Shorts Review: Red vs. Blue Season 11 Episode 19

Season Finale

I have to say that the “9-minute” runtime was a total tease. Sure, my ADD-afflicted inner child initially enjoyed seeing that this episode wasn’t 30 minutes long, but when the credits rolled just prior to the 5-minute mark, I felt robbed.

Granted, we found out a lot in those five minutes. See if you can keep up. Tucker was simply knocked out by the tremor & rock collapse during battle, and was taken to the New Republic base. Grif, Simmons, and Caboose made it out safely, and Sarge, Donut, and Agent Washington didn’t. The name of the New Republic leader is Vanessa Kimball, and in case you didn’t know: the full names of the Red & Blue soldiers are Michael Caboose, Dexter Grif, Richard Simmons, and Lavernius Tucker.

After an extremely brief series summary by Kimball (explaining that the Reds & Blues have traveled great distances, retrieved ancient artifacts, brought corrupt men to justice, and bested the most dangerous war criminal this galaxy has ever known) it was revealed that Sarge, Donut, and Washington are actually alive and being held prisoner by the Federal Army, giving the Red & Blue soldiers a stake in the war after all. Kimball offered to help free their friends in exchange for help fighting the war and saving Chorus. The young, inexperienced, and scared New Republic soldiers needed strong leaders, and everyone concluded based on the Red/Blue track record, that they were master soldiers (“or they’re just really lucky.”) Just as the Reds & Blues took command…BAM! The credits rolled.

Fortunately, there was an after-credit scene too, where Locus reported to an anonymous voice that a mysterious crate that the Feds were looking for was found on the ship, and that the Reds & Blues likely didn’t even know they had it. In the last shot, the voice was revealed to be Carolina, who informed Locus that she is on her way.

(*MIND BLOWN*)

Sure, despite the abundance of new information that answered most of the questions from the previous episode, I still initially felt like another cliffhanger installment (and a misleadingly-short one at that) was a frustrating slap in the face. But it was also still funny (like the Star Wars references: “Tucker has a glowing sword, Simmons!”) And it definitely made me super psyched for Season 12 too. Still, I would have felt gypped if it wasn’t for that last scene, which changed everything. Not only did it provide more info and a few more things to wonder about, but it shockingly brought back Carolina in a twist that I personally never saw coming.

Does this mean Carolina is evil? Or are the Reds & Blues just fighting on the wrong side? Will Church be back? Is Vanessa sexy under all that armor? Hopefully we’ll get an answer to all these questions, and hopefully the new season will return ASAP as possible.

Hey, Rooster Teeth, does tomorrow work for you? Because that would be swell.