Amthermandes

Let's get the obvious out of the way. The Ugly Stepsister is a brilliant allegory on the beauty industry, and society's expectations as a whole of how women (and men) should look like. The more one tries to be beautiful, the more "ugly" they become. This is not just about modern society either. This film is a period piece, and I suspect it was set in this specific time period (mid 19th century?) to remind audiences that the social standard of what is considered "beautiful" has been around forever, while still giving the audience a "close to which they can relate.

The film demonstrates the lengths we go as humans to achieve not only social acceptance, but how much we value our appearance to others. To some level, each and every one of us alters our true, REAL appearance to enhance our psychical look for the public. Whether it's as simple as putting on make-up or combing our hair, or as extreme as methods that step past the boundaries of sanity and into the realms of mental illness, such as purging, or the Chinese practice of "foot binding." We all want to look our best, impress those around us as much as possible, to some degree.

But The Ugly Stepsister takes it far beyond reason. It's a sad, destructive, cinematic take on a tragic version of the classic Cinderella story. I was gonna say it didn't have the feel of a fairy tale (it's certainly grimm enough though, obvious pun intended). But then the "necrosilkworms" showed up, and I was like "I stand corrected."

There are some seriously great, and gloriously cringe-worthy special effects. I'm not sure how much CGI is used, but dang.

Another mention of note, is that no matter the era, no matter the social status, boys will be boys and men will also be boys (case in point: "check out those _____s!").

The film has an almost dream-like aura at times, feels like an adult combination of "Cinderella," "Amadeus," and "The Princess Bride." With some jarring soundtracks, the film becomes more and more unnerving, leading to quite a spectacular (and deliciously disturbing) finale.

I only wish they didn't feel the need for such a sexually graphic mise-en-scène. And while all basic aspects of a typical movie are well done (acting, directing, cinematography, etc), it's just a tad shy of perfection. Still, a freaking awesome watch.

This was back in the good 'ol days of free artistic expression. This was good comedy. When it first aired, nobody was too brainwashed to enjoy it, or pitch a fit. It's just good 'ol fashioned fun.

All politics aside, it's a fun episode. And Hank (and even Dean) experiences some heavy character development. And a classic Venture Bros enemy is more defined, wenn ich mich nicht irre.

All in all, it's fun, classic Venture Brothers. I hope people can just accept that it's just a fun, classic episode no matter what your stance is on certain political and social hot-topics of today. It's just, you know, fun.

There is no other pair of episodes that affected me more emotionally than this episode, and the season 7 premiere. Back-to-back, they are in my opinion, the most harrowing, brutal tv episodes with the utmost feeling of dread and hopelessness than I have ever experienced. After this episode, I actually had to deal with a bit of anxiety, especially the couple nights after watching it. In October, when the season 7 premiere finally aired, I went in hoping it wouldn't be as bad as I was expecting, based on how this episode ended.

No further comment on that, as this is a review focused on the season 6 finale. The whole show so far has greatly toyed with the emotions of the audience. It's an absolute roller-coaster, and with an unexpected plot routine, but this episode....well, it redefines "entertaining torture" if such a term existed.

It's also great for character development, for multiple characters. One thing on this subject I'd like to point out, is that have you all noticed how cocky Rick has been the last few episodes (and the beginning of this one)?

And Negan? The character (and actor) deserves to be ranked among the most impactful villains of tv history. Bravo.

This is TV at its finest, if you strongly value the affect that entertainment media can have on the audience. Because it sure as hell messed ME up.