#specifically the scene where he puts himself in front of gus to protect him from ''wolves''

[chalkrevelations]

Episode 32 of Word of Honor, and once again, this is just. A LOT. A LOT is happening, and all of it is A LOT. Also, show, what is even happening? I have questions. A LOT of questions.

(Spoilers. Go ahead and scroll on by, then come back later, if you want to watch it unspoiled.)

BUT FIRST, before anything else, you know I have to yell about this for a minute because we once again see that the Gu Xiang/Cao Weining relationship and the Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishou relationship are the same relationship. We get the same scene with A-Xiang and Cao Weining – again – that we’ve already seen with Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu, this time from Ep 27, with Fan Shishu in the role of Ye Baiyi. Fan Shishu (YBY) asks “Do you know who she (he) is?” and this time, Cao Weining knows, just as ZZS knew in Ep 27. Cao Weining (ZZS) literally throws himself in front of A-Xiang (WKX) to protect her (him). “Kill us both” (Ep 27). “If you’re going to hurt her, kill me first” (Ep 32). Fan Shishu, like YBY, eventually lets A-Xiang and Cao Weining go, despite having them in a position where he could do them in. Color palettes between the two couples in these scenes match again, with the younger couple being more intense this time – A-Xiang and Wen Kexing in pinks, Cao Weining and Zhou Zishu in blue. (ZZS is mainly in creams and grey, but the piping on his robes is a very light blue, I think the greys have a blue undertone to them, and when you stand him next to Chengling in more intense blue while he’s wearing that particular outfit, it really starts to pull out the blue of ZZS’s outside robe – you can see this at the end of Ep 26.) Between the way these relationships continue to mirror each other and the hairpin scene from the last ep, I honestly don’t know what our takeaway is supposed to be, other than that WKX and ZZS are essentially married.

I also find it interesting - although this almost seems like too much of a stretch to be anything other than coincidence - that we get a specific callback to Ep 27 in this episode, as Ep 27 is also when WKX talks about not wanting to lie to Chengling about who he is anymore, and this ep is when they finally (apparently) meet again after Chengling learns the truth.

Aaaand now A-Xiang is crying, so of course I’m crying. Aaaand then we have the mournful montage. Give me a minute. And some tissues. I notice how much of this mournful drunken montage is ZZS remembering all the times he was cranky with WKX. Oh, honey. No. That’s what you’re remembering, because you feel bad, but it’s not what he would remember at all, if he was looking back over his time with you. And even if he did, it would be with great fondness.

Yeah, so, if I haven’t mentioned, this episode is a LOT. We get a big confrontation between WKX and half the jianghu/the Scorpions/some of the Ghost Valley contingent, ZZS showing up to support his man, Fantastic Cranky Grandpa of my heart getting in his eleven cents, Chengling shooting one of his dads, and two yeets off a cliff. And that’s only 15 minutes into the episode. This is too much, show. And I have too many questions. Also some observations. Also some wild speculation, not just about the fact that Wen Kexing is not dead but also about how he may have (not) got that way. And not just because there’s still four episodes left, and it’s too early for him to be dead.

First a small observation but pretty significant, I think: WKX is NOT in his blood-red Ghost Valley master robes during this confrontation. In fact, I think we’ve seen this set of robes in happier days with Zhou Zishou and Chengling. Just noticing this. Also noticing WKX’s face when Shen Shen starts going on about WKX’s parents and how omg if they could see WKX now they’d die all over from the shame, and WKX’S expression is like, the fucking audacity of Shen Shen saying this, and if he could actually kill people with the power of his mind, Shen Shen would be twitching and frothing on the ground. Also noticing the complete change when WKX sees Chengling – it’s like Shen Shen ceases to even exist for him. Gong Jun, your face, it’s killing me. Anyway, I’m going to start wildly speculating here for a minute, because WKX is willing to let Chengling kill him, because he’s so tired and wants to stop fighting, but he’s going to kick everyone else’s ass who even tries it? And then Chengling is actually the one who shoots him and yeets him off the cliff? Is this a set up? Is Chengling in on this? Is he the one who’s supposed to “kill” WKX? If so, at what point did we get Chengling in on this? And who did it? Did Chengling send what’s his name, Jing Beiyuan’s guard, away on purpose at this particular point, because he knew ZZS would show up in time for this confrontation if he heard about Chengling’s reaction to the news about WKX? And do I actually believe Chengling is smart enough – and a good enough actor – to pull off any of this? (Look, I love our little goldbean plenty, but let’s face it, he’s not the brightest kid running around here.)

Also, my dudes. My clever little killers. Xie Wang and Wen Kexing. I am unwilling to believe that you two aren’t somehow still together on this in some way in order to fuck over Awful Yifu. Your antagonistic back and forth seems a little bit like playing roles. Xie Wang gives Awful Yifu a weird side-eye a few times when Awful Yifu talks about how tricksy and cunning WKX is, like maybe he’s reconsidering, and do not tell me you’re questioning and reconsidering whatever deal you’ve made with WKX, little gambler. Why does your Awful Yifu’s bs always work on you? This is really not the time to roll the dice again. I’m assuming A-Xiang is still the only one who knows about their tete-a-tete? If so, this is a side-take I never would have expected on “you don’t fail me, and I won’t fail you.” Honor among thieves? Stick to the plan, Xie’er, whatever the hell it is. Do not blink.

So then, Ye Baiyi shows up, and my immediate reaction is NO. My beloved cranky grandpa, don’t fuck this up, because whatever is going on seems to already have a lot of moving parts with a lot of places for things to go wrong! But … are you in on it, too? Have YOU coordinated with Chengling? (If so, maybe you should have warned him to expect ZZS’s wild-card self-yeet over the cliff’s edge, since you’ve already seen how self-destructive self-sacrificing these two can get over each other.) Making me even more suspicious, Ye Baiyi later proceeds to walk out of a banquet before even eating anything. This guy is walking away from food? There is no clearer sign in this ep that something is up.

Also, while we’re on the banquets, listen. I cannot be the only one who wants to punch Zhao Jing in the face during his interminable yapping during both post-fight banquets. This is one of those places where the show and the actor have done their job too well, because he is so dislikeable and so off-putting that I almost can’t bear to actually watch him. And yet, I can’t fast-forward, because what if I miss some info? Like the fact that … you know, I went back to watch this bit three times, and that is a very … interesting series of camera shots during the second banquet - after the toasts, just as a couple of randoms start advocating for Zhao Jing as head of the Five Lakes Alliance, and we move from Xie’er to Shen Shen to Chengling, all of them still standing, facing Zhao Jing after their individual toasts, all of them in a formation that’s almost caging him in from the front and both sides. It gets more interesting every time I watch it. Is … is Shen Shen also in on this, somehow?

See, I know that is a lot of wild speculation. I know Wen Kexing got yeeted off a cliff, and Ye Baiyi was busy catching Zhou Zishu. And we saw a body. And ZZS set that body on fire. But I also know that Liu Qianqiao was the person holding vigil outside the shed where the body was being held. And I know she’s the other person, besides ZZS, who we know of that knows the facemask disguise technique (in fact, didn’t she learn it from ZZS’s shifu?) We actually get reminded of this later on in this very episode. Which makes me wonder if that was actually WKX’s body, or somebody else, in the shed. Who “found” that body and recovered it? Was it a Scorpion or one of the Ghost Valley contingent? Also, where’s that key WKX was waving around, and why does no one seem to remember it?

 Other things:

lol at A-Xiang’s reaction to Jing Beiyun talking about how ZZS used to ask him to set ZZS up with girls. Further lol at Jing Beiyuan, “And funny enough, he was NEVER interested in them. Welp, time for another drink!” Seriously, Qi Ye, we like you, you can absolutely stay.

Still at the banquets, Xie Wang seems discombobulated during a lot of this. And then when Awful Yifu calls him Zhao Xie’er in front of everybody, holy shit, he’s getting everything he ever wanted. Xie’er, you … you’re not going to fall for this again, are you? Please tell me you are not falling for this again, at what is likely a crucial moment. This is NO TIME to take another roll of the dice, little gambler. Stick with the plan, whatever the hell it is.

Oh, hey! Are we finally getting some backstory on Fantastic Cranky Grandpa? Oh. OH. “Our child?” What is up, my friend? (I did go back to Ep 16, when WKX calls Chengling “my child” while defending him against Ye Baiyi, and looking at the Mandarin subtitles, I can’t entirely figure out (with my Level 2 Duolingo Mandarin) all of the nuances of these two references, but it doesn’t look like they’re using the same words to describe these relationships.) So some further wild speculation: Apparently, Cranky Grandpa Fantastico is solitary drinking in the dark instead of feasting at the banquet, over someone who (he feels) foolishly wanted to save the lost souls in the Ghost Valley? And now he feels like fate is making fun of him? And he’s asking Dead Beloved what he would do in Ye Baiyi’s position? Ye Baiyi, is it possible that fate is making fun of you because you have found yourself in the position of saving a lost soul from the Ghost Valley? Also, Ye Baiyi, I’ve noticed the children have been turning you grey. I don’t think you had that grey streak when you showed up for the first Hero’s Conference, did you? In fact, I feel like you got offended when WKX talked shit about possible grey hairs on your head. 

Duan Pengju, this asshole, omg … OMG. Well. I guess you got your confirmation, Xie’er. Were you really considering rolling the dice again? AT THIS POINT?

[caithyra]

A lot of people claim Kagura (and by extension her "siblings") was a full demon, but am I alone in thinking that she was always a half-demon/hanyo because she was an incarnation of Naraku, who was also a half-demon?

First a disclaimer: I view Naraku’s incarnations very different from the rest of fandom, like I do with most things in this manga.

Naraku’s incarnations fans might not like my interpretation... Oh, and it only pertains to the manga.

TL;DR: They are likely as yokai as Sesshomaru’s severed arm. Except Muso. (Skip to the bottom of this post if you want the elaborated, quick answer of my interpretation and then the probable canon answer, which is different. I just have an interpretation of canon that I haven’t seen anyone else suggest before that...)

Anyway, first we are going to go through what Naraku is before he creates his incarnations:

Onigumo, a human, who is devoured by a yokai horde that becomes Naraku.

Naraku is then a hanyo capable of absorbing other yokai and their power, which he presumably does a few times before he tries something as big as absorbing a daiyokai like Sesshomaru (which he fails at), given his attempt at Sesshomaru, we can presume that at least a few of these yokai were powerful even if they were not daiyokai, since going from lesser yokai to greater yokai without anyone inbetween is very foolhardy, given how weak Naraku was at the time (he also used manipulations mostly during this time).

So up to the point that the manga starts, Naraku is a mostly yokai hanyo made up of literally hundreds of yokai of various powers and strengths.

Then, before he begins creating incarnations Naraku is nearly killed by Kagome (this is an important part of my interpretation) and cannot restore himself without turning towards a dark type of magic called kodoku.

Kodoku is a magical ritual/art called “gu/ku” in Chinese in which various toxic creatures are put into an enclosed space to absorb one another until only one remains. This remaining creature (also called Gu/Ku/Kodoku) is considered supremely toxic and powerful and with various abilities such as pestilence, manipulation (Naraku/Kanna/Infant?), transformation (Naraku), and a number of other things that falls well within Naraku’s sphere of power.

Anyway, Naraku absorbs the kodoku and is restored, and also made up of even more different kinds of yokai. And he holds a large chunk of the empowering Shikon no Tama, courtesy of Kikyo.

And that’s when he begins creating incarnations (分身 - bunshin).

That word, bunshin, is a funny thing. In Naruto, it is the “clone” part in Clone Techniques (such as Kage Bunshin/Shadow Clone which Naruto uses all the time), and as a common word, has been used in many manga/anime/games.

Here’s the definition of Jisho.org for example:

ぶんしん 分身 common word Noun 1. other self; alter ego; part of oneself (in someone or something else); representation of oneself 2. (Buddhist term) incarnations of Buddha​

Kotobank.jp translates it into “double/doppelgänger” and has this to say:

1. One divided into two or more separate bodies. 2. (Buddhist term, similar to above.)

But basically, a bunshin is not a separate person from what they are a bunshin of most of the time in pop culture (or they are re/pre/incarnations like in Buddhism, but no one suggests Kagura is to Naraku what Kagome is to Kikyo, so... *shrugs* Lets got with the other definition!). They always exist in relation to the original (Naraku). Other translations simply call them detachments, which has the implication of parts of Naraku that he’s cut off and given life for his own purposes.

I will be skipping Muso since he is an aberration among the bunshin, and likely the most hanyo of the lot.

The first bunshin Naraku creates is Kanna, who has no will, no emotions and no drive of her own. She solely does Naraku’s bidding, no more, no less. (There is a sole exception of her death scene, but that was more to inform the heroes of Kikyo’s light, which curtails with how the story began bending to fit Kikyo as a tragic heroine... Don’t even get me started...)

Then he creates Kagura, who is the opposite extreme; freedom is her greatest aspiration and she continuously backtalks Naraku and tries to act against him, yet, in the end, everything goes as Naraku wants when it comes to Kagura (this is also important).

Lets look at these two extremes and lets pretend that these are not Naraku’s incarnations; they are toasters.

Kanna is the toaster that Naraku must put the perfect settings in every time before use and push the toast down with a lever. Then he must wait and push the eject button, because Kanna wont do it herself.

Kagura is the fancy toaster with all the bells and whistles and more settings than anyone needs, including sensors to tell when the perfect toast is done to be ejected. She even automatically lowers the toast into the toasting slots when you put them in. In theory, Naraku doesn’t need to do anything else; Kagura knows exactly what to do to make the toast Naraku wants. Except fancy gadgets like these malfunctions and are temperamental and has the wrong settings put in and, yeah, Kagura doesn’t want to make Naraku’s perfect toast, but Naraku has rigged a big, complicated Rube-Goldberg machine to push her eject button before she can irreparably burn his toast, so it doesn’t matter.

All the different incarnations are on a sliding scale of these, except for Hakudoshi, who is an even fancier version of Kagura and capable of making grilled cheese sandwiches, and what more, Naraku wants Hakudoshi to burn some of his toast, because of the risk/reward that one day, Hakudoshi will not burn Naraku’s toast, but instead will make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich for Naraku to enjoy.

Byakuya, by contrast, is the perfect blend of obedient Kanna and the ability to make tedious decisions and act on his own like Kagura.

It’s like with computer programs; some require a dozen clicks to complete a task, another, that has been further programmed (given personality and motivation), only require one.

In short, I do not see them as separate people from Naraku, which is where I diverge from most of fandom; they have no pupils, which are signs of possession/not having their own minds in many anime, which is also a yokai trait (like Koga), but is egregious when it comes to everything else. It should be noted that most of Naraku’s bunshin are obedient to Naraku, but that in order to arrive to the perfect blend of independent action plus unquestioning obedience that is Byakuya, he experimented with giving more or less free will, individual desires and so on.

And it was Kagura who led me to believe that:

First; she is given the appearance of “Sesshomaru’s ideal woman” according to Takahashi who believes that all men want Kikyo or someone like her (”Sesshomaru’s ideal type of woman” is “like Kikyo” according to her according to some interview I’ve seen quoted around, but I would like an actual source, please...), including Sesshomaru, so she makes Kagura a young woman like Kikyo named after a dance that miko, like Kikyo, dance.

Second; she is given a sympathetic motivation “freedom” but at no point do we get a clue as to how she feels about “freedom” other than something to attain. She does not daydream about it or what she will do with it, she does not envy others’ freedom overtly (nor resentfully watching them), there’s literally nothing except her nebulously wanting “freedom” being “the free wind” when she passes away.

Third; she is obviously and loudly antagonistic towards Naraku, and, indeed he, the great villain, holds her heart literally in his hand to torture her with. Don’t you want to save her? Give this pretty lady freedom?

Fourth; she really wants Sesshomaru to save her, despite the fact that Sesshomaru has never come close to killing Naraku and always refuses to save Kagura.

Fifth; but when Kagome, the only person to ever come close to killing Naraku in the entire series at this point, offers to protect Kagura, Kagura refuses and still goes to Sesshomaru. Even though Kagome is not just the person whose power Naraku fears, but also someone with a history of taking in her foes as friends (unlike Sesshomaru).

Sixth; Tenseiga did not even react to Kagura “dying”.

None of this makes sense, unless one thinks of Kagura as a part of Naraku that he has “programmed” specifically to mess with Sesshomaru. In that case, Kagura refusing Kagome’s protection while still being infatuated with Sesshomaru who refuses to do anything and has proven nothing as her supposed savior, and the lack of psychopomps at her death and Tenseiga having no reaction, makes sense if Kagura is little more than something like a living tentacle of Naraku’s, given a pretty face, personality and “programming” to go hard for Sesshomaru and then, use her final moment to upset him (by this time, everyone knows Sesshomaru’s complex with his father’s swords, so if his sword wont work when predictably would he ask it to... Cue upset Sesshomaru. Too bad Inu no Taisho did one up on Naraku on that front by ensuring Inuyasha got the Meido after Sesshomaru and Rin nearly died in front of Sesshomaru’s mother for Sesshomaru to get it... Naraku’s manipulations got nothing on InuPapa’s beyond the grave...).

It would explain her undeveloped motivation (the abstract “freedom”), why everything still goes as Naraku wishes despite a few hiccups and so on, and, of course, why she had no soul for Tenseiga to save...

Naraku might as well have told Kanna “fall in love with Sesshomaru and plead with him to give you freedom” and Kanna would do her best to obey, but because of her non-personality, the emotional manipulation would be obvious (even more so once she refused Kagome, since, after all, it is Sesshomaru who is to give her freedom). But Naraku would have to micromanage her extensively to do so as well as make her a mature body. Far easier to just create a new detachment with slightly more free will and so on with the “programming” installed.

Does Kagura know this? Maybe she suspected it by being around her “siblings” and noting how different their levels of sapience/sentience/free wills were (and she even tells Hakudoshi that his plans will come to naught because Naraku wont allow it, suggesting she believes Naraku’s will is absolute over the incarnations), but she probably felt like her own person, and would have been “programmed” to think of herself as such and dismiss any suspicions to the contrary.

It would fit very well with the body-horror aspect of early Inuyasha and Naraku’s character as a whole. But would also be a bit too much for a children’s comic magazine in an action series...

So what are Naraku’s incarnations on the human-yokai scale?

They are likely yokai, like Sesshomaru’s severed arm, with the exception of Muso who had Naraku’s most human part in him and would likely be considered hanyo on a DNA test. They were likely made from the yokai parts of the hordes that make up Naraku after the kodoku, but aren’t separate people (like, the parts of a crane yokai would have been used to create Byakuya, for example, while oni parts would have been used for Goshinki). They are just more advanced dolls made of purely yokai parts IMO.

But that’s just my extremely niche interpretation of the manga and the inconsistencies with the story.

In canon, it is much more likely that the simpler explanation; that they are separate people who are also yokai (except Muso), is the answer.

I just don’t like the inconsistencies it creates within the story and made my own interpretation and rambled on and on in this post. Sorry.

[milquetoast-on-acid]

Shockwave pt1, A Reactionary Post

I enjoyed this weeks episode but after a slew of emotionally enaging episode this one felt like a bit of a let down. Especially considering that this could have been the series last. Also sorry for posting this so late. RL and all that.

What this episode is about: The Future and everyone's roles going forward With regards to Sharon's Happiness, Rusty/Gus' relationship as well as a few mentions among the other squad members. Stroh's Revenge

Stroh lerking in the shadows and pawns in his game After learning that Stroh is back with an alarming increase of mysterious killings (surrounding people from his past) we know that he's lerking in the shadows and more than likely has a hand in what's going on in this episode. What we know about Stroh and how he operates as a killer. Is that he always has a partner. One that he manipulates into a bond, allows them to follow their own agenda (in order to use as a diversion from what he's really doing) and ultimately uses them as a fall guy. 

His increasing killings are alarming which means that he's tieing up loose ends and hungry for revenge. Possibly hungrier than he's ever been. That tells me he's going to be uping the stakes more so than we have ever seen him in the past. I think Stroh's plan is to get back at Rusty and Brenda because they were the ones that caught him. And what a better way to to that than to hurt them and their relationships with the people closest to them. And then that will eventually pave way to him attempting to kill Rusty and possibly Brenda. 

Stroh's plan is to shove an emotional wedge between Gus and Rusty. And physically harm the squad because he can't emotionally manipulate their relationships (as the bond between Rusty and the squad, as well as Brenda and the squad is too strong and goes back too far).

The Pawns

Gus's Boss Aiden I have speculated (and continue to believe) that Gus' boss is someone that Stroh has manipulated in order to come between him and Rusty. Once Stroh was aware of their relationship and Gus' desires to be a professional chief he could have sought out Aiden. The guy is young and hungry to start a restaurant, he's got great ideas but doesn't have the money or possibly the connections to start a business. Which Stroh offers him in exchange for him to hire Gus and do his best to get closest to him. Which to Aiden, could really seem like such a great deal. Like why would you want to turn something down like that?

I watched Off the Wagon the other day and that is the first episode that Gus' boss is brought up. It's such a short conversation that it's not something that really sticks in your mind and I believe he's only brought up that one time before this episode. So it's really made to be something that you'd forget about and then possibly remember during Gus' and Rusty's fight. 

From the previous conversation we learn that Aiden is quite young and has taken an interest in Gus. Seems like for Gus it's only professional interest but Rusty isn't so sure and that brings out some jealousy in him. Interestingly the dinner that Gus makes for him, Rusty and Sharon are steaks that he he won in some raffle at the restaurant he works at. 

At the time it doesn't really seem odd but thinking about it now it really seems like Gus' boss had Gus 'win' the steaks in order to possibly facilitate a bond between the two of them. In Gus' mind he'd think oh hey I won some steaks. This guy is really cool and he's also taking a professional interest in me I could go far. If this is a plan of Stroh's to push the two of them apart and exploit insecurities in their relationship than it's working.

Christian Ortiz Seems to be Stroh's method to physically harming the squad. He's already got a grudge against them and a plan that was already sturing in jail. They also bring up another highly interesting point. In that Ortiz claims innocence after he's confessed. Which is acknowledged as strange but not brought up again after that. Why would he do that if not for some sort of deal he made with Stroh? You get to harm as many police officers as you want in exchange for harming these ones in particular. As the bombings of cops is a really great way for him to get noticed by MC. I'm also left wondering just what evidence it is that he's hoping to destroy? Most likely evidence in Stroh's murders.

Plot over emotion Here's a slight complaint about the episode that I feel is something that the show struggles with at times. There is so much going on in a single episode with regards to a case and a personal story with it's characters. That I feel that at times follow through on emotional events is either not realized or passed over much too quickly. It's something that happened in three different occasions in this episode. 

Boy likes Girl. Girl likes Girl. Boy is sad. What was the point in this scene? The only thing that I can possibly come up with is that there are no parallels between the killers story and Rusty/Gus' issues that they had to spend 2 minutes wasting on characters we will never see again. Like we could have just seen the killer punch the kid. Or even just learn about it from the squad. 

Sharon's anger Once Andy tells Sharon that Davis is currently having a press conference about the bombing. Sharon stalks down the hallway to where the conference is happening to...glare at Davis angrily. Look it's Sharon and she's not going to get into a screaming match with Davis about it. That's not Sharon's style. But there was so much build up in emotion for Sharon at that particular moment and it looked as if she was going to confront Davis about it. Only for it to not happen. 

It's not until later on at the morgue that Sharon has any kind of conversation with Davis about her jumping the gun on the press conference. And by that time the emotional build up of that earlier scene is gone. 

Sharon going into battle Another emotional moment that I think the episode greatly missed out on. Was when Sharon left with the squad to go to the funeral and warn everyone that they may be stumbling on a bomb. It makes total sense that it was Rusty who told Sharon to be careful and not Andy.  For the reasons that @tvfan08​ made a regarding the scene. 

The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is the lack of any emotional acknowledgment between Sharon and Andy that she was going in a dangerous situation. If you think about the other times that the two of them are in command posts and Andy leaves, there has always been some sort of physical acknowledgement between the two of them. As Sharon isn't one for PDA it's not going to be a kiss, especially in front of Rusty. But I would have settled for a look at the very least.

The Squad's moments in the sun

Buzz is Javier and Gabe is Buzz I so called this one. I don't think I ever put this in one of my reviews but as soon as Buzz started getting close to the Jones family this is the outcome I saw. It doesn’t seem like the two of them have had a relationship as of yet but it's definitely getting there. By evident of him calling her Mrs Jones (instead of using her first name). Make not mistake Buzz will marry Mrs Jones he will become his stepfather Javier and Gabe will become Buzz. 

Julio Julio really doesn't get much of a moment but it was there. He noticed that the Crime Scene techs (at the original crime scene) have glossed over a window. So he takes it upon himself to dust for prints. Even though Provenza is not very hopefully they will find anything. It may actually have prints that may ultimately break their case wide open. We shall see on Wednesday.

Provenza and Retirement As of now he hasn't retired but I think that the subject of retirement is not over with him. He seemed to take what happened at the original crime scene pretty hard. To me it seemed like he's still on that verge of staying or quiting. Anyone think that Provie miss' Blockbuster? ;)

Wes' emotional state and integrating into a unit There has been this subtle thread of Wes' through out 5b with him struggling to deal with being in a police unit again that's been really great to see. And I feel like his comment towards Davis is certainly apart of that (besides his own personality). Wes is a bit like Andy shoot first and ask questions later. His actions make perfect sense due to the fact that he had to act on his own and in addition to that his was in an environment for 5 years that was all about violence. Anyway it seems like he's finally officially a part of the squad with that comment and also I really enjoyed his protection of Provenza during the blast.

Amy's Military Connections For the longest time I've wanted them to delve into Amy's mysterious career as an MP. I had thought that they could build an interesting story around that. And sadly that hasn't happened. So it was really nice to see Amy use her connections to help them along with their case. Hopefully in Season 6 we will get to meet her former commanding officer or have an episode where we delve pretty deep into it.

Mike's Guilt We get a nice subtle thread of Mike dealing with guilt over unknowingly handing a bomb over to the crime scene tech. He looks so conflicted at the morgue. It's so rare that we get inside of Mike's head on an emotional level.

Andy, Leadership and emotional growth What I find really interesting about Andy in the morgue scene. Is really how much it contrasts with how he used to act in situations like this. The Andy from five years ago would be yelling at Davis, he'd be blaming her and pointing out what she did wrong.  Instead Andy is super calm while he brings up some valid points about her not fully understanding the situation which causes her to jump the gun.

Sharon's realizing her happiness I really feel that Sharon's whole personal arc throughout the entire series has been about her putting her foot down when it comes to making life decisions. Specifically her learning to make decisions that will make her happiest and not what's best. This later half of 5b has been really focusing on that. Here with Sharon deciding not to take the assistant chief position because it won't make her happy. And earlier her agreeing to marry Andy. Someone who she loves greatly and brings so much happiness and joy to her life. 

Rusty and Gus I'm really surprised by the direction that this relationship has taken. From FB chats it really seemed like Duff was 100% all about this relationship. To the point where he wanted to add Rene Rosado to the main cast. They are given lots of time and attention to have plenty of fulfilling conversations regarding their relationship. But the direction their relationship has taken is just kind of odd. 

Perhaps there was massive dislike on their relationship in the surveys. To me I really thought that for Rusty, Rusty/Gus was endgame. Either that or my theory on Gus' boss as an emotional wedge may possibly be correct. It's interesting in that this was how Duff was going to end the show. And from the problems that Rusty and Gus are having in their relationship it seems like they are headed for a break up. 

I had thought that once Rusty got over himself and stopped being so short sited about using Gus' time with him correctly I thought that things between them would be a lot smoother. But it seems like there are more problems in their relationship than just Rusty's behavior. For that matter regarding this scene I really think that both of them are right and both of them are wrong for different reasons. 

This scene reminds me of when Rusty was depressed about the him and Gus breaking up after him turning Gus down about moving in together. Sharon tells Rusty that you need to listen to what your gut is telling you. Even though Rusty realized that the reason why he couldn't move in with Gus had to do with him needing to be able to stand on his own two feet, it's becoming clear that his gut is telling him there are other issues at play. 

I never realized it until this scene but Rusty is not the only person in this relationship that is impulsive. Gus gets so caught up in emotions about certain decisions that he wants to make that he thinks that Rusty will react in a certain way. When in fact Rusty ends up reacting in a completely opposite way. Like when Gus asked Rusty to move in with him and they end up breaking up. Or here when Gus thinks that Rusty will drop his whole life to be with him in Napa. I really like that Gus thought about this long and hard and did his research on Rusty transferring to a different school. But I definitely agree with Rusty that he should have told him about all of this sooner. 

But Rusty for that matter. Even though we've gotten massive growth regarding his selfish behaviors some of that is still here. He decides that he needs to go to work an hour early to prep but he's so caught up in what he has to do that he tells Gus he's going to drop him off at the corner. He can't spare the extra few minutes to drive to the door? That's not how you should act in a relationship and it makes the other person possibly think that your just a second thought to them. Rusty's reaction to Gus' possible promotion is almost 100% negative. There should be some happiness in there for Gus but there isn't because all Rusty can see is his own life being completely up rooted. 

It seems like they are having communication problems. Gus didn't tell Rusty about his job opportunity until it was staring him in the face. Aiden has brought up some trust issues between Rusty and Gus. Rusty is very clearly jealous of Aiden and his interest in Gus. I however don't think that Gus has a romantic interest in Aiden. But it's something that the two of them need to sit down and discuss because it's affecting their relationship. Rusty should bring that up in a conversation but at the same time Gus should be picking up that Rusty is insecure about Aiden. 

It makes me sad because I really like Gus and have thought for a long while that he's pretty good for Rusty. Because he wouldn't let Rusty get away with his shitty behavior for not using his time wisely. The problems that the two of them are having extend beyond Aiden and are not going to be solved by a five minute conversation. I'm not so hopeful on their relationship that I once was. At this point I think that maybe they do need to break up for a while before they can do some growing up seperatly.

Rusty/Gus and Sharon/Andy For a while in 5a MC liked to build parallels between Sharon/Andy and Rusty/Gus. However since 5b and Rusty/Gus' problems I'm seeing much more contrast between them and the parallels are getting fewer and fewer. At times I also think that Gus will say something about his relationship with Rusty to draw a parallel to Sharon/Andy that I feel often times is a huge stretch. 

Case in point when Gus tells Rusty that he's always waiting for him. This seemed much more relevant in 5a when Gus was waiting for Rusty to really admit to him how deeply he felt for him. Gus tells Rusty this because he thinks that Rusty is just not emotionally ready to moving in with him. I honestly think that Rusty is emotionally ready. That what Rusty told him was the truth as well as I mentioned earlier that his gut was trying to tell him that there are other issues there. 

Another thing that I want to point out in the differences in the two relationships is. Rusty and Gus at this point are massively disconnected. Where's with Sharon and Andy when the two of them were at the point in their relationship where they were the most disconnected there was always a part of them that was in harmony. Gus telling Rusty that he's waiting on him is also another difference. We did see Andy grumble about, Sharon taking their relationship at a slower pace than he wanted from time to time. But it was never anything he used to throw in her face.

More Speculation Bomb Squad dude. Why do I get the feeling that he's in on it somehow? There is that shot of him around a random purse that he just looks at and then keeps going. Although this could be more of the killer's MO of hiding the bomb in plain sight. Or what if when Davis becomes Chief she'll put him or someone else on the MC squad to watch them?

What I didn't Like: Honestly for what would have been a potential series finale I felt that this episode was somewhat disappointing. Yes there was lots of explosions, death and a killer taking things to the extreme seemingly targeting our cops at Major Case. I think what's disappointing me about the episode's emotional pacing was really off. I really think that for a potential series finale what's missing from this episode is emotional weight. The promo was very heavily about the bomb so the ending of the episode wasn't all that shocking. I did however love that the end of the episode ended with no idea who was hurt and who wasn't.

What I liked: High stakes, the ending and some slight forward motion on where the characters are at in their personal lives. Each character has their own moment in the episode and I really liked that.