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nellie-elizabeth · 5 years ago

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Suits: Prisoner's Dilemma (9x08)

I guess I'm just feeling antsy for this show to end, so I can spend some more time with Mike in the final two episodes. This episode should have been great, what with returning villains and allies from the past, and a connection to Mike's prison story-line, but something about it didn't totally click into place for me. It was good, not great.

Cons:

This episode is called "Prisoner's Dilemma," and that references the way that Malik pits Cahill and Harvey against each other. Harvey stays loyal, but Cahill flips. But then Harvey finds a piece of information, with Donna's help, and the two men are able to leverage Malik and both get away free. There are a few things that annoy me here - the first is that Cahill has every right to save his own ass in this situation. Harvey is all about loyalty or whatever, but Cahill isn't one of his people. He has manipulated and pressured Cahill over and over again. Sure, he was doing it for Mike, and so as a viewer of this show, I'm on Harvey's side. But Cahill feeling guilty, Cahill trying to help Harvey however he can... none of that really makes a lot of sense to me in the context of their characters. I guess the idea is that they've been through a lot together, but even that doesn't really justify the pseudo-friendship they're trying to show here.

I did not at all hate the subplot with Esther. There were many good things about it. I'm always a fan of TV shows shedding light on the real issues that women face when it comes to sexual assault and coming forward about their experiences. I will say, though, it felt a little shoe-horned in, especially at this late stage - this entire subplot could have been lifted and put anywhere in the season, and it could have remained the same. With just two episodes left after this one, why was this how Louis, Katrina, and Samantha all spent the episode? On a more specific note, I found it odd that Louis was motivated by this experience to want to marry Sheila before the baby comes. How are these two stories connected, other than by "family is important"? I feel like this is just an excuse to have a wedding in the finale.

Pros:

As I said, I enjoyed the subplot with Esther. Stories like this are always going to have the veneer of "very special episodes" in the sense that they're clearly making a clear-cut moral stand and are there to teach a lesson and make a point. And honestly? Good. I'm not going to complain about the black and white nature of a story about a man who has sexually assaulted multiple women throughout his career and has gotten away with it by paying them off and gas-lighting. It's good to see a character like that portrayed as uniformly the bad guy. It's good that the episode points out how common this sort of thing is, and explains the reasons why women often don't want to come forward. And it's good that Esther gets that cathartic moment of confrontation, and the bad guy loses. Unfortunately, no matter how much times are changing, things don't often go well for accusers. I'm really okay with seeing an uncomplicated moral and practical victory for a woman who really deserves it.

In terms of the story's impact on our core cast of characters, I like that this was an example of Louis getting fired up and making a mistake, as he often does, but then recognizing that he was wrong, listening to women (not only his sister, but Samantha and Katrina too) and then working to put it right. It was nice that Esther thanked Louis for helping her at the end, but I like that the victory belonged to Esther alone. She's the one who got to put the smack-down on her former boss and attacker. And Samantha and Katrina got to assist.

In the main plot, it was nice to see some of Harvey's old decisions nearly come back to bite him. We got to see Charles Forstman behind bars, which was satisfying, we got to see Harvey take down Malik one final time. We got to see how the things that Harvey did to save Mike had their own consequences. It was almost a cleaning of the slate as we get ready to go in for these final two episodes, with Faye as our last big bad. Part of my frustration here is that it seemed kind of pointless, since we see Harvey get arrested, but he immediately figures out a way to beat Malik so it doesn't go anywhere. That said, I would probably have been more frustrated if the final two episodes were suddenly Harvey vs. Malik, when all season we've been building up Faye. So ultimately I think this episode was a good chance to bring back some familiar faces just before we step in to the final two.

The Mike stuff here was pretty great - Harvey insists again and again that everything he did with regards to the prison plot, he'd do again. It doesn't matter to him what the outcome was, he did what he did to get Mike out of danger, and that's the bottom line. I like that he describes Mike as someone who's never hurt anybody. The point is clear. In comparison with Frank Gallo, Mike is a harmless person. But it just goes to show Harvey's blind spot. Mike is far from innocent, and whether they want to admit it or not, their years of fraud did hurt a lot of people.

As the episode ends, we see Donna giving Harvey some bad news - his mother died. What are the odds that Donna is the one to break the news about both of Harvey's parents dying over the years? Poor thing. Poor both of them. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. It came in at the final moment of the episode, so I'll have to see how this is integrated as the show ends. As it is, I certainly feel very bad for Harvey.

And that's that! We've got just two weeks left before we say goodbye for good, and I do believe we've also just had our last Mike Ross-less episode of Suits! That's something to celebrate indeed!

7/10

#review #suits #suits review #suits usa

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junker-town · 8 years ago

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Egypt vs. Cameroon, 2017 Africa Cup of Nations final preview: Top defensive sides face off for a continental title

Other teams might have had more stars, but Egypt and Cameroon were the two best organized sides at AFCON. They've been rewarded with a place in the final.

The Africa Cup of Nations will crown a new champion on Sunday after two of the continent's most historically successful sides made it all the way to the final in spectacular and somewhat surprising fashion.

Cameroon and Egypt, led by Hugo Broos and Hector Cuper respectively, have eschewed attacking flair over a three-week period where favourites Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal have grossly underperformed or eliminated by the tightest margins to defy pre-tournament expectations. The two managers are relatively inexperienced on the continent, a rarity for managers in the final, but history favours Egypt who defeated these same opponents 1-0 in the 2008 final and have won seven of their eight AFCON finals.

Cameroon excels with their top players refusing to show up

This was supposed to be the worst Cameroon side in recent memory, at least on paper, and with Egypt returning to Africa's premier competition for the first time since 2010 following a cascade of unfortunate events that saw them miss three consecutive competitions, no one expected them to make it this far in Gabon. In a competition where the purists and most entertaining sides have fallen by the way side, it's perhaps a little unfair that two of the least exciting teams have the chance to be crowned champions but the very nature of AFCON, and indeed, all cup competitions, is to make oneself hard to beat safely in the knowledge that there are no extra points awarded for attacking verve and breathless derring-do. And following the odds both sides overcame to return to the summit of African football to set up a repeat of the 2008 final, it's hard to begrudge them of their moment in the sun.

For Cameroon, this has been a surprising battle against the odds as they reached their first final since 2008 and got past the quarterfinal for the first time since 2010; interestingly they lost both times to Egypt. Their record in subsequent competitions makes for grim reading: failed to qualify in 2012 and 2013, and finished bottom of the group in 2015 with only two goals scored. After the incredible success of the early noughties that saw them win consecutive AFCONs in 2000 and 2002 as well as Olympic soccer gold at the Sydney Games in 2000, the Indomitable Lions had fallen onto difficult times, directionless and purpose. The golden generation of that era had all-time greats like Samuel Eto'o, Rigobert Song, Carlos Kameni, and a host of household names to call on but the present day Cameroon side was shorn of genuine A-list quality, and to make a bad situation worse, eight regulars elected to make themselves unavailable for the roster.

Liverpool's Joël Matip, Bordeaux's Maxime Poundjé, Marseille's André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Nancy's Guy N'Dy Assembé, Schalke's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Lille's Ibrahim Amadou, West Brom's Alan Nyom, and first choice goalkeeper Andre Onana, who plies his trade for Ajax, all chose their club careers ahead of representing Cameroon. That left manager Hugo Broos, himself inexperienced at international level, with a huge task on his hands.

The Belgian's roster of 23 had 14 players making their competition debut, with few outside of their homeland giving them a chance of making an impression at the most open AFCON in recent years. Yet the many absentees seem to have done Broos and Cameroon a massive favour, with the Belgian boss eking out a string of impressive performances from his motley crew of inexperienced heads, devoid of the ego and friction that has derailed the national team in years past.

Photo by Mustafa Ozer/EuroFootball/Getty Images

Hugo Broos has proven to be a great hire for Cameroon.

Cameroon are hard to beat and defensively solid with the centre-back pair of Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Adolphe Teikeu keeping star-studded Senegalese and Ghanaian attacks at bay. Captain Benjamin Moukandjo has been a leader in midfield and Christian Bassogog has caught the eye with his impressive performances from the right flank. The surprise standout performer has been goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa, cousin of first choice Onana, who has set Gabon alight with a string of important saves, including denying Sadio Mane during the shootout in quarterfinal. The 21-year-old has yet to make a single senior appearance for Gimnàstic Tarragona but like Charles Itandje before him, he continues a rich tradition of Cameroonian goalkeepers with unremarkable club careers who seem to save the best for the national team. It is worth noting that before Thursday's 2-0 victory over Ghana in the semifinals, Guinea-Bissau were the only team Cameroon defeated in regular time in their run to the final.

Egypt defend well and break fast

Egypt themselves haven't been exactly swashbuckling, indeed the major talking point in the buildup to the tournament was how Hector Cuper set his side up to be defensively compact while sacrificing attacking flair at the altar of rearguard solidity. Cuper has repeatedly defended his tactics that all that matters is the result, and when a side goes an entire competition conceding just once, it's hard to argue the end does not justify the means.

Egypt play counter-attacking football, as they soak up pressure for long periods before launching the ball forward to their speedy attackers upfront. This especially suits star man Mohamed Salah to a tee, as well as Kahraba and Mahmoud "Trezeguet" Hassan, all of who use their pace to occupy space behind opponents. It hasn't been pretty to watch -- in fact all of Egypt's games have been snooze-fests -- but it has been an effective strategy bringing out the best in their attacking trio even when the performances look disjointed. The diabolical state of the pitch in Port Gentil, where Egypt played their opening four matches, didn't help matters either, as a newly commissioned arena surprisingly proved unfit for purpose.

Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images/Getty Images

44-year-old Essam El-Hadary doesn’t look his age

It's impossible to discuss the Pharaohs' run to the final without acknowledging the importance of their 44-year-old goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary; his collected mien during the latter stages of the penalty shootout against Burkina Faso showed the invaluable advantage that comes with having big-game experience in high stakes encounters. Egypt's failure to make it to the AFCON in recent years meant all but three of the players on the roster had experience in this competition, and with El-Hadary one of the remaining stalwarts, the legendary goalkeeper has rolled back the years to guide his young teammates to the cusp of their country's eighth continental success.

Will either team take a risk?

With two teams set up to play on the counter-attack facing off, it will be incumbent on either side to take the initiative from the off, a strategy which suits neither side. Cameroon appear to be the more creatively impotent of the two sides with central midfielders Sébastien Siani and Arnaud Djoum usually bereft of attacking instincts, leaving the captain Moukandjo to shoulder the creative burden.

Egypt, for their part, are perhaps the most tactically aware side on the continent since Cuper arrived, and their disciplined approach stands them in good stead for this encounter. They are unbeaten in 23 AFCON games, a run that stretches to their 2-1 loss to Algeria in 2004 and with big game experience that saw them defeat Nigeria en route to qualifying, Cuper's side are favourites for a reason.

Projected lineups

Egypt: The Pharaohs play a straightforward 4-3-3 and generally have a settled side, with fit-again Mohammed Elneny the only selection headache facing Cuper. If the Arsenal midfielder is deemed unfit to start a game of this magnitude, expect Ibrahim Salah (no relation to Mohamed) to start in his place. Marwan Mohsen suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear in the quarterfinal against Morocco and Kahraba has since edged out Sporting Braga's Ahmed Hassan Koka as the leading striker.

Cameroon: Hugo Broos also deploys a 4-3-3, although his side have taken some time to evolve into a settled team. Having started with Ernest Mabouka at right back in the opener against Burkina Faso, Collins Fai has started in subsequent matches to complete the back four. Moukandjo and Siani have been ever-presents in midfield, with Djoum, Edgar Salli and Georges Mandjeck taking turns to complete the midfield trio. In attack, Vincent Aboubakar has been a surprise if justified omission and Clinton N'Jie since dropped to the bench following disappointing outings in the opening two games. Bassogog provides flair and is the creative outlet down the right wing, with the willing Jack Zoua starting in place of Aboubakar and Ndip Tambe operating from the left side of attack.

Match date/time: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local

Venue: Stade de l'Amitie, Libreville, Gabon

TV: beIN Sports (U.S.), Eurosport 2 (U.K.)

Online: beIN Sports Connect, Fubo, Sling (U.S.), Eurosport player (U.K.)

Listings for other countries at Live Soccer TV.

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