Netflix’s animated fantasy dramedy series Dragon Age: Absolution puts down the comedy and goes full drama in its fourth episode, “Those Who Falsely Dream.” It is an all-around expertly put together episode. The pacing, the performances, and the imagery will keep you fully absorbed.
1. Pacing, Comedy, and Drama
In its first three episodes, Dragon Age: Absolution blends comedy and drama with aplomb, due in enormous part to its perfect sense of pacing. “Those Who Falsely Dream” is paced very differently, but still perfectly. The heist is over, wounds need tending, and mysteries need explaining. The characters are taking a rest, and so is the otherwise voltaic energy of the show. This episode is not funny, and that restraint is to its powerfully effective credit.
2. Pacing, and Exposition
The slowed pace also leaves more breathing room for exposition, something the first three episodes intelligently dispersed with impressive economy. Still, the pause is welcome, and the answers to several mysteries are immensely satisfying, even as they beg even more questions. The expert pacing of the plot unfolding makes Dragon Age: Absolution and particularly “Those Who Falsely Dream” an engrossing viewing experience.
3. Performances
Dragon Age: Absolution‘s phenomenal ensemble cast, led by Kimberly Brooks starring as Miriam, further elevates an already excellent script. Kimberly Brooks will break your heart, depicting honestly how trauma can make you weaker in some ways, and stronger in others. One scene in which she is confronted by the villain could be taught in scene study classes, which probably cannot be said of most under-promoted Netflix shows.
4. Villainy
Josh Keaton gives a chilling portrayal of a villain who thinks he’s the hero in the ghoulishly cruel, unreasonably ambitious, and selectively clueless Rezaren. It’s a surprisingly nuanced and astute take on the behavior of a domestic abuser, a tragically quotidian villain. He’s also sacrificing slaves to summon demons, and that is the magic of genre. In the pantheon of Dragon Age franchise villains, which includes as many misses as hits, Rezaren is certainly one of the hits.
5. A Dream World
“Those Who Falsely Dream” takes us out of the fantastical land of Thedas and into an even dreamier dream world where Rezaren is tormenting Miriam. The dark saturated palette that defines most of the show gets brighter in an image of Miriam’s desires, and a ghostly sheen in painful memories. In between, Miriam runs through an ethereal gray and pink watercolor forest. There is elegance in its simplicity; it’s yet another success of restraint.
Dragon Age Absolution continues to flourish in its fourth episode “Those Who Falsely Dream.” It won’t delight you the way the first three episodes did, but it will tug at your heartstrings, and that’s it’s own kind of delight.
