Review: Red vs Blue “Blue vs. Red”

A much-needed backstory.

Spoilers Below:

Temple tells Andrews what happened back at his old outpost.

The Reds have captured the Blue base, in an attempt to find their flag. Although the Reds have the upper hand, they’re also out of ammo and have to resort to name-calling. The Blues reveal that they’ve captured Lorenzo. Because Serge has hidden his plans in Lorenzo, they offer to make a deal. The Blues send out Temple, and the Reds send out Biff. They get into a small casual argument but agree to exchange the base for Lorenzo.

Later at night, Biff and Temple reunite over a campfire and share some drinks together. They reminisce over their shared childhood and wonder why they’ve been assigned here. Biff says that he intends to get out with a medical discharge, which will allow him to return to Earth to where his long-time girlfriend is waiting. He plans to get shot in someplace that isn’t vital, which will give him an excuse to leave. Temple promises to be the one to shoot him.

However, the enemy approaches, and Temple says that their plans were ruined because of that.

Overview:

We finally begin to get into Temple’s motivations. While it seems strange why he would detail his backstory to Andrews, it’s vital information for the audience, so that can be overlooked. His story is largely about his time in his own Gulch, and his close friendship with Biff. That relative peace seems to have been shattered by actual combat, likely that will have to wait until next episode. The reason for why there’s no Griff counterpart (Biff) in the Blues and Reds will soon be explained. He’s likely either missing or dead, dead being the more probable one to incite Temple into extremism.

This episode was largely setup. It’s a necessary part of the plot but could have used more impact on its own. Still, hopefully, the flashback concludes next episode, and we see how Temple transforms.

Score
6.0/10