#and if we are looking at revisiting s4 in s7

[motherfracker]

Has anyone else thought about the fact that Maddie and Chimney make a big deal out of calling Buck "Uncle Buck" for the first time after Jee-Yun was born in 4x09? But by this point, he's already close with Eddie and Christopher, but no one assumes that that's what he'd be to Chris.

Considering the 118 have witnessed the argument in the grocery store, Buck planned Christmas for the 118 because of Christopher (Hen witnessed him asking if he could spend Christmas with Buck), Buck telling Maddie that he's not really a guest at Eddie's house, Eddie telling Chim that the 118 is the family they chose, helping to build a skateboard for Chris (which Eddie puts on his own Instagram account), and Buck talks about his concerns for Chris going away to camp in front of the 118. Like all of this happens before Jee is born.

But no one makes that assumption. Buck is not considered an uncle until Jee-Yun.

That just stood out to me on my rewatch. Even before we found out about the will at the end of season four, it was already established that everyone sees Buck as Eddie's co-parent to Chris. Before he even truly takes on that parental role after Eddie gets shot.

He is his Buck. And his Buck is synonymous with dad.

[inawickedlittletown]

No Queerbaiting Here

A long time ago…I’m talking May of 2021, I wrote a meta post about queerbaiting. Essentially an essay. I wrote it right before the S4 finale of 9-1-1 aired because I was frustrated by Buddie fans calling Queerbait entirely like the boy that cried wolf. I still stand by it. Sort of. 

Now, even back then I was pretty clear about how 50/50 I was on Buddie ever going canon. (Maybe not in that post but certainly elsewhere) But, I shipped Buddie then and wrote a lot of fic and meta and participated in fandom. I never said it couldn’t happen…I just would never be bothered if it didn’t.

Where we stand now: It’s not going to happen. 

And where I stand now: fully immersed in Bucktommy. And what’s more, I am more than perfectly happy about Buck and Tommy staying together and going the long-run. Although I can still look at Buddie and think it’s a cute ship, I just don’t want it in canon. I would not be satisfied if the show went that way. But what’s more if Buck and Tommy don’t work out, that would be disappointing, but I’d be okay as long as they got to be happy. There is, after all, always fanfiction. 

So, I wanted to revisit this concept a bit now that Buck has been confirmed as Bisexual and now that he is in a relationship with a man. Not Eddie. Tommy. And somehow, some Buddie fans are still crying queerbait because their ship is not canon. That’s not how it works. Also…shipping works outside of canon, that’s the whole point of shipping. 

To reiterate from my original post on queerbaiting, here’s the definition from wikipedia:

“Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation. They do so to attract a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while at the same time attempting to avoid alienating other consumers.” 

Here’s where I stand: Buddie was abandoned a long time ago. If it was ever a real possibility, we won’t ever know. What we do know is that Oliver was aware that at one point he had given them the go-ahead to make Buck Bi. Whether this was by putting Buck and Eddie together or having Buck realize this another way, we just don’t know that. We don’t have that information and nor will it probably ever be provided to us. Narratively, I know that a lot of fans figured the timing of it fit with S4 and that particular finale but we really just don’t know despite what happened in the finale.

I found that interesting looking back at my own post from back then and the discussion that followed where some fans felt that the way the finale went would determine if Buddie would be another queerbait ship. (I think most people agreed after the will scene that it wasn’t queerbait because it did leave a kernel of hope that Buddie might still happen). 

And yeah, I guess you could argue that the network deciding not to go the route of a queer storyline points to missed opportunity. That doesn’t then mean that any queerbaiting occurred or that any fans are owed anything just because something that was set up or that the writers were writing towards was then scrapped by the network. Is it a shame that it didn’t happen in whatever way they wanted to play it out, sure, but only because Buck would have been confirmed queer earlier. In the same vein isn’t it nice that we have a confirmed Bisexual Buck now? That the show managed to bring it back to that.

A Buck that is happy and free and that has realized something so monumental about himself? Isn’t it nice that all the queer coding that Buck as a character has received since the start of the show is actually finally not just queer coding but full on character development? That we can look back at the show and see all the things Buck did around other men for exactly what they were. 

When Tommy first returned to 9-1-1 in S7, I think a lot of us were excited by the spoilers about Buck and Tommy because of Bi Buck, but also because this was the thing that could lead to Buddie. 

And then…then Tommy was actually on my screen and I doubted it. I actually thought maybe the spoilers were wrong and this was about Eddie and Tommy? That episode flipped things in such an expertly way that by the time Tommy and Buck were sharing a kiss for the first time I was right there with Buck. On a second watch, it is all there. Buck was never jealous because his friend was ignoring him. He was jealous because his best friend had the attention of the guy whose attention he wanted for himself. The writing on that was perfect and no amount of twisting it can change what happened on screen. 

Buck was not jealous because of Eddie. Tommy was never interested in more than friendship with Eddie. And Buck and Tommy have nothing to do with Buddie. Tommy is not a stepping stone, a way for Buck to be ready to then embark on a relationship with Eddie. That’s both disrespectful to Tommy and Buck, but just not what the story being told on the show is doing. 

The storyline is monumental. Having a big strong guy, a firefighter, figure out his sexuality in his thirties is such good storytelling and add to that Tommy. Someone that we already know, who already works as a first responder, and who can show up and wow Buck in such a way that he realizes something about himself? This is what I’ve always wanted. Because guess what, Buck never questioned his sexuality before this. Not when he met Eddie and not when he met anyone else, not until Tommy. 

Going into the new season we know a few things and one of those is that Buck and Tommy are thriving. The media coverage talks about them as a solid couple, it talks about Buck having someone to turn to and complain to. It talks about how they are still in the getting to know each other phase and I love that for them. I love how they are being treated and described and I can’t wait to see what plays out for them and how much of the build up of their relationship we may get to actually see. 

Do you know what the media and the show never talked about outwardly like this? Buddie. Whenever it came up it was always brushed aside in a way that was respectful to fans and what they saw, but without ever confirming or hinting that the show would ever go there. They never queerbaited anyone with Buddie, what they have done is say “yeah…we know what you see” and then turned around and given us a Buck and Eddie friendship and Buck kissing Tommy, going on a date with Tommy, and thriving with Tommy. 

So, no queerbaiting here on the show where half of the major canon pairings are queer. It’s actually more like some fans baiting other fans with theories and headcanons that just don’t fit.

[spicyicymeloncat]

Ok but is anyone noticing the Ninjago season parallels (obvious spoilers however I have s15/16 stuff behind a readmore)

Pilots + S10 (March of the Oni): four episodes long, involve Garmadon, involve underworldly villains (skeletons and demons), heavily involve the golden weapons, symbolism around falling (characters such as Wu and Garmadon falling into the underworld, Cole falling into the city)

S1 (Rise of the Snakes) + S11 part 1 (Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu: Fire chapter): snakes, Kai is insecure, a child is manipulated by a snake (Lloyd and Pythor, Wu and Aspheera), big snakes invade the city, desert (Ninja live in the desert in s1, and they revisit it in s11)

S2 (Legacy of the Green Ninja) + S11 part 2 (Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu: Ice chapter): evil mind controlled samurai (the stone army and the ice samurai), characters journey to unfamiliar setting (the dark island vs the never realm), someone close to the characters becomes an evil emperor (Garmadon and Zane), said evil emperor has evil staff (mega weapon and the scroll of forbidden spinjitzu)

S3 (Rebooted) + S12 (Prime Empire): robots and ai and technology, going into a simulation, characters die (or cubed), Cyrus appears

S4 (Tournament of Elements) + S13 (Master of the Mountain): character makes a connection with a daughter of an evil slave owner, said slave owner has a way of taking away people’s powers, Cole gets dropped through a trap door, characters get split up, character from metalonia appears, story about coming together instead of infighting, villain puts groups against each other for their own gain, ninja travel away from home and being a master with them

S5 (Possession) + The Island: ronin is here, revolves around a jewel (the realm crystal vs the storm amulet), although I think storm is supposed to refer to Jay we could talk about Morro here

S6 (Skybound) + S14 (Seabound): look at their names, Nya is important, Nya… dies, we get to see the villain’s father die, villains are both kings, introduced to another race (the djinn and Merlopians), ocean themed groups (pirates and merfolk), sky/sea duality, parent drama (Jay finds out he’s adopted, Nya gets used to having a mother), Nya being compared to other historical figures (Delara and Nyad)

And under the read more are s15 (s16??) spoilers

S7 (Hands of Time) + S15 (Crystalised): uhhh idk. I’m confused by the leaks. But all I can think of is how the creator tweeted “conclusion” as a one word description of this season and how s7 was gonna be the last season of Ninjago, once

However since S5 doesn’t match up too well with the island (it’s not even a season), I feel like it could be paired with s15 instead. We have potentially evil Lloyd, past haunts (ghosts, and returning villains), one word season titles that could apply to Lloyd

However however Seabound could be a s5 parallel because of Nya being important, and skybound and s15 are paired due to the ninja going to jail??

Idk

[inkandcamcorder]

Okidoki! This is my little theory post after watching the S7 trailer for The 100, I’ll probably add as I go and cancel or confirm as we watch.

As a little disclaimer, of course I know nothing for sure. If you see something that doesn’t make sense with the facts please let me know. Some of these may be completely wrong and probably most are. I’ve started this list from the fact that I believe the wormhole will let the mains go back in time, stopping te nuclear war or earth from going ka-boom or whatever it did at the time or during Praimfaya, and therefore they will erase themselves from existence. I don’t expect a happy ending but I’d still be happy if it were the case. Some of these are also repetitive or completely contradictory. Anyways, we’ll see! I’m also quite lazy so I often use initials to shorten the character’s names, I hope it’s clear enough! Obviously you’ll have seen many of these around, and some were inspired by what I’ve read on Twitter and over here of course!

I refer to the guys in the weird suits with the electric batons as the Big Human Menace, a.k.a BHM.

PS: I often mention “teams”. I don’t mean allegiance, I mean which plot line they’ll be allocated too as that many characters get split over different plot lines. Also sorry this is so long! I’m using it as a self tracker.

Here’s what I think we know from the trailer:

Jordan is going slightly creepy or cult-ish (not from the trailer but that weird look from S6),

Dyoza is in the Anomaly but alive.

Bellamy will cry & B & O will try to save one another through sacrifice.

Echo will cut her hair.

Madi will be threatened (by Russell I think).

Clarke will grieve her mom.

There’s a wormhole.

Raven and Clarke will team up and be close (and go on a mission to Nakara, the ice planet, with Jordan, Nate, Nylah, Gaia and Jackson I think? Hard to tell from the shots).

There will be skeletons.

Murphy and Emori will kick ass.

Murphy and Raven will team up.

Hope’s hair changes and she too is part of the team against the BHM.

Some guy bleeds.

Some girl screams. (I’ve seen people think it’s Raven, but that seemed unlikely to me).

Murphy get a gun put to his head.

Sheidheda (sorry about the spelling of it’s wrong!) is free. (S6)

Clarke points a fun to someone’s head (Russell I believe).

Hope screams behind a window, held by O next to C.

Echo screams.

There will be a sort of lab or torture chamber.

There seems to be a scene of Finn tied to the pole.

There’s some sort of flashback with Hope and Octavia.

There’s an icy planet, Nakara.

Bellamy should show up clean shaven at some point.

Gabriel is on the Echo plot team.

“I say live and let die.” - Murphy

There’s a change of plans for Echo and Gabriel.

O is on a white room, strapped down to a chair.

“If you fail, all our people are dead too.” (Bellamy to Clarke)

Echo is running after someone unconscious being taken (from the butt/cardigan it’s Bellamy).

Dyoza is seen holding O back.

A man is playing chess.

Russell says “we want peace”.

Here are the theories :

Jordan is going to lead a sort of rebellion for peace, similar to a cult, perhaps with him as a sort of priest.

Dyoza will be back in “The Garden” and try to get back to H and O, and will help with the Anomaly. She will eventually die - probably to save O (and/or H). They’ll be a recurring theme of “found family” between D, O and H. Probably in the hope to keep O & Bellamy from sacrificing themselves for each other or something similar.

Bellamy and Clarke will be separated for a third to half of the season.

Bellamy and Echo will be mainly on different plot lines (once she’s rescued him) - they will be apart. They will separate amicably and “always be family” or Echo will let him go (possibly before dying).

Echo will infiltrate the BHM.

Bellamy will be kidnapped and he and Madi will be used as bait for Clarke in different ways by different ennemies.

If any concrete Bellarke happens, it will be in the last two episodes, most likely only the finale. There might be some intense gazing or brushed aside lean-ins beforehand.

If they change the past, they’ll all die. If not, Clarke, Bellamy and possibly Murphy (and/or Raven) will die. Most of the mains really.

The wormhole will connect to Earth in the last allowing for revisits if plot points (perhaps Ton DC with the skeletons).

Raven and Co. will forgive Clarke (and who knows, maybe apologise? Crazy stuff).

Clarke will deal with Russel trying to rebel. She’ll threaten to burn him but as Jordan “cult” or whatnot rises, that will take a backseat. They’ll ally and Gaia will serve as an advisor. Jordan will say that he wants peace. Clarke will answer that “this is not the way” and “sacrifices must be made”. It will get out of hand (and perhaps made worse by Sheidheda interfering) and Jordan will realise the errors of his way. This will serve as a side plot while the Anomaly stretches out along the season and becomes the main plot towards the last third of the season as they search for a way to ensure humanity survives.

Sheidheda will finally be destroyed (by Clarke, with help from Gaia, Murphy and Raven).

Octavia’s death would supposedly unlock some sort of solution for the Anomaly, B will try to swap places. O sees it as her chance for redemption once more. D takes her place or something similar.

Clarke threatens Russel with a gun but doesn’t follow through.

Octavia and Gabriel will sleep together and develop *feelings* but D and H will always come first for O. Gabriel will die and say something along the lines of “as he should have a long time ago”.

Echo will go rogue to save the the day.

Jordan will rebel when Clarke decides to burn Russell.

Possibly, the BHM will come through the wormhole (hence the need for C & Co to go through it too - they’ll take a ship, which is where the scene with Hope flinging herself against the door screaming next to O and C will take place, though that could also be in the torture chamber area).

Echo will get caught and be tortured.

Murphy will get to convince Clarke not to choose violence.

Murphy and Emori will be quickly forgiven, but also reminded of their mistakes in a heated argument. They’ll use their newfound positions to lead in Sanctum.

If it’s not a time fix-up, Maddie will survive, along with Gaia.

Indra will die for Gaia and tell her she’s proud of her.

There will be some sort of human experiment.

One of the revisited part of time will be Finn’s death (perhaps leading to some Lexa archive footage being used).

During her time in the Anomaly, O will have basically raised and protected Hope, along with Dyoza, while never giving up hope to get back to Bellamy in any way possible. They’ll have been hunted by the BHM there too.

The wormhole will also lead to several other planets (which I believe is actually confirmed) - one of them might be a lot of water.

The bloodied guy will be an enemy of sort, possibly coming through the Anomaly, maybe tortured by Clarke and Co or Jordan’s follower though that’s unlikely. Probably by radiation/

While the others are on Nakara, Emori and Murphy deal with Sanctum and Jordan.

Murphy will take Jordan under his way in honour of Monty and Harper.

Echo will cut her hair for her mission as a way to be more incognito, the mission being likely the rescue mission to get Bellamy back, who was kidnapped by BHM.

They’ll explore the other planets, maybe in hopes of finding more human survivors or a safe heaven.

There’ll be parallel between Clarke in S7 and Bellamy in S6.

People will try to go in the Anomaly (Echo/Raven) but not all will be allowed in, or they’ll get split up.

Bellamy will probably be mentally tortured (possibly with a lonely/erased virtual reality).

Murphy will not want to go on the suicide mission (there might be a vote about it) but will go anyway for everybody’s sake in they want him to/need him.

The change of plans for Echo will be due to something linked to Bellamy - realising he’s about to get hurt, tortured, moved, is somewhere close, etc.

O will probably be part of the human experiment thing, probably during in the Anomaly, which is linked to the wormhole (possibly through its code that was on her back).

There will be, of course, some sort of apocalypse.

And a war.

There’ll be tons of S1 callback (maybe that underwater with the jellyfish is used as a callback for O in S1 in the lake?)

I think Jordan’s the person in the water with the jellyfish, and I don’t think he’s chilling because he probably can’t swim. So he fell by accident by using the wormhole or slipped or whatnot.

Octavia will act older as she has lived an extra 17-19 years in the Anomaly (which is part of her argument why she should die instead of Bellamy) and act rather weary as a result.

Possibly some sort of radiation issue? On Sanctum and/or back in past earth or a new planet.

They’re being hunted by the BHM who are coming through the Anomaly.

Russel has followers taking part in the Sanctum war.

The war will have to stop to unify against BHM and/or apocalypse.

There’s six symbols on the screen for the wormhole: 5 for Eligius as someone else very rightly pointed out (let me know if you recognise yourself, I remember reading it somewhere) the sixth one might be the BHM or something to unlock the wormhole?

Is the Anomaly absorbing or killing people and being used as a weapon, most likely by BHM? (Someone else remarked a skull in the green smoke).

Raven will get her red jacket back from a time travel. They’ll probably go back to Allie’s lab from S4 and get it back then.

Clarke is going to go a bit “dark” but will be brought back by her love for the Délinquents.

!Darke Clarke will be triggered by Bellamy’s disappearance.

If Sanctum survives, Russell will not die. He will not be murdered by Clarke.

There you go!

[norahastuff]

cloud-dreamer replied to your post “Ghosts, monsters, Lilith, Michael and now purgatory….we’re running...”

I wonder if some of the themes and season 6 are meant to be more subtext �� which would be kind of funny, because F season 6

You know what? This really made me think.

When I mentioned the return to the earlier seasons they’re doing in s15, I didn’t mention that they’re not just returning, they’re subverting things and doing them differently. 

Ghosts, monsters, demons, Djinn (s1-3) - not the terrifying difficult to kill creatures they once were. 

Lilith (s4) - remember how scared Dean was that Sam would give in and fall for her machinations, particularly when she decided to appear to him in a different body and add a sexual component to her manipulations? Cas had to break the rules and disobey heaven to help Dean stop her from succeeding. Well she was supposed to do something very similar to Dean this season. Trick him and seduce him. However this time, there really was no danger of that happening. Also the return of Becky, but unlike the unhealthily obsessed person she was last time, we met someone who had worked on themselves and changed. Not to mention, revisiting Chuck the writer of crappy novels gratuitously featuring Dean’s sex life. He’s a cruel, capricious God.

Adam (s5) - not trusting the Winchesters and Cas when they told him the archangels didn’t care about him, believing heaven when they said he was special and getting trapped in the cage as a punishment. Now he doesn’t think he’s “chosen” or “special.” He’s not looking for heaven or eternal happiness, rather he’s happy to eat burgers (also a callback to 5x18 - it was the last thing he ate before he was taken over by Michael) get a little job and live a quiet life. Or as quiet as life can be when you’re spending it with the most powerful archangel. 

Michael (s5) - Not willingly to believe God was fucking with him and didn’t care, even when Lucifer pleaded with him to see it. He remained the dutiful son till the end. 10 years later, Cas showed him the truth and the scales begun to finally fall from his eyes.

s7 - The introduction of the tablets, the word of God, our first time hearing the name Metatron and learning that he was the scribe of God. All three of those things were mentioned in this episode. S7 was also the first time we ever met a true prophet of the Lord, since it turned out Chuck had just been masquerading as one. 

And now we’ve come to s8 and purgatory. 

It’s not all an exact parallel. There have been moments and mentions outside of the chronological order - which is to be expected, but I’m noticing for the most part, things have been following a order. 

Except for season 6.

We did have the parallel of Belphegor trying to suck up all the souls and become ruler of hell, just like Cas did back in season 6. In 15x03 Belphegor was written as a very obvious Cas parallel, however this time Cas stopped the being that was trying to become powerful and God like - he didn’t let it happen. Also in s6, Dean and Cas had their biggest falling out. Cas didn’t go to Dean, he tried to deal with things alone and didn’t talk to Dean. Dean and Cas have another falling out except this time? Cas does talk to Dean. He’s been trying the whole time. He’s honest with Dean about how he feels and what he needs. 

I actually think the order thing still works out, because of what’s about to come next. How were Dean and Cas’ issues truly resolved after the s6 debacle? When they went to purgatory together. Their fight needed to happen much earlier in the season for their subsequent reconciliation to pay off and be linked to purgatory.

I don’t know, I mean the order they’re going in is interesting but it’s not a rigid formula or anything, I just found it interesting. It’s parallels themselves and the whole “subverting the past thing” that’s been done so perfectly.

[tsaomengde]

Tiny Viewing Guide to Star Trek: The Next Generation

Just found out one of my oldest friends, a huge sci fi guy, has never actually seen TNG, or indeed any Trek. He asked if I wouldn't mind writing a viewing guide. Not all that tiny, but the blurb for each episode is tiny. YMMV.

S1

Encounter at Farpoint - Goofy but iconic, series premiere

The Naked Now - Bad but hilarious and a little important

Code of Honor - terrible racist horseshit

The Last Outpost - first time we meet the Ferengi, they're not impressive

Where No One Has Gone Before - interesting enough

Lonely Among Us - I have no memory of this place

Justice - terrible outfits, Wesley episode

The Battle - Picard episode, not terrible

Hide and Q - Riker-centric Q episode, not the best Q episode, not the worst

Haven - first time we meet Lwaxana, don't remember anything else

The Big Goodbye - first of many holodeck episodes, pretty good

Datalore - important!!!

Angel One - totally forgettable

11001001 - meh

Too Short a Season - weird, generally meh

When the Bough Breaks - Wesley episode, don't remember it much

Home Soil - no clue

Coming of Age - more Wesley (can you tell Gene Roddenberry liked the character?), but not bad

Heart of Glory - first time the Klingons get real character, important

The Arsenal of Freedom - automated weaponry is bad, mmkay

Symbiosis - nope, no idea

Skin of Evil - dark, nasty, generally unpleasant episode, important for character reasons

We'll Always Have Paris - genuinely do not remember this one but wiki says there's time travel and that's always fun

Conspiracy - real mixed feelings about this one, it's tense and interesting TV but not really good Trek and it has huge implications that are never revisited

The Neutral Zone - Romulans are reintroduced, pretty cool

S2

The Child - pretty decent Troi episode

Where Silence Has Lease - interesting space puzzle episode sprinkled with Picard philosophizing

Elementary, Dear Data - first Sherlock!Data holodeck episode, excellent stuff

The Outrageous Okona - weeeaaaak, but kind of funny

Loud As A Whisper - cool deaf character, cringey late-80s implementation

The Schizoid Man - Data episode, good acting, cringey dialogue

Unnatural Selection - Pulaski-centric, and I dislike Pulaski so this is a pass for me

A Matter Of Honor - Riker serves on a Klingon warship, some good stuff

The Measure of A Man - Easily a top 10 Trek episode of all time

The Dauphin - Wesley has a crush, receives terrible romantic advice from entire crew

Contagion - interesting lethal archaeology

The Royale - love this episode, it's terrible and bad science but I love it

Time Squared - weird time-travel stuff, not one of the best

The Icarus Factor - lot of good character stuff, terrible future martial arts

Pen Pals - excellent Data episode, thoughts about the Prime Directive

Q Who - WATCH THIS ONE

Samaritan Snare - bad episode, funny moments

Up The Long Ladder - holy shit the Irish racism

Manhunt - Lwaxana Troi at her best, love it

The Emissary - Amazing Klingon stuff

Peak Performance - good episode, lots of fun character bits

Shades of Gray - TERRIBLE CLIP SHOW AVOID AVOID AVOID

S3

Evolution - Wesley episode, not bad but not great

The Ensigns of Command - Mediocre Data episode

The Survivors - space puzzle episode, OK

Who Watches the Watchers - more prime directive stuff, mildly interesting

The Bonding - interesting stuff about grief

Booby Trap - another space puzzle, high stakes, cool payoff

The Enemy - Pretty good, Romulans

The Price - fun episode

The Vengeance Factor - ehhhhhhhh

The Defector - More Romulan stuff, is good

The Hunted - will 100% make you scream at how terrible security is in the future, not a bad ep though

The High Ground - ugh, just not great

Deja Q - good Q episode

A Matter of Perspective - let's use the holodeck to prove Riker couldn't have committed this crime!

The Offspring - WATCH THIS BUT BRING TISSUES

Sins of the Father - first of many Klingon Politics episodes, I love these with a fiery passion and my wife is bored to tears by them so YMMV

Allegiance - space puzzle, not a great one but not bad

Captain's Holiday - WATCH THIS, IS AMAZING

Tin Man - literally put me to sleep once

Hollow Pursuits - First of many Barclay episodes, my beautiful autistic space boi

The Most Toys - alright, worth one watch

Sarek - SO IMPORTANT WAAAAAAAAAATCH

Menage a Troi - bad episode, worth it for the payoff

Transfigurations - Jason Ironheart called, he knows he came after this episode chronologically but he was better

The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 - YAAAS

S4

The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2- YAAAAAAAAAAAAAS

Family - So important

Brothers - Very Important

Suddenly Human - meh

Remember Me - very interesting space puzzle, one of the Crusher episodes where she gets to be awesome

Legacy - not the most jaw-dropping ep but important

Reunion - KLINGON POLITICS YEEES

Future Imperfect - interesting enough

Final Mission - Wesley episode, not bad

The Loss - v. good Troi episode

Data's Day - fun, wholesome Data times

The Wounded - SO GOOD AND SO IMPORTANT

Devil's Due - I love this episode even if it's not that important or good

Clues - Awesome space puzzle

First Contact - eh? okay? sure?

Galaxy's Child - fine, whatever

Night Terrors - uuuuugh, no

Identity Crisis - this one scared the fuck out of me as a kid and may be responsible for my deep-seated body-transformation-horror triggers, now it's just kind of weird

The nth Degree - BARCLAY, LOVE HIM AND THIS EP

Qpid - YES SO GOOD

The Drumhead - This is Michael Dorn's favorite episode and it is worthy of the title

Half a Life - Lwaxana is great, the episode not as much

The Host - introduction of the Trill, kind of cringey almost 30 years later

The Mind's Eye - brainwashing stuff, meh

In Theory - Data tries to date, hilarities ensue

Redemption Part 1 - GIVE ME THE KLINGON POLITICS

S5

Redemption Part 2 - MOOOOOOOOOORE

Darmok - One of my top 5 episodes in the series

Ensign Ro - so important, introduces the Bajorans and Ensign Ro

Silicon Avatar - important for Data, not a terribly interesting episode otherwise

Disaster - Troi gets to shine! cool episode

The Game - by far the worst Wesley episode. everyone is seduced into acting like a brainwashed idiot by a terrible space future video game. fuck this episode and everyone who wrote it but especially Brannon Braga.

Unification 1 - WATCH

Unification 2- THESE

A Matter of Time - So good, waaatch

New Ground - I am not a fan of Alexander but he is so important to Worf's growth, so... yeah

Hero Worship - more stuff about grief, eh

Violations - I don't remember this one that much but I do not think I enjoyed it

The Masterpiece Society - read the above description

Conundrum - amazing space puzzle episode. easily one of my favorites in the series

Power Play - meh

Ethics - very important, good Trek

The Outcast - THIS EPISODE COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER IF THE LOVE INTEREST WAS MALE. JONATHAN FRAKES PUSHED FOR A MALE ACTOR. watch it anyway

Cause and Effect - fun space puzzle, a little repetitive but totally solid

The First Duty - one of the best Picard Speeches ever, watch

Cost of Living - fun Lwaxana episode

The Perfect Mate - pretty meh but Famke Janssen is fun as Kamala

Imaginary Friend - so bored

I, Borg - INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

The Next Phase - interesting episode about the afterlife

The Inner Light - THIS IS MY FAVORITE EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES AND I CRY EVERY TIME

Time's Arrow 1 - Such good time travel

S6

Time's Arrow 2 - Such great Mark Twain

Realm of Fear - Yay more Barclay!

Man of the People - bad Troi episode

Relics - WAAAAAAAAAATCH

Schisms - space puzzle, kind of lame payoff due to effects limitations but the journey is worth it

True Q - By far the worst fucking Q episode ever written

Rascals - uuuuuuuugh. half the crew is regressed into children. Ferengi are involved. you are missing nothing.

A Fistful of Datas - amazing dumb holodeck episode, watch

The Quality of Life - boring episode, good message

Chain of Command 1 - So dark, so difficult, so totally riveting and important

Chain of Command 2 - See above

Ship in a Bottle - Sequel to Sherlock!Data, amazing

Aquiel - could have been written much better

Face of the Enemy - by far the best Troi episode, Marina Sirtis was incredibly happy when I told her it was one of my favorites

Tapestry - fantastic Q/Picard episode

Birthright 1 - Basically exists to set up DS9 but is pretty good and has important bits

Birthright 2 - See above

Starship Mine - DIE HARD ON THE ENTERPRISE

Lessons - Very important Picard episode

The Chase - amazing space puzzle episode, has one of my favorite one-off Klingon characters

Frame of Mind - is Riker's entire life a delusion he has created to mentally escape his imprisonment in a mental asylum? spoilers: no

Suspicions - Good mystery episode, Crusher gets to do stuff

Rightful Heir - Very important Worf episode, good Klingon stuff

Second Chances - uh, kind of bad, but it gets referenced later in DS9

Timescape - super interesting space puzzle, amazing character bits

Descent 1 - WAAATCH

S7

Descent 2 - as above

Liaisons - okay. not great. not bad.

Interface - OK Geordi episode

Gambit 1 - Amazing stuff

Gambit 2 - More amazing stuff

Phantasms - Psychological horror? in my Data? it's more likely than you think. watch

Dark Page - one of the few Lwaxana episodes I don't love

Attached - great Picard/Crusher episode

Force of Nature - environmentalism! is! good!

Inheritance - important Data episode

Parallels - SUCH A GOOD WORF EPISODE

The Pegasus - very important Riker episode

Homeward - Interesting Worf and Prime Directive episode

Sub Rosa - so cringey and terrible, oh my God

Lower Decks - a fun change of pace from the main cast

Thine Own Self - I don't love it, but it is good character stuff

Masks - weird space puzzle episode, I love it but I wouldn't call it Great

Eye of the Beholder - space mystery, it's not fantastic

Genesis - look. this episode is not good. but it has amazing costumework by Michael Westmore. and has some great Picard/Data stuff. watch it.

Journey's End - super important stuff. sets up a lot of stuff for DS9 and VOY

Firstborn - Good Worf/Alexander episode

Bloodlines - More Ferengi stuff, kind of lame

Emergence - space puzzle, weird but interesting

Preemptive Strike - So so so so important

All Good Things... - it's the series finale. and some of the best Trek ever. obviously you're going to watch.

[drsilverfish]

DrSilverfish Meta Masterpost S8

Hellatus historical meta masterpost housekeeping! 

I was new to Tumblr in S8 and finding my feet (stylistically as much as anything) as well as live-watching SPN for the first time (usually by shitty overseas live-stream) so, a lot of the early stuff is shippy rambling rather than decent meta. 

I was also much more hopeful that the Destiel subtext might be canon fore-shadowing back in “Season Gr8″ (as we dubbed it at the time).  

Some of this is worth reading, particularly I’d say, from about No 21) “Dean, Nazis and the Closet” onwards, i.e. from commentary on 8x13 Everybody Hates Hitler to the end of the season.

It’s really interesting looking back. There was a lot of disappointment in the Destiel fandom here on Tumblr after 8x17 and the crypt scene in Goodbye Stranger, where it felt as if an “I love you” from Dean to Castiel was, somehow, missing.  This was later (to a reasonable fact-checked standard) confirmed to have indeed been a removed line (by Jensen, who didn’t think it was right for Dean):

http://fandomdebunker.tumblr.com/post/64507789422/the-rumor-that-jensen-confirmed-the-i-love-you 

Looking back, I think he was probably right, but it felt disappointing then, at a time when the queer subtext seemed to be lapping at the shores of breaking waves into main-text. 

For Destiel fans, and queer subtext followers, there was, nevertheless, a lot to love about S8: the “purity” of Purgatory and Dean’s search for his angel; Benny’s “thirst” for Dean; Charlie introducing Dean to LARP-ing; Aaron Bass as Dean’s “gay thing”; Naomi forcing Castiel to kill innumerable Dean-clones in Heaven (evidence that Heaven saw Cas’ feelings for Dean as, in particular, transgressive); and another lovely Cas-centric episode from Edlund, The Great Escapist  (8x21), when Cas cleverly hid from the angels by zapping between multiple Biggersons diners, trapping his angelic pursuers in “quantuum superposition” (lol). 

From Dean’s hallucinations of Cas, and his self-memory-wipe of the fact Cas deliberately let go of his hand at the portal exit from Purgatory, to their tender exchange about Cas’ suicidal ideation in 8x08 Hunter Heroici, to the romantic subtext of Metatron’s angel-fall spell ingredients (see meta below) S8 was (despite poor Cas’ torture by Heaven and his deep depression) a season of reconciliation for Dean and Cas, after the previous season’s (S7) upheavals: Cas’ apparent lake-death; the long separation; Dean’s rage and grief; Emmanuel’s mind-wipe; Cas’ “mental break” (Cas taking on Sam’s cage-match scars as atonement); and the whole Leviathan fall-out from the Godstiel arc. 

S8 remains, despite its disappointments, one of my favourite seasons.    

Season 8

1) Is Supernatural “Queer-Baiting” or is it Erotically Homosocial?

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35297767675/is-supernatural-queer-baiting-or-is-it 

2) Mulder and Scully vs Cas and Dean - Love, Narrative, and Being ‘”Out”

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35370673077/mulder-and-scully-vs-cas-and-dean-love

3) What if Sam had a Plan on that Bridge?

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35474455496/what-if-sam-had-a-plan-on-that-bridge

4)  Dean’s Daddy Issues  (8x05 Blood Brother and 8x06 Southern Comfort)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35701230407/deans-daddy-issues 

5)  The Course of True Love Never did Run Smooth  (8x07 A Little Slice of Kevin) 

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35756472429/the-course-of-true-love-never-did-run-smooth 

6) So Castiel is a “God-Forsaken Thing” that Dean “Cares About”? (8x07 A Little Slice of Kevin)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35835317081/so-castiel-is-a-godforsaken-thing-that-dean

7) “I Wasn’t Weak, I Was Stronger than You - I Pulled Away”: Castiel Getting it Wrong (8x07 A Little Slice of Kevin)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/35842147281/i-wasnt-weak-i-was-stronger-than-you-i-pulled

8) More Than a Boner - The Bathroom Scene Revisited (8x07)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36022592701/more-than-a-boner-the-bathroom-scene

9) Why Sam Didn’t Look for Dean: Some Speculation

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36098761529/why-sam-didnt-look-for-dean-some-speculation 

10) Dean/ Cas: A Fine Romance. How Should that Slow On-Screen Build-Up Continue?

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36172853047/dean-cas-a-fine-romance-how-should-that-slow

11) Dean/Cas, a Fine Romance... How Should THAT Kiss Unfold On-Screen?

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36249617858/dean-cas-a-fine-romance-how-should-that-kiss

12) 8x07 A Little Slice of Kevin - Dean’s Forgiveness of Castiel

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36384800654/picture-credit-to 

13) The Textual Threads of Dean Winchester’s Beautiful, Ambivalent, Sexuality

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36540877041/the-textual-threads-of-dean-winchesters 

14) 8x08 Hunter Heroici - What if Dean and Cas were Damon and Elena?

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/36884331511/what-if-dean-and-cas-were-damon-and-elena)

15) Dean and Cas: The Sky is Going to Rain Crimson for Those Two

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/37361902553/dean-and-cas-the-sky-is-going-to-rain-crimson-for

16) In Which S4 Illuminates S8 (Mini-Meta)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/40124370749/in-which-season-4-illuminates-season-8-mini-meta

17) 8x10 Torn and Frayed - The Choice of Sam and Dean  

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/40735606424/the-choice-of-sam-and-dean-spoilers-for-8x10 

18) 8x10 Torn and Frayed - Let’s Take a Moment for Sam

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/40781379927/lets-take-a-moment-for-sam-spoilers-for-8x10 

19) 8x11 LARP and the Real Girl - Charlie’s Relationship With Dean

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/41381955006/charlies-relationship-with-dean-spoilers-for 

20) A Friend for Sam - Musings on Character Development

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/42219949786/a-friend-for-sam-musings-on-character 

21) 8x13 Everybody Hates Hitler - Dean, Nazis and the Closet

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/42574075453/dean-nazis-and-the-closet-further-thoughts-on 

22) 8x13 Everybody Hates Hitler - The Golem as a Parallel Device

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/42745942537/the-golem-as-a-parallel-device-supernatural-8x13 

23) Dean’s Sexuality and Audience Interpretation

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/42790117441/deans-sexuality-and-audience-interpretation

24) The Sexual Politics of Audience Desire  (Supernatural and Fan-Fiction)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/42867211604/the-sexual-politics-of-audience-desire

25) 8x13 Everybody Hates Hitler - More Discussion on Dean, Nazis and the Closet (and some additional discussion on the closet in this episode with @mekbuda and @lookatthefreaking hipsters [now both deactivated])

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/42990052635/destiels-delight-dean-nazis-and-the-closet 

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/48276862638/aaron-bass-schr%C3%B6dingers-gay 

26) Dean as Nurturer: Mini Character Meta

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/43032313116/dean-as-nurturer-mini-character-meta

27)   Pick-Ups and Hook-Ups: Aaron, Ellie, Benny - Dean’s Supernatural Sexy-Times Meta (8x14 Trial and Error)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/43156477155/pick-ups-and-hook-ups-aaron-ellie-benny-deans

28) Commentary on Dean and “Mytharc”

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/43184426552/a-discussion-re-emergent-complexity-laura-prudom 

29) I Touch Myself: Musical Narrative Voice and Polysemy (8x14 Trial and Error)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/43252438290/i-touch-myself-musical-narrative-voice-and

30) “I’m Just Curious as to Which One You Consider Yourself, Mostly?” Dean Thinks it Through with Portia  (8x15 Man’s Best Friend With Benefits)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/43855179447/im-just-curious-as-to-which-one-you-consider 

31) Mytharc vs Heart-Arc: Dean as Medieval Romantic Hero

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/44110505167/mytharc-vs-heart-arc-dean-as-medieval 

and with additional commentary:

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/64143278936/get-the-saltenjoy-the-show-mytharc-vs

32) 8x17 Goodbye Stranger Dialogue Review

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/45888461261/supernatural-8x17-dialogue-review-spoilers 

33) Personal Queer Reflections on Shipping Dean and Cas, post 8x17 

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/45935841020/personal-queer-reflections-on-shipping-dean-and 

34) Bisexuality, Power Inequalities and the Difficulties of Representation - Destiel in 8x17 Goodbye Stranger

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/46012398416/bisexuality-power-inequalities-and-the 

35) “I’d Rather Have You, Cursed or Not”: Subtext, Mon Amour

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/46543190453/id-rather-have-you-cursed-or-not-subtext-mon 

36) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - To Hell and Back - Taxi Driver, Cab Fare and Charon’s Boat  (18x19 Taxi Driver)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/47145558835/swing-low-sweet-chariot-to-hell-and-back-taxi 

37) Four Times Sam Was Challenged on not Searching for Dean

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/47233826179/four-times-sam-was-challenged-on-not-searching-for 

38) Killing Kitsune to Caressing Castiel: Dean’s Journey from his own Side of Monster 

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/48219811386/killing-kitsune-to-caressing-castiel-deans

39) Pac-Man Fever Calls Back Yellow Fever (8x20)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/48827322213/pac-man-fever-calls-back-yellow-fever-overcoming

40) Edlund’s Love Letter to Fan-Fiction in The Great Escapist (8x21) 

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/49413040878/edlunds-love-letter-to-fan-fiction-8x21

41) “Why Do People Always Think We’re Gay?” (8x21)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/49415068274/why-do-people-always-think-were-gay-8x21

42) Sam’s Mistaken Quest for “Purity” (8x21)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/49468662684/flipse-it-doesnt-matter-anymore-because 

43) In Purgatory, The Heart is Purified for Heaven

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/49963611742/in-purgatory-the-heart-is-purified-for-heaven

44) “Of the Blessings Set Before You: Make Your Choice and Be Content” (8x23 Sacrifice)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/50567052832/of-the-blessings-set-before-you-make-your-choice

45) Metatron’s Spell: The Ingredients (8x23)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/50579065447/metatrons-spell-the-ingredients-spn-8x23-the

46) Naomi is a Bitch, Abaddon is a Whore - Can We Not? (8x23)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/50599390401/naomi-is-a-bitch-abbadon-is-a-whore-can-we

47) Queer Angel Love in Metatron’s Spell (A Few Further Thoughts on 8x23)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/50604693898/gay-angel-love-in-metatrons-spell-a-few-further

48) The Bar Scene in 8x23 - Detailed Analysis of LGBTQ “Lib” and “Lol” Moments

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/50661253249/the-bar-scene-in-8x23-spoilers-detailed

49) Supernatural Soap: Does Adding a Gay Writer Matter? (Berens Joins the Show)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/58286938085/supernatural-soap-does-adding-a-gay-writer

50) The Gospel of Mary Winchester Still Needs to Be Written

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/60227577254/image-credit-fanpop-mary-winchester-burned-on 

51) Actual Crypt Scene vs Gag Reel Crypt Scene (8x17): That Which is Disavowed

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/60477660660/weird-little-angel-x-this-is-a-nice 

[twdmusicboxmystery]

2017 Re-Watch: 6x01 - First Time Again

Morning Everyone! Check out my 6x01 Re-watch post from last year HERE for extra thoughts and insights. My S6 posts were short last year bc I was in a hurry to squeeze them all in before S7 began. This year I have more time and, after S7, definitely more insight.

We start at the quarry with Rick and TF doing a dry run of Operation Lead the Walkers Away. Then one of the semi-trucks falls and them realize they must implement the plan right away. I’m side-eyeing the fact that  a semi-truck is a catalyst for the entire thing. We’ve seen something of a motif with trucks like this. Back in S4, Bob lay/hid atop one right before Daryl and Glenn found him. In 5x16, the whole wolf trap/how the harvest gets home thing centered around big trucks like this. And every scene is riddled with Beth symbolism.

Once everything gets into motion, Sasha calls out to Daryl, “we meet at red,” meaning the red balloons, which are the first phase of the operation. 

Perhaps the red balloons mean reunion? Remember in 5b we saw them tied to a model cruise liner, and we do think Beth is coming through Oceanside, which will lead to a reunion. Just a thought.

We have the flashback scene were Tara wakes up and Glenn and Nicholas make it back to Alexandria. I noticed Glenn tells Maggie he was “winged by a ricochet” bullet. We have Beth = Daryl’s Left Wing 

and could the bullet that hit Beth have been a ricochet?

Tara is a major proxy to Beth here. She sustained a head injury back in 5b and was unconscious for a time. This is her waking up. I notice she says, “I’m okay.” It’s a tie to Beth’s final dialogue (X). Before getting shot Beth says, “it’s not okay.” Now Tara, waking up says, “I’m okay.”

This is the beginning of Sashraham (though we didn’t know it until 6x06) and they’re proxies of Bethyl (X). One of the big reasons I thought we’d see Beth in S7 comes from this episode. Sasha’s car is going 70 mph, and the camera really focuses on it. Because they’re proxies for Beth and Daryl (and have about 10 dialogue parallels in this episode to prove it) I assumed it meant Beth would appear in S7. So what’s the 7 about?

It serves as a fulfillment of what is said here and a death omen. When it shows the gauge, Sasha says doing something as big as this is living, and they talk about it throughout 6a. Abraham’s big living moment came when he stood up to Negan, which technically did come in 6x16, but the Negan introduction carried over into 7x01. Sasha’s big living moment came when she sacrificed herself for TF, which happened in 7x16. What they were talking about here was fulfilled, and they’d both died by the end of S7.

We have lots of callbacks in this episode to when Rick and Morgan met in S1. Interesting because we already know we’ll have callbacks to S1 in 8x01 (Rick at the gas station). You could argue the 2-season rule here. Morgan talked about when they met in 6x01. We’ll see even more throwbacks to that in 8x01.

When Heath arrives at Alexandria, we have the numbers issue here. I talked about this when 7x13 aired, because of the 12 melons. (X) 

Here, Heath asks how many are in Eugene’s group and he answers thirteen, then corrects himself to twelve. It’s because Noah has died recently. The thirteen people would be Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, Tara, Sasha, Rosita, Eugene, Noah, Glenn, Maggie and Father Gabriel. I’m assuming he didn’t count Judith because she’s not a contributing member of the group.

Later, when they talk about the quarry, Heath says he’d been there once before and saw twelve people camped there. They’re probably the ones who blocked the exits with the semi-trucks, but they were all dead by the time he arrived. He said he’d never want to revisit the camp that “ate itself.”

We have a repeated instance of the number 12. Because of the melons in 7x13, we’re still seeing it in S7. It’s an important number in Christian numerology, appearing 187 times in the bible.

(We hear it a third time in this episode at the tractor store with Glenn, Heath and Nicholas. Nicholas says, “there’s something like a dozen of them in there,” meaning walkers.)

The whole “camp that ate itself” reminds me of Terminus. Beyond these, I’m not sure what to make of all this. Will definitely watch for it in S8.

Something about Morgan and Michonne’s humorous conversation jumped out at me. Remember Morgan asks if Michonne ate one of his protein bars? 

The thing I totally didn’t connect before is he asks if she ate a peanut butter protein bar. Peanut Butter is a Beth symbol. She ate it at the funeral home in Alone, and Daryl ate it just before escaping the Sanctuary in 7x08.

I remember people saying this thing with Michonne and Morgan was a discontinuity because if you watch Clear in S3, she appears to be eating potato chips. She truly does, but they don’t focus on it, so tptb could totally change it if they wanted to. Minor detail. I don’t even think that’s the important issue here. They specifically brought peanut butter into it, and Morgan is probably the one who found Beth and took her back to Grady (which parallels Daryl’s imprisonment at the Sanctuary). See? It all works together.

Also in talking about the walkers exiting the quarry, they say the exit sends them East. More of the East theme.

Rick and Morgan take Pete’s body outside the walls to bury him. Once there, Rick suggests maybe they don’t bury him and simply leave his body. Morgan says, “That’s not who you are. I know.”

Two things here: Yet another confirmation that Beth should have been buried. TF always buries their loved ones. Even Morgan knows that about Rick.

This could also explain why Morgan has never felt the need to talk about Beth, if indeed he did take her back to Grady. He saw she’d been left behind, and he knows TF wouldn’t do that. He specifically thinks she couldn’t have been part of their group. He says it right here.

Later on the porch, he tells Rick, “that’s you.” He’s talking about Rick sparing Carter’s life. More of the identity theme. I talked about it yesterday. We hear it between Rick and Carl in 4x16 and 5x16. The way Morgan says it here sounded like what Rick says to Daryl in 4x16. Rick says biting Joe’s throat out is what Rick had to do, but it wasn’t him. Rick then says, “No, that was me. You saw what I did to Tyreese…” etc. More of the identity/who he is theme.

We see evidence he’s come out of his brutality arc because of Carter. We actually have a parallel to Coda. Remember when they captured Lecari, Rick almost killed him. Daryl put out his arm and said, “Rick.” Rick stopped, but you could tell if Daryl hadn’t been there, he would have killed Lecari. In this episode, the same thing happens. He has a gun trained on Carter, and Daryl says, “Rick.” Rick shrugs and says, “Naw, I’m good,” and chooses not to shoot him. He’s past his brutality arc in this season and has learned to have a little more hope.

Other small details:

Morgan looks at the quarry through binoculars. (Beth’s Blindness post) At the tractor store, where Glenn, Heath and Nicholas kill walkers, there’s a prominent green tractor, which looks exactly like the one Maggie used to run over the Gremlin/Music Box in 7x05.

Also in this scene at the tractor store, something really interesting happens. (vid) They shoot the glass and all the walkers come at them. They successfully kill them all. Then, after all the rest are dead, they look over and a blond walker stands up. Glenn tells Nicholas to “get it” and he does. Here’s what’s interesting. I watched this sequence many times looking for details. We don’t see this blond walker come out of the shop. Other female, blond-ish walkers come out and are shot, but not this one. 

This walker appears as if from nowhere. It’s possible we simply didn’t see her come out. The camera didn’t show us. The point is, Glenn/Heath/Nicholas didn’t either. She appears as if from nowhere, which is suspicious to me. Plus, but she didn’t come staggering out of the building after the other walkers, as Sophia did out of the barn. She’s already on the ground and rises to her feet. She “rises up.” Like resurrection? And she’s very blond and very Beth-ish.

Then there’s this: 

I’ve always suspected it’s symbolic. In terms of numbers, something occurred to me. They say one, and show Rick with the flare. Two, and show Daryl and Sashraham, and three, and show the blond walker leading the horde. While it’s hard to pin down what events link to each of those beats, I always figured “three” and the blond walker would be Beth reappearing.

This is 6x01. If we begin here and count to three, we land on S8. 1=S6, 2=S7, 3=S8. Also, the sequence itself seems to indicate that Sashraham needs to happen (and perhaps end) before the blond walker appears. As of 7x16, that’s definitely the case.

This is the beginning of Morgan and Carol’s entanglement arcs, which I’m still really enjoying. I think their interactions are very interesting and compelling. It’s no accident that Morgan goes looking for her in 6x16 and they both end up at the Kingdom.

Let’s talk 8s. I’m going to try and do a post this weekend where I point out all the 8s I’ve found in re-watches. IF I can get it finished in time. Wish me luck. ;D

During S7, I did THIS POST about Eugene’s 8-Ball reference, which comes from this episode. As you can see, I thought it pertained to Beth. We’d seen lots of 8s around Beth and this suggests she’s the end game, which is perfectly in line with all of TD’s theories, especially where Negan is concerned. Back then, I didn’t think it showed her return in S8. Now I do.

And check this out. @wdway pointed this out to me. When we first see this map of the area and they’re planning where they’re going to turn the walker horde, there are tons of little 800s on the map. 

They aren’t on roads or major thoroughfares. They seem to be out in the woods. I’m not a map expert so I asked my dad what he thought of them. He said the only thing he could think of is maybe it was part of the scale. Each little square encompasses 800 feet or something. He said there should be a key somewhere on the map explaining. Maybe there is and we don’t see it. Or maybe the 800s don’t mean anything for the map and are a symbolic number put there by the writers.

We see 800s here, there’s Eugene’s 8-Ball reference, and then we also see the Alexandria sign in a big way at the end of this episodes, which says the mansions start in the $800,000 range. Yeah, I think they’re trying to tell us something, don’t you?

Carter, questioning whether the plan would work, says the line of cars won’t hold. He says, “They’re just gonna be bouncing off some sedans?” The sedan part caught my attention because of the Lecari’s car thing we figured out recently. His car, which we saw focused on a TON in and around Coda, and which they probably left Beth in, was a sedan.

Other random details I noticed:

When Eugene accidentally listens in on Carter’s insurrection plans, he’s holding a box of “water crackers.” Another water/ocean reference.

Carter is dressed almost entirely in red flannel, which means he was always marked for death. Notice how no one else running around in the woods is wearing red.

Sasha, Abraham and Daryl are supposed to lead the walkers for 20 more miles after they hit the green station. When this aired, we tried hard to make this about Beth. Most of us hoped it meant she’d show up 2 episodes later. Or 20 episodes later. Yeah nada.

If we look at this in terms of seasons, and 20 miles = 2 seasons later, it still adds up to S8.

Finally, there’s the horn. Again, when this aired I saw theories about the horn that is supposed to precede Christ’s second coming. They thought maybe this horn would symbolically usher Beth back into the story.

That didn’t happen, but I’m not sure the theory was wrong. It could have always been a foreshadow of what would eventually happen. And it came from the wolves arriving at Alexandria, which I think could very well happen again when Beth arrives. We’ll have to wait and see.  

Relevant Posts:

6x01: First Thoughts 10/12/2015

6x01: Structure of the Flashbacks 10/12/2015

6x01: Biggest Foreshadow I Saw of Beth (Balloons) 10/13/2015

6x01: Recap 10/13/2015

Changes in S6 Credits 10/13/2015

6x01: Possible Biblical Symbolism 10/14/2015

6x01: Parallels to 5x01, 4x01 10/15/2015

6x01: Random Symbolisms 10/15/2015

6x01: Red Car Parallels 10/16/2015

6x01: Controlling Walkers 10/17/2015

[trisscar368]

@wildtendermythologia

replied to your post“shhhh relax. Ruthie as far as I know, Ruthie is not listed in the last...”

yeah but they wouldn´t kill her offscreen, would they? nooooo. everything will be alright.

 welll... except for...  

ummm        

Well Dean IS crying         

And Cas is fighting Lucifer        

My bet is on Cas "dying"   

sorry                

The question of the hour is, “how much do we trust Andrew Dabb” and the rest of the “good” writers for spn?

Because right now, after 12x21, fandom faith is kinda low... and so is mine, Dabb himself hasn’t let me down so far this season but it’s hard to come off of a hit like last night’s ep and say “I have perfect faith in the finale.”  That episode had to go through the higher-ups, from concept to script down to each editing pass.  And the finale is... the finale; it’s intended to hurt.

I can’t 100% say I don’t think that the people who thought it was okay to kill Eileen in the cold open would flinch from killing Rowena offscreen.  Or at least implying it, not when we’re revisiting the S7 theme of “let’s take everything and everyone the Winchester’s love away from them.”  When I’ve had a few days to recover from 12x21 I’ll probably be more optimistic, because it is totally out of character for the “good” writers to pull a stunt like that.  Theoretically everyone else on the writing team knows how not to do a character death.  But right now, I’m just... they could do it.  There’s a non-zero chance.

(Literally the only other character who has hair that shade of red that curls like that is Abaddon and >.> the odds of her returning?)

As for Cas...

I did a post months ago looking at who might be taking the hit in the finale.  According to the patterns, Sam should be taking the largest blow, but that isn’t what’s been set up at all; if anything, Sam’s been emotionally distant the whole season (which is giving me Lucifer/Cage/fricking Toni PTSD feels something terribly).  I’m still incredibly worried about his emotional state, especially given Jared apparently gave a performance that made one of the editors cry; but plotwise, Sam has been set up as the competent monster killer, and the few moments we’ve had with him have been reconciling all the versions of Sam: demon blood, soulless, child without a parent, younger brother, competent hunter, adorable dork who wanted something outside of the life and was learning sign language because of someone he liked...

Sorry I got feels in my eye there.

He’s not been set up narratively to volunteer for any sacrifices.  We haven’t had any threads of “Lucifer being free is my personal responsibility” since 12x07; he hasn’t been carrying any of the blame or guilt he had in s6, or s8; and we also haven’t set up the “I’ll do anything to save my brother” arc that s10 had.  Where family is concerned, everyone is in the same damn boat of “we’re trying to be family but we don’t know how.”  But we haven’t every really gone back to the “I don’t know what I’d do without you” thread.

As for Dean and Cas... Dean crying could be anything.  I honestly can’t spec that, I’ve been sitting here for quite a while trying to go “well our finales are normally x pacing/emotionally” and yep nope, I can’t spec that; the finales only broadly fit into any pattern or categorization.  We’ve ended with Dean alone and Sam in tears and Cas crying... it doesn’t feel like something from 12x23 though.

Roundabout back to Cas and the reason I rabbit trailed into Sam finale predictions and the pattern post; Cas is in a weird place this season.  Narratively, he’s been at the emotional core of a lot of episodes, in ways I almost want to parallel to s8; but honestly even more so.  He’s been set up both emotionally and plot-wise to sacrifice himself and/or take a physical/emotional pounding.  That’s... Cas has sacrificed himself before (s4/5/7 finales), but it’s always been along side either Dean or Sam.

Sam isn’t exactly set up to sacrifice along side Cas.  Dean is... we’ve been revisiting so much of Dean’s identity: killer vs hunter, hunter vs child, brother vs parent.  But it hasn’t been a “who am I” storyline, it’s been cementing who he already is.  This is the first season, after all, since s7 where Dean hasn’t been under the influence of the Mark and the Darkness in some form or fashion (granted that s11 was a lot lighter than 8-10).  I can see plenty of threads for another reverse-crypt scene to happen between Dean and Cas (that is the largest chunk of Dean’s emotional arc this season, I have a suspicion that Dean and Mary’s arc will either be tied up before the final fight or left completely unsolved this season), but I can’t see Dean dying again.  We broke that pattern last finale.

I... I don’t know, I can’t see SPN doing what they did at the end of s6 again, and killing Cas off for emotional impact on the Winchesters; a) they’ve done that before, b) we don’t have the framework for the show to carry a long period of Dean and Sam mourning again, c) they’ve been teasing at it all season specifically in ways that have subverted the pattern.

I don’t doubt that Cas is going to take a beating; he may even end up as the person in position for the final “sacrifice”.  But I don’t think he’s going to “die.”  I don’t think the show can go there this season.