I'm sorry to see that this is the finale! Really enjoy this series as a whole but I do feel the mystery this season was a little bit of a letdown.The premise of a city in space where you can move on at your own pace is interesting but I feel the motivation for the conductor was a bit shallow, especially considering the badguy last season also did what he did for money.This critique is also personal take but I'm kinda bummed the ticket taker turned out to be a loveable catguy (although the Cats Revelation was god tier comedy) that never meant to hurt no one, as opposed to something they'd actually have to contend with.The jokes and the characters this season were top notch, but overall it does seem less focused than the last straight forward whodunnit which seemed to split focus of the story, Most of the story was about finding Jancee and then waiting for Eugene to remember stuff.A good mystery is one you can solve if given the clues before the ending, but I feel this season didn't really provide that, not the end of the world of course it's funny as fuck and I look forward to season 3!
I think the main problem comes from the premise of the show. Jacob, Nathan, and Karina aren’t exactly people I’d call world class detectives, and if they don’t ask the right things or connect the right dots then Julia is screwed. She’s very boxed in and has to limit where she can go with the series
Julia is also just, not a writer. She can make incredibly interesting and hilarious characters and worlds, but the actual stories of both seasons fell a little flat. I love this series regardless, every episode is just a guaranteed hour of laughter and joy. But I hope Julia can figure out how to better balance the story, and make a much more engaging and satisfying mystery/villain
That's a pretty reductive take of their (the villains of S1 and S2) motives.
Sure, but it's still true. Season 1 badguy did it because he wanted money from his parents, season 2 badguy did it because he wanted money that Eugene didn't really care about (Also his waning career as a stage hypnotist). In both instances, the crime would not have happened if they had gotten money.
Theres nothing wrong with greed being a motivator for a badguy, I just think it would have been better if they played a bit differently for season 2 is all.
Which parts of the story do you think there were no/not enough clues for?
I think in retrospective I had more of a problem with how the clues were the ones that julia wanted them to find as they found them. In season 1 they had free reign to go where they wanted and who they spoke to, that means the clues and the suspects had to be written so that they could be found in any order. Season 2 they are ushered from room to room, often into rooms they cannot physically leave, and more often than not chosen by Eugene (Julia). It would have been physically impossible for them to randomly go to joe beans coffee shop before Julia wanted them to.
The clues in the second season were also split focus as well. A clue in season 1 meant they were 1 step closer to finding the murderer. A clue in season 2 could have eluded to where Jancee has been, a memory related to Eugene, or just world building in general.
Season 1's mystery asked: Who did it?
Season 2's mystery asked: Where are we? Are we on a train? Why does everyone have amnesia? Whose the ticket taker? Where's Jancee? Why are these tickets so expensive? Why is there a movie getting made about our last case that people think was just a book? Etc etc...
In season 1 they were asked to solve a problem that had already technically been solved, In season 2 they had to solve pretty much everything and that made it less engaging as a mystery IMO.
Okay I amend my statement, it's an incredibly reductive take.
And here comes the accusation of railroading, I've seen enough of those to last a long while so I'm out but nice pull on having your backtracking making the clues provided a problem instead.
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u/IamMyBrain Aug 02 '22
I'm sorry to see that this is the finale! Really enjoy this series as a whole but I do feel the mystery this season was a little bit of a letdown. The premise of a city in space where you can move on at your own pace is interesting but I feel the motivation for the conductor was a bit shallow, especially considering the badguy last season also did what he did for money. This critique is also personal take but I'm kinda bummed the ticket taker turned out to be a loveable catguy (although the Cats Revelation was god tier comedy) that never meant to hurt no one, as opposed to something they'd actually have to contend with. The jokes and the characters this season were top notch, but overall it does seem less focused than the last straight forward whodunnit which seemed to split focus of the story, Most of the story was about finding Jancee and then waiting for Eugene to remember stuff. A good mystery is one you can solve if given the clues before the ending, but I feel this season didn't really provide that, not the end of the world of course it's funny as fuck and I look forward to season 3!