Ep. 50: Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

For our 50th episode (and first of Season 2!) the ladies begin with a revisit to a previous episode: Stranger Things. Is it possible Kara has changed her review? Tune in to find out!

The hosts then move onto their review of Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia. Available on netflix ages 8+

Summary
This Guillermo Del Toro produced animated fantasy series follows a teenage boy, Jim, and his friends as they explore a mysterious realm of trolls and other fantastical creatures. Ultimately, the teens are tasked with protecting the world. 

The Positives
We loved Kelsey Grammer!  His contribution to the show created an engaging experience for us as viewers.

 The show is very plot-heavy, so be prepared to put your phones down or else you will miss important details that are sometimes shown in blink-and-you-miss-it moments. For us parents, this is an exciting shift from many kid’s shows available right now that are fun for kids, but mind numbing for their caregivers.  

 Valuable messages of personal growth, loyalty, honor, and the pressures of being a teen.  

We loved the goofy names of the trolls.

Potentially Problematic
We thought they were too hard on Toby with the fat jokes and tropes. It eventually just turned into bullying. 

 The bad guys would definitely be scary for younger kids. 

 There is some violent language.

 The bully calls the main character a “Buttsnack,” which almost sounded flirtatious to us? We’re not 100% sure. 

Will parents like it?
Yes. 

Should They Watch It?
Both: Yes

Side Conversations
Kara has changed her opinion on Stranger Things. She put aside her role as a mom to a six-year-old and realized that it’s a fit for older tweens (and up) because of the role models and themes of teamwork and heroism. 

 Both ladies have fallen in love with Eddie Munson along with the rest of the world. Joseph Quinn is overwhelmed by his newfound fandom and even broke down in tears at Comic- Con out of appreciation. They love what the show did with Max, and Laura points out the grief journey that the show took her on including the symbolism in the lyrics of Running Up That Hill. 

 The girls fawn over the genius of Guillermo Del Toro, but would he be a better dinner guest or a better partner during a game of Pictionary?  Discussion ensues.

 If you enjoyed this podcast, give us a five star review on your favorite platform and check us out on Instagram. Thanks for checking out Should They Watch It!

Transcript

Kara Edwards: 0:00

The views and opinions expressed by the should they watch it podcast are those of two moms who happen to be a registered play therapist and a voice actor for cartoons. So while they may feel their opinions come from a knowledgeable place, they are still in fact just opinions. Should they watch it? A podcast that takes the task of reviewing your kid's favorite shows up your to do list? Hi, and welcome back to the shit they watch it Podcast. I'm Cara Edward.

Laura Orr: 0:27

And I'm Laura Orr back this is officially I guess season

Kara Edwards: 0:31

two. I don't actually know how seasons work. It makes no sense to me. But when I upload the podcast they asked if i What season were in, so I was like, great. Let's take a break and call it season two.

Laura Orr: 0:40

I cannot believe it. We've made it we've made it made it so this is our season premiere.

Kara Edwards: 0:45

And you know what else? This is? Our 50th episode.

Laura Orr: 0:48

Oh my gosh. Happy 50 Yes. To you too. Is that like a gold? Do where am I supposed to buy? You go? We

Kara Edwards: 0:57

should have bought each other gifts. Oh, bummer time next time. 51 still counts.

Laura Orr: 1:02

Yeah, right. We're in our bison. Is it bicentennial? Or is that 200 Whatever. We'll get there. Yeah.

Kara Edwards: 1:11

Very exciting. And we chose a really fun show a very popular show. Yes, we did you enter back into the world of podcasting.

Laura Orr: 1:19

Yeah, we decided to cover troll hunters tales of Arcadia.

Kara Edwards: 1:24

Which even though it was only on the air from 2016 to 2018. It is still going strong. It's up there all the time. It's always one of the most popular shows. They had a movie that just came out in 2021. So we figured it was time to let you know should your kids be watching it.

Laura Orr: 1:43

Start with a bang, right? Yeah, start with the big one. Well, before we get started, how you doing?

Kara Edwards: 1:48

I'm I'm really good. I need to revisit a previous podcast. Let's do it. I need to talk about Stranger Things. Okay. Okay. And the reason I need to talk about it. First of all, I have finished season four.

Laura Orr: 2:01

Yep. Because the last two episodes were just released on July first. So we're well into two weeks in

Kara Edwards: 2:08

Yep. And I feel okay. Okay, for the first time ever, I would like to change my my answer to should they watch it watch?

Laura Orr: 2:21

What a bang we are breeding season two

Kara Edwards: 2:24

as I've never I don't even know if we're allowed to do this. But I want to chain we make our own roles. Kara? Well, this is our podcast, no longer want to say no. I have thought so much about woman is allowed to change her mind. And I have. I have Okay, tell me because of I was thinking so much about the things that you were saying about not there not being great shows for tweens and teens. Okay. And I was thinking about so many of the things that I watched as a teenager, and a tween, quite frankly, that it didn't like mess me up, you are old enough to understand. And I was watching season four with a different eye. And just seeing like, there is so much that when Michael's older, like it's way too scary for him at six years old. And I think I was looking at it from because I had watched Season One seasons one and two again. And so I was looking at it from the mom of a six year old. And no, it is too scary for a six year old. Way too scary. But when I was watching season four, I was like, I would love to watch this with him when he's 1314 or however old. Whatever age it is he hits that I feel it's appropriate for him. I would love to sit down because it is fun. And there are good messages and it's while it's scary and it's gory, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's also these good messages of like teams working together and and saving the world. And I don't know there's so much like it's funny and it's positive and yeah, and I just I need him to know Eddie Munson.

Laura Orr: 3:59

Oh, my God is literally like

Kara Edwards: 4:01

the best character in the history of television.

Laura Orr: 4:04

Right? Oh my gosh, he is I think has emerged as one of the most beloved characters.

Kara Edwards: 4:11

No question in the actor Joseph Quinn has just been like so overwhelmed. I don't think he was ready for to be in the land of Comicon. And he has been I mean, he's he cried in front of fans recently. Really? Yeah, a girl stood up. He had his first ever ComiCon experience. And I think he was remarkably overwhelmed. And it is overwhelming when you have your first time of fans coming up to you like that. And it was him and so he had I mean hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that he met and finally a girl stood up and just just broke him. I mean, she was saying like how much they appreciated him and how great of an actor he is and how Eddie months and changed the world and he just broke and he started crying And it's really, really sweet. And yeah, I think this has been, I think this has been a heck of a ride for these kids.

Laura Orr: 5:07

Well, and that character was so special because of I feel like what he kind of represented in that movie of just being a person who feels who was so misunderstood, yes, and,

Kara Edwards: 5:25

and scared. He says so many times throughout the season, I'm not a hero, I run, I'm the person who runs I run and to see I mean, Joseph Quinn talks about this a lot is he says to it was such a gift to be given a character that grows right so much and has that arc where at the end, you know, he does stand up and he is the hero as the hero

Laura Orr: 5:48

he doesn't run away and, and he's also this person who I think his humanity was overlooked by the people of their town, because of the fact that he were black and he had long hair and he, you know, enjoyed playing Dungeons and Dragons and listened to Metallica. Like all of those things, things became who you was, and that and his compassion, and his, you know, you know, all of the good things about him were were not seen and he was he his, the his humaneness was not seen by the people in this town because of this tragedy that yeah, and then the what was called blame him for it. Yeah.

Kara Edwards: 6:38

What was it called in the 80s? As you mentioned, a Satanic Panic and Satanic Panic. And that was a real thing. I was reading an article about it. Oh, yeah.

Laura Orr: 6:46

It was huge. Yeah,

Kara Edwards: 6:47

they really did a good job showing that yeah, it

Laura Orr: 6:51

was kids were going missing at the time. And they people in their grief, were blaming, and the media really had a heavy hand in it. Were blaming the wrong people. Basically, they were just blaming the wrong people. And he, his, his character, embodied all of it all like that. There was just something in him that everybody loved.

Kara Edwards: 7:14

It just spoke to me. And there were so many great characters throughout this and the acting was spectacular. And our favorites really brought it and

Laura Orr: 7:23

who so at the end of it, who did you walk away thinking about the most? Is that he he's,

Kara Edwards: 7:29

I mean, I think that's the case for everybody. I love I can't think of his real name right now. But Dustin, the character plays Dustin but I thought the relationships between like Steve and Dustin and Eddie and see, I felt like they developed they did sit and Robin and Nancy. I feel like they just really worked so hard to develop the relationships. And and I have to talk about Noah's coming to mind, which I think is his real Will. Will they? Yeah, it's like I'm thinking of the actor's name. Wow. Oh my gosh, and part two of season four. I don't I don't think the spoils anything if you haven't had a chance to watch it yet. But they really do address him being gay and his Kimmy has not coming out yet. But like his. They like they've clearly established that yes, setting it up for him to to be able to and also the support like his brother, the conversation that his brother had with him, I just I can imagine is a conversation that so many people would just benefit from so greatly of like, I love you, no matter what, there's nothing you could do or say that is going to make me love you less than how you know. And I just hope that that continues in season five, this acceptance and love and I know it was so different in the 80s than it would be today. And so I think that they're, they're being really smart, the Duffer brothers are being so smart with this character. And yeah, I'm excited to see I loved all of those scenes.

Laura Orr: 9:09

Oh, well, I love that you changed my mind. Because honestly, like the this show really, like is mild in some ways. It really comes to horror. The horror genre is is gnarly. And they didn't shy away from the the

Kara Edwards: 9:34

gore in the days a death scenes are gory. Yeah,

Laura Orr: 9:39

but they were more mindful about the characters. Yeah, I There are just I mean, horror is if you I mean, it's a wild genre. And there are a lot of careless things that are done. Yeah. And horror that they get away with because of the genre that they're in. And so it was I think it's cool to have a show like this that Is because there aren't a lot of like horror sci fi shows or movies that are as elevated as this where everyone is watching it. Right? You know, there aren't a lot of those out there. And so the quality of this is is impressive in my opinion. And I gotta say, I'm Shane. I'm changing gears, switching gears a little bit. But I wanted to talk about Max a little bit.

Kara Edwards: 10:22

Oh, so she was so spectacular, that it's day let her shine and season four.

Laura Orr: 10:32

I agree. I feel like what they did with her character is so smart. And I have been, she's actually the one I have been thinking about the most, okay, of all the characters really, because of what they have, like her grief journey has been used. So symbolically, in my opinion in this this season. I just love the use of the song, because that's the there's the the the chorus is, if I could make a deal with God, I would get them to swap get him to swap our places, which is obviously she's been using this song to process the death of her brother. Yeah. And now she has to continue to listen to it in order to survive. And so I feel like the symbolism there of like, having to continue being stuck in a place where you have to continually reprocess a traumatic loss is so profound. Yeah. And such a smart commentary that they're making through this just use of Creative Media, I don't know it's and then, and then the scene where she talks about how when Billy was alive, because he wasn't a good person he wasn't. And so I think the journey that she's going on, as far as how she's reconciling her feelings for him, with with grieving the loss of him, I think, is something that a lot of people can relate to, because we encountered people in our lives who mistreat us and then they can leave suddenly, like so anybody who has who has lost a person through death, that mistreated them, right and was honestly abusive towards them, because he was, I think people will relate to that, because that's a really hard that's really

Kara Edwards: 12:39

and you do still grieve. There is still grief there while you're processing the trauma that was in the love area, the guilt

Laura Orr: 12:48

of like, my like she said, I wanted there are times I wanted you to die, and now you're dead. And now I feel like there's a weird part of me that feels responsible for that, even though it wasn't me who did it like? These are all as somebody who was a grief therapist for a year. This is so normal, like these are such, like they it makes total sense why a person would go through something like that. And it's something that I saw in some of my clients who were just having to deal with these fighting feelings, these feelings that were kind of at war with each other and like, who's going to win and right now? It's, it's the it's the bad stuff that's winning, like she's having to constantly re experience all of this and I don't know, I'm just saying now she's so now she's,

Kara Edwards: 13:33

um, there's no I mean, I can I can look at so many of the characters and how, I mean, the Duffer brothers were just they're just brilliant. The way they're putting this together. I cannot and the use of music master. I mean, the use of the music is so good journey isn't there? Like Yep, so good.

Laura Orr: 13:55

There's a there's this shirt that popped up that merchandise is like, coming up on my algorithm now and I have not yet bought one but I might there's a shirt of Eddie playing the guitar in the down

Kara Edwards: 14:09

the window and when it looks like Metallica, it?

Laura Orr: 14:13

Is it any more of like a graphic? I may have

Kara Edwards: 14:15

one on the way. I may have already done that.

Laura Orr: 14:21

Oh my god, we have matching algorithm. I think it's a different shirt. But that would be really funny if we could match.

Kara Edwards: 14:30

So I'll show you which one I've already bought.

Laura Orr: 14:33

It's such a cool scene that I did it. I saw the memes and stuff for that scene before I actually saw the scene. Yeah, and I got really nervous because if without context, it's corny, right? No, but then they checked. It's perfect.

Kara Edwards: 14:47

So well done. I was like season four. I feel like Zack and I watched it together and we were just like yes, yes. And I had that thought is I don't know what age it will be for Michael but there is going to come and age and it's before he's an adult, right that we can absolutely sit down and watch this together and I would feel safe. And that knows, like, I gave the wrong review. After watching it. I was like I was saying no to my experience that I had with Michael. And so my answer is, should they watch it? No. And then taking him out taking his six year old out of the picture. It was like, Wait, there are absolutely kids that can watch this and it would be great.

Laura Orr: 15:28

Well, isn't that just the part of being a mom though is like, is is, you know, acting in the best interest of your child. Yeah. And then having to reevaluate that sometimes, like ways. Yeah. All right. Like, we're always trying to be protective of our kids. And we make this podcast so that we can help other parents do the same thing. But it's not always you know, we can we can certainly revisit our choices and make mistakes. Yeah. I would even say it's a mistake, right? You're just you reevaluated I changed your mind. It's okay to change your mind. Yeah. I know that. You're human. We are not perfect. Yeah, we're not perfect.

Kara Edwards: 16:07

We say it all the time. No, your kid know what they're able to handle. But even though there's Gore, and it was a little It's too scary for Michael, at this stage, I think. I think it would come up sooner than I would have previously thought that I would feel comfortable with him watching it. I could see a 12 year old Michael. And that's what I was saying. Yeah, I was like, for some reason 12 was coming out to me to that.

Laura Orr: 16:28

I could see it once his friends. I mean, if his friends watch it, I don't know. Now, he'll probably get pulled into

Kara Edwards: 16:33

no question. Oh, here any talks that by the way here he talks about because he has seen just enough like little videos or heard me talk about it. That master puppets is currently his favorite song shut. I have I have video of him playing like serious air guitar to master puppets. Because it he hasn't even seen this. But he's just seen the scene of any son playing the guitar. And he's like, I want to be that. So like, cool? Doesn't he's already talking about Zach nah, like he's heard enough about it. But his interest is piqued. So I mean, he might be seven and a half when we're sitting. Watching it. But

Laura Orr: 17:12

this is such a this is this is. This is such a fun conversation. And maybe we can talk about this next time. But it's so fun to be here. It's like the Game of Thrones thing where everyone is watching it. And so it's really fun to be able to talk about it. With Heart. Yeah, because like we've talked about this before that TV is, is there as a part of TV is about community and the way things are structured now with how we can view it. It's not as easy to have find community in the TV that we watch. Yep. And so for example, like you and I are the only ones watching you for Yeah, so we were talking about that next time. But it's you know, when something is like really exciting. It's really fun to be able to share that we talked about it and when it's we both are realizing it's really hard when you have a show that you love so much and nobody that you know, then you're like dang it. How do I talk about this show? 100%

Kara Edwards: 18:05

So speaking of talking about show, let's get

Laura Orr: 18:07

to it or, like 20 minutes,

Kara Edwards: 18:09

I'll sit here and talk about strangers. hours we actually do have to talk about Troll Hunter

Laura Orr: 18:14

another honestly. I mean, I hope you agree but another like masterpiece of a show, but Kara

Kara Edwards: 18:20

does gonna say let's start down. I want to ask you for Laura. Should they watch it?

Laura Orr: 18:24

I am a yes. I'm a total Yes, Cara? Should they watch it?

Kara Edwards: 18:29

I am actually Yeah. Yay. Yes. And I do have a caveat. I know you're gonna have the same caveat. Okay. And I want to talk about that when we get to the problematic part. I think well, there's I Haven't I already know we are and so there's there's one thing that really bothers me about the show that I wish didn't exist. Yep. But as far as it's

Laura Orr: 18:53

all guys great, good. It's outweigh the con. As far as just like the quality of the show. It's I think you and I both get so excited when we find a show that parents we know will enjoy watching with their kids. Yes. Because their

Kara Edwards: 19:11

kids are we are stuck so often watching shows that are like mind numbing for us because they're not meant for us. So when something comes along, and I remember vividly when Michael found this show, and and I got really excited about it, and I got sucked in. He was too young when he first found it. Okay, because I want to say he was like three so um, yeah, and, and he just wasn't, it wasn't capturing him. And so I was like, Can we watch a little more? I just want to see what happens to Jim. And he was like, no, and then we went away from it. So when we started back on the podcast, I did start back on Episode One to refresh everything and remembered why I enjoyed watching it so much for sure. It's so

Laura Orr: 19:56

easy to check out sometimes when you watch things that your kids want to watch because they're either not interesting or they are and you've seen it like a billion times, like I will agree. Frozen is a very entertaining show. But I can easily say that I've watched it 50 times and that is being conservative. So when there's a new show that like you can enjoy with your kids, it's, it's just fun it is. So do you want to do the premise? Do you want me to do it?

Kara Edwards: 20:21

Either way? Actually, I didn't write out one of my clever premises because, honestly, how do you? I can't really make fun of this show. So

Laura Orr: 20:32

well, I can just run it. I'll jump in. Okay, so Trollhunters it's is based on a book by Daniel Krause and Guillermo del Toro. It follows Jim who finds a magic amulet that chooses him to be a Troll Hunter. A Troll Hunter is a guardian that defends the world of humans and the secret world of trolls. This is a day time winning Emmy winning show. It has eight and a half stars out of 10 on IMDb so I know we are not alone in this whenever Kara and I are looking up you know popular shows to watch this has come down and comes up all the time every single time so and what I loved about the show

Kara Edwards: 21:13

so you have your your Troll Hunter. Jim is first human Troll Hunter ever. They've always been trolls previously, we didn't even know this world of trolls existed under our feet. Yeah, they're right here. They're they're a special passage into the troll market where they all exist and live. But we have good trolls and we have bad trolls and the good trolls need their Troll Hunter to defend them against the bad monster trolls. And I love this premise. And we see this a lot in shows and it never gets old where you have the kind of nerdy bullied kid that suddenly becomes the superhero. In which he absolutely rises to the occasion and becomes and then he then he gets his I found some article I should find this again because it was fascinating. They're like, there's kind of this I don't know outline that is used very often and how to become a true hero. Uh huh. And it has 12 steps.

Laura Orr: 22:08

Oh, I love this.

Kara Edwards: 22:10

I need to find this article because it was so fascinating. And it actually was in reference to Troll Hunter how Jim goes through the perfect 12 steps to becoming a hero and it's you know, the unlikely kid finds the thing that turns him in gives him a superpower Yeah, he's got to get his tribe then he's got to overcome these certain obstacles and yeah, it like literally hits every single one of them and then finds his destiny and steps up to the next level and so he reaches all 12 steps to become a true superhero

Laura Orr: 22:44

and it's it's fun to watch while he does it. I mean, I think that's probably where the magic happens. Because some of it is pretty like what you would expect yeah and of a show but then the I mean it's Kermode deltora Like it was a genius world He is so he's so good at he's kind of like Tim Burton and that he can create an entire world yes, you know, it's it's and that's not easy to do and he's done it and so if you're a Giro del Toro fan I mean that you're you know what to expect here. It's just it's totally

Kara Edwards: 23:23

I mean, we have tales of Arcadia, but Guillermo Guillermo del Toro actually wanted he envisioned this trilogy. So the troll hunters the first set does have three parts part one is very long I'm just gonna warn you it's 26 episodes but 22 minutes apiece Yeah, so you're devoting I mean, to get through this you're really going to devote some time to it but following tales of Arcadia then we had the three below tales of Arcadia and eventually wizards tales of Arcadia in so that actually just I don't even think we have access to that one in the US yet. I know we do three below

Laura Orr: 24:03

what's what's three below re below

Kara Edwards: 24:05

is the series that follows this one

Laura Orr: 24:08

so this keeps going out. Okay, it's going out.

Kara Edwards: 24:11

I know I have seen three below on Netflix. I know I have is it the same world night believe? I believe it's I mean it's continued and it's a follow up series. I don't know if Jim is in it, but there is a follow up surprise. So and then it continues from there. So this is I mean, this is not something that is like one and done and we're never seeing it again like with the movies coming out. I think I'm totally dialed up troll hunters will continue but very long time

Laura Orr: 24:38

I'm in for it. And this show is super plot heavy. This is one of the shows I know we've talked about before there's the shows you can kind of jump into and then there's shows that you might want to start from the beginning. This is this is probably the most storyline I feel like I've watched because there are so many crucial elements to this show. Oh, that are blinking you miss it moments Yeah, that if you are not watching you are going to be lost to the rest of the time like there's no watching this while playing Candy Crush on your phone. Like you've gotta lately

Kara Edwards: 25:12

absolutely like we were watching some of this while I was recovering from being sick and I fell asleep second same thing I was like wait, what what's happening and I had to go back and watch like a little bit of it to just be like wait, i Huh?

Laura Orr: 25:27

This is actually dare I say rewatchable too because there's just a lot going on and so and there's

Kara Edwards: 25:36

some serious star power in this show. You've got Kelsey Grammer who voices the main troll such a good job so good. Ron Perlman is in here. Mark Hamill is in this kind of a sad story. I don't I was reading about this the the main character who voices Jim anten. And I'm going to Yeltsin. I don't want to say it wrong. And I remember when this happened, I obviously wasn't watching the show back then. But I very much remember when this actor he passed away and super freak accident. He was in his driveway, got out of his car. He didn't put the car in park in the car backed into him and actually pinned him and he died. He's 27 When he died and I mean really a rising star. So it was he was on Star

Laura Orr: 26:21

Trek. That's that's what he was known for. At the time, too. Is I think he was he was on Star Trek. I don't remember the character you play but yeah,

Kara Edwards: 26:27

yeah, no really big deal. And so then he was replaced by and again, I'm probably going to mispronounce names. Emily, Emily. Emile. Emile. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, I that doesn't happen until you get to part three. Right? So we do have the same voice actor for parts one and two. But then there there is going to be a switch. So yeah, that's really sad. Because he's brilliant. I mean, he's so good in this in this series is voice acting is I mean, the voice acting all the way around. Kelsey Grammer is so good. He's my

Laura Orr: 26:59

favorite there yo quo. Like I am not. I you know, you're you're this you are the pro here when it comes to the voice actors. And so a lot of the things that you pick up on I don't but right but that one, like it's hard to ignore how good he is. He is the My Favorite voice for show, you know? And that's feels odd coming from me to say because that's like, you're around No,

Kara Edwards: 27:26

but it's true. It really stands out. It stands out. I mean, for me, the acting all the way around stands out like it's just you and it to me, it really demonstrates the importance of great voice acting, because believable and interesting voice acting will draw you into a show because when the voices are believable you can and the animation is great, which it is you put all those in great writing you put all that in there you're in you believe like you it stops being a cartoon, and it starts being a world that you can actually like put yourself

Laura Orr: 28:00

in and boy did I

Kara Edwards: 28:03

I gotta tell you, Laura was Laura was late today showing up because she had to text me because she had finally just watched the very end of season one and you were sobbing

Laura Orr: 28:15

I had a headache

Kara Edwards: 28:18

so hard. Yeah, no, I did not have that reaction. I enjoyed it. And I loved it. I'm sorry. I was I had COVID recently and I'm apparently going to clear my throat for the rest of my life.

Laura Orr: 28:32

But it was the way it gets better.

Kara Edwards: 28:34

So anyways, I did not have that same

Laura Orr: 28:39

I just got I mean it's so invested. I will try not I'm not going to spoil it but I will get as hard as deep into it as I can without spoiling it. I I really had my heart broken in the last episode,

Kara Edwards: 28:55

I think you can say without split there. Somebody passes we

Laura Orr: 29:01

there's any storyline right? Well, that in that's not and it's it's not just okay. There's a story of this character is heartbreaking from beginning to end. Yeah. And so I'm still trying to find the meaning of this character because it's like it's just it's as it stands, is just a reflection about how cruel life can be honestly, and I know I'm sounding super dark, but this character was mistreated from day one. They this character was was abducted from as a child and made to fight in in a war for a faction of troops. You gonna like the storyline is frickin tragic and we are reminded and we see how it affects this kid. character the entire time that this character has trauma, they feel disconnected from their heritage. They're used for war. And then when this character is faced with, like potentially dying, we see how they're coping with that. And then the finale happens. And so I had invested so much in this character. And now I don't I just don't know how to feel. And I'm really mad again, we're going Del Toro for like, for like making me like feel this way

Kara Edwards: 30:31

over a cartoon that was made for children. As

Laura Orr: 30:35

a Chandler being as Chandler Bing would say, yes, it is really sad when they stopped drawing him.

Kara Edwards: 30:42

Oh, that's terrible. That's, that actually made me sad. It's

Laura Orr: 30:47

so and but it's that thing of like, I also appreciate it because that's, you know, you're not pandering. You're, you're, it's the Ned Stark thing. You get in like from Game of Thrones, like you get invested in this character. And then things just happen differently than what you are used to seeing when you watch films and videos. And then it's and then you expecting? Yes. And so I just Yeah, I came over here. Very sad. I realized that it

Kara Edwards: 31:20

was so funny, which makes sense. So originally, this was expected this was envisioned as a feature film. They realized there was way too much that there was no way they could turn this into a film it needed to be a series. They talked about it being live action, and then decided they didn't have the budget so they decided to do CGI animation.

Laura Orr: 31:42

I'm really glad I'm glad they did. Yeah, it really works. Yeah,

Kara Edwards: 31:45

really fun.

Laura Orr: 31:46

Yeah, I'm glad that they did what they did as well. I think that it would have been it they really would have had to cram a lot in there some glad to if it were a movie so I'm glad they spread it out. Oh, I don't think we said you can stream this on Netflix, Amazon Prime Apple TV and Vudu. Okay, we talked a little bit about who we think the audience is but let do you want to I think it's I would say a safe number is eight and up if your kid gets scared easily mine of course could watch three episodes and then was without too scared couldn't sleep. Because there is like we can talk about that in problematic but it's there's a lot of intensity in this and so a safe number I think would be eight but if your kid doesn't get you know they don't scare easily, then maybe you could go at like six but there's that Oh, yeah. Like Michael

Kara Edwards: 32:38

wasn't scared. It was interesting because when I first started the show he remembered not liking it the first time around so he was like, Oh, seriously, we're gonna watch this and and he's really stuck on the How To Train Your Dragon series right now we'll have to review that Oh, boy. So I was like, this is not dissimilar. Like it's it's a different shows, but there's also some similarities. And so I was like, just sit with it. And once we got a few episodes in he was pretty hooked on it. And yeah, I would i But I agree. I like that eight number.

Laura Orr: 33:13

Yeah, I mean, it's about teenagers. The story, Jim is 16 So you know, the problems that they're dealing with, we get to see like how he's navigating. You know, being a hero with being a kid in high school and having

Kara Edwards: 33:27

a crush on a girl and being scared to ask her to the dance while he's battling to save the world

Laura Orr: 33:33

yet and wanting to get it and wanting something to drive like a moped or a car or whatever. Yeah, like we're seeing teenage problems too. So and this the story like we said is super plot heavy. So if it's got to be a kid who can who that stuff's gonna keep their attention as well. Yeah, you know I'm saying so but um, but again know your your kids that's gonna be our tagline know your kid know your kid is it fluffy or educational? I

Kara Edwards: 34:01

mean, it's totally fluffy. There's nothing meant it's it this is meant for pure entertainment.

Laura Orr: 34:07

Yep. We already talked about what parents like it I think

Kara Edwards: 34:12

oh, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this with Michael there was yeah if I if I could complain about the show at all. And I mean it this is a minor having a first season at 26 episodes I do feel like there was some stuff in there that was added in just added in that didn't necessarily drive the story like what you know, I'm thinking about like, the and I owe this though. I love these. I love the names of the trolls. All of them have so much Oh, so not Enrique is my favorite.

Laura Orr: 34:45

Oh my god, all the trolls.

Kara Edwards: 34:48

There's there's a brother that's been replaced by a turtle. And they call it because he's not Enrique so his name is not Enrique love it so much. Um, he like throws a party at the house. So unlike some of that part, I felt like get get to the like saving of the world stuff. And there was a few scenes in there like that, that were still really fun. And maybe I felt that way, because I knew we had to review the show review it. So it was like, Oh, come on. It's so long. Yeah. If we were just watching it, because we just for enjoyment, it may not have bothered me as much. So yeah, take that one with a grain of salt. But that is something I remember thinking is like, whoa, this feels long.

Laura Orr: 35:31

And I think that also come just speaks to like what you were most most invested in, you know, those shows that you watch where you're like, you're just kind of biding your time until it gets to the storyline you care the most about? True. Yeah, and and Stranger Things. There were storylines, where I was like, Okay, this is fine. But like, I want to get to this other thing. Yeah. I'm really interested to know more about that. Yeah. And so I that's probably what's happening for you, too. And for me, personally, I was way more invested in what was going on in the troll market than what was going on in Jim's personal life at school.

Kara Edwards: 36:05

Oh, I agree. The troll market is Yeah, last sanity back. Show me a little gnomes. Yeah,

Laura Orr: 36:10

but I think there might be people that disagree that are really invested in what's going on with him. And so I'm okay with it being there. But I personally check out a little bit when he's like, trying to make it to the play and all that.

Kara Edwards: 36:23

Yeah. Okay. I agree. That's been that's another one where I was just kind of like I could have done without that. I don't care. Yeah. But then I know, that's how we build the relationship between him and Claire and

Laura Orr: 36:32

exactly like it's there for a reason, like even the party, I would argue. It's there so that not Enrique and Claire can have a toboggan bond and then not Enrique can save Claire, you know, later on he, you know, helps her out really in important ways. But I'm with you. I did not find that as interesting to watch. But I get why it's there. I get what you're saying. Yeah, so there's just parts were there. There's more, there's parts that are more interesting than others. Yeah.

Kara Edwards: 36:59

What else did you like? Um, I really, I mean, I like the overall message I love when a group comes together, and you have these you know, these non hero types that would normally not be heroes who find themselves. Toby is a character I think of that really finds himself through part one of this series. And which is nice, because he's, he's gonna come up here later, under the problematic or I did like the overall message, there's a line that I wrote down that Jim says, a life of almost as a life of never, I can't remember if it's Blinky or Jim that says it but I really liked that that line is, you know, try do something take and taking on the like, you are given something, and instead of throwing it away, like I'm going to make the most of what I was given. I think there was a lot of really fun messages throughout this series.

Laura Orr: 37:55

They really do pause in this movie to make these kinds of like, really cool messages.

Kara Edwards: 38:02

They really yeah, they take the time to really drive them home and I like

Laura Orr: 38:05

that Yeah. And they wouldn't have been able to do that if it were a movie so I think spacing it out again, I think was smart for the for the what they did for this show and

Kara Edwards: 38:15

giving it the time that it needed to breathe, even though I was like I have a podcast to record.

Laura Orr: 38:22

I thought the same to him like I'm not there's no way I'm going to get through all three seasons.

Kara Edwards: 38:26

I sure sat out thinking I would like you to watch three C's oh my gosh, C's Part one is 26. So long a minute. It's over 20 hours

Laura Orr: 38:36

to get through. It was great. But yeah, it's a lot. Yeah, there there are a lot of cool messages of like, personal growth as well that I really liked. Yeah, and loyalty honor, I like I thought they did a really good job of showing kind of what it's like to be a teenager right now have with him being super overwhelmed. Yeah. And this burden of protecting humanity and also

Kara Edwards: 39:05

getting your homework done and making it to the play rehearsal and keeping

Laura Orr: 39:09

keeping your life a secret from people like I mean, not not that teenagers have to do that. But like he is he's

Kara Edwards: 39:15

doing a lot and he also feels a lot and I like that they put this in there is that his mom is a single mom and he feels a lot of responsibility, which a lot of children do with single moms. I know Michael did when when I was a single mom and we got to stick together gotta take care of her make sure she's okay. And it's like achieve and has to say like, I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you.

Laura Orr: 39:36

Yeah, that dynamic is a really interesting one too, that they were able to take the time to work on it. Like we are allowed to see like some really important and interesting relationship dynamics in this show. When in even

Kara Edwards: 39:51

the bad like his bad teacher who turns out to be a changeling. You know, don't just trust everything you see, get to know people Yeah, there's a lot of good messaging

Laura Orr: 40:01

going really, really and truly and so which is why I do think that you know, teenagers who are you know, some teenagers aren't really into watching cartoons but if if the your teenager is into watching cartoons, I think that they will find this, like, not only fun, but something that they that speaks to them in their complaint right now. Yeah, cuz I remember having this like homestretch feeling as a teenager of like, I only have a couple more years of high school and then I have to figure out what to do next. Yeah. And even though I you know, and then once college was figured out, there was still this like, it feels like very frantic. And I just remember really feeling the stress just overwhelmed. Yeah. So I think that they did a really good job of showing that in the main character,

Kara Edwards: 40:47

for sure. Okay, can we get to the problems? Oh, my gosh, I

Laura Orr: 40:51

just we're looking at each other. I think there is an elephant in the room, I

Kara Edwards: 40:56

need to say. So and we had already texted about this because Laura was like, I know what you're not gonna like about the show. Because you know, me, and I agreed, and I knew the same with you is, I don't understand why they have to make so much fun of Toby. Yes. Who is Jim's best friend is he's shorter. He's he they draw him larger, a bigger size. They make so many fat jokes. Yes, so many fat jokes at his expense.

Laura Orr: 41:27

And he encompasses a lot of fat tropes. Like he has a preoccupation with food that sometimes gets in the way of him accomplishing really important goals. And that's just like, very offensive. It's so

Kara Edwards: 41:43

different. Like he can't fit down the alleyway and he knows it ahead of time. And oh, Jim, I don't know remember, it's too tight for me. And then he finally but you've been on a diet and they just invaded. They talk about his chubby little legs, they talk about him dying dieting, they talk about him being too fat to fit places they talk, he talks about how he eats his feelings. None of the girls will go to the dance with him. He tries he asks every single girl when he has his fantasy sequence of where he finally is being paid attention to by a girl. It's a freaking mole. Like it's an actual rodent.

Laura Orr: 42:24

It's a it's a it's their mascot. It's because that's the only thing that first things will pay attention. Yeah, a person dressed as a mountain a mascot costume which is weird in itself. Like he is obsessed. He's He's like a furry. Yeah, it's like he's he's in love. With a person dressed in a mascot costume as a mole. It is very odd choice you

Kara Edwards: 42:50

for weird, right? And then like they make him the king. But he's not really the king of leads the green trolls that I guess they're meant to look like him. And finally he finds his bigger people. And so he belongs it just, I didn't Yeah, I could have done without all of that he could have been drawn the same. Then done everything the exact same. And we could have had this same character arc with him where he does find his strength and he does become a hero. We could have had all of that and just lessened the amount of fat humor.

Laura Orr: 43:24

Yeah, it's a really odd choice that they made. It's a really odd choice that they made, like, there are things about him. They could, I'm with you. There's not much. I mean, it's like, it's just so weird. And some of it just feels dated. It's not. Some of it's kind of like, it's like, that's offensive. But another part of it's like, Man, this is just kind of dated. And I think there's a difference. And, which is why I feel like I was able to not overlook it. But say despite this, it's still a really good show. Absolutely. But there are times where it's like, come on, like come on, like does he really have to like, I don't know, just be so preoccupied with. I don't know.

Kara Edwards: 44:06

Like, did he that the thing he has to overcome quite literally is like, his side. Yeah. And it is like, you know, Jim overcomes, you know, bullying and feeling like he doesn't totally belong. And it's like, I feel like I felt like they could have had a similar theme in there without it being I know, there's a way to

Laura Orr: 44:25

use this character. I mean, there's a way to use a character and get across messages that you want to get across. It just was a very odd choice. Is it strange? It's almost like they just didn't know what to do. Yeah, the sidekick like you can make them awkward and indrawn the way that he was drawn, and you can even have him struggling internally with the way that he looks and not accepting the way that he looks and being okay with the way that he looks. You can do all of those things, but at the same time, you're also crapping on him

Kara Edwards: 44:53

like, like over like, throughout the entire part one is just like in there is another Toby fat joke? Yeah. Really? visored really

Laura Orr: 45:04

weird. It's it's, it's a weird choice. It was not my favorite thing about the show. It was my least favorite thing for sure for sure. So other things that you notice I noticed. I mean, there's violence. There's scary imagery, there's death. There is some very colorful script writing there. One thing colorful language. I will say. Inga rots. angor rot says, I will drink your blood out of a goblet made by your skull. So very colorful,

Kara Edwards: 45:38

little Express

Laura Orr: 45:40

language about violent any Gorod is scary like that. They are scary. They're bad guys,

Kara Edwards: 45:46

the bad guys have gone really scary. And there is some like very stressful moments, which again, was probably why it's not great for a super young viewers.

Laura Orr: 45:54

Yeah, there's also jokes about rule number three in surviving a fight is to kick trolls in the groin. Which is like not really something you want your kid to take away and you know, like that, and but that's kind of something that's been used time and time again. Kick them in the nards Are you know, yeah, Wolf man's gotten Did you ever see Monster Squad?

Kara Edwards: 46:17

I don't think I did. Oh, it's

Laura Orr: 46:18

an old movie. That kind of Goonies. But with monsters,

Kara Edwards: 46:22

Michael has been somewhere along his travels, picked up a word for like growing that would also be similar to a snack that you might eat. I won't say it out loud, so that we don't. Yep. So if there's any children listening, I won't plant this in their heads because mine won't stop saying it. And I'm like, Would you stop? Yeah, yeah.

Laura Orr: 46:47

That's inevitable. It's unavoidable. But it's there. So if you are a parent who's kind of trying to avoid those kinds of jokes, it's reoccurring. Yeah. Steven, the bully has a nickname for Jim that is blowing my mind. He calls him but snack. And I'm like, what? I remember that. That's like, what what a budget is. But snack honestly kind of sounds like a flirtation and my buddies using it aggressive.

Kara Edwards: 47:20

Which makes it Yeah, that's a really weird i don't know what that is like, super that character the bully is there's like, cuz he might be one of the least threatening most annoying bullies in history. He's so annoying, like, annoying, like when they have the episode where they all have to put their hands on the track. And he's just like, he drove me nuts.

Laura Orr: 47:45

Yeah, he's so he's honestly unnecessary. Some of the choices are a little weird to me. Really. It's in the human world. It's the trolls. And maybe this is just a window into Guillermo del Toro's mind where maybe the fifth because he's Pan's Labyrinth is his is his baby. I love Yeah. And he did the orphanage which is a weird a weird show. Maybe he's, he's it's the Tim Burton thing. Yeah,

Kara Edwards: 48:12

like in the human world, everything is kind of messed up. Because then using for him, it makes more sense. And so when when you put yourself in like the other world, then it's a it's a cleaner. I don't know the word to say. But that's a better like,

Laura Orr: 48:26

maybe he's just more comfortable in his imagination, which is why he's such a genius in creating these crazy fantastic worlds like Tim Burton, right? Like, totally, I gotta be a little quirky to be

Kara Edwards: 48:37

you have to be a little quirky to be able to think like this. Yeah, thank goodness for and

Laura Orr: 48:41

thank goodness for it. It's just you're gonna see odd choices when it comes to the human side of things. I don't know, what do you say? No,

Kara Edwards: 48:50

I think that makes all the sense in the world kind of zero, right? When you put when you compare it with Pan's Labyrinth and some of these other things that he's created, that starts to make a lot of sense, because when I'm thinking of troll market, it is always very well organized. And everybody's very kind. Well, I mean, they're protective. And

Laura Orr: 49:09

yeah, and just the creativity of it. Like yeah, it's like, wow, you know, and it's cute and like, the choices are very fun. And like, right Interesting. Yeah, and you're just way more way more engaged with it, but then the human world it's just odd like their butts snack. It's you're calling a kid about snack doesn't make any sense.

Kara Edwards: 49:34

I'm on board with this theory.

Laura Orr: 49:36

It's just a lot of odd choices, a lot about odd choices. So maybe we're just getting a window into who he Gilmer Del Toro is just kind of

Kara Edwards: 49:45

now I wish I could like sit down for an hour and be like, Okay,

Laura Orr: 49:48

tell us tell us what's what's up with?

Kara Edwards: 49:50

Are you just sick and tired of humans because like, I don't know that I would think you're

Laura Orr: 49:54

wrong. Right? Oh my god.

Kara Edwards: 49:59

I think I think Get to man.

Laura Orr: 50:01

I think we can talk. He'd probably be really fun at game night.

Kara Edwards: 50:04

Oh, he would be the best game. Yeah,

Laura Orr: 50:07

he would be really fun at Pictionary. Could you imagine like you imagine what would come out of his imagination? If we told him to draw like, I don't know. A bucket of popcorn? Yeah. But like, dinner would probably maybe be a little, little wild, right? Sit down in dinner and a glass of wine might be. Okay, what else? What else do they need to be aware of? Oh, the, there's a story about parental abandonment. If that's something that your child is sensitive to, then you just might want to be aware of it. It was kind of disappointing. We are we are never going to learn about at least at this point about his dad, which kind of felt like a missed opportunity to me. It's odd. It's odd that his dad was again, it's in the human world. It's really odd that his dad was like this amazing dude who just disappears overnight. Like Jim says, my dad was amazing. He was such a great dad. And then when I turned five on my birthday, he leaves too. He runs away with his mistress to be a ski bum in Vermont. And I'm just like, the switch is a little off brand. If your dad is a terrible father and then leaves at five it makes more sense. But if your dad is sick or Ph D

Kara Edwards: 51:25

bomb, I went in Vermont, because I did only get through part one. I wonder if it's revisited. Not

Laura Orr: 51:31

exactly did I google that because I was like, Surely his dad is going to reappear. And I read that Guillermo del Toro considered like a whole storyline about his dad being like, part of this, you know, this underbelly troll hunting, you know, which would make more sense like he disappears to protect his family or he disappears still, but that but he decided to just make him a deadbeat dad, and it felt kind of inconsistent. I just, I it felt inconsistent with the way it was at the beginning. Yeah, that and that mom and son were left just just totally flabbergasted. And maybe that does happen. I don't know very many examples of that happening where it's a perfect dad who just decides to completely change like life depths

Kara Edwards: 52:16

up and I'm gonna go like ignore my family and be a ski bum. Even

Laura Orr: 52:20

psychopaths show their true selves at some point. In fact, like if they have a whole class family, but they're murdering people on the side, the families come out and they're like, he was a great dad. But oh, wait like this? Was he something that he did? That was not very normal. And like, oh, wait, he did have like a broom that was locked and nobody was allowed to go into okay. Yeah, like, there were weird things about him. That just felt normal to us. Because this is all we know. You know what I'm saying? But I'm not I don't know. There's a vibe that we got from Jim's dad here.

Kara Edwards: 52:52

No. And there. There is another series on Netflix right now. It's hosted by William Shatner. I can't think of the name of it. But it's like mysteries like all these things in there is one about the brain. There is one about like mind stuff and how psychopaths and their brains work and how they've even found people functioning in normal society that actually do have the mark of a psychopath on their body. I don't know I'm gonna go off into total tangent. Oh, you're not AB Jim's dad had the mark of a psychopath, but it didn't come out until he met his perfect beach mom, girlfriend.

Laura Orr: 53:24

I mean, that had to be the explanation. I mean, there's something Guillermo del Toro needs to shed some light on how like you can just be like a deadbeat dad one day like snap unless you had a traumatic brain injury we don't know about and then he forgot his family and wandered off to be a ski bum in Vermont because he doesn't remember that his former family exists.

Kara Edwards: 53:44

Clearly we need a spin off series here. Tomorrow this is we cannot end with the three write tales of Arcadia and the movie. We need a Jim's dad spin off. Well, luckily, it turns out there is no beachbum he's actually part of something and

Laura Orr: 54:02

that would make more sense. That would make way more sense. I want him to do some traumatic brain injury or something. I mean, they're it's a mystery right now that could definitely be used

Kara Edwards: 54:13

in some capacity some capacity. Well, I don't think we're done I don't think we're done so maybe it'll come back at some point.

Laura Orr: 54:19

I hope so. Okay, that's it my child therapist brain is like I need answers I need it doesn't make any sense to me. And I know but yeah, that's all I got. Do you have anything else anything problematic don't

Kara Edwards: 54:34

have anything else. I think this is a really fun series even though we definitely had a list of problematic things. I think it's a really fun series that yeah, the parents can enjoy watching with their kids and and what have you, I was looking up what we're doing next. Oh, and next we're gonna actually boy are we going to go in a whole different direction here we are going to actually review sea of love. A new series that has Just come out on Netflix that is definitely for the younger younger younger audience. Yes, it

Laura Orr: 55:05

was definitely a hard left from troll hunters as well. Troll hunters which is like, packed full of content sea of love is more relaxed and quiet and

Kara Edwards: 55:17

and we're gonna let you know if we were entertained if our kids were entertained if we think that your kids would be entertained or watching see.

Laura Orr: 55:25

Stay tuned. We have some guests in the future. We have a lot of fun things planned for season two.

Kara Edwards: 55:30

We're excited to have you back. Thank you for sticking with us and joining us. Bye

Laura Orr: 55:37

bye, scribe and follow us on Instagram