to their comic book counterparts than previous screen incarnations, and for some it might all be a bit jarring. But it’s amazing how quickly the audience adjusts to the new look, which allows for much bolder colors and snappier action sequences, and it helps greatly that the direction is excellent. Scoorge’s mansion, for instance, is introduced as a relic (which is something he fears he’s at risk of becoming), lifeless and full of dust until the nephews (quite literally) bring it back from the dead. Bursts of red, meanwhile, dominate the screen during one of the first adventure scenes, giving everything a broad, pulpy quality. This is not to say that the new look is “better” than the 80’s cartoon per se (or vice versa), but it is to say that it works, and that’s what really matters.

Another difference between the two shows is the voice cast. For some, the fact that Huey, Dewey and Louie all sound “older” now might bring back long-repressed Quack Pack memories, but it does help make them “individual” characters (even though I can tell them apart about as well as Scrooge can). A bigger advantage of this, though, is an extremely lively and proactive Webby, who is thankfully not the “cutesy wutesy” toddler she was in the original. But the series belongs to David Tennant, who takes over for the late Alan Young as Scrooge and absolutely nails the role. Tennant’s wispy vocals make this Scrooge slightly bitter over the past and a bit of an old scoundrel, his soul orally yearning for days perhaps out of his reach.

Which brings us to this being a slightly more “grown-up” take on DuckTales. There are some fairly mature themes present here (Donald and Scrooge, for instance, haven’t been on speaking terms for ten years), and a strong hint towards the end of the pilot that Scrooge has a tragic aspect of his past that he’s trying to live down. Fortunately, none of this keeps the series from providing what DuckTales promises: plenty of adventure and a ton of fun. In fact, there’s a good chance adults might end up loving this even more than kids. The series doesn’t throw bones to older viewers because it knows they’re watching. It does so because it knows those older viewers are enjoying it.

The show takes a slight risk in waiting until the second episode to use the classic theme, but it’s a move that’s rewarding in a big way, as by then the series has already won its skeptics over and the song provides a giddy, rousing jolt of energy that I must say left me with a huge smile on my face. This is a reboot that manages to give its viewers the best of both worlds, making them feel like children again while also respecting that they are now older. Whether or not the series can keep being this good remains to be seen, but for now we can celebrate that DuckTales is back. Woo-hoo!

When I reviewed the Season Two premiere of Rick and Morty two years ago (yes, it’s been a long time since we had new episodes), the series had maybe achieved a cult level of a fan base, but was far from being something everyone was talking about. Since then, though, this crazy cartoon has exploded on a pop culture level, dominating Hot Topic stores and even getting its own Monopoly game. Rick and Morty is finally as popular as it deserves to be, but with great popularity comes great expectations. Would Rick and Morty be able to live up to the hype for the third time in a row?

Thankfully, the answer is a resounding, triumphant yes. Rick and Morty is not only just as good as it was before, it may even actually be better. It’s hard to think of any comedy series, live-action or animated, which has managed to maintain such a level of an insane brilliance episode-after-episode, but this show has managed to not only pull it off, but also make it appear effortless. And even with its reputation as one of the best cartoon shows on television for adults, it still finds ways to keep surprising its audience. It’s almost something of a miracle of television.

One of the most remarkable things about the series is how much the creators are able to pack into each episode. In my review of Despicable Me 3, I noted that the film suffered because it was attempting to do too much at once. That is never the case with Rick and Morty, in which ten different things can be happening simultaneously and still amount to something that’s highly entertaining and even kinda profound. For instance, Rickmancing the Stone begins as a parody of Mad Max: Fury Road before turning into a spoof of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, which then evolves into Morty getting a conscious fist which sends him on a punching spree against his will, while Summer gets romantically involved with a self-proclaimed nihilistic killer, while Rick’s robot versions of the family (in the “real world”) attempt to keep a morbidly depressed Beth pleased while the android Morty begins to go through an A.I. complex. On almost any other cartoon, this would be a recipe for disaster, but Rick and Morty has a secret ingredient behind its endless comedic violence and chaos: grounding everything in something relatable.

This has always been a key aspect behind the show’s success, but this season takes everything in a more daring turn: the center of everything, in this case, is the depressing experience children go through when their parents become divorced. This is an extremely risky move I was initially worried about (let’s face it, divorce isn’t usually an ideal topic for comedy), but Rickmancing The Stone handles it with a subtle yet meaningful amount of sensitivity. The divorce is sad, and though it’s the source of a good number of the episode’s gags, it’s also what’s driving (or bringing down) all of the characters. For Morty, it’s anger towards Jerry he’s not wanting to acknowledge that he wasn’t able to fight harder to keep the marriage alive (anger that he is able to get out of his system, to a certain extent, via his vengeful fist). For Summer, it’s also anger, but blame towards her mother for initiating the divorce, and for perhaps being too hard on her dad over the years. It’s notable that for all the gleeful carnage the episode provides, it ends not with an extended joke, but with a scene of a daughter hugging her now lost father, a hug which the father isn’t sure how to respond to. And at the core of it all is Rick, who ultimately caused the divorce with his return and Jerry making an attempt to put his foot down saying that the family had no reason to deal with him anymore after he got the planet taken over by galactic overlords. The impact this has had on Rick remains unknown, especially since the last episode concluded with him giving a drunken, fourth-wall breaking rant in which he claimed to Morty that he orchestrated the divorce as part of his plan to finally get his hands on long gone Mulan-themed dipping sauce from McDonald’s.

Of course, Beth and Jerry getting back together is probably inevitable, which would be welcome. But the fact that Rick and Morty has been able to handle them splitting up without coming across as mean-spirited or tasteless speaks volumes about what this show is capable of. If you’re not already watching Rick and Morty, then you’re missing out on what might be Adult Swim’s greatest cartoon series of all time, and I am one of many people who hopes this hilarious, twisted, depressing, poignant, violent, heartwarming show is around for many seasons to come. Wuba-luba-dub-dub!