I assume it was that Varian/Cass deal all over again? God these underage fangirls...
Determinator:
I was attempting to respond regarding what a Shocking Swerve is (specifically, that it's YMMV and by definition subjective) and I hit the wrong button.
First, of all, I do not appreciate being called honey. How was there no buildup? Varian literally says he will do anything to get his dad out of the rock thingy and when he gets mad at Rapunzel for not helping him, the next three episodes he appears in, he's escalating from thievery to kidnapping. That's buildup. As for Cassandra, she has a falling out with Rapunzel over trust, shows signs of jealousy that she can't be a hero since season one, then that whole suspicious room she enters when she's separated from the main group, the bitter look on her face when she exits the room, Eugene getting that cryptic note about a traitor and the zooming in on her face, not to mention him and Rapunsel having a conversation about what if Cassandra is a traitor. They might as well have stamped traitor on her forehead.
Edited by LadyErinNY Hide / Show Replies
Honestly, what happened to Cassandra is very similar to what happened to Gwen and Courtney's friendship from Total Drama All-Stars: The latter's character was being built up one way, only for it to be all of a sudden flushed down the toilet for an out of nowhere change in order to try and justify the horrendous story decision (for Courtney, it was to justify her elimination and here it was to justify Cassandra's turn). Additionally, her line at the end of "Rapunzel: Day One" about how she admits she's still mad at Rapunzel but will get over it seems to further fuel my belief that her turn was a last minute decision, but they made sure it began early enough to try and not make it feel like a Shocking Swerve even though it still is.
As far as I'm concerned, the Cassandra we saw in the finale was an imposter and that the real one never came out of that mystery room in "Rapunzeltopia".
All in all, the twist accomplished nothing that would benefit the show since most of the past episodes as far as I'm concerned are now worthless (the only one I plan to rewatch before next season is the one that brings back Angry & Red, at the very least simply because every other episode is rendered invalid just by having Cassandra in them) and it helped me understand why so many people have a problem with the series' Cerebus Syndrome.
On the very minor opinion, while I saw it coming from miles away I genuinely thought it work.. in that it makes you wonder why Cass betrayed Raps of all people.
I don't believe for a minute that she's an imposter or a mirror doppelganger, or brainwashed as most as assuming but the real deal.. but she definitely saw something in the door which led her to do the betrayal. That raises the real question of who she is..
Gothel's daughter? Too obvious and would require an entire episode to explain Cass's origin, since one was already established already. As others have point out in "Challenge of the brave", Cassandra had already a small grudge against Raps and it was probably building for most of the series, hence her betrayal was probably planted right from the very start.
Of course that's me wondering Why the betrayal rather than how it was executed on screen. It the payoff is great than it will overshadow the betrayal overall and most will remember the events after.
Determinator:
Does this really need to be argued out? If Shocking Swerve is a YMMV trope, the very nature of it is that it is based on the viewer's interpretation. Some people will see it and some won't, just like moments of awesome, heartwarming, nightmare fuel, etc.
@Trackforce, they're probably gonna reveal her to be Gothel's daughter simply because it's the most obvious choice like you mentioned.
I mean, I was dumb enough to believe they wouldn't make her the obvious traitor because it'd not only be obvious but I wouldn't have ever expected the people behind a show like this to make a decision as terrible as the one I compared this to.
And yet... They did, which like I said accomplished nothing besides invalidating most of the series and making me understand the (now justified) hate for the show's Cerebus Syndrome.
Hero Gal is right; the point of Shocking Swerve is that it is YMMV. Which means it's subjective to people's opinions. With Varian, yes it was foreshadowed but it fell like a kick in the teeth to all of us fans who liked him. He's a kid, for crying out loud. The writers chose to make him a villain, rather than say an Unwitting Pawn or to keep his Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds personality. And it makes no sense that no one checked up on his father when he begged for help. The whole conflict could have been avoided if Rapunzel had rode to him as soon as the snows were stopped.
I already have.
I'll also say that Cassandra's turn for me was the kick to the teeth that Jayalaw felt with what happened to Varian. And the results here I find more damaging since like I said the whole series has pretty much been invalidated now!
As much as I hate to give credit to Total Drama All-Stars when they pissed their entire season down the toilet, at least it was only about three months of my life rendered pointless, and not roughly TWO YEARS worth!
If it's any consolation, I've been feeling that exasperation with other media a lot lately.
@ HeroGal, I take it you weren't a fan of the twist either?
Honestly, at this rate I would've preferred for the show to have only been a single season. Yeah, it would've ended in a Sequel Hook that'd never be resolved, but I would've taken that over a cliffhanger that pretty much makes the whole series moot.
And like everyone else, I knew something would eventually happen to Cassandra since she's not in Tangled Ever After, but never once did I consider her randomly betraying everyone as a viable option for her absence!
Why couldn't they have just sent her to a convent? Or, I don't know, if she literally couldn't make it to the wedding due to being away on assignment. I don't even like Cassandra that much but I've come to respect her and this was not okay. Please be a clone or brainwashed theory.
@Jayalaw, the latter thing you mentioned was always my headcanon for why she was absent.
But for now, I'm still choosing to believe that the real Cassandra was last seen going inside the room in "Rapunzeltopia", and whoever that was who came out is an imposter. That's pretty much the only way the show can bounce back from this, otherwise it'd be a lost cause forcing me to stick with just the movie and Tangled Ever After.
It sucks too because I was actually enjoying the show up until now (in spite of it's spotty handling of Cerebus Syndrome, which I now say is justified in terms of it's detractors), and it helped make Rapunzel my new second favorite princess after Jasmine.
Guys, this isn't about opinion. This is about whether or not the trope is right. People can think a moment is narm but unless the moment is a SERIOUS moment that is UNINTENTIONALLY cheesy and/or funny, it's not narm. EDIT: Shocking Swerve is about twist endings, right? So when there are moments in previous episodes about the Face–Heel Turn, how would it still be a Shocking Swerve?
Edited by LadyErinNY
I think most are piss off because "It's not how I imagine it to be" rather than waiting for the entire story to be told. What the hell is up with this "Invalidates the whole show"? There is the whole thing of rewatch bonus for some. This whole thing hints of "He needed to be a cackling obvious villain for me to believe the twist!" And then will immediately complain of a "he was too obvious of a villain so the twist didn't work for me!". The page might need to be put on lockdown much like the Frozen YMV page until the fans cool off.
Edited by Trackforce Determinator:
Unfortunately, there are times where waiting for the whole story to unfold pretty much justifies the alleged "pre-mature" whining over yet another case of the show's poor handling of Cerebus Syndrome before seeing the rest of the story unfold. And this might very well end up being one of them because as it stands I can't see any good coming from this and I feel like I wasted two years.
The show might as well take as long of time that I wasted on it before returning because I'm in no mood to see it escape from hiatus hell anytime soon.
Well that's on you Total Drama fan, if your got nothing else in your life but this well that sucks. Everyone else already knew about the year long hiatuses and we more invested than you yet don't have any of these complaints you have so maybe your just not the audience for this or old enough to have the patience for it. As for me I set up very low expectations since I was burn out with the black rocks Arc.
As far as I'm concerned you "invalidated" yourself with favoring TDI, a series (and your obvious inspire account name) that has become a zombie franchise and just get's getting worse, and citing it as a better example. If this is it for you then go,
Bye and don't let the door slam your ass on your way out.
Determinator:
Deleted.
Edited by HeroGal2347 Hide / Show Replies