Legend of Vox Machina: Season 1 Premiere

    

Based on: Critical Role web series, which is based on Dungeons & Dragons

Created by: Matthew Mercer

Starring: Laura Bailey (Vex), Taliesin Jaffe (Percy), Ashley Johnson (Pike), Matthew Mercer (Lord Briarwood), Liam O'Brien (Vax), Marisha Ray (Keyleth), Sam Riegel (Scanlan), Travis Willingham (Grog)

And yet again, I'm enthralled by a series despite gratuitous violence and crass dialogue 😛

/Internal sigh. 

This also happened with Castlevania, Invincible, Jessica Jones, Doom Patrol, and Harley Quinn, with varying degrees of objectionable content in each. I like to think this means I'm open to excusing such content if the quality of story and characters grab my attention, but I also just declined to watch DC's Peacemaker because of all that, so I guess I just really don't know my own standards. 

I know the one thing that all those have in common are magic or supernatural powers. Maybe I just have a major weakness for that. 

But another thing all of those shows have in common is characters that I truly supported. Castlevania had a whole slew of characters I loved, especially Dracula and Allucard. I loved all the main characters in Invincible except for its antagonist. I loved the titular character in Jessica Jones. Doom Patrol was a bit harder to watch because I only appreciated one or two characters in its whole team, and I actually notably dislike the protagonist. In Harley Quinn, I liked Poison Ivy and her boyfriend in the first season. Vox Machina was fortunate to give me a large team of main characters to choose from, and I like about half of them. 

Team Vox Machina investigating in the first (second?) episode

Keyleth, a druid, at home in the forest

Vox Machina also has heart--though all of these shows do, and that's absolutely necessary for me. Although it doesn't take itself too seriously, it still does take itself seriously. It acknowledges that its gratuitous violence is actually pretty horrible. And when the main characters witness such violence, they're affected by it like normal people should be. They're stunned and traumatized, and they try to make a difference. The first episode--and then the season--is based on this, which I really appreciate. In the first episode, they're faced with a massive, undefeatable monster. They give up after a quick defeat and go hide, letting the monster go. Then, when they see the monster has massacred a town, they realize this is because they stood by and hid. This effects every character on the team profoundly--even the idiot goofballs--and they unanimously decide to take a stand. That's what ultimately swayed me in favor of this show. 

Campaign team from Critical Role and human counterparts/VAs to Vox Machina

These themes repeat throughout the first three episodes, and that's what keeps me going. There's a lot of crass humor and quite a lot of cursing, neither of which I'm excited about. But the team does seem to be trying and the show establishes itself as truly going for something profound. The trials the team faces continue to be severe and challenge their team skills to an impressive extent. Despite the buffoonery and idiocy, they can actually accomplish things when they set their minds to it--and these accomplishments matter. Even better, some characters are shown to have complex backstories that inform their present-day decisions, and that always makes for an exciting springboard. That's honestly a basic standard for good writing, but it never fails, and it certainly grabs my attention here as well. 

I'm excited to explore more of this world of "Exandria" and to learn more about the characters in Vox Machina!