#4x12 no man is an island

[demisexualnathanvuornos]

Haven 1x1 Welcome to Haven (2010)/ Hudson & Rex 4x12 No Man Is an Island (2022)

Maurice Dean Wint as Byron Howard/Nigel Banks

Patrick Garrow as Conrad Brauer/ John Harper

[carlos-in-glasses]

An update to the list!

I'm blown away by the fact that anyone would give their precious time to my fics - I want you to know that I always strive for it to be time well-spent. Thank you, thank you. I'll update this list as more fics are posted. Running from most recently posted to the first❤️:

Search And Rescue - (15k, E) - On their first Valentine's Day as husbands, Carlos surprises TK with a trip to adopt a retired police dog.

Where All This Love Comes From - (107k, E) - TK reflects on meeting Carlos after years of addiction and self-destruction, while Carlos seeks closure by uncovering two unknowns: The identity of his father’s killer, and how his father truly felt about Carlos as his son.

You Can Leave Your Hat On - (6k, E) - The heating breaks in the loft so TK and Carlos find another way to stay warm.

Suddenly, in the Silence – (10k, E) - TK wonders if he's being haunted by Gabriel, while Carlos questions his faith.

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines – (14k, E) - A coda for 3x08 that also explores how 9/11 impacted TK and Carlos as children.

Release the Hand to Relax the Animal – (15k, E) - TK and Carlos have tantric sex.

When Soulmates Swim – (53k, E) - A season 1 canon compliant AU. TK and Carlos find each other and themselves when they each take up swimming.

The Centre of the Maze – (21k, M) - TK and Carlos have never been on the easy path, but all have lead to the wedding.

With Infinity Folded Into It – (8k, M) - After TK proposes, Carlos remembers the first time they said I love you. And he bakes a babka. Sort of.

Fire Island – (12k, M) - TK and Carlos visit the legendary Fire Island and learn from an older couple about life at the height of the AIDS crisis.

The Light of Our Life – (2k, T) - A coda for 4x12. Carlos buys TK a bearded dragon.

The Heart Behind the Shield – (34k, E) - A coda for 2x08 and 4x04 combined. Carlos and TK work through their kidnapping traumas and Carlos and Gabriel share an important moment.

Afterglow of a Supernova – (13k, M) - Carlos and TK have dinner with Carlos’ high school crush and his wife. Insecurities rise and jealousy ensues in an unexpected way.

Man to Man – (15k, E) - A coda for 2x12. In 2010, Carlos comes out to his parents. In 2021, in the aftermath of the housefire, Carlos feels more empowered to talk to Gabriel and embrace his life with TK.

Chasers – (13k, E) - A coda for 3x13. TK is alone with Cooper, Carlos is alone with his thoughts. Both recall times they’ve chased the next high, other men, or each other.

The Ruins of Wonderland – (14k, E) - The severe winter storm doesn’t happen as forecast and Austin receives a manageable snowfall – without TK plunging into a frozen lake. Nancy’s 126 hang goes ahead. TK attends, but so does Carlos…

In Your Adorable Glasses – (4k, T) - Carlos is struggling to find the perfect poem for the wedding; TK tries to help but sits on his glasses.

Wrestling Angels – (8k, M) - Carlos wishes he could invite his seventeen-year-old self to his wedding to TK.

A Naked House – (8k, M) - TK, Carlos and the 126 attend a murder mystery event in which a real murder takes place and TK vanishes…

Teardrop on the Fire – (11k, E) - TK discovers a birthday card Carlos had written for him during their breakup.

Bath Time and Black Magic – (7k, E) - Carlos is naturally upset after being kidnapped by a satanic cult, so he and TK have a bubble bath and talk about it.

A Rainy Day in Austin – (5k, T) - A 3x15 coda. TK and Carlos drive to the greenbelt to release Lou.

Sensitivity – (5k, M) - TK opens up to Carlos about his past, and Carlos finds himself falling for him even harder.

[starry-mist]

Season 6 Countdown: Day 2

Favourite episode: 4x12 No Man is an Island

Oh good. More angst. I promise to (try to) write something happier soon.

[enigmaticxbee]

S4 Rewatch - Investigation

Autopsies: Scully does autopsies in 9 episodes this season, similar to last season. Memorable autopsy moments include: the autopsy on the baby in 4x02 Home where Mulder and Scully are squished into the closet (and making inappropriate jokes in a cut scene that is canon at this point); Mulder checking the collarbone of the skeleton of the little girl and Scully assuring him it’s not Samantha in 4x10 Paper Hearts; and Mulder breaking the tail off the desiccated corpse in 4x20 Small Potatoes.

Rule-Breaking: Some pretty epic rule-breaking from Scully this season: in 4x08/09 Tunguska/Terma she refuses to tell Congress where Mulder is and is held in Contempt of Congress - LEGEND; she hides Mulder’s inappropriate actions in 4x10 Small Potatoes; she again covers Mulder’s inappropriate actions (sensing a theme here) and destroys evidence when Mulder is implicated in murders in 4x23 Demons; and (although - spoiler alert - we don’t know this yet) she lies to the FBI in the finale that the body discovered in Mulder’s apartment is Mulder. Go off Scully.

Scully’s in Danger: This is a baaad season for Scully. She is attacked and held hostage by the Alien Bounty Hunter, is abducted and narrowly misses being lobotomized, is attacked and almost thrown in an incinerator by her one night stand, is chased by guard dogs, is shot at, is almost hit by a plane during a car chase, narrowly escapes being sexually assaulted by a shapeshifter masquerading as her partner, is threatened at gunpoint by her partner, is pushed down the stairs, and is attacked by suspects in 7 episodes. She is choked, beaten up, suffers from minor cuts and bruises, is knocked out at least twice, is diagnosed with an inoperable nasopharyngeal tumor, suffers from nosebleeds in 4 episodes, and her cancer metastasizes.

Mulder’s in Danger: It’s not great for Mulder either. This season he is hit with a poison dart, is imprisoned in a Russian work camp, is experimented on, crashes the truck he’s driving, is threatened with an arm amputation, is hit by an oil explosion, is shot at a couple times, is chased by guard dogs, is almost hit by a plane during a car chase, is chased by the military, is on an airplane intercepted by aliens, is imprisoned in a closet, undergoes an experimental treatment to reclaim memories, is attacked by suspects in 5 episodes, and (according to Scully) commits suicide. He is beaten up, temporarily paralyzed, is whipped, knocked out, given an experimental alien virus vaccine and exposed to the black oil, suffers a head injury, suffers from minor radiation burns, and takes ketamine and gets a hole drilled in his head, resulting in amnesia, seizures, and suicidal behavior.

Hospitals: Not much hospital time this season - surprisingly given the injuries described above. They’re at the hospital with Mrs. Mulder in 4x01 Herrenvolk. The big one is 4x14 Momento Mori with multiple key hospital scenes: Mulder bringing Scully flowers when she tells him about her cancer; Scully’s mom coming to see her in the hospital; Scully’s hospital bed journal (aka love letter to Mulder); the final beautiful scene in the hallway where they hug and give each other the most loving looks I’ve ever seen.

Driving: Mulder is the driver with Scully as passenger in 16 episodes. This season Scully is the driver with Mulder as passenger in 4, which is twice as many as the previous seasons. She drives in 4x04 Unruhe when she is disturbed by the lobotomization of the victims and wants to get out of there, NOT debate theories with Mulder. She drives in 4x08 Tunguska so that Mulder can jump out to chase another lead. She drives in 4x11 El Mundo Gira. And she drives in 4x23 Demons because Mulder is suffering from seizures. This is where we see why Scully doesn’t usually drive: she is a TERRIBLE parker. Between this and Syzygy last season I suspect the more stressed Scully is the faster she drives. She also made a 6-8 hr drive from D.C. to Rhode Island in under 2 hours so...

Line of Duty?: Mulder kills 4 people (in 4x02 Home, 4x04 Unruhe, 4x10 Paper Hearts, and 4x12 Leonard Betts) this season - compared to 1 or 2 the previous seasons. Scully kills 2 people (in 4x02 Home and 4x12 Leonard Betts). Fun fact: they both kill Leonard Betts, but only Scully’s sticks. (Actually not really sure why shocking him killed him ostensibly permanently when other methods didn’t?)

Investigation: They spend only 2 episodes investigating primarily together this season, 19 investigating both together and separately, and 2 primarily apart. And 1 (4x07 Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man) that they’re barely in. As usual they spend most of the mytharc episodes separated, often coming together just for a few key scenes.

Solve Rate: 62% overall solve rate at the end of the season, about the same as last season. 58% solve rate for this season. Again I’m counting the two-part mytharc episode individually, and most of them go unsolved. Only 3 MOTW cases went unsolved this season - 4x05 The Field Where I Died, 4x06 Sanguinarium, and 4x11 El Mundo Gira. We got to see Skinner’s reaction to that last one so just assume that goes down on all of these cases - whether solved or not.

[impracticaljokerssub]

ADVERTENCIA El siguiente programa contiene escenas de estupidez gráfica entre cuatro amigos que compiten para avergonzarse entre sí.

Qué tal a todos y bienvenidos!

Aquí iré subiendo capítulos de Impractical Jokers subtitulados al español a medida que vayan emitiéndolos por TruTV Latinoamérica. Y mientras me sea posible, claro. El subtitulado proviene de ellos y yo me ocupo de capturarlo del canal de cable. Para los usuarios de celulares, es recomendable usar un navegador web para la correcta visualización de la página en lugar de la aplicación.

Subir todo esto costó bastante trabajo y tomó mucho de mi tiempo así que me hice una cuenta en Cafecito.app para que, si lo sienten, puedan contribuir con unos pesos, lo que me ayudaría un montón y me alienta a seguir subiendo contenido de estos cuatro bromistas que tanto queremos. De nuevo, si lo sienten y quieren, todo monto es más que bienvenido :)

https://cafecito.app/impracticalespanol

Muchas gracias y que lo disfruten!

- Fran, admin

(Actualizado: 22/12/2020)

Capítulos disponibles:

TEMPORADA 1

1x01 - Pay It Forward 1x02 - Butterfly Crime Scene 1x03 - Unmotivational Speaker 1x04 - Boardwalk of Shame 1x05 - Drawing a Blank 1x06 - Panty Raid 1x07 - Out of TP 1x08 - Who Arted 1x09 - A Loser Presents 1x10 - What Did I Eat? 1x11 - Starfart Macchiato 1x12 - Bellydancer 1x13 - Charity Case 1x14 - Theater del Absurdo 1x15 - Pick a Loser 1x16 - Supercuts

TEMPORADA 2

2x01 - The Stoop Sessions Part 1 2x02 - The Stoop Sessions Part 2 2x03 - Elephant in the Room 2x04 - Art Attack 2x05 - Strip High Five 2x06 - Birds and the Bees 2x07 - Sound EffeXXX 2x09 - Psychotic Not-Line 2x10 - The Truth Hurts 2x11 - Get Out of Dodge 2x12 - The Love Expert 2x13 - Out of Fashion 2x14 - Scaredy Cat 2x15 - Joker vs. Joker

TEMPORADA 3

3x01 - Look Out Below 3x02 - The Great Escape 3x03 - Field of Screams 3x04 - Nationals Disaster 3x05 - Bonus Footage 3x06 - Toasted 3x07 - Scarytales 3x08 - Inside the Vault 3x09 - Bigger in Texas 3x10 - Snow Way Out 3x11 - Takes the Cake 3x12 - Anniversary Edition 3x13 - Jokers Playhouse 3x14 - Make Womb for Daddy 3x15 - Puncture Perfect 3x16 - Junk in the Trunk 3x17 - The Good, the Bad, and the Uncomfortable 3x18 - Baggage Shame 3x19 - Quantum Mock-anics 3x20 - Clash of the Jokers 3x21 - Tooth & Consequences 3x22 - Fe-Mail 3x23 - The Lost Boy 3x24 - Up Loser’s Creek 3x25 - In Poor Taste Buds 3x26 - The Permanent Punishment 3x27 - Parks and Wreck 3x28 - A Legendary Fail 3x29 - B-I-N-G-NO 3x30 - Just Say No 3x31 - Brother-in-Loss

TEMPORADA 4

4x01 - Welcome to Miami 4x02 - Below the Belt 4x03 - Uncool and the Gang 4x04 - Wrong Playwright 4x05 - Elevating The Game 4x06 - The Blunder Years 4x07 - Deal With The Devils 4x08 - Damned If You Do 4x09 - The Dream Crusher 4x10 - Joke & Dagger 4x11 - Pseudo-Sumo 4x12 - Car Sick 4x13 - Cruisin' For A Bruisin' 4x14 - Bathroom Break 4x16 - Captain Fatbelly 4x17 - Sneaking Number Twos, Going Number One 4x18 - Blind Justice 4x19 - Tied and Feathered 4x20 - Smushed 4x21 - Live Punishment Special 4x22 - The Big Uneasy 4x23 - Hopeless and Changeless 4x24 - Stripped of Dignity 4x25 - The Taunted House 4x26 - Doomed

TEMPORADA 5

5x01 - HellCopter 5x02 - You're Cut Off 5x03 - Ruffled Feathers 5x04 - Stare Master 5x05 - Bidder Loser 5x06 - The Good, The Bad, and the Punished 5x07 - Putting the P in Pool 5x08 - Statue of Limitations 5x09 - Brother of the Sisterhood 5x10 - Dark Side of the Moon 5x11 - Whose Phone Is Ringing? 5x12 - Centaur of Attention 5x13 - Browbeaten 5x14 - The Coward 5x15 - Virtual Insanity 5x16 - Laundry Day 5x18 - Hitting the Wrong Note 5x19 - Heckle and Hide 5x22 - Ash Clown 5x23 - Spider Man 5x24 - Stage Fright 5x25 - Training Day 5x26 - Nitro Circus Spectacular

TEMPORADA 6

6x01 - Swim Shady 6x02 - Lady and the Tramp 6x03 - The Parent Trap 6x04 - Catastrophe 6x05 - Vampire Weakened 6x06 - Footloose 6x07 - X-Man 6x08 - Medium, Well Done 6x09 - Drum and Drummer 6x11 - Stuffed Turkey 6x12 - Crickets 6x13 - Universal Appeal  6x14 - Paradise Lost 6x15 - Mime and Punishment 6x16 - Three Men and Your Baby 6x17 - The Q-Pay 6x18 - Rubbed the Wrong Way 6x19 - Flatfoot the Pirate 6x20 - Remember the Pact 6x21 - Silence of the Lame 6x22 - The Walking Dread 6x23 - Take Me Out at The Ball Game 6x24 - The Party Crasher

TEMPORADA 7

7x01 - The Marathon Man 7x02 - Guilty as Charged 7x03 - No Good Deed 7x04 - Stripteased 7x05 - Indecent Proposal 7x06 - Turning the Tables 7x07 - Lords of the Ring 7x08 - No Child Left Behind 7x09 - Pulling the Rug 7x10 - Speech Impediment 7x11 - Card Against Humanity 7x12 - Bull Shiatsu 7x13 - The Running Of The Bullies 7x14 - The Needy and the Greedy 7x15 - Washed Up 7x16 - To Hatch A Predator 7x17 - Like A Boss 7x18 - Chick Magnet 7x19 - Dropping Knowledge 7x20 - Hump Day 7x21 - Out of Left Field 7x22 - Autograph Corrector 7x23 - The Bogey Man 7x24 - Hell On Wheels 7x26 - Staten Island Holiday Spectacular

TEMPORADA 8

8x01 - Crash Test Dummies 8x02 - The Closer 8x03 - Tipping Point 8x04 - Full Mental Jacket 8x05 - Blue Man Dupe 8x06 - The Dumbbell 8x07 - The Eggman 8x08 - Cake Loss 8x09 - The Antisocial Network 8x10 - Off the Reservation 8x11 - Fraudway 8x12 - The Show Stopper 8x13 - Sucks for You 8x14 - Well... 8x15 - The Prize Fighter 8x16 - Sun-Fan Lotion 8x17 - Urine Trouble 8x18 - Irritable Vowel Syndrome 8x19 - Bad Carma 8x20 - Fast Feud

ESPECIALES

British Invasion A Day in the Life (Making of) Unseen Scenes All Aboard! One Night Stand Up Joker for a Day - Part 2 The Murray Jury Sizing Up Sal Judging Joe Critiquing Q Humiliation for the Holidays Fan-tastic Countdown   Punishment Countdown March Madness Showdown March Madness Bracket Attack

EN ESPAÑOL LATINO

2x11 - Get Out of Dodge 2x12 - The Love Expert 2x13 - Out of Fashion 3x08 - Inside the Vault 3x17 - The Good, the Bad, and the Uncomfortable 5x16 - Laundry Day 5x17 - Water Torture 5x18 - Hitting the Wrong Note 5x19 - Heckle and Hide 5x20 - The Chairman 5x21 - Wrapper's Delight 5x22 - Ash Clown 5x23 - Spider Man 5x24 - Stage Fright 5x25 - Training Day

AFTER PARTY

1x01 - The Q-Pay (6x17) 1x02 - Rubbed the Wrong Way (6x18) 1x03 - Flatfoot the Pirate (6x19) 1x04 - Remember the Pact (6x20) 1x05 - Silence of the Lame (6x21)  1x06 - The Walking Dread (6x22)  1x07 - Take Me Out at The Ball Game (6x23)  1x08 - The Party Crasher (6x24) 1x09 - Dover and Out (6x25) 3x01 - Crash Test Dummies (8x01) 3x02 - The Closer (8x02) 3x03 - Tipping Point (8x03) 3x04 - Off the Reservation (8x10) 3x05 - Fraudway (8x11)

Puedes ver Impractical Jokers por TruTV Latinoamérica todos los días a las 06.00, 14.00 y 22.00 hs.

[apicturewithasmile]

Fishful Thinking

or: What the hell is up with all those fish references?

As I was working on two gif sets (1, 2) showing all (or at least most) of the times Red talks about fish in one way or another, I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s some pattern to these stories. I decided to sort the fish references into the four following categories and put my literary analysis degree to good use

Category 1: There’s always a bigger fish.

Category 2: self-recognition through the fish

Category 3: Beware The Fish!

Category 4: Is this the real life, is this just fanta-sea?

Though some fish references could be put in more than one category, I chose to sort them according to how I’d like to interprete their relevance to the show and Red’s character. Because of the vast amount of fish stories and references throughout the years I cannot possibly talk about all of them but I will still list them all under their respective category for the sake of completeness.

All of that under the cut because it’s long (sorry @ mobile users):

Category 1: There’s always a bigger fish.

1x01 Pilot Red: Zamani was a small fish. I’m Ahab. And if you want the whales on my list, you have to play by my rules.

3x11 Gregory Devry Red: I don’t know. What I do know is if he’s called a meeting and the members are gathering, he’s a very big fish. […] Follow this fish, and you can net the entire school.

5x13 The Invisible Hand Big Willie: Nash? Come on, man. You want to go up against those guys? You’re a big enough fish? Why risk that? | Red: I’m not a big fish, William. I’m Moby Dick.

The first of many fish references happens no sooner than in the Pilot (1x01) itself. Red calls his first Blacklister Ranko Zamani “a small fish” – as opposed to the “whales” he offers up to the FBI in exchange for immunity. Interesting in this scene is that Red refers to himself as “Ahab”, the Captain from H. Melville’s novel Moby Dick. In the book, Ahab is driven by his manic – and subsequently fatal – desire to hunt and kill the big white whale named Moby Dick. In the end this venture costs Ahab his life as well as the lives of all but one of his crew members.

When looking at this scene separately from the rest of the show it’s easy to think of it as ~just a TV show pilot giving us an easy way to characterise their protagonist – and yes, partially that is a purpose this scene serves (note it’s also the scene in which Red gives the show its name, referring directly to his list as “The Blacklist”). However, if we take into account what happens as the show progresses, even just in season 1, the Ahab-reference gains a little more weight, as Red’s “whale hunt” nearly gets him killed (1x10) while also leading to the death of two of his team members, Luli Zeng (1x09) and Newton Philips (1x11), as well as the murder of Task Force member Meera Malik (1x22). All of that for the hunt after the first season’s big fish and main antagonist Berlin, along with (as we will later learn) the undeniably even bigger fish: The Cabal.

Juxtaposing the Ahab-reference is Red’s remark from the episode The Invisible Hand (5x13) where he refers to himself as “Moby Dick” instead of Ahab. On one hand this serves the technical purpose to remind Red’s scene partner (and us, the audience) that Red isn’t just any fish – big or small – in the large tank full of criminals. No, he is in fact the biggest of them all, a legend and he will bring everyone down who tries to harm him. On the other hand it offers up an interpretation of Red knowing that his project – The Blacklist – will inevitably be his own downfall. He is both the hunter and the beast which means the question is less “who will win in the end?” rather than “is there any way out of this other than through his own death?”. This also ties in with the speculations amongst fans that Red himself will turn out to be the No. 1 on the Blacklist as the series comes to an end.

The third and final fish reference in this category is in the episode Gregory Devry (3x11) where the episode’s Blacklister gets called a “big fish” by Red. It’s possible to just brush that off as a somewhat common allegory to think of criminals as big/small fish but I find it noteworthy that it just so happens to be used for the Blacklister who claims to be the ~real Raymond Reddington. Describing Devry as a “big fish” also puts that label on Red by extension. And following ~our big fish Red also leads to the netting of an entire school of criminals aka The Blacklist.

*****

Category 2: self-recognition through the fish

1x21 Berlin Red: I was once on the island of Ko Ri, free-diving in the Andaman Sea. I felt terribly ill stung by a lionfish. I was dehydrated, in excruciating pain. I had lost all sense of time and place. I was completely disoriented. But I knew I was dying, so I readied myself for it. And in that moment, at death’s door, I looked up, and standing over me in the brightness was this landless Moken sea gypsy just standing there, smiling. She and her tribe nursed me back to health, good as new. And when I left the island she kissed me. It was like a burst of sunlight on my cheek. It was – It made nearly dying well worth it. That’s how I feel now.

2x09 Luther Braxton Red: In Mexico, there are these fish that have colonized the freshwater caves along Sierra del Abra.They were lost. They found themselves living in complete darkness. But they didn’t die. Instead, they thrived. They adapted. They lost their pigmentation, their sight, eventually even their eyes. With survival, they became hideous. I’ve rarely thought about what I once was. But I wonder if a ray of light were to make it into the cave, would I be able to see it? Or feel it? Would I gravitate to its warmth? And if I did, would I become less hideous?

4x12 Natalie Luca Red: Losing someone we love is painful. Agonizing even unto death. The Japanese call it tako-tsubo – a grieving surge of abnormal electrical waves that causes the heart to deflate and contort until it resembles a a fishing pot. Hollow and cold, an empty vessel at the bottom of a fathomless sea. I’m sorry for your loss. You have suffered enough of that in your life.

In this category I have grouped together instances in which fish-metaphors or fish-related stories are used to express Red’s inner conflict.

First I want to focus on the two monologues from seasons 1 and 2 as they complement each other very well and can be discussed together. The scenes not only share textual but also structural similarities: both of these monologues are spoken by Red to Lizzy in situations where he or both of them are in a dangerous and/or threatening situation; and they are both part of a season and mid-season finale respectively, which often are episodes with greater exploration of character motivation and inner conflict than there would be time for in a regular episode.

The hideous fish monologue in Luther Braxton (2x09) has been subject of great in-depth discussion in the fandom time and again; especially the Lizzington shippers keep coming back to it, as he is clearly talking about Lizzy when he mentions the “ray of light” and ends with explaining that he didn’t want her to follow him because it would put her in danger. [Sidenote: Anyone who still doubts that he was talking about Lizzy being his “ray of light”, I’d like to direct towards the episode Karakurt 2x21 in which Red invents an alias for Lizzy: “Ginger Lumiere” which literally translates to “Red Light”.]

You can also find a light-reference in the fish story from Berlin (1x21) when Red says “[…] she kissed me. It was like a burst of sunlight on my cheek. [...] It made nearly dying well worth it. That’s how I feel now.” as he is looking up at Lizzy, essentially telling her that despite all the pain and hardships he has gone through and will be facing in the future – it’s worth it because of her. With those two fish stories combined he paints us a pretty cohesive image of how he views himself – the hideous fish who adapted to the darkness that surrounds him and thrives in it; and what Lizzy is to him – a burst of sunlight, the warmth that could have the power to make him less hideous, and arguably even the sea gypsy nursing him back to health.

Interestingly the fish that stung him in his 1x21 story is a lionfish. I’m pointing that out because that same species will get mentioned again in season 4, so I will come back to that when talking about the next category.

In Natalie Luca (4x12) he talks to the young woman who has just lost her boyfriend and it’s evident that he’s not only talking about her loss but also about his recent experience of losing someone he loved – namely when he thought Lizzy had died after giving birth to Agnes. On a textual basis it seems like he’s just talking about Natalie but the camera is positioned in such a way that Natalie’s image is reflected in the window behind which Red sits, effectively merging the two characters together, making it clear that when he’s talking about her, he’s also talking about himself. Thus it is reasonable to assume Red is empathising with Natalie on the basis of grieving their romantic love interest (despite Lizzy having come back from the dead in the meantime, Red is still struggling with the pain Lizzy’s actions have caused him). He then describes Natalie’s and his pain as the heart resembling “a fishing pot. Hollow and cold, an empty vessel at the bottom of a fathomless sea.” Red feels like he has lost his “ray of light” and thus his heart has dropped to the bottom of the sea, into even deeper darkness than ever before, causing him to make decisions as hideous as shooting Kate Kaplan.

On a sidenote, the scene in which Natalie Luca’s boyfriend dies parallels Lizzy’s (fake) death scene very well in terms of camera angles and movements – Natalie being the stand-in for Red; the boyfriend being stand-in for Lizzy.

*****

Category 3: Beware The Fish!

3x15 Drexel Red: Right. Which is why we’re here now. We’ve come for the fugu kimo. | Dembe: Fugu kimo? | Red: Blowfish liver. Contains a poison 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide– so lethal, a single fish can kill 30 grown men.

4x05 The Lindquist Concern Red: Perhaps another go with the candiru fish. I understand they burrow into the most impossible nooks and crannies.

4x07 Dr. Adrian Shaw Red: Have you ever been spearfishing? You should go spearfishing. I love spearfishing. On the Ambergris Caye, there is a reef– | Liz: If there’s a reason you felt this story couldn’t wait, I’d love to hear it, but quickly if possible. | Red: I have a Blacklister for you. They call him The Coroner. | Liz: I just got my baby back, my husband, my family. This can wait. | Red: Lionfish. | Liz: Lionfish? | Red: An aggressive, invasive species threatens the local habitat, leaves destruction in its wake. Sound like anyone we know?

These three make up the group of fish as some form of a danger. Here we see fish used as a torture device by creative torture expert Brimley in 4x05 and mentioned in the form of a potentially lethal meal in 3x15.

The most interesting reference in this category though is the one from Dr. Adrian Shaw (4x07) because as I’ve pointed out above the lionfish which has first been mentioned in 1x21 makes another appearance here. 4x07 is the first part of the mid-season finale and in the beginning of the episode Red makes a point of equating Kirk to the invasive, aggressive and destructive nature of lionfish.

In the second part of this mid-season finale Red will then be tortured and almost killed by Alexander Kirk – a man who believes himself to be Lizzy’s father. In his attempt to get revenge and compensation for the years Kirk has lost with his (thought-to-be) daughter he goes to great and often violent lengths. This culminates in Kirk ~becoming the lionfish from Red’s season 1 story. Kirk injects Red with multiple substances that all build up to Red being in “excruciating pain. [losing] all sense of time and place” and being “completely disoriented.” just like in his story from 1x21. This then leads to Red saying whatever he thinks Kirk wants to hear in order to survive. The result is a (false) confession that Red is Lizzy’s father as well as some (yet-to-be-revealed?) secret whispered into Kirk’s ear which eventually convinces him to let Red walk free. The next time we see Red, he shows up at Lizzy’s doorstep, to visit the burst of sunlight that made nearly dying well worth it (whether that is still Lizzy at this point or the title has been handed over to Agnes is open for speculation).

*****

Category 4: Is this the real life, is this just fanta-sea?

4x09 Lipet’s Seafood Company Red: Marlin– that’s not a very common name. I knew a Marlin when I was young. Marlin Trout. One boy, two fish names. Funny.

4x22 Mr. Kaplan Conclusion Red: Ho Chi Minh City! That’s it. I got away from you aboard that catfish trawler on the Saigon River. My God, the humidity. But fun times indeed. More to come, Agent Gale. More to come.

5x15 Pattie Sue Edwards Red: Smokey, as you well know, Heddie did not take a powder. She’s lying in her bed right now, sneezing and wheezing, swollen up like a puffer fish. I’m afraid all the dogs and cats finally got the best of her.

5x22 Sutton Ross Liz: I’ll get you for this. | Red: You’ll try, but there’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore, looking like an idiot.

6x03 The Pharmacist Red: On a side note, I once went fly fishing for a cutthroat trout in the Roaring Fork Valley, where, inexplicably, I stumbled upon Justice Antonin Scalia may God rest his soul and, boy, did we have some real barn burners. My word, that man could argue. Six hours, hip deep in whitewater, and with all the yelling, neither of us got so much as an alevin.

7x01 Louis T. Steinhil Red: But I’ve been paralyzed before. The spine of a blowfish pierced my wet suit off Pit–

Some fans have wondered how much truth there really is in stories such as “Marlin Trout” (4x09) or fly fishing with Justice Scalia (6x03). Even the lionfish story from 1x21 can be up for debate. Did Red really experience all this or is he making it up for the sake of a nice metaphor, to buy himself time, distract his opponent? Is it realistic for one man to be stung by two poisenous fish (a lionfish and a blowfish) on two separate occassions? And how did a former KGB agent (if we assume he really is Ilya Koslov) know a Marlin Trout when he was young and presumably growing up in Russia?

But what all the fish-references in the fourth category have in common is that they are used for comic relief. I guess it’s also safe to assume that after so many seasons and fish stories to which the fans reacted positively, some of these later fish references are purely there as Easter eggs for fan service and one can hardly blame the writers for that. The most recent one from Louis T. Steinhil (7x01) was a good example of using a fish reference just so the fans could cross that off their Blacklist Bingo chart.

Especially the bit from The Pharmacist (6x03) sticks out as it is a very obvious nod towards James Spader’s previous TV show Boston Legal in which his character goes fishing in Nimmo Bay where he later gets married by Antonin Scalia in the final episode of the show. Since Red spends the first half of season 6 in prison and we keep getting scenes of him defending himself in court, the writers saw their opportunity for an Alan Shore homage and they took it. Well done.

*****

That’s it, I hope some of you made it all the way to the end. There’s not really a conclusion to this except that I don’t think there really is some deeper meaning behind the many fish references other than the writers and/or James Spader obviously being into fish very much. The fish world offering a vast selection of potential metaphors and stories also fits in nicely with (the real) Raymond Reddington having been a Naval Intelligence Officer.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

[noradarhkpalmer]

four days 2/5

Title: four days

Rating: T

Pairing: Darhkatom!

Warnings: 4x11 and 4x12 Spoilers!!!!!!!!

Summary/Notes:

Ray and Nora think they can go unnoticed for four days while Sara is away, while the rest of the team is on mission, and while Charlie, Mona, and Mick are trying to help Zari figure out whatever the heck is going on in that heart of hers. Spoiler alert: they don’t go unnoticed.

Someone in a group chat I’m in estimated that there’s about four days between 4x11 and the beginning of 4x12. These are the four days that Ray and Nora are just too cute for words. This is connected to the darhkwu friendship fic I’m writing.

I’m sorry for traumatizing Zari in advance...

ao3 link: here

The next morning Nora curled further into Ray. She couldn’t quite believe last night had really happened. But it had.

“Ray?” She heard muttering and looked up.

“Good morning.”

“Were you talking to yourself?” She asked with a curious glint in her eye.

“Just admiring how wonderful you are. How much I love you.”

Nora smiled and kissed him once more. “I love you too.” She curled up close. “You know what I could use?”

“A nutritional breakfast?”

“A shower," she said at the same time as he said 'breakfast'.

“Oh let me make sure the coast is clear and you can go!”

“Will you join me?”

Ray ducked his head. “I mean if you want.”

“I do want. I’m not scared to tell you how I feel anymore.”

“I’ll get you some new clothes fabricated and we can…”

“Ray Palmer if you don’t get in the shower me with I swear I’ll…” Ray cut her off with a kiss.

Nora, now swallowed in Ray’s shirt, waited for the shower to be a perfect temperature. Finally ray deemed it safe and tried to turn around to give her privacy. Nora tugged his hand to turn him back around and smiled. She kept eye contact with him the entire time she slid the shirt off her body.

Ray swallowed hard and Nora kissed him deeply before sliding past him and into the shower. He quickly shed his boxers and stepped inside.

That’s when Nora jumped him.

Nora wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. “I need you again.” She whispered against his lips.

Ray picked her up and Nora wrapped her legs around his waist. Without much further preamble, Ray slid inside her. Her moans echoed off the tiles as Ray made love to her. Nora gripped the back of his neck to keep herself upright and kissed him gently.

“Ray, oh god, Ray!” Nora held on tight as she came, she slumped against him and buried her face in his neck.

Ray was close behind and once they finally settled he set her back on her feet. Nora curled into his chest under the shower head and kissed him.

“I could get used to that.” Nora smiled up at him.

Ray ran his fingers through her wet hair. “I could too.” He kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Ray.”

He gestured towards his body wash. “I’m sorry I didn’t fabricate you any toiletries we should probably do that at some point… I mean… you were still wanting to stay?”

“Consider me your permanent roommate.” Nora wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “And that’s okay, smelling like you is literally not a bad thing.” She kissed him.

Ray took his time in washing her body, marveling that she was here and real and he could hold her and touch her. He also took the time to wash and condition her hair, running his fingers through the dark tendrils.

Nora has never felt so cared for. Besides every other moment she had spent with Ray. He took the time to wash her body, kiss every scar he found, give her an amazing scalp massage as he washed her hair for her, and she was a puddle of goo totally in love with Ray Palmer by the end of it. He had moved to start washing himself but she shook her head and tried her best (given their eight inch height difference) to return the favor. When all was said and done Nora pulled him in for a deep loving kiss, thanking him without words.

Now came the hard part: making their way down the hall to his room in towels without being seen. Ray poked his head out first, seeing the cost was clear and he nodded to Nora to follow behind. Nora padded down the hallway behind him, ducking behind corners in case anything that sounded like footsteps were heard.

They were almost to his room when they rounded the corner and saw Charlie waiting in front of his door.

Nora smacked into his backside and steadied herself.

Charlie smirked at the pair and raised an eyebrow. “Well uhh… looks like you had a good night.”

“Charlie this isn’t what it looks like.”

“You didn’t just shag in the shower after a night of shagging and now you’re trying to sneak back here without anyone noticing so you can shag some more?”

Ray hesitated and grimaced. “Well umm if you put it that way…”

“Please don’t tell anyone I’m on the ship, not if it puts Ray at risk.” Nora said.

Charlie waved her off. “It’s alright, mate, I ain’t gonna tell, Rayge here deserves to be happy and he’s talked about you enough for me to know that, that’s with you.”

Nora ducked her head. “I’m gonna head inside the room now.” She slid past both of them and entered ray’s room.

“Did you actually need something, Charlie?” Ray asked.

“No it can wait. Go get your girl.”

Ray smiled and walked into his room. “That was close. It went better than I thought.”

“I guess maybe it’s a magical fugitive thing to keep quiet about others?” Nora chuckled and went over to Ray. “I like being called “your girl” by the way. I overheard Charlie.”

“I mean… you’re not a possession Nora. You’re your own person.”

“I’m your person. And I hope you’re mine.” She pulled him down for a sweet kiss.

“I love you.” He kissed her forehead. He went to his closet and started getting ready. “I’m gonna go get you some more clothes just basics, dark jeans, dark shirts?”

“Maybe a sweater or two? I get cold easily.” She smiled.

“You could always borrow one of mine.”

Nora grinned and went to his closet toying with one of the sweaters. “Thanks umm yeah that’s about it. And undergarments if you’re comfortable…”

“Oh yeah no problem. Just basics colors?”

Nora nodded and pulled out a dark maroon sweater of his. “Yeah, sounds great.”

Ray leaned down and pecked her lips. “I’ll be right back!”

Nora sat on his bed in nothing but her towel. She stared at her surroundings, chuckling at her fallen nightgown in a crumpled pile with his pajamas. If she had her way, they’d never sleep in pajamas ever again.

Another few minutes passed and Ray came in with a stack of clothes and a bag of toiletries. Nora took them from him and sat them on the bed, not sure where else to put them. She looked at Ray who snapped his fingers and went over to what looked like a chest of drawers. He started shuffling things around and Nora finally went to him, peaking around his arm.

“What are you doing?”

“Ta-da!” Ray smiled. “You now have an entire drawer for your things!”

Nora’s throat constricted, confused at how such a small gesture could affect her this much. Nora pulled him by the back of his head and kissed him sweetly, not caring if the tears fell from her eyes at this point. “Thank you.” She pressed their foreheads together and pecked his lips once more.

Nora went and grabbed everything except what she wanted for her outfit that day and placed them in neat piles in the drawer. She walked back over to change into the outfit she’d picked: his maroon sweater she had claimed earlier, a pair of dark jeans, and her boots. The sweater swallowed Nora, to no one’s surprise, but it made Nora feel cozy and warm in more ways than just body temperature.

“I think you should keep that sweater, looks better on you than it ever has on me.” Ray sat on the bed chuckled and Nora stepped between his legs. “What would you like to do today, Nora Darhk?”

“Just be with you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

xxxx

“Alright, sit back, Miss Darhk, and I will make you the most nutritional breakfast of your entire life.” Ray smiled from his place at the counter and Nora watched from the island.

“You know what also works? Pancakes? A big stack of pancakes. With chocolate chips and whipped cream.” Nora rounded the island and hopping onto the island countertop.

Ray shook his head. “But you’ll have no energy like an hour after. Besides, I’m allergic to gluten.”

Nora furrowed her brows. “Well, I’m not and I’m hungry so I’m going to have pancakes.” She started to move off the counter to head to the food fabricator but Ray stepped between her legs.

“You’re right… you’re my guest and I’ll make you pancakes. I promise they’ll be better than Gideon’s.”

Nora wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. “With chocolate chips?”

“And whipped cream.”

Ten minutes later Ray was pouring the batter onto the skillet and Nora watched (intently) Ray cook. She’d never had a man cook for her before and it filled her with warm pleasant somersaults in her belly. Nora was now cross-legged on the island countertop, feeding herself whipped cream straight from the can.

“You’ll spoil your breakfast if you keep doing that.”

Nora rolled her eyes as Ray chastised her again. “You really like bossing people around the in kitchen.”

Ray turned around briefly while the first side of the pancake cooked. “I just want you to enjoy this time and if you get sick because you ate all that sugar, you won’t.”

Nora smirked at him and beckoned him over. “I already have the sweetest thing, I’m not sure how this could make me sick in comparison.” Nora crooked a finger for him to come even closer and he leaned in, ready to kiss her, when she grabbed the canister of whipped cream and sprayed some onto his nose.

Ray recoiled at the cold temperature but Nora brought him back and an kissed the whipped cream off his nose, making sure to lick it off as sensually as possible.

“You’re something else.” Ray gathered her in his arms.

Nora locked her legs around his waist and cupped the back of his neck. “I’m your something else.” Nora pulled him in for a deep kiss, ready to let the pancakes burn and let him have her for breakfast instead.

Ray pulled away, panicked. “The PANCAKES!” Ray turned to pull the burned pancakes off the griddle and turned around to Nora who was laughing at him. “I’m gonna get you, Nora Darhk.”

Nora pulled him back to her after he threw away the pancakes and kissed him deeply. “You already have me.”

xxxx

“Hey, Ray… I know you’re like best friends with Nate and all but… OH MY GOD.” Zari stopped in her track’s in Ray’s doorway as she gazed upon the sight of Nora Darhk, naked from at least the waist up, on her stomach, with tiny prince and princess figurines in her hands.

Nora turned her head slowly, keeping herself as covered as possible. “This isn’t what is looks like.”

“I don’t even know what I think it looks like.” Zari made a disgusted face. “What the hell are you doing here? You killed Nate’s dad!”

“I didn’t… it was a demon…”

“Poor Nate…” Zari furrowed her brows. “Okay but why are you here?”

“Well…”

Ray came rushing into the room, sliding just past Zari. “Hey… Zari… this isn’t what it looks like…”

“There’s a naked witch in your bed, Ray, what else could it possibly be?” Zari crossed her arms over her chest.

Ray glanced at Nora, noticing she had the prince and princess figurines from his castle set and cocked his head. “You know what, I’m really not sure but, Nora is safest here.”

“In your bed, you mean.” Zari cocked an eyebrow.

Nora covered herself and sat up in the bed. “She’s not wrong. It is comfy.”

Zari felt sick and looked at Ray. “What I was gonna ask you is not important. Nope… what’s important now is me going to erase this image from my brain.”

“Well… I guess… good luck with that.” Ray rubbed the back of his neck nervously and let out a relieved noise as Zari walked away and the door shut behind her.

Ray crawled onto the bed to her and pulled her into his lap. “What are you doing?” He asked, amusement in his voice.

Nora presented him with the figurines. “Making Princess Nora and Sir Raymond get married?”

Ray dropped a kiss to her shoulder and chuckled. “Naked?”

“Well… I was feeling a bit… frisky and so I wanted to like you know… give you a reward for working so hard in the lab when you got back but I also didn’t know when that would be so I kind of grabbed the figures to occupy myself.”

“Didn’t want to get started without me?” He continued to place kisses from her shoulder to her neck.

“Mmmm I didn’t know you coming back to that would be something you were interested in. I’ll know for next time.” Nora grinned and pulled away so she could kiss him full on the lips. “Hi.”

“Are you about to tell me I’m too overdressed?”

“We’ve been dating for a whole day and you can already read my mind.” Nora kissed him again, slower this time. “I love you.” She pressed her forehead against his.

“I love you too.” Ray smiled and pecked her lips once more.

“Now get naked.”

Ray chuckled against her lips. “Yes, ma’am.”

[ourmanifestoisfun]

4x12 episode thoughts

All right...so calling last week’s episode a breather ep was more apt than I anticipated.

Rebecca going off therapy in the flush of a new relationship - oh no. Though I am interested that they rerouted back to her rocky relationship with drugs again and her finally overcoming that. I was so proud of her by the end, resolving to go through and keep up the work for her BPD

Happy to see Dr Akopian again, even if this therapy session was a little more trying.

I’m glad she had fun at Raging Waters, but I really wish she had gone with Josh or her girls instead where they would have been able to have fun together. I appreciate that Greg wanted to be sweet and be with her somewhere she wanted to be, but I think this was the wrong venue to be unenthusiastic.

Greg was trying to be a good boyfriend too, asking her about how she was feeling, so that they can be healthy together, but there will still be ups and downs and I think they both miscalculated Raging Waters here.

I still feel like the Marco thing is kind of unresolved, so that kept sticking at the back of my mind, even when I didn’t want it to.

Costume detail: Rebecca’s Raging Waters shirt has a similar cut to her dress from Jayma’s wedding! Or it looked like one to me anyways.

“Leaving, that’s a classic Greg move” - OUCH

I liked “ova-ry-acting” though. Good word play.

“I Hate Everything But You” is AMAZING and Skylar Astin absolutely rocked it. Loved the sleeveless jean jacket and the leather jacket and the fact he cannot play a guitar. It was super cute.

“Case of the Mondays” - I just watched Office Space last week and laughed WAY too hard at seeing it come up again here. Must have been a Whitefeather thing.

I really liked Nathaniel showing concern for Paula, both by being way too blunt and also offering his office for her to rest.

Though...your uncle’s island for your bar, really, Nathaniel? As much as I appreciate that you appreciate that Paula is doing a lot of work, that is absurd.

Paula really didn’t look good, and I’m glad she had so many people in her life all trying to ask her to look after herself.

Female heart attack symptoms being different like that just utterly terrifies me. You can walk around with one for 18 hours? Yikes.

Scott really stepped up to the plate, pushing her to go to the doctor’s. Their marriage has gotten so much better over the last few seasons and I love every instance of it.

Also loved that Mrs Hernandez is mildly interested in seeing Paula topless. Also her advice on having gone through menopause herself - I love all of the inter-generational female friendships on this show

“I’m Not Sad, You’re Sad” sounds like a genre I listened to way too much of when I was in college. I did love the leather jacket look, even if I was sad about her mental state.

A billion drinks = three drinks. Story of my life.

Rebecca going to see Nathaniel was...all kinds of Not OK. The guy literally just told her a few weeks ago that he was letting her go, and then showing up on his doorstep and trying to talk him into sex by saying she still thought about him was a pretty low move.

Never expected to hear another reference to “Strip Away My Conscience” - that was a pleasant surprise, also made me laugh

“Who is the man of my dreams” - good episode title callback though, always happy to see it

It was pretty much guaranteed that Nathaniel was gonna turn her down, even beyond his “being a better person” thing, since all of the men on this show, even Trent, are good about consent, and Rebecca was clearly very drunk. 

But I did like that he seemed to realize pretty quickly that whatever Rebecca wanted wasn’t going to be something he was down for.

Rebecca attempting to seduce Josh - also so many shades of Not OK

I love that she’s still “theater girl” to him

I do love their friendship...still wondering if they are going to go try to do something by referring back to their relationship, but while Josh loves Rebecca as a friend (and he’s a good one! they make good friends), they just haven’t circled around to it yet. Will they? We do not know yet.

WHEN ARE THEY GONNA CIRCLE BACK TO THE JOSH/GREG THING? NEXT EP? I HOPE IT’S NEXT EP

Good to see Dr Shin again! Missed your handsome face.

“Darkness” - it’s a pretty song about something terrible, and honestly I am glad to hear Rebecca singing more again.

That ending scene between Rebecca and Paula was so lovely. They haven’t spent a whole lot of time together this season, but I always am happy to see them interacting and can’t wait to see what that means for next episode.

lol at there being two Dr Roths

While seeing Rebecca backslide was pretty surprising to me, I really liked how it was handled and the resolution for it.

[austencello]

The Longbow Hunters - Arrow Music Notes 7x02

Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle are each searching for Diaz and the Longbow Hunters in their own ways, each struggling with their desire for justice in the face of hard decisions.

This week, there were a few returning themes but a lot of new ones.  The tricky part with new themes is knowing whether they are just there for one episode or whether they will last longer with greater significance.  I guess we shall see!

Oliver

Much of the soundscape remains the same for Oliver in prison.  Darker elements with low bass, percussive beats, clanging bars.  As he leaves confinement (for beating up the guy from last week), the guard reminds him that though some people believes he is a hero, they both know better: he is a criminal like everyone else in the prison.  As the scene progresses, a new three note motif repeats in the higher electric guitar in contrast to the lower strings.  It is a bit of light in the darkness...for we know Oliver is a hero even if they do not. 

There are two moments where the soundscape returns to the Hood/Green Arrow fighting music without using his actual themes.  One of these is the WWGAD moment as Oliver takes out the lights and uses a computer for information with Stanley along as a sidekick (for his first Green Arrow mission).  Throughout the past seven years, numerous repetitive string patterns within a scale play as Oliver and the team fight, looking for intel,often in dangerous situations.  This is a new pattern but still matches within Arrow soundscape along with low brass notes, percussion, and electric guitar.  He is back doing what he does best for the sake of his family.

The second moment is when he gets rid of the guard his own way.  Brick and company want him to kill the guard but Oliver searches for alternative ways to get rid of him.  Finally, Oliver confronts the guard and then sets him up by stabbing himself, blaming the guard.  As this happens, brass (often used to indicate heroes) punctuates the scene along with the percussion.  Oliver found a way to get remove the guard without killing him.  Elements of the hero are still there, trying to do what is right while doing anything to protect his family.

Diggle and Felicity

The team reunites for food and wince now that Felicity has reemerged from Witness Protection.  They catch up, share ideas, and toast for being back together and bringing down Diaz.  As they toast, strings and a higher electronic sound plays an altered beginning of “I forgot who I was.”  This rhythmic variation was used back for Moira and Oliver in “Never Without Me” (2x20), a flashback of Moira telling Oliver that she will always be with him.  This theme is used for family in Oliver’s life as lies often pull it apart but always seeking to put it back together.  This is another instance where Oliver’s theme is being transferred to Felicity: seeking to bring her family back together. 

(little disclaimer: there is a small possibility that they are just using the same first 5 notes in a scale in the same order and there is no significance.  But I like to think that there is) 

The higher electronic sound is one used much more frequently over the past three years for Felicity and Curtis when they are working on computers both together and separately (4x03 “Not a Playing Card”).  This instrument returns as they discover the Longbow Hunters have come to Star City.  Electronics have also become much frequently used as one of  Felicity’s instruments as Overwatch especially after her stint with Helix in Season 5.  These sounds play with strings as she begs John to let her help ARGUS find the Longbow Hunters.

Almost all of her musical elements are back as she hacks Interpol to Curtis’ dismay: fun strings, electronics, waterglasses but the melody is not the same one used over the seasons: “Two Felicities” (4x12).  While Felicity feels much more herself hacking and finding information, she is still dealing with a lot of hurt and frustration being unable to find the man responsible for Oliver being in prison and attacking herself and William.

Felicity and Diggle both search the Longbow Hunters’ lair at the same time making them both very frustrated with each other.  Diggle tells Felicity that her old life is over and she needs to accept that.  Felicity is hurt and upset that John seems to have given up on Oliver and ignoring the mission Oliver asked him to take over.  As they have this painful talk, a new string melody and chords play that are unusual in its dissonant nature.  The majority of heart-felt talks throughout Arrow are often accompanied by strings (or piano with Oliver) and the majority stays within a minor scale.  Major often sounds too happy for Arrow and melodies including chromatic half-steps, or tri-tones are often saved for Nanda Parbat or villains (such as Cupid or the Suicide Squad).  To have this dissonance in a melody between two close friends show how much things have changed in their views and also emphasizes how alone Felicity is starting to feel in her need to bring Diaz down.

In their next talk, Diggle explains why he chose not to be the Green Arrow over synthesizer pads and strings.  He saw the sacrifice it required from Oliver and Felicity and their family and did not want to put his family through that.  As he shares that he believes he is still honoring Oliver’s mission without the hood, Diggle’s motif (1x20 “No show”) in the horn plays.  It plays again as Felicity answers that she respects that decision but while Diaz is still out there, Oliver’s sacrifice will have been for nothing. The Diggle theme then plays twice as he waits for the Longbow Hunters on the train and then enters the train. 

While they were able to retrieve the battery weapon, Diaz got away.  Felicity recognizes that Diggle was honoring Oliver’s mission by keeping the world safer as piano (Oliver’s instrument) begins to play.  However, she needs to find someone who can fully focus on finding Diaz and leaves Diggle and Curtis with strings, piano, and water-glasses playing in the background.

At the end, it is revealed that Felicity turns to Samanda Watson and the FBI, calling her out for the deal that Oliver made, telling her that it is her turn to hold up her side by finding Diaz while guitar harmonics (Oliver’s instrument), percussion, and string patterns build up the tension, ending with the horn hero 1 theme.  This motif and music is often used for finishing an Arrow episode but it is also very much Oliver’s theme.  Felicity is taking up her husband’s mantle, not in a Green Hood and with arrows, but in finding justice and taking down Ricardo Diaz.

William and Roy flash-forwards

Roy and William catch up over a camp-fire with William telling Roy that Oliver and Felicity had abandoned him.  As he shares this, high electronics and strings reminiscent of “Someone You Love” (3x12) and “My Whole World Exploded” (4x08) play.  It is a sound of being left behind and the cost of those not loving you enough to tell the truth, to be with you.  A cello repetitive three note pattern begins as William reveals the GPS coordinates that went off in the hozen that led him to the Island and Roy.

Later on, Roy notices William was still around after telling him to go home.  William asks what happened with Thea and Roy shuts it down not wanting to talk about the past as his horn theme plays slowly (2x02 “Try Roy Try”).  William is persistent, insisting that the hozen led him to Roy.  Roy admits that he knows where that goes and they dig up a box/grave. As they open the box, music from the Arrow themes and instruments from the pilot plays: Oliver’s hero theme 1 in the horn, hammered dulcimer, guitar harmonics and electronics for Lian Yu.  This is clearly Oliver’s bow back on Lian Yu and now his son is picking it up.

Extra Notes:

-Diaz’s low string theme returns (first heard in 6x19) as Diggle begins to fight him on the train and then again as the train car is separated. 

-The Longbow Hunters and their theme were introduced in this episode with a high electronic theme, almost distorted.  The sound effect of the Silencer was very cool making it sound like everything was under water excepting some high held notes.

- One of the first intervals for the first Canary (Sara) and Dinah is an ascending 5th.  This appeared with different notes following as Black Siren intends to find Diaz and kill him, with Dinah right next to her trying to protect her.

- This review was my attempt at keeping things short.  LOL

- The Arrow soundtrack for Season 6 did not release this past week.  I don’t know when the new release day is but I will keep my eyes and ears open.

@ah-maa-zing @smoakmonster @mel-loves-all @scu11y22 @almondblossomme @green-arrows-of-karamel @herskirtsarentthatshort @academyofshipping @withgraceandlight99 @jorahandal @pulpklatura

[aspiestvmusings]

SCORPION: ”PARALLELS”- S4 FINALE VERSUS OTHER EPS

AN “ANALYSIS” POST... THAT IS INCOMPLETE:

SEASON 4/S4 FINALE  VS PAST SEASONS/EPS/S3 FINALE: 

in S4 finale (a lie in the sand) we get Walt being “buried alive”under sand...and the team digging him up VS in S3 finale we have Ralph & Scotty being buried alive and being rescued by the team 

in S3 finale we have a parents/kids theme and a guest character (Scotty,the PIlot) protecting Ralph while a team member/Paige thanking them for it VS in S4 penultimate ep, 4x21 we have parents/kids theme and a guest character (Kenny’s dad) protecting Ralph  while the team/Paige is protecting theirs (Kenny). Even the lines spoken by characters are almost identical at one point. 

in S4 finale we have the team divided and working against each other... in he end  VS in  S3 finale we have a team divided and Sly and Ralph addressing the issue, and all agreeing that the team is the best when working together, united, not in parts/divided. The same plot with minor changes. So...Scorpion is a team divided #SlyPredictedThis

in S4 finale we have Ralph missing (with no mentions of him) throughout the episode.. as the team is fighting/splitting up/divided VS in S3 finale we have Ralph “missing” and working alone to save them and reunite the team (when he “steals” the crank & goes to the beach & then later his speech about their childish behaviour) 

in S4 finale we have an actual 2 week timejump in the end... between the team split and the reveal of 2 teams (The Gettleman Pitch)   VS in S3 finale we have a promise of a 2-week time jump & vacation time for all team members, when Quintis say they are taking their honeymoon time off now... and not to be contacted for 2 weeks  

in S4 finale we have a theme of keeping secrets (again..like in many eps/during many plots in the past: S1/S1 end plot:1x21 Walt/Cabe and Baghdad, S2 finale/ep 304: secret green-card marriage, S3: 303/322 space love confession, S3 finale “i have a past”) 

in S4 (season 4B: eps 417, 419, 421) Sly is engineering a water filter system that gives you drinking water purer than the LA tap water VS in S3 finale Walt/Happy/The Team engineer a water pumping system which gives them cleaner driningwaterthan LA has. 

in S4 finale we hear about Sly’s writing, about his pen-pal Alex and his letters to him, where he bends the truth a bit VS in S3 finale we see Sly writing.. a journal/book.. about their island adventures. While on the island,and after... Sly is the narrator of the story here. #SlyTheStoryTeller

in S4 finale Paige comments that Walt’s EQ went from ”age 9″ when they met in 2014 and she started coaching him to “age 15″ (or so)... now. This fits with my estimate that Ralph was 9, when the show started/we met him & would be around 15 in he series finale...if there was a 6-season plan for the show...

OTHER SMALL DETAILS: 

Walter and head injuries: S1 finale/S2 premiere car accident, 2x19 car crash (”I have a bump”), 3x03 major trauma (spacefall), 3x22 hitting his head (fall in the biodome), 4x02 inhaling toxins, 4x12 head trauma (fall from stairs), 4x16 injuries from jumping from a chopper/building.... to name the biggest”head bumps” 

S4 premiere starts seemingly right after s3 left off, and it starts with  Walt daydreaming... (the musical number) only... is he? Because later in the episode 401-402 he has similar visions, only now it’s “hallucinations” due to the toxic gas inhaled 

in the S3 finale a radio plays a part in the ”how to get off this island” plan. The RADIO EXPERT and ex team-member is one Mark Collins. 

Flo’s speciality is CHEMISTRY! 

Collins setup the doubt in Walt & Paige’s (teams) minds in S4 premiere about their differences and they voiced their concerns regarding it all in season 4A. In season 4B he was “forgotten” (no mentions of him since the trial, no mentions of CLAM, no nothing... quiet before the storm), and the IQ/EQ issue was re-set with another plot for some reason...instead of using the original seed of doubt (do they really think the audience’s memory span is that short that they can’t use the premiere idea to lead to the finale reveal... even if the man himself can’t be present?) Why the double re-set? 

Biggest mysteries of S4 finale: why not bring fuel (at least ”emergency” amount) with them  from the US if time is of the essence & “fuel is running out”? Why, as usual with this team, go into unpredictable situations, unprepared? (answer: then the “suspense” of the “mission” would not happen for regular viewer... who get sucked into the story...)

Biggest mysteries of S4 finale: What purpose (other than the writers really not knowing what to write and hence going back to the most boring plot device.. creating a sort of love triangle... even if fake.. like Chet/Happy/Toby was in s2... ) did Flo’s “confession” about developing feelings have? None...besides used as a plot device.. either for the “loved-by-TV-writers-but-actually-most-boring-and-uninteresting-plot”  and/or to just make the waitress more insecure OR an actual twist reveal setup. (this goes together with: Why would mr. 197 include the chemist in the new team...other than it’s most convenient and wanting to hurt the waitress back..aka more childish behaviour from both sides... and why did everything seem so perfectly in place... as if it was all planned?

There are ton of small fun “parallels”and “similarities” between S4 and past episodes, and between just eps in general... Use of same themes, same plots... (as usual for network TV... things get “repeated”)

[callistawolf]

Best in Five (vol. 2)

So last year I did a “Best in Five” post for episodes 1-10, covering seasons 1-5. I promised I’d do another post for episodes 11-23 after season 5 finished. But when season 5 finished, I took the whole “hiatus” thing a little too seriously and just... enjoyed a little break. For five months. 

Now, tonight, Arrow is back on our TVs and I really need to do this post. This list was really difficult. Because so many episodes were so good. And so many were SO BAD (honestly, Arrow has an ep 11-19 problem). SO. Here goes. 

Best Episode 11

4x11: A.W.O.L.

This one was easy. 4x11 was an amazing episode for Felicity, as a character. We saw her struggling with her disability, her feelings of self doubt. The scenes with her hallucinating her goth, college self were incredible. 4b was a mess, not gonna lie, but 4x11 was a shining star of an episode. And Arrow rarely has a particularly remarkable episode 11. 

Best Episode 12

1x12: Vertigo

I was almost tempted to select 4x12, but 1x12 is just iconic. First you have the infamous “if it’s an energy drink, why is it in a syringe” scene and then you have this amazingly intimate moment where the bond between these two is really being forged. The trust is established. This was groundwork and a beautiful episode. 

Best Episode 13

4x13: Sins of the Father

This was hard because Arrow never has a really good episode 13. But I gave it to season 4 if just for the scene depicted in the gif above. Oliver and Felicity telling each other they just want to get married, that a big fancy wedding isn’t important to them. That’s gonna come up again this year, folks. Plus, how precious is that kiss? 

Best Episode 14

1x14: The Odyssey

I really like 4x14 with the engagement party but... how do you beat the origin of #OTA? You don’t. This is where Arrow became Arrow. We got to see Diggle and Felicity really interact and bond, Felicity was brought into the secret (and the lair), the team was formed and all was right with the world. I’ll always love this episode because it really set Arrow on the trajectory that launched it from mere comic book show to something else. Something more. 

Best Episode 15

1x15: The Dodger

If 1x14 was iconic because of the origin of #OTA, then 1x15 is iconic because we get to see #OTA truly in action together. Down in the lair, hanging at Big Belly, taking down a bad guy, teasing, getting shit done and generally being awesome. Plus it’s the first time we really got to witness Olicity chemistry being put to use and it. did. not. disappoint. Look at that sizzle in that gif. And then when Oliver sees her in the gold dress? Wow. 

Best Episode 16

3x16: The Offer

I feel like this episode gave us everything we wanted to see from the whole “Felicity dates someone else while Oliver is painfully in love with her” storyline we were promised. It’s a shame that we really only got one episode of it, but it was done so well. I really did not like 3x15. 3x16 reminded me what I was waiting for in a great way. 

Best Episode 17

5x17: Kapiushon

WOOOOOOW. This episode was visceral. Season 5 was hard, but late 5b is when things really picked up. An argument can be made for the turn around really happening in 5x16 (which I did enjoy) but 5x17 really made me understand what the season was about. It played out Adrian as the villain, Oliver as the broken man and set up the last episodes so perfectly. This is when I got excited for the rest of the season. About time! 

Best Episode 18

3x18: Public Enemy

It was difficult to pick an episode 18 that I liked. Cuz most of them are.... meh. BUT. I picked this one because of the infamous jello scene and Donna cutting through the bullshit and telling Felicity she doesn’t love Ray because she loves Oliver. It wasn’t the breakup (yet) but it was the beginning of that particular end. Plus, Roy giving himself up for Oliver set off a stunning sequence of events that quite literally had me sitting on the edge of my seat. 

Best Episode 19

5x19: Dangerous Liaisons

Felicity vs. Oliver. We needed to have this episode. It was brutal but in the best way and I gotta say, I loved every second of it. Plus, Felicity went into the field which is always something I enjoy. But to be against Oliver in the field? Injected a level of tension and anticipation (and frankly delight) that really set this episode apart. These two finally getting to the heart of their issues was such a long time coming. Plus I loved the setup of Caden James as a future threat. 

Best Episode 20

5x20: Underneath

GAHHHHHH. Okay so episode 20 is almost always fantastic. And it’s really hard to beat 3x20 in my opinion. That was my favorite episode for a long, long time. BUT. 5x20 did it. The flashbacks were so good (and hot) and the present day gave us everything we so desperately needed to see. Plus all the #OTA goodness (that elevator stunt! DIG IS THE MAN!) just had me screaming with delight. This will probably be my favorite episode for a long time. (Feel free to see that as a challenge, Arrow.)

Best Episode 21

1x21: The Undertaking

It’s almost impossible to beat the underground casino episode. Plus it was a near pitch perfect ramping up of the climax in season 1. I didn’t dig the LL scenes in this episode, but I can squint and look past it and realize that they just served the business of setting up the perfect storm that took place in the finale. Plus, Felicity looked like straight fire in this episode and “it feels really good having you inside me” is one of the best lines I’ve ever heard her say. 

Best Episode 22

2x22: Streets of Fire

The last three episodes of season 2 are basically like one big movie, in my opinion. And it’s hard to pick a favorite episode out of those three episodes. But even with the “he took the wrong woman” moment from 2x23, I think I have to give the edge to 2x22 instead. There was that van accident and Oliver carrying Felicity (even with his bum knee!). There was the scene in the clock tower that was basically laying out the core tenants of why Olicity is the best ship on the CW today. He is not alone. She believes in him. THAT HUG. THE LIGHT. How can you not love this? Impossible. You must love it. 

Best Episode 23

5x23: Lian Yu

Again, this was difficult. I really like 2x23. But I’m (still) annoyed the cut the kiss and let us all think it was a ruse. Rude. I also really like 3x23. But they didn’t give us a kiss (AGAIN) and there was something off about Oliver being willing to turn his back on his vocation as a hero, even if it was to leave town with Felicity. We don’t talk about 4x23. 5x23 not only gave me the kiss I desperately needed (and it was with him in the Arrow suit!!), but everything else in the episode was SO. DAMN. AMAZING. The conflicts, the fight scenes, the EMOTION of everything. Oliver finally found himself and saved his son and... well the island went up in flames, but you can’t win them all, can you? 

So tonight we see what happened after the island went up in flames. Who lives who dies and who tells the story (of tonight)? I can’t wait. I’m so excited for season 6. I do think this has the potential to be the best season of Arrow yet. SO much good stuff coming up. I literally can’t even get upset right now. We made it, fam! 

[ninewheels]

NineWheels Rewatches Lost 4x12-14 “There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 1-3”

MOOOOOVE EEEEEV’RY ISLAAAAAAAAAND

That’s a little something for my girlfriend, since that’s what goes through her head when she thinks about this episode. She only watched Lost the one time and doesn’t remember a lot of it, but she remembers this finale--and in particular the Moving of the Island--as a moment of grand ridiculousness, on a level that could only have been perfected by turning it into a musical.

For all that I enjoy the show overall more than she does, she’s not wrong. (Also I have now have a great desire to write a musical parody of Lost. This will probably come to nothing, but it’s really perfect material.)

It’s moments like this when you really have to appreciate what a gift Michael Emerson was to this show, because he’s so goddamn good at selling even the most outrageous of plot points. He talks about moving the island and you just believe him. Or rather, if you don’t, it’s also because you’re aware he could be lying. Emerson’s acting is so good that it enforces the idea that Ben is a master of deception, and why even people who know he’s not trustworthy can still be fooled by him.

People have remarked upon the unfortunate racial optics here: Michael is a black man (the last one left on the show in a regular role at this point) whose crimes and redemption leaves his young son fatherless, and who winds up dead and never even gets to have a warm and fuzzy reunion with his former friends in the season 6 afterlife. It’s awkward. Honestly I find his arc this season rather perfunctory all over. It’s like they wrote him off the show with no plan on how to pay off his story, but they knew they had to, so it’s a pretty uncomplicated “I fucked up and killed people so I have to be redeemed in death” situation. I also wonder how much of the thinness of his character comes from most people just disliking him for his betrayal, like the writers thought nobody would be invested in a more complex and nuanced take on his redemption arc.

There’s the interesting thing about redemption arcs: audiences find them a lot easier to swallow when they come from somebody they first knew as a villain then when they concern characters who made a major heel turn and are face turning back. Like, everybody loves Ben. Nobody really cried foul when they gave him a redemption arc--hell, he almost gets to move on to the next after-life with the rest of the heroes, though the writers were self-aware enough to recognize that would’ve been a step too far. But getting to be warm and fuzzy with Michael was going to be a tougher sell for some reason. I mean, let’s be real here, part of this is also because A) Ben is just a more compelling character (than anybody on the show), and 2) because of subconscious racial bias.

This is another season finale all-skate, but “all” in this sense meaning “all the Oceanic Six”. Yeah, Claire not getting an episode just fits the pattern, but the fact that they ran out of room to do a Sawyer episode is what surprises me. I mean, you’ve got to do the Oceanic 6, Michael’s on his way out, Locke’s got lore to fill in, the new series regulars all bunch up and share a single, Desmond and Ben were fan-favorites already, and I guess they decided that they’d already backstoried Sawyer up as much as they needed to, whereas they still had one really strong flashback opportunity for Juliet. This season was cut short by a few episodes due to the timing of the writers’ strike. Anyway, lord knows they make up for it with a lot of Sawyer focus next season.

[shefollowedfires]

In Defense of a Death Wish: Abby Griffin

(TW: Suicide, Depression) Listen, I was as shocked as all of you when Abby “Let’s Call It Hope” Griffin asked Marcus Kane to let her die. It came out of left field. It had JRoth’s brand of Shock Value™ written all over it. But... was it OOC? I honestly don’t think so. In fact, it’s my personal opinion that it might be the most refreshing evidence of character development (and, god forbid, an actual arc) Paige Turco has gotten to play with in far too long. Now, I gotta put a disclaimer, here - it makes me extremely uncomfortable to agree with, let alone defend the decisions this show makes for its characters, especially Abby. This season in particular was excruciating to watch as the integrity of her character was repeatedly brutalized. So, no, I’m not going to argue that I trust the writers, per se. And I’m definitely not going to argue that this was their plan all along. What I will argue is that they did, actually, piece it together with the help of a  sleeping giant they found amid the landscape of Abby’s character: Just because she can see the light doesn’t mean she doesn’t know the darkness.

She’s often billed (sometimes by the actors themselves) as “the constant”, the one who steadfastly clings to her values and therefore anchors the rest of the characters in their struggles to find their own.  But what I, personally, love most about Abby is that all of these romantic notions she preaches, such as her faith in humanity - they’re earned. They’re not flimsy declarations borne out of ignorance. They have weight because she has gone through her own struggle, dug deep into the worst of herself, and then had the courage to challenge it and pull herself back up. But my god, as a stubborn idealist myself, I can tell you - that shit is exhausting. There isn’t a whole lot to support a positive belief system in our world, let alone a world where apocalypse and the literal end of humanity are frequently the order of the day. So it’s (understandably) the rational choice to be a cynic instead - leaving people like Abby to be the minority. Being an idealist is lonely as shit, y’all - it takes an unfair degree of stamina to uphold, which I don’t doubt that Abby has. But having her ideals, her vision of the future, constantly challenged... you can’t tell me that hasn’t taken its toll. Here’s why: Abby “Hope is Everything” Griffin? She can be pretty fucking bleak.   In 1x05, after the Culling has been carried out - she’s been alone in her cell, has had time to think, and... she’s come to the conclusion that maybe the gift of another chance would be wasted on them:

Then, perhaps most strikingly, we see this come up again in 2x13; where she’s come face to face with every sin she’s ever committed and the repercussions they’ve had on the next generation. She’s gotten a taste of what her legacy might be, and she’s not sure she wants it:

The heartbreaking thing about this episode (okay, one of many) is that if they’d just stopped with hers and Marcus’ miraculous rescue, she might have taken that as a sign that her faith was well-placed after all. But, unfortunately, this is The 100, so that lasts about a hot second before...

Sigh. Whatever faith she had in the goodness of humanity is run through the damn shredder, with her being directly exposed to the extreme cruelty mankind is capable of - from both sides - for the sake of survival. Season 3 is a little kinder to her, in this respect - albeit, largely because she just... wasn’t.... used.... I’m not bitter. But! Those three months of peace did her a lot of good. Not to mention she’s had Marcus by her side to be a source of strength for her that she didn’t have before - this is so important. And not only does he support her and take care of her - he’s slowly started adopting her beliefs. She has a fellow idealist! She’s rejuvenated by this enough to be able to face the situations with both Pike and Jaha, her own people (and even her daughter, arguably) turning against her, and still be a pillar of encouragement for others. But then. She faces losing Marcus, her support. And suddenly the burden of being the one to “show them the way out of the dark” is hers alone - the weight of which she doesn’t resent for a second, but... that doesn’t make it any lighter?? And she’s been here before, but she’s been through so much more since the last time, and.... she’s starting to lose steam. So, we get this:

And like, Marcus ends up surviving, and he loves her, and all is well - but again, it’s for a hot fucking second, this time before she’s subjected to some of the worst of Jaha’s manipulations to get her to take the chip. From there, we all know the atrocities that she and everyone else were forced to do under ALIE’s control, and we know how much pain she was in when she woke up, but... I’m not going to argue that as being connected to my case here bc that’s just... yaknow... a natural response to the situation. So we’re just gonna go ahead and skip to S4 - because while yes, everyone was angsting hard, the show did make a point of showing that it might be weighing a little more heavily on Abby:

”We focus on what comes next,” Marcus says, reassuring her. And what, exactly, comes next? There is nothing more straining to an idealist than being forced to reduce their expectations. Back in S1, Abby might have had a vision of the future where humanity thrived, working together towards progress and a better world than the one they’d said goodbye to a near-century earlier. She might have nurtured prayers that love would finally win, that even the severity of life on the Ark would be a distant memory amongst the freedom to flourish that they’d find on the ground. They’d learn from their mistakes, and as early as to be within her own lifetime, she’d get to see the rise of the absolute best of humanity.   Instead, she finds herself tasked with committing imitations of some of the worst things she’s found mankind to be capable of. The things that she herself has been victim to. The things that have chipped away at her spirit - she’s now doing them to herself. So what is her vision of the future now?

Instead of a bright, brilliant, innovative future for humanity to thrive in... she just wants to be able to take her next breath. Talk about shrinking down. This is a management of expectations that everyone this season has had to do, but once again, it weighs a little bit more heavily on Abby, because "your humanity is your greatest strength” - it’s literally the most fundamental part of her character, and she’s being forced to put it aside just to get to tomorrow. All while she’s in a strange lab on a strange island miles from anything familiar, working to accomplish an impossible scientific feat to literally save all of mankind. And she has brain damage. But because of the pressure of all of the above, she doesn’t feel like she has the time or energy to deal with it; and in pushing forward, she isolates herself from those who might have been a support to her. The task at hand, ethically-ambiguous as it is, becomes the only thing that matters, above even minimal self-care like, yaknow, sleeping. Because of The Cause™. And then she starts saying shit like this:

Like..... when Clarke “I Am Become Death” Griffin is like “EASY THERE, EDGELORD”...... you know things are bad. But then, after all of her sacrifice - the all-important Cause turns out to be a loss. The serum doesn’t work. An innocent man dies horrifically. She’s been completely betrayed by her goal. And then The Cause brings death to hang low over her daughter’s life - and Abby suddenly breaks.   So, too, does her faith in the future. Her faith in humanity. Her faith in herself. What does she have left? With 4x11 comes an opportunity for her to come back to herself; if she can rescue Marcus, she can “do better than you did yesterday”. She can give a future to the innocent Grounders they’d selfishly locked out. Maybe there’s still peace to be found between all their peoples. Maybe doing the right thing is still possible. Only.... doing the right thing ends up sending 364 people to their deaths. Now, at this point, I’m gonna come back to the brain damage and just say that I absolutely think it was a huge fucking part of why she wanted to sacrifice herself. Why would she waste a spot if she’s only going to die in a few weeks anyway? Only - at the beginning of 4x12, long before Abby makes her decision, Raven tells her that death isn’t imminent, after all. There’s a cure. But Abby isn’t interested in pursuing it; still keeps Marcus in the dark about it. She sends her daughter out on a doomed mission, and her goodbye feels final. This is where we finally arrive at The Scene. If you trace back through all of the examples I’ve laid out, here, the language Abby uses suddenly makes sense: - “Is it right, Marcus?” - “The things I let myself do in that lab...” - Why “we will find our humanity again” wasn’t enough This isn’t the language of someone nobly covering up their illness - this is a very raw, very honest Abby. And the line that strikes me hardest is this:

This, to me, is the key to this shocking, “out of the blue” decision. Being Abby Griffin used to mean something; but the continual sacrifice of her humanity, her most core value, has taken its toll. She doesn’t know how to steer herself without it. She doesn’t know where she’s even headed, and if she really wants to go there. She’s fucking tired. And even if it does end up being a positive future, she has thoroughly convinced herself over the course of four seasons that she really doesn’t deserve to see it. But. There’s so much more to Abby than disillusionment - as I know you’ve quietly been arguing at me in your head while reading this post. Trust me, I hear you. Our girl is resilient as fuck. She always picks herself back up. And she’s going to do it again - but now that she’s hit rock bottom, it might take her a little while longer. And frankly, I do actually hope it’s a primary thread in her S5 arc?? I’m excited to see that journey play out as the quest to rebuild humanity gets a fresh start. Its already been suggested that S5 is going to center around a theme of whether or not humanity deserves that chance; and I would be so fucking thrilled if Abby got to be at the heart of that, from the perspective of someone who was once a believer who now needs to have her old faith restored. I’m excited to see Marcus be instrumental in that, swapping roles to take up the mantle of being the idealist in that relationship. I’m excited to see how it shapes her relationship with Clarke, who has now spent years nurturing hope for the sake of a “daughter” of her own. I’m excited to see other people support her the way she’s supported them. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be challenging. It’s going to be beautiful. We’re going to get to watch Abby Griffin come back to life.  

[alwaysaprille]

I'm sort of torn on Raven's "She saved us again"? It's like from a character standpoint, I get it. Their friend just "died", so of course they would elevate her. But it still sort of feels like the writers hitting me over the head with "Clarke is THE hero always". When the reality is that Raven has been the one to save their asses in basically every finale. I don't know, it just felt sort of eye-rolly and like JRoth's "Clarke single-handedly took down the mountain" during S2 hiatus.

Alright, Nonny. Let’s get down to business (to defeat….the Huns!).

The actual reality is that there has never been ONE hero in ANY season and no this isn’t me trying to downplay Raven to boost up Clarke because I “hate WOC”. Let me explain the Bravenlarke of it all:

We talk about the Core Four all the time, but in reality the actual core of our show rests on Bellamy, Clarke and Raven (Octavia is usually included in the Core Four, but for the most part her story is almost always separate from the main cast until the very end of the Season). Let’s begin our exploration with Season 1:

We know how the Season 1 finale ends, with the Delinquents closing the Dropship door and “blasting off”, but who actually made it happen? Lots of us would say Raven because, well…she is the genius, but when did the actual idea come into play?

Clarke: “It can’t be that simple. You said there’s fuel in those rockets, right?”

Raven: “Enough to build 100 bombs. I also said we’ve got no gunpowder left.”

Clarke: “I don’t want to build a bomb. I want to blast off.”

Raven: “Draw them in close. Fire the rockets. A ring of fire.”

Bellamy: “Barbecued grounders. I like it.” 

Finn: “Will it work?”

Raven: “The wiring’s a mess down there, but yeah. You give me enough time, I’ll cook them real good.”Clarke has the idea. If she’d never had the idea would they ever have been able to stop the Grounders?

Bellamy runs the physical side of things as the leader of the gunners to get Raven the time she needs to wire up the Dropship. 

Raven implements the idea by walking Clarke through the steps (because she is too wounded to do it herself). Jasper does have to complete the job because Raven has passed out, but Raven does most of the setup. 

The Season 1 finale was a 3 part save. It’s not Raven who saves their asses, it’s all three of them.

On to Season 2:

The plan to take down the Mountain once again utilized Bravenlarke (with some Monty actually). This might have been harder to recognize because it happened over the course of several episodes. The plan goes into action in 2x09 when Clarke reverses her original refusal to let Bellamy go into the Mountain and decides “It’s worth the risk”, although at the time, we don’t see it that way:

Bellamy: “We need to do this now. You’ve got the alliance. Now is the time to use it.”

Clarke: “First, we need an inside man. You were right. Without someone on the inside to lower their defenses, turn off the acid fog, an army is useless. You should go.”

Bellamy: “I thought you hated that plan, that I would get myself killed.”

Clarke: “I was being weak. It’s worth the risk. My map of Mount Weather. Find a way to get on that radio and talk to us. Good luck.”

The idea to shut down the Acid Fog is initially Clarke’s, but is accomplished with help from Raven(Wick) and Bellamy in 2x14:

Raven: “Wait. Corrosion. The protective oxide film would have to be restored in tanks this old. They’d need to be cleaned.”

Wick: “And neutralized. Bellamy, go to that subdirectory. See if there’s anything there that says “passivation."”

Bellamy: “Ok. I’m on it. Got it. Says, uh, "aqueous sodium hydroxide bath."”

Wick: “That’s a base. That’ll neutralize the acid. Select that.”

Bellamy: “It’s doing something.”

Raven: “You should be able to hear the pump.”

 Bellamy: “I can hear them. Needle’s moving. pH is rising. It’s working.  Passivation success.”

 Raven and Wick: “Yes!”

As we know, the Mountain discovers the tampering and reverse the Passivation so Bellamy winds up having to blow up the acid, but the initial plan was Clarke’s idea, Bellamy doing the work, Raven(and Wick) walking Bellamy through implementing the idea. 

In the end, the final save actually comes down to Bellamy, Clarke and Monty (because Raven is being harvested). I actually think Monty temporarily replacing Raven in the Season 2 finale is because they were originally going to develop Wicken in such a way that they needed the extra development that the harvesting scene gave them.

Clarke: “Monty, can you do it? Can you irradiate the level?”

Monty: “I can do it.”

A bit later:Clarke: “Why are you stopping?”

Monty: “Because I did it. All we have to do… is pull this. Hatches and vents will open, and the scrubbers reverse, pulling in outside air”

Bellamy: “He’s gonna blow the door. Clarke, we’re out of time.”

Bellamy: “My sister. My responsibility.”

Clarke: “I have to save them.”

Bellamy: “Together.”

So again, a 3 part save, not just Raven.

Clarke has the idea to irradiate the Mountain and pulls the lever.

Bellamy spends the Season as the inside man, disables the acid fog and helps pull the lever.

Monty implements the idea by setting up the Mountain for irradiation. 

Let’s discuss Season 3:

The Season 3 save was, again, a Bravenlarke combo. Let’s break down why:

Clarke: “Good. Then we have time.”

Murphy: “What we don't have is a way down.”

Bellamy: “Time for what?”

Clarke: “An Ascension ceremony.”

Murphy:  “Ascension? You just said Ontari wasn't an option. Besides, she's still chipped, and we no longer have an EMP.”

 Clarke: “We're not putting the Flame in Ontari's head. We're putting it in mine.”

Bellamy: “Clarke, that thing killed Emerson in seconds, liquefied his brain.”

Clarke: “Emerson wasn't connected to a Nightblood.”

 Pike: “Transfusion?”

Clarke: “Not exactly.”

Abby: “Connected like Mount Weather.”

Clarke: “Yes. Everything we need is in your med kit”

Abby:.”No. It's too dangerous, and there are too many variables.”

Clarke: “But no options.”

Then, after Clarke has taken the Flame:

Bellamy: “I believe you.”

Abby: “Do you even know what you're looking for?”

Clarke: “I'll know when I find it.”

Abby: “May we meet again.”

Clarke: “We will.”

Bellamy: “We'll keep you safe.”

And, in the City of Light:

It’s Raven who reveals the door to the kill switch and, when Clarke doesn’t open it immediately, paints her raven across it. 

So once again, this is not just Raven at work

Clarke has the idea to take the Flame herself (and even the how-Mt. Weather blood recycling), and taking the Flame is how she knows she needs to take the Chip.

Bellamy leads the guard for Clarke’s physical form, giving her time to complete her mission, with Abby as the last line of defense.

Raven uses her ALIE super brain to read the code, discover that Clarke is inside the City of Light, where she is and that she needs help, then provides that help to her. 

And we’re on to our latest Season, 4! And, as I’m sure you’ve picked up on the pattern, Bravenlarke is back at it again, we arrive in 4x12 to:

Bellamy: “Clarke, unless I am missing something, there is no other way for all of us to survive.”

Clarke: “What if there is?”

Skip forward to the Space Squad Seven (Plus Clarke) arriving on Science Island:

Raven: “But there’s no time to go back.”

Clarke: “We’re not going back. We’re going up.”

Murphy: “Ah, don’t look so surprised. It was all your idea to begin with.” (Speaking of Raven’s desire to commit suicide by space, however Clarke is still the person who has the idea to actually live on the Ring).

Raven: “Space? We don’t have enough fuel to get down.”

Harper: “Sounds like a 5-year problem to me.”

Raven: “You’re (said to Clarke) talking about the Ring.”

Bellamy: “Seems like a shame to let a good rocket go to waste.”

Raven: “How do we live?”

Clarke: “They left a water reclamator up there and we know that Go-Sci has an algae farm. We just get those two things up and running and we have food and water.”

Murphy: “Algae salads and recycle urine. Sign me up.”

Emori: “Better than dying.”

Murphy: “Yeah, you say that now.”

Raven: “All right. Slow down. Breathing’s important, too. What’s the plan for oxygen?”

Monty: “Based on what Murphy says about the Lighthouse Bunker, I’m guessing-make that praying-there’s an oxygenator there. We take it with us. You hook it up. Bob’s your uncle.”

Raven: “You’re an engineer, Monty. You do know there’s about a thousand things wrong with that plan, right?”

Monty: “Yes, and every one of them kills us. Of course, staying here will kill us, too, so-”

Bellamy: “Raven, we need you to get us off the ground before the death wave hits. What do you say? Can you do it?”

Raven: “What do I say? I say that death wave can kiss my ass.”

Clarke: “Good. It’s settled then. We’re going back to the Ark.”

Now we’re going to finish this bit of evidence up with 4x13, I’m not going to pull quotes on this one, because the finale should be fresh in our minds as it wasn’t even two weeks ago, I’m just going to do the wrap up:

Clarke has the idea to return to space and even figures out how they’ll supply themselves with food and water once they make it up there and makes sure that the uplink is ready for the rocket when they arrive. 

Bellamy is responsible for inspiring the masses (Raven and Echo specifically this episode) and ultimately making the hard call and choosing to close the door on Clarke instead of waiting. 

Raven uses her non-ALIE powered but still super brain to figure out how to turn a 2-seater into an 8-seater, run the flight check, pilot them to the ring and get them into the hanger bay. 

So when Raven says “She saved us again.” She’s not wrong. If Clarke had not had the idea to go to Space in the first place, everyone except for her would have died. If she hadn’t chosen to make the sacrifice and stay behind, physically moving that satellite dish to make sure the Ark was up, the ones who did manage to make it into space would have died.

Consistently, every Season, the finale save has always been a combination of Head (Clarke), Heart (Bellamy) and Guts (Raven) saving the day, but so many of y’all would rather look at it as Clarke being elevated, or a fandom being racist against a WOC (Raven), or (if you’re a Br/ven) the Bellarke fandom being unable to accept Br/ven as a romantic pairing without putting Clarke in it as well, when Bravenlarke is truly a platonic ship, lmao. 

I’d bet you anything that in Season 5, Bravenlarke team work is once again what saves the day (even though 6 years and space has changed their relationship). 

[metastation]

HOLY SPACE SUITS, BATMAN, WHAT A THRILL RIDE! Welcome back to Meta Station for the first of our two-part finale recap. Erin’s back and we have no guests, so it’s just the two of us doing what we do best – yelling about our favorite television show for six hours (which we have edited heavily and chopped into two separate parts to avoid breaking your brains with our flailing). But man oh man that was a good hour of television! Tune in Wednesday for Part 2, the Science Island Spacestravaganza, but in the meantime, let’s talk about 412, the bunker, the Blakes, Abby Griffin being the world’s best mom, how the structure of the two episodes work back-to-back as a two-part finale, and why our favorite episodes of this show are the ones where everything focuses on one A-story full of crazy adventure and emotional stakes.

0:00 – REUNITED AND IT FEEEEEEEELS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD 0:02 – If 412 Was a Dark and Lowkey Somber Survival Drama, 413 Was a Thrill Ride Action Movie (THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT) 0:07 – We’re So Hyped for All Three Sets of Potential S5 Flashbacks (Space Squad, Lonely Clarke, Bunker Bickering) 0:11 - The One-Killer-Storyline Episodes of This Show Work So Well That Claire Is Even Willing to Forgive Jason for the Finale’s Complete Absence of Kabby, Though She Would Like Her Displeasure Noted For the Record 0:23 – Erin’s Thoughts on 412, Based on How Everything in 411 Led Into It, Were Decidedly Mixed, But A Lot of It Improves On Rewatch After Seeing 413 0:40 – The Moral and Emotional Difference Between “Decide Who You Invite Into the Bunker” vs. “Decide Who You Kick Out of the Bunker” 0:44 – Let’s Talk About “Good Guys”: How Abby’s Parting Words Fundamentally Transform Clarke In the Final Two Episodes 0:56 – Heads and Hearts: Abby and Bellamy Remind Clarke That Love Is Not Weakness, Which Frees Her to Be Her Best Self Even After Six Years Without Them 1:04 – A Brief Interlude to Yell About How CANON BRAVENLARKE HAS NEVER FELT SO POSSIBLE?? 1:14 – Abby’s Vision: Brain Damage-Induced Hallucination, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, or WITCHCRAFT? 1:26 – Clarke and Jaha and the Notion of “Choice” 1:33 – Jaha vs. Octavia: Bad Leaders Are Full of Certainty, Good Leaders Experience Doubt 1:43 – We Do Need to Talk About the Bindi You Guys 1:53 – TIME TO YELL ABOUT THE SHOW’S AMAZING PRODUCTION DESIGN 1:56 – We Are So Emotional About the Blakes 2:09 – Professor Erin Has Some Thoughts on This Whole Prometheus Business and Would Like to Gently Suggest Reframing the Analogy Around Pandora Instead 2:14 – Are We the Only CW Television Podcast With a Section In Our Finale Recap About Virgil’s “Georgics” y/y 2:22 – We Love the Show Touching Back So Much This Season on the Importance of Jake and Aurora 2:26 – Clarke, Octavia, Raven, Kane: This Season Is Full of Characters Finding the Truest Version of Themselves By Incorporating Every Version of Themselves Into One Self

[austencello]

Lian Yu - Arrow Music Notes 5x23

The end of this season brings Team Arrow (plus a few former enemies) against Team Prometheus with many epic fights and small character moments as Oliver deals with the residing guilt over his father’s suicide as he fights for his own son.  Meanwhile, Oliver races against Kovar and time to get to the boat to return home in the Flashbacks bringing the 5 seasons full circle back to the pilot.

Usually, I divide the episode review up into characters or places.  However, the episode is so intertwined with returning themes, new themes, and the Flashbacks that I will point out important themes and characters as the episode unfolded.

The episode begins with the opening line from the Pilot about Lian Yu (Purgatory) with the Lian Yu sound (”Five Years” 1x01) as it transitions to Oliver recruiting Slade to help him.  As Slade explains that he is sane again, the music “Promise Kept” plays (2x20 - Slade kidnaps Oliver, Moira and Thea before Moira dies).  It is eerie and reminds us (along with Slade) of the man and monster Slade had become in Season 2.  Oliver is literally facing his demons and one of the worst nights of his life to defeat Prometheus and find his son.  Slade recognizes that Oliver should have killed him but Oliver says that this could be the reason he didn’t.  He offers redemption to find their sons and then gives him the Deathstroke mask accompanied by the electronic Deathstroke sound (1x05 - “Deathstroke” - first with Billy Wintergreen, then Slade later on.)

The Deathstroke motive (low brass tri-tone - 1x09 “Deathstroke”, again first with Wintergreen then Slade) plays as he appears with Oliver and Harkness in his full gear.  Meanwhile, in the flashbacks, Kovar discovers that Oliver has escaped and the music has a sense of urgency as Oliver runs with a repeating string pattern, cimbalon, electronics, and percussion.  (This was one of my favorite new music moments.)  The cimbalon plays as Oliver flashbacks to his agreement with Anatoly that the boat would arrive soon.

Back in the present day, Slade, Oliver, and Harkness discover part of Team Arrow in cages accompanied by a repeated pizzicato pattern (pizzicato was also used for the trap set for Thea and Quentin in 5x22).  Slade at first appears to help the enemy but then gives a clue to Oliver: “There is no giving up to these guys” - a reference to their training in 1x14.  The same timpani hit with brass plays for both times he says that line. The electronic Deathstroke sound plays as Slade punches Harkness.  The fight that ensues with Talia and Evelyn (and Harkness) has an almost techno feel in the syncopated electronic and percussive beats.

Felicity and Thea are not happy to see Oliver teaming up with Slade and that he wants them to leave so Thea brings Oliver to the side to talk.  Hammered dulcimer (Oliver’s instrument) plays as he asks her for help regardless of the situation.  Because she loves him, she agrees.

Oliver gives Felicity a tablet containing imagery of the Island: “Just in case.”  Harp (Felicity’s instrument) and piano (Oliver’s instrument) plays “Purest Heart” as Felicity kisses him: “Just in case.”  “Purest Heart” is from 2x21 as both Walter and Oliver tell Thea how much Oliver loves her.  This returns several times throughout the series as Oliver expresses his love as her brother and how much he needs her: 3x03, 3x20, 4x12.  Oliver will always love Thea, no matter what.  His love is strong, loyal, and faithful and he will always believe the best in her.  The other woman that he loves this much is Felicity.  He will always love Felicity with this depth, strong and loyal.  She is his world and he believes in her.  (Thanks to Blake Neely who helped clarify this for me!)

Men’s choir (often used for religious spaces) sings as Diggle and Quentin are brought through the Chinese Holy Retreat by Black Siren to where Dinah and Rene are chained up.  Meanwhile, Oliver and Slade talk about his past coming to haunt him.  Slade tells Oliver it all comes down to his Father’s suicide and the guilt he carries from it. The only way to move forward is to forgive himself.  During this scene, strings and horn (Hero theme 2) plays.

Malcolm tries to initiate conversation with Thea, who wants nothing to do with him.  Crutales (a callback to “Like Father, Like Daughter” - 3x03 when they trained together) play over an electronic repeated note before Thea steps on a landmine (with the Lian Yu sound.)  Malcolm pushes her off and sacrifices himself as his theme in the harp plays with a new theme in strings.  Malcolm was a selfish villain and had a twisted sense of love but he gets a chance for redemption for finally putting Thea first.

Oliver, Nyssa and Slade arrive at the Retreat site and split up.  Slade knocks Oliver out (appearing to betray him) and the first note of the Deathstroke motive plays as he hands Oliver over to Black Siren. 

Meanwhile, Thea and Felicity talk about their evil dads as Thea struggles with the reality that Malcolm just died.  Regardless of their issues and terrible parenting, both Dads ultimately were willing to sacrifice themselves for their children when in harms way.  As Felicity tells Thea it is okay to miss Malcolm, a new melody plays in high bell-like tones over strings.  Thea got to see the father Malcolm could have been but too late.

Back with the rest of the Team, Oliver gives Dinah the device Curtis created to bypass the sonic dampeners.  As she lets go a scream (and named Black Canary by Quentin), a new triumphant brass motive plays.

Talia hears the Canary Cry and turns to stop the prisoners but is interrupted by Nyssa.  As they deal with “unfinished business” by dueling, a lot of Nanda Parbat/Nyssa instruments are featured especially with the duduk and drums. The Season 2 mirakiru horns (interestingly mirroring the melismas in the duduk) play as Deathstroke jumps in and stops Talia’s League.

Oliver and the rest of the team joins up with Nyssa and Slade as hero horn 1 (first heard in 1x01 “Sacrifice”) plays but then switches to Prometheus’ tick-tock and string glissandos as he appears with his team.  The tick-tock continues as he continues to taunt and mess with Oliver’s head.  A fight commences and the music plays the themes of each character as they fight: Arrow, Deathstroke, Diggle (in horns) and Wild-Dog. It’s pretty awesome.

The music morphs as the fights morph from Flashbacks to present day: cimbalon and low Russian strings as Kovar knows he just has to make Oliver miss his boat, to Team Arrow music timbre with higher strings as the team fights, to more electronics as the Canaries fight.  Horns begin the Canary theme (2x03 “Canary”) and then changes into the last 3 notes of the new melody with Dinah’s cry earlier in the episode.  Electronics pick up again as Black Siren walks over to Dinah but then quiet as she gets knocked out.  Horn (hero) plays as Quentin explains he had to: “for so many reasons.”

Chase tries to get Oliver to kill him but Oliver ultimately refuses as the slow version of the Arrow theme plays in the lower strings (used in emotional moments for Oliver - “I forgot Who I was”)  As he tells Adrian that he is no longer that killer, the violins play it faster overlaying the slower version (Green Arrow plus Oliver Queen): “That’s not who I am now.”  Horn joins with a new theme as he declares that he is done blaming himself for his father’s death.  Violins play the slow Arrow theme again as Chase tells Oliver that William is dead, a moment of brief anguish.  Cellos and basses play as Oliver refuses to kill Chase and become that murderer again even if that is true.

Oliver runs to catch Chase (in a boat) while in the Flashbacks he gets ready to catch his boat accompanied by “Saving Oliver” (1x14 - Diggle and Felicity race against time to save dying Oliver.)  This track gives a sense of urgency of life and death.  The Arrow brass glissando occurs as present Oliver jumps and races down the pier to catch Adrian’s boat.  A version of the Arrow theme plays as he attack Chase.

The music switches to “Five Years” as a shortened opening sequence from the Pilot is shown of Oliver being rescued bringing the series full circle.

The team discovers that the escape plane has been sabotaged as the strings maneuver around (similar but longer pattern to “The Team Continues Without Oliver” in S3).  They tell Oliver and then Chase brings out William giving Oliver an ultimatum: save the team or William.  The horn plays a new melody starting on a dissonant note before resolving and repeats it.  Dissonance always gives musical tension which amps up the tension for this horrible situation.

Oliver shoots Chase in the leg and rescues William from Adrian’s grasp.  Then Flashbacks begin with Oliver calling Moira that he is still alive.  “Returning Home” plays which is the same music when she sees him for the first time in the pilot: “My beautiful boy.”

As Chase begins to monologue about how fitting it is that William should discover his father’s identity in the same place that Oliver learned the truth about his, a high eerie pitch plays over a slow minor scale in the strings.  It gives a hint that something is not quite right and then the tick-tock begins as his final plan comes into play to destroy Oliver.  His string glissandos are added as the gun comes out and Oliver realizes in horror that Chase is going to kill himself and blow up the Island with everyone on it.  A very low rumble and the high pitch is left hanging before everything becomes silent except for the bombs exploding.  Leaving Oliver and William (and the audience) in complete anguish and shock.

Extra Notes

- What an ending.  This reminded me of Season 1 when Oliver believed he had won only to have the villain have a final twist up his sleeve.  To finally choose to let go of his past and trust his team only to have them ripped away from him is heartbreaking.  (Thankfully we know that Arrow will not have killed off almost every cast member so we have a bit more hope)

-  It has been a joy to go through this music again this season.  Thanks for all of your support and encouragement.  Thanks also to Blake Neely and his team for writing fantastic music that gets us all so excited (and for answering my questions!)

- Until next time!

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