#especially since she disappeared from 3x07 to now?

[moocowmoocow]

The Expanse rewatch

Chrisjen Avasarala in 3x13 “Abaddon’s Gate”

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 3x07 “Dark Hollow” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22 3x01 3x02 3x03 3x04 3x05 3x06

Well, we officially have a love triangle going on, although Emma seems to want no part of it. Ariel and Belle make quite the plucky duo. And who would have guessed that Peter Pan was keeping John and Michael Darling alive for his own nefarious plan? On the plus side, Rumple now has ammo to capture Pan, thus ensuring he can come home to Belle.

Summary: Neal tells the group how he used the coconut to get off of Neverland the first time, which leads himself, Hook, and Emma into Dark Hollow to capture a shadow. Ariel and Belle search for Pandora’s Box for Ariel to bring back to Neverland, but are held up by an unlikely pair.

Opening: Clock Tower

New Characters: 

John and Michael Darling: We really don’t find out too much about them. Basically, Pan has kidnapped their sister, Wendy, presumably allowed them to grow up enough to be able to do things for him, and now they need to get and destroy Pandora’s Box in order to get Wendy back. They are obviously very loyal to Wendy, and blame themselves for her predicament. Fortunately, Belle convinces them (after setting a coal cart on them), that they are the winning side and they can beat Pan with Pandora’s Box.

Character Observations:

Henry: He is convinced that Pan is hiding his family from him. Henry wants to know where Pan goes when he disappears from camp if it’s not to see his family hidden somewhere. Henry tells Pan he’s going to find out what it is. Oh, Henry. The first rule of trying to find out if someone’s hiding something, is not to tell them that you think they’re hiding something. Pan sends Felix to get ‘supplies’ and so Henry follows him, in the least stealthy way possible. He’s practically breathing down Felix’s neck he’s so close. He even does the classic step on a twig and hide move so Felix doesn’t catch him. Henry eventually finds the tree house(?) that Pan has put Wendy into (Felix drops a bag of apples in front of the ladder). He wonders why she’s so far away from camp and she tells him that she’s sick and Pan doesn’t want anyone else to catch it. Wendy also tells him she’s sick because the magic of Neverland is fading. Then she tells him how much he looks like his father, and that she knew him when he was a boy. Wendy then tells him he needs to leave so he doesn’t get sick and he promises to come back for her. He ‘runs’ into Pan on the way back to camp and confronts him about Wendy. Pan pretends he hid Wendy from him because he didn’t want Henry to know that because magic is dying, so is a young girl. Henry buys this hook, line, and sinker, and now wants to know how he can help save magic. Pan tells him it’s not how but where and leads him to Skull Rock, where the heart of the truest believer will be their salvation. Pan feeds into Henry’s wannabe hero complex by telling him saving magic will require heroism and sacrifice, and if Henry doesn’t realize that by sacrifice that means him, then I don’t know if he’s worth saving.

Belle: She’s obviously upset about Rumple leaving and going to sacrifice himself, even if it is for his grandson. Archie, the Blue Fairy, and the dwarfs see that she is upset and discover that Rumple left her with a cloaking spell to protect the spell. It’s the first spell she’s ever cast so she’s nervous. Blue Fairy tells her she needs to believe in herself (do spells not work if you don’t believe in them?), and it looks like it won’t work for a hot second, but then it does, and a huge cloaking dome encapsulates Storybrooke. Five days and four rejected cheeseburgers later, Archie is trying to psychoanalyze Belle in Granny’s (with his first question being ‘You miss him, don’t you?’ Well, duh!) Belle is upset because Rumple has gone off to his death and she feels like she can’t do anything to help him. Archie reminds her that she helped put up the cloaking spell, but pouring a potion over rocks apparently isn’t that big of a deal in her eyes. Archie tells her that she’s protecting the town from outsiders, but she thinks that was just a distraction because he doesn’t really need her. Which is when Leroy brings Ariel over with the news that Rumple needs her. Ariel hands her the sand dollar Rumple gave her and Belle is confused about what she’s supposed to do with it. She finally figures out that it holds a message from Rumple that gives clues as to how to find Pandora’s Box. Belle’s just excited that Rumple wants her help. I have to roll my eyes over this whole thing. The Belle that we saw in the Enchanted Forest knew her worth. She used books and her smarts to find the Yaoguai and figure out that he was the enchanted Prince Phillip in The Outsider. Yet here she has self-doubt because the man she loves didn’t take him with her to find his grandson? And she only gets her mojo back because he needs her? Ugh! Belle finally figures out that placing the chipped tea cup in it’s normal place in the cupboard activates a secret panel on the floor which is where he keeps Pandora’s Box. Which is, of course, when John and Michael come in with their guns, tie up Belle and Ariel , and take the box. Belle tries to convince them that they don’t know who they’re working for, but they are quite aware that Pan is their boss and that Greg and Tamara were patsies for their plan, which confuses her even more. They leave with the box. Belle laments about how every time she tries to be a hero she fails (I’m sure Prince Phillip would disagree). Belle figures out that they can get out of the ropes if Ariel gets her fins back, and somehow this words (not sure how considering they were mainly tied up around their chests, but okay). Belle figures out the men went to the mines to destroy the box with one of the dwarfs' pick axes. Belle tries to play on their sympathies by telling them that people they care about will die if they destroy the box, but they tell her they have the same issue if they don’t destroy the box. At least Belle is smart enough to send a coal cart careening their way to stop them from destroying the box.  Belle finally convinces them that Rumple will be able to stop Pan, thus freeing their sister, and that’s when we find out, officially, that they are John and Michael Darling. Belle says goodbye to Ariel at the shore and is happy that Rumple will be able to defeat Pan and come home to her.

Neal/Emma/Hook: Oh look, the love triangle no one asked for. Anyway, Neal informs them that he escaped with Pan’s Shadow, but Emma doesn’t think they’ll be able to get it because they can’t get near Pan. Hook informs her his shadow is an entity unto itself, so they don’t actually need to get anywhere near Pan. Neal is actually thankful that Hook is going with them to find the shadow, since he knows the island just as well as Neal. Emma asks Mary Margaret when she’s going to forgive David since she’s still giving him the cold shoulder. Emma understands where David is coming from, not wanting to jeopardize the mission with his problems. Mary Margaret tells her to be careful with Neal and Hook since they both have feelings for her. Emma doesn’t want to deal with that. All she cares about is Henry. The trio head back to Neal’s cave to find the coconut. Emma goes to find where it’s hidden and Hook has a really awkward conversation with Neal about his and Emma’s kiss, assuming that Emma had told him. Neal tries to play it off as Emma being too focused on getting their son back (and also throwing in his face the fact that they have a son together), but you can see the hurt in his eyes that Emma kissed Hook and didn’t tell him, especially after he told her he’d fight for them. Emma brings the coconut to them and Neal says it’s not a star map but a way to trap Pan’s Shadow. Neal tells them they have to go to Dark Hollow. Hook looks frightened, Emma wonders why it couldn’t have a happier name. Hook tells her that it’s basically where the Shadows live and all light is snuffed out. They get to a particularly dense piece of jungle and Emma takes out Neal’s cutlass that Hook gave her in The Heart of the Truest Believer, almost slicing Hook who is behind her. Neal thinks she found it in the cave, but she tells him Hook gave it to her. Hook says he thought Emma might want something to remember him by, but Neal reminds him that he’s there now and goes off to hack the jungle brush. Emma wants to know what that was all about and he tells her he accidentally told Neal about their kiss. Emma wants to know why he would assume she’d told him, and Hook thought that maybe it meant something to her. Poor Hook. He’s really looking for some validation that it wasn’t a one time thing. She tells him that it meant a lot that he told them Neal was alive. He tells her it was a test from Pan, to see if he’d choose an old friend over the woman they both wanted. She’s impressed because he’s a pirate. For the first time, Hook looks upset over being called a pirate, or that Emma only sees him as one. He tells her that when he wins her heart, and he will win her heart, it won’t involve any trickery. It will be because she wants him. And I’m just going to cry in the corner now, because that is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. Emma takes a minute to catch her breath over that confession, and tells him that it’s not a contest. Hook tells her she’ll have to choose and she says she only has to choose how to save her son. Hook tells her she’ll get him back because he’s never seen her fail, and Emma is just glowing from all the faith he has in her, because, let’s face it, no one, especially Neal, has ever had this much faith in her. Neal interrupts their little moment when he’s finally found Dark Hollow. Neal explains that they’ll light the candle in the coconut and the Shadows will be drawn to it. Once in the coconut, they put the lid on and they have a trapped Shadow. Neal tries to light the candle with a Zippo, but it’s too windy. Hook gets impatient and tries to steal the lighter, and then he and Neal start fighting over it like children. Yep, that’s definitely the way to impress Emma. Even Emma calls them out over it. They lose the lighter in the scuffle and then the Shadows come and take the men and try to rip out their shadows. Emma is hunched in a corner of some logs freaking the eff out. Eventually she remembers that she has magic, and after a few false starts, manages to light the candle and catch Pan’s Shadow. She is very impressed with herself. Neal wants to know how she managed to do it and is not happy that Regina is teaching Emma magic. Emma has now gone from impressed to stunned. I find it pretty ironic that Neal left the Enchanted Forest to get away from magic, and now the girl he’s fighting for has it. Emma is pissed off at both Neal and Hook for their behavior. Hook feels the need to tell her that it wasn’t the lighter they were fighting over and she just looks at him like he’s the biggest idiot in the world. She tells them the only person she is choosing is Henry (this always reminds me of the 90210 moment where Kelly chooses herself, rather than choose between Brandon or Dylan). At least both Hook and Neal look properly chagrined. When they get to Tink’s place, Neal comes in like the conquering hero, like he did all the work when all he did was almost get himself killed. Neal and Tink have a lot of chemistry going on there. Maybe he can forget Emma and get with Tink instead. Problem solved. Anyway, Hook angrily states that they did it, and wonders if Tink will now help them (you can tell he’s angry because he’s popping all the letters when he speaks). Tink finally agrees to work with them now that they have an exit plan. Neal apologizes again to Emma and agrees that they need to put Henry first. 

Mary Margaret/David: Mary Margaret is not speaking to David and he’s not happy about it, but he knows he’s in the dog house, so he doesn’t push it. While the love triangle goes off to find Pan’s Shadow, Mary Margaret and David head to Tink’s tree house to let her know about the plan. David tried to get her to talk to him, but she’s not ready. He tries to defend his decision not to tell her, but she just keeps heading to Tink’s. David changes tactics by pointing out the nice places in the jungle that he could build a hut. Mary Margaret just gets annoyed by that. She just continues on. David actually calls her Snow to get her attention, and eventually tells her that she needs to say something, anything. That gets Mary Margaret going. She wants to know why she needs to say something when he didn’t say a word to her about his being poisoned. He wanted to find a cure and then he wouldn’t have to say anything and worry anyone. Mary Margaret points out that he was cured and he still didn’t say anything. David finally tells her he was scared. Mary Margaret thinks he was scared that she wouldn’t stay with him, but David was actually scared that she would. He didn’t want to force her to stay with him. Mary Margaret says love means staying together, but David says it also means sacrifice. Mary Margaret says she’ll happily stay and dodge poison arrows and Lost Boys with him, as long as they’re together.  She tells him he didn’t believe in them, and he needs to believe. David apologizes. And this is a really sweet scene between these two. It’s no wonder they’re married in real life. They pull off being a married couple so well. It seems these two lovebirds have finally made up.

Regina/Rumple: Rumple has drawn some kind of map to get Ariel to Storybrooke. She says she would have to cross several realms, but she can do it. He enchants a sand dollar for her to give to Belle with instructions. Ariel asks Regina where she’ll find Eric, but Regina tells her she needs to bring the box first, and then she’ll tell her that information. She tells Ariel incentives are important. Ugh! She’s a grown mermaid, not a kid Henry’s age. That was very condescending. Ariel wonders how she’ll know Regina will uphold her end of the bargain, and Regina says she’ll just have to trust her. Considering what Regina did to her last time, I’m surprised Ariel took the deal. Regina and Rumple discuss whether Rumple truly believes Belle will come through for them. Regina realizes Rumple truly loves Belle. She seems shocked that he could love someone. Rumple takes her tone to mean she’s jealous. Regina scoffs at being jealous of Belle, but Rumple accuses her of being jealous that he has someone and she doesn’t. Luckily, Ariel arrives before Regina can either ruminate on her feelings or send a fireball at him. Rumple seems shocked that they actually managed to get the box to him. Regina magicks Ariel’s bracelet so she can have legs whenever she wants. Ariel tells them about Wendy and the Darlings and that Belle wants them to try and rescue Wendy. Regina doesn’t want to stray from the mission to save Henry, but Ariel reminds her that without her and Belle, they wouldn’t have the box to save Henry. Rumple says they’ll do their best and Regina isn’t happy about another side mission interfering with her trying to save her son. Rumple tells Ariel to tell Belle he loves her and will see her again. Regina looks like she isn’t too sure about that last part.

Pan/Wendy: Pan basically manipulates Henry into believing magic is dying and he’s the only one who can save it by making Wendy lie about being sick because of magic dying. Wendy doesn’t like lying to Henry (especially since he’s Bae’s son). Pan finally has Henry right where he wants him.

Questions:

Did Rumple give Belle a spell or a potion? Or was it instructions as to what to do with the potion? Because a spell usually involves some chanting or saying of instructions, and all Belle did was pour the potion into the vein of fairy dust.

Is Rumple drawing a portal map to Storybrooke? How would he know how the mermaid portals work?

Does Ariel normally live in Neverland waters? How does Pan know when she leaves? Is it because she was sitting on the rock?

Ok, seriously, how does Pan communicate with people not in Neverland?

When did Rumple ‘record’ the sand dollar message for Belle? Or is it just a magic message?

When did Rumple have time to set up the hiding of Pandora’s Box and the teacup to activate it? Did he think that Belle would be the only person to have access to it, or was it just a sweet reminder for himself?

Why is it so light in Dark Hollow? When the lanterns went out it didn’t change the lighting level at all.

Why is the Shadow attracted to light? In Second Star to the Right Bae used a match to scare the Shadow into dropping him in the water. 

What are the holes for in the coconut? To let the shadow breathe?

How the hell does Belle walk in the mines in 6 inch stiletto heels? I get that they didn’t have a lot of time, but she couldn’t have found a pair of flats or some boots?

Why is Belle always so confused when villains have personal stakes in the game? She had no idea about Milah’s true death in The Outsider with Hook, and now she’s completely stunned that Pan is forcing the Darlings to help him because he has their sister.

How has Pan kept the Darling boys alive all this time? Were they in Neverland until the time was right for them to ‘grow up’?

Why did Pan take Wendy? What purpose does she serve him? He obviously doesn’t care for her like in the books and movies.

Does Wendy really think Henry looks like Bae, or did she just tell him that to help believe?

Observations:

It has been five days since Emma and crew went to Neverland.

I don’t know why, but Belle’s blue nailpolish bugs me. It doesn’t seem in character for her to have blue nailpoilsh.

There’s a teddy bear keychain hanging from the dash of the Darling’s car.

What luck that the Darlings just happened to be trying to get into Storybrooke at the exact time that Belle was casting the cloaking spell.

The Darling’s license plate is from Minnesota.

Ariel’s bracelet is only enchanted for 24 hours.

Pan senses when Ariel leaves Neverland.

There’s a No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service policy at Granny’s.

Emma and crew rescued Neal from the Echo Caves the day before according to David.

Pandora’s Box contains the World’s Greatest Evil.

Emma only yells Hook’s name when the Shadows take him and Neal.

I’m going to assume that it took longer to rip Hook and Neal’s shadows from their bodies because they’re from the Enchanted Forest, whereas when they just ripped Greg’s from his body in a few seconds, it was because he was from The Land Without Magic.

John uses Happy’s axe when he attempts to destroy Pandora’s Box.

Wendy looks pretty good considering she’s been in a box for over a century.

It looks like Pan finally has his plan moving into place, now that he has Henry believing, Emma is not playing into the love triangle at the moment, and both David and Mary Margaret will be staying in Neverland once this is all over. Rumple now has Pandora’s Box, so let’s hope he is able to use it and actually defeat Pan.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes​​​​​ @thisonesatellite​​​​ @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​​ @profdanglaisstuff​​​​​ @mariakov81​​​​​ @lfh1226-linda​

[multimetaverse]

Tyrus in 3c

I’ve gotten a lot of asks about what might happen with Tyrus in the rest of the season and I’ll use this post to answer them all. We can already tell by the fact that they started this story line without the audience actually knowing that TJ is gay and that he and Kira only have 3 eps left that most of this plot is going to be subtextual and off-screen. Things have to end on at least a strained note for Tyrus in 3x15, the real question is whether they reconcile in 3x19 or if they only end up on good terms again as they confess in 3x21. The latter is always an option with Disney’s restrictions but there are some reasons to be cautiously optimistic that we’ll get the former and I have to blindly hope that TJ and Cyrus won’t be made into victims and will be allowed to be the heroes of their own stories. This will be a long post but tldr: what we know of Kira’s screen-time suggests that she’s largely redeemed by the finale, some sort of big gesture is likely needed for TJ to truly apologize to Cyrus like a rap or hug, it’s noteworthy that TJ’s scenes in 3x19 are all at school, and there are some interesting similarities between what’s going on with Jandi and Tyrus and noticeable differences between what’s going on with those ships and Muffy.

TJ and Kira have 3 eps left while Marty has 4-5 and Amber has 6 so already we can tell which story lines are most important. TJ disappears for three eps after 3x15 which is the longest he’s been away since he returned this season and the longest they seem willing to let the important love interests be off-screen. The gap is largely because the wedding is in 3x18 and TJ isn’t allowed to be there but eps 16-18 are likely to span at least several weeks in universe and suggests an opportunity for off screen growth and change on his part. Perhaps most importantly we know for the finale that Raquel was only on set for one day and that was the same day that all of the other main and recurring kids were on set so Kira is not going to get very much screen-time in the finale which along with the fact that she is even at the party suggests she’s already on good terms with Cyrus and TJ.

We know that Raquel was on set for only one day for 3x15 and it seems likely that Luke was only on set for a day as well during the filming of an outdoor basketball game with teen boy players; probably the same set up we saw in 3x13. This must be where Cyrus tries to talk with TJ but doesn’t really get anywhere, it will be interesting to see how angsty of a note they end on and if it’s meant to be something that sticks with us or something that they want us to forget about until 3x19. Fwiw it does look like TJ is wearing the same camo hoodie in 3x15 as he was in 3x07 so an angsty callback to’’ you’re the only person I can talk to like this’’ may be in the cards. Raquel never posted from set during 3x19 (presumably that’s when she appears though if she for some reason needed to have solo scenes with Cyrus she could potentially appear in 3x16 or 3x17). She wasn’t seen in any of the casts posts from that week so she likely wasn’t on set for more than a day for that ep either. 

Three days of filming spread over 3 eps means Kira will be lucky to have more than 5 minutes of screen-time the rest of the season and that her redemption arc will have to be fairly quick. I have to hope that her redemption arc will begin in 3x15 when she realizes or is made to realize the hurt she’s caused TJ and Cyrus. Since Raquel confirmed that Kira knows what’s up with Tyrus I’d expect that the only way to redeem her would be for her to become TJ’s Buffy and support him in his sexuality as Buffy has with Cyrus which would mostly happen off screen but since they’re willing to let them have solo scenes could begin in 3x15, maybe with Kira offering to hear TJ out if he wants to talk. We need to see something from her that shows that she’s not an evil person and that she can learn to do the right thing. 

I’d expect this plot line to look like a peer pressure/manipulation/being true to yourself plot line to little kids and the fear of homophobia story line it is supposed to be for older audiences. It looks like they’re trying to show a coming out story line where the fear isn’t internalized homophobia such as it was with Cyrus but external homophobia but I think that difference will escape much of the audience. We’ve seen TJ be so happy to hang with Cyrus at school or the park or at the spoon or at his work or with his friends so I wonder what little kids think of him suddenly being afraid to be seen matching with Cyrus. 

Where does this leave Cyrus after 3x15? Again the audience has never had it confirmed that Cyrus likes TJ so that affects how the audience sees this conflict. Is he going to be allowed to talk about what’s going on with his friends or will this just be ignored until 3x19? Letting TJ be able to have solo scenes with Kira means that the show can wall this plot off from the rest of the show until 3x19 which is the route they’re going, I fear. 

For Cyrus I think this will primarily look to him like TJ is ashamed to be close to him which is why I find it noteworthy that TJ is at school in 3x19 especially since before the re-shoots 3x19 was the last time the show filmed scenes at school. Cyrus feeling that TJ doesn’t want to be close to him would be devastating for Cyrus even if he’s not allowed to express it on screen. They had TJ say I’m sorry for the first time in 3x13 and he can say it again to Cyrus but I think TJ needs to show Cyrus that he’s important to him. 

Jonah left Cyrus upset after refusing to wear their matching jackets in S1 and even though Jonah didn’t realize or care the hurt he caused Cyrus he did end up making it up to him by publicly praising him at the awards dinner and giving him a space otters jersey and a hug. I don’t think TJ’s apology would get anywhere near that level of attention but I think another rap is likely but this time it’s a more personal message from TJ to Cyrus. Or something like a hug or a callback to’’ He’s with me’’ from 2x08, something that shows Cyrus that he’s important to TJ. I’d imagine Kira would have to help out with whatever spurs their reconciliation so the audience at least doesn’t hate her anymore. I’m not saying TJ has to jump on stage and rap or hug Cyrus on stage but some sort of moment at the school in front of at least a couple of other people is needed for Tyrus to move past this conflict.

Luke was on set for two days in 3x19 and he and Josh had at least one wardrobe change so we’re probably looking at more than one day in universe. The potential Jandi and Tyrus scenes at the game could be very important as I’ll get in to in a bit. It also looks like TJ may have scenes with Buffy and Cyrus and Cyrus has a scene with Gus in the theatre which suggests Cyrus is getting more focus than usual and could be set up for a callback to 3x13 where Cyrus was miserable on stage but in 3x19 he’s happy. 

So far in S3 Tyrus has been cycling through all their big moments: muffin, swings, dyscalculia, and somersaults. If the pattern holds we should get a look back in 3x15. I do think the audience needs something to show that TJ is gay and has a crush on Cyrus if this plot is to have any hope of succeeding. It mirrors something that @cyrusgoodboye noted after S2 aired; that in 2x12 Andi listed all the things Jonah had failed to do in what she thought was their relationship and then in 2b Jonah did all those things in the order she listed as they rekindled their relationship. 

One thing that really caught my eye in 3x13 is the out of nowhere Jandi/Tyrus parallel they threw in with both Jonah and TJ letting down Andi and Cyrus (though for obviously different reasons). All of the GHC have a thing for sporty white guys but Andi and Cyrus have a more specific type: green eyed captains with hidden depths and secrets and poor coping mechanisms; which is why the both liked Jonah in S1. Andi and Cyrus are more alike than they are with Buffy just as Jonah and TJ are more alike than they are with Marty. Jonah and TJ have been written as foils from the beginning of TJ’s arc and the show even invented a past for them and has now established them as friends. 

In contrast things are going much smoother for Muffy. The show could have dug into Marty icing Buffy out but the show blamed Buffy and dismissed it out of hand. That’s not to say they won’t have drama and angst but ‘’the boy I like has a girlfriend’’  is an order of magnitude less than the issues Andi and Jonah and Cyrus and TJ are facing. What’s also interesting is that Muffy is the only endgame couple that are together by the wedding. We know that Machel sinks in 3x17 as Marty is at the wedding in 3x18; he’s not there as Buffy’s platonic plus one. But obviously Tyrus doesn’t canon until 3x21 and Jonah singing You Girl to Andi isn’t until 3x20 which seems like that’s the big Jandi get back together moment. So both Jandi and Tyrus having scenes together in 3x19 shortly before they canon is very interesting timing and opens up the potential for more endgame parallels.

Another reason I think there may be another rap is that Terri does like to recycle her work and Cyrus realized his crush on TJ during the first rapology and during the second he could realize that TJ likes him back; it’s like poetry it rhymes. It would also create another parallel between Tyrus and Jandi as both of their love interests make a big gesture. 

That’s not to say that Tyrus will get anywhere near the attention Jandi or even Muffy gets, it’s far too late for that, but it is interesting that the writers seem to be linking Tyrus with Jandi more so than Muffy; it does suggest a certain ambition on their part even if those ambitions are frustrated. 

There are lots of interesting paths for the show to take in 3x19, but as always when it involves Cyrus’ story line, it’s a question of what they’ll be allowed to do. We have Andi and Jonah and Cyrus and TJ in the same scenes for only the 3rd time in the show and the first time they’ve been at the same game since 2x18. There’s potential for Jonah to call back to his ‘’are they friends’’ line and they’ve gone out of their way to make Jonah and TJ friends, will there be any pay off to that? Jonah knows that Cyrus is gay and knows what a look back means, Andi knows that Cyrus is gay and suspects TJ has a crush on Cyrus and is only allowed into Cyrus’ sexuality story line rarely, Buffy would be at the game and she knows that Cyrus is gay and suspects that TJ has a crush on Cyrus and has always been Cyrus’ staunchest supporter, hell Cyrus even has scenes at the spoon with Amber who knows what look backs mean.

The posters we saw in 3x07 spell out the endgame of all this; for TJ to take pride in who he is and for Kira to learn to respect others. Does TJ resuming his openly affectionate ways give Cyrus the confidence to decide to come out to him? The narrative is asking TJ to in a fairly quick time span be okay with being out to the whole world; something it has never demanded of Cyrus. With Andi, Buffy, Jonah, and Kira all knowing about them does that mean Cyrus and TJ will be allowed to act coupley in front of everyone at the party after they confess or can only those four other characters know? Does TJ even have scenes with Marty and Amber? Bex and Bowie are at the party and Bex likely knows that Cyrus is gay from their talk in 2x07 and both of them know who TJ is from 2x18, are they allowed to be the supportive adults who congratulate Cyrus or must they be kept in the dark as well? I can only hope that Terri managed to convince Gary Marsh  to  let her pull off a satisfying arc in these remaining eps

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Grave Numbers in Alone

Okay Everyone! The genius of @wdway has struck again. Her numbers prowess is totally making my summer. We're gonna talk about the dates on the grave in Alone. A LOT of us have written theories about what these might represent. I think most of the theories out there have some merit, but like most things TD, they haven't been confirmed in a big way yet.

One of the things we talked about, especially during S7, was that we might see Beth in an episode that aired in November or December. Honestly, at least for me, that was less because of these dates and more because of 1) The St. Nicholas/Pickle theme (we saw a ridiculous amount of pickles in S7) and 2) the November calendar behind the Beth walker in Them.

Obviously November and December didn't work out for us in S7. Once she didn't show up in the MSF, we kind of let it go because we were still convinced she'd show up in S7. If she shows up in S8, the November/December dates still COULD be a thing, but so far it hasn't panned out very well for us. ;D

All that said, check this out:

The dates we see on the grave stone are November 12, 1837 and December 10, 1874.

Guess what, Bethyl junkies? This year's MSF (8x08) will air on December 10th. 

And--wait for it!--8x04 will air on November 12th. 

These dates haven't fallen on Sundays since before S4 aired, y'all. And we know Gimple has up until S15 at least planned out. Even if he didn't have that far planned out in S4 (I think he did, but whatevs) I'm sure he had planned out far enough to know which episode Beth would return in and could figure out the air dates.

Also remember the St. Nicholas/Christmas theme. After writing my St. Nick/Pickles Theory, I really didn't think the Christmas theme meant a literal Christmas date. In the legend, St. Nicholas's gift was to resurrect three boys (yes THREE) who had been murdered. And Daryl never got anything from Santa Clause, right?

So Daryl's gift from St. Nick will be Beth's resurrection. That doesn't mean it has to happen at Christmas time. It's all about the symbolism people. The St. Nick/Resurrection story really isn't about the holiday at all. It's about the man who was the saint.

But now, looking at these dates…hmm. I doubt it will be Christmas thing for the characters in the show, but it may still be Christmas time for us, the audience.

And understand, I still think there's a good chance we'll see Beth earlier in the season than that. Maybe as early as 8x01. But of course there's simply no way to know for sure.

The other possibility is that we, the audience will see her early on. Other characters might as well. (Remember that Carl brings Maggie the music box in 5x10 and all the parallels in 8x01 with him, Rick, the gas station, etc.) but maybe Daryl just won't see her until later. Remember, this is HIM receiving something from St. Nick. That's what his "I Never" in Still was about. It wasn't about Rick or Carl or even Maggie.

I've also always said that I think he'll see her at a distance at first, but not be able to get to her right away for whatever reason (remember Red Poncho Guy). So maybe he'll see her in the Nov 12 episode, but the two of them won't actually reunite until the Dec 10 episode, which incidentally is the MSF.

Given that the calendar behind the Beth walker in Them was seen by Maggie and Carol, but not Daryl, I think they'll see her first, in the November episode. We've said Carol will probably play a role in her return, so I think it's significant that it's Maggie and Carol at this part (who were also the two taken by Paula's group of Saviors in 6x13; yeah, not a coincidence).

Daryl probably won't until one of the December episodes. Maybe he'll finally reunite with her in the MSF, just as he should have been able to in Coda, but really didn't.

Oh, one other thing? The Nov 12 th episode (8x04) will be exactly three seasons after Slabtown. Perhaps another Beth-heavy episode? And of course the MSF will be exactly three seasons after Coda. Just saying.

So this was my big ah-hah moment last week when @wdway sent me this. But I'll also give you a little more, just for your info. @wdway started messing around with the numbers (her God-given talent) and came up with the following.

I think you guys know this, but just so were all on the same page: this will use season and episode designations (like 1x01 = season 1, episode 1) but also series numbers. So, there are 6 episodes in the first season, 13 in the second season, which = 19. So the series number for 3x01 = 20. Hope that makes sense.

So Alone, where we see the "Beloved Father" grave with these dates is episode 48 for the series. As many people have pointed out in the past, 1874-1837 =37. If you go forward 37 episodes from Alone (to series episode 85) that's 7x02, The Well. If you go backwards 37 episodes from Alone, it's 2x05, Chupacabra. It may not be entirely clear why these episodes might be important, but consider some facts in the plots of these episodes.

The Well is where Carol is healing from her injuries at the Kingdom, after being shot. Remember she begged that Savior to kill her, and you know, MORGAN SAVED HER. Basically, she came REALLY close to dying, but didn't. This is also the episode where she met the man who will probably be her long-term love interest. (Carzekiel for the win!)

For 2x05, it's where Daryl is injured and alone, and has to fight his way back to TF. He sees his apparently dead brother, who later turns up alive, and is shot in the head by Andrea, yet survives. Basically, he came close to dying but survived. It was even a head shot in his case. Throw in an Andrea parallel and I don't think you could ask for much more.

So then @wdway decided to add the two years together. 1837+1874 = 3711. Well, there's another 37. Don't know if that's on purpose, but in case it is, she thought she'd play around with the 11 as well.

11 Episodes back from Alone is 4x02, Infected. (May be a coincidence, but this is series episode 37, so both the 37 and the 11 are present here.) The biggest thing that jumped out at her here was that this is where we see Daryl digging graves. We have to side-eye that because all of the Bethyl-in-a-graveyard stuff.

(Keep in mind that they used Daryl digging the graves both as a promo image beforehand, and to make a Daryl figurine from. This image of him in an empty grave is important. And the scene itself is very small and short.) I'd also submit that there were lots of other parallels in that episode (see my re-watches for details) but I'll admit by itself it's not a super-big Beth or TD episode. At least, not on the surface. But…give us a second to convince you.

Forward 11 episodes from Alone is…um…Coda. So we have Daryl digging a grave 11 episodes back from Alone. We didn't actually see them put anyone in that grave. So it really was an empty grave. Then, 11 episodes forward from Alone was Coda, after which Beth's body disappeared, and she got no burial. See what I mean?

So then, just for good measure, she went 37 episodes forward from Coda. We get 7x13, Bury Me Here. Not only is the episode number the same (Alone = 4x13 and Bury Me Here = 7x13) but there's a graveyard/burial theme going on here. 7x13 is where Benjamin dies, Morgan kills and buries Richard (the S7 promo pic of the empty grave came from this episode) and I also believe we see Carol digging graves for walkers in that episode.

So, I've said before that I think Beth could show up at the Kingdom first. I'll admit I've gone back and forth about it. We have more evidence of her there than at the other communities. And I don't mean that I necessarily think we'll see her there first, but rather that after she's revealed, she may go to that community before Alexandria or Hilltop. There IS evidence of her at all the communities, to be fair. So I could be wrong. But there's just MORE there to suggest Beth than at the others.

@wdway got excited about what she found with these numbers because she also believes Beth will show up at the Kingdom first. I think she's more firm in her belief of that that I have been. And I gotta say, she's convincing me more and more. Think of it this way:

37 episodes (the difference between the years on the gravestone in Alone) from Alone is The Well, 7x02. 37 episodes from Coda was Bury Me Here, 7x13. Both were Kingdom episodes and Carol-heavy. Daryl wasn't in either one.

Meanwhile, it's Carol and Maggie that see the November calendar in Them. Not Daryl. Kind thinking Carol and Maggie will reunite with Beth in the November 12th episode at the Kingdom, y'all.

(And how does Maggie fit in? I don't know. It would be total conjecture to try and guess. I mean, they could do anything. Maggie could randomly go to the Kingdom to see Carol or swap supplies or something, and be there with Carol when Beth shows up. Or could be nothing like that. Who knows?)

Some other numbers:

Again, 11 episodes back from Coda is Alone. 37 episodes back from Coda is 3x03. This is where Merle shows up, alive and well after being presumed dead for two seasons.

November = 11th month, December = 12th month. 11+12 = 23.  23 episodes back from Alone is 3x06, Hounded. That's where Glenn and Maggie are taken by Merle (kidnapped and separated from TF) and where Daryl finds Carol after assuming she was dead for several days. (Remember Carol's knife/Beth's knife). And Michonne leaves Woodbury (the lair of the villain). That's important only because she reunites with TF after that. I'll come back to this point, because while going through all this, something else big hit me.

If we go 23 episodes past Alone, we get Here's Not Here, 6x04. So many parallels in that episode I don't want to name them all. But Gimple wrote that episode entirely. There's a major grave theme going on there as well with Eastman's graveyard.

She also tried using the days in the dates. Dec 10, Nov 12. 10+12 = 22.

22 Episodes before Alone = 3x07. We actually see Carol reunite with TF in this episode (yeah!) and Michonne finds TF.

So here was my big epiphany about Michonne in S3. We could relate this to Beth just in that Michonne leaves the imprisonment of Woodbury and finds TF. It's not really a reunion as this is the first time she's met them, but still. She has to survive on her own in the woods (Merle is trying hard to kill her) and she eventually makes it to TF.

Well, Rick and Carl are the first ones to see Michonne when she shows up at the prison (*coughs Rick and Carl at a gas station in 8x01*). But even more than that, we see Rick and Michonne lock eyes across the chain link fence here. Even that early, there were hints at their romance. Granted it took them…wait for it…THREE FREAKING SEASONS to finally hook up. And how many seasons is this past Coda again?

We all totally picked up the Bethyl parallels in 6x10 when Michonne and Rick finally got together romantically. Especially the entwined fingers. So I don't think it's a stretch to parallels the two relationships in other ways, even stretching back to S3.

Anyway, back to 3x07. @wdway also makes a good point about Carol, after reuniting with TF, having to be told who is alive and who is dead. She didn't know Lori had died (though she had a pretty good idea about T-Dog). And she didn't know Judith had survived.

I can see Beth needing to have a very similar conversation. Not about Lori, of course. But about Glenn. And everyone else she once knew (Sasha, Ty, Noah). And she never learned that Judith got out of the prison, so she'll be surprised Judith is still there.

Another parallel? In this episode Maggie is assaulted (nearly) by the Gov. This has been said before, but we can parallel Maggie/Glenn's imprisonment to Beth/Daryl's in many ways. Maggie/Beth both had to deal with the threat of rape. Glenn/Daryl were both beaten badly at some point. Even the order of events is eerily similar.

If you go forward 22 episodes from Alone, we get 6x03, Thank You. Glenn death fakeout anyone?

Okay, I think I'm gonna stop there. @wdway had more intricate details, but the short of it is that no matter what path you use with these numbers, you can see Beth's arc in it. The consistent characters we're seeing in these episode numbers are Beth, Daryl, Carol and Morgan. 

And I know there will be people that don't buy into the intricate math stuff. That's cool. Totally you're prerogative. But keep in mind what I said first: these dates on the Alone headstone haven't fallen on a Sunday since before Gimple took the reins. And Gimple is a careful enough planner, that I don't think most of these patterns can be ignored.

Either way, I'm super excited for S8. Anyone else? ;D

(Special thanks to @wdway for sharing her genius with us!)