S02.E03: Like Calls to Like

[AnimeMania]

A powerful ally emerges amid Alina's attempt to tear down the Fold. Kaz reckons with ghosts from his past. Kirigan spares no mercy to expand his power.

Premiere Date: March 16, 2023       Netflix

[Hanahope]

Kaz is going down a dark path.

the sky ship was cool.

[peridot]

I can't remember if toilet humor was in last season. From the lingering view of the guy crapping in public to a close-up of human feces, I hope that's the last of it this season.

Does no one at the base besides Genya and James find Kirigin creepy/evil? He cut off his mother's finger and the alchemist didn't react.

I don't really remember what happened last season at all, so all of this is new to me.

[Hanahope]

Some like the strength of Kirigin.

[angora]

I'm surprised at how quickly the hints of Kaz's backstory are getting fleshed out, and the fact that he told Inej anything about it at this point is impressive. But once he did, I liked that she was immediately ready to back him, no further information needed. And I'm happy to see Wylan proving himself a little with his quick thinking/music skills. Jesper's face as he watched him play piano was lovely. (Side note: in typical TV fashion, now that we the audience are in on Jesper's Grisha secret, we constantly see him in situations where he has to covertly use his powers, beyond his usual sharpshooting badassery.)

So far, I'm actually liking Alina and Mal pretty well this season--they still feel more generic than the rest of the characters, but they're not really annoying me. I feel like it helps that they're together now. Not just "together-together," but physically in scenes together. When they were apart so much in season 1, both of them got stupid trying to get back to each other. But now that they're side by side, it feels like they're able to relax a little more with each other. The Alina/Mal of season 1 couldn't have had such a logical discussion about Nikolai's proposal.

Speaking of which, goodbye Sturmhond, hello Nikolai! I like that we saw some immediate shifts in Nikolai's accent/posture, but it was clear that he was still the same core person. Also, seeing the Hummingbird in action was fun, and I loved that Tamar was instantly down to kill Volcra while Tolya would've rather been in the bath with a book of sonnets. Hee!

Last episode, I was thinking Genya felt conflicted/scared/trapped with Kirigan, but now I realize she was just waiting to see if David was going to be brought in. I liked that as soon as she saw him, she ran to him and tried to get him to escape then and there. Unfortunately, she wound up falling prey to one of the classic blunders: don't try to shoot a monster that's made of shadows. Poor Genya.

Glad to have Baghra back. Love that she was locked in a cage by her own son and still mocked him for his mistakes. "Another 'lesson?'" Mama doesn't mess around! Kirigan has been locked in this weird thing with her--you can tell it burns him up to have someone who isn't intimidated by him, but in all these years, it seems he can't bring himself to kill her. Some of it might be the embers of familial affection, but I bet a lot of it is that he can't bear the thought of being the only nigh-immortal Grisha around. For all of his brooding, solitude, and, you know, murder, he still longs for companionship/peers.

[Check Sanity]

On 3/19/2023 at 12:40 AM, angora said:

(Side note: in typical TV fashion, now that we the audience are in on Jesper's Grisha secret, we constantly see him in situations where he has to covertly use his powers, beyond his usual sharpshooting badassery.)

They hinted at it quite a bit in season 1, enough that it made me look it up to make sure. Though by the time he was in that laundry room hiding and fighting another Grisha it was kind of obvious. 

On 3/19/2023 at 12:40 AM, angora said:

Glad to have Baghra back. Love that she was locked in a cage by her own son and still mocked him for his mistakes. "Another 'lesson?'" Mama doesn't mess around! Kirigan has been locked in this weird thing with her--you can tell it burns him up to have someone who isn't intimidated by him, but in all these years, it seems he can't bring himself to kill her. Some of it might be the embers of familial affection, but I bet a lot of it is that he can't bear the thought of being the only nigh-immortal Grisha around. For all of his brooding, solitude, and, you know, murder, he still longs for companionship/peers.

She was never afraid of him even before she betrayed him. I don’t think that’s what bothers him about her. She’s been around with him his entire life, a constant. She’s his mother and was his protector before he got as strong as he did, it’s not surprising she’s a bit of a blind and soft spot for him. 

[tennisgurl]

Awww Inej went right from "stop escalating things" to "lets gut the bastard" the second Kaz told her that he was behind his brothers death, they might not admit it but they're ride or die for each other. Wylan also got some nice cred handling he and Jesper getting caught in the house, but things are looking rough for the crows now that Kaz is seemingly down down an even darker path that's freaking everyone else out quite a bit. Going after fellow crooks is one thing, going after kids is another level. 

Poor Genya, if its not one things its another, the poor thing cant catch a break. I'm glad that she was smart enough to get away while she could and tried to bring David, but its hard to escape a thousand year old wizard made of smoke. 

Its not a fantasy story without some hidden royalty scattered around! So the artist formally known as Sturmhond is actually prince Nikolai, spare to the throne. Him and Alina getting married for political reasons is a solid idea and Mal is being shockingly mature about it, I guess we really did learn some lessons last season. There is so much going on this season and so many characters, and we keep getting more. 

That flying ship looked awesome, the visuals this year have been stunning.