#etn1

Best Era Overall: Season 3.

Season 3 really went all 1970s with the clothing, the town’s aesthetic, etc. I also think the villains really fit in with the Era, too (combining a carnival with 1970s town really worked for them), and I’ll elaborate on that in the best minor villains section. 

Best Location Overall: Season 3.

I do think Season 3 was a really nice change from Seasons 1 and 2 which were giant mansions (they were both very different giant mansions, but still giant mansions) because Season 3 had a whole town. Season 4′s Museum idea is also very creative, and I love the uniqueness of each exhibit, but I still think Season 3 overall had the best edge. 

However, size of the location is not the sole reason why it won this category. I also just think they used the location to its full advantage the best in Season 3. Not only did they use all the different buildings, but they even utilized places like churches and graveyards, and even the sketchy warehouses and carnival attractions like the Ferris Wheel (and I loved that Ferris Wheel!). They worked with the two mansions of Seasons 1 and 2 very well (Season 2 did better here), and though Season 4′s museum was creative, I felt like the whole layout could have been used more than in just the season finale.

Best Main Music Theme Overall: Season 3.

The version of “Sympathy For The Devil” that Season 3 used went perfectly with that season’s edginess, the era, and was absolutely chilling. It went so, so well with Season 3 that I had to give this one the best theme, hands-down. I do think all the other seasons have decent themes for each of their seasons, but none of them fit as seamlessly well as Season 3 did. 

Best Music in General Overall: Seasons 2 and 3!

Yup, they get a tie here. The music for both seasons fit very thematically well with their respective seasons and what was going within those seasons. Seasons 1 and 4 were also decent, but not as good as 2 and 3 for me. 

Best Guests Overall: Seasons 2 and 3.

Season 2 had a lot more comedy and the alliances were awesome, but I also loved the drama of Season 3 and the tight-knit friendships (especially Matpat and Rosanna). For this reason, I give these two a tie.

Best Outfits Overall: Seasons 2 and 3!

The outfits in Seasons 2 and 3 were phenomenal! I think all the outfits from every season were really good, but I just think Seasons 2 and 3 had the best ones out of the lot.

Best Major Villain (The Season’s Big Bad) Overall: The Sorceress, from Season 2. 

I think this is because she was a villain that had a lot of direct communication with the guests. Not that Arthur of Season 1 didn’t (he also doubled as the Helper in the same season), but he also simultaneously concealed the fact that he was the villain up until Season 1 and many of us saw the twist of him being a villain far before then so it wasn’t as effective. Out of all the main villains, the Sorceress is the one villain that directly communicates with the guests the most during their debut season where she’s featured as the big bad (Season 4 was different due to her mostly being a Helper); Episodes 3, 5, and of course 10 (every main villain confronts the guests in Episode 10). 

Comparing the Sorceress with the other Big Bads across the seasons, even the Collector of Season 4 only had some direct interaction with the guests in Episodes 9 and 10 of her season (not counting Episode 1 because that was with Liza, who wasn’t competing this season but had a featured guest role), while the Carnival Master also only had two episodes (Episodes 9 and 10) where he directly addresses the guests in Season 3. 

Also note that the Sorceress also successfully killed Joey during her debut season—she’s literally the only villain that succeeded in killing him, which is a surprise given how Joey usually is a survivor every season otherwise. I’m really glad they brought her back for Season 4 as a Helper of sorts, because the new dynamics she shares with the guests, as a former villain, is pretty fun to watch (other than the way-too-obvious betrayal that I ranted about in my Season 4, Episode 9 reaction post).

Best Minor Villains (Lieutenants/Artifact Guardians/Key Keepers) Overall: Season 3.

Season 1 had a good concept of all the backstory of how the Cursed Artifacts got hidden away, as well as the owners of the house, but in terms of actual LIeutenants/Artifact Guardians/Key Keepers, I think Season 3 had the most riveting, interesting ones. Season 2 was very fantastical, and I loved that aspect, but Season 3′s minor villains felt more thematically connected with its era. It helps that most of the Artifact Guardians were connected to Everlock in some form initially, before the Carnival Master went and corrupted them all to do his bidding and wreak havoc on the town. Season 4′s Key Keepers and Minor Villains were pretty good, too, but I think Season 3 did a bit better here overall.

Best Helper(s) Overall: Calliope and Mortimer from Season 3. 

Calliope and Mortimer win for me because 1. They had a good developing storyline together that fed into the main plot more and 2. The banter and chemistry they had together just worked really, really well. Also, 3. They had more time spent together overall, which probably helped with 1 and 2 to begin with. Extra points to Calliope for attempting to beat up Lucy at the beginning of Episode 9!

The Sorceress and Mortimer as a pair from Season 4 had a good chance of winning this, but that pair got broken up pretty soon by Episode 6 of their Season, as opposed to Calliope and Mortimer both dying in Episode 9 of Season 3. Also, they didn’t have the same sort of acting chemistry like Calliope and Mortimer had that meshed them so well as partners.

Best Deaths Overall: Season 3.

Season 2 was very close to having the best deaths (with hearts ripped out and betrayals going on), but Season 3 was a bit more creative overall (especially from Episode 5 onwards) in my opinion, which gave it the win. Season 1 was fine, but it wasn’t as creative as Seasons 2 and 3 for me (though Season 1 does have more realistic deaths, I’ll give it that), and Season 4′s actual deaths, though shocking at the beginning, felt a bit lackluster for me from Episode 5 onwards.

Best Storyline Within A Season Overall: Seasons 1 and 3.

I know we have the overarching storyline that connects all the Seasons, but if we look at the individual storylines per season, I argue that Seasons 1 and 3 had the best individual storylines. Season 1 could easily be a standalone story as is. Season 3 was also pretty good standing on its own because the only thing you really need to know is Joey dying from Season 2, and they touch on that immediately in the Season 3 premiere to connect it with Season 3′s main story. Season 4′s storyline relies on knowing the past three seasons well due to it being an All-Stars Season, and Season 2, though also fine as is, wasn’t as strong as Season 1 and 3 for me except for the finale.

Most Shocking Death Per Season  (because an overall is impossible for me):

Season 1: Sierra. I didn’t think she was going to go out the way she did, and it was purely by unfortunate circumstance that Matt didn’t read the note all the way through. I believe he genuinely regretted her death, and so I actually felt bad for him during the episode after her, even if it led to him not helping much and hence his death.

Season 2: Liza. Yes, she lost the death challenge, but I really thought they were going for a no-death that episode when I watched it. I was very wrong. 

Season 3: SAFIYA NYGAARD, THE MOST SHOCKING DEATH OF ALL DEATHS I’VE WATCHED SO FAR. I admit I’m still slightly salty over that Plot Twist. Had it been a fair challenge, I’m almost sure that she wouldn’t be dead until Episode 8 or 9 at earliest, or end up surviving the season.

Season 4: DeStorm. I didn’t expect him to die in Episode 4 of Season 4, especially given how he already died in Episode 4 of Season 2. It did lead to some interesting development on his part, though, becoming more of a team player by topping it with a Heroic Sacrifice.

Favourite Episode Per Season (because an overall is impossible for me):

Season 1: Episode 9, Wicked Hallucinations. For those that read my Escape The Night fanfics, you all know I love Vincent Wells. Also, his reveal to the group that Arthur is the big bad AND the fact that Vincent was the one that warned them back in Episode 2 with the note (it was an inkblot card!) was pretty clever. (Okay, maybe the reveal that the staff was evil was obvious to a lot of viewers at the time, but I still loved how that part of the episode was filmed).

Season 2: Episode 5, The Gingerbread Woman. Not only did we have all the sweets and the rescuing of children, but there were some good comedic highlights in this episode and the twist of Liza’s death actually happening was pretty shocking (despite the initial thought that maybe it would be a no-death episode when Sampson helped Tyler and Liza defeat the Gingerbread Woman). 

Season 3: A tie between Episode 6, Twin Dolls, and Episode 7, Funhouse. Though I do think Episode 5 is the funniest out of all the episodes that season, I think the most entertaining overall were Episodes 6 and 7. Episode 6 really brought on the horror (as well as the drama of Colleen’s death), and Episode 7 was very twisty with Matpat’s revival and what most of the fandom calls the Stupid Plot Twist (a.k.a. Safiya’s death). Yes, it was probably an unfair plot twist, but it definitely added an effect to that episode to be entertaining and kept me on my toes.

Season 4: Episode 2, The Museum of Death: Part 2. It’s odd that I think this is the most entertaining episode of the season (as you can see from the previous examples, I often liked the mid-season or later ones), but I think it’s just the fact that we have all the guests from past seasons together here, as well as the twist of the death challenge, that helped push this into the most favourite episode of this season for me. Also, props to Tana for trying to save Justine and refusing to command the Mummy to kill her when she lost!

Least Favourite Episode Per Season:

Season 1: Episode 7, Mermaid Tails. It wasn’t absolutely horrible, but though Matt didn’t contribute much this episode given his accidentally-causing Sierra’s death in Episode 6, I still felt bad that everyone instantly ganged-up on him.

Season 2: Episode 4, A Nation Divided. I liked the team challenge, but DeStorm and Alex’s drama kind of overshadowed it for me. 

Season 3: Episode 3, Venomous Affections. I felt that the Snake Woman could have been utilized more than just poisoning two people prior to the death challenge. That’s the main reason I didn’t enjoy it so much.

Season 4: Episode 9, Prehistoric Evil. This is easily my least favourite episode out of the entire show so far, due to the plot-twist of the Sorceress betraying the group being way too obvious, as well as how the lead-up to Rosanna Pansino’s death developed. I ranted about it enough in my reaction post to Episode 9, so read there for more details if you’d like.

Best Finale Overall: Season 3. 

Season 4 felt a bit lackluster despite having the giant throwback to many of the monsters from the first three seasons (though it does help set up for Season 5), and though Season 2 was close to winning this category due to the shock of Joey’s death happening, Season 3 gave me a bit of an edge overall because who wouldn’t be shocked by Liza randomly showing up in the Crystal and asking for help!?

Best Season Overall: Season 3!!!!!

Just looking through all the other categories before this one, I think it’s fair to say I enjoyed Season 3 the most. The change of location as well as how they utilized it, the amazing cast and minor villains, the music, etc. just really helped me enjoy watching that season overall. It’s the one season I find myself wanting to watch all over again out of all of them, too.