Welcome back to my blind coverage of the new Netflix anime Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, a series based off of some of the most influential comic books and movies of my life. What I’m doing here is giving my thoughts, analysis, and predictions after each episode before moving onto the next, so what follows is based solely on the first two episodes (and will contain spoilers for both, but for nothing that comes after).
If you’re just joining us, click here to check out my reactions to the first episode!
With that out of the way, let’s jump into episode two, which throws viewers into uncharted territories and spends more times with Ramona’s Evil Exes than ever before…
EPISODE TWO: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
The Scott Pilgrim franchise has never been known for its world building. This is partially because creator/writer/artist Bryan Lee O’Malley was largely making up the broader points of the comics as he went along, but it’s even moreso because both the comics and the movie are told almost solely from Scott’s point of view. Scott’s life is a video game because that’s the most familiar frame of reference he has to view the world through, and he’s also a bit of a dumb, self-centered asshole; he doesn’t care what happens to the opponents he defeats, or how their evil organization operates, he’s just trying to stay alive.
With Scott out of the picture, though, Episode 2 of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is suddenly interested in digging into the ways this world works. During Scott’s funeral, I was wondering to myself why there was a casket if he was turned into coins; a moment later Ramona peers into the casket, only to see the coins lying inside. It’s a genuinely funny moment that also seems to answer a question that had only been insinuated or assumed in previous adaptations1: in the Scott Pilgrim world, being defeated and turned to coins equals death. Or, at least, that seems to be the case until Ramona hears Scott calling for help in her dreams, but even that revelation seems poised to dive further into the ways this world works (Maybe!).
The greater world building feat in Episode 2 is the attention it pays to the League of Evil Exes, making the League’s structure and aims far more clear than previous adaptations ever did. The most important thing about all this world building Episode 2 throws at us, though, is that it’s never just world building for world building’s sake, to fill in some graph or index in the back of a compendium that will be read by a grand total of three (3) nerds. No, the world building in Takes Off springs from character and pushes the story in fascinating new directions.
Treating the League of Evil Exes as an actual organization rather than a simple source of ever-escalating threats allows us to get all seven Evil Exes into a room together, something we’ve never seen before that not only introduces them all to a new audience, but reveals new facets of their character. It also throws yet another absolutely fucking wild swerve into the narrative, ousting Gideon Graves as leader of the League (and quite possibly series Big Bad!) and installing Matthew Patel in his place. I suppose it makes sense; if Matthew is the one who killed Scott, that kinda propels him into the lead antagonist role no matter what Gideon says. In fact, if this incarnation of Matthew is strong enough take Gideon down one-on-one, it would explain why he was capable of defeating Scott as well; something strange is afoot there. But it’s a development that only happens because Matthew took a second to actually stop and think about the way the world he lives in works, realize that the rules were shafting him, and do something about them. If telling the story through Scott’s perspective actively prevented world building, Matthew’s seems to be encouraging it, and that’s a pretty cool mix-up for Scott Pilgrim’s storytelling.
Stray Observations:
— I am curious what ousting Gideon from the Big Bad role means for Ramona, as her character development in previous adaptations has been about reckoning with his abuse of her and escaping his thrall. Is Matthew as capable of providing as personal of a story for her?
— The action really takes off this episode, and it’s some real kinetic shonen shit that feels unlike anything the comics or movie have done before. This is yet another exciting new tool in Takes Off’s arsenal.
— Matthew Patel doesn’t sing his song from the movie during his fight with Gideon, but as he assumes his fighting stance, a chiptune rendition of it does briefly play in the background.
— The paparazzi following Envy Adams being literal ninjas is a perfect Scott Pilgrim joke, adding just a dash of the supernatural to something very normal yet changing them very little in the process, kind of shedding a light on how fucking strange the seemingly normal thing (the paparazzi) is in the first place if you actually think about it.
— Going into this episode, I suspected that Scott would be absent for its entirety, and would be revealed to be alive in the final scene. I was almost right.
— There are a few fun cameos during Scott’s funeral. The two girls standing in the line making bitchy comments are Sandra and Monique, two minor characters from the comic who are friends of Julie’s and who largely serve as a Greek chorus, gossiping and making bitchy comments about the current story — pretty much exactly what they were used for here. They also make very brief, I believe unnamed, appearances at Julie’s party in the first act of the movie.
— At Scott’s funeral we also catch a glimpse of Scott’s entire family sitting with his sister, including Scott’s younger brother Lawrence. Lawrence is a strange character in the comics; there’s a running gag that Lawrence will never be seen and is always just off-panel that never really goes anywhere. O’Malley has said that he originally had a larger role intended for Lawrence, working for the villains somehow, but scrapped it during initial outlining of Volume 5; instead, Lawrence finally makes his first appearance at the end of Volume 5 to take his bass back from Scott, and is never seen again. I doubt he’ll have any role at all beyond this cameo in Takes Off, but it was fun to see him pop up.
— I know I’m explaining the joke, but Envy singing “I Will Remember You” after just saying that she barely remembers her time with Scott is so fucking funny. Aside from the obvious irony, it’s theatrical, bitchy, and also clearly hiding that Envy, deep down, does miss Scott in some capacity, but this is the only way she can admit it — and that’s all very Envy.
— This episode is the very first time we hear Kyle and Ken Katayanagi — the twins, Ramona’s 5th and 6th Evil Exes — speak. The movie cast Keita Saitou and Shôta Saitô to play the roles, but neither actor spoke English and thus neither character ever spoke in the movie, their entire fight with Scott taking place as a battle of the bands. Takes Off returned the characters to their comics profession as robotic experts, and hired Julian Cihi to play both roles. In all three versions of Scott Pilgrim Kyle and Ken are probably the blandest of the Evil Exes, but their affection for their robot — calling him their “little guy” — did a lot to endear me to them in this episode.
— Despite the entire cast of the movie returning to once again voice their characters, Takes Off thus far seems to be sticking closer to the ideas and characterization of the comic rather than the movie. The exception, though, is Lucas Lee, the second Evil Ex played by Chris Evans. In the comics Lucas was a bit of a non-entity, a generally nice guy who seemed to be fighting Scott just cause it was his job, but his portrayal in this episode is clearly modeled after Evans’ portrayal in the film, the arrogant and dumb jock with just enough charisma to back his bravado up. It’s the right choice for the character; the movie improved upon Lucas Lee in every way.
— Lucas Lee’s “Let’s Party” to Gideon’s butler was my biggest laugh of the episode. I let out an actual guffaw.
— In my Reaction to Episode 1 I spoke for a while about Knives Chau’s reduced role in the story. I still expect/hope for more in the future, but after finishing Episode 2 I no longer think reducing the focus on Knives has anything to do with her; it’s clearly to allow the story to focus more on Ramona, since it was secretly preparing to shift her into the role of the series’ protagonist in Scott’s absence.
Okay, I’ll see you all back here soon for Episode 3!
ABOUT
“Do You Know What I Love the Most?” is a newsletter from Spencer Irwin about his relationship with the stories he loves. Spencer is an enthusiast and writer from Newark, Delaware, who likes punk rock, comic books, working out, breakfast, and most of all, stories. His previous work appeared on Retcon Punch, One Week One Band, and Crisis on Infinite Chords, and he can be found on Twitter at @ThatSpenceGuy. If you like this newsletter, please subscribe and share with your friends!
The comics almost go out of their way to not explain what happens to the characters Scott defeats. In the movie, a rage-filled Envy says, in response to Scott defeating Todd Ingram, “You just head butted my boyfriend so hard he burst,” which heavily implies that Todd is dead, yet confirms nothing. As I mentioned in my Reaction to Episode 1, O’Malley has mentioned in interviews that the opponents Scott defeats are not dead but instead respawn somewhere else, but I will admit that I’ve only heard this secondhand and have never actually tracked this interview down. Regardless, though, the “Word of God” in supplemental material only counts for so much; Takes Off is O’Malley’s opportunity to settle this issue once and for all.
I really appreciated the fact that we now get to see the League members actually interact with one another and bounce off each other. In the movie, you never saw any of them really together in the same scene, so it's cool to see what their interpersonal dynamics are.
It's interesting how you read Envy's musical number. My impression was that she didn't really care about Scott and wanted to make the whole funeral about herself. Like, it was just an opportunity to prop herself up and take over the spotlight.
The fact that coin death here is a real thing is a nice detail. But l have to wonder: what are the laws? I mean, do you have the right to just kill anybody you want and not face any consequences? The movie was very murder-happy as I recall, it didn't take death seriously at all, while the show seems more aware of that, and trying to push back against that mentality.
Notably, Matthew beats Gideon but doesn't actually kill him.