Arcane Season 2 Episode 5 Review

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Arcane Season 2, Episode 5

Key Takeaways

• Vi spirals into self-destructive behavior post-time jump, but an emotional reunion breaks her out of her depressive cycle.
• Mel finds herself in a strange prison and comes to some huge realizations about her family.
• Jayce returns traumatized from the anomaly with a vengeful mission.

Episode 5 of Arcane Season 2 picks up the loose threads from characters that have remained unseen since the last act of the season, raising even more questions to be answered and showcasing some highly-anticipated reunions.

Arcane’s fifth Season 2 episode, “Blisters and Bedrock,” contains some of the Netflix series’ most heartfelt story moments to date. It’s a reminder that even with the many character arcs and action sequences this series has, Vi and Jinx are still the beating heart of Arcane. Episode 5 also reiterates how well Arcane utilizes music. The original soundtrack has long been a huge asset to the series, but Season 2 has upped the ante in every way, showcasing how much emotion a well-curated blend of music and animation can elicit.

Into the Pit

Episode 5 begins by catching audiences up to Vi’s new regime. In the time since her fight with her sister and her break-up with Caitlyn, Vi has turned to the only thing she knows how to do; fighting. A quick-cut montage set to blistering rock music shows Vi spiraling. She dyes her hair black, puts on dark makeup, and enters the ring each night, beating and being beaten senseless, before drinking away her problems and staggering home. In a nice parallel to Season 1, this time it’s Vi, not her sister who is out of control. She’s haunted by the memories of Jinx and Caitlyn and is losing her grip on reality as she succumbs to her addictions.

Vi and Jinx Reunite

This cycle is broken when Jinx arrives at Vi’s door, bringing news that Vander (aka Warwick) is alive. While the reunion between the siblings is nothing close to happy, Vi agrees to accompany Jinx and Isha into the tunnels beneath Zaun. This is a strange new world characterized by glowing mushrooms that shed light when prompted by sound. “Blisters and Bedrock” gives the audience some much-needed conversation between Jinx and Vi. Every moment since the time jump in Season 1 has seen the siblings either at each other’s throats or in dire circumstances, but in this episode, they are finally given time to breathe and trade words instead of fists (although they do some of that too).

As Jinx puts it, saving Vander is a chance for the sisters to have a do-over at the event that fundamentally changed their lives all those years ago. While Jinx is the first to offer the olive branch, having put to rest the demons that were tied to her sister, seeing a more human side to Jinx through her relationship with Isha is what starts to change Vi’s mind about her. It should be noted that Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell’s performances are riveting in this episode, providing a charismatic back-and-forth between the sisters that hasn’t been seen in this way before.

An Unconventional Family Reunion Takes Place

Warwick eventually tracks the group down, but he is back in beast mode. Vi engages in a brutal fight with the werewolf but eventually has to give up the gauntlets and trust her sister that Vander is inside. It’s at this point that Arcane inserts a surprising flashback. The scene depicts a young Vander and Silco at the Last Drop where they are joined by Felicia, a woman who is a perfect blend of Vi and Jinx. Felicia admits to the boys that she is pregnant and terrified, but she believes in the duo’s dream for Zaun and enlists them both to help her raise her child. The affection between the three is clear, and it’s soon revealed that Vander’s suggestion of “Violet” is how Vi got her name.

When the lights come back up in the present, it’s to find Vander and Vi in an emotional embrace. Vi invites Jinx into the hug, who is followed by Isha, forming an emotional picture of a lost family, found again. This is a moment that is exponentially heightened by Arcane’s choice of music, using Mako & Grey’s “What Have They Done To Us” to convey all the complicated emotions surrounding the unconventional family reunion.

Taming the Beast

Elsewhere in the fifth episode, Ambess and Caitlyn are still on the warpath. Following the attack on Stillwater in Episode 4, Caitlyn arrives to investigate the damage. All the clues lead back to Singed, who Ambessa and Caitlyn torture for information about the beast that attacked them. Caitlyn is particularly remorseless, driven by Jinx’s involvement at the scene. Behind Caitlyn’s back, Ambessa approaches Singed, offering him unlimited resources in exchange for control over the beast. When he’s granted access to his lab, a new motivation for Singed is revealed. All his twisted experiments thus far have been to save his young daughter from death, who he keeps in stasis in a tank. He believes Warwick holds the solution.

The Mind Prison

Episode 5 of Arcane Season 2 also reveals what happened to Mel after she was snatched by the Black Rose in Episode 3. Mel finds herself in a strange underground prison where she is reunited with Kino, the brother she had been led to believe was dead. Kino shares thae he was taken after he investigated an affair of Ambessa’s which he learned led to the birth of a child. The powers of this child are apparently of great importance to the Black Rose. As Mel begins to unravel the secrets of their prison, she realizes she is stuck in another reality-altering trick of the Black Rose’s. The Black Rose reveals they initially thought Kino was the child, until Ambessa led them to her.

Whatever that child inherited is of terrible interest to our captors.

Jayce Returns

Arcane Season 2, Episode 5 ends by re-introducing another absent character to the story. Jayce is returned from the anomaly looking more haggard and traumatized than ever. He comes face to face with his old colleague Salo, who has been healed by Viktor. Viktor uses his powers to speak through Salo and quickly realizes that Jayce has also touched the arcane, but his experience seems to have been a very different one. Jayce vows that Hextech is a curse to be destroyed and slaughters Salo with his hammer.

The fifth episode of Arcane’s second season continues at a measured pace, dedicating a healthy amount of time to rebuilding the relationship between Jinx and Vi with stellar performances from all the voice actors involved. The episode also provides some needed development for Jayce, Viktor, and Mel’s storylines. However, they are all outshone by the dynamic between the sisters.

Arcane Season 2 Episodes 1-6 are now streaming on Netflix.