YMMV / Checkmate, Lincolnites!

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Does Johnny Reb actually believe the things he says? Many of the stances he takes contradict each other^note though the out-of-universe reason is that his dialogue comes from actual things random people have said online and there are a few hints that he enjoys trolling Billy Yank. Alternatively, members of some extremist movements have a history of rapidly shifting their beliefs and arguments between wildly different and contradictory points, with only the targets of their ire and/or devotion as fixed courses (segments of the alt-right are particularly infamous for this), so it could be as simple as him believing whatever he has to believe to return to the predetermined conclusion that the Civil War wasn't about slavery and the Confederacy were either the "good guys" or not the "bad guys." Yet another possibility is that it's somehow connected to his implied mental illness, with Billy Yank pointing out that he can wildly swing between reasonable, good-faith arguments that make sense and rabidly insane brain-vomit Depending on the Writer.
  • Some viewers have suggested the chess set Billy Yank gives Johnny Reb is partly intended as a Stealth Insult against his beliefs. The Confederate side is represented by the white pieces: not only does this underscore the fact that the CSA was fighting for white supremacy, but the fact that white makes the first move can be seen as underscoring the fact that, contrary to Lost Cause historiography, the Confederacy were the aggressors in the war.
  • Why did the Witchfinder-General suddenly appear in "Was it REALLY the WAR of NORTHERN AGGRESSION?!?!?!" Was it really just because he overheard Johnny Reb's statements about people he hated? Or did he somehow have advance knowledge that Klaus the Nazi was going to try possessing him and want to head off his attempt?
  • Are the frequent wild digressions from the talk-show format that Johnny Reb often experiences once per episode just humorous asides to break up the monotony and let Atun-Shei flex his muscles as a filmmaker, part of Klaus's influence, or are they signs that Johnny's got mental health problems? Note that Billy Yank is always either conveniently distracted or not present whenever they occur. This is somewhat downplayed by one episode showing Billy Yank aware of them as the two reminisce on the show so far, but the same episode has Billy note how profoundly weird it is that Johnny's characterization depends on whose comments he's reading.
• Awesome Moments: At the end of "Is Civil War History Being REWRITTEN?!?!?!?!?!", Billy Yank finally has enough of Johnny's historical revisionism and gives him and the whole Lost Cause mythology a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Awesome Music: "The 1861 Overture", the main theme of the series. Even though it's usually heard in small snippets from episode to episode, the full-length song is an entire 16-minute overture which sounds like it could legitimately accompany the opening of an Epic Movie set during the Civil War, with rousing highs incorporating Union and Confederate war songs and somber lows reflecting the unspeakable carnage inflicted by the war.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • In "Was it REALLY the WAR of NORTHERN AGGRESSION?!?!?!", out of nowhere the Witchfinder-General appears in Billy Yank's empty seat to scold and slap Johnny Reb when he indirectly argues in favor of Catholics, Quakers and accused witches persecuted by Puritans (mainly by using a Jefferson Davis quote to imply that Confederates were victims of similar mistreatment). When Johnny Reb tries to defend freedom of religion, the Witchfinder-General responds by claiming that religious segregation is the correct way to live. This causes Johnny Reb to suddenly start channeling more fascist-leaning and overtly bigoted comments, turning into Klaus the Nazi as a form of Demonic Possession, leading to a harrowing exorcism scene that is a Shout-Out to a similar scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. All this goes on while Billy Yank is getting more beer, completely unaware of what is happening in the other room.
  • "Did the CONFEDERACY Have BETTER GENERALS!?!?!" has Johnny Reb's "minor hallucination" of Billy Yank reading out a demand for unconditional surrender in a demonic voice after Billy brings up Ulysses S. Grant.
• Fanon: The revelation that Johnny Reb has a 16-year-old son in "Billy and Johnny at the Movies" has led to quite a bit of speculation that the person who calls him on his cell phone in episode 5 is his wife, and that the "Cornelius" he can be overheard mentioning is his son's name.
• Growing the Beard: The first three episodes clearly haven't quite solidified the show's style yet, and Johnny Reb's erratic behavior makes him a little too much of a Strawman Political (especially in the first episode where he thinks slavery is good), making some of him and Billy's earlier debates tilt uncomfortably toward a "Soyjack vs, Chad" debate with an obvious bias, even if they are still well-researched. "Was it REALLY the WAR of NORTHERN AGGRESSION?!?!?!" is where the series finds the perfect balance between the delivery of cold, hard history, good comedic timing and Johnny and Billy's personalities becoming more fleshed out, without feeling like an Author Tract or a Dear Negative Reader towards the Lost Causers in the comment section^note Which, admittedly, the very first episode essentially was according to Word of God.
• Heartwarming Moments: Despite their many arguments, there are plenty of moments showing that Billy Yank and Johnny Reb are Vitriolic Best Buds.
  • When Johnny is unconscious after having a Nazi spirit exorcised from his body by a Puritan witch hunter Billy genuinely asks if he's okay. When Johnny wakes up (with a trademark crazy Lost Cause rant taken straight from the comments section), Billy greets him with "Good to have you back, buddy."
  • Billy and Johnny exchange gifts for Christmas. Johnny, knowing that Billy just quit smoking, gives him nicotine gum while Billy gives Johnny coffee (so that he could drink that "instead of that chicory crap"). This is a reference to how Union soldiers would often give Confederates coffee in exchange for tobacco. At the end of the episode, after seeing how upset Johnny is at losing another debate, Billy reveals he got him another present: a Civil War-themed chess set. And the episode ends on them exchanging banter as they set up their pieces to play a game together.
  • In "Were There Really Black Confederates?", God appears to Johnny Reb and gives him a list of sources to use in his argument with Billy. Before he leaves, God tells Johnny "You are wise and strong. And I am very proud of you."
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The Checkmate, Lincolnites! upload schedule is dictated by how quickly Atun-Shei can grow a beard.^Explanation A joke concerning how in each episode Atun-Shei sports some impressive facial hair, and slightly different facial hair for each of the two characters he plays in a given episode no less, but makes other videos on his channel with it trimmed back or shaved off completely, making it seem like he has to wait for his beard to grow back to make the next episode. Atun-Shei has confirmed that this isn't really the case, but jokes are still good-naturedly made about it.
  • South really complex!^explanation Part of a grammatically incoherent comment used by Johnny Reb in the second episode. Often used as a stand-in for similarly poorly-worded comments used in the show. Or just repeated because it's funny.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The Stinger in "Wasn’t it KINDA About STATES’ RIGHTS?!" shows Klaus the Nazi visiting his Alternate Self, an aged former SS officer on life support wasting away in Argentina. While Klaus is usually a comedic figure, here he's a genuinely competent and threatening villain.
  • Klaus resurrecting the army of the Confederate dead at the end of "Is Civil War History Being REWRITTEN!?!?!?!?" takes the budget of The Evil Dead (1981) and runs with it, using clever camera work and Glowing Eyelights of Undeath to make a bunch of dressed-up papier-mache skeletons waving around into an amazingly chilling scene that can give goosebumps to any viewer, and that's not even counting when undead Jefferson Davis shows up!
  Jefferson Davis: We rise...AGAIN!
• Tear Jerker: While most "Checkmate, Lincolnites!" episodes end with Billy Yank and Johnny Reb on good terms with each other, there are a few that conclude on a more downbeat note.
  • "Did the Confederacy Have Better Generals?" ends with Johnny so offended by Billy's brutal de-mythologizing of Robert E. Lee he just leaves with a cold "See you in Hell, Billy Yank."
  • "Is Civil War History Being REWRITTEN?!?!?!?!?!" ends with Billy snapping at Johnny and giving him a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech about his victim complex and inability to accept that his beliefs are objectively wrong. What makes it especially sad is how Billy almost seems like he's trying to get someone to kick a horrible, self-destructive habit, complete with a tone of voice that makes it sound like he's on the verge of crying. It's telling that this is the penultimate episode, making it seem like the duo are entering their Darkest Hour.
• Unexpected Character: In "Was It REALLY the WAR of NORTHERN AGGRESSION?!?!?!", both Klaus the Nazi and the Witchfinder-General show up to do battle with each other, when Klaus is normally relegated to standalone videos on the Atun-Shei Films channel (although he would later become the main villain for Frozen '50s Man), and the Witchfinder-General had never had a crossover with anyone. Although gradually in the latter half of the series, it would become apparent that Klaus is also the overarching villain of Checkmate, Lincolnites! as well.

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