#anyway EXTREMELY underrated episode

[dongslinger--420]

The parallels between Rutabaga and Princess Carolyn and how they both see lives in terms of film narratives is SO interesting and this really comes to a head in Old Acquaintance when Rutabaga echos his infamous "movie star speech" at the beginning of the episode by calling himself and Vanessa the "good guys" and, as we know him to be a self righteous twat, we assume that this is supposed to be ironic. But then at the end of the episode, we see that he and Vanessa actually did everything right: they gave one of their clients an opportunity and were genuinely concerned when PC tried to change the offer, they let Rachel Bloom (don't remember the name) know the truth about her relationship with PC, and at the end of the episode, Rutabaga is genuinely there for his kids. By contrast, BoJack and Princess Carolyn, the people who we recognise as the protagonists, spend the episode lying and cheating people out of deals, and everything crumbles for both of them at the end. Rutabaga saying "you gotta love a happy ending" is not only ironic to us, as the audience, but from his perspective, it's true. He is the good guy, and he does get the happy ending. And honestly, despite all his slimy and emotionally manipulative behaviour, this episode recontextualises the movie star speech, both because we realise that Rutabaga genuinely does believe that the good guys always win, and because it reiterates that this is a show with no good guys, no one is innocent, and no one will just get what they believe themselves to deserve.

[nenoname]

It's still interesting that TBoB called more attention to Stan's control over his mindscape (And if you go with the interpretation that the lost pages are partial truths that are heavily influenced by Bill, then he's the one insisting that only someone with training should be able to have that much control over the mind.)

Meanwhile we have a memory!Stan. Someone who apparently knows too much and is rather aware for being a simple memory.

From the Wheel of Shame, we know Bill was able dig up all kinds of dirt on Stan but... that wasn't why he was there in the first place, was it?

Bill couldn't find the code immediately despite a memory of Stan opening the safe being a few hours old at most and decided to have Mabel try find it for him (The original concept of the ep had it far more hidden but this was likely cut because of time constraints)

Ford did experiments on Stan's mind which likely meant using Project Mentem and actually looking around his mindscape, and his only reaction was to comment on his jokes-- despite what little we the audience know being enough to render us sobbing wrecks

(yes I refuse to shut up about this part cos the book's intro is extremely underrated)

Stan was able to replace his memories of Ford with the swingset instead and managed to hide Ford in his Bar Mitzvah memory. And that's not even mentioning the lack of visible Portal and Stan o' War which noticeably show up in Ford's dreamscape (the broken swingset manifesting anyway pains me tho)

He subconsciously has misdirects for his secrets that are both silly and manages to disturb everyone too

And while Bill-as-Soos being bored by the vending machine memory is a joke that's basically the crew's way of going "hey remember the thing way back in the first ep that's going to show up in the next one?" and in-universe appears to be Stan slipping up, it's interesting that they had Stan input the wrong code when it's consistent literally every other time its inputted (especially when it shows up correctly in the very next episode)

It's even possible that the safe code that Bill found could have been a misdirect too but we'll never know since the safe got blown open by dynamite.

Stan was able to buy time by making his mind blank despite being genuinely terrified when Bill enters his mind (to the point that he breaks character and uses his own voice to yell), and could conjure up his living room (in colour opposed to his mind's regular greyscale) to make sure Bill didn't have enough room to flee, slamming the door in his face before the effects of the memory gun kicked in.

(EDIT: Random door analysis here)

And maybe the twins eventually told him that Bill had already been inside his mind after their W3 reunion, but all we know was that his conscious self was left in the dark for ages and wasn't really aware of Bill until Weirdmageddon.

TBoB showing McGucket's dreamscape also brings up the idea of the effects of the memory gun manifesting differently to each person. To Stan's mindscape, the memory wipe manifests as blue flames which immediately brings to mind Bill's powers but it's a far lighter shade (maybe to more closely match the memory gun and its eventual fade to white?)

The end of TBoB and the website poem also firmly reminds us about Stan's connection to fire but there's also the question if Stan himself is actually aware of it...

[actual-changeling]

There has been a lot of talk about Aziraphale`s smile in the s2ep6 ending (he is planning something, he is going to rebel heaven etc...) That is not a happy, genuine smile. What do you think of it?

Ah, yes. The infamous elevator smile. This will get rather long, so congrats to you anon for getting me to write GO meta.

A (temporary) welcome back to Alex's meta corner version 2: expression interpretation. Buckle up, people, because we're going to be looking at Aziraphale's face for way too long.

A disclaimer:

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If you want to have a discussion based on mutual respect while being fine to agree to disagree, then you may do so, I enjoy meta discussions as long as they're free of harassment.

Let's get to it.

People interpret his expression as him being confident or having some kind of plan, but those people are nitpicking frames and ignoring everything they don't want to see.

That smile appears right at the end after his face went through a series of different expressions, so let's have a look at what ACTUALLY happens.

These are in chronological order from left to right:

There is a LOT happening in each of them, and they show us something we have seen before—Aziraphale's reaction to not getting everything exactly the way he wanted it.

The first row goes from a more or less neutral, slightly upset expression to one of extreme petulance. He's tetchy because Crowley told him where to shove it for once (and rightfully so, Crowley does not deserve to be treated that way) and throws his second temper tantrum of the day.

Pay attention to the fourth one in particular, we have seen this exact facial expression before.

The one on the left is at the end of their argument about Gabriel in the bookshop, right before Crowley leaves.

This is not someone who possesses even an ounce of emotional maturity, it's someone who is used to getting exactly what he wants at the expense of others and was just told "No" for the first time.

It only gets even better from here (someone save me I need to bleach my eyeballs after this). The last image from the second row provides us with another great opportunity for comparison.

Let's call this one annoyed indignation.

We have moved on from him being purely petulant to begrudging acceptance that he was told "No" and cannot change it. After fucking with the Bentley against Crowley's will (and coercing him into giving it to him in the first place), he is now being told to change it back.

There are very few boundaries that Aziraphale hasn't trampled over in the last six thousand years, and the Bentley is one that Crowley will not and SHOULD NOT budge on. So he tells him no, change it back.

Aziraphale is being the cranky toddler who got told to stop throwing toys at the other kids but wants to keep doing it anyway—that's what this expression is giving us.

We have reached row 3, and I have two more key expressions I want to talk about.

Firstly, the first picture in that row.

As you might have guessed, we have seen Aziraphale wearing an incredibly similar expression before, and I chose what is (in my opinion) an underrated and very character-defining moment.

We are going all the way back to the first episode of season 1 and their conversation on the bench in St. James's Park.

To refresh your memory, Crowley is currently trying to convince Aziraphale that humanity is worth saving by listing everything Aziraphale himself would lose because he couldn't care less about humanity or earth. He cares about himself and himself only.

Aziraphale tells Crowley that, of course, heaven will win, all demons will be tortured for eternity, and it will "all going to be rather lovely". A direct quote from the script book and the episode, by the way.

Why does this matter? Because, dear reader(s), just a few minutes prior to him stepping into the elevator, he expressed that exact sentiment again. His opinions has remained unchanged since even before Eden, and his final argument with Crowley did not change it either.

Hell is bad = hell will lose, heaven is good = heaven will win. And heaven winning will be amazing and great for everyone excluding those that will be tortured forever and ever. Crowley being one of those people is a fact Aziraphale intentionally refuses to acknowledge because doing so would mean having to think about what he's saying to Crowley—and he's not done that ever.

The expression Aziraphale wears in both scenes is condescending arrogance. He not only thinks himself to be better than everyone else, he thinks that, as an angel, he is incapable of doing wrong. That is what he is telling himself in the elevator—you made the right choice, you're an angel, you cannot do wrong, you're on the side of good.

He is egocentric and selfish, and that brings us to the last image of row 3 aka his "smile" in the elevator. This, too, is a smile we have encountered before. Just a few minutes earlier, actually.

This, dear reader(s), is the epitome of Aziraphale's superiority complex and disregard for everyone else.

Before you start typing up your furious response that will be 50% insults and 50% wishful thinking, hear me out.

I have talked about that "I forgive you" before, you can find it floating around my meta tag (and if you ask me very nicely I might even go find it for you), but allow me to summarize my conclusions.

Throughout the final fifteen (F15), Aziraphale is not entirely aware just how badly his words are harming Crowley. The complete lack of self-reflection and incapability of considering anyone else's world view does that to someone, but at least it's largely accidental.

I would be willing to cut Aziraphale a lot of slack for a number of different reasons that I don't want to get into right now. Emphasis on "would" because then he goes and screws up.

For the first time, Aziraphale is being openly and intentionally cruel with the sole purpose of hurting Crowley.

His face goes through a number of similar expressions, which can you observe here:

Cruel smile followed by cruel words.

It doesn't matter what he might have meant or what exactly that phrase symbolizes for either of them, because it's clear that

a) they are both familiar with it

b) Aziraphale has used it before

c) it is always harmful towards Crowley

d) it comes with the expectation that Crowley apologizes and takes the blame for everything that went down.

Aziraphale has not once apologized to Crowley for anything in his entire existence.

That smile in the elevator is Aziraphale convincing himself of and/or solidifying existing beliefs, namely that Crowley is in the wrong, Aziraphale is correct and doing the right thing, and that he is still superior to Crowley. It's him convincing himself that hurting Crowley in the way he did was either unavoidable (it wasn't) or justified (it wasn't). It's an open display of arrogant cruelty and undeserved self-confidence.

Aziraphale does not have a plan. This is not a happy smile nor is it related to any future happenings or actions.

This smile is entirely related to the F15 and his argument with Crowley. An argument which mirrors the first one they have over Gabriel, which, shocker, ends with Aziraphale denying any responsibility or wrong-doing and forcing Crowley to apologize and humiliate himself for something that was not his fault. Aziraphale fucked up, not him, but Aziraphale will never voluntarily acknowledge or accept that.

If they meet again before Aziraphale gets a kick up the arse and some character development, he will demand an apology from Crowley, and I am 100% convinced of that. Quote me on that in a few years if you like, but unless he figures his shit out first, he'll blame Crowley for anything and everything he desires.

So, to summarize, what do I think of the elevator smile?

Aziraphale is, for all intents and purposes, throwing a temper tantrum. I think it's an amalgamation of Aziraphale's current emotional and mental status and the lack of character development. First fight, last fight, both end the same way, both end with Aziraphale learning absolutely nothing.

He's not planning, he's not thinking.

He is telling himself that he is right and everyone else is wrong, and that he alone can change heaven for the better. THAT is the Aziraphale we will come back to in the beginning of season 3, and Michael Sheen did a damn good job of showing us all of that in one credits scene.

[muchcelebrated]

An underrated Jack moment that I haven't seen discussed at all is the ep with Red's c-section. He's entirely confident in his ability to do it, but the second Red refuses his care he's thinking up the best possible alternative to save her life while respecting her wishes (and of course the solution is Belle). I can imagine someone like Sneed or the Prof insisting they do the surgery anyway "in her best interests" despite her wishes. Jack's unfailingly professional about it all though.

I’m sorry I’m so late to responding to this. Mideterms have been midterming haha 😅

But YES! You get it! I’ve said it before but there’s something so appealing about Jack’s character in that he has that snark and confidence and a little bit of arrogance that’s typical of the quick witted genius prodigy character types. But he’s still likable and not annoying because although he’s an asshole to people like Sneed or Gaines he’s respectful to people who are genuinely good or more disadvantaged than him.

I can’t quite explain exactly what it is other than vibes but he’s one of those “I’m better and smarter and more skilled than you” characters but in a different font because he does very much still have insecurities and morals. His wit and mind still aren’t quite enough to outweigh his station in society so he can’t just do whatever he wants. And like you mentioned with this episode he has extremely strong professionalism that he won’t compromise as a doctor he doesn’t put his arrogance above his patients like I feel we so often see with these types of characters.

I could talk about the storytelling genius of this show for hours lol but the point is yes you’re right that scene is so underrated!

[utilitycaster]

you got me. i binged all of midst in two days and it was great, but now i dont have a lot of other podcasts to listen to. do you have other good fiction podcasts you like?

DO I. I am not the Most Podcast Person I know but I definitely follow a lot because I drive a lot and walk a lot and put them on in the background while I do chores. Also, I'm sticking to scripted/plotted fiction here and not actual play but I can provide some actual play podcast recs too, though none are terribly obscure.

Wolf 359 is a completed podcast but a great binge. It also is science fiction and deals with capitalism and corruption and complicated characters and weird space stuff; it regularly makes the "great fiction podcasts" to check out and I think is closest to Midst in that it's also a tightly plotted work that goes to a natural end point.

I frequently talk about and recommend the Silt Verses and the thematic nature is remarkably close to Midst, but the vibe is very different. It has a lot of folk and body horror elements (audio-only, but they are absolutely present). Also covers the "man what if capitalism and religion were working explicitly in tandem" element of Midst with the added dimension of "what if there were many many gods and and they all demanded literal, physical sacrifices". Sister Carpenter is cut from a similar cloth as Lark and I love her dearly. To draw other comparisons would be to spoil it. It's on season 3, which will be its last. It is extremely intense in that when I fell behind I found it tough to binge without taking breaks, but it's really fucking good. (I also recommend this to people who like Candela Obscura, though that's more for eldritch horror vibes).

The Penumbra Podcast is great because it has two separate storylines (it was originally intended to be an anthology, but people fell in love with Juno Steel specifically). I like both, but Juno Steel is the more popular one - it's set in the future, in our solar system but in space, and follows Juno Steel, a private eye. It's extremely weird neo-noir. There is a homme fatale and a fantastic cast of characters, and it's also an interesting ongoing plot. The Second Citadel is more fantasy rather than sf though it's also kind of in that general New Weird bucket and is even harder to describe but I think it's underrated. It's also on its final season but it's been going on a while so it will take a bit for you to catch up.

Within the Wires is also a podcast I've recommended in the past. It's by the people who do Welcome to Nightvale which isn't listed here both because I assume you are aware of it, and because that's an ongoing slice of life sort of thing; there are plots but there's sort of that sitcom-esque "nothing really changes the status quo" element though the earlier era had some more structured stuff. Anyway, Within the Wires is found audio, so each season is different - the first is relaxation cassette tapes, the second museum audio guides, the third voice memos, etc. There are callbacks/connections between seasons at times, and I would recommend listening to at least the first two seasons in full (which are very strong) to get a sense of the world before hopping around later. The reason I recommend it here is because the worldbuilding is spectacularly done in a way that reminds me of the elegance of the worldbuilding in Midst, and because it's found audio, while it's one narrator per season you will get those weird asides and interesting tonal choices.

Tentative rec for Camlann, a roughly modern day post-apocalyptic take on Arthurian legends and the folklore of the British Isles only because it just started and has 3 episodes. I like it, but I don't know what plot it's building to (nor how long it will be; they have funding for one season but aren't sure about future ones.)

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 18: Rotterdam

This is one of those episodes that I don't listen to much, and now that I have I'm really not sure why because it's so, so funny.

For a bunch of the other write-ups I've done, I've generally sidelined the humor- in a "well obviously this is funny, let's talk about some other thing about it instead" kind of way. And I'm going to talk about other kinds of things related to this episode, but I do want to start with how hilarious it is because it's basically perfect from that perspective. All four of the main cast are at the top of their game, and if anything having Martin and Douglas be confronted by their potential replacements only accentuates even more what makes them awesome, and their actors so good at playing them as extremely distinctive characters. All of the jokes about movie-making and airplane safety demos are super funny, and for an episode with a relatively straightforward and uncomplicated plot, the humor and the set pieces need to be top notch and thankfully they are.

This is also the kind of episode that relies on the visual humor that comes from making audio comedy- everything relies on us imagining what the characters are describing/inferring, which a) makes the writing and performing of the dialogue so important and b) allows us that moment of putting pieces together that makes things just a little bit funnier. The comparative descriptions of Carolyn and Douglas in the life jackets, and which fruit they can be compared to, are hilarious not only because it shows us Douglas being punished for making fun of Carolyn when she did the video, but because by doing it via audio they force us to imagine Douglas as looking far worse than Carolyn, which would be potentially doable but a lot less foolproof in a visual scene.

And speaking of Douglas... I always get some schadenfreude from seeing Douglas suffer, if only because he doesn't seem to very much. But I wonder if I'd have the same feeling about it if I'd listened in broadcast order rather than alphabetical, because in broadcast order Rotterdam came right after Ottery St Mary, another Douglas-suffers episode. As it is now, I feel like he's getting a bit more of what's coming to him but in a relatively balanced way (he did, after all, just flatten Martin in Qik and Paris)- I'm curious about people's impressions of these two episodes sequentially.

(It makes me wonder about some other plotlines this season, as well; listening to this right after Qik made Martin's grasping for whatever dignity he can get out of his rank feel a bit more urgent, and even though he didn't get any at the end, his general emotional victory this episode is very satisfying as a bit of a post-Qik followup, and a nice foreshadower that Martin's fortunes will start to turn next season. In the broadcasted season, the episodes are very far apart. And I also think that this episode being so long after Ottery St Mary, with that episode being right after Newcastle all the way at the beginning of the season, made Herc and his role here feel a bit more lived-in than I'd imagine it would feel to have Newcastle, Ottery St Mary, and Rotterdam right in a row. But I'm curious about people's opinions!)

The other thing that occurred to me in the context of previous episodes this season is- I'm kind of sad that JF got rid of the cold opens. Those were always really fun in S1-2. Ah well.

Anyway, a really great episode that I've apparently been SIGNIFICANTLY underrating... that is definitely heading right back into my usual rotation! Tomorrow, of course, an episode that is impossible to underrate, my favorite one of all...

[vampiritea]

I'm rewatching Leverage right now so some random questions for you:

What's your favorite season of Leverage?

What's your favorite episode that's not on said season?

What's your favorite character that's not in more than two episodes?

What's your favorite character/person that one of them has pretended to be?

Who's someone who was on Leverage that hasn't been on Leverage Redemption that you would like to see again?

idk how I became a leverage blog when I only consider myself a casual fan lol

So anyway I've enlisted my sister @werewolfsmile to also answer these questions. You get double answers!! 🥳

v = vampiritea w = werewolfsmile

What's your favorite season of Leverage?

v: bestie I don't even remember where each season begins and ends, how am I supposed to answer this? w: 3 - for all the Eliot angst (honestly 3,4,5 are the best but. 3) v: I'm gonna go with s5

What's your favorite episode that's not on said season?

v: um, idk, the Gone Fishin' Job? w: the Rundown Job s5. ot3 feels to the extreme!

Who's your favorite character that's not in more than two episodes?

v: the Sheriff deputy in the Bank Shot Job. my man is underrated 😌 w: -prolonged deep thought- it would have to be Quinn and Mikel

Who's your favorite character/person that one of them has pretended to be?

v: I actually have an answer for this!!!!! oh but it's not in Leverage, it's in Redemption. I love when Harry pretends to be Eliot in The Walk in the Woods Job (ty w for the episode title) w: I think I have to go with Roy Chappell. Just so fun to see Eliot get sucked into baseball.

Who's someone who was on Leverage that hasn't been on Leverage Redemption that you would like to see again?

v: um. I do not know. w: Quinn, Mikel, Tara, Shelley, Sterling (v: if I let her continue I think she'll end up listing every side character so we're stopping here.) v: Tara could be fun to bring back

Hope you enjoy your rewatch!! ✨

[deathsbestgirl]

okay it’s time i talk about LAZARUS. i just think this is a very underrated episode. cuz where fire showcases the differences between scully & phoebe green, lazarus does the opposite and broadcasts mulder’s & jack willis’s similarities — painting mulder as scully’s ~type~ and it makes me want to scream. it is SO aggressive. and while i think cc didn’t want the romance to overtake the show (he knew very well their relationship & chemistry were extremely important) the fact this episode made it through him & aired is no accident. (also team cc was in love with dd & ga and was just as into mulder & scully as any of us. but he’s stubborn & was too steadfast in not sexualizing ga/scully [mostly] or their relationship but i digress.)

the first scene actually kills me. her conversation with willis sounds so much like one she would have with mulder, and i’m not good at identifying straight flirting whatsoever (mulder & scully do NOT fall into that category lol)

i can feel them; i’m inside their heads.

just as long as you keep yours.

message received, agent scully. loud and clear.

THE WAY SHE LOOKS AT HIM. the way he says this is FLIRTING. and as serious as he can be about it. more him than her but i love it because it’s not about taking it anywhere. it’s the flirting of two people who used to date & know each other & still have a good friendship. like idk, it’s just so sweet. (and like the foreshadowing — as in obviously the whole case but later when mulder is listening to his tapes?? he already didn’t ~have~ his head. AND this is another reason i love this case, because at the end of the day, the viewer gets to decide what the “truth” was. because i think everything lines up for willis being in so deep & the trauma causing his erratic behavior OR it very well could have been dupre as mulder believes.)

what i love about scully is she dated this man, she cares for him, they have maintained some kind of friendship & professional relationship — and it doesn’t seem like she holds anything against him. like she genuinely still likes & cares for him and i love seeing “failed” relationships where there’s no animosity between them. they just. didn’t work out romantically and they accept each other as they are and ??? this actually is a little gay. but anyway. what i really wanted to say was how scully’s sincerity & genuine caring always blow me away. i love her.

SO when dupre shoots willis — scully shoots the man THREE TIMES. and the look on her face. she is absolutely enraged. it wasn’t merely professional. that was personal. (and it pales in comparison to what scully does for mulder but a little taste, showing it’s something consistent with the men in her life.)

[side note — i’ve watched this a million times and every time i was confused by dupre’s real face lmao every time i was like “who tf is this guy”]

[scully’s type: older, some authority over her, extremely intelligent, passionate, driven. who she greatly respects & typically respects her. workaholics. good hearts, tender souls. the three men we actually see fit this in their own ways but literallyyyyy jack & mulder are so similar it’s A Lot.]

i love that anytime scully walks into a medical setting, she acts like she owns the place and she does whatever she has to to override the actual doctors in charge. incredible.

i’m a doctor. go up to 400 or i’ll do it myself.

and i extra love this one because obviously she was assisting on this case to help her friend, but not working with mulder is already extremely wrong at this point (after squeeze) that she immediately brings mulder in as soon as she has a good excuse. incredible.

i love every exchange with mulder & scully in this episode because the way the butt heads over theories is just. THEM. and i’m sorry but scully’s make perfect sense & they fit and this coming on the heels of beyond the sea and “i’m afraid to believe” is really special. she’s most afraid to believe (i think?) when it’s close & personal. for her or for mulder. and we get to see the fear up close & personal this time around, and yeah, hidden behind some skepticism but i think this is the first time it’s obvious that it’s fear.

two men died in that crash room, scully. one man came back. the question is…which one?

sometimes it seems like mulder is being an ass, so obsessed with the paranormal & lacking empathy. but really, he only focuses on the paranormal & pushes his theories when he really thinks he’s right (which is a lot of the time, but he is willing to concede [thanks to sculy] when the evidence truly doesn’t line up). and it works because they both compartmentalize and scully needs that on a case like this.

[also, it seems unnatural for scully to call him willis. jack rolls off her tongue so intimately and it feels similar to mulder & scully using their last names. an intimacy for them, and a very private, special intimacy when they use each other’s first name. they don’t typically let anyone hear them say it. do you know what i mean? the way they make names so personal & intimate on this show is kinda wild to me. especially interesting in season two when mulder meets her family.]

the humor when they go see dr. varnes is top tier. he tells the story about the pilot (a truly horrible thing) and mulder just says “that’s a nice story” lmaoooo

(i also always want to know if the science is accurate. scully talking about near death experiences? what varnes says about the burst of energy? i know absolutely nothing about any science but god i wish that was a special interest of mine sometimes lol)

and my favoriteeeee part. scully telling mulder about willis.

…jack’s personality.

how well do you know him?

we dated for almost a year. he was my instructor at the academy.

the plot thickens.

[scully takes a second to decide on how to proceed — it’s so cute] we even had the same birthday. we used to celebrate in some dive in stafford that had a slanted pool table. but it was always so hard for jack to relax. it was impossible for him, really. he was always so intense, so relentlessly determined.

do you believe he’s predisposed to this type of psychotic episode?

i believe it’s a long way from saying jack had a near-death experience to saying his body’s been inhabited by warren dupre…a long way

like. we see mulder open up about his personal life, and they typically answer each other’s personal questions. but this conversation exposed so much. who is scully describing — jack or mulder? it’s just so good. also!! mulder’s little smile as she talks.

[willis showing up at lula’s brother’s place — jack would know about him]

when willis actually shows up at the scene as the investigative team is there — scully doesn’t seem surprised by jack’s behavior [her frustrated ~jack~ as he’s ranting about the case] and he listens to her about the medical evaluations. like yeah, dupre could have been a decent actor & good at reading the room but that moment looked a lot like the jack we saw in the first scene.

mulder playing his tricks, trying to get evidence for scully. and learning her birthday if he didn’t already know it. two birds, one stone. very mulder lol (see also: stakeout dates, weekend case dates, dinner & going over casefiles)

and their fingerprint evidence is gone…obviously jack had it. (tbh this whole thing reminds me of episodes in other cop shows where the investigator gets in too deep & “becomes” the perpetrator. happens later on the x files too, grotesque?) mulder is exasperated. because he’s trying so hard to speak her language — science & evidence. (but it isn’t anger or resentment!!!!!!)

and what’s so special about these two — scully is always listening to mulder even when she doesn’t agree or believe what he does. because she values him & what he has to say. she knows he’s a good investigator even if his theories are “out there” and he still finds important information & evidence that will lead to the truth / closing the case.

and SO she asks willis about the missing fingerprint, and she goes off with him to find lula. (he actually asks her, so was he already plotting to take her? and she goes despite being confused by his behavior at this point. not the same as her earlier concern for his well-being…)

the little bit of capable woman helping useless man in a typical couple way — willis doesn’t remember the address or name of the guy and she has to tell him. this is such a couple thing it kills me. also…has this not happened with mulder & scully at some point too? which is just funny because mulder’s memory is obnoxious. but he definitely absorbs information he ~cares~ about a lot better.

his dopey smile when he sees lula is a red flag FOR SURE. but i think scully can find it believable because of how long he’s been working the case, determined to catch them.

but god i hate this. because scully is so hurt by everything that happens next. this is a man she cares about deeply, taking her hostage, physically hurting her, being cruel. something i don’t believe jack ever did to her. and i think she doesn’t know what to believe, but she can’t believe it isn’t jack. that is terrifying because her chances of getting through to him, of escaping mostly unscathed, of surviving … greatly diminish. so through it all, she calls him jack, tries to remind him of who he is, talks about their relationship, uses her medical background to help him, etc etc.

and god. agent bruskin. i really like him. he starts to question mulder about his x time theories, and mulder is just. so great. “it doesn’t matter what i think. we’re still after the same thing.” and he keeps going along with mulder.

willis calling mulder from her phone…

let me talk to her

mulder?

dana, are you okay?

don’t…

dana?

one of the only times he uses her first name in front of someone. and only the second? time we see it. the first time being beyond the sea…

(okay wait the way she tries to convince him he’s jack — she starts with facts. his name, his address and then when he isn’t moved, she goes more personal. she’s so sad & scared when he presses the gun against her. and when she realizes he’s drinking soda, she plays into him being dupre just a little to try to save him.)

mulder !!! listening to willis’s tapes. “i feel myself getting into their heads and i’m scared by what i’m feeling. the intoxicating freedoms that comes from disconnecting action and consequence. theirs is a world where nothing matters but their own needs, their own impossible appetitive and while the pleasure they derive from acts of violence is clearly sexual, it also speaks to what warden jackson called their operatic devotion to each other. it’s a love affair i almost envy.” this whole thing — for one thing, i think it sheds so much light on why scully believes what she does. so at the very least, he’s understanding her perspective more. and i think he understands how willis could have gone too deep. we don’t ~really know what profiling & vcu we’re like for mulder, but i bet there are threads of it he empathizes with. i think mulder was able to do it without becoming it, his issues were something different, but i’m sure he witnessed at least one agent going over the edge.

i’ve talked about it before but i love mulder in this episode and how he operates once she’s missing & then confirmed willis has her. yes, he believes it’s dupre. but he slips back into his profiling & vcu days — more typical investigation, trying to play well with others, following protocol…and he is the one who finds what they need to find her & save her. and his emotional state is a stark difference to her season 2 abduction. he’s still frantic, but quietly. with his panic face.

you listen to me — you lay one hand on scully, and so help me god

literally the number of times they say “scully” in such a short conversation — her name carrie’s so much meaning. he will do ANYTHING to get her back. and i think that’s why he falls back on what’s reliable in these cases. he’s so good at this. his golden boy days and i LIVE for when we get to see this mulder. i wish it happened more. because he’s a damn good agent. and he can follow the rules. but the rules aren’t always helpful and that’s how he ended up on the x files. yes, his sister. but also because he’s willing to go as far as it takes to help the people the world’s forgotten about & buried.

bruskin defending mulder to the other agents !!!! yes, good man. as mulder deserves.

for those of you who don’t know already, this one’s important to me. so, uh, let’s do it right. thanks.

literally his panic face is steadfastly in place the entire time she’s gone. if you don’t know him, you don’t know this. but i think bruskin has picked up on it and he *does his damn job*

the relief, the glimmer of happiness scully gets as jack starts coming back to her…the way he falls unconscious and she ~sees~ dupre taking hold. PAIN just so much pain. “no, no”

but they’ve found her, they’re so close when jack grabs the gun from lula. and scully desperately wants to stop jack murdering this woman.

as soon as mulder sees dupre & lula aren’t a threat, he goes to scully. and she’s honestly traumatized…

now this last scene. he brings her jack’s watch, a gift she gave him. she tells him more about jack. she doesn’t know what to tell the kid jack was a big brother to…

what am i supposed to tell myself?

good night.

it’s not working. it stopped: at 6:47.

the exact time that hack went into cardiac arrest at the hospital.

what does that mean?

it means…it means whatever you want it to mean. good night.

i’m not sure if i interpret this differently than others — because yeah, i think mulder is disappointed she doesn’t believe when it seems so obvious to him, and after “jack” took her hostage, how could she not believe — but i think mulder remembers their conversation in beyond the sea. he knows this isn’t the time to push her, she’s grieving and struggling. but at the same time, he can’t be the person she leans on. he can’t help her with this. so he does the only thing he can and let’s her know it’s okay to believe what she wants to believe. this was personal to her. and while believing in beyond the sea was a small comfort, the idea she could hear one last message from her father, this is a very different case. believing the fantastic wouldn’t be any comfort except that maybe it wasn’t jack causing her pain. but the idea that she lost him in that er, that she didn’t even come close to saving him — that completely shakes her foundation. he saw her anguish over this loss firsthand.

i honestly don’t know if mulder saw the similarities between him & willis, but i find it hard to believe he didn’t. and seeing what this man did to her (like emotionally) is probably a lot to swallow.

SO i love this episode. i think this one of the best cases of ~you decide who was right. you decide what the truth is~

but no matter what, there is no way mulder resents scully for not believing his theory. he is kind & thoughtful, he knows she’s afraid. he isn’t trying to force his beliefs on her. they are both trying to find the truth & prove it. that’s their nature, that’s their work, that’s their relationship. and it works because they both bring the necessary pieces to do it.

[distant-screaming]

9, 11, 14, 20, 25

hi beloveddd <333!

9. currently watching

in terms of bl not much! I still have hidden agenda to finish from like six centuries ago, and I'm watching pit babe and liveblogging it (though that one might be abundantly clear to quite literally everyone who follows me). I'm planning on watching we are as soon as it's done airing, and that's about it!

11. most anticipated upcoming bl

I'm gonna be so real with you I don't know half of the upcoming bls 😔 so not much! maybe the heart killers? based on what I've heard it seems right up my alley!!

14. bl you think is underrated

omg welcome back to another episode of 'dee does not quite understand what is and is not popular but tries anyway'! let's see, probably my most immediate answer is Kamisama no Ekohiiki, a jbl that literally lives in my heart because I love it so dearly <3 it uses its tropes so well and really creates this wonderful, jbl-esque emotional narrative that made me cry more than once. another jbl I adore is the 4 episode long Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai! this one's just. so cute and fluffy and friends to lovers it makes me happy :)

20. actor you think is underrated

once again I do not understand who is and is not popular ahfjsjdjdjfj 💪‼️ I recently watched tonhon chonlatee with @ranchthoughts (it was a whole thing) and I found pod's acting to be extremely enjoyable!! not sure if he qualifies as underrated though......

25. favorite friends

mmm real life actors? probably either joylada gang (joong/dunk/phuwin/pond) or bo gang (mark/satang/fourth)? I don't interact with them much though. if we're talking about characters, then tonhon chonlatee's friend group is probably my favorite part of the show! I also really love msp's little guys of course <3

YIPPPEE YAY I love having opinions!!!

[adhd-merlin]

merlin S1 rewatch: episode 6

it’s been a hot minute! today’s commentary is about episode 1x06, A Remedy to Cure All Ills. which I re-watched more than a month ago actually, but I’ve been busy.

just some random comments and thoughts (as usual), and not an actual review or analysis.

I think this episode is extremely underrated – I loved it the first time I watched it, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it on my rewatch. yes, it’s kind of a filler episode with a very traditional Villain of the Week format – but it's a great villain.

Julian Rhind-Tutt’s performance as Edwin is great and I love a suave, smooth-talking, scheming villain as much as the next person. The way he manipulates people, never suggesting anything outright but playing on people’s fears and biases, only saying just enough to make them reach the conclusion he wants. Something very Richard III about it. Very Iago.

EDWIN: “No… I shan’t say”

Another thing I love about this episode is the rare (unique?) instance of Merlin showing his magic to another sorcerer whom he isn't suspicious of (the audience knows Edwin is the Bad Guy, of course, but at this point Merlin doesn't).

I can’t think of another moment like this in the series. Freya didn’t actually have magic. There is Gilli, but when Merlin reveals his magic to him he already knows of the boy's intention to kill Uther, and it is a last attempt to stop Gilli from committing regicide without putting him in harm’s way. Merlin's relationship with Mordred and the Druids was always complicated by prophecies and by his role as Emrys.

But there’s none of that here. Edwin tells Merlin that magic can be used for good, and that it can be ENJOYED! which is all Merlin ever wanted to hear. And it’s a bit heartbreaking to see the hope on Merlin's face, knowing all that is going to happen later in the series.

I also loved the previous interaction between Merlin and Edwin:

“It can’t explain love”!! He’s a romantic. He loves love 🥺🥺🥺

I think the writers lost sight of Edwin’s motive a bit by the time they got to the ending. He’s not content with just killing Uther, he also wants to… rule the kingdom? And he tells Merlin they can do it together? (a concept revisited in the Cornelius Sigan episode). I don't think it works well.

I think Edwin’s final evil speech would have been way more impactful if he had tried to appeal to Merlin’s empathetic side, instead of his non-existent thirst for power, and reminded him of all the suffering Uther caused and why he deserved to die. I guess that would be a moral dilemma that deserves more than a few minutes of screen time to be resolved satisfactorily, and we’re already at the end of the episode at this point.

The series does dwell on it in To Kill the King, to be fair, but I think the “why not just let Uther die?” dilemma could have been presented before then. (Merlin's momentarily hesitation at healing Uther at the end is more to do with his fear of being seen using magic by Uther than by an actual reluctance to save the king.)

Anyway. I still think this is a very good episode overall, even with its relatively weak ending.

Other random thoughts:

The random-ass reference to alchemy. Something that wasn’t elaborated on, nor ever mentioned again (??) Missed opportunity imo.

Gaius is made "a free man of Camelot", whatever that means. (Does it mean that he, like Merlin, is not from Camelot? Or is it some kind of special privilege? We don’t know. I think maybe in Love at the Time of Dragons Gaius mentions something about he and Alice coming to Camelot but I can’t remember and I can’t be bothered to check now)

Some excellent display of brotherly concern from Arthur when Morgana falls sick. He's the one pushing for Uther to call for Edwin. We love to see it

Merlin and Gaius all but call each other father and son. DON’T TOUCH ME.

Gaius was 100% ready to let Uther die if it meant saving Merlin’s life. btw.

Gaius and Uther. WHAT ARE THEY

All the heavy hints at Gaius’s acting as a Category Traitor in the Great Purge + the only instance of Gaius talking to Kilgharrah (!!!) I am obsessed with it

The paralles between Uther & Gaius and Arthur & Merlin. I feel absolutely normal about it

“Now, open your eyes, My Lord. I want my face to be the last face you ever see.” -> I don’t care if it’s cliched, this line fucks

MERLIN CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM, AT LAST!! I was starting to worry but finally my baby is back to killing people :)

[wataksampingan]

Spoilers for Ep 69 COZ OF COURSE I'M SCREAMING (as well as Ep 70 and beyond coz I apparently hate myself and spoiled myself on Naver Webtoon. Again.)

It's a SUPREMELY interesting choice of translation in that scene where Theo has to pretend he knows how to behave like a normal loving husband. The English line the translator chose is "Isn't that right, Pereshati?"

Which is fine, coz 1) he doesn't call her anything different, and 2) this is a far more subtle shift - Theo only says her name in highlighted moments (e.g. when he fell off the bed, when he noticed her a little unsettled by his ferocity in the last chapter). Otherwise, his dialogue doesn't use her name at all. So this is him trying to emphasise their closeness... by using her full name (Lord love you Therdeo Lapileon, you hopeless dork)

However. In the original hangul, he outright calls her 부인 (buin) - 'wife'. Just to hammer in the awkwardness of "HI YES HELLO WE ARE EXTREMELY MARRIED, YES THIS IS MY TRUE, LEGIT WIFE, NOTHING ELSE GOING ON HERE" (the Webtoon comment that called him "an underrated comedy king" should be one of the top comments of the YEAR coz it's truer than we could've ever hoped)

Anyway, in modern usage(?) apparently its considered impolite to refer to your own wife as "buin" (someone better versed in Korean, please enlighten me)? It's more appropriately used to refer to another person's wife. But technically speaking, MILAOWM is set in some... 18th-19th century world so I would argue it could be okay to use...?

It's possible that it could be an equivalent to the way "madam" was used in the Regency era when men would and did call their own wives "madam". It was considered a proper term of address back then so I can only suppose "부인" in this regard can act the same way. But, I also recognise it would be a pain in the ass to translate it as "isn't that right, madam?" and then have the entire fanbase go berserk over why he's calling her something we mostly recognise as a formal term for strangers these days.

The... unofficial, let's say, translation went with "isn't that right honey?" which, while it would have achieved the same effect as 부인on the readership, also isn't quite the most accurate read on the line.

Literally speaking, the translation would have been: "Right, wife?"

...which would have been hilarious, but also WAY too close to Borat and just... undermines his dignity as a ML, possibly to irreparable extents (maybe? I don't think I would have minded coz there is really no fooling us at this point: Theo can do cool things if he puts his mind to it, but his default is Socially Awkward)

But because I'm biased: just you wait, Perry. We're all waiting with you for the time he smiles at you with his whole heart and you MELT - JUST WAIT.

Anyway, I thought that was just interesting and just makes me determined to keep Google Translating my way through the Naver versions. Also reading it on Naver is how I found the April Fool's 4koma and let's not go there coz I'm already thoroughly distracted.

The hand holding is just icing on the cake. Theo shattered me into pieces for a variety of reasons, but the hand holding is just *chef's kiss*. At this point, this is all progress on Theo's part ("if it's Pereshati, it's okay also I'm in love but no one say anything about that yet") it'll be another long wait until she figures out that she's fallen for him (so we hope) We are all Vicountess Otiz at this point.

We are also all Gloria Lapileon. MADAM. YOUR GRACE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING.

That determined LOOK on her face in Episode 70 after she sort of denies Daniel a chance to play Cupid since Theo clearly hasn't made any progress in wooing Perry. That is the expression of a Grandmother with A Plan to Help Her Awkward Grandson Win the Hand of the Fair Lady who Saved Her Great Grandson/Family. I know she's been given the idiot ball to hold this whole time with regards to her own family and their household, but I love this matriarch and I wish her every success.

Meanwhile, the other current love of my life, Pereshati - is so tired of shenanigans and having to worry about so many people. I'm crying. She literally mutters to herself, "Why am I surrounded by weak* men?" and the bodyguard nearby, in utter shock, thinks to himself 'd-does she mean even the Grand Duke?'

[*the 'weak' here can refer to physically weak in hangul]

Just to preempt the "PERESHATI DON'T BE MEAN" comments, look at this from her perspective:

Count Jahardt: been sickly most of her adult life

Theo Lapileon: has just recovered from seizures, severe blood loss and a 3 day coma, and is honestly more fragile than he lets on

Adeus Potson: has been hurt twice, looks like a puff of air could blow him over

Celphius Lapileon: probably not included in her list, but he's still a wee babby, also full of toxic blood, and must be protected at all times

She's just so tired, guys. Exhausted by everything. Men, essentially (the women are also exhausting but they're not as fragile).

Also she doesn't have the full picture of the kind of demons Theo has been fighting/Adeus' true motives (though that is about to come SHOOTING OUT THE LEFT GATE) so we'll see how this shakes out eventually if/when she finds everything out.

I am not ready for Ep 75 being the season 1 finale. Truly I am Not Ready, but it must be done of course. I don't know how seungu is doing but I hope they're able to rest and recuperate and take care of themselves so this series can continue fucking me up being lovely and the target of my current obsession.

Shout out to Islette and Phineas - please let this father-daughter side relationship be given a spin-off/side stories coz poor Islette has been subjected, undoubtedly, to Phineas' unceasing tutoring coz he's a well-meaning worrywart and probably wants her to get up to the level of literacy she should have at her age (regardless of the trauma) and I just want to see how Phineas learns and grows to become the most whipped papa in the world

Honestly: who run this world? Girls.

(Okay, girls AND Marvin and Celphi, coz that map foreshadowing is heavy; why is Schwartz not considered a vassal state of Castor, despite having been defeated recently? HMMM.)

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group C Round 1: #C3 vs #C6

#C3: Old man turns into robot superhero

An old man is diagnosed with cancer with 3 months to live. He sits in a park depressed until an alien spaceship passing through collides with him and a nearby teenager. The aliens frantically rebuild the old man and teenager as cyborgs before leaving. The old man uses his newfound cyborg powers for good, while the teenager uses them for evil.

#C6: Sports anime for people who prefer bildungsromans* to sports

Two childhood friends who play competitive after school ping pong find their friendship and dedication to the sport tested when their sense of their relative skill in the game is challenged. A character focused-exploration of why we pursue sports, and what we have to commit to succeed.

*a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood, in which character change is important.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#C3: Inuyashiki: Last Hero

Propaganda:

This show is nowadays remembered for referencing One Piece and its obvious CGI, but it’s so much more than that. Inuyashiki is a beautiful, dark, dramatic exploration of humanity, showcasing the brightest good that humans are capable of and the most horrific evil. It seriously explores both extremes, and it forces the audience to solemnly watch every step of the way.

It also has an AMAZINGLY badass OP and a beautifully sad ED, perfectly encapsulating the duality of the show itself.

Trigger Warnings: Animal Cruelty/Death, Flashing Lights, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Rape/Non-Con, Suicide

#C6: Ping Pong the Animation

Propaganda:

An experimental director (Masaaki Yuasa) adapting a work from a very stylized and emotionally-focused shonen mangaka (Taiyo Matsumoto). This is an anime that feels more like watching an indie arthouse movie than a shonen anime. Featuring characters and arcs that subvert standard anime tropes, it gives an incisive picture into youths on the verge of growing up and learning responsibility. If you want to watch a short anime (one 11-episode season!) which will include cool sports action (and that’s coming from someone who is not generally into sports animes) the matches given weight by the primary use of them in narrative being as checkpoint in the characters’ growths.

I tend to prefer shojo over shonen for being more introspective, with the emotional arcs developed slower and more subtly, but for me this shonen hits a sweet middle ground of having that more internal feel, while getting to do the shonen things of having cooler, action-focused animation and character relationships which are about friendship rather than romance, and character arcs that are about trying to strive hard to achieve a dream. The show is quite well critically regarded, but a lot of anime fans get turned off by the unusual art style, and there isn’t really a fandom for it, so I think it counts as underrated anyways! Anyways, I think it delivers a really impactful and complete story-arc in a short time, and it leaves you feeling like you’ve grown alongside the characters, no matter how old you are (no seriously, my 50-year-old mother walked away saying she didn’t know anime was such a profound genre when I made her watch this).

Trigger Warnings: None.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[cowboymenace]

MJF's year as Champion

MJF has been champion for one year after beating an extremely protected Jon Moxley. He spent the first half being a heel, avoiding conflict and manipulating opponents. Some has been good if not great, his feud with Danielson is one of the best and his match with Ricky Starks is an underrated gem that I don't see many talk about mostly because of both men's trajectory. There has been some bad, the four pillars feud exposed 1/2 of the men as not ready for the main event spot, I won't say who but if you go back to watch the promo battles you can see who I mean.

Enter Adam Cole. Cole was out for an extended period of time and whenever talent is out for that amount they typically return as a face, especially if they're entertaining. After doing his time in the Jericho Pit, he would go after the World Title. MJF and Him would have a match where it came to a draw, and MJF would deny overtime to decide a winner. However, a randomized tag team tournament forced them to work together. This is typically something the WWE would do, a scenario where two guys feuding must work together "CAN THEY GET ALONG" where they do gel but end up turning on each other. Cole and MJF would become friends, with constant teasing that they one would double cross the other. The twist: neither man has.

This would create the biggest buzz in the company. MJF would be seen as one of those guys who would never turn face, but he proved us wrong. It felt like a challenge for Max, trying to prove that he can be as compelling and fun as a face as he was a heel. In the world of wrestling, heels seem to have more creativity, and it may seem hard, but I'd argue it's easier to get people to dislike you. It's hard to get people to like you. MJF achieved that and made moves like a double clothesline and a front drop kick more over than any other move in the company.

Both men would open and close AEW's and modern wrestling's Biggest Event Ever. So how do you follow that? Well by erroneously making MJF the center of the universe, and unfortunately over stuffing the title picture. MJF and Cole won the ROH Tag Belts, which have been turned into trinkets something they'd hang on their Christmas tree. Neither man have worked an ROH Honorclub episode, Cole has the excuse of being super injured at least. You'd think that this would be a good time for a heel team to beat an handicapped team for some quick heat right? Wrong, there's been two instances where MJF has fended off heel teams, once by himself. Alone, MJF began to feud with the hottest heel stable in the company Bullet Club Gold. Jay White would challenge and taunt MJF for months, however he wouldn't get the champ's sole attention. Wardlow would return much to my chagrin to do sloppy powerbombs (the man is a walking tabula rasa) and challenge MJF. Samoa Joe wants a rematch since MJF and Cole heroically cheated to beat him. Also there's a masked man in MJF's devil costume beating up people who are near MJF either as friend and foe.

Oh yes one more thing, MJF has to deal with Roderick Strong and the kingdom. Seems like there's a lot on his plate, seems like he would be distracted and therefore would be more likely to lose? Nope. MJF got """hurt""" during his tag match against the Gunns to build tension for the main event title match but won anyways. He would sell his leg as hurt but then do moves that would worsen his condition because there was a Seth Rollins particles leak in his locker room I guess.

Jay White is a former two time IWGP World Champion. He's beaten every top guy in New Japan. In his first year there he proved himself as a top gaijin heel. Plebians who have no tastes would say he was boring, his matches too long, and he needed interference to win. They're wrong and their money stacks shorter than mini me. Jay White would prove the haters wrong by making a seamless transition into a western heel and as I said before became a part of the hottest heel act. He then went on to lose to a hurt, distracted MJF.

A man of that caliber was just a stepping stone for a rematch against another high caliber talent but I fear that match may be another stepping stone because there's a Wardlow waiting in the wings and a devil to be unmasked. MJF's story feels unfocused and frustrating. I know he's the most over guy in the company, but he's held the belt for well over a year and just doesn't seem to lose even when it wouldn't hurt him to. I imagine Cole destroying his foot and ankle threw a wrench into the plan, but the response to that should not be to sacrifice high quality talent to the wrestling gods to keep things afloat.

I have enjoyed MJF's run with the belt and am pleased he resigned. However don't turn him into an untouchable champion, the fun should be the possibility of him losing. If he wins too much then there's less and less stakes.

[fiercynn]

so @manogirl, @inventedfangirling, and @sharingfandoms all tagged me in the thai ql favorites tag game (thanks friends!), and i wasn't sure if i had enough to say about shows other than bad buddy to do it, but i figure you can't ever talk about bbs too much amirite

favorite thai ql: yeah so it's bad buddy, surprise surprise. i watched it all in the course of like 36 hours in february 2022, not long after it had ended, and it has been thoroughly stuck in my soul ever since. i've watched it so many times and in so many pieces that i couldn't even guess at a number. i've posted...uh...200k words of bad buddy fic in the past year and half? the obsession is real. it's just such a perfect mix of antagonistic and silly and tense and sweet and heartbreaking and healing that i keep going back to it over over. i love its narrative arc, and i love its little details, and i love all the ways we get to keep reinterpreting it over and over in fanworks. and i love the people i've met in the fandom, which is really hard to separate from the show! i've made really close and awesome friends here, which seems extremely fitting tbh. so yeah anyway i like that show a lot

favorite pairing: seems obvious given my previous answer, but patpran, followed closely by inkpa! idk i just think they're both neat and extremely in love

most underrated actor: JENNIE PANHAN I NEED HER IN EVERYTHING OKAY

favorite character: parakul siridechawat. he's just so in love you guys, even when (he thinks) it's hopeless. i love a character who pines. my sexuality is pining actually and pran's might be too (jk i love pran for many many many reasons but this is the one i felt like talking about today)

favorite side character: i think it has to be a tie between mae from 3wbf and longtae from a tale of thousand stars...two very different characters! i love mae in all her complexity, her efforts to be good and kind and empathetic that are interrupted by the death of the one person who was good and kind and empathetic towards her, and her search for revenge once he's gone, and then her ultimate realization that she needs to stop the cycle of violence even if it takes one more act of violence herself. meanwhile i love longtae because he is sweet and funny and adorable and such a good friend to literally everyone in pha phun dao and also it's khao, how could i not?

favorite scene in a ql: so if i type the letter "y" in my browser, the first search result is the youtube link to bad buddy episode 5 part 4/4. does that answer your question

favorite line in a ql: i thought i was going to struggle with this one but it came to me instantly: uncle tong from bad buddy saying, "you might think one man can't change the world. but i want you to know that this world can't change someone like me either." have i mentioned i am both queer and work in climate activism for a living

most anticipated ql (& why): 23.5 degrees the series!!!! i was already one million percent there for milklove but the recent confirmation of viewjune is just like the icingest of icing on the cake. i'm so fucking stoked you guys

i'm sorry i'm not going to answer the question on guilty pleasure series because like @manogirl i do not believe in the concept, nor the ones on healthiest vs. toxic relationships because i simply do not feel like it <3

most underrated series: hmm, most of the thai ql series i've seen are too well-known/watched to count for this. like would we call gap the series underrated? probably not, right? maybe...triage? but i personally felt like triage got pretty uneven in the second half...idk this is the problem with having mostly stuck to gmmtv huh

i really have not kept good track of who has done this meme already so ummmm @citystoryscapes @mahuhumaling @melto @mousieta @incandescentflower @galauvant @dancing-out-in-space

[which-hospital]

Take the Strain (03/02/24)

Melty brain week. Staying on top of my reading but at what cost?

This episode review ended up incredibly unbalanced with three paragraphs about the same topic and then I ran out of energy by the time I got to the rest of it. Normally, I'd try and give myself some time to try to balance it out but I really don't feel like for this episode.

I’m just going to unpack all of my Teddy Thoughts at the start.

An even more frustrating episode than I bargained for because there were actually some things I liked. Just, separated entirely from their context. Things I liked: Jan. Jan's so underrated. I am so desperate for them to actually continue from Switzerland that I will take anything at this point and I did really like that it felt like Teddy still wants/appreciates Jan’s approval, even now. Very Character of him. Extremely Character. In my head, Teddy has never and will never get over needing Jan’s approval and that’s just emblematic of the deeper issues going on with him. Those moments were good. I just don’t think Jan being upset at Teddy had to come from her noticing the Jodie stuff, he was already up to objectionable stuff without that. 

Similarly, I thought Teddy and Paige’s conversation in the lift had potential. The big problem I have with how this relationship has ended is that it feels like the writers are somehow convinced that they're breaking up because Teddy and Jodie happened, when Teddy and Paige would absolutely have broken up even if that didn't happen. They've been headed this way since Dog Days, at least. I just think the whole thing would've been better if they'd have leant into the fundamental issues the relationship has, instead of putting all the focus on this stuff with Jodie which is not the most interesting or even biggest problem they have. The Sah/Paige kiss created so many interesting routes they could've taken but they lost track of what they were doing with it very quickly and then kept losing track of every new opportunity they created. In my heart, they are to Casualty what tomshiv is to Succession. In reality, they're a mess.

I wish I could give a real, proper reason why I don’t like Teddy and Jodie together but I just don’t. It’s so bad that I can barely their scenes together. I guess we’re heading towards more of them, potentially even a proper romance plot? Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. As I type, I am grimacing at the thought. Whenever I get a romance plot and I don’t like any of the potential outcomes I just start thinking of more unlikely outcomes. Anyway, Paige/Jodie when? When Jodie also figures out that Teddy is probably best left single right now, she and Paige can commiserate together and then get together. It wouldn't make sense but has any of this made sense?

Otherwise, it was a heavy one. Are they just making the most of always being on after the watershed or something?

My incredibly unpopular (at least, unpopular in other areas of the CAS fandom) opinion is that Iain is my least favourite paramedic. Don't dislike him at all, I like him but I just don't understand why the show chooses to only remember plot that has happened to him and often chooses to pretend things that happened to the other paramedics never happened. Maybe I associate him with Faith a bit right now, too.

The music sequence or whatever was so out of nowhere that it was more amusing than dramatic.

I’m glad Rash and Rida have worked it out for now.

The way Casualty has been dealing with disabilities lately has been uncharacteristically uncomfortable. I don’t really have the brain space to expand on that right now but certain choices sure have been made.

Nothing in next week’s spoilers that I feel like I need to comment on, except for Max finally agreeing to take Jodie’s kidney. I would really, really hope it’s mainly an episode of Jodie and Max stuff.

[backtothethunder2023]

Recommendation

So Jack and Kira were both on it and it's extremely underrated so far, but if you are ever in the mood to listening to an interview, check out Bradley Steven Perry's and Jake Short's Podcast, which is highly creatively named "The Sit and Chat". Because it's hilarious. It doesn't feel forced, basically it's just a normal conversation with little comments and remarks that make it fun. Bradley and Jake don't take themselves too serious if you know what I mean and it's actually really refreshing.

Here's Jack's episode (filmed during the strike, so he wasn't supposed to talk about the Thundermans, but he still talked a little bit about it anyways XD):

And here's Kira's episode in which she also talked about the new movie: