#jelle's marble runs spoilers

[starfishlikestoread]

Pinkies heard me calling them mid and came out to event 6 swinging!!! #PINKYPOWER indeed, and you battled hard for that gold, even if you got silver in the end. I love you guys :3

and congrats Bumblebees for the gold and utterly smashing the Host's Curse to bits, in my opinion. and CCE back on their game too with 3rd, nice to see it.

sad that Momo is so low though :( Momo is that one team everyone wants to see do well, and I really hope y'all get at least a couple good events in this season.

but for now: time to party like it's 2022!!! Pinkies back on their game >:D

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

I missed the premiere of Marble League 2023 yesterday afternoon, but I'm glad to see both my teams did well in the first event. Team Galactic, last year's bronze medalists, made it to the final four in heat number three but came in just short of the podium this time. Crazy Cat's Eyes on the other hand won the gold! Despite two penalties in the first two heats they still managed to lap the competition, nearly a second and a half ahead of the Savage Speedsters. Good show! All around good show! I couldn't have asked for much more!

Last year was Team Galactic's best on record. They won the most golds and were just one point shy of silver overall, so here's hoping they can keep up that momentum. Just as long as the O'rangers lose, that's a victory in my book!

My favorite newbies, Team Plasma, are right in the middle of the pack. Not half bad for a freshman expansion team. They failed to qualify in 2018, sat out of 2019, 2020, and 2021 entirely, then swept the 2022 showdown and came first in Group B of the 2023 qualifiers. They are rising stars with potential for greatness, and I hope to see them stick around for many more Leagues after this!

[musingonward]

TWO PENALTIES AND STILL WON GOLD THATS WHAT YOU LOVE TO SEE!

[spishidden]

The rojo rollers are in third place what timeline are we LIVING IN RN???

[calciumcryptid]

THE HOST CURSE ISN'T BROKEN NOOOOO-

[glacierruler]

The Bumblebees thought they could make a new record that couldn't be beat, but NOPE! Midnight Wisps broke their record that they had made just a few minutes later!

Also the Bumblebees may have placed first in the event, but only barely! We were right behind them in second!

[narcoticwriter]

Spoilers for Marble League 2023 (Event 16: Honeydome GP + Closing Ceremony) Below:

I... I don't know what to say.

This... this last event...

The final results speak for themselves, but you just had to watch it.

This... this tore me up in the best way. The Bumblebees had an excellent performance and the Savage Speeders actually managed to cling to the podium this time. The classic last-minute Red Eye clutch maneuver not only launched the Crazy Cat's Eyes to the podium, but to the very top. And by a single point.

I can't even be mad at these results at all because it was such a thrill to watch. For any Pinkies fans who happen upon this post, last year was not a fluke. I believe that the Pinkies can be a really good team in the Marble League.

I cannot wait for next year. This was so much fun. I think all of the teams surprised me in a great way. With that, the Marble League concludes and I look forward to any new events in Jelle's Marble Runs!

[stonenautilus]

me: im a relatively emotionally stable person also me, about to cry bc my team didnt qualify for the marble league:

[redpandacomputer]

I still haven't watched tonight's episode but I know about Tal's t-shirt and do you ever feel so validated??? About your interests????? I'm gonna cry

[starfishlikestoread]

Not gonna lie, Pinkies getting 14th is weirdly nostalgic, even if I am sad by the provisional 3rd to provisional 5th drop in consequence. But, to be fair, this is coming off 2 silver medals, so I'm not exactly sad (speaking of which the funnels were so goooood I'm so glad Pinkies did well!!)

Happy to see Mellow Yellow (my #3 favourite team - look 2021 Pinkies didn't make it in so I had to pick another one to root for, and hey, I picked well) shine with their gold in Event 8, and...Rojo Rollers?? Another silver?? And you're in 6th overall??? Well colour me surprised, but hey, I wouldn't be upset at a Rollers win. And Raspberry Racers in 3rd, nice, I can just hear Sodapoppin happily yelling in the distance, especially as it pushes them into 2nd overall!

And - because I missed making a post for Event 7 - congrats to Shining Swarm for winning that final funnel round despite being the first in the final funnel. And Gliding Glaciers for that very good turn around in their heat and subsequent 3rd. I really enjoy funnels, the strategies each marble uses are very interesting to me (TD did a good breakdown of Kinnowin's on his Event 7 livestream!) so I'm glad it's a consistent event throughout the league.

Standings after Event 8, just halfway through the league (oh how time flies!):

Just realised that only Galactic, Thunderbolts, and Momo have yet to medal ... this makes me sad. It's a bit of a habit for Thunderbolts, but last time they made up for it with plenty of 4th and 5th place finishes. Slightly surprised about Galactic, they're usually considered a solid team, though they have been sliding down the pecking order the past few years as other, previously weak teams have gotten better.

And poor Momo :( I just want them to do well :( Manifesting a gold for Momo next event.

[targentis]

god i’m so hyped about the marble league. i cannot decide who i root for the most. o’rangers, team momo, and the minty maniacs are at the top of my list for sure i was even going to like put these team stickers all over my diary a few months ago eUDFGHDFJKGD

rip to the limers though idc what anyone says i still love them

[musingonward]

ML e16 spoiler

CCE!!! POPPING THE BIGGEST BOTTLE FOR RED EYE BRO DRAGGED THEM TO THE PODIUM KICKING AND SCREAMING FR!

THATS MY TEAM!

[spishidden]

GO MIDNIGHT WISPS AAAAA I'M SO PROUD OF YOU

[calciumcryptid]

Late to the party, but CONGRATULATIONS TO MOMO FOR TOP RACER OVERALL IN THIS SEASON OF MARBULA ONE!

I love to see my favorite team on top, and it was such a pleasant ending (plus their race win near my womb evacuation a little while back <3).

[glacierruler]

I am currently inconsolable, because the Midnight Wisps did so horrible in the 5 meter sprint!

Like, they didn't get dead last(that honour goes to the Thunderbolts), and they didn't drop too many places in the end, but still!

Also I'm slightly salty because my mom's team(the Orangers) are beating us by 1 point

[schraubd]

Should I PlagueWatch It?: Series Finale!

In March 2020, I inaugurated on this blog what I said "may but hopefully won't(?) become an ongoing series": Should I PlagueWatch It? Basically, it took the thing Jill and I do best -- watch TV -- and offered our recommendations for what you should watch to get you through the pandemic.

Over a year later, Should I PlagueWatch It? did, indeed, become a series. In addition to the first entry -- HBO's Avenue 5 -- I also did entries on Gentleman Jack, Marvel's Runaways, Alpha House, Never Have I Ever, Jelle's Marble Runs, Making the Cut, and a "roundup" post that covered Billions, Insecure, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultimate Tag, Titan Games, and Holey Moley.

But now, it feels we're finally closing the chapter on the pandemic. Jill and I are vaccinated, my parents came to visit this past weekend, we're seeing friends, the CDC says we can go unmasked. It seems, alas, that all good things must come to an end. And while the pandemic itself is certainly not a good thing, some of us may be feeling a bit bittersweet at the prospect of being expected to interact with other humans rather than sit around and watch Netflix all day.

So to wrap up the series, one more omnibus "quick hits" review of all the shows we PlagueWatched that haven't yet gotten their own entry.

* * * Mild spoilers * * *

Blown Away

Reality TV can be wonderful in its formulaicness. Take a random hobby, find ten people who are pretty good at it, dangle $50,000 in front of them, and bang, you've got a competition show. This one's about glass blowing. I know nothing about glass blowing, but the competitors seem pretty talented to me?

I was impressed at how versatile a medium glass is. I worried when I started the show that the challenges would end up being pretty one note (how many vases can one make?). But the competitors actually made a lot of really cool material!

There's a lot of running and swinging and flailing given that they're handling molten-hot material.  It stressed me out. Also, apparently "glory holes" are an essential part of glass blowing, and nobody made a joke about it.

This show is definitely more in the "everyone likes and supports one another" mold of reality TV compared to the "constant cat fights and 'I'm not here to make friends'" mold. No judgment, just letting you know what to expect.

Sexify

A Netflix series about a young college student with no sexual experience who decides she needs to develop an app to optimize the female orgasm. It's not the most innovative concept, but it works well enough.

Of the core trio, my favorite character is Paulina -- the religious Catholic best-friend who is having (bad) sex with her fiancé and feels guilty about even that sin. She does a lot of great expressive work and has some superb character beats (her popcorn addiction -- just casually munching away while watching porn). 

Speaking of Paulina, at the outset I told Jill she looked like someone and Jill's first guess was "a plainer Emily Blunt" (that's not an insult -- who isn't plainer than Emily Blunt?). It wasn't who I was thinking of, and soon I realized the answer was like six women I've known over the years. So maybe "plainer Emily Blunt" is a more common face than I realized?

The show is in Polish (with subtitles), and I'm very proud that I managed to identify the language as Polish right away (I do not speak a word of Polish).

The musical motif for the show combines one of the catchiest guitar riffs I've ever heard with a sample loop of a woman's sex moans. It fits the show perfectly, but it's a bit awkward to listen to on its own.

Wandavision

You shouldn't need me to tell you about this show. It's good, but my hottest take -- and I stand by it -- is that as an exploration of grief Never Have I Ever does it better and it's not close.

Can we concede that Wanda is the unambiguous villain of the show? With only the barest shift in perspective, Wanda could be the nemesis with an admittedly sympathetic motive. To some extent, I think the show was far too forgiving of her. Motives aside, how different is she from Kilgrave on Jessica Jones?

Poor Emma Caulfield. So much build-up for her character, and it's only a head-fake.

Space Force

I liked it. It's not in the most elite of the elite comedies, and maybe that's the standard when Steve Carrell is the lead, but it was quite funny. That said, I keep on almost forgetting that I watched it, and have no substantive commentary to offer. So take from that what you will.

AOC lookalike alert (the character even gets the nickname AYC -- "Angry Young Congresswoman")!

Mythic Quest

I love that Ubisoft is actually involved in the show (which is set at a game studio producing a popular massively multiplayer online RPG).

Surprisingly, given my love affair with Community, Danny Pudi is one of the least interesting characters on the show.

The actress who plays Poppy isn't the very strongest (though she's improving), but Poppy herself may be my favorite character. Of course, everyone knows I'm a sucker for an Australian accent.

The show has some great characters in side parts who don't get enough attention, like Sue the community manager and Carol the HR director. Also, Aparna Nancherla has a small recurring role in the first season and apparently doesn't come back for season two? I don't get why she keeps getting sidelined like this -- she's funnier than the rest of the cast put together.

Ted Lasso

Good, sweet, endearing, fun. British soccer comedies with heart are a winner for me (Bend It Like Beckham, anyone?).

Ted's estranged wife is played by the same actress who plays Linda in Better Off Ted. This was very strange, though admittedly I'm probably the only person who cared enough about Better Off Ted to notice or care.

Lupin

Dashing gentleman thief who's always a step ahead of his adversaries, except maybe the one nemesis who actually can match him step for step in a constant cat-and-mouse game? Look, it's a cliché for a reason. I'm not going to say Lupin breaks the mold, but it certainly is a well-crafted entry into the mold.

If there is anything innovative, it's how Lupin particularly leverages stereotypes about race and class to maneuver more freely in certain spaces (e.g., he can smuggle himself into prison because the guards can't tell him apart from another inmate -- sad commentary, but useful for Lupin!).

It did do something I hate, which is release "half a season" and just leave the audience hanging at the end. Maybe it was the pandemic's fault, but one could really feel its incompleteness.

Kim's Convenience

Of the Canadian shows I've been watching, I'd say Working Moms (not in this post because it is pre-pandemic) is the stronger of the two. But this is fun as well.

It just got cancelled, unfortunately depriving it of the chance to wrap up its single greatest storyline (that's been ongoing since season one). That's a real, real shame.

Simu Liu as Jung is the latest iteration of the Jason Mendoza trend of "dumb male Asian hottie leads". I guess it's a blow against stereotypes?

Pastor Nina also could be an AOC lookalike. I think the show struggled a bit to draw a bead on her character.

Legomasters

I actually mentioned this show in my post about Jelle's Marble Runs, but it is such a joy to watch. I can't wait for season two, which is dropping very soon. For pure, simple, uncomplicated happiness, Legomasters beats out everything on this list.

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