Tangled: the Series

I actually think "Under Raps" handled the resolution of Rapunzel and Cassandra's brief conflict a lot better than "Challenge Of The Brave" did with it's whole episode conflict. They both apologized and came to a mutual understanding and conclusion that neither of them are entirely right or entirely wrong in how they choose to do things and both of them could use improvement. That said, Eugene did make a good point in how it's a mystery as to why Rapunzel chooses to be friends with Cassandra - they're so incompatible together. (I did like seeing Cass putting more trust Eugene during the action sequence at the end - those are small but important steps for their relationship.)

Well, maybe. Now let's see how long that lasts. The problem is, in this show the characters either don't learn their lesson or they do only to forget it by the next one. I'm honestly not sure if this is intentional or the result of lazy writing.

I think it might be the result of the show, at this point in it's first season, being pretty disorganized in terms of focus and pacing of events. Cassandra, for instance, I don't think she'd be near as hated by some viewers who do hate her right now if she'd actually apologized and learned her own lesson in "Challenge Of The Brave" and if "Cassandra V. Eugene" had been the episode following "The Return Of Strongbow" rather than before it, since Cass was at her downright nastiest in regards to Eugene in that one whereas she's actually toned it down in the recent three episodes, so these latest episodes would make more sense coming off of "Cassandra V. Eugene" and it makes the Strongbow incident seem out of place.

Some other criticism I have with the show are the sheer amount of Poor Communication Kills that seems built into it's very premise (seriously, why does Rapunzel nor Eugene ever say anything about Rapunzel's social awkwardness and constant error makings being thanks to her having spent her whole life isolated from the world until recently, or about how Eugene literally gave his life to set Rapunzel free which discredits anything the Captain of the Guard and Cassandra say about him being a greedy and selfish freeloader who's still just a thief at heart), how little focus Rapunzel herself has gotten after the premiere movie and the first two episodes, and the lack of any engaging villains past Lady Caine and her henchmen. Andrew from the latest episode was probably the best we got since that, but it's a really low bar.

edited 13th Aug '17 9:53:30 AM by ANewMan

"One Angry Princess" was really good. Finally another Rapunzel-centric episode with Eugene and Cassandra just being supportive and doing nothing offensive (again, Cass and Eugene seem to be getting along better, albeit as Vitriolic Best Buds), and it was nice to see Uncle Monty again. Steve Blum was great as Attila too, though it was kind of distracting that it was basically his Zeb performance without the Aussie accent.

Next Sunday's episode...holy shit. When I read "Pascal's Story", I was not expecting a dark episode, but that's what we appear to be getting. We'll inevitably be seeing Gothel too...

edited 13th Aug '17 6:11:45 PM by ANewMan

Wow, how I'm disagreeing with you on "One Angry Princess". First, the title was totally misleading, I expected Rapunzel to throw a tantrum but that never happened; then I realized it was a reference to "Twelve Angry Men"- eg., a trial story. Except the 12 men of that movie were the jury, while Rapunzel was the defense lawyer here. Not that I expect most young people to get that reference anyway!

As for the story, it was a) completely predictable (of course it was the goat, why else introduce its hatred for bells?) and b) required so many contrived coincidences it made me groan (like the evidence against Attila was that he had a recipe paper stuck on his boot, but in the end it turned out everyone had one too- and nobody noticed??

-*Sigh* Not the worst episode so far (though it did have a cameo by Monty, my absolutely least favorite character in the show) but it could have been written so much better. Monty didn't even make a good Red Herring.

Well now we got an episode where Rapunzel went stark raving angry at one point.

Even better than last week - it was as Rapunzel-centric as it was Pascal-centric, we got to see Lance Strongbow again as a One-Scene Wonder this time, we saw Rapunzel still has lingering fear and PTSD over her old tower, and it finally gave us the best antagonist since Lady Caine and her henchmen. That albino snake with the mismatched eyes, while pretty easily dealt with (twice!) was easily the most menacing and distinct looking antagonist we've had in an episode to date. Also continue to enjoy the improvement I'm seeing in how Eugene and Cassandra (as individual characters and in terms of their relationship) are written. Eugene asking Cassandra "Friend of your's" after the snake fell into the grass just killed me, it was too clever to pass up I guess.

My only big complaint was that Eugene made a brief crack about "not wanting to die twice in the same place" right in front of Cassandra...and that was it. For what we know, this is the first time Cass has heard about Eugene's near death experience born of a Heroic Sacrifice for Rapunzel's sake, but it's used for a throwaway joke moment instead of a big deal that has to be elaborated on. Also, no Gothel in the flashback at the start, but that makes sense seeing as she was often leaving Rapunzel alone in that tower while she was off doing her own things, and Donna Murphy probably wasn't ready to come back onto the show until a later point in the season.

edited 20th Aug '17 6:11:57 PM by ANewMan

Catching up on the series, and I have to say, they might as well opened up with Attila the Pun

"Pascal's Story" is the *first* episode of Tangled: The Series that I can honestly say I enjoyed from beginning to end. Sure it was predictable, but they succeeded it making it moving. Funny how it was the one character in the show who doesn't speak (besides the horse) who has managed to come across with the most depth.

I do have a couple of pet peeves: Pascal running away simply because Rapunzel said that Flynn was her best friend now (even worse, she meant after Pascal. Uhh, I know she means in a non-romantic way, but Romance trumps Friendship and you'd think Pascal (and the audience) would know that. Also, letting Rapunzel go into the tower alone 'because she had to do it herself'. Hey guys, there might be, I don't know, snakes in there now! I'm not saying either of these events should not have happened, just that they needed better explanations.

But again, I overall really liked this episode. I admit my eyes fogged over during the part about Pascal and Rapunzel's childhood, and I cracked up when Cassandra froze at Rapunzel's angry comeback. PLEASE keep at least this level of quality going on!

edited 21st Aug '17 6:14:35 AM by Sijo

Oh, feel I must also add that I'm really getting Cassandra and what her dynamic with Rapunzel is better now. In "Under Raps", Cassandra referred to Rapunzel as her best friend, though Eugene wondered why Rapunzel would ever want to hang around her at all. But then in "Pascal's Story", Rapunzel says she thinks of Pascal as her best friend with Eugene as her best human friend after him. So the "besties" thing is actually entirely one-sided. Rapunzel sees Cassandra the way she would a sister or favorite cousin, but Cassandra likely had literally no friends before being assigned as Rapunzel's lady in waiting, so she's latched onto the princess as her best friend in order to fill a void. I hope they go somewhere with this, at least in the next two seasons.

edited 16th Sep '17 10:54:11 AM by ANewMan

I don't think that's where they were going with that.

It's not too likely, but it's just what I hope could be further explored. It'd do a lot to address the complaints a lot of people have about Rapunzel and Cass having become such close friends off-screen before the series even started, and give them more reason to give any damns about the character.

Just a reminder, Tangled returns 10/1 with "Big Brothers of Corona".

edited 30th Sep '17 4:43:05 PM by alanh

I'm behind again. x_x

Arianna apparently has a sister... And no, it's not Idunn.

I love how they've kept continuity with Cassandra's leg injury by having her sit out three whole episodes now. The "Queen For A Day" preview shows that she's finally healed up by that one.

Aaaawww, Red and Angry were adorable.

Well, Queen For A Day just aired. That was.....something. I mean, there's Darker and Edgier aspects of shows like Elena Of Avalor and The Lion Guard, but I think this just topped them.

At the end there, when he said "They....will...PAY" at the end of that Dark Reprise, my jaw dropped and I gasped very hard. NEVER would have seen THAT coming in a million years!

Glad to see this show stepping up its game. Damn shame it's not that popular, but I still enjoy this show.

I'm gonna go ahead and call it. Varian will be a villain/antagonist for at least a few episodes...Oh and the sorcerer that tried to put Corona in a second Ice Age is attempting a comeback

Hey, neat! I was hoping Varian would have a Start of Darkness. He seemed like a very interesting and sympathetic character to turn villainous, and I love vengeful antagonists who have a point even as they jump over the slippery slope.

My guess is he turns Anti-Villain and maybe throws in with the returning dark wizard in an increasingly mad attempt to learn the secrets of the rocks, but switches sides at the climax of the story upon realizing what he's becoming. His dad is obviously either descended from (or maybe is, if immortality is at play) the alchemist who put the wizard away in the first place, and I wouldn't be surprised if he knew everything about what was going on but kept it to himself because reasons, so there's that too: in his zeal to save his father, he ends up helping his family's archnemesis. And then he ends up playing a vital role in stopping him.

edited 19th Nov '17 11:18:02 PM by KnownUnknown

At least the latter two episodes to air this year, tiled "The Quest For Varian" and "The Alchemist Returns" will feature Varian again, and the commercial for these episodes spoils that he apparently gains an Evil Makeover with a dark cape and shadows under his eyes, if Rapunzel's sketch is to be believed.

You wouldn't happen to know where one might find those promos, do you?

Addendum: NVM, found them on tumblr of all things.

edited 21st Nov '17 9:21:26 AM by KnownUnknown

Someone is saying he's Unsympathetic on the ymmv tangled page. please i don't believe that its valid or true. i know i seem pushy i'm autistic i can't handle this

It's Just How can no one Sympathies with him you know how broken he is at the end. and just there are so many people who love him and want him to be happy and feel for him so how is that valid! here are posts from these people http://pinklikeroses.tumblr.com/post/167703808279/i-recently-watched-the-tangled-special-queen-for-a http://frozenmusings.tumblr.com/post/167711762331/belleevangeline-honestly-varian-yelling-you

https://the-disney-dudebro.tumblr.com/post/167769611566/tangled-recap-queen-for-a-day-im-going-to-be

http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/tagged/varian https://thispreciousthing.tumblr.com/post/167687757336/on-the-one-hand-i-want-my-small-alchemy-son-to-be https://swirlylov-e.tumblr.com/post/167704734730/oh-dont-mind-me-im-just-crying-over-varians

http://majorabbey.tumblr.com/post/167671572540/friendly-reminder-that-varian-is-a-14-year-old-boy

https://sirharrypotter.tumblr.com/post/167663453129/just-watched-queen-for-a-day-from-tangled-the

http://tangledbea.tumblr.com/post/167669997564/okay-but-can-we-talk-about-the-way-varians-voice

https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/lifestooshorttobecool/167746681229

http://a-fangirl-at-heart.tumblr.com/tagged/varian https://smolalchemist.tumblr.com/

And their are so many more on tumblr even on youtube their are comments of how they feel for him. sorry for this to be so long i'm new to this.

edited 23rd Nov '17 2:25:53 PM by anyatt

Having looked over the example, it being an enormous rambling paragraph aside (I'm guilty of that all the time), it's a decently reasoned and civilly added response to the series that I actually have seen here or there in the fandom and in reactions, so it stays.

Remember that the YMMV trope Unintentionally Sympathetic isn't there to outright classify the character as unsympathetic, it's to note an existing reaction in the fandom.

edited 23rd Nov '17 4:48:49 PM by KnownUnknown