Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Defenders of Berk 211 Review


PLOT A:  "Double-O Berk"

Having found the twins, Hiccup sends Tuffnut to spy on the Berserks and the Outcasts to find out what they’re planning

So I was pretty excited when it seemed that the twins and Hiccup were going to be working side-by-side in this episode. It seemed like it would be a nice touch after the previous episode establishing that the twins finally came to terms with themselves not being completely useless.

Though, unfortunately this episode fell into a pit hole that all the twin-centric plots seem to.

It was all about Tuffnut.

I’m not going to lie, Tuffnut’s hilarious. Everything he says he pretty much funny. But there’s a time and a place for Tuffnut’s comedy act and a lot of places in this episode is slowed down the plot and brought back the first season’s problem of “lollygagging” in the second act only having to make up for it in the third act.

This episode had a pretty pressing issue, two of our main villains were working together, they had a skrill, and were planning an invasion. And yet…pretty much all of the second act was given to Tuffnut being funny. He is a rather dominating character and it’s easy to get caught in the “rhapsody of it all” with his funny lines. But I felt a lot of his scenes could’ve been shortened and cut out and the plot would’ve faired the same.

Why? Because the last act felt rather crammed.

Think about it, we had three battles in the last 7-5 minutes of the episode. Why couldn’t some of that have been resolved in the second act as well? Cause the second act was all about Tuffnut being funny.

Plus, again, Ruffnut was there…and what did she do…? Nothing.

I don’t know, I just felt it focused a little too much on the funny aspect of Tuffnut being a spy than the strategy of him being a spy. They should’ve taken notes on what they did in “Heather Report, part 2” or 
“Defiant One” for the spying aspect of being on Outcast island.

Still, it was nice to see the twins in a tag-team mission with Hiccup yet again. Though I just wished the whole second act hadn’t been slowed down so much to unnecessarily add funny stuff in.

That being said…at least Tuffnut did do his job and got information and successfully got it back to Hiccup. So, that’s something.


PLOT B: "Outcast vs. Berserkers"

Alvin has captured the skrill and is making a plan with Dagur that they both attack Berk in exchange for handing over the skrill to the Berserkers. But Dagur’s got other plans.

Now this plot was surely interesting. Alvin vs. Dagur. Almost like the good villain vs. the villain who’s falling flat. And with how the ending battle between those two was handled I’m thinking that maybe Alvin’s lack of…exciting-ness was actually intentional.

Was he supposed to be a failed villain…? Who knows, but if it was supposed to be intentional than…well, that’s rather interesting.

Though there is the pressing question of did Dagur kill Alvin…? I’m not too sure because getting struck by lightning in the water could kill him believably. But, I would say no, even though I saw on tumblr that there might’ve been official confirmation on twitter that he actually did die. Though I haven’t looked into anything so I don’t know.

Taking the surprising road and killing Alvin off in such a way—after failing and being humiliated only to have his tribe barely mourn him and switch over to the Berserkers—that’s pretty depressing…makes me feel sorry for him.

But, if he’s not dead and they’re planning to bring him back, I think it would be interesting to have him ride in on the screaming death, wanting revenge and then we’d have a three-way battle between Berk, the Berserkers and Alvin and the Screaming Death. Now that would be interesting, but we shall see. Still, if they are going to bring him back, they’d better do something interesting with him to make up for his rather lack-luster performance lately.

And as for Dagur…he continues to impress me as a villain. He’s entertaining to watch, has a personality, an established history and motivation, and has the intimating factor to make him a threat to our heroes. All of which was perfectly shown in this episode. I absolutely loved the little moment about him hating people who smack because his father used to smack. Always calling back to that past of his…nice establishment.  

I only wished we had more time focusing on the tension between Alvin and Dagur before their battle. Which would’ve happened if a certain twin hadn’t hogged a lot of screen time….

But the end battle between Alvin and Dagur was very good even if it was short. They’re both skilled fighters so it was really just a matter of who would get the upper hand first. And Dagur had a skrill at his disposal so…we all knew how that was going to end….

Still, aside from this plot not being as present as it could’ve been and the ending battle being perhaps a tad too short—probably cut for time—this was a very good show down, and should’ve taken up a majority of the screen time instead, in my opinion.


PLOT C: "Brotherhood, the Reunion"

Finally with the skrill to himself, Dagur and Hiccup face off, Night Fury vs. Skrill

I was kind of disappointed how this fight was literally left to the last 5 minutes of the episode as it was one of the main buildups since the previous episode.

Hiccup vs. Dagur, that’s what we’ve all been waiting for. But, like I said, they basically crammed all three of the ending battles—Daugr vs. Alvin, Dagur vs. Hiccup, and Hiccup vs. the Skrill—into the last act. So each battle could only last about 2-3 minutes each.

Which was a bit of a letdown, especially after the previous episode’s wonderfully choreographed fight.

Still, it seems a little clearer now that Dagur definitely wants to capture Toothless and have him for himself…and I suppose kill Hiccup…? What he wants to do with Hiccup is still a bit unclear. But Dagur seems pretty bent on just having every fleet he can get his hands on. And so far he’s successfully taken over the Outcasts so, he’s got the odds in his favor.

Still, the ending battle between these two was left on a good cliffhanger, but the battle was still…just too quick. I wouldn’t say it was rushed just…quick. Quicker than I would’ve liked.

Now the ending battle with the skrill seemed alright, even though that was crammed into the remaining minutes of the episode. And I have heard some complaints that re-freezing the skrill was anti-climatic. I suppose it was…but Dagur gained a whole extra fleet, so it’s not like he left this whole mess with nothing. He’s still more intimating now with twice the number of soldiers, so…it evens out. And it was nice to see the twins helps out in freezing the skrill.

So…all of this was good stuff, just…too crammed into a short period of time. Everything was too quick. Though I did love the ending scene. Dagur just looked scary…..in a good kind of way, of course.


FINAL THOUGHTS:

So, really this episode was filled with good stuff. Had a really great set up…it’s problem was really just time management.

And, sorry, but I’ve just gotta blame the Tuffnut stuff. There was just too many long scenes with Tuffnut being funny…that were hilarious but not needed to advance the plot. They should’ve allowed more time for the pressing matters of the plot. Like Alvin vs. Dagur, and Hiccup and Dagur’s battle. Because those plots—even in the short time they were allotted—were very well done.

So…it’s always so odd how the second parts to these two part episodes never seem to meet the great set up they’re given. Though hopefully the finale (that probably going to be another two-parter) will fix this streak.


Defenders of Berk 210 Review


PLOT A: "Frozen Fire"

Having found a skrill frozen in ice after being attacked by the Berserkers, Berk tries to figure out why the Berserkers have broken their peace treaty.

So, we all knew that it was going to be some kind of plot like this eventually. Dagur clearly wasn’t going to pay attention to the treaty, and while Hiccup and everyone else knew about that since episode 203—and never told Stoick again—the rest of the village has finally caught on.

A frozen dragon is certainly interesting, but I do wonder how it got there. That’s an unnecessary detail to the plot but does make you wonder….

Still, this plot really just took up the first act of the episode as the second half was left for the action, but it provided a decent set up for the second episode without a doubt. We have a dangerous skrill awakened and wandering around, the Bersekers are after it, and so are the riders.

But alongside the main plot set up, the character interactions here were so good! I love how the main group of six has broken down into lately. With, as I keep saying, Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs being the main problem solvers and plot advancers and Snotlout and the Twins being more of the comedic side-characters who are the ones who usually have a lesson to learn.

But definitely out of the two groups Astrid, Hiccup, and Fishlegs are the ones with the most appeal, there’s so many little moments of great interaction that call to their friendship and the three definitely have natural chemistry. The way their dialogue is written really makes me believe that these three spend time together off camera and have a relationship that continues even after the credits role, which might sound easy but it is a lot harder than it sounds. So, nice characterization as usual.

And I even didn’t mind how they decided to have the skrill being released Snotlout and the Twins—though probably mostly the twins—fault. It seemed very in character for them, but what made it work was probably their reaction afterwards, as they were kind of scared of getting in trouble with Hiccup because they knew he left them there putting some kind of trust that they wouldn’t screw up. Which ties in nicely with the previous episode’s outcome.

So yeah…this was a good set up to the action that would happen in the second and third acts.

Also, Bucket and Mulch came back! They haven’t been around much…


PLOT B:  "Berk vs. Berserkers"

While the riders try to catch the skrill before the Berserkers find it, they realize this dragon might be harder to catch than anticipated.

Everyone’s been waiting to see a skrill in action. At least I know I have, and this episode really did not disappoint.

A skrill’s probably one of the few dragons that can really go toe to toe with a night fury in a fair fight, and it’s always nice to see the riders face a challenge in battle rather than come out on top every time. Losing is essential to heroes, believe it or not.

But this episode heavily reminds me of another great one this season: 204. Mostly because the action sequence took up both act two and three, and it was good action. The fight scene between the riders and the skrill were just great, and once again, even though it was a long fight scene it didn’t lose my interest. They kept it moving, and added appropriate pauses for the teens to strategize and then get right back into the action. So, more nicely done pacing in the action department.

And the special effects…oh man…they were excellent. I know clouds and whatnot are hard to render and light but those were some really amazing clouds, some awesome lighting, and just overall good animation going on in that scene. Well done for the team who worked on that, and on a tv show budget.

I also did like how Hiccup was using the twins to help out here, and how everyone just seems to be coming together as a formidable team, all working their strengths during battle and bringing back techniques we’ve seen them working on throughout the season. (Like Fishlegs’ drop and hove trick…is that what’s it’s called?).

And…of course…the triumphant return of Dagur! We haven’t really seen him leading a battle up until this point so it’s nice to see him being the chief and not just running around going crazy (not that seeing him like that isn’t enjoyable). But it makes him all the more intimidating to know that he’s as insane as he is and still can strategize and lead a fleet properly.

Though I wonder what really he wants to do. Last time he seemingly wanted to capture both Hiccup and Toothless. Now it seems he only wanted the skrill so he could capture just Toothless as a means to simply take him away from Hiccup.

Does he want Toothless just to take him away from Hiccup, or because he wants to have a night fury from himself…? Both options are both equally exciting since it is Dagur, but hopefully the next episode will shed a little light on that because I am a tad confused on that now.

Still, this episode set up a great plot for episode two as well. The Skrill has been captured by the Outcasts—who I figured would show up and it was a nice touch adding them at the very end—and the twins are off on their own and actually doing something helpful by following the Outcasts to see what their up to. Hopefully the next episode plays it’s cards correctly and uses the twins to its advantage, because the set up here is great!


FINAL THOUGHTS:

This episode was pretty near perfect for me. I could barely find anything wrong with it. It was a great set up, had great character moments, and nicely done and paced out battle scene with a beautifully animated dragon.

And Dagur!

What’s not to like…?

If I had to get nitpicky maybe with the twins a little too much of Tuffnut’s jokes…where I felt like some non-joking dialogue would’ve made it a bit more…serious? But then that is simply Tuffnut’s character, but, like I said, if I had to get nitpicky…then yeah. Cause in hindsight there really isn’t too much wrong with this episode.

Though I am a tad hesitant to give it a perfect score, though, but its came pretty darn close.


Friday, November 29, 2013

Defenders of Berk 209 Review


PLOT A: "Tuff Luck"

Trying to prove that they are useful, Ruffnut and Tuffnut pull their weight and help rid the forest of old dragon traps, only Tuffnut ends up getting stuck in one himself.

So..another Twin-centric episode? We were all wondering if this was really going to be twin-centric and not just Tuffnut-centric…and while it wasn’t as “Tuffnut only” as episode 115, the playing field of writing was still more in his favor.

While Ruffnut is more prevalent this season, Tuffnut still seems to be the favorite twin of the writers, but still, at least she got a little independence and some funny lines in this episode as well.

But, the majority of this plot really was Tuffnut stuck in a tree talking to dragons. Which sounds kind of boring but he said some rather interesting stuff. I was pretty impressed when they brought up him coming to realization that Ruffnut might be angry because the world she lives in is male-oriented. That was a nice touch for feminism. As well as him talking to Barf about how they never talk because he rides Belch. That was funny.

I also liked the initial set up for the episode on two fronts. First off being the clearing dragon traps…that was a good mission for the teens, and a nice callback to the “old ways” that the movie had.

On the other front the line that got the whole episode started, which was basically Hiccup saying that he didn’t know if he could trust Ruff and Tuff out alone, that was wonderfully condescending. I’m one of those people who doesn’t go off the deep end with rage because Hiccup isn’t perfect. He’s smug and can same things that easily land him in the “condescending prick” territory sometimes. That’s just a flaw of his, everyone has them, and it’s a rather nicely done, and realistic, human flaw at that.

And Torch’s triumphant return! I liked his character even if I really didn’t like the episode he was introduced in, so it was a very nice touch to have him back, and all grown up to boot! I definitely wasn’t expecting that, so points for surprising me. And I liked the little fight Torch and Toothless had, also a nice touch. Though it was interesting to pair Torch with Tuffnut, but I guess Torch remembers everyone even if he mostly interacted with Hiccup and Toothless.

And on one last note, But, after this episode I do expect to see the twins trying a little harder sometimes to not be “useless” now that they’ve halfway tasted victory.


PLOT B: The Forest is getting…Torched (haha…get it?)

A brush fire is quickly spreading through the forest, and right for a trapped Tuffnut.

So I think they mentioned “fire weather” at least three times before the fire actually started so…that wasn’t much of a shock.

And the fire effects were just…geez, they were good! A+ on that stuff.

As for the actual problem to be solved I do wish in the end had been left exclusively for the twins. Hiccup seemed to kind of ambush their plot near the end, when I think the twins could’ve pulled of the fire problem on their own with Torch. Or maybe even have the twins having to save Hiccup and Toothless from the fire…? I’m not sure, but for all the buildup of the twins finally being useful—while they did suggest a good idea at the end—I think it could’ve been pushed a lot more to really solidify the point of the episode.


FINAL THOUGHTS

This episode was pretty straight forward, well written, and had a good moral too it. As well as some amazingly done fire effects.

My only beef was, the twins didn’t really “save the day” as much as I would’ve liked them to. And the episode did build it up so that it seemed like they would perhaps get a solo save. But…Hiccup kind of did his usual “main character” thing and…yeah.

This twin-centric episode was heading more in the correct direction more so than last season’s was, but it still had a few bugs to work out…so, maybe next time….?


Defenders of Berk 208 Review


PLOT A: Chomp Chomp, there goes your island

While trying to keep tabs on the dragon’s migration habits, Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs investigate the mysterious flocking of all the dragons back to dragon island only to find that the Screaming Death has returned and is sinking all the islands.

Aaaaand the Screaming Death is back! I’m pretty excited about this, as I loved her in episode 204.

But, first and foremost, the group is trying to keep tabs on the migration habits of dragons…I gotta admit, at first when I saw the teens “tagging” the dragons I got a bit worried, but if it’s for purposes such as studying migration—cause that’s pretty useful to know—then I suppose it’s fine. And it’s just paint. And it offered some hilarious moments between Fishlegs and Astrid about the color correction.

That being said, this plot did give us some excellent character interaction moments between Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs.

It’s very clear—even last season—that these three were the “main of the main”. As in out of the six kids these three are most likely to take the lead in advancing the plot (as I mentioned in 206’s review), and I’m always happy to see fewer characters being focused on in advancing episodes such as these. As I mentioned a lot about last season, having all the teens together during every problem-solving adventure wasn’t necessary and in some ways hurt the story because there were too many people to keep tabs on.

But, with these three, the show has taken some careful time to push the friendship to a more comfortable level and this episode shines in showing the almost effortless chemistry between all of three of them. Well done.

Though, while on the subject of communication, I can say that while a good 75% of the communication between the three was wonderful, the other 25% was rather annoying. Why? Well…because it was all a bunch of in-your-face explaining.

One thing I really loved about the movie was its “show-don’t-tell” nature. Which seems kind of obvious for a movie, right? WRONG! This episode proved that, even when something is almost all visual…things still aren’t shown and not told. Or, more accurately, things are shown and then also unnecessarily told.

Go back to the scene in the movie where Hiccup realized Toothless is missing half of his tail and erases the tail fin in his drawing. In the commentary the directors said that they could’ve easily had Hiccup mutter to himself “oh, his tail is missing.” But, having Hiccup erase the tail was a perfect visual moment that connected with Hiccup’s perception and the audience’s perception without saying a word.

Now, let’s look at a scene in this episode, say…when the screaming death…screams and Hiccup says that the scream disorients the dragons. Well…we already knew that—it was only 4 episodes ago—that and it felt more like he was saying that to the viewer and not Astrid. There were many moments like that where Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs were “communicating” but it felt more like they were just spitting out facts to the viewer so they wouldn’t be confused…when, chances are, they got the point rather easily.

And there are other ways to tell information about dragons than just long sentences of facts in the guise of conversation. This episode had a lot of that and it was a problem last season as well so…I’m not too sure it’s going to be fixed any time soon.

But, onto the meat and potatoes of the plot: the screaming death.

Since most of its screen time was during the ending battle, I can say that…it was a little lack luster, but then comparing it to the other episode feature the screaming death—episode 204—where the ending battle was literally the entire second half of the episode…it’s a hard comparison. It fell a little flat for me, though, especially since the fight scenes this season have been rather superb most of the time.

And the “Fishlegs is the hero of the day” thing…neh. I felt like it could’ve gone without mention as it didn’t seem like a “fish-centric” episode where that really needed that to be pointed out.

Overall this plot’s bright spots were definitely in the chemistry between Fishlegs, Astrid, and Hiccup putting their heads together and solving a problem…though I would’ve hoped for a more exciting face-off with the screaming death and a lot less explaining pretending to be dialogue.


PLOT B: Insert some “airmail” joke from tumblr here

Hiccup and Fishlegs create a new way to communicate long distance, but the twins don’t seem to get the memo.

So, this is a good example of a side plot in its proper place. As I mentioned, Fishlegs, Astrid, and Hiccup were the main problem solving focus here while the others were just chilling on Berk. The tie over of having airmail so that we could go back to the island and see what the twins and Snotlout were up to was pretty clever…as well as just the idea in general.

It had a carrier pigeon feel to it, and I hope the airmail sticks because that’s a rather good means of Viking-communication.

Though, in a bit unrelated to this plot, I do wonder why Hiccup seems so put off by asking his father for help. This is like, what, the third time he’s brushed off getting help from his father to solve the problem on his own? Last season it was all about him being impulsive and not wanting help from anyone…now it seems he just doesn’t help from his father?

I could easily say it’s because he’s trying to prove himself…but I just hope that little facet about him is going somewhere. And not just in the franchise but in this actual season…

I know they’re waiting for the sequel to flush out more of his imperfections but having a show where there’s nothing but build up and no mention of resolution of said build up is…neh.

But, back to the B plot here. The twins are always funny, but I liked how their plot didn’t fight for attention to the A plot like it did in 206. It was a nice side note to return to for a minute or two before heading back into the A plot. So…nicely crafted there.

And Snotlout’s “see you back on Berk suckas!”…golden.


FINAL THOUGHTS

This episode was definitely back to the good stuff…as it seems the episodes got a tad off track in quality for little bit.

But I can say that I do actually want the Screaming Death’s next appearance to not end with her leaving and Hiccup staring off to the horizon saying “it’ll be back”. They’ve done it twice already, I think that’s enough. 

What is the Screaming Death going to do exactly…? Who knows, but I’m still pretty excited to find out!
So…good characterization, good plot balance, decent fight…but perhaps just less explanation within the dialogue.


Defenders of Berk 207 Review



PLOT A: Life’s a Competition

Trying to prove who’s the best dragon trainer on a “level playing field” the teens all take their own terrible terrors and attempt to train them.

I saw a few people comparing this episode to “Thawfest” from season one, and I guess that can be somewhat true on some levels. It’s got the “spirit of competition” plotline looming around, but this time it’s more of a Fishlegs vs. Snotlout plot.

Like Hiccup in Thawfest, Fishlegs seems to be a bit of a d-bag in certain areas, mostly when it comes to paying attention to his own dragon over his new one. Though I do feel like this plot had one too many things going on. It didn’t seem entirely grounded in what it was trying to tell us.

First we had the group competition, and everyone was getting pretty rivalry against each other, but then it was Fishlegs vs. Snotlout….but then it was Meatlug getting jealous of Iggy. I feel like it shouldn’t focused on one or two of these…but all three got to be a little much.

The group competition got kind of blown out of importance after they all showed what their dragons could do, but it was interesting to see that they all really did manage to train their terrors something in a day.

The Fishlegs vs. Snotlout plot is always fun to watch just because Snotlout has a interesting way of bringing the most entertainingly worst part of every character. Fishlegs is becoming less timid and more cocky as the series goes on—which is nice character development, by the way—so it wasn’t a big surprise to see him get too caught up in proving his superiority in dragon training. Though I do wish this plot got more of a finish to it…because after Meatlug got captured, the competition between them pretty much ended, I guess…?


PLOT B: Meatlug be jellin’

As Fishlegs gets too caught up in the competition of training terrors, he starts ignoring Meatlug, much to her disappointment.

So, Fishlegs goes off the deep end and poor Meatlug gets the boot. I can say I liked her reaction to the plot she was placed in a lot better than, say, 202, and I did find the “toss the sheep” joke to be both cute and funny.

I really can’t find too much wrong with this part of the story in particular other than I think it would’ve fit in better with Alvin’s plot if Meatlug had just run away and then got captured out at sea by Alvin. But in terms of the plot by itself, the cause was clear, the effect was clear, and the aftermath was clear.


PLOT C: Alvin and Company….do evil things….

Alvin, Mildew, and Savage come back to Berk to check on their whispering deaths only to find that they’ve already hatched and Berk is still in one piece. After that they explore the tunnels until they figure capturing Meatlug is a better idea.

Okay now this plot…I just can’t even….

It was really all over the place. I really can’t even tell you the point here. It seemed like it had a point when it started…Alvin, Mildew, and Savage were going to check on the whispering deaths and the eggs are hatched and Berk is still perfectly fine. Alvin gets mad about the plan seemingly not working, blah blah blah. That was fine.

But then after that…they just walk around in the tunnels…spot the training academy…spy on the kids...capture Meatlug…leave….what’s going on here?

Alvin mentioned killing dragons, so I guess he captured Meatlug to get all the riders to come find her and then he’d kill them all…? I feel like I’m missing something, like they said something extra about their plan and I just didn’t catch it. But this entire plot seemed really misguided and random.

And it didn’t really help me like Alvin any more as a villain. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, in terms of who I feel is a “threat” to the main cast I’m more interested in what Dagur and the Screaming Death are up to than Alvin…he, Mildew, and Savage definitely got some funny “three old men” moments for sure, but they are still supposed to be intimidating villains.

Just when are they going to get a plot that advances them towards something instead of just making them seem like Saturday morning comedy villains? Especially since they have a lot in their good bag to pull out. 

They could have the whole “Mildew betrayed Berk” plot rear it’s ugly head again. Or the fact that Alvin has a potential army of ruthless dragons under his control now….? When are these assets going to be used? It is almost halfway through the season by now.


FINAL THOUGHTS

So…this episode had balance issues and just general “which way are we trying to go” issues. I think it just had one too many plots going on. It probably should’ve just focused on the Fishlegs vs. Snotlout/Fishlegs ignoring Meatlug plots for the teens, and then having Alvin find Meatlug running away and capture her after he’s sailing back to Outcast island to plan another attack…? I don’t know (I’m thinking off the top of my head) but something more…point oriented would’ve helped a lot. Because this episode was all over the place in some areas.

But on a positive note, the jokes in this episode were hilarious and extremely…mature in some places. The show does split in some I suppose “adult humor” very slyly every once in a while, but this episode…it’s cup runneth over with them.

Like come on…Tuffnut saying Fishlegs finally “grew some….” We all know how that sentence was going to finish. I’m actually pretty surprised they got away with that one, to be honest. That was very close to the fence. But still hilarious.

So, this was an odd episode for me, as it really was all over the place. Some of it was good, some of it great, some of it extremely…odd. Hopefully the next one has a bit better of a directional sense.


Defenders of Berk 206 Review



PLOT A: "Frozen: Dreamworks Style"

After the Hofferson family name was ruined when the Frightmare killed “Fearless Finn Hofferson” 10 years ago, Astrid has sworn revenge on the Frightmare, and with its arrival coming soon she’s finally going to get that chance.

This is probably the first “Astrid-centric” episode we’ve gotten since the mighty Heather Report duo last season and while I enjoyed Heather Report a lot more than this episode, it had some good points.

First off, it was interesting to see an actual flashback in show since I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the show wasn’t really for flashbacks. But it seems they tactfully skimped around having to pay for making a younger model for Astrid by using one of the little girl models already used in the show and re-coloring her hair. I’m pretty sure it was the same little girl that was in episode 202 wanting Fishlegs’ autograph.

But still, this episode just might have a lot more depth in backstory than anticipated. If there really is some kind of embarrassment of dishonor of the Hofferson name after Finn was killed by the frightmare, that might explain Astrid’s continual drive in the movie and so forth to be the best at everything. Because she doesn’t want to be an embarrassment or add more dishonor to her family name….?

It’s an interesting thought to chew on.

Still, irrational and impulsive Astrid is always entertaining to watch as she usually thinks things through before jumping into stuff, she had a tunnel vision goal of defeating this dragon, so it was an odd turn of events to see Hiccup be the non-impulsive voice of reason.

And the end was good as well, though I think it would’ve benefited with maybe Astrid saying something about her uncle and not Hiccup. I know he was doing her a solid, but it was “Astrid’s” episode, after all.

But, onto the Frightmare. It’s a very pretty dragon. Very nice light effects and design, if I do say so myself. And the twist—if you wanna call it a twist—that it paralyzes it’s prey before striking it is….interesting to say the least. Though a bit gruesome when you think of poor Finn being frozen while it watches a dragon hurling towards him before it brutally murders him….

Lucky for Astrid, Hiccup was there to get her out of the way.

And the other “twist” that the Frightmare comes to Berk every year because it’s following a glowing river algae ignited by the aurora felt very national geographic, but it worked…and was a perfect thing for Fishlegs to solve.

I did enjoy how they only used the characters that were necessary to this plot, and I’m continually liking Astrid, Hiccup, and Fishlegs as the main problem solving trio of the show.

The ending battle was…it was good. I wouldn’t say it blew my mind but it wasn’t bad. Just your standard good fight. I do grow tired of the dragon commands, though. Still, I get their purpose, but I think Toothless knows to roll over during a fight without Hiccup telling him to.

So, this plot was mostly just a bag of “good but not great” things here.


PLOT B: "Mission Impossible….for Snotlout"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut have a “exclusive bunker” made for taking refuge during the Frightmare’s arrival and Snotlout wants in, but he first has to complete a list of outrageous errands for the twins.

This plot is basically the definition of a comedic sideplot. This episode had a more serious tone to it with its main plot, so I suppose they wanted something lighter to balance it out, and thus we get this plot with the twins and Snotlout.

It was cute and funny, I can say that, so there was nothing wrong with the plot itself. Just how much screen time it got. It got way for much for something that was a sideplot, and it ended up using time that could’ve 
been used to flush out the A plot better.

Now the A plot was in no way rushed, so to speak, but there was more than one time in this episode where when this comedic sideplot came up I was tapping my fingers waiting for it to get back to the main point of the episode.

Comedic sideplots are perfectly fine as long as they stay on the side, and this plot started pushing too much in terms of how much screen time it got when it didn’t advance the plot whatsoever.

So…while it was good and funny and all, it needed a little less time because, again, it wasn’t the point of the episode.



FINAL THOUGHTS:

So, this episode had a lot of hype behind it and I already anticipated it wouldn’t live up to it…mainly because the hype was all Hiccstrid.

I wasn’t expecting any romance in this episode so I wasn’t disappointed or shocked like I know some of the fans were.

That aside, I do think this episode had a bit of an issue with balance between the A and B plot, but managed to still have that issue and not let the episode seemed rushed. So, I praise it on that.

It was a nice look back into Astrid’s past and motivations, and offered a lovely new dragon.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Defenders of Berk 205 Review



PLOT A: "Another one bites the Dust" (these lame titles)

Snotlout has been training day and night to ready himself for the upcoming attacks, but he’s been working Hookfang too hard in the process and the nightmare falls deathly ill.

So, all I can think of in comparison to this is episode 109 “Dragon Flower”. Which one of my complaints about that episode was the sickness factor was pretty downplayed and resulted in the actual sense of urgency not being there.

In this episode, though, it’s the exact opposite. The urgency is there and it’s in your face. And interestingly enough it sparked a question for me. Yes, Hookfang was pushed too hard and thus his flame started going out, but Fishlegs also mentioned that it happens to dragons when they get older. Maybe Hookfang’s a lot older than the other dragons? Thus pushing him too hard does result in life threatening side effects. Maybe he’s a middle aged dragon…? Which would explain his behavior as a mid-life crisis (assuming dragons have those).

But, back on topic, I do like that this episode seemed to conjure up amazing amounts of emotional depth, and I hate getting overly sappy about things that really aren’t that sappy…but this totally was. I really did get a little chest jump at some points (mostly the end). I think a lot of it had to do with Zack Pearlman’s voice acting. In a rare case I’m actually going to be sad when Jonah Hill comes back for Snotlout in the sequel cause Zack has got him down pat with the emotional stuff.

I can always trace back to how impressed I was with his VA in episode 116 when he was telling Hiccup how smug he was and yadda yadda, but this episode was laden with wonderfully delivered and almost heart-wrenching vocal moments. The “What are you waiting for, eat it!” line…man, that was great.

And, of course, the return of Spitelout being a royal piece of crap has returned! We all liked him in episode 112 and we all liked him here. He did his job of being a hard-hearted prick in contrast to Snotlout who, while tough, is clearly one of the more emotional of the group. The complications of Snotlout and Hookfang’s relationship is pretty fun to watch them go through dealing with each other’s personalities only to find that they’re exactly alike.

But seriously, seeing Hookfang and Snotlout interact here was brilliant, so many great displays of physical affection that we don’t usually get from those two. But the situation was dire and called for such, and it was delivered nicely.

And HE CRIED! We haven’t even seen Hiccup cry yet.

But while on the subject, I think one of the best moments in this episode was, oddly enough, the small interactions between Snotlout and Astrid. Usually the only interaction they have is Snotlout hitting on her or being a small-minded jerk about something and she calls him out. That’s really it. I’ve never seen these two have a conversation outside those terms. Here we have some nicely done comforting, and even when she touches his shoulder—a primo time for him to shake off his emotions and hit on her for the sake of looking like nothing’s wrong (which would’ve been in character still)—Snotlout inside backs off and asks her an honest to goodness question. I was both shocked and impressed.

So, in all terms, I really can’t find anything wrong with how this plot was handled. It had a sickness plot that was actually urgent, had a nice conflict to overcome, tied it in with Spitelout’s quote and brought it back to prove it wrong, had great emotional depth, added a lot of development to Snotlout and Hookfang’s relationship, and had some awesomely delivered lines from Snotlout.



PLOT B: "The Worm Queen"

In the hopes of curing Hookfang the group learns a bit more about Fireworms by traveling to the nest.

This was a nice way to casually slip in learning more about a dragon from last season, and the queen did look pretty cool (hot?)

I enjoyed the design and invention that they all live in a honey comb/bee hive-like cave and maintain their heat by licking the gel on the combs as well as the queen choosing to save Hookfang by…biting him…? Licking him…? What did she do again?

That was a weird choice to not show what she did but just show Hookfang’s reaction. Cause she let out her tongue so it seemed like she licked him or whacked him, but then by the reaction it was like he was bitten. 
So…I just wish they could’ve shown what she did. It’s not like it’s “graphic violence” or anything.

Either way, whatever she did, it was a nice touch to have that be how Hookfang was save. And by that time he was just a limp body (that kinda broke my heart…not gonna lie).

In terms of none of this coming into play until act three, it was evenly paced and not rushed…cause I was worried when I realized their entire journey to fireworm island would be in the third act, but they pulled off the pacing nicely as usual (for this season).

And nice fire effects…much better than last season. (Not that last season was bad, it’s just noticeably better).

And perhaps there were some scenes that went on a little too long…like the pacing was still fine, but, maybe the training scene of it showing Astrid going through chasing every person and the scene of finding the fireworms…neh Maybe having the second act not take place mostly in the academy would’ve helped…? But those are just minor nitpicks just for the sake of nitpicking though.



FINAL THOUGHTS:

I hate to use words that are close to perfect but…yeah, I really didn’t have too many problems here. This episode was really nicely crafted especially since it was an emotionally charged episode in a show that usually focuses on action.

Not that this show hasn’t had emotional episodes before—and nicely done ones at that—but there was something about this episode in particular that really just worked.

I think I am seeing a pattern, though, with these episodes. More so than not, the first 5 episodes have been only A and B plot type episodes…there’s rarely a random third point/plot that needs to happen and usually the A plot is so dominant there’s barely a B plot to find now. Which is helping these episodes feel more focused.

Less is more when dealing with a plot. These episodes, for the most part, know what they’re about, where they’re going, and where they need to end, and it’s showing as the season goes on. Plus, if you’re focusing on then it’s much easier for something to be good, such as this episode is pushing an almost perfect score because it focused so heavily on the Hookfang/Snotlout plot and that was good. Unfortunately, if it was bad then that really hurts the score, but that’s not the case here!

And now comes the infamous (there’s at least two “infamous” episodes every season”) episode 206….I wonder how that’s gonna turn out? The preview looks pretty good.