I finished Super Powereds Year Four a while ago, but I’m only just now getting to reviewing it. I think part of that was life, but more I think it was that I needed to get over the somewhat cliché ending in which everyone good has paired off and leads the lives they probably always wanted (mostly). I’m glad the surviving good guys and gals got happy endings, but everyone living their exact dreams with the person they were obviously meant to be with since Book 1 was a little bit of a let-down creatively. Seeing the actual graduation would have been nice for one thing, especially since we got a few bits and pieces of the ceremony of the previous generation. I just think that everything ended up a little too archetypal.
If that’s the worst thing to be said, and I think it pretty much is, then overall Super Powered Year Four is generally a good conclusion to a good series. I did like getting to see the gradual and eventually mostly complete revelation of the story behind Globe’s being framed for the murder of Intra, and how the developing Class of Nightmares parallels the past Class of Legends? (whatever Blaine and Globe’s class was called), and how it all connects pretty neatly. I also appreciate being able to see that group in action since their relationships and actions are pretty important to what’s going on now.
At one point, Mary makes a decision about what she wants to do with her life, which while it makes sense for her character, does kind of disappoint me in terms of seeing her in action. At the same time, watching Alice and Vince really start to figure themselves out was suspenseful in a good way. I also liked the thing with Gerry since it gave Nick a chance to be something other than a snark for a while, although in hindsight the set up was a tad obvious.
I still wish that there was more equal distribution between Hershel time and Roy time, and while I get the discovery about how the two are really connected is supposed to explain that, it’s not really that satisfying. While it’s true Roy definitely needed more development as a character, what’s going on with his other half, at least some of the time? I also want to know what happened to Raze and why he really matters. If you’re going to mention a character several times, I’d really like it if there was something about them beyond a name. Then there’s Will’s test, which seems more like an excuse to make some social-political commentary than anything else, since the final reveal is more of a ‘gotcha’ than anything else. I still maintain that the Vince-Eliza bit seems unnecessary, since it doesn’t really add anything to the story or the characters.
In spite of my complaints, overall I think this is the right ending for this arc of this series; it’s a classic ending to a classic hero story. I already have Corpies on my TBR shelf (literally, although it’s technically more like two and a half shelves), and who knows, but maybe there will be another installment in that world. I totally think this would make the kind of CW show I’d actually watch, predictable but fun junk. That or maybe Netflix could pick it up.