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hopevalley · 4 years ago

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Season 8, Episode 10: Old Love, New Love, Is This True Love

All right, so...like I said, work has picked up and my eyes feel like old marbles from staring at numbers (the woes of working in accounting I guess) so I want to get this written up and tossed into the nether before I lose steam and motivation to do it. The interesting thing about these little write-ups is that as the week goes on they just get harder and harder to write...

I do apologize in advance to those who like the long-winded write-ups. I’m just not up to it at the moment. Still feeling kind of bleh from the episode.

Let’s go back to an old format, shall we?

The Good

We might as well start out with the things about this episode that I enjoyed!

Gossip Hour with the Men was one of the best openers they’ve had on the show in a while. It was genuinely funny without being meanspirited. Nobody looked like the bad guy. Everyone just calmly talked about it alike it was a normal thing to maybe call off the wedding. Bill calling out Carson for giving marriage advice was pretty funny, Mike was a delight. I don’t know what to say. I’d watch a whole episode of The Boys just hanging around spending time together.

Florence’s worry that she’s ugly was...not a terrible idea for a storyline, but the actress is too good-looking to pretend to be ugly (I saw her in this pretty yellow dress on Instagram a couple years ago and she was smashing)? Also, it’s not like Ned is a handsomely aged gentleman (like Henry lol) so it makes even less sense for the characters. I think they should have gone with Florence feeling she’s “plain” and that dressing up Super Nice makes her feel uncomfortable because she just doesn’t feel like Herself and worries maybe it’s projecting a false sense of Who She Is or something? I guess overall I still liked that an attempt was made to add some depth to Florence and her difficulties in choosing a dress/hairstyle, so...it goes here.

Ned asking Henry to be his best man was nice, too. I can forgive the shoddy pacing and weird placement of this request (like I do with almost everything in the show) but only because the scene was just...so incredibly wholesome.

I like how Henry just casually is like, “Well maybe today’s just not the day.” I think it eased Ned’s mind just a little that he CAN back out if he really wants to.

I think it’s worth thinking about the fact that Ned and Henry would have always worked very closely, since the mercantile would have been a company store before the mine closed down... I like Henry and Ned as pals.

I’m glad the “investment” thing with Jesse and Clara’s savings was brought up in a way that...makes sense. And also, glad it wasn’t forgotten.

I really liked Molly and Florence in this episode. I’m a little sad Florence married Ned because I AM SORRY BUT I WANTED TO KEEP SHIPPING MOLLY AND FLORENCE TOGETHER UGHGHGHH

But their relationship is so good and maYBE Elizabeth will learn something from them.

Hey Elizabeth...you see that?

YOU SEE THAT?

Just saying.

And then later...

“You are the sister I never had, the mother I forever wanted, the friend I have always needed. From the depths of those dark and terrifying coal mines you’ve walked beside me, picking me up whenever I’ve stumbled along the way.”

AAAAAAAAA IT GOT ME.

I’m...really liking Fiona and Mike’s relationship, whatever it is. I kind of think they’re not headed toward anything romantic. Everyone thinks Mike is really into Fiona but at the end of the episode we realize he likes talking to her about business; it’s almost like they have this shared passion for numbers/ideas and he likes infodumping to her (and vice-versa).

I think they’re going to end up being “just friends” and Fiona will end up paired off with the man Elizabeth doesn’t choose. They hinted at Nathan briefly in this episode (with Allie’s hair), but who knows? I’m over trying to speculate on where the triangle is going at this point, but I actually like Fiona’s relationship with Mike so much that I’ll be disappointed if she fades into the background with Nathan or Lucas. Mike deserves more screentime.

Ned and Florence sharing their fIRST KISS. My husband got emotional over this. And I admit, it was starting to get to me, too. I can’t NOT root for them.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: I WOULD DIE FOR THE CANFIELDS.

The wedding was nice. I liked that Bill and Joseph officiated it together; it gives Joseph a li’l trial run of pastoring and finally Bill gets to use some of that power of his to officiate a wedding.

“Please, if you’d like” is such a Bill way to say that they may kiss LOL.

Also, I have to admit that I did enjoy Lucas calling Nathan out about Allie. She wouldn’t be caught in the middle if he’d leave Elizabeth alone AND HE IS RIGHT LMAO.

The last good thing: Elizabeth telling Nathan she doesn’t blame him for Jack’s death. Nice. Good. Thank you. He probably needed to hear that.

...THE BAD

Carson and Faith. UGH. UGHHHHHHHHHH. BREAK UP ALREADY I HATE YOU BOTH.

I appreciated that Carson had the ring ages ago, and I did like his conversation with Minnie—or more accurately, her advice to him. I felt like she was nudging him toward, “Remember why you became a surgeon in the first place.” If he became a surgeon to help people, then there’s no reason he can’t help people where he is. Sure, he might not be doing state of the art procedures but with Faith working alongside him, he can afford time to learn new things and go to doctor conventions or even take a specialized class now and then. No other doctor could get away for very long but he has that chance!

And he’ll arguably be doing more good in the middle of nowhere than in the city. All the doctors want to live in the city. Nobody wants to barely get paid for their time in the countryside.

We had a whole episode that made it clear that Faith and Carson don’t make a lot of money and do a lot of charity work. They also work for trade goods (mostly food). So it’s like...a pretty big difference in lifestyle?

Half the reason I can’t get invested in these characters is because I really can’t stand Paul Greene. He just...annoys me on every single level imaginable. But he’s a decent actor and I can’t help but feel that his character was a massive waste of space for the past few seasons through no fault of the man himself. Imagine introducing a character like Carson and then leaving him to rot before you try to make him interesting with a romance plot that nobody asked for.

Yes, some people really like Faith and Carson, but as a whole I think the fandom didn’t buy into them as a ship due to the lack of chemistry.

It really is a shame. This episode didn’t do a thing to endear me to either character. Please, Carson. I am begging you to leave town.

This one particular line of dialogue almost enraged me.

WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE CAN SEE THAT FOR OURSELVES. WHY DID THEY HAVE ROSEMARY SAY THIS LIKE IT’S AN EPISODE OF A CHILD’S TV SHOW?

Elizabeth.........

How could Katie have...looked up to her? She was never in her class? That was? Never part of anything? It was just something they threw in here to force Elizabeth to make 1% more sense in the role she’s in but IT STILL DOESN’T WORK.

I felt like I was back in Season 5 again with Lori and Elizabeth putting their nose in everyone’s business except it’s just Elizabeth!! The whole plot, which was boring and contrived anyway, should have gone to Molly, since she’s Florence’s best friend and another woman from town that Katie would have known as a child.

AND ALSO, MOLLY WOULD HAVE KNOWN KATIE’S MOTHER AND WOULD REMEMBER THE GRIEF THAT NED STRUGGLED WITH.

I know they wanted to make Elizabeth give advice so that she’d Realize that she needs to, I don’t know, make better choices or something, but it was too on the nose for me and I hated it.

GinithePooh on Reddit made a good comparison to Elizabeth in this episode by saying she reminded them of Clippy from Microsoft Word, always popping up and offering to help when nobody really needs or wants advice.

To honor their incredible idea, I opened Photoshop and created this gem, which I will also be posting separately so that people can reblog it if they wish to.

I also don’t think I need to say also filed under The Bad is the fact that Elizabeth didn’t even apologize for being awful to Rosemary and then gave her unsolicited advice to other people for two days straight. I can’t believe they wrote that?

All I can say is that her apology to Rosemary, when it comes, better be good.

And I didn’t like this either:

I wish it had been followed up by literally anything: Nathan saying he’s sorry he didn’t tell her sooner or something to make the hand-holding actually be a little more innocent.

As it is, it just seems so deliberate?

Maybe the next episode starts off right in this scene and we’ll get that? If so, this might actually end up being fine. I just don’t think it is if it doesn’t get a little more direct attention.

& THE UGLY

I debated on putting anything in here, because I’m not ready to talk about my feelings on this matter, at least not fully. But I’ve been pretty quiet all season so far, and...eh, why not just mention things in advance? What will it hurt?

Let me preface this section by saying I’m biased and I doubt hardly anyone on this site will agree with me, so feel free to just ignore this part if that’s the case.

There are two things that I really didn’t like in this episode.

I hate the slanting toward Bill/Molly.

I like Molly just fine but I don’t like her with Bill. I’m biased as all getout and also worried about the future/potential Season 9 with regards to this. I don’t want to see it. Like at all. Why, you ask? You should know why if you follow me. I’m super transparent.

It’s because I like AJ AND I WANT HER BACK LOL.

John Tinker rewatched the series so we know he wouldn’t have missed that hanging plot thread—especially since he didn’t forget any of the other things that were brought up this season! So why didn’t she appear this season? The love triangle absolutely needed to be a focus or it would have never ended, so that’s part of it, but I’m also pretty sure Josie Bissett wasn’t interested in doing any filming last year during Covid. My only “proof” is that Wedding March 6 wasn’t filmed last year even though it was scheduled to be filmed, but it makes sense. Last year was chaos.

THAT SAID, Jack Wagner posted on his Instagram the other day that they are actually filming Wedding March 6 now, so... I guess AJ’s re-appearance in Season 9 wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if they wanted to write it.

You’d think I’d be hyped about that, and I kind of am? But it doesn’t come without its share of worries, too. We just had the worst love triangle in the history of love triangles and I really don’t want another one, especially if it makes any of the characters in question look stupid or mean.

I fully admit a well-written love triangle could be a LOT of fun for them* (low stakes because they’re not front and center characters), but I saw how Nathan was written so far this season and I really, REALLY do not want to see that happen to Molly, Bill, or AJ.

Anyway, not a fan of the Molly/Bill stuff. No chemistry. I don’t want it.

*I would totally write a fanfic like this lmao.

And finally...the part that everyone will hate me for:

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ABIGAIL COME BACK. And I specifically do not want her to come back ‘cause I do not wanna see Henry/Abigail happen.

I fully recognize that a lot of you like it and ship the heck out of it, and that’s...good. I’m glad you enjoy it. I loathe it, though, and I worry that all these hints (more like...mentions) are leaning toward...something. Like, either they’re:

1) Sending Abigail off/tying up that loose end with Henry (since nothing was ever clarified either way), or

2) Warming up the audience to receive Abigail back on the show.

I’m pretty into the idea of one-sided Henry/Abigail. Hindsight is 20/20, regrets, that’s all some juicy stuff to give a character like Henry. Some things can’t ever be made right again. He had too direct of a connection to the death of her husband and son for me to ever want to see them together. Forgiveness? Yes. A careful but meaningful friendship? Yes. Romantic relationship? Uh...no thanks.

I liked the Abigail mentions at first because I felt like...the character still mattered (as she should) but I’m at a point where I feel like they’re trying really hard to steer the fandom’s view a certain way and not knowing where it’s going is extremely unsettling to me.

I’ll probably talk more about the things that bother me when the season ends, because I’m hoping to have a better idea of where things are going to be headed, but for now just...know that I feel very apprehensive.

And keep in mind that I primarily watch this show for Bill these days, since all my previous faves (AJ, Frank, the old Abigail, Dottie) have exited, stage left. I also always really liked seeing Henry. So as you can imagine, seeing plotlines I hate for the only two characters I’m invested in? Is making me consider dropping the series next year.

My husband told me I should hate-watch it, but I don’t know if my heart can take it. I’ve been following this series for so long...it just...kind of hurts to feel let down like this?

But sometimes an ongoing series ends up going where you...didn’t want it to, and it becomes something that’s no longer right for you. I hope that doesn’t happen, but last night’s episode makes me feel like...it might be happening for real this time.

I guess if that holds true it’ll be back to fanfiction for me. Will that novelization I planned ages ago end up getting written? Will I write the best love triangle fanfic known to man? WHO KNOWS.

For now, we’ll all have to wait and see! Two more episodes left. I’m really curious to see how they resolve some of the open plots right now. :>

#when calls the heart #long post #character studies and information #analysis and meta discussion

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britishchick09 · 4 years ago

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danger force christmas special livewatch

welcome to the final livewatch of 2020, ‘chapa kills santa!’ ...jk it’s called ‘down goes santa’ (same thing right?). without further ado, let’s dive into the chaos of ‘the best story of christmas’!

the little pre-show channel bumper has a kid skating on tp... ONLY IN 2020!

the theme at the beginning of the ep is ‘deck the halls’ aww :)

chapa: “did you get a job at nacho ball?” bose: “i got a career at nacho ball.” eyyyy ;D (also how does he have a job isn’t he like 12?)

OH NOES THEY HAVEN’T DONE XMAS THINGS TOGETHER!! :O

chapa: “i’d say that’s an emergency, MILES!!!!!!!” oh boy will there be screaming chapa in this??

also since she cares a lot about christmas stuff maybe she won’t be the one to kill santa?

chapa: “no i don’t love christmas” BOIIIII

mika: “you took a long time to answer that question.” lol :D

SUP RAY

why does ray sound so creepy when he says “oh you wanna hear a... christmas story?”

OMG RAY DON’T SHOVE CHAPA OUT OF THAT CHAIR BRO

ray: “do you wanna hear the real christmas story?” the kids: “NO!!” lol :D

OMG RAY HAS THE BOOK IN THE HEADER PIC! :D

also all the kids said ‘ew!’ at the sight of it they really don’t want this story huh

story: “the first one was generous and jolly. the other was hot and fun.” lol

santa’s bro was named crampus wut

OMG SCHWOZ JUST SHREDDED THAT GUITAR YO!!! also hello george harrison’s lucy nice seeing you here :)

crampus wanted a jet ski and spent 1000 years on the naughty list where does this take place

this story is awesome not gonna lie :D

ray got the book from the truth store lol

story: “one day in the mid 90s” CLARISSA IS THAT YOU???

santa was lured to the desert with ‘promises of fish tacos, motocross and illegal fireworks’ lol

‘dill-weebs’ lol

santa and anti-santa fought in an abandoned mall lol

that was such a great story! :D

miles: “i don’t believe any of that!” ray: “CRAMPUS TOUCH!!!” miles: *SCREAMS*

and ray walks away with an evil laugh... >:)

mika’s sweater is so cute! :D

YO SCHWOZ JUST MADE AN XMAS TREE AND PRESENTS APPEAR IS HE MAGIC THO???? :o

and the audience cheers! :D

MIKA JUST KICKED A LITTLE TREE AND SCREAMED YO MIKA!!!

schwoz: “the big man will be here soon!” bose: “you mean shaq?” lol :D

schwoz cleans santa’s sleigh how cool! :D

there’s a corn lady in a corn truck ICE CREAM TRUCK WHO??? I DON’T KNOW HER

ooh the gums can be used to transform their civilian clothes too!

RAY AND CHAPA BOUGHT ALL THE CORN OMG :O

awww ray did it for chapa’s christmas love! ♥

ray: “our pants are down. we’re exposed!!!” ???

OHHH IT’S ‘P.A.N.T.S’ :o

is santa gonna land in the man’s nest without protection?

YO I WAS RIGHT CHAPA DID KILL SANTA!!!!!

SANTA’S ON FIRE OMGGGGGGG

santa’s beard is gray now is he my dad lol

chapa: “WE SHOT SANTA CLAUS!!!” out of context that line is so sad yet still hilarious

why did the meme airhorn just play

YO CRAMPUS ANTI-SANTA IS REALLLLLL

crampus: “it’s party tiiiimeee!!!” lol

the intro happened 10 AND A HALF MINUTES INTO THE 22 MINUTE EP what a record! :o

why did ray return with a big af senpai ball of yarn and needles

ooh the kids brought back strawberry ice cream :o

miles’ actor’s name appeared just as he was on screen coolio :D

there’s a sign on santa that says ‘none of your buzyness’ NUNYA WHO

also miles and chapa say ‘buzyness’ like nunya lol

CHAPA’S FREAKING SCREAMING ABOUT HER KILLING SANTA YOOO

santa doesn’t know who he is HO HO NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

chapa keeps zapping ray when she disapproves what he says YO CHAPA

YOOO SANTA’S MISSING!!!

bose is a mechanic apparently coolio :D

they’re getting christmas day off BUT NOT XMAS DAY

CRAMPUS LIKES THE MEME HORN YOOOOO

bose: “it could be worse!” *sees crampus* “hey, i was right, it’s worse!”

crampus: “where’s my brother uglies!” his watch: “sick burn, crampus that stings!!” lol

CRAMPUS IS GONNA DESTROY CHRISTMAS NOOOO

crampus can teleport coolio :D

the side effects of catching crampus are ‘hotness and diarrhea’ why :(

mika: “OH MY GOD SHUT UUUUUPPPPP!!!!!!!” SAME MIKA SAME

ray: “don’t say anything!” bose: “he left!” ray: “...seriously”

BOSE WHY DID YOU SAYYYYYY :(((((

YO CRAMPUS TURNED BOSE INTO A PUNK SKATER YO :o

OMG RAY HAS A TAZER GUN SANTA’S DEFINITELY GONNA DIE

ray: “news is boring” indeed it is

on the newscrawl it says orphans were hit with a sack of presents who

the newsman said ‘in part 2 of our news-’ AND THERE’S A PART 2 OF THE SPECIAL EYYYY ;D

miles and mika transformed to applause! :D

punk bose thinks taco tuesday is the best holiday lol

english orphans are on the news WHY

HOLD UP are those the orphans from one of the previous eps???

the english boy sounds like schwoz when he’s crampus-fied lol

english girl: “percy you know i only have one lung!” ...omg

crampus is putting his hands all over the xmas sack AND IT’S SO WEIRD WTF

news lady: “now that you’ve found the sack of presents you can give them to the orphans!” ray and chapa don’t sound too thrilled with that...

DON’T CRAMP THE NEWS LADY NOOOOO

it’s 8:28 pm when ray and chapa are at the news station NOT A LOT OF TIME LEFT TO SAVE SANTA!!!

the news people, orphans and crampus with energy drinks: “TACO TUESDAY LIFE!!” news guy: “LIFE SPELLED WITH A Y!!!” ray chapa GET THESE GUYS BACK FAST!!!!!!

CHAPA JUST HIT CRAMPUS WITH HER POWERS YOOOO

aaand it didn’t work :/

news guy: “looks like this story will be c-c-c-continued!!!!” indeed it will! :D

onto part 2!

YO MIKA AND MILES WALKED INTO SANTAS DANCING TO AN EPIC ‘UP ON THE HOUSETOP’ EPIC

the main santa lady almost sounds like nat from bob’s burgers :D

did schwoz just speak russian??

YO HE’S SINGING IS THIS A MUSICAL NOW???

schwoz: “♬ you’re never too cool for the holidays! ♬” yay! :D

bose: “rule number sleighven-“ i thought crampus hated christmas WHY THE XMAS PUN DUDE??

schwoz gave bose a candy cane AND IT TURNED HIM BACK YAS!!!! :D

bose: “♬ i used to love these as a boy... ♬” schwoz: “♬ you’re not a man... ♬” lol :D

bose’s singing isn’t the best but schwoz is great! :D

bose is happily helping yay! :D

AND THE SLEIGH IS BACK!!!!!

the magic of christmas is tossing people a wrench lol :D

YO SCHWOZ JUST CARRIED BOSE AND CALLED HIM BOSIE! ♥♥

did bose just say ‘i still have these gross dimples’??? DIMPLES ARE ADORABLE BOSIE

an hp ad just played TWICE IN A ROW WHYYYYY

mika and miles look great as santa! :D

all the santas think they’re the real santa lol

real santa’s a rapper dj now lol :D

OMG HE HAS A RAINBOW HAT LOVE YA REAL SANTA!!!!! :D

the santa lady just got a text from a 909 number is that the swellview version of 1-800?

santa lady to crampus: “who are you and what’s your number?” WOAH WOAH LADY YOU DON’T WANNA DATE THIS DUDE BRO

the lady didn’t change when crampus touched her WAS IT THE GLOVES???

mika used her shouting powers on crampus AND HE’S IN HIS UNDIES GROSS CRAMP :(

the santa lady likes crampus’ max body spray WHY LADY????

the into for this ep is 7 and a half minutes in and this is more like it! :D

i skipped the intro last time BUT IT’S AN XMAS THEMED ONE YAS!!!! :D

ray: “outta the way poor people santa just got his christmas bag!!” ray stop

also the card for ray’s actor appeared when he spoke cool :D

YO WAS RAY CRAMP-IFIED TOO????

...no he’s just being ray

OH NO THERE’S A BALLOON CALLED ‘PARTY TIME’ CRAMP’S COMIN’ TO GET U!!!!!!!!

santa lady: “why do i get thrown through a door at this party every year?’ either you’re drunk or you just like slamming yourself through doors???

schwoz calls crampus ‘crampooss’ and it’s just his accent but it’s super funny :D

AND THAT HP AD PLAYS 2 TIMES IN A ROW AGAIN UGHHHH

crampus got away WITH EVERYTHING SANTA NOOOO

bose: “things can’t get worse!” news guy: “things just got a whole lot better...” bose: “see?” news lady: “for CRAMPUUUSSSSSS!!!!” bose: “...they got me.” lol silly bose! :D

crampus’ message is ‘rap, rock, love and CHRISTMAS HATE’

schwoz called italy ‘itallee’ lol :D

the world wide news anchors are just the swellview ones with accents lol :D

bose sees all those anchors being infected AND ALL HE WANTS IS A RUSSIAN HAT

oh hello ray

ray: “why didn’t anyone tell me lake swellview was frozen?” chapa: “,,,it’s december.” lol :D

bose called the infected people ‘crampas’ lol :D

schwoz pronounces christmas ‘christmuss’ :D

909 is san bernadino AKA WHERE THE STORY TOOK PLACE OHHHHH :O

they have to go to the abandoned mall OMGGG!!!!!!!!!

the kids really don’t want ray to take a coal bath

crampus called the santa lady ‘babe’ ARE THEY A THING????

santa: “can i get nexties for a massage?” ...nexties?

YO DID THE SANTA LADY DATE RAY????? :O

UGH the hp ads AGAINNNNNN

YO the lady has cardboard cutouts of bts in her bathroom YOU’RE NOT DAN AND PHIL WITH THE 1D PIC

909 reminds me of ‘one after 909′ and that’s a lot better than this place!

bose got ‘ultra dark sick glasses’ OH NOES

AND MIKA WAS SILENCED WHILE CHAPA WAS TRAPPED IN CHAINS NOOOO

miles is still standing GO MILES!!!!! :D

crampus said he and miles could be friends awww :)

...did crampus just say ‘your call t-mobile’

santa lady: “oh god THEY’RE FIGHTING OVER ME :D’ no they’re fighting for the other santa MS LADY

ray cried at KUNG FU PANDA????

maybe ray can give his jet ski to crampus to redeem him

OH WAIT THAT’S FROM THE STORY OMG :o

THE JET SKI SHALL REDEEM!!!!!

ray said ‘oh gross that’s mine’ to miles’ (and my) suggestion :/

WAIT RAY HAS 4 or 5 JET SKIS WHY

GIVE CRAMPUS THE JET SKI RAY COME ONNNNN

mika says muffled things and ray completely understands her lol :D

RAY GAVE CRAMPUS THE JET SKI KEYS YAAAS!!!!

OMG CRAMPUS IS BACK!!! and he kind of looks like henry??

the hp ad played but the 2nd one had text this time so that’s cool i guess?

santa still doesn’t remember oh noes :o

bose could lift the sleigh and miles could teleport to different houses AND CHAPA IS RUDOLLLLLPHHHH!!!!!

bose said the ‘guide my sleigh tonight’ to mika lol :D

christmas is ‘taco tuesday’ but better :D

the kids are great as santa

miles: “merry christmas you filthy animals!” ooh home alone reference

a button down shirt and a ball made the news anchors transform back aww :D

AND THE ORPHAN GIRL LOVES A TOOTHBRUSH PENCIL

all 7 members of bts are next omg why can’t it be blackpink

YAS THE SPECIAL WAS THE BEST STORY I GUESSED IT RIGHT!!! :D

and mika is still muffled

RAY IS IN LAKE HAVASU AZ REFERENCE!!!! :D

crampus looks like freddy mercury

and he’s with ray and santa! :D

that was a fun christmas special and it’ll certainly be a classic! what a way to end 2020 livewatches! :)

#livewatch #the last 2020 livewatch is a fun end to a crazy year! :D

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