VIA Netflix

With much fan anticipation, the Netflix show, “Arcane,” released their second season on November 9. The award-winning first season left many expectations for season two. Most of those expectations were fulfilled.

Comparing seasons one and two, season one focuses mostly on the familial relationship between Jinx and Vi, giving viewers an idea of what happened in the past between the estranged sisters. The second season jumps around between plots: Act One focuses on the fallout of the end of season one, Act Two focuses on mending some relationships, and Act Three focuses on unifying to defend everyone from the antagonist. 

Watching every character deal with grief in varied ways in Act One was interesting. After Caitlyn’s mom died from Jinx’s attack, she instigates a military coup and takes over Piltover’s entire government. Jayce grieves over why Viktor almost died and he (Jayce) was perfectly fine, but slowly becomes more insane. 

Season 2 felt way more fast-paced than the first season. It feels like a third season is needed to fully finish some of the character arcs. The second season does a great job of picking up where the first season ended, and if you were to watch both seasons in one sitting it would feel natural. The art style in “Arcane” is the best thing about the show —every frame looks hand drawn and anytime they want a scene to feel more impactful they lower the frames per second, for a more jumpy effect. 

Each character drastically changes from what we know in season one. After Silco’s death at the end of season one, Zaun’s hierarchy is in shambles with Jinx in hiding and all the members left of Silco’s council fighting with each other for power. The grief makes everything way less predictable and a lot more spontaneous.

Sometimes, the plot felt rushed. I believe that focusing on certain characters would have given viewers a better understanding of each one. For example, in Act Two, Ambessa (Mel’s Mom) and Caitlyn have a mentor-student relationship, then Caitlyn betrays Ambessa. The side plot is not as impactful. It was surprising, but they didn’t show the buildup of the relationship. 

While there were some minor flaws with the pacing and certain characters didn’t get the time they needed to develop, “Arcane” has an amazing art style and shows grief in an interesting way. Each character’s growth ends in satisfying ways. I loved Loris as a character. He didn’t get the character-building he needed since he just shows up in episode one and sticks around silently helping Vi through her struggles. Overall “Arcane” left me excited for any future spinoffs.