Castlevania: Season 2/ Episode 1 “War Council” [Season Premiere] – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
“War Council” mostly feels like a catch-up episode, so you can recall who is who, more than an episode to move things forward. [adinserter name=”General Ads”] Network Netflix Director(s) Sam Deats Writer(s) Warren Ellis Air Date 10/26/18 Images and text in this post may contain affiliate links which, if a purchase is made from those…
“War Council” mostly feels like a catch-up episode, so you can recall who is who, more than an episode to move things forward.
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| Network | |
| Netflix | |
| Director(s) | Sam Deats |
| Writer(s) | Warren Ellis |
| Air Date | 10/26/18 |
Images and text in this post may contain affiliate links which, if a purchase is made from those sites, I may earn money or products from the company. Most affiliate links contain an upward facing, superscript, arrow.
Remember Dr. Tepes: Dr. Tepes, Bishop of Gesnit
We’re reminded of why Dracula is committing genocide by seeing his wife’s home ransacked and her taken away for questioning. All which precedes her being burned at the stake.
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Commentary
I’m sort of on the fence about what I should say. On one hand, yay for additional details but on the other, I feel like we are already well-versed what happened. Why is the show repeating itself?
I Don’t Want To See Suffering, I Just Want Them To Die: Dracula, Hector, Isaac, Godbrand
It isn’t 100% clear how long the war has been going off for now, but it is at the point Dracula calls all his generals in to reshape plans. Mostly in the form of electing two humans, Hector and Isaac, to head the attack. Something that a vampire named Godbrand doesn’t agree with – at all – and is very vocal about that. Which Dracula, at this point, has no patience to argue about. He doesn’t even kill Godbrand for insubordination. Probably because Godbrand is clearly a joke.
Yet, even if a joke, he is still one of the generals so when he decides to apologize to Hector, he accepts his apology. Leading us to see why, beyond not having a thirst for war, and unquestionable loyalty, a human is leading Dracula’s army. Simply put, Hector has the abilities of necromancy and creates an undead army. As for what Isaac brings to the table, beyond maybe the same skills? That isn’t established.
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Commentary
Because it has been a little more than a year since we’ve seen Castlevania, all I remembered was blood, guts, and gore. I completely forgot that, at times, this show could be funny. So, when Godbrand was talking, throwing out a handful of jokes, I was so thrown off. Yet, I came to appreciate what he brought to the table. For if, like season 1, this show doesn’t really give us much story and mostly violence, at least it can say, in season 2, we added some laughter. Something is better than nothing, right?
On that note, I feel like the show could have taken its time introducing Hector and Isaac. Especially in terms of setting up their backstory for while it was clear Hector was abused, and killed, his parents, it sort of fell flat. Maybe because you expect to see the full visuals of it vs. you just hearing the dialog? I can’t put my finger on it but it added onto the vibe that this premiere was flat.
Remember Our Heroes?: Trevor, Alucard, Sypha
As Sypha waves goodbye to her family, and is a bit emotional about the experience, Trevor offers little to no solace. Leading to a few jokes between them about his lack of empathy and eventually them meeting up with Alucard. Someone who sits in an attacked house, playing in the dust, reminiscing about his parents. Thinking about killing his dad, honoring his mom, and presenting what could either be described as melancholy or angsty teen vibes.
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Commentary
A part of me wants to believe there was an attempt to show growth here. That this show could do more than show dilapidated bodies rotting away, people and demons being ripped apart, and just plain old violence. Thing is, if you are going to switch the selling point of the show, you better do such a damn good job people will think they asked for the change.
This episode did not do that. It made a half hour episode feel long – like it had commercials every 8 minutes. Which I don’t know if the reason is because a lot of it felt rehashed, the jokes were comical, in a slightly cringy way, or because it tried to be serious in a way the first season wasn’t. Either way, I hope this gets better or else this may very well be a struggle to get through. Especially since it isn’t 4 episodes but 8.
Highlights
- If you forgot anyone’s name, it was at least said once to refresh your memory.
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Criticism
- For a show which, honestly, probably mostly was known for how graphic it was, stripping most of that away was a bit of a bummer.
On The Fence
- While Godbrand and Trevor were comical, Sypha to a point too, the jokes felt a bit cringy and unnatural at times.
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I’m with you. This first episode is slow, the new characters poorly established and there’s a lot of unnecessary repetition of ideas. After months of waiting this wasn’t exactly a triumphant return for the series.