#all american 5x09

[forbescaroline]

MAKE ME CHOOSE ► userlaylivia asked: spelivia or jordayla My feelings for you are real, okay? I'm glad you're mine.

[allamericandaily]

#the most important thing to spencer is olivia’s happiness

[nikkiruncks]

ooooooh spencer knows

[xcertifiedgifsx]

By clicking THE SOURCE LINK BELOW you will find 114 gifs of MICHAEL EVANS BEHLING in ALL AMERICAN 5x09 for roleplaying purposes. They were made from scratch by me so please like and/or reblog this post if using, or give any form of credit.

[laylakeating]

LAYLA KEATING — All American: 5x09

[taiturner]

Greta Onieogou as LAYLA KEATING in All American ♡ 5x09 “Feel It in the Air”

[peeta-mellark]

Spelivia

All American 5x09 “O.P.P”

[winderlylandchime]

I wrote this all out while pretending to work and actually working so it’s a little all over the place. But now I’m laughing reading it back because it genuinely looks like one of the “check up” texts I send to mom/dad about my brother. Minus the qaf related topics at the end. Anyway, hi! Hope you’re doing well and had a good start of the week! And now back to the idiot I’m related to:

Take a guess who has been listening to Lover’s spit sincere yesterday? I’m talking sitting outside, drinking his coffee while it’s absolutely freezing and listening to Lover’s spit like he’s in some sad music video. (Btw the songs he listened to were Lover’s spit, you look so fine (which was in like s1 so he was really going through it), Save the last dance, Here nor there and true faith. And this was on a loop!) And the only thing he has “said” to me so far is just a simple lip smack with a side eye whenever he looks at me. So i’d say he is doing as expected but he’s also upset with me for making him like the show (bc yeah, i did that. I made him have a crush on Brian)

He also has bunch of doctor check ups today and I can only drop him off and later pick him up since my work is hectic since holiday’s are coming up. And ngl i am keeping all the doctors and nurses in my thoughts today. Usually (even tho it doesn’t look like it) i stop him or at least limit his ramblings so i have no clue how today will go. He might surprise me and behaves like an adult. Also he said that he barely slept overnight because he kept thinking about what could happen in the last 3 episodes and in case you wanted to know, he told me that through the cat. As in ‘Brian, guess who didn’t sleep today cause of Justin and the other Brian? That’s right, me’ and yes, it was said in a baby voice. I did also get a text from his friend asking me if he’s doing okay cause apparently he sent him a voice memo “talking about Brian and how he’s really worried about him” and my brother has absolutely no memory of even sending that. All this is just after 5x09. I am mentally not prepared for him after the finale.

But to answer some of your questions since I didn’t have the chance to yesterday: He only watches the American RuPaul. And he watched season 5 because of Jinkx (on Saturday he watched the video they did with Trixie a few years ago so he started to miss them). And yes, he has managed to drag the entire family into qaf although grandma has no fucking clue what or who he’s talking about so she just nods her head and smiles. And grandpa only knows about it through grandma who is even less reliable than my brother. But he is very happy that he found a hobby even tho at first he thought Brian was his friend. So basically: yes, he has made it everyone’s problem.

And you saying he’s just like Debbie if she was a man made me laugh so hard cause I’ve been thinking the same thing! Im glad someone agrees with me. And I’m happy(?) to report that 3 of our cousins and our aunt(!) actually got in trouble with our grandpa because it turns out they had bets going on if he’ll figure out by the end of the show that he might be a little queer. And then during a family dinner last week it was revealed that it was our uncle who was the one behind the bets and it was his husband who exposed him (yes the uncles whose wedding he went to with rainbow hair). And no it was not cause he thought the bets were immature but because my uncle didn’t let him be in charge with him. So I’d say the whole family is kinda waiting to see what happens and also treating it like their personal entertainment since we do tend to be more chill with these topics (which is such a huge blessing and we really are lucky about the fact that they dont even bat an eye at anything queer related including coming outs). Also I honestly have no idea how he will react to the proposal. I keep trying to think about it and I can never pinpoint his reaction. His reaction to the comic book was as if he saw the worst thing ever so we shall see. Which tbh same, i always hated that cover story :/

As for the Gale/Randy/Hal thing: first of, I didn’t expect that people were going to later talk about it to you so i hope I didn’t cause problems for you of any kind. But I do admit that even years later, it’s still a topic that has me curious since we know so little and since the lack of social media meant they (aka hal) was shady in interviews. Who does that omg? But also: i was so shocked when he said that. Wish you could see him cause he really had that look in his eyes as if he was there and saw them arguing every day and had inside knowledge and like I was the one who didn’t know anything about qaf. You could literally see the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out if he was right or not. I do wonder how he will feel about it once I tell him the little info I know about.

Btw, im glad to hear you cat is doing well. It is the absolute worst when an animal is sick since they can’t tell you what’s wrong. So please give Emmett some kisses and pets!

Oh and the most important part: your little teasers about your fic are making me lose my mind. Nonbinary Gus?! Older Brian?? I might lose my mind completely when i get the chance to read it.

Anon! I was just texting Europe about your brother. It’s now 12:45 as I start to write this and look:

I’m so glad you wrote because I wanted to remind you and let you make a decision based on whether he’s been paying attention to the titles.

I’m sorry I find it so funny he’s angry with YOI for making him care so much about this show and fall in love with Brian. It’s like when my dogs are mad at me for the rain. (If you’re doing math I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, all rescues because some lesbian stereotypes are accurate.)

Your family is taking bets about whether your brother is going to come out as so form of queer? I love that! Way better than the qaf family taking bets about how long Justin and Brian were going to last.

Don’t worry about mentioning the drama from the cast! I’m still so impressed with how insightful your brother is and how much he’s picked up on everything that the fandom discusses at length. The dynamics between the cast were bound to be one.

Emmett the cat continues to do well and come back from poor pathetic sickly mewmew to absolute bastard of a cat. We love to see it.

I am hoping to start posting my fic next week. I was hoping to have more done but oh well! I need the pressure of readers to focus lol. I’m so glad you’re excited!

[morticiasdarling]

missavagardner:

↳ I Love Lucy | Starring : Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley. I Love Lucy is an american tv comedy that originally ran during 1951 to 1957, after the original series ended the show continued with 3 more season and 13 hour specials from 1957 to 1960. I Love Lucy was the most watched show in America. This is one of the most amazing, beautiful, hilarious, perfect tv shows ever, I’m pretty sure you’ll never get tired of watching the wonderful Lucy! Especial thanks to the wonderful Anne for all her support and help! without her none of this would be possible.

Season 1 → 1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04 | 1x05 | 1x06 | 1x07 | 1x08 | 1x09 | 1x10 | 1x11 | 1x12 | 1x13 | 1x14 | 1x15 | 1x16 | 1x17 | 1x18 | 1x19 | 1x20 | 1x21 | 1x22 | 1x23 | 1x24 | 1x25 | 1x26 | 1x27 | 1x28 | 1x29 | 1x30 | 1x31 | 1x32 | 1x33 | 1x34 | 1x35

Season 2 → 2x1 | 2x2 | 2x3 | 2x4 | 2x5 | 2x6 | 2x7 | 2x8 | 2x9 | 2x10 | 2x11 | 2x12 | 2x13 | 2x14 | 2x15 | 2x16 | 2x17 | 2x18 | 2x19 | 2x20 | 2x21 | 2x22 | 2x23 | 2x24 | 2x25 | 2x26 | 2x27 | 2x28 | 2x29 | 2x30 | 2x31

Season 3 → 3x01 | 3x02 | 3x03 | 3x04 | 3x05 | 3x06 | 3x07 | 3x08 | 3x09 | 3x10 | 3x11 | 3x12 | 3x13 | 3x14 | 3x15 | 3x16 | 3x17 | 3x18 | 3x19 | 3x20 | 3x21 | 3x22 | 3x23 | 3x24 | 3x25 | 3x26 | 3x27 | 3x28 | 3x29 | 3x30 | 3x31

Season 4 → 4x01 | 4x02 | 4x03 | 4x04 | 4x05 | 4x06 | 4x07 | 4x08 | 4x09 | 4x10 | 4x11 | 4x12 | 4x13 | 4x14 | 4x15 | 4x16 | 4x17 | 4x18 | 4x19 | 4x20 | 4x21 | 4x22 | 4x23 | 4x24 | 4x25 | 4x26 | 4x27 | 4x28 | 4x29 | 4x30

Season 5 → 5x01 | 5x02 | 5x03 | 5x04 | 5x05 | 5x06 | 5x07 | 5x08 | 5x09 | 5x10 | 5x11 | 5x12 | 5x13 | 5x14 | 5x15 | 5x16 | 5x17 | 5x18 | 5x19 | 5x20 | 5x21 | 5x22 | 5x23 | 5x24 | 5x25 | 5x26

Season 6 → 6x01 | 6x02 | 6x03 | 6x04 | 6x05 | 6x06 | 6x07 | 6x08 | 6x09 | 6x10 | 6x11 | 6x12 | 6x13 | 6x14 | 6x15 | 6x16 | 6x17 | 6x18 | 6x19 | 6x20 | 6x21 | 6x22 | 6x23 | 6x24 | 6x25 | 6x26 | 6x27

The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour Season 7 → 7x07 | 7x02 | 7x03 | 7x04 | 7x05

Season 8 → 8x01 | 8x02 | 8x03 | 8x04 | 8x05

Season 9 → 9x01 | 9x02 | 9x03

Extras: 1x0 | The Lost I Love Lucy Pilot 1940 | Too Many Girls WATCH 1953 | The Long Long Trailer WATCH 1956 | The I Love Lucy Christmas Show WATCH 1956 | Forever Darling DOWNLOAD I’ve Got A Secret Lucy & Desi What’s My Line Lucy & Desi Sixth Annual Emmy Awards | I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley Lucy & Desi first Joint Television appearance

[seraphtrevs]

Lalo Salamanca is gay

Disclaimer: I would be shocked if any of the writers/showrunners came out and said they conceived of Lalo as a gay character and intended for him to be seen by the viewers as gay. I would be even more shocked if they wrote him as gay, but then decided to conceal The Truth from the fans for some reason. This is not that kind of trutherism. 

Instead, let’s put authorial intention aside and engage solely with the text of the show. In this actual essay I wrote because I’m obsessed with AMC’s hit teevee show Better Call Saul and Eduardo “Lalo” Salamanca in particular, I will prove that a gay Lalo makes way more sense than a straight Lalo.

1) Lalo’s attitude towards women. I’ve already gone into this here, but I want to expand on it a little further. The Latin American drug cartels are steeped in machismo culture, in which men have authority over women. To a typical macho guy, the way Kim speaks to Lalo in 5x09 would be unacceptable - not just insulting, but a threat to his identity as a man. Even if he thought she had a good point, he would not tolerate that kind of disrespect without pushback.

Lalo has all of the power in that situation. There’s no reason for him not to yell at her to shut up at the very least, even if he decides killing her and Jimmy would be too messy (although he’s heading to Mexico as a fugitive already, so what’s another couple of murders to him?) Instead, he quietly listens to her tirade, considers her arguments, decides she probably has a point, and leaves without another word. 

This is a baffling reaction if Lalo is a typical heterosexual, macho narco. But what if Lalo is gay? His relationship with machismo culture would be a lot more complicated. He would engage with it to blend in, but he would see it as mask he wears rather than a core part of his identity. You can take a mask off. Kim was talking sense, even if she was being disrespectful about it. He doesn’t feel obligated to put her in her place to defend his masculinity.

2) Where are Lalo’s children? The Salamancas are a family dynasty. It’s hard to keep a family dynasty going if no one is having any kids. Tuco is an unstable drug addict who’s in and out of jail, so it’s understandable that he hasn’t fathered any children. The twins are reptilian weirdos who can’t separate from each other long enough to make it with a woman. 

But what’s Lalo’s excuse? He’s handsome, charming, wealthy, and stable (relatively speaking). He’s in his late 40s/early 50s, so he’s had plenty of time to establish himself. He owns a nice home where he could safely tuck away a wife and kids. Or alternately, he could have a bunch of mistresses and father children with all of them. 

Instead, he lives the life of a confirmed bachelor, with only his paid staff to keep him company. That’s very weird if Lalo’s straight, but makes perfect sense if he’s gay.

3) The Nacho factor. This one is a little fuzzier and admittedly ship-tainted, but bear with me. Lalo is horny for Nacho. Their first meeting in 4x08 can be seen as a seduction attempt from Lalo (especially if you buy into my Nacho Christ/Lalo Morningstar interpretation). Not a literal seduction like he was trying in that moment to fuck him, but he’s clearly being playful (in a menacing sort of way) and trying to see if he can get some sort of yes from Nacho, even if it’s just yes to food. 

But Nacho stonewalls him. Imagine Nacho saying no to Hector about anything. He would be furious at the disrespect. Lalo isn’t. If anything, he seems intrigued. His whole bit about getting Nacho to eat his tacos is not him establishing his authority as Don Eduardo, the narco boss who must be obeyed. He’s trying to a) figure out what kind of guy this Varga fellow is, but also b) see if Nacho will play with him. It’s not ironclad evidence of his horniness since Lalo favors a softer touch with other people, too (Jimmy, for example). But I don’t think it’s a stretch to view this first interaction as flirtatious. 

Lots of viewers wonder why Lalo trusted Nacho so completely by the end, especially since we know that Nacho had so much hatred and frustration brewing under the surface. Nacho put in a lot of work to earn Lalo’s trust, as I’ve already talked about, but Lalo’s attraction to Nacho also plays a role in blinding him to Nacho’s true intentions. Lalo’s a smart guy, but his dick is stupid, as dicks tend to be.

Let’s go further and take a closer look at 5x10. Thanks to Kim’s advice, Lalo has decided to trust Nacho and bring him into his home. Lalo is a touchy-feely guy in general (see him schmoozing at Don Eladio’s party)…but he sure is getting extra handsy with Nacho, isn’t he? And then, by the firepit, when they’re all alone and every doubt Lalo had about Nacho has been put to rest, Lalo tells Nacho he’s “halfway to being a Salamanca.” Kind of sounds like a little more than “you’re my most trusted lieutenant,” doesn’t it? How does he plan to get Nacho fullway into being a Salamanca? (I mean, they wouldn’t get married and their relationship would have to be on the DL, but in their hearts Nacho could be a fully fledged Salamanca as his partner.)

And then when Nacho suggests they break out something stronger, Lalo is extremely excited about having their own little party, just the two of them, all alone in the privacy of his home, where neither of them have to worry about prying eyes or cartel gossip. Makes you wonder where he was hoping the night would lead. (The answer is he was hoping to take the Blowjob Express to Pound Town.)

So there you have it. Lalo is a gay homosexual, and good for him. In fairness, let me briefly address potential Lalo-is-straight counterarguments:

1) All characters should be assumed straight unless the writers say otherwise – BOO, this is homophobic and we are doing a dead-author interpretation here so it’s not valid anyway, next argument

2) We haven’t seen Lalo fuck a man, ipso facto he is straight – well, we haven’t seen him fuck a woman, have we? In fact, he turned down the opportunity in 6x05. IPSO FACTO HE IS GAY.*

*ETA - it’s been pointed out to me that I worded this last point in a way that was not inclusive of trans identity, so I’ve reworded it. Thank you for the tip!

[averyqueerhalloween]

I'm putting together a list of Shows/Episodes to watch for Fall/Spooky Season:

Gilmore Girls Episodes: 1x05, 1x06, 1x07, 2x04, 2x06, 2x07, 2x08, 3x06, 3x07, 3x09, 4x05, 4x07, 4x08, 4x09, 5x05, 5x06, 5x07, 5x08, 5x09, 6x05, 6x06, 6x07, 6x08, 6x09, 6x10, Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life: Fall.

Supernatural: All of Season 1 (possibly S.2)

Chucky

Goosebumps

What We Do In The Shadows

Laid-Back Camp

The Owl House

Nancy Drew

Stranger Things

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Midnight Mass

The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Only Murders In The Building

American Horror Story/Stories

Twin Peaks

Gravity Falls (good watch for August as it's still summer but the vibes are great for getting into spooky season)

October Road

Bates Motel (check trigger warnings)

The Twilight Zone

The Outer Limits

Over The Garden Wall

Hilda

Scooby-Doo

Sleepy Hollow

The X-Files

🎃🖤🧡💚💜👻

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Beth’s Template in S11

Okay Bethyl Enthusiasts! Here goes!

I’ve been promising to talk to you about exactly what I think will happen in S11 with Beth’s arc, and that’s what I’m going to do today. I’ve had a basic idea of things for a while, now, but these bonus episodes and their epic symbolism have really kicked things into high gear. They’ve helped me see things more clearly and even helped give me a more definitely (disclaimer: though still somewhat fluid) timeline for how/when it will all happen.

So, of course we all hoped to see her in ep 22. But if he we had, it would have had to have been in a coda. Like a preview of some kind. Because they didn’t quite get to the part of the story where I’m expecting to see her. But I’ll get into that in more detail.

So, we’ve been saying for a while that we think she’ll come through Eugene’s storyline, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on here. Because that’s specifically what I think we’ll see in S11. @wdway has found a TON of Beth symbolism around Eugene. She did most of her investigating and reporting over the long, CoVid hiatus, but I haven’t gotten around to posting much of it. Maybe I still will. We’ll see. There’s been so much to talk about lately.

Let me also state that, while I firmly believe we’ll see Beth in S11, I don’t think we’ll get to the point where Daryl will see her. And yes, that kinda sucks. But they probably won’t have their reunion until the spinoff. I know the Bethyl reunion is what we’re all waiting for, but hey, at least once we see her, we’ll know it’s coming, right?

So let’s start by going through the relevant template.

I’ve mentioned parts of this before, so I apologize if any part of it is repetitive. But it will help you if  you understand not just what I believe we’ll see, but why.

So, let’s return to 6x08/09. At the end of 6x07,  the church fell and all the walkers got into Alexandria. Eugene ends up in a garage with Tara and Rosita. They can’t get into the house connected to the garage because the dividing door is locked. After a discussion between the two ladies about whether they’re going to give up hope or else “do something,” Eugene offers to pick the lock and they get inside.

Inside, Morgan was keeping Creepy Wolf Dude (who I’ll abbreviate CWD) in the basement. He brought Denise (Beth proxy) in to patch up his injury, which she does. Carol wants to kill CWD and tries, but Morgan stops her. He’s on his “all life is precious” kick and ends up body slamming Carol, so she passes out. But when his back is turned, CWD also hits him over the head, so Carol and Morgan are both down for the count.

Just then, Eugene, Rosita and Tara enter, but CWD takes Denise hostage and leaves.

Everyone with me?

Okay, let’s start with Denise. Because of the way she died, Daryl’s reaction to her death, and AALLLLLL the Beth symbolism around her, she’s clearly a proxy for Beth. So what I’m going to argue is that this little sequence is a foreshadow and template for how she’ll be reintroduced into the show. Notice how Daryl isn’t present in any of these scenes. So again, this is how we, the audience will see her. Not how Daryl will first see her. Kapish? Okay.

So, I think Eugene unlocking the door to a new place represents him finding or “unlocking” a new community. Kinda like the one he, Yumiko, Zeke, and Princess are now in the process of discovering.

How did we come up with that? I honestly don’t remember in detail. Like I said, it’s something we’ve discussed for a long time. I think we started with Denise=Beth and worked backward from there. It kind of feels like out of all the members of TF, Eugene will see her first, but then she’ll be taken away from him right away.

Now, he’s in the midst of discovering new people/a new community. A few other pieces of evidence for this:

1)      Before they run into the garage, right after the church falls, Eugene gets on the radio and calls for help. Remember, Daryl hears him? So that parallels to Eugene talking with Stephanie via the radio.

2)      If you go through the dialogue of Rosita and Tara in this scene and compare it to dialogue in the scene in 10x16 between Yumiko and Ezekiel (the scene where his horse dies) the parallels are ridiculous. They aren’t the exact same lines of dialogue, but the meanings and chronology of it is almost exact.

3)      In terms of Denise = Beth, before she patches up Creepy Wolf Dude, she says to him, “show me the wound.” In Rick’s dream in 9x05, we heard Beth’s voice say, “What’s your wound?” It’s almost like they were trying to show us that Denise = Beth and that this template would play out with her return.

Okay, I hope that’s all clear. Shit’s about to get really interesting.

Before we continue, I want to remind you of THIS POST I did about 5x09. If you haven’t read it, I suggest doing so. I talk about the radio voice in 5x09 and how it talks about “attacks against the republic.” We couldn’t have known what that meant before, but now it’s clear that it’s a foreshadow of the CRM and the CRM war, which won’t happen until the spinoff.

It’s super interesting because Andrew Lincoln was the radio voice (he’s currently with the CRM) but he has his English accent. (I’ll tell you why that’s important in a minute. It wasn’t a casual or irrelevant choice on the writers’ parts.) So if that suggests Rick being with the CRM, which he is, it’s kind of interesting that Beth’s voice, singing “Struggling Man” also comes out of the radio at first, before we see her sitting there singing it. That suggests that she, too, will be with the CRM and part of the CRM war. None of Ty’s other death hallucinations spoke from the radio. I’m just saying.

The voice there even mentioned brutal attacks against the republic, including setting people on fire and hacking them with machetes. And that’s important because that’s just what the wolves did at Alexandria, and in the above template, we have CWD taking Denise (Beth). So it’s all interconnected.

But even so, I’ve had a hard time nailing down what it means and what the story line will actually be when Beth return.

Enter episode 10x21 and @bluesandbeth​’s inspired research.

In ep 21, Carol snoops around in Daryl’s room and finds the book “The Golden Age of Piracy.” Now, I’ll admit I didn’t look into this reference very extensively because I THOUGHT I knew what it meant. We had a “pirates” reference between Daryl and Carol in 10x01, when they first discussed leaving together on his bike. Since we already know they’ll be leaving together for the spinoff, that conversation was a foreshadow of what will happen in the spinoff. And if you’ve been following my posts,  you know that I see their whole arc in the bonus episodes (6x18 and 6x21) as a foreshadow of that same story line. So to me it was just another confirmation of the spinoff arc.

Then @bluesandbeth contacted me because she’d been looking into the Golden Age of Piracy book. She looked up the author and found out some interesting things. This author is real and basically wrote two kinds of historical books. (X) Books about piracy, and books about the American Revolutionary War. The author wrote a book called Greene and Cornwallis. (X)

Yikes! Yes, Greene is a real person and a patriot who stood against Cornwallis in the Revolutionary War. But what are the chances the writers use an author who just happens to have written a book with Beth’s last name in the title?

Historically, Nathaneal Greene was George Washington’s top general and right hand man during the war. I’ll come back to him. For now, it’s enough that he shares Beth’s last name.

I immediately hopped online to see what @bluesandbeth​ was seeing and look for more. And boy did I stumble upon a treasure trove!

I noticed a second book by this author called Swamp Fox. (Full title is Francis Marion: Swamp Fox.)

Now, you may wonder why that caught my attention. It’s not anything I ever posted about. It has to do with Leah. While me and my fellow theorists were discussing her and episode 10x18 endlessly, we noticed that Leah often wore a fox-fur scarf:

We conjectured back and forth about what it meant. Foxes, just like most animals, can have many different symbolic meanings depending on what culture you’re looking at. They’re often seen as sneaky and wily and deceptive, so we wondered if it was a reference to the writers “deceiving” us because Leah is a hallucination. But that was about the best we could come up with.

Well, when I saw the title of Swamp Fox, I immediately thought of Leah. And of course symbolically, Leah = Beth. So I decided to investigate.

And guess what? When I started reading about the Swamp Fox book, all the stuff from the S6 template above and the 5x09 stuff about Beth being part of the CRM war started clicking into place so fast, it made my head spin.

The Swamp Fox is about Francis Marion, a real man and patriot who also fought against the British during the American Revolutionary war. He’s the guy Mel Gibson’s character in The Patriot is based on. He faced down Cornwallis (one of the main British generals during the American Revolution) and was awesome at guerilla tactics and staying hidden. You know, in the swamp. Hence, they called him Swamp Fox.

Does that sound familiar to you? Think about what Andy Lincoln/Radio Voice said in 5x09 about Guerilla warfare and attacks against the Republic. You could describe Francis Marion’s military career any better if you tried.

And then I went to Wikipedia to look up general information on Marion and pictures of the British flag are all over the place.

Okay, this is another thing that won’t be very familiar to you because I haven’t focused on it much. In one of the episodes of TWB, Julia Ormond’s character is at home and we see a huge British flag hanging on her wall. Not surprising, given that she’s British. But it was such a huge, blatant symbol, and the camera focused on it for so long, that we figured it had to mean something. We just didn’t know what. The best we could figure is the colors (blue and red) and the fact that there’s both a huge X and a T/cross on the British flag.

Well, I now know what that symbol represents in TWD world. Reading about Marion and seeing the British flag on his Wikipedia page made it all make sense to me.

In short, Francis Marion, a.k.a. The Swamp Fox = Beth. She’s going to be the second-in-command general/guerilla warfare expert against the CRM. That’s why they had all that stuff in 5x09 when we saw her and heard her sing. The reason for the British flag is that Julia Ormond’s character = Cornwallis.

Read up on Francis Marion HERE.

(This is also why I said it’s important that in 5x09, they had Andrew Lincoln use is British accent for the radio broadcast. It’s meant to be from the point of view of the CRM, which symbolically represent the British in the template.)

So they’re using the American Revolution as a loose template for how the CRM war will go.

Back to Nathaneal Greene of Greene and Cornwallis? Yeah, same thing. Greene was George Washington’s direct under-general and right-hand man. Kind of like a…second or new sheriff? In the CRM war, George Washington = Rick and Nathaneal Greene = um, Greene (Beth).

More on Nathaneal Greene HERE.

But here’s the thing. None of that is going to happen until the spinoff. So why am I talking about it for S11? Well, it has to do with Charleston.

You can look this up on Wikipedia for more details, but Charleston was an event that was huge for Francis Marion. It was Charleston, South Carolina in that case. And it was a stronghold that the colonists were holding against the British. Then one day, the British attacked and took everyone there as prisoners of war. Marion WAS stationed there at the time, but he wasn’t there when the attack happened because he’d BROKEN HIS ANKLE in an accident and left the city to recuperate.

Okay. Anyone recognize Charleston in terms of Eugene or TWD world?

When talking to Stephanie over the radio, he got her to finally tell him where her settlement was. Any guesses? Charleston.

Now, in this case, it’s Charleston, West Virginia, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the writers went with the same name, even if it’s a different state.

So, here’s how I think it will play out.

I don’t think Stephanie’s group is actually the Commonwealth, or at least not the major, Commonwealth city everyone knows from the comic books. They DO have the white storm trooper guys, so I think they’re linked to the CW somehow. Like maybe they’re a branch of the CW in the same way Grady might have been an outlying branch—or at least in communication with—the CRM.

So again, maybe they’re PART of the CW, but they’re not living with the main group.

So, I think Eugene’s group will be taken to Charleston in S11 (that should happen next) and they will see Beth there. I have no idea if Eugene will recognize her or not. Given that we still don’t know what went down during the missing 17 days after Coda, and Eugene was hurt, we don’t know if he actually saw Beth at all or if he was out during that time. I’ve agonized over this a lot, but understanding this new template, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t really matter. Maybe he’ll recognize her. Maybe he won’t. But either way, he’s not going to be in the same place with her for long.

I think soon after Charleston will be attacked. Now, historically, it was by the British, right? And because Julia Ormond’s character = Cornwallis, it’s got to be the CRM who attack Charleston. And we’ve seen them do this with other communities in TWB, so it makes sense.

But here’s where I had the S6 template wrong for a long time. Because CWD takes Denise, I thought a group would attack Stephanie’s community and take prisoners, and Beth would be taken with them, while Eugene and the others were left behind. 

But because of the Marion/Swamp Fox/Charleston thing, I think the opposite is true. Sounds like Eugene and co will be taken as prisoners by the CRM. Why did they do it the opposite way in S6? Because they couldn’t have had all the Alexandrians taken and Denise left behind. It just wouldn’t have worked for that S6 storyline. The point is mostly the separation. Eugene gets into a new place, briefly sees her, and then they’re separated.

So Charleston will be attacked and all the people (probably including Eugene, Yumiko, and Zeke) get captured by the CRM. If Beth is Marion, then she won’t be there when it happens.

I’m wondering if she’ll be out in the woods, hunting or getting supplies or something, and this is where she’ll step in the bear trap, injuring her ankle. That would fulfill all the bear trap symbolism around her, including Alone when she stepped in the small game trap. Just a guess on my part, but I think it’s highly likely.

Even if I’m wrong about that detail, I think she’ll be away from the Charleston community, just as Marion was, when the CRM captures the people there.

This is why it doesn’t really matter whether Eugene recognizes her or not. If he doesn’t, and they don’t realize they know the same people, she won’t know that Maggie and Daryl are (relatively) nearby. I think at this point she’ll go to try and rescue the people from the community who were captured (if she’s been with them for awhile, there are probably people there she cares about) and that’s how she’ll run into Rick and first cross paths with the CRM.

She and Daryl will meet down the road at a later date.

Even if Eugene DOES recognize her and she knows about TF, I still think she’s going to go try and rescue her friends before attempting to go to D.C. because they’re in more immediate danger and she’ll have some loyalty to them.

So, this is what I think we’ll see in S11. And I have no idea where it will cut off. Maybe the last thing we’ll see with Eugene in S11 is the fall of Charleston. Or maybe that will happen in episode 2. I really have no idea.

But I’m going to mention one other thing before I stop for today. I know this is getting wrong.

Who is Creepy Wolf Dude in this template? I mean, the wolves attacked Alexandria, so we could assume it’s just the CRM, and maybe a particular person in the CRM. Might be.

But rewatching 6x08, something caught my ear.

Morgan and Carol were arguing about whether or not to kill Creepy Wolf Dude, right? She keeps saying he needs to die. Morgan keeps saying no. And then we have a really interesting conversation.

Carol (talking about wolves): They made us kill. We had to stop it. I had to stop it.

Morgan: Where there’s life, there’s possibility. Even if we never let him out—

CWD: I’d get out.

Morgan (talking over him): Even if we never let him out, he could know what he’s done.

Who else killed and made TF kill? And rather than killing this person, they put him into a cell, vowing never to let him out. But he got out?

Negan! They’re basically talking about Negan’s fate after AOW here.

And guys, that’s CRAZY. I think CWD = Negan.

And I have more evidence for this.

In the TTD after 5x09, I remember that Nicotero was on it. And they were talking about how intrigued CWD was by Denise. I think it was Chris who said something like (and I paraphrase), “I guess it wouldn’t be right to say he fell in love with her or anything…”

And Nicotero corrected him and said CWD kinda did fall in love with Denise. Maybe not in a lifelong, deep, abiding love like we see with Bethyl/Glaggie/Richonne/Etc., but he’d never met anyone like her and he was intrigued by her. He fell in love with her as much as a killer like him could fall in love with someone.

Then, in 7x16, we had Sasha’s death. We went on and on about all the Beth symbolism around Sasha in that episode. It was ridiculous! Kind of like these bonus episodes had been. And Negan…kinda liked Sasha. I mean, I don’t think anyone would have described it as falling in love, but he liked and respected her. Said she had beach-ball-sized lady nuts and he truly respected her and was sad to see her die.

So I think these are both templates that point to what will happen next.

(BTW, Eugene was present for a LOT of Sasha’s final episodes.)

The main reason we always thought Beth would show up with the Saviors is because of the Negan (bat, actually) symbolism around her. But if she and Negan have a major arc together or interaction later on, all of that will suddenly make sense.

So again, I’m not sure if we’ll see this in S11 or if it will come later, but I think after Charleston falls, Negan and Beth will somehow meet (maybe he leaves the communities at some point) and have a lot of scenes and episodes together.

All right. I’ll stop there. Do I know any of this for certain? Of course not. As always, it’s subject to change. Especially the details. And the instant I see anything that changes my thinking or makes me realize I interpreted something wrong, I’ll let you know.

But my biggest point is that this really SHOULD be the next thing we see with Eugene’s group. Of course, this is TWD and it might still take us 8 or 10 or more episodes to get there as they have a lot of things to focus on S11. But it’s coming. And soon.

Remember that S11 is scheduled to start in June. So we don’t have long to wait. (Yay!)

Thoughts?

[ftstorm]

5x07, 5x08 and 5x09 thoughts.

In which I complain a lot about the last 3 episodes. It’s long and boring. Read at your own discretion.

I just needed to get this out of my system. I try not to overthink it when I watch the show but I can’t help it! So I’ve come to accept the overthinking as a part of me LOL. 

I’m angry, okay? Possibly because I’ve been debating myself whether to post this or not for three weeks but also because they erased from the face of Earth the relatable and inspiring Mac that I used to know.

I’m going to start with the positives! 5x07, 5x08 and 5x07 were average MacGyver episodes and they weren’t bad. They were etertaining and had the science moments we all like. Also, 5x06 is the highlight of the season so far because if felt like MacGyver again and since it was written/produced by the new team it means THERE’S HOPE.

From episodes 7 to 9 they just did the job to put the episode on air. That’s about it.

Maybe the fact that they were just good enough is the reason why I feel indiferent 5x07 and 5x08. I’ve been wondering why since both of those were pretty good episodes overall.

{ ! } 5x07 left me with a bad aftertaste. You have to understand that 5x06 was a lovely episode and regressing to the dumb “let’s put this whole bagagge of blame in Mac’s shoulders as if the rest of the characters didn’t have anything better to do” was upsetting.

If the focus would had been completely in the danger of someone stealing the idea instead of having the team doing an inquisition on Mac (from the very beginning to the end), then it would’ve been a much better episode in my opinion.

Also, you make an episode centered in cancer and you DON’T make a reflection on it? What’s the point of the episode? That there’s people who can weaponize the cure for cancer? Where’s the depth, the layers? They barely mention how this whole thing is related to Mac’s dad in favor of blaming him because he created a an illegal bioweapon? 

Turning a cancer sensible episode into a government conspiracy is so... American.

{ ! } 5x08 had the main issue that they had to distribute screen time in three parts since there were two incredible guest actors but also Mac himself. Idk, I’m not an expert in the topic but the episode did feel incomplete. As if there wasn’t enough screen time in either of the two more entertaining fronts (the guests scenes). 

It was like a punchline that doesn’t hit home.

Also I’m sad that I watched the Matty and Riley sneak peek because that was their only scene. I really thought they would dive more into their bond... but they didn’t.

This is also when I noticed a pattern in these PL’s era where they make Mac fail his improvisations a lot. He’s usually not in the right track and has to rethink the whole thing. That is so out of character. This type of scenario only used to happen in the really dangerous and important missions.

{ ! } 5x09 was, like 5x07, a pointless episode. “Let’s make Mac have a mental breakdown during a mission.”  That was the whole premise, really. This is an example of how the characters in MacGyver have been used as plot devices for the whole season.

Inconsistency #1: Mac having a breakdown in front of everyone when three episodes ago he wouldn’t let a soul see him grieving Jack’s death.

Inconsistency #2: The trigger for said breakdown was a mission that was very dangerous, yes, but no different to what they team confronts in a daily basis. Mac’s character is meant to work the best under pressure, his brain enhances during those moment so having it be thet trigger it doesn’t feel right.

Inconsistency #3: Desi showcasing trust during the mission at the beginning and understanding Mac later on. Until two episodes ago she TAILED him and forced him to open up because she didn’t have a clue what was going on with him (it’s not that difficutl to figure out tbh dear Desi writers).

Do you see where I’m going with this? Plot devices, out of character writing, making the characters do stuff to fit in Mac’s “traumatized” state...

Inconsistency #4: Riley snarking so much at Mac. She usually is supportive no matter what and if she has a comment about his crazy plans they’re always delivered in a comedic demanour. But this time it didn’t.

Inconsistency #5: They writers pushed Mac to have a breakdown during the mission, to expose his mindset to the team and audience clearly showing that he still hasn’t moved on; yet when he’s FINALLY about to have a therapeutic catharsis moment in the graveyard he gets interrupted.

(btw, forcing yourself into someone’s personal space is never a good decision dear Desi writers)

Incosistency #6: He hasn’t realized how much he misses Oversight? Right, sure.

Incosistency #7: Mac’s hair in the graveyard scene, Mac’s mother grave missing, Mac not showing much vertigo... The details man, the details.

Why even write an episode like that?? What’s the character/plot development?? Having a breakdown during a mission is NOT therapeutic. Having your feelings exposed to everyone is NOT therapeutic. 

That talk with Bozer in the comms was beautiful but I wish it had happened in a more appropiate moment. Imagine if Bozer kept talking to Mac because he knows that calms him down, without the “Bozer the psychologist” piece of dialogue. And then, after the mission, reach out to Mac privately to have a heart to heart talk. Imagine that.

Conclusion 1: PL’s era absolutely destroyed Mac as a character. They kept pushing him, episode after episode, to be a traumatized man that would not have a supportive environment near him to process his dark emotions (which is bullshit because he’s surrounded by a very supportive group of people, they just decided to not write them as that).

Conclusion 2: CODEX (or should I say codex 2.0?) is a boring threat. The creators of the show are stuck not only with a mess of a character who goes through the same experiences (loss, loss and loss) over and over again without real devolpment and whose present isn’t relatable at all to the common audience, but also with an unenengaging enemy. I hope they drop the Codex plotline sooner rather than later.

Now, listen. The ratings won’t change. If MacGyver hasn’t lost much audience with the show how it is now, then it won’t lose more in the future. MacGyver as a show is a great concept and people will keep watching just for that.

There, I said it. Harsh words, heavy criticism that I needed to get out of my system.

[multimetaverse]

Riverdale 5x09 Recap

I like that Alice is being realistic about whose blood it is (also why do women on tv who are falling apart only ever drink wine to drown their sorrows?)

Ngl I like the Friday Night Lights knockoff they’re doing this week

Not Veronica storming into a changing room of underage kids without even knocking

Studies have shown that the fastest way to destroy motivation in kids is to pay them to do something, like play sports, that they had already been doing and then after a while you stop paying them and they’ll lose any passion they had in the activity. So hope Veronica can keep paying for points

God Jughead looks rough, even FP at his worst never looked this bad

Lmao is Cheryl really gonna try and fix Kevin and Fangs?

Damn Betty was ice cold to Glenn

Well mole people would connect with the old mines much better than aliens would. Waldo should know better by now, stories are never just stories on Riverdale

Many recaps ago I joked that Hiram would eventually be reduced to showing up to PTA meetings to try and thwart Archie and honestly sending Reggie to tell Archie to withdraw his football team from the local league is barely a step above that

Lmao Reggie walking out of pop’s and calling each bulldog loser was so petty

Oh wow Sheriff Keller gets to have a scene with his son

Well it’s a good thing that your father has never reneged on a deal before Veronica! 

Lerman looks like he’s freaking out (these close ups of Jughead are not flattering). I wonder if the aliens were at all connected to the Farm? We know they were stealing organs from cult members there which could tie in with these alleged alien surgeries

Cheryl actually giving good advice

CW is letting Veronica take her bra off for sex scenes now

Ooof Betty. Although knowing Riverdale they might actually have Polly make it out alive even though it’s completely unrealistic at this point. Especially since they’ve left themselves the loophole of only testing for blood type rather than Polly’s DNA specifically

Lerman Logan? is RAS a fan of Logan Lerman?

Only Cheryl can get away with earnestly saying ‘’#kangs”

Also Fangs is right, Cheryl’s party might have been the ultimate trigger but there were clearly deep issues in the Kangs relationship

Fangs sinking his, uh, fangs, into Kevin’s long history of hooking up in the woods with random dudes

It’s nice that Jughead can just ditch his shift at pop’s whenever he needs to

I have no clue if this dude is a real life football player or not

Hiram really needs to learn how to delegate, this is not the kind of shit a mafia don should be dealing with

Nice to know that Reggie draws the line at injuring children

Sure old man Dreyfus looks crazy but he sounds crazier

Love that clearly photoshopped picture of Betty and Polly

Uh oh looks like Dark! Betty is back (how very American of her to have her ammunition stored with no protections)

Yikes we haven’t seen a gay bashing in Riverdale in quite some time

Betty would honestly be more effective at scaring off these truckers if she just flashed her FBI badge rather than going vigilante 

Oh man are they really trying to pull a Kevin is ashamed of being gay plot now? After all this time? 

Great acting from Casey but this scene really falls flat. For one,  Kevin’s character right from the pilot has pretty much just him being gay and there really never seemed to be any issues he himself had with it, even when we saw characters like Moose or Moose’s father struggling with their sexualities. Secondly, when was the last time we even heard of Kevin’s mom? Back in S2 when it’s revealed that she and Tom were getting divorced? We’ve never met this lady who’s now revealed as homophobic and yet it turns out she’s the root of Kevin’s trauma, which is also just being revealed 85 eps into the series

Again Betty all you need to do is flash your FBI badge, you don’t have to go full Serpico on these truck drivers

Credit where due, this sleepwalking excuse is actually plausible as are his parents being the mole people since they lock him in the basement at night to keep him from hurting himself. A week is a long time to vanish with no memory

So looks like someone or some group is abducting adults and kids over the decades but letting them go while someone else is abducting and murdering women specifically 

This Cheryl performance lacks the usual razzle dazzle

Yasaas Britta get that point

Poor timing Glenn

At least Hiram is getting back into the destroying Riverdale business next week rather than his pissing contests with Archie

Until next week Riverdalers 

[taiturner]

ALL AMERICAN ◆ 5x09 "Feel it in the Air"

[nothingunrealistic]

billions episodes sorted by how many times the title is said in the episode

0: Pilot (1x01), The Good Life (1x05), The Conversation (1x12), Risk Management (2x01), Optimal Play (2x03), The Oath (2x04), The Third Ortolan (3x06), Chucky Rhoades’s Greatest Game (4x01), Infinite Game (4x07), Extreme Sandbox (4x12), Beg, Bribe, Bully (5x03), Implosion (5x09), No Direction Home (5x12), Cannonade (6x01), Tower of London (7x01), Game Theory Optimal (7x09)

1: The Punch (1x07), Boasts and Rails (1x08), Quality of Life (1x10), Dead Cat Bounce (2x02), Victory Lap (2x07), The Kingmaker (2x08), Sic Transit Imperium (2x09), With or Without You (2x10), Golden Frog Time (2x11), Tie Goes to the Runner (3x01), A Generation Too Late (3x03), Flaw in the Death Star (3x05), Not You, Mr. Dake. (3x07), All the Wilburys (3x08), Kompenso (3x11), Arousal Template (4x02), Chickentown (4x03), Overton Window (4x04), A Proper Sendoff (4x05), Maximum Recreational Depth (4x06), Fight Night (4x08), Lamster (4x11), The Chris Rock Test (5x02), The Nordic Model (5x06), Copenhagen (5x08), Victory Smoke (5x11), STD (6x03), Hostis Humani Generis (6x06), Napoleon’s Hat (6x07), Hindenburg (6x09), Cold Storage (6x12), Original Sin (7x02), Hurricane Rosie (7x04), The Gulag Archipelago (7x05), The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt (7x06), Axe Global (7x11)

2: The Deal (1x06), Indian Four (2x06), Ball in Hand (2x12), The Wrong Maria Gonzalez (3x02), Hell of a Ride (3x04), Icebreaker (3x09), Redemption (3x10), Elmsley Count (3x12), The New Decas (5x01), The Limitless Shit (5x07), Lyin’ Eyes (6x02), Burn Rate (6x04), Rock of Eye (6x05), Johnny Favorite (6x10), Winston Dick Energy (7x03)

3: Naming Rights (1x02), Short Squeeze (1x04), Where the Fuck is Donnie? (1x09), Magical Thinking (1x11), American Champion (4x09), New Year’s Day (4x10)

4: The Big Ugly (6x08), Enemies List (7x10)

5: Contract (5x05), Succession (6x11), The Owl (7x08)

6:

7: DMV (7x07) 

8: Admirals Fund (7x12)

9:

10: Currency (2x05), Opportunity Zone (5x04)

11: Liberty (5x10)

12: YumTime (1x03)