So because of the new Red vs Blue Season and the recent Red vs Blue DEATH BATTLE which is coming out tomorrow, i have been watching Red vs Blue and i have a couple of thoughts and opinions on it. I am not sure if people will like my thoughts and opinions on RVB but i might as well try it.
Part 1 - Blood Gulch Chronicles
First let’s start with the first arc of Red vs Blue - Blood Gulch Chronicles. If i am being honest this is the arc i have the least amount of attachment into. In terms of where i personally started to watch the series - it was around S10. Blood Gulch Chronicles is probably the main arc besides the Freelancer saga that is the most fondly remembered and if i am going to be brutally honest here. I don’t think a lot of the Blood Gulch Chronicles holds up that well aka a lot of people have very rose tinted glasses when it comes to it. It’s not bad for sure and its impact on the series as well as online culture cannot be overstated but the problem with the Blood Gulch Chronicles is that it very much relies on Early to Mid 2000s humour and stereotypes for a lot of its characters. You could argue that is very much the point considering that the characters of Red vs Blue are based on Online Halo Players/mannerisms but a lot of the humour in the BGC is extremely mean-spirited and doesn’t really hold up that well to today’s standards.
I like the Reds and Blues but the elephant in the room is that a lot of them are based on stereotypes that are honestly quite harmful in today’s standards (i imagine if Red vs Blue was made today they would not get away with a lot of the humour in the BGC). While i would later turn to really like him - Tucker especially suffers from him, Womanising characters in general are something that turn me off in general and BGC Tucker is 100% one of the worst examples of this. Due to the fact there were no real plans for a long-form story at first, a lot of the characters are flat and one-dimensional in that they are assholes and for the most part stay as assholes (this would change). BGC to me is very mixed - while i think it did a decent job setting up the world and characters as well as give them strong interactions, i really didn’t care for most of the Reds and Blues’s personalities during BGC and a lot of the humour and stereotypes that the characters lean into are harmful and have aged extremely badly. So yeah, i know Blood Gulch Chronicles had its fans but i am not one of these people as i feel it has aged pretty badly.
Part 2 - Introduction of the Freelancers
Now let’s talk about the Freelancer Stuff. I will admit, the introduced lore about Tex and Church seemed kinda like a retcon or at the very least an attempt to make a serious story out of nothing but personally i like everything related to the Freelancer saga for the most part. Not to say it’s perfect because i imagine a lot of stuff would have been changed if the Freelancers introduction was made today (i think York and Wyoming’s deaths would have absolutely been changed to make them less lowkey). The introduction of the freelancers also brought my personal favourite character in the series which is Washington. Washington in my personal opinion brings a new take in that compared to the rest of the Reds and Blues he is far less comedic and built on stereotypes. It is also neat for them to go into Tex’s origin a bit as there has been some indication that Tex is not what she seems but I generally liked her interaction with York (for how limited it was). I also think this part of the RVB Saga had a fantastic ending with the group constantly trying to fight off the Meta who despite barely saying anything is a really effective villain despite not saying anything. It also caused a massive shift in the tone and stakes of RVB with the death of Church - yes i know he would come back as Epsilon but this was his first technical death. I also think the final speech at the end with Doctor Leonard Church is one of the best moments in all of Red vs Blue:
All in all - the Freelancer Stuff really elevated RVB for me considering i was not a huge fan of the Blood Gulch Chronicles.
Part 3 - Recollection
Now for the next part of RVB there is someone we need to talk about - being Monty Oum. Monty Oum was brought on for animation for Recollection and might i say - he did a fantastic job. I maintain that this is the best work Monty ever did for Rooster Teeth (yes i think it’s better then early RWBY) and luckily Recollection was really good for the most part. I really like Washington being the antagonist alongside the Meta as I felt that his turning into an antagonist was believable since it was pretty much born after desperation and not wanting to be in jail. But like i said early - Monty was the real highlight of this season with Washington vs the Reds,Tex vs the Reds and Blues and the final fight between Tex vs Meta and Wash and later Meta vs the Red and Blues were fantastic. It had a strong story all the way through and left off in a pretty satisfying note but then...Rooster Teeth weren’t finished. They decided - let’s give Monty more budget and animation to do what he wanted and it paid off immensely.
Part 4 - Project Freelancer Flashback
I maintain the Project Freelancer Flashback is some of the best content Rooster Teeth have ever introduced and I still maintain that. It was great to finally see the full origins of characters we have known for years and man was it dark to see what Project Freelancer did to the Alpha as well as all the conflicting loyalties. I also really like what they did with Agent Carolina, it’s difficult to make an unlikeable person as the lead character and I think it really worked. It’s fascinating to see Agent Carolina’s flaws and weaknesses tear apart her romance with Agent York as well as her obsession of defeating Agent Texas. Agent Texas herself was well done - seeing her slowly realise who she is and the truth that she is Leonard Church’s Failure - being based on Director Leonard Church’s late lover was truly a great revelation.
But the true highlight of the saga like last time has to be the animation - Monty Oum took things to the absolute next level with the animation in this season with a personal favourite of mine being the fight between Carolina/Tex vs CT (i still think that’s one of the best choreographed fights in all of RT). Finally there’s the ending of S10 which is still one of the best endings to any series i have watched. Seeing Agent Carolina confront Leonard Church after everything he has done to her friends and seeing him as a broken shell of a person watching the final moment he ever saw his late wife was just sad. I maintain that Doctor Leonard Church is the best Red vs Blue Antagonists ever. Also the revelation that Carolina was the daughter of Leonard Church and Alison was truly a great revelation and explains why she wanted to earn the Director’s approval so much. That finale is truly the best of Red vs Blue and i don’t think anything is going to come close (well one episode did and we will get to that)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja9Qj-IUU-w
Part 5 - Chorus Trilogy
As for Chorus, i know people have very mixed feelings towards Chorus and admitally S11 was a dub as it tried to be the Blood Gulch Chronicles and didn’t really succeed considering how different the Reds and Blues are from themselves back then but i did like the introduction of Felix and Locus. It was also interesting to see the Reds and Blues wrapped up in a Civil War between two factions with the Reds and Blues being split up and ultimately joining both sides of the conflict. It’s also interesting seeing Washington being more interested into the Reds and Blues with him having to struggle to fit the leadership position after Church/Epsilon and Carolina left to go searching.
S12 did pick things up immensely though sadly due to the death of Monty Oum - the action took a bit of a hit compared to the Project Freelancer Flashbacks.I do feel that outside the action - the character writing and plot of the Chorus seasons was stil pretty strong with Tucker getting a lot more focus which is good considering how much i disliked early RVB Tucker. Felix and Locus also turned out to be interesting antagonists for the Reds and Blues with Miles Luna easily being the show stealer as Felix which is not surprising considering how good Miles is as David.
S13 though is when stuff really started to get good with the stakes becoming higher and higher and the action improving immensely from S12 with the fight between Carolina/Washington vs Locus/Felix being the standout. I also think S13 in terms of character writing was the strongest of the Chorus Trilogy with the confrontation between the Reds and Blues vs Felix and the death of General Doyle being particular standouts.
S13 will always be remembered for that final episode and the final death of Church/Epsilon. I am one of those people who very much things that Church is the protagonist of RVB considering how important of a role he has played throughout the series and most of the plotlines of the series revolving around him so to see him at his very last stop - to sacrifice himself one final time but all the people he cared about - i will freely admit it. I cried a bit after that ending. I think that outside of S10’s ending - The End is one of the best episodes in all of RVB and i completely understand people when they say that Red vs Blue should have ended here.
Hey guys, If you’re hearing this, it means you did it. You won. You kicked the shit out of Hargrove’s forces, I knew you could. But this is my last stop. See when I came into this world, I was really just a collection of someone else’s memories.
But with your help, these memories, they, they took form. they became my voice, my personality, and after a while I began to make brand new memories of my own. All of these things are what make me who I am but they’re also holding me back. I can’t run this suit, as Epsilon, but if I erase my memories, if I deconstruct myself, the fragments I’ll leave behind will have the strength to get you through this. I believe that.
I wish there was an other way but I’m leaving this message, as well as others, in the hopes that you’ll understand why I have to go this time. It was actually Doyle who made me realize something I never thought of before. There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after.
But the hero never gets to see that ending. They’ll never know if their sacrifice actually made any difference. They’ll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith.
Aint that a bitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5jM_mrOqec
S13 could have ended the series and to some extent I kinda wished they ended it with S13. Not saying there is nothing to salvage from the Post S13 Seasons but i will admit. The quality of Red vs Blue started to go downhill after this.
Part 6 - Post Chorus Trilogy Seasons:
S14 was an anthology season which was fine and I did love some episodes in it such as the Mercenaries Trilogy and Caboose’s Guide to Making Friends but generally i have very eh feelings on S14 as a whole.
S15 is where the cracks started to show. S15 to me is when a lot of the characters started to become more unlikeable again compared to how they were during the Project Freelancer Saga and the Chorus Trilogy. I did think it had some standouts with Previously On being a great episode and Caboose finally making peace with the fact that Church is not coming back was great. If Red vs Blue ended after that - i would have been okay with it but it didn’t and we got well…
S16
S16 is not good. I liked some elements in it like Grif’s arc but man did the flanderization stick hit just about everyone in this arc - especially poor Tucker. S16 Tucker compared to Chorus Tucker is like night and day. Plus there was dumb moment after dumb moment - the Cyclops fight was the absoulte worst and was not funny, the Cosmic Gods were done poorly and it just featured a lot of miranding and pointless scenes to by time until the finale. I will admit Washington and Donut’s arcs were done well but that’s those are the light-spots in a bad season. It felt like RVB had finally jumped the shark.
S17 is pretty good though. I don’t think it’s perfect by any means but it fixed a lot of the issues with S16 while putting the focus on characterization and character interactions and overall ended the Trilogy on a decent note but really the Shisno Trilogy as a whole felt like a misstep for the series especially considering it felt like Red vs Blue had been put to the side in favour of RWBY and Gen-Lock. It seemed like Red vs Blue would end with a whimper not a bang...until RVB: Zero came along.
Now i have only watched the first episode of Red vs Blue: Zero and i have mostly positive thoughts on it though it is only the first episode so that could very much change. I do think the future of Red vs Blue is in good hands with Torrian.
Part 7 - Conclusion:
I know this has properly been an insanely long and rambly post about Red vs Blue but my overall thoughts on the series are mostly positive. I do have very mixed feelings on the Blood Gulch Chronicles and the Shisno Trilogy but overall i love this series (i would consider it being my favourite Rooster Teeth Series) and i hope that Red vs Blue: Zero does well and it has a bright future ahead of it.
I would like to know your thoughts and opinions on Red vs Blue.
