#and as much as i adore adore adore adore michelle yeoh we do not need or want a fucking section 31 movie

[tolllthedead]

i am so sick of section 31 i am so fucking sick of it showing up in new star trek like it is interesting in any way and like they did not completely change the concept from what it was created to be in deep space nine like the fact that it shows up so fucking often is a subversion of its premise and besides the glaring mishandling it was annoying as fuck in the first place and has not been made any more tolerable in fact it is infinitely more annoying as fuck

[thesevenwondersofawitch]

The Brothers Sun e5

The mom looks so done when Bruce explains that Sleepy is like Shakespeare and says LOL😂

Bruce: "I need a mental health day."

Mom, holding his face in her hands: "Stop being a baby."

Bruce:"this isn't like when you sent me to school with chicken pox to preserve my perfect attendance record." Damn😂😭

The mom's face when she said "when have I ever been wrong." 😭😂😂

Ouchy, Charles looks like he's in so much pain. I'm guessing he's at Alexis's house?

Yup he is😂

Awwww, she got him shrimp chips

I love that Charles is kinda impressed that she got away using spicy noodles to the eyes😂

I feel like a little bit of Charles' soul died as he watched her cooking food wrong 😂

Xing is so done with baby sitting duty😂

Poor TK😂😂😂😂

THE MOM IS CALLED ROLODEX? SO COOL

Michelle Yeoh is amazing, and I love her sm

Oh shit

Damn you right you're a coward

Bruce asking Xing if she wanted to talk about her mom not replying is great 😂

I. Do. Not. Trust. Grace.

Xing saying if she was Bruce she would've had sex a lot with Grace😂

MAXWELL SHEFFIELD?(From the nanny)

Oh Charles is watching a movie 😂

Oh it's a show, Charles' face when he realizes he has to wait😂

Oh god, he's going through all her boxes 😂😂

That letter 🥺

He's putting up shelves 😂

And decorating?😂

Oh wow, he's also gonna cook, Alexis if you don't marry him I will😂

Aw, the dude who kidnapped the mom is making her tea? WAIT IS THAT TK? It kinda sounds like him

Wow,

I don't think she's nervous at all, not even a bit

Bish did he call her an old woman?

I love how she's ruining them so easily by dropping facts😂

"Oh shit," yeah lil boy, you in trouble!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww 🥺 Charles is making Alexis baked goods🥺

He also got a flower?😂

He's watching The Great British Bake off 😂

Yeah, I too would be in heaven if someone did this for me

I love how she's not even questioning him organizing her house

The shirt she got him😂😂😂

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, Bruce is consulting the mahjong ladies😂

Damn, these ladies just roasted Xing😂

Oh, I am uncomfy with the comment about Bruce pounding like a bull

Oh yeah, these guys underestimated her big time

Who indeed

"We're the Boxers."😂

"Who the hell is that?" Love how she's settling in more because she's curious

That's so sad how Charles's dad didn't even talk to him unless he could be useful in the family business

It's adorable that he was taught how to bake from someone nice 🥺

Also, the fact that Bruce would've been taught stuff by their mom, but she didn't teach her other son🥺

Hong is an ass, especially laughing at Bruce

OH SHIT

Bruce slammed the guy's hand down ouchy😂

"You went straight from asking him once to impaling his hand?" But then you did too, Xing 😂

Damn, Mama lasted 16 days? And two of her interrogators ended up in a mental institution? Somehow that is so

"What should we do for dinner?"😂

OH SHIT BLOOD BOOTS?!🥺 NOOOOOOOO

She can't tell them the names🥺

NOOOOOOOO MY BOY

The blood on his boots🥺😭

The big guns are the mahjong ladies?!😭😂

Oh noooooooo Bruce doesn't want to leave him🥺

It was so genius having all the ladies come in to get her🥺

Love how Charles is having some nice stuff with Alexis while

Ok, it was fucked up how Alexis immediately tried to get Charles to tell her stuff

Wtf, Alexis?! You're really going to betray him after everything that happened? I mean, I get it that her job is important, and I guess she does care more about it than she does other people, but still that's crappy(I do kinda admire her though cause that's clever)

The shelf falling is a perfect example of the situation they're all in

Poor Bruce

Huh, I guess your mom does drink🥺

I think Bruce is done with all the bullshit, and I hope he stands up to his mom now for how she kept so much from him

It was better for Charles to stay, but it wasn't better for him🥺

Her writing is so pretty 😍

Poor Bruce is gonna be dreaming those names up🥺

[the-fangirl-diaries]

132 Thoughts I Had While Watching: The School For Good and Evil (2022)

Jesper, what are you doing here, and why is there two of you? 

And where is your accent? 

One of you is evil and one is goo - oh, the title makes sense now. 

“I prefer chaos.” I mean we all love a bit, buddy, but you’re going too far. 

And bad guy fell off a cliff and died a tragic death, the end. 

Look at this ballroom. 

CATE BLANCHETT IS THE NARRATOR? I LOVE THIS ALREADY. 

Hey, it’s Lydia from Beetlejuice! 

That cottage is so pretty, I wanna live there so bad. 

Agatha makes me feel so much more confident with my Merida hair. 

She has a cat named Reaper, and lives by a graveyard? That’s adorable. 

“Hey, Ugly.” Dude, have you looked in a mirror? 

Deville’s? Like Cruella Deville? 

I love how people can call this girl a witch while she pets a baby goat. 

It’s spelt Deuville? Why does that look prettier? 

Wait, Cinderella exists in this universe? 

“It’s a place that cannot be found, except by those who know where it is.” 

“I want much more than this provincial life,” ~ Sophie, definitely. 

You’re going out into the woods late at night? Are you crazy?! 

Yep, girl is delulu. (That’s apparently a word now.) 

That bird kinda gives me Alice in Wonderland vibes. 

Wait, they got the schools mixed up? Princess and the Pauper, anyone? 

How To Lose a Girl in Five Seconds: Tell her her hair looks like cake. 

So this is basically Descendants? 

“It’s cleaner than my own hand, trust me.” ~ an actual quote. 

Okay, but why does the Never school look cooler? 

The Groom Room? Oh, I get it you groom yourself to look pretty. 

AHH, THEY’RE PLAYING SLEEPING BEAUTY MUSIC!!!!! 

You know, I don’t blame Agatha, some clothes can be itchy. 

I thought Hort would be Diaval’s son. Not Captain Hook’s. 

If you don’t know who that is, go watch Maleficent, please. 

Sword and dance routine? Get it? Instead of song and -- nevermind. 

“The brave prince charming approaches!” ~ Sophie, maybe

Actually, he’s King Arthur’s son. 

Yep, this is basically Descendants. 

Fire for the fire god. 

Agatha, you need some confidence. 

Laurence Fishburne? I swear you’re EVERYWHERE. 

“Cool, I get a whole room to myself.” ~ Agatha, maybe. 

We even have the daughter of the Sheriff of Nottingham?? 

Agatha, you should have known the statues would come to life. 

Wait, I thought Evil Jesper was dead? 

Oh, it’s some weird hallucination thingy. 

There’s evil and there’s threatening to drop someone from a building. 

Learn to tell the difference.

Find the school master and plead their case, yup sounds SUPER easy. 

“You know we can hear you narrating, you weirdo!” ~ An actual quote. 

The narrator is a pen? 

True love’s kiss can break the spell. 

I LOVE THE SONGS IN THIS!!! 

There’s an ugly class and beauty class? 

You fail if no one asks you to the ball? Guess that counts me out. 

Hold on, is that Michelle Yeoh? THIS CAST IS AWESOME! 

Gregor Charming is kinda cute. 

Poor guy is queasy around blood? I mean.... same. 

Why’s Sophie’s vanity kind of annoying? 

There’re people living in the trees! 

See? Tedros loves to hear her talk about cats? 

Did he say “open the effing door?” or am I going crazy. 

Gregor, you need a dash of good luck. 

Gnome humour is funny, guys, admit it! 

Gregor, NO!!!!!!!!!!! You were the only character I liked in this movie. 

Hort grew one chest hair in magic class. Good for you, buddy. 

HOLY -- THIS GIRL CAN MAKE HER DRAGON TATTOO COME ALIVE! 

IT’S ACTUALLY COMING OUT OF HER SHOULDER! 

Girl is wacko! 

Oh, but Evil Jesper comes in surrounded by bees to save the day. 

“Sophie, you’re not allowed to kill anyone until after graduation.” 

Bees are my greatest fear, so uh, I’d be outta there in ten milleseconds. 

This centuries old guy is weirdly into Sophie and I’m not sure I like that. 

Wish Fish? It sounds cool, but I don’t trust it for some reason. 

I kinda want the mean girls to fail. I know that’s not nice, but.....

Agatha wishes for hope and a person comes out of the lake? 

It’s because of a girl that all the wishes are granted? 

IT’S GREGOR, EVERYONE! HE’S THE BIRD -- AND HE’S DEAD. 

Professor, she just saw her friend die, that’s what’s wrong with her! 

Bad professor cut Sophie’s hair? I mean, not the worst that could happen. 

Girl, calm down. At least you aren’t dead. 

Rafal, dude, you gotta chill, friend. (Yeah, that’s Evil Jesper’s name) 

She wants to kiss Tedros, but I think he likes Agatha. 

Gonna admit, that dip was smooth. 

A finger glow? A finger prick? LIKE SLEEPING BEAUTY! 

Looks like it hurts. I’ll skip, thanks. 

Sophie looks good with the glow up not gonna lie

YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN!? 

GUYS, GO LISTEN TO THIS SOUNDTRACK RIGHT NOW! 

Sophie, Tedros is Aggie’s man. You’ve got golden retriever boy. 

DARK HAIR, WHITE SHIRT, BLACK PANTS? THE DEADLY COMBO! 

Aggie used her power to help her friend. She deserves better. 

Everybody Loves Tedros, except for the other Nevers. 

An Ever and a Never together? OH, THE HORROR! 

Hold on, why are they all mad? Wouldn’t this unite the schools? 

Never heard of a trial by tail before, or is it tale? 

The trial begins at sundown instead of midnight? Nice switch. 

Sending them into the forbidden forest? M’kay. 

DO NOT THE FLOWERS! 

“With the power of the finger glow, I save you!” ~ Tedros, maybe. 

Is that a mace-wielding pumpkin-headed grim reaper? 

The princess is going to save the prince? Interesting twist! 

Pumpkin man just exploded. That’s gonna be messy! 

Agatha saved them and this is the thanks she gets? 

Agatha is the only one with any sense around here. 

 She wrote Sophie a letter, too. :’( 

PLEASE TELL ME RAFAL DOESN’T KISS SOPHIE!

He’s centuries old and she’s seventeen at the oldest. 

Rafal and the Evil Professor were a thing? 

Agatha is the most devoted friend in the world. 

 I turned my back for one second and Sophie’s a witch??? 

Honey, we’ve all experienced heartbreak, but this is too much. 

The Never Ball looks cool, to be honest. 

I’m sorry, Sophie, I can’t take you seriously right now. 

Okay, she changed back, but now she’s crazy. 

You attacked them first. 

A COVER OF TOXIC DURING A BATTLE SCENE?? 

Have I mentioned this soundtrack is freaking epic?! 

This is the best scene in the whole movie. 

Since when does Sophie have shape-shifting powers? 

LAURENCE FISHBURN IS RAFAL? 

Oh, he just shapeshifted into him after murdering him. 

That’s where you’re wrong, my guy. I’m chaos! 

Wait, he kissed Sophie?? I should have seen it coming but... 

“My love?” Dude, what? SHE’S LIKE.... Seventeen, right?? 

AGATHA’S HERE TO SAVE THE DAY! 

 I TURNED AWAY FOR FIVE MINUTES AND SOPHIE’S INJURED. 

THEY SAID THEY LOVE EACH OTHER!!!!! 

TRUE LOVE’S KISS. 

I’M NOT CRYING, YOU ARE!!!! 

THE PROFESSORS ARE SO IN LOVE AND I’M HERE FOR IT!

Tedros and Aggie are separating??? Nooooo! 

Well at least she and Sophie will be together. 

It says they’re siblings in the book. DARN IT!!!!!

THERE ARE GONNA BE MORE MOVIES, THOUGH!!!

Staying for the ending credits visual and songs. 

[canmom]

yesssss, say more about everything everywhere when you can, please!

hehe sure thing anon!

so the first thing to say is, well, evidently this film lived up to the hype for me! I enjoyed it so much that I'm gonna screen it on Tuesday (copyright strike 2 incoming?) alongside some other of Michelle Yeoh's films. but hey, since you asked~ let's talk a little lot about Everything, Everywhere, All At Once!

it was a very, very tightly made film: one of those films where every element comes to reinforce the other elements, from the goofy Daniels physical comedy to the martial arts to the family drama at the centre. and of course the editing was as fantastic as you'd expect; absolutely tight sense of rhythm, excellent clarity in even the most chaotic action scenes.

between this and the Stephen Chow films I saw earlier in the week, it really underlines just how much martial arts and comedy are close siblings. I think the reason for this is well, you need some kind of short-term arc to make sure a fight scene is more than just a monotonous run of hitting each other until someone falls over. there are many sources of this tension. one is of course the ebb and flow of new strategems and small victories that put different characters in more or less advantageous positions (the bread and butter of shōnen). but a joke - the setup and payoff structure - is a perfect fit, just the right size to give a good little arc to a scene, especially when you overlap several in parallel.

so if you get good at combining humour and martial arts, both get stronger: the thrilling execution of the martial arts strengthens the joke, and the joke adds flavour to the punching and kicking. hence the immense success of someone like Jackie Chan.

the other element is well, the long term setup and payoff. this is a classic comedy plot structure; Hot Fuzz is a good example of a film which does it very well, where the first half of film, plenty funny in its own right, is essentially setting up jokes which all come back around in rapid succession during the grand finale.

but here it's a little more, because all the jokes are setup for not just jokes but beats in emotional arcs. I believe one of the Daniels said of the farting in Swiss Army Man "the first fart will make you laugh, the last fart will make you cry"; the idea is the goofy physical comedy comes to become a symbol of the two characters' relationship, so when Manny departs, it's not just a funny farting man but the end of something beautiful and transformative.

this film builds on that structure. in one of the early fight scenes, Evelyn is connecting to all these increasingly absurd universes in order to find powers relevant to the fight. however, every single one of these universes - even the one with the hot dog fingers or the Ratatouille parody - becomes tied in to the emotional climax of the film, in which just about a dozen different story arcs, including ones that seemed at first to be entirely jokes, fire off all at once in one glorious intercut sequence that tie back in to the central thesis.

hmm, does this remind you of anything?

(I'm not even kidding honestly; the narrative preoccupations and sense of humour in this movie are really very very similar to Homestuck. I think this is entirely a matter of independent invention - there are plenty of other stories to tackle the multiverse concept, and from the sounds of things this movie has been cooking for quite a while - but I do think it's funny.)

so one of the things I love about this movie is its willingness to commit to the bit and develop each of these more or less goofy alternate universes into something more than a one-off joke.

ok, so, we adore the execution, what of what it is Saying? on the one hand, this movie is about some high concept scifi ideas - what if modal realism/Everettian many-worlds is true, and it were possible to make contact between branches in a kinda mystical way - but really the central narrative arc is about Evelyn herself and her relationships with her daughter and her husband.

(below: spoilers, and content note for talking about suicide and abusive family relationships, i know, juicy stuff)

Evelyn, played brilliantly by Yeoh, has a lot of unresolved issues, and rather than really deal with them, she tends to deflect, e.g. by attributing her own homophobia to her father, hiding in paperwork and cooking when her husband wants to express any of his own needs; by the time she really catches on it's almost too late to do anything about it and she's all but driven everyone away. not for nothing is the image at the centre of that final sequence a rock diving off a cliff in pursuit of another rock.

one thing I like, on reflection, is that Evelyn, for all the progress she makes, does not solve everything. when she desperately appeals to reconnect to Joy at the end, it's not that she finally fully understands her daughter (even if she's made some big steps on the immediate conflicts like actually accepting that she's a lesbian); she still fusses about things like Joy's weight. but she is at least able to be honest about where this is coming from and actually admit how important Joy is to her, which she hadn't done before. (this whole scene is a callback to a scene earlier in the film where Joy is about to drive away and Evelyn stops her, but doesn't manage to say anything but that she's fat; this time Evelyn actually manages to say what she should have that first time). this change of heart is enough for at least this Joy to decide to stay connected to her mother. we don’t see how their relationship evolves subsequently.

something that this film made me think of is an old essay on here by Kai Cheng Thom (@sintrayda), titled (and I suppose you can imagine why this has come back to me recently) Stop Letting Trans Girls Kill Ourselves. let me quote a couple of paras from that:

the predominant (white, colonial) queer/trans narrative of “proper” consent to being cared for goes something like this: someone expresses that they are in pain, or you happen to see that they are.  you offer them help.  if they refuse, you back off, no questions asked.  any further attempt to help could be a considered a violation.

this narrative holds a lot of resonance for me, but i believe it comes from a traumatized place: it is rooted in queer and trans experiences of abusive families and intimate partnership in which we are not allowed to refuse, we are not allowed to leave. our reaction is to swing the other way in the extreme: we encourage people to leave, we don’t question the refusal of love, even when it is clearly needed.

(...)

more often than not, these parents [of severely traumatised children who said they intended to run away] were concerned and loving but did not know how to respond. they asked me what they should say.  from my own place of both clinical training and queer narratives, i suggested that they tell their children that it was okay to be angry, that they were allowed to be angry, and that if they did indeed run away, that they would always have a home to come back to if they wanted.  i believed that this was consent, was the secure attachment that is so prized in child psychology. 

my supervisor (therapist instructor) agreed with my intervention, but also suggested that i had missed an important element: i should also tell these parents to say that if their child ran away, they would go out and find them and bring them home.

the emotional effect this had on me was profound.  this was not something i had been taught to believe in queer community – that love and care might mean following someone even after they have rejected you.  that it might mean reaching out, and failing, and then reaching out and failing, again and again.

that abandonment and rejection by a person in pain – child or adult – might be way of finding out just how hard someone is going to work to help you not just stay alive, but change your life for the better.

Thom is writing here about an ideological position that discourages intervention when someone is suicidal; one that is still painfully relevant, when your friends are far away and you have to weigh the possibility that calling an ambulance to ‘help’ them could very easily get them beaten and incarcerated. I don’t want to talk about this too much on this post; even though it was too late for my decision to matter for Fall, losing her has made me think of other times I’ve learned someone’s suicide attempt and had to decide whether to risk sending an ambulance.

Anyway, I won’t talk about that more. The more relevant factor is that there is a similar thesis at work in Everything, Everywhere for better or worse. In this case, it’s clearly right. Joy cares a lot about her mother, even though she’s increasingly estranged from her family; it is clearly very important to her that she can bring her girlfriend to the New Year’s party, and she is upset by the fact that she struggles to speak Mandarin as fluently as the older members of the family (the constantly switching languages, blending English and Mandarin even within one sentence, are another brilliant touch, it’s so natural and I’ve never seen that done so well). She just needs Evelyn to meet her halfway; appreciate who she actually is rather than worrying about her turning into Evelyn 2. So in this case, fleeing Evelyn was a way of expressing just how serious the situation was; she would rather not have this connection at all than have it continue in its current form. Evelyn, to her credit, figures it out and they’re able to continue on a better foot.

I am certain there are many cases like this, where the right thing to do may well be to ignore a hard rejection. And yet part of me still finds this idea difficult, perhaps for similar reasons as Thom. Not so much because of a blanket one-time ‘consent’ principle, but more because I feel like a relationship that categorically cannot be terminated is dangerous. An abuser who pursues someone across a country may well believe they’re acting out of love. I don’t think it is a failing of the film to not address such cases.

I suppose I end up thinking about my own life - a scale much less grand than ‘parent and child’ but still actually life and death. Fall spent several months at the beginning of this year keeping me at arm’s length, I was blocked on Discord etc., before we reconnected literally weeks before she died. I missed her, but did little to act on it; my general attitude in such cases is to give a person time if they need to be alone, and not be pushy, to make it clear that whatever relationship we have is something that they can choose to have or not. I don’t think that’s wrong. But how do you even recognise the times when what someone really needs is you to try anyway? Could I have made more effort to reach out to Fall without making things worse for her?

Who else am I failing this way?

Unknowable...

Moreover, are there times when the opposite is true: when I’m just making matters worse attempting to ‘help’ and I should back off, even if the person can’t bring herself to tell me? The short run, the long run... it’s an endless series of tricky high stakes judgement calls which will last until I die.

Which brings us to the other strand of Evelyn and Joy’s arcs and the whole premise of the film. This is the idea of the Everettian branching multiverse being true, and what that means on an emotional level. OK, they don’t actually invoke Everett’s interpretation of quantum mechanics; the film is actually inspired, a long time ago, by the philosophical stance of modal realism, which says that all “possible worlds” are real ‘in the same way that ours is’. What ‘possible’ means in this case is pretty broad, something like ‘logically possible’.

In this film, all the worlds are marked by some earlier or later point of divergence. The premise is that a technology allows you to connect your brain to the brains of ‘you’ in other branches. The actual mechanics are (appropriately) kept vague in service of jokes, broader themes etc.; thus a universe can exist where humans have evolved (somehow) to have floppy hot dog fingers but this world still recognisably contains Evelyn, her laundromat, and the woman from the IRS. And indeed in a universe where life did not evolve, there are two rocks which can nevertheless be recognised as Evelyn and Joy. So yeah it’s not hard sci-fi big deal lol.

Still, the impact of this is the question: if all these possibilities true, why is anything important? The film invokes the Copernican revolution, followed by (implicitly) the development of multiverse theories; Joy’s driving POV is a nihilistic one. She knows she can make anything happen in any world, so all of it loses significance.

Evelyn’s answer is essentially to commit to her relationships with other people. The final sequence of the film is not a fight scene, but (once again blending humour and character drama) Evelyn rapidly solving the emotional problems of a whole series of enemies by discerning exactly what they need using her multiverse powers. The life she returns to is actually the most mundane one: not the one where she’s a movie star but the one ‘this’ Evelyn began in, where she’s running a laundromat and doing taxes. It becomes a form of roleplaying: a framing narrative selected from all the possibilities in which she can enjoy the relationships with the people around her. That sounds dismissive, but I don’t mean it that way. What are ‘actual’ roleplaying games but that, after all?

We don’t get Evelyn’s power in reality, but we do get the power of ‘baseless speculation’, which can be paralysing as well! What if I had studied geology or even art instead of physics, would I have not had that mental health crisis? What if I’d been a better friend or partner to a number of people? Gotten an ADHD diagnosis sooner? What if, what if. The answer is obvious to say, but difficult to feel: those doors are closed and futile, so you can only commit to the possibility that you ended up falling down.

One thing the film kind of dances around, but then again maybe not really, is the fact that all the good choices that Evelyn makes at the end of the film, there is presumably a universe where she didn’t do that. A branch where Joy drove away, they never catch up to the raccoon, Evelyn’s rock stays on top of the cliff.

This is the problem of that old transhumanist cult leader Eliezer Yudkowsky’s attempt to draw out the ethical implications of Everett’s interpretation of quantum mechanics. He says, you must be very careful, because each small probability of something going wrong is an uncountable number of branches where it results in death and suffering. The problem is that any ‘decision’ you make is also subject to branching. There’s a universe where you talk Eliezer’s advice to heart and always wear a bike helmet, saving some billion versions of you from spinal injury; there’s also a branch where you don’t do that, so the spinal injuries happen anyway. Even if Eliezer’s essay reduces the proportion of death in some portion of universes, it’s matched by equally many where he didn’t write it. In short, it implies nothing at all.

This film, however, is much more focused on the personal experience than matters of ethics, and so perhaps it dodges this bullet. Having linked herself to all these possible universes, Evelyn chooses to subjectively experience the one where things go well for her and the people around her, rather than to give up and throw herself into a black hole everything bagel like her daughter attempts.

When I watched The Matrix Resurrections, which was a very frustrating and disappointing movie in general, one of the things that got at me was the lack of imagination of the ending. Having at last managed to escape the yoke of the Machines and make themselves gods of a virtual realm, Neo and Trinity don’t really do much to change the nature of their reality. But this doesn’t really bother me so much in this film. And sure, for one thing, of course, the fully ‘ascended’ Evelyn and Joy are not ‘really’ gods, since presumably any intervention they make is just another branching of the universe (though this isn’t really raised in the film). But more than that, it’s not relevant to the metaphor.

I feel like the connecting/dividing link is perhaps the view of Kyōsogiga, that one should not be afraid to ‘just be’: affirming the significance of those small moments and relationships. Evelyn, ADHDful as she is, figures out in the end that what matters to her is not all these projects that she has pursued or one time or another, but just taking time to enjoy these intersubjective connections. Which can certainly stand to be said again and again because I don’t really think I’ve internalised it lol.

All in all, fucking great movie, the Daniels outdid themselves, as did all the choreographers and cinematographers and actors and so forth involved. Can’t believe how long I slept on those guys.

[weclassybouquetfun]

The End is the Beginning is the End. We put the Golden Globes back in the doghouse and look forward to the last batch of awards shows to close out the film awards season. The SAG awards nominations were announced today, the BAFTAs will be announced on Jan. 19th and the Oscars on Jan. 24th so there will be more fashion to look forward to. I hope those red carpet looks will be more impressive than the Golden Globes.

Donald Glover in Saint Laurent *Best dressed man of the night. No competition. Suave, sexy, love the moustache. The entire look is gold.

Diego Calva in Gucci *Second favourite male look of the night. I adore it! It has a retro vibe which is fitting as he's the star of BABYLON. Love the cut and colour. He looks amazing.

Laverne Cox in John Galliano *I was saying during last year's award season how former awards staples Marchesa (Georgina Chapman, former wife of Harvey Weinstein) and John Galliano will never seemingly be embraced again, and while it is not a new design as Galliano is still in Designer Jail, Cox reached back in the vault for this vintage Galliano gown and it's the best she's ever looked. She looks sensational.

Lily James in Versace *One thing Lily James is going to do besides have an affair with her costar, is look great on the red carpet.

Angela Bassett in Pamella Roland. *Love this quasi nod to Old Hollywood look. Very glam.

Barry Keoghan in Louis Vuitton *I'm torn about the neckerchief/bow tie gone wrong, so it must mean in my heart of hearts that I like it. The look gives me Guy-Running-From-the-Garda-Runs-Into-Costume-Shop-And-Puts-On-Bullfighter-Costume.

Rihanna in Schiaparelli Couture.

*Bad Girl Ri-Ri didn't walk the red carpet and could, seemingly, be seen exiting the event early after congratulating her competition, MM Keeravani whose "Naatu, Naatu" won.

MORE FASHION

Billy Porter in Christian Siriano

Ayo Edebiri in Rosie Assoulin *Now she knows those gloves are a mistake. It's like when Andre Leon Talley (RIP) dressed Jennifer Hudson the year she won her Oscar and gave her a great dress with pockets (yes) but put her in a bolero (no).

Letitia Wright in Prada

Ana de Armas in Louis Vuitton

Newly married Anya Taylor Joy in Dior

Jenna Ortega in Gucci *That's too much dress. In consideration of her height everything should have been shorter - hem, sleeves. It would have been even better to modify it to a sleeveless dress. Her hair colour looks great with the dress, though.

Jeremy Pope

Jessica Chastain in Oscar de la Renta *This dress is like the film THE GOOD NURSE. Good, but basic.

Eddie Redmayne in Valentino *He's looking as if he just caught his reflection and wondered WTF his stylist was on to put that on him. The flower should be burned and it would have been nice if he had on black shoes to not look so monochromatic and the pants are too long. The only brown clothes he needs to be in is Thom Browne.

Niecy Nash in Dolce & Gabbana *People should just embrace capes and go. This puffy floor length wrap nonsense is for the birds. The plum-colour dress is gorgeous and the wrap just distracts.

Margot Robbie in Chanel *Please get this woman a better stylist. Someone adventurous; someone to take her out her comfort zone. Nice dress, but underwhelming.

Sheryl Lee Ralph in Aliette. *My favourite female look of the night. Colourful, hair fits the look.

Britt Lower in Bach Mai

Bailey Bass (AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER and the fantastic INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (AMC+) in Dior *It's a great dress for sure - though I wish it was either an empire waist or it was a two-piece with the top being a corset, but barring that, I wish she would have gone with how her hair is in IWTV. If she wore her naturally curly hair it would look so great framing her face.

Viola Davis in Jason Wu

Michelle Yeoh in Armani Prive *Exquisite.

Salma Hayek in Gucci *Of all the Gucci designs at her disposal she went with this??? I have seen her in some insanely incredible Gucci designs over the years so the fact that she wore something so relatively matronly offends me.

Michelle Williams in Gucci *Oh jayzus. What a disaster. It's THE SON of dresses.

Pregnant Claire Danes in Giambattista Valli *I'm guessing she left the house forgetting that she was wrapped up in her quilt.

Andrew Garfield in Zegna *Love the colour. I'm disappointed because I mistook the overly long psudeo-tie for a sash and thought there was some creative flair to the look. No such luck.

Tyler James Williams in Amiri *He gets 10 points for not being boring. Do I love that he looks like he just come out of the rain (and considering it's been storming here for two days, maybe he did), but I love the wide legs trousers and jacket.

Emma D'Arcy in Acne Studios

Michaela Jae Rodriguez in Balmain

[ussjellyfish]

I posted 5,377 times in 2022

214 posts created (4%)

5,163 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@purlturtle

@princessfrogs

@that-one-curly-haired-chick

@moocowmoocow

I tagged 2,351 of my posts in 2022 (I am a terrible tagger)

#reblog - 588 posts

#it's a hell of a queue - 391 posts

#star trek discovery - 226 posts

#michael burnham - 173 posts

#michelle yeoh - 153 posts

#the expanse - 150 posts

#chrisjen avasarala - 110 posts

#star trek - 106 posts

#laira rillak - 96 posts

#philippa georgiou - 86 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#crushes when theyre still on a last name basis are so fun because the inevitable sign of affection that is *first names*

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

student tries to convince me to watch a movie. “there’s this actor and this actor and this...” they’re all guys.

I look at student. “I am too gay, this is the wrong tactic, tell me about the women.”

Student: “there’s one woman.”

Me: “This is why I have not watched your movie.”

54 notes - Posted January 26, 2022

#4

I love Elizabeth Mitchell, and whenever she turns up on my show she usually has a tragic ending BUT randomly, on the Expanse, dark show that it is, she gets to go home to her wife and daughter.

70 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

#3

https://twitter.com/robertdmcneill/status/1487320364149469187?t=EqqmZIRQWEy-CKOaEQ1uhA&s=19

Well Robbie's enjoying threshold day.

106 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

#2

The perfect fanfic writer feeling is

'write a little subtle thing you adore but don't think anyone will notice"

Someone notices.

Someone comments about how much they enjoyed the thing.

You are awaited in Valhalla. You will Fic forever, shiny and chrome.

157 notes - Posted January 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I was going to look this up on the internet, but I don’t know how to phrase it, so I’ll ramble about it here.

Sometimes when I explain something, I use “you” but I mean “me”. I was talking to my coworker and I mentioned how I wished there was something you could do to make up things you should have learned in childhood, like how to clean your space and keep it clean, or like..how clean a house is supposed to be.

What I meant was “I wish I knew how to clean my house better, I find it overwhelming and because my parents didn’t do that well, I don’t know where I was supposed to figure this out.”

But I can’t say it as “I wish I had” first.

I do it talking about work too. “Sometimes you just need a minute to deal with something awful before you teach your next class.”

I mean...I need a minute and I can’t believe I just have to brush off what that kid said and teach about triangles.

Kid said something awful, directly at me and it’s just...really? This is how we are?

I don’t say I though, I say you.

217 notes - Posted November 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[loststarsabove]

My thoughts and opinions on the slew of recent trailers and announcements that no one asked for, but I needed to process all this information. These are just my opinions so don’t hate me.

Marvel:

WandaVision - Not very interested in this and it looks a little too trippy for my taste, but might watch it anyway to see Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau (and Billy and Tommy?)

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Easily my most anticipated of Marvel’s offerings. I was disappointed that it was delayed but it looks like it will be worth the wait! The trailer was epic. It looks like an action movie. I love Sam and Bucky, and their relationship and banter. Also I can’t wait to see my girl Sharon!

Loki - Not sure what to expect from this one and the trailer did not make things any clearer, but I’m just thrilled that Loki is getting his time to shine away from the Thor franchise.

What If? - Now that I’ve seen the full trailer I am actually quite excited for this! Also the animation looks gorgeous.

Hawkeye - I am not a fan of Jeremy Renner or what they did to Clint’s character in the MCU - hopefully this series will correct some of that. However the dog is adorable, Hailee Steinfeld looks really good as Kate Bishop, and I’m interested to find out what Yelena’s role in the story will be. 

Ms. Marvel - From the brief clips we have it looks like a cute, heartwarming, and inspiring story. It has jumped to the top of my list! 

She-Hulk - I’ve hated Bruce Banner in everything after The Avengers so I hope his involvement in this show is minimal.

Moon Knight - Not interested at the moment.

Secret Invasion - I was never one of those fans who felt like this story had to be adapted for the MCU and I liked what they did with the Skrulls in Captain Marvel, but I’m 100% for it now that Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn are involved!

Armour Wars - Finally giving Rhodey a leading role after playing pivotal supporting roles in a gazillion movies is long overdue. Sounds like an interesting premise. Will definitely watch!

Ironheart - Not very familiar with the character so I don’t have much of an opinion at the moment. Will probably watch though.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special - For some reason I have the feeling this is just going to be a Star Wars Holiday Special parody/rip-off.

I Am Groot - Will probably be cute.

Black Widow - I’m over it at this point. Was never really into it. Should have come out years before Endgame. Will only be watching for Yelena Belova.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - Admittedly was not familiar with the character prior to the announcement. I like Michelle Yeoh and Awkwafina though, and I’m interested to see what the movie does with The Mandarin (after the disaster that was Iron Man 3). No real opinion until I see the trailer.

Eternals - Would not be interested in this at all except for the fact that I like Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Kit Harrington. The cast is massive and star-studded to the point of feeling bloated.

Untitled Spider-Man 4 - Not sold at all on the multiverse/spiderverse, but the previous MCU Spider-Man films are among my favourites and I thought they both sounded like crap initially. Will definitely reserve judgement until I actually see the movie. As much as I adore Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, my wish for this movie is that we see a move towards more classic Spider-Man comic elements (The Daily Bugle and Peter’s photography, a mere mention of Uncle Ben, Harry and Norman Osborn, etc.)

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - Not really interested right now.

Thor: Love and Thunder - Will likely not be watching. An unpopular opinion but Ragnarok was my least favourite MCU movie.

Black Panther II - Right now I am just eagerly awaiting any announcement regarding their plans for where they are taking this franchise. 

Captain Marvel 2 - I loved the first movie, Brie Larson, and Carol Danvers. Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau appearing in this makes me so happy! Hopefully Goose will be back! The Ms. Marvel tv show seems to imply that Captain Marvel is famous enough as a superhero to have merchandise, so I hope this movie explains when and how that happened (presumably during the 5 years after the snap that we didn’t see in Endgame).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Very torn about this one. I really loved the first two movies, but my enthusiasm for the franchise has admittedly soured due to controversies involving certain members of the cast and crew. Will watch it, but not particularly bothered either way.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania - I am truly upset by the decision to recast Cassie Lang, perhaps to the point of being irrational. Hopefully I get over it because I have been looking forward to this movie for so long. The plot sounds good and I am anticipating much family cuteness.

Blade - Never saw the original movies and only know the character from Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

Fantastic Four - We all knew this was inevitable. Just give me a comic accurate Susan Storm and a teenage/young adult Johnny Storm (because if we don’t get Spideytorch content then what’s the point?) and I will be happy.

Untitled Deadpool - Not the biggest Deadpool fan, but the second movie was amusing. Will probably watch out of curiosity. 

Untitled X-Men/Mutant movie - Not sure how they are going to integrate Mutants into the already very established history of the MCU. If they do go ahead with this movie I hope that it focuses on different characters from the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise. Personally I don’t want to see Erik and Charles played by anyone else after Ian McKellan, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, and James McAvoy.

Star Wars:

Obi Wan Kenobi - We have Hayden Christensen! This is not a drill! Honestly I am so happy! He was absolutely incredible in RotS and he truly deserves all the love he’s been getting over the years. As exciting as a reunion between his Vader and Ewan’s Obi Wan will be, a tiny part of me is frustrated because I thought Episode IV implied that their encounter on the Death Star was their first encounter since Mustafar? I’m sure they will find a way to make it work, however. Deborah Chow is an amazing director. I hope they cast a young Luke :3

Andor - Definitely my most anticipated Star Wars project after Obi Wan Kenobi. Really excited to see more of life in the Rebel Alliance, and loving the sound of the “nail-biting spy thriller” angle. Glad that Genevieve O’Reilly is back as Mon Mothma. Keeping my fingers crossed for Jimmy Smits. 

The Bad Batch - The animation looks stunning. Always interested to see more of the early days of the Empire.

Ahsoka - I don’t want it

Rangers of the New Republic - Not a lot of information except that it’s “culminating in a climatic event” with other stories, which sounds ugh. Reserving judgement until we learn more and see a trailer.

Lando - Awaiting more info. No word yet on whether Donald Glover or Billy Dee Williams will be back, but we can’t go wrong if either one (or both) are involved.

The Acolyte - Sounds like it could be interesting. Glad to see other time periods in the Star Wars universe being explored.

Star Wars: Visions - Will probably watch for pretty anime animation.

A Droid Story - Sounds like it will be cute, and I love droids so will probably watch. 

Rogue Squadron - Unless it’s an adaptation of the EU Rogue Squadron, I’m not particularly interested. If we’re getting Corran Horn, Mirax Terrik, Tycho Celchu, and Wes Janson, however, then I am 100% onboard!

Untitled Taika Waititi Star Wars - Not a fan of Ragnarok as has already been established, nor did I like aspects of his episode of The Mandalorian. Can’t imagine that I will be interested.

Other:

Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix) - This looks like a cheesy guilty pleasure at best and a dumpster fire at worst. I wish that Prince Sky’s hair was longer. W.I.T.C.H. would have translated better into live-action if they wanted to adapt a mid-2000s era cartoon.

Batwoman Season 2 (The CW) - This looks like a huge improvement from season 1. Judging from the trailer I think they made an excellent decision by bringing in Javicia Leslie. The character dynamics all look really interesting. My most anticipated CW show along with Superman and Lois.

[slamsams-blog]

Tomorrow Never Dies - #24WeeksofBond

Welcome to the 90′s!  Pierce Brosnan is fulfilling his duty as James Bond in this action-packed adventure about a media mogul trying to manipulate the world for complete control over Chinese news media.  A story with a villain that hits a little too close to home these days with our current political landscape.  

As a kid who went through his teenage years in the 90′s - Pierce Brosnan was the absolute man.  Until Daniel Craig came along, Brosnan had taken a clear lead in the “Best James Bond Ever” race.  I certainly thought that.  “Tomorrow Never Dies” was the first Bond movie I saw in the theatres.  I went to see it because my friends and I, (and every other video game kid back then) were obsessed with the N64′s first person shooter - “Goldeneye”.  One of the best video games in the history of video games.

That game is how I got to know James Bond.  So of course when the new Bond movie came out, we were all first in line for a ticket.  Ultimately the “Tomorrow Never Dies” video game would come to be an utter disappointment in comparison to its predecessor.

Unfortunately, like the video game, this film kind of gets the same distinction.  A bond film that is an utter disappointment compared to its predecessor, 1995′s “Goldeneye”.  While that may have been true back then - watching it on its own now, I have to say that this is an extremely under rated Bond film.  Just take away your “Goldeneye” colored glasses for a second and judge this movie as a stand alone installment.  It is high octane, colorful, and witty with some wonderful over acting...it was the 90′s.  That’s how we took our Bond in the 90′s - we wanted our one-liners extra cheesy, our gadgets over the top, and our female characters salacious.

That’s why Brosnan was a perfect fit for this era.  He was cool, handsome, & mysterious like Connery, but charming, care-free, and arrogant like Moore.  He was the perfect balance.  These days, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who thinks Brosnan was the best Bond, because of how we take our action movies now.  But back then....Brosnan was the damn bee’s knees.

The plot is that the Chinese and British are being tricked by Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), and his network of evil henchmen, into thinking that they have attacked one another’s military.  Carver is trying to create a world war so that he and his media empire can cover it, creating a monopoly on mass media, and gaining the power of being able to control the news and therefor, control the world.  MI6 is given a tight deadline to dig up whatever they can find about a massacre that had taken place on a British Naval fleet in the South China Sea.  So Bond has to act quick.

One of the interesting things about this movie (besides Bond’s new biting fetish he has seemed to develop...#Brosnanscharaterchoices) is his past relationship with Elliot Carver’s wife Paris (Teri Hatcher).  We hadn’t seen Bond in love since his wedding in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, so this story line seemed a little out of nowhere.  We knew nothing of Paris in any previous movie so trying to believe and invest in this relationship is somewhat of a tough task, but Pierce and Hatcher do the best they can.  Would have worked better had they brought a bond girl from a past movie back, but oh well.

The real relationship is developed between Bond and Wai Lin - a Chinese secret agent who has been sent out on the same mission as Bond.  Michelle Yeoh is great in this role because she is not the obvious sex appeal pick.  She is a driven, kung-fu fighting, cold-hearted killer of a secret agent who becomes sexy because of how bad ass she is.  Later in the movie we are treated to a Jackie Chan style fight scene between Wai Lin and a bunch of evil dudes who just cannot measure up.  Looking back, she was a wonderful pick for the role, and very much looked over as far as iconic Bond girls in the series.

Jonathan Pryce is intoxicatingly evil, sadistic, and insane in his role as Elliot Carver.  His portrayal of this character is over the top, and perfect. And what makes it better is his group of lackeys. You have Stamper, the big German muscle, and Henry Gupta, a techo-terrorist who uses a GPS encoder to manipulate satellites to send the British naval ship off course without them knowing. This encoder is what Bond and Wai Lin are both, unknowingly to each other, trying to get.

I’ve always liked Pryce’s performance as Carver. He makes him look desperate for world wide adoration which makes him susceptible to Bonds foiling. Bond is sent to attend Carver’s big media launch party which sees Carver schmoosing big groups of people with stories about himself. Bond eventually gets sniffed out and taken away to be “taken care of”. But Bond says “nah” and eventually ruins Carvers big night by shutting off his news feed in the middle of his big speech. Humiliated, Carver is now in full on “Bond must die” mode. The switch is made so clear because of Pryce’s performance and there’s a moment toward the end where they show Carver in the moment where he realizes he’s screwed that’s just beautiful and sad.

When you look at the entire Bond collection of movies as a whole, the Brosnan movies tend to have a reputation for being too goofy, outlandish, and out right unrealistic.  While that may be true for Brosnan’s two follow-ups, I still think “Tomorrow Never Dies” is one of the better films in the Brosnan series.  Keep in mind, the Brosnan series didn’t have the books behind them.  The film makers behind the Bond series had exhausted all of Ian Fleming’s novels and now they were forced to just make up Bond stories which probably wasn’t the easiest of tasks.

So while the Brosnan collection may have lacked as far as story and simplicity they made up for in action.  Lots of great action scenes in this movie with Bond and Lin, hand-cuffed, co-driving a motorcycle being chased by a helicopter is one of the most iconic vehicle chase scenes in Bond history.  And who can ever forget Bond in the back seat of his remote controlled car, using the track pad to drive it to his escape from the bad guys??  This is just solid, 90′s action movie gold.

While “Tomorrow Never Dies” may never be considered one of the best Bond movies, it sure created unforgettable moments which, sometimes, is all you need in a movie franchise as deep as the Bond franchise.  With Brosnan at his peak with the character, and the great supporting cast around him - including the great Jodi Dench as M - “Tomorrow Never Dies” deserves another look, and maybe a higher place on some “experts” Bond lists.

That’s all for this week!  What did you think?  I’ll leave your reviews below...

Reviews from Friends:

My Mom:

On All Bond films we are amazed by the ingenious gadgets that Bond is introduced to right along with the audience.  Amazingly many of the features on his indestructible BMW are now reality, and in some cases, common place. (Voice activation, GPS tracking, remote start, self driving). Another striking aspects of this film is the comparison of Elliot (Jonathan Pryce) and our current maniacal leader.  It seems more at home in an action film than in our precious world.  I have known and loved Teri Hatcher in Desperate Housewives and what a surprise to see her here.  The only other comment I have is that the film is full of outlandish situations as you stated. That’s what Bond is known for but when 007 and Wai-Lin cuffed up together, rode cheek to cheek at high speed,  vanquishing all obstacles in their way but could not figure out how to unhook themselves, that was a hoot. Hey and now I know where Tom cruise and Carmen Dias came up with their high speed scooter chase in the tongue-and-cheek version  “Day and Knight”.   A favorite of mine.  I enjoyed the film.

24 Weeks of Bond will return next Monday with -

Licence To Kill

[touchmycoat]

i enjoyed the crap out of Crazy Rich Asians!

re: representation, at first i had literally zero interest in the film ‘cause i was like, “lmfao what kind of Chinese mother’s wet dream, i don’t give a shit about the Singaporean upper crust.” and to some degree, i still mostly feel that way! it’s a high key “asian” fantasy, but like literally, it’s no different from the royalty fantasy of Princess Diaries or such. plus it’s literally a romcom, so i’m not mad.

but honestly i hung so tightly onto Rachel and her mother. no spoilers, but shiiiiiiit, i wish they had paced the film a little bit better (esp in the beginning) so i got more of the Heart that came from Rachel and her mother. that shit is so fucking important!!!!!!!!!!!! broke my heart too, that entire scene in the bedroom. Constance Wu did such an amazing job with just all her expressions there, how sad she looked for herself but also for her mother and i was literally in so much tears. like, that was the relatable immigrant-mother-and-daughter content i needed.

there’s this weird thing where since “Asian American” representation’s not been done in hollywood in aeons, and the film industries of Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Taiwan etc. are p lit, that we (the “Asian Americans”) can look overseas for “representation.” Except it’s not really representation, is it? it’s not portraying the various experiences of Asians abroad, and even with some shared cultural background, why would a Korean drama “represent” Chinese people? so even as i’m getting tired of all the headlines telling me to watch Crazy Rich Asians for the representation (like sure, you can shove 50 East Asian actors into a single film, but why won’t anyone tell me if it’s actually a good film?), I’m reminding myself that seriously, the political aspect definitely matters.

it’s just overall a silly film with good chunks of feels thrown in! isn’t it so funny that any objectifying-type gazes in this film is aimed solely at the men? What interesting intersectional politics there: the Gaze that has been so thoroughly used by white male-dominated media to sexualize and objectify women (”Oriental” ones, of course) has been flipped on its head to sexualize East Asian men, who have been culturally feminized and emasculated and not allowed to be objects of (hetero)sexual desirability.

plus there’s so much cultural relatability. all the family drama that happens at the dinner table, the brutal criticism adults like to dole out while laughing, the endless list of siblings and cousins, the food and dumpling making

the narrative is so thoroughly female-led! like, Nick was ultimately the only guy that really mattered, and his narrative line was.... not....... very..... . . cohesive.... lfmao. but whatever! Rachel’s cool. Astrid’s fucking?!?!? gorgeous??? i loved the introduction scene and her intrigue. the actual execution of her plotline was more tell than show after that imo, but FUCK if it wasn’t satisfactory at the end. She’s an excellent actress too, holy shit. That scene in the car???? bb. bb. bb.

i love the chick getting married. what a delight the whole way through. just, such a breath of fresh air, and so fucking real lmfao. i love love love asian girls like her. just live your best life, lady.

Michelle Yeoh is a whole legend, and walked the balance between disapproving iron lady and doting vulnerable mother soooooooo well. she’s fucking real as fuck. you’re not meant to hate her, which is a brilliant decision. i loooove the mahjong scene, and how Constance Wu did hurt and vulnerability alongside battle and anger. THE AIRPLANE SCENE. UM. BINCH. BINCH!!! just so well done.

criticisms? pacing of Act I left much to be desired for me, but i do think the ending more than made up for it. Rachel was adorable and it’s sweet to watch her relationships with people develop, but I do think she came off as just kind of generic throughout the first half of the movie. (I liked when she was angry though. That was just real and adorable.) 

[discotreque]

2x08: If Memory Serves

Stardate 1532.9:

Starting this episode with a recap of “The Cage” is the Biggest Dick Energy this show has ever had. (And seeing it in HD with the original FX, not the garbage from the abominable DVD remasters! Be still my heart!)

“As much as it pains me to think the worst of any Starfleet division...” I love how Pike is an even bigger Boy Scout in his personal log than he is out loud. I love how that’s even possible.

It’s hard for me to give enough of a fuck about Leland to, like, care what happens to him? But I think by the time Georgiou ends up killing him—and she’s obviously going to end up killing him—I’m going to be extremely ready to see him go. What a tool.

Speaking of Georgiou, every single time Michelle Yeoh shows up to grin cheekily and be ~EEEEVILLLL~ she has at least one line delivery that makes me laugh out loud. This week it was “*lifts coffee cup* I’m really busy.”

Pike is trying so hard to be bros with Tyler now that they’ve fought a robot squid together. Talking about feelings, pouring him a drink, loosening his collar. But Tyler doesn’t think he deserves a bro. :(

Airiam: “The probe used multiple SQL injections…” Me: THEY STILL USE SQL??? I THOUGHT THIS WAS A UTOPIA

I said this on Twitter, but I wish the stakes for this season were just a teensy bit lower than “all sentient life in the galaxy.”

I could also do without the constant lionizing of Section 31 as “good people making hard choices,” when literally the only halfway-decent person we have EVER seen in that organization is Ash Tyler, whose judgement of other peoples’ character might be just slightly askew given all the trauma he’s faced?

The storyline with poor Hugh adjusting (or not) back to life on Discovery is heart-wrenching, and Wilson Cruz is knocking it all the way out of the park. I can’t even pick a favourite moment from this episode; he’s just endlessly compelling in all of them.

Maybe it would be the mess hall scene, though? “I can find him. *throws the fucking table*”

Other observations from the mess hall: Airiam sits with Rhys; he has a tray in front of him but she doesn’t; does she eat? Also, Saru and Tilly are eating lunch together, which is adorable as hell. ALSO also, were those Jett Reno’s drones tidying up?

It felt really contrived that they blamed Tyler for (presumably) Airiam’s transmissions and sabotage. Why would he even need to communicate with Section 31 secretly? Being a sneaky spy is his job, surely there are official encrypted channels he’s more than authorized to use.

The text of the memory scene between Michael and Spock was exactly what I was expecting—she said a bunch of unforgivably cruel things to him—but the way they kept switching between the child and adult actors absolutely slaughtered me. There have been a lot of really unusual directorial choices like that this season, and most of them have really been working for me.

I’ve never seen anyone else sell “I hate the words currently coming out of my own mouth, but also I cannot stop them” as effectively as Sonequa Martin-Green.

So they’ve mostly been referring to the Red Angel as “it” (which, rude?) but at one point Spock calls her “she” and that’s extremely interesting to me. It also blows up my half-hearted theory that the Red Angel is a post–“Menagerie” Pike, but I wasn’t super invested in that one.

Though it turns out I am kind of super invested in Pike now? To the point that I get a little upset when I remember what the end of his story is going to be? (I’m aware they’ve talked about retconning that to be less tragic but let’s be real, “less tragic” is not this show’s forte.)

Pike, you silly boy. This crew is ready to mutiny at, like, all times. You didn’t need a speech.

Next week: Airiam finally loses her shit. “Give me a consistent backstory!” she yells, throwing the writers around the set.