Review: Dragons: Defenders of Berk “Live and Let Fly”

How did the season premiere stack up to season one of the How to Train Your Dragon spin-off? Jump to find out!

Spoilers!
The episode starts off with Fishlegs imprisoned by a mysterious foe, trying to get information out of him about the dragon tamers of Berk. After turning out the lights, Fishlegs gives up everything. It turns out that it was the group testing Fishlegs’s meddle under pressure. Of course, he failed miserably.

The next scene establishes that there is a flying ban due to Hiccup getting taken by Alvin. His father is not taking Alvin’s advice about Alvin’s dragon fleet. This entire scene screams of foreshadowing. Mark it down here, kids.
Hiccup goes to his friends, and they all show their disapproval of the ruling. At the hut, even Toothless shows he’s not happy. After getting jabbed about agreeing with the ban, Hiccup finally decides to ride Toothless around the island.
Astrid decides to chase after Hiccup and Toothless, only to give up the chase, soon after, or Hiccup thinks, anyway. They land only to be surprised by her coming in right after they land. This talk leads to the Dragon Flight Club. Wait up a sec. This show better have Brad Pitt in it as a lunatic, or I’m out. Just remember rule number one.

Anyway, they go to the rest of the kids, and they assemble the underground flight club. First night out, they head to Changewing Island to fight a bunch of chameleon dragons, aptly named Changewings. Back at the camp, Stoic is breaking his own rule, and patrolling the island.
The kids are at a spot where Typhoonarangs are near, and one forces the group to scatter out of dodge. Come to find out, Stoic forces them to scatter, and then get into the clouds asap. Stoic sees Ruffnut and Tuffnut’s head coming out of the clouds, and scrambles the kids into getting home before getting caught. Everyone gets home safe, except Fishlegs, of course.
Stoic grabs him and takes him to get questioned about flying and who he was with. The inquisition training finally pays off, and Fishlegs finally pulls through.  Fishlegs gives an embellished story of the situation, and as he is finishing up, Snotlout flies in with news of Alvin’s attack. Hiccup wakes up Stoic, and convinces him to let them fly to stem the invasion. The kids manage to herd the changewings to Changewing Island, while Stoic and Hiccup send Alvin back to Outcast Island. The big reveal at the end of the episode is that Alvin’s men placed whispering deaths under the island.

So, I have watched the show for a bit, and I can’t get past the Vikings of this show being Scottish. I guess it works, but I was hoping for something different. For a comedic-action show, this was very light on comedy, but high on action. It is in the same vein of How to Train Your Dragon, where there is an actual plot, and not a series of tacked on mini plots. If you ask me, there is nothing wrong with this. Dreamworks did a lot  better crafting a decent show than with their other CG spinoffs. They were on Nick, and we all know how much I love Nick.
Character designs are a major improvement. Every character seems to have their own identity, which is good. I have been overly critical of CG shows in the past, and I have documented proof on the site. However, this is a good change. I also enjoy the more muted color palette. The characters, as well as the scenery and background, are not the normal orgy of colors you get from most CG shows. Every other show needs to take notes on the design of this show and work it into yours.

Overall, this show is a great action show, but lacks severely for comedy.