Marvel’s VisionQuest Series Finale Review & Recap

Puni spojleri naprijed za VisionQuest Epizoda 8!

VisionQuest has certainly gained momentum with time, to the point where it easily ranks among the best of Marvel’s live-action Disney+ shows to date (not that it looks like there’s going to be much competition in the foreseeable future). Nažalost, taj se zamah ne prenosi u potpunosti u posljednju epizodu. “Zauvijek” je malo razočaranje u usporedbi s nedavnim dijelovima serije, uglavnom zbog prelaska na novog negativca u zadnji tren.

James Spader je tako često ukrao pozornost kao Ultron u ovoj seriji. Ali ovdje se Spader pokazao i najboljim i najgorim elementom finala. His Ultron remains as compelling and entertaining as ever, but Spader can’t quite bring that appeal over to his new role as the shadowy “Client,” aka Virgil Horton. Ima nešto u Hortonu što jednostavno ne odjekuje tako snažno kao Ultron. It’s hard to say if the problem is more the quality of the dialogue or the comparatively manic way Spader is playing him, but Horton comes across as more annoying than threatening. You can’t argue the actor isn’t giving it his all here (including in that kooky little dance number), but as an endgame villain, Virgil Horton is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi.

Dio toga se svodi na ideju da se Ultron temelji na ljudskom modelu. Serija je ovo lagano zadirkivala prije nekoliko epizoda kada je Ultron inzistirao PETKU da je jedinstven. Pa, pokazalo se da nije. It diminishes this villain a bit to see that all his acerbic, affected charm comes not from being invented in a lab by Tony Stark and immediately exposed to the horrors of the Internet, but because he’s a copy of Jo Carrington’s (T’Nia Miller) creepy ex-boyfriend. Ultimately, I might have been happier if the series had culminated with the more predictable reveal that Phineas Horton (Paul Bettany) or JIM were the Client.

With all that in mind, it’s just as well that the finale eventually wipes its hands of Virgil Horton and shifts back to the core rivalry between Vision and Ultron. Horton’s death scene is amusing in its abruptness, though it is a little strange having Ultron drop a wisecrack one-liner immediately after seeing his beloved Jocasta gunned down. No bez obzira na to, epizoda maksimalno iskorištava Ultronovu tugu zbog gubitka žene koju tako opsesivno voli. To je popriličan pomak za lika koji je prije želio zbrisati čovječanstvo ni zbog čega drugog osim iz čistog prezira prema svojim kreatorima. Prošli put, Osvetnici su silom zaustavili Ultrona. Ovaj put, Vision to čini sam pozivajući se na Ultronovo latentno čovječanstvo.

Finale također ima koristi od stalne doze akcije, unutar i izvan vile Horton. We finally get to see more of Vision and Ultron in their unfiltered android forms, including a rather stylish costume redesign for Vision himself. Barem na tom planu, ova epizoda nije razočarala.

Također je zadovoljavajući način na koji se “Forever” fokusira na Visionovu malu obiteljsku jedinicu. We finally get the big reunion between Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica) and Billy (Joe Locke), as the latter pierces the magical veil to track down his long-lost brother. I fully expected the series to do nothing more than allude to Billy’s existence in the end, so actually getting some meaningful interaction between the brothers is a treat. And am I mistaken, or was that a genuinely new (if exceedingly brief) cameo shot of Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) when Vision is being tortured in the dining room? Either way, the series certainly wants us to walk away with the impression that the entire family will be happily reunited at some point post-Avengers: Secret Wars.

I do think the episode takes the whole “found family” conceit a little too far by having Vision, Tommy, Lisa (Lauren Morais) and all the AI units partner up with Paladin (Todd Stashwick) in the end. Obviously, Paladin himself experienced a bit of a redemption arc over time, but are we forgetting the fact that he was responsible for JARVIS’s death back in Episode 2? Imati sve pune snage, prijatelj/prijatelj, upola je preslatko.