Is this question about a cast reaction to an in-character utterance from Critical Role on topic?

Question

What was so bad about Bertrand's last line at the end of C3E3?

Spoiler Warning: the question does contain spoilers about Critical Role C3E3.

This question asks about the reactions given by two cast members to something another cast member said in character.

The critical-role-show tag states:

For any questions about the show Critical Role, including plotting and show details; GM techniques demonstrated on the show; rules, rulings, house rules, and homebrew appearing on the show; and more.

So it seems our default disposition toward questions about the Critical Role show is something of a “on topic until proven otherwise”, and relevant to this particular question, the tag description gives “plotting and show details” as some of the topics covered.

That said, is this question on-topic as written? And if not, cannot it be revised to be on-topic?

Answer 1

Live-play questions are on-topic

The line between RPG-content and entertainment is unclear and constantly evolving. It's a new genre and unclear exactly what it is. Anything from from live-play, to performance-art, to entertainment show and a whole spectrum of things in-between. In future we may even have sub-genres for these shows. But all of that is irrelevant to whether this is an on-topic question for this stack.

Could these shows be on-topic at Sci-Fi & Fantasy? Yes, in fact they even have a tag for it with 3 questions. Does being on-topic elsewhere mean that it is off-topic here? No.

From our help-centre on-topic article

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself:

Would an RPG expert give me a better/different/more specific answer to this question than a Historian, Geographer, etc?

If yes, then feel free to ask it here.

In this case I believe the answer is yes. An RPG expert is more likely to give a more complete/specific answer to a question about a live-play RPG than a Sci-Fi & Fantasy expert would.

Questions about live-play shows are a combination of mechanics, lore, social dynamics and plot that is unique to the RPG genre. Answerers unfamiliar with RPGs may address only some of these aspects while missing key details in another. Thereby giving a weak or possibly entirely wrong answer.

Live-play RPG questions are fundamentally RPG questions and therefore should be on-topic at RPG.SE.

Note: This does not extend to questions about the cast, companies or other related but external elements that go into RPG live play, only the content that appears as part of the RPG show.

Answer 2

The question asks about what I can only describe as the showmanship aspect of the production. No matter if it is scripted, directed, prompted, improvised or entirely free-formed:

The showmanship and representation of the character/player on the screen is to some degree acting and the choice to keep it and not cut it away post-production. The only people that can inform about the reasons a certain phrase is in there (and not hit the cutting room floor) are the production crew: the actors, the GM, the cutter. Not us.

As a result, the question is very close to designer-reasons, which was previously blanket banned because it invites baseless speculations.

While there possibly might be ways to come to a reason why something is said the way it is, those will be most likely rooted in the dramaturgy of the show - which we are not the experts for. Those experts for shows are SF&F.