Arcane (Netflix)

[Stephen Palmer]

Expecting to watch Series 2 over Xmas. Series 1 was ace.

 

[SmashingPumpkin]

I'd say I was "very interested" rather than "heavily invested", and the downgrade is because the complex emotional relationships that powered the story in the first season (mostly familial and para-familial) are largely missing. That was inevitable, and there are some interesting magical developments that seem likely to take centre-stage in the reason of the season, but it does show how "lightning in a bottle" the first season was.

Agree. I think there were some brilliant moments and some great visual storytelling (as we've come to expect) but they could have expanded on the decision-making for some characters. But we knew there were going to be pacing issues with the limited amout of episodes.
Very much looking forward to Acts 2 and 3!

Anyway, even if they end up fumbling S2 (which they certainly haven't so far) everyone should watch S1, which stands on its own. And everyone who watched S1 will almost certainly watch S2 anyway, so I guess any review of S2 is redundant!

I recommend Arcane left and right.

 

[HareBrain]

I just watched Act 2 of S2. During E4 I was a bit worried that they'd dropped the ball in terms of story and character (it always looked amazing) but it picked up again for E5-6 and ended almost as good as it's ever been. Looking forward to next Saturday.

There are quite a few "logic gaps", though, mostly how such a person got into (or out of) such a place.

 

[HareBrain]

Now finished S2, which turned out to be very different from S1 -- less human relatable stuff and more abstract magical-philosophical. Though this brought a few issues, in general I really liked it. The imagination on display relating to the Arcane was incredible.

I'd give this 8/10 rather than the 9.5/10 of S1 (mostly because of a slightly shaky start) but I think the writers were savvy not to try to repeat what made S1 so great and take it in another direction. I don't know if they've ruled out a third season, but if they do make one I'd be excited to see where it goes.

 

[SmashingPumpkin]

I don't know if they've ruled out a third season, but if they do make one I'd be excited to see where it goes.

There won't be a third season but they're setting up other series in the same world and some characters from Arcane might make an appearance.

I was rather disappointed in the direction they took. Missing many character moments made the arcs lose focus and core themes were lost along the way. I could go on but I know many people loved this season so I'd still recommend the series.

 

[HareBrain]

There won't be a third season but they're setting up other series in the same world and some characters from Arcane might make an appearance.

I watched a YouTube video that claimed the ending had "teased Swain". I looked up Swain (I know nothing about League of Legends) but it didn't enlighten me. Was he something to do with the airship at the end?

Missing many character moments made the arcs lose focus and core themes were lost along the way.

I personally found the mystical stuff they did with the Arcane very interesting, but if someone wasn't especially bothered about that, I could see why they might find the season a disappointment.

 

[SmashingPumpkin]

I watched a YouTube video that claimed the ending had "teased Swain". I looked up Swain (I know nothing about League of Legends) but it didn't enlighten me. Was he something to do with the airship at the end?

I'm not super familiar with LOL lore but I think the tease was the three-eyed crow / raven. Seems Swain has one.
The airship was a nod to Powder wanting to 'ride one of these one day' in S01E01.
There's a theory that Jinx survived the explosion (pink shimmer flair coming out of the explosion) and escaped through the pipes Caitlyn showed on the reel. Jinx was actually on that airship at the end of E9, which is why we see the graffiti glitch screen suggesting she'll be back.

I personally found the mystical stuff they did with the Arcane very interesting, but if someone wasn't especially bothered about that, I could see why they might find the season a disappointment.

It was interesting for sure, and Viktor is one my favourite characters but I definintely did not expect them to go there! I'm a sucker for charater-driven writing (with stuff happening, still, à la Breaking Bad or GOT) which S1 did amazingly while S2 was plot-focused. One might even say the writers commited several counts of character assassination to move the plot which didn't jive with me. But you're right, depends on what the viewer is looking for.

Edit. Sorry, not sure how to use the 'spoiler' functionality, right now what I've marked as spoiler is just invisible. Hope people are able to open it, meanwhile I'll check the FAQ of the forum.
Edit. Figured it out!

 

[HareBrain]

I'm not super familiar with LOL lore but I think the tease was the three-eyed crow / raven. Seems Swain has one.

OK, thanks.

Re your first spoiler, I really hope not.

 

[Brian G Turner]

S2, which turned out to be very different from S1 -- less human relatable stuff and more abstract magical-philosophical

Yes ... I'm still not sure what I make of Season 2. The family loved it, but I felt very detached from it. Partly because it went so abstract, but also I felt like there were major plot gaps/coveniences that made little sense - for example

Spoiler

the dark professor is a character we've seen throughout, but never at any point had it been shown he was working on the body of V. Also, why did he attract the creature to him when he was being taken to the imprison, if he wasn't going to do anything with it? And while saving his daughter seemed a great motivation, she seemed completely forgotten the moment the professor really did conquer death. On saying all that, it was absolutely great to see the old characters from S1 as young characters, and meeting the girls' mother.

However, absolutely loved E7 with the alternative timelines - some wonderful human touches in there.

 

[Brian G Turner]

airship at the end of E9

My eldest says she read that there's a comment about S1 saying Jinx always wanting to ride an airship.

 

[HareBrain]

also I felt like there were major plot gaps/coveniences that made little sense - for example

I agree. Your example is a good one but also there were quite a few instances of characters getting to places (like the prison) when it made no sense for them to be able to use the route or transport they did. I can't recall any such case in S1: everything seemed very explicable. I think maybe S2 could have done with at least one extra episode (or slightly longer episodes).