#got s6e8

[atomicradiogirl]

raylan: there is only one thing [tying me to kentucky] you.

boyd: you wanna lean in for a kiss?

raylan: is that what you think this is? another one of your love stories?

boyd: oh well i do like happy endings.

[whoupmasturbuilding]

Rick and Morty Condensed Watch List

My friend wanted to watch rnm, but didn't want to sit through all 7 seasons- so I decided to make a list of the best/most lore important episodes that way they could enjoy the show without watching the whole thing. Red = episodes that are lore important Orange = not crucial for understanding the lore, but establishes character relationships and/or a consistent reference in the series yellow = episodes I'm personally a fan of (these are purely just recommendations for my friend, feel free to skip them)

s1e1 Pilot - first episode of the series, I'm sure this one is self-explanatory LOL s1e5 Meeseeks and Destroy - First Morty adventure, Introduces Meeseeks and "ricks catchphrase" (reoccurring), and does a good job of showing Beth/Jerry's relationship s1e6 Rick Potion #9 - Rick & Morty's dimension hop s1e7 Raising Gazorpazorp- sexy robot episode (my friend wants to watch this okay) s1e10 Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind - Introduces citadel s1e11 Ricksy Business - We meet a couple of Ricks close friends, some fun time stuff, and the season finale!! s2e1 A Rickle in Time - I couldn't really decide whether or not to keep this orange or red, since technically this specific ep isn't crucial to the understanding of the show. HOWEVER, still totally watch it because it wraps up the conclusion to season 1 AND its a great episode generally! s2e2 Mortynight Run - Introduces the Jerry daycare and Blips and Chitz (reoccurring) s2e3 Auto Erotic Assimilation - Introduces Unity s2e5 Get Schwifty - Introduces President, Learn more about Birdperson s2e9 Look Who’s Purging Now - Not plot relevant or brought up again in the series, but this episode has some Morty moments that I really like s2e10 The Wedding Squanchers - Meet the federation!! s3e1 The Rickshank Rickdemption - More citadel fun! And also szechuan sauce, very important. s3e3 Pickle Rick - Yes I'm putting pickle rick on here. This episode introduces Dr. Wong who's both a cool character and reoccurring. Although I wouldn't say this episode is as important as the other oranges, so If you really wanna skip it- go for it s3e6 Rest and Ricklaxation - TOXIC RICCCKK s3e7 The Ricklantis Mixup - More Citadel adventureeess! (<- Also this is where that fat Morty and lizard Morty GIF came from, thought you'd like to hear that) s3e8 Morty’s Mind Blowers - idk what to write for this one I just really enjoy this episode LOL s3e9 The ABC’s of Beth - We get an update on how Jerry's life is going, also some fun Beth development stuff e4e2 The Old Man and the Seat - big bad doo-doo daddy s4e10 Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri - More federation stuff, and we get an update on clone beth s5e1 Mort Dinner Rick Andre - This one isn't THAT important of a watch so if you wanna skip it you honestly can, but we do get to meet Mr. Nimbus and find out what happens to Jessica. s5e8 Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort - Bird person update ALSO MEMORY RICCCCKKK s5e9 Forgetting Sarick Mortshall - Rick and two crows show s5e10 Rickmurai Jack - Citadel fun and also more of the extra sexy crow rick s6e1 Solaricks - MEET PRIME! s6e2 Rick: A Mort Well Lived - I haven't watched diehard which makes this episode funnier to me s6e3 Bethic Twinstinct - okayy I'll be honest, a lot of people dislike/feel weirded out by this episode (me included) but I still think it's worth including for contextualization because this ep explains why space beth's has a reoccurring presence in the family. So watch at your own discretion LOL s6e8 Analyze Piss - ignore the goofy ass title, because it is REALLY good. I love this ep so much s6e9 A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort - This episode isn't really lore important and doesn't introduce any reoccurring characters, BUT the adventure itself is referenced later on s6e10 Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation - rick with a stubble and boxers on (very important) but no seriously, this episode is important s7e1 How Poopy Got His Poop Back - Some Rick/friend shenanigans, also we get a brief update on birddaughter s7e3 Air Force Wong - Not really thaatt lore important? But we do get an update on unity which is super sweet s7e5 Unmortricken - "OH SHIT, Evil Morty! Should I get the net?" s7e9 Mort: Ragnarick - this episode is very very fun and also where that image of rick being crucified comes from ANYWAYS THATS IT! Season 7 still hasn't ended, but it ends later this week so I may or may not update the list for that. If anybody has any critiques/changes I should make to this list, please let me know!

[charliemac]

presenting IASIP EPISODES THAT WERE NOT WRITTEN BY RCG

i counted “rcg involvement” as any episode written by rob, charlie, and/or glenn, including with other non-rcg writers or creating the story but not writing it. every episode in this list does not have rob charlie or glenn credited as writers. excuse my typing errors and also feel free to add/correct anything because this is absolutely fascinating to me

SEASON 2

s2e8 the gang runs for office - david hornsby

SEASON 3

s3e13 the gang gets whacked part 2 - scott marder and rob rosell

S3e15 the gang dances their asses off - david hornsby, scott marder, rob rosell

SEASON 4

s4e4 mac’s banging the waitress - david hornsby

s4e8 paddy’s pub: the worst bar in philadelphia - scott marder, rob rosell, david hornsby

s4e10 sweet dee has a heart attack - rob rosell and scott marder

SEASON 5

s5e1 the gang exploits the mortgage crisis - becky mann and audra sielaff

s5e3 the great recession - david hornsby

s5e4 the gang gives frank an intervention - scott marder and rob rosell

s5e6 the World Series defense - david hornsby

s5e7 the gang wrestles for the troops -scott marder and rob rosell

S5e8 paddy’s pub: home of the original kitten mittens - sonny lee and Patrick walsh

s5e9 mac and dennis break up - Scott marder and rob rosell

S5e10 the dennis system - david hornsby, Scott marder, rob rosell

SEASON 6

s6e1 mac fights gay marriage - becky mann and audra sielaff

s6e2 dennis gets divorced - Dave and john chernin

s6e4 mac’s big break - rob rosell

s6e5 mac and charlie: white trash - luvh rakhe

s6e6 mac’s mom burns her house down - Scott marder and rob rosell

s6e8 the gang gets a new member - david hornsby

s6e9 dee reynolds shaping America’s youth - david hornsby

S6e10 charlie kelly king of the rats - Scott marder and rob rosell

s6e11 the gang gets stranded in the woods - Scott marder and rob rosell

s6e12 dee gives birth - david hornsby, becky mann, audra sielaff

SEASON 7

S7e1 frank’s pretty woman - scott marder and rob rosell

S7e2 the gang goes to the jersey shore - dave and john chernin

S7e3 frank reynolds’ little beauties - scott marder and rob rosell

S7e5 frank’s brother - david hornsby

S7e6 the storm of the century - charles hornsby

S7e9 the gang gets trapped - luvh rakhe

S7e10 how mac got fat - scott marder and mehar sethi

S7e11 thunder gun express - dave and john chernin

SEASON 8

S8e5 the gang gets analyzed - luvh rakhe

S8e6 charlie’s mom has cancer - scott marder and rob rosell

S8e7 frank’s back in business - dave and john chernin

S8e8 charlie rules the world - david hornsby

S8e9 the gang dines out - mehar sethi

SEASON 9

S9e3 the gang tries desperately to win an award - david hornsby

S9e4 mac and dennis buy a timeshare - dave and john chernin

S9e6 the gang saves the day - dave and john chernin

S9e7 the gang gets quarantined - david hornsby

S9e8 flowers for charlie - david beinoff and d.b weiss (game of thrones creators/writers)

S9e9 the gang makes lethal weapon 6 - scott marder

S9e10 the gang squashes their beefs - rob rosell

SEASON 10

S10e1 the gang beats boggs - dave and john chernin

S10e2 the gang group dates - rob rosell

S10e5 the gang spies like U.S - david hornsby

S10e7 mac kills his dad - david hornsby, dave and john chernin

S10e10 ass kickers united: mac and charlie join a cult - scott marder

SEASON 11

S11e2 frank falls out the window - david hornsby

S11e3 the gang hits the slopes - dave and john chernin

S11e4 dee made a smut film - eric ledgin

S11e5 mac and dennis move to the suburbs - hunter covington

S11e6 being frank - scott marder

S11e7 mcpoyle vs ponderosa: the trial of the century - conor galvin

S11e8 charlie catches a leprechaun - jon and josh silberman

S11e9 & s11e10 the gang goes to hell parts 1 and 2: david hornsby and scott marder

SEASON 12

S12e2 the gang goes to a water park - eric ledgin

S12e3 old lady house: a situational comedy - dannah phirman and danielle schneider

S12e4 wolf cola: a public relations nightmare - david horsby and scott marder

S12e5 making dennis reynolds a murderer - conor galvin

S12e8 the gang tends bar - megan ganz

S12e9 a cricket’s tale - david hornby and scott marder

SEASON 13

S13e1 the gang makes paddy’s great again - david hornsby

S13e2 the gang escapes - megan ganz

S12e3 the gang beats boggs: ladies reboot - dannah phirman and danielle schneider

S12e4 time’s up for the gang - megan ganz

S13e5 the gang gets new wheels - conor galvin

S13e6 the gang solves the bathroom problem - erin ryan

S13e7 the gang does a clip show - dannah phirman and danielle schneider

S13e8 charlie’s home alone - adam weinstock and andy jones

S13e9 the gang wins the big game - conor galvin

SEASON 14

S14e2 thunder gun 4: maximum cool - conor galvin

S14e3 dee day - megan ganz

S14e4 the gang chokes - john howell harris

S14e6 the janitor always mops twice - megan ganz

S14e8 paddy’s has a jumper - dannah phirman and danielle schneider

S14e9 a woman’s right to chop - dannah phirman and danielle schneider

S14e10 waiting for big mo - david hornsby

SEASON 15

S15e2 the gang makes lethal weapon 7 - keyonna taylor and katie mcelhenney

S15e3 the gang buys a roller rink - rob rosell david hornsby

S15e7 dee sinks in a bog - david hornsby and rob rosell

S15e8 the gang carries a corpse up a mountain - megan ganz

[cinematics123]

Back on more Buddie bullshit. I saw a couple people really upset by lack of Buddie in Cursed, but I truly disagree about the lack of Buddie. There was a ton of Buddie content (at least in Cursed), both clear and implied. We got Buck and Eddie discussing Chris' (potential) love life at school, we got them dealing with the couple on the roof of the *engine*, and got them being goofy. Even back in S6E7, we get Buck hiding the sperm donor situation, explicitly, personally, and directly from Eddie. Actively hiding something from a character isn't a lack of action.

If you want to actually look for all the Buddie stuff in S6E8, here are some amazing blogs from @loveyourownsmiilee and @matan4il that I read - and who are much more intelligent (and diligent) than I could ever hope to be. So if you don't believe me, believe them. There was a ton of good stuff.

So while there's a lot of good Buddie content, I really, really sympathize that the writing is off. Some of the criticisms are probably not wholly right, but a lot of it is. It feels off - like substantial parts have been re-written or are missing, but parts of it has been clearly left out. While that makes for bad writing, it actually does give me hope for making Buddie canon - because it's likely that 6B will then focus more heavily on the parts that have been missing. So, if they have been left out, they are likely being deliberately left out (which is a good thing for Buddie going canon).

But here are the big, big issues:

It's not textually possible to know if Maddie knows about Buck being a sperm donator. Like, it would be super weird for Chim not to tell her, but she said nothing to Buck when she brought over Jee. Like you are literally handing your brother his niece, but mention nothing about his possibly producing a bio-niece/nephew. I get that Buck was subtextually linked to Jee, Denny, and Chris in that episode, but they are literally missing necessary actual text.

This is Buck's core plot in 6A, Maddie is one of his core relationships, and Buck's conception of family is part of his core character traits - but I don't know if she even knows about his sperm donating decision. That's flat out bad writing. (And not a Buddie issue).

There are also Buck and Eddie issues. Like the is build up that Buck doesn't want Eddie to know about the donation (and it's never explored why), but when it comes out there are no consequences. Same thing, again, with Maddie and the donation if it turns out she does know. That's not a story. That's a sequence of events. Even in that same sequence, we get Eddie commenting to Buck about the "Age of Absolutely" but we never get the scene of them talking about it. It feels surgically removed from their story (same with the Hoover chain of dog ownership mostly just leaving out the Eddie to Buck hand-off).

The whole relationship between Buck and Eddie seems like someone has cut holes in it. Like clearly Eddie means so much that Buck is trying to hide the donation thing from him and Eddie screams after Buck when he takes off (implying he cares too), but we see little actual back and forth between them (other than about Chris which we finally get now only in E8).

Buck's sperm donor arc (confirmed to continue in 6B) was billed as "self-growth" - and I hope it will provide that because Buck has not actually grown at all in 6A. I'm hoping that means that we will see growth happen, but it hasn't been so far.

Buck is retreating from his relationships, being reckless, and giving of himself recklessly too. This is a "back on his Bullshit" Buck, and the lack of Eddie, Maddie, Hen, or Bobby, checking him - and with him mostly hiding things from those close to him. Buck does get some great growth in his relationship with Hen, but Buck doesn't even really get any relationship change with Chim - despite potentially saving his life with the drunk driver.

Ultimately, with 6A so far, outside of the Athena Begins episode and the amazing Hen/Ren story, it is hard to really pin down what the stakes even are for most characters or what is happening between them. Like has Buck saving Chimmey affected their relationship? Has Buck being reckless affected Eddie? Other than Hen and Karen and Hen and Buck, have any of the relationships really grown in 8 episodes?

In a different write up of this same season, it could have been that Chim didn't tell Maddie because of things between him and Buck or that Eddie is creating distance because Buck is reckless. But we don't have any cause and effect at all in a lot of this whole season - and we only get oblique references to people main plots being discussed with the other characters (and even then, without any character changes or pay-off!!). It is really, really frustrating and even confusing (and not in a good mystery-type way).

I do think there will be more to these arcs in 6B and I think it will be good. But the writing also needs to take your through the whole story, not just the ending.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s6e8 all dogs go to heaven (w. adam glass)

(is this the episode that spawned those sentient bestiality fics i've seen with dean as a dog? or is that a different one... dog day afternoon? cue being distracted for ten minutes while i reread the plot summary & real life story for the 1975 movie by that name)

CROWLEY You like pain, Sam? You like Hell? You need to stop thinking of this as some kind of deal. This is a hostage situation, you arrogant little thug. I own your brother! Do you understand me?

CROWLEY Come on, Dean, smile. It's not that bad. Here's incentive – you bag me a live alpha, and I'll give you little Sammy's soul back, with a cherry on top.

easy as pie! no moral conflicts ahead i'm sure

so hey here's the underpinning of irritation or hurt or something that i expected at the least, of sam's year of absence-while-here

SAM He's right. Samuel and I ganked one about six months back on the half-moon. Things have been out of whack for a while now, I guess.

DEAN Yeah, I guess.

dean semi-scowls and makes a you know what i mean face. sam proceeds to look slightly clueless

DETECTIVE What are the Feds doing here?

SAM Oh, we're specialists. They call us in to answer the questions of mouth-breathing dick monkeys.

excuse me what

DEAN You didn't sleep. 'Cause you don't... sleep.

SAM Right.

DEAN Yeah. That's not creepy at all.

SAM Not like I can help it. So, you gonna just lay there staring at me...

--

SAM No love lost between the two of you, huh?

CAL Look, we had our differences, I guess. You love your brother, of course, but... Ron had a lot of problems. He was, uh, volatile.

this show. LOOK HOW THESE RANDO CHARACTERS PARALLEL SAM AND DEAN'S CURRENT ISSUES *cut to dean's face journey for the parallel* heavy handed, as i have come to expect :P

sam not needing to sleep must be handy on their little stakeouts. if dean could trust him alone, that is 🥴

this will come as a shock i'm sure but there's some cute teen wolf fic with stiles picking up derek and taking him home when he's stuck in wolf form for one reason or another (one from my bookmarks). less murdery, of course

nice to see little mundane everyday moments, they don't do many outside of them eating together

getting teen wolf skinwalkers confused with the spn variety. thought they already had done them but i guess not? must be thinking tw. anyway, these skinwalkers are more like teen wolf variety werewolves. so i can be extra confused about it.

okay i know set decoration and all but like, dishes in the drying rack of the kitchenette of this little motel room? okay

SAM Well, I got to tell you, Lucky, you got us stumped. I mean, why shack up with the family? Is it a kinky thing? Do you like to play with your food? Roll over, Lucky. Speak.

😒ok yes he's the bad guy but be an asshole in a different way, sam :p

DEAN You say you're "just folks," yeah? That – that you like baseball and apple pie or whatever. But truth is, I don't know what you are 'cause you're not Sam.

SAM Dean, come on.

DEAN I mean, it's your gigantor body and – and maybe your brain, but it's not you. So just... stop pretending. Do us both a favor.

thank you

interesting music (score) choice and they don't usually do these kind of hero-looking-badass shots. ahh i guess it's like, going with the action movie vibes. what with dean apparently being a sniper too

SAM I'd double-cross us. I mean, he's got to realize that's his best bet, if he wants to keep breathing.

DEAN Nah, he'll go through with it.

SAM You mean 'cause he loves that family?

DEAN Yeah.

SAM I'd double-cross us.

DEAN Thanks, Dexter. That's reassuring.

SAM Just making conversation.

made me laugh. but also like, see, this was the fun potential of soulless!sam when dean knows what's up. whhyyyy did we have to wait so long

✨ action bros ✨

(steadfastly ignoring the slightly fucky coloring on poor jackles, the biggest tell is his lips will look kind of purple when things are off)

SAM You wanted the real me. This is it. I don't care about them. I don't even really care about you. Except that... I need your help. And you're clearly not gonna stick around for much longer unless I give it to you straight, so... I've done a lot worse than you know. I've killed innocent people in the line of duty. But I'm pretty sure it's not something the old me could've done. And maybe I should feel guilty. But I don't.

DEAN Sam, get to the punch line.

SAM I don't know if how I am is better or worse. It's different. You get the job done, and nothing really hurts. That's not the worst thing. But I've been thinking. And it was... it was kinda harder. But there are also things about it I remember that I... Let's just say I think I should probably go back to being him.

DEAN That's very interesting. It's a step.

SAM So?

DEAN We do what we got to do. And we get my brother back.

jackles did a good job with this, sam telling him to his face he doesn't care. and that moment that sam says he remembers (unspecified good things/caring/loving his brother perhaps!!) and dean's got that look above. good emotion face moment

[blairsanne]

DFP Actors August: Kevin Smith

NZ actors tend to end up in a lot of the same shows over the years it seems. I have a lot of fun spotting familiar faces, so I thought this would be a fun and silly little project, seeing which actors have repeatedly been in things that Deano was also in (not necessarily alongside). Just a bit of trivia. Enjoy!

Shortland Street (1996/????)

Dean played Nurse Harry martin in 1996. Kevin played "Jed" and I have no idea when. Does anyone have any idea what episodes or what year? Any screenshots?

Young Hercules (Movie) (1998)

Dean played Young Iolaus. Kevin played Ares (and Ares posing as Pelias).

Young Hercules (1998-1999/1998-1999)

Dean played Iolaus in 46 of the 50 episodes. Kevin played Ares in 13 episodes, as well as Timor in E33 "Con Ares" (a dude who looked like Ares that the trio convince to pose as Ares), and Bacchus in E19 "The Lure of the Lyre", E20 "Fame, and E21 "Lyre, Liar" (Bacchus is "the God of Good Times").

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1998/1995-1999)

Dean played a few different characters on this show: Iloran - S1E12 “The Gauntlet” Young Iolaus - S4E3 “Regrets… I’ve Had a Few”, S4E11 “Medea Culpa” and S4E20 “Twilight”. Ruun - S4E7 “Prodigal Sister”

Kevin played: Iphicles - in 4 episodes between S2E3 and S4E19. Iphicles is a maternal half-brother of Hercules. Ares - in 19 episodes between S3E13 and S6E8. Ares is the god of war that Kevin plays across this show, Xena and Young Hercules. Jerry Patrick Brown - in 2 episodes, S4S15 "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules" and "For Those of You Just Joining Us". Rather than try to explain this plot, here's a link to a description of the first of these two episodes. Ares, God of Love - S5E13 "Stranger and Stranger".

Lawless: Beyond Justice (2001)

Dean played Nat Joseph. Kevin played John Lawless.

Xena: Warrior Princess (1996, 2000/1995-2001)

Dean played two roles: Homer/Orion - S1E13 “Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards” Wiglaf - S6E9 “Return of the Valkyrie”

Kevin played Ares in 30 episodes between S1E6 and S6E20.

---

Kevin also sang the theme song for 'Heart of Hearts' in Serial Killers, which Dean was an actor on! (It plays over the credits.)

I felt like I should note that sadly Kevin Smith passed away in 2002 due to a fall in China. You can read the details on wikipedia. He was preparing for his first Hollywood role in the Bruce Willis action film Tears of the Sun. I can't help but be curious how his career would have gone after that Hollywood film if he was still with us. Very sad.

That's what I've got for these two! Did I miss anything?

[seistira]

Me: Sandor Clegane is one of the most candid characters ever to exist

Sandor: -removes the boots from a man as he's dying and hanging by a noose and measures his foot to the bottom of it-

Me: so pure

[kieu-tou]

it’s great that this casqueens friendship conflict is being shown in such an honest and candid way - fights are difficult, but you can come back from them even stronger, with greater understanding and empathy for the other person. everyone in this situation, but especially ava and fatou, deserves & needs to be given compassion, and no one should be vilified. everything is more complex than it seems. this all feels like a part of a big theme in this season overall - communication and confrontation; learning to extend understanding and compassion, but also setting boundaries & not letting people ‘walk over you’. this is the first actually good and complex representation for skamverse’s ‘everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about’.

focusing on ava and fatou specifically... yes, ava had a go at fatou & wrongly judged her for being distant & forgetful - but ava has no way to know about what’s REALLY going on with fatou, bcos fatou struggles to open up and always plays things down when ava asks her if she’s okay. ava has every right to set boundaries & be upset about having to manage everything (including mailin’s feelings & her white fragility), or being excluded from a hangout - she shouldn’t ever be put in that position. yes, fatou messed up and can’t fully show up for her friends rn - but she’s likely struggling with adhd/dyscalculia which are negatively affecting every part of her life right now, including relationships, and she feels like everything is crumbling down. she’s too ashamed to talk about it, and when she tries to stand up for herself, she’s overlooked. these are not excuses for everything, but compassionate explanations that give a lot of room for growth in the future. resolving this conflict will teach the cashqueens to be more aware & understanding of one another, more intentional in their friendship, more conscious of the tensions that might come up.

[omnisexualodo]

brent spiner mustve had so much fun filming a fistful of datas

[impressions-of-downton]

George is my favorite Crawley.

[thesilversage]

Sorry for disappearing y’all but I got my boyfriend into orphan black and I watched like six seasons of GOT so at least I was productive!!! also my absolutely ancient dean winchester fanmix started getting notes again so that’s a bleak reminder of my past fun

[justfollowyourdreams]

Game of Thrones s6 e8 Jaime & Brienne 

[acewlwtoast]

Wait so you’re telling me

-Druck s6e8 came out

-Christopher Plummer passed away

-and Wynonna Earp got cancelled

ALL IN ONE NIGHT??? (for me at least)

[angel-princess-anna]

Speculation Sunday

In which weekly(?), I try to connect two dots (and connect nothing) in regards to the second DA film. This week, it’s more about the lack of spoilers and how it will be that way for awhile (also I realize it’s probably now Monday for most of you, whoops)

This post is based on my own perceptions and experiences having followed how they filmed and promoted the TV show and first film. I love discussing Downton, and I love hunting for spoilers, haha. Mainly because I want to know what’s gonna happen with my faves ASAP.

That said, I think we are going to get even less spoilery crumbs during the filming of DA 2021 than we did with DA 2019.

Focus and Carnival kept the official synopsis of the first film a mystery for a very long time (basically until the first full trailer came out) and I assume it will be similar this time too. They then dumped some more info and stills much closer to the release date. Interviews with the cast focused on “getting the gang back together” and I assume the DA 2021 press tour will focus on “getting the gang back together after lockdown” and “we are bringing escapism in dark times”. Understandable, but not ideal for people like me who love spoilers!

During most of the filming of the TV series, we didn’t get a lot of info and pics other than paparazzi photos (social media being less of a thing during the early series, and the latter because of cracking down on spoiler leaks), but then with S6, we were spoiled with riches given that they filmed outdoors a lot, and there was a bit of a social media campaign for the end of the show to honor the crew.

With DA 2019, all we got was a handful of outdoor sightings (the major one of course being the parade filming). This year we’ll have to rely on the paparazzi and tabloids, but again that’s if they film outdoors.

And given how most of the cast is when it comes to social media, and the worry of being punished for spoiler leaks, they aren’t gonna be taking selfies all the time.

So while we wait for Entertainment Weekly or the likes to visit the set, or one of the actors to promote another project and feed us crumbs in an interview, or a still gets released for a holiday... let’s think about what we do know.

The “original principal cast” is back. In Focus’ DA 2019 press release, that wording preceded a list of the main ensemble that was in all six series of the TV show, plus Matthew Goode and Harry Hadden-Patton. Raquel and Michael weren’t listed at that time, and while neither has posted on social media lately that I can see, Raquel’s latest post (as of writing this) has Baxley related hashtags lol. I don’t see why Baxter and Andy wouldn’t be in DA 2021. Kiddo wise, we know that the Baker boys are back as George and their triplet sister is playing someone. Fifi Hart is back as Sybbie. No word yet on the other children, but there’s five child actors from that one agency back for the new film (which doesn’t discount there being child actors from another agency).

Lily James didn’t appear in DA 2019, and I don’t think she would here either (regardless of, uh, Dominic West). Tuppence Middleton confirmed on Twitter she’s in; Max Brown confirmed he’s not. I haven’t seen anything concrete on Imelda yet, but I do assume she’d appear. We have at least four new characters, but nothing on who the new cast members will be playing.

Filming has already begun(!) at Ealing Studios, the studios they used when they filmed the TV show. And now they’ve been filming at Highclere Castle too!

Meanwhile, Rob gave us some clues on ITV’s This Morning:

- "someone goes for a bicycle ride" (easy, that’s the postman or whoever lol) - "someone has an argument" - "someone falls in love" - "someone falls out of love" - "someone goes to the shops"

As HWW said to me, perhaps it is not people that the characters are falling in and out of love with, but perhaps places, things, or ideas. And in the case of Thomas and Richard, it’s possible that they aren’t ‘over’, it’s just that they can’t see each other in the time frame of the film and maybe Thomas receives at least a letter from Richard or something. 

Now, what we don’t know, which is... mostly everything.

The timeline is a biggie, as it would definitely influence some of the plots. And it was something that really wasn’t confirmed for DA 2019 until after we got the trailer. The cast gave us vague ideas, but uh... let’s just say not all of them were correct.

Fellowes has always said that he wouldn’t take DA into the ‘30s, but he always used to say that he’d never work on DA and The Glided Age at the same time, and yet, here we are. I feel like he or Gareth mentioned at one point a sequel would follow closely to DA 2019 timeline wise. They had similarly said DA 2019 would follow closely after the TV show’s timeline, and that ended up being an 18 month gap.

Considering that DA 2021 is coming out during Christmas time, this makes me think that Christmas will be featured at some point. Not every DA Christmas Special did, but it’s festive, timely, and an event to help anchor the film and bring characters together.

The question then is, does it center around Christmas though? Of the three CSs that feature Christmas in some form (S6CS is really about New Year’s Eve, but the decorations and tree are still up), S2CS starts there but ends mid January of the next year, and S5CS and S6CS both start roughly in late summer, and then finish in late December (well 1 Jan in S6CS’ case).

One potential choice is to have it be set in December 1927 and then go into the next year, akin to S2CS. The S5/6 CS idea would set it in 1928 at the earliest.

Another thing factor to take into account here is Edith’s pregnancy. Fellowes skipped over showing Mary pregnant with Caroline in the first film and had her born before DA 2019, so the same might happen here again.

Other potential big events are perhaps a wedding between Daisy and Andy and/or Tom and Lucy.

And then the elephant in the room: Violet. Maggie’s said time and time again that Violet’s too old, and then we had the plot in DA 2019, which would set...  you know... that all up.

So like... filming outdoors in Bampton (where the town of Downton and the church was traditionally filmed for the TV series) is something is that is easily spoiled. They can put up screens to block the view around the church, but to also do it around the cemetery might be too telling. They did kinda manage with S6E8 (well, only kinda, ahem).

Thinking now about how members of the cast have said that DA 2021 will be coming at a time people are wanting/needing "escapism,” I don't think that discounts anything sad happening per se; a lot of people continued to call the TV series "escapism" when it got more darker (see: S4-5), and, I mean, people call Call the Midwife "cosy escapism" despite there being traumatic situations almost every episode it seems. So Violet's days could still very well be numbered. I remember how S3CS was marketed as a fun and frolicking trip to the Highlands, until the Norwegian channel NRK’s trailer for the episode came out and gave away that there was going to be a car accident. Escapism isn't the same for everyone anyway, so we'll have to see what this all entails. I don't necessarily want this for Violet, but I do hope that DA 2021 takes itself a bit more seriously, as the TV show did.

The first movie was written in a manner that was so that it was (somewhat?) understandable to people who didn’t watch the TV series. I have to wonder if DA 2021 has been written similarly. Part of me thinks it will be more similar to the first film than to the TV series, but with a potential sad plot for Violet... who knows, it might go back to its more “serial” roots (if that makes any sense). If DA 2021 also leans more into comedy as DA 2019, I don’t foresee it doing so but we’ll see.

That’s it for the this ramble! I have a topic for the next one regardless of the lack of crumbs! ;)

[cuyahogafalls-ohio]

It's weird I don't ship Cristina and Jackson really but when they kiss in s6e8 it makes me wish she had like, realized that Owen wasn't her only option and BEEN ABLE TO STAY ON THE SHOW cuz Owen and her are through and she's got her own thing going on

Like I know Sandra Oh left the show so they had to write her off anyway so I guess what I'm saying is that Cristina could have had different, less agonizing drama with Jackson and whoever until she got to go to the cardio center in Sweden