While I'm not sure if I'm more inclined to forgive this series for its easy-to-offend subject matter or if I just see great potential in a series that just doesn't give a damn about its viewers or their wide array of feelings, it says a lot when something like Sweet/Vicious can still manage to feel fresh despite its constant sameness of premise. Yes, I'm aware that the show takes a very fanatic, anti-progressive (they don't need anyone's damn help!) stance on its plots, but they also feature satisfying conclusions in small doses (rapists get hurt badly) and, for the most part, the characters that suck as human beings at least get exposed. While I'm aware that many in the SJW community have fancied the idea of calling out this show for being offensive or, at the very least, insensitive to whatever plight of the oppressed that pops into that groups EXTREMELY tiny area of expertise, I also respect the show for standing up straight and not pulling its punches when it feels like its subject matter needs to be discussed. In this week's episode, that last action works about half the time.
Look, I knew it would have to happen eventually. There was going to have to be that one episode that wasn't at least memorable and even the small group that calls themselves a fan base would even call it "kind of sucky". And, yes, Tragic Kingdom is it in this case. The target, a hazing sorority that fronts as an internet porn site run by its head sisters, feels lazy and overreaching and the actual villains this time weren't nearly as memorable as the previous episodes. If anything, the only thing I personally have against hazing is that it perpetuates the urge of "safe spaces" in colleges that students seem to think carry over to the real world. And, while I still love how the overall main arc with Harris slowly figuring out that the rapist attacks are all connected to a vigilante and Tyler slowly creeping up on where Jules and Ophelia buried his stepbrother, this particular episode lacked in any real feeling.
Fortunately, while it kind of sucked on the B-side of this story for once, it at least tried to make some of the filler interesting. Viewers finally get to meet Ophelia's wealthy socialite, queen bee mother and, while it doesn't really do much besides make the mom seem like more evil than originally thought, it was nice to finally see what Ophelia is dealing with beneath all the snark and angry goth persona she's been maintaining throughout the series. She's not rebelling for the sake of it, but because she seems to know her mother deserves the trouble. Hey, tiny bright spots are still bright spots.
Overall, I'm still hooked enough on this show to keep watching it and hope the series learns before its too late just how awesome Harris is so they can let him continue to piece together exactly what's wrong with Darlington. And, while I still feel Tyler is little more than a stupid romantic interest in a sea of shows that would be better off without him, he is starting to prove himself as a formidable, if clueless, adversary to Jules' and Ophelia's vigilante activity. Even if they can't feel it, viewers have to be feeling the forces of "good" closing in even if they know full well that the only people who will win in that scenario are the bad guys. Check it out.
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