#however. identity crisis. it calls to me. and she never liked that episode. so maybe that one will be fine

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

someone talk 2 me about the winters family torment nexus. or nhw. or danny phantom

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Hey! I saw your reply to that anon ask about mandalorian, and i gotta say i agree with your view. There is something different in season 3 that i couldnt really explain, but you managed to put it into words. The past seasons feel character driven, while this season is more plot driven.

Honestly, i didnt have high expectations, because the ending of season 2 feels conclusive, so i dont know what theyre going to do after that. And when they said that din wont be the main focus of season 3, i felt a bit sad about it haha. I was thinking that maybe we're gonna explore more of din's identity crisis or something like that. But uhhhh idk. I have thoughts and emotions that i cant put into words. I hope you understand what im saying here lmao

Y'know, in hindsight - and can I really say so when we still have an episode left of Season 3, a whole ass Season 4, and however many seasons left until the Disneyfied Thrawn Trilogy Movie? - I feel comfortable saying that Din's story should've ended in Season 2 and he never should've gotten the Darksaber. I also want to argue that he got the Darksaber because Favloni did have plans for him, specifically, until something (Ahsoka and the Thrawn Trilogy and a movie) happened that made them decide to pivot hard into propping up Bo-Katan, whitewashing and sanitizing her backstory, and giving her all of Din's possible storylines. I mean, what did she really do over a season that made her better than Din, who lost everything saving Grogu from Gideon and finding a Jedi who could take him in?

Din was left alone on the bridge of Gideon's cruiser with Bo-Katan and Koska. He is truly alone. Does he follow them back to Bo-Katan's fleet, a CotW among others who don't trust him and his covert? Does he start his search for the Armorer and survivors of Nevarro? Din showed his face to another living being. What does his crisis of faith look like? We saw a glimpse of that in TBOBF; he wasn't doing too hot and then he was banished from his covert and told hwo to atone for his sins. We could've had a multi-episode arc following his journey to Mandalore and visiting the history of Mandalore and its desecration by the Empire. We could have seen him waver in his faith, struggling between what he believed and what he experienced and all the ways they intersect and conflict. Din won the Darksaber in combat. He now holds an ancient Mandalorian Jedi weapon that the Mandalorian diaspora now say marks him as Mand'alor (or the best candidate for Mand'alor). Does he grow into this role using his experience and skills earned as a bounty hunter and his covert's provider, or does he choose to surrender it to somebody else because he never wanted and still does not want the power and authority that comes with the title? Does he ever see Grogu again? Is Grogu doing well? How will they reunite? Well, TBOBF answered all those questions and we just have to accept they're back together at the start of Season 3.

Thse are just some of so many potential character-driven and character-centric stories that I'm never seeing in canon now. He's been wallflowered, pushed into the background, Bo-Katan's newest and biggest supporter in her so-called redemption arc even though you wouldn't fucking know that her redemption arc maybe should've included some mention of what she fucking did in the Clone Wars and the fucking Season 3 logo features Din and Grogu front and center.

(A lot of newer merch I see at the Disney Store, Heroes & Villains, Her Universe, etc. now feature multiple Mandalorians and Mandalorian helmets, so maybe that was a giveaway that we are following more Mandalorians now... and I am still forever struggling to find decent Din Djarin merch that puts him front and center. Fuck me, I guess)

I truly wonder what kind of Season 3 we could've gotten if Favloni, Kennedy, and Disney decided not to MCU-fy Filoni's precious darlings, if we were allowed to follow Din the way we did in the first two seasons. You could bring him back to the covert without losing him to the crowd. You could have him cross paths with Bo-Katan again and have her play a more significant role in his journey(s) without taking all of the spotlight.

I did have high expectations after Season 2, Anon, but once TBOBF came out, i realized I was fucked. And, well. Here we are.

[lizacstuff]

Sen Çal Kapımı ep 48 asks

THE EPISODE WHERE THEY FINALLY GOT MARRIED!!!!!!!

SERKAN AND EDA ARE MARRIED!!

FINALLY!

YES!!!!!!!!!

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, asks under the read more.

andhewonherheart asked: @andhewonherheart I love that Bolat is Aydan’s last name, not Alptekin’s. I know it’s a little of a retcon, but this way we don’t need to worry about Serkan and his family carrying that man’s name. And Aydan would be a woman that strongarms her husband into taking her last name.

I LOVED THIS!  I sat up straight when Kemal made the comment about Alptekin taking her name and cheered. Seriously. What a great turn of events. Serkan is so attached to his name, it’s nice that he didn’t have to have an identity crisis over that on top of everything else. And now it’s not weird for Eda and Kiraz to take his name after finding out Kemal is actually his father, which I wanted for them. I wanted them all to be tied together with a name, to have that feeling of belonging. Plus, as you say, it’s nice they don’t have the name of that man. 

I will say one thing, though... is it really a retcon?  Did they ever say Bolat was Alptekin’s given last name? I don’t think they did (but who knows with the iffy translations we all rely on). I do remember Aydan bragging on the lineage of the Bolats in a very early episode (maybe 2?) and at the time I thought it was odd that she was so proud of the lineage when she just married into it, especially because if memory serves she was sort of heckling Eda, who was marrying a Bolat.  Perhaps this was always intended, and we only feel like it’s a retcon because we’re programmed by a patriarchal society to assume a woman always take a man’s last name?

Anonymous asked: I don’t really like the idea of Serkan giving up Art Life. I understand the symbolism of him giving up his work for his family, but I would’ve preferred that he finds a balance, like he did with bringing Kiraz to work. I feel like that would’ve been a more rounded way of approaching his character, instead of swinging him in the other direction, now instead of having only work, he only has his family. When he could have both.

He will have both. Eventually. He’ll figure it out and get back to where he was. He is Serkan Bolat after all. You don’t expect him to sit idle for any length of time, do you?

As much as part of me was just torn up at him selling his stake in the company, I thought it was really beautiful.  Sure, balance is good, but this is a man who has ripped out Eda’s heart twice by telling her that work is more important than she is to him. This is a man who left ON HIS WEDDING DAY, who put work first ON HIS WEDDING DAY, who got on a plane ON HIS WEDDING DAY because he tried to balance (do both, go to Italy and get married in one day) and it ended up putting them both through hell and almost ruining both of their lives.

Picture how you would feel if the person you were marrying decided to fly to another country on your wedding day? 

So I disagree with you. I’m more than fine with Serkan Bolat unequivocally putting Eda first over his career and company. After everything they’ve been though, and her insecurities in that area, it was incredibly important and now she will never, ever doubt where his heart lies. It’s with her. She (and their family) is his top priority.

Besides, the show started with Serkan having destroyed Eda’s dream of studying to become a landscape architect in Italy, it’s quite poetic that he gave up something substantial so that she could realize a dream of working as a landscape architect on her dream project in Italy.

I’m pretty sure she’ll be more than happy to help rebuild their company. Together. 

Anonymous asked: i know you said in your previous ask round-up that as far as the actual proposal goes, nothing would top that speech in 27.. i was wondering how you felt about his speech this episode. sure, it wasn't actually the proposal, more like a "reception" toast, but for me i think it was my favorite speech, or at least top 3, serkan has said to/about eda.. just pure love about their journey together and a huge full circle moment with that video from the pilot episode.

YEEEEEESSSSSS. I so agree with this, and actually thought exactly this while watching.  It was a marvelous speech and while, as you say, it was presented as more of a toast, it was really more of a wedding vow.  

I loved it. And I’ve rewatched it multiple times and I plan to watch it many times more. As always Kerem and Hande were excellent in the scene. Eda and Serkan were in front of their friends and family, but they were so focused in on one another they might as well have been alone. The emotion was palpable. 

She is love. Dang, Serkan!  He’s mentioned love at first sight a couple of times, it was nice that in this moment he gave another nod to that.

Loved the call back to the video from the first episode, it worked really well, especially to remind us of how it all started and how she felt like he destroyed her dream. That segued into him mentioned them destroying each other’s dreams. As I said above, quite poetic, especially since he then put his money where his mouth was by the end of the episode and destroyed his dream to preserve hers. 

Well done, show. 

Anonymous asked: i have loved the tone of this season so much. none of the drama we have is super heavy, outside of the kiraz reveal which was given the angst and importance it should have bc of how it important it was. otherwise, we've had happy (now married!) edser coming back together and now facing trouble and issues as a couple! this was basically all i wanted for them since 28!

Yes, me too. I really enjoy the tone this season. As you say, it’s not super heavy, the melodrama is at a minimum, most things are light and fluffy and even heavy issues are played with a light hand. 

For me, I’ve really enjoyed this season and I’m super glad we got it.  I think COVID did us one favor by shutting down production when it did and forcing them to reevaluate what they were doing.  If they hadn’t I’m guessing the show would have continued in a very messy and directionless manner, with lots of melodrama and storylines that would have been traumatic to watch. 

Season 2 has direction and purpose and a plan and once we got past the horrified shock of the time jump and the secret daughter (which I grant you was no small feat) it’s pretty much been trauma free. 

Anonymous asked: After watching the episode, I'm lowkey disappointed. we did get Pretty Woman SCK-style. I was promised Serkan as a gigilo and Eda encouraging it!!!!! LOL, jokes aside, I'll never forget the outrage over that fragman over "harassment" or "prostitution" of all things when the actual dinner scene lasted 3 minutes, Eda was being at the hotel the whole time, and the scene where people thought she was encouraging him was about her project. Almost 50 eps and you would ppl would learn how fragmans work.

The fragman was insanely misleading, but lots of them are, so you would think they would have figured it out by now, but nope! A large swath of people really embarrassed themselves with their complete over reaction to something that turned out to be nothing like they thought. 

Thankfully Serkan was entirely in the dark about how dire the situation was and why Eda was pushing him to make nice with Deniz, and only humored Deniz very unwillingly and then completely cut ties with her.  I think the best part was the least shocking twist ever... that the Serkan staying in her room line was an actual joke on the show. Come on, kids, it was pretty obvious to anyone with a brain that Serkan would never actually consider staying with her, and certainly not just days after he got married. Preposterous!   

Having said that, I do agree with people who think that Deniz being obsessed with him to that degree is dumb. There is a thread of misogyny and internalized misogyny (depending on which writers) running through the writing of these female guest characters who come in and absolutely shed all dignity, sanity and common sense when it comes to Serkan. Selin, Balca, the actress and Deniz.  Good grief. However, I just don’t care enough to get pissy. If that’s what they’ve come up with to fuel the jealousy trope that apparently is a must for Turkish dizis without having Serkan ever have eyes for anyone but Eda, then so be it.  

The formula is more than obvious by now, so I’m not sure why some folks made asses of themselves jumping to other conclusions. 

[eileenbr]

SUPERGIRL 6X18

So I'm watching Supergirl 6x18 and I'll be writing the reactions I'm having.

Umm nothing really good or bad yet. Although William was right to get mad at Andrea, I don't blame him this time.

Nooo leave my Brainy bby alone😭

Ughh, the cgi hurts my eyes 😫

Alex telling Kara not to tell her how to raise her child??? The child she just adopted?? The child who's suffering the same things Kara did?? Girl, she didn't have bad intentions when she told you that, why would you get that mad?... Also, with that conversation it seems they gonna make Kara live as Kara Zor-El and not Danvers, It seems obvious now and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

Oh yes, the greatest love story Nyxly and Lex, pfff, glad the bad guys can find love but the main character doesn't 🙄

Aww Lena giving Andrea advice, growth!

Bad cgi again, really bad.

So no totems for Nyxly, okay.

Gooood, Alex apologized, they are in good terms, that's nice. Again the part of not hiding anything about their identity, seems they are setting Kara to be full Kara Zor-El on earth (which probably makes sense with the corage gauntlet).

Ugh, again Nyxly and Lex, too much. They are already in love, both, in just 2 episodes.

Bachelorette partyyy, how fancyyy haha. Nooo Brainy, don't cryyy... Wow Lena's dance, in love... Hahaha Kara's dance, goofy as always 😂... Whyyy, why can't brainia be happy together, why do they have to suffer :(

Oh no, Lex entered the tower, please don't do anything to Esme.... Okay so W chose to record a video instead of calling a superfriend?? Maybe a videocall to them?? Damn... Oh no, Nyxly found Esme... Okay Nyxly sexy voice, of course I would believe her as well... Sooo this is the way William will die:s

Nooo their Bachelorette party being ruined, damn these people can't be happy for a second.

Oh no, I have to say it kind of made me sad watching William die, I mean, I've never liked his character and many times he was just there doing nothing but hinder, and yes he should've called a superfriend now they are also his friends instead of recording a video, but killing him makes no sense, and he was kind of tender this episode with Esme (I appreciate it), and it's gonna be another trauma for them, specially my girl Kara who always blames herself for the bad things that happens in that city or the world.

Oh God, what was this episode?! This season?! I can't take this anymore, I've never been happier this show is ending as much as I am rn.

I'm gonna be really objective here. I really hope they find a way to make Brainy stay in this time, I would love if Kara finds her perfect partner and no, I don't think that should be Mon bc I don't think they could ever have a healthy relationship, I know Mon has wroth (if Crisis didn't change that bc we really don't know yet), however he did it in the future and that's his place, he has a mission there as well as Kara has its own in the present, and her family that means everything to her, and tbh I don't think they are that compatible, it wouldn't make any sense now after everything Kara's been through and her personal growth, but do I think the writers would care about it? NO, at this point I feel they are capable of doing anything, (not in the good way).

Talking about Supercorp, I think any possibility is already dead. Let's be honest, for much that I want it to happen, the writers/show runners have shown 0 interest in it, so I have no faith (hope they prove me wrong but I don't think so).

Andrea Rojas aka Acrata aka a waste of a powerful character. I know it's not a big dc character but that doesn't mean she isn't powerful.

And Dansen, probably the only good thing lately. I hope there won't be any trouble or interruptions during their wedding, that'd be incredibly unfair.

After all, I really don't wanna to watch the finale, I'll wait to see ppl reactions and look for Dansen wedding, Idk, I guess I will see how I feel next week but ugh. I wouldn't be surprised if the make Lena and James a thing again bc as I said, I expect nothing good for this finale.

Thank you for reading this, I'm mad haha.

[shrinkthisviolet]

The Problem with KATAOW S3

(Yep, I’m finally doing it)

Okay so, let me just say that the season overall? Phenomenal. Clearly planned out, not one of those “oh no we need to make another season” seasons, the enemy is defeated in a satisfying way, the characters’ arcs are concluded–

Wait. Hold that thought. Because my problem with this season concerns one person. Or, I guess, one mandrill, since he isn’t a person at all.

That’s right, I’m talking about Hugo/Scarlemagne.

So I didn’t even realize something was off when I first started the season, until I read this fic (it’s an alternate S3, and I absolutely recommend it). The comments gave me pause, because they said that they felt Scarlemagne was acting too passive in S3. I’d just gotten done seeing him and Kipo talking with his “brotherly advice,” so I didn’t understand that.

However, the more I watched, the more I realize that the comments were right. Scarlemagne was a background character, and normally, this wouldn’t be a problem (it’s Kipo’s show, not his), except...this is his redemption season. And they kinda try to one-and-done it in one episode, which I feel does a great disservice to him and the show overall.

His relationship with Kipo is also...gone for some reason?? They bring it up in the 9th and last episodes, but other than telling us “oh hey remember that they’re siblings?” it’s nowhere. As if it doesn’t exist. Which is sad because that could’ve been the key to his redemption.

Kipo only redeems him to form HMUFA (she also wants to do it for their relationship, but that’s not really made clear), but what if she just wanted her brother back? What if HMUFA was important, but not as much as having a family again? Remember, this is the girl who went toe-to-toe with him in last season’s finale and called him out and pushed him until she threatened the safety of her loved ones.

She doesn’t back down, and she initiates change. In a way, regarding her brother, Kipo herself was also made passive, which is a shame–that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of her character.

Scarlemagne’s moral ambiguity is also pretty much gone. Now, in regard to the pheromone thing, that could just be him being tired of arguing about it, which tracks. But the fact that he gives in to Wolf’s reasoning instead of KILLING THE PERSON WHO TORE HIS FAMILY APART AND TORTURED HIM AND IS TRYING TO KILL HIS SISTER? Yeah, no. I don’t care how redeemed Scarlemagne is, he would never give in to an argument like that.

Also Wolf would never make that argument in a situation like this. I get that she’s less hardened and more like Kipo now, but...she calls Kipo her sister. Her pack. Wolf was raised a wolf, at the core of it, and even I, as an older sister, would throw moral compasses out the window to protect my siblings. THAT’S JUST HOW FAMILY IS (in my experience)!

He and Kipo don’t really have any arguments. He doesn’t try to get her to see his perspective, his advice (“make them fear you”) doesn’t come back to haunt her later (especially when she...basically does that twice? Anyone remember that? The writers don’t)...what’s the point of a morally gray villain if they’re not clinging to their reasoning?? Sure, maybe Scarlemagne realizes his dictator impulse was wrong, but he could’ve said something like, “I made a place for myself in a world that was trying to hurt me. All I wanted was to unite the mutes and guide them. I wanted a family again.”

And Kipo could say something like, “That’s not a family. Families don’t mind control each other to keep them in line.”

Scarlemagne: “Ah right, I forgot. They just leave their created children for dead and shame them for ever wanting to use their powers against corrupt people. My mistake.”

Like?? Obviously he went about it the wrong way, but...he thinks his intentions were good (as morally gray villains do), and he was hurt, and let’s face it, Lio’s moral absolutism (critiqued very well in this post) pretty much ruined everything (also that dumb decision to wait around?? Tf??). Scarlemagne doesn’t have to change Kipo’s mind, but...maybe some indication that he’s still in that cage for a reason? That maybe Kipo’s tried to help him before, but he won’t renounce his intentions (only the dictator part)?

Like...COME ON, writers! You can’t even say that moral ambiguity was too much for a kids’ show, because this show has it in SPADES (Lio is forced to reckon with and apologize for his mistakes, as he should, and ATLA/LOK was practically the blueprint for moral ambiguity in kids’ shows).

So I think I’ve covered everything? But I have one last complaint: Hugo’s death.

IT MAKES NO SENSE

I kinda knew it was coming because I spoiled myself 😂 (that’s all I knew though, the rest was a surprise), so I was expecting Mute Emilia to eat him or something as he was flying. That wouldn’t have been great, but it would’ve been better than CRASHING INTO THE SIDE OF A WALL OR SOMETHING

Like...are you KIDDING me?? I know mandrills aren’t super strong, but this is BOGUS in a show where falls like that never hurt anyone (yes, I’m aware that everyone who falls like that is a Mute, but they’ve fallen like that as humans, too. Idk. Plenty of other media has their heroes get up and be fine after falls like that).

Also...he was just starting his redemption!! It could’ve been something awesome!! But they threw it away, and for what?? A moment for Hugo to forgive Lio (Song didn’t really do anything imo, but she was kinda complicit, and I find it weird that she didn’t even apologize?), sacrifice himself in a stupid way, and then just...die??

Nope. I don’t accept it. I refuse. We weren’t shown a gravesite, so I choose to believe Hugo appeared right behind Kipo at the end, all “quit telling people I’m dead!” “Sometimes, I can still hear his voice!” (Screw canon, this is canon now. KATAOW screwed itself over when it didn’t even have the decency to give Hugo a proper death).

Oh also, Scarlemagne passively accepting Wolf as Kipo’s sister is soooo unrealistic I can’t overstate it! I’m just gonna refer you back to the fic series linked above, which handles this so much better. There’s no way Scarlemagne would take a surrogate sister label lying down, that he wouldn’t have an identity crisis (if Kipo can adopt siblings at random, can she disown siblings too?), that he wouldn’t shame Wolf for it, that she wouldn’t have an identity crisis...

Oh also, Kipo herself has problems, as outlined in this post (which includes my reblog of it where I also state my problems with her). I love Kipo as a hero, but...S3 could’ve done more for her.

Maybe I’ll write a fix-it for this season one day. Who knows. But I wanted to get all this off my chest 😂 feel free to debate in the notes and reblogs!

[spacefaegoddess]

Alright come get your fresh hot (and very long I'm sorry) Mercury Black character analysis

I've loved our resident silver asshole since the beginning but we know like... two things about him. Before volume 6 he's always a package deal with Emerald (which I definitely don't mind) so we never got much on him individually. We knew he was raised to be an assassin by his abusive father, who he later killed. He's sarcastic and a joker but also an extremely skilled fighter who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. And now, though there hasn't been many explicit backstory points for him, we can definitely read into some things.

I wanna start at V6Ch9 "Lost". Emerald straight up asks Mercury why he joined up with her and Cinder, and he thinks it's a stupid question. There's our first point - he avoids a true answer. But then Emerald asks again, and he answers "It just made sense." He was trained a killer all his life, and once he surpassed his father/trainer, Cinder shows up to offer him a job. Again, this isn't exactly a clear explanation of his thoughts. Mercury Black is not the type to believe in fate, yet here he is saying that it was meant to be. He's avoiding what the real answer is, or maybe he doesn't even know why he joined them yet. Emerald pushes again, and this time Mercury gets annoyed and angry, yelling "What's your problem?"

Emerald wants to know what Mercury wants out of all this, and his answer is essentially power and control. Salem is going to throw out the old and be in control of the new - and she's going to put her followers in prominent positions. Then Emerald starts her speech about Cinder and how she relies so much on her and yadda yadda...and Mercury is super annoyed at this point. Emerald is pushing into a part of his life that he doesn't want anyone in, and now she's thinking that maybe there's more to life than what they've thought. She poking at Mercury's bubble so to speak and he's preventing it from popping the only way he knows how - anger.

He tells Emerald that Cinder doesn't care about either of them and she's in denial. Emerald is inching closer and closer to becoming something more than her past, and thought he doesn't show it, I think that scares Mercury a bit (I'll get to more of this later). He tells Emerald that he wants to be left out of her "crisis of identity". He can't even entertain the thought of being something more than his past. He's a killer, it was meant to be, that's his fate. Or at least that what he tells himself.

However, he shows what I believe is a little empathy when he makes Emerald look him in the eyes and says "I'm sorry you didn't have a mommy who loved you". But then his anger at his past gets the better of him - "But I had a father who hated me!" He rants and rants about his father and the abuse he suffered, and you can see the fear start to creep into Emerald's eyes. Mercury is absolutely livid about his past and his father. Talking about it makes him lose control and scare the one person who might care about him.

And again, Mercury reaffirms that he believes he is where he is fated to be. "I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am!" Mercury has more than just no semblance. He has no love, no joy, no leadership, nowhere to run. He can't just leave. He tells himself that that is what makes him strong, makes him a fighter, makes him worthy. He believes in his future because of his past. "You may not like it here without Cinder, but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

Aaaaand enter Tyrian. "Oh yes, the world is mean, and I'm a big, bad man now just like the others." Look, Tyrian might be psychotic but man can get into other people's heads like no other. He's calling out Mercury perfectly. Mercury believes he has conquered the world, conquered his past - but has he really? Or is he becoming even worse than the rest of the world? "All you ever learned was pain and violence, and now you're too afraid to leave it!" This line is Mercury to a T. That's the biggest question for Mercury right there: can he become more than what he believes he should be, what he deserves? It so accurate that Mercury lashes out again, yelling that Tyrian doesn't know anything about him because he knows that Tyrian is right. Deep down, Mercury doesn't like any of this, and Tyrian knows it. It doesn't matter why Mercury wants to do it (or why he believes he wants to do it), it matters what he's doing. This isn't going to prove that he's strong or worthy, it's only going to keep him from moving forward - stuck in pain and violence, just like Tyrian said. After Tyrian leaves, Mercury is basically bearing his teeth and breathing heavily. He is so angry and being called out like that because he knows that it's true.

Where is my evidence for this? First of all, though he tries to hide it, I believe that he does care about Emerald - in his own asshole way. Like I said above, he calls Emerald out for being in denial about Cinder. It's harsh but she does need that reality check. He desperately calls for her to move during the Battle of Haven. He defends her against Tyrian. He warns her to not move against Salem. I'm probably gonna make a separate post about this because I'm emercury trash but moving on.

Second, you need to look at what he does, not what he says. Mercury's words are harsh, sarcastic, and meant to inflict pain. His responses to the world around him though? They show what's beneath the surface. The beginning of V4 when he's looking at the Grimm with Emerald. His face is disgusted. Even later at the end of the volume, he sees Salem manipulating Grimm and he looks absolutely terrified. He doesn't even look at Emerald when she speaks to him. I think this is where he starts to really question if he's in too deep with Salem. This woman is commanding and manipulating Grimm, the soulless incarnation of evil. What does that make him? What could she do to him? We see this fear again in V6Ch4 when Hazel takes the blame for their failure at Haven. And one thing I want to point out with Salem's line in this episode: "It's important not to lose sight of what drives us: love, justice, reverence." Watts is justice. Tyrian is reverence. I think Emerald is love. So what does that make Mercury?

Now more recently, V8Ch7. Mercury is still afraid of Salem, and now he's not afraid to say as such to Emerald. He knows better than to disobey her. He also knows that they can't stop her. If Hazel couldn't, then how could he and Emerald? And now, Mercury is in his own state of denial. He justifies following Salem's orders by convincing himself that Salem won't destroy the world. That is, until Tyrian shows up with a reality check once again. Just look at his facial expression after Tyrian's little monologue. This might be where he's finally letting his conscious in. Again, Tyrian might be insane, but he knows what's really going on. Salem is going to destroy the world, and now Mercury is really starting to believe it. When he gets on the ship to Vacuo and gives Emerald that little nod, I think he's saying, "I understand now. Do what you have to. I trust you."

And now that Emerald has switched sides....Vacuo is going to be interesting.

[timeagainreviews]

Reappraising Companions

Years after having watched every available episode of Doctor Who, I've had plenty of opportunities to rewatch episodes time and time again. As with most movies and television, I've found revisiting certain stories and eras has caused me to see them in a different light. A story I may have once reviled is suddenly more interesting. I even came to appreciate Peter Davison's performance as the Fifth Doctor for its subtle nature. But what about companions? Are there any companions I didn't care for at first, which I've softened toward over time? That is the question I wish to explore.

Below I've chosen a selection of companions of whom I had initially disliked for various reasons. They span across multiple eras and both the classic and modern versions of the show. With each companion, I have endeavoured to be fair in my reappraisal, but this doesn't mean I've changed my mind. I would also like to state that none of these appraisals are about the actors. My goal is to evaluate companions by the way they were written. The performance will come secondary.

1. Danny Pink

I chose Danny Pink to kick this list off because he is the reason I am writing this article in the first place. Recently, I took to rewatching a selection of Danny Pink episodes, in hopes that I may find something I didn't initially see. When Samuel Anderson was cast as Danny, I was excited. I've always been a big fan of male companions. They offer a different dynamic to the TARDIS that we don't often get to experience. However, in the wrong hands, they can be exhausting. Enter Steven Moffat.

When Steven Moffat took the reins of Doctor Who, he introduced us to Rory Williams. A smart, loyal, and combative male companion, not at all enamoured with the Doctor's mystique. At his worst, Rory was made to compete with the Doctor for Amy's affection. At his best, Rory held the Doctor accountable for the lives he brought aboard the TARDIS. With Danny, I felt like this is what Moffat was trying to do again, but this time, it wasn't as successful.

When we're introduced to Danny, we watch him and Clara fumble over their words like teenagers. It's meant to be cute, but their chemistry is non-existent. It feels like watching an episode of Coupling, in that it's painful and causes me to scan the room for exits. Their adorkable awkwardness is supposed to endear us to their relationship, but it seems forced. This is compounded when the Doctor enters the equation. Forcing Danny to fight for something very few of us in the audience believe in the first place.

Once again we find the male companion being forced to compete with the Doctor for the affection of a woman. But in this instance, instead of holding the Doctor accountable, Danny seems to hold the Doctor in contempt. Coming from his own history of military training and PTSD, Danny projects all of his inner struggles onto the Doctor. Which is unfortunate, as Danny's inner turmoil is his most humanistic trait. This wouldn't be the first time in Moffat's era where the Doctor's nature as a hero was called into play. The problem with Danny's appraisal of the Doctor as a general, barking orders, is that he's wrong. And we as an audience know it.

Not only do we know it, but so does the Doctor. The Doctor even gets a character arc over the identity crisis Danny gives him, wherein he realises Danny is wrong about him. Danny, however, never comes around to the Doctor's side. Even in his final moments on screen, he remains combative with the Doctor, in an exhausting refusal to grow as a character. We're supposed to believe he's come to some sort of character growth of self-acceptance by sacrificing his chance at a new life, for the life of a boy he mistakenly killed. Instead, he carries the same chip on his shoulder to his grave.

Danny is a companion wholly failed by writing. Even at his most heroic, it seems in service of making the Doctor look like a buffoon. His mimicking a soldier while yelling in the Doctor's face is embarrassing for everyone involved. Imagine this is your boyfriend meeting your friends. You would be mortified by his behaviour. Now imagine you have to lie about hanging out with your friends because it might make your boyfriend upset. Now imagine this friend is a very dashing person who constantly puts the lives of others before him. Danny and Clara's courtship is a romance by gaslight.

2. Clara Oswald

Clara is a whole other can of worms. I could probably dedicate an entire article to her character. I should clarify that my initial dislike for her character is somewhat mired in personal disappointment. By the time Clara was introduced, we had seen a string of modern human companions. We got the occasional tertiary companions from the future, such as Captain Jack or River Song. But we hadn't had a main companion from the past, future, or another planet. So when Jenna Coleman was introduced as Oswin Oswald, Junior Entertainment Manager of the starliner Alaska, I was very excited. Finally, a companion from the future! I was so ready for the Doctor to go on a quest to save Oswin from the cruel fate of becoming a Dalek. What an exciting storyline that was going to be.

And then we see her as governess Clara Oswin Oswald. Ok... Well at least she's still from a different era, right? Oh, she's dead now too? Oh. Much like Moffat's Dracula, all of this great promise was suddenly dashed against the rocks of a contemporary setting. Sigh. I was so excited. What we're given in “The Bells of St. John,” is a new character with less direction than either Oswin or the governess before her. So much that Moffat had taken to literally modulating her brain with an app. Maybe she's really good with computers now? Sorry friends, much like Rose Tyler's gymnastics and Peri Brown's botany, it's never going to come up again.

And this is the biggest issue I have had with Clara Oswald. She spends most of her screen time fluctuating between what character they're writing her as this week. The writers simply didn't know what to do with her while the Doctor tried to figure out why she's so "impossible." One week she's wacky, one week she's stern, another week she's bisexual queer bait. Her characterisation is all over the charts, which sadly, tracks with her entire storyline. She's a woman, fragmented across time, and so is her personality. And don't even get me started on that impossible girl nonsense.

Steven Moffat once said in an interview that one or two people usually guess his big reveal ahead of time, but that no one had guessed Clara's. Perhaps that's because nobody's fan theory was "It's going to be absolute shite." Instead of just being a woman who gets to be her own person, she has to become the most importantest companion. She has to save the Doctor by being planted throughout his timeline, saving him from the Great Intelligence. You know, by sometimes being born as herself, and other times being born as a Time Lord. Sometimes knowing who the Doctor is, other times having no idea whatsoever. Sometimes having a name that is a play on of Oswald, or Oswin, or Clara. And at no times did it make any kind of sense.

The funny thing is, that for me at least, Clara's character doesn't really become interesting until all of that nonsense is behind her. The Clara I find most compelling is the Clara in mourning. Clara post-Danny Pink is a Clara with focus. Her mood swings seem more from a place of destructive behaviour in the wake of great loss. Watching her hold the TARDIS keys hostage above a volcano was some seriously gripping stuff. Aside from the gross digs at her appearance, I found the Twelfth Doctor's relationship with Clara far more endearing than that of the Eleventh Doctor. It may have taken them until her final moments as a companion, but they did get her right, in the end.

3. Melanie Bush

Back in 2015, I had the opportunity to meet Louise Jameson, who played Leela, my all-time favourite Doctor Who companion. I also got to meet Colin Baker, who was all charm. Also in attendance was Bonnie Langford, aka, Doctor Who's Mel. After having gotten autographs from Louise and Colin, and having circled the convention hall a few times, I decided "Sure, why not. Let's meet Bonnie Langford. It's only 10 quid for an autograph." Upon meeting her, she was a very kind woman, and even still, I was racking my brain for something nice to say about Mel. To save face, I lied a very simple lie. I said, "I really liked you in Doctor Who." She smiled, said thank you, and signed my picture. And I walked away, taking my shitty liar mouth with me.

Because the fact is, I didn't like her in Doctor Who. I found every moment she was onscreen excruciating. From her poodle haircuts, to her 80's disaster attire, to her fat-shaming the Sixth Doctor, to her constant screaming at every little thing, she depressed me. I spoke in my review of "Terror of the Vervoids," just how weird it was that we're never actually introduced to her as a character. Instead, Peri is written off, and suddenly, Mel is there, already chummy with the Doctor. You guys know Mel, she's the Doctor's friend, because we told you she was! Instead of getting to know Mel slowly, we're thrown into the deep end, forced to sink or swim within the curls of red hair piled high. Mel doesn't just come out of nowhere, she comes on strong. Fitness expert Mel here to get your fat Doctor Who loving asses into shape. Drink this carrot juice you geek pig!

Not even in Big Finish audios was I finding myself warming up to Mel. When Ace was introduced, they couldn't have pushed Mel out quicker. I found everything about Ace immediately refreshing. Here was a calm and collected badass rebel that I could get behind. It's ironic then; that it was in the Seventh Doctor era that I have begun to find something likeable in Mel. Much like Clara Oswald,  a changing of Doctors enriched my appreciation for her character. This appreciation didn't come immediately, mind you, it came about around my third or fourth watch-through of "Paradise Towers."

Perhaps it's the influence of Andrew Cartmel, but with the Seventh Doctor, I have begun to appreciate Mel in the snarkiest manner. Mel is best utilised as a commentary on the Doctor/Companion relationship. She's precocious to a fault, she chews scenery, she screams at the drop of a hat, and she is oftentimes a naive idiot. Yet in "Paradise Towers," it becomes hilarious. Like much of the 80's era of Doctor Who, there is a very "2000 AD," atmosphere to the stories, and I could easily see this as a setting for Judge Dredd to drudge through, busting skulls and filling bodies with bullets. Setting the sunshiny persona of Mel against this backdrop is so brilliant that I can't imagine another companion in this story. Where she would usually grate against me, her sharp contrast from the things happening around her is exactly why I began to soften toward her.

Not even the ire from the Kangs could shake Mel's confidence, which is oddly what makes her cool. Or "ice-hot," as they would say. For the first time, Mel's headstrong sense of self makes her a rebel. She doesn't need to follow a crowd to feel accepted. Sadly, very few writers were able to find this core to Mel, but it was enough for me to be able to look at her in a different light. I could finally look at Mel and say I did like her in Doctor Who. Even if it was just for a moment, and even if it was somewhat at her expense. From a very cynical perspective, Mel can actually be pretty fun.

4. River Song

I know a lot of you are probably aghast to see River Song on this list, but I assure you, I have my reasons, and they are not without consideration. I should begin by saying some good things about River. She's smart, she's competent, she's got a healthy grasp on her sexuality, and she's cool. Why then did I not like her very much the first few times I watched her? Well, if you hadn't noticed, the bulk of this list are characters written by Steven Moffat, and once again, it all comes down to writing.

We're first introduced to River in the Tenth Doctor two-parter "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead." At first, she's just one of a team of forgettable space scientists on an expedition. However, as she finds out the Doctor is who he is, her entire demeanour changes. Like Mel on steroids, we're given a heaping dose of "Who does this bitch think she is, being all familiar with the Doctor?" Only, instead of it lasting one episode, it's every interaction we have with her character beyond this point. Instead of getting to watch River and the Doctor grow as a couple, we're forced to watch them meet in opposite directions. It is the antithesis of "show, don't tell." Everything about the Doctor and River's relationship is implied. "You're going to love me someday," she promises. Couldn't we just see it play out naturally? Spoilers.

This idea is one that can only really be done on a show like Doctor Who, where things are wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. The problem is, this doesn't mean that the idea is worth exploring, or even successful. It's made even worse when the relationship implied is one deeper than friendship. The Doctor is famously chaste, married only to his TARDIS and what lies ahead. Because of this, the idea of a person the Doctor will someday trust enough to share his real name and eventually marry carries with it a sizeable amount of convincing. Such a huge shift in the show's dynamic requires a lot of character development. Sadly none of that is to be seen onscreen. Who is Jim the Fish? Who cares? Steven Moffat's joke of "I'll explain later," became painfully prophetic of his time as showrunner.

I've got no complaints about River being a Time Lord, or even her being the child of Amy and Rory. Those elements are fine, really. It's the way in which she is presented which I find most detrimental to her character. I never did buy into the idea that the Doctor loved her as a wife. Their wedding seemed necessary to save the universe, as opposed to a union made out of love. Any kind of enjoyment I've ever gotten out of River stems mostly out of my love for Alex Kingston's performance. Where the show fails to establish her, she more than makes up for in style and substance. I grew to like River Song, despite the show's failure to ground her properly. River grew on me as she always said she would, but by no effort on the part of the writers. River is cool because River is cool, not because it was inferred that she was.

5. Susan

If you’ve followed this blog long enough, you’ll know I’ve already mellowed on Susan. In my reviews of the First Doctor era, I’ve had mostly good things to say about her character. This doesn’t change the fact that I found her utterly irritating at first, and it feels appropriate to talk about it here.

My initial dislike for Susan is a lot like my intial dislike for Clara. A lot of it was wrapped up in my own expectations of the character. Susan is the Doctor’s granddaughter. She is a Time Lord, therefore she should also be brilliant. And we get a lot of that in her first episode. She is mysterious, she’s enigmatic, and she is brilliant. Even her teachers at school found her perplexing. But the show doesn’t continue down that line. In fact, there are times when they make Susan borderline stupid. But how much of this is clouded by my own preconceptions?

For starters, Susan wasn’t a Time Lord. At least, not then. She was just a young girl. She may have been smarter than her fellow students, but this played more into how she was raised. So when the show depicts Susan screaming at every little thing, grabbing her hair dramatically, it smashed apart my mental image of a Time Lord. I couldn’t appreciate that they had her act this way to help sell a bad effect. Oftentimes Susan, like many Doctor Who companions, had her character sacrificed to make the baddies scarier. It was a product of her time, and even still I feel her character suffers for it.

However, one of the things I have discovered through repeat viewings of the First Doctor era is the surprising amount of character development among the TARDIS crew. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan all go through deep character development that was sadly often secondary in classic Doctor Who. Before the nature of the Doctor and companions was transient, there was a feeling of a family bond forming. Through this, I have come to find Susan to be a rather deep and sensitive person.

When it comes time to say goodbye to Susan, I can’t say I exactly agreed with the method. The Doctor locking her out and deciding she was mature enough to set out on her own felt hasty. But I would be lying if I didn’t agree that Susan had gone from a little girl to a young woman at that point. When you stop expecting Susan to be the Doctor, and allow her to be a kid, she grows on you instantly.

6. Adric

Let's be honest; it's not really original to hate on Adric. It's nothing new to point out what a bad companion he is, but here we are. Something I constantly endeavour to do on this blog is to be fair. One of my biggest complaints about the Doctor Who fandom is the proprietary attitude people take toward the fandom. The "I don't like it; therefore you shouldn't like it," attitude spat with such vitriol is one of the worst parts about being in the Doctor Who fandom. So when you say "Adric is my favourite companion," I'm not devising an argument for how wrong you are, it's fine. Like who you like. This doesn't mean I'm not also thinking in my head "What? Why?" Because I honestly, without malice, do not understand.

The most I ever enjoyed Adric, was in his introductory story "Full Circle." Setting him against a group of fellow Alzarians dilutes his lesser qualities. In fact, when paired with Varsh, he almost seems likeable. Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Varsh, and it's downhill from there. We're forced to watch a contrarian boy genius butt heads with the Doctor while he waddles around in a toddler's outfit while showing off his pound shop sheriffs badge for "mathematical excellence," to anyone who will listen. Adric is so obnoxious that he makes Wesley Crusher seem likeable in contrast.

However, it's not just his contrarian nature that makes me despise Adric, he's also disloyal to the Doctor and his friends. He's so susceptible to bad ideas as long as they a presented logically, that I've dubbed him the Ben Shapiro of the TARDIS. He's a smarmy little shit who believes himself superior to women, and he's really got no justification for his ill-placed self-confidence. Constantly demanding respect while giving very little reason to deserve it, he's like a poster child for incels. To make matters worse, he's oftentimes wrong and easily duped into taking the side of evil, turning him into more of a liability than an asset.

Recently, the idea that the Thirteenth Doctor could save someone from sacrificing themselves by using the TARDIS at the last moment to save them came under fire. "Why didn't the Doctor do this for Adric?" they said, forgetting conveniently when the Twelfth Doctor did the exact same thing in "Into the Dalek." But yes, why indeed? Why would the Doctor ever let a duplicitous, argumentative braggart die by their own stupid need to solve a math problem? My headcanon is that the Doctor got better at flying the TARDIS. The real reason is that people hated his character. The silence over the credits after Adric dies isn't out of respect for the character. The real reason is that the BBC couldn't secure the rights to Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate Good Times," before it aired.

Listen, I am not unsympathetic toward Matthew Waterhouse. He never should have been given such a big role, considering his utter lack of ability at the time. I imagine it was his own insecurity that fuelled his on-set antics. Giving unsolicited advice to veteran actors is cringey, but also the actions of a young and naive boy, in over his head. I know I said I was going to try and treat the performance as secondary, but in this case, it goes hand in hand. He has the stage presence of a fake. Every moment he's onscreen is disingenuous. The fact that he is present at the death of my favourite Doctor, stinking up the scene is genuine pain to me. If he has been made better in Big Finish, I've not yet heard it. As of now, there is nothing I've seen of Adric that has changed my opinion. But I'm glad if he makes you happy.

[theanimeview]

Theory: The True Voice of Yusuke Urameshi

By: Casea Mhtar, @madamekrow​

Yu Yu Hakusho is ultimately my favourite anime, to the point where I can’t bear the thought of liking an anime more than it. For example, Berserk (1997) will be my “number 1” while Yu Yu Hakusho has exceeded the list altogether because its pedestal is just that high. That is the length I must go to secure a strange sense of balance for myself and stave off yet another identity crisis for a different reason. So you can probably imagine how much chaos was thrown at me when I found out that Yusuke Urameshi’s voice actor is completely different than the one I vividly recall when I found myself rewatching the series a few weeks ago. I have a memory of my sister and I watching a single episode she had taped on VCR and we would specifically watch the credits nonstop. We were trying to memorize the song (with great success, I might add).

At the time, there was still no means of listening to the ending theme anywhere other than its source. YouTube wasn’t really a thing, and even if it was we didn’t have access to the same databases we have today. So we watched that part over and over and over again. I remember etching each image into our minds, every lyric into our internal roster of songs as it played on repeat. The names kept popping up just as they did before the last and the voice actor of Yusuke Urameshi, my favorite character, was none other than Yuri Lowenthal.

I distinctly recall thinking “Yuri, that’s a cool name” to myself as his name came up again and again. Not to be rude, but “Justin Cook” just isn’t exactly a name that would elicit such a thought from me and, indeed, never came to mind since I am certain it wasn’t in the credits of my beloved Yu Yu Hakusho VHS. 

So, in my rewatching of the show, present-day me had the initial assumption that what was going on here was a perverse version of the Mandela Effect. However, looking into it now, I feel that completely waters down my experience and doesn’t actually explain what happened. 

I mean, I can’t simply ignore my recollection as being a false memory, as every Mandela Effect is reasoned away with. No. I needed to find true reasoning for this madness. 

For the sake of convenience and for the lack of a better theory, I will settle on there being an unexplained dimensional shift. Certainly, any reasonable person could argue that I made a mistake. I simply misread the credits, maybe even pulled that name from somewhere else. Or perhaps Yuri was Yusuke’s voice actor from a different dub! But that isn’t the case as seen in this YouTube video comparing EVERYONE who has voiced Urameshi. 

So... Let’s say this was all a misunderstanding on my part. BUT THEN it didn’t just end with me incorrectly reading names in the credits over and over. I didn’t wrongly perceive the Funimation dubbing as being someone else and then call it a day. I was validated in my belief for a long period of time by outside sources.

.Hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth (2006)

The overall series of .Hack// is a subject I will certainly indulge in more in the future, but for the purpose of staying on-topic, I shall restrain myself. The reason I bring it up now is because in 2006, when .Hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth was released (I will always say it in full!), the protagonist--Haseo--sounded so familiar. I couldn’t quite figure it out until I saw who was credited with the voice acting. Out loud, in front of witnesses (if you count my birds), I said, “Yuri Lowenthal?. . . Wait, is that the voice of-”

I looked up his name to find he was-at that time-credited as the voice of Yusuke Urameshi. Quite a mistake that is since officially he is unlisted in the series yet multiple people around the world think otherwise, the same as me. Not only that, but updating all of Lowenthal’s pages to be credited with Haseo in addition to Urameshi. Many people had to review those pages, many people happened upon those pages and never bothered to correct them. That’s what really gets me. Sure, if my Ego was backed into a corner then yes, I can perhaps admit that my eyeballs had failed me and that’s all you’re gonna get out of me! Yet there is no copy I can find of him voicing the character online.

Could this be an example of lost media instead then? Well, no. Apparently not. Most anyone I’ve told about this believes I am confusing him with someone else. They may not remember “Justin Cook” at the top of their heads, however they are adamant about Yuri Lowenthal never, ever voicing Yusuke Urameshi. Because he didn’t... in this dimension.

Perhaps I truly am mixing him up his voice with a different character? Yuri Lowenthal is also famously the voice actor for Sasuke Uchiha in the english dub of Naruto. An extremely popular character from an anime that is surrounded by an enormous and ever growing fan base. The problem with that is, I’ve never watched Naruto. I didn’t even know Lowenthal was in any way a part of Naruto until I was somewhat adjusted into adulthood. When explaining my entire theory to a friend, I asked them if they can imagine the essence of an other-dimensional Yusuke within the voice of Haseo. 

“All I hear is Sasuke from Naruto,” They bluntly said.

I’ll be honest... That hurt more than it should have, but I swallowed my pride and looked into it since I’ve never actually heard what Sasuke sounds like.

What I begrudgingly find is that my friend was right. Again, this was the first time I had ever heard Yuri Lowenthal as Sasuke and I didn’t know that he was the voice actor until a few years prior. This entire ordeal leaves me feeling unnerved that there are so many loopholes being found in the False Memory Theory. It can’t be completely dismissed as large scale misinformation or misremembering. That is why I had to settle on the theory that there was some strange dimensional shift, even with how outlandish that sounds.

The Discovery

I don’t know when it occurred and I’m not sure how I missed it, but it happened. You would think being thrust out of your prior dimension, or being crammed into a different one, would have some sort of impact. Maybe that’s why I developed back problems during my teenage years, I can’t really say. All I can recall is the feeling of my stomach hitting the floor through the bottom of my feet when I finally found out. I was watching the DVD box set of Yu Yu Hakusho that my friend lent me and I could immediately tell something was not right. Yusuke didn’t sound anything like I remembered, the voice--the tone--was weird, his inflections were way off, it was all wrong! WRONG, I TELL YOU. So, to the internet I went only to find someone else being credited...

“Justin Cook this” and “Justin Cook that” appeared all over. There was even a video of him yelling “spirit gun” for a fan and I was still in disbelief! There was no way! This wasn’t possible! 

Apparently, in this dimension it is though, and that is a fact that I will have to live with for the rest of my life... or until reality throws me back to my own dimension. The knowledge that I will look crazy whenever I tell this story, as well as the reality that there could be more dubs out their with voices unknown. Not just voice actors, but entire animes—maybe video games, even people I thought I knew! Who knows what was left behind with Yuri Lowenthal as Urameshi! I don’t care to think about it too much. My heart is wounded enough I tell you. I already have a crippling fear of one day finding out my whole life is a lie—I don’t need to rack my brain about all of this as well.

In Conclusion,

Yuri Lowenthal was fantastic as Urameshi and I wish I could somehow put my memory into an audio clip for everyone to hear. Not so much to prove that he was better, but to solidify why my experience is very real to me. Though, if you did hear the Yusuke that I knew, I truly believe you would think it was pretty good at the very least. (Not that Justin is bad... just that it feels wrong to my beloved memory... sorry Mr. Cook.) On the bright side, Lowenthal is plenty successful and I am always rooting for him regardless. Sure, Justin Cook is my “number 1” Urameshi in this dimension, but the Yuri Lowenthal rendition that doesn’t exist in this world has exceeded the list all together in my heart. His pedestal is just too high.

What about those of you reading this? Do any of you have a similar experience? Maybe you also remember Yuri Lowenthal as Yusuke Urameshi! Let us know! (Let ME know! Please--I beg someone to find a copy if one exsists in this world. 😭) 

Happy Wednesday. I guess. Bye. 

[pluviophile-bookworm]

AWAE 1x4 rewatch: thoughts and reactions

By popular demand of no more and no less than 14 people (which is quite enough to convince me), I’m back with another AWAE rewatch - reaction. Today, we’re diving into 1x4, which I don’t really remember anymore so it should be interesting to return to it after all this time. Without further ado, let’s get started:

First of all, I will never stop wondering ( especially now that I’ve seen season 3) why the first season was so dull and grey in terms of lighting. I mean, it’s almost black and white. I think I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again anyway - it was probably because the first two seasons were filmed in winter and the third one in summer, but still - there’s editing to fix that, and some editing was probably done, so it must be a creative choice. It makes some sense considering how bad Anne’s past was and how unhappy the last few days have been, at least from her point of view, but I still find it rather depressing. 

Anne’s little song is so cute, and I love her singing - it’s simple and clear and it sounds just like the child Anne’s supposed to be, but it’s also kind of a reflection of what’s going through her mind - she’s still holding on to her imaginary self, Cordelia, but is now accepting herself for what she thinks she is - “strange and plain”. Well, she sure is strange, but there’s nothing wrong with that - it’s beautiful, and she’s certainly anything but plain. 

Anne means well, but we all know she’s easily distracted, so I wouldn’t make a promise I couldn’t guarantee if I were her. 

For once, Rachel is not really annoying me and she actually has good advice. The best part is, this is straight from the book, and I love me some accuracy to source material. Of course, it won’t be long before Anne’s back in school, and (almost) everything will have changed when she goes back. 

“How awful it would be to be in service of those who neglect you or treat you unkindly”... oh gosh, Anne’s dark past is creeping into her fantasies. I don’t like this, I don’t like it at all. She does need school to distract her from her trauma. 

The one time Rachel had good advice for Marilla, she isn’t going to follow it. Why do things have to be like this? This episode is depressing. I want Anne out of the house and back in school now. I don’t know why, but I do. It’s like I’m putting myself in her shoes, and, sure, what happened back at school was humiliating enough for her not to want to ever go back, but walking around a little room, stuck within its four walls, gets really depressing after some time, no matter how enjoyable it might be at first. 

Yes, Matthew is a kindred spirit, and yes, he knows better than to force Anne to go back to school before she’s ready, but I bet my life he’d never want her to miss out on her education when she has so much potential and has the chance to fulfil it. Especially because he didn’t have the chance to finish his own education and he obviously regrets it. 

Anne’s trauma as shown in this episode is too much for me. It should come with a trigger warning. But there is no trigger warning for Anne, and there is no escape. Not when she’s stuck at home, wallowing in her humiliation. She has to get out of there, and her imagination is just not enough anymore because it keeps going back to the worst moments of her life, and those are really bad. 

I honestly love Matthew so much. He is the first true kindred spirit. He understands. He understands the most important thing - Anne is not like the others. She needs to do things at her own pace. And right now she’s just not ready to face school again. But she does need company, otherwise she’ll drive herself crazy miserable, like she’s already started to in the scene where she calls out to her imaginary friend Katie Morris. And no, I don’t think Matthew is being too soft with her - I do think, however, that Marilla is being too hard on her. But she’ll get better. We know she does. 

As heartbreaking as it was to learn (in a later scene which I remembered just now from my first watch) that Anne hasn’t really been going back to school, I have to give it to her - she does a pretty good job of pretending she went and that she’s going there again. 

And there it goes - first, dear little Jerry realises Anne is staying late “at school”, and then who should come by but Diana and Ruby (who is still not on the friendliest terms with Anne, but she’ll come around as soon as Anne decides to try interacting with her again). I mean, Anne must really have thought that even Diana wouldn’t care about her at all, or else it would have been really foolish to believe she wouldn’t ask after her when she didn’t come back to school for so long. Having a caring new friend spoiled Anne’s pretty little plan, didn’t it? How ironic. But it just wasn’t healthy for Anne to isolate herself so completely. And this is coming from me, an introvert who would really have liked to homeschool herself and never see another person outside of family members again after a number of humiliating moments at school. I’m old enough now to realise how detrimental total isolation can be. But Anne is not yet and she’ll have to go through a couple more traumatising moments before she finds joy in school again. 

Jerry fixing up his hat and jacket before greeting Diana and Ruby and then being all confident/ sassy/ might I say even slightly flirty with his simple “Hello, ladies”... the sight of it gives me life. The shipper in me would say this is the first tiny glimpse of Derry, but the protective older sister instinct in me, who has witnessed and will never forget the events of 3x8, can only see this as a glimpse of what Jerry has always really been like until Diana’s unjust treatment broke him. He was happy. He was confident. He never thought it was above him to speak to Diana before. He never thought of himself as unworthy of respect and love. What Diana did to him, even if she didn’t mean it, broke him and we’ll never get to see him fully recovered because of some stupid people who decided to cut the series short whenever they felt like it. It’s just unfair. If not to us viewers, then at the very least to Jerry. And that should be enough. #renewawae

“Anne’s too sensitive for this world” - Well, that certainly is true, but maybe it’s actually the other way around. Maybe the world is too insensitive to her. Honestly, why? 

Marilla has the face of a parent who has just found out  their child has been doing something behind their back... honestly, that face is so scary when you’re the kid, I don’t even want to think about it. Now Anne will definitely be going back to school, whether she likes it or not. 

Anne talking about Native names reminds me of her conversations with Ka’kwet in season 3. Yes, she might not be a Cordelia or anything fancy, but just plain Anne, but thanks to who she is, the name Anne now sounds so much more colourful and magical to me. It is not the name what makes you who you are, it is who you are that gives your name its meaning. I firmly believe in that, and I wish Anne would, too. I know she’ll realise that in due time, but it just pains me to watch her speak ill of herself because of what she’s been hearing so many awful people say throughout her life. 

Melkita’ulamun. A strong and brave heart. This is what your Native name would be, Anne dearest,  at least if Ka’kwet was an elder and had a say in it. And I fully agree with her. 

The minister’s visit, and his words that are less than respectful to women, just have to be enough to lead her back to school. So, you can say that, in a way, he did his job well even if he’s not the most admirable kind of person. 

And if the minister’s misogynist take on the Bible wasn’t enough to convince Anne that her place really is in school, then Jerry is sure to finish the job.  “Boys can do anything they want”, is that what you think, Anne? Well, this boy would much rather go to school than work his butt off to provide for his family, but he’s anything but “lucky” that way. I understand Anne is traumatised by her past, but the last few days that she’s spent outside of school she’s been thinking of nobody but herself, as much as it pains me to say it. She has a lot to learn, and not just from books. Has she never thought about why she could never get a proper education and had to work instead? Jerry’s situation is no better. Well, arguably, he’s a lot better off mentally and psychologically, but Anne is only a couple years behind her peers. Jerry never even had the chance to learn the alphabet. He’s forced to be illiterate in both languages he speaks, and that is so tragic, honestly. But it is about to  change, as soon as Anne realises how lucky she is and starts extending her fortune to him as her found little brother. 

“I never thought that a wife is what I would be” But you will be, Anne, and not only a wife, but also one that is her husband’s intellectual equal and also “the fond object of [his] affection and desire”. But you can never be that unless you go right back to school and get a proper education, not an education in propriety. Because you can. Jerry was spot on in saying that. 

Oh, great. Now Marilla has an identity crisis - an identity crisis at her age! I didn’t even know that was possible. But the minister’s words seem to have made a stronger impression on her than they have on Anne. I hope at least the conversation with Jerry, which is by far my favourite moment from this rather depressing episode, sweeps her in the right direction. 

My, is that the fire at Ruby’s house? Now that will definitely shake things up. I had forgotten this episode is the mid-season mark, and the fire happens, of course, around the middle of it. It’s like a new beginning.  A phoenix that will rise from the ashes of the Gillis house, changing everyone’s perception of Anne for the better, giving her her second best friend, changing Miss Gillis into the Ruby I know and love with all my heart, getting Anne to go back to school after Marilla, the minister, and Jerry didn’t quite succeed. This is a disaster, but one that was, in the grand scheme of things, for the better. 

Gosh, Anne, you’re going to give poor Diana a stroke. But you look like you know what you’re doing, and that’s important. 

For about a minute, the most intense minute in the lives of everybody present, everybody is worried about Anne to the point of insanity, but then she emerges from the burning house and tells everybody she’s ok - and as soon as she explains why she ran inside an empty burning house, Jerry makes sure everyone knows what Anne did and that she is a hero. 

Diana, for one, thinks Anne is marvellous and brave - and I agree with her. Ruby will learn soon enough. She might not have the best attitude right now, but she will learn. She will get better. 

Look at Ruby, crying like a baby about a dress, when Anne only has two of her own and is ready to lend one to a girl who doesn’t even want anything to do with her. Within a single episode, Anne has gone from the selfish one who needs to be taught a lesson in how lucky she is to have what she has, to the one who will teach the selfish one that same lesson. And I know Ruby will learn it soon, too. 

“I shall never be dissuaded from my low opinion of him”. Well, a lot of opinions changed after that night. This is one of them, only it will take a little longer than most other things. 

Very funny, Billy! Ruby has fallen on her face and all he can do is laugh at her dismay, even though she’s bringing him biscuits. And then we get several layers in this scene. We have Ruby, the damsel in distress, the traditional girly girl; Billy, the misogynistic, “boys are superior, girls belong in the kitchen” type of guy, perpetuating toxic masculinity; Anne, the feminist who could get the job done as well as any boy and better than some; and Gilbert, the gentleman, the embodiment of healthy masculinity. I can see why Ruby is in love with him. Who wouldn’t be? Oh, right, Anne. She’s going out of her way not to meet his eye while he’s doing his best to discreetly look at her without offending Ruby. I see the Shirbert tension is strong from the first episodes on.

“If you were a boy, it would have ended up in fisticuffs.” Oh, it will, soon enough. Billy can’t get away with his behaviour forever. There are, and always will be, enough boys who agree with Anne (not that she needs boys to fight her battles for her), and one day, one of them will snap. I can’t wait to get to that moment. I mean, I am very much an advocate for non-violence, but Billy Andrews deserves some righteous violence directed at him every once in a while. 

Oh, this is it! The founding of the Story Club! The beginning of something so beautiful, it’s almost like magic. What am I saying, “almost like”? It is magic. Too bad it, too, will meet its end, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Oh, I see the minister’s words - possibly combined with Billy’s “stay in the kitchen” remarks - have finally reached Anne in the right way. She’s going back to school and the other kids are more than happy to see her. Well, most of them, anyway. I think she was right, though, and if she had gone back the day she was supposed to, she wouldn’t have been received quite so warmly. But what does it matter now? Things are looking up. 

To sum up what we saw in this episode: a miserable Anne staying home from school; Anne’s PTSD acting up when she has no education to take her mind off of her horrible past; Matthew is a true kindred spirit #InMatthewWeTrust; Anne homeschools herself away from home, the way education was done in ancient times - surrounded by nature; Jerry’s first on-screen interaction with Diana (and Ruby); some thoughts on Native North American names; a misogynist minister; the tragedy of Jerry having no chance of a proper education; a fire in the Gillis house; a literal fire-forged friendship; the alignment chart of misogynist vs. feminist; the founding of the Story Club; Anne goes back to school to a warm welcome.

[that-shamrock-vibe]

TV Review: Crisis on Infinite Earths (Spoilers)

Part Two: Batwoman

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the day after the episode airs in the U.S. so if you haven’t yet seen the episode or are waiting to watch the crossover all in on, don’t read on until you have.

Overview:

I was right, and I’m so annoyed they couldn’t keep the high momentum of the first episode here. Where Part One felt like an epic and grand high-stakes crossover opener, Part Two feels more like the typical and somewhat formulaic Arrowverse episode. The problem with that is, it’s supposed to be both! I don’t quite get how the episode that had the most elements I was looking forward to fizzled this much.

But now with the true enemy finally revealing himself, and the promise of more Paragons to find, can Crisis save itself while it destroys the Multiverse?

Avenging the Fallen:

So the episode opens with the three main women of the Arrowverse, Kara, Sara and Kate, drinking in memory of Oliver. I have to say, I know this is a Batwoman episode and these three women in particular do often preach girl power and all that, but the fact Ray isn’t there at least does just make it seem like they wanted this girl power moment, and as Kate said, the Multiverse is still in danger.

As I mentioned when talking about Batwoman in my Elseworlds review, there were problems that fortunately have been fixed by Batwoman the TV series mostly, I still don’t like the fact she’s not a red head, I still don’t like how similar Ruby Rose and Erin Richards look because it’s distracting to me. Even a choppy bob style as Kate has in the comics would differentiate the two more for me.

That being said, Ruby Rose sold the dry cynical humour here as she does in her own series. I loved how she left the drink here but later wished she hadn’t, in that same scene when the Monitor reveals Batman’s secret identity how she demands discretion from the team was funny, Kara finding Earth-99 Luke Fox attractive and Kate finding it weird I thought was hilarious and Ruby Rose sold that very well for me.

Also, for all Kara’s mourning about her lost planet, there was no confirmation on where Alex, Brainy, J’onn, Nia, Kelly or Lena were after the climax of Part One. I know Brainy and I think J’onn are in future parts of this crossover but it would have been good for a side comment saying where they are.

Speaking of mourning, my god Mia goes hard here. It’s funny because in last week’s episode of Arrow, Oliver was all for Diggle finding a way to get Mia and William back to 2040, yet Mia is still around and making understandably emotion-driven but drastic decisions and both Barry and Sara, who are supposed to be older, wiser and more level-headed particularly in this area, are going along with it.

Barry especially, I believe, feels that if he can help Oliver cheat his fate then maybe he can as well considering that Iris has now got the idea that with The Monitor being wrong about how Oliver died maybe Barry won’t die either, that’s just stupid to give someone who has already accepted his fate and has been known to make the stupidest decisions going (Flashpoint) when he feels he can change it. 

Mia decides to use a Lazarus Pit to resurrect Oliver and, like I said, both Barry and Sara agree. Sara does need some convincing I grant you and Caity Lotz does sell that she is never fully on-board with the idea, and why would she be because she knows first hand what the pits do.

I did appreciate the Nyssa mention, I just wish she had been their guide to the pit on Earth-18, instead we get a mini-fight between Mia, Sara and an unaltered Jonah Hex.

I did kind of guess Hex would appear as soon as the location was revealed as North Dakota, and to be fair I didn’t really see where Jonah Hex would fit into this crossover, so I am glad they found a space for him.

I also like that Constantine has something to do finally, because I am tired of just seeing Sara and Ray, as much as I love Sara and tolerate Ray, it’s called Legends of Tomorrow and currently I think has the biggest main cast out of these shows...so why am I being drip-fed Legends with now the addition of Constantine and Mick...again I do enjoy both of them but give me the god damn team.

Barry and Constantine bring Oliver to the Lazarus Pit and, as expected, Oliver emerges as an out of control rage monster that Stephen Amell does not sell quite as well as Caity Lotz or Willa Holland previously have.

I guessed Oliver would somehow be brought back, because while the Arrowverse execs try to say “We killed him off in part one to show no one is safe”, it was an eye-roll for me because you’re not going to kill the original main star of the Arrowverse in the first part.

My only issue with it is it happened so quickly, there was no time really to miss him because he was dead at the end of part one and suddenly they’re talking about bringing him back.

Sara had an entire season between death and resurrection and Thea’s resurrection came with great sacrifice on Oliver’s part joining the League of Assassins. Here, we had Constantine saying that the antimatter was making him lose his magic so he couldn’t bring back Oliver’s soul like he did for Sara, which only makes me wonder why they’re wasting time trying to bring someone back rather than stopping existence from dying.

Paragon Pursuit - Bat of the Future:

Okay so, apparently The Monitor has recently discovered seven Paragons across the Multiverse that can come together to defeat the Anti-Monitor. He knows this from retrieving the Book of Destiny from the timeline which was the McGuffin in Elseworlds last year.

Fortunately four of these paragons are known to The Monitor, the Paragon of Hope is Kara Zor-El and the Paragon of Destiny is Sara Lance. I got why this worked because Supergirl’s main brand is all about hope and she’s from a parallel world while Sara is of Earth-1 tying into the fact these seven Paragons are spread across the multiverse.

The Monitor tells the team that two more Paragons are to be found on different Earths, the first is the Bat of the Future on Earth-99 which Mar-Novu name drops as Bruce Wayne, much to Ray’s surprise and Kate’s annoyance.

Again I am actually enjoying Brandon Routh in this crossover, and cannot understand why he isn’t at this level on his own show.

Kate and Kara go to Earth-99 where they come across a dilapidated Wayne Manor, which looks more dishevelled than the one from the DCEU, and meet Earth-99 Luke Fox...who I had to double-take to ensure it was in fact Camrus Johnson partly because of how different he looks not geeked up and also because he is the only other main character of Batwoman to appear in this Batwoman episode.

Now I get that none of the other supporting players are vigilantes at this point, but not even Earth-1 Luke Fox making an appearance is slightly unfair, and you could argue that during Invasion! None of Supergirl’s supporting players were involved, but Supergirl still had an episode in that week which featured its main cast.

Again also Kate’s reaction to Kara finding this Luke attractive was probably my favourite moment in the episode.

Once forcing their way inside, Kate and Kara meet Earth-99 Batman, Mr. Kevin Conroy. I was so looking forward to seeing this veteran Batman voice actor in live-action and when you don’t see him talking, he sounds a lot like Batman of the DCAU, the only problem is I was promised Kingdom Come Batman and didn’t really get that.

I don’t know Kingdom Come that well but I thought Batman was supposed to be the main force of good left in the world, yet not only is he killing his rogues as displayed in his trophy case, including a Riddler cane which I also own, but he also killed Superman.

It’s at this point that Kate and Kara realise that this Batman is not the Paragon of Courage they were sent to retrieve and at that point Batman turns on Supergirl apparently hating Kryptonians.

Now this is where it gets interesting because before this, there is actually some good character moments for Bruce and Kate where Bruce tries to make Kate see that where he is in his mindset is where she should be, not trusting anyone, not believing in anything, just becoming the night basically.

It echoes similarly to what Lex Luthor tried to install in Lena last season which eventually worked as we know and it apparently maybe worked here because, even though Kate saved Kara from her doppleganger cousin, she still kept that Kryptonite wrist strap of his...what does she plan on doing?

Anyway before the Kryptonite reveal, we see Kate and Kara return to base where they tell The Monitor they failed retrieving the Paragon, but The Monitor reveals that the Bat of the Future and the Paragon of Courage is in fact Kate herself.

I don’t know how to feel about this, I love the fact Batwoman is being spotlighted even though she is the new girl, however, it does seem like the only reason she is the Paragon is because this is her show.

Also to have two Paragons from the same Earth? Not exactly far spread out.

Paragon Pursuit - Reign of the Supermen:

While Kate and Kara are on Earth-99, Earth 38′s Clark and Lois, and Iris for some reason, scourer the Multiverse for the Paragon of Truth, which is revealed to be a Superman...but which Superman.

Well just before they head off a spanner is thrown into the works in the form of Earth-38s Lex Luthor. We knew Jon Cryer would be back, I thought he would have returned in the Supergirl episode but we also see at least three other versions of Superman here so why not.

Anyway Lex steals the Book of Destiny because the Monitor apparently brought him back to be duped by the supervillain, shocker, and Lex travels the Multiverse killing off Supermen.

Clark, Lois and Iris first arrive on Earth-75 where they are too late because Earth-38 Lex has already killed this version of Superman who lies dead on the big screen with his Lois mourning the loss.

Their second attempt sees them arrive on Earth-167, which is the vaguest Easter-Egg reference going as it refers to Smallville co-producer Al Gough’s year of birth 1967...

When Tom Welling said he and Erica Durance were only in one scene they weren’t kidding, however I loved it. I am a massive Smallville fan, it was my proper Superman introduction, these versions of Clark and Lois are my Clark and Lois and that’s not going to change.

The decision for Clark not to have powers here is a weird one because they highlighted the fact that the Smallville Comics which followed the TV series would count as canon, yet aside from returning to the Kent Farm nothing we learn about Clark and Lois here was mentioned in the comics.

Also Clark and Lois have daughters, I’m not sure who they’re supposed to be but I’ve only ever known them to have a son...Jonathan...and since when did all the Supermen need to be Superdaddies anyway?

Anyway Earth-38 Lex shows up and Clark has the great confusion of wondering why Jon Cryer doesn’t look like Michael Rosenbaum, it is again sad that Rosenbaum didn’t reprise the role, but to have a Lex Luthor going up against multiple Supermen was still quite cool.

When Clark reveals he gave up his powers, most likely to be a father and family man, it did just seem like a cheat way for the writers to say “Yeah we have Smallville’s Clark Kent, but he won’t be part of the action”. Which as a Smallville fan is painful because I wanted to see Tom Welling in the tights, flights and action!

Also once Lex and the heroes disappear, Smallville’s Lois arrives and I have to say, she looks exactly the same as she did back in 2011 but different to how she looks as Alura Zor-El. Maybe it’s the choice of farm clothes as opposed to regal dresses but this is Lois Lane I had through my teen years, everything from the fashion to the hair, to the voice. I wasn’t crazy about the laugh because it seemed a bit forced, but she called him Smallville straight after and spoke in her high-energised way so I was happy.

The final stop was on Earth-96 which is a reference to the year the Kingdom Come storyline came out, it was confirmed that Brandon Routh would be Kingdom Come Superman but also the version of Superman from 2006 Superman Returns which Routh starred in.

We meet, or are reacquainted with,Routh’s version of Clark Kent. I have to admit I never much cared for Superman Returns, possibly because Smallville was on at the time and that version had already won me over. But I do know that Brandon Routh drew a lot of inspiration from Christopher Reeves and his portrayal of the character and you can clearly see that in both his fashion and acting.

I want to say it’s sad to see that pretty much all of Superman’s supporting staff at the Daily Planet are dead, Sam Huntington in my opinion was a decent Jimmy Olsen, but if this was Smallville’s Daily Planet staff all killed I’d be distraught.

Again I am comparing a lot but they are literally scenes apart from each other here.

Anyway, just as it’s confirmed that Brandon Routh’s Superman is the Paragon of Truth, Lex Luthor appears and decides he’s fed up with killing Supermen...we’ve only seen him kill one but there you go, and decides to turn Kingdom Come Superman against Earth-38 Superman in order for his now puppet to kill the other one.

I have to say, this was another weak battle sequence, I know it’s really CGI with two Supermen flying around, but neither Brandon Routh or Tyler Hoechlin have really sold flying as Superman to me that well anyway.

Lois finally does something and knocks Lex unconscious while she and Iris, who I cannot understand why she even came along at all, try to use the Book of Destiny to fix Kingdom Come Superman.

Eventually Lois gets through to KCS by appealing to his love for humanity and for his lost Lois. This breaks him free of the book’s control just in time before he snaps Earth-38 Superman’s neck.

With Lex detained, the heroes all return to base where they set up a machine to search for the rest of the Paragons. 

Harbinger’s Headache:

This sounds stupid but genuinely is what happens, since the start of the episode when Mar-Novu reveals the Book of Destiny, Harbinger starts to get headaches, this does alert her to the fact Lex Luthor is stealing the book but also puts her in the pathway of the Anti-Monitor.

Yes we finally see the big bad of the crossover in all his...glory? He looks ridiculous! His concept artwork does make him look like Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse but the actual thing we get just looks ugly.

I will give a minor positive and say it is better to see him in the show than he looks on the promotional images because I get the feeling lighting is not this guy’s friend and we meet him in what looks like the hallway of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Mick Rory, Baby Whisperer:

Again, this sounds stupid, but I wanted to highlight this for a couple of reasons and to spotlight Legends of Tomorrow because it doesn’t look like this crossover is doing that.

Firstly, this Mick Rory isn’t our Mick Rory, this is in fact the Mick Rory of Earth-74...why is it called Earth-74? I don’t know because originally there were only supposed to be 52 Earths, then Earth-X came about and now we have Earth-167 so I’m making my peace with them making it up as they go along.

Anyway, Dominic Purcell has grown on me since he was first introduced on The Flash. I think once you accept the fact that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is essentially a piss-take because that is what it’s become then you accept why the characters do what they do, and not only turning a Flash rogue into a hero/legend is understood but also having him be a writer, have a rat as a pet and be good with babies is also understood.

We see that Earth-74 has a Waverider and did have its own version of the Legends before they all disbanded, Mick has taken command of the Waverider as seemingly his home where he is a struggling writer and his only companion is the Waverider’s A.I. Leonard...Wentworth Miller is back! As a disembodied voice, I would have liked to have at least seen his floating blue head but no we get the voice which is fine by me to be honest.

Once Harbinger commandeers the Waverider ad brings it to Earth-1 with Mick on board, he seemingly becomes the only person on board who Jonathan won’t cry for...not his mum, not his dad, not his aunt...a gun wielding alcoholic hot-head...great choice kid.

It is the lowest form of comedy side-story going but it is still nice to see them at least attempt to include the Legends and particularly Wentworth Miller in some form.

Easter-Eggs:

Superman III:

Alright so this is a clever throwback as this version of Superman Brandon Routh is portraying may be repackaged as Kingdom Come Superman, but he is also the same Superman Routh portrayed in 2006′s Superman Returns, who in turn is the same Superman Christopher Reeve played during the 80s, one movie Reeves was in was Superman III where Superman’s human and Kryptonian sides physically fought each other.

This plot point has also been done in Smallville briefly during the opening episode of Season 4 but not to the same degree as here or Superman III.

Smallville:

So many Smallville Easter-Eggs in one small scene, the first was the mention of Smallville’s Lex Luthor being the President of the United States of America. In a vision of the future Lex Luthor was indeed president and during the flashforward epilogue of the Smallville finalé he was running for president.

I also appreciated the time joke that Lois made when she said that it’s taken about a decade for Clark to “make a funny”. In real-time it has been almost a decade since Smallville finished as it was 2011, whereas now it is 2019.

Captain Cold:

Some things never change and whether he’s a doppleganger of the original or an A.I. version of the man, Wentworth Miller’s charm oozes out.

When Harbinger arrives on the Earth-47 Waverider, she notes that she is aware of who the A.I. is and he responds with his classic line “Always pleased to meet a fan”, this he has said a couple of times firstly in Season 1 of The Flash and then again with the Legends.

This was a great episode on reflection but in terms of ramping up the drama and grandeur of the crossover it did need work. Hopefully it’s only a minor bump before tonight’s third part, which promises a sizeable cliffhanger before the Christmas break.

So that’s my review of Crisis on Infinite Earths: Batwoman, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC TV Reviews as well as other TV Reviews and posts.

[benisasoftboi]

Well, I just finished watching The Politician and I have. Thoughts. 

The tl;dr is that I was ultimately not a fan 

Watching this show is what it feels like to have an identity crisis. I swear, it’s like they came up with five different ideas for a tv show, and then instead of picking one they just decided to mash them all into a single story 

I mean. I definitely never had any clue what was coming next. I’ll say that

It’s annoying to me personally because the concept of ‘kid runs for class president and everyone takes it much. too. seriously.’ is really, really good and couldn’t be more made for me. I’m currently doing a politics degree. I know real-life Paytons. I was actually super excited for this show because it sounded so perfect for me and my taste

Plus it’s a Ryan Murphy show, and, whatever you think of him (I think he makes things that I always find myself as describing as ‘I do like it, BUT-’), he has consistently been good at absurd, dark comedy (albeit sometimes seemingly unintentionally)

Sometimes this humour shows up in The Politician. Any scene with Payton’s campaign team (especially Julia Schlaepfer’s Alice, BEST character, criminally underused) is great, I loved these guys. They do this thing that Ryan Murphy characters often do where they unironically say things that are totally, utterly ludicrous, with completely straight faces, usually talking very quickly - it always kills me. Glee used this style of humour to great effect, especially in the early seasons. This is the side of the show that worked best for me, and should have got the most focus, and I thought it unfortunate that it didn’t

Just as a sidenote, while I like this style of humour a lot, I don’t like it when shows tries to humanise characters who use it. This style works because it’s cartoonish, it’s not as funny when they’re human, and it’s near-impossible to make them feel human once they’ve used it (see: Glee)

But really, though, it doesn’t actually go very far with the absurdity. A few characters talk about murdering the competition, and one actually tries it, but honestly that’s kind of a lazy way of exaggerating. Come on Murphy, I have seen every episode of Glee! I know you can do this! Where is the inexplicable parking lot Michael Jackson sing-off where someone gets a rock salt slushie thrown in their face? Where is the ‘Britney Spears sex riot’? Where is the vapo-rape?

Again, I know people like these guys - in real life they will do totally ridiculous things for ultimately unimportant politics, they are absolutely not hard to make fun of

It also has songs! Unsurprisingly, partly because Ryan Murphy, and partly because Ben Platt. He’s one of those actors who you just don’t hire and then not have sing, because. Dude. It’s Ben Platt

However, I’ve never seen this way of thinking applied more blatantly, by which I mean the songs are so, so obviously just there because. Dude. It’s Ben Platt. They aren’t even visually interesting, which is a shame because Murphy’s usually good at making songs fun to watch

Also it’s a plot point that Ben Platt’s character talks to and has a quasi-romantic relationship with the ‘ghost’ of his dead classmate who commited suicide, and now manifests as a representation of his guilt and repressed feelings as his behaviour and lying gets more and more morally reprehensible, and if that sounds a little familiar then you’ll understand why I very nearly switched the whole thing off when halfway through episode three I realised I was being tricked into watching Dear Evan-goddamn-Hansen again

There’s a character called Astrid and she keeps changing her mind about whether or not she wants to be plot relevant or not, or even have a remotely consistent personality

There’s also the character Infinity’s whole storyline, which is actually good but should have been like... its own show. It is related to the politics storyline, but it somehow doesn’t feel like it is - like I say, this show is all over the place. Maybe it’s because her scenes tend to be kind of tonally different from the rest. Her personality is also pretty inconsistent

Actually, you know what? Pretty much every main character’s personality is inconsistent, or else shallow, and that makes it very hard to care about them

People are rightfully praising the whole ‘Ratatouille’ scene though, and fair, that was funny 

A tonne of other stuff happens but I can’t get into any of it because when I try to think about it all I’m genuinely unsure what was actually part of the show and what I just dreamt after I finished watching a couple episodes before bed these last few nights

It really is like a dream. So much stuff just. Happens. And then nothing really comes of it

Episode five is the best one, it basically works as a standalone, like honestly just watch that one

Overall the show feels like wasted potential because it’s so lacking in focus. That’s why episode five is my favourite, by the way, it’s the only one that picks a story and sticks to it

I actually really loved the opening sequence - but I’m going to have that damn theme song stuck in my head forever 

I don’t know. As far as I can tell reaction to the show has been pretty ‘love it or don’t’, and I’m very much on the ‘don’t’ side - but I guess I can understand someone liking it. It’s not the kind of thing where I’d be seriously questioning a fan’s taste, but it’s also just... really not for me. I’ll probably watch season 2 though, because I’ll admit I am somewhat curious - though more in a ‘how much weirder is it going to get’ kind of way, rather than because I actually care at all about any of these people or storylines. So it goes

[hail-the-supreme-leader-kylo-ren]

EPISODE IX PREDICTIONS, HOPES, & DISCUSSION

This is a deep dive into the thoughts and questions I’ve been accumulating in regards to what might happen in Episode IX. (Sorry, it’s quite a long post).

My character predictions:

KYLO/BEN: My beautiful boy Ben is going to get redemption first and foremost. FACT. I’m so excited to see how it will go down though, so many possibilities. What’s going to be that final catalyst for Ben to finally stop resisting the Light? When we left Kylo/Ben in TLJ he had gained all the power he once sought, and yet he was utterly miserable. But, importantly Luke showing up on Crait offered Kylo that critical cathartic release he needs for the next step in his redemption journey. Looking back, TFA started with Kylo ordering a village massacre, and finished with him killing his father. We see progress in TLJ, as the act of committing patricide has been eating Kylo/Ben alive with regret and guilt, he then later cannot kill his mother, and instead he kills his tormentor, Snoke, to save Rey. So following this pattern of reversal, I predict in IX he’ll selflessly save a large group of people (the direct opposite of the original village massacre). It’s going to be so interesting to see how will he go with being The Supreme Leader of The First Order, as the evidence shows his ideology doesn’t really align with the Order. I feel like he’ll simply keep using The First Order for the sole purpose of destroying his mother’s Resistance, in a fruitless attempt to ‘kill his past’. Ultimately though, this story is about achieving balance between the Light and the Dark, not just in the force or the galaxy but also in oneself. Ben will need to accept the Light and the Dark sides in himself, and will have to come to this conclusion completely via his own initiative. Han (via Leia’s push), Luke, and Rey have all tried to convince him to the Light so far, to no avail.

REY: Strong Rey has been through a hell of a lot with Kylo/Ben in both films, and Luke in TLJ. She’s had to face her deepest fear that she’s ‘nobody’ and that her parents ‘aren’t coming back for her’. But despite this she has actually found belonging and empowerment along the way. Her self identity is in fact stronger than ever now (while Kylo/Ben is the opposite, he’s still having an identity crisis). I predict that in IX, Rey will be just as fearless and resilient as ever, but also more mature, less naive. Her relationship with the Resistance is interesting because in TFA Finn was lying to her about him belonging to the Resistance, so she was never actively apart of it, and then she was kidnapped by Kylo. Similarly, she sought Luke out for Leia (and the Resistance) in TLJ, but this was mostly a personal journey she undertook. She pursued turning Kylo/Ben to the Light, ‘for the Resistance’s sake’, but it was ultimately for her own sake. So I think that she might not completely feel like she belongs in the Resistance. It’s a sure thing, that she’ll still try to help them out how she can, but I predict it’ll once again be on her own ‘force’ related solo mission (because this fits her film narrative formula). This may be how she crosses paths with Kylo again? Also related to the Resistance, I have this gut feeling that she may clash heads with Poe over his decision making (IDK why, I just do). In terms of other predictions, it seems to be a given that she’ll repair the legacy Skywalker lightsaber, this is what Rey has done her whole life, salvage and repair. In regards to Ben, she’s learnt her lesson, and I truly believe she hasn’t given up on him, she just now knows that it has to be HIS decision to join the Light Side, she can’t ask him again – it won’t work. Like the TLJ novel states, she’s good at waiting, so deep down she’ll be waiting for him to eventually make the right decision. Also another prediction for Rey, is that the arm scar she got during the Throne Room fight will feature prominently in at least one on screen moment. I imagine it will go something like, she’s getting ready putting her satchel on etc, and looks down at her arm and remembers Ben/Kylo and that epic moment they fought together. Now Rey has a scar to remember him, and he too has one to remember her. ~swoons~ The recent costume leak (re: arm band) seem to support this scar’s significance further, but I initially thought that the scar would be important because LF chose to feature it on the damn TLJ poster.

THE WAR/THE BALANCE: This is the final film in the sequel trilogy, and this series is called “Star Wars” so I’m predicting more war, duh. However, we’ve already seen the Light side win over the Dark in the original trilogy, but it didn’t work – the Dark still rose back up. That’s why, this time round something’s got to be different. The Resistance can’t just defeat The First Order, I don’t think that’s going to cut it. TLJ expressed the nuisances of war, with the Resistance bombers and members dying, and also the large First Order crew who would’ve died on the dreadnaught. It really stuck with me what DJ said to Finn, “They blow you up today, you can blow them up tomorrow”. Maybe this wasn’t a precursor for IX, and was just Rian being Rian. But I still predict that Rey and Ben will team up again in this movie, but stay together this time, and they will initiate something like a ceasefire between the two sides, ending the vicious endless cycle of war that has plagued the galaxy for decades now. Ben and Rey are ‘the chosen one’ who will finally bring balance to the Force. It will be very interesting to see how this balance will be portrayed in a larger galactic scale.

FINN: Don’t get me wrong, I love my boy Finn, but to be honest on paper he is quite a one dimension character in regards to how he’s treated in these films. LF could’ve focused on his traumatic upbringing in The First Order and his emotions towards his ex-fellow troopers. Instead they have brushed past it, having Finn gunning down Storm Troopers with no second thought. (I guess they have the traumatic childhoods of Rey and Kylo to focus on instead). So the only prediction I have for him is that he will truly earn the title of ‘Resistance Hero’ in IX. Because in both the TFA and TLJ, he either left or tried leaving to save himself or save Rey, but by the end of TLJ he was finally committed to fighting for the Resistance’s cause (due largely to Rose’s influence).

POE: Poe was originally supposed to die in TFA, and in that movie he was really just a pilot (‘the best one in the Resistance’ though). In TLJ, he was still a pilot, but also shown to be cocky and impulsive, so the aim of TLJ was to teach him how to become a better leader, like Leia etc. So no doubt, in IX he’ll be making much better leadership calls, and assessing the risks more wisely. HOWEVER, it has been pointed out before how Poe, somewhat corrupts Holdo’s line of “We are the spark that will ignite the fire that will restore the Republic”, into “We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down” this leads me to the juicy personal prediction (that probably won’t happen but...) maybe Poe in IX will turn into a ‘Coin’ like character, from the Hunger Games. Where Poe makes some very destructive calls, because he takes the war waaaay too far. I’m imagining this being Poe vs Hux, and it just keeps escalating and escalating in bloodshed. Hey, like I said, this probably won’t eventuate.

HUX: It seems obvious at this point that Hux is going to fail spectacularly again, for the third and final time. In TFA, his precious Starkiller Base was blown up. In TLJ, a dreadnought was destroyed under his watch, and then he lost his chance to become Supreme Leader as quickly as the opportunity arose. I predict that once he’s surrendered he’ll either sit there hilariously glaring everyone down, or pull the weasel move and beg/plead for his life. Regardless, it’ll be entertaining. Some might think that Hux is a serious military threat, and maybe in this film he might finally rise to the occasion. But throughout TLJ in particular, he was a laughing stock, and being completely honest Hux poses no serious threat to Kylo Ren. Kylo could end Hux’s life with the force or his saber, or both, within a mere second. WATCH YA BACK HUX. In all seriousness though, Hux will probably take every opportunity to undermine Kylo’s leadership – I know that. Man, do love their hate-hate colleague working relationship. 

I’m looking forward to:

More Reylo scenes – need I say more?

More Force Bond sessions, because we damn well know it ain’t gone

Seeing Kylo Ren The Supreme Leader, acting as such, sitting in his throne, and ya know just generally running The First Order (eeeeep!)

Simply seeing more Kylo scenes in general, because let's be real, Kylo/Rey/Finn are the true trio, and this is the final movie so this is our chance to finally see more of his POV. This will also be crucial to the redemption story too, as the general audience will probably need a lot more information about him to be onboard for his redemption

My favourite comedy duo Poe and Finn will be back together again at last! I cannot wait for the new banter and shenanigans with these two

John Williams’ amazing final SW score

All the new costumes/hair styles (It’s very wishful thinking but I would low-key love if the characters changed costumes at Padmé's rate)

I know the sequel trilogy hasn’t had the largest scale of cityscape world-building, but ya never know!

I’m one of those people that fell in love with the Knights of Ren during that brief rainy flashback in TFA, so hopefully they make an appearance, after all what’s a ‘Master’ of Ren without those he masters?

I’m curious to see:

What kind of leader will Kylo be of the First Order? And how is his leadership in general is tracking, is it threatened (i.e. Hux)?

How will Finn and the rest of the Resistance react to Rey being a ‘Jedi’? in TFA everyone except Kylo (and the FO, I guess) were ignorant to the fact that Rey was Force Sensitive. Obviously the resistance noticed Rey force lifting rocks at the end of TLJ, so now they’re all in the loop. Will Finn think she’s ‘changed’? (This is specifically discussed by Finn and Rose in the TLJ novel actually)

Similarly, how will the resistance react to Rey being connection to Kylo, both emotionally and via the force? (They are undeniably connected now thanks to TLJ). How will they react if they ever find out about the Throne Room? ~This is so juicy to consider~

How romantic will Reylo actually be on screen? Will there be an epic kiss? (God, I hope so)

Will Leia survive this trilogy? Han and Luke haven’t, so there’s that...

Will we get the “return to mother” moment (re: reverse Anidala), of Kylo and Leia? If she doesn’t die, this seems like a no brainer

Will the Jedi teachings (the ancient texts) even be a big deal in IX? Luke wasn’t their biggest fan after all. What opinion will Rey take?

What role will Rose play within the resistance this time round? I think it’s going be more prominent; e.g. she’ll be at the decisions making table alongside Poe, Finn, and Leia

Will there be any tie-back to the ‘original’ chosen one, Anakin, to bring this story full circle? Anakin was supposed to ‘bring balance to the Force’ after-all (even though we know Ben and Rey are going to do this)

If the KoR are in IX, will they be Kylo’s blindly pledged allies, and then during his redemption journey will they turn into foes?

With Snoke, the ‘man behind the curtain’ puppeteer style villain being gone, does there need to be a new threat/villain? Is there room for that in the story this late in the game?

Will there be more Force Ghosts in IX, now that Yoda has set a precedent by appearing in TLJ?

If/when Rey and Ben team up again, how will this be possible this time round with Kylo being Supreme Leader of The First Order? Will he chose to leave the Order, or be forced to leave early on in the film?

With Rey and Ben united, will we see some new awesome powerful Force moments? Like how Leia rescued herself in TLJ, or how Kylo froze Poe’s blaster fire, or hell, how Force Ghost Yoda conducted lighting?!

[your-not-so-secret-stalker]

What could have been avoided or would have changed, if Kara had told Lena that she was Supergirl

So, what would be the earliest time Kara could reasonably tell Lena? I would argue that it’s after the whole Medusa virus fiasco, but let’s say it makes more sense for Kara to tell her after Lena says that Kara Danvers is her hero. It would go over well, Lena would feel trusted. It’s after she’s proven herself by saving the entire alien population and putting her mother in jail. And after it’s been proven that she was framed and is not like her family. Her and Kara are good friends, etc etc. 

Here we go in 10 not-so-concise points:

1. Lena being thrown off her balcony

- I found something. *sees the goons’ reflection in the window* Wait, this isn’t right. Get here, now.

Problem solved, Kara might have even been able to get to her, before she fell off the balcony. And the bonus of Kara not having to lie. Really, Lena must have legit thought she was going to die for real this time. 

2. Jack

Kara would not have to hide anything from Lena, she could tell her exactly how she got the evidence, everything about the nanobots, etc. before Lena puts herself in danger by meeting Jack anyway. She could have Supergirl on standby in case that goes wrong, if she wants to talk to him. She would obviously still save Supergirl. Or Kara could burst in earlier and knock Beth out right away, possibly giving Lena a chance to find a way to save Jack.

3. Rhea and the episodes surrounding that

Kara likely would have told Lena that Alex was taken, and Lena might have been able to help using L-Corp resources. No need to reveal the DEO even, but an extra genius working on the case couldn’t hurt.

Lena would likely wait to speak to Kara first, before deciding to trust Rhea. Let’s say neither of those things happen.

- I’m working with a new partner. She’s amazing. *leans in to whisper* She’s an alien, actually.

- Really? Maybe I know her, not that we aliens all know each other. Tell me about her.

- I’m not really supposed to reveal anything, but I’m quite sure you can keep a secret. Her name is Rhea, her designs could revolutionise the world as we know it.  

- Wait, Rhea? As in Queen Rhea? Oh golly.

- What’s wrong?

- That’s Mon-El’s mother, you can’t trust her, Lena, whatever she’s told you, it’s a lie.

Crisis averted, Lena stops working with her, Supergirl and Mon-El confront her, no Daxamite invasion happens, no lead in the atmosphere, no working with Lillian Luthor. (Only minus I see to that is Mon-El staying, but who knows, maybe something else could have happened there.)

3.1. If Mon-El leaves due to lead or another reason, should the Daxamite invasion have been avoided

Lena would be able to be there for Kara in a much bigger capacity and support her wholeheartedly. She would be able to talk to Kara about Supergirl and Kara throwing herself into her alter-ego. She would know where she’s going when she leaves work. Kara would be able to talk to her about the psychic attacks and what she saw and felt.

4. Morgan Edge

So, he was brought in to help with the renovation of the city after the Daxamite invasion. If that never happened, he never enters the picture. Plenty of drama avoided.

If the invasion happened, Lena might have a bit more faith that Kara would figure out what’s going on using the resources she has as Supergirl. Lena may even be allowed access to the DEO to work alongside Winn to run tests and figure things out, but she may not.

I would assume that by this point Lena would have a watch for Supergirl too. She could press the button to call her once she wakes up on the plane, after going to Edge’s office. Even if she doesn’t, she may make the message out to Supergirl instead. She’ll know it’s Kara saving her and refusing to let go. Makes much more sense, coming from Kara.

Kara was not really worried about revealing her identity when Edge poisoned Lena, what with getting her to the DEO in civilian clothes. But she would be able to be honest about that, instead of dismissing Lena’s “dream”, and it would mean the world to Lena that Kara risked her identity just to save her.

Also, it would make much more sense to ask Kara to help her expose Edge, knowing that Kara is Supergirl. Like honestly, what exactly was a reporter supposed to do? All Kara does here is distract the guard and give Lena a voice recorder (?!?! like she can’t buy one herself ?!?!), and Lena’s putting Kara in unnecessary danger. (Or maybe denial really is a powerful thing.) Supergirl on the other hand, can definitely help.

5. Sam/Reign

Lena would be devastated watching Supergirl fall in that fight with Reign. She would know, however, what really happened to Kara. No need for James to stammer out an excuse, no need for J’onn to pretend to be Kara. She would get to be at her side while she recovers.

Lena would still figure out that Sam and Reign are one and the same, and she would still want to help Sam. If Lena had known Kara’s secret when she figured out that Sam was Reign and started treating her, she could have reached out to Kara, before proceeding to use Kryptonite, thereby avoiding all of the drama involving that (the fallout over Kryptonite, Kara getting James to break into Lena’s vault, Lena asking Supergirl for her real name, etc etc).

- Kara, I have something to tell you, but I need you to promise me that you won’t involve the DEO, not even Alex.

- Okay, what’s this about? You’re worrying me.

- Okay, listen. Sam is Reign.

- What?!

- Wait, she doesn’t know that. They’re separate entities. Sam doesn’t remember anything. And I can help her, Kara. But I’m going to have to do something that you’re not going to like.

- What are you saying?

- I can figure out how to cure Sam, I know I can, but I’m going to have to use Kryptonite to subdue her.

- Lena, no, Kryptonite is dangerous. Besides, Kal took all of it long ago.

- I know how to make it, Kara. And I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you to trust me.

- I… it’s the one thing that can hurt me, it feels like nails in my blood, you can’t imagine what that’s like.

- Which is why I’m telling you. I have to help Sam, and you need to stay away from L-Corp. You know I would never use it against you.

- I don’t like this, Lena.

- I know, I’m sorry.

- Okay.

So, Kara would likely tell at least Alex anyway, who would probably be conflicted over the whole thing, but at least nothing is hidden, and she might be able to help. The DEO will eventually get involved once the other two Worldkillers head for Reign and by extension L-Corp, but there would be less suspicion and blame falling on Lena. They might even welcome her knowledge of making Kryptonite, once it becomes apparent they will need it, like James initially suggested that Supergirl would be grateful.

Another possibility is that with Kara and Alex on her side, L-Corp and the DEO could have joined forces and actually figured out a way to deal with Reign and save Sam, before the other Worldkillers found her and without Harun-El.

6. Argo

Kara would tell Lena that she’s basically leaving for an indefinite amount of time to be with her mother on a surviving piece of her home. How would people explain Kara’s disappearance, if she hadn’t returned, really? It’s only plot luck that this didn’t turn into some drama.

7. Mercy Graves

During the attack on L-Corp Kara would not need to hide and pretend to be helpless and Lena would not need to protect her. She’d make up some excuse for them to split up, so Kara can go and change, and the fight would be over just like that.

Lena would obviously still make the anti-kryptonite suit for Kara, maybe even do it a bit earlier as a precaution, considering season 3.

8. Alex’s mind wipe

Kara would have one more person to lean on and confide in about the horror that it is having to keep this secret from her own sister. Alternatively, Lena has to get wiped too, but I sincerely doubt that, since James didn’t, and he has been around the DEO and Supergirl a lot. Plot hole?  

9. Harun-El

Now I’m not actually sure anything would change here. The experiments Lena performed at L-Corp were likely highly classified, though she might discuss the whole giving humans superpowers and curing every disease ever a bit more with Kara, or possibly Alex, since they might end up developing a friendship a bit earlier had Lena known. I don’t think this plot string would be too different overall, some minor ripples.  

10. Lex

Lena would still help Lex and be betrayed by Eve. But this time it’s Kara by her side, when they go after Eve. Kara would likely be a bit more understanding when they find the Harun-El and Lena confesses she’s been working with it.

Lena might actually be even more afraid of telling Kara this time around. It’s one thing telling her best friend she was working with her brother and trying to save him, it’s another to tell Supergirl. But she’ll have to do it sooner or later.

There will be no drama of the type “Supergirl’s been there for me, but my best friend hasn’t”. It would be Kara by her side at the prison while she reads the bull from Lex’s diaries. They will find the link to Kaznia together, and let me just say, this time Lena’s probably flying SuperAir. Once again, what was she doing taking a defenceless reporter on a quest to find her murderous xenophobic brother, best friend or not? Kara can just fly them away from the building, no biggie, who needs an actual exit. They can discuss together what the shrine of pictures of them in Red Daughter’s room meant.

Lena would likely still end up killing Lex, but this time, if he’s under the impression that she doesn’t know, she can be the one to have the final laugh, then go to game night and get to talk about what happened and the gravity of shooting her own brother, instead of pretending to be fine and not dying inside.

 Aaand half the drama of season 5 that we haven’t even begun to see yet.

[princessamericachavez]

Might I just say that I think this breakdown of Jester’s has been a long time coming, since the whole Lorenzo incident. Yeah, she had a little crisis of faith there but she never really talked about it beyond that. Pretty sure Fjord said that he didn’t think Caleb and Nott would come after them, but we don’t know really if Jester had a similar thought to that? This might play in to any abandonment issues she’ll have after an incident like this. (Not that they really meant to leave her.)

I hope you know I’ve been thinking about this ask all week, while I was busy with some real life stuff, and I’ve been going through Jester’s emotional arc over my head time and time again trying to find the right words to express all my feelings about this. 

First and foremost, you are absolutely right, nonnie. 

As much as this whole piracy thing has been part of Fjord’s backstory, I’d say this arc has been just as much about Jester’s emotional journey. Now, that might sound like a bit of a stretch to some, I get it, but overall I would call this a Menagerie Coast Kids Arc. After all, they both started this part of the story after the Iron Shepherd’s kidnapping, they both went back home to face the real or metaphorical loss of a parental figure, and they both have stuck by each others side as they do so, always the most vocal supporters of each other’s struggles. 

So, focusing on Jester, let’s see everything she’s been through ever since Travis and Laura came back from baby-break: 

She was obviously upset over what they went through and over losing Molly

She felt abandoned by her deity. Even if, as you said, she thought the others might not come, she entirely trusted the Traveler would. 

Instead, though, it was the M9 who showed up, which puts an interesting balance on who she can/can’t rely on in that kind of situation that we might’ve seen reversed once more after ep 45.

She kept putting on a happy face, though, enough to fool both Fjord and Beau, until Caleb pointed out the possibility of it being an act.

this is interesting because, from then on, we can see these particular three paying special attention to her behavior and trying to make sure she’s alright.

After that, she also got a chance to talk with the Traveler and get reassurance that she hadn’t been abandoned. 

I’ve seen people point out that the Traveler putting a “condition” on his love for her might lead Jester to be less likely to allow herself to be sad or vulnerable, but I’m not entirely on board with the idea. I think all cleric-deity relationships are based in some sort of trade, and “being a source of joy and chaos” is her version of worshiping him. 

“As long as you worship me I’m here” is a pretty standard deity pact. Does it put pressure on Jester to be happy? Probably, but she’s never told not to be upset or hurt, she’s told to bring happiness to others, which in turn as we know makes her happy. It’s a weird little balance if anything.

She found out the Gentleman is most likely her father, though was thoroughly rejected by him when she tried to message him. Digging deeper into her abandonment issues.

Caleb kept an eye on her during the whole Nicodranas thing but was quiet about it. 

Fjord, on the other hand, with his new insight made a point of asking whether she was alright, twice in a row. And then tried to help cheer her up.

They had to leave Nicodranas in the middle of the chaos, making her lose her mother all over again after she’d barely gotten a chance to reconnect with her after a very traumatic experience.

Which leads to the Jellyfish talk, and one of her arc’s bigger emotional turning points, in which she finally opens up about some of her inner sadness and confides on Fjord about it, getting support and reassurance from him. 

Which is a bummer when you consider that, from that moment on, Fjord who’d been her biggest source of emotional support from the moment they started this journey together turned into the source of a lot of pain and confusion for her. 

Now, Jester’s jealousy is nothing new, especially when it comes to Fjord, but you gotta see it within context to understand just how deep it ran and how it hit her in a level much more personal than simple romantic issues: Fjord, after all, was Jester’s first real friend ever since she left home, they’ve been traveling together the longest, he’s also the guy she’s been crushing pretty hard on for months and who she’s starting to develop stronger feelings for... so to see him being constantly pulled away both physically and emotionally by Avantika (a manipulative tactic probably aimed to isolate him from the rest of the group) gotta have hit Jester rather hard in her own self-worth, by putting into question the support system around which she’s built her own identity ever since she left the world she knew behind and had to face reality on her own.

This time, it was Beau who noted Jester’s negative emotion: anger, but Jester was quick to brush it off and Beau, because of her own private nature, is not the kind that will push further to get answers from her. She did, however, try to raise the issue to Fjord once, mentioning Jester’s jealousy, but circumstances and Fjord’s obliviousness did not help.

To add a nail to Jester’s already overflowing confusion: The Kiss.

Jester’s very first kiss, given by the guy she’s in love with and keeps giving her mixed signals, never spoken about again between them, while he’s actively sleeping with another woman... Listen, that’s a lot to confuse anyone, even if she hadn’t been dealing already with so much emotional turmoil.

Neither Nott nor the Traveler were particularly helpful in their advice to her, but the fact that she reached for advice at all is a sign of maturity and awareness that she’s maybe not entirely equipped to deal with this on her own right now. It’s a step forward towards showing vulnerability.

Her talk to Caleb, on the other hand, was much more fruitful in that he was able to offer some wiser advice (wait until the crisis has passed and then you can see calmly) and seemed to help her focus on their more pressing issues. 

That talk was also one of Jester’s bigger turning points, in which she was unusually honest about feelings of sadness, confusion, anger, and ‘feeling stupid’ over what she’s experiencing.

Once the Avantika thing was done, Jester was able to reach for Fjord, for which was probably the first calm time ever since the jellyfish talk, and once again they seemed to find their balance in supporting each other. Things seemed right again, with the apparent enemy out of the picture.

The thing is, though, the issue was never really Avantika, but Jester’s own insecurities and fear of abandonment, so of course even with her gone things would not be solved so easily. 

Add to that, the Diver’s Grave and the blood ritual. 

You have a physically and emotionally exhausted Jester whose repressed frustrations are starting to show up (in things like the shift from her earlier Hellish Rebukes to her latest ones)... and she has to see Fjord and Caleb, the two she’s mostly been able to lean on and the two she’s opened to the most, start some shady blood ritual for no apparent reason, in front of her horrified eyes. 

“I know, Yasha, I didn’t like it either,” she grumbles as they leave the grave and there’s a heaviness to her body language that wasn’t there before, like all these things she’s been keeping inside have finally managed to weigh her down. 

So you have Jester struggling with feelings of loneliness, fear of abandonment, unrequited love, worry, anger, sadness, exhaustion... 

Throw in an adorable little gnome that seems to fill the room with light and laughter in the way Jester usually does, in the way that is her role to play, her one strength... 

Add the man she’s in love with getting sucked through a window right in front of her eyes to gods know where

Just for kicks and giggles add a freaking blue dragon infuriated at her specifically, while the rest of her friends one by one flee leaving her behind 

(not that they abandoned her, but just like with Avantika this is an issue rooted in Jester’s feelings about the situation rather than external factors, meaning the problem is she felt abandoned)

The only two people to come to her rescue? The Traveler and Nott. 

Now, remember how after the Iron Shepherds it was the Traveler who ‘failed’ her and the M9 who stuck around? Now turn that table around, because, in her hour of desperation and horror, it was the Traveler again who showed up, like he has her whole life, rescuing her from abandonment (and most likely re-securing undying loyalty that could come bite her in the ass later on if his intentions aren’t entirely honorable)

It’s no wonder that when, once again, Beau points out Jester’s sadness, she brushes it off, even if she just broke into tears right there in the deck, even if she’s bloodied and terrified, even if she’s exhausted and broken and lonely... opening up, so far, has only led her to disappointment and pain, and she thinks she was almost left behind, and only the Traveler could understand, and she needs to be happy again, and smile, and hide it... because otherwise, she might be abandoned by both Nein and  Deity. 

Jester has reached a breaking point in which her current emotional state is unsustainable and, hopefully, episode 46 will give her the emotional climax she deserves to let it all out and move on to a new stage of acceptance, to at least start to work through some of this issues.

The fact that, for that, she’d depend on the help of the gigantic disaster that is her friends, though, doesn’t bode well. 

We might end up heading to a breakage point rather than fixing turn. 

Either way, something has to change, the last drop is gonna hit the glass and it’s only a matter of who’s going to be there to pick up the pieces... either the M9 or the Traveler and things could go very differently depending on who that is.

[rylie-studies]

Everything You Ever Need To Know About SKAM

Hey guys! Today we’re gonna learn about one of my all-time favorite series ever called SKAM and it’s such a great resource especially for those who are learning languages. SKAM is a Norwegian teen drama web series about the daily life of teenagers in a high school and each season focuses on particular topics such as relationship difficulties, identity, eating disorders, sexual assault, homosexuality, mental health issues, religion, and forbidden love. As of the moment, it has been remade by several other countries in Europe and the United States which showcases each of their distinctive cultures. Not only is it a wonderful way to enhance your language learning, but you can also learn about each country’s culture! 

SKAM (Original) 

Watch it right here (with English subtitles!)

First season: deals with Eva’s difficult relationship with her boyfriend Jonas and the themes of loneliness, identity, belonging, and friendship.

Second season: deals with Noora’s relationship with William and issues of friendship, feminism, eating disorder, self-image, violence, sexual violence, and the contemporaneous refugee crisis in the Norwegian democracy. 

Third season: deals with Isak’s growing relationship with Even and is essentially a coming out story dealing with issues of love, sexual identity, authenticity, mental illness, religion, and friendship. 

Fourth season: follows Sana’s life and deals with the Islamic religion, forbidden love, cyberbullying, friendship, and the Norwegian russ celebratory period. 

Finale episode: deals with parental depression, love rejection, jealousy, friendship, mutual relationship support, and fear of abandonment.

My personal thoughts: Watch this one before all of the other remakes! It’s the original and it can help you understand the other remakes so much better + #evak is LIFE. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

P.S. Chris and Eva deserved better. 

SKAM France

Watch it right here (already w/ English subs!)

Seasons: the storyline of each season are similar to the original one with some differences depending on how they highlight their culture. There are currently three seasons in the moment with the recent season focusing on Lukas’ struggle to embrace his true identity.

My personal thoughts: In the beginning, I didn’t think this one was unique and I felt like it followed too much from the original one but I’ve heard lots of great things about Season 3 (aka my favorite season from the original) and I was really excited for this season so I definitely recommend it! Tbh, this was actually the first of the series that I watched (I watched the original one second bcs I was unaware) bcs I’ve been learning French in school and honestly, this was incredibly helpful and now I know so much more about the culture!

Fun fact: The main actors in Season 2 (Marilyn Lima and Michel Biel) are actually a couple in real life! 

SKAM Germany (aka Druck)

Watch it right here (w/ English subs!)

Seasons: like SKAM France, each season follows the original storyline with some differences following their culture. There are currently three seasons in the moment. 

My personal thoughts: I’ve only watched the first one or two episodes for this and I think I forgot to continue to bcs I was watching other remakes as well, but I definitely recommend this one especially for those who are learning the German language! 

SKAM Italia 

Watch it right here (w/ English subs!)

Seasons: like the previous remakes, this one follows the original storyline but with differences regarding their respective culture. There are currently three seasons out in the moment. 

My personal thoughts: I love this one a whole lot! Tbh I’ve only watched like the first four episodes but that’s bcs I’m a procrastinator and I do a variety of things at once which is, uh, unhealthy af. However, this is a really good remake and I love the Italian culture so much! Also, I have a lowkey crush on Eleonora bcs she’s so powerful and independent and we stan a QUEEN. 

SKAM Austin (United States) 

Watch it right here 

Seasons: This one is actually hella different from all the other remakes. Not only does it deviate from the structure of each remakes, but the storyline is kind of different tbh. The third season might actually be about lesbians other than the conventional “season of the gays.” It’s crazy! It’s revolutionary! It’s SKAM Austin! Currently, there are two seasons out and they’re compiled into a full episode every week. 

My personal thoughts: I’m not finished with season one yet but I actually enjoyed this a whole lot. I love how unique it is from the other SKAM remakes and the characters are actually super relatable mostly because they’re actual teenagers in school and maybe it’s just because I live in the United States so I’m familiar with the education system and I think it’s just fascinating to watch it and understand the struggles of the characters. This is a total must-watch! 

SKAM España (Spain) 

Watch it right here (w/ English subs)

Seasons: The format is similar to the other European remakes with differences in showcasing the Spanish culture. Currently, there is only one season out but the next season is coming out March 31, 2019. 

My personal thoughts: I haven’t watched this one yet, but I’m really determined to learn Spanish bcs I’m quite in love with the Spanish culture and I really want to travel to Spain one day and I think this would be a lovely way to learn! Watch this with me, loves! 

SKAM NL (The Netherlands)

Watch it right here (w/ English subs)

Seasons: The format is similar to the other remakes with differences highlighting the Dutch culture. Currently, there’s only one season but the next season is coming out on March 18, 2019 and, depending on when I post this, that day might be today or tomorrow! 

My personal thoughts: I LOVE the Dutch culture! I’ve been super excited about this since last year when I heard they were going to make a remake in The Netherlands and I’ve watched halfway through season one and I have loved it with all my heart. I want to learn Dutch someday and, oh gosh, I just love SKAM NL so much. You guys have no idea. 

Fun fact: I LOVE SKAM THE NETHERLANDS. 

wtFOCK (Belgium/Flemish) 

Watch it right here (w/ English subs)

Seasons: The format is similar to the other remakes with differences highlighting the Belgian/Flemish culture. Currently, there’s only one season out but they’re planning on releasing the next season this year. 

My personal thoughts: I’ve actually never heard of this one but it sounds really interesting so I think I’m definitely gonna check it out one day! If you guys have watched this one or planning to, please tell me how it is! 

Rumored SKAM remakes: 

SKAM The Balkans

SKAM Russia

SKAM India

SKAM Japan

SKAM Brazil

SKAM Colombia

And we have reached the end, my loves! SKAM is a truly incredible series and I will forever be grateful about (accidentally) discovering it. Also, the characters in the series usually make a social media account where they post pictures of each other and interact with the other characters as well as you, the audience. I’m honestly so in love with SKAM and, once again, it’s one of my favorite series EVER (Netflix when will you get your head in the game homie) and I really recommend it for anyone whether you’re learning a language, a culture, or just want to watch a series where you can learn about a variety of topics. If anyone has any questions regarding this series or want to add in something, feel free to do so! 

[chiptunepacifist]

Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated: An analysis of characters and bonus thingies

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So I finally finished “Scoobert Doobungi: Mystery incomporial” and I fully agree with the statement that it is the best Scooby Doo series. It perfectly nails the horror aesthetic, has some of the most unique monster designs almost on par with “Where are you”, and actual stakes that constantly keep you engaged with the show. However, I don’t think it’s perfect. It’s definitely good, but not the grandiose masterpiece I head people claim it to be

A lot of my issues with the series come down to its potential not being fully realized. I think the concept of a Scooby series with a ongoing plot has so much potential and wild ideas to give, and this show has a lot of ideas, but it’s in the execution of those said ideas that has the whole thing to kind of crumble

Firstly: The Mystery Gang. I can see what they tried doing here. Much like “What’s New Scooby Doo” they attempted to give the characters more unique character types for new gags and to further their relationship with each other. This aspect of relationships is extended on much more in this show and I admire that a lot. It plays into the center theme of togetherness the show clearly is trying to tell, however these new additions can become very grating after a while.

Fred— I think he definitely has the most focus compared to the rest of the gang, and I think this makes sense due to him being the leader. My main issue however is just how unapologetically self-centered he can be. His whole shtick is his love for traps, and this joke is repeated throughout the WHOLE series. They don’t do anything to differentiate the joke, it’s always “That Fred boy and his traps god damn”. It honestly becomes an issue and it leads to that being the only thing he cares about truly, and I’ve heard this defended as a part of his arc and how it’s clearly an alagory for addiction, and fine. Say that it is, my issue is that he doesn’t change at all by the end of the series. He’s called out for his obsession and selfish behavior but he doesn’t do anything to ramify his actions, he goes back to being the same.

This further touches on my biggest problem with the show, it feels like it’s trying to be both a story-driven show and a episodic show. This divide of desires made it kind of a chore to binge watch, as the characters rarely go through any big changes that makes their arcs meaningful. At the end of the day, it will always be Scooby and the gang solving mysteries. The ongoing plot is really interesting but it rarely affects the characters in a way that means something for the structure of the show.

This issue most likely exists because stuff like Gravity Falls or Steven Universe weren’t around yet, story driven animation wasn’t as established as it is now and because of that the show constantly feels like it has an identity crisis as it balances all of its really interesting concepts together but they don’t build up to anything.

Daphne— I think a big focus was put into making her not the damsel in distress that they forgot to give her an actual identity of her own. Her whole thing through the series is that she is an outcast within her family and doesn’t fit in like her sisters, however A. We never have that focused on to create a purpose for its inclusion and B. Daphne isn’t crafted to fit into this narrative. If she’s supposed to be an outcast, then make her character into something of an opposite to her family. Having her less rude than her family is not writing a character, it’s writing a story vehicle. Daphne being a clothe centric popular girl was cliche, yes, but it was a personality. The only thing I associate with her in this show is her romance with Fred. (This is not ok, btw. I dunno if you knew that so I might as well label it here in the parentheses, but hey what do I know)

Velma— I think that Velma’s arc through the series feels the most complete out of any of the other characters. Throughout the show we see her use her intelligence as a way to justify her sarcastic and rude behavior. She’s shown to be bossy and immature at times of stress, and as the series progresses she learns to be more caring for her friends and furthermore has to come to terms with the fact that monsters actually exist and her intelligence can’t be used to solve everything. One thing I will say however, is that her relationship with Shaggy didn’t feel important whatsoever and went nowhere. I think maybe they intended it to be juxtaposed with her and Marci’s relationship, but because TV was scared of those new foundled g a y s at the time they didn’t let those ideas fully blossom which kind of blows. So yea, Velma’s the best part of the series and i will fight with that opinion till the day I die

Shaggy and Scooby— You’re probably wondering “Why are these two lumped together” and aside from my hands getting tired of typing, it comes down to the fact that these characters didn’t really change much from their previous incarnations. I think Scooby has been made more cuter, which works for him, but aside from that not much has really changed for the two

SD:MI is a good show, and I’ll most likely make a post in the future detailing some of my favorite aspects, dont let me opinions ruin your enjoyment of it. I just think that it has a lot of elements that for me personally bogged down the enjoyment. I wouldn’t try binging the series in a sitting if you plan on watching it, I think spreading it out makes for a more enjoyable experience even with the plot aspects.

Because I’m a basic bitch, my number rating for this show is a 7.5/10 (that’s not a bad thing trust me)