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ultrahpfan5blog · 2 years ago

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The Flash Season 8 - Retrospective Review

So I'm finally done with my Flash rewatch and am now ready to start watching the new season. Season 8 often gets grouped with Season 7 as among the worst seasons of the show, but I honestly think its a far superior season overall. I felt the same on rewatch as I did when I watched it initially. While I would still rank the first 3 seasons above season 8, I feel this is on par with season 5 and 6, better than season 4, and way better than season 7.

For one thing, I feel the divisions between the various arcs worked quite well. There is the 5 episode Armageddon arc, followed by a couple of interlude episodes, followed by a 6 episode Deathstorm arc, followed 3 more Interlude episodes, finally followed by the Negative Forces arc. Its a much more fair division of storylines. Even the interlude episodes are overall much better quality this season than last season.

I feel Armageddon is pretty fun overall. This is the closest the show has gotten to a genuine crossover since COIE. This event gets to have some pulpy fun and have some new character dynamics. It was great to have Ray Palmer appear in the premiere. Even though Barry and Ray have shared screen space before, we haven't really seen them interact one on one all that much and the episode allows for a genuine team up. Additionally, we get to see Barry and Jefferson interact as well, extending their relationship from where we saw it in COIE. There is a warmth in those interactions which feels surprisingly natural. Its shame that we never got to see more of it. Episode 4 is the obvious highlight of the event where we really get to see the Reverse-Flashpoint timeline with Thawne engaged to Iris, Barry being RF, and Alex, Batwoman, Ryan Choi all involved with team Flash. On top of that, we get Damien Darkh and Barry interacting, which is a new character dynamic that ends up being quite fun and surprisingly heartwarming as they manage to pick up some character beats from Legends, which eventually leads to a payoff for Damien Darkh and Nora Darkh, I was surprised that they decided to have that on The Flash but it worked out quite well. Despero and Thawne work well as the villains of the event. Despero is the more eminent physical threat while Thawne is the real threat. There are a few cool action sequences, especially in episode 5, where Barry takes on Despero and gets his golden boots. When it comes to weaknesses, episode 3 is a bit of a drag, mainly because we get far too much of Cecile, which is an ongoing problem throughout the season. Danielle Nicolet just overacts when she is acting overwhelmed with emotion and Cecile is fairly insufferable in episode 3. We also get a fairly needless appearance of Mia Queen, who doesn't add too much to the finale of Armageddon and we don't even get any answers for the cliffhanger of William's disappearance since Arrow backdoor pilot.

The Deathstorm arc is also pretty solid. This is really an arc which gives Caitlin and Frost the focus, which was honestly pretty refreshing. One of my favorite episodes of this though was focusing on Barry's grief over his father and his belief in a recently released prisoner's love for his son. I think its a moving episode with a very effective performance from Grant Gustin. I do like that this arc delves into Caitlin's grief that has never really gone. We see her and Frost making some very questionable decisions and what I liked is that the show delivered on consequences for those bad decisions. I was very surprised when Frost was killed off at the end of the arc but it was a bold choice. It was nice to see Robbie Amell back during this arc, and it was a reminder as to how cute Ronnie and Caitlin were together. I did like Frost's development and how she goes out protecting Caitlin, which was the purpose for which she was born. The weakness during this arc comes from the Iris side story with Sue Dearborn in Coast City. The time sickness story in general isn't great, but this subplot feels a lot like inventing a subplot because they need to give the character something to do. It really adds nothing other than just showing that Iris was being really reckless and basically almost erases someone's mother accidentally. It is nice to see Sue, but it is again a reminder of Ralph being missing and not having been even mentioned for a long time.

The Negative Forces arc in a way is a sequel arc to the Forces arc from season 7. Now I hated The Forces arc, so I was surprised that I ended up liking this arc. For one thing, it helps that Thawne is at the center of it. We get both versions of Thawne, with Matt Lescher and Tom Cavanaugh. The relationship between Barry and Thawne is consistently the strongest adversarial relationship on the show. And it works here as well. One more thing that was a step up is that they did not neuter Barry during this arc. Whereas in season 7 he was completely ineffective against the Forces, here at least he is able to deal some damage. Also, wisely, they realized that they did not have the budget to show Fuerza so we did not get the cringeworthy CGI version and just got the actress instead. We also get the resolution of the resolution of the long gestating John Diggle arc. Now, I know most people hated this because we basically have John rejecting the GL ring, though we never see the ring itself. But John becoming a GL never made sense to me at all given his entire arc on Arrow was about reuniting with his family, and then he got his daughter back after Crisis along with his son. I just didn't see how it made sense that the character would choose to become a space cop after all that. I quite liked the Diggle and Thawne interactions. I also quite liked how we saw some good Barry and Thawne interactions that was almost Hannibal Lecter like when trying to figure out the appearance of Meena Dhawan and Letscher's Thawne. I also liked that we got a genuinely good version of Thawne, which made the scene of Tom Thawne rebirthing after ripping off Letcher Thawne's face all the more effective. It was a cool little body horror moment. The final showdown between Barry and Thawne is also pretty cool, although not long enough, but I liked that Barry becomes so powerful that he doesn't even need to physically fight to eventually beat Thawne. When it comes to weaknesses, the time sickness arc still felt like it victimized Iris. She was basically just a pawn in a game being played by the forces. We again get far too much of Cecile. I don't know how many times we see Cecile telling us what people are feeling but it gets incredibly annoying real fast. Also, because of her pregnancy, Danielle Panabaker is not around much. The show essentially kills off Caitlin offscreen, which is pretty ridiculous but I need to see season 9 to finally make an assessment of how I feel about it.

The interlude episodes are much better than season 7. The Bart and Nora episode is a pretty fun one and we get to see Eddie again. The Goldface episode is also surprisingly enjoyable and we get to see a Barry and Kramer team up episode which works quite well and it goes a long way in helping Kramer become a lot more likable. The Still force episode again brings back Nora. The Barry and Nora interactions are always welcome. They also do a surprisingly good job at giving an entire episode for all character to process their grief over the death of Frost. One of my favorite episodes though is 'the Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen' which again has another stellar performance from Grant. This is also an episode which knows how to use Cecile in a correct manner and shows how the character can be likable.

The season isn't without issues. Like I mentioned, the overuse of Cecile in the wrong way grates. It is very apparent that the show has no idea what to do with Joe at this point. Quite frankly, as much Kramer is an improved character, Joe could have been in her place. There is an appearance of David Singh and his interactions with Joe are nice and allow a little explorations of Joe struggling to adapt to retirement and change. But overall, he just doesn't have enough of a presence in the season. Show struggles on what to do with Iris and 2 episode break late in the season is handled a little awkwardly. We get more of Chester and Allegra and they continue to improve as characters, though their romantic subtext doesn't really do much. I do think that Allegra's episode where she fights off last year's light villains is a lot more effective than last season's solo episode. But you do miss Cisco and Ralph at various stages of the season. This season also goes back to the well of Thawne for 2 of the arcs to get an effective villain. In the end, the individual arcs are enjoyable but they largely rely on some of the effective arcs and characters of the past to get emotional depth.

The performances are strong, with Grant Gustin really leading from the front. While Grant has always been an actor who is great at showing emotion, season 8 he delivered performances where he delivered emotion with a maturity and restraint which showed the maturity of the character and him as a performer. He is excellent throughout but 'The Curious Case of Bartholemew Allen' and 'The Fire Next Time' are two standouts. Danielle Panabaker gets to stretch during the Deathstorm arc as both Frost and Caitlin and she's great. Candice Patton is solid as always as is Jesse L. Martin. As I mentioned, Danielle Nicolet definitely overdoes parts of her performance, but she is fine when in a supportive role. Kayla Compton and Brandon McKnight are both appealing. Tom Cavanaugh is always great as Thawne. Carmen Moore as Kramer is a lot more appealing this season. Tony Curran enjoys hamming it up a little as Despero. Jon Cor gets a much expanded role as Chillblaine. While I still don't like the romance with him and Frost, he's much more tolerable this season. Natalie Dreyfuss, Jessica Parker Kennedy, JWS, Michelle Harrison, Jordan Fisher, Brandon Routh, Chyler Leigh, Javicia Leslie, Cress Williams, Osric Chau, Neal McDonough, Rick Cosnett, Katherine McNamara, Courtney Ford, Susan Walter, David Ramsey, and Rick Cosnett all make welcome appearances during the season. Its definitely a season that felt more packed with guest stars than previous seasons.

Overall, a major step up from season 7. I would give season 8 a 7.5/10. Looking forward to catching up with season 9.

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yonderlad · 2 years ago

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I posted 606 times in 2022

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Blogs I reblogged the most:

@batgirl-spoiled

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I tagged 605 of my posts in 2022

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Longest Tag: 139 characters

#also hey gotham's a really fucking good artist who you should commission they were great and fast and made some really beautiful art for us

@gotham-gargoyle

My Top Posts in 2022:

The bafflement when i clicked though to the source to find out JFSP stands for John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme. Isn't that a radio 4 sketch show?? did it massively change genre or??

Oh!!! Yes kindof?

Season 9 was recorded during the lockdowns when they couldn't film in front of a live studio audience, so John finnemore took the opportunity to change it a little for the season. Instead of individual unrelated sketches, the 9th season is 6 episodes of snapshots of different times in peoples' lives, slowly collecting together as you realise they're all related and it's showing 7 generations of the same family and telling a family history.

It's still funny, it has a lot of little in-jokes and call-backs, a lot of the episodes still have a song and a fair few of them end with 'well since you asked me...' but it is, in essence, a Very Different Show. Less sketch show more comedy drama.

We don't know if/when they'll be a season 10 as John is very busy with Good Omens at the moment, but if there is I suspect it'll revert back to form.

3 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

John finnemore help please!!!

I remember a sketch from the souvenir programme which was about how a bunch of athletes had swapped sports, and it had gone exactly as you'd expect, except for the horse vs runner, and the boxer Vs chess champion? I just can't find it at all!!

4 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

happy birthday to my own OC nick Kent!!!! 60 years old today

4 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

12 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

207 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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jbuffyangel · 6 years ago

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Legacy: Arrow 7x12 Review (Emerald Archer)

Spoiler alert: I loved the 100th episode. I know this is a controversial opinion because it is universally hated in the fandom (I think), but I truly loved the episode for where Oliver was at in his story. So, I didn’t go into the 150th with a lot of expectations. The 150th didn’t need to fix anything for me. Were there some misfires? Yeah and we’ll get into those, but overall I enjoyed this episode.

Let’s dig in…

Queen Family

William is home and our Queen family is reunited. FINALLY.

Yes, I know it’s technically the Queen-Smoak-Clayton family, but nobody is really expecting me to hyphenate three names over a dozen times? If you are then that’s crazy. I won’t do it.

Oliver and Felicity are overjoyed to see William,

but unfortunately the sentiment is not returned.

Source: olicitygifs

“Emerald Archer” introduces us to William’s alter ego: THE MOODY TEENAGER.

This may be the toughest foe Oliver and Felicity have ever faced.

Kidding. Not really. I’m knee deep in preteen years and the teenage ones are barreling at me with lightning speed, so I identity with this storyline A LOT.

Felicity deftly navigates the creature otherwise known as MOODY TEEN by complimenting his ability to find her virus (our budding computer genius. I am so proud.)

and then lovingly prodding William into discussing whatever is bothering him

by threatening grounding (for a rude & sassy attitude).

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Y’all I am taking notes. MOM ICON AT WORK.

William is ticked because his parents didn’t bring him home for Christmas. Is that what happened?

It’s so hard to figure out what holidays Arrow is acknowledging. Oliver said in 7x08, “Christmas vacation seems like 20 years from now,” so I assumed William came home sometime after 7x09, but I guess not.

Yeah, I get it kid. That sucks. #TeamWilliam.

In your parents’ defense they were hashing out the emotional evolution of their marriage while Oliver was body swapping with Bart. But that’s just a regular Monday for Arrow, so I understand the kid’s beef.

Source: ebett

Oliver playing television star (hehehe SO META) via this documentary doesn’t exactly scream crisis to William either. But-but-but all the shaky camera shots for gritty realism are cool though right honey? Yeah, William doesn’t care.

HOWEVER, if I spoke to my mother the way William spoke to Felicity and violently shoved an electronic device she paid for in her face while making demands regarding the wifi security (which she also pays for), I would be taking my life into my hands. My mother would have removed me from this earth, which is her right.

Same goes for my kid. I once asked my child during a temper tantrum if she wanted to do this the nice way or the nasty way. She put her little hands on her hips, all of age 3, and said with absolute conviction while glaring at me, “NASTY.” She is now 11, going on 12, and I assure you she has never made that mistake again. So, I commend Felicity’s reserve. I’m afraid I do not share that level of parenting patience.

Why is Felicity taking all the heat when it was Oliver who screwed the pooch by going to prison in the first place? Well, yes one can always trace the source of the problem back to the biggest pine tree to ever live,

but in this particular circumstance I agree with William. It was Felicity’s decision to send him away to boarding school. I’m not saying she shouldn’t have done it. Felicity had extremely good reasons to send William away.

Source: ebett

However, a large part of Felicity’s beef with Oliver after his release from prison was his constant Monday morning quarterbacking of her decisions. Oliver can hero however he wants, but he doesn’t get to question how Felicity deals with the consequences of his heroism. That was the agreement right? RIGHT. Felicity said the buck stops with her. So, the buck stops with her. Sending William away was her call, so now she’s dealing with some fallout.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Don’t worry, I fully expect Daddy to get looped in, but I like how they are focusing on William and Felicity first. It’s rare to run into problems with your child when both parents are in the room. One or the other fields the play first and then you loop your partner in. At least, that’s how it works in my house. (Seriously, I don’t know how single parents do it. Y’all are kings and queens among peasants.)

Side note: you never ever contradict your partner’s parenting decisions in front of the little human. It shows weakness. The wee nugget can smell it like fear and it gives them a tactical advantage. These are tools of the trade. Get a pen. Write it down.

It was just William and Felicity for six months. They built their own family without Oliver together. Of course, Oliver was still a part of the family and they missed him like crazy, but the day to day was just the two of them. Some of those decisions are coming home to roost, so it makes sense to me Felicity is taking the parenting lead. She was William’s only parent for quite some time.

Felicity, being the super hacker mom that she is, figures out what is really going on – William is lying to her. It seems he has been expelled from school. Oops.

The reason for his expulsion will be revealed to us next week I am sure, but I would say now is the time to loop Dad in.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

These scenes between William and Felicity were the best in the episode and it never ceases to amaze me how far their relationship has progressed in such a short amount of time. There is nothing Felicity can’t do and no man she cannot smoak. Life with a teenage William is going to become more complicated and the parenting more challenging. But William will be a better person for having Felicity in his life. No matter where this story goes that’s a solid fact.

Olicity

It’s been 150 episodes and we’ve come a looooong way with Oliver Queen.

He’s so at peace with himself in these interviews.

Oliver has merged both personas, the hood is down, mask is off, he's married to the love of his life, his boy is home, and his life is filled with purpose.

Source: smoakmonster

This man was snapping necks in the pilot and now he’s the softest teddy bear to ever exist because his son is home from school. MY HEART IS FULL.

Source: olicitygifs

To begin where Oliver began, and to be where he is now, is nothing short of miraculous. He may not be a saint, as Curtis notes later, but that’s exactly where he is headed. That’s who fully realized superheroes are.

But we still have some road to travel. Oliver’s only real area of doubt is his leadership abilities. I still don’t understand what mistakes Oliver made with Team Arrow.

Source: smoakmonster

He’s constantly referencing these “mistakes” particularly in “Emerald Archer.” This is a failing of Season 6. I truly think the writers believe the NTA versus OTA storyline was evenly handled, but in reality Oliver was completely in the right and the Newbies were acting like spoiled toddlers.

Oliver went to jail in some part to atone for his sins, but I do not feel any of those sins happened in Season 6. I view Oliver’s stint at Slabside as atonement for killing.

We can debate the necessities of that atonement, but this season feels like an ultimate purging of Oliver’s sins – venial and/or mortal. Whatever debt Oliver owed society, he paid it and then some. This only makes his soul more pure. If you don’t believe Oliver deserved to go to prison at all then it just adds more fuel to the martyr fire - all good things in the evolution of a saint.

However, now Oliver is questioning his ability to lead because of these so called “mistakes.” Based on statements Oliver has made in previous episodes, those mistakes would be lack of trust and lying.

I’m with him on the lying. Time to nip that in the bud, but that doesn’t mean Oliver owes everyone the truth immediately. He’s perfectly within his rights to take some time, yes even a month, to process the introduction of a new sister in his life. The man still has a right to some privacy and space.

Oliver’s guilt over not trusting the Newbies is fairly ridiculous since they gave him very good reasons not to trust them.

In case Oliver has forgotten, Dinah had a secret criminal boyfriend and Rene sold him out to the Feds. These are untrustworthy actions and they have consequences. I can’t remember what Curtis did, if anything. His crime is unceasing uselessness, so Oliver can and should ignore the man.

Oliver is not sure he’s meant to lead, which of course means he is absolutely the right person for the job. Only true leaders question their worthiness.

Source: smoakmonster

He returns to the destroyed bunker with a renewed commitment to rebuild the bunker

(with handy dandy deputy badges for the team) and learn from his mistakes.

Source: smoakmonster

I imagine Oliver’s new leadership style will be more trusting and democratic, but inclusion only gets you so far. Team Arrow may be the kindling in the Star City fire, but the citizens need Oliver Queen to set it ablaze.

The Team Arrow table is round both in the destroyed present and flash forward bunkers. It gives it a very Knights of the Round Table feel. Everyone can have an opinion and equal say, but in the end it was King Arthur’s kingdom. He pulled the sword from the stone, built Camelot and paid the ultimate price for his dream.

Oliver is King Arthur and Star City is his Camelot – or what he dreams Star City may one day become. He may pay the ultimate price for that dream like Arthur, but ultimately the loss of the hero teaches us the dream isn’t possible without the hero. Oliver may need Team Arrow, but the team and the city will soon discover they need him even more.

Source: ebett

This is something Felicity Smoak has always understood. Her belief in Oliver Queen and crystal clear understanding of who he is has never wavered in seven years. Even when they were separated romantically, Felicity saw Oliver as the man who would save Star City.

This belief became a compass for Oliver- his North Star. Felicity became the voice in Oliver’s head guiding him on his hero’s journey.

Her belief made Oliver believe and thus became a self fulfilling prophecy.

Edward: So what happens after he climbs up and rescues her?

Vivian: She rescues him right back. (Pretty Woman)

There is no Green Arrow without Felicity Smoak and there is no Felicity Smoak without Green Arrow. Each is dependent on the other. Their love is amalgamation of give and take & push and pull. Oliver and Felicity never cease in their pursuit to become their best selves, yet remain a beautiful example of unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness.

Love changes us and it cements who we are. It is a constant drive of two diametrically opposed forces working in perfect cohesion. We find clarity in the swirl of finding love, falling in love and then settling into love. Oliver and Felicity found themselves in each other. It’s how we all do, regardless of whom or what you love.

All it took was one sweet and simple smile for Felicity to know exactly who Oliver Queen is.

Yet, who is he is equally about who they became together. Felicity saw Oliver’s light because of how brightly hers shined. Their heroic evolution is perfectly entwined.

Source: @olicitygifs

So, there is no better person to speak on this topic. The word vigilante falls woefully short. It cannot encompass everything her husband is or what their love has built together. It barely hints at the goodness Felicity saw hiding behind a ridiculous lie and a bullet ridden computer.

Felicity’s interview doesn’t shine a big enough spot light on her own contributions, but I think that’s primarily because she hasn’t been outed as Overwatch to the city. However, she has always been the truthsayer of Arrow and that’s her role in the documentary as well.

Felicity understands who Oliver is because she is his equal in every way.

Recognition of his heroism is recognition of hers as well. And someday the world will see everything Felicity sees with unwavering

clarity.

Source: @olicitygifs

Should there have been more of Felicity and Olicity in "Emerald Archer”? Yes, absolutely.

My thirst will never be satiated, but I’ve long since acclimated myself to quality over quantity. This was Felicity as she’s always been. I love whenever this show showcases her ability to cut through the bullshit and shine a light on the truth. The scenes between her and William were the best in the episode too. That said, an Olicity kiss and/or joint interview wouldn’t have killed them.

Welcome Back Guest Stars!

A good returning guest star angle works for me 99.999% of the time on any television show. What can I say? I’m nostalgic. Let us wile away the dull hours and spin a tale or two about the days of old.

Nostalgia in these types of retrospective episodes can get a little tricky. You need a good reason to bring back five or six actors who’ve left the show and we’ve heard almost nothing from for a few years, particularly the dead characters. Arrow’s documentary film idea for the 150th episode really works for me. It gives a legitimate reason to bring all of these characters back, but not necessarily keep them around. It’s not aliens so right there we’re already light years ahead.

HA! Get it? Light years? Yeah, you might not be laughing now but you’ll realize how funny that is later on.

Source: fatedxdestiny

Arrow starts with Quentin and boy is that ever the right call. This documentary is very pro vigilante. It was put on the shelf because Star City became anti vigilante, so who better to advocate for the masked heroes than the man who ran the SCPD for the last twenty odd years?

Quentin was always the touchstone to the real world. He was the bridge between Oliver and the citizens of Star City. He was also someone Oliver wanted to earn the respect of and that’s what he’s trying to do now. He’s trying to earn Star City’s respect EVEN THOUGH THESE UNGRATEFUL TWATS SHOULD ALREADY RESPECT HIM. Even though I believe it was time to let Quentin Lance go, I still miss him and whenever Paul Blackthorne comes on my television screen I cry big baby dumbo tears.

Source: fatedxdestiny

Then we roll right into the reason Oliver began this mission in the first place: FAMILY. Family for Oliver is and will always be Thea Queen. I shrieked when I saw her. I officially take back my “We’ll never see Willa Holland again” prediction. I was happy to be wrong.

Thea being the representative for all her dead family members is the most Thea thing this show has ever done. Kid is a walking poster child for bereavement. I think it’s really important to remember Starling City was a hot mess before Oliver showed up. This city wasn’t hitting anyone’s nifty top fifty places to raise a family. There was a serious cost to all the violence and Thea’s interview is a powerful reminder.

Oliver is seldom given his due. The newbies, Star City, officials, villains, and other superheroes are always ragging on him. But when Thea found out Oliver was the Arrow she thanked him. She was one of the few people who understood right from the start the good Oliver was doing. (Felicity is the other few people).

Oliver started this fight for many reasons, but chief among them was his love for his family. Thea has always returned that love tenfold. She is ride or die for her big bro and even though we had AMAZING Queen sibling scenes in the 100th it’s nice to see them honor their relationship no matter how far away Thea is. They do lose points for zero Queen sibling interaction though.

Source: fatedxdestiny

Sara gives one hell of a speech doesn’t she? It’s in a similar vein as Thea’s – reminding Star City of the cost of unchecked crime. She acknowledges it doesn’t matter whether or not a person is wearing a mask. This is a classy way of calling out Star City’s double standard. Honestly, who cares if it’s a cop or a guy dressed in leather saving your ass? What matters is someone stepped up to save your life.

It’s also a nice subtle acknowledgement of Felicity’s contributions. Sara has worn a mask as the Canary and fought without one as White Canary. She knows what matters is a person’s heart and not what they wear. Sara has always understood the importance of the unmasked in this line of work.

This feels like a not so subtle way of sticking it to anti Felicity fans, but that’s just me.

Source: fatedxdestiny

SIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE YOU BEEN BABY GIRL? Honestly, my biggest annoyance with these return guest star scenes is we didn’t get much of an update on where the characters are at. Does Sin have a home now? Does she know Sara is alive? I have questions.

Sin was a fairly minor character in Season 2 and even more so in Season 3, but seeing her brings back all those Season 2 memories.

Memories, Like the corners of my mind Misty water-colored memories

Sorry. Sidetracked by Barbara Streisand.

Again, the use of Sin is brilliant because she represents the people Team Arrow has saved. We spend a lot of time on Oliver’s mistakes. We remember all the people Oliver couldn’t save and how deep those losses cut him. However, we seldom talk about those he has saved and Oliver has saved THOUSANDS – maybe even millions. The man deserves a cookie at the very least. Sin is a box of double chocolate chip.

Oliver is not the only unmasked vigilante – Ragman is too. He’s out doing good, but the people know he’s Ragman. We don’t know if he unmasked before or after Oliver, but I would bet after. Oliver is always the first domino to fall in this universe.

Rory’s interview is super short and is therefore criminally underused. He is primarily used to set up the Star City Slayer. Ragman’s mask is among the first Oliver found. Even the angles on his documentary interview have an artistic/retrospective/forlorn feel to it like we are seeing someone who is gone. I swear to God if this serial killer killed my Rory I am going to light things on fire and throw them. I’m not even sure killing Curtis will ease my pain (but it’ll help).

Rory’s albeit short message is pretty simple as is the premise of this show.

“People need help.”

What matters is there are those in the city willing to help the helpless (NAME THAT SHOW). Their methods matter less. Rene, Curtis and Dinah COMBINED still do not compare to Rory Regan. How we ended up with those three louts and lost that beautiful sparkling jewel of a character remains a mystery and still chaps my ass.

Source: fatedxdestiny

Who invited Bart? I am only tolerating his appearance because he needs to pay his respects, but – UNBELIEVABLY DAMAGED??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU BETTER COME UP WITH SOMETHING BETTER THAN THAT YOU LITTLE DICKHEAD BECAUSE YOU WOULDN’T HAVE A SHOW WITHOUT THE UNBELIEVABLY DAMAGED OLIVER QUEEN. Oh wait he’s still talking. Rewind... alright, Barry said some nice stuff. I’m better now.

Honestly, just the way this scene played it’s like the writers anticipated all my yelling after “unbelievably damaged.” They wrote the rest of the scene like Barry was reacting to my yelling as he cleaned up his statement. HAHAHA. That’s damn right fool. I’ll come for your ass. You better run.

If you’re going to pick a character among the four shows Arrow has launched I guess you go B*rry All*n. It makes a statement about Arrow’s influence on the DCTV universe, which I appreciate for the 150th episode. This was something extremely lacking in the 100th episode. Arrow is the reason a whole lot of people have jobs, so it’s an apropos time to pay due respect.

We’re constantly stuck in this Barry is light and Oliver is dark comparison and it annoys me to no end because I don’t believe either character is that clear cut. Both men have light and dark. But I do love how Barry acknowledges that the darkness Oliver survived also fuels his light.

Oliver Queen is incredibly protective. He doesn’t want anyone to suffer like he did, which includes not only his family and friends but strangers. Oliver uses his pain for good. He finds the light in the darkness, which why I love him so much.

Barry isn’t saying anything Felicity or Diggle haven’t already said for years. However, as the likely pass-the-torch candidate, Barry is commending the essence of Oliver in a way the insanely disrespectful crossover failed to do. Of course, we all know there is a reason for this disrespect – Oliver must be persecuted even by those who “know” him before he can be seen as the Messiah of superheroes.

But we are Arrow fans. We know the truth. We see Oliver for who he truly is and for just one moment, in this 150th episode milestone, the comic f*ckboys’ fuzzy bunny, rainbow puking superhero acknowledged the truth.

Also his faux shock about Oliver being the Green Arrow was hilarious.

Source: flashallens

Diggle and the Newbies

Sweet holy Moses. There are times this show is so tone deaf it truly blows my mind. It’s sort of like watching Wile E Coyote barrel off the mountain top. Does he see the ledge or does he simply not care there is a ledge? These are my deep thoughts for the day.

Diggle didn’t even know Emiko was Oliver’s sister. That’s where we’re at folks! These two brothers could finish each other’s sentences and predict one another’s movements at one point, but now they are like strangers. Ugh, I hate this. FIX IT NOW.

Arrow is going to fix Diggle in an extremely Arrow way. Anyone who has listened to Watchover with Jen & Calli knows this is what we said would happen. The writers are never going to dive deep like I do in these reviews. For one, they aren’t crazy and two it just ain’t the show fam. The Arrow way of fixing a problem is:

1. Pretending it never happened.

2. Slap a bow on it and call it fixed without doing any of the actual character development to earn the moment.

Annnnd that’s what we got. Things are a little tense between Diggle and Oliver. John is put out Oliver didn’t clue him in about Emiko, even though he’s known for about a month. Oliver correctly points out Diggle hasn’t run in his circle for the better part of a year, so he gets the info when he gets it. YASS! PREACH IT SON.

John at least has the good sense to admit what Oliver said was true. He also decides this superhero slayer is too much for the SCPD to handle (isn’t everything though?) and it’s time to get the band back together.

Source: legends-of-today

There’s some back and forth between the two men about the other team members risking jail, but Oliver going to prison never sat right with Diggle.

Source: fatedxdestiny

It is good John is acting honorably, steadfastly having Oliver’s back, and just generally dispensing some good old fashioned Yoda wisdom.

However, he says what has to be the most ridiculous line I have heard on this show in a loooong time.

“Oliver when you were in jail we had each other’s backs.”

I swear to God I screamed. And then I fell off the chair laughing because NONSENSE.

Arrow ignores its own storyline when it doesn’t fit with the goals of the episode. It’s so blatantly obstinate and counter to what their audience wants, hell I almost admire them a little for it.

Writers: The storyline is not what you’ve witnessed on screen. The storyline is what we tell you and that will change week to week.

Us: Umm that’s not how television works but okay. Have at it.

Obviously, the writers wanted to reunite Team Arrow in a very “Ra Ra Go Team!” way, but haven’t done any of the leg work so the moment feels earned or makes any sense at all.

Of course, the team didn’t have each other’s backs.

Diggle abandoned Felicity and was upset when any of her attempts to free her husband interfered with his useless A.R.G.U.S. soldiering. His annoyance, admonishments, refusals of help and threats weren’t limited to Felicity. It also included anyone who helped Felicity like Rene, Bl*ck S*ren and Emiko. He also did bupkis to help free Oliver from prison. But okay, you had their backs John.

Maybe he’s speaking about Curtis who joined A.R.G.U.S. John seemed okay with Dinah policing. Perhaps he has a highly compartmentalized way of looking at team support. Regardless, it’s a ludicrous statement and is one that makes you wonder if the Arrow writers actually watch Arrow.

But as I said, we were expecting this because this is typically what Arrow does. Sometimes they force the story even when its counter to everything we’ve seen for weeks on end. That’s what happened in “Emerald Archer.” The writers are done with the team fighting. They want everyone to reunite and rebuild the team, so it has to begin with Oliver and Diggle.

Team Arrow started with the two of them, which is why they repeated their iconic handshake basked in the sunlight. And yes, to a certain extent what Diggle said is true. They are family and families fight, but it doesn’t mean you stop being a family.

Source: legends-of-today

But you also don’t get to act like a selfish jackass for the better part of a year and then sweep it all away by playing the family card. Families have to work through their issues by 1) being honest about what those issues are 2) talking about the issues 3) and apologizing. The writers missed steps 1 through 3.

The scene felt like Oliver was apologizing to Diggle when really it should be the other way around. When did this become about Oliver’s mistakes and not John’s? Am I watching the right show? Let’s not forget in the midst of all this bromance healing the one who really needs an apology is Felicity.

I’m not too mad because I don’t think this is the end of the conversation. I think Arrow put the cart before the horse and reunited Oliver & Diggle before they actually dealt with their issues, but what else is new? They decided it was time for the reunion because it was the 150th episode. Uhhh... okay then.

It’s entirely possible additional conversations are coming though. Hopefully ones including Felicity. Diggle still has to confess about Diaz, which he was about to do but was interrupted. It should drop a bomb on OTA and kick up some very much needed, no holds bar, come to Jesus style drama. We have ten episodes to go which is a lot of season left. I haven’t given up completely on Diggle’s arc for this year.

But also, I’m tired y’all. If they aren’t going to examine John’s actions with a modicum of reflection then I’d prefer for it to be over as quickly and painlessly as possible because this is terrible storyline. I’m sick of Pod Diggle. I miss his friendship with Oliver and Felicity. I hate whatever the hell he’s doing at A.R.G.U.S. I’m tired of everyone doing their own thing. I miss OTA. I want the show to go back to vigilantes hunting bad guys.

And yes, that goes for the Newbies too. They aren’t going away – well two of them aren’t. Arrow is completely ignoring all of their horrible behavior in Season 6, so fine. They will never resolve this storyline to my satisfaction so let’s just be done with it. Does the reunion fall flat because Arrow refuses to deal with the consequences of the Newbies’ actions in a truthful way? Yes. But I can’t care more than the writers do. So, I’m done. Moving on.

This will not preclude me from snarking however. Nothing ever will stop the snark. Dinah and Rene were in rare form in “Emerald Archer.” Both were pretty snotty.

I actually liked Rene’s interview, but then he has the nerve to cop an attitude with Oliver. Apparently, Oliver didn’t fawn over Rene enough. This is their first conversation since Oliver’s release and Rene is bitching about Oliver not asking how he is. FOR REAL???? There is only one person who should be asking how the other is doing and it’s the one who turned state’s evidence.

He’s also annoyed Oliver has gainful employment with the police department while Rene “I Can’t Go Down That Road With You Hoss” Ramirez is left out in the vigilante cold. POOR BABY. Maybe if you hadn’t sold Oliver out to the feds the team could have stayed together.

Dinah cops an attitude as well (pun intended). Oliver is about to share deeply personal information with her and admits he’s had the information for some time. Dinah says it’s par for the course with him. ANY NEW SECRET BOYFRIENDS DINAH? I do not know where the Newbies got the idea they were on the moral high ground, but this horrific writing keeps perpetuating that myth. For the love of God writers REWATCH SEASON 6.

On to happier developments.

Source: legends-of-today

Curtis called Oliver a hero, had a cool moment with his T-spheres and remarked about being a team “even if it was for one last time.” Cue close up and Oliver looking fondly at him as if Curtis was already a ghost. Of course, he’s talking their impending jail sentences for breaking the anti vigilante laws, but we know different. CURTIS IS GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIE.

I was supposed to be pressed when Diggle, Curtis and Rene were arrested, but they all were annoying me so they can go to prison.

Finally the show does away with one of their more ridiculous plot holes. The mayor deputizes all of Team Arrow so they can fight crime in leather, but legally. Did she not see all the other times Team Arrow saved lives? They are only worthwhile if they are saving her life? They are friends with the DA too. BS is not going to press charges. So, why even have a law the DA won’t enforce? You know what? I’m not even gonna go there. Whatever.

It took Dinah several episodes to show some loyalty, but she was prepared to resign if her friends went to jail. Of course, Oliver “I’m Trying To Be Jesus” Queen puts his head on the chopping block again for these dinks too.

“After speaking with my family, I’m here to turn myself in.”

YOU SEE HOW EASY THAT WAS OLIVER? NOT SO HARD IS IT BIG BOY? THY NAME IS CHARACTER GROWTH!

Here’s something I’ve been mulling over. Clearly some of the Newbies are here to stay and a great deal of the 150th episode was devoted to this concept of legacy.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

These characters exist so what Oliver has built can live on beyond him. It doesn’t automatically equate to Dinah, Rene and Curtis being good characters, but Arrow is incredibly invested in the idea of Oliver Queen’s legacy.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

We want the show to be about Oliver, Felicity and Diggle. They want the show to be about more than Oliver, Felicity and Diggle. And thus an immovable force meets an unstoppable object.

The problem is Arrow, once again, is putting the cart before the horse. They are focusing on Oliver’s legacy (and all the superhero characters he’s launched), but he hasn’t achieved what he set out to do. Camelot doesn’t exist yet! Oliver’s legacy can’t be built until the dream is achieved. There’s still work to be done. We need to focus on Oliver, Felicity and Diggle before worrying about the next generation. I wish Arrow could do both at the same time, but they can’t.

Do I think we’ll ever get that kind of focus? Nope. Arrow is committed to these new characters and their definition of legacy. It is what it is my friends. Either I make my peace with it or turn the channel, I guess.

Flash Forwards

Blackstar’s name is Mia. I couldn’t be happier.

I still think it could be a nickname for Moira, but they aren’t going to cough up that golden nugget yet. Obviously, yes all the comic f*ckboys are going to think she’s Mia Dearden and Oliver’s ward. Go ahead and keep thinkin’ that. We’ll see who lands on top.

Source: smoakmonster

Mia obtained a bootleg copy of the outlawed vigilante documentary and she practically bored holes into the television watching her father speak. There is no other reason to shoot the scene like that, with Oliver reflecting in Mia’s eyes, if she’s not his child. The shot clearly communicates a connection to OLIVER. She wants to find the location of Team Arrow’s bunker and the video provides the necessary clues.

Source: amunetblack

JJ, Diggle and Lyla’s son, makes his flash forward debut and he tags along with Mia. I felt a protective vibe from him. I think Mia gets into trouble all the time and JJ tries to keep her out of it, but absolutely they are ride or die. I may have been picking out wedding dresses for her during the scene. If Arrow does not put Diggle’s son and Oliver’s daughter together and make OTA in-laws then it is a crime against humanity.

I don’t know why JJ is going by Connor Hawke. He adopted the moniker in the Legends alternate future because he didn’t feel worth of the name John Diggle Jr. Frankly, I think Connor Hawke is a code name similar to Blackstar and the sole function of it is to make us think John is dead. But we know Diggle is alive because David let the cat out of the bag. *blows kisses to that beautiful man*

Mia hates vigilantes because the vigilante lifestyle stole her father and childhood. Simple is that.

Source: amunetblack

I don’t have all the answers yet. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how the Queen family was separated. I don’t know why William doesn’t know his own sister, but I certainly wasn’t expecting Mia to call Oliver “Dad” anymore than she would call Felicity "Mom” at this point. Answers lead to more questions and I am perfectly content with Arrow revealing the truth when they are good and ready.

If you refuse to believe Mia is Oliver and Felicity’s daughter, fine. If you are convinced she’s Bl*ck S*ren’s daughter, fine.

There is literally no evidence they hired the lead of Shadowhunters to play a supporting character’s daughter, but go off I guess. And no, Oliver is not cheating on Felicity with BS. Take that nonsense somewhere else.

They held off on introducing JJ because Diggle is one of the three main characters, but sure they’re keeping Bl*ck Si*en’s kid a secret. Not Oliver and Felicity’s kid, ya know, the characters who are the male and female leads of the show. Nope. Bl*ck S*ren’s daughter is the big surprise.

It doesn’t automatically make them mother and daughter simply because Bl*ck S*ren was singing the anti vigilante party line and Mia hates vigilantes. By that logic, Diaz, Quentin and the Mayor all have a shot at Mia being their progeny. If BS was as anti vigilante as she said then she would have pressed charges against Diggle, Curtis and Rene. She didn’t. Thank you. Next.

My point is I am convinced she is their daughter. Every episode just adds more evidence. My belief is unwavering. You won’t convince me otherwise, so save yourself the energy. You believe what you want and I’ll believe what I want. Then we’ll see how it shakes out in the end.

Stray Thoughts

Director Pedowitz might be one step over the meta line, but also hahaha.

Documentary intro was sweet. Can we make that the permanent one? Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Did they reshoot old fight scenes for the documentary? That feels like a lot of work. I wonder if it was film they had on hand but didn’t use from the old episodes. Either way it looked legit and I was impressed. Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Slightly odd how Oliver or anyone else on Team Arrow never mentioned they are being followed around by a camera. That’s just details. Imma let it go.

It is official. Star City knows Oliver is the Hood, the Arrow and the Green Arrow. We can stop debating. This means these thankless twiddle twits know he saved them from Merlyn, Slade, Ra’s Al Ghul and Damien Darhk. HOW MANY MORE TIMES DOES HE NEED TO SAVE YOUR SORRY ASSES TO GET SOME RESPECT?

Why does no one ever remember the undertaking on this show? Moira Queen admitted to a long term plan, led by Malcolm Merlyn, to destroy the Glades. This plan was hatched while Oliver Queen was on the island. No wait BEFORE the island. There was a freaking trial! How the hell does this make the Undertaking Oliver’s fault Madame Mayor?

Overwatch is back and the world makes sense again. Source: arrowdaily

Oliver shading Curtis with Felicity's superior abilities is LIFE AFFIRMING. Source: olicitygifs

Bl*ck C*nary fighting looks equally as ridiculous on documentary film as she does on regular film, so that question is answered and we can go on with our lives.

I really can't listen to Bl*ck S*ren pretending to be E1 L*urel Lnce. It's too annoying. Zip it fishnets.

I can’t pin point what “season” Thea’s interview was filmed during and it’s kind of bugging me, so hit the comments with your guess.

I’m not talking about Diaz. I cannot even believe they included him in the documentary. He’s gone here for a minute.

Didn’t love the Annie Hall look on Dinah. Misfire. Source: redfield5x5

One of the reasons why writers choose to film a faux documentary is so their characters can constantly tell the camera operator to turn the camera off. It’s a trademark of the trope.

“We need to come up with a better name immediately.” PREACH IT SON.

Baby William and Baby Zoe making friends is adorbs. Rene is all worried William is gonna make a move on Zoe. First of all, they are like 14. Calm down. Second of all, William is a short stop for the other team, but feel free to twist yourself into a pretzel Rene. The wasted energy will amuse me enormously. Source: feilcityqueen

This serial killer seems to collect masks regardless of whether or not the vigilante is actually dead, so I’m holding out hope Rory Regan is alive.

The documentary film shots of the fight scene were AMAZING. The last action scene was pretty sweet. It was nice seeing the team work together cohesively again. Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

I know I’ve said this before but Rene and Emiko are so happening.

“Fans have a strange way of showing their affection.” Oh yeah this guy was a hired gun by Stan the Fan. Kevin Meltzer was recently released from a psychiatric hospital which I am sure Stan has seen the inside of a time or two. No way is that line a coincidence. Or it’s a commentary on fandom. One or the other.

I had no idea Dinah’s vigilante identity was still secret.

Hahaha. Rene didn't know Emiko was related to Oliver. He's the new L*urel. I just decided.

Bl*ck S*ren agrees to give an interview for the documentary, but later on acts like she didn't agree to be on the documentary and threatens the camera operator. Yeah, that sounds about right.

This cupcake owns my heart. Source: ebett

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x12 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

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msbeccieboo · 6 years ago

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Season 7 musings

I’ve realised that, despite mostly enjoying it this year, what had been missing for me in season 7 is that it hadn’t really felt like I’ve been watching Arrow. We had no Oliver for a long time, no Delicity in the meantime, no OTA at all, no lair, no vigilantes to speak of really, no team, no OLIVER AS GREEN ARROW. BARELY ANY OLICITY (as we knew them to be, at least).

Even since Oliver’s release, everyone has still been scattered, Dig/Curtis at ARGUS, Felicity working on her company or with BS and Oliver and the others at the SCPD. Oliver has had no hair, bad clothes and a distance from Felicity. It hasn’t looked like the show we know and love.

But...

Now we have OLICITY EYE CONTACT and working on their relationship again, Diggle leaving ARGUS, and mending fences with Felicity (and Oliver to an extent), the lair being supposedly rebuilt, and by the looks of the trailer next week, possibly an end to the SCPD involvement? It’s finally coming back together for these last few episodes and I’M EXCITED (until MG undoubtedly gets involved and fucks it all up)!!

#arrow #arrow season 7 #arrow 7x14 #my review for this episode is gonna be soooo long #like I've written 500 words on the Queen siblings #love them #Beccie's brain

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kylereviewed · 6 years ago

Video

youtube

Arrow Season 7 Episode 19 Spartan Review

#Arrow Season 7 Episode 19 Spartan Review #comic #books #marvel #dc #spiderman #superman #batm

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jimintomystery · 3 years ago

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Welcome to the 24th Century

Between January 2019 and July 2020 I decided to write brief capsule reviews of each episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the movies based on that series. Then in December 2021 I remembered to go back and finish, so now I can post this master list.

I’m fairly pleased with the results. Each of the 180 articles tries to find something interesting to say about stories that have already been analyzed by fans for decades. Even when writing about a real stinker, I did my best to find a fresh way to complain about it. I tried to keep them brief and fun to read, so it’s quick to look at just one but also super-easy to keep scrolling through lots of ‘em.

Oh, I also made an effort to keep things accessible for non-fans. Sometimes I get sucked into reading about a story that I’m not a fan of, if that makes any sense. So if you’re like me, except you don’t care what a Star Trek is, I got you covered.

I set up some tags to make it easier to navigate through the whole series. Here’s the short version.

Season 1 (1987-1988)

Season 2 (1988-1989)

Season 3 (1989-1990)

Season 4 (1990-1991)

Season 5 (1991-1992)

Season 6 (1992-1993)

Season 7 (1993-1994)

Movies (1994-2002)

Or, if you’re looking for an episode but can’t remember which season it’s in, try the long version...

Season 1 (1987-1988)

Encounter at Farpoint

The Naked Now

Code of Honor

The Last Outpost

Where No One Has Gone Before

Lonely Among Us

Justice

The Battle

Hide And Q

Haven

The Big Goodbye

Datalore

Angel One

11001001

Too Short a Season

When the Bough Breaks

Home Soil

Coming of Age

Heart of Glory

The Arsenal of Freedom

Symbiosis

Skin of Evil

We’ll Always Have Paris

Conspiracy

The Neutral Zone

Season 2 (1988-1989)

The Child

Where Silence Has Lease

Elementary, Dear Data

The Outrageous Okona

Loud as a Whisper

The Schizoid Man

Unnatural Selection

A Matter of Honor

The Measure of a Man

The Dauphin

Contagion

The Royale

Time Squared

The Icarus Factor

Pen Pals

Q Who

Samaritan Snare

Up the Long Ladder

Manhunt

The Emissary

Peak Performance

Shades of Gray

Season 3 (1989-1990)

Evolution

The Ensigns of Command

The Survivors

Who Watches The Watchers

The Bonding

Booby Trap

The Enemy

The Price

The Vengeance Factor

The Defector

The Hunted

The High Ground

Déjà Q

A Matter of Perspective

Yesterday’s Enterprise

The Offspring

Sins of the Father

Allegiance

Captain’s Holiday

Tin Man

Hollow Pursuits

The Most Toys

Sarek

Ménage à Troi

Transfigurations

The Best of Both Worlds

Season 4 (1990-1991)

The Best of Both Worlds, Part II

Family

Brothers

Suddenly Human

Remember Me

Legacy

Reunion

Future Imperfect

Final Mission

The Loss

Data’s Day

The Wounded

Devil’s Due

Clues

First Contact

Galaxy’s Child

Night Terrors

Identity Crisis

The Nth Degree

Qpid

The Drumhead

Half a Life

The Host

The Mind’s Eye

In Theory

Redemption

Season 5 (1991-1992)

Redemption II

Darmok

Ensign Ro

Silicon Avatar

Disaster

The Game

Unification I

Unification II

A Matter of Time

New Ground

Hero Worship

Violations

The Masterpiece Society

Conundrum

Power Play

Ethics

The Outcast

Cause and Effect

The First Duty

Cost of Living

The Perfect Mate

Imaginary Friend

I Borg

The Next Phase

The Inner Light

Time’s Arrow

Season 6 (1992-1993)

Time’s Arrow, Part II

Realm of Fear

Man of the People

Relics

Schisms

True Q

Rascals

A Fistful of Datas

The Quality of Life

Chain of Command, Part I

Chain of Command, Part II

Ship in a Bottle

Aquiel

Face of the Enemy

Tapestry

Birthright, Part I

Birthright, Part II

Starship Mine

Lessons

The Chase

Frame of Mind

Suspicions

Rightful Heir

Second Chances

Timescape

Descent

Season 7 (1993-1994)

Descent, Part II

Liaisons

Interface

Gambit, Part I

Gambit, Part II

Phantasms

Dark Page

Attached

Force of Nature

Inheritance

Parallels

The Pegasus

Homeward

Sub Rosa

Lower Decks

Thine Own Self

Masks

Eye of the Beholder

Genesis

Journey’s End

Firstborn

Bloodlines

Emergence

Preemptive Strike

All Good Things...

Movies (1994-2002)

Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Nemesis

#star trek #tng #welcome to the 24th century

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sparrowsabre7 · 2 years ago

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The first episode of "Arrow" aired 10 years ago today.

Happy Arrowversary!

I'm going to watch 10 episodes over the next 10 weeks to celebrate, my favourite/standout episodes per season plus an extra two. Will give a mini-review/thoughts after viewing but here is the list if anyone is interested:

1. Pilot s01e01

2. The Promise s02e15

3. Unthinkable s02e23

4. Sara s03e02

5. Brotherhood s04e07

6. Lian Yu s05e23

7. Deathstroke Returns s06e05

8. Emerald Archer s07e12

9. Starling City s08e01

10. Fadeout s08e10

#arrow #reviews #green arrow #tv

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agentnico · 3 years ago

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Hawkeye - Season 1 (2021) Review

A Christmas themed Marvel show?? Last time that happened we got Iron Man 3. Okay, take that as a good thing or a bad thing, but that’s what we’re getting!

Plot: Former Avenger Clint Barton has a seemingly simple mission: get back to his family for Christmas. Possible? Maybe with the help of Kate Bishop, a 22-year-old archer with dreams of becoming a Super Hero. The two are forced to work together when a presence from Barton's past threatens to derail far more than the festive spirit.

Marvel and Disney continue on in their venture to churn out as much superhero content as humanly possible, with this year alone releasing 4 movies and 5 Disney+ series. Am I smelling superhero fatigue coming round the corner? Okay, let’s be honest, superhero fatigue has been present for a good while now, however it’s hard to admit that some of these Marvel projects actually turn out really good. I hear Spider-Man: No Way Home is truly amazing and I will most certainly go check it out once I break out of COVID isolation like a phoenix rising from the ashes, or more appropriately like a spider swinging from its web! But for now, let’s talk about the new Marvel Disney+ show Hawkeye, that had its season finale yesterday. Did I like it? Did I hate it? Who the hell cares?! Make your own decisions! Don’t listen to me or anyone else! Have your own identity, and don’t succumb to listening to other people’s opinions! Get a life!! Okayyy????? That being said I do still love talking all things movies and TV, so I’m going to talk about it anyway and you can choose to read or not. The choice is in your hands. However please do read so I don’t feel like I am just writing this to myself whilst sitting on my couch in my PJs having spent 7 days in isolation already.

So first and foremost, a show that is called Hawkeye, you’d assume the front and centre character would be everyone’s favourite Avenger Clint Barton, played here again by Jeremy Renner. Yes, that Jeremy Renner who was super intense in The Town and makes one wonder how he can getaway with playing a family-friendly super-hero. However the Hawkeye show actually puts him secondary and instead proceeds to push Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, a character that is meant to take up the mantle of the Hawkeye name and become the new young Avenger who is destined to have a prolonged contract with Marvel and make lots and lots of dollar. And Steinfeld is okay. Look, she’s a bit annoying is she not? Constantly fidgety and fast talking and acting like she’s a know-it-all even though there’s lots she still needs to learn. Okay, I’m being a bit harsh, she’s fine in this show, but within these 6 episodes her character development felt rushed and things kind of got handed to her very conveniently. And I say rushed and immediately find myself trekking back on my words, since looking at the show as a whole my main complaint is that nothing really happens in it. Well, stuff does happen, but it could have easily been told in a two episode narrative and the remainder is simply filler. There’s definitely some enjoyment to be found within the show, whether its the Avengers musical (titled Rogers: The Musical) or the LARP (live-action-role-playing) sequence to seeing Clint and Kate using various arrows with different add-ons like in a video game where you can use a weapon and add a special perk to them, that stuff was all cool to see. However as a whole I can’t say I really bought this show. I couldn’t really get engaged, especially as the story didn’t really go anywhere for me.

To complain further as that seems to be what I am doing in this review, there’s various nifty Marvel cameos here, with the returns of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova (which was teased in the after credits of Black Widow) as well as a comeback of a certain other villain that shows that Disney and Marvel are finally acknowledging those Netflix shows they did a while back, and it was nice seeing these characters back, however I felt both were really underutilized. Yelena spends the time trying to kill Barton for assassinating her sister, and naturally they fight and then talk it out and then she buggers off. Sorry for the mild spoiler, but that entire arc felt so anti-climactic and predictable that it frustrated me. Same goes for the return of the Netflix villain, who suffered even more with being wasted, and his entire purpose in the show is so that the series could have that shock factor of a big surprise reveal at the end. Otherwise he doesn’t get much else to do here. That’s kind of how this show felt as whole, like it was just ticking boxes from a list. It didn’t feel natural or smooth like a good story should.

I’d say in my humble opinion Hawkeye is one of the lesser interesting Marvel shows to have come out this year, as even though the Christmas vibe and tone were welcome and very Die Hard-y, there was a lack of stakes and consequence. Heck, the main villains and foes in this are these red tracksuit bandits, who’s sole purpose of existence was to be punching bags for Barton and Bishop. So my apologies to Jeremy Renner from The Town, please don’t come after me, but I didn’t like Hawkeye. There, I said it!! I’ve expressed my opinion!! Said it out loud and clear!! Anyway, now my eyes are all set for Spider-Man: No Way Home! For that I cannot wait to see...

Overall score: 4/10

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shadlad24 · 3 years ago

Text

Lucky Number Seven, Part 1

Seventh Mensiversary Post I

Yep. It’s that time of the month again! 😆

My posts here are almost all Xena Warrior Princess-related and can now be divided into ten main categories. Because Tumblr cannot accommodate even a listing of all my work in one post, I have to break the link tree in two.

(Of course if you’d prefer to see everything in one place and without frills, then you can always use the open Google Doc.)

Questions

Curious— Why does everyone think Gabrielle/Renée O’Connor has green eyes?

A Favor to the God of War?— What in the world was the favor Ares was after?

Smoking Gun?— How did Hope knowing Solan’s name give her away as his killer?

Good Luck, Kid!— Why was security so bad in “Maternal Instincts”?

The Love of Your Love— Wasn’t the second verse of this song insensitive to Gabrielle?

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares— Why does so little about Ares’s character make sense?

Hard Ask— Can I PLEASE get a willing, able, AND reliable beta-reader for my Xena fanfic???

The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares [Expansion]— three more questions about the god of war

No Way— Is the titular image of “Xena: Warrior Princess” what it seems?

Hard Ask (Redo)— Plz???

Five Funny Little Moments— a series highlighting overlooked silly things from each episode, illustrated in pictures and cracksubs

#1: “Sins of the Past”

#2: Chariots of War

#3: Dreamworker

#4: Cradle of Hope

#5: The Path Not Taken

#6: The Reckoning

#7: The Titans

#8: Prometheus

#9: Death in Chains

#10: Hooves and Harlots

#11: The Black Wolf

#12: Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

#13: Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards

#14: A Fistful of Dinars

#15: Warrior… Princess

#16: Mortal Beloved

#17: The Royal Couple of Thieves

#18: The Prodigal

#19: Altared States

#20: Ties That Bind

#21: The Greater Good

#22: Callisto

#23: Death Mask

#24: Is There a Doctor in the House?

Fan Theories

Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes— how Xena and Gabrielle got their children

Shazam!— how Xena can come back after the series finale

Man-Killer— what really happened to Toris

An Unsung Hero— Aphrodite being Gabrielle’s guardian angel throughout the Rift Arc

Infamous, Infuriated— why Xena engaged in the GabDrag (and BardBraining)

Solving Some Problems with Ares— answering two of my own questions about the god of war

Odd, Sort of Beautiful Symmetry— how we ended up with Annie and Harry

Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes [Expansion]— a focus on Solan and Hope within the main theory

Solving More Problems with Ares— answering my next questions about the god of war

Another— who The Destroyer might have been

The Jinn of War— who secretly helped Najara

The True Deliverer— NOT Khrafstar

The Jinn of War [Expansion]— an exploration of another arrow-catcher

The Lord of War: TMPSSEA Version— how Draco might be more than he seems, sans my usual image overload

The Lord of War— how Draco might be more than he seems, with the usual image overload

Joyous Celebrations

Golden Ticket— Renee O’Connor’s initial responses to me on Instagram

Mensiversary— review of my first month on Tumblr

Confirmation/Affirmation— Steven L. Sears’s essay of support for my Furies theory

K.O.— Renée O’Connor liking my comment about ^

Hooray!— The Mother of Hope is finished (kinda)

Second Mensiversary— review of my second month on Tumblr

More Funny Little Moments #1: Season 1, Episodes 1-12

Tumblr Master Post— originally the third mensiversary, this is the post I updated and reblogged each month for some reason

A Friend— Alexandra Tydings treats me to kindness much like Ren did :)

Tumblr Master Post [Update]— fourth mensiversary post

Hooray! [Expansion]— the final lines of The Mother of Hope

More Funny Little Moments #2: Season 1, Episodes 13-24

Top 25— a collection of my favorite images (and one GIF) I’ve made, to celebrate my 100th post

Heyy, Just a bit about myself (Reblog)— a response to one of @xenawarriorprincess’s 10th-anniversary posts

Tumblr Master Post [Update]— fifth mensiversary post

Sixth Mensiversary— chart only ’cuz Tumblr is uncooperative

Sixth Mensiversary Links, Part 1— Questions, Episode Reflections, Original Fanfic Excerpts, Fan Theories, and Episode Cracksubs

Sixth Mensiversary Links, Part 2— TL;DRs, Funny Little Moments, Miscellaneous, and Other

OMG; OMG; OMG! WHEEEEE!!!— breakthrough

TLDRs

TLDR #1: Soul Orbits and Psychic Echoes

TLDR #2: Infamous, Infuriated

TLDR #3: The (Many) Problem(s) with Ares

TLDR #4: Redeeming “Fishsticks”

TLDR #5: “Sacrifice I” Analysis

TLDR #6: You Have an Infection???

TLDR #7: Like Family

Please click here to continue.

#xena warrior princess #xena #xena and gabrielle #gabrielle #meme #fan theory #xenafic #cracksubs #fan observations #fanfiction #fanfic #xena fanfiction #gabrielle fanfiction #celebration #comedy #tldr #funny #link post

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sunnydaleherald · 2 years ago

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, August 16

Riley : What've we got? Graham : Civilian, sir. Riley : Ah, damn. Forrest : She's compromising the area. At least she's not making crazy, naked sex. Riely : Told you. We gotta clear her outta there... Fast. Forrest : Maybe not. Just thinking. If you were hostile 17, living off the crap we feed 'em, what would you rather eat than that? Riley : You wanna use the girl I got a crush on as bait? Forrest : I can tag a hostile at 50 yards. Riley : Denied. Forrest : She'd be safe the entire-- Riley : I said denied, agent.

~~Buffy Episode #63: "The Initiative"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Just Don't Let It Be Ronon (Faith, T, SGA xover) by hermione2be

Fortune Cookie (Spike/Xander, G) by forsaken2003

A Cascade of Echoes: Interlude (Buffy, SG1 xover) by 3am_moonlight

Her (Buffy, T, Arrow xover) by beri_fanfic

Not Invited (Buffy, T, MCU xover) by mmooch

The Zeppo's Duty (Xander/Dawn, G) by apachefirecat

A long forgotten sorrow (Buffy/Spike, G) by JuneCurry

Golden Girl, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, G) by all_choseny

[Chaptered Fiction]

The Worlds Fate - The Slayers Destiny, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Wolverine

The Slayer and the Vampire, Chapter 54 (Buffy/Spike, T) by violettathepiratequeen [PG-13]

Her Vampire, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by AmyAndrews20

You Can't Fight Fate - But You Can Piss Him Off Ch. 45 (Faith, T, Batman xover) by Hermionetobe

Welding a Family CH. 21 (Willow, T, MCU xover) by Buffyworldbuilder

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Buffy () by Wonderful-Touch9488

[Reviews & Recaps]

I May Be Love’s Bitch (Beauty and the Beasts) by herinsectreflection

[Fandom Discussions]

Faith - Tower by madimpossibledreamer

do i have a season ranking now? by d-innombrables-etoiles

Discussion of I May Be Love’s Bitch (Beauty and the Beasts) by RealAdaLovelace

Buffy moments by youremyalways

Anya and Tara is honestly better as a character when they break up with their respective partners by amnethysia

Season 5 idea/question by jebbikadabbi

I really wonder what happened between these 2. by NoExamination4048

What do you think of the Turok-Han vampires in season 7? by jdpm1991

Finally starting "Angel" by thatonegirl127

Who's this guy (Lonely Heart) Just a hunk or something else (good/bad)? by generalkriegswaifu

What was Teds secret to great pizza and does it work? by Charlie678812

Growing up, Willow and Tara were the first queer couple I ever knew about by vegansnail

Glory vs Dodge (locke & key) by seunchaine

Prime example of why Dawn gets tf ON MY NERVES -Rant by trho238

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PODCAST: by

PUBLICATION: Angel #8 Preview: Burn it All Down... Literally by Bleeding Cool

PUBLICATION: Buffy's Epic Vampire Slayer Return Has Begun by Screen Rant

PUBLICATION: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Star James Marsters Says Show Is 'So Relevant' in Trump Era by The Wrap

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series #meta #fan fiction #fan art

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historyman101 · 3 years ago

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Fena Pirate Princess Episode 8 Review

The slow, plodding, conflict-averse “adventure” continues.

The more time goes on, the less reason I have to be invested in Fena: Pirate Princess. I’m honestly left confused as to how an anime like this can ignore basic writing tenets like dramatic tension, stakes, character growth, and conflict. Ironic for a series that was billed as an action-adventure to be so slow and methodical in its pacing, especially since we’re 3 or 4 episodes away from the end of season 1.

After the shitshow that was Episode 7, Fena and her crew have to take shelter with a friendly doctor to tend to Yukimaru’s wounds. Much of the stuff I predicted would happen did indeed happen, including:

Yukimaru recovering without any real problems

The episode consisting of characters standing around and talking rather than doing

Shitan expressing his reservations with following Fena and shittalking her

Yukimaru and Fena having a post-recovery heart-to-heart

There wasn’t really much I could react to this time around apart from a few moments like Shitan blaming Fena for Yukimaru’s brush with death and him conveniently letting go of that anger and hate in the next moment. While I can understand his frustrations with Fena, and I had more than my fair share to say about Fena being a passive “protagonist” up to now, she also suffered PTSD in that last episode, and there wasn’t much she could really do to make the situation better. Shitan is right that it’s because of her that Yukimaru was injured and since they haven’t returned to the island, they’ll all be hunted.

I’m not opposed to that really since that would give you and your samurai entourage an excuse to finally, y’know, act like pirates.

Be that as it may, him accusing her of being a witch casting a spell over all of them just makes Shitan sound incredibly unreasonable. No one forced them to follow her. They all chose to go save Fena in the previous episode. Besides, don’t you guys need her to find Eden and recover that mystical sword or whatever the fuck? Needless to say, I ended up liking Shitan far less thanks to this episode.

That’s not really what gets me though; instead, it’s the fact that not long after, Shitan lets go of his reservations after Fena guilt trips him into helping her master the bow and arrow. Yes. After a scene where two major characters are at odds, the obvious next scene is one where they make up.

Just....what?!

Are the writers of this show alien to the concept of dramatic tension? You don’t just resolve a conflict like that instantly! You need to space it out for at least an episode or two! When things are resolved so quickly and with no real issues, it’s hard for me to get invested. Take it from someone who actually is trying to get published: conflict is everything in a story. If your story lacks tension or dramatic stakes, there’s no reason for anyone to follow it. I learned this stuff in middle school English class.

The only other scene of note is Fena and Yukimaru having a heartfelt conversation after his recovery. We get the return of the head bonks (feels like forever since we had those) and Yukimaru basically swears to watch over her, kisses her hand and leaves her all flustered. At least he opened up to her.

If I sound dry in my review, it’s because there is so little in this anime for me to gravitate towards. I will likely keep watching to the end since I’ve made it this far, but I don’t have any expectations left for this show. If I can be nice somewhere, I will say that Brittany Cox does a fantastic job as Fena in this episode. She clearly had a lot of fun in her role and I have to commend her for her delivery in the scene with Shitan. I just hope she can move on to bigger, better projects after this is done.

Speaking of, next episode looks to be focused on Abel’s past, and all I have to say is...

...just how old is this guy?

#fena: pirate princess #fena houtman #shitan #yukimaru #adult swim #toonami #anime #japanese animation

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nothingunrealistic · 3 years ago

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review roundup: billions 6x07 “napoleon’s hat”

great episode for taylor doing things on the few occasions when they got to do things! what do the critics think?

New York Times: ‘Billions’ Season 6, Episode 7 Recap: Let the Games Begin

the header image for this article is wags making a phone call, and is amusingly captioned “Wags (David Costabile) making what probably wasn’t his first panicked phone call to a brothel.”

You know, it’s funny: Before I watched this episode of “Billions,” I’d been thinking to myself, “It’s been too long since Chuck Rhoades went to a dungeon.”

can’t relate!

Even Chuck’s Plan B winds up D.O.A. With the help of his lieutenants, Dave and Karl (who’s been increasingly entertaining), Rhoades pinpoints the Olympic “fixer” Colin Drache as the recipient of a $5 million bribe, presumably from Prince. (Even Wags, of all people, is aghast at the brazen nature of the graft, at least as it pertains to a self-conceptualized straight arrow like Prince.) But just when he’s ready to make an arrest amid New York City’s celebration for securing the games, Drache simply vanishes, like Keyser Soze.

In a way, watching this season of “Billions” is like watching some kind of ethical disease spread. Taylor Mason, head of the Prince Capital subsidiary Mase Carb, could well be patient zero.

how do you devote a whole paragraph to prince outright bribing someone to close the olympics, after he’s slipped a hundred different incentives to a hundred different people to get 99% of the way there, and then conclude that taylor’s the origin of unethical behavior here? all their moves in the past two episodes were made to serve him!

The one-time wunderkind spends this episode setting up a crowdsourced algorithm for investment ratings, then lording it over an established ratings agency in order to force them to downgrade the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

what do you mean, one-time?

Prince is upset that Taylor and his own right-hand man, Scooter, went behind his back with the plan, but he knows how to take a W. Still, he insists he’s not like some drunk dad from whom the booze needs to be hidden at Christmas; he wants to be included in future maneuvers of this sort.

shouldn’t it say something about prince’s ethics, and his effect on others, that his objection is to being kept out of the maneuvering and not to the maneuvers happening?

Meanwhile, Rian, who has been spending the season as a sort of Jiminy Cricket-style externalization of Taylor’s conscience, rues handing over the spiffy new ratings algorithm to the corrupt old guard just to have it squashed. The Rian-Taylor dynamic is one of the show’s most intriguing at this point; I have no idea where the endgame is with these two.

once again i must make fun of sean for predicting romantic developments between taylor and rian for three recaps in a row last season. i also don’t know what the endgame is here, beyond suspecting some kind of permanent fracture in their relationship, but i could be doing worse!

Still no clues as to whatever Mike’s secret agenda may be, beyond his vaguely proclaiming, “I plan on having a lifetime of grand projects.”

me neither, except that i disagree with the theory i’ve seen most commonly (i.e. more than once on twitter), which is “he’s gonna run for president.”

Wendy is decidedly sour on her son’s private-school upbringing after she and Chuck are confronted by an obnoxious parent at the carnival, who calls Chuck a communist and Wendy a Karen. As an aside, the way they ferociously stick up for each other makes me think there’s still dramatic juice to be squeezed from their relationship.

unfortunately, i agree. i did wonder at the start of the season if wendy would end up on team chuck, based on the official poster putting her closer to chuck than to prince, and i’m still wondering.

Vulture: Billions Recap: Strings Attached

You know you’ve crossed pretty damn far into the dark side when Wags, the king of debauchery, is warning you against the dangers of, to use Drache’s term, financial “inspiration.” The same guy who spends a good portion of the episode helping sex workers evade Chuck’s raids cautions Prince not to bribe Drache to get the Olympics, saying the billionaire will “wake up a very different person.” For all his hedonistic tendencies, we do know that Wags is aware of life’s limits, making me wonder if there will come a time when he can no longer back his current boss.

raising the ultimate question about that scene: is wags warning prince against paying a bribe to get the olympics because he thinks no one should make that kind of move, or because he thinks prince possesses some unique moral purity that needs to remain unsullied?

More likely, if Wags ever does betray Prince, it will be because he has been kept out of the inner, inner circle: In last week’s episode, there was an ambiguous exchange between Prince and Scooter, where they discussed the reason why Prince is so keen to groom Scooter’s nephew Philip. From what I could gather, Prince wants Philip to take over MPC one day — because he and Scooter are planning something even more monumental than the Olympics. What that is, we don’t know, but it’s so top secret that it’s apparently the reason why Scooter returned to his office with no questions asked when it became clear corruption was about to go down.

intriguing theory! wags isn’t used to having a leader whose plans are above his security clearance. (but i assumed scooter returned to his office with no questions asked because he knows prince well enough to know he won’t be Fundamentally Changed by bribing someone.)

Chuck forges ahead with his bordello search, not without revealing to Dave — and the audience — that he’s no longer engaging in BDSM. No reason is given, though maybe the pandemic caused an involuntary abstinence.

do we need a reason beyond the implied “he’s changed as a person”? maybe finally dispatching axe and shifting focus to prince / All Billionaires has sated his need to get the crap beaten out of him.

The hinted rekindling of Chuck and Wendy’s relationship was a nice red herring, but getting them back together is just a bad idea all around. I’m sure their babysitter is exceedingly grateful that their renewed mutual disdain netted her a private dinner with chef Daniel Boulud.

and i’m grateful too! “mutual disdain” is the ideal state of the chuck-wendy relationship.

Entertainment Weekly: Billions recap: Michael Prince, the new King of New York

the one-sentence synopsis of this recap is “It’s finally time for the Olympics host city to be announced, and Chuck makes one final attempt at ruining Prince’s bid.” did you miss that there were *three* failed attempts to ruin prince’s bid — going after the scholarships, the sex club, and drache — in this episode?

Chuck is convinced that Prince can't be the leader in the Olympics bid without greasing some wheels along the way, and when he subpoenas the manifests of the IOC's helicopter trip to a U2 concert and sees Wags and Drache on the list, he figures that some sort of illegal bribery is going on between the two of them.

you mean the ICS’s trip to a bruce springsteen & bon jovi concert? where the hell did you get U2 from?

The B-story sees Taylor creating an algorithm that can rate stocks more precisely, using it as a wedge against the MTA when they sell the algo to a bigger company and ask for a favor in downgrading the MTA. That gives Prince some leverage to get his subway tech back in play, all but securing that the Olympics will come to New York.

wow! a whole paragraph about what taylor’s up to! you’re making such good progress!

#billions #6x07 #review roundup

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