31 May 2024

Swashbuckling Thought of the Day 2024-05-31

Yes, I am taking liberty with temporal reality by setting the date of this article as 31 May 2024 when I am composing it on 1 June 2024, but I intended to post it yesterday, so I am travelling back in time and posting it yesterday. Because the subject of today's (yesterday's) thought is Renegade Nell.

When I last wrote about Renegade Nell, I mentioned my uncertainty as to whether it could be classified as swashbuckling three episodes into the series. After finishing the series, I can confidently state that I am still uncertain. If I were to assign it a more accurate category, it would probably be something like "folkloric superhero tall tale" or "swashbuckling fairytale" or "period action fantasy." Stunts are plentiful, and heroic regard for the downtrodden is a major theme, but magic is very prominent and swordplay is scarce. I found it enjoyable as its own thing, but it didn't quite scratch the swashbuckling itch. As I mentioned before, though, it is still far superior to this version of Zorro.