Review: YOLO: Silver Destiny “Journey to the Chasm of the Bees”

Overview:

Sarah’s latest efforts to tend to her garden result in an impromptu kidnapping scenario when the scourge of the garden–bees–make her their prisoner in the sticky Honey Castle. Sarah’s time in the Honey Castle turns into an eye-opening experience for not only herself, but also Rachel and Lucas, all of who leave this insect-filled experience forever changed.

Our Take:

YOLO: Silver Destiny establishes two clear goals for Sarah and Rachel when the season begins–a gorgeous garden and tyrannical power–both of which come to a head in “Journey to the Chasm of the Bees,” although not  how one might expect. This season has carefully teased the idea of “destiny” and what these characters believe that they want in life. These respective destinies rise from passive subtext to active desires in what’s one of the most surprising and satisfying installments of YOLO: Silver Destiny to date. 

These past few episodes, as much as they’ve highlighted Lucas’ abject weirdness, have also celebrated his humanity and that he cares for Sarah more than Rachel does. These evolving character dynamics make me even more hopeful that a potential third season officially pairs together Sarah and Lucas so that Rachel can be deconstructed as a bitter outsider. It’s the most exciting development of these characters’ relationships. The ongoing toxicity between Sarah and Rachel hasn’t worn thin over two seasons and the show finds plenty of ways to eschew this structure, but a third season of the same behavior may test these limits. YOLO has earned the right to take some bold risks and really get wild with this chaotic world. These two seasons have been incredible, but there’s a surprising narrative that’s come together that will properly prosper through the added depth of a third season. 

“Journey to the Chasm of the Bees” pushes for innovation with a story that pairs together Rachel and Lucas for a co-op quest into Honey Castle. The episode playfully leans into some surface level fantasy genre tropes that help compliment the specific weirdness at hand. Honey Castle is evidently filled with Indiana Jones-esque booby traps and a taxing turn-based battle against a giant Bee Boss. This Bee Boss battle should be a highlight for any gamer to come out of the ‘90s. There’s a top-down intro to the fight, which is followed by catchy MIDI-style music that perfectly replicates the aesthetic of PlayStation era Final Fantasy games. The episode goes so far as to pull up the Final Fantasy battle UI as Lucas and Rachel cycle through attacks, which is a fun extra and overt touch that’s impossible to miss, but even before this point this episode proves itself to be a loving homage to the RPG genre.

“Journey to the Chasm of the Bees” ends in a surprising place after Sarah gets a little too comfortable in her tyrannical role. Sarah receives a cathartic release after she actually tells off Rachel, albeit with the help of the liberating powers of alcohol. This earnest argument leads to the big blow-up between the two of them that concludes the episode and leads into next week’s super-sized finale. It’s one of the more emotional moments to come out of YOLO: Silver Destiny and some of its impact isn’t properly felt because the audience is still reeling from the bear-driven bee massacre that’s just been witnessed. 

“Journey to the Chasm of the Bees” straddles both of YOLO’s diverse specialties with this eerie ending. Sarah and Rachel are long overdue to talk things out and put their baggage to rest and this episode’s ending finally pushes them both to a place where this level of communication seems possible. So much of “Journey to the Chasm of the Bees” is lost in hyperbolized fantasy with a story that feels like it couldn’t possibly be of value, only for this insect-driven escapade to cut to the very core of these characters and present them at their most vulnerable. It’s a strong episode of the series, both as a standalone piece of entertainment as well as a crucial catalyst in the saga of Sarah and Rachel.