#I haven't thought too much on the immigration themes in their story but if the Shuriman elements in the mv are relevant

[teleportationmagic]

"You weakened me!" By Ambessa is not a declaration of apathy! It is not her blaming Mel! It is when Mel finally learns that her mother isn't apathetic to her, that she isn't disinterested in her fate or disappointing in her, but instead she loved her too much and too deeply. That Mel threatened Ambessa with ruination, because the only way Ambessa has ever known to survive is by embracing brutality and sacrificing a peaceful death, while all Mel has ever wanted is peace. That a peaceful death would have literally meant the death of her child, back when she was still pregnant with one of them!

And Mel's disapproval of her meant that Ambessa could feel herself tumbling into a path of peace. Into a better path, maybe, but a path that for Ambessa has only ever meant death. If she could be more hardhearted, maybe she could have kept both - her family's survival, and her daughter - but alas. Her sending Mel away is not a failure on Mel's part, but in fact a failure on Ambessa's - because she could not withstand the arrows of her disapproval, now she needs to come to Piltover to collect her before whatever older enemies she has catch up with them both. She comes to Piltover to correct that mistake, to show Mel a harder heart, and yet! It's doeesn't work! Because Mel still demands of her vulnerability and she cannot help giving it to her!

Is there no greater expression of love, for her? To even contemplate opening herself up to that which is deadly, for the sake of the life and soul of her daughter? Is there nothing so undoing?

[the-price-of-love]

i saw hadestown on broadway with my sister today and seeing as i haven't seen a live musical in... years (?) i really enjoyed the experience and wanted to document it into the void for future reference. tagging #hadestown not to throw this into the waters of the official tag but just for my own organizational purposes. anyways, rambles below the cut:

so first of all i didn't realize JORDAN FISHER (!) was going to be my orpheus (clearly i'm very new to this space hi) so my jaw did drop when i saw him on stage. and i did point him out and whisper "that's jordan fisher from MOVIES" to my sister when she asked who he was (she's younger). i also LOVED maia reficco as eurydice (she's so pretty and talented and does anyone else think she looks kind of like rachel zegler? especially in that costume/hairstyle?? just me???). i was sat up on the mezzanine because i thought it'd be better to see the whole stage but honestly the stage was pretty small so i regret not buying tickets down in the orchestra to see the actors' faces better. my favorite staging/lighting moment was during wait for me (which is SUCH a tune 10/10) when the hanging lights start swinging around in a circle and i was just. enchanted and entranced. generally though i loved so many of the lighting decisions in this show (especially when they played with the intensity, like when persephone asks why it's so bright down in hell and the stage lights go to a gazillion watts. chef's kiss, gorgeous, no notes, says the amateur fan who wouldn't be able to have notes anyway). also the moment when eurydice follows hades up the stairs to sign the contract and persephone puts her hand on her heart and looks after her sadly... ouch! when jordan fisher as orpheus turned around at the end (heartbreaking) my sister audibly gasped, and then when eurydice sank down into the floor i did start crying in the dark.

more general musical theatre-y thoughts/appreciation section: i had a LOT of fun sneaking glances at background actors who weren't the main focus of a scene just to see what they were up to (eg at the start when hades and persephone are having tea together silently despite the main action going on downstairs; also when orpheus and eurydice are in their lover era lying down hugging and kissing while singing/dancing occurs behind them. and towards the end orpheus/eurydice hug in the darkness for a whole song and i was so impressed at how still they were able to keep). and also just a general live show note: i LOVE how in plays/musicals they're able to make the entire story happen on just. one stage + one set of stairs + that upper balcony area. (i watched a bootleg of the west end production of next to normal recently and they had that same kind of stage set-up so i assume it's fairly standard for musicals?) but like—and this is especially true for relatively smaller stages—it just strikes me as such a fun creative challenge, and i'm always so impressed at how productions choose to utilize the limited stage space in new and interesting ways (like in hadestown the part in the stage that rotated as they walked? and the center circle that went up and down? the moment after the intermission when the steps on the side retreated and the stage just seemed to *expand*? SO fun. love love love.)

and finally i didn't know too much about this show going in so i didn't expect the whole worker's rights/immigration/capitalism subtext but i'd be sooo keen on reading analytical essays dissecting the way hadestown engages with and navigates these topics & themes. like i keep thinking about a version hadestown with illegal immigrants who are forced into unfair contracts w no legal protections... idk maybe there's something there? the parallels? i just think the same story and songs could be transplanted into so many different real-world settings and it'd be so interesting to see the implications play out!

also i can sense this is a very common opinion but i'll be so brave and say it again: queer hadestown would go soooo hard. when is somebody going to make that happen.

okay that's all! xx

[pennyserenade]

this is my essay on the rapture if you were ever interested in reading <33 one of my top 4 movies of all time!!

first off mikaela, i just want to say this to you: you are delightfully big brained, and its a treasure to be able to walk through a movie this brilliant with you. you have a fantastic knack for analysis (one that i envy and i hope all of your english teachers complimented you on), with an eloquence that makes you an easy voice to follow.

secondly, i just want to say: you really captured what drew me to this movie, and described it beautifully along the way. this paragraph especially:

Where The Rapture thrives is in its dichotomous approach to religion as both maniacal desperation and delicate salve, as something that harms and something that you just can’t help but cling to. When talk of being called to Heaven began, it was in visions of rivers and pearls. At its culmination, it’s in inability to cope with grief, about wanting to see a loved one that’s been lost. By the time Sharon stands in a tent with her dirty and starving baby girl, jumping at any sound, waiting to be called to God, you start to feel she might’ve been better off taking her chances with the heroin.

i'm an english major, but on my way to getting that degree i've taken a fair share of religious classes too. it fascinates to me learn about religion as someone who was once really good friends with it, and now feels sorta at odds with it at all times. one of the classes i most enjoyed taking posited the idea that religion, along with all things, is a complex organization, neither completely good or completely bad as a whole. we had an entire unit on the benefits of organized religion -- how it offered a sense family, and a sense belonging to immigrants when they came to america; how it played into the civil rights movement; how it put women in novel positions of power (allowing them to organize events before they were allowed their own bank accounts). other classes i took, like latin american history and native american literature, showed the ways that religion allows for preservation of native cultures, even as they are being threatened. catholicism in mexico is saint-heavy and the religious holidays align with indigenous ones, because the indigenous people refused to commit to a religion that resembled nothing they understood to be true. the catholic priests had to adapt and now mexican catholicism is a blend of what was and what came to be. in america, there's so many different strands of catholicism, each a little different, because people who came from ireland and people who came from italy both needed something different, something wholly familiar.

what i'm trying to get at, and what you probably already know is: religion can be great. it can be visions of rivers and pearls - a delicate salve, as you put it - but it can also be horrid, desperate, needy. the rapture does a good job at representing this, and its probably why i like it so much. i haven't honestly sat down and collected all my thoughts on this film before today. i watched it late one night and have continued to be haunted by it, but until reading your essay i never really pinpointed why it has followed me like it has. i think the paragraph before your concluding one offers me up an explanation:

In the end, having given up her daughter out of hope in God, it’s that very loss that breaks the faith that Sharon has filled her emptiness with. Tolkin could have grounded his theme in Sharon’s theological accuracy, and told a story about a woman who was resolute in her convictions, and rewarded with being correct. Instead, he leaves the audience with something much more resonant, and cruel: what if you were right, and it didn’t matter?

what if you were right, and it didn't matter? i think this is a fear that follows both those who follow the church of god and those who subscribe to nothing at all, and maybe that's why its such a terrible gut punch. what happens when do everything you were meant to do, and you come to the other side and find it all doesn't matter? its a terrible, daunting notion that has been stuck in my throat until today, when i read this.

thank you so much for sitting down and writing this essay, and also for taking the time to send it to me. it was a delight to read and i'm so happy to find someone else who enjoys this movie as much as a i do.

[silvyavan]

I finally fucken read the scanlations of the chapter and imma be real with yall, Tabata fumbled this immensely.

Allow me to explain.

All things considered, Jack's "death"* feels incredibly bland, not just how it's handled but also how it affects his character and the overall theme Black Clover has.

*(Tabata has a trend of coping out deaths, so I'm hoping this is a red herring to sort of divert our attention from probably the fact that Yuno's spell won't hold on forever, so we're, ironically, on a race against time. This also may be a sort of Fuegoleon situation, considering we haven't seen the Earth Spirit/Gnome yet, so considering Jack's blade magic is a sort of "final" earth form (earth>> ore>> metal>> weapon>> blade) but maybe that's just me on copium. We Shall See)

With his character, the death feels kinda bland and showy. Tabata's main good ability in writing characters is by putting a different spin on them or flipping the tropes. In Jack's case, he's supposedly the bloodthirsty battle maniac trope, with his complicated and restrictive home life actually being a reason for his carefree battle attitude. The PROBLEM here is that Tabata put too little time in his development/roster, not really enough of his own thoughts, and the last slash ends up being less of a "I choose how I will die, and I'll die swinging" and more of "all I can think about is slashing and that's what I'll do dying", which completely fucks up the whole character.

Jack is, as we know it, the ONLY Clover born commoner captain. Everyone else is either nobility or immigrants with ridiculous magic (Yami may have been technically considered nobility but his foreign status is more important to his character, we have so little info on Dorothy's life I'm not even gonna speculate). By all sense and means, Jack was likely the only captain who even accepted commoners and peasants with average skills. One could argue he was probably the first commoner captain, considering Zara was the first peasant magic knight, only about 20+ years ago.

This, coupled with Jack's very vague character writing, shows that Tabata didn't really know HOW to write him in an interesting/meaningful way. So he essentially kills him off because he doesn't know what to do with him.

This falls back into how the death itself is contradictory to the themes BC has. The theme Black Clover has, by essence, is that "peasants/those weren't born lucky or talented can strive to reach great, if not greater, heights as those above them using hard work and determination" as well as "the class system affects everything, and by being inherently bigoted, it infects every other system in regards to it". The problem here is with Tabata's writing falling into "tell not show" categories (whether its because of page limits, editor influence or other things), by trying to show both themes at the same time, he ends up punishing the underdogs MORE than those who are inherently privileged (nobles with lots of mana), if not actively rewarding them.

This could be attributed to either how much time Tabata spends on other characters vs those he ignores or how very few of the cast with ACTIVE roles in the story belong to the middle/lower class.

For example, Yuno's abilities and powerups in Spade arc and this current one FEEL like asspulls, mostly because despite being one of the main trio, we're not given a lot of time to SEE how he gets it/develops it. If we had previously seen a montage of him training to develop his skills in the 3 day period before the raids and the 3 days before Lucius comes knocking or even the 1.5 YEAR TIMESKIP, a LOT of the complaints about it being an asspull would be null because we'd actually see the work being put into it.

The opposite can be said for Jack. Jack falls into essentially the same category as Asta and Magna - people of lower classes that have to work harder than those above them to reach the same heights, but by putting more effort into it, the underdog status triumphs over the naturally gifted.

This could be seen all the way back in Spade arc, with Jack developing skills mid battle to face off/stall Dante, then being the one to silently kill him off to not sour the victory Magna got. Its GOOD that it was Jack who assisted in the kill because he was of the lower class like Magna and Zora and Asta. In addition, keeping silent about it doesn't sour the victory either because Jack likely knows the feeling of having hard earned kills being stolen.

Even the contribution against Lucifero is, even if minor, still valued because he's not the only one who got beat up, ALL of the captains got smacked up to show the threat Lucifero was.

The problem in character writing falls in this recent chapter, with Jack being the first fatality.

One could say that Lucius is being inherently bigoted in his own way - he's born of a noble lineage, all of the paladins are of nobility as well and its implied that the legless angels, who were described as "rebels" were actually peasants. Its a good choice, considering that Lucius is supposed to be the almost last antagonist, so he essentially HAS to show that he's a bit of a racist to uphold the themes of the story. He's both the Puritan and Calvinist wave in Christianity, while also claiming that those born with less mana are inherently more weak and should be erased and "rebuilt" to have the same amount of magic as everyone.

The problem in it is that not only does it undermine a lot of the peasants/commoners who actively got merit through hard work, it's also giving eugenics and the Christian idea that you "deserve" flaws that you were born with/can't control and thus further pushing classist/racist ideology. Lucius is still commiting genocide against the lower class and still is falling into the idea that "once everyone has the same amount of large mana, there will be no wars :)", indirectly blaming the lower class for disparities done by the upper class.

However, with his attack on Clover by fighting against those struggling to still live, would clash with the peasant/commoner ideology that no amount of effort gone into bettering yourself is wasted. All effort to become better is still valuable and Clover Kingdom fighting against the sentries/paladins/Lucius would SHOW that.

The problem is that Jack dying is not helping the idea or the narrative. Even the final slash only so much as leaves a massive canyon in the ground and kills off maybe 2 or 3 sentries, while Morgan is "miraculously" still without a scratch. Its equal parts infuriating and makes Jack's death feel for naught. Even the final regret of not being able to slash Yami only makes him fall more into a 2 dimensional character trope. It ends up with Tabata actively punishing the underdogs and trying to get rid of the characters who he's SUPPOSED to be able to write, as per the story.

Unless the final massive slash somehow does something to either turn the tides/bring Asta home/hell, even just getting him a spirit/demon contract, it falls flat for the narrative and doesn't progress his character.

So far there's no ACTIVE show that Jack is completely dead and done for outside of a forth of his grimoire already disappearing, so maybe there's still some last minute death save for him. I hope, because otherwise, Justice 4 Jack.

[adventuresindolls]

Meet My Dolls

*This will be my pinned post now that I have 8 dolls to talk about, but may be updated as I shift story details.

Lexie Sarah Gilbert is 11 years old, Jewish, and autistic. She just moved to a new town with her 2 dads and her 8-year-old sister Sophie. She made friends with Summer the week before school started and they became best friends. I'm working on her AG-style series, which includes themes of friendship, standing up for yourself, and mutual aid.

Sophie Anne Gilbert is 8 years old and has ADHD. She's Lexie's little sister but much less worried about the move, since she has no trouble making friends. She loves making all kinds of art and is working on reading Harry Potter.

Summer Louise Williams is 11 years old, Jewish, and has juvenile idiopathic arthritis. She lives with her mom and 20-year-old brother Tyler. She already had friends from school and synagogue, but she quickly became best friends with Lexie. She spends some weekends in her dad's house in the country, which she loves because he has 2 dogs and her mom's apartment doesn't allow pets. She's not shy at all and loves art and singing. Her series takes place a year after Lexie's when they're both 12 and being homeschooled. Her books include themes of intersecting identities, community in a minority culture, inaccessibility, and following your heart even if your dreams differ from your friends'.

Olive Ivy Said is 13 years old, Muslim, the child of Libyan immigrants, and has Meniere's. They move into Lexie's neighborhood the spring after Lexie arrives. Even though they're 2 years older and in a different grade, they quickly become friends with Lexie and Summer. They live with their parents, grandparents, 15-year-old sister Alex, and 3-year-old sister Rosie. Their series takes place a year before they move, when they were 12, and themes include exploring gender identity, disability visibility, choosing meaningful traditions for oneself, and being a valuable contributor to a team even with one's limitations.

Persephone November Ellison (thank you @futuristicsaladparadise for name ideas!) is a little older than the others, and despite appearances is not a real fairy. She's 15 years old, trans, and dyspraxic. She loves to paint swirls and leaves all over her body and wears fairy wings and her favorite dress whenever possible because it makes her feel light and free. She lives with her aunt, uncle, and twin teenage cousins. I haven't decided on the rest of her story yet because I just got her, but she will have a series too.

Miko Fukuda is a 12-year-old mostly nonverbal autistic kid. She attends a K-8 alternative school and lives with her grandparents (a kindergarten teacher and an illustrator). More than anything she loves mushrooms, but she's also really into aliens and baking with her grandma. She has service dog named Inky Cap and two best friends at school.

Rowena Brook Laurier is a 12-year-old who attends the same school as Miko but has a different circle of friends. She just started there after getting expelled from her last school. She began losing her sight at 7 and has been completely blind since 10. She and her 11-year-old brother, Alder, have lived with their 25-year-old sister, Danielle, since their parents died in a hurricane 4 years ago. She deals with a lot of anger, but is slowly learning that she does enjoy some parts of school and sometimes being soft is better.

Indigo Ramirez (zie/zir) is 15 and identifies as gender queer, but mostly just wants to live zir life without thinking about gender. Zie never thought much about gender until recently, just thinking of zirself as a person. Zie likes skateboarding, horses, and is on the school track team. Zie is Latine with immigrant parents from Mexico and two older siblings.

Anndi Abrams (they/them) is Indigo's childhood friend. They thought they were a feminine trans boy for a long time, but recently decided they are not any binary gender and enjoy a mix of presentations. They like to draw comics, go rollerblading, and write stories they hope to publish one day. They are Jewish and have a twin sister.

Myka Miller (she/they) is a 15-year-old who recently realized they're genderfluid. She just made friends with Anndi and Indigo and often goes with them to the Queer Community Center. She is very artistic and loves painting her OCs, as well as camping and writing poems. She is mixed African American and Puyallup native American. They and their three siblings (one older, two younger) grew up on the Puyallup reservation, though they live in Tacoma now.

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x07 - Como La Flor

Apologies for being so late this week!! Lots of translating to do, and research. Mucho gracias to @queenrikki for reviewing this one for me!

EPISODE SUMMARY:

OLD WOUNDS — Liz (Jeanine Mason) is forced to revisit a painful part of her past when her mother Helena (guest star Bertila Damas) shows up at the diner unexpectedly. Michael (Michael Vlamis) urges Maria (Heather Hemmens) to seek help after she experiences a strange vision, and Kyle’s (Michael Trevino) attempt to get Steph (guest star Justina Adorno) to open up doesn’t go as planned. Finally, Helena’s arrival in Roswell sends Rosa spiraling. Nathan Dean and Lily Cowles also star. Barbara Brown directed the episode written by Danny Tolli & Carolina Rivera (#207). Original airdate 4/27/2020. 

DETAILS:

Max and Isobel both describing to Rosa how it feels to use (and control) your powers.

Isobel:

"Ground your intention.  Feel the current running through your body, your hands guiding it with purpose."

Max:

"Okay, draw energy from your spine…"

Arturo on Rosa:

"I heard a little mouse crying in her room this morning."

Escamoles - like Liz says in the episode, they're ant larvae. One article I found called them "the Caviar of the Mexican desert". 

Helena calls Liz "mi corazón", which means "my heart".

"Arturito, te ves bien."

Arturo, you look good.

Adding "ito" to someone's name in Spanish can both be positive or negative.  It can refer to smallness or also tenderness (like an affectionate pet name).

@tasyfa pointed out that there was a little timeline error in this scene.  Arturo says that he hasn't seen Helena in 7 years, since Jim Valenti's funeral, but last season it was established in 1x12 that Valenti died in 2014.  Also, remember the show is a year behind reality right now, so it's still 2019. So off by 2 years.

The reason for Helena's visit - transferring her ownership of the Crashdown for Liz so that Liz can sponsor Arturo's residency for citizenship. I did a lot of research trying to understand and clarify why this is.  Thanks to those who weighed in when I was struggling to find a clear answer. Eventually I reached out to Define American, the non-profit org that provides support to the show on racial and immigration related issues.  Here's the response:

The short version is that Liz has to meet minimum income requirements in order to sponsor Arturo, because she has to be able to certify that she can financially support him.  Since she's currently unemployed except for the Crashdown, transferring half of the ownership to her makes her a business partner and helps her to meet the income requirements. 

The Spanish:

"¿Cuánto quieres, Mamá?" 

How much do you want, Mama?

"She has a very thoughtful manicure."

If you don't understand, it's cool. I'm not going to explain here.  Feel free to DM me though! I won't judge, promise!!

Narrative thread about Max's nightmare/memory continues from 2x03 and 2x06.  Don't forget that 2x03 was just Isobel remembering it. Max was a hallucination. So when he brings it up here, it might be something they haven't discussed in a very long time.

The Spanish from Rosa on her red jacket:

"Eres una mujercita."

Basically translates to you're a little woman or young woman.  I assume the "cita" is supposed to be diminutive here.

"Mom is an opportunist.  If she found out she had a kid who came back from the dead she would use you to get to Anderson Cooper. And then she'd use him to promote her latest lounge singer gig."

"Isobel pays double.  Becky tax." 

A Becky, according to common colloquial use, is an annoying white woman, usually entitled and privileged.

Lead bartender quit..meaning there's a job opening at the Pony…hmm. Wonder if any of our characters need a job... 🤔

Maria's vision:

Michael drops the change

Flash to Kyle dropping his keys & bending down to pick them up.

Kyle staring into a bright light.

Maria shouting his name.

"My heart was broken.  Liz ended things and a part of me died."

Max's story to Valenti… not all THAT far off from the truth.

Note: has anyone told him about Valenti investigating him? We know Liz and Isobel were questioned.  Michael was present when Liz was questioned. Kyle knows the whole theory his mom was pursuing. And he just wanders in there like nothing happened?

"Try leading several short staffed investigations with the mayor breathing down your neck."

Another subtle reference to the mayor, including the election banners hung around town in S2 and his "anti-immigrant agenda" which was referenced in S1.

Max has been with the department since he was 18 - this is the first time we learned that.  In 2x05 we learned he was there at 21. So that timeline has now been further clarified. Which also means he was hired during Jim Valenti's time as Sheriff.

"I need eyes on you at all times now."

Definitely implies a lack of trust, or possibly still wanting to keep an eye on him for the purpose of her investigation (not a fact, just a theory).

Steph tells Kyle that she's always hanging around the hospital because she's doing admin work for her dad.

"I'm starting to feel like you're a ghost who only I can see."

"Ask them if they can see me. Or if you were just talking to a ghost." 

Note that ghosts have been a running theme this season with Rosa returning from the dead. This seems to be in line with that. Or are they subtly tying Steph to Rosa (I'm grasping at straws here, probably).

Liz leaves the safe on 3...but before she changes it is on 81. Helena leaves it on 78 after stealing the ring. Good continuity, RNM!

The whole "my mom hates cops" theme is a little confusing to me.  I mean, it makes sense given what we know about Helena. Except that she had an affair with Jim Valenti, who was… a cop. And also an addict.  Maybe it was different because they rehabbed together (just an assumption, not a fact). Or maybe the Jim experience contributed to her dislike of cops.

Liz...might be grasping at straws when she refers to police work as "something you love" to Max.  He didn't exactly seem enamoured by the job when we first met him in Season 1.

First time we learn Max and Isobel's father's name. And it is… Dave. 🤔

The Spanish Helena uses when she meets Max:

"Pero que guapo estas."

But how handsome you are.

"Cuidado Arturito."

Careful, Arturo…

Helena found Liz and Diego's wedding registry online. 

“Look there are medical reasons for non-drug-induced hallucinations - epilepsy, schizophrenia…”

“My mom has a degenerative brain disease. My grandma did too. I've always known I'd be next.”

Helena wanted to be Selena.

Which fits with Liz's lounge singer comment earlier.

And the "drunkenly singing in the car with your daughters in the backseat" fits with the story Liz and Rosa discussed in 2x02 about the car accident they got into as kids with Helena driving drunk.

Helena shows Liz her ten years sober chip, suggesting that she's been sober since Rosa died, but Rosa finds pills in Helena's car later in the episode.  Oxycodone. The same drug that Rosa used to steal from her mom as a kid (which we learned about in 2x04) and the same drug that she and Kyle discussed when he was checking her health in 2x01.

During Helena's toast to Rosa:

Preciosa = precious

Rosa Linda… still not sure personally if this is a continuity error or a pet name.  I’m inclined to go with a pet name. Throughout the whole episode Helena uses lots of pet names, nicknames, diminutives to address people. Rosa Linda may be just another version of this since Rosa's middle name was pretty well established as Helena in Season 1 between her grave, memorial pamphlet, etc.

Kyle calls attention to Steph's bandage on her arm.  She says she gave blood, but it feels like she's evading.

Also she calls him McDreamy, which is a Grey's Anatomy reference. Kyle called himself McSexy (another Grey's nickname) in 1x08 as well.

Note: I've seen some people talk about the speech about his sick friend as being about Maria, but I think he's really talking about Steph.  Or both, vaguely. He's certainly trying to get Steph to open up to him. Here's what he says:

"I just found out a friend of mine is sick. And I can't do anything to help her. And I hate feeling helpless."

Only after Steph puts her walls back up, does he gesture to Mimi's files.

The Spanish:

"Oh, ándale, gùero."

Ándale is like, go! Or let's go! Gùero we discussed earlier...basically white boy.

Por favor - please 

Rosa's art that we first saw in 2x05 now looks finished:

Isobel's graffiti "In Pod We Trust"

Both Isobel and Rosa's graffiti:

Isobel's assessment of Rosa's art

"That's a black hole. An unstoppable force of destruction. And it's getting closer. I see a girl looking into her own doom. She thinks it's inevitable, that she can't stop it, but she can. See, she created it. That means she can destroy it."

Rosa on Isobel's efforts to help her:

"You and Max, you keep talking about harnessing emotion and grounding myself, right? But I can't do that.  It is in my DNA to be screwed up. Literally. My mom's mentally ill. So, so am I. I was broken long before Noah did what he did. That's why he chose me to prey on.  That's probably why he chose you too."

Maria on her grandmother:

"When I was a child my Grandma Patty was the only adult who understood my make-believe world. Thing is, I was six.  So my favorite things about her were just illness, I guess…"

Maria on her mom:

"She was always kind of out there.  By the time I realized it was more than that, I just became obsessed with money. Wanted to be able to take care of her. I invested everything Grandma Patty left me, and I worked, scrounged.  It was about three days after my mom was finally fired from her job at the Pony, I bought the place."

Maria's blood does not contain the alien protein that Kyle found in the Pod Squad and Rosa after being in the Pod for a decade. (and yes, he actually said Pod Squad, which feels like an OG fandom victory)

"Look, there is one thing I noticed in your grandmother's file. Her insurance company is the same one that paid for my dad's cancer treatments...My dad got cancer because of an alien incident at Caulfield Prison. A fake insurance company established by Project Shepherd covered his bills."

"Okay so my grandmother got sick at the same alien prison where your mother died?"

More Spanish (there's lots of it this week).

Helena, when she gestures to the present:

"Abre tu regalo."

Open your gift.

Quinces is just slang for Quinceanera.

Just in case you're not familiar with quinceaneras (Liz's was also referenced in 1x02).

"Mija, me enseñas tus prom photos?"

Daughter, show me your prom photos.

Regarding the power outage.  Liz thought it was Max. Max thought it was Rosa. But the wire is frayed, like it was cut or chewed through. So it wasn't alien power related.  When Arturo finds the wire though, he says, "Must have been a little mouse." Which is how he referred to Rosa earlier in the episode. So the question is, does he actually think it was a mouse? Or does he think Rosa cut the wire? And if Rosa did cut the wire, then why? To distract them while she goes after her mom's car?

In the big Liz/Helena argument, Helena calls Max “a güerito cop”.  Güero means white person, similar to the more commonly used gringo.  But by adding the “ito” onto the end (like discussed before), Helena is basically diminuitizing Max.  She’s using the “smallness” above to basically imply that he’s some white nobody.

“I may not be the PTA mom who made cookies for bake sales or hosted sleepovers, but I sacrificed everything to come to this country to give you a better life.”

This is...not actually true.  Liz and Rosa are both natural born U.S. citizens, born in Roswell.  So she didn’t “come to this country” for that reason. She was already here when Liz and Rosa came into the picture.  And it’s not like she came pregnant with Rosa or anything, since Rosa is Jim Valenti’s daughter.

The ring that Helena took was ARTURO'S mother's ring.  It wasn't even Helena's family's heirloom.   

Liz and Arturo sharing flan for dessert.  At the start of the episode before Helena arrived they discussed making flan for Rosa.

Arturo admits that he always knew the truth about Rosa's heritage. (*fistpump* that's one of my headcanons coming true). 

"Rosa es mi hija, siempre y para toda la vida."

Rosa is my daughter, always and for life.

"Maybe you're right. I am playing the hero. Just like you're playing the politician's perfect arm candy.  See, I did a little digging. And your boyfriend, Dirk-- he ran for city council. It's very impressive. But there's no mention of your daughters. I'm guessing Dirk doesn't even know about Liz or Rosa.  Does he know anything about you, Helena? 'Cause it would be such a shame if he found out about a little town called Roswell."

Helena gives Max the ring, but keeps the box… maybe that's what Helena really wanted?

Huevos = eggs.  Basically, slang for balls.

"I know that face.  You uncovered a massive conspiracy."

"I checked the Caulfield drives. No sign of a Patricia DeLuca, but there was a Patricia Harris. Her maiden name. She signed up to participate in an experimental trial. Government was interested in weaponizing alien abilities. They wanted to create super soldiers. Your grandma was one of the first human subjects."

"Kind of wish I was an alien instead."

"What happened to the experiment?"

"It was a total failure. Caulfield shut it down in the '70s after people started dying. I don't understand how your grandmother got involved."

"I do. Henrietta Lacks, Tuskegee, Holmesburg.  The DeLucas aren't the first black people to be secretly experimented on."

Highly encourage you to read these if you're unfamiliar with any of these references.  It's African-American history (and really a black mark on U.S. history) that's rarely taught in schools.

Henrietta Lacks:

Tuskegee:

Holmesburg:

Reality versus Maria's flashes… great gifset by @rosaortecho on this here:

Kyle rips his jacket, staggers out to the parking lot, drops his keys, and is almost hit by a car, but Michael throws him out of the way with his powers (and Kyle still ends up injured because he lands on a glass bottle).

"Now that we know your illness is related to Caulfield we can find a cure for it."

"Maybe it's not an illness. I saw the future today, Guerin. When I first found out Grandma Patty was experimented on, I was furious.  But what if my genetic inheritance isn't just injustice? It's also actual superpowers. Saved a life today. And not just any life-- Kyle Valenti's. Tomorrow he's gonna turn around and save five more lives."

Liz and Rosa's dueling big sister act is super fascinating.  Rosa admits that she wasn't going to burn the car, and then she saw Liz crying, felt helpless, and that's when her powers went all wacky and caused it to explode.

Meanwhile, Liz has spent the whole episode trying to keep Rosa safe from Helena, and is trying to comfort her here by talking about Helena's sobriety.

But--Rosa stole Helena's pills, so she knows Helena is not sober, and she doesn't tell Liz that.  Why? To protect her.

At some point these two should probably stop keeping secrets to protect each other and start actually sharing what they know.

Kyle stitches himself up.

Steph quoted in this scene:

"I was up in the gallery contemplating American downfall thanks to progressive socialism."

"People tend to bail when things get real. I'm not into that."

Cameron's car was impounded a couple hours away.

Max is turning in his badge and gun and is turning down desk duty to search for Cam.

Isobel and Michael's discussion at the Pony:

"Do you think that Noah chose me because I was already broken?"

"I think you are the only one of us who ever keeps it together."

"I'm serious, Michael. The night that drifter attacked me, why am I the only one who started blacking out? I mean, Max literally murdered a man, but I'm the one who breaks?"

"You were traumatized. We were kids. At that age, trauma gets etched on to your soul."

"But what if it's not in my soul? What if it's in my DNA? Look, my whole life, I've played Stepford wife, because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. But...I need to understand myself now. I need to know where I'm from.  And if I don't know who my biological parents are, how am I ever gonna know who I really am?" 

"What are you saying, Iz?"

"I know that we said we shouldn't look into the past, but…"

"It keeps pulling you back. Me too. I spent my whole life thinking I'd build a ship and blast off into the ether. And then the minute I decide to leave that all behind and focus on this good thing in front of me, I'm sucked back in. Maria's family was experimented on at Caulfield. I need to find out more so I can find a cure for her illness."

Rosa takes one of her mom's pills. 😭

MUSIC:

1. Cactus Groove "This World"

2. Shelly Fairchild "Drive"

3. Mathis Hunter "Mrs. Vinegar"

4. Big Stone City "Good For Zero"

5. Big Stone City "Way Down Below"

6. Selena "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"

7. Elizabeth Moen "Best I Can Do"

8. Wagons "Keep Coming Back"

9. AG "Where Is My Mind" (Pixies Cover)