Shorts Review: Red vs. Blue Season 13, Episode 13 ‘The Thin Fed Line’

Spoilers Below:

Remember a few weeks ago, in my episode 10 review, when I said the best episodes of Red vs. Blue are the ones with a lot of humor and a few plot advancements?

Well, here we are again.

While Donut and Dr. Grey tried to cure Doc/O’Malley of his split personality, Church and Carolina settled in for a much-needed discussion. Church explained that he can’t gather and use as much power as she desires without repercussions, and that she doesn’t need it anyway. Carolina then revealed that inside the gateway she saw all the Freelancers and had to watch them die, followed by the Reds, Blues, and the other soldiers. Doyle arrived at that moment to extend an olive branch.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Reds and Blues attempted to unite the former enemy soldiers, with not much luck (“Take yourself, and fuck yourself, with yourself.”)

Then it cut to Felix furious at Sharkface for failing to inform them that Doyle needed to be killed in order for the key to work. When the tension reached its climax, Locus stepped in to diffuse the situation. Once alone, he then phoned his superiors to ask about the Meta.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Doc/O’Malley on his wishes to destroy everyone: “Really, it’s quite self-explanatory.”

2) Church’s preoccupations: “Wanna see if she left her prescription pad?” / “Can we at least do it while you’re on heavy sedatives?”

3) Hocking a loogie at someone in disgust doesn’t work while wearing armor: “Did you just spit inside your helmet?”

4) During Grif’s Friends reference, my fiancée was actually watching Friends in the background.

5) Is it bad that I kind of wish Dr. Grey would chase after me yelling” “Running only makes me want you more!”? Nevermind. I already know it is.

As I previously referenced, this episode was a lot like “The Master Key,” except, you know, with the plot having progressed further. What I mean is, this was a funny-ass episode that was still plenty engrossing with its plot.

The difference was the balance, but only slightly. I found this to be a funnier installment by comparison, possibly even the funniest of the season. It was so funny that at one point, I made my fiancée watch a scene that had me legitimately laughing out loud (and not just pretend LOL-ing.) She didn’t even chuckle, but that’s probably because she’s never watched an episode of Red vs. Blue before, and probably had no idea what was going on. Plus, I interrupted her Friends-watching, so that didn’t help my cause.

On the other side of the seesaw, there were no action sequences and no interaction between the good guys and bad guys, which normally would have taken away from the excitement that the show can offer. However, a little extra humor can go a long way in correcting that deficit.

There was also a bit of a cliffhanger at the end with the Meta being brought up (twice, actually) and a tease that involves Carolina and Doyle possibly getting along for the first time. Even a couple of the scenes with ample jokes had a serious moment or two.

If this episode doesn’t leave you wanting more of everything – humor, conflict, story – in the best way possible, you might as well quit watching Red vs. Blue now. (Please don’t.)

Everyone else: see you next week.