#episode 5 leaves off on such a cliffhanger and I wanted to keep watching SO BAD but my headphones were about to die.

[six-improbable-things]

I've watched 3 episodes of Black Sails tonight, and I had to stop myself from watching a 4th. I blame @transgods for this, but I'm not mad about it, aksjdaskdjas.

Character opinion update: I'm fucking fascinated by Anne. I need to know more about her, and fast. John is a prick, but he's an amusing one, so it works. I still hate Vane, but that's kind of the point. Mr. Guthrie sucks and I would like to stab him. I'm still invested in Flint and Silver and Billy, and love all three of them. Oh and Eleanor. I love Eleanor. She's stubborn as hell, and we all know I love stubborn characters. Especially those who are so stubborn it just might ruin them. And I hope so bad that Max gets to murder people. Yk, as a treat. She deserves the world.

And, of course, this show is providing me with entirely too much information about pirates and sailing, which is a bad thing because it only fuels my daydreaming about Rook's time as a pirate, both past and potential future.

[mejomonster]

So I've been rewatching The Untamed. Im to episode 28. I remember why I loved this show so much. I watched Guardian, then the untamed was the second cdrama I watched, and had so much charm and quality I got into more authors than priest, got into more genres. I remember learning ni fangxin from the untamed.

The music <3 the costumes <3 the acting is TRYING and i appreciate it. The strongest aspect, outside of the clear effort of the team working on the show putting their care into it, is the writing and pacing. The pace never dwindles for 5-10 episodes like a lot of cdramas ive dropped (although this is a rewatch, maybe i forgot the pace slowing later in the Present plot). The pace is a touch slow sometimes, when it drags out a moment, but it does serve to intensify the moment so its not a pointless choice. The show purposely does a Ton of cliffhangers, which is annoying, but also sure does work as a motivator to keep me going "well just one more episode, they didnt finish my favorite scene!" Im never bored, and on rewatch i realize how many scenes i didnt grasp on my first watch or forgot thinking of as "less important" are actually doing something great. Every scene, from the class scenes showing Wei Wuxian saying how he thinks cultivation can be done (at surface the show off class clown, in reality the foreshadowing that his views of what is okay to help others is not orthodox, not acceptable, and when the time comes he'll use that method and see if it works). To the scene where Wei Wuxian asks Jiang Yanli why she'd like someone outside (i always figured it was slightly about lan zhan, but on rewatch its also wei wuxian trying to figure out WHY she likes jin zixuan, and him and jiang cheng trying to figure out what SHE wants regarding that mess). Or the scene where lan wangji says he wants to take someone back to cloud recesses, on rewatch its clearer that he saw the blood on the wall... the clans planning to bully wei wuxian to give them his amulet and submit, or paint him as an evil man and kill him. That he is asking because theres not much time. Because he planned to try and heal wei wuxian from the resentment, forced ot not, (not knowing the core is missing or why wei wuxian wont agree to be healed), but by the time theyre at the banquet its way more serious. Theres a time crunch. And lan wangji goes to chongqi road. And maybe he couldve stopped the jins and freed the wen prisoners, civilly, if he got there first. Maybe he wouldve joined wei wuxian, if he arrived during, and saw the jins killing the remaining wens. Or maybe he was always going to be late. And thats the point: he was so close, to dragging wei wuxian home to cloud recesses and healing him. But by the time he gets there, wei wuxians already used the resentment inside again, to kill a bunch of jins. A bunch of lan clan and jiang clan allies. Basically done what allies cant do. Not just that, wei wuxian did it with the unorthodox corruptive resentment that lan wangji wants to heal. But the point is he gets there too late. Theres no way to take wei wuxian home. Theres no way to heal him, surely wei wuxian would have done something else if he had a powerful option to save people besides the resentment - and even if he'd still do this by choice? Wei wuxian is right, as he leaves. He swore to help people, to do the right thing in this world. And lan wangji knows what the allies did was wrong, that saving these people was the right thing to do. Not the easy thing, but the right thing. The heroic thing that needed to be done, with no reward, knowing the steep cost it'll have.

And that all hurts. Inside Lan Wangji, its all piles of hurt on top of: he was about to take Wei Wuxian away and protect him. But now its too late.

Its the way Jiang Cheng buys that comb for wen qing. And she gives it back because wei wuxian would save her and a ning, and he wouldnt have. The way when jiang cheng was sick and unfixable without a golden core, that wen qing helped cure him. That wen ning saved jiang cheng and recovered his parents remains. The way that by the time Wei Wuxian takes the wens to the burial mounds, he is trying to do the possible and save wen ning. The way wen qing helped do this for wei wuxian, his little brother. The way he got the wens out to safety, the way wen ning got jiang cheng and wei wuxian and jiang yanli to the safety and protection of wen qing during the war. There are so many parallels. And jiang cheng saying wen ning isnt even human now, qas that how jiang cheng thought of himself without a core? The difference in values, when it really comes to it. Wen Qing picks her brother (family) above all, just like jiang cheng prioritizes his family's safety even if others will die. But wen qing still took the risk of helping outsiders. Jiang cheng when put in the same position, cant understand why wei wuxian would take the risk.

Thw way in the cave with the turtle monster, wei wuxian saves mianmian. He saves someone, stands up for whats right, and ends up blaming himself for helping her... as what started the war and got jiang clan killed. But when push comes to shove, he keeps picking to do whats right the next time things come down (except at his most vengeful and paranoid at the height of getting revenge during the war against the wens). The way the allies turn against wei wuxian as he tries to save wen prisoners being killed. But mianmian stands up to everyone, because she knows whats right. And he is doing the right thing here, and has done it before. And it makes sense she is the cultivator to leave the allies. To stand up for whats right.

Theres so many little details, the map maker spy being meng yao, the way his father uses him as a speaker to redirect anger to jin guangyao, the way jin guangyao and lan xichen and nie mingjue become sworn brothers (and how jiang clan and jin clan arent included), how jin guangyao utilizes political skills from nie work to be a spy at the wens, then uses it to be a political player and even spy (for his own dad about clans) in jin clan, how it keeps jin guangyao alive since it pleases father and he needs to defend himself as father uses him as a shield to take the brunt of the negative reactions to his fathers power hungry actions and offensive controlling toward other clans. The way jiang yanli and lan wangji are the two people who can calm down wei wuxian. The way the jiang siblings and wei wuxians ages, positions, skillsets, heavily influence how they handle the world and others handle them. Jiang Yanli is oldest and most politically savy, as set as her mother when she wins political battles, but she has an illness that makes it impossible for her to lead the clan militarily. Jiang Cheng is the birth son, so hes set to be heir, but hes also wei wuxians junior and has always been in a younger brother position. Servant wei wuxian more talented than him in every way, more free like their clan motto, more coddled by their dad and sister, ordering HIM jiang cheng around because ultimately wei wuxian is older and trying to protect him, but then that means jiang cheng struggles to order wei wuxian in return about clan stuff or politeness despite the fact jiang cheng NEEDS to prove he can control those things. Even over wei wuxian. The way outsiders see wei wuxian and jiang yanlis closeness. The way jiang yanli really is the oldest in terms of ready to protect and help her brothers, in terms of knowing the wisest action if only they TELL HER. But wei wuxian, the middle child, always protected jiang chengs feelings. Always was told it was his job to help jiang cheng. And always wants to pay back jiang family for taking him in (which he focuses on jiang yanli as the older figure in his life who nurtured him, loved him unconditionally, and was always there for him). So when people insult yanli (like jin zixuans many misunderstandings and slights) he just cant help personally feeling the need to defend her. Yanli is on a pedestal for him, the only family left whos wiser than him, who he needs to protect and hold onto, the only person who loves him unconditionally in the way a parent could and so hes got to do Anything to return the favor and give her unconditional love back. As they turn into adults it means starting to lie to her, despite her wisdom realizing hes keeping secrets and suffering and her going to lan wangji to ask. It means him trying to hard to fix things so she isnt as pained by him, as the jiang clan leader and madam yu... who died in wei wuxians mind because of his mistakes.

Anyway. All this to say its finally got me in the right mindset to check out the books. I have wanted to for years. But it just never quite was the right time to click. But now seeing un retrospect how tight the show writing was. I want to see the book, the additional details, the original details that the show changed. The way the characters are different. And I will eventually read the english translation (which has its own things to notice comparing vs the original), which i know i have the first volume of in a box somewhere.

But instead ive been listening to the audiobook. Wondering how much ximalaya cut lol. Because i wanted to practice more chinese audio listening practice anyway.

[fictionalmenaremytype]

Percy Jackson episode 7 spoilers!!!

First of all, that cliff hanger is more cruel than the actual cliffhanger...okay maybe not but you get the point.

- WE GOT CRUSTY'S. If I'm honest though I wasn't really disappointed when I thought he wasn't in it.

- I am sad we didn't get DOA records but the fact that they didn't fare with Charon tells me DOA does still exist they just used a different entrance so I'm hoping for it to be used in a different season. Would be funny if Nico used it in the 5th season with Percy.

- Annabeth's "Dude, don't make me come back out there!" Tell him, WiseGirl!

- Oh my god Percy and Sally at his first boarding school is so sad but when I tell you I cheered when he locked that car door! Persassy at his finest.

- "not in Kansas" "Hey focus, we left kansas four days ago." "Yeah, I-" so it's basically Canon they were going to see the Wizard of Oz in BotL then yeah??

- Percy is so polite with all the souls! "We're all dying...to some extent."

- The boys bribing Charon and Annabeth is staring at them like they are about to get them in trouble again.

- "You can buy a new whistle" I cackled

- AWW CERBERUS...I mean Ahhhh Cerberus!

- Annabeth is so smart but Grover getting eaten?? Was scared he wouldn't come back.

- I feel bad for Aryan being covered in that gloopy stuff that looked gross.

- She just chucks Percy the ball to get herself up! INGENIUS!

- Aww Annabeth's little sad backstop moment and Percy wasn't even listening!

- The way Grover lost the pearl is very clever! I wasn't expecting that but it makes more sense than Poseidon forgetting about Sally.

- New Information?!?!? Mate you could have sent an email!!!! I'm sorry but maybe the fact he was on the school gymnasium roof probably suggests that the school wasn't keeping a good enough watch on him!!! Report the school!!!

- HOMESCHOOL??!?!?! Of course Sally can't do that she's barely able to support her, Percy, and Gabe as is! But Percy seeing all of that is so sad.

- That soul is terrifying I never want to watch the fields of Asphodel scene again (I've watched it four times)

- Annabeth getting stuck because of her regret (which I'm assuming is regret leaving home) I was scared for her. Completely forgot about the pearl.

- I really thought the sound were going to do some Weeping Angel level scary stuff.

- She's so smart using the pearl

- I thought the desert was another dream sequence but nope! How did I forget!

- Sad we didn't get the tartar sauce line but I'm also glad we didn't.

- I am convinced they only came off of Grover's hooves because he has hooves and not feet. If his foot filled the shoe properly he would have been dragged to Kronos.

- "is this?" "No!" "Well it looks like-" "it absolutely is not" "Okay, so what is it then?" "Yeah that's the master bolt." "I mean, I think so right??" I love how they show it takes them longer to get to the truth without Annabeth.

- return the bolt ❌️ Take the bolt to the person you think stole it ✅️

- The café scene is so sad what! "I would never do this to you." Has me sobbing. my favourite thing about the show is all the extra scenes we're getting that explains how difficult it was for Sally to raise Percy, it just adds to why there's so many year-round campers.

- that elevator is badass

- I love how Hades tries to connect with Percy with the nautical reference. He's so funny. I want a scene in season 4 or 5 of Nico just ranting in Italian and Hades sat on his thrown like "Yeah yeah I know."

- PERCY DEFINITELY PANICKED SEEING HIS MUM IM GOLD BECAUSE WHEN HE WAS IN GOLD HE ALMOST SUFFOCATED TO DEATH AND SALLY HAS BEEN LIKE THIS FOR FAR LONGER. HE'S PANICING THAT SALLY IS EXPERIENCING WHAT HE DID.

- "huh?"..."the bolt is my brothers drama I don't want anything to do with it." Spoken like a true middle child.

- "my helm!" "Your what?" So funny. Percy knows loads of stuff about Greek mythology but not about the helm.

- Oh my god, the way this is setting Annabeth up to be the traitor??? The helm turns people invisible like her hat. Percy realised he was supposed to be dragged to Tartarus, which would make sense why she saved him from the chair...he knows someone partnered with Ares, and both Annabeth and Ares were upset with Athena when Ares arrived!! Kind of suspicious...

- "Kronos." chills.

- Hades helping them in exchange for the bolt makes sense now because he only wants to defend his land. He's thinking he's the closest to Tartarus, so he will experience his father's wrath first and therefore needs the strongest weapon.

- "Nice pearl?"

- "Hold fast mum."

- Sally burning the milkshake as an offering is so smart but WHAT CAFÉ HAS MATCHED IN THE SUGAR BOWL?!?!?

- The way Poseidon just turned up because Sally needed him <3 (couldn't do that for Percy though could you mate?)

- "it's a him, he saw it." I cackled.

- Poseidon and Sally having that kind of relationship where they put feelings aside to help the other person. It's giving besties with a child.

- "one day...one day when he's ready...when he knows who he is...and where he belongs...and fate has revealed to him his true path...and that day..." And that day is next Wednesday because surprise! Its a cliff hanger! And the end of the episode!

- The way they looked at eachother when they realised what was about to happen though has set them up to be such a perfect trio.

- I will never get over how cool Ares is!

- And riptide/anaklusmos (which for non book readers is the name of Percy's sword) looked so sick.

This episode was so good and I'm so glad it wasn't like a 25 minute episode. Even though the actual content only took 36 minutes, it felt well spaced and gave time to understand what was happening. I am a little teensy bit worried for how the last episode will go as there's quite a lot to cram in. They have to find the Helm and fight Ares and then they have to return to camp so I'm a little bit worried but I have faith that Rick, Aryan, Leah and Walker will pull it off.

[gyarucoded]

reviewing loki s2 ep4 (major spoilers!)

i was bit hesitant thowards this ep cuz i started noticing how this season parallels the previous one, which went very downhill after ep3 however, i think it seem to get better this time? 🤔🤭 this is so far my fav episode and hopefull they'll keep this energy for the last 2 eps. ok let's get into it:

i don't think this was timed like this on purpose but love how we're 3 days away from halloween and this episode fits with it so well. i could be biased as a horror fan but i loved the eeriness (is that even a term?)

brad you stupidass why are you listening to ravonna when she clearly doesn't care about any of your lives on the time line 😭

ooouu the box scene 😧 not miss minutes' psycho ass smiling like she's getting creepier each ep- also as someone who watches gory movies i expected to see what was left of all the prisoners but then i remembered disney tries to keep shit as "family friendly" as possible altough i am not complaining cuz it's a lot more cinematic to just hear the blood droplets & it leaves space for our imagination!

why does it feel like b-15 is lowkey the true leader of the tva now? i can definitely vibe with that.

"which way, wizard?"

B-15 is strong af for not throwing up at *that* scene but ig she has seen more gruesome sights before.

i just know ppl gonna ship o.b, casey & victor as a poly-couple and i'm a 100% there for it lmaoo

even sylvie calling it "bromance" like miss ma'am's gay radar was going havoc, and her smile when HWR death was mentioned plss🤚 😭

i know sylvie meant well when she snapped at mobius for yk, "not reading the room" but i still felt kinda bad for mobius cuz i can deffo see him as the stress eater-type.

loki mentioning thor !!!!

the parallels between thor & jane and loki & mobius hmmm.....hmmmm...

what sylvie said about anhiliation & starting from scratch reminded me of thanos in endgame, sry baby 💀

well despite of that, still think sylvie is in the middle of her positive character arc/development

we're also witnessing loki's growth !! (notice how in 1x04 mobius told him to grow up?) he's possibly even more mature then he was in the sacred time line but that was due his sctripted fate of being a "loser" that sabotaged him from more rational choices but now he's free to think & do what he wants n i love that for him.

goodbye miss minutes i assure you that nobody's gonna miss yew. 💁‍♀️

now why did x-5 had to ruin that wholesome moment this badly ><=$^[_=

despite of sylvie & loki not fully agreeing on moral issues and stuff, i enjoyed them working together, it was finally sylvie's turn to show off her magic 😋

loki was so soft & reassuring with victor timely only for him to be spaghettified ?? i knew they'd probs kill him off but i didn't expect it to be such a weird & immidate death 😭 kinda sad cuz i don't think they'll bring that version of him back.

idk how to feel about ravonna getting pruned. not sure she'll get redeemed cuz it's too late for that now but pruning doesn't kill an invidual so it's likely that her story doesn't just end here.

love the soundtrack in this series generally but in the latest episode it's outstanding ! natalie holt truly added her whole 🐱 into this ost 🙏

the cliffhanger is absolutely killing me, i'll have to absorb all the theories until next friday like i fr cannot wait ngfddjfsvbm

[adultswim2021]

Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! #21: “Resurrection” | July 28, 2008 - 12:30AM | S03E01

Assessing the quality of an episode of a sketch comedy program is basically a numbers game. An otherwise lackluster outing can have a sketch on it that is so funny that it overshadows every other sketch, leaving one feeling like the entire episode was pretty good. If an episode doesn’t have a single great or even good sketch, it’s certainly a “bad” episode. That’s what I mean when I say that this is a bad episode. Not a single sketch gets off the runway. Everything leaves me cold. 

Before this episode aired, I recall this show seemingly “catching on”. Articles introducing Tim & Eric to the masses seemed to spring up with higher frequency this summer, most of which were promoting the upcoming season and, more specifically, this episode’s premiere. It could be that they made this episode like any other, assembling an assortment of sketches of varying quality and winding up coming up shorter than ever before. Or, it could be that they consciously tried to create an episode for the people who read about them in the New York Times and wanted to give them an easily digestible version of what they do. The quality of this episode is so low to me that I’m inclined to think the later.

This is the second time Tim & Eric did a season opener that directly references the events of the previous season’s finale, as if there was high demand for questions to be answered. The cliffhanger itself is part of a gag, and continuity is only mock-serious on this show. In this one, Tim is miraculously resurrected at the graveyard. Eric is quickly bored by Tim’s glowing ethereal float, checking his watch and dozing off and stuff. The heavenly effects end abruptly, and Tim just walks away with Eric in a nonchalant manner. It’s very jokey, and not terribly original. It’s honestly a pet peeve of mine when a character visibly does the watch-checking thing to suggest that something has been going on too long, especially if it’s only been going on for about 5 seconds. Right off the bat, the first episode of the season begins with what might be my least favorite sketch of theirs so far.

The next sketch of note is the Dick Dousche Penile Cleansing Rag. This one has a lot of low-hanging fruit as well. It’s essentially a parody of female hygiene product commercials, but featuring a Pep-Pep and his son. It immediately begins with the Pep-Pep sniffing his son’s penis. Funny on paper, I guess, and I’d probably laugh if that were riffed out on Cum Town. But everything in this episode feels like an amateurish approximation of a Tim & Eric sketch. The last joke of the sketch is Dick Dousche saying “that’s my real name. That’s how we’re getting away with this”. It’s the kind of joke they don’t usually tell, just lobbed over home plate. Later they cut to some outtakes of Dick Dousche messing up, and they are sorta funny but this also comes off as more mean than funny.

This one also has a mostly laugh-less Steve Brule sketch where he burns his mouth on a panini. There’s a moment in the sketch where he mindlessly repeats the phrase “cowboy boot” out of it’s previous context, and it cuts to his straight-woman co-host, perplexed and doing an extended quizzical take. It's the kind of thing that's an earmark of less-challenging comedy and I don’t like seeing it here AT ALL. John C. Reilly seems lackluster in this sketch as well, like he’s trying to keep his voice down or something. Man, just about everything in this episode rubs me the wrong way. It’s remarkable.

The through-line of the episode is Tim has a newfound power where he can conjure up a little ceramic tiger statue. The scene that explains this is also rather poor. Tim & Eric seem slightly bro-ier in some of the dialogue reads. Tim calls them “crappy” statues, which again telegraphs their usual humor to a degree I’m just not comfortable with. This bit trails off in a very stupid-but-unpleasing way: They high five at the prospect of selling these statues (conjuring them out of nothing means no production overhead) and say some goofy nonsense word, and then they do a deliberately slow trot off screen with cartoony sound-effects. It just seems completely uninspired.

At this point, it feels like I’m being tested. Like, on a shallow level, this episode perfectly resembles a typical Awesome Show episode. I recall a story about Dino Stamatopoulis feeling disgruntled working at Late Show with David Letterman. He was leaving the show, and as a defiant door-slamming act he submitted a bunch of Top-Ten jokes that were meant to be cruel parodies of the typical jokes that get on. To his dismay, they were favored over his sincere attempts at joke writing and most of them made it into the show. This sorta feels like that; a cynical attempt to expose the stupidity of the more casual fans watching.

The final scene, the ending of the tiger statue arc, isn’t too objectionable. By process of elimination, it’s maybe the strongest scene in the show. But MAN, this episode is dogshit. 

There is ONE THING in this that makes me laugh, and I actually quote it A LOT. It’s the scene where Tim & Eric hatch their plan to sell the “crappy” statues. Tim says something like “one hundo a day. That’s FIVE hundo a week… that’s rich!” Eric weirdly caps it off by repeating “that’s rich” in a very tossed-off, clipped way. It’s like “that’s rish”, so they can quickly get to their dumbass trotting routine. Seeing those two men trot. It makes me sick. But with hundo talk, they were off to the races.

The next episode’s better, though. So there’s that.

[blris96]

Hi B! What are your theories of the final 2 eps of this season? Love to hear your thoughts?

Hi lovely anon!

Everything below is my opinion.

At the end of the day, whatever occurs in 4x21 is pure plot device. There’s no foundation for his relationship with Ashley. 4x22 is where I think it’ll get GOOD.

For 4x21, I’m bouncing around 2 theories (it literally can only go one of two ways in terms of an answer) that revolve around it actually being a proposal plot device at the end of the episode. We also could be getting clowned hardcore, but I’m leaning towards that not being it based off my experience with watching tv proposals etc. We’ll see though! This is probably the one time where I don’t want either theory to be right 😂.

Given how the writing is, Tim has been impulsive on occasion. Would it be OOC for a massive decision such as this? Yes in my opinion. Especially after his marriage to Isabel and especially after his relationship with Ashley not even being most likely more than 4 months. I hate they keep putting Lucy through the wringer too and leaving her with the baggage.

The worst case scenario here is Ashley accepts (which would be on brand for her, she doesn’t strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed since she stuck around after the double date). I don’t think this is it, but I could be wrong. We know Lucy witnesses the proposal and realizes her feelings for Tim. It doesn’t really make sense for Ashley to say yes, especially since we haven’t seen basically any of their relationship, but I can see the writers pulling that for max drama. In my opinion. But, The Rookie really isn’t that dramatic of a show though…

The best case scenario is that Ashley pulls a Hannah from Bones and says no. This is what I hope it is. Lucy still sees it, and still realizes her feelings and is still hurt, but the fallout would be a lot less. The Rookie isn’t that deep of a show, so I think this would be more likely, but I have no clue.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucy walks away before seeing it play out either.

Or, it’s not what it seems at all, but I don’t think that is the case here. I’ll happily be wrong if that ends up being the case.

What happens at what is most likely the end of 4x21 probably will lead into 4x22:

I don’t think the “looks are deceiving” part of the synopsis relates to the events of the prior episode. I think that statement refers to the drug trafficking case and the criminals not being what they seem.

Lucy is still reeling from seeing what she saw last night. She’s probably sad and trying to keep her distance from Tim. She’s succeeding until her and Tim have to go under. Something I think will happen, whether that’s a kiss or something else. Tim might realize in this episode, I have no idea. One of Eric or Melissa said what happens will carry over into Season 5. That makes me think there’s a cliffhanger for Chenford. Perhaps Tim shows up at Lucy’s door after the op and tells her he broke it off with Ashley and wants to give it a go with her.

Regardless of what occurs in 4x22, I think the UC op will cause some things to be shaken loose. Eric and Melissa said we’d be happy, so that makes me think Ashley says no and the UC op changes things.

All of this is my opinion and I’m more than likely wrong.

[dynyamight]

meet cute number 47 is interesting!

send me a writting ask

47. Texting the incorrect number but continuing the conversation.

“You got all that, right?” Shinsou asks, readjusting his stance, so others can leave their classroom door easily.

Midoriya hums absentmindedly. He’s still quickly jotting down the last few digits onto his planner. “And, you said tomorrow morning, around 7? At the library?”

“Yeah,” Shinsou shrugs, “Or anytime really. The deadline isn’t until next month, you know.”

“I kinda just want to get it done, as soon as possible.”

Shinsou breathes out a snort. “Figured you’d say that much. Just make sure you got my number. Repeat it, if you need to.”

“No time.” Midoriya drops his bag to the side, shoving his now closed notebook inside. “Thank you! I’ll text you later tonight!” He offers hurriedly, before taking off down the campus halls.

Shinsou’s warning falls deaf to his rushed mind.

He has to run the entire way, in order to graciously catch the last bus for the hour. Sweaty and flushed, Midoriya slumps into his seat in relief. Fortunately, he was able to cop a seat for himself, settling by the window and his backpack right next to him.

Staring out, Midoriya tries to remind himself of the rest of his priorities he needed to do.

He still needed to start on Doctor Chiyo’s online Physiology exam, and gather his notes for the open book portion. It was a bit bothersome to handle tests online, but if the rest of class prefers it, there’s nothing Midoriya can do about it.

Speaking of which, Ochako had requested for copies of those exact same notes, since apparently she barely writes anything during lectures. He wants to suggest to her to just simply take better notes, but alas, he will gladly help her out.

And, finally, Midoriya has to collect reliable, approved research articles for his and Shinsou’s debate, in their argumentative project in Communications. Being assigned “PRO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE”, while being the most uninvolved people on the internet, Midoriya and Shinsou had a lot of work to do.

Not to mention it was already 18:00 by the time he reached the school’s dormitories. And yet, he needed to shower, make dinner, water his plants, and watch the newest episode of his favorite drama, airing tonight.

University was eating him alive.

Thankfully, he’s able to complete half of his list.

He finishes the exam with a 98%, and quickly snaps the pages of his notes over to Ochako and Iida, making sure to highlight the main topics questioned in the exam. Ochako sends a ‘thank you’ gif, and Iida texts a long, yet endearing message of gratitude.

Midoriya doesn’t have time to shower, instead blasting the TV volume loud, as he waters his indoor plants at the same time. He overwaters them a little bit, busy glancing back at the screen for too long. But, at least he’s able to watch the episode. He pouts when it ends on a cliffhanger, almost drowning his bonsai tree in frustration.

He’s only able to warm up a plate of leftovers, and read through only one research article, by the time it’s already blinking 21:30 on his phone. Sighing, Midoriya closes his laptop and grabs his cell phone instead.

An all nighter wasn’t preferable. But, if Shinsou is working overtime at his late night job, Midoriya supposes he can stay up and keep looking through more articles, until he has at least the required ten.

Flipping open his planner, Midoriya inputs Shinsou’s number into his phone. He adds his name, a contact photo of him sleeping, and finally taps a quick message.

(21:38) < You working?

When Shinsou doesn’t respond right away, Midoriya simply sets aside his phone on his desk. Stretching his arms, he sighs in defeat, now expecting Shinsou to be stuck at work.

He’s never worked at a restaurant, but he bets Friday nights can get pretty busy. And, Shinsou always complains that group outings and dates tend to stay over, even after the place is supposed to close. And, Midoriya trusts his word.

So, by the time his phone dings, Midoriya has been clicking through more articles on social media, bookmarking a few to go over later, as he went.

He lifts his phone, and with a bright screen, a message stares back at him.

shinsou hitoshi (21:58) > Who’s this

Oh, he did forget to specify. But, Midoriya smiles, having a small prank in mind. There was no harm in teasing his friends, let alone Shinsou, who definitely needed a good laugh, now and then.

(21:58) < It's the cutie from your communications class ;)

shinsou hitoshi (21:58) > So, no one

(21:59) < Haha! I guess you’re right about that

(21:59) < Anyways, it’s Izuku! You still working late, Hitoshi?

shinsou hitoshi (21:59) > This ain’t Hitoshi

Midoriya's face drops, blinking. Oh god, did he mistype the number?

(21:38) < Wait, you’re not???

Another text pops up, shortly after.

shinsou hitoshi (22:02) > You got the wrong number

Embarrassment burning his entire face red, Midoriya wishes he could delete himself from the world.

(22:03) < I’m so so so so sorry!

(22:03) < God, I thought I wrote down my friend’s number right

(22:03) < But, I was in this stupid rush to get on the bus that I didn’t make sure

(22:04) < And, listen, if I had missed that bus, I would’ve had to wait

(22:04) < Not like a few minutes wait

(22:04) < Like, a whole two hours wait!

shinsou hitoshi (22:05) > I didn’t ask

Deleting the conversation, Midoriya erases the new contact completely. And instead, he looks back to his planner, and retypes the numbers in his phone onto a new conversation.

Hopefully, he has typed the correct series of digits.

(22:07) < Hey, Hitoshi! It’s Izuku

unknown (22:08) > ...

unknown (22:08) > What the actual fuck

unknown (22:08) > You've still got the wrong number, you goddamn idiot

Slamming his phone onto his desk, Midoriya grabs a pillow off his bed and shoves it in his face. The temptation to scream sounds awfully pleasant, but it’s too late at night to do so. His dorm neighbors would definitely wonder what the hell is wrong with him.

What’s wrong? Oh, he has completely done one of the most dreaded imaginary scenarios in his head; text a complete stranger. Twice.

What was he supposed to do now? Never text back? Delete it? Block it?

How is he supposed to contact Shinsou now?

His phone dings again.

Lifting the pillow off his face slightly, Midoriya eyes his phone warily from his swivel chair.

That definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. Another text from the same stranger sounds a bit unheard of.

After a seconds-long hesitation, Midoriya lifts his phone and opens it once more.

unknown (22:13) > Double check next time

unknown (22:13) > You can fucking wait the two hours, dumbass

Midoriya grows a little irked. He has a bad feeling that his stranger isn’t too friendly, to say that least.

There was literally no reason to text back something so rude.

(22:14) < Well, that wasn’t nice

unknown (22:15) > Wasn’t trying to be

(22:15) < ..Are you always like this?

unknown (22:16) > Pretty much

(22:16) < That’s sad

unknown (22:17) > What’s fucking sad is that I was woken up from my sleep

unknown (22:17) > Because a damn moron didn’t write down the right number

Midoriya winces. He hadn’t even thought about the other person’s predicament, let alone if he had interrupted anything.

(22:20) > I really didn’t mean to do that, I’m sorry :(

unknown (22:22) > Yeah whatever

(22:24) > You should try to go back to sleep, then

unknown (22:25) > I was

unknown (22:25) > But the same moron from before keeps texting me

(22:27) > Who?

(22:33) > Oh.

(22:33) > It’s me, huh?

unknown (22:34) > No shit

(22:35) > Right, of course. My bad!

(22:35) > I’m going to just stop now

unknown (22:36) > Thanks

(22:36) > For the umpteenth time, sorry! ><

(22:37) > Okay, Okay! I’m stopping now, for real

Midoriya desperately needs to call it a night.

After going through his nightly routine, he slips under his bedsheets, exhausted. He sets an alarm for 5:00 on his phone, hoping Shinsou will show up at the library, regardless of the missing confirmation text on Midoriya’s end.

He keeps his phone on awhile longer, swiping through his professors’ emails, before a surprising text notification pops in front of him.

unknown (23:01) > FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

(23:02) > …

(23:02) > What was that for??

unknown (23:04) > I CAN’T SLEEP

unknown (23:04) > GOD, I CAN’T GO BACK TO FUCKING SLEEP

unknown (23:05) > AND IT’S YOUR FAULT

(23:06) > What do you expect me to do????

unknown (23:07) > HAHAHAHA OH DON’T WORRY

unknown (23:07) > IF I CAN’T SLEEP, NEITHER CAN YOU

unknown (23:08) > AND IF YOU TURN YOUR PHONE OFF I WILL SEND HELLFIRE

(23:09) > Wait

(23:09) > No, please

(23:09) > My alarm is on my phone, I need it on

(23:10) > I need to go to an important meeting for a group project at 7:00!

unknown (23:10) > Aw, really? :0?!

(23:11) > Yeah! I really do!

unknown (23:11) > Sike. I don’t fucking care

unknown (23:12) > Hope you eat shit tomorrow

(23:13) > ..Why are you like this?

(23:13) > I could literally be a twelve year old, for all you know

unknown (23:14) > I doubt fucking twelve years do group projects

unknown (23:15) > But whether you’re a damn infant, or grown adult, I hate you

(23:16) > I wouldn’t say I hate you. That’s too harsh

(23:16) > But, wow, you are very unlikable :/

unknown (23:17) > That’s the fucking nicest thing anyone has said about me

(23:18) > It wasn’t supposed

(23:19) > Nevermind.

(23:19) > Do you have any friends? Just might as well ask

unknown (23:21) > Surprisingly yeah

(23:22) > Oh, so you also agree. That it’s a surprise

(23:22) > At least you’re self aware :0

unknown (23:23) > Yeah, they are annoying as hell

unknown (23:24) > But, also pretty good people, I guess

(23:25) > Pretty good or pretty dumb?

unknown (23:26) > SHUT IT

unknown (23:27) > Only I can make fun of them

unknown (23:27) > You. Don’t.

(23:28) > You’re right, I shouldn’t have said that

(23:29) > I’m sorry :(

unknown (23:30) > You like apologizing, huh

(23:29) > There’s a lot to apologize for tonight

unknown (23:30) > Still, you don’t have to say it every damn minute

(23:32) > You probably don’t ever apologize

unknown (23:33) > Fuck no

(23:35) > Right, of course

(23:36) > Well, you know what I need to do tomorrow

unknown (23:37) > Unfortunately

(23:38) > What about you?

unknown (23:39) > I’m covering a shift at my shit job at the ass crack of dawn

(23:40) > Unnecessary visual, but I digress

(23:40) > Uh, where do you work?

unknown (23:42) > No. I don’t even know your damn name

(23:43) > I told you?? It was in my first text

unknown (23:44) > Yeah, I ain’t scrolling

(23:48) > Well, it’s Izuku. Midoriya Izuku :)

unknown (23:49) > Great. I still ain’t giving you mine

(23:50) > ?? Is there anything I can know about you??

(23:50) > You know more about me, than I do about you

unknown (23:51) > You know I hate you

unknown (23:51) > That’s plenty

(23:52) > But, I have been staying up for you :(

unknown (23:53) > Because it’s your fault I can’t sleep

(23:54) > You aren’t feeling sleepy yet?

unknown (23:56) > ..Are you

(23:57) > I asked you first

unknown (23:58) > I asked you second

(23:59) > That

(23:59) > Look, it’s almost midnight

(24:00) > Oh, now, it’s actually midnight

unknown (00:01) > I have fucking eyes. I can see the time

(00:02) > And we BOTH have places to be tomorrow

(00:02) > So, let’s just sleep. Call a truce, please

unknown (00:03) > What about my petty retribution

(00:04) > PLEASE LET ME SLEEP

unknown (00:10) > FUCK

unknown (00:10) > FINE

unknown (00:11) > I STILL CAN’T SLEEP BUT WHATEVER

unknown (00:12) > HOPE YOU FUCKING OVERSLEEP TOMORROW

The rest of the night, Midoriya hears his phone go off, but he doesn’t bother to open the messages. Fortunately for him, the time staying awake quickly catches up to his body, the moment he shuts his eyes. And, in an instant, he falls asleep, heavy.

However, he’s jolted awake by the ringing of his phone, the tone alerting him of an incoming phone call. Banging his head on the headboard, Midoriya blindly grabs and answers his phone. “Uh, H-Hello?” He blurts quickly.

“Tch.” A low voice emits, “You owe me, Deku.”

Click. The phone call ends.

Confused, Midoriya hurriedly rubs his eyes open. Running his messy curls through his fingers, he lifts his bangs up, in order to correctly look at the time.

The time was 5:10. And, his 5:00 alarm had been off the entire time.

And, instead, that same unknown number from last night was his saving grace.

[riathedreamer]

Zero is Null

A discussion of Zero’s love-hate-relationship with RvB and struggling independence; including a hotdog too big for the bun, tragic backstories, a single bow-chicka-bow-wow, and a cookie at the very end.

Welcome to what will be a lot of text. Basically, it will explore why Zero fails as an RvB (with emphasis on RvB) season. I will not be the first one to bring forth some of the points, and I promise to be fair and civil and fun. This isn’t supposed to be a piece of hate – in fact, I’m writing this because I love Red vs. Blue.

Okay, first of all, to increase your fun – take a guess on just how much of Zero is spent on fight scenes. You see, I’ve calculated the exact amount, and I will reveal it later, but for now, take a guess and remember the number. Maybe you are the winner!

Alright, time to share my thoughts. Wait! Since I suffer from anxiety and have this one annoying voice pretending to be all those critical statements my opinion could be met with, let’s give it an actual voice and address the points throughout this review.

“Why would I care about your opinion, Ria?” – I don’t know, you’re the one who clicked Read More.

“Your opinion doesn’t matter!” – Of course, it doesn’t! Geez. Do you think your opinion matters, though? Listen, we’re on Tumblr, the actual equivalent of screaming into the void. And it’s fun, too!

“If you don’t like it, don’t watch!” - *activates Uno Reverse Card* “You can’t talk about something you haven’t watched!”

“You’re just a Hater” – Actually, this is a point I’ll come back to. Like a cliffhanger. Also, at the end of this, there’ll be a cookie. But this will also include me talking about the stuff I like, because, surprise, Zero is not without talent!

“You just don’t like it because the Reds and Blues aren’t in it!” – Actually, that’s a good point, so instead, this review will start with a sole focus on Zero and discuss the problem that lies within that story. Then we can address why the lack of OG cast is understandable and problematic and weird.

But first! Backstory.

When the first 5 second teaser dropped back in spring (you know, when we were young and innocent and the world didn’t feel like an apocalyptic movie yet), I held onto that one image of what I thought (hoped) to be Grif and Simmons in the sunset, hopefully addressing Grif’s hateglue arc, but boy was I wrong because a) that’s not Simmons, that’s Sarge, and b) the image was from a PSA since the Reds are not in Zero.

Actual face-reveal of me below:

Admittedly, when I heard that the Reds and Blues were not going to be the main characters (or even show up), it felt like a gut punch. However, I actually found myself getting excited due to the creators’ hype. I want to praise them for this. It’s been a while since an RvB season was talked so much ABOUT before its release; it had advertisements, it had creators and voice-actors talking about it. Please. More of that in the future. Their passion rubbed off on me, and that deserves recognition. So it pains me that this was clearly a passion-project, and then when I gave it a try, I didn’t want to touch it again for weeks.

Here’s the thing. I cannot whole-heartedly say that Zero is bad. It’s not gonna melt your eyes. It’s not even so-bad-it’s-good. For me, it’s meh. It’s a Saturday-morning-cartoon aimed for a younger audience with a rushed plot and clichéd characters. The problem is that it calls itself RvB, and with that title comes something to live up to – but more importantly, something to continue.

My main issue is that Zero forces its story into existence by ignoring established content rather than adjusting to it. Let’s call this for the hotdog-too-big-for-the-bun syndrome solely for the sake of the bow-chicka-bow-wow that’s coming now. Bow-chicka-bow-wow. Many of the separate issues I will dive into all add to this hotdog-issue, so I will scream “Hotdog!” whenever this is the case so we can all keep track of my argument.

You can continue the story of Red vs. Blue without the Reds and Blues. While that would personally crush my heart, it can be done. There’s a story of Red vs. Blue that can be continued. The world can be expanded, the previous actions of the Reds and Blues can be explored from another angle.

So.

How does Zero do this? It doesn’t.

I just want to make it clear that new elements can definitely be added when it comes to worldbuilding. That’s literally the point of sequels. But Zero’s settings are presented with so little grace and with no connection to previously established worldbuilding. We get Alliance of Defense and GLASS thrown in our face as very big important organizations – yet we’ve never heard of them before. A big central plot point of RvB is the UNSC and Project Freelancers, and those were introduced naturally with the plot. We already have big established intergalactic organizations. What is AOD’s connection with those? We aren’t told. We are just told they exist and expected to accept it, no questions asked. If this was a whole new world and story – fine. But when you need to build on an already established worldbuilding, you need more grace than this. Chorus was a whole new setting, but it was explained, and it was connected to the previous plot. Same with Iris. Same with Desert Gulch. In Zero, it feels lazy. It feels forced. These organizations are just there because the story is built around them (HOTDOG).

This vagueness when it comes to wordbuilding is also reflected in the settings - we have a desert, a training base, a lab, temples, Tucker’s workplace, and we do not know if all those are set place on the same planet. If that is the case, what is this planet’s relationship with Chorus? Is it Earth? And most importantly, what is the deal with the temples? Why are they connected to Tucker’s sword if it isn’t the same planet. Are they made by the same aliens? Are people okay with this? Why haven’t these temples been explored before? Chorus makes sure to establish this, while Zero doesn’t, adding to a growing amount of confusion.

Okay, so no connection with previous worldbuilding. What about characters? I mean, we got Wash and Carolina and Tucker! So we have RvB characters, it gotta be RvB! Technically – yeah. But it feels dirty. These three characters are not here to be characters. They are here to be props to the new cast. They are not given any development. Their presence isn’t even that important, and if this was a whole new show, they could easily have been replaced with an unknown face. Worst of all, they feel miswritten.

Carolina and Wash are working at a new military organization? Leaving the Reds and Blues behind? To help people? First of all, fucking bad idea, Carolina, the last time you left the Reds and Blues alone, they changed the timeline. But most importantly – Carolina and Wash just joined this new super elite military organization? After being mistreated and manipulated by such an organization in the past?

Carolina is there to introduce the characters. That’s it. We are force-fed their personality by having her literally read out loud their personality. There is no gentle introduction to the new cast. We are not allowed to get to know them naturally. Why show when you can tell, huh? That’s Carolina’s role. That’s why she is there. To introduce the cast and explain their story. That’s it. (HOTDOG).

How about Wash? He is there to get beat up and be a damsel in distress so that the new cast has a reason to explore the plot. Oh, and that brain damage that was the consequence of previous seasons – gone now. The guy who literally has trauma from having an AI explode inside his head is fine with having a computer inserted into it instead. Because that’s needed. To explore his brain damage wouldn’t work now when his role is to be a prop to lure the new cast for one episode and then be put onto the bench for the rest of the runtime (HOTDOG).

And Tucker – he is there to die for a second and have his sword taken from him. That’s literally it. And for the few moments he is there, he feels like old super flirty Tucker, which erases the character development he went through in previous seasons. Okay, so Tucker dies, and then not dies, and then he is put on the bench with Wash where they can sit and talk or whatever (‘cause holy shit, the new cast is not allowed to that), because he isn’t important. The sword is. Tucker is just a prop, even more than his sword is (HOTDOG).

Damn. Wash gets beat up. Tucker gets beat up. Dies. Gets his sword taken away. Almost seems like a Red’s wet dream. Sorry not sorry, Blues, you were done dirty.

So there are miswritten old characters. Even worse is the retconning. The plot needs a “normal” Wash, so, bam, magic computer solution. Never mind Wash’s trauma and character traits. Never mind the logic of the new worldbuilding which also includes a character suffering for years to heal an illness. But the brain damage that was such a big consequence that it became the main part of the plot of the last two seasons – gone. I mean, a gunshot to the head can be healed by CPR. That’s canon. But no one gave Wash CPR so it’s a big thing, okay. It was canonically a big thing, and Zero erased that. This is not me saying that a Cerebral Enhancer couldn’t work in the RvB universe. Imagine it being done right. Wash struggling with the choice of getting used to his disability or accepting the possibility of help - at the cost of reliving his trauma. The struggle between what to choose - what should he choose when he wants to help as many as possible, the sacrifices he thinks he has to make, the way it could have been used as a part of his character growth. But in Zero, the enhancer isn’t a part of Wash’s character. It’s there so the story can work without having to deal with the previous plot’s consequence (HOTDOG).

Same with the sword thing. They sorta explain it by having Tucker flatline, but it’s weak. Honestly, I find it sorta offensive. What about Locus’ sword as well? It’s twisting previous lore to make the new plot work (HOTDOG). (Also, are we not gonna talk about the ultimate power being Spencer Porkensenson’s helmet? Have the writers forgotten Spencer Porkensenson? Have we as a community forgotten Spencer Porkensenson?)

If you have Red vs. Blue in your title, you cannot ignore what you inherit from it. You need to respect the worldbuilding, the established characters, and the previous plot. Zero does not do this.

Let’s talk about the Triplets. No, really, let’s do it. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about them before, because season 14 was a mixed bag for me (that I have now learned to appreciate. Thank you, Zero.) because I have heart at the size of the Grinch and can only love a few characters at a time, and that did not include the Triplets. Can’t even remember their names. Well, I can, but I can’t for the love of me remember which state is which, and my tongue is twisted every time I try to say Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho, and I know it’s on purpose. I know it is. And it got me good. That being said, the fandom actually embraced them really, really well! Seriously, I’ve seen more content for the Triplets than for Zero as a whole.

Why talk about the Triplets? (Was Iowa the lesbian? Or was it Ohio? Fuck.) Because like Zero, they introduced new characters with a story of their own. The Reds and Blues didn’t play a role. But here’s what I feel like the Triplets got right. They didn’t change the settings to force their narrative. They used stuff already established (Project Freelancer), added their own story as a continuation of that. They even included old characters in the beginning (Wash and some other Freelancers) but it felt natural and it didn’t feel like it happened at the expense of the old characters. Wash’s writing felt natural, and his presence wasn’t needed to tell these new character’s stories. He wasn’t a prop to them. He was there to establish the setting and to establish the relationship with these new characters, and then he and the other familiar faces (helmets??) left, and we as the viewers were left with these new characters. And the new characters told their own story by themselves. It felt like, hey, here’s something you know – remember Mother of Invention, and remember Wash’ lower rank, but now, try to imagine being even lower rank than him, aren’t you curious about those fates? Now let’s hear their story! It was new, it was something else, but it didn’t wreck what came before it, and it stayed true to the classic vibes of RvB.

As I said before, the hotdog-issue is my biggest problem with Zero. It infuriates me. I will return to this. But there are more issues, even if we try to look past the title-related problems.

If we try to imagine Zero as its own story and universe (as it should be, in my opinion), it still earns the meh review from me.

These isolated issues include awkwardness, the writing, lack of self-awareness, and pacing. First of all, holy shit, this is a tell, don’t show. Nothing is subtle, nothing is allowed to develop. It’s like the show thinks you are six years old with an attention span of a goldfish. You are not just led by the hand – they have literally pulled off your arm by the end of the show. We are force-fed every bit of information, every bit of personality from these new characters.

The voice-acting is a mixed bag for me. Sometimes it’s pretty good, sometimes it’s not. Some of the problems can definitely be blamed on the dialogue that you can only do so much with. It’s not good. I can’t remember any good jokes (the one joke I really appreciate was the cast on armor, and that was freaking visual humor. That was so RvB. Kudos to that. It was fun. More of that, please.), and RvB is known for having memorably good lines. This is a show built on good, clever, funny dialogue. Zero does not deliver. You have to sit through clichéd lines – “You’re not my dad”, “I trusted you”, “Come with me”, “It can’t be!”, “She’s way too powerful”, and “We have to do this together” – performed unironically. I cringed more than I laughed. Worst thing is that Zero could be a good parody. Sometimes, it feels like it is. One-dimensional characters, a villain wanting ‘the ultimate power’, very overpowered characters, bad one-liners, etc. But Zero takes itself seriously, and I was one of the people rooting for Jax to show up at the end and yell “Cut”. That would have been a funny-as-fuck twist. A spin-off parody. If I can’t have “Sarge the Movie”, I would have taken that and loved it. I would have forgiven everything. “We put so much info into finding that power, but we had no idea what it was” is really a line in the finale, and I cannot believe this is real in a show that somehow still tries to present itself as serious. What a plot.

We have to talk about pacing. God, first of all it should be stated that RvB is a mess when it comes to pacing. I honestly get what they were going for. Sometimes, RvB has come across as a bit boring when you get three episodes stretched over three weeks without much going on. I know season 11 did not have the warmest welcome because it was seen as boring until the finale. But when you see season 11 as a whole, as a movie, as a part of a trilogy, it works so well. Zero is more focused on being episodic. They want something to happen all the time so we will stay tuned. The thing that will happen – a fight. Oh god. The fight scenes.

I have done the math. I have run the numbers. I deserve a freaking cookie for this. Are you ready?

If you put all the episodes together, you have a runtime of 106 minutes. HOWEVER, with the introduction of credits in every episode, you gotta account for this. Removing the credits, this gives us 94 minutes of actual runtime. Out of that, 45 minutes are dedicated to fight scenes. That means 48% of the show is fight scenes.

If I wanted that many fight scenes, I’d watch Death Battle. Except the actual RvB Death Battle episode has a runtime of 20 minutes, and out of that, 5 minutes is dedicated to the actual battle. For the people who hate math – that’s 25% of the actual runtime.

RvB Zero has more fight scenes than a show called Death Battle. Take that in.

The pace suffers from this. Where’s the time to explore the characters? Where’s the time for good dialogue? All I can think of is this:

I get that RvB is a show that’s literally making fun of itself by acknowledging all their characters do is stand around and talk. I get that you want characters to do more than that. But for the love of Church, would it kill the new characters to stand around and talk? For just a minute? Stop fighting, I am begging you, stop fighting! Am I a pacifist now? Am I purple? Have I joined Doc’s team? What has Zero done to me?!

The good thing though is that fight scenes are very good. They’re entertaining. However, they seem to deconstruct themselves when we need to get a fight scene in every episode. Usually, the few fight scenes in an RvB season were in some of the most climatic episodes. In Zero, I can hardly keep up with the pace because they won’t stop moving. Fight scenes aren’t plot. They aren’t character development. You need more than just fight scenes. They entertain, but there’s a limit to that.

Noël Wiggins, the co-writer, stated the inspiration was a Saturday-morning cartoon. They nailed that vibe. If that was their goal, hurray, they have accomplished something! Because of the poor plot and constant fight scenes, it feels like you could just switch on the TV and drop in at any moment and let yourself be entertained by the cool and colorful soldiers punching and kicking each other. I will admit that the fight scenes entertained me. But they don’t make it a good season.

If I were the six-year-old with the attention span of a goldfish that the show believes I am, I honestly would enjoy it. The stiff dialogue and the constant tell-don’t-show makes you feel like an audience that’s not supposed to do anything else but admire the flashy fight scenes. I miss the cleverness of RvB. I miss the characters I get to connect with as I see them grow.

I miss the tone of RvB. Because this isn’t RvB to me.

It’s not that RvB hasn’t changed its tone before. Holy shit, I sorta do want to experience the absolute shock the RvB fandom went through when s6 aired and they were given new characters and serious plot. I would have loved to experience that, but I was too busy being ten years old. The Freelancers seasons also introduced a new tone and more fight scenes with very talented fighters compared to the Blood Gulch gang, but a balance was kept by having half of the season still revolving around the Reds and Blues. But Zero – Zero is so much change. And it’s on purpose. At least this has been made very clear from the beginning.

They constantly seem to appeal to new fans, rather than be directed towards older fans of the show. If you want an entirely new audience with a season with a new cast, new worldbuilding, and new tone, I’m confused as to why they don’t just make a new show. The hotdog-problem begs for this solution. This story and environment and characters feel so out of touch with the original RvB, that with a few rewrites and lack of Halo-armor, it could just be a new show. Problem solved.

If not this, then present it as a spin-off. In all ways, it feels like a spin-off (again, see everything marked HOTDOG). But the creators refuse to do this, and I don’t understand why. I could forgive many of these issues, had they officially separated themselves from canon.

Ah, what’s the idiom? You can’t both swallow and blow? (You can hear the Bow-chicka-bow-wow in the distance). Something about eating cake and having it. Forgive me, English isn’t my native language. POINT IS why are you calling yourself RvB while actively fighting against the core essence of RvB? In my humble opinion, you can’t be both. Marketing it as a spin-off would have granted it some defense when changing, well, literally everything, and I just, would someone please properly describe why it isn’t a spin-off? Isn’t this season marked by its association with the plot of RvB rather than a continuation of it? Zero presenting itself as not a spinoff feels like a toddler clinging to the hem of its mother’s dress while forcefully running away from her, ripping the dress in the process.

When they do connect with the original RvB, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. When they let Carolina, Wash, and Tucker appear for a moment, it feels like luring viewers in with the RvB title. Look at me. Look at me! I’m not saying this is the case. I say that it gives me the annoying vibes of being lured, rather than letting the characters be a part of the show for their own development, rather than having RvB in the title to continue its story. I should not be getting these vibes at all. But I am.

If you want to use RvB in the title, something from the core of RvB needs to be embraced. Things can be changed. They should. Something new should be brought in. But there’s a limit to how much you can change and replace and twist until it would have been better with an original show. As a season of RvB, it should tell the story of Red vs. Blue.

From my perspective, Zero fails to do so.

It pains me that the old cast has been replaced, but as stated earlier, a season could have worked without them. However, I do not like the take that one should be excited about all the new characters. That it isn’t a big thing that the OG cast got replaced. That we should just deal with it. Just, try to imagine another show suddenly replacing the main characters with characters we’ve never met before. Imagine RWBY suddenly only focusing on a new team of huntresses with the previous main characters reduced to an Easter Egg presence, or Camp Camp suddenly being about a new team of campers, no warning given. Can you imagine the outcry? So maybe let’s agree that a replacement of the main cast is a big thing and should be addressed and it’s valid to be upset about this change.

Could Zero have worked? It’s hard to answer this. How can I accept something as RvB if the season actively pushes away the core of RvB aside for an isolated story that could have been told in any other media? As a spinoff, I could have ignored it. To enjoy Zero, I have to fully separate it from RvB in my mind, and then it’s alright. S’not good. But it’s not bad. It’s entertaining enough. I really ended up liking Raymond and Tiny, and there were a few good jokes, and the fight scenes were admirable (but too much) and I love the creators’ passion. But it’s not RvB. I also wish that the new characters had been attached to previous worldbuilding, for example soldiers on Chorus or agents from Project Freelancer. That way we could build on familiar lore which would have decreased the confusion and added a much needed connection with the previous seasons of RvB.

God, the anxious voice is back (by the way, it sounds like Tutter from “Bear in the Blue House”).

“You’re racist” – I hope not. Literally, I do not want to be. Tell me if I’ve ever crossed some lines, because I swear, that is not my intention, I will apologize and most of all, change and do better. I included this because I’ve seen this take thrown around in the big ugly mess that is the fandom clashes regarding Zero. And racism is problem within RT community (this includes AH and RvB, sorry, I just use RT as an umbrella term for the latter), and I’m not saying it hasn’t been a problem with this season. Writers should never be harassed, and never-fucking-ever because of their skin color, and voice actors shouldn’t be treated like they are responsible for the choices of the show. But I was legit nervous to post this review, and I hope it’s been factual without feeling like personal attacks on the creators because that has never been my intention. I was delighted to hear about the diversity behind this project, and Torrian’s passion legit blew me away because it’s been a while since I’ve seen that for an RvB project. I’d hoped for it to be good, and when I feel disappointed, it’s for the reasons stated in this analysis. That said, Zero is made by a diverse cast and it’s made with love, and both of those things are so, so great, but it does not mean that Zero cannot be criticized. It can, and it should. It’s a product, just like all the other seasons, and fans are allowed to discuss it – both what they loved, and both what they found troublesome. And to repeat previous points, and be respectful, always, fuck racists, and never-fucking-ever harass the staff behind a season, what the fuck is wrong with you if you do this.

“Don’t you get it, it’s different because it’s trying something new!” – Hey, remember the philosophical question: if you replace all the parts of a ship one-by-one, is it still the same ship when you’re done? If it doesn’t include the Reds and Blues, if it ignores previous plot, if the old characters feel miswritten, if it values animation over dialogue, if it values fight scenes over comedy, if it wants to be Fast and Furious instead of Red vs. Blue – is it still Red vs. Blue? Because it doesn’t feel like it to me.

“It's been 17 seasons, it’s time to let the Reds and Blues go so someone else can shine!” – I simply do not understand us having been with the Reds and Blues for 17 seasons should be an argument to let them go, rather than be an argument as to why their absence hurt like hell.

“The Reds and Blues ran out of things to do!” – Did- did they, though? I mean, if we were discussing pretty much any other show, I’d probably agree that they were running out of content. But for the Reds and Blues… I think the PSAs nailed it this year! I’m not kidding, I had more fun watching the Reds and Blues discuss how to do laundry than watching Zero. You could literally give me an hour of the Reds and Blues trying to bake a cake or clear a gutter or simply settling down with an ordinary life, and I would trust them to make it worth the watch.

“The flaws were due to the fact it’s only 8 episodes long!” – Look, I can only judge a product the way it’s presented to me. I cannot come up with excuses for it. If they had 8 episodes to work with, they need to come up with a plot that works with this runtime. Seriously, this excuse cannot work when 48% of the season is spent on fight scenes. They could have used more runtime, sure, but the show needs to be able to pace itself and be planned accordingly.

“The OG cast couldn’t be a part of this year, hence Zero!” – That might be true. But. Would one year without RvB kill it? Is Zero necessary? Again, I just can’t judge excuses for the show. But trouble with the cast has been an issue before. Season 15 solves Geoff’s sabbatical by actually making Grif’s absence a part of the plot. Zero’s lack of Reds and Blues just feels like this excuse to tell a story that needn’t be a part of RvB.

Am I a hater? I guess? I greatly dislike Zero for the critique stated above. I do, however, not harass the creators and no one should ever do that. However, I have to admit that I feel there’s been this weird rejection of any critique of Zero where everything’s been brushed off as haters gonna hate, including the critique stated above. And I think that’s a problem because critique, as hard as it can be to hear (and I know this. I’m an author of original works. Weird flex, I know), is valid and necessary and shouldn’t just be shrugged away. As always, both sides of the fandom should always be respectful, but my own opinion is that addressing the flaws of Zero should not be controversial.

Does this super long rant/critique/whatever mean you cannot enjoy Zero? Gods no! I almost envy you if you enjoy this season, but holy shit, feel free to love it and tell the creators that you love it! Me pointing out the issues I have with the season shouldn’t be stopping you. I loved (and still love) s15 when it came out, and it was majorly rejected by the fandom. There were many, many critical posts, people were going on about how RvB should have ended with s13, and it evolved into the writer receiving death threats (me, once again: never ever harass the creators, assholes). But I didn’t tell people to stop being negative. I actually agreed with many of the flaws that were pointed out, and I enjoyed the season despite this, because that is possible. We, as RvB fans, should agree that RvB, is... I mean, it’s not the greatest, most flawless of shows, but we love it nonetheless. So go ahead and love Zero. This is not a stop sign. This is my opinion that you chose to read.

Wait, I promised you a cookie, didn’t I? Well, you’re not getting one. Why? Because I’m a Red and this is my chance to piss off a Blue. As Caboose wisely said: “Well, at least I don't go around... knocking on people's non-doors... and promising them cookies... and then NOT. GIVING. THEM. COOKIES!”

Blue Team sucks.

End speech.

[silentfcknhill]

FAVORITE SHOWS IN POSTERS

Well, we’re back for another installment of this tagged meme, this time for TV shows! I also stole this from/was indirectly tagged by @jcmorrigan. My taste in shows also differs a bit from my taste in movies, as I tend to like a lot of comedy shows with not as many horror ones. I’m not into shows as much as movies overall, but there are some that I am very passionate about so I picked twenty again. So, here we go for part 2, in order:

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend Of Korra (2005-2014)

I'm including these as one show since they take place in the same universe and tell a continuation of the same overall plot. Altogether this is probably the best piece of media to ever exist, including movies. It has so many great characters and villains especially and some of the most epic sequences, charming humor and heartwarming moments ever. I've never met a person who didn't like these shows, even people who normally don't like cartoons. My dad, who is biased against animation? He loved it. My mother? She loved it, watched it with her multiple times. My grandmother? Loved it. My ex-boyfriend? Loved it. My best friend? Loved it. I dare anyone not to, and I'm so glad it's making a resurgence since it's on Netflix for a new generation to enjoy.

2. Black Butler (2008-2014)

I never was big into anime growing up and only really started watching anime when I was like 16 and above, but this is one of the exceptions because holy shit is it ever dark and epic. I'm not sure I'd really recommend it for kids, it's more of a teens and young adults kind of anime and that's probably why it's so good, because it isn't afraid to explore dark and mature topics and do it with all of the intensity and gravitas required to do said topics justice. It has lots of great characters, and the story of demons who make deals with children who have a dark side is fun to watch play out.

3. Seinfeld (1989-1998)

My dad was a huge fan of this show so I watched it growing up since I was a toddler and it became a classic for me. I've watched thw hole show through at least 8 times, and I'll never stop because it never gets old or boring. It's also my only comfort show when I'm having a panic attack because of one time a few years ago when I was having a drug-induced psychosis episode and watching it calmed me down, so now it's like the opposite of a trigger and whenever I'm having an episode or something I watch it to bring me back to reality. For that reason it's more than a show to me, it's a medical treatment and I'm forever grateful to it.

4. The Good Place (2016-2020)

The big four shows made my Michael Schur all made it on this post (The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office and Parks And Recreation), either in the main list of the honorable mentions, but this is my personal favorite of the four. It's so funny, quirky, relatable and basically tailor-made to suit my interests. Not only is it an entertaining and wholesome show, but I think watching it helped me come to terms with a lot of things like mortality, ethics, philosophy, religion and my relationships with other people. It gets  alot of different viewpoints across and if you're a very analytical and philosophical person like me you'll probably enjoy seeing it all play out. Not to mention, every single character is 'favorite character' material. It's rare you find a show with no filler characters in the main cast, but I genuinely can't choose who is best.

5. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-?)

Another of Michael Schur's shows, this one is just barely under The Good Place and to be honest it was tough to pick my favorite between the two because they're both equally funny. I know it's kind of controversial right now because of the whole law enforcement thing, but I actually think they do a good job of handling social issues in the show and remaining respectful of real-life systemic problems. As for the characters, this is another one of those shows where every single character is gold and I think that tends to be a trend among Schur's shows in general. He produces damn good comedy, and damn good characters. I can't wait to see what they bring next.

6. Rick And Morty (2013-?)

This is unfortunately one of those cases of 'great show, horrible fandom' and for that reason I don't get involved in the fandom even though I love the show. It's a shame because it really is a great show, so funny and, again, such good characters. I think it's a lot more accessible than the fandom likes to claim, so I'm hoping more people will give it a chance and not get put off by the intellectual elitism of the fandom because it does have some of the most entertaining and batshit crazy episodes ever, poking fun of some of the staples of science fiction in media while also poking fun of itself the whole time. Unlike the fandom, the show doesn't take itself seriously and that's enjoyable nowadays.

7. Orange Is The New Black (2013-2019)

While this show is a comedy, it is also a lot of other things and it's probably made me ugly-cry just as many times as it's made me laugh. Well, maybe not as often, but those few scenes (if you've watched the show then you know the ones I'm talking about) made me hysterically sob hard enough to be worth like fifty minor sads. But I didn't even mind because the show is just that good, and it makes you /feel/ something in a real way. Probably because of just how real it gets in terms of telling stories that happen all the time in the real world, sometimes with inevitably tragic endings. But these things do happen every day, and it's important to shine a light on that. It's not just representation for LGBTQ+ but also for POC, the neurodiverse, the poor, and many more. Give it a watch to broaden your perspective!

8. Big Mouth (2017-?)

This is probably the grossest show I've ever seen but by god is it ever funny. Maybe it's because I have an immature sense of humor or something, but I love this show. It definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea and I don't recommend you watch this show with anyone else around because it will get awkward. I think part of its appeal to me is that everyone I talk to who likes it considers it so relatable to their lives growing up but for someone like me who grew up on the autism and asexual spectrum and who was physically an early-bloomer by years, nothing about this show is relatable to me in any way so it makes it all the more crazy and bizarre watching how the people around me must have experienced things. Did y'all really have these experiences with puberty in middle school???

9. Dexter (2006-2013)

I recently heard that this show is coming back for a reboot soon and I'm so excited because this is my absolute favorite drama/thriller show, as evidenced by the fact that it's the highest one on the list so far that isn't a comedy. I love the idea of having a protagonist who is sort of a villain (or at least morally dubious), and the idea of a serial killer who only kills bad people is particularly satisfying for some reason. Maybe because he's the vigilante we all deserve and want in this unjust and evil world of modern times? Idk but the very premise of this show set it up for big things and aside from the ending I think it delivered consistently.

10. Once Upon A Time (2011-2018)

This show took us on some journeys, and you can't deny that. Sure, maybe it didn't always finish what it started and didn't always end in the most satisfying way, but part of its charm is that you didn't care because the experience was just so much fun. They took characters and stories that have been told to death and somehow managed to put a unique and unexpected twist on them, and that alone is admirable. Good twists, good villains, and pretty much every cliffhanger known to man will keep you hooked on binge-watching every episode.

11. RuPaul's Drag Race (2009-?)

A bit different than the other entries on my list in that it's not fiction but a reality competition show, but I couldn't leave Drag Race out because it's just so fucking iconic and perfect. Even when you disagree with the judges or can't stand a certain contestant you'll still be having a good time. It's got the personalities you love to love, the ones you love to hate, and the comedy that's completely meme-able. I mean just how much has this show contributed to pop culture and the internet? More than most of us, henny. I've watched every single season, even the international ones and all of the spinoffs. This show will probably be on for another thirty years when Ru is throwing shade from a hospital bed and I'll still be watching.

12. House (2004-2012)

Some people hate on this show, and I don't get it. I love House. Yes, he's an ass. That's the point. He's supposed to be unlikeable, and that's why I like him. Maybe because I always love the rude, sarcastic, misanthropic jerkass-genius characters for some reason. And I also love procedural shows, so it's a win-win. I also work in the healthcare field so it appeals to me for that reason too, because obviously the whole premise is outlandish which is what makes it funny. Of course it's not realistic for a hospital, so just enjoy the absurdity and don't get too hung up on the details of medical accuracy and professional ethics and you'll be fine.

13. The Office (2005-2013)

The third of Michael Schur's show and the last one that made the main list (sorry Parks And Rec, I love you too but there was just so many good shows to choose from and I saw you last so the nostalgia isn't as strong!) I don't think I need to hype this show up any, it's already a classic and you can't even turn around online without getting hit in the face by a dozen Office memes. You'll have to pry this show and it's relatable characters (especially Michael Scott) from my cold, dead hands.

14. All Hail King Julien/The Penguins Of Madagascar (2008-2017)

Like Avatar/Korra, I also consider this as one show for the sake of this list because it also takes place in the same universe (Madagascar, specifically) and I just couldn't choose one over the other because they're both so perfect. They're funny and I love all the characters (it cut out the weaker links of the Madagascar film series and just focuses on expanding the standout side-characters like King Julien and the penguins). It also delved into some lore, particularly the first show, and even though I didn't also agree with the directions it took (you may have seen me get salty about the ending because I cared too much), I can't deny how much I love it.

15. Bones (2005-2017)

One of the other scarce non-comedy shows on this list, it still has it's funny moments. It's also, like House, another procedural show that involves some medical stuff, but this time on a more scientific and forensic level which is even more interesting. It's nice to see a lead female with Asperger's, too. There's a lot of cop/law enforcement shows where they try to solve crimes, but this one is the best, and I'm saying that as a fan of CSI as well. Don't fight me on this, I'm right. Oh yes, it's corny, it's campy, it's cheesy, but I love every minute of it. Don't watch if you have a weak stomach though.

16. The Simpsons (1989-?)

We all grew up with this show, don't lie. It's been around longer than most people on tumblr have even been alive. Should it have ended seasons ago? Hell yes. But that doesn't take away what the first like 20 or so seasons gave us (there's a lot of argument about when the show jumped the shark, for me it wasn't until much later than the popular consensus). The characters are amazing, but the secret to the show's longevity is that they always return to status quo and there's comfort and nostalgia in that. Bart will still be in 4th grade when you're out there pushing 90. This show is persistent. This show is eternal. This show will outlive us all.

17. Ash Vs. Evil Dead (2015-2018)

Sorely underrated. This show is hilarious, gruesome and campy as hell and I love it. I don't think you necessarily have to watch the Evil Dead movies beforehand in order to get the plot of the show, although it would probably help. In my opinion this show ended way too soon and I'm hoping someday we'll get a comeback because Ash is the reluctant, self-absorbed hero we all need and it's 2020 so at this point there really might actually be a demon-zombie apocalypse and who's gonna save us then if not for the impulsive womanizer with a chainsaw for a hand?

18. Malcolm In The Middle (2000-2006)

Another show I grew up with, I don't think it gets as much credit as it deserves. It has some damn funny episodes and great characters, and it did a lot of the popular sitcom tropes before they were 'cool'. Some other great sitcoms, The Middle in particular, took a lot of influence from this show and it helped pave the way for the future of sitcoms at a time when they were about to make a comeback. If you want a good show about the real experiences of growing up, this is a much more accurate representation of the highs and lows of being an awkward tween from a dysfunctional home.

19. A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Unlike most people I actually liked the movie version from the early 2000's, and I read the books growing up so I was excited when I saw there was a live action television adaptation of it on Netflix because I felt like they cancelled the movie franchise too soon. I was interested to see how new actors would handle the roles, and I was not disappointed. I wouldn't say I liked either portrayal of the characters better or worse, they both added their own twist to it and this show is a great and loyal adaptation to the books, probably because the author was so heavily involved. He knew just when to stick to the books and when to improve upon what he had done with the benefit of hindsight. This show is basically the books, but remastered.

20. Winx Club (2004-?)

Sort of an odd one out on this list, but I really love this show even as an adult and it may surprise you to learn it is still going on and the most recent season came out last year. They take big breaks sometimes in between seasons, but it's still going strong and in multiple countries. The only thing I don't like about watching this show is all the different and inconsistent dubs since the original show is Italian and each dub only goes for a couple seasons so by the time you get used to one set of voices/names for the characters oyu have to abruptly switch to another, but it's still worth it for the beautiful animation and cool characters (especially the villains!)

Honorable Mentions: 

13 Reasons Why, America's Next Top Model, American Horror Story, Arrested Development, Bates Motel, Battlestar Galactica, Black Mirror, Care Bears, Chernobyl, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Criminal, CSI, Duck Dodgers, Goosebumps, Kenny Vs. Spenny, Kim Possible, Kingdom Hospital, Lazytown, Lost, Making A Murderer, Mayday, Mindhunter, Modern Family, Monster High, Obsession: Dark Desires, Parks And Recreation, Prison Break, Project Runway, Queer As Folk, Queer Eye, Salem, Schitt's Creek, SCTV, Spongebob Squarepants, The Emperor's New School, The Good Doctor, The Haunting Of Hill House/Bly Manor, The Middle, The Pretender, The Walking Dead, The X-Files, Through The Wormhole, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Unsolved Mysteries, Yugioh

Tagging: @bullet-farmer​ and anyone else who wants to!

[thexfridax]

Wynonna Earp Boss Hopes Syfy Finale Made You Feel 'All the Things' — Plus, Scoop on One Happy Wedding Accident

By Matt Webb Mitovich, tvline.com / April 9 2021, 8:02 PM PDT

The following contains spoilers from the Syfy finale of Wynonna Earp.

After four years of protecting Purgatory with her Peacemaker, Wynonna Earp got to quite literally ride off into the sunset. And she did so while straddling a motorcycle, with Doc Holliday seated behind her.

Mind you, the two almost didn’t wind up together. Following the simply beautiful “WayHaught” wedding, Doc (played by Tim Rozon) was determined to put Purgatory in Charlene’s rear view mirror and get to living life as “just a man,” and Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) felt compelled to stay put as Purgatory’s protector. But with an empowering nudge from li’l sis Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), Wynonna caught up to her man and professed her love, after which they decided to travel light, for the first time in a long time, and pay their daughter Alice a visit in MIracles, Montana.

TVLine spoke with series creator Emily Andras about crafting this very fine finale, at least one “happy accident” that wound up stirring many emotions, and more.

TVLINE | The finale has just aired…. What emotions do you hope the fans are feeling at this moment?

Just head-to-toe body warmth, and love, and affection, and wistfulness…. And a little bit of bittersweetness. I feel like joy has to be paired with nostalgia, so I hope they’re feeling all the things. But hopefully not hungover!

TVLINE | At what point over the years did you ever envision Wynonna and Doc riding off into the sunset?

Ahhh! I almost never even let myself envision it, you know? It’s so funny — when you start doing a show, you have all sorts of ideas about what pairings are going to rise to the top, who’s going to end up with whom, and one of the joys of Earp is that so many different things have happened. But those two characters have certainly earned the chance to try to be happy, whatever that means to them. I never knew that I would be allowed to end such a romantic pairing with the woman driving the motorcycle and the guy on the back.

TVLINE | I’m watching that final sequence and it almost feels alien, seeing the two of them head off into what I think of as “the real world.” But I also found that viscerally exciting, to see so much ahead for them.

That’s so lovely, thank you for saying that. I feel like having the world ahead of them and being such an unusual couple, I would love to see what happens next for them. I’m sure there will be lots of crazy sex and crazy arguments and crazy laughter. So, godspeed! Godspeed.

TVLINE | When throwing a season-ending wedding, what is Emily Andras’ marching order? “Above all else, this wedding has to be…”?

It has to honor to all of the characters — and by that, I mean it has to try to find a moment for every special pairing on the show, not just WayHaught. I think it’s important to pay due respect to how far Waverly and Doc have come; she never gave up on him, she always saw a better man in him — and now he gets to be the best man! Nedley (Greg Lawson) and Nicole’s (Kat Barrell) relationship, that paternal/daughter bond is so special, so honoring that was very important.

And at the end of the day, I still think the real love affair of the show is the Earp sisters, so I ended to make sure that that was honored. I really love the parallel with the pilot, where Wynonna came into town against her will and was so hungry to leave but was forced to stay. And now you have Waverly secure enough in how their relationship has evolved, that she knows Wynonna deserves to leave again — because she’ll come back.

More than anything, it was about giving every character a moment of happiness. Even Jeremy (Varun Saranga) becoming deputy chief of Black Badge and maybe finding a new date…. It was all about finding everyone a moment of potential joy, after they’ve gone through so much after four seasons.

TVLINE | Talk about the decision to have empty guest chairs laid out with the names of those who are no longer with us or didn’t make it to the wedding.

That was such a happy accident. We were on-set, it was very much in the middle of the pandemic, and we knew we were going to have a limited number of people for the wedding. But then we put out chairs so you could understand where the aisle was, and they looked really empty. So my incredible director, Paolo Barzman, who also did the pilot, and my art director Trevor Smith, pitched this idea to me. I had sort of joked about, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you had the ghosts of characters past?” In the moment, they said, “What if we hung names on the chairs?” and it was just one of those goosebump moments, like, “That’s brilliant.” So then we have people writing up these cards, rushing them out, and it’s honestly one of my favorite things. Whenever I see that Dolls chair, I just can’t help but feel things.

TVLINE | But Mercedes (Dani Kind), to be clear, is still with us.

She’s just out, like, being her best vampire self. She’s out being an amazing vampire, yeah. I still have that spinoff if you want to help me sell that!

TVLINE | If anything caught me a bit off-guard, it was us getting a song from Rachel (played by Martina Ortiz-Luis).

The thing about Martina is that she is a phenomenal singer. She is the anthem singer for the Toronto Maple Leafs — so she’s quite a star here! — and she was on Pilipinas Got Talent back in the day…. It seemed like a waste to not have someone with such an exceptional voice perform! And what better song to lay over the necessary wedding montage than a WayHaught classic (Fleurie’s “Wildwood”), the song that was playing the first time WayHaught kissed. It’s a bit of an Easter egg for those hardcore WayHaughters!

TVLINE | I don’t think anyone would have ever felt like a “Dark Angel Waverly” detour was missing, if you hadn’t spent time on it the episode prior. Why did you feel it was important to go there during one of the final hours?

The truth of it is that honestly we’ve been balancing the spectre of whether we were going to have a Season 5 or not. When we started breaking Season 4 two years ago, we were looking down the barrel of about 24 episodes, so [when you get half that] you’re like, “What are we going to keep, and what are we going to pitch overboard? What can we live without learning about?” I would argue that this idea of Waverly having a darkness inside of her did have to be highlighted after four seasons. I completely agree that in a perfect world I could have done eight episodes of Dark Angel Waverly, exploring that and seeing it come to pass. But if we ever get more story, I don’t know if Waverly has complete control over that part of herself. I dont think it’s “gone.” If Nicole puts mayo instead of mustard on her sandwich, who knows what’s going to sprout out!

TVLINE | I mean, if only to see what other outfits Dark Waverly has.

As long as she keeps her thigh holster, she’s ready to go.

TVLINE | Looking back at these last few episodes, what are you most proud of?

‘m so proud of this cast. It’s so boring, but God, just to see them grow and thrive and shine…. performing comedy and emotion, seeing their commitment to the show, and the feelings…. It’s just been such a joy to see such an amazing group of people get their due. They really are that wonderful, off-screen as well.

I’m also pretty happy — in this day and age, and despite all the fights the show has been through — that if this is the end, I feel like that’s a pretty nice finale, a pretty good topper on the cake. I feel like the fans will feel like they went on a journey, and they left the characters in an interesting, good place. And look, that’s really rare in TV, to end your story the way you want. How can I be anything but grateful, at the end of the day?

TVLINE | When I was writing my tweet the other morning, I wanted to call it a “very fine finale,” but I worried you’d think I was saying it was only “fine.” But it was a very fine finale!

No, you have to keep me hungry! You get to challenge me, Matt. Listen, I just didn’t want to risk…. I’m the queen of 75 cliffhangers, but I feel like the fans have worked so hard for us, for so many years, that it was more important that they got closure, just in case. But there’s always another demon, there’s always another thing to trigger Dark Angel Waverly. There’s always more story, but at least you have this, no matter what.

TVLINE | And if some network or streamer does ride to the rescue, would there be something that brings Wynonna and Doc back to Purgatory? Or might a Season 5 be without the two of them?

Look, the show is called Wynonna Earp, so you need Wynonna Earp. She’s still the champion, she’s still got the magic gun and the best hair on the show — sorry, everyone else!

There are a couple of unresolved issues. We still have Eve, who we kicked out the the Garden very early in the season, and who can kind of shapeshift; she could take on the appearance of any one of our characters! That would certainly throw a wrench in the works in Purgatory. There are a million different reasons to bring Wynonna back, to help out her sister.

TVLINE | And lastly, was there anything you had to cut or just didn’t have room for, or any returning cast you couldn’t fit in?

Oh, tons. But look, you kind of hit the nail on the head earlier. I’m always striving to be better, and some stuff at the end felt a little rushed, with Dark Angel Waverly. I think if it hadn’t been a pandemic, there would have been more people at that wedding. I would have loved four more episodes to round the bend there. But look, that’s Wynonna Earp, man — perfectly imperfect! So that’s what we did, and what a ride it’s been. The ride of a lifetime for me.

[vickysaurus]

What if season 5 was two seasons?

So watching through season 5, I kept noticing how fast the pacing had to be with the amount plot threads there were and how often I went ‘I wish we saw more of X’. So as I’ve mentioned a couple of times, I’ve started wondering if it might’ve been better if its story had been spread over two seasons rather than one. Now, obviously I understand that kind of change would not have been in the crew’s hands and no matter what they wanted would likely have been impossible. This is not intended as a ‘they should’ve just done this’ but as a thought experiment. Would a sixth season even have worked? So I’m gonna try and figure out how season 5′s content might’ve been done over two seasons in an alternate universe. In order to keep straight how far in the seasons we are, I’m gonna number the episodes 5-1 to 5-13 and 6-1 to 6-13 for clarity.

-5-1: We’re gonna start off immediately inserting an extra episode: The Fall of Bright Moon. Rather than a time skip, we get to see the first days of the invasion and the evacuation of Bright Moon in the face of overwhelming force. Micah has to switch back into being king, Adora has to deal with losing She-Ra, Bow has to deal with losing Glimmer. There’s a major subplot about Scorpia working up the courage to apologise to Entrapta and the two of them reconnecting. Perfuma probably helps her with that. That sounds like a pretty busy episode, but I think the first two Velvet Glove scenes from Horde Prime should probably be moved to it to not just leave Catra and Glimmer hanging completely.

-5-2 to 5-4: Horde Prime, Launch, and Corridors stay mostly the same. Since I moved the first Velvet Glove scenes to 5-1 and we can probably cut a bit of exposition from Horde Prime with the addition of that episode, these episodes get a couple minutes extra, which is split between an extra Glimmer and Catra in jail scene and some more of Scorpia and Entrapta’s friendship in Launch.

-5-5 and 5-6: An extra season gives us time for worldbuilding and more of the new characters, and since I like the Star siblings I’m gonna selfishly give them a bunch more screen time. The plan to save Catra takes more preparation in this version, leading Best Friend Squad and the Star siblings to go on an adventure on another planet after Stranded, one that is under Horde occupation but hasn’t been destroyed by them. They’re there for either information or some kind of device they’ll need to get on the Velvet Glove, but end up sowing the seeds for a local rebellion on the planet. We’ll see more of that plot later on.

-5-7: Save the Cat. It’s perfect as is.

-5-8: Taking Control’s A plot, enhanced with some scenes from Don’t Go into a full episode.

-5-9: This is where Taking Control’s B plot with the chipped Etherians goes. To go with it, Best Friend Squad is going on another space adventure after a rendez-vous with the Star siblings while they try and escape the Horde. I’m thinking maybe Hordak could be one of the clones searching for them, and while he doesn’t come face-to-face with Entrapta we could see some more of his conflicting feelings building in the course of this. Just a moment’s hesitation on his part allows Best Friend Squad to escape. Catra befriending Glimmer and Bow is a major part of this episode, and it basically bridges the gap between the little overtures between them in Taking Control and Catra as a part of Best Friend Squad in Shot in the Dark.

-5-10: Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio only get a cameo in season 5, and that’s something I really want to change. I want to give them a ‘Lower Decks’ episode where they’re basically just trying to go about their lives post-Horde but rapidly discovering the war is impossible to ignore. I feel like we don’t see enough of the normal Etherians in general, and I think these three are a great way to show how they’re doing.

-5-11: Perils of Peekablue. However, the scene at the end where it turns out Micah is already chipped and so are enormous amounts of Etherians doesn’t happen yet.

-5-12 and 5-13: So now I need to have a big season finale happen, and unfortunately Shot In The Dark, while a great episode, is also a little too low-energy to fit the bill. So what I’m gonna do is make it the B-plot of a finale two-parter. The A-plot is set on Etheria, and is basically some big climactic business where the Princesses, General Juliet, (remember her?) and many common Etherians take the fight back to the chipped princesses, and things go well until disaster strikes and Micah gets chipped. Pretty vague, I know. The ‘Lower Decks’ episode we did sets up a lot of the plot here; Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle are probably involved in it. The two-parter ends with the big ‘Oh fuck everyone’s chipped’ moment at the end of Perils of Peekablueas the big season-ending cliffhanger. After that scene, we switch to Best Friend Squad landing on Etheria, and that’s how season 5 ends.

-6-1: I think An Ill Wind would be a solid season opener as is.

-6-2 to 6-10: Yeah, I’m gonna take this whole block of episodes in one go, because this is where it gets complicated. Return to the Fright Zone and Failsafe take place in this block, but it’s beyond my ability to figure out the full plot developments of this entire season. While for season 5 I can keep to the structure of Best Friend Squad’s space adventure, season 6 is gonna be a lot more freeform, and would presumably have major plot elements added. Here’s my thoughts on these nine episodes:

-The chipped princesses get unchipped earlier. They provide good heartwrenching moments, cool bossfights, and allow for major villains ranking below Prime without having to introduce new characters, but I think ultimately it does the chipped princesses a disservice since they just don’t get to show character in the second half of the season. Just compare how well we know Netossa as a character with how well we know Spinnerella. So they get unchipped over the course of these episodes and get to be with the Rebellion again afterwards. Mermista and Spinnerella get unchipped the same way as in canon. Scorpia actually gets to talk while chipped and has a heartwrenching confrontation with Catra in which she basically responds in the worst possible ways to Catra’s regrets (the same way we saw chipped Catra basically being am expression of her worst traits) and they have a fight that’s super rough for Catra, but Catra manages to damage her chip and save her. They have a better chat afterwards, and that’s when they make up and hug it out. I think Micah is the last one to be unchipped, and I might actually keep him chipped until Heart, Part 1 so Glimmer still gets that climactic confrontation with him. Now, a possible concern is that this means there’s just not gonna be enough ‘bosses’ around to fight in Heart. Solutions to this could include for example advanced robots, chipped minor characters like Huntara, Dumbface Octavia, and alien monsters. Maybe Hordak? Though I definitely want him back on the Velvet Glove’s bridge in time to give Prime his date with gravity.

-So that’s sort of the major arc, but there are several characters and plot threads that I feel could easily be an episode’s A- or B-plot in this bunch:

*Catra is mortified when she realises she caused Angella’s death and has a big freak-out over it and tries to run away, Glimmer confronts her and they deal with their feelings on the matter

*Another Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio episode

*A Wrong Hordak episode where he discovers his own identity and picks a name, also feat. Entrapta’s attempts to reach out to Hordak

*Madame Razz episode where Adora tries to get her help, possibly involving the Crystal Castle and George and Lance

*Sea Hawk and Double Trouble drama kids adventure where they try to save Mermista (I think Mermista vs. Sea Hawk and Mermista being unchipped gets moved to the end of this episode). These two were delightful for the little time we saw them together in Perils of Peekablue and I want Sea Hawk to somehow rope Double Trouble into an adventure.

*All the space adventures and world building I put in season 5 coming to a head when some form of space reinforcements led by the Star siblings come to help.

*And of course Return to the Fright Zone and Failsafe.

-6-11 to 6-13: Heart is now a three-parter, deal with it. Horde Prime is beaten at the end of part 2, or more likely the start of part 3, and the rest of part 3 is that sweet dénouement I crave.

So with all that laid out, let’s return to the question: would this work? I think if it had originally been written to be two seasons, the story could have easily worked for two. As is, I’m retrofitting a single season to be two, so some of the stuff I’ve added sounds rather redundant or vague. There are certainly enough plotlines and characters to make a split work, but of course those would’ve had to have been written into the plot from the start to not feel tacked on. Of course, brevity is the soul of wit, so even if two seasons had been an option, it’s quite possible a single that has too little time is still better than two that have too much.

[murdereraisuha]

FINAL part of chapter 5!!!

WElcome to my liveblog it is time to SCREAM

Spoilers for episodes 68-75! Warning: Some caps and swearing. Also, it’s very long since I’m not dividing it up into different posts this time.

Alright, just started episode 68, why is it playing the sad music. Oh Vil’s hurt.

Epel wants to be the center!!! :D

Okay but Vil’s saying he’s gonna be okay and htere’s no need to worry. BRO just let Epel do stuff. OH WAIT This is his chance to stand on the stage until the very end! VILLLLLLLLLLLL 

Why are the other people seriously acting like everything’s normal. I know they didn’t know about the whole overblot fight but still, did NO ONE realize that they physically could not get into the stadium???

ALRIGHT IT’S SHOWTIME

LOOK AT THEM GO!!! WIAT THE SONG’S STIll ehiaTELTy

JAMIL JMAIL JAMIL JAMIL JAMIL JAMIL AJMILA JAMIL JAMIL JAMIL AJMILA JAJF KAKM<AIFLHGiteT(hy HE’S DACNIGN HEOSI DANCING I LOVE HIM OMG THE CHIBI DANCING IS SO CUTE 

FULL SONG REVEAL BOYS YEAAAAAAAAA OH THIS SHIT’S FIRE

THE AUDIENCE MEMBERS ARE A MOOD

OH shit Vil just collapsed. But we did it!!

Onto episod 70! Oh the rest of the Heartslabyul boys are here

and THEM.

OMG what would chapter 5 turn out like if Floyd was in the mood for dancing when the auditions were happening and he got on the team? hglksglksd HE’S GOING TO TRY OUT NEXT YEAR?!?!

GSHSSGhsGHSK FLoyd this is why you were my favorite character at first sight

Alright, Savanaclaw boys are here now. Does it mean something that they appeared after Octavinelle rather than going in chapter order?

Ohhhh, it’s cause he knows what’s up

Sebek sounds a bit too quiet? Anyway, time for YA HOOOOOOOOOOOO

Something about this grin really disturbs me.

Oh no yahoo. Right to the voting on who wins.

Voting done. WHy is this forboding music playing. alright who wins?? 

1st and 2nd place 1 vote apart????? THE WINNER IS... EPISODE CHANGE AND DRUM ROLL.... ROYAL SWORD ACADEMY 

EXCUSE ME WHAT THE FUKC BRO RHFHHRT Excuse me???? STOP SHOWING THESE SWAVRES I DON’T CARE THEIS DON’T JSUT PLAY YAHOO OVE HTE BOYS CRYING I HATE THIS NEIGE YOU MADE KALIM AND EPEL CYR 

VIL’S CRYING 

WAIT WOOK. ROOKL. WAHT THE FUKC ROOK HE VOTED FOR ROYAL SWROD ACADMEY? BRO? EXCUSE ME

GEEZ ACE THAT IS SOME YELLING BUT I FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME WAY

ALRIGHT FRENCH BOY SQUARE UP IT’S TIME TO BEAT YOU UP IN A WALMART PARKING LOT LET’S GO

OKAy yeah maybe Vil doesn’t believe inh imself

did you have to make the team lose like this though to make vil beautiful

ah shit vil’s crying aGIN FUCK OFF NEIGE

OKAY I TAKE THAT BACK NEIGE YOU CAN STAY YOU ARE A SWEET BOY PLEASE BECOME FRIEND WITH VIL

FELLAS,

huh? EH? 

EVEN ROOK’S SURPRISED HE FOUND OUT. HOLY SHIT WHAT ROOK’S A NEIGE STAN??? NEIGE IS SURPRISED R-SAN IS A BOY SDHFLKDGKLSDGK

THE PHOTO ALBUM??!?!?!!?!? HOLY SHIT WE ALL ASUSMED IT WAS HIS STALKING VICTIMS BUT IT WAS ALL PICTURES OF NEIGE??!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING I THOUGHT AZUL WAS THE MOST RELATABLE TO STANS FOR SIMPING OVER JAMIL BUT ROOK IS STRAIGHT UP DOING THE EQUIVALENT OF LOADING THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS OF A CHARACTER INTO YOUR PHONE TO TRY AND PULL THEM IN A GACHA

HDSFGDLHKG KALIM’S JUST CONGRATULATING ROOK

god this poor man’s privacy and life are crumbling to pieces around him

“finally, I have the upper hand over this creepy hat man”

Is he boutta do his own take on Azul’s outburst after Leona dusted his contracts?

He’s crying...

NEIGE FANCLUB “Eternal Snow’ NUMBER 0000002 ROOK HUNT?!?!??!??! HOLY FUCKING SHIT HE IS A STAN

the disappointment on his face glkglshgls

F E L L A S ,

Oh Neige wants to sing together! AWwww friendship!!! :D

Oh. Welp. Seems the audience might be thinking of another kind of ‘ship. HAFDLHKFDHALK THE AUDIENCE IS CHEERING 

OH MY GOD THEY’RE ACTUALLY SINGING YA HOO

ACE’S FACE SHGLHKSGLKSDGLK DEUCE IS SO HAPPY THOUGH HSDGKSGHKDG THEY’RE SO CUTE

JAMIL SOUDNS SO DEFEATED HE’S SINGING SO SOFTLY BUT KALIM IS SO ENTHUSIATIC OH MY GOD I LOVE HTEM SO MUCH

LOOK AT THEM I LOVE THEM!!!!!

ROOK HAHAHAHAAHA

VIL’S SMILING NOW! YES! BE HAPPY! BE FRIENDS! Wait hold what what if the Pomefiore involvement/character developement in chapter 6 involves Neige too?? Please I really want to see Neige and Vil become friends

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA THERE IT IS!

OH shit Vil yelling lmao

Oh crowley’s here. 

IS THIS THE HEADMASTER OF ROYAL SWORD ACADEMY???? HWY DOES HIS HAT LOOK LIKE A SLEEPING CAP HDGKHLKSDghldlgdKLGKHL WHY IS THAT THE FIRST THING I THINK OF NOOOO I CAN’T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY NOW

Ambrose the 63rd? Welp, that’s a name to research for later.

oh this guy’s a bit of an asshole isn’t he

Oh, this guy sensed the magic of the overblot fight/Malleus. Crowley is pretty good at deflecting suspicion.

*detective thinking pose*

OMG YEAH GRIM Honestly I keep getting Ya Hoo stuck in my head too and I hate it so much.

Oh? Time for another meeting with Mickey! Wassup you weird little mouse.

We’re taking a picture of him!

Awwww he did a little pose for us! :D

It seems like the barrier/distance between us and Mickey weakens with each meeting. The time they can meet is increasing too.

This is something like “maybe sometime we will be able to watch a movie together”. Can’t wait to see people’s takes and theories on all this new information and concerning lines of dialogue.

Are we running somewhere? Oh, Grim’s missing?!?! OH SHIT WHAT JSUT HAPPENED 

A VISION OF A CARRIAGE AND OVERBLOT GRIM!!!!

WE’RE BACK TO TALKING WITH MICKEY???? HWat Okay we know Grim isn’t here but do we still know he not anywhere in the house? Is something funky going on with time? YEAH MICKEY JUST ADVISED US TO GO SEARCH FOR GRIM HE WOULDN’T HAVE SAID THAT IF WE JUST RETURNED FROM SERACHING

IS THE TIME LOOP THEORY CORRECT? WHAT IS GOING ON? WE JUST RAN BACK TO THE STAGE.

GRIM OH WHAT THE FUCK THAT VOICE THOSE SOUDN 

WHAT HTE FUCK WHAT THE FUKC I FEEL LIKE THIS JSUT RUTNED INTO A HOORROR GAME WHAT THE FUCVK THWAT THE FUCFK THAT CRUNCKING SOUND HWAT HTE DEEP SVOice HGelihtgliehteiothi hIHTW WAHT THE FUCK I AM SCARREdD

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAAAAA HE”S ATTAKCING US?!?! DID WE JUST BALCK OUT?

IT JUST TRANSITIONED TO IDIA’S ROOM

His presentation went well BUT WHAT ABOUT GRIM?? DON”T JUST LEAVE US ON A CLIFFHANGER

Idia got an internship invite? Multiple invites? From “that Olympus company”? Idia wants Ortho to put them all in the trash...

IT JUST ENDS THERE!!!!

Welp. So, no more Scarabia stuff. :( I was really hoping for that. Nah, we get Rook stuff then we die and then Idia is depressed. Alright whatever it’s time to wait a bit and organize my thoughts before writing a whole reflection on this part, see ya. Hope you had fun reading this!

[canonicallysoulmates]

Walker 1.11

That. Was. So. Good! I loved everything about this, except Geri breaking Hoyt’s heart but we’ll get to that in a minute. 

Let me tell y’all when Jared tweets that a Walker episode is gonna be big he has yet to lie about it, he tweeted it about episode 9 and that was excellent, he tweeted it about this one and this was amazing. Sidenote: Whenever he can Jared live tweets Walker! So, if you’re watching this show live check out his twitter, send him love and let him know how much you’re enjoying the show. And even if you’re not watching live do that anyways ❤

On to the episode! 

Hoyt is out of prison and everyone is thrilled...except for Walker who is probably wishing the ground would swallow him up because if y’all remember he and Geri kissed. In show time a month has passed, and I think it’s the same in real time because this show did go on break after that episode but I’m not gonna bother to check, point is a month has passed since the kiss and they have yet to talk about it; Hoyt is a free man, and the Walker fam and friends are throwing him a Welcome Home party at the Side Step. How delightfully awkward! 

Hoyt is happy as a clam about being free and having his girl and his best friend by his side but also suspicious because Geri is acting weird. Geri is a mess of confusion over her emotions and feelings. And Walker wants to talk to Geri about what happened while also desperately hoping Hoyt does not find out that while he was in prison his longtime best friend who’s like a brother to him made out with the love of his life. And they have kept it a secret for a month. 

Luck was temporarily on Walker’s side because just when Geri has had enough and she’s ready to spill to Hoyt what happened, the man gives a speech in which he not for the first time publicly and loudly professes his love for Geri and right after Walker and Micki get alerted that the prison bus who was transporting Trevor’s dad, Clint, and Jaxon was intercepted and the prisoners escaped! Which is a bigger problem for Cordell than what he has realized cause he still doesn’t know that Clint not only knows who he really is but knows he’s not dead. For anyone who’s confused Clint was the leader of the Rodeo Kings, the gang Walker ran with when he was undercover as Duke, and Jaxon was another one of the members.

So, Walker and Micki are on the case and first they go to a bank where Clint had a safety deposit box but that man sneaked in and out without them noticing and now the game is on cause he left a little message for “Duke” inside the box about keeping the circle small and the lies honest or something like that along with a bandana.  Since things at the bank did not pay off they head off to prison to visit someone I did not think we would see again: Twyla Jean. Y’all will remember her from episode 5, she was Duke’s ex. Now when we first met this girl I did not much care for her but in this episode I not only liked her, I felt bad for her and I hope Walker keeps his word (cause he told her he’d visit her) and we get to see her again. 

Twyla Jean was left out of the escape plan so she doesn’t know about what the other two are planning, but she does remember and tells Walker about a cabin that Clint used to take his kid to; which is when Micki walks in, while Walker was talking with Twyla she got her hands on Clint’s visitor logs and shocker they reveal Trevor had been visiting Clint. Welcome to the party Walker, it took you a while to figure that one out. 

Twyla’s information about the cabin is invaluable because that is Trevor and Stella’s location. 

While all of that was going on, Trevor took Stella to the mentioned cabin where his parents used to take him as a kid because there’s money hidden in there, it’s a safe place, and they turned off their phones so they have zero idea that Clint and Jaxon are on the loose. Reasons for them being in the cabin in the first place is that they’re young, stupid, think they’re in love, and for those reasons had decided to run away together in the last episode. Trevor is ready to hightail it out of Texas with the help of his father’s I’m 99% positive was illegally obtained money, but Stella thought they were just taking a break from their parents which leads to a fight between them but they work it out, and...Trevor is a dumb bitch who burns the money, along with the fake passports, but who cares about the passports the money 😩 

Unsurprisingly Clint and Jaxon find the kids but Trevor was able to help Stella out the window and for once this girl was smart cause when he told her to run she ran! Jaxon chases her down but thankfully for her Walker had arrived, sadly for Walker she panicked and accidentally shot him. Not mortally, but enough to leave him with only one arm for fighting which did not prevent him in any way, shape, or form from kicking Jaxon’s ass! Which was hot af! YES CORDELL! YOU GO BABY 🔥 

And Micki also got to kick a little ass, yas girl! 😍

If you’ve read some of my previous opinion posts about this show you know I’m not exactly a fan of Stella but in this episode I love her, at one point I even wanna give her a hug because this poor child has yet to learn love is not enough to save people; this, running away with her wannabe bad boy boyfriend, scaring the crap out of her dad in the process and her only reason being some equivalent of ‘but daddy, i love him’, is the kind of realistic dumb teenage shit I’ve been wanting to see from her. 

So, in this episode I love her, I also loved her brother because in the few scenes he had he was giving his dad some attitude, it’s one of the few times I’ve seen that kid have a personality writers please let him keep it. 

Keeping in theme of this episode making me care about characters I hadn’t before: Trevor. Stella may have gotten away but Trevor got grabbed by his dad! And while before I hadn’t cared much for him, now I’m worried for his safety and want his dad to give him back.

The next morning, in Geri’s house, Hoyt is setting up a heart made out of all the plastic rings he has given Geri over the years. He is going to do a proper proposal this time, he even has ring which he got from Abeline who was engaged when she met Bonham- WHAT????? Was that info given before and I just forgot? Mama Walker is just full of surprises...anyways Hoyt’s proposal is actually really sweet and up until this moment I didn’t realize how much I cared about this character; I was screaming at my screen for Geri to say yes and not break his heart but she did anyways 😭 First she blurted out that she and Cordell had kissed, which Hoyt was willing to forgive, and then when he told her he forgave her she still said no cause she’s all a mess. My heart broke for this poor man, listen Hoyt Rowlins has many flaws but that man has been loyal to Geri for years, and I know okay I know that ultimately she did the right thing because if she’s not sure about marrying him it’s better to tell him than say yes and string him along but I’m still on Hoyt’s side on this. Besides, she technically strung him along anyways cause she kissed Cordell a month ago! And I don’t know how intentional this was of the writers but it comes across like Geri has had feelings for Cordell for a while, and like maybe she wasn’t as in love with Hoyt as he was in love with her. Hoyt deserves better. 

Honestly, this made me dislike her, and I officially don’t like the idea of her and Walker being romantically involved; I hope they don’t end up dating or if they do that it lasts just a short while with them realizing that they’re just looking for comfort in someone familiar because otherwise it’d be a relationship that came at the price of breaking and/or damaging a years long friendship, and Hoyt is not a bad friend and those two do not make a good enough couple to make that okay. 

And then it all ends in cliffhanger: Walker arrives home with Stella, Hoyt is already there waiting to kick his ass, Clint and Trevor may not be far behind we don’t know cause the last we see is Clint driving down a road. 

And that was episode 11! It was amazing; the writers did magic with this one cause characters I haven’t cared much for or at all suddenly I’m invested. This was truly one of the best episodes, and this post is coming a little later than usual so if you haven’t seen this epi yet this show is available for free streaming on the CW website and the app- and if it doesn’t let you stream because you’re outside the US get a VPN 😉

[stardecker]

Call me a clown, but I do think the good doctor writers are either up to something OR they will backpedal.

YES I know David Shore and Nick said hes dead.

But the whole situation was SO. FREAKING. WEIRD !! Something was definitely off about it all. No send off for Neil. No mourning. Nobody even cared, and hes a TOP SURGEON OF THEIR HOSPITAL! Morgan and Andrew's didnt even say goodbye to him? Shaun and Park dont even know hes "dead"... ?? Like Shaun had one of the most profound relationships with Neil, as he was the one whose mind was changed after being an ass in s1 towards him. I understand Shaun was busy, obviously, and there wasnt much time in an episode...but for real? That's what they are going with? And Glassman so casual with a shrug, basically telling him he was the best and goodbye.

Plus Claire and Lim? They cried but they weren't even that distraught. They both loved him and they just walk down the hall "We should grab a drink." Like WHAT? And the Melendaire build up...?? Literally 2 episodes it was a shocking cliffhanger when Claire said she loved him to her therapist. They have been building Melendaire a lot... why the fuck even bother building them for the past 5-6 episodes if you knew he was going to die? (Is the Answer to make claire suffer???)

Why even bother with her telling her therapist if she was going to say it to him anyway in 2 episodes on his death bed? Wouldnt that have shocked us more? A total whammy?

So I DO think they might have truly wanted to kill Neil, and if that's the case, the writers really fucked up. How did a young kid stranger get a more emotional and heart felt send off than Dr. MELENDEZ? We have seen some really fucking sad deaths on this show, usually patients. So why when a main character "dies" it uh, is all so rushed and forced and is so casual ??

But heres the thing, nobody pronounced him dead. There wasnt a sheet covering him. Claire was just looking on. I dont know if this is where bad writing comes in for a finality (aka why she hugged Lim and they were like LOL anyway let's go) , or if they PURPOSELY left this open ended to write him in?

Seriously these writers have done some pretty fucking crazy things in this show. But when Melendez is about to go septic they just shrug and are like sorry man.

I think they either have a twist coming in 4.01 or, if they are smart, they will back pedal.

Fans are not just mad. They're angry. Bevause of how POORLY it was done. And how stupid! And nothing made SENSE! In the words of Judge Judy, "If it doesnt make sense then it's not true."

If they do go back on their decision (or pull a twist), heres the thing:

* Neil will have an incredible storyline. He just told Lim he would spend forever with her if he could. He just told Claire he loved her.

* how does that affect Lim and Claire?

* claire and Melendez will need to deal with what they said when they thought he was a goner.

* I wont lie. Making us think hes a goner is really, um, CRUEL. But if they pull a twist in 4.01, you bet your ass I would rise from the fucking ashes and applaud them for bringing him back and making me suffer.

Nick hasnt really tweeted anything crazy or sappy about the show or his character — he definitely has liked and RTd some angry posts from fans, calling the writers dumbasses and how the creative decision was a terrible one. Also, even when we thought for sure Nick was dying, he poked fun and said "I'm not fucking leaving!!" And tweeted things like "You guys thought you could get rid of me that easily?" Also he responds with only emojis and is pretty tight lipped about the amazing things fans are saying to him.

Today he deleted some of the crueler stuff he RT from fans last night, specifically involving hateful language toward the writers.

He did RT this (ImageBelow)

I think David Shore did wanna kill him, but I think he underestimated the back lash here. Maybe they purposely left it a bit fuzzy juuuuuust in case.

Menendez's death ONLY drives claire & lim to the bar. David Shore calls that good writing?

I dont find it a coincidence that EVERYONE watching is quite literally stunned, upset, and severely confused. We all picked up on how weird and wrong things felt.

Even David Shore didnt reveal if theres a time jump in s4 or anything like that when asked. He said he already knew what he was doing with it.

Anyway, this was long. I may be a clown but with no funeral, no declaration of death, no white sheet, etc. That they purposely left this door open. The Good Doctor really wont recover from this, and if they think it's not a big deal they are severely mistaken. If they do keep him dead, and this was his end, then at least we knew for sure they fucked up their own incredibly popular show with a dedicated fanbase.

Writers dont owe fans a happy ending, ever. But they do owe them writing that is respectful toward characters, makes sense, and the act of not killing off fan favorites for shock value.

Bye!

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: The Hollow (Season 2 Episode 4)

Episode Title: Puzzled

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to tolerate spoilers.

1. Continuing on from the cliffhanger in the previous episode, the gang tries to evade the green lasers being shot by the Stormtrooper-esque army and they manage to find safety in the building Mira is in. But the inside of that building isn’t so normal; They’ve actually entered a weird dimension of some sort with floating objects all around.

2. We get mini reunions between Mira and the rest of the guys. We also see Mira and Skeet having a cute little moment together with Skeet hugging and addressing her as “Meerkat”, just like her parents. And say what? Skeet is actually a nickname given to him by Mira; His real name is Bernard! Fascinating...

3. Mira wants their help to escape this dimension (in which gravity seems to work differently here) and go back to the real world. They follow her lead into a colorful building with loads of staircases that go in different directions. Adam fills Mira in on everything that’s happened since they got separated. 

4. Skeet is still confident in his theory that everything will go back to normal once his avatar dies in the game. So he foolishly jumps off the platform but drops right back onto it; It’s probably due to how the laws of Physics don’t apply to this place right now. Adam and now, Mira try to drill into his head that they’re most likely not in ‘The Hollow’ anymore and that he shouldn’t take such a risk. But judging from his facial expression afterwards, I’m pretty sure he will make another attempt. 

5. Mira takes them to a purple section with two wheels on its wall. She thinks it’s a puzzle that they should solve. Suddenly, this strange person in a suit with a multi-colored cube for his head pops up on a cloud (see picture above) and starts mocking Mira as she’s already been acquainted with him. 

6. They start investigating and experimenting with the two wheels on the purple wall, which if you turn them in different ways, they move portions of the floors and walls. They believe they are supposed to form the missing section of the path they’re on. The weird cube-head guy start messing with Mira and tries to trick her into thinking she’s doing the wrong thing. 

7. But after working on the puzzle some more, they are successfully able to create a path that leads them to an empty room. Ugh, great. More puzzles. The cube-head guy reappears and he gives them a riddle about them falling and sure you know it, the floor gives way and they all start to fall.  

8. As everybody else is focused on getting themselves onto a tower’s platform, Skeet still doesn’t give two effs and is just relaxing whilst falling to his death. He should be glad that Kai is able to fly because I’m starting to get annoyed with him trying to purposely die all the time. 

9. Just when I thought they’re all done with obstacles, the tiles of the platform they’re standing on start jumping up and down vigorously and they eventually form a huge cube with cube-guy’s face on it. It’s time for their final test. The cube then re-configures itself into a Rubik’s cube puzzle. Mira instantly knows that they’re supposed to form the logo of ‘The Hollow’. But they need to solve this puzzle quickly because the tower is about to collapse. 

10. With their combined effort, they manage to form the logo. But cube-head guy just has to rain on their and mine’s parade and says that they have one more game to play. OMG! Just stop! Can we please move on from these puzzles and games?

11. A portal opens and they all need to go in as quickly as they can. They are then taken to another world, where everything is empty and yellow? We find out that they’re now supposed to play a game show called ‘Find That Portal’ with Andy Kuma aka Akuma as it’s host. So Akuma’s back! The last time we saw him, he fell off the edge of the mountain after battling Adam for the Ishibo in season 1. 

12. However, he doesn’t seem like his old self. That’s pretty concerning. Anyways, he tells the group that they need to choose one of three doors that would lead them to freedom. And if they were to choose the incorrect one, well...I’m pretty sure it’s game over for them. Before they could discuss as a group, Kai blurted out, “Door No. 1″. *Face palms....Kai..

13. Akuma reveals what’s behind Door No. 2, which is just a donkey. So, the portal is behind one of the 2 remaining doors. He gives them the chance to switch their answer. The guys don’t think they should switch because to them, the odds of winning is still 50:50. But Mira, being the supposed probability genius tells them that they should switch because that would make their odds to now be 75:25. Isn’t this conditional probability or something? I kinda understand her frame of mind. 

14. Let’s see if she’s right....NOPE! Our girl is wrong. Ugh, how disappointing! The door reveals Katsuro, the beast that Adam had also beaten in Season 1. They try to forcibly open Door No.1 but it wouldn’t budge. It looks like it’s a rematch between the beast and Adam....and Adam wins again! And lucky for them, the beast accidentally breaks open the door and they are able to escape into the portal. 

15. They are pulled into a peaceful forest at night time. They want to keep moving but aren’t sure where to start. How about y’all use your map? And they do LOL. But wait, it has reset itself and it’s empty again! Adam thinks that the reason for this is because they’re not players in this game anymore. I’m so confused as to whether they’re in the game or not. I want to know what really happened to them after winning the game last season. They need to find Weirdy to make sense of all of this. 

16. Bernard, I mean Skeet spots a flashing light somewhere in the distance and they all make their way over there. Adam accidentally slips on a path of slime on the way. They think it’s left by a slime monster, which is probably true. Skeet randomly slides on the path of slime and I guess everyone else decides to do the same?

17. As they’ve stopped sliding, Skeet notices that the hill they saw a couple of minutes ago, changed positions. Is he sure that’s a hill? I’m pretty sure it’s a monster. How does a hill have spikes all around it?

18. And it turns out to be a giant snail, with razor sharp teeth! That explains all of that slime they just slid on. They battle the snail but it’s really strong and it takes out Adam and Kai in the process. It troubles me how they’re having such a hard time beating this dumb snail, especially after all the other enemies they’ve faced in the past. The snail then grabs hold of Mira and as it’s about to eat her, Skeet saves her and apparently sacrifices himself? What did the snail do to him? It was off camera. 

19. I love it when we see someone like Skeet do something heroic for the first time. But I hope he’s gonna be alright...even though it was always his intention to purposely lose the game.

20. Mira becomes very angry and emotional and starts yelling at the snail. Umm, do what you need to do girl. All of a sudden, a man somewhere in the distance calls out for the snail (his name is Louie?) and it leaves. Was that the snail’s owner or something?

21. They go over to Skeet, who’s lying unconscious on the ground. They try to give him the medicine that was left by the team who pixelated last episode but it isn’t working. OMG! I’m starting to get emotional just by watching this. I know he’s gonna be alright (I think) but it’s so sad watching Mira cry like that. And I say that because if he’s really dead, he would have pixelated by now. He’s probably just unconscious or really hurt. Basically, it’d better be a false alarm. If not, I don’t know what Mira would do; Would she take her revenge against the snail or the snail’s owner?

22. Let’s see what Skeet’s or Bernand’s fate would be in episode 5, which you can check out my review of it very soon. Thanks for reading. Bye!

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 5x02 Red Queen

Note: I’m afraid that I’ll have to delay my review of 7x12 The Stranger a bit longer - maybe till Friday (because I’m busy with work, and I think that one may take a bit more time to finish), but in the meantime, here’s - finally - a continuation of my season 5 rewatch reviews. It happens to be the only seasons I haven’t covered yet - except for 5x01 Eden, which I rewatched a few months ago after 7x02 The Garden, because I wanted to compare the two. I was planned to do Red Queen right afterwards - it’s interesting to compare and contrast Octavia’s character transformations in season 5 and season 7 - but it didn’t pan out that way. But now, @jeanie205 and me have started another joint rewatch during the hiatus, this one of season 5. (She only saw it live, week to week, and hasn’t rewatched it yet, I binged it and this is my second rewatch.)

...............................

I’ve always thought of season 5 as a season with a really strong beginning - the first 3 or 4 episodes are fantastic - which drags a bit in the middle before ending a very strong two-part finale.. The 6-year jump, in terms of storytelling, had both good and bad results. These two opening episodes, Eden and Red Queen, really make the best out of the time jump, with flashbacks about Clarke surviving on her own on a desolated Earth and meeting Madi, and flashbacks of what happened to Wonkru in the bunker. It says a lot that we got half an episode of Clarke surviving on Earth, a full episode plus a bunch of flashbacks in 5x11 about the bunker... and nothing about the Ring (till that one flashback in season 7). It’s because the life on the Ring was so boring and uneventful that the show didn't care to show anything of those 6 years. Clarke’s peaceful life with Madi in Eden also happened off-screen - we only saw their first meeting and their later relationship in the present - but Clarke’s two months of terrible hardship got covered in amazing 20 minutes. But the bunker is where things were the most intense. 

If the Ring seems to be just boring everyday life of 7 people who can’t go anywhere for 6 years, and if Clarke got to live in Eden (paradise) with Madi after the purgatory of 40 50+ days in the desert, the bunker is clearly Hell. It is a claustrophobic underground world full of anger, conflict and violence that certainly looks like Hell by the end of the episode.

The last scene, with its horror imagery, reminded me of the current Sanctum storyline in season 7 (both Blodreina and Sheidheda like using skulls as decoration), and the comparison shows exactly why the bunker/Blodreina story worked so well, and why the S7 Sanctum story does not. It’s all about moral ambiguity and keeping the audience on its toes, pulling the rug from under us by making us unsure how to feel about characters and their actions, which Red Queen does so well (and which S7 Sanctum storyline completely fails to do, being very predictable and black and white). Red Queen is so well done and intense that I don’t even mind that Clarke and Bellamy and some of my other favorites aren’t in it.

Timeline: The episode starts 42 days after Praimfaya and ends 46 days after Praimfaya.

The opening scenes take place at the same time when Clarke arrived in Polis and tried to open the door. Clarke's only listed as appearing in this episode because of this repeated scene from Eden. (It’s weird that apparently not just the Temple, but the Tower also apparently fell on the entrance. The Tower is next to the Temple, but I’m not sure if that would really happen?) I’m not sure what exactly caused the rubble to fall down, but this is the moment where everyone loses hope, since they know they probably can’t get out, even though they have 5 years to try to think of the solution.

Niylah has found a bunch of books and some other stuff in the bunker, and one of the books was Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which we now know was Callie Cadogan’s book. (That was a nice Easter Egg in 7x08.) Niylah knows Bellamy used to read to Octavia about Ancient Rome - she must have heard it from her or from Clarke or someone else in Arkadia over the last month or so that she spent with them. It is still surprising she knows about Ovid, specifically. What she doesn’t know when she gives Octavia the book is how symbolic it is of what happens to Octavia throughout this episode - her metamorphosis into Blodreina. (We even see the opening line on screen: “ I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities..”).

Octavia Blake is a character who has undergone more dramatic transformations than any other character on The 100. I wasn’t a big fan of her in some of the early seasons, but now I think that, after what the show has done with her since season 4, she has probably had the best character arc of any character on the show. (Some would say it’s Murphy, but that’s because people like to think of character development as going from bad to good, a positive progression - which is a lot more predictable and done quite often. What the show did with Octavia is much more complex and unexpected.) Her turn to the dark side and subsequent redemption were really well done, and Marie Avgeropoulos is one of the best actors on the show (I’ve always thought so regardless of how I felt about her character at any given time) and pulled off her changes in season 5 so well.

What the episode does really well is maintain ambiguity about Octavia’s development as a leader. The first time you watch it, it’s not clear what is she developing into. Is this a story about a well-meaning but still inexperienced teenage girl becoming a great leader? Well, the cliffhanger of 5x01 showed the fighting pits and the new scary Blodreina look, so it’s already hinted it’s not quite like that. But the episode still makes you root for Octavia, who’s up against not just the difficult circumstances - trapped in the bunker, limited resources - but also tribalism of Skaikru and 11 Grounder clans and a lot short-sighted people who hate and keep fighting each other. You just can’t not root for her when she starts forcing them to obey, near the end of the episode (and it’ certainly comes off as a very badass scene - if a bit unrealistic, since Octavia has only been training in Grounder-style combat for about 7-8 months at that point) - but then things may start getting a little ominous as she repeats the mantra “You are Wonkru, or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose!” (“You’re either with us, or against us” statements by political leaders are always worrying), even before the ending, where both Octavia and the bunker look like something out of a horror movie. This entire storyline made the point that unity can’t be forced on people, especially not by a single all-powerful leader, without turning into tyranny and oppression.

What’s also morally ambiguous is advice from the mortally wounded Jaha, which ends up influencing Octavia’s decisions and development as a leader. Jaha was always one of the most morally grey characters - he’s not evil, always had good intentions, but his ruthlessness and willingness to disregard individual lives in the name of the Big Picture of saving “his (collective) people” and his complete confidence that this is the right leadership style, were always very disturbing, and made him the villain in the eyes of - and the lives of - all the young protagonists of the show. In season 4, some of them started seeing his perspective. faced with the similar difficult choices. After Clarke in season 4, Octavia also starts seeing his perspective - which is particularly disturbing because it is the same man who executed her mother for just having a child, and locked her up for a year as a criminal just for being born. But Jaha’s actions in Red Queen are some of his most heroic ever in the show, and he gets a heroic death and a moving death scene... while still being kind of a real d1ck, someone who justifies Aurora’s execution to Octavia by saying her mother made herself “the enemy” and bringing them “closer to death”. In the context, Jaha as an unexpected mentor to Octavia can be seen as something good or at least a necessary for her to develop into a capable leader... Or is it? The line between hero and villain can be very thin. Sure, it helps Octavia resolve the situation, save hundreds of people in the bunker, and apparently unite everyone into Wonkru - but as we see by the end of the episode and the rest of the season, it also ends up making her a tyrant who ends up getting hundreds of her people killed in the name of saving “her people” and delivering them to paradise as a messiah. She becomes the same thing she hated, an oppressor like those who forced her to hide under the floor and killed her mother.  

(This dialogue from season 4 is pretty relevant here:  

Clarke: You know, he used to be everything that I hated. Maybe he was keeping us together.

Jasper: When Jaha's looking reasonable, it's time to reassess.)

I have to say, however, in spite of all the moral greyness... I can’t stand Kara Cooper. She’s one of the few characters on the show that just piss me off to no end and I can’t find any sympathy for her. I know that it’s different for others, I’ve seen people say they see her perspective, and yes, the show  gives her a tragic backstory (losing her father in the Culling on the Ark and her husband in the Second Culling in 4x12)... but this time I can’t bring myself to care, because: 

She wants to leave some 1100+ people to die, even though she should be well aware that, even if there is a problem of overpopulation in the bunker*, she really doesn’t have to kill that many people, 

She’s a scientist and gives a speech about how the lack of diversity would lead to a massive die-off for plants... Surely she should know that the same would happen to the humans, and that a human race can’t survive with just around 80 people?! which leads me to

She doesn’t care about the survival of the human race and is ready to condemn it to extinction, just so she and a few others would live more comfortably and wouldn’t be in danger of immediate death, 

She says she wants to save “her people” - but it’s all about tribalism (Skaikru or not Skaikru?) and not love, and she is a hypocrite, because she is ready to leave a bunch of Skaikru outside the door to die, too, 

She is a hypocrite when she acts like Abby did something terrible by opening the bunker door to save Kane (which also saved hundreds of people more than would have otherwise been saved) - basically, she’s like “ Abby, how dare you not prioritize my husband, a guy you didn't even know, over your boyfriend? You're so terrible!" Sure. That makes sense. 

Her arguments about why the bunker “belongs” to Skaikru are rubbish: “ "Jaha found it. It belonged to us" - even if we accept the finders-keepers idea, actually, multiple people helped find the bunker. Yes, Jaha was the driving force, but Bellamy found the coin, and Kane, Monty and Gaia all massively contributed to finding it - without Gaia's info they wouldn't have ever found it - as did Indra, and the fighters from Trikru and their allies who guarded the temple so they could do it. She just ignored all these facts. If they had kept the bunker in 4x11, they would have left most of these people out (including Kane and Monty). Oh, and she is now trying to take the bunker back... and she’s ready to leave Jaha himself outside! 

And after all of that, she saves her own skin by being the most ruthless one of everyone Octavia sent to the fighting pit and killing them all - and then becomes Octavia’s right hand and sycophant. What integrity! 

While many people seem to think that Octavia’s downfall started with the cannibalism during the Dark Year, I think it’s the decision at the end of Red Queen to open the fighting pits and start punishing every crime by throwing people in them. This is her first really bad decision. In practice, this form of “justice” means that you can commit any crime you want if you're good at killing people once you’re in the pit. it fosters a culture of violence - even more so when death matches are entertainment. So, in the end, the guy from Delphi clan who just stole blankets (the Sangedakru delegate Brell demanded death for that - their laws are pretty draconian, makes me wonder in retrospect if Sheidheda was the one who first imposed them) died, while Kara effing Cooper got to live because she was the most ruthless person there. What I think Octavia should have done is - she should have executed the murderers and the leaders of the rebellion and given minor punishments to people who did things like steal blankets. (it's been argued they needed Cooper for the farm - but that was not the reasoning, Octavia left her with everyone else to fight.) 

This was Octavia, sadly, combining not the best, but the worst of the Ark system (death as the punishment for every crime or minor misdemeanor), Grounder tradition (death matches as the solution to everything) and her childhood stories of the Ancient Rome. If you're using Ancient Rome gladiator fights as your role model...you've probably stopped being a good guy.

The last scene, fighting pits 6 years later, is similar to the cliffhanger end of the previous episode, only now we get the cliffhanger of Kane being one of the fighters. Octavia is in her full Blodreina mode now. Not just her outward look has changed, but her facial expressions, too - this is the first time we see that cold, sinister Blodreina smile. Indra doesn’t look too happy, Gaia and Ethan are there. Miller- even after that much time - doesn’t look too happy with Cooper being there, by Octavia's side.

This is straight up horror imagery. There is even some sort of structure made of skulls next to where she's sitting!  Not exactly a throne of skulls like Sheidheda has in season 7 but something similar.

But here’s why this works so differently than Sheidheda and his throne of skulls in season 7 and why people are bored by the latter. There is no ambiguity in the S7 Sanctum story. Sheiheda is completely, cartoonishly evil, there is nothing complex about it, Murphy is now definitely a good guy, as are Emori and Indra, and none of them are in conflict about how to deal with him (except for a short moment in 7x09, which was OOC for Indra). The only characters that we may still wonder 'what are they gonna do? which side will they take?" are minor, underdeveloped characters like Nikki, or Knight (you're in trouble when your main question is "will Knight change sides?"). It's a very simple black and white story, the kind t100 normally doesn't do and Shady’s throne of . But when Octavia has her face painted in blood, has skulls next to her, and a creepy smile while she’s deciding the fate of the winner, that is genuinely disturbing because it's Octavia. You’ve followed her for seasons, and you’ve spent the whole episode rooting for her to solve the problems and deal with those really awful and annoying people... and then she does, and oh my god, suddenly she turns into a villain, and that’s chilling. 

Other observations:

I love the Kabby scene where they're talking while chained up in the farm, while a guy is playing guitar in the background. I think Abby was pretty unfair to Kane when she said he took away her choice to kill herself - because she didn’t try to kill herself, she tried to make Kane kill her, and then she expected him to be able to do it, even though she never could: not only did she open the bunker door to save Kane, she destroyed the radiation chamber (possibly dooming thousands of people) because she couldn’t allow Clarke to risk her life (in 4x08). Kane may be more of a “Head” than “Heart” of the two of them, but Abby should have realized he wouldn’t be able to carry her unconscious body (or even let someone else do it) and let her die of radiation. He loves her and he doesn’t really have anyone else. Abby really seemed to be taking out her own self-loathing out on him. It was still a sweet moment when he finally dropped the pretense that he saved her for being a doctor and admitted it was a Heart decision, and she finally admitted she would do the same and never regretted opening the bunker door to save him. 

But we get a hint about that Abby has already developed a pill addiction, which will strain and almost destroy their relationship. Kabby was a really well written relationship - we saw them falling in love over 4 seasons (which rarely happens with romantic relationships on this show) - but then we also saw that being together and loving each other is not enough to be “happy ever after”, not when you live in f*cked up circumstances and when you both have to deal with all sorts of problems. Love can’t conquer everything, which is more realistic way to depict romance.

Mackson actually have some screentime in this episode. This is actually the first time we see that they are together (after a brief flirting scene in season 4). I had forgotten that Miller says the L word in this episode: "You're a healer, nor a fighter. That's why I love you.” I thought “This was pretty fast” - but when you take into account they’ve been together for a couple of months, it’s actually not that fast compared to most of the romances on the show... It’ just that most of their relationships happens off-screen.

So Level C (which Cooper and her people took over) was where Cadogan planned to be with his family if the rest of the bunker goes to hell. Makes sense he’d do something like that.

Indra was already not a fan of the Commanders at this point, telling Gaia: "Your real Commanders would have left you to burn", "the spirits of the Commanders have abandoned us"

We got two Wells mentions in this episode! One when Jaha was reading a children’s book (apparently The Giving Tree - thanks @jeanie205​) to Ethan, and says it was his son's favorite bedtime story, and another one when Jaha is dying and says “Take me to my wife. Take me to Wells”.

ALIE would be proud of these people: they all keep repeating “There are too many people in this bunker” throughout the episode. Thanos would be proud of them, too. Why not instead say: “There aren’t enough resources in this bunker”? No worries then, they will manage to get 1/3 of those people killed - 814 will remain instead of 1200 by the time they get out of the bunker... What few characters in the show ever seem to realize are too few people for the human race to survive. That is, if they weren't lucky to always be running into more humans, and then everyone blows it away by killing each other, again.

A few lines in this episode feel like dark foreshadowing:

Abby makes the first mention of cannibalism, a dark period in Ark’s history called the “Blight"

"It won't be that easy", says Octavia to Cooper when Cooper wanted to kill herself. One could say the same when Octavia tried to sacrifice herself and die in 5x12

"I'll take care of the boy” - Octavia promises to Jaha to take care of little Ethan, just as Jaha promised to Ethan’s father. That didn't turn out so well in the end...

Rating: 9/10