#( reference to 5x10 maybe? )

[romidoes]

“i love you"

"what the hell does that even mean?"

"it means we take care of each other. it means thick and thin, good times, bad, sickness, health. all that shit"

[frangipanilove]

The Love Apple and Agape

More On The Apple Symbolism in TWDU

@wdway shared something really interesting with me after my post on apple symbolism yesterday. In my post, I talked primarily about the apple symbolism around TWD 10x13 and TOWL, which of course were all Richonne-centered episodes. But as we know, there's plenty of apple references on the show, some are heavily tied up with TD/Bethyl stuff and thangs.

I just wanted to share @wdway's discovery because there were connections there that I hadn't been aware of, and maybe others will find it interesting as well.

@wdway has been talking about how the French sometimes refer to the tomato as a "love apple", "pomme d'amour" for years, and she suggested that just as the Apple iPhone is synonymous with the apple symbolism in some cases, one could say that in other cases, tomatoes could also be synonymous with apple symbolism.

And for TD, this is particularly interesting in light of episodes 4x12 Still and 4x13 Alone, where we saw cans of tomato sause several times:

As we know, Beth and Daryl's time in the funeral home was paralleled with Sasha and Bob's budding romance, and they had the same type of tomato sauce can-on-strings symbolism around them.

One thing that was completely new to me was that the number "26", seen here feature prominently on the front porch of the funeral home, has some really intriguing connotations to it:

@wdway had discovered years ago that the number "26" corresponds with the word "agape" in the Bible:

Strong's concordance refers to an index over words in the original Greek and Hebrew languages in the Bible, and word number 26 is "agape", which means "love"...

Do with that what you will...

...but I'm inclined to side-eye that HEAVILY! Beth and Daryl's shelter, literally marked with a number that means "love"...?

Keep in mind that while Daryl is arranging the can-on-string alarm system with the cans of tomato sauce, or should I say "love apple-sauce"...

...he gets a visit from the one-eyed dog, the "celestial being", the "heavenly beast with a star in its eye, as poet Robert Frost would have said:

I've talked about how Sirius symbolism is resurrection symbolism in many posts, how it tells a story of reunion, resurrection and rebirth, and in yesterday's post I elaborated on how apple symbolism ties into the same themes of reunion, resurrection and rebirth. Keep that in mind as I remind you that the French call tomatoes "love apples".

So, we have cans of "love apple-sause", directly underneath a large number "26", which means "love" on Beth and Daryl's shelter for the night , and we have a Sirius dog that heralds reunion, resurrection and rebirth.

And, speaking of tomato sauce as "love apple-sauce"...

As @danaredbeard commented on my apple post from yesterday, Aaron actually brought apple sause when trying to recruit TF in 5x10 Them. We saw that in the episode after, when Rick forced him to eat it to prove it wasn't poisoned:

Aaron wasn't personally a fan of apple sauce, but he "argeed" (under some pressure, but still...) to eat a spoon-full to demonstrate that it was safe for human consumption.

Aaron ultimately came with an offer of a new start for TF in Alexandria, a "rebirth"...

...and it came at a time when they needed it the most...

Aaron came with "good news", as though he was spreading the literal Gospel:

And as every TD'er ever will remember, what happend next was a "resurrection” of sorts:

The broken music box responded to Aaron's "good news" by spontaniously resurrecting...

There's actually one more thing, and interestingly, it ties into themes of "good news" and "Gospel":

Yes, it turns out that the number "26" also represents the Hebrew word for God, "Yahweh".

I didn't know any of this, so thanks @wdway for sharing. Hopefully someone else will also find it interesting.

@wdway also has thoughts on how the apple symbolism relates to the story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and a certain apple there that caused quite a stir. We did see symbolism relating to that in TWDDD:

That's probably a post for a different day, but I did touch on in in this post from last year.

Finally, I thought I'd add a little tidbit of my own, something I discovered some time ago, which actually does relate to all the canned tomato/love-apple sauce stuff.

Take a look at the can of tomato sauce/love apple-sause in this shot, right next to the wine bottle (cough *ethanol* cough):

I'd say thats a number 10 can:

Could it be that these cans we see all the time in TWDU are convoluted references to the number 10?

Everyone who's been in TD for any length of time know how we obsess over the 10:10 Slabtown clock seen behind Beth and Dr. Edwards here:

There are plenty of theories on what those numbers on that clock means, here's a recent theory of mine that touches on the subject (X).

Anybody's guess is as good as mine, but some obvious interpretations include 10 as in Roman Numeral X, which obviously is a cross, which obviously is resurrection symbolism. An "X" is also obviously an iteration of a cross such as the one found on the back of the Grady cars, which again ties the symbolism around crosses/X’s directly to Beth.

I also personally love the "X" as in the branding mark Daryl and Michonne suffered in season 9:

Interestingly, in Daryl's case the X seen next to his already existing scars, forms Roman Numerals X II, which could be a foreshadow of episode 10x11 Morningstar. I've explained why that is interesting here, and I also touched on it here. Long story short, "Morningstar", among other things, refers to Revelation 22.16, in which Christ is called the Morning Star. So again, there's resurrection symbolism all over the place.

And while we're on the subject of Morning Stars, I have to mention the Sirius symbolism and the Venus symbolism we keep seeing, as Venus and Sirius are both referred to as Morningstars.

Also, the kind of branding Michonne and Daryl experienced, is technically a form of cauterization, which I discussed here.

Read more about the cauterization and the symbolism around fire and how it relates to a "cure" here, here and here.

And for anyone looking forward to TWDDD season 2, it's reassuring to see that the apple symbolism is alive and well over in France as well:

[princeescaluswords]

From Battlefield (2x11):

Stiles: Scott, the other night seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I'm just lying there and I can't even move, it just - I want to help, you know, but I can't do the things that you can do. I can't - Scott: It's okay.

From Silverfinger (3x17):

Scott: I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong. But I don't think you're trying to kill people either.

From Letharia Vulpina (3x19):

Stiles: Okay, I know what you guys are thinking, but it's me. I swear to God, it's me. Ethan and Aiden go to attack Stiles. Scott: Wait, stop! I said, stop!

or later that same episode:

Stiles: I could have killed him. I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat? Scott: But it wasn't. And he's going to be all right.

Well, obviously, the OP is referring to Lies of Omission (5x09), right?

Theo: I saw Donovan go down. Stiles hit him with the wrench, and then, he just, he just kept hitting him. Uh, maybe it was because he... He threatened to kill his dad. Or maybe Stiles thought he had to keep going to defend himself, but he just... He kept hitting him. Scott: That's not possible.

What I suspect @perfectionightmare means is that Scott didn't do as he was told. At least I have to guess, since the OP never actually bothered to say when Scott "so easily threw Stiles under the bus."

I mean, it's hard for me to figure out when that happened, since it's not like Scott mocked Stiles in front of Stiles's enemies (like Stiles mocked Scott to Peter in Code Breaker (1x12)). It's not like Scott stood there and let someone lie to Scott, like Stiles let Theo lie to Scott in Strange Frequencies (5x07). It's not like Scott made a deal with someone he knew was planning to kill Stiles in order to protect someone else Scott loves, like Stiles did in Status Asthmaticus (5x10).

I know, we're supposed to let the OP have their casually racist opinions because it's about fictional characters and it was so long ago. We can literally watch Stiles lie and abandon Scott on the screen, but we're supposed to let them say that Scott is a cheap friend, because Stiles is such a poor boy, he had no other choice but to do it, while we literally watch Scott's love of Stiles was so powerful he literally fought the Wild Hunt for him, but hey, it's all good.

No. I'm not going to be quiet. Stiles and Scott were both in terrible 'supernatural' situations but that excuse is only good for one of them for some particular reason.

BUT IT'S NOT RACISM.

I hate how easily Scott throws Stiles under the bus and never gives him the benefit of the doubt. Ik it’s all supernatural but I’ve had so many friends like that where you’ve known them for so long yet they never defend you the moment anyone dislikes you

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Not sure if you've already mentioned it, but do you think that the black and white theme is supposed to be a representation of Daryl and Beth?

Daryl has been wearing black and dark clothing (apart from when we've seen him in white body armour) and his relationship with Beth could definitely be described as a yin/yang situation. They both compliment each other despite being opposites in many ways.

The white cross on the car that took her to Grady and the white church they wanted to bury her at seem significant due to both of them being symbolism for faith.

It adds another layer to the Snow White comparison too. Apart from the "skin white as snow" thing, in the story the Evil Queen doesn't actually kill Snow White with the poison apple, but instead puts her into a comatose state that will make her appear dead and therefore be buried alive. I find that kind of interesting.

Thoughts?

Yeah for sure. Because of Beth's black and white shoe laces at Grady, followed by Daryl wearing black and white ties on his legs in 5x10, people picked up on the yin yang theme right away, and I definitely think it's a thing. I have quite a few theories that either address or touch on this. You can find them here: https://twdmusicboxmystery.tumblr.com/post/165662005859/td-theories-symbols-of-beth-colors-and-color

Agree on the Snow White thing, too. Beth wasn't dead in S5. She was just sleeping. And only Daryl (her prince) can awaken her. I think they'll do some sort of play on this in the show. Like, maybe he won't literally wake her up, but if she has any memory loss, or needs help to remember who she once was with TF, Daryl will be the one to bring her back to herself. So, her "awakening" will be symbolic.

We have SO much symbolic imagery that suggests this. Her eyes fluttering open at Grady. Daryl being the one to "fix" the music box. I could go on and on. But the Snow White template alone, the way her arm fell and now all these apple references this season, suggests this is where they're going with it.

Can't wait to see how it plays out. Thanks Nonny! Xoxo! 🎃💞

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Someone on twitter mentioned Lena and Lucy's names meaning light and for some reason I thought it was about their last names and I googled that. Turns out both Bozko and Donato mean god-given (according to name-doctor at least). And now I'm thinking deus ex machina 🤣

Hey Nonnie

Yes both surnames also mean gift from god or god-given so both Lena and Lucy are the gift of light from god - as in there to illuminate things, so yes sort of Deus ex machina I say sort of because we've twigged them so its not really a surprise any more😂

We know 911 likes to use religious imagery - the Buck carrying Christopher in the tsunami parallels to st Christopher carrying Jesus across the water and this is another way of them doing just that - subtly using religious motifs to tell the story.

I mean I'm pretty convinced that they're also using Moses and the 10 plagues as a narrative device across the series so far - we've had/ are about to have, by my reconning 8/9 of the 10 plagues.  I have had this half written post in my drafts which i’ve been adding to and editing since 5x10 aired so I’ll paste it below and you can see what you think (maybe I've completely lost the plot - I wouldn't be surprised at this point in time!!) Thanks for popping up in my inbox, I love hearing from you 💜💜💜

Thinking about Buck being a saviour baby and the use of light as a reference to Jesus (’I am the light of the world’ etc etc) in religious narrative... and light and Buck being connected and Buck and St. Christopher and the parallels in the show between the two, which moved me into thinking about other religious motifs in the show and then my brain went to thinking about wrapped in red and from there decided to jump to Moses parting the Red Sea which literally wrapped the pursuing Egyptians in ‘red’ water and from there my brain went what if it is all connected to the idea of freedom from oppressors and that’s what Eddie is trying to do for Christopher in a metaphorical mental health sense because mental illness can be a form of oppression born out of repression. He also need to free himself from the oppression/repression of heteronormativity

I then went, hang on - God sent 10 plagues before the crossing of the Red Sea so I looked them up because the only ones I could remember were the locusts, boils and the frogs and man oh man is it interesting

1. Turning water into blood - tsunami? Dam break? 

2. Frogs - dosed reptiles on lose? Metaphorical- people jumping - skydiving rescue, suicides? etc...

3. bugs - several bug calls - bot fly, eye worms, mosquito epidemic - mentioned in both dosed and Haunted and we’re about to get a plague of spiders in 5x13...

4. Wild animals - animals lose on Hollywood boulevard, tiger at zoo!

5. Pestilence - pandemic...

6. Boils - under pressure - episode about people reaching boiling point...

7. Thunderstorm of hail and fire - chemical fires, meteor...

8. Locusts - dosed call to the eating contest...

9. Darkness for 3 days - blackout...

10. Death of firstborn - Bobby lost his children. Daniel...

[stypidwthluv]

I’m finally posting about 5x10 and I. Have. Words.

First of all, to the writers…

Fuck you.

In the nicest possible way. Like this episode didn’t just pull at my heartstrings, it yanked them out and stomped on them. I loved it tho.

Anyway, my point about this episode is that first, it pissed me the fuck off. It felt like one step forward and two steps back. We got Chris and Eddie admitting that everything is not okay with them, but it feels a whole hell of a lot like Buck and Taylor are still pretending their fine.

The episode CLEARLY demonstrated that BT don’t know each other very well. From the beginning of the episode to the end we got them scrambling to find something that the other would like and both of them settled for “it’s the thought that counts.”

They’re cute but so deep in denial. But I’ve already been down that road.

Next, obviously the whole thing with Chris and Eddie was huge and impactful. My only point that hasn’t already been made in depth is Chris’ reaction to Eddie quitting.

We know that Chris adores his Dad and looks up to him a lot for many reasons but also because of his job.

Not to mention, Chris is the fuckin best and a true national treasure. So to me it stands to reason that despite being terrified for Eddie’s safety, Chris would feel horrible if he knew that his dad quit a job he loved with a family he adored for him.

I don’t know about you but that’s what it feels like Chris’ reaction is gonna be to me. And that may be a huge factor in 5B with Eddie’s recovery arc.

Finally, I want to talk about the title of the episode “Wrapped in Red.” While a lot of people have talked about how the episode had a lot of symbolism with presents and how they symbolize someone’s knowledge of another, I don’t think that’s what the title is referring to.

I tried to find a picture of the building they had to WRAP in all the RED tape but I could not.

Nonetheless, the building that nearly collapsed and wasn’t up to code was quite literally wrapped in red. I think that that is what the title of the episode is referring to.

And the reason that the building had to be wrapped in red was because it was unstable and about to fall apart.

With the rest of this episode, Chris and Eddie, Buck and Taylor, and everything else. Everything kind of is unstable and about to fall apart, but much like the landlord for the building, everyone seems to want to put it on the back burner. Right up until the point where something gets lodged loose and your world starts to crumble around you. In this case, you can make one of two choices, either leave the building before it crushes you and find a way to put everything back together, or you can ignore the crumbling and let it crush you.

We saw both of those choices, although in different situations in 5x10. Eddie left the building and is trying to put everything back together,

(Even if we don’t think it’s the right choice) and Buck and Taylor are choosing to ignore all of the warning signs.

That being said, maybe I’m reading way too far into this and I’ve lost it.

Nonetheless, I can’t wait for 5B and I’m hoping that the months in between may give us a better chance of getting Jennifer Love Hewitt back before season six. Fingers Crossed.

That is all. You may return to you regularly scheduling scrolling.

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Dr StrangeVale or: How I learned to stop worrying and love Hiram’s bomb

Oh, Rivervale, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

1. Archie’s dead

2. There are two Jugheads

3. General wackiness

4. Archie’s dead

5. No s5 misery

6. Obligatory midseason Bughead make-out.

7. Did I mention that Archie’s dead?

8. (Somewhat failed) Attempt at a better plotted mini-arc

9. Meta references (with various degrees of success)

10. Laughing my head off at Rivervale’s 6x5 ‘big bad’ (see #9).

My enjoyment of s6a has been inversely proportional to the wretchedness that was s5. That is to say, if s5 hadn’t been such a miserable miserable thing, maybe I’d be less happy with Riverdale’s 5ep-event. But s5 was what it was, so here we are!

#1, 4 & 7: Listen, it’s exhausting to watch the writers continuously lauding Archie’s most problematic behaviour as the best and purest thing that has ever happened this side of Sweetwater, in an effort to counterbalance how unimportant his storylines are in the bigger narrative of each episode. It’s also hilarious how they are completely aware of the fact and yet not interested in changing it because of how well the A plot mystery/Bughead combo works. (Plus it allows them to put Archie in more inconsequential shirtless/fighting scenes). It has been such a delight not to have Archie on my screen for so long!

#2: Does this really need an explanation? Forsythe Pendleton Jones III is half the reason I watch Riverdale.  In Rivervale he’s double the reason!

#3 & 5: The best Riverdale is the craziest Riverdale. Did anyone say The Great Blooper Birthday Party / Chickles Wedding Extravaganza, complete with Archie and Kevin (and his trusty machete) fighting convicts in atmospheric lighting during Parents Night at RHS while Jughead’s tripping maple mushroom balls in the Bunker in 5x10? Yes, please! These writers have not the range to write serious dialogue or keep pace. They’re so much better when everything is over the top. Which, yes, is a conscious decision on their part but also a convenient one: mistakes and weaknesses can be better hidden in a fast-paced piece for a big orchestra than in a slow duet. And the Allegro is always more fun than the Lento.

#6: Is there anyone left watching for the plot? Did s5 even have one?! If anything, s6a exists solely on the premise of no overall narrative: each episode is more or less self-contained and the event’s “arc” starts and begins with ep5. In spite of the writers insisting that everything is in canon [sic] i.e. in continuity, it really isn’t, as we’re about to go back to 5x19, as expected by everyone in the fandom. 5x19 aired on Oct. 6th 2021. That plot will continue in 6x6, which will air on March 6th 2022. And only then, will the viewers know how to interpret what happened from 5x14 onwards (or whether to completely discard those storylines, because things simply changed/moved on).

The show currently survives because of the ships. The couples (new and old) have been the focus of every teaser for s5 and s6.

Case in point: the obligatory midseason Bughead make-out scene: first in s5 (a hallucination) then in s6 (a parallel universe). If it’s not real, what’s the purpose? The writers know very well what attracts an audience. It’s the ships. Specific ships.

#8: The format of s6a (5-ep event, a separate universe, mostly self-contained episodes, knowledge of when exactly the hiatus will happen) is more concise.

The writers don’t have to worry about arcs and overall narratives. In fact, there aren’t any.

That culmination of the battle between evil and good (apparently moved to 6b?)? Nothing has pointed towards it so far (that triple explicit reference in 6x3 bore no consequences for that episode’s plot or the next one’s).

The Jughead multiverse thing that supposedly explains the whole 5ep-event? It’s not a real arc: it hasn’t happened yet. It begins and ends in 6x5. The previous episodes can stand on their own in their little Rivervale world without it.

(At the same time, because there are limits to the Riverdale writers’ abilities, this format has led to a much slower pace. The need for a new narrative premise for each episode combined with the writers’ preference for exposition means that not a lot happens in s6a. The action is minimal compared to other seasons.)

#9 & 10: The meta references are hilarious. Making things literal (Archie’s heart) or symbolical (Jughead’s typewriter/closed-in room of ships and bottles) but in that Riverdale in-your-face fashion is actually entertaining. Archie’s motivation in 6x5 is the meta-est thing these writers have ever done! Embracing s6’s format in order to play out as many scenarios as possible without consequences is objectively smart and would have pleased the fans more, had Riverdale not already made it its m.o. to drop plots left and right.

Everything is already meaningless in Riverdale: Hiram is used for comedic relief but then he’s a super villain again. Pop Tate’s retirement is such an important event that it brings the core four together but then he’s back and working. Betty stresses so much over Jughead not getting into college that she cheats on him but later on becomes fwb with the high-school drop-out …

At least in Rivervale, it’s justified!

[alaffy]

This is just a few thoughts I have in my head.  I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind in not watching the episode, because nobody should be pressured to watch something they don’t feel like watching.  And, hey, if things turn out differently then what we expect in the next couple of episodes, there’s always the CW app.

So, Betty and Jughead won’t interact much during the musical.  I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but at the same time....well, the thing is, if they had sung Hey together, it would have had to have a lot of explanation behind it. I mean, even if we didn’t have Betty’s trauma to deal with and the things they still need to talk about, Betty’s sister just died and Alice is loosing it.  It would be a very weird time to try to restart anything.  But add the other things back into the mix...at best, it would have to be framed in such a way that it’s the two coming to an understanding that they still have feelings for each other, but making it clear that this is not them getting back together (because, again, really not the time).  And, at the moment, I don’t think either one thinks the other one does would want to get back together.

I am surprised that there isn’t more interaction between Betty and the other characters, but maybe this is the moment (kind of like last episode between Hiram and Veronica), where things finally come to a head between Alice and Betty.  And if that’s the case, well, something as complex as that would take up Betty’s time in the episode (it actually could be just the episode).  I’ve also read that Polly’s death does impact all storylines, so I am interested to see how.  

And, yes, it does sound like they may be setting up Jughead and Tabitha.  As I said before, it also good to consider that the story might go where you don’t want it to.  That being said, we know that they will be singing a several duets together and they will be fake dating.  Now, it is possible they could be singing “Hey,” but it in order for it to work, they would have to cut out good portions of that song.  But, we don’t even know what songs are being used in the musical.  We just assumed hey would be in there.  

We also don’t know the context of any of the duets.  For instance, how many are being sung when they’re pretending to be a couple?  It wouldn’t surprise me if, during their fake dating, one or both of them start questioning where this is headed.  And, yes, they could decided to start dating at the end, but (if Drew was not referring to what happened in 5x10 when he said it ended badly for them) it could be they both decide that it wouldn’t work, or Jughead could reaffirm what he said in 5x10, he has things he still needs to deal with.  I mean, I’m not going to be shocked if they start dating in this episode.  But, with this show and how they promote things, I don’t believe anything is a guarantee until they show it on screen.  

I mean, for me, the reason why I have a problem with Jughead and Tabitha together is not because I can’t see them together, it’s because things haven’t been resolved with Betty yet.  Jughead was in another relationship, but was still focused on Betty. Jughead is literally manifesting visions of Betty to save himself in situations (one of which ended with them in a bed together), he’s not moving on.  And it isn’t Tabitha’s job to help him move on, it’s up to him to make that decision.  And, yes, if he were to make that decision because he wants something more with Tabitha, that would be fine.  But, again, I don’t see him in that place yet.   I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like Tabitha.  And if they were 100% done with Bughead, well I’d still want Bughead, but I would accept Jughead and Tabitha.  But they’re not done with Bughead.  If they were done with Bughead, they could have easily ended it in 5x05, when they walked together after Pop’s.  But they instead we had phone messages, the book, Jughead literally dreaming of Betty saving him,...Basically, I like the character of Tabitha enough that I don’t like the idea of Jughead, who has already been in a relationship with one woman while still fixated on Betty, I don’t like the idea of him doing that to Tabitha.  Tabitha has been a good friend to Jughead and if he’s not ready to commit to her 100% (which again, I don’t think he will ever be because I do think he will end up back with Betty), then I would rather he just be honest about that.

 Personally, I do plan on watching this episode because I want to see how they’re handling these situations.  But, again, I can understand those who’ve decided not to watch.

[jerepars]

Back again lol. Even though the writing just hasn’t been the best this season, I’m not really that mad about the way they’ve portrayed Jeresa. Just looking at this logically, I feel that they gave us 5x02 as our Jeresa episode early on and there really was a lot of sweet moments. Now, inevitably we had to have angst in between. But it’s been constantly cemented that James is in love with Teresa, and strongly implied that she loves him too. They can’t just build that up and leave it unresolved. Plus, with TV shows in general, a couple being together early on in the series just leaves it open for unnecessary conflict and the ship just loses its intrigue. If they give us the Jeresa ending we’re hoping for then it makes sense to have not got them together any episode earlier than the final 2. And despite everything, I think the writers have been a hell of a lot better than others in keeping their ship alive and not causing a irredeemable issue between them. I probably shouldn’t defend them before seeing the next two episodes, but I am hopeful. All that being said, there most definitely should have been more scenes and dialogue between them. We should’ve had a Tony moment between them (I’m so mad about this, especially since the writers acted like it was such a pivotal part of the season and then only showed Pote’s ‘grief’). I’m very sorry for rambling, just wanted to hear your take.

Oh, yes hello, back again, I see. Your ask made me sigh because I think it opens me up to be honest and critical of this season’s writing, and that kind of opinion may not always be favored around here, and also because it requires a response of essay length. But I’ll do it for you, anon, I will. Okay. So you want my take on the portrayal of Jeresa in season 5. Here we go. After the jump:

Let me preempt this by saying the show isn’t too serious (try and tell me this is still a serious show after the kerfuffle that season 5 has been), so you shouldn’t take this too seriously either. I have an opinion but I’m just…me. I encourage everyone to stick to their guns about what they feel about QOTS; what you like about it, what you love about it, what gets you excited, what you think has been done well, what is worthy of praise, etc. etc. etc. I go in pretty hard on the show in the next several (LOL, yes, really) paragraphs. But I am in no way the ultimate authority on all things QOTS.

I don’t think Jeresa would have unnecessary conflict and I don’t think the good ship Jeresa would lose its intrigue. In lieu of conflict, we’ve gotten…*crickets* nothing. No conversations of real value, no meaningful exchange of ideas, no arguments, nothing. If anything, the conflict between Teresa and James that is necessary had been absent. In seasons 1-3, there were always disagreements between Teresa and James. There was never a point reached where it created too much conflict, or unnecessary conflict. It created tension, which is like the very essence of Jeresa, and it showed the dynamic they have that made so many of us fall hard for Jeresa as our ship, as our OTP. I don’t think making them a couple or having them together early on in the season would create unnecessary conflict. I think it could’ve created different conflict than what we’ve seen before, and wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing, to have seen them evolve and deal with each other in ways we haven’t seen before?

So, related to what I said about different conflict, as far as intrigue goes…I don’t think presenting Jeresa as a couple or in a relationship would ever make them flat or boring. When I think back to season 3, when we got Jeresa in 3x05 and 3x09, I wish we’d been offered the chance to see them succeed and see what happened with them if they tried. Like I said, it’d be a different kind of conflict, a different kind of challenge for them to face and have to face together. That sounds so opposite of lacking intrigue to me, anon. That’s a side of Jeresa I would have loved to see.

You’ve pointed out that, in general, on TV shows, getting a couple together too early usually means doom and gloom and failure for them. One of my favorite shows ever was Veronica Mars, the first two seasons especially. When the showrunner, Rob Thomas, has talked about the first kiss Logan and Veronica have, he refers to it as being earned. For QOTS, and for Jeresa, I really felt that when they shared their first kiss in 3x05. It took so much and they went through so much to get to that moment. It was earned. So, with that idea—of the earned kiss, of the earned get together, of the earned relationship—in mind, to me, there is no point in season 5 that would have been too early for Jeresa.

Talking about TV shows and how they usually go in general leads me to my next point: as a viewer, is that what I want and is that what I should expect, to be given more of what’s typical? Maybe the writers and critics and people much smarter than me will tell me it’s my fault, I’m the fool, for wanting to critically engage in media that’s not meant to be consumed that way. Maybe I’m just supposed to accept and enjoy and be happy with what I’m given. No one claimed this wasn’t going to be typical. So okay. It’s on me. It’s my bad. But here’s the thing. If I’m supposed to accept and enjoy and love this as it is…well, give me something to love. I’m not asking for a revolution or anything life-changing here, just something I can appreciate (and this season, in my opinion, has really lacked things that I can hold on to and appreciate). So as for typical TV…I’m not down with merely accepting that because things usually go a certain way, that’s how they always have to go.

Why do Jeresa have to fail if they got together earlier in the season? Why is it so out of the realm of possibility that they might succeed together? Are they so emotionally stunted, do they lack so much compassion and understanding of each other that it would be impossible for them to listen and move forward together? What if they could discuss their issues, tell each other how they feel, stop hiding, and try? Who says there wouldn’t be angst and tension between them as they try to work through their issues? What if they’re actually supposed to be together and it would make them stronger—individually and as a couple?

Now, forget everything I just said. LOL. Let’s say we have to go by TV in general and typical TV rules. Let’s assume if Jeresa got together early on, then we’d see them struggle and fall apart and break up. Fine. Okay.

Here’s how Jeresa could have played out after the first two episodes:

5x03 banging honeymoon phase, probably

5x04 arguments and frustration with each other as T embraces being the white queen

5x05 J finds out about T’s coke usage and has to walk away from the relationship because he can’t stand to be complicit and stand idly by while she destroys herself

5x06 classic Jeresa angst and tension

5x07 KG’s death leads to T’s breaking point and J is there to support her

5x08 honesty hour, where it’s made clear that these two mean so much to one another and they’re running out of time to let each other know that, so they tell each other

5x09 one last united mission + they hatch the plan to get out and be free + a farewell with the promise and intent to see each other in another life

5x10 reunion in another life

Are these all headcanons? Of course they’re headcanons. Of course I would never expect the show to go exactly how I thought it would or with my own ideas. My point is that if they would’ve gotten together early on and we’d been given a glimpse of what that would be like, even if they failed, it doesn’t mean it would’ve been impossible for them to ever find themselves together again before season’s end.

“There’s not enough time,” the writers said. “It’s an action packed season,” the writers said. Okay. Why? There was enough time to spend on backstory of minor insignificant characters. There was enough time to introduce characters, tell us a bit about them, only to see them dead by the end of the episode. There was enough time to focus on Kote’s story, over multiple episodes, with not just a baby plot but a kidnapping one as well. So why? Why was there no time for Jeresa? Forget about them getting together and kissing and sex. If that was what it was (and it was) they wanted us to not have, then fine. Some of my favorite Jeresa moments were in the first two seasons, when Jeresa getting together was very much not a thing, when tension was high. So if it was just the portrayal of them not being together, if we still got the scenes of tension and them having no choice but to communicate, that would be completely fine. Like I said, I know I’m never going to get exactly what I want, my headcanons are mine, so that’s okay. Oh. But…no. Oh no. There was not even enough time for Jeresa to have more than short, throwaway, blink-and-you’ll-miss it conversations? Well. It’s the writers’ decision. They wanted it that way.

“It’s a Teresa-centric season,” Dailyn claimed. Like I’ve said before, James is a big part of Teresa’s journey and story. If you’re going to have a Teresa-centric season, it’s hard to accomplish that without shedding more light on James and Jeresa. This isn’t a Teresa-centric season. This has become the Kote show. Teresa is the main character but her journey has been pushed aside, diminished, and downplayed in order to make way for Kote ultrasounds and Pote grunting and Kelly Anne thinking “positive” and hopeful that Marcel will come to a party at the safe house. Instead of getting conversations that would offer insight into Teresa’s relationships with those in her family, we got an extended deep dive into the most chemistry-lacking relationship we’ve ever seen on the show. Well. It’s the writers’ decision. They wanted it that way.

“It’s Queen of the South, not Jeresa of the South,” the writers will insist. If by that they mean it’s Kote of the South. Imagine for a second that it actually was a Teresa-centric season but they were adamant about keeping James in this minor capacity. Okay. It would still be different than it is now because we’d be in tune with Teresa. We would’ve gotten a glimpse into her thought process. Was this not, at some point, meant to be a story about a strong woman? I can even extend that question to Kelly Anne. Was this not, at some point, meant to be a story about strong women? Then why do we keep seeing them make asinine decisions? Why are their most extreme actions in reaction to what the men have done?

Moreover, if this show is about the people in the cartel, in Teresa’s inner circle, rather than just the Kote side plot becoming the main plot, there’s no way this is the James we would be getting. James, our beloved reluctant assassin…who we know nothing about. He can’t even get a backstory on a show on which he is supposedly one of the main characters. Five minutes—five seconds—couldn’t even be spared on James and how he came to be who he is, how he got where he is. But Isidro Navarro? By all means, I need to hear his life story. Who’s Isidro Navarro, you ask? Right. Exactly. Apparently we don’t deserve backstory and explanation and conversation and introspection from our protagonists. But a character who is there for ten minutes or less on a single episode and will never be heard from again in any significant manner? Of course he needs his screen time. Well. It’s the writers’ decision. They wanted it that way.

“This is not a romance show,” the makers of season 5 said. Honestly? Fuck that noise. Fuck that sentiment. Fuck that ignorance. When has Jeresa ever been about romance? Where do the people who make this show get off saying something like that as if we are so stupid we don’t know that? A romance story and a love story are not the same thing. Jeresa is love. God forbid Jeresa ever experience love within a successful relationship. God forbid Teresa and James ever become mature enough to use love as strength rather than weakness. But pile on all the Kote. Focus on them and emphasize how Teresa and James can barely even look at each other. Well. It’s the writers’ decision. They wanted it that way.

So now here we are, on the cusp of 5x09. We got a spoiler in the last promo trailer. We know, after 7 episodes since their last conversation that actually meant something, after the writers missed the mark and didn’t have Jeresa interact in a way that was significant and necessary over the course of the season, that there is at least one kiss. They might even have a conversation. They might even share more than one kiss that leads to more (but also, don’t be surprised if we get a mere few seconds of a kiss and nothing more before fade to black). This is going to make us so happy because finally, finally, they’re giving us what we wanted. And then what? What does it mean if those things are true? Is everything forgiven? Is the instant gratification of seeing our ship sail for a scene or two enough? Does it make up for the character assassination of the characters we love? If we somehow get the ending we want, or at least one close to it, is it even believable anymore? Is what has been broken all season so easily fixed?

Listen, I already know the counter argument. I’m going to be told I’m crazy, that Teresa has to be on her own, that it wouldn’t be interesting, that it would diminish the payoff for Teresa and Jeresa in the end. I get it. Typical TV rules, right? We have to go with what people know, what they’re used to. But what have we gotten, really, to preserve these ‘rules’ for TV in general? Teresa has been dumbed down and is now lacking a lot of the intuition and street smarts she had before. She makes bad decision after bad decision and she doesn’t see what’s coming. The actions she takes are in reaction to those bad decisions. James hates so much of what he’s been made to do but for some reason he keeps going along and carrying out Teresa’s orders; he’ll just stew over it quietly in a corner without saying anything. Teresa and James don’t talk to each other, at least not about anything important, and when they do talk, they give each other heart eyes but never scratch the surface—how could they when they talk for like 10 seconds at a time? So. Has this been a good portrayal of Jeresa? You tell me. If it’s fine with everyone else, then I guess it’s fine. I’m probably the wrong person to ask.

[ftstorm]

My take on 5x10

Welp, that was a big one!

You know, before going into this episode I reminded myself this was the first episode of a new era, the first episode completely made by the new team.

So with that in mind my expectations were "Okay, let's see what they've got."

And oh boy did they surprise me.

DISCLAIMER: this text post is long af, not kidding.

1. THE INTRO SCENE.

You guys have no idea how glad I am that we got Mac doing a usual MacGyvering in his house. It's been ages since they implemented this format of showing his dynamics outside Phoenix and around his house.

I wasn't worried about the proposal thing at all. Guys, you have to accept that MacRiley was always going to happen after that 4x04 episode.

There was also the fact that this was the intro scene (usually the most important plot issues happen in the outro scene), Bozer's weird reaction and the melancholic audio cue.

If that proposal was happening, they would've made it more uplifting.

(I gotta say that watching Monica Marcer and the official MacGyver account making damage control in Twitter 3mins into the episode was a funny experience)

So my initial questions about Mac wanting to propose were: "what are his motivations?" and "how is this not going to work out by the end of the episode?"

The second question we got the answer later on. The first question remains unanswered. If we take on Mac's words, he says:

Mac: Unexpected, I know, I know. But that's why I like about it. You know ever since I lost my dad and Jack I've been thinking about the bigger picture. A commitment to make things work it's exactly what Desi and I need. A grand romantic gesture. *cue melancholic music*

Here we're presented with a bunch of things worth analysing, in my opinion.

He's trying to see the "bigger picture" which, for me, it means he's trying to tackle down different issues from his life with one specific, efficient action [the proposal]. Those issues being:

> his current romantic relationship: make is aware they have an inconsistent relationship > his performance at work: he needs balance between his personal affairs and his work, which is based on saving the world in a daily basis and for that he needs to be focused. > dealing with his past losses: to my understanding, saying "ever isn I lost my dad and Jac I've been thinking about the bigger picture" means that he doesn't want hopelessness to take over him, he wants to keep on moving and being proactive about his life.

So... you have to understand that in some sort of way, this proposal thing is a signal that Mac is healing. In some sort of way, if you were in Mac's shoes you would see that it was a positive thing for him. A step forward.

The thing is, we [the audience] have an extended understanding of the situation and we know that an engagement would be an incredibly rushed decision.

As well as it is that Mac's trying to move forward, he obviously hasn't been able to pinpoint the true issue behind his relationship with Desi. He isn't wrong about them lacking in the commitment department, but forcing the relationship to scalate isn't the right move. He should be asking himself: "Why are we avoiding commitment?"

And that's when he'd find out that they have very deep and important trust and communication issues.

~~~~

2. Moving on. MURDOC.

Russ: I can process it more efficiently by having it all spread out ahead me, you know. I reckon see the bigger picture at once.

This is when I realized that the episode was centered on this whole "bigger picture" idea. Russ struggles to see the full picture until the very end and Mac finds out that he hasn't been seeing the full picture of his life at all by the end of the episode.

Fast forward, the team's in Mexico, Riley knows about the ring already and she has already had the talk with Bozer in which she refers to her feelings for Mac in a past tense.

Then Murdoc appears.

And as if the episode wasn't already a rollercoaster after Mac's reveal, now Murdoc shows up to put everything upside down.

First I gotta say, man Dastmalchian is SUCH A GOOD MURDOC. Excellent actor. The way he delivers his lines, his facial expressions, all of it make an original and very entertaining Murdoc.

He always gives me such a Andrew Scott's Moriarty vibes and I love it.

Secondly, his dynamic with Andrews: *cheff kiss*

I loved how Andrews was so over Murdoc's theatrics, to the point his facial expression screamed "Why did I even reclute this guy" LOL.

Back to the story.

This is something I was hoping it wouldn't happen but at the same time I don't see another way it could've happened which is the explanation behind Murdoc's escape and how Phoenix didn't know about it.

Because what they told us is that the FBI didn't let them in on Murdoc's escape, right? Does that imply that the FBI has a corrupt agent in charge? Does it imply that the order of not letting Phoenix in came from above? Maybe someone with higher clearence than Matty? A politician? Governement conspiracy?

It smells like plot hole, tbh. I feel like the Murdoc's escape is a classic "it is what it is". We'll see if they come back to this in later episodes.

~~~~

3. BIG SECRET REVEAL 1.

By now we're at the point of the rollercoaster where you're going up and up and up. Your tension building more and more as you're getting close to the drop.

Bozer and Riley's audio was the drop.

You know, during this scene I jumped from my seat, closed my eyes, cringed, squealed, my heart accelarated, forgot how to breathe...

As a person who is a little bit bipolar when it comes to romance (I can be very shy about it or very outspoken about it) that scene made me SO UNCOMFORTABLE.

Imagine having your feelings exposed not only to the person you have feelings for but also his girlfriend who happens to be your friend, your boss and the criminal that's threatening to kill hundreds of people.

I was like: "Not like this!!"

And Mac's reaction didn't help because of the lack of it. I don't know what I expected but his slightly monotone reaction broke my heart.

Thankfully, I've recovered since then and I don't mind that it happened that way.

Still, imagine how suffocating it must've been for Riley. That idea was what made me so uncomfortable and I think that's what they were going for. They wanted to make it as straightforward and awkward as possible.

But it doesn't end there. It's followed by Mac revealing the ring to Desi (and Riley). Mac's in "fuck it" mood and Desi kinda panics.

Little side note here, using GUM and a DIAMOND to break a bullet proof glass... BIG YES. That's an intrinsic MacGyverism.

~~~~

4. BIG SECRET REVEAL 2.

Then we get a breather from this drama by introducing another drama, Leanna's death.

Bozer's reaction to the news was heartbreaking for my already heartbroken heart.

I have my suspicions as to why they decided to kill her... The other episode completely made by the new team was the Quarantine one (5x06). During that episode Mac and Bozer bond over Bozer's pain. After learning about Bozer's mom, Mac chooses to share a piece of his own pain with him.

So, hear me out, I think they writers are planning to help Mac process his own grief THROUGH Bozer's grief. Keep in mind that we still have a Bozer centered episode coming up.

This is just a theory. I may be wrong, but I think it may be right too.

Back to the episode.

Once again we see a three dimensional Russ. He does something accordingly to his own judgement thinking it's the right decision [hiding Leanna's death], he realizes he screwed up, he gives Bozer a very heartfelt apology about it.

Henry's acting talent shone with this narrative. Actually, most of the actors had the chance to shine THANKS to the NARRATIVE. Murdoc, Andrews, Desi, Mac, Russ and Bozer... they all had their highlight moments (I'll talk about Riley later).

Parenthesis here... THE NARRATIVE HAS RETURNED THEIR SOULS TO OUR DEAR CHARACTERS!

WOW, they aren't brooding, angry, sad or whiny ALL THE EFFIN TIME. ABOUT TIME!

~~~~

5. LAST ACT.

For the third or fouth time in this episode my heart broke again when Mac was friendly towards Riley, after she explained herself. It really felt like he was friendzoning her.

But here's something to point out. Riley visibly relaxed when he reacted that way. What does that tell us?

> She had been so tense up until that point. Imo, she's on the defensive now. You can even see it in her wardrobe, make up and hairstyle choices. They're very contrasting to Riley's most vulnerable moments in this show (like when Audrey broke up with her).

Riley has had a year to sort out her feelings. We see in this episode that she spoke about them in a past tense. Whether she achieved it or not is unknown. We just know that she has at least tried to move on.

> She was mostly afraid of ruining her close relationship with Mac (who's her only family, along with Bozer) and her friendship (?) with Desi. We've seen it over and over again: Riley DID NOT WANT to get in the middle of them.

Keep that in mind as we go in the last scene.

It took me a while to figure out a possible thread of thought inside Mac's mind. Why did he look at the ring and decided to go to Riley's house? It really didn't make sense to me.

One moment he was thinking about his proposal and somehow that lead to him having the necessity to know if Riley still had feelings for him? Why??

My theory is that he went to her apartment for permission.

His question was a way of asking Riley for permission to propose to Desi. It was a way of reassuring himself that proposing was still the right decision.

In a way, he could also be fishing for an excuse to not do it [the proposal].

Because now he has doubts. He's confused, unsure.

Mac asks:

Mac: Hiding your emotions and letting it pass. Did it go away?

What could her answer have been? Here I wanna go back again to Riley being emotionally defensive, added her strong desire of not wanting to be in the middle of Mac and Desi's relationship.

I think she would've said "Yes, it worked."

Because it also lines up with my idea that the love triangle has changed from "Riley's a better match for Mac" to "Mac needs to win Riley's heart".

Riley's done her job. She worked out her feelings. Now it's time for Mac to sort out his humongously messed up internal self and reignite her spark. That's what I think.

Also, if anyone has any idea on how the song that played in that scene relates with the moment please share it with me because I don't really understand the song choice lol.

~~~~

6. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Desi. I'm not sure what's going on in her mind. She seemed stressed out by the ring, very serious about Riley, lenient with Mac... I'm really not sure.

My guess would be that she doesn't want that type of commitment but she wants to be with Mac yet she can't ignore Riley so does that mean she has to end it with Mac? That's the thought process she may have had? Idk...

I'm glad they let her be mature about it, with no overreactions, no whining, no blaming, nothing of that style that we're used to see in her.

I'm also glad about that moment when she defeats Murdoc and Andrews. THAT'S HOW YOU WRITE A TOUGH DESI. It was filmed with such a gracefulness and elegance. I liked it.

From a MacDesi point of view, she's probably being open minded and giving him space and waiting for him to come back to her... but somehow I got the vibe that she's actually... running away?

Lastly but no less important.

THE HISPANIC REPRESANTION OMG. RUSS SPEAKING SPANISH AND THAT CUMBIA MUSIC FILLED MY HEART WITH SO MUCH PRIDE!!! :')

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 5x09-- And the end was violent...

It’s been a busy week, but I didn’t want to wait until after 5x10 aired to write this. This recap may be a bit rushed (read: I am going to make an effort to just skip over scenes I don’t care about; we’ll see how many of those there actually are). I didn’t love this episode overall, but I thought it was a huge improvement over 5x08’s parking ticket fiasco and wish it had immediately followed 5x07.

Bless these episodes for not being overly long

Oooh, the opening sequence is long and I have nothing to say about it! Thanks for making my life easier, writers!  

The point of this opening is to show that there are lots of problems with the official court system—inefficiencies, inconveniences like broken elevators, overcrowding in prisons (though, uh, I don’t think the actual problem there is that there’s not room to incarcerate more people)-- that might make cops open to an alternative like Wackner’s court.

I know the cop thread kind of started with last week’s parking nonsense, but surely there was a way other than the parking nonsense to bridge the gap between 5x07’s prison system and 5x09’s focus on Wackner’s court suddenly being a replacement for criminal court, too.

(Y’all, I have SO MANY questions about how Wackner can POSSIBLY judge criminal cases, but they’re all just variations on... UH, GUYS, ISN’T THIS ILLEGAL? LIKE SUPER DUPER ILLEGAL?)  

I see that there is a filming notice when the cops bring a dude into Wackner’s court, and that the notice says that by entering on the premises you consent to being on film. I do not think that this sign being displayed would hold up as evidence of anyone consenting to be sentenced to a private prison on criminal charges.

New question: How did Wackner Rules get on the air so fast? And are they just filming endless episodes in real time? They just film anyone who walks in?  

I think there is supposed to be a subplot about Marissa liking fame and attention; it is almost a little too subtle to be meaningful. I see a through line from her sleeping with that editor dude last week to her smiling at the flowers in this scene to her scenes with Carmen later this episode. Unfortunately, I need a lot more for this to work.

I don’t need Marissa to be a hero who constantly does the right thing and calls out Wackner on crossing the line, but I’m really sad that this is what they’re using Marissa for when we were due for Marissa calling Wackner out (in a meaningful, lasting way) like two episodes ago. It’s felt odd to me that she just sticks around and assists Wackner and Del when they’re doing things like putting people in private prisons and comparing the show they’re making to The Apprentice. Any subtle shift in Wackner’s decisions that has signaled to me that he’s gone too far is something that I can say with certainty would signal the same to Marissa. Marissa’s outspoken and passionate, and we have seen enough reaction shots to know she knows things are going bad, fast. Am I really meant to believe that because she likes Wackner and she likes fame, she’s not going to do anything more substantial than look upset from time to time? Not only does that feel out of character, it’s also just boring.  

And, it speaks to another problem I’m starting to have with the arc: they needed to get to the point faster. Once Wackner said “David Cord’s private prison,” this stopped being fun. It would’ve stopped being fun for Marissa and it stopped being fun for viewers (seriously though, the change in tone on Reddit between 5x07 and 5x08/5x09 is VERY noticeable). So why did we follow that up with some repetitive filler bullshit about parking spaces and then start getting back to the point in this episode? I’m sure they’re going somewhere big in 5x10, but you can’t follow an explosive reveal with more status quo.

(Also, lol, I think the parking space thing was meant to be a fun silly absurd little way of entering into themes about authority and Wackner trying to legitimize his court, but it was about an issue so relatable and illogical that I think it feels even harder to believe than the, like, whole concept of a secret court in a Copy Coop.)  

Time for Marissa to look concerned again! She’s confused about if the case is real or not, and when Wackner says it’s real, she says it’s not for their court and it’s crossing a line. She is absolutely correct. Wackner’s like, let me know if you think I’m crossing a line after I rule, and then he makes a silly flailing gesture that Marissa can use as a signal.

I actually don’t hate that scene; it is a good scene. I am only snarking on it because it feels like familiar territory and it belonged in an earlier episode.

Am I correctly understanding that these cops wanted to be filmed bringing a man against his will to a fake court with a private prison? And that they wanted this to air on television? Okay.

I will say that I believe the motivations of everyone involved except Marissa. Wackner thinks he’s doing good for the world. Del is getting good TV (I mean, I still think that Wackner Rules title sequence is shit and the show Del seems to be making is terrible, but that’s besides the point). Cord has so much money he’s untouchable and this is fun for him. The cops just don’t want to deal with bureaucracy when it comes to someone who they basically caught in the act.  

Court! Stuff! Happens!

Wackner sentences the guy to one year in “David Cord’s private prison.” Again, I know they have to say this for exposition/storytelling reasons, but I continue to find it hilarious that David Cord would want his name to be used in this way (because he like, absolutely would not want his name to be used this way).

The cops like Wackner’s verdict so they tell all their friends to also take their cases to Wackner. What could possibly go wrong!  

Like, yeah, there are problems with the criminal justice system—and some of them are even the ones these cops are mad about—but this is ABSOLUTELY not the answer!!! You cannot just take people off the streets and place them in private prisons because they were forced to enter a filming zone for a TV show what the actual fuck

Love David Lee still having candy on his desk. Some things never change.

Allegra, who was welcomed by the partners of RL last week, is interviewing for a job with David Lee. I don’t understand. Doesn’t David Lee have to approve new partners at RL?  

Please don’t mention real estate on Mars, Allegra. You’ve made me think of Jason and how bad season seven was.

Allegra is feeling a bit different from Elsbeth this episode, though she very much still has some Elsbeth energy. She is very strategic and blunt in a way Elsbeth isn’t, and she seems a little more focused and intense.  

“I notice, in a partisan world, the person in the middle controls the agenda,” Allegra says of her alliances with both Liz and Diane. This is interesting. What are Allegra’s goals here? Just to have power? Does she have a vision for RL? Is it just a good paycheck?

(My guess is it’s about power and money for her. I don’t think she is going to be the ally Madeline wants. I don’t think anyone who voluntarily signs up to be a name partner at a firm owned by corporate overlords is a natural ally for Madeline though, tbh.)

(I really hoped this arc would explore that just a tiny bit more. The longer this conflict drags on the more convinced I become that the whole question of if it’s appropriate for Diane to lead a black firm is moot. It’s an interesting and complicated question, but with some distance from the plot, it becomes pretty clear that in this particular situation, RL isn’t a black firm. It’s a subsidiary of a large multinational corporation.)

(The show seems very aware of this and keeps having plot points like Diane using David Lee to keep her job and having Madeline call out all the awful clients they have... but it needs to go somewhere.)

(This also may be why I’m more down on the end of the season—in the middle of the season, nods at the things I’ve been thinking are appreciated references. At the end, they’re more like plotholes or reminders of the questions we should actually be spending time on.)

“Are you shitting me?” David Lee storms into the room as Liz and Diane are working. “David, we are shitting you about so many things, you’re gonna have to be more specific,” Liz responds. God, funny!Liz is maybe my favorite part of season 5?  

Liz calls David out on his power, noting that he also reports to STR Laurie. So it seems like Liz and Diane can make decisions on their own, and STR Laurie can overrule them, but not stop them in advance?  

This little ad about an ice cream chain is like, 15 seconds too long.  

Carmen is back!!!! She’s helping Rivi sign a deal with an ice cream chain so that they’ll turn into a distributor of weed.  

Why do we have to watch a SECOND commercial?  

The farm wants Rivi to stop dealing other drugs if they’re going to enter into this deal.  

Allegra, another character who seemingly has no qualms about representing drug kingpins, quickly impresses Rivi.  

I understand why there is an interpreter for Rivi’s wife. I do not understand why the interpreter interprets conversations BETWEEN Rivi and his wife. And then he’s translating the sign language into Spanish? But also Rivi speaks fluent English in half of these scenes? WHAT is happening?  

Allegra is also different from Elsbeth in that with clients, you’re NEVER going to underestimate her. You might not follow her at first, but she’ll get to the point clearly and concisely and without telling you how much she likes your lipstick.

But like at 13:44 Rivi signs something to his wife, and when she signs back the interpreter tells him what she’s saying. This is so so so clearly for the audience but I wish it had just been captions because it makes NO SENSE that the interpreter is in on this private conversation between two people who both know sign language!?  

Rivi and Isabel now LOVE Allegra. Diane and Liz are like, okay!  

Cop stuff happens.  

Credits!!! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out indiewire’s piece on the making of the credits—it's fascinating.  

Brooke directed 😀  

Marissa the celebrity is signing autographs in Wackner’s court when the cops bring in some young men affiliated with Rivi.  

NO, GOD NO, NOT THIS DEVIL’S ADVOCATE FUCKERY. The problem I have with the Devil’s Advocate, in addition to it being fucking annoying, is that it is also the exact opposite of what Wackner’s court is all about. Wackner is about facts and really hearing people out, and from what we’ve seen, Devil’s Advocate is about... stereotypes and pop sociology so bad it’s essentially just racism?  

“These young men are the victims of a system that arbitrarily declares some drugs illegal, and others, like alcohol, not. They should be released. To hold them is to perpetuate an unfair system,” Devil’s Advocate says. Good lord, a 7th grader could write a more persuasive speech than this bullshit.  

WHY IS DAVID CORD PROSECUTING THIS, WHY IS THE TRIAL ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT DRUGS HARM COMMUNITIES, WHY IS THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE SOUNDING LIKE A WHITE BOY IN AN INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY CLASS WITH HIS REFERENCES TO THE WIRE, WHY IS ANY OF THIS HAPPENING OMG MAKE IT STOP HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS BAD

Why is Marissa the court clerk being called upon to be defense, WHY IS THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE JUST SCREAMING “DEFUND THE POLICE” WHAT THE FUCK

I’m sorry, I am going to rant about this more, I truly cannot get over how fucking stupid the Devil’s Advocate is. He just starts screaming “defund the police”??? To what end?! Why does Wackner want this in his court?!  

I revise what I said earlier. Devil’s Advocate isn’t just sounding a white boy in an intro to sociology class. He is sounding like a white boy who showed up to an intro to sociology class absolutely hammered.

Marissa, correctly, argues that the arrestees should be taken to Cook County. Then she hears that they work for Rivi and she knows this is bad.  

Cord calling Marissa out for her firm representing Rivi: Another thing that would NEVER air on Wackner Rules.

David Lee seems surprised Liz and Diane did not get rid of Allegra. I don’t know why he is surprised, I think they made it very clear they don’t see him as an authority figure.

STR Laurie is now demanding (another) 10% in cuts to pay for Allegra. Liz says they’ll pay for her with the money that used to be for Adrian and Diane notes that Allegra has more stature than Adrian. Interesting.  

David Lee then decides to be both sexist and racist for really no reason at all. Pleasant!  

Showing Carmen as competent but not yet as strategic as Allegra is a really nice way to underline that Carmen is still a first year even if she is very very good.

Liz, Diane, and Allegra talk about cost cutting. Allegra is like, no, we need to spend more, which makes sense, both for the reasons she outlines and because when you bring on a powerful name partner, your need for lower level support does not DECREASE, it INCREASES.  

I know this scene is meant to show Allegra thinking outside the box, but I am a bit surprised that (1) Neither Liz nor Diane push back on the 10% cut and (2) When Allegra suggests hiring back all the associates and then some, Diane seems to think Allegra doesn’t understand they’re talking about cuts? Like, obviously she knows the topic of conversation, Diane.  

“We don’t run our own business. We work for a global conglomerate,” Liz notes. Yup. Right point, wrong context lol.

Diane and Liz are just too smart and strategic to have to be told ALL of this by Allegra... especially Diane, who is not only smart but also used to dealing with management.  

And worse... Liz and Diane think they made a mistake with Allegra because of this? I mean, I guess if your goal is to permanently work for a big corporation that will slowly chip away at your budget because they can and to never make any waves because that might disrupt the status quo, sure, Allegra isn’t who you want! But do Diane and Liz REALLY want the status quo?  

I hope they find a way out from under STR Laurie next year, as much as I hate the firm switching, because it’s just such a boring dead-end when Diane and Liz don’t actually have power or control.

OOOH I like Del asking Liz what SHE wants wrt the whole Diane situation. She says she wants to “stop fighting” and for Diane to “stop using her racist clients to keep her job” and for “the firm to be led in the right way by the right people.” So sounds like she wants to work with Diane, then? That last one is as vague as can be, but I think we can infer at this point that Liz is more concerned with stability and a work environment she likes than idealism.

God, Liz and Alicia would’ve gotten along so well as adults lmao.

Del tells Liz that “women at work always want to be thought of as nice. Women always want consensus. But you know what, baby, sometimes you just gotta say, ‘Fuck you, and you and you and you. Alright? This is my business and it’s my decision.’” I see where he’s coming from (even though this sounds like something my nemesis the Devil’s Advocate would say) but I am not sure I agree that’s Liz’s problem here.  

Actually, maybe I do agree with Del. I think Del’s saying to say FU to Diane, but what Liz clearly actually wants to do is say FU to Madeline lol

Liz asks him to change the topic. Where ARE they? Is this a restaurant or an incredibly nice backyard?  

Del changes the topic to how his boss wants him to come back to LA, but he wants to get Liz’s thoughts on their future. Liz asks him to start since men are better at saying what they mean (ha, love her giving him shit for that).  

He basically tells her he wants to stay and she says he should stay. Aww.  

Rivi’s house is... certainly something.  

Isabel is concerned because three of their boys have disappeared. She, naturally, suspects they’re at police blacksites.  

I’m sorry, did Marissa not elevate the Rivi case in Wackner’s court to the partners’ attention!? Rivi blames the dairy company, even though this does not... make that much sense?

This escalates into the murder of cows?? What... the fuck.

Now Marissa finds Carmen and loops her in! But only now that she knows Rivi’s looking for them and Rivi’s about to, like, kill Christian Borle’s character whose name I’ve forgotten.  

Marissa’s position on this is that Wackner will just let the boys go so Rivi shouldn’t know about any of this. Rivi would just kill Wackner. And Carmen is like, Rivi will just kill Christian Borle if we don’t tell. Fair point.  

Carmen, being an actual adult (sorry Marissa, I usually love you), is willing to admit when she’s in over her head, so she walks off to go get Liz for help. Yay!  

Rivi is not impressed with Wackner’s court or Marissa. He and Isabel want either Carmen or Allegra. Liz says Carmen will do it, I think meaning Marissa will do it but Carmen will be client facing.  

I love it when we get to see Liz just be super competent. It’s not a rare occurrence, but it’s just very, very clear in this scene how much better Liz is at handling this situation than Carmen or Marissa would’ve been and I like it when the show makes time to emphasize that even on a show full of hypercompetent people, some people are more skilled than others at handling some situations.

Liz, Diane, and David meet with STRL over Zoom. Allegra somehow pops up on the meeting but also joins as a cat because you know what the cat lawyer on Zoom needed? To be parodied on TGF. Ugh

OH MY GOD I DIDN’T PUT THIS TOGETHER SOONER BUT IT’S A CAT LAWYER YOU GUYS. This will mean NOTHING to any of you because it’s about an inside joke I have with the friend who got me into TGW, but indulge me in a little nostalgia here, ‘kay? So in like 2012, there was a trend on Tumblr where everyone would photoshop cat ears onto their favorite TV characters and my friend and I were like, why would I want to put cat ears on my favorite character, idgi. So then we started photoshopping cat ears on to the most unlikely characters and we landed on David Lee. We referred to David Lee as a cat for a really long time. Like, if we were to talk about David Lee today we would probably still call him Cat! David Lee.  

Allegra starts trying to work her magic on STRL.  Diane literally runs down the stairs to try to stop Allegra. I am not sure why Diane and Liz are so anti-Allegra during this conversation which is only happening so they can have the funds to keep her on board!  

Allegra tries to share a burrito with Diane and Liz and says she stands by her strategy. Liz finally says she’s not sure this will work. Allegra is understanding.

I respect that. Allegra may as well go all out and see if she can make this workable.  

(That said, this is pretty much the opposite of her whole staying neutral thing from earlier!)

No one is in the audience at Wackner’s court when Carmen shows up, yet the musician who I like only very slightly more than Devil’s Advocate is still on call. Just STOP.  

Overall I’ve liked the Wackner arc and I’m excited to see it wrap up tomorrow, but lemme tell you: it had better wrap up tomorrow. I am NOT open to dealing with this for another season.

The musician takes orders from Cord? The cameras are rolling? Rivi is there? WHAT?  

I know that NONE of this makes sense, but some things make exceptionally little sense and I just can’t.

Guys, remember the parking tickets?!  

Oh, excuse me, the ice cream company is actually a yogurt company.

Rivi notes that there are three boys missing. Wackner only has two.  

I am a little surprised Rivi has managed to be successful with that temper. Idk what skill set you need to be a top drug dealer, but he attacks people like three times an episode and that seems like a really good way to not build trust and to also get yourself killed?  

Liz and Del talk about what happened in Wackner’s court. Liz asks how they deal with liability. I guess she isn’t Del’s lawyer, then. Del says they have releases and people want to be on TV. Liz says what I’ve been saying, which is that Rivi doesn’t want to be on TV. Del says there are ways around that and references the show Cops as though that’s enough to make this question go completely away.  

Liz references The Apprentice, for those of us who didn’t catch the reference last week and/or for those of us (me!) who wanted to pretend that Wackner wasn’t somehow a commentary on Trump and star power. Ugh.  

(I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad point, I just am not sure that I think it is the most interesting point about the Wackner plot.)  

“Remember how we all watched and laughed and thought it was funny when they fired people?” Liz says. “We? No, no. Hmm, you... you never watched The Apprentice,” Del responds. She did not. Hahahahahaha I love this exchange. It feels very real.

Liz seems less concerned with Wackner and more concerned with Del’s eagerness to turn Wackner into a larger than life personality with a devoted following, which, yes, thank you, Liz, this is actually a much better and more interesting point!  

“That came out of nowhere,” Del says. “No, it didn’t,” Liz responds, correctly.  

Del talks about how Liz represents Wackner, along with murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and yet she wants to draw the line at reality show producer who makes people famous? He’s got a point, even if I’d argue that choosing a romantic partner is not the same as running a business.  

“Would your firm turn down [the producer of The Apprentice] if he wanted to join the roster?” Del asks. “Good point,” Liz sighs, resigned. She’s not happy he’s right, but she knows he is.  

Sigh. I already said some variation of this, but this season seems to have all the right ideas floating around, it’s just choosing the wrong ones to explore deeply and the wrong moments to mention other ones. Things like Liz worrying that someone she’s considering starting a serious relationship with might have some personality traits she doesn’t love can be done through throwaway lines that quickly come back to being about work/plot (that’s what happens in this scene, basically) and I love that. But the existence of STRL and the influence it has over whether or not RL is a black firm at some point can’t be dealt with through references. Wackner becoming increasingly off the rails can’t be turned down to a simmer after reaching boiling point. RL’s unsavory client’s can’t just come up in moments like this; they have to play into a central conflict.  

Like, what good is it to constantly remind the audience that RL represents a ton of “bad guys” if you’re not going to go anywhere with that other than making Liz and Diane occasionally be like, “hmm, good point.” when called out on their client list? This could be a really, really good piece of a larger puzzle about the culture at RL, and instead it feels like it’s a card they play whenever they need some moral complexity. Just... go somewhere with it, please. Either stop pretending that RL are the good guys or have them seriously deal with their client list.

Anyway, then Liz and Del talk about his possible LA move. It’s kinda inconclusive; they talk about work just being work.

Outside of court, Carmen doesn’t believe that Wackner only has two of Rivi’s boys.  

“I don’t know why you’ve been wasting so much time with this joke court, because it’s not gonna magically turn you into a real lawyer, Marissa,” Carmen lashes out. Oooo. Now this is interesting, can I have an extended version of this scene and also all the other Carmen/Marissa scenes that we should’ve gotten in the episodes Carmen was barely in?  

I understand Carmen’s frustration, especially since I imagine she worked pretty damn hard to get into/get through law school. And, as fun and smart as Marissa can be, she does get bored easily, try to skip over the dull moments, and moves on and still always lands on her feet. I can see how that would rub Carmen the wrong way, especially during a stressful moment.

Carmen isn’t exactly a rule follower, but I’d say she is someone who is very conscious of the rules, and, I think someone who values structure more than she lets on (I especially see this in her decision to stay at RL instead of work independently/with Lester).  

Marissa calls Jay for help!

Allegra talks to David Lee, with Liz and Diane in the background. Allegra makes her argument to  David Lee again and it goes over well. I think the writers think there’s more suspense in this plot than there is; it’s pretty obvious from the start that Allegra is correct and Diane and Liz are only correct if the goal is to avoid all conflict.

What is David Lee’s role at STRL? Is there anything else in that office besides awful HR and RL? He talks like he is more RL than STRL and that doesn’t track with what we saw of STRL last year.

Marissa spots a flyer that leads her and Jay to where the missing boy is: another fake court. This was inevitable—I think one of the very first things I said was that Wackner himself seemed fine and decent, but what happens when someone else decides they, too, want to be a judge because they said so—and I’m glad to see the writers go this direction. I actually think this would’ve been an effective build after 5x07 and would’ve kept turning up the tension, so again, most of my issues with this arc lie in 5x08’s momentum killing bullshit. It’s hard to get back into this plot when they lost me last week.

Shocker: Wackner having a reality show inspired more copy cats who take cues from the show and think Marissa is a celebrity.  

Vinetta, the judge of the second court, puts people in “time-out” (read: imprisons them in her basement) and... yeah, I don’t care how kind she is to them, this is not okay! The solution to the prison system is not for people to turn their basements into prisons!  

I don’t know that the writers are TRYING to comment on this here, but there is definitely something to be said about communities that the legal system repeatedly fails finding alternative measures of justice.  

Vinetta is nice and seems reasonable as a judge, but she also has a basement prison her judgments are influenced by her religious believes so, uh, yeah, not good!!!  

Wackner, however, thinks Vinetta’s court is GREAT! He wants to go see it, because “it’s finally happening.” What’s happening? “Justice,” he says. Uhhhhhhh, no. This is just so dangerous, even if everyone involved so far seems to mean well.  

I’m very curious to see how this little thought experiment wraps up (again: I say wraps up because I cannot deal with the thought of this being more than a one season arc).

One thing I love about the Wackner arc—my 5x08 issues aside—is its slow burn. The writers did a phenomenal job of getting me to take Wackner seriously at first, then slowly started to take all the things that seemed great and reasonable about Wackner’s court to their extremes (while still making his judgment on any individual topic* sound). It’s a very fun and entertaining thought experiment, and I think that’s why this arc has largely succeeded for me, even though it’s so far removed from reality.  

* Exceptions to this include policing, prisons, cancel culture, and, of course, parking spaces.  

[nothingunrealistic]

review roundup: billions 5x10 “liberty”

we had a terrible time this episode! let’s see if the critics agree!

New York Times: ‘Billions’ Recap, Season 5, Episode 10: You Can’t Make an Omelet …

Zooming into the office from his home, where he has been quarantined because of an infected private jet pilot, Axe announces that Axe Cap is no more. Everyone has been let go … and some, but not all, of them will be rehired by night’s end for his new venture, Axe Bank. In the case of Lauren, Mase Carbon’s investor relations guru, she’ll have to choose between joining the bank or staying put. (When she tries to do both, Taylor fires Lauren, and Lauren dumps Taylor.)

(so we’re not lingering on that plotline any longer than two sentences? no? okay then.)

Essentially, Chuck gives his estranged wife, Wendy, a choice: Cough up a lump-sum divorce settlement, or allow him to snoop around Mase Carb/Axe Cap’s books. When he ignores her FaceTime call, she contacts Ira instead. Ira gives her a view of the room and affords her a few snippets of the conversation everyone is having about bank regulation and liberty or something.

(“or something” is right.)

Axe figures that the fight between Prince and Chuck was a ruse, that cannabis is soon to get the federal green light, and that the time has come to corner the market before Prince can do so himself. What he doesn’t know (I think?) is that Taylor, who had earlier told him there was a yellow light for the weed biz, is part of Chuck and Prince’s conspiracy.

According to Taylor’s employee Rian, the light, in fact, is bright red. So has Axe fallen for a ruse, one he was meant to be ensnared by from the moment Chuck set his bait for Wendy’s call? Or has he seen through it? On this show, how can you even tell until the ax (no pun intended) inevitably falls on whoever screwed up?

(this is my understanding as well. prince and chuck have psyched axe into investing, when we know from taylor that it’s a bad idea. and the 5x11 plot point of “Axe plots to secure his deposits by poaching from Prince, a move that proves more complicated than it seems,” after axe refers to cannabis money as potential “deposits for [axe’s] bank,” supports that.)

With Lauren now out of the picture, I wonder if the professional and personal tension between Taylor and Rian — who once again nearly bounces from Mase Carb when she realizes that Taylor is misleading Bobby — will begin to blossom into something more.

(take a shot!)

During an argument over the phone, Wendy roasts Chuck: “I care not a whit, as you might say.” Direct hit, she sank his battleship, et cetera.

(lmao.)

Entertainment Weekly: Billions recap: Business takes a back seat this week as Axe and Wendy get personal

Meanwhile, Taylor is worried about Ax's potential influence over Taylor Mason Carbon after the restructure. They want to keep things completely separate, but they're obviously concerned that this new order of business could complicate things.

(considering taylor says with complete confidence that they won’t be working for a bank, i don’t think “worried” is the right word.)

There are quite a few other business-related dealings in this episode, but what's most interesting is the way so many relationships have now changed, and maybe for good. Chuck and Prince are working well together, while Taylor ends up firing Lauren for not being loyal enough, a bold move that might hurt Taylor Mason Carbon in the long run.

(i think it just might hurt taylor mason carbon in the short term, too.)

Vulture: Billions Recap: Eggs at Dawn

The Billions universe now exists in a post-COVID world, and through no fault of its own, the show is stumbling a bit. Because it’s had to adapt its pre-pandemic scripts, we’re dealing with a few square-peg-in-round-hole situations. Namely, the timeline has become a little murky: We can assume that some months have passed between “Implosion” and “Liberty” because (a) COVID has hit, (b) the Axe Cap offices closed down, and (c) Senior has recovered from his kidney transplant. However, the distribution of vaccines and a full-on return to the office (featuring masks and strategically placed hand sanitizer) would suggest a full year has gone by between last week’s episode and this one — but if that’s the case, then, what? Did the plotlines somehow enter stasis during Billions’ unspecified lockdown period?

My theory is that Axe is the kind of guy who would force everyone back into the office well before most companies did the same. He’s also the kind of guy who has the resources to vaccinate his employees behind closed doors before the trials are even complete.

(i wondered about this, too. obviously it’s been a delay of some months, but axe *would* force everyone back and get them vaccinated early; the only clear timeline cue is adam degiulio describing SCOTUS as “a conservative court,” which i imagine means amy coney barrett has been inaugurated by now.)

The triple alliance of Chuck Rhoades, Mike Prince, and Taylor Mason, established in last week’s episode, appears intact. However, Taylor’s role remains subdued, albeit critical: They put the idea of cornering the cannabis market into Axe’s head.

(they sure did! and honestly it’s kind of weird that axe doesn’t seem to suspect them when he’s been so distrustful of them this season!)

Axe mandates that Taylor’s girlfriend and investment-relations guru Lauren choose between working for Axe Bank or Mase Carb, while Chuck places Wendy’s role with Mase Carb in jeopardy in his quest to get a look at the company’s books — a.k.a. a gateway to Axe Bank’s balance sheets.

The Taylor subplot in this episode is another instance where I can’t decide if they’re getting played or if, because they’re working with Chuck and Prince, they’ve sacrificed their personal and professional relationship with Lauren for a greater good.

At the top of “Liberty,” Chuck has his attorney/BFF Ira Schirmer (Ben Shenkman) send a demand to Wendy under the guise of divorce proceedings: Pay Chuck his alimony in a lump sum of $25 million in 48 hours (as opposed to the agreed-upon payment plan), or else he’s conducting an audit of Mase Carb. This is what spurs a furious Wendy to FaceTime Ira during the Jeffersonian Dinner, where she catches wind of the whole legalizing-cannabis convo that she then passes along to Axe. Axe then conscripts Senior to attend the festivities and report back to him.

(also something i wondered about! does chuck not anticipate his probe into mase carb causing this kind of trouble for taylor, even though he anticipates it motivating wendy to call ira and pick up just enough information about the dinner for axe to listen in? i do believe taylor was genuinely betrayed by wendy here, but i have to wonder how much of this they did or didn’t see coming.)

Much to Taylor’s dismay, Lauren is considering Axe’s offer, because she has a personal history of financial instability. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to be dependent on anyone, not even Taylor. But things deteriorate quickly when Wendy, refusing to let Chuck get his grubby hands on her company’s books, sells her shares in Mase Carb to Axe for $25 million in cash. This betrayal (or is it? Notice that Taylor wouldn’t give Wendy a loan, and they’re working with Chuck and Prince, so what gives?) pushes Taylor to insist upon an immediate decision from Lauren, which results in an acrimonious breakup and Lauren moving over to Axe Bank.

(uh, that last sentence is not correct. taylor didn’t demand a decision from lauren, they made the decision by firing lauren and telling her they’ll prevent her from working for axe.)

The slow-burn of all slow-burns that is the Wendy/Axe relationship finally culminates in the most Billions way possible: Axe admits to Wendy that he sabotaged her relationship with Tanner because he wants her, and she reciprocates those feelings. Aww, nothing says romance like stalking and destroying another man’s livelihood.

(i’ll say it again: SO TRUE VULTURE.)

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis: Billions on Showtime, Season 5 Episode 10: Liberty

When Taylor mentions cannabis money in their zoom meeting with Axe, Rian looks totally surprised because she told Taylor earlier that cannabis money was a “red light.” And when she later asks Taylor why they recommended cannabis money to Axe, she receives Taylor’s “trust me” piece.

So… is this THE plan Chuck, Prince and Taylor agreed to as they plotted to take Axe down? I have now flagged the word cannabis and follow it closely in this episode. And, yes, we hear it again later from Taylor’s new partners-in-crime: Chuck and Prince!

(again, i have to wonder how axe figured out that chuck & prince were playing him on this but hasn’t connected it to taylor yet!)

Now tell me. If you are Chuck, and you are holding this Jeffersonian dinner with the likes of the NY governor, a NY senator, the Manhattan DA, the Solicitor General and Mike Prince of all people. Would you actually like your soon-to-be-ex-wife interrupt your dinner with a Face time call?

No.

Given that Chuck certainly knows Wendy will get pissed and give him a call as soon as she receives the papers, why doesn’t he make Ira send them to Wendy tomorrow morning and have his dinner party in peace?

BECAUSE, I CLAIM, HE WANTS WENDY TO CALL. I AM CALLING IT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHUCK WANTS WENDY TO CALL, SEE THE MEETING AND LET AXE KNOW ALL ABOUT IT. THIS IS THE TRAP HE AND PRINCE HAVE SET UP FOR AXE.

(lmaooo you got it! and yes, that bolding is in the original article.)

Wendy selling her shares to Axe is a huge blow to Taylor. Taylor has seen Wendy as their ally and now she is saying they can trust Axe?!?!

“He would not do anything that would hurt. I’m the only person in the world that’s true of.”

While Taylor may be right that whoever they trust have chosen to fuck them over, I do not think Lauren is one of them. Firing Lauren, not only from her position at TMC but also from their life together, may be Taylor’s first irrational decision. I think Lauren was just being honest with Taylor and she certainly did not deserve “IR girls are growing on trees these days” insult from Taylor. I register this as Taylor’s first slip. And I cannot help wonder if Axe knew about Lauren’s background and he put her on the spot deliberately to destroy Taylor’s alliance with her.

(AGREED. about this being an irrational move by taylor, i mean. i don’t think it’s their first such move, and i don’t see any reason to believe that axe was plotting anything by making lauren choose one job.)

You know – some fans have been waiting to hear these words for the last five years 🙂

Not me. I have always been, and still am, in the tiny minority that does not want Axe and Wendy to get into a romantic relationship.

(the WHIPLASH between these two paragraphs. wow. and we’re right there with you!!)

This is not a show for “and they lived happily every after” kind of story. So me thinks this relationship may be doomed from the get-go, courtesy of Chuck! I believe Wendy, unknowingly, may have dragged Axe into the cannabis money which may not end well for him. And now that Taylor knows about Wendy’s new relationship with Axe, their new partner-in-crime Chuck may have more room to manipulate – unless he does not drop dead because of a heart attack as he gets the news!

(agreed!!!)

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis: The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 5 Episode 10 Liberty

Perfect Pompous Portmanteau-er – Bobby Axelrod. Even Axe can turn a pandemic into something of self-importance. He’s just referred to the CoVid-19 vaccination shot as himself from his own ship-name generator: “So those of you with your masks off, we’ve v-AXE-d (vaxxed) ya.”

(…what?? what makes you think he isn’t just saying “vaxxed” normally??)

Stellar OMG Moment, Take 2 – Axe has a thing for Wendy, and tells her so over the phone. The Writer’s Room needs to stop fucking with my head, AGAIN. The co-creators DESPISED any time the internet trolls shipped Wendy and Axe in the early days. What the hell? This goes against everything Brian Koppelman ever said about these two characters. My guess is, it won’t happen for one reason or another, like, yanno, Wendy inadvertently taking Axe and his bank down with Chuck’s lump sum ruse in combination with Axe’s ego by trying to corner the cannabis market before Prince does. But the writer’s sure are dick-teasing us with this romance before everything comes to an end. No pun intended.

(RIGHT? they’ve said on more than one occasion that the wendy-axe relationship isn’t romantic! including a podcast episode they did about an earlier episode of season 5! what gives!)

Pettiest Move – Taylor

(🙁.)

The ‘Axe is Right About One Thing’ Award – Wendy did fuck up in her handling of Tanner. She was supposed to make him productive for Axe. Instead she started an affair with him, which is ENTIRELY unprofessional. You know for someone who started in season one so pure and so above the fray, she has been just as bad in some ways as Bobby and Chuck. In some ways worse. She took an oath as part of her job, as did Chuck. Those two have definitely desecrated those oaths over the years. Bobby took no such oath of course, except to make as much money as possible. Point being, she is far from being the white knight of this group -I don’t know who is. Sacker?

(insert my post about reporting wendy to the medical board again, this time for dating one of her clients. not sure i agree that she was ever really Pure and Above The Fray, though. and sacker, great as she is, hardly qualifies as a white knight. remember that time she fabricated evidence?)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Maggie and Negan’s Origins Episodes

Morning Everyone! So, I’m late doing this, but today I’ll talk about both Maggie and Negan’s Origins episodes. There’s nothing huge in either, but still some things of note. Tomorrow, I’ll do an in-depth analysis of the S11 trailer. So, here goes.

Maggie’s Origins Episode:

They show and mention Beth a handful of times, but only because she intersects with Maggie’s arc or is in a shot with her. There’s very little emphasis on Beth in Maggie’s arc.

Much like with Norman’s episode, it’s clearly told from Maggie’s POV, so we get her thoughts and reactions, and they skip huge chunks of the story that she wasn’t present for. I feel like she was less in character than Norman was, but that may be because Lauren speaks in her real accent, and it’s so different from how Maggie speaks that it feels like there’s more of a disconnect.

The part that was probably the most interesting (other than the sneak peek for S11, because once again, holy TD symbols, Batman!) was when it showed the end of Coda.

So, because it’s Maggie’s POV, we see her find out from Michonne at the church that Beth is alive, and then it skips to her arriving with the others at the hospital.

(Broken record over here but this is a good example of how it’s from Maggie’s POV. If it were just Lauren telling the story, you’d think they would say something generic about what happened in the hallway of Grady; something like, “unfortunately, Beth dies before Maggie arrives” or “Rick and Daryl try to save her, but things go awry….” But they don’t say any of that. We only see what Maggie saw.)

And it shows a lot of the final scene where Daryl carries Beth out. And there is literally NO commentary from Maggie/Lauren during the entire thing. Like…silence, except for the background music from the scene.

Then it skips to the opening scene of 5x10, Them, where we see Maggie crying near the dry creek bed, and Lauren just says, “The loss of Beth is crushing.” And then they move on with how Maggie copes and to Aaron showing up.

I have to side-eye the fact that they don’t actually mention Beth’s death here. Using the phrase, “the loss of” is both ambiguous and suspicious. Why not just term it “Beth’s death” if she really is dead?

So, once again, they’re being very vague where Beth is concerned. Even with Daryl there was SOME commentary about losing Beth. He said, “unfortunately Beth dies” and “she’s just another person he can’t save.” But we didn’t even get that from Maggie.

So, on the one hand, I just think they’re still being very careful not to reveal too much. It’s just more of what we saw in S5 with Maggie not searching for Beth, etc. To me, it simply shows that Maggie’s arc where Beth is concerned is still going and they’re still keeping to that same story. So, while of course I would like to see more of Beth and this episode isn’t NEARLY as much fun as Daryl’s was, it still doesn’t bother me overly much.

S11 Sneak Peek:

Yeah, this was creepy. Corpses in body bags reanimating. And for the record, it’s hard to know exactly what they’re talking about because we’re only getting this one clip. When they talk about whether “they” were all killed during “the fall,” I’m pretty sure they mean the group they’re hunting (probably Reapers) rather than the walkers they’re looking at. Again, it’s a little confusing. And we don’t know what “the fall” refers to. But we will when we see the entire episode.

Anyway, two major symbols jumped out at me. 1) the walker Daryl killed didn’t make any noise. When they uncover it, Gabriel says its throat has been cut so deeply, it was nearly decapitated. The implication being that its vocal cords were severed and it literally couldn’t make any noise. *speak no evil*

Also, Maggie picks up a stuffed rabbit. Yeah, that’s a ridiculously potent symbol. We saw them a LOT in S4 around Beth and Daryl, and also Lizzie and Mica. I believe the rabbits represent innocence. And especially the pure and innocent being killed, just as Lizzie killed Mica, and Beth was “killed” at Grady.

So, if they’re hunting a group (the Reapers) who are taking innocent lives, it makes sense to have the rabbit symbol here.

Without more context for the episode, I can’t really interpret the rabbit symbol more deeply than that, but it’s definitely interesting.

Negan’s Origins Episode:

Overall, I must admit that I found Negan's origin story to be boring.. I like Negan's arc and they went over parts of the story I really enjoy, but it was all stuff we'd seen before and no massive smoking guns jumped out at me. Nothing like Daryl's origin story.

I will say that they used Negan's story to emphasize other characters, especially Daryl and Eugene. They specifically showed that Daryl wouldn't say he was Negan while at the Sanctuary, while Eugene immediately did. I think something about that will be important moving forward. (Not surprising, especially where Daryl is concerned; I doubt it's a coincidence that they focused on Beth's line about him being the last man standing in his origins episode and then we saw these things in Negan's.)

At the end, they talked about how Negan is doing things his way, now. Telling his own story. It feels very significant, and he's clearly going to have a major arc moving forward. And I actually am excited about that. It's just that, overall, most of this is stuff we've seen and discussed before, so I found myself yawning.

S11 Sneak Peek:

This one didn’t have tons. They’re still in the creepy subway tunnel. Wind blows through the pipes, making them groan, which is freaking everyone out. There is a “serious” mention, which I had to side-eye. Alden says it about the wind. He says, “it’s nothing serious. We’re good.”

Then Negan tries to get them to turn back, siting a water line which shows the tunnel floods during storms, but no one listens to him. That’s pretty much it. So, not much to say other than this is clearly a creepy setup and I’m looking forward to seeing the episode.

@wdway:

In Maggie's episode, there were quite a few scenes from Chupacabra which makes me wonder if they're doing a list of important episodes for each of the characters if that episode is also on Maggie's list. It would be interesting if it were.

You were right that there's not much of a at all the part about how Maggie after the prison fell was looking for Glenn and Beth that makes me laugh. I believe that's what's called backpedaling, ha-ha. This was not in the episode, but I've been meaning to mention this. In the s11 preview where Carol says something about, you don't want to go down that road. I believe she might be talking to Maggie about revenge and how you really never find peace from it. Just a guess.

You are so right about the Negan episode being a little flat. I did come away with the feeling that in trying to honor Lucille, Negan could be essential in helping Beth in the rebel fight. Maybe just wishful thinking. We'll have to wait and see, but I feel that he and Beth are in some way going to be tied together and I truly think that Beth is going to remind Negan of Lucille and he will do whatever he can to help her to ease his guilt over not being there at the end for Lucille.

I think that after we've seen all the episodes, it'll be Daryl's by far that will mean the most for TD for setting the record straight on his feelings for Beth.

I will say that I'm hopeful that there may be some good things in Carols episode next week. I'm so hoping that she makes the point that Daryl is only her BFF and that it's Ezekiel that she loves but can't handle being with him right now because of her need for revenge. A girl can hope, right?

@twdmusicboxmystery:

We can definitely hope! I, too, am looking forward to Carol’s episode, only in the hopes that it confirms or reveals some things for us.

So, this has been my fairly short analysis of these two origins episodes. I did enjoy watching both, but clearly Daryl’s episode was by far the most exciting for TD.

Thoughts? Anything we missed?

[frangipanilove]

Beth’s Knife vs Leah’s Knife - update

Last week I wrote about upcoming parallels between Beth’s knife and Leah’s knife. I theorized that we in Diverged will see Daryl give Leah’s knife to Carol in a parallel to the scene in season 5 episode 10 when Carol gave Beth’s knife to Daryl. Beth’s knife is of huge importance, and a callback to the scene from season 5 would mean that the writers are still concerned with Beth’s knife. They remember it! It’s still relevant and it’s still important!

Well, since I wrote that, TPTB have released trailers, teasers and opening minutes from Diverged. And I’m pleased to inform y’all that everything I hoped for has already happened in the opening minutes of Diverged. Me and my fellow over-analysts have found multiple references to various key Beth-scenes, and that's just from teasers and trailers. We haven't even watched the full episode yet, and we have still discovered so much awesome stuff! I will probably have a lot to say about this after I’ve watched the episode, but I wanted to touch on a few things first because it got fulfilled already in the opening minutes.

Let's take a look at the knife scene from 5x10 Them. TF are on a desperate search for water. They are in bad shape after having lost not just Beth, but also Tyreese. Daryl and Carol go out searching for water together. Carol asks if he sees anything, he says «no it's too dry». So no water.

The equivalent scene in Diverged is Darol and Carol walking along the road. This is the day after their argument from Find Me, and that is super significant because of the ridiculous amounts of Beth references in that episode. Carol tries to open her flask, but struggles to open the screw cork, it’s stuck. So no water.

So there we have our first parallel, right? In Them, they were searching for water. In Diverged, Carol has water but can't get to it.

In Them, Carol gives Daryl Beth’s knife.

In Diverged, Daryl gives Carol Leah’s knife.

She uses it to pry the cork open. And then she drinks the water. Also, note how she also gives the flask to Daryl , who in turn gives water to Dog. Remember Dog = Sirius = Beth.

In Diverged:

Carol: You’re not coming back with me? Daryl: I’m gonna stay out a little while longer.

In Them:

Carol: Maybe we should start back.

Daryl: You go.

See how that’s another parallel? They split up at this point in both episodes.

I hope everyone can see how there is no chance in hell the writers didn't think of the scene in Them when they wrote the scene from Diverged. This is a word by word, scene by scene parallel to that time we saw Daryl absolutely shattered and heartbroken over losing Beth. And guys, if you're not on board with how glorious Find Me was from a TD standpoint, I don't know what to tell you! Literally almost every single word of dialogue in Find Me was a callback to a Beth/Bethyl moment. And now, we get this word by word reference to Beth’s knife from season 5, the knife that Daryl carried on him for more than a season. Leah’s knife is a direct parallel to Beth’s knife. Oh, and also, Leah is a hallucination, at least large portions of what we saw in Find Me were.

But guys, I hope y'all realize there's more. A long, long time ago, when I originally started to research the Sirius theory, I read a lot of Robert Frost’s poetry, because his poems Canis Major and One More Brevity basically described the events of Alone. I’ve always seen the Frosty Cola from the white trash brunch as a Robert Frost reference, and the one eyed dog as Sirius. The Sirius symbolism tells the story about returns, because Sirius the dog star disappears from the night sky (it’s «just gone»), and returns one day right before dawn.

Well, in Alone, Daryl suggests they «stick around for a while, and if the others come back, we’ll make it work». And wouldn't you know, TPTB managed to squeeze in a reference to that scene as well in the opening minutes! In the opening minutes of Diverged, Carol mentions that she’s sad they don’t have more to show for, as their original purpose for going out in the first place was to hunt. Daryl replies “you’ll make it work, you always do”

In the Sirius and North Star master post from a couple of years ago I included a picture of Daryl having packed his bike after he agreed to look after Henry at Hilltop. The actual image was never used in the episode, but was released as a promo picture. The book on his bike is House Made Of Dawn, and we know Daryl brought it with him because TPTB made sure to release the pic even if the scene wasn’t in the episode. It must have been real important, right?

In one of the promo pics from Diverged, we see Carol going through Daryl’s stuff, I assume she intends to clean up after the Whisperer war. We see her pick up a book, and study its cover.

I’m 99% sure the book in this picture is House Made Of Dawn.

Remember what I said about Sirius returning before dawn?

It sure looks like it will be dawn pretty soon.

But guys, there’s more!

The Sirius symbolism comes from the Robert Frost poems Canis Major and One More Brevity. It’s a long story, I wrote a bunch of posts about it many years ago, I should probably do an update soon. I also touched on it in the Sirius and North Star masterpost. Anyway. We’ve actually had a couple of other Robert Frost references recently, such as when Siddiq said «Miles To Go Before I Sleep» in 10x7.

But guess what! One of Robert Frost’s most famous poems is one called «The Road Not Taken» but it’s commonly referred to as “Diverged”, because of the line «Two Roads Diverged In A Yellow Wood» in the first and the last verse.

The Sirius symbolism was born from Alone, is this when we get to see it fulfilled? I don’t think it’s an accident at all that Diverged comes when it does. I think Sirius is about to return, just in time for dawn.

[owl-with-a-pen]

This one has been on my mind for awhile. Perhaps one where brainy has to go away and he leaves Nia in charge of the D.E.O, I can imagine she wouldn’t be the best and crack under pressure haha. Love your stories 💜

- This might be a little different to what you imagined, but I thought I’d set this with Nia heading a mission instead of the whole of the DEO. To add even more tension, I’ve set this scene somewhere post 5x10, so Nia and Brainy are on rocky ground. Thanks for the prompt! x

When Brainy had first proposed Nia take charge of a DEO operation, she’d laughed it off pretty easily. 

It was only when his was response was to stare at her, one brow raised in confusion, that her face fell.

“Wait,” Nia said, clearing her throat awkwardly. “You’re serious?”

“Undoubtedly so,” Brainy said, narrowing his eyes. “Did I- did I phrase that in a comedic manner?”

Nia blinked. “No. No, you – you sounded serious. I just, I’m finding it hard to believe.” She gestured at herself. “Me? You want me to run a DEO mission? As in, control your agents?”

“That is what leading a mission pertains, yes.”

Okay, now he was being sarcastic. Although, Nia had to admit that it was becoming increasingly harder to tell ever since the whole inhibitor thing. Honestly, Nia hadn’t known what to think when Brainy had summoned her to the DEO that afternoon. On all accounts, he’d been doing everything in his power to evade her ever since their break-up.

A part of her hadn’t wanted to come. She was a vigilante, and though Supergirl had ties with the DEO, considering recent tensions, Dreamer tried to avoid the organisation where she could. There were people on the streets that didn’t trust the DEO for a variety of reasons, even in this new-Earth hellscape where everyone had been brainwashed into loving Lex Luthor. There were humans and aliens alike out there that were still dubious of Lex’s agenda and, who could blame them? They were right.

Nia could have pretended that was the only reason for her apprehension, but who was she kidding? Seeing that text from Brainy, asking her to see him after literal months of radio silence, didn’t sit well with her. She still got a lump in her throat anytime she saw his name pop up on her phone, and felt a crazy surge of butterflies in her stomach whenever he turned up in person after an alien altercation, even if it was alongside his legion of DEO personnel.

It shouldn’t have been this hard, but it was, and she knew why. Despite Brainy’s attempts at acting cold and detached around her, there was still something so incredibly warm behind his eyes, something he was fighting hard to keep hidden from her.

Why the hell he was doing it, Nia didn’t know, and she shouldn’t have cared. Letting it eat her alive like this wasn’t helping anyone. If he didn’t want to be with her after what had happened… then, she had to accept that.

Even though she hated it. Even though she couldn’t help but question whether encouraging Brainy to ditch his inhibitors had been the right call at all. She didn’t think she’d seen a real smile touch his lips since that night at Al’s bar. Didn’t think she’d seen anything other than a deadened exhaustion on his face since he’d stood inches from her in her apartment and torn her heart in two.

Now, whenever Brainy opened his mouth, it was only the Director of the DEO who spoke. Not her best friend. Not her-

No. Not her boyfriend. Not anymore.

She’d pushed that all aside to come here, but now she was really beginning to regret that decision.

“Why me?” Nia asked finally, folding her arms.

Brainy mirrored her stance, lifting his chin. “I calculated a ninety-six percent success rate with your leadership on this mission. The alien we are looking for has psychic abilities closely matching the signature of Naltorian dream energy. Thus – dreaming of our target should be incredibly easy for you.” He shrugged. “Your other powers will prove proficient in the field, too. You can protect and guide my agents better than anyone within this organisation.”

“Wow, Brainy,” Nia said stiffly. “That nearly sounded like a compliment.”

“It is a fact,” Brainy said, although for just a second, Nia was certain she could detect a tremble behind those words. Brainy swallowed quickly, as though to cover himself, before lowering his voice. “Will you do it?”

“Of course,” Nia said immediately. “If I can protect these people, then of course I’ll do it. I’ll always help you—the, um, the DEO, I mean. I- I’m happy to help.” Nia could feel her face beginning to warm all over again. She winced. “You know what I meant,” she muttered.

“I do,” Brainy said, although something in his tone suggested that he wasn’t referring to her promise about the DEO, either.

Nia elected to ignore it. Instead, she rolled her shoulders, straightening her back. “Okay, then,” she said, curling her hands into fists. “When do we start?”

                                                         ______

In the next thirty minutes, Nia found herself packed away in a DEO-issued  vehicle alongside half a dozen field agents. The rest of her team were in the van tailing directly behind them. Every agent was decked out in unmarked uniforms, bullet proof vests, helmets, plus a full inventory of energy guns shared out amongst them.

In her costume - no helmet, no vest and certainly no guns - Nia suddenly felt seriously underdressed. She flexed her hands a few times, staring down at her gloves. She had to remember why Brainy had asked her to do this. She didn’t need fancy energy guns. Her abilities were her energy, and they were necessary to bring this alien in safely. She could do this.

It didn’t matter that she didn’t remember any of these agents’ names, or that the sense of camaraderie in the small space was pretty much non-existent, she just had to be a leader.

If Kara could take charge in times of crisis, then so could she. The only thing stopping Nia was the anxious knot balling inside of her stomach.

You can protect and guide my agents, Brainy’s voice reminded her. It wasn’t exactly the motivational speech she’d been hoping for, but under the circumstances, she’d take what she could get. Even still, she couldn’t help but wish Brainy had come on this mission with her.

But, oh no, he was the Director now. And he had other matters to attend to.

At least, that was the excuse he’d given her.

“Did you hear me?”

Nia’s head jerked up, right into the no-nonsense, stone-faced expression of the DEO agent sat opposite her. She realised belatedly that the van had stopped some time ago, and that her fellow passengers sat closest to the door had already started climbing out.

“I said we’re here,” the agent said, jerking his chin towards the door.

“Oh,” Nia said, shifting from her seat. “Great.”

Yeah. Not exactly the all-powerful words of a full-fledged leader. She gritted her teeth, straightening up as soon as she’d jumped out of the car.

“Alright, Nia,” she muttered to herself. “Your time to shine. Don’t screw it up.”

She marched out to the agents grouping up outside the two stationary vehicles. They’d parked in what could be best described as a cement graveyard; nothing but dilapidated buildings for miles – perfect squatting grounds. It was exactly where Nia had dreamt that their target would be hiding out.

“Okay,” Nia said, trying to put as much power behind her voice that she could muster. She’d stopped just a few feet ahead of her audience. The moment that she spoke, every set of eyes had turned to her. Some of them… more dubiously than others. Mostly, though, they seemed to be waiting on her instruction.

Which… which would be great, if she even knew where to start.

Normally, Super Friend patrols were comprised of, like, three or four people at most. And even then, they usually ended up splitting up throughout the night.  But, there were so many agents in front of her now, all here for just one alien. If a dozen DEO agents went in there at once, there was no way they wouldn’t end up spooking their target.  

God, vigilante work was way stealthier than this.

“So,” Nia said, clenching her jaw. “Plan of action, we need to find this alien. So, um, split up?”

“Are you asking us or telling us?” one of the agents muttered. He was rewarded with a few smiles and poorly disguised snickers.

Frustration flooded Nia’ chest. She opened her mouth, more than prepared to snap out a remark of her own, when another agent raised their voice.

A young woman, maybe only a few years older than Nia. “Normally, we run recon first,” she said helpfully, gesturing out towards the buildings. “To get a lay of the land.”

The look in her eyes clearly expressed that she was less than thrilled about the other agents’ behaviour towards her. Nia’s jaw relaxed a little. “Sounds good,” she said, nearly offering a thumbs up before thinking better of it. Instead, she threw her hands hastily to her hips, offering an impromptu hero stance.

“Is this your first time doing this or something?” the same agent as before asked, this time loud enough to be heard by all of his peers.

Nia bit back the urge to respond.

Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the wash of murmurs that followed the agent’s insult.

“Great,” the agent at his side whispered. “No one said we were gonna get stuck with the side-kick.”

“Hey!” Nia snapped, taking a step forward. “I am no one’s side-kick, okay? In fact, I’m your best shot at fighting this enemy. Do you guys even know what you’re up against?” Nia lifted her hands out at her sides, feeling a powerful surge of dream energy crackle from her fingers, curling around her hands in vibrant shades of blue.

Immediately, the agents in front of her straightened their stances, their expressions sobering. Any chatter was cut off outright.

Nia grinned. “Exactly. Your enemy has powers like this.” She clenched her hands, allowing the power to simmer in the centre of her palms before petering out entirely. When she was confident she had everyone’s undivided attention, she narrowed her eyes. “Your Director asked for me to keep you all safe, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. If anyone has a problem with that.” She threw her hand back towards the stationary vans. “Feel free to get your ass back to the DEO and tell Director Dox exactly why you left an active mission with your tail between your legs.”

When no one moved, Nia folded her arms, lifting her chin proudly. She caught the small smile of the female agent from before, and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face.

“Right,” Nia continued. “Now you’ve got that out of your systems, let’s get to business. Recon.” She jerked her head towards the agent who had started the trouble in the first place, narrowing her eyes playfully. “You; take four of your team and go up ahead, scout the exterior of the building for any movement. Remember, there could be civilians out there, so we do this carefully. I expect all your guns to be on stun only and not to be used unless you’re completely certain you have our target in your sites. Got it?”

The agent, who had been gawking at Nia’s hands and very little else, nodded his head. He turned towards a few of his fellow agents, flashing a couple of fancy hand signals which they quickly responded to, flanking him on both sides.

As he brushed past Nia, he paused, glancing at her warily. “You – uh – didn’t get any bad dream senses about this, right?”

Nia rolled her eyes. Now he was taking her seriously. Better late than never. “Trust me,” she said sharply, “you’re fine. Like I said, I’m here to keep you safe.” She stared at him levelly. “All of you safe.”

“Right. Sorry, ma’am,” the agent said, ducking his head as he righted his gun. “It won’t- it won’t happen again.”

Nia only nodded, watching carefully as he headed out with his team to survey the area.

Once most of the agents were out of sight, only then did Nia allow herself a moment to smile.

Maybe she’d never run a DEO mission before, but maybe that didn’t matter. Brainy had said it himself, after all, this mission’s success depended on her.

But, this wasn’t about what Brainy thought. Besides, it certainly didn’t seem like he cared.

Although, maybe…

Nia shook herself. No. Thinking about what he’d said, the way he’d said it would have to wait for another day.

Today, she was gonna be the best team leader the DEO had ever seen.

[catrasredemption-moved]

Sorry for the offense my ask caused however I dont necessarily understand why you don't want to write Catra as she cannonically was for 90% of the series? It's like do you really like Catra as a character or do you just want a cute cat girl design that you can treat like an oc and give her any personality you want?

*sigh* Okay, you want to do this? Let’s go.

For reference, this is the ask in question.

I dont necessarily understand why you don't want to write Catra as she cannonically was for 90% of the series?

You’re right. That is how Catra was for a lot of the series. I’ve never shied away from that fact or tried to defend it. Catra was an unhealthy, toxic, terrible person. But to simply leave it at that is a surface reading which doesn’t take several things into account:

Environment: Catra grew up in a place where literally everyone hated her. Shadow Weaver and Hordak both threatened to kill her on multiple occasions, and Hordak tried twice to do so. As early as the third episode of season one, Lonnie makes it clear that the only thing that ever protected Catra in the Horde was Adora, meaning it was basically open season on her once Adora left. If she hadn’t been given the Force Captain badge to hide behind, things probably would have been a lot worse.

Opportunities: Catra was given almost no chances to really change aside from Adora insisting that she up and abandon the only life she knows (as terrible as that life is at least it’s the devil she knows). And every time she shows weakness, life comes back to kick her. Shadow Weaver gives a minute bit of kindness? Catra gives her what she wants, and Shadow Weaver uses it to escape and abandon Catra to whatever punishment Hordak will give her. Catra opens up to Scorpia? Hordak’s demon imp reports it back to Hordak. Catra is happy in the Crimson Waste? She finds out that Shadow Weaver abandoned her to go to Adora. Catra slowly hardens herself over the course of season 1-4 because she simply can’t afford not to do so. Being even slightly soft has, over and over, proven to be her downfall.

Mental Health: Catra pretty obviously has problems that aren’t addressed because the Horde doesn’t gaf about mental illness. *C-PTSD - She was consistently abused and threatened by the person who was supposed to be her parental figure. That messes you up *Depression - I mean... yeah. That one is just kind of obvious *Borderline Personality Disorder - This is a very strong headcanon of mine (and a lot of the fandoms). BPD is a bitch of a mental illness. What are some of the symptoms? I’m glad you asked: An intense fear of abandonment, even going to extreme measures to avoid real or imagined separation or rejection || A pattern of unstable intense relationships, such as idealizing someone one moment and then suddenly believing the person doesn't care enough or is cruel || Rapid changes in self-identity and self-image that include shifting goals and values, and seeing yourself as bad or as if you don't exist at all (source). Any of that sound disturbingly familiar?

Catra’s Own Desires: As Double Trouble so eloquently put it “You try so hard to play the 'Big Bad Villain’ but your heart has never been it has it?” (Double Trouble, Destiny Part 2, 4x13). All Catra’s ever really wanted was acknowledgment that she’s worth something, to feel cared about, and Adora. That’s it. This post sums things up pretty well, imo - when asked what she wants, her focus is pulled to Adora. All of her dreams included Adora. It’s said right in the first episode: “We’re gonna see the world and conquer it.” (Catra, The Sword Part 1, 1x01). She tries to carry through with that plan on her own when Adora leaves, and we see how well that goes for her.

Catra Makes A Concentrated Effort To Change: Catra at the end of season four/beginning of season five is not the same Catra we’ve seen throughout the rest of the series. She’s down. She’s defeated. She’s seeking comfort in Glimmer’s company. And when push comes to shove, she does something she’s never done before - puts someone else’s life above her own survival. Her own life is officially forfeit. She knows what’ll happen to her when Glimmer is gone, and she doesn’t care. And she’s convinced no one else cares either. “There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.” (Catra, Corridors, 5x03). She’s ready to die, but she wants to make amends with one person before she goes - Adora. She needs to apologize to Adora before she dies so maybe Adora will have a better memory of her than just the angry, bitter villain she became. And when she actually survives, she tries really hard to fall back on that angry persona, because she’s afraid of getting hurt again. But Adora almost immediately takes that down. “What do you care?! I know you all hate me!” “I never hated you!” *pause* “Then you’re even dumber than I thought.” (Catra, Adora, Taking Control, 5x06). Catra isn’t trying to be cruel or insult Adora there. Okay, maybe she's being a little insulting, but most of the hate is directed at herself. She doesn’t understand why Adora doesn’t hate her. Why Adora even bothered to go back for her. In her mind, there’s no way Adora can still care about her after everything that’s happened. She can’t let herself believe it, because she knows she’s just going to get hurt in the end (see earlier point about BPD). And when she realizes she’s actually going to live, and maybe she has another chance to set things right? She changes. She makes a very concentrated effort to be a better a person. *“I’m sorry. I got angry. It’s something I’m working on.” (Catra, Shot In The Dark, 5x08) *“I’m trying to be a better friend, that has to count for something.” (Catra, Return to the Fright Zone, 5x10) *“No. I’m not leaving. Whatever happens, I’m staying!” (Catra, The Heart Part 2, 5x13) We see Catra acknowledging and trying to work on her anger issues, making an effort to be a better friend, and refusing, for the first time, to run away when things start getting hard, even if it means watching Adora die. She also: *Makes amends with Perfuma after their earlier fight in Return to the Fright Zone, and doesn’t argue with Perfuma when she implies Catra has feelings for Adora (which is a huge thing for her to do with someone she barely knows) *Stands up to Shadow Weaver, her abuser, and then works with her to find and help Adora *Once again puts her own life in danger for the greater good (staying behind to fight the infected security bug, which she knows will kill her (notice how she doesn’t look Adora in the eye when she says she’ll catch up)), in favor of letting Shadow Weaver help Adora to the Heart.

Has Catra fully changed by the end of the series? Of course not, she had to fight an alien invasion, it’s really hard to go through full character development while fighting a war. But she lays the groundwork for herself as early as 4x13, when she steps in to save Glimmer from being killed by Horde Prime. She saves Glimmer in 5x03 with zero expectations that anyone will come back and save her. She saw what Horde Prime did to Hordak and knows that’s probably her future, but she puts the greater good above her own desire to live (which is probably pretty low at that point anyway). And when Adora does come back? She’s angry. Not because of Adora’s hero complex (although that’s pretty frustrating as well), but because she doesn’t see herself as someone worth saving. “We both know I don’t matter” (Catra, Save the Cat, 5x05). She so deeply believes she’s worthless that even Adora coming back for her can’t have been out of any sense of love - it was just Adora wanting to play the hero again. She spends the rest of season five trying to be someone worth that sacrifice. Trying to be someone worth Adora’s love.

It's like do you really like Catra as a character or do you just want a cute cat girl design that you can treat like an oc and give her any personality you want?

Catra as a character is absolutely fascinating to me, mostly for the reasons I listed above - she’s not purely good or evil, she’s hugely impacted by the environment she grew up and the abuse she suffered, and she’s not the typical abuse victim we’re used to seeing in media - the one whose abuse made her kinder. Being abused made Catra bitter and angry. Catra worked to make herself kinder, to make herself a better person. That’s a conscious choice she makes and continues to make.

And the things you asked for? They’re also conscious choices:

she finds it too easy to physically lash out at Adora when stressed and expects her to take it bc "Adora is she-ra and it doesnt really hurt her anyway"

That’s abuse. That’s physical abuse no matter which way you slice it. That’s Catra making a choice to attack Adora using stress as an excuse because “Adora can take it.” Even at her worse, Catra never physically hurt someone outside of the battle - notable exceptions being Adora in 1x02 and Entrapta in 3x04, when she hits both of them with stun batons. And look at her face after each of those moments:

That’s not exactly the face of a brutal abuser. That’s someone who is just in way over her head and has no idea what she’s doing.

(It’s up to you if you want to include her slashing at Emily after her nightmare. Personally, I don’t, because it was a fear reaction and... Emily’s a robot.)

She gets angry, absolutely. She loses her temper and breaks things and threatens (usually by hitting the wall next to someone), but outside of battles, most of her attacks are verbal. Which leads me to my next point:

she keeps trying to manipulate people casually

Catra is absolutely amazing at reading people and making snap decisions on what to say that she thinks would get through to them or hurt them. Notable examples:

-Scorpia - “ And that's exactly why you have to go! How dare they pretend they're better just because you're different! How dare they abandon people just because they don't fit into their perfect little lives!” (Catra, 1x08, Princess Prom) Entrapta - “They left you. They left you, and they’re not coming back. Isn’t that just like Adora? She left me behind, too. Like I was nothing. Adora got her precious Bow and Glimmer back. All these princesses care about is people who are just like them. But you’re not like them, are you?” (Catra, 1x10, The Beacon) Hordak, after he says he needs Entrapta - “ Who do you think let the princesses in?” (Catra, 3x04, Moment of Truth)

Hell, even Horde Prime, in a way - she tells him that he needs her and Glimmer alive to activate the Heart of Etheria. Whether or not he’s actually convinced or if he’s just playing along to get what he wants is questionable, but she still had to think on her feet and used something she had known existed for like ten minutes (the Heart of Etheria).

And again, those are all choices she makes. Her manipulation skills are undeniable, but using them for fun would be falling back on old habits, something, again, she’s trying very hard not to do.

or she strikes a saleanis civilian when confronted

Again, Catra (aside from the two stun baton incidents) does not hit first outside of battle. Not to mention Salineas is probably one of worst regrets (along with the portal). She might tell someone to fuck off, especially if they bother her while she’s working, but hitting a civilian? That’s not even Old Catra. Old Catra would have just stopped and given them a death glare until they got scared and ran away.

It's like do you really like Catra as a character or do you just want a cute cat girl design that you can treat like an oc and give her any personality you want?

Season five Catra is meant to be a Catra who’s trying to heal and be a better person. Season four shows Catra slowly breaking down, all of the things that have made her personality up to this point - her anger, her resentment, the things she thinks she wants - being ripped away and leaving her empty. And when she survives Horde Prime, she can’t return to that persona. She tries in 5x06, and breaks halfway through because she just can’t do it anymore.

Adora confronts her twice, she tries to fall back into her old way of coping with things, and she’s exhausted by the end of it. She can’t maintain that kind of anger anymore. Four seasons and three-ish years later, she’s just... not capable of it.

But none of that means she’s “magically healed.” She still has a temper. She still lashes out and runs away when things get hard. She tries, and she backslides, because that’s what recovery is. Backsliding all the way to pre-Breakdown Catra, though? She can’t do that. Consciously, she knows no one will put up with it. Emotionally, she just can’t. And most importantly, she doesn’t want to. She wants to be a better person, she wants to be someone who deserves love and friendship.

And that is the Catra I enjoy writing. She’s not cutesy or ==^uWu^== - she’s broken. She’s trying to heal. She has sharp edges and trauma and she’s not always going to handle things well. But she’s also trying to learn better coping methods. She’s finally doing what she actually wants (recovering from the past and being a better person), and she deserves better than a fandom that wants her to go to back to being the toxic person she was pre-breakdown.

So I’m sorry if you don’t like my interpretation of Catra, Anon, but to be frank, I’m not too crazy about yours, either, so... I guess we’re done here.