It's a really bad look, yeah. Not just for Maine but for all the Freelancers really; I think the wildly varying interpretations of those characters speaks for itself. (Another example that comes to mind is the Dakota twins and the failure to really show the growing rift in their relationship in anything beyond the shallowest "South jealous" sense.)
The animation really is the only thing carrying season 9, and that's such a shame, because... in another season that didn't have a serious and vital-to-the-entire-series plot to carry, that could have been all right. Maybe not great, but less bad. Season 7 uses the flimsiest of plot excuses to move characters around to different maps, but it doesn't sacrifice characterization for it, and more importantly it does what it needs to do to set up season 8, when the more serious plot returns. (And I actually think the problem of sacrificing characterization for Cool Fight Scenes begins all the way back in 8 with the e!Tex battle in the warehouse--no shade on the ice fight, which to this day I think holds up as one of the best animation sequences in the show's history--but that's another essay probably. Tune in next time for "Animation Killed the Machinima Star!")
For me, at first watch I actually had a lot more visceral disappointment with season 10. In part this is just because I was watching a lot more closely then (I had a lot of other stuff going on when season 9 aired), but I also think it is largely that problems set up in season 9 proceed to then ruin season 10--the lack of exposition especially, and lack of attention to characters. Season 10 devotes some actual time to character moments, but in my opinion it largely mis-prioritizes them. (Who needs to actually show the protagonist's POV and maintain her sympathy with the audience, or show-not-tell what's happening to Maine, or show Wash having actual human reactions to things happening around him, when we can have dick jokes!) It hammers through plot points because they need to happen, with no regard for maintaining continuity with established canon or even with the characters as they've been established one season earlier! (Ask me about how Wash, between 9 and 10, mysteriously develops a fear of heights!)
Yeah, I'm still salty too. I have mostly made my peace with it and have worked with it enough in fic that I've made it work for me. But it's still a cautionary tale in The Making of Prequels to rival Star Wars.
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The animation really is the only thing carrying season 9, and that's such a shame, because... in another season that didn't have a serious and vital-to-the-entire-series plot to carry, that could have been all right. Maybe not great, but less bad. Season 7 uses the flimsiest of plot excuses to move characters around to different maps, but it doesn't sacrifice characterization for it, and more importantly it does what it needs to do to set up season 8, when the more serious plot returns. (And I actually think the problem of sacrificing characterization for Cool Fight Scenes begins all the way back in 8 with the e!Tex battle in the warehouse--no shade on the ice fight, which to this day I think holds up as one of the best animation sequences in the show's history--but that's another essay probably. Tune in next time for "Animation Killed the Machinima Star!")
For me, at first watch I actually had a lot more visceral disappointment with season 10. In part this is just because I was watching a lot more closely then (I had a lot of other stuff going on when season 9 aired), but I also think it is largely that problems set up in season 9 proceed to then ruin season 10--the lack of exposition especially, and lack of attention to characters. Season 10 devotes some actual time to character moments, but in my opinion it largely mis-prioritizes them. (Who needs to actually show the protagonist's POV and maintain her sympathy with the audience, or show-not-tell what's happening to Maine, or show Wash having actual human reactions to things happening around him, when we can have dick jokes!) It hammers through plot points because they need to happen, with no regard for maintaining continuity with established canon or even with the characters as they've been established one season earlier! (Ask me about how Wash, between 9 and 10, mysteriously develops a fear of heights!)
Yeah, I'm still salty too. I have mostly made my peace with it and have worked with it enough in fic that I've made it work for me. But it's still a cautionary tale in The Making of Prequels to rival Star Wars.