The New Legends of Monkey (Season 2)
Oct. 4th, 2020 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustI loved Season 1 (thoughts on episodes 1-3, 4-6, and 7-10) so I was thrilled to discover they made a Season 2!
It's a TV show loosely inspired by Journey to the West, but much more a tribute to the 1980s cult classic Monkey. It also owes a lot to Avatar: The Last Airbender, with its Asian fantasy fusion, and Xena: Warrior Princess, with its cheesy fun adventure. It's an Australian/New Zealand co-production, distributed by Netflix.
Tripitaka, a girl disguised as a monk, is on a quest to find the seven sacred scrolls to defeat the demons who rule the land, accompanied by her friends, the gods Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy.
Season 2 trailer
Spoilery thoughts on Season 2.
* I loved the council of demons as the new antagonists! I loved how they were all rivals for power, only loosely cooperating, and ready to backstab and betray at the first opportunity. I loved how they all had their own unique abilities and approaches to defeating Monkey.
* General Khan looked like she was having an awesome time, making dramatic speeches and chewing the scenery - sometimes literally.
* Mothrax the moth demon - always drawn to any flame - was kind of hilarious.
* The two most terrifying villains were Tsumori the shapeshifter and Hagfish the puppetmaster. Those powers are the worst! You want to yell at the screen, "Nooo, that's not really your friend! They're an imposter/being mindcontrolled!"
* I did love that Pigsy was the one who suspected something was going on. He might be my fave - in the original, he was a glutton and a lech, but here, he's a chef and an epicure, with a doomed romance in his past. He's also the straight man to Monkey's reckless antics. I love his deadpan delivery and exasperated expressions.
* I get why they introduced Kaedo, but I never really warmed to him. They probably wanted another young character for the audience to identify with, and to be all mysterious with "Is he an ally? Is he an enemy?" But I think I'm too old to enjoy the "arrogant but hypercompetent kid" character. (And he was mean to Tripitaka when we first met him.)
* I loved the magical library and the riddle contest.
* I enjoyed seeing how they pulled off a G-rated version of a love potion.
* I have seen enough lotus eater stories to get suspicious whenever our heroes encounter an idyllic paradise, where they could live out their days in happiness. So it was with herbalist Mycelia, and her too-good-to-be-true garden sanctuary village.
* I loved the gang going undercover in the demon army. Monkey failing at pretending to be human! Tripitaka's terrible fake accent! Norman and Tinkle! I also loved Sandy's quick thinking at pretending to be a demon, and Pigsy being drafted into his role as her hapless cook slave.
* I loved the abacus combination lock on the safe.
* I loved seeing Rachel House again as innkeeper Monica, leading the rebel army. I'm sad the character is gone, but I'm highly anticipating her return as - the reincarnated demon queen?
* I loved the surprise return of the original Tripitaka, back from the dead, and assuming his place as the Chosen One. And our Tripitaka becoming once more the girl with no name. I loved that her friends ultimately took her side against his foolhardy plan. As Kaedo said, "It's not what they call you that counts. It's what you do that does."
* I loved, loved, loved Shadow Monkey. When Hagfish created the doppelganger, I thought he would be a mindless killing machine. But he called Monkey "brother"! He wanted them to run off together and live as they pleased! I loved that he was like the person Monkey used to be - a force of chaos - and it showed how much Monkey had grown. It was terrifying how simplistic and amoral Shadow Monkey's thought processes were - "My brother won't abandon the quest because of his friends. I see the solution here!" (I loved Monkey watching over Tripitaka anxiously all night, and panicking when he wakes to her empty bedroll - only to turn around and see her having breakfast with the others.)
* I liked the theme of duplicates and doubles - Monkey with Shadow Monkey, and our Tripitaka with the original Tripitaka - and the question of "Who are you?"
* I wish Shadow Monkey could have stuck around as the big bad of Season 3 - maybe learning the value of friendship and eventually joining the good guys. (If he had teamed up with the original Tripitaka, they would have been a force to be reckoned with.)
* I swear I thought they were going to pull a Heroes and do a cliffhanger ending with Monkey and the sun. I guess not for a show like this?
I hope they make many more seasons.
It's a TV show loosely inspired by Journey to the West, but much more a tribute to the 1980s cult classic Monkey. It also owes a lot to Avatar: The Last Airbender, with its Asian fantasy fusion, and Xena: Warrior Princess, with its cheesy fun adventure. It's an Australian/New Zealand co-production, distributed by Netflix.
Tripitaka, a girl disguised as a monk, is on a quest to find the seven sacred scrolls to defeat the demons who rule the land, accompanied by her friends, the gods Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy.
Season 2 trailer
Spoilery thoughts on Season 2.
* I loved the council of demons as the new antagonists! I loved how they were all rivals for power, only loosely cooperating, and ready to backstab and betray at the first opportunity. I loved how they all had their own unique abilities and approaches to defeating Monkey.
* General Khan looked like she was having an awesome time, making dramatic speeches and chewing the scenery - sometimes literally.
* Mothrax the moth demon - always drawn to any flame - was kind of hilarious.
* The two most terrifying villains were Tsumori the shapeshifter and Hagfish the puppetmaster. Those powers are the worst! You want to yell at the screen, "Nooo, that's not really your friend! They're an imposter/being mindcontrolled!"
* I did love that Pigsy was the one who suspected something was going on. He might be my fave - in the original, he was a glutton and a lech, but here, he's a chef and an epicure, with a doomed romance in his past. He's also the straight man to Monkey's reckless antics. I love his deadpan delivery and exasperated expressions.
* I get why they introduced Kaedo, but I never really warmed to him. They probably wanted another young character for the audience to identify with, and to be all mysterious with "Is he an ally? Is he an enemy?" But I think I'm too old to enjoy the "arrogant but hypercompetent kid" character. (And he was mean to Tripitaka when we first met him.)
* I loved the magical library and the riddle contest.
* I enjoyed seeing how they pulled off a G-rated version of a love potion.
* I have seen enough lotus eater stories to get suspicious whenever our heroes encounter an idyllic paradise, where they could live out their days in happiness. So it was with herbalist Mycelia, and her too-good-to-be-true garden sanctuary village.
* I loved the gang going undercover in the demon army. Monkey failing at pretending to be human! Tripitaka's terrible fake accent! Norman and Tinkle! I also loved Sandy's quick thinking at pretending to be a demon, and Pigsy being drafted into his role as her hapless cook slave.
* I loved the abacus combination lock on the safe.
* I loved seeing Rachel House again as innkeeper Monica, leading the rebel army. I'm sad the character is gone, but I'm highly anticipating her return as - the reincarnated demon queen?
* I loved the surprise return of the original Tripitaka, back from the dead, and assuming his place as the Chosen One. And our Tripitaka becoming once more the girl with no name. I loved that her friends ultimately took her side against his foolhardy plan. As Kaedo said, "It's not what they call you that counts. It's what you do that does."
* I loved, loved, loved Shadow Monkey. When Hagfish created the doppelganger, I thought he would be a mindless killing machine. But he called Monkey "brother"! He wanted them to run off together and live as they pleased! I loved that he was like the person Monkey used to be - a force of chaos - and it showed how much Monkey had grown. It was terrifying how simplistic and amoral Shadow Monkey's thought processes were - "My brother won't abandon the quest because of his friends. I see the solution here!" (I loved Monkey watching over Tripitaka anxiously all night, and panicking when he wakes to her empty bedroll - only to turn around and see her having breakfast with the others.)
* I liked the theme of duplicates and doubles - Monkey with Shadow Monkey, and our Tripitaka with the original Tripitaka - and the question of "Who are you?"
* I wish Shadow Monkey could have stuck around as the big bad of Season 3 - maybe learning the value of friendship and eventually joining the good guys. (If he had teamed up with the original Tripitaka, they would have been a force to be reckoned with.)
* I swear I thought they were going to pull a Heroes and do a cliffhanger ending with Monkey and the sun. I guess not for a show like this?
I hope they make many more seasons.
