#premieres and finales can be longer but all your episodes in the middle should be ~about~ the same

[helioptilie]

maybe the pacing in your show is so bad because you don’t have a standard episode runtime

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Brooklyn Nine Nine: Season 7 Retrospective

Finally done with season 7. I'm pretty impressed that I managed to finish all episodes before season 8 began. But that also speaks to the bingeability of the show. Season 7 is one of the less eventful seasons of the show in terms of plot. Unlike the previous seasons, there are no plot through lines or sub stories that drive the season. Its a very light and fun season with no major darkness lurking throughout. If I had to pinpoint one arc for the season then that would have to be Jake and Amy trying to have a baby with the season ending with the baby's birth. So the season basically charts them trying and then conceiving and giving birth.

This season does feel a lot faster and that obviously has to do with it being the shortest season. All the episodes this season are enjoyable. The first half of the season deals with a shift in dynamics of the precinct with Holt being a patrol officer. The show has some fun with that, since it gets him actively involved in more frivolous activities like the Jimmy Jab games, having to deal with doing mundane duties and taking orders from Jake and Terry in various episodes. The first half of the season also has Vanessa Bayer as a guest star in a handful of episodes as Debbie and she even has an episode named after her. I know people have a mixed opinion of her but I quite enjoyed her kooky vibe. I think the show missed an opportunity not following up on the dead twin sister idea that was planted in the premiere. That could have been fun. We get returns from Adrian Pimento and Doug Judy. Pimemento is a fun episode.

Like I mentioned before, I enjoy all the episodes. However, the Jimmy Jab games II isn't quite the home run compared to its predecessor in season 2. Its not quite as snappy with the pacing and humor but it gives Rosa and Holt some nice moments as well as show how Jake and Amy have now grown as a couple but haven't changed in essence of who they are. Valloweaster is another strong heist episode and it has some neat twists. Its not quite top tier heist episode but it ranks somewhere in the middle. The show got a fairly big casting coup by getting JK Simmons in the titular role as Dillman. That's a strong Charles episode and a good one for the Jake and Charles dynamic. Its always cool when they flip the dynamic a bit.

There are a few episodes that I really love. Towards the top of the list is Trying which is the most serious of the episodes of the season. And its a very effective one at that. Having experienced my sister close hand through the struggles of conceiving, the episode rang very honest and true and in the end, beautifully bittersweet. I thought the way they handled how exhausting and stressful the process is was very well done and I like that they let the episode end on a bittersweet note. They didn't puncture the drama of the scene but they also showed why Jake and Amy work so well together. They are always there to comfort each other even during difficult times. The only thing about this that doesn't work is no fault of anyone, which is that Melissa Fumero was so obviously pregnant all season. It does make it a little more difficult to buy into it, but I can't hold it against the show. I also thing that for drama purposes, they should have held them actually getting pregnant for a few episodes. I suppose it was tough to do so given how Melissa was showing quite prominently and they couldn't hide it for much longer. Irrespectively, Ding Dong is also one of the funniest episodes of the season. As with every season, there are always a couple of Holt special. This episode is a Holt special. We get both petty Holt and vindictive Holt, with a gloriously reactive Rosa to boot. It also was a sign that the show was starting to wrap up mentally with them killing of Wuntch. I thought they addressed the rivalry and Holt's feeling of her being gone very well. But the episode was a masterclass of Holt insults. Similarly brilliant is Ransom, which puts the Holt, Kevin, and Jake dynamic in the forefront. Adding Cheddar to the mix and there is no way to go wrong. Only Andre Braugher can make you crack up with a fierce delivery of "you took the wrong fluffy boy" and yet have it be completely believable. The action scene with Holt is probably the longest action scene I have seen on the show. Jake's reaction to the whole thing is delightful. Like with the wedding episode, 'Lights Out' also falls into the standard "everything goes wrong during birth of child" episode. But its heartwarming and funny and very true to the characters. Pretty much everyone gets to deliver memorable moments. We get a great Rosa and Amy dynamic with Rosa taking care of Amy while Amy takes charge during a blackout while her water broke, we see Terry and Holt dancing to hip hop, we see Jake and Charles foiling a bank robbery, and we even see Hitchcock and Scully make a birthing suite for Amy at the precinct. Its a very fun way to end the season and it ends ironically with the words "everyone wash your hands".

In many ways season 7 felt like the show finally starting to wrap up. the ending of the Wuntch and Holt rivalry was one sign. Also the show completed the arc for Jake that I always foresaw for the character, where he went from being an irresponsible man child in season 1 to a responsible adult who became a father, without loosing his innate goofball charm. I feel the show successfully completed that arc, which was evident in episode like Admiral Peralta, where you see he is by far the most mature of the Peralta men. As a result, I was not too shocked when they announced the end of the show with season 8. With the events of 2020 and the way the season ended, it felt that the show mostly just needed to close the books on the characters in terms of their professional lives. The season was a fun blast. Its not the level of season 1, 2, and 5. Its better than season 4 and 6. So it lands along with season 3 at a 8.5/10. While its sad to see the show come to an end with season 8, I am happy it gets to go out on its own terms. I am curious to see where the characters land. Will Holt become Commissioner, will Terry become Captain, will they flash forward to Amy becoming Captain. What happens with Rosa and Charles? Captain Kim did open an interesting notion for Jake maybe joining the FBI. That seems like the right sort of career progression for him since he isn't interested in management type of work required in becoming Sergeant or Lieutenant or further. Whatever it is, I'm confident the show will end on a good note.

[probably-writing-x]

Abrupt exposures

Arón Piper x Reader

Request by anon: one where the reader is also apart of the Elite cast and the fans suspect that she’s dating aron and it’s confirmed over an IG story accidentally because one of the cast members records them by mistake

Gif is not my own

Requests are open🤍

“We’re just really good friends, nothing more,” You assure the interviewer in front of you, “We’ve been friends since the start of the show and we’ve just had the opportunity to bond ever since then. Arón’s my best friend.”

“Alright, thank you so much for your time (Y/n),” They smile as they dismiss you from the interview and you move onto the next.

Tonight was the season 3 premiere for Élite and you’d never been more excited to celebrate the release. This was your favourite season so far and the show had started to mean a whole lot more to you recently.

“Now I’m joined with (Y/n), tell me your thoughts on your character’s development this season,” The lady interviewer asks you over the loud noise of the waiting fans.

“I think this is where you’ll really see them go through the most progression. I think they’re learning a lot about themselves and learning to be a better person. They don’t always go about that in the right way but I think they’re really trying to navigate everything and trying to understand that they do sometimes need other people in order to do that. I was so excited to bring these storylines to life this season and I’m equally as excited for all of our wonderful fans to see it,” You smile proudly, glancing around at the cast that we’re completing interviews beside you.

“And what about your personal life? Did you draw any inspiration from that?”

“Yeah, certainly,” You nod, “I think mainly in how to use the people around you in such a mutualistic way where you can be there to support them as much as they support you. And becoming aware of those truly good people in your life that will really make a difference,” You’re thinking of one person in particular as you speak and it’s impossible to not smile a little at the thought.

“Now, final question and it was the question all of our fans wanted to know the answer to. Are we seeing an off screen romance between you and your costar Arón?”

You laugh lightly, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Arón is my best friend. He’s my support system and a wonderful guy. But there’s nothing happening between us.”

“Okay folks, thank you for that (Y/n), that was excellent,” The interviewer bids you farewell as you move to greet a few more fans.

As you do, you see Arón just nearing the edge of the line as he makes his way towards the doors of the theatre. You go about signing as much as you can and taking photos with everyone before sending them your love and making your own way towards the doors.

“All done?” Arón is waiting just inside the lobby as you walk in through the outside doors.

Your lips curl into a smile as you see him, “Yep.”

He pushes himself up from the wall and locks a hand with yours, “You look gorgeous tonight.”

“So do you,” You beam, leaning in to kiss his cheek as the two of you head through to the backstage of the theatre.

You’d been dating for almost a year now and had managed to always shut down any rumours that questioned otherwise. Any time you posted a story of the two of you or a photo on your Instagram, rumours spread like wildfire that there was something going on. You always managed to dismiss it or make a jokey post that made things seem like you were just friends and things calmed down. Only to be resurfaced again at the next opportunity.

You joined the rest of the cast backstage so you could all prepare to go on stage before the premiere of episode one where you’d chat a little bit about the upcoming series and thank everyone for being there. Arón leant back against the dressing table and reached out his arms as you walked to stand between his legs and wrap your arms around him.

“How many times did you get asked?” He mumbles, burying his head into your shoulder as he peppers you with kisses.

“almost every interview,” You laugh, “I nearly gave up.”

“Me too,” He comments, “Somebody asked me about being proud of the cast and I didn’t stop talking about you,” He admits it so bashfully, his introverted personality shining through.

“You’re so cute,” You beam, holding his chin to turn him towards you as you kiss him softly.

He hums against your lips and deepens the gesture.

“Fuck! Do you want everyone to find out you’re dating?” Miguel laughs as him and Mina walk into the room.

“Shut up Miguel,” Arón rolls his eyes as you turn around to face them and he keeps his arms around you.

“Seriously, with the way you were looking at each other out there? You weren’t being very secretive,” Miguel jokes, coming over to clasp both of you on the shoulder, “But your secrets always safe with me.”

“We should probably get going right? I think everyone’s seated by now,” You point out, checking the time on your phone.

The screen flashes alive with a photo of Arón you’d taken only a few weeks ago. He was sat on the balcony of your apartment with his ankles crossed and his legs resting on the stone railing around the balcony. He’d been laughing at something you said and you snapped the candid photo before he could blush and cover his expression with a mocking middle finger. He looked stunning.

“Yeah, can’t be late! They’ll be asking a thousand questions more if we’re late,” Omar jokes and jabs Arón in the side.

He hits him back jokingly as all of you check your mics before walking out through to where you’d go on stage. Arón walks with his hand effortlessly locked with yours as the cast all start being introduced to walk on stage. Your name is called and you reluctantly let go of your hand, letting the applause warm your face with a bright smile as you step out.

- - - - - -

The after party was always the most fun part of the premiere, where all of you got to let loose and truly celebrate yourselves and the project more than ever. You made sure to all get a few drinks in and toast to each other, the venue already bustling with people.

“Danna!” You grin as you see her, wrapping her in a long hug, “You look stunning!”

“Ahh thank you so much!” She beams, “Lets get a photo!”

You two pose for a photo together which she instantly posts to her Instagram story. You go to take another as a pair of arms wrap around you and pull you into their chest.

“I missed you,” Arón mumbles into your ear, kissing just below it as he speaks.

“You were gone for five minutes,” You laugh, turning in his arms to face him, “Am I just thay missable?”

He jokingly looks as though he’s pondering the thought before his lips curl into a smile, “Dance with me, you love this song!”

It’s impossible to say no to him as he buries his face in your neck and the two of you sway far too slowly to the upbeat track.

You’re so lost in each other that you don’t hear when Ester starts filming for her Instagram as they all sing along to the music. And you certainly don’t pay attention to the fact that you’re right in the background of the video...

- - - - - -

The next morning, the lasting effects of the alcohol mean it takes you longer than usual to get up at all. You’d had a lazy morning alongside Arón in bed, both of you ignorant to everything else around you. You hadn’t thought too much about how much your phones were buzzing - expecting it to be the typical aftermath of the premiere hype that had caused it.

“Fuck! They don’t want to leave us alone this morning,” Arón grumbles as you bury your head into his chest.

“Ignore it,” You mumble as your phone buzzes another two times and his starts to ring.

“Alright, alright, give me two minute,” He confirms, shuffling out of the bed and reluctantly out of your grip as he stands up to find his phone in his jeans from the night before.

He’s completely naked and still half asleep as he tries to read what had been coming through on his screen.

“What?” He frowns, “Miguel’s just said ‘I promise it wasn’t me’.”

You push yourself to sit up in the bed, tucking the sheet under your shoulders to keep you covered, “What wasn’t him?”

He laughs a little, “Well, fuck.”

“What?” You frown, reaching to grab the phone from him.

“Alright but before you see it,” He holds the phone up high to stop you from grabbing it, “I want you to be sure that this doesn’t change anything. We’ll make it work and we’ll just have to figure out a way of-“

“Arón!” You exclaim, “Let me see the phone!”

He chuckles and hands it over so you can see the video replaying on his screen - the video Ester has taken. With a clear view of you and Arón cosying up in the background.

“Holy shit,” You let out in an exasperated breath, “Everybody’s seen this?”

“Pretty much,” He says with a smirk playing on his lips.

“What do we do?”

“What do you mean?” Arón laughs, “Does this change anything?”

“Well, no. But it’s a lot harder to manage a relationship when you’re in the public eye...”

“Yeah, but we don’t have to share excessive amounts. We’ll continue doing as we are now, just stop lying in interviews now,” He jokes, “They don’t need to know every detail about our relationship just because they’ve seen us together.”

Just like that, he’s said the words suitable for calming your nerves.

“And nobody gets to see us like this, other than us,” He comments as he clambers back Into bed with you, “I think we’ll both just be glad to not have to lie anymore, you’re a terrible liar!”

[oscopelabs]

It’s Arrested Development: How ‘High Fidelity’ Has Endured Beyond Its Cultural Sell-By Date by Vikram Murthi

It’s easy to forget now that at the beginning of 2020, before the pandemic had taken hold of our consciousness, for a brief moment, High Fidelity was back. Not only did Nick Hornby’s debut novel and Stephen Frears’ film adaptation celebrate major milestones this year — 25th and 20th anniversaries, respectively — but a TV adaptation premiered on Hulu in February. In light of all of these arbitrary signposts, multiple thinkpieces and remembrances litigated Hornby’s original text on familiar, predictable grounds. Is the novel/film’s protagonist Rob actually an asshole? (Sure.) Does Hornby uphold his character’s callous attitudes towards women? (Not really.) Hasn’t the story’s gatekeeping, anti-poptimist approach to artistic taste culturally run its course? (Probably.) Why do we need to revisit this story about this person right now? (Fair question!)

Despite reasonable objections on grounds of relevancy, enough good will for the core narrative—record store owner seeks out a series of exes to determine a pattern of behavior following a devastating breakup—apparently exists to help produce a gender-flipped streaming show featuring updated musical references and starring a decidedly not-middle-aged Zoë Kravitz. I only made it through six of ten episodes in its first (and only) season, but I was surprised by how closely the show hewed to High Fidelity’s film adaptation, to the point of re-staging numerous scenes down to character blocking and swiping large swaths of dialogue wholesale. (Similarly, the film adaptation hewed quite close to the novel, with most of the dialogue ripped straight from Hornby.) Admittedly, the series features a more diverse cast than the film, centering different experiences and broadly acknowledging some criticisms of the source material regarding its ostensibly exclusionary worldview. Nevertheless, it seemed like a self-defeating move for the show to line itself so definitively with a text that many consider hopelessly problematic, especially considering the potential to repurpose its premise as a springboard for more contemporary ideas.

High Fidelity’s endurance as both a piece of IP and a flashpoint for media discourse is mildly baffling for obvious reasons. For one thing, its cultural milieu is actually dated. Even correcting for vinyl’s recent financial resurgence, the idea of snooty record store clerks passing judgment on customer preferences has more or less gone the way of the dodo. With the Internet came the democratization of access, ensuring that the cultivation of personal taste is no longer laborious or expensive, or could even be considered particularly impressive (if it ever could have been). Secondly, as one might imagine, some of Hornby’s insights into heterosexual relationships and the differences between men and women, even presented through the flawed, self-deprecating interiority of High Fidelity’s main character, are indeed reductive. Frears’ film actually strips away the vast majority of Hornby’s weaker commentary, but the novel does include such cringeworthy bits like, “What’s the deal with foreplay?” that are best left alone.

Accounting for all of that, though, it’s remarkable how many misreadings of Hornby’s text have been accepted as conventional wisdom. It’s taken as a given by many that the novel and film earnestly preach the notion that what you like is more important than what you are like when, in fact, the narrative arc is constructed around reaching the opposite conclusion. (The last lines of the novel and film are, literally, “…I start to compile in my head a compilation tape for her, something that's full of stuff she's heard of, and full of stuff she'd play. Tonight, for the first time ever, I can sort of see how it's done.”) That’s relatively minor compared to the constant refrain that Rob’s narcissism goes uncriticized, even though the story’s thematic and emotional potency derives from what the audience perceives that Rob cannot. To put it bluntly, High Fidelity’s central irony revolves around a man who listens to music for a living being unable to hear the women in his life.

While Hornby’s prose immerses the reader in Rob’s interior monologue, providing ample room for the character to spout internal justifications of his behavior, the novel hardly obscures or conceals this conclusion. Moreover, the film makes it unavoidably explicit in numerous scenes. Rob (John Cusack) triumphantly pantomimes Rocky Balboa’s boxing routine soundtracked to Queen’s “We Are The Champions” after his ex-girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) confirms she hasn’t yet slept with her new boyfriend Ray (Tim Robbins), but doesn’t hear the part where she says she prefers to sleep next to him. When Laura informs Rob that she did eventually sleep with Ray, Rob completely falls apart. In an earlier, more pointed scene, Rob goes out with his ex-girlfriend from high school (Joelle Carter) to ask why she chose to have sex with an obnoxious classmate instead of him. She venomously informs him that he actually broke up with her because she was too prudish, an abrupt, cruel bit of business we actually witness at the film’s beginning. It was in her moment of heartbroken vulnerability that she agreed to quickly sleep with someone else (“It wasn’t rape because I technically said, ‘Okay,’ but it wasn’t far off,” she sneers), which ultimately put her off sex until after college. Rob doesn’t hear this explanation or the damning portrait of his teenaged self. Instead, he’s delighted to learn that he wasn’t actually dumped.

These are evidently low character moments, one’s that are comedic in their depiction of blinkeredness but whose emotional takeaways are crystal clear, and one’s that have been written about before. My personal pick from the film, though, comes late when Rob attends Laura’s father’s funeral. He sits in the back and, in typical fashion, turns to the camera to deliver a list of songs to play at his funeral, concluding with his professed wish that “some beautiful, tearful woman would insist on ‘You’re The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me’ by Gladys Knight.” It’s a really galling, egotistical moment that still makes me wince despite having seen the movie umpteen times. Yet, it’s immediately followed by the casket being lowered to the ground as Laura’s sobs ring out in the church. In a movie defined by John Cusack’s vocal timbre, it’s one of the few times when he completely shuts up. From two-thirds down the center aisle, Frears’ camera pushes into Cusack’s face until tears in his eyes are visible, but what you really see is an appropriately guilt-ridden, ashamed expression.

However, none of this evidence carries any weight if your objection to High Fidelity is that Rob suffers no material consequences for his behavior. While Rob is frequently called out for his actions, he is never actively punished. He doesn’t, say, receive a restraining order for continually calling Laura after they’ve broken up or end up alone mending a permanent broken heart because of his past relationships. By the end, Rob and Laura get back together and Rob even starts an independent record label on the side. It’s a stretch to characterize Hornby’s High Fidelity as a redemption tale, but it is a sideways rehabilitation narrative with a happy ending that arises at least partly out of mutual exhaustion.

Those two elements—Rob’s asshole recovery and the exhausted happy ending—rarely seem to factor into High Fidelity discourse. Granted, there’s credence to the idea that, socially and culturally, people have less patience for the personality types depicted in High Fidelity, and thus are less inclined to extend them forgiveness, let alone anything resembling retribution. I suppose that’s a valid reaction, one against which I have no interest in arguing, but it’s somewhat ironic that High Fidelity has endured for reasons that have nothing to do with its conclusions regarding inflexible personal principles and the folly of escapism. Both the book and film are specifically about someone who slowly comes to terms with accepting reality rather than live in a world mediated by pop cultural fantasies whose unrealistic expectations have only caused personal suffering. It’s not unfair to characterize this as a fairly obvious epiphany, but considering we currently live in a world dominated by virtual echo chambers with an entertainment culture committed to validating arrested adolescence, it retroactively counts as “mature” and holds more weight than it otherwise should.

Near the end of High Fidelity, the book, after Rob and Laura have gotten back together in the aftermath of Laura’s father’s death, Hornby includes a chapter featuring five conversations between the couple unpacking the state of their relationship. During the third conversation, Rob and Laura fight about how she doesn’t care about music as strongly as he does, catalyzed by Rob’s objection to Laura liking both Solomon Burke and Art Garfunkel, which, in his mind, is a contradiction in terms. Laura finally admits that not only does she not really care about the difference between them, but that most people outside of his immediate circle of two don’t care about the difference, and that this mentality is indicative of a larger problem. It’s part of what keeps him stuck in his head and reluctant to commit to anything. “I’m just trying to wake you up,” she says. “I'm just trying to show you that you've lived half your life, but for all you've got to show for it you might as well be nineteen, and I'm not talking about money or property or furniture.”

I fell for High Fidelity (first the movie, then the book) as a younger man for the reasons I assume most sensitive-cum-oblivious, culturally preoccupied straight guys do: it accurately pinpoints a pattern of music consumption and organizationally anal-retentive behavior with which I’m intimately familiar. I spent the vast majority of my early years listening to and cataloguing albums, and when I arrived at college, I quickly fell in with a small group of like-minded music obsessives. We had very serious, very prolonged discussions filled with impossibly strong opinions about our favorite artists and records. Few new releases came and went without them being scrutinized by us, the unappreciated scholars of all that is righteous. List-making wasn’t in vogue, but there wasn’t a song that passed us by that we didn’t judge or size up. I was exposed to more music during this relatively short period of time than I likely will ever absorb again. Some of these times were the most engaging and fun of my life, and I still enjoy discussing and sharing music with close friends, but I’m not such a true believer to fully feel comfortable with this behavior. It’s not entirely healthy on its own and definitely alienating to others, and there comes a point when you hear yourself the way a stranger might, or maybe even catch a glimpse of someone’s eyes when you’re midst rant about some stupid album, and realize, “That’s all there is of me. There isn’t anything else.”

This is what Rob proclaims to Laura in the conversation when she tells him she was more interested in music during their courtship than she is now. It’s a patently self-pitying statement on his part that doesn’t go unchallenged by her in the moment or bear fruit in the rest of the novel. Yet, it’s this type of uncomfortably relatable sentiment that goes under-discussed. If High Fidelity will continue to have a life well after its cultural moment has passed, then it’s worth addressing what it offers on its own terms. Near the end of the book, Laura introduces Rob to another couple with whom he gets along quite well. When the evening comes to an end, she tells him to take a look at their record collection, and it’s predictably filled with artists he doesn’t care for, e.g. Billy Joel, Simply Red, Meat Loaf. “'Everybody's faith needs testing from time to time,” Laura tells him later when they’re alone. Amidst Rob’s self-loathing and sullen pettiness, Hornby argues that one should contribute in some way rather than only consume and that, at some point, it’s time to put away childish ideas in order to get the most out of life. It’s an entirely untrendy argument, one that goes against the nostalgic spirit of superhero films and reboot culture, but it doesn’t lack merit. Accepting that some values aren’t conducive to a full life, especially when it’s shared with someone else, doesn’t have to mean abandoning interests or becoming an entirely different person. It just means that letting go isn’t an admission of defeat.

It’s why I’ve always found the proposal scene in the film to be quite moving, albeit maybe not specifically romantic. It plays out similarly in both the book and the film, but the film has the added benefit of Cusack and Hjejle’s performances to amplify the vulnerability and shared understanding. Laura meets Rob for a drink in the afternoon where he sheepishly asks if she would like to get married. Laura bursts out laughing and says that he isn’t the safest bet considering he was making mixtapes for some reporter a few days prior. When asked what brought this on, Rob notes that he’s sick of thinking about love and settling down and marriage and wants to think about something else. (“I changed my mind. That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. I do. I will,” she sarcastically replies.) He goes on to say that he’s tired of fantasizing about other women because the fantasies have nothing to do with them and everything to do with himself and that it doesn’t exist never mind delivering on its promise. “I’m tired of it,” he says, “and I’m tired of everything else for that matter, but I don’t ever seem to get tired of you.”

This sort of anti-Jerry Maguire line would be callous if Laura didn’t basically say the same thing to him when they got back together. (“I’m too tired not to be with you.”) It’s possible to read this as an act of mutual settling, but I always thought Hornby’s point was personal growth and accepting one’s situation were intertwined. The key moment in High Fidelity, the film, comes when Laura finds Rob’s list of top five dream jobs. (In the book, Laura makes Rob compile the list.) At the bottom of the list, after such standard choices like music journalist and record producer, lies architect, a job that Rob isn’t entirely sure about anyway. (“I did put it at number five!” he insists.) Laura asks Rob the obvious question: wouldn’t you rather own your own record store than hypothetically be an architect, a job you’re not particularly enthused with anyway?

It’s Laura who convinces Rob that living the fifth-best version of your life can actually be pretty satisfying and doesn’t have to be treated like a cruel fate worse than death. Similarly, Rob and Laura both make the active decision to try to work things out instead of starting over with someone else. Laura’s apathy may have reunited them, and Rob’s apathy might have kept him from running, but it’s their shared history that keeps them together. More than the music and the romance, High Fidelity follows the necessary decisions and compromises one has to maneuver in order to grow instead of regress. “I've been letting the weather and my stomach muscles and a great chord change in a Pretenders single make up my mind for me, and I want to do it for myself,” Rob says near the end of Hornby’s novel. High Fidelity’s emotional potency lies in taking that sentiment seriously.

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - 2019 Long Shows

Dear Lord. This is where all the good shows went.

2019 was absolutely awful on a season-by-season basis (except for Summer, anyway), but that’s mostly because most of the best shows ran longer than what has become the industry norm of a single season. And indeed, heading into the new decade, we seem to be seeing a major renaissance for two- or split-cour shows, given the massive success seen by shows like My Hero Academia, Food Wars, and Haikyuu!!..particularly in comparison to the new perpetual-runners Black Clover (which, despite running for over two straight years now, is still not the most popular show of Fall 2017 by viewer count on MAL, and sits at a ‘meh’ 7.2), and even worse, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which is faring even worse on both counts even though it premiered two whole seasons earlier and the fact that it is the sequel to Naruto.

As a reminder of my rules, the shows on this list may or may not have premiered in 2019, but they finished airing this year. The split-cour rule (stating that I judge any show that “finishes” and then premieres a “new season” within six months) didn’t come into play for any 2018 shows, but it will for Ascendance of a Bookworm and Food Wars this year, at the very least.

With that being said! 25 shows running longer than thirteen episodes finished airing this year after being simulcast, and of those…

I skipped 6:

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part V: Golden Wind, Fairy Tail Final Series, A Certain Magical Index III, Ace Attorney Season 2 and Cardfight Vanguard (2018) because I either dropped or have not finished their previous (also long-running) seasons.

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS because the simulcast started late and also it was bad.

I Dropped 8:

Worst Long Show of 2019: The Rising of the Shield Hero

It’s always fun to see that a show you hated from its first episode only gets more and more distasteful afterwards, but it’s less fun when a service you have to promote because they’re the legal option is forced to shove it down your throat because they had a hand in making it and it became a massive hit that your friends don’t see any issue with because the author wrote a story that justifies its hero’s patronage of the slave industry. This is my punishment for watching the whole first season of The Asterisk War before I knew better.

YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world

A confusing mess from the word go, this ill-fated adaptation of a visual novel from the nineties seems like it was mostly made to cash in on the popularity of the Science Adventure series, but failed to present itself in a way that made an ounce of sense or looked remotely interesting.

Fairy Gone

Am I really the only one that saw potential here? I mean yes, it ended up a boring slog that didn’t care to move its plot in a meaningful direction, but the first episode was at least cool. I guess Izetta: The Last Witch should have taught me better.

We Never Learn

I know that I’m in the minority in terms of the male demographic for shows like this, but honestly, how are bland harem shows still this easy to market? A copy-pasted protagonist with copy-pasted waifus drag down what could be an interesting setup for a story. 

Karakuri Circus

The first episode of this one had me excited, the second and third left me bored to tears and wondering if it would continue to look uglier by the minute. I haven’t seen a three-cour show look this janky since Knight in the Area.

Radiant

Having heard good things about this show from my cohorts, I do feel bad for saying I’ll probably never return to Radiant, but when you have a show that’s notably written by a European author...and it turns out to be a frustratingly standard shounen affair with middling production values, well, you can see my earlier annoyance with Cannon Busters.

Ensemble Stars

This one still gets to me. It almost looked like a male-idol show I would finally be able to get behind, what with its rebellious attitude and oddball setting...that is, until the setting got to be too unbelievable and the show began drowning its audience in side-characters because they had to squeeze every husbando from the mobile game into the story, and it all began to resemble UtaPri a little too much...but without the production value.

Boogiepop and Others

This was a hard drop, honestly. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I felt four episodes in, before concluding that I was bored and not particularly invested, two things that should never describe the experience of watching a Madhouse show. The fact that this was the project responsible for ruining One Punch Man only made it worse. There’s a slow burn, and then there’s walking away without turning the stove on.

And I Finished 11 (holy crap that’s like three hundred episodes just on their own).

That Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime (5/10 & 1/10)

I’ll be honest, I had forgotten just how livid I was with the ending (and especially the sad excuse of a recap episode) of Slimesekai, and reading back through my write-up of it, it’s certainly coming back to me. While this year had bigger demons to fight (Shield Hero), the bad taste that Slime left me with hasn’t really faded, and the wasted premise bugs me to this day.

Hinomaru Sumo (7/10)

What Hinomaru lacked in production value, it happily made up for in good execution and earnest heart. I can’t believe this came from the same studio as Conception, Try Knights and 7Seeds, but if they can only get out one good show a year, I’m glad that we got one bringing attention to a sport that many will joke about but few understand, respect and appreciate.

Kono Oto Tomare (7/10)

Speaking of giving love to traditional Japanese culture, here’s a decent-if-unoriginal show about a local high school koto club down on their luck, and the troubled teens coming together under a scrappy protagonist to bring it back to life. Kono Oto Tomare doesn’t have much that you haven’t seen before, but a decently-executed club drama with Your Lie In April-inspired musical performances is more than enough to keep me interested, and since Forest of Piano kinda crashed and burned under the weight of its own self-importance this year, it was nice to have an alternative.

MIX: Meisei Story (8/10)

It’s hard to judge MIX next to the other shows on this list because it’s almost too old-school for its own good, revelling in an eighties storytelling style that didn’t end up jiving with a wide audience this year. But at the same time, its fun character dynamics (and a very good dub from Funimation, despite them saying they’d never touch sports anime again) were very entertaining to watch, even if it didn’t focus as much on the sport it was supposedly about as much as I’d have liked.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (8/10)

I fully admit that I’m very salty about the fact that this won Show of the Decade in Funimation’s poll while it was still on and I thought there were hundreds of more deserving shows, but I can’t deny that Demon Slayer was a very enjoyable experience, albeit one that I had notable problems with. That’s not gonna stop me from getting mad when it sweeps the Anime Awards in a few weeks, though.

Fire Force (8/10)

I was very afraid that David Productions wouldn’t be able to match the energy of Studio Bones’ adaptation of Ohkubo’s previous work, Soul Eater, but I was happy to be proven wrong. Even if the last few episodes contained a bit too much infodumping, it was all sandwiched between jaw-dropping fight scenes that proved that the people who make Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure can still handle the reins of a more traditional action show.

Fruits Basket 1st Season (8/10)

I know that my score for this one is a bit lower than others, but I think that Fruits Basket did pretty well in its first season, considering that it was largely spent setting up future storylines and adapting the part of the manga we’d all seen before, but with much higher production value. I’ve been familiar with this part of the story for over a decade, and the scene with Tohru and Kyo (you know the one) still made me cry. Now, we get the real plot going.

Dr Stone (9/10)

A great start to a totally new spin on shounen, Dr Stone gives me hope for survival in the post-Shokugeki world in which we’ll soon live, as a show that wears its research on its sleeve. A complex plot weaving interesting characters in and out of a narrative surrounding a philosophical battle where both sides actually do have fair points (even if one of them is going about it in a pretty cruel manner). More please.

Vinland Saga (9/10)

Once again, a great start to what will hopefully be years of quality storytelling, Vinland Saga made it seem like it was dragging in the middle only to reveal just what its slow burn had been leading up to, with twist-heavy storytelling and a fantastic cast to match the high visual quality of its brutal battles.

Run With the Wind (9/10)

It’s not often that Production I.G. gets to make a complete, fully-realized show anymore, and this one was a glorious reminder of the potential of the studio in the TV space, and a great rebound for the director of Joker Game. It’s gorgeous to look at, the cast is wonderful, and the story is both realistic and idealistic in a satisfying balance. It’s a miserable process to get to the finish line in real life, but sitting back and watching this was nothing but a treat. At least, until a minor fumble at the end.

Best Long Show of 2019: Dororo (9/10)

Speaking of complete stories, Tezuka Productions and MAPPA teamed up for a breathtaking adaptation of an underappreciated Tezuka classic that expands upon the story in exactly the right way to create a thrilling, savage, beautiful masterpiece that focuses a laser-sharp eye into the relationship between two characters in their journey to, literally and figuratively, become complete people. Also, that opening was killer.

And that’s it! That’s the fun list. Next comes the painful one. Stay tuned for the trash heap.

[gffa]

Clone Wars EP Dave Filoni breaks down the first episodes of the final season [x]

It’s been a long journey in a galaxy far, far away, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars is finally back. After its unexpected cancellation in 2013, fans had a new hope for the revered series. At Star Wars Celebration in 2015, audience members got to see rough animations (story reels) of a few unfinished episodes, including a plot focusing on imperfect clone soldiers called the Bad Batch. Those episodes make up the first arc of the seventh and final season, which debuted Feb. 21 on Disney+. After the premiere of the first two episodes, EW spoke with Clone Wars and The Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni about bringing back the series — and a fallen friend.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When you produced the first six seasons, the pace of production was pretty quick. But for this season, you had years to look back and reflect on the story. As you were looking to bring back these first few episodes was there anything you really wanted to go back and update?

DAVE FILONI: If you go back to the original series, what we put out in 2008, it's such a dramatic leap. But then you realize it's been 11 years since that show first aired, which is kind of striking for me that it's been so long. So there should be dramatic improvements, visually. I think that facial animation, the fidelity of the expression — things like that — we were able to improve in the animation itself. I really feel looking at this show now, it's kind of how >George [Lucas] and I envisioned it to look in the beginning. We just didn't have the tools necessary to actually realize it then. But over time with a lot of training, you know, like any good Jedi I learned my way.

One scene that's a little different from the original story reel of “The Bad Batch” is that it originally opened with a longer extended sequence between Mace, Anakin, Rex, and Cody. In the final version, you added a pretty touching scene between Rex and Cody talking about a lot of the fallen clones. What was the decision to add that scene in there?

I just thought the story was really dragging in the beginning. I felt like there was a whole lot of exposition, one too many scenes where they're saying what they're going to do instead of just doing it. And then I wanted to add a better sense of personal stakes to the story. You know, part of the consideration I had to make when doing this was, how do people even know who Echo is? I'm imagining a lot of people will just watch these 12 episodes and maybe not go back and watch the previous, you know, over 100 episodes where Echo plays a moderate role.

The Bad Batch are mutant clones who are new faces we meet at the top of the season. How did you go about designing the looks for these guys and also new clone hairstyles that I didn’t know were possible?

Yes, we always had this bizarre hairstyle trend with clones where they would pick ways to individualize. And the Bad Batch themselves, that was all right from George. He wanted to explore this idea that there were clones that were a little bit more unique from one another that were like a special forces unit that had enhanced skills. And so the trick for those characters is really making them feel special in what their abilities could be, but not making them superheroes. Wrecker should not be the Hulk, even though we love the Hulk and those types of stories. That's not what Star Wars is. So we had to keep it all kind of within the reality of Star Wars.

I loved the callback to clone 99 from season 3. Was that always the plan to call the Bad Batch "Clone Force 99"?

Yeah. That's where the idea kind of came from story-wise, was that, you know, 99 proved back in the original Clone Wars series to have greater heart and strength than some of the clones that were thought of better warriors, and Cody felt that that was worth exploring. And so he really lobbies the Kaminoans to take a second look at clones that they might deem different.

These first two episodes feature almost entirely clone troopers. Dee Bradley Baker voices all the clones — what was his reaction when he saw the script?

He has a unique skill where he's able to lend his voice to the individual nature of these characters. You forget it's one guy doing it. And I can tell you, it's exhausting for him. Being inside one character's mind is exhausting. And I can't imagine what it's like when he's in a whole squad of guys. And he's got to keep the energy up and he's got to keep the conflict up. And he's arguing with himself.

He and I over the years have had different ways to remember clones. When we were in the series we had certain words that would be like triggering for each of the clones — what their key personality was. The Bad Batch is a little easier, you know, because they're so different.

I think one of the coolest scenes that has ever come out of Clone Wars is the attack on the command center in episode 1 of this season. Do you remember plotting that out?

Yeah, that was really well-directed by Kyle Dulevy. George was always pushing us to think more in terms of what the live-action blocking would be and how a live-action film could do things. And that's where some of those longer takes that hand off action and keep with movement and feel more handheld and operated come from. It's the way to really put the viewer right in there, like you're running alongside the clones.

The way we do Clone Wars, there's no storyboards. So when we plan the scene like that, it's all virtually blocked in the computer. All the staging is done in a privatized system George created called Zviz, which is like a virtual blocking tool for directors. And you can put all the characters on the stage and then you can watch them play out the scenes like you’re watching the morning walkthrough of the rehearsal run, and then you can set up your cameras and so you can follow everybody. There's this virtual camera, and you can tweak the timing to get it to be really perfect.

The animator, Kyle, and his team were really proficient at using it. I know exactly the shot you're talking about. The way I look at it in my mind is that the Bad Batch arc is the most authentic to the way I think Clone Wars was back when we did it. Yes, we improved the animation. We improved the rendering. But it's very much something that we had shot. It's pretty authentic. The middle arc is more of a halfway point, where we tweaked it and we worked on the script quite a bit, but it's still the relative idea of what we were going to be doing cinematically. And then the end is really something like we've never done before in Clone Wars — because it’s the end.

It was so great to see Echo again despite the circumstances. When he seemingly died in the Citadel, did you know then that you wanted to bring him back later?

No, ha. That [death], really more than any of the other ones, we all kind of noticed that people were like, “Oh, man, Echo.” And we thought it'd be interesting that the Techno Union — a creepy bunch of guys on the evil side of things — maybe there's something to be done there. So we started to hatch a plan for if that would even be something that's possible. But it wasn't top of mind when we did the Citadel arc.

Another difference between the story reels in the second episode was this new scene about Anakin slipping away to call Padme, which I thought was a pretty illuminating addition.

When I looked at these 12 episodes, there was no Padme in them, and that seemed like a really huge oversight. That was never the plan, because there were more episodes planned, but we ended up doing these 12. I just thought that was really unfortunate. I talked to the actress who played her, Cat Taber, and I think it was a bummer for her because she'd been so involved in the series over the years.

And again, [this new scene] is important to the story and for people that might be walking into Clone Wars new. Having a scene with Padme actually interacting with Anakin was a very important moment. It also shows people where they're at in their relationship. It shows that he goes to her for advice, that she really gets the relationship he has with Rex, that she needs to remind him that actually that was going out on a limb for him, so maybe you should take it on faith and go on this limb for Rex. And also that she has a big influence over Anakin still and that he trusts her. And it also hints at the timeline. And that's always a tricky one, I think, because you as the viewer have to remember that at this point in Star Wars, we know way more than the characters do.

To be honest, I'd worked so much on Rebels, I had to go back and reread and watch a whole bunch of the Clone Wars era just to turn my brain back on. I had to upload a whole bunch of information to my drive because, you know, I guess I'm getting old and losing some of it, but it came back in time.

You posted an intriguing Instagram last month. It was a picture of Gandalf and Ahsoka. And Gandalf says, “People thought I was dead, too. Look how that turned out…” And, you know, a lot of people assumed Asoka was dead because we hear her voice in The Rise of Skywalker. Are we going to see her again?

Well, you'll see her in Clone Wars if you watch these 12 episodes. [Laughs] I told the truth! I had an answer for once.

Was there anything that you learned from working on and directing in this first season of The Mandalorian that you were able to apply to this final season of Clone Wars?

I think a lot. Working with Jon Favreau has been another extension of my education. There are a lot of things that George had taught me over the years about live-action, and finally here I was in a place where I could apply it. And I'm so fortunate to be working alongside Jon as another mentor and someone who is very experienced to help me through the questions and the challenges that you have in a different medium.

But yeah, it definitely affected me as far as looking back on the Clone Wars with different eyes and saying we could tighten this up, this could be better. You know, some of the things I learned from Jon about just keeping it moving and heightening and transforming things as we go. He brings a great perspective, and one that I've really never had as an actor to every scene and the emotions and the character. And so I've learned a lot from him in the past year about hopefully improving our performances and relating to performances.

[signor-signor]

Trending 27th - January 2020

What have been your efforts in the campaign for SaveWOY and what are your upcoming plans to save WOY? Now this is a question worth answering!

In the past, I made a little list of the things I did to support SaveWOY and bring awareness to Wander Over Yonder’s existence and its third season plans. Since then, I’ve done a whole lot more from hand-drawn art to more intricate art. Some of them are almost as special as that signed poster @peepsqueak got from the WOY crew as a token of their gratitude.

Here’s an updated list of everything I did for SaveWOY so far:

Attended the SaveWOY picnic at Griffith Park, where I got to sign a banner.

Pointed out various higher-ups involved in the business of Disney television.

Sent several letters to the higher-ups, some of which had envelopes with an image of the downed space pod taped to them.

Started a weekly Twitter post series, SaveWOY Thought of the Week.

Made Lite-Brite art of Wander and Lord Hater, which Craig McCracken and Francisco Angones liked.

Attended D23 2017 with an Operation: FORCE drawing of Hater, a colored page of Wander and Sylvia and a few facts about WOY, and an orange pen with a green hat (I got the hat from the aforementioned picnic) - there, I signed a bench with Wander and the phrase, “Never hurts to help.”

Signed my name, drew Wander (and my own character, Jacken DeBox), and wrote, “Happiest place in outer space!” on the highest beam for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Wrote a letter (and drew Wander) for the victims of the Las Vegas tragedy with the message, “The darkest times call for the sunniest smiles!”

Got Craig to reveal the name of the ship (said to play a BIG part in S3, made a cameo in Future-Worm) when I commented that we’d have to figure out the name - his response: “The ship is called The Star Nomad.”

Wrote a couple of cards to two Disney higher-ups with the message, “A little nice makes naughty think twice!”

Drew Dominator in a situation that might take place several seconds after she passes the downed space pod, just in time for Noël Wells’s B-day.

Made the Star Nomad with LEGO Digital Designer.

Made three images in the style of the original Star Wars trilogy VHS set.

Posted 50 WOYS3PredictionPolls on Twitter.

Made an image of “The First 5 Years” with over 140 individuals (including the question marks for 3 new mains and 2 new regulars - I still want to know what they look like!) and one cleverly made Hidden Mickey.

Shared WOY-related images from my 1st 5 Years fan art on Twitter acknowledging the B-days of most of the voice actors (Charlie Adler, Kevin Michael Richardson, Ken Marino, Josh Sussman, H. Michael Croner, James Adomian, Jason Ritter, and Piotr Michael clearly noticed).

Typed a summary of how I think the S3 premiere would go.

Typed lyrics to “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’,” a song from my aforementioned S3 premiere summary. Wouldn’t it be great if Andy Bean used it?

Made a microgame with WarioWare: D.I.Y. where the player has to spin the fan to make the Star Nomad fly. Part of a chorus from “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’” included.

Started FanCharacterFriday on Twitter - more Tumblr users seem to like Dr. Otmar Vunderbar.

Made a short comic page of Lord Hater trying to break out of the DTVA vault plus a sly reminder that Disney owns the rights to WOY.

Shared a list of potential episode titles for S3.

Made an actual LEGO Star Nomad based on the model made with LDD. Hopefully, those who worked on WOY have noticed. In case you missed it, here’s a picture...

Now, the ideas I have in mind for further boosting support for the campaign. I may not be able to do most of them myself, but they are certainly for everyone’s consideration.

Provide updated information of higher-ups (if any).

As soon as we find out what Kid Cosmic looks like, expect fan art of him saying, “Watch my show and tell your friends so we’ll make that Mousey Company pay for what they did to my half-brother!”

Another SaveWOY picnic - if there’s one in my general area, you can count me in.

LP album artwork of My Fair Hatey.

A mural identical to that of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate consisting of not just characters from WOY, but also characters who were said to debut in S3 and characters who’d fit in perfectly, namely some of my OCs.

Pumpkin stencils of the main characters for Halloween.

Drawings of various WOY characters stuck on the ex-secret planet explaining why they need to leave said planet. Maybe I could also show how the galaxy’s villains would react if they learn that Lord Dominator’s been bested by Lord Hater.

Drawings consisting of SaveWOY-related messages spoken by the main characters from Disney shows that got at least three seasons (e.g. DuckTales, Fish Hooks), tons of love from the viewers and the executives (e.g. Gravity Falls), or both (e.g. SvtFoE, Mickey Mouse ‘13).

Example with Phineas and Ferb:

Phineas: “We may be creative and famous, but we’re not the ones who came up with the Star Nomad. It’s the ship powered by orbbles! Orbbles! I’d LOVE to see it take flight, wouldn’t you? If you let Mr. McCracken end the show his way, and not the executive way, which, truth be told, is the absolute worst, Wander will surely be elated!”

Ferb: “The Orbble Transporter was invented by conjoined twin brothers, voiced by the performers of the theme song.”

Irving (peeking in from the side): “Speaking of voices, the titular main character sounds JUST LIKE ME! How could you possibly resist?! And look, just because I’m the biggest fan of these guys (gesturing to P&F) doesn’t mean I have no interest in what’s planned for the furry orange fella!”

Since I’m a full-time Disneyland cast member, I should be able to make contacts with anyone who might have more clues about what S3 would entail. It might be a long shot, but if I’m able to convince Disney that WOY’s influence on my life boosted my chance at gaining employment at the company, they should understand.

A weekly Jeopardy-type pop quiz on Twitter - here’s the catch: you must refrain from finding information online when you read the answer (I bet you that the most hardcore fans of the most popular shows will get most of the questions wrong).

Example: This arachnomorph got his name from a dog tag he swallowed when he infiltrated a fish-shaped ship. He later became Lord Hater’s beloved pet.

-Who is Captain Tim?

Summaries of S3 episodes I made up myself a while back.

More fan-made characters - my most recent is an elected official of Cluckon, Mayor Spye C. Drumstick.

Conjuring a logo that best fits the status of S3/TV movie - Wander Over Yonder: The New Galaxy (the center would have the silhouette of the Star Nomad with Wander and Sylvia on it).

Brainstorming possible ideas for the three new main characters.

If all else fails, I suggest we make a web comic based on the hints we accumulated back in 2016 and what we learned from the cameo in Future-Worm’s finale. Team Sea3on has been taking that approach for SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog S3, though they are also making an animated version.

That’s about all I’ve got so far. In closing, I have several questions to ask as the new decade kicks off.

Disney executives: Are you even listening to us WOY fans? What more do you want? I’ve done so much for the campaign that I feel I’m entitled to know everything that was planned for WOY’s third and final season, especially now that I’m working full-time for your company. If you tell us what your demands are, we’d be happy to oblige.

@crackmccraigen: Are you aware of how hard the fans and I have been trying to talk Disney into giving you the chance for true closure? We’ll make sure we watch KC when it comes out on Netflix. If we’re lucky, we might see WOY get added to Disney+, where it should get that closure, assuming you’ll have finished KC your way before then.

@suspendersofdisbelief: I know you’re super busy with DuckTales and you love the plans for WOY S3 so much that you can’t bear to reveal it all in one post, but it’s been waaaay too long since we got any hints from you. Are there any other WOY S3-related facts you could describe in much greater detail? The campaign could do with more motivation.

Non-WOY fans: Are you convinced? Need I remind you what’s in the end tag of the “last” episode of WOY? You know there’s much more to life than tales from the land of Ooo, a blue middle school cat boy in a world of unusual individuals, adolescent twins in an Oregon town filled with oddities, a half-gem half-human protagonist, a coming-of-age princess of Mewni, a trio of ursine trend-followers in San Francisco, and all that jazz. If you’re not one bit interested in Hater’s origin story and all that was planned for S3, it’s your loss.

Pessimists: Will you please dispense with this unnerving “Wander is dead” talk? As a certain Popeye would say, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” You’re not trying to let the Disney bosses win, are you? You probably used to think previously canceled shows like Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, and Young Justice could never be brought back. The point is, all is not lost.

@peepsqueak and WOY fans/SaveWOY supporters: Have I been of assistance? Almost every remark I’ve ever made shows wit and perception. I mean, just think. Wander is still stuck in that vault where his goal of reforming Lord Hater remains incomplete, and he has no idea of what threat awaits him. He says, “Glorn, help us.” It’ll take something big and extraordinary to convince every Disney fan (and perhaps every Netflix fan) to talk some sense into the higher-ups. Not to mention the replacement/back-up voice actors we’ll have to find if Disney takes even longer (we already lost one - René Auberjonois). We shan’t rest until we get the answers!

@disneyanimation

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

Launchpad’s Association With Della Duck: Okay, Now What?

Part 1 | Part 2 || Part 3 | Part 4| Part 5 || Part 6 | Part 7 | 

Continued from Part 8

Despite everything I’ve collected in the past three posts, there’s a part of me that’s still a little skeptical of what we can expect. 

There are nine episodes left of Season 2. Three groups of three is so much yet feels like so little. We’ve got Scrooge's bet with Glomgold, Louie's business with Goldie helping out, possibly another DWD episode, possibly something else staring Team Magic, Magica’s return, Della adjusting to motherhood, Webby supposedly joining the Junior Woodchucks according to the PhatMojo display, the upcoming Moonlander invasion...There’s a lot going on. Is there room for Launchpad to have a sudden identity crisis? If Launchpad truly is the father, it shouldn't take too long for Della to realize, right? 

Hm, then again, perhaps it’s not as much as it seems. I'm looking at these elements separately, so, maybe some of them will end up tying in with each other in time for the season’s end while others are just being set-up so they can be elaborated on in the next season.

With Della taking over a majority of the plane duties now and Drake becoming a real hero, it’s inevitable that Launchpad will end up as his sidekick. But like I’ve said before, LP can’t leave. Dad or not, he’s considered family so why should Della moving back in suddenly change this? They didn’t run out of space for him in the mansion (or wherever that garage is supposed to be) and Scrooge still needs a chauffeur driver. It would be disappointing to find out that Launchpad was nothing but a placeholder in the show he originated from. With DWD integrating itself into DuckTales as a story element, it would be more fitting for LP to go on adventures with Drake more so on occasion instead of for now on. If we get a Darkwing reboot of some sort, maybe it’ll take place whenever LP isn’t around on DT. Maybe the family can join him at times too. Since Dewey’s been joining Launchpad in every DWD related episode so far, maybe he’ll tag along the most.

Another reason why Launchpad shouldn’t leave is that he and Della would work well as a co-pilot team. A number of us have noticed that LP’s flying is smoother than his landings while Della’s landings are smoother than her flight. They can use their strengths to help each other with their weaknesses, but in order for this to happen, Della will have to change her mindset. She currently sees Launchpad as another obstacle she needs to overcome (and well, nothing can stop Della Duck) but once it’s made clear that he was never meant to replace her, she can let her guard down and allow the opportunity for them to be friends. 

I’m reminded a bit of Della’s quote towards Penumbra in “Whatever Happened”.

“Listen, we both know how this goes: First we hate each other, then we go on a life changing adventure, then BOOM! Best friends!”

I feel like a life changing adventure will help to break the ice between the aviators. Maybe they’ll have to work together to save the kids or there could be something regarding Dewey specifically. He loves hanging out with both of the characters, so maybe he’ll end up bringing them together. The rival pattern seems to always have someone stuck in the middle: 

    Zan Owlson with Scrooge & Glomgold, 

    Webby with Lena & Violet, 

And Launchpad with Drake & Jim.

Maybe this would be too early, but perhaps this is where the “Gander-Depths” pattern could come in. Both of these episodes were split between meeting up with a Duck Cousin and Launchpad going on an adventure with an ex. In “Gander” most of the action was in the cousin portion with LP’s part was extremely indescriptive. In “Depths” the cousin portion was less intense in comparison to “Gander” while LP’s portion was more descriptive and he almost joined the adventure. This seems to imply that the action will shift to Launchpad’s side, where he goes on a space related adventure with someone he’s previously dated, to meet up with a Duck Cousin. Seeing how we’ve gotten one “Gander” styled episode per season, this seems more suited for the premiere of Season 3. There’s also a possibility that this could be worked into the Season 2 finale since the production code order gets higher on the season list and the mid-season trailer already implies the invasion will happen within the remaining episodes, but I think Launchpad and Della might already establish a bond before the show reaches either point.

When it comes to Della’s possible realization, a lot of interesting things could happen in the process. If Launchpad’s clone really was a reference to Della, I believe this will be emphasized the longer they interact. Maybe LP starts reiterating things from her even though he wasn’t present during the time she said them. Webby still needs someone to teach her how to fly; what if LP volunteers and his teachings involve the “feel the sky” quote Della said in “Doomsday”? Could it have stemmed from Della helping him with his piloting skills in the past? What if he retells some sorta disoriented version of the Gilded Man story? It seems to be Della’s favorite story to tell since she told the Moonlanders about it too; she could have told it to the father. Or maybe he’ll do the face stroking gesture Della did to her boys in “Nothing Can”.

Launchpad has yet to say Della’s name and we’ve never seen his immediate reaction when her name is said. What if this is being held off for a special moment? Maybe he continually keeps getting Della’s name wrong by calling her a bunch of other “D” names, including something over the top like “Ms. Dewey’s Mom”, but when he regains his memory somehow, he’s able to say it without any problems?

The mentions of both Fenton’s and Mark’s fathers in “Chemistry” made me wonder if Della might have any of the father’s belongings. What if Launchpad catches a glimpse of these items or maybe the father’s photograph and feels compelled to do things he wouldn’t normally do? If the family finds out about the invasion and they begin to blame Della for the situation, will Launchpad start to get stressed out like he was in “Shadow War”?

I’ve been theorizing that LP knows Della's Lullaby in some way. Towards the beginning of "Whatever Happened", Della was about to talk about how there was a song she used to sing to someone, but she's interrupted when the moon mite attacks. I was beginning to think that maybe I was too quick to believe this, but during my last viewing I studied her body language before she was attacked: Della keeps a steady gaze as she’s talking to her kids and only breaks it when there’s uncertainty about what she’s saying. 

When she starts talking about the song, her brow becomes a bit furrowed as she looks up into...well, space, with the palm of her hand upturned.

It feels odd for her to pose like this if she was only referring to the boys. The lullaby could have started off as a special song between the couple that she later modified for her kids. This would give even more weight to the significance of the song. Something subtle that could support this is how the family sang “The Twelve Days of Christmas” before Della's solo episode. Right after the song, a piano version of Della's Mystery Theme was being played during her scene when LP was previously shown playing the piano.

Dᴇʟʟᴀ's sᴇᴛ-ᴜᴘ sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴏsᴇʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴍʙʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘɪᴀɴᴏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɪᴛs ʟɪᴅ ᴜᴘ. Tʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀʟsᴏ ᴀ ғᴏʀᴍ ᴏғ ғɪʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛ: Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ʜᴀs ᴄᴀɴᴅʟᴇs ᴏɴ ʜɪs sᴡᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ Dᴇʟʟᴀ ᴜsᴇs ᴀ ᴛᴏʀᴄʜ.

Something else that could support Launchpad knowing the lullaby was how he was interrupted towards the end of “Depths”. Oceanika likes to sing, so was Launchpad going to say “Farewell, sweet, Oceanika. Whenever I put a conch shell to my ear, I won’t hear the ocean I’ll hear your song.”? If he knows anything about the lullaby, Della might use it to help him regain his memory. Interestingly enough, a couple of instances like this has already happened: Jim used the Darkwing Duck theme song to help the security guard to remember who he was while Launchpad snuck his way into the studio. In “Depths”, Huey tested Fethry’s claim about Mitzi by singing the Blue Krill song. Something else that can match this is how Violet and Webby were humming to help bring Lena back.

Eᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ɪs ʙᴀᴅ ᴀᴛ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀɪɴɢ ʟʏʀɪᴄs, ʜᴇ sᴛɪʟʟ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ᴛʜᴇ Dᴀʀᴋᴡɪɴɢ Tʜᴇᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇғᴇʀᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛ ɪɴ ʜɪs sᴘᴇᴇᴄʜ. Wʜᴀᴛ ɪғ ʜᴇ ʜᴀs ᴀ ʙɪᴛ ᴏғ ᴅɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ sᴜʙᴛʟʏ ʀᴇғᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴜʟʟᴀʙʏ?

If Launchpad is the father and Della went after him with the Spear, we can definitely expect Donald to clash with them when he returns; Launchpad more so than Della. Their absence caused so many hardships for the family and his sister got injured. When all three of them become present, there's a good chance that their parenting styles will differ from his and cause conflicts. Donald may even feel that his role as a caretaker is being threatened. Eventually, I think Donald will learn to get past his bitter feelings and realize that the three of them are important to equation: They’re family. Things may have turned out badly with the Spear, but it's not too late for them to work together to better the situation. LP owes Donald so much and would appreciate him for stepping in to raise the boys. Perhaps both of the pilots could turn to him for parental advice.

Hᴜᴇʏ ᴛᴇɴᴅs ᴛᴏ ᴄʟᴀsʜ ᴡɪᴛʜ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ, sᴏ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ʜɪᴍ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇsᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛɪɴɢ LP ᴀs ʜɪs ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ. Hᴜᴇʏ ғᴇᴇʟs ᴛʜᴇ sᴛʀᴏɴɢᴇsᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ Dᴏɴᴀʟᴅ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʜɪs ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ғɪɢᴜʀᴇ.

On its own, I like the idea of Della and LP just becoming friends or LP becoming HDL’s step-dad but these things completely ignore the burning questions we’ve been wanting to know about HDL’s biological father. He’s always been a bigger mystery than Della; she had a good amount of solid information to work with before the reboot came about. The father is almost a clean slate. We’re a season and sixteen episodes in and yet no one has bothered to talk about him. If it’s just “he’s dead” or “he’s a deadbeat” and nothing more, why is this still lingering around instead of getting addressed to finally get it out of the way? It would be underwhelming to wait this long for a mention that goes nowhere, so there must be quite a story to tell with him. If the father is alive and completely separate from Launchpad, it’s hard to imagine him being added to the cast when it’s pretty full already. And since he also missed out on ten years of parenthood, it would be odd to have him as a reoccuring or minor character if he’s meant to make up for lost time with his kids.

As I’ve noted in a previous post, Scrooge was keeping her likeness under lock and key when Della went missing and went to great lengths to do this. After a piece of junk mail with her name on it was delivered to the mansion, he bought the post office and caused the mailman that delivered it, to never be seen again. The painting of Scrooge and the Duck Twins fighting with Captain Peghook’s crew was taken down and placed in the garage. A corner of the painting was ripped and covered Della up. When Scrooge went to look at his scuba diving gear in “Woo-oo!”, a newspaper lying on the floor with a front page article covering Della’s disappearance had a big chunk missing from it. Scrooge hid Della’s belongings in a secret room in the Money Bin's archives and possibly gave orders to Quackfaster to make it difficult for anyone to access it. In the same episode, Webby mentions that even Della's records are gone!

Launchpad just met her and yet he's been wearing an outfit reminiscent of hers this whole time. It was his own choice to wear a separate outfit for piloting. Even if he's heard of Della, that isn’t enough to explain why he’s wearing a green shirt like hers when she keeps it concealed at all times. That’s probably the most glaring thing in all of this: If some random guy is emulating her outfit, then how did he correctly guess the color of her shirt?

The first time Della's shirt was ever exposed to us was during her time on the Moon. In "Whatever Happened", her buttons are missing; giving an explanation to why she wasn't able to button up her jacket. In "Golden Spear", her buttons are back but she never uses them. It's possible that there could have been a designing error somewhere in this, but it's highly possible that her shirt was exposed for us to make a connection between her and Launchpad.

Dᴇʟʟᴀ sʜɪʀᴛ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴏғғ ᴀs ɢʀᴇᴇɴ; ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs sᴋʏ ʙʟᴜᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ sʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ ɪɴ "Lᴀsᴛ Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs!"

If Scrooge was hiding everything Della-related and if Launchpad didn’t know who Della was, how did he know that Scrooge had a plane? Or even where it was being kept? Scrooge wouldn’t keep the Sunchaser out in the open, it would have been somewhere in storage or carefully hidden. Judging by Scrooge’s reminder about LP’s salary, the first episode was basically his first day on the job. He wasn’t hanging around the premises that long. Was LP snooping around long enough for him to find it? Or was he recalling prior information before the Spear incident? I suppose it could be argued that Webby could have known where it was since she already knows so much about Scrooge and his belongings, but her fruitless search on Della before Dewey came along, makes this a bit hard to believe.

Of course, I could be wrong about certain things, but there’s a little too much potential here to brush off. The romantic element of the show has been increasing as well as the concepts of reunions after long absences, finding out someone else has an unexpected connection to your past, electrical manipulation and genetic mutation. Even when I do mislead myself, it helps me to catch on to things that might be worthy of attention. Then when the show challenges the explanations I come up with, I can look back at these notable instances and try to figure out alternative reasons that might be closer to the truth. Wherever this cargo plane is headed, it’s leading up to something special happening.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! It means a lot to me. I glad you enjoyed my rambling as I try to figure things out.

TL;DR: These last nine episodes are gonna be nuts.

Oh, and stop sleeping on Launchpad. He’s important.

[the-savewoy-letter-blog]

A general but lengthy SaveWOY template

Hey, all! I wanted to upload the first letter template I made, from last year. It has a lot more info (and passion) contained, so it’s a lot longer than the other ones that exist so far. Feel free to use it whenever you like! Here’s the download for the word file, and the letter itself will be included below in the read-more as well.

Greetings, Disney.

I am a fan of Wander Over Yonder, writing to express my feelings as to why the series deserves to be finished the way it was intended. About a year has passed since the second season ended, and in that time, much has happened concerning fans of the show, old and new. I think it would interest you to know of the fans’ efforts to keep Wander Over Yonder alive, and to try to someday bring it back for at least one more season.

Over the years of this generation, a trend of reviving series seems to be taking effect. It is not uncommon for fans to work hard at bringing back the shows they love that were ended before their time. The 13-year-old Samurai Jack was revived for a final season due to fans’ support. The 14-year-old Invader Zim was revived for a comic series, and now a tv movie after its fans kept demanding continuation. The 13-year-old Hey Arnold! now has its intended finale in production, since people have been supporting it for so long. Not to mention the series that have been saved before true cancellation, such as Harvey Beaks, as well as Disney’s own Future-Worm! and Kim Possible. With all this being written, it should not be surprising that people who love Wander Over Yonder have come together to join the revival trend and save the wonderful show they all love.

In just one year, the campaign to save Wander Over Yonder– or “SaveWOY”, as it’s most commonly referred to– has made incredible progress.

Almost immediately, when the cancellation of the series was announced, a few fans began a petition to show to Disney how many people wish for WOY to continue (https://www.change.org/p/walt-disney-encourage-disney-to-make-wander-over-yonder-season-3). In only one day, it reached its goal of 1,500 signatures. In one weekend, it reached 4,000. By this year, it now has over 42,000 signatures. This is more even than the petition which Gravity Falls fans are using in an effort to get said series on DVD. Not only that, but a map has been made to show the support of fans around the world (https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/SaveWOY_Petition_V2/S9qbMCKcUL). This does not include the several other petitions that have been made for the SaveWOY campaign(https://www.change.org/p/the-walt-disney-company-tell-disney-to-bring-wander-over-yonder-back-for-a-third-season

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/wander-over-yonder-let-it-continue).

Fans of Wander Over Yonder have made many pages through which anyone may seek information on the efforts to bring the show back, including, but not limited to, a Tumblr account (http://savewoy.tumblr.com/), a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/savewoy), a Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/groups/488409891359644/), a Deviantart account (http://savewoy.deviantart.com/), a fan Wikipedia (http://savewoy.wikia.com/wiki/SaveWOY_Wikia), and a page on savedisneyshows.org (http://savewoy.savedisneyshows.org/).

Things such as the aforementioned are only the beginning. WOY fans have created several projects in order to express love for this series, such as videos still in the works that contain a collaboration of fans’ messages and art from around the world, a mass of letters for DisneyXD executives that contain 200 reasons to save Wander Over Yonder (http://peepsqueak.tumblr.com/tagged/200rtsw), a SaveWOY raffle (https://alicia-lvn.tumblr.com/tagged/raffle), a 30-day email project to send SaveWOY emails to DisneyXD executives (http://peepsqueak.tumblr.com/tagged/email-campaign), and a charity project to send holiday cards to children in the hospital (http://peepsqueak.tumblr.com/tagged/savewoy-holiday-card-project). Incidentally, a new project has been made, where people all over the globe plant little flags at popular sites with the character Lord Hater’s face on them as a fun game to pretend to conquer the planet earth for said character, although the true motive is to have fun while making another map of worldwide WOY fans (https://operationforce.tumblr.com/).

Fans not only collaborate with projects, but also meet up with eachother in celebration of the series we love. A potluck picnic was arranged (http://savewoy.tumblr.com/post/152888374823/savewoy-good-morningafternoonevening), and additionally, every month, Wander Over Yonder fans on Tumblr do Secret Santa-esque exchanges with one another (http://savewoygiftexchange.tumblr.com/).

There are things we continue to do as well. Fans are still sending letters and emails to Disney, as well as a flash-drive containing updates of the progress of our campaign. Every month on Tumblr, and from time to time on Twitter, the hashtag #Wander Over Yonder trends. This is because an effort has been made to show our love for the series every monthly anniversary of its second season finale (http://peepsqueak.tumblr.com/Trending%20Twenty-Seventh). Additionally, fans have created certain days of the week to make posts about Wander Over Yonder regularly (http://savewoy.wikia.com/wiki/Wander_Wednesdayhttp://savewoy.wikia.com/wiki/Season_3_Saturdayhttp://savewoy.wikia.com/wiki/SaveWOY_Sunday). The “villain leaderboard” from season two is still ‘updated’ by fans every month as a way to keep the show’s spirit alive. Whenever a page on Thunderclap is made, not only is more than the required support gotten, but ends up in the top five of Thunderclap pages that week. Even in addition to all this, there will still be more to come, and things not mentioned here; Wander Over Yonder fans love the series and will always continue to keep it in our hearts!

It is not only the fandom of Wander Over Yonder that rallies support for the series. It is quite apparent that simply anyone who enjoys it wants to see it end the way the WOY crew wanted. Videos from popular people come out more and more about the quality, and the chance WOY deserves (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD30N7h1pyZU5YV-AYBWRwyFm-sFZJgtb). A show with such positivity and joy and fun has helped countless lives when one simply looks for people’s takeaway, online or anywhere. Furthermore, it is quite apparent that Wander Over Yonder in general is something deserving of praise, and of more chance than it was given.

Wander Over Yonder has not only been nominated for– and won– several Annie Awards for its character design, animation, and overall quality as a series; but has in fact been Emmy-nominated for its overall quality as a short-format animated series. Not to mention, Wander Over Yonder had gained far more attention than ever once season two premiered– already after its cancellation. Moreover, after the middle of season two– the airing of the episode “My Fair Hatey”– an even bigger boom of fans came to realize what a fantastic show WOY is, not even including the fact that the song within the episode, “I’m the Bad Guy”, is nearing 5 million views on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdEo_t-iVbM&spfreload=10), more views than any other Wander Over Yonder video has ever received. It is clear that even people who haven’t watched the show love the character Lord Dominator, and would love to see more of her. Since the current end of the series, more people than ever before are coming out to say how much they love it, and moreover wishing it hadn’t ended with a mystery left unsolved. Now that the Wander Over Yonder reruns have come back, perhaps the viewership numbers will be surprisingly much higher than before.

I thank you for taking your time to read this lengthy letter, and I hope you can see that my message is one that sincerely hopes you can take all that is written above into consideration, and hopefully take into consideration as well the amount that Wander Over Yonder means to so many people, the efforts they have made to spread awareness of the show, and the hope everyone has found from others making efforts just the same and having success come out of it. I hope that the tone in which all of us fans have been contacting the people at Disney means something, and that it helps our message to be seen more clearly and understandingly.

With this letter, and with all that people have done to make their feelings known, I hope you might begin to consider that maybe the show people love so much could be allowed at least one more chance.

Please let SaveWOY save Wander Over Yonder.

Best regards,

-A Wander Over Yonder fan.

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 1 Review: Aftermath

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This Star Wars: The Bad Batch review contains spoilers.

The Bad Batch Episode 1

During the opening scene of The Bad Batch, the new animated series set during the rise of the Empire, the The Clone Wars logo burns away. At once blatant marketing and a promise of something new, the logo neatly explains what The Bad Batch is.

As Jennifer Corbett (producer and head writer) and Brad Rau (producer) said during a press junket ahead of the May 4 premiere, this show is a spiritual successor and also a direct sequel to The Clone Wars. The beginning of the new show draws from the epic scale of The Clone Wars‘ series finale (and the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy which it parallels). But while the action and heart are all there on paper, stock characters and a too-straightforward plot drag down the 70-minute premiere.

The five characters of the Bad Batch, lead by elite clone Hunter, never quite fit in. Like many other aspects of technology in Star Wars, cloning isn’t an exact science, and Clone Force 99 are “deviant” or “defective” depending on who’s talking, but they’re very good at their jobs of fighting on behalf of the Republic. But when the Republic transitions to the Empire, they’re immediately asked to start doing messier jobs, such as hunting down human rebels, whereas they’d usually fight droids. As you’d expect, the clones swap sides and, of course, end up having to fight their way out of their home base. A young girl clone named Omega helps them out, and the stage is set for the rest of the season, which will have at least 14 episodes.

Star Wars guru Dave Filoni is joined by Star Wars Resistance writer Jennifer Corbett on the creative side. Her pedigree in delivering stories for the Sequel-era animated show, and her experience in the U.S. Navy, make her an ideal guide for this war story. As military science fiction, The Bad Batch is serviceable, with the creative action and silly one-liners typical of The Clone Wars. The franchise’s approach to animation is always improving, which in this first long episode manifests mostly in impressive snow and a fun depth of field effect. The sharp corners of armor contrast nicely against soft, blurred lights in the out-of-focus backgrounds.

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

As far as plot goes, it’s pretty simple, leaving me to want to dig into some of the more weighty sections but not sure whether they’re actually statements. The Bad Batch see the other clones turn on the Jedi during Order 66, but for the same reason their other “defects” make them stronger, the inhibitor chips that should brainwash them according to the Emperor’s wishes don’t work. They choose to let the Jedi in their vicinity live. Future-Grand Moff Tarkin sees their rebelliousness as a good chance to prove the Clone Army is no longer effective. After all, conscripts would apparently be cheaper. But after the Batch uncover Tarkin’s true colors, they defect for good.

It’s cool to see this transition happening. What do clones become after the war? It’s a question hardcore Star Wars fans might leap to answer (they don’t all become stormtroopers, and not all stormtroopers are clones) but we haven’t seen it so directly on screen before. It’ll be nice if The Bad Batch addresses some of the practical questions around that.

Meanwhile, Tarkin’s clearly willing to shed civilian blood in a way the Jedi generals weren’t, replacing the clones bred for war with human volunteers. Like many other Star Wars stories set during the Prequel era, the Batch’s choice presents a moral decision with no right answers. The “good” choice here would be to maintain a status quo in which tens of thousands of people are born solely to fight wars with droids, which, while technically enemy soldiers, are also sapient. And while I can generally get lost in the military camaraderie fantasy here, the fact that other clones don’t like them makes what exactly the Bad Batch is fighting for even more muddled. Maybe this is about giving this squad a new cause they believe in outside of the definitely-bad Empire.

Or maybe the fact that it’s hard to tell the Republic’s policies from the Empire’s is the point. This is how the Republic fell after all: gradually.

The strongest character beats involve the characters learning to trust each other in new ways. Team leader Hunter’s superpowers are “enhanced senses,” although that isn’t really on display much. He begins to distrust team sniper Crosshair when Crosshair becomes over-eager to follow their grim mission by the book. Their arguments were most compelling before the inhibitor chip was introduced: while I know it fits with the lore, it defangs the story a little to have the main antagonist’s motivation be “he was brainwashed,” and I was a little unsure of how much the show was willing to either pin blame on him or absolve him of it. Either way, we haven’t seen the last of Crosshair.

The Bad Batch can’t even trust the Kaminoans, their creators and stewards of their beloved home. The one who shows this the best is team heavy Wrecker. His tendency to scream about blowing stuff up I generally find more annoying than funny, but toward the middle of the extended episode he adds pathos without getting away from this broad characterization. Wrecker isn’t programmed, he insists. He likes what he likes. His determination to hold on to a sense of himself as a person with free will feels like the real stakes of the show. It’s a section of the episode that quickly jumps back into goofy, fun action, but for a moment gets at something more serious and scary. Wrecker’s determination to hold on to his individuality shows exactly what Tarkin hates most about the clones. Ironically, in Tarkin’s estimation, he needs stormtroopers that can be even more tractable.

Unfortunately, the moments most important to this theme are undercut by repeating information the audience already knows. If you’ve watched The Clone Wars, you probably know about Fives’ discovery of the inhibitor chips and how Ahsoka helped Rex remove his. But moments like the one above sell the fact that the clones would be shocked to learn the truth about their new Empire.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The brand new member of the group is Omega, a young teenage clone introduced as both audience surrogate and mystery. (She’s also a particularly noticeable example of how the Empire is whitewashing the clones — those further from the Jango Fett template have lighter skin.) She’s a big fan of the Bad Batch because, like them, she’s an altered clone. It’s implied that she’s never really been able to make friends with other humans before, so it makes sense she’d latch on to the other unique clones in her orbit. Her fondness for them sometimes reads like a script for how much the audience is supposed to be fawning over the headliners, but the show never quite really shows the world from her perspective. Nevertheless, I think it’s overall a less jarring introduction than Ahsoka’s, who became a great character as she got more involved with the rest of the saga. It’s a “wait and see” with Omega as well.

I am a bit wary the series might be hurrying to repeat the sleight-of-hand pulled with Rey, presenting a character as both a point of view and a mystery at the same time. The first two episodes provided for review hint something bigger is going on with Omega, and how grounded that thing might be might determine whether it works. It’s become a bit tiring to use “who is this character?” as a jumping-off point rather than providing an answer in the first place and building from there.

As far as connecting to other Star Wars characters we do have answers for, The Bad Batch instantly announces that this will be a cameo-heavy episode, and…that’s okay? Now that they’re not being as coy about it as Rebels was, it’s a lot of fun to see Saw Gerrera and a young Kanan Jarrus. (Even if the latter cameo does instantly contradict the Kanan backstory comic released by Marvel a few years ago.)

When the Bad Batch were introduced in The Clone Wars I found them boring, their action figure-ready powers not any more compelling than the clones and Jedi we already had. They still seem a strange choice for headliners when characters like Ahsoka are operating at the same time. More so than The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch feels like a deep cut, a completionist tale that may struggle to hold fans. While comparisons between the avuncular Batch and Omega’s relationships with Din Djarin and Grogu are inevitable, this is no The Mandalorian in terms of either content or accessibility.

The post Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 1 Review: Aftermath appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[thedeaditeslayer]

The Deadite Slayer Exclusive: Ash vs. Evil Dead. Season Three Review

WARNING: This review may contain suggestions and mild spoilers. We recommend not reading it if you want to go in completely blind. The review is mostly spoiler free and is meant to give a personal point of view of this year’s dish of Ash vs. Evil Dead. 

Season three is well on its way and the writers this season seem to definitely know the direction that our Ghostbeaters will be heading. Season three sees the return of Ruby but she’s not playing nice this time. Ash, Kelly and Pablo are expanding their team as well. Our two new additions are introduced to us as Brandy, Ash’s newfound daughter, and Dalton, a member of the Knights of Sumeria. The official poster’s tagline suggests that our heroes will be facing an ultimate test and after I got a good preview, I can most definitely agree that this season is going to end with a big bang.

Cougie, the school’s official mascot, gone deadite. (Courtesy of Starz)

There is a lot of positives in both the main story and the little details this year. The writers have decided to get creative with the deadite encounters this season. There’s not one episode without Ash and company having to dish out some deadite carnage whether they’re working together or separated on missions. The original trio will be splitting up this season as all three seem to face their own demons and deal with their own personal struggles. Ash has to deal with being a father, Kelly has to make a choice on who to trust, and Pablo continues to cope with his relationship with the Necronomicon. However, season three will find ourselves wondering how Pablo will evolve as he becomes a “Brujo Especiale” as a secondary focus alongside Ash’s attempts at fatherhood as primary.

As for the tone of season three, don’t expect it to be getting any more serious. We are very much getting the same tone as the last two with dirty humour and Ash just being Ash. While this is true, we found that Starz’s latest “Who’s Your Daddy” promos don’t represent the season well at all. They seem to suggest that Ash is going to be full on asshole but this couldn’t be any further from the truth. While Ash is still his bumbling self, he actually seems both frustrated and concerned with Brandy. We can deeply tell that Ash will fight for her and prove that he’s not the crazy Ashy Slashy that the town once chanted. His constant missteps and efforts are balanced which is consistent with his character but shows a bit of a different side at the same time.

Brandy checks on her newfound father in this promo photo for season three. (Courtesy of Starz).

One of the huge pluses this season is the beautifully crafted sets. We’re not going to be snubbed on the makeup and wardrobe department either. We are still treated to Brock’s house, as well as sets such as a sperm bank, the Elk Grove high school, the hardware store (and its dirty little secret) and Ruby’s new headquarters; the high school’s guidance counsellor’s house. The last of the bunch is my personal favorite as it’s a huge house that is similar to age, size, and vibe to Brock’s house and makes for a great set for a certain mischievous deadite showdown. Kelly, Pablo, and Brandy all have their own interesting styles that also helps keep the show fresh. Brandy’s attire stands out in particular for the variety which is in response to the events and situations that the finds herself in.

Our main theme of season three is the relationship between Brandy and Ash. Upon suffering a loss, Brandy is forced to live with Ash and then ultimately make the decision on whether to trust him or not. Ruby’s conniving schemes are devised to get Brandy on the wrong side and to turn her on Ash. Combining this with Ash’s attempts to gain her trust thrusts poor Brandy into the middle of deadite mayhem where she is found fighting for her life. While this plot line is commending for showing Ash’s softer side, the execution on Ruby’s part does leave me guessing why she’s deciding to be manipulative instead of simply taking action. This is rather a confusing choice. It could possibly be her way of toying with Ash or instead the writers’ way to drag out something that could have lasted only a couple of episodes to much longer than it should have. 

Lucy Lawless poses as Ruby in this promo photo for Ash vs. Evil Dead season three (Courtesy of Starz). 

If there’s another thing that Ash vs. Evil Dead also traditionally does, it’s have a rocking soundtrack and this season does it in strides. Music from the seventies and eighties are found throughout the episodes as well as ending themes. As before, the ending theme always plays out the last scene of each episode wonderfully. We are treated to music from artists such as Iggy Pop, Air Supply, a-ha, George McCrae and even a hilarious cover from Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless! When we are treated to the music being in episode, it always plays to the contrast of the scene. It doesn’t matter if a deadite is trying to chew its way through its victims because that car radio is blasting classic eighties soft rock ballads all the same. The music is a part of the show’s sense of humour as it always was and should be. On top of this, there are soundtrack themes by Joseph LoDuca from previous seasons that we may recall that also makes the show feel familiar.

While our cast is touring and currently promoting the show, not all of them present this season is joining in. We’re talking about the return of Brock (Lee Majors) whom we get to revisit for a solid two episodes. Fans dying to know what Brock wanted to tell Ash are going to get their fix this season. Brock left season two way too early so to get him back for a full two episodes is very welcome. It is practically the only time we see him get to talk to Ash as a father who finally understands him. For such a short return, Lee Majors still shines as the chemistry between him and Bruce Campbell is completely undeniable. 

We have the return of a previous character but Dalton on the other hand seems to be more of a throwaway character for a new addition. Not much is known about him and we never get to connect with him. It becomes apparent quick that he is there to create tension between Pablo and Kelly and to also introduce the Knights of Sumeria as a part of this season’s plot. Don’t expect to get too invested in him.

Lindsay Farris poses as Dalton in this still from Ash vs. Evil Dead season three. (Courtesy of Starz).

The one thing that I found myself questioning throughout all of season three is where is Linda B? Throughout the first half that I was treated to, there is no trace of her to be found. This in my opinion is season three’s largest flaw. The Ghostbeaters haven’t left Elk Grove and we finished season two with her by Ash’s side so why has she suddenly vamoosed? This seems to be a product of lazy writing as we’re not even given an explanation of what happened to her. Is she still friends and visits Ash? Did she simply move on and leave Elk Grove? There’s not much sense made out of this as this season treats it as if she didn’t even exist. At least Linda B. will now be the second love interest to not bite the dust (other than Sheila). I do acknowledge that the small love interest subplot has been thrown out this season in favour of a daughter/father one so it seems that the writers didn’t give a damn or Michelle Hurd simply couldn’t come back.

Bruce Campbell and Michelle Hurd pose in this still for Ash vs. Evil Dead season two. (source)

Don’t fret on the little complaints though. Season three is very entertaining and well worth your hard earned money. Seeing Ruby back as full on bitch along with the evolution of Pablo, Ash, Kelly, and Brandy has caught my attention and the deadite fight sequences are always a hoot. I cannot make it more apparent that despite its minor flaws, I’m going to be sure that I’m tuning in to Super Channel (here in Canada) on February 25th to support our favourite deadite slayer as he takes on his biggest challenges yet; a high school mascot, the local sperm bank attendant, a huge ass demon from hell, and that bratty teenage kid!

Ash vs Evil Dead premieres on Starz February 25th at 9pm ET/PT.

Thanks to Starz for the advance access to season three!

Check out our latest exclusive interviews with Arielle Carver-O’Neill here and Ray Santiago here.

[localocksmithnearme]

Buick Fob Keys And Remote Program Paterson NJ

If you need to pick your locked vehicle door, need to duplicate a switch blade key, need an ignition key removal or want to replace a misplaced transponder key, goggling for a quick Buick lock-smith service, Paterson Key Replacement favor 24 hour mobile car lock smith in Paterson NJ. Paterson Key Replacement are standing by, adept to come out to you morning noon and night decked with today's sidewinder key cutters, lock-picking tools and diagnostic equipment, as well as expend collection of blank flipkey, transponder chip and key-less entry keys competent to open your car trunk or door to re-program your vehicle ECM and construct a brand-new key at your side to help you back inside you car driving hurriedly.

Models: LeSabre, Standard Coach, Riviera, Regal, Wagon Station, Century, Encore, Rendezvous, Roadmaster, LaCrosse, Park Avenue, Verano, Reatta, Electra and Sail

Buick lost key made in Paterson NJ

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About Buick keys and locks instrument

Buick is a United States automobile manufacturer manufacturing portfolio of common vehicles. From 1997  Buick key-lock system operates on a transponder chip system and in 2007 select the Passive Entry Passive Start (PEPS) as the push-to-start ignition and key-less entry system for nearly all of its designs.

The electronic transponder key delivers a very low-level signal to the car which can only be recognized when the right encoded key was inserted to the crack-hole, elseways the fuel supply and the vehicle wouldn't flare up and may be blocked for five mins.

This antitheft instruments is helping the car manufacturers, insurance companies and car owners in hampering crime and save billions globally, nonetheless replacing lost, broken and stolen keys or even duplicating an extraneous key will be far more pricey.

Ignition repair

By cause of unlocking and locking the car ignition countless of times, it is very common to withstand some kind of ignition trouble and the manifestation could be ignition key is stiffly turning, key got caught in the key-pocket and dont turn, dashboard lights flickering and ignition key is freely turn in the ignition and you can't crank your car.  

The source of those problems might be a overused key or an ignition tumblers issue and in each one of those scenarios, ignition repair or replacement is a job for a handy personal, so we recommend drivers not to try to repair the ignition cylinder by unskilled hands that most likely will induce a deeper disturbance.

Overused Buick ignition key

If the issue is a result of a bad key, simply cloning the key will conceivably replicate the malfunction to the  cut key. Instead of duplicating the crumbling key, a competent car lockman need to utilize dedicated Buick cutters, diagnostic tools and programmers to form a new key based on the vehicle ID number.

Broken Buick ignition cylinder

If the issue is a result of the ignition cylinder, it could be due to the fact that dust or foreign object captured in the ignition crater hole or perhaps a detach or broken rod or spring inside the ignition cylinder restricting the lock from turning around. Utilizing dedicated ignition troubleshooting, diagnostic and programming appliances a keysmith should pull any dust or foreign object from the inside of the key-hole rekey or strengthen ignition switch or even outplace the whole ignition.

Transponder key generate

In the 90’s and possibly even prior to this, nearly all car makers has started providing requisite electrical chipped keys and immobilised car computer system key lock in their cars as an extra protection to eliminate motor vehicle thievery.

Even though transponder key is extraordinarily helpful, replacing missing keys is no longer a quick, bargain-basement price commute to the provincial dealer-ship or hardware store. Occurrences like stolrn chipped key, dead keyfob battery or misplacing your proximity key at the beach, the key should be justly compiled to the immobiliser and some cars serves provision for onboard key duplicate and will cost almost 180-600$ depend on maker, year and model.

Buick keyless entry device

Key-less entry remotes, also called (RKS or RKE) allow a car owner to lock and unlock their truck or car with the click of a button as well as alternative components like unlatching the trunk or turning on the front-facing fog lights to swell visibility at night or in freezing weather. Also, several contemporary keys incorporate remote start that is becoming standard on advanced cars.

Eminently all smart keys incorporate a proximity-detector-based instrument that is activated when the key-less entry found within a explicit range of the car. This Key-less entry are hands-free which means that the car can be locked and unlocked or goes off and activate the car ignition without owners input.

Copy vs lost car keys

Vehicle keys in the last 2 decades there are no more $1.50 metal blade keys at one of your local walmart or hardware store. Current Buick keys became high-tech  smartkey, switch blade key, keyfob and laser cut incorporating chipped keys that need to be programmed with diagnostic tools to the vehicle immobiliser. If the ECM doesn't detect a matching chipped key, the combustible system will locked and the vehicle will not flare up. This system extends a safety measurement assuring the car will forget a stolen or misplaced key.

Though dash-board console platform is available on some outmoded vehicles to comfortably duplicate keys, in most cases to get another key copied, the chip in the key should be programmed by an appropriate key programming machine carried by the dealer-ship or a locksmith which regularly cost relatively $50-$125 in addition to the value of the blank-key.

A lost key to a car is a whole different manifestation, because the vehicle computer unit should be re programmed to accept the new key and refuse the original one which actually means that you’ll have call a mobile car keysmith or tow your motor vehicle to the dealership.

Employing this practice extends a safety measurement assuring the car will forget the stolen or misplaced key, yet lost key made, system available only to the Buick dealership or a licensed locksmith and accordingly will priced as approximately $180–$250.

24hrs vehicle lock-out

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Vehicle locks re-keying

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Final words

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[bigyack-com]

Streaming TV’s Boom Is a Mixed Blessing for Some Hollywood Writers

LOS ANGELES — It seemed like a good deal. At first.Last April, Netflix offered Kay Reindl and her longtime writing partner a substantial sum — in the mid-six figures, Ms. Reindl said — to oversee 10 episodes of a new sci-fi series, “Sentient.” It sounded like a lot of money for what they figured would be less than a year of work.Ms. Reindl and her writing partner, who have worked steadily as TV writers since the 1990s, would be executive producers, instead of staff writers on someone else’s show. That would mean a lot more responsibility and much longer hours, but it seemed worth it. They found office space and hired a few writers.Then came a surprise: they learned that “Sentient” would actually take 18 months from start to finish. When Ms. Reindl did the math, she realized that, under the new timetable, she would be making roughly the same weekly pay as the writers she was overseeing.“It was a very bad day,” Ms. Reindl said.Netflix declined to comment.The rise of streaming has been a blessing and a curse for working writers like Ms. Reindl, who said she and her partner had ultimately left “Sentient” because of creative differences unrelated to the length of the series. On-demand digital video has ushered in the era of Peak TV, meaning there are more shows and more writing jobs than ever. But many of the jobs are not what they used to be in the days before streaming.“All this opportunity is great, but how to navigate it and keep yourself consistently working and making your living has been the challenging part,” said Stu Zicherman, a writer and showrunner whose credits include “The Americans” on FX and HBO’s “Divorce.”When Ms. Reindl got her start, network series had 24 episodes or more a season. The typical TV writer’s schedule looked something like this: Get hired by May or June, write furiously for most of the year, and then take a six-week hiatus before the process started again.The seasonal rhythms that had been in place for TV writers since the days of “I Love Lucy” started to change more than two decades ago, when cable outlets put out 13-episode seasons of shows like HBO’s “The Sopranos” and, later, AMC’s “Mad Men.”Streaming platforms have revised that model further: eight-episode seasons of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and Disney Plus’s “The Mandalorian”; six-episode seasons of Amazon Prime Video’s “Fleabag”; three- and six-episode batches of Netflix’s “Black Mirror.” Cable has replied in kind, offering fewer than 12-episode runs of shows like “Atlanta” on FX and “Silicon Valley” on HBO.“I think they’re experimenting with the shortest product they can still call a TV series,” said Steve Conrad, the president of Elephant Pictures, a production company in Chicago. “I couldn’t keep this company together if it was fewer than eight, and it’s coming.”In addition to shortening season lengths, the streaming platforms have ignored the school-year-style calendar of television’s network days, with its premieres in the weeks after Labor Day and finales late in the spring. Netflix has served up new seasons of its most-watched program, “Stranger Things,” in July. Apple TV Plus unveiled one of its most-hyped shows, “Little America,” in the middle of January.The rise of streaming has fattened the wallets of superstar writer-producers like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, while also giving chances to unproven writers. But the medium’s shorter seasons and unpredictable cadences have made it harder for writers in Hollywood’s middle class to plot out a year’s work in a way that doesn’t leave them nervous when mortgage payments are due.Complicating the issue is that streaming platforms have been known to take more time to make an episode than their network and cable counterparts. For many writers, that meant less money for more hours, and they complained to their union representatives.“Five years ago, it grew from an isolated problem to a dominant problem,” said Chuck Slocum, the assistant executive director of the Writers Guild of America, West. “We had half of our members wake up and realize one day that they’re making half the money that they were making.”The union worked out some protections for its members. Since 2018, studios are sometimes required to pay writers extra when filming runs longer than expected.That change kicked in too late to help Lila Byock, a writer whose credits include HBO’s “The Leftovers” and Hulu’s “Castle Rock.” She said she was hired on a scripted series that she figured would last 10 months. Instead, it took nearly 18 months, which caused her to pass on other writing jobs.“It gets tricky,” Ms. Byock said. “That wasn’t what I had budgeted for two years of my life.”On the flip side, streaming seasons that require a short time commitment — say, eight months — can also wreak havoc on a writer’s schedule. “You’re not being paid by the studio for five months of the year, but that’s not enough time to take on another show,” said Mr. Conrad, of Elephant Pictures.The old TV calendar is not quite dead. Major producers of network shows, like Dick Wolf and Chuck Lorre, still must come up with at least 22 episodes per season of shows like NBC’s “Chicago P.D.” and CBS’s “Young Sheldon.” But with new streaming platforms like NBCUniversal’s Peacock and HBO Max set to start in the spring, the lives of many TV writers are likely to get more chaotic.“I have friends working in network television and it’s like they’re on a different planet,” said Harley Peyton, a writer and co-executive producer of “Project Blue Book,” a History Channel series with 10 episodes a season.He described staff positions on network shows as “the last full-time jobs in this business,” adding that “those jobs are extraordinarily difficult to get.”The 10 established Hollywood writers who discussed the changes in the industry with The New York Times were careful to point out that they were still able to make good money, even amid the digital disruption of their industry. And yet, they said, it is common for veteran writers these days to be paid as if they were rookies.Jonathan Shikora, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents actors and writers, suggested that longtime TV writers were now underpaid. “Should I be getting the same as some new writer whose script I’m rewriting because their work is so green and new and I’m teaching that person?” he asked.The new economy has some writers thinking twice about moving up the ranks to the position of executive producer. “What I’m starting to see is a lot of friends being like, ‘Why would I ever want to be a showrunner?’” Ms. Byock said, referring to the hands-on executive producer in charge of the writers’ room. “If you’re making the same amount you could be making doing a much less stressful job, why wouldn’t you just do that?”Rob Long, once a writer and an executive producer of the long-running NBC sitcom “Cheers,” said he had tried to make allowances for the changes when he was in charge of “Sullivan & Son,” a TBS sitcom.That show had 10 episodes in its first two seasons and 13 in its third, a significant change from the 28-episode final season of “Cheers.” That was fine with the financially secure Mr. Long, who said, “I got to be honest, I thought it was fantastic.” The difficulty came when he was hiring staff writers.“I was making deals with younger writers just starting out,” he said, “and I was doing the math.”It took eight weeks to write the scripts and prepare for shooting. An additional 15 weeks brought the staff to the end of the production. The schedule meant that “Sullivan & Son” would eat up nearly six months of staff writers’ time.Under the terms of their contracts, they had to give priority to “Sullivan & Son,” meaning that, if the show got renewed, they were obligated to go back to it even if they were working on another project.“It was a de facto way of locking you up,” Mr. Long said.So he came up with an informal solution that he has used on other shows since then.“We make a private, handshake deal with our writers,” he said. “We tell them that if you get on another project, or you sell a pilot or something else happens, I will let you out of your contract,” he said.In other words, Mr. Long added, “I promise to fire the writer.” Read the full article

[emiyaseraph]

My RWBY Review (part 2)

For this second part of my review, I will share with you my personal impression on RWBY Volume 4. I have avoid to talk about Qrow on purpose because I think writing a post exclusively for this character. Again, I’m sorry for my bad English ! Enjoy !

Now, I will be the first person to be harsh on the first three volumes of RWBY. I find them derivative of their anime inspirations without enough narrative meat to justify their existence and one of the main draws, the fight scenes, to have degraded due to Monty Oum's death. However, the third season did do some things with its narrative that might have put the story on track and maybe enable RWBY to be the best anime inspired web series possible. Sadly and to my severe disappointment, that was not the case.

One of the issues is the fact that the narrative, tone and characters haven't really changed despite the events of the third volumes. The third volume made a drastic shift towards a darker and more severe narrative where both the metaphorical symbol of protection against the Grimm (Beacon) and one of its shining heroes (Pyrrha) were snuffed out. This shift could have made Volume 4 a volume where the leads must refocus and deal with their loss as well as the external threats of their world. Instead the volume largely sticks to its original narrative beats and tone much to its detriment.

Animation :

The fight scenes have been bugging me a bit in this volume especially since the third episode. It was a bit hard to describe but the physics felt... wonky and light ? My profession is very far from that of an animator and a graphics artist so it's really hard for me to describe what I thought was a seemingly pervading problem with the fights.

I REALLY wasn't a fan of the third episode's fight. Which is bothersome because normally I really, really like any fight Sun Wukong is in. For anyone who feels like the fight scenes have been... lacking this season, and not merely choreography wise (what moves they do v.s the other elements), you're not alone. The fight scenes feel that way because they lack conservation of momentum.

Ruby doesn't even have basic platforming physics anymore, she feels like a character who has speed hacks/movement cheat codes. Like an infinite jump ability. Before, it was more like she just had a double jump, which isn't physically possible but when we see it we know what the rules are and it makes sense. All of the fight scenes now have really bad momentum, where Ruby will never feel the recoil from anything unless the animators remember that recoil exists. Like when she sliced Harambe but he was so heavy it stopped the slice, the weight of the blow should have recoiled and lifted her off her feet, even just a little bit. If they were using 3D animation software, like Poser, the program would have forced this to happen, which is why it's never been a problem before. But now that it's hybrid 2D, Maya doesn't force the models to conform to ragdoll physics, so there's only recoil if the animators remember to include it. They NEED to go back to Monty's Design philosophy, which is the simple Hong Kong Action movie school of thought: All fights have a rythm. Before, fights in RWBY were essentially well-choreographed music videos. They all were self-aware of the background music and incorporated elements of the music in the fight. When the music was fast, the fight was fast. When the music was slow, the fight was slow. They don't need to be as creative as Monty used to be, but making sure that your fights have a rythm and a sense of at least video game level physics to them is important. Before, people could only run up walls if Weiss used glyphs to make a path and Ruby used her speed semblance or something. Now, it feels like any of the characters could run up a wall, stop for a break in the middle, jump and land back on the wall, and keep on running up, which is immersion breaking and looks terrible. The fight in episode 3 was better for the way they used the clones, but the physics were still WAY too goddamn insane. I mean, can Blake fly ? Because it really feels like, once she's in the air, she can fly. And that's BAD.

As for Sun, he suffers from the same animation flaws that Ruby does. He doesn't move in a believable or realistic way during the fight, and it's very jarring to see that. His actions don't produce appropriate reactions. It's like when you watch a bad movie and someone turns the gun sideways and shoots bullets for like 100 bullets straight. Or when someone is shot 100 times and can carry on a conversation, and then get a "second win" and like, win the fight even though they should be dead. The fight scenes feel completley unbelievable right now, and not just because they're fighting a sea monster. The animation team REALLY has to step up their game with Maya and address their physics problem. As it stands, they're having a LOT of trouble making their fights even LOOK good anymore, let alone be interesting. Because, the funny thing is, the fight here WAS interesting. The use of clones was super creative! And the actual animation STYLE was pretty nice. But the actually fight LOOKED terrible, because they aren't following not just Monty's, but a very basic design principle of fight scenes, which is conservation of momentum.

I sincerely hope that the animation team knows that. They're doing a spectacular job with the artistry and the animation, it's the consistency of the momentum and physics I feel need some work.

Characters Development :

First, let's talk about Ruby. In volume 4, probably due to the need to develop the other characters of the RNJR team, I haven't seen much evolution for her. We were "sold of the dream", if I may say so, for the premiere of volume 4, with a rather interesting fighting style, Ruby who turns into petals, which flies, which is even badass. And then volume 4 started, and I felt like I was no longer seeing Ruby, but a kind of half-character, not able to fight properly, who didn't reason, and even worse, who put in danger her comrades (and Qrow)... Despite all that she has seen and despite teaming up with three people who have lost someone dear to them during the fall of Beacon, she remains the naive, innocent and idealistic girl from volume 1. There are only two token nightmares about the Fall of Beacon but otherwise there are no moments of severe outrage, anger or frustration at the world. She also never reaches a point of contemplating what it means that heroes don't always save people and don't always win. This should be even more prevalent with Ruby and the remnants of team JNPR traveling through areas full of death due to the Grimm. In the end, even if it catches up with the tiny conversation with Jaune with the arrival of the Nuckelavee, I finds that for a main character, it's very average. It has almost half the volume devoted to her, and yet I don't feel I see her advancing, it's even the opposite. One point catches up with the whole thing: the letter at the end, where she admits that she is still a little girl. Well good ... so I wait to see the continuation.

Then we have Weiss... In my eyes, she's the most developed character in this volume. I have read in some other review that some people don't understand why she went back to her father, because we don't have a lot of details on that level, except that his father brought her back to Atlas, and they have a hard time understanding why she followed him, especially when you see the evolution during the volume. The main reason she came back is probably that she still felt under the authority of her father. But her stay at Atlas turned her into a pressure-cooker. The hypocrisy of the Atlesians and the unbounded greed of his father have blowed the flames of her anger. Why did she not rebelled instead ? Simply because she knew only this world. She grew up in a golden cage and her stay at Beacon made her discover the truth about the outside world. Finally, once she has tasted freedom, a cage remains a cage, no matter how luxurious it is. She stands up to her father, to the fact that she shouldn't be in Atlas, that she should fight, be with her team. I guess it's to develop the background, see where she grew up, see her family, understand why she was so arrogant at the beginning of the show. In short, give it consistency. On the other hand, I think that her decision to go looking for Winter is meaningless. What is Winter doing in Mistral ? If at least we had been given some explanations on Winter's mission or her role in the fight against Salem, but not … Weiss randomly overhearing about Mistral and making her going there is for me a stupid plot development.

Blake's arc is far more anger inducing as she repeats the same arc from Volume 2: having to rely on her friends and allies again. While this could work in theory as it was her past with the White Fang that partially caused Yang to lose her arm, it ends up being a case of cyclic character development. Blake is shown being the cold loner that she was at the start despite Sun showing up to help. In fact, she suffers from an issue I have with anime characters in times where they act social stunted and don't explain themselves properly; Blake only explains her reasoning as to why she's returned to the loner archetype at the very end when her opening up to people would seem the most like an asspull. Her dynamics with Sun exemplify this problem as Sun, instead of being a valuable partner, is reduced to a punching bag and laughing stock for comedy that undermines Blake's arc. Even the moments between Blake and her family are undermined by comedy that ends up making dampening any arc she has.

Yang's arc, while not cyclic like Blake, is the worst of the individual character arcs and thus, extremely frustrating. Yang at the end of the third volume, lost her arm to Adam.This could have led to many different possible story lines as Yang very much is proud of her physical capabilities; the loss of the arm could have delved into PTSD or how she will cope with her skill being hampered. Unfortunately, the story taken explores none of these aspects. An artificial arm enters her story very early on and at first, you might think that this is merely signaling that there will be a payoff at the end and many episodes of her dealing with the trauma. However, the next scenes dealing with her involved a slight jump at a broken glass, a nightmare that doesn't really haunt or torment to any real degree and a talk with Professors Oobleck and Port. These scenes are all we get before she puts on the artificial arm. This is strike one of her story as it makes it seem like she got over her trauma too easily. While I am of the understanding that there could be more possible consequences in other volumes as PTSD isn't something that can flare up, the presentation in RWBY makes it seem like she had only a few moments of trauma before finally coping with it. This presentation makes us feel put off her story arc in volume 4 as it seems like everything was for naught.

The issues of the character arcs are further amplified by the fact that the time scale of the series is erratic. Initially, the writers stated it was six to eight months since volume 3 in universe. However, this seems contradicted by many events in the show: why does it take 6 months to get from Vale to Menagerie, what has Weiss been doing for six to eight months ? Doing nothing ? What about Yang, is there any time between her scenes of fear and trauma and equipping the arm ? The unclear time frame of many things in the show make it hard to be invested in the show.

What about the other characters ?

This leaves us with the remnants of team JNPR and their long path to Mistral. This is definitely where the bulk of the storyline was focused. We get more interesting details about the world, character backstories, and the two major fights this season in this storyline. Probably my favorite part of this storyline was the evolution of Jaune from where he was the past three volumes. While he's still not a fighter on the level of the other huntsman/huntresses-in-training, he's certainly getting there. We get to see his drive in the wake of Pyrrha’s death last season and also how he has been coping with her loss. Though what we see on the surface doesn't necessarily reflect what is hiding within.

But the highlight of episode two brings us back to Jaune, a man who paid for his sin of ignorance. In Volume 3, many characters lost something. But very few characters were punished as severely as Jaune. He was ignorant for a whole three volumes. He turned a blind eye to Phyrra's genuine affection and it was something that those of us watching never looked twice at. But when she finally died at the hands of Cinder, Jaune's ignorance held much greater meaning. Jaune's late night training is one of the heaviest hitting moments in Volume 4. It shows just how hard Jaune has taken the loss, but also how much he is struggling to recover from the revelation of his ignorance towards Pyrrha, and his lack of a second chance.

The rest of the team's journey was more of a mixed bag. We got Nora and Ren's history, which was good, but not necessarily great. It felt like they were setting up this grand threat of the horseman Grimm as a larger threat. This was a Grimm responsible for the devastation at Shion village as well as Ren and Nora's backstory, so one might think that it would be a more major element going forward. However, it gets taken down two episodes after we see it in shadows in Ren's flashback. That felt like either a bit of a missed opportunity or a bit rushed. Our only other major fight scene this season was against the new antagonist Tyrian, another follower of Salem. We actually got to see Qrow going full(ish)-power against an upper-tier enemy, which did not disappoint.

And now I get to address the elephant in the room. Ren and Nora. These two have had the largest amount of story development and it is more than worth it. Ren and Nora were characters that we knew almost nothing about. Their story was dropped in small hints throughout the Volumes. For instance, the rant Nora has at the beginning of Volume 3. Nora casually drops the fact that she and Ren were both orphans. Throughout Volume 4 we get more and more insight into just who these two were and where they came from. This is especially true from Ren's side of things as he constantly lets his emotions take hold of him. It is clear that being home isn't exactly the most entertaining idea for him. After all, this is someone who ran away from home to be a huntsmen. This is probably his first time being back in Anima since he arrived at Beacon, if not earlier. From the appearance of bizarre footprints in ruined cities, to the tension emanating from Ren with each village team RNJR visits it is clear that Ren has a lot of unresolved issues in Anima. Everything ultimately comes to a head with episode 10 where we finally see what has been plaguing Ren and Nora's past. I won't spoil it here but I think Ren has been dealing with most trauma out of all the characters in terms of longevity. Finally seeing Ren and Nora face their fears was a great moment and the parallels shown between the fight against that fear and the day they both lost their home were strong devices to keep the moment as impactful as the other great moments in Volume 4. The backstory of Ren and Nora definitely served as one of the big highlights of this season and I do hope that we get to see more backstories appear in the forefront as we head further into the series.

As for Sun... He annoys me, I don't know if he is really in love with Blake but in this volume I find him too clumsy or even sticky. I don't care what you ship, they've made him a bumbling idiot who knows nothing about anything. I get why from a narrative standpoint Sun is there to ask the questions that the audience has because Menagerie is home to Blake, but... They've made him Vol.1 Jaune.

In conclusion ...

The setup for future volumes is limp and lifeless. Oscar, a new character that is host to Ozpin's soul, is given little characterization of his own self and serves more like a sentient vessel in terms of characterization. The plots with the White Fang and Salam's group seem pointless as there is no real effect of any of this, just build up. While build up is important, we need to see a small consequence of this build up, whether it's militarization of the White Fang or movement of supplies. Even the resolution in the end where the four members of RWBY set out to Mistral seems more like a sudden return to Status Quo than a preparation for a major fight as it felt that everyone except Weiss really didn't change and even Weiss isn't given that much.

This is my opinion on RWBY Volume 4. I look forward to Volume 5, hoping to have much less disappointment at the level of screenplay and character development. I see you for my next posts about Qrow and RWBY Ships... 

See You NEXT TIME !

[doctorwhonews]

Torchwood: Aliens Among Us - Part 1

Latest Review: Written By: James Goss, Juno Dawson, AK Benedict Directed By: Scott Handcock ​Lead Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Tom Price (Sgt Andy Davidson), Paul Clayton (Mr Colchester), Alexandria Riley (Ng), Jonny Green (Tyler Steele), and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) Supporting Cast: Stephen Critchlow (The Mayor), Rachel Atkins (Ro-Jedda), Ruth Lloyd (Vorsun), Sophie Colquhoun (Madrigal), Rhian Marston-Jones (Quenel), Lu Corfield (Brongwyn), Rhys Whomsley (Osian), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), David Sibley (Vincent Parry), Sam Béart (Catrin Parry), Anthony Boyle (Hotel Manager), Sam Jones (Toobert Jailert), Wilf Scolding (Personal Trainer) ​Released by Big Finish Productions - August 2017 In receiving the licensed green light to revive Doctor Who’s first full-fledged TV spin-off show, Torchwood, as an ongoing series of audio dramas in May 2015, Big Finish set themselves arguably their most daunting challenge since embarking upon a mission to do likewise for Who back in 1999. Like its mother show in the 1970s, the four season-strong, adult-geared BBC sci-fi drama had reached the height of its televisual powers by 2009, producing an award-winning miniseries in Children of Earth which suggested its writers had finally perfected their efforts to blend universe expansion with compelling, mature storylines capable of attracting newcomers alongside ever-devoted followers of the Doctor. Just as the arrival of iconic figures like Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and John Nathan-Turner bred behind-the-scenes troubles which ultimately sealed Who’s 19-year hiatus, however, so too did Torchwood’s golden age of on-screen success reach a swift, turbulent crescendo just moments after its apex. The Starz-produced fourth season Miracle Day lacked the narrative momentum, multi-faceted supporting characters or overall British charm which had reaped Children of Earth such universal acclaim two years beforehand, once again prompting a previously beloved sci-fi saga to enter an indefinite purgatorial state, particularly as its showrunner Russell T Davies faced heartbreaking personal struggles not long after the run’s Summer 2011 broadcast. But between their sensational opening trio of monthly runs featuring beloved characters like Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones and of course the indomitable Captain Jack Harkness (if you’ve yet to try The Conspiracy, Uncanny Valley, Zone 10, Broken or Corpse Day, then head to Big Finish’s website when you’re done here and remedy that error), the tremendous The Torchwood Archive serving as both a fitting series coda and 10th anniversary special, and box-sets like Before the Fall offering profound insights into the titular secret agency’s mysterious past, Big Finish have more than confirmed their status as the brand’s perfect gatekeepers for the foreseeable future. Next up on their agenda, then? Continuing the story where Miracle Day left off, albeit making a few welcome course corrections en route to ensure that Season Five doesn’t trigger another near-death experience for Torchwood. Even with the support of the mighty Russell behind them, can the studio pull off such a Herculean feat, no longer simply hopping between eras of the show for standalone romps but instead conveying a whole new arc over the course of 12 episodes and three box-sets? Let’s begin the quest to find out with Aliens Among Us – Part 1, evaluating each of the four hour-long instalments in detail before ascertaining whether James Goss and company should ever have bothered embarking upon this audacious campaign… Changes Everything: “Torchwood is dead.” There’s an unmistakable sense of irony about wright James Goss’ decision to invert the title of Torchwood’s pilot episode in naming Season Five’s opener. While the Cardiff of “Changes Everything” has undergone no shortage of transformations, between mass immigration, mass homelessness and mass alien infiltration, while Jack and Gwen were fighting to end the Miracle in the US of A, this compelling first chapter largely works to re-establish much of the show’s pre-Miracle Day status quo, from the shattered but still intact Hub to the team’s iconic SUV to Jack and Gwen back in business at Torchwood Three’s helm. Much of the real change, then, comes with Goss’ introduction of two deliciously morally and psychologically complex new – potential in one case – recruits to the team this time around. Enter the irritable but courageous civil servant Mr. Colchester and the intrepid but concerningly ruthless ex-paparazzi Tyler Steele, the former of whom comes off as initially closed-minded yet has plenty more to him than meets the eye and the latter - brought brilliantly to life as an unashamedly slimy rogue by Jonny Green - bound to rile most listeners with his self-serving rationale as much as he does the rest of the team. For reasons that will become obvious by the end of the hour, Russell’s influence upon the characterisation of these two new players is as clear as daylight, lending them the same dramatically layered but equally realistic personalities that one would expect of any of the Doctor’s 2005-2009 companions or indeed any employee at Torchwood until the Miracle. It’s thanks to this pair of ever-evolving characters largely taking centre-stage – especially in Tyler’s case – here that a somewhat necessarily by-the-books set-up storyline revealing the existence of an unseen alien community pulling the strings in Cardiff remains thoroughly engaging to sit through, though that’s not to say the plot doesn’t pack any dramatic heft in its own right. Much as we’ve encountered plenty such shady organisations such as those behind Season Four’s Miracle or indeed the Committee at the heart of Big Finish’s Torchwood monthly range to date, that the latest foes to emerge from the Rift provoke racist sentiments and terror attacks across Wales’ capital city gives “Changes” a disturbingly relevant edge, the depiction of bombings taking countless lives sure to unsettle anyone following today’s headlines but all the more relevant a subject matter for the show to tackle. As with most season premieres aiming to kick-start a season-spanning arc, the extra narrative legwork “Changes” must perform ultimately robs the opening outing of the chance to become a stellar standalone outing, but even so, by injecting the show with a fresh, volatile new team dynamic at Torchwood Three and harrowing poignancy via its topical real-world ties, Goss sets Aliens Among Us off on a promising trajectory indeed. Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy: “Right then, let’s go to a hen night.” Has any episode title ever served to summarised the core tenants of Torchwood as a work of mature yet oft-hilarious drama than the epithet Goss attributes to Season Five’s sophomore outing? Probably not, but thankfully the man responsible for helming the brand at Big Finish doesn’t get complacent off the back of this unparalleled achievement, instead finding time to devise a largely isolated storyline which dedicates almost an hour’s worth of time to developing bothEve Myles’ Gwen and Paul Clayton’s Colchester, not to mention exploring the fascinating interplay between these two world-wearied soldiers as they march into one of their most unlikely – not to mention hugely comedic – missions yet. Laden with outrageous set-pieces – from absurd hostage situations to drunken car chases – and unsubtle but warranted politico-religious commentary, Goss’ script follows these veteran crime-fighters in their efforts to determine how young Madrigal’s upcoming wedding nuptials are connected to the still-mysterious powers manipulating Cardiff for their own ends, only for their investigation to result in the increasingly inebriated Maddie causing them no shortage of explosive grief throughout the night. One does admittedly get the sense as “Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy” progresses that Goss thought this delightfully disbelief-uprooting premise was entertaining enough to fuel an entire hour of audio drama, since the second act of proceedings feels rather padded, throwing in convoluted further plot developments and additional characters who don’t add a great deal to proceedings beyond further exposition surrounding the nature of Madrigal’s betrothal. All the same, with Myles and Clayton on top form as they explore how their respective characters deal with leading lives of near-total dishonesty when balancing work with family ties, with Sophie Colquhoun’s Madrigal serving up a veritable array of painfully chuckle-worthy one-liners with each successive pint consumed, and with Goss even finding time to resolve loose plot threads from Titan Comics’ Torchwood strip by revealing the fate of the Ice Maiden’s crew, “Gravy” achieves more than enough in its running time – and builds more than enough intrigue for what’s to come – to stave off any occasional sense of plot tedium. Most importantly of all, that Episode 2 gave yours truly the joy of writing out its pitch-perfect title in full for this review is reason enough for its existence. Orr: “Who knew there was an alien black market right in the middle of Cardiff city centre?” Clearly not content with allowing Goss to expand Torchwood’s core roster with Colchester and Tyler, Juno Dawson adds another player into the mix with Orr, a third RTD-endorsed recruit whose alien heritage affords her some, well, alluring abilities that play glorious havoc with each member of the team here. “Orr” once again marks a near-complete tonal departure from its immediate predecessor, returning to explore the haunting implications of extremist fanatics for a Cardiff already at economic war with itself, while also throwing in aspects of romance and series-changing tragedy for good measure along the way. As one might well imagine, handling such a delicate balancing act – and having to carry the burden of progressing Aliens Among Us’ overall arc in a far more substantial manner than “Gravy” with the full-scale arrival of the season’s core antagonist – would prove a challenging at best prospect for even the most accomplished of scribes. Sure enough, what with tackling weighty concepts like housing shortages, illegal commercial transactions hidden in plain sight and shapeshifts forced to cater for their onlookers’ sexual fantasies, Dawson can’t quite avoid imbuing “Orr” with a lingering sense of tonal discontinuity at times, struggling to decide whether to focus on the hearty laughs Orr’s powers inspire, the aforementioned topicality of her plot or indeed setting up a twist set to inextricably alter Aliens Among Us’ trajectory for the next nine episodes. Thank goodness, then, that the merits of those individual plot and character threads are strong enough to leave the listener suitably chortled, emotionally wrought and ultimately captivated to discover what lies around the corner as soon as the show’s iconic end credits sting kicks in. As shown by her sublime Torchwood one-off outing The Dollhouse back in April, when left to her own devices Dawson’s got more than enough comedic and dramatic chops to pull off a standalone storyline for the range, but even if “Orr” can’t quite match that entertaining Charlie’s Angels-riffing adventure’s lofty heights, as a penultimate instalment for Part 1 it’s got more than enough to keep fans and newcomers alike engaged. Superiority Complex: “All life is equal – animal, mechanical and everything in-between.” Those wanting Part 1’s concluding instalment to serve as a gripping mid-season finale which leaves one desperate to hear the next four episodes might need to restrain those expectations somewhat. Much as “Superiority Complex” affords the whole team plenty to do as they infiltrate a prospering alien hotel to determine the source of recent on-site murders, with John Barrowman clearly relishing Jack’s newfound role as a typically flirtatious barman and Orr’s abilities granting her unprecedented access to employees’ psyches, it’s certainly not concerned with resolving or substantially progressing many plot threads established so far, barring a last-minute cliffhanger which promises dire straits for Torchwood Three come October’s Part 2. With that disclaimer out of the way, though, listeners can focus on simply enjoying the sheer lunacy of the team’s present situation, one member hiding a particularly juicy secret as she spars wits with disgruntled guests and Orr’s encounters with the hotel’s true management proving both ridiculous and tangible given the current exponential growth of artificial intelligence. Between uniting Jack with a British monarch in The Victorian Age and transforming Cardiff into a disease-ridden warzone in Outbreak, AK Benedict  is no stranger to devising logic-eschewing premises anyway, but “Complex” tests the extent to which your disbelief can be suspended like never before, an experiment which if nothing else ensures an unpredictable listening experience presumably akin to watching an episode of the original TV series while under the influence of narcotic substances. Better yet, come Episode 4’s credits we’re left with the unmistakable, gratifying sense of a truly reinvigorated Torchwood, one packing a familiar status quo but with revitalising new elements in the form of the team’s latest recruits, and the fresh, unstable dynamic between protagonists old and new ensuring that both the standalone and arc-orientated instalments compel. If Goss and company could work to justify Kai Owen and Tom Price’s top billings as Rhys and Andy – neither of whom get much in the way of dramatic meat until “Superiority” – next time around, and develop the elusive Ro-Jedda as a multi-dimensional antagonist for Jack et al to battle, then Part 2 could take the show to Children of Earth-rivalling heights once more, but for now, the show’s well and truly back on form, and long may it reign as such at Big Finish. http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2017/08/torchwood_aliens_among_us_part_1.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[sweetlifetownsville]

Solicitor Barry Taylor's Former Business Mate Gets Two And A Half Years In The Jug

Labor influencer Wayne Myers getting jail time for his role in the Ipswich corruption scandal must be embarrassing for Big Bazza Taylor, the worlds most touchy solicitor when it comes to his business dealings. Mind you, Taylor did no wrong when he teamed up briefly with Myers in Townsville more than a decade ago, but unfair perceptions of guilt by association may be about to get worse for our much loved legal foghorn. Our receding floodwaters have revealed some home truths about the cupidity of our council, and the fallacy of the Bulletins tub-thumping agenda. Do you reckon that her call for a Qantas boycott was our mayors finest hour? Well, now the she who would be the Battlers Boedicia has gone one better threatening insurance companies with a big stick, which may well end with a more damaging push back than the Qantas call. But spite of all our tribulations, love was in the air during the week, when we endured that annual dork fest of bad poetry and unrequited lust known as Valentines Day and this year, animals got in on the act no no, you grubby lot, not like that, they just played it for laughs. But first Getting Even Since Indias gift to the desecration of Australian native bird life is the unpleasant Indian Mynah, somehow it seems only fair it is a native Aussie bird that is now taking its revenge on an unpleasant Indian miner.

The row over the state governments somewhat clunky internal factional power play about the protection of the Black Throated Finch habitat which is apparently threatened by the Adani Carmichael mine project is a right old knicker twister. The Astonisher iditor Jenna Cairneys dainties have taken a hell of a contortion, forcing her yet again into unintended humour. First we had two News Corpse journos in the same edition of the paper making exactly opposing claims about the birds. One, The Astonishers John Andersen, who knows about these things being a straight down the line bushie, quoted some of his widespread old timer country contacts that the bloody bird was everywhere, always had been, not just near the mine site. In the very same edition, the Astonisher had lifted a piece by tired old Courier Mail click-baiter Des Houghton trying it on that the bird would become extinct, killed off by feral animals (cats and pigs apparently) if the Adani land set aside for its protection area DID NOT PROCEED. Ando is the far more believable in this face-off, rather than the Alan Jones-Lite Houghton, who didnt explain how the dreaded cats and pigs would be kept out of the protection area signage perhaps?. The finch has become our own native Scarlet Pimpernel: They seek him here, they seek him there, Those pollies seek him everywhere, Journos seek him near, they seek him far, Under sun and under star, They try so hard, but they try in vain, For he eludes them yet again. But Bentley was there to record a meeting between avian cousins to solve the mystery.

Then enter the obviously discombobulated Astonisher iditor Jenna Cairney, the very same Jenna who gave a good laugh in a recent iditorial when she insisted the Bulletin only did fair and balanced reporting. Deputy Premier The Treacherous Trad came to town to talk about flood recovery measures during the week, asking what could be best done for the victims, but the Astonisher wanted to talk about the Black Throated Finch. Trad swatted away a few weak attempts to engage on the matter, somehow judging that the governments flood recovery measures were surely the overriding topic of the moment. Boy, didnt that make Jenna stampn her feet in rage, she saw red, and fired off a blistering iditorial, suggesting, (topically if unfortunately), that we were being sold down the river which is where a fair amount of Townsville ended just a few days ago. But then, right in the middle of this foot stamping tantrum, this little thigh slapper popped up from nowhere.

A moment,please (gasp, wheeze, splutter ahem, sorry.) Leaving aside the absurdity of this virtue-signaling boast, this twaddle comes from an iditor who wagged a finger at those who have had the temerity to raise questions about the handling of the flood emergency.

Even your southern betters arent buying that one they can apparently walk and chew gum at the same time, handling more than one story at once heres just one instance from the Courier.

Heres a newsflash, dearie the days of outfits like the Bulletin being the gatekeepers of information are long gone, and you no longer set the news agenda. Some Say The Council Over The Years Has Had A Lack Of Vision Any inquiry into the handling of the flood is should not be restricted to just recent events themselves, but should surely delve back into council building policy and approvals over many years, to see why so many inappropriately designed structures, both private and commercial, were allowed to be built on clearly identified flood plains. A Nest read sent is a photo that might help explain the problem he believes this is the TCC building where these decisions were made.

Mayor Mullet Jumps On The Boycott Bandwagon Again Ms Cairney, under your newly announced tough question policy, any chance of asking Mayor Mullet about her bogan bluster that if insurance companies use southern tradies to do repair work in Townsville, she will name and shame them.

Even your own reporter, Clare Armstrong (the soon to join the Sydney Telegraph), described this piece of electoral grandstanding as extraordinary. Embarrassing empty threat might have been just as apt. Talk about Qantas boycott redux this implicitly means that your paper, Jenna, will have to be the mayors bully pulpit in this naming and shaming exercise of companies that are major News advertisers, going about their legal business funded by shareholders, and who couldnt give a fig about Mayor Mullet and her barroom style bluster. You OK with that? Or is there the odd tough question you might like to ask your pal the mayor? Naming and shaming? The bottom line, if it is followed logically, is that Mayor Jenny Hill is on the boycott bandwagon again, threatening to call for a boycott of companies who legally, if not morally, use outside tradies for whatever reason (like legally binding existing contractual arrangements). Given her shoot from the lip bravado over several issues recently, Mayor Mullets big stick is in reality a squizzle stick: she must have quite a supply of used lying about. And You Can Add Casual Racism To Her CV, Too Another shoot from the lip, when talking about the two blokes who drowned while ruinning from the police.

You cant pick your family members? What the hell does that mean? Judge Jenny at her best. Sorry, what was that? Oh, yeah, right, forgot, Palm Islanders dont have a vote in Townsville local elections Well, remember, all you other folks, you can choose your mayor soon, up to you. Ghosts Of Mates Past Coming Back To Haunt Bazza Taylor

Big Bazza Taylor As reported here recently, solicitor Barry Taylor was once briefly in business in Townsville with convicted briber Wayne Myers. During the week, Chief Judge Kerry OBrien gave Myers two and a half years in chokey, to be suspended after six months, for greasing the wheels of corruption with council and contractor officials in Ipswich.

As reported here recently, back in the early 2000s, Myers and Taylor tried to start a local teleco company with the council, with Barry charged with roping in local bizoids to pony up $20k each for the venture. The then Mayor Tony Mooney saw the scheme was a financial rip-off, and knocked it on the head. While hes living down that little episode, Bazza now waits to see how big will be the embarrassment of another of his erstwhile clients, Craig Gore. The question here is which will be the biggest embarrassment , Gore refusing to keep his promise to return from Sweden to face trial on multiple fraud charges, (how he was allowed to go only God and a Brisbane judge know), or if he does show up (ring Tab Extreme Bets for the odds on that), is found guilty and cops an expected dozen or more years for his grubby rip-offs. Gore was squired around town by Bazza also in the 2000s, while the shyster was spruiking the completely impossible canal estate scheme in front of the casino. To the best of The Pies knowledge, Taylor had no stake in the venture Gore was only here for a short visit but if Bazza had any sense of shame, he wouldve been red faced when all that turned to highly questionable shit. Probably not, since he only hosted the grub to brown-nose his Labor pals in Brisbane. Wonder if Baz will lead the defence in the unlikely event that Gore does return. Probably not, not at Bazs prices. Puppy Love It was Valentines Day during the week, and public mawkishness was all around, it was unavoidable. But then The Pie discovered that zoos around the world they all regularly stay in touch to talk shop had decided that their animals had been left out of the annual love fest long enough. From San Diego to Sydney, to London and all points around the globe, this was the very punny result.

Lets get straight to the point anyone want a shag?

Stop! Youre making me tawny!

Talk birdy to me.

So glad we could support each other on this day, because as they say love is a cattlefield.

Of course I mean it! Id love you to the baboon and back.

Alpaca my bags.

May our love never tapir off.

Seal-iously, we think youre all keepers. A Warning Sign In These Trouble Financial Times

And our gallery of the week from Trumpistan

Finally The Pie normally likes to leave you laughing with a parting joke, but lets break from that rule this week, and ask you to think about this emotive tweets rarely penetrate the Magpie necessary cynicism , but, perhaps because he the father of a daughter, this one hit home for the old bird. Simply but shatteringly highlights the horror of being a school kid America, and the damage being done to an entire generation. It also shows why we are a far saner and safer society, natural disasters and all, here in Australia. A mother in Delaware tweeted this during the week. So my kids school had a genuine lockdown today. Some whack job called in a bomb threat Police came and everything was fine, Thank God! My guys seemed fine when they got home and they talked about it with me, and told me their versions of what happened and then went right into their homework and normal after school stuff, and all seemed fine. It wasnt until later when Vanessa was changing out of her school uniform that I saw this on her arm.

I say to her, why did you write that on your arm?She says, in case the bad guy got to us and I got killed, you and daddy would know that I love you, and she started to cry (as did I as I watched a little piece of her innocence get stolen away) To know that my 7yo was put in a position to think that thought is absolutely gut wrenching and its killing me inside.Its now been a couple hours, and I cant seem to shake this awful feeling, feeling of sadness, fear, and plain disgusts for this new normal our kids have to deal with on any given day..its a very scary and disturbing society we now live in, and its heartbreaking It certainly is. What have they wrought? Its unfathomable. .. A tumultuous week gone, and all The Magpies thoughts to those getting their life back together. Have your say about anything on the blog comments, they run 24/7. http://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/solicitor-barry-taylors-former-business-mate-gets-two-and-a-half-years-in-the-jug/