Review: Red vs Blue: The “Mission”

“Again, it’s like poetry, it’s sort of, they rhyme. Every stanza kinda rhymes with the last one.”

I should note that the Red Letter Media quote is not an indicator of this episode’s quality, just that Plinkett’s Force Awaken also came out today, and I’m still hyping over that AND this. Which, spoilers, is also really great!

SPOILERS

The Triplets traverse the treacherous arctic topography after realizing a troubling truth: They’ve been terminated…from the program. Seems the “mission” was simply a means to remove them from Project Freelancer with no fuss or muss by dropping them off in the remotest of remote locations with no given reason and then leave them to die. Worst severance package ever.

Idaho takes no time pointing this out repeatedly to Ohio, who tries and fails to rationalize their situation before having a major breakdown. It’s a real confidence killer to not only find out you and your friends lack any proficient skill whatsoever, but you’re also being sentenced to death because of it. Heck, even being lured next to the airlock and tricked out into the cold vacuum of space Tom-and-Jerry-style would be more dignified than this. At least then someone has to WATCH you die. And maybe they’d laugh about it, so you know you made a difference in SOMEONE’S day.

…this got really dark, didn’t it.

Anyway, Ohio, AKA Vera, has completely fallen to pieces. All she needed was a chance to have something to do, something to feel meaningful about, a purpose. Something that would prove she could run with the top dogs like she felt she was meant to do while still holding onto what makes her…her. And finally that chance comes and it’s a total sham, just so she can end her useless life out of everyone’s way.

OR IS IT? Iowa, AKA Mike, reports back to the other two that he’s found the mission! Or rather, a base, which might be the mission. It at least TASTED mission-y when he licked it. But it’s definitely something, which isn’t nothing, and they’ve got nothing better to do than freeze, so they check it out. Lo and behold, they actually find a base, which is somewhat populated by three crimson-clad Insurrectionist soldiers, who have an eerily similar dynamic to our three cerulean Freelancers.

For those who don’t remember, the Insurrectionists were the sorta-nemeses of the Freelancers during the all-animated flashback sequences of RVB Seasons 9 and 10. Think Cobra to their G.I. Joe. Seemingly acting as a rogue splinter faction, they were in reality hired by Malcolm Hargrove, CEO of Charon Industries and Big Bad of Seasons 11-13, to act as a private security force. This proved to be…not successful, as every single member of their group was killed by the Freelancers in later encounters. Except the leader, who got killed years later by a floating eye with a laser face named Epsilon in Season 7, and one growly dude named Sharkface, who turned up as a total plot cul-de-sac and only real reason to bring back Carolina for Seasons 12 and 13, where he also got killed, by her.

 

But apparently even those heartless mercs have a standard for quality that these other three castaways (Sherry, Daryl, and Terrill) did not meet, and have also been left to float adrift, and even gave them drinks! (Who are the bad guys again?) Seeing actual company after who  knows how long suddenly gets them thinking that this is related to their own not-mission mission. And now we have two color-coded sets of idiots in a barren wasteland. Why does this ring a bell…

Meanwhile, Iowa and Idaho just wanna relax and make friends with what are likely the only other people on the planet but Ohio finally sees a chance to salvage a mission, even a purpose, out of all this, and won’t let her loser friends screw it up. Idaho, AKA Ezra, finally lays it out on the table how hurtful Ohio has been to them, treating them like embarrassing temporary friends before she makes her way to the top and leaves them behind for better things, which opens Ohio’s eyes to what’s really important: the two guys who have stuck with her the whole time and now are likely going to die with. But who would you rather die with more than your best friends?

The two groups happen upon each other and realize how much they have in common, including having an upbeat idiot with destructive tendencies, a dude with an unrequited interest in their lesbian de facto leader, and said aforementioned leader who is the least incompetent of the three. And most of all, both trios were cut out for being the worst soldiers in the group and will end up nothing but a footnote in their respective organization’s histories…which is pretty demoralizing; no matter how upbeat you put it. And yet, perhaps this is a chance for these six, who originally came from different sides of a conflict, to unite and form a new community that looks out for its orphaned members. Perhaps these blues that were fighting with the red, and these reds that were fighting with the blue, could get together and even make…a little purple.

…which immediately goes out the window when Iowa thinks he sees a spider and shoots Daryl in the foot, leading to firefight. This gives Sherry the opportunity to share the main thing she and Ohio share: the need for a purpose, objective, mission, or what have you. Suddenly, Ohio discovers something. A way to make her and everyone happy. She shoots her in the foot, instantly igniting a war between the two factions. The blues watch the reds, so the reds need to watch the blues. Everyone has a purpose.

I wonder if they could make a whole series out of this. What would they call it though? Blue vs. Red? Nah, that sounds dumb.

Can we please put Shannon in charge of RVB for awhile? Because it looks like he knows what he’s doing waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than the current regime. These two parts have excellent story structure, great humor, dialogue, and character work, while also cutting right to the heart of what this whole show has always been about, that being trying to figure out why we’re here, or what we’re supposed to do. He does this while also building on the established world while bringing in new elements, in this case characters, and making it all feel perfectly at home with the rest of the universe. And none of them died! Hooray!

I also was half expecting this to be something the Director was actually observing, like it was all just an experiment and was the inspiration for the Red and Blue simulation troopers program, but I’m also kinda glad it wasn’t. It actually makes it that much more…well, poetic that the same situation ended up happening on its own through sheer happenstance, and is pretty instant fanfic fuel for those wondering how these teams continue to draw things out for each others’ sakes.

Shannon McCormick, while also writing this and playing Wash, does a serviceable job as Iowa. I looked up Idaho’s actor, and he’s apparently an improv actor in Austin, so that would explain how they found him. Elizabeth Maxwell has done other stuff for previous Rooster Teeth shows, like playing Winter Schnee in RWBY and Nikki in Camp Camp. In both of those, she’s basically stuck on one end of the hot-cold personality spectrum, while here, she just seems like…a regular person. It’s through this that it dawned on me what I appreciate about Red vs Blue over those other shows, and it’s that the characters are allowed to be acted as people, not…well, cartoons. Weird phrasing, I know, but it really did feel like I was watching people in this. Though the connection between Camp Camp and RWBY is they have Miles and Kerry writing them, so…hint hint?

This story is pretty much everything I hoped for from this anthology, and (as I mentioned) shares a lot of qualities with the other multi-parters. In just these two episodes, we were introduced to three fully fleshed out people, with a protagonist that has a goal pretty much anyone can relate to: A reason to live. And not simply surviving, but LIVING. Ohio/Vera simply wants to prove herself and do work she is proud of. It’s not just about being famous or acknowledged, but also to finding meaning in her life while also being true to herself. It’s a conflict that I and countless people I know have and might still be going through as we all look for a niche in a cruel and unforgiving world so that we can finally feel fulfilled. And just like Ohio, sometimes our inherit talents don’t always meet our ambitions, and it can feel like the worst thing in the world would be just to simply sit around and wait to die. Hopefully it’s not so literally in this case, but it can definitely feel like that. Though even then, it’s important to take stock of yourself, your support group, and your current situation, and appreciate what you do have so you don’t lose hope in reaching for something better. If you’re like me, you probably have at least a few people in your life that will always have your back and help lift you higher, so don’t forget to let them know how much they mean to you.

We’re down to the final two, which I’m putting good money on being another two parter to cap the season. Let’s end on a high.