Agents Carolina (Jen Brown) and Washington (Shannon McCormick) find themselves with the rag-tag bunch from “that box canyon,” Sarge (Matt Hullum), Grif (Geoff Ramsey), and Simmons (Gus Sorola) from the Reds and Blue members Church (Burnie Burns), Tucker (Jason Saldana), and Michael J. Caboose (Joel Heyman). At first their motives to stick with the Blood Gulch group isn’t extensively clear, but soon things start coming into focus. Carolina believes Church (also known as Epsilon) might have crucial knowledge and data on Project Freelancer, a declining UNSC (United Nations Space Command) initiative designed to develop a task force of a select few good men and women that will be a few notches more “capable” than others from the Spartan project. The idea is to have a band of soldiers willing to do anything for the good of the cause, regardless of how mundane or nefarious those orders might be. The two agents are desperate to find the cryptic, often “shady” patriarch of the initiative known simply as The Director (John Reed) in an effort to make him answer for what has transpired under his advisory.
Former experiences of Freelancer are displayed in prequel format that shows the group in full force with Carolina, Wash, York (Sean Duggan), North Dakota (John Erler), South Dakota (Shana Merlin), and Connecticut (Samantha Ireland). As the group powers through missions together, a few are armed with battlefield assistance known as AI. Three are apart of the current band of Freelancers: Delta (Mark Bellman), Sigma (Elijah Wood. Yes that Elijah Wood), and the newest aid Theta (Burnie Burns). While the AI become more curious of their own existence and “true” purpose, Carolina forces her way to attain the next one developed so that she can claim the top stop on the “Leaderboard” from Tex (Kathleen Kuelch), who is rumored to have the most powerful AI named Omega. But while these trivial matters prevail the group’s interest, it becomes apparent that one of the ‘Lancers is a traitor, and is attempting to take down the project. This back and forth telling shows dual progression of an eventual conclusion that puts to rest all the questions and reveals all secrets behind this two season story.
While I was quite critical of the back-and-forth plot presenting style of season 9, it really seems to work this time around. The mesh of characters is much better rooted in both arches, and reasonably effective segues are placed throughout much of the two and a half hours. The comedy bits with the Reds and Blues along with Car and Wash is the normal tongue and cheek, one liner buffoonery fans have come to know and love. So don’t expect anything revolutionary in that vein. Now, the Project Freelancer scenes are quite the opposite. I am not just saying this for the sake of hyperbole, I was really impressed with this side of the season. The voice acting didn’t seem like it was done “just for a web series.” I got a sense of real, concentrated performances that wanted to reel you into this story and get you emotionally involved with the ups and downs of the Spartans and their AI. I haven’t gotten that feeling from any of the previous stints. I was pleased with the writing, the script construction, and it’s execution. The art direction for this portion was also really good. It honestly isn’t fair to label it “machinima.” I feel that very little was done using the Halo games and most of it should be credited to the hands of the CG artists at Rooster Teeth. The full fledged action scenes are a real joy to watch, and kind of reminds me of stuff like this and this. Season 10 is the most thought out and ambitious in the RvB lore so far. And it’s probably the best.
Another positive is the presentation. If memory serves, this is the first release to be offered on Blu-ray. And things are definitely better on this format. The visuals are clean an crisp, particularly the polished CG stuff. The images “from space” really come across nicely in HD and adds to the immersion of it all. And for this to be the first season with proper 5.1 sound design, they did a bang-up job. I heard great balance between the voice over work and the other sound effects like bullets and explosions. Normally with these types of conversions, the center speaker assignment is either tuned way too high or way too low. This was perfect, and I’m honestly surprised they got it that right the first time. Props.
The only down slide was the Special Features section. I wouldn’t label it bad, but I feel like since anyone can just watch the episodes on various websites, there needs to be good reason(s) for us to buy the “home releases.” The AV package is definitely a plus, but the extras also need to be damn good. Give us stuff we can’t watch any where else. Real “behind the curtain” exclusives. This season, regrettably, didn’t have that, but what is offered isn’t terrible. A nice outtakes reel is supported by the always classic Red vs. Blue P.S.As that went from and explanation by Sarge of the Higgs “Bozos” energy field to the release of the much anticipated (and praised) Halo 4.
-Outtakes
P.S.As:
-RT Oz
-Higgs Bozos
-Internet Survival Guide
-Remember to Not Forget
-Save the Date
-Save the Date
Trailers:
-“Immersion”
-“Day 5”
-“Animated Adventures”
-“RT Shorts Season 3”
-“RvB Season 10”
-“RvB Season 10”
