TV Review | Netflix’s ‘Arcane’ Season 2 Brings End to Award Winning Series
Rockets, Fights, and Plenty of Colorful Explosions to Send Off ‘League of Legends’ Based Show
Image from the Netflix series 'Arcane' | Photo: Courtesy
The second season of the Netflix hit show Arcane started off with a bang, literally, picking right up from the rocket Jinx launched at the end of the first season. The series is based on Riot Games’ League of Legends, but even without knowing anything about the game, watchers can easily grasp the show’s world and its conflicts.
With the immense success of the first season, there were high expectations for the second. French animation studio Fortiche outdoes itself with character expressions and colorful battles that bring the fantastical to life. And while I was thoroughly impressed with the animation quality and the interwoven stories that characters told, it did not feel like the ending aligned with the course of the story, ultimately feeling rushed and unjustified.
The season was split into three acts, with nine episodes each around 40 minutes long. Act I began with the aftermath of Jinx’s rocket, initially making it seem like the show would progress in a similar nature as the prior season, with each episode taking the time to delve into the complex characters. But a couple episodes, in and the show jumped in time on multiple occasions, leaving me still reeling from brief character introductions and lack of time spent with each of the protagonists. Side characters come and go with little impact.
Over the course of the three acts, the show bounced from character to character across time, with everyone involved in something different. The conflict between Piltover and Zaun — the shining city atop the hill and the oppressed undercity it tries to hide — which was explored in the first season, is mostly left out in the second season in favor of new storylines.
My attempt to briefly summarize what happened: Caitlyn turned on and off the military dictator switch of her character while Vi jumped from being an Enforcer (a cop), to joining a fighting ring, then finally reconciling with her sister, Jinx. Jinx formed an unlikely alliance with Sevika (a crime boss), temporarily took a child under her wing, and seemed to damper in her previous crazed attitude to ultimately save her father-turned-monster. Ekko, Heimerdinger, and Jayce are thrown into alternate timelines by a Hextech (literally magical technology) anomaly, and even Mel goes through a transformation to become a mage.
Eventually, everyone teams up to fight against Ambessa (Mel’s mother and a warlord) and bring an end to Viktor (Jayce’s friend and business partner) and his Hextech creations. Such a quick summary barely does justice to all that happens during the entire season, but it’s what watching felt like.
Each of the characters went through significant change, yet watchers didn’t get to see much of that onscreen. Unlike the first season, where characters built off of one another to lead to the chilling season finale, the second season rushed through character arcs in favor of bringing them together for a final battle.
But writing aside, the visuals made Arcane cinematically beautiful. From the contrasting scenery of Piltover and Zaun, to the eerie nature of the community that Viktor created, the mix of painted visuals and animation made it feel like every space was humming with life, whether human, creature, or artificial. Each of the characters’ signature color palettes especially added to the fight sequences with one another.
Despite the rushed ending and the holes left by some characters, Arcane is still a must-watch. From complex interpersonal relationships to the beautiful visual scenery and worldbuilding, Arcane is a series full of life.
