#in that i talk about the imdb cast listings

[butterflydm]

speculation for wot 2x6-2x8

Okay, I talked about this briefly during my last book spoilers rewatch for 2x5, but I wanted to take another look over the imdb listings for the last three episodes and take a guess at the storylines we'll be tracing. disclaimer: it's imdb, so grain of salt about the accuracy.

2x6: Eyes Without Pity

For the Cairhien storylines:

Siuan is listed in this episode, so I suspect that this may be the episode when she arrives in Cairhien (either that or she's in flashbacks in this episode and then shows up in person in ep7 if the royal wedding happens then)

Lanfear is listed for all the remaining episodes, so we're going to get our continuation of the Rand & Lanfear scene. Logain is also listed, so we may see Logain training Rand, or attempting to train him.

Min is listed, so this is likely the episode when Mat and Min arrive in Cairhien.

Both Anvaere and Barthanes are listed to appear as well.

For the White Tower plotlines:

We have Verin, Yacissa, and Tomas all appearing, likely continuing the Black Ajah Hunt thread.

We also have Liandrin, Alurdan (her son), and Joiya. Speculation: this may be when Liandrin's son dies, which would free her to leave Tar Valon with Joiya to do Black Ajah Hijinks in 2x7.

For Lan:

We've seen in the trailer that he's going to have a confrontation with Alanna and her Warders. Don't know exactly how it's going to turn out, except that Lan will likely end up in Cairhien either at the end of this episode or in episode 7.

For our big stuff in Falme:

In Egwene's part of the plotline, Renna, Miri (the blonde damane), and Maigan are all listed. I'm putting Maigan here because I suspect that she might already be damane at this point (having another Aes Sedai in hiding in Falme seems redundant since we already have Ryma).

We have Loial & Ingtar listed, but we don't have Masema or the other Shienarans, so they may still be in their seafoam-green slave clothes in this episode while they try to figure out a way to save Egwene. Suroth is listed and may interact with them -- Turak, however, is not listed for this episode.

And in Nynaeve & Egwene's part of the plotline, we have Ryma and Basan (her Warder).

Aviendha is not listed, so this will likely be an episode without Perrin, which would make sense, as they are traveling towards Falme.

For 2x7: Daes Da'Mar

For Cairhien storylines:

We have Siuan again! I was braced for only one Siuan episode so I'm glad to see her name again and hope it is accurate. We have all the Damodreds, we have Logain, we have a "Sun Palace Servant", and we have Hayley Mills playing an unknown role. Is Siuan in Cairhien for the wedding and Hayley Mills is playing the Queen? Is this the flashback episode and Hayley Mills is Gitara Sedai?

Min is not listed for this episode (or the next), so if imdb is accurate, then she is going to split off from everyone else in episode 2x6 and will not be going to Falme.

Rand is going to be doing some more training and maybe attend a royal wedding and leave in the middle through a Waygate with his group.

The note of 'Natti Cauthon' being listed for this episode is particularly interesting. Might be Ishamael messing with Mat in TAR?

For the White Tower:

Alanna & her two Warders might end up here after their conversation with Lan in 2x6. If so, she can talk with Verin (who is listed along with Yacissa again), which might lead into the two of them collaborating next season. Maybe in a nice… mountainous region.

It looks like we'll see Liandrin and Joiya as well, but Liandrin's son is not listed for this episode.

For Falme:

I think this is the episode Perrin & Aviendha arrive in/near Falme and it looks like they meet up with Bain and Chiad at this point. Interestingly, Loial is listed for this episode but Ingtar is not.

In Egwene's part of the storyline, we have Maigan, Renna, Seta, and a character named Mulean (in the books, she's another of the sul'dam, the one who runs the damane quarters).

Ryma is not listed.

For 2x8: What Was Meant To Be

I think this is going to be pretty much entirely a Falme episode, with Rand & co having left Cairhien at the end of 2x7. None of the Cairhiein-related characters are listed. None of the White Tower-related characters are listed.

Of note: Bayle Doman is listed; Amaresu (one of the Heroes of the Horn) is listed; Uno is listed; Maigan is still there. Everyone else is basically who we would have expected, with the addition of maybe getting another of those Age of Legends cold opens, as LTT is listed.

Once again, we do not have Ryma, and we do not have Min.

So, some speculation overall:

We're going to see more Black Ajah cat-and-mouse in the White Tower in episodes 6 & 7, but by the end of episode 7, I think it's likely that Liandrin and Joiya are preparing or have left the White Tower for future Black Ajah Hijinks elsewhere (we might get a stinger at the end of the season of one of the other Forsaken being released: likely Moghedien but maybe Rahvin or his equivalent).

Yacissa might get killed by the Black Ajah, which would be heartbreaking. I like her!

I think Alanna & her Warders are going to end up in the White Tower as well, and we may get indicators of her plotline joining up with Verin's, and it might be more weighted towards Black Ajah investigation as opposed to "let's seek out strong channelers" but would still lead them towards the Two Rivers for s3.

Leane will continue to be the de factor leader of the Tower during this time.

Rand is going to get some training -- in the waking world by Logain (and I think he'll realize the limits of the training that Logain can give him in his current state) and potentially in TAR by Lanfear, if he tries to create a wedge between Ishamael and Lanfear and imply that maybe he's open to his old relationship if she helps him out.

Moiraine's focus in these episodes will be on trying to guide Rand (teaching him politics? Rand getting lessons in three different fields at the same time… maybe even four once Lan shows up)

I think Lan will arrive in Cairhien either at the end of 2x6 or the start of 2x7, after he has his confrontation with Alanna's Warders.

During these two episodes is when we will see Siuan in Cairhien -- reuniting with Moiraine, speaking with Rand, and at least one flashback with Moiraine at the White Tower.

Min and Mat are going to arrive in Cairhien in 2x6 (the promo shot of Min in the Foregate) and then something will happen that makes them split up -- if Min confesses to Mat about Liandrin to try to warn him about Ishamael or the viewing, Mat might decide that he can't trust her. Mat and Rand will end up running into each other and Mat will go with Rand to Falme.

I do think that the stabbing viewing is going to 'come true' this season, so that the audience isn't left hanging on it, and I'm very curious about the approach that they're going to be taking with Mat and Rand as a whole, because there are some key differences about their relationships with the concept of the Dragon Reborn as opposed to the books.

At the royal wedding during 2x7, Rand, Mat, Moiraine, and Lan all leave through a Waygate. Logain either stays in Cairhien or Siuan takes him back to the White Tower with her in 2x7. We may or may not see the consequences of the wedding in Cairhien on-screen this season, but Cairhien will probably be in chaos the next time we see it in the show.

So that's the thread of four of our main characters on their road to Falme.

In Falme itself, next episode looks like it's going to focus on damane training and on Elayne & Nynaeve learning about the situation in Falme from Ryma. This is the first time we'll see Nynaeve spending any significant amount of time with a Yellow Sister.

That Maigan is listed for the final three episodes and Ryma is only listed for 5 & 6 does make me wonder if we'll be introduced to Maigan as 'Pura' and Ryma leaves the show with more of a bang. Obviously, she can still be captured and then just not shown for the last two episodes (or imdb could be incorrect), but the cast listings do make me wonder.

Egwene is… it's gonna be rough. I suspect that Loial is going to take the place of Min in being the friend who visits Egwene and sees how terrible her situation is - I think that may take place in 2x7, as Loial but not Ingtar is listed for that episode.

Perrin and Aviendha are scheduled to arrive in Falme in 2x7, it looks like, and we'll get to see Aviendha reunite with Bain & Chiad and we may get more explanations about the Car'a'carn, or the show might choose to leave it a mystery for now. Ingtar isn't listed for 2x7, so I don't think we'll get Egwene's jailbreak until 2x8. Given the cast lists, 2x7 is probably going to focus on Cairhien and getting them through their plots there and then yeeting them to Falme, with slightly less focus on Falme and with the White Tower plotline being wrapped up for the season (I worry that Yacissa is going to get murdered by the Black Ajah, aka Liandrin and Joiya).

It looks like we may get an LTT cold open for 2x8; probably either with Ishamael or with Lanfear. I'm leaning towards Ishamael, since I think 2x8 will… be an Ishamael-focused episode in a way (I think it's his expectations that are going to get violated rather than Our Heroes, in a reversal of 1x8). Last season, it was Moiraine on behalf of Team Light making big promises that they were going to win it all, but as of 2x5, Ishamael is the one who currently believes that he's on track to win the whole board game by 2x8.

In 1x8, Rand mistakenly believes that he's facing the Last Battle but his enemy has hidden cards up his sleeve that destroy Rand's victory; will 2x8 be that in reverse, where Ishy thinks he has everything all sewn up and then his plans fall to pieces?

I suspect that Perrin might actually kill Daddy Bornhald in this version, thus marrying the two plotlines of him actually killing Whitecloaks and being suspected of killing Daddy Bornhald. And I think it might happen because Daddy Bornhald kills Hopper when Hopper leaps in to protect Perrin at some point during 2x8. I don't want Hopper to die, so I hope this speculation is wrong! (I mean, we'll keep seeing him even if he dies, but I will be sad!)

I think Elayne and Nynaeve rescuing Egwene is likely to be fairly similar to the books overall.

I'm really curious how the Horn is going to end up in Mat's hands and how much overlap we'll get between the plot threads as they converge on Falme. And if we believe imdb, then Uno might reappear again as one of the Heroes of the Horn.

Since it's implied that we're going to get the sky battle between Ishamael and Rand (it's been mentioned twice, once by Verin and once by Ishy), that also implies that Rand will face Turak early in the episode, maybe that is what kicks off the rest of the fighting?

One of the big things I'm hoping for is that we'll get some downtime with the group after the big events all go down or some strong reunion moments and meetings during the big events, because there will probably be another time skip between s2 & s3, and it might be easier for the show if at least some people are already in their new locations by the s3 premiere. (I am hoping that Avirandlayne all get introduced to each other, for example)

[toa-arania]

I found Touhou on IMDB and then it got worse.

So there's a bit of a story behind this, as there should be with any post. I have spent the past *checks clock* fifteen minutes and counting losing my goddamn mind over this.

Touhou 1-11, including 7.5 but not 9.5 or 10.5 for some reason, are all on IMDB. This is not that strange, as many video games are listed there for their writing or voice credits. What's weird is how I discovered this. I heard a voice in, of all things, a four and a half hour video about the Lego Ninjago show and how badly it fumbles its women. One of the characters sounded a bit like Azula ATLA so I checked. It was not the same VA. Then I saw this.

And then I saw this.

Now the sharp-witted amongst you may have noticed the tiny little inconsistency that

TOUHOU DOES NOT HAVE VOICE ACTING

Touhou has never had voice acting, especially not back in 2003 when PCB came out. There's also the detail that Layla Prismriver does not appear in PCB, nor does she appear in any Touhou game outside of her mention in the character profile of the Prismrivers, which firmly establishes her as very dead and thusly incapable of speech. You'll be pleased to know that it continues to get worse.

This is not the plot of PCB. What the fuck do you mean only one of these heroines intends to stop it. The cast list is also fucking bizarre.

Merlin and Lunasa are here but fuck Lyrica I guess. Alice and Youmu are not credited and REIMU ISN'T HERE EITHER. Youki Konpaku is credited. Youki Konpaku is not in this game. The goddamn Saigyou Ayakashi (which is spelt disastrously wrong here of course) is given a voice credit. THAT IS A TREE. THAT IS A TREE THAT DOES NOT TALK IN A GAME THAT DOES NOT HAVE VOICE ACTING. I AM GOING INSANE. WHERE IS REIMU.

Now obviously what I did at this point is start checking the other ones, and th8, 9, and 10 don't really have much interesting going on other than a continued and bizarre lack of Reimu in all of them. 6, 7.5, and 11 however are all bizarre for fun new reasons. Let's start with Subterranean Animism and work backwards.

I was suspicious of the lack of images so I went to check all of their pages and they're mostly men as far as I can tell. Most of them are credited in a film called Sule, Ay Need You, which a brief google has only barely convinced me is a real film that exists in the first place. It has a wikipedia article in indonesian. One of them, however (the only one with a picture) has been in eleven million different things with reasonably big parts. I have no idea what's going on here. With the player character situation there are eight characters uncredited not including Koishi, who is also nowhere to be seen (which feels strangely appropriate) and Sanae who I remembered literally as I was typing this is in th11.

Moving on to Immaterial and Missing Power:

TGHAT'S REIMU

Also I'm pretty sure Meiling wasn't in IaMP? (According to a quick google she was added in a patch but not given a story mode). Anyway the sudden appearance of Reimu is the only real interesting thing here because random cast absences are just so commonplace now. Now lastly for the weird fucking pages we have the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and oh wow this one is something else.

Where do I even begin. Reimu is gone again. Three separate people are credited as Remilia. Actually most characters are credited twice except for Marisa and Sakuya for some reason. Sometimes they specify (voice) and sometimes they just don't. Most characters have [Character Name] and [Character Name (Voice)] which implies that one person is doing mocap or operating a puppet or something while another voices them but then there's just Rumia and Rumia. Who voices Rumia. Remilia has three fucking credits. Marisa and Sakuya get to be normal people. Reimu and Patchouli are just fucking gone. What the hell is happening.

And now it gets stranger once again because I said th1-11 earlier, not th6-11. The PC-98 games are all here too. However. Those pages are all just. Normal. ZUN is credited as the writer. There are correct plot summaries. No voices are credited. The name format is even different (Touhou [Number] [Japanese name]: [English name] instead of just Touhou [Japanese name]: [English name]). They're far too good quality. It honestly feels like whoever uploaded the PC-98 games is a different person to whoever's been doing their bizarre uploads of the windows games.

Now at this point I was looking for other interesting stuff to add - IMDB has Did You Know segments that had fun little details about the games, which seemed to be accurate. It also has a More Like This section linking to the other pages and-

...

...

Luna Nights is here too.

...

LUNA NIGHTS ALSO DOESN'T HAVE VOICE ACTING!!!!!!!!

[hesgomorrah]

Trapper John, M.D. Masterpost

TL;DR, Trapper John, M.D. is a criminally underrated M*A*S*H spin-off that I'd love to see given a shot at redemption. Links to watch it are under the cut.

Since I've been talking about this show a lot recently, I thought it would probably be a good idea to make it easier to find, since it's fairly obscure nowadays.

If you've never heard of it, I don't blame you. TJMD is a M*A*S*H spin-off that ran from 1979 to 1986, with a contemporary setting and generally more dramatic tone but the same irreverent sense of humor and at times surprisingly progressive writing as its predecessor. It follows Trapper John McIntyre thirty-ish years after the Korean War, contending with medical mysteries and changing times as Chief Surgeon of a major hospital in San Francisco.

The series has few direct references to the events of M*A*S*H (in any of its previous forms), but it features a compelling ensemble cast of original characters that take many tropes M*A*S*H fans will be familiar with in new directions. Especially if you enjoyed the first three seasons of M*A*S*H, I highly recommend giving at least a handful of episodes a shot. The quality of said episodes varies wildly, but there are some true gems in there. (IMDb and Wikipedia links for more information!)

The only catch is, to date, the series has never been officially released to home media or any streaming platform, and I haven't found any evidence that it's still in syndication, so it's not the easiest show to track down. Luckily, all 151 episodes were recorded by dedicated fans, so the series is watchable in (very nearly) its entirety if you know where to look. I did the looking so you don't have to!

This Google Drive contains every episode of the series (with the exceptions listed below) in standard definition, plus my work-in-progress episode guide, highlighting episodes that are relevant to longer story arcs and offering a non-exhaustive list of content warnings for especially heavy episodes. (I'm looking for another place to host them but Google is the platform I'm most familiar with.)

Episodes 1x01 through 3x02 can be found in better quality here, remastered by a fan by combining footage from separate English- and German-language recordings of the series. It occasionally lapses into German audio with English subtitles as the German dub contains some scenes for which the corresponding English audio has been lost. Here is an alternate YouTube link with lower video quality but exclusively English audio, containing roughly 2/3 of the episodes.

If you speak German, you can find that dub here with slightly cleaner visuals.

If you prefer to torrent, you can find those here:

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4 (the second half of 4x20 is corrupted, repeating the same ~2 minutes of footage for the rest of the duration)

Season 5 (5x11 is missing roughly the last 10 minutes of the episode)

Season 6 (the video is frozen for most of 6x23 but the audio is fully intact)

Season 7

[maybe-boys-do-love]

The Trainee, Episode 10: Direction

Take a break from the discourse around the couples to appreciate the references to directing in this episode! From the literal meanings to directions in life.

We open on Ryan's dad directing Jane's photoshoot. lol. You fix those clothes, Ryan ;) And Jane, give us a smile like your falling head over heels for someone.

2. Then we get Pah (making friends with every single person at the office, as usual) directing the front desk assistant (I haven't caught her name and she's not on the mydramalist or imdb cast and crew list) to a spot for lunch. Then we have the accounting manager come in and show us how her and Pah's relationship has grown. The scene reminds us that Pah, since early on in the show, has demonstrated incredible relationship building skills--a necessity for any director. And these relationships come to a beautiful fruition in this episode.

3. Tae, on the other hand, emerges as a directionless ghost, jump-scare appearance and all! Heartbroken and provided with downtime by his department for the first time during his internship, he has no idea what to do with himself.

4. Pi and Ryan are seemingly talking about the controversial Todd Haynes film, Joker, from 2019. If you're either knowledgeable about the Batman franchises or interested like me in trying to figure out why the writers chose this film to include as a conversation point, you'll realize that Harvey Dent was not in Joker. He was, however, in The Dark Knight in 2008, directed by Christopher Nolan. This mix-up between the movies seems intentional when we look at the theories of directing and humanity the show is exploring, which I'll expand on in number 5! In Joker, we get a depiction of a single misunderstood victim genius who takes out his suffering and any failures of his art on others and inspires other people who feel hurt and misunderstood to do the same. In Dark Knight, we have the day saved thanks to a collective group of people's refusal to harm others despite threats that others will be forced to harm them, and, as far as Harvey Dent, his reputation is preserved despite his failings because of the hope it can bring others. The comparison sets up a comparison between the individual heroes and villains versus the collective, which is a really important comparison to ideas the show explores about directors (and is just really important in general theories of direction like conversations about auteur theory, etc.). Note that Jane says in this ep that he doesn't like hero movies...

5. We then see Judy directing Ba Mhee on how to correct her typo on a document. She's checking over a draft before it goes out, like a good director ought to, but Judy's direction of Ba Mhee, of course, gets taken up as a motif and major sticking point for their dynamic in this episode as it encroaches into personal time rather than just work. We have witnessed that outside of work, Ba Mhee is actually quite capable and eager to play the directing role.

I want to point to the specific typo mistake that read "God Pick" instead of the company's name of "Good Pick," though, because it seems to refer to one view of a director's role. Alfred Hitchcock explained, "...in fiction film the director is god; he must create life. And in the process of that creation, there are lots of feelings, forms of expression, and viewpoints that have to be juxtaposed. We should have total freedom to do as we like." So this moment of direction gives us two references, for the price of one!

Even more, it presents us with the theory of auteur Directors, that the show has been actively engaging with through the whole series. Does the director have a god-like power to pick and choose what they want their work to be without any input from others? Do individuals, as directors of our lives, get to pick and choose what we create out of them without others' input? To both answers, the show has emphatically replied, no! The studio is not called God Pick, it's 'Good Pick.' The director, just like each of us, is working on communicating with a whole massive team of people to bring a certain vision of theirs' to life within quite constrained limits. From budgets to time, from client desires to our own insecurities, we do our best to be good knowing that mistakes will be made and we can pick up and keep on going.

6. Baimon, the director of the studio, instructs Pie on some of the grunt work of directing. He's been presented as so flighty in the series, so it was nice to see him getting down to business in this fashion. That business, however, was printed upon the backs of some big emotions, which I think, in addition to being a funny little gag about Jane and Ryan's hidden relationship, is a beautiful metaphor about the combination of emotional and logistic work that directors, especially, are tasked with performing. A vulnerability lies under each shot and camera angle.

7. Idk if this was intentional, but the choice to show sticky-notes as the art department's current medium for this scene reminded me of directors story-boarding with sticky notes. It's also the moment Tae is encouraged to make an attempt at directing himself and providing his direction to his relationship with BaMhee in a way that's considerate of her desires.

8. Baimon directs Jane and Ryan in another intimate scene lol. He's staging them, referencing the storyboard, checking the camera, doing all the director jobs! And, of course, instead of a perfect god, he makes a mistake with the very basics of left and right that his intern corrects for him, and this mistake is not used by the show to signal to us as the audience that he's incompetent. It's to show that the people with 'big' dreams, visions, careers, or awards are not more special than those who choose to do the small tasks in life. Directors are the first job Ryan lists to Jane when talking about adults with special talents that he feels like he's supposed to aspire towards. Jane asks Ryan "Why must people want to become something big?"

There's also a development in Ryan and Jane's performance here. They're playing and improvising in the scene. It's a nice development for them as character and a sweet commentary on directors allowing actors to perform with some flexibility. Based on what I've read about Gun and Off's development as actors and a pair, their characters' development in their different stand-in moments almost seems like a commentary on Gun and Off's growth as a performing pairing, but that's just a fun stretch. Really, I'd say it's more representative of the growing comfort of actors in film work.

9. How could I not discuss one of my favorite sequences in the show (right up there with BaMhee's chase scene)?! Pah has been amassing a crew of comrades at the studio throughout the series, and I knew it was building towards something. I stated during the first shoot when he was a part of Unit B that I could see his arc leading him to becoming a director because he was just so good at befriending and organizing people. And here's where he becomes the director! Not through his personal auteur vision, but through his communication with others!

I had been imagining this plot development in some fashion for a while. Getting it would've satisfied me. Great comedy for me, however, is about seeing a well-constructed set-up pay off for a better value than you could've expected. The Alfred Hitchcock quote above comes from a portion of an interview about plausibility in fiction and his films. He ends the quote by saying, "A critic who talks to me about plausibility is a dull fellow." The moment Pah slid off his sling, The Trainee leapt out of the realm of plausibility it had meticulously built to give us a stratospheric pay-off to the joke it had been building for 9 episodes. And it was a joke grounded in the deepest themes of the show, praising every creator and assistant working in the background of this show and all the shows we love. It made my heart so full. It presented a democratic vision of a director's role (in a country where people continue to need to fight for their democratic values). And, it did it all while making me laugh.

10. Despite all the people running this scene and Judy giving Ba Mhee so much direction in the workplace, it's Ba Mhee who finally gets to realize her direction in life here. Notably, she's let go of the big overly romantic dreams and visions. She's come to appreciate and understand the importance of the seemingly mundane aspects of her relationships, the day-to-day jobs of directing one's life, and she's directing Tae to commit to this direction, too. Directing involves paying attention to the small things, the communication, and the people who help make them meaningful.

There's a beautiful transition between Judy's conversation with BaMhee and Tae's where they fade into one another exactly, letting us know in some ways that Judy and BaMhee could've had a conversation and started growing and finding a direction together, too. The problem as BaMhee points out is not finding an exact right fit. She just still has feelings for Tae, which would make developing a relationship with Judy more challenging. It was mature and honest, and that precious little fade let us know the show saw the possibilities for BaMhee to love them both. Has a film cutting choice ever been so bisexually coded???

10. It's a cute little reversal that our final scene is one of the first steps in directing: the concept stage. We also get Jane's appreciation, not only for Ryan's ideas here, but for all the things Ryan does at his family's business that align with the same kind of work happening in a production house. It sets the two of them on equal footing, disrupting this fantasy of the film industry and the class systems that could divide them. And Ryan's other insecurity about feeling too immature and un-adult to compare to the people at the office, which is a another division that might separate Jane and Ryan (HOW OLD IS JANE!?!?!?!) also got a dressing down ;) during this episode. We're getting ever closer to Ryan feeling ready to direct his own life!!!

[agatharkn3ss]

Spoilers - Casting summary

I had a good look through Agatha's credits on IMDB. Now I don't know how much we can believe them and how much Marvel wants to hide/troll us. It is also expected that the names will only be added there once the episodes had aired. But there could be some interesting conclusions based on the current listings...

Kathryn Hahn - credited for all 9 episodes (phew) - her backstory (and therefore the Spirit trial) has been rumoured to be in ep.7 but I think it's actually ep.6 (that's also the one that has the Intimacy Coordinator - it would make sense they would need one to explain Agatha x Rio history - a girl can hope!).

Joe Locke - credited for all 9 episodes (btw, my theory is his story will be revealed in ep.5 - the slumber party one. I think we will see a flashback of him trying to open the Witches' Road all by himself, and we possibly start seeing his blue power on the Road)

Sasheer Zamata - credited for 8 episodes (obvs didn't appear in the first one). I can actually well believe that because I think she'll be with us until at least ep.8 (because I think that's the hospital/asylum one) and we also see her in a promo scene where they somehow end up back at the start of the Road and Agatha trips over someone's shoes, with Jen and Teen walking behind her

Ali - credited for 8 episodes (obvs didn't appear in the first one) - this one I am a little dubious, because I have a feeling Alice will disappear at some point, probably during ep5 (80s slumber party). There were images of her wielding her power (fiery orange), probably attacking/protecting someone. But we can't see her in any of the later episodes promos. We do however see Agatha using a bit of red magic. Also, in the end credits, for split second there is "Can you talk to the Dead?" text above the pentacle. We expect ouija board to appear in ep.5, spelling "Death". So this could be some foreshadowing?

Patti - credited for 8 episodes (obvs didn't appear in the first one) - I think Lilia is with us until at least ep.7 (or 6, depends on what info you believe) - that's the one I believe to be her tarot trial (and we see Agatha as the Wicked Witch of the West and Jen looks like the Evil Queen hag from Snow White). And in one oh his interviews, when asked about his favourite episode and why, Joe Locke says "episode 7, Patit Lupone". So I hope this is going to be good!

Debra - unfortunately, she seems to be only credited for 3 episodes. But I still hope this is Marvel being secretive and that Sharon comes back at least as the "spirit-guide" at some point.

Aubrey - credited for 7 episodes - so every one except for ep.2 & 3. Which is interesting if true - because I vaguely remember people saying she was credited for 8 episodes, making them think that Rio was the Death figure we saw in ep.3 Lilia's nightmare. So maybe she's not Death or maybe Marvel is trolling. I am also not sure how long Rio stays with us - I believe ep.8 is Earth trial (AND it's the second episode that will have the Intimacy Coordinator...!!!!!) but the episode seems Jen-centred and Rio is nowhere to be seen.

Okwui - credited for 7 episodes. She is Vertigo - the head of Salem Seven. She was briefly seen in ep.2 and, if the credits are right, she will now appear in every future episode - probably hunting the coven along the Road. Sounds like they have a bigger part than I originally thought, I'm excited to find out why they are chasing them - and is it really Agatha? Or maybe they are chasing Teen instead? Her animal form is Cicada, which is interesting, because does anyone remember - the mysterious cicada appeared a couple of times in Wandavision!

There is one final slot in the end credit that has not been filled so far:

People were hoping it was Wanda (doubtful) or... Mephisto?

So in the IMDB credits there is only other name who is assigned to a a significant number of episodes and that is :

Paul Adelstein - credited to 6 episodes, so he should appear in all of the future episodes, starting with ep4! He does not have a character name, but when you search for him, some sources say he plays Jeff Kaplan - so Teen's father if he's Billy. But would Jeff really get such an amount of screen time? And possibly his own end credit shot? I think there is more to him and that he might end up being a significant character, Mephisto or not. I would actually LOOOOVE him to be Nicholas Scratch, leading on his Salem Seven!

Or we are being blindsided and there is a secret character nobody knows of!

There are other actors where we know data is potentially incomplete:

Maria Dizzia is nowhere to be seen but she's supposed to be Teen's mother, Rebecca Kaplan. She appeared in the premiere carpet event, but could it be Marvel actually doing some more trolling...

Chloe Camp - she plays young Lilia, we saw her in ep.3 and she's said to have a recurring role, but IMDB only credits her for that one episode. I think it's probably because Marvel doesn't want to tell us which week we get the tarot trial

Scott Butler - he plays the Doctor from Jen's nightmare. Again, only credited for that one episode, but he's likely to come back to explain Jen's story?

[lol-jackles]

Why don’t you admit when you post incorrect info, such as your first statement that CM Production wasn’t one of the producers in Ackles’ new show? It was even listed in multiple articles. People apparently pointed it out and then you do this passive/aggressive dance, downplaying it. Why? Own your oopsies. Also, when someone asks about potential pay for a series, give your educated guess, and then stop. No need to drone on with a word salad about how much all the crew make, and every other cast member down to the PA. The question was just about Jensen. When someone goes on with irrelevant TMI, it comes across like they really don’t know the answer.

By the way, has anyone ever mentioned to you that it’s weird to create an entire tumblr blog about a celebrity that you claim to hate, yet follow so obsessively? SPN is definitely a “unique” fandom to research. I found you, someone named GooB, Patrick, Vinnie and a Kelios. I’m amazed Jensen and Jared don’t have 24 hour security. Just wild. A dissertation could be written on this convoluted fandom.

If you're talking about the IMDB site, Jensen is no longer listed as executive/producer Link.

You know what you need to do now, take your own words and admit that you are wrong and say that CMP/Jensen is not producer on The Countdown.

What passive aggressive dance? I don't dance, I straight up tell you what I think and why I think I'm right. It's me who has to remind you all when my theory doesn't pan out because despite appearances, I'm actually not a prophet.

"when someone asks about potential pay for a series, give your educated guess, and then stop."

Why did that part bother you so much? I'm genuinely curious. My readers know I have difficulties keeping it short but in the 8 years I've had this blog no one has ever demanded me to just "stop" lol. What triggered you?

I never said anything about how much crews and PA's make. Re-read and get back to me when you calmed down. Remember, inhale through the nose and exhale slowly through the mouth. You're welcome.

Interesting, how did you find me? Along with Goob, Patrick (a name he no longer identifies with) and Vinnie and Kelios? From butthurt Destiel shippers and Jensen stans on twitter? No wonder you're so mad and think that lol-jackles blog is All About Jensen when he actually only takes up 18% of my entire blog but you would know that if you bothered to read anything past your obsessive Jensen goggles.

[systematic-and-somehow-tragic]

1 Actor, 2 Characters - Due South : Pilot

Inspired by my realization that RCMP Officer 2 (Pilot) and Jocelyn Kerr (The Ladies' Man) are both played by Jennifer (Jen) Parsons, I decided to check the cast list from IMDb and see if there were any other actors who appear as 2 (or more) different characters in the due South universe. To my surprise, there are several from the pilot alone! Many of these characters lack readily available screenshots (and some I couldn't identify by name alone) so I went through the episodes to compile this side-by-side list.

I may continue this search through the rest of the episodes, mainly relying on cast information from IMDb, the credits of the episodes themselves, and these wonderful annotated transcripts. And since some characters are unnamed and/or uncredited, maybe I'll even spot some new ones! Also, I am 100% open to contributions and/or corrections, so if anyone has anything they'd like to add, I'm all ears!

Without further ado, listed by actor and mostly in order of appearance...

Paul Gross - I almost skipped PG before remembering that he has indeed played another character on dS! So here's PG as Benton Fraser (Pilot) and as Frannie's German fiancé (Dead Men Don't Throw Rice, S4E5)

2. Kimberly Ange - RCMP Officer 1 and also appears in Victoria's Secret Part 2 (S1E21) as an attorney named Boswell (credited as Kim Ange)

and

3. Jennifer Parsons, the one who started it all - RCMP Officer 2 and also appears in The Ladies' Man (S4E3) as Jocelyn Kerr, who wants to have bark tea with Fraser (credited as Jen Parsons)

4. Scot Dentor/Denton - RCMP Officer 4 (credited as Scot Dentor in the pilot but listed on IMDb as Scot Denton). IMDb also identifies Scot Denton as the uncredited actor who plays Pierce (the ambassador targeted in The Edge, S2E9)

5. Barry Kennedy *** - This one I'm not so sure on. Barry Kennedy plays a character called Bert Jenkins in the Pilot but as far as I could tell, no character is called this aloud in the episode itself. Working backwards from Kennedy's other dS credit (Sgt Eddie Polito in The Ladies' Man, S4E3, uncredited, per IMDb), I still struggled with a definitive ID. Based on the annotated transcript of TLM, I believe the man on the right in TLM screenshot below is Kennedy's character Polito. Based on this, and the fact that the supporting characters seem to be credited roughly in order of appearance in the Pilot, my best guess is that Kennedy's dS Pilot character is the pilot who talks to Fraser about the lack of geese and beavers. They look like they could possibly be the same guy?? Maybe?

6. Philip Williams - Herb Lantrell, the pilot who gives Fraser the list of American dentists who'd been hunting in the Pilot, also appears as the arms dealer Lloyd P Nash (the P does not stand for pertinent) in Bird in the Hand (S2E4).

7. JD/Jack Nicholsen - the unnamed Airport Hustler (credited as such even though he does return the money to Fraser at the end of the Pilot) is also 2 other characters: Caulfield (one of the bad guys stealing pets in The Wild Bunch, S1E15) and Joey (Denny Scarpa/Lady Shoes' trigger man in Odds, S4E6)

8. Gene Mack - the Chicago Desk Sergeant in the Pilot is also credited as Mason Dixon, the associate of Devlin (the boxing trainer in Mountie & Soul S3E7). Mack is credited as Chicago Desk Sergeant but does have a name tag in the Pilot, although it is quite blurry.

9. Dan Lett - Dr. Weingarten (the dentist in the Pilot) is also Carver Dunn (the creepy fan who uses blackmail to barter for the singer Tracy's stockings in Mountie Sings the Blues, S4E7)

10. Ramona Milano - Francesca Vecchio! And also appears as Deputy Bernie in Dr. Longball (S4E1).

Dr. Longball of course has other main cast members playing different characters, but I plan to cover those as I make my way through the episodes chronologically in the hopes that it'll help me keep track of which actors/episodes I've checked.

11. Sandi Stahlbrand - TV Reporter Shelley Perry from Channel 6 News in the Pilot and TV Reporter Tracy Wightman (apparently from Channel 7) in Red, White, or Blue (S2E17)

12. Kevin Rushton - an honorable mention! I didn't think to include Rushton until I saw the IMDb trivia point him out in the bar scene in the Pilot. Rushton does stunts on the show and presumably appears in several episodes, which I think thereby technically meets the brief of playing multiple characters (unless there is a case to be made that Rushton plays a recurring character role? which could be an interesting take). But either way, shout out to all the dS stunt folks!

IMDb specifically credits Rushton for appearances in Diefenbaker's Day Off (S1E2), A Cop, a Mountie and a Baby (S1E9), You Must Remember This (S1E11), and One Good Man(S2E8).

[psychic-refugee]

I had posted earlier on Percy being let go from the series, and deleted the post as I realized the article itself had no official statement. I always try my best to be fair and as informed as possible. Sometimes that means waiting and measuring my words carefully.

As of this post, I still haven’t seen a statement from Netflix, but cumulatively I think there is enough of an “implied statement” in the promos and other evidence that I believe Percy has indeed been dropped from the show.

Along with the article, Netflix has several promos without Percy, specifically where they list the cast, and he is not on it nor is he in the cast photo. In addition, and the firmest evidence so far IMO, IMDB no longer has him listed for 9 episodes or that it’s in his “upcoming” projects.

This is enough for me to make an informed decision to believe he was let go, even if Netflix never makes their own statement on the matter.

I don’t think it’s fair as I continue to affirm that it is only rumours against him, nothing substantive enough to let him go. It’s still early in the day, so there might be new evidence brought forward later today or in the coming weeks.

If and only when new evidence is brought forward, will I adjust my opinion. That is what being fair and impartial is about.

I also know enough about the corporate world that while not fair, sometimes the implication of impropriety is enough to sink someone.

All of that being said, I hope for good things in Percy’s future. Again, I do not think this is fair but it is what it is. People with better knowledge and experience made this decision, and beyond my own feelings it’s not right to judge them for how they proceed. I know better than most how these big decisions are never made lightly, and all the meetings and conversations that go into them.

Percy can stand on his talent, and he has other opportunities. I believe he will persevere, and we’ll see him in even more future projects.

I also wish good things for the cast and crew. I know they’re working hard to give the best show they can possibly make. Most of them were not part of the decision making, so it wouldn’t be fair to hold them accountable for something out of their hands. They have a right to do what is best for their own careers, and they too have a living to make.

Right now, my feelings are too raw to say I definitely will or will not watch S2, but it’ll be closer to a year before S2 premiers and I will likely feel different then. I do want to support the rest of the cast, and I do like the premise of the series itself. Right now, however, I am deeply disappointed in this decision.

I don’t allow anons, but I am here to talk fandom and I still plan on writing for Wenvier. My Tumblr DM is open.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

I am currently working my way through Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley, the totally light-hearted, definitely not agonizing section of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus where I get to watch countless acts of violence be committed against queer people. Thank fuck I have Lesbians waiting for me at the end of this unit. The films in Unit 4 are: Bent (1997), Strange Fruit (2004),Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Parting Glances (1986),Philadelphia (1993), The Living End (1992), Holding the Man (2015), Jeffery (1995), and Boys on the Side (1995).

Today I will be talking about

Holding the Man (2015) dir. Niel Armfield

[Run Time: 2hr 8 min, Available: Google Play, Language: English]

Summary: The warm, funny and achingly sad story of the 15-year-long love affair between Timothy Conigrave and the boy he fell in love with at high school, John Caleo. (IMDB)

Cast:

Ryan Corr as Timothy Conigrave

Sarah Snook as Pepe Trevor

Craig Stott as John Caleo

__

So, as anyone who has seen Ben’s syllabus should know, he was very intentional about setting it up as a lead in to BL. Sometimes I wonder how some of the movies may apply, but I definitely understood where he was coming from with this one…

Ben wanted to show any person going through the syllabus the parallels between BL and Western films that let 30 year olds in terrible wigs play high schoolers. 

He also definitely put this movie on the list because these characters are gay boys in a Catholic school. 

gif by @captnswilson

Anyway, I thought this film was very good, it started off very strong not only with the phone call that cannot be more than two minutes that tells you everything you need to know about the characters, how they are connected to each other, where they are in the present. Especially when you know by the time the phone disconnects that John is dead, especially when the camera cuts to three old men looking at Tim as he tries desperately to call back, a stark reminder that Tim and John will never reach old age. 

gif by @captnswilson

I think the biggest thing I was struggling with in this entire movie was how indiscrete Tim and John were being about their relationship. Like, seriously, full confession, I thought the consequences of their physical intimacy would be because of Catholicism. Shielded by my own age I guess in part, but also hugely because of their lack general lack of fear or discretion, I fully forgot it was illegal to be gay in 1970, when Tim is fully reaching his hand down John’s pants at school, and putting love letters on his desk at school, and giving John hand jobs in his living room, and fucking with the doors unlocked when their friends go out fishing. 

That said, I do appreciate that even under the threats from their school, from their parents, they choose each other over and over again. They are unfazed and unashamed of their relationship and I think that sets the movie up to be all the more tragic because you can kinda tell what’s coming. The fact that they have fought against it all, they have loved each other fiercely and openly and relatively unafraid, makes John’s inevitable death all the more tragic. 

I think the production of this film was really smart, with some really wonderful transitions between scenes and the background music, or a line, or a lingering camera shot. For example when Pepe sends the kiss around the table, and after John and Tim have kissed each other and Pepe tries to take any suspicion of Tim’s feelings away by closing the kissing circle, we hear audio which soon after cuts to mass. The line of course being “To those trapped in the darkness of sin that the light shining in Christ may free them…” The way that John’s father thanks Tim for helping John come out of his shell, only for Tim to unzip John’s sleeping bag, literally opening a casing that was covering John a few scenes later so they can have sex and cuddle during a sleepover.  

gif by @captnswilson

The way the editing supports the discovery, the tension of John’s father finding the letter, while we see John and Tim fucking at the cabin, the friends coming back to catch them in the act, the way the music stops when John’s Dad is interrupted from his thoughts as he starts to read the letter around the same time that Tim slams the door shut on his friends. The way the silence in John’s room from his father is co-opted for the silence in the cabin’s living room with all the boys playing poker as if nothing had happened. The close up of Tim’s hand shaking the man he is interviewing, and then the subtle way Tim wipes his hand against the arm of the chair he is sitting in as if he can catch AIDS just by touching someone who has it. 

I have a thing for movies about AIDS letting their characters bleed. I really love the choice, the knowing that comes with seeing those bright trails of red. The weight to it. I love so many acting choices in this film, the scene of Tim and his mother preparing food after he comes home for his sister’s wedding only to find out that his mother read a letter addressed to him that essentially told him he had AIDS. I love when Tim can’t complete a scene after his acting teacher so thoroughly reads him, and honestly…respect, I appreciate that Tim is willing to admit that. I love the image of John’s father closing the door to their house after John puts his foot down, reaffirms to his dad that he loves Tim and says there is nothing he can do about it. Because the door to their house has bars, and it looks like John’s father is locking himself up in a cage. Trapped inside while John and Tim drive off in to the world. To experience it in its fullness while John’s father cowers away. 

gif by @captnswilson

I think the scenes where John was sick and where he was dying was super well performed. Hell, the entire thing was well performed, but to see Craig Stott go from strong athlete to gasping for breath, so sure footed to unsteady on his feet. I am in love with the blushy little smile that John gives Tim when Tim takes his picture and calls him beautiful after they have shaved John’s head, and glued dinosaur figurines to it. This film does such a phenomenal job of realistically, believably portraying love. 

I’m thankful to the writing for acknowledging sex workers and intravenous drug users, they are our brothers and sisters, they are us, we are all family, and I think it is important that we don’t forget them when we discuss AIDS, and the people we lost to it. 

gif by @captnswilson

I think they handled John’s death very lovingly. I am sure that I would have been bawling if I didn’t end up in a lovely two and a half hour conversation with a friend just before he draws his last breath. And again, the choices here, the loud, agonizing breathing John has when he sleeps, and the way the silence settles in when he draws his last breath. I am glad John told Tim in his own way that he was ready to go. That when he collapsed at home it was so easy. There is no way losing someone you love that deeply isn’t devastating, but at least for me, death is a little easier when I know someone is ready. 

I love that John kept his promise, not to die unless Tim was by his side, and that Tim whispering in his ear “I’m here” was what finally gave John permission to go. (I WANTED TO PUNCH A HOLE THROUGH MY TV WHEN JOHN’S PARENTS DIDN’T LET THE PRIEST SAY TIM WAS ANYTHING MORE THAN A FRIEND TO JOHN.)  I loved that we ended the film with Pepe telling Tim that John was by his side, right before we learn that Tim died ten days after he finished writing his book. 

I should have known, I guess, that this was based on a real story, because of the nature of the material, but for some reason I didn’t. Maybe I missed a title card somewhere or something. But I do think there is something so beautiful about being able to immortalize John, immortalize Tim, and immortalize their love for each other in a book. That their love story was told again through film. That there is no way to deny their love for each other now. 

Favorite Moment 

gif by @captnswilson

Honestly, I really loved the sex scene between John and Timothy near the end of the film when they are back in John’s childhood home to celebrate Christmas with John’s family. John has been receiving treatment for cancer, and is very weak, on oxygen and everything since his lungs have been having a lot of trouble recently. I love that every part of it is so slow and tender, John and Timothy dancing together in John’s room, paralleling the way they danced together at Tim’s sister’s wedding not long after their HIV diagnoses. 

John, as weak as he is, as hard as it is for him to breathe, asks Tim to screw him, and we get absolutely the slowest and most intentional sex scene of the entire film (and there are many sex scenes in this film). I do not think that all sex needs to be tender, do not get me wrong, but I did really love the way that with how obvious it is that John does not have much time left, they take their time with this. It is just such a beautiful expression of love between these two. I appreciate too that they make this sex scene beautiful, that sex between an actively dying cancer patient is held as high or higher in beauty and artistry as all the sex Tim and John were having over the 15 year course of their relationship. It is very obvious that this is a last goodbye, but for all that sex has at times been avoided in this film, for the time it brought HIV into their lives, sex is not a bad thing, sex is a necessary and wanted thing, I just liked it as a part of their goodbyes to each other. 

Favorite Quote

“How can you write this play? You’re making assumptions about your status.”

Honestly. What an incredible fucking line. Tim sitting in a room, interviewing a man who is dying of toxoplasmosis because of his HIV status for a play. I am not opposed to people making plays about terminally ill people. I do think it is important to immortalize, to remember, to tell stories. But for the love of GOD you canNOT go waltzing in to a dying man’s apartment, wipe your hands on his chair after you shake his hand because his AIDS disgusts you, and then demand his life story and his thoughts about dying. 

Tim had so much unprotected sex in college, Tim is hiding from the (possible) truth, Tim does not want to know. What right does Tim have to ask others for their stories when he is running from his own? 

Score

9/10

[sunkissedfawn]

Movie Ask Game.

A list of years.

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

My IMDB list coming in clutch 😂

While scrolling through my list, I noticed some years have a lot listed. So I'm going to list ones I like, then try and pick out a favorite.

1950 Cinderella ✨ (it's the only movie I have in this year so, 😂)

1960 The ones that stuck out to me for this year are The Apartment, Psycho, Inherit the Wind, and The Magnificent Seven. I think my favorite one within this year is Inherit the Wind.

1970 The Aristocats (like Cinderella, it's the only one in this year I have 😅 but I do enjoy this movie)

1980 Omg, the iconic Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. There's also The Blues Brothers, Airplane!, Superman II, and Popeye (Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams, God rest them). It's a close tie between Star Wars, The Blues Brothers, Airplane! and Popeye. Star Wars is the icon, but The Blue Brothers and Airplane! leave me on the floor in tears. And as someone who grew up watching some Popeye the Sailor episodes, I remember Popeye being enjoyable to watch, and thinking it was a good live action version.

1990 Here there is Tremors, The Hunt for Red October, Pretty Woman, Dances with Wolves, Home Alone, The Rescuers Down Under, The Prince and the Pauper, Edward Scissorhands, and Awakenings. Half of these left a mark on me as a child. The dramas were real heavy and intense on my little brain, but I knew they were really good films. Now that I'm older, they still hold up to be really good films to me. There's something about them that strikes me. However, I don't know why yet, but Home Alone makes me uncomfortable, and every year I want to watch it during the holidays, but can't bring myself to sit through certain scenes lol but it's so good because it's such a simple story. But my favorites would have to be The Prince and the Pauper and Awakenings. Although, Tremors is so funny, and enjoyable to me as well.

2000 There's so many from this year. There's An Extremely Goofy Movie, Life-Size, Erin Brockovich, The Road to El Dorado, The Flinstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Gladiator, O Brother, Where Art Thou? , Dinosaur, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , In the Mood for Love, Gone in 60 Seconds, Titan A.E., Chicken Run, Scary Movie, X-Men, Coyote Ugly, Bring It On, Men of Honor, Remember the Titans, Meet the Parents, Pay It Forward, Charlie's Angels, Little Nicky, Rugrats in Paris, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Phantom of the Megaplex, Unbreakable, The Emperor's New Groove, Cast Away, Dude, Where's My Car? , Miss Congeniality, and Chocolat.

Life-Size, The Road to El Dorado, Gladiator, Dinosaur, Gone in 60 Seconds, Titan A.E., Bring It On, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Emperor's New Groove are up there and are my favorites. The rest of the movies mentioned also made an impact on me and hold a lot of precious memories with loved ones.

While I'm at it, I'll share what I remember with some of these movies. I remember being blown away by the Dinosaur trailer when our teacher popped in a VHS of a movie in the tv with an attached VHS player at the bottom of it lol then I later learned they filmed real places and input the CGI/animated dinosaurs after, and it was all mind-blowing and fascinating to me, and became one of the reasons why I grew to love film even more, and wanting to be a part of it. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was talked about a lot in school, and some classmates would try and reenact some scenes lol In the Mood for Love is a classic. And I remember seeing The Emperor's New Groove in theaters when it first released, and the theater not being crowded, and realizing in my gut, within that moment, Walt Disney Studios was on it's last great movie streak for my generation, and times were changing, and things in animation weren't going to be the same again, partly because of Pixar turning heads for Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2 hence not a lot of people being that interested in certain animated stories/movies. It was a bittersweet moment I had, and I'll never forget the ones who were in the theater laughing at the beginning of The Emperor's New Groove 🥲🥹

[strangedreamings]

S3E2 (spoilers abound)

Agatha and Charlotte talking about LW's latest column. Charlotte mentions that Edwina has "made a splendid match abroad." So, does that mean she didn't end up with your (great-)nephew Friedrich? Interesting. The shippers will be disappointed, but that's what AO3 is for. Can this be the final mention of Edwina, please?

Pen, did you have to mention Kate's age? I get the point you're trying to make but bringing it up again seems crass.

So glad Mrs. Varley approves of Pen's makeover. She has presumably known Pen since she was a baby so this is nice to see.

The Mondriches getting a tour of their new house. Alice is lowkey PISSED OFF about this whole thing and their new housekeeper doesn't seem any happier.

Eloise walking with Benedict and Colin. Where are her flowers? I don't know if her modiste is Delacroix or the other one but damn, let her have her florals.

Does Benedict not have his own storyline this season? So far, he's just been a supporting character for his siblings' storylines. If he's supposed to be the Bridgerton lead for S4, he needs to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING for himself this season.

Oh God, more secondhand embarrassment watching Pen try to interact with any man besides Colin and Lord Debling. She wasn't nervous at all around Debling last episode, probably because she doesn't see him as a potential suitor (yet). Nervous laughter, the poor thing.

Agatha, Violet, Francesca, and Hyacinth talking about the lords. Well, a music-lover would be a necessity. Is young Hyacinth this interested in the Marriage Mart in the books? I've only read her and Gareth's book once but if I remember correctly, she was not interested in the whole thing, so this seems OOC. I mean, it works, don't get me wrong, but it's not like what I remember her book counterpart to be. Florence is growing up so fast. If they don't get Hyacinth presented next season, she's going to look too old soon to convincingly play a girl still in the schoolroom. Hyacinth is dressing more like a grown-up now -- her hem is lower, etc, so there is some acknowledgement by the show that she is growing up.

No mention at all of the Stirlings so far. I just glanced at the cast list on IMDB and there's a Lord Samadani in 2 episodes this season. Same last initial, so that could be the show's John. As long as her future husband's got a Scottish accent, I don't care what his name is. (I assume Regency Era Scotland is as racially integrated in this universe as RE England.)

I swear, Pen's mother and sisters' hair color changes with each season.

"Do you think babies appear in your womb?" Portia, you're the one who told them two Seasons ago that pregnancy was a contagious disease, are you really that surprised that they're this ignorant about how to get pregnant?

Colin in bed with two women. Those had better be courtesans because if they're two unmarried women of the ton, I'm going to kill him. As long as they're courtesans, I'm actually okay with it -- it was practically expected for young unmarried men of his social status to be sexually experienced before marriage. A horrid double-standard since women of the same class were expected to be virgins, I know, but it was hoped that by sowing their wild oats before marriage, men would be faithful to their wives when they were married. It does look odd that these women didn't even let down their hair before getting into bed. We've seen Simon in S1 with a woman in his bed and Anthony in bed with what was possibly a succession of women but just one at a time in S2, so I believe this is the first time we've seen a threesome on this show. Shonda, here's a hint -- THE MALE LEADS DO NOT NEED TO TOP THE PREVIOUS MALE LEAD'S EXPLOITS. Benedict (or whoever is the male lead in S4) does not need to do something even more outrageous than a threesome, trust me.

"Same time tomorrow?" Has he been doing this DAILY since he got back? Colin, you'd better have this same level of stamina for your wife (and of course, only your wife) once you're married.

Aww, I was hoping for a Polin first meeting flashback, but reminiscing is almost as good. At least that's more or less identical from the scene in the book. Rae, Pen's maid, needs a raise and possibly hazard pay.

"What exactly happened?" Colin, baby, you DO NOT want to know, trust me.

The Mondriches having separate bedrooms will not last. It's a stupid tradition if the couple truly wants to share a bedroom.

Oh, so El's modiste is Delacroix. WHERE ARE HER FLOWERS, GENEVIEVE?! I mean, Francesca is wearing flowers, the two girls should switch dresses.

Pen coming over to Bridgerton House and Colin surprises her with flirtation practice. I have loved his floral waistcoat since I first saw photos of this scene but I had NO IDEA it laces up in the back. Slutty, slutty waist indeed. (This is the first and probably last time I will ever use that phrase.) Speaking of clothes, I hate the tulle tied around Pen's neck. It's out of place however you look at it. The dress itself is lovely, though. I've loved all of her new gowns so far.

And now we have the "kind eyes" scene that Netflix showed us before. One honest compliment from Pen and Colin is THIRSTY, I love it.

Yes, have her hide in the study, where any family member or servant can enter at any moment. Colin, take it from another writer -- if you don't want someone else to read what you write, DON'T LEAVE YOUR OPEN JOURNAL IN A PLACE ANYONE CAN FIND IT. He really is clueless about everything, isn't he?

One emotionally and physically (hands!) intimate moment then they both jump back like they've been shocked. I love these two, they are adorably hopeless.

Eloise sees Pen just as she's leaving. No words between them but all the anguish on their faces. This isn't going to resolve anytime soon, is it?

Glad Alice can find one good thing about her new status. I agree, the jewelry is lovely, but to see it just in the vanity's drawers like that is odd to me.

Finally, El is back in florals. Perhaps there is hope for her yet. This is the dress she's worn in all the promo shorts, so I'm sure this ball is very significant. The damn sheer gloves are back and I'm not crazy about the necklace either -- it looks too modern, but the dress itself is lovely.

"How is she?" You still care, Eloise. Just talk to her. Argue if you need to, but get it all out of your systems, you'll both feel better and you'll be better friends in the end.

"Perhaps the most eligible right now, strangely." God, I love the sibling dynamics on this show -- it's one of the few things the writers are consistently good at. "I love you and I will never hesitate to tease you every chance I get."

Whose bright idea was it to have a ball in semi-darkness? Is this because of the full moon? Yes, back then, full moon nights were very popular nights for parties but that was because PEOPLE COULD FUCKING SEE OUTSIDE ON THEIR WAY TO THE BALL. In the time before streetlights, that was very important. THERE IS NO REASON TO NOT HAVE THIS INDOOR BALL PROPERLY LIT. People can barely make out everyone's faces, let alone their expressions.

Oh, Lady Cowper just criticized Cressida and I'm sure this isn't the first time. Okay, now she has my sympathy.

"I do enjoy a good turn." Eloise, you are a terrible liar, but apparently, no one there, not even YOUR MOTHER, can tell.

"They've taken to hunting in packs." Yeah, Benedict, they kind of have to when you're not chasing any of them. We get it, you're bored, so why did you even come?

Where's that deaf debutante? I want to see more of her.

I'm glad Pen gets along with her brothers-in-law so well. They're nice to her, in spite or perhaps because of the way their wives treat her.

Pen's stars dress and necklace look lovely on her. Too bad it's utterly wasted on Colin.

"... simply pretend they are dead." That explains so damn much about you, Cressida.

"She was at my house today." Eloise, you better guard your tongue, anything you say next can and will be used against Penelope.

"It seems Colin is helping her look for a husband." WHAT DID I JUST FUCKING SAY?! This is Cressida Cowper you're speaking to, the 2nd biggest gossip in London. YOU UTTER MORON!

(Honestly, I'm not sure which sibling is in possession of the Bridgerton braincell this season, but it's not Anthony, Benedict, Colin, or Eloise. I'm reserving judgement on Francesca. Maybe Daphne took it back to Clyvedon with her the last time she visited.)

Hmm, it seems it's Benedict's turn to be the Bridgerton or Basset closest to the Mondriches this season. I like it.

"Inserts himself where?" Philippa, I know you're not the brightest crayon in the box but what the hell? Portia, this is all on you.

"I cannot think of anything at the moment." Cressida Cowper holding her tongue for the first time in her life? The full moon is getting to everybody, apparently.

I like this Lord Remington. He seems nice and he loves to read LW's column, and it's good to see more diversity in the ton. No one so far treats him differently just because he can't walk.

Oh fuck, that news didn't take long to spread. Just shows that the ton doesn't need LW to spread gossip -- these people would have been exactly the same without Pen's column. What LW does is make people aware of gossip outside their social circle. I can only assume these debutantes and mamas actually do see Penelope as a rival now or they wouldn't have cared what she did.

So we've got Colin telling Eloise off but it's not enough. At least El didn't blab Pen's secret to him. And Cressida is innocent, but El's still in the wrong for telling a secret in public since she was, of course, overheard.

Oh Lord, Fran is going to be the Diamond but she's an introvert, this is not going to go well. She knows it too. Agatha, you really did it this time.

I'm glad the Mondriches are taking control of things. Will's right, the current viscounts, etc didn't do anything to earn their titles, only the original title holders did. Every successive title holder is simply riding their ancestor's coattails.

At least Pen changed her clothes before she started writing this column, but the tear running down her face means she's still not in an emotionally good place. Hopefully, she won't regret anything in this one.

Well, looks like her sisters are finally in the baby race. *eyeroll* Who wants to bet both of them have girls first?

Cressida is both garnering my sympathy and has a point! There is hope for her yet! I think if she can just get away from her mother, she'd be nicer (and much better off).

Hey, Portia, maybe if you actually SUPPORTED PENELOPE FOR ONCE, she wouldn't have to resort to extreme means to get a husband.

We've got Colin bribing Rae to give them privacy and Pen asking him for a kiss. This is either going to end really well or really badly, but they've only got less than two minutes to figure out which.

50/50? They both went back for more but then she ran back into the house and he's standing there gaping. So, Colin, did she rock your world? If so, you'd better do something about it. And by that, I definitely DO NOT mean you should tell anyone. Not your buddies, not your brothers, and definitely not El.

We are a quarter of the way through the season and hooboy, the angst is flowing.

[youre-where-i-wanna-go]

My YouTube account just reached 1k subscribers so now I'm gonna make a list of the coolest Angela Bassett video finds I've found and shared on there and how I found them (even if the target audience here is only like one person)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith deleted scenes

Gonna start with the most recent find bc I never thought this footage would see the light of day. They shot all these scenes and only 30 seconds of Angela's voice made it to the movie bc the villains were dropped completely. Turns out the footage had been hiding on the second disc of an unrated special edition DVD release all along.

Old TV Commercials (KFC, Equal, Allstate)

These commercials you're really only able to find if you know what you're looking for. And the way I found out was through interviews in which they were mentioned (one was a newspaper clipping from 1991 that mentioned Equal and Allstate). Then it's watching tons of old commercials from those brands on YouTube until finally Angela's pretty face shows up. So grateful to the people who uploaded them first (even if they didn't mention Angela in the description).

Doubletake & Liberty

There are quite a few movies and shows in Angela's filmography that seem impossible to find. And some of them are really not available to watch anywhere unless you pay private sellers to send you the files. That's what I had to do to unearth these two rare gems. [insert Thanos gif iykyk] but no regrets because I really wanted to see them. Still hoping to find Equal Justice, STAT and the full Ryan's Hope episode

Ryan's Hope clip

Which brings me to the next tiny (very tiny) gem. For some time I had my doubts she was actually ever even in this soap opera. That was until I watched the Oscar's red carpet 2023 and they aired this super short clip of her character. Next to Angela's dress and Gaga's performance that was my highlight of the night.

My Man Bovanne

Talk about credits that aren't even on her IMDb. I found out about her role in this in the Playbill of Joe Turner's Come and Gone (which Angela starred in on Broadway in 1988). Made an account for the one website that hosted this little-known-about short film to be able to screenrecord it. That was a happy day. Fun fact I learned in a newspaper clipping since: Angela only got to be in it because the person who was first cast for her role got sick.

HeartBeat

Another one that took me very, very long to find. This is probably the one I had to use the most detective skills for. Found a dead video on a site that used to host it, tried to look up the account owner on other social media channels and finally found their tumblr that was still active (hooray) and they sent me the file. Best day ever (even though the plot of the episode is really heartbreaking).

Angela talking about kissing Gaga to Access Hollywood

Listen... Listen. If you know me, you know that these two are my QUEENS. They are everything to me and the fact that they played lovers? That they kissed and enjoyed it? Means the world (read my fanfiction on AO3 😉). This interview in particular has only been available as an article to read on their website for many years now but I could never find the video. I wanted to hear Angela say how she kissed Gaga and pulled her in and told her I love you when the director called cut and made Gaga jump. I found an old link to a long deleted YouTube video in an old tweet on one of my many Twitter searches for any trace of this video. Bless the person who uploaded it back then and bless the people who shared it on Twitter and bless the person who backed it up in the Wayback Machine. I owe you all eternal gratitude.

A 17-minute interview about Ruby's Bucket of Blood

DVD extras hold many gems and this is one of the biggest Angela-focused special features on a DVD I've seen. According to a friend who bought the DVD much longer ago, it wasn't even always part of it so I feel very blessed that this came with my DVD that I only bought bc it's one of my favorite movies and I like to collect those on physical copies.

Her Boyz n the Hood audition tape

In a newspaper clipping I read that this has actually been a part of physical releases of this movie since they still put out Laser Discs. But somehow I've never seen it surface online. I found it in a torrent that had all the Bluray special features (the best kind of torrents) and decided to share it of course. It has since gone viral on TikTok (where someone reposted it) which made me very happy. Who thought we'd ever get to see Ms. Angela Bassett audition??

Celebrity Poker Showdown

You have to admit, Angela in a reality game show is just gold. Was looking for this for a long time too and eventually found a Russian torrent (thank you Russians). Was luckily able to share the full episode on YouTube so everyone can get the full experience of "Angela folds" ten times in a row 😁

Angela's full performances of 3 songs on Close to the Enemy

[I only linked one here] Angela's character on Close to the Enemy was unfortunately very small but the British DVD release had extended scenes of 3 of her performances on it. [The American Bluray for some reason didn't.] Glad I found out about these.

1993 Fresh Air radio interview

I don't know if this counts as a rare find as it is freely available on the NPR website and in my university library BUT I have never seen it acknowledged until I shared it on YouTube and let me tell you I put blood, sweat and tears into captioning this 16-minute interview 😭 the payoff was grand. One interviewer from Variety used it in her research and mentioned it to Angela (who couldn't even remember it lmao) and part of the audio was also used in a tribute post the Academy (yes the Oscar Academy) did for her birthday. It's not my interview but I know they wouldn't have done so if it wasn't for my video (that I posted in tribute to the great Tina Turner. RIP.)

(Assumably) all her episodes of Search for Tomorrow

If I'm not mistaken this was her first on-camera acting job and a cool guy posted all her episodes (and hundreds of episodes she wasn't in) on YouTube last year. Luckily I downloaded them all right away as his channel no longer exists. Her episodes are safe on my hard drive tho and her scenes are safe on my YouTube channel :)

I was going to share a link to the unaired pilot of Identity (2011) that someone posted but it's already been privated again. Might post her scenes at some point, in the meantime if you're interested in this episode you can always dm me, I saved it to my hard drive. Very exciting find indeed as I also never expected it to see the light of day.

Honestly I get excited over every interview, DVD extra, speech or segment from a TV special that I come across (especially old ones). Sharing these on my YouTube channel is my pride and joy and I also have a scenepack account on Instagram (@/angelabassettscenes) where I share all her scenes from her bigger projects that I can't share to YouTube for everyone who wants to watch, edit or GIF them. Seeing people get as excited as I do when I share my finds makes me so happy and I'm definitely not done. Many DVD featurettes still to come. Angela's work will be preserved on this channel by any means necessary 😌

If you've read this far, thank you for reading and have a good day/night

[adarkrainbow]

Searching for lost media: the Scary Tales documentary (1)

I was not expecting to throw a hunt for lost media over this humble side-blog dedicated to fairytales, but here we go... As I was searching for information on the fairytale Bluebeard I saw an interesting mention in its Wikipedia article:

Bluebeard is featured in Scary Tales, produced by the Discovery Channel, Sony and IMAX, episode one, in 2011. (This series is not related to the Disney collection of the same name.)

Of course, this led me to search for the famous “Scary Tales” series... Only to find it was nowhere to be seen. It was ignored by most website (overshadowed by famous shows with similar tales, like American Horror Stories, or by other documentaries such as “Scary Stories” - about the book “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”). Only a few streaming websites had an article about the show - and even then, all they could say was “It isn’t disponible anymore”, “This series is unavaible”, “This page doesn’t exist anymore”.

Hopefully a few websites still survive with a few descriptions, reviews and pictures proving that this documentary series did indeed exist. 

The first one I stumbled upon was a page from press.discovery.com, with this lovely picture:

The page was visibly created before the series aired, since it talks of its premiers. It is under the category “3net programs”, and here is what it says:

Scary Tales

Premieres Sunday, October 30 at 9PM ET

Unlike anything you've seen in 2D or 3D, Scary Tales is scripted series so weird and fantastic, it needs an extra dimension just to contain itself.  There are marauding giants, ghost-plagued forests and human wolves... a place where cannibals feast, kidnappers terrorize and fiends lurk behind every tree. Inanimate objects come to life, and the innocent are punished. It's a world that really exists if only in our own subconscious.  The hour long, four episode series is produced by Workaholic Productions, Inc.  3nets Director of Development and Production Don Bland serves as executive producer on behalf of the network.

Here is the source: https://press.discovery.com/us/3n/programs/scary-tales/

Now that I had a website that told me roughly what the show was about I dug a bit more around. Scary Tales has an IMDb page right here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2111891/ . It lists the show as being from 2011, produced by both 3net and Workaholic Productions, and as having four episodes. Its synopsis there is: 

Learn about the horrific original versions of your favorite fairy tales plus commentary from historians.

With this lovely picture to go with it:

There is also the full cast of the show (which I will not copy here - maybe in another post), and more interestingly the full list of the four episodes, with their respective subjects. In order, they are:

1. Red Riding Hood & Bluebeard (aired on the 30th of October 2011)

"Red Riding Hood" examines the history and historical context of the popular fairy tale and reveals themes of sexuality, murder, cannibalism, and lycanthropy. "Bluebird" investigates the folk tale of the wife murdering aristocrat and argues that the story may be based on the real life murders of Gilles de Rais.

2. Hansel and Gretel & Cinderella (aired on the 5th of November 2011)

"Hansel and Gretel" examines the historical context of the popular fairy tale and reveals themes of hunger, child abandonment, cannibalism, child abuse,and murder. "Cinderella" looks at the less well know aspects of the surprisingly dark and brutal fairy tale.

3. Snow White & The Juniper Tree (aired on the 3rd of December 2011)

"Snow White" looks at the story behind the surprisingly dark and morbid fairy tale arguing that may have been based on the story of Margarete Von Waldeck and her cruel stepmother. "The Juniper Tree" looks at a vicious and bloody fairy tale about a stepmother who murders her stepson and tricks her daughter into thinking that the death was her responsibility.

4. The Pied Piper & Rapunzel (aired on the 12th of December 2011)

"The Pied Piper" looks at the reality behind the legend of a child murdering rat catcher of Hamelin and offers some theories about what really happened to the disappearing children of the village. "Rapunzel" examines the dark aspects of the popular fairy tale about the long haired maiden locked in a tower.

While the show is nowadays (apparently) completely unaccessible, not present on any streaming platform and not sold anywhere, there’s a handful of votes for the documentary on IMDb, up to fifteen for the first episode. 

The IMDb info was notably taken back by the Kinorium website, on this page: https://en.kinorium.com/1554991/episodes/s1e1/

A third and final website in my search (there’s other info I’ll put in another post) is the most fascinating of them all. It is the portfolio of set designer Susannah Christine, who worked on different segments of the show - and has pictures of her set design. I won’t put all of them here - just a few, the rest will be in the second post, and to keep things short I’ll put them under a cut. But already, if before I release the second post somebody has any information about his show, or know where one can watch it (because I admit I am very curious about its content), let me know! 

Here’s Susannah Christine work for the segment “Snow-White”:

And her work for the segment “Rapunzel”:

Plus a picture of what I think might be the Bluebeard segment:

[haydenfannews]

Will Hayden Christensen be in Ahsoka?

Updates (thoughts) about Ahsoka. (Coming to Disney Plus August 23.)

Seems Hayden’s role in any Star Wars project will always be top secret. Ahsoka is no exception. We know the drill by now. 😁 BUT….

Though news articles say differently and the Hollywood Reporter says Hayden is in Ahsoka, Disney, Lucasfilm and cast will not confirm it. It’s all about the tease.😉

Rosario Dawson danced all around the question when asked in a recent Total Film interview. She still kept Hayden’s appearance vague.

Rosario: “It’s definitely one of those things that would be super cool if he was [in Ahsoka], but I’m just really grateful that we’re in the same universe.” (Total Film magazine on sale now.)

Total Film Interview

STILL… IMDb have been finalizing and adding updates to the “attached” Ahsoka cast and crew pages which they do at the end of productions. Hayden is listed for 1 episode (Ep 1) as Anakin / Vader as he was when the page first went up.

So how much will we see of Hayden in Ahsoka?

Rosario believes Dave Filoni set up Ahsoka as season 5 of Rebels. So where is Vader in that timeline? Anakin? Will the World Between Worlds figure in at all? We’ll have to see where all that goes in Ahsoka because nobody’s talking.

I’m going to watch regardless but here I am trying not to get my hopes up again. 😏😉🤞

[spideyhexx]

if they're filming this year it's weird that katherine hasn't been announced. i also want to know more about an ideal wife bc wasn't it supposed to do something at tiff 2024

yeah I agree but idk😭maybe they’re just stuck in preproduction or when Tom was cast it was very very early on in the process?

I don’t know about an ideal wife tbh it’s confusing djwjdhdhdh because they have tom on the banner on the official thing on the production website but it is not listed in his IMDb or anywhere else and there wasn’t ever an official announcement for his casting to my knowledge just that he was in talks

so for that one I’m not even thinking of it till it’s like official official😭

[bitchwitch1981]

Happy Pedro Hours, Zelly!!

I've picked one of the incredible questions concocted by our lovely hosts to ask you: Who do you think is the best movie night buddy—Dieter or Javi G?

I'd also love to know: What are the snacks you're munching on (unless you're a snackless movie watcher?) and what movie would be your favourite to watch with them time after time? ✨

🌸 M, @toomanytookas

This is an amazing question! And not an easy one to answer.

I don't honestly think I could choose between Dieter and Javi G. They would both be so good to watch movies with for their own reasons.

Javi G would be coming in from the aspect of a fan. He's like a walking talking IMDB, he would have so many little facts about what ever you watched, and would be giddy with excitement at getting to share his knowledge with someone who enjoys movies just as much as he does. He would start off trying to keep quiet, maybe a little anxious that you would be annoyed if he started talking during the movie, but would get to a point where he is no longer able to hold it in anymore, and would just burst with all of the trivia that he has learned. When he discovers that you are eager to learn everything he has to tell you, the movie gets somewhat abandoned, meaning that you have to keep rewinding the bits that you have missed. Not that either of you mind at all. What should have been a 2 hour movie turns into a 6 hour education into the making of the movie, the filmographies of the main cast, director and writer, and a discussion on what you would have done differently if you had made the movie.

Dieter would be coming at it as an insider. He keeps quiet for the most part during the movie, but you hear him scoff every time the lead actor is on screen, because he went up for the role and didn't get it and he's still a little salty about it. After the movie is finished he then asks for your opinion, and is genuinely interested in what you have to say. Then he gives you all the juicy behind the scenes gossip. Who was sleeping with who, the backstage feuds, what the crew had to say about the cast, and he delights in your glee in finding out things so few know.

Do you mean to say that snackless movie watchers actually exist? How bizarre. For me, I need a bit of an array of snacks when I'm watching a movie. Top of my list is some Haribo, either Tagfastics or Gold Bears, and the need to be put in the fridge for at least an hour before the movie starts, because they taste better when they are cold. Some potato chips are a classic choice, I would probably go for something spicy. And finally, when I'm in the mood, I will ignore my lactose intolerance and have some cheese and crackers.

When it comes to what movies I would watch with them, it's different for each of them.

With Javi, I would love to watch Paddington 2 just because it is such a lovely movie. Or Gone in 60 Seconds because it is my favourite Nicholas Cage movie.

With Dieter, I think I would watch an old school British horror like The Wicker Man (1973) or The Witches (1966), something that doesn't rely on a lot of green screen, and I'd probably stay away from dinosaurs with him 😆