WB Rants: NOA episodes.
Werebelushi:
Hello everyone, i'm that werebelushi in the shades and welcome to my very first/rant review of 2018...whew! Today's rant is about another new Night Of Alterations episode, this time it is a double feature episode...oh boy, two episodes in one. As you recall I have ranted about two episodes of the current season thus far and well..one of them was terrible and the other was okay but had good special effects, this time... well, we'll just have to find out for ourselves.
So follow me down the path of the unknown as we talk about the episodes 'Test Subject' and 'Living In Art', the episode 'Test Subject' begins with our characters waiting in line for a cruise of some kind, so far we got a good start - the characters are quite likable and I like our protagonist, he seems like the kind of character that I could get along with, once the characters get on the cruise, they get assigned with some kind of research project, and I like this angle since we get to see two teams of people battle over who gets to do the project first, and the scenes of them doing the task are fascinating, and it's well executed but halfway through the second half of this episode are things really get insane.
Turns out the person that assigned them with this task is none other than...Donald Trump and Trump has a cameo in this, not just a cameo it's a very important one, he's sort of the main antagonist. Not only that, but the main protagonist's step-sister is working for him, wasn't expecting that one, I like how it is explained that she had been following our hero for quite a long while. The best scene of the episode is a dissection scene where we get to see our main character being used as a test subject by his step-sister and her two friends, and we get a hilarious brainwashing scene that also features Kermit the frog on a dissection table.
The brainwashing scene is both creepy and comical, especially because of Kermit on the dissection table and also the various insane transformations happening, like we see someone become some kind of half mechanical being that is a nod to Thirty-Thirty from Bravestarr, a scene with some kind of insect-monster transformation that is a nod to the The Fly, and there are quite a few werecreature transformations. And wow...quite a few Easter Eggs, like for example look in the background during the lab scene and you'll see Lawrence Limburger from the hit animated series Biker Mice From Mars.
The jokes in this particular scene are hilarious, especially when he points out how he can't be corrupted/brainwashed but yet there's someone with a big plate of turkey just wanting him to eat some of it in hopes of making him sleepy, which is of course a nod to the turkey makes you sleepy urban myth and there is a transformation scene in here worth mentioning, it's the scene where he transforms into Trump and the scene is done brilliantly with practical fx. A lot of this particular episode is well done but my problems with it are related to the mutations or rather the victims of them...like for example what is the story behind the guy who was transformed into a human/vehicle hybrid? We do get some bit of a story but not much, we find out he was a soldier who got experimented on and that they combined human and mechanical parts together.
Oh and the gore is a bit overdone...in particular during the lab scenes where we see people being sliced and diced, and some of it is clearly just there for shock value. But it's still a pretty good episode, sadly the same cannot be said for the second episode 'Living In Art', which is of course another school themed episode.
I never get why they have a school themed episode in each season, don't get me wrong...I do like this aspect a lot, it's just most of them have mixed results. The one with the cursed school is a good example of an episode that got good reviews but then you get ones like the ones involving the old classmates such as 'Ghosts Of Classmates Past' that tend to have a well done premise but are executed weakly.
Like for example this one, the premise of the students taking part in art contest is a solid one and the way it is done is pretty nifty but the major problem is with the writing and continuity. Especially considering this...Mrs Davis aka the original creature teacher has been defeated numerous times already in these episodes, how is she able to come back to life? In the last school episode she was in, she got defeated after Mrs Dimwoody broke free of her influence and her evil side was trapped in a globe.
At this point can we assume that Mrs Davis technically is nearly immortal? I don't know really, that's not to say I dislike her as a villain, she's a great recurring villainess and the fact Anjelica Huston plays her is a plus - she's one of the best villains of the show next to the Monstrous Step-Sister who was played by Kathy Bates. Mrs Davis's continuity just seems to confuse me considering there isn't any specific order to the school episodes, and also speaking of continuity...the character of Keith. How many times has Keith appeared in these episodes? About more than 8 times.
It's good that Jason is no longer with him, it's just that I don't think Keith has had much development as a villain apart from being a rival and that's about it, but luckily this episode does have a bit of foreshadowing. And i've noticed that people are noticing that Keith is gradually becoming more and more Trump-like as he progresses throughout each episode, it won't be long until they have an episode where he mutates into him.
There's nothing truly exciting about this episode apart from a few scenes with the paintings becoming alive and developing personalities and the art teacher actually not being affected by Mrs Davis's powers due to being half-monster herself, but that's about it. Nothing memorable happens and the characterization is for the most part weak.
I wish that we could have gotten a more thrilling episode to go alongside 'Test Subject' instead of this but we did get some decent scares in this episode. Of course the art monsters are pretty interesting in terms of their design, but they aren't as intimidating or as twisted as some of the other monster creations in the show.
My judgement? I give 'Test Subject' two monstrous clawed thumbs up and a 'One Of The Best' award for being one of the best episodes of this season, but I give 'Living In Art' a 'Could Have Been A Lot Better' award. The concept in general works and Mrs Davis is a fun villainess indeed, but the thing is...the school related episodes always seem to differ in terms of quality and well...this is in the 'Yeeeeah...not too good' category.
Check out Test Subject but avoid Living In Art, i'm That Werebelushi In The Shades and this has been my review of these two Night of Alterations episode. Next time I will be talking about the newest episode which from what I have heard, is pretty much a story that will explain why one of our favorite villains is the way he is.
Hello everyone, i'm that werebelushi in the shades and welcome to my very first/rant review of 2018...whew! Today's rant is about another new Night Of Alterations episode, this time it is a double feature episode...oh boy, two episodes in one. As you recall I have ranted about two episodes of the current season thus far and well..one of them was terrible and the other was okay but had good special effects, this time... well, we'll just have to find out for ourselves.
So follow me down the path of the unknown as we talk about the episodes 'Test Subject' and 'Living In Art', the episode 'Test Subject' begins with our characters waiting in line for a cruise of some kind, so far we got a good start - the characters are quite likable and I like our protagonist, he seems like the kind of character that I could get along with, once the characters get on the cruise, they get assigned with some kind of research project, and I like this angle since we get to see two teams of people battle over who gets to do the project first, and the scenes of them doing the task are fascinating, and it's well executed but halfway through the second half of this episode are things really get insane.
Turns out the person that assigned them with this task is none other than...Donald Trump and Trump has a cameo in this, not just a cameo it's a very important one, he's sort of the main antagonist. Not only that, but the main protagonist's step-sister is working for him, wasn't expecting that one, I like how it is explained that she had been following our hero for quite a long while. The best scene of the episode is a dissection scene where we get to see our main character being used as a test subject by his step-sister and her two friends, and we get a hilarious brainwashing scene that also features Kermit the frog on a dissection table.
The brainwashing scene is both creepy and comical, especially because of Kermit on the dissection table and also the various insane transformations happening, like we see someone become some kind of half mechanical being that is a nod to Thirty-Thirty from Bravestarr, a scene with some kind of insect-monster transformation that is a nod to the The Fly, and there are quite a few werecreature transformations. And wow...quite a few Easter Eggs, like for example look in the background during the lab scene and you'll see Lawrence Limburger from the hit animated series Biker Mice From Mars.
The jokes in this particular scene are hilarious, especially when he points out how he can't be corrupted/brainwashed but yet there's someone with a big plate of turkey just wanting him to eat some of it in hopes of making him sleepy, which is of course a nod to the turkey makes you sleepy urban myth and there is a transformation scene in here worth mentioning, it's the scene where he transforms into Trump and the scene is done brilliantly with practical fx. A lot of this particular episode is well done but my problems with it are related to the mutations or rather the victims of them...like for example what is the story behind the guy who was transformed into a human/vehicle hybrid? We do get some bit of a story but not much, we find out he was a soldier who got experimented on and that they combined human and mechanical parts together.
Oh and the gore is a bit overdone...in particular during the lab scenes where we see people being sliced and diced, and some of it is clearly just there for shock value. But it's still a pretty good episode, sadly the same cannot be said for the second episode 'Living In Art', which is of course another school themed episode.
I never get why they have a school themed episode in each season, don't get me wrong...I do like this aspect a lot, it's just most of them have mixed results. The one with the cursed school is a good example of an episode that got good reviews but then you get ones like the ones involving the old classmates such as 'Ghosts Of Classmates Past' that tend to have a well done premise but are executed weakly.
Like for example this one, the premise of the students taking part in art contest is a solid one and the way it is done is pretty nifty but the major problem is with the writing and continuity. Especially considering this...Mrs Davis aka the original creature teacher has been defeated numerous times already in these episodes, how is she able to come back to life? In the last school episode she was in, she got defeated after Mrs Dimwoody broke free of her influence and her evil side was trapped in a globe.
At this point can we assume that Mrs Davis technically is nearly immortal? I don't know really, that's not to say I dislike her as a villain, she's a great recurring villainess and the fact Anjelica Huston plays her is a plus - she's one of the best villains of the show next to the Monstrous Step-Sister who was played by Kathy Bates. Mrs Davis's continuity just seems to confuse me considering there isn't any specific order to the school episodes, and also speaking of continuity...the character of Keith. How many times has Keith appeared in these episodes? About more than 8 times.
It's good that Jason is no longer with him, it's just that I don't think Keith has had much development as a villain apart from being a rival and that's about it, but luckily this episode does have a bit of foreshadowing. And i've noticed that people are noticing that Keith is gradually becoming more and more Trump-like as he progresses throughout each episode, it won't be long until they have an episode where he mutates into him.
There's nothing truly exciting about this episode apart from a few scenes with the paintings becoming alive and developing personalities and the art teacher actually not being affected by Mrs Davis's powers due to being half-monster herself, but that's about it. Nothing memorable happens and the characterization is for the most part weak.
I wish that we could have gotten a more thrilling episode to go alongside 'Test Subject' instead of this but we did get some decent scares in this episode. Of course the art monsters are pretty interesting in terms of their design, but they aren't as intimidating or as twisted as some of the other monster creations in the show.
My judgement? I give 'Test Subject' two monstrous clawed thumbs up and a 'One Of The Best' award for being one of the best episodes of this season, but I give 'Living In Art' a 'Could Have Been A Lot Better' award. The concept in general works and Mrs Davis is a fun villainess indeed, but the thing is...the school related episodes always seem to differ in terms of quality and well...this is in the 'Yeeeeah...not too good' category.
Check out Test Subject but avoid Living In Art, i'm That Werebelushi In The Shades and this has been my review of these two Night of Alterations episode. Next time I will be talking about the newest episode which from what I have heard, is pretty much a story that will explain why one of our favorite villains is the way he is.
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