Veep (Season 4)

Halfway through the series, Veep changes showrunners from Armando Ianucci to David Mandel. Season 4 would be Ianucci's last season, and wow did he go off with a bang. All of Ianucci's seasons had been steadily improving, but Season 4 isn't just his best season, it's the best season of Veep period.

Continuing where Season 3 left off, Season 4 essentially has two running storylines. The first storyline is the continuation of the election storyline, as the season builds up to and ultimately ends with the long-awaited 2016 presidential election. Selina ends up getting a running mate this season in Tom James, so much of the second half of Season 4 deals with the tension between those two fighting for attention, which ultimately comes to a head during the finale is the absolute best way possible. The other major storyline is the fact that Selina is now president, which once again expands the scope of what the show is able to accomplish since she's no longer locked out of anything. Her failures also have even greater consequences than ever before, leaving to some hilarious subplots about Selina dealing with speech typos, a data breach, and a bill that initially seems like a good idea before quickly turning toxic.

But I think what really solidifies Season 4 as my favorite in all of Veep is Selina's toxicity this season and the tension within the main cast. By now, it's obvious that Selina is a really crummy and awful boss and I feel that Ianucci wanted her to actually face some consequences for her actions towards her staff for his last season working on the show. Season 4 has some really tense and well-acted confrontations between Selina and characters like Gary, Amy, and Dan, with several of her staff up and leaving for much of the season. These confrontations make for easily the best moments of the season, and all of the buildup in Seasons 1-3 help to make them feel all the more impactful. In addition, Season 4 is where the show really starts to solidify the hilarious duo of Jonah and Richard, whose banter makes for one of the best things about the second half of Veep.

Highlights:

East Wing: While already a solid episode, East Wing became especially great because of the big fight between Gary and Selina in the ending. The acting from Julia-Louis Dreyfus and Tony Hale was fantastic, and seeing Gary finally stand up for himself felt incredibly powerful and important given how much of an ass-kisser he usually is. When even Gary calls Selina out, it really puts into perspective just how toxic she's starting to become.

Convention: Easily one of the best episodes of the series, Convention really has a bit of everything. It has a huge shake-up in the plot as Selina has Tom James become his running mate, it has a lot of fun satire and comedy within the titular convention, and best of all, it has a phenomenal scene where Amy completely snaps, rips Selina a new one, and quits.

Testimony: The ending of Season 4 is a one-two punch of two of the best episodes in Veep, starting with Testimony, which has the whole cast get put on trial during an investigation of Selina's Families First Bill as well as the data breach. While both of those loose ends are tied fairly neatly without any major consequences, it's the writing and comedy that makes this one of my favorite episodes. Seeing the cast (especially Jonah) embarrass and accuse each other in a court makes for a very entertaining episode.

Election Night: Coming directly after Testimony is my favorite finale in Veep, resolving all of the storylines in a grand and unpredictable way, living up to all the hype and build-up of the last two seasons and then some. There's such a great blend of chaos and emotional pathos as the whole staff deals with the emotional rollercoaster than an election, and the ending having the election end with a tie and Tom Jones potentially being able to win is just such a genius twist that lets Selina stay a little longer as president as well as brings her tension with Tom to a head. 

Overall, Season 4 is the best season of Veep hands down. Between Selina's time as president, the election storyline coming to a climactic end, the fantastic lineup of episodes, and the tension between the main cast erupting in the best ways possible, Season 4 is ten episodes straight of sitcom perfection.

5/5 Stars

Veep (Season 3)

In my Season 2 review, I mentioned that Veep really gets good once Selina starts trying to become president, and Season 3 is perfect evidence as to why. This is the best season of Veep yet and the start of what is essentially the series' peak.

Season 3 is about the start of the show's version of the 2016 elections, as Selina tries to run for president against her rival Danny Chung, the Secretary Of Defense George Maddox, and an ex-baseball manager named Joe Thornhill (he doesn't get much screentime, of course). There's just something inherently fun about election storylines, and seeing Selina and the team try (and usually fail) to run campaigns and make good impressions on people is immensely entertaining. While Selina screwing up always had consequences in previous seasons, the fact that she's now in constant danger of tanking her campaign makes her failures all the more impactful and hilarious. I also have to give praise to the phenomenal final stretch of episodes, which includes a debate episode, a primary episode, and what is probably the show's biggest twist involving the current president of the US. Veep has a bunch of moments where I feel the show bumps up in quality, notably Nicknames, Hostages, and DC, and those last few episodes of Season 3 are another one of those moments.

Just like in the previous season, pretty much every character has their own subplot, but there's two in particular that I wanted to bring up in this review. First, there's Jonah, who probably gets his best material in this season. His whole storyline about writing his own blog and eventually news site is absolutely hysterical in how it creates even more chaos for Selina's campaign and pretty much solidifies Jonah as the lamest character in the cast. The other character I wanted to bring up is Richard, who was introduced in the very first episode of this season. Richard is one of my favorite characters in the show, and I think he's a necessary addition to Veep. His naivety, optimism, and bubbly attitude makes him pretty much the only nice character in the whole cast, and as a result everyone else finds him annoying and incompetent and pokes fun at him. His dynamic with Jonah is great, Sam Richardson's line delivery is great, and the way he grows in screentime and as a character throughout the show is fantastic. Hands down one of the best mid-series additions a show could have.

Highlights:

Some New Beginnings: Some New Beginnings was a strong premiere for how it followed up DC and established pretty much everything I liked about Season 3. Richard gets his first appearance, Jonah starts his blog and gets fired, and Maddox and the president both announcing their resignations sets the stage for the season's election plot.

Debate: Debate episodes are always a great time, and this episode managed to both be funny and a huge turning point in the election. Selina having an eye twitch and trying to hide it throughout the debate is a ton of fun, all of the political satire that comes from the candidates' answers during the debate is great, and Maddox possibly destroying his chances was a surprisingly turn of events. 

Crate: Crate has what is probably Veep's biggest and most iconic plot twist, where Selina and Gary learn (in a bathroom) that the president is resigning making the former his successor. The whole sequence where they find out is hysterical, as they laugh, panic, and completely freak out. 

New Hampshire: New Hampshire isn't as strong of a finale as DC, but that's because it's more of a denouement coming off the heels of Crate, meant to shift the dynamics of the show for Selina to take the role of president in Season 4. There are a bunch of great little moments in this episode, like how Selina still loses the primary anyway, and how Jonah loses his reputation on the internet and gets another job at the White House, basically ending the season the same way he started it.

Overall, Season 3 is definitely the best season of Veep yet and an huge improvement on the first two, with more consistent comedy and episode quality, a fantastic election storyline, and the addition of Richard Splett. 

4/5 Stars

Mario Party Retrospective

As strange as this may sound, I am a fan of the Mario Party games. Even more, I think it's probably the Mario series I'm the biggest fan of. Like, I love the 3D platformers, the Mario Kart games are fantastic, and the RPGs flesh out the world a lot, but there's something really special about the Mario Party games to me. They're some of the best multiplayer party experiences around, but their sheer variety of modes and minigames make for fun pick-and-play single-player titles as well. None of these games are going to rank up with my all-time favorites, but I care about the Mario Party series, and I want to talk about all of them, or at least the numbered ones.

Mario Party: Look, I get that the N64 Mario Parties are generally considered to be the best ones, but the first Mario Party is an easy candidate for worst in the series. It feels like a prototype in a lot of ways, with overly simplistic board gameplay and minigames, and a generally very unbalanced and luck-based gameplay loop. There are no items in this game whatsoever, meaning that there really isn't any strategy in playing these boards, and it doesn't help that a lot of the boards are incredibly gimmicky, from the lottery in Peach's Birthday Cake to the many moving walls in Luigi's Engine Room to the sheer awfulness that is Wario's Battle Canyon (the first of many horrible island-hopping boards). The few boards I do like (Mario's Rainbow Castle and Yoshi's Tropical Island) are incredibly simple and basic, but even they suffer from moments of cruel punishment like losing coins in minigames and literally everything about Chance Time.

But how's the rest of the game? Well, the minigames are mostly alright. There are some iconic ones here like Bumper Balls, Face Lift, Bombsketball, and Bobsled Run, but most of the minigames got improved and more fleshed-out versions in the sequels. The 1-vs-3 games are also pretty awful here, it's already my least favorite minigame type, but they're especially unbalanced in the first game. One element of Mario Party I do like are the single-player challenge minigames, they're simple but mostly a good time, and I wish they showed up more. However, I can't talk about Mario Party's minigames without bringing up the blister-inducing joystick-spinning games. To put it simply, those suck too. I actually think Mario Party's extra content is pretty cool, though. There's a lot of gamemodes and fun useless junk you can buy in the shop, and Mini-Game Island is still one of my favorite single player modes in the series. Several games have a mode where you run through every minigame, but it never feels like an adventure like it does in this one. There really is a lot of charm put into the presentation of Mario Party, from the expressive character animations, to the detailed hub of Mushroom Village, to Yasunori Mitsuda's lovely soundtrack It's a shame Mario Party's core gameplay is such a chore to play because everything around that central gameplay is super charming.

Overall, while I do have a lot of love for Mario Party's presentation and would play Mini Game Island any day, as a whole, this is a weak first entry in the series and my personal least favorite (main) Mario Party game. It's unfair, unbalanced, and incredibly basic, and all the charm in the world can't save a game that just isn't fun to play.

2/5 Stars

Mario Party 2: Mario Party 2 is a pretty huge improvement over the original in pretty much every single way. It's so good in fact that it makes the first game pretty much obsolete. As far as board gameplay goes, we finally have items! I really can't understate how important items are for making Mario Party balanced and strategic, and when you add in the fact that you can't lose coins in minigames, Chance Time was slightly nerfed, and the joystick-spinning games were completely removed, you get a game that's erased pretty much every single one of Mario Party's issues. It also helps the most of the boards are fantastic here, they're much larger and more complex with a bunch of routes and paths, and the whole gimmick of the cast wearing different costumes for each board is just incredibly charming. There's a lot of all-time great boards here like Western Land, Bowser Land, and Horror Land, though Mystery Land is the sole weak point due to being another crummy island-hopping board. Mario Party 2's core gameplay isn't quite perfect though, since you can only hold one item at a time rather than multiple. I find that the way items work in a Mario Party game is integral to my enjoyment so not being able to hold onto and choose between multiple items does drag this game down a notch for me.

I'm also a bit split on the minigames. About 50% of Mario Party 2's minigmaes are taken from the original, and pretty much all of them have been improved by a massive margin. Even minigames I liked from the original like Bumper Balls and Bobsled Run just straight-up have better versions here. And the entirely new minigames like Look Away, Shell Shocked, and Speed Hockey aren't half bad either. However, I kinda just wish we had all new minigames rather than a large amount of them being remakes, and the newly introduced duel minigames are easily some of the laziest fare in the series. As far as extra content goes, I also think Mario Party 2 is a bit weaker, expanding on certain modes like the Mini-Game Stadium but also having less unlockable content due to the lack of a shop. I also think the presentation is a bit more uneven. The boards and minigames look way more detailed graphically and I already mentioned how charming the character costumes are, but the main menu is way less interesting than Mushroom Village and I'm not a fan of how Mini-Game Coaster (the equivalent of Mini-Game Island) feels less like a grand adventure and more like a series of minigames. I also found the soundtrack to be, while still good, essentially a weaker version of Mario Party's.

I know I complained a lot here but don't get me wrong, this is easily one of the most solid games in the series. While its presentation may be lacking in some aspects and certain aspects of the Mario Party formula still haven't been fully developed, Mario Party 2 still has a fantastic lineup of boards and minigames and was able to fix pretty much every single problem that its predecessor had and then some. When the core gameplay is this strong, all the complaints I made are pretty much just nitpicks.

4/5 Stars

Mario Party 3: Mario Party 3 is easily the best N64 Mario Party and quite possibly the best in the whole series, fixing up the last few issues that MP2 had and making a damn near perfect Mario Party as a result. The core gameplay is a lot like 2's but this time, you can carry multiple items at a time, leading to probably the best and most skill-driven item game in the series. There's a wide array of items here and each of them is useful and fun to use. I also think the lineup of boards is pretty damn solid, even if none of them really reach the heights of some other games especially in terms of variety. Each board is large, with multiple routes, and has one or two gimmicks that it resolves around entirely. It's a rare game where I really don't dislike any of its board, with Chilly Waters, Woody Woods, Spiny Desert, and Waluigi's Island all having a lot of merits. The only complaint I really have at this point is that Game Guy's minigames can feel a bit luck-based and cruel, but with the items at play, trying to dodge those minigames is perfectly doable. Mario Party 3 also has an entirely new board game mode called Duel Mode, with 6 boards of its own. It's not as fun as the core gameplay and the boards are a lot more simple, but the concept of using Mario enemies to fight each other is super cool, there's a nice level of strategy to it, and it gives MP3 much more content.

As far as minigames go, Mario Party 3 is pretty great as well. Unlike its predecessor, every minigame is entirely original, and they're mostly pretty fantastic. Highlights for me include Snowball Summit, Toadstool Titan, Water Whirled, Locked Out, Eye Sore, All Fired Up, Motor Rooter, and Fowl Play. This is also the first entry to not force you to pay for minigames, which is a great change in my opinion, just unlocking them by playing them in boards is how it should be done. This is also the first Mario Party with a story mode, and it's still probably one of the better story modes, taking you through all the boards and ending with a great final boss fight. There's a whole bunch of other content too, like a gambling mode with Game Guy, multiple unlockable bonus minigames, and a pretty fleshed-out battle mode. While there isn't a shop this time, the sheer amount of boards, modes, customization, and unlockables on offer definitely makes up for it. I also have to single out this game's presentation for praise, as this might just be the best-looking N64 game. Mario Party 3 has a really cool-looking pop-up book style that's aged amazingly to this day, and the soft colors give it such a dreamy vibe. It also happens to have my favorite soundtrack in the series, a beautifully ethereal and soft score by Ichiro Shikamura that nails the feel of Mario Party perfectly.

Overall, Mario Party 3 is a phenomenal party game and one of my favorites in the series. The boards are well-designed, the item game is perfect, the minigame lineup is strong and original, the amount of content is great, and the presentation is just immaculate. 

5/5 Stars

Mario Party 4: So everyone has that one game that they know is flawed and poorly designed in some aspects but can't help but love them regardless. For me, that game is Mario Party 4, which has its very glaring issues but it does so much right and has so much charm that I can't help but love it. The core board gameplay actually had a lot of potential to be the strongest in the series, taking a lot of cues from 3 with its large array of items and complex nonlinear boards that focus around a single fleshed-out gimmick. From 5 onwards, I feel like the boards get a bit simpler, so 4 really feels like the last true N64-era Mario Party game. However, some of these boards have what I like to call "endless loops", where your player can be trapped in a single area and escaping is almost entirely down to luck. This is only exacerbated by the game's main gimmick, the Mega and Mini Mushrooms, which replace the dice modifying items. The Mega Mushroom lets you roll multiple die, but you skip pretty much every board event including the stars, and the Mini Mushroom lets you take shortcuts and do special events, but your dice is cut in half. These items have potential but, once again, the way they're implemented ultimately comes down to luck, especially when it comes to the Mini Mushroom. The fact that Mario Party 4 still has one of the largest lineups of items in the series and lets you carry multiple of them does help a bit, but I really can't help but feel like this could be an easy candidate for best in the series had the Mega/Mini Mushroom gimmick not existed. It even negatively impacts most of the boards, with only Shy Guy's Jungle Jam and Boo's Haunted Bash getting off scot-free.

With all this complaining, you might be surprised to hear that I still adore Mario Party 4. Part of this is because the minigames are some of the best in the series, including a whole bunch of gems such as Booksquirm, Dungeon Duos, Mr Blizzard's Brigade, Bob-Omb Breakers, Revers-A-Bomb, Trace Race, Paths Of Peril, and Chain Chomp Fever. There aren't too many minigames in 4 overall, but it's a matter of quality over quantity as there are hardly any minigames I actively dislike here. It's a truly fantastic lineup. But more than the strong minigames is just the ridiculous amount of content, secrets, and customization. You can create your own list of minigames to use during board games, there's a lengthy story mode that you can play to unlock boss and duel minigames, and there's quite possibly the largest and best Extra Mode in Mario Party history, which comes with a whopping eight exclusive high-scoring minigames, two entirely new boards, and an entire volleyball mode that lets you play as all the NPCs. I cannot understate how much time I've spent in the Extra Room alone, there's so much to do. 

But I think what really cinches Mario Party 4 as one of my personal favorite Mario Party games is the presentation. While some have criticized the simplistic look of all the boards as being lazy, I actually think Mario Party 4's board design does a good job at continuing the pop-up book aesthetic that 3 had established. And aside from the boards, MP4 has this unique early Gamecube look where several items and characters still look like their N64 designs (particularly the mushrooms) and the textures are all oddly realistic while still being used for fantastical locations, which I actually kinda like. There's something very artsy about the weird realistic pop-up book look of Mario Party 4 and I feel it elevates the game a bit. I also love the soundtrack, of course, as it's made by the same guy who did Mario Party 3's score. As a whole, I'm left mixed on Mario Party 4. I know that it has flaws in its board design and central gimmick, but between this being the last Mario Party game with truly complex boards, the fantastic lineup of minigames, the best extra mode in the series, the sheer amount of content, and the unparalleled presentation, I can't help but love this one. Mario Party 4 is one of my favorite Mario Party games, even if I know it shouldn't be.

4/5 Stars

Mario Party 5: From MP4 onwards, the series would start to get a bit more gimmicky in an attempt to shake things up. Mario Party 4's Mega/Mini Mushroom does suck, but the game itself still had a lot of similarities to its predecessor in terms of gameplay to prevent things from getting too bad. Mario Party 5, on the other hand, completely overhauls pretty much everything, and not for the better. This game introduces the capsule system, which replaces normal items for items that you can either use on yourself or toss onto the ground for other players to land on. I don't love capsules since a lot of them rely on the right player landing on the right spot at the right time, but the system does have its merits, as I love how most games devolve into capsules on pretty much every other space lead to a lot of chaos. However, one thing I don't like is the fact that capsules are given to you randomly, and I'm sure you can figure out why that's bad. This mechanic almost kills the game for me, since it just removes a lot of the strategy from using items in the last two entries. I also found most of the boards to be pretty generic, as they have generally been more simplified and shortened. Stages like Toy Dream, Pirate Dream, and Sweet Dream are great, but they mostly lack the complexity of something like Woody Woods, Horror Land, or Boo's Haunted Bash. And at worst, we have a whopping two island hopping boards. Granted, they're not nearly as bad as the worst of the N64 era (and I admittedly kinda like Rainbow Dream), but they're still not preferable.

As far as the minigames go, Mario Party 5 fares a little bit better. There are a lot of fantastic games here, like Hotel Goomba, Hydrostars, Later Skater, Tube It Or Lose It, Defuse Or Lose, Bill Blasters, and quite possibly the best in the series, Pushy Penguins. However, Mario Party 5 also has a lot of lazy minigame ideas, with the worst being the plethora of button-mashing minigames, probably the most out of any game in the series. This is most evident in the pretty crummy lineup of overly simplistic duel minigames, a format which the next few games would improve upon by a large margin. As far as content goes, Mario Party 5 is actually a pretty beefy title, with another solid (if a bit short) Story Mode, the introduction of a bunch of unique minigame modes (another series mainstay), and a plethora of extra content including a few large bonus minigames and the genuinely fantastic tank-fighting Super Duel Mode. I wouldn't say the extra content is as fun as it was in Mario Party 4, but this is yet another Mario Party game with a pretty impressive amount of stuff to do. As for the presentation, I'm a bit mixed. The game tries to go for a dreamy aesthetic like MP3, but it ends up mostly coming off as generic, especially since the boards are lacking in any unique environments. However, I do really like the orchestral score and think it's probably the best Mario Party soundtrack we'd get for the next few games.

Overall, Mario Party 5 is a mixed bag for me. On one hand, its board gameplay can lead to a lot of chaotic fun, the best minigames rank among some of the series, the soundtrack is great, and there's a solid amount of content. However, the boards have been simplified, the item game was pretty much ruined, the worst minigames are some of the weakest in the series, and the aesthetic is a bit step down from that of MP4's. It's still a solid Mario Party game, but nowhere near one of the best.

3/5 Stars

Mario Party 6: Mario Party 6 is my favorite GameCube Mario Party and an easy Top 3 candidate for me. It's the only one with a gimmick that actively improves the game rather than detracts from it, the minigame lineup is hands down the series' best, and there's a very impressive amount of content, once again. Mario Party 6 introduces a Day/Night cycle to all of its boards, where something changes whenever the time of day changes after 3 turns. It's a fantastic gimmick that gives every single board extra depth by forcing you to keep track of how many turns have passed, and it never intrudes on the way items work. Speaking of which, the capsules are back, but now you can buy them in a shop bringing back that level of strategy I so desperately wanted. Granted, items are a bit rarer here making for a generally less chaotic game than 5, but I still much prefer this system. While the boards still aren't as complex as the N64 era, this game introduces gimmick boards, where each board has its own unique ruleset. I'm a bit split on gimmick boards, because they can be very hit or miss. Either we get some of the best boards in the series like Faire Square and Castaway Bay, or fairly weak and frustrating fare like Snowflake Lake and Clockwork Castle. Generally though, I think the boards in MP6 are pretty good all around and are made even better by the presence of the Day/Night cycle.

But then there's the minigame lineup, and where do I even start with this one? Granite Getaway, Catch You Letter, Daft Rafts, Lift Leapers, Pokey Punch-Out, Throw Me A Bone, Cash Flow, Snow Brawl, Ball Dozers, Jump The Gun, Clean Team, Control Shtick, Full Tilt, T-Minus Five, and that's only scratching the surface. Mario Party 6's minigames are creative, consistently fantastic, and always a ton of fun. And not only is there a lot of them (a whopping 81!), most of them have Day and Night variants, some of which even changing the way the minigames are played! As far as extra content goes, Mario Party 6 doesn't have quite as much stuff as the previous two games, but the stuff it does have is really fun. Solo Mode is one of my favorite campaigns in the series, as even though it lacks a story or final boss, it has three entirely original boards and can be used to unlock minigames super quickly. There's a Mic Mode that offers a bunch of fun activities using the Gamecube's microphone, a shop, and a bunch of fun bonus minigames, so there's a decent amount of extra content. As for the presentation, it's an improvement over the fifth game in terms of graphical quality and a lot of unique Mario enemies and NPCs are placed around the boards, but it's still a far cry from the charm of the earlier games. Similarly the soundtrack is mostly just alright. There are some fantastic tracks, but it's definitely the weakest one so far.

Overall, though, Mario Party 6 is one of the best games in the series because it nails what truly matters: The boards and the minigames. The minigames are the best they've ever been, the Day/Night Cycle is the series' best gimmick, the Solo Mode is a ton of fun, the capsule mechanic is actually fun here, and most of the boards are really great.

5/5 Stars

Mario Party 7: Mario Party 7 is pretty much just MP6 but slightly worse, so I probably have the least to say about this one. The board gameplay is almost exactly the same, with roughly the same level of quality in its boards. Windmillville and Pagoda Peak are the highlights here, while Pyramid Park and Neon Heights are the more notably weak ones. The only new gimmick here is Bowser Time, which essentially forces everyone on a Bowser Space every five turns. This could have been a solid Day/Night equivalent, and some boards do work around it (Bowser's Enchanted Inferno especially), but most of the time it feels random and overly punishing. In the case of Windmillville, Bowser Time actively detracts from an otherwise fantastic board. One thing I do like about Mario Party 7 though is the fact that it also allows for 8-player team gameplay, with its own set of exclusive minigames and modes. It's still the only Mario Party game that works with eight players which is a real shame, it's such a fun addition to the game.

As for the minigame lineup, it's pretty solid just like its predecessor. While not the best in the series, it's definitely up there, and has a lot of strong highlights like Fun Run, Track And Yield, Sphere Factor, Battery Ram, Buzzstormer, The Final Countdown, and Camp Ukiki. However, I feel like the game spread itself a bit too thin with its minigame types. We have all the usual types, but there's also 4-player Mic minigames, 1-vs-3 Mic minigames, single and multiplayer minigames for Bowser and DK, 8-player minigames, the list goes on and it's just way too much! It got the point where we only have 13 standard 4-player minigames in this one, and that's just not even close to enough. As far as extra content goes, Mario Party 7 is pretty much the same as its predecessor as well outside of that aforementioned 8-player mode. There's a shop, a solid Story Mode, and a few bonus minigames to unlock. The presentation is almost exactly the same as 6's too, with the same general artstyle and even the same composers working on the soundtrack. Although, I do really like the vacation theme and how all of the boards are based on real-world settings, it's always cool when games do that.

Overall, Mario Party 7 is a solid Mario Party game with another great lineup of minigames, some more strong boards, and a neat vacation theme. However, it's way too based on Mario Party 6 and Bowser Time drags it down a bit for me.

4/5 Stars

Mario Party 8: Mario Party 8 was the first Mario game I ever got my hands on, so just know that I'm going to be very biased with this one. Anyway, this is one of my favorite games in the series and I love it with all my heart. Let's start with the board gameplay, which is easily some of the best in all of Mario Party. The capsules were removed and replaced with candy items, which basically just work like the ones in 2-4, and while the game still has gimmick boards, all of its boards take concepts from 6 and 7 and polish them to near perfect, leading to the best lineup of boards in any Mario Party game. Shy Guy's Perplex Express is the coolest linear board as it tasks you with working your back after getting a star at the front of the train, Bowser's Warped Orbit turns the frustrating star stealing mechanic into what can only be called a tense game of Uno, King Boo's Haunted Hideaway is the only board that feels tailor made for the team-based board gameplay, and then there's Koopa's Tycoon Town, my favorite board in the series that takes what Windmillville did well and perfects it.

However, while the board gameplay is nearly flawless, I will admit that the minigame lineup is one of the weaker ones. Not that the minigames themselves are inherently bad, but a lot of them use motion controls since this is an early Wii game, and most of the time, those motion controls don't work very well. Still, there are some highlights here, like Specter Inspector, Rotation Station, At The Chomp Wash, Speedy Grafitti, Thrash And Crash, and Grabby Gridiron, some of which use the motion controls in pretty creative ways. I also think the duel minigames are easily the best in the series since they don't just reuse the same locations and ideas like the last three. As for extra content, Mario Party 8 is mostly more of the same, with another solid Story Mode and shop, but the Extra Mode is surprisingly beefy this time, with a whopping eight exclusive minigames. It's still not Mario Party 4 level, but it's pretty close. Presentation-wise, this game's pretty strange. I like the idea it's going for, having the whole game be carnival-themed, but the game goes for this weird realistic look that hasn't aged well, the UI is godawful, and the way the screen size changes with every mode just looks super awkward. However, despite how jank and weird this game looks, there's a bit of a charm to it, only bolstered by Mario Party 8's weird and eclectic soundtrack. Mario Party 8 is a mess in terms of its visuals and audio, but it's my mess.

Despite being fully aware of my nostalgic bias, I still feel comfortable calling Mario Party 8 one of the best in the series. Sure the motion controls suck and the presentation is sloppy, but the board gameplay is so good that I don't really care. Just like with 6, this game nails what really matters in a Mario Party game, and it will probably always be the one I come back to the most.

4/5 Stars

Mario Party 9: So... the car gameplay. I'm just going to get right to the point here, I'm not a fan of the car gameplay of Mario Party, which puts all four players in a car that moves down a linear path and gifts Mini Stars to whoever is at the lead when the car passes them. There's no independent navigation, no items outside of the different kinds of die, and hardly any strategy. I do actually think the concept can be done well, as you'll see in a later game, but in Mario Party 9, you can tell this whole new gameplay style is a bit unpolished. This game loves taking away half your Mini Stars, and the boards have several gimmicks that just feel overly punishing and luck-based. A lot of the time it feels like I'm suffering due to reasons I have no control over, and it makes for a pretty miserable experience, especially in the game's obligatory Story Mode. It's a shame because otherwise the boards in MP9 are pretty fleshed-out, with a wide variety of setpieces, board-exclusive events and minigames, and one major gimmick that gets fleshed-out over the course of the board. I'll always prefer star hunting, but if the car gameplay was just balanced better, I would actually enjoy the concept of boards being this large adventures through dynamic locations.

It's even more frustrating that I don't enjoy the board gameplay in Mario Party 9 all that much because the minigame lineup here is phenomenal, easily one of the best in the series. The minigames here are creative and polished, with highlights such as Skyjinks, Speeding Bullets, Goomba Bowling, Snow Go, Pizza Me Mario, Hazard Hold, Bumper Sparks, and Shell Soccer. We even have the introduction of boss minigames which I mostly like, along with incredibly fun mini-boss fights against Bowser Jr. Mario Party 9 also has one of my favorite Extra Modes in the series, which has a mode called Perspective Mode that lets you play a bunch of minigames with a different camera angle. It's such a cool concept that transforms those games more than you might expect, and I wish it would be a regular thing. There's also a shop with a lot of stuff you can buy, but it's actually really hard to make enough money to buy much without playing boards, which I just don't really like to do. It really shows how poor board gameplay can tank a Mario Party game where everything else is absolutely phenomenal. As for the presentation, Mario Party 9 is easily the best-looking game in the series, but the way it mostly bases itself off the New Super Mario Bros aesthetic does leave it looking a bit generic. The soundtrack, though, is shockingly good and probably one of the best in the series.

Overall, I love everything about Mario Party 9... except for the actual gameplay. I love the board designs, the minigames, the Extra Mode, and the music, but playing a normal game of Mario Party here is frustrating, constraining, and luck-based. I was able to forgive MP4 for the Mega/Mini mushrooms since the core of a good Mario Party game is still there, but the car gameplay as of Mario Party 9 is a miserable slog more often than not.

3/5 Stars

Mario Party 10: As I had hinted a bit earlier, I think Mario Party 10 actually makes the car gameplay not just tolerable, but genuinely fun. Each board added in way more group activities so it never feels like you're out of control or left not doing anything, the board's gimmicks were less reliant on stealing half or all of a player's mini-stars, and the game was generally a lot less punishing. Even more, there was a really cool new Bowser Party mode, where one person plays as Bowser and chases after the car. It may be a bit biased towards the Bowser side, but I actually have a lot of fun with my friends whenever we play this mode. So where's the catch? The catch is that there's not enough of it! Mario Party 9 had seven boards, this game only has five. Bowser Party fares even worse, since you can only play three of the five boards in this mode, and the poor guy only has ten minigames that get more repetitive the more you play them. Granted, there is also an Amiibo Party mode that uses the original star collecting formula, but that mode has a single linear board and having to tap the Wii U gamepad with your Amiibo to do literally anything feels like a massive slog. Mario Party 10 should have dropped the Amiibo Party mode entirely and focus on the core Mario/Bowser Party modes because there's a lot of potential there, it just wasn't used to its fullest.

Remember when I said Mario Party 9 felt a little generic due to taking cues from the NSMB series? Mario Party 10 is entirely based around NSMBU, which means that both the boards and minigames just feel generic and unoriginal. While I like the content of the boards, their theming is as basic as you can get, and there really aren't any minigames that I find creative or especially great. None of the boards or minigames are flat-out bad, thankfully, but it feels like NDCube played things way too safe for this one. However, there are some minigames I find especially enjoyable like Balance Ball Brawl, Bullet Bill Blasters, Cheep Cheep Leap, Rapid River Race, Flash Forward, and frankly most of the boss minigames, which are also more balanced and fair than the ones in MP9. There is also some neat extra content here, like how you can customize the bases of your Amiibo characters and change the theme of the Amiibo Party board depending on which characters you own, but once again, that doesn't mean much if Amiibo Party isn't that much fun to begin with. The Toad's Room shop is pretty robust, with the first achievement list in the series (always a great addition to a game), and there's a solid lineup of bonus minigames include two entirely new Bowser Jr fights. The visuals look nice since this is the first HD Mario Party game, even if once again the general artstyle is pretty generic, and the soundtrack is solid if unremarkable, once again being composed by the Mario Party 9 composer.

Overall, Mario Party 10 does fix the issues with Mario Party 9 and has a cool Bowser Party mode, but it tries to do too much and spreads itself too thin, ultimately coming off as lacking in content and depth. It also doesn't help that the reliance on the NSMB aesthetic makes Mario Party 10 come off as generic, with its board layouts and minigames lacking in any creativity.

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the main ten Mario Party games is:

1. Mario Party 3
2. Mario Party 6
3. Mario Party 8
4. Mario Party 4
5. Mario Party 2
6. Mario Party 7
7. Mario Party 5
8. Mario Party 9
9. Mario Party 10
10. Mario Party

My ranking of their boards is:

1. Mario Party 8
2. Mario Party 3
3. Mario Party 2
4. Mario Party 6
5. Mario Party 7
6. Mario Party 4
7. Mario Party 5
8. Mario Party 9
9. Mario Party 10
10. Mario Party

My ranking of their minigames is:

1. Mario Party 6
2. Mario Party 9
3. Mario Party 4
4. Mario Party 7
5. Mario Party 3
6. Mario Party 5
7. Mario Party 2
8. Mario Party 10
9. Mario Party 8
10. Mario Party

Veep (Season 2)

While Veep did a good job of establishing its writing style from the very start, its first season was so short that by the time the show got really good, it had already ended. However, with a full 10 episodes, Season 2 has the potential to fully expand on what its predecessor had established.

Season 2 mostly focuses around the slowly simmering tensions within the cast, as Selina has been getting more and more frustrated with the president for locking her out of stuff, while also dealing with her reputation worsening literally every episode. Seriously, Selina has awful luck this season, from being responsible for a marine's injury, to offending Europe, to being blamed for the government shutting down. Of course, all of her employees become aware of this and start planning to look for other jobs, culminating in a pretty crazy finale that brings together all of these aforementioned plot threads in a great way. While I don't think Season 2's plot is as developed as that of Season 1, that season didn't really have a developed plot either, and the fact that this season actually stuck the landing with a great finale that had more of a buildup to it leaves me generally preferring the story in Season 2.

I still wouldn't say that Season 2 is one of Veep's better seasons, though, the comedy still isn't quite as consistently strong as it would get in later seasons. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure if this season reached the heights of the previous one comedically either. What Season 2 has improved on, though, is the scope and scale of the series. Selina's actions start to have consequences on people other than herself, like when she causes a soldier to lose his leg in Hostages. There are more episodes that take place outside of the White House, like how Helsinki takes place in the titular location and establishes a trend of Selina traveling in almost every season. There are even more episodes that deal with big happenings in the government, like government shutdowns and elections. There's just a greater variety in Veep's episodes this season, and it makes Season 1 feel a lot more basic and rudimentary by comparison. The larger scope also allows the political satire to hit even harder than it did in Season 1 as well.

Highlights:

The Vic Allen Dinner: As mentioned above, Hostages was one of the more noteworthy episodes of the season, as it ended with Selina causing a soldier to lose his leg. I think The Vic Allen Dinner is the better episode, as it deals with Selina and her team trying to do damage control, which is always a good time, and ends with a singing competition between Selina and Chung.

Running: Selina runs into a glass door. Do I really need to say more?

DC: Easily one of the better finales in Veep and a huge improvement over last season's, DC has such a strong feeling of finality to it. Every single character (except for Selina) has a subplot where they have to decide whether to stay or leave and have a normal life, while Selina herself deals with the shocking reveal that the president has decided not to run for a second term and decides to run herself, which is probably the point where Veep really comes into its own. Selina being vice president is fun but her attempts at making president are the best parts of the show, easily.

Overall, Season 2 is a solid improvement over the first, with a strong ending and an increased scope. However, its less focused plot and less consistent humor shows that the series hasn't fully come into its own yet, at least not until the finale.

3/5 Stars

Chuck (Season 1)

Chuck was a pretty great show, especially when it was at its prime. With five drastically different seasons of varying quality, I have a lot to say about all of them, so let's start with Season 1, the most middle-of-the-road season of Chuck.

Chuck is a show about the titular average guy who ends up accidentally getting government secrets embedded in his brain thanks to an old friend, Bryce Larkin, who also happens to be a spy. Now with two handlers named Sarah Walker and John Casey, Chuck basically has to learn to become a spy while obviously keeping all of his secrets hidden from his friends, family, and co-workers. Forcing an average person into a life of spies is always a great concept for a storyline (of course, I say this as someone who unironically enjoys Cars 2), so I really enjoyed what Chuck was going for right from the get-go. It's light and breezy, with fun action and likable characters. However, as far as story beyond its central premise goes, Season 1 of Chuck doesn't have too much to offer. There's a compelling mystery about Bryce Larkin's motives that make up the best parts of the season, as well as a meh subplot for Sarah where she fears she'll lose Chuck at some point, but outside of that, this is the only season of Chuck without a villain. As you might have expected, this is because of the Writer's Strike, which once again cut the season shorter than it was supposed to be. We end up being left with a season that feels a bit unfocused, with a finale that is climactic but doesn't really resolve anything in the grand scheme of things.

Thankfully, while the plot is a bit weak, everything else about Chuck is pretty fantastic. The acting is fantastic, especially Zachary Levi as Chuck. I'm glad he found even more success as Shazam lately because he really is great at playing charmingly goofy and lovable characters. Yvonne Strahovski is also great as Sarah, and she's been in a whole bunch of other stuff like Dexter and 24. Beyond the actors, though, I really love the cast of Chuck. Obviously the central trio of Chuck, Sarah, and Casey is the heart of the show, and they have great chemistry, but even the side characters have their great elements. Chuck's sister Ellie is a nice grounding force for the character, and her boyfriend Devon (also known as "Captain Awesome") is probably the textbook definition of the word 'himbo'. A lot of this series takes place in Chuck's workplace, essentially a Walmart clone called the Buy More, but all of his coworkers are so fun to watch that I love these scenes just as much as the crazy spy action. Speaking of which, the action in Chuck is pretty great too! Especially in the first episode, they got McG of all people to direct the show's pilot and, while I normally find his style trashy, he did a really good job with the action here. Believe it or not, I would've loved to see McG do some more episodes, though even without him, the action is impressively well-done and cinematic for a TV show, especially in Seasons 1-3.

Highlights: 

Chuck Vs The Alma Mater: As mentioned above, the best parts of Season 1 are the ones that focused around Bryce Larkin, so Chuck having to return to Stanford (where Bryce had him expelled) felt super climactic and impactful. We end up learning that Bryce had Chuck expelled to protect him, a great reveal that sets the stage for their reunion in a few episodes.

Chuck Vs The Nemesis: Speaking of which, Chuck Vs The Nemesis is essentially the climax of the season in a lot of ways. Chuck reunites with Bryce and gets to confront him on why he sent over the Intersect, we get a bunch of lore including the introduction of major antagonist FULCRUM, there's a fun Black Friday subplot that leads to a crazy shootout inside the Buy More, and the episode even ends on a cliffhanger where Sarah has to choose between Chuck and Bryce. 

Chuck Vs The Marlin: While this wasn't a very satisfying finale, I did still think it was a pretty solid and tense episode. There's this sense of dread throughout the season that Chuck is expendable, and eventually he'll have to be separated from his handlers and everyone he cares about. In Chuck Vs The Marlin, this becomes very close to happening, to the point where I almost thought Chuck was going to be transferred and that would the season's cliffhanger. Instead, we get Ellie and Captain Awesome getting engaged, which is nice too.

Overall, Season 1 of Chuck is a pretty good start to the series. It effectively establishes its premise, introduces a likable cast of characters, and boasts some pretty great action. However, most likely due to the writer's strike, this season is also lacking in a cohesive storyline or villain, making it feel more like a prologue to the series and not much more.

3/5 Stars

Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War (Season 3)

The funniest anime on the air is finally back, and its third season is a bit different compared to the first two. Not bad, mind you, it's another great season of another great anime, but it is different.

Season 3 of Kaguya-Sama goes for a bit of a slow burn approach this time, focusing almost entirely on the buildup towards a culture festival that the school is holding. So much of the season is spent setting the stage for the event, from Kaguya and Shirogane coming to the decision that they want to finally confess, to a love interest for Ishigami getting introduced, to the reveal that Shirogane might be moving away. And course, the last four episodes of the season all chronicle the actual cultural festival itself, which makes for a pretty fantastic climax. That season finale was especially great, paying off everything the season had been setting up. Due to the added focus on plot, this season is a lot more dramatic than the first two, which I pretty much saw coming after the last two episodes of Season 2. Thankfully, the people behind Kaguya-Sama have proved they can pull off these dramatic moments incredibly effectively, and as a result, some of the most memorable moments of the season were the dramatic ones. It's also worth noting that this season has a subplot for much of its first half about Hayasaka wanting to befriend Shirogane (and Kaguya predictably thinking they're dating). Hayasaka increasingly becomes my favorite character of the show with every passing episode and I love that this season fleshed her out a bit more.

However, Season 3's extra focus on drama does have a bit of an unfortunate side effect, and that's that it just isn't as funny as the previous two. Not to say that there aren't a lot of strong comedic moments, many of which I'll mention in the usual highlights, but it definitely feels like this season of Kaguya-Sama was more of a dramedy than a comedy. However, I did feel like a few sketches weren't quite dramatic or comedic, rather solely being focused around setting up for the culture festival to the point of coming off as unmemorable. However, as mentioned above, the final few episodes were so good that I'm mostly fine that the earlier episodes were a bit more uneven. I'd rather have the consistency of Season 2, but I wouldn't say this approach is any worse. Although, one thing I can say has certifiably improved is that goddamn animation. Kaguya-Sama was always a well-animated show with some very creative visuals, but Season 3 takes that up to eleven in pretty much every episode. Moments like the rap battle, the Karekano homages in episode 8, and the haunted house scene are really elevated the shifts in animation style, and the whole season remains visually interesting regardless of what's going on. And don't even get me start on all the video game references, the last two episodes alone had Persona 5, Resident Evil, and Touhou references, and those are just the ones I managed to catch!

Highlights:

Chika Fujiwara Wants To Beat A Rhythm/Ai Hayasaka Wants To Talk/Maki Shijo Wants To Help: Resolving the Hayasaka/Shirogane subplot, this episode takes the running gag of Chika struggling to teach Shirogane stuff and amps it up to eleven, with Shirogane's initially funny attempts at learning to rap culminating in a downright hysterical rap battle. But it's Hayasaka who steals the show when she finally opens up and reveals how much she wants a friend.

Kozue Makihara Wants To Have Fun/Chika Fujiwara Wants To Unmask/Miyuki Shirogane's Cultural Festival: This episode had the perfect balance between comedy and drama, with the haunted house sketch being probably the funniest and most unique in the season, only for Ishigami's accidentally confession to Tsubame to suddenly darken the tone for the rest of the episode. 

Kaguya Wants To Confess/Dual Confessions/The Shuchiin Afterparty: This is the first double-length episode of Kaguya-Sama and it shows. It's grand and climactic, utilizing the entire cast, and it feels like a massive culmination of everything that the season was doing. The Arsēne mystery was a ton of fun, the rooftop confrontation was super climactic and grand, the way the finale references and reuses scenes from previous episodes to put them in a new context was super clever, and the entire ending montage that wraps things up for all the characters is very satisfying. This could have even worked as a series finale, but I'm glad we're getting more Kaguya-Sama later down the line.

Overall, this was another great and visually inventive season of Kaguya-Sama, and while it took a bit of a slow burn approach, it all paid off with that phenomenal finale. However, because of that approach, as well as a general increase in drama, this was also probably the least funny season yet. Still a great season of a great anime, but not my favorite.

4/5 Stars

Episode Rankings: Star Trek The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series is the oldest TV series I've ever reviewed and probably the oldest one I will ever review, which only begs the question of: Is it still worth watching today? Personally, I think it's absolutely worth watching. The Original Series has plenty of all-time great episodes of television, and while about a third of TOS is dated and probably even offensive, a large chunk of the show is also impressively relevant today. But the thing that's aged the best is the fantastic chemistry between its main trio, which shines through even in the worst of episodes. Not to mention the movies are (mostly) amazing too, offering some of the best that Trek has to offer. Here's my ranking of the episodes and movies of The Original Series:

1. The Trouble With Tribbles (S2.15)
2. The Doomsday Machine (S2.06)
3. The Undiscovered Country (Movie 4)
4. Wrath Of Khan (Movie 2)
5. The City On The Edge Of Forever (S1.28)
6. Mirror, Mirror (S2.04)
7. All Our Yesterdays (S3.23)
8. The Corbomite Maneuver (S1.10)
9. Amok Time (S2.01)
10. The Naked Time (S1.04)
11. A Piece Of The Action (S2.17)
12. Space Seed (S1.22)
13. Balance Of Terror (S1.14)
14. The Ultimate Computer (S2.24)
15. The Enterprise Incident (S3.02)
16. Tomorrow Is Yesterday (S1.19)
17. The Tholian Web (S3.09)
18. The Devil In The Dark (S1.25)
19. The Voyage Home (Movie 4)
20. Journey To Babel (S2.10)
21. Shore Leave (S1.15)
22. By Any Other Name (S2.22)
23. Return To Tomorrow (S2.20)
24. The Menagerie: Part 1 (S1.11)
25. Errand Of Mercy (S1.26)
26. The Changeling (S2.03)
27. The Search For Spock (Movie 3)
28. The Squire Of Gothos (S1.17)
29. Spectre Of The Gun (S3.06)
30. The Immunity Syndrome (S2.18)
31. The Enemy Within (S1.05)
32. A Taste Of Armageddon (S1.23)
33. The Savage Curtain (S3.22)
34. Obsession (S2.13)
35. The Menagerie: Part 2 (S1.12)
36. The Mark Of Gideon (S3.16)
37. The Motion Picture (Movie 1)
38. The Galileo Seven (S1.16)
39. Is There In Truth No Beauty? (S3.05)
40. A Private Little War (S2.19)
41. Arena (S1.18)
42. Day Of The Dove (S3.07)
43. Spock's Brain (S3.01) - So bad, it's amazing
44. The Return Of The Archons (S1.21)
45. Catspaw (S2.07)
46. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (S3.15)
47. This Side Of Paradise (S1.24)
48. Where No Man Has Gone Before (S1.03)
49. Operation: Annihilate! (S1.29)
50. That Which Survives (S3.17)
51. Dagger Of The Mind (S1.09)
52. Whom Gods Destroy (S3.14)
53. Wink Of An Eye (S3.11)
54. The Conscience Of The King (S1.13)
55. The Lights Of Zetar (S3.18)
56. Bread And Circuses (S2.25)
57. For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky (S3.08)
58. Court Martial (S1.20)
59. The Deadly Years (S2.12)
60. I, Mudd (S2.08)
61. Charlie X (S1.02)
62. The Apple (S2.05)
63. What Are Little Girls Made Of? (S1.07)
64. Plato's Stepchildren (S3.10)
65. Who Mourns For Adonais? (S2.02)
66. Friday's Child (S2.11)
67. The CLoud Minders (S3.21)
68. Metamorphosis (S2.09)
69. The Man Trap (S1.01)
    
70. The Empath (S3.12)
71. Miri (S1.08)
72. The Gamesters Of Triskelion (S2.16)
73. Requiem Of Methuselah (S3.19)
74. The Alternative Factor (S1.27)
75. Assignment: Earth (S2.26)
76. And The Children Shall Lead (S3.04)
77. Wolf In The Fold (S2.14)
78. Elaan Of Troyius (S3.13)
79. Patterns Of Force (S2.21)
80. Mudd's Women (S1.06)
81. The Final Frontier (Movie 5)
82. The Omega Glory (S2.23)
83. The Paradise Syndrome (S3.03)
84. The Way To Eden (S3.20)
85. Turnabout Intruder (S3.24)

Episode Rankings: Star Wars Rebels

As a followup to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Rebels is an alright show, though much more flawed. It has a slow first season and a shaky ending, as well as an irritating protagonist. However, it also tells a strong serailized story with a generally likable cast and boasts some of the best moments in all of Star Wars, so I'd say it's still very much worth watching if you're a fan of the franchise. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Trials Of The Darksaber (S3.15)
2. Twilight Of The Apprentice: Part 2 (S2.22)
3. Family Reunion And Farewell (S4.15)
4. Twin Suns (S3.20)
5. Twilight Of The Apprentice: Part 1 (S2.21)
6. The Siege Of Lothal: Part 2 (S2.02)
7. Jedi Night (S4.10)
8. Legacy Of Mandalore (S3.16)
9. Shroud Of Darkness (S2.18)
10. Fire Across The Galaxy (S1.15)
11. The Last Battle (S3.06)
12. Zero Hour: Part 1 (S3.21)
13. The Siege Of Lothal: Part 1 (S2.01)
14. The Future Of The Force (S2.10)
15. A World Between Worlds (S4.14)
16. Call To Action (S1.13)
17. The Honorable Ones (S2.17)
18. Zero Hour: Part 2 (S3.22)
19. DUME (S4.11)
20. Always Two There Are (S2.05)
21. The Holocrons Of Fate (S3.03)
22. Through Imperial Eyes (S3.17)
23. Vision Of Hope (S1.12)
24. The Lost Commanders (S2.03)
25. Visions And Voices (S3.11)
26. Rebel Resolve (S1.14)
27. Blood Sisters (S2.08)
28. A Fool's Hope (S4.14)
29. Path Of The Jedi (S1.10)
30. Rebel Assault (S4.09)
31. An Inside Man (S3.10)
32. The Protector Of Concord Dawn (S2.13)
33. Legacy (S2.11)
34. Rise Of The Old Masters (S1.05)
35. Heroes Of Mandalore: Part 2 (S4.02)
36. Steps Into Shadow: Part 2 (S3.02)
37. Relics Of The Old Republic (S2.04)
38. Stealth Strike (S2.09)
39. Hera's Heroes (S3.05)
40. Gathering Forces (S1.09)
41. The Occupation (S4.05)
42. The Mystery Of Chopper Base (S2.20)
43. Steps Into Shadow: Part 1 (S3.01)
44. A Princess On Lothal (S2.12)
45. In The Name Of The Rebellion: Part 1 (S4.03)
46. Ghosts Of Geonosis: Part 2 (S3.13)
47. Wolves And A Door (S4.12)
48. Imperial Supercommandos (S3.07)
49. Breaking Ranks (S1.06)
50. Secret Cargo (S3.18)
51. Legends Of The Lasat (S2.14)
52. Kindred (S4.07)
53. Empire Day (S1.08)
54. Heroes Of Mandalore: Part 1 (S4.01)
55. Homecoming (S2.16)
56. The Antilles Extraction (S3.04)
57. Wings Of The Master (S2.07)
58. In The Name Of The Rebellion: Part 2 (S4.04)
59. Ghosts Of Geonosis: Part 1 (S3.12)
60. Idiot's Array (S1.11)
61. Spark Of Rebellion: Part 2 (S1.02)
62. The Wynkahthu Job (S3.09)
63. Warhead (S3.14)
64. Out Of Darkness (S1.07)
65. Flight Of The Defender (S4.06)
66. Brothers Of The Broken Horn (S2.06)
67. Crawler Commanders (S4.08)
68. Droids In Distress (S1.03)
69. The Forgotten Droid (S2.19)
70. Iron Squadron (S3.08)
71. Spark Of Rebellion: Part 1 (S1.01)
72. Double Agent Droid (S3.19)
73. The Call (S2.15)
74. Fighter Flight (S1.04)

Episode Rankings: Star Wars The Clone Wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a very impressive series, utilizing anthological story-telling to tell the full story of the titular wars. Not every storyline here was great, but Clone Wars at its best is Star Wars at its best, and its willingness to not water down any of its dark subject matter for its target audience deserves praise. It also introduced my favorite Star Wars character in Ahsoka Tano, and I don't think she's ever better than she is in this series. If you're a Star Wars fan and you haven't seen Clone Wars, watch it this instant. By the finale, I guarantee you'll find it all worth it. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. The Phantom Apprentice (S7.10)
2. The Lawless (S5.16)
3. Carnage Of Krell (S4.10)
4. Victory And Death (S7.12)
5. Brain Invaders (S2.08)
6. The Box (S4.17)
7. Shattered (S7.11)
8. Massacre (S4.19)
9. Witches Of The Mist (S3.14)
10. Revenge (S4.22)
11. Shades Of Reason (S5.15)
12. Old Friends Not Forgotten (S7.09)
13. The Wrong Jedi (S5.20)
14. Nightsisters (S3.12)
15. The General (S4.08)
16. Sacrifice (S6.13)
17. Revival (S5.01)
18. Orders (S6.04)
19. Storm Over Ryloth (S1.19)
20. Altar Of Mortis (S3.16)
21. The Mandalore Plot (S2.12)
22. Rookies (S1.05)
23. Bounty (S4.20)
24. ARC Troopers (S3.02)
25. Lethal Takedown (S2.22)
26. Voices (S6.11)
27. Lair Of Grievous (S1.10)
28. Plan Of Dissent (S4.09)
29. The Citadel (S3.18)
30. The Gathering (S5.06)
31. Weapons Factory (S2.06)
32. To Catch A Jedi (S5.20)
33. Grievous Intrigue (S2.09)
34. Crisis On Naboo (S4.18)
35. Citadel Rescue (S3.20)
36. The Zillo Beast Strikes Back (S2.19)
37. Darkness On Umbara (S4.07)
38. Eminence (S5.14)
39. Clone Cadets (S3.01)
40. Voyage Of Temptation (S2.13)
41. The Hidden Enemy (S1.16)
42. Conspiracy (S6.02)
43. Children Of The Force (S2.03)
44. Brothers (S4.21)
45. Voices (S6.11)
46. Overlords (S3.15)
47. A Necessary Bond (S5.09)
48. Duel Of The Droids (S1.07)
49. Holocron Heist (S2.01)
50. Ghosts Of Mortis (S3.17)
51. Deception (S4.15)
52. Tipping Points (S5.05)
53. Unfinished Business (S7.04)
54. Death Trap (S2.20)
55. The Jedi Who Knew Too Much (S5.18)
56. Liberty On Ryloth (S1.21)
57. Cloak Of Darkness (S1.09)
58. Counterattack (S3.19)
59. Landing At Point Rain (S2.05)
60. The Lost Ones (S6.10)
61. Rising Malevolence (S1.02)
62. Cargo Of Doom (S2.02)
63. A Test Of Strength (S5.07)
64. Lightsaber Lost (S2.11)
65. Monster (S3.13)
66. Hostage Crisis (S1.22)
67. Fugitive (S6.03)
68. Friends And Enemies (S4.16)
69. Sabotage (S5.17)
70. R2 Come Home (S2.21)
71. A Distant Echo (S7.02)
72. Assassin (S3.07)
73. A Friend In Need (S4.14)
74. Destroy Malevolence (S1.04)
75. Legacy Of Terror (S2.07)
76. Defenders Of Peace (S1.14)
77. Bounty Hunters (S2.17)
78. The Unknown (S6.01)
79. Water War (S4.01)
80. Front Runners (S5.03)
81. The Deserter (S2.10)
82. Innocents Of Ryloth (S1.20)
83. The Zillo Beast (S2.18)
84. Prisoners (S4.03)
85. Bound For Rescue (S5.08)
86. Wookie Hunt (S3.22)
87. The Bad Batch (S7.01)
88. Kidnapped (S4.11)
89. Together Alone (S7.08)
90. Escape From Kadavo (S4.13)
91. Jedi Crash (S1.13)
92. Heroes On Both Sides (S3.10)
93. Duchess Of Mandalore (S2.14)
94. Trespass (S1.15)
95. On The Wings Of Keeradaks (S7.03)
96. An Old Friend (S6.05)
97. The Soft War (S5.04)
98. Shadow Warrior (S4.04)
99. Cat And Mouse (S2.16)
100. Crisis At The Heart (S6.07)
101. Shadow Of Malevolence (S1.03)
102. A War On Two Fronts (S5.02)
103. Gungan Attack (S4.02)
104. Padawan Lost (S3.21)
105. Ambush (S1.01)
106. Nomad Droids (S4.06)
107. Sphere Of Influence (S3.04)
108. Blue Shadow Virus (S1.17)
     
109. Pursuit Of Peace (S3.11)
110. Secret Weapons (S5.10)
111. Gone With A Trace (S7.05)
112. Slaves Of The Republic (S4.12)
113. Senate Murders (S2.15)
114. The Academy (S3.06)
115. Point Of No Return (S5.13)
116. Downfall Of A Droid (S1.06)
117. Dooku Captured (S1.11)
118. Hunt For Ziro (S3.09)
119. Dangerous Debt (S7.07)
120. The Disappeared: Part 1 (S6.08)
121. Mystery Of A Thousand Moons (S1.18)
122. The Rise Of Clovis (S6.06)
123. Corruption (S3.05)
124. Mercy Mission (S4.05)
125. Bombad Jedi (S1.08)
126. The Disappeared: Part 2 (S6.09)
127. Deal No Deal (S7.06)
128. Supply Lines (S3.03)
129. Missing In Action (S5.12)
130. Senate Spy (S2.04)
131. Evil Plans (S3.08)
132. The Gungan General (S1.12)
133. A Sunny Day In The Void (S5.11)

Episode Rankings: Psych

Psych is one of the most comforting shows I have ever seen. It's not super demanding, and it's not going to blow your mind, but it is immensely charming, incredibly funny, and very inventive and experimental. It's probably the peak of Blue Skies TV. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Last Night Gus (S6.02)
2. Office Space (S7.11)
3. Mr Yin Presents (S4.16)
4. The Break-Up (S8.04)
5. Neil Simon's Lover Retreat (S6.09)
6. Shawn Gets The Yips (S4.05)
7. An Evening With Mr Yang (S3.16)
8. Santabarbaratown 2 (S7.01)
9. One, Maybe Two, Ways Out (S5.09)
10. Lights, Camera, Homicidio (S2.13)
11. Shawn Takes A Shot In The Dark (S4.09)
12. Heeeeere's Lassie (S6.11)
13. Gus Walks Into A Bank (S3.08)
14. High Top Fade Out (S4.07)
15. Dual Spires (S5.12)
16. Lassie Did A Bad, Bad Thing (S3.11)
17. American Duos (S2.01)
18. Tuesday The 17th (S3.15)
19. Santabarbaratown (S6.16)
20. Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part (S5.10)
21. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me, Oops He's Dead (S1.11)
22. This Episode Sucks (S6.03)
23. Thrill Seekers And Hell Raisers (S4.11)
24. Indiana Shawn And The Temple Of The Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger (S6.10)
25. Deez Nups (S7.07)
26. Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast (S1.15)
27. Feet Don't Kill Me Now (S5.02)
28. Shawn Rescues Darth Vader (S6.01)
29. Six Feet Under The Sea (S3.10)
30. Santabarbarian Candidate (S7.10)
31. Lock, Stock, Some Smoking Barrels And Burton Guster's Goblet Of Fire (S8.01)
32. We'd Like To Thank The Academy (S5.13)
33. Bollywood Homicide (S4.06)
34. Extradition: British Colombia (S4.01)
35. Not Even Close Encounters (S5.03)
36. From The Earth To Starbucks (S1.10)
37. The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap Man, Issue No. 2 (S6.04)
38. Murder? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? (S3.02)
39. Yang 3 In 2D (S5.16)
40. Cog Blocked (S8.05)
41. The Head, The Tail, The Whole Damn Episode (S4.15)
42. Autopsy Turvy (S6.14)
43. The Greatest Adventure In The History Of Basic Cable (S3.04)
44. Psy Vs Psy (S2.03)
45. Romeo And Juliet And Juliet (S5.01)
46. High Noon-Ish (S4.03)
47. 100 Clues (S7.05)
48. Black And Tan: A Crime Of Fashion (S2.15)
49. A Very Juliet Episode (S4.12)
50. Cloudy With A Chance Of Murder (S1.12)
51. Shawn 2.0 (S5.08)
52. Christmas Joy (S3.09)
53. Juliet Wears The Pantsuit (S7.09)
54. Bounty Hunters (S2.09)
55. Ghosts (S3.01)
56. Lassie Jerky (S7.03)
57. Dead Bear Walking (S5.15)
58. Let's Get Hairy (S4.08)
59. In For A Penny (S6.07)
60. Viagra Falls (S5.06)
61. Who Ya Gonna Call? (S1.07)
62. The Devil Is In The Details... And The Upstairs Bedroom (S4.04)
63. Shawn (And Gus) Of The Dead (S2.16)
64. 1967: A Psych Odyssey (S8.06)
65. 9 Lives (S1.05)
66. Daredevils (S3.03)
67. In Plain Fright (S5.11)
68. Shawn And The Real Girl (S6.12)
69. Truer Lies (S3.14)
70. Poker? I Barely Know Her (S1.14)
71. Dead Man's Curveball (S6.05)
72. If You're So Smart, Then Why Are You Dead? (S2.07)
73. Psych (S1.01)
74. Right Turn Or Left For Dead (S7.08)
75. 65 Million Years Off (S2.02)
76. True Grits (S6.15)
77. No Trout About It (S7.14)
78. Gus's Dad May Have Killed An Old Guy (S2.10)
79. Death Is In The Air (S4.13)
80. Talk Derby To Me (S3.07)
81. SEIZE The Day (S8.02)
82. Juliet Takes A Luvvah (S7.02)
83. Someone's Got A Woody (S8.04)
84. Weekend Warriors (S1.06)
85. Cirque Du Soul (S7.06)
86. Earth, Wind, And... Wait For It (S3.12)
87. The Tao Of Gus (S6.08)
88. There's Something About Mira (S2.11)
89. Spellingg Bee (S1.02)
90. You Can't Handle This Episode (S4.10)
91. Shawn Vs The Red Phantom (S1.08)
92. Shawn And Gus Truck Things Up (S8.07)
93. Shawn Interrupted (S6.06)
94. Shawn And Gus In Drag (Racing) (S5.05)
95. Zero To Murder In Sixty Seconds (S2.04)
96. Disco Didn't Die, It Was Murdered (S3.05)
97. Meat Is Murder (S2.06)
98. Dead Air (S7.12)
99. He Dead (S4.02)
100. Woman Seeking Dead Husband: Smokers Okay, No Pets (S1.04)
101. Ferry Tale (S5.07)
102. Let's Doo-Wop It Again (S6.13)
103. Game, Set, Murder? (S1.13)
104. Any Given Friday Night At 10PM, 9PM Central (S3.13)
105. Think Tank (S4.14)
106. Remake AKA Cloudy With A Chance Of Improvement (S8.03) - It wasn't an improvement.
107. No Country For Two Old Men (S7.04)
108. Rob-A-Bye Baby (S2.08)
109. Forget Me Not (S1.09)
110. Chivalry Is Not Dead... But Someone Is (S5.04)
111. And Down The Stretch Comes Murder (S2.05)
112. Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Piece (S1.03)
113. There Might Be Blood (S3.06)
114. The Old And The Restless (S2.12)
115. Nip And Suck It (S7.13)
116. A Touch Of Sweevil (S8.08)
117. The Polarizing Express (S5.14)
118. Dis-Lodged (S2.14)
119. A Nightmare On State Street (S8.09)

What Laid-Back Camp Taught Me

Like many other things, introversion hasn't really gotten the best depiction in television. A lot of the biggest introverted TV characters are abrasive or detached from society to some degree, from the socially awkward Sheldon Cooper, to the immensely cynical Daria and Dr House, to the literal serial killer Dexter Morgan. And the rest mostly just consists of those really shy characters who go through a character arc where they come out of their shell, usually upon meeting an extrovert. In a world where extroversion is rewarded, it definitely feels like being an introvert is painted as a bad thing in a lot of media, and as an introvert myself, I started to agree. But then I saw Laid-Back Camp, and by extension, Shima Rin, a character who was wholly secure in her introversion and spent plenty of episodes completely on her own separated from the rest of the cast... and it confused the hell out of me.

But before talking about the show, let's talk about what being an introvert really means. Many people seem to think that an introvert is someone who is shy, socially awkward, or abrasive, but that's not the case at all. As a matter of fact, extroverts can also have all of those traits I just mentioned. Because introversion and extroversion isn't a matter of personality as I may have initially thought, it's all about how people enjoy spending their time and recharge. Introverts enjoy spending time alone and in their thoughts, and use solitude to get their energy, while extroverts enjoy and get energy from spending time with others. And even more, introverts aren't incapable of interacting with others just as extroverts aren't incapable of being alone for a bit, they may just interact in a different way than you might be used to. Introverts might only speak up when they feel they have something useful to say, even if they're still going to be listening throughout the whole conversation. The point is, the difference between introversion and extroversion isn't as simple as someone's personality traits, it's a lot more their actions, and how and when they tend to spend their time. Not that I knew that, of course, and that's where Rin comes in.

Laid-Back Camp starts with a classic anime slice of life setup. The introverted Shima Rin runs into the extroverted Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and it immediately became apparent that Nadeshiko was going to get Rin to come out of her shell, join the school's camping club, and spend more time with others... but that's not what happened. Rin did end up making friends with Nadeshiko and the members of the club, and even finds enjoyment in going camping with them every once in a while, but she also spends a lot of time going solo camping like she usually does and never actually ended up joining the club. Rin makes sure to set her boundaries, and Nadeshiko is perfectly accepting of this, even trying out solo camping on her own in Season 2. In Laid-Back Camp, wanting to spend time by yourself or do things at your one pace is perfectly valid and understandable.

When I first saw this series, I was completely baffled, and it kinda shows in my review. While I gave Laid-Back Camp a generally positive score of 3/5, most of my criticisms revolved around the fact that the entire cast didn't spend enough time all together and that there were a lot of scenes with characters on their own, as if that made the show more boring for some reason. And sure, Laid-Back Camp's character interactions are great, but I feel like my reaction stemmed not really having seen an introverted character like Shima Rin. Rin doesn't start the series alone (she's friends with Ena Saito), and she doesn't have any desire to make more friends or put herself out there. She's perfectly fine with camping on her own, even taking enjoyment in it. That type of character is so rare that I didn't think a show could have been written around it, but Laid-Back Camp continues to surprise.

I rewatched Laid-Back Camp recently, partially because I wanted something comfy and partially because I wanted to focus on watching it through the lens of Rin, and I realized a lot. For starters, I really started to notice just how much I related to Rin, especially whenever she pulls out her disgusted face. But I also realized just how much the show manages to actually make her introversion interesting. For starters, Rin is the only narrator in the series, which makes perfect sense since introverts tend to think to themselves a lot. So whenever Rin is on her own, you still get some dialogue in her inner thoughts, as well as the beautiful backdrops of whatever camping site she's at in any given episode. In addition, Laid-Back Camp is the absolute gold standard for text messages in any show ever, using cute chibi sprites to denote the characters texting, having the voice actors read out the texts out loud, and keeping the eyes busy through either a charming character reaction or a beautiful piece of scenery. Here's a few examples:

There's something really forced about the way text is used in a lot of media, as if the crew and writers are trying to be trendy despite texting currently being a part of life. Part of that is with the dialogue, which has never felt as naturally as it does here, but another part is that media tends to just shove in texting just to scream at the viewer: "Hey! It's the 21st century! Did you know that people text?! We're hip!". But in Laid-Back Camp, the text messages serve a purpose of not only letting the characters interact despite being separated, but also by tying it into introversion. Many introverts feel more comfortable texting or using social media than interacting in person, since they'll still have their space and can spend more time thinking of responses. Laid-Back Camp depicts texting in a positive light and shows how Rin and the rest of the cast use it to connect and communicate, which is something I really wish more shows would do.

Laid-Back Camp changed the way I viewed myself and television as a whole. Ever since watching it, I have so much less patience for series who stereotype introverts, because Rin's depiction shows you can pull off that type of character in a respectful way while keeping the anime enjoyable. It also ruined texting in movies and TV shows for me, and I wish every show would take the Laid-Back Camp route in that front. I've related to shy characters before, like Mio Akiyama from K-On, but Rin was the first time I felt like I truly saw myself in a character. She makes all the decisions that I would've probably have made, and just watching her be secure in her introversion made me feel more secure in my own.

Veep (Season 1)

Veep is a fantastic show, easily in my top 10 comedies ever. It's super prescient and has a unique style of humor all its own, filled with creative insults and sheer unadulterated chaos. It's great stuff, though its slow first season still has some growing pains to overcome.

Veep is a show about the vice president of the United States of America, Selina Meyer. A selfish jerk who feels she's been locked out of the government process and is stuck racing around the not-White House trying to put out fires. Season 1 mostly focuses on Selina trying to implement a Clean Jobs bill, despite being continuously blocked and shut out by the president. It's a solid first storyline, though we don't get too much time to really explore it before the bill gets shut down in the fifth episode. This season also introduces the many side characters who are a part of Selina's team. They're all pretty likable and mostly have their own subplots that end up getting resolved in the penultimate episode. Keep in mind that I said penultimate episode, the one genuinely large issue I have with Season 1's plot is that it resolves pretty much everything (even tying up the loose ends around the bill) in the second to last episode. The finale feels fairly tacked-on and inconsequential by comparison.

The big problem with Season 1 of Veep is that it's just too short. Having watched many comedies, I've noticed that their first seasons tend to be some of the weakest due to the growing pains of the cast and writing, so whenever a sitcom's first season is really short (The Office, Parks And Rec), it's usually not very good since it doesn't have the time to grow into its own. Veep actually has a better start than the aforementioned shows, as its unique brand of chaotic comedy is established right from the very first season. My favorite thing about Veep (especially in the first four seasons) are those scenes where Selina and the team are frantically trying to put out fires only for more problems to pop up, as they slowly get more and more panicked to the point where they start screaming at each other. It's always a good time and those kinds of scenes are there right from the very beginning of the show. However, it's not until halfway through Season 1 where the writing starts to make me laugh a lot more consistent, and by the time the season starts to really get into its groove, it's already over.

Highlights:

Nicknames: This was the first really good episode of Veep for me, with a nice balance of comedy and story. For the former, there's the hilarious subplot of Selina getting heated at the nicknames people callher online. For the latter, there's Selina having to vote against her own bill, showing her at her most bitter and disillusioned yet.

Full Disclosure: As mentioned above, it's the penultimate episode where the main storyline of Season 1 gets resolved, and with all the secrets and tensions lingering in the air at this point, you get an episode that feels like it's almost entirely one of those "chaotic scenes" I brought up earlier in the review. There's the pregnancy test, the Macauley scandal, Amy potentially getting fired, and it all gets paid off in a grand sequence in Selina's office that's simultaneously tense and hilarious. Seriously, why wasn't this the finale?

Overall, Season 1 of Veep is a solid start for the series, doing a great job of introducing the characters and establishing the show's humor. However, it's also really short, ending right when it's starting to get really good, and has a pretty underwhelming final episode.

2/5 Stars 

Episode Rankings: Steven Universe

I'm just gonna get this out of the way, Steven Universe is not a bad show like some people seem to claim it is. It has its flaws (short episodes, a few muddled messages, Steven's perspective, Pink fucking Diamond), but there's also a lot of things the show does right and still make it worth watching today. The characters are great, the songs are bangers, the core storyline is well-done and filled with memorable twists and turns, and most of all, Steven Universe is ambitious. Even if it doesn't pull it off the best, this show's willingness to break new ground and tackle serious themes will always be admirable to me. You can take or leave Future though. Here's my ranking of its episodes: 

1. A Single Pale Rose (S5.18) - I don't care what anyone says, this twist is and will always be amazing
2. Mindful Education (S4.04)
3. Jail Break (S1.52) - In a way, they never really topped this finale
4. Reunited (S5.23)
5. Earthlings (S3.22)
6. Steven Universe: The Movie (The Movie)
7. Message Received (S2.24)
8. The Trial (S5.02)
9. Alone Together (S1.36)
10. I Am My Mom (S4.24)
11. The Answer (S2.21)
12. Alone At Sea (S3.15)
13. Can't Go Back (S5.17) - Lapis, my beloved
14. Sworn To The Sword (S2.05)
15. That Will Be All (S4.14)
16. Change Your Mind (S5.28) - Not a perfect finale, but it works well enough
17. Ocean Gem (S1.26)
18. Off Colors (S5.03)
19. Back To The Moon (S3.23)
20. The Test (S1.38)
21. Catch And Release (S2.17)
22. The Return (S1.51)
23. Rose's Scabbard (S1.45)
24. Monster Reunion (S3.14)
25. Letters To Lars (S5.16)
26. Storm In the Room (S4.16)
27. Same Old World (S3.03)
28. We Need To Talk (S2.08)
29. Bubbled (S3.24)
30. Legs From Here To Homeworld (S5.24)
31. Mirror Gem (S1.25)
32. The Big Show (S5.14) - Hot take: The human characters are (mostly) great and Steven Universe would be lesser without them
33. On The Run (S1.40)
34. Hit The Diamond (S3.05)
35. Steven's Dream (S4.10)
36. Lars' Head (S5.04)
37. Friend Ship (S2.14)
38. Garnet's Universe (S1.33)
39. Mr Greg (S3.08) - Not the best episode, but it does have the best song
40. Last One Out Of Beach City (S4.06)
41. Beta (S3.21)
42. Keystone Motel (S2.11)
43. Monster Buddies (S1.23)
44. Are You My Dad? (S4.23)
45. Lion 3: Straight To Video (S1.35)
46. Made Of Honor (S5.22)
47. It Could've Been Great (S2.23)
48. The Message (S1.49)
49. Now We're Only Falling Apart (S5.19)
50. Super Watermelon Island (S3.01)
51. Steven The Sword Fighter (S1.16)
52. Stuck Together (S5.01)
53. Gem Heist (S4.12)
54. Crack The Whip (S3.18)
55. When It Rains (S2.18)
56. Warp Tour (S1.37)
57. Nightmare Hospital (S2.15)
58. Room For Ruby (S4.19)
59. Coach Steven (S1.20)
60. Barn Mates (S3.04)
61. Keeping It Together (S2.07)
62. Familiar (S5.25)
63. Marble Madness (S1.44)
64. Your Mother And Mine (S5.13)
65. Giant Woman (S1.12)
66. Sadie Killer (S5.09)
67. Story For Steven (S1.48)
68. Bismuth (S3.20)
69. Cry For Help (S2.10)
70. An Indirect Kiss (S1.24)
71. Lion 4: Alternate Ending (S4.20)
72. Together Alone (S5.26)
73. Full Disclosure (S2.01)
74. Lion 2: The Movie (S1.17)
75. Gem Drill (S3.02)
76. Adventures In Light Distortion (S4.11)
77. Jungle Moon (S5.12)
78. Back To The Barn (S2.19)
    
79. Gem Hunt (S3.17)
80. Log Date 7 15 2 (S2.25)
81. Beach City Drift (S3.11) - Eurobeat!
82. The Question (S5.21)
83. The Good Lars (S4.22)
84. Lars And The Cool Kids (S1.14)
85. Love Letters (S2.03)
86. Space Race (S1.28)
87. Three Gems And A Baby (S4.09)
88. Raising The Barn (S5.07)
89. Maximum Capacity (S1.43)
90. Steven Vs Amethyst (S3.19)
91. Too Far (S2.20)
92. Lars Of The Stars (S5.11)
93. Chille Tid (S2.09)
94. Bubble Buddies (S1.07)
95. Watermelon Steven (S1.34)
96. Beach Party (S1.18)
97. Pool Hopping (S5.15)
98. The Zoo (S4.13)
99. Greg The Babysitter (S3.16)
100. Steven's Lion (S1.10)
101. Sadie's Song (S2.16)
102. The New Crystal Gems (S4.15) - All my favorite characters together... just to wash a car...
103. What's Your Problem? (S5.20)
104. Fusion Cuisine (S1.32)
105. Steven Floats (S3.06)
106. Kindergarten Kid (S4.01)
107. Dewey Wins (S5.05)
108. Reformed (S2.04)
109. Winter Forecast (S1.42)
110. Laser Light Cannon (S1.02)
111. House Guest (S1.27)
112. Steven And The Stevens (S1.22)
113. Joy Ride (S2.02)
114. Future Vision (S1.39)
115. Too Short To Ride (S3.09)
116. Gem Harvest (S4.08)
117. Political Power (S1.50)
118. Kevin Party (S5.10)
119. Steven's Birthday (S2.22)
120. Rose's Room (S1.19)
121. Back To Kindergarten (S5.08)
122. Open Book (S1.46)
123. Tiger Millionaire (S1.09)
124. Gemcation (S5.06)
125. Know Your Fusion (S4.02)
126. Island Adventure (S1.30)
127. Doug Out (S4.21)
128. Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service (S3.13)
129. Historical Friction (S2.13)
130. Cheeseburger Backpack (S1.03)
131. Joking Victim (S1.21)
132. Secret Team (S1.29)
133. Cat Fingers (S1.06)
134. Drop Beat Dad (S3.07)
135. Gem Glow (S1.01)
136. Horror Club (S1.41)
137. Escapism (S5.27)
138. Buddy's Book (S4.03)
139. So Many Birthdays (S1.13)
140. Tiger Philanthropist (S4.18)
141. Onion Friend (S2.12)
142. Frybo (S1.05)
143. The New Lars (S3.10)
144. Shirt Club (S1.47)
145. Serious Steven (S1.08)
146. Restaraunt Wars (S3.12)
147. Future Boy Zoltron (S4.05)
148. Onion Trade (S1.15)
149. Keep Beach City Weird (S1.31)
150. Arcade Mania (S1.11)
151. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies (S2.06)
152. Onion Gang (S4.07)
153. Together Breakfast (S1.04)
154. Rocknaldo (S4.17)

Episode Rankings: Lost

Lost is a messy and flawed show that has sparked a ton of debate over what parts of it are even good, but it's also a brilliantly ambitious series that contains some of the greatest and most iconic characters, moments, and episodes in all of television. Personally, while I found the final season to be a bit weak, I mostly really enjoyed Lost throughout and even like the finale, so I think everyone should watch Lost at one point to come to their own conclusions. Besides, Season 5 alone makes this series worth watching. Here's my ranking of the episodes:

1. The Incident: Part 2 (S5.17) - This is the greatest season finale of all time, it left me absolutely slack-jawed when I first saw it.
2. The Incident: Part 1 (S5.16)
3. Through The Looking Glass: Part 2 (S3.23) - How can there be so many iconic moments and lines in a single episode of TV?
4. The Constant (S4.05)
5. Through The Looking Glass: Part 1 (S3.22) 
6. Exodus: Part 3 (S1.25)
7. Live Together, Die Alone: Part 2 (S2.24)
8. Exodus: Part 1 (S1.23)
9. The Other 48 Days (S2.07)
10. There's No Place Like Home: Part 2 (S4.13)
11. The Brig (S3.19)
12. The End: Part 2 (S6.18) - I maintain no one understands this ending, it's actually really damn solid
13. 316 (S5.06)
14. Pilot: Part 1 (S1.01) - Best opening scene ever
15. Jughead (S5.03)
16. Deus Ex Machina (S1.19)
17. Exodus: Part 2 (S1.24)
18. Man Of Science, Man Of Faith (S2.01)
19. Walkabout (S1.04)
20. LA X (S6.01)
21. The Variable (S5.14)
22. Live Together, Die Alone: Part 1 (S2.23)
23. There's No Place Like Home: Part 3 (S4.14) - This finale was padded out, it did not need to be three parts
24. The Shape Of Things To Come (S4.09) - Michael Emerson is the best actor in the whole show
25. Do No Harm (S1.20)
26. Namaste (S5.09)
27. The End: Part 1 (S6.17)
28. Lockdown (S2.17)
29. Greatest Hits (S3.21)
30. There's No Place Like Home: Part 1 (S4.12)
31. The Beginning Of The End (S4.01) - Lost: Civil War
32. The Man From Tallahassee (S3.13)
33. Raised By Another (S1.10)
34. Follow The Leader (S5.15)
35. The Man Behind The Curtain (S3.20)
36. Whatever Happened, Happened (S5.11)
37. Collision (S2.08)
38. LA X: Part 2 (S6.02)
39. Numbers (S1.18)
40. Pilot: Part 2 (S1.02)
41. Not In Portland (S3.07) - Season 3's finally good!
42. This Place Is Death (S5.05)
43. Catch-22 (S3.17)
44. Outlaws (S1.16)
45. Three Minutes (S2.22)
46. All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (S1.11)
47. Because You Left (S5.01)
48. Confirmed Dead (S4.02)
49. What They Died For (S6.16)
50. Enter 77 (S3.11)
51. Maternity Leave (S2.15)
52. LaFleur (S5.08)
53. Two For The Road (S2.20)
54. Happily Ever After (S6.11)
55. The Long Con (S2.13)
56. I Do (S3.06)
57. One Of Us (S3.16)
58. Tabula Rasa (S1.03)
59. The Greater Good (S1.21)
60. Cabin Fever (S4.11)
61. Homecoming (S1.15)
62. Orientation (S2.03)
63. A Tale Of Two Cities (S3.01)
64. Dr Linus (S6.07)
65. He's Our You (S5.10)
66. Solitary (S1.09)
67. The Economist (S4.03)
68. The Whole Truth (S2.16)
69. White Rabbit (S1.05)
70. What Kate Did (S2.09)
71. Tricia Tanaka Is Dead (S3.10)
72. Dead Is Dead (S5.12) - Huh, these two episodes together make a pretty funny sentence
73. Ji Yeon (S4.07)
74. Flashes Before Your Eyes (S3.08)
75. The Little Prince (S5.04)
76. DOC (S3.18)
77. ? (S2.21)
78. Everybody Loves Hugo (S6.12)
79. The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham (S5.07)
80. Abandoned (S2.06)
81. In Translation (S1.17)
82. Confidence Man (S1.08)
83. The Substitute (S6.04)
84. Par Avion (S3.12)
85. Sundown (S6.06)
86. Meet Kevin Johnson (S4.08)
87. The Lie (S5.02)
88. One Of Them (S2.14)
89. Left Behind (S3.15)
90. Adrift (S2.02) - "WAAAAAAAAAALT!!!"
91. House Of The Rising Sun (S1.06)
92. The Last Recruit (S6.13)
93. Every Man For Himself (S3.04)
94. Special (S1.14)
95. Eggtown (S4.04)
96. The Package (S6.10)
97. The 23rd Psalm (S2.10)
98. Whatever The Case May Be (S1.12)
99. The Glass Ballerina (S3.02)
100. SOS (S2.19)
101. Born To Run (S1.22)
102. What Kate Does (S6.03)
103. Something Nice Back Home (S4.10)
104. Some Like It Hoth (S5.13)
105. Everybody Hates Hugo (S2.04)
106. The Cost Of Living (S3.05)
107. The Moth (S1.07)
108. The Other Woman (S4.06)
109. Exposé (S3.14)
110. The Hunting Party (S2.11)
111. Recon (S6.08)
112. Further Instructions (S3.03)
113. And Found (S2.05) - This should've been the name of the finale.
114. Hearts And Minds (S1.13)
115. Lighthouse (S6.15)
116. Dave (S2.18)
117. The Candidate (S6.14) - I will never not be pissed off at this episode.
118. Ab Aeterno (S6.09) - Booooooooooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg...
119. Stranger In A Strange Land (S3.09)
120. Across The Sea (S6.15) - Even more booooooooooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg...
121. Fire And Water (S2.12)

Lost (Season 6)

Look, anything would've had a hard time following up Lost's amazing fifth season, but Season 6 is a pretty massive step down for me. It was a departure from the last two seasons in terms of tone and pacing, but when it wasn't downright frustrating, it was utterly boring. At least the finale was good, though.

I loved The Incident, it's my favorite season finale ever, but man, does it not get followed up on very well at all. Let's talk about that episode's two cliffhangers and how the potential they established were ultimately squandered in Season 6. First, there's the reveal that Locke is actually Jacob's nemesis, the Man In Black, who proceeds to then kill him. It's implied that the Man In Black is going to be this big new terrifying force to be reckoned with, and that the islanders are going to have to team up and take him down, but what actually happens is a bit less exciting. Granted, the actual final battle with the Man In Black in the last two episodes is really fun and probably the highlight of the season, but much of Season 6 is spent watching the Man In Black wander around the island preparing to enact his plan, which is simply just to escape the island, which would in turn destroy the world. He's still a cruel villain, for sure, since he needs to kill a lot of the cast to escape, but he's still nowhere near the tyrant that I was kind of hoping for. Even more, his appearance ends up shafting Charles Widmore, who is still probably an even more menacing villain due to only being motivated by greed.

And then there's the hydrogen bomb detonating in the Season 5 finale, which initially seems to have created a sideways timeline where the island never existed and the cast lived normal lives. That was such an awesome decision, I absolutely loved seeing the flash sideways sequences and how all of the characters would have turned out if the events of the show never happened. But, because there's always a but with this season, as the season progresses, I started to feel disconnected from these sequences, mostly because they never reveal what you're looking at until the series finale. Sure, the flash sideways sequences were cool, but if you didn't know if they were real, how could you get invested in what's going on? Eventually, you learn that the flash sideways was actually the afterlife, which is a solid reveal, though now it comes at the cost of the hydrogen bomb having not really done anything.

There's a lot more issues with Season 6, though, such as the fact that it adds a lot of mysticism and religious theming to the series, which frankly felt a bit jarring. On the "Man Of Science" to "Man Of Faith", Lost has been firmly on the side of science for the past few seasons, so suddenly introducing stuff like godlike figures, mystical temples, and the afterlife felt completely out of left field to me. Not to mention the exhausting loredumb episodes (Ab Aeterno and Across The Sea) that were filled to the brim with hollow religious symbolism, I couldn't help but miss the science-fiction elements that I loved so much about Season 5. Actually, let's get back to that temple for a second, because there's another thing I don't like about Season 6, which is what it puts the main cast through. Much of this season has the cast spend time meandering about in a hidden temple (that of course eventually gets destroyed), and it's so dull. You'd think that once the temple gets destroyed, the season would get better, and that's kind of true. Some of the best episodes in Season 6 do take place in its second half, but we also get the aforementioned loredump episodes as well as The Candidate, where Jin and Sun die in a hollow attempt at shock value that completely forgets that they're supposed to have a kid.

Highlights: 

LA X: It pains me that this season dropped off as much as it did because I really liked the premiere, especially the first half. Aside from introducing the Flash Sideways and misleading the audience into thinking the hydrogen bomb actually accomplished something, it spent much of its runtime dealing with Juliet's death, making for a much more personal episode compared to the rest of the season.

The End: I feel like my opinions on series finales can be a bit against the grain at times. I really like the gutsy and controversial finales (Angel, The Sopranos, Evangelion), so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I love the Lost finale. Even more, I think that much of the hatred for it stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually happens. Because the whole show did happen. The island isn't fake, and the characters were never dead the whole time. The ending explicitly states that the parallel timeline is the afterlife, and is supposed to be a happy ending where the characters finally reunite after all their hardships once they die in their own time. Once again, this finale does not render the events of the show null, and it doesn't make the action-packed and dramatic final battle with the Man In Black any less fun. Sure not every mystery is answered, but given how much of a drag this season's loredumps were, the decision to focus primarily on giving the characters a happy ending was perfect. 

Overall, Season 6 of Lost is not very good, a huge step down from the prior five seasons due to its weak villain, slow meandering pace, boring loredump episodes, one of the most frustrating death scenes I've ever watched, and a general wasting of the plot points introduced in last season's finale. This would be an easy 1/5 stars if I didn't love the finale as much as I did. 

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the Lost seasons is:

5 > 1 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 6

My ranking of the Lost finales is:

5 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 6 > 4

Favorite Episode: The Incident