#And even his solo s5 episodes

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Wednesday Fandom :) We got a trailer! Some bits in is for our couple not a ton but I am intrigued what S6 will bring. This episode has me grinning the entire time. Just fluffy cuteness the entire time and I was so here for it. Kid talks and amazing moments. Good one. This ep Is comedy gold.

5x17 The Enemy Within.

That theme I talked about last ep is how we start off. How adorable they are when they find each other at the station. Lucy speed walking to catch up to him. Tim with the biggest smile on his face. Like he didn’t just see her in roll call earlier. *heart clutch* Just happy to see his wifey at work. I love the effect this woman has on him. (Another theme in this ep). I just love S5 Tim in general. Happy and light seeing her come up to him. Making his day with her presence. Damnit I love them so much. Lucy starting off with him not hating her LMAO His smile dropping off asking what she’s done? Haha

Be more married you too my goodness. I do love how quickly they fall into step with each other as they speak. Seriously never had a couple with such good physical chemistry without even touching. The flirting here is amazing. We watch Tim not really be mad and fighting back a smile in the second gif. Once again the effect this woman has on him is incredible. She is beyond adorable with her retort of how he should reply. We all know Tim could never hate her. Angry, exasperated or annoyed. Yes ha But never hate.

We find out Lucy was playing the long game for getting back at Tim for something. Clearly before they were together since it was for a Tim Test few months back. He wants to know which one? She can't remember...It was bad enough to make her do this but not enough to remember which test. Oh Lucy. lol Angered her enough to do this then forget she'd done it ha Tim asks once again 'What did she do?' Lucy lets him know she signed him up to be a mentor... For make a dream.... Tim is exasperated af asking when she planned this? Lucy dreads the answer but tells him today….

Lucy goes on that a 12 year old cancer patient named Jordy is on his way. Tim walks away from her and I LOVE her grabbing his arm. Making him stay put. Tries to put a good spin on it. Saying he would be lifting up a sick kid. What could be more important than that? Tim commends her for her answer. Telling her nice job boxing him in. Except he’s not going to let her get away with this. Did she really expect him to do this solo? LOL Sassy Tim has arrived and is throwing back her own words at her. Lucy doesn't have a leg to stand on. Just concedes and joins him. Fantastic start to a hilarious episode for them.

Jordy arrives and Tim and Lucy couldn’t be cuter. The way they look at each other is precious. Also hello height difference I always welcome you to our screen. The way Lucy is looking at Tim while he talks to Jordy. Like she needed another reason to be in love with him. Getting glimpses into Tim as a dad. That instant ovary explosion. Don’t blame her one bit.

Tim couldn’t be cuter saying he heard he wants to be a cop. Jordy doesn’t seem as enthused as Tim and Lucy. Nonetheless Tim looks super cute saying they’re going to take him to processing. Lucy’s fully bodied shimmy is so adorable I cannot. She is very excited to play parents with Tim.

They’re in processing and Lucy is trying to get Jordy to engage. Tim isn’t short on sarcasm in this episode. I’m dying it’s so funny. Telling him to look miserable LMFAO. Lucy’s face. Chiding her husband a little bit. But also realizing how unhappy this kid is. Love her walking up to him and sharing her worries as well. Tim noting he looks like he hates them. Lol Lucy doesn’t disagree….Saying maybe he hates his picture being taken? Or he’s miserable cause he’s tired from being sick?

Tim says they should just move onto the next thing then. They turn around and Jordy is gone. Had this kid for all of 20 minutes and they lost him already LOL This episode is so great. Had me rolling the entire time. I remember seeing a hilarious post after this premiered. Celina dealing with her sisters murder, Angela/Harper/Grey dealing with Elijah. And Tim and Lucy keep losing the same kid LMAO They are the comedic relief in this one for sure.

Lucy is in a legit panic. It’s so funny. Saying she doesn’t know what she’s going to tell the foundation. Full on sarcasm saying she can’t wait to tell them they lost him. LOL Tim is so calm and chill. Saying they didn’t lose him... he’s just misplaced LMFAO. Oh my lord Timothy I’m crying I’m laughing so much. She is being the worried sick parent and he’s being the calm one.

I love them looking for Jordy whilst also talking about their future kids. Getting me all in my damn feels. Tim being so friggin chill about them finding him. Lucy saying when it’s ’OUR’ kids OUR. They’re so casual about it. I’m losing my damn mind. That when it is their kids he better take it seriously. Tim defending their future kids also making me feel things. Saying ‘Our’ kids would never pull a stunt like this.

Look at Lucy’s face when he makes that remark though. She is beaming watching him talk about their future kids. They’re trying to murder me in this ep and I’m very ok with it. I may need to go lie down but I’m ok haha Lucy gets caught up in the thought of them having kids. And is pulled back to the present with Tim’s sassy departure LOL Saying they’re doing great so far. Sarcasm king in this one and I love it so very much. Lucy's face when he leaves too funny.

They run into Aaron and he has Jordy. Lucy looks so relieved. She asks what they talked about? Aaron says he kept asking him what his childhood pet was. Lucy looking confused as hell asks why? We see this kid stumble and get nervous for first time. Saying it’s for a report…Tim's face smelling BS but he isn't sure why. They’re trying figure what to do next. Tim suggests the war room? He doesn’t seem excited…Lucy mentions K-9 unit. Ask if he likes dogs?

Tim is over this kid. Saying what kid doesn’t like dogs? (I mean he’s not wrong…) Lucy scolding him like only she can. Such a wifey scolding too it’s so funny. Tim makes the kid sit while they figure this out. Lucy says maybe the impound lot? This is where Uncle Tim comes in and I love it so much. Talking about his nephews and what they’re into right now. My heart. He seems very confused on what it actually is they like and it’s hysterical. Pop culture never been his strong suit and I love him for it. I'll be honest idk what ghosts on the toilet is either. LOL

Lucy is enjoying his explaining this stuff. Amused really. You can tell she’s cracking up as he goes on. Picturing him with his nephews and loving that mental image. They're so busy flirty they don’t see Jordy take off on them again. They turn around and he’s gone….They lost the kid again LMAO Back to being worried parents. They ask the most clueless guy in the building if he’s seen Jordy? Ha Of course he hasn’t…Nolan is lucky he knows what's going on in his own SL.

They’re in Sally Port looking for Jordy. Legit looking under shops. Don’t hate the shot of Tim in this scene. Hello booty shot. His phone starts going off and he groans as he comes back up and says it’s a Grey. Lucy voices her irrational fear about Grey knowing they lost him twice. I’m rolling. Why would he know that Lucy? LOL Tim’s face is everything to this comment of hers. Loves his panicked wife and her ridiculousness.

Lucy is legit pacing back and forth while Tim is on the phone. Grey is asking him to run an OP for him. The last thing Tim needs on his plate right now. It is sexy how he coordinates it and says he’ll fold in later. Mmm. Then asks Lucy if she’s enjoying her revenge for his Tim Test? Lucy says she isn’t... Does a cute little love tap on his arm and has him follow. I love it.

They find Jordy at a computer. Tim scares him and asks what the hell he’s doing? I love the in-sync head tilts. They see he is googling how to delete traffic tickets. Lucy goes off on a nerd rant about how those are processed in a different office. She catches herself and looks at Tim. He’s so used to her nerdy ways at this point doesn't phase him in the least.

Just backs what she’s saying. That even if he could do that here it’s a crime to do so. Poor kid folds. Says his dad told him to because they couldn’t afford the fines. Tim asks if he really has cancer? Lucy scolds him once again. I love this. He tells them yes that part is true. Lucy asks if he wants to be a cop? He says no they’re wack. Lmao The way the look at each other I cannot. The kid wanted a football game not this. HA

Tim mentions if he’s googling this no way he’s a a hacker. Asks how he gained access to the computer? Jordy hands him the sticky note. Tim is so damn incensed I’m dying. Lucy asking did Smitty really need a sticky note? He couldn’t just remember this? I love the way Tim snatches the note and takes off. He is so very done with this day and this kid. Smitty's incompetence being the icing on the cake of his day. This episode is comedy gold I love it sfm.

They bring Jordy’s father in. Telling him they could charge Jordy with a crime. That he had illegal access to a police computer. The dad starts to panic and says they can’t do that. He’s just a kid. He has cancer. Lucy says no one wants to charge Jordy. Him on the other hand… Mr. Yates starts to freak out more. Saying it was just couple tickets. Lucy mentions it’s 37....

Holy crap dude that’s a lot of tickets. That him using his son. A minor no less to help out makes it a felony. One that could send him to jail. The dad pleads with them. Saying his medical costs are crushing them. That if he doesn’t pay for the tickets he’ll lose his license and car. Saying he knows he messed up. He can’t go to jail his family needs him.

Then we hit one of my favorite portions of this episode. Their silent communication has always been a glorious wonder. It hits new heights in this scene. Because the minute he looks at his girl he knows what that look means. It’s why he answers with a ‘Lucy really?’ He goes from you can’t be serious. To how am I supposed to say no to that? Lucy doesn’t have to say a damn word.

That’s the beauty of their connection. Says everything she needs to in that puppy dog look. Man is whipped and we all love it. Her empathy shining through and getting to Tim in this moment. I said it couple times in this episode. The effect this woman has on him is immense. It was continuously through out this one. In the best way possible.

That man has zero defense against that look she gives him. Absolutely zero. Can you imagine a little version of Lucy doing this to him? If they end up having a daughter. She’s gonna have this man wrapped around her finger. Just like his wife does. God help him haha All Lucy had to do was give him that glance and he was in shambles. As we all know Tim would do anything for that woman standing next to him.

He came into this conversation ready to put that man in jail. But then the love of his life looks his way and it’s over. I’ll never be over how amazing their silent communication is. We are so lucky to have a couple this amazing without even saying a word. There’s that country song ‘You say it best. When you say nothing at all.’ If that ain’t them. Tim folds and says he’s not sending Mr. Yates to jail. I love how he looks at Lucy before he tells him that. Knowing she is the reason behind him is doing this.

It’s so good. Man is so soft for his girl and this scene is proof of that. Ugh I love it. Melissa’s and Eric crushing it per usual. Tim says he can go to Daddy and me Traffic school. There’s an arcade that Jordy will love it. As if Lucy needed another reason to love this man next to her. Mr. Yates asks how he can make it up to them? ‘Be a better father to your son’. Hot damn you tell him Tim.*fans self* Mmm. Yum. Got to be soft but still little authoritative at the end. I’ll take it.

We rejoin them in the station. Tim done with his OP for Grey. Lucy coming over mentioning his how Daddy and me traffic school sounds fun. Tim replying 'Yeah Jordy will get 5 dollars in tokens too.' Lucy letting him know it was a really nice gesture. I love her coming up to him and letting him know this. Making sure he knows what a wonderful thing he did for them. That it was so sweet. This scene makes me squee for so many reasons.

Tim letting her know he wanted to throw that guy in jail. You could tell when he entered that room he was ready to throw down. It wasn't sitting well with him Yates putting his son in a position like that. Lucy replying ‘But?’ Tim bestowing the best compliment he could on her. Touching on the theme of this episode I think. The fact she’s a good influence on him. I mean it exudes out of him now a days. She already was before they got together. Now it’s increased ten fold the effect Lucy has on him.

Lucy and her view of the world. A thing that used to drive him absolutely bonkers. So much so he tried to show her the underbelly of L.A. to dampen it. That same light and view has now rubbed off on this man. Soaking him in that sunshine she gives off. I can’t with how many feels this is giving me. And he’s telling her as such. He’s known for a long long time what a good influence she is. But he’s telling her in person. With heart eyes galore to boot. Such love and admiration on his face for her. *internally screaming*

Naturally he complimented her so she needs to do one right back. Telling him with just as much adoration and affection might I add. That he’s going to be a great dad someday. We know that’s true. Also we know Lucy is already picturing him as that great father to their kiddos. I just love how causally they talk about their future kids. It’s a thing that’s just an eventuality. The level of comfortability around the topic just shows us where they're at. How serious they both are.

Tim needing to tease her now that they’ve been soft. It’s so damn funny. Look at his pleased smile when he does it. Look at that man in the final gif. Could power a city with that smile. He so loves to tease her. Lucy is exasperated with him but still smiling regardless. She loves this infuriating man in front of her so much.

They couldn’t be happier or more adorable. It blows my mind still we get to have them together. Not only that but this level of ship goodness. Straight flirting, complimenting and teasing. They’re so in love I might pass out from all my feelings haha Such a good ep for them.

~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

I do love Angela getting to be the one to take Elijah out. So fitting. Also that scene with Charlie and Wes holy hell.

Thank you to all you amazing readers. For all the likes, comments and reblogs. We only have 5 left episodes in this season. Unreal. Shall see you all in 5x18 :)

[artsyna]

Okay, I can't hold it in anymore. Here are my S5 predictions of how Will, Mike and El are going to act:

Will is going to be pretty chill (or try to be) but also at the same time batshit scared of all the weird things that Vecna might be saying to him, or just the fact that he's still connected to him. Still, I think he'll be a pretty badass main focus and overall a brave character. Also he has a gun.

Mike is gonna go back to how he was in s2, giving all his priority to Will, whilst also trying to prioritise El a bit to get their relationship back together. He's going to be super worried about Will and overall going to be a bit of a cheerleader. Obviously he'll have a ton of references with s2 and he'll be pretty pathetic even if he will probably have a few courageous moments.

El is going to go absolutely badass, she is going to be super cool, I would even dare say "2 cool 4 school" (I'm a sucker for dad jokes) . She's going to go a bit more solo, work on her powers a bit more and will be really concentrated on the mission while obviously having fun times with her friends and family. She is FINALLY going to officially dump Mike, but I think they'll have a really interesting speech when they do break up (but she's still gonna be low-key mad with him for the majority of the first episodes

Also Byler canon lol.

And I do genuinely believe El is gonna die. 🤷(Nothing against her, she's one of my favourites, don't kill me plz)

[raayllum]

i’m sorry but how is the mystery of aaravos not about aaravos. :)

+ the dragon prince arc centered around zym so so fully he had so much screen time in every season even just as an egg. like that’s just not a fair comparison…

plus, zym Is a main character, (the five of us) the only thing making him not as key is that he is basically a dog. aaravos is definitely key too, and he has so much impact in the mystery of aaravos and he hasn’t even had his theatric entrance yet. how can you say he’s not a main character?

aaron even said in the Reel James interview that in s4 we could have gotten more aaravos content without it interfering with anything ToT like even just a small cut to whatever he’s doing in prison. It’s not asking for much at all. rayllum fans get SO much and always ask for more content and tie things back to rayllum all the time but get mad and salty when we do the same with aaravos? like ok. make it make sense.

rebuttal to the first half here (zym and aaravos are not main characters, they are currently by and large macguffins, it is a very very common story convention; arc 1 is about other characters trying to return/protect zym or stop him from going home; he is a motivation, that's not the same as him being a Main Character).

it also may surprise you but i've been in other fandoms before where my favourite characters were #1. completely side lined by their rightful narrative as a core co-protagonist (hi Finn from star wars), #2. minor side characters who didn't need to be more in the story more (hi Kai and Jinora from the legend of korra), #3. killed off or taken out of the show for seasons or both (hi Shiro from voltron) and I only bitched about 1 and 3 for 6ish months each at all because it overlapped with racist and ableist storytelling.

Wanting more of your fave character is understandable, but people don't complain or get up in arms that Gren isn't in every episode, meanwhile I've seen people routinely whine about how the Mystery of Aaravos doesn't have enough Aaravos in it because they ignored the Mystery part of the title. The post in particular, which I think was pretty clear, was about being annoyed that people thought Aaravos himself as a personality/character would be a central focus in s4/s5 and complaining that he isn't, when it's pretty clear in early S4 that well - it's going to be a Mystery, and we're mostly seeing how characters react to the missions or fears he (or others have) given them.

All fans ask for more stuff of their favourite characters (whenever there's a cast and crew Q&A, I always ask about Ezran) no matter how much canon material they already have — that's kind of the nature of fandom, even if people move from wanting more in fanon rather than from canon material cause sometimes things need to / should end.

The reason that so much gets tied back to Rayllum is because they are main characters, the show's main ship (and fandoms already tend to be more ship > solo or brotp heavy, though I'd appreciate more balance on the latter), and because they are thematically and literally connected to the entire cast of the show at least adjacently (largely through Callum as Amaya + Janai get looped in as his aunts) with a lot of parallels.

TDP is the first fandom I have ever been in, in 14+ years in fandom, where my favourite ship was the biggest in a fandom (or in the source material). I've been in your position 99/100, I have sympathy for it. I've just never shown my ass about it

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously: No Victory For The Simple Soul

(Full disclosure - this is a vent post more than analysis so don’t expect anything deep)

I feel the S5 finale highlights the biggest and most glaring issue that this and the last three seasons have had - Marinette (and by extension Adrien and the rest) not being allowed meaningful victories.

The entire point of a finale battle (specifically one that has your main villain giving his Swan Song) is that the character gains something at the end of it. Even if the battle ends with the loss of a friend or the MC no longer having access to their extra helpful powerup/superform, it’s not supposed to be a complete defeat - they’re supposed to learn something and resolve themselves to do better, or gain a new insight into the villain and go investigate their new lead, or promise to never allow another loss like what they faced again.

Miraculous doesn’t have that in their finale battles. All of them always end with Mari and co taking the bigger loss compared to Gabemoth, and it’s never in a way that’s used to either foster character growth or drive towards a meaningful story development. In fact, the loss only seems to happen because the writers need them to lose so Gabe looks like a bigger threat than he is, and then do nothing with it. They do it all the time -

Miracle Queen - Fu’s removal causes Mari considerable stress over having to do Guardian work solo now and needed to reach out to the temps more often as she unconsciously pushes Chat away. Aside from Alya and the Anti-Akuma charms (which are then rendered worthless by the introduction of Mega-Akuma), Mari gets nothing out of his departure except having to accept she can’t date while being a superhero (unless it’s Adrien, and even that still has issues the show won’t address) and constantly having to babysit the Kwami. She doesn’t even get help in the form of backup mentor!Su Han.There’s nothing positive gained out of having to deal with no longer having a mentor to guide her, and eventually, the loss of him is forgotten all together.

Risk/Strikeback - Marinette losing all the Kwami after getting tricked by Felix gets her a mental breakdown, a broken heart after trying to pursue Chat, and even more stress as she basically has the lives and freedom of three characters shoved into her hands with no one able to help her. She doesn’t gain a new power or new ally like last time either, which just serves to further put her against the wall. Hell, her eventual “life saving powerup” doesn’t even come from being directly cornered by the main villain, but from being faced by the spoiled brat bully he’s manipulating and deciding “Actually we aren’t detransforming anymore”. Meanwhile, the peak of her “character arc” for her civilian life is highly reliant on a newly introduced character that wasn’t even built up to and a recton episode that just serves to put every questionable act the writers had her engage in in a bad light just so they can foist responsibility of whatever flaws the fans complained about onto another character (as opposed to just going “yeah, but I got better” and moving on). She lost so much, but got very little out of it in the end.

Even when taking down her minor antags, Marinette gets nothing out of the deal - “Revolution” had her finally get the chance shut down Chloe for good and show she had no power over her, but by that point Chloe had become kind of pathetic in terms of villainy (not to mention her being the pawn of a bigger scheme that allowed the real masterminds to flee judgement) and Mari’s been dunking on her since episode 1 anyways, so it really wasn’t all that satisfying from a cathartic standpoint, nor does she gain anything character wise. Meanwhile, Lila getting exposed did nothing to really impede or harm her, and now she’s out in the wild with her 800+ fake families and the Butterfly miraculous, so what was really even the point of Marinette’s bathroom plan?

And then there’s “Recreation” and Gabriel - who gets to have his wish, his comatose wife alive, his son no longer (rightfully) hating his guts, the city adoring him, a goddamn statue, being credited for the city turning into a “utopia”, and all sorts of praises and perks he didn’t even earn/deserve, all at the small cost of his death and the plot forcing Marinette to keep her mouth shut for him. Gabriel gets to have everything he’s been throwing a tantrum over for 5 full seasons, while Marinette once again gets nothing (actually no, she did gain something - tons and tons of fandom salt aimed at her for the writers choices) as she’s forced to take on the burden of hiding his crimes.

and it just makes me feel we wasted our time with the story because seriously, what was the point? Why have Marinette lose when this should have been the point where all her losses so far helped her achieve victory when it matters most? Why let Gabriel win and reward him for all his abuses and crimes when the entire story seemed to be building up to getting him to either accept Emilie’s death or be forced to face the consequences of his choices? Why be building up that conflict between Adrien and his father about his wants and needs vs Gabriel’s constantly escalating expectations and not have them confront eachother in the end? Why focus so much on the idea of Mari finally getting the butterfly away from Gabriel if you’re just going to just give it to a new (old) villain and render the entire 5 season long battle for it pointless?

What was even the point in Marinette suffering all those defeats if you weren’t even going to let her win at the end, or at least stop Gabriel from getting what he wanted?

I’ll admit the leaks didn’t raise my expectations for this season but DAMNIT, after seeing them actually change stuff like Andre terrible dialogue in “Collusion” (though what he ends up saying is worse somehow), I expected something to prove it was going to be worth it in the end - and yet just like Mari, I’m venomed in the back by the show for daring having some expectation for them to actually care about making their Heroine’s suffering actually matter!

[eastsideofthemoon]

(I'm reposting this since I made several changes to the original post.)

If Star Trek Discovery were to be resurrected and given its much-deserved 6th and 7th seasons, here’s what I would like to see. Mind you, everything from season 5 and the Coda is staying.

Episode Ideas:

1. Horror. I want a horror episode. Context is for Kings incorporated some horror elements, which is one of the reasons it's one of my favorite episodes. But we haven't had horror since and I want it back. I'm thinking either a psychological horror or a cosmic horror.

2. An ER-style episode. I really want an episode centered around sickbay so that we can center Dr. Culber and Dr. Pollard.

3. An ode to Blaxploitation films. This will require a Black director (I'm thinking Cheo Hodari Coker. On the original post, someone mentioned having Olatunde direct it. He can. I just know Cheo was the showrunner for Luke Cage, which had Blaxploitation elements, so I figured he would do a really good job on incorporating it) and Brandon Schultz (one of Disco's writers) to take the lead. I've had this idea for a while. I want it to be a "What if DSC came out in the 70s". So 70s hairstyles, make-up, costumes, music, even redesigning the bridge to have a 70s look. Even adjust the theme music to a Funk or Cosmic Jazz version of itself. All the Black characters rocking afros. Imagine Capt Burnham in the captain's seat with an afro or Cleveland Booker on his John Shaft vibe. 

Stamets and Rayner rocking pork chops. Detmer in go-go boots. The story would still tie into the overall season plot, but more loosely. This is purely for fun. After all, the show is nicknamed DISCO.

5. Owo/Detmer episode where they are the A plot line. Maybe we can find out what happened on the Mirror-verse Enterprise they took back to HQ, and tie it into the S6 plot.

6. The Return of Mama Burnham. I love her relationship with Michael. I'd like to see their relationship deepen. I'm thinking maybe an episode where Michael calls on her mom for a science issue. Dr. Burnham is a scientist and inventor, so this would give her a chance to step away from the Qowat Milat and just be Dr. Gabrielle Burnham.  A mother/daughter science mission. Also, I'd like to establish where specifically they're from on earth. I've been assuming the United States, but it would be nice to establish which city/state.

7. A Book and Rayner episode. We're going to address the portion of the fandom that runs behind Rayner to undermine/villianize our Black leads, Michael and/or Book. So, in this episode, Book and Rayner end up on a mission/assignment where they have to work together, thus developing a mutual respect for each other. (They don't have to be friends, just a mutual respect, more so on Rayner's side). Book was raised by hunters, and Book stated Rayner fights like a hunter, so it's a Hunter’s Escapade! Saru will be overseeing the mission.

Character Arcs

Captain Burnham. Basically, just have her keep being the phenomenal Captain she is. I would like to see her promote someone, a solo promotion. We’ve seen the crew get promotions as a group, but I would like to see an individual get a promotion from her. Also, I want to see Captain Burnham encounter the Klingons. I understand why DSC has pretty much avoided the Klingons since going to the 32nd century, but it would make a great full-circle moment for Michael. And to raise the emotional stakes, have Mama Burnham aboard.

Tilly. Since she's at Starfleet Academy, the best we could hope for is cameos. Same with Jett Reno.

Adira. I'd like to see them stepping up more with taking the lead on assignments. I like their growth over S4/S5, and I'd like to see them become more confident and more assertive.

Culber. His spiritual awakening was my favorite character arc of season 5, and I'd love to see more of his and Dr. Pollard's hologram therapy idea.

Stamets. I felt like his arc got lost in S5. His trying to redefine his legacy really intrigued me, and I wish we got more of it. So, for S6, I'd really like to see this be fleshed out much more. We need to learn more about the pathway drive. The show started with the spore drive being groundbreaking and central to the USS Discovery. This needs to be a bigger plot point or something.

Saru. Doug Jones said in an interview that he would have returned for all 10 episodes of S6 had it happened. Therefore, I'd like to see more of Ambassador Saru and how his and T’rina’s marriage affects Ni'var politics.

Book. Since we know Michael and Book are together forever, I want to see Book return to couriering, and like Kasidy Yates, I want to see him become a freighter captain, which means the return of the Tallawah (Book’s ship)! Then, I want to see him helping with reinstating the Endangered Species Act as something like a contractor for Starfleet. This way, he still has his freedom and full autonomy and is still doing his conservationist work, but with the backing of the Federation now.

Rayner. If they're giving him Burnham's arc, on a fast track (of which I have opinions but that’s not for here), then by the end of S6 give him the choice of regaining his captaincy or joining Starfleet Academy. That opens the XO position again, and I really want to see Rhys become the official new XO for S7.

[content-d3leted]

It has already been a year since JH s6 was released! Honestly only feels like it's been out for a couple of months, it's so weird how it's been a year.

Yknow what this means ..... it's one year less now until a potential s7!!!!!!! If the same time period between these sitcom series remains the same (s5 to 6 was roughly 22 months), then s7 should come out around June 2025, WHICH IS NOT LONG AT ALL. I would do literally anything for a new series. I need new content so badlyyy

But to think that a year ago today I was absolutely freaking out and not being able to sleep due to the EXCITEMENT of a new wonderful series!!!! If only a certain man who's name begins with C didnt ruin the majority of the episodes, it would of been FABULOUS. I mean it still was, I love those first few episodes so much. Such a shame that so many good scripts were pretty much gone to waste though. I really really want to see Steve do those episodes, alas it will never happen.

I would really like to know what the original script was like for 'Sensible Training'. It wouldn't make sense with the plot shown, since if Mrs Sprocket coming round was a yearly occurance, then Robert would of dealt with it about 12 times before, so I wonder what would be different this time. I assume Robert would make sure Justin and LM were not around when his teacher came, since Justin has seemingly never heard of/met her before. So perhaps this time Justin and LM were unable to leave the house for some strange reason. I also doubt that Robert would try and change his best friend's personality, it just seems so out of character. Although I guess he may do it accidently whilst trying to teach good manners. But Justin usually does have good manners, he just acts weird in this episode, maybe he had too many sweets lol. I'd also like to see Robert's reaction when he discovers that his friends personalities don't go back to normal after realising the error of changing them (until Justin gets a head injury that changes him back of course). Seeing the original script for that would be so intriguing. Also for party animals (the most misery-inducing, horrendous episode known to mankind- we don't talk about Mrs Wilson's solo song.), I assume Robert would of dressed as some sort of bird, since all the other members of the family are also birds (Justin's a chicken and LM's a duck), so I bet he would of been a peacock. That would suit him so much though, especially due to his flamboyant-ness. I would LOVE to see that outfit, or at least the concept art for it. Ngl I would love to see the concept art for Robert's character in general, especially back in 2011 when they were figuring out what his outfit would be. It would be super interesting.

How did party animals even get made. I guess they wanted to give Mrs Wilson character development, but jesus christ it sucked. 'Oh, it's jelly time-' SHUT UP. THAT WAS NOT FUNNY. IT SUCKED. Yes it would of been much better with Steve in it, but tbh nothing could properly fix that episode. It does not make any sense at all that Mrs Wilson has never been to a party. Because like.......she HAS. Every time she's at the end of an episode, eg in The Big Split, she is dancing and singing in the 'Justin's House House PARTY'. She's actually canoniclly been in parties before. She probably just tried to make an excuse because she didn't want to come lol. She acts in an angry negative state of mind mostly, so it doesn't make sense how she's suddenly so shy in that episode. Of course people get nervous, but I feel like she would act in an annoyed way instead of a shy one. If I wrote it, I would make it so she attends the party, but acts all grumpy in the corner of the room, until someone (eg Cat or Robert) comes over and asks what's wrong properly. That would feel much more in character. Also how did noone know it was Mrs Wilson in the suit, especially Justin! He invited his friends, surely he would know who's coming. Oh well.

I just realised I talk about stuff so negatively wtf

Anyway HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO S6 NOW YIPPEE!!

[fluffypotatey]

(this anon only knows lmk sorry) any lmk season 5 theories?

ah yes…..s5 theories…..

MK will be clingy with Sun Wukong (if he isn’t imma be so sad) bc that guy lost his mentor enough times

MK training on how to use his monkey form

MK struggling with his identity (ngl I think this will be the main conflict of the season bc you had s1 that was MK: the Monkie Kid!, s2 was MK: the Monkie Kid?, s3 was MK: the “Monkie” Kid, and s4 was MK: the— OH FUCK A MONKEY)

Shadoepeach reconciliation via solo episode (plsssssssss, pls, pls, pls!!!!!!)

More info on JTTW companions and the reincarnations (Ao Lie might still be alive *crossing my fingers* Sandy mayhaps not reincarnation???? JTTW FLASHBACK PLS NO MORE OF THESE STILLS I WANT MOVING PICTURES)

Ten Kings have gone rogue

Nezha solo episode 👀 ¿porfa?

Peng returns and is working with hooded man???? (Idk not completely sure)

MK training episode with Mac and SWK working as mentors together (I would be ok if this was a s6 thing or even a s5 special)

Mei v MK (verbal fight or physical; either way one of them will snap)

and uh yeah those are some brief summaries of theories I have 🥰

[mlobsters]

supernatural s1e2 wendigo (teleplay: eric kripke, story: ron milbauer, terri hughes burton)

(this is a rewatch, so spoilers abound)

quelled my irrational anxiety long enough to start the rewatch and recap what i have not yet recapped and thank fuck for that because not having my scheduled evening task was not going well. i am staunchly ignoring the not-so-distant future where i will again be out-of-task.

fun fact this is the first screenshot i took while watching this show, long before i considered doing these posts. brotherly chat at the fire, if i recall correctly. we'll soon see! thought it'd be a fun easy draw because it's almost entirely dark with the little kiss of light around his profile.

DEAN You okay? SAM Yeah, I'm fine. DEAN Another nightmare? You wanna drive for a while? SAM Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that. DEAN Just thought you might want to. Never mind. SAM Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay. DEAN Mm-hm.

now if that isn't love

SAM What, are you cruising for a hookup or something? DEAN What do you mean? SAM The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl? DEAN I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it? SAM What? DEAN Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway? SAM Since now.

little cheesy in execution (blaming some of this on the music honestly*) but whatever :p sammy's a new man, hardened by his loss and grief 😤

*guess who did the music this episode 🤪

was curious since this is the same director as the pilot, if he did more episodes this seasons - nope, just 1x01 and 1x02. but this little quote on his wiki page

David Nutter, even with his extensive experience in the industry, was impressed by Padalecki and Ackles' chemistry. Never have I done a show where two actors clicked so well together. These guys had never met each other before and it was like they were instantly brothers.S1Com

we're all sending up our thanks for whatever led to them being cast, for real

HALEY Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.

coming in hot already with sibling parallels. even when john was alive, he wasn't around and dean's the father mother brother situation. and we've got a vulnerable lookin little brother here we're all gonna be fighting over to take care of

DEAN Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing. HALEY Then maybe I'll see you there. Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself. DEAN I think I know how you feel.

looking for dad, looking for sam after dad is gone...

s1e2 / s5e14

oh, my dear old friend, untitled 1 and 2!! and what kind of background is this! lol my spn desktop background update tag for all my riveting screenshots of their laptop desktop backgrounds - apparently i called this their snazzy background when it was used in s5, but damn dude look at the coloring differences. how warm/red the s5 is in comparison. skateboard on a chest i guess is what's happening there

aw man, apparently the actress playing the sister, gina holden, was claudia stilinski in an episode of teen wolf but her scene got deleted. and little brother there alden ehrenreich was han solo in solo: a star wars story (which i haven't seen.)

i do know i know someone in this episode though, little surprised i didn't do a hey i know you post for it actually. not sure when the first one i did for spn was. s1e11 scarecrow apparently!

s1e2 callum keith rennie as roy / the killing s1e4 as rick felder / the x-files s1e15 as tommy / existenz (1999) as hugo carlaw

we got an xfiles and the killing alum, and he was in existenz! in fact i did a hey i know you for him when i was rewatching the xfiles a few years ago 😂

someone give this child a hug (and the actor was actually a kid, 16)

DEAN Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat. HALEY Why didn't you just tell me that from the start? DEAN I'm telling you now. 'sides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. ...ever. So we okay?

oh yeah, dean? what about spilling your guts about all the family secrets to cassie, huh?? lol. gotta maintain your asshole-man image

wonder if the peanut m&ms was the only actual brand placement they did, their production design people were always whipping up fun fake branded drinks and foodstuff

hey, it's one of the xfiles-y sounds (when she says "our packs!") i didn't notice this until way way later. grabbed a clip of it from 10x12 compared to the same effect used in the xf movie fight the future (because i happened to know where the sound was in that movie, it's def a standard xf score sound.) i think it was just a lot more forward in that s10 clip, maybe that's why it caught my ear and had slid by unnoticed before.

cannot get over him looking like the saddest teenaged baby brother in all the lands

DEAN You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours? SAM Dean— DEAN No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember? SAM Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?

the brotherly chats *chef's kiss*

SAM Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here? DEAN This is why. This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession—everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business.

the tagline that never dies

SAM That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just—call us? Why doesn't he—tell us what he wants, tell us where he is? DEAN I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it.

for real, sam. dad's an ass :p i think someone justified it to me that john couldn't contact them directly because of the demons watching him and he didn't want to lead them to the boys

SAM Dean...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about. DEAN Okay, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man. SAM How do you do it? How does Dad do it?

oh, sam.

DEAN Well for one, them. I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable. I'll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can.

it's this kind of thing that grabbed me by the throat early on. clear communication, sam has been deflecting but he opened up a crack after dean gently pushed again. and dean is honest and kind, trying to take care of sam. ugh. hurt/comfort my beloved.

buh, this action music when roy gets yoinked by the monster is not great.

SAM So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch.

snorted. i swear sam got stuck with some cheesy lines back in the day. part of my hot take theory of why jackles's acting stood out more to me initially, i think he just got better dialogue. padalecki hit it out of the park with those moments with jackles, but same episode he had a lot of like... i'm taking charge of the situation moments that felt awkward

sammy brooding with dad's journal, dean staring at sam for a very long time, he's just a baby 🥺

we're all having a moment

this is why i reached the 30 image limit when i rewatched 1x01 :p

LOL. we can't swear really, but we're gonna use the hell out of the words we can say

baby brother clinging on to anyone at this point, sammy holding the line

kinda looks like the game of thrones night king lol

via wiki

Eric Kripke had long been critical of this episode, particularly because he felt the creature wasn't successfully scary. "He looked more like Gollum's tall, gangly cousin than anything else", he says in Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 2. However on February 11, 2018 he tweeted: "I have something shocking, even sacrilegious to say: I watched #Wendigo with my son for the first time in over 10 years. And it wasn't bad at all. 2005 effects were lame, but it was scary. Plus young Han Solo! I'm taking it off my shit list. #spnfamily @cw_spn"

inexplicably some sort of jaguar type roar as the wendigo is burning

HALEY So I don't know how to thank you. DEAN smirks lasciviously. HALEY smiles despite herself. HALEY Must you cheapen the moment? DEAN Yeah.

very cute. deflecting from dealing with the gratitude and lightening the moment

DEAN Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right? SAM Yeah, I know. But in the meantime? I'm driving.

this scene obviously has been gif'd to death but i didn't really remember the context and it makes it all the better. sam gets to return the very long staring moment, and lets dean give him a little treat to take care of him and make him feel better that he declined earlier

and jared, you made a choice with that expression. I think that look could be enough to launch a thousand ships alone. the line feels like it should be kind of teasing mischievous little brother vibes, but his face says unbearable affection and something I'd expect more out of a romantic-dynamic teasing feel. wild

my cup runneth over

[octoagentmiles]

you have intrigued me to send you an ask sooo what two characters do you want to go on mission together in octonauts

i want peso and pinto to go on a mission together bonus what character do you want to appear in anb it could be a relative of one of the characters or a diffrent one or a character that has already been introduced

anyway byeee hope you have a wonderful day/evening/night (you dont have to answer this if you dont want to)

obligatory "I want a Tweak and Barnacles solo episode" comment. I love them SO much but I talk about wanting this a lot already— 🤣 the bffs ever <3

Tweak and SHELLINGTON because we have never seen them really bonding, y'know?? like we know they're friends because they're all friends, and they've had a couple quick moments that implies their friendship. but they've never actually had their own full episode together and I think it could be interesting if they did.

BARNACLES and Shellington. the peak autism duo. Barnacles and Shellington have a very fun relationship dynamic, because on one hand Barnacles would trust any member of his crew with his life and that INCLUDES Shellington; but on the other hand Shellington is very. Accident Prone™. and Barnacles is a bit more protective over him than the others at times. I'd love to see an episode that shows both that over-protectiveness, and that unwavering trust.

Peso and Pinto would be very good yes 👀 but may I raise you: Shellington and Peri? no Pearl. just goofy uncle and nephew shenanigans for 11 minutes. he babysat him off-screen in The Pink Glacier and I want to see him do it ✨ onscreen ✨

character(s) that I want to see in anb:

Squirt. the Octonauts writing team has completely forgotten about his existence but I remember–‼️ and I want him to make a dramatic return 🌠✨

season 5 spoilers but I'd really love for the beaver family to come back one day. they were so neat and I wanna see what became of the kid.

The Coconut Crabs. I need to see Calico Jack reunite with them So Bad 👁️👁️

last but not least: we've never actually met them as real characters in the show but I really want to meet new pirates. have them be tied to Calico Jack's past/arc somehow. give us a glimpse at what a truly "mean and scary" pirate looks like. let Kwazii have an identity crisis. there's been several pirates named throughout the series, like Whitebeard, "The Pirate King", or (s5 spoilers again) the guy CJ stole his golden yarn from. (spoilers end) I think having one of em randomly show up in the flesh one day just to torment reconnect with CJ would be wonderful 👀

[fratricideknight]

headcannons about sir lancelot (the best knight)?

also, what is your favorite lancelot moment from s4/s5 (bc the darkest hour pt. 2 didn't happen obviously)

i thought you'd never ask

headcanons about sir lancelot

uhhh quite sad but: i think he's depressed and has a lot of unresolved trauma. there's literally a motif in the soundtrack called 'Lancelot Leaves' - he never stays, even when he finds something good and has people who will fight for him. it probably has something to do with the way his entire village was destroyed and his family killed when he was young. he doesn't want to become too attached in case everything is taken away from him again, but he wears his heart on his sleeve and is incapable of repressing completely and shutting himself off from others, so fleeing is the only defence he has. knowing him, there's probably also a sense of survivor's guilt which has morphed into "it's my fault that they died; i couldn't protect them." the guy dedicated "every waking moment since that day" to the art of combat, which is of course a healthy response. he dreamed solely of becoming a knight of camelot and yet even when arthur was fighting for him to stay, he left. because he lied, he felt unworthy of the knighthood, but i also think he's scared of having a home in case he loses it again, and perhaps feels that tragedy follows him. maybe he'd rather be miserable fighting others for the entertainment of bloodthirsty assholes than achieving his dream, because it validates the misery which lingers inside of him. it's emotional self-harm, basically. speaking of which: i think he, honestly, wants to find a way to die honourably. that is the perfect way out for him: he doesn't have to cope anymore, but he's not just giving up. i mean, the guy does borderline suicidal shit every episode he features in.

1x05: charging solo at a creature which took out an entire group of knights and is said to only be killable through magical means.

2x04: sacrificing himself so gwen can escape, knowing that he will be caught eventually and put to death by a bloodthirsty crowd.

3x13: going into a castle occupied by immortal soldiers, unaware that merlin has a means to kill them.

4x01: setting out on a mission against another unkillable foe (the dorocha).

4x02: actually sacrificing himself to the callieach.

to be fair, all the knights risk their lives constantly; it's in the job description. but it still feels particularly pronounced with him. this theory is contradicted by the line from 4x02, "I look at you and I wonder about myself. Would I knowingly give up my life for something?" but tbh i still feel that lancelot was always going to die, as much as i hate to say it. staying alive is ooc for him.

also, what is your favorite lancelot moment from s4/s5 (bc the darkest hour pt. 2 didn't happen obviously)

definitely when he said "it's lancin' time" and lanced all over and killed kilgharrah and deprogrammed merlin so he was a normal person again and convinced him to give mordred a chance and everything turned out fine.

okay, being serious: literally every single lancelot moment has a special place in my heart. the scene where merlin collapses and lance immediately runs to help him is SO adorable and so in character i LOVE it. his sheer wonderment when the vilia show themselves; he's such a sweetheart. he really just takes everything in stride and truly accepts magic unconditionally. also the moment where gwaine takes a bite out of an apple while the knights are sneaking around and lancelot shakes his head in exasperation. gwaincelot crumbs!! i have my head tipped back ninety degrees to retrieve them from the very base of the metaphorical crisp packet. he's just too damn sweet. i love him so much ;-;

i absolutely despise 4x09 but he's soooo sexy in that episode. when he rises from the fucking lake naked and dripping with water??? i didn't react in any way i really didn't

[ailendolin]

BBC Ghosts Meta Masterlist

Thomas-centric:

Thomas can feel temperatures

Thomas and the theme of change + Thomas and acceptance + canon

Thomas and his need for attention

Thomas and his reaction to loud noises + further thoughts

Thomas and physical reactions to things

The implications of Thomas turning his wound away from Alison

Thoughts on Thomas and the painting

About Thomas and the theme of waiting

On Thomas and drowning himself in the lake

Thoughts on Thomas in 3x03 + Thoughts on Fanny in 3x03

Thomas's connection to the sun

Thoughts on Thomas being forever stuck with the shitty first draft

On Thomas watching Isabelle live her life without him

The importance of Kylie allowing Thomas to finish the song with a solo

Thomas waiting for Isabelle under the tree even after his death

Thomas's idea of writing a book to make money & the Button House Archives

Thomas being left behind when he died and after he talks about his death

About why the hug in 5x05 is not as wholesome as it seems at first glance

About Alison sending Thomas mixed signals part 1 and part 2

About Alison's prank on Thomas and Thomas's vs. Kitty's behaviour

About Thomas being a bad poet

The implications of Thomas finding out what con means

Thoughts on Thomas's mother based on what he says in 3x05

Analysis of 2x04, in particular the time jump in the beginning

Others:

Robin having a second ghost power

Robin and Graham the knight

Fanny and the Titanic

Alison's interactions with other ghosts

Did Julian really push Alison?

On Pat being one of the lucky ones

Observation about Nigel in 2x02

Thoughts on 2x04

Series 4 wishlist and what ended up being in the series

Why 4x04 hurts so much

The Captain's name is not a secret

Thoughts on why some ghosts are still haunted by their deaths

The flea in Robin's ear

The first time Humphrey met the Plague Ghosts

Plague Ghosts flashback

The Captain coming to terms with who he is & the role Havers' return could play

WHP's mystery room with no door and Kitty's death

The logistics of becoming a ghost - an untimely death as a key element

The connection between the Captain's war journal and pillow talk

Foreshadowing in 2x03 Redding Weddy

Implications of the Captain not knowing what a TV is

Mike, the ghost chart and mistaking someone else for Julian

Series 5 wishlist

Series 5 speculation based on trailer and episode 1 synopsis and promo pics

Series 5 ending speculation

Series 5 Christmas Special speculation based on the synopsis

Thoughts on the final episode

Alison giving the ghosts closure through research

About the sacrifice the ghosts made and all they lost when they let Alison go

How switching the main plots of s4 and s5 would have fixed the final episode

The Captain sort of becoming the very spy he was so worried about in s5

Mia possibly inheriting Alison's gift because she was born on Halloween

What Fanny caring for Mia implies about her relationship with her own children

The exorcism preventing the ghosts from going back inside the house

[zalrb]

Same greys anon here !

Ok the thing i like about greys is that most conflicts and situations are set up so that people can take either side and have a reason to side with either person.

With the S10 situation, I get Cristina’s side but I can’t help but feel that she was wrong in her words. She basically told mer that she wasn’t as good as her and was bad at her job, and told her she wasn’t as great as Ellis or callie or Bailey. The Ellis mention was especially horrible because Cristina knows how unbelievable Ellis was to her growing up and how much she fought for Zola.

Cristina also has a habit of prioritizing her ambition and being selfish in her quest to be the best - she kinda elbows her friends and mer because of it all throughout the series. I love Cristina but I do think that with her powerful ambition comes a measure of selfishness and superiority. Her arrogance is kind of hard to be around though I admire her will to be better.

I really felt Cristina telling that whole speech to mer was overkill and unnecessary and a bad move for a friend of her caliber, and her stealing the printer mer needed for her funding and research (although it was meant to save a life) was extremely wrong and made so angry and annoyed - to top it off Cristina’s plan was a far fetched idea and when it worked and was nominated for an award, she had no idea how to explain or describe it

Shane was so rude and nasty to mer - as an intern he had no business talking to her like that and he was rude to her in multiple episodes. Cristina screwing him and being taught by her made his head and ego so big that he tried doing a solo procedure on Alex’s dad that resulted in Webber stepping in, though Shane’s actions killed Alex’s dad a few days later.

With the s5 situation I was on mers side - could you explain a little about how mer made it personal ? I watched it recently so I’m looking for feedback because I want to clear this up

I love you so much and appreciate how intelligent and objective you are ! Thanks for posting

She basically told mer that she wasn’t as good as her and was bad at her job, and told her she wasn’t as great as Ellis or callie or Bailey. The Ellis mention was especially horrible because Cristina knows how unbelievable Ellis was to her growing up and how much she fought for Zola.

She didn't tell Meredith she was bad at her job, though.

She said Meredith wasn't as good as her and she gave reasons as to why, which didn't even have anything to do with natural talent. Meredith wasn't honing her skills. She wasn't logging as many OR hours, she wasn't doing research, and all Cristina was doing was perfecting her skills, so of course they're going to be in different places.

And I think her mentioning Ellis is constantly taken out of context or is misconstrued, she brings up Ellis because she knows Meredith doesn't want to end up like her and because of that, she prioritizes Zola and Bailey over her work, which she repeatedly says is a valid choice but it's a choice that affects her skills and that's fair, that's only natural

I understand why that was difficult to hear but I didn't think it was out of line. I also find it interesting that you find the speech unnecessary because I think that if Cristina never said this and if Meredith didn't think she was right, the portal vein research would never have come about. She needed a wake up call, she needed to be pushed and Cristina pushed her. And Meredith prioritizing her personal life had been a repeated struggle for her

Cristina also has a habit of prioritizing her ambition and being selfish in her quest to be the best - she kinda elbows her friends and mer because of it all throughout the series.

But they've all prioritized their ambition or their personal stakes at one point or another and elbowed each other out of the way because of it.

Some examples that I can remember off the top of my head:

In season 1, Meredith tells Cristina that even if she figures out what's wrong with the patient, she will tell Derek to let Cristina scrub in, and when the time comes she takes the opportunity instead.

In season 2, Cristina looks all over for the leg for Webber's surgery which Alex knew and to make up for his incompetence with the patient who was internally bleeding, he takes the leg and scrubs in with Webber.

I mean this wasn't about ambition but Izzie and the whole L-Vad situation put all of them at risk.

In season 7, Alex tells Owen about what Meredith did with the clinical trial not because it was the right thing to do but because he was feeling burned about the race for chief resident.

In season 6, I think while the situation with Webber was complicated, there was truth to what Derek said about Meredith choosing ambition over love because she wanted to do the whipple procedure.

Yes, Cristina can be arrogant and insensitive and haughty and selfish, those are well-documented flaws but I don't think she was being any of those things when she explained to Meredith that the two of them were in different places. I think that was just a hard truth.

And besides the printer, which I don't agree was a case of elbowing Meredith out of the way in favour of her ambition, I think she genuinely believed this was the best shot to save the baby and I think that Meredith was letting her wounded ego and ambition get in the way, when does Cristina do this?

Like, we see what her ambition can lead her to say, such as when she begs Teddy to stay and blurts out that she can have Owen but when it comes to the friendships/acquaintances? I remember she plays Jackson who said something snide by pretending to have an emotional breakdown so she can take the cases for the rest of the day and I remember an episode, I forget the context, where she milks being sad --- I think it's when Burke leaves her at the altar --- so Meredith can pity her and give her cases but her actually like stealing cases or betraying friendships for her ambition? I can't recall her actually doing that or doing that in a way that the others haven't also done.

and her stealing the printer mer needed for her funding and research (although it was meant to save a life) was extremely wrong and made so angry and annoyed - to top it off Cristina’s plan was a far fetched idea and when it worked and was nominated for an award, she had no idea how to explain or describe it

It was a far-fetched idea but he rejected the heart graft and by this point, so many of the characters had thrown hail marys to save patients in the past and Cristina truly believed this was the best option and lo and behold, it was. At this moment, Cristina needed the printer more than Meredith did.

Shane was so rude and nasty to mer - as an intern he had no business talking to her like that and he was rude to her in multiple episodes. Cristina screwing him and being taught by her made his head and ego so big that he tried doing a solo procedure on Alex’s dad that resulted in Webber stepping in, though Shane’s actions killed Alex’s dad a few days later.

OK I can't really speak to Shane in earlier episodes because I don't remember but Meredith wasn't being professional in that situation at all, she was going for Cristina's neck

and Cristina was holding back because she didn't want to further jeopardize her friendship with Meredith and Meredith kept going in

so Shane said what Cristina couldn't and he did it by matching Meredith's energy

if anything, it reminded me of when Cristina let's Derek have it for messing with Meredith's emotions except Shane actually made it about the work and not their personal lives, which was the entire point

plus if Meredith can stand by and let Webber take Cristina out of the running for the solo surgery even though they all had interns who were acting recklessly and dangerously because they all failed to supervise them and teach them, then Cristina standing by while Shane advocated for her and their patient by proxy is fair game to me.

In terms of season 5, Meredith made Cristina choosing Alex personal.

On an aside, it always bothered me that Meredith never has to make the first move to reconciliation.

[raayllum]

i also think one of the reasons Rayllum works whenever they have a solo (couples?) quest is because the circumstances leading up to said solo adventure make sense.

In S3 in particular, it's because Ezran has made the choice to go back, and while it does mean he'll interact with his brother and their friend less, it does flesh him out even more as an individual, and the core group (the main trio) was already pretty small. This is particularly true as the second a travelling companion is introduced (Nyx) she's meant to be an obtrusive obstacle and a threat, not necessarily a buffer.

In S4 when the whole group is together for the bulk of the season, we see different dynamics be explored through scenes and dialogue: we get to see more of Soren and Callum, Ezran and Rayla, Soren and Rayla, and of course the broyals, often times with scenes developing multiple relationships (4x05 in particular is great with this).

In S5 you could argue the split going a little bit more either way, but it still lets Callum and Rayla have more time to flesh out their dynamic (5x01, 5x02, 5x04 in particular) before taking more of a backseat in other episodes (5x03, 5x06, 5x07, 5x09) other than one or two small moments. And again we can assume in S6 that Ezran's duties as king will be what keeps him in Katolis, the same way he went off to deal with dragon diplomacy things earlier, and because Callum and Rayla both have the most individual incentive to go to the Starscraper / set up with Aaravos at this time.

Meanwhile in other shows, I've had it happen where it feels like the show is shoving two characters together by forcing them to regularly spend one-on-one times in ways they would not, and not only does it lead to a less than well developed romance, it also forces them to spend significant chunks of time away from the rest of the main cast (think 4 other main characters) for no real discernible reason other than to have awkward romantic tension.

[addictedtostorytelling]

Do you think Sara actually deserved the promotion?

hi, anon!

do you mean the promotion in s4 or in "immortality"?

in s4, i think we don't have enough information to make a determination.

without knowing exactly what duties and responsibilities the "lead csi" position entails, it's impossible to say how qualified sara may or may not be for it based on what we see from her on-screen.

at no point during s4 does the show clarify what a lead csi actually is/does.

honestly, it's unclear how the position differs from being a supervisor or assistant supervisor, why it's not simply a matter of seniority, what the scope of responsibility would be for the person who had it, and even where and in what capacity the person holding said position would be working within the department hierarchy.

for example, is there one lead csi per team or is there one lead csi for the entire department?

unfortunately, the fact that there is ostensibly no lead csi that we know of prior to s4 (and never is one afterward, either) means that there's no way for us to extrapolate.

that so, it's somewhat impossible for us to judge whether or not sara would be a good fit for such a role.

she is generally an exemplary csi who has a high solve-rate on her cases, being both a hard worker and a smart one. she is also a good teacher (as we see from her as she helps to train greg in s4/s5). however, one weak spot on her résumé is that she isn't very politic and her people-skills sometimes leave something to be desired, particularly when we compare her to nick. she is also an unknown entity when it comes to fulfilling administrative duties, as she has never been in a leadership role prior to this point.

if the key position were all about individual performance and casework or even involved an element of teaching, then it's possible that she would be very deserving of it.

however, if it were more of a managerial position that might require her to deal with personnel issues and/or be involved with administration in the department, then maybe nick would indeed be the better fit for it over her.

it really depends.

frustratingly, grissom's ultimate decision regarding the position offers few clues to us about sara's level of qualification for it overall.

by his own admission, he chooses nick over sara mostly based on the criteria that nick seemingly doesn't want the position, whereas sara does.

which is, as sara points out in episode 04x22 "no more bets," a "stupid reason."

however, whether the implication to this decision is that nick is actually more qualified than sara is based on all the potential criteria points PLUS the fact that he doesn't want it, that nick and sara are otherwise "neck in neck" in terms of qualification but nick's ambivalence about either getting the position or not is the thing that pushes the needle more in his favor, or that sara is actually more qualified on paper but grissom still nevertheless chooses nick over her because he likes nick's attitude better, we honestly can't say.

the whole matter is, of course, complicated by the fact that throughout s4, grissom, based on his largely subconscious desire not to show sara favoritism, repeatedly thwarts sara's efforts to distinguish herself and bolster her résumé, while simultaneously doing all he can to build up and support nick.

as i talk about here,

after he turns sara down at the end of s3, grissom spends all of s4 [unsuccessfully] trying to keep his distance from her and disengage from her emotionally. however, his attempts to move on prove futile, because no matter what he does, he can’t change the fact that he loves her. the more he realizes that his efforts to disengage from her aren’t working, the more he panics, and the more irrational his behavior towards her becomes. 

that’s why, during s4, grissom so often pulls sara off career cases while allowing nick to work career cases solo—i.e., because he is trying so hard to put distance between himself and sara and to prove to himself and sara that he isn’t ruled solely by his feelings for her. 

of course, the irony is that in trying to prove that he isn’t ruled by his feelings for sara, grissom actually proves how very much he actually is.

every action grissom takes towards sara is personal, whether he believes it is personal or not. he’s not even consciously aware of what he’s doing, but the truth is that every time he finds himself wanting sara, he physically sends her away from him, which usually means she ends up at another crime scene, off whatever big case he’s working (see, for example, what happens in episode 04x02 “all for country”). likewise, whenever he finds himself wanting to give sara special treatment, he reacts by forcing himself to get tough on her and read her the riot act (such as we see him do in episodes 04x07 “invisible evidence” and 04x08 “after the show,” for example).

in the meanwhile, he continues to manage nick according to merit, meaning that whenever he feels nick has earned a privilege or proven himself worthy, he rewards him (see, for example, episode 04x11 “eleven angry jurors,” when grissom allows nick to reopen an old case and investigate it solo, then gives nick credit where credit is due when nick solves the case using creative investigative methods).

by constantly suppressing and thwarting sara while at the same time encouraging and supporting nick, grissom gives nick an unfair advantage over sara in the race for the promotion without even realizing that that’s what he’s doing (or being consciously aware of his own motivations for doing so).

nick continues to rack up career cases, professional accolades, and grissom’s personal favor, while sara just can’t win for losing and is unable to catch a break, even though the quality of her work and work ethic remain as impressive as ever.

that so, even if it is the case that nick does ultimately end up looking like the better candidate when all is said and done, one has to wonder to what extent that outcome would still be the case were grissom not actively sabotaging sara's efforts at advancement throughout the beginning of s4.

if he were to actually give her a fair shake and afford her some of the same opportunities he does nick (in terms of working high-profile solo cases and being given credit where credit is due for her accomplishments), would she eventually come out the clear-cut favorite?

of course, it goes without saying: one really has to wonder how sara would fare if anyone but grissom were the one in charge of making the recommendation for the promotion. would nick still get chosen if the evaluator weren't desperately trying to wrestle his burning love for the competition into submission? perhaps so but also perhaps not.

anyway.

all of the above is to say that given the dearth of information we get on the topic, i don't think we can determine definitively one way or the other whether or not sara is deserving of the lead csi promotion in s4.

it really depends on what the job itself entails and how she actually performs in the areas related to those job responsibilities (removing any bias coming from grissom out of the equation).

as for the promotion sara gets in the series finale, she flat-out isn't qualified for it and in the real world never would have even been considered for it.

i talk about why not here, if you're interested.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[ramblingaboutglee]

I'm bored and ranking New Direction performances

Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals, all members. My personal taste only. This is going to cover song choice, performance, and general build-up and context. Worst to best. Also I ramble about why I like or dislike each. Because hi, if you’re new here, I ramble. 

S4 Sectionals - Gangnam Style - Ahahaha. No. Like, can we all just agree Glee should never do contemporary meme songs? (Especially when they never do Never Gonna Give You Up, like, that is the meme song and we were robbed of Santana going to the front of the class saying she wanted to perform, only to rickroll everyone. Thank you. Yes that's unrelated I just don't want to talk about this song) This should not have been one of Tina's biggest in-universe performances, for all kinds of reasons. Full props to Jenna for learning the whole song phonetically and performing it well, but. No this should never have happened. And then, what really earns this a place at the bottom, is the fall-out. Marley faints on stage because of her ED. Honestly, the first time I saw that, I was interested - EDs can be horrifying, and having it take a real toll on a lead character felt like a worthwhile storyline to do. It had felt like the show was being a bit flippant with the topic, but having it build to the New Rachel pass out mid-performance, with genuinely disturbing foreshadowing, and the New Directions losing sectionals for the first time as a result? That feels like it's going to good Glee-dramedy directions. Spoilers: it does not. NDs are back in the competition with minimal hassle, Marley's ED is cured via magic, and it's never brought up again. It didn't matter. So with a poorly handled Glee storyline on one hand, and Tina's character again being reduced to Asian on the other, yeah this is. Not a good one.

S5 Nationals - More Than A Feeling - America - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Okay there's a lot about this episode that bugs me and I am going to take the opportunity to vent. This is when the S4 newbies were shoved to the sidelines, and the S1-3 characters still in the NDs took centre-stage for a last hurrah. It's also framed as a memorial to Finn, singing his favourite songs as a goodbye. Okay, screwing over the S4 cast rather than trying to make them better (which, after all, is the Glee staple - it's not like the OGs were everything they're known for after just one season, for the most part) that's a bad look for Glee, but given the show's switching gears to NY soon, fair enough I guess. They go out with a whimper rather than a last hurrah, which is dumb, but whatever. This is the last remains of the OG Glee Club putting on a memorial to Finn. And they lose. They don't even lose to Vocal Adrenaline, but to some randoms that never appear again. (And it's not even like VA are written out, they get mentioned in the next couple of episodes when Will's convinced to coach them). It's one of the most baffling decisions Glee ever makes. The New Directions losing, that's not inherently bad - it was where Glee began - but having the goodbye to the S4 cast and the last big performance in the spotlight for the characters that played second-string, their promised chance to showcase themselves, that gets no meaningful follow-up... Yeah, no. And even if we ignore all of that... these aren't good performances? Which is no slight on the singing, for the most part. Most of the best blocks in the show use solos, little things to help distinguish each number and add a sense of pacing to the performance - none of that's here. Instead, the songs just kind of blur together, not helped by the show's insistence on having Blaine, Tina, Artie and Sam all share spotlight-duty. One of the points I'm going to get into ranking my faves, is variation. Especially in S3, we got a Troubletones performance, a group performance, and then something that was much more of a solo. All that to be said, the songs were given a lot more to make them distinct. These, however, are all full-cast New Directions performances. Give Tina a solo, give Blaine and Sam some poppy song with dance back-up, have Artie lead the third. Do something to give each song some sense of identity, and have some better pacing. And have them win. For something that seems like it's trying to showcase the characters, it completely fails to play to their strengths. As it is, this is at the bottom of all the full performance sets for good reason. It's just bland. A last, storyline note - one of the things that does bug me with this episode is how much the NDs are focused on winning. Like, before they explicitly played up competition as friendly, rooting on their rivals. They completely lose that here, and it goes unremarked on. There was a time I thought they'd win the competition and the the NDs would dissolve because it had stopped being fun, but nope, it's just. There.

S2 Nationals - Pretending - Light Up The World - The one word I can think of to describe this performance, and frankly most of this episode, is 'pointless.' One of the flaws of S2 was that the singing competition often felt like a formality, rather than the big deal it was in S1. Gearing the whole finale around something that didn't seem to matter anymore, especially when it ultimately just ends on a repeat of S1's loss, feels ultimately meaningless. It doesn't actively aggravate me the way the above two sets do, it just bores me. The songs aren't bad, but I am grading on a curve when it comes to competition performances - these feel like typical Glee songs, while I expect the competitions to stand out more. If I'm judging a competition, part of the metric is how significant it feels. Here, it feels like something that happens because they couldn't get away with not showing it. The episode feels much more like it's about being in New York, than it does the Nationals performance. This isn't something built up to, this isn't a resolution, it's just something that happens. Like, I could be picky and criticise them coming to New York without their songs written, but that's just Glee. The bigger issue for me is that it's what the build-up is replaced with. It also doesn't help that this is the second competition to be centred on original songs, so it lacks that unique flourish, and as far as a realisation goes, it feels ultimately inferior, to me, to its predecessor. While before, the contents of the songs were built up to as continuations and summations of the show and characters, we very much lack that here. Ultimately, it feels insignificant - it’s set-up, where its only purpose is to make the next season’s nationals a big deal. In of itself, it lacks impact, in my opinion.  The songs are fine. Pretending is an okay number, a good Finn and Rachel duet and I can imagine shippers loving it, and it has some character potential. Light Up The World though just feels like a fairly generic song, not what an original song ought to be. For my taste, they lack energy, though I can't put my finger on why - it might be that they feel so consistently at more or less the same level of energy and intensity that there's too little contrast to make much stand out.  What we end up with is, ultimately, fine. But for a season finale, fine just isn't good enough.

S4 Regionals - Hall of Fame - I Love It - All or Nothing - The S4 cast deserved better. That's getting to be a theme. This episode has some issues. It's the S4 finale, heralding this storyline continuing into season 5 in a manner that undeniably feels a little overstretched. As a finale, Regionals are going to feel a little unsatisfying after two seasons of Nationals in a row. On top of that, the episode feels regeared at the last minute to serve as a goodbye to Heather Morris as Brittany. So it has issues going in. Acknowledging that it was in a bad place, though, doesn't make the problems go away. Marley has a fantastic voice, along with decent range. Jake is one of the best all-rounders the show's ever had, holding his own in both song and dance. And on top of that, season 4 genuinely, in my opinion, has some of the best choreography across the whole show - that's whether we're talking Jake's dance numbers, or something like Heartbreaker that turns into a full-on music video. Which brings us back to the comparison problem - these songs are fine, but a lot of the performances across the rest of the season took a step up, taking full advantage of New York for staging, so the competitions either needed to do the same, or they suffer. So they suffer. I think if it were in any other season, this would maybe be ranked higher, but surrounded by the general quality of S4 staging and choreography, the competition ends up less impressive than Jake having a solo in the classroom. It’s a similar issue to S2′s Nationals ultimately seeming like a downgrade from that season’s regionals.  Hall of Fame is a decent opener, a good atmosphere-builder, but I Love It suffers in my opinion - it's a song that's perpetually at the same level of intensity, so for a competition performance it feels like it stalls. The highlight honestly is just Sugar just doing her own thing in the background. All or Nothing is probably my favourite of the set - it showcases two of the strongest voices, but it feels like it's too little too late. This does double for Marley. Ostensibly, Marley feels guilty for them losing sectionals - her ED isn't her fault, but she deserved a triumphant moment to show herself coming out from that. The fact said triumph is a duet is fine, mitigates it a little, but it could still be solid. The number just ends up feeling too understated for its own good. Some of this likely is the episode's problems - I can imagine it was more Marley-focused before they needed to write in Britt's departure - but it still hurts the story. It's not uncommon for the big performances to cut away from the stage to show reactions of Will/a teacher, and sometimes parents or characters in the audience, people having some actual reaction to what happens on stage. This mostly lacks that. It robs the performance of context that would elevate it to more than, well, ordinary songs. They're good songs, and good performances, but if I'm ranking these as competition performances, it has to end up lower. But this is the last of the performances that are more milquetoast to me.

S3 Sectionals - Survivor/I Will Survive - - ABC - Control - Man in the Mirror - Yes I'm including the Troubletones fight me. (And honestly, yeah, for this particular ND set, the Troubletones should have won so they are giving this a little boost). It's a fun set-up. The NDs have a new set of rivals, as opposed to just the Warblers, led by Mercedes and Santana and Britt (and Sugar Motta just. Making facial expressions in the background). And then Rachel's suspended for the duration of the competition, so the New Directions lack all of their tried and tested powerhouses. It's something of a redo of the S2 sectionals (spoilers for later), but it's a good way to showcase the whole crew. Tina carries ABC, with decent choreography from Mike (We've seen him do fancier, but for a team number, it's good). Control belongs to Artie and Quinn doing the dialogue. And then Finn, Artie, Blaine, Puck and Sam bring it home. There's none of the usual stage-filling ballads that were something of a mainstay before this point, and it's a more low-key affair made by harmonies and timing and it's cosy more than powerful, but it helps exemplify the strength of the team. Also best costumes the New Directions ever get thank you. And then on the other side are the Troubletones. I've seen some people rank it as one of the best performances on the show, and while I wouldn't go that far, the transition from one song to the other is absolutely a spectacular moment that would be up there. For me, the choreography feels a little hectic at points, but there is still a lot of recommend it. Anchoring more is the context of the episode. We have the fantastic idea of all three show choirs being, to one degree or another, known - something Glee really does too little. Harmony begins with Buenos Aires, and then we go to the New Directions and Troubletones with their built-up rivalry. And then there are smaller ongoing story beats - Quinn's dynamic with Shelby comes to a head this episode, and the opening of 'Control' comes with perfect subtext, and it's something of a showcase for Mike in an admittedly very cliche plot. Still, it delivers on actual character for someone that was usually just a minor background character. These aren't my favourite performances, certainly, but it's a damn good set.

S2 Sectionals - I've Had The Time Of My Life - Valerie - This is where we really start to get to the good ones, for me.  So let's talk skill. I've seen too many takes that seem to view singing talent as some number from 0 to 10, someone being either good or bad, and I don't think that's true. Every genre of music takes a different skillset. You take someone like Finn - he inhabits old school rock songs, the She's Not Theres, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights (spoiler for later), while he's not as adept at some other genres. That happens, there's a reason singers are often known by genre. Rachel Berry is the best singer on the show. That's not because she's always the best pick for a song - Mercedes will give her a run for her money and often oust her on some - but because she's pretty damn good at almost anything she's given. Over the show's run, she goes from Barracuda to Celine Dion. What makes Rachel stand out is as much versatility as voice. So then we get Sectionals where Rachel doesn't lead, and rather we get Quinn and Sam in a soft, mellower melody, followed up by Santana in an upbeat dance number. And rather than be a set that plays up Rachel's absence, it perfectly depicts the strengths of the rest of the team. Quinn's voice is perfect for the number she has, and her dynamic with Sam is remarkably sweet, and then Santana follows it up with her first real time in the spotlight and her sheer stage presence is impressive, especially alongside Mike and Britt's energetic performance. One of the criticisms I had for songs lower down the list is that they don't feel like events. They felt obligatory, with little time spent making the competitions feel like they matter. S1 handled it the best, with the competitions being at the core of Will's arc, and Will being more central on the show - when the kids took over, and their drama obviously mattered more to them, competitions could begin to feel secondary. This episode might not totally fix that, but it does significantly more in making the event have a point - it shows that everyone in the New Directions has value, and gives the character reactions of the rest in the lead-up. These sectionals existed to showcase the unsung heroes of the New Directions, as it were, and wow did it succeed.

S2 Regionals - Get It Right - Loser Like Me - Original songs are a mixed bag. They're not going to be songs where you already know that people love them, and you're only going to have so much time to work on creating lyrics and instrumentation from scratch. On the other side, you get the ability to have them reflect the characters more than another artist's song ever could. Get It Right is phenomenal. I swear, you get Rachel to stand up and just belt out a ballad, and you've got me. Pair that with the original song making it feel more personal, and it's a gorgeous moment. Loser Like Me is less my thing - lyrics can be a bit clunky, and the put-on voices are clearly a genre-reference which is just distracting when it's an original song, but it's still a good, upbeat melody to round it out. Also, this marks the first time the New Directions actually start on the damn stage rather than at the back of the auditorium. I swear, it took them four tries, but they finally managed it. As alluded to before, original songs come with a lot of potential. In this case, the show delivers - Get It Right feels like Rachel pouring her heart out, and Loser Like Me is something on an encapsulation of one of the show's themes, building on from an ongoing dynamic. Plus the Warblers. Taking the time to build up a rival group was something S1 did with Vocal Adrenaline, to a limited degree, and it's surprising that it isn't done more frequently. Having Kurt on the rival team, too, makes for a good dynamic - it's the same thing I praised the Troubletones for. Everyone involved is a quality singer, and by the internal logic of the show there are competition winners on all sides. Bonus points for the only proper use of props the New Directions do.

S1 Regionals - Faithfully - Any Way You Want It / Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' - Don't Stop Believin' - Yeah. All about the build-up. Journey were part of the show since the first episode, and Don't Stop Believing closed out the pilot. It might be something of a cliche, but it is a good song, and never underestimate the strength of a good callback. The songs were all selected for a reason, bringing the show full circle in a way that never really happens again, and realistically never could. Faithfully is a slower, powerful build. Finn and Rachel enter, sing a number that fills the auditorium with just their two voices. Then, midway through, the curtain raises and all the New Directions suddenly join the number in a glorious moment. Then, from slow and powerful, it transitions to an energetic, upbeat mash-up so quickly it's almost dizzying. And then, rather than cutting away as S1 did, or ignoring it as S2 did, for the first time we see the full set of three as it rounds it out with DSB, the pilot callback. They're good songs. They go well together, and were arranged wonderfully. The only real criticism I can give is that it's still very much the Rachel and Finn show - though that's more forgivable in season one where most of the cast were less in-focus. Even then, a few get spotlights and moments in the latter two songs. And, yes, I like just seeing Will (at a competition for the first time) just kinda dancing along off-stage. They're cute cut-aways, and it really sells this as what the series has been working towards. And then you add Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban in the audience and?? What the heck is Glee. This was a spectacular way to close out the season. A deliciously galling loss, a bittersweet kind of closure from Sue, and a medley that makes it clear that if Glee had ended here, it would have gone out on a high. Also, Quinn was minutes away from giving birth that whole performance so. I mean. Gotta respect it I guess. I'll be honest, I generally think a lot of the "Will Schuester is a terrible person," stuff can be overplayed by fandom, but. Okay yeah you have a point here WHY IS SHE ON STAGE

S3 Regionals - Fly/I Believe I Can Fly - Stronger - Here's To Us - The escalation. Fly is a more mellow number, which kicks into a high energy Stronger, building up to Here's To Us and that moment where Rachel holds the note while the instrumentation cuts out still gives me chills. It's a solid set of songs with a fantastic arrangement. And all of that in the episode On My Way, doing what Glee can do so well - juxtaposing the happy and the sad, using the bad to make the good matter. Undeniably, this episode begins as one of the most serious in Glee's run, certainly up to this point. And as a counterpoint, we end with a Regionals with the theme of 'inspiration,' going to a dark place and generally handling that plot well, but replying to it with the firm insistence that people are worth it and there's hope. It's a wonderful thematic conclusion to the episode, using tragedy to uplift. And if we're going to talk Stronger, we have to talk the Troubletones - I love that sense of the New Directions coming together over the seasons, and having that group-within-a-group is a great way to do that. It makes the episode feel earned, feel like a continuation. The same way as earlier episodes that offer more of a build in order to make the competition feel like a culmination, here we have the Troubletones getting a number from within the New Directions, showing the group willing to showcase all their talent. And we have Sebastian's development, on the side of the rivals, as a result of the events of the episode - the competition becomes a genuine celebration on all sides. Also Sugar Motta ignores her team when they win and runs over to hug a vampire. Which is adorable.

S1 Sectionals - Don't Rain On My Parade - You Can't Always Get What You Want - (Somebody To Love) - And here we are in the top three.  This may partly be fond memories talking, but this is a heck of a first performance. In a lot of ways, this is the episode that really got me into Glee. I liked some characters, some storylines etc before this point, and there had been good songs before this, but this was the episode where I was first genuinely wowed. And it's got a good build-up. Season 1 of Glee showed each character slowly come to the club, and find their place, and this allows them to all be spotlighted. The episodes begins with Mercedes knocking it out of the park, and Rachel in a bit of character development due to be forgotten about in half a season's time willingly stepping back to let Mercedes sing the ballad. As much as this is the first performance, it's treated as a story in its own right, not just a stepping stone to reach - the last minute hectic planning of the cast figuring out what they want to do, improvising their second number, and off-screen redo of Somebody to Love (the first song they ever sang as a full group), all kicked off by Rachel bursting into the auditorium with her by-now iconic Don't Rain. Like, we're all agreed that's the perfect song for Rachel right? I swear I was just cackling as soon as I heard the opening notes, just for how well it fits - something the show just goes in to prove again and again with the repeated acknowledgements of Funny Girl and use of similar beats. It feels like a finale. Which, honestly, was likely intended, it's hard to imagine a musical TV show being a long-runner, so they really pull out all the stops. So we get a pair of triumphant performances, juxtaposed with Will missing the performance because he took the blame for them an episode prior, and say what you will about Will but Matthew Morrison acts the hell out of him just in tears of pride while listening over the phone.  Honestly my only criticism is that it needed Somebody to Love because I'm a sucker for a Queen song.

S6 Nationals - Take Me To Church - Chandelier - Come Sail Away - This might be unpopular. Oh well. One of the strengths of the S6 cast, with how they were much more secondary as characters, was that they got to spend their time singing the genres they were best at - so given a spotlight like this, they nail it in a way few other performances do. And for good measure, there's that thread I keep talking about - how the performance feels like a culmination, from the blazers to the Warblers dancing, to Spencer's injury. The competition matters again. I didn't expect much, honestly. When the S4+5 competitions were all on the lacklustre side to me, and the S6 kids being more secondary as characters, I figured this would be the same, a season that peters out with a mediocre performance before Glee ends. Then Roderick walks out with confidence gained over the course of the season, and fills the stage with a ridiculously good voice, and gorgeous use of a translucent curtain for staging. My jaw was on the floor. The harmonies with Jane are downright heavenly. Then, onto Chandelier, we get fantastic choreography making full use of the more experienced Warblers to show off, Myron just kinda doing Myron stuff in the audience, and Madison getting a chance to show off her voice. And to top it off, Spencer who was injured in rehearsals, and likely unable to join in, appears via getting tied to an actual chandelier and swinging in overhead because why the heck not. Glee is a lot of things and subtle is not one of them. And we finish off with Come Sail Away. It begins quietly, doing the same trick with pacing that so many of my favourite performances do - the first song gets people into it, the second is upbeat and energetic, and here they take a breath to pause - with a wonderful double-act from Mason and Madison - before the song kicks into high gear after the almost reflective moment, and it's just pure celebration. All that paired with Rachel, Kurt and Will in the audience just beaming, and it's easily one of my favourite performances. If I was going to criticise, Jane deserved a number. She killed Tightrope in her debut and then got little else - technically she only really got one song less than the average for the S6 kids, but hey, she had a great voice and stage presence. So, let's talk about how the season built to this. My favourites will always be the performances that feel like culminations. S1 could handle this the easiest, though we saw shades of it elsewhere - but like S1, we got more focus on each of the Newest Directions as they joined, saw the show choir be built up piece by piece. And then the Warblers joined up, offering an extra piece to the performance, and bringing more developed choreography with them. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it fun? Still yes. And just for the heck of it, the New Directions head out with Warbler-inspired blazers in McKinley red, and it's a good look. I don't always talk that much about costuming, unless it really stands out, but it does here. They bring a splash of colour without resorting to the stock suits and dresses that the more average costumes do. And speaking of the Warblers, the choreography feels like the elephant in the room. I see a lot of criticism of the dancing of the NDs, which is justified, but also unavoidable for meta reasons - the lead characters sing a heck of a lot of songs. That’s a lot of rehearsal time. The reason their rivals get better performances is because people that are only singing a few songs can rehearse them exclusively, rather than hurrying from one episode to the next. So having more minor characters, with such names as Super Gay Warbler, who can afford to dedicate time to just learning the moves, it really helps play up the feeling that this is the finale, and is one of the best performances the New Directions ever do.  It feels like the whole season built to this point. And then we have Vocal Adrenaline, under Sue, performing Hey Mickey (am genuinely amazed it took Glee so long to get to that song) and firing students out of cannons, and they're really just throwing everything at the wall. It's pure ridiculous cheesy fun, but backed up by a set of fantastic performances and arrangements. Which, I mean, it's Glee, what more do you want? 

S3 Nationals - Edge of Glory - It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Paradise By The Dashboard Light - I feel like this is a cliche first place but eh. Cliches exist for a reason. Just, wow. So let's talk about the build-up. Graduation is soon, this is the New Directions’ last chance to win, Rachel’s chance of getting into NYADA rides on her performance for Reasons... This is, in many ways, the last hurrah of the original cast. Jesse is back as a rival, coaching Vocal Adrenaline, who are led by Unique who’s already proven herself to be a spectacular performer. We get a little drama, overcome by Sue of all people helping the team. And it begins. The Troubletones take the stage with the aptly named Edge of Glory, serving both as a Gaga callback and a chance to showcase more members of the group, and you know by now how much I love having that piece of the performance set up. They set the scene, and we get to Rachel belting out Celine Dion like her life depends on it and it’s one of the best vocal performances in the entire show. Whoopi Goldberg shows up. With Rachel feeling a sense of hope, things feel resolved, and it closes out with a triumphant Paradise By The Dashboard Light - a song that suits Finn’s voice, and that the whole New Directions manage to nail. Even with their limited choreography, they do a lot with the contrasts of their costumes to stand out. It just builds and builds and it’s wonderful.  Each song is distinct, each helps build up the larger set, and each one is a fantastic number in its own right. And all of this in an episode that makes it feel like a culmination of everything. They have good rivals, good build-up in the episode proper,and a spectacular performance. I’ve criticised previous entries for feeling like they leaned on Rachel and Finn too much. I understand it in S1 by the nature of the show at that time. Season 3 in general avoids this, though - the first performance lacks Rachel completely, while the remaining dedicate one song to the Troubletones, showcasing the other performers. While the other two do lean much more on Rachel and Finn, Paradise is enough of a group number, and it feels earned to me by the context of the episode. Plus, all else aside, these are spectacular enough performances for it to be forgivable. Mind you, I do have to wonder if anyone read the lyrics of Paradise before picking it. It’s either a not-so-subtle bit of foreshadowing for later drama, or accidentally hilarious. (I like Rachel more than a lot of people seem to, but also building to someone singing to her “I’m praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive, because if I've got to spend another minute with you I don’t think that I can really survive,” is. Um. I mean I get it, but still).

But anyway yes, that’s where I fall. This is admittedly partly down to my music taste, but hey. Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong! 

[winderlylandchime]

I’m so sorry that I had you worried. I always forget that there are people now that know of him besides irl so my bad! Thankfully he has, so far been doing pretty okay/good with his recovery, so I hope that continues. They are hoping that by the end of the year he could he off his meds completely and not need almost weekly check ups which would also mean he’d be able to go back to his solo living since he’d be allowed to be alone (*casually has a war flashback to everything he’s done while being supervised*) So I’m hoping that works out for him because he got so excited at hearing that. Even though his second reaction was immediately ‘awww but who’s gonna tell you guys about Brian then?’

Honestly, I am daily surprised by how far deep he fell into QAF. I figured he would like it since he likes shows like this but I genuinely expected like 30-50% of interest and him kind of half watching. But instead he basically declared himself as the president of Brian Kinney fan club that he created for himself. So the heartbreak when he finally watches S5 is going to be deadly. And he is planning to start watching this week! I keep bugging him about it (meanwhile for the life of me I can’t remember majority of the season since the last time I saw it in full was years ago) and he promised that he will watch the first two episodes in the next few days.

In his defense he has been doing a ton of PT and home exercises that they gave him so he has been pretty tired and only wanted to watch stuff he already saw. He did try to blackmail me for more of Randy’s podcast so we had to compromise, he watches the first two episodes and I give him an episode of the podcast. Other than that, he has been okay and just making up theories about season 5. He is convinced that it will be like a 2 week jump like S2-3.

I’m glad he’s doing well and hasn’t had any more setbacks in his recovery. But also should he ever be left unsupervised?

I’m glad he’s doing his PT and very sad he’s gotten his hopes up for S5. It is totally understandable he wants to avoid the last season because then it will be over. I’m at that point right now with a series I’m watching.

I hope you both have a good day/afternoon/evening!