WARNING: I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but there is a chance there could still be spoilers so I recommend you watch the episode first! ⚠

DISCLAIMER: Remember this is all my opinion so I would appreciate that you respect it even if your opinion is totally different to mine, In fact if it is I would like to hear your opinion because I think that everyone should be able to let their voice be heard! 💬

So let us begin!

Right off the bat we start in Gabriel's evil lair where he repairs the miraculous of the peacock & transforms into the all mighty, good looking and powerful Shadow Moth! I just want to say that I loved that the writers started the 4th season right where the 3rd one left off and that we get introduced to Gabriel's new villain persona right off the bat!

So after that we see Marinette whom has just received the role of guardian of the Miraculous, I just want to say that I like the writers pretty much left the episode off pretty much right after the finale of the 3rd season somewhat by introducing shadow moth and seeing Marinette play around with the miracle box for the first time! And to see the start of the new season leave off where the other left off was a really good sign for me because right in the beginning we start to see chronological order, which up to season 4 this show desperately needed!

So after seeing Marinette struggle with the kwamis and just having an over all hectic time when we see probably one of the most funny & awkward moments in the show that I've seen in a long time, the Lukanette phone conversation! In my opinion I wanted to burst out laughing but put my head through a wall at the same time!

So we later learn that Luka & Marinette are going out on a date to see a date Only to be interrupted by an attack by an akumatized villain.

So we pretty much go through this montage of Lukanette moments being interrupted by akuma & sentimonster attacks. And while I'm the not the biggest of Luka fans, props to him for just being chill even though his date leaves him like 5 times... I would honestly snap at that point so props to him..

After that we end up with Marinette & Luka have a heart to heart where Luka only wants honesty... (I bet you can guess what happens..)

So we go through the typical stuff, a fight with a villain (and sentimonster) with some Ladynoir stuff like always! Along with some revelations and truths that Luka discovered about his family. Which kind of seemed unnecessary in my opinion. I feel like the writers wanted more traumatic things in the episode and add character lore for Luka when it could've easily been done in an episode in say season 3 or later in season 4.

Now the end is very different, it finishes on a more sad note which we don't see too often which I think Is really nice to see that the show is growing with it's viewers!

Now let us talk about the animation quality. It's not SAMG level animation... but it is one of the highest quality animated episodes not made by SAMG. Atleast at the time. With very few noticeable errors except for some moments with odd lighting and light reflection.

Now here are some of the things I didn't think were necessary. Again the Unnecessary family development for Luka which could've occurred in the Season 3 episode: Desperada, which is mainly focused on him and his family. I also think that (SPOILERS AHEAD) that they ended Lukanette too soon, because at the end Marinette and Luka break up. I feel like they could've done two things. One they could've started Lukanette at the beginning of Season 3 rather than the end, Or make Lukanette last until mid Season 4 atleast. But that is pretty much all of the complaints I have for the episode! 🌟

VERDICT:

I honestly really enjoyed it and really set the bar high for the following episodes of the season! (Of course when it came out it was a lot bigger of an episode than it is compared to now.) I really liked that we kinda of followed up on the previous season and get to see Marinette Guardian experiences and some Lukanette content! We also got to see Shadowdaddy (Shadowmoth) whose design in my opinion is splendid! I also liked how with the introduction of Shadowmoth that we will be seeing Sentimonsters a lot more now because in the 3rd Season we usually only saw Sentimonsters in bigger episodes, so I'm very happy about that! I also love how the end of the episode ended on a sadder note and the changes of the formula that this episode presented! It really made us think more deeply about the characters and the plot! So this episode is by far the best season opener in my opinion and it made me feel hope for the future of Miraculous!

I believe this episode deserves a: 9/10 🌟

It did a lot right and little wrong the only reason it didn't get any higher is because nothing absolutely insane happened, but insane things don't need to happen in every episode and Truth did really well at what it was try to do, open the new season!

CONCLUSION:

If you took your time to read through all this well, props to you and thanks you, I had to write this twice so it means a lot!

So what did you think of the episode? Was it Good, Bad? The Best Episode, The Worst?

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments below! 💬