It doesn’t hurt that Arcane is quite nice to look at, not just the result of its truly inspired visual style. Produced by the Parisian studio Fortiche, Arcane goes all in on time-tested film techniques, with dramatic wide shots, shaky cams for action scenes, a liberal use of slow mo for the fights (eat your heart out, Zak Snyder), and dramatic depth of field in nine out of ten shots.

Advertisement
Advertisement

In terms of pacing, Arcane is both a marathon and sprint, packing episodes with so many plot beats there’s never a slow moment. And it’s relentlessly tense. At least once per episode, I’ve found myself holding my breath for an entire scene without even realizing it.

Lest you worry that you need familiarity with League lore, I’ll note, with a confession, that you’ll get by just fine without it. I don’t know anything about the source material, haven’t ever played the game, couldn’t even name any of its characters before watching Arcane. In fact, I think my knowledge gap has only enhanced my enjoyment. One twist in the fourth episode caught me totally off-guard. After reading up a bit on the lore since, as it turns out, had I played the game, I’d have seen it coming a mile away.

Arcane has also no doubt found some of its success the result of a hybridized distribution model. Netflix isn’t releasing episodes singularly, in that once-airtight model known as “old-school television.” Nor is the streaming giant dropping them in a one-off dump, then ignoring the show for a year or two, as it has with so many tentpole shows. Rather, Netflix is releasing episodes in three-episode dumps, each broken into an “act.” The second batch went live this past weekend, and it’s just as thrilling—if not more so—than the first. Can’t wait to see if the third, planned to debut on November 20, holds up.