The season finale gave a faux reset, but actually set the tension between the family members moving and each character had development. They started having some agency when in previous seasons almost everything was put into motion by Rick. Then the season finale came, which basically was all about how badass Rick was. Apparently Dan Harmon contributed more than usual to the last episode so I'm gonna blame it on him for he doesn't know his son.

It's because of the sauce

I ended up not seeing the end of series three for a while due to travelling and when I got back I realised I had only actually missed one episode. It definitely left me with a big "that's it?" feeling.

I think this is definitely disappointing to me as the end of season 3 was disappointing to me. It's not a good thing to end the whole series with.

I honestly don't know very much about the simpsons, I was mostly referring to the fact it had a very nice little narrative to it

I read the Zombie Simpsons book but I do feel like it could have gone more into the basic storytelling problems. The best bits were a bit circumstantial, like how much staff they bled or how the show became more cartoony (like pointless chases and so on).

I must agree with Devtesla - the conclusions about Lisa are mostly spot on, but the diagnosis on the whole about the Simpson's decline is mistaken. Actually it could have been a better piece if it was all about Lisa as now the first part seems abandoned in the end.

As an example where the essay falters is seeing one of the episodes this piece mentions (by quoting it) as something absurd and as a vehicle for jokes is Selma's Choice. However, it actually has a very clear three act structure:

1. (The Proposal) Marge's mother dies and her family and Patti and Selma meet at her funeral. Mother has left behind a video tape about her deathbed regret of remaining single and tells in it for her daughters avoid her fate. This gets Selma nervous. (Proposal: life without family/lover is unfulfilling.)
2. (The Argument) Selma begins dating but doesn't succeed at all. Men are garbage. Selma also visits a theme park with Lisa and Bart and it all ends with chaos.
3. (The Conclusion) Selma has a speech in which she concludes that the company of her iguana is plenty enough for her and that not everyone has to have the family or love life like others. She rejects the proposal of her mother. And I'd say this is presented as a positive thing.

Thus the episode is hardly random and in fact the first act is laid down with care, length and clarity to set up the whole thing in motion. You don't even have to know about The Simpsons to get it! "I am the Lizard Queen" is funny in part because it's basically pointing at how terribly Selma fares with kids.

I mean it's way too long but yea it's good.

I also don't think it's identifying the change between the golden age and newer simpsons correctly, it's not the addition of catharsis and feeling (lots of older episodes have a point) it's the addition of more rigid structures and actions scenes and drama. Dead Homer Soceity covers it better.

They're spot on about Lisa, though.

what a well written essay

I feel like we had better discussions in the fandom in the early days because with a weekly schedule there was time for reacting and anticipation at the same time. So reactions had a direction to go towards and any fan theories already had an excuse which to hook readers with. Now it seems like 98% of the time only fan art makes it in the fandom and there's only so many ways Peridot can smooch Amethyst, right?

I think the bomb format roughly exists because times are difficult in broadcasting and the company needs to have something to make kids excited so boom they have events they can advertise. And the Teen Titans Go! stuff is partly because the parent company owns DC and they need to manufacture the future film audiences.

y'know that is a good point, knowing up front is a sight better than the just... random nonsense they've been doing. I just really miss being able to watch an episode and then spend a week discussing it, that pace really worked for me, but I get that with such a heavily serialized show they want to lean toward the bomb format

The answer is... have you considered blankets?

Personally speaking, what I like about this affair is that I know what's coming. Three bombs? Three bombs. No need to go to checkout /r/StevenUniverse every three weeks. The relief does, I think, makes up somewhat for the bomb format. Like previously we never had any inkling what might be coming up until like two or three weeks in advance, if someone leaked some info or if Brazil or France broadcasts or mobile app streams an episode before CN in US? Like hell yes I now know what we're in for.

can they please... please just give me a normal airing schedule... my children are dying

i need to wrench myself out of my current obsession before I'll have room in my heart for more pidge & friends, but Soon™️

SPOILERS:

Still annoyed they're still dangling along the "something's up with Shiro" thread instead of doing anything with it though. Also still annoyed that Keith still has almost no interaction with anyone else any more.

Oh my god pearl does look like an onion

THE GIRL IN THE BIG FRUMPY TRENCHCOAT IS MY DAUGHTER NOW

Those are some pretty good character designs imo

I will admit I'm enjoying how much harder this show is willing/allowed to go than most cartoons. Folks straight up die! They talk about kickin trolls in the nards! It's a fun change of pace.

This is such a good post toasthaste! Applause to my comoderator, folks!

Especially what you said about Adventure Time. It's pretty weird in a way that it got so much mainstream media and critical attention back in, like, season four as it has come such a long way since then. I wonder where the fandom went too - honestly that might be about some changes in media habits, AT isn't on Netflix. The viewership per episode is under a million nowadays, down from about 3M at top.

The fandom backlash is way older than Gem Harvest, like House Guest and Keep Beach City Weird in Oct. 2014, which were both before Jailbreak (with its Garnet vs. Jasper fight) that really helped the fandom grow. Say Uncle, Bismuth, Chille Tid, some Sadie and Lars episode I've forgotten the name of and some shipping dispute between Amethyst-Peridot-Lapis that really made some fans pissed off and Alone at Sea too.

I think the scheduling is what is actually annoying lots of fans more than anything else. There was a dip in production quality too at some point which some eagle eyed fans apparently think was down to some specific production studio in Korea since it was noticeable only in some episodes.

I actually think that the growth of /r/StevenUniverse has something to do with fandom behavior. It's probably no secret that Tumblr and Reddit fandoms of the show are symbiotic with each other, it brings a large audience for Tumblr generated content and the communities overlap. Reddit holds grudges forever on a lot of topics; on a many of superficial ones they've been relentless to the degree that people like me who care less for the complaints must have unsubscribed.

ty!

honestly Motorcity is such an "eat the rich" cartoon I'm surprised it hasn't become more of a cult classic in leftist circles! To be fair, a lot of its episode plots aren't very original. But it's still a really good time, and I'm not even into cars!

This is a good toast post

No yeah I seen this stuff on the Tungle and it's very silly. I do think the human zoo arc(and even the non-plot eps around then) were kinda eh. And the "steven's racist uncle" episode definitely rubbed me the wrong way, but part of that was just the very unfortunate timing (mid november 2016). And I worried that might have meant the show was going downhill permanently, but its picked up since then in a major way. The last couple eps especially have been super super good, I defo recommend picking it back up. Like yeah it is not a perfect radical screed, it is a nice cartoon for children and tweens about how being kind is good.

Other good toons I highly recommend are

Adventure Time -- everyone knows about AT, but no one watches it any more, and they are Missing Out, literally every season has been better than the last and I'm still super torn up that it's ending soon. Finn is my very good SON and I can't believe how much growth he's gone through, it's incredible.

Star vs the Forces of Evil -- I'm a bit behind on this one but not through any fault of its own. Really fun cute show about a screwup magical princess and her best friend, which works in some broader plot stuff toward the end of season 1, and then starts really going ham on the plot in season 2-3. imo season 1 was very hit or miss, but the crew eventually hits its stride like midway through season 2 and the writing quality is much more consistent after that.

Voltron: Legendary Defender is really fun, though the fandom is 1. LEGENDARILY bad and 2. Will make you think the show and characters have a lot more depth to them than they actually do. On the other hand, Pidge is so so so so so good and worth watching the show for, at least for me.

Motorcity is an under-appreciated one that was tragically cancelled after only one season. It's a fun time, and the animation is unbelievably good.

Oh and if you somehow managed to miss Avatar: The Last Airbender, uhhh, go watch that. It is equal to the hype.

sorry this ran on so long, i love the good good toons

didnt think about the context--I'm not from the old site so I'm not sure what the attitude towards SU was amongst the majority of people here before