Secret Life #8 + #9
Jan. 27th, 2024 05:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkFiinally. Took me over a month to finish my notes on the last two episodes. Otoh no wonder, it's over 8k in total. Maybe I'm overdoing it but rereading my favorite parts makes me happy and I had so many favorite parts.
Writing the notes also gave me a fic idea and now a few days later I have a complete first draft already, I hope I can finish that soon.
Episode 8
Cleo:
Etho starts accidentally muted and complains Cleo missed his funny jokes, Cleo asks how many fake laughs he needs and immediately starts providing. Then goes "bless you" when he complains and then thanks him for last session, and now they will never speak of this again.
Secret Santa Cleo! Yes this is fun, but I am also not surprised they did not randomize ^^
(Ultimately: Nice: Etho, Gem, Bdubs, Scar; Naughty: Tango, Pearl, BigB)
Etho first says his task is fine and then admits he was lying and he's going to fail for sure, Cleo tells him he's not allowed failure in this team. "We're gonna win this, you and me! And Grian." xD
They make fun of Grian for muting and walking away, speculating he doesn't want to be with these people anymore, Cleo says she can't blame him "it is us" and Etho agrees ^^
Gem the first to notice Cleo is wearing her HumanCleo skin, since she survived the zombie apocalypse ^^
Etho avoiding Gem and asking Cleo to protect him – "she'll kill you with a smile" – and saying he doesn't know if he can protect Grian
Grian asking Etho what he had for breakfast – okay that did seem slightly odd but not too bad ^^
Etho telling Cleo to go steal an anvil, and Cleo saying she already stole and hid it ^^
Etho: "Bdubs, the silent killer" xD
Bdubs showing up complaining that they're only nice to him when he's a threat, Cleo saying they've been nothing but nice and even built him a bedroom. Bdubs says he wants to be their favorite son xDD so Cleo asks him to give him one of his winning smiles, Bdubs comes close and crouches, Cleo: "Aww, it's a face only a mother could love, it's adorable. Okay you are now my favorite, it's official." Etho says Scar is not going to like that, Bdubs saying he doesn't care, Cleo-text: "I'm pretty sure he cares as much as Bdubs" uh-oh… and then them agreeing that it'd give Scar emotional damage, and Etho saying it'd crush him. Cleo-text: "I may have made a [c]mistake…"
Bdubs complaining they're suspicious of him and saying he'd never attack Etho, Etho saying not directly but emotionally?, and Cleo and Bdubs agreeing Bdubs could do emotional damage. Bdubs then says his hitlist is Scar only, Cleo asks for last week?, Bdubs: "for every week of my life" xD Etho says Scar has wronged everybody, Cleo admits they invited Scar to join them but he hasn't come, Bdubs says he never will, Cleo says it's because he's just evil xD
"It's-a me, Grian xD" and how quickly he agrees that Bdubs should kill Scar… (not sure if that was more or less funny before I knew Jimmy forced him to say that.)
Cleo and Pearl confrontation! Or Pearl confronting Cleo for killing her dogs, especially. Cleo said Pearl's team killed their dogs, Pearl pointed out it was a personal alliance and she didn't kill any dogs, Cleo attempts to set Pearl on fire.
Cleo says Pearl and her team hunted her across the server, Pearl said she only hunted Cleo after Cleo killed her dogs and that that was warranted, Cleo-text: "Yeah, probably" Pearl says she was so excited to be in an alliance with Cleo :( Pearl saying she'll kill Cleo (if Cleo hurts her remaining dogs – it's a bit ambiguous), Cleo-text again: "Yeah, probably", Pearl threatening Cleo with putting on her red skin ^^
Skizz blows up Scar, Grian in chat "bye scar" asöldk
Pearl leaves and says Cleo should enjoy not being in the Pupper Alliance. Cleo, baffled: "I… will…?" Cleo-text: "Oh yeah, this is going to end badly…"
This might technically count as the first time Cleo betrayed someone in the Life series! Exciting! And Cleo seems to realize they overreacted and accept the consequences.
Those enderpearls Cleo gives Scar might be the ones Scar eventually uses to hunt down her team… (probably not considering he gets quite a few more later from somewhere.)
Cleo tells BigB she's planning to kill Pearl's dogs o.o BigB offers to help, Cleo is suspicious, BigB defends himself, Cleo calls him out on calling "She's here!" when the boogeys were hunting them but BigB denies it, then says sometimes he panics and blurts things out he doesn't really mean. Cleo-text: "Revenge brain starts ticking" BigB encourages Cleo to go kill the dogs and Cleo kills his, oops.
Grian says he'll stick by his team if they turn red today and the other two confirm that's the deal.
Cleo admits they killed BigB's dog, Etho asks if they're getting attacked because of Cleo, Cleo says statistically probably ^^
Cleo got a present from Scott, Etho asks if Scott is trying to become their favorite again, Cleo: "Scott is always one of my favorite people," and that they'd never attack each other unless it'd be against the team: "Team first, you know me, but Scott's always on that second tier of people I don't attack" Etho: "He's your Bdubs, basically." Faäsldkfjlsd (that says a lot more about Etho and Bdubs and Cleo and Scott ^^ ) Cleo: "He's my Bdubs, yeah."
Grian asking Cleo to do the zombie dance, Cleo asking what it is, Grian: "You know what it is." Cleo saying it no and asking Etho, and then both of them crouch and make "nyeargh" noises xDDD amazing.
Joel's first attempt at using a TNT cannon to shoot at their base blows up and then they encourage him even ^^ Grian first asks Etho to sing Baby Shark and then, when Etho protests it's copyrighted, asks him to make up his own song. Etho: "Oh Joel, he tried to shoot the TNT… oh Joel… he blow up the TNT at this feet… oh Joel, what does this pressure plate do…" xDDD
Gem is so happy she got someone with the berry bushes xD Grian compares the Reds to kids.
Under siege, Grian: "Etho you're the team leader, what do we do." That really surprised me on first watch, makes sense that Jimmy made him say that ^^
Bdubs shows up again (Cleo greeting her favorite son) and asks for a horse and Grian asks for a friend test, Bdubs drops his armor, Grian says Bdubs has to say "I love you." Bdubs: "I love you, I love you Grian, I love you Etho, Cleo you're amazing." Cleo: "Doesn't love me, you'll notice." Bdubs protests that he loves Cleo so much. This whole Bdubs scene is so much different knowing Bdubs just trapped their base moments before! That was such a shock when I watched Bdubs' episode.
Cleo, when asked who they'd kill: BigB, because it'd be funny.
Cleo asking what he needs them to do to help with his task. Grian asks them to spin around and Cleo immediately does it ^^
On their way leaving their base to come across Pearl and Gem on a camel with Bdubs, Etho: "Bdubs this is where you choose your side…" not realizing that Bdubs already chose… Pearl kills Grian, Pearl and Gem hunt the others as well. Cleo-text: "I knew killing Pearl's dogs was a bad idea" "Not sorry :D" Cleo <3 aand she dies to Pearl.
Pearl seeing Cleo at spawn: "I told you I'd kill you, Cleo. I'm happy with that." Cleo: "Okay!" Cleo-text: "You're welcome?" xD
Scott suggests that Cleo should kill Etho, or get Etho to let Cleo kill him, it'd be the best thing for their alliance. Cleo: "Probably, yeah." Cleo-text: "I couldn't" THEM
Bdubs:
"Mounders for Life." "Bdubs I already know you sleep in Etho's bed-" "Yes." "- it's fine, mate, as long as you don't leave us, okay, don't be stabbing us in the back." "No, never." PEARL. Oookay.
Martyn's biggest piece of advice as a red life: pee on everything.
Bdubs will be Tripwire, and Martyn will be Yorkshire Terrier, "call me Whitey." ^^
Bdubs wondering if he can get something from the Heart Foundation, surely, "everybody loves me!" and they want to give him things.
Scott wondering aloud about possible vendettas for Bdubs and pointing out Grian because he avoided the zombies, and then Bdubs mentions Cleo and Scott agrees that Cleo is an option…
Bdubs when Pearl and Martyn both want him to renounce the other's alliance confidently stating that this isn't the first time people have fought over his love, he's been in this scenario all the time xD but he says he wants to be loyal to both of them…
But then he tells Pearl he'll pick her if he has to. And Pearl tells him Cleo is on her list for burning her dogs, so Bdubs says that's two votes for Cleo…
Bdubs to Impulse: "I'd ride you around the server!"
I love how Bdubs decides to trap his own bedroom, which could get any of the Roomies, including Etho… and then he does the friend test, and reassures them that he just looked through their stuff and it seemed safe… Yeah Bdubs says he wants it to get Cleo, not Etho, but there's no way to make sure. And yes it was his task but still!
Later he tries to make another trap, it's only Impulse, Scott, and Etho has possible targets and it can't be Etho so it has to be up in the Cherry Blossom base.
Joel calling "Boat Boys, Etho, boat boys!" and Bdubs telling him he's better than that, leave Etho alone. Joel says Etho's washed, Bdubs says how dare you and then agrees it's the truth ^^
Pearl:
While writing the notes I just wanted to take a quick look at the formation of the murder camel and it didn't disappoint. Oh man, Gem was trying to make Pearl block with her shield but Pearl never did so Gem killed her xD and then they both complained about it and then they teamed up to kill Cleo. Okay! Gem can't believe Pearl still wants to be friends, Pearl says Gem just seems like so much fun to be friends with on red, which, not wrong.
Jimmy:
Such a fun task. And for some reason this time I specifically enjoyed being able to see his face xD
Jimmy really enjoys that Grian has to do whatever he says xD Grian's hesitation when confirming!
Jimmy trying to get Grian to mess with Etho and Etho just takes it all in stride xD "Etho's the most wholesome person in the world, he just doesn't care about weirdness." And then Jimmy wants to know who of those who died Etho misses the most, Etho says it's gotta be Mumbo xD and next says Lizzie had some funny moments xD poor Jimmy.
Aww, Jimmy sending Grian to woof at Martyn ^^
Etho is still Grian's boy ^^
(I watched more PoVs than these but didn't rewatch them for notes; same with the finale.)
Episode 9
Cleo:
I watched Cleo and Scar first, too excited to take any notes, so I had to rewatch them now for note-taking and on the one hand it wasn't a hardship because I loved those episodes a lot, but on the other hand I loved them so much that I knew the notes would be very long…
Episode starts with Cleo and Etho standing together (I think it's moments like this when he's not there why Grian still feels like the late add-on to the roomies.)
Cleo is functional, yay! Etho, who's still very sick himself: "That's a good place to be."
What's their plan for the episode? "What feels fun to you." Excellent plan for the end especially :)
Of course the task is just "Win Secret Life" :D
Etho confirming he's gonna uphold his alliance regardless, Cleo a bit confused: "I thought that was just… taken for granted." Etho says it's just good to say these things out loud, in case there's any doubt. Cleo: "I'm not killing you, if it's just you and me left then you can kill me, it's fine." "Oh snap." Them.
Aww, Etho and Cleo giving Tango a heart.
Etho: "Do you wanna go make fun of Bdubs and Pearl?" xD and immediately admitting to it too. Grian finally joins, Joel threatens them and they leave, Etho's parting shot: "Bdubs, you're taller than Joel." xDD "Cut him deep with that one."
Being shot at with arrows: "They're not stopping. They're not aiming, either, but they're not stopping." ^^
Grian, asked what he wants: "I don't have the hearts to, emotionally or physically, battle some of these guys…"
Sure let's go and steal Gem's tower ^^
Tango, about Skizz up on the pillar: "Not the smartest move." "I mean, Skizz does make plays like this…" ^^ This is especially funny considering the roomies were talking about hiding up there only a few minutes ago.
Scar asking if he can borrow Cleo's netherite chestplate, just to see what it looks like on him, suure ^^
Etho telling Bdubs that he got involved with some of the bad kids, he needs to come over to the good kids' side. "Before long you're gonna be staying up late, breaking curfew, you know, not eating your vegetables, all kinds of terrible things. They're a bad influence on you." Bdubs saying he loves these people, and also Gem is on their side so Etho would be wise to be a part of it ^^ Etho: "A little bit overstacked, even" and Cleo-text repeating that sentiment. Bdubs saying he's feeling slightly threatened and betrayed and leaves, Etho: What? Cleo-text: I concur!
Cleo: "Bdubs is going to stick with his alliance because that's what he always does when the chips are down." Bdubs is loyal! Tango and Cleo say so, Cleo to Etho: "He pretends he's not because he likes you to do things for him," ooof. Etho points out the other team is stacked, Scar: "I'm just here to keep Tango safe and kill Skizz."
Bdubs comes and tries his recruiting again, Joel comes and confirms he's in peaceful mode and asks about his fireworks, Etho says it didn’t do damage but was beautiful, Joel saying he just wanted to impress Etho, Etho saying he was very impressed.
They talk some more about how all the PVPers are on the same team, Cleo-text: "I think it was at this point we realized how things were going down…"
Tango to Etho: "Hop on my back, I'll carry you like usual." "Let's go, let's go."
Scar: "Scott's mooning us, I saw a lot of butt action."
Tango saying he's never set something on fire, Cleo telling him he should burn down [Mumbo's] world because it'd really annoy Bdubs ^^
Scar: "I have no allies." Cleo and Cleo-text: "I have invited you to join us, twice." Scar doesn't reply ^^ yeah he's going to look for the stronger teams for his last-day alliance.
Etho and Cleo explaining to Grian about the Cherry Mounders super-team, Grian: "What?!" Cleo-text: Team Chaos Gremlin initiate!
Scott and Gem come by, Gem about the Mounders: "They're my besties." Cleo, very doubtful: "Are they?" and then saying Gem doesn't quite know how this goes, on red, not really. "okay, you go be besties, that's cool. I'm telling you now, that team's loyalty is… well, Scott can tell you." Gem: "What about your loyalty?" "Ask Scott about my loyalty! Ask Scott about Etho's – I mean, don't ask about Grian's loyalty." xDD "but ask about Etho's historical loyalty and my loyalty." Grian: "I kind of go where the wind blows." "Yeah." Scott: "I've never seen a man drop a pair of sunglasses quicker in my life…" Grian: "My boys died, what did you want from me?" Etho: "He had to move on with his life, like what was he supposed to do, just mourn the whole time?" Love Etho defending Grian here. Grian has actually been pretty loyal, historically.
Grian goes off to trap the cherry staircase and Etho and Cleo meet with the Heart Foundation to acquire trap supplies. Cleo assuring Skizz they're not going after him/them: "Nonono, you're not a threat. No offense, not a threat." Etho, audibly smiling: "Ouch, Cleo, Cleo, just say not now they're not, at least give 'em something." ^^ They're still talking when Tango tries to blow up Cleo, but Cleo just jumps into the water. Cleo-text: "Welp, I tried…" Cleo: "Tango, you're first on the list." Skizz: "Who did that, Etho?" Cleo-text: "No, no, you don't implicate Etho here!" xD Cleo saying Tango did it, "'cause he's a muppet."
More Etho and Cleo strategizing. Cleo: "You and me are not gonna fight each other, I don't know about anyone else." Forgetting Grian or not trusting him? And then saying they could probably get Skizz on their side if the other two die, and BigB will go along with Skizz as far as he can.
Etho and Cleo making a temporary base at Grian's abandoned and burned-down egg base is funny. Etho makes a wall to prevent falling down, Cleo protests they're not gonna fall down and that they're competent – Etho: "I am not" – and that they're the most competent person on this team. Etho: "I'm a faller. If there's a chance to walk into a berry bush or step on a cactus, I'll do it as well."
Etho suggesting they could rob Scar's and saying he's never robbed anybody yet. Cleo: "Oh bless. Oh it's baby's first robbery. Yeah let's do it." xD Etho complaining he's always green and yellow and by the time he's red he has to hide, Cleo saying same but they just ignore that and set things on fire anyway.
They explore Scar's already exploded base. Etho: "Cleo. *giggles*" he set the base on fire, Cleo: "Oh! I'm proud of you." "It's so much fun." "That's exactly what we're after in this town." And right after Etho sets fire to BigB's shack xD Cleo then suggests burning down the world Bdubs built for Mumbo. Etho: "Oh no, I can't turn on Bdubs. Cleo, you know this." Cleo: "I know this, but it would be funny, and deserved!" Etho: "You gotta have your Scotts in your series, you gotta have your Bdubs in your series, that one person you can feel comfortable around no matter what situation." Cleo, reluctantly: "I know, I know… Yeah, I suppose…"
Quick detour to the Big Dogs with some barking, then Etho mentions he's tempted to spawn a million wardens and Cleo is excited by the thought of doing the warden thing, they've never done that before.
Cleo to her dogs: "Who's a good boy, teeny tiny baby doggies, there's a good boy. You're gonna murder people for me, aren't you?" Etho, in baby voice: "That's right!" Cleo, sitting them down: "There we go, aww." Then, to Etho: "This is how I talk to Scar and Bdubs." xDD Exactly the same. Who's a good boy, who's a big brave dog? Etho: "Bdubs' a good boy." "Bdubs' a big brave dog." xD
Etho explaining the mechanics of getting a warden to the surface to Cleo and then mentions if it gets dicey and a warden is chasing her, "you might be able to log out, I don't know…" Technical issues! "If Scar can do it, why can't I?" There is a precedent, excellent point.
Cleo: "If I die doing something stupid, that's fine."
BigB asking if they brought up the warden: That's getting kinda old, isn't it? Silly. ^^
Scar asking if Cleo told Bdubs that he's her favorite now, uh-oh xD Bdubs screaming about a warden, but Scar saying this is more important than wardens xD Cleo: "You know it's just to keep Bdubs quiet." "It's just to keep him happy? Okay, whew." xD
Joel is so exasperated by them having brought up another warden! Cleo: "We're not being mean, we're being silly, there's a difference and we appreciate the difference." Cleo is having so much fun. "This is my favorite thing I've done." The warden kills the camel, Cleo-text: "I hated that camel[..]" Cleo: "Etho, you're my favorite. You're my favorite, you've always been my favorite. I want you to know that." Dklfaösldkfsa "Thank you Cleo."
Reunion with Grian, and then another warden summoning. "Oh I'm so proud of you Cleo, you're doing it, you're doing it!" "I did it! Well you did it, but I… I'm doing the thing!" "No fear." "A lot of fear, but, you know, I'm doing it."
Joel: "Cleo, what are you doing?" Cleo: "Having fun?" Etho: "It was her first time, she did so good!" Joel, skeptical: "Oh. Interesting." xD Later Bdubs too asking if she enjoyed herself and Cleo excitedly saying she did, it was great; aww.
It is a weird vibe on the server! Not a lot of aggression yet.
Pearl is kiting around a warden – well she has the experience xD Cleo and Etho inviting Martyn to bring up a warden with them, it's great fun; but Martyn passes on the offer.
Scott shows up saying he knew it was them immediately.
Pearl brings the warden over and Etho asks if that's a wardeneer contest xD
Grian messes up his trap and almost killed Scar, soo close
Climbing the tower right after the break ends is good timing. Etho telling Grian to be careful on the ladder, didn't he die like five times on a ladder? ^^ Both Etho and Grian making fun noises and Cleo warning she's gonna fall, "I hate both of you so much" xD
Grian panicking when he hit Scar with an arrow and is almost knocked off the wall by his Thorns armor xD
Etho falls off and all they can do is watch him being chased… and know he's almost certainly going to die… and of course he does. Grian: "Oh Etho, my boy… my boy!!" Cleo: "Etho, you're my bo… [cut off, mournful noises.] Right, understood." Cleo-text: "We now understand the assignment" Cleo: "Now, it's death. They've chosen death."
Grian killing an invisible Martyn climbing up the ladder is very cool.
Grian wondering why the others aren't turning on each other: "I thought Bdubs was friends with us!" Cleo: "No, Bdubs was friends with Etho." "Oh, I see."
Escape to the nether is a great idea. Shame that Cleo gave it away with the achievement but tbh the others would have figured it out pretty quickly anyway. Cleo traps the portal with lava and Cleo-text immediately comments "Not having this lava affects the outcome for me" ^^
Incredible that they come out in the Cherry Blossom base, just in time to hide before they go into the nether themselves. And Grian's trap hits them perfectly. Cleo tries to be support but doesn't have lava anymore and isn't that great with a bow, so she runs and tries to escape down a hole, but Scar finds her and jumps in after her: "Hello, Cleo! Goodbye. Goodbye mom. This is for telling Bdubs [he's your] favorite." xDD Cleo doesn't even remember to switch her pickaxe out for her sword until the last second when it's already far too late. Cleo-text and Cleo after the death immediately complain if Cleo still had that lava they could have taken Scar out with them ^^
Grian dies shortly afterwards. Cleo: "So yeah, that's how it ends, we knew it was gonna end that way." Cleo and Grian find each other as ghosts, Grian says he did so much damage and Cleo tells him he did so good, she's so proud ^^ "And now, these guys get to turn on each other! As they should." End episode.
What a series for Cleo. All of that was a delight. I'd been a fan of Cleo&Etho and their interactions since I first saw them in Limited Life so their team-up was a fantastic surprise and I enjoyed every second of it, and Grian made a great addition as well.
Scar:
I'm so glad I watched Scar second! :D
Yeah the Secret Keeper is intent to make him public enemy number one but Scar still wants to make friends. His strategy: 1. Don't kill Pearl or Scott because they were nice to him, 2. Kill Skizz and Tango – "or just maim them and watch them die in a corner – oh that got really dark I'm sorry"…
Calling the Secret Keeper "evil creatures who live amongst us, unseen but secret in our hearts," js
A strategy Scar got from his brother: look busy and slightly annoyed, potentially carry something, to blend in with all the different groups.
"Tango, come and get a heart from me, it'll be a heartwarming moment *voice drops* of betrayal" ^^
Scar hopes Skizz has high cholesterol xD
Scar offers to give Tango a heart in exchange for killing Skizz, Tango refuses, Scar bargains down to Tango striking Skizz and Tango agrees; but then when Tango confronts Skizz he says that's never going to happen and attacks Scar instead. Yeah Scar should have seen that coming ^^
Pearl says she'd feel bad killing Tango and Skizz, they've been nothing but good to her this season. Scar: "Who cares, really, you know, in the end we'll all just die, nothing…" Pearl: "This is why we're not allies, Scar." Scar: "There's just nothing after this." Bdubs: "It's just nothingness. Black." Ohoo.
Scar does his best to convince Skizz and Tango to give burning Mumbo's world another try. Tango: "I know you just want to end me in here." Scar whispering to Joel and admonishing him for scaring off Skizz and Tango when Scar is trying to kill them xD
Tango knows exactly what Scar is trying to do and still follows him into the globe… and stands on a moss block… Scar: "Burn it! That's what I love to see. I love it. Goodbye Tango!" and breaks that block, Tango falls to his death. Ice-cold. Several people watch him do it, Scar just laughs and denies it. "Crazy." Scar then chases Skizz for quite a while but lets him go in the end, later saying he just wanted to "wound him and watch him hobble around the server in terror and fright," mhm.
What, Scar didn't know you get hearts for kills? xD
Scar tells Bdubs he let Skizz go after taking him down to one heart. If the Secret Keeper wants him to be the villain, why not embrace it? Why not just become the villain? *evil laugh*
Scar seeing the warden chase Etho and Cleo: "Look at this, mom and dad are bringing their new ugly step-son to meet us, Bdubs," a warden. Bdubs reveals that Cleo told him Bdubs is her favorite now and Scar immediately calls to Cleo to confront her.
Scar, Bdubs, and Joel trigger a trap on Love Island, and later Bdubs discovers that his own tripwire trap worked and is so happy about it.
Scar to Bdubs while they're avoiding a warden: "Bdubs, how are we surviving this?" ^^
Scar "gifting" Joel the murder of Skizz because Joel needs hearts, Bdubs: "You sounded like the server angel."
Then a quick visit with the roomies to trade for an ender pearl – Scar is doing an excellent job blending in with every group. (Grian tries to kill him soon after, admittedly.) Scar drops creepers on BigB but gets creeped out by the backrooms and leaves, calling BigB a sneaky squirrel. He sees the roomies hiding out on top of the pillar: "What a bunch of noobs, hiding on a tower."
Then Etho gets shot off and Scar sets off to chase. "Is that Etho? Man, he's making good time. I just realized I sound like my grandpa on a road trip – "we're making good time to our Etho killing over here…" – okay, focus up." Etho: "I'm going home, everybody, I'm dying in my home." Scar: "Oh no, he sounds like a wild animal that's been wounded… I feel bad. Let's put him out of his misery." Ender pearl throw right in front of him, "Hello Etho," and done. What a kill. "I had a vendetta, I don't like the tower."
Scott says he went down to talk to BigB but then felt bad and just left. Scar: "That's why you don't let him speak. You just go in, and you try to inner monologue, you start talking about Star Wars so you don't hear his charm and his wits." ^^ Scar was so close to killing BigB too but Scott took the kill. Scar then whispers to Gem that they can't be around Scott because of his wolves, he almost hit Scott and that would've been bad.
Scar goes up the Mounders' tower but Grian and Cleo escape through the nether. Scar starts telling Pearl he killed Etho and then stops himself because he didn't want to upset Bdubs, Bdubs hears regardless, they get distracted by going after Cleo and Scar kills her. Joel calls him a savage ^^ Third kill of the session!
Grian dies too, and they realize that it's just the Mounders, Gem and the Scotts, and Scar left. Scar and Joel remind each other of their mutual assistances. Joel: "I think you've found your alliance, Scar." Bdubs: "Yes." Scar, his voice all fake-emotional: "Are you telling me I've got a family?" Pearl offers him a dragon egg if he wants to join, those are really valuable in this series ^^
Big confrontation – Scar holding two iron ingots as a temporary white flag ^^ Scott tells them they got caught in Grian's trap. They all realize what has to happen eventually, it's just a question of how. Scott reminds Scar that he gave him a sword, Scar seems torn. Pearl tells Gem she doesn't want to do this, right? Cleo in chat: "do it cowards" xDD Someone shoots a firework. They disperse, Bdubs and Scar decide to help Joel, it gets hectic.
Scar takes a moment alone with the camera, he says he thinks he's on this side now by association or location but could probably still switch if he had to… Then he helps attack the Cherry Blossom base and defends himself to Scott: "I didn't betray, I didn't betray, it just happened this way!"
How did Scar even spot Impulse from there! Another ender pearl, a shot, another kill. Wow.
Pointing out that Pearl's Australian accent gets stronger in stressful situations ^^
Scar ender pearls down to the Scott vs Joel fight but is too late, Joel already died. Four people left. Scar isn't sure if he and Pearl are still on the same team but it's just them and Scott and Gem left so not much choice. He runs from Gem and Scott – where did he even get all those ender pearls from? ^^ Then manages to hit Gem near lava and hopes she turns into Canadian bacon, ookay.
Scott: "Scar, you chose the wrong team. Scar, why did you team with Pearl?" Scar: "It's just who I was with at that minute!" Scott still complains, after everything he did for Scar!, Scar says Scott turned on him, Scar was just chilling with the boys. Scott disagrees.
Pearl shows up: "Look, Scar, at the end of the day I want you to kill me, you get the extra ten hearts, right?" "I'm not gonna kill you Pearl, I've wronged you too many times this season!" "I kill Scott, you kill me. Then you kill Gem."
Cut to: "Alright, be careful, Scar, I don't want you dying on me." "I know, I know…" "My Mounders died on me, so [last person I want is you dying? Didn't catch that exactly.]" "We've been good neighbors!"
Another breather for Scar: "I feel bad for Scott it's just, that's when everything took off, is when I was with them! And it could've been the other way, it's just, that's how it all turned out! I feel bad for Scott right now." The opportunist.
Scott gets killed by Gem, Pearl calls out to Scar again, Scar refuses: "We go out together." Says that'd be bad form, like going up in a tower, he doesn't agree. "I genuinely don't want to win that much, to kill you for that, that just feels lame to me so I'm not doing that." Pearl asks if he's certain, says if she kills Gem she'll have more hearts than him. Scar: "So be it, that's how it goes!" Then tells Pearl she's good at the game and should be proud of herself ^^ Pearl: "I'm not intending to be, I'm trying to fail, Scar!" Scar says it shows how good a gamer she is ^^
Chasing Gem: Gem: "I'm not making you do anything!" Pearl: "You're making me do this right now." Gem: "What are you doing? We were friends!" Pearl: "I don't know! I don't know, Gem!" Scar: "Hi Gem," and jumps into the fight with her. Pearl asks if Gem wants to sort it out with her, then sees Gem and Scar are dueling: "oh gosh, this is not… nope, nope." Pearl jumps in briefly, Gem: "whoa, 2v1, gross. You guys are gross." Pearl tells Scar he got this. And he does! Fifth kill of the session!
Immediately afterwards he has to kill one of Pearl's dogs who he probably accidentally hit while fighting Gem, and then goes straight after Pearl, who's surprised he didn't even pause. There's some blows exchanged, Pearl stands next to a ravine and warns him of a zombie then falls off and dies – which Scar apparently misses! He turns to see that there was a zombie and then tells Pearl he's coming after her and apparently searches for her…
The ghost of Grian in chat: "shes dead scar" "you won"
Scar: "Oh. Really? Oh my god. How did that happen? How did the guy with no friends win? *disbelieving laughter*" while being punched to near-death by a zombie.
He climbs back out of the ravine on half a heart still asking how that happened and saying he's in shock. He goes to the Secret Keeper to hit the succeed button and with a message for "all you villains" that if you work hard enough, if you dream hard enough, and you persevere to your core, maybe you will succeed as I did here. "Definitely didn't seek out to be the villain but the villain suck me out. Not suck, that sounded weird, seeked me out. That sounds better." xDDD Close enough!
He hits the button and immediately gets assigned another task o.o The new task he got: "Win Secret Life." Again. (I remember there was some horror written with this immediately afterwards, no wonder.)
He thanks Grian and the admins and the Lifers and the viewers and the fanwork creators and says see you in the next season. Fingers crossed!
Whoa, first winner to survive the last episode. [Personal theory, Scar did die to that zombie, but then they – the other players or the Watchers, depending on which level you want to look at – revived him so he could succeed at the task, because there has to be a winner, it can't happen that everyone dies before someone presses the succeed button on the winning task, that's the rules of the game. I really like it on both levels, and it also works with the fact that Scar is the only winner who didn't die at the end of his video; he did die, they just had to bring him back because he didn't follow their plan, and now what.]
I'm excited that Scar won! Of those still alive at the end he was definitely my favorite option. Scar is one of the most unreliable narrators in the series imo, it's always fascinating to compare his PoV with others. Here in SL he made his isolation look a lot more involuntary than he was by cutting out offers of alliance, and he was very quick to blame his acts of villainy on his tasks but, well, it's not that easy. He got a lot of very good kills too, especially near the end! After benefitting a lot from his reputation as a scatter-brained player at risk of dying soon, especially in the first episode when he was allowed to reroll for a hard task after failing (to be fair it was a plausible misreading of his task) and then several others felt so sorry for him they played along and handed him that success on a silver platter.
I'm so curious what attitude he'll have going into the next series (fingers crossed.) (And the tasks he got from the Secret Keeper makes it very easy to involve him in various fun Watcher lore stuff for those into that.)
Grian:
Grian immediately repaying his debt and gifting Joel a heart
Of course Grian can't resist pressing a button on the floor xD and is so distracted by it that he walks right into a very obvious tripwire trap, hilarious.
That 1v3 vs the Cherry Blossoms was so good! One more TNT minecart or a little bit more luck and he could have killed all three of them and wow that would have changed things. And with the trap for Gem earlier, someone did the maths but he definitely cost all three of them several rows of hearts, and I'm convinced that without Grian weakening them so much the Cherry Blossoms would have won.
Impulse:
Impulse telling Scott he revealed his secret and thus failed xD
Gem telling Scott he of all people can't lecture her about having alliances with other people, she's right ^^
His PoV is really relaxed prep and suddenly Tango dies xD "Did that make you jump?"
Skizz showing up to talk to Impulse is much funnier knowing he was here to distract Impulse from discovering Grian setting up a trap
Impulse saying Skizz lost Tango, Gem: "He lost his Top!" xD
A warden is briefly heard from a distance, Skizz died, then there's briefly a bit of action hunting Etho when he falls down but not that much. Scar runs around with them and does perfect in his strategy of just blending in with people, though Impulse does think that Scar could be a threat. (Cleo does her thoughts with text, Impulse does it with voice-over. Not sure what I prefer, I'm more used to Cleo's I guess.)
Scott saying he gave Martyn an invis pot to climb up to Grian and Cleo and Martyn dies a few seconds later xD and then BigB dies (it's easier when he's muted, Scott said) and it slowly starts feeling like an actual battle
Scott: "Gem, at what point do we betray the alliance with the Mounders?" and Gem saying kill Grian first and agrees that right after. Scott just wanted to ask for permission, Gem says kill Joel and Bdubs first.
…I had somehow not made the connection that the Cherry Blossoms were going into the nether specifically to hunt Grian and Cleo *facepalm*
Then after Grian and Cleo die, Scott wants to talk to Scar (who's the only wildcard left except he's standing with the Mounders…) and we get the stand-off, Pearl saying "Mounders for life," and then battle
Wow Impulse is quite the sniper!
Down to half a heart, trying to sneak out on the staircase but then killed from behind and he doesn't even see who got him.
Pearl:
Aww, Bdubs immediately gifting Pearl a heart and Pearl giving it right back to him
Bdubs talking about the alliance and that Gem suddenly wants to be allies – I maybe should have watched either Gem or Pearl ep8 at first. And Bdubs saying Gem and Scar are his enemies but Scar gave him a gift and Gem is very dangerous and good to have on their side
One final bonding question: How we feeling? Aww, the Mounders. And Pearl immediately saying she wants one of Bdubs and Joel to win, and wants them to kill her if it comes down to it. They better not die!
Scott saying Gem is their lead singer xD Pearl "I'm not collecting people, I'm having friends," if Scott is familiar with that. Gem being confused how she and Pearl became besties after Gem killed her and recruited her to an apocalypse and bullied her and all xD
Pearl to Gem: "we can be some kind of odd alliance, I don't know what's going on here…"
Pearl being an ambassador and asking Gem to protect Bdubs and not kill Joel.
Scott saying Joel has a vendetta gainst him while he doesn't try to kill Joel, he just doesn't like him winning ^^
Scott pointing out that he doesn't have any enemies, he's only not close with Grian, Etho, Tango. Gem saying Etho is either scared of her or hates her ^^
Yeah not a lot makes sense in this series ^^ Pearl saying she would have loved to be allies with Cleo but that was unexpected, and now Cleo is someone she can't trust.
Joel: "So basically we should kill Etho." Bdubs: "I can't. I promised." Of course.
BigB showing up and them joking about "always watching," aww
Pearl chanting "murder camel" xD
Scar killing Tango is great from Pearl's PoV watching it
Pearl and Gem mocking Bdubs about how obvious his trap is is hilarious knowing Grian is going to trigger it, and it'll take off about five hearts from him, which might even have made a difference in his fight against the Cherry Blossoms later
Pearl talked about bringing up a warden too!
Pearl, queen of Decked Out 2, is of course very calm about warden wrangling :) It's fun, even.
Gem: "Everybody? You want to form a murder squad?" ^^
Scott saying he feels bad attempting to kill Skizz, it feels like stabbing a defenseless puppy ^^
It was Joel who shot Etho off! He didn't say it (not in Pearl's episode at least) but I bet he was thinking "Boat Boys" xD
Scar joining the Mounders during their attack on Grian and Cleo was so perfectly casual, exactly his strategy
Pearl zooming in on Impulse there was great
Pearl fighting Scott and the call-back to DL, "you killed yourself before I could kill you so we need to sort out who was gonna be the true victor there between us" YESSS. (Such a shame Pearl wasn't the one to kill Scott in the end but honestly I think it still counts.)
Cool music during the battles
From Pearl's PoV, she doesn't say it but with Scar killing Cleo and Impulse it becomes clear he's collecting hearts…
Pearl's scream when her Mounders died! (and the immediate music change.) "No! I failed them again!" ;_;
And immediately going to find Scar, because he fought on their side so her sacrifice is going to have to go to him, but she'll still fight for her Mounders
Pearl barely hit Gem but it was enough for Gem to think she was outnumbered
Yeah Pearl was very clearly holding back in that fight. (If it wasn't clear from combat alone, she also had three golden apples in her inventory.) She doesn't want to win anyway! But she's pretending to fight so Scar has a more satisfying victory than she had against Scott! Having many feelings. [I wanted the fic where Scar figures it out and confronts her about it so badly that I started writing it.]
And then she fell down a ravine "what a way to go" ^^
Tango:
Starting with 2.5 hearts! And then he got a heart from Skizz, who posted a heart-warming appeal to the group and Tango thinks he'll get zero, but he got hearts from Cleo, Etho, Scott, and Impulse, aww. And Scar offers a heart if he kills Skizz but Tango says he'd rather die, he's not going to turn on his brother, but Tango agrees to do one swipe and gets another heart. Almost a full row!
Tango attacking Scar for trying to make him betray Skizz – if Tango was slightly less awful at PVP that could have been very bad for Scar ^^
And Skizz still inviting Scar to their group after that! Family, even! (No surprise Scar Scar cut that from his ep. And Cleo mentioning that she invited him, too.)
Skizz placing down a boat: "Get in the butt, tell me when you're in!" "Skizz you might wanna rephrase that…"
Tango and Skizz just cracking up doing evasive maneuvers in that boat and Tango with an arrow sticking out of his head ^^
Tango trying to hit Cleo, who's offering an alliance, with TNT after she insulted them, and instead hitting Skizz, is just… wow xD
Scar wanting Tango and Skizz to go with him, saying he needs Top and Bottom, let's go xD
And Tango already singing "this is the end" under his breath… knowing Scar wants to kill him, but saying he wants to go out with a bang. And then almost gets taken out by a skeleton that takes him down to one heart xD
Foreshadowing, Scar overhearing Tango saying he's on one heart
Both Skizz and Tango saying Scar wants to kill them – but they still go along with it! Tango knew it was coming! High charisma character xD
Gem:
Finally an episode that starts super dramatic! With the dramatic flash-forwards set to music, so good
…I should maybe have watched Gem's ep8 first too. Ah well.
Gem tells the other two how many hearts she has, Impulse just starts breathlessly giggling "holy… oh gosh", Scott just goes "Oh! Right."
Scott burning his task book in lava out of spite to the Secret Keeper (and for the inventory space)
Aww, Gem gifting Bdubs a skeleton horse ^^
Gem asking Scott for advice, Scott telling her she made the alliance, Gem complaining it's so complicated and she doesn't want to be in charge of people anymore
Gem being so shocked when Tango died!
Gem talking about how this is spooky, she doesn't want to kill any of these people, and she feels like killing them with traps is easier because you don't have to do all this fighting
Joel accidentally triggered two of Gem's traps? xD
BigB saying he's in need of an alliance but he doesn't want to go with Joel and Gem ^^
Bdubs doesn't realize his trap hit Grian? ^^
Murder squad! As Scott puts it and Gem agrees, they're the Careers from the Hunger games, basically
Scott being so baffled why Joel and Gem didn't kill BigB after killing Skizz xD This isn't war, you can't just surrender. But it's hard, BigB is so nice!
Scott says the people he could kill easily are Etho and Grian, notably omitting Cleo
Etho's sad "nooo" when he falls off the tower… and then again when Gem is after him and calling for him.
Scar saying he had a vendetta because the tower is ugly and they needed to die for that ^^
Gem sounds so sad when she agrees with Pearl that she doesn't want to do this… but both Pearl and Gem are loyal to their respective original alliances. And even in the middle of battle Gem asks Pearl to stop, "we're murder besties!"
Impulse dies and Gem and Scott agree they're both dead. Gem can't believe they would kill Impulse… uh…
Joel and Scott fight, Joel wonders how much health Scott has, Scott pointing out he got hearts because he just killed Bdubs, oof
Oh no, Pearl's arrow knocked Gem into her own lava trap…
Gem finally finds Scott again and he immediately goes "Gem you need to kill me, Gem you need to kill me." Uh-oh. Because he's so low and he'd rather sacrifice himself for his teammate to win. He gives her items, Gem sounds so sad, the music is perfect. The screen goes dark and tunnels in as Gem greets the secret keeper…
Gem thinks Pearl wins this, still underestimating Scar, and then she loses the 1v2. Pearl herself just did, like, max a heart of damage?, but her dogs attack as well.
Gem did so well in her first season! [It's terrible that she got hate especially after the boogey general episode, and it feels really bad that one of my reactions to her not winning was "silver lining: she probably would have gotten a lot of hate for that too."]
BigB:
I watched BigB's specifically because someone said it was a great ending to his storyline and that was interesting, even though BigB's PoV is usually not my favorite because he's just that opaque. Very funny sometimes though, and very weird.
He starts in his backrooms again – and this time Skizz and Tango come to meet him but they still don't see the backrooms! Sad.
BigB is just observing for quite a long time
Brief "always watching" exchange with Pearl, aww
BigB standing behind Cleo when Cleo tries to negotiate with Skizz and Tango and gesturing at them not to, such a troll
BigB telling on Tango and Skizz to Scar and then innocently going "did I say that out loud?" but also evil-laughing and looking at the camera…
And then Tango dies and BigB is immediately so dismayed, and decides to help Skizz run away from Scar because it's part of the pact, except then he flees when the murder camel arrives
Yep backrooms with warden-caused blindness are very scary
Aww, Impulse reuniting BigB and Skizz ^^ and the happy music! BigB: "You're the only one I can trust!"
Aaand then very shortly afterwards they're attacked by Joel who kills Skizz, and BigB joins the fight too late to help :( Then when asked bluffs that he has thirty hearts instead of 16.5 and they leave him alone for now. Charisma build.
Scar chases BigB into the backrooms!, and then into a cave. BigB hides while Scar gets scared and survives on three hearts.
The ominous music when Scott appears with his wolves! Scott leaves, but shortly afterwards BigB goes up to the surface again and is killed by Scar and Scott.
I can see how BigB's story can make for a dramatic story arc but it requires quite a bit of interpretation too. It'd be fascinating to see BigB's PoV with e.g. text commentary like Cleo does it.
To sum up, that was another fantastic season that I enjoyed a lot. The Roomies are maybe my favorite team of the series so far, contending with the Clockers.
Fingers crossed there will be a next season! Apparently Jimmy said Grian might already have ideas? So far every new season had a completely new mechanic that I would not have anticipated at all so I'm very excited to see what else Grian has in store.
Writing the notes also gave me a fic idea and now a few days later I have a complete first draft already, I hope I can finish that soon.
Episode 8
Cleo:
Etho starts accidentally muted and complains Cleo missed his funny jokes, Cleo asks how many fake laughs he needs and immediately starts providing. Then goes "bless you" when he complains and then thanks him for last session, and now they will never speak of this again.
Secret Santa Cleo! Yes this is fun, but I am also not surprised they did not randomize ^^
(Ultimately: Nice: Etho, Gem, Bdubs, Scar; Naughty: Tango, Pearl, BigB)
Etho first says his task is fine and then admits he was lying and he's going to fail for sure, Cleo tells him he's not allowed failure in this team. "We're gonna win this, you and me! And Grian." xD
They make fun of Grian for muting and walking away, speculating he doesn't want to be with these people anymore, Cleo says she can't blame him "it is us" and Etho agrees ^^
Gem the first to notice Cleo is wearing her HumanCleo skin, since she survived the zombie apocalypse ^^
Etho avoiding Gem and asking Cleo to protect him – "she'll kill you with a smile" – and saying he doesn't know if he can protect Grian
Grian asking Etho what he had for breakfast – okay that did seem slightly odd but not too bad ^^
Etho telling Cleo to go steal an anvil, and Cleo saying she already stole and hid it ^^
Etho: "Bdubs, the silent killer" xD
Bdubs showing up complaining that they're only nice to him when he's a threat, Cleo saying they've been nothing but nice and even built him a bedroom. Bdubs says he wants to be their favorite son xDD so Cleo asks him to give him one of his winning smiles, Bdubs comes close and crouches, Cleo: "Aww, it's a face only a mother could love, it's adorable. Okay you are now my favorite, it's official." Etho says Scar is not going to like that, Bdubs saying he doesn't care, Cleo-text: "I'm pretty sure he cares as much as Bdubs" uh-oh… and then them agreeing that it'd give Scar emotional damage, and Etho saying it'd crush him. Cleo-text: "I may have made a [c]mistake…"
Bdubs complaining they're suspicious of him and saying he'd never attack Etho, Etho saying not directly but emotionally?, and Cleo and Bdubs agreeing Bdubs could do emotional damage. Bdubs then says his hitlist is Scar only, Cleo asks for last week?, Bdubs: "for every week of my life" xD Etho says Scar has wronged everybody, Cleo admits they invited Scar to join them but he hasn't come, Bdubs says he never will, Cleo says it's because he's just evil xD
"It's-a me, Grian xD" and how quickly he agrees that Bdubs should kill Scar… (not sure if that was more or less funny before I knew Jimmy forced him to say that.)
Cleo and Pearl confrontation! Or Pearl confronting Cleo for killing her dogs, especially. Cleo said Pearl's team killed their dogs, Pearl pointed out it was a personal alliance and she didn't kill any dogs, Cleo attempts to set Pearl on fire.
Cleo says Pearl and her team hunted her across the server, Pearl said she only hunted Cleo after Cleo killed her dogs and that that was warranted, Cleo-text: "Yeah, probably" Pearl says she was so excited to be in an alliance with Cleo :( Pearl saying she'll kill Cleo (if Cleo hurts her remaining dogs – it's a bit ambiguous), Cleo-text again: "Yeah, probably", Pearl threatening Cleo with putting on her red skin ^^
Skizz blows up Scar, Grian in chat "bye scar" asöldk
Pearl leaves and says Cleo should enjoy not being in the Pupper Alliance. Cleo, baffled: "I… will…?" Cleo-text: "Oh yeah, this is going to end badly…"
This might technically count as the first time Cleo betrayed someone in the Life series! Exciting! And Cleo seems to realize they overreacted and accept the consequences.
Those enderpearls Cleo gives Scar might be the ones Scar eventually uses to hunt down her team… (probably not considering he gets quite a few more later from somewhere.)
Cleo tells BigB she's planning to kill Pearl's dogs o.o BigB offers to help, Cleo is suspicious, BigB defends himself, Cleo calls him out on calling "She's here!" when the boogeys were hunting them but BigB denies it, then says sometimes he panics and blurts things out he doesn't really mean. Cleo-text: "Revenge brain starts ticking" BigB encourages Cleo to go kill the dogs and Cleo kills his, oops.
Grian says he'll stick by his team if they turn red today and the other two confirm that's the deal.
Cleo admits they killed BigB's dog, Etho asks if they're getting attacked because of Cleo, Cleo says statistically probably ^^
Cleo got a present from Scott, Etho asks if Scott is trying to become their favorite again, Cleo: "Scott is always one of my favorite people," and that they'd never attack each other unless it'd be against the team: "Team first, you know me, but Scott's always on that second tier of people I don't attack" Etho: "He's your Bdubs, basically." Faäsldkfjlsd (that says a lot more about Etho and Bdubs and Cleo and Scott ^^ ) Cleo: "He's my Bdubs, yeah."
Grian asking Cleo to do the zombie dance, Cleo asking what it is, Grian: "You know what it is." Cleo saying it no and asking Etho, and then both of them crouch and make "nyeargh" noises xDDD amazing.
Joel's first attempt at using a TNT cannon to shoot at their base blows up and then they encourage him even ^^ Grian first asks Etho to sing Baby Shark and then, when Etho protests it's copyrighted, asks him to make up his own song. Etho: "Oh Joel, he tried to shoot the TNT… oh Joel… he blow up the TNT at this feet… oh Joel, what does this pressure plate do…" xDDD
Gem is so happy she got someone with the berry bushes xD Grian compares the Reds to kids.
Under siege, Grian: "Etho you're the team leader, what do we do." That really surprised me on first watch, makes sense that Jimmy made him say that ^^
Bdubs shows up again (Cleo greeting her favorite son) and asks for a horse and Grian asks for a friend test, Bdubs drops his armor, Grian says Bdubs has to say "I love you." Bdubs: "I love you, I love you Grian, I love you Etho, Cleo you're amazing." Cleo: "Doesn't love me, you'll notice." Bdubs protests that he loves Cleo so much. This whole Bdubs scene is so much different knowing Bdubs just trapped their base moments before! That was such a shock when I watched Bdubs' episode.
Cleo, when asked who they'd kill: BigB, because it'd be funny.
Cleo asking what he needs them to do to help with his task. Grian asks them to spin around and Cleo immediately does it ^^
On their way leaving their base to come across Pearl and Gem on a camel with Bdubs, Etho: "Bdubs this is where you choose your side…" not realizing that Bdubs already chose… Pearl kills Grian, Pearl and Gem hunt the others as well. Cleo-text: "I knew killing Pearl's dogs was a bad idea" "Not sorry :D" Cleo <3 aand she dies to Pearl.
Pearl seeing Cleo at spawn: "I told you I'd kill you, Cleo. I'm happy with that." Cleo: "Okay!" Cleo-text: "You're welcome?" xD
Scott suggests that Cleo should kill Etho, or get Etho to let Cleo kill him, it'd be the best thing for their alliance. Cleo: "Probably, yeah." Cleo-text: "I couldn't" THEM
Bdubs:
"Mounders for Life." "Bdubs I already know you sleep in Etho's bed-" "Yes." "- it's fine, mate, as long as you don't leave us, okay, don't be stabbing us in the back." "No, never." PEARL. Oookay.
Martyn's biggest piece of advice as a red life: pee on everything.
Bdubs will be Tripwire, and Martyn will be Yorkshire Terrier, "call me Whitey." ^^
Bdubs wondering if he can get something from the Heart Foundation, surely, "everybody loves me!" and they want to give him things.
Scott wondering aloud about possible vendettas for Bdubs and pointing out Grian because he avoided the zombies, and then Bdubs mentions Cleo and Scott agrees that Cleo is an option…
Bdubs when Pearl and Martyn both want him to renounce the other's alliance confidently stating that this isn't the first time people have fought over his love, he's been in this scenario all the time xD but he says he wants to be loyal to both of them…
But then he tells Pearl he'll pick her if he has to. And Pearl tells him Cleo is on her list for burning her dogs, so Bdubs says that's two votes for Cleo…
Bdubs to Impulse: "I'd ride you around the server!"
I love how Bdubs decides to trap his own bedroom, which could get any of the Roomies, including Etho… and then he does the friend test, and reassures them that he just looked through their stuff and it seemed safe… Yeah Bdubs says he wants it to get Cleo, not Etho, but there's no way to make sure. And yes it was his task but still!
Later he tries to make another trap, it's only Impulse, Scott, and Etho has possible targets and it can't be Etho so it has to be up in the Cherry Blossom base.
Joel calling "Boat Boys, Etho, boat boys!" and Bdubs telling him he's better than that, leave Etho alone. Joel says Etho's washed, Bdubs says how dare you and then agrees it's the truth ^^
Pearl:
While writing the notes I just wanted to take a quick look at the formation of the murder camel and it didn't disappoint. Oh man, Gem was trying to make Pearl block with her shield but Pearl never did so Gem killed her xD and then they both complained about it and then they teamed up to kill Cleo. Okay! Gem can't believe Pearl still wants to be friends, Pearl says Gem just seems like so much fun to be friends with on red, which, not wrong.
Jimmy:
Such a fun task. And for some reason this time I specifically enjoyed being able to see his face xD
Jimmy really enjoys that Grian has to do whatever he says xD Grian's hesitation when confirming!
Jimmy trying to get Grian to mess with Etho and Etho just takes it all in stride xD "Etho's the most wholesome person in the world, he just doesn't care about weirdness." And then Jimmy wants to know who of those who died Etho misses the most, Etho says it's gotta be Mumbo xD and next says Lizzie had some funny moments xD poor Jimmy.
Aww, Jimmy sending Grian to woof at Martyn ^^
Etho is still Grian's boy ^^
(I watched more PoVs than these but didn't rewatch them for notes; same with the finale.)
Episode 9
Cleo:
I watched Cleo and Scar first, too excited to take any notes, so I had to rewatch them now for note-taking and on the one hand it wasn't a hardship because I loved those episodes a lot, but on the other hand I loved them so much that I knew the notes would be very long…
Episode starts with Cleo and Etho standing together (I think it's moments like this when he's not there why Grian still feels like the late add-on to the roomies.)
Cleo is functional, yay! Etho, who's still very sick himself: "That's a good place to be."
What's their plan for the episode? "What feels fun to you." Excellent plan for the end especially :)
Of course the task is just "Win Secret Life" :D
Etho confirming he's gonna uphold his alliance regardless, Cleo a bit confused: "I thought that was just… taken for granted." Etho says it's just good to say these things out loud, in case there's any doubt. Cleo: "I'm not killing you, if it's just you and me left then you can kill me, it's fine." "Oh snap." Them.
Aww, Etho and Cleo giving Tango a heart.
Etho: "Do you wanna go make fun of Bdubs and Pearl?" xD and immediately admitting to it too. Grian finally joins, Joel threatens them and they leave, Etho's parting shot: "Bdubs, you're taller than Joel." xDD "Cut him deep with that one."
Being shot at with arrows: "They're not stopping. They're not aiming, either, but they're not stopping." ^^
Grian, asked what he wants: "I don't have the hearts to, emotionally or physically, battle some of these guys…"
Sure let's go and steal Gem's tower ^^
Tango, about Skizz up on the pillar: "Not the smartest move." "I mean, Skizz does make plays like this…" ^^ This is especially funny considering the roomies were talking about hiding up there only a few minutes ago.
Scar asking if he can borrow Cleo's netherite chestplate, just to see what it looks like on him, suure ^^
Etho telling Bdubs that he got involved with some of the bad kids, he needs to come over to the good kids' side. "Before long you're gonna be staying up late, breaking curfew, you know, not eating your vegetables, all kinds of terrible things. They're a bad influence on you." Bdubs saying he loves these people, and also Gem is on their side so Etho would be wise to be a part of it ^^ Etho: "A little bit overstacked, even" and Cleo-text repeating that sentiment. Bdubs saying he's feeling slightly threatened and betrayed and leaves, Etho: What? Cleo-text: I concur!
Cleo: "Bdubs is going to stick with his alliance because that's what he always does when the chips are down." Bdubs is loyal! Tango and Cleo say so, Cleo to Etho: "He pretends he's not because he likes you to do things for him," ooof. Etho points out the other team is stacked, Scar: "I'm just here to keep Tango safe and kill Skizz."
Bdubs comes and tries his recruiting again, Joel comes and confirms he's in peaceful mode and asks about his fireworks, Etho says it didn’t do damage but was beautiful, Joel saying he just wanted to impress Etho, Etho saying he was very impressed.
They talk some more about how all the PVPers are on the same team, Cleo-text: "I think it was at this point we realized how things were going down…"
Tango to Etho: "Hop on my back, I'll carry you like usual." "Let's go, let's go."
Scar: "Scott's mooning us, I saw a lot of butt action."
Tango saying he's never set something on fire, Cleo telling him he should burn down [Mumbo's] world because it'd really annoy Bdubs ^^
Scar: "I have no allies." Cleo and Cleo-text: "I have invited you to join us, twice." Scar doesn't reply ^^ yeah he's going to look for the stronger teams for his last-day alliance.
Etho and Cleo explaining to Grian about the Cherry Mounders super-team, Grian: "What?!" Cleo-text: Team Chaos Gremlin initiate!
Scott and Gem come by, Gem about the Mounders: "They're my besties." Cleo, very doubtful: "Are they?" and then saying Gem doesn't quite know how this goes, on red, not really. "okay, you go be besties, that's cool. I'm telling you now, that team's loyalty is… well, Scott can tell you." Gem: "What about your loyalty?" "Ask Scott about my loyalty! Ask Scott about Etho's – I mean, don't ask about Grian's loyalty." xDD "but ask about Etho's historical loyalty and my loyalty." Grian: "I kind of go where the wind blows." "Yeah." Scott: "I've never seen a man drop a pair of sunglasses quicker in my life…" Grian: "My boys died, what did you want from me?" Etho: "He had to move on with his life, like what was he supposed to do, just mourn the whole time?" Love Etho defending Grian here. Grian has actually been pretty loyal, historically.
Grian goes off to trap the cherry staircase and Etho and Cleo meet with the Heart Foundation to acquire trap supplies. Cleo assuring Skizz they're not going after him/them: "Nonono, you're not a threat. No offense, not a threat." Etho, audibly smiling: "Ouch, Cleo, Cleo, just say not now they're not, at least give 'em something." ^^ They're still talking when Tango tries to blow up Cleo, but Cleo just jumps into the water. Cleo-text: "Welp, I tried…" Cleo: "Tango, you're first on the list." Skizz: "Who did that, Etho?" Cleo-text: "No, no, you don't implicate Etho here!" xD Cleo saying Tango did it, "'cause he's a muppet."
More Etho and Cleo strategizing. Cleo: "You and me are not gonna fight each other, I don't know about anyone else." Forgetting Grian or not trusting him? And then saying they could probably get Skizz on their side if the other two die, and BigB will go along with Skizz as far as he can.
Etho and Cleo making a temporary base at Grian's abandoned and burned-down egg base is funny. Etho makes a wall to prevent falling down, Cleo protests they're not gonna fall down and that they're competent – Etho: "I am not" – and that they're the most competent person on this team. Etho: "I'm a faller. If there's a chance to walk into a berry bush or step on a cactus, I'll do it as well."
Etho suggesting they could rob Scar's and saying he's never robbed anybody yet. Cleo: "Oh bless. Oh it's baby's first robbery. Yeah let's do it." xD Etho complaining he's always green and yellow and by the time he's red he has to hide, Cleo saying same but they just ignore that and set things on fire anyway.
They explore Scar's already exploded base. Etho: "Cleo. *giggles*" he set the base on fire, Cleo: "Oh! I'm proud of you." "It's so much fun." "That's exactly what we're after in this town." And right after Etho sets fire to BigB's shack xD Cleo then suggests burning down the world Bdubs built for Mumbo. Etho: "Oh no, I can't turn on Bdubs. Cleo, you know this." Cleo: "I know this, but it would be funny, and deserved!" Etho: "You gotta have your Scotts in your series, you gotta have your Bdubs in your series, that one person you can feel comfortable around no matter what situation." Cleo, reluctantly: "I know, I know… Yeah, I suppose…"
Quick detour to the Big Dogs with some barking, then Etho mentions he's tempted to spawn a million wardens and Cleo is excited by the thought of doing the warden thing, they've never done that before.
Cleo to her dogs: "Who's a good boy, teeny tiny baby doggies, there's a good boy. You're gonna murder people for me, aren't you?" Etho, in baby voice: "That's right!" Cleo, sitting them down: "There we go, aww." Then, to Etho: "This is how I talk to Scar and Bdubs." xDD Exactly the same. Who's a good boy, who's a big brave dog? Etho: "Bdubs' a good boy." "Bdubs' a big brave dog." xD
Etho explaining the mechanics of getting a warden to the surface to Cleo and then mentions if it gets dicey and a warden is chasing her, "you might be able to log out, I don't know…" Technical issues! "If Scar can do it, why can't I?" There is a precedent, excellent point.
Cleo: "If I die doing something stupid, that's fine."
BigB asking if they brought up the warden: That's getting kinda old, isn't it? Silly. ^^
Scar asking if Cleo told Bdubs that he's her favorite now, uh-oh xD Bdubs screaming about a warden, but Scar saying this is more important than wardens xD Cleo: "You know it's just to keep Bdubs quiet." "It's just to keep him happy? Okay, whew." xD
Joel is so exasperated by them having brought up another warden! Cleo: "We're not being mean, we're being silly, there's a difference and we appreciate the difference." Cleo is having so much fun. "This is my favorite thing I've done." The warden kills the camel, Cleo-text: "I hated that camel[..]" Cleo: "Etho, you're my favorite. You're my favorite, you've always been my favorite. I want you to know that." Dklfaösldkfsa "Thank you Cleo."
Reunion with Grian, and then another warden summoning. "Oh I'm so proud of you Cleo, you're doing it, you're doing it!" "I did it! Well you did it, but I… I'm doing the thing!" "No fear." "A lot of fear, but, you know, I'm doing it."
Joel: "Cleo, what are you doing?" Cleo: "Having fun?" Etho: "It was her first time, she did so good!" Joel, skeptical: "Oh. Interesting." xD Later Bdubs too asking if she enjoyed herself and Cleo excitedly saying she did, it was great; aww.
It is a weird vibe on the server! Not a lot of aggression yet.
Pearl is kiting around a warden – well she has the experience xD Cleo and Etho inviting Martyn to bring up a warden with them, it's great fun; but Martyn passes on the offer.
Scott shows up saying he knew it was them immediately.
Pearl brings the warden over and Etho asks if that's a wardeneer contest xD
Grian messes up his trap and almost killed Scar, soo close
Climbing the tower right after the break ends is good timing. Etho telling Grian to be careful on the ladder, didn't he die like five times on a ladder? ^^ Both Etho and Grian making fun noises and Cleo warning she's gonna fall, "I hate both of you so much" xD
Grian panicking when he hit Scar with an arrow and is almost knocked off the wall by his Thorns armor xD
Etho falls off and all they can do is watch him being chased… and know he's almost certainly going to die… and of course he does. Grian: "Oh Etho, my boy… my boy!!" Cleo: "Etho, you're my bo… [cut off, mournful noises.] Right, understood." Cleo-text: "We now understand the assignment" Cleo: "Now, it's death. They've chosen death."
Grian killing an invisible Martyn climbing up the ladder is very cool.
Grian wondering why the others aren't turning on each other: "I thought Bdubs was friends with us!" Cleo: "No, Bdubs was friends with Etho." "Oh, I see."
Escape to the nether is a great idea. Shame that Cleo gave it away with the achievement but tbh the others would have figured it out pretty quickly anyway. Cleo traps the portal with lava and Cleo-text immediately comments "Not having this lava affects the outcome for me" ^^
Incredible that they come out in the Cherry Blossom base, just in time to hide before they go into the nether themselves. And Grian's trap hits them perfectly. Cleo tries to be support but doesn't have lava anymore and isn't that great with a bow, so she runs and tries to escape down a hole, but Scar finds her and jumps in after her: "Hello, Cleo! Goodbye. Goodbye mom. This is for telling Bdubs [he's your] favorite." xDD Cleo doesn't even remember to switch her pickaxe out for her sword until the last second when it's already far too late. Cleo-text and Cleo after the death immediately complain if Cleo still had that lava they could have taken Scar out with them ^^
Grian dies shortly afterwards. Cleo: "So yeah, that's how it ends, we knew it was gonna end that way." Cleo and Grian find each other as ghosts, Grian says he did so much damage and Cleo tells him he did so good, she's so proud ^^ "And now, these guys get to turn on each other! As they should." End episode.
What a series for Cleo. All of that was a delight. I'd been a fan of Cleo&Etho and their interactions since I first saw them in Limited Life so their team-up was a fantastic surprise and I enjoyed every second of it, and Grian made a great addition as well.
Scar:
I'm so glad I watched Scar second! :D
Yeah the Secret Keeper is intent to make him public enemy number one but Scar still wants to make friends. His strategy: 1. Don't kill Pearl or Scott because they were nice to him, 2. Kill Skizz and Tango – "or just maim them and watch them die in a corner – oh that got really dark I'm sorry"…
Calling the Secret Keeper "evil creatures who live amongst us, unseen but secret in our hearts," js
A strategy Scar got from his brother: look busy and slightly annoyed, potentially carry something, to blend in with all the different groups.
"Tango, come and get a heart from me, it'll be a heartwarming moment *voice drops* of betrayal" ^^
Scar hopes Skizz has high cholesterol xD
Scar offers to give Tango a heart in exchange for killing Skizz, Tango refuses, Scar bargains down to Tango striking Skizz and Tango agrees; but then when Tango confronts Skizz he says that's never going to happen and attacks Scar instead. Yeah Scar should have seen that coming ^^
Pearl says she'd feel bad killing Tango and Skizz, they've been nothing but good to her this season. Scar: "Who cares, really, you know, in the end we'll all just die, nothing…" Pearl: "This is why we're not allies, Scar." Scar: "There's just nothing after this." Bdubs: "It's just nothingness. Black." Ohoo.
Scar does his best to convince Skizz and Tango to give burning Mumbo's world another try. Tango: "I know you just want to end me in here." Scar whispering to Joel and admonishing him for scaring off Skizz and Tango when Scar is trying to kill them xD
Tango knows exactly what Scar is trying to do and still follows him into the globe… and stands on a moss block… Scar: "Burn it! That's what I love to see. I love it. Goodbye Tango!" and breaks that block, Tango falls to his death. Ice-cold. Several people watch him do it, Scar just laughs and denies it. "Crazy." Scar then chases Skizz for quite a while but lets him go in the end, later saying he just wanted to "wound him and watch him hobble around the server in terror and fright," mhm.
What, Scar didn't know you get hearts for kills? xD
Scar tells Bdubs he let Skizz go after taking him down to one heart. If the Secret Keeper wants him to be the villain, why not embrace it? Why not just become the villain? *evil laugh*
Scar seeing the warden chase Etho and Cleo: "Look at this, mom and dad are bringing their new ugly step-son to meet us, Bdubs," a warden. Bdubs reveals that Cleo told him Bdubs is her favorite now and Scar immediately calls to Cleo to confront her.
Scar, Bdubs, and Joel trigger a trap on Love Island, and later Bdubs discovers that his own tripwire trap worked and is so happy about it.
Scar to Bdubs while they're avoiding a warden: "Bdubs, how are we surviving this?" ^^
Scar "gifting" Joel the murder of Skizz because Joel needs hearts, Bdubs: "You sounded like the server angel."
Then a quick visit with the roomies to trade for an ender pearl – Scar is doing an excellent job blending in with every group. (Grian tries to kill him soon after, admittedly.) Scar drops creepers on BigB but gets creeped out by the backrooms and leaves, calling BigB a sneaky squirrel. He sees the roomies hiding out on top of the pillar: "What a bunch of noobs, hiding on a tower."
Then Etho gets shot off and Scar sets off to chase. "Is that Etho? Man, he's making good time. I just realized I sound like my grandpa on a road trip – "we're making good time to our Etho killing over here…" – okay, focus up." Etho: "I'm going home, everybody, I'm dying in my home." Scar: "Oh no, he sounds like a wild animal that's been wounded… I feel bad. Let's put him out of his misery." Ender pearl throw right in front of him, "Hello Etho," and done. What a kill. "I had a vendetta, I don't like the tower."
Scott says he went down to talk to BigB but then felt bad and just left. Scar: "That's why you don't let him speak. You just go in, and you try to inner monologue, you start talking about Star Wars so you don't hear his charm and his wits." ^^ Scar was so close to killing BigB too but Scott took the kill. Scar then whispers to Gem that they can't be around Scott because of his wolves, he almost hit Scott and that would've been bad.
Scar goes up the Mounders' tower but Grian and Cleo escape through the nether. Scar starts telling Pearl he killed Etho and then stops himself because he didn't want to upset Bdubs, Bdubs hears regardless, they get distracted by going after Cleo and Scar kills her. Joel calls him a savage ^^ Third kill of the session!
Grian dies too, and they realize that it's just the Mounders, Gem and the Scotts, and Scar left. Scar and Joel remind each other of their mutual assistances. Joel: "I think you've found your alliance, Scar." Bdubs: "Yes." Scar, his voice all fake-emotional: "Are you telling me I've got a family?" Pearl offers him a dragon egg if he wants to join, those are really valuable in this series ^^
Big confrontation – Scar holding two iron ingots as a temporary white flag ^^ Scott tells them they got caught in Grian's trap. They all realize what has to happen eventually, it's just a question of how. Scott reminds Scar that he gave him a sword, Scar seems torn. Pearl tells Gem she doesn't want to do this, right? Cleo in chat: "do it cowards" xDD Someone shoots a firework. They disperse, Bdubs and Scar decide to help Joel, it gets hectic.
Scar takes a moment alone with the camera, he says he thinks he's on this side now by association or location but could probably still switch if he had to… Then he helps attack the Cherry Blossom base and defends himself to Scott: "I didn't betray, I didn't betray, it just happened this way!"
How did Scar even spot Impulse from there! Another ender pearl, a shot, another kill. Wow.
Pointing out that Pearl's Australian accent gets stronger in stressful situations ^^
Scar ender pearls down to the Scott vs Joel fight but is too late, Joel already died. Four people left. Scar isn't sure if he and Pearl are still on the same team but it's just them and Scott and Gem left so not much choice. He runs from Gem and Scott – where did he even get all those ender pearls from? ^^ Then manages to hit Gem near lava and hopes she turns into Canadian bacon, ookay.
Scott: "Scar, you chose the wrong team. Scar, why did you team with Pearl?" Scar: "It's just who I was with at that minute!" Scott still complains, after everything he did for Scar!, Scar says Scott turned on him, Scar was just chilling with the boys. Scott disagrees.
Pearl shows up: "Look, Scar, at the end of the day I want you to kill me, you get the extra ten hearts, right?" "I'm not gonna kill you Pearl, I've wronged you too many times this season!" "I kill Scott, you kill me. Then you kill Gem."
Cut to: "Alright, be careful, Scar, I don't want you dying on me." "I know, I know…" "My Mounders died on me, so [last person I want is you dying? Didn't catch that exactly.]" "We've been good neighbors!"
Another breather for Scar: "I feel bad for Scott it's just, that's when everything took off, is when I was with them! And it could've been the other way, it's just, that's how it all turned out! I feel bad for Scott right now." The opportunist.
Scott gets killed by Gem, Pearl calls out to Scar again, Scar refuses: "We go out together." Says that'd be bad form, like going up in a tower, he doesn't agree. "I genuinely don't want to win that much, to kill you for that, that just feels lame to me so I'm not doing that." Pearl asks if he's certain, says if she kills Gem she'll have more hearts than him. Scar: "So be it, that's how it goes!" Then tells Pearl she's good at the game and should be proud of herself ^^ Pearl: "I'm not intending to be, I'm trying to fail, Scar!" Scar says it shows how good a gamer she is ^^
Chasing Gem: Gem: "I'm not making you do anything!" Pearl: "You're making me do this right now." Gem: "What are you doing? We were friends!" Pearl: "I don't know! I don't know, Gem!" Scar: "Hi Gem," and jumps into the fight with her. Pearl asks if Gem wants to sort it out with her, then sees Gem and Scar are dueling: "oh gosh, this is not… nope, nope." Pearl jumps in briefly, Gem: "whoa, 2v1, gross. You guys are gross." Pearl tells Scar he got this. And he does! Fifth kill of the session!
Immediately afterwards he has to kill one of Pearl's dogs who he probably accidentally hit while fighting Gem, and then goes straight after Pearl, who's surprised he didn't even pause. There's some blows exchanged, Pearl stands next to a ravine and warns him of a zombie then falls off and dies – which Scar apparently misses! He turns to see that there was a zombie and then tells Pearl he's coming after her and apparently searches for her…
The ghost of Grian in chat: "shes dead scar" "you won"
Scar: "Oh. Really? Oh my god. How did that happen? How did the guy with no friends win? *disbelieving laughter*" while being punched to near-death by a zombie.
He climbs back out of the ravine on half a heart still asking how that happened and saying he's in shock. He goes to the Secret Keeper to hit the succeed button and with a message for "all you villains" that if you work hard enough, if you dream hard enough, and you persevere to your core, maybe you will succeed as I did here. "Definitely didn't seek out to be the villain but the villain suck me out. Not suck, that sounded weird, seeked me out. That sounds better." xDDD Close enough!
He hits the button and immediately gets assigned another task o.o The new task he got: "Win Secret Life." Again. (I remember there was some horror written with this immediately afterwards, no wonder.)
He thanks Grian and the admins and the Lifers and the viewers and the fanwork creators and says see you in the next season. Fingers crossed!
Whoa, first winner to survive the last episode. [Personal theory, Scar did die to that zombie, but then they – the other players or the Watchers, depending on which level you want to look at – revived him so he could succeed at the task, because there has to be a winner, it can't happen that everyone dies before someone presses the succeed button on the winning task, that's the rules of the game. I really like it on both levels, and it also works with the fact that Scar is the only winner who didn't die at the end of his video; he did die, they just had to bring him back because he didn't follow their plan, and now what.]
I'm excited that Scar won! Of those still alive at the end he was definitely my favorite option. Scar is one of the most unreliable narrators in the series imo, it's always fascinating to compare his PoV with others. Here in SL he made his isolation look a lot more involuntary than he was by cutting out offers of alliance, and he was very quick to blame his acts of villainy on his tasks but, well, it's not that easy. He got a lot of very good kills too, especially near the end! After benefitting a lot from his reputation as a scatter-brained player at risk of dying soon, especially in the first episode when he was allowed to reroll for a hard task after failing (to be fair it was a plausible misreading of his task) and then several others felt so sorry for him they played along and handed him that success on a silver platter.
I'm so curious what attitude he'll have going into the next series (fingers crossed.) (And the tasks he got from the Secret Keeper makes it very easy to involve him in various fun Watcher lore stuff for those into that.)
Grian:
Grian immediately repaying his debt and gifting Joel a heart
Of course Grian can't resist pressing a button on the floor xD and is so distracted by it that he walks right into a very obvious tripwire trap, hilarious.
That 1v3 vs the Cherry Blossoms was so good! One more TNT minecart or a little bit more luck and he could have killed all three of them and wow that would have changed things. And with the trap for Gem earlier, someone did the maths but he definitely cost all three of them several rows of hearts, and I'm convinced that without Grian weakening them so much the Cherry Blossoms would have won.
Impulse:
Impulse telling Scott he revealed his secret and thus failed xD
Gem telling Scott he of all people can't lecture her about having alliances with other people, she's right ^^
His PoV is really relaxed prep and suddenly Tango dies xD "Did that make you jump?"
Skizz showing up to talk to Impulse is much funnier knowing he was here to distract Impulse from discovering Grian setting up a trap
Impulse saying Skizz lost Tango, Gem: "He lost his Top!" xD
A warden is briefly heard from a distance, Skizz died, then there's briefly a bit of action hunting Etho when he falls down but not that much. Scar runs around with them and does perfect in his strategy of just blending in with people, though Impulse does think that Scar could be a threat. (Cleo does her thoughts with text, Impulse does it with voice-over. Not sure what I prefer, I'm more used to Cleo's I guess.)
Scott saying he gave Martyn an invis pot to climb up to Grian and Cleo and Martyn dies a few seconds later xD and then BigB dies (it's easier when he's muted, Scott said) and it slowly starts feeling like an actual battle
Scott: "Gem, at what point do we betray the alliance with the Mounders?" and Gem saying kill Grian first and agrees that right after. Scott just wanted to ask for permission, Gem says kill Joel and Bdubs first.
…I had somehow not made the connection that the Cherry Blossoms were going into the nether specifically to hunt Grian and Cleo *facepalm*
Then after Grian and Cleo die, Scott wants to talk to Scar (who's the only wildcard left except he's standing with the Mounders…) and we get the stand-off, Pearl saying "Mounders for life," and then battle
Wow Impulse is quite the sniper!
Down to half a heart, trying to sneak out on the staircase but then killed from behind and he doesn't even see who got him.
Pearl:
Aww, Bdubs immediately gifting Pearl a heart and Pearl giving it right back to him
Bdubs talking about the alliance and that Gem suddenly wants to be allies – I maybe should have watched either Gem or Pearl ep8 at first. And Bdubs saying Gem and Scar are his enemies but Scar gave him a gift and Gem is very dangerous and good to have on their side
One final bonding question: How we feeling? Aww, the Mounders. And Pearl immediately saying she wants one of Bdubs and Joel to win, and wants them to kill her if it comes down to it. They better not die!
Scott saying Gem is their lead singer xD Pearl "I'm not collecting people, I'm having friends," if Scott is familiar with that. Gem being confused how she and Pearl became besties after Gem killed her and recruited her to an apocalypse and bullied her and all xD
Pearl to Gem: "we can be some kind of odd alliance, I don't know what's going on here…"
Pearl being an ambassador and asking Gem to protect Bdubs and not kill Joel.
Scott saying Joel has a vendetta gainst him while he doesn't try to kill Joel, he just doesn't like him winning ^^
Scott pointing out that he doesn't have any enemies, he's only not close with Grian, Etho, Tango. Gem saying Etho is either scared of her or hates her ^^
Yeah not a lot makes sense in this series ^^ Pearl saying she would have loved to be allies with Cleo but that was unexpected, and now Cleo is someone she can't trust.
Joel: "So basically we should kill Etho." Bdubs: "I can't. I promised." Of course.
BigB showing up and them joking about "always watching," aww
Pearl chanting "murder camel" xD
Scar killing Tango is great from Pearl's PoV watching it
Pearl and Gem mocking Bdubs about how obvious his trap is is hilarious knowing Grian is going to trigger it, and it'll take off about five hearts from him, which might even have made a difference in his fight against the Cherry Blossoms later
Pearl talked about bringing up a warden too!
Pearl, queen of Decked Out 2, is of course very calm about warden wrangling :) It's fun, even.
Gem: "Everybody? You want to form a murder squad?" ^^
Scott saying he feels bad attempting to kill Skizz, it feels like stabbing a defenseless puppy ^^
It was Joel who shot Etho off! He didn't say it (not in Pearl's episode at least) but I bet he was thinking "Boat Boys" xD
Scar joining the Mounders during their attack on Grian and Cleo was so perfectly casual, exactly his strategy
Pearl zooming in on Impulse there was great
Pearl fighting Scott and the call-back to DL, "you killed yourself before I could kill you so we need to sort out who was gonna be the true victor there between us" YESSS. (Such a shame Pearl wasn't the one to kill Scott in the end but honestly I think it still counts.)
Cool music during the battles
From Pearl's PoV, she doesn't say it but with Scar killing Cleo and Impulse it becomes clear he's collecting hearts…
Pearl's scream when her Mounders died! (and the immediate music change.) "No! I failed them again!" ;_;
And immediately going to find Scar, because he fought on their side so her sacrifice is going to have to go to him, but she'll still fight for her Mounders
Pearl barely hit Gem but it was enough for Gem to think she was outnumbered
Yeah Pearl was very clearly holding back in that fight. (If it wasn't clear from combat alone, she also had three golden apples in her inventory.) She doesn't want to win anyway! But she's pretending to fight so Scar has a more satisfying victory than she had against Scott! Having many feelings. [I wanted the fic where Scar figures it out and confronts her about it so badly that I started writing it.]
And then she fell down a ravine "what a way to go" ^^
Tango:
Starting with 2.5 hearts! And then he got a heart from Skizz, who posted a heart-warming appeal to the group and Tango thinks he'll get zero, but he got hearts from Cleo, Etho, Scott, and Impulse, aww. And Scar offers a heart if he kills Skizz but Tango says he'd rather die, he's not going to turn on his brother, but Tango agrees to do one swipe and gets another heart. Almost a full row!
Tango attacking Scar for trying to make him betray Skizz – if Tango was slightly less awful at PVP that could have been very bad for Scar ^^
And Skizz still inviting Scar to their group after that! Family, even! (No surprise Scar Scar cut that from his ep. And Cleo mentioning that she invited him, too.)
Skizz placing down a boat: "Get in the butt, tell me when you're in!" "Skizz you might wanna rephrase that…"
Tango and Skizz just cracking up doing evasive maneuvers in that boat and Tango with an arrow sticking out of his head ^^
Tango trying to hit Cleo, who's offering an alliance, with TNT after she insulted them, and instead hitting Skizz, is just… wow xD
Scar wanting Tango and Skizz to go with him, saying he needs Top and Bottom, let's go xD
And Tango already singing "this is the end" under his breath… knowing Scar wants to kill him, but saying he wants to go out with a bang. And then almost gets taken out by a skeleton that takes him down to one heart xD
Foreshadowing, Scar overhearing Tango saying he's on one heart
Both Skizz and Tango saying Scar wants to kill them – but they still go along with it! Tango knew it was coming! High charisma character xD
Gem:
Finally an episode that starts super dramatic! With the dramatic flash-forwards set to music, so good
…I should maybe have watched Gem's ep8 first too. Ah well.
Gem tells the other two how many hearts she has, Impulse just starts breathlessly giggling "holy… oh gosh", Scott just goes "Oh! Right."
Scott burning his task book in lava out of spite to the Secret Keeper (and for the inventory space)
Aww, Gem gifting Bdubs a skeleton horse ^^
Gem asking Scott for advice, Scott telling her she made the alliance, Gem complaining it's so complicated and she doesn't want to be in charge of people anymore
Gem being so shocked when Tango died!
Gem talking about how this is spooky, she doesn't want to kill any of these people, and she feels like killing them with traps is easier because you don't have to do all this fighting
Joel accidentally triggered two of Gem's traps? xD
BigB saying he's in need of an alliance but he doesn't want to go with Joel and Gem ^^
Bdubs doesn't realize his trap hit Grian? ^^
Murder squad! As Scott puts it and Gem agrees, they're the Careers from the Hunger games, basically
Scott being so baffled why Joel and Gem didn't kill BigB after killing Skizz xD This isn't war, you can't just surrender. But it's hard, BigB is so nice!
Scott says the people he could kill easily are Etho and Grian, notably omitting Cleo
Etho's sad "nooo" when he falls off the tower… and then again when Gem is after him and calling for him.
Scar saying he had a vendetta because the tower is ugly and they needed to die for that ^^
Gem sounds so sad when she agrees with Pearl that she doesn't want to do this… but both Pearl and Gem are loyal to their respective original alliances. And even in the middle of battle Gem asks Pearl to stop, "we're murder besties!"
Impulse dies and Gem and Scott agree they're both dead. Gem can't believe they would kill Impulse… uh…
Joel and Scott fight, Joel wonders how much health Scott has, Scott pointing out he got hearts because he just killed Bdubs, oof
Oh no, Pearl's arrow knocked Gem into her own lava trap…
Gem finally finds Scott again and he immediately goes "Gem you need to kill me, Gem you need to kill me." Uh-oh. Because he's so low and he'd rather sacrifice himself for his teammate to win. He gives her items, Gem sounds so sad, the music is perfect. The screen goes dark and tunnels in as Gem greets the secret keeper…
Gem thinks Pearl wins this, still underestimating Scar, and then she loses the 1v2. Pearl herself just did, like, max a heart of damage?, but her dogs attack as well.
Gem did so well in her first season! [It's terrible that she got hate especially after the boogey general episode, and it feels really bad that one of my reactions to her not winning was "silver lining: she probably would have gotten a lot of hate for that too."]
BigB:
I watched BigB's specifically because someone said it was a great ending to his storyline and that was interesting, even though BigB's PoV is usually not my favorite because he's just that opaque. Very funny sometimes though, and very weird.
He starts in his backrooms again – and this time Skizz and Tango come to meet him but they still don't see the backrooms! Sad.
BigB is just observing for quite a long time
Brief "always watching" exchange with Pearl, aww
BigB standing behind Cleo when Cleo tries to negotiate with Skizz and Tango and gesturing at them not to, such a troll
BigB telling on Tango and Skizz to Scar and then innocently going "did I say that out loud?" but also evil-laughing and looking at the camera…
And then Tango dies and BigB is immediately so dismayed, and decides to help Skizz run away from Scar because it's part of the pact, except then he flees when the murder camel arrives
Yep backrooms with warden-caused blindness are very scary
Aww, Impulse reuniting BigB and Skizz ^^ and the happy music! BigB: "You're the only one I can trust!"
Aaand then very shortly afterwards they're attacked by Joel who kills Skizz, and BigB joins the fight too late to help :( Then when asked bluffs that he has thirty hearts instead of 16.5 and they leave him alone for now. Charisma build.
Scar chases BigB into the backrooms!, and then into a cave. BigB hides while Scar gets scared and survives on three hearts.
The ominous music when Scott appears with his wolves! Scott leaves, but shortly afterwards BigB goes up to the surface again and is killed by Scar and Scott.
I can see how BigB's story can make for a dramatic story arc but it requires quite a bit of interpretation too. It'd be fascinating to see BigB's PoV with e.g. text commentary like Cleo does it.
To sum up, that was another fantastic season that I enjoyed a lot. The Roomies are maybe my favorite team of the series so far, contending with the Clockers.
Fingers crossed there will be a next season! Apparently Jimmy said Grian might already have ideas? So far every new season had a completely new mechanic that I would not have anticipated at all so I'm very excited to see what else Grian has in store.
