#i want more people to watch sbk so bad

[quinehwo]

people who said that hyperfixations will make you better at art are real because what the fuck do you mean I'm doing lighting and animation studies because of a MINECRAFT SMP??????

[liunaticfringe]

Lucy Liu Takes Stock Of Elementary, A Character's Death, And Life As A Director - CBS.com

Posted on May 8, 2017 05:00am                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Lucy Liu, who stars as Joan Watson on Elementary and directed the episode "Moving Targets," shares her take on being behind the camera, Joan's emotional story arc, and more. This is your third time in the Director's chair on Elementary, congratulations! What is it like directing AND acting in an episode. Does it get easier or harder over time? Lucy Liu: Thank you! I always have such an incredible time directing and it's a special privilege when I have the opportunity to direct on this show, which I know so thoroughly from the inside out. Acting and directing at the same time is always a logistical challenge—mostly because I have to prep for the episode at the same time that I'm acting in the previous one. It's busy and hectic, but I love it! I wouldn't say it gets easier, but having more experience directing and acting simultaneously now does help me to stay organized and know what to expect. I'm incredibly lucky to have such a top rate cast and crew to help me. I love being able to implement decisions from the outside and then see them realized from the inside—it's exciting and such an adrenaline rush once we actually begin filming. Directing is truly a passion for me. When directing, do you prefer sticking to the original script, or do you like leaving room for improvisation on set? Lucy: I generally stick to the script. Elementary is a thoroughly written show and I think the writers do a great job of thinking about each scene from every angle. I like to honor the work they do. At the same time, we have some incredible actors in this show, and I want for them to feel free inside of their decisions for their characters as well. It's a balancing act, but for a complicated and layered show like this, I tend to stick to the original intent from the creators. What was it like directing a scene on location at Chelsea Piers? Lucy: Loved it—it was so fun! It's always nice to shoot on location—especially by the water. We also lucked out because it was a beautiful day outside. The energy from the cast and crew elevated everything, so we had a good time. My son came to visit me at the location and he had a blast playing around with all the speciality background professionals we had for that scene. We had giant bubbles, balloon animals, jugglers, you name it! It was like a dream for him! This is a very emotional episode for Joan, how did you prepare considering your dual role? Lucy: It's definitely an emotional episode for Joan. Over the course of her arc on the show as a whole, she experiences a wide range of moral dualities—she's constantly having to make decisions while taking into consideration the immense effect they could have on the people around her. In terms of preparation, I had to mentally dig back through her experiences and think about her head space in this current moment—she's been through a lot in the last few years. It's always helpful for me to think about her recent past and consider the "why" when she has emotional reactions. In the case of Shinwell—I am always re-defining her attachment to him. I think at this point she feels incredibly protective of him for many reasons, and his loss weighs heavily on her—in some ways she feels responsible for his downfall. What was your reaction when you found out Shinwell would be murdered, and what was it like directing his last episode of Elementary? Lucy: When I heard Shinwell would be murdered, I wasn't all that surprised to be honest. I think the writers did a great job of making the viewer root for him, despite his past transgressions and questionable morality. I think in the end we want to know that he is, at his core, a good person. Being that deep inside of a dangerous gang like SBK, he had to know that he was walking on delicate ground—he could blow his cover at any moment. I think it makes sense that in the end he would essentially sacrifice himself for the greater good. Directing his last episode was bitter-sweet. I've had a great time working with Nelsan [who plays Shinwell]—he's incredibly talented and a wonderfully complex addition to the show. I'm sad to see him go, but I think his arc was fulfilled in a very interesting way—his demise will leave an important imprint on the leads. Sherlock said Shinwell was driven by revenge and Shinwell claims his actions are driven by a desire for atonement. What do you think fuels Shinwell's desire to take down SBK? Lucy: I think atonement is part of it—and revenge was certainly a factor—but I don't think his motivation is quite so clear cut. I think he's human—he has a wide range of emotionally-based decisions, and sometimes it's hard to pinpoint exactly why he makes the choices that he does. He is constantly teetering back and forth between his desire to make up for his bad choices in the past, and having dangerous instincts formed by years and years of gang activity. In many ways we have to question whether its his innate characteristics that drive his actions or if he is simply a product of his experiences. Sherlock expresses his fear of losing Watson should he ever "lose his way." But at this point, do you think there's any circumstance where Joan would actually abandon Sherlock? Lucy: I believe resolutely in Joan's love for Sherlock. He is the cornerstone of the life she's built for herself, and I think his role in her life is of the utmost importance. If she does choose to betray or abandon him, I think it would have to be a result of some truly extenuating circumstances. He would have to really f***k up! Watch "Moving Targets" (Season 5, Episode 22 of Elementary) now on CBS All Access. Watch Elementary on Sundays at 10/9c on CBS and CBS All Access.

[theromanticrationalist]

More Thoughts on Elementary

Just got done watching 5x23 Scrambled, and it certainly is living up to its title. I’m just upset with how awful the writing is for this season! WHY.

Now, it isn’t that I don’t like what is happening, but just how badly it is being written to happen. My beef about this episode is introducing this random “mysterious” woman. What the heck? You can’t just introduce such a pivotal element in the episode just before the finale with no build up or anything! Just blindsided by a plot development! From what it looks like, this is signs of Sherlock Holmes spiraling down a very bad rabbit hole, but we’ve had no indication of this whatsoever this whole season! People are speculating that this hallucination (which it undoubtedly is, since she is named “May” in the credits, and she talks to Sherlock in very motherly tone), is something that was triggered by Shinwell’s beating him up. Yet I see no causality there! We’ve literally had no emotional indication from Sherlock Holmes regarding that beating since it happened, and now BOOM he’s hallucinating? That’s not how it works! 

Now, Sherlock has hallucinated before, such as when his friend Alistair passed away from an overdose. That was a little odd, considering the tone of this show, but it made sense in the end. It was heartfelt and moving since we had known Alistair was his close friend from previous episodes, and it was during the tumultuous time of Sherlock’s recovery. It made sense. 

Hallucinating his mother would’ve made sense coming off of Season 4. Sherlock vs Morland Holmes was intense and volatile, and it unearthed so much from their past. We learned about May Holmes, how close Sherlock was to her, and how abusive Morland was to her and his sons, or at the very least neglectful and cold-hearted. Yet we also learned that May Holmes was also an addict, thus revealing another very important connection between Sherlock and his mother, someone he truly loved. The emotional high of S4 would’ve been a good segue into this hallucination and Sherlock’s not being able to have a handle on himself anymore. He is clearly shaken, and seeing Shinwell’s betrayal and tragic failure definitely is unearthing a lot with him. 

Yet none of this makes sense because all of S5 Sherlock and Watson have been merrily solving cases without a care in the world! Save for a few poignant moments of a few episodes, things have been pretty peachy for them. Or at least, the writers have not even given us a glimpse into any of the emotional turmoil going on within our characters. Now that they have suddenly decided to do this, it is really disorienting. It is like we have to disregard most of this season, and just connect the emotional dots ourselves from the storyline of S4! Ugh.

The one good thing about this episode, and something that they have sort of been good at building, is Watson’s pragmatism and vigilantism. She’s been increasingly becoming more and more hardcore as the seasons have progressed, and her wanting to take SBK down is the pinnacle of this new Watson we are seeing. I’m hoping that at least in this we’ll get to see some juicy Watson stuff! She’s been so focused on taking SBK down, she’s let it come between her and Sherlock! She’s not even aware of the struggles he is going through, whereas previously old Watson would have been much more in-tune with Sherlock’s moods. I really liked the scene of this episode where Sherlock comes out (looking all snuggly!) from having overslept (!!!), and Watson has been up all night! She’s on fire, and getting down to business! She can’t sleep until the job is done, something that is usually Sherlock’s thing. Yet Sherlock is disoriented with sleep in his eyes, trying to keep up with Watson’s train of logic and sequence of events as she relates it to him. It was a really good scene that said so much without having to say much, but where have these types of scenes been all season?! Ugh.

So yeah, I’m upset by this very poor writing of the characters and plots this season. My hope is that the finale offer some respite from this, and that we’ll get a really stellar S6! One can only hope.