The second episode of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off breathes new life into the show as the full scope of Scott’s quest for love becomes clear. Spoilers ahead.
1. Expansion pack
I feel like I need to start this write-up by acknowledging just how far off the mark I was in last week’s evaluation. I was frustrated with how often the episode was sizing up as a bad recreation of the film. Even the twist ending I shrugged off as a small cliffhanger, thinking the series would return to its course in the following episode. It turns out this is a much better, far more ambitious detour, as the show starts to find a way ‘off-script’ in dramatic and unabashed Scott Pilgrim style.
Not only do we have Scott navigating the arcade equivalent of Limbo, but episode two wastes no time at all in taking Gideon off the board as quick as. It’s just the coolest possible remix they could muster, the only strong comparison I have are the Neon Genesis Evangelion Rebuilds, which progressively went further off the rails from the initial series. We’re in uncharted territory and it’s endlessly thrilling.
2. Off-script
The shift in plot not only reinvigorates the story at play, I really think it gives the show’s performances a better light to shine under. Every voice actor thrives when they aren’t performing a rerun that can be scrutinized against the delivery in two other mediums (media??). It keeps the whole run more charming, less canned, and true its source, because it surprises you and lets you better imagine these characters as relatively normal people navigating their absurd lives.
Ellen Wong’s Knives is a great case study for this, her persona is able to inflate to cartoonish heights based on the absurdism of the script in front of her and it translates into the style of the animation. She flips at a moment between these massive giddy emotions, and it reminds you of why you like the character better than a rehash of her old material actually would. This episode is full of that sort of authentic reinterpretation, most notable in the cocktail party between all the evil exes, who I don’t think we ever saw brought together in one room in the film or comic. They all bounce off each other just as well as they do off Scott.
3. In memory of those Scott with us today
This episode really only has two major scenes in it. The first of these, Scott’s funeral, is a great mission statement on everything the animated series will do differently. For one I love that Scott Pilgrim inexplicably has a super catholic funeral, but in a cathedral ready at a moment’s notice to turn into a black-out rock venue. Speaking of, if the three little little coins sitting in a full-size coffin weren’t enough of an indictment of Scott’s perceived value, the rate at which he is upstaged at his own funeral by Envy Adams is a pretty good indication.
Envy’s introduction is absolutely unmatched. I think it should be more socially acceptable to show up at a funeral with the express purpose of completely fucking the vibe with how iconic you are. There should be celebrity cameos at real funerals, I want to see Shaq rock up and drive a grieving family into a fever dream. Again, it’s great seeing Knives throw off her weird ‘smothered in grief’ outfit and just join the frothing mob of fans.
4. Ex-perts in violence
The other main setpiece from this episode is the meeting of the Seven Evil Exes (who all wear conveniently numbered accessories and/or permanent tattoos). I really love how little time it spends introducing all these characters because it generally assumes you either are familiarized, can pick up on their quirks, or are happily along for the ride at this point. The best addition to the league is inarguably the Katayangi’s robot, more people should bring robots to social functions just because they’re proud of making it. Even after he gets decapitated he keeps up, carrying his head and even giving Gideon a hand.
The fight between Matthew and Gideon was so good it caught me off guard, the length of it and creativity just came out of nowhere when I think everyone went in expecting to see Matthew Patel wiped against the expensive tile floor. His demon hipster chicks making a triumphant return, I especially liked when they had to bring him back to life. It was just a great sequence that really showed the eccentric lengths of both the sparring personalities.
Continued below5. The Subspace highway stuck in my head
Without yammering on, I think the most exciting part of this Scott Pilgrim remix is the new possibilities it opens up. It reinvigorates novelty and character, but also potential pay-offs along the way. I feel like I’m excited to keep watching not just based on episode-to-episode enjoyment, but because I’m really curious about where this goes.
I’m also wondering if we might get to spend a little longer in the perspective of Ramona. A running joke in both the comic and movie was her perpetually shifting hair color, by allowing the viewer to actually see her go through the process of dying it, it feels like we’re being ushered into her personal space and state of mind. I honestly think a bit longer with Ramona as someone who has her own hang-ups, insecurities and regrets will go a long way to stamping out some of the zealous simplicities of the manic-pixie-dream-girl archetype she’s inexplicably tied to.
Finally, I wonder if this new plot will still mirror the original plotlines somewhat, as this episode shares some notional familiarities with the end of the film’s first act, namely a big blow-out fight with Matthew Patel. Even if it doesn’t, I’m still quite happy with a show that almost acts like a ‘What If’ illustrating the consequences of Matthew’s power levels being 50x higher for pretty much no reason.
That’s it for this week, and I’m more excited than ever to dig into what comes next.
