React & Review - Arcane Season 2

[@RaidenGG]

Bro gonna make me watch the whole show again 😅

[@ChristopherBalladarez]

Good stuff bro i love your deep dive vid style 🫡

[@BjornRuppin]

Appreciate that! Glad you dig it.

[@itsjacobdunn]

Out here making me wanna watch the show now 🔥🔥

[@BjornRuppin]

oh bro u gotta... its a must watch

[@ChristopherBalladarez]

Damn I’ve never even watched this but you’re making me want to start!!

[@BjornRuppin]

I can't recommend it enough!

[@BBrainsTube]

Here are my 2 cents: What was the overwhelming reaction to Season 1? There were probably thousands reviews, articles, videos named very similarly: "Arcane finally broke the videogame curse!" And tons of critics were preaching the same: finally the showrunners realized the reason why (almost) all videogame adaptations failed miserably - because they followed the same formula: Take characters from the game - the show must be only about them. Everything and everyone else in the show are just plot devices for the main cast to get their "things", nothing more. Everyone from this main cast has his "thing" - be it a weapon, a spell, an ability that their gameplay is based around. So character arc for each of those main cast has to be about how they get their "thing" - and then use it in Epic Final Battle. The plot is also known beforehand: The Good Guys argue and even fight each other, but in the finale they unite against The Bad Guys in order to save the world from destruction or enslavement. While using their "things" in the most epic manner, of course. Now, Arcane was VERY different. People who knew nothing about LoL couldn't guess which characters were from the game and which were made for the show. The plot and human relations were put front and center. Sure, there were cool fight scenes with flashy weapons, but they were supplemental to the story and character development. The show focused on deep and controversial themes that were barely even mentioned in the game lore. All critics sang in unison: THIS is the perfect way to adapt a videogame. Obviously, it won the Best Videogame Adaptation. Admittedly, Arcane wasn't the first one to do it (e.g. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners), but that's not the point. Funny that a lot of critics assumed that the reason for this breakthrough was a lot of money. Huge budget was what allowed the writers enough time and freedom to break The Curse. Ha-ha. Now, enormous success of season 1 finally made Riot actually invested in the show (not only financially). So, the executives made sure that season 2 is even better. Therefore, they fired most of the writing team, probably scrapped whatever the draft script was at that time (at least the final part of it) and made sure it was absolutely perfect, with all the necessary elements of a "proper videogame adaptation" in place. And here we are. "The proper videogame adaptation" followed to a tea, in the worst way. Just another Marvel ripoff... I mean, "rushed", "missing story beats, necessary scenes, character interactions", "some characters are obvious plot devices", "jarring tonal shifts", "character development feels unearned", "plotlines being just dropped and forgotten", etc. - this is all valid criticism. But I think it's just inevitable consequence of The Curse. The videogame curse that broke Arcane.

[@BjornRuppin]

Right! Totally agree! I didn't realize they had changed the writing team, I just went and looked at it and they did change most of the team which is disappointing. But yeah you can always count on Hollywood to suddenly "care" when something is successful and completely fuck it up. At least Arcane maintained a solid enough grip on the heart of the show to not completely ruin it, that's how I felt at least.