Animation
Dora
Say hola once again to the iconic explorer in this faithful reboot of the children’s series.
The Blackbloods are a peaceful race. Or, at least, they used to be. They didn’t carry weapons because they did’t believe in shedding blood. Perhaps this is because their own blood was—you guessed it—black.
But that doesn’t matter anymore since the Prime Order, the land’s ruthless overlords, wiped their entire village out in a single night, leaving young Talon orphaned and the last of her people.
Now grown, Talon is surly, not peaceful, and she hunts down the ones responsible for the massacre of her people. She seeks refuge at the Outpost—a safe haven of sorts at the farthest end of the realm. Here, she learns of a prophecy stating that a Blackblood will bring creatures from the Plane of Ashes to overthrow the Prime Order.
Talon seems well-equipped to do just that. See, she can summon demons (Lu-Qiri) using this little creature in her head called an Asterkinj. She’s not very good at it yet—she nearly gets killed every time she brings one over since she can’t control them. But she’s determined to help her new friends defeat the Prime Order and avenge her family.
Talon teams up with Lady Gwynn, aka Queen Rosalind. Rosalind lost her entire family to the Prime Order as a child. Like Talon, she was supposed to die too, but the real Gwynn sacrificed herself so that Rosalind could survive. Rosalind’s been hiding at the Outpost ever since. But after her adoptive father is murdered by Everit Dred, the same man responsible for the slaughter of the Blackbloods, she steps up to reclaim her throne and overthrow the Prime Order.
Also joining Talon on her mission is the local brewer, Janzo. He’s a somewhat of a genius when it comes to alcoholic mixtures and herbal concoctions, the latter of which makes him invaluable as a healer. He immediately falls for Talon, but she only sees him as a brother—probably because he gives off some serious creeper vibes. But then again, it could also be because she’s already fallen for Captain Garret Spears, son of the Outpost’s gate marshal, Cedric Wythers. Garret is a handsome soldier serving the Prime Order essentially to hurt his father, whom he has a strained relationship with.
The Outpost is not short on violence, sex, or drugs. That said, it’s not as bad as it could be.
The action plays out like an old rerun of Xena: Warrior Princess, so while it can be gross at times, it’s not particularly gory and often even looks fake. We hear many references to sex–which everyone seems to be having–but we never see it depicted on screen. The most they show is some scantily clad women and passionate kissing. A great deal of the show also takes place at the local inn, which doubles as the pub where Janzo works. People drink alcohol, gamble and partake of the drug Colipsum (an addictive substance that turns users into Plaguelings—boil-covered, fly-infested creatures with parasitic worms instead of tongues).
And we can’t forget that the show’s lead character can conjure up demons—an element that makes The Outpost a non-starter for many Christians.
While CW showed some restraint in creating this Outpost, it still lies outside the comfort zone of most discerning families. Add in the low-budget production quality and stiff acting, and the show doesn’t really have much going for it.
Season 2 picks up with the hunt for Everit Dred, who escaped his prison cell at the end of the first season. Rosalind works with Marshal Wythers to prepare her troops for war with the Prime Order, and Janzo continues to search for a cure to the Plagueling infection. Meanwhile, Talon works with “the Dragman” (a young girl with the power to understand the language of the mysterious Book of Names) to summon more demons for the war cause.
Dred and his hired mercenary, Essa Khan, attack Garret and his soldiers, killing all but one. Essa rips out the throat of a soldier with her teeth. Wythers cruelly beats a soldier for leaving Garret for dead. In a flashback, a young Talon returns to her campsite to find her adoptive human family (including three children) slaughtered. She then throws a knife into the heart of the man responsible.
Plaguelings are tied up in a dungeon and are being harvested for Colipsum. A boil on one Plagueling explodes and dozens of flies spew out. A rotting skeleton is strung up with a placard reading “Traitor” on it. A man snorts Colipsum. Talon and Rosalind drink ale and shots of a stronger liquor. Cleavage is seen on women. A woman sits in a tub (everything is covered by rose petals) and her handmaiden bathes her. “A–” and “bloody” are each used once.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Say hola once again to the iconic explorer in this faithful reboot of the children’s series.
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