Netflix's Voltron: Legendary Defender

Excuse the double post, just finished the season. Massive spoiler-filled impressions and rambling ahead.

"Zyforge Cannon" or however you spell it...much better. Lotor's arc feels really rushed and I'm annoyed that, at the same time, we still didn't get another combining robot. The dog from the last two episodes is my new favorite character. Keith's mostly on a bus now. Pidge got a lot more focus. Lance did something useful and didn't ruin the moment. Remember kids, brain worms are great, but use them responsibly! The show still feels like it's about space ninjas instead of giant robots. Still think Allura should've at least gotten Red Lion.

Bit short season with six episodes and all huh .-.

edited 13th Oct '17 9:35:22 AM by SpookyMask

Between a seeming revulsion for that big metal thing that the writers seem forced to put in their space ninja adventure, plot threads being abandoned, wasted foreshadowing, a general rushed feeling, I’m starting to accept that this show isn’t very good. It has the ingredients to be good, Lance’s interactions should be charming, Pidge should be fun, but the whole thing is just an unsatisfactory mess right now. My admittedly fanon influenced dislike of the characters has turned into confusion and annoyance with the plot itself.

edited 13th Oct '17 6:40:39 AM by Beatman1

Okay, so I'm on the third episode and I'm gonna be honest. So far, this is the most compelling the show has EVER been throughout its run.

On its own this season was only so-so, reminded me a lot of Season 2 in ways due to the relatively light plot advancement, more generic missions, kid appeal, and emphasis on comedy, but I actually didn't hate it this time around. It felt more... balanced? The jokes were actually really funny and they were able to achieve a good balance of screentime and character moments here and there. It felt like a good breather after the intensity of all the exposition in Season 3.

I do agree with Beatman in wishing they followed up more on some of the plot threads left hanging from 3, but unlike him I think it's clear from some of the scenes that they haven't forgotten and the payoff is going to come at a later time. Nevertheless I wish this show would do a better job of maintaining those threads in the background when switching back to the more episodic format and give us an indication of where and when some of those will be followed up, they can do that without spoiling the actual outcome, seriously.

When putting S3 and S4 together as a single I'd say it's probably my favorite 13-episode run so far in terms of emotional moments, comedy, and plot. Individually, it's something like S3>S1>S4>S2, but when grouped together it's S3+S4>S1>S2. Although I still do have a lot of issues with the pacing. the scene in episode 2 where Pidge believed that Matt was dead was incredible even with all the knowledge that he was going to appear alive; I only wish there was a little time for her to linger in that low before immediately jumping to her realization that he's still alive, but I suspect this is another one of those Dreamworks execs forcing them to rush certain things along so they can focus back on the coalition that was advertised in the promotions. Matt is pretty fun in general so far. He's like Lance, but funnier and less annoying, and besides it seems like Lance is moving out of that towards being an actually likeable guy in his own right who supports Allura in her time of need. Overall this season reminded me of why Pidge is my fave, but Lance has been firmly removing himself from the scrappy heap he started off in.

Shiro immediately returning to Black Paladin was something that truly shocked me, especially since interviews indicated his role this season was going to be focused on being a background mentor figure which would've been really interesting. I'm pretty mixed about that, although I get that the writers actually, without question, had their hands tied in this. I just hope the implications about Shiro's own insecurities and his either brainwashing or clone state do get followed up on later, but it's not like he stole any screentime from the other characters so far. Didn't care for him as much this season as the previous ones, but his presence wasn't unwelcome. Hopefully Keith is willing to challenge Shiro more openly in the future, because they care about each other and Keith knows that as his friend it's OK to do that.

I think what they did with Keith this season and focusing on him being a part of the Blade of Marmora was actually a good choice. It allows them to flesh his character out, give them an excuse to do more scenes with the BOM (especially since they said they were having a hard time getting Dreamworks to OK more scenes with them due to the lack of direct connections to the paladins) and develop him for the inevitable point when he becomes leader but in a way that avoids making him a Spotlight-Stealing Squad either. I actually felt for him at various points here, although the Heroic Sacrifice attempt felt a little hollow it did provide some depth into his psyche and would probably not be a scene they could do if he was with the team the whole time.

In further Season 2 parallels it felt like The Voltron Show! was this season's equivalent of Space Mall. Maybe not as good as that one, which was the show's best in terms of combining plot progression with character development and comedy, but all the humor and meta jokes genuinely made me smile after I initially thought I was going to hate it for being a damn filler episode right in the middle of a plot arc two episodes before the conclusion. I wish there was a nonspecific joke making fun of rabid shippers but otherwise it did a pretty good job knocking on various fandom trends with a wink and a nudge.

edited 13th Oct '17 2:05:01 PM by AlleyOop

I actually took The Voltron Show as a jab towards Dreamworks.

As for this season...this is the best goddamn season of the entire show so far. I loved nearly every minute of it and it more than makes up for Season 3's patchy quality. Hell, when taken as part of Season 3, it really is altogether the best set of episodes so far.

It's probably a mix of both Executive Meddling (some of the Shiro things, the Hunk parts) and certain tendencies of the fandom (some of the other Shiro things, Lance, Allura, "Keith").

That tight shirt gag was so on point, even more so because they didn't show him wearing it. Guess they already knew the fandom would more than compensate for that.

The Voltron Show seemed like a pretty direct Take That! at Dreamworks for forcing their hand on Shiro, what with Corran's comments about Shiro being the most popular character and at his most unhinged, threatning to replace everyone but Shiro.

Also, Pidge's episode was indeed the best. Isn't that like, also the first time anyone's been Killed Off for Real, on screen, and not just generically blown up with a spaceship? The memorial site, even without Pidge's personal emotional breakdown, was a really great shot in general and probably one of the more grim sights I've seen in a Western kids' show. Sometimes, I honestly wish this could've been an original space opera mecha series with her in the lead role.

As for Keith, I have mixed feelings. Season 2 and the first half of season 3 tried sooo hard to make him the de facto protagonist that all that time feels a bit wasted now. On the other hand, at least his screentime was a lot more sympathetic and he got to basically be the voice of reason for once.

Finally Even with Lauren calling Captain Pupper (did I hear Keith say their name at one point? I could swear I heard him address them directly over the comm with a name instead of just "Captain") their new favorite side character on Twitter, I was actually worried about their survival during the season finale since they were now killing Mauve Shirts. I was relieved whenever it turned out Matt was still there since I was sure he at least had Plot Armor strong enough to protect anyone in the vicinity.

I don’t see it.

It didn’t feel like stuff was put on the back burner so much as out and out abandoned. Stuff they built to was ignored, items happened in the background that should have happened in the foreground (which this show has been guilty of in the past, particularly everyone reacting to Keith being Galra), and we spent a really short season with an episode that wants to be the Ember Island Players, except it forgets that episode was genuinely used to explore Aang’s angst over how Katata felt about him in the context of the play while this episode was more akin to “Rogue Trip” in Voltron Force where the cadets deal with an obsessive fan. Not to mention they pulled the “fake death” thing AGAIN with Matt, so at this point, I have to accept everyone has really thick plot armor. That definitely felt like executive meddling.

edited 13th Oct '17 3:17:24 PM by Beatman1

Her name is Olia, and she's a reference to Sherlock Hound.

This season was basically a better version of Season 2 and Adric is one of the people who really enjoyed that one. it's not that surprising.

edited 13th Oct '17 3:34:48 PM by AlleyOop

We will have to agree to disagree. Although I personally thought the action in Season 2 was a lot better.

How is any of this on the backburner? It looks obvious to me that Season 5 is gonna be about bringing Lotor's plans into fruition. I get you don't like the show but it's getting outright ludicrous to point out any supposed "flaws" and act like they definitely aren't gonna do anything with lingering plot threads.

Why are you a ting like someone who didn’t like the direction is making things up? Two seasons of building up Keith as a leader? Gone. Shiro can’t use the Black Lion? Drop it, he can. That is bad storytelling.

I'm not saying you're making anything up, though?

You seriously believe Keith as leader is something that's going to be dropped forever and ever just because they moved out of it for a bit this season? Shiro being back in Black is a little weird, but the end of episode The Journey gives it precedent. It's obvious Keith will eventually step up as leader in the long term, sure it's being pushed aside right now not now as he's got other things to do which are honestly more interesting than most of what he was up to in Seasons 2 and 3, but it's not like they're not going to revisit it eventually, probably as they get close to the point where they originally intended for Shiro to come back.

I hope Captain Olia gets to keep that battlecruiser they captured. She's way too Badass Adorable not to have a Cool Ship.

Well, I did like S4 more than S3, but I think the main problem with it was the pacing here and there, same as last season. Lotor being betrayed, Shiro reconnecting with the Black Lion and Keith choosing Marmora over Voltron all happened way too fast, so there was no real weight behind it. However, I did enjoy Pidge's focus and some of the bonding that happened in the less serious episodes.

I have to admit, though, I didn't like "The Voltron Show" at all. It's Cringe Comedy, a genre I really can't stand, and I think a show has to be very careful when acknowledging the opinions outside of the fourth wall (whether they are fandom or executive matters little) or it can easily turn into a strawman they have to build in order to tear it down.

Otherwise, I liked the season, I think I'd put it as my second most liked one, right before Season 2.

edited 13th Oct '17 9:36:07 PM by DemonDamian

Any other USA people unable to watch?

The Voltron Show is a really weird episode all around since apparently, Brain Parasites work. Coran's shows really do stir up support and morale, the only downside is that he gets increasingly single-minded and twitchy to the point of endangering people, but up until then, it's working. So uh, I'm not sure what to take away from that if they were trying to say something? Use drugs responsibly? Executive Meddling can be a good thing?

Geez, the things shippers notice.

I really want a backstory on that, by the way. How come they are so close? Taking Keth's personality and issues into consideration their backstory should at least be really good to justify their closeness. However, I'm prepared for them to never reveal it anyways so...

Blech, Sheith. Hate that ship so much.

x2 Nice catch. Wonder how many caught Keith at Shiros pecs.

edited 13th Oct '17 10:14:48 PM by OmegaRadiance

Well, there's supposed to be a book about Shiro's backstory in the works. Maybe they'll go into that in more detail, since they did say there were problems with Dreamworks not letting them explore characters' backstories.

So this season was pretty good then right?

Haven't watched it yet cause I'm pretty lazy.

I fucking loved it.