Red vs Blue

[Merkuri]

Anyone here on EN World watching Red vs Blue?

I'm posting this in the Software forum instead of Media/Off Topic because although technically it qualifies as media, Red vs Blue generally appeals more to the computer gaming crowd.

For those who don't know, Red vs Blue is a machinima based on the Halo games. The actors record dialog to go with in-game video from multiplayer Halo sessions to film the scene. Most episodes are around 5 minutes long, but some can be 15 minutes or longer if they're at a critical point. They are currently in their 8th season.

I have actually never played any of the Halo games, but I love this series. It's very funny, though the humor can be very non-grandma-friendly, and if it were a movie it would definitely be rated R for language. The show started off as purely comedy, and I read that at first the episodes were being written from week to week, but it has matured into a very compelling plot in the later seasons that even incorporates some of the original random stuff in a way that makes sense.

If you watched Red vs Blue a while ago but stopped, now's the time to get back into it. They no longer rotate their archives, limiting what's available at a given time (which is what drove me away from it) and every episode from seasons 1-7 (and four episodes from season 8) are available from Rooster Teeth on You Tube, and after there you can watch up to the current episode on the main website.

I highly recommend watching all of the episodes in order, even if you've seen the early ones before. The show builds on itself, and you may lose plot points and a lot of jokes if you skip episodes or if you saw them years ago and forgot bits.

Seasons 6 is my favorite so far (though the current season is an extremely close second, and it's not even finished), where they start using the Halo 3 engine. Not only are the videos much higher quality, but they dial the plot up to eleven and reveal some very interesting plot points about the Red vs Blue world and its characters. You must watch seasons 1-5 in order to fully appreciate the revelations in this season, however. Just skipping to Season 6 will ruin it for you (as will skipping to any season, really).

The current season is amazing as well. They changed some things in the way they "film" these episodes and... well... I think it's best if you're not expecting it when you get there, so I won't ruin it for anyone. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the first of these changes, and I had to go back and watch that episode again.

So, anyone else eagerly waiting for this week's episode? (They normally come out on Monday nights, but this week they delayed it to this morning... with my luck it probably won't be out before I go to work so I'll have to watch it tonight when I get home.)

 

[stonegod]

Watched all since the beginning. Still watching (and the hilarious Shorts as well).

 

[SKyOdin]

I discovered it while bored late last year. I have been following it since. It also convinced me pick up Halo: CE out of the bargain bin, which has lead me to get the rest of the Halo games since.

 

[Merkuri]

I was a little disappointed that this week's episode didn't further the plot, but it was still a funny little PSA.

After watching the entire series (including the "Out of Mind" and "Recovery One" miniseries) twice through in quick succession I think I figured out what's going on in the main plot (or at least part of it) and I'm eager for new episodes to see if I'm right.

Major spoilers with my theory here:

[sblock]In the last "letter" from the Freelancer Director at the very end of season 6 he mentions having lost someone dear to him, and that person is referred to as "she". Then in the current season Epsilon starts talking about how he has to "keep them from finding her" right before he passes out after seeing Washington. I think this is the same person, and that person has got to be Tex.

I think the Tex as we know her is and always has been another AI, an illegal and original one, not an Alpha fragment. The real Allison/Tex died a long time ago, and I think the Freelancer Director has been trying to revive her or recreate her through AI technology. That's his secret personal project stored away at the Freelancer site that Epsilon found recently.

She may not be an original AI... perhaps she's an AI that contains only the Director's memories of Allison. But I find it more likely that she's a completely unique AI.

I'm not sure what Epsilon has against Washington that gets him angry enough to face-laser and pass out, though. It seems to me like Washington has more of a right to be mad at Epsilon, since Epsilon went insane inside Wash's head (what an awesome backstory that is, by the way). The only thing I can think of is that Washington is somehow threatening Tex, or has done so in the past. Or perhaps Epsilon just associates Wash with his own insanity and it just comes out as anger.[/sblock]