Critical Role Review: ExU Wrap Up and Nautilus Ark One Shot
By: I.Am.No.Man
Exandria Unlimited Season 1 Wrap Up
We got a nice quick wrap up for a nice short series. Clocking in at just over 1 hour and 45 minutes, the wrap up was more fond reminiscing than the absolute brain dump that we're used to with the normal Critical Role wrap ups. Granted...there are only 8 episodes to dig into and not, you know, well over 100.
The OG cast sang high and valid praises for Robbie and Aimee as first time DnD players. There's always the hope that they'll be able to return in some capacity in future Critical Role content, much like Anjali, Mary Elizabeth, Ashly Burch, Khary Payton, and Will Friedle have in the past. Robbie Daymond has already agreed to do the audiobook narration of Kith and Kin coming out later this year, taking over for a very busy Sumalee Montano. Also, a fun little fact was revealed that Aimee Carerro was supposed to actually be a Campaign 2 guest star, much like Matt Colville, but the pandemic had other unfortunate plans.
The cast hit on some behind the scenes emotions around the bigger story lines of the campaign. They talked about Opal finally putting on the crownin the final moments of the final episode, Aabria's panic over the very real possibility that no one would take the bait and finally put the crown on. They dove into the tensions between characters (NOT players, as has to be said over and over again for some reason) and the bonding that came out of that.
Liam got a mega recognition for how beautifully he played fighter Orym and his gorgeous combat support tactics. Matt also got a pile of love for his all heart no brains Dariax that stole all the spotlights. And of course, Aabria got a huge thank you from everyone for doing such a fantastic job GM-ing this little series.
There was also mention of the pre-stream games that the cast played to iron out any kinks and get the new players initiated. They kind of joked about releasing the "Marisha cut" of some of the pre-stream best hits. I don't know how loud we have to get before they finally release a compilation. We can only dream!
For being a wrap up, there wasn't too much talk on discarded story lines, possible threads, or undiscovered backstory. Any time the conversation got close to touching anything unexplored, the cast seemed to back off in favor of teasing a second series. It's been heavily hinted that the series will continue in some form or other, but with series 1 just wrapping up, we won't have any concrete details for quite some time.
Moving on to what's next on the Critical Role channel!
Don't Miss It!
Join Critical Role on Thursday, September 9th at 7 pm for the long awaited Ashley Johnson one shot! It'll be a science fiction survival horror themed episode featuring Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien, Laura Bailey, and Travis Willingham as players. As a huge fan of horror, and science fiction media I am beyond thrilled about this one shot. I can't wait for some Aliens/Nemesis/ Doctor Who style survive in space action. Will there be monsters? An alien virus? Secret saboteurs?
Watch as Ashley Johnson spins a wild tale of the last hope of humanity is ferried into the unknown by the crew of the Nautilus. Meet the crew! Laura Bailey as Captain Serpahine Glass, Marisha Ray as Dr. Nomen L. Frenno, Taliesin Jaffee as Sr. Ramsey Wiser, Liam O'Brien as Forrest Coreman, and Travis Willingham as Gunnery Sergeant Cameron Garrett.
Catch next week's installment of Critical Role Review for a summary of the action and a review of the episode! Keep an eye here for updates on new Critical Role content coming up in the next few months. Don't worry Critters, it's almost Thursday!
