Like most folks, I've been counting down the days until the debut of the second season of "Arcane." Since Netflix's hit League of Legends show landed in 2021, it's been hailed as one of if not the best video game adaptations of all time. With the political intrigue and twists and turns of "Game of Thrones" and a gorgeous art style reminiscent of "Into the Spiderverse," it's little wonder fans have been clamoring for more.
Nonetheless, season 2 will draw the curtain on "Arcane," giving us the final chapter in Jinx and Vi's story and the long-brewing tensions between Piltover and Zaun. Netflix is rolling out the new season in three three-episode acts, the first of which debuted over the weekend with Act II coming on November 16 and Act III on November 23.
I, for one, am happy that this will be "Arcane's" final season. I've long been a cheerleader of "let things end!" after seeing too many beloved franchises ground into the dirt as the corporations pulling the strings try to wring out every last penny they can. The recent trend of Hollywood scraping the bottom of the barrel to reanimate IPs no one asked for has only cemented my opinion. Hell, we live in a world where "Sausage Party" has a spin-off show and a live-action adaptation of "Harold and the Purple Crayon" exists. I rest my case.
The argument for letting 'Arcane' end
With season 2, series co-creator Christan Linke recently told Netflix that "Arcane" is reaching its natural conclusion: "From the very beginning, since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, which means the story of 'Arcane' wraps up with this second season."
That means this season was specifically engineered to end the series on the best foot possible, and the show's three-part release schedule should help audiences savor that.
I think "Arcane" is better for it. The best stories have stakes; that's what makes them so impactful to begin with. That's the trade-off of letting our heroes emerge from the dangers they face unscathed, time and time again: As the audience, we grow numb to what's happening on screen.
Chances are everything's going to shake out alright, so there's less incentive to follow along for the twists and turns. After all, you can already guess the ending. This poses less of an issue with lighter fare, think serials and comedies, but even they're not immune from the audience's fading interest; just look at "The Office's" last few seasons.
I don't think I'm alone in my thinking either, given how often the topic of superhero fatigue comes up these days. Even box office juggernauts like the MCU have started floundering under their own weight between the flood of TV show offshoots on Disney Plus and lukewarm movie premieres. The Thanos snap was a high point, one that the MCU has struggled to return to precisely because of how difficult it is to convey stakes and successfully build tension when, after a cataclysmic event, everything's returned to business as usual.
Without getting into spoilers, we're already seeing a similar struggle reflected at the beginning of "Arcane" season 2. The pacing feels incredibly rushed, a chaotic slideshow of the fallout from Jinx's actions at the end of season 1 that introduces new characters left and right.
It's clear some interesting dynamics are being set up, and I look forward to seeing where things fall in the next two arcs, but if season 1 felt like watching an intricate game of chess, season 2 feels more like Jinx’s Gatling gun is doling out the exposition. It's a lot, and while I'm happy to see loose threads tie up (so many canceled shows don't even get that grace), I'm also quietly thankful that this is all the "Arcane" we're getting.
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