Where to start with Critical Role!
Oct. 1st, 2016 09:29 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
labellementeuse.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
get_togetherFor anyone who thought they might want to give Critical Role a go after our talk on Saturday, hi! So glad you think our beloved fucked-up found family show might be for you! If you want to get into it, here's some advice.
BASICS
The show is all on Youtube for free. It airs once a week on Thursday nights (Friday afternoon NZ time), streaming live on Twitch. After the episode is over, it is subscriber-only as a Twitch replay for three or four days, and then gets posted to Youtube on Mondays (NZ Tuesdays). You can find the episodes here on the Geek and Sundry site.
WHERE TO START?
So, yes, there's a lot of content. If you are a completionist or super-picky about spoilers, I recommend that you start around episode 2 and carry on. Some people have bounced hard off the first episode because it's a bit awkward and they're not used to what they're doing yet, but you should get pretty much everything you need to get from episode 2. Or just push through.
If you are NOT a completionist, or if you just want to try the show out and see if you like it and maybe you'll go back for some stuff or maybe you won't, here are some options. (Reddit also has a guide but I don't like it as much because it recommends the fairly awkward backstory clip and doing reading, and I don't really think that's useful. BUT it's there if you want it.) (Do not pay any attention to the Geek & Sundry guide, it is not very good.)
1. The seriously quick and dirty, I wanna just jump right in with minimal explanation, intro: start at either episode 65 or episode 67. As of writing episode 69 is the most recent to air, so this will throw you RIGHT in. DOWNSIDES: you won't know who anyone is and you'll have to catch yourself up with quite a bit of plot. UPSIDES: minimal catch-up time and in my opinion these are some pretty great episodes. I don't know how they'd be if you don't have 60 episodes of context, but I think they'd be pretty fun.
1.1. Another option is to start at episode 57. I actually don't recommend this because there are some episodes in here with a live show format, which I find pretty awkward. So I honestly would go option 1 or 2 here, BUT episode 57, plot-wise, is the next-most-recent good jumping in point.
2. Watch roughly half the show, starting with episode 39. DOWNSIDE: you miss some really crucial early character development. UPSIDE: It's the start of one really big overarching plot and there are some brilliant episodes in here.
3. If you start from the beginning but find Tiberius difficult to handle: start from episode 24, The Feast. This episode is a slow starter but it kicks off a really good arc and Tiberius leaves early.
4. If you want a set of taster episodes, but if you *don't* want a whole lot of plot, maybe give the Slayer's Take arc a try, episodes 18-21. These are a series of episodes with some guest cast (you might recognise Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton). They are almost totally separate from the rest of the plot, but they are really fun, they're early on so they don't spoil much, and they might be a good set of episodes to try to see if you might like the show.
OTHER STUFF
1. There are a whole lot of bonus episodes and bonus peripheral content and that kind of thing, like special episodes where some of the cast couldn't make it so they took a week off and played something else or did a silly episode or something like that. These are generally skippable; reddit has a guide. My personal absolute favourite, if you're going to watch any, is Liam's Quest. I also like the Battle Royales. Battles Royales. Battles Royal. Hmm. I need to develop a grammatical position on this issue.
2. If you do a lot of data entry or driving or that sort of thing, you may like to try just listening to the show. I'm reliably informed that the show works perfectly fine as a podcast - you might miss one or two things but it's still lovable. There are lots and lots of programmes that will rip Youtube clips as mp3s! The only thing that you'll miss is people's expressions, which I love and cherish but I will admit aren't the most important thing ever.
Please do ask any other questions you might have and also please ask if you have anything that you need warnings for. I am very happy to help. Ask any time.
BASICS
The show is all on Youtube for free. It airs once a week on Thursday nights (Friday afternoon NZ time), streaming live on Twitch. After the episode is over, it is subscriber-only as a Twitch replay for three or four days, and then gets posted to Youtube on Mondays (NZ Tuesdays). You can find the episodes here on the Geek and Sundry site.
WHERE TO START?
So, yes, there's a lot of content. If you are a completionist or super-picky about spoilers, I recommend that you start around episode 2 and carry on. Some people have bounced hard off the first episode because it's a bit awkward and they're not used to what they're doing yet, but you should get pretty much everything you need to get from episode 2. Or just push through.
If you are NOT a completionist, or if you just want to try the show out and see if you like it and maybe you'll go back for some stuff or maybe you won't, here are some options. (Reddit also has a guide but I don't like it as much because it recommends the fairly awkward backstory clip and doing reading, and I don't really think that's useful. BUT it's there if you want it.) (Do not pay any attention to the Geek & Sundry guide, it is not very good.)
1. The seriously quick and dirty, I wanna just jump right in with minimal explanation, intro: start at either episode 65 or episode 67. As of writing episode 69 is the most recent to air, so this will throw you RIGHT in. DOWNSIDES: you won't know who anyone is and you'll have to catch yourself up with quite a bit of plot. UPSIDES: minimal catch-up time and in my opinion these are some pretty great episodes. I don't know how they'd be if you don't have 60 episodes of context, but I think they'd be pretty fun.
1.1. Another option is to start at episode 57. I actually don't recommend this because there are some episodes in here with a live show format, which I find pretty awkward. So I honestly would go option 1 or 2 here, BUT episode 57, plot-wise, is the next-most-recent good jumping in point.
2. Watch roughly half the show, starting with episode 39. DOWNSIDE: you miss some really crucial early character development. UPSIDE: It's the start of one really big overarching plot and there are some brilliant episodes in here.
3. If you start from the beginning but find Tiberius difficult to handle: start from episode 24, The Feast. This episode is a slow starter but it kicks off a really good arc and Tiberius leaves early.
4. If you want a set of taster episodes, but if you *don't* want a whole lot of plot, maybe give the Slayer's Take arc a try, episodes 18-21. These are a series of episodes with some guest cast (you might recognise Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton). They are almost totally separate from the rest of the plot, but they are really fun, they're early on so they don't spoil much, and they might be a good set of episodes to try to see if you might like the show.
OTHER STUFF
1. There are a whole lot of bonus episodes and bonus peripheral content and that kind of thing, like special episodes where some of the cast couldn't make it so they took a week off and played something else or did a silly episode or something like that. These are generally skippable; reddit has a guide. My personal absolute favourite, if you're going to watch any, is Liam's Quest. I also like the Battle Royales. Battles Royales. Battles Royal. Hmm. I need to develop a grammatical position on this issue.
2. If you do a lot of data entry or driving or that sort of thing, you may like to try just listening to the show. I'm reliably informed that the show works perfectly fine as a podcast - you might miss one or two things but it's still lovable. There are lots and lots of programmes that will rip Youtube clips as mp3s! The only thing that you'll miss is people's expressions, which I love and cherish but I will admit aren't the most important thing ever.
Please do ask any other questions you might have and also please ask if you have anything that you need warnings for. I am very happy to help. Ask any time.
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