by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Back when Season One of Arcane came out, I didn’t know what to expect. I was not a League of Legends gamer; all I knew was that it looked cool. I was not expecting it to be one of the best seasons of television in the last handful of years.
After quite a wait from a fervent fanbase, the show is back for its second and final season, but can it hold a candle to Season One?
Season One leaves us on quite a cliffhanger. Literally. As the council votes for peace, Jinx (Ella Purnell) shatters that peace with a graffitied rocket, and we pick up the pieces from that monumental moment right from there — with the repercussions playing out over the course of the season.
Every three-episode arc in Season Two goes through this cycle. Stage one: setting up where are characters are, but leaves me asking, “Where is this going?” Stage two: okay, this is pretty cool. Stage three: emotional devastation. It took me until the final three-episode arc to realize this, but it had me saying, “No! I’m not ready!” before Episode Seven reached its conclusion.
At its heart, the show is at its best when it’s about Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx. The sisters’ bond was the emotional heart of the show in Season One, and it largely remains so this season — in unexpected way. The way we left Season One, I was expecting the two to largely be separated going forward, except to throw down. Not only is that not the case, but the show somehow believably gives us more absolutely devastating moments for the two to bounce off each other. Having gravitated more toward Vi in Season One, Purnell, fresh off of Fallout, is the true standout of the two in this season. She gets a lot of the more emotional moments and they work to perfection.
When it came to the rest of our players, I was surprised at how much I was invested in the end after wondering how everything was going to tie together. Jayce (Kevin Alejandro) and Viktor’s (Harry Lloyd) relationship takes a lot of twists and turns, which in lesser hands, could strain credulity, but the key role that relationship plays in the finale totally works. Likewise, Mel (Toks Olagundoye) and Caitlyn’s (Katie Leung) storylines come around by the end.
Additionally, Arcane remains one of the most creatively animated and beautiful looking shows ever made. It’s not only that the animation looks incredible and you could pause any single moment to make into a poster, either. It’s that, while the show does have a base style (utilizing a great mix of 2D and 3D animation), it’s not afraid to change things up as warranted (like the bridge fight in Season One). Speaking of fights, those are the moments where the animation goes to an even higher level. They are often also the emotional lynchpins of the season, and the animators are up to the challenge to make those moments stand out. This is where the music shines, too. Though great throughout, it also steps to the next level to hammer home what the narrative is trying to get across during these climactic scenes.
Making things looks this good, I don’t mean to shock you, takes a lot of time and money, but the season not only proves the wait was worth it, but shows what you can actually do productively with a reportedly $250 million budget (the price tag for the 18 episodes of the show, the most expensive animated television series of all time). For reference, here are some films that cost that same amount (per the-numbers.com), and tell me if this seems as lofty then: The Hobbit sequels; Thor: Love and Thunder; The Fate of the Furious; The Little Mermaid (2023).
If you need more, here are movies with a price tag above that of the series. Justice League; The Marvels; John Carter; The Lion King remake; Fast X; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
For me, there’s no doubt the series proves its worth in time and money.
The only occasional problem I had with this season is the pacing. The setup in the first act takes a minute to reset after the events of the first season, and the pace throughout feels a little clunky at times. There are moments where it feels like time is passing too quickly, and the sense of its passage can be a little vague. With the characters we got to know over the course of Season One, it gives the show a lot of stories to balance. So even though Jinx and Vi are by far the best part of the show, we sometimes leave them for a while, before, as I mentioned previously, the show eventually pays off the other storylines. Adding to the intrigue, the show is constantly playing with who’s a hero and who’s a villain, based on changing perspectives. While it happens throughout the season constantly, the most powerful moment was a slight detour taken in episode seven.
The dance that the show does in this regard feels like it shouldn’t work. Logically, my brain is telling me the pacing should be a negative that it can’t overcome, it should feel like a mess, and coming away loving this season is just nothing more than rose-colored glasses. It’s certainly a more complex sentiment to unwind than when I was sitting here after last season. In all honesty, sitting here the morning after trying to decipher if it makes any sense at all to anybody who hasn’t had the experience I’ve had, feels like a fool’s errand. The best I can rationalize is that within each arc, by the time I’ve reached the end, any qualms I had when it started have washed away as nothing more than minor nitpicks. When each of the mini-arcs reach their conclusion, I can see how the groundwork laid got us to this point and I’m willing to forgive those earlier questions.
If I had to guess, much like the first season, I imagine Season Two will continue to rise in my estimation as time goes on. Meaning this deserves to stand tall as the best video game adaptation ever and one of the best animated television shows of all time for the magical moments it gave us.
Rating: Loved It
Arcane is currently streaming on Netflix
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd