#person of interest season 2 episode 16 releveance. you did so much for women. for lesbians even.

[laufire]

there's no character introduction like sameen shaw's character introduction.

[malepresentingleg]

is it 2013 again? cause i have a rant about teen wolf coming and i feel 16 y/o.

so due to dome heavy procrastination I've consumed a lot of teen wolf content, i skipped a bunch of episodes and a lot of scenes in the ones i haven't but i still have some Thoughts TM

it's good??? i had a Good Time watching, it was funny but intense and dark and i felt Feelings watching, some of the plotlines were meh (or maybe i just skipped them heh) but a lot were interesting and i loved the characters and their interaction

scott. my sweetheart. my baby. such a cutiepie, such a great protagonist 10/10 i love him and would die for him. he's so pure and cute and his little smile melts my heart. i love how he's fundamentally Human no matter how non human he is. he's a great character all around and i kinda wish they didn't do that shit to him at the end (imma get there) or treated him like he ISN'T the protagonist for such big parts of the shows

people KNOW. Stiles knows from day one, allison finds out soon, his mom finds out in season 2! the sheriff in 3, and they just become part of the gang and can help them with stuff bc they UNDERSTAND. shows like that get really tiring when the teens constantly lie to everyone around them and it was very refreshing. the running gag with the coach ruining things tho was funny and I'm ok with it.

Ok this is mellisa appreciation time. she's SUCH a great, complex and unusual mom-of-hero character. i absolutely love her and her attitude, i love how she's not simply being used as a tool to cause scott pain (just.. sometimes) and their relationship is parenting goals.

also isn't it fucking hilarious how she's a nurse but she just knows everything medical. she's also a surgeon and a mortician and a doctor. ik it's for plot reasons but it funny af.

in general women on the show.. had a lot of potential, i love them, but i hate how they were treated.

allison was all around great imo, her and scott's relationship was built very well and was two sided from the start (unlike... yeah), she has emotions, she's smart and brave, but also human and scared, she kicks ass and, again, exists outside of Scott's GF status (mostly). andddd they killed her. idk if the actress had to/wanted to leave or it was a pure writers decision bc they needed to keep just her father or something, but that would have been ok if not for all the other things

we have 3 main kickass ladies with powers- lydia, kira and malia. lydia spent close to FIVE whole seasons not knowing anything about her abilities/not knowing how to control them. cmon, it gets old. scott masters his powers after a season or two (and had control a lot sooner), parrish finds out what he is like half a season after it becomes relevant etc.

malia- do i need to explain? she was CONSTANTLY struggling controlling her abilities, no matter how badass she supposedly was. and kira oh boy, they did her dirty, didn't they?

kira was such a cute adorable character. i loved her and her little crush on scott and wanting to make friends and being freaked out about relationships, i love her discovering her past and heritage and learning to fight and gaining control and becoming a badass. but. what? they just undid all this? oh no the fox is taking over she has no control no agency of her own she needs to disappear for years now bye :( again, idk if the actress needed to leave but it was so unsatisfying and was insulting to the character. she wasn't even mentioned later a bunch like allison was, just they needed her mom for a plot tool and didn't even acknowledge it was her sword they were breaking. uhm rude?

LET WOMEN HAVE POWERS AND BE AWESOME WITH THEM. and not just minor/bad characters thanks.

i love the concept of a pack on the show and how you don't have to be a werewolf to be a part of it, how scott becomes a true alpha and how he cares about his friends. i kinda feel like in later seasons him being an alpha was more talk than show which like /: meh. like i said, he stopped BEING the main character, just talked about as if he was.

i love how friendship is valued, but i think it could be more.. i mean the scene in the motel, all season 3b, scott and lydia, all the girls with each other.. i love it. too many times tho it "wasn't enough" and only romantic love worked which SUCKS. in 6a i was so happy scott went in to try and remember stiles and the memories hit me right in the heart. then when it "wasn't enough" i was SO pissed and frustrated goddammit. i guess that leads me to the next point-

ships, should i talk about ships? i don't want hate in my asks but oh well it's been a few years maybe there's no fandom to care. I'll start with the end

malia and scott. what. the. fuck. when, out of fucking no where, they had like a lingering look or something i was just "nope. no thanks". and then every scene they had together i had to cover my eyes bc it felt so wrong and bad and awkward. jesus. no build up at ALL, they're like family, i just. ew. no. it felt way too much like "oh we gotta pair off the leftovers" or "the main character can't end up single" well guess what, he fucking can. it was. god. i can't even explain the disgust. when he needed to heal and all she had to do was kiss him ugh. it felt so fake and empty of meaning. i would 100% prefer for it to be stiles (I'll get there) or his mom who snapped him out of it.

melissa and chris, i could get aboard with that. def cute, def weird af since his dead daughter was dating her son but, well.

stiles and lydia is a ship i have conflicting feelings about. i absolutely hate the concept of "the nerd" is in love with the popular girl since freshman year and he's borderline being a creep ("oh but it's stiles! he's a dork and he's harmless" no.), completely obsessed with her and she ignores him but then they end up getting together.. i mean, it sends a bad msg to obsessed boys about how it's worth it in the end, and it makes the whole relationship feel unbalanced from the start, makes her reciprocation feel unatural. BUT, i have to admit the show did kinda make me warm up to this ship by the end, curse them. it was kinda cute. i wish there was more mutualness before it became such an important part in 6a tho.

just gonna put it out there: malia/kira and lydia/allison. i wish we saw more girl on girl interactions in general but the ones we had were very good, great dynamics.

i won't get too much into it but i.. i don't ship st*rek. i understand why they're the biggest ship (two white hot boys that interact with each other, i mean.), and i see the couple of fan service-y moments the show throws at us but just. they don't have my heart, i don't really care about them. not the characters, the characters i absolutely love! (tho this watch i skipped most of season 1 and 2 and 3a and i think that's where derek is the most asshole.. didn't he do really bad things? idr) idk if you want a bad character on the way to redemption with someone you should ship liam and theo who had way better shippy chemistry imo, even tho their ship probably wouldn't be healthy given their dynamic history, huh.

the ship that does owns my heart? scilies. I'm a softy when it comes to best friends to lovers, and their bond and relationship is just. so. pure. don't get me wrong, i love me a good platonic relationship, but there was just one to many homoerotic interactions between them for me not to ship it, hard. (not to be that person but my guess is that if Scott was white it would have been a way bigger ship, but who knows?) i love their love, i love they would do anything for each other, and i feel like there were a bunch of very missed opportunities for them in later seasons :(

so representation. this feels like a show that is trying to be Woke TM but it's not going so well. the main character is supposedly latino but it's never ever addressed. idc about "oh we want a world without prejudice" you can still fucking address it. i mean they went to Mexico a couple of times, stiles keeps saying "Mexican cousin" i mean. god. give us something. did i mention scott was told he'd make a great "nazi youth" ..

and you don't need to be a genius to see the most characters are very white or at least very white passing. and when you don't address their non whiteness they might as well be..

i already mentioned how poorly i feel kira was treated, but also mason, who is a wonderful character, gets no depth? we know nothing about him other than being gay and smart pretty much.

i also spoke about the women already but, they were really really great women characters, but not enough of them, not enough that lasted.

there's not much to talk about disability bc it just wasn't on the show. the only blind character was healed which. /: same with epilepsy and asthma..

i think the show is probably very proud (ha) with their LGBTQ+ rep bc they're like "oh let's make this insignificant couple gay bc hey nbg". examples are lydia's grandma, La Bete and marcel, i think nolan and jiang were exes and then nolan and gabe were a thing? idr if it was explicit. the couple of girls in the tent.. probably a couple more. it's nice, def better than all random couples being straight but that's not satisfying as rep.

Danny was great. i think he and ethan were.. cute? i think he was awesome, i loved danny so much and was very excited to learn he KNOWS at the end of season 3 and was waiting to see him join the pack. instead he fucking disappeared?! wtf. #WhereDidDannyGo

brett was cute rep, especially being bi but i feel like it could go into the insignificant pool which, again, is better than nothing.

mason and corey i just don't have strong feelings about. they were definitely cute and I'm glad they were together, i love mason A Lot. i think this relationship could be explored more, or at least the characters could be explored more to give this relationship more depth.

very interesting how there's no wlw canon couple, not even hinted. just fan servicey hot malia kira dance which /:

not to mention transgenderness. god can you imagine the interesting plotline of transitioning while being a werewolf 0:

i think the rep i was most happy about was ethan and Jackson. even tho i don't think there was build up or clues in the first couple of seasons, I'm happy for the actor who i know was struggling with coming out publicly, and it was very fun and refreshing for the ending. even if we got very few scenes with them the dynamic was 10/10

the biggest problem is obviously stiles. i just don't understand why, if they're so supposedly progressive, they went to that length to queerbait without following through. the whole gag of wanting to be attractive to danny and to gay guys, the whole "aww danny want to have sex with me that's so nice", the whole "do you like guys too?". it's a gag. his alleged bisexuality is the butt of a joke, and it pisses me the fuck off. they don't have to make it a big deal or have him get a bf for it to be official. it wasn't subtle subtext. it was a CHOICE. to put a spotlight on his sexuality but not deliver. -100/10 would not recommend.

also they could talk about his mental health more.

and about Scott's, please and thank you.

and everyone's.

i had some more feelings, like villains changing sides without getting a proper redemption and having no consequences, the wholesomeness of the sherriff and mellisa being each other's kids second parent eichen house (wtf??), and more, but i think i wrote enough for now.

tl;dr- good show with A Lot of problems, will always have a place in my heart bc I'm a nostalgic gal.

[lightsandlostbells]

wtFOCK season 3, episode 1 reaction

So! It’s a million years too late, but I decided to talk about wtFOCK season 3. 

I had fairly positive feelings about S1 of wtFOCK. It was the scrappy underdog of the Skam remakes, in a way, and what it lacked in polish, it made up for authenticity. I was very willing to overlook its flaws because of what I perceived as genuine attempts to connect with teenagers. I was really, really holding out hope that future seasons would improve on its flaws. And ... well. (Disclaimer: I still haven’t seen S2. Sorry! I just failed to keep up with all the remakes and S2 is my least fave so I didn’t feel that motivated to make it a priority, even though I did like Zoë a lot in S1.)

Heads up - I didn’t care for this season. A lot of people did, and I would never, ever want to ruin someone’s enjoyment of something, even if I personally didn’t like it. So please take this as a warning that I have a lot of negative things to say, and don’t read if it’s going to harsh your buzz for a pairing or a story that you deeply love. However, I didn’t want to just be grumpy and angry the whole time, so I tried to think of constructive ways to fix certain problems I had with this season. No guarantees that they’re satisfying solutions, but it was an interesting exercise.

Also, I didn’t watch this in real time, and I paid barely any attention to fandom reactions and/or drama, so it’s very possible that I am missing context, or that pacing issues didn’t register with me quite as strongly, etc. If one of the actors ate a live dolphin on Instagram, and then got into a fight with fans on Twitter about their right to eat live dolphins, and now fandom has canceled the problematic dolphin-eating actor, I legit do not know, do not come at me if I’m like “This actor is doing a good job” with “Wow, didn’t know you stanned dolphin-eaters??? YIKES.” Honestly, for the purposes of just grading this season on a storytelling level, I would prefer not to know anything about the cast or crew unless it directly has an impact on the show itself.

Clip 1 - House party

OK, I did like this flashy intro shot, immersing us in the Wild ‘n’ Crazy Teen Party of Wild ‘n’ Crazy Youths.

Amber rejecting every dude in site … When Will Gay Vilde Rise. (I know there have been some f/f storylines in the remakes, but if there’s one involving an actual Vilde, please let me know.)

Luca saying “We’re not walking around in a high school drama” - you can hear the rimshot.

I do like the transition from the party up to the bathroom, that’s a cool shot. wtFOCK’s directing so far is more ambitious than it was in S1.

Robbe is clearly a mess and they acknowledge his problems at home right off the bat.

We go back downstairs. wtFOCK’s version of Magnus knocks his drink on Amber and she gets pissed. She gives him the finger and he falls in love. Still a better love story than S3 Daphne/Basile.

It’s a small point, but I don’t get why we didn’t get this moment before jumping up to the bathroom with Robbe and the others? It would be a far smoother transition, just on a practical level and also in the sense of fully immersing us in Robbe’s POV after a quick update with the other characters.

Belgian Magnus joins the guys in the bathtub and announces he’s in love. They roast him when they find out it’s Amber and start talking about hot chicks. Moyo starts grilling Robbe about his type of girl, in a crass, sexual way.

This is honestly not a bad start to Robbe’s story at all. Robbe is clearly more reluctant to get into his interest in girls than Isak was - Isak was more fuckboyish from the start, Robbe seems like he’s about to start squirming and doesn’t really give an answer to Moyo’s questioning. Which is fine! I think it’s fine to start off the POV character at different stages of performing heterosexuality, as long as it’s taken into account in the writing of the character’s whole arc. The fact that the boy talk is so crude and sexual just ramps up Robbe’s alienation.

I swear, I will never understand how the girls in this scene just go into the bathroom and pee in front of strange boys … like maybe I am just a ~prude but that seems like a recipe for disaster and I would not trust those little fuckers to not be secretly recording me on the toilet.

Her peeing is kind of a power move, like marking her territory.

Also L M A O at Robbe starting to flirt with the girl while she is pissing … like now this comes off as a kink thing. OK, Robbe. Jokes aside, this gets across the same meaning as the scene with Isak: he starts to flirt with her because he was encouraged by the other guys.

Uh, flush the toilet, lady. And use some TP.

Now this version of Emma seriously radiates some Natalie Portman in The Professional vibes.

She orders him to stand up and then starts kissing him. I get way less of a vibe of Robbe’s mad game with women (like how Isak negged Emma into kissing him) and more like this girl is the love interest out of an indie romcom, all mysterious and spunky. She kisses him like once after taking his jay and then leaves. The boys all crack up. Moyo tells Robbe it’s his responsibility to get the weed back which lmao, no it’s not, all you assholes were there and could have intervened.

This scene is perfectly fine and even effective! Not entirely the same vibes as OG, but it still has a purpose and some obvious cause-and-effect, and there are some nice stylistic choices.

Clip 2 - Party pt. 2

Robbe is now making out with mystery girl. We already have a divergence in characterization from OG. Isak was being performative about making out with Emma and shut it down once the guys left. Robbe is making out with this girl because he wants to be straight, I guess? If it’s not to appeal to his friends, it’s likely that this is for himself. Again, I have no real problem with this change if it’s incorporated into Robbe’s overall arc and characterization. My thing is, if you’re writing this scene, do you realize the differences in characterization? Or do you think this is interchangeable from what happened with Isak? The latter is where you run into problems, because then the writing shows lack of nuance. I bring this up here because, well, you can guess how I feel about later events. 

Luca seems rather aggro about the mystery woman, which I assume is because she still has the hots for Robbe?

It makes me laugh that we got this first-person POV as Robbe leaves through the garage, because of the “Smack My Bitch Up” song being played in the last clip (the song had an infamous music video, banned from MTV in the ‘90s, that was from a first-person POV). But again, WTFock is trying harder with the cinematography and direction, good for them.

Robbe ditches the cops by jumping on the bike with Belgian Emma. OK, I get it, Belgian Emma is too cool for school. 

I have kinda mixed feelings on that, actually. I mean, I’ll be honest - I don’t see why any Emma has to be made into someone more palatable. Definitely don’t demonize her or present her in a misogynistic way! She deserves sympathy and dignity as much as any character on a Skam. But … it’s fine if she and the Isak aren’t like, amazingly compatible except for his sexuality. The Even character is supposed to be the one who really shakes up the Isak’s world! The Isak is supposed to be lost and confused and drifting and then Even comes in and is someone he can really open up to. Not just because he’s another guy who’s into guys, but because Even’s personality meshes with Isak’s so easily while still challenging him and introducing him to new things. In a way, it does kinda diminish the effect of the Even if the Isak meets ANOTHER mysterious stranger who’s an awesome person. Or at the very least, it lessens the feeling of the Isak’s detachment from everything.

And again, this could work if the writing realizes it. You can totally craft a subtly different arc from the pieces of Isak’s season. It’s just that (speaking from the future) I do not feel this is what happened.

Clip 3 - Tagging time

I don’t think it’s necessary to break up all the parts of a longer scene/set piece into a bunch of different clips. If you start a scene at 16:00, it’s OK to have the clip take place over several hours. You don’t need to chop it up unless there’s a reason why this pacing might benefit the story. Honestly, if you’re watching in real time, I think this method is often less effective at building tension/emotion/etc. But wtFOCK is not the first remake to try this tactic.

... this part where Robbe and Noor put on masks sure hits differently in 2020.

Belgian Emma’s name is Noor and she takes him to a warehouse, or something? It’s very secret and Cool Kid. And IDK, it’s fun, but again… I think making the Emma that much of a fun mysterious cool exciting person is very much diminishing the effect of Robbe’s isolation. We had a good start with establishing that alienation while he was in the tub, but now his reactions to her rad hipness feel way too sincere and act against the major character conflict of his season. He seems nervous to go with her, but not because he’s with a girl, just because it’s a risky scenario.

Noor hands Robbe a spray paint can and leads him to tag a wall. There’s  a guy taking pictures. So I’m assuming one of the guys in masks is the Even? The POV seems to shift to the photo guy briefly, like we’re seeing Robbe through his eyes. And even though I’m not a fan of POV breakage, I do think this is a cool way to introduce the Even without really introducing him, you know? If that’s him. (EDIT from the future: Ummm, so that wasn’t Sander, right? I’m rewatching and it doesn’t look like him. Soooo that part has even less relevance than I originally thought. Got it.) (EDIT from the future beyond the future: @hellswolfie tells me that this actually was Sander, so I am just bad at recognizing people, lol.)

Robbe and Noor take off their masks briefly to kiss. Uhhhh, did the scene really just … cut off there? Because L M A O what a weird choice. We don’t get to see what Robbe creates on the wall, which could be a great way to establish his character, AND we end with him on a smiley, contented note which does not boost his POV at all. It legit just makes him seem like a guy who’s into this girl, and sorry, even if that’s his public persona at this point in time … that’s not what we, the audience should be getting at all. 

Clip 4 - Boy squad morning after

Robbe skateboards to meet up with the guy squad. Again, the directing is far better IMO than in S1.

Robbe got the weed back so that conflict is over, I guess.

He gets a call from his mom and stops laughing with the guys and gets serious. He walks away to take the call. Then he starts to open up to Jens about his mom freaking out, and then Moyo spots some girls so they all ditch Robbe to go chase girls, and WOW, Jens, please turn in your Jonas card. 

Don’t love that we didn’t hear his mom on the phone. There’s no reason not to let us hear what she’s saying since it would be in Robbe’s POV AND as it turns out, they just tell us about the situation with his mom right off the bat, anyway, so it’s not like there’s much point in hiding it. 

This was effective in a sense to establish how girl-crazy his friends are, as well as setting up Robbe’s isolation, which I was worried wouldn’t come across as strongly after meeting Noor. But I think they could have NOT mingled in his mom issues to make this part more effective. Like if the goal was to show more of Robbe being alienated because he’s gay, then that’s not entirely successful, because there are non-gay reasons why Robbe wouldn’t join his pals on the girl chase. I mean, even a horny hetero Robbe might not want to chase girls with his bros because talking to his mom is a downer, so it’s not necessarily because of his sexuality. Plus he just found a girl he liked in Noor, so apparently, he’s not on the prowl. What this part IS communicating that the Belgian guy squad doesn’t have much interest in their friend’s family struggles, which ... ehhhh, maybe not great in the grand scheme of the storyline? These guys can be flawed, for sure, but we do need them to care about Robbe’s well-being. And Robbe tried to open up here, so the flaw is not in him, it’s in his friends. I’m going to let it slide because Jens was offering to help Robbe in the first clip, so it’s not like he’s been a totally insensitive friend this whole time. 

Clip 5 - Phone call from Robbe’s dad

Noor jumps on Robbe and they make out. She shows him the garage and they talk about the tagging world or w/e. Again, not sure why they are portraying Noor as like … a legit love interest. I don’t get much of a sense of discomfort from Robbe. Isak was just not into Emma and was uncomfortable when his bathroom flirting came back to haunt him. And I don’t think it’s TERRIBLE not to follow that route, but you can’t just make this huge change if you don’t account for it in future episodes and Robbe’s overall arc. (EDIT from the future: Which I don’t think they do, otherwise I wouldn’t care.) Every scene should count in furthering Robbe’s character, especially this early in the season where we’re just getting to know his particular struggles. If Robbe is trying to convince himself to like girls, then I want to see definite vulnerability in how that’s portrayed.

I blame the directing/writing more than the acting for the lack of discomfort, since I sensed Robbe’s lack of comfort just fine in the bathtub scene.

Makeouts get interrupted when Robbe’s dad calls. Again, not sure why we aren’t hearing both sides of the conversation? Because we’re in Robbe’s POV. Why wouldn’t we hear them? This seems like they just want to create some suspense or mystery over the situation with his parents. But it’s perfectly possible to do so while still letting us in on the phone calls. In fact, it’s arguably more intriguing to let us listen to some phone calls where we get some vague details but nowhere close to the whole story. It’s not like Robbe’s dad is going to explain the whole situation to his son in an exposition dump. We can get some crumbs to tease us, while still keeping us in Robbe’s POV and not feeling like the show is cutting corners.

Robbe gets mad at his dad and tells Noor he needs to be alone. Closeup on Noor as Robbe walks away. OK … why? Why on her and not Robbe when it’s his POV? Why the focus on Noor’s feelings when we really need to be establishing our protagonist’s mindset in the beginning of this season? I’m not saying her feelings don’t matter, I’m saying that well, this isn’t her story. It would be better to see Robbe’s pained reaction as he leaves.

Clip 6 - Robbe’s dad drama

Jens comes running up while Robbe is being sad. Robbe says that it may be necessary for him to stay with Jens because Robbe’s mom has been committed to a mental health institution and Robbe doesn’t want to stay with his dad. Ah, so I guess we’re hearing that right away. Which honestly makes not hearing his phone calls to his parents even funnier - like you lock us out of his POV arguably for the suspense, but then you end the suspense anyway by just telling us what happened a scene or two later? All right. I guess there’s suspense in that we don’t know exactly what’s up with the mom, mental health-wise, or the root of Robbe’s problems with his dad.

It occurs to me that maybe they just didn’t want to hire people to voice Robbe’s parents? Or put in the time to film both sides of the conversation? I have a hard time believing either of those because it’s so lazy, but. 

I mean, just turn the phone conversations into text conversations if you’re not going to let us listen to Robbe’s parents on the other end.

They go and play football without really resolving the situation. Sad music plays while Robbe joins in. Also, someone was calling Robbe, and I assume it was his dad, but it’s not shown.

These clips are VERY short and choppy so far. You could easily combine the last two, so Robbe is with Jens instead of Noor when he gets the other phone call from his dad, leading into this conversation.

We know immediately about Robbe’s mom’s situation instead of it being a mystery, like with Isak. Which, again, isn’t inherently wrong, but then I want them to DO SOMETHING with it. 

Clip 7 - Jens and Jana

Oh hey, Jana got her braces off! IDK if that happened last season or this one, but it was something I liked, seeing a teenage girl with braces on a teen drama. That rarely happens unless it’s a joke or a plot point.

OK, they really need to film Robbe’s phone so I can actually see who’s calling…

Jens tells Jana about Robbe’s parental situation. I’ll note that first she asks if something’s up with Noor, so news of the Robbe/Noor relationship must have traveled really fast since they’ve only just gotten together. Like Robbe and Noor are clearly dating, going off Jana’s comment, and not just hooking up. Then Belgian Magnus wants to know about hooking up with Amber. Meanwhile Robbe is having a conversation off screen with his dad? Guess it wasn’t important!

And that’s the problem, obviously. It’s his POV season, anything you decide to show SHOULD be important to his storyline. 

Also … it’s fine that we’re focusing on Robbe’s shit home life since that’s relevant to his story, but almost nothing in these clips has set up Robbe’s attraction to men, and only slightly his lack of interest in girls, which was negated by him seeming very interested in a girl afterwards. And knowing how long this season takes to get going with the Even character, it’s a pretty glaring omission.

So we don’t see Robbe’s phone call with his dad, but he gets snappy about it when Jens asks. One of the boys (I can’t tell who) says that Robbe’s on his period.  Gonna be real, I don’t care for this squad so far. 

What was the point of this clip? We already know Robbe is having problems with his dad, which is the most relevant part to the plot here. We shouldn’t be wandering from Robbe’s POV so much, but even taking that into account … we already know Belgian Magnus likes Amber, so that’s not necessary to establish. And we didn’t need to see Jens tell Jana something we already know. I assume he tells her so Zoë can find out and offer a room, but there’s no reason to see Jens tell Jana this, so. Filler clip. 

Clip 8 - Zoë and Robbe at the lockers

Yeah, Zoë offers Robbe a place to stay here, but again, we didn’t need to see the news travel down the Jens-Jana pipeline. It could have been condensed more efficiently.

Robbe doesn’t want to because he says his dad wouldn’t approve. Zoë says she hopes things get better with his mom and Robbe at first snaps and tells her to leave it, then says thanks. This is an actual good interaction, writing-wise, kudos.

I liked Zoë a lot in S1 and I like her here again. I really should watch her season despite my Noorhelm allergy. The scene of them kinda smiling at each other across the hallways reminds me that this is probably the strongest relationship in the whole season, tbh.

Why was this clip so short? So many of these clips could have been combined into one. I mean, Zoë could have said, “I heard from Jana who heard from Jens...” without us needing the previous clip. Although, did Robbe really want anyone else to know about his home life? Lol @ Jens just blabbing Robbe’s private business.

So I guess they didn’t set up the Eskild situation in S2 that would lead to Eskild offering Robbe a place to stay? 

Clip 9 - Robbe gets roommates

Robbe is in Zoë’s room. He sees her “everyone you know is fighting a battle” quote next to the mirror, which is a detail I actually quite like in context with the rest of this storyline and Even’s condition. It’s a good Skam thesis overall.

I guess Zoë met with Robbe’s dad. Zoë calls him a tough cookie. Robbe doesn’t want to speak to him. They bond a little over their parental problems. Again, a nice detail.

Belgian Eskild appears and teases Robbe a little before announcing that Robbe’s dad has agreed to let him stay in the flat. Yay!

Oh, so Senne is staying there, too? At least they didn’t do a pointless Noorhelm breakup in this version.

Milan (the Eskild) tries to go in for a hug and Robbe isn’t cool with it, so at least that’s something with Robbe’s issues with men. (I think? The thing is, Robbe also does not really know Milan, so it’s not as weird that he’s not ready to be affectionate with a near-stranger.)  (EDIT from the future: Keeping the S2 almost-kiss that’s referenced in the next clip in mind, I can rationalize this moment as a continuation of that awkwardness from Robbe’s POV.) 

They chat with Lisa (Linn) who wants to direct Robbe on what he is and isn’t allowed to touch in her room, heh.  Milan and Zoë have cute interaction, and Robbe looks happy. I do like the flatmate vibe so far, they seem fun.

Clip 10 - Robbe and Milan

Senne and Zoë get cute. I haven’t seen S2 so I can’t give my opinion on their version of Noorhelm, but I did think a few things about them were less creepy in wtFOCK’s S1 than in OG. Milan talks about how they’re a Disneylike couple and Robbe laughs.

Then Robbe apologizes for something that evidently happened in S2, where Milan tried to kiss Robbe at a party? Again, I didn’t see the scene. Milan says he’d never try to do that. He offers Robbe a hug, which he accepts - tbh I don’t know if Robbe SHOULD accept based on where he is in his character arc, maybe he should have more skittishness? But it’s a nice character moment, at least. They really have to make up for lost time with the Robbe-Milan relationship, so I can get that they need to establish some closeness fast.

Not being in the wtFOCK fandom, I kinda wonder if there was backlash to that scene from before and this is damage control, LMAO.

I feel like you could’ve tweaked this to be more representative of Robbe’s issues, like have him stress here that he’s not gay, because it’s a sweet scene but again, I don’t feel like this episode built up Robbe’s internal dilemma very well. You could make this not just about smoothing over whatever bump there was in this relationship, but also about setting up some internal tension with Robbe’s sexuality issues. Multi-tasking - it’s great!

EDIT from the future: OK, I tracked down the S2 scene, and yeah, while it illustrates some of Robbe’s internalized homophobia, I really think you needed to carry this through to this clip. Because that was a very public situation, and they made a point of emphasizing onlookers’ reactions. I feel like you need to show that Robbe’s internalized homophobia isn’t just about external reactions, but internal struggles, because ... so far, that’s what it is? Like what is he doing with Noor otherwise? 

Clip 11 - Housewarming party

Party is underway. Yasmina is there and is friendly with Robbe. It sounds like they’re working on a school project together. Aaron (Magnus) and Moyo are talking about hot chicks again.

Noor arrives and the boys tease Robbe about how far he’s gone, Robbe looks pretty chill and happy until Moyo says Robbe’s getting laid tonight and you can see the nerves and reluctance take over. Okay! A character detail that actually works for his arc! Yes!

Partying, makeouts with Noor … sorry but they are wasting a lot of time with this relationship. ROBBE ISN’T INTO HER. Here’s the thing: I don’t want to demonize any of Evak’s female “love interests,” right? It’s pointless anyway because Evak is the endgame pairing, Sonja and Emma aren’t “threats” in the end, but also because they’re not bad people just for wanting to date these two guys who happens to want each other instead. And I think you can do interesting things with Sonja and Emma as characters. I’ve read Sonja fanfic that’s really good!

But when it comes down to it … this is not the story of Robbe/Noor, and there’s a point where it feels like there’s too much development for something that is really intended to be a speed bump in Robbe’s journey. 

I guess it’s a pet peeve of mine when gay stories devote a ton of time to het relationships, to the point where it begins to overshadow the main gay relationship. Love, Victor did this to an absolutely ridiculous degree. (I actually made notes for Love, Victor reactions, but hesitated to post them because 60% consisted of me typing I DON’T CARE ABOUT THESE STRAIGHT ROMANCES.) And I GET it, this is an experience many gay kids go through in their coming out journey, but also, less charitably… you don’t need het romance to dominate everything. You don’t need to make this about how a gay person being gay hurts a straight person. I genuinely appreciate that once Isak kisses Even, it’s fucking over with him and Emma, that plot thread is done. 

Anyway, Noor tells Robbe he’s so fucking hot and Robbe looks more uncomfortable, moreso when she wants to see his room and he goes off like he’s headed to Mordor.

Aaron checking out Amber … okay, again with all the het. I don’t care!!! This is not important right now!! 

Noor pushes Robbe onto the bed, ugh please don’t have them Go There.

She takes off her top and Robbe touches her boob like he’s sticking his hand into a porta-potty. We see his discomfort so at least this part is effective and relevant to Robbe’s arc. Noor is taking off her bra when the boys come into the room, wanting the weed. Okay, you dumb fucks, you’re teasing your bro about getting laid and yet you think it’s cool to enter his room when he’s with a girl? I mean, that’s a lucky break for Robbe, but his friends are extra stupid.

The mood is killed, Robbe goes hunting for weed. Episode ends.

HOW I WOULD REWRITE THIS EPISODE:

Lmao, some of my changes sounded a lot like “be like OG Skam S3.” Because Skam S3 was well-written and made sense. But I tried to think of edits that worked with what wtFOCK was presenting, not just repeating OG.

(I’m also repeating a few things in this section that I said above, btw)

While this episode doesn’t make me angry or anything, it’s got a serious problem with dithering. The first clip is a solid start to the season, but afterwards, so many of these clips feel like filler. There’s a lack of substance to them. It was hard to write about them because they ended up feeling like two minutes of nothing. 

Did we need to see repetitive mentions of Robbe’s troubled relationship with his dad? No, it’s an important plot detail but we could have established that more concisely in fewer clips. Did we need to see the process of how Robbe comes to stay with Zoë, Senne, and Milan? No, not really. Or at least not dragged out over at least three clips. 

I don’t feel like I’m in Robbe’s head to the extent that I should be  so far. Some of this is because the show just flat-out locks us out of his POV, like not showing the phone call in the Jens-Jana clip. But a lot of it is also because of the narrative dawdling. There’s just not as much to analyze unless I bring in Skam season 3 and project what we know about Isak onto Robbe. And that’s not a good way to adapt a story.

The framing of Robbe/Noor needs to change. Combine the bathroom intro with the aborted sex scene - the boys are sitting in the tub, teasing Robbe about getting laid, so he makes out with Noor and they go into a bedroom where he’s clearly not into this, and then Moyo and Aaron come in asking for weed because Robbe still actually has the weed from the bathtub at this point. Or do what Skam France did (can’t believe I’m referring to Skam France) and have the arrival of the cops interrupt the makeout/sex session and Robbe takes his cue to exit.

But frankly, it’s not great to have Robbe acting or looking too cozy with Noor, like this is a legitimate romantic arc except when it gets to the sex. The point is that this isn’t a romance. Even if you want to show some cuddly, non-sexual scenes with Noor, you have to show more of Robbe’s reluctance and fear throughout. 

Show Robbe’s fucking phone conversations with his parents!!!! Good Lord. He’s not ordering a pizza. These are important aspects of his story. Capitalize on that family tension, show us what a bad place Robbe is in at the start of this season. 

Now, about the lack of Even in this episode. Not introducing Even is a bold move, but not necessarily a smart one. Even’s introduction in Skam is not just the intro of “the love interest” - he’s the catalyst for almost everything in Isak’s story. Consider that in episode 1, Isak is seen mostly unhappy and bored - he’s distraught after kissing Emma, he’s checked out of his friends’ lunchtime girl talk, he zones out staring at his teacher’s boobs, he doesn’t want to be at kosegruppa. Isak is actually very passive and just going through the motions, doing what people tell him to do. But once Isak meets Even at kosegruppa - well, that’s when Isak wakes up. In the next few clips, we see Isak taking action. And sure, they’re small actions, searching for Even online, watching the Even video over and over, asking Vilde if there will be more kosegruppa meetings. But we can see that Isak now cares about something, he’s paying attention. Of course, Robbe’s story doesn’t have to follow the same arc. However, it does the season a huge benefit to get him intrigued by something at this point, so we the audience are not just sleepwalking along with him for a few episodes.

There’s also just the simple fact that we have only 10 episodes to establish a love story and make us care about the Even character, and it’s a very risky move to waste too much time. If you are really killing it with the rest of Robbe’s arc, this could still work, but ... well, that’s not what’s happening here.

If they didn’t want to full on introduce the Even directly, one thing they could do is subtly and indirectly find ways to include him in the narrative and create some mystery. Let’s say Robbe sees the Even’s artwork somewhere and is like whoa, that’s cool, and we can tell that it resonates with him. Or he admires Even’s graffiti, or it makes him laugh, whatever. Basically Robbe has some kind of emotional reaction to a thing the Even has created or done, which helps to set up that relationship even before we officially meet the Even.

If we want to add a little more, perhaps Robbe sees a mysterious dude in a mask tagging a wall, but they get interrupted by the cops or something and have some kind of brief but intriguing interaction with each other, and Robbe’s like, who was that guy in the mask? Or Noor takes Robbe to the tagging place, the police/security bust them, Robbe and Noor get separated, and Robbe gets helped out by the Even so he can escape. So it’s an important moment, lots of adrenaline, we can frame it like there’s a sudden ~charge~ between them (ooOOOooo the Even helped Robbe stand up and their hands touched like this was a fanfic, etc.), but he doesn’t learn Even’s name, maybe he doesn’t even see his face because Even has a mask on, so Robbe spends part of the next few episodes trying to figure out who that guy is, casually asking Noor if she knows a guy like that, keeping his eyes open. Maybe we have some fakeouts where Robbe thinks he sees the Even again but it’s just a false alarm. He’s on edge, eager to know more about that mystery guy, and so are we. Bam, we have “awakened” Robbe from his deep sleep. 

If you’ve seen Netflix’s The Get Down, there’s even a scene like this where Jaden Smith’s character gets caught tagging by the cops, he runs and flees with another young dude, and they have a moment where they recognize each other as graffiti artists they admire. While watching that scene for the first time, without any context or spoilers, without even knowing if there would be LGBT content in that show, I immediately thought, “This guy is his love interest.” Not even because it was overtly romantic. Because the way it was written and shot told us that this meeting was important. Because they had an instant connection. Something similar could have worked for Robbe and his Even. But in any case: it would have been best to establish something between those characters, even if it wasn’t an “official” introduction.

Stop focusing on Aaron/Amber when it’s not in Robbe’s POV. Reverse the scene at the beginning with Aaron videotaping and Amber getting spilled on. She gets pissed, he falls in love, and then we follow him upstairs and we meet the boy squad. That is a very obvious, very clean transition that doesn’t interrupt Robbe’s POV as it technically hasn’t started yet. So IDK why they didn’t do that, lmao.

Some changes with the Milan relationship:

Tweak the apology scene to be more representative of Robbe’s issues. Have Robbe apologize while still stressing that he’s not gay. Have Milan be chill and not question that statement, but maybe Robbe is so defensive that it comes across as unconvincing. 

Then have Milan be the one instead of the boys to interrupt the Noor almost-sex scene. Milan wanders in acting drunk, haha Milan, he’s wacky. Robbe doesn’t realize it (though the viewers do if they’re paying attention) but Milan is only pretending and is “subtly” rescuing Robbe because he realizes, based on the earlier scene, that Robbe might be struggling with his sexuality and he wants to give him an escape option. (Although I still think it’s best to combine the not-sex scene into the opening clip, but this could work, too.)

Basic questions we need to be asking, clip to clip: what is the conflict? Where is Robbe’s head right now? Why is this scene necessary? How did this scene come to be - what’s the cause and effect here? How does it advance Robbe’s story? Is it redundant? How do we tell this story in a narratively economical manner? 

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

January 2020 Picks

And we’re back!!! Been watching a lot of great stuff recently that I’m excited to chat about. These are just a few of highlights. I’m not 100% caught up on the Arrowverse shows yet, but did enjoy the Crisis a lot-especially after the second watch through. Check out my full review on that here: https://talesofafangirlwithadvr.tumblr.com/post/190372384413/crisis-on-infinite-earths-reactions

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

ANNE WITH AN E

This 3rd season was my FAVORITE so far, which makes it even more depressing that this is the end. I watched it the fastest and even stayed up till 1 AM to finish the series after watching four straight episodes. (Normally I try to space out bingeing stuff because I don’t want it to end so fast.) This series has always taken liberties with the source material to make it even more relevant to today, but I especially felt that during this season. It did not feel forced one bit. From Bash losing Mary and overcoming being a minority in Avonlea to Ka’kwet’s story line that brings me to tears every time I think about it-especially because she made it ALL the way home just to be taken back. Would love to believe she’s back with her parents, but the ending this season doesn’t show it. Perhaps they were thinking about pursuing it more if there was a 4th season. Josie Pye’s assault was a nice commentary on the Me too movement as well as the Human Rights and Women’s Rights march. I’m so happy Matthew survived this series! I was so worried for him. (As readers know he dies at the end of Anne of Green Gables the novel. Most adaptations often keep it in and I am happy we diverted from the original this time.) Jerry and Diana were adorable at the start, but Jerry deserves so much more! (He got SO TALL! As I often remarked while watching this season.) I absolutely loved the boy craziness this season because they were “Now 16!” Tillie balancing two guys! Ruby’s crush on Moody was super cute. I loved when Anne was forced to ask Gilbert about having babies by the girls. THE STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS!! (applause) 1) Mrs. Stacy: as a widower she will not settle for just anyone to marry. 2) Prissy Andrews: I really like that they brought her character back up and that she attended college. So sad that Billy will still be the head of her family. 3) Diana gets to go to Queens (a change from the novel as well, but one that was a great choice). I really liked her chat with Aunt Josephine. 4) Of course Anne Shirley. There’s so much to say about Anne, but one of the things I really liked this season was getting insight into her own personal family history. Seeing her mom’s book at the end was very touching. I love that she also had red hair. Last thoughts: Delphine is the CUTEST BABY EVER! Seriously a fantastic actress. Her relationship with every person in the show was amazing. And of course my beloved Shirbert. I knew they were endgame (because of the source material), but BOY did they take their time getting there). Screw Winnie! Anne and Gilbert’s relationship hurt my heart throughout it all, but so many adorable moments between them proving they are meant to be. Forever my OTP!      

SANDITON

I am seriously feeling the period pieces this month (but then again when am I not). As a HUGE Jane Austen fan I was extremely excited when I heard that her unfinished novel, Sanditon, would be adapted for the TV screen. Because I was unfamiliar with the story (which is always a fun time when one of your favorite authors has been dead for the past few hundred years) I made sure to add the novel to the top of my 2020 list. Due to its length I was able to finish it before the series started a few weeks ago. While I was not a huge fan of the unfinished novel, because I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters or see where the story was headed, I already feel differently about the mini-series. By the end of episode 1 I was already hooked and very happy that PBS aired the second episode immediately afterwards. I can see parallels to Austen’s work as well as echoes to other Austen novels (naturally Pride and Prejudice). When listening to the Masterpiece podcast in which they interview Rose Williams (who plays Charlotte Heywood) she described Charlotte as a cross between Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Morland (from Northanger Abbey), which I think is really accurate. I like how Charlotte goes to Sanditon because of her interest in seeing this place that Tom Parker gets so excited about. She honestly isn’t looking for a husband, but rather an occupation. Something different away from her farm. Is romance involved? You betcha. This is an Austen adaptation afterall. But that is not her main focus. There’s so many other things going on with the story, but I’d have to dedicate a complete other post to explain it all. I really feel it is fitting in well with other classic book to screen adaptations coming out right now like Little Women and Anne with an E. If you’re a fan of either one then Sanditon is worth a try. And of course if you love Jane Austen and the 1995 Andrew Davies adaptation (he’s producing this one as well) then it’s worth a shot! 

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE-SEASON 4

Just like with Anne with an E, I think this was my favorite season of The Man in the High Castle (and ironically also the last season. Although this series knew that going in to production). It held my interest very well and I watched it faster than the previous season. I really don’t think I’ve been this invested since season 1. Lots of new characters were introduced and while I missed some of the old it just shows you how much this show has developed. I also felt myself liking the new characters really fast. At first all of the multi-verse stuff was pretty intense and a little hard to follow, but it got easier as the show went on-EXPECT FOR THE END! Were all those people coming through because their worlds were much worse? What happens next? How are the Smith children? Amy and the other students who were brainwashed-will they change? Kido will stay. Did Childan find Kikuko? (Loved their relationship btw. I’m going to believe they got to be together in the end. It will make me sleep easier.) I was constantly saying to myself: How are they going to wrap this up in only 4 episodes...3...2...etc.. But I feel like it could have been a bit stronger. Despite this I still am a big fan of this season. I just get picky when it comes to series finales.  

DOCTOR WHO 

Last I had posted about Doctor Who I was very behind. Like I only watched last year’s holiday special this year behind. It was just tough for me to get into last season. I’ve really enjoyed Jodie Whitaker’s take on the Doctor. I feel she brings a new energy, but at the same time reminds me of the way Tennant and Smith portrayed the role. It’s just that I missed some of the familiarity of the show. It’s always hard getting a new Doctor because the show takes on a different feeling, but with all new villains, companions, TARDIS, etc it was tough. I wanted a couple more old references. I also didn’t love all of the episodes (although a bunch of them were really good: Rosa Parks, Demons of the Punjab, Kerblam! to name a few). So when I watched last year’s special at the beginning of the month I felt I zoned out a bit. However, Spyfall (parts 1 & 2) that kicked off this season were entertaining and I’ve been hearing good stuff about this season so far. Now that the show is on its second season with these characters, I’ve heard there’s more of a rhythm. I can’t wait to continue. I also can’t wait to see these guys again: 

PLUS I discovered a HUGE spoiler about last week’s episode that honestly that has honestly gotten me so pumped; it is the main reason why I am catching up faster. (I won’t spoil it here if you still don’t know it. I foresee I’ll probably write an article just about that episode.) 

VIOLETTA 

My guilty pleasure that I have been bingeing on Disney+. This musical telenovela from Buenos Aires has three seasons of 80 episodes a piece! (That’s right I have my work cut out for me.) Currently only the first season is up on Disney+ and the show is pretty hard to find, so I am really hoping that by the time I finish it they release at least the second season. I only started it in the new year and am already on episode 42, so you can say I’m enjoying it... :) Basically once I hit 30 I was hooked. (Although I was enjoying it a lot before that, now I’m just more obsessed.) There are several characters in the show from the students, to the teachers and family members, but the main character is Violetta who has lived in many different countries all her life with her dad who is a very successful businessman. She has been home-schooled forever due to their lifestyle and because of her dad’s worry that she will be hurt in the real world. Her mother was a popular singer who died when Violetta was very little that she barely remembers her. When they move back home she secretly gets enrolled in a music school that her mom just so happened to attend. Her tutor is secretly her aunt (who no one recognizes because Violetta’s dad told her that her mom had no relatives) and she has to hide attending the music school and singing which is her ultimate dream. That’s just the basics because there is so much more drama in the series. Lots of lying, deceit, love triangles that just won’t quit, ridiculousness and music. While they repeat a lot of the same songs, many of them are quite good and really catchy that you can’t help but get them stuck in your head. My sister (who loves this show) kept talking about it and that made me want to watch once we got Disney+ (she was lucky to watch two seasons when it was still on Netflix). As she said to me, you should watch it in the original language, which is Spanish with English subtitles. I feel like I’m learning more Spanish while watching it. Probably be fluent by the end (ha ha ha ha-not really). 

So, what are your favorites of this month? Are we watching any of the same things? Anything look interesting to check out? Let me know! 

[nei-noora]

Thoughts on Gilmore Girls

So I've recently watched all of Gilmore Girls. It was one of those shows that I used to watch on TV after school while doing my homework, so depending on the time I came home and the workload... Well I couldn't watch it everyday so it was one of those shows I had seen some episodes of but not all of them.

And lately I've been in that mood... That mood that makes me want to entirely watch shows I used to catch on TV after school but never fully saw from start to finish. So a few weeks ago I started my Gilmore girls adventure and... Oh boy was it good.

A really good thing about the show is that even though a lot of things happened that I do not like/approve of, I still love it so much. The characters are so loveable, you just love the show for them, stars hollow and.. Well you know what I mean. It's kinda weird because there were still a lot of things I disliked but it's kind of what makes the show great? Or not really, BUT what is great is, it shows that a show doesn't have to be absolutely perfect to be an absolute fave.

First, saying that, it makes me think of a simple thing : I miss the old shows, the ones with long openings with songs you would know by heart after a few episodes and all the main actors appearing during the opening too. Aw this doesn't exist anymore and even though we skip through them, we like them and from time to time we just watch them to sing and enjoy the song because with a simple melody all of the memories of the show resurface. Current shows can't relate. And I just like all the cute tiny "flaws" from old shows too. Like if you re-watch the first few episodes, Luke's diner is different, it's not located in the same place (I even think in the first episode Luke's diner appears twice and both time it shows it in a different location!), stars hollow is different, the gazebo is not at the center of the park, Kirk doesn't even exist and Sean Gunn is just a foreign dude for everybody in stars hollow and appears as different guys a few times before actually becoming Kirk that everybody knows since... Forever! I just love how before the shows were still evolving for a few episodes before becoming what they would be for the rest of the show. Now EVERYTHING must be perfect from the first episode. Idk I guess I find old shows endearing.

Anyway, so maybe I should kinda start with my actual thoughts?

1- I hated that they made Rory cheat on Dean and just stay with him when she very obviously liked Jess. I feel like a lot of people hate Dean but I feel like honestly most of his reactions were always justified? I am not saying that it's okay to react the way he did several times. In a perfect world this shouldn't be done but people aren't perfect and his reactions were natural and justified. People hate him for being mad when Rory didn't say "I love you" back, like he expected her to say it back because that's what one "should do" (in his mind, according to people hating on Dean) when they are being confessed to. I think he wasn't mad AT her. You have to think like a 16yo boy. For the first time ever (probably) you tell a girl you love her and she just freezes. If his reaction is over the top it's just because he feels so ashamed. He feels like he has bared his soul, and she didn't say a word so as a defense mechanism he gets angry, not really at her but it just covers the fact that he's ashamed. I feel like if she would have said something instead of freezing (even something like "oh wow that's unexpected, wow, I don't know what to say, sorry, what did I do to deserve a boyfriend like you" or like just something to diffuse the blank and the awkwardness) he wouldn't have reacted that way. An older, wiser guy/Dean wouldn't have acted that way but a 16yo one, baring his soul for the first time.... the alarm bells must have been ringing in his mind. Same for his reactions at the dance or when he talks to Jess after he sees him and Rory kiss. For the former, he's been suspicious for a while, hurting because he can feel his gf growing apart even though she says she loves him, and when he catches her and Jess exchanging looks, obviously he would be mad. He must be feeling like he's being toyed with for way too long. And for the latter, he's mad, and for the first time ever he lets himself have that cocky attitude he's seen Jess act with for quite some time. And he knows that even though he's still new to the town, he has the town's support because he has done a great job fitting in (hence saying "this is my town". People give him a hard time for that but it's definitely his town in the sense that even though Jess' family has been here forever, Jess is new in town and arrived later. so Dean came first, he's more of "the town" on that aspect AND everybody likes him when Jess... Well... You know. So Dean definitely "owns" the town). So even though Rory is currently blinded by her love for Jess, Dean knows that he has the upper hand in everything, and Rory might end up changing her mind after a flirt with that bad boy that blinded her for a while (that's Dean's thinking, not my opinion). Anyway all that to say, I read a lot of things about how Dean is the worst, and even though he is for sure not perfect, I don't understand all the hate. (but dude after what rory has done to you you should have known better than cheating on your wife). I was personally more mad at Rory for cheating on him and staying with him all this time when she only had Jess in mind. I for sure was mad at her for the way she acted but I don't see people hating on her for that. Not that I'm looking for people hating but like I haven't really seen people talking about her flaws but always the guys'. But anyway when she cheats she's 16/17, and even though she has that perfect boyfriend I can understand that when a bad boy that oh-so-surprisingly is also a big bookworm appears she can be swooning for a while). It's not the only time I disliked Roy's attitude/decision but to be honest I was so sad after finishing the show, I didn't want to leave those characters and start something else and forget about them so.... I restarted watching it and I'm currently at that stage so that's why it's my first exemple and that's why I feel so strongly about it right now.

2- I literally HATE how they changed Dean's character. At first he was this really knowledgeable guy, who had a pretty good knowledge in books and movies, and rory would make him read new stuffs, they would debate on it, Lorelai and Rory would show him movies he wouldn't know etc, but they had a real connection and real exchanges and debates. And I feel that to make Jess be THAT guy she can have stimulating conversations and debates with, they decided to make Dean kind of.... Dumber??? Like at one point Jess asks Rory what her and Dean talk about, and she's like really vague... I don't understand we've seen them exchanging books and stuff so much in the first season, why do they act like he's interested in nothing later? Just to make Jess more relevant and a good match for Rory? He literally brings nothing new to the table (except for that bad boy attitude) compared to season 1 Dean. But of course I guess when Jess was written Dean was too perfect so suddenly in season 2 he doesn't read, doesn't know anything about movies or music? I honestly feel like it's so shitty what they've done to this character. They should have thought about it beforehand instead of writing a perfect guy. Season 1 Dean was a bookworm, had knowledge in movies, but also liked sports, he had interest in mechanics, I swear they made a really good guy with various interests (not talking about the personality here) and didn't choose a stereotype-y kind of guy but then he ended up being too good so to be overshadowed by Jess they had to make him kinda dumber with 0 similar interests with Rory. That sucks. Am I the only one that noticed it? They could have at least kept that when Jess arrived and made Rory say that they talk about books and stuff. Jess being a bigger bookworm that actually always has a book on him just like Rory would still have had the same effect.

I'm staying on the Dean topic because as I write I remember other stuffs I've read on Dean. People hate him for that episode where they basically interpret what he says as "I want a woman that stays at home and cooks for me, nothing else". There's a difference between saying "I like the idea of having my girlfriend/wife cooking for me" and saying "women should not work but rather stay home and make her life's goal to make ME happy". Like, obvisouly if you told me that I could have my boyfriend cook me dinner I would also say "yes I want, I'd love that". It doesn't mean that I consider that his goal in life should be to make me food, it just means that yes the idea of having my boyfriend cook dinner when I come home is enjoyable. That's all it means. Kinda linked to all that is people saying that he dislikes/is threatened by Rory's ambition. He's said so many times that she is smart, she is Harvard material, that he's proud etc, how can the fact that he's asking her what they'll do when she's in Harvard is a proof that he is threatened. He's actually being really smart and realistic. That's a real question that should be asked and that they should think of. And when he's unhappy that she spends the summer studying rather than spending time with him, it's normal for him to be sad not to be able to spend time with his girlfriend when he was obviously thinking "yay holidays I'll be able to spend time with my girlfriend" and is just sad not to be able to see her more often even though they're supposed to be on holidays. He's not saying she sucks and she should drop out, he's just disappointed not to be able to enjoy the holidays how he thought he would. I don't know I think a lot of things that people hate Dean for are pretty justified ones and people just make them what they're not just because #TeamJess so they have to make Dean look bad. Idk honestly I understand a lot of these things and I think I would have acted in a similar way so maybe I'm a bad person too, hate on me people.

BTW this also makes me think of Logan's "ultimatum" that people seem to hate him for. To me it wasn't an ultimatum and his proposal and the reasons behind are completely logical??? They've been in a long distance relationship for a while, I understand the fact that he doesn't want to do that again and how it would be going backwards when he's head over heels for her and he very obviously wants to spend eternity by her side. Obviously doing it when he knows he has to move to the west coast which, by saying yes would force Rory to move too, is not perfect but anyway she always wanted to be on the move so being in LA or NYC or Stars Hollow wouldnt have changed much things for her since she would be spending her time on the road for her job. Obviously her family is essential so LA is not the best choice but if, again, they would have made Rory say "wait, let's talk about it" I'm sure they would have find a solution to work things out rather than making her say no on the spot and making it look like an ultimatum.

Until now I've voiced my opinions on Rory and Dean (and a bit of Logan), I guess these are my only thoughts concerning individual characters so what I want to say before moving on to other subjects is that those flaws that you can find in characters, even making Rory cheat on Dean, I actually like it. I like that they made those choices and all the characters, even the main ones, are flawed. Because nobody's perfect so it makes them so.... Normal? Relatable. Obviously I hate the fact that Rory cheats on her boyfriend but having a main character doing something bad, being flawed, is such a strength for a show. It shows exactly that nobody's perfect, we all make mistakes, and it's alright because that's what life's about. It doesn't prevent the characters to grow and become amazing characters later on (talking about growth and becoming amazing, kudos to Jess).

3- I really regret ONE thing. The fact that they didn't use all the seasons to show Emily and Lorelai work through their problems. There's been literally no improvement in their relationship from start to finish. Actually if you consider "a year in the Life", their relationship seems to be even worse than before (but I don't really wanna talk about a year in the life because I honestly thought all the episodes were pretty depressing, and if you think 10 years are supposed to have passed.... Why are almost all the characters still stuck in the same place/situation, Rory not having a successful career (this I can understand even though it's sad, but we see a full year with no improvement?) and still having no stability in her relationships, cheating on a poor guy no one thinks or cares about and doing with Logan and Odette was she has done before with Dean... I swear why have they made these decisions). What I regret is that Emily has kind of been all along a "comic relief", not in the sense that Emily is funny but because of her mother daughter relationship with Lorelai was always the perfect occasion to have Lorelai spit a lot of funny and witty lines. And I LOVE Lorelai and her wit. But I just wish the writers would have used all these years to show improvement. Obviously there's improvement in the sense that before season 1 Lorelai went only a few days a year to her parents' place. But still, from the first to the last episode, there's been no change. Lorelai being like "ugh kill me my mother is here" and Emily being still so cold. Meeting at least once a week for 7 years should have had more of an impact on their relationship. And even though we've seen snippets of emotional scenes where you can see how hurt Emily is or this kind of stuff, there's been no real improvement (and even though the revival shows an actual will to work on their relationship, they seem to be in a worst place than ever so..... Yeah.).

4- finally I want to talk about something that really, REALLY irritated me. The fact that they would spend episodes talking about something and then we would see nothing of..... The thing, and would directly have a scene at the end of after.... The thing. I have no example right now but I noticed it happened several times. They would hype me about something I would end up seeing nothing of and I hated it. I understand that the important point is the relationship between Lorelai and Rory (so the important thing would be their conversation after the thing and what they say about it) but still when you spend episodes talking about something, please show me a little bit of it at least ;-; so what I mean is... I was irritated with the writing sometimes haha but I swear it happened several times and it was so frustrating. Overall I have often disliked they choices when it came to the writing, the decisions they made for the characters, I would definitely not be happy about what would happen..... Actually when you think about it, pretty much all my points are complaints about the writing of the characters (or like consistent writing) or their choices haha But that's what makes it crazy how they are so many things I dislike or disagree with, but i still love the show very very much. So yeah it definitely means that finding flaws or just things you disagree with doesn't make a show bad. It just means that people don't think the same way and don't expect the same things but it doesn't prevent them from enjoying and loving the show anyway

Anyway this is way too long, I have to stop babbling, it's 4am, I've been writing for what feels like 2 hours and I'm pretty sure I've even forgotten things I wanted to say. If you've read all that........ Why.... How..... Thanks? If you did drop a star emoji!

[raspberry-dreams1776]

30 Questions GoT Tag

A couple of days ago I watched a Frikidoctor video about this tag and I thought it would be fun to do it. I believe the tag was created by the YouTube user EvilSmile. (There may be SPOILERS if you haven’t seen the earlier seasons)

So, I leave here the links to the original video and to Friki’s:

OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2WbqNV-jkw&t=75s

Frikidoctor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEKmzCW0AZM

The questions were originally in Spanish, so I translated them into English, and also my answers mainly concern the show as I’ve just started reading the books. So here we go!

1. How did you discovered Game of Thrones?

It was my sister who introduced me to GoT. At first I didn’t like it too much, but I got super interested once I started watching the second season.

2. What is your favourite house?

Definitely House Targaryen! But I also really like House Tyrell and House Martell.

3. What are your favourite house words?

House Tully: Family, Duty, Honour

House Karstark: The Sun of Winter

4. Who is your favourite Stark and Lannister?

My favourite Stark would be Jon (technicalities apart!) and for the Lannisters, it’s too hard to choose between Cersei and Tyrion.

5. Who are your favourite female and male characters?

For the women it would be Daenerys Targaryen and the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell. As for the men, it's Tormund Gianstbane.

6. Who is your least favourite character?

I hated Catelyn Stark with a passion! Even in the books I don’t like her!

7. Which season did you like the most and what is your favourite episode?

Season 3 is the one I have liked the most because I feel it’s when Daenerys is really starting to get strong. Also, there so much happening during that season, leaving you mind-blown! My favourite episode is hands down “ The Winds of Winter” (S6, E10).This episode was just perfect in every way and it’s one of the best season finales I’ve ever seen!

8. Who is the character you’d fall in love with?

Personality-wise, I think I’d fall in love with Samwell Tarly. He is just so sweet and gentle, but physically speaking Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell) does it for me. He sooo good-looking!

9. What is your favourite quote?

Anything Olenna says is gold. However, I really like what she says to Dany when they speak privately in Dragonstone: “ The lords of Westeros are sheeps. Are you a sheep? No. You’re a Dragon. Be a Dragon!”

10. What is the saddest moment/scene in the show?

For me there are two. The first one is when Ramsay Bolton kills Rickon in front Jon and the second one is when the Night King kills Viserion and later revives him as a wight. 

11. Who is the character with the least relevance/importance (In Spanish the question is: “un personaje sin protagonismo”. I don’t know how to correctly translate the word “protagonismo”)

I would say every character from Dorne. From what I’ve heard and read about them, the show didn’t really do them justice. A lot of people are saying they were destroyed as characters. I also think they are one of the most important families in the world of Game of Thrones and we barely hear about them. 

12. Who is the most intelligent character?

The battle for the title is hard between Tyrion, Lord Varys and Littlefinger, but I think Varys outsmarts the both of them. Also, i’d like to mention Margaery Martell, I loved how she was able to make almost everything work in her favour.

13. Where would you live?

I think anywhere in the North because I’m not really fond of warm climate...I actually hate summer! However, I’d like to visit Highgarden or Dorne.

14. Who is your favourite antagonist?

The one and only Cersei Lannister!

15. What is the death that has impacted you the most?

Before watching the seasons, I already knew almost everything that was going to happen (most of the time I don’t mind being spoiled), so there weren’t really any death that had a huge impact on me other than Viserion’s. But, I gotta say I was surprised when Ramsay killed his father Roose Bolton because I think it’s the only death I was unaware of.

16. Which character would you kill?

The most disgusting of all characters Walder Frey (but Arya already did it for me lol!)

17. Who is the best strategist?

I would say Tyrion Lannister, even though he wasn’t very successful in s7.

18. What flashback would you like to see through one of Bran’s vision?

I would really, really love to see the Tourney of Harrenhal as I consider it a key moment. I’d also like to see the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror and his two sisters Visenya and Rhaenys to Westeros.

19. Who is your favourite dire wolf?

I think Summer is my favourite.

20. Who is the most terrifying character?

This question has many answer: Tywin Lannister, the Night King, Joffrey Baratheon, and Ramsay Bolton.

21. Is the GoT intro the best you’ve ever heard?

I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve ever heard, but it is definitely iconic and love it so much!

22. How would you die in GoT?

Oh my goodness, I think I would die in the lamest way possible. I don’t have a single fighting instinct!

23. What is your favourite moment?

I have so many, it’s almost impossible to answer this question! Most of them include Dany and the Dragons or Cersei. I loved it when Dany freed the Unsullied. I got chills when she arrived to Dragonstone for the first time. The entirety of s6 e10, when Cersei avenged Myrcella’s death, when Olenna told Jamie she killed Joffrey, when Jamie told Brienne why he killed Aerys...

24. A character everyone hates but that you love.

Sansa Stark seems to be a character that a lot people hate, but I sincerely don’t understand where that hate comes from, I really like her. Sure, she’s not the strongest of female character but she is not awful. 

25. A character everyone loves but you don’t like.

I don’t think I don’t like a character that everyone loves, but I gotta say s7 Arya was not my favourite.

26. What character would you resuscitate?

Does Viserion count as a character? If not, I’d resuscitate Olenna Tyrell or Oberyn Martell.

27. What character’s death was your favourite?

Tyene Sand’s death. Cersei’s vengeance was on point! And, of course, Ramsay Bolton’s.

28. A character you hated but now you love. 

Theon Greyjoy. More than loving him, I just feel bad for him. He was really a jerk for betraying the Stark family, but at the same time the way he is trying to make amends makes me feel pity for min.

29. What GoT character would you be? 

I’d love to be my favourite character which is Daenerys Targaryen! She is simply awesome, strong, and badass. 

30. Who would you like to see on the Iron Throne?

In an ideal world where my wishes are command, Daenerys Targaryen would rule the Seven Kingdoms alongside Jon Snow. But because this is Game of Thrones, I doubt this scenario is going to happen. I don’t think it is going to end with someone on the throne!

So, that’s it for the questions! I tag anyone would like to do it.

[mtvswatches]

Wynonna Earp 1x08 Two-Faced Jack

Spoilers disclaimer (please read before sending messages or writing comments.)

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) WTF happened here…

What does Dock mean by “Devil’s hell, plus an angel incarnate?” Why is he looking at the horse when he refers to the angel?

2) WHAT.THE.FUCK

You suffered severe damage to your spinal cord, causing paralysis from the waist down.

It’s clear to me that she’s being held hostage, there clearly was no car accident. But this whole hospital scenario? I don’t know if she’s dreaming or if she’s hallucinating or if someone is inducing her hallucinations or dream-reality or whatever. I mean, she can’t be paralyzed…

3) Doc and Dolls will be forced to work together to rescue her, that should be fun.

4) Wynonna is smart, though. She realized something was off immediately, but even before this “doctor” mentioned the “radical new procedure” he’s been implementing on his patients, she made him take the bait by asking him what University he’d gone to. Plus, she did this:

Which hopefully means she’ll be able to walk soon?

5) Why is Bethany there?! I thought she had been ripped apart!

6) Okay, so this Jack of Knives revenant is a psycho serial killer from Wyatt’s and Doc’s time. Cool. Cool cool cool. And he’s the last of the Seven. That should be a treat.

7) Oh shit, Nicole had to be resuscitated. But this begs the question, why did this Jack-ass took Bethany and not Nicole? I get why he took Wynonna, but what does he need Nicole for? What kind of sick Human-Centipede experiment is he trying to pull off?

8) Ugh Bethany! I get what she means, she’s not brave, she’s just a regular girl, but… Wynonna just told her this guy is a serial killer, so what does Bethany think is going to happen if she stays in her bed and keeps quiet? Look, I’m not a brave person either, but I’ll be skedaddling for sure if my two options were to stay with Dr. Serial Killer or run away.

9) See, Bethany? This is what happens when you’re not a risk-taker…

10) This is scary as fuck, I wasn’t expecting this shit.

11) Wynonna is going to pull one a la Beatrix Kiddo, right?

12) I think I’m shipping this…

My heart turned to mush when she said that. I believe they are a thing, I think I’ve seen some gifs of them on my dash, and if that’s the case, I’m grateful this is not queer-baiting.

13) So the Jack-ass has a type of victim, which again begs the question, what do Bethany and Wynonna have in common that made them his target?

14) Yep, Wynonna is Beatrix-ing the hell outta there.

15) Why do these two give me so many platonic feels?

I truly enjoy their interactions in a different way from his interaction with Wynonna, you know? I see him and Wynonna and I’m like WHY DON’T YOU BANG ALREADY. And then I see him and Waverly, and I’m like AWW THIS IS SO WHOLESOME, HE’S LIKE HER BIG BROTHER! 

16) I don’t know why I loved the shade they gave the Fight Club…

DOC: There are two rules to this, Mr. Dolls.

DOLLS: Let me guess. First rule of fight club, never talk about fight club, right?

DOC: Nobody talks about it, how're fellas gonna know where it is?

17) Dolls literally said what I was about to write…

18) Oh shit…

How did she manage to hold in the pain?!

19) I don’t know, but maybe is what a psycho would say?

 Maybe?

20) Dolls and Doc are gonna fight each other and I’m here for it.

21)

This is going to be delightful to watch.

22) I guess he’s found his motivation…

23) So he wasn’t talking about himself in the third person after all…

This is Jack-ass!

24) Even though I feel this is a case of the kettle calling the pot black…

...I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

25) Yep, he totally deserved that.

Like, telling Doc that Wynonna going missing is his fault? And that Wyatt left him to die? How dare he?

26) He’s so excited he’s won, I love him.

27) There’s no way he’s killed Dolls, though. I’m not buying that. He probably seems dead because of the drugs he’s taking, right? Or he might have been trained to pretend to be dead.

28)

Seriously, though, that was super creepy.

29) I died. Doc trying to figure out how modern technology works is simply the best and a nice reminder that he’s not from this time.

Also, Dolls is alive and kicking, but he hasn’t explained how yet.

30) This reminded me of Cordelia’s “What’s your childhood trauma?”

Also, having a serial killer compare themselves to you is everyone’s dream right?

31) What is this Jack-ass deal though? He likes taking women’s organs out and showing them to the girls, okay. But why? What is he looking for?

32) Okay, yep, Dolls had been trained on how to make himself look dead, but I don’t think he’d be able to pull it off in the situation he was in? In the middle of a fight, when his pulse was probably racing and he was super stressed because Doc had called him out? I don’t think so.

33) Okay, Dolls’ division is starting to look eerily similar to The Initiative…

DOC: If your bosses have no compunction about turning a person into a pin cushion, how are they better than the demons?

DOLLS: Your body is a treasure trove for science. Think about what the military could do with soldiers who didn't get sick, didn't age? It was a decision made for the good of the many.

DOC: I get to choose who I share my treasure trove with, not the goddamn government.

34) Wait, what?

JACK-ASS: I know you're not gonna believe this, but I really liked your father. He wasn't like the other Earp heirs. He wasn't ambitious like Edwin, or courageous like Josiah, but he had something that they didn't have. Wits. When Ward started his little ride, he realized that in order to survive, he was gonna have to make certain alliances.

WYNONNA: With who? Black Badge?

JACK-ASS: Don't be daft. He made a pact with the big man himself. Bobo Del Rey.

WYNONNA: No. My daddy would never make a deal with a demon. Never.

JACK-ASS: They were very close friends

So Wynonna’s father had made a deal with Bobo? Does this mean that the reason the Seven went after him was that he’d broken the pact somehow? I mean, not only did he make a deal with Bobo but he was FRIENDS with him?

I also find it interesting how what made Ward different from the other heirs is probably one of Wynonna’s most important traits – her wits.

35) Bless you, Doc, for saving Wynonna in the nick of time. 

36) Oh, sweet Jebus, these two falling into each other…

Why don’t you kiss already?!

37)

WYNONNA: Don’t kill each other.

DOC AND DOLLS:

38) “It was you… or her.” Doc is trying to teach Dolls about principles, but let’s be real, he probably would’ve made the same choice if he’d been in Dolls’ shoes, so…

39) Can this dude predict the future? Is this where this show is heading…?

JACK-ASS: Oh, I wish I could stay! Watch what's coming next. A reunion. An escape. So much blood.

Who will be reunited? Who will escape? WHO WILL DIE?! I’m scared, but I’m also excited to see if this turns out to be foreshadowing...

40) The Buffy feels are real, y’all!

41) “What now?” is a great question. The Seven are dealt with, so, is Wynonna going after Bobo? The Stone Witch? There are 5 more episodes left, so I’m sure shit is about to get real…

42) Okay, I’m back to liking Dolls since he told his boss Doc is only a con artist and is more concerned about finding out who in his organization is working for Bobo.

43) Yet another great episode. I’m always surprised at how long my recaps are for this show, but there’s so much going on all the time and everything seems relevant somehow? I really can’t wait to see how this season ends…

44)  Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi.Thanks!

[rodgersodimba]

Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood cast net worth and Salary per episode in 2018

The Love and Hip Hop franchise has been going on for quite a while now producing spin-offs on most major cities of the country. It all started with New York, then later spilled over to Atlanta and finally the Hollywood edition. Other cities that have been proposed for the show include Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, and Houston. medianet_width = "600"; medianet_height = "250"; medianet_crid = "442568836"; medianet_versionId = "3111299"; We will focus on the cast of Love and Hip Hop : Hollywood, highlighting their salaries per episode and overall net worth and assets. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

Ray J Net Worth in the year 2018.

Born as William Ray Norwood Jr., younger brother to famous singer Brandy and cousin to Snoop Dogg, Ray J has definitely made headlines. Both for the wrong and right reasons. He’s a singer, songwriter, television personality, actor, and so much more.

Ray J net worth While focusing on his acting career alone, he has done quite some shows For the Love of Ray Jay, Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business, and Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood. Starring as one of the main characters on the show, he let the world in his $25,500 salary per episode aired on the VH1 network. Ray J’s net worth currently amounts to $6 million.

Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood cast Moniece Slaughter Net Worth.

The show is mostly known for its dramatic twists and turns. However, the producers did not anticipate for the shade main cast member Moniece Slaughter threw at VH1. This beef had something to do with the low salary from each episode she did for the show.

Moniece Slaughter's net worth The posts, currently taken down were uploaded on her Instagram when she threatened to leave after three seasons. Though unknown, it looks like the network decided to do something about it since she stayed till the 5th season. Besides being a TV personality, she’s also a performer, model, and songwriter. Moniece Slaughter has a net worth of $1.7 million from all her work and business.

Teairra Mari Net Worth is $1million.

Always spicing up the show is none other than a dancer, actress, singer, and songwriter Teairra Mari.

Teairra Mari's net worth While her voice may be the work of an angel, her personality is fierce. While the show mostly feeds off the drama, she has been known to sometimes get physical in her confrontations when protecting her man. Away from the drama, she does have a reputable career to be emulated. Love Hip Hop Hollywood’s Teairra Mari Net Worth is $1 million. Teairra Mari’s salary per episode on the show may be unknown, but she has made millions from her songs and contract signings at Def Jam. Collaborating with famous artist like Jay Z, you most definitely bet her songs have risen up the Billboard charts.

Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood cast Nikki Mudarris Net Worth.

The women on the show aren’t just models and divas. Some of them are businesswomen and well established for that matter. Meet Miss Nikkii Baby, also known as Nikki Mudarris, a model, reality tv star, and entrepreneur.

While she may be pretty on the outside, she knows a lot about money and how to keep them coming. The model runs her father’s numerous casinos and family businesses. However, that’s her father’s fortune. To focus on her, each salary per episode may be unknown, but her net worth isn’t. Nikki Mudarris makes roughly $320 thousand annually salaries and has an estimated net worth of $800 thousand.

Lil’ Fizz Net Worth.

Every rapper goes with a cool alias. Usually something so catchy that even their real name starts to fade. Well, we’re here to remind you. Lil’ Fizz, also known as Dreux Pierre Frederic is a record producer and actor. He had his breakthrough as a member of the early RnB group B2K. Nowadays, the rapper does his best to stay relevant in the industry by making use of his acting career. Lil’ Fizz net worth is approximately $2 million while his actual annual salary is undisclosed. The same can be said about his salary for each episode of Love & Hip Hop he stars in.

Lil' Fizz net worth

Princess Love

Princess Pilipina Love Norwood is an African-American Filipino model, actress, and fashion designer. She shares the name Norwood with Ray J because she is, in fact, his girl. The two tied the knot on January 2015 after dating for a year. Together with her entrepreneur of a husband, the power couple manages fashion lines and clothing designs. She appeared on the show as one of the main characters and soon became the love interest of Ray J. Financially, she can speak for herself. Princess Love has a net worth of close to $2 million. Unlike her husband, her cheque per episode is private and confidential.

Hazel-E.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 25th, 1980 as Erica Adams, she grew up to become a formidable rapper. However, this wasn’t always the case for her. The rapper had dreams of becoming an actress and even studied for it. Instead, a life directed her to a career as a publicist. From celebrities to brands and promotions, she did it all. She soon joined the cast of Love & Hip Hop and earns just as much as they do. The rapper was the love interest of fellow rapper Yung Berg. It’s still unclear as to how much she gets per episode. On the other hand, Hazel-E’s net worth is estimated to be $1 million

Masika Kalysha

Born as Masika Tucker in Chicago, she knew she was destined for greatness at quite a young age. However, her parents being protective of their daughter decided against it. At age 16, she became a model and moved up the ladder to become a Video Vixen. Linked to famous rappers like Lil Wayne, she decided on changing her name and started her rapping career. Masika Kalysha became even more famous when her acting career kicked in. Being the mother of a daughter with her father allegedly being Fetty Wap, she had to make ends meet. Masika Kalysha’s net worth is $200 thousand from sources such as her business and acting. Like most of the cast members, Masika Kalysha salary per episode remains undisclosed.

Nia Riley

Starting off as the daughter of the famous celebrity and Grammy award winner Teddy Riley, Nia got to be her own person when she stared in Love & hip hop. She’s a model, reality TV star, and mother to the beautiful Baby Kamryn. The paternity of the girl has always been debated as to whether she’s Soulja Boy’s or not. Nia Riley and Soulja Boy have been in on and off relationship since they started back in 2014. When she’s not with him, she’s seen cuddled up with Lil’ Fizz on the show. It looks like the model takes home a huge salary after filming. Nia Riley has so far garnered a net worth of approximately $3 million.

Lyrica Anderson

Lyrica is the remaining Anderson twin after her sister, Adia died due to lung-related issues when she was younger. Growing up and finding her roots, she dedicated her whole album to her and called it Adia. Lyrica Anderson is a talented singer and songwriter with EP’s related to Missy Elliot, Demi Lovato, and many more artists. Album sales went crazy with her two albums King me and King me 2. As a result, she got cast on the show as a supporting cast member but soon got promoted to one of the main members. She springs up a decent salary per episode. We can tell judging from her lifestyle. Lyrica Anderson’s net worth is $800 thousand.

A1 Bentley

No, we aren’t highlighting a car. Capturing the heart of Lyrica Anderson is none other than Floyd Bentley, also known as A1 Bentley. The duo found each other sometime during the prime of their careers and enjoy life together as a married couple. When it comes to a life’s work and legacy, the rapper doesn’t kid around. Love Hip Hop Hollywood A1 has a net worth of $2.3 million from his business deals and music. The rapper currently boasts of bossing around employees at his record company called Right Now Sounds. Always overseeing the signing of new artists, the CEO decided to venture into reality TV with his wife. Both their salaries are not for public eyes.

Kimberly Michelle Pate

The latest addition to the show during the fifth season is none other than Soul and RnB singer Kimberly Michelle Pate. The talented singer got her breakthrough in 2009 with her hit single Fakin’ It. Since then, she’s had some major record label signings, collaborations, endorsements and to top it all off, A World Tour. Her time on reality television may be short, but she does act like a natural. Anything to make ends meet for her little boy, Chase Bowman. K Michelle’s net worth is yet to be confirmed. Sources say she’s worth millions. Others say Kimberly Michelle Pate’s Net worth is $800 thousand. K Michelle’s salary is unheard of.

Bridget Kelly

The show may be called Love & Hip Hop, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be all about rappers and hip-hop artists. Bridget Kelly likes it much softer and goes for Pop songs. As a pop singer, she has gone through the cliché heartbreaks concerning cheating spouses even on the show. Nevertheless, it may be just the story that’s needed for the show. After all, she does get paid for it. Born on April 8th, 1986, the 32-year-old’s fortunes are still unknown. As such, Bridget Kelly’s net worth is $500,000. She did sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, and together with her acting, Bridget Kelly’s annual salary should be more than enough.

Solo Lucci

Drawing seasonal inspiration from famous rappers like 2pac and Swisha House, Solo Lucci made it into celebrity stardom with his single, Rip Tupac. Forming collaborations and producing worldwide hits are some of the reasons he got chosen to be on the show. He found love with Fetty Wap’s former girlfriend Alexis Sky, also appearing on the show. Moreover, his old flame and baby mama also appears as a recurring cast member to antagonize the couple. Quite an interesting storyline. As part of his reward for acting right, Solo Lucci’s net worth currently grosses at $2 million. The millionaire’s salary is next to mythical. No one knows for sure.

Marcus Black

Born on September 2nd, 1986, the 31-year-old songwriter makes a list. He made several guest appearances before getting fully reinstated as a cast member. Musically, he is a genius. Having written smashing hits for artists like Justin Bieber and partnered up with known celebs like DJ. Mustard and more, he deserved to be on the team. However, details about Marcus Black’s salary on the show are a little bit hazy since he isn’t one to share much. Marcus Black net worth is $560,0000.

Brooke Valentine

Like two peas in a pod, Brook Valentine has been closely associated with Marcus. She is Marcus’ girlfriend and maybe, just maybe become his future wife if they both play their cards right. Born as Kanesha Nichole Brookes, the 33-year-old singer joined stardom with her EP Girlfight. About a decade later, she was cast onto the show even with her music career grown dull. In an interview, she explained that she pushed the focus to her son, London who needed her attention more than the world. He has cerebral palsy. Brooke Valentine’s net worth stands at $500 thousand.

Apryl Jones

A medicine scholar in the house. Apryl Jones is the perfect definition of beauty with brains. She put those brain muscles to work scoring a net worth of $8 million. While Apryl’s salary per episode may be concealed, Apryl Jones earn $1.6 million annually next to her man, Omarion.

Omarion Grandberry Net Worth is $12 Million in 2018.

Always laughing to the bank, rapper and singer Omarion Grandberry’s net worth is $12 million. To top it all off, he also has a successful acting career. Always hitting the road, flying up on world tours, the singer has won several Grammy Awards for his voice and act. Now Omarion Grandberry married to his longtime girlfriend Apryl Jones; the singer raises two beautiful kids, Megan and A’mei Grandberry. If you couldn’t afford tickets to his show while he was in town, tune in to VH1’s Love & Hip Hop to watch him there.

Love Hip Hop Hollywood Cast Net Worth Summary

Ray J $6 million Moniece Slaughter $1.7 million Teairra Mari $1 million Nikki Murdarris $800,000 Lil’ Fizz $2 million Princess Love $2 million Hazel E $1 million Masika Kalysha $200,000 Nia Riley $3 million Lyrica Anderson $800,000 A1 Bentley $2.3 million K. Michelle $800,000 Bridget Kelly $500,000 Solo Lucci $2 million Marcus Black $560,000 Brook Valentine $500,000 Apryl Jones $1.6 million Omarion Grandberry $12 million Ray J Net Worth in 2018 is $6 million Moniece Slaughter Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $1.7 million Teairra Mari Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $1 million Nikki Murdarris Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $800,000 Lil’ Fizz Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $2 million Princess Love Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $2 million Hazel E Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $1 million Masika Kalysha Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $200,000 Nia Riley Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $3 million Lyrica Anderson Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $800,000 A1 Bentley Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $2.3 million K. Michelle Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $800,000 Bridget Kelly Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $500,000 Solo Lucci Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $2 million Marcus Black Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $560,000 Brook Valentine Net Worth in 2018 is $500,000 Apryl Jones Net Worth in 2018 is $6 $1.6 million Omarion Net Worth in 2018 is $6 Grandberry $12 million Unlike the stars from their Atlanta based sister show, the cast members from Hollywood seem to have their salaries per episode concealed. With the upcoming new season, we hope they will be generous enough with the information while in turn increasing their net worth. Trending. Cheap Celebrities Who Are Terrible Tippers Rich Celebrities Who Live Humble Lives Celebrities Who Are Incredibly Generous Tippers. No 8 might surprise you. Best Animal Shows that You will Love. How many of these have you watched? Celebrities Who Drive Most Expensive Cars In The World Read the full article

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: The Pilot

Rooting for Her and Cursing Her All in the Same Text

The Setup: Kris and Miri were early adopters (with a caveat below) of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Liz binged season 1 once it hit Netflix. Marchae had never seen it, but finally volunteered to watch the pilot for friendship this blog, and Kris rewatched it to React with her.

After the fact, Miri had some reactions to their reactions, and Kris had a few more thoughts. As before, those annotations are in italics.

MARCHAE: Welllllll

I finished it

And took copious notes

And I experienced a variety of things

Emotions about it

KRIS: Is there a particular emotion you want to start with?

Or we can start with your thoughts and feelings that you went into this experience with so our hypothetical readers know where you’re coming from

MARCHAE: K so it was funny so there was that. I don't usually watch comedies so I LOVE when I laugh out loud in real life

I'm gonna go kind of in no order here

Then I was annoyed because I get that's she's "crazy" which is pointed about by her medications and the fact she says it several times

K there's that

And we get she was socially awkward at like 16

But this is a Harvard Yale grad who seems to not have evolved

MIRI: I’m going to refrain from saying “But that’s the point!!!” 8,000 times, for all our sakes

So they kind of make funny of the mental stuff that I don't know was necessary and then they paint her as desperate chasing after a skateboarder

How

Why and again why

KRIS: Hmmm definitely a lot to work with here

MARCHAE: And it there were these flimsy shout outs (sexy getting rest song - which I actually liked a lot) to feminism and double standards that I think they definitely could have played with given how quirky she is

And then there is Paula who why did we need Paula to support this woman insanity about wanting a man from when she was 16

MIRI: Paula’s evolution from Stock Enabling Best Friend to well developed supporting character who enables because of her own pretty clear issues is a really interesting one, but on reflection not super clear in the pilot.

So basically humor and annoyance were my primary emotions

Maybe I thought to hard about it

Oh and there was music 😒

Three times

Like legit musical numbers 😒😒

KRIS: Yes

But they’re fantasy sequences, and not that thing you hate where everyone in the world of the story is magically musical

MARCHAE: **meh** I don't love empire for the same reason but I'll give to you! In our minds we often live it out as a musical

MIRI: Marchae hates musicals so much. She is willing to watch opera though?

KRIS: I’m so torn between wanting to defend the show and wanting to re-examine the pilot on its own terms, because I very rarely come into a pilot completely blind nowadays

I think one relevant piece of background we can start with is that this was originally intended as a half-hour on Showtime

And once they get into the hour-long format I think they do get a lot more in depth with the stuff Sexy Getting Ready Song wants to do

K: Only after we finished this chat did it occur to me to put it this way:

It takes all the things you’d expect a network comedy called “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” to be about and interrogates them

but with music

MARCHAE: Then that is actually promising

I didn't know that this was hour long until I started watching

It's odd also because as much as I know about the characters at the end of the pilot I simultaneously feel like I know nothing

I'm now curious what half hour would have looked like

KRIS: That’s interesting

I guess let’s start with Rebecca

MARCHAE: I think she may be the primary issue I'm having and you're getting my first reactions here so bare with me

I think it's this juxtaposition I'm having with the notion of the career woman who drops everything for lust/love

KRIS: Is it that you’re not sure how the show wants us to feel about her?

MARCHAE: Yes! I'm not sure if I feel sorry for her

I'm not sure if I even like her beyond the fact that she's kind of just silly

Because the stakes are mismatched for me

Most people aren't just packing up and heading out for a skateboarding boo when they are that successful

So if she'd been forced to leave the job or had an ACTUAL relationship with josh I think the sensation I'm experiencing might have been a bit different

But maybe that's the "crazy" portion of the title

MIRI: Again, this is more of a long view note, but I would say that the greatest risk CEG takes is asking us to stick with the seemingly unfeminist beginnings long enough to see what they’re doing long term with their  deconstruction of the Quirky Romcom Girl. And I’m really really glad the show has been given time to get us there.

KRIS: Yeah, I think so, and now I’m wondering how the Showtime version of this would have played out long-term

There was a little backlash about the title, which surprised Rachel Bloom (the creator/Rebecca) and Aline Brosh McKenna (the showrunner), because to them it was always supposed to be ironic

MARCHAE: Hmmmm interesting

KRIS: So over the course of the show I’ve gone back and forth on whether I “like” Rebecca, but in ways that I think are deliberate

But I think some of the ways the first act sets us up to empathize with her are how we have this off-screen mother who’s throwing Expectations at her, and the butter (?) ad she keeps seeing asking her if she’s happy, which the show knows is ridiculous and maybe a little evil

And especially how her boss lists her qualifications for the promotion, which on paper and out of context would just say “this person burns herself out for the sake of other people”

MARCHAE: I'd be curious to watch the second (third) episode and see how I feel.

I don't need to like the characters necessarily but I don't necessarily "believe" her and not in the way we see Paula not believe her.

I wanted this to push more and I think I expected it (then realized this was a CW show and not much pushing could happen)

So I would hypothesize that on HBO this show would have done a couple of things

1. Tackled the idea of her giving I bet she would have even snapped at mom (who we know from jump is not normal) 2. I also think we she may not have been as "cute" 3. We also would have seen her push the boundaries of the contradictions women face at work and in life

KRIS: The CW definitely lets them push. If I had to guess I’d say that the reason it doesn’t go further here is that they just sort of padded their original 30-minute pilot and just didn’t have the material to fill it. The Daryl introduction scene in particular felt pretty slow to me on this rewatch

And some of the stuff with Greg at the party

Like there’s a lot of dead air in this

MIRI: The scene with Greg was also originally scripted to be much more extreme--a blow job instead of making out, etc. The Vulture TV podcast has a great interview with Rachel Bloom that touches on this!

MARCHAE: Yessss I checked the time a couple of times

KRIS: I think the cuteness is partly commentary, right? On what sort of person Rebecca’s been trained to be? Or do you mean something else

MARCHAE: I think that's part of it, absolutely! But, now this is a drama I'm about to mention so tonally I know it's different... but the show Being Mary Jane

We see Mary kind of a mess at certain points - at no point do we see RB a mess we see her desperate ALL THE TIME

And for me that's problematic

Even in her musical numbers she's perpetually "shiny"

That's what I call shows people in shows that are just too good to be true

KRIS: Well the musical numbers are definitely Rebecca as she wishes she was, or at least (when they’re angry or upset musical numbers) expressing herself with the clarity she doesn’t have in normal life

So are you saying you’re not really seeing big enough highs and lows for Rebecca?

K: Presumably this is where any longtime viewers of CXG are shouting BUT YOU WILL, MARCHAE, YOU WILL, GOOD GOD YOU WILL

MARCHAE: I suppose technically that is it - my long winded explanation is that she just does not have enough emotional variance or maturity. The maturity part I know absolutely part of her character and hopefully will be part of her arc

(I think I think to hard about comedies)

KRIS: No, I think this is definitely a comedy you can overthink

I think the Daryl scene, even though the pacing was weird, was important to provide a situation where the power differential is firmly in Rebecca’s favor

And to just show her in a less emotionally intense context

MARCHAE: But even there she started crying!!! PULL IT TOGETHER WOMAN!!!!!

I wanted to shake her

KRIS: Are you thinking of Greg?

Daryl’s her boss

Daryl cried

MIRI: I LOVE DARYL

MARCHAE: MY BAD!!!

wrong awkward man

MIRI: omg 💕💕💕

KRIS: Hahahaha

MARCHAE: Rebecca probably just screamed: "Now what!! Pay attention next time b****!"

K: I feel it’s important to note that Marchae censored herself here. Miri and I have no such restraint, which may become evident if we React to anything at least one of us hates.

KRIS: OK now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t have a problem with that crying moment in that she’s crying, but it definitely does seem to be where expanding from a half-hour hurt the structure

Because that would normally be end of act two, right, like maybe page 23 in a 30-something page script

And then that Paula scene is the triumphant climax

But they’re maybe too close together in an hour-long format

MARCHAE: So question and I'm cheating because I'm asking about future episodes and arcs

KRIS: Go for it

I don’t know how much you want me to explain so ask away

MARCHAE: Does she ever become more ....

KRIS: And if anyone’s reading this they’re probably caught up

MARCHAE: I guess how does she grow ? Does Paula enable her?

Or push her to be better

Not get better but so better for herself in the romantic dept?

KRIS: Paula 80 percent enables her and 20 percent pushes her

Hmmm yes and no

It’s definitely an up-and-down-and-up-and-down thing

MARCHAE: *cringe*

MIRI: I lied, I’m saying it once and you can’t stop me: That’s the poooiiinnnnttt. It’s a little annoying at first but SO GOOD once you see what they’re doing

KRIS: I’ll say at the end of season 1 she gets what she (thinks she) wants, and by the end of season 2 she’s lost it definitively

(I think they have a five-year plan)

MARCHAE: You had me rooting for her and cursing her all in the same text

KRIS: I think that’s EXACTLY how the show works

So obviously Rebecca’s really smart, and she does grow as a person, but a simplified version of what happens is that whenever she’s about to have a critical self-aware epiphany she gets the thing she wants that she shouldn’t want, and that sets her back

developmentally

MARCHAE: So basically she becomes an infant by the end of the season!!!!

NOoooooo

So now I want to watch the entire show to see how this plays out

MIRI: Yesssss!

KRIS: Did you want to talk about Paula issues?

MARCHAE: I do

But you answered that one for me because I was curious if we see Paula as sort of the antithesis of RB

So is Paula there for the sake of satiating her desire to have some drama in her life via RBs antics

?

KRIS: Yeah pretty much

And you meet her kids and husband

MARCHAE: Sweet grief I can't even imagine that home (actually I can-but I hope it is the opposite of what I'm thinking)

K: I really wanted to defend/say more about Paula but ultimately erred on the side of avoiding spoilers.

I do want to go back a few beats though to the to the fact that the show touches or intros the idea of RB being on some kind of medication for anxiety at the very least

Does the show explore that a bit more

KRIS: Yeah, definitely

You’ll meet her mom and there are some more flashback-y bits

And she gets a therapist

MARCHAE: *thank you to the heavens above ah-men*

Oh good

I was worried that it was just a device to say "hey she's crazy she's on medication!"

I am glad to know it's not!

KRIS: I mean Rebecca’s definitely in denial most of the time but the show knows she SHOULD be working through her stuff in a healthier way

MARCHAE: YES!!!

KRIS: Yeah, I definitely read the sink scene as a legitimate “oh noooo” moment

MARCHAE: That's what I thought - I wanted them to call back to it though in some way. Maybe show her looking for the medication and realizing: "uh yeah, I pitched those"

KRIS: I forget how soon her meds specifically get brought up again but I think right now she definitely just doesn’t think she needs them anymore

MARCHAE: Yeah I definitely over thought that one for sure

But so happy to know they work it out!!!!

KRIS: I should say that it does have the normal problem a lot of shows have, of episodes 2 and 3 being a little shaky (3 more so, if I remember right), but 4 is great

MARCHAE: So I'm in for at least five?

KRIS: Your call! But I definitely think it’s worth it.

MIRI: I actually missed a few episodes after the pilot because I feel second hand embarrassment so incredibly acutely that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to watch this show at all. Got sucked back in about halfway through the season and then went back to catch up.

MARCHAE: A lot to ask for me and a comedy, but curiosity (even for just a character development standpoint) has me wanting to binge

KRIS: There are also some really good supporting characters you haven’t gotten to meet yet

K: I am SO EXCITED for Marchae to meet Heather and Father Brah

If it helps to get through it, Allison Shoemaker does the episode reviews on The AV Club and she’s GREAT

MARCHAE: Ill have to check some of those out!!!

I'm skimming titled and notice we live with Josh all season

KRIS: He’s not really always a major character but they’re definitely through the lens of Rebecca’s obsession

MARCHAE: Which should be interesting it reminds of a thing you see a lot in thrillers (novels in particular) where the center of attention isn't always present but that idea of them makes you want more of them and provides simultaneously more insight into our actual main character

That's kind of cool

KRIS: Yeah

Any other thoughts?

MARCHAE: I think I got em all

NO LIED

Is it always a musical *in tiny tiny voice*

MIRI: Marchae once spent a solid five-ten minutes arguing her case for why tv musicals were not ok. ‘If I jumped up on this table and started singing you would think I was crazy! You’d tell me to get down before I broke my laptop!’ was more or less the gist. Arguments that all forms of media have their own absurd conventions had no impact. Also, she is fine with at least some theatrical musicals. We still love her.

KRIS: I think they average two numbers an episode? Sometimes there’s just one, sometimes they have 3, but I don’t think they’ve ever done an episode without any musical bits.

Or maybe two and a half. They do interesting things with little reprises and callbacks

But they cover a really wide range of styles

Daryl gets a country number

But Daryl also gets a bizarre electronica number

So

Yeah

MARCHAE: I did just shake my head in actual real life

KRIS: HA

MARCHAE: I guess you can't win em all

KRIS: There’s definitely white girl rapping

But it’s also kind of a highlight of the season?

(I’m listening to the soundtrack now to remember things)

MARCHAE: Lawd Jesus *insert spiritual humming and rocking and sings peace be still*

I'll make it!

It's a trade off. I think it'll be good

I think we got all my big questions

And small ones

KRIS: Go us

When you come to LA maybe we should go to West Covina

I actually have no clue if that’s a good idea

MARCHAE: HAHAHAHAHAH

I should google map it and take a gander

We hope we’ve successfully bullied Marchae into watching more of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and if so, we’ll be sure to check back in for a mid-season and/or finale follow-up post!

[serenagaywaterford]

16) another thing that connected them in S2. Motherhood. Which is weird. Bc Serena is delusional about Nicole being hers. k) "how nobody really paid proper attention when it was building."And I mean, isn't this INCREDIBLY realistic and terrifying? Being inactive, indifferent about others and especially apolitical and undermining the threat...History is like a circle, always repeating itself in the end. I may be critical of the series, but its political observations are always on point. Like

17) that episode where June is separated from Hannah (at the same time the US-Mexico border crossing takes place). l) "Nobody deserves what those women get but it’s important to think critically about these characters and if June recognises she was idle until it was too late, I think as viewers we should be able to say the same" June makes it VERY clear that she feels guilty about i. her last interactions with her mother, ii. her inactivity. That's not victim blaming. It goes WITHOUT saying that

18) that NO woman deserves Gilead. Period. m) "Although I am also someone who counts restorative justice as a viable option for some crimes. I don’t think punitive/retributive justice is always the answer." As if I didn't have enough reasons to like you. I'm with you and I hear you. However, I do understand that some methods are not very feasible IRL due to various limitations. Back to Serena. What do you think will happen to her on the show? Will she survive Gilead's destruction? Will she stand

19) a democratic trial for her crimes? Will she get killed before Gilead goes down? Will she get lynched by an angry mob? I think I'd like it if the series dived more into the dark subjects of mob mentality and eye-for-an-eye types of punishment, but with flipped roles. Sth along the lines of "Can some victims (and their families) become as cruel as the Gilead!criminals in their quest for revenge?" There are the particicutions and Emily's arc, but still. n) "Maybe you have a theory? It’s one of

20) those things I don’t get. Is it cos she’s jealous June has a child and she doesn’t? Is it just a power play thing?" I think it's a combination of both actually. In S1, it's clearly the latter. Serena's being cruel and manipulative: she lets Hannah briefly see her child in order to emotionally torture her. But in S2? It's mostly the former. Obviously, Serena is envious of June's pregnancy, why wouldn't she be of Hannah? Especially given that Hannah (unlike Nicole) comes from a happier place

21) time in June's life. (Aka "God has blessed this /immoral-sinful/ woman with 2 children, why not me?" That must stink.) Another reason that she denies her that time is bc she feels betrayed that her prisoner tries to manipulate her, instead of befriend her. *eye roll* Duh, Serena. (Aka "After everything I've done for her and this is how she repays me." Bitch. You've done NOTHING. Try again.) Her desire to connect with sb, bc she doesn't have anything/anyone left anymore, makes her

22) desperate and a little naive/dumb, lol.

---------

I am so onboard with k) to m)! I can’t really add anything more of value (or interest) lol cos to me it just seems so obvious. I don’t know why some people miss it. Although I think EVERYBODY was sort of knocked sideways by how relevant the Hannah/June thing was with current US events. Hit a little too close to home. And GOOD.

You’re very right. Restorative justice is limited by a lot of things, but in theory, I do find it a positive angle to approach some kinds of crime. It’s a small scale sort of thing, generally, and very time and effort intensive process.

As for Serena’s fate... OHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhh. Sometimes I don’t like to think that far down the line cos I honestly do not see her getting anything even remotely happy. How she ultimately is dealt with, I don’t know. It really depends on the points the show wants to make. Will it be hopeful, will it be retributive, will it be melodramatic, will it be depressing af? Do they care about how angry viewers will be? Do they have enough for Serena to DO to make it to the final seasons or will her usefulness as a character expire early? (I’d wager they’d want to keep Yvonne around as long as possible but I’m biased.)

Personally, I suspect she’ll be held accountable in a democratic legal system. Although the thing that makes me pause is how Tuello suggested she defect. He very much presented an idyllic future. Now, it could have been a lie to trick her into turning herself over to the (remaining) US for punishment. But, on the other hand, they seem to REALLY want her propaganda. I don’t totally doubt that they see Serena as more valuable as a source of intel/propaganda than to hold her accountable. At this stage, arresting and sentencing her for her crimes wouldn’t really accomplish much for the US yet in the grande scheme of things. IMO, anyway. She seems a better asset for them than a convict or POW locked away/dead somewhere. 

>> “Will she get lynched by an angry mob? I think I'd like it if the series dived more into the dark subjects of mob mentality and eye-for-an-eye types of punishment, but with flipped roles. Sth along the lines of "Can some victims (and their families) become as cruel as the Gilead!criminals in their quest for revenge?" There are the particicutions and Emily's arc, but still."

I fucking LOVE this approach. It’s something I’ve rolled around with for quite a while. If you’re going to deal with mob mentality in terms of the creation and continuation of a fascist system, what about the other side of human reality? Mob mentality can easily swing the other way with the right tinder and spark. Like, we see absolutely justified anger and disgust by survivors/refugees in Canada and then comes the question of what constitutes reasonable reaction to such a repulsive regime. Is violent mob revenge the answer? (I honestly can’t make that determination. I’ve never been in anything remotely like war or fascism.) Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not. And it is the sort of thing I think THT could deal with. Like you said, it’s sort of touched upon with Emily. But put that on a large scale. Is violence sometimes the answer? Is war the only answer with totalitarian regimes? How to you truly hold war criminals responsible?

Of course there would be viewers praising a mob if they kill Serena. I’ve seen people admit as much on this hellsite. (I dunno if I can make a judgement on that either but I personally find that perspective incredibly problematic. But it begs the question: what is justice then?) I think it would be incredibly disturbing to see. Yet, I’m also someone who thought June should have shot them lol. (Not really truly. But I felt the urge to see it during that episode--when I got over the fact the box she was opening wasn’t actually crackers but shotgun shells lol. But it really doesn’t fit with June’s character. Like she considers killing Serena more than once (3 times IIRC), but never does because it’s simply not right and she’s not that sort of person.)

Personally speaking, I don’t want Serena killed. Other characters, I hope die in painful ways. *coughfredcough* *coughallthemeninpowercough* But having her killed by a mob would be quite impactful. And not, imo, all that unrealistic. I just don’t want it. I don’t need absolutely everything to be brutally honest and realistic. Gimme some of that feelgood hope lmao.

>> Another reason that she denies her that time is bc she feels betrayed that her prisoner tries to manipulate her, instead of befriend her. *eye roll* Duh, Serena. (Aka "After everything I've done for her and this is how she repays me." Bitch. You've done NOTHING. Try again.) Her desire to connect with sb, bc she doesn't have anything/anyone left anymore, makes her 22) desperate and a little naive/dumb, lol.

WORD, LMAO. TO EVERY SINGLE WORD re: Serena/Hannah/etc. (ITA agree and thank you for your perspective on the Hannah thing!) 

Like she’s so delusional/in such denial. Serena, girl, you’ve done literally nothing of actual substance for her and often times went out of your way to make things 100x more miserable for her and then wonder why she won’t be your BFF? Just cos you think your jail warden is your friend (Fred), doesn’t mean it’s actually true and transferable.

(I love it? (Not in the way that I think it’s good, morally. Just story/character-wise. It’s so interesting to me how weird and sad she is sometimes.))

In a way I actually feel sorry for Serena, even if she did get herself into this disaster, and she’s perpetuated it in the worse possible way she could. (She’s so unbelievably cruel, esp in S1, and then throws a tantrum when June doesn’t just fall into her arms, so to speak. C’mon, lady.) I think that's what I love about her character. She’s so wrong on so many levels, but she still evokes quite strong feelings the other way as well. Like, her growing desperation and loneliness and need for connection as Gilead goes on is actually... sad? I know many, many fans who bristle and word-vomit at just the suggestion of any such feelings towards her.

I dunno. I’m an idiot and a sucker cos I think when she actually connects with June (and loses the insecurity/jealousy), there’s a whole other person. It’s really fascinating how she changes. And switches back and forth. (Yeah, yeah, I’ve read the criticisms that that’s typical abuser behaviour but... ah. Like I said, me=sucker. I won’t deny I totally understand it but. Gah. I think it’s more complex. Am I woobifying? Yikes. I hope not.)