My plans for posts are often superseded by what grabs my attention for the two weeks between them… that’s why we have Fortnightly Fixations to begin with, and more so why we have Catch-Up’s!
So, though I may have plans for posts to eventually get around to writing, Critical Role has once again enamoured me. I started Critical Role before I started this blog, and in many ways it is my love for them that was the trigger for The BOMFF’s creation. I had a love for TV and Film beforehand, as has been discussed, grown by my love for the procedural drama in my youth, but it is the extent to which I talked about Critical Role that inspired the creation of The BOMFF.
With that backstory, the details.
An Introduction
In brief, and I mean it when I say brief: Critical Role began streaming on the Geek and Sundry Twitch on the 12th of March 2015, with their first episode of Campaign 1. They have streamed almost every Thursday since then, with obvious exceptions for holidays. As of 2024, and time of writing, they are on Episode 86 of their third Campaign.
In June of 2018 they began self-producing Critical Role, and extra content for their own channels. In 2019 they split from Geek and Sundry completely, and became their own company, of which there are now several branches and the like.
The cast includes: Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Ashley Johnson, Sam Riegel and Taliesin Jaffe.
In a Cursory Summary: Each week this band of nerdy-ass voice actors plays Dungeons & Dragons for about four hours, it’s a blast. They have a ton of fun, they’re hilarious. They focus as much on the narrative they create as they do the game they’re playing. As there are three Campaigns, not including one-shots, and each episode can be different from one hour to the next never mind episode to episode, summarising the whole in anymore detail is next to near impossible. Want to know the narrative? Dive in and find out, I can almost promise you won’t regret it.
SPOILERS!!
Where Am I?
I recently finished Campaign 1 Episode 97: “Taryon, My Wayward Son”. The mention of which makes me think I should give the context of how I got into Critical Role, which is to say I watched one video that suggested starting at Campaign 2, and when you fall in love with them go back and watch Campaign 1.
This was solid advice, as I started Campaign 2, fell in love with them and at about Episode 30 went back and started from the beginning. This was months ago, possibly over a year ago… I have been watching them on and off in all that time, as such when I picked them back up about two weeks ago, maybe a little over, I was on Campaign 1 Episode 82: “Deadly Echoes”. So, I have not watched 97 Episodes in just over two weeks, that would be ridiculous, even for me.
This to say I miss my favourite socially anxious dirt wizard, and can’t wait to watch Campaign 2 again. However, I love them all so much in Campaign 1.
Vox Machina are a hot mess. As most D&D Party’s are really, nature of answering to the dice gods I suspect. Boy, are they a blast to watch though… when no one’s dying, and even then it doesn’t make them unenjoyable, just also tear-inducing.
I have favourites in the twinsies, and I love that Liam and Laura’s friendship translates into their characters bond. Vax and Vex are some of my favourites, and share in some of my favourite scenes. I am highly invested in Vaxleth as a couple, Vax and Keyleth forever. I did not expect to care for Percy and Vex as much as I do, but I am also quite invested them. Travis and Sam steal the show every time they have a scene together, regardless of whether Sam is Taryon or Scanlan. Pike is adorable, and I am giddy every time Ashley makes it. There is a slight irony in the fact I knew of Critical Role from seeing her Blindspot, and it is then Blindspot that means she’s in it so rarely. Still, the times she is are wonderful.
With all that said, Critical Role is… vast, which makes posting about it not so easy. So, some brief thoughts on what I have watched recently.
Thought #1: WTF Keyleth?!
She DIVED off a CLIFF and DIED. I have never laughed so hard at one of them dying. It was like, I wanted to cry, and I was crying, however this is also objectively the funniest way Keyleth could’ve garnered her first death. It is just so her.
As the moment happens, you see Travis lose it, Ashley tell him to stop laughing, Liam burst out in laughter and then realise his girlfriend in game just died and he’s got to figure out how Vax is going to react before promptly doing his thing of disappearing below the table by sheer level of core strength, he then puts his whole improv skill into acting the hell out of seeing Keyleth covered in blood! Vex flew down to save her, and Matt’s description of the revivify coin Taryon gave her doing it’s thing was… detailed.. which, by the way, what luck Taryon gave Vex that coin. The moment he realises she used the coin, and what that means was wonderful.
It was one hell of an opening to an episode, I have to say. Everyone was flabbergasted. Then the rest of the episode was followed up with Darrington Family drama.
The best thing about Critical Role will always be the sheer emotional whiplash.
Thought #2: Whiplash
In one episode of Critical Role, averaging 4 hours, you will be subject to the experience of the entire range of human emotion. I am noticing this more so as I get deeper into the campaign. They are putting their whole selves into creating an excellent narrative, and no episode is short of beautiful moments between the cast and the characters. Critical Role regularly makes me cry and laugh in the same sitting, and I love it.
Few things have me reacting so audibly, but these guys have me quite literally laughing out loud, crying, cheering when they get that ‘How Do You Want To Do This?’. You feel exhilarated watching them succeed, and sad when they lose the people they love, even if in this world where the chance to get them back is always a couple hundred gold away, which is almost certainly why Matt homebrewed rules so death still had gravity. They have wonderful dynamics they play perfectly, and it keeps you invested.
Whiplash maybe, but whiplash I’ll keep choosing, keep coming back to. They fill me with so much happiness other pieces of media have not done so before.
Thought #3: WTF Scanlan!
Campaign 1 Episode 85: “A Bard’s Lament” was not fun.
I mean, it was fun because it’s Critical Role… but it was a lot.
Ouch, Sam.
It was so emotional, and so tense, and that made it so entertaining. It had you crying, and you loved it anyways. It was a brilliant episode, including Taryon’s arrival that had them all jumping up in fits of rage.
I don’t really know how to put it into more words.
I appreciate, though, that the cast have made it a reoccurring joke in the episodes since. “What’s my mothers name?” is such a poignant moment in the episode, that shows so clearly what Scanlan is getting at and it hurts. It hurts a lot. It makes his point, and that whole moment, everything he says right after that encapsulates his whole argument, and he has some points, but the others have some valid arguments and feelings too that will get explored better as the Taryon Darrington arc goes on. The fact, though, that the line “What’s my mothers name?” or some variation there of has been used as a joke several times since then is wonderful. What a callback, what a way to joke through pain.
To Conclude
It’s a brief one this week, and I appreciate you tuning in to read it. I love Critical Role so much, I’m almost sad it’s taken this long for them to appear on the blog.
I hope to see you again in a fortnight for the next edition of Fortnightly Fixations.
Thank you again!
On to the next!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images, narratives or characters present or referenced in this post. All rights belong to Critical Role and all other relevant parties.