#although have i ever successfully predicted a major plot point in this show. i have not

[immortalsins]

big fan of the major antagonists in crash course in romance being the scary mums whilst a b-plot position is given to the actual murderer

[sharinluna]

MLQC Chapter 15 translation

Translation of excerpts from chapter 15 to improve my language skills.

This is not a full translation, only some parts. It’s more like a abbreviation/summary/paraphrasing of some parts of the story. Do not ask me to translate more or reveal more plots in the story. 

I actively excluded all plot related scenes concerning evol and story development. I focused more on the relationship between MC and the LI.

The translation is based on KR version text. I’m not a professional translator and get things wrong. So do not regard this as the actual canon story.

I used Yōurán as the name of MC because that is the unofficial default MC’s name in CN version.

DO NOT COPY, QUOTE, REPOST OR REBLOG THIS ANYWHERE. Links are okay but I don’t want this post to spread too much in other communities or websites.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

 15-1

There were many passers-by in the busy streets between buildings but no one paid attention to the man standing in the midst of all.

He stood there devastated.

He looked at the large clock on the giant shopping mall. Soon it will become year 2028. Right now it’s 2028… the future. There’s so much to figure out.

“Beep-”

A black car sped past him. His eyes briefly landed on the man inside the car.

That is Victor. That is him ten years later.

15-2

I tried to tell myself that everything was over. That things turned back to normal. We can go back to living peacefully like we did before… or so I’m trying to persuade myself. But is it really?

What happened at the TV tower was not a dream. Separation from Lucien, not being able to find Victor, the painful farewell from Kiro, they are all real.

And… Gavin, protecting me, keeping me safe in his arms while bleeding himself is also not a dream.

After I gained consciousness I returned home after few days of recuperating. Gavin came by my house frequently to see me, but didn’t say anything about that day.

Time passed, and even the media lost interest. Everything was concluded as a freak accident in a TV station.

But I have never been able to be at ease since then.

(Knocking sound)

When I opened the door, there stood Gavin.

Gavin: How are things today?

He looked at me sadly.

Gavin: Did you have nightmares again?

I shook my head, but couldn’t hide the tears that were welling in my eyes.

Yōurán: I’m fine.

I forced myself to smile.

Yōurán: How are your wounds, are they all healed?

Gavin: The external injuries are almost healed. After a few days I’ll be able to go back doing missions.

Yōurán: That soon?

Gavin: To me, it’s not soon enough.

Yōurán: Gavin…

Gavin: I’m worried about you.

I shook my head.

Yōurán: I’m still healing… Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.

Gavin stood up and grabbed both my shoulders.

Gavin: You don’t have to try so hard. You can tell me what’s bothering you…

He hesitated, then kept speaking.

Gavin: …whenever you’re ready. I’ll always be beside you.

After experiencing such a huge incidence, I had trouble handling my roller coaster emotions. I started crying without warning.

He stilled for a moment, then quickly dried my tears.

Gavin: It’s okay to cry.

15-4

I caressed my bracelet, smiling softly.

Yōurán: Thanks to you, Gavin can always find me...

Gavin: No.

I looked up and Gavin was standing there with moonlight shining down on him.

Gavin: With or without the bracelet, I can always find you.

It was strange. There was no wind, but I could feel a gentle breeze soothing my heart.

Gavin: There’s some place I want to take you.

Many stars were shimmering down in his eyes looking at me. Without hesitation I placed my hand on his.

A gust of wind swept past us, and it seemed that I could touch the moon if I just reached out my hand...

Yōurán: Where are we going?

Gavin: You’ll see. Hold on to me tighter.

We landed in front of a giant ferris wheel that was recently constructed.

Yōurán: I think it’s closed...

Gavin: Just tell me this. Do you want to give it a ride?

I nodded yes. Gavin told me to wait and went to the operating room. Moments later the lights went on and the wheel started to move.

With excitement I followed Gavin into one of the capsules. I looked out the window as the city grew smaller and smaller under me. Everything looked peaceful and quiet.

Yōurán: Gavin... why did you bring me here?

Gavin pointed to a big building on the distance.

Gavin: You see this? That’s your office building. Next to it is the new Science Museum. On the right is the gym.

Gavin went on to explain what each buildings were. But I didn’t know why he was telling me all this.

Gavin: This is what I see every day as I do patrol. I see a city that you successfully saved from danger. I felt that I had to show you this.

Was he trying to say that the city was well-functioning thanks to me?

Gavin: Without you, the construction of this ferris wheel wouldn’t have been finished. Without you, the people down below wouldn’t have been able to go on with their lives. You saved them....

Then he took hold of my hands.

Gavin: ...like you saved me. When I was falling down in to the deepest pit of my life, you caught me and kept me from falling.

Gavin’s eyes were as bright as the stars and the moon as he said this. It was too dazzling to see.

Tears streamed down my face like torrents.

Yōurán: Gavin... thank you. For telling me all this. But you should know, you also caught me when I was falling down. Every time there was a danger, you...

With sobs I poured out my everything to him.

Yōurán: When I woke up, I felt that everything was not real. Like I wasn’t supposed to be here and the city would be in danger again... I felt anxiety all the time, but I didn’t want to be a burden so I kept everything to myself...

Gavin stopped me from saying more by pulling me into his embrace.

Gavin: You are not a burden. You’ll never be.

Yōurán: I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll do my best to get out of this despair...

All sorrows and doubts, loss and confusion, everything insecure washed away in tears and warm embrace.

15-9

As soon as we got back home, a piercing alarm was heard. At the same time, busy footsteps sounded in the hallway. It was a safety alarm sounding from the management office in the building. They have hardly ever raised the alarm before. What was going on…?

Announcement: A family living in this building has been infected by a highly contagious disease. They have been moved to a hospital. This building will undergo thorough disinfection while being in temporary quarantine. Residents are not to leave the building unless it’s an emergency.

Complaints started to be heard behind the doors.

Yōurán: Well thankfully tomorrow is Saturday, I don’t want to miss work…

I realized something as I said out loud. Temporary quarantine… does that mean Gavin has to stay at my house?

15-19

Gavin: That day when you were falling, for the first time I doubted that I could protect you.

His eyes dimmed for a moment.

Gavin: I promised myself that I would always protect you no matter what, but I couldn’t even control my evol fluctuation, nor bring you to safety.

Yōurán: It’s all right… You don’t have to talk about it.

I hugged him tight, wishing I could soothe his worries.

Gavin: Even without my evol, I can protect you. Please believe me.

I nodded my head firmly.

As soon as I grabbed his hand, a terrifying vision appeared before my eyes. Gavin was breathing painfully clutching at his chest. His face was pale and contorted. Winds rushed past him uncontrollably clawing at his clothes and flesh. What was happening?

The vision was gone as fast as they came.

Gavin: Are you alright? Is everything okay?

Yōurán: Ye, yes. I’m okay…

My brain was in turmoil, but an answer popped into my head. I could… predict what’s going to happen to people by just being in contact with them? I can… see other people’s future?

Then… what about that awful vision?

Gavin: Yōurán, look at me. It’s okay. There’s no need to be afraid.

Gavin forced me to look at him, his eyes filled with concern, but my head kept replaying that vision. Then all the pieces were put together to reveal the whole picture.

Yōurán: Gavin, are your powers… gone?

I could read complicated emotions in his eyes, although he hid it very fast.

Gavin: They’re not gone. Just… on a break for a while. It’ll get better.

15-22

Many guns were pointing at us. An entire rank was surrounding us. The smell of danger in the air was suffocating. They all had marks of the Special Task Force.

To me, they all looked like monsters. I wanted to ask them why they would do this. Why they were here, why they would shoot at a little child. I couldn’t understand why they were trying to harm us when they were supposed to be protecting us.

Gavin: Who did the shooting?

Gavin asked coldly while shielding me with his body.

Leto: It was on my order.

The Commander Leto made his appearance among the guns.

Gavin: But why…

Leto: They were just following the orders. If the target is potentially dangerous, it should be killed on the spot.

Gavin: You have no right to do that!

Gavin clenched his fists hard. His voice barely containing his anger but sounding deadly calm.

Leto: We have our ways. As your commander, I don’t have any obligations to explain my every action to you.

Gavin: But you have an obligation to explain the first rule of the STF. All bullets must only be fired for justice.

Leto: One day you will understand my way of justice, when you reach my position.

Gavin: I will have none of it! If such a thing is called justice, I defy it!

Gavin: From now on, there is no Agent B-7

Even when being pointed by the gun, the Commander remained unfazed.

Leto: Agent B-7 has betrayed the STF and obstructed our way of justice. I order his immediate arrest.

He disappeared and the agents closed in on us. Wind began to circle around us.

Yōurán: Gavin, don’t use your powers! You’ll hurt yourself!

Gusts of wind continued. Gavin keeled over, mustering all his strength painfully.

15-24

The motorbike carrying us sped across the highway. The STF agents were chasing us behind. I held on to Gavin more tightly, feeling his breathing and warm temperature. I could faintly smell blood.

Yōurán: How could they do such a thing?

I asked, trying to calm my trembling voice. Gavin stayed silent for a long time.

Gavin: Maybe the danger doesn’t necessarily come from the darkness. Perhaps the world that we thought we knew was dangerous all along.

What if the Special Task Force was the danger, I never even considered that. What would this mean to Gavin… His lifelong belief in justice have fallen apart in one instant.

Gavin: I’m going to bring you to safety and solve this once and for all.

I could sense his resolve in his words.

Gavin: Whether it be the Special Task Force, or Black Swan, I have to deal with all of them to ensure that you’re safe.”

His voice showed his determination, but I couldn’t stop thinking that things were going wrong. He must have sensed my anxiety, since he squeezed my hand wrapped around his waist.

Gavin: Trust me.

I nodded and leaned on his back, but then I saw Gavin alone, then he disappeared in front of my eyes, like I would never see him again. The vision shook me, and I couldn’t help asking out loud.

Yōurán: Will you leave without even saying goodbye?

Please don’t leave me.

Gavin: No, I promised.

Before I could reply, he interrupted me.

Gavin: Hang on, they caught up on us.

He sped up the motorbike.

A silver object flew through the air, right towards Gavin!

Before I could even form thoughts my body moved to shield Gavin.

Yōurán: !!!

Something sharp pierced my back. A cry of pain escaped from my lips. The ginkgo bracelet unclasped from my wrist from the impact. I held onto it tightly before it slipped from my fingers.

I clenched my teeth and tried to stop myself from making any sound. I could taste blood in my mouth.

Gavin: Yōurán!

He held on to me tight, but more and more people were chasing us. We were going to get caught. How would we get out of this?

We turned a curve and things became even worse. The road was broken halfway, leading to a precipice. There was nothing below but deep black sea.

Yōurán: Gavin…

I couldn’t breathe. I was losing my strength fast. I felt unbearable heat coursing through my blood.

Yōurán: Don’t… leave… me…

A bullet landed on the tire of the bike. We tumbled to the ground, but Gavin had me in his arms to shield me from the fall.

I used my fleeting strength to hold on to Gavin, clutching my ginkgo bracelet painfully tight.

Gavin silently retreated step by step while holding me, careful to avoid the bloodied wound on my back.

Suddenly, a row of military men appeared before us. Who were they?

I could feel Gavin stiffen.

???: So now I get to see you.

A very cold, machine-like voice devoid of emotion. Gavin’s fingers clutched me tighter.

Then he gently laid me down below a tree, then he took off his jacket and covered me with it.

Gavin: I’ll be back soon.

Just then, I was reminded of my vision of Gavin leaving me and disappearing. Tears were already flowing uncontrollably.

Yōurán: No… don’t…

Fear grabbed at my chest though I couldn’t explain why. I held on to Gavin’s hand. Please don’t leave me. Don’t go to that man. Please don’t be like my vision, all alone… don’t leave even without turning back, like I saw…

Gavin hugged me, shouldering all burdens of hurt and decision.

Gavin: I won’t leave you, ever.

He wiped my tears gently and smiled.

Gavin: Your bracelet is broken. I’ll mend it for you when I get back.

Yōurán: That’s a promise. Don’t break it…

Gavin: Yes, I always keep my promise to you.

His fingers slipped from my wrist. He wrapped his coat around me once more and stood up. I could only watch him going far away from me.

Gavin stood in front of the man, who resembled him but had an expression that brought chills to my bone.

???: Gavin, being weak is a crime. Even if you get out of here alive with her… she won’t live very long. But I can save her.

Gavin: What’s your condition?

???: Come with me and accept the NW plan.

Gavin: You still haven’t… given up on that plan… This is ridiculous!

Suddenly, a bullet was heard in the distance.

Yōurán: Gavin…

I couldn’t move a muscle. I had to struggle just to remain conscious to hear the conversation.

???: I’ll dispatch my men to guard her. Once you get your powers back, you can have her back.

Gavin: Is this what you wanted all along?

???: Yes. This is what you should have gone through since you were born. Your brother is no exception as well. Gavin, you have no choice here.

It felt like waves of heat was boiling inside my body. I strained my ear to hear Gavin’s answer, but couldn’t hear anything. It seemed like everything had stopped.

I could feel Gavin’s pain by the way he held himself.

Gavin: …Can you… do all your best to protect her?

Even being semi-conscious, his words were clear in my ear, and it hurt so much. I never knew it was this hurtful to see someone break his belief.

Yōurán: No… don’t compromise because of me…

I spoke out as loud as I could, but it was even less than a whisper.

???: Did you reach your decision?

Gavin didn’t answer. Silence ensued. I wanted to open my eyes to see his face but it was in vain. I was slowly losing consciousness. With the last of my strength, I clutched my ginkgo bracelet that connected us both.

Yōurán: Gavin… don’t…

15-26

Her breathing finally went back to normal. The fever was down, the wound was taken care of, but she kept frowning. Maybe because she sensed something.

Gavin gently stroked her face, following the trails of dried tears, and his fingers lightly touched the fixed ginkgo bracelet on her wrist.

Gavin: This is not a goodbye, so…

He knew she couldn’t hear him, but still he went close to her ear.

Gavin: please wait for me.

Soft wind caressed the leaves outside the window. She was alone in her room.

   Someone was saying something in my ear, but I couldn’t hear anything.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying in my bedroom.

Yōurán: Gavin--!

Only an empty echo returned to me. I looked down and saw Gavin’s coat covering me. The coat had tiny bloodmarks, but the owner wasn’t here.

The fever and the pain was gone, the wound was almost healed. But everything that happened was not a dream nor an illusion.

The coat had long lost the warmth of the wearer.

Gavin didn’t come to me to explain that this was all a nightmare.

He didn’t even come to say he would be with me.

I looked at the sparkling bracelet. It had no trace of ever being broken. It’s as if it was telling me that everything was just my imagining. I stroked the bracelet, hoping I could feel his familiar presence.

Did Gavin fix it for me? Did he keep my promise?

A single tear dropped on the ginkgo leaf.

Where did he go?

Why did he disappear, leaving only the bracelet behind?

Why couldn’t I find him?

I searched the house, every nook and cranny. If only he would appear outside my window with the wind. If only he would smile at me again with his amber eyes, saying “I’m back.”

I searched everywhere but couldn’t find him.

In a secluded laboratory. Many people wearing white uniforms were doing last preparations in an orderly manner.

A young man stood amongst many lines and data. His face was impossibly pale underneath the cold light. But his eyes were calm, observing everything around him.

???: Are you ready?

The youth replied coldly.

Gavin: Yes.

Gavin could see her spouting blood in front of his eyes along with many other memories.

Gavin: Wait for me, Yōurán

A sharp ray of light landed slowly, aiming for his heart. The readings from the electrocardiogram began to fluctuate violently… then it became a straight line.

******************************

If you think chapters 11~14 is angst overload, you are sadly mistaken. It seems the writers are determined to make us miserable in chapters 15~18.

We were led to think that the story would become Special Task Force vs Black Swan as good vs evil. But it’s revealed that STF is not that good either. Through investigating a certain case Gavin and MC learns that STF will go through any means to ensure what they call “order”. They use even a small child and is not hesitant to sacrifice that said child because he has “potential for danger.”

Gavin is a man of justice. He dedicated his life to work for justice for MC, to protect her and make the world she live a good place. But now he learns that the organization he belongs in is involved with unethical law enforcement. If justice can only be maintained by sacrificing individual rights and lives, it is not justice at all.

So the STF, which was supposed to be the good guys helping MC and Gavin fight the bad guys, are now dangerous just like Black Swan.

The ??? is actually Gavin’s father. God, I hate that man. Gavin is forced to join his father in the military to save MC. And this is a thing that is so so against Gavin’s belief of justice and morality.

But he goes through with it anyway, for MC. In chapter 15 it is revealed that his evol fluctuation being out of control is not quite solved yet. He is hesitant to use his powers and loses his confidence that he can protect MC. His doubt of his ability to protect her (and a few other things) led him to be overprotective and hide information again. Gavin and MC clash over this but this all looks like a cute lover’s quarrel when the chapter ends. When the STF try to kill Gavin and MC, he uses his powers to protect her, despite knowing it will harm him. His powers being volatile is also the reason he agreed with his father. And he undergoes some kind of dangerous experiment to empower his evol.

(By the way what kind of experiment are they doing to him. From description it seems like some sort of razor shot Gavin and his heart rate stopped...??)

MC’s powers of precognition is getting stronger. Now she can read people’s future by being in physical contact with them, enabling to use her powers on a somewhat conscious level. 

Ever since she saw the vision of Gavin leaving her, there are many sentences describing MC refusing to let him go. Holding him tight while riding the motorcycle to escape. Grabbing on to Gavin’s sleeves. Loosing blood and being delirious with fever but still begging Gavin to not leave. Clutching the bracelet tight to keep it from slipping from her fingers.

And now only the bracelet remains with echoes of promises.

Oh, and it’s confirmed in this chapter that the ginkgo bracelet that Gavin gave to her doesn’t have any tracker whatsoever. Many people was put off by this but rest assured now! Gavin says with his own words “With or without the bracelet, I can feel you in the wind and find you.”

I remember reading in an event story somewhere that when Gavin was making the bracelet as a gift to MC, his friend (I don’t remember if it was Eli or Minor) teased him being all “You gonna give that to your girlfriend? How romantic! I always knew you were a softie!” And Gavin, not exactly a people person, and who was still hesitant with MC in that time, somehow thought that giving the tracker excuse would be less embarrassing.

I’m gonna stop here until my ramblings actually get longer than the story.

[aion-rsa]

Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Review

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This RICK AND MORTY review contains spoilers.

Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale

It’s been a while, so let’s first recap the consistent problems with season five of Rick and Morty. Problem one is that characterization feels like it’s either pushed aside in favor of crazy, silly sci-fi nonsense or lost in a muddle of convoluted sci-fi nonsense. Problem two is that episodes are so overloaded with plot and dialogue delivered at such breakneck speed that there’s either no time for jokes or, packed in with everything else going on in these overstuffed episodes, they just don’t land. The missing characterization issue isn’t exclusive to season five, but the lack of laughs is; this has easily been the least-funny season yet.

Now, finally, after a month’s wait, we get the two-part season finale! Does it manage to avoid the problems that have haunted this season until now?

Not really! But some of it certainly looked cool.

“Forgetting Sarick Mortshall”

Though they’re both about testing the strength of Rick and Morty’s relationship and the first does directly lead into the next by virtue of… crows… these really are two separate episodes with two different focuses and tones. This first one is closer to a “normal” season five episode. Sure, it’s got Rick pissing Morty off so much that he goes off on his own anti-Rick adventure (with a dude fittingly named Nick), but, for the majority of the runtime, it’s not handled like it’s all that big of a deal.

Regardless, the inciting incident here of Morty accidentally getting portal juice on his hand, thus creating a portal in his hand that connects to Nick’s thigh is a really clever one. It’s unfortunate that an odd side effect of a series with a premise that allows for infinite sci-fi possibilities is that many concepts, no matter how much creative effort is put behind them, feel like retreads that fall into a similar category (e.g., the season premiere with its Narnia world that evolved at hyper-speed felt not entirely dissimilar from the sequence of Morty living an entire life in “The Vat of Acid Episode” which, in turn, felt not so dissimilar from that time he played Roy: A Life Well Lived). However, this portal in the hand thing feels totally new and fresh.

They get some good mileage out of it too, with some cool action sequences (like Jackie Chan!) and inspired moments like Morty making a dude eat shit, literally, by transferring the contents of a chamber pot by way of the hand/thigh portal system or when Nick takes control of the car Morty’s driving by sticking his hand through Morty’s portal hand. It’s also used smartly in the most effective dramatic moment in “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall” when Morty chooses to destroy his portal connection to Rick by placing his hand on a train track so that it’s severed off, and then drops the hand-portal into Nick’s thigh-portal to kill him. It’s all very clever, well-executed stuff, though, typing it out, it sure sounds weird.

How Morty comes to the decision to sever his hand and connection to Nick is less well-executed. It unfortunately brought to mind the episode with Planetina, perhaps the worst of season five, as in both episodes Morty realizes the person he’s spending time with ain’t so great because—shock horror—they’re cool with killing innocent people! Yes, Morty has a moral core, so it’s not like it doesn’t make some sense, but it’s just that, with the amount of people he and Rick murder out of petty anger or just by happenstance all the time, it feels like they need to sell his change of heart a little more.

The other half of this episode is about Rick replacing Morty with two crows, at first as a joke, but then he gradually comes to realize crows are actually cool and can teach him about empathy. The idea of it is that this “two crows” thing is engineered to be a silly, one-off inanity, but then the joke becomes so much more as the writers sincerely explore the concept. However, it never really successfully elevates itself above its initial inane premise. I still just found myself thinking “What is this crow bullshit? Why crows?”

It’s also becoming a bit of a predictable Rick and Morty staple that characters that appear incidental at first actually have a whole society and way of life we get to learn all about (the face-huggers, the Narnia people, the Chuds). It’s an obvious plot device to return to seeing as this is a sci-fi series about visiting new universes and alien worlds all the time, so it would be irrational to suggest they stop doing it altogether, but did this particular plot really need to go in that direction? The introduction of the crow society comes out of nowhere and it isn’t convincing that Rick decides to follow a path of empathy with his two crows right after he just killed a whole bunch of other crows. Anyway, the only thing that makes the crow plot “interesting” is that the writers commit to it so hard it carries into the next episode.

Season five style, “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall,” is not funny. I chuckled at the very last moment in the tag when Garbage Goober said “Mmm, trash, I love trash” and I smiled at Rick’s (possibly improv’d) rant about watching sitcoms on your shoes, but that was about it. Still, at least there were the aforementioned clever moments and it got a tiny bit emotional when Morty told Rick “I miss you, man” and when Rick admitted their relationship was abusive.

“Rickmurai Jack”

Lore, lore, lore! How do you like it? Hopefully you like it lots because “Rickmurai Jack” is chock full of the stuff!

The Rick and Morty team, however, absolutely hate it! Well, they can’t totally hate it, or they wouldn’t have bothered to make this episode, but they definitely have an acrimonious relationship with continuity and canon. Dan Harmon has stated before that giving Rick a tragic backstory would ruin the character and Rick himself reaffirms that opinion in the episode. In fact, the writers can’t help themselves in breaking the fourth wall throughout to remind us how much Rick hates canon and how it’s better to “keep it episodic.”

It’s understandable why they resent canon. It’s got to be much easier to write one-off, funny sci-fi adventures than to sustain serialized plots told over multiple episodes. Unfortunately for them, way the hell back in season one Rick and Morty destroyed their universe, killed alternate universe versions of themselves, and took their places. The series kept this plot point intact, referencing it later, and also gradually made Morty’s character more jaded in response to this, as well as the many other horrors he witnessed. In other words, they made this canon bed and now they have to have adventures in it (I know how this sounds and I’m fine with it).

Before it gets to all that serious canon, however, “Rickmurai Jack” has to honor the continuity of the previous episode by tidying away the stupid crow plot. The continuity is certainly sound: the crows weren’t funny in the last episode and they’re not funny in this one either! There’s an anime intro. There are villains whose names flash on the screen in big letters. There’s an arch-villain named CrowScare who has sex with Rick’s crows. Yeah. Fine. At least this part is done away with relatively quickly. (Side note: Odd that Rick becomes a bird-based superhero and yet there is nary a reference to Bird Person.)

Read more

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After this, the episode maintains the season five status quo by continuing to be unfunny. I don’t believe I laughed at this one at all, although I liked Evil Morty’s line, “I lied. That second seat’s a toilet.” The lack of comedy is a bit more forgivable, however, as “Rickmurai Jack” isn’t trying as hard to be funny. This really is the loreiest lorepisode they’ve ever done and so the focus is on backstory and continuity to do with Evil Morty’s long-gestating plan.

As one of the annoying nerds constantly complaining that this show doesn’t do enough character development anymore, I know I’m supposed to be thankful for this episode (Rick angrily says as much) and I am, somewhat. It’s cool to see Evil Morty again and to hear his awesome theme music. Personally, I was never asking for Rick backstory and I’m a bit surprised his origins more or less are just the easy answer of “dead wife” after all, but sure, that’s fine. More profound and fucked up is the origin of all the Mortys in the multiverse, engineered by Ricks to be the perfect sidekick.

I just wish all this development hadn’t been given to me, season five style, in such volume at such speed. The fact of the matter is I was straight-up confused about what the hell was going on sometimes. I understood Evil Morty’s plan enough to get that he’s extricating himself from the cycle of Ricks and Mortys (and maybe ending the cycle forever?), but where did he fly to? Did he kill every Rick and Morty ever except our protagonists and whoever they escaped with or just everyone in the Citadel for some reason? Did he remove all portal fluid from the multiverse? I also lost the plot of Rick’s backstory, not understanding why he was going around killing all these other Ricks until I watched it back and realized he was going after the Rick who had killed his wife and kid Beth; I still feel it could’ve been more clearly presented though. Also confusing was the sequence in Rick uses some of his blood to create Big Boy(?) who… transfers power to Rick when he’s attacked… or something?

Look, I know how this goes. I’m a stupid moron and the nerds in the comments will be more than ready to let me know that everything that was confusing to me was, in fact, completely obvious, duh-doy, and here’s why and I should stop watching the series, and so on, and so forth. However, something I’ve always marveled at (as I did only two episodes ago) with Rick and Morty is, despite how crazy and layered its ambitious plotting gets, I never lose track of what’s happening. So, either my very high IQ is dropping points or this shit was kind of confusing.

Regardless, it’s appreciated the creators of this show finally gave in and threw a bunch of continuity and canon in my whining face. It just would’ve been nicer if it had been delivered in a clearer way that was easier to process and to feel something about. Like, every time Evil Morty has appeared in the series, he’s been an intimidating and chilling presence. I did get chills when his theme song kicked in this time, but that was more of a Pavlovian response earned from his previous appearances. Otherwise, I was just bewildered by all the information being chucked at me. Still, if nothing else, it was certainly a cool-looking spectacle.

What’s best about this episode is what it sets up for the next season. Who knows how long they’ll stick with this, but it’s implied that Rick is out of portal juice, which makes him that much less god-like and which could maybe, finally, reintroduce some actual stakes into Rick and Morty instead of every episode being about a sarcastic unstoppable murderous sci-fi family. I truly do look forward to that.

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The other best thing is Mr. Poopybutthole’s profound advice that we should be brave enough to love the people who love us back. Thank you for your wisdom, Mr. Poopybutthole.

The post Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Review appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3zK2Dvw

[elizabethrobertajones]

Do you really think current Cas couldn't end up being The Empty? I don't necessarily believe that because I think Cas is not acting like himself but the "All Magic Comes with a prize"-stories, of there being a downside to major "mircles" like resurrections are pretty common, plus having a newly introduced major foe that looks like Cas (+ can access his memories) thats not explored yet, plus being told that Cas would be back "slowly" or "at least his most important parts"

*shrugs* I mean if they’re doing it they’ve basically wasted an entire episode of supposed Cas stuff plus 2 previous ones that only made sense with Cas’ reactions and actions if it was him, so the only way it would happen is if we do already have our Cas on screen, but there’s a catch or some consequences yet to hit about the resurrection and Cas BEGINS to belatedly suffer side effects which retroactively cast into doubt how much he was here or just suggest something was wrong with him all along and waiting for some reason to activate, as he’s not currently being depicted in any distress whatsoever. I agree the clothes are suspicious and I was saying all along since the beginning of the season or before, mostly as crack posts since I don’t like speculating, that if Cas gets handed an outfit out of thin air instead of picking it for himself, that concept fits what I figure would be symbolism warning that Cas has ongoing problems, but as someone who deals with speculation in about that much vagueness I really don’t have any sort of solid ideas beyond that.

For me, talking about TV shows isn’t really fun to guess what will happen and I would just want to end up writing it myself or go down convoluted threads that the writers wouldn’t keep up on, and trying to stay in the lines of what might actually happen is an enormous headache and no one is particularly great at it unless they’re extremely vague or only analyse the very obvious threads and offer generic scenarios they could play out in, e.g. how we could predict a reverse crypt scene, because it was basically a looming issue not a wild speculative idea, but being threatened for most of the season subtly or not. 

I mostly live entirely in the moment for TV shows if I can help it, and I prefer watching things I’ve had at least mild spoilers for when it comes to things I would want to get emotionally invested in, even if it’s really just scoping out the personality of the thing. Watching Supernatural as it airs is pretty messy for my anxiety about not knowing what comes next, and after a little while in fandom I realised how pointless speculation is for ever making you feel better about anything. If you’re right you’ve bored yourself out of the story, if you’re wrong you’ve made yourself annoyed or built up your expectations. 

And if you’re super invested in a fictional character and scour the internet for spoilers about them because you’re worried about their well being, and analyse every inch of the show for clues about what might happen to them while creating potential worrying scenarios, that play out or not, you mostly get into a huge panic about them, start treating your imagination as if the horrible stuff has already happened, and lose a lot of objectivity as you start to perceive the writers going out of the way to do bad things to your fave because you’re super focussed on what bad stuff will happen to them, and blah blah character stanning cycle of being protective and angry etc. I’ve seen it consume too many people since I got to fandom :S 

So… Something is probably about to happen to Cas or because of Cas, and the trip through the Empty seems like it maaaay have been too understated or an under-utilised resource (but I also have immediately made my peace that that’s all we’ll see of it, even if it isn’t, because I just can’t LIVE like that with expectations and serious plot demands and trying to construct versions of the season that only make sense if X Y and Z are in it and then getting upset when they aren’t) and we missed a few important steps between bargaining and resurrection considering the new clothes and Cas’s moment where he took in that he was dressed in them. There’s also left over weirdness about him and Jack which also has a lot of unexplained things he and Dean need to talk about and may or may not cause a serious problem now Jack has legged it.

I don’t think he’s acting strange, because there have been no blatantly obvious cues for the people at the back about him acting strange, e.g. lingering shots where he was pulling weird faces, lines in the Empty to indicate it wanted anything other than to go back to sleep, or hints that anything is particularly coming for Cas based on the MotW obvious mirrors (which have been pretty low key because the MotW have been very secondary to the emotional drama so far). Billie never hinted about Cas more than that he was dead because he killed her, and now we have spoilers that it seems most likely the Winchester knocking over the house of cards will be Jack seemingly motivated on his own steam to do something good, so that literally covers every doomy portentous line this season that wasn’t completely incidental, although I have been joking about some, I don’t really get into conspiracies about them… 

We’ve had lingering shots with Cas squinting in a very familiar Cas-like way with understandable exasperation at whatever’s going on, and he’s had emotional moments with all his family and generally been presented as mostly fine and not visibly perturbed or confused by not being able to heal the guard for example, just resigned that it was too late for him to do anything, and he hasn’t been dangerously put in any crosshairs in the symbolism. I can’t think of anything really at all that’s threatened Cas in the symbolism or foreshadowing and nothing he’s done on screen has been suspicious about his personality or characteristics or actions. Dean’s not suspicious. Sam is a little concerned about *how* he got back but not *if* he is Cas.

Like, of course they might blindside us with something, but considering they spent time on emotional moments with Cas dealing with ongoing characters arcs between him and the rest of them, it makes no sense a fake out Cas would be getting Cas’s emotional development. Unless it was laden with dramatic irony. Remember in 11x11 when Casifer was talking to Dean? Even if you didn’t know that he was Lucifer and pretend they never revealed that detail and this is the first time we see him since, there’s a billion things wrong with his interactions with Dean in that scene. There was stuff visibly wrong with him before we knew for sure he’d been possessed in 11x10 just in how he hung back from the team and watched them all very, very carefully, and took too long to reply while weighing his options.

Cas already did come back slowly because it took him until episode 6 to actually be back in the game, even if he was restored in episode 4, so at this point I figure that spoiler was being careful about revealing how Cas’s appearances in the start of the season were spread out, and not commenting on Cas’s internal stuff.

I don’t know, bad stuff happens to them all the time on the show so of course I just assume something is coming, but I’m not worried about it like it might happen to a friend or something because it’s just a part of the story so I don’t get being worried about stuff happening to your faves as if it’s the end of the world… Cas is currently occupying the very centre of the story along with Jack, possibly MORE important than him since he’s important to Jack in turn. I feel like Cas is the actual beating heart of the story in season 13 so far based on his entire blanket presence in the empty spaces caused by Jack and Dean’s need/want for him. It’s a bit ridiculous to now hope because he’s back he’s going to just settle into the family with them and have no troubles, though of course that’s a point I’m always happy to be proved wrong on, it’s better just to use bored eyes and just… ¬_¬ something’s gonna happen to Cas… ¬_¬ your way through the story. And it will be something that’s probably super important to the main arc because Cas has been so far, in a deep, intrinsic way, so whatever happens I’m down for it, unless it’s some randomly abject level of awful that no one could have called, and his treatment in the story, against all odds, is somehow really horrible.

Aside from horrible character-trashing worst case scenarios, though, the manner in which is happens is, to me, completely arbitrary as a non-speculating blog that just analyses what ends up on my plate and occasionally wonders what the OBVIOUS cues mean without committing to theories beyond musings and wondering out loud with obvious disclaimers that I’m just thinking and don’t care if it does or doesn’t happen. 

Like, I’m analysing all the themes as they show up and I assume whatever happens will fit the themes and character arcs and whatever. At the moment I see Cas as being Cas because I just got handed an incredible Cas episode on a plate where Cas was being very Cas-like all over the place, and his biggest problem was Jack, who was not directly threatening him at any point, and if anything it seems like Cas futilely chasing after Jack trying to stop him getting intro trouble (nearly shot by Dean, actually shot by Dave the Cowghoul) would be the one theme I’d wonder has any actual suggestion that Cas is going to have Problems, but that’s not directly happening to him, that’s just his issue with not being able to help Jack and stop him getting in trouble. And, I guess now, chasing after him before he does that. And based on episode descriptions for upcoming stuff, not very successfully, so we already know that symbolism pays off, however Cas ends up going about this :P

So that’s my one and only reason to be worried about Cas right now… Granted, I’ve only watched the episode twice while extreeeeemely woozy with a migraine but I’ve been reading my dash all day and seeing discussion of most parts of the episode and all the Cas bits and I’ve been rewatching bits here and there and nothing is leaping out at me that anything is currently trying to warn us to brace for Cas, except the general sense of ¬_¬ about something inevitably coming his way because of course he’s not in every episode - but he could just leave entirely of his own agency to go look for Jack off screen and even without the worries about what Jack may or may not have done to him in season 12, given what they set up, it would be entirely understandable for him to do it just because he’s Cas. 

[theadultbrat]

My review of Hwarang

A story of wasted potential: a review of ‘Hwarang’ This essay is about ‘Hwarang’ and how I feel about it (Spoiler: It will not be very positive). Although it had some good moments and developments, most of it was plainly bad and wasted potential. I will not talk about the historical errors though because it even says at the start of each episode that's it is just and adaptation of history. It also needs to be added that this review can feel incoherent for some as it is similar to a rant. But enough of the foreplay, let us start this review/rant with the characters and their individual plotlines: Sunwoo easily is one of the most bland and boring characters I have ever seen on screen (and I have watched The Walking Dead) because he just does not have any personality except for being a prototypical stern hero. Now, if he had at least shown some kind of development over the course of these 20 episodes that would have been ok. But he did not change at all except that now he loves Ahro but that hardly is what I would call good development. It also needs to be noted superhuman abilities made Hwarang way less entertaining than it could have been. Learning a huge number of Hanja in a matter of days is just one illogical ability that made me shake my head in awe. The others are learning how to ride a horse properly in a week and then how to successfully shoot arrows from it, which I would say should take at least two years of training. But he not only becomes an expert in shooting in no time but also sword master because even though he says all the time that he cannot fight well he survived multiple fights and two duels, with the one against the Prince of Baekje being the most laughable. The Prince even says that he grew up in times of war and even though fighting in a war is not the same as duelling that should give him an enormous advantage. But not only that should have meant the death of Sunwoo but also his multiple injuries, with an arrow hitting him where the lung is being the top of it. Even in modern medicine it is pretty hard to save someone with a pierced lung but in the early Middle Ages it is impossible. And as the tip of the arrow, which is around 7cm long, went all in, it is not possible for the arrow to not have hit the lung. Therefore in other sageuk dramas when someone gets hit by an arrow and survives, it is always in the arm or leg, because that creates a flesh wound which is healable in most instances. While I am already talking about this situation, let us get some context. He gets hit by the arrow because he wants to save Ahro. Having mentioned Ahro now brings me to her storyline and how in almost every pair of episodes she needs to get saved by Sunwoo (and/or Jinheung). Yes, I understand that she somehow needs to feel closer and attracted to him but please be more creative and write more simple romantic/bonding scenes instead of repeating the same pattern again and again and again. This would probably not even help as the OTP has incredibly bad chemistry so I never bought the idea of them loving each other. This is also the reason why I liked all the other pairings more (Banryu x Sooyeon, Jinheung x Sukmyeong and Sooho x Queen Jiso – with two of those not even being real pairings). What cannot be left unsaid as well is that Ahro later saves Sunwoo too because of throwing herself in front of an arrow, which again hits a lung. It was already stupid the first time but to repeat this excuse of a plot device is ridiculous beyond reason. My main point of criticism for Ahro herself though is that she also does not show much character development. More importantly she just does not come off as likeable as she ignores almost all the people around her to focus on Sunwoo. The person who suffers the most from that is of course Jinheung, as he (for some reason) falls in love with her too and constantly makes advances towards Ahro (and saves her from his mother) and all she does is look at him like he is creep (which he can be at times but never as much as Ahro's gazes suggest). The "best" thing is that after he has saved her multiple times she asks him if he wants to kill her. Because the obvious conclusion is that the person who clearly cares about me and does everything to help me does all that just to kill me in the end. That must be it – not. Ultimately, she gets her way as she and Sunwoo plan to marry and the king lets her go (to hopefully marry his sister after they realized that they fit each other off-screen). Talking about Jinheung, he started off as a fairly interesting character, a king suppressed by his mother and living in hiding for almost his entire life that now comes back to emancipate himself and take the throne. This sounded promising but starting from episode 8 onwards he becomes a love-sick puppy that always comes back for Ahro even though she treats him like he is nothing (even for k-dramas, that tend to this is beyond stupid and unrealistic) and at one point he wants to give up his right to be king – something he fought for all his life – just for this one girl that ignores him all the time. What a compelling story. In the second half of the drama he starts talking how he will take the throne. The speeches that he holds when saying "I am the king […]!" are in fact awesome but as he does this multiple times over the course of almost 10 episodes he too becomes boring – as well as reluctant to change his life, although his willingness of taking control was his major motivation earlier – and lacks any development. It is almost as if the writer wants us to feel engaged but also tries to delay the payoff to the very end of the drama through repetition. Just like Sunwoo saving Ahro every two episodes it is – excuse my harsh words – boring as hell. Just in the last 30 minutes we get to see a glimpse of why Jinheung is considered one of the most important kings in early Korean history, when he tells his mother what he plans for his country and speaks with Sunwoo about future expansions of his realm. Going back to his unexplainable love for Ahro, why does he not fall in love with his half-sister Sukmyeong (who in real life became one of his wives, which is also the plan their mother has in mind in Hwarang)? The scene in which he gets his old toy – from the probably worst hidden place ever (how can only the Royal family find it, it's just an open square within the palace) - shows how much they like each other and how much they want to want to become a family again so that would've been a great starting point for  a second lead OTP. But no, Sukmyeong also has to fall in love with Sunwoo (because he saves her from a snake and tells her not to kill it... Let that sink in for a while) as he is apparently the best person in everything (although in reality he is just as arrogant as Jinheung but at least the king seems to become a bit humbler at some point) and everything in ‘Hwarang’ has to be about the fake siblings and their love for each other, even though they are the worst characters of them all. In the end, the purpose of her character never became clear (By the way, was ‘Hwarang’ not supposed to be about bromance? Weird that these scenes always fall short). But enough of Jinheung and Sukmyeong, let us talk about the other Hwarangs, starting with Sooho and Banryu. Even though they are only secondary characters they go through more development as the leads - even though Sooho is just there for comic relief. Although predictable, the approaching of these two completely different persons which results even in a sort of awkward friendship and mutual respect is heart-warming. And Banryu's inner conflict between being on the side of his friends or his family is very interesting too, but this too isn't of interest in the show as we just get this about 5 minutes every two episodes to make more room for the love story, resulting in this side plot feeling dragged out (or even forgotten). Moreover, Sooho's admiration and love for the Queen Regent Jiso is a good example of the mindlessness privileged adolescents like him have (something he loses partially over the course of the drama as a way of growing up - I'm kidding, he does not get that awesome development). Furthermore, he and the Queen Regent have more chemistry in the few scenes they have together than Sunwoo and Ahro, even though Jiso is ignoring him most of the time. This shows again how badly written and acted the main OTP is. As with Sooho and Jiso, Banryu's growing love for Sooyeon, Sooho's sister, is also absorbing, as in contrast to Ahro, Sooyeon is likeable. She may seem helpless at times too, but in other moments she kicks ass (literally her brother's). In a confession scene, she opens her heart to Banryu and allows herself to become vulnerable, gifting him a lock of her hair, a very meaningful present. This is a great example of writing a relatable and interesting romance in which the two characters have chemistry. Just look at the insecure glances Banryu throws at Sooyeon whenever they interact, you can literally see how he is torn apart between the duty to his family and his love for her. Sadly, we only get very few scenes between these two (one per episode tops) because again – who would've thought – everything in ‘Hwarang’ is about Sunwoo and Ahro. At least they got the happy end they deserve (I will personally tell her father off, should he try to separate the two). The other two somewhat important Hwarangs are more worthwhile than the leads too. The story of Hansung, the last True Bone of his family with large needs to meet, is compelling because when he appears it is either about how bright of a person he is or how he suffers because the responsibility he has at such a young age. This struggle is also signified through his “half-brood” brother and his grandfather, both of who are also trapped in the Bone system. But again, he is just a secondary character who does not get much chance to shine so these – seen from a writing point of view – positive aspects are rarely seen. Additionally, his death scene is ludicrous too, or more precisely it is how he dies, as his actual death in Sunwoo's arms and funeral is almost heartbreaking, if it were not for the prior scene. The idea of saving Sunwoo from his brother Dan-Se – who could have just told Hansung that their grandfather wants him (Dan-Se) to poison Sunwoo and if he does not comply, he (the grandfather) will kill himself and his grandson. Warning Hansung of that would have resulted in both of them being safe, as it is almost impossible to kill somebody weary in Hwarang house – is a noble one, but every normal thinking person would not jump in front of a blade or, God forbid, even grabbing it with bare hands, but tackle the person instead – this applies to the jumping in front of an arrow scenes too. So even if the blade was not poisoned, the idea of jumping in front of it is beyond reasonable and suicidal. The last of the Hwarang bunch, Yeowool, cannot even be called a character. He is just there and smiles sassily. As with Jinheung, he seemed to be interesting in the beginning. As a True Bone with his mother probably being the sister of the dead king he could have developed an interesting relationship with Jinheung (who apparently knows about Yeowool’s parentage) but after teasing the viewer in one episode, he is thrown under the bus for other storylines. The last characters I want to talk about are the villains. First, there is Minister Youngshil or stereotyped evil old dude, as I like to call him. His ploys are the reason of almost all the calamities the main characters must endure. He is not a compelling villain though, as his only motivation and characteristic is to get his family on the throne. That is it. Nothing more is explained to the viewer. While overcomplicating a character’s motivation is bad too, not giving the main villain – the person we are supposed to be afraid of – any real traits makes him less menacing as, even though he should be part of the main narrative, he gets to play the second (or fifth) fiddle to make room for the most boring love story of them all. His change of plans to make himself king instead of Banryu is pretty idiotic as well. In a time when everything is about family and securing your legacy becoming king at an old age without having any heirs – except Banryu but he apparently dropped him – isn't productive at all. His later alliance with Sunwoo and Hwikyung is a slightly better plan as he would still be able to control the ministers, but his failure to see the honourable side in people becomes his undoing when Sunwoo turns on him and stands on his friend’s side. Nevertheless, he only was a typical baddie without any hidden surprises and failed as an antagonist. The secondary villains are mostly lacklustre too, especially the two street gang members who later work with Youngshil, but as they are not supposed to play a big role, it is excusable. Far more disappointing is the Prince of Baekje who with his cruel way of thinking was a dislikeable person straight from writer's school (in a good way). But then to drop him after a two-episode arc that did not even have any lasting consequences while having a worse main villain with Youngshil felt like wasted potential, something I talked a lot about already. The arguably second main villain is Queen Mother/Queen Regent Jiso, the most intriguing character of the whole drama. She has everything a great antagonist needs to have, first and foremost compelling and understandable motives (defending her family against the opposition led by Youngshil while being a “weak” woman). This means she is not all about being evil, her heart just got hard as stone over the years trying to protect the Royal family from her opponents (I personally would've liked more scenes of young Jiso that show how she became that cold and embittered, but of course the tedious love story got in the way of it). In contrast to her intelligence you have the dumb likes of her ex-lover Ahnji, Ahro's father, who somehow gets the idea that trusting first Youngshil and then Hwikyung, the Queen Regent's more than shady brother whose motives and ways are not any better than hers (I would argue they are worse as he tries to overthrow her and Jinheung, just because he wants his own son on the throne. Who is embittered now? By the way, the fact that Sunwoo could not just be an orphan but had to Hwikyung’s son, a reveal that announced itself weeks before it actually happened, is one of the most boring tropes applied in Hwarang). Yes, Ahnji has a lot of reasons to hate her, but looking at the alternatives it is way safer to root for her (or better, her son) to rule because that would not cause an uprising likely to come with a coup détat. As mentioned earlier I really like the idea of Jiso becoming gradually more embittered and cautious over the years. This climaxes in her not wanting to let go of the throne as she cannot see anyone capable but her on it – looking at how Jinheung is characterized as a not forward thinking love sick puppy I cannot even blame her – thus signifying how good persons can become bad because of their venomous surroundings. In the end, her harshness pays off though as Hwarang secure her son on the throne, so it was all worth it in the end. It would not be ‘Hwarang’ if the writer did not offer something to criticize though, namely the side plot of her getting slowly poisoned by her lady in waiting that serves her tea with poison in it. Poison. It is beyond stupid as firstly, we never get to know what kind of poison it is (which therefore feels like a deus ex machina) and secondly, after this plot point is introduced and she faints once, it is dropped for 6 episodes only for her being on the verge of death, with hallucinations setting in. The fact that the poison took ten years to have an effect, only for these symptoms to rapidly grow is also something I cannot and will not believe. A silver lining here is that she knows she is getting poisoned, but does not interfere as she knows that her adversaries would find other ways to kill her, so why do not let them kill you in a slow and mostly painless way. At least she can still govern the nation until her son is ready to take over her burden, which he eventually does. Jinheung’s and Jiso’s bonding over her sacrifice for him, their understanding of each other’s actions and their small reconciliation in the end are as good an ending for her storyline as is her eventual death near the persons who love her. Sooho’s short, but touching time as her personal Hwarang ends with her collapsing in his arms and him helping Ahnji to finally accept his feelings for her, realizing that, even though he hates the Queen Regent, he loves her still. Sadly, this is Sooho’s last appearance as he is not seen in the last shot with all the important Hwarangs (Sunwoo, Banryu, Yeowool, and even Dan-Se) and the king, one of the many inconsistencies in the drama. Which brings me to the overall problem ‘Hwarang’ has: the writing and pacing. Every week new side plots are introduced and in the next week they're either already finished or treated as if they never happened. This not only undermines the main arc which is often hidden somewhere between the lines but also makes the drama seem like a collection of singular stories instead of an overall narrative which it aims to be. In addition to that, every time a side story is ignored the following week, so is the limited character development of the three main characters. It really would not matter character wise if someone were to skip half of the episodes because they are still at the same place, physically and mentally. This also shows how the overall narrative is not well thought out as the side stories often become the main plot for an episode which just ends up being filler material. If the writer had cut all this story fat away and instead focused on the main plot and the character development it would have been possible for ‘Hwarang’ to be 20 episodes of enjoyable sageuk but it should not be like that. What is also important for a TV series is the ending and how the viewer is led to it. The big conflict between Jinheung and Sunwoo and who should be king is actually much easier solved than what the drama tries to make us believe. Sunwoo’s father said himself that he got excluded from the Royal family because of his polio (and Sunwoo seemingly has some sickness too as he constantly faints) which automatically means that his children are ineligible to sit on the throne, not even if they do not have any physical disabilities. If your father gets disowned, the son gets disowned (also it is very likely that such disabilities were seen as bad signs so he would not even have the common people on his side). Having this in mind the final plot twist of Sunwoo being on Jinheung’s side could be seen from miles and miles away and completely unnecessary. It could have been more effective for the plot to crown Jinheung sooner, only for Youngshil to try and launch a coup, a risk he would have certainly taken. The way this plot twist revealed itself was also an uninspired one as the drama took the viewer back to already visited scenes to add two or three sentences that were not shown before in that situation. Decisions like this straightforwardly hoax the viewer so that they probably feel betrayed in a very cheap way. That we are told that the Hwarangs get to decide on who is king is ridiculous and not even believable for one second too. The reason for all this impreciseness and wrongness probably is that this is the first real K-Drama of writer Park Eunyeong. Before ‘Hwarang’, she only wrote 90-minute-long drama specials which do not require as much character development and story as a fully-fledged drama. This is also seen that ‘Hwarang’ is at its best in the first few episodes and the very last one, everything between that is mostly an overwhelming mess. But not only the writer was not the best at her job, the directors were terrible too. Their choice of music – although that might have been a producer decision – being K-Pop took away what seriousness the drama had and added only more goofiness. Resulting in their awful direction, most of the actors’ performances were bland and dreadful. Only a few ones of the extended principal cast managed to act well consistently, for example Park Hyungsik (Jinheung). Once the writers give him something to act (eg. the throne room scenes), he is able to show us his talents and leaves no questions on why he is a rising acting star unanswered. Others that considerably well were Do Jihan (Banryu), whose acting in his scenes with Lee Dain (Soohyeon) – who also gave a strong performance – I already mentioned, Seo Yeji (Sukmyeong), and Kim Jisoo (Jiso), who already has experience playing in a sageuk, an advantage she knows to handle throughout the series. On the other side of the spectrum, Park Seojoon (Sunwoo), Go Ara (Ahro), Sung Dongil (Hwarang instructor Wihwa) and Jang Sehyun (Kang Sung, Banryu’s Hwarang trainee) were probably the worst, be it for their lack of emotions or their over-acting. To end this on a high note I want to recap the few things I liked about Hwarang: the relationship between Banryu and Sooyeon, and to an extent – although most of it is wishful thinking on my side – those of Jinheung and Sukmyeong and Sooho and Jiso; Jiso herself; how the drama started off and how the characters were introduced, and for the most part how it ended; and lastly the sets and costumes which I did not mention before. Especially Hwarang House and the throne room look gorgeous, an advantage of filming the whole drama before it airs, as the sets can be more elaborate and do not need to be built with the thought of being easy to dismantle and rebuild. And thus ends my overlong review/rant about ‘Hwarang’. I hope you had fun reading it.