ok i’m putting this at the top now bc constant comments are getting annoying 😭 at 2:05 i got the years wrong. in my country high school classes are named after the year you START school, not the year you graduate (“class of 2021” would’ve started school in 2021, not graduate). i assumed it was like this everywhere which i should not have, my bad for that one. i know the musical is set in fall of 2021, i know they’re seniors graduating in 2021, thank you for the people who were nice about it bc some of y’all were a bit aggressive (it’s fine, i’m not upset lol) og comment: ACT 2 IS OUT NOW!! ua-cam.com/video/-WtaT70ptug/v-deo.htmlsi=ACgZgs_7FD7XFJHR thank you guys for the support on this!!! it makes me really happy :) im hearting all the comments with other details that i didn't quite catch so keep commenting them, i love reading them i'm planning to start working on part two tomorrow so it'll most likely be around mid-late next week hope you're looking forward to it! :)
In the U.S. high schoolers graduate in the late spring. So if they’re “Class of 2021” then this takes place in the fall of 2020 🩷 Also thanks for the video you noticed so much I never did 🥰
I assume that they're the class of 2021 because that was supposed to be their 2020 musical. And if they were seniors starting in 2020, they would have been the class of 2021. They just didn't want to change the rhyme
Something something, Max being the first to compliment Ruth's acting as a skeleton and, afterwards, booing at her heartfelt performance before killing her
“You kinda look like that homeless guy from downtown.” Works on three levels. One is the face value “you look like shit” joke. The next is that Joey Richter also played the homeless man. The third is that in episode 2 of nightmare time, it’s revealed that Peters brother Ted Spankoffsky is actually that same homeless man.
Jon's hairstyle is also how a kid would style their hair after watching Dragonball. The bangs and the swoop on one side is very reminicent of Goku's hair!
I was thinking it must be something like that. I love how Starkid represents teenagers with such kindness. There is some gentle poking fun at teens being cringy and getting too invested in dumb things because that’s what happens when you’re a teen, but it’s not shown in a malicious way, it’s very genuine and it also depicts the more serious things they have to deal with as well. This Twitter fight about a problematic puppy is genuinely important to a teenage Stephanie, bc that’s how social media works, not to mention being a teen and trying to make change is what you’re realizing is an unfair world, and then in the next line is the crypto thing which shows her shitty father, followed by “there’s nowhere to turn for the class of 2021” showing like yeah, it is fucking hopeless and desperate to be 18 sometimes. Reminds me of in a nightmare time q and a Mariah said about Alice “it’s so hard to be 18” and I see that sympathy in how they portray them as well as acknowledging that the very structures and systems these kids are suffering in/being shit on by adults for participating in and obsessing over are set up by adults. We shit on teenagers for their lives revolving around their phones and their “photos and contacts” but it’s like first of all social media etc is created and pushed by adults, and second of all of course the mayor’s kid whose dad hates her and probably spends a lot of time alone in a big empty house is obsessed with her phone because it’s a tie to what social life she has.
yo but lowkey the first hints that the jocks were only following max's lead out of fear is "what do you think guys? should i let him off with a warning?" "yeah! :D"
Faking starkid man lmao from the very first line I knew that whole intro was going to kill me on rewatch knowing how they were going to make me feel about these characters and the meanings and nuances goddamn implications godDAMNit everytime Starkid musicals have some of the highest rewatchability for me it's insane
I’m a tech crew nerd and it’s incredible that when max brings the lights down when he says “I bring light to darkness” the Chasity family has a way to get into place to make the clean transition between “say your f*ckin’ prayers” to “amen”. This show is genius with every little piece of work put into it
The design aspects of this show is incredible and is totally giving me inspiration for things I might be able to do with my shows (I do set/sound/lights/TD at my high school).
i didn't even catch that was what happened. i thought it was just some clever video editing, but it's another seamless stage transition like the ones during the storm in tgwldm!
The first hint of Grace being crazy is her blaming Max rather than herself for her own thoughts. I saw that and went "oh no you're the worst type of human, aren't you?"
In a similar vein, the ‘first’ sign that Max’s teammates don’t really care for bullying is when he asks if he should “let him off with a warning” (Heh, Yeah!) Either they don’t care enough to do it that they don’t even pay attention to the question, or they genuinely were just like “sure, we don’t get anything out of this anyway.”
One thing I love is that in “High School is Killing Me” when they sing the line “it’s got me all out of rythme” the drummer rushes on the hi-hat. It’s so genius!!!
somethin really funny that mariah posted on an insta story was "the moment this man stops playing my father is the moment im finally safe" and i love that
Hi just to add! 3:40 The hate for Sycamore is probably a reference to Paul’s high school in TGWDLM. Emma’s line there was “We hated you guys.” While Paul said “We hated ourselves.” Cool little detail.
definitely but as someone who lives in a county with only 3 highschools the attitudes toward the other two are 100% accurate. its a very "this place fucking sucks but at least we're not THOSE guys" kind of thing
@the-starlit-blade LITERALLY LMAO its the same way for us. "Oh my God our high school fucking sucks they're doing dumb shit again" "Yeah but the upper city kids are worse" "Oh my God screw those pretentious fucks haha" and then we laugh about how we never went to beaconsfield or st. john high
Here's one I've seen no one point out yet: in the song Dirty Girl, Grace is wearing a bathing suit in her bath. According to the end of abstinence camp, that's actually a rule in her house. She mentions it after saving Steph and Pete. Like, yes, it was also probably for other reasons but it makes sense with what we know about her!!
@@Bluey-Leafeon I think its "Nobody's seeing THIS [her body] until i'm married. Not even me!" (also Boy Jerry calls her a dirty girl in that same scene which is cool)
i think this show is a perfect culmination of them at their best, their most experienced, and their most polished. actors, creatives and techs. like not only did jeff’s musical writing improve, but he learned to write for the strengths of the actors/singers. they sound so strong bc their technique has improved AND the music has grown to support them.
Some things I noticed! - Richie's hair probably isn't supposed to just be greasy/messy, but more that he tried to fashion his hair to look like an anime character! One side stuck up and weird bangs are very harem high school anime self-insert MC-core - in "High school is killing me", Peter says, "Grace, just be cool," and she replies, "never!" And yet she's the first one to ask everyone to keep the beans cool, and the first one to break. Very telling - this might be a stretch, but the 5 nerds are color-coded with the 5 Lords! Just dulled somewhat, and if you count Ruth as red/pink (for her headgear) and Peter as green (for his bowtie and suspenders). This makes sense to me, as the rulers definitely feed off of want, and of course the nerdy prudes will be wanting the most! (spoilers Also this makes Pete changing to brown mean a lot, since it shows how he feels fulfilled by slowly becoming Steph's friend/partner) - the mayor calling Steph his "October surprise" probably means that she was an unplanned baby. That makes her being forced to go to abstinence camp kinda hypocritical lol - Ruth keeps on desperately trying to fuck people and Richie keeps trying to be a wingman for her, but they aren't trying to fuck each other at all and are very much just super besties. - in "literal monster," the nerds sing to call the feds on Max while he's alive, but in "Bury the body," they sing to hide from the feds now that he's dead - at multiple points, it implied that the characters slightly know they're in a musical. From Richie saying "oh no, she's snapping again," to the Hatchettown "singing gives him a greater window to kill, but we're singing still," and, as it was pointed out to me, "suddenly the show is real upsetting." Think of the implications!!! - Max's ghost costume is especially good, but I just love how there are veins on his jacket sleeves! It shows that his outfit isn't separate from himself anymore, his entire form is one single ghostly thing. - I could make an entire video on how important the leitmotifs are in the Hatchetfield series are, but the last little bit in "Nerdy Prudes must die" is the theme song of the Nightmare Time series, and also basically the original theme song of the Rulers/black book. Anytime something supernatural happened that was caused by a Ruler, that played. Fun fact! I am so mentally unwell over this series 💚
Even more of a Conspiracy to the point where I'm not adding it to the original comment, I feel like the line "and if I finally break the rules, I will know of my world, I'm the ruler" means so much. We only ever hear it twice ("cool as I think I am," and "dirty dudes must die"), even though the first part ("If I can finally be cool I will know that I'm not a loser") is played numerous times, and has a LOT of importance placed on it. Dirty Dudes is obvious by explaining how Grace is falling to what she would consider satanism in the name of God, but I personally see the first usage as kind of meta. Peter is singing the song about him and Stephanie, right? Well, in the other two Hatchetfield musicals, there are both couples that slowly fall in love over the course of the runtime. And you know what? They all die at the end. Hatchetfield dies at the end. It's because the Lords didn't know the main characters personally, or else weren't asked, and they were on the bad guy's side. The Lords in Black are very much the bad guys. They feed from people's wants and their desperation to reach fulfillment (filling the holes), and actively cause destruction to cause more want and desperation. So "breaking the rules" by making them join the good guys side, just for once, causes the nerds to be known and protected so long as they pay the price. And they do. And that's why Nerdy Prudes has a good-ish ending. The second final song "The Best of You," as weird as it is, is entirely focused on Pete and Steph, who broke the rules by not dying, and became the "Rulers," homecoming king and queen, as a result (I know it wasn't explicitly stated they were king and queen but it wasn't a plot point at all so let me pretend lol). So basically if Grace Chastity weren't there, they would have failed and Hatchetfield would have died again. (more spoilers, Also them constantly and explicitly stating they didn't want each other! Even if they were lying, they never ever openly admitted their wants. It seems like a lot of the Lord's power comes from openly realizing one's wants (I want a partner I want my son to forgive me I want to redo the past I wanna be alone I wanna stop hurting I wanna forget it all I want California). Pete and Steph's songs were all about Not Saying It Ever. Even in the gun scene with Pete asking Steph to homecoming, the final line is still “I never wanted you anyway." “You can lie to yourself but not to me” but if you admit it I will have you! It's like a fae situation. Paul was gotten once he admitted his attraction, the mall was always doomed but wanting tomorrow didn't help. Pete and Steph wanted each other of course but constantly denying their attraction probably helped a lot! And that's why their final song is about finally being allowed to admit it!)
Maybe traces of the Waylons' magic still affects Hatchetfield in this universe even if it was so long ago! Since the lords in black would have had a bit more influence, enough of that eldritch energy would have seeped through the characters, and it makes them somewhat aware of being in a musical
Another line that's related to the idea that the characters know they're in a musical: Pete goes "I bet this song will suck." in "Cool As I Think I Am"!
"October Surprise" is an American political expression where a politician doing well suddenly has something bad/a scandal come up late in the game to tank their numbers. Election is in November; the politician is in the homestretch, feeling good about winning; then in October there's a surprise that makes things not so locked for them. If his daughter is caught in a cheating scandal/expelled, the people of Hatchetfield may not vote for him.
Something I saw somewhere else, Max targets not just nerds and prudes, but anyone (Shapiro, the mayor, Ruth who's not a prude), because he himself said that he decides who's a nerd and who's not. Just shows how far his god complex goes
Jon just published a vod of watching NPMD with Jeff and said it was an intentional decision to intersect the spoken line with "struggle" getting the costume off lmao
* Couple (a lot of) things: * Grace does the cross sign on the "I've been thrown to the wolves of the community", and covers her mouth in the opening number so she doesn't swear * All the nerds are typical high-school nerd tropes: Joey has the suspenders and bowtie, Bryce has the giant glasses, Kim has the unibrow, Lauren has the braces, Jon has the messy hair and outfit * Max says "I won't rest until I taste Grace Chastity's little peach" and he's defeated by Grace giving up her chastity to him * A lot of the signs in the background are foreshadowing (you see them best at 7:48) - "5, 6, have your crucifix" is a reference to them summoning the Lords In Black, "Rip Them Apart" is how Max kills Ruth and "Into Their Heads" is how he stops Richie escaping, Jagerman is written with paint dripping down like it's blood, there's the massive "YOU'RE NEXT" sign * When Pete changes his outfit to get rid of the checkered bowtie and suspenders, Steph also removes her checkered shirt because Pete still matches her even when he's trying to impress her * Max uses a lot of therapy and anti-bullying style speech, it crops up throughout the show but first appears when he beats up Peter * The newspaper has a lot of other references - not sure about all of them, but "Hatchetfield puts its foot on the gas!" is a reference to Jane's A Car, and I think the "New land development proposed at the edge of Witchwood Forest" is a reference to Perky's Buds as Emma builds her farm there * Max says in Dirty Girl "I am expecting you to be-betray me" and that's exactly what Grace does at the end * The "you kinda look like that homeless guy from downtown" is a double-reference because not only does Joey also play the homesless guy, but the homeless guy is Ted, Pete's older brother
Wait a minute I’m kinda confused by the last thing you said. Cause Ted and the homeless guy are two separate characters in The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.
@@ASMRBOO00 In "nightmate time" (I dont remember witch episode) it's revealed that ted ends up being the homeless guy. I highly recomend watching nightmate time!!!
@@ASMRBOO00 in time bastard it's revealed that the homeless guy is a version of ted who was sent back in time then trapped in the bastard's box by tinky and went insane and they coexist because of timefuckery
* @@ASMRBOO00 There’s an episode of Nightmare Time - Time Bastard - that shows they’re the same character (Ted wishes he could sleep through the next few years, wakes up in the future, goes back in time to fix a relationship but then can’t return to present day because he went back to before the paradox occurred, with no house, money or friends he ends up as the homeless guy. That’s why Tinky says “Oh, boy! A Spankoffski! I’ll have the whole set in my toybox!”, because he’s the one that caused the time paradox for Ted)
Idk if anyone else knew this but Jäger = “hunter” in German. Max does hunt down nerds in life and in the afterlife. Also I feel like Jäger ties in with that Attack on Titan reference…
It also works as general world building for Hatchetfield since alongside with names like Sarah Zimmerman it seems that Hatchetfield has a history of german immigrant families
@@zoharamitai8719 During Perky's Buds (Season 2, Episode 2, Part 1), the Metzger's are not happy with Emma and Ziggs for cutting down the trees to make place for the pot farm.
At 3:14 he says "Grace just be Cool" which is similar to when Grace says everything will be fine if they keep the beans cool. Unfortunately, Grace said she'd never be cool lol so everything goes wrong.
You missed one of my favorite writing parts!! He says he won’t rest until he tastes grace chastity’s peach, and he doesn’t stop killing until after he’s done it with her! ^^
I'm so glad you said it, it's one of my favorite subtle writing choices that I noticed on a rewatch. I love when show's make a character say something, that ends up becoming a very literal sentiment
That's so smart I hadn't noticed that! And there's even a sort of religious metaphor in that line with talking about eating fruit in reference to sex/sin, which foreshadows Grace's whole relationship with her idea of Max. Maybe I'm reading into it too much but the writing in this musical is so smart that I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional
@@jessieleo7224 It definitely feel like an intentional parallel, given how many times there's stuff like that in the musical. I keep thinking about how they made Max sing "who'll pray for you" which is so poignant given his god-complex, only for Grace to recycle that, but to new effect given her devoutness, and how she considers her targets "denounced" by god. In general, in love with the dynamic of pairing up the fanatically devout Grace with a guy sporting a god complex
There's so much subtle foreshadowing that i love. Like, the "i expect you to betray me" line from Dirty Girl. Or the whole "Literal Monster" song as the mayor literally stated later that "you two have created a literal monster." I love a good, tasteful foreshadowing.
i'm aware this is probably a stretch but the little detail where max says that "this is the sweetest thing anyones ever done for me" really made me think maybe if he hadnt died they could have all been on good terms and the story could have gone a completely different way!! overall just the amount of foreshadowing this musical had was so fun oml
I'M PRETTY SURE THEY COULD. I'M PRETTY SURE HE WOULD HAVE CALMED DOWN IF HE FELT THAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT HIM NOT ONLY WHEN HE MAKES THEM FEAR HIMSELF Buuut, also, he directly stated that he thought that the highschool is the best he could get out of his life, so maybe he would still be like he was , just to feel the power he has while he has it
Like to imagine a happy little world where none of this ever happened but also…he definitely had some mental issues even before he died. He definitely had a god complex
@@nikithebakerpretty spot on. Lots of bullies do just want to feel powerful and significant while they can because in their family they've been made to feel the opposite, they probably don't expect a lot out of their futures or any solid relationships so who cares right
@@OriginalGameteer au where the prank goes well, Max starts to respect the nerds and is learning to build relationships and gains authority once again in a healthy way, the nerds are being accepted and loving their life ( aka Go go Nighthawks but where the happiness isn't taken away by a certain ghost) and it's all a sugarcoat fairytale with no villain because they all deserve a giant break
NPMD was so good, like there was a lot of pressure on the finale of the beloved Hatchetfield trilogy, and somehow, this might be the best of the trilogy??? any day with grace chastity is a good day
It's not a trilogy, and this isn't the finale. No one in Starkid ever said that, and they've got Nightmare Time season 3 and a whole ass movie slated after this one
@@houselemuellan8756 they said they were done with hatchetfield musicals after this one, I know NT 3 is a possibility depending on whether NT 2 gets enough traction but what movie?
@@houselemuellan8756 Oh really? Of all facts to have apparently made up in my own head, I'd be happy if this was one. Though I was specifically referring to the stage plays, in any case, 'm glad we get to get more Hatchetfield. I had heard about the movie, but I'm stoked to hear about Nightmare Time 3 as well, the first two were phenomenal!
@@feathertails They're working on a short movie "Working Boys"! Or they might have finished it up already, it was part of one of their Kickstarters I believe. They released a trailer on YT this October
@@luna732Working boys is more than finished, it was streamed on the Halloween watch party. They talked about NMT3 and a possible movie in the future that has nothing to do with WB
Fun little things i noticed as well: Max says he wont rest until he tastes Grace's peach, and that is exactly what happens! The minute Grace loses her chastity, Max is taken by the Lords in Black. He also says in Dirty Girl "Im expecting you to betray me", which she also does by sending him to the Lords in Black In Go Go Nighthawks, when everyone's happy, a cheerleader says "You're early Mr. Lipschitz!" Which is Richie's last name. It'd be weird for a student to call another student Mr., so we can assume that Richie has a dad thats part of the school faculty and is currently grieving the loss of his son. When Pete runs away from Steph in the beginning saying he shouldn't be talking to her because "He'll" get him. Steph has no idea who he's talking about, which is interesting considering the fact that Max seems to be very well known for his bullying, though that may just be on the nerd side. Now pair this with when Steph jumps out at Max in the old Waylon place, Max immediately says "Steph, we cant have a party here, its haunted, stay back, I'll protect you" This seems to show that Steph and Max are on pretty good terms, respecting each other to the point where Steph genuinely didn't know that he bullied people regularly. Of course she still probably knew that he was at least manipulative considering the fact that he won't let Brenda and Kyle date each other, doing the same to Steph when she tries to invite Pete to Pasqualli's. She does immediately side with the nerds though when Pete gets a black eye, which either says a lot about how much she cares for Pete, or how flimsy her and Max's respect for one another is considering she turns on him pretty easily for people she doesn't really know Anyway, thats just my thoughts
in the commentary that came with the digital ticket, kim actually said that the "mr. lipschitz" line was supposed to be spoken by her teacher character, but the quick change to her cheerleader outfit was just TOO quick, so they scrapped the costume change, but kept the line!! i really like the interpretation that it shows the students recognizing his name, though 🥹🥹
love at 14:04 when Grace starts naming everything the original house owners got up to those are the things that they end up doing by the end of the show
I love how Jon talks as Richie. It’s a small detail but the over-pronunciation and “I’m smarter than you” inflections/tone really drives home what a geeky weeb he is. I’ve met many weebs/redditor incel (they go hand in hand honestly) who talk like that to appear much smarter. It just adds to the character and makes it so much more alive. And it’s never annoying like in real life.
I love that grace’s sign is made from a ruler cause they could’ve painted over it but they didn’t and it makes it more plausible that she’d made it herself Also Max’s vocal tomfuckery in literal monster is my reason to live
Rewatching this and I can't get over Will Branner's facial acting. There's this, like, set-ness to his brow line when he's in Bully mode, this tension to his brow and jaw areas. It darkens the eye area and makes them look smaller, makes Max really look like he's glaring down no matter what actual expression he makes. Like Max can't control it, and just lives in being Always Like That. (It's also there in Dirty Girl, even as that's just a fantasy version of him, and it adds to the intensity of the whole thing.) But in the scene between the Haunting and the Death, when he's being surprised at them being nice to him...the tension is gone. It softens all of Max's expressions, makes him look younger and more open, and really sells that Shocked Realization of Vulnerability. It's what makes the 'Thanks' seem so genuine in comparison to everything. And then after death, well. The makeup helps, but Will brings back the Tension - and controls it more. Even when his expression is more cartoonishly open, it keeps that level of intensity, and he can drop it for specific moments - the first 'who will pray for me' he sings for Richie to echo, for example. This is a ramble but just. One of the benefits of the Starkid style of proshot is getting this kind of intimate facial detail, and I'm so glad we got it.
Smashing your daughter’s phone as punishment is so fucked up and the fact that she immediately says “be careful with that” before he even gets the hammer out, he’s literally just holding it, makes me think he’s done this kind of thing before and she’s rightfully immediately worried about what he’s going to do with her possessions
2:06 Actually, the musical is set in 2020 (confirmed via the Starkid Wiki). They just sing class of 2021 because the musical is set in the fall (evident because they talk about homecoming).
Some other cool details: -- At 2:51, when they sing "Is God the one giving the test?", while obviously Peter & Steph are front and centre, it is GRACE that is also illuminated, highlighting the struggle she faces all throughout the musical with god & her values -- At 10:37, while Richie's bit is obviously THE standout and THE part we ALL love, it's actually PETER who first sings the "I'm not a loser" motif! (EDIT: okay you DID include that later in the vid and heck i didn't even notice that the ensemble was singing the whole verse! Great spot!) -- At 15:20, even as Grace is clearly the first one to go crazy, she's also the one to insist to everyone to "keep the beans cool" when she clearly DOESN'T, as later in the play she threatens Steph AT GUNPOINT to "keep it cool beans". -- Hell the whole "Bury the Bully" song is just foreshadowing of how they'd mess up. "Never gonna snitch"? Grace practically threatens to do that to Pete & Steph in the coffe shop. "It's gonna never haunt me"? Max literally becomes a ghost. "Hide from the feds"? The police meet them straight at the school. -- The whole "N-I-G-H-T KAW KAW" cheer was actually foreshadowed when Steph was talking to the cheerleaders earlier. They do the motions silently and pretty quickly while Steph walks (and the camera pans) away from them.
i honestly fell in love with the grace, steph, pete trio… trauma bonding with killing a guy, summoning eldritch horrors and making deals that definitely won’t haunt their souls, just friend stuff!
I'm glad to see this show getting so much love. I genuinely think this is the best show of the Hatchetfield trilogy, if not the best Starkid show in general
Max is unironically such a good villain like he's a psychopath with a god complex but you get these moments where he seems like a normal guy it's super interesting
idk if you'll point this out, but richie talks like a stereotypical anime fan. like he has a manner of pronouncing and enunciating words. idk what it is, but he has that. edit: not really pointing it out, but they couldve LITERALLY left max's body there. like no dismembering, no hiding under the floorboards, just clean out their tracks that they were ever there, and they'd be fine. but of course, this is a work of teenagers in a panic and it just so happens that the crazy one's idea was the only thing they heard.
There’s so many ways that like they could’ve concealed or stopped the murder like if Steph just didn’t tell Max that it was a prank they likely would’ve just left and Richie could edit the footage to only show Max’s initial fear, if they just left the body and left some sign of a break in (even if it was just an unlocked door) Max could’ve broken in and fell on his own, Grace could’ve just said that Max took her bracelet at school beforehand so she no longer was at the crime scene. The nerds routinely make bad choices that worsen their own position, which almost makes it like a conventional tragedy like Macbeth
@@rattyxoxo7397 Part of me wonders if their choice to dismember him was influenced by the curse on the Wayland house or something. I know Grace was the one to suggest it, but considering what happened to the Church of the starry children, and how the hatchetmen are a major part of the lore… I’m probably thinking too deep into this, but it’s something I just realized.
this video really makes me wish that I bought the digital ticket when it came out. Whilst the pro shot is brilliant and shows how far StarKid has developed over the years, it does neglect a lot of the background acting due to how many close-ups it does. I feel like I missed a lot of stellar acting and little hints that I'll probably never see because the digital ticket isn't available anymore.
as someone who saw it irl the closeups are definitely my least favorite thing about the proshot. they really cut out a lot of great full body acting (esp from lauren!) and acting/dancing that happened in the aisles! seeing their faces is great but i wish they showed the full stage more, the backdrops are also so beautiful, there’s three layered ones that make the stage looks HUGE. i was trying to read them the whole time
Did anyone else notice how at 16:45, Richie starts playing with the little tassels on Pete’s ghost costume? Because that always makes me laugh. He like gets a little distracted when he tells Pete he could “hit it and quit it.” And the disappointed way he drops it when Pete says he doesn’t want to?! It’s so funny.
ik you probably alrdy know this but i still want to say it. one of my fav details was in the first number, where grace does all of the things differently compared to the other characters, like the fact that grace covers her mouth everytime they say "im so fucking dead" cuz she doesnt curse or when she signs the cross when the lyric "ive been thrown to the wolves of the community". its just kind of interesting how much starkid put so much work into this show, and its cool to see all the details theyve put in, whether its references to previous shows, or subtle details that reveal so much about the personalities of the characters we see here.
7:48 I know this one! An October Surprise is a political reference. It’s an unexpected complication in a political campaign that occurs right before a big event like an election, especially in regards to personal or embarrassing matters. Lauter is saying that he had to cover up her getting caught only because it would affect his campaign
Interesting! I didn’t know this, I thought it meant that Stephanie’s mother being pregnant was a surprise and Mayor Lauder didn’t want Stephanie and she was born in October.
My favorite part is when they sing “bully the bully” the line ‘the joke is on him’ in the choreography, 15:08 they all point to each other, symbolising how the joke is going to turn around on them. It was in the first watch when I saw this and I was like ok this joke is not going to be good 😅
“i’m dead” was truly one of the most beautifully sung lines. like unironically. i was putting off watching the show but the first time i heard him sing THAT LINE i RAN to the video
Cool detail about clothing: - Max's clothes gets tangled with insulation, as he buried beneath the planks, all of the clothes aren't "ripped" but tangled or "fluffy" with extra insulation (Of course it isn't real insulation but torn fabric to make that cloudy look)
I noticed that the numbers on Curt and Corey’s football jerseys are significant to Starkid history. “09” for 2009, the year that AVPM got uploaded onto UA-cam and Team Starkid as we know it started, and “18” for 2018, the year that TGWDLM was performed in and the start of the Hatchetfield Universe.
for act 2, maybe im reading into this, but Pete sings "Love you like you should be loved" while Steph sings "Love you like I'm capable of" shows the difference between how confident they are (at least how they present to be)
I love reading all the stuff on the stage at 5:29, particularly the chant "1, 2, Jager's coming for you; 3, 4, better lock your door; 5, 6, grab your crucifix; 7, 8, never graduate; 9, 10, he's the Jagerman" Though "clear eyes, sharp claws, can't lose" is awesome too
OK, so the bowtie and flannel matching are 100% on purpose! 10 years of theatre and theatre production have come in handy after all!!! It is called colour-character association, and it done in movies, TV shows & musicals, it subconsciously makes the mind link the characters together. the fact that Pete sees his bowtie and suspenders as comfort/safety but then gives them up to impress Steph shows that by taking off her flannel she is also giving up the comfort or "safety" that being a popular kid gives her. they both risk something for each other. for example, in Newsies (mostly in the second act) Jack has deep blues and small hints of almost coral pink colour and pink is the predominant colour in Kathrin's costume. (also the fact that the painting Jack did for Miss Medda is his vision of what Santa Fe looks like and is focused around that pinkish colour shows the fact that Kathrine is his new Santa Fe)
i LOVE this, it’s exactly the kind of stuff i’ve been thinking about for like a week now my favorite detail i noticed on one of my many rewatches is when Max attacks Pete and Steph, after he says “I’m gonna start with you, Steph” I think you can hear Pete quietly say “no..” 💔
I literally forgot Mariah played both Alice and Stephanie in the same way that when I first watched the Summoning I went “oh shit maybe Wilbur Cross will show up…oh wait Joey’s already onstage” because they’re all so talented at playing distinct characters I keep forgetting they’re the same person
4:53 I never noticed that Richie and Ruth latch onto Pete 🥺🥺 2:07 also I do feel the need to point out, as a guy who was also in their class of 2021, the year you’re the class of is the one you graduated/WILL graduate, so when I started highschool in 2017, I was part of the class of 2021, likewise most of the characters are stated to be 18 so it’s safe to assume the musical takes place in 2021 and they’re in their senior year
@@iantophernicus6042 in the USA school system, since that’s my reference and that’s where the musical takes place, some people count middle school, like my middle school was in the same building as the high schools and was called jr high, but that wasn’t actual high school, highschool is 4 years, 9-12 (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior)
7:47 - I'm very much a nerd, so the October Surprise joke never fails to make me smile a bit. For those who don't get it: "October Surprise" is a political term primarily used in the US to describe a news event (either spontaneous or pre-planned) that has a greater chance to impact an upcoming election (elections typically happen in early November in the US and thus these type of events are more likely to be within the public consciousness when casting the ballot formally). So Mayor Lauter, who is constantly focused on the upcoming re-election campaign throughout the show is referring to Steph's cheating scandal as something that could have a negative impact on his chances of winning the race with it just a few weeks away.
3:40 not a reach, they colour-coordinated pete and steph's outfits on purpose! they mention it during the audio commentary version. starkid's attention to detail is not to be underestimated.
Much like how Lauren and Jon’s outfits were coordinated in TGWDLM bc of course the main couple in a musical has to have coordinated outfits, and in that one I think it was deliberately calling attention to the trope given the meta aspect of the show, but here it seems more subtle and genuine
The song Nerdy Prudes must die has always given me big Carrie vibes, she does similar hanf motions to control people as Max does when he shuts the doors in front of Richie
nightmare time motif sprinkled abt is just ✨ and at the end of act 1, when i was there the whole audience freaked out cuz by then we all recognised it and we were like WOAAH
God I fucking love that every time that leitmotif calls me back to the original line “look what happens, nightmare time” from Alice’s corpse singing to Bill about look what happens when you don’t pay enough attention to your child in favor of your own selfish gains and getting caught up in your own traumas and flaws and then here we hear it again as a dead boy with a shitty father bullies and kills another kid who has consistently been bullied for years and not been helped by the adults until their attention is finally drawn by his actual death
My favorite little thing is that you can tell that there are two different cuts of the song Nerdy Prudes Must Die and it's incredible how well they mesh together. The single thing that shows they aren't the same is Richie's vest
My favlrite bit is knowing that the Bully/Bury songs are actual songs that Grace sings to the others, not just metaphores like most musical songs are interpreted. She really did get them all to join in to a song and dance about her plans. Twice!
'or until another richie comes along' kinda sounds like max is aware of the multiple timelines. the lords in black clearly are since tinky references getting a whole set of spankoffskis, so maybe max being brought back in the old waylon place gave him some knowledge of the lords in black even if he can't handle their true forms.
Yknow wouldn’t the line “until another Richie comes along” reference the other dimensions/versions of Hatchetfield? Maybe Max has some knowledge of that after coming back ~
My head canon says that since Richie looks like a younger version of Paul (obvious real world explanation = Jon looks like Jon), and Nightmare Time has told us that there are clones of Paul lurking in the basement at CCRP, so maybe Richie is another released/escaped Paul clone - just a teenage one. Maybe Max's Dad works in cloning and Max knows things. Or maybe (more likely) another Richie just refers to 'another kid like Richie'.
I think the reason Corey has been Mariah’s father twice is similar to how Paul and Emma are in every stage show. Corey is always meant to play a father figure to Mariah’s character and that figure always dies, I know she isn’t in Black Friday BUT she was supposed to be the character who played lex but she got the role for Regina so she had to take that instead. So in Black Friday Corey was supposed to be Mariah’s father figure who dies. It’s one of those constants in every universe. I hope we see that in future hatchetfeild musicals.
I won’t lie, I hope that’s the trend that still continues just cause the contrast of Bill and Alice’s more tragic estranged relationship vs Solomon and Steph’s especially estranged relationship took me by surprise meeting the Lauters. Just a different tone in a familiar setting of characters which I give props to the actors for.
not sure if anyone else mentioned this but i remember reading somewhere that richie talks like an english dub of an anime and i cant stop hearing it 😂 no idea if that was the intention or not but it's canon to me!
I know you pointed out a lot of small details but half the video is just dedicated to commentary and appreciating the musical in general and honestly... same lmao. People say its the weakest out of the 3, but it stays as my favorite
Although I love my main trio, this show absolutely made me care so much for Ruth and Richie and definitely made me mourn them more than ...any of the other characters I guess 😅😅😅
I love your editor notes! Looking forward to Act 2!!! I really love Pete & Steph. Pete singing about how Steph is “smarter than she thinks she is” always stuck in my mind just from the nature of how sweet Pete is, but I never connected it back to how it contrasts how Mayor Lauter calls her dumb :( “Oh my god, the fucking bow-tie kid??” Is such an underrated line + delivery to me.
hi! just so you know, at 2:09 you said you think it’s set in 2023 bc of the “class of 2021” line, but in american high school (im assuming you aren’t american?) we say class of [graduation year] so it would be set in 2021, which would also still fit with the hatchetfield parallel universe kind of timeline. and here high school is four years so even if that was referring to the year they started high school, they’d have more years before graduating loved the video!!! so many little things i didn’t notice i love it
i am not american haha in my country we say class of [first year in high school], so students graduating this year are called the class of 2021 and high school lasts 3-4 years depending on what you're studying thank you for clarifying! and thank you for enjoying the video
A detail i havent seen anyone point out yet is in "High School is Killing Me" when everyone sings "I've been thrown to the wolves of the community" Angela doesnt just squat on her chair, she also does the sign of the cross and then clasps her hands together like she's praying!
2:07 you say that it takes place in 2023, I am class of 23’ and I started highschool in 19’ this takes place in 2020 given it’s the first semester of the class of 21’s senior year. It’s first semester because homecoming is first semester which makes it fall of 2020
Obligatory reminder that they sound good because the video is using a mix of the audio recording with the audience, the audio from the closer shots (when they perfomed the musical specifically to be filmed EDIT: with no audience) AND the cast recordings from the album! Please don't put every live show to these standards ❤ sincerely, someone who recorded the digital ticket to rewatch it several times
I’m begging you to make a part 2 to this with act 2 because I love your commentary. After reading all the comments I’ve learned about so many cool details that I didn’t pick up on my first watch. Also I will always love more Pete and Steph appreciation.
Anyone else notice later on in Hatchet Town there’s a line about protests at the kennels? Those were probably about the problematic puppy mentioned in High School is Killing Me Also this one is probably unintentional, but Richie has a line about Attack on Titan and Max’s last name is Jaegerman, like protagonist Erin Jaeger (might be spelled with a Y, I’m not sure)
ok i’m putting this at the top now bc constant comments are getting annoying 😭
at 2:05 i got the years wrong. in my country high school classes are named after the year you START school, not the year you graduate (“class of 2021” would’ve started school in 2021, not graduate). i assumed it was like this everywhere which i should not have, my bad for that one. i know the musical is set in fall of 2021, i know they’re seniors graduating in 2021, thank you for the people who were nice about it bc some of y’all were a bit aggressive (it’s fine, i’m not upset lol)
og comment:
ACT 2 IS OUT NOW!! ua-cam.com/video/-WtaT70ptug/v-deo.htmlsi=ACgZgs_7FD7XFJHR
thank you guys for the support on this!!! it makes me really happy :)
im hearting all the comments with other details that i didn't quite catch so keep commenting them, i love reading them
i'm planning to start working on part two tomorrow so it'll most likely be around mid-late next week
hope you're looking forward to it! :)
In the U.S. high schoolers graduate in the late spring. So if they’re “Class of 2021” then this takes place in the fall of 2020 🩷 Also thanks for the video you noticed so much I never did 🥰
I assume that they're the class of 2021 because that was supposed to be their 2020 musical. And if they were seniors starting in 2020, they would have been the class of 2021. They just didn't want to change the rhyme
The confusion was also u have 3 years of hs, the US has 4
I love that when Richie says “I love being alive!” Half the audience is immediately like “AW NOOOOOOO”
Same, you can clearly hear people going “Nooo!” it’s great
I LOVE YOUR PFP OFMD IS AMAZINF
@@lammieshipper THANK YOU I LOVE YOUR USERNAME
The universal experience of Suddenly Remembering Richie Dies
exact same vibe as in AVPSY when Dumbledore goes “sometimes you accidentally kill your family” and the audience goes hahaOHHHH
Something something, Max being the first to compliment Ruth's acting as a skeleton and, afterwards, booing at her heartfelt performance before killing her
not to be that guy you spelled "skele'on" wrong
“You kinda look like that homeless guy from downtown.” Works on three levels. One is the face value “you look like shit” joke. The next is that Joey Richter also played the homeless man. The third is that in episode 2 of nightmare time, it’s revealed that Peters brother Ted Spankoffsky is actually that same homeless man.
That makes tinky talking about the full set make more sense
@@icantnotthink3282 not "almost" that is literally what that line is about
Peter and Ted are brothers?
@@anikxa6401 Yes ! If you watch Abstinence Camp in Nightmare Time 2 it's said at the beginning
So Peter isn’t related to sleezeball Ted but instead homeless Ted? Or are all three brothers? Just wanna make sure I’m following correctly
Jon's hairstyle is also how a kid would style their hair after watching Dragonball. The bangs and the swoop on one side is very reminicent of Goku's hair!
just realized that max has a god complex and is really into grace chastity. because she’s. because she’s a DEVOUT FOLLOWER OF THE LORD
Omg 😭😭 that's such a good catch
Mariah actually said she thinks that Solomon gives Steph her allowance in crypto bc that’s how much he hates her
Honestly I could see it
That's my favorite NPMD fact like the idea of Solomon going out of his way to convert her allowance to crypto just to fuck with her is so funny
@@brooklyn9923That's a whole new level of petty
I was thinking it must be something like that. I love how Starkid represents teenagers with such kindness. There is some gentle poking fun at teens being cringy and getting too invested in dumb things because that’s what happens when you’re a teen, but it’s not shown in a malicious way, it’s very genuine and it also depicts the more serious things they have to deal with as well. This Twitter fight about a problematic puppy is genuinely important to a teenage Stephanie, bc that’s how social media works, not to mention being a teen and trying to make change is what you’re realizing is an unfair world, and then in the next line is the crypto thing which shows her shitty father, followed by “there’s nowhere to turn for the class of 2021” showing like yeah, it is fucking hopeless and desperate to be 18 sometimes. Reminds me of in a nightmare time q and a Mariah said about Alice “it’s so hard to be 18” and I see that sympathy in how they portray them as well as acknowledging that the very structures and systems these kids are suffering in/being shit on by adults for participating in and obsessing over are set up by adults. We shit on teenagers for their lives revolving around their phones and their “photos and contacts” but it’s like first of all social media etc is created and pushed by adults, and second of all of course the mayor’s kid whose dad hates her and probably spends a lot of time alone in a big empty house is obsessed with her phone because it’s a tie to what social life she has.
@@genericname2747 Memento mori my friend
yo but lowkey the first hints that the jocks were only following max's lead out of fear is "what do you think guys? should i let him off with a warning?" "yeah! :D"
Also, when he punches one of the jocks the other jock is super upset
They have names guys :( Jason is Corey’s Jock and Kyle is Curt’s Jock
@@MercuryIsDumbwho 😔😔
1:30 small addition: Ruth’s headgear isn’t on because she’s dead.
sobbing
Faking starkid man lmao from the very first line I knew that whole intro was going to kill me on rewatch knowing how they were going to make me feel about these characters and the meanings and nuances goddamn implications godDAMNit everytime
Starkid musicals have some of the highest rewatchability for me it's insane
also nick said in the commentary that lauren didn’t wear it for that part because she didn’t want the audience to laugh when they saw her
@@ice_wolfie aaaaah that makes a lot of sense tbf!
I’m a tech crew nerd and it’s incredible that when max brings the lights down when he says “I bring light to darkness” the Chasity family has a way to get into place to make the clean transition between “say your f*ckin’ prayers” to “amen”. This show is genius with every little piece of work put into it
so am i (tech theatre major) and i agree so hard 😭😭
I also thoroughly enjoyed when Max "closes" the doors. Just perfect timing.
The design aspects of this show is incredible and is totally giving me inspiration for things I might be able to do with my shows (I do set/sound/lights/TD at my high school).
dawg since when have you been a starkid fan@@JuneNafziger
i didn't even catch that was what happened. i thought it was just some clever video editing, but it's another seamless stage transition like the ones during the storm in tgwldm!
The first hint of Grace being crazy is her blaming Max rather than herself for her own thoughts.
I saw that and went "oh no you're the worst type of human, aren't you?"
Yeah very frollo-like
In a similar vein, the ‘first’ sign that Max’s teammates don’t really care for bullying is when he asks if he should “let him off with a warning” (Heh, Yeah!) Either they don’t care enough to do it that they don’t even pay attention to the question, or they genuinely were just like “sure, we don’t get anything out of this anyway.”
@@beansforsalewahoomodern teenage girl frollo, i love that for her
@@fallingasleepaswespeaksame ngl she’s the worst type of person but the best type of villain
Growing up Mormon does irreparable damage to people's psyche
One thing I love is that in “High School is Killing Me” when they sing the line “it’s got me all out of rythme” the drummer rushes on the hi-hat. It’s so genius!!!
somethin really funny that mariah posted on an insta story was "the moment this man stops playing my father is the moment im finally safe" and i love that
Hi just to add! 3:40 The hate for Sycamore is probably a reference to Paul’s high school in TGWDLM. Emma’s line there was “We hated you guys.” While Paul said “We hated ourselves.” Cool little detail.
definitely but as someone who lives in a county with only 3 highschools the attitudes toward the other two are 100% accurate. its a very "this place fucking sucks but at least we're not THOSE guys" kind of thing
Fuckin Timberwolves!
@@the-starlit-blade “could be worse. you could be dying in Clivesdale.”
@the-starlit-blade LITERALLY LMAO its the same way for us. "Oh my God our high school fucking sucks they're doing dumb shit again" "Yeah but the upper city kids are worse" "Oh my God screw those pretentious fucks haha" and then we laugh about how we never went to beaconsfield or st. john high
THAT'S WHERE THAT CAME FROM?
Here's one I've seen no one point out yet: in the song Dirty Girl, Grace is wearing a bathing suit in her bath. According to the end of abstinence camp, that's actually a rule in her house. She mentions it after saving Steph and Pete. Like, yes, it was also probably for other reasons but it makes sense with what we know about her!!
"Ive never seen my body,and nobody else will until marriage" - close estimate of the words from Grace Chastity
@@Bluey-Leafeon I think its "Nobody's seeing THIS [her body] until i'm married. Not even me!" (also Boy Jerry calls her a dirty girl in that same scene which is cool)
i think this show is a perfect culmination of them at their best, their most experienced, and their most polished. actors, creatives and techs. like not only did jeff’s musical writing improve, but he learned to write for the strengths of the actors/singers. they sound so strong bc their technique has improved AND the music has grown to support them.
yes!!! i think that’s why it’s my favorite so far, because they’re all at their very more experienced and best and they all do so good
LAUREN DID THE CHOREOGRAPHY? SHE'S SO TALENTED.
Also, I agree, Ruth's so cute through the musical.
SHE ISSSS
she typically does!
Some things I noticed!
- Richie's hair probably isn't supposed to just be greasy/messy, but more that he tried to fashion his hair to look like an anime character! One side stuck up and weird bangs are very harem high school anime self-insert MC-core
- in "High school is killing me", Peter says, "Grace, just be cool," and she replies, "never!" And yet she's the first one to ask everyone to keep the beans cool, and the first one to break. Very telling
- this might be a stretch, but the 5 nerds are color-coded with the 5 Lords! Just dulled somewhat, and if you count Ruth as red/pink (for her headgear) and Peter as green (for his bowtie and suspenders). This makes sense to me, as the rulers definitely feed off of want, and of course the nerdy prudes will be wanting the most! (spoilers Also this makes Pete changing to brown mean a lot, since it shows how he feels fulfilled by slowly becoming Steph's friend/partner)
- the mayor calling Steph his "October surprise" probably means that she was an unplanned baby. That makes her being forced to go to abstinence camp kinda hypocritical lol
- Ruth keeps on desperately trying to fuck people and Richie keeps trying to be a wingman for her, but they aren't trying to fuck each other at all and are very much just super besties.
- in "literal monster," the nerds sing to call the feds on Max while he's alive, but in "Bury the body," they sing to hide from the feds now that he's dead
- at multiple points, it implied that the characters slightly know they're in a musical. From Richie saying "oh no, she's snapping again," to the Hatchettown "singing gives him a greater window to kill, but we're singing still," and, as it was pointed out to me, "suddenly the show is real upsetting." Think of the implications!!!
- Max's ghost costume is especially good, but I just love how there are veins on his jacket sleeves! It shows that his outfit isn't separate from himself anymore, his entire form is one single ghostly thing.
- I could make an entire video on how important the leitmotifs are in the Hatchetfield series are, but the last little bit in "Nerdy Prudes must die" is the theme song of the Nightmare Time series, and also basically the original theme song of the Rulers/black book. Anytime something supernatural happened that was caused by a Ruler, that played. Fun fact!
I am so mentally unwell over this series 💚
Even more of a Conspiracy to the point where I'm not adding it to the original comment,
I feel like the line "and if I finally break the rules, I will know of my world, I'm the ruler" means so much. We only ever hear it twice ("cool as I think I am," and "dirty dudes must die"), even though the first part ("If I can finally be cool I will know that I'm not a loser") is played numerous times, and has a LOT of importance placed on it. Dirty Dudes is obvious by explaining how Grace is falling to what she would consider satanism in the name of God, but I personally see the first usage as kind of meta. Peter is singing the song about him and Stephanie, right? Well, in the other two Hatchetfield musicals, there are both couples that slowly fall in love over the course of the runtime. And you know what? They all die at the end. Hatchetfield dies at the end. It's because the Lords didn't know the main characters personally, or else weren't asked, and they were on the bad guy's side.
The Lords in Black are very much the bad guys. They feed from people's wants and their desperation to reach fulfillment (filling the holes), and actively cause destruction to cause more want and desperation. So "breaking the rules" by making them join the good guys side, just for once, causes the nerds to be known and protected so long as they pay the price. And they do. And that's why Nerdy Prudes has a good-ish ending. The second final song "The Best of You," as weird as it is, is entirely focused on Pete and Steph, who broke the rules by not dying, and became the "Rulers," homecoming king and queen, as a result (I know it wasn't explicitly stated they were king and queen but it wasn't a plot point at all so let me pretend lol).
So basically if Grace Chastity weren't there, they would have failed and Hatchetfield would have died again.
(more spoilers, Also them constantly and explicitly stating they didn't want each other! Even if they were lying, they never ever openly admitted their wants. It seems like a lot of the Lord's power comes from openly realizing one's wants (I want a partner I want my son to forgive me I want to redo the past I wanna be alone I wanna stop hurting I wanna forget it all I want California). Pete and Steph's songs were all about Not Saying It Ever. Even in the gun scene with Pete asking Steph to homecoming, the final line is still “I never wanted you anyway." “You can lie to yourself but not to me” but if you admit it I will have you! It's like a fae situation. Paul was gotten once he admitted his attraction, the mall was always doomed but wanting tomorrow didn't help. Pete and Steph wanted each other of course but constantly denying their attraction probably helped a lot! And that's why their final song is about finally being allowed to admit it!)
Hatchet Town also had the lyrics "suddenly the show is real upsetting."
Maybe traces of the Waylons' magic still affects Hatchetfield in this universe even if it was so long ago! Since the lords in black would have had a bit more influence, enough of that eldritch energy would have seeped through the characters, and it makes them somewhat aware of being in a musical
Another line that's related to the idea that the characters know they're in a musical: Pete goes "I bet this song will suck." in "Cool As I Think I Am"!
"October Surprise" is an American political expression where a politician doing well suddenly has something bad/a scandal come up late in the game to tank their numbers. Election is in November; the politician is in the homestretch, feeling good about winning; then in October there's a surprise that makes things not so locked for them. If his daughter is caught in a cheating scandal/expelled, the people of Hatchetfield may not vote for him.
Something I saw somewhere else, Max targets not just nerds and prudes, but anyone (Shapiro, the mayor, Ruth who's not a prude), because he himself said that he decides who's a nerd and who's not. Just shows how far his god complex goes
I hadn’t realized the “I’m not a loser” line that Richie sings before dying comes from the end of Pete’s song 😭 that’s so sad
i feel that jon taking off the nighthawk costume was unintentionally hard
I was wondering if it was Jon or Richie that was struggling. I want it to be that it was poor Job that was having a hard time. It just so funny. 😂
Jon just published a vod of watching NPMD with Jeff and said it was an intentional decision to intersect the spoken line with "struggle" getting the costume off lmao
@@nutelasaur9453 i watched that stream, thanks for explaining it anyways!
as a school mascot irl who has to wear a suit like that….yeah that struggle was genuine 100%
when grace is covering her mouth, its when everyone else is saying "fucking", its so she doesn't swear
* Couple (a lot of) things:
* Grace does the cross sign on the "I've been thrown to the wolves of the community", and covers her mouth in the opening number so she doesn't swear
* All the nerds are typical high-school nerd tropes: Joey has the suspenders and bowtie, Bryce has the giant glasses, Kim has the unibrow, Lauren has the braces, Jon has the messy hair and outfit
* Max says "I won't rest until I taste Grace Chastity's little peach" and he's defeated by Grace giving up her chastity to him
* A lot of the signs in the background are foreshadowing (you see them best at 7:48) - "5, 6, have your crucifix" is a reference to them summoning the Lords In Black, "Rip Them Apart" is how Max kills Ruth and "Into Their Heads" is how he stops Richie escaping, Jagerman is written with paint dripping down like it's blood, there's the massive "YOU'RE NEXT" sign
* When Pete changes his outfit to get rid of the checkered bowtie and suspenders, Steph also removes her checkered shirt because Pete still matches her even when he's trying to impress her
* Max uses a lot of therapy and anti-bullying style speech, it crops up throughout the show but first appears when he beats up Peter
* The newspaper has a lot of other references - not sure about all of them, but "Hatchetfield puts its foot on the gas!" is a reference to Jane's A Car, and I think the "New land development proposed at the edge of Witchwood Forest" is a reference to Perky's Buds as Emma builds her farm there
* Max says in Dirty Girl "I am expecting you to be-betray me" and that's exactly what Grace does at the end
* The "you kinda look like that homeless guy from downtown" is a double-reference because not only does Joey also play the homesless guy, but the homeless guy is Ted, Pete's older brother
Wait a minute I’m kinda confused by the last thing you said. Cause Ted and the homeless guy are two separate characters in The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.
@@ASMRBOO00 In "nightmate time" (I dont remember witch episode) it's revealed that ted ends up being the homeless guy. I highly recomend watching nightmate time!!!
@@ASMRBOO00watch Nightmare Time ep 2, Time Bastard.
@@ASMRBOO00 in time bastard it's revealed that the homeless guy is a version of ted who was sent back in time then trapped in the bastard's box by tinky and went insane and they coexist because of timefuckery
* @@ASMRBOO00 There’s an episode of Nightmare Time - Time Bastard - that shows they’re the same character (Ted wishes he could sleep through the next few years, wakes up in the future, goes back in time to fix a relationship but then can’t return to present day because he went back to before the paradox occurred, with no house, money or friends he ends up as the homeless guy. That’s why Tinky says “Oh, boy! A Spankoffski! I’ll have the whole set in my toybox!”, because he’s the one that caused the time paradox for Ted)
Ritchie's "I'm not a loser" always gets me right in the feels
The only thing missing is the Skele'on. Like, how is there NONE of that??
SKELE'OOOON!!!!
SKELE'ON!!!
yeah... that was really special
@@jessieleo7224 _bows in awe_
@@echofromafar*shuffles and blushes awkwardly*
Idk if anyone else knew this but Jäger = “hunter” in German. Max does hunt down nerds in life and in the afterlife. Also I feel like Jäger ties in with that Attack on Titan reference…
It also works as general world building for Hatchetfield since alongside with names like Sarah Zimmerman it seems that Hatchetfield has a history of german immigrant families
There is also the Metzger family and Metzger means butcher in German...
@lunagrindelwald4834 what show or NMT ep they mention the metzgers?
@@zoharamitai8719 During Perky's Buds (Season 2, Episode 2, Part 1), the Metzger's are not happy with Emma and Ziggs for cutting down the trees to make place for the pot farm.
also jäger bombs are alcohol
At 3:14 he says "Grace just be Cool" which is similar to when Grace says everything will be fine if they keep the beans cool. Unfortunately, Grace said she'd never be cool lol so everything goes wrong.
You missed one of my favorite writing parts!!
He says he won’t rest until he tastes grace chastity’s peach, and he doesn’t stop killing until after he’s done it with her! ^^
I'm so glad you said it, it's one of my favorite subtle writing choices that I noticed on a rewatch. I love when show's make a character say something, that ends up becoming a very literal sentiment
That's so smart I hadn't noticed that! And there's even a sort of religious metaphor in that line with talking about eating fruit in reference to sex/sin, which foreshadows Grace's whole relationship with her idea of Max. Maybe I'm reading into it too much but the writing in this musical is so smart that I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional
@@jessieleo7224 It definitely feel like an intentional parallel, given how many times there's stuff like that in the musical.
I keep thinking about how they made Max sing "who'll pray for you" which is so poignant given his god-complex, only for Grace to recycle that, but to new effect given her devoutness, and how she considers her targets "denounced" by god.
In general, in love with the dynamic of pairing up the fanatically devout Grace with a guy sporting a god complex
came here to say the same thing ✌🏼
There's so much subtle foreshadowing that i love. Like, the "i expect you to betray me" line from Dirty Girl. Or the whole "Literal Monster" song as the mayor literally stated later that "you two have created a literal monster." I love a good, tasteful foreshadowing.
i'm aware this is probably a stretch but the little detail where max says that "this is the sweetest thing anyones ever done for me" really made me think maybe if he hadnt died they could have all been on good terms and the story could have gone a completely different way!! overall just the amount of foreshadowing this musical had was so fun oml
I'M PRETTY SURE THEY COULD. I'M PRETTY SURE HE WOULD HAVE CALMED DOWN IF HE FELT THAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT HIM NOT ONLY WHEN HE MAKES THEM FEAR HIMSELF
Buuut, also, he directly stated that he thought that the highschool is the best he could get out of his life, so maybe he would still be like he was , just to feel the power he has while he has it
Like to imagine a happy little world where none of this ever happened but also…he definitely had some mental issues even before he died. He definitely had a god complex
@@nikithebakerpretty spot on. Lots of bullies do just want to feel powerful and significant while they can because in their family they've been made to feel the opposite, they probably don't expect a lot out of their futures or any solid relationships so who cares right
I hope out there somewhere there's a timeline where he didn't get killed and things went at least half-well for the six of them
@@OriginalGameteer au where the prank goes well, Max starts to respect the nerds and is learning to build relationships and gains authority once again in a healthy way, the nerds are being accepted and loving their life ( aka Go go Nighthawks but where the happiness isn't taken away by a certain ghost) and it's all a sugarcoat fairytale with no villain because they all deserve a giant break
NPMD was so good, like there was a lot of pressure on the finale of the beloved Hatchetfield trilogy, and somehow, this might be the best of the trilogy??? any day with grace chastity is a good day
It's not a trilogy, and this isn't the finale. No one in Starkid ever said that, and they've got Nightmare Time season 3 and a whole ass movie slated after this one
@@houselemuellan8756 they said they were done with hatchetfield musicals after this one, I know NT 3 is a possibility depending on whether NT 2 gets enough traction but what movie?
@@houselemuellan8756 Oh really? Of all facts to have apparently made up in my own head, I'd be happy if this was one. Though I was specifically referring to the stage plays, in any case, 'm glad we get to get more Hatchetfield.
I had heard about the movie, but I'm stoked to hear about Nightmare Time 3 as well, the first two were phenomenal!
@@feathertails They're working on a short movie "Working Boys"! Or they might have finished it up already, it was part of one of their Kickstarters I believe. They released a trailer on YT this October
@@luna732Working boys is more than finished, it was streamed on the Halloween watch party. They talked about NMT3 and a possible movie in the future that has nothing to do with WB
Fun little things i noticed as well:
Max says he wont rest until he tastes Grace's peach, and that is exactly what happens! The minute Grace loses her chastity, Max is taken by the Lords in Black. He also says in Dirty Girl "Im expecting you to betray me", which she also does by sending him to the Lords in Black
In Go Go Nighthawks, when everyone's happy, a cheerleader says "You're early Mr. Lipschitz!" Which is Richie's last name. It'd be weird for a student to call another student Mr., so we can assume that Richie has a dad thats part of the school faculty and is currently grieving the loss of his son.
When Pete runs away from Steph in the beginning saying he shouldn't be talking to her because "He'll" get him. Steph has no idea who he's talking about, which is interesting considering the fact that Max seems to be very well known for his bullying, though that may just be on the nerd side. Now pair this with when Steph jumps out at Max in the old Waylon place, Max immediately says "Steph, we cant have a party here, its haunted, stay back, I'll protect you" This seems to show that Steph and Max are on pretty good terms, respecting each other to the point where Steph genuinely didn't know that he bullied people regularly.
Of course she still probably knew that he was at least manipulative considering the fact that he won't let Brenda and Kyle date each other, doing the same to Steph when she tries to invite Pete to Pasqualli's.
She does immediately side with the nerds though when Pete gets a black eye, which either says a lot about how much she cares for Pete, or how flimsy her and Max's respect for one another is considering she turns on him pretty easily for people she doesn't really know
Anyway, thats just my thoughts
I think the cheerleader saying "Mr. Lipschitz" is to show that people recognize Ritchie's real name and not Shit Lips
in the commentary that came with the digital ticket, kim actually said that the "mr. lipschitz" line was supposed to be spoken by her teacher character, but the quick change to her cheerleader outfit was just TOO quick, so they scrapped the costume change, but kept the line!! i really like the interpretation that it shows the students recognizing his name, though 🥹🥹
love at 14:04 when Grace starts naming everything the original house owners got up to those are the things that they end up doing by the end of the show
I HAVENT SEEN ANYONE POINT THIS OUT YET BUT ITS SO IMPORTANT. Kim’s nerd is WEARING CHORN’S UNIBROW.
I love how Jon talks as Richie. It’s a small detail but the over-pronunciation and “I’m smarter than you” inflections/tone really drives home what a geeky weeb he is. I’ve met many weebs/redditor incel (they go hand in hand honestly) who talk like that to appear much smarter. It just adds to the character and makes it so much more alive. And it’s never annoying like in real life.
I love that grace’s sign is made from a ruler cause they could’ve painted over it but they didn’t and it makes it more plausible that she’d made it herself
Also Max’s vocal tomfuckery in literal monster is my reason to live
Rewatching this and I can't get over Will Branner's facial acting. There's this, like, set-ness to his brow line when he's in Bully mode, this tension to his brow and jaw areas. It darkens the eye area and makes them look smaller, makes Max really look like he's glaring down no matter what actual expression he makes. Like Max can't control it, and just lives in being Always Like That. (It's also there in Dirty Girl, even as that's just a fantasy version of him, and it adds to the intensity of the whole thing.)
But in the scene between the Haunting and the Death, when he's being surprised at them being nice to him...the tension is gone. It softens all of Max's expressions, makes him look younger and more open, and really sells that Shocked Realization of Vulnerability. It's what makes the 'Thanks' seem so genuine in comparison to everything.
And then after death, well. The makeup helps, but Will brings back the Tension - and controls it more. Even when his expression is more cartoonishly open, it keeps that level of intensity, and he can drop it for specific moments - the first 'who will pray for me' he sings for Richie to echo, for example.
This is a ramble but just. One of the benefits of the Starkid style of proshot is getting this kind of intimate facial detail, and I'm so glad we got it.
Smashing your daughter’s phone as punishment is so fucked up and the fact that she immediately says “be careful with that” before he even gets the hammer out, he’s literally just holding it, makes me think he’s done this kind of thing before and she’s rightfully immediately worried about what he’s going to do with her possessions
2:06 Actually, the musical is set in 2020 (confirmed via the Starkid Wiki). They just sing class of 2021 because the musical is set in the fall (evident because they talk about homecoming).
they say 2021 weirdly. it takes place in 2020 cause its the fall semester of their senior year.
The lyrics are: "There's no way to turn for the class of 2021" They say it weirdly so that it rhymes. This was confirmed by Jeff
@@Ems-zd1fy Ah, okay. Thanks for the correction!
This is set in fall 2020? Well that confirms the fact this is an alternate timeline.
Classes are named by the year you graduate. So they would be Class of 2021 regardless.
Some other cool details:
-- At 2:51, when they sing "Is God the one giving the test?", while obviously Peter & Steph are front and centre, it is GRACE that is also illuminated, highlighting the struggle she faces all throughout the musical with god & her values
-- At 10:37, while Richie's bit is obviously THE standout and THE part we ALL love, it's actually PETER who first sings the "I'm not a loser" motif! (EDIT: okay you DID include that later in the vid and heck i didn't even notice that the ensemble was singing the whole verse! Great spot!)
-- At 15:20, even as Grace is clearly the first one to go crazy, she's also the one to insist to everyone to "keep the beans cool" when she clearly DOESN'T, as later in the play she threatens Steph AT GUNPOINT to "keep it cool beans".
-- Hell the whole "Bury the Bully" song is just foreshadowing of how they'd mess up. "Never gonna snitch"? Grace practically threatens to do that to Pete & Steph in the coffe shop. "It's gonna never haunt me"? Max literally becomes a ghost. "Hide from the feds"? The police meet them straight at the school.
-- The whole "N-I-G-H-T KAW KAW" cheer was actually foreshadowed when Steph was talking to the cheerleaders earlier. They do the motions silently and pretty quickly while Steph walks (and the camera pans) away from them.
i honestly fell in love with the grace, steph, pete trio… trauma bonding with killing a guy, summoning eldritch horrors and making deals that definitely won’t haunt their souls, just friend stuff!
I'm glad to see this show getting so much love. I genuinely think this is the best show of the Hatchetfield trilogy, if not the best Starkid show in general
Yess
For me TGWDLM can't be beaten
Yessss, totally
I mean i love AHPM and Twisted and TGWDLM, but this musical is on the whole new level
Agreed
I love that a group of thirty year olds somehow got teenage mannerisms so on point
The casting is SPOT ON. Will is amazing as Max.
Also you can tell that its lauren's choreos bc of the style
Max is unironically such a good villain like he's a psychopath with a god complex but you get these moments where he seems like a normal guy it's super interesting
idk if you'll point this out, but richie talks like a stereotypical anime fan. like he has a manner of pronouncing and enunciating words. idk what it is, but he has that.
edit: not really pointing it out, but they couldve LITERALLY left max's body there. like no dismembering, no hiding under the floorboards, just clean out their tracks that they were ever there, and they'd be fine. but of course, this is a work of teenagers in a panic and it just so happens that the crazy one's idea was the only thing they heard.
There’s so many ways that like they could’ve concealed or stopped the murder like if Steph just didn’t tell Max that it was a prank they likely would’ve just left and Richie could edit the footage to only show Max’s initial fear, if they just left the body and left some sign of a break in (even if it was just an unlocked door) Max could’ve broken in and fell on his own, Grace could’ve just said that Max took her bracelet at school beforehand so she no longer was at the crime scene. The nerds routinely make bad choices that worsen their own position, which almost makes it like a conventional tragedy like Macbeth
@@rattyxoxo7397
Part of me wonders if their choice to dismember him was influenced by the curse on the Wayland house or something. I know Grace was the one to suggest it, but considering what happened to the Church of the starry children, and how the hatchetmen are a major part of the lore… I’m probably thinking too deep into this, but it’s something I just realized.
this video really makes me wish that I bought the digital ticket when it came out. Whilst the pro shot is brilliant and shows how far StarKid has developed over the years, it does neglect a lot of the background acting due to how many close-ups it does. I feel like I missed a lot of stellar acting and little hints that I'll probably never see because the digital ticket isn't available anymore.
as someone who saw it irl the closeups are definitely my least favorite thing about the proshot. they really cut out a lot of great full body acting (esp from lauren!) and acting/dancing that happened in the aisles! seeing their faces is great but i wish they showed the full stage more, the backdrops are also so beautiful, there’s three layered ones that make the stage looks HUGE. i was trying to read them the whole time
Richie's "please don't kill me" just broke my heart. Max is easily just as terrifying as Wiggly, only in a different, more personal way.
Did anyone else notice how at 16:45, Richie starts playing with the little tassels on Pete’s ghost costume? Because that always makes me laugh. He like gets a little distracted when he tells Pete he could “hit it and quit it.” And the disappointed way he drops it when Pete says he doesn’t want to?! It’s so funny.
ik you probably alrdy know this but i still want to say it. one of my fav details was in the first number, where grace does all of the things differently compared to the other characters, like the fact that grace covers her mouth everytime they say "im so fucking dead" cuz she doesnt curse or when she signs the cross when the lyric "ive been thrown to the wolves of the community".
its just kind of interesting how much starkid put so much work into this show, and its cool to see all the details theyve put in, whether its references to previous shows, or subtle details that reveal so much about the personalities of the characters we see here.
Corey playing a cold-hearted bastard was a real left for me, but damn, did he deliver.
7:48 I know this one! An October Surprise is a political reference. It’s an unexpected complication in a political campaign that occurs right before a big event like an election, especially in regards to personal or embarrassing matters. Lauter is saying that he had to cover up her getting caught only because it would affect his campaign
Interesting! I didn’t know this, I thought it meant that Stephanie’s mother being pregnant was a surprise and Mayor Lauder didn’t want Stephanie and she was born in October.
I can’t believe you didn’t include the most important detail of all: the way Max pronounces “Skeleton”
“I DIDN’T KNOW THERE WAS GONNA BE A SKELE-IN!”
My favorite part is when they sing “bully the bully” the line ‘the joke is on him’ in the choreography, 15:08 they all point to each other, symbolising how the joke is going to turn around on them. It was in the first watch when I saw this and I was like ok this joke is not going to be good 😅
Will killed it as Max. If he's not in any future Starkid's production ill start a riot
“i’m dead” was truly one of the most beautifully sung lines. like unironically. i was putting off watching the show but the first time i heard him sing THAT LINE i RAN to the video
Cool detail about clothing:
- Max's clothes gets tangled with insulation, as he buried beneath the planks, all of the clothes aren't "ripped" but tangled or "fluffy" with extra insulation (Of course it isn't real insulation but torn fabric to make that cloudy look)
I noticed that the numbers on Curt and Corey’s football jerseys are significant to Starkid history. “09” for 2009, the year that AVPM got uploaded onto UA-cam and Team Starkid as we know it started, and “18” for 2018, the year that TGWDLM was performed in and the start of the Hatchetfield Universe.
for act 2, maybe im reading into this, but
Pete sings "Love you like you should be loved"
while Steph sings "Love you like I'm capable of"
shows the difference between how confident they are (at least how they present to be)
i need a giant complimation of every single time throughout the entire hatchetfield series that people keep saying Daddy in the most uncomfortable way
in the nightmare time theme song the line “the nightmare’s gonna get you” switches to “Daddy’s gonna get you” in the last repetition
I love reading all the stuff on the stage at 5:29, particularly the chant "1, 2, Jager's coming for you; 3, 4, better lock your door; 5, 6, grab your crucifix; 7, 8, never graduate; 9, 10, he's the Jagerman"
Though "clear eyes, sharp claws, can't lose" is awesome too
I'm so proud of Jon, he has gotten so good at singing its amazing
OK, so the bowtie and flannel matching are 100% on purpose! 10 years of theatre and theatre production have come in handy after all!!! It is called colour-character association, and it done in movies, TV shows & musicals, it subconsciously makes the mind link the characters together. the fact that Pete sees his bowtie and suspenders as comfort/safety but then gives them up to impress Steph shows that by taking off her flannel she is also giving up the comfort or "safety" that being a popular kid gives her. they both risk something for each other.
for example, in Newsies (mostly in the second act) Jack has deep blues and small hints of almost coral pink colour and pink is the predominant colour in Kathrin's costume. (also the fact that the painting Jack did for Miss Medda is his vision of what Santa Fe looks like and is focused around that pinkish colour shows the fact that Kathrine is his new Santa Fe)
i LOVE this, it’s exactly the kind of stuff i’ve been thinking about for like a week now
my favorite detail i noticed on one of my many rewatches is when Max attacks Pete and Steph, after he says “I’m gonna start with you, Steph” I think you can hear Pete quietly say “no..” 💔
3:10 i love how instead of another howl you just hear max's little "rawr"
i can hear it 💀
I literally forgot Mariah played both Alice and Stephanie in the same way that when I first watched the Summoning I went “oh shit maybe Wilbur Cross will show up…oh wait Joey’s already onstage” because they’re all so talented at playing distinct characters I keep forgetting they’re the same person
4:53 I never noticed that Richie and Ruth latch onto Pete 🥺🥺
2:07 also I do feel the need to point out, as a guy who was also in their class of 2021, the year you’re the class of is the one you graduated/WILL graduate, so when I started highschool in 2017, I was part of the class of 2021, likewise most of the characters are stated to be 18 so it’s safe to assume the musical takes place in 2021 and they’re in their senior year
Is highschool not 6 years? I finished in 2017, but started in 2012.
@@iantophernicus6042 in the USA school system, since that’s my reference and that’s where the musical takes place, some people count middle school, like my middle school was in the same building as the high schools and was called jr high, but that wasn’t actual high school, highschool is 4 years, 9-12 (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior)
The musical actually takes place in fall of 2020, since they graduate in summer of 2021.
@@semosayba yea, I wasn’t quite sure what time of year it was and didn’t feel like checkin, thx
7:47 - I'm very much a nerd, so the October Surprise joke never fails to make me smile a bit. For those who don't get it: "October Surprise" is a political term primarily used in the US to describe a news event (either spontaneous or pre-planned) that has a greater chance to impact an upcoming election (elections typically happen in early November in the US and thus these type of events are more likely to be within the public consciousness when casting the ballot formally). So Mayor Lauter, who is constantly focused on the upcoming re-election campaign throughout the show is referring to Steph's cheating scandal as something that could have a negative impact on his chances of winning the race with it just a few weeks away.
3:40 not a reach, they colour-coordinated pete and steph's outfits on purpose! they mention it during the audio commentary version. starkid's attention to detail is not to be underestimated.
Much like how Lauren and Jon’s outfits were coordinated in TGWDLM bc of course the main couple in a musical has to have coordinated outfits, and in that one I think it was deliberately calling attention to the trope given the meta aspect of the show, but here it seems more subtle and genuine
There's an audio commentary??? Where can I watch it?
I need an answer 😭 @@greeneyesgirl467
6:51 The thing that finally puts Max's corpse to rest? Tasting Grace Chastity's little peach.
That hurt to type.
The song Nerdy Prudes must die has always given me big Carrie vibes, she does similar hanf motions to control people as Max does when he shuts the doors in front of Richie
nightmare time motif sprinkled abt is just ✨
and at the end of act 1, when i was there the whole audience freaked out cuz by then we all recognised it and we were like WOAAH
*leitmotif. sorry film and literature major, if it was a motif it would be the words or a symbol.
God I fucking love that every time that leitmotif calls me back to the original line “look what happens, nightmare time” from Alice’s corpse singing to Bill about look what happens when you don’t pay enough attention to your child in favor of your own selfish gains and getting caught up in your own traumas and flaws and then here we hear it again as a dead boy with a shitty father bullies and kills another kid who has consistently been bullied for years and not been helped by the adults until their attention is finally drawn by his actual death
My favorite little thing is that you can tell that there are two different cuts of the song Nerdy Prudes Must Die and it's incredible how well they mesh together. The single thing that shows they aren't the same is Richie's vest
I haven't seen anyone (except you) talk about how Lauren choreographed this whole thing! It's one of my fav details
My favlrite bit is knowing that the Bully/Bury songs are actual songs that Grace sings to the others, not just metaphores like most musical songs are interpreted. She really did get them all to join in to a song and dance about her plans. Twice!
I love that you can see Curt start to break character at 11:40 it’s so funny
I was thinking the same! And shortly after that he covers his mouth with the newspaper😂😂
19:02 gives me chills every time, like the competing melodies fit together SO WELL
Maybe 19:03 is a better time stamp
'or until another richie comes along' kinda sounds like max is aware of the multiple timelines. the lords in black clearly are since tinky references getting a whole set of spankoffskis, so maybe max being brought back in the old waylon place gave him some knowledge of the lords in black even if he can't handle their true forms.
The suspenders and flannel matching isn’t too much of a stretch. They mention it in the commentary 👌🏼
Yknow wouldn’t the line “until another Richie comes along” reference the other dimensions/versions of Hatchetfield? Maybe Max has some knowledge of that after coming back ~
My head canon says that since Richie looks like a younger version of Paul (obvious real world explanation = Jon looks like Jon), and Nightmare Time has told us that there are clones of Paul lurking in the basement at CCRP, so maybe Richie is another released/escaped Paul clone - just a teenage one. Maybe Max's Dad works in cloning and Max knows things. Or maybe (more likely) another Richie just refers to 'another kid like Richie'.
I think the reason Corey has been Mariah’s father twice is similar to how Paul and Emma are in every stage show. Corey is always meant to play a father figure to Mariah’s character and that figure always dies, I know she isn’t in Black Friday BUT she was supposed to be the character who played lex but she got the role for Regina so she had to take that instead. So in Black Friday Corey was supposed to be Mariah’s father figure who dies. It’s one of those constants in every universe. I hope we see that in future hatchetfeild musicals.
I won’t lie, I hope that’s the trend that still continues just cause the contrast of Bill and Alice’s more tragic estranged relationship vs Solomon and Steph’s especially estranged relationship took me by surprise meeting the Lauters. Just a different tone in a familiar setting of characters which I give props to the actors for.
songs by Jeff Blim and choreo by Lauren is the best thing that ever happened to me. They are the best starkid members, change my mind
the fact that they 'need you here', and then richie dies and therefore isn't there, and because of that they lose to clivesdale?
Is it anything that Steph and her dad's names both start with s. Their names are literally S.Laughter. like... slaughter.
not sure if anyone else mentioned this but i remember reading somewhere that richie talks like an english dub of an anime and i cant stop hearing it 😂 no idea if that was the intention or not but it's canon to me!
I know you pointed out a lot of small details but half the video is just dedicated to commentary and appreciating the musical in general and honestly... same lmao. People say its the weakest out of the 3, but it stays as my favorite
Who says it's the weakest? Literally every comment I've seen compare it to the previous two says that this one is the best of the trilogy!
i agree with you; this one's definietly my favorite in the trilogy!!
I still think TGWDLM is the best one but I liked NPMD better than Black Friday
@@syystomusame
12:19 goes so much harder when you realize that she does betray him at the end when he least expected it
Although I love my main trio, this show absolutely made me care so much for Ruth and Richie and definitely made me mourn them more than ...any of the other characters I guess 😅😅😅
I love your editor notes! Looking forward to Act 2!!!
I really love Pete & Steph. Pete singing about how Steph is “smarter than she thinks she is” always stuck in my mind just from the nature of how sweet Pete is, but I never connected it back to how it contrasts how Mayor Lauter calls her dumb :(
“Oh my god, the fucking bow-tie kid??” Is such an underrated line + delivery to me.
thank you for your kind words!! i’m glad you’re looking forward to act 2 :))
hi! just so you know, at 2:09 you said you think it’s set in 2023 bc of the “class of 2021” line, but in american high school (im assuming you aren’t american?) we say class of [graduation year] so it would be set in 2021, which would also still fit with the hatchetfield parallel universe kind of timeline. and here high school is four years so even if that was referring to the year they started high school, they’d have more years before graduating
loved the video!!! so many little things i didn’t notice i love it
i am not american haha
in my country we say class of [first year in high school], so students graduating this year are called the class of 2021 and high school lasts 3-4 years depending on what you're studying
thank you for clarifying! and thank you for enjoying the video
@@nanavuuthat’s so interesting! i love learning the little differences like that
"Is god the one giving the test?" Also ties wonderfully into Grace's complex
A detail i havent seen anyone point out yet is in "High School is Killing Me" when everyone sings "I've been thrown to the wolves of the community"
Angela doesnt just squat on her chair, she also does the sign of the cross and then clasps her hands together like she's praying!
i think this is their best produced musical so far. the music and mixing was genuinely on point.
2:07 you say that it takes place in 2023, I am class of 23’ and I started highschool in 19’ this takes place in 2020 given it’s the first semester of the class of 21’s senior year. It’s first semester because homecoming is first semester which makes it fall of 2020
But otherwise I loved the video
Obligatory reminder that they sound good because the video is using a mix of the audio recording with the audience, the audio from the closer shots (when they perfomed the musical specifically to be filmed EDIT: with no audience) AND the cast recordings from the album! Please don't put every live show to these standards ❤ sincerely, someone who recorded the digital ticket to rewatch it several times
List of things death gave Max Jägermann:
1. A perm
2. Sparkles for his varsity jacket
3. Amazing puns
Perm?
13:24 The fact that he was called the bow tie kid instead of micro Peter again
I’m begging you to make a part 2 to this with act 2 because I love your commentary. After reading all the comments I’ve learned about so many cool details that I didn’t pick up on my first watch. Also I will always love more Pete and Steph appreciation.
thank you!! i'm glad you enjoyed my comments
act 2 is on its way! >:)
9:27 It's times like these that I LOVE remembering that Lauren and Joey are married
I love the way Richie talks, I knew kids who talk exactly like that in high school and Jon did such a good job replicating that speech pattern
Anyone else notice later on in Hatchet Town there’s a line about protests at the kennels? Those were probably about the problematic puppy mentioned in High School is Killing Me
Also this one is probably unintentional, but Richie has a line about Attack on Titan and Max’s last name is Jaegerman, like protagonist Erin Jaeger (might be spelled with a Y, I’m not sure)