Review: Red vs Blue “Breaching the Torus”

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE getting my Torus breached!

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Donut helps Wash navigate the Everwhen, which they can now travel through together, but takes some getting used to. Their next step is to try avoiding creating more paradoxes while also convincing the rest of the Reds and Blues about the situation during their time on Chorus, but Genkins-Church (who apparently can jump into ANY version of Church, including Epsilon), undoes their attempts by making them think it’s just Wash’s fractured mind making him crazy. But they do remember that everyone else is still feeling déjà vu, meaning that a part of them is aware things are wrong. So, they need to try making them remember their time together at a time they couldn’t possibly know it, meaning Wash will have to meet them BEFORE they met. Namely on Blood Gulch. However, that puts them both exactly where they were at that time, separating them for now.

OUR TAKE

Oh hey, I get to cover RVB again! Haven’t done that in a while, so let me sum up what I thought about Season 16!: I didn’t like it. The time travel stuff seemed like it was pretty much aimless until the last few episodes, all the character stuff seemed more regressive than anything else, and the comedy only made me annoyed with everything else. So, I’m glad to say that I’ve mostly been digging what this season has been doing so far by doing the opposite of everything I just mentioned not liking about the last one! We have a clear and concise goal: fixing the timeline so that Crovos can’t escape. Donut’s properly claiming the Protagonist Ball this time around, unlike last time where he seemed to just sort of fade in and out of the story while Tucker, Sister, Grif, and Doc fought for screentime. And the comedy is coming from the situation the characters are in instead of just adding shit for cheap laughs!

Donut and Washington are two characters that, until now, had very little to do with each other. They were part of the same group, sure, but I don’t think I remember them having may significant interactions besides Wash’s brush with antagonism where he shot and almost killed Donut. So, this episode makes full use of that since that is pretty much the only time the two COULD first travel back to at first, seeing how that was the only thing they had in common. They also surprisingly pull off a pretty good double act, where Wash’s pragmatism and seriousness play well off Donut’s optimism and goofiness. Plus, it feels like no episode has been wasted simply for shenanigans, as each week gives us a clearer picture about the maze all of the characters are in, how the mechanics work, what or who is keeping them there, and a ticking clock to hasten the urgency of escape.

Though the one big thing I have an issue with is that this whole time travel and retrospection on their past adventures, fun and nostalgic as it is, seems like it would’ve made a great 20th Season premise, but we’re using it up three years early. Seems like it’ll be pretty hard to top this one. But overall, I have to say I’ve been mostly glad about how things have been shaking out so far. I don’t know how they’re going to resolve all the god’s stuff by the end of this, but for now, more nostalgia trips, please! Still, no idea how a Torus plays into this, though.