@jbwarner86: I suppose that’s a fair point. Maybe it would be more satisfying to me if Eric was portrayed as somewhat capable at least some of the time. Like, if there were some occasions where he actually manages to succeed against the bullies without her intervention, or even if he could be the one to save her every once in a while. Instead, it’s always Eric who gets saved by Jenny, every time. He never gets himself, or her, out of trouble on his own. It makes him seem totally helpless and incapable of defending himself, and that’s a frustrating feeling I know all too well.
@MegaJar: I thought for a while about how Eric could come out on top in this story, but having him actually win the game felt too trite and easy. By his own admission, he barely knows how to play Mortal Kombat, and Andrew had months of experience on him; giving him a miraculous victory would’ve felt cheap and unearned. Instead, Jenny does the crafty best friend thing and cuts the whole stupid contest short, not only sparing Eric’s humiliation but undoing all of Andrew’s past victories.
That’s how Eric wins against these two idiots every time – by having a stronger and more meaningful friendship with Jenny than they could ever hope to have with anyone. To me, that’s super satisfying 🙂
I’m gonna be honest here, this conclusion really left me disappointed. And I think I know why: Eric reminds me a lot of myself at that age. We were both loners, not too many friends, didn’t really fit in, and tormented by a bunch of assholes that seemed to have dedicated their lives to making our lives miserable.
So I was really hoping to see Eric do what I never could: get his own back. Make the bullies eat their words. Come out as the clear, decisive winner for once, even if it was only for a moment. And after his intensive training and motivational speech (“they’re trying to take my fun away and I wanna take it back”), it seemed like that’s where this story was heading.
But it didn’t happen. Eric didn’t win, he didn’t even come close — he couldn’t land a single hit on his opponent. All his practice didn’t do him one bit of good. The bullies weren’t made to eat their words; right up until the very end, they still had those cruel, vicious grins on their faces that made me want to rip their heads off. And the eventual karmic justice came not from the good guys beating the bad guys in a climactic showdown, but from a complete deus-ex-machina delivered by Jenny. Sure, it made the bullies lose their precious high score, but that doesn’t do anything to teach them a lesson or help Eric’s self-esteem. He didn’t “take his fun back”, he failed to win on his own merits, and he had to be bailed out by Jenny yet again.
In the end, good didn’t defeat evil, it just pulled the plug when it became clear evil was about to win. And that just feels hollow to me. So far, the NNS reboot has done a pretty good job of delivering swift and satisfying justice to the villains, but this time I feel like it fell short.
I dunno, this was really not as satisfying a comeuppance as I was hoping. Granted, it still made them scream like little babies, but I was really hoping to see them actually get beaten for real — and more importantly, to see Eric come out on top for once, on his own merits, instead of being bailed out by Jenny yet again.
Also, Jesse, I’m totally digging the new banner. However, the retina-searing bright orange page background…? Not digging that so much.
@jbwarner86: I suppose that’s a fair point. Maybe it would be more satisfying to me if Eric was portrayed as somewhat capable at least some of the time. Like, if there were some occasions where he actually manages to succeed against the bullies without her intervention, or even if he could be the one to save her every once in a while. Instead, it’s always Eric who gets saved by Jenny, every time. He never gets himself, or her, out of trouble on his own. It makes him seem totally helpless and incapable of defending himself, and that’s a frustrating feeling I know all too well.
@MegaJar: I thought for a while about how Eric could come out on top in this story, but having him actually win the game felt too trite and easy. By his own admission, he barely knows how to play Mortal Kombat, and Andrew had months of experience on him; giving him a miraculous victory would’ve felt cheap and unearned. Instead, Jenny does the crafty best friend thing and cuts the whole stupid contest short, not only sparing Eric’s humiliation but undoing all of Andrew’s past victories.
That’s how Eric wins against these two idiots every time – by having a stronger and more meaningful friendship with Jenny than they could ever hope to have with anyone. To me, that’s super satisfying 🙂
I’m gonna be honest here, this conclusion really left me disappointed. And I think I know why: Eric reminds me a lot of myself at that age. We were both loners, not too many friends, didn’t really fit in, and tormented by a bunch of assholes that seemed to have dedicated their lives to making our lives miserable.
So I was really hoping to see Eric do what I never could: get his own back. Make the bullies eat their words. Come out as the clear, decisive winner for once, even if it was only for a moment. And after his intensive training and motivational speech (“they’re trying to take my fun away and I wanna take it back”), it seemed like that’s where this story was heading.
But it didn’t happen. Eric didn’t win, he didn’t even come close — he couldn’t land a single hit on his opponent. All his practice didn’t do him one bit of good. The bullies weren’t made to eat their words; right up until the very end, they still had those cruel, vicious grins on their faces that made me want to rip their heads off. And the eventual karmic justice came not from the good guys beating the bad guys in a climactic showdown, but from a complete deus-ex-machina delivered by Jenny. Sure, it made the bullies lose their precious high score, but that doesn’t do anything to teach them a lesson or help Eric’s self-esteem. He didn’t “take his fun back”, he failed to win on his own merits, and he had to be bailed out by Jenny yet again.
In the end, good didn’t defeat evil, it just pulled the plug when it became clear evil was about to win. And that just feels hollow to me. So far, the NNS reboot has done a pretty good job of delivering swift and satisfying justice to the villains, but this time I feel like it fell short.
“If you’ve ever found yourself in a fair fight, you’ve already lost.” ~ Mulroney, probably.
Eric lost the battle, but won the war. 🤣
Well, they bent the rules on their deal, so who’s to say Eric can’t bend them either.
I’d say it’s fair play.
Deserved!
In the words of George Costanza: Why must there always be a problem?!
@M Jenny is chaotically neutral but she can easily switch to chaotically evil.
That’s IT?
I dunno, this was really not as satisfying a comeuppance as I was hoping. Granted, it still made them scream like little babies, but I was really hoping to see them actually get beaten for real — and more importantly, to see Eric come out on top for once, on his own merits, instead of being bailed out by Jenny yet again.
Also, Jesse, I’m totally digging the new banner. However, the retina-searing bright orange page background…? Not digging that so much.
Love the new banner, by the way. The orange feels more calming than the black and blue of the previous.
Simple, but effective.
Ok, now I need an Eden Prairie alignment chart. Jenny = chaotic neutral. Andrew & Ryan = neutral to chaotic evil.
Kind of an anticlimactic ending, but I love what Jenny did so I’m willing to excuse it LOL