What Is the Point? (first half of S2 Recap)

 

So we’ve reached the mid-season finale of season two and so now's as good a time as any to recap and summarize thus far. 

You can find the recaps for season one here  To Filler or Not To Filler Hey, What Ever Happened to That Varitas, Guy?

Episodes that are featured in this recap are as follows 

1. Beyond the Corona Walls Part 1
2. Beyond the Corona Walls Part 2
3. The Return of Quaid 
4. Goodbye and Goodwill 
5. Forest of No Return 
6. Freebird 
7. Vigor the Visionary 
8. Keeper of the Spire 
9. King Pascal 
10. There's Something About Hook Foot 
11. Happiness Is
12. Max and Eugene in Peril on the High Seas
13. Curses
14. The Eye of Pincosta 
15. Rapunzel and the Great Tree Part 1
16. Rapunzel and the Great Tree Part 2

Lack of Conflict 

Season two has no ongoing conflict. There’s no external force driving the characters forward, no threat they have to overcome, and no reason given for their quest. As such there’s nothing to support the underlining internal conflicts that the series wants to tell. 

Rapunzel can just go home if she wants to Cassandra can just leave the group whenever if she thinks she has more job opportunities elsewhere  Eugene is only here cause Rapunzel is, and if he wants to avoid his past he can just stay in the caravan whenever need be  Nothing is really stopping Eugene and Rapunzel from getting engaged There’s no need to listen to Adira 

And ect. and so on. All of the main characters’ supposed problems fall apart when you realize they have no reason to do what they do, and less reason to not act upon what they want. 

None of It Matters 

Of the 16 episodes I’ve covered so far, only 6 actually matter in the long run and 4 of those are two parters. 

Ten whole episodes of filler. Some might feature optional stuff, like a second of foreshadowing or just establishing how they got to a certain place, maybe even some character insight if we’re lucky, but no, most don’t tie into the final conflict nor the mains character development.  

And of the six episodes I pointed out, even what they do offer is incredibly thin. A piece of the season’s macuffin, (aka the scroll), a short flashback to the Dark Kingdom, maybe a subplot with an important character introduction; yet most of the episode will be over stuffed with pointlessness or give us hints to things that’ll never be resolved nor explained. 

Part of the problem is that most of it doesn’t connect back to all the worldbuilding we did in season one, and so most of the world building in season two winds up not coming back into play. 

Some people have suggested that they don’t mind the filler because it ‘adds flavor’ to the proceedings. You don't want to order a hamburger with all the fixings to only get meat sandwiched between bread and nothing else. But with that same analogy you don't want to order that same hamburger and get a salad with a few crumbs of ground meat thrown inside of it instead. 

It’s about balance and Tangled the Series is very much a salad with mostly wilted lettuce. You might find a bit of shredded cheese here or a crumb of a crouton there; but it’s definitely not a hamburger.  

Half the Characters Don't Even Need to Be Here

Hook Foot is useless Shorty is useless Lance shouldn’t be useless but he is Fidella is plot device not a character  Owl is barely even on screen despite the fact that he’s supposed to be there for his part in season 3  And Pascal and Max only get one episode of focus, both of which were filler. 

The consequence have having too many characters, particularly ones that don’t have anything to do with the main story, means that the writers are constantly juggling for ways to write them out or give them screen time at the expense of others. And by having this merry-go-round of character addition musical chairs, none of the group feel like a team let alone friends. 

Yet Characters That Should Be Here, Aren’t 

Adira, Lady Caine, Hector, and especially Varian all should have gotten more screen time because they all had unresolved conflicts. 

Lady Caine is unceremoniously shoved off without gaining any closure. Adira keeps sneaking off for unstated reasons instead of sticking with the group, despite doing so actively undermining her goals. Hector never gets to fulfill his purpose. And Varian is written out of the show despite being the most plot relevant character. 

In addition to those above mentioned characters, there was no shortage of characters that could have been given expanded roles instead of Hook Foot or Shorty. 

The Baron and Stalyan could have been more prominent villains; same for Weasel or the Stabingtons. Faith would have made a good secondary female friend for both Rapunzel and Cassandra, while being different enough to them to stand out on her own. Calliope would have been another option to fulfill that role, and she would have been useful as the group’s recent tour guide given all the knowledge she has. Then there’s Angry and Red, both of whom shouldn’t have been left on their on. 

 Conclusion 

The clear mismanagement of this show is mind boggling. I don’t know how anyone who has ever worked in the industry before could screw something up this badly. Not without facing some sort of corporate mandated changes and a shake up of the creative team at least. But there’s no indication that that is what happened. Now add in the bad PR from the head showrunner and yeah, it’s no wonder the show plummeted in ratings after this.