Unbury A Friend (Fan Animated)/ Season 2 Episode 5

0:34 "And so: They fall under its spell..." "all who hear it" "like a virus" Ah. It was a warning about the cane.

I guess after we're done with Duke's origins, then we'll find out about Missi's side of the story.

Dukes father spoke of it spreading like a virus so I feel like he was warning of the cane and what it’d do, maybe even being the reason why Dukes father was the way that he was, trying to protect the staff from vampires who could sense where it was

I really liked the use of colors in this episode. The beginning where there's only gray with the red highlights, probably representing Duke state after leaving the vampire brotherhood and when the colors return, there are different shades of red, showing his new power, the cane and his full descent to darkness.

Everybody's talking about the animation but can we get some love for the music choice? For the first time in the series, no lyrics. No dialogue. Not a word (outside the burned-to-pieces letter). Just the atmosphere and Duke's expressions. chef's kiss Beautiful.

It's honestly kind of heartwarming that Duke's father went out of his way to leave his only son a letter warning him about the dangers that the Cane possesses, especially since it is clear that Duke and his father were not close at all and he had no idea if his son would ever return home. His father, who I'm guessing has always been distant from Duke especially after Duke's mom passed away, cared even if he never showed it; i.e. training Duke in Fencing, killing any kind of supernatural monster that came on the property (I'm just speculating this one honestly based off of the Dead Mom video), etc.

Duke gets a magic artifact and the first thing he does is upgrade his hat... me too man

I can’t believe it’s been 7 years already since the first video :)) time flies by so fast

THE NOTE DUKE’S DAD LEFT HIM!! I saw it, I litteraly had to back it up to read the words but it was talking about how if you hear its song you’ll fall under its spell!! He had to have been warning Duke about the staff!! ( also, I’m pretty sure this is just confirmation Duke’s dad is dead now) Not to mention the fact Duke was walking with his guitar and suitcase again. He’s litteraly right back where he started. Poor guy. I can’t wait for the next episode and this was spectacular as always!!

Tell me this isn't the best vampire story you've ever seen. 🎭

The fact That Duke seems to have an almost more aggreeable relationship with the Staff than Missi is interesting. The way it doesn't do anything to fight back against the sanding and work done on it, but shows it clearly could've when it pulls the cloth around it's eyes, which it noticed freaked Duke out. It feels very respectful in a way with how it treats Duke, which to me, with the added letter, could mean it has some awareness of who he is, given we can guess Duke's father put the staff away. Meanwhile it seems more unstable to possibly parasitic with Missi. As with the SIlent, it seemed almost playful in attempts to drive her mad while under her care, before she finally pushed hard enough for it to relax with her, as if testing her will or something. Which is more interesting given how much more freedom Missi seems to unknowingly gives it, like allowing it to be more physical to join her in her clowning on Duke. I know I'm reading into it too much but its cause this series gives me life and learning more on this staff is a bit of plot i NEED to see!!!

Letter: And so they fall under its spell. And. All who hear it Staff Like a virus."

If you pause at 2:46 and 2:48 you’ll notice a mysterious shadowy figure behind duke BRRRRR 😱

I like that look and then turn away, he knows the other vampires want it, but instead decides to keep it for himself, partially just for spite

Dang the fact that he tried to warn him about the evil but was so hated that his kid wouldn't bother to read it has me shooketh

Honestly, one of the things I really love about this series is the idea of perspective. In the prior season, during the main storyline, when we see Duke at this point, it's through Missi's eyes, and he's downright horrible and predatory. We find ourselves rooting for her, and it's only after she becomes as despicable and depraved as he is that we really realize that they may in fact be better off together than apart. But also, Duke has had to learn how to care for her, realizing that their feud was going to literally cost him body parts and more unless they found some way to get along without him having to domineer. Then we get this season. We're shown a softer, more sympathetic side to him. We're shown Duke having his limits tested, having his heart broken, and tasting the same dark power that ended up corrupting Missi. He is, for all intents and purposes, a very sympathetic character. But these two things don't really contradict each other. He was sympathetic in SOME respects but very awful in others. He seems like a tragic hero because we see things through his eyes, but in the first season, he's the wolf, the heel, the villain, because Missi is closer to us in POV. And I think the lesson to take from that is that like it or not, the people we find the most despicable likely do have humanizing aspects to them and tragedy in their stories. It doesn't mean we have to forgive them the way Missi did, but it means that when we think of someone as pure evil due to actions that are, well, pure evil, that's a fiction that doesn't reflect how people (or vampires) work. Even the worst of us have a story, and even the best of us can have a downfall...the way Missi did when she went back for the cane the second time in The Silent. (And for the record, I think it's super fun that they were able to meet halfway and become a hecking duo, mostly through virtue of Missi realizing that being awful was kinda fun. Raised By Bats was super cathartic in that for once they finally just get to be husband and wife turning their awfulness on OTHERS and having a good old time of it without worrying about having to stab each other.)

I love the face Duke makes at the end because it's very reminiscent of the face Missi made at the end of the OG video

The animation was fabulous & I noticed something in the letter before it got burned from the fire. It was a warning for Duke that if anyone has the staff or him will probably be infected by its charm like a virus. I deeply love Duke's story and how he got where he is currently!

Gotta say him whiping out the industrial grade polishing tool was hilarious

During the scene at 2:45 there is a shadow that seems to get closer and closer to Duke. I think the cane might be the container or the cage of a demonic entity of sort, which really intrigues me for the continuation of this story.