#and I think the fans and Wille forgot that part of the plot with s3

[myshadesofwrong]

Thank you!

This is exactly how I feel about the finale.

No adult is going to take a 17 year old's abdication declaration seriously just like that, especially one as impulsive as Wille is shown to be. Especially not for a relationship that has already been on and off multiple times because of their differences.

I also want to add the timing of it all. I think we forget that the show literally takes place over only a few months. A lot happened to both SImon and Wille in that span of time. Wille went through a lot of upheaval in just a few months and anybody with half a brain would make him wait to make such a decision that affects literally the whole country. Because all that upheaval, Erik's death, the pressure, the sex tape, would all mess with his head that already has anxiety and fear.

Really, there's a lot in s3 that I disagree with. Plots suddenly appeared that should have been hinted at to begin with (Erik, Queen's breakdown) and while I'm happy that Wille and Simon ended together, I fully agree that abdication does not set Wille free or magically fix him nor does it mean that he and Simon will last past a year. And I didn't think the season would end like that. I honestly thought the plot building with Wille's issues and flaws being front and center were leading to a more open ended ending with Wille realizing that yes the monarchy needed to change and he needed to work on himself as well to be the best man for Simon. For example, August could have said something about how yes Erik participated in the initiation, whether under his own pressure or pleasure, but August and Nils made the effort to change it when they lead it, showing Wille that he could affect change as well. Things didn't have to remain the way they were and it was shown that Wille had the power of privilege. He could have done it.

I'm admitted disappointed in the very cliched ending and I know it's an extremely unpopular opinion. I love a good romance and I wanted them as endgame but the ending just doesn't work for me.

S3 ending is basically putting a bandaid on a gunshot. The entire 5 episodes were built to show how bad they are for each other. I mean yeah monarchy was a big part of it but Wilhelm's problems are his problems alone. It's not gonna go overnight just because he will abdicate, neither will the scrutiny on them. Wilhelm will still be privileged, out of touch, someone with anxiety, impulsive urges and anger issues. Taking away his title will mean nothing because now he will have to deal with the real world which he has no experience dealing with and no support or protection from the monarchy. Do you think he will cope well then and wont take it out of simon?

I feel like they wasted 5 episodes worth of time building plots with no payoff. They could have easily explored Wilmon's trouble and their eventual reconciliation in this time. Putting an abdication bandaid doesnt fix their problem.

We can be delulu but in the Wilmon universe, they don't last, they dont work out in the end because abdication doesn’t fix their problems, not really.

I'll just pretend the series ended in s2. Because S2's ending was actually perfect and that Wilmon may have a chance in the world.

[cinematicnomad]

Your unpopular opinions are fine! And I agree with you! Also: they don't know what to do with Jonathan since season 2 & it shows, the basketball team is so far totally unimportant, Suzys family was fun (faux!Ally Sheedy) but unnecessary, Argyle steals every scence but looks like he goes to an 80s party instead of living in the 80s, no idea why Nancy & Jonathan still aren't in college & they forgot Wills birthday BUT the reveal at the end was great and hopefully Vol 2 will make it all make sense

ehh, to be fair, s4 might be the first time i've actually enjoyed jonathan, even if he's not doing much. i get the purpose of the basketball team, bc they're the ones hyping up the town to think this is all satanic cult worship. suzy's family was TOTALLY unnecessary, and i think i made that post last night after the extended intro to her house. argyle is...entertaining? but the actor has played the exact same character in other movies (booksmart i'm looking at you) so i agree he def doesn't fit the 80s vibe for me. nancy and jonathan not being in college makes sense since they're trying to play it off that it's only been "a year" since the summer events of s3 (and this is a loose "school year" since it's spring break). steve has always been a year ahead of the others, so that doesn't bug me much (though i def thought robin was his age, since they were in the same class with tammy thompson). i'm not bothered much by will's birthday, but if they bring it up in pt2 it wouldn't be the worst thing. and i was spoiled on the reveal so i was just kind of waiting for it.

all in all, it's not the worst season of television, but at this point it's pretty clear that since s2 i've really only cared about steve and then whichever characters are tangentially related to whatever his season plot is. babysitter!steve was the best part of s2, the scoop troop was the best part of s3, and the eddie/hawkins plot has been the best part of s4 (and i was a fan of steve alllll the way back in s1 when everyone hated him).

my biggest gripe is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what i said last night. these episodes were way too long and a real slog to get through. the pacing was a mess and there were definitely scenes where i was using the "skip ahead 10 sec" function bc it was just like....lengthy pans of hallways or whatever. the moment i knew i was gonna have issues with the editing of this season was all the way in 4.01 when they used THIRTY-FOUR CUTS for that fucking scene of erica and lucas rolling the die/making the basket. thirty-four!!! i went back and counted, that's how EGREGIOUS that editing was.

ANYWAY, i don't want to sound too negative about this season—like i said, it's enjoyable, the story is there, i like all the new characters they introduced, i just think...the pacing is a mess and that really makes it hard to enjoy.

also i'm terrified they're gonna kill steve so that's my main concern for s4 pt2 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(ALSO edit: you can only get away with the “oh no, they don’t have their radios on them” ONCE as a plot device, and they used it already when nancy and robin were at the asylum. and that made sense! but using it again like, an episode later, and just having dustin like...forget his bag downstairs while investigating the murder house while eddie tried to radio for help was Plain Dumb and Very Obviously Written for the writer’s convenience) 

[wearevillaneve]

Killing Eve S3, E8: “Are You Leading or Am I?”  Follow the Misleader.

To be a fan of Killing Eve, you don’t have to suspend disbelief entirely, but you must do so frequently.   Otherwise, you’ll be constantly face-palming yourself over the some of the inane and banal bullshit the writers crap out.

All season long, the big mystery of Killing Eve’s third season was Who Killed Kenny?  In the final episode the answer was revealed the by Konstantin that Kenny was responsibly for his own death.. 

For reasons apparently unexplored until the final episode, a spy-cam set up by Bear to catch a candy thief  caught Kenny pilfering Bear’s candy of choice. but also walking out of the office with his possible papa, Konstantin.   When Eve arrives at The Bitter Pill to meet up with her last living friend in the world, she barely misses the sight of Kenny falling silently from the roof to his death. Bullshit. 

MI6 supposedly raided the offices of the Bitter Pill, but apparently are such fuck   ups they didn't find the hidden camera.   Meanwhile, Bear conveniently "forgot" it was there at all, but somehow grew a conscience to “out”  The Twelve,  MI6 and all the other intelligence  agencies playing slap and tickle with the feds.T

here is no way of knowing how much time has passed since he bit it, but Kenny’s has to have been gone for at least a month?   Nobody at The Bitter Pill even checked the spy-cam?  MI6 didn't find it when they raided the office? Ugh.  This was some half-assed, sloppy writing with no respect logic or the viewer’s intelligence. Double bullshit. Executive Producer Sally Woodward Gentle says Kenny didn’t commit suicide and Konstantin’s ass-covering excuse that he didn’t push him off the roof didn’t even sell Carolyn though she let him run off with his life.  Which means this wearisome plot will drag on into Season 4.  Not knowing when a story line is played out is a big weakness of the KE writer’s room.

Speaking of glaring weakness, enter Geraldine.  Hands down, the most useless and tedious character in the history of Killing Eve.  Even Frank “Dick swab” Haleton and poor, doomed Felix were less of an empty shell than the charmless Geraldine.   Every time she showed up on screen with her sad eyes and sadder expressions, I yawned and found myself yearning for a nice five-minute bloc of commercials.  Geraldine was that bad.

Hopefully, Gemma Whalen bought something nice for herself or paid off her credit card with the paycheck from playing a total blank like Carolyn’s desperate daughter.   Carolyn finally dismissed Geraldine and told her to fuck off back home. If only it had come a few episodes earlier it would have spared us all Geraldine’s blind alley of a plot device.

Rhian had the double audacity to show up where she wasn’t  wanted forcing Villanelle to send Eve away, then to add insult to injury, backed her against a subway wall and told Villanelle to mind her manners and do as instructed like the “sheep” she was.   A regretful Villanelle whispered, “I’m sorry” before she beat the stupid out of Rhian and kicked her onto the rails where the tram ended her bangs and boots forever.  The last thing to go through Rhian’s mind before the train did was, “Do not EVER interrupt Villanelle when she's slow dancing with her baby.”

Despite her reluctance to kill for The Twelve or MI6, Villanelle is more than capable of doing so when sufficiently motivated.   But even Villanelle no longer finds purpose and pleasure out of murder, Eve is beginning to and that may loom large on their relationship going into next season.   If Carolyn says forget about The Twelve, what’s Eve’s mission?   Go rogue and try to take them down with a shook, semi-retired assassin to back her play ? Or settle down for a life of sapphic bliss waking up next to Villanelle every morning? Dasha is dead and Paul is dead and Mo is dead and Rhian is dead  Geraldine and everybody at The Bitter Pill should be dead, but aren’t.   Of all the survivors of S3, Geraldine seems most likely to return in 2021 with Helene.  Maybe that’s when she flips on Carolyn and joins The Twelve to take her down.  That, or she’s the one who killed Kenny while Konstantin watched. 

Oh, fuck the plot.   It’s not as though it matters.   What matters is   Eve and Villanelle’s shared time together in S3 was so limited the moments they actually interacted can be summed up as The Bus Kiss, the Wave, the Dance and The Bridge. 

The Dance was sweet and tender, something that doesn’t happen often or last long on Killing Eve.  Sure enough, the all-too brief scene moved Eve along to fulfill a plot point and give Villanelle an opportunity to prove when it comes to taking someone out like a bag of dirty diapers, she definitely has “still got it.” Who didn’t like it like when Eve and Villanelle actually talked about how they got to this point as they stood on a green-screen bridge.   A confession of love or at least fond feelings would have been good and a long, lingering, eyes closed shut kiss would have made it perfect.   After two consecutive season ending episodes where one woman had gravely injured the other, another violent conclusion would have been too much to take.   Fortunately Suzanne Heathcote and her S4 successor, Laura Neal, wrote a final shot where Villanelle and Eve walk away and then turn to stare wistfully at each other.

It’s perfect.  I’m mystified how we got to this point though.  Eve’s turn from attempting to patch things up with Niko to falling back into obsession with Oksana is never explained.   Nor is there an event or a line that clears up why she was willing to leave Eve behind as part of Konstantin’s Cuba escape plan.  

We are left to make presumptions as to how Eve goes from "I'm totally done with her. done with that. end of story” to “when i try and think of my future, i just... see your face over and over again."   Here is where Heathcote’s choice not to explore Eve’s evolution comes back to bite S4. Despite the way our heartstrings are tugged when the two women realize they can’t deny the magnetism that keeps drawing them together, the impact of the event is blunted by all the rabbit holes the viewer had to go down to get here, and then it doesn’t feel entirely earned.  

The open-ended ambiguity of the finale will send fanfic writers scurrying to their computers to craft a more satisfactory alternative until Killing Eve returns in one or two years.

It’s going to be a long wait, but at least there’s some comfort to take from the fact instead of the dread of more pain and suffering that Villanelle and Eve have inflicted on each other, this time there’s real hope of a possible better days for them.

FINAL GRADE:  A- 

[bylerly]

Sis it was trash. The acting was amazing but that’s about it. They ruined Mike and Wills friendship big time, not even gonna get into shipping lol. Also Finn and Noah I’m sorry sweeties, your characters were reduced to nothing lol

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS under cut.

i’m just going to put what I didn’t like here, to get my negativity out of the way.

the monster was beyond disappointing. the mindflayer, in both its physical and mental forms, was WAY better/scarier than this one. I’ll give this one gore points, sure, but…. god. it just seemed lazy

the complete and utter sidelining of Lucas & Will, and the continuing crappy Mike plot. that was possibly the most infuriating part for me. let me just go into more detail with each one…

I liked that Mike got called out for his shitty behavior because it was needed, for him & those he was being a dick towards, even unintentionally. but after that… he just…. didn’t do too much. I mean, he got better treatment than Lucas and Will this season, and he got some of his leadership qualities back, which was good. but the character is just…… still. resigned to be secondary, and spent so much of this season being so unlikable.

Lucas has deserved better from the start. he had a couple cool moments this season, but nothing like I was hoping. he was sidelined (his moments early on with Max were great tho) as usual, not being given any substance in his own plot. i am just so exhausted with his writing.

Will. oh my g o d. they mutilated his character. he was resigned to only being the friend feeling left out, which started out okay. that scene with castle byers was peak cinema. but then… what the fuck ????? they acted like his psychic connection was going to be a big plot for him, but it only mattered for like 2 seconds. once he told his friends that night in the woods, it stopped being useful. he could tell them that the mindflayer/upside down presence was close, but it was in moments when they could already tell. and then… nothing. he had a few useful things to say about his experience with the MF, but once shit hit the fan in the second half… he wasn’t given anything to do. his character went nowhere. Will has SO MANY POSSIBILITIES, and it felt like the duffers literally forgot about him, then just wrote him into the background of some scenes. remember when we thought there would be a big revelation or twist with him this season…. hahaha funny, the duffers said fuck will rights….. and yes, they completely and utterly destroyed his friendships this season. noah acts circles around so much of the cast, but he was so reduced this season, it was embarrassing

billy. FUCKING BILLY. he was given SO MUCH FUCKING SCREEN TIME trying to get us to feel sorry for him, to get us to empathize. I don’t, and I’m furious that the duffers took away valuable screen time from characters who could’ve used it (see the three characters I just mentioned). I didn’t care. I’m glad he’s dead so it won’t happen again, but he got so much excessive screen time. Dacre did fine. but i will never not be bitter that this was the season of fucking Billy.

what happened to 5/6 being insane and badass? there were some good moments. but nothing that blew me away.

the comedy was so awkward in a lot of parts, was this just me??? it felt like they were trying way, way too hard. the only times the humor hit was when the actors made choices that made it hit. it wasn’t really the writing.

just as suspected…. the scoops troop was a low tier grouping for me. i want to love Erica…. but i just. don’t. it’s cool that they went the nerdy route with her, and Priah did a good job. there are just so many characters that are already being underdeveloped, and her plot with the other three didn’t do much for me besides minor comic relief (mostly from Joe).

Alright, I thought everyone was already predicting Hopper’s “death”? was I the only one seeing that coming from twenty miles away?

That post credits scene… was that supposed to be shocking in any way? A fucking demodog? okay thanks lmao (”not the American” - is that Hopper in that cell?)

Kind of tying into my first point…. nothing about the monster or Billy’s plot was interesting to me. Nothing. It garnered some great acting from the cast, but that was it. The scenes lingered way too long and so much of it was rehashed and, again, booooooring.

The Jancy stuff was…. disappointing, just in that it was underwhelming. I like their dynamic, and that they did way more with the kids this season. It was a step up from s2, yes. But it was still less than I hoped.

The amount of flashbacks, either from other seasons or even the episode before…. so unneccessary. it was like they were trying to fill in gaps where they had nothing else to put. and it’s insulting that they think the audience is THAT dumb

I felt like there was a… lack of depth? that they wrote the season to try and be as shocking and crazy visually and plot-wise as possible, that little nuanced moments and character emotions that make the show so good were virtually gone.

Okay, I saved this for last because I KNOW I’m going to get shit for this, but this is just my opinion. …El got way, way, way too much of the plot and screen time in s3. I adore her, and i know she’s technically the “main” character. But… every other scene was her, or centered around her. Characterization of other characters was at an all time low, or even moved backwards, but everything was centered around hers. It would be one thing if other kids were seen as well (i.e. last season, where her own screen time was obviously high, but other kids got a little room, too), but her own plot made up about 95% of the kids’ (minus dustin, who I don’t consider to be in the other kids’ plot line this season). It’s officially turned into the “El and the other kids” show, which leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth. Probably because I saw it coming, but didn’t want to believe it. Season 3 was literally the Eleven and Billy Show imo

I’ll put things I enjoyed (smaller list) in another post at some point, but I need to decompress.

[orrtala]

Sylvia a.k.a. Our Favorite Resident Strong Alien Dinosaur Horse

Post S1 analysis

Sylvia's role in S2 for most part was to be an unheard voice of reason. No, Wander, pairing Dominator and Hater is a bad, bad idea. Why is everyone so fixed on watching cute kitty ca- oh no. Wander don't go into the cave. Wander, just, stay away from everything, please.

I already said that relationships will be written down in other post, but Wander and Peepers need to be at least mentioned here.

Wander, obviously, is her partner, her best friend. And that's how it's going to stay until the end of their days (or, rather, her days, *sniff, sniff*). No matter what Spoon has in plans, she'll always will be there to help, try to dissuade him, pick up the pieces, or the combination of above.

Peepers is… an interesting case. Not only they seem to understand each other since their encounter in "The Battle Royale", thanks to recognizing the similiraties between them, but also are will willing to work together. Heck, they enjoy working together. But still remain enemies due to their allegiances and world views. Well, frenemies.

Sylvia's also the person who got through Dominator, sort of. She is the first person to call "D" a friend, though quickly gave up the notion after events that transpired. And Dom apparently forgot her. Eh, still, they got the whole episode about them, I'm sure it would be mentioned somewhere in S3.

Alright, let's focus on Sylvia-centric episodes: "The Catastrophe", "The Family Reunion", "The Hot Shot" and "The Night Out". I guess "The Wanders" also counts? She did all the work there, gathering all the titular Wanders to svae her best friend, and learning the leson that "every part of you is important".

"The Catastrophe" featured yet another encounter with Little Bits and yet again Syl had to use her wits to fight back. She knew there was no way of out-cute-ing her, so funny routine was all that was left. Proving that slapstick knows no gender. And creating yet another plot for future season – Little Bits' wevenge.

She was right in "The Hot Shot" – the titular man seemed sketchy; arriving just in time for a giant bot attack, beating it effortlessly, stealing Wander's image; but the jelaousy was her main driving force. Which made her try to take on the false bot without thinking, proving once again that she can be quite a hot-head. But also a hero.

In "The Night Out" I realized an interesting thing: Syl wants to impress others. Yes, she's a good person without Wander, but he had a big, big part in making her who she is now (if the bounty hunter scene in "The Waste of Time", and, if you think about it, most of S1 are any indications). She spends most of the episode running widly with her new 'friend', glad to be free of all gooddoings for once. But in the end she knows what's right and what's wrong, and, oh yeah, she's not insane like some people.

And "The Family Reunion". People who followed me back when I liveblogged this one know I'm not a fan of the episode for several reasons. But I'll try to focus on what – I guess – were the creators' intentions.

Sylvia comes home, trying to take a break (escape) from Dominator invading the galaxy. But her mother knows what's up and instead of talking to her about it makes her work harder than ever, trying to make her go back saving the galaxy. Sylvia learns that Dorothy is actually proud of what she's doing and escaping from the problems will never solves the issue.

And that's Syl for you! I don't think she changed that much, it's just the audience that learned about her? She's still our strong, sassy, protective of her best friend, not fooled by cute cats, foul-mouthed, ready to call anyone on their nonsense favourite Zbornak. She just more good. Good-er? A little more confident. And, oh yeah, was no stranger to working with Peepers of all people.

Also I was totally right about her being bounty hunter in the past. Yay!

What the future has stored for her? More interactions with Peepers. Perhaps meeting her family again. Another encounter with Little Bits. More travel stories with Wander where she has to save him again and again. And while I'm glad for her interactions with Peepers, I'm hoping for more Hater.

TL;DR: Sylvia's the same as ever, maybe a little more mature. Here's hoping she's going to have some more interactions with the main guys outside Wander.