#it’s midnight and i just rewatched episode 6 for references

[mintybagels]

YOU DONT UNDERSTAND!!! CROWLEY ALWAYS SHOWED UP FOR AZIRAPHALE FOR ALL HIS WEIRD LITTLE SCHEMES AND SITUATIONS BUT WHEN CROWLEY WANTED AZI TO TRUST HIM ABOUT HEAVEN HE LEFT CROWLEY ALL ALONE

[taki118]

Go Watch the Venture Brothers

So just heard the complete and utter Bullshit news that Adult Swim has cancelled one of (if not the best shows) they have the Venture Bros. This series is one of those shows that for WHATEVER reason never got to the level of fandom Rick and Morty has even though they’ve been at the genre parody game longer and in my opinion better. 

The series is about Rusty Venture former boy adventurer and failing super scientist who in an attempt to keep his head above water in debt goes around with his two boys Hank and Dean, and bodyguard Brock on misadventues while various legal archnemisis go after him, such as the Monarch. 

So if you never watched or never heard of this 7 season series let me give you a break down on why you should, 

1) Art Style & Animation

Venture bros is one of those rare Adult aimed animated series that that really truly tries to utilize their medium to the best of their abilities. Season 1 had like such a small budget and corners had to be cut so it can be a little hard to watch at times. 

But with each passing season they get a little better, a little more fluid, go just a little harder and it truly feels rewarding to watch. Like seeing an artist you follow online improve over the years. Like they COULD have stayed with the choppy and stiff animation from season 1 it fit right in with its fellow adult animated shows but it didn’t. They strove for quality to have something that matched the story they were telling.

2) The Writing 

Venture Bros has some of the tightest and consistently great writing of ANY serialized show I’ve seen, adult, animated or other wise. Wanna know why? Cause it’s all done by TWO people (save for like one ep each season where one other person is allowed to touch their baby). Yeah TWO people and they work their asses off every season to interject, humor, refrences, parody, plot and character development in equal measure. 

3) Character Development

Um yes in case you were wondering that’s right an adult animated show has CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  that holds as the series goes on. Not to give spoilers but characters will go through changes in alignment, relationships will develop and change, some characters will go through negative arcs where they are straight up unbareable for a season before coming out the other side even better than they were before. There is no end of epsiode or even end of season reset. Characters, settings, and dynamics all change over the course of the show and it feels just so god damn good.

4) Story Development 

Just like the characters the story of the Venture Bros grows and changes each season. Things that are set up even as early as season one are paid off as the series goes on. Like not to be that bitch but you know how RIck and Morty teases an overarching plot ALL THE TIME but like will often just spit in the face of fans hoping for more than like one episode a season addressing it? Yeahhhhhhh that doesnt happen here, fans are consistently rewarded for putting the time in to rewatch and really think about what happened in the series. Characters that are seen in the background or are just referenced by other characters will be brought in to be recurring characters, things that start off as a small detail or gag will be given larger relevance and each time they do this you get that “OH I remember that from last season! So thats what it was!” The writers WANT you to rewatch, they WANT you to analyze and they WANT you to theorize, and they give you a show that gives back the time you put in.

5) Parody & Reference 

This series does a great thing with parody. They make real characters  who are just as enjoyable as the characters they parody, they make story lines that both poke fun at the absurdity of the media but shows the writers love for it. So often parody and references are just used to mock the thing but with Venture Bros you feel the love and care so when you know the thing being parodied you can laugh but feel good about laughing cause they are never laughing at a thing maybe you cared for in your youth but rather laughing with it.

And it’s never just one thing. When they parody a thing its often layered with other things to make it even more unique. Scooby-Doo is overlayed with famous criminals, Laura Croft is mixed Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, GI Joe is given the look of the Village People and so on. They never go for the easy joke or reference. Hell theres an episode that starts with them reciting the lyrics to David Bowies Space Oddity for really no reason other than they could. They weave these things in naturally with their setting and characters so nothing feels out of place. Like if you dont catch a reference or parody you dont feel like “I think this isa reference to something?” like a LOT of things do not just adult animated shows. You arent taken out of the moment cause it all feels so natural. 

6) The Characters 

God damn these characters, I could go on for hours about these characters. From main to one off these are some of the most likeable characters you can find. I mean it when I say I can’t think of a single character I wish they had cut cause they are all so well created. Even the ones I hate i have fun hating cause they were made to be that way. I’ll be good though I’ll only talk about my absolute top faves.

- The Monarchs

You ever sit and wish villain couples could have functional  healthy relationships? Well look no further than Malcom Fitzcarraldo aka The Monarch and Dr. Shelia Girlfriend (yes that is her last name). The Monarch is a high strung impulsive saturday morning cartoon villain whos tendency to over react is only matched by his unspecified hatred of Dr. Venture. And Dr. G is his nonsense partner in crime who will cut a bitch if they don’t play by their admittedly weird rules. Both characters are great on their own but are better together. Though that doesnt mean they always get along. Like a real couple they have their ups and downs they fight, break up, make-up and grow stronger in their relationship with each season. 

- Shore Leave

Ok ok so I want you to imagine James Bond, mixed with GI Joe simmering in a cocktail of the most flamboyant gay men you have ever seen and you have one of my favorite gay characters/characters in general. Shore Leave is a member of OSI (the shows SHEILD/GI Joe parody organization) he’s loud, brash, flippant, sassy and highly competent at his job loving every second of getting to beat bad guys down within an inch of their life. I love seeing him play off the stoic Brock and the two have this great brotherly dynamic that’s never called into question. He also gets to have a very cute romance with Al the Alchemist (who is also great). I could talk about this man all day.

- Dr. Rusty Venture

They did such a good job with this man. He’s a self serving, sexist, perverted, whinny, self important asshole and yet you feel pity and genuine sympathy for him and want him to succeed. You can see how Dr. V was given a raw deal by his father who seemed to care more about his adventures than his sons well being and how this molded him into the bitter man he is today, but on the flip side you can see where he chose to use that as a crutch for his worst behaviors and impulses. Seeing him slowly grow and change and be an actual good father to his boys while all the while still be a giant dick is actually really great. 

- Dr. Byron Orpheus 

Ahhhhh Dr. Orpheus part Dr. Strange Parody part busybody stay at home dad, he’s just such a delight. Dr. Orpheus is a divorcee, with an unfulfilling job of maintaining order to the cosmos (which isnt as hard as one might think), and uses his magical ablities in ways most of us would (ie menial tasks and home chores). Overly dramatic and affectionate Dr. O is a delight whenever he appears, but he’s at his best around his daughter and old friends The Order of the Triad. 

Again I can go on but all these characters ranging from main to recurring are crafted with the utmost care for you to want to see them succeed or fail, to see them again even if you know it’ll never happen, and want them to cross paths with other characters. 

The Venture Bros is one of those series that I will ALWAYS recommend even to the pickiest of humor tastes. But if you don’t believe its as good as I said or don’t think the concept is to your tastes I’ll recommend a few eps that I think best show off the base idea of the series without giving much away. In terms of plot and spoilers, though somethings wont make a lot of sense. 

- S1 ep10 "Tag Sale – You're It!" - Dr. V is having a yard sale so of course all manner of costumed weirdos show up.  - S2 ep5 "Twenty Years to Midnight" - basically a fetch quest around the world to save the planet with daddy issues - S3 ep2 "The Doctor Is Sin" - Again daddy issues but with one of the best recurring characters and a great showcase of the series deeper emotional plots - S4 ep6 "Self-Medication" - Really embraces the parody as Rusty goes to a former boy adventurer support group.  Anyway the show is 7 seasons with 80 episodes, please go watch it. I will never forgive @adultswim​ for cancelling what was to be their final season. And in closing GO TEAM VENTURE!

[crowdvscritic]

round up // OCTOBER 22

My shortest Round Up yet? My shortest Round Up yet! I spent most of October celebrating fall by rewatching Gilmore Girls and celebrating Spooky SZN by rewatching Halloween favorites and all of Stranger Things (which inspired me to compile a list of every inspiration for and reference on the series in a list on Letterboxd). But a few new movies, SNL skits, and songs caught my attention this month. Here they in the order I experienced them: 

October Crowd-Pleasers

1. SNL is back! 

With a new logo and opening credits to boot. These skits made me laugh most in the last month:

“ManningCast Cold Open” (4801 with Miles Teller)

“Please Don't Destroy - Tommy” (4802 with Brendan Gleeson)

“Weekend Update: Marcello Hernández on the MLB Playoffs” (4802)

“Joker Wedding” (4804 with Jack Harlow)

“Weekend Update: Drunk Uncle on Why He Hates Halloween” (4804)

“David Pumpkins Returns” (4804)

“Kanye Skechers Commercial” (4804)

2. Ticket to Paradise (2022)

Without underselling the effort needed to make an easy, breezy, beautifully simple film like this appear effortless, Ticket to Paradise had a lower threshold for success: With George Clooney and Julia Roberts above the title, It really just needs to not mess that up. Paradise may not be as clever as a Howard Hawks romp, but it’s just as feel-good as his classics and just as worthy of Roberts’s canon as her Garry Marshall collabs. Read my full review for ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

3. Midnights by Taylor Swift (2022)

In the most predictable news of 2022, Taylor Swift made another great album! I enjoyed the characters and stories on reputation, folklore, and evermore, but the return to confessional songwriting feels like finding homeostasis after the sonic experiments of her previous four albums and two re-relesases. Even though this album leans into a minimalist electronic vibe-y pop like Lana Del Rey, Lorde, The 1975, and Bleachers, many of the songs feel like throwbacks to Fearless, Speak Now, and Red. (Makes me wonder if she held on to these songs for years.) “Sweet Nothing” sounds like curling up with a blanket next to a fire, “Question…?” makes me feel 19 again, and “Anti-Hero” reminds me of Stephen King’s advice to use stronger nouns and verbs instead of adverbs. (Please don’t @ me with your feedback on my opportunities for development here.) With plenty of jams and sharp lyrics, Midnights has a cohesive sound like 1989 with the poetry I wish 1989 had.

4. Black Adam (2022)

Saying Black Adam is one of DC’s better superhero movies isn’t saying much. Like Wonder Woman 1984, Black Adam is a fun watch in the moment but fares less well upon further reflection. It’s trying to be two movies, and only one of them is working, though fortunately, it’s the one I paid to see. Read my full review at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6/10

October Critic Picks

1. Amsterdam (2022)

At times this feels like a loose collection of episodes, and in some scenes I wasn’t sure if the slack-laden thread would hold it all together. But I don’t trust every film’s architect like I do David O. Russell. Grounding it all together is a reckless hope we can make beautiful things out of a grotesque world. I’ve had my share of cynicism in the last few years, and I’m happy to welcome back movies as sumptuous and sentimental as this one. Read my full review at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

I tried 12 new movies for Spooky SZN this year, but this alien maybe-invasion classic is the only one in this Round Up. If you love the Spielberg wonder face, Close Encounters may be the peak example. Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut, and more keep looking awestruck at the sky when U.F.O. after U.F.O. appears and they feel compelled to follow the lights. (Spoiler alert!) There’s a darker reading of this film that interprets Dreyfuss’s obsession as a preference to be abducted by aliens instead of spending time with his family, but I’m choosing to focus on his desire to uncover the unknown. (End spoiler alert.) Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

3. Sofia Coppola on Instagram

Another one of my queens has entered my feed! She has been sharing inspiration and behind-the-scenes shots of her new biopic about Priscilla Presley, plus a playlist she curated for getting the set ready for the day. I feel smarter and cooler and every time she posts.

4. Un Homme et une Femme (1966)

Widowed single parents meet when their children attend boarding school together. She works in the movies, he drives a racecar. This French New Wave film shows them opening back up to love through montage, and it just might be a montage of you falling in love with this story, too. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

Also this October…

On SO IT’S A SHOW? ep. 130, Kyla and I watched a George Clooney double feature in honor of Ticket to Paradise. First up is the 2002 sci-fi drama Solaris, in which Clooney is investigating some weird behavior in outer space, and then it’s the 2005 journalism docudrama Good Night, and Good Luck., in which Clooney is investigating some un-American behavior in the newsroom. What is the story of Solaris? Which famous journalist is Paris comparing herself to? What did audiences and critics think of these movies? And did the Oscar buzz get to George Clooney?

At ZekeFilm, we all checked out movies from the 1980s that we’d missed until now. For me, it meant writing almost 800 words with 8 reasons and 60+ examples of why the ‘80s were totally, tubular-ly awesome for the movies.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

End Of Year TV Asks that I would like answered are 2, 4 ,6, 8, 12,16,18, 19 and 20.

I already answered 12, 18 and 19 so I'm switching those out for 22, 24 and 25, as agreed.

2: Favorite TV show you’ve watched/discovered this year.

I never have just one favorite show, so this is really hard. Based on the sheer amount of times I’m happy to rewatch it over and over though, I’ll say Julie and the Phantoms.

4: Longest and shortest TV shows you’ve watched this year.

Julie and the Phantoms was the shortest, with only 9 half-hour episodes. The longest show I watched that was new to me was Pretty Little Liars, which has 160 episodes. The longest rewatch I finished was Elementary which I watched either once or twice this year, all 154 episodes of it.

6: Favorite platonic relationship you discovered this year.

All the people on Ted Lasso at the same time cuz they’re one big family. Bonus shoutout: His Dark Materials traumatized me, but I would watch a whole spinoff with Lee Scoresby and John Parry.

8: A ship that finally got (back) together this year.

This one really didn’t apply for me this year! Most things I watched were either on S1 or S2, so I hadn’t been waiting long for a ship to come together. My returning shows had either dead otps or established ones. I enjoyed finally seeing Devi and Paxton try out a real relationship this year on Never Have I Ever, so I’ll choose that one.

16: A TV show you wanted to watch this year but didn’t get the chance to.

Leverage: Redemption, because I stubbornly refuse to start it until I finish rewatching the original.

20: A TV show you’ve stopped watching this year.

The Chair. It was only six episodes and I love Sandra Oh and Holland Taylor but I was so deeply painfully bored by the midlife crisis professor dude storyline that I wanted to do better things with my life.

22: Favorite scene/quote from a TV show this year.

Hacks was full of them but I don’t have any memorized cuz I haven’t rewatched it yet. Letitia taking a baseball bat to the cars in Lovecraft Country was a thing of beauty. Everything Cory does on The Morning Show kills me, whether it’s framing business propositions at Alex in romantic terms or making uncontrollable sad eyes at Bradley. The monologues on Midnight Mass were theater, I loved that. Ahhhh I can’t pick! Lol. I love all my shows. Everything about Schmigadoon was perfection for me, I can’t even narrow that one down. Same with Julie and the Phantoms. As for a quote, “You had me at ‘Coach,’” from Roy Kent on Ted Lasso was a fave...but “Hey! Better manners when I'm holding a dart. Please.” from Ted himself is iconic.

24: Any event/news/etc. about a TV show you love that made you happy this year?

Finally got a release date and trailers for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel S4, that’s been really exciting :D Also they announced The Midnight Club this year which I’m really looking forward to, because I’ve enjoyed every Mike Flanagan series so far and this one is based off a Christopher Pike book (I loved his books growing up).

25: Rec me a TV show I should watch next year!

Oh but this one’s hard!! I rec you almost everything I like and then you either give it a try or opt out, so I’m not sure I have any I liked you don’t already know about. *refers to my list* Lovecraft Country, Hacks, and The Nevers are the only ones from this year that I’m not aware of you already trying, and I think you were already planning to check out The Nevers. Lovecraft Country has way too much horror for me to rec it to you. 

Hacks is fantastic but it’s an odd comedy, I don’t know if it’s odd in a way you would like. The ‘ladies of comedy’ vibes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel but with not-always-likable platonic soulmates, which means the humor often reminds me of Fleabag in a way. It’s only got 10 short episodes in case you decide you’re interested.

If I look back before this year, Watchmen has the racial justice + history of Lovecraft Country, but with superheroes instead of horror--and it has the Jean Smart of Hacks! Lol. You have to be willing to watch and see how the threads of the story together so it takes patience to appreciate it, but it’s also only got 9 episodes total.

end of the year tv asks!

[secretswansong]

Another "list of locations in Trese" post because it's been a month and idk if I should rewatch but I just want to point out more references

Trese is set in Manila (Maynila, in Tagalog), commonly known as the capital of the Philippines. However, several shots and locations reveal that this Manila is analogous to Metro Manila, a.k.a. the National Capital Region. The City of Manila (Lungsod ng Maynila) is one of 16 cities in this highly urbanized, densely populated region.

In the show, many locations are taken from real places and buildings in Metro Manila (and many more in the komiks). In Trese: After Dark, the creators explained how they went through all 13 MRT stations and eventually came up with the show's opening scene. The MRT has broken down often and has overshot onto Taft Avenue once

Apparently, the showrunners (?) didn't name all the various places they used in the show to keep things simple (for foreigners) and relatable (for Filipinos and Manilenyos). The backgrounds were absolutely beautiful. Minor spoilers ahead.

Many were thrilled to see shots of the Manila Bay skyline (?) and the Dela Rosa Access Road in Makati City, in Episode 1.

Balete Drive is a real two-way street in Quezon City, complete with urban legends.

Ibwa's aswang market is a pretty standard palengke (wet market), although somehow not as crowded as a regular human market.

The road where Alex races Maliksi seems to be a part of C-5, a beltway/network of roads and bridges (although it could be any other highway or circumferential road). There is a history of drag/street racing at midnight or early morning, when major public roads are empty, which is obviously dangerous and illegal. it's 3 AM while I'm typing this specific sentence and I can hear an engine how are people still doing this in a pandemic

We get a cool shot of the Metro Manila skyline with the Pasig River and the Ayala Bridge in Episode 2.

The Armanaz clan's tower is the Ayala Tower in Makati City (idk if they also have the horse art). The Bagyon clan's building is the Meralco headquarters / main office in Pasig City.

Livewell Village is based on various upper-class subdivisions, and "Livewell" is the name of several areas and businesses in Metro Manila alone.

Magna Mall is SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. I'm not familiar with the boundaries between Pasig and Mandaluyong I'm not completely sure where Ortigas is

We also get shots of major roads (wishful thinking on my part makes me believe it's Quezon Boulevard but it could be any major road) sans the traffic congestion that still persists with limited public transportation operations such as in my favorite Team Trese scene.

ABC-ZNN is the counterpart of the television/media network ABS-CBN, both in name and physical location.

The cemetery in Episode 4 is most likely the Manila South Cemetery. It was said to be in "Brgy. Magdalo," a reference to the Magdalo faction of the Katipunan.

The "squatters' area" is later named "Pedro Lungsod," a reference to San Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. More obscurely, this plays on how several barangays and towns in the Philippines are named after saints (e.g. San Jose, San Nicolas, Santa Ana).

The hospital Hank recuperates in is the Manila Doctors' Hospital, in the City of Manila. The whole place looks cool but I've only been there once for a few hours

New Bilibid Prison, the venue of the final showdown, is in Muntinlupa City.

The post-credits scene at the end of Episode 6 apparently takes place in the Port of Manila (Pantalan ng Maynila), although I can't tell which exact harbor.

Although you know what's weird and unrealistic? Metro Manila is one of the most densely populated regions and that doesn't come out so much in the show: no traffic congestion, no crowding in the MRT station, the completely empty karinderya in Episode 5, and so on. It's probably a creative decision (?) or due to budget constraints.

[r1coor2]

Here is some anime recommendations you didn’t know you didn’t want. I have watched 1522 episodes of anime in total, that is about 30 movies and about 45 anime series. In total that time is equal to 25 days of non-stop anime watching. So I am a decent fan I would say.

Anyways let’s get in to subcategories. It is past midnight so don’t judge me if I put some anime in the wrong category and- oh I remembered- I don’t care if I’m wrong äääää

Humor/action

Noragami - 8/10 its great

Cike wu Liuqi (Scissor seven) - 9/10 don’t you dare skip this one

Saiki Kusuo - 6/10 it’s decent, funny but a bit repeating

Ouran high school host club - 5/10 like I don’t watch that much shoujo anime but it was good

More “adult” anime (I don’t mean hentai, I fucking hate that, here I refer to violence and heavier themes)

Death note - 6/10 yea its good go watch it

Beastars - 5/10 I give it a relatively low score because all the sexual themes doesn’t go home with me, but it is actually really good

Devilman crybaby - 5/10 same as Beastars but it is not as good as Beastars but it is good you feel me?

Attack on Titan - 7/10 be ready for violence

Tokyo ghoul - 6/10 be ready for... blood?

Neon genesis evangelion - 6/10 like it is good but sometimes really hard to understand. Anyways just watch it for the intro

Shonen stuff

Blue exorcist - 6/10 decent, skip it of you want

My hero academia - 8/10 you haven’t missed it if you ever find this post so I wont’t tell you to watch it because you probably already have watched it.

Code geass - 5/10 sooo slow, way too much sexualisation, watch it if you enjoy tactics or whatever

Naruto - 8/10 (I mean both shippuden and part 1) okay hear me out. SKIP THE FILLERS and it is really good. Let’s be honest, it is shameful lazy animation from time to time but the story, worldbuilding and characters are worth it alone

Fullmetal Alchemist - 7/10 (I mean 2003 here) its a good anime that is all I will say

Mob Psycho 100 - 8/10 uuuuhhh what can I say just watch it

One Punch man - 9/10 yeah the score speaks

Demon Slayer - 8/10 If it wasn’t so slow at times it would get a higher score, but the animation alone is a 10/10

Sword art online - 5/10 watch the first season and then not an episode more

Kuutei dragons (drifting dragons) - 6/10 I don’t even know which category to put it in

The one anime you may never skip, because it is a fucking masterpiece and I won’t write a book of appreciation towards Hiromu Arakawa in this post but you get what I mean.

Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood - 10/10 let’s just say I have rewatched it 3 times, each time in less than a week and I let you do the math- I didn’t sleep that much those weeks

Next up- what anime movies to watch

Watch studio Ghibli movies, and I mean all of them. About 18/22 of the all the studio Ghibli movies are worth watching and the top 10 on my ranking list are masterpieces.

What to not watch

K - 0/10 worst thing I have ever watched, also read below, same as seven deadly sins

Seven deadly sins - 0/10 couldn’t even finish it because BAD FEMALE CHARACTERS, HENTAI AND MY FEMENIST BRAIN DOESN’T WORK WELL TOGETHER

[dragonprinceknight]

Passage of Time in TDP

I finished rewatching season 3 while paying attention to passage of time, so I can finally post this chart (though it is still slightly tentative, more on that later):

1: Echoes of Thunder, What is Done, Moonrise 2: Bloodthirsty 3: An Empty Throne 4: Through the Ice 5: The Dagger and the Wolf, Cursed Caldera, Wonderstorm 6:  7: A Secret and a Spark, Half Moon Lies 8: Smoke and Mirrors 9: Voyage of the Ruthless 10: Breaking the Seal, Heart of a Titan, Fire and Fury 11: The Book of Destiny, Breathe 12: Sol Regum 13: The Crown, Ghost 14:  The Midnight Desert  15: Heroes and Masterminds 16: Thunderfall 17: Hearts of Cinder 18: Dragonguard 19: The Final Battle

I’m pretty certain of the numbered days up to “Breathe.” There’s a full moon on the night of “day one” and if you pay attention to the moon phases - 7 days in, there’s a quarter moon, and the moon is down to a waning crescent during “Breathe.”

Season 3 is where some of this got a bit more confusing, and I’m not sure the days we SEE passing are the only days that passed. (The list above is based on COUNTABLE days.)

There’s a waxing crescent moon visible in “The Midnight Desert” and “Heroes and Masterminds” which means a new moon had to happen between “Breathe” and those two episodes. The moon we see in “Dragonguard” and “The Final Battle” looks full, or very close to it. This would indicate that there’s about a week’s worth of “missing days” but the characters are constantly saying things that indicate less time passing.

But there’s also the fact that an army with slow-moving ballista weapons made it all the way to the Storm Spire during the latter half of the season, a journey Viren says took “days” when it was just him and Harrow scouting.

By my reckoning, the extra days would have to come in after “Ghost”, “Heroes and Masterminds”, and/or “Hearts of Cinder.” If we assume the moon in the “Final Battle” is waxing gibbous, other things also make more sense - such as the fact that Rayla doesn’t go “moonshadow mode” during the battle.

Anyway, feel free to use this reference for fics or whatever! :D

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 6x01 Bargaining Part 1

aka friends who resurrect their other friend together, stay together

Welcome to this dailyish (weekly? bi-weekly?) text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And today’s episode starts us off on what’s decidedly the most controversial season of the entire show. I’m so excited!!!

Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I ever watched Bargaining Part 1 on its own. The show has plenty of two-parters during its run (some named, some not), but Bargaining has the distinction of also being aired on the same night. As a result, many of its digital copies you can find will also have Part 1 and Part 2 together as one single episode.

So for me, talking about the first half of this season premiere only, feels even more stranger than usual, but that’s mostly because of that viewing history. This episode really isn’t worse at being the set up for its next chapter than a What’s My Line Part 1 for instance; in fact, it has its work cut out for it as far as set ups go given the time jump. As a result, even if the story is incomplete, there’s a lot to chew over still.

Let’s see some of the things we got here.

First, I want to address a costuming choice that I absolutely adore and that I tried to draw attention to in my chosen screencap as well. Willow and Xander are both wearing numbered shirts with sequential odd numbers on them. Meaning that there’s a missing number between them.

See, this is exactly the kind of on-the-nose visual storytelling that I love in this show. Buffy is layered with meaning and themes, and sometimes that just means adding tiny details for your audience to interpret with the text.

I’m not sure if the numbers themselves have that much meaning - but no one can stop me from assigning meaning to them if I want either, so... 11 and 13 are both prime numbers, and as such can only be divided by themselves and 1. Possibly a foreshadowing to one of the season’s theme: this year the Scoobies are their own worst enemies.

And if 12 is Buffy, then we can take that as a reference to the fact that she’ll be resurrected at midnight. Or, we can also dig even deeper into the number 12, because oh boy. While 11 and 13 are prime numbers, 12 is a superior highly composite one with no less then 6(!) divisors. That means that unlike its neighbors, 12 can be divided and expressed through a number of combinations of its prime factors.

(Also, apparently 12 is also a “sublime number”, which of course it is.)

In other words, you can take 12 apart and put it back together in multiple ways.

Which brings us back to the show from our weird segment of me trying to math interpret costuming decisions. What the gang does here will have lasting consequences on Buffy’s mental health, and she’ll internalize that by believing that she ‘came back wrong’ for quite a while.

So it brings up the question. Why do it?

We don’t really see how and when the gang decided to bring back Buffy of course. Which as far as a storytelling device goes, is the right choice, but I still kind of wish that we knew more. Resurrection was broached as a subject in Forever back in season 5, and Tara then was like “No, no and also, NOPE” while Willow seemed to have been already considering the logistics of it all.

In the present, Xander appears to be the most uncomfortable about the idea, backtracking as the actual reality of what they’re about to do starts to hit him. Anya seems hesitant too, but she doesn’t argue. Tara still maintains that it’s wrong, but she also says that it’s what they agreed on, and so she stands by it now.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Willow that pushes the idea the most, as the resident elected team leader. (Xander apparently made a plaque and everything? It’s kind of adorable.) Alyson Hannigan really adds on to the emotional impact of Willow’s speech, so me copying in that quote won’t have quite the same effect, but I wanted to have it here regardless:

XANDER:  We saw her body, Will. We buried it. WILLOW:  Her body, yeah. But her soul, her essence... I mean, that could be somewhere else. She could be trapped, in some sort of hell dimension like Angel was. Suffering eternal torment, just because she saved us, and I’m not gonna let... I’m not gonna leave her there. It’s Buffy.

Now, we, who have already seen the show, know of course that that’s not the case. That wherever Buffy ended up, she’s at peace. And one could ask the question, why the Scoobies wouldn’t consider that option and the consequences of their actions if that’d be true?

And the answer is rather simple - because they don’t want to. They miss Buffy and they refuse to move on with their lives without her. They need her, so it’s easier to believe for them that she must need them too.

Back in season 3 I applauded Willow for having self-awareness when it came to her own motivations and biases. But power does strange things to people, and Willow’s been getting worse and worse about justifying and lying to herself about her own intent.

At her core, Willow wants to do good. That’s why she stayed in Sunnydale even though she had the opportunity to go to college anywhere in the world. But she also wants to be special. To be loved. To matter.

Bringing back Buffy is about the Scoobies needing their friend, but for Willow, this is also an exercise of the limit of her powers. Her defying the laws of nature and accomplishing something that’s barely even possible. That’s why she also pushes for secrecy, and why she keeps hidden from the rest of the gang, what she did to get the last ingredient for their spell.

Deep down, she knows that it’s wrong, and she doesn’t want anyone else to challenge her own justifications.

(Also, the CGI snake is really rough on the HD version. Yikes. I really do need to do another rewatch after this with the standard DVD edition.)

On a happier note, season 6 aired on a different network with looser restrictions, and they were allowed to have Willow and Tara kiss every once in a while. The kiss that they share here is actually the SECOND ever we see between them on screen in the twoish seasons they dated so far, so that’s some TV history. It still won’t happen all that frequently, but it’s a step forward.

I also mentioned before that I adore Tara and Dawn’s relationship, and this episode showcases that. Tara made funny-shaped pancakes for her! (Well, she aimed for round ones, but Dawn didn’t mind.)

I love them.

Also, I just noticed that in the above screencap Dawn too has a numbered shirt, and 7 is another prime number? In fact it’s the prime number preceding 11. So I guess the main theme is that they’re all a team, wearing numbered shirts akin to a sport team garb, and yet are all alone? It’s probably not that deep but that never stopped me from overanalyzing.

I do question the flimsy plan of pretending that Buffy’s still alive through BuffyBot, but I guess they were counting on bringing Buffy back from the start. In the meantime, Dawn has two witch moms, a robot sister and a vampire babysitter to look out for her. That’s not so bad.

Plus Tara is wonderful, and was probably able to help Dawn with her grief through her own experience. No wonder that they’re so close now.

Dawn of course still misses her mom and her sister, and I’ve had a lot of feelings seeing her with BuffyBot. When BuffyBot hugged her and you can see all the emotions passing through in Dawn’s eyes... What is Michelle Trachtenberg up to these days?

Plus we’ve got the scene with Dawn cuddling up to the charging BuffyBot when she’s unable to sleep. Gets me every time.

There’s also Xander refusing to announce their engagement with Anya, which... I’ll probably talk about later, and Anya directing her frustrations and anxiety with everything towards Giles, and his inability to make up his mind about leaving.

Now, I used to be frustrated with Giles for leaving, both here and later on; but I think I get it better now. When I think about Giles, I see him as the adult in this group, so it feels like he’s leaving all the kids to fend for themselves. In reality though, the Scoobies are all adults at this point. One can even make the argument that Giles is no more adult than them.

Well, okay, let’s not go that far, they’re like 20-21 at most, but they’re making their own life decisions at this point. Meanwhile Giles is in the middle of a midlife crisis and doesn’t feel like he has a life, independent from these young adults, on his own.

But we’ll get back to this subject later on.

Overall, I like this episode. A lot. There’s plenty of excellent dialogue and interaction between the gang, and we’re setting up things nicely for the season.

I’m ready for Part 2!

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 1x02 Earth Skills

I’m a new fan of The 100, who first binged it last year, August to November. This is my first full rewatch of the show. I was planning to start it anyway and finish it before the season 6 premiere on April 30, and when I saw that Fox Serbia was airing a rerun (Monday to Friday, 40 min. after midnight, with repeats the next day), starting on 1st February, it was a great opportunity to start my rewatch in HDTV on my beautiful new TV. I decided to do write-ups and tag other fans on SpoilerTV website, as I did when I was first watching the show. But my posts turned into full blown essays. So, finally, after over a week, I’ve realized: Why don’t I post them on my Tumblr blog, too? I’ll copy my write-ups of the first 7 episodes, and then I’ll post my rewatch posts after I watch each episode. (The next one, 1x08, is on Monday’Tuesday.)

Spoilers below for all 5 seasons of the show. I go of on a tangents and make a lot of references to future events.

...........................

The first 2 episodes of season 1 are its weakest, just as I remember them. But initially I thought episode 1x02 was worse - I had mixed feelings about the Pilot, but then really disliked the second episode. This time, however, the Pilot was much worse than I remembered it, while this episode was... well, pretty much the same, but I enjoyed it more this time. Because, when I first watched the Pilot, I focused on all the new info on the show's premise, the setting, the universe, the SciFi stuff, and pretty much ignored all the cringey early teen soapy stuff (which I didn't even remember). But then the second episode came, and all the cringey teen soapy stuff in that episode just came right at me and annoyed the heck out of it. So this time, I already remembered it, so I could focus on other things.

BTW, I need to have good laugh at the often stated claim that The 100 doesn't focus on romance or do much romance or set up ships. The show does romance all the time. There are ships all over the place, but most of them pretty much suck, especially since most of them are poorly written insta-romances. And these early episodes are full of various romances and potential romances, and love triangles (which some people say the show has stopped doing... except it never did - *cough season 5 *cough* - but at least it scaled back on it a bit). 

Now don't misunderstand me - I don't mind that there's a lot of that, what I did mind is how badly all of that was written in these early episodes. Later, the show did lose most of its early CW-ness and start doing romantic plots better, in some cases at least. (But it also started doing them even worse, in some other cases.)

Rating: 4.5/10

First introduction of Raven, and she immediately shows that she's smart, capable and awesome. At this point, she seems almost perfect, but we know she was just initially meant to be a temporary supporting character and romantic obstacle for Finn/Clarke. We find out that she's the youngest zero G engineer in 52 years. She's also the first person to figure out that the Delinquents aren't dying, but simply taking their trackers off. How come this never crossed the minds of any of the Ark leaders? They came off a bit dumb here.

First meaningful interactions between Abby and Raven - the start of their friendship/pseudo-mother daughter relationship. Abby enlists Raven to fix an old escape pod so she(Abby) could get to the ground. Raven insists she will go, too, since she also has a loved one there. Multiple mentions of her boyfriend, and I can now see the big hints with the origami that Finn is that boyfriend. I missed that the first time, which is lucky, or I would have hated this episode even more, for trying to set up more than one annoying insta-love-triangle involving Finn and Clarke. I think this is the first time we get a mention of a year? But not the year when the show takes place. The escape pod is a 130 year old piece of junk that was found when they rescued MIR-3 in 2102. At least that gives us an idea of what century it is. ( The 100 wiki has a timeline and says the year is 2149, IIRC, but I don't know where that info is from.) I remember that Clarke, Abby and Raven were my favorite characters by far, followed by Monty, and pretty much the only characters I really liked (I was intrigued by Bellamy, and to a lesser extent Octavia, but I didn't exactly like them), since they were the only characters doing smart and good and pragmatic stuff and trying to save people. Then later, during season 1, Raven fell down a few places in my rankings, because I was so frustrated with her moping over Finn. Well, Wells was OK, but I didn't like some things they were doing with him here. One of the things I remembered best from this episode is that it clumsily tried to set up a Wells/Clarke/Finn love triangle, and that it made me roll my eyes so much. And for whatever reason, Bellamy was the one to talk about it to Wells and go on about how Clarke supposedly doesn't see Wells next to Finn, blah blah. Octavia isn't the only Blake with cringey dialogue anymore. Sorry, I'm gonna go on a mini-rant. Why was it necessary for the show to imply that Wells was in love with Clarke? You know how some people claim that the show is so into platonic male/female friendships (which somehow always is all about Clarke and Bellamy, because other male and female characters on the show aren't ever friends or something)? Yeah, right. Clarke and Wells were BFFs from childhood, grew up together - if you're looking for a "sibling-like" relationship between people on the show who are not related, that's the closest thing to it, but apparently, Wells couldn't have done all those sacrifices for Clarke if he wasn't in love with her. Right? But Clarke only sees him as a BFF, and he is so important to her... that the show had her mourn him for about 10 minutes in episode 4 after he was killed, and then never mention him again. If they ever actually wanted a great completely platonic, sibling-like close relationship between a man and a woman, that was a great opportunity. But they obviously didn't care. And speaking of people who grew up together and refer to each other as family, so they would therefore fit the idea of sibling-like relatively well (unlike Clarke and Bellamy, who didn't even know each other or interact with each other till they were 23 and almost 18, respectively)... well, there's also Finn and Raven. Who are also boyfriend and girlfriend. Kinda weird. I wonder when the writers decided to kill of Wells. I think it definitely was only after this episode, because this episode spends a lot of time building up Wells as a heroic character and setting up that love triangle that never goes anywhere, because Wells dies in 1x03. I think that, if the writers were at all planning an "endgame" (though I hate that word) love interest for Clarke, it was probably Wells at this point, because I don't think they were considering Bellamy that way at this point, and Finn, while clearly meant as the initial love interest, has False Romantic Lead written all over him. I sometimes wonder what the show would look like if they hadn't killed off Wells. I think Finn's "peacemaker" role in season 1b was probably planned for Wells. But I'm really relieved that we didn't get a love triangle that's all "Unlucky Childhood Friend/nice guy in unrequited love with a girl who is into another guy who is charming but kind of a jerk/cheater, until she finally realizes he's the one for her", because I hate that trope so much. Sorry, Finn lovers, if any of you are reading this - but Finn comes off even worse on rewatch than he did when I watched it the first time. He was always a guy who's just there and whose only interest seemed to be following Clarke around and flirting with her, but his time I'm noticing things like, even when he does good things, he only does them after he's realized Clarke would like him to do it, and tries to make himself look good and be the guy that she needs in her life. When I first watched this, I just had profound indifference towards him, which grew into active annoyance in this episode. And I didn't even realize at the time that he had a girlfriend on the Ark. Or that, after Clarke shamed him for not wanting to come and help rescue Jasper, he only changed his mind and came after Clarke had made Bellamy join the rescue party. My annoyance was initially mostly because of the scene where they are on the way to finding Jasper and saving him, and Finn decides to instead convince Clarke that she's wound up too tight and should just relax and they should splash each other with water. Which would be OK, if Jasper wasn't potentially dying. Priorities? And there was also his pop psychology where he tells Clarke that she is so desperate to save Jasper because she couldn't save her father, and we're obviously supposed to see it as super--meaningful. Is it just me that thinks that wanting to save people in general, and especially those you know, is a normal human reaction? Which is why Clarke was the character I immediately liked and related to. And also why this scene annoyed me so much. My feelings on it are exactly the same now, except maybe now I'm not sure that the show ever even meant for the Finn/Clarke pairing to be seen as an especially good one. Meanwhile, it seems that the show staff had realized between the Pilot and the second episode that Bob was super hot, so now Bellamy gets to be shirtless and with ruffled hair that looks much better on him, and is just friendly parting from some random Delinquent girl he's had sex with and who never appears again. I guess the casual sex (and later threesomes) were supposed to be a part of his 'bad boy' persona, since it pretty much stopped once the show started making him into a more heroic figure. Even though there's actually nothing wrong about single people having casual sex for pleasure, so it's not like that marks him as 'bad'. (The show, however, seemed less judgy about casual sex in later seasons, so I don't know.) However, he does a lot of other thing in this episode that are actually bad, like making the kids take off their wristbands so they'll have food, or acting dictator-like ("I will not be disobeyed") and over-protective of Octavia, including punishing Atom for making out with her. I didn't hate Bellamy early on as many did, but he frustrated me a lot, and was definitely at his most annoying in 1x02. However, I always had a lot of leeway for both him and Octavia, no matter how annoying they acted at this point, because of their backstory. And now I can even understand his over-protectiveness a bit better, knowing hat happened the last time he tried to let Octavia enjoy life. Much of the episode was about Octavia trying to find a guy to make out with, and specifically trying to make Atom (the guy Bellamy charged with protecting her). make out with her. She's being a huge brat at this point, but it's understandable - she was isolated, under the floor and locked up, all her life, and now she wants to be free and enjoy it. One interesting moment is when she told Atom: "Wall won't stop what's out there, we need weapons" - which is the first time she sounded like later Octavia. But her later love of fighting also makes sense for her character - fighting, especially with bare hands or cold weapons, is an energetic activity that produces an adrenaline rush, kind of like sex/making out. The scene where she chases butterflies in the woods and then makes out with Atom was one of the most visually beautiful. It looked very romantic, in the sense of enjoying life and nature. Not in the sense of actual romance, unless by 'romance' one means 'making out with a random person you met a day ago and barely know.' But to be fair, even Octavia's upcoming big OTP romance with Lincoln began with little more than physical attraction, and she knew him even less than Atom by the time they hooked up. The best interactions Ocfavia had in the episode were with Monty - the start of one of the better, underrated m/f genuinely platonic friendships on the show. This exchange was quite interesting: Monty: "Living under the floor all your life, it's amazing that you're not a complete basket case". Octavia: "Who says I'm not?" Monty was really cool in this episode - while Octavia was having some drama with Atom and some other guy, he was like "quiet, guys, I'm working" and was just calmly working on trying to make radio communications with the Ark possible. A bit more backstory on him and Jasper: they obviously have known each other for a long time, and Monty compares his relationship with Jasper to the Blakes, saying that Jasper may not actually be his brother but they are just as close. However, the Blakes aren't really like a regular sibling relationship, it's one of those sibling relationships (like Katniss/Prim in The Hunger Games) where the elder sibling had to grow up early and take care of the younger, so it's more like a parent/child relationship. Which is really one of the main problems of their relationship - Bellamy sees Octavia almost as his child and is extremely protective and sacrificial (the way we otherwise see parents act towards their children in The 100), and Octavia is constantly rebelling against him as kids rebel against authority. First significant interaction between Monty and Clarke, too. When Wells and Monty volunteer to save Jasper, Clarke tells Monty to stay behind because he's too important for the group's survival - he was raised on a Farm station, trained as an engineer. "food and communications. What's up here (*touches his head*) is going to save us all". (And how right she was!) That's some good, smart, pragmatic thinking - and she also managed to convince him without having to say that he also wouldn't be the most useful in a fight. I notice so many gender stereotypes in how the characters are written in these early episodes, more than the show usually has afterwards. Jasper and Monty were constantly talking about impressing girls in the Pilot, Jasper thought Finn had "game", and in this episode, we constantly have women shaming men into doing things by implying they would look weak or cowardly otherwise. Octavia tries to make Atom let her make out with guys/make out with her by saying he would be her brother's "bitch" otherwise (when did she learn to talk like that? I guess, during those two-three days on Earth?). Clarke tells Finn how disappointed she is that he refuses to join the rescue party, calling him a coward. (Though Monty shames Finn, too, saying "Jasper looked up to you". Which doesn't mean much, since the reason Jasper looked up to him is because he thought Finn was good at impressing girls.) And then Clarke makes Bellamy join the rescue party by implying he will look scared in front of the others/less brave than she is, otherwise (though that was more about Bellamy having to maintain authority in the group - which he needs for his own reasons), Then Bellamy enlists his sidekick Murphy to come, too. Murphy: "What are we doing? I didn't think we were in the rescuing business." Oh, you have no idea. The interactions between Bellamy and Clarke in this episode were quite interesting. I didn't ship them at this point, but I know now that some people already did, and I can see why. The scenes where they are into each other's faces and being antagonistic... well, this is the scene where Clarke says she will never take off the wristband, and Bellamy calls her "Brave princess" sarcastically (?):

What are you doing here, Bellamy? If he means to try to be snarky or antagonistic, he's not doing a good job, because "Brave princess" is not an insult, it sounds like he's impressed by her. (Which he probably is, though I'm not sure he's aware of it yet.) I'm sure he thinks she should hate her, because she is making things difficult for him and she's one of the privileged high class people from the Ark. That's what Bellamy means, at least at first, when he calls her "princess" - he's not using that nickname to flirt with her, like Finn. At least, I'm sure he does't mean to flirt. But... he kind of looks like he's flirting. I think, at this point, he's really, really confused.

And that's exactly the moment when Finn comes along, finally having decided to join the party, and says "Come up with your own nickname". Finn seems very possessive over... that nickname.

Later when they find Jasper, he gets all take-chargey and tells Wells to keep an eye on Bellamy, and Murphy to come help him take Jasper down from the tree. I can't help but think of another, far less successful and very unfortunate rescue mission, in season 2, where Murphy will also end up as Finn's reluctant sidekick.

I love the way that Bellamy acts like he's so ruthless (which he probably believes himself to be, much more than he actually is), when he tells Murphy he will take Clarke's wristband off even if he has to cut off her arm to do it...but then later, when she almost falls into the pit full of spikes, he instinctively grabs her arm and saves her life - and then has the look on his face "What did I just do? What am I doing? Why I am doing this?" He really is confused.

Early season 1 Bellamy is such a hot mess. Kind of like Clarke will end up being a hot mess in season 5, and similarly impulsive, emotionally damaged and preoccupied with just protecting their "child" while ignoring the big picture, while season 1 Clarke/season 5 Bellamy are acting pragmatically while trying to save everybody. They've really switched roles. And I expect season 6 Bellamy to help Clarke to get back to who she used to be, just as Clarke helped him find himself in season 1.

I love the song "Can't Pretend" by Tom Odell, which closes this episode. (I'll be seeing him in concert in a week.) But I didn't initially even notice it in the episode - I only paid attention to it when I saw some The 100 fanvideos with it. It's too emotional and the lyrics don't really fit either of the rather shallow romances (Finn/Clarke and Octavia/Atom) whose scenes it covers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmtXzuSGu8

[yao-mingmng]

just thoughts about yao mingming’s journey 

“It’s easy to reach your destination on the highway, you can reach your destination quickly. But if you make a detour, you’ll see the beautiful scenery you never noticed. There will be uphills and downhills, and you will realise later on that they were beautiful and meaningful.” - Yoon Siyoon

i ended up rewatching the special qcyn episode about unine’s progress throughout the show and i got so emotional with mingming’s…

he started out known as “the person that has trained for six years” and i could see how unconfident he was with his skills. mingming faced many obstacles prior to qcyn; he could’ve been in svt, blk disbanded and he was one step away from debut lineup for mixnine.

ymm was always referred to as the “six year trainee” and kept his thoughts to himself. he remained silent on his struggles because he didn’t want to be burdensome. we got to see him slowly opening up during qcyn because of all the support he was receiving from the trainees, mentors and fans. eventually, everyone could see the significant improvements from him throughout the four months, and it all came down to his hard work and his growing confidence (with the help of his friends like namanana team b, smz, and wyc just to name a few).

i remember seeing comments about how ymm isn’t good enough for someone who has trained for six years and even how he apparently “shouldn’t be an idol”. it was so disheartening to see these people doubt his abilities, there’s no reason to put someone down like that. sure more training may correlate to being more skilled, but there’s times where external factors hold people back from bringing out their full potential.  my dumb commerce side is raging WE CANNOT CONTROL THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT seriously though never underestimate someone you never know what will happen!!

mingming had never forgotten his original intention and continued on the long road to debut. he said that realised that he was still passionate about singing and dancing and never gave up since then. the beginning of qcyn was also a rollercoaster ride for him. he was ranked C, didn’t perform namanana on stage, even ranked 10th again in the second elimination rankings (the dreaded number tbh). even if he suffers any hardships along the way, he gets back up and powers on. he’s endured so many hardships throughout the 6-7 years, and his hard work really paid off in the end. 

i really admire his perseverance so much that it makes me motivated to keep on going whenever something happens at uni. i’ve experienced setbacks at uni this semester but ymm aspires me to continue trying and work towards my goals. 

don’t ever forget your initial intentions.

ymm is a reminder that no matter how hard the journey might be, our hard work will show. as long as we still have the passion to do something, there is no reason to stop working towards our target.  the harder you work, the better you are. we will eventually be rewarded in the end as a result for working towards our goal and for not giving up.

and perhaps this is one of the reasons why he was consistently my one pick throughout qcyn too (and my bias in unine)…

**TLDR; i feel like there’s something to learn from yao mingming about reaching for our dreams and not giving up. if anyone wants to watch ymm’s journey on qcyn, midnight ming on youtube has subbed his cut (x) (she also has other fantastic mingming content subbed too!!)

[the-plural-of-cris-is-crises]

A Very Trekful 10 Days: Day 5

I am behiiiiind on this. But it's alright! I'll catch up! At least I have always been watching some Star Trek every day.

Star Trek: Picard S2 Countdown - 6 days (5 days, posting this past midnight again >.>)

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E20 “Qpid”

Main takeaway from my Qpid rewatch: I just started laughing when I saw Vash because I thought about Rogue Elements and I was just like "Rios has slept with her" (something from Rogue Elements I did not see coming at all honestly). Also, I like watching only the Q episodes because now I'm following the show(s) from Q's POV.

Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E6 "True Q" / Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E15 "Tapestry"

2024 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S3E11&12 "Past Tense Parts 1 & 2"

Accidental Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S5E18 "Course: Oblivion"

Main takeaway from my accidental rewatch of Course: Oblivion that has nothing to do with Picard S2: I accidentally put this episode on somehow when trying to put on Dark Frontier. But I was doing homework at the time and thought "huh, I don't remember the Borg Queen being in this episode" when I saw what episode it was (but not the title) but I just let it go. Anyway, good episode. Nothing to do with Picard S2

Borg Queen Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S5E15&16 “Dark Frontier Parts 1 & 2”

Main takeaway from my Dark Frontier rewatch: It will be interesting seeing the Borg Queen kind of helpless in S2, at some point at least. She always has this ability to (try to) control people but in Picard S2 she's going to be chained up and strapped to/plugged into the engine for (I'm assuming) time travel and of course she'll still try to use her manipulative abilities (on Agnes, it seems?) but it will be different than she's been in these episodes and the movie.

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E5 "Stardust City Rag"

Main takeaways from my Stardust City Rag rewatch (past midnight, unfortunately): I always love this episode. So many fun moments, many fun references, Rios trying to be flamboyant and his drink having two umbrellas. The way he rolls his R when he says "Rios" when introducing himself in "The name's Rios" almost expected a "The name's Rios. Cristóbal Rios." That outfit and his words, "salutations" (has someone been reading Charlotte's Web?) and "foofaraw" and his standing too close to vup.

PicardPositivity Day 25 - Enoch & Behind the Scenes

[lumalaya]

summer films ‘18

hi there! to clarify, this is a log of films i’ve seen this summer, not exactly films set in the summer, so if you’re here for that, i’m sorry?

anyway, here we go!

1. kasal (2018) / dir. ruel s. bayani ♡ 180525 ♡ girl is engaged to the son of cebu’s current mayor who is currently preparing for elections, but her ex comes back and tries to win her back ♡ cliche, i know, but trust me, this movie deals with this plotline in a very interesting way ♡ and come on, it’s bea alonzo and paulo avelino, two icons 2. high school musical (2006) / dir. kenny ortega ♡ 180614 ♡ iconic, i love troy bolton, thanks for reminding me ♡ i know sharpay isn’t that bad but she’s still a bully lol ♡ the choreography for when there was me and you got me dying i love it ♡  fave song: stick to the status quo 3. high school musical 2 (2007) / dir. kenny ortega ♡ 180622 ♡ my least favorite in the trilogy ♡ there was so much unnecessary drama they should’ve cut troy some slack ♡ i hate chad danforth, that’s all ♡ fave song: you are the music in me 4. high school musical 3: senior year (2008) / dir. kenny ortega ♡ 180622 ♡ my favorite in the trilogy! ♡ i still hate chad tho lol but i love taylor so much she’s my favorite character! ♡ i wish they elaborated more on gabriella though, because i like to imagine an alternate ending where she declines stanford and stays in albuquerque for another year which disappoints everyone and puts a strain on her relationship with troy. that would’ve been so interesting! ♡ fave song: i love all of them, but if i had to choose, the boys are back 5. kimmy dora 2: the temple of kiyeme (2009) / dir. joyce bernal ♡ 180626 ♡ the only reason i watched this was because i had a terrible pimple on my forehead and it reminded me of some horror movie then i realized it was this so i had to look for the particular scene ♡ the movie was really bad, as expected ♡ but i absolutely love eugene domingo!! she’s so talented i really admire her as an actress

6. before sunrise (1995) / dir. richard linklater ♡ 180630 ♡ this was the day my internet ultimately stopped working (for four days, if i may add) so i thought hey why not start that movie marathon i’ve been meaning to do ♡ i was excited to watch this because it’s a known pop culture reference, and also because it’s seulgi’s favorite movie ♡ it’s unique! it’s not easy to film a story that revolves around two people who’ve just met walking around in a city neither of them knows ♡ i liked this movie but it wasn’t that spectacular or anything, i think it lacks emotion and excitement ♡ but please, do not get off a train in europe with someone you’ve just met that is dangerous 

7. before sunset (2004) / dir. richard linklater ♡ 180630 ♡  i knew nothing about this so i was actually surprised to see the same actors nine years after before sunrise’s release ♡ i like this better than the first one! céline shows the emotions i was looking for ♡ it’s much simpler and easier to follow because it really is just them walking around and talking to continue the story because of the short amount of time they have together 

8. before midnight (2013) / dir. richard linklater ♡ 180630 ♡ this movie is the reason i watched the series! it was mentioned in it’s okay, that’s love so i thought i needed to watch this, and honestly, it helped me understand the characters from iotl a bit better! ♡ it ended up being my favorite film of the three ♡ it’s more complex than the first two because it introduces more characters and is set in more locations ♡ after years of watching and reading romcoms, this made me believe in love 

9. gone girl (2014) / dir. david fincher ♡ 180701 ♡ i knew nothing about this film except that there was a girl and she was missing and the plot is unexpected? ♡ i won’t say much on this because it’s amazing when you watch it without knowing anything ♡ but it is CRAZY it hecked me up so much wow ♡ will try reading the book when i can!! 10. the grand budapest hotel (2014) / dir. wes anderson ♡ 180701 ♡ my first wes anderson film (finally) ♡ bored me at first because sadly, i can’t relate to rich european men who live in hotels and have sex with elderly women ♡ but it is so much more than that! it’s funny and deals with loyalty, the war, and crap immigrants go through ♡ yes, the cinematography is unique and beautiful, but i couldn’t appreciate it much from years of seeing wes anderson stills on my social media ♡ i went into this without knowing anything about it, but i wish i’d watched the trailer beforehand because that would’ve helped me appreciate it more 11. the fault in our stars (2014) / dir. josh boone ♡ 180702 ♡ i was bored and looking through my sister’s hard drive and i thought hey why not watch sad western teen books-turned-movies i used to glorify years ago ♡ it was alright but knowing every line, song, facial expression that would come next made it worse ♡ john green’s cameo is so awkward it’s almost funny ♡ i hope i never meet an augustus waters in my life 12. if i stay (2014) / dir. r.j. cutler ♡ 180703 ♡ part 2 of sad western teen books-turned-movies i used to glorify ♡ the story is pretty good but the film itself isn’t as good as i remembered ♡ i’m still so in love with jamie blackley after four years he’s so handsome and his voice is beautiful ♡ chloe moretz’s acting is really awkward though it’s almost painful to watch ♡ it made me want to reread the sequel where she went though! 13. she’s dating the gangster (2014) / dir. cathy garcia-molina ♡ 180705 ♡ i started this with an open mind and some expectations because although i hated on it for no reason years ago, i wanted to give it a chance ♡ but i’m sorry it really is bad ♡ kenji delos reyes is manipulative and selfish i hope i never meet a guy like him 14. grave of the fireflies (1988) / dir. isao takahata ♡ 180706 ♡ two siblings in the middle of a war ♡ watched this because a friend wanted to rabbit with me! ♡ i haven’t seen a ghibli film in a while so this was refreshing ♡ really sad though :( 15. 10 things i hate about you (1999) / dir. gil hunger ♡ 180706 ♡ guy is paid to date girl lol ♡ julia stiles is so beautiful :( i love her ♡ pretty funny actually! ♡ also watched this because friends wanted to rabbit with me :> 16. i’m drunk, i love you (2017) / dir. jp habac ♡ 180707 ♡ i finally, finally watched this ♡ not gonna lie it disappointed me? so many people loved it but for me it was eh ♡ paulo avelino’s character was pretty lacking for me, i wish they’d elaborated more on him ♡ but i liked the group dynamic because they’re not the wholesome, fake happy kind of friends, seeing them interact made me feel like they’re people i really know in real life (which made me miss my own friends) ♡ even jasmine’s character felt real because she’s probably someone i’d know HAHA ♡ fun fact: i’ve listened to the song lloydy long before watching this because i mean? a song about john lloyd? sign me up 17. that thing called tadhana (2014) / dir. antoinette jadaone ♡ 180708 ♡ another film i finally watched after multiple pop culture references ♡ i actually kinda liked it! it literally has a spiel about john lloyd of course i do but it gets better when the main characters become comfortable with each other ♡ i find it interesting that the director also directed love you to the stars and back which is another film that revolves around two people, both dealing with stuff, who’d just met and decide to go on a journey together ♡ the characters also feel pretty realistic/relatable once you get to know them 18. the spectacular now (2013) / dir. james ponsoldt ♡ 180709 ♡ part 3 of sad western teen books-turned-movies i used to glorify ♡ the only reason i rewatched this was because it was the shortest of the films i had at the time and i needed something to pass the time while loading episodes of svt club ♡ i mean it’s okay? not bad not good and i don’t even like miles teller ♡ shailene woodley perfectly plays the part of the awkward oblivious girl (and that’s not a compliment) 19. the breakup playlist (2015) / dir. dan villegas ♡ 180716 ♡ this film was so refreshing to watch?? sarah portrayed a youthful musician just starting out so so well i love her so much what a great first sarah g movie for me ♡ piolo made me fall in love with him and later on hate him, as he should ♡ i love opm kaya seeing the gig scene, some actual artists like ebe dancel, and looots of covers of songs like wag na wag mong sasabihin by kitchie nadal and with a smile by eraserheads ♡ i understand now why people love paano bang magmahal HAHAHA 20. barcelona: a love untold (2016) / dir. olivia lamasan ♡ 180717 ♡ alright so remember how i absolutely hated sdtg? ♡ I LOVED THIS FILM SO. MUCH. ♡ kathniel matured a lot in two years and i think they were perfect for this!! they really showed certain struggles of young adults and did not disappoint ♡ it also shows filipino values for family, utang ng loob, ofw struggles, etc ♡ and of course the cinematography is beautiful HUHU i mean it’s barcelona!! 21. my annoying brother (2016) / dir. kwon soo-kyung ♡ 180721 ♡ honestly took me a bit to get into it  ♡ i expected it to be funny and although it did make me laugh a lot why were there tears :((( ♡ kyungsoo is so, so, so talented i admire him so much as an actor now ♡ really hits you in the feels! a really beautiful story about two brothers 22. so i married an anti-fan (2016) / dir. kim jae-young ♡ 180724 ♡ meh ♡ it took some getting used to seeing chanyeol being all snobbish and cool instead of his usual loud happy self ♡ of course it’s overdramatic for the comedy, but the hate-turned-love isn’t even that good lol it’s just unreasonable but whatever ♡ the lead girl reminds me of arci munoz HAHA 23. wonder (2017) / dir. stephen chbosky ♡ 180725 ♡ we watched this during my summer program and i was actually pretty excited because i remember loving the book! ♡ this honestly teaches you a lot not even just from the perspective of children but also as teenagers, parents, friends, etc ♡ i thoroughly enjoyed it!

[sunnydale-digest]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, June 1

DAWN: Buffy called. She said she was going straight from the Magic Box to do some patrolling. WILLOW: Oh, did she need help? DAWN: No, she was just calling to check in. For like the tenth time today. I think she's feeling all Joan Crawford 'cause of the other night. WILLOW: Yeah, about that, I'm ... I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have assumed Buffy would be here. DAWN: Right. Assume would make you an ass out of me. Heh, um, or, uh, something. Anyway, please, it's cool. I mean, it's not like I even needed Tara to stay over. I'm so totally fine on my own. But, you are gonna be around tonight, right? WILLOW: Right, totally! Uh, we can do something if you want. A movie maybe? DAWN: Really? But I thought you weren't feeling so good. WILLOW: Well ... nothing a little Dawnie time won't fix. If you feel like baggin' the peanut butter, I'll even buy you dinner.

~~Buffy Season 6 Episode #110: "Wrecked"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

wouldn't it be nice? (in the kind of world where we belonged) (Buffy/Spike, T) by SummerFrost

The Vampire's Gambit (Buffy/Spike, T) by violettathepiratequeen

Spike's Secret (Buffy/Spike, T) by spikeisthebigbad

fate + faith (Faith/Reader, unrated) by prose-for-hire

Comfort-spike (Spike/Reader, unrated) by prose-for-hire

Spike-nightmare (Spike/Reader, unrated) by prose-for-hire

[Chaptered Fiction]

Touching the Fire, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by gillo

Embers Ch. 1/10 (Buffy/Spike, M) by Dusty87

Path to Destiny Ch. 1-11/11 (COMPLETE) (Spike/OC, M) by Mindy1981

Die and Live This Way Ch. 1/28 (Spike/OC, M) by Cynder2013

Meet Me at Midnight, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Dusty

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Buffet the Vampire Slayer () by Fiveby21

Artwork:Just so yall know, homemade stakes can be easily made by covering a turkey baster, minus the squeeze () by BuffyBoltonVampFlayr

Artwork:David Boreanaz () by cunninghamh2014

Artwork:BtVS Cartoon () by heroofthreefaces

Artwork:Willow & Tara Dolls () by

Artwork:Scoobies () by space-sheep08

Artwork: Faith () by auricoma

Artwork: Oz and Tara () by reelbigchip

Manip:Fanged Four Banner () by

Artwork:Buffy and Faith () by punksouthie

Icons: 79 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ICONS () by peaked

Video: Something's Gotta Give (Giles/Jenny) by RachelJurasic

[Reviews & Recaps]

I'm Not Done Baking - An analysis of 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' by RealAdaLovelace

[Community Announcements]

Seasonal Spuffy Round 30 - Spring 2021 - Index Post by seasonal-spuffy

Summer of Giles 2021 signups are here! by summer_of_giles

Round 127: Clones & Doppelgängers by fancake

[Fandom Discussions]

Spike raises little Xander? by Elizabeth Reed

The Buffybot by chasingfictions

Angel by buffysummers

Scooby Meta by sunnydalebimbo

Insect Reflection Chapter One: I’m Not Done Baking (Welcome to the Hellmouth) by buffy-thoughts

i wish buffy, willow and xander had been on more random failed dates and short relationships by firemanwhenthefloodsrollback

Tbh s7 Potential made my cry more than Chosen did. by emmathompsonegot

if buffy and faith were dating by sunnydalebimbo

To this day I’m still baffled by rhymeswithlungs

Discussion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26 (Boom! Studios) by Multiple Authors

Buffy house set by Bufy

I gotta ask by PlatyNumb

Need help with a viewing order for Buffy/Angel watch party by d6zrv7c575

Wesley is a good man and stand up guy by precita

I don’t see the season 5 appeal by captainjay09

What *has* aged well in the show? by Excellent-Durian-509

Rewatching Buffy as an adult and now I want to fight by Sparklypisces

What was that ritual that Willow used in Selfless? by nabinObue

Was Robin's mother the longest/oldest living slayer at time of death when Spike killed her? by precita

When the reference to Leon Czolgosz is just a bit too obscure for the subtitle writer to catch by addielovescolours

Is anyone else a weirdo who starts their rewatch in a random place? by Specialist_Arrival81

Am I the only one who has a nostalgia for the high school years? by cherrycranberries

Ask Game: Buffy & Cordelia: Parody by prose-for-hire

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[chorapper]

Get to know me tag!

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

Tagged by: @sweetheartwonho​ thank you so much sweetie!!

I tag: not 20 people ofc lmao but i’ll tag @sofiesakura​, @shawol-nana​, @honungsbin​, @monstaim​, @socke3133​, @kkngie​, @hyukbinnie​, @delicatelykeenbouquet​, @pink-kyun​, @fyhjjxxn​ !! doing this is optional ofc

THE LAST: 1. Drink: cherry juice i got from my grandma!! 2. Phone call: my boss 3. Text message: my dad 4. Song you listened to: atlas hands (thomas jack remix) by benjamin francis leftwich (highly recommended summer song!!) 5. Time you cried: today, while rewatching the last episode of stranger things with my sister lmao

HAVE YOU: 6. Dated someone twice: nope 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: nope 8. Been cheated on: unlikely since my last relationship was when we were 12 9. Lost someone special: yea 10. Been depressed: i think i was at the borderline at some point but managed to avoid it luckily 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: lmao i have never drunk in my life

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS: 12-14: black, orange, dark gray/blueish

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends: i have!! a lot actually 16. Fallen out of love: nope 17. Laughed until you cried: lmao many times 18. Found out someone was talking about you: yeah but in a good way 19. Met someone who changed you: a lot of ppl 20. Found out who your friends are: yep 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: well, my family??

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: all but like..........3 from when my sis and i had a super junior fanpage 5 years ago and they were admins 23. Do you have any pets: a budgie (curry, but i call him pepe) and a leopard gecko (gollum)!! my babies 24. Do you want to change your name: nah i like it 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: were in school lmao and got embarrassed bc my classmates sang for me 26. What time did you wake up: i think around 10 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: checking monsta x memes on instagram jkfhlgsfdjg  28. Name something you can’t wait for: idk if i’m longing for an own apartment or a trip to korea or smth so i can see mx lmao (or my first paycheck........idk) 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: around 5-6 hours ago 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: my shyness when i meet new people/talk to people i haven’t rly opened up to yet.....basically to be able to chitchat and make small talk and make friends quicker 31. What are you listening right now: kkpp by miso (i love her!! she’s so cute and charismatic and the song is amazing!!) 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: does tomas count?nope 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: my dad nagging me to clean my room lmao but he has a point tho 34. Most Visited Website: probably tumblr youtube or fb................or google?? 35. Mole/s: some here and there ofc but i have 10ish in the middle of my right wrist in a like............cluster and idek if those are moles or freckles tbh lmao 36. Mark/s: a surgical scar under my right boob, one scar on my leg, a scar from a needle on my palm, a scar under my lip 37. Childhood dream: i wanted to be a lot of things, but the ironic thing is that i was 100% sure that i would NOT be an electrician bc it’s dangerous as hell but hey lmao guess what i’m working as right now  38. Hair color: dirty blonde 39. Long or short hair: long 40. Do you have a crush on someone: no i don’t think i can call it a crush 41. What do you like about yourself: i’m observant, i’m doing well at my job, i have cute ears that makes me look like an elf when i let my hair down  42. Piercings: one in each ear 43. Bloodtype: idk lmao  44. Nickname: one of my friends call me melina, my co-worker calls me “lill-bruttan” which basically means “the little chick” (we are only three girls out of ca 85 workers and she refers to herself as “bruttan” and since i’m younger than her........well i became the little bruttan) 45. Relationship status: too busy working for a relationship lmao nooo i’m too shy to talk to any1 46. Zodiac: virgo 47. Pronouns: she/her 48. Favorite TV Show: the blacklist, stranger things, person of interest, the mentalist 49. Tattoos: none atm but will probably get one after my first pay!! i’m thinking about something to do with my zodiac, ruling planetor element or some star constellation OR a moon glyph bc they’re so pretty!! 50. Right or left hand: right 51. Surgery: removal of a birthmark and when i got borrelia the doctors did something with my overly swollen knee but i don’t rly know exactly what bc i was like 11 52. Hair dyed in different color: not atm but two years ago i dyed my tips pink  53. Sport: equestrianism!! i’ve been horseback riding since i was 6 (i’m on break due to allergy treatment atm tho and i criiiii)   55. Vacation: east asia!! or some place with nice diving spots so i can finally learn diving lmao 56. Pair of trainers: um............i think i have like 6 pairs??

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: nothing 58. Drinking: water 59. I’m about to: go brush my teeth 61. Waiting for: my work phone to start functioning 62. Want: to explore the ocean and wrecks and fish and creatures and reeves and underwater caves and stuff!! 63. Get married:  yeaaaaa with someone who’d be both my romantic partner and my best friend!! 64. Career: electrician atm but i’d like to be an underwater archaelogist or work with zodiacs and stars and such

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: idk neither? lmao no but it depends on the person, i’m not a skinship person so i think i’d only be 100% comfortable if it’d be my s/o but with other’s then hugs probably 66. Lips or Eyes: eyes bc they tell more than lips (lmao cheesy n deep but rly 67. Shorter or taller: taller 68. Older or Younger: older 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: don’t rly care 71. Sensitive or loud: both 72. Hook-up or Relationship: relationship ofc 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: something in between

HAVE YOU EVER: 74. Kissed a Stranger: no  75. Drank hard liquor: nope 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: sunglasses yes 77. Turned someone down: nooo i would’ve wanted to but i didn’t want to hurt him (again we were 12) 78. Sex on the first date: nope 79. Broken someone’s heart: possible 80. Had your heart broken: nope 81. Been arrested: nope 82. Cried when someone died: ofc 83. Fallen for a friend: nope

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. Yourself: depends on how i’m feeling 85. Miracles: no i don’t think so....or maybe idk haven’t given it much thought 86. Love at first sight: i can’t myself but i’m sure it’s possible for others!! 87. Santa Claus: nope 88. Kiss on the first date: why not, if it feels right then just do it i guess 89. Angels: kinda?

OTHER: 90. Current best friends name: i rarely call them their real names lmao but Ragge (real name Leia), Bob (Fidan), Scoop (Zurima), Bae (Anneli), Floof (Sofie), Daniielen (Daniela), Noodle (Bano), Majstången/Majblomman (Maja) 91. Eyecolor: blue/grey 92. Favorite movie: marvel movies!! and other action movies like robocop!! and lotr, hobbit and such 

[timeflies1007-blog]

Doctor Who Reviews by a Female Doctor, Season 6, p. 3

Night Terrors: This is an unusual episode, particularly for this season, in that it’s really quite unambitious. It’s pretty unambiguously an episode of a children’s show, more so than most other episodes of the reboot or even much of the classic series. It’s a straightforward, simple little story about a frightened little boy and the monsters in his closet, and overall it’s pretty charming. The concept of how we deal with fear has definitely been done in much more sophisticated ways elsewhere on the show; “Midnight” was a terrifying look at how fear can make us turn on one another, while the later episode “Listen” is a powerful exploration of the ways in which fear moves and inspires us. This story is a much narrower tale of one child’s experience of feeling worried and vulnerable, but it’s a perfectly fine version of that story.

           While this episode is relatively unimpressive when compared with stories like “Midnight” and “Listen,” its focus on childhood fears could also invoke comparisons to Season Two’s disastrous “Fear Her,” possibly the only episode of the reboot to be more clearly directed at a child audience than this one is. The show seems to have benefited from the criticism of the former episode, as it avoids most of its mistakes (and retains its one strong point by including a cute animal—the landlord’s droopy bulldog is not tied to quantum humor like Possibly Schrodinger’s Cat, but compensates by looking very huggable.) While the ending remains extremely sentimental, the sentiment is grounded in the primary plot about George and his father rather than centering on nonsense about the Olympic torch. Unlike the offensively demonic portrayal of Chloe, George comes across as frightened but actively trying to keep the monsters at bay through various rituals, like having his mother flick the lights on and off and putting frightening things in the closet. This episode also portrays George’s dad much more sensitively than its predecessor managed with Chloe’s mom, and Daniel Mays’s endearing performance in the role goes a long way toward making this story palatable. It would have been nice to see a little bit more of George’s mother, though, not least because female characters other than Amy don’t get much to do in this episode.

           The episode’s visuals vary in quality, with the setting generally faring better than the monsters. The apartment complex has an oddly comforting presence, particularly after the more outlandish settings in recent episodes; to me, it’s the most familiar-looking depiction of contemporary Earth since Davies left the show. The enlarged dollhouse is also enjoyable, and I like the Ponds’ exploration of the odd space, complete with wooden pans painted to look like copper, seemingly anachronistic lighting, and eyeballs in drawers. The dolls themselves are pretty disappointing, though—their appearance is creepy enough, but this portion of the story is just too sleepy and slow-moving to capture my attention. (That said, it does give the Ponds some entertaining dialogue, and I’m amused that Rory is starting to get annoyed at how many times he has “died.”) George’s toys, and the shadows that they cast on his bedroom walls, are more successfully scary; they’re not among the show’s most memorable frights, but I can remember feeling precisely the same kinds of terrors when I was little, so I can empathize with George here.

           As Amy and Rory are mostly tied to the dollhouse plot, it’s not a great episode for them. On the one hand, this episode fits really nicely into their overall arc this season. It’s yet another iteration of the “parents save the world by loving their children and refusing to be separated from them” narrative that happens a lot in Season Six, and my heart goes out to Amy and Rory every time this works for everybody except them. On the other hand, the episode was controversial for not having them directly comment on how close to home this situation is for them. This has been explained in part by the fact that the episode was initially slated for the first half of the season, when it would have preceded their loss of Melody, and then later moved to the second half. This actually winds up working out well for Amy, I think; the second half of this season is very focused on how much she is bottling up her feelings, and the next two episodes are going to go into the psychological impact of that to such a degree that I think it would be a mistake to have her abandon that mentality and actually talk about or even visibly react to her own loss here. While the season as a whole provides lots of reasons for Amy’s occasional underreactions, it never quite manages to do the same for Rory, and so while it’s totally believable to me that Amy would be pushing herself to keep a stiff upper lip, it would have made sense to get more of a reaction from him.

A lot people hate this episode, but while I think you could skip it without missing anything integral to the season, I honestly find most of it extremely pleasant. There are so many large-scale episodes this season that it’s sort of nice to have a more low-key one here, and there’s enough angst both before and, especially, after this episode that a sweet story about the monsters in a child’s closet is a welcome change of pace. B-

The Girl Who Waited: I almost never cry in reaction to TV. There are a few rare occasions in which I’ve gotten slightly teary, but for the most part, my default emotional reaction is to get very tense and forget to breathe. (Temporarily, of course.) The first time I watched the end of this episode, I started sobbing. When I rewatched it a couple of months later, I had exactly the same reaction. I have never had a reaction quite this dramatic to any other television episode, and it took me some time to figure out quite what was producing this response, in large part because this episode is more complicated than it looks. On the surface, this looks like an episode about Amy’s love for Rory, which is sweet but is already very well established and so isn’t great subject matter for a story. In truth, though, Amy’s relationship with Rory is the least important one in this storyline, serving as the constant in an exploration of Amy’s much more volatile relationships with the Doctor and with her own mental state. (The title, which references Amy’s history with the Doctor, is a pretty good clue that this episode isn’t really going to be about Rory.) This episode is dark in a way that this show can only manage every once in a long while, but as bleak as it can be, there is something beautiful about how much it tells us about Amy.

           This is the first intentional trip that the three have taken since the events of “Let’s Kill Hitler,” as “Night Terrors” involved a detour in response to George’s message, and they are pretty clearly on a mission to comfort Amy. Appalappachia (what a great name!) is supposedly one of the nicest planets out there, which would have been a nice respite after the draining events they’ve been through if it hadn’t turned out to be under quarantine for the one-day plague. Instead of a nice vacation, Amy gets a fairly sterilized medical facility, where she is constantly being offered “kindness” that would kill her and where she is mostly cut off from communication with Rory and the Doctor. Her aloneness, her inability to talk to even those closest to her, and the total uselessness of attempts at kindness, are not the subtlest pieces of subtext the show has ever done, but the episode generally does a good job of using the sci-fi plot to showcase Amy’s pain and sense of isolation without sledgehammering “This is a symbol of Amy’s grief over losing her child!!!”

           The plot, in which Amy hits the wrong button when entering Appalappachia and winds up in a different time stream from the one that Rory and the Doctor are in, is simple enough, allowing the episode to focus on the emotions of the characters. Even the Appalappachian facility is pretty straightforward, although the grounds look beautiful and the harsh white light is distinctive; there aren’t a lot of nuances to this planet, and the robots play a minimal role, so the world informs the experiences of the characters without really distracting attention from them. It’s a dark episode for the Doctor, who has to lie to Older Amy in order to bring about Young Amy’s rescue. It’s chilling when he slams the door on Older Amy’s face at the end, but the episode manages to work with this dark side of the Doctor without engaging in outright character assassination. He’s in a terrible position, knowing that his best friend will have to endure 38 years—most of her adult life—of complete solitude if he brings Older Amy on the TARDIS with him. I don’t really know what I think the right choice is here, and that lets us look at the Doctor’s tendencies toward manipulation without making him look like a monster. Rory is also in a harrowing position, especially since he sort of has to grieve for the loss of the wife he knew while interacting with the person she has become. I’m glad that Older Amy makes the decision for him at the end, because it really should be her call, but watching him wrestle with which version of Amy to take with him is horribly sad, and completely justifies his furious claim to the Doctor that “You’re turning me into you.”

           As interesting as the Doctor and Rory are here, though, it’s the Amy Pond show, and Gillan is absolutely magnificent as the version of herself who has been alone for nearly four decades. We can see remnants of Amy’s personality in her sense of humor, but she’s thoroughly changed by her time on her own. For one thing, she’s gotten extremely good at surviving—without any help from the Doctor or Rory, she has managed to fend off the robots and make a life for herself. The nature of that life is difficult to imagine; not only does she have to deal with complete solitude, she has to contend with not knowing whether she’ll ever be rescued. Every day could be the day that the Doctor and Rory finally reach her, and having that hope frustrated over and over again for 38 years is probably the most difficult part of this scenario. It also means that this Amy has had time to process what the Doctor has meant to her life and how his behavior has affected her, and after 38 years, all that’s left is anger. It’s not the first time that he’s accidentally shown up at the wrong moment—their very first encounter featured him turning up twelve years later than promised. Amy’s abandonment takes the concept of “Aw, tiny Amelia waited for her Doctor all night with a little suitcase” and transforms it into something deeply horrifying—all the more so because we know that the Doctor’s sometimes irresponsible behavior has caused Amy irreparable harm already this season. She insists that the device she’s made is a sonic probe, not a screwdriver, because she’s “not on a romp.” The implication that the Doctor is just out playing and being whimsical while other people suffer the consequences makes sense from someone who has endured nearly four decades of solitude because of him, and she’s not kidding when she declares that she hates the Doctor.

           She still loves Rory, though, and the scene in which young Amy uses that love to convince her older self to help her escape is extremely moving. Her words about Rory becoming beautiful as she got to know him are appropriate to the relationship that she has with Rory, which was pretty clearly not love at first sight, but rather a gradual growth toward an understanding of Rory’s importance to her. The scene allows her a beautiful articulation of exactly what Rory means to her, and it’s the kind of connection that seems plausible as something that would still be resonant 38 years later. The following scene, in which she sort of awkwardly does the Macarena to remind herself of her first kiss with Rory, is the one part of this episode that falls a bit flat for me, but its setup, in which she declares “I’m going to pull time apart for you,” is a perfectly-rendered moment: Gillan’s performance and the soundtrack combine to create an absolutely stunning sense of her determination and resolve.

It’s leading up to something impossible, though; there can’t be two Amys, and in convincing Older Amy to save her younger self, Young Amy is unwittingly causing the older version to unwrite herself. “Time can be rewritten” is Amy’s favorite phrase, only here she’s what’s being rewritten, which is even sadder when considered in light of recent events in Amy’s life. There are two Amys now, one who is still clinging to faith and hope, the other who has acknowledged the destructive impact that the Doctor had on her and who is fully willing to express her anger and sense of betrayal. She’s the embodiment of all of the feelings that Young Amy isn’t expressing, but in the end, she erases herself from existence because Rory and Amy will be happier together without her. Until the final seconds, this is portrayed as noble, generous and heroic. “Tell Amy, I’m giving her my days,” she says to Rory, as she speaks to him from outside the TARDIS, only her outstretched hand visible from his point of view. She goes out bravely, willingly turning away from the TARDIS and facing the robots armed with kindness. Her last seconds, as she asks the Interface to show her Earth, are astonishingly effective, and the script invests so fully in Older Amy’s perspective that it takes a while to grasp the fundamental wrongness of the situation. It’s not until the very end of the episode, when Young Amy awakes and asks where her older self is, followed by an ominous chord and a shot of the Doctor looking conflicted, that we get an overpowering sense of “Something very not good is going to come of this.”

One of the hardest things about psychological crisis is that acts of self-erasure feel so temptingly right. At my lowest point, I had a brief breakdown just once, when I came home from a party after having a little bit too much to drink and stood in front of my bathroom mirror and screamed at my reflection while gasping for breath. Other than that, in the eight months or so when I was experiencing my usual mental health issues to a much more serious extent than is usually the case, I didn’t cry, I didn’t raise my voice, and I didn’t let anyone know how much pain I was in. This wasn’t so much fear of anyone’s reaction as it was a persistent sense that there was something else to do; I constantly felt like I ought to do something about my mental state, but I really needed to finish a conference paper, and a couple of my students needed a lot of help or they were going to fail the next assignment, and even though I believed very strongly in the need to acknowledge and work carefully through mental health problems, this belief always came with an attached “…but not yet.” We tend to think about a crisis as a time of emotional intensity, but mine mostly involved waiting—I knew that a lot of difficult feelings were there, and I had every intention of dealing with them…later, when there was more time. It felt powerful, sometimes, when I managed to accomplish things in spite of the fact that I was spending significant portions of most days practically unable to move. Look at me, I thought to myself, heroically finishing a dissertation chapter and grading lots of student work and going to multiple social events in one week in spite of feeling like this. These are fairly small victories, but they felt enormous to me because of the state that I was in, and the pride that I felt from getting my work done and keeping my composure every day was enough of a rush that I couldn’t shake that sense that I needed to keep holding off on acknowledging how much of a crisis I was in. I need to deal with how I’m feeling, I’d think, but I really needed to get a lot done today, and I did it without falling apart, and I stuck with that mentality, week after week, month after month, until finally I had a flash of recognition that if I had let myself step a little bit closer to falling apart that might have been better for me. Over time, though, things get buried, and if you repress your feelings for long enough, it can be difficult to get them back when you figure out that you need to express them. By the time I got to the point of wanting to acknowledge what I’d gone through, I felt detached from some of those feelings, as if there had been another woman who had felt anger and grief and betrayal and fear, but I’d stopped her from surfacing by replacing her with the smiling, professional, emotionally stable person that I’d performed for so long. Trying to get back some of those feelings was difficult, because they had grown confused from lack of use, and while I knew that that other me had existed and had been real, I was mostly left wondering, like Amy, “Where is she?”

I hadn’t quite put some of this into words, until I watched this episode and was so emotionally overpowered by it that I started thinking about why it made me feel so strongly. It took me a couple of times to quite get what was going on in this episode, and even longer to connect it fully to myself, but I can’t think of another episode of television that has looked so much like how that psychological low point felt. As much as this episode made me think about myself a lot, it leaves us with a frightening sense of what is yet to come for Amy. She has been through a lot this season, and she’s struggled to put her feelings into words. She’s finally met the embodiment of her anger, grief, and loneliness, but that body has literally vanished, made to have never existed, and for someone in a crisis, it’s hard to think of a more concerning image. This is an intriguing story, and the use of off-kilter time streams is fascinating in itself, but what’s truly memorable about this one is how much it lets us into how lonely it is to be the girl who waited. A+

The God Complex: This episode isn’t quite as brilliant or as emotionally captivating as the previous one, but while the previous episode remained quite serious and fairly heavy throughout, this one is frequently silly and whimsical, and so the fact that it gets pretty close to the emotional heights of its predecessor is even more impressive. “The Girl Who Waited” is one of several episodes that is memorable as a departure from the show’s usual tone—“Midnight” and “Heaven Sent” are similar in this respect. This episode is exactly what regular Doctor Who should be like: fun, enjoyable, and creative, with a great deal to laugh at but a surprising amount of insight at the same time.

           The fake eighties hotel is an absolutely brilliant setting: it looks so convincingly mundane and ordinary that it throws all of the insanity unfolding within it into sharper relief. Having a separate room for each fear is a solid device, and the shifting corridors mean that this Minotaur-centric episode has managed to turn the hotel into a sort of labyrinth, which is a lovely touch that completely escaped me the first time I watched the episode. The Minotaur itself is fabulous; I generally enjoy the big, clompy monsters, but even apart from that the makeup department did a great job with it. (In spite of the repeated exclamations of “Praise him!” the Doctor generally refers to the Minotaur as “it,” so I’m going to take that as the correct pronoun.) It’s definitely an intimidating presence, and is made even more so by how long it takes us to get a proper look at it, but its appearance also manages to evoke sympathy, in part because when we get closeups of its face it looks surprisingly like ET. Its final scene, in which it gratefully dies after the Doctor cuts off his food source, is a lot more moving than you would expect the death of a character who has just wandered around growling to be, and the Doctor’s translation of his last words show him to have a hugely effective sense of empathy. (He also gets the Doctor to make a brief reference to Classic Who’s utterly ridiculous but generally entertaining “The Horns of Nimon,” which is a nice callback.) What the Minotaur does to its victims—invoking their worst fears in order to prey upon their most deeply-held beliefs—is among the most horrifying things we’ve seen this season, but it emerges from the episode looking more like a victim of the system that links Gods and worshippers than an intentionally evil figure.

           The “minotaur in a labyrinth” narrative isn’t the only traditional story at work here, as this is also an iteration of the time-honored “fears coming to life” episode. This has appeared in plenty of sci-fi and fantasy shows (“Nightmares” and “Fear Itself” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are both good examples.) There are some terrific individual fears here: “that brutal gorilla” is awesome, and the wall of fears is both terrifying and darkly funny; I wouldn’t want my last memorial to be my photo on a wall with “Other people’s socks” captioned beneath it. The story is so interesting, and the Minotaur is such a great monster, that the episode could have gotten away with uninteresting minor characters, but in this regard it remains mostly sublime. Even the initial exchange between the Doctor/Ponds and our new characters for this episode is an absolute delight: Amy mocks Rory for responding to their new acquaintances by yelling “It’s okay, we’re nice!” while the Doctor realizes that this is, in fact, not the first time that someone has threatened him with a chair leg. Howie looks for a while like a sort of mean-spirited depiction of a nerd, but there’s a nice moment after his death in which Rory notes with admiration that he had just gotten over a stammer through speech therapy, and I really appreciate the inclusion of this positive information about a character who might have otherwise come across as a one-note joke. Gibbis is our first glimpse of the Tivolian species, and the bits of information that we get about this constantly-surrendering planet are hilarious. Between their anthem (“Glory to Insert Name Here”), Gibbis’s school motto (“Resistance is Exhausting”), and his job (planting trees so that invading armies can march in the shade), Tivoli sounds amazing; it might be too nonsensical to support an actual storyline, but hearing occasional facts about it works extremely well. As funny as the character is, David Walliams also does a great job of conveying the aggressive, controlling aspects of the character’s cowardice.

If I could pick one single-story character in the entirety of the reboot to serve as a major companion, I would probably pick Rita, the Muslim doctor (or medical student? I don’t think this is clarified) who believes the hotel is Jahannam. Amara Karan’s performance is splendid, allowing Rita to join characters like Rose and Bill in feeling like a believable, well-rounded character even before anything much happens with her. She’s extraordinarily likeable: clearly concerned about what is happening, but composed enough to formulate and find comfort in a theory and even, awesomely, to find out where the hotel keeps its tea. While a parent’s disappointment about a low grade is awfully clichéd as an Asian woman’s worst nightmare, she otherwise gets some really interesting material, and I would include her death scene in that category. It can get irritating when the show brings on a great new female character, only to kill her off immediately, and I do wish that we could have gotten at least a few episodes for this character, especially since the episode ends with the Ponds getting a vacation from the Doctor. Unlike Lorna Bucket a few episodes ago, though, Rita’s death scene really feels like an occurrence that has significance beyond the Doctor’s resulting sense of guilt. The Minotaur’s actions take away most of her ability to think for herself, but she insists on preserving what little autonomy she can retain, asking the Doctor to turn the screen off and let her be robbed of her faith in private. It’s such a beautifully-written moment that I react to it in the way that I reacted to the Hostess’s death in “Midnight” and Bishop Octavian’s death in “Flesh and Stone,” in that I’m just so fascinated by the depiction of the dying character’s final moments that it doesn’t occur to me to think about the death in terms of how it might move forward the narrative or other character arcs. Not having Rita as a long-term companion is the biggest missed opportunity of this season, but even in death she’s compelling and memorable.  

This is also the one episode this season in which I’m completely satisfied with the depiction of Rory. There’s been a lot of vagueness regarding his reaction to the events surrounding Melody Pond, but in this story, we can see just how troubled he is. The Minotaur has so little interest in him that he’s constantly seeing ways out of the hotel, and once we find out what the Minotaur is actually interested in, this means that Rory just doesn’t have any faith. Not in the Doctor, not in his relationship with Amy—just no faith at all. As the hotel seems to take the concept of faith extremely broadly, well beyond religion, it’s a sad indication of his current mindset that the Minotaur can’t find any belief to latch onto. He also, in his conversation with the Doctor, speaks of his travels with the Doctor in the past tense, suggesting that he is basically done with the kind of life he and Amy have had on the TARDIS. I still think that this season could do more to explain Rory’s feelings, but this episode gives us far more depth for him than any other.

For a while, Amy seems like a minor presence in this episode. The version of herself who feels actual rage and disillusionment toward the Doctor having been erased from existence in Appalappachia, she is now the embodiment of firmly-committed belief in the Doctor. The previous episode’s events were a severe test, but she has gotten through it, clinging to her belief in the Doctor by the skin of her teeth. She’s fully prepared to trust him here, which is why she’s in so much danger. She’s fought for the faith that so endangers her here, maintaining her hope in him even when he abandoned her as a child, believing “for twenty minutes” when he asked her to in “The Eleventh Hour,” trusting in him enough to walk past the Angels with eyes closed in “Flesh and Stone,” keeping hold of that faith even when he was gone from the universe in “The Big Bang,” insisting, in the midst of grief and loss besetting her throughout Season Six, that “time can be rewritten.” She’s gotten through all of that without losing her grip on her faith, but in order to survive the Minotaur, she’s got to destroy it. She even has to destroy this belief voluntarily—it’s not taken forcibly from her, so she has to deliberately choose to set aside her trust in him. After so many years of insisting on that belief, she essentially has to relearn how to see the world, and she has to do so in a moment characterized by precisely the kind of fear that would generally call forth her reliance on the Doctor. Gillan’s face here is just perfection, showing not so much grief as confusion, as if she is wondering, “how do I learn to think like this?” The knowledge that her worst fear is her disappointed but still hopeful younger self makes this even sadder. (I wasn’t sure, when I first watched this scene, whether the room was Amy’s or the Doctor’s, but on rewatch, it’s clear that it’s hers, because the door that falls on Rory has a 7 on it, which is established earlier in the episode as Amy’s room.) My heart just breaks for Amy, but I’m impressed that she has the strength to go through with what she does here, even if she does have the Doctor walking her through it. It’s not easy to let go of the beliefs that sustain you, especially when you’ve been having a rough time, and I can’t imagine how hard it must be for her to have to shift a fundamental sense of how she perceives the world within seconds.

This makes the ending something of a relief. I have varying opinions on the moments in which the Doctor sends companions away for their own good; I’m perfectly fine with it in “The Parting of the Ways,” for instance, but much less so in “Journey’s End.” This is one of the times in which it seems justified—after what the Ponds have been through this season, and especially after what we’ve seen of Amy’s mental state, they really do need some time away from the Doctor. I love that he gives them a house with a little blue door, and that he remembered exactly what Rory’s ideal car looked like. (In general, I’m just really happy that the Doctor got something specifically for Rory here, because sometimes he treats Amy like she’s his companion and Rory is just along for the ride, so I’m glad that he put some thought into his temporary departure from both of the Ponds.) He makes it clear that he’s not saying goodbye for good, but this is a huge transitional point for them; after this, they start to gravitate back toward their normal lives, and act as much more temporary companions. Everything is different after this episode, and it’s not because anyone died, or had their memory wiped, or jumped into a timeline, or got trapped somewhere, it’s just because the Doctor and Amy thought about what they meant to each other, and realized what needed to change. A+/A

Closing Time: This sequel of sorts to “The Lodger” captures some of the fun of that earlier episode, but overall doesn’t live up to it. James Corden continues to be delightful as Craig, and young Stormageddon is enjoyable, but the episode doesn’t quite manage the exuberance that made “The Lodger” such a success. I do like seeing the Doctor hanging out in Craig’s house again, and the shop generally works well as a setting, particularly because it gives us an opportunity to watch the Doctor play with toys. (I agree with him that Yappy the Robot Dog is nowhere near as good as K-9.) While there are plenty of fun moments here, much of the humor seems much cheaper than it was in Craig’s first episode. While “The Lodger” grounded most of its comedy in the absurdity of the Doctor functioning in an ordinary human space, this episode takes as the premise for many of its jokes the notion that the Doctor and Craig are acting sort of like a couple. There are multiple scenes that play the possibility of a Doctor/Craig relationship for comedic effect, most notably Val assuming that the Doctor and Craig are involved and the Doctor declaring his love for Craig in an effort to distract him from the spaceship. Gareth Roberts, who wrote the episode, is gay himself, but even coming from a gay writer this kind of humor seems mean-spirited to me. There’s also a brief bit of “comedy” about the Doctor walking into a changing room while a woman is changing, as well as a scene about Craig freaking out a female employee working in the lingerie section. There are plenty of moments of humor that do work, but it’s aggravating that we have to wade through these ill-advised jokes in between.

           As a Cyberman story, this is a pretty mixed bag. I really like Cybermats, so having them running about is nice, and there are moments in which the Cybermen are used to very good effect: the solitary one that greets Shona from a changing room in the beginning is especially creepy. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough of an effort here to figure out how to resolve the Cyber threat, so we get a silly resolution that fits nicely into the seasonal arc but doesn’t work very well on its own. Throughout the Moffat era, the Cybermen are used to challenge ideas about what constitutes humanity and how emotion fits into that picture. It’s an endeavor that functions much more interestingly in later seasons, when Moffat begins to shift into an understanding of the fundamentally human qualities that are not immediately reliant on emotion. For now, though, we’re stuck with Craig’s love for his child overcoming the cyberprogramming, and it comes across as an arbitrary and underwhelming way of fending off the threat. (Also, the Doctor specifically calls attention to the idea that love was the solution—if you’ve got a somewhat lazy ending to your story, it’s probably best to avoid having the Doctor directly mention it.) We conclude with a couple of scenes that lead into the finale: first, there are some voiceovers from people who saw the Doctor in his final moments before going to Lake Silencio, and then we move to River being sent on her mission to kill the Doctor. The latter is at least a decent way of building anticipation, but the first is deeply annoying and utterly unnecessary.

           I do find this episode more interesting in terms of its contribution to the more personal dimensions of the seasonal arc. Amy and Rory are very close to not being in this episode, but it’s still highly concerned with their feelings. The most obvious approach that this episode takes to the Ponds is the final installment of the “everyone saves the world through a refusal to be separated from their children, except for Amy and Rory” subplot. Craig’s love for his son is so powerful that it can offset Cyber technology; meanwhile, Amy and Rory have a brief, basically meaningless exchange with a little girl looking for an autograph. Every time this season juxtaposes triumphs of parental love with their own loss of Melody, it’s very effective, and this is the moment at which the contrast is at its strongest. The subtler approach to the Ponds’ emotional state comes in the form of a tiny echo of language from earlier in the season. Amy is now a model, appearing in posters for “Petrichor,” a perfume. We were first introduced to this term in “The Doctor’s Wife,” when the TARDIS defined it as “the smell of dust after rain.” I guess this isn’t completely implausible as a perfume scent, as there is a quite nice aroma to dust in this state, but it’s just unusual enough that it draws attention to the words. If you google “Dust after rain,” one of the first things that comes up is “The Smell of Rain on Dust,” a book that appears to be focused on our difficulties with properly expressing and experiencing grief. I don’t think that the show is referencing this particular book, but I mention it because it confirms for me that there’s a basis for my association between these images and the notion of grief that has been somehow blocked. Rain is naturally suggestive of tears, but the idea of dust in the wake of rain conjures up the image of the dull, messy feelings that ensue when the first shock of grief is over. We see basically nothing of the Ponds’ feelings here, but we persist in the sense, set up in the previous two episodes, that something is very badly wrong.

           These implications about the Ponds’ emotional state give the episode a little bit of the emotional weight it would otherwise lack, and Corden and Smith work together so well that the episode is more successful than the script really merits. The cheap humor and the weak ending to the Cyberman plot are enough, though, to make this a fairly weak episode. C+

The Wedding of River Song: “Sometimes you don’t look hard enough,” the Doctor tells Amy, in a season finale that necessitates extremely careful observation. This episode definitely has its flaws, but in between them, it’s absolutely magical. Like much of this season, it is not really an episode for casual enjoyment, as appreciating its nuances requires a lot of commitment and effort, and I can understand the mentality that this episode is just too much work. In spite of the ambition, though, it’s absolutely delightful, full of tiny pieces of brilliance that mostly counterbalance the moments in which it goes slightly off the rails.  

           The story is aided by a terrific setting, replete with “don’t feed the pterodactyls” signs, Charles Dickens on the news, and Emperor Winston Churchill returning home on his own personal mammoth. (I really, really want there to be a mammoth on this show. I’m sad that we didn’t get to see Churchill’s mammoth here, but even just the mention really made me laugh—there’s something about the solemnity with which the newscaster delivers the line that makes it hysterically funny.) It’s chaos, but it’s wonderfully satisfying chaos, the kind that works because it’s silly but also very carefully planned. I wish we had five episodes in which to play around in this universe, but I guess that giving us a glimpse of it without dwelling too long lets us enjoy how thrilling it is without getting tired of it. Even the bits that we see of the regular universe are wonderfully done: there are CHESS GLADIATORS and Dorium’s severed head enjoying the free wi-fi in a crypt, and a bad guy being devoured by skulls, and everything is just so thrilling and imaginative and I love it.

           There are also some pretty glaring issues here, the first of which is that the timeline of events in the main, ordinary universe just completely confuses me. I can just about buy that Amy would be able to access some of her memories from the real world in the time-collapsed universe, although even that requires a bit of suspension of disbelief. What I can’t really follow is what her experience is of the real timeline. At what point does she remember what happened in the alternate timeline? When does she become aware that the Doctor has died? I can understand the sequence of events within each universe, but the interaction between them just doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

The other main problem is the depiction of River’s avoidance of the main timeline. In spite of being in the title, it’s not really a great episode for River, in part because her declaration of how much she will suffer if she has to kill the Doctor is just so overwrought. Kingston is usually fantastic, but she can’t quite make the heavy-handed scene work, and so her wedding doesn’t have quite the lead-in that I want it to. I do rather like the actual wedding ceremony, which is pleasingly simple and sweet, but I would have liked this entire development better if River’s emotions had been worded more clearly, or in ways that didn’t make her look massively selfish. (I mean, she thinks having to kill the Doctor is worse than the deaths of billions of people? Really?)

The gaping plot holes with regard to the relationship between universes and the poor writing for River definitely weaken the episode, but there are a lot of compensations. The Doctor is very charming in both universes, in spite of being stuck with possibly the worst haircut ever seen on this show while he’s in the alternate world. I like his early-episode exuberance, followed by the sobering news about the Brigadier’s death—if this had been the last we’d heard of the Brigadier, I’d be a little sad that he didn’t get more of a moment, but the end of Season Eight takes care of that, and the Doctor’s grief is nicely played here. He is also sort of adorably invested in the Ponds’ relationship, even if he thinks that dating basically just involves “texting and scones.” I really appreciate that the season ends with his decision to play dead for a while, on the grounds that he has gotten “too big.” We haven’t spent a lot of time exploring his actual reaction to the accusations that River made at the end of “A Good Man Goes to War,” but his actions here suggest that he’s actually thought about some of his flaws and is trying to correct them, so that’s nice. Moffat’s insistence on incorporating the show’s title into the plot might be wading a little bit too far in a meta direction, but I honestly really do enjoy it, and so I like the decision to end the episode with Dorium repeating “Doctor Who?”

While there’s a lot of spectacle at work here, the heart of the episode is still Amy’s attempt to recover from the events that have happened to her this season. “The God Complex” was a pivotal moment in her arc, but giving up on the intensity that had characterized her faith in the Doctor to that point isn’t an endpoint but rather the creation of a new set of problems. As I said before, the nature of her memories of the real world is a bit confusing, but she does seem to have at least some access to the memories that occurred this season, which means that she’s reacting to the loss of Melody and to the choice that she made to cut off her faith in the Doctor. This has had a number of effects—for one, now that she isn’t relying so heavily on the Doctor to fix things, she’s doing more herself. Her efforts to join River in summoning all of the Doctor’s friends to come to his aid don’t have much of a narrative payoff—there isn’t much they can do about this scenario, so they’re mostly irrelevant. It’s a nice reversal, though, of the previous season’s finale, in which all of his enemies joined forces to defeat him, and I like that Amy and River have been working together on such a large-scale project. This universe also exists in such an extreme state—everything is happening at once! Time is falling apart!—that it creates a sort of perpetually high-stakes environment, and that seems to draw more reaction from her than anything else has this season. Not long ago, she was engaged in pretty destructive self-erasure, and some of her behavior here seems like an endeavor to un-erase her life. She literally has to draw things, to commit them to paper in order to prevent them from escaping her, and the attempt to create physical memories of things that threaten to vanish from her mind is an interesting psychological step for her.

She also directly articulates her feelings about the loss of her baby, in an incredibly dark scene that ends with her leaving Madame Kovarian to die. This is preceded by a moment in which she shoots down a lot of the Silence with a machine gun in order to protect Rory, immediately before finally articulating her anger about the loss of her baby. Having Amy destroy the Silence immediately before breaking her own silence about her feelings is not going to win Moffat any Subtlety of the Year awards, but I like it. If this were the end of a conventional action movie, killing Madame Kovarian would be the natural endpoint—she’s a force of considerable destruction, whose actions have not only hurt Amy and those close to her but have also sometimes threatened all of existence. Amy hasn’t exactly gone evil here, but she has rejected the kind of ethics that the Doctor usually employs. Her words to Madame Kovarian are partly a statement of vengeance toward the woman who stole her baby, but they seem just as motivated by her thoughts about the Doctor. The Doctor told young Amelia that he would be five minutes and then didn’t return for twelve years, he told her that he’d pick her up in Appalappachia and then he showed up 38 years late, he has at multiple points wandered off without telling her when he would return, and her whole relationship with the Doctor has featured the persistent uncertainty about whether or not he would be there when he said he would. When she tells Madame Kovarian, “You know what else the Doctor is? Not here,” it’s partly an expression of her willingness to break the Doctor’s rules in his absence, but in part an expression of anger at the abandonment she has suffered over and over again on this show. I do think that this scene lurks fairly close to linking trauma with violence, but it generally avoids suggesting anything too damaging. Earlier in the season, I mentioned that the Doctor had sort of gone off of the usual Doctor Who ethos and into more of a Star Wars approach, and Amy is essentially embracing here the notion of “striking down the villain is the natural goal of an adventure.” It’s a mentality that the Doctor usually rejects (although not without exception), but she’s turned into Luke Skywalker, not Darth Vader, and that removes most of the harm that this might otherwise do.

Her position of rejection toward the Doctor’s approach to violence is not the end of the story, though, because we eventually return to the usual world, unburdened by the collapse of time. Amy is sad, but when River turns up she’s more willing to communicate than she has been for much of the season. She starts to tell River everything, from her grief about the Doctor to her guilt about Madame Kovarian. (I really appreciate that the script makes time for her to directly acknowledge that this is still real to her; River tries to give her a pass by saying that this happened in another universe that has now gone out of existence, but Amy rightfully dismisses this with the brief statement that “I remember it, so it happened, so I did it.”) I’m happy whenever there’s interaction between Amy and River, but it’s especially nice to watch Amy so determined to face reality and express her feelings. This kind of emotional awareness and directness has been eluding her the whole season, and so this conversation feels like a huge triumph for her, even though it is an expression of some very troubled feelings.

It’s not a gloomy ending, though, because Moffat gives Amy a moment of tremendous joy to cap off a season that has been mostly sadness for her. We don’t hear exactly what River tells Amy about how the Doctor escaped death—it’s fitting, given the themes of the season, that the most important words are silent to us. We know the substance of what has happened, though, and can piece together something of what those words must have expressed. At Lake Silencio, when she watched the Doctor die, she immediately said that maybe it was a clone or a doppelganger, because she’s Amy Pond, the woman who believes, the one who acts with constant faith in the idea that time can be rewritten. You can’t rely on that, not all of the time, not even with a time machine and a brilliant alien best friend, and Amy let herself get so wrapped up in the idea that things will right themselves, that a miracle will happen and all will turn out for the best, that her faith has sometimes led her astray. This kind of faith isn’t an entirely bad thing, though, at least not when it’s directed toward something good, and what River’s off-screen words reveal to her is that her sometimes excessive hopefulness might be damaging at times, but it’s not always going to be wrong. We don’t hear the words, whatever they are, just the scream of pure happiness that gives way to adorable awkward dancing. It’s not the same kind of joy that we got at the end of last season, when the Doctor rebooted the universe and everyone ran off jubilantly after a beautiful wedding. After all of the holes that this season has poked in Amy’s approach to belief, though, having that quality actually validated for once is such a lovely way to resolve this season that I wind up happier about this than I did about the more obviously joyful conclusion to Season Five.

           Plenty of this episode doesn’t work, but the pieces that do add up to a beautiful resolution of this season’s narrative. The previous Christmas special defined Christmas as being “halfway out of the dark,” and it would have been a reasonable guess to assume that the expression would wind up characterizing the Doctor, who in previous seasons was the only character really to have an extended brush with darkness. At the close of the season, though, it’s Amy who is best described by this phrase. She hasn’t gotten past every dark thing she’s gone through this season—as the start of this scene shows, she’s still dealing with her actions in the other world. If she hasn’t completely emerged from the darkness, though, she looks like she’s about halfway out: after a season of silence, she’s finally speaking, and for a moment at least, she’s so full of joy that it looks like Christmas morning. A-/B+

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 1x04 Murphy’s Law

I’m a new fan of The 100, who first binged it last year, August to November. This is my first full rewatch of the show. I was planning to start it anyway and finish it before the season 6 premiere on April 30, and when I saw that Fox Serbia was airing a rerun (Monday to Friday, 40 min. after midnight, with repeats the next day), starting on 1st February, it was a great opportunity to start my rewatch in HDTV on my beautiful new TV. I decided to do write-ups and tag other fans on SpoilerTV website, as I did when I was first watching the show. But my posts turned into full blown essays. So, finally, after over a week, I’ve realized: Why don’t I post them on my Tumblr blog, too? I’ll copy my write-ups of the first 7 episodes, and then I’ll post my rewatch posts after I watch each episode. (The next one, 1x08, is on Monday’Tuesday.)

Spoilers below for all 5 seasons of the show. I go of on a tangents and make a lot of references to future events.

Rating: 7/10

The first 3 episodes took place over something like a day or two, This one happens a week later. Which is a way to avoid having to show Clarke's immediate reaction to Wells' death, and to have to spend a lot of screentime on her mourning, because most of it took place off-screen (we just see her at his grave, and later talking to Finn about him and how good he was to her while they were growing up). At least Finn got an entire episode, even though it lasted just about a day in-universe. This is something that TV shows like to do - have the characters mourn for an episode or a few scenes for a dead character and then never have them mention that person again. Well, at least they did have Wells' father see apparitions of his son multiple times and mention him several times, including when he was dying.

This episode instead isn't at all about Wells, but starts with the Delinquents learning that he wasn't killed by the Grounders and that it was instead one of them, using Murphy's knife. The title of this episode, Murphy's Law, aside from being a pun, also describes the chain of events not just in this episode, but the show in general: everything that can possibly go wrong, will go wrong. This a really good episode right until the last 5 minutes or so. The interactions between Clarke, Bellamy and Murphy are really interesting. Murphy is at this point at his peak obnoxiousness. He's basically acting in the textbook "How to make enemies and alienate people" way. In the first couple of episodes, he was only antagonistic towards Wells, but now he's using his position as Bellamy's sidekick to bully other Delinquents for no reason at all, to try to make himself feel bigger, out of his own envy and hate and resentment, and his inferiority complex. To use a Buffy reference, if Murphy was a high school Mean Girl, he wouldn't be "Queen C" Cordelia Chase, he would be one of the Cordettes - people who latch onto someone more powerful and popular (in this case, Bellamy) and then bully others through that newfound 'power'. The infamous scene where he urinates on another Delinquent happens when he's overseeing the work (the Delinquents are building a wall to have a defense against a possible Grounder attack, since they still have almost no weapons) after he's first mocked that guy for not working hard enough (implying 12 year old Charlotte would work harder), and then mocked him when he said he needed water, but then Bellamy told Murphy to go and get him water. And that's probably why Murphy then urinated on the guy, he couldn't take it when Bellamy took the guy's side, so to speak, and cut down his position of power (or what Murphy sees as such) by sending him to fetch water. Hey, look, here's Manny Jacinto as one of the boys bullied by Murphy. Of course I didn't notice him before, he appears for like a second. Even with knowing Murphy's later development, there's no two ways about it, he was a total dick at this point. Which makes the situation more ambiguous when he's blamed and almost lynched for something he didn't actually do - Wells' murder - though he had threatened to do it, and together with Clarke jumping to conclusions and accusing him of it, because Wells was murdered by Murphy's knife, and the fact that most Delinquents obviously really dislike Murphy at this point (no surprise) leads to that result. What happens to him is wrong, and someone should have apologized for it. But that doesn't excuse him at all for what he does next, trying to make people kill Charlotte instead, after she has confessed, and then, after realizing no one is supporting him, doing his best to kill her, including threatening Clarke's life at one point. I wouldn't think this needed to be pointed out, but I've seen some people in comments to YouTube reaction videos to this episode actually, in all seriousness, argue that he was right and that Charlotte should have been killed. WTF? What's wrong with people that they don't get the whole being 12 year old thing? I know that USA has the weird habit of putting minors on trial as adults, but even then, I'm pretty sure even US legal system doesn't go that far to execute 12 year olds. At which point did the writers and viewers decide that Clarke was "the Head" and Bellamy "the Heart" (which the show made explicit in the season 4 finale, and then overturned in season 5)? I've always felt that was a huge oversimplification and I'm generally not too fond of it. Season 1 Clarke was pretty impulsive in some situations, especially in this episode (it was her best friend who was murdered, after all), immediately deciding that Murphy is the killer and should be punished, while Bellamy argued that this would be a bad idea, because it would create unrest and make the Delinquents turn on each other, and that it was better for them to keep thinking it was the Grounders who did it. Which was maybe cynical, but pragmatic and rational. (BTW, I don't think Bellamy made a connection that Charlotte was the killer - he probably forgot about giving her Murphy's knife or thought someone else took it, but in any case, I don't think it would have occurred to him that she would do it.) Then Clarke actually confronts Murphy angrily in front of everyone, which causes the avalanche of disastrous events, as the boy that Murphy bullied earlier and a bunch of others immediately decide to hang Murphy and ask Bellamy to do it. 

Clarke had a lot of moral certainly at this point (which will be eroded slowly over the course of the show) but sometimes it was a bit too straightforward (she didn't stop to think how people will react - you could say, she didn't know her audience that well as Bellamy did), and here she realized that things weren't that simple - she wanted to get some kind of justice, but didn't want Murphy killed, and seeing what she had caused, she admits to Bellamy "I was wrong earlier, you were right". 

But where Bellamy goes really wrong in 1x04 is decide to "give people what they want" - in this case, a culprit they want and his death. It's one of his biggest mistakes in S1 and one that will come to bite him in the a.$s, especially at the end of the season when Murphy starts his revenge spree, which will be directed at the guys who first wanted to hang him, but most of all at Bellamy himself. And Bellamy will learn his lesson, an opposite one from Clarke, that you need to do the right thing and not just give the crowd what they want (in 1x12 he tells Clarke "Crowds make bad decisions, just ask Murphy").

The moment when Bellamy goes ballistic and starts acting on pure emotion - and tries to kill Murphy immediately - is later after Charlotte commits suicide, due largely to Murphy's pressure - because of course he would react like that to her death. Guess what, Finn acting decently (actually decently, not just on the surface) didn't last. We find out he was exploring woods by his own and found an old shelter, but he didn't tell anyone. Instead, he gives Clarke a pencil to impress her (right after she's told him about how Wells used to give her stuff when they were growing up, and that she didn't realize at the time that he was denying himself things to give them to her... hmmm). Later he reveals the shelter to Clarke when they need to hide Charlotte from Murphy and his gang. Clarke asks why he hasn't told anyone, and immediately thinks about how they could use things, but Finn tries to justify himself, saying that the food has all expired and there are no weapons, and besides, if he had told everyone, then they couldn't use the shelter now that they need it. So how does that work - he foresaw they would need to hide someone from the rest of the Delinquents?? Or he was just waiting for a chance to use that shelter to show it to Clarke and just Clarke, impress her and show her how good he is to her and how much she needs him? Am I being too harsh on Finn? He does some good things in this episode, like do his best to stop the crowd from hanging Murphy. But still... I never liked him much, my perspective on him is different now, after I have seen season 2 Finn with his "I killed all those people for you, Clarke!" thing, At the time I first watched this, I assumed that Finn was meant to be likable, but that the combination of bad writing and bad acting made him unlikable. I didn't know what it was about Finn that rubbed me the wrong way or that didn't resonate with me. But now I see more and more reasons to dislike him, and I think that his character is more consistent than I initially thought, but that he was never meant to be a really great guy, and that his romance with Clarke was just supposed to create drama and angst rather than be a great ship people would root for. (The whole thing with Raven really shows that.) Maybe I was too harsh on Thomas McDonell, though. He wasn't as good as some other cast members, but he's not that bad, now I have Tasya Teles' acting to compare it with. (I'm sure Tasya is a nice person, but she just can't act.) It's kind of funny that the climax of this episode is focused on Clarke and Bellamy being shocked at Charlotte's death in such a way that it seems like their child just died, and then arguing about leadership (it's already pretty clear that the two of them are those who decide on most things), as Finn just looks on. This may be the crucial moment where their co-leadership begins. Clarke argues "We don't decide who lives and who dies". It's so ironic that she will later during the show be expected and asked to decide just that, more than once. Meanwhile, on the Ark, we get to meet a couple of new characters - Kane's mother, a preacher, who'll be around for a couple of episodes, and Nigel, a woman at the Mecha station who runs a black market, and who, I think, won't ever appear again. But she gets Abby arrested by Kane, and also, through her, we get to learn more about Raven's backstory - that her mother was an alcoholic and that she used to prostitute herself to get stuff. Life on the Ark, especially those of lower classes, seems so freaking wonderful... The last few minutes of this episode initially annoyed me a lot, because it seemed like a return to the cheesy teen soapy bullcrap of the first couple of episodes. The love triangle was set up - Raven takes the pod by herself, since Abby can't go, and is arriving to Earth, while we get a confirmation that Finn is the boyfriend she wants to save - just as Finn and Clarke end up kissing and having sex for the first time. Now that I know and love how this triangle is eventually resolved, I don't hate this so much, but this scene is still really cheesy and feels like the classic TV insta-romance. And it's not just that, I also hated the scene where Octavia kisses Jasper, after praising his courage (for "standing up to a bully" -? I still have no idea what she was referring to, it's always confused me) and telling him that heroism gets rewarded. Ugh. And then Monty gives him a high-five. One of the things I hate the most in fictional romance is when romance/sex is portrayed as a reward that someone - usually a female - gives another person - usually a male, for performing heroic deeds. Gross. I'm so relieved, because of that, that the Jasper/Octavia ship went nowhere, even though I wasn't a big fan of how her romance with Lincoln was portrayed in S1, either.