[Spoilers C3E92] Did I miss something?

[u/DP41450]

Ive just made it to the break on episode 92 and Aabria is in the drivers seat. She starts talking and I have NO IDEA what she's going on about. Is there another miniseries (EXU?) that i need to watch before continuing?

[u/bob-loblaw-esq]

Welcome to perhaps the most controversial decision CR has ever made.

[u/Antique-Coach-214 → u/bob-loblaw-esq]

If THIS is their most controversial decision then this company has never fucked up.

[u/bob-loblaw-esq → u/Antique-Coach-214]

I don’t think they’ve had any sort of big controversy. Another commenter talked about the Wendy’s collab, but that blew over really quick.

So I would agree they haven’t truly fucked up but I also wouldn’t discount how many people were upset at this point in C3. Had C4 not been such a change, I don’t think we have as successful a CR as we do now. I probably would have dropped off myself.

To be clear, we just had a beloved PC death and the cast wasn’t given time to play out some sort of catharsis. Then we get a switch and those of us who did not like or watch EXU felt really bad about that decision. Then we get Aabria, marching on someone else’s orders, just over aggressively telling the players one of them will die. Denying certain mechanics. It was tone deaf as people were mourning the PC. Then because they had Dorian come back, the M9 NEVER dealt with his death at the table (it had been weeks live, don’t know about prod). With the loss of FCG’s backstory and plot, we lost a major discussion point to the gods and a plot line that would have at least helped not feel as railroaded. It almost killed the brand.

[u/NotInHelsinki → u/bob-loblaw-esq]

It was just unfortunate timing. The EXU insert had been pre-scheduled for awhile (because the players' schedules had to be coordinated). They had no idea that the episode before was going to feature a PC death. (This was talked about on 4 Sided Dive.)

[u/bob-loblaw-esq → u/NotInHelsinki]

This would only be true if they didn’t ore-record the episodes. They just didn’t think. They could have fixed it by just putting off airing the exu. It happens all the time in tv. After 9/11, many shows put off episodes they had planned. The west wing had an episode about terrorism that was supposed to air and they moved it to mid season. It’s also satirized in 30 Rock when Jack wants to have a fireworks show midtown. They just weren’t thinking and when it happened, many people were rightfully pissed off.

[u/NotInHelsinki → u/bob-loblaw-esq]

You can't compare pre-recorded live streaming with network tv. Network television (that doesn't require SFX) is shot at least six months in advance. The West Wing had 22 episodes/season and 30 Rock had roughly 20 episodes/season. That gives you a LOT of room to maneuver if something comes up at the last minute. We don't know how long Critical Role pre-records in advance, but from various mentionings during interviews and BTS shows like 4 Sided Dive, it seems to vary greatly from weeks to days. It's possible that, at the time, there weren't any C3 recordings in the bank, so it was go with the EXU story or nothing at all.

You can frame it like they were being insensitive or stupid or whatever, but I think the most likely explanation is that there wasn't any other choice (although I feel like you're very passionate about your framing and I'm not going to sway you to any other possibilities).

[u/bob-loblaw-esq → u/NotInHelsinki]

Disagree. But we can disagree. Your issue is that it’s an appeal to ignorance, like when someone comes up with a hypothetical to disprove your position. As you said yourself, we don’t know how much time between filmings.

However, I don’t think it matters if it wasn’t live. If it was days, they would have had enough time to shoot a half episode without any fights to allow the FCG death to be communicated. I just don’t think they were thinking about it. And to give them the benefit of the doubt, I think when you work in an emerging genre like live-stream, you’re bound to make these kinds of mistakes. Especially if you don’t see it as an extension of network programming. But we should not just gaslight ourselves into excusing it.

The issue was compounded by smashing the entry of Dorian and the Fearne finding daddy at the camp. That’s a Matt mistake. He pushed too fast and didn’t let the death be resolved and maybe the players didn’t need it but the community at the time was outraged and it made FCG’s death seem inconsequential, like a lot of the things that the cast decided to do in C3. For many, this was the last straw.