#best part of s4 in my humble opinion

[dcbnam-aep]

sex ed s4 ep6 rlly out here serving all the mentally ill queer girlies who are emotionally attached to their english teachers - the way ms sands so visibly wants to support maeve while sean is going on his little rant and the interaction between maeve and ms sands after and maeve inspiring ms sands to seek further education and the 'highlight of my professional career' and their hug - i was giggling and kicking my feet (between tears) lmao *chefs kiss* writing decision.

[niklausie]

What are your TVD notps? 👀

you sent this almost a week ago but I’ve been holding on so I can best formulate my thoughts 😭 as eloquently as I can put it:

marbekah

this hurts me bc I love marcel and I love rebekah and in another world with better writers I can see them, but alas……. there’s no getting around the fact that she practically raised him with klaus. not even the actors’ incredible chemistry can make me overlook the fact that rebekah’s an adoptive aunt to him. even if she didn’t raise him and had moved to new orleans when marcel was an adult, it would still be weird considering klaus was a father figure to him.

maybe if they had met in TO instead, I could be ok with it bc they wouldn’t have known each other when marcel was a literal child. by the time TO takes place, marcel no longer thinks of klaus as a father (for the most part rip the show is so fickle about that) so naturally klaus’ siblings are not thought of as marcel’s family too. either way it’s a mess and way too kind-of-incestuous for me.

delena

I mean. yeah. I teeter between despising damon and liking him as a villain like 5 times a day. he was much more enjoyable to me for most of s1 until the last couple of episodes, but I hate how he’s pushed as a main protagonist at the expense of pretty much every other character, including elena. her character assassination to justify picking the man who compelled, harassed, disrespected and forced himself on her and her friends—it makes me see red. man killed her brother bc she didn’t let him forcibly kiss her while she was dating his brother and I’m supposed to think that’s true love?

the biggest problem I have with damon is that the writers want so badly for him to be seen by viewers and characters as redeemed… yet they do absolutely no work to make that happen. instead of evolving damon as a person, they retcon stefan and stelena. they regress elena until she’s barely recognizable. they villainize characters he’s abused and who hate him, like caroline in s4. I could talk about this for hours but I genuinely get angry thinking of how fucked the show gets bc the writers refuse to change one fucking character for the better and truly redeem him or commit to him being shitty and have him recognized as a shitty person.

that’s why I hate to see people comparing him to klaus bc there’s no way you think they’re anything alike. at the very least klaus is self-aware and isn’t automatically accepted by everyone around him just bc a girl chose him over his brother.

klamille (kind of. it’s complicated 😭)

LISTEN. listen to me. I fully recognize that klaus had big feelings for her and probably would’ve grown to really love her if they’d had more time. but in my humble opinion cami outgrew her usefulness and relevance to the plot before s1 was even finished. I love me a good “I can fix him” storyline, but they just…. fell flat to me. my man had some fantastic moments expressing his affection for her but they were few and far in between to make me root them him and cami specifically and not just him alone. she’s always felt like a self-insert the writers didn’t know what to do with, and I have no time for that 😭

all that when klonnie (and even klayley) was right there and had all the potential and chemistry in the world, don’t waste my time fr

jeremy and anna

boring. yawn. dated for like a week in cannon and I’m supposed to believe she’s his first love and worth cheating on bonnie with? at the very least have him cheat with the ghost of vicki, who he actually knew and loved for years, not some rando. to think bonnie brought this loser back to life TWICE at her own expense and literally died for him… julie plec when I get my hands around your throat

matt and rebekah

she could do so much better. that’s really all there is to it. I know she wants to be human and that’s the whole point of her arc in tvd and most of TO, but there are 8 billion people on this god forsaken earth. there’s gotta be a better regular ole human man out there who’s deserving of a woman of bex’s caliber. there has to be…

I could probably think of many more but I’m late for class lmao mayhaps I’ll return for another rant

[asterdeer]

i am not an impartial assessor by any means, i love a toxic best frenemies more than life itself so of course i'm a jon&daisy truther, but like. the thing that pissed me off so much about that "i never forgave her, she never asked me to, she knew she didn't have the right" is that. well, firstly, fuck off. secondly, why are we singling out daisy for her lack of asking forgiveness when SO MANY OTHER characters have been equally wretched to jon, excepting martin i guess if i have to, and have still been given the narrative seal of approval? is it because she's a cop? because basira never gets that level of authorial derision. basira gets the literal last word of the show. i haven't relistened to s4 because fuck s4 but i don't remember any apology scene with melanie, and it's not like melanie was meaningfully less influenced by the slaughter in terms of affect on jon's bodily safety, and yet she's still allowed to be all "well maybe we can still be friends even though i've done nothing for you and endangered your life multiple times :)" and by s3 neither basira nor melanie have any kind of rapport with jon, basira doesn't particularly care and melanie has never stopped resenting jon, but they're still allowed to stomp jon into the curb with their moral superiority and jon is expected to take it.

meanwhile, even in s3, there's a funny little chemistry between jon and daisy, not romantically but like - of course jon doesn't trust her, he's right not to, but when they go talk to sarah baldwin, they get a little banter! it's cute! jon laughs! he seems bizarrely comfortable around her and it's refreshing. and obvs their bond gets stronger after the coffin. daisy talks to jon, even occasionally tries to stick up for him. aside from martin, whose self-isolation is a big point of s4, daisy is like. the only one (iirc) who isn't constantly trying to emotionally grind jon into a fine powder until he admits that he's a monster and a worm and that he doesn't deserve to live except on everyone else's terms. daisy is the only one who humbles herself enough to empathize with him. "boo hoo i'm a monster" she gets to say that because she's the only other goddamn person who admits that she's monstrous too!! no one else ever takes this gentle a tone with jon and this time i'm including martin because fuck s5 martin and his mean "apology retracted" "making jon be grateful for not hitting him" ass!!!

so, thirdly, fuck off with the "she knew she didn't have the right." by that logic no one else has the right to be friends with jon either but they sure as hell aren't bothering to ask forgiveness. i just don't understand why the narrative sticks up for jon's traumatic experiences with his "allies" in this one single area and then goes back to throwing him to every other wolf in sight. daisy sacrificed herself in part to protect him. she was killing herself slowly in order to atone and then gave up her own atonement to keep the others safe. in my opinion no one else was aware of their own sins or did more to make up for them than daisy tonner and it makes me so angry that they had to kick her even lower after her death, souring her only other important relationship besides with basira to make some cruel, holier than thou point.

[revenge-of-the-shit]

I'm not sure whether you've been asked about this before, but what are your opinions about Rogue One and its Asian representation, especially on the Holy City, Chirrut, Baze and Bodhi (let's not forget Pakistan *is* part of Asia, so is the Middle East technically). I know the movie has problems in regards to its depiction of Jedha and Saw's partisans (*ahem* Iraq *ahem* terrorists *ahem*) but I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Take all the time you need to answer this humble question.

Hey! Sorry for taking so long - I had many thoughts on this and wanted to be able to answer this properly.

Chirrut

IMO, Chirrut suffers from a similar problem to Shang-Chi, which is: do you seriously have to make the Chinese character a kung fu master? In this case, he takes it a step FURTHER by being portrayed as a literal zen warrior monk. Like, damn, way to lean into the stereotype.

That being said: the martial arts are objectively cool and I was extremely delighted to see Donnie Yen using East Asian martial art forms while kicking the asses of stormtroopers.

On top of that, he does go beyond the stereotype. Chirrut isn't a one-dimensional wisdom-spouting stereotype. He's sassy, he has no problem with wielding an insanely overpowered bowcaster, and he plays a crucial part in the fall of the Death Star by being the only one able to reach the master switch. Without him, the rebellion would have fallen.

So: Yes, he fell into some stereotypes. But ultimately, I loved Chirrut. He's one of my favorite characters.

Baze

Loved him. I rarely get to see large Chinese men with a massive gun kicking ass in a way that doesn't involve martial arts. I loved his gruffness, I loved his small shows of affection (the way he interacts with Chirrut, the way he calls Jyn "little sister" ;-;).

I think Baze was done really, really well. He served as a wonderful foil to Chirrut and it was beautiful to see the two of them interacting on-screen.

Bodhi

I will preface this by saying that I can't speak as well to South Asian representation as I can to East Asian rep. If there are any other South Asian fans who'd like to speak on this, please do so! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I loved Bodhi. In him, I saw an ordinary man who achieved great things simply because he was following his convictions. Bodhi was a regular pilot - he had no special Force abilities, he wasn't born to a rich family, he was no chosen one - he just was. In spite it all, it was because of him and his bravery that the Rebellion even stood a chance at finding the death star plans.

He was a very sweet - and dare I say it, relatable - character. As much as I adore Baze and Chirrut, I am no warrior myself. But Bodhi - he's just a regular man trying his best, and he shows audiences that you don't have to be special from birth to do something that can save the lives of many. As a character, I thought he was wonderfully done, and it was very nice to see that this film included not one, not two, but THREE beautifully complex Asian protagonists who were all crucial to the fall of the Empire.

Saw's Partisans

I have so many problems with this, especially in light of Star Wars Rebels. I think the problems are best exemplified during a conversation between Mon Mothma and Saw in one of the S4(?) episodes of Rebels, where she argues for "kinder and more moral" methods while Saw argues for more direct and violent methods.

It literally can't get more direct than that. Framing Mon Mothma as the "kind and reasonable" one while Saw is the "angry and violent one" - this absolutely reeks of white feminism mixed in with dashes of racism.

This article also explains my thoughts well regarding Rogue One:

The most prominent freedom fighters in Rogue One are Saw Gerrera, played by Forest Whitaker, and his followers, disparaged by the overwhelmingly white Rebel Alliance leadership as “extremists” whose actions are actually detrimental to the Rebellion as a whole. Gerrera and his followers maintain a base on the moon of Jedha, which is pronounced exactly like “Jeddah,” the city in Saudi Arabia. To drive the point home, Gerrera’s soldiers wear face and head coverings that resemble Orientalist 19th-century European paintings of Middle Eastern life. In short, the pretend Arab extremists from Jeddah (sorry, “Jedha”) led by a black man are doing revolution wrong…

…except they’re not.

The organisation that disparages Gerrera’s faction as “extremists” is, largely, the same organisation that’s unwilling to fight when the existence of the Death Star is revealed. Rogue One‘s heroes of colour must take up Gerrera’s struggle, extreme as some might perceive it to be, in order to take any real steps toward saving the galaxy and advancing the cause of revolution. Isn’t there something wrong when a so-called revolutionary group backs down once it discovers a weapon built to enable oppression on a heretofore unseen scale? You’d think so. I’d think so, too. But according to a distressing number of real-life “liberal” voices, we shouldn’t fight; we should meet them halfway, go low when they go high, and employ other tactics that at best won’t work and at worst will allow innocent people to be killed. By portraying moderation as an enabler of fascism, Rogue One emphasises the ideological flaws in such false liberalism.

Disney in general has an uncanny ability to take characters of colour and to either (1) push them away into irrelevance or (2) to frame them as well-intentioned people with terrible methods. This is just one of those cases.

[panelshowsource]

let me get to some of your most urgent asks post-nmtb spam and pre-taskmaster spam! 🕺

—

bestie i’m afraid to tell you this...

YES! i have such high hopes the cast will vibe ~splendidly~ and the fact i’m going to have alternating david and victoria content every single week fills me with a glee i cannot even express :’) i’m just already heartbroken it’s only going to be 6 episodes!

thinking about the fact there’s now... taskmaster... buzzcocks... outsiders... qi... question team... bakeoff... umm panel show people, do we have enough hours in the day?

i can’t expose my secrets anon but.......a sneak peek for you *muah*

while i don’t think it was for taskmaster, i won’t rule it out only because it’s sooo drastic of a change compared to, say, wearing a pair of glasses, and it’s a wig opposed to dyed hair for a real chaneg-up. too bad because i can tell from one blurry ass pic she looks STUNNING! i think it’s funny so many people believe it’s for tm, like “yes that is absolutely something victoria would do” because we just know despite finding a lot to mock about the tasks and the format of the show in general she is absolutely going to be competitive muahaha~

I NEVER WATCHED IT AND I’M FOAMING AT THE MOUTH IN ANGER AT MYSELF...DOWNLOADING IT RIGHT NOW LEMME GET BACK TO YOU

if anyone else who watched it wants to send in their thoughts/opinions, please do! let’s talk about it! but maybe not start a small war like we did talking about taskmaster s10! lmaooo

between you and me, s2 is also my favourite hehe i cry at how short it is but at the same time that’s part of what makes it so impeccable? the chemistry of the cast, every single one of them striking the right balance between genuinely trying and taking the piss, the simplicity of the tasks, the fact so much about the format of the show was still being worked out by both the producers and the contestants, joe being the epitome of unhinged and unnecessarily competitive, katherine’s fits... i feel like if you don’t like joe wilkinson, it’s not one of the best, but if you do like joe wilkinson, it’s potentially THE best. taskmaster stupidity at its tim key-like best :’)

look at this poor sod

DO THEY? A CRIME. in my humble opinion, which i shall express because i am the country lord who presides over this blog, s1–5 were the epitome of the series simply because it was before the format of the show had been totally worked out and become a little overcomplicated, and the combination of 1) figuring out the format alongside the producers and contestants and 2) the chemistry between each series’ contestants was a god-tier panel show experience. personally, i’d say s1–2 are where there is the most humble, chaotic charm — and this is probably because the show was so new and the contestants were so...confused LMAO — and s4–5 are where the show peaked. so i’d say we’re likely on the same page in that regard, and anyone who is overlooking s5 and out bob is a...CLOWN. yes a clown

wanted? you didn’t do it???????? anon???

katherine is begging for emerald — obviously — but i told her a gem tone in winter is simply too obvious and am pushing for july in christmas theme. something blush, maybe even a pastel? i am already on thin ice with her over the matter... should probably leave it for a couple of days. that said, the invites will be out for the end of the month!

unrelated and also an absolute lie since katherine and i are genuinely engaged to be married but am i the only one who thinks she and her husband are so hot together

legally you have to send me vcm thirst every time it enters your head over the next ten weeks. deal?

—

btw i am working on links that need updating, so please give me through the weekend to take care of everything :’) that said, nmtb is up on drive and taskmaster will also be up asap. thanks for your patience!

f.a.q. / tags / ask

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hey.. i'm axel. be prepared, this might be one of the dumbest asks you have ever received. so.. i'm sorta very much in love with this girl i know and i may have told her that i like to watch sherlock to impress her (i don't watch it, not yet atleast). safe to say, i may have impressed her too much yet i barely know anything about the show so.. help! 😬 told you this was a dumb ask 😅 i just wanna know some basic things about the show that most fans know about.. please and ty. 💙

Hey Axel!

AHHHH, this is cute hahahahha. No dumb asks here, hahah <3 Well, my obvious suggestion is to watch the show (yes, even the hated S4 if only so you can see why people panned it so much) so you can see what all the fuss is about. I believe it’s on Netflix in its entirety, or you can probably find streams of it online (I may or may not have them on a google drive for myself............); it’s worth a watch at the very least. And if you don’t want to watch, you can read the transcripts by Ariane DeVere. 

And I’m presuming since you’re messaging me, your crush is a Johnlocker (or by some miracle I was referred to you as an all-around okay person to talk to so, I’m humbled if that’s the case), so you’ll need to see why we ship Johnlock, of course. Then once you’re hooked and immersed in the series and the ship and forget about eating and interacting with society, you’ll of course need to just blog everything Sherlock and read fanfics and check out some meta about the series!

And then you’re one of u––– I MEAN Welcome to the fandom!!!! 

🤣🤣🤣

Seriously though, it’s very sweet of you to want to share an interest in what your crush is, and because you got yourself in that pickle, I do suggest you spend a few evenings to watch it. Each series is about 4 hours, Many Happy Returns is seven minutes (watch it before S3) and the special is an hour and a half (watch it between series three and four), so you can plow them out in 4 nights LOL. It’s the best way to see what all the hype’s about. And heck, it might make a fan out of you, LOL. And regardless of if you ship johnlock or not by the end of it, we’ll welcome you all the same :)

Though I am curious, if you’re not officially part of the fandom how you found my blog (is your crush a follower of mine???)? I’m genuinely curious, only because Tumblr hides my blog from searches and recommended feeds, I’m certain of it, so to find my blog among thousands of others is a bit humbling.

Hope it works out for you and your crush, Axel <3 And you’re welcome to contact me for any other questions you may have :) I’ve a TONNE of meta I’ve written, and I do still occasionally answer meta-asks, so I will do my best to help you out. I don’t want to sway your opinion one way or another until after you’ve come to your own about the series :) (it’s biased to Johnlock, obviously, but I also have theories and such about the seasons, so I think it’s always best to approach it at surface level first :))

Take care and best of luck!! 💜🖤

[buttcheekbb]

excuse me good ma'am, do you have time to talk about the absolute treasure that is what the girlfriends

UH HI YES HELLO, I HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO TALK ABOUT THE BLESSINGS THAT RAIN DOWN ON US EVERY DAY DUE TO ONE (1) MISS MELANIE KING AND MISS GEORGIE BARKER.

~please, step into my humble docile and make yourself at home....a cup of tea perhaps?~

idk if you were just looking for general thoughts or whatever but I’m just going to babble here for a bit and hope that it gives you some insight into how much i love wtgfs ❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍

hehe just generally I thank god that these two women exist in the TMA world as well as my head, rent free. When Melanie first came in during S1 I was like “👀 I AM LOOKING” and every moment she’s returned, my heart swells with love and maaaaayybe just a BIT of,,,,,pining.... And the breath of fresh air that Georgie brings into the series in S3/S4 as well as just like...!!!!! caring for Jon gets me every time and it’s my personal opinion that it’s the love, care and affect that Georgie has as a person that allows Jon (and later Melanie) to pursue being healthy, traumatized individuals (lol we love to see it). When Georgie first tells Jon that he needs anchors is probably one of my most favorite parts in the whole series because she’s RIGHT and SHE SHOULD SAY IT, even just in the sense that isolating yourself (especially when you are in danger or struggling with something) is not the way to go. you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help, and even though she may not have entirely understood what Jon was//is going through via eldritch horrors and such, she’s still RIGHT and wants what’s best for her people and wants them to take care of themselves. This directly translates to when Melanie decides to stop working, go to therapy, and eventually quit the archives. When I say I SCREAMED when Melanie decided to go to therapy, I am not exaggerating one bit. This WOMAN, in the wake of so much fucking trauma, serving as an avatar of the Slaughter, with the hopelessness that comes with being quite literally trapped in the institute and literally all other aspects of her life being stripped from her decided (having a LOT to do with Georgie 🥺) that she wanted to GROW and continue to pursue PEACE (I want to say happiness but let’s just go with peace rn bc honestly how much happiness is attainable after The Magnus Institute?). Melanie KNEW that even if she couldn’t escape, she wanted to actively do nothing via the terrors that the Institute//The Eye were orchestrating because she did not want to be apart of anything as harming as that, and though physically bound, she was going to disengage and do what she could to avoid. She ALSO recognized that bitches need therapy and that if she was going to try and feel better//become better//learn more about the possibilities of a better life, she would need to change what she was doing as THAT WASN’T IT CHIEF. And then FINALLY--deciding to fucking quit despite the horror that comes with the act was what Melanie felt she needed to do, as a person, for herself because of her morals and her values which of course have always been there but have been pushed to the forefront of our consciousnesses BECAUSE of the QUEEN that is Georgie Barker!!!!!

 ANYWAYS the STRENGTH that wtgfs have together as a unit is unmatched but it’s because of one another that they are able to continue on. Georgie actively makes Melanie a better person, not through changing her but encouraging personal growth. Though we don’t get a great glimpse into Georgie’s life other than snippets of S3, I would like to hope and head cannon that Melanie does the same for Georgie and that they serve one another in ways that are so greatly appreciated💖🥺 wtgfs water my crops, feed my children, save my town from flooding and famine, and live in my head and heart rent free. Also THE ADMIRAL IS GOD THEM SELF AND BETTER THAN ANY BEING IN THE TMA AND THIS UNIVERSE OKAY COOL THAT’S ALL FOR NOW THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TEDTALK (but also if anything i said interested u or want me to say anything else about wtgfs pls let me know, I will always have something more to say but figured this was long enough for the first ask hehe😅

[whencallstheheart]

Survey Comments

Okay, I’m copying and pasting the comments in their entirety.  And there’s a lot of them.  I didn’t go through and edit this, sorry, but there’s a lot of good stuff in here.  Each line is a separate comment unless it’s a longer comment or paragraph.  Read them all below the cut!

I do not appreciate being manipulated for ratings. Series wayyy off the rails I am disappointed with the direction of the show. I will record season 6 but only watch the episodes you say are good in this blog. I'm not giving them ratings when they drag out silly story lines and neglect good ones..

Something is just off with the series. It used to be so good. I miss the lightheartedness and I'm going to miss Jack. I am disappointed that the cast/ executive producers keep saying there is hope in Hope Vally because of the baby coming. I have no desire to see that story line played out. I lived it. There is no hope or joy in growing up without a father.

The way the powers that be are trying to do damage control is insulting to fans’ intelligence. I can’t believe they knew for a year and a half and this was what they gave us. I think they should bring Jack back and say he was found alive with amnesia. I’m so mad that they dragged the wedding out until season 5 and only gave us a couple episodes of them being married before killing off Jack. It feels like they don’t actually care about the story at all, just trying to squeeze out as much ratings as possible. I feel really used. I wish they would have handled Dan's exit a whole lot better than they did, but oh well. Going to miss Jack. He was my favorite character. I'm still too numb. I loved "dark" Elizabeth. Thought it gave a lot of depth to her character. Nice to see her not be so happy all the time, it is rather unrealistic.

They should've told fans that Daniel was leaving to prepare them. It's like they are admitting they don't have confidence in the show beyond the main couple. Next season I hope they spend more time on the characters we already know instead of bringing in new people we only see for an episode or two.

Well done! You're amazing! :) ras i would like to see daniel and erin in a ,movie f their own I think they are all amazing actors/actresses. I do not blame Dan for moving on but I am sure going to miss him. Disappointed in how his exit was handled.

My favorite episode was "Heart of the Matter" but I thought the denouement in "Weather the Storm" was lacking. That story arc probably needed three episodes, but that was indicative of this season and series. The writing has always been up and down throughout the seasons. I am disappointed with Jack being gone as he is a great character, but I think I would have been more disappointed with recasting. I know the actors and writers and producers are very connected with the fans, but I would never have expected them to give me a heads up when they chose the death route. I accept that this is how it is handled. I would have loved, however, having a few more Jack-read letters to Elizabeth. I really thought it would have been great to have one in the Season 4 finale, but also one in "Weather the Storm." It would have felt a little more even and connected. Regardless, I think "In My Dreams" and "Close to My Heart" were probably the two best episodes back to back in the season. I think there are great storylines going forward, but I am also prepared for suspending reality as usual when it comes to uneven plots, missing characters, magical travel times, and pristine sets. That's how it's been since season 2 and I just accept it because while it isn't the greatest, it's good enough to keep me interested and chuckling. I really enjoy your Tumblr. Thanks for all the work you do. NA The only storylines that could get me to continue watching the show would be a Henry and Abigail romantic relationship and the development of Jesse and Clara as a couple. Take them off the back burner for a bit while Elizabeth copes with single motherhood. No, it's unfortunate that Dan wanted to leave, but that's reality. So I don't feel "cheated" as fan. I've been watching since Day 1 but honestly havent kept up with the most recent season. I was sad that Jack's character is no longer part of it, but I'm hopeful. I'll probably start faithfully watching again to see how the show continues.

Thanks for your hard work The season finale was extremely well done! Incredible cinematography! The actors and crew did an amazing job considering the pill to swallow! I hope they made J&E married life longer with a marriage at thr end of season 4 with a baby on the way! And season 5 about their married life and the baby! With an unfortunate departure for WW1 (in terms of time/date, I think we are pretty close from beginning of WW1) and a very heroic death on the field! Although I knew something not good was going to happen with Daniel’s reduced participation I had hoped it was temporary and he would be back full time for season 6. I feel betrayed and think it’s all about the ratings has nothing to do with the fans.

I love Carson's character. I love how he found himself again after losing his wife. I think if Jack cannot come back, then Carson would be the perfect character to pair with Elizabeth because they were both hurt by feeling cheated of their loves. They can find comfort, strength, and a new faith in God's plan in each other. This series is dead to me. I'm done. They should have told us in advance that it was Dan's last season.  Fans were misled.  The hair and makeup is completely overdone - makes it feel sooo fake. Why couldn't you just recast Jack in s4? we would have accepted that more easily and allowed the story to continue. Please don't milk something that is "cute" once (i.e. Brownie).  It gets very old. This season was cruel now that we know they knew Dan was leaving for 1.5 years. They should have had a show where we got to say goodbye knowit was his last show.

Bring Frank back! Loyal fans were cheated, used and deceived. Makes me more angry to know all involved knew for year and half and yet through together the rest of J&E story.

They Mase a mis tale Wotherspoon Jack death

Season 5 ended with the wedding for me.  The rest of the season just fell flat! Season 5 was extremely disappointing with terrible writing. No Bring back Jack I am upset that they had a wedding to kill off Jack and now Elizabeth will be a single parent.

no More doom and gloom next season.  Elizabeth will probably die giving birth to Jack's child.  I will never watch the show again. I think faith and Carson should be an item. They need to gather up the many things going on too busy.

The producers and writers dropped the ball in dealing with Dan's departure. What was the point of the wedding if they were going to kill him off immediately after. Would rather have had the wedding instead of the engagement in Season 4 and at least seen the two happy before he left for the Northern Territories. Season 5 could have had them in their home and happy before sending Jack off on his training exercise. I feel cheated and lied to by the PTB and won't be watching into Season 6. And I don't believe all the hype about Dan still being part of the Hallmark family. I've seen just about every other cast member, including the kids, in more than one movie over the last 5 years, but only one with Dan in it. That speaks volumes. No wonder Dan wanted to leave. He's a far better actor than many of the men in the Hallmark family and yet they shelved him. I could see in Dan's eyes that he was conflicted about lying to Hearties and fans of WCTH. I hope he walks away and never looks back. It's obvious Hallmark, BB and even Lori knows they screwed the pooch in the way they handled Dan's leaving and I am getting fed up with all the damage control they're doing. Why don't they just be honest and admit they screwed up instead of continuing to lie to and manipulate the fans of WCTH. If they were confident they did the right thing then why all the damage control. I guess that's entertainment business for ya. They're all full of crap and only want one thing....MONEY

They should have had Jack & Elizabeth marrying at the end of Season 2 and had Season 3 be about their married life with possibly a child, they made the mistake of drawing out the courtship way too long-very unrealistic. Also needed more in depth character development with core characters instead of bringing in new people and killing off Cat Montgomery for instance. Season 1 was the best Season by far in my humble opinion.  If the writing does not improve, I will not continue to watch. They had a really good thing and pretty quickly proceeded to kill it.  SAD! I miss the season one aesthetic so much, it was darker and grittier and much more real. Now it's just a pointless soap opera with no direction or plot. Jack and Elizabeth were the bar  -  chemistry will be difficult to match I feel like they can move past Jack's death only if they spread around the character focus. Hopefully, we will have more time with Rosemary and Lee. I want to see their family grow. I want to see progress between Abigail and Henry. Give Henry more screen time! He is such a interesting character. I so didn't like Elizabeth being pregnant, it feels like another slap to the face. Now, she has to raise this child without its father!  She will probably have another love interest and it will probably be Carson. It will be interesting to see where the show goes from here.

No

It's just heartbreaking and unfair to the fans and the characters.

I understand that Dan is an actor and wanted to leave, but as Jack and Elizabeth were built up to be the main characters of the show(in my opinion), they should have had them go off together.  To keep the show going after that they should have been building up another couple to take their place.  Shows like Little House on the Prairie had main characters leave like Charles and Caroline, but the show remained with them returning periodically to guest star.  I would have hated to have Erin leave, but I think that would have been the best option for the fans.  Sorry, Lori you have lost a fan of your show. Good luck in your future endeavors, Dan! My overall feeling is that if the writers handled and developed other characters well, then a main character's death would be just an addition to the plot. I'm not upset about Jack, I'm upset with the lack of development.  The show just doesn't hold my attention anymore. Thanks for doing this survey!!! And for taking time to listen to followers.

I did not care for the way they handled Daniel Kissing leaving. Hallmark is the channel people watch for escape, a happy ending.  I will not be watching next season. Bring Jack back

No Not right now

Know many will disagree but would have preferred a recast so the characters'' lives could go on. Thanks for all that you do well if Eliszabeth is happy with carson i would'nt mind but other wise anyone apart from Charles i am good.

Writing is so sad Needed more married time. His death would have been easier if they had written it better. I think Lori Loughlin’s indluence as an executive producer led to a change in focus for the show .All of the crowd storylines took time away from the central focus from season 1, which was Elizbeth and her life. Just watching the social media interactions and the stories in recent seasons it seems as if Abigail, not Elizabeth will be the central character.

I wish I'd stopped watching after season three when I was mad they didn't at least have a proposal after his near death experience. I personally would never want Elizabeth to be paired up wih anyone from Hope Valley. No Your blog is awesome.  Thank you for all the work you put into it.  We appreciate it!  I think the storyline I liked best was Henry's almost return to the dark side only to turn towards good in the end.  I do think there will be more seasons, but I don't think there should be.  The money/ratings are just too good for Hallmark to shut it down... and the "hearties" will continue to support, I have no doubt.IMO, that's why Elizabeth had to be pregnant.... ensured storylines for future seasons. Thanks for the spoilers on the last two episodes of the season, I haven't watch those episodes because of that. I think it was rotten of all of them (Hallmark, BB, Lori, etc.) to decided to kill off Jack rather than recast. Not sure if I want to watch next season because of the way they handled it. If I do watch in the future it will be for Lee and Rosemary.

I've been shocked by Lori's attitude on fb live. She was selling the damage control as the right hand of BB. Never have thought that she has so much influence on the show. I've got a very bad taste in my mouth seeing and hearing her talk about the show. 18 months of knowing it and do nothing to make the end acceptable for tke fandom. I won't support this emotional manipulation anymore. WCTH stab their fanbase in the back.

Boy do they need to work on their skills They really screwed themselves by waiting so long to get e/j married. It would have been much easier to swallow if everything wasn't so rushed.  Also, I hope we get more story lines about the dangers of the frontier next season, they kind of lost those at some point.

I really miss Jack This is a cool tumblr . I'm really pissed Jack is gone I was pretty 'yuck' about the suggestion of Carson/Elizabeth, but I think with a little care and attention, it might be an okay pairing. Of course, this hinges on them not jumping into it, and preferably not failing to acknowledge that both of them can still love their deceased spouse while finding a new love. Not sure they're fully capable of doing it well, but I'll take 'reasonably decent' at this stage. Thanks for the survey! :) I just hope Elizabeth finds someone new soon in the appropriate time that we can all love and that Abigail and Henry get together or Abigail and Bill or Bill and AJ

The way the powers that be (specifically Brian Bird) have handled this is incredibly frustrating and insulting to fans. The constant deception and snarkiness is so over the top, and really doesn't jive with their whole goody-goody Christian values image that they're trying to project. Booooo.

it was an interesting season and i really love this show.

I feel it was super sad to have jack die. The fans and myself truly loved that relationship and honestly that’s a big reason I watched the show. I’m not sure if I will continue to watch or not. I feel it is too sad to not have him there anymore and the relationship between them will make it hard to see her with someone else. However, she needs to have love in her life. Rosemary needs to get pregnant but I’m glad elizabeth is. They could have handled Lessing's departure so much better, moving on with the story from season 4. Pity.

Abigail as a character is unrecognizable and by getting rid of Frank they threw away their most interesting male.

. I would like to see the series have a time jump and have Elizabeth with a new love interest I don’t think Carson and Elizabeth is a good idea but maybe if they pursue the paring, the show will prove me wrong

With a year and a half of knowing Dan was leaving the show.  They could have done better.  If they had married in season 4 and shown them together as a married couple for a while then he died in the northern territories and she found she was pregnant when he was gone it would have been better Keep hearing Dan was fired and then he quit. Want to know what’s happening. Only ereason I started watching was for that pairing not interested in saccharine sweet storylines and dropped characters. Nothing to add

It appears that Dan has taken on the role of resident scapegoat.  The message is "Please blame me for leaving, but keep watching the show".  I think the issue was Dan wanted to branch out from Hallmark and guest star on NBC where he got his North America break, and that didn't sit well with management.  It' feels like the other actors are only working for Hallmark. I've been feeling dissatisified with WCTH since the Charles proposal, but I was holding on for the engagement and the wedding.  Now after season 5, I'm disappointed in myself for not trusting my instincts and stopped watching three seasons ago.  Aside from the cute moments between Rosemary and Lee, there's not enough substance to keep me interested in WCTH.  I will continue to look for Dan in future roles and wish him all the best. I feel SO cheated! I think they should have ended it, or have Elizabeth and Jack leaving Hope Valley together and continue the show with the other characters. I don't know if I will ever watch another show from Hallmark, they used to be my happy place! Now I feel betrayed. Not happy with waiting to season 5 for all that happened between E&J.  Totally a manipulative move especially when we know they have been working towards him leaving the show for some time.

Hope there is more Henry and Abigail next season. Barley got anything. Maybe if they didn't drag out the Elizabeth and Jack storyline/wedding we would have gotten to see more of the other characters.Hopefully next season will be better! just have to wait an entire year No

Questions are good, but some answers need expanding. Killing off a central beloved character is very risky, so anything after 1st 3 episodes of S6 is shakey. HM counld have handled Dan’s leaving a little better. Other thing is this show keeps getting rid of the “strong male” characters, which I don’t think is good. I love seeing shows with strong women roles, but I also like to see them paired against a strong male character. This show is lacking balance, and has begun to morph into The Widows of Hope Valley. Also, life is hard enough, that’s why I like to escape into Hallmark shows. This show could be long lived, if they develop the characters, stop making Bill so ornery and Henry depressing, and Jesse a little stronger. Lee seems balanced- take the lead from that character. Not a fan of Carson, though him and Faith could have a good relationship.One last thing, the finale was too stark and depressing, which I think also added to the fans upsetment. Thanks for taking the time to develop the survey. Just recently found your blog, but glad I did. Although there were quite a few gems this season, it felt very...unorganized overall. There was very little cohesiveness, and the storylines were (for lack of a better word) cheesey.

With Daniel not really committed to the show the past 2 seasons I am fine with his death. Not really sure how it could have been handled better since they missed the chance at a wedding earlier in the series. Hoping it will return to its earlier formula of developing other characters and storylines. Carson is boring, Frank was boring, bill is boring as a romantic lead. I don't think they necessarily had to kill Jack off if Dan wanted to leave. More stories with Lee and Rosemary

I hope they stop with all the pairing. Life isnt about that and Elizabeth should be a great teacher without a pairing.  In fact teachers weren't allowed to get married and keep their teaching job.  I really hope, although it is Halmark, to see more of what life is suppose to be like at the turn of the century.  Or at least idealized as in Anne of Green Gables.  This shows writing has gone down hill.  But its Halmark paried with Oak.  Overly sweet sappy love stories ahea. If they were going to have Jack and Leixabeth to get married, they should have had them married by the beginning of season four. They could have had Jack die in the NT and it would have been painful and meaningful and whatever else. Lee and Rosemary have so much potential and the writers refuse to utilize them and it’s very frustrating. I would actully like to see a relationship between Carson and Faith!

No

Should have found another way Incredibly poor writing with gaping plot holes and disappearing characters.

The lack of a proper funeral for Jack the character was an insult to all the character has been to the story - 3 minutes reallY!  43 minutes of grieving is ridiculous - all it takes is a letter from the dead, a ride on the horse and a talk with Opal and she's smiling - totally unrealistic.

I was widowed a couple months after I got married when I was 25. I use TV to escape so it’s dishearting that TV thinks death is the only way to close a characters chapter on the show. It’s like I lived this, I see it in real life, give me an escape. It’s been 9 years but sometimes I think my daydream about my husband coming back. I understand Dan wanted to move on, and the show could have sent Jack on assignment, he could have still been mentioned in the show and made occasional guest appearances when his scheduled allowed. That way the fans still get what they want and when the series ends we could have had Jack and Elizabeth riding off into the sunset with their family. I would have preferred not for Elizabeth to be pregnant because now not only did we actually get to see Jack and Elizabeth as husband and wife but we don’t get to see them as parents....together. Although I stopped watching the show when Dan’s screentume became less and less, I still keep up with the show here and there. I would support Elizabeth and Carson only because they know what the other has been through but I still won’t watch the show consistently.

I respect Dan's decision to leave, really sad about it but I think I felt relieved over the fact that they developed a lifelong friendship. But truth be told, those obstacles led to Jack and Elizabeth getting paid dust and honestly deserved so much more - especially with the house and baby talks they had during the season. Recasting would have turned out horribly, but I think it's pretty understandable that Jack died a hero since he's a Mountie. His life is on the line in his job. I just wish they had settled down after the wedding instead. Will watch the Christmas special, and that'll be the deciding factor if I'm sticking around. It's going to be hard without Jack, but having Dan and Erin's friendship as it is, that's something I'll hold onto. After Jack went to western teritories the show lost its momentum and it went downhill from there. It felt as if he was absent even when he was in Hope Valley. Such a shame. I want Elizabeth to be happy but I also do not want to get invested in another relationship of hers. I am also not thrilled about the baby - super predictable, and I don't think every woman would be thrilled that she has to go through pregnancy and raising a child without the father. I'm sure Hope Valley will support her, but I hope they show her struggle with that. I don't particularly like Carson/Faith (it seems like she has a kid crush on him) but I also don't like Elizabeth/Carson. Not sure what they'll do for season 6 ...

I do like that most problems start and end in one episode, I do miss the ongoing issue that runs through an entire season. Saw that season 1-3 but it lacked the last two. The financial crisis didn’t count this season. That was just poorly executed.

Pay Dan what he wants. Make it a dream,continue the show as it was. Horrible way they played along with the romance for years and then threw everything together like a bowl of spaghetti.  I'm done removed it from my DVR.

I really don’t blame Hallmark for the entire mess.  I fell there is a lot more to Dans leaving than has been reported. Hallmark and the Hearties jump started his career in the US and he could have stuck around to given  them another season to continue his and Elizabeth’s love story and be there to see his child born. They only film for barely 3 months so I think it could have been worked. I feel Dan is responsible for taking the joy out of the series. I respect that one has to move on, but I hope for his sake that he made the right choice. Hollywood is fickle. This show has always had its faults, but both season 4 and season 5 have felt utterly directionless. Maybe that's a result of trying to steer a large ship away from Jack and Elizabeth to focus on other story lines, but it has been so very frustrating to watch. I watched all previous seasons on Netflix (I don't have cable), but I bought the 5th season because Daniel Lissing was finally back and I wanted to see the weddings I could finally put this show behind me. Basically, I bought this season out of a sense of desperate frustration. The wedding itself was wonderful (not the whole episode - just the wedding), and when Jack and Elizabeth said "Finally!" at the end, I did too. But the rest of the season? Ugh. Plot progression is so slow, if there is any. I feel like we see the same thing over and over with Lee and Rosemary, the same crisis over and over with Abigail as mayor, even the same conversation between Henry and Abigail over and over ("I'll never be accepted, Abigail" "Yes, you will. I know you're a good man."). It's exhausting. And this isn't a popular opinion, but I'm not crazy about the kids - too cheesy for me and the school scenes are so sugary sweet I can't stand it. Elizabeth has turned into a walking stick of cotton candy. Anyway, for me, I was planning on ending this show with the wedding unless something in this season really grabbed me. I haven't watched the end of the season because I already got what I came for, but I am frustrated that Jack died and angry at the way the whole production team decided to handle it - although with their plot pacing decisions over the past 5 years, I'm not sure why I expected better. This show could be so much more, but it's not.

It's the most saddest, tragical love story I've whitnessed on tv. Not only between Jack and Elizabeth, but also between Dan and Erin. I quite the show and really hope that season 6 is their last one. I don't wanna be part of a show in which fans are cheated and lied to, only for the ratings and the money. The powers to be and also the leading cast, Dan, Erin and Lori, don't deserve any attention from the fandom. The way they handled everything about the show was devestating. I will also unfollow Dan. I'm not interested in him either. To deserve attention you have to show some respect to your fans. He didn't. Only control damage, especially by Lori. I've always admired her for working hard and combining private and business live together, but this time I've got a very bad taste in my mouth considering her. Finally the show, Hallmark, the powers to be and the leading cast showed their true colors!!!!!!  I wanna thank you for your time you've spent on me. It's just a show. Just some Sunday night entertainment. More Rosemary appreciation around the town, PLSSSSSS

I'd prefer that Jack's character have been played by another actor rather than removed from the show (even if he rode off happily into the sunset), UNLESS Elizabeth left too. (I think Andrew Walker would have made a superior replacement for Daniel Lissing.) I'd happily watch the show just for Lee + Rosemary, but this plot twist has squeezed all the joy out of a previously happily un-realistic TV show with this crudely presented character death. It was unfair of the network to insert gut-wrenching drama at the conclusion of a season where the (previous) worst problems were resolved in moments. Hallmark didn't allow the hero in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries to be killed off even though his character dies in the books, conveniently sending him back to the CIA instead. But in their "family-friendly, heart-of-TV" show, they kill off the hero in a landslide instead of recasting? What a sad way to end five seasons of “sweet and naïve” television. They handled things well. I would say that I’m disappointed that they knew for so long and decided not to tell us that Daniel was leaving. However, it was Daniel’s choice to leave the show so he could focus on other things. Like they said in their live stream, they went through every option. I strongly believe that killing Jack was the best thing they could do because replacing him with a different actor would not have worked. I’ll continue watching the show and supporting the cast because they have a story to tell and I want to see where it goes. Jack's death should have been handled differently. The reaction of BB and LL left a bad taste in my mouth. Thead shows are supposed to entertain and uplift, not depress. That was a terrible way for them to get rid of Jack. I would like to have seen Jack recast since DL wanted to leave, it could have been very exciting to have a new Mountie Jack. Maybe still could be if the backlash is strong enough.

Thanks for the fun times! I feel hurt and cheated. I know its just a show but I have been crying all week, I was hoping Jack was still alive. Henrigail. Only thing I'm hanging on for. Wishing, but not bothering to hope, that they do that right. Steeling myself for continuing mediocrity.

Unless I hear that jack is miraculously back, I’m out

Definitely understand Dan's decision to leave. They could have handled it better. Especially having a long time to plan for it. Not mad at Dan in the slightest. Really going to miss him. Hope nothing but the best for all involved in the making of When Calls the Heart. Carson and Faith pairing all the way! Thanks for your blog!! I think they should have ended the show with this season since Dan wanted to leave. It would have been more respectful for the fans who have been following this show for 5 years now. I get the comment made by Lori about a lot of people depending on the show for a job. However, this show is filmed in Vancouver and there are plenty of tv jobs within that city. Also, tv is unpredictable and people who work in film know that. I just find Jack’s death as a slap in the face to the fans. They should have ended it this season. I mean let’s be honest, this show is obviously very different since it started. The quality in storytelling has gone way down.

I want for season 6 more deapt in the stories and not so many plot per episode.

This season was a huge letdown.  The wedding episode was terrible.  Also, Rosemary should have been pregnant instead of Elizabeth. no Thank you!

I'm done with this show. Jack and Elizabeth was what hooked me.

Overall, I think the show has the potential to return to it's former self in previous statements. But I do think it's lost its way this season. This season was a train wreck and I feel cheated on J and E's relationship.  Very jerked around by Hallmark regarding the hype of the wedding.  From chalkdust to eternity?!  How about from chalkdust until 3 weeks from now--when you die!

Shitty season. Honestly, they could've had Jack go elsewhere and still send letters just in case Daniel did want to come back. Thanks for the survey! This has been a great season (except for them killing Jack off). I enjoyed all the stories. I loved all of the kids getting storylines. Opal's adventures. I loved the stories of Jesse and Clara. I loved Rosemary and Lee. Gowen's stories, too. I loved they tied up Tom and Julie. I hate that everything was rushed with Jack and Elizabeth and now he's dead. That is why I won't continue. I'll miss it, but life goes on.

The series touches hearts and gives hope...life isn't sunshine and roses but with faith and hope we are able to make it good... This season was wasted on filler- and they did not utalize Dan's limited time wisely. I think we are still getting half the story on why they went the route they did. In the FB LIVE You could tell Dan was given the lowdown on what he could or could not say- poor guy!

This season could have been better but they need to get rid of all the one and done people. But i'm here for Henry and Abigail. Let that ship sail!!

[skam-season4]

SKAM Theories, Speculation, and Analysis of what we know so far - Season 4 Hiatus

Hi all, It’s Holly, your least favorite SKAM blog again. I am putting together a master post of speculation, theories, and other stuff because this hiatus is killing me. You’d think after 112 days of absolutely zero content would prepare me for ten days, but here I am. So, this will kind of be chronological, and kind of in order of small details to big picture stuff. Because It’s semi - chronological, most of the beginning sections will be Even and Balloon Squad stuff, and  Feel free to message me on your thoughts, I encourage you all to disagree, have your own opinions, but just do it respectfully.

This should be pretty obvious, but if you aren’t caught up with S4E5 yet, this will be spoilers galore.

Bolded things are summaries of a topic, or main / important ideas of a topic

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on anything bipolar / mental illness related, or anything related to Islam. I’ve pulled an Isak and googled different types of bipolar, I know a few people who are mentally ill, but its different for everyone. I’ve read a little bit of the Qur’an, and I’ve tried to educate myself of some Islamic traditions and rituals, but I definitely do not know everything. If I say something wrong or ignorant, PLEASE CORRECT ME, but do it respectfully and I will gladly change it.

Here is the list of topics in order that will be covered:

Sana being ignored - a look through the ages

Even’s timeline

Even’s relationship with each member of the Balloon Squad

Hvem er Mikael?

The Even x Mikael x Yousef situation

Sonja’s Role

Even’s Christmas Text

Season 4 Trailer analysis

Sana’s feelings towards Vilde in S4

Was Yousef going to kiss Sana at the end of “The Best of Islam”?

Sana + Noorhelm drama

Yousef + not Fighting

What was the fight about?

Girls in the bathroom

Noora’s motivation to kiss Yousef

Yousef’s Motivation to kiss Noora

Season 4 Hiatus Trailer Analysis

BIGGER IDEAS

Why the Russ bus is Important

Vilde’s Character Development / Gay Vilde

Sana’s Mirror and Foil

Parallels

Themes

Perspective

Here we go!

Sana being ignored - a look through the ages 

Sana has been being ignored from the first episode she is introduced.

Vilde’s first visit to the school doctor: Where’s Sana?

The rest of the girls drinking in Eva’s room before Vilde sleeps with William: Where’s Sana?

We didn’t really think much of it when it was happening, and thats because of perspective. Perspective is possibly the most important lesson in this entire series (more on that later) and we were seeing this from Eva’s perspective. Eva probably didn’t notice too much that Sana was being left out, probably because she wasn’t that close to her yet, but now we get upset about Sana being excluded because we are actually affected by it.

Even’s timeline

This is what we have been told as of now. Some theorize that some of this info is false, and we obviously have a lot of missing information, but here’s what we think we know so far:

In Even’s second year, the video interview with him and Mikael was made. (x)

It’s 2015

Even is in his third year at Bakka

He is part of the Balloon Squad

Sonja and him have been dating for a year or two at this point

At some point, Even tries to kiss Mikael

Mikael pulls away because he is religious

Even memorizes the Qur’an in Arabic in attempt to cure himself

Even begins posting verses on Facebook about gay people going to Hell (flame emoji?)

We know this is the school’s Facebook page, as per Vilde in this text

I think its safe to assume that Even was manic when he posted that stuff

BUT we cannot be sure whether he was manic or not when he decided to read the Qur’an.

Sonja says he was in S3E8

But Sonja has also said that Even’s feelings for Isak are a result of mania, and basically that Isak was a symptom of Even’s mania

Obviously this turned out to be false

So the line between his mania and non-mania regarding what happened at Bakka is still extremely blurry. (non-mania? idk what to call it sorry, as I’ve said, I’m not an expert on bipolar, and I'm pretty sure it’s not appropriate to call it “when he was ‘normal’”, is “stable” an okay word to use? someone please educate me)

He hurt someone, and we have yet to find out who that is.

We know he hurt someone, or at least thinks he did because

Take a look at the aluminum leg story in S3E3. It seems like a harmless little joke, but it turned out to be an allegory to how he thinks Sonja views their relationship and such. So in S3E10 when he says “I’ll just hurt you, and then you’ll hate me”, this isn’t just because he thinks it will happen, it’s because it has happened before.

The obvious answer at the beginning of the season was Mikael, but now it seems to be Yousef. (I think it’s Yousef)

Even’s relationship with each member of the Balloon Squad

Mikael refers to Even as his best buddy, so we know they were close at some point, definitely before the kissing incident happened.

Elias and Even must have been close as well. This is demonstrated when Even asks Sana how “the boys” are doing, and then asks specifically about Elias. This is probably because Elias is her brother, the one she would know most about, but he doesn’t go on to ask about the rest of them individually.

Yousef and Even’s relationship seems more complicated than the others. They were close friends at some point, (battle 2015 photo, Yousef knows too much a lot about what happened between him and Mikael) Even obviously still loves all the boys, as I said in the bullet above, and Yousef seems to still love Even too, as we see in S4E4. He was so upset about what happened with Even, he gave up his religion, his beliefs. I think the reason he could have been potentially upset at Sana for having them be in the same place at the end of S4E5 was because he wasn’t ready. Not because he didn’t love Even, or was mad at Even, but because he wasn’t ready. (I think this goes without saying,but when I say love here, it is being used 100% platonic. The Balloon Squad, those boys, love each other. That much is obvious, and that’s that.)

I think Mutta and Adam are just more side characters, to add to the dynamic of the squad. They balance out the 5 Girl Squad members and the 4 (5? Is Even officially part of the Boy Squad now?) Boy Squad members, so it just kinda makes sense that there would be 5 Balloon Boys as well. They were probably Even’s buddies, but not as close to him as the other three.

Hvem er Mikael?

Ahh, here we are, the ever elusive Mikael. The Man, The Myth,The Legend. He is

Even’s “best buddy” in 2015

“I’m honest because I care about you” (x)  We’ve seen Mikael and the other boys be affectionate with each other, physically and emotionally. This seems to be just another example of this.

Even refers to him as the “previous man of my life” in this text, and as I’ve stated before, Even’s jokes always have an element of truth in them somewhere.

“He tried to kiss Mikael” - Okay, but if all of what Yousef said in that clip was true, why would Mikael be laughing at the mention of Even’s name in the SMS Roulette video?

When Yousef brought up Even in “The Best of Islam”, he was sad talking about him, obviously because one of his friends tried to kill himself.

I will explain in the “The Even x Mikael x Yousef situation: A Theory” section of this post why I think that is that they have such different reactions.

The Even x Mikael x Yousef situation: A Theory

This is a theory, not an analysis of what we already know and etc.

Sooo... here are some theories (x) (x) (x) especially the last one, etc. about Yousef (and Mikael) being gay / not straight, and I honestly don’t agree with it. As much as I would love to see a Muslim LGBT+ character in the media, it just doesn’t seem like it would be Yousef to me.

Some of the evidence pointing to the fact he might be gay is

the visual parallels between Isak and Emma making out in S3E1 and Yousef and Noora making out in S4E5 (I.E. just kissing, arms at the sides, generally disinterested) which makes sense.

Julie is looking for any opportunity to throw us off, plot twist the shit out of this season, and keep us on our toes, which is getting more and more difficult as time goes on, so we always have to keep that in mind.

 Now here’s why I think he’s not gay

If Yousef was gay, and it was actually him that was involved with the kissing situation then

 the Qur’an verses that Even posted would be directed at Yousef (and himself)

Hence the flame emoji thing in the SMS Roulette video

But Elias is the one that said that.

I highly doubt that when Even posted that stuff, he called Yousef out by name. So assuming the passages were just directed at Yousef and that’s what Elias was referencing with the flame emoji thing, that would mean Elias knows that Yousef is gay or that something happened between him and Even. Then that would mean Elias encouraged Sana to romantically pursue Yousef in Humble, while knowing he was gay, and intentionally fucking over his sister???? which is the exact opposite of everything we’ve seen with him????? It just doesn’t add up

I could see Yousef being bi or something and having a sexuality crisis in his Bakka days, because I truly believe he had feelings for Sana, and if he was bi, then that takes care of that.

I also don’t think Mikael is gay / LGBT+ because

he supposedly pushed Even away for being gay because he is religious

but he wears nail polish and kisses other boy’s hands and stuff like that

and in no way am I saying that because he does that stuff that makes him gay

But if Mikael is actually homophobic, or if he is actually gay and had internalized homophobia and issues with himself, I highly doubt in either situation he’d be too keen on doing traditionally gay things a lot

does that make sense?

I think that Yousef is the only Balloon Boy that knows Even tried to kill himself

Yousef seems to be the only one that is sad to see / hear bout Even

The others seem not affected, like Mikael in SMS Roulette, or upset / startled / angry, like Elias at the end of S4E5 etc.

Other people have pointed out that if he’s the only one that knows

Yousef must have been the one to find Even when he tried

Sonja’s Role

If I did the math right, her and Even started dating roughly around 2012, waayyy before the kissing incident with the Balloon Squad

As I talked about above somewhere, she claims Even memorized the Qur’an, “because at the time he thought it was a ‘good idea’”, and how that might not be entirely true because the line between mania and non-mania back then was so blurry

So did she know about the Mikael situation?

I feel like her role might be really important, because it was actually one of the most important roles in S3, but I don’t think we’d ever see Sana and Sonja interact, so maybe when we get the full story she will have something more to do with it.

Even’s Christmas Text

This is bolded because it’s my favorite theory I think. Who could it be? That little facial expression (timestamp: 5:09) was not in there for no reason, and like Julie said, she’s looking to throw us off.

Mikael: I don’t think it’s him. The second Mikael sees Even and Isak at the karaoke bar, he’s outta there faster than a green snake in a sugar cane field. He doesn’t seem too keen on acknowledging Even.

Sana: She might have texted him right before she walked in and told him not to worry, she wouldn’t say anything, or something along those lines. Again, possible, but not likely.

Yousef: Probable. Like I’ve said before, Yousef was probably upset to see that Sana brought him and Even together because he wasn’t ready. He seems like a very thoughtful person. After Sana asks him why he doesn’t believe in Allah, he doesn’t immediate respond. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts, and I feel like he would want to think over what he wants to say to his friend he hasn’t talked to in a year who tried to kill himself very carefully, (who wouldn’t) and what better way than a text he can write over and over again and revise it?

Sonja: Everything points to her, at least to me. After Isak texted her, maybe she felt she should say something directly to Even. This always seemed the most probable to me, but I am absolutely set on finding out what that was about, and like I said in the “Sonja’s Role” section, I don’t think we’ll see more of her. The only thing I could think of is if Even tells Sana that Sonja texted him, but I don’t see how that would be relevant to anything.

Season 4 Trailer Analysis

I’m not gonna go into what each action in the trailer means. People have already done that. But the new speculation: The Trailer Is In Reverse!!!

I’m going to refer to the original trailer as the original, and the edited one as the “forwards” one.

So, in the forwards trailer, Sana trips Noora and causes a chain reaction that ends with Even getting hurt (with a selfie stick = social media?) and Isak stays by his side.

But, in the original, it starts with Even gathering up his blood (clearing up his past?) and Isak helps him back on his feet.

It ends with Sana pulling Noora up.

In the forwards version, Sana makes a decision that causes people to get hurt, while in the original Sana fixes everything just like she’s done in all three past seasons.

Also, are the roles reversed? Even bleeds in the trailer, but Isak got punched. Sana tripped Noora but Sana got hurt when Noora kissed Yousef. So if Isak is actually Even and Sana is actually Noora, is Yousef actually Mikael (and Vilde falls for Eva?)

Sana’s Attitude Towards Vilde in S4 so far

Sana seems generally annoyed at her and is ready to snip at her

“your mom is not having a wine tasting party”

Sana won’t let her talk when they go to look at the bus

Sana tells the girls they are joining with Pepsi Max, and that they pay and she is the Bus Boss

This is Vilde’s reaction:

She looks angry

But she says “sana’s the boss, she’ll fix it. Remember when she fixed the toilet paper situation (in S1)?”

This seems innocent, but I think it’s a challenge

Like “You can fix it... can’t you?”

Vilde is waiting for Sana to screw up so she can take over.

In S2, Vilde talks about how much she likes William, after she saw Noora kissing him

She does this because she’s trying to get Noora to tell her about it and get a reaction out of her

So isn’t she trying to get a reaction out of Sana too?

She’s also trying to get a rise out of Sana by talking about her and Magnus

In S4E1, before Sana walks in they are “casually talking bout different shades of blue”. Everyone stops, says hi, to her, and the Vilde pipes up and says, “anyway Magnus and I have sex all the time blahh blah blah”

In her mind, maybe what she wants to happen is Sana snaps and does something, Vilde will tell the Girl Squad she’s psycho (I could see her being like “I knew from the beginning and you guys didn’t listen to me”) and then she will be the new buss boss

Was Yousef going to kiss Sana at the end of “The Best of Islam”?

First off, I’d like to say props to Julie Andem for creating potentially the most pure relationship in television history. If Sana and Yousef do get together, I feel it is highly unlikely for them to kiss or anything, so this would be a relationship fueled by purely emotion, trust, and communication, and not on physical things (of course there’s the physical want we’ve seen from Sana’s side, but you know what I mean). I’m pretty sure no one wants to see her compromise her beliefs and have sex with Yousef or something stupid like that (like Noora did with William)

I think that he was going to kiss her

they seemed to have an entire conversation that we, the viewers, didn’t understand entirely just by looking at each other.

Yousef does this tiny little head nod (timestamp: 14:24) and leans forward a minute amount, and then Sana starts shaking her head.

Then, at 14:30 he rolls his eyes a little, and says, “No?” like he was asking to kiss her, she said no, and then he was like “why am I such an idiot, she obviously doesn’t like me if she deleted me on Facebook” etc.

This would also explain why he would kiss Noora

Sana + Noorhelm drama

Eva was the first one to know about William’s knew

Sana was the only one who wanted to tell Noora

She wanted to tell her because she’s trying to protect her friend

Just like she told Vilde William wasn’t interested in S1

Noora thought that was mean of Sana to be honest with Vilde

But Noora thought it was mean of Sana to not tell her?

SANA WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO TELL NOORA AND THEN NOORA STARTED TALKING OVER HER. In “heartbreak”, (timestamp: 5:28) Sana takes a breath and says, “Du-” (you) and immediately gets cut off by Noora saying “oh my god, if I think about him with anyone else I’m going to break” or whatever

Maybe Noora will realize this and apologize to Sana right away and it will set up Noora being on Sana’s side when she finds out about Sana being kicked off the bus?

But maybe I’m just being optimistic

Yousef and Not Fighting

I feel like the reason he stayed behind was because he didn’t want to choose sides. If we’re sticking with the theory that he knew about about Even’s suicide attempt, but the others didn’t, then this makes sense. He didn’t want to choose sides. He wouldn’t want to go out there and fight with the Balloon Squad because he obviously still cares about Even and wouldn’t want to fight his friends. But he wouldn’t want to fight with the Boy Squad because then he’d have to explain why he stood up for Even to the Balloon boys, and tell them about the suicide attempt.

What was the fight about?

My original theory: before the clip came out, I saw the BTS pics and thought maybe Magnus finds out about the SMS roulette Nudes 4 Nudes thing and dukes it out when he sees Elias. This is probably not true now that we’ve seen the clip.

Obvious theory: Mikael or Mutta, the only two outside with the Boy Squad, started a fight because they didn’t like seeing Even in a homosexual relationship. Obvious. Too obvious. Especially because the girls in the bathroom think that's why it happened.

Other: Isak threw the first punch. As we see him walking away, we see him shaking his hand. Maybe because he was shaking off blood, maybe because he was shaking off pain?

Girls in the bathroom

Like I just said, Because they think that the fight was about Muslims Vs. Gays™ this is probably not true.

Sana can’t win. According to the girls, she’s too Muslim to be on the bus and be a good bus boss... but she’s not Muslim enough to be a good representation of Islam... like... what? That conversation upset me so much.

Did Vilde snake? Or is that just false rumors? I don’t think Noora knows, or Chris, but did Eva know that they were going to throw her off the bus? She looks uncomfortable when Sana and Noora approach them and the Pepsi Max girls. Assuming they didn’t know, will they stand by her? Will they take Pepsi Max’s side?

Noora’s motivation to kiss Yousef

1. Noora did not know about Sana’s feelings for Yousef. She had already expressed interest in him, and was lonely and upset and saw him and kissed him.

2. Noora did know about Sana’s feelings for Yousef, and she was upset at Sana and wanted to get back at her. Some think that Noora expressing interest in Yousef was actually her subtly asking about Sana’s feelings for him. This seems ooc to me, but who knows?

Yousef’s Motivation to kiss Noora

This is more complicated.

Perspective: He didn’t actually like Sana, and since we’re seeing things through her eyes, she made it up in her head. He is affectionate with his friends, so he would be affectionate towards her too. (This kinda makes sense, but my Yousana shipping heart refuses to believe it)

Mama Bakkoush told him to stay away. This seems like a possibility, like after she knows 100% that there is nothing to worry about, and then she texts Sana and is like “I trust you” etc. I just feel like every time we see a kid with a religious family, the parents are always portrayed as overbearing and suffocating, and I feel like Julie is gonna give us a new look at a religious poc mom that is actually a great mom, like most of what we’ve seen of her.

The most likely thing to me seems like he liked her, and then was upset because he opened up to her in S4E4, and then she put the Balloon Boys and Evak intentionally in the same place without warning him. Or Noora told him what Sana said about him being immature etc.

Season 4 Hiatus Trailer Analysis

Who is eating the carrot?

Assuming it’s Noora, the carrot represents Yousana. She destroys it.

Assuming it’s Sana, the carrot represents her feelings. Instead of “pulling it closer”, like Yousef suggests, she “pushes it away and looses control over it.” Her feelings eat her up, and she’s stuffing all her feelings inside.

It is Isak’s black eye, someone did a side by side comparison proving it’s him.

Whose hair and whose hand?

Yousef running his hands through his hair?

Mikael running his hands through his hair?

Even running his hands through Mikael’s hair? (Pls no Julie)

It looks like a male hand, so not Noora and Yousef.

I think it’s Yousef. look at how he does it in “feel it coming”

Sara’s Mouth.

She’s smiling... dos this mean she gets what she wants and Sana is actually thrown off the bus?

BIGGER IDEAS

Why the Russ bus is Important

It’s a symbol. Y’all are complaining that it’s getting too much screen time for something we won’t even get to see, but first of all, It’s what brought the girls together in the first place. But it’s also a symbol to Sana. It’s a symbol of her Norwegian identity. 

Vilde’s Character Development / Gay Vilde

Very few side characters have gone through development. It’s mainly only been

William through the second season.

We’ve also heard of Even’s development; he hated himself for wanting to kiss boys and now he’s comfortable with himself. We didn’t actually see that though, we only know him after he’s comfortable with himself.

One could make the argue Jonas had a little development, from Jonas “you only know gay songs” Noah Vasquez in S1 to Jonas “what’s up with you dissing gay people”  “he needs to break up with his girlfriend”  “straight up” Noah Vasquez in S3.

Vilde is the most complex non-main character we’ve ever had, but is there even time for a redemption arc?

When I first saw the gay Vilde theory, I thought it was just people on Tumblr doing their thing and head cannoning her as gay with only 1 questionable scene as evidence but upon further inspection....

The thing that sticks out to me most is the scene in S1 when Vilde is trying to get turned on when thinking about William, she says “nothing makesme horny”. Then in S2 when are the girls are sitting on the windowsil, Noora is texting so it’s only in some versions of the subtitles, but Vilde’s back at it again talking about Noora being a lesbian. And Vilde says “I’ve made out with Eva. The feelings that arise when you make out with a girl don’t necessarily mean you’re a lesbian.”  Eva replies, “What kind of feelings?”  To which Vilde responds “horny”.

This post does a nice job outlining it.

Sana’s Mirror and Foil

Even is Sana’s Mirror (click here if you don’t know what a mirror is, or here to see how Noora was Isak’s mirror in S3)

Even pulled away from Isak after Isak said “I don’t want mentally Ill people in my life”

Sana pulled away from Yousef after he said “I don’t believe in Allah”

Again, God bless Julie Andem, we get to see the perspective of both sides

Even’s struggle with his past vs. his future self, and we’ll probably see him find a great balance, Sana’s struggle with her Muslim self vs her Norwegian self, which again, we will hopefully see resolved.

Noora is Sana’s Foil (click here or here if you don’t know what a foil is)

She is the epitome of the typical Norwegian girl, what Sana thinks she is expected to be like, or what she wants to fit into. The girls in the bathroom saying “wow Noora’s so pretty” Noora kissing Sana’s love interest, etc. etc.

Evak is paralleling Yousana

Evak is the foil to Vildus

I will explain more of that in a later post I will make and link to it

Parallels

Like I said, I’m working on it. It needs to be a whole separate post because this is already so long.

Themes

Figuring out who you are and who you want to be, rather than what others want you to be. In Season 1, when Eva tells Jonas that “his opinion meant more than her own, and that’s not okay.” The central theme of Season 1, reflected again in Season 3 with Isak struggling to fit in with his friends. This also seems to be making a comeback in Season 4, Sana struggling between her Muslim identity, her Norwegian identity, and her personality. She’s the kind of person who’s comfortable with who she is, but I think she has yet to find out who that is.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.

Learn to consider how other people think. Everyone has their reasons for what they do, not everyone will think the way you do, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Think back to Sana and Noora and the windowsill talk in Season 2, or in Season 3 when Sana tells Isak “can’t we just agree that there’s a lot between Heaven and Earth that none of us know anything about? Instead of sitting here criticizing my religion, just respect that we’ve chosen different beliefs.”

Alt er love

Predestination. In season 3, with all of the Christianity symbolism and talk of parrallel universes, we see that you can’t see the future. Every choice you make affects the possibilities for the future, so instead of worrying about what you did, and what might happen, just remember that

Life is Now.

Misunderstandings. Season 4. This is pretty self explanatory, and I’m extremely interested to see how his plays out.

Perspective. THIS IS HUGE. THIS IS THE OVERALL THEME OF THE ENTIRE SHOW, SO IT GETS ITS OWN SECTION.

PERSPECTIVE

Oh boy, here we go. The reason why the narrative only stays in one person’s perspective for a whole season is because that’s how we get immersed in the story. We don’t know more than they know, we are frustrated because we don’t know why that other person did that thing to the main. It makes everything more relatable, and hit closer to home. This ties into communication is key, this ties into misunderstandings, this ties into be yourself, this ties into Alt er love, this ties into be kind always. It teaches us that we can’t get into someone else head. We can’t make assumptions about other people. We won’t ever truly understand someone without seeing everything from their perspective.

So remember: Karma’s a bitch, be kind, always, alt er love, and life is... Now.

[missjackil]

My Episode 12X19 Opinion

The Future

For being a relatively Cas heavy episode, I do have to say I enjoyed it. I don’t hate Cas, but Im not the biggest fan of him. I feel like the character has been played out, and there really is no new direction to take him.  With that being said, I do think this was a very entertaining and interesting episode. 

One thing I really enjoyed is seeing Sam and Dean’s characters really shine in this episode. In some episodes this season, they have seemed OOC or even lacking character, leaving me, more than once thinking “Whats up with Sam?” and “Whats up with Dean?” in the sense that there have been changes made to their characters. Not all bad, but not all good either. Where Sam has become more confident and assertive, which is a good thing, I felt he had been lacking in his sensative, intellectual side. Dean on the other hand has been softer and maybe a little less gruff, which also isnt a bad thing, but took away from what has always made Dean, Dean, his snark and “give em hell” attitude. But there they were in this episode, and in full swing as well!  Im going to take a moment to gush over Sam if I may (like you didn’t know this was coming) He was just sexy af in his little “research montage” and losing sleep. going over and above the call of duty to find a way to not have to kill Kelly and Luci Jr. This is part of Sam I felt was lacking a little this season, and it was there in full swing in this episode. I literally said out loud “I didnt think I could love Sam more than I did, till just now!” And now for Dean. Not insulting him, remember Im a Sam girl that loves Dean too, but part of what has always been Dean, is how harsh he can be to those he cares about. Other than those emotional run ins with Mom, Dean has lacked that this season. Which is okay, and also not okay. I dont condone a lot of things he has said to Sam or Cas over the seasons, but I can empathize with the frustration he feels that makes him say such things. He laid into Cas, a little childishly, and yet, I appreciated that he later told Cas they were worried about him, and he shouldn’t go dark like that. I have to say though, Cas returning the mix tape, was such a “break up” thing, I nearly gagged through the cheesy-ness of it, but,it was also kind of cute.  I know the writers have been trying to tug the heart strings of the viewers about Cas over the last couple seasons, to show us how he feels useless, that he makes these stupid mistakes all in attempt to do the right thing and help or protect The Winchesters, but I think it’s time for him to go. I dont wish death on him, but hes made far too many stupid mistakes to ever be redeemed as someone who can be considered Divinely smarter than Sam and Dean, like he appeared to be in S4, it’s too the point where all he can really do, is sit down, shut up, heal the guys when theyre injured and be their best bud, which really is no possition for an Angel, and Id like to see him go back to Heaven, be useful there, and maybe even show up once or twice a season to check in. Back to the story now. Didn’t see Dagon dying yet, thought we still had stuff to do with her. Kinda sucks that The Colt was destroyed, but I never really like when things are made too easy for them... I like them to be challenged. I really didnt see “Kelstiel” coming either, but, weirder things have happened. I kinda loved Dean saying “Well hello Beautiful Mind” when he saw all the stuff Sam had been doing, and I also like their new Dean: Well hot damn! Sam: Well hot damn! And how humble and happy they were that Sam figured out a really big problem. That might have been the first time Ive seen Sam humbly-proud of himself :) Im probably alone in this thinking that Luci Jr is a very interesting story, now that the boys are fully in on it. It was boring af when they only spoke of it or Cas talked about it, and Im really stressing/looking forward to the finale and seeing where this goes. It seems likely to carry into next season, and personally, Id really like to see Sam and Dean care for the kid and teach him to be good.  So on a scale from Bloodlines to Swan Song, Im giving this one a 7.5 I definitely didnt mind watching it a 2nd time and its getting me psyched for the season finale!