This time it is for the ARTic episode "The Longest Couple" which is a very different episode than from other episodes especially recently it is kind of polarized from the others so lets start the review.
The Longest Couple is an episode where Jennifer and Bradley look through Blake's old high school senior yearbook from a few years ago and Jennifer and Bradley not only find out that Blake and Samantha went to the same school together but they were also labelled "The Longest Couple" for senior year. Which leads to Jennifer and Bradley trying to find out the truth.
This episode had great acting performances by Andrew Bouchahine, Alejandra Deleon and Sarah Kellysen but the main objective is Andrew and Alejandra were the center as far as plot developing goes. I do notice that Rhys Clarke's parts in this were recycled clips and just didn't combine well in this episode which brings down the episode quality a bit. I don't know if Rhys didn't have time to film and they just wanted to release this episode.
Now the episode is about Jennifer (and Bradley) finding out if they were a couple which the confrontation scene is well executed. Alejandra and Andrew played it out really well to be subtle but then switch their attitude when Jennifer leaves. It turns out the plot twist was they were a couple but their both embarrassed by it which makes sense why they hate on each other now since the beginning of the series. This storyline was probably one of the most interesting from the third season.
I will have to give this episode an 8/10 mainly for its storyline and well executed scenes with Alejandra and Andrew in this episode. This would be a 7.5 if it didn't have those aspects. We also are missing several main characters in this episode too so it felt like a shorter cast. But overall well done!
Retrograv here for another review on Drakoloid's ARTic. Sorry for being so late been a busy week this week but I am here finally writing the review for "Jennifer In The Middle" so lets start.
So Jennifer In The Middle is about when Jennifer knocks down the new Coffee Shop sign and then has to work as a coffee waitress with guess who? Kyle Willy who returns but not as Remy Esposi but as Jack Ripoff. Remy has once again disappeared from the internet and youtube unexpectedly and he may have quit ARTic again (last time was in November 2014). So Jack Ripoff fits the bill and I have to say he fits the part pretty well. After watching this episode I feel the current cast of ARTic with Kim Lawrence included that the actors are solid and hopefully not too many changes happen throughout season 4 and 5.
This episodes strongest point is on Jennifer's outfit where it revolves around that which Blake thinks its too much. Blake isn't necessarily being shallow but he is realizing Jennifer is trying to be someone she's not. I understand the direction being made in this episode.
We then have the subplot which is a race judged by Samantha to see if Amy or Bradley will get their way on the font project they are working on to get it done while Jennifer is working. Amy and Bradley have a race another high point but its funny how we only see Amy doing work while Bradley sits around which Bradley wins. It was a nice turn of events for a change.
Overall this episode deserves a rating of 8/10 the plot reminded me of something from season one and the acting was a strong point in this episode especially from Kim Lawrence and Jack Ripoff the new comers really shined in this episode.
Retrograv here with a new review that I have been meaning to do for a while which was for "Teenhood Weekend" from March 17-19th on Drakoloid. This weekend had non-stop Teenhood which had all the previous episodes re-running multiple times and then the two part season finale "Too Late To Apologize" and "Most Unexpected Turns". So lets start.
Lets recap for a minute here of what I think about the first 13 episodes of Teenhood. I think the season starts off with just very shocking revelations in the beginning with Carly being pregnant and then it builds as we go through the season with her revealing she had sex with Cameron at a party when she was drunk behind her boyfriend Alex's back. Then we find out Alex is a smoker (which doesn't get shown) I think Elias Ellis departures from the show after the first part of season one. Then we have another plot with Miranda and Simon's mother has cancer and she is hospitalized throughout this season, again we don't see her mother in the hospital. Then we have Cameron and Simon wanting to start a band and we see them practicing throughout the season. And then we have our villain Britney who has been taking advantage of her best friend Taylor and the new student Stacey. So what does this all dial down too? Well heres what I think.
In "Too Late To Apologize" Carly finally talks to Cameron and tells him the truth about whats been going on. This scene it seemed Cameron was in a state of shock which for his type of personality seems logical and seems over whelming where he doesn't know what to say. I hope in the second season we see his later reaction. Britney then hands in her final project that Stacey created which this leads on to Britney getting sent to the principals office. Its also interesting when Simon stands up to Britney as well as Stacey where there at the point that they have all had enough of Britney. Then we have Stacey and Carly making up which was nice to see since Hazel Woodley's next episode is the last one of the series.
I have to give this episode a 8/10 I mean there could have been more to it but I have to say its a great lead up to whats to come in the following episode which is the season finale. Its also nice to see Miranda making peace with Cameron too so theres resolution here and you can tell this is getting close to the end of the season.
Now the season finale "Most Unexpected Turns" the show takes a 360 here in many aspects Carly confronts Alex and they seem to have a bad break up. Carly had enough of him and is going to raise the baby himself. That may change the dynamic since Carly and Alex once were the happy couple in the beginning and now there complete enemies. Another drastic change is Stacey gets accepted to a cheerleading school (foreshadowing Viral Jenneration) which was great closure on Hazel Woodley's character especially with her jamming out with Cameron and Simon in the end. Then we have a dramatic change with Miranda and Simon's mother who died from cancer Miranda gets a call from the hospital so we will see who the after math of this erupts in the next season. And then the turn that I am excited about because of personal taste is Britney gets suspended but she is determined to get Taylor back. Britney and Taylor's friendship is over by this episode so I wonder how things will go in the next season. That last scene was fire.
This season finale deserves a 9.5/10 Everything here was spot on the acting, writing, story and even the filming of it was pretty good compared to other episodes. This really ties the whole season together in a bow and I think more people would enjoy the series if they binge watched the whole season and then watch this final episode.
This overall season I would rate it out of ten, 8/10 its classic Teenhood and it will soon be classic Drakoloid in the future. It pushed the idea of virtual collab shows even further after ARTic and Long Lost. Best Drakoloid drama show to date. I hope in the future more Drakoloid drama shows are created. As for the second season I am looking forward for whats to come. Michaela Chandler, Elias Ellis, Meldi SN, Aidan Brown, Kyle Warden, Darragh O' Maonaigh, Madison Desiato, Rachel Jones, Keyara Stamps and Hazel Woodley. You all did great! What a great ensemble cast.
Retrograv here with a new review for Drakoloid shows that premiered on March 12, 2017. This is the first time ARTic and Teenhood have been on the same night with the same line up since 2016 on Earth Day (I believe). We are talking about four shows today that will be reviewed from this interesting line up.
First we have ARTic "Western Week", this episode follows Jennifer and Amy trying to come up with a Western Week project because its Western Week at the ARTic. They end up dreaming and heading back to 1855 which they end up having to help Fredrick Remington who is played by Andrew Bouchachine who is also Blake Columbus to save a bar from being taken over by Sheriff Willy.
This episode has a pretty solid storyline as it all flows through smoothly from beginning to end. Drake Vegas executed the writing of the famous bar/coffee shop fight scene well and will probably be remembered in best ARTic moments for the third season. The costumes for this episode were magnificent and they were styled differently for everybody. The country/western accents especially in Andrew and Paul's voices were noticeable and just adds an extra touch to the western theme.
If I was to rate this episode it would be a solid 9/10 The only thing I wish there was more of was Bradley Berkowitz (Rhys Clarke) he only had two lines which is okay because the rest of the cast was funny but its always nice to see Bradley's bubbly eccentric personality added to the show. But that fight scene between Andrew and Paul was a winner.
Just want to Congratulate ARTic on a two season renewal it deserves it and I am glad you guys decided to continue your show is the first of many that came for its time. It deserves to keep going until everyone knows and loves it.
Now onto the continuing Drakoloid High School Soap Opera Drama Show "TeenHood" Hooked On The Fire. This episode follows Carly trying to confront Alex in her room which is played dramatically well by Michaela Chandler once again. The other plot being Cameron wants to ask Britney out but Britney rejects him.
The acting in this episode was on point with everyone even the more weaker actors in the show. The way Meldi SN films herself in this episode I think is the way she should film every episode that way we can see whats around at least and not just facial closes up, Major improvement on her half. I think if Aidan Brown did the same thing it would definitely benefit the show. Although with his on point acting that isn't as noticeable. As for Madison Desiato, Kay Stamps, Hazel Woodley, Darragh, etc. All well done again with what has been executed here leading us onto the last two episodes next week.
This episodes gets a 9/10 really well way to hype us up for the finale and what could happen. Especially with that whole Taylor and Stacey plot where something bad may happen to Britney hopefully we see it in the finale. The show's plot has become interesting and has been developed enough to bring the audience in.
I will be reviewing "Teenhood Weekend" I am going to even record the bumpers and commercials just to archive if Drakoloid doesn't upload them to youtube, I will.
Now onto "Uniquely Normal" School Project episode which was about Arthur and Charles having to make a project about "What makes America great?". Mind you this episode was made in 2013, Its so funny they say that only a few years before we hear "Make America Great Again" gets thrown around by President Trump. Charles gets his project done at the end of just building monuments in America.
What else is really funny about this episode is the intelligence level of how divided Americans are currently now and this foreshadows it bit in some ways to our reality. Arthur wants to know what Charles thinks makes America great. Charles doesn't have an answer maybe he is a Trump supporter? Arthur however knows whats going on in America. Two sided polarizations shown here.
I have to give this episode a 9/10 mainly because the topic is a relevant question to today's world. The show seems to gradually improve this week as for last week. You could tell Nicholas Merchant was still experimenting and learning about filmography during this time. Well done.
Then the other Uniquely Normal "Broke" which was even shorter it was about what Arthur and Charles could do when they don't have money.
This one I like that it got to the point but it was kind of too short to really get into enjoying but I did enjoy the bleeped obvious F-Bomb put in here. Shows Drakoloid's risqué side is still there in other shows other than ARTic. This episode I would have to give a 6/10 and probably is my least favourite episode so far from this series.
And finally we have "Kevin and Alec's Adventures!" with the episode "The Kevin's". This episode is about when Alec comes over to Kevin's house and hangs out with Kevin Jr. during a Tornado siren.
This episode was just well scripted from what we saw with the comedic timing, acting and just the fun vibe off it of things you would do at that age. I adored just the fort making because I remember myself doing that with my bed and turning everything upside down. I only wish this episode could have been much longer.
This episode in my opinion I would rate it 8.5/10 overall with the acting and the script writing young Nicholas Merchant was really gaining experience at this point with filming. Especially that whole fort making scene.
Since I am releasing this on March 14th which is "Pi Day". This throwback to "Pi Day" Song done by High Schooled star Derek De Jong shall be reviewed. This song is really well constructed and just something I would declare as the National Pi Day anthem. I think Derek De Jong should go into music but maybe as a comedy album. This song reminds me of songs that Leila Stroud (who played Amy in Season 1 & 2 of ARTic) has made such as Peace, Love, Kittens, Holiday Song, Math Song. This song gets a 4.5/5 for comedy and lyrically well constructed don't know if Nick or Derek wrote it but its flawless.
Next week stay tuned for my review on "Teenhood Weekend".
Retrograv here for another great review again on Drakoloid. Going to try to diversify my blog sometime soon with new reviews but for now I am going to stick with Drakoloid shows.
Tonight I am going to review March 4th episode content on Drakoloid which is TeenHood "Runaway From The Smoke" and the Drakoloid premiere of Comedy Cubed's productions Uniquely Normal and Kevin & Alec's Adventures!
So the new Teenhood "Runaway From The Smoke" tonight had a lot of revamping, plot twisting and character development throughout. Lets start with talking about the revamp of the show. In the opening credits it is now changed to just clips of upcoming episodes in the show of characters walking around with emotions, anger, happiness, silliness instead of as a traditional opening with the cast listed. I think this is a much stronger opening especially because the cast could get changed again so this is better for the show.
The episode is about when Carly finds out Alex her boyfriend is smoking and she has to figure a way to confront him to stop before she has the baby. The first thing i'd like to say is Michaela Chandler who plays Mikayla Wild and Natalie Sanchez on Viral Jenneration. She is now the replacement and I have to say this was the best decision none of the other Carly's brought the emotion that was needed for this soap opera. This is a soap opera drama show and some people in this show are able to show the emotion but some can't at all where their acting is laughable. Michaela Chandler presents a wonderful dramatic Carly in distress here and it may be because of her drama/theatrical background. That really captures this and that solo scene at the end was brilliant of her trying to tell Alex whats going on.
Then the subplot is Britney trying to get Miranda to see her and Cameron together in his basement which it worked she did which leds to interesting continuation for the next episode of what will happen? And then we have the third plot developed with Stacey and Taylor where Taylor tells Stacey that she has a plan to destroy Britney once and for all. She convinces Stacey to be part of this which shall lead to some juicy things happening with Britney in the next few episodes.
We are left in our seats because this plot is reaching the climax of the season where "all hell is going to break loose" and it shall be interesting to see what it unleashs. You can tell this was still during Season 1 Production when these episodes were filmed and written. Three more of these "Season 1 Produced" episodes left to go. This episode was a solid episode it definitely is one of the best by far from the series and it deserves a solid 9/10.
Now for our next two shows on the list we have the Drakoloid premiere of the two Comedy Cubed acquired series "Uniquely Normal" and "Kevin & Alec's Adventures!".
Lets start with Uniquely Normal, this show is a show about a kid named "Arthur" played by Merchant himself who does video documentation on his life at a middle school that is a boarding school with his friend and neighbour Charles played by Anthony Devera.
This show is very short but makes it very unique, the reason being it short is because this was made back in 2013. In 2013 Youtube Shows weren't really around in a full length of what Drakoloid presents. Uniquely Normal presents a typical youtube series that usually have a short length of 1 or 2 minute episodes. We got three different ones, "Arthur", "Roller Coaster Day" and "The Robbery". My favourite would probably be Roller Coaster Day because it was nice to see Arthur and Charles just having a fun time outside and playing Tag as a simple solution to have fun.
And then after was the premiere of Kevin & Alec's Adventures with the episode "Accidental Success". Shows Kevin and Alec as project partners creating a website of "Everything Awesome" really funny because in the end they can't use computers but the website gets a bunch of buzz.
Again this really short like Uniquely Normal but was made in the later part of 2013. The episode Accidental Success gets I would say about a 8.5/10. While Uniquely Normal gets 7/10 for its three shorts. Well done work and it was also pretty cool seeing Nicholas Merchant in other acting projects other than Ryan Brahamer on High Schooled.
Retrograv here with another review on Drakoloid shows we are reviewing the triumph return of Teenhood "Almost Asked" and High Schooled "The Guinea Pig Funeral". So here we go..
TeenHood Almost Asked is the first episode in 10 months since we had this show people are saying this is season 2 but this was filmed with season 1 episodes. This episode was about Brittney confronting Taylor on her negative attitude. In this episode we see Taylor starting to become irritated with Brittney which I predict sometime in the future Taylor will dump Brittney as a friend maybe in the next episode or the episode after? We will see what happens. But then we have Miranda and Stacey both confronting each other for the first time in a while. Miranda explains that she wasn't talking about Stacey behind her back and they sweetly make up. A nice wrap up on Stacey right there. :)
I have to say this episode felt very short and we were missing a few characters Carly, Alex, Cameron, Simon but I did enjoy it. This episode gets a rating of 7.5/10 not the best but not the worst just in the middle.
Now over onto High Schooled The Guinea Pig Funeral is about when its Derek birthday and Amanda makes Derek and Ryan stay with her for the funeral of "Muffin", Amanda's Guinea Pig. I have to say this episode was quite surprising and was perfectly executed in writing and acting. The plot flowed all together smoothly. Nicholas Merchant writing and directing shines well with this episode. Its almost as strong as what was written in older Drakoloid shows such as Diaries Of Alice's Bedroom, Are You Ready To Scream, Carter The Cat and early episodes of ARTic, it can even be placed in the same league as Junglematic & Imperfect Patrick Season 1 & 2 episodes category that had similar yet original plots. There is also the joy of the iconic "Oh Muffin" song 😀. The heart warming yet comedic end with Amanda and Derek making up by Amanda ripping up his laser tag tickets was purely great.
This episode was the strongest of the series so far and makes me look forward to the next episode. This episode gets a rating of 9.5/10 or even a 10/10 in some ways when looked at it.
Hey fellow blog readers Retrograv here for new blog review,
Today I am reviewing a special episode of ARTic that really touched my heart and made me over the top excited for Drakoloid. Yesterday February 11th Drakoloid decided to change its history and become an LGBT supportive community. Some fun fact information is that the network use to not ever allow their writers to go to those sort of topics but now they can. It is weird to believe that Drakoloid was once a conservative network and not to mention a kids/teens network. It still remains as a kids/teens network which is very interesting because no other kids/teen networks on Television or on the internet never talk about same-sex relationships only briefly or under the cover.
Let me start the review to see where they hit the main points on this episode of ARTic.
This episode of ARTic called "Mixed Masks" was written by the network owner Drake Vegas himself. ARTic does a 360 in this with its casting, opening because Leila Stroud and Pat Kizer are no longer included in the opening of the show. Now we have Alejandra Deleon as Samantha Vegas added into the main cast. We also have Andrew Bouch as our new and possibly last Blake, Kim Lawrence our new and possibly last as Amy Rogers and Jack Ripoff as our new Kyle. Now with those big changes if they stay for at least the rest of the series it should stand well. Andrew Bouch and Kim Lawrence really know how to act well. Kim Lawrence reminds me of Leila Stroud the most out of any of the Amy's.
The main plot is Jennifer, Amy and Samantha where Samantha helps Jennifer finish her Mask for her Mask week project however when she tries it on with industrial glue it gets stuck. What also then twists this plot is Jennifer goes out with a guy named "Trevor" played by Mex Nov and he doesn't ever get to see her face. It really is humorous to watch and see it all unramble as the show goes on. Later Jennifer gets the mask off but it gives her a rash that Amy searches up on Trevors profile that he hates people who have them. Later Jennifer gets attacked by a spider in a hula skirt and then she runs off and her mask comes off. Trevor then confronts her saying that he is already dating someone and the plot twists even further into the next plot.
The sub plot is Blake showing around this new kid "Dillon" who is played by a dragged version of Sarah Kellysen. Blake finds an attraction to him throughout the episode and it becomes obvious. He finally confronts his feelings and his sexuality as being "bicurious" from my POV. When Blake asks Dillon out, Dillon already has a boyfriend. Which Dillon is dating Trevor Jennifer's romantic interest in this episode. Amazing plot twist ending that takes a while to process. In the final scene where Dillon explains bi sexuality it is explained in a way where everyone can understand what that is so young audiences are educated on the topic. That was the primary goal and the introduction to Drakoloid's LGBTQ+ movement. What a well done execution to it. Mixed Masks in my opinion gets a solid 9.5/10 it was perfect in every aspect except I wish there was more equal amounts of Bradley. But It was also different to see Jennifer and Blake get screwed over instead of Bradley always getting screwed. This episode brought so much character development that I hope is developed further in the episodes to come.
As we move further Drakoloid will be having more LGBT upcoming episodes and shows such as Three In A Modern State. I am really touched and happy that to watch Drakoloid because most of these shows are relatable in many different aspects. I am going to be looking forward to what Drakoloid brings in the next few months and year towards the LGBT community and just content wise.
