fwcu | Things That Break Other Things (Reply)

guess who relistened wolf 359? it's a me, ya girl. I had a good time. I had a really good time. I was not expecting to have such a good time, I thought it was not going to live up to the pedestal I put it on at age 17... BUT, it did. I had forgotten that pedestal was even there, and now I'm now, I need to dust it off. Damn, put the plaque back on it's shelf, it deserves the spot! Anyway, you can tell that I've been listening to it, as evident from my narration style.

note for mild to modest vague spoilers... if I talk about jacobi that's True Real Spoilers area. this post is so rambly and incomprehensible sorry.

Anyway. some stats:

best episodes: DESPERATE MEASURES.

>op, that says 'best episodes', plural. yes, intentionally. I wanted to make a point that there are -- good episodes. there are a lot of good episodes. there are fan-favourite episodes. there are thematically fuckening episodes. and then, then there is Desperate Measures. technically pt2 of a 2parter (desperate times, desperate measures) but this is the Fucking Episode. people will tell you The Episode is 'Memoria', but - no offense to the people who like mental health episodes - it's a mental health episode. this episode is when all the Mental is fucked to hell, and there is No Good, or Right, Only Choices and you have to choose. I think season 3 is the best season, and all of it Culminates in this penultimate episode, and My Fucking God, does it deliver. season 3 is the best season, and then season 3 is the best season by a Long Fucking Shot because Desperate Measures is that fucking good. I'll say this later but one of the best things about wolf 359 is that it's so good at raising stakes and building tension and this is The Fucking Gold Medal Champion Episode of that. literally every single gun the writers use throughout the show - oh weird stellar stuff, oh station ai blowing up, oh crew on crew violence! - all of those show up in their most skillful execution here. because the entire season has built up to it; because the stakes are so well-contained, and so fucking real; because every single time, wolf 359 promises you their cast is a trainwreck and everything will go wrong and everything is wrong and there is Only Carnage and Catastrophe and Disaster. and this time, sure, they get out of it, but it is not okay at the end. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. DESPERATE MEASURES IS ALWAYS SO, SO GOOD WHEN I LISTEN TO IT. I KNEW EVERYTHING THAT WAS HAPPENING THIS TIME AND I STILL. GOT. GOTTEN!!! to be fair, it doesn't hinge on a plot twist as much as an ultimatum, so that makes sense.

other notable shoutouts:

Am I Alone Now? -- hera monologue will Always get you. so will the hilbert monologue. the minkowski one is not as getting but it's one of the only times in s1 where like, they really set out the breadcrumbs of what's to Really come.
All of Season 3 one could say, just ALL of it -- but, for faves outside of the climax: time to kill, limbo, I don't actually care for memoria that much but it will make you cry. it just Will.
both special episodes: volte face -- as a [REDACTED] [REDACTED] FAN... as a HUGE [REDACTED] [REDACTED] FAN who WANTED a COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF, AND A [REDACTED REDACTED] FOCUSED SERIES... well. let's just say. this entire post is spoilers but still. change of mind -- I'm a changed woman. victorie fourier may be my wolf359 onepick. this episode was so good and then the ending sequence made me sewer-cidal.
season four is not as good as season three because the filler was deeply nonpurposeful filler. BUT: theta scenario is one of the best fucking episodes in the whole show. AGAIN. TENSIONNNN. FREAKINESS FACTOR: 9000. SO ARTFULLY TIMED AND WRITTEN. dirty work one of my favourite openings, one of THEEEE minkowski episodes[can you guess the other one? yepppp]. jacobi is jacobi [positive, affectionate, notes are being added to a mental list]. crash and burn -- as you can tell, I love the episodes where it's guys being Enemies having Conversations and being In Situations. ONE OF THE HIGH POINTS OF THIS SEASON FOR SURE. terms and conditions. the conversation between pryce and cutter at the end of that :)
mini episodes: no complaints, happy holidays -- sorry. I love si5 so much what the fuckkkk my perfect evil specialist clique... and Jacobi<3 my perfect genuinely crasy and deranged and highly sensitive. there are so many things wrong with him and he will Always make it someone else's problem. sorry but it's TRUE.

ok more generally. wolf 359 is very good. it's also one of the best escalations in a series Ever. love the, Oh funny guy on space stations and Antics Ensue... to the whole fucking crasy ass shitshow it becomes... the thing about wolf 359 is that what ends up as it's strengths, are never showcased or explored in season1, because s1 sets up some groundwork for the rest of it, but it mostly leans back on 'wow and that was so silly and crasy and weird but not, serious,' except, wolf359's is at it's best when it's serious. and there, the jokes come naturally to ease the tension or make it Worse even [Cutter, this applies mostly to Cutter]. anyway season1 is fine and fun and jaunty for like, background listening. season2 is when it starts to get good-ish...but season2 is never as good to me, because season2 is just about spending enough time listening to it so when we get to season3.... Season 3 is worth it. season 3 is all the payoff and all the gifts you've spent your year waiting for. yes I'm kind of calling season2 filler, which it's not. however, wolf359 is also at it's best when more players are on the stage.

ANYWAY. as I've mentioned already. SEASON THREEE... SEASON FUCKING THREE.......oh I love season three. idk how many times I can say it's the Best Season and My Favourite Season, and obviously it's my favourite season because it is The Best Season. writers are on their A-game. season 3 is good, because unlike every other season, there is no set-up. all the set-up happened season2; season 3 is just the simmering. and desperate measures is when it finally blows. season three is so artful because it begins with the explosives added into the pot. and then there is about, 15 episodes of just. hanging out with those explosives. of people being coworkers. of there being a very clear line, but the beauty of there being only 8 people around anyway, is that it's like the line can't Really be there. it's fucking great.

minkowski goes through the fucking ringer this season BUT IT'S ALL FOR THE BEST. it very much is not a minkowski season but at the same time... the story that does not play out fully onscreen is the minkowski season ... you see just enough of it, but it's never about her because the perspective isn't making it about her. the way she's subordinated by kelper, is the way the season subordinates her into just being made into a example of the power shifts, rather than how that power shift affects her. whatever. I'm not explaining this well. WHATEVER HER ARC. NEVERMIND HOW LITTLE WE SEE THE INTERNALS OF IT. SLAPS. SO FUCKING HARD.
hera gets moments Every Season... hera actually just gets the Best of the Best writing always... not her fault, she's clearly the favourite (...)
MAXWELL AND JACOBI........GIRLBESTFRIENDS....okay I can't talk about any of these characters the way I talk about my kpoprpfs since the age demographic is so... anyway like... imagine having a heart to heart fight where you slap each other and have emotional affirmment and bonding and then... 'At this moment, it becomes apparent that Minkowski has been there for the entire conversation.'(...) YOU GUYSES.....
can I talk about desparate measures again or not... JUST LISTEN. GOD. GODDD...this season is so perfect because you think Desperate Measures won't happen. AND THEN IT JUST. AAAAAHHHHHH. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. the lulling sense of it's Alright. but it's notttt. BUT IT IS. idk a great season where you feel like you are being gaslight the whole time
someone wrote this entire post about how bolero is Rightfully the last episode because you have to marinate in the Aftermath, and that episode just forces you to Linger... I really do think it was a perfect end on every fucking note. all the reanimated corpses. IT SERIOUSLY IS LIKE. DESPERATE MEASURES IS THE WRECKAGE. bolero is the confirmation that everything after is all the more Worse.

season four... is good. it's not Perfect the way season3 is and every episode is not a delight and a slay like season3 is, but the episodes are heavy in mood and theme in ways that episodes in season3 were nottt. because, y'know, different beasts and all. the problem with season four is that none of the filler ever scratches the itch. in a way, all of season3 was somewhat filler... but it sustained tension and forced it to subtly build. season four starts off with BANG! BANG! and then. makes you sit through four pointless episodes, and then, then things get mildly interesting again. and then... the watchtower happens and the best part of the episode is the name... Ok that's a lie but also I really fucking Love the title drop, and then we get... um terrible sci-fi plot... and THEN we eventually get to crash and burn so it's OKAYYY... I guess it's like season3 has no low notes or no mids. season four has one of the best episodes [theta scenario] and then...some of the worst episodes [shut up and listen] [not bad because eiffel gets called out for microaggressions but like bad because they felt the need to dedicate an Entire Two Episodes To Just This One Thing instead of like, idk, making it a subplot, or a two-parter where EVERYONE'S flaws are examined... :\]

I guess one of my things with season four is that there were a few moments that were like The What?Ok...(weird) ...where it worked in execution, but was :\ in the vaccum of my mind separated from context for Examination... and ultimately it was fine, but personally not to my taste .... actually I think it just boils down to like, the filler\plot points for like, a third of this season? for half of it? were so contrived, whereas a lot of the problems that arose in season3 were pre-established. which again. s1&2 built-up season3. season3 built up towards season3. season four was back to the drawing ground again, and therefore once again had to establish New Things In Order To Move The Pieces.
season four is a little bit like... Evil Guy Slay season... which is why it's good. and also. Theta Scenario. EPISODE OF ALL TIME. I thought I would have more to say but it's like.... it's the little things that really get u this season.... Jacobi Loves Maxwell. Jacobi Cares About Kelper. There is some ideological clash between these two concepts. errr other stuff I'm sure... I think this season is very much Plot rather than character struggle or exploration.. AND THAT'S OKAY...ish... unfortunately it means that some of the best parts of wolf359 [character writing] are sidelined

wolf359 is good at two things and those things are: Escalation and Jokes…. it’s like Wow I can’t wait for the jokes Haha Wait Guys Why Whe Where Are Our Jokes. Huh Huh. Huh…

IDK WHAT ELSE TO SAY... okay this was my first re-listen. I first listened to it in 2017, just when it finished airing and… My Gott… as expected was super into it, was super obsessed, listened to other podcasts after it, found that they were Just Never As Good. I DIDN’T EXPECT FOR IT TO HOLD UP SO WELL ON A RE-LISTEN!!! why was it so good the second time around!!! I HADN’T EVEN FORGOTTEN ANY OF THE PLOT SO TELL ME!!! justgoes to show story writing and tension still holds up even when You Know because it’s not about the element of surprise it is about how you BUILD THE TENSIONNNN… aka why desperate measures is the best fucking episode of the entire fucking show. DON’T YOU LOVE IT. WHEN EVERYTHING. CRASHES. BURNS. CRASHES. BURNS. BURNS. CRASHES.

I won’t say I found it less funny this time; but I think the first time around Eiffel was really the fun, the charm, the main slayer of the show for me… However this time! It was so good because the writing was so good, the themes were so good, the dynamics haptics TENSION. of PEOPLE WHO DON’T GET ALONG HAVING TO WORK TOGETHER TO SURVIVE CRASY SPACE SHIT. dude I can’t why was this so good why was it so so so good… what the fuck. I’m actually like deeply in shock I can’t believe it was so good THE SECOND. TIME. AROUND.

obviously I don’t think everyone on this cast is the best voice actor ever, but goddamn they all have their moments… the best performances to me were: cutter, hera&pryce, kelper, rachel young, lovelace.

some assorted favourite moments: [SPOILERS FOR SUREEEE HERE]

all of the tiamet updates… there is some like real tears and Aaaahhhhhhhhh and AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHs as you listen to Zhang and you realise she has the same steel that lovelace has, the same steel that minkowski has and it’s just… these women Are The commanders. also just realising the choice to make them all women :,)
‘I am Renee Minkovski’ \ minkowski shooting maxwell \ the opening of dirty work \ the everything that happens in dirty work
every single time hera invokes Personhood. — though on this note, hera makes some of the most egregious and most danger-causing decisions throughout the show and like, that is never addressed — however I support women’s wrongs. minkowski calling hera ‘woman’,
MY HERA\EIFFELS… A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR SHIP’S AI CAN BE SO PERSONAL…
on the note of hera\eiffel… ahhh… the real romance of the show: maxwell\jacobi … now when I say romance here I don’t mean that they were romantically in love with each other however the love they had for each other was very romantic. or as it ends up being… JACOBI’S LOVE FOR MAXWELL… people like were murdered, died at every opportunity, no survivors were left, the fucking… dude I can’t even. before desperate measures, it was about Orders, it was about Being Better Than These Chumps, etc etc, After desperate measures: it was about ALANA MAXWELL
when hilbert says Lovelace is the only person he is afraid of; when Lovelace says Minkowski made a sport out of monster hunting; when they just ... idk invoke their faith in each other against the odds... Always extremely moving stuff
kelper in brave new world where he just... always says something or another to the Positive about the hephaestus crew.

CHARACTERS
i do just wanna say that wolf 359 cast ALL slays and they all have their momence. not hilbert. ANYWAY. this list should be extremely obvious to all that know me in any way at all.

jacobi: Everyone Sighed. what if you were bbygirl... on the surface it's like Oh jacobi is just the sarcastic mean one ... untrue he is the moody sensitive edgy sarcastic one. EXTREMELY PRONE TO BEING CRASY. it's really hard to like say he's crasygirls with a straight face but he is. he has drastic case of Needs to be Special and is prone to self-praise and hates it when people are mean to him but HE'S allowed to be mean to them...like you're like No Way he has this much character establishment BUT IT'S ALL THERE... and it's also why 'No Complaints' is one of the funniest and most Oh. My. Goddddd. episodes of all time of the ever. jacobi is like the same category of crasy delusional special princess girls that beomgyu is. which is sooooo LOLLLLLL... and he's the Bomb Guy. who does bombs. and makes things Blow Up. which is really funny to me in hindsight.
minkowski: PERFECT SOLIDER OF THE WORLD... again really weird to talk about w359 characters like my kpop slaygirls so I'm going to stop ... but minkowski is like ... One. I think she gets the best arc in the series, 2. just handcrafted to be one of my faves the way jacobi is. by the book, straightforward, determined and tactical, boring, honest, good at her job... etc etc... andddd she is a victim of the very system she upholds and believes in...<3 like minkowski starts off as a subordinate, given the position of commander because the higher-ups know that she will blindly follow orders... and as the series progresses, she truly truly steps into her position of commander, takes responsibility for her crew and consistently and constantly makes these Hard decisions and hard calls... and she starts off very far from being the heart of the show, but as the show closes and she speaks the final line... aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I think it's very hard to be the moral heart in the situations they were placed in... and yeah eiffel was always on the side of 'let's not kill anybody' but he was still an asshole, but minkowski was lawful good!!! WHICH YOU MAY THINK IS BORING AND BLAND... BUT IT IS LITERALLY PERFECT. TO MEEE.. and that is why it's so important that it is because of minkowski who vowed to save and bring back as much of her crew she could, THAT THEY GOT BACKKKKKK... sorry I cried. I don't think I explained any of this but it seriously is like THAT WAS HER CREW!!! AND SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM!!! AND SHE SAVED THEM!!!
kelper: brave new world. that's all it takes for him to go from 'Kelper [neutral]' to 'Kelper [Interesting]' (...) like the man goes through mutiny and betrayal but that's nothing... AND THEN the man returns to his 'rightful' position and he... ended up Fond of the hephaestus crew. like they wrecked so much of his shit, but he respects them. he likes them. he sticks up for them, just a little bit. mind-blowing stuff okay.
lovelace: lovelace is good because she's like a hardass and a jokester. and then she gets jokerified and then she sets herself on the path of unjokerification. IDKKKK I think we see so much of her traumatised bruised and beaten down, that when we see her in the moments where she most resembles who she Used to be, before all this shit, like those are her best moments. like before everything was so black or white, life or death for her >.>
hera: hera is the best written character on this show who gets the best moments As I Have Already Explained because she is clearly the Favourite. is there more explanation necessary. You Will Like Her.

end notes
again I think the charm of this show the second time around, was just how well-written every dynamic and every character was ;-; the really choice things about how you can't force anyone to be anything, about choices each person is allowed to make, the way every single person had something to prove that they were just more than just their good or evil actions -- like even as cartoonishly villainous cutter and pryce are, the conversation they have in terms and conditions -- that cutter cares about pryce, about her safety, that she is by his side -- like that's one of the moments that live rent-free in my head. IDKKKKKK....masterful writing of shades of grey. again. wolf 359 makes such a notable point in how it Escalates... every season there is a New Big Bad that makes it so whoever was the last Big Bad is not AS bad as they seem... I also think, again on this note of how it deals with morality -- like when first contact is made -- eiffel is like Humans are terrible and 'Bob' tells him that They Do Not Care... and instead what matters is Technological Innovation and what matters about humans is that they've made Music [also top most rent-free livable moments of all time]....I think that shift in perspective, the idea that innovation is not always better gadgets, but something in how we choose to arrange sound ... drives home the bigger point of how w359 tries to shift the ideas of morality, and the bigger idea that it's not the end-all, be-all of Judgement. that it can be seen in a much more personalised scale that is constantly shifting. good\bad is not an alignment it is a transitive state!!! which, as much as I don't care for shut up and listen+constructive criticism, is a perfectly made point that good\bad is not really A Thing!! Like At All!!

anyway, love this show.