Alex (or Aldrius) writes...

Arc 2 of YJ ramble:

So I think Artemis's arc is the (very general) consensus for "favourite arc" and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that it's a fairly grounded arc which focuses largely on the The Team (tm) as it exists now, and focuses on a Light scheme, which is very sort of classic and familiar for this show.

One thing I want to mention structurally is how this episode has A, B, C and D plots. But unlike a traditional TV structure where we sort of dip into these plots inbetween one another, all four of these plots are happening at the same time in the same scenes. Let's say the four plots are Artemis/Onyx/Cassanda (Savage, henceforth known as Savage), the Artemis/Cheshire story, then Barbara/Cassandra (Cain, henceforth known as Cain), then Lady Shiva/Cain. All of which are all kind of taking place in the same spaces with the same narrative line. I think this structure is cool, I think it's kinda new, and I really like seeing new things and not just the same structure every time. But I think it was also a bit messy unfortunately. There's a lot of emotional payoffs in this arc, and they work *well*, they were good for sure but I wanted to be blown away by them.

I think it's cool and unique, but I also found it a bit overwhelming because it made it harder to kind of parse things (which for me was a recurring problem this season). It's harder to kind of get at the core or the heart of the story when there's four stories going on at once. Effectively it *feels* like the Cheshire/Artemis stuff should kind of be the core of things, but there's so much going on at once it's kind of hard to be as impacted emotionally. It was interesting to see the tone and presentation of the season 1 scenes contrasted with the season 4 stuff. I'm not sure the additional scenes added much necessarily, but there was some cool stuff to see. It added detail (and stuff like Jade giving Artemis a small piece of their Vietnamese heritage was nice) but I'm not sure if it added meaning? Does that distinction make sense?

I do kinda feel like this story could have been a 3 episode arc maybe, or at least a little tighter, a little more focused. There's a big dramatic battle between Shiva and Cain at the end of episode 3, but that's not really even the stories' climax, and I feel like I've never really had a chance to get to know either of these characters, so while the fight itself was awesome, and I like a lot of the concepts here I wish it had come together in a bigger way. I mentioned this in my arc 1 ramble; where I feel like delineating these stories and making them into more separate full stories somehow might have worked better. We wouldn't be dealing with Onyx, Cheshire, Artemis, Cain and Barbara all in one scene together, and this Cain-Shiva story could have had a bit more breathing room.

That's just my opinion, though. To be clear. I recognize that for sure.

Cheshire in particular, I felt like her characterization wasn't quite as strong here as it has been in past seasons. She's obviously a very damaged person, but she usually doesn't let that show in quite the same way she did here. The scenes are a bit wordier, there's more explanations for things. Which is all very necessary when these storylines are happening in the way they are. I don't wanna sound like I'm just ragging on stuff either, so I will say, I still love Kelly Hu, I love her design, and I loved the way she interacted with the other league assassins (her former team) if anything I wish there was more of that and that was a bigger part of the story. I think that was the main thing I missed with Cheshire here, was the sassiness, she was a little too melancholic for my taste. Still enjoyed the character a lot, though.

One thing I think I maybe missed was why did Barbara take such an interest in Cain/Orphan? Considering the wound she took for the sake of Cain's... soul, basically. It just seemed like a bold move for a girl she doesn't seem to know. I'm smart enough to understand that it's entirely possible Barbara and the league and whoever had a file on Cain, and Barbara felt sorry for her, or felt that she could be something else and that doesn't need to necessarily be spelled out, but it sort of felt like there was something missing there maybe.

I LOVE the new take on the Oracle story, though. Which I've never particularly liked (always seemed too sensational), and I like that Barbara lost her legs doing something heroic in the line of duty, rather than just being another Joker victim. And I really loved the connection between Oracle and Orphan.

Also speaking of the Joker, I thought this characterization was a lot stronger than the one from season 1. The Joker was funnier, but he also seemed more deranged. Bigger energy, which I think is always a better direction to take the Joker in. At the end of the day he is a clown. Leave 'em laughing.

As always the logistical aspects of the plot are *immaculate* and I think the skill with which Greg writes these caper plots is so underappreciated. The detail of Onyx creating confusion which made Savage less suspicious was something I picked up on immediately. (Basically the question goes from being "IS Cassandra Savage a spy?" to "Is Cassandra Savage OR Onyx *the* spy?") And so I felt very smart when Shiva mentioned it later in the arc. The glamour charm aspect was also very cool. I didn't REALLY believe that Cassandra Savage was punished by her father; Vandal is just too practical to make someone less capable. Too wasteful.

Also Artemis's characterization here is cool. I love that she's just got... a boyfriend. A nice guy she met. No star crossed romance, no repressed passion coming out as bickering. He's just a nice guy, and she's not sure she wants her sister to meet him yet. I love the normalcy of it. It's also just nice to see her moving on from Wally.

The whole conclusion on Infinity Island was interesting. Onyx felt a bit out of place just because again there was so much going on, but the themes of tradition, doing better, generational trauma stuff, that was all great.

I've never been too clear on this version of Ra's Al Ghul. Traditionally Ra's is either an environmental extremist, an anti-crime extremist or an anarchist extremist, or all of the above. But none of those seem to really fit this version of Ra's, who worked with the Light, and cooperated with an oppressive dictator and a technocratic businessman (both of whom seem like they SHOULD be ideological opposites to Ra's, but that's hardly a given I suppose, especially given that the Light is aware of the intergalactic community at large).

So I just don't know if I really understand what this version at least of Ra's is all about. He's usually a voice of reason in the big Light scenes. I kinda wish I understood more about him, I suppose, but there is just so much to cover so maybe that's unfair.

But all that is to say, is that what worked for me about this arc works *really* well. It's not necessarily *my* favourite of the season, I think it was really strong and fittingly nostalgic.