Episode Rankings: Red Vs Blue

Red Vs Blue is still probably my favorite piece of web animation ever. It started as a sharply-written but ultimately still light-hearted riff on the Halo series, and evolved into a tightly-plotted, uproariously funny, utterly badass, and genuinely emotional near masterpiece. At its best (Seasons 6-10, by the way), it's better than most actual TV shows, with some of the best plot twists, characters, and action scenes ever. Here's my ranking of the episodes in its first 13 seasons:

1. This One Goes To Eleven (S8.10)
2. Spiral (S9.17)
3. Party Crasher (S10.19)
4. Fire (S11.18)
5. Don't Say It (S10.22)
6. Chapter 16 (S6.16)
7. Why Were We Here? (S5.23)
8. CT (S10.10)
9. Great Destroyers (S13.17)
10. Reunion (S8.19)
11. Chapter 19 (S6.19)
12. The Sarcophagus (S9.15)
13. Fed Vs New (S12.18)
14. Silver Linings (S3.12)
15. Same Old, Same Old (S5.21)
16. Change Of Plans (S10.18)
17. Neighborhood Watch (S11.15)
18. True Colors (S10.21)
19. The End (S13.19)
20. Kit BFF (S2.19)
21. Long Live The King (S11.10)
22. Tenth Percentile (S8.17)
23. Think You Know Someone (S7.19)
24. Recovering One (S8.04)
25. The Twins (S9.08)
26. Armonia: Parts 1 & 2 (S13.15)
27. Chapter 12 (S6.12)
28. The End Is Near (S13.18)
29. Episode 50, Part 2 (S3.13)
30. The Federal Army Of Chorus (S12.09)
31. N+1 (S8.20)
    
32. Remember Me How I Was (S10.17)
33. Repent, The End Is Near (S5.22)
34. Well, Hello (S7.12)
35. What's The "I" Stand For? (S10.06)
36. Dish Best Served (S13.10)
37. Chapter 6 (S6.06)
38. Hate To Say Goodbye (S9.20)
39. Out Of Mind (S10.12)
40. Familiar Surroundings (S4.01)
41. An Audience Of Dumb (S2.14)
42. The Best Laid Plans (S3.01)
43. Rally Cap (S8.18)
44. Training Daze (S12.05)
45. Watch The Plank (S7.15)
46. Loading... (S5.18)
47. Introductions (S9.10)
48. In Memoriam (S5.06)
49. Hell's Angel (S9.16)
50. Cloak And Dagger (S12.10)
51. Prologue (S13.01)
52. The Storm (S3.19)
53. Upon Further Review (S8.03)
54. Chapter 18 (S6.18)
55. Blunderball (S2.17)
56. Make Your Time (S3.05)
57. Number One (S9.03)
58. Uncommunicado (S5.20)
59. Chapter 9 (S6.09)
60. Two For One (S4.19)
61. A Slightly Crueler Cruller (S1.16)
62. Fighting Fire (S10.09)
63. Standardized Testing (S8.16)
64. SOS (S11.06)
65. Reckless (S10.20)
66. Directions (S7.08)
67. Test Your Might (S13.08)
68. Visiting Old Friends (S3.02)
69. Chapter 13 (S6.13)
70. Last One Out, Hit The Lights (S1.19)
71. The New Kid (S10.05)
72. Heavy Mettle (S11.04)
73. All Or Nothing (S13.16)
74. Thin Ice (S12.08)
75. Chapter 2 (S6.02)
76. The Wrong Crowd (S5.19)
77. You Know Who We Are (S12.19)
78. Have We Met? (S3.14)
79. Roomier Than It Looks (S1.14)
80. One New Message (S7.06)
81. Temple Of The Key (S13.10)
82. Yellow Fever (S5.08)
83. A House Divided, Then Multiplied (S11.09)
84. Follow The Leader (S10.03)
85. For Those Of You Just Joining Us (S8.01)
86. Tourist Trap (S13.04)
87. The Installation (S7.14)
88. Chapter 5 (S6.05)
89. The Arrival (S4.20)
90. Hang Time (S7.18)
91. Chapter 17 (S6.05)
92. Fight Or Fright (S4.03)
    
93. Reconciliation (S11.14)
94. Battle Of The Exes (S8.13)
95. Off-Key (S13.12)
96. I Dream Of Meanie (S2.11)
97. Revenants (S10.01)
98. Heavy Metal (S3.10)
99. Hit And Run (S12.02)
100. Evacuation Plan (S9.04)
101. Fourth And Twenty (S8.05)
102. Three's A Crowd (S10.15)
103. Long Time No See (S12.11)
104. Visiting Hours (S7.03)
105. Son Of A Bitch (S9.14)
106. Can I Keep It? (S11.07)
107. Baby Steps (S5.03)
108. Head Noob In Charge (S1.04)
109. Dealer Initiative (S2.18)
110. Don't Ph34r The Reaper (S1.08)
111. Don't Get Me Started (S7.01)
112. Chapter 8 (S6.08)
113. Fall From Heaven (S10.08)
114. Ready, Aim... (S11.17)
115. The Nesting Theory (S5.10)
116. Right To Remain Silenced (S4.17)
117. You Can't Park Here (S5.01)
118. In Stereo Where Available (S2.09)
119. Multiple Choice (S12.17)
120. A Real Fixer Upper (S11.05)
121. Perusing The Archive (S8.08)
122. Reflections (S12.06)
123. Previous Commitments (S4.07)
124. Tucker Knows Best (S5.17)
125. Red Gets A Delivery (S1.02)
126. Let's Get Together (S3.03)
127. Bon Voyage (S7.07)
128. One-Zero-One (S11.01)
129. Drink Your Ovaltine (S8.02)
130. Chapter 4 (S6.04)
131. Out Of Body (S10.11)
132. A Shadow Of His Former Self (S1.10)
133. Lost But Not Forgotten (S11.19)
134. Heavy Metal (S10.02)
135. Aftermath, Before Biology (S2.15)
136. Realignment (S9.05)
137. Chapter 14 (S6.14)
138. Capital Assets (S13.02)
139. Retention Deficit (S7.16)
140. Roaming Charges (S3.11)
141. Red Vs Bleu (S2.03)
142. Strong Male Figure (S5.07)
143. Counseling (S13.14)
144. Finders Keepers (S11.12)
145. Something Else Entirely (S12.03)
146. Check Your Local Listings (S8.15)
147. Exploring Our Differences (S4.09)
148. Happy Birthday (S10.16)
149. Calm Before The Storm (S3.18)
150. Everything Old Is New Again (S2.01)
151. Sibling Arrivalries (S5.04)
152. The Reunion (S12.12)
153. How The Other Half Lives (S1.15)
154. Radar Love (S2.10)
155. Turbulence (S10.04)
156. Rounding Error (S9.01)
157. Called Up (S7.13)
158. Oh Captians, My Captains (S12.01)
159. Lifting The Veil (S9.11)
160. Chapter 11 (S6.11)
161. Things Are Looking Down (S4.18)
162. You Better Watch Out (S13.09)
163. Labor Pains (S9.18)
164. Missed Direction (S5.14)
165. Barriers To Entry (S11.03)
166. Free Refills (S7.02)
167. It's A Biological Fact (S3.09)
168. Towing Package (S8.06)
169. Lost In Triangulation (S4.05)
170. Backup Plans (S8.09)
171. My House, From Here (S7.09)
172. Captive Audience (S9.09)
173. The Haystack (S5.12)
174. Chapter 7 (S6.07)
175. Points Of Origin (S1.17)
176. You're The Bomb, Yo (S3.04)
177. Planning The Heist (S9.13)
178. Chapter 3 (S6.03)
179. After Church (S1.09)
180. Room For Rent (S2.12)
181. Trust Issues (S7.17)
182. Chapter 15 (S6.15)
183. Sweet Ride (S2.05)
184. The Thin Fed Line (S13.13)
185. Reconfiguration (S8.14)
186. Worst Laid Plans (S11.11)
187. Teaming With Problems (S12.04)
188. Case File 01.045 (S9.07)
189. Biting The Hand (S5.16)
190. Hunting Time (S4.02)
191. Hello, My Name Is Andrew (S3.16)
192. Sneaking In (S4.13)
193. No Fighting In The War Room (S13.05)
194. Brass Tacks (S5.09)
195. What's Mine Is Yours (S2.16)
196. Catching Up (S7.04)
197. Why Are We Here? (S1.01)
198. We Must Rebuild (S3.06)
199. The Grif Reaper (S5.05)
200. Oversight (S10.07)
201. Chapter 10 (S6.10)
202. Get Your Tucks In A Row (S11.02)
203. Restraining Orders (S8.11)
204. Nine Tenths Of The Law (S2.08)
205. What's Yours Is Ours (S13.03)
206. Human Peer Bonding (S1.13)
207. Self Assessment (S12.07)
208. Looking For Group (S4.08)
209. Check Out The Treads On That Tank (S1.07)
210. Whole Lot Of Shaking (S9.19)
211. SPF 0 (S1.18)
212. Terms And Provisions (S5.13)
213. Fair Competition (S4.04)
214. The Grass Is Greener, The Blues Are Bluer (S11.08)
215. Dumb Cop, Bad Cop (S7.11)
216. Got Your Back (S5.02)
217. New And Improved (S10.14)
218. Motion To Adjourn (S2.02)
219. Crash Site Crashers (S12.14)
220. And Don't Call Me Shirley (S8.07)
221. Getting Debriefed (S4.15)
222. Chapter 1 (S6.01)
223. Me, Myself, And You (S2.13)
224. The Rookies (S1.03)
225. We're Being Watched (S3.08)
226. Familiar Feelings (S9.06)
227. Along Came A Spider (S13.06)
228. The Joy Of Toggling (S2.04)
229. +1 Follower (S11.13)
230. Where Credit Is Due (S5.15)
231. Let's Come To Order (S3.15)
232. Local Host (S7.05)
233. Mid-Game Substitution (S9.12)
234. Out Of The Frying Pan (S12.16)
235. Getting All Misty (S4.11)
236. Spelunked (S5.11)
237. Knock, Knock. Who's There? Pain. (S1.11)
238. Defusing The Situation (S3.17)
239. Greenish-Blue With Envy (S10.13)
240. Lay Of The Land (S7.10)
241. The Package Is In The Open (S1.05)
242. FAQ (S11.16)
243. Catch Up, No Mustard (S12.13)
244. Snooze Button (S8.12)
245. The Hard Stop (S4.06)
246. Shaking The Foundation (S9.08)
247. Last Words (S2.06)
248. You Keep Using That Word (S4.14)
249. Under The Weather (S4.16)
250. New Toys (S3.07)
251. Locus Of Control (S13.07)
252. Down, But Not Out (S1.12)
253. Accentuate The Interrogative (S12.15)
254. Setting A High Bar (S4.10)
255. 1.21 Giga-Whats?? (S1.06)
256. Nobody Likes You (S2.07)
257. Talk Of The Town (S4.12)

Red Vs Blue (The Chorus Trilogy)

With the Freelancer storyline all but complete as of the end of Season 10, Red Vs Blue needed a way to keep on going without alienating the audience. With the Chorus Trilogy, RvB takes a far more character-driven turn that not only works pretty damn well, but feels like the perfect ending of the series.

The Chorus Trilogy has a simple storyline. The Reds and Blues crash land on the planet Chorus, where a civil war is currently being raged. Throughout these seasons, they have to reconcile the two sides, stop the mercenaries who are profiting off said war, and find a way to escape the planet. It's a solid premise, and one that allows the Reds and Blues to really get a lot more focus compared to the last few seasons. Don't get me wrong, there are obviously subplots, several Freelancer characters, and a twist that does a good job of tying the trilogy to the show's previous events, but this trilogy focuses the most heavily on the main cast once again and I think that's great. Even more, The Chorus Trilogy puts a great emphasis on character arcs. Each member of the main cast, from Wash to Caboose to Grif to especially Tucker all go through some sort of character development that is resolved by the end of the trilogy.

Season 11:

This first season of the trilogy is an absolutely underrated gem of a season. At first glance, it feels like your usual Blood Gulch-esque season that focuses primarily on comedy, but it's actually incredibly well-crafted and is packed with fun twists, a melancholic vibe, tons of great Chekhov's Guns, and a genuinely shocking final battle. All of the character arcs are introduced during this season which helps it surpass a lot of the more simplistic Blood Gulch seasons. What really elevates this season, however, is the episode "Fire", which is easily one of the best in the whole show. It's a crazy final battle that puts the Reds and Blues right in the middle of the civil war, utilizing all of the comedic threads from earlier on in the season from Freckles to Simmons' Facebook clone, and ending off by splitting up the cast. Even crazier is the fact that, with Monty Oum gone to work on RWBY, this entire battle sequence was made in machinima and it's still one of the show's best. I do think the final denouement episode is a bit weak, and a large portion of the season is build up for the events of "Fire", but Season 11 is generally a very strong start to the Chorus Trilogy with great character work and some fun twists.

4/5 Stars

Season 12:

I'm not a big fan of this season, to be perfectly honest. For me, Season 12 is the weakest season since the Blood Gulch Chronicles. But first, the things I do like: It gets off to a great start with Tucker, Simmons, Grif, and Caboose trying to train soldiers to fight in the civil war, and the middle of the season has some neat plot twists along with the return of Church and Carolina. The final battle is also pretty great, and Tucker's character development continues to be really strong. However, Season 12 is also a bit of a drag at times. The lack of many Reds and Blues in the first half means that we end up getting a lot of screen time for the Chorus characters who I just don't find as interesting. And then, once the second half starts and the Reds and Blues reunite, the plot just starts spinning its wheels until the big battle in the penultimate episode. Even more, the show tries to bring back CGI and fight scenes, but due to the evolution to Halo 4, the effects and lighting are just plain awful. There's a lot to like in Season 12, but it always just felt like a boring season to me, and one that struggles to reach the heights of the last six seasons. 

3/5 Stars

Season 13:

After my disappointment in Season 12, thankfully Season 13 managed to end up being one of the show's best seasons, elevating the entire trilogy as a result. Right from the very first episode, you can tell this season is trying to emulate the same ambition of the Freelancer arcs and it absolutely succeeds. The story of the people of Chorus fighting against the Insurrection is compelling and exciting, and it spans a ton of different locations. The CGI has improved and leads to some pretty sweet setpieces, and there manage to include a bunch of references to the Freelancer arc to help this trilogy feel more like a part of Red Vs Blue. And despite all of this bombast and fan service, Season 13 also manages to bring all of the show's character arcs to a satisfying resolution, from Tucker becoming a leader to Church's big sacrifice at the end of the show. I love the ambiguous ending in the last episode and I feel it's a pretty damn perfect ending for Red Vs Blue as a whole, even if they did end up continuing the series to mixed results. It kills off the main character, completing his character arc, and dials down the conflict to the main cast of the show. In case I haven't made it clear already, I absolutely adore this final season, and it makes the entire Chorus Trilogy, even the weak parts, more than worth it, in my opinion.

5/5 Stars

Overall, the Chorus Trilogy is an incredibly well-crafted arc that focuses on developing all of the cast, working incredibly well as an ending to Red Vs Blue as a whole. Even if not every season is amazing and it's not on far with the Freelancer arcs, the final season is so phenomenal that it elevates the Chorus Trilogy and solidifies Red Vs Blue as my favorite webseries ever made.

4/5 Stars

My ranking of the Red Vs Blue arcs is:

Project Freelancer > Recollection > Chorus > Blood Gulch

My ranking of the Red Vs Blue seasons is:

10 > 6 >13 > 8 > 5 > 11 > 9 > 3 > 7 > 12 > 2 > 1 > 4

And my ranking of the Red Vs Blue finales is:

10 > 5 > 6 > 13 > 2 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 3 > 1 > 12 > 4 > 11

Favorite Episode: This One Goes To Eleven

Disclaimer: I won't be reviewing the Red Vs Blue seasons after this one as Season 13 is just the perfect end for the series, but here's my general opinion of the later seasons:

• Season 14 is a fun anthology season that's worth watching for pretty much any Red Vs Blue fan even if not every episode hits the mark (4/5). 
• Season 15 has some weak meta humor and bad CGI but the emotional moments and character development for the Reds made it somewhat decent (3/5). 
• Season 16 is pretty unfunny and bland, and furthers proves why I don't like time travel storylines, though the final episode has some surprisingly good special effects and action (2/5). 
• Season 17 is a pretty big improvement on the last two seasons with some solid action and fun character work even if it's still weak on plot (3/5). 
• RvB: Zero is an absolute disaster with poorly-filmed action, cheesy dialogue, and a general disrespect of the show it's based on (1/5).

Red Vs Blue (Project Freelancer)

Project Freelancer is, at least for me, the absolute highest point of Red Vs Blue. It manages to combine everything that I love about the show, while packing in the best season of the webseries by an absolute long shot. For all intents and purposes, it's pretty much perfect.

Project Freelancer is divided up into two major storylines. The first storyline takes place in present day soon after the events of Season 8, as the Reds and Blues try to locate The Director of Project Freelancer. The second storyline takes place in the past as we learn about how Project Freelancer became what it is. While this might make it seem like these two seasons are disjointed, the show manages to quickly swap between the two storylines while allowing for parallels to appear between them. For example, a character introduced in the flashbacks may appear in the present day, seriously changing the plot. The present day storylines are pretty much what you'd expect from Red Vs Blue. Season 9 shows Church's time in the Epsilon version of Blood Gulch, which does a great job of capturing the comedic vibe of the first five seasons before slowly taking a turn towards horror as things start crumbling apart and characters end up doing things they're not supposed to. Season 10 takes place in the real world, as the Reds, Blues, and one of the freelancers Carolina, travel around past locations in search for the director. I absolutely love this storyline, it allows for some fun levity and callbacks while maintaining a melancholic feel, and the rapid location-switching brings back that adventurous feel I loved so much about Season 6.

And it helps that these Freelancer flashbacks actually manage to surpass pretty much everything Red Vs Blue has ever done. Sure, it's a bit lighter on comedy and heavier on the angst and drama, but it does an amazing job of tying together the show's lore, answering questions, and punching you in the gut. This is how you pull off a prequel, it never feels forced or pandering, and the fact that you know how it all ends just makes it more tragic. Season 10 in particular feels like a better Revenge Of The Sith than the actual Star Wars movie. And even better, these flashbacks are pretty much entirely helmed by Monty Oum. These flashbacks are entirely done with animation and are jam-packed with the kind of brilliantly choreographed action you can expect from the guy. The warehouse fight with Tex in Season 8 might still be my favorite, but wow, these seasons definitely have some close seconds. And while they are the Reds and Blues, these two seasons make you really care for the Freelancers. They all have great and likable personalities along with well-defined relationships with each other that make their inevitable downfall all the more devastating.

What I love about Project Freelancer is how it manages to include a little bit of everything. The Epsilon storyline has the Blood Gulch humor, while Season 10's storyline feels like an adventurous love letter to the Recollection Trilogy. And the flashbacks blend the amazing drama and twists from Season 6 with the amazing action and visual gags from Season 8.

My favorite episodes in Season 9 include:

• "The Twins": The first action scene of the Project Freelancer arc has some insanely tight choreography and beautiful animation that genuinely blew my mind after my first time watching it.
• "Introductions": While not as good as the first Tex beat-em-up fight scene, Tex manages to turn her first appearance in the Freelancer flashbacks into an absolute spectacle.
• "The Sarcophagus": Of course giving Red Vs Blue a heist storyline would be pretty much perfect. The action in this episode is relentless and the character dynamic is a ton of fun. Also, Sharkface.
• "Hell's Angel": While the heist shenanigans are all well and good, this episode has one of the show's funniest moments as Sarge outlines his plan to drill to the planet's core.
• "Spiral": My second favorite episode of the whole show is basically one long, chaotic car chase that's easily Monty Oum's most ambitious set piece. That minute-long one shot is just mind-blowing every time I watch it.
• "Hate To Say Goodbye": An emotional end to the season that shows Church finally letting go of Tex, along with a shocking cliffhanger that reveals Carolina is actually alive!

My favorite episodes in Season 10 include, among many others:

• "CT": The second half of this episode is absolutely phenomenal, from the brutal and intricate fight with the titular character to that devastating ending.
• "Out Of Mind": This subdued episode manages to give Carolina a ton of character development as she achieves closure with York and starts to warm up to the team.
• "Remember Me How I Was": The phenomenal final stretch of episodes for Season 10 starts here, packing in a flurry of twists and reveals in the course of a few minutes.
• "Change Of Plans": Oh, this episode is just heart-breaking. Church calling out the Reds and Blues feels like it should be cathartic and satisfying given all they've put him through, but it's just plain harsh and leaves you feeling awful after watching it.
• "Party Crasher": This entire episode chronicles the massive war between the Freelancers and is stuffed with amazing action and devastating moments. For the most part, this is where the Freelancer flashbacks end, with a bombastic yet emotional bang.
• "True Colors": This episode feels like the Avengers Endgame moment of Red Vs Blue. The whole main cast unites to take on this army of Texes in a crazy action scene that's packed with running gags and the sheer joy of seeing the Reds and Blues finally fighting.
• "Don't Say It": I like that the final battle was in the penultimate episode as it allows for a very emotional and cathartic season finale. The confrontation with The Director is powerful, along with the final scene where Church and Carolina decide to leave. It could've been a great series finale, but once again, I'm glad it wasn't.

Overall, Project Freelancer is pretty much perfect to me, and it's my favorite arc by a long shot. These two seasons perfectly blend comedy, drama, action, and adventure while managing to include one of the most affecting and devastating prequel storylines that I've ever seen. For me, this is the peak of Red Vs Blue.

5/5 Stars

Red Vs Blue (The Recollection)

Red Vs Blue's first five seasons were pretty much all built on comedy, and they were great! But from Season 6 onward, this scrappy little webseries started to put a lot more emphasis on plot, allowing it to reach heights that the Blood Gulch Chronicles could only hope to achieve.

The Recollection Trilogy is composed of Red Vs Blue's sixth, seventh, and eighth season and is essentially about the Reds and Blues fighting to stop an ex-freelancer called The Meta who's trying to steal all of the AIs, while also learning a lot more about the freelancer project itself. Seasons 9 and 10 continue this storyline (I'll get to those later), but these three seasons form a pretty great trilogy around the fight against The Meta:

Season 6: Reconstruction

The jump in quality from Season 5 to Season 6 is absolutely impressive in so many ways. This season manages to feel so much grander than anything in The Blood Gulch Chronicles, it has adventure, drama, and some of the best plot twists in any media ever, which still maintaining the comedy that makes Red Vs Blue so enjoyable. This season is essentially about the freelancer Washington recruiting the Reds and Blues to stop The Meta, so it has the team traveling around different Halo locations facing off against the aforementioned villain. The season gets off to a bit of a slow start with a sort of "get the group back together" storyline, and the tonal shift may feel a bit jarring at first, but the second half of Reconstruction is absolutely magnificent. This season packs in plot twists that completely twist your perception of the show (that Church reveal, huh?) while still making sense and fitting in with the otherwise nonsensical first five seasons. The Meta is also a great villain. He's intimidating, powerful, and genuinely scary at times, helped by the incredibly tense music that plays whenever he's on screen. 

Some of the strongest episodes include the absolutely insane shootout in "Chapter 6", the hilarious backstory of what the Reds were up to in "Chapter 9", the big reveal about Blood Gulch in "Chapter 13", the chaotic and stunning finale in "Chapter 19", and of course, that big reveal about Church in "Chapter 16" that forever changed the series for the better.

Reconstruction is a triumph of a season and part of the reason why Red Vs Blue is as beloved as it is. It takes the comedy and characters we loved from the first five seasons while managing to include a compelling plot with fun adventure, a scary villain, and some insane plot twists that are somehow able to tie the show together brilliantly. It's up there as one of my favorite seasons of the show.

5/5 Stars

Season 7: Recreation

Coming after Season 6, it's hard to not feel disappointed by Recreation. This entire season focuses mostly on the Reds and Blues only, taking place in just two locations. It's a very small scale plot line where not much happens outside of the set-up for Season 8. This season signals Red Vs Blue's temporary return to comedy, but I wouldn't say that's necessarily a bad thing. Recreation is actually a really funny season, maybe one of the funniest in the whole show, and there are plenty of genuinely plot-driven subplots that build off of the end of Season 6. It may not have the same intricate story-telling as last season, but it makes up with Red Vs Blue's typically strong humor and some long-awaited payoffs like Tucker's big return. I also wanted to point out that this is the only season Gavin Free directed, and it kinda shows that it was directed by a different person this time. Despite this season being a machinima, Free manages to pull off a ton of strong visual gags, beautiful wide shots, and crazily-shot action scenes. Red Vs Blue's cinematography had been slowly improving over the course of the show, but Season 7 is absolutely one of the best-filmed seasons in the show.

As far as my favorite episodes go, "Well, Hello" and "Watch The Flank" have the long-awaited returns of some of the show's best characters but "Think You Know Someone" is a season finale so good that it stands far above the season in pretty much every way. It packs in a mind-blowing and devastating plot twist that brings the dramatic tone back in preparation for Season 8.

Overall, Recreation doesn't manage to reach the heights of Season 6 (or even some of the BGC seasons at that), but it has some of the most well-executed comedy and cinematography in the show while still maintaining the emotional heft introduced by the aforementioned sixth season.

4/5 Stars

Season 8: Revelation

Coming after Recreation, Revelation is an absolutely phenomenal final installment in the trilogy, even if I do have some problems with it. First, the good things. Revelation returns back to the tone of Season 6 and brings back an emphasis on plot. Storylines about Church, Tex, Wash, and The Meta reach some sort of satisfying resolution by the end of the season, and yet this season still has some of the funniest moments in the show. I think this season peaks really high in the first and last thirds with some amazing streaks of episodes, with one particular episode in this season being easily my favorite in the whole web series. But what really elevates Revelation over pretty much any season so far is the animation. This is the first season to have Monty Oum join the team, who began to add CGI animation to many of the scenes. Not only does this animation blend in with Halo 3 incredibly well, but it allows for some phenomenal visual gags along with some insane action sequences. Monty Oum is a god at making intricate yet bombastic action sequences that are easy to follow and immensely rewatchable, and Revelation has a whole bunch of these amazing set pieces. As for the issues, I feel like the pacing slows to a bit of a crawl after Tex arrives, and the season generally feels less like an adventure than Season 6 due to large portions of it taking place in the same warehouse location. My biggest issue, however, is in its cliffhanger finale which means that it doesn't quite feel like the end of a trilogy. It's actually a great ending for a season finale but it makes it difficult for me to call these three seasons a trilogy give how Seasons 9 and 10 continue right where they left off. And despite my gripes, Revelation's heights are still higher than any season before it.

My favorite episodes this season include the phenomenal two-parter of "Upon Further Review" and "Recovering One" which introduces Monty's CGI with a bang, "Tenth Percentile" which actually gave Sarge of all characters some emotional material, "Reunion" which packed in a devastating death and one of the best fights in the series, and "N+1" which gave The Meta a satisfying death that utilizes the whole cast to the fullest. And then there's my favorite episode in the whole series, "This One Goes To Eleven", which is pretty much one long fight scene as Tex beats up the Reds and Blues in increasingly intricate ways. It perfectly blends comedy and action into easily the best action scene of Red Vs Blue.

Overall, Revelation feels like the perfect blend of Season 6's drama and Season 7's comedy, with some mind-blowing animation from Monty Oum and satisfying character resolutions that make it feel like one of the show's definitive seasons. Even if it does have its faults, its high points are some of the highest in Red Vs Blue history.

5/5 Stars

For most people, The Recollection Trilogy is absolutely the peak of Red Vs Blue, and I definitely understand that. This trilogy managed to give Red Vs Blue a great plot packed with twists, fun action, and dramatic moments while still maintaining the strong characters and comedy that make the series great. Personally, this isn't my favorite arc in Red Vs Blue, but I can't deny it started the peak of the webseries.

4.7/5 Stars

Red Vs Blue (The Blood Gulch Chronicles)

Yeah, that's right. I'm reviewing webseries too! And what better one to start with than my personal favorite, Red Vs Blue. The first five seasons of Red Vs Blue, also known as the Blood Gulch Chronicles, are pretty much entirely made using machinima, meaning that it all falls onto the writing to carry the show. Thankfully, Red Vs Blue is absolutely hysterical from the get-go, with sharp writing, great characters, and a bizarre yet oddly compelling plot line.

Red Vs Blue is a machinima filmed using the game Halo, pretty much about two opposing teams of soldiers fighting each other in a canyon called Blood Gulch. Eventually, a storyline about an evil AI develops throughout these first five seasons, as the Reds and Blues even end up leaving Blood Gulch for quite some time, but most of the season is spent watching these characters interact and butt heads. The comedic writing in Red Vs Blue is absolutely hilarious most of the time. All of the characters have their own unique quirks and styles of humor, and watching them play off of each other is a lot of fun. There are tons of iconic and recognizable quotes in these first five seasons, along with plenty of running gags that end up paying off later on in the show. Even with the fairly low budget of the show, resulting in a pretty unprofessional first season, the writing manages to carry Red Vs Blue from the very start.

It helps that Red Vs Blue's cast is just plain phenomenal. It's huge too, though mostly just divided by Reds, Blues, and the Freelancers. The Red team is more built around comedy and works as a perfect comedic trio. There's Sarge, the crazy military leader, Simmons, the nerdy suck-up, and Grif, the lazy straight man. Grif is my personal favorite of the trio, as his snarky wit and relatable personality really appeals to me. The Blue team deals with plot more often that not, but they still have a lot of strong comedic moments, particularly the absent-minded Caboose. The leader of Blue team, Church, is probably my favorite character in the show. His sheer hatred for the rest of the cast is both hilarious and sad, and his role in the plot becomes increasingly more important as the show goes on. Tucker is also a great comic relief on par with Grif. And then there are the Freelancers, a group of mercenaries who are pretty much responsible who the AI threat to begin with. They don't get as much focus until Seasons 6 onward, but it's a colorful cast of personalities that flesh out Red Vs Blue's world.

Season 1:

The first season of Red Vs Blue is pretty much entirely lacking on plot. While there is a sense of continuity, the season feels more like a collection of events like Church's death, Tex's arrival, and the finale, rather than its own self-contained season. The low budget nature of the series is also the most visible here, as the video quality is weak and the voice acting is shaky. You can tell that the creators of the show didn't quite have the same ambition in this season that they do in the later seasons. Despite my many gripes, however, Season 1 is still really funny, even from the very first few episodes. The writing is solid right from the start, and the season does a great job of introducing all of the characters. And near the end of the season, there were several episodes that I did find really enjoyable. In particular, I liked "A Slightly Crueler Cruller" which introduces the Spanish-speaking robot Lopez, along with the finale which actually packed a bunch of plot twists, cliffhangers, and a surprising death for Tex. Overall, a solid first season, it just doesn't have the ambition of the rest of the show.

3/5 Stars

Season 2:

For its first two-thirds, Season 2 kind of just feels like more of the same. Even with last season's cliffhangers, the season just felt a bit aimless, at least until the final third, which starts to feel like it's building towards a finale. The season introduces the main antagonist of the Blood Gulch Chronicles, the evil AI Omega, which actually gives the cast someone to work against. Even more, the finale introduces a bunch of neat twists about the Reds and Blues that show a lot more fore-thought compared to the first season. And with the characters leaving Blood Gulch at the end of the season, it really feels like Red Vs Blue is starting to get more ambitious. While the plot doesn't really kick in until that final third, however, the comedy is still there, and it's still excellent. Season 2 might not have as many iconic lines as Season 1, but it still has the same entertaining character interactions and fast-paced humor that I love the show for. There are a lot of strong episodes this season, including "An Audience Of Dumb" which introduces Caboose's hilarious depictions of everyone else, "Blunderball" which has some goofy James Bond references, and "Kit BFF" which is still one of the most packed, chaotic, shocking, and cliffhanger-heavy finales that Red Vs Blue has ever done. Overall, I think Season 2 is a big improvement over the first, especially in its stellar final third, and it's the point in which Red Vs Blue starts to show its ambition.

4/5 Stars

Season 3:

Season 3 is one of my personal favorite seasons of the Blood Gulch Chronicles for how different it is, along with how indicative it is of the more serious later seasons of Red Vs Blue. Pretty much all of this season takes place outside of Blood Gulch, as the Reds and Blues team up and try to take down Omega. I think the season gets a bit too bizarre due to its liberal use of time travel storylines, and it's not one of the funnier seasons, but the best stretches of episodes are thoroughly exciting, compelling, and fun. The best parts of Season 3 include the initial first five episodes which split up the cast, the Church time travel arc where he goes back in time and realizes that he ends up causing all of the events of Seasons 1 & 2, and once again the finale which was packed with tense cliffhangers for the next season. Out of all of the BGC seasons, Season 3 definitely aged the best, as it very much resembles the show that Red Vs Blue would end up becoming. While it's not the funniest season and has its slow points, Season 3 is packed with creative ideas and a whole lot of ambition.

4/5 Stars

Season 4:

Season 4 of Red Vs Blue was just kinda disappointing for me. The first episode "Familiar Surroundings" was a hilarious start to the season, but it never quite reached those heights ever again. This season focuses more on humor as it brought the whole cast back to Blood Gulch, which is kind of disappointing given how much fun the more experimental third season was. Still, this does mean that this is one of the funnier seasons of the BGC, even if the plot definitely suffers. The whole season is built on two storylines, between Tucker going on a "quest", and Simmons getting kicked off of the Red Team. Sadly, neither of these storylines were very interesting, and were dragged out for pretty much all of the season. Even Omega, the main villain of Seasons 2 & 3, didn't really reappear until the last few episodes. As mentioned before, the only true highlight of the season was its premiere, the rest of it was just kind of dull. Overall, Season 4 is definitely the weakest Blood Gulch Chronicles season in my opinion. It had its funny moments, but the story was paper-thin, drawn-out, and dull.

2/5 Stars

Season 5:

Thankfully, Red Vs Blue managed to end its first arc on a very strong final season. Season 5 of Red Vs Blue takes place entirely on the Blood Gulch, but it manages to feel like a satisfying climax to the Omega storyline, slowly bringing back pretty much the entire cast for one massive final battle in the last few episodes. And even with all of the buildup, the first two thirds of Season 5 still had tons to love, from the addition of Grif's hilarious sister to the cast, to Sarge's "funeral", to the paranoia-inducing mystery on who Omega has taken over. But once again, it's that final arc that really blows me away given how well it manages to tie up all of the series's disparate plot threads and characters. My two favorite episodes by a massive margin are "Same Old, Same Old" which has Tucker try to defeat the freelancer Wyoming using a time loop, and the finale "Why Were We Here?" which is a climactic, shocking, hilarious, and even kind of saddening end to the first 100 episodes of Red Vs Blue. The Blood Gulch Chronicles is not one of my favorite arcs due to its focus on humor over plot, but I'm not gonna lie, Season 5 is absolutely amazing. It has great humor, a compelling story, and a stunning final third, a perfect end for the arc that started Red Vs Blue.

5/5 Stars

Overall, the Blood Gulch Chronicles is a hysterical start for Red Vs Blue with sharp writing, great characters, and a strong ending, even if its fairly light on plot and visibly low-budget.

3.6/5 Stars