Was Cuphead Season 3 AN EPIC FINALE?! - A Cuphead Show Review and Analysis!

welp That's all folks the cuphead Show season three or whatever people are calling it these days is out the final chunk of confirmed cuphead cartoon content has been released meaning the future of the show is all but uncertain time for CH in the gang to wait in the soup kitchen line in hopes that the suits will give them a longer life span pardon me sir may I have some fool heck this might be the worst time to be a cuphead fan period the original game's completely wrapped up and the show's fate is in limbo meaning the new content well is looking to be dry for a really long time are we gonna quench our fan thirst if there's nothing we can drink we're gonna be desperate for things to talk about soon hey guys welcome to part 704 of my Series where I analyze every animation frame of the cuphead show and game I've spoken to three people in the last nine months and two of them were my cats but all joking aside I was super excited to see cuphead return to our streaming screens once again especially got to give credit to season three the crew did everything they could to try and end this batch of episodes with a bang I mean we got Grand scale showdowns multiple double length Adventures more continuity than we've seen in any previous season and a two-part finale including backstory lore and attempts at legitimate drama not to mention amping up the stuff we love from the last two seasons like unique character interactions and some dang dark humor I know this batch is technically just the final chunk of season one but it still manages to distinguish itself from the others with the biggest attempt at scope epicness and finality I've seen from cuphead yet like the show just finished chugging its drink and this season is them slamming down the glass and saying done but does all that effort equate to actual quality well in this video we'll be taking one last trip seeing how our cup Trio story wraps up and ultimately discussing what the fate of the franchise might entail if you have any thoughts on season 3 or just thoughts on the cuphead show in general feel free to leave a comment below but for now let's raise our porcelain heads for 1 final toast as I determine which CH season I enjoyed the most Let's Roll let's start with the number one thing this season nails right off the bat presentation while we don't see as much Variety in locations as we do in season two this is definitely the season that feels the grandest in terms of scale a lot of things were done to make this batch just feel big literally metaphorically and physically oh trust me we'll get to blz later we got huge moments of action like Grand Chase scenes through hell as cuphead blasts away at the devil's reserves and the most epic Tour de France I've ever seen we got major moments of Animation like pillars of fire and brimstone emerging from the ground to literally set the stage for an epic one-on-one showdown between two devilish dancers and of course the stakes get perpetually raised as the season goes on starting off light-hearted and unassuming with everything coming to an epic battle for the ages at the end it's fantastic and speaking of the end the season not only feels big but it also feels final it really gives off the impression that everything is coming together and that this is the last chapter of Our Hero's story there are so many awesome continuity nods that make this season feel like a final curtain call for the cast and World reminding us one last time of all the Great Adventures we've gone on we see the cup family's little mug shot from say cheese appear in Elder kettle's room mugman gets ocean romance novels as a Christmas gift a clear nod to the ice cream man king dice gets to talk to his reflection again and down and out chalice brings up events from into charm's way and Charmed and dangerous including calling jail the hoobaduba we get returning characters like ribbian croaks who at turns out have restored the fly trap after their Titanic disaster Sally's stage play returns and actually gets to put on a proper show this time complete with all the hammy over dramatic acting and skittering around stage that you would expect baby bottle should have just been a one-off honestly there was literally no reason for him to come back even that phone guy from season one comes back to reclaim his soul and then and then it looks like he's gonna die but he ends up being fine just man this guy's gotta sign up for phone therapy or something he's been through so freaking much and the characters that don't get major roles are still relegated to Crown shots like the root pack and bull boy seriously you're telling me we got another baby bottle episode when we could have had another story about him heck there's a joke in the premiere about a giant spoon that came with the devil's Pitchfork imagine if bull boy got a hold of that thing we could have had an epic rivalry between him and the devil shooting lasers exchanging quips it could have been awesome honestly for a show that mostly treats continuity like Whose Line treats points I didn't expect there to be as many awesome callbacks and conclusions as there were but it gave me a nice proper the end feeling that reminded me of all the fun times I had with the show but now we have to talk about the main thing that sets this season apart from the others the exploration of the main cast while season one handled the vintage cartoon aesthetic the best and season two had its insane tone and new character introductions season 3 made it its mission to show us some unique sides to the head honchos of the show you guys know I am huge on characters so this was a welcome idea for the final part of the series and to show what I mean let's quickly go over each main player in the cast and an episode which really highlights them in a memorable way starting with our primary porcelain Pro tags if you saw my season 2 review you'd know that I was a little upset with how the Bros went from sentimental siblings who quarreled on occasions to complete scuffle muffins who are at each other's throats almost every episode I really wanted to see more instances of the two showing some genuine brotherly love for each other you know really embracing that strong sibling Bond and luckily the devil's Revenge answered all my prayers despite being said in a place where prayers go tonight when we first see mugman in this episode he's chained up to a wall whistling happily without a care in the world and talking to well this guy doesn't have a name but I'm just gonna call him a mood ah same at first it might seem weird for the usual scaredy cup to be so calm in a place like this but then we get multiple lines stating that he's certain his brother will rescue him no matter what which is why he's not afraid now I know we're supposed to be laughing at the Devil being Revenge blocked right here but I'm too busy smiling at those sweet statements monkman has so much confidence in his brother's ability to rescue him that even the bowels of Tartarus don't make him Flinch no screaming no shaking no stuttering not even a little bit of worry even cranking up the Hellfire to the point where dudes are melting into Pace has no effect on him this is a love so strong it transcends the laws of physics though I do appreciate that even with his big bro belief mugman doesn't exactly see him as a Flawless hero or anything heck when the Devil Makes a claim that cup had already died and went to heaven mugman says that's completely impossible and basically says that he knows cuphead is going to hell when he dies I know my brother and if he's not down here that he's not dead you're as cold as ice somehow mugman manages to be hopeful honest and hilarious all at the same time and I freaking love it as for cuphead he's ironically having a much more hellish time up on the surface this is by far the biggest consequences this impulsive little twit has ever had to face and honestly it's kind of nice to see him wallow in sadness for a little bit let the reality of what his actions hath wrought rain down upon him let it soak in what did it cost me Mac man but once he comes back to reality and after a weird non-sequitur about a pocket knife he wastes no time in setting things right and while he does attempt to try to escape with both the Pitchfork and his little bro and toe when his back's against the wall or should I say the roof of the Devil's Mouth we see that he remembers quadratus's line from before about Pitchfork ownership and uses that as a backup plan to escape with mugman it's nice to see him actually be smart and have a fail safe for once especially after being a seat of his pants dummy most of the time the only part that kind of soured me on this episode was the ending where cuphead immediately goes back to playing Soul ball in the last few seconds I get that it's supposed to be a joke and a callback to the pilot which was nice continuity but it really makes me feel like everything cuphead just went through didn't change him one bit since he's literally back to square one after it's all over I guess I'll give him a little bit of credit since we now have proof that if he does screw up again he is willing to immediately drop everything and set things right which does make him feel heroic but maybe you should learn from your mistakes so you don't have to set things right in the first place just saying with that said though it is still nice to see how dedicated cuphead and mugman are to each other not only do we get to see them act very selfless and trusting respectively but also very brave and even intelligent some sides to them that we either never see or never see to this degree just goes to show that come hell or hot magma nothing will wear this Duo down and I love it Elder Kettle doesn't really get too much to do this season but there is still an episode that explores a unique side to him entitled roadkill why is it called that well because the other pedal straight up kills the devil with this car look at him he's dead mangled and crushed deceased gone the killer manslaughter nah I'm just kidding he's fine remember this is a 30s cartoon characters don't die in car accidents anyway throughout the series we've seen Elder Kettle as a doting Father Figure and off his rocker lunatic and a Peter Griffin wannabe but this episode allows us to see a more lonely clingy side to his character I'll admit it does come a little out of nowhere since I don't recall any examples of clingy Behavior beforehand but it does feel like a natural Evolution given what's been happening throughout the series cuphead and mugman are constantly out on Big Adventures doing their own things in the world and I can say this from experience since my parents were the same way the more you go at Adventure the less your parents see of you meaning they're lonely more often meaning they'll start to cling to you more and more it's a simple fact of life that all parental figures go through as they and their kids get older and while ketto is still very spry for his age it's nice to see that he's not immune to these conventions either heck he's so desperate for company he even partakes in the classic lonely person cliche of adopting a cat yes that is in fact that devil posing as a house cat in a sneaky attempt to snag cuphead soul for his quota and he gets so freaking into this role it's simultaneously the most hilarious and adorable thing this show has ever done leading to plenty of precious moments of the devil looking up with big pointing eyes and messing around with balls of yarn as well as an absolutely golden reaction when the cupros see him as a cat for the first time [Music] [Laughter] top it off with a really heartwarming ending involving their goat of all things which shows that sometimes the people that love you most in life are the ones you don't even realize at first and you have a story that really makes us sympathize with the Elder part of our favorite Kettle and finally I've saved the best for last the unmistakable highest of Lights in this fantastic final season I I was gonna say that get out of here you ruined my moment freaking title card yeah the devil and Miss chalice are definitely The Runaway stars of this season having the best episodes best jokes best scenes and just best overall presents whenever they're on screen while I definitely enjoyed their moments before it was this season that truly made me appreciate them as characters let's start with old blz who I can officially say now is my favorite character in the show this guy's just a freaking Riot from his fantastic reactions to his Petty childish tirades to his Fabish Material Girl Tendencies to Luke Millington Drake's iconic performance that better get him more Voice work in the future he is just an absolute show stealing Delight whenever he's on screen but leave it to season 3 to make me appreciate him in a unique Way by showing so many new sides to him in roadkill we see a very vulnerable side to him that's clearly starved for love and affection he gets so into the role of a typical house cat getting constantly petted and constantly loved to the point where it takes him a long time to snap back to his senses he has this big master plan to just pose as a feline until the Cubs come home but he sinks into the cushy life of a pet so quickly since he probably doesn't get this level of affection very often if at all I imagine it must be lonely at the bottom with very few loved ones in his life so the idea of him diving into a role where he gets nothing but love is both hilarious and kind of sad we get to see a more toned down Sinister side to him and dance with danger I mean he's definitely been evil before but it was usually done with a hint of ladita enjoyment or over-the-top anger but no he is all business during this episode like a James Bond villain or something and I'll talk more about that when we get to chalices section we even get to see how he dresses when he goes Incognito to a gay club how about that oh no but my favorite new sign to the Devil by far is his childlike wonderment and inner kindness while we've seen him do childish things like wine and throat Tantrums we've never really seen anything that completely entranced him into a new state of wide-eyed Wonder before like a kid seeing a rainbow for the first time and while we've definitely seen him be more tolerant of certain others like henchman EK and even cuphead at one point genuine kindness is something that the devil has never really had any major experience with but luckily we get both of those things in one of my new favorite episodes of the show a very devil Christmas now quick thing you need to know about me is that I am a Titanic Christmas sap I love all the fluff of the holiday season the decorations the togetherness the snuggled up warmth during the cold winter months everything heck you know that annoying guy blasting Christmas music out of his car while you're driving to the 15th store in a row desperately trying to get your kid that toy that they've been begging for the whole year but they're always sold down you just want to end it all that was me hi again so when you have an episode that is absolutely drenched in classic Christmas magic and tone including things like a snowflake falling into frame as the intro music swells people skating on the pond and building snowmen elves singing little Christmas carols while they work and a depiction of Santa that says jolly and huggable as he is sweet and kind you pretty much won me over from the get-go you can say this kind of stuff is cliched all you want but in my opinion Christmas is that magical time when cliches go from cumbersome to comfortable it's like pulling that old blanket a loved one made for you out of the closet and wrapping it around yourself you know what it feels like you know what it smells like it just makes you smile for a short while and that's all that really matters but leave it to the devil to ruin everyone's fun as he spreads his usual bouts of chaos while singing an awesome freaking song can I say right now that is until he sees the choo-choo train in the window and my heart is officially melted at this point I love the way he just follows it around the track pressing his face up against the glass ass saying things like oh look at the little wheels and it makes a little noise too seeing the literal devil be so enthralled by a juvenile little thing like a toy train is freaking adorable man and the fact that even the embodiment of evil isn't immune to Christmas's charms is cheesy but precious anyway after talking to this bratty little sandwich about Santa's nice list and realizing that henchman has been keeping it a secret from him for obvious reasons the devil decides to head straight to the source and teleports right to Santa's workshop with an adorable design courtesy of screen Novelties once again Santa being a good guy gives the devil one last chance to redeem himself and get off the naughty list but he blows up an old lady within the first 10 seconds so yeah this isn't gonna work the normal way old women so after what I can only describe as an insanitation they managed to migrate the essence of Santa into the devil's body causing him to transform into that I can't be alone in thinking that the devil's Santa's design is like the funniest thing ever right this big dumpy Dark Lord with the fat cheeks and the constant Sourpuss face it's hilarious right and it only gets funnier from there as he's forced to act as Santa for a day and constantly tries and fails to get the classic Santa isms down while under the guidance of a stickler elf even in the North Pole the devil can never escape this guy eventually he does fulfill his duties delivers the presents eats the cookies and all that but then we get the best scene of the episode where he delivers gifts to the kettle residents and cuphead wakes up to see him cuphead talks about how he knows he's been naughty but mentions that it can be really difficult to be nice all the time the devil completely sympathizes with him after the night he's just been through and you know what I do too being nice all the time is borderline impossible people aren't perfect by Nature so asking us to be squeaky clean at every moment of Our Lives is like asking a campfire to burn forever or a tree to keep its leaves all year round it's just not gonna happen I feel like this is why Santa always gives people so much leeway in many adaptations he's not looking for people that are good 24 7 he's looking for people that are genuinely trying that struggle that pushed past the Temptations and ultimately do come out as better people and that's exactly what Lucifer does right here after after talking with cuphead the devil gives him the choo-choo he asked for the one thing the devil did all of this stuff for the only thing he wanted that he easily could have just run away with and his name is finally added to the nice list he pushed past the hatred of his mortal enemy and did something kind for a kid who he realizes is genuinely trying just like him and The Crowd Goes wide you can say it's cheesy and corny all you want since it definitely is but you gotta admit you really feel like the devil's face turn here is genuine this guy suffers like nobody's business realizing how hard it is to be nice all the time or just be nice period and by the time he gets to cuphead's house he is a Broken Man more than understanding of how much effort it takes to be a good person and even willing to part with his biggest desire for a fellow guy who's trying his best you can even argue that the Kinder part of him actually sticks around somewhat in later episodes like the genuine way he invites King dice back and down and out and even his last words in the series being a tearful and heartfelt thank you henchman I don't know maybe I'm over analyzing what's meant to be a simple cheesy Christmas special but I really do feel like the devil's heart actually grew a few sizes that day and stayed that way the devil may be the embodiment of everything that's evil in the world but he's also the embodiment of everything I love in this show comedy character music ham and heart and I can only hope this isn't the last time we see him again also henchman is freaking precious and I want nothing but happiness for him for all time forever Merry Christmas boss too good for this world and then we have Miss chalice do I even need to say anything about her the girl that started off as a charm flaunting con artist who constantly gets suckers caught in her tippity tap trap is now a fully realized three-dimensional character with backstory and lore that's genuinely intriguing she's the Center focus of the final two episodes which perfectly show how she went from mistreated orphan to confident con woman to genuine friend to the cup Bros and it is glorious she was raised in her typical abusive orphanage run by always uptight always upright penguins and all fun was off limits especially dancing it's like if Happy Feet took place in Annie with the rules of Footloose but little baby chalice who is so freaking cute I could die by the way eventually gets fed up with this treatment and plans a pretty smart Escape where she snatches all the rulers from the penguin ladies along with some clothes from the laundry basket she always pushes around and flies away in a makeshift Batman Glide suit which is just awesome click your heels go go go and dance acrosso rainbow one musical number later and she is already ready living the High Life that is until she dances a little too far into the road and she dies yep uh streetcar runs are over and she dies I mean she's freaking part ghost I knew it was coming eventually but jeez it was so sudden anyway she finds herself on the devil's doorstep and like I said before we get by far the most strict cold and calculated performance from the devil we've ever seen like he is legit intimidating in this scene sitting at his desk like an evil CEO throwing up walls of fire without moving being the deliverer of cutting jokes instead of the butt of them and even when chalice tries to swipe his wallet he actually notices and calls her out for it is this guy been all season the devil returns her life to her on the condition that she carve out in IOU and pay him back later and when that fateful day comes what else does he ask for but her assistance in nabbing cuphead Soul of course she tries to stall as long as she can apparently dancing with Big D for freaking months after she was summoned but eventually the devil sees through her ruse and puts his foot down and then we get his most badass moment in the whole show where a clown of evil smoke envelops chalice and makes her Decay into the pile of dust and bones that she would have become if not for the devil's assistance I repeat again for the people in the back but anyway after the devil's new plan to have chalice make cuphead sign a contract fails chalice is able to save herself at the last minute by appealing to the devil's hubris and setting up one last winner takes all deal if he can beat her in a dance-off the thrill of victory and her soul are his and then once the devil sets the stage we get the coolest freaking moment in the whole show a full-on massive scale tap dancing contest between the devil and chalice I can't even do this scene Justice it's just phenomenal these two constantly trying to one-up each other leaping across lava rocks sliding and jumping over and under each other as the Applause meter creeps closer and closer to the Finish it's just an absolute Stellar scene and even when chalice trips and stumbles on cuphead's marbles causing her to ultimately lose the day is still one thanks to cuphead playing rock paper scissors yep cuphead playing roshambo is what ultimately saves chalice's life now on paper this seems anticlimactic but really think about it chalice's whole journey was about going from a selfish loner to a more open and selfless girl she started off in a Loveless place with no real Companions and after getting free she adopted the idea that looking out for number one is the only way to go but after meeting the cupros they managed to win her heart and show her the benefits of having Chums by your side she went from straight up abandoning them when things got tough to making an effort to protect them to being Inseparable with them and in the end to have the very first friend that she made be the one to ultimately save her life brings the entire thing full circle chalice really has learned what friendship is truly about friendship can lead to some difficult choices and sacrifices that need to be made but the end result of a good friendship is a person that will give anything for you someone that'll catch you when you can't catch yourself and isn't that just a wonderful thing it's not a super nuanced message or anything but I think it's a really satisfying Arc for chalice and wraps up her character in a nice little bow a rainbow that is but now with all that being said we still have yet to answer the million dollar question I've been talking up a storm about how this season feels Grand and feels final and it does I was getting dopamine hits and Goofy smells of Plenty while watching this season eating up all the past nods and massive set pieces like they were chips from a bag like if we're going off sheer entertainment value this might be the best season of the whole dang show but while it does a bang-up job at feeling epic and final is it actually epic and final when you look closely well that leads into some of my issues with the season moments like the cup Bros climactic cycle through the underworld and the devil chalice tap off in the finale are fantastic scenes when it comes to presentation and they're endlessly entertaining in general but tries the creators might there's still something under the lid that just doesn't feel right if you want to have moments that not only feel big but are big you gotta have Stakes you gotta have good characters you gotta have tension and you gotta have build up the show handles the first two pretty well I mean The Souls of our beloved beverage buddies on the line is definitely high stakes not to mention the fact that if cuphead is taken out the devil's sole obstacle that's been making him a mockery is gone as well and good characters oh yeah no complaints there at all but it's the other two where they really drop the ball I'm just gonna say it tension is non-existent throughout this whole season mainly because it feels like there's no real looming threat over the characters anymore the devil who is clearly meant to be the antagonist of the show has lost all of his steam at this point and it's impossible to take take him seriously I still stand by the fact that seeing more sympathetic sights to the devil is really fun and ultimately makes him more interesting as a character but when the writers are clearly trying to set up ultimate showdowns between protagonist and antagonists where it feels like the outcome could go either way just no it doesn't work while it is true that 99 of the time in media the protagonist does win and come out on top in the end we at least want to get some semblance of a struggle like maybe the antagonist might have the upper hand in some cases but it's impossible to question who's gonna win and who's gonna lose when the bad guy has done nothing but lose for the entirety of the series especially in this season the closest thing we get to the devil being a true Baddie are two isolated scenes from the last two episodes and in a vacuum these moments are really cool like I said this is a side to the devil that is legitimately interesting but I refer you to my previous as much as I love these scenes they just feel kind of tacked on to the season like the staff thought to themselves oh nuts we want to have an epic final Clash of Hero vs villain but our villain is barely a villain quick and some cool moments in there and they thought that would fix it but when you pair the devil's lack of villainous establishment with the out of nowhere reveal of chalice and Devil's relationship you end up with the finale that's missing most of the weight it could have had otherwise I definitely care about the characters that are at risk here but sadly it can be hard to fear for them when there's ultimately nothing to fear as for finality while there are certain things like chalices Arc that I felt were wrapped up really nicely I did notice a few loose threads in season two it seemed like they were gonna go somewhere when three rolled around but nothing really came of them cuphead finally gaining some humility and realizing how much his impulsive actions put others in danger that never happened mugman's potential Insanity which I thought was going to be built upon or at least referenced in this season that never happened the devil realizing how much of a laughing stock he's become and potentially trying to get some dignity back by kidnapping the thing closest to cuphead and successfully manipulating him revealing his True Villain potential at last that never happened while I do appreciate all the nods that this season did to previous episodes in some cases I feel like they needed to do more than just not with the way they were setting everything up I thought this season would include things like cuphead permanently changing his ways the devil truly proving to be a threat while still retaining his playful side mugman's Insanity may be hinting at how mentally drained and damaged he was by needing to watch his brother all the time and then cuphead tried to apologize when he realizes that heck maybe he even becomes more of a threat than the freaking devil at some point all this could have made for a more satisfactory ending for every main character I know we're supposed to judge things for what they are and not what they could have been but with everything they tried to set up in the second season it feels like they were getting ready for something to be but just didn't follow through with it and honestly that's a major shame so yeah that was the cuphead show season three I know there are going to be certain people that call this the weakest season by far but personally I still really enjoyed myself the character moments that work are really strong the new sides to each character are unique and welcome the continuity overload was appreciated and while the substance was lacking in some areas the style was still extremely well done and made this an enjoyable watch if they followed through on some of the character aspects they seem to be setting up and cranked up the devil's threat Factor so certain moments would actually have some tension and weight and maybe added a few new bosses in there this could have been a contender for the best season of the whole show but for now I'd say it's about on par with season one while season 2 holds a huge commanding lead in the very top I really wanted to say this season was all Aces but there were some things that bothered me I'll put it like this if you're just here for the entertainment factor and fun character moments you'll find that in Spades but if you are hoping for that little extra bit of substance that really pushes things over the edge well then welcome to the club now I'm sure a lot of you guys are thinking the same thing is this really it for the cuphead show honestly it's hard to say after digging through Elon musk's Dumping Ground I did manage to find one interesting message according to supervising director Adam Palawan he said and I quote there was a heap of episodes that were fully storyboarded some star in your favorite game bosses that never got to see the light of day due to budget and time running out I really hope they can be shared soon so this does confirm that there were other stories that the crew wanted to tell ones that were fully mapped out and ready for the animation phase but as we all know Netflix treats animation like a red-headed stepchild meaning they likely didn't give them the resources to bring those stories to the public but that last line mystifies me I really hope they can be shared soon maybe this is a hint that the crew are currently trying to appeal to Netflix for an eventual extension of the series maybe they plan to release the scripts and boards to the public as a sort of what could have been collection maybe they'll include some in that art book that was recently announced I mean interest in the show is still extremely high with Renu the cuphead show making the rounds on Twitter the official YouTube uploads getting a decent chunk of views and the show show itself being number one in kids entertainment when season three dropped it's impossible to tell for sure at this point but all this does give me some hope that we will be able to see these lost episodes in some way shape or form at some point and even if this whole thing falls through and they never see the light of day there are still ways that the cuphead show will live on in the fandom there are tons of people writing their own episodes and stories based on the characters we've come to know and love and some of them are really really good heck I've got a whole series where I write custom cuphead episodes myself so if you need to scratch that chitch you don't even have to look that hard for now though I guess we'll just have to wait patiently for more news to spawn and if this truly is the end for our favorite cup and his cartoon friends at least we can all take solace in the fact that Wayne Brady King dice finally got to sing a song Let's Go foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: finnthepony

Views: 207,484

Keywords: cuphead, the cuphead show, cuphead show, the cuphead show season 3, season 3, the cuphead show season 2, season 2, season 4, ms chalice, devil, the cuphead show devil, king dice, roll the dice, Mugman, elder kettle, sally stageplay, cartoon, cartoons, animation, review, the cuphead show review, cuphead song, song, christmas, dance, a very devil Christmas, henchman, death, game, king dice song, analysis, finnthepony, finale, ending, Netflix, cuphead ending, funny, comedy, reaction, season 1, music

Id: bX6k02nk39g

Length: 32min 5sec (1925 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 02 2022