Soundtrack Retrospective: Kirby And The Forgotten Land

So, Kirby And The Forgotten Land is out and it's absolutely fantastic, easily my favorite Kirby game to date. I'll reveal my full thoughts when I finish my Kirby retrospective post, but for now, I wanted to go over the soundtrack like I did for all the other games to see how it stacks up as a Kirby soundtrack:

Spoiler Warning: I am going to be spoiling Forgotten Land here, particularly the final boss and extra boss, as well as some story beats. I warned you!

Kirby And The Forgotten Land's soundtrack took a bit of time for me to appreciate it. While I adored the game as a whole right from the start, my initial impression of Forgotten Land's soundtrack was that it was a bit weaker than the past few in the series. This is because Forgotten Land's music is a lot lengthier, more ambient, and complex, meaning that it doesn't really have the same amount of catchy hooks that pretty much all of the prior Kirby soundtracks. As I listened to this game's tracks more and more, however, I started to warm up to them a lot because of how complex they are. It helped that the bulk of the game's best tracks are in its second half, but I even began to love some of the earlier tracks as well. Songs that I originally felt weren't catchy enough ended up having much listening value because of how dynamic they all are, constantly changing tempo and rhythm. I also found myself loving how, for lack of a better word, raw many of Forgotten Land's songs are. From Hirokazu Ando's several improvisational piano experiments, to the testosterone-fueled remix of Dedede's theme, to Morpho Knight's theme being easily the heaviest rock tune in the series. There's something very gritty and hard-hitting about a lot of the tracks that make them feel more impactful, especially considering that Forgotten Land is easily the darkest Kirby game to date.   

The other thing worth noting about this Kirby soundtrack is the sheer amount of variety in its genres and musical styles. This is because Forgotten Land's score has a whopping four composers, the most in any mainseries game to date. Thankfully, this doesn't make Forgotten Land's soundtrack sound all over the place, every track sounds distinctly Kirby, yet if you know who's composing what it's not hard to parse out each composer's style. Jun Ishikawa is the most well-known Kirby composer, so he has a lot of the standard cheerful and synthy Kirby-esque tracks like Abandoned Beach and Through The Tunnel, but he also has the most experimental tracks in the game as well, with the bizarre Pitch-Black Terror being a highlight. Hirokazu Ando tends to have a more grand and orchestral style and is notable for using the same cymbal crash sound effect in many of his songs (seriously you won't be able to unhear it), so he got a lot of really elegant tracks like Metro On Ice, Battle Of Blizzard Bridge, Faded Dream Of A Psychomeddler, and of course, the final boss theme. Yuuta Ogasawara returns from his minor contribution to Kirby Star Allies's score and knocks it out of the park, mostly doing all of the melancholy and rock-heavy themes like Northeast Frost Street and Morpho Knight. Oddly enough though, he also worked on the game's incredibly lighthearted main themes which shows a pretty impressive amount of range. And finally, there's the newest addition to the team, Yuki Shimooka, who manages to emulate the bombastic style of Shogo Sakai (Composer for Kirby Air Ride and Mother 3) so well I thought he was working on the soundtrack. Songs like Fast-Flowing Waterworks, Care For A Refreshment, and Moonlight Canyon feel like they belong in Kirby Air Ride, and I'm saying this in the best possible way. It's impressive how well Forgotten Land's soundtrack is balanced between the four composers while still feeling cohesive despite all the varying styles. Each composer has their times to shine and no one gets the bulk of the best songs.

Just like I do with episodes of the TV shows I review, I wanted to list out the "highlights" of this game's soundtrack, so to speak. These are the songs that really stuck out to me:

Through The Tunnel (Ishikawa): I was unimpressed by this song at first, only for me to realize that it's actually the world's best bait-and-switch. The first 5-10 seconds of the second seem as light-hearted as a Kirby song could be, only for the track to elegantly transition into a much darker cave theme that sounds right at home in Kirby 64. There are so many layers to this track too, from the jamming acoustic guitar in the background, to the wailing electronic guitar in the chorus, to the Klonoa-esque chimes halfway through the song. Through The Tunnel shot up from one of my least favorite tracks in the game to one of my absolute favorites.

Fast-Flowing Waterworks (Shimooka): It's hard to really pin down what composer Fast-Flowing Waterworks reminds me of, as the slow tempo and melancholic tone gives me David Wise vibes, but it also sounds a lot like the forest and volcano themes from Kirby And The Rainbow Curse. Don't take those similarities as a knock against Shimooka's skill, though, this still sounds unlike anything we've heard in a Kirby game like this and immediately stood out as one of the game's best tracks. Its slow and melodic pacing, tribal sound, and dramatic vibe really makes this one hit different.

Northeast Frost Street (Ogasawara): While there were plenty of tracks I enjoyed up to this point, Northeast Frost Street was the first song of Forgotten Land that really blew me away. I really can't rave about it enough. I love the laid-back rock vibe it has going for it, with its wailing guitar, heavenly violins, and calm drums. As a matter of fact, it sounds a lot like an overworld theme for a Xenoblade game, which just makes it that much better. The slow buildup to the soaring dramatic climax makes for a truly satisfying and beautiful piece of music. Winter levels categorically have fantastic music, but this might be one of the greatest winter themes ever.

The Battle Of Blizzard Bridge (Ando): This was another theme that really had to grow on me, but now that it has, this is easily one of the most impressive, complex, and smooth tracks in the whole series. There's so much to go over here but to put it simply, this whole track is basically a piece of progressive fusion jazz. I love the slow and chilly-sounding keyboard intro, the fantastic drum track in the background, the crazy piano improv, the back-and-forth between the keyboard and the piano, the fact that Ando's cymbal crash sound effect is probably the best-utilized out of any of his tracks, the fact that the second half of the track is taken over by an insane guitar solo. Seriously, you need to hear this tune for yourself, it's unlike anything I've ever heard in a video game. The more I think on it, the better it gets.

Roar Of Dedede (Ogasawara): Dedede's Royal Payback will always be my favorite Dedede theme, but this is easily the best version of his original theme and it's not even close. It takes the additions made to the tune in Star Allies and ups them to eleven by turning it into heavy metal, with Dedede's grunts and the sound of hammers striking in the anvils in the background for good measure. And when the chorus finally hits and you hear that iconic leitmotif, it hits like a goddamn freight train. This is easily one of the best and headbangiest themes in the series, and quite possibly the most masculine one too.

The Wastes Where Life Began (Ogasawara): Now that I think about it, Kirby's desert themes tend to perfectly encapsulate the vibe the respective soundtracks are going for. Kirby 64's Rock Star feels as DnB-heavy as the rest of the soundtrack, Return's Desert Area is fast-paced and arcadey befitting the score's retro style, and Planet Robobot's Dried-Up Sea straight-up sounds like a rave because it's the techno game. Knowing all that, The Wastes Where Life Began is a perfectly encapsulation of what Forgotten Land's soundtrack does well. It's intense, bombastic, grandiose, adventurous, and oddly oppressive as well. Given that this is the first track you hear after Elfilin gets captured and that the whole level takes place in a literal dried-up ocean, a dark and melancholic desert theme fits perfectly, and sounds fantastic to boot.

Moonlight Canyon (Shimooka): This track gives me serious Sky Sands vibes with its dramatic sound and triumphant tone, and is made a lot better by how it's utilized in the game. Halfway through the titular level, you exit a pitch-black cave only for the camera to pan up to this massive canyon as one of the most soaring themes in the whole game. It really made for one of the most memorable cinematic moments in Forgotten Land, and it's hard not to picture that moment of awe everytime I listen to this track. I also just love the changes in tone and tempo, and how the track calms down every once in a while making the bombastic chorus all the more impactful.

Burning, Churning Power Plant (Ishikawa): Similarly to Through The Tunnel, Ishikawa pulls a bit of a bait-and-switch here. The song's buildup throughout the first thirty seconds are heavy and industrial-sounding, almost as if he's trying to lead you into thinking this track is going to turn into a remix of Factory Investigation. But then, the track suddenly bursts into a brief acid techno refrain and turns into something entirely new. This still sounds a lot like a Kirby 64 track in a lot of ways, with a few hints of Sand Canyon 3 as well, but the way Burning, Churning Power Plant shifts and changes while still keeping a sense of haunting intensity makes for a really fresh track. It's as if Ishikawa is just showing off all the different types of techno he can pull off.

Two Planets Approach The Roche Limit (Ando): Kirby final boss themes are always fantastic, but this is easily my favorite one since CROWNED. It's not as bombastic as some of the others in the series, but Two Planets Approach The Roche Limit makes up for it in sheer elegance, style, and complexity. And I really mean complexity, as the genius of this song is the fact that it actually changes depending on what attack Fecto Elfilis is using. Each segment of the track is unique and memorable, from the dramatic organ segment to the intense rock chorus that plays whenever Fecto Elfilis starts tossing meteors at you. And it works well as its own track too, each segment slowly layering on an instrument culminating in that aforementioned rock chorus. Two Planets Approach The Roche Limit sounds fittingly heavenly given that you're technically fighting god here, and the buildup and payoff makes for the perfect final boss theme for one of my new favorite antagonists in the series.

Morpho Knight (Ogasawara): I honestly wasn't all that impressed with Morpho Knight's first theme in Star Allies. It wasn't bad, mind you, but given that it essentially replaced the iconic heavy metal Galacta Knight theme, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Thankfully, Morpho Knight's theme in Forgotten Land made up for that in spades, and is quite possibly the edgiest theme in the whole series. Right from the choral opening theme, Morpho Knight's leitmotif is given this sense of weight, as if the song itself is telling you to dread his arrival. From there, the song erupts into rock as the gritty central guitar keeps repeating that leitmotif, further outlining how dangerous this character is. And that's not even it, the second half of the song is the Waddle Dee Town theme in minor key, which gives this song even more of a hopeless and dread-inducing feel. And when you consider the addition of lore that paints Morpho Knight as essentially Kirby's version of the Grim Reaper, you get a boss theme that does a perfect job of capturing just how terrifying of a foe Morpho Knight is.

Other Honorable Mentions: Faded Dream Of A Psychomeddler (Ando) gives me Touhou vibes in the best way possible, Pitch-Black Horror (Ishikawa) is glorious in its weirdness, Metro On Ice (Ando) takes chill winter music to a whole 'nother level, and Sword Of The Surviving Guardian (Ogasawara) is one of Meta Knight's most badass themes to date.

Overall, Kirby And The Forgotten Land's soundtrack is a lot different than those of many other Kirby games. With its longer and more open 3D levels as well as its darker story, the tracks had to be longer, more complex, and more atmospheric than anything else in the series. While this may mean we might not have as many catchy hooks as in some other Kirby entries, Forgotten Land's soundtrack got better the more I listened to it, with a fantastic variety of genres and composers, an at-times intense and melancholic tone, and just simply a ton of very hard-hitting tracks. I still wouldn't call it my favorite soundtrack, it does have some weaker tracks like with some of the endgame bosses and it falls into the Robobot trap of using its leitmotif too often, but the high points are some of the highest in the series. It's an easy Top 5 Kirby soundtrack for me, and a fantastic new direction for the franchise.

5/5 Stars

The Shield (Season 1)

We've learned a lot over the past few years but one big thing is that cops kinda suck. Not just in a "gives too many traffic tickets" way, but in a "do we really want these kinds of people protecting our city" way. This makes The Shield a remarkably interesting series, as it was the first big show to portray the police in a really unflattering way. While as early 2000s as you can get, it really is ahead of its time in a lot of ways.

The Shield is about Vic Mackey, a cop who is a part of the LAPD's experimental Strike Team division. Strike Team is entirely composed of corrupt cops, willing to break the law to stop criminals. At its core, this is another anti-hero drama not unlike The Sopranos, where you follow an awful and unsympathetic main character and watch as he suffers the consequences of his decisions. However, I found the Strike Team particularly unlikable even by the standards set by these kinds of shows. Not unfun to watch, mind you. Michael Chiklis makes a great lead and Walton Goggins will always be a fantastic actor, but I just find these guys hatable in a way I don't for someone like Tony Soprano or Dexter. Maybe it's because, unlike most of these anti-heroes, the cops in Strike Team are supposed to be the good guys. They're supposed to defend Los Angeles and yet they act like the mafia a lot of the time. And it's not just the Strike Team, The Shield really doesn't pull its punches in making the LAPD a pretty scary and miserable place. It also doesn't help that there is a lot of crime in Los Angeles, too much for the LAPD to feasibly do by the book, which ends up causing both criminals and the public to criticize the police for uselessness. There's a lot of moral complexity in the world of The Shield and nothing is anything close to the black-and-white morality of most cop shows.

However, despite all of these differences, The Shield is also a bit of a procedural. Each episode deals with its own storyline and there are more competent cops like Dutch, Claudette, and Danny who have their own investigations that they try to solve by the book. While the concept of a "dark cop procedural" does sound pretty novel, it leads to the season feeling a bit scattershot both tonally and in terms of its story-telling. While much of the Strike Team stuff feels like the part of a standard drama, the material regarding the other detectives can range from just as dark and dramatic to reasonably light-hearted and filled with pun-heavy black comedy. It also doesn't help that the season doesn't really have a concrete overarching story (outside of maybe Captain Aceveda looking into Strike Team), instead balancing its episodic storylines with its many subplots. The subplots are actually all pretty great, with the Strike Team dealing with the fallout of killing a fellow cop, Dutch's investigation of a serial killer, and Julian dealing with his homosexuality. On the other hand, the episodic storylines range in quality drastically, and the fact that many of them seem to wrap up pretty neatly doesn't mesh with the show's theme of consequences all that well.

While this season was fairly consistent in quality so far, there were definitely some episodes that were better than others:

Cherrypoppers: Cherrypoppers did a really good job of showing off what makes The Shield different from your standard procedurals, and probably had Mackey at his most oddly sympathetic. There's something kind of funny about Dutch asking the Strike Team to help stop a criminal, only for them to stop a completely different (though no less horrifying) criminal. It also led to a pretty downbeat ending where the killer pretty much gets away, an effective subversion of most neat and tidy procedurals (not to mention some episodes of this very show).

Dragonchasers: While I didn't love every storyline in this episode, Dutch's interrogation of the serial killer he spent a third of the season chasing easily makes for the highlight of the season. Every single interrogation scene in this episode was electric, and seeing Dutch finally score a victory was very satisfying.

Circles: This finale was definitely the best episode of the show so far. The cop killers were a truly scary threat that put every character in danger, the final confrontation with Gilroy was great, and Aceveda and Mackey end up having to work together for once. The ending where Mackey's family left him was a really surprising twist given how early in the show it happens, and seems to set up an exciting new status quo for Season 2.

Overall, this was a solid first season of The Shield, with an interesting and well-acted cast and an unflattering yet morally intriguing depiction of the police. However, the half-procedural-nature of the show leads to some weak episodic storylines and a fairly inconsistent tone.

3/5 Stars

A Place Further Than The Universe

Yes, my decision to watch the hopeful anime about high school girls going on a trip after watching the calming anime about high school girls going on camping trips was entirely intentional. A Place Further Than The Universe may be a bit more emotional and serious than Laid-Back Camp was, but it's just as effective at making you want to get out of your seat and do something adventurous.

A Place Further Than The Universe is a show about four high school girls all making the decision (well, technically except for Yuzuki) to go on a trip to Antarctica. It's a solid premise executed very well, as it feels like the writers thought of every obstacle the girls would have to deal with on such a big trip like this. This anime's episodes has the main cast deal with seasickness, training, cold weather, and of course, actually being allowed to go on the trip, but there's still remains a fairly optimistic tone the whole time. The sheer determination of its main cast makes seeing them complete their trip to Antarctica all the more satisfying, and it helps that this anime is almost entirely character-driven. Each major character is incredibly fleshed-out and complex, with their own motivations for going on the trip and character arc that gets completed.

Shirase is probably the most important character and the catalyst for the whole anime. Her mother Takako disappeared on a trip to Antarctica, so Shirase spends the whole series desperate to go there so she can find and reunite with her. It's not much of a secret Takako actually died there, but it makes Shirase's moment of realization all the more soul-crushing. Yuzuki is a child actor who hasn't been able to make friends, so her arc revolves around her befriending the other three characters and dealing with what that entails. Hinata quit school due to being bullied for her intelligence. And Kimari, the least developed of the bunch, just wants to do something spontaneous for once. All of the characters are likable and interesting, and I love how the last four episodes each give a member of the cast their own time to shine and complete their arcs. I also love how every cast member subverts an anime trope in some way. Shirase looks like your standard aloof dark-haired girl but she's easily the most emotional of the cast. Hinata looks like your standard airhead but is easily the smartest of the cast. And Yuzuki is the rare child actor in an anime who actively despises being an actor. 

Presentation-wise, A Place Further Than The Universe is also really solid. Its unique style with its thick character outlines might take a bit of getting used to, but it looks great in motion, most notably in that fantastic running scene in Episode 2. But what really makes the show work visually for me is actually the confident direction. The lighting, pacing, and storyboarding is all fantastic, and you can tell the people working on the show put a lot of thought into pretty much every facet of it. Outside of that, the voice acting and music is fairly solid as well. The whole voice cast absolutely nails the emotional scenes, and the usages of vocal tracks near the end of episodes are always well-timed. 

While the show's quality is fairly consistent, let's face it, A Place Further Than The Universe's highlights are pretty obvious:

Dear My Friend: The last episode before the Antarctica trip begins, Dear My Friend takes the time to shine a spotlight on Kimari's friend Megumi. Despite being a minor character who won't appear again until the finale, Megumi's arc this episode as she has to deal with her only friend leaving is really engrossing, and the scene with the "friendship breakup" was the first truly emotional sequence in the anime.

Bash The Drum Can: This is the big Hinata episode, as we learn why specifically she quit school. I mostly just really liked that final scene where all of Hinata's friends call out her ex-friends for 

A Place Further Than The Universe: This is the climax of the whole series, not only does it have the cast finally complete their expedition, but it has Shirase finally have to face the fact that her mom is dead. The whole second half of this episode was an emotional rollercoaster, from Shirase's heart-warming monologue to her seeing all those unread emails. But what really got me was seeing Shirase's friends sitting outside of her room, crying along with her.

We'll Go On Another Journey Someday: Coming after the heartbreaking previous episode, this finale was a lot more lighthearted. It did have a bit of a bittersweet edge with Kimari dealing with the trip coming to an end and Shirase getting over her mother's death, but for the most part, this was a very heartwarming and happy ending to the anime.

Overall, A Place Further Than The Universe is just a damn solid anime, executing its simple premise with a love for its characters and a sense of confidence. It's never blew me away (as a matter of fact, I'd say its first half wasn't really anything special), but it did hit its emotional mark and make me want to go on a grand adventure of my own.

4/5 Stars

With only thirteen episodes, I thought I'd just cram the ranking into the review. Here's how I would rank its episodes:

1. A Place Further Than The Universe (S1.12)
2. We'll Go On Another Journey Someday (S1.13)
3. Bash The Drum Can (S1.11)
4. Dear My Friend (S1.05)
5. Partial Friendship (S1.10)
6. The Ship That Sees The Universe (S1.07)
7. Kabukichou Fremantle (S1.02)
8. Antarctic Love Story (S1.09)
9. The Follow Backs Don't Stop (S1.03)
10. One Million Yen For Youth (S1.01)
11. Four Caterpillars (S1.04)
12. Welcome To The Durian Show (S1.06)
13. Howling, Maddening, Screaming (S1.08)

Episode Rankings: Laid-Back Camp

Look, Laid-Back Camp isn't high art or anything, it's a cute healing anime about girls going camping. But it nails everything it's trying to be, and if you're looking for something comfy and heartwarming, I can't recommend this anime enough. The lush backgrounds, lovable characters, and light-hearted tone makes for a truly calming experience, but the way it deals with introversion and communication as well as its genuinely realistic depiction of camping gives Laid-Back Camp a surprising amount of substance that I didn't initially expect. Here's my ranking of its episodes (Heya Camp shorts included): 

1. Camping Alone (S2.08)
2. End Of The Journey (Room Camp 11)
3. Cape Ohmama In Winter (S2.06)
4. Two Camps, Two Campers' Views (S1.05)
5. A Day In Shimarin's Life (Room Camp 4)
6. Mount Fuji And The Laid-Back Camp Girls (S1.12)
7. Scary Ice Cave (Room Camp 10)
8. Clumsy Travelers And Camp Meetings (S1.10)
9. I'm Home (S2.13)
10. Both Of Us, Back In The Day (Room Camp 6)
11. Surprise Camping And Some Deep Thoughts (S2.03)
12. Curry Noodles Are The Best Travel Companion (S2.01)
13. Heya Camp (Room Camp 12)
14. A Night On The Lake Shore And Campers (S1.07)
15. Nadeshiko's Solo Camp Planning (S2.07)
16. A Night Of Navigator Nadeshiko And Hot Spring Steam (S1.09)
17. Lies Spread 'Round The World (Room Camp 8)
18. Mount Fuji And Relaxed Hot Pot Camp (S1.03)
19. Caribou-Kun And Lake Yamanaka (S2.05)
20. New Year's Solo Camper Girl (S2.02)
21. Christmas Camp (S1.11)
22. The Izu Camp Trip Begins (S2.10)
23. The Outdoor Activities Club And The Solo Camping Girl (S1.04)
24. Izu Camping! Birthdays (S2.12)
25. Mount Fuji And Curry Noodles (S1.01)
26. Shizunashi War II (Room Camp 9)
27. What Are You Buying With Your Temp Job Money? (S2.04)
28. Exams, Caribou, Steamed Buns, Yum! (S1.08)
29. Winter's End And The Day Of Departure (S2.09)
30. Operation Houtou (Room Camp 7)
31. Welcome To The Outdoor Activities Club (S1.02)
32. The Mystery Of Canned Tuna (Room Camp 1)
33. Izu Camping! On The Way (S2.11)
34. Meat And The Fall Colors And The Mystery Lake (S1.06)
35. True Faces: Kachikachi Mountain (Room Camp 5)
36. So Many Mt Fujis (Room Camp 2)
37. Mad Dash! Kawaguchi Lake Rally (Room Camp 3)

Laid-Back Camp

Laid-Back Camp (also known as Yuru Camp) is one of the comfiest shows ever made. If you're looking for plot, you're not going to find much here, but if you want something light and calming, Laid-Back Camp does its job perfectly.

Laid-Back Camp is a show about girls going camping. That's the plot. The series actually follows two different characters with their own preferred styles of camping. There's Rin, an introverted character who prefers solo camping. And there's Nadeshiko, a much more extroverted (and unexperienced) character who got into camping after running into Rin, but much prefers doing it with friends. Nadeshiko joins an Outdoor Activities Club to pursue her hobby, while Rin mostly continues to solo camp and only occasionally camps with Nadeshiko and the others. I have to say, I really like how Rin's introversion is portrayed here. It's not a problem or flaw that needs to be solved, sometimes Rin needs to be on her own and Nadeshiko and the other friends she makes throughout the series are perfectly accepting of that. As an introvert myself, it's honestly some of the best representation of this in any media ever. The anime also does a great job of utilizing text and technology to allow the cast to communicate even when they're on their own, and the visuals and voice acting accompanying said texts are always a joy to watch. However, I do have to say that I think Laid-Back Camp is a lot more fun when the characters are interacting with and playing off each other in person, especially when Chiaki and Aoi, the two major comic relief cast members, are around.

Outside of that, however, Laid-Back Camp doesn't really have much of a plot to speak of, and that's purely intentional. Laid-Back Camp is what's called an Iyashikei, which is a slice-of-life anime about characters living peaceful lives, intended to have a healing effect on its audience. On that front, Laid-Back Camp absolutely succeeds, this is one peaceful anime. Much of Laid-Back Camp consists of moments of silence as the characters just take in the environments they're in, and whatever rare instances of conflict there is are played for comedy. And as par for the course in a slice-of-life anime like this, it is also ridiculously cute. However, one thing I'm not a big fan of are the brief moments where a narrator comes in to teach the audience how to do something camp-related. The silly visuals do try really hard to make these moments fun to watch, but the educational aspects of Laid-Back Camp really just don't interest me at all.

Presentation-wise, Laid-Back Camp is alright. I think the most important thing you needed to nail for an anime like this are the backgrounds. You can't really take in the environments if the environments don't look all that great. Thankfully, this anime nails that aspect perfectly. The backgrounds are downright stunning, detailed and colorful. However, while I think the actual character animation is really cute and expressive, I can't say it blends all that well with the backgrounds all that well. Given that all of the campsites are based on real locations, there's an "anime characters in real life" vibe, a style I genuinely like. However, the shading just doesn't really pull it off a lot of the time. The soundtrack for Laid-Back Camp does its job pretty much perfectly, it's calming and very easy on the ears. The first half of Season 1 does reuse the same music too often, but there starts to be a bit more variety later on in the show. Season 2 even has entirely new tracks to keep the music from getting too stale.

Season 1: I was surprised at how much this show took its time to really bring its cast together. While most of the cast is already established by Episode 2, Rin doesn't even interact with Chiaki until Episode 9, the Outdoor Activities Club doesn't get an advisor until Episode 10, and the whole cast doesn't go on a group camp until the last two episodes. I already mentioned that I think the series is more fun when the characters can banter off each other, but it does work really well for Rin's arc this season. She starts the season only wanting to camp on her own, but by the finale, Rin has realized that there are also merits in group camping. Outside of that, this is your standard first season in terms of general quality. It has a bit of a rocky start as it establishes the cast, but the second half is overall pretty great.

Two Camps, Two Campers' Views: This was the first really great episode of Laid-Back Camp and probably epitomized everything the show does great. Despite splitting up the cast, the storylines for both Rin and the Outdoor Activities Club were both fun and enjoyable, and I liked seeing the characters try to make it through all of the obstacles that got in their way to make it to their campsites. The final scene where Rin and Nadeshiko take pictures of their views for each other is easily the most beautiful and memorable sequence in the whole anime.

Clumsy Travelers And Camp Meetings: This whole arc was a ton of fun, as I really like the premise of Nadeshiko and eventually Chiaki pestering Rin from afar on where to go during a camping trip. It's incredibly funny, until Chiaki actually manages to help Rin out and gain her respect a bit. This episode also has the introduction of the Outdoor Activities Club's advisor, as well as the hilarious reveal that she's the drunk girl Rin and Nadeshiko ran into a while ago.

Mount Fuji And The Laid-Back Camp Girls: This was a pretty heartwarming way to end off the season, still feeling as lowkey as the rest of Laid-Back Camp without losing that "finale vibe". It was great to see the main cast all go camping together, Nadeshiko getting a new job was cool, and the final scene where Rin and Nadeshiko run into each other is just plain sweet. I was a bit sad Rin and Saito still weren't willing to join the club, but there's something funny about them still being stuck in such a cramped room.

Room Camp Shorts: In between its first and second seasons, Laid-Back Camp got a series of twelve shorts about the Outdoor Activities Club. Chiaki and Aoi take Nadeshiko on a stamp rally around Yamanashi. Despite its short length and lack of Rin (quite possibly the show's best character), I really enjoyed this series of shorts. It got off to a slow start and definitely feels like a travel advertisement at times, but getting around 30-40 minutes straight of banter between most of the cast was just what I wanted from Laid-Back Camp. As the miniseries progresses, we even also start to get some shorts with creative premises, as well as shorts that flesh out some of the characters a little more. We get an entirely Rin-centric short about her daily life, as well as a short about how Chiaki and Aoi met. The series also ends with a plot twist that I definitely didn't expect to see from a show like this, but it worked incredibly well.

A Day In Shimarin's Life: There wasn't much to this short, but it was definitely a ton of fun to see Rin again given her small role in this series. Saito imitating Nadeshiko was also pretty entertaining.

Scary Ice Cave: This episode playing off of horror films was a very fun change of pace for Laid-Back Camp, with several very funny fakeouts. And Rin showing up to give Nadeshiko the stamp sheet back was a heartwarming resolution to one of the series' running plots.

End Of The Journey: I'm still surprised the Room Camp series actually had a plot twist to begin with, but it worked really well and made a lot of sense. The stamp rally being fake was foreshadowed quite well throughout the series, but I definitely didn't expect Nadeshiko to have been in on the secret the whole time. The next and final short revealed why Chiaki and Aoi made a stamp rally to begin with, and the reasoning was very sweet.

Season 2: The second season of Laid-Back Camp is mostly more of the same, but I'd still generally call it an improvement on the first in a lot of ways. Now that we don't need to establish the cast, the anime can offer a lot of really unique and fun storylines, like backstories for Rin and Nadeshiko, two Saito-centric episodes, and a storyline about Nadeshiko going solo camping for the first time. This last arc is especially notable as it contrasts with Rin's own arc in Season 1. Where last season had Rin learn the merits of group camping from Nadeshiko, this season has Nadeshiko learn the merits of solo camping from Rin. Of course, the emphasis on solo camping means some members of the cast end up sidelined for episodes at a time, but the season makes up for that with a lengthy final arc about a trip to Izu. While the sheer length of the storyline means those episodes tend to blend together a bit, it's still great to see the whole cast in one place again and the introduction of Aoi's younger sister to the group adds a bit more chaos.

Surprise Camping And Some Deep Thoughts: Despite the lack of actual camping, this was just a cute episode that developed the relationship between Rin and Nadeshiko, along with revealing some more info on what caused Nadeshiko to appear in that first episode. I also really liked Ayano, this episode's side character, and hope she appears more in the future.

Cape Ohmama In Winter: This episode easily had the most effective educational moment in the whole anime, as Chiaki, Aoi, and Saito's camping trip leaves them in serious danger of freezing due to unpreparedness. While such a lighthearted show shifting tone so drastically could have been awful, it fit in with Laid-Back Camp's dedication to realism. As fun as this anime makes camping sound, it can still be very dangerous and I like that Laid-Back Camp didn't pull its punches with making that point very clear. But even with the brief flirtation with drama, the trio of Chiaki, Aoi, and Saito remains lovable, and the ending where Nadeshiko reveals she wants to go solo camping is not only a great hook for next episode but perfectly timed so that you actually start to feel concerned for her safety.

Camping Alone: Even with the big Izu arc, this felt like the climax of the season for me. Nadeshiko went solo camping for the first time, and she killed it! It was really heartwarming to see her trip go without any hitches (especially after the last arc), and her interactions with the kids show just how much of a sweetheart Nadeshiko is. I also like the subplot where Rin and Sakura try to make sure she's okay. They have a nice dynamic and seeing them try to hide from Nadeshiko was very funny.

I'm Home: This was a really bittersweet final episode for Season 2 that worked really well, not only tying up loose ends like Akari's desire to see capybaras and the Iida family, but also capturing that feeling of when you've just come home from a trip but feel just slightly sorrowful that it's all over. The final scene where Nadeshiko and Rin reflect on their trip was a beautifully understated way to end the season.

Overall, slice of life anime in general are already hard to review given their lack of plot, but Laid-Back Camp is especially challenging given its goal is to be healing and educational. Even something like Yuyushiki can be easily praised for its writing and the chemistry between its cast, how do you even quantify something like healing factor? While the educational elements didn't really work for me and the cast got fractured a bit too much, I think Laid-Back Camp mostly succeeded in what it was trying to do. This is a very feel-good and heartwarming show that just makes me feel calm watching it, and even more than that, by the second season, I felt genuinely attached to most of its cast. While it probably isn't going to be a genre I'd want to pursue, I have to say that my first "Iyashikei" was very enjoyable.

3/5 Stars

Favorite Episode: Cape Ohmama In Winter

Dexter (Season 8)

Dexter has probably the most notoriously despised series finale in all of television, or at least it did before Game Of Thrones came out. However, my opinions on show enders tend to be a bit... unconventional. I think Evangelion's TV ending is genius, Mr Robot's ending nearly ruined the show, and that the beyond polarizing Lost finale is pretty great and people just don't understand it (they don't, though). So what do I think about Dexter's infamous final season? Well, it's not great, but it is better than I was expecting.

Dexter's sixth season lost me in the very first episode, with its abrupt retcons, shoddier-than-usual writing, and boring religious themes. Season 8, on the other hand, actually got off to a pretty great start! Debra spiraling after killing Laguerta was a heartbreaking but logical progression for her character, the Brain Surgeon seemed like a cool new serial killer for Dexter to face off against, and the storyline about Vogel, a sketchy psychiatrist who helped Harry come up with The Code, is a really intriguing storyline. While I kind of hoped Dexter would be in more danger of being outed to his friends as a serial killer for the final season, I think the concept of tackling his emotional growth and general psyche is a really intriguing one. There was always this ambiguity about if Dexter is really psychopathic, if he really has a "dark passenger", and it feels like the season was setting up for a final concrete answer. Not to mention Vogel being a mother figure Dexter never had, it's all really great stuff. I wouldn't say this part of the season was amazing by any means, Vogel's introduction was a bit retconny and there was a general lack of urgency for what should be the final season. However, I generally found much of Season 8 to be really engaging, which is more than I could say about Season 6. So how did it all fall apart?

I think the cracks started to show when Hannah showed up. I didn't hate Hannah in Season 7, but she was definitely a weak link and stole time away from all the other more interesting storylines. But at least those storylines kept going, Hannah's appearance pretty much abruptly shuts down so many interesting storylines. Dexter seeing himself in Zach and considering teaching him the code? Zach is killed. Dexter trying out the dating scene with a girl named Cassie? Cassie is killed. Masuka learning he has a daughter? Pretty much forgotten. Quinn trying to make sergeant? Also forgotten. Even the storylines that remained were tainted, like how Vogel's moral ambiguity that made her so interesting at first was pretty much stripped away. But the point where the series finally lost me was the treadmill scene, Dexter's jumping the shark moment. Harrison getting injured by tripping on a treadmill is just so poorly-conceived in every way. Not only is it a ridiculous setup, but Harrison's actor couldn't sell it at all and the obvious stunt double made the whole sequence look cheap. Even with the aforementioned faults, Dexter still could've ended on a high note. From that scene onwards, however, I knew this show was a lost cause, and it was. The final three episodes were easily some of the series' worst. It still wasn't boring like Season 6 was, they were entertaining in a so-bad-it's-good way, but it honestly stunned me how a season could start with so much promise and end up wasting it all.

And then there's the finale, which is a bit of a mixed bag. Once again, I like what it's trying to do and it thematically fits with the rest of the season in a lot of ways. Dexter distancing himself from his horrible actions (realizing he doesn't need to kill) only to have to face the consequences of said actions is textbook tragedy. Breaking Bad and Bojack Horseman did the same exact thing, and they both ended excellently. While I wish the punishment Dexter faced was being arrested, losing everyone/thing he cares about and having to go into exile works fine, if a bit safe. However, in practice, this finale had a lot of really stupid moments that really dragged it down. Stuff like pretty much everything surrounding Debra's death, Dexter dragging someone out of a hospital, Harrison being left with a murderer, the awful hurricane special effects, Batista and Quinn seeing Dexter's admittedly cool kill and not arresting him for it, and Saxon being arrested anticlimactically. And even the good moments felt a bit mishandled by the rough writing demonstrated by these last few episodes. The lumberjack shot doesn't really sell whether or not it's a punishment for Dexter, or him getting away with his crimes. 

But still, while this was a pretty bad episode of television, I'm not all that mad with it. It didn't ruin Dexter for me, it was just kinda crummy. And it's not the worst series finale I've seen so far. Not when How I Met Your Mother, Seinfeld, and Star Trek: TOS exist.

Since this season ended up being so uneven, I wanted to list out its high point as well as its low point:

Scar Tissue (high point): This episode was probably Season 8 of Dexter at its most potential-filled, and its best acted. Jennifer Carpenter (Debra) killed it for the whole season, but between her scenes with Vogel and her attempted murder-suicide of Dexter, she was especially great here. Dexter learning that Vogel has been taking notes on him was great too, as was Masuka finally getting a subplot of his own as he learns he has a daughter.

Goodbye, Miami (low point): "Owwwwwww... Owwwwwwwwww... Owwwwwwwww." I'll never let that treadmill scene slide, but even outside of that, the main premise of the episode was done already and executed better in Left Turn Ahead, Vogel's death is another waste of a character's potential, and Quinn and Jamie suddenly break up two episodes before Quinn's other love interest dies making it kind of a waste.

Overall, Season 8 of Dexter was... rough. I actually really enjoyed the first half of this season with its interesting new characters, focus on the Dexter/Debra relationship, and fascinating themes that were at play, but it feels like the season just slowly got worse and worse as it went on. The writing got sloppier, the production felt cheaper, interesting storylines got dropped, and the last few episodes just completely flew off the rails. It's not the worst final season of TV ever (not in a world where How I Met Your Mother exists), but it sure as hell isn't a very good one.

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the Dexter seasons is:

2 > 4 > 1 > 7 > 5 > 3 > 8 > 6

My ranking of the Dexter finales is:

4 > 1 > 7 > 3 > 2 > 5 > 6 > 8

Favorite Episode: Hungry Man

With so many people speculating on what they would've preferred for a Dexter ending, I thought I'd give my two cents on the matter as well to end these reviews off. The frustrating thing about Dexter is that it has all the pieces for a fantastic ending, you just needed to restructure it a bit. Keep Seasons 1-5 as is, at least until Season 5's finale. The Big One has a frustrating fakeout where Debra almost catches Dexter and Lumen in a kill. Have it so that she does catch them in a kill and end the season with that cliffhanger, completely writing out Season 6. If the writers really needed to write out Lumen, maybe have it so that Lumen escapes and Debra only catches Dexter? Then do Season 7 pretty much as is, and end the series with that season's finale. Even with the things I liked about Season 8, Season 7 felt designed to be a final season and the fact that it wasn't continues to baffle me. The final scene could have been anything from Debra shooting Dexter to Debra shooting Laguerta to Dexter getting arrested and I think they would all serve as interesting and fairly satisfying endings for the show as a whole.

Episode Rankings: Dexter

Having seen the entirety of Dexter, warts and all, I still think it was worth the watch. At its best, Dexter is a gripping character study of a serial killer with a fantastic main cast and strong acting from pretty much everyone involved. Seasons 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 were all absolutely fantastic. However, at its worst, we get a bizarre and dull Season 6, and the infamous final season, which started off really good and slowly spiraled into awfulness. Still glad I watched it though, and here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Hungry Man (S4.09) - Worst Thanksgiving ever.
2. The Getaway (S4.12)
3. Resistance Is Futile (S2.09)
4. Born Free (S1.12)
5. Hello, Dexter Morgan (S4.11)
6. Surprise, Motherfucker (S7.12)
7. That Night, A Forest Grew (S2.07)
8. In The Beginning (S5.10)
9. Go Your Own Way (S3.10)
   
10. Are You...? (S7.01)
11. Left Turn Ahead (S2.11)
12. Lost Boys (S4.10)
13. Truth Be Told (S1.11)
14. My Bad (S5.01)
15. Do You Take Dexter Morgan? (S3.12)
16. The British Invasion (S2.12)
17. Shrink Wrap (S1.08)
    
18. Scar Tissue (S8.04)
19. Helter Skelter (S7.09)
20. Hop A Freighter (S5.11)
21. Dirty Harry (S4.05)
22. Nebraska (S6.07)
23. Seeing Red (S1.10)
24. Dex, Lies, And Videotape (S2.06)
25. Do You See What I See? (S7.11)
26. Return To Sender (S1.06)
27. There's Something About Harry (S2.10)
28. Sunshine And Frosty Swirl (S7.02)
29. A Beautiful Day (S8.01)
30. Take It! (S5.08)
31. It's Alive (S2.01)
32. About Last Night (S3.09)
33. What's Eating Dexter Morgan (S8.03)
34. Everything Is Illuminated (S5.06)
35. Run (S7.04)
36. Remains To Be Seen (S4.02)
37. Easy As Pie (S3.07)
38. An Inconvenient Lie (S2.03)
39. I Had A Dream (S3.11)
40. This Little Piggy (S8.05)
41. Father Knows Best (S1.09)
42. If I Had A Hammer (S4.06)
43. The Dark... Whatever (S7.10)
44. The Big One (S5.12)
45. Swim Deep (S7.05)
46. Every Single Lining (S8.02)
47. This Is The Way The World Ends (S6.12)
48. Waiting To Exhale (S2.02)
49. Dex Takes A Holiday (S4.04)
50. Circle Of Friends (S1.07)
51. Dexter (S1.01)
52. Practically Perfect (S5.03)
53. Morning Comes (S2.08)
54. Turning Biminese (S3.05)
55. Teenage Wasteland (S5.09)
56. The Damage A Man Can Do (S3.08)
57. Are We There Yet (S8.08)
58. Living The Dream (S4.01)
59. Buck The System (S7.03)
60. Love American Style (S1.05)
61. The Dark Defender (S2.05)
62. Our Father (S3.01)
63. Hello Bandit (S5.02)
64. Smokey And The Bandit (S6.03)
65. A Little Reflection (S8.06)
66. Road Kill (S4.08)
67. Chemistry (S7.07)
68. The Lion Sleeps Tonight (S3.03)
69. Beauty And The Beast (S5.04)
70. Popping Cherry (S1.03)
71. Finding Freebo (S3.02)
72. Just Let Go (S6.06)
73. Blinded By The Light (S4.03)
74. Circle Us (S5.07)
75. Slack Tide (S4.07)
76. Once Upon A Time (S6.02)
77. Do The Wrong Thing (S7.06)
78. See-Through (S2.04)
79. Let's Give The Boy A Hand (S1.04)
80. Argentina (S7.08)
81. Make Your Own Kind Of Music (S8.09)
82. All In The Family (S3.04)
83. Crocodile (S1.02)
84. Ricochet Rabbit (S6.10)
85. Si Se Puede (S3.06)
86. These Kinds Of Things (S6.01)
87. First Blood (S5.05)
88. A Horse Of A Different Color (S6.04)
89. Dress Code (S8.07)
90. Sin Of Omission (S6.08)
91. The Angel Of Death (S6.05)
92. Monkey In A Box (S8.11)
93. Get Gellar (S6.09) - Most predictable twist ever
94. Talk To The Hand (S6.11) - Eww, incest storyline!
95. Remember The Monsters (S8.12)
96. Goodbye, Miami (S8.10) - That goddamn treadmill...

Episode Rankings: Leverage

Leverage is a fun-as-hell show about a group of criminals stealing from the rich in a series of increasingly varied and inventive heists, with a (mostly) lovable cast and a great sense of style. If that sentence doesn't sell you on the show, I don't know what will. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. The Rashomon Job (S3.11)
2. The Studio Job (S3.06)
3. The Last Dam Job (S4.18)
4. The Rundown Job (S5.09)
5. The Queen's Gambit Job (S4.10)
6. The Long Good-Bye Job (S5.15)
7. The Two Live Crew Job (S2.07)
8. The First David Job (S1.12)
9. The Big Bang Job (S3.15)
10. The Broken Wing Job (S5.08)
11. The Radio Job (S4.17)
12. The Second David Job (S1.13)
13. The Morning After Job (S3.13)
14. The Bottle Job (S2.11)
15. The Frame-Up Job (S5.10)
16. The Girl's Night Out Job (S4.13)
17. The Office Job (S4.12)
18. The Inside Job (S3.03)
19. The Stork Job (S1.09)
20. The First Contact Job (S5.03)
21. The Maltese Falcon Job (S2.15)
22. The Nigerian Job (S1.01)
23. The Carnival Job (S4.06)
24. The San Lorenzo Job (S3.16)
25. The Bank Shot Job (S1.08)
26. The Boy's Night Out Job (S4.14)
27. The Ho Ho Ho Job (S3.14)
28. The Zanzibar Marketplace Job (S2.12)
29. The Jailhouse Job (S3.01)
30. The Van Gogh Job (S4.04)
31. The Three Strikes Job (S2.14)
32. The DB Cooper Job (S5.06)
33. The Juror #6 Job (S1.10)
34. The French Connection Job (S5.04)
35. The Experimental Job (S4.11)
36. The Mile High Job (S1.05)
37. The Three Card Monte Job (S3.09)
38. The Lost Heir Job (S2.09)
39. The (Very) Big Bird Job (S5.01)
40. The Grave Danger Job (S4.07)
41. The Beantown Bailout Job (S2.01)
42. The Wedding Job (S1.03)
43. The Low Low Price Job (S5.11)
44. The 10 Li'l Grifters Job (S4.02)
45. The Scheherazade Job (S3.04)
46. The Future Job (S2.13)
47. The Hot Potato Job (S4.05)
48. The King George Job (S3.12)
49. The Gold Job (S4.16)
50. The Toy Job (S5.14)
51. The Fairy Godparents Job (S2.04)
52. The Long Way Down Job (S4.01)
53. The 12-Step Job (S1.11)
54. The Gone Fishin' Job (S3.07)
55. The Real Fake Car Job (S5.07)
56. The Boiler Room Job (S4.08)
57. The Homecoming Job (S1.02)
58. The Reunion Job (S3.02)
59. The Ice Man Job (S2.08)
60. The Runaway Job (S2.10)
61. The Two-Horse Job (S1.07)
62. The Blue Line Job (S5.02)
63. The Double Blind Job (S3.05)
64. The Order 23 Job (S2.03)
65. The Lonely Hearts Job (S4.15)
66. The Boost Job (S3.08)
67. The Three Days Of The Hunter Job (S2.05)
68. The Gimme A K Street Job (S5.05)
69. The Cross My Heart Job (S4.09)
70. The Underground Job (S3.10)
71. The Snow Job (S1.04)
72. The Tap-Out Job (S2.02)
73. The Corkscrew Job (S5.13)
74. The Top Hat Job (S2.06)
75. The Miracle Job (S1.06)
76. The 15 Minutes Job (S4.03)
77. The White Rabbit Job (S5.12)

Episode Rankings: Legend Of Korra

I like Legend Of Korra. It has its weak points and isn't nearly as good as its predecessor, but I still think it's a great series with a lot to love, especially during the fantastic final two seasons. Korra is also a fantastic protagonist, and the show expands on Avatar in a lot of really interesting ways. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Beginnings: Part 2 (S2.08)
2. Beginnings: Part 1 (S2.07)
3. Venom Of The Red Lotus (S3.13)
4. The Last Stand (S4.13)
5. The Ultimatum (S3.11)
6. Korra Alone (S4.02)
7. Day Of The Colossus (S4.12)
8. Enter The Void (S3.12)
9. Endgame (S1.12)
10. Operation Beifong (S4.10)
11. Long Live The Queen (S3.10)
12. Light In The Dark (S2.14)
13. The Aftermath (S1.07)
14. The Metal Clan (S3.05)
15. Out Of The Past (S1.09)
16. A New Spiritual Age (S2.10)
17. And The Winner Is (S1.06)
18. Kuvira's Gambit (S4.11)
19. The Terror Within (S3.08)
20. The Calling (S4.04)
21. A Breath Of Fresh Air (S3.01)
22. Harmonic Convergence (S2.12)
23. Civil Wars: Part 1 (S2.03)
24. When Extremes Meet (S1.08)
25. Beyond The Wilds (S4.09)
26. In Harm's Way (S3.04)
27. Turning The Tides (S1.10)
28. The Stakeout (S3.09)
29. Enemy At The Gates (S4.05)
30. Darkness Falls (S2.13)
31. The Revelation (S1.03)
32. Old Wounds (S3.06)
33. Welcome To Republic City (S1.01)
34. The Coronation (S4.03)
35. Civil Wars: Part 2 (S2.04)
36. Skeletons In The Closet (S1.11)
37. The Battle Of Zaofu (S4.06)
38. After All These Years (S4.01)
39. The Earth Queen (S3.03)
40. Night Of A Thousand Stars (S2.11)
41. The Guide (S2.09)
42. A Leaf In The Wind (S1.02)
43. Rebirth (S3.02)
44. Rebel Spirit (S2.01)
45. Reunion (S4.07)
46. The Voice In The Night (S1.04)
47. Original Airbenders (S3.07)
48. The Southern Lights (S2.02)
49. The Spirit Of Competition (S1.05)
50. Remembrances (S4.08)
51. Peacekeepers (S2.05)
52. The Sting (S2.06)

Episode Rankings: Konosuba

I adore Konosuba, it's easily one of the funniest anime ever made, with such a lovable main cast. It plays around with a lot of isekai tropes and subverts them in ways that not only make for great comedy, but also straight-up make for a good TV show. And outside of the slightly weaker-than-color movie, the consistency in the humor for Konosuba is incredible. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. God's Blessing On This Wonderful Party (S2.10)
2. Final Flame For This Over-The-Top Fortress (S1.10)
3. Servitude For This Masked Knight (S2.05)
4. Give Me Deliverance From This Judicial Injustice (S2.01)
5. A Conclusion To This Worthless Fight (S1.06)
6. Goodbye To This Irritating Living World (S2.09)
7. Explosion Magic For This Formidable Enemy (S1.04)
8. A Friend For This Crimson Demon Girl (S2.02)
9. A Goddess For This Corrupt Hot Springs Town (S2.09)
10. A Betrothed For This Noble Daughter (S2.04)
11. A Price For This Cursed Sword (S1.05)
12. An Invitation For This Knucklehead (S2.07)
13. A Loving Hand For Our Party When We Can't Make It Through Winter (S1.08)
14. A Panty Treasure In This Right Hand (S1.03)
15. Legend Of Crimson (Movie)
16. The Self-Proclaimed Goddess And Reincarnation In Another World (S1.01)
17. Sightseeing In This Pitiful City (S2.08)
18. A Second Death In This Freezing Season (S1.07)
19. Peace For The Master Of This Labyrinth (S2.03)
20. An Explosion In This Chunibyo (S1.02)
21. God's Blessing On This Wonderful Shop (S1.09)

Dexter (Season 7)

Season 6 of Dexter was rough, but it ended on a great cliffhanger as Debra learning her brother is a serial killer. Thankfully, Season 7 doesn't waste that potential, and is easily the best season of Dexter in a while.

Season 7 of Dexter has a bunch of plotlines, almost all of which are pretty great. Of course, the season starts with Debra learning Dexter is a serial killer and having to come to grips with it. It's honestly really stressful and tough to watch at times, partially because Deb doesn't take this discovery well at all and partially because Dexter now has someone watching everything he does. Watching Debra have to juggle with her love (not romantic anymore, thankfully) for her brother and the fact that he's a serial killer just makes for really great television. In addition, if Dexter wasn't pressured enough, Laguerta finds a blood slide and revives the BHB investigation. This is another fantastic storyline, and Laguerta is at her best here. While I there was a bit more of Dexter running around trying to halt the investigation, it adds a ticking time bomb element to the season and leads to a fantastic finale. Between these two storylines, Season 7 really felt like a final season of Dexter, which leaves me baffled as to why there's an eighth season. I'm left asking what I asked at the end of Season 2, how does the show top this?

In addition, this season features two other antagonists(?). First, there's Isaak Sirko, essentially a mob boss who wants Dexter dead for killing one of his top men. Sirko is easily one of the best Dexter villains, mostly because of Ray Stevenson's fantastic performance. His chemistry with Dexter is great, and he juggles affability and sheer menace perfectly. Second, there's Hannah McKay, a fellow murderer who Dexter starts to date despite being under investigation by Miami Metro. I think Hannah's alright, definitely not as great of a love interest as Rita or Lumen, but it's interesting to see Dexter date someone like him who isn't straight-up nutso like Lila was. However, this creates an issue where Season 7 feels a bit overstuffed with major storylines. On one hand, the sheer amount of fires Dexter has to put out does make this the most overwhelming and tense season since the second. However, it doesn't quite feel like all of the storylines get their due here, as Sirko dies three episodes from the finale and Laguerta doesn't get much screentime overall, and the middle section of the season ends up feeling really spread thin as a result.

As a result, Season 7's best episodes were mostly contained around the start and end of the season:

Are You...?: This was a stellar season premiere and a massive boost in quality coming off of Season 6. I love how it leads you to believe that Dexter may have been able to lead Debra away from figuring out he's a serial killer, only for that massive cliffhanger that blows the final scene of Season 6 completely out of the water. And even more, this premiere manages to do a great job at setting up the storylines involving Laguerta and Sirko.

Helter Skelter: While I do wish Sirko didn't die so early, this episode was a pretty fantastic sendoff. Sirko pretty much having a death grip on Dexter and everyone he cared about made for a very tense episode, but seeing the two ultimately make up ended up making Sirko's abrupt death feel oddly tragic. If things had turned out better, they really could have been friends.

Do You See What I See?: Dexter had a messed-up Thanksgiving episode, and this is its messed-up Christmas episode. It's filled with great set-up for the season finale, from Debra being poisoned, to Dexter getting Matthews to drop the BHB case, to the Estrada stuff, to Dexter deciding to incriminate Hannah. A lot happens in this one, and it's all great.

Surprise, Motherfucker: This is a fantastic season finale, and could've been a great ending for the series too. Laguerta finally taking action and trying to arrest Dexter made for a truly tense episode, especially as it built up to that climactic final confrontation in the container. And that's not to mention Hannah escaping prison, the flashbacks about Doakes, and Batista's retirement. The only thing I'm iffy about is Debra shooting Laguerta since there was the opportunity for the perfect ending if had she shot or arrested Dexter instead, but either way, it's still a shocking cliffhanger and a good way to set up Season 8.

Overall, Season 7 of Dexter is great, and a big improvement over the previous one. It's incredibly tense, with a fantastic antagonist, some great character work for Debra, and a strong subplot with Laguerta that builds towards a stellar finale. However, it does feel a bit overstuffed and the sheer finality of it all leaves me wondering what Season 8 could do to top it.

4/5 Stars

Dexter (Season 6)

Given how much I ended up enjoying Season 5, I was pretty excited to start Season 6. Who knows? Maybe I'd end up liking it too? I didn't like it. As a matter of fact, Season 6 lost me in the first episode.

Season 6 starts by completely reseting the status quo after the events of Season 5. Batista and LaGuerta broke up off-screen, Dexter suddenly got a new babysitter, and Dexter faking bloodwork to exonerate Quinn wasn't mentioned at all. Still, maybe a fresh slate isn't all a bad thing. Season 6 does feel like it goes back-to-basics in a lot of ways, mostly focusing around Dexter trying to stop a serial killer with a gimmick. This time, the killer is called The Doomsday Killer, a religious fanatic whose kills resemble religious symbolism. I'll admit that his kills all look genuinely creative, but the actual character kinda falls flat. He lacks a personal connection to Dexter like the Ice Cream Truck and Trinity Killers, and a big twist around the guy was so painfully obvious that it made Dexter look like an idiot for not noticing it. Dexter's central character arc about understanding spirituality was also incredibly dull and clumsily-delivered as well, lacking the same urgency of those arcs about his double life. The whole season is packed with religious symbolism and themes, and while maybe it's just me being a biased atheist, it all just bored me half to death. Maybe the season could have done something interesting with how criminals and murderers can use their faith in an attempt to justify their actions, but all we got was Religious Themes 101 painstakingly laid out for the viewer in Dexter's more-hamfisted-than-usual narration.

Was there any good in this season, though? Yeah, actually. Debra was easily one of the stronger points in Season 6, at least at first. I really liked the concept of her becoming lieutenant and having to deal with being in charge. Unfortunately, her whole therapy subplot in the second half of the season wasn't great, especially when it caused her to believe she had feelings for Dexter, her own brother. Who thought this was a good idea?! Right, positives. I also enjoyed the friend Dexter makes for the first half of the season, Brother Sam, at least to a degree. Their conversations about religion were fairly repetitive, but Mos Def's performance was charming and his chemistry with Dexter was natural enough to keep me somewhat engaged during their scenes together. I liked the Ghost Brian stuff, that was a pretty cool idea that was very underutilized. But outside of that, the only thing that I really loved from this season was Debra finally catching Dexter in the act in the finale. It's a great twist, though I feel like it would have been better at the end of Season 5. Any excuse to skip the rest of this otherwise very lackluster season.

Still, as much as I disliked this season, there were two solid episodes here:

Nebraska: Why wasn't the whole season like this?! I've been wanting Dexter to "evolve" since the end of Season 2, and him having Brian Moser as his Dark Passenger was the perfect way to do that! Imagine a entire season where "Brian" slowly convinces Dexter to leave his father's code, be more ruthless with his kills, and embrace that darkness he waxes poetic about so much. Essentially a dark buddy film between Dexter and his imaginary brother, Nebraska was easily the highlight of the season, and felt like a taste of what could've been. The relation it has to the Trinity Killer definitely helped, even if it ends up reminding me of several better seasons of Dexter.

This Is The Way The World Ends: As an end to the main seasonal arc, this was as bad of an episode as anything else this season. Maybe even worse if you add in the continuation of Debra's incest storyline. As a finale and a set-up for next season, however, it actually works really well. Louis wanting a job at Miami Metro, Batista threatening to transfer Quinn, and of course, Debra catching Dexter in the middle of a kill all makes for fantastic hooks for Season 7, and easily the cliffhangeriest finale of Dexter yet.

Overall, Season 6 was Dexter was my least favorite season of the show by a mile, at least so far. It has its rare good moments, but most of Season 6 is bogged down by a weak villain, predictable twist, uninteresting character arc for Dexter, dull and confused religious theming, and whatever the hell the Debra incest subplot is. It's not obviously or hilariously bad, but Season 6 of Dexter was just a bore throughout, and maybe that's even worse.

1/5 Stars

Dexter (Season 5)

I liked Season 5 of Dexter. Though that the common consensus seems to be that Dexter stops being good after Season 4, I was surprised to find that this was an immensely enjoyable season. Not one of the series' best, but another solid Dexter season that doesn't feel like it's skipped a beat.

The main plot of Season 5 is kicked-off when Dexter is caught during a kill by a girl named Lumen, who was raped and tortured by the gang that guy Dexter killed was a part of. After grappling over what to do for a second, Dexter decides to help Lumen kill all of the members of the gang. I actually really like this storyline. Dexter being discovered by someone is a great way to up the stakes, the main antagonist being a group of people is a unique change, and most importantly of all, I really like Dexter and Lumen's chemistry a lot. They play off each other really well, especially in the second half of the season, and given what happened with Miguel, I really liked seeing Dexter is a more mutually respectful and supportive partnership. With Dexter dealing with his wife's death and Lumen having just escaped her abusers, it was surprisingly heartwarming to see them work through their issues together. And the "Barrel Girl Gang" the two face off against are fittingly detestable antagonists. Unfortunately, the finale sent Lumen off and generally felt like a bit of a reset button, which was a bit of a disappointment. Still, the main storyline of Season 5 was very fun and engaging throughout even with a weaker ending.

However, just like Season 4, the subplots this time around are a bit of a mixed bag. Obviously with Rita's death, the show has to deal with the fallout of those events. While this leads to a very emotional and compelling first two episodes, the show eventually shifts gears to focus on that main Lumen storyline, which I found to be a bit of a shame. Miami Metro has their own case that they try to solve for most of the season, not unlike Season 3, but the Santa Muerte Killer doesn't quite have the same mystery as some of the show's prior serial killers. Quinn has a subplot where he starts suspecting Dexter killed his wife, and while it mostly starts with him being Doakes 2, the subplot kicks in when he hires a slimy cop named Liddy to investigate. I love Liddy, he's a very charming minor antagonist played by Peter Weller, who always manages to kill it in his guest star roles. Finally, there's the continuing drama between Maria and Batista, and it still sucks. It's too convoluted and melodramatic, and they just don't have the chemistry that would make their storylines work better. Still, there were some subplots I enjoyed, like Debra getting suspended, Dexter looking for a nanny, and the stuff involving Astor.

There were plenty of highlights this season, such as:

My Bad: While I wish more of this season focused a bit more on the fallout of Rita's death, maybe have Dexter getting to take a darker turn out of grief, My Bad was still a fantastic and messy premiere. Dexter spends the whole episode struggling to express his grief, and it culminates in some of Michael C Hall's best acting at the end of the episode. The fallout of Rita's death is as messy as I had hoped it would've been, and all of the loose ends left in Season 4 are resolved very well.

Take It!: There was something very complete about this episode, focusing almost entirely on Dexter and Lumen trying to kill Cole, one of the members of the Barrel Girl Gang. This was the episode that really sold me on Dexter and Lumen's partnership, they work really well together! In addition, there's a nice cliffhanger with Liddy recording Dexter disposing the bodies, and a solid subplot about Debra getting suspended.

In The Beginning: Easily my favorite episode in the season, In The Beginning really kicks the final act of Season 5 into high gear. Miami Metro uncovering the CDs changes everything, from getting them more involved in the Barrel Girls case, to Lumen watching a video of what happened to her, to Debra realizing that "Victim 13" might be killed everyone in the gang. Not to mention Lumen killing off the second-to-last member of the gang, Dexter and Lumen sleeping together, Liddy getting even more footage of Dexter, and Jordan showing up at the police station. This episode was just packed with fantastic moments.

Hop A Freighter: This was a pretty great penultimate episode that resolves the Liddy subplot in spectacular fashion. It's always fun when Dexter is in danger of being found out, and his final confrontation with Liddy was unironically more intense and exciting that the one with Chase in the next episode. The cliffhanger where Lumen gets kidnapped was also a terrifying and tense note to end on going into the final episode.

Overall, Season 5 was a pretty good season of Dexter. It definitely has its issues like some weak subplots and a disappointing ending, the main storyline is so engaging and the central relationship so great that I'd still call this season a success.

4/5 Stars

Episode Rankings: Keep Your Hands Off, Eizouken

Keep Your Hands Off, Eizouken is such a great show, especially for someone who's into film like I am. It's a true love letter to the medium of animation that still has some biting critique on some of the issues with the industry. The characters are likable, the animation is fluid, and the brisk pacing is top-notch. It's easily one of my favorite animes out there. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. The Grand Shibahama Festival (Episode 8)
2. Hold That Machete Tight (Episode 4)
3. Shibahama UFO Wars (Episode 12)
4. Aim For Comet A (Episode 9)
5. The Greatest World (Episode 1)
6. Each Other's Existence (Episode 11)
7. I Have To Do It For Myself (Episode 7)
8. The Eizouken Takes The Stage (Episode 2)
9. An Iron Giant Appears (Episode 5)
10. Let's Accomplish Something (Episode 3)
11. Against Our Independent World (Episode 10)
12. Let's Do Better Than Last Time (Episode 6)

Episode Rankings: K-On

The show that got me into watching anime, K-On is a series that will always be near and dear to my heart. It may be a slice of life anime, but the characters are incredibly likable and well-realized, the animation is super impressive and fluid to this day, and the second season of the series can get genuinely melancholic as the characters deal with graduating high school in some very real ways. It's one of the only shows or movies to ever make me cry which is a testament to how well K-On lands its more emotional moments. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Yet Another School Festival (S2.20) - Maybe watching this episode right after my own graduation wasn't the best idea... No, I'm not crying!
2. Graduation Ceremony (S2.24) - Goddamnit, it happened again!
3. K-On: The Movie (Movie) - How is this show doing this to me?!
4. Romeo And Juliet (S2.19)
5. Winter Days (OVA 1) - One of the most beautiful animations ever, anime or otherwise
6. Summer Training (S2.14) - Bar none the funniest episode of the show
7. Teacher (S2.10) - The Redemption Of Sawako Yamanaka
8. Summer Festival (S2.12)
9. Planning Discussion (OVA 3)
10. Leading Role (S2.18)
11. Light Music (S1.12)
12. After School (S2.23) - Such a melancholy penultimate episode, absolutely fantastic
13. Staying Behind (S2.05) - I'd take an anime about Ui and her friends
14. Live House (OVA 2)
15. Tea Party (S2.07)
16. School Festival (S1.06)
17. Marathon Tournament (S2.15)
18. Seniors (S2.01)
19. Graduation Yearbook (S2.21)
20. Visit (OVA 4)
21. Field Trip (S2.04)
22. Freshman Reception (S1.08)
23. No Club Room (S2.17)
24. Late Summer Greeting Club (S2.13) - Such a weird dreamlike episode, it kinda stuck with me!
25. Advisor (S1.05)
26. Plan (OVA 5)
27. Drummer (S2.03)
28. New Club Member (S1.09)
29. Finals (S2.09)
30. Instruments (S1.02)
31. Entrance Exams (S2.22)
32. Crisis (S1.11)
33. Hot (S2.11)
34. Training Camp (S1.04)
35. Career (S2.08)
36. Upperclassmen (S2.16)
37. Disband The Club (S1.01)
38. Clean Up (S2.02)
39. Another Training Camp (S1.10)
40. Rainy Season (S2.06)
41. Cram Session (S1.03)
42. Christmas (S1.07) - The only time K-On crossed the line into irritatingly heartwarming

Dexter (Season 4)

Season 3 wasn't a bad season, but it was pretty low stakes and lacking in much intensity. Season 4 swung the complete opposite way, this is hands down the darkest season of the whole show and I absolutely loved it.

Season 4 is about Dexter trying to stop a serial killer called the Trinity Killer, who kills in triplets that recreate the death of his own family. This easily rivals the BHB storyline from Season 2 as the best thing Dexter has done to date. The Trinity Killer (aka Arthur Mitchell) is a terrifying antagonist, made even scarier by John Lithgow's chilling and unhinged performance. This is hands-down the scariest season of Dexter yet and it's all because of Mitchell. There are a lot of things I love about this storyline, like how Lundy introduces the case but gets killed off early in the season leaving Dexter and Debra to solve it on their own, or how he becomes a bit of a pseudo father figure for Dexter who wants to learn how he juggles being a serial killer and a family man, or the reveal that he manages to juggle those aspects by being an incredibly abusive father. The tension slowly builds as the Trinity Killer does increasingly demented things, culminating in a phenomenal last four episodes that blow the endings of Seasons 1 and 2 out of the water entirely. It also helps that Dexter's arc about juggling his own family life and being a serial killer epitomizes what I love about the series, with all the messes Dexter has to deal with pilling up episode after episode. And unlike the first three seasons, he's not actually able to clean all of them.

In terms of its subplots, Season 4 is a bit more of a mixed bag than seasons past. One of the bigger storylines this season involves Quinn entering a relationship with an annoying reporter named Christine that causes him to develop some tension with Dexter and Debra. While I predictably found Christine annoying at first, the late season reveal that she's Arthur Mitchell's daughter and the one who shot Lundy made her an infinitely more interesting character. Similarly, Rita bonding with a neighbor as Dexter struggles with family life wasn't all that entertaining, but Masuka stumbling on Rita and said neighbor kissing turned this storyline to absolute gold (not to mention what happens to Rita). The only storyline I really didn't love this season was Angel and Laguerta entering a relationship together. It's not because I don't like them together, though. I think they're both great characters and am perfectly fine with them dating. It's more just that their back-and-forth about keeping their relationship secret got really annoying really fast. Thankfully, however, these are all subplots, and the Trinity Killer stuff is so damn good, I'm willing to excuse the season's weaker elements.

While this season was pretty good, most of the highlights ended up being in the final four episodes:

Dirty Harry: Characters dying in TV shows tends to be pretty emotional and shocking, but I found that what really makes for great television is what comes after the death, the fallout or "aftermath" episode. Case in point: Lundy dying was a gut punch, but Debra blaming herself and struggling to deal with his death was what really left me gutted. Even more, this episode has Dexter and Rita's relationship start to get especially strained as she learns he still has his apartment, as well as Dexter learning of the Trinity Killer's identity and that he's also a family man. 

Hungry Man: I don't think I've felt this anxious and sickened by an episode of TV since Ozymandias and An Alchemist's Anguish. Pretty much everything that happened at the Mitchell household over Thanksgiving was just increasing levels of "Nope". The tension just kept boiling throughout the episode until that insane blowout at the table, where both Mitchell's and Dexter's monstrous sides really show. The fact that it all takes place on Thanksgiving, a time when even the most dramatic shows tend to have their most light-hearted episodes, just makes it seeing all of Mitchell's abuse all the more shocking. Thankfully, the stuff at Rita's house added enough levity to keep Hungry Man from feeling too grim, and both Christine twists were absolutely fantastic. I was glued to the screen all episode, it's hands down the best thing Dexter has done to date.

Lost Boys: In case Hungry Man wasn't intense enough, this episode has Dexter frantically try to track Arthur down to stop him from killing a little kid. Lost Boys is intense and scary, with Mitchell at his most eerily childlike, and it culminates in a pretty great battle between the two serial killers. Outside of that, Debra getting confirmation that Christine is lying through their interview was pretty clever.

Hello, Dexter Morgan: This episode had so much going on in it that I can't just single out a reason why I think it's so good. Obviously, the best moment was the ending, where the Trinity Killer finally learns about Dexter's true identity. But there's also Christine's suicide, Dexter pretending to be mad about Rita kissing their neighbor, Laguerta and Angel's surprisingly clever wedding, and Dexter racing through a kill. Any one of these scenes would be the highlight of your average Dexter episode, but they all happened in Hello, Dexter Morgan.

The Getaway: Season 4 of Dexter is a tragedy, it was always going to be. It has all the hallmarks of it. While the antagonist is bad, Dexter ended up facing consequences for decisions he made. He had tons of chances to kill the Trinity Killer, but his inability to juggle his life constantly got in the way. So Mitchell finally died, it was about time, but for the first time Dexter faced lasting consequences for his decisions, and Rita died. It's an awful but genius twist ending, packed with symbolism and leaving me wondering how the show would continue. But even outside of that, this finale has Debra learning about Laura Moser and the relationship between Dexter and the Ice Cream Killer, a moment long overdue. The Getaway really feels like a series finale in a lot of ways, albeit a dark one. It's just as satisfying as the previous three finales while still packing a massive gut punch for its ending.

Overall, while it had a bit of a slow start and some weaker subplots, Season 4 managed to stand out with a phenomenal antagonist, grippingly darker tone, and fantastic final few episodes that even managed to save the season's weaker elements.

5/5 Stars

Episode Rankings: Frasier

I don't think I need to say that Frasier is a fantastic sitcom. It's smart, well-acted, and filled with brilliant farcical episodes. At its best, Frasier feels almost Rube Goldberg-ian, with every single line managing to pay off in the second half of the episode in the funniest way possible. This is my ranking of all the Frasier episodes in Seasons 1-7 and 11. I'm not including Seasons 8-10 because they are bad.

1. Ham Radio (S4.18)
2. The Ski Lodge (S5.14)
3. Something Borrowed, Someone Blue: Part 2 (S7.24)
4. Three Valentines (S6.14) - I could watch a whole silent film with David Hyde Pierce in it
5. Mixed Doubles (S4.06)
6. Moon Dance (S3.13)
7. Goodbye, Seattle: Part 1 (S11.23)
8. The Matchmaker (S2.03)
9. Shutout In Seattle: Part 2 (S6.24)
10. The Two Mrs Cranes (S4.01)
11. Merry Christmas, Mrs Moskowitz (S6.10)
12. Halloween (S5.03)
13. Back Talk (S7.10)
14. Visions Of Daphne (S6.22)
15. First Date (S5.20)
16. My Coffee With Niles (S1.24)
17. An Affair To Forget (S2.21)
18. Perspectives On Christmas (S5.09)
19. Dark Side Of The Moon (S7.21)
20. Three Dates And A Breakup: Part 2 (S4.20)
21. Goodbye, Seattle: Part 2 (S11.24)
22. A Midwinter Night's Dream (S1.17)
23. The Innkeepers (S2.23)
24. The Maris Counselor (S5.13)
25. Something Borrowed, Someone Blue: Part 1 (S7.23)
26. Shutout In Seattle: Part 1 (S6.23)
27. The Last Time I Saw Maris (S3.08)
28. Frasier Crane's Day Off (S1.23)
29. Decoys (S6.16)
30. The Fight Before Christmas (S7.11)
31. High Crane Drifter (S3.17)
32. Adventures In Paradise: Part 2 (S2.09)
33. Daphne Hates Sherry (S4.21)
34. The Dinner Party (S6.17)
35. Crock Tales (S11.22)
36. Look Before You Leap (S3.16)
37. They're Playing Our Song (S7.13)
38. Room Service (S5.15)
39. Are You Being Served? (S4.22)
40. Frasier Lite (S11.12)
41. The Show Where Lilith Comes Back (S1.16)
42. Three Dates And A Breakup: Part 1 (S4.19)
43. Roz In The Doghouse (S2.12)
44. Travels With Martin (S1.21)
45. Dial M For Martin (S6.03)
46. High Holidays (S11.11)
47. Voyage Of The Damned (S5.06)
48. Chess Pains (S3.18)
49. To Tell The Truth (S6.15)
50. The Good Son (S1.01)
51. Good Grief (S6.01)
52. Dark Victory (S2.24)
53. The Seal Who Came To Dinner (S6.08)
54. Boo! (S11.16)
55. Out With Dad (S7.15) - Just a worse The Matchmaker
56. Death And The Dog (S4.12)
57. Adventures In Paradise: Part 1 (S2.08)
58. The Impossible Dream (S4.03)
59. Daphne's Room (S2.17)
60. RDWRER (S7.12)
61. No Sex Please, We're Skittish (S11.01) - Best course correction of all time.
62. Shrink Wrap (S3.02)
63. The Life Of The Party (S5.22)
64. When A Man Loves Two Women (S6.21)
65. Guns And Neuroses (S11.09)
66. A Lilith Thanksgiving (S4.07)
67. Where There's Smoke, There's Fired (S3.21)
68. How To Bury A Millionaire (S6.07)
69. And Frasier Makes Three (S11.20)
70. The Candidate (S2.07)
71. Agents In America: Part 3 (S2.22)
72. Love Bites Dog (S4.02)
73. Morning Becomes Entertainment (S7.19)
74. Maris Returns (S11.07)
75. Frasier's Imaginary Friend (S5.01)
76. Sweet Dreams (S5.24)
77. Roz, A Loan (S6.09)
78. Frasier Grinch (S3.09)
79. Can't Buy Me Love (S1.14)
80. Author, Author (S1.22)
81. The Kid (S5.04)
82. The Show Where Diane Comes Back (S3.14)
83. To Kill A Talking Bird (S4.14)
84. She's His Boss (S3.01)
85. Oops (S1.10)
86. You Can Go Home Again (S3.24)
87. The Club (S2.18)
    
88. The Apparent Trap (S7.09)
89. Secret Admirer (S6.06)
90. Flour Child (S2.04)
91. Dr Nora (S6.20)
92. Dinner At Eight (S1.03)
93. Murder Most Maris (S11.08)
94. Something About Dr Mary (S7.16)
95. Odd Man Out (S4.24)
96. The Show Where Sam Shows Up (S2.16)
97. Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name (S5.10)
98. Father Of The Bride (S7.02)
99. Frasier's Curse (S6.02)
100. Dad Loves Sherry, The Boys Just Whine (S4.09)
101. You Can't Tell A Crook By His Cover (S1.15)
102. Coots And Ladders (S11.17)
103. Come Lie With Me (S3.12)
104. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (S3.05)
105. The Doctor Is Out (S11.03) - Just a worse, worse The Matchmaker
106. Head Game (S4.05)
107. The Botched Language Of Cranes (S2.06)
108. Sleeping With The Enemy (S3.06)
109. Match Game (S11.18)
110. The Gift Horse (S5.02)
111. The Perfect Guy (S5.17)
112. Roz's Turn (S4.17)
113. Martin Does It His Way (S3.03)
114. And The Whimper Is... (S1.18)
115. The Show Where Woody Shows Up (S6.13)
116. The Unnatural (S4.16)
117. A Word To The Wiseguy (S3.15)
118. I Hate Frasier Crane (S1.04)
119. Roz And The Schnoz (S5.21)
120. To Thine Old Self Be True (S7.20)
121. Someone To Watch Over Me (S2.19)
122. Whine Club (S7.17)
123. A Man A Plan And A Gal: Julia (S11.02)
124. Taps At The Montana (S6.18)
125. Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do (S5.11)
126. Space Quest (S1.02)
127. It's Hard To Say Goodbye If You Won't Leave (S3.10)
128. Mamma Mia (S7.01)
129. A Crane's Critique (S4.04)
130. Retirement Is Murder (S2.13)
131. Party, Party (S5.23)
132. Frasier Loves Roz (S3.22)
133. Rivals (S7.06)
134. Four For The Seesaw (S4.13)
135. The Babysitter (S11.04)
136. The Crucible (S1.06)
137. Guess Who's Coming To Breakfast (S1.13)
138. Radio Wars (S7.03)
139. Adventures Of Bad Boy And Dirty Girl (S3.07)
140. First Do No Harm (S6.05)
141. Bad Dog (S5.18)
142. Beloved Infidel (S1.08)
143. My Fair Frasier (S5.07)
144. The Unkindliest Cut Of All (S2.02)
145. Duke, We Hardly Knew Ye (S2.05)
146. Leapin' Lizards (S3.04)
147. Caught In The Act (S11.15)
148. Three Days Of The Condo (S4.11)
149. Good Samaritan (S6.11)
150. The Zoo Story (S5.12)
151. You Scratch My Book (S2.15)
152. Here's Looking At You (S1.05)
153. Police Story (S3.20)
154. Miss Right Now (S11.19)
155. Hot Pursuit (S7.18)
156. Give Him The Chair (S1.19)
157. Selling Out (S1.09)
158. Slow Tango In South Seattle (S2.01)
159. Miracle On Third Or Fourth Street (S1.12)
160. IQ (S6.19)
161. A Tsar Is Born (S7.07)
162. Our Father Who's Art Ain't Heaven (S4.08)
163. Breaking The Ice (S2.20)
164. Roz's Krantz & Gouldenstein Are Dead (S4.15)
165. The Focus Group (S3.23)
166. Burying A Grudge (S2.10)
167. I'm Listening (S11.06)
168. Desperately Seeking Closure (S5.08)
169. The Three Faces Of Frasier (S7.21)
170. Detour (S11.21)
171. Ask Me No Questions (S4.23)
172. The 100th Show (S5.05)
173. Seat Of Power (S2.11)
174. Death Becomes Him (S1.11)
175. Hot Ticket (S6.04)
176. Frasier Gotta Have It (S5.19)
177. Liar! Liar! (S4.10)
178. Crane Vs Crane (S3.19)
179. Everybody's A Critic (S7.04)
180. The Ann Who Came To Dinner (S11.13)
181. The Placeholder (S11.05)
182. Call Me Irresponsible (S1.07)
183. Big Crane On Campus (S7.14)
184. Sea Bee Jeebies (S11.10)
185. The Friend (S3.11)
186. Fool Me Once, Shame On You, Fool Me Twice (S2.14)
187. Our Parents, Ourselves (S6.12)
188. Beware The Greeks (S5.16)
189. The Dog That Rocks The Cradle (S7.05)
190. The Late Dr Crane (S7.08)
191. Fortysomething (S1.20)
192. Freudian Sleep (S11.14) - What the hell was this episode?! That was terrifying!

Dexter (Season 3)

How do you top Season 2 of Dexter? The season where the main protagonist was the one being pursued? How do you raise the stakes after that? Well, if Season 3 is any indication, you don't.

Season 3 of Dexter started off with a lot of potential, and pretty much wasted all of it. The previous season ended with Dexter declaring that he was going to evolve and follow his own code from now on, but then he spends much of this season advocating for Harry's code and bickering with a dream version of his father. Even more, the premiere has Dexter accidentally breaks his code by killing who he thought was an innocent person and having to grapple with that. It's a fantastic way to raise the stakes after Season 2... and then we learn the guy he killed did some bad stuff and that conflict is immediately resolved. Instead, Season 3 is about Dexter befriending that guy's brother, a District Attorney named Miguel Prado, and slowly letting him into the true nature of his life. 

Let me get this straight, this is not a bad storyline. Miguel is a genuinely fascinating character with a lot of nuances, and I'd say this season is a pretty strong character study of the guy. The first half of the season is a bit slow and basically just "Dexter makes a friend", but as Miguel starts to justify killing people he hates and reveals his manipulation of Dexter, he becomes a genuinely chilling antagonist. He has great chemistry with Dexter and as the season goes on, their conversations start to feel like a game of mental chess between the two of them. However, this storyline only really gets good for me around two-thirds into the season, and even then it lacks the gripping tension and heightened stakes from the first two seasons. Those seasons left me wondering how Dexter would get out of the situation he was. With this season, I was pretty damn confident Dexter would kill Miguel by the end, and he did. I'd probably enjoy this storyline more if it hadn't come after Season 2, but after such a high bar, this season didn't even come close to reaching it. 

Thankfully, the rest of the cast did a pretty good job of picking up the slack. While not as fleshed out as the Ice Cream Killer or even Miguel, I liked The Skinner as another neat "serial killer with a gimmick" for the police station to try to take down, and when he starts targeting characters we actually know and care about, the storyline begins to develop the tension and personal stakes that the Miguel storyline kinda lacked. And while Dexter's arc from last season wasn't continued all that smoothly, Debra spends the whole season trying to earn her detective shield, and I ended up rooting for her the whole way. She also had another interesting love interest in the laid-back and smooth Anton, played by David Ramsey in a role way different than what I was used to seeing him play (Diggle from Arrow). But my favorite storyline from this season was easily the one with Rita, where she learns she's pregnant and starts to plan a wedding with Dexter. While those types of storylines usually don't stand out to me, watching Dexter deal with the thought of being a father and committing to his relationship with Rita is just really engaging. This really is one of the few shows where I can say I like the relationship drama more than much of the actual plot.

While most of the season felt a bit average, there were some great episodes near the end:

Go Your Own Way: When I said that Dexter and Miguel were playing mental chess, this was really the episode I was talking about, and it's probably the best one of the whole season. It starts a bit slow, but then Dexter and Miguel start making moves to ruin the lives of each other and the people they care about, at which point the season's stakes really start to be felt. Dexter and Miguel's conflict impacts Rita, LaGuerta, Debra, Anton, and Sylvia, with no one really leaving the episode unscathed. It all culminates in a great confrontation on the rooftop, a great twist that connects the two previously disconnected antagonists, and an awesome cliffhanger that ended up just being a fakeout next episode.

Do You Take Dexter Morgan?: This was another really satisfying finale. While not super unpredictable, the final confrontation between Dexter and The Skinner was surprisingly intense, and all of the storylines get fairly strong resolutions. Debra looking into her father is probably the best hook for next season we got yet, and the wedding between Dexter and Rita was a sweet way to end off the season.

Overall, Season 3 was a decent season of Dexter, but it definitely suffered coming off the heights of Seasons 1 & 2. Miguel was an interesting character and the subplots were fantastic, but the lack of stakes or tension until the last few episodes really dragged it down for me.

3/5 Stars

Dexter (Season 2)

One of my favorite episodes of Dexter's first season is Return To Sender, which has him frantically try to cover his tracks and avoid being found out by the police. Season 2 is that episode extended over a whole season, and it's amazing. 

Season 2 starts with the police department uncovering all of the bodies that Dexter has ever killed, kickstarting an investigation into who they call the "Bay Harbor Butcher". This essentially makes Dexter the antagonist of the season, and that just leads to an incredibly gripping dynamic as he tries to derail the investigation. The tension slowly rises throughout the season with the last few episodes feeling almost claustrophobic in how monitored and close to be outed Dexter is. I definitely wasn't expecting that Dexter would almost be found out so early in the show though. With six seasons left, I can't help but wonder if the writers set the bar too high. Like with many of these types of storylines, there is a lead detective who's heading the investigation, Lundy. Usually the detective ends up being a massive jerk or secretly corrupt, but I actually like how Lundy is a genuinely nice guy and a smart detective. It really illustrates how Dexter is the bad guy here. On the other hand, there is also Doakes who's much more of a cowboy cop type. I don't like Doakes, him stalking Dexter under a fairly ableist motivation ("He's a freak show!") made me lose any potential sympathy for the guy. However, I'm glad it seems the writers knew this since the second half of the season had his actions end up being the thing that got him framed as the BHB. 

Season 2 also does an amazing job of fleshing out its characters and taking them to some really new and interesting places. Dexter's relationship with Rita gets strained throughout the season, between her believing his secret is that he does drugs, her awful mom coming over, and him cheating on her with her fake sponsor Lila. Lila is an interesting character, very annoying but purposefully so. She's a representation of Dexter's worst impulses, and she and Rita perfectly illustrate his whole arc about figuring out if he should double down on being the Bay-Harbor Butcher or start trying to "recover". Meanwhile, Debra dealing with the Ice-Cream Killer event is also really compelling and outside of the iffy age gap, I really like how healthy and supportive her relationship is with Lundy. And characters like LaGuerta and Batista have subplots that have them make some really fascinating decisions that might not paint them in the most flattering light. That's really what I love about this season, it's not just recreating what worked in Season 1. Season 2 of Dexter does new things with the story and characters and nails pretty much all of it.

This season was very consistently strong, but these episodes are the highlight:

Dex, Lies, And Videotapes: From this episode onwards, the season becomes nearly perfect. Dex, Lies, And Videotapes is a big turning point from the season, between Dexter and Rita's uncomfortable breakup and Doakes finally starting to get in trouble for harrassing Dexter. But outside of all that, Dexter trying to delete a videofile captures the same tense energy I loved in Return To Sender, and I love the idea of a mock killer that actually idolizes the Bay Harbor Butcher as a vigilante.

That Night, A Forest Grew: This was a fantastic continuation of the previous episodes and easily one of the most important episodes of the season. Once again, I was very happy to see Doakes get fired even though he was egged on by Dexter. This is the episode where you start to realize just how dangerous Lila is, as well as when Lundy and Debra get together. But the best part is the whole manifesto plot that is mostly really funny until it leads Lundy to realize the BHB is in law enforcement.

Resistance Is Futile: First, I love the Borg reference. Second, this was a fantastic episode, easily my favorite yet. It's probably the climax of the season, as Dexter and Rita start to reconnect and make up and Doakes officially gets framed for being the BHB. I love the several fakeouts where you think Dexter was finally found out. The final scene was also fantastic, an intense confrontation that leads to Doakes getting captured by Dexter, kickstarting the rest of the season.

Left Turn Ahead: While the big reveal last episode about Dexter's father was a massive gut punch, I found this episode even better. Dexter dealing with the thought that he caused his father to commit suicide inspired him to start seriously considering turning himself in, leading to a pretty affecting "Dexter's last day" episode. Outside of that, the tension continues to rise as we get some great set-up for the finale, between Lundy getting evidence Doakes might be innocent and Lila finding Doakes. Also, I really like how supportive everyone was of Batista's situation this episode, I found that really sweet.

The British Invasion: While I kinda wish the Bay Harbor Butcher storyline wasn't resolved so early, this was a really satisfying finale that tied up all the loose ends super neatly. The first fifteen minutes were the highlight for me, especially the faux happy ending that led to a silly retread of the title sequence. However, I also really liked Debra's goodbye with Lundy, LaGuerta dealing with Doakes' death, and generally the final few minutes that killed off Lila and resolved the character arcs for both Debra and Dexter damn near perfectly.

Overall, Season 2 of Dexter is everything a great second season should be. It takes everything that was established in the first season and expands on it all, with fantastic character arcs, a tense and gripping main storyline, interesting "antagonists", and a phenomenal last few episodes. This was a fantastic season of television that I think will be hard for Dexter to top.

5/5 Stars