Review
These two episodes gave me a strange feeling of incomplete storytelling. While the last few episodes, despite being controversial, had clear messages. For instance, episode four is about Blitzo’s varying levels of maturity, and episode five was about Stolas’ indecisiveness. Episodes 6 and 7 brought forth some ideas of conflict, but did not really show a clear endpoint for them.
Episode 6
Fizzorali is always fun to see, but the episode can’t seem to pick between two conflicts. On one hand, we have Fizz struggling to adjust to his new lifestyle away from show business. (Which seemed like it was going to be the focus.) Then, we also have him feeling helpless in terms of defending himself in dangerous situations. The ladder is what we end the episode on, and we don’t really get to see Fizz have a change in mindset. The defeat of the robotic Fizzies doesn’t feel triumphant, because it doesn’t really matter to the development of Fizz or Blitzo. I understand that Fizz needs to find his identity, but the robots don’t have enough valid points to truly help Fizz by offing them. In fact, Blitzo keeping the robot head is the closest thing to any lasting change or develoment.
By the end of the episode, we don’t really get a sense of how Fizzaroli has changed for the better or worse. In a way, we do get that with Blitzo, but the beginning of the episode makes it seem like Fizz is supposed to be the main focus. This isn’t to say that an episode can’t focus on multiple characters or themes, but there needs to be a balance.
Episode 7
This story was a bit better in terms of development of characters, but it considering the weight of what happened in it, each plot would have benefited from its own episode. (I’m aware that Viv and the writers only have a certain amount of episodes to work with, but this just makes their decisions on what to give focus to more questionable.)
It was good to see Octavia again, even if people will surely expect her to react as they would in her situation. Seeing her struggle with her magic spells and her relationship to her father definitely needed more build up in past episodes, but was generally well explored. Some people grow out of hatred, and some don’t. This made for a good parallel between her and Barbie Wire.
Unfortunately, this is where the praise ends. Barbie has not had enough screen time to fully understand why she will never forgive Blitzo. She simply comes across as petty with the way she treats him and anyone associated with him. Her refusal to acknowledge Blitzo’s efforts would make more sense if we knew just a little bit more about her experience after the initial fallout of the family circus burning down. This episode could have been an opportunity to explore Barbie’s motivations beyond just survival. However, the writing chooses to focus more on the more shallow aspects of her hatred. For instance, her treatment of Loona, and immediate switch to Striker’s side. These choices only further show Barbie’s distain for her brother, but do not deepen our understanding of why.
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