Netflix’s animated series Scott Pilgrim has an unprecedented bait-and-switch story in its second episode

“Why are we doing this now?” It’s an understandable question to ask when you hear about a new anime on Netflix Scott Pilgrim takes off, or even during most of its first episodes. There are visual lines and jokes similar to those in Scott Hajj versus the worldand with the film’s entire star-studded cast returning to voice roles here, it looks like the show is being set up to be a very faithful (yet very stylish) remake of Edgar Wright’s 2010 classic.

Then the episode ends with a completely different choice, and the show goes from there.

Non-Spoiler Version: The first episode is not at all like the rest of the show. Instead it’s an elaborate bait-and-switch to set you up for a completely different twist on the Scott Pilgrim story you thought you knew. Trust what I say here, and you’ll be rewarded with one of the best new offerings of the year.

Light Spoiler Version: From Episode 2 onwards, Scott Pilgrim takes off She takes her name quite literally, and makes this a story about Ramona Flowers, not Scott. The show focuses on finding closure with her evil friends, rather than Scott defeating them all in her quest to win her affection. This has great benefit. Scott has often been the least interesting character in his story, and his sidelining gives all the other great characters in this world more airtime and depth, building the unique version of Toronto they live in.

It’s rare to see an artist get the chance to turn one of their signature works. Never heard of it before – l A very different exampleMichael Haneke remakes his Austrian thriller Funny games in English with Hollywood actors – but most of these projects are glorified shot-for-shot remakes that clearly seem like ways to make money in a new market, rather than reinventing the story. Scott Pilgrim takes off He takes this opportunity and runs with it, creating a stronger story in the process while having a direct conversation with the original work. Creator Bryan Lee O’Malley clearly had a lot on his mind about how to present the two heroes’ back-to-back Scott Pilgrim stories. Now, he (and the rest of the crew) has to go back to that story and make it better.

So don’t miss the first episode of Scott Pilgrim takes off It scares you away from one of the smartest, funniest, and most surprising shows of the year. It’s more than worth it.