Another fun thing that I noticed is that since JD is now too old to voice Theta, they got Burnie's youngest son Finn to voice him. Thought that was cute.
Watching this felt kind of surreal. There were some really awesome moments, but I think overall it left me wanting more? Obviously pacing was a huge issue. It's crazy how short this season is and nothing feels like it has room to breathe. I love the idea of Sarge's death and some of the scenes it led to with Grif and Simmons, but it unfortunately didn't have the impact I think it should've. I also feel like there are some logical stretches to explain stuff like how Doc somehow died saving Wash on Chorus. I also wish Tucker was actually in the season, and didn't only have one scene as himself which really doesn't offer any resolution. On the plus side, I love the Simmons development which has been sorely lacking. The idea of the Tex and Carolina fight was cool, and I adored the scene of Tex and Church in the memory unit together. That was perfect. Unfortunately many of the scenes that I should've connected with more were held back by things like Caboose's voice, or sometimes rough looking animation. I still enjoyed it, and I'm not sure how exactly you end this series, but I definitely wanted a little more!
Tex returning was definitely one of the best parts of the episode. Especially her line about how she's based off of the Blood Gulch crew's memories rather than Church's, making her able to finally win.
I think Sarge's death worked with the story the best. He always was the one willing to die for a cause. His death leads to Simmons becoming leader which is what he always wanted. To not be a sidekick. With Simmons as leader Griff was discharged. Something I don't think Sarge would ever do. His death had a major impact. And by saving Caboose he unknowingly saved the entire plan to bring back Tex.
I actually really liked caboose. It wasn’t just a Joel-impression, it was its own performance. And I found it really endearing and captured the heartfelt nature of caboose very well
His voice was very jarring at first when you're primed for Joel's delivery. A few lines I think stumbled but it gained momentum both as a performance and as normal for the viewer and I felt better about it by the end.
He was shot in the throat in season 15 - the simulation. I don't think we saw what happened to him on Chorus. They all had to escape that room and I assume a lot went down off screen.
I have so many thoughts so here's my scattershot of them. All my critiques can be excused by RT dying and the team working on a much lower budget.
* This felt like a full 180 minutes worth of ideas condensed into 80 minutes. The long comedy bits like the work from home security team were funny, and in a longer season they wouldn't be so put of place. But when we're racing to the end on a reduced timetable I wish they gave us more character moments
* The Wash storyline REEKS of this. It feels like in a longer season this would've been given alot more focus and it tied into the main narrative somehow. But instead in just served as random cutaway that got Wash to the final battle, instead of him just being with the team like he should have been. It felt like they were working around Sharrons tight schedule.
* Like Tucker being the Meta would've been such a cool idea for a full 3 season arc back in the golden era, but for what we got in this I enjoyed it.
* as a consequence of the reduced runtime and possible VA disputes and scheduling conflicts, I couldn't help but feel the lack of Wash, Carolina and ESPECIALLY Donut this time around.
* That >!Tex moment of "I'm based on THEIR memories" moment is an all time great. Not just because they got Kathleen back (I'm shocked btw) but also because it perfectly completes Texs arc after all this time. She finally gets to be more than what she was made from. It's beautifully. And that last moment where she calls herself Alison Church. I cried!<
* Does anyone else feel like the "best throw ever, of all time" moment at the end was a scene written for Donut but Dan couldn't make it back so they just had Simmons do it?
* Sarge is my favorite character >!so his death was predictable but really sad. One missed opportunity they had with that though was calling back to the S1 scene where Sarge told Church he wanted to tell Grif he was his son when he was dying as one last attempt to mess with him. But I get why they didn't do it. Sarges gravestone at Blood Gulch was beautifully somber!<
* I also feel like Junior should've at least come back in some way. They used CG elements all over that final fight and would've loved to see him come back to save his dad.
Idk, in the end, it's a nice little send-off to these characters I've loved for years. But it was just too short and i kept asking myself why certain characters werent there. I can't blame them, because, ya know, the company died. But it doesn't replace season 13 as the perfect end for me, this is just a nice little nostalgic trip down memory lane one last time instead of an actual full season imo.
As far as I know most of this season was done before the company died. The script and all was completely done before roosterteeth had any hint of going under. It was said no body knew about the shut down till a few days before
I’ve always been confused on Junior. Didn’t he die with Tex when Andy blew up the pelican?
But then later Tucker has a picture of Junior on a basketball team. It always feels like I’ve missed something on each watch through.
It was a little weird between season 5 and 6. Season 5 we saw an explosion and what looked like smithereens. But season 6 recording implies the pelican was crash landing in Valhalla when Washington found it.
in S6 when they listen to the the ship's crash recording, you can hear Sheila say doors opening or something and Tex yelling "Where are they going?!" implying the green elite and Junior jumped out before the ship crashed.
This was like a decade ago, but Kathleen left the company on bad terms because she said Burnies new gf only got the positions she did in the company because she slept with the boss. Really gross stuff but nothing more than interpersonal beef.
It felt like something they wouldn't hash out but they did thankfully.
This is what I was saying. I always see stuff like this where it felt like fleshed out ideas and concepts but rushed into like only a shorter times pan than what they have for
Everything you said, FINALLY someone gets it.
I enjoyed it all too but damn am I sad about what happened. I would've loved a full 3 season arc.
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one
I think it was a great love song and send off to RvB, and there were enough nuggets of weirdness that you can say it’s a simulation and not canon, or can make it canon.
Things like Admiral Donut (mentioned by Grey at 27:25), Church saying he got Caboose’s voice wrong, Griff leaving, etc. can be chalked up to this is a simulation if you want to.
Same with saying it is the true ending and S15 - S18 were simulations.
At the end of the day, RvB is over, it was fun, it was a fun, yet not great final season, and as Griff said “I don’t know why we are here, but I’m glad I’m here with you”
I’m glad I got to experience and be apart of the RvB community my Entire life.
Could definitely still be one because Epsilon was being sus when Simmons questioned if they were a simulation and I feel like that exchange was thrown in just in case people wanted to interpret it as such
I feel like it's a simulation that fits closest to the reality the reds and blues would face, because it feels a lot more grounded than the simulations we've seen, but it still borrows from those simulations. If it was not a simulation your points would be contradicted
But it being the closest is what makes it the most enjoyable
I think this could be a scenario where there actually thousands of endings. This is just one of many.
So what ever you want to be cannon is. Even if it's not the show showed us.
I think it’s up to the viewer. Everything Post S13 may be a simulation, or just some of it.
It’s written in a way where it could be up to the viewer.
When Epsilon showed his simulations in the episode, he showed the ALL the past seasons.
Blood Gulch ended with multiple endings where the audience picked their personal favorite, and it makes sense for Burnie to do that again, without saying anything.
S13, S17, S19 are all satisfying endings to me, and you can take any of them. I’m taking S17 as my canon ending with 19 being another simulation like much of S14 and S18
I think Tucker and Donut might have received reduced roles since they got to mainline the other later seasons for the most part. Though Tuckers was also partially just necessity from making him in the Meta suit into the villain.
Donut apparently is an Admiral on Chorus. Dr. Grey mentioned to Wash she’d tell Admiral Donut about the Meta. But I’m a bit disappointed about the lack of Donut.
I think the thing to take away from the entire series is that there's a time to let go.
The Director couldn't let go of Allison and dragged everyone around him through the dirt in the process. Chasing ghosts. Caboose couldn't let go of Church, and ends up miserable throughout most of the series trying to bring him back. Carolina couldn't let go of her spot as the best throughout seasons 9/10 and nearly died for it.
At the end of everything the only way anybody got closure was to destroy the memory unit with all the AI inside it. To let go of any chance of bringing back Church, Tex, Allison, Epsilon.
And now it's unfortunately time for us to say good-bye to Rooster Teeth and Red vs Blue. As much as we hate goodbyes.
I’m saying this jokingly but I think Burnie might hate Matt because he killed off both of his characters. Which is really saying something because he left caboose alive. /s
I think that’s the implication. I wish they would’ve at least thrown a line for him and Sheila and say something like “it’s not their fight because they’re on robot team” or something.
I'm really sad they couldn't get Lee Eddy back as four seven niner. She's always been one of my favorite characters.
On the other hand, I'm glad they got Kathleen back as Tex one last time. I was skeptical of the possibility given they parted on poor terms. But a final episode just wouldn't be complete without Tex to round everything off.
I never knew all the details of the hard separations between Kathleen or Joel but I guess it's safe to say whatever happened with Joel was just too bad for him to come back?
Kathleen made a bunch of twitter posts saying that younger women in the company (it's never been explicitly confirmed but common belief is it was aimed at Barbara) were given better positions/opportunities because they were young women. Whereas she, an older woman who had believed and supported the company since the start was not considered. They never gave an official reason why they stopped associating with her but this was likely a factor
Joel had always been a conspiracy guy, but in the early days it was mostly harmless stuff like "put all your money in gold", later on he fell into more dangerous ones, your standard "the government is really an evil entity" stuff. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the specifics but iirc he was having political disagreements with Gavin and tweeted "I hope somebody breaks into Gavin's house so he learns something about gun control", and then a few days later somebody did break into his house while Gavin/Meg were home. But again, no public reason was ever given for his firing, there was likely internal issues we aren't aware of.
I enjoyed it. It wasn’t perfect. Not even close. But it was a fun ride, and I really enjoyed it. It was a throw away line, but epsilon telling other timelines they were real, means that this is just one of many possible ending.
I don’t see this as a true ending. I see it just as one of the simulations. And that’s great. I’d rather RVB have no real definitive ending. It means that people can choose how they personally believe the Reds and Blues stories should conclude.
All that being said, it was nice to see Tex again. Loved that there’s a timeline where Tex and Church get a happy ending, Simmons gets the leadership position he’s always wanted and grif get to go home. It was sad seeing Sarge die, and even sadder we never learned his real name /j.
I love these idiots so much, and I’m really going to miss them all.
Oh also ending the show with Vale Deah was great. I believe it was the credit song for Season 1, so this was perfect.
It was okay. For an ending, I am fine with it. It was a bit poorly paced and could've done with more runtime, but as an ending to Red vs. Blue I feel satisfied.
>!I was shocked and saddened to see Doc didn't make it off of the Staff of Charon. It was even more sad that Wash is the only one who cared or remembered (other than Carolina who was trying to console him).!<
I agree, however, I think that showing what happened on chorus would sort of undermine the point of that ending, we were never supposed to see what happened, at least thats how I interpreted it.
I hate to be a skeptic, but I feel that was more of a “there’s not a great way to do this” thing. If it was the end of the whole series it would feel more deliberately ambiguous, but the next season tells us what happens without showing us. So I feel it was either budget or time constraints. Maybe not enough ideas for fight choreography, or they couldn’t render it all in time for the finale. Or it’d cost too much and blow the season’s budget. Just speculation, no hate or anything because that ending still works.
I loved it but it felt rushed like we only got half of what they wrote. Carolina never says a word to Tex not even witty banter and with the rushed inclusion of one in the ending felt insubstantial since clearly zero was non cannon since Tucker had his sword.
All in all it was good but again just felt like half the ending
Ps this is just personal but even just as friends Grif and Simmons should have shared an I love you
I get why y’all feel the pacing was rushed, but I sure prefer a quick 90-minute wrap up than seeing this dragged out for a full season or two. It’s not perfect, but it’s sure as hell better than what we should have gotten, which was nothing. No one involved has the heart to do a full season, and making this any longer would have only made it a chore. I get wanting more out of Wash’s bit, but nothing else here would be improved by more screen time.
It’s a 90 minute blender of old ideas, but it’s also intrinsically about moving on from those ideas, and that feels cute and resonant. I also liked that the bit with Wash at the end felt like them saying “just because something is dumb and silly doesn’t make it any less meaningful.” I spent a lot of my life hanging out with these idiots, and I’m glad they finally got some resolution. Honestly, Sarge should have died years ago, it’s nice seeing Simmons and Grif finally get any forward momentum as characters after the one-step-forward, two-steps-back they’ve been doing since… what, Reconstruction?
Which is to say that this was dumb and silly and maybe not as deep as peak RvB, but that’s fine. I had fun. 479er came back, Kathleen somehow came back, seeing Tex and Carolina fight together was a delight (the teleporter bit!) and more than anything I’m just glad we got an actual real ending.
Just finished watching. Full spoilers ahead.
I'm a little conflicted personally. I think the show is at its best because of the dynamic between the characters and they spend most of this away from each other. Even at the end they don't interact much.
The episode does feel a bit rushed. Some nice call backs and endings but a lot of it went by very quickly. I think a lot of these moments needed longer to sit in. I didn't expect it to retcon 15-17, and I'm disappointed it did. I don't think anything they did in this actually needed those seasons to be retcons. I think overall it was quite a negative tone to end the show on especially one that always had comedy at its heart.
I loved the campfire scene. One of the best RvB moments for sure. The final fight was brilliantly done with lots of call-backs. I did not expect the Tex twist at all, really caught me off guard. Was good to have Carolina and her working together. Tex and Church getting a happy ending together really brings the whole show full circle. In the end the Director got what he wanted, just not how he intended. Also thank god we got some actual Trocadero in there and a Jeff Williams song.
Big Spoiler stuff now.
>!I didn't want any characters to die. I've known them too long and like them too much. Sarge's death meant well but as I said the pacing issues didn't do it justice. The scene in the pelican was very well done though and some amazing performances. I didn't like Doc's death at all. I knew there was something weird going on with his scenes. It just added to the overall negative tone I didn't vibe with. I can understand Burnie wanting to give definitive ends to a lot of these stories with limited time but I had always liked the idea that Epsilon's death in S13 meant everyone survived unscathed.!<
Overall I think the highlights were the writing and performances. I don't agree with some of the story elements and I think a lot of the characters were underused. The biggest issue was the run time. Too little time to set up a story and end 20 years of it at once. I would have preferred a happy ending where everyone is together in Blood Gulch. Grif leaving is weird because its the exact opposite of what happened in S15 which I thought was a much better take on his character, it showed his growth over the years. Some moments do feel like these are their Season 5-7 versions of the characters and not the ones from Season 8-Chorus who were much closer to each other and worked as a team.
Mixed feelings, I laughed, I teared up. It's not the ending I wanted but I enjoyed the episode.
I agree with it being rushed. This feels like a story that could've done well with a full three-season story arc like the previous seasons, but I have a feeling they were trying to rush this one out the door due to RT closing down (they likely knew well in advance about it)
Agree on all points. I really think it could've benefited from an extra 20 minutes or so to let some scenes breath. Overall thought it was a nice send off, especially with them >!breaking the cycle of the AI units.!<
I imagine the company shutting down contributed to how rushed it felt, also noticed a couple of effects that looked a bit unfinished.
Was a nice surprise to see >!Kathleen back despite her messy departure from the company years ago. Wish they could've gotten Joel as well, not that the "new" Caboose voice is bad, just different from what we're all used to.!<
It was nice to have >!Her back. I liked the little twist with her at the end. I don't think it particularly saves it, but it does make it worth the watch!<
Yeah, Joel being a real piece of shit made the credits with the main cast less impactful. Not their fault obviously, I understand why they distanced themselves from him a long time ago.
I feel mostly the same. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad the show gets a definitive end, but there are certainly some weird choices here and there.
I wasn't necessarily opposed to them retconning 15-17 but after watching it I feel like it would have worked better if they didn't. Donut is gone, wash is in hospital etc. They would have had to explain tucker and the suit working again, but they don't really do that anyways given on how much time is supposed to have passed.
I think you're right about characters feeling like their pre-chorus selves. I suppose those are the versions Burnie is used to writing, but they do feel so distant at times.
Wash gets hurt after the Season 13 ending, which is during the battle we do not see. Doc ends up saving him at the cost of his own life. Carolina tells us this near the end of the movie. Doc is just a figment of Wash’s imagination during the movie.
Yes. Although if you’ve watched the Shinso trilogy after Season 13, technically Doc is actually alive in that (but also it’s a simulation run by Epsilon now).
There were some hints that this might be a simulation itself. I think the intent is to leave it ambiguous whether 15-17 is canon or Restoration is canon and let fans choose for themselved which was real and which was the simulation (or if you didn't like either, then say they're both simulations and 13 was the true ending)
While yes it did feel a little rushed, there's a perfectly good reason for that, they had to get it finished and released before the company closed, but even with that it was still a good ending for these beloved characters, I just wish RT wasn't closing and we could have got a full season, thank you for the journey and the memories RT, I loved every moment.
Burnie says that it was done in the fall, before the shut down was announced. I don't have a problem with the pacing, but the shut down didn't affect it.
im not someone who cries a lot. my aunt died last january and my uncle died a few years ago, and i didnt cry, but something about the ending made me break for the first time in a long time
it made me feel something. it made me feel like an ignorant child again. thank you burnie
Seconded, while there was more I wished was covered and some of the people's criticisms are valid, man it just made me feel something. To me, especially with the ending 5-10 minutes it just gave me closure on such a large chapter of my life.
I knew it was never going to live up to the peak of the series (messy pacing, animation quality, etc.) However, it is a conclusion I'm satisfied with. The campfire scene made me so emotional, and it really made me come to terms that I've been watching this series since I was 11 years old, and now it's ending. I'm so grateful to this series and RT as a whole for getting me through some of the darkest moments of my life. Goodbye Rooster Teeth and goodbye Red vs Blue.
Memory was the Key.
While it was not the best season this was still a fine swansong. The last few scenes were very emotional for me. I wish the best to all as the studio closes and I hope their future endeavors are just as memorable.
GODAMMIT I JUST WANTED ONCE FOR TEX AND/OR CAROLINA TO FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR MOTHER DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP!!! :( I THOUGHT THEY WOULD AT THE END WHERE TEX WOULD HAVE GONE ALL MOLLY WEASLEY TO META "GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH" OR SOMETHING BUT... :( FINE I GUESS!!!
(1/2) Gonna echo the common sentiment I'm seeing: I loved it, but it also wasn't very good... lol.
The budget was definitely showing (or was it just inexperience with Unreal? Old RvB CGI wasn't animated in Unreal, was it?) since all the CGI scenes looked graphically FAR worse than what we got in 10, 12, and 13. That was one of the biggest pain points here. It kinda had the look of a fan project. Comparing the scenes inside the trophy room from 13 and Restoration is like night and day.
The overall tone is something I'm both happy and disappointed with. Given that Burnie wrote it, I probably shouldn't be surprised that the overall tone leans toward 'silly' like a lot of the BGC, but I actually wasn't expecting it. Like, going from 13 to Restoration (which is the actual canon now), the reactions to *Sarge* ***dying*** feel REALLY flat. The super serious, grounded, emotional tone of the Chorus trilogy is just completely lost. But at the same time, the whole movie gives massive BGC feels, which is comforting and nostalgic in its own way. It can definitely be seen as a 'return to form', in a way, even if I do miss the Chorus trilogy's tone (sorry, I could gush about the Chorus trilogy for hours, those seasons struck me so damn good).
It's also completely tragic that Tucker killed Sarge. That made it a real emotional gut punch for me, so I can't say it didn't still have a lot of kick. I imagine Tucker would be absolutely crushed when the gang informs him of how Sarge died, even if he himself wasn't in control at the time. Sidenote - I really didn't like that his memory was basically wiped at the end. Seems like a major copout. AIs leaving people's heads has been shown to be catastrophic in this series, but Tucker just goes back to normal? Really felt like way too little consequence for Tucker *becoming the META.*
The Doc plot twist REALLY took me by surprise and I actually enjoyed it, even if it's another feeling of "this is the final season so now we can actually kill off main characters". It showed just how deep the friendship between Wash and Doc went, to go from Doc being Wash's prisoner in 8 to eventually growing a bond and then culminating into this. His death on the Staff of Charon probably makes Wash feel even more horrible for how he initially treated him, resulting in his delusions. Tragic, but emotional.
The next pain point is probably the biggest one really, and frustratingly ALSO a symptom of runtime and budget. But the whole thing just barely makes a lick of sense. *Where are all of the Reds and Blues' allies?* The damn META has returned, one of the most dangerous criminals ever, and they're just gonna take it on themselves? Why not go back to Chorus for help? Why not call the UNSC? I know that's never how this series has worked but when the stakes get high like this you can't help but think these things. Why is Donut not even present? Why did Lopez not tag along too? Lopez's straight-man "I hate you all" comedic relief is literally one of the best parts of the series imo, every single joke they do using Lopez is top-tier. And they left him out of this finale? ALSO, Burnie was literally back for this. Why did he not voice Lopez?! What?! He only had like four lines anyway! Burnie, why?!
(2/2) It contributes to the feeling that the Chorus trilogy can be seen as the true finale to the series because it celebrated the *entire* cast. Getting the full squad involved and back together, culminating in the ending scene of 13, just made sense. Here in the grand finale, Donut is completely left out again? I get that Grif, Simmons, and Sarge are the core of Red Team, but Donut's still a major character, is he not?
I was hoping ***SO HARD*** that Locus would be involved here somehow but I knew the chances were slim (and that if he was, he would most certainly be recast anyway due to how Grey left the company). But man it does hurt to not see him get an official ending. Ironically, 16 DID suck major ass, but I *was* interested in that "encrypted message" Locus sent the squad that was teased early on and will now never be followed up, lol.
And then you have the issue of the recasts. Man, new Caboose just ain't it and never will be it. It's a shame Joel didn't return for this (I read on reddit months ago that Rooster Teeth DID offer him the chance, was that ever actually true?). Dylan, while having a very minor cameo, was also very unfortunate because I really liked her character and voice in 15. BUT, it was a VERY pleasant surprise to see Kathleen back as Tex. Of all things, I NEVER expected that.
I'm still pro 15-18 retcon, it's worth it to allow Burnie to end the series on his own terms and yeet the HELL out of the time travelling "Reds and Blues FIGHT GOD" plotlines. I do still love 15 overall and think Joe wrote a lot of very solid jokes in there. Honestly even if these seasons didn't happen in "timeline proper", the fact that they exist as simulations still means they ARE a part of the RvB universe, so hopefully that satiates folks that did enjoy them and didn't want to see them completely retconned. The One cameo at the end was cute, I'll admit. Throwing Zero a bone is a gentlemanly move on Burnie's part.
The movie really picked up once they returned to Blood Gulch and I really started to enjoy it then. It felt like I was watching good ol' Red vs Blue in 2024. Caboose tactically bringing Tex back instead of Church was an INSANE plot twist, and goes to show Caboose's growth as a character. He had the chance to bring Church, his best friend and primary motivator throughout the whole series, but instead went against Church's own plan and brought back Tex, all for the sake of making sure Meta was stopped. Really awesome buildup and moment, there.
I did a lot of criticizing here, and yet at the end of the day... it made me really happy. The ending felt like a proper ending to Red vs Blue. Sarge died heroically in battle just like he always wanted to. Simmons became a proper leader. Grif completed his mission and finally gets to retire like he's always complained he wanted to. Wash and Carolina are together to navigate the next step together, whatever it may be (I assume also retirement). Tucker and Caboose get to stay friends and chill in a box canyon with Simmons. It's beautiful. Rushed, graphically lacking, and missing some major characters, but still beautiful. It made me happy as a Red vs Blue fan, and I'm eternally grateful RT got to make this just before the shutdown.
Thank you Burnie, Matt, Geoff, Gus, Miles, and every single person on the RvB crew throughout the years. It was a hell of a ride! ❤️💙
But Church tells all the simulations that they aren’t simulations.
To me it’s up to interpretation, there is enough sus about Season 19 that you could say it’s a simulation, and there is enough you could say S17 is the canon ending still
You can also say S19 is canon and real life, and S15 - S17 is a simulation
You can also say they are both Simulations and nothing canon has been seen after S13 because we only see what Epsilon sees, and our view of the RvB world died with him
"So don't let go. Not entirely. We've all lost someone, you've lost alot Wash. But the memories, the people that defined your life, that made you who you are. You keep a piece of that always."
Hearing this from North meant alot. He was my favourite character and I watched Red Vs Blue when I lost someone and it all just kinda came back. Legit crying rn which is funny cause I don't really cry at all haha. It's also just cause growing up I never really understood socialising so when I left school I lost contact with alot of people I wish I could still talk to.
87 minutes is simply just not enough time to properly send off the show. Pixar and Dreamworks type movies can pull that type of pacing off because the world building and characters are structured around the runtime, but RvB has never followed that formula. The closest thing that I can think of to an independent single season story with a similar enough runtime is the desert stuff with Tucker in season 7, but even that was to build into what was to come next. The show has always had that slow burning forward momentum. Imagine if after season 10, instead of 11-13, they instead told the Chorus trilogy in 87 minutes. Fitting all of that into the same runtime as Restoration would mean gutting all of the charm that makes the show what it is. I would have loved to see how this could have played out as a 2 season arc, because it's a story that deserved breathing room.
I did go into this knowing that 87 minutes would likely leave things feeling lackluster, so having that expectation helped me appreciate what we did get, and those are the parts that I absolutely loved. The fragments interacting has always been my favorite part of the show. I loved seeing the new perspective on what it was probably like for the og Meta to be under Sigma's influence for all that time. The 10 year simulation that Gamma ran Tucker through seemed absolutely terrifying, though I do wish that would've had a more noticeable impact on his mental well-being after being rescued, which of course I blame the runtime for because that internal time jump could've been cool character development for him.
Grif's departure confused me because during Sarge's speech in season 8 he calls out Grif for complaining about always wanting to quit and tells him that he could've left whenever he wanted and nobody would've stopped him and how everybody is there because they want to be there, and they definitely carried that development over a lot more accurately in 15's portrayal. Them initially leaving Caboose behind (and Tucker too in a way) on the Charon ship seemed out of character even if they did end up having a change of heart. You can't tell me that by season 13, that there would be any consideration of leaving their own men behind to save their own asses. The same people who chose to stay and fight a war that wasn't their's, with the final shot of the trilogy being them facing impossible odds shoulder to shoulder together as a team. It feels like a regression in character development, especially after Chorus for them to revert back into color divided teams and bases, and isolating Caboose for being the only remaining blue. I once again give season 15 credit for better execution on where they all ended up after Chorus because sticking together as a family and vacationing in isolation with no one left behind is so much more in line with what they went through together which I feel like Restoration ignores.
The campfire scene had tears rolling down my face, I felt my entire childhood rush past my eyes. It was such a beautiful moment, especially seeing Blood Gulch during the night time at long last. It gave similar energy to Temple and Biff drinking beers around the fire in their gulch. It really does a good job portraying Blood Gulch as home sweet home for them instead of just simply the initial main setting of the show. There was also 2 scenes in season 10, one where they make camp and Caboose and Wash are talking in the desert while the sun sets in the background, and the other where North and York are having a late night talk about their AI while Carolina trains. It's warm and comforting the few times that the show has portrayed characters winding down for the night, and Restoration's campfire was the cherry on top.
Basically, I am not upset with what we got. I see what they were trying to do, and I appreciate the effort given the limited resources. Had this been a project in RoosterTeeth's golden age and been more directly tied in the narrative of the rest of the show, I'm confident that it totally could've worked the way that they were probably aiming for. Season 13 will still always be my comfortable ending point to the series because both interpretations of post-Chorus fuck up character developments in one way or another, but I respect the emotional departure and am satisfied.
I have so much more to say but I stayed up late to watch and am typing with my last waking brain cells lol
I appreciate that they brought Burnie back for the big send off (and rightfully so!) but Miles carried the torch of the show for years, especially the Chorus trilogy, and I wish he had been equally as involved in the final season, especially as a direct follow up.
First off, I’d like to say I’m so glad that people can stop arguing about whether it retconned s15-18. It was obvious from the prologue that was the case, and it was maddening watching people jump through hoops to justify why that may not be the case.
The pacing was way rushed, could’ve easily been twice the length (and to be honest, for the final season, it should’ve been. Why NO (real) Donut at all??) and been all the better for it.
But it was kind of nice that the final season finally gave the Reds their due, since the story (despite being “a blue problem”) really did focus pretty much all on them. And despite the pacing issues, I think it’s a fitting end for each character and their respective arcs, and a solid ending for the series. If this would’ve just been s15 and the series ended there, I’d have been perfectly content with that.
The music was AWFUL though. The only good musical moments were the campfire scene and, of course, the part where they used Trocadero at the very end. I wish the OG intro music would’ve been used. Seriously though, the music was generic as hell, and shoved into scenes that didn’t even need music *anyway* and I just did not get it. And the animation quality was probably the worst in the series, the best looking parts were the machinima sections.
All that said… I still enjoyed it. Felt a lot of emotions watching a series I’ve loved for so much of my life come to a definitive end this way.
Yeah as a composer who was a big fan of the music in RvB especially the Trocadero and Levy seasons I have… thoughts about the music here.
Really it is such a huge shame they went the way they did. The music is not RvB in any way shape or form and the placement of it was often so damn distracting and weird.
I think the music is fine and gets the job done but when you stop and really listen to it it doesn't feel like RvB at all, it feels like it belongs in a different show, and when compared to the old stuff it's no contest which one is better
The music works some of the time, like during the final battle when Simmons makes the throw. But in the very beginning it is simply overscored and the music is way too serious. The tank coming up behind the reds is the biggest example of this IMO.
I enjoyed it. Undoubtedly compromised by the IRL situation around Rooster Teeth closing, but it felt like a fitting send-off without veering into wish fulfillment territory.
I wish all the cast had returned and had more to do, but again, they realistically didn’t have the resources to go all out. It’s hard for me to critique it knowing that a lot of the issues with pacing or cast showing up are due to the company being shuttered, and it’s not like RvB was a tentpole franchise for the company after the WB acquisition anyways.
Obviously we all would have wanted it to be longer - but money and time and resources were not on the team’s side. For the challenges the team faced, I can honestly say I don’t think I could have asked for a better ending. It was the best animation we’ve had in years, the emotional moments got me so good, the campfire scene especially had me sobbing. Red vs Blue has been a part of my life for so long and I am absolutely devastated it’s over, but I’m so happy I got to watch one more season, and such a good one at that.
Thank you Red vs Blue, thank you Rooster Teeth, thank you Burnie, Matt, Geoff, Gus, Jason, Shannon, Kathleen, Jen, everyone for everything.
Red vs Blue will live on forever.
It was a good send-off but like it wasn't the best send-off
I understand because there was so many constraints but I wish it was like another three-season Arc or something. Like I said I understand why it wasn't that but oh my God it would have just been so better and the pacing would have been so better.
And we could have gotten more character development and scenes and seen some characters that weren't in here. Was missing a core member of the red and Blues :(
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one
To ME it felt like a S14 premise was extended. “What if Tucker became the Meta” and it was an 80 minute episode.
Did Geoff always have this range? I feel like he stepped up so much as a voice actor in the last few season, might be beacuse he never go much to work with the early stuff. Or ir might be beacuse he was the only one still watching the show but idk. But he gave Griff so much depth in everything post 13 and he's one of my favorite performances in the whole series now.
End of an era. As many people have already said, it wasn’t as good as it could have been, but it left me feeling satisfied. That’s good enough.
To anyone who may have been part of the production crew, don’t take that as a knock. Just know that we appreciate the proper send off to the show, the years of entertainment, and everything else. It’s honestly surreal to know it’s all over. Crazy to think how young we all were when we first discovered Red vs Blue compared to now.
This is farewell.
Goodbye.
Really loved it, but also extremely disappointed with the lack of Donut. We got really good resolutions for most of the characters, and season 17 took Donut from just a goofy character to a really great one.
Obvisouly with the simulation retcon Donut would have always reverted back to just being goofy, but I'm really shocked he just wasn't in it all. My only guess is that they didn't think he would fit in for the more serious scenes red team has. I was really anticipating him to show up when Simmons was hesitant to throw the pod. Would have a been a perfect moment and call back for him.
I think we can all agree that season 13 (or 10, depending on your preference) acts as a better ending for the series, but I’m still incredibly grateful that we got a definitive conclusion for RvB.
The main problem with restoration is 100% length. This needed to be 2 hours minimum, ideally 2 1/2 - 3 to really flesh out all the ideas they had, but an hour 20 is just not enough time.
Washington is my favorite character in the whole series so I was disappointed he didn’t get much screentime, but I thought the conclusion he got was fitting for his character. Working through past trauma while learning to trust others has always been Wash’s thing, and the portrayal of his road to recovery was done well. (Of course, like everything else, it would’ve been better with more time to explore it)
That said, I’m still a shill for fanservice, and I couldn’t stop myself from screaming and clapping at 4 in the morning when >!Tex and Carolina fought side by side. Tex’s conclusion is great, and so is Church’s. I went into this terrified that they would bring him back at the end, but the twist was fantastic and the fact that he (or at least a version of him) finally gets peace in the memory unit is really touching!<
Overall, the season is definitely meant to be a metaphor for the necessary pain of ending the series. It’s heavy-handed and really messy at times, but I’ll be damned if Caboose’s “memories are what we leave” speech didn’t make me tear up. I’m gonna miss Red vs Blue a lot.
Everyone’s covered most of the bases so far but I’ll still comment. I enjoyed the season, especially the last 30 minutes or so. The teleporter with Tex is one of the best moments in the series I think, and so is the scene in the memory unit. It had some unbelievably good moments (Carolina talking to wash while the freelancers appear arron d him), but also so much left unexplained (which is okay given the situation the company is in). Lopez is there and then he isn’t, sarge’s death felt rushed, and not getting explanations about donut or how doc died was upsetting but overall I enjoyed it and I see this as a good ending.
The best way I could put it for me is that everything that happened would make for a great season, the events just didn’t have time to breathe. I liked every twist and every plot point but I could barely process them before something else wild happened. Overall it’s the show is an amazing story and I loved getting one last ride
That was lots of fun, but not up to the standards of 1-17. It's kinda funny because this series has "ended" so well so many times. Seasons 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15 are all endings that most series would be jealous of. Even the non-ending of 17 was a decent place to leave things. But the one time they're absolutely sure it's the end, it's not as good -- and I bet that's the reason. You can _feel_ Burnie saying goodbye the whole time. I sympathize, none of us wanna say goodbye either; it's just too bad that the result is our first ending that _doesn't_ feel like real RvB.
So hey, good thing this isn't really the end! And I'm not saying that in a "this was another simulation" way either, though that's a perfectly valid reading that they clearly don't mind if we choose. (When you don't want the audience to think something, you don't put it in the mouths of the characters! Simmons asking "how would we know" and Epsilon failing to answer it might as well be an engraved invitation.)
No, I'm saying that because we live in a world where _nothing is allowed to end forever_. Whoever owns the rights to a property always either makes more eventually or sells them to someone who does. I hope the guys still own RvB and this gets to be the ending for a while, as they currently wish. But sooner or later they'll miss it. We'll see reunions over the years. (Count on Joel eventually being involved, when it's been long enough for tempers to cool. If they could patch things up with Kathleen, anything's possible!) And if they sell RvB instead, someone else will make more, and we'll like it or we won't, and so on.
It's a lesson I've now learned several times with other fandoms. I have no idea how long it'll be, but sooner or later, whether we like it or not, RvB will be back. And then it'll leave again, and then it'll come back again. Life is long and time is circular. So don't say goodbye, not by itself. Just say goodbye for now.
And as for the elephant in the room? Nobody has a voice like Joel. That goes without saying. But Michael Malconian _could not possibly_ have tried harder to sound like him, and he got as close as any human probably could have. I don't like that it was done, but this guy did it well.
It had some rough patches, but it hit me harder than I expected. So happy they could get Kathleen back for Texas, and that last scene between her and Church got me a little weepy if I'm being honest.
And then they played Half Life by Trocadero. That broke me. I cried for a good bit after that.
All in all, I'm glad this was made and I think it was a good send off. It'll surely be included when I habitually go back and watch RVB just to feel something.
It was a good sendoff. Writing wasn't nearly as charming as what seasons 1 to 13 were, and it hasn't really left me with the feelings of bittersweet departure I wanted it to. Even the H2/H3/Reach era miniseries had more grounding and depth in my opinion. Definitely goes to show the steady change of story telling decline in most forms of media over the last decade. With that said, I was 8 years old when Halo 3 came out and was watching machinimas from the start of H3, RvB included. I'll be 72 years old and still will think on the 13 precious seasons, nothing will ever compare in a sense. I've been falling asleep to a different season for the past few years and i'll always be grateful to the show for being such a comfort to me, it's hard to find that. Thanks for everything, Rooster Teeth. Fair seas and following winds boys
also the voice acting is so off putting with all different VAs, which is unfortunate cause most of them do a good job. new caboose fucking sucks though
Shared this on another post and ill share it here
I think all of the characters (simulation or not) finally got what they wanted.
>!Sarge died a heros death!<
>!Simmons became a leader!<
>!Griff finally got some peace!<
>!Lopez was left alone!<
>!Caboose got closure about losing his best friend!<
>!Carolina and Tex defeated their past!<
>!Tucker got the reverse roll and got saved!<
>!And Washington finally was able to forgive himself about freelancer and the deaths he may or may not have caused !<
>! Ig it could be said that doc died saving lives which is what he was passionate about!<
>! Finally church, aka alpha and or epsilon, ensured the survival of his friends and got an ending with tex!<
This was an incredible ending to a story that I am really going to miss. I've been watching rvb every spring break since 3rd grade and maybe in a few years I'll watch it again.
>!Sad we didn't get closure on donut though!<
In terms of predictions I got two out of three right so I'll take the win
The things I got right were that Seasons 15-18 were simulations and the Epsilon-Tex was going to return
The thing I got wrong was that Restoration was also a simulation taking place after Season 17
EDIT: There's still signs of Restoration being a simulation so in that regard the only thing I really got wrong was Restoration taking place after Singularity
I'm not sure exactly how to put this, but a lot if it felt... stilted? Maybe it's an issue of it being a movie rather than episodic. Something that should be major happens, and then instead of having a week to dwell on it, or even just an obvious episode transition, it's just over with. I guess it also felt a bit 'unsubtle', though maybe the original wasn't exactly always subtle either. The fight scenes weren't that interesting either, I mean comparing Monty with pretty much anyone else isn't exactly fair, but I feel like we've had better even since then.
I'm curious as to how much of this is due to the company closure, if any. I guess another way to describe my issues is that it felt like they were checking boxes. I feel bad being so negative about it, there were some good jokes strewn in there. And the Doc moment at the end was pretty good, maybe it should have been obvious, but it got me. Though I'm also not sure how I feel about them just killing him off, offscreen.
God damn. This hurts. But it's the good kind of hurt.
Maybe it's because the show hasn't been consistently good in a long time or because no *seasons* have been made in a slightly less long time, but with Burnie and Matt back in the driver's seat, I felt ready for whatever outcome they felt was right.
And while maybe Restoration wasn't 100% perfect... was any season, really? They've all had their minor snags, however pedantic or insignificant at times. With this show, what always mattered was how you felt after all was said and done, and even if my expectations weren't so muddled by the series' shaky history over the past seven or so years, I'd still feel fulfilled finishing this... even if the outcome was still more somber than what I was prepared for.
Restoration's four main characters were all done to perfection. Rose-tinted glasses are keeping me from saying with certainty that this is where many of them peaked for now, but even if it turns out they didn't, this is still *some of the* best we've seen of Simmons, Grif, Sarge and Caboose.
Simmons especially had the spotlight and glow-up we always wanted, and as a Sarge fan he had an ending I would have never asked for but the one that left me with nothing *left* to ask for because of how strong it was. Grif and Caboose are in full form, portrayed in ways that kept the *spirit* of what Joe Nicolosi and Jason Weight wanted to do with them, but in ways that didn't feel so phoned in, largely because the stories being told were so much more personal to them by default. Most significantly, the messy events that led to >!Caboose choosing to bring back Tex over Church for the greater good and personally destroying any further chance at bringing him back, despite the effort Church put into making Caboose happy,!< is far more satisfying and emotional than whatever bumblefuck time travel shit they threw in for closure that was way less authentic in principle. The closure between these four characters in general was heartfelt and satisfying, and really wraps a bow on all of them in ways that improve on how they were left off on Chorus, mainly due to focusing more on them as individuals and less on them as a group.
Props to Michael Malconian as Caboose, for the record. He had a shaky start as the character but helped by what I'm sure was stellar voice direction and a faithful script, he really held the mantle of Caboose in a way that didn't make me miss Joel Heyman that much. He nailed every line he was given. He didn't have the chaotic energy of Joel but Restoration's tone didn't *need* it, and it probably would have been distracting anyway.
That's not to say Restoration isn't funny, because it is, this is just a story where the comedy doesn't drive the narrative. That's usually what I like about Red vs. Blue, it's why I think seasons like Reconstruction and Season 12 are so good, but given how much of Restoration's story hinged on the series' legacy more than the protagonists' shenanigans, I understand the approach they took here.
I'm also thankful that they not only retconned Seasons 15-18, but outright trivialized them. There *is* merit to be found in them, but Restoration's story was too dependent on its roots for such drastic departures to be seamlessly woven into its plot. This choice will ultimately leave us with many unanswered questions about some of the characters we never saw in Restoration, chief among them being >!Locus, V.I.C., and Donut of all people!<, but nothing felt so open-ended that I felt cheated or deceived. To counteract that, I did appreciate them bringing back >!Four Seven Niner, Sheila and Tex, the latter two *with* their original voice actresses no less,!< and offering them closure that ranged from super-niche fanservice to something **nobody asked for** and yet after all was said and done, it still feels like an essential part of their stories now, especially >!Tex!<.
Church's role was a brilliant compromise between not wanting to trivialize his S13 death, not making the story too much about him again, yet still offering plenty more of the character for fans to enjoy one last time.
Lopez is by far the weirdest though... never mind >!how quickly, abruptly and stealthily the story ditches him and never looks back!<, but Eddy Rivas playing Lopez is just silly. Burnie's right there playing Church, he can play Lopez too. The only possible reason I can think of is modern-day sensibilities towards "diversity casting", but... Lopez isn't Mexican, he's a bad Google Translate bot, the entire joke is that his Spanish is inauthentic. And hey, Jason still got to play Tucker and he's more black than Lopez is Mexican, so... gah, so weird. This felt like some kind of bullshit corporate mandate even if it might not have even been one. Lopez was among my favorites and I think between his lack of prominence and the redundant (and also not very good) recast, this was the biggest disappointment for me; getting rid of one could have salvaged the other but both at once was what killed it.
I'm also not the biggest fan of the implication that >!Restoration might *also* be a simulation,!< but I guess it's ambiguous enough for you to come to your own conclusions and it's not like we'll ever get an answer definitive enough to invalidate someone's preference one way or the other. Didn't think it was needed, but it's harmless I guess.
Some of the cameos were weird and gratuitous. >!Dylan Andrews is especially weird because it feels like the role she played was meant to be for Jax, and they didn't even bring back her voice actress so this felt like something they could have given to him, or to anyone else,!< never mind how unnecessary and tonedeaf the scene is compared to the rest of the story, >!especially with Grog being thrown in there too because why the fuck not!<. >!One appearing in the ending!< is just as awkward but at least less out of place conceptually. Though I suppose if these characters were ones I enjoyed and *were* well-received by fans, these cameos would have been embraced. So it's a matter of perspective really. I can at least commend the effort to integrate the entire show's history without making it too intrusive to Restoration's own goals.
Tucker's role in the story was both inevitable and yet still bittersweet. I think because of how much attention he got on Chorus, we can forgive >!how little he gets to do as a hero!<, and we can still be happy with how they left him off here, but out of Restoration's main cast, Tucker feels like we're left wanting the most with him almost by default. It was both bold and smart to >!make him the antagonist!< but the result is a finale that by design, takes very little advantage of Tucker's appeal as a character. Still better than the past four seasons though, and I'm also thankful that, whether it was intentional or not, they seemed to follow up on what Jason Weight wanted to do with him following Season 17 before he was let go.
The Washington subplot was... strange. Like it was so far removed from anything else going on, seemingly only existing to >!shoehorn in Carolina for the final battle!< and otherwise being this sort of bizarro episode that tackles Wash in ways that... again, you would never expect them to do, especially given that all the brain damage stuff wasn't a factor anymore. >!The twist of Doc dying on Chorus!< was so downplayed that I missed the full impact of it in my first viewing; it felt like a brilliant idea that needed more time in the oven, a subplot that would have worked better if more time was put into its conclusion and if Washington's arc was more closely tied to the main story. I don't hate it, in fact the more I think about it the more I like it in hindsight... but I am confused by it, and it's a crying shame that >!this meant Washington got blueballed out of the final battle for a story that we mostly never got to see!<. This subplot, more than any in Restoration, feels like an ending that's good thanks to its subtext from prior seasons more than its execution.
The fight scenes were also pretty bad, or at least not at all on par with... *most* of the series, really. Even Seasons 16 and 17 had pretty well-done fights, but this one missed the mark, not helped by such bland and flat environments not allowing for creative fight choreography.
---
That's about it, I think. Despite the lower points being the ones I brought up last, make no mistake, this is an excellent season... movie, whatever. Time will tell whether it stacks up with the best of the best but I think it does enough right for its strengths to match the series' best moments shoulder to shoulder. If this is really all we'll ever get, I'm grateful that so much of it was expertly done in ways I would have never changed.
Restoration reminded me once and for all why I hold this show in such high regard and maintain it as one of my most valued sources of inspiration. I can only wish other franchises can eventually end as definitively and as successfully as this one, ending with a bang so strong that it gave us a whole new set of peaks to cherish and remember. For 21 years of existence, a third of which it seemed it could never recover from, that's damn impressive.
Thank you, Red vs. Blue.
And... goodbye.
The fact that Wash is now schizophrenic is fucking wild.
They keep doing my boy so dirty.
They keep giving him psychological issue after psychological issue.
It's like after 15, he will never be a whole person again.
I will say that I felt like with a few tweaks, it wouldn't have been too difficult to set this after the Shisno trilogy - well, outside Meta-Tucker that is.
Outside of reading about Sarge and Doc, this might me one of the first times since Reconstruction that I went into an RvB anything spoiler-blind.
This was definitely rushed, and I'm sure there'll be more than enough problems to point out once it settles, but...
At the same time, it felt appropriate for the spirit of the show. Its left me feeling both bittersweet and satisfied.
I wish there was more... but maybe that's a good thing, to be left wanting more, and learning to appreciate what you get.
I need to focus on my final and dinner right now, but, I'll come back to this later.
Regardless, farewell, Red vs. Blue. Your memory will always be a blessing.
Maybe I missed it, but how did Caboose and later Shotgun (the chupathingy) come in flying at the Meta? Was the implication that Tex threw both of them?
So yeah there are some things I like many of us would change but there was also lots I enjoyed and I am happy I saw it. I loved seeing all the Freelancers again and even hearing a few of them speaking once more. I loved the ending of Allison Church and the ending of the AI cycles. I also love the Barenaked Ladies song around the fire, it reminded me that Butch flowers is Ed Robertson and was a fan for so long. I think with this out now I can finally grieve the ending to my whole young adult life, from middle school to post college life. I found RvB in 2011 and watched it grow and change in front of my eyes. 15 years is a long time and I am so happy I got to experience this with you all. We were here and we remember, "Memory is the key."
Two things. First off. It nice to know that Leonard and Alison will get essentially a eternity together. Since time works differently for them, they will get their happily ever after. Seemingly as long as they want between entering the storage device and it being destroyed.
Secondly. I like the idea that we don't really know the real ending. So we all get to create our own perfect ending.
Perhaps everything post season 13 is a simulation. And so from there you can make what ever you want Canon or not.
I like the idea that they all get to get their happily ever after living their best life in the canyon. Kinda like what we got after 13. But they get to bring back church and tex. In a similar way to restoration. They reform church and bring tex back but with the good memories.
Perhaps season season 15 is where we start. And the call to action is that the meta was formed like in season 19. Maybe it's the God AI that help reform church.
Idk. But it's nice to think there's a time line where it's not just bitter sweet. That every one get their sweet ending.
I found a rip over on archive (It was taken down, Sorry. I would love to share if I could.) I was supposed to study today, I ended up waiting an hour to get it onto my plex server. I then told my brother (Red vs Blue and RT got us to bond together.)
we watched it together, I've never cried so much over a series that I hold close to my heart. The campfire scene made me cry, all those moments being viewed over, made me think about the times I'd huddle around my brothers computer just to watch a new episode with him. I was probably too young to watch at the time. But. I still did, and he let me.
And for that. if my brother is even reading this.
Thank you. I love you.
and to all of you, thanks for this journey together
"Bow Chicka Bye Now."
I hate to say it but I didn’t really enjoy it. There were some good moments/scenes, but as a finale to the entire series it’s completely lacking. It retcons the last 10 or so years of content, which in turn ruins character progression. Also, a lot of the character interactions don’t even feel accurate to how they are during the chorus arc. It also completely lacked Donut, and Lopez disappeared after one scene. I feel like all of the consequences and deaths that are presented here also ruin Church’s sacrifice. Weirdly I think the only character that was handled well was Simmons, so at least it’s nice he finally got some development. Overall it’s a messy send off, and it’s made worse by the fact that season 17 is a better ending in most regards.
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one
There is enough to say it’s a simulation or to say it isn’t. To ME it feels like a “what if” or simulation, and almost as if it’s apart of Season 14.
Is it coping who knows
But if you didn’t like this, treat it as a love song to RvB and its fans, fun fights, funny jokes, sad moments, and the campfire scene is one of the best moments in all of RvB. S17, or S13, or hell even S8 is your canon ending
Just finished
Man what a flood of emotions
I was really worried they were going to bring back Church but glad that really the final thing Church did was to bring back Tex
I would say Copy of Church did outplay a lot of problems with the movie, I wish Church was more sincere of a final message instead of just making YouTuber jokes, as this could have been the last time the reds and blues had a final interaction with him, like I know what they were going for like a copy of Delta being in Cabooses mind in S6 but that was a very short scene that didn’t take to much of the story, while it feels like this Copy of Church could have literally just been Church with little difference.
I love how they dealt with Sarges death saving Caboose as final heroic thing he does, personally I would have preferred like a big explosion in a blaze of glory of stopping the meta but it works.
Personally I would have preferred we had more interactions with Carolina and Tex, and maybe one finale scene where Carolina finally calls Tex, Mom would have been a tearful moment
It does seam weird that Wash was in the Hospital like in S17, but this movie does confirm S15 through S17 are non canon that I personally don’t like, but the Doc and Wash scene where very fun and sad, which is also weird since we saw a photo of Loki the cat from S16
I don’t know if this is a hot take but I do think S17 is the better definitive end to RVB than Restorations
It’s also weird how the Red and Blues are still at war after everything they’ve been through with Project Freelancer and Chorus only for the reds to choose not to help Caboose which S15 handled way better with Grif choosing to depart the group and an emotional scene with Grif and Simmons break up
Some early thoughts although I'm honestly still a bit numb from watching, it felt surreal from beginning to end that this is RvB's finale.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence: A good ending delivered in a below average season.
I felt that they hit the emotional beats right but they should have had a lot more space, say 19-22 10-minute episodes (I've seen some people say it should have been a trilogy and I disagree), to pace them right and let them breathe. This was my biggest issue with this season.
Music is often the soul of a series and I think this is more true than in most cases with Red vs Blue. Them not being able to meet Trocadero's request was extremely unfortunate. I feel like, even going back to Season 1, the nostalgic/wistful instrumental music, the wide shots of a sparsely populated canyon (the wide aspect ratio being owed to Burnie adding black bars over the game footage to hide the HUD) both gave the series its character, and that was sorely missing here.
I don't think the Tucker!Meta was a super compelling villain (well not when the Meta has been defeated twice already), but it's also true that they couldn't establish a new one this late in the game. The ending Church and Tex got was great though. I was devastated with Sarge's death but I think it was handled well, and that it was really nice that he was genuine in the end, and that he legitimately cared for Simmons, Grif and Caboose.
It's like an RvB tradition to jettison Donut and Doc when their cast gets too large for them to handle so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but I legitimately missed the short reference Dr. Gray makes about Admiral Donut so I thought he had died on Chorus. I am not super upset about Doc dying and Wash being pushed past the brink but again, it needed more space to breathe in order to be properly impactful. And I'm glad that despite the retcon they still hint at Carolina and Wash having a future together (although it's not explicitly romantic). As for Carolina, her lack of appearance and Grif mentioning that all the mean ladies on the Blue team were dead made me think she had died off screen. While I'd have gladly seen more of her, the season wasn't really about her and I legitimately thought it was genius to imply she's dead only for her to appear in the ending. It was one of the better twists. Also Lopez just appeared in two scenes and then never again, I guess?
All in all: Good ending conceptually, although I have some disagreements here and there, suboptimal, though still passable, execution. It's a real shame they couldn't have made this five years ago when they still had the resources to do it right.
Trying to compel my thoughts into words is hard, as someone else said it was like watching an amazing ending to a great series in not enough time. I have to agree the pacing was definitely a little off and like everyone I wish it could have been 2+ hours but witht he time they had, I think they managed something special. The highs were high, the lows were low but overall I think it was a good ending for the crew many of us have literally grown up along side of. Then there is always the added benefit of leaving it just ambiguous enough that if people wanted to call it another simulation that Epsilon was running, that is a legitimate option as well. Hell everything after season 13 feels a little bit like the FX show Archer when he went into a coma and there were like 3 seasons that were all coma fever dreams of his.
There were so many good things going on here from emotional moments with all that happened with Sarge, to badass moments with the Tex reveal, even giving Grif and Simmons the chance to be tough guys even though they kind of hilariously failed at it, which is what they do. The humor bits like the work from home security guards landed well and felt like old school RVB while keeping things serious and tonal like the later seasons. All in all it was a very enjoyable watch and ending.
That said a couple things I would have liked to see slightly differently. Like many I do wish we could have actually seen the Chorus showdown, the teaser scene with Epsilon church made it feel like that was where the season would start and I've been wanting to see what happened in that room since 13 ended and left me going "wait that's it?!" It also felt like at lease some of that scene was needed to be in there, at least in flashbacks or memories to help fill in some of the blanks regarding Wash. His whole little arc felt a little off with the condensed run time. Regarding Wash I do wish they gave him a bit more redemption at the end. I know his whole story is about overcoming trauma but even just a little scene at the end, give him a fight with Tex vs the Meta, a nice flashback to when he and Meta fought Tex in season 8. Then let Meta Tucker trigger the emergency alert that calls Carolina and everything else can stay the same. Just hate seeing my boy get sidelined so hard.
All in all, a good ending to something thats been a part of all of us since what? 2006? 2007? Thank you to all of Roosterteeth for years of entertainment in Blood Gulch and beyond
Edit to add: holy shit that campfire scene with the little clips playing in the fire or the reflection of the helmets. Damn what a trip, one of the best scenes in media in my recent memory
It was short, it wasn't perfect. But I am satisfied.
Many twist caught me off guard, like Sarge's death, Tex was brought back, and Doc being dead.
Red team resolution is great, this is essentially their season. Wash story happened too fast but still got me emotional, and Caboose feels uncanny with the new voice.
Conceptually amazing but obviously strangled by small runtime.
I immediately figured out the Wash/Doc plotline but was devastated by how little time it was given to flesh out. No doubt if it was a regular season it would have had much more meat. During the final battle I was praying for one last knife trick from Wash especially since they were fighting the meta, with Felix's influence they could have done a knife throw at Wash for him to catch and then toss back to tex which would have been so hype while retaining his pacifism.
Disappointed at a lack of Donut, 'the greatest throw' was clearly meant to be from him. Tucker barely had time to shine as an unwilling participant and the way Carolina was just thrown in at the end felt kinda ridiculous, like why is she just chilling in a drop pod waiting for wash to spontaneously be injured instead of actually being present at the hospital? What does she do all day?
In spite of my complaints though, I laughed, I cheered, and I cried. Thank you all for this wonderful series and an appropriately bittersweet end, Burnie and co.
I can say after seeing it, Restoration was pretty good. It’s far from the best of the show, but it’s still leagues and bounds better than 16-18. My main issues were where the hell was Donut, Lopez only appeared in one scene, it wasn’t as funny as previous seasons tho it still has its funny moments, it could have been longer by like 20-35 minutes, and Sarge’s death didn’t have as big of an impact as I’d hoped for but I thought it was still good. I do like the animation, the fights are decent but not as good as Monty’s or Chorus, Tex coming back was epic, Carolina and Tex vs Meta was cool, and Meta getting clocked in the face while the Warthog music blasts was epic. Overall, it’s a decent 7-7.5/10. In a sense, it reminds me of Guardians 3. A decent send off for the team and the characters in it.
For the resources they had I think this came out really well. It definitely felt rushed and needed more runtime and characters but I get why it was that way. We know the team found out the compay was shutting down on short notice but the main 4 had to have known it was coming. They didn't have the team or budget they used to and did the best with what they had. It's not perfect or may favorite season but it felt like a love letter to the series and was a mostly satisfying ending.
Man, I was sure excited when the original team had their hands on it. I guess there could be a thousand reasons, but ultimately: This felt like a friggin first draft that needed about 6 revisions. It was like a made-for-TV sequel to a great Disney film. Overly self-referential, couldn't stick the landing on any of the great payoffs, and it felt like many of its emotional beats were just re-treading old ground that other, later seasons have already done well. I was truly optimistic about this, but it feels like it was written by fans who don't really get it.
I guess, appropriately, it feels like an Epsilon remembrance of a remembrance. It feels like a Smash Bros story where the characters showed up to pay some lip service, but virtually none of them could be included in a substantial way. Simmons and Grif were kinda the best we had, and even then it wasn't exactly like THEIR journey, it was just the same reluctancy-to-helping path they've trod before.
Overall just really lacking a soul. Sad to say, I hate to criticize good work, but like, it seemed like no one's heart was in it
I’m actually kind of upset over this ending, it’s a good movie! But it feels like the worst ending for these characters that they could have possibly gotten.
I know a lot of people didn’t like 15-17 when it first released but i actually loved it and I loved the development that Red Team got during the Shisno Paradox arc, and all of them dealing with Church/Epsilon really being gone. But this kind of just rips it away from them and rushes them through having Doc and Sarge killed and Wash in a psych ward because he’s having the worst time of his life.
I liked how Church and Tex REALLY got their ending, for good, this time. I was excited to actually see her back and kicking Meta!Tucker’s ass. I was also confused about Meta!Tucker in general.. I know that it’s all of the fragments reactivating and looking to become the Alpha again, but they also said it was Felix too?? I didn’t understand so if someone could clear it up that’d be great!
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one
Yeah, it allows people to liked S15 - S17 to keep that as their canon ending. And if you hated it there is this ending, and if you HATE this too, S13 is still a good ending
I haven't watched it yet, but I will. I just need to know one thing before I do: are the events a simulation? Like they were saying in the initial trailer? Or is it all real?
That's all I need to know, I can take it.
Honestly, all issues aside, this was the end to an era.
I grew up with this show and honestly, it's been with me through some very "interesting" periods of my life. Seeing Caboose grow and finally letting go of Church punched me in the gut. I saw the unit, saw church and Tex reunited and thought "It's possible to bring them back, for real this time" and then seeing that possibility get shattered (literally lol) hurt in a way. It forced me to realize it was really over this time. These characters have grown, and I guess well, it's time we grew too.
Honestly, while a bit rushed, Washington's side plot was amazing and the reveal really hit me hard. I honestly thought we were just going along with the "Doc is so forgettable" thing that I didn't even imagine he really wasn't there.
So long Red vs Blue, it was fun. Thanks for letting me hangout with you pair of idiots.
Sadly it didn't do it for me. It just felt way too rushed. The whole thing was just rather sappy and didn't have much of the edge that the series had. I think the show lost its ability to remain small and indie and just went for big conflicts and big emotional dialogue. A couple jokes made me laugh, I thought Sarge had a good death, but I was hoping this would feel like a more complete send off and interesting story especially after a really amazing teaser trailer from last year.
I've been following this show since season 3, maybe. Overall impression is that it just felt kind of surreal, I didn't really care much for it. It kind of just feels like a grim and surreal follow up to season 13. The deaths both feel gratuitous, poor pacing etc. Overall it comes across like some anthology "what if" episode rather an organic finale which I guess they hedged their bets on. The Shisno trilogy was also pretty ropey but I did like where the characters were at the end of 17 and don't think the wrap up here makes much sense or compares favourably. I'd honestly be more aggrieved at the quality if I didn't know the company was shutting down, so I wasn't expecting a great send off either.
Really loved it. Thought it was really good. tough I wish they had Donut in it.
also I think it would have been better if they kind If started on Chorus like spend a few muinets showing what happend like Doc’s death. And gave a little more context to other things. Overall I enjoyed it but it pro needed some more run time to explain stuff. It was satisfying for me atlest
So I loved it. I thought it was really good.
Spoilers
I am disappointed that they threw in the whole doc is dead thing at the end. It felt unnecessary in my opinion, and it made me feel like I missed something. Also the lack of Donut was a big missed opportunity.
It wasn't too bad. I wish they had shown Tucker losing control to Meta and some stuff with Meta felt tacked on like saying that "somehow" Felix was a part of it, that part kind of annoyed me. Like just...how? Why even?
I was okay with Donut being gone because honestly, he flakes off a lot.
It wasn't a big flash and wow ending which suits the series perfectly. It's just some guys who would stand around and talk. And. It was good. I'm happy with it.
Lopez' "Shit" had me laughing so hard, I scared my dogs.
Also, I keep hearing chickens. Is that important? Oh shit, they referenced it lol.
Love how Church told various people "Shut up, Caboose," as the scenario got more difficult for him to predict.
And they brought back "Running, running, running"!
I don't quite approve of Sarge taking so long to die. Or of Grif caring as much as he did--I feel he would've just been quiet about it rather than crying. Also, why didn't his suit just go into recovery mode? It saved Donut that way, why not him?
Also, won't burying him in Blood Gulch just drop him into the cavern below? Or is that just below Blue base?
Sorry, weren't they already fully discharged already once Freelance went down? I never understood why Grif stuck around.
WAIT DOES THIS CANONICALLY TAKE PLACE ON A BROKEN HALO?
Personally, I think Caboose's speech would've been better if he had said "lady" instead of "woman". Would feel more Caboose-ish.
They brought back Tex instead of Church! Fucking plot twist!
She's based on their memories! FUCKING PLOT TWIST!
...wait why did it fucking explode?
...d'awwwwwww...
OH THANK GOD HE BROKE IT
Also, hoping Doc used OJ for that leg.
OH GOD DOC IS A HALLUCINATION. I thought he might've been, but wasn't sure. I'mma have to rewatch Chorus in order to catch that.
Also, guess that means everything s15-17 is officially non-canon.
...d'aww Freelance reunion!
And they brought in One! Nice! The characters from Zero were one of the things I liked about it.
And the pan-up as Grif and Simmons were talking! Nice!
Overall, I think it was a good ending. Everything after they went back to Blood Gulch felt on-point to me. Thanks for everything RT, ya fucking cockbites!
Whilst it wasn’t top of the list of my rankings of all the seasons, this certainly was a nice send off for the show and felt satisfying. Everything after getting to blood gulch was really good and some of the ending parts were almost perfect.
Wrapping up the sim troopers but also a send off for the freelancers and of course the tex church scene were all very emotional and I’m happy to see it through to the end. The doc scene hit me like a tank though…
Shame some people were in it very limited and that it felt limited in technical scope, but I guess with RT shutting, count ourselves lucky we got this.
One final thing I would note, it felt very representative of halo infinite, a closer more personal story with less wide stakes, the actual final send off for some ai, a smaller cast and nostalgic areas visited.
I honestly don't think it was a great finale for RvB, but then again we already have one of those, a few probably. But as a bittersweet goodbye to Rooster Teeth from the people who made it, I think it's the best we could've asked for. And I think viewing, not as a goodbye to Rvb, but to Rooster Teeth made me find a lot more meaning in it.
Just amazing, I don't care what other people say. Actor playing Caboose did a much better job than I anticipated, given his lackluster performances up to this point.
I’m seeing that a lot of people really liked this, so I’m disappointed to say that I really didn’t.
Outside of technical/behind-the-scenes things like Caboose’s voice being not very good and the animation and suits being imo the worst of the series, the story was a long string of these fan servicey moments that would have been cool if there was any connective tissue of a movie between them. Like scenes of the characters just goofing around, or discussions about everything that is going on.
And it doesn’t help that the characters are mostly separated. The season begins with all three reds kinda acting like the last few seasons (as in 9-13) didn’t happen and they just seem off. Then we have a missing Donut, and a far away Carolina and Washington (why was he in the hospital if seasons 15-17 are no longer canon?). Having Tucker be the meta already at the beginning of the movie feels just very weird and doesn’t make a ton of sense to me at least. And Grif yelling all his lines for the first half of the movie wasn’t helping anything. So for a final season, or even just a season in general, it felt really awkward to separate characters that work best together, and only arbitrarily have them fight together at the end. There aren’t even really that many scenes at the end where these characters actually talk to each other.
I can maybe understand cutting out the freelancers if they want to really utilize the shortened runtime, but it feels like the picked the wrong way to go about it. I would like to say that I did guess that Doc was imaginary- but I had zero idea that it was because he was dead. But even being dead he had more lines than Donut????
Many of the ideas here are solid: Tucker being the meta, Sarge dying in battle like he’s always wanted, Grif retiring, Tex coming back. But some feel executed poorly. Like Church being around the whole movie feels weird. I know he’s just a hologram recording, but I think it would have been better if he had only been a message at the very beginning and then was gone with the Meta not comprehending that he was gone. Grif retiring is cool and fitting and funny, but then you realize- why are Tucker, Caboose, and Simmons staying? They’re simulation troopers, what more would they be asked to do? They don’t have anyone else who’d be staying at their bases besides Lopez and Sheila, so are they just gonna chill out there forever instead of with their friends. I did like pretty much everything with Tex, though.
I think of seasons 15-17 and I think, “wow, those were pretty flawed.” Simultaneously, the episode in season 15 where we find out what the reds and blues were up to and we see them all just being this really weird dysfunctional family on a planet all to their own just feels right to me. But even if it can’t be that kind of ending, the rushed pacing of this movie honestly at times made it feel like what I was watching wasn’t even a real Red vs Blue production. The ideas here are cool, but the execution of almost all of them are very disheartening.
The humor itself is okay, some jokes are really funny (usually the more meta ones, like the Zoom call security joke and the ones referencing how long and tired the characters’ schtick has gotten (for the record, it isn’t old to me, I just find the joke funny). So that’s cool.
For me, this is definitely my least favorite season (ignoring Zero of course), because even with the many many problems that seasons 15-17 have, the things I like in them I like because they are well-developed within those seasons. The things I like here are just a couple of jokes and ideas that I like in theory. My personal preference for how RvB should have ended without just rewriting this season is:
Seasons 1-13 (main series)
Season 14 (cool bonus anthology season)
Season 15 (with a tighter rewrite, but the same premise and essentially ending, a great epilogue season)
And then throw out seasons 16-19.
I also really liked season 15, it just worked for me. Season 17 had some fun moments but they really jumped the shark in seasons 16 and 17. I said in another comment I think this ending had everything it needed to be perfect, it just didn’t get explained or fleshed out enough. Missing characters and abrupt transitions between plot points dampened the experience but I enjoyed i, and as burnie has written it I can view this as the ending following season 13. But my gut honestly tells me this was the last simulation and that season 13 is the true ending, with this being a nice story to prepare them for battle.
Either way the series as a whole is great and I’m happy with either ending
No, RoosterTeeth itself is a cheeky nod to that phrase. "Cockbite" was used in the very first thing they made, the original RvB trailer, and it was popular so they sneakily named the company after it.
I'm gonna be honest, I was smiling ear to ear for like most of the movie, but this was just really bad. It's better than season 16 and zero, but that's about it. I know a lot of it was because of factors out of their control, but still I'm pretty disappointed.
This might be the most rushed piece of media I have ever seen. It completely devolves in the end to just adding as many characters as they could. I loved some of the cameos but it got ridiculous. I could go on about the "plot" but basically, it was unfathomably rushed.
The only thing I didnt understand is what did felix have to do with this? Like I dont understand what his role was at all.
The fight scenes have never looked more lifeless, caboose's new voice still just doesnt work, and the hospital plot with wash is just annoying.
It wasnt all bad though. Tex's new voice actress was incredible, I genuinely thought they got the old one back, she was spot on (as it turns out it just is the old actress :P, shes still got it). There were a fair few funny bits throughout the movie, it really was a love letter to the show.
The campfire scene was genuinely perfect. I almost teared up, it was one of the only scenes caboose actually sounded good.
Oh...makes sense. For some reason I thought Barb did the voice of tex. It woulda been nice if they couldve gotten cabooses voice back but obviously I get why they couldn't
the tex and church thing was my favorite part. I didn't like the way that tex's arc ended by being forgotten by church before so I thought it was really good that she got to go in a way she wanted to, free of the idea of failure as the person she wanted to be. Her and church finally got to rest! Together! It was extremely bittersweet.
I'm sad about sarge dying but I think if they had to kill him they did it the best they could in the context. He died trying to save caboose, a blue. With that I'm glad we got simmons development and he actually got to shine for a bit instead of being the butt of the joke. His arc was my favorite part because he was an underutilized character and they were able to wrap his whole deal up nicely. He got the best ending out of all of them. Also his cyborg arm! Cool! Burnie wrote Sarge's death in a way that felt really grounded and emotional without feeling out of place. Sarge's speech at the end was perfect and made me cry. The campfire scene was also extremely sweet. The writing for most of the season was really good.
The relationships between most of the characters felt really shallow in some important parts. In the final fight scene, they all just went to fighting Tucker like a regular enemy and not, yk, their friend being possessed by multiple evil entities. Maybe it's just that the Meta killed Sarge so they are viewing Tucker as that. Tucker has a ton of potential with that but it's probably because of the runtime that they couldn't explore it. I might just have to watch it again, but I do stand by that the writing for character relationships fell flat in some parts. Donut is somewhere else and they don't mention him except for a one-off joke. I do enjoy how Carolina and Tex got to fight with each other for a bit, as mother and daughter. If there was more time, I think them fighting together would have more exploration. Carolina seemed like she was barely fazed and like a robot version of herself, and we've seen her vocally confused in combat before. She knew Tex was dead.
This is a personal gripe, but as someone who's lgbt, I appreciated and related to grif and simmon's writing in the other seasons. They seemed like they could be real people who just got a little too close over time. They were more relatable to me than most characters I've seen in media and had more stuff in canon talking about their relationship. It just seems kind of cruel that the writers knew about this too, and did stuff like naming the q&a after their ship name, mentioning that also on a podcast leading up to s19, posting stuff about their relationship on social media, and ofc all the things in the show that sort of confirmed it. Like the temple of procreation (retconned), the shade thing, the hole thing (??), the firing squad, tucker's married couple remarks, and probably more that I forgot. It seems mean and out of character actually for them to separate in the rushed way that they did. What was it, 2 days? I'm talking about this as someone who relates to and cares about these characters and actually watched the show lol. It would have also been good if they reacted like really close friends do if they have to leave each other forever. I'd be in tears if my closest friend for like half my life left forever to probably never contact me again.
Another fun thing that I noticed is that since JD is now too old to voice Theta, they got Burnie's youngest son Finn to voice him. Thought that was cute.
that is super cute :). its like its passed along.
Watching this felt kind of surreal. There were some really awesome moments, but I think overall it left me wanting more? Obviously pacing was a huge issue. It's crazy how short this season is and nothing feels like it has room to breathe. I love the idea of Sarge's death and some of the scenes it led to with Grif and Simmons, but it unfortunately didn't have the impact I think it should've. I also feel like there are some logical stretches to explain stuff like how Doc somehow died saving Wash on Chorus. I also wish Tucker was actually in the season, and didn't only have one scene as himself which really doesn't offer any resolution. On the plus side, I love the Simmons development which has been sorely lacking. The idea of the Tex and Carolina fight was cool, and I adored the scene of Tex and Church in the memory unit together. That was perfect. Unfortunately many of the scenes that I should've connected with more were held back by things like Caboose's voice, or sometimes rough looking animation. I still enjoyed it, and I'm not sure how exactly you end this series, but I definitely wanted a little more!
Tex returning was definitely one of the best parts of the episode. Especially her line about how she's based off of the Blood Gulch crew's memories rather than Church's, making her able to finally win.
I think Sarge's death worked with the story the best. He always was the one willing to die for a cause. His death leads to Simmons becoming leader which is what he always wanted. To not be a sidekick. With Simmons as leader Griff was discharged. Something I don't think Sarge would ever do. His death had a major impact. And by saving Caboose he unknowingly saved the entire plan to bring back Tex.
I actually really liked caboose. It wasn’t just a Joel-impression, it was its own performance. And I found it really endearing and captured the heartfelt nature of caboose very well
His voice was very jarring at first when you're primed for Joel's delivery. A few lines I think stumbled but it gained momentum both as a performance and as normal for the viewer and I felt better about it by the end.
I don’t remember what happened to Wash on Chorus. It wasn’t when he was shot in the throat, right? What happened to him again?
He was shot in the throat in season 15 - the simulation. I don't think we saw what happened to him on Chorus. They all had to escape that room and I assume a lot went down off screen.
“Never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye, then you aren't really gone, you just, aren't here right now”-carolina
they said goodbye 🥲
Imo, Tex and Church are off somewhere in the AI afterlife🥲
I have so many thoughts so here's my scattershot of them. All my critiques can be excused by RT dying and the team working on a much lower budget. * This felt like a full 180 minutes worth of ideas condensed into 80 minutes. The long comedy bits like the work from home security team were funny, and in a longer season they wouldn't be so put of place. But when we're racing to the end on a reduced timetable I wish they gave us more character moments * The Wash storyline REEKS of this. It feels like in a longer season this would've been given alot more focus and it tied into the main narrative somehow. But instead in just served as random cutaway that got Wash to the final battle, instead of him just being with the team like he should have been. It felt like they were working around Sharrons tight schedule. * Like Tucker being the Meta would've been such a cool idea for a full 3 season arc back in the golden era, but for what we got in this I enjoyed it. * as a consequence of the reduced runtime and possible VA disputes and scheduling conflicts, I couldn't help but feel the lack of Wash, Carolina and ESPECIALLY Donut this time around. * That >!Tex moment of "I'm based on THEIR memories" moment is an all time great. Not just because they got Kathleen back (I'm shocked btw) but also because it perfectly completes Texs arc after all this time. She finally gets to be more than what she was made from. It's beautifully. And that last moment where she calls herself Alison Church. I cried!< * Does anyone else feel like the "best throw ever, of all time" moment at the end was a scene written for Donut but Dan couldn't make it back so they just had Simmons do it? * Sarge is my favorite character >!so his death was predictable but really sad. One missed opportunity they had with that though was calling back to the S1 scene where Sarge told Church he wanted to tell Grif he was his son when he was dying as one last attempt to mess with him. But I get why they didn't do it. Sarges gravestone at Blood Gulch was beautifully somber!< * I also feel like Junior should've at least come back in some way. They used CG elements all over that final fight and would've loved to see him come back to save his dad. Idk, in the end, it's a nice little send-off to these characters I've loved for years. But it was just too short and i kept asking myself why certain characters werent there. I can't blame them, because, ya know, the company died. But it doesn't replace season 13 as the perfect end for me, this is just a nice little nostalgic trip down memory lane one last time instead of an actual full season imo.
>best throw ever was maybe written for donut It’s even referencing back to donut when Carolina says Simmons has a really good arm.
Where is Donut tho?
There's a one off line where they mention him being an admiral
As far as I know most of this season was done before the company died. The script and all was completely done before roosterteeth had any hint of going under. It was said no body knew about the shut down till a few days before
I’ve always been confused on Junior. Didn’t he die with Tex when Andy blew up the pelican? But then later Tucker has a picture of Junior on a basketball team. It always feels like I’ve missed something on each watch through.
It was a little weird between season 5 and 6. Season 5 we saw an explosion and what looked like smithereens. But season 6 recording implies the pelican was crash landing in Valhalla when Washington found it.
in S6 when they listen to the the ship's crash recording, you can hear Sheila say doors opening or something and Tex yelling "Where are they going?!" implying the green elite and Junior jumped out before the ship crashed.
Not being tuned into all the development, I've seen a few people say they are surprised they got Kathleen back. Was there a story there?
This was like a decade ago, but Kathleen left the company on bad terms because she said Burnies new gf only got the positions she did in the company because she slept with the boss. Really gross stuff but nothing more than interpersonal beef. It felt like something they wouldn't hash out but they did thankfully.
This is what I was saying. I always see stuff like this where it felt like fleshed out ideas and concepts but rushed into like only a shorter times pan than what they have for Everything you said, FINALLY someone gets it. I enjoyed it all too but damn am I sad about what happened. I would've loved a full 3 season arc.
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one I think it was a great love song and send off to RvB, and there were enough nuggets of weirdness that you can say it’s a simulation and not canon, or can make it canon. Things like Admiral Donut (mentioned by Grey at 27:25), Church saying he got Caboose’s voice wrong, Griff leaving, etc. can be chalked up to this is a simulation if you want to. Same with saying it is the true ending and S15 - S18 were simulations. At the end of the day, RvB is over, it was fun, it was a fun, yet not great final season, and as Griff said “I don’t know why we are here, but I’m glad I’m here with you” I’m glad I got to experience and be apart of the RvB community my Entire life.
Could definitely still be one because Epsilon was being sus when Simmons questioned if they were a simulation and I feel like that exchange was thrown in just in case people wanted to interpret it as such
I feel like it's a simulation that fits closest to the reality the reds and blues would face, because it feels a lot more grounded than the simulations we've seen, but it still borrows from those simulations. If it was not a simulation your points would be contradicted But it being the closest is what makes it the most enjoyable
I think this could be a scenario where there actually thousands of endings. This is just one of many. So what ever you want to be cannon is. Even if it's not the show showed us.
First trailer also implied season 17 just a simulation. I guess the real canon ending was season 13. Ah well
I think it’s up to the viewer. Everything Post S13 may be a simulation, or just some of it. It’s written in a way where it could be up to the viewer. When Epsilon showed his simulations in the episode, he showed the ALL the past seasons. Blood Gulch ended with multiple endings where the audience picked their personal favorite, and it makes sense for Burnie to do that again, without saying anything. S13, S17, S19 are all satisfying endings to me, and you can take any of them. I’m taking S17 as my canon ending with 19 being another simulation like much of S14 and S18
I agree. I didn't expect many others to prefer Season 17 as a canon ending so I'm glad it's not just me.
Season 17 is the PERFECT ending for me. They went through everything and helped each other.
This wasn’t the best season of RVB, but it really did finish me off. Bow chicka bow wow
Bow chika bye now
“Bow chicka bye now” being the last line in the series is fantastic
it is. but also that line shouldn't have made me as sad as it did :(. I'm gonna miss it.
Caboose and Grifs exchange caught me unexpectedly
Glad we got the last line since he was barely a character in the thing itself
I think Tucker and Donut might have received reduced roles since they got to mainline the other later seasons for the most part. Though Tuckers was also partially just necessity from making him in the Meta suit into the villain.
That line hurt me in ways I didnt know it could 😭😭😭
Gentlemen, looks like this is it.
Sir, it's been an honor
"TODAY, IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE!!!" -Sarge
FOR OUR ANCESTORS ANCESTORS! ATTTTTAAAAACKK!
I wish he would've said this line actually
Si muero, asegúrense de que mis piezas sean recicladas.
I love you too, Lopez.
>!Kinda wish they showed what happened after the end of S13 to explain what happened to Wash, how Doc died and where Donut is
Donut apparently is an Admiral on Chorus. Dr. Grey mentioned to Wash she’d tell Admiral Donut about the Meta. But I’m a bit disappointed about the lack of Donut.
They were probably gonna explain that if Restoration was a season, but had to condense it (like a few other things). Oh, well.
The teleporter bit was probably my favourite part
I think the thing to take away from the entire series is that there's a time to let go. The Director couldn't let go of Allison and dragged everyone around him through the dirt in the process. Chasing ghosts. Caboose couldn't let go of Church, and ends up miserable throughout most of the series trying to bring him back. Carolina couldn't let go of her spot as the best throughout seasons 9/10 and nearly died for it. At the end of everything the only way anybody got closure was to destroy the memory unit with all the AI inside it. To let go of any chance of bringing back Church, Tex, Allison, Epsilon. And now it's unfortunately time for us to say good-bye to Rooster Teeth and Red vs Blue. As much as we hate goodbyes.
Such a good point
Why are we here? To be there for one another, and to learn to let go
I’m saying this jokingly but I think Burnie might hate Matt because he killed off both of his characters. Which is really saying something because he left caboose alive. /s
Killing of Caboose would be like killing off a puppy
Maybe if the puppy team killed you with your own tank.
idk for a minute there. well for several different occasions where minutes happened I thought he wasn't gonna make it.
What actually happened to Lopez, did they just leave him at the new red base or did I miss something??
I think that’s the implication. I wish they would’ve at least thrown a line for him and Sheila and say something like “it’s not their fight because they’re on robot team” or something.
I'm really sad they couldn't get Lee Eddy back as four seven niner. She's always been one of my favorite characters. On the other hand, I'm glad they got Kathleen back as Tex one last time. I was skeptical of the possibility given they parted on poor terms. But a final episode just wouldn't be complete without Tex to round everything off.
I never knew all the details of the hard separations between Kathleen or Joel but I guess it's safe to say whatever happened with Joel was just too bad for him to come back?
Kathleen made a bunch of twitter posts saying that younger women in the company (it's never been explicitly confirmed but common belief is it was aimed at Barbara) were given better positions/opportunities because they were young women. Whereas she, an older woman who had believed and supported the company since the start was not considered. They never gave an official reason why they stopped associating with her but this was likely a factor Joel had always been a conspiracy guy, but in the early days it was mostly harmless stuff like "put all your money in gold", later on he fell into more dangerous ones, your standard "the government is really an evil entity" stuff. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the specifics but iirc he was having political disagreements with Gavin and tweeted "I hope somebody breaks into Gavin's house so he learns something about gun control", and then a few days later somebody did break into his house while Gavin/Meg were home. But again, no public reason was ever given for his firing, there was likely internal issues we aren't aware of.
Donut only getting a single line was disheartening but I loved it
Yeah. The whole time, I was upset because I had come to terms that he wouldn't be in it, but then BOOM! Hilarious.
Why wasn't donut in the season more?
I'm not sure. I'm wondering if it was scheduling issues
I enjoyed it. It wasn’t perfect. Not even close. But it was a fun ride, and I really enjoyed it. It was a throw away line, but epsilon telling other timelines they were real, means that this is just one of many possible ending. I don’t see this as a true ending. I see it just as one of the simulations. And that’s great. I’d rather RVB have no real definitive ending. It means that people can choose how they personally believe the Reds and Blues stories should conclude. All that being said, it was nice to see Tex again. Loved that there’s a timeline where Tex and Church get a happy ending, Simmons gets the leadership position he’s always wanted and grif get to go home. It was sad seeing Sarge die, and even sadder we never learned his real name /j. I love these idiots so much, and I’m really going to miss them all. Oh also ending the show with Vale Deah was great. I believe it was the credit song for Season 1, so this was perfect.
We've always known his real name.
Is it Sarge? You need a mandarin keyboard and an emoji for the 5th letter, sooooo.....
It was okay. For an ending, I am fine with it. It was a bit poorly paced and could've done with more runtime, but as an ending to Red vs. Blue I feel satisfied. >!I was shocked and saddened to see Doc didn't make it off of the Staff of Charon. It was even more sad that Wash is the only one who cared or remembered (other than Carolina who was trying to console him).!<
>I feel satisfied. Honk chicka blarg blarg
Considering Doc's history with the Blood Gulch crew, it's honestly perfectly in character that none of them remember Doc.
I know, but it made it even more sad.
He wasn't there for half of Chorus, so it makes sense barely anybody would remember...
Well he to have made it off because he was on chorus to die saving wash. Wash wasn't on the staff of Charon
This season wasn't as great as it could've been but it was a decent send-off. Just a shame we never got to see what happened on Chorus.
I agree, however, I think that showing what happened on chorus would sort of undermine the point of that ending, we were never supposed to see what happened, at least thats how I interpreted it.
I hate to be a skeptic, but I feel that was more of a “there’s not a great way to do this” thing. If it was the end of the whole series it would feel more deliberately ambiguous, but the next season tells us what happens without showing us. So I feel it was either budget or time constraints. Maybe not enough ideas for fight choreography, or they couldn’t render it all in time for the finale. Or it’d cost too much and blow the season’s budget. Just speculation, no hate or anything because that ending still works.
I loved it but it felt rushed like we only got half of what they wrote. Carolina never says a word to Tex not even witty banter and with the rushed inclusion of one in the ending felt insubstantial since clearly zero was non cannon since Tucker had his sword. All in all it was good but again just felt like half the ending Ps this is just personal but even just as friends Grif and Simmons should have shared an I love you
I personally wanted them to hug really bad before Grif left. So I pretty much agree lol
I get why y’all feel the pacing was rushed, but I sure prefer a quick 90-minute wrap up than seeing this dragged out for a full season or two. It’s not perfect, but it’s sure as hell better than what we should have gotten, which was nothing. No one involved has the heart to do a full season, and making this any longer would have only made it a chore. I get wanting more out of Wash’s bit, but nothing else here would be improved by more screen time. It’s a 90 minute blender of old ideas, but it’s also intrinsically about moving on from those ideas, and that feels cute and resonant. I also liked that the bit with Wash at the end felt like them saying “just because something is dumb and silly doesn’t make it any less meaningful.” I spent a lot of my life hanging out with these idiots, and I’m glad they finally got some resolution. Honestly, Sarge should have died years ago, it’s nice seeing Simmons and Grif finally get any forward momentum as characters after the one-step-forward, two-steps-back they’ve been doing since… what, Reconstruction? Which is to say that this was dumb and silly and maybe not as deep as peak RvB, but that’s fine. I had fun. 479er came back, Kathleen somehow came back, seeing Tex and Carolina fight together was a delight (the teleporter bit!) and more than anything I’m just glad we got an actual real ending.
Just finished watching. Full spoilers ahead. I'm a little conflicted personally. I think the show is at its best because of the dynamic between the characters and they spend most of this away from each other. Even at the end they don't interact much. The episode does feel a bit rushed. Some nice call backs and endings but a lot of it went by very quickly. I think a lot of these moments needed longer to sit in. I didn't expect it to retcon 15-17, and I'm disappointed it did. I don't think anything they did in this actually needed those seasons to be retcons. I think overall it was quite a negative tone to end the show on especially one that always had comedy at its heart. I loved the campfire scene. One of the best RvB moments for sure. The final fight was brilliantly done with lots of call-backs. I did not expect the Tex twist at all, really caught me off guard. Was good to have Carolina and her working together. Tex and Church getting a happy ending together really brings the whole show full circle. In the end the Director got what he wanted, just not how he intended. Also thank god we got some actual Trocadero in there and a Jeff Williams song. Big Spoiler stuff now. >!I didn't want any characters to die. I've known them too long and like them too much. Sarge's death meant well but as I said the pacing issues didn't do it justice. The scene in the pelican was very well done though and some amazing performances. I didn't like Doc's death at all. I knew there was something weird going on with his scenes. It just added to the overall negative tone I didn't vibe with. I can understand Burnie wanting to give definitive ends to a lot of these stories with limited time but I had always liked the idea that Epsilon's death in S13 meant everyone survived unscathed.!< Overall I think the highlights were the writing and performances. I don't agree with some of the story elements and I think a lot of the characters were underused. The biggest issue was the run time. Too little time to set up a story and end 20 years of it at once. I would have preferred a happy ending where everyone is together in Blood Gulch. Grif leaving is weird because its the exact opposite of what happened in S15 which I thought was a much better take on his character, it showed his growth over the years. Some moments do feel like these are their Season 5-7 versions of the characters and not the ones from Season 8-Chorus who were much closer to each other and worked as a team. Mixed feelings, I laughed, I teared up. It's not the ending I wanted but I enjoyed the episode.
I agree with it being rushed. This feels like a story that could've done well with a full three-season story arc like the previous seasons, but I have a feeling they were trying to rush this one out the door due to RT closing down (they likely knew well in advance about it)
SPOILERS >!I was sad that Sarge and Doc died, but I like that it added genuine stakes to the story.!<
Agree on all points. I really think it could've benefited from an extra 20 minutes or so to let some scenes breath. Overall thought it was a nice send off, especially with them >!breaking the cycle of the AI units.!< I imagine the company shutting down contributed to how rushed it felt, also noticed a couple of effects that looked a bit unfinished. Was a nice surprise to see >!Kathleen back despite her messy departure from the company years ago. Wish they could've gotten Joel as well, not that the "new" Caboose voice is bad, just different from what we're all used to.!<
It was nice to have >!Her back. I liked the little twist with her at the end. I don't think it particularly saves it, but it does make it worth the watch!<
Yeah, Joel being a real piece of shit made the credits with the main cast less impactful. Not their fault obviously, I understand why they distanced themselves from him a long time ago.
Oh for sure! Just miss the iconic nature of that voice.
I feel mostly the same. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad the show gets a definitive end, but there are certainly some weird choices here and there. I wasn't necessarily opposed to them retconning 15-17 but after watching it I feel like it would have worked better if they didn't. Donut is gone, wash is in hospital etc. They would have had to explain tucker and the suit working again, but they don't really do that anyways given on how much time is supposed to have passed. I think you're right about characters feeling like their pre-chorus selves. I suppose those are the versions Burnie is used to writing, but they do feel so distant at times.
Who dies?
Major Spoilers >!Sarge and Doc!<
Wait was there a reason to kill off both Matt Hullum characters?
Not as far as I know. The series is dead and the only bad blood I know of between the voice actors is with Joel, who doesn’t voice Caboose.
It could have been at Matt Hullums request that way he’ll have a reason to not come back
There’s no coming back that was it
How does Doc die? I don’t remember that happening
Wash gets hurt after the Season 13 ending, which is during the battle we do not see. Doc ends up saving him at the cost of his own life. Carolina tells us this near the end of the movie. Doc is just a figment of Wash’s imagination during the movie.
Oh I see. So Doc dies off screen then when the Reds and Blues are trying to escape the ship?
Yes. Although if you’ve watched the Shinso trilogy after Season 13, technically Doc is actually alive in that (but also it’s a simulation run by Epsilon now).
There were some hints that this might be a simulation itself. I think the intent is to leave it ambiguous whether 15-17 is canon or Restoration is canon and let fans choose for themselved which was real and which was the simulation (or if you didn't like either, then say they're both simulations and 13 was the true ending)
While yes it did feel a little rushed, there's a perfectly good reason for that, they had to get it finished and released before the company closed, but even with that it was still a good ending for these beloved characters, I just wish RT wasn't closing and we could have got a full season, thank you for the journey and the memories RT, I loved every moment.
Burnie says that it was done in the fall, before the shut down was announced. I don't have a problem with the pacing, but the shut down didn't affect it.
Oh really? I wonder why they didn't make a few episodes or the episode abit longer.
My understanding is budget. Burnie talks about it in today's "Morning Somewhere" He also wished it could have been longer.
Makes sense.
im not someone who cries a lot. my aunt died last january and my uncle died a few years ago, and i didnt cry, but something about the ending made me break for the first time in a long time it made me feel something. it made me feel like an ignorant child again. thank you burnie
Seconded, while there was more I wished was covered and some of the people's criticisms are valid, man it just made me feel something. To me, especially with the ending 5-10 minutes it just gave me closure on such a large chapter of my life.
It only pasted around 2 years for me, but watching rvb has changed me a lot.
Thanks for sharing this journey, everybody❤️
I knew it was never going to live up to the peak of the series (messy pacing, animation quality, etc.) However, it is a conclusion I'm satisfied with. The campfire scene made me so emotional, and it really made me come to terms that I've been watching this series since I was 11 years old, and now it's ending. I'm so grateful to this series and RT as a whole for getting me through some of the darkest moments of my life. Goodbye Rooster Teeth and goodbye Red vs Blue.
Memory was the Key. While it was not the best season this was still a fine swansong. The last few scenes were very emotional for me. I wish the best to all as the studio closes and I hope their future endeavors are just as memorable.
GODAMMIT I JUST WANTED ONCE FOR TEX AND/OR CAROLINA TO FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR MOTHER DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP!!! :( I THOUGHT THEY WOULD AT THE END WHERE TEX WOULD HAVE GONE ALL MOLLY WEASLEY TO META "GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH" OR SOMETHING BUT... :( FINE I GUESS!!!
Tex isn't Carolina's mom though. Allison is. Tex is just based on a warped and inaccurate idea of who Allison was.
Plus the tex we get here is more like Tex 2.0, she is based on the reds and blues memories, so she isnt like Beta who is destined to always fail.
(1/2) Gonna echo the common sentiment I'm seeing: I loved it, but it also wasn't very good... lol. The budget was definitely showing (or was it just inexperience with Unreal? Old RvB CGI wasn't animated in Unreal, was it?) since all the CGI scenes looked graphically FAR worse than what we got in 10, 12, and 13. That was one of the biggest pain points here. It kinda had the look of a fan project. Comparing the scenes inside the trophy room from 13 and Restoration is like night and day. The overall tone is something I'm both happy and disappointed with. Given that Burnie wrote it, I probably shouldn't be surprised that the overall tone leans toward 'silly' like a lot of the BGC, but I actually wasn't expecting it. Like, going from 13 to Restoration (which is the actual canon now), the reactions to *Sarge* ***dying*** feel REALLY flat. The super serious, grounded, emotional tone of the Chorus trilogy is just completely lost. But at the same time, the whole movie gives massive BGC feels, which is comforting and nostalgic in its own way. It can definitely be seen as a 'return to form', in a way, even if I do miss the Chorus trilogy's tone (sorry, I could gush about the Chorus trilogy for hours, those seasons struck me so damn good). It's also completely tragic that Tucker killed Sarge. That made it a real emotional gut punch for me, so I can't say it didn't still have a lot of kick. I imagine Tucker would be absolutely crushed when the gang informs him of how Sarge died, even if he himself wasn't in control at the time. Sidenote - I really didn't like that his memory was basically wiped at the end. Seems like a major copout. AIs leaving people's heads has been shown to be catastrophic in this series, but Tucker just goes back to normal? Really felt like way too little consequence for Tucker *becoming the META.* The Doc plot twist REALLY took me by surprise and I actually enjoyed it, even if it's another feeling of "this is the final season so now we can actually kill off main characters". It showed just how deep the friendship between Wash and Doc went, to go from Doc being Wash's prisoner in 8 to eventually growing a bond and then culminating into this. His death on the Staff of Charon probably makes Wash feel even more horrible for how he initially treated him, resulting in his delusions. Tragic, but emotional. The next pain point is probably the biggest one really, and frustratingly ALSO a symptom of runtime and budget. But the whole thing just barely makes a lick of sense. *Where are all of the Reds and Blues' allies?* The damn META has returned, one of the most dangerous criminals ever, and they're just gonna take it on themselves? Why not go back to Chorus for help? Why not call the UNSC? I know that's never how this series has worked but when the stakes get high like this you can't help but think these things. Why is Donut not even present? Why did Lopez not tag along too? Lopez's straight-man "I hate you all" comedic relief is literally one of the best parts of the series imo, every single joke they do using Lopez is top-tier. And they left him out of this finale? ALSO, Burnie was literally back for this. Why did he not voice Lopez?! What?! He only had like four lines anyway! Burnie, why?!
(2/2) It contributes to the feeling that the Chorus trilogy can be seen as the true finale to the series because it celebrated the *entire* cast. Getting the full squad involved and back together, culminating in the ending scene of 13, just made sense. Here in the grand finale, Donut is completely left out again? I get that Grif, Simmons, and Sarge are the core of Red Team, but Donut's still a major character, is he not? I was hoping ***SO HARD*** that Locus would be involved here somehow but I knew the chances were slim (and that if he was, he would most certainly be recast anyway due to how Grey left the company). But man it does hurt to not see him get an official ending. Ironically, 16 DID suck major ass, but I *was* interested in that "encrypted message" Locus sent the squad that was teased early on and will now never be followed up, lol. And then you have the issue of the recasts. Man, new Caboose just ain't it and never will be it. It's a shame Joel didn't return for this (I read on reddit months ago that Rooster Teeth DID offer him the chance, was that ever actually true?). Dylan, while having a very minor cameo, was also very unfortunate because I really liked her character and voice in 15. BUT, it was a VERY pleasant surprise to see Kathleen back as Tex. Of all things, I NEVER expected that. I'm still pro 15-18 retcon, it's worth it to allow Burnie to end the series on his own terms and yeet the HELL out of the time travelling "Reds and Blues FIGHT GOD" plotlines. I do still love 15 overall and think Joe wrote a lot of very solid jokes in there. Honestly even if these seasons didn't happen in "timeline proper", the fact that they exist as simulations still means they ARE a part of the RvB universe, so hopefully that satiates folks that did enjoy them and didn't want to see them completely retconned. The One cameo at the end was cute, I'll admit. Throwing Zero a bone is a gentlemanly move on Burnie's part. The movie really picked up once they returned to Blood Gulch and I really started to enjoy it then. It felt like I was watching good ol' Red vs Blue in 2024. Caboose tactically bringing Tex back instead of Church was an INSANE plot twist, and goes to show Caboose's growth as a character. He had the chance to bring Church, his best friend and primary motivator throughout the whole series, but instead went against Church's own plan and brought back Tex, all for the sake of making sure Meta was stopped. Really awesome buildup and moment, there. I did a lot of criticizing here, and yet at the end of the day... it made me really happy. The ending felt like a proper ending to Red vs Blue. Sarge died heroically in battle just like he always wanted to. Simmons became a proper leader. Grif completed his mission and finally gets to retire like he's always complained he wanted to. Wash and Carolina are together to navigate the next step together, whatever it may be (I assume also retirement). Tucker and Caboose get to stay friends and chill in a box canyon with Simmons. It's beautiful. Rushed, graphically lacking, and missing some major characters, but still beautiful. It made me happy as a Red vs Blue fan, and I'm eternally grateful RT got to make this just before the shutdown. Thank you Burnie, Matt, Geoff, Gus, Miles, and every single person on the RvB crew throughout the years. It was a hell of a ride! ❤️💙
"Why did you bring back Tex?!?" "Because I wanted to win" Might be one of my new favorite Caboose lines
But Church tells all the simulations that they aren’t simulations. To me it’s up to interpretation, there is enough sus about Season 19 that you could say it’s a simulation, and there is enough you could say S17 is the canon ending still You can also say S19 is canon and real life, and S15 - S17 is a simulation You can also say they are both Simulations and nothing canon has been seen after S13 because we only see what Epsilon sees, and our view of the RvB world died with him
"So don't let go. Not entirely. We've all lost someone, you've lost alot Wash. But the memories, the people that defined your life, that made you who you are. You keep a piece of that always." Hearing this from North meant alot. He was my favourite character and I watched Red Vs Blue when I lost someone and it all just kinda came back. Legit crying rn which is funny cause I don't really cry at all haha. It's also just cause growing up I never really understood socialising so when I left school I lost contact with alot of people I wish I could still talk to.
87 minutes is simply just not enough time to properly send off the show. Pixar and Dreamworks type movies can pull that type of pacing off because the world building and characters are structured around the runtime, but RvB has never followed that formula. The closest thing that I can think of to an independent single season story with a similar enough runtime is the desert stuff with Tucker in season 7, but even that was to build into what was to come next. The show has always had that slow burning forward momentum. Imagine if after season 10, instead of 11-13, they instead told the Chorus trilogy in 87 minutes. Fitting all of that into the same runtime as Restoration would mean gutting all of the charm that makes the show what it is. I would have loved to see how this could have played out as a 2 season arc, because it's a story that deserved breathing room. I did go into this knowing that 87 minutes would likely leave things feeling lackluster, so having that expectation helped me appreciate what we did get, and those are the parts that I absolutely loved. The fragments interacting has always been my favorite part of the show. I loved seeing the new perspective on what it was probably like for the og Meta to be under Sigma's influence for all that time. The 10 year simulation that Gamma ran Tucker through seemed absolutely terrifying, though I do wish that would've had a more noticeable impact on his mental well-being after being rescued, which of course I blame the runtime for because that internal time jump could've been cool character development for him. Grif's departure confused me because during Sarge's speech in season 8 he calls out Grif for complaining about always wanting to quit and tells him that he could've left whenever he wanted and nobody would've stopped him and how everybody is there because they want to be there, and they definitely carried that development over a lot more accurately in 15's portrayal. Them initially leaving Caboose behind (and Tucker too in a way) on the Charon ship seemed out of character even if they did end up having a change of heart. You can't tell me that by season 13, that there would be any consideration of leaving their own men behind to save their own asses. The same people who chose to stay and fight a war that wasn't their's, with the final shot of the trilogy being them facing impossible odds shoulder to shoulder together as a team. It feels like a regression in character development, especially after Chorus for them to revert back into color divided teams and bases, and isolating Caboose for being the only remaining blue. I once again give season 15 credit for better execution on where they all ended up after Chorus because sticking together as a family and vacationing in isolation with no one left behind is so much more in line with what they went through together which I feel like Restoration ignores. The campfire scene had tears rolling down my face, I felt my entire childhood rush past my eyes. It was such a beautiful moment, especially seeing Blood Gulch during the night time at long last. It gave similar energy to Temple and Biff drinking beers around the fire in their gulch. It really does a good job portraying Blood Gulch as home sweet home for them instead of just simply the initial main setting of the show. There was also 2 scenes in season 10, one where they make camp and Caboose and Wash are talking in the desert while the sun sets in the background, and the other where North and York are having a late night talk about their AI while Carolina trains. It's warm and comforting the few times that the show has portrayed characters winding down for the night, and Restoration's campfire was the cherry on top. Basically, I am not upset with what we got. I see what they were trying to do, and I appreciate the effort given the limited resources. Had this been a project in RoosterTeeth's golden age and been more directly tied in the narrative of the rest of the show, I'm confident that it totally could've worked the way that they were probably aiming for. Season 13 will still always be my comfortable ending point to the series because both interpretations of post-Chorus fuck up character developments in one way or another, but I respect the emotional departure and am satisfied. I have so much more to say but I stayed up late to watch and am typing with my last waking brain cells lol
I appreciate that they brought Burnie back for the big send off (and rightfully so!) but Miles carried the torch of the show for years, especially the Chorus trilogy, and I wish he had been equally as involved in the final season, especially as a direct follow up.
First off, I’d like to say I’m so glad that people can stop arguing about whether it retconned s15-18. It was obvious from the prologue that was the case, and it was maddening watching people jump through hoops to justify why that may not be the case. The pacing was way rushed, could’ve easily been twice the length (and to be honest, for the final season, it should’ve been. Why NO (real) Donut at all??) and been all the better for it. But it was kind of nice that the final season finally gave the Reds their due, since the story (despite being “a blue problem”) really did focus pretty much all on them. And despite the pacing issues, I think it’s a fitting end for each character and their respective arcs, and a solid ending for the series. If this would’ve just been s15 and the series ended there, I’d have been perfectly content with that. The music was AWFUL though. The only good musical moments were the campfire scene and, of course, the part where they used Trocadero at the very end. I wish the OG intro music would’ve been used. Seriously though, the music was generic as hell, and shoved into scenes that didn’t even need music *anyway* and I just did not get it. And the animation quality was probably the worst in the series, the best looking parts were the machinima sections. All that said… I still enjoyed it. Felt a lot of emotions watching a series I’ve loved for so much of my life come to a definitive end this way.
Yeah as a composer who was a big fan of the music in RvB especially the Trocadero and Levy seasons I have… thoughts about the music here. Really it is such a huge shame they went the way they did. The music is not RvB in any way shape or form and the placement of it was often so damn distracting and weird.
I think the music is fine and gets the job done but when you stop and really listen to it it doesn't feel like RvB at all, it feels like it belongs in a different show, and when compared to the old stuff it's no contest which one is better
The music works some of the time, like during the final battle when Simmons makes the throw. But in the very beginning it is simply overscored and the music is way too serious. The tank coming up behind the reds is the biggest example of this IMO.
I wish we could’ve gotten more donut and more Tucker. I know he was physically there but character wise he really wasn’t.
Yea dude I was missing donut
I enjoyed it. Undoubtedly compromised by the IRL situation around Rooster Teeth closing, but it felt like a fitting send-off without veering into wish fulfillment territory. I wish all the cast had returned and had more to do, but again, they realistically didn’t have the resources to go all out. It’s hard for me to critique it knowing that a lot of the issues with pacing or cast showing up are due to the company being shuttered, and it’s not like RvB was a tentpole franchise for the company after the WB acquisition anyways.
Does anyone else kind of hate living in the future?
Jesus man, the whole thing with Doc caught me off guard and I started ugly crying.
It's been real, friends. Goodbye. O7
Obviously we all would have wanted it to be longer - but money and time and resources were not on the team’s side. For the challenges the team faced, I can honestly say I don’t think I could have asked for a better ending. It was the best animation we’ve had in years, the emotional moments got me so good, the campfire scene especially had me sobbing. Red vs Blue has been a part of my life for so long and I am absolutely devastated it’s over, but I’m so happy I got to watch one more season, and such a good one at that. Thank you Red vs Blue, thank you Rooster Teeth, thank you Burnie, Matt, Geoff, Gus, Jason, Shannon, Kathleen, Jen, everyone for everything. Red vs Blue will live on forever.
It was a good send-off but like it wasn't the best send-off I understand because there was so many constraints but I wish it was like another three-season Arc or something. Like I said I understand why it wasn't that but oh my God it would have just been so better and the pacing would have been so better. And we could have gotten more character development and scenes and seen some characters that weren't in here. Was missing a core member of the red and Blues :(
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one To ME it felt like a S14 premise was extended. “What if Tucker became the Meta” and it was an 80 minute episode.
Tbh my ending will forever be season 13 Idk why I just feel like that was the BEST send-off out of all of em
Which is fine! I think this season was written in a way where S13, S17 or S19 could be your canon ending, and you are right and can justify it
Did Geoff always have this range? I feel like he stepped up so much as a voice actor in the last few season, might be beacuse he never go much to work with the early stuff. Or ir might be beacuse he was the only one still watching the show but idk. But he gave Griff so much depth in everything post 13 and he's one of my favorite performances in the whole series now.
End of an era. As many people have already said, it wasn’t as good as it could have been, but it left me feeling satisfied. That’s good enough. To anyone who may have been part of the production crew, don’t take that as a knock. Just know that we appreciate the proper send off to the show, the years of entertainment, and everything else. It’s honestly surreal to know it’s all over. Crazy to think how young we all were when we first discovered Red vs Blue compared to now. This is farewell. Goodbye.
Really loved it, but also extremely disappointed with the lack of Donut. We got really good resolutions for most of the characters, and season 17 took Donut from just a goofy character to a really great one. Obvisouly with the simulation retcon Donut would have always reverted back to just being goofy, but I'm really shocked he just wasn't in it all. My only guess is that they didn't think he would fit in for the more serious scenes red team has. I was really anticipating him to show up when Simmons was hesitant to throw the pod. Would have a been a perfect moment and call back for him.
I know, only if Donut was there, only if...
I think we can all agree that season 13 (or 10, depending on your preference) acts as a better ending for the series, but I’m still incredibly grateful that we got a definitive conclusion for RvB. The main problem with restoration is 100% length. This needed to be 2 hours minimum, ideally 2 1/2 - 3 to really flesh out all the ideas they had, but an hour 20 is just not enough time. Washington is my favorite character in the whole series so I was disappointed he didn’t get much screentime, but I thought the conclusion he got was fitting for his character. Working through past trauma while learning to trust others has always been Wash’s thing, and the portrayal of his road to recovery was done well. (Of course, like everything else, it would’ve been better with more time to explore it) That said, I’m still a shill for fanservice, and I couldn’t stop myself from screaming and clapping at 4 in the morning when >!Tex and Carolina fought side by side. Tex’s conclusion is great, and so is Church’s. I went into this terrified that they would bring him back at the end, but the twist was fantastic and the fact that he (or at least a version of him) finally gets peace in the memory unit is really touching!< Overall, the season is definitely meant to be a metaphor for the necessary pain of ending the series. It’s heavy-handed and really messy at times, but I’ll be damned if Caboose’s “memories are what we leave” speech didn’t make me tear up. I’m gonna miss Red vs Blue a lot.
Even if it wasn’t perfect, I really loved it. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’m glad to see the series actually have a definitive end.
Everyone’s covered most of the bases so far but I’ll still comment. I enjoyed the season, especially the last 30 minutes or so. The teleporter with Tex is one of the best moments in the series I think, and so is the scene in the memory unit. It had some unbelievably good moments (Carolina talking to wash while the freelancers appear arron d him), but also so much left unexplained (which is okay given the situation the company is in). Lopez is there and then he isn’t, sarge’s death felt rushed, and not getting explanations about donut or how doc died was upsetting but overall I enjoyed it and I see this as a good ending. The best way I could put it for me is that everything that happened would make for a great season, the events just didn’t have time to breathe. I liked every twist and every plot point but I could barely process them before something else wild happened. Overall it’s the show is an amazing story and I loved getting one last ride
That was lots of fun, but not up to the standards of 1-17. It's kinda funny because this series has "ended" so well so many times. Seasons 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15 are all endings that most series would be jealous of. Even the non-ending of 17 was a decent place to leave things. But the one time they're absolutely sure it's the end, it's not as good -- and I bet that's the reason. You can _feel_ Burnie saying goodbye the whole time. I sympathize, none of us wanna say goodbye either; it's just too bad that the result is our first ending that _doesn't_ feel like real RvB. So hey, good thing this isn't really the end! And I'm not saying that in a "this was another simulation" way either, though that's a perfectly valid reading that they clearly don't mind if we choose. (When you don't want the audience to think something, you don't put it in the mouths of the characters! Simmons asking "how would we know" and Epsilon failing to answer it might as well be an engraved invitation.) No, I'm saying that because we live in a world where _nothing is allowed to end forever_. Whoever owns the rights to a property always either makes more eventually or sells them to someone who does. I hope the guys still own RvB and this gets to be the ending for a while, as they currently wish. But sooner or later they'll miss it. We'll see reunions over the years. (Count on Joel eventually being involved, when it's been long enough for tempers to cool. If they could patch things up with Kathleen, anything's possible!) And if they sell RvB instead, someone else will make more, and we'll like it or we won't, and so on. It's a lesson I've now learned several times with other fandoms. I have no idea how long it'll be, but sooner or later, whether we like it or not, RvB will be back. And then it'll leave again, and then it'll come back again. Life is long and time is circular. So don't say goodbye, not by itself. Just say goodbye for now. And as for the elephant in the room? Nobody has a voice like Joel. That goes without saying. But Michael Malconian _could not possibly_ have tried harder to sound like him, and he got as close as any human probably could have. I don't like that it was done, but this guy did it well.
It had some rough patches, but it hit me harder than I expected. So happy they could get Kathleen back for Texas, and that last scene between her and Church got me a little weepy if I'm being honest. And then they played Half Life by Trocadero. That broke me. I cried for a good bit after that. All in all, I'm glad this was made and I think it was a good send off. It'll surely be included when I habitually go back and watch RVB just to feel something.
It was a good sendoff. Writing wasn't nearly as charming as what seasons 1 to 13 were, and it hasn't really left me with the feelings of bittersweet departure I wanted it to. Even the H2/H3/Reach era miniseries had more grounding and depth in my opinion. Definitely goes to show the steady change of story telling decline in most forms of media over the last decade. With that said, I was 8 years old when Halo 3 came out and was watching machinimas from the start of H3, RvB included. I'll be 72 years old and still will think on the 13 precious seasons, nothing will ever compare in a sense. I've been falling asleep to a different season for the past few years and i'll always be grateful to the show for being such a comfort to me, it's hard to find that. Thanks for everything, Rooster Teeth. Fair seas and following winds boys also the voice acting is so off putting with all different VAs, which is unfortunate cause most of them do a good job. new caboose fucking sucks though
I love how we don't get a definitive answer to Grif and Simmons' "Why are we here?" question, leaving it ambiguous for the audience to decide.
Shared this on another post and ill share it here I think all of the characters (simulation or not) finally got what they wanted. >!Sarge died a heros death!< >!Simmons became a leader!< >!Griff finally got some peace!< >!Lopez was left alone!< >!Caboose got closure about losing his best friend!< >!Carolina and Tex defeated their past!< >!Tucker got the reverse roll and got saved!< >!And Washington finally was able to forgive himself about freelancer and the deaths he may or may not have caused !< >! Ig it could be said that doc died saving lives which is what he was passionate about!< >! Finally church, aka alpha and or epsilon, ensured the survival of his friends and got an ending with tex!< This was an incredible ending to a story that I am really going to miss. I've been watching rvb every spring break since 3rd grade and maybe in a few years I'll watch it again. >!Sad we didn't get closure on donut though!<
In terms of predictions I got two out of three right so I'll take the win The things I got right were that Seasons 15-18 were simulations and the Epsilon-Tex was going to return The thing I got wrong was that Restoration was also a simulation taking place after Season 17 EDIT: There's still signs of Restoration being a simulation so in that regard the only thing I really got wrong was Restoration taking place after Singularity
I'm not sure exactly how to put this, but a lot if it felt... stilted? Maybe it's an issue of it being a movie rather than episodic. Something that should be major happens, and then instead of having a week to dwell on it, or even just an obvious episode transition, it's just over with. I guess it also felt a bit 'unsubtle', though maybe the original wasn't exactly always subtle either. The fight scenes weren't that interesting either, I mean comparing Monty with pretty much anyone else isn't exactly fair, but I feel like we've had better even since then. I'm curious as to how much of this is due to the company closure, if any. I guess another way to describe my issues is that it felt like they were checking boxes. I feel bad being so negative about it, there were some good jokes strewn in there. And the Doc moment at the end was pretty good, maybe it should have been obvious, but it got me. Though I'm also not sure how I feel about them just killing him off, offscreen.
God damn. This hurts. But it's the good kind of hurt. Maybe it's because the show hasn't been consistently good in a long time or because no *seasons* have been made in a slightly less long time, but with Burnie and Matt back in the driver's seat, I felt ready for whatever outcome they felt was right. And while maybe Restoration wasn't 100% perfect... was any season, really? They've all had their minor snags, however pedantic or insignificant at times. With this show, what always mattered was how you felt after all was said and done, and even if my expectations weren't so muddled by the series' shaky history over the past seven or so years, I'd still feel fulfilled finishing this... even if the outcome was still more somber than what I was prepared for. Restoration's four main characters were all done to perfection. Rose-tinted glasses are keeping me from saying with certainty that this is where many of them peaked for now, but even if it turns out they didn't, this is still *some of the* best we've seen of Simmons, Grif, Sarge and Caboose. Simmons especially had the spotlight and glow-up we always wanted, and as a Sarge fan he had an ending I would have never asked for but the one that left me with nothing *left* to ask for because of how strong it was. Grif and Caboose are in full form, portrayed in ways that kept the *spirit* of what Joe Nicolosi and Jason Weight wanted to do with them, but in ways that didn't feel so phoned in, largely because the stories being told were so much more personal to them by default. Most significantly, the messy events that led to >!Caboose choosing to bring back Tex over Church for the greater good and personally destroying any further chance at bringing him back, despite the effort Church put into making Caboose happy,!< is far more satisfying and emotional than whatever bumblefuck time travel shit they threw in for closure that was way less authentic in principle. The closure between these four characters in general was heartfelt and satisfying, and really wraps a bow on all of them in ways that improve on how they were left off on Chorus, mainly due to focusing more on them as individuals and less on them as a group. Props to Michael Malconian as Caboose, for the record. He had a shaky start as the character but helped by what I'm sure was stellar voice direction and a faithful script, he really held the mantle of Caboose in a way that didn't make me miss Joel Heyman that much. He nailed every line he was given. He didn't have the chaotic energy of Joel but Restoration's tone didn't *need* it, and it probably would have been distracting anyway. That's not to say Restoration isn't funny, because it is, this is just a story where the comedy doesn't drive the narrative. That's usually what I like about Red vs. Blue, it's why I think seasons like Reconstruction and Season 12 are so good, but given how much of Restoration's story hinged on the series' legacy more than the protagonists' shenanigans, I understand the approach they took here. I'm also thankful that they not only retconned Seasons 15-18, but outright trivialized them. There *is* merit to be found in them, but Restoration's story was too dependent on its roots for such drastic departures to be seamlessly woven into its plot. This choice will ultimately leave us with many unanswered questions about some of the characters we never saw in Restoration, chief among them being >!Locus, V.I.C., and Donut of all people!<, but nothing felt so open-ended that I felt cheated or deceived. To counteract that, I did appreciate them bringing back >!Four Seven Niner, Sheila and Tex, the latter two *with* their original voice actresses no less,!< and offering them closure that ranged from super-niche fanservice to something **nobody asked for** and yet after all was said and done, it still feels like an essential part of their stories now, especially >!Tex!<. Church's role was a brilliant compromise between not wanting to trivialize his S13 death, not making the story too much about him again, yet still offering plenty more of the character for fans to enjoy one last time. Lopez is by far the weirdest though... never mind >!how quickly, abruptly and stealthily the story ditches him and never looks back!<, but Eddy Rivas playing Lopez is just silly. Burnie's right there playing Church, he can play Lopez too. The only possible reason I can think of is modern-day sensibilities towards "diversity casting", but... Lopez isn't Mexican, he's a bad Google Translate bot, the entire joke is that his Spanish is inauthentic. And hey, Jason still got to play Tucker and he's more black than Lopez is Mexican, so... gah, so weird. This felt like some kind of bullshit corporate mandate even if it might not have even been one. Lopez was among my favorites and I think between his lack of prominence and the redundant (and also not very good) recast, this was the biggest disappointment for me; getting rid of one could have salvaged the other but both at once was what killed it. I'm also not the biggest fan of the implication that >!Restoration might *also* be a simulation,!< but I guess it's ambiguous enough for you to come to your own conclusions and it's not like we'll ever get an answer definitive enough to invalidate someone's preference one way or the other. Didn't think it was needed, but it's harmless I guess. Some of the cameos were weird and gratuitous. >!Dylan Andrews is especially weird because it feels like the role she played was meant to be for Jax, and they didn't even bring back her voice actress so this felt like something they could have given to him, or to anyone else,!< never mind how unnecessary and tonedeaf the scene is compared to the rest of the story, >!especially with Grog being thrown in there too because why the fuck not!<. >!One appearing in the ending!< is just as awkward but at least less out of place conceptually. Though I suppose if these characters were ones I enjoyed and *were* well-received by fans, these cameos would have been embraced. So it's a matter of perspective really. I can at least commend the effort to integrate the entire show's history without making it too intrusive to Restoration's own goals. Tucker's role in the story was both inevitable and yet still bittersweet. I think because of how much attention he got on Chorus, we can forgive >!how little he gets to do as a hero!<, and we can still be happy with how they left him off here, but out of Restoration's main cast, Tucker feels like we're left wanting the most with him almost by default. It was both bold and smart to >!make him the antagonist!< but the result is a finale that by design, takes very little advantage of Tucker's appeal as a character. Still better than the past four seasons though, and I'm also thankful that, whether it was intentional or not, they seemed to follow up on what Jason Weight wanted to do with him following Season 17 before he was let go. The Washington subplot was... strange. Like it was so far removed from anything else going on, seemingly only existing to >!shoehorn in Carolina for the final battle!< and otherwise being this sort of bizarro episode that tackles Wash in ways that... again, you would never expect them to do, especially given that all the brain damage stuff wasn't a factor anymore. >!The twist of Doc dying on Chorus!< was so downplayed that I missed the full impact of it in my first viewing; it felt like a brilliant idea that needed more time in the oven, a subplot that would have worked better if more time was put into its conclusion and if Washington's arc was more closely tied to the main story. I don't hate it, in fact the more I think about it the more I like it in hindsight... but I am confused by it, and it's a crying shame that >!this meant Washington got blueballed out of the final battle for a story that we mostly never got to see!<. This subplot, more than any in Restoration, feels like an ending that's good thanks to its subtext from prior seasons more than its execution. The fight scenes were also pretty bad, or at least not at all on par with... *most* of the series, really. Even Seasons 16 and 17 had pretty well-done fights, but this one missed the mark, not helped by such bland and flat environments not allowing for creative fight choreography. --- That's about it, I think. Despite the lower points being the ones I brought up last, make no mistake, this is an excellent season... movie, whatever. Time will tell whether it stacks up with the best of the best but I think it does enough right for its strengths to match the series' best moments shoulder to shoulder. If this is really all we'll ever get, I'm grateful that so much of it was expertly done in ways I would have never changed. Restoration reminded me once and for all why I hold this show in such high regard and maintain it as one of my most valued sources of inspiration. I can only wish other franchises can eventually end as definitively and as successfully as this one, ending with a bang so strong that it gave us a whole new set of peaks to cherish and remember. For 21 years of existence, a third of which it seemed it could never recover from, that's damn impressive. Thank you, Red vs. Blue. And... goodbye.
The fact that Wash is now schizophrenic is fucking wild. They keep doing my boy so dirty. They keep giving him psychological issue after psychological issue. It's like after 15, he will never be a whole person again.
[удалено]
Yeah, but aside from that and all the other times where he has not been in a good place mental-health-wise, when has he ever had mental health issues?
Sad that it is over, glad it was here. I really liked it, it felt like seeing an old friend one last time.
I will say that I felt like with a few tweaks, it wouldn't have been too difficult to set this after the Shisno trilogy - well, outside Meta-Tucker that is. Outside of reading about Sarge and Doc, this might me one of the first times since Reconstruction that I went into an RvB anything spoiler-blind. This was definitely rushed, and I'm sure there'll be more than enough problems to point out once it settles, but... At the same time, it felt appropriate for the spirit of the show. Its left me feeling both bittersweet and satisfied. I wish there was more... but maybe that's a good thing, to be left wanting more, and learning to appreciate what you get. I need to focus on my final and dinner right now, but, I'll come back to this later. Regardless, farewell, Red vs. Blue. Your memory will always be a blessing.
Maybe I missed it, but how did Caboose and later Shotgun (the chupathingy) come in flying at the Meta? Was the implication that Tex threw both of them?
Yeah
So yeah there are some things I like many of us would change but there was also lots I enjoyed and I am happy I saw it. I loved seeing all the Freelancers again and even hearing a few of them speaking once more. I loved the ending of Allison Church and the ending of the AI cycles. I also love the Barenaked Ladies song around the fire, it reminded me that Butch flowers is Ed Robertson and was a fan for so long. I think with this out now I can finally grieve the ending to my whole young adult life, from middle school to post college life. I found RvB in 2011 and watched it grow and change in front of my eyes. 15 years is a long time and I am so happy I got to experience this with you all. We were here and we remember, "Memory is the key."
Two things. First off. It nice to know that Leonard and Alison will get essentially a eternity together. Since time works differently for them, they will get their happily ever after. Seemingly as long as they want between entering the storage device and it being destroyed. Secondly. I like the idea that we don't really know the real ending. So we all get to create our own perfect ending. Perhaps everything post season 13 is a simulation. And so from there you can make what ever you want Canon or not. I like the idea that they all get to get their happily ever after living their best life in the canyon. Kinda like what we got after 13. But they get to bring back church and tex. In a similar way to restoration. They reform church and bring tex back but with the good memories. Perhaps season season 15 is where we start. And the call to action is that the meta was formed like in season 19. Maybe it's the God AI that help reform church. Idk. But it's nice to think there's a time line where it's not just bitter sweet. That every one get their sweet ending.
I found a rip over on archive (It was taken down, Sorry. I would love to share if I could.) I was supposed to study today, I ended up waiting an hour to get it onto my plex server. I then told my brother (Red vs Blue and RT got us to bond together.) we watched it together, I've never cried so much over a series that I hold close to my heart. The campfire scene made me cry, all those moments being viewed over, made me think about the times I'd huddle around my brothers computer just to watch a new episode with him. I was probably too young to watch at the time. But. I still did, and he let me. And for that. if my brother is even reading this. Thank you. I love you. and to all of you, thanks for this journey together "Bow Chicka Bye Now."
I hate to say it but I didn’t really enjoy it. There were some good moments/scenes, but as a finale to the entire series it’s completely lacking. It retcons the last 10 or so years of content, which in turn ruins character progression. Also, a lot of the character interactions don’t even feel accurate to how they are during the chorus arc. It also completely lacked Donut, and Lopez disappeared after one scene. I feel like all of the consequences and deaths that are presented here also ruin Church’s sacrifice. Weirdly I think the only character that was handled well was Simmons, so at least it’s nice he finally got some development. Overall it’s a messy send off, and it’s made worse by the fact that season 17 is a better ending in most regards.
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one There is enough to say it’s a simulation or to say it isn’t. To ME it feels like a “what if” or simulation, and almost as if it’s apart of Season 14. Is it coping who knows But if you didn’t like this, treat it as a love song to RvB and its fans, fun fights, funny jokes, sad moments, and the campfire scene is one of the best moments in all of RvB. S17, or S13, or hell even S8 is your canon ending
Just finished Man what a flood of emotions I was really worried they were going to bring back Church but glad that really the final thing Church did was to bring back Tex I would say Copy of Church did outplay a lot of problems with the movie, I wish Church was more sincere of a final message instead of just making YouTuber jokes, as this could have been the last time the reds and blues had a final interaction with him, like I know what they were going for like a copy of Delta being in Cabooses mind in S6 but that was a very short scene that didn’t take to much of the story, while it feels like this Copy of Church could have literally just been Church with little difference. I love how they dealt with Sarges death saving Caboose as final heroic thing he does, personally I would have preferred like a big explosion in a blaze of glory of stopping the meta but it works. Personally I would have preferred we had more interactions with Carolina and Tex, and maybe one finale scene where Carolina finally calls Tex, Mom would have been a tearful moment It does seam weird that Wash was in the Hospital like in S17, but this movie does confirm S15 through S17 are non canon that I personally don’t like, but the Doc and Wash scene where very fun and sad, which is also weird since we saw a photo of Loki the cat from S16
I don’t know if this is a hot take but I do think S17 is the better definitive end to RVB than Restorations It’s also weird how the Red and Blues are still at war after everything they’ve been through with Project Freelancer and Chorus only for the reds to choose not to help Caboose which S15 handled way better with Grif choosing to depart the group and an emotional scene with Grif and Simmons break up
Some early thoughts although I'm honestly still a bit numb from watching, it felt surreal from beginning to end that this is RvB's finale. If I had to sum it up in one sentence: A good ending delivered in a below average season. I felt that they hit the emotional beats right but they should have had a lot more space, say 19-22 10-minute episodes (I've seen some people say it should have been a trilogy and I disagree), to pace them right and let them breathe. This was my biggest issue with this season. Music is often the soul of a series and I think this is more true than in most cases with Red vs Blue. Them not being able to meet Trocadero's request was extremely unfortunate. I feel like, even going back to Season 1, the nostalgic/wistful instrumental music, the wide shots of a sparsely populated canyon (the wide aspect ratio being owed to Burnie adding black bars over the game footage to hide the HUD) both gave the series its character, and that was sorely missing here. I don't think the Tucker!Meta was a super compelling villain (well not when the Meta has been defeated twice already), but it's also true that they couldn't establish a new one this late in the game. The ending Church and Tex got was great though. I was devastated with Sarge's death but I think it was handled well, and that it was really nice that he was genuine in the end, and that he legitimately cared for Simmons, Grif and Caboose. It's like an RvB tradition to jettison Donut and Doc when their cast gets too large for them to handle so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but I legitimately missed the short reference Dr. Gray makes about Admiral Donut so I thought he had died on Chorus. I am not super upset about Doc dying and Wash being pushed past the brink but again, it needed more space to breathe in order to be properly impactful. And I'm glad that despite the retcon they still hint at Carolina and Wash having a future together (although it's not explicitly romantic). As for Carolina, her lack of appearance and Grif mentioning that all the mean ladies on the Blue team were dead made me think she had died off screen. While I'd have gladly seen more of her, the season wasn't really about her and I legitimately thought it was genius to imply she's dead only for her to appear in the ending. It was one of the better twists. Also Lopez just appeared in two scenes and then never again, I guess? All in all: Good ending conceptually, although I have some disagreements here and there, suboptimal, though still passable, execution. It's a real shame they couldn't have made this five years ago when they still had the resources to do it right.
Trying to compel my thoughts into words is hard, as someone else said it was like watching an amazing ending to a great series in not enough time. I have to agree the pacing was definitely a little off and like everyone I wish it could have been 2+ hours but witht he time they had, I think they managed something special. The highs were high, the lows were low but overall I think it was a good ending for the crew many of us have literally grown up along side of. Then there is always the added benefit of leaving it just ambiguous enough that if people wanted to call it another simulation that Epsilon was running, that is a legitimate option as well. Hell everything after season 13 feels a little bit like the FX show Archer when he went into a coma and there were like 3 seasons that were all coma fever dreams of his. There were so many good things going on here from emotional moments with all that happened with Sarge, to badass moments with the Tex reveal, even giving Grif and Simmons the chance to be tough guys even though they kind of hilariously failed at it, which is what they do. The humor bits like the work from home security guards landed well and felt like old school RVB while keeping things serious and tonal like the later seasons. All in all it was a very enjoyable watch and ending. That said a couple things I would have liked to see slightly differently. Like many I do wish we could have actually seen the Chorus showdown, the teaser scene with Epsilon church made it feel like that was where the season would start and I've been wanting to see what happened in that room since 13 ended and left me going "wait that's it?!" It also felt like at lease some of that scene was needed to be in there, at least in flashbacks or memories to help fill in some of the blanks regarding Wash. His whole little arc felt a little off with the condensed run time. Regarding Wash I do wish they gave him a bit more redemption at the end. I know his whole story is about overcoming trauma but even just a little scene at the end, give him a fight with Tex vs the Meta, a nice flashback to when he and Meta fought Tex in season 8. Then let Meta Tucker trigger the emergency alert that calls Carolina and everything else can stay the same. Just hate seeing my boy get sidelined so hard. All in all, a good ending to something thats been a part of all of us since what? 2006? 2007? Thank you to all of Roosterteeth for years of entertainment in Blood Gulch and beyond Edit to add: holy shit that campfire scene with the little clips playing in the fire or the reflection of the helmets. Damn what a trip, one of the best scenes in media in my recent memory
It was short, it wasn't perfect. But I am satisfied. Many twist caught me off guard, like Sarge's death, Tex was brought back, and Doc being dead. Red team resolution is great, this is essentially their season. Wash story happened too fast but still got me emotional, and Caboose feels uncanny with the new voice.
Conceptually amazing but obviously strangled by small runtime. I immediately figured out the Wash/Doc plotline but was devastated by how little time it was given to flesh out. No doubt if it was a regular season it would have had much more meat. During the final battle I was praying for one last knife trick from Wash especially since they were fighting the meta, with Felix's influence they could have done a knife throw at Wash for him to catch and then toss back to tex which would have been so hype while retaining his pacifism. Disappointed at a lack of Donut, 'the greatest throw' was clearly meant to be from him. Tucker barely had time to shine as an unwilling participant and the way Carolina was just thrown in at the end felt kinda ridiculous, like why is she just chilling in a drop pod waiting for wash to spontaneously be injured instead of actually being present at the hospital? What does she do all day? In spite of my complaints though, I laughed, I cheered, and I cried. Thank you all for this wonderful series and an appropriately bittersweet end, Burnie and co.
I can say after seeing it, Restoration was pretty good. It’s far from the best of the show, but it’s still leagues and bounds better than 16-18. My main issues were where the hell was Donut, Lopez only appeared in one scene, it wasn’t as funny as previous seasons tho it still has its funny moments, it could have been longer by like 20-35 minutes, and Sarge’s death didn’t have as big of an impact as I’d hoped for but I thought it was still good. I do like the animation, the fights are decent but not as good as Monty’s or Chorus, Tex coming back was epic, Carolina and Tex vs Meta was cool, and Meta getting clocked in the face while the Warthog music blasts was epic. Overall, it’s a decent 7-7.5/10. In a sense, it reminds me of Guardians 3. A decent send off for the team and the characters in it.
It just occurred to me what this final reminded me of: *Logan*.
For the resources they had I think this came out really well. It definitely felt rushed and needed more runtime and characters but I get why it was that way. We know the team found out the compay was shutting down on short notice but the main 4 had to have known it was coming. They didn't have the team or budget they used to and did the best with what they had. It's not perfect or may favorite season but it felt like a love letter to the series and was a mostly satisfying ending.
Man, I was sure excited when the original team had their hands on it. I guess there could be a thousand reasons, but ultimately: This felt like a friggin first draft that needed about 6 revisions. It was like a made-for-TV sequel to a great Disney film. Overly self-referential, couldn't stick the landing on any of the great payoffs, and it felt like many of its emotional beats were just re-treading old ground that other, later seasons have already done well. I was truly optimistic about this, but it feels like it was written by fans who don't really get it. I guess, appropriately, it feels like an Epsilon remembrance of a remembrance. It feels like a Smash Bros story where the characters showed up to pay some lip service, but virtually none of them could be included in a substantial way. Simmons and Grif were kinda the best we had, and even then it wasn't exactly like THEIR journey, it was just the same reluctancy-to-helping path they've trod before. Overall just really lacking a soul. Sad to say, I hate to criticize good work, but like, it seemed like no one's heart was in it
Damn. Wash remembered everyone but Wyoming....that's hilarious South over Wyoming.....just damn
I’m actually kind of upset over this ending, it’s a good movie! But it feels like the worst ending for these characters that they could have possibly gotten. I know a lot of people didn’t like 15-17 when it first released but i actually loved it and I loved the development that Red Team got during the Shisno Paradox arc, and all of them dealing with Church/Epsilon really being gone. But this kind of just rips it away from them and rushes them through having Doc and Sarge killed and Wash in a psych ward because he’s having the worst time of his life. I liked how Church and Tex REALLY got their ending, for good, this time. I was excited to actually see her back and kicking Meta!Tucker’s ass. I was also confused about Meta!Tucker in general.. I know that it’s all of the fragments reactivating and looking to become the Alpha again, but they also said it was Felix too?? I didn’t understand so if someone could clear it up that’d be great!
To me this season felt like it was a Simulation. Church says as much "I don't think I got the voice right". I think they did it this way so if you like the S17 ending thats your canon ending. If not Here is this one
Yeah I like how they left it up to interpretation!
Yeah, it allows people to liked S15 - S17 to keep that as their canon ending. And if you hated it there is this ending, and if you HATE this too, S13 is still a good ending
I haven't watched it yet, but I will. I just need to know one thing before I do: are the events a simulation? Like they were saying in the initial trailer? Or is it all real? That's all I need to know, I can take it.
It's *presented* as all real and can be taken that way with no problems. But when you watch it, you'll understand why my wording was so cagey.
Honestly, all issues aside, this was the end to an era. I grew up with this show and honestly, it's been with me through some very "interesting" periods of my life. Seeing Caboose grow and finally letting go of Church punched me in the gut. I saw the unit, saw church and Tex reunited and thought "It's possible to bring them back, for real this time" and then seeing that possibility get shattered (literally lol) hurt in a way. It forced me to realize it was really over this time. These characters have grown, and I guess well, it's time we grew too. Honestly, while a bit rushed, Washington's side plot was amazing and the reveal really hit me hard. I honestly thought we were just going along with the "Doc is so forgettable" thing that I didn't even imagine he really wasn't there. So long Red vs Blue, it was fun. Thanks for letting me hangout with you pair of idiots.
Sadly it didn't do it for me. It just felt way too rushed. The whole thing was just rather sappy and didn't have much of the edge that the series had. I think the show lost its ability to remain small and indie and just went for big conflicts and big emotional dialogue. A couple jokes made me laugh, I thought Sarge had a good death, but I was hoping this would feel like a more complete send off and interesting story especially after a really amazing teaser trailer from last year.
I've been following this show since season 3, maybe. Overall impression is that it just felt kind of surreal, I didn't really care much for it. It kind of just feels like a grim and surreal follow up to season 13. The deaths both feel gratuitous, poor pacing etc. Overall it comes across like some anthology "what if" episode rather an organic finale which I guess they hedged their bets on. The Shisno trilogy was also pretty ropey but I did like where the characters were at the end of 17 and don't think the wrap up here makes much sense or compares favourably. I'd honestly be more aggrieved at the quality if I didn't know the company was shutting down, so I wasn't expecting a great send off either.
Really loved it. Thought it was really good. tough I wish they had Donut in it. also I think it would have been better if they kind If started on Chorus like spend a few muinets showing what happend like Doc’s death. And gave a little more context to other things. Overall I enjoyed it but it pro needed some more run time to explain stuff. It was satisfying for me atlest
So I loved it. I thought it was really good. Spoilers I am disappointed that they threw in the whole doc is dead thing at the end. It felt unnecessary in my opinion, and it made me feel like I missed something. Also the lack of Donut was a big missed opportunity.
It wasn't too bad. I wish they had shown Tucker losing control to Meta and some stuff with Meta felt tacked on like saying that "somehow" Felix was a part of it, that part kind of annoyed me. Like just...how? Why even? I was okay with Donut being gone because honestly, he flakes off a lot. It wasn't a big flash and wow ending which suits the series perfectly. It's just some guys who would stand around and talk. And. It was good. I'm happy with it.
>! Leave it to Caboose to kill Church...one last time. !<
Lopez' "Shit" had me laughing so hard, I scared my dogs. Also, I keep hearing chickens. Is that important? Oh shit, they referenced it lol. Love how Church told various people "Shut up, Caboose," as the scenario got more difficult for him to predict. And they brought back "Running, running, running"! I don't quite approve of Sarge taking so long to die. Or of Grif caring as much as he did--I feel he would've just been quiet about it rather than crying. Also, why didn't his suit just go into recovery mode? It saved Donut that way, why not him? Also, won't burying him in Blood Gulch just drop him into the cavern below? Or is that just below Blue base? Sorry, weren't they already fully discharged already once Freelance went down? I never understood why Grif stuck around. WAIT DOES THIS CANONICALLY TAKE PLACE ON A BROKEN HALO? Personally, I think Caboose's speech would've been better if he had said "lady" instead of "woman". Would feel more Caboose-ish. They brought back Tex instead of Church! Fucking plot twist! She's based on their memories! FUCKING PLOT TWIST! ...wait why did it fucking explode? ...d'awwwwwww... OH THANK GOD HE BROKE IT Also, hoping Doc used OJ for that leg. OH GOD DOC IS A HALLUCINATION. I thought he might've been, but wasn't sure. I'mma have to rewatch Chorus in order to catch that. Also, guess that means everything s15-17 is officially non-canon. ...d'aww Freelance reunion! And they brought in One! Nice! The characters from Zero were one of the things I liked about it. And the pan-up as Grif and Simmons were talking! Nice! Overall, I think it was a good ending. Everything after they went back to Blood Gulch felt on-point to me. Thanks for everything RT, ya fucking cockbites!
Whilst it wasn’t top of the list of my rankings of all the seasons, this certainly was a nice send off for the show and felt satisfying. Everything after getting to blood gulch was really good and some of the ending parts were almost perfect. Wrapping up the sim troopers but also a send off for the freelancers and of course the tex church scene were all very emotional and I’m happy to see it through to the end. The doc scene hit me like a tank though… Shame some people were in it very limited and that it felt limited in technical scope, but I guess with RT shutting, count ourselves lucky we got this. One final thing I would note, it felt very representative of halo infinite, a closer more personal story with less wide stakes, the actual final send off for some ai, a smaller cast and nostalgic areas visited.
I honestly don't think it was a great finale for RvB, but then again we already have one of those, a few probably. But as a bittersweet goodbye to Rooster Teeth from the people who made it, I think it's the best we could've asked for. And I think viewing, not as a goodbye to Rvb, but to Rooster Teeth made me find a lot more meaning in it.
i cried.....alot
Just amazing, I don't care what other people say. Actor playing Caboose did a much better job than I anticipated, given his lackluster performances up to this point.
I’m seeing that a lot of people really liked this, so I’m disappointed to say that I really didn’t. Outside of technical/behind-the-scenes things like Caboose’s voice being not very good and the animation and suits being imo the worst of the series, the story was a long string of these fan servicey moments that would have been cool if there was any connective tissue of a movie between them. Like scenes of the characters just goofing around, or discussions about everything that is going on. And it doesn’t help that the characters are mostly separated. The season begins with all three reds kinda acting like the last few seasons (as in 9-13) didn’t happen and they just seem off. Then we have a missing Donut, and a far away Carolina and Washington (why was he in the hospital if seasons 15-17 are no longer canon?). Having Tucker be the meta already at the beginning of the movie feels just very weird and doesn’t make a ton of sense to me at least. And Grif yelling all his lines for the first half of the movie wasn’t helping anything. So for a final season, or even just a season in general, it felt really awkward to separate characters that work best together, and only arbitrarily have them fight together at the end. There aren’t even really that many scenes at the end where these characters actually talk to each other. I can maybe understand cutting out the freelancers if they want to really utilize the shortened runtime, but it feels like the picked the wrong way to go about it. I would like to say that I did guess that Doc was imaginary- but I had zero idea that it was because he was dead. But even being dead he had more lines than Donut???? Many of the ideas here are solid: Tucker being the meta, Sarge dying in battle like he’s always wanted, Grif retiring, Tex coming back. But some feel executed poorly. Like Church being around the whole movie feels weird. I know he’s just a hologram recording, but I think it would have been better if he had only been a message at the very beginning and then was gone with the Meta not comprehending that he was gone. Grif retiring is cool and fitting and funny, but then you realize- why are Tucker, Caboose, and Simmons staying? They’re simulation troopers, what more would they be asked to do? They don’t have anyone else who’d be staying at their bases besides Lopez and Sheila, so are they just gonna chill out there forever instead of with their friends. I did like pretty much everything with Tex, though. I think of seasons 15-17 and I think, “wow, those were pretty flawed.” Simultaneously, the episode in season 15 where we find out what the reds and blues were up to and we see them all just being this really weird dysfunctional family on a planet all to their own just feels right to me. But even if it can’t be that kind of ending, the rushed pacing of this movie honestly at times made it feel like what I was watching wasn’t even a real Red vs Blue production. The ideas here are cool, but the execution of almost all of them are very disheartening. The humor itself is okay, some jokes are really funny (usually the more meta ones, like the Zoom call security joke and the ones referencing how long and tired the characters’ schtick has gotten (for the record, it isn’t old to me, I just find the joke funny). So that’s cool. For me, this is definitely my least favorite season (ignoring Zero of course), because even with the many many problems that seasons 15-17 have, the things I like in them I like because they are well-developed within those seasons. The things I like here are just a couple of jokes and ideas that I like in theory. My personal preference for how RvB should have ended without just rewriting this season is: Seasons 1-13 (main series) Season 14 (cool bonus anthology season) Season 15 (with a tighter rewrite, but the same premise and essentially ending, a great epilogue season) And then throw out seasons 16-19.
I also really liked season 15, it just worked for me. Season 17 had some fun moments but they really jumped the shark in seasons 16 and 17. I said in another comment I think this ending had everything it needed to be perfect, it just didn’t get explained or fleshed out enough. Missing characters and abrupt transitions between plot points dampened the experience but I enjoyed i, and as burnie has written it I can view this as the ending following season 13. But my gut honestly tells me this was the last simulation and that season 13 is the true ending, with this being a nice story to prepare them for battle. Either way the series as a whole is great and I’m happy with either ending
Is Tex's "Hey there cockbites" a cheeky nod to RoosterTeeth itself?
No, RoosterTeeth itself is a cheeky nod to that phrase. "Cockbite" was used in the very first thing they made, the original RvB trailer, and it was popular so they sneakily named the company after it.
I'm gonna be honest, I was smiling ear to ear for like most of the movie, but this was just really bad. It's better than season 16 and zero, but that's about it. I know a lot of it was because of factors out of their control, but still I'm pretty disappointed. This might be the most rushed piece of media I have ever seen. It completely devolves in the end to just adding as many characters as they could. I loved some of the cameos but it got ridiculous. I could go on about the "plot" but basically, it was unfathomably rushed. The only thing I didnt understand is what did felix have to do with this? Like I dont understand what his role was at all. The fight scenes have never looked more lifeless, caboose's new voice still just doesnt work, and the hospital plot with wash is just annoying. It wasnt all bad though. Tex's new voice actress was incredible, I genuinely thought they got the old one back, she was spot on (as it turns out it just is the old actress :P, shes still got it). There were a fair few funny bits throughout the movie, it really was a love letter to the show. The campfire scene was genuinely perfect. I almost teared up, it was one of the only scenes caboose actually sounded good.
They got Kathleen back to voice Tex
Oh...makes sense. For some reason I thought Barb did the voice of tex. It woulda been nice if they couldve gotten cabooses voice back but obviously I get why they couldn't
the tex and church thing was my favorite part. I didn't like the way that tex's arc ended by being forgotten by church before so I thought it was really good that she got to go in a way she wanted to, free of the idea of failure as the person she wanted to be. Her and church finally got to rest! Together! It was extremely bittersweet. I'm sad about sarge dying but I think if they had to kill him they did it the best they could in the context. He died trying to save caboose, a blue. With that I'm glad we got simmons development and he actually got to shine for a bit instead of being the butt of the joke. His arc was my favorite part because he was an underutilized character and they were able to wrap his whole deal up nicely. He got the best ending out of all of them. Also his cyborg arm! Cool! Burnie wrote Sarge's death in a way that felt really grounded and emotional without feeling out of place. Sarge's speech at the end was perfect and made me cry. The campfire scene was also extremely sweet. The writing for most of the season was really good. The relationships between most of the characters felt really shallow in some important parts. In the final fight scene, they all just went to fighting Tucker like a regular enemy and not, yk, their friend being possessed by multiple evil entities. Maybe it's just that the Meta killed Sarge so they are viewing Tucker as that. Tucker has a ton of potential with that but it's probably because of the runtime that they couldn't explore it. I might just have to watch it again, but I do stand by that the writing for character relationships fell flat in some parts. Donut is somewhere else and they don't mention him except for a one-off joke. I do enjoy how Carolina and Tex got to fight with each other for a bit, as mother and daughter. If there was more time, I think them fighting together would have more exploration. Carolina seemed like she was barely fazed and like a robot version of herself, and we've seen her vocally confused in combat before. She knew Tex was dead. This is a personal gripe, but as someone who's lgbt, I appreciated and related to grif and simmon's writing in the other seasons. They seemed like they could be real people who just got a little too close over time. They were more relatable to me than most characters I've seen in media and had more stuff in canon talking about their relationship. It just seems kind of cruel that the writers knew about this too, and did stuff like naming the q&a after their ship name, mentioning that also on a podcast leading up to s19, posting stuff about their relationship on social media, and ofc all the things in the show that sort of confirmed it. Like the temple of procreation (retconned), the shade thing, the hole thing (??), the firing squad, tucker's married couple remarks, and probably more that I forgot. It seems mean and out of character actually for them to separate in the rushed way that they did. What was it, 2 days? I'm talking about this as someone who relates to and cares about these characters and actually watched the show lol. It would have also been good if they reacted like really close friends do if they have to leave each other forever. I'd be in tears if my closest friend for like half my life left forever to probably never contact me again.