As I sat down ready to re-watch the first episode of Red vs Blue I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. The show was a huge part of my childhood and I hadn’t watched the show in a while (since season 15). So instead of just watching episode one, I opened Netflix and decided to watch the entire first season (and maybe a little bit of the second). However, through this watch through I was not alone. My blast of nostalgia and all the funny moments from the show that i remembered led me to invite a friend who had never seen the show. I was excited to see her reactions to all the hilarious moments that the crew got into and the rich story that grows as you watch more. Well.... she quit three episodes in.
The rose colored glasses quickly came off when I had to show the show to someone. The once funny jokes were now very cringy due to their misogynistic punchlines, the characters that were once deep characters were instead just unfunny cardboard cutouts of the characters i remembered with none of the nuance nor emotional investment that I remembered. The show that essentially built my teenage humor was no longer the same show, instead it pushed away a new viewer that couldn't get past the flat writing.
However, I couldn't just leave my good memories to rot and instead after she left proceeded to watch more of the show, and even jumped to a later season to see if the rest of the show had also aged poorly. And while yes some jokes did not land in the context of today's society, I'm happy to at least say the show that I remembered was still there. The rich lore about the freelancers and the simulation troopers, the character growth between the reds and blues, and the amusing situations that lead to chaos were all still there. They were just hidden behind a very outdated first season. The machinima got better, in the sense that the shots used became more cinematic, the cgi used started to look more and more like a movie and less like Photoshop (I'm looking at you “switch” in season 1/2 ) but most of all the writing moved away from strictly “gamer” jokes and instead opened the door for more nuanced messages, about self discover, friendship, responsibility, love, and most of all why we should never created AI.
I guess i'm writing this as a response to those who were potentially turned off by the series first episodes. Red vs Blue is worth your time investing in even if it starts off rough. The shows grows and starts to look at serious issues though a comedic lens that might not always be focused on. And hey, if you could get through the first season of Parks and Rec, then you can make it to season 3 Red vs Blue, where the narrative becomes a story worth showing your friends and family.