I love this episode, it's one of my all time favourites, quite possibly because it's all about the absolute coolest character in the show-and *ever* for that matter! All the weird art effects and vivid colours make this episode so distinctive-it's a lot of fun trying to spot and name the myriad references to famous paintings and artworks! Even the first quirky effect seen, a child-like doodle of a sun, is very eye-catching and interesting because it's strangely so alien and out of place in an already plenty strange little universe... The animators clearly let their imaginations run wild here and it shows. The effects and imagery featured in Painted Windows clearly pushes the, at the time limited animation style of Reboot. ::: I love beautiful insane Hexadecimal on her throne, having all the control, indulging in her creativity, "painting" madly, having a ball! The part where she literally makes a jester out of Megabyte is hilarious. Her hysterical shrieks of rage as she discovers that all her "work" is about to be undone are quite startling to hear! I love Bob's horrified expression as she goes into overdrive after he "cut n' pastes" her mask away. It's like, what have I wrought!? There's probably a metaphor in there somewhere: He takes away her "face", all hell breaks loose. The scene sure becomes powerfully thunderous and chaotic! Such an awesome image, the way she's screaming and holding in her face, only under the mask there is no face, only an empty void and a building pressure cooker of light!!! Totally brilliant stereophonic wraparound thunderstorm. She is the very definition of chaos. And it also grants us a view into the many, *many* facets of personality that make up her mind. And the way a kind of over-mind says thank you to Bob reveals that at least a small part of her regards him as a friend and not just a nemesis. And after he frantically manages to stop the mayhem the tone suddenly changes completely as the utterly shell-shocked Hexadecimal collapses to the ground, completely helpless. I love how the final scene shows that it's the horror movie that's bringing her around! To me that perfect final image is the creepiest in the whole series. And also, something else that makes this episode a special one is that it's the beginning of a plot arc that encompasses not only the remainder of this season, but all the third as well. I think that had the show not shifted from the more episodic stories of the first seasons, then Reboot may not have become what it did, and might not be as fondly remembered today. ::: Excellent, it boasts some of the most daring and striking visuals the show ever produced-again something all the more impressive due to the fact that the animation was still in its more basic stage, and had yet to be improved upon. Oh it's simply Picasso, definitely Picasso!
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