Metalocalpyse - Season 3

Metalocalypse's third season definitely felt like a creative shift away from the first two. All of the old characters are still there and there's the same formula from episode to episode: the members of Dethklok are idiots, the Tribunal plots a scheme against them based on what's going on, but they'll probably manage to play a big gig somewhere anyway. But after a couple experiments with it last time, every episode is a half hour now, leading to a different pacing to everything. There's half the number of episodes at double the length, so more time is provided for individual story ideas to breathe and develop the comedy, and there is less of a need for a wave of random violence to resolve everything quickly right at the end. It's still basically the same show, but if you would be disappointed in a drop in the body count and a larger variety of styles in the original music (as in, not all death metal), then you're just going to have to deal with it.

I kind of liked the shift, though. It just seemed like a funnier show without them having to rush through the plots at lightning speed, and just let the band be amusing jackasses for a while before blowing everything up. Not every story was the best, and even if there was some good humor I'm honestly tired of stuff like Rockso the Rock and Roll Clown. Pretty much all the main characters got their own dedicated episode, and it allowed for a reasonable amount of character exploration in a show you might not expect that from, especially after seeing its first two seasons. Apparently a lot of the changes were probably attributable to the departure of one of the two main creative people behind it (he still does his voices, though). It still seems more or less on track for its original vision of an absurd, over the top storyline involving an insanely popular metal band, even if they haven't done enough to develop it in the last four years. Whatever, it's a cartoon.

Metalocalypse - Season 2

Metalocalypse's second season features the same sort of humor as the first, but steps up the complexity of the plot and brutality of its frequent violence quite a bit. I guess you need to be in a certain mindset to enjoy the show, as some people certainly don't "get" it. There's a certain disconnect between the humor, which is subtle conversational stuff, frequently relying on just the goofy way all the band members talk, and the horribly graphic deaths that frequently happen, usually near the end of the episode to conveniently get rid of a threat to the band's success. It certainly makes for a different kind of series, but it's one I've grown to like quite a lot.

The team definitely did some experimenting in the second run, and it took them a while to wrap it up, as thanks to breaks in the airing schedule the finale was shown almost a year after the premiere. I usually prefer to just know the show's going to be on every week until the season's over, but with Adult Swim I usually watch every week anyway so it's not as much of a problem. It's just a bit harder to remember everything when it comes time to reflect on what happened. A lot of the episodes are still one-shots, but it's not uncommon to get a hint at what's coming up with the sinister characters plotting against Dethklok operating in the background. The third to last and last episodes were half an hour in length, and proved to me the show could survive in that format if they wanted to do it. They were among the better shows in the season, although the climax got a little boring around the umpteenth time a character was saved at the last minute by a friend hitting the bad guy from behind. Still, it was a solid conclusion, although it leaves you hanging about what really happened to certain people.

Metalocalypse - Season 1

Comparing this show to Brendon Small's first one, Home Movies, you wonder how the same guy could have created such wildly different things. But get past the surface, and they have a little more in common. The subject matter is completely different and Metalocalypse is much more violent, but they have similar styles of humor focusing on conversational dialogue, and Home Movies did have a heavy metal band that appeared once in a while. Metalocalypse is an interesting show because it never tries too hard to be funny, which can't be said for most comedies. It's often content to just tell a weird story about this band filled with idiots that still manages to control the thoughts of most of the world. Not to say it isn't usually humorous, because it is, they're just not constantly throwing out jokes hoping some will stick.

The five members of the band really are morons, with over half of them unable to even speak English properly. I have to admit a lot of the appeal comes from just listening to them talk and interact. Music is a heavy element of the show, as might be assumed. It's mostly metal, and actually pretty entertaining most of the time. Enjoyable riffs and funny lyrics if you can make out Nathan's growl. But besides that, one thing you can always count on is over-the-top violence. It seems like every episode ends with a bunch of people having their faces melted or getting blown up or something. It's actually a comfort that you can usually expect something bad to happen. The violence culminates in the surprisingly dramatic season finale, when the world leaders who have been trying to sabotage the band really get serious about it. The second season started late last year and took a break, but should be returning some time soon.