#th 1x03

[mswyrr]

more on michelin stars

I genuinely think it's going to be an important plot point in s3 re: why exactly Sydney wants a star and why *one* specifically. I went and researched and discovered something I used in my fic, which is that one Michelin star restaurants are excellent cuisine that normal people can still afford. And that connected, for me, to what Sydney had told Marcus about how going out was so special when she was a kid and she wanted to share that kind of amazing thing with people:

We didn't really like eat out a lot growing up, so when we did, it felt special even if it wasn't.... I wanna cook for people and make them happy and give them the best bacon on Earth (1x08)

I'm so hopeful/convinced that the research they have with, like, Matty (the chef who plays Fak) right there on set, means the writers know that about what one star places can be like. And that it's meant to be part of this - more humane vision of excellence for Sydney, where their spot is AMAZING, but it's not a cruel kitchen culture, it's not only for the rich.

For her, it’s *part* of her vision, where she says: 

“I think this place could be so different from all the other places we've been at. But, in order for that to be true, we need to run things different.“ (1x03)

But Carmy sees a star and all it means (all he’s ever known it to mean) as a repudiation of that kind of humanity. You say the word "star" and immediately Carmy goes "fuck stars" (2x01) as pure self-defense - because stars are just pain and suffering to him. They're NYC chef and everything that mess became.

He's so traumatized by the whole thing he doesn't think to ask the right questions: why do you want one? What is your vision for it? Why do you specifically want *one* instead of two or three? What timeline do you have in mind for getting there and how can we strategize on this together?

Instead, because he wants so desperately to please her, despite that instinctive, self-defensive "fuck stars" he relents and asks - okay, are you sure? Are you positive this is what you want? Really?? It's terrible. It's just dread and fear and throwing up every day before work. You really want me to give you this?

(I’ll give you anything you want)

He never asks the right questions. Just assuming the level of pain which is his only experience of this is what the thing IS--playing into that theme about how people only know what they're taught, only know what they are given, and if we are given pain and patterns of it it is so hard to even imagine things can be different and, when you can imagine it, still so hard to actually get there.

(It’s not a coincidence that the ASL sign is one of the few positive, healthy examples of kitchen culture Carmy witnessed - we only know what we’re taught, and it can be hard work to even figure out what “not shitty” IS let alone doing it)

So he's assuming all of that and it's like - if she's his CDC, does she want him to push her as hard as he was pushed? Push himself that hard again? He doesn't want to do either of those things. But that's all he knows. And she keeps saying this is what she wants. And he wants to give her everything she wants.

(In the same conversation she kept saying yes, this is what I want, she expressed admiration for the designer chef outfit he later buys her as a gift - he wants to give her everything she wants, even when it seems like a terrible idea he’s torn about)

I think this misunderstanding is intentional and it’s going to come out in S3. A one star restaurant fits so perfectly with what we know of Sydney’s goals and love for her work! And Carmy not able to even conceive of something better because of the patterns he’s stuck in and finding his way to her vision makes sense for him.

I think Carmy figuring out how this work can be joyful and humane is going to be a huge part of S3. Sydney not becoming lost in the high stress environment, not following in younger!Carmy's footsteps living a life of pure drive and dread, and Carmy finding that for the first time.

I do think that, given where they both end in 2x10, there’s going to be a period of conflict and a real bunch of issues for both of them - but with themes and ideas like this seeded into the story there’s so many ways to make s3 start out in a bad way and then really end in joy in a beautiful way?

[samanddeanwerehere]

Terminal City Iron Works, Vancouver

Terminal City Iron Works is a bit unusual when it comes to repeat locations as it was almost more of a back lot than a location. Once upon a time, it was actually an iron works foundry that manufactured fire hydrants and man hole covers. 

When it closed down in the late 90s, film productions started to take advantage of the space. Most notably, Dark Angel (yes, the one that Jensen was in!) came in and developed it extensively into its own Terminal City (if you’ve watched the series, you’ll know they used the name in the show). That production, which incidentally had the same production designer as Supernatural, build numerous facades in the space that made the location almost as much film set as it was a foundry. Those facades remained when Dark Angel ended and made the space desirable as a location that productions could use almost like a back lot for industrial settings. There were large warehouse and factory type spaces, a tunnel that Dark Angel had turned into a sewer set, an office space that played many a police station. And the location was host to literally hundreds of television series and movies. Anything that shot in Vancouver between 2002 and 2014 probably filmed at Terminal City at one time or another. 

Sadly, in 2015 the site was sold and all the sets demolished. The land where it once sat is now home to a modern (and boring) office park. 

I want to preface the SPN specific portion of this post by noting that the episodes I am about to list are the ones that I know of that shot at Terminal City. It is HIGHLY likely that there were even more that filmed there that I’m just not aware of and/or didn’t pick up on because I don't tend to hunt for interiors that are obviously not public.

SPN’s first Terminal City visit was right out of the gate in 1x03 Dead in the Water. That office space I mentioned that played many a police station, was used for, you guessed it, the police station where the boys first meet the sheriff and Andrea and Lucas. 

Production was back again shortly after for all the sewer scenes in 1x06 Skin, using that tunnel that Dark Angel had made into a sewer set. 

In 1x15 The Benders, Terminal City does double duty, first as the site of the first kidnapping (the Tavern sign in the second shot is a notable feature of the Terminal City set). 

And then both the exterior and interior of that office space are back as yet another police station where Dean meets Kathleen. 

John ends up back in the sewer in 1x21 Salvation while trying to thwart Meg and her demon brother. 

In 2x17 Heart, the streets of Terminal City are the site of a werewolf attack. 

2x20 What Is and What Should Never Be sees Dean getting trapped by a djinn in one of the Terminal City warehouses. 

Terminal City again does double duty in 3x07 Fresh Blood, first as the location where the boys find Lucy the vampire. 

And then later both the exterior and interior of the Terminal City buildings are used for the warehouse where the boys track down vampire Gordon. 

In 5x13 The Song Remains the Same, the interiors are used as the warehouse where Cas and Anna meet and the garage where Anna attacks John and Mary. 

In 6x21 Let It Bleed Dean rescues Ben and Lisa from one of the Terminal City warehouses. 

8x12 As Time Goes By uses Terminal City for the final confrontation with Abbadon.

Terminal City is apparently the happening place for djinn to hang out, because they are back in 8x20 Pac-Man Fever, capturing Charlie. 

The last known appearance of Terminal City was in 9x20 Bloodlines, where the gang sneaks in to rescue Violet. (Humorously, at least to me, the exterior of this location is in Chicago, thousands of miles away). 

Unless there was a Season 10 appearance I missed, that most likely is the end of Terminal City’s journey on Supernatural as it was torn down between S10 and S11. Somewhere out there, some lucky fans probably have some great photos of this set because it was one of the stops on a Russ Bus tour in 2009.

Next up in the repeat locations series, the Delta Barber Shop in Ladner!

[jellybeanium124]

like through s1 his antagonist status slowly increases and increases and increases until it boils over in his little speech in 1x10. like in 1x02, I'd say izzy is less of an antagonist than stede's own mental issues. The Antagonist of that episode is "the ghost of nigel," aka, stede's insecurities, with izzy in a minor, external role. izzy is there to fail, which helps stede overcome his internal struggles. through 1x03 and 1x04 he continues to be antagonistic in a very minor way. 1x05 is when the climb really starts to begin, with his treatment of lucius. he's not even the antagonist in the A plot! The Antagonist of that episode, the thing countering our protagonists (stede and ed), is society, personified by the rich partygoers.

1x06 is when izzy stops waiting around for ed to kill him already, and steps into the antagonist role in the A plot. he tries to convince ed to kill him, and manipulates stede into creating the environment he thinks the ship needs to get ed to kill him. when all of that doesn't work, he tries to kill stede himself, and gets booted off the ship to go do arguably the most evil thing he does in the series.

and then he's gone for most of 1x07. The Antagonist of that episode is ed's insecurities. at the end of that episode, we see izzy setting up his big final plan to finally for real kill stede bonnet.

and then he's not in 1x08 at all. one could argue he's still The Antagonist of this episode, because he sent jack (the boots-on-the-ground antagonist) to cause a rift between ed and stede, get the boat to blind man's cove, and then get ed off of it.

and then we have 1x09. where obviously he's done something evil, but for the first half of the story, before ed and stede get sent to the privateering academy, he's portrayed as just kind of sad. like little seeds are being planted at the back of his mind that will grow a plant called Hmm I Think This Was Too Far (but he doesn't quite get there yet). He seems to genuinely think the punch was called for, and his voice is just so emotive in the first half of this episode. This characterization doesn't really jive with how he acts as soon as he gets the Revenge, or in 1x10.

Other people have already discussed how Con imbued Izzy with humanity that the writing didn't. I know some people disagree with me about this, but izzy's always been more human than the badmintons to me, mainly because of the difference in the choices between Rory and Con. Rory played nigel and chauncey as over-the-top disney villains, and it was great! I love how he played them (who doesn't??). but Con was always trying to make izzy a person, which didn't always jive with some of izzy's choices in s1. I wish it had jived better, especially with the route they took with him in s2, because if you're going to redeem a character they do need to have some humanity in them from the start. Anyways, my point is, izzy's just done something terrible, but while ed's still around he doesn't seem very happy with his victory at all. maybe on some level he recognizes that he has lost control of ed by this point, and that makes him sad. oohhhhhh now that's a good thought and makes his emotive choices actually work bang on. because that's a terrible horrible thing to be sad about but izzy is genuinely sad nonetheless. disgusting. ahh! I love figuring shit out in the process of writing meta.

and then he gets the ship. and all his sadness turns into overinflated confidence and happiness of finally getting a ship of his own. and then he gets mutinied, and he he starts begging and bargaining for his life, and ed saves him.

and then we have 1x10. which izzy spends being confused and rather annoyed up until it all comes out and he says "I should've let the english kill you" etc etc. it is incredibly easy, especially with the context of season 2, to see how this is all about restoring control over ed. "his name is blackbeard or captain" during the song bit was trying to do the same thing, trying to get the rest of the crew to call him blackbeard, so ed will see himself as blackbeard. izzy was sad because he lost control. at the end of episode 10, he's happy, but in a shaken and unnerved way, because he's regained control (but those seeds in the back of his mind cannot be shaken).

and in 2x01 he's sad again, because he realizes how out of control things got.

me every goddamn time I watch ofmd s1: wow izzy is so much less there and so much less evil than I thought he was.

[talesofarcadiaedits]

“♡” or reblog if you save

[perrypixel]

✽ for the glory of challenge ✽

day four: one side character ➔ steve palchuk

[morgana-pendragon]

ENJOY MY SHIRT CAUSE THAT’S ALL YOU’RE GETTING 

IM SORRY????????????????????

[captainsjack]

i- i’m. i don’t- i can’t- my brain is broken. shawn looks gus (shirt unbuttoned, covered in whipped cream) up and down and licks his lips. B Y E.

[sun-undone]

OBX details that make me feral (13/?)

The hot tub scene because as a JJ stan I am legally required to make a post about it

So many amazing things have been written and created about this scene, but I wanted to just add whatever I could to the discussion! (only 2 years late to the party i know i know)

Why does JJ spend the money in the first place?

Since I've been on a spree of looking at JJ's behaviors through a psychological lens, I feel like this scene is definitely one of the most interesting to analyze from that perspective.

I talked a lot about defense mechanisms in my previous post about 1x07, and pretty much all of those concepts are important to keep in mind when thinking about this scene. When trying to understand JJ's mindset and motivations, it's absolutely necessary to look back at the day as a whole and remember the emotional turmoil that he's experienced just in this one day alone (this whole show takes place over the course of like a month so even more reason to get all these kids into therapy STAT). Because of all the emotional baggage that has built up throughout the day, JJ is in desperate need of some relief. But since he's not exactly the best at relieving his distress in a healthy way, his "relief" comes in the form of defense mechanisms, which really just shield him from properly feeling the force of the emotions that are weighing on him.

Acting out

I talked about acting out before, and I feel like the overall definition of this one is the most self-explanatory. This defense is one of the most immature and least adaptive because it is often self-destructive; it causes even more problems.

We know that JJ generally has a pretty jaded, negative view of himself and his future, and the events of the day have probably brought all of those feelings right up to the surface. After having the argument with the Pogues, he undoubtedly feels like a fuck-up for disappointing his friends, and I would imagine that the fight with Luke only makes him feel even lower. Each of those blows to his self-image, one right after the other, definitely makes him think, "well who cares if I blow all the money?? I'm gonna end up alone and in jail anyway".

Another interesting aspect of his acting out is how exactly he decides to do it: he impulsively wastes all of the money and gets smashed. Which is pretty much what Luke wanted to do with the money (technically, he said he was gonna gamble it, but i'll argue that that's functionally the same thing as wasting it).

I just think it's so telling that JJ decides to self-destruct in a way that aligns himself with his father's own self-destructive tendencies. We've seen JJ get high a bunch already in this season, especially during/right after stressful situations (vaping after the first square groupers encounter in 1x02, smoking to "relax and lay low" when they go to the graveyard in 1x02/1x03, etc.) so he could've easily gotten high instead of drunk in this scene too, but nope. He specifically gets drunk, just like we saw Luke do in 1x05 after bailing JJ out of jail. Which brings me to the self-fulfilling prophecy part of all this.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Pretty sure this one isn't considered a defense or a coping mechanism, but it's more of just a general concept that I definitely think is influencing the specific way in which JJ acts out in this scene. It's more like the lens through with the defenses are filtered.

In case anyone doesn't know, a self-fulfilling prophecy is basically when you have a certain belief, so you subconsciously act in a way that makes the people around you respond in a way that confirms that original belief. A classic example is a teacher labeling a student as an underachiever early on in the semester. Without realizing that they're doing it, that teacher might not call on the student as often or give them the attention that they'd give to other students. And because of that treatment, the student will likely stop trying to achieve in the class, which confirms the teacher's original belief that the student was an underachiever all along.

In JJ's case, he absolutely holds the beliefs (courtesy of Luke) that he will never amount to anything, that he's worthless, and that he's just a bad kid in general. And these ideas have been brought up throughout the day via John B saying "If you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad", the Pogues saying that they're "sick of [his] shit", and of course Luke physically and emotionally beating him down afterwards.

(gif from @tweedlydumbtweedlydoo)

So with all of these moments fresh in his mind at the end of a very emotionally taxing day, he embodies the exact version of himself that he does not want to be.

JJ wants to be better than his father, so he copes just like how Luke would, by blowing a bunch of money and getting drunk. He desperately wants to do the right thing and to be loved by the Pogues, so he does the exact wrong thing that he knows will make them disappointed in him.

The fact that he reacts in a way that facilitates confirmation of his worst qualities by the people he loves most just makes the scene that much more heartbreaking. And it also makes me think that maybe a part of him, deep down and far away from conscious awareness, wants to let himself hit his lowest point so he can break down and finally allow himself to be comforted. He can’t directly open up to the Pogues because he’s emotionally closed off (in general, but even more so in this moment because of all the compiled stress of the day). But he can open up in a much more indirect (and not super healthy) way by going off the rails and being the worst version of himself that he can be, hoping that maybe they’ll realize themselves that something is seriously wrong, which is basically what happens.

Reaction formation and denial

I talked about this neurotic defense a bit in a previous post about jiara, and I think it's potentially back to haunt us (me) here. The short version of the concept is that sometimes, when people are hurting emotionally and feel like they have to hide their true feelings, they'll act in the complete opposite way of their impulse.

This one might be a stretch and more a consequence of him being smashed than anything else, but the way that JJ acts so excited and carefree at the beginning of this scene just screams reaction formation to me. He should be acting super dejected because that's the behavior that would match the internal emotion, but nope. He's making jokes and brushing off Kie and Pope's frustrations like they're nothing (at least to a certain point). Maybe this is just me, but even when I imagine him buying all the shit and stringing up the lights, I imagine that he's doing it "happily" as a way to convince himself that everything's fine and that he's living the life.

It's also likely that there's just some plain old denial going on here as well, which contributes to the whole "push every emotion down and everything will be fine" mentality that he definitely seems to portray as the scene progresses.

Either way, I feel like the irony in the way that JJ is acting makes the scene so chilling and unsettling, because we know that he is hurting so badly right now, but he's all smiles. And once again, this could be the alcohol making him act like this, rather than a defense mechanism, but why not a combination of the two?

He's literally just so tired/the hot tub is a metaphor dude

Every single explanation really just makes this scene even more depressing jesus christ

But yeah this last one isn't a defense (but it could potentially be considered a coping mechanism?? i really don't know), it's just the fact that in this moment, on top of all these other reasons for why he does what he does, I think he's also just fucking tired of being poor. And even more tired of being a Maybank.

This is a frustration of JJ's that we do see crop up consistently throughout the season, as he's usually the first one to bring up any wealth discrepancies and seems to be hyperaware of his incredibly low status on the island, even more so than the other low income Pogues. And more specifically in the context of 1x07, this idea is definitely salient in light of all the shit they've gone through to try to get the gold pawned off, and then later when JJ screams at Luke for giving him "nothing but a shitty life".

Along with his more personal insecurities weighing down on him throughout the day, he also has to grapple with the fact that the reason why he and the rest of the Pogues have already had to deal with so much shit is because of money. They've never experienced the ease that money can provide, and right about now, that ease sounds really nice to JJ.

I mean, it's a goddamn hot tub, the pinnacle of relaxation and luxurious ease. What a perfectly symbolic thing for JJ to gift to himself and his friends (family) in light of such a shitty, harrowing day.

One more thing about him just wanting to experience some luxury for once in his life: I adore how this is the only scene (i think in the entire series?) where he's not wearing his signature shark tooth necklace. And he's swapped it out for a fancy gold necklace instead, which is even further evidence for him trying to “try on” a different lifestyle and at least momentarily detach from the tribulations of his own life as a Pogue and as a Maybank.

Some quick color theory analysis that might be complete bullshit

This is just something that I noticed once, and ever since that rewatch (idek what number it was) I haven't been able to unsee it, so I just have to mention it even if some of it is a tad bit contrived.

So the lights in and around the hot tub are constantly shifting through blue, green, and red in this scene, and since obx actually despises continuity, it's hard to say that there's distinct color theory going on throughout the entire scene. BUT in one particular segment, I'd argue that either by coincidence or by some lighting person making a good call, the colors actually do line up pretty well with the emotions that JJ is expressing.

Broad strokes: I think blue symbolizes sad vulnerability, red symbolizes angry vulnerability, and green is just more of a transitional color between the two. (all of these gifs are from @aceofwhump btw!!)

So here you can see the lights fading from green to blue as JJ's walls come down. He seems unable to deflect away from his sadness anymore, and as soon as Kie offers him comfort, he just lets himself completely fall into it. Yes, the light fades again into red once Kie embraces him but uhhhhh can we just ignore that please it doesn't fit into my agenda and it also switches pretty quickly (jarringly) once they cut to the next angle

And then here, on this longer shot of JJ just crying and holding onto Kie, the lights are mostly blue, which reflects his most vulnerable, dejected emotions pouring through.

But when he shifts from pure sadness to express more of his anger and frustration with Luke, the lights have very obviously shifted to a pretty stark red.

And then the lights shift one more time from red to blue as JJ returns to a less angry, more sad kind of vulnerability, this time being comforted by both Kie and Pope.

Does all of it fit? No. Do I care that much? Obviously not. The main part that I thought was cool and potentially intentional is the red lighting in the third gif, and then I just based everything else around that particular moment.

(once again, i know so many people have said so many amazing things about this scene, so i hope that even just one part of this was original!!)

((if you read all of this you're the best 🥰 i think we're finally done with 1x07 oh my god i never thought i'd say it but i am sick of that episode and i will not be watching it again for at least.....a couple of weeks))

previous post // next post

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 2x04 recap

Well, I definitely didn’t lie when I said this one was going to be long. Help.

(To anyone who actually makes it through this entire thing, I salute you. I swear I’m going to try to tone it down next week haha).

Ok I’m gonna try and be relatively short and to the point (heh, good f*ckin luck) about all the non-Armony stuff, because oh boy do I have a lot to say about those scenes. Lord.

I would have paid to see Thony and Fi manage to get Mr Motel Moustache (MMM) into that laundry thing lol. Maybe they tipped it on its side and kind of just shoved him in??

Well at least the show is actually continuing to demonstrate Chris experiencing the effects of trauma rather than just brushing it off the way so many shows do, so that’s something?

Lol no Maya, Garrett and Thony are not sleeping together (never ever gonna happen lol, hallelujah), but she is romantically entangled with a mob boss, so you guys do have that in common haha. But oh ok so it was Robert (or one of his lackeys) who hurt Maya?? Also if they have eyes on her 'at all times' how the hell did she manage to come to a FBI agent’s house in broad daylight?

Sigh. Fi. Thony didn’t answer her phone because she was being blackmailed by Garrett, and had to do what he wanted to protect you… though lbr Thony just needs to start telling Fi everything, bc it would solve a lot of problems. Also I’m so stoked that MMM is alive after all, since dealing with a live threat is so much more interesting than dealing with disposing of a body lol 

I honestly wonder how many people Arman has killed. The ones we’ve seen– Jimmy in 1x03, the bald guy in 1x07, and Hayak– were all situations where he didn’t really have a choice; Jimmy stole from Hayak, so killing him was the expected action (plus, it indirectly protected Thony by satisfying Hayak of her loyalty). Then the bald guy was to save his own life, considering he’d have been dead if Hayak found out about him selling the guns, and killing Hayak was obviously self defense. I think those killings he could make peace with (well… maybe not Hayak so much; I desperately want him to break down to Thony about that one at some point, though I doubt the show will give that to us). But anyhow, he’s never going to be able to be okay with taking a life for Robert. Especially not the life of one of Robert's debtors, someone whose situation is not so different from his own, now. 

Oooh Nadia is pushing for the street drugs– is my prediction gonna come true?? I love that last ep, Arman was telling Thony that they needed to consider Nadia’s idea of selling more lucrative drugs, but now he’s defending Thony’s refusal to Nadia and telling Nadia that they’re not drug dealers. Sounds like someone took Thony’s words to heart… also omg writers please stop dropping hints about Sin Cara killing Bosco!! Don’t you know he’s my boy???

Nadia is all pleased by Arman’s jealousy towards Robert– but is that really what it is? Like okay sure maybe a little (it would be weird to have to deal with your wife’s first love) but I wonder if Arman’s disgust is more about the way Robert looks at her like a prize he wants to win; like an object, which firstly Arman hates because she’s so much more than that, but also because it reminds him that both of them are just objects in Robert’s eyes; not people who came from nothing and made something of themselves, but just playthings for his amusement. I do appreciate that she has a similar reaction to his suggestion that he collect debts for Robert– reminding him he’s more than that, more than just a tool to be used. And lol gotta love Arman’s very half-hearted response to her hug haha, like yesss if I’m gonna have to see physical affection between these two, I want it to be as reluctant as possible on his part lol.

(Btw Arman must have gotten some excellent quality bruise cream bc his swelling and bruising has settled down a hell of a lot in the last like 12 hours lol)

Damn Thony that’s some good tying– “The harder you pull, the tighter they get”?? Where did you learn that one, huh?? Also love that she thought ahead enough to bring a sedative haha– like what other interesting things are in that big bag?? Clearly not rope tho lol

Oh Chris. Poor sad boy. Much trauma. That mirror shot was cool tho

Lol Fi bouncing around like a ping pong ball while Thony just stands there. At least Thony has seen the truth of it– the video is not the real problem here, the problem is the guy who can use what he knows against them– and she has already seen what the end result will have to be. And of course she knows exactly who can help save them from this problem. Also excuse me “He’s not family”– um correction, Fi, he’s not family yet. But give him and Thony a little more time and soon you’ll be calling him your sort-of-brother-in-law lol

I am surprised to admit this, but I kind of enjoy the dynamic between Garrett and new agent guy? Garrett is like a puppy who desperately wants to come play with the other agent dog and his toys lol, it’s almost (almost) endearing. And agent guy has a great voice. 

Oh god Thony. Could you maybe put some gloves on rather than just touching everything with your bare hands??? Also this searching is so inefficient lol, lbr it must be that she’s already decided deep down that she’s gonna call Arman and so she’s just doing this cursory effort at a search so she doesn’t feel like she lied to Fi haha. Also damn this is another good song, if anyone finds out what it is let me know! I’m still bummed that Savage from last ep isn’t on Spotify

Okay can I just point out that if there are outstanding debts that Arman could collect for Robert that he hadn’t ever expected to get back… then he’s a pretty forgiving loan shark?? Also I highly doubt he has a shortage of people on staff to go and make those collections for him… but I guess the whole appeal of the deal is that he gets to feel like he owns Arman (aka the man that Nadia chose) specifically, and is able to make him do his bidding. I have to say I am starting to get Robert’s casting a little more; they needed someone older than Arman and with a bit of gravitas, because no way would Arman be able to deal with taking orders from someone younger and less polished. And Naveen is doing a good job of making Robert a little more nuanced; there’s a surprising edge of vulnerability to him when he talks about Nadia, which actually seems sincere (and she certainly seems to take it as such)-- well, either that, or it’s some very impressive manipulation.  I love Arman literally turning away as he thinks through the offer, which is interesting symbolism as it leaves Nadia and Robert looking at each other behind his back.  He wants to protect her– he doesn’t want her to be subjected to being a plaything for Robert, like he already is– but he also sees the value in taking the offer (it could get them free of him so much faster) and he respects her ability to decide for herself.  But lol “You’re both mine” I think Robert’s over here planning to start a harem haha

You know I was literally wondering like a day before the ep aired who looks after Luca when the kids are at school and Thony and Fi are at work?? This woman seems lovely but there is NO reason for a character to be that pregnant unless they’re going to pop out a baby in like the IMMEDIATE future. Is Chris going to have to deliver this kid????? Also ugh Fi and Chris, these two are nailing these emotional scenes

Arman I am very much enjoying your costume change from suave businessman to hired-muscle-slash-runway-model lol. As much as I enjoy the suits, I vote the black tshirt/jeans/leather jacket combo stays forever. But omg the whole jockey thing? Like ngl I enjoyed it, but man it treaded close to the line of being a little too comedic/slapstick for this show’s vibe– thankfully it didn’t cross the line, but it was close. Maybe the point of choosing this kind of setting /character was to highlight how far Arman has been dragged down from his cool and untouchable mob boss persona of S1, that he is now subjected to the indignity of having to physically chase a debtor like a farmer trying to catch a chicken– not to mention getting his ass handed to him by a guy half his size. Been a long time since you’ve had to do this kind of grunt work, hey buddy?  

God, when he answers her call he doesn't even look at the screen, just hits the button and says her name– how the hell did he know it was her?? Does he have a special vibration alert for her specifically or???? (Most likely it was just to do with the editing of the shots, but I choose to believe that he does have different vibration tones– one for her,  one for Nadia, and then one for all other calls. That way he can know immediately if it’s a call he needs to take). But ugh are you kidding me with this?? The look on his face when she says she needs his help? Like his whole day just completely turned around lol. (Definitely makes me think back to Nadia calling him out– “You love the way she looks at you when you do these things for her. You’re her hero.”). Also he can probably tell instantly from her tone that she’s not distressed, which means he can skip being worried and instead just be pleased that he’s going to get to see her and help her out and make her happy ugh. Of course he probably immediately asked if everything was okay, and sigh I really wish we got to hear that conversation and see his reaction as she told him the whole story about Marco’s death, bc oh man the face journey would have been beautiful. Sigh, just another to add to my list of things to fic, I guess.

Ngl I want to know how these two managed to program keycards for this specific door, since it would have had to be done through the computer system, but I’ll just let that slide lol. Also Fi’s “I wish I knew how to get through to him”-- just let him talk to Arman!! Who better to support a young man who has been through something traumatic and is struggling with having done something terrible?? They can go do something manly together, like idk smash things or Arman can teach him to drive or something, and Chris can talk to someone who is super freakin cool and who Gets It, and also Arman can bond with his future nephew and score points with both Thony and Fi at the same time??? Win win for everybody??  

I love the way Thony tells Fi that she called Arman. She says it in a quick little burst, her body tense but expression determined, because even though she hates going against Fiona’s express wishes, she knows it was the right option– their only option. The whole situation is overwhelming, and Fi needs Thony’s strength and support to get her through it– but Thony can’t carry that kind of weight alone. She, in turn, needs Arman’s strength and support to get her through it. And honestly to her it would seem so clear cut; it’s not just that Arman has ~experience~ with this kind of thing (even though yes, that’s definitely part of it), but it’s also just that– aside from Fi of course– Arman has become her Person?? Some things are too big to be handled alone, and whenever that happens, Arman is the one she turns to, because she knows he will always be there for her, just like she knows she would do whatever she could to be there for him as well. Fi doesn’t get that yet; she sees Thony running off at all hours to do things for Arman, and thinks that it’s because he has power over her or that Thony feels she is indebted to him for helping Luca. She has this caricature in her head of him, this ruthless mobster type who has Thony firmly under his control (likely influenced by whatever shit Marco spouted about him), and so that’s why she reacts to seeing him the way that she does. Well, okay, she also reacts to the fact that he looks like a goddamn movie star, but a big part of her response is the fact that she was expecting some cold-blooded criminal to stride in with his gun drawn and shoot their unarmed captive in the head/violently torture the password out of him before walking out again with some vague threat about how Thony will owe him big for this. (Just roll with me here; I maintain that this is legit and that Fi has as much of an imagination as I do lol). So that’s what she’s fearing when Arman turns up at the door, but instead she gets faced with this leather-jacketed Adonis who immediately looks her in the eye and introduces himself to her, then quietly and compassionately swears to her that he’s going to help her. Honestly her reaction was so perfect (ngl, I let out an embarrassingly high-pitched shriek of laughter at “call me whatever you want”, bc same, girl, same) and it was just so goddamn relatable omg???

In fact, I guess now is a good time for me to admit something… that I have actually personally been subjected to the fun game of ‘Surviving In The Presence Of Adan Canto’ irl. He was on the same flight to Albuquerque as my friend and I when we visited in July, and I ended up having to stand literally right in front of his seat for probably a solid minute waiting for other passengers in the aisle to store their bags and move out of the way (god, I am forever grateful to them for taking their sweet time haha). To be fair, he's maybe slightly less potent in a tshirt/jeans/ball cap combo than in the fancy Arman suits or the leather jacket, but still, holy shit. My friend said that when I turned around to stare at her after first spotting him, it was the most genuinely alarmed she's seen me look in 11 years of friendship lol– thank god that having a mask on gave me a chance to control my face pretty quickly haha! Sadly our seats were at the totally opposite end of the plane to his though, so by the time we disembarked, he was long gone. Not that I would have approached him anyway of course (it was like 11pm, dude was probably just wanting to get home asap) but ngl another glimpse would have been more than welcome haha. (Oh and @enigmaticfox can absolutely attest to the truth of all of this, since I literally immediately paid for in-flight wifi just to be able to scream at her over whatsapp lol.)  

But anyway, the point of all that was to say: Fiona, I get you, girl.

Okay back to the motel room. I freakin love Arman’s surprised little smile at Fi’s response to him; I’m sure he’s had many people have all kinds of ~reactions~ to his hotness, but Fiona is different– because aside from Luca, she’s the most important person in Thony’s life, and boy is he desperate for her approval. Like ugh that pleased little face practically shouts "yes! I'm gonna get a good grade in Impressing My Future Sister In Law, which is both normal to want and possible to achieve!" (...actually, I guess it kind of is? lol). And then ughhhh in addition to the Arman Hotness™ he turns on the full powers of the Arman Compassion™ all while standing  right there at Thony’s side like it’s where he belongs. And THEN it gets worse????? He goes to check out what he’s going to be dealing with, and lord I can absolutely picture him seeing the guy’s bound hands and literally stopping in his tracks, eyebrows shooting sky high. I am honestly grateful there was no one to witness the look on my face when he stepped back out of the bathroom and asked her in that I’m trying so hard to be cool and casual about this right now tone whether she was the one that tied him up, and she clearly can’t quite figure why he’s asking– did she not do it right? Did he disapprove for some reason?-- and then when she confirms it (with just the tiniest hint of defensiveness) he immediately morphs from that wide-eyed blushing emoji to the fucking smiling devil emoji omg. “I see you’ve learned a few things” EXCUSE ME MR MORALES WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THAT WITH YOUR FACE AND YOUR VOICE AND YOUR EVERYTHING??? I would personally like to sue this scene for emotional damages because I am absolutely a victim here lol. I think Fi might feel the same, based on the way she looks at Thony; I honestly can’t decide if it’s more “What the hell kind of criminal shit have you been getting up to with this guy??” or “What the hell kind of kinky shit have you been getting up to with this guy??”  (Maybe both?? Let’s go with both haha.) And lollllll forever at Thony just closing her eyes– what a super awkward time to be suddenly very turned on, hey Thony??????

Phew okay honestly I almost appreciate the scene switch to Nadia and Robert purely for some recovery time haha. I like that Nadia isn’t so much ‘working’ for Robert as just getting to do something she enjoys– which is the act of influencing people (especially men) into doing what she wants them to do. It’s a fascinating character trait and I really enjoy seeing the way she uses it on both Arman and Robert in slightly different ways. It’s also very interesting to consider the contrast between how she gets Arman to do what she wants vs how Thony does; Nadia is clever with her words and with her emotions, always knowing which buttons to push and in what order, partly due to her natural talent and partly due to knowing him so long. (Of course, he knows her, too, which means he knows that at any time he might be being deliberately manipulated).  Whereas Thony just comes to him with such earnest openness– there’s no manipulation or guile to her interactions with him (the one time she tried, in 1x05, it was under significant duress and she still couldn’t go through with it because she cared too much about what would happen to him ugh) and god, that must be so damn refreshing for him. Conversely, I think Robert actually loves being manipulated by Nadia. He’s so powerful and untouchable that no one dares to challenge him at all anymore, but Nadia is different; she’s known him since the start, and she’s not scared of him, so there is a kind of teasingly adversarial nature to their interactions that he clearly can’t get enough of.  

Arman, staring at the cord tightly binding the guy’s wrists: “don’t fantasize about it, don’t fantasize about it, don’t– shit too late” lolllll. Got a little bit of a thing for bondage, huh Arman?? Don’t worry, I’m sure Thony will be very willing to demonstrate her technique for you someday not too far from now.  (Seriously, this ep killed me with the sexual tension. It’s like the intensity of the situation made these two forget that they’re supposed to be keeping their distance, and I LOVE IT).  But anyhow I love that they both take the opportunity to have a little catch up while standing over an unconscious dude in a bathtub lol. Ugh Thony’s concern for him and his situation with Robert– firstly because of the debt hanging over him, but also bc thanks to Maya, she knows Robert is both a) into some criminal shit and b) likely to be a person of interest to the FBI, meaning Arman’s connection to him will put him at risk from the FBI again. Arman is all too willing to answer any questions she has, and ugh at that open body language and the way he moves a little closer to her while they talk; meanwhile she’s got her arms folded again, just like I mentioned in my last recap– given we know how much she trusts him and feels safe with him, crossing her arms isn’t a sign of discomfort, but having to hold herself back from connecting  with him physically the way she wants to.  And ok yes, she’s fishing for info rn, but I have no doubt she’s going to tell him her concerns about Robert very soon. Now’s just not quite the time for that conversation haha (like I said, unconscious guy right there). But oh man I held my breath when he mentioned her meeting Robert– I assume it was Robert himself that mentioned Thony at some point, because I think it’s unlikely Thony would have brought it up and we already know Nadia is sticking with the story that she did all the work getting Arman out of jail. It makes sense to me that Thony didn’t tell Arman about the stripping down part, especially right now (again, unconscious guy), and tbh I’m glad, bc while I so desperately want him to know, I want him to find out from Robert himself, because I want him to go completely feral and attack him over it haha. (yes, I also have a WIP about this lol, and I know @chartreuseblueandyellow has already posted a fic which I can’t wait to read once I’m done with mine!). 

Poor Nadia. She talked all tough in front of Robert but honestly she’s perceptive enough to know how precarious their position is, that at any time Robert could tire of the game he’s playing with them and demand what he’s owed. She’s over here being deliberately sexy and charming and pushing Robert’s buttons– aka, playing her part– and where’s Arman? Skipping out on the job that he asked to do so he could go be with Thony (again, points to him for not lying about it tho). Honestly Nadia has every right to be pissed with him, and I’m happy she is, because it will lead to her pushing Arman away– which, conveniently, will allow him to continue on his path towards Thony. (I have an Ask to answer about the Nadia/Arman/Robert situation so I won’t go into it here). But anyway ugh this phone call is amazing because it makes it clear to both Thony and Fi that Arman is choosing to be here helping her even though it is causing issues in his marriage. Thony is clearly contrite about it– she knows the difficult position that their connection puts him in, the way it divides his loyalties, but she still can’t keep herself from repeatedly reaching out to him– but ugh “it’s never a problem for you to call” (translation: please please call me more, I will take any excuse I can get to see you, I will always be there for you) and then that eye contact??? Rude. I’m sad the shot ends a bit abruptly because I wanted to see more of Fi being like HELLO I AM STILL HERE AND SO IS THE UNCONSCIOUS GUY CAN THE EYE LOVE-MAKING WAIT UNTIL THIS SHITSHOW IS OVER PLEASE– and then the two of them do some awkward throat clearing and be all like “uh right so the unconscious guy…” lol

Speaking of MMM, he’s still zonked,  and ugh I love the shot of the little trio standing over him. Absolutely fantastic choice to have Fi standing between Arman and Thony– firstly it shows she’s getting just a fraction more comfortable with him, and secondly it means we are blessed with her looking back and forth between them like she’s watching a very slow and emotionally charged tennis match lol. Forever crying about how he’s so matter of fact about it– “you two can go, i’ll take it from here”-- bc lbr from the moment he heard on the phone that the guy had been a witness to Thony being present at Marco’s death, he knew he was going to kill him. I’m glad though that Thony tells him no and tries to find another solution, because it shows him that she didn’t just blithely assume he would come kill for her, and also that she is trying to protect him too by finding some other way to neutralise the guy without Arman having to get blood on his hands. I love his little smile as he gently explains Crime 101 to them (all witnesses gotta go)-- and then ugh she calls him out on the very notable exception, and omg THE NERVE OF THIS BOY to look at her with so much fucking softness and say “that’s because you’re different’. He doesn’t say ‘that’ was different, he says ‘YOU’RE’ different. Even from the start, he saw something in her, a similarity between them, a connection. He would never want to kill any innocent woman, but with her, taking her life would have felt like killing off something deep within himself, so instead he did the only thing he could do– he pulled her into his world, bringing her close, keeping her safe. So of course she’s different; she’s his, just like he is hers, each of them balancing out the other. Honestly this line was reminiscent of the ‘I’m in too deep now’ from 1x07 (but dialled up even further, ugh), and tbh I don’t know how Fiona was even able to stand being in that room with them right then lol, let alone literally in between them. Probably lucky she was, though, or they might have started making out right then and there, and the problem of MMM would never get solved lol

Uggghhh anyhow gotta move on. I love that Arman immediately relents when Thony insists on trying to scare MMM into silence first; he knows it won’t work, but he knows it’s important to her to try (and lbr, he’s already totally planning to come back and arrange an ‘accident’ for the guy later), so he helps her do what she needs to do. Not that he’s complaining; lbr he absolutely enjoyed showing off his sexy tough guy act for Thony, though not nearly as much as he enjoyed Thony’s quietly unhinged red market organ harvester act. The way his eyes go from her– from her calm expression, her cool and collected movements– to MMM’s face, seeing the fear that she is able to inspire with just her words, it’s clear that he is INTO this. You can even see him swallow hard at one point when she’s laying her hand over MMM’s liver, and honestly this scene is just Too Goddamn Much for me ugh. It’s not only the sexual tension (tho ngl I am getting some strong roleplay kink vibes here, y’all, particularly with a little light dom/sub flavour, lord help me) but it’s also the new level of understanding between them, the perfectly cohesive partnership, and what it means for both of them– for Thony, it’s knowing she can take charge and do something both risky and unfamiliar, and that she will be completely supported by him; for Arman, it’s seeing that Thony is not afraid to step deeper into the shadowy world he inhabits, that she can accept the darker side of him and all the terrible things he has done out of necessity, because she understands. I also love that their knees are just touching as she threatens MMM, a tiny physical reminder of that connection and support. The only shot I couldn’t quite figure out was Arman’s expression when she says that she’ll take the guy’s heart too, and that it sells for $1M– but I decided that it was him mentally being like ‘wait is that actually true???’ lol. Too bad you already gave your heart to Thony for free, huh Arman? :P  But ugh the way he looks up at her for her decision after the guy tells them where to find the file, and the smooth command in her voice as she tells him to stay there while she goes and checks it out-- like I said, the dom/sub vibes are REAL here kids (if you hear some kind of distant screeching/wailing sound, don’t worry, that’s just me not being able to deal with this in the slightest)

Ugh thank god, watching Fi be devastated by the video is actually easier to watch than any of that previous scene lol. I love Thony being savvy enough to wipe the drive, though I wish she’d been equally savvy in wearing some goddamn gloves so they didn’t now have to clean every inch of this room. But oooh the way Fiona is starting to see Thony more clearly now and realising that there is more to her connection to Arman than she’d previously assumed. I was worried when she said Thony was different with Arman; worried she meant it in a negative way, that she might judge what Thony had done, or act like her connection with Arman had tainted her somehow. But then instead she brought up Thony’s trust in him, and it was like ohhhhhhhhhh. Because in that bathroom Fi saw the side of Thony she used to see way back in her surgeon days– the decisiveness and the proficiency, the confidence and the self-assurance of someone feeling completely secure in the situation she was in. Of course, that side of her hadn’t completely disappeared in the time since she’d left work to have Luca, but it was rarer now, tempered by the constant strain she was under and the complete lack of support she received from anyone (other than the limited kind that Fi herself could provide). But with Arman, she is able to become that person again, because she knows she can trust him to be there, to support her in whatever way she needs. Fi knows it even before Thony confirms it (we’ve already heard her explicitly say that she trusts him, and have seen evidence of it countless times, but still, I died at the conviction in that ‘yes') and then ugh the “because he always shows up when I need him”. Honestly, the Backstreet Boys really captured it with “I don’t care who you are/ Where you’re from/ What you did/ As long as you love me” lol; Thony doesn’t care about Arman’s past, or that he sometimes has to do bad things– not only does she know the world is far more complicated than simply being split into Good and Bad (she’s even said as much, when detained with Garrett in 1x09), but Arman has also proven himself to her, proven that he’ll always be there when she needs him, that she matters to him in a way Marco never showed her. I often noticed the contrast between Marco and Arman in S1 in relation to Thony, how one of them would always only add to her burden while the other would always try to lighten it in any way he could. (Even in death, Marco added to that burden, but here Arman is, taking care of her yet again). But anyway ugh Thony swearing to Fi that she would do anything for their family but that sometimes that way is not going to be the way they want definitely ties back to Arman’s line in 1x01 about doing things ‘any way you can’.  And idk maybe it’s just me but “sometimes things just happen the way they happen” sure sounds a lot like “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall in love with a mob boss while still married to your brother, but here we are” lol. In which case, Fi’s acceptance with ‘Bahala Na’ could have a whole other level to it– whatever happens with Thony and Arman, happens… 

Well, those USBs were a lucky find lol. But ugh Arman’s concern when they come back into the room looking upset, and the freakin predatory glint he gets in his eyes when he says ‘he lied to us’ (idk why the us has me so affected lol, it’s the logical word choice, but damn if it doesn’t make me feel like he’s a member of the family now).  Poor Thony is so rattled tho– tbh she’d known right from the start that MMM was a problem that would need to be eliminated, and what that would likely mean, but then the apparent success of their little roleplay had really had her believing that silencing him could be achieved without bloodshed. But now she knows the truth, sees that Arman knew it all along. And I love that he knows she understands now, so he just lets her process and focuses on Fiona instead, all gentle and calm and reassuring with “You don’t have to. I promised to protect your family. I’ll take care of it.” Which, firstly, (*muffled screaming*) and secondly, according to Wiki, one of the meanings for Bahala Na– other than whatever happens, happens– is “I’ll take care of things”.  Which kinda seems slightly contradictory, but still, I love that through this other meaning, Arman is part of their Bahala Na pact with them. (Ngl I’m totally gonna adopt this concept in my own life, I love it.) Anyway I feel like the stunned look in her eyes is not just about the fact that MMM is going to have to die, but also that Arman is so prepared to do it for them. She still hasn’t clicked to the fact that Arman would do anything for Thony, which I guess is fair, considering this is the first time she’s even seen them together– but I think after this, the image she had in her head of the ruthless mob boss keeping Thony trapped in his grip is certainly going to be gone, replaced by that of a man with a complicated past who truly cares about (loves) her best friend. But anyway ugh the way Thony reached for Arman, holding on for that brief moment as she accepted what was about to happen– the touch both a request and an acknowledgement; she knows what needs to happen, and what will happen no matter what, but she still gives Fiona agency in that choice, just like Arman did for her earlier when he agreed to her plan. And the fact that she acknowledges that Chris is Fi’s son and so the decision is up to her shows that she is really listening to her and respecting her position in this situation, especially considering how Fi told her earlier in the ep that calling Arman wasn’t her decision to make. God this show is just freakin incredible with the nuance in its character interactions, I honestly can’t. (Also damn, Martha knocked this scene out of the fucking park, omg. What a queen.)

I also just cannot deal with Arman’s entire everything as he leans there against the counter (so goddamn rude, sir) or the small nod he gives Fi. But ugh then when Thony’s eyes lift to his, clearly pained, and he gently reassures her that it’s okay– he knows her hesitation is partly about the fact that she’s literally condemning a man to death, but lbr he also knows it’s more about the fact that he is going to have to be the one to carry that weight on his shoulders. He knows it, just like he knew in 2x02 that when she said she felt like she’d failed everyone, she wasn’t talking about Marco. And so when he says it’s okay, it’s not just ‘it’s okay, you had no choice, the guy had to die’, but ‘it’s okay. I choose to do this, and you don’t need to regret it, because I won’t.’ Ugggggghhhhhh. Honestly i cannot wait for their next scene together, because the way they look at each other after being even more deeply connected in this way is going to be A Lot. (And considering how intensely they already look at each other, I’m probably not going to survive this. Ah well, at least I'll die happy lol) 

Ok gotta say I’m definitely noticing a change in Garrett this season. I think it’s partly bc his dog-with-a-bone attitude isn’t being directed at Arman so much anymore, now that he’s caught up with getting Maya free of Cortez– he really does seem to care about Maya, and though he was blowing up thony’s phone with calls, he was begging for her to hand over the cloned phone rather than threatening her. I think he resorted to the threats last ep because he had to, but never had the intention of following through or continuing to make her work for him; it’s clear he has a soft spot for Thony and wants to help her when he can, and I liked that he actually showed genuine appreciation for her help, and that he agreed that it was a one-time thing– that she had done her part and he wouldn’t demand any more of her. At this stage it probably seems to him there's nothing else she could do anyway, though if he finds out she's connected to RK, that will almost certainly change… I also appreciated that when Fi called for Thony to help with the pregnant lady, he immediately checked if they needed extra help. And oh man I think I'm actually developing a weird grudging almost-fondness for him a little bit?? Like he's still an absolute jackass, but he's our jackass??  Tbh this must be how Russo feels lol

Wow Robert is clearly really enjoying having Nadia around haha. Can’t say I blame him, and tbh the ‘why are you asking me, I’m not your boss’ line was actually pretty good lol. (I feel like I need to add in a permanent disclaimer here: I still hate him and tbh hope he dies by the end of the season kill him Thony but his scenes with Nadia so far are not bad to watch). I can’t be bothered to say anything more about this scene– this is already so long, and I’m gonna talk more about these two in an Ask shortly– but basically I’m glad to see them getting closer, because it’s exactly what the season needs.

Ugh I have listened to this song (Mother, by Byland) so many times, and the vibes it gives about this show are so good. I liked the juxtaposition of Thony bringing a life into the world at the same time Arman was taking one out of it– it shows how they complement each other, how they fit together, ying-yang wise.  (Though dude it has to have been at least ten years since Thony delivered a baby, which is about the same as it has been for me, so damn I respect her doing that on her own without freaking out lol). Also I had a little giggle at Chris holding the baby– like oh ok sure, poor traumatised boy experiences the miracle of life and suddenly feels better. Congrats. I do hope the show won’t just have him be totally fine now– what he went through was huge and seeing the wrinkly little face of a fresh human is definitely not enough to erase that. But I guess we’ll see.

But anyway, I gotta say I respect MMM for just accepting his fate and not trying to yell or run. Sorry it had to be this way buddy, but you really did fuck up in threatening these two women specifically. Arman hesitating to shoot broke my heart a little; he really is a good man, and killing someone in self defense (eg Hayak, bald guy) is very different from an execution-style murder. I think it’s especially hard for him now because since knowing Thony, he has become more and more aware of that darker side of himself, and how much he hates it and wants to be better. But tonight at least, it’s that darkness that will keep Thony safe; left alive, this man will always be a threat to her, which is something Arman simply cannot allow. And it’s because of that– because of her– that he has the strength to pull the trigger. 

Okay jesus there we go. Almost 7k words later and I’m free of this episode haha. Like I said at the start (if any of you can even remember back that far) I am going to try and tone these down again from now on, but if y’all decide not to continue subjecting yourselves to these, I completely understand haha. But for any of you crazy masochists out there who want to continue– I’ll see you next week lol

[afan1]

The Wilds: Season 1 Rewatch

Hey, everyone! Sorry, it’s been a hot minute. I’ve been so busy with work and I was thinking that I wouldn’t be able to get the entirety of season 1 recapped before the premiere of season 2 on Friday. So, what I’m going to do is double up the recaps and do 1x06/1x07, then 1x08/1x09 and finish it off with 1x10 by Thursday.

SPOILER WARNINGS – While it is an episode recap, there may be spoilers for the entirety of season 1 of The Wilds. Continue reading at your own risk if you haven’t seen all of it yet.

1x01 Recap

1x02 Recap

1x03 Recap

1x04 Recap

1x05 Recap

The Wilds | 1x06: Day Twelve + 1x07: Day Fifteen

Favorite Quote

"Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm 100 years old." — Leah Rilke (1x06)

"I love a bitchy dom, but you're really not reading the room." — Fatin Jadmani (1x07)

Personal Highlights of the Episodes

(1x06)

Nora’s Santa Claus joke to Leah.

The entire sequence with the girls eating the mussels.

This look. Cuffs on cuffs and converse. Leah just speaks to my inner bisexual

Shelby taking the lead on giving Toni the pill + The Straddle

Sarah Pidgeon plays Leah’s breakdowns so well.

(1x07)

“Okay, well blame game aside, I think it’s safe to say that we could blame the dead fire on our problematic Jesus-freeea…” Look, I don’t want to admit it, but haven’t we all been in that kind of situation? It’s just 100x more funny when it’s not you being caught talking shit.

I love the conversation between Shelby and Toni about their life struggles. I am fully on board with Shelby; it’s so easy to look at someone and judge them by what they present on a surface-level. And it’s easy to hear people’s problems and try to outmatch it with your own, but that’s not how things work. You have no idea what these problems have done to an individual’s mental, emotional, or physical health whether you deem it ‘significant’ or not.

The Kiss and immediate runaway from Shelby. You can't run away from your gay forever, sweetie.

Fatin’s commentary during the fight between Nora and Rachel. You know she's probably done that during her little brothers' fights. Leah not understanding sibling dynamics, Dot fed up with everyone's shit, Fatin punching Dot over a toothbrush. All while Shelby and Toni are kissing in the woods.

Things I Didn't Catch the First Time

(1x06)

Gretchen gets the agents on board during the experiment. We see that her recruitment of Agent Faber and the girls getting sick from the mussels happens simultaneously.

It’s super quick, but if you were paying attention during the shot of the doctor’s desk while Gretchen is speaking about her overnight stay, you could have maybe been prepared for Agent Faber’s reveal by the Altoid mints container, which is what he offered Leah during their meeting in her room (also minor, but the finger tapping by Faber is very distinct and prominent when he’s interviewing/assessing)

(1x07)

Does the length of Shelby’s necklace change?

Observations / Theories / Questions

(1x06)

Bless Martha. All the girls are starving, and she was gonna feed the few berries she harvested to the goat.

We get two episodes devoted to Leah’s backstory, the only character on the show that does, right?

Ian and Leah were cute, but Ian, why you decide to make a move on your drunk best friend when you know that she’s still grieving over her previous relationship? That shit was bound to happen. Also, if not for Jeff, they probably would’ve turned into high school sweethearts or been the first love heartbreak that ruins you in that special way

Ian speaking the truth that all of us already been saying since episode 1.

“Shape and texture.” – The moment everyone began wondering about Leah's sexuality.

The girls standing up for Toni and not doing that “let’s just ignore it” bullshit after Shelby admits she’s homophobic. Yes, girls. Yes. Everyone should take lessons and be this way when people spout their bigoted bullshit.

Leah admitting to some of her thoughts about the island but not admitting to seeing a camera. She’s playing these guys, I know she is. She’s way too smart to not have pieced things together by now.

“Blame me, for fuck’s sake. I’m the reason we’re here.” Literally. Another clue towards Nora being the confederate, while they point to more obvious and ‘in-your-face’ things like Shelby finding the bags and Dot being the wilderness survivalist to distract us.

Leah’s dancing in the middle of the night on the street. I didn’t see the car crash coming, but I’m not surprised in the least. Don’t walk in the streets, kids.

“If you hadn’t let your obsessive paranoia about Shelby get the better of you, then you wouldn’t be carrying around the guilt you are not.” Why would Leah still be feeling guilty over something that happened on day twelve? I wonder if this is a clue about Martha’s state post-island.

They present Faber as someone who can really read people. It must be important how quickly he breaks down Gretchen’s deception and why he’s the one running point on the girls’ interviews. It’ll be nice to see who wins this battle. Will Faber realize they’re not being 100% truthful or will Leah and co. pull one over on the ‘experts?’

(1x07)

Rachel straight up abandoning Nora in the water to get the black box. She really gives no fucks about family or friendships when she’s on a mission. Nothing is more important to her than completing the goal(s) she set her mind to. But on the other hand, Rachel was doing so good with repairing her relationship with Nora and that progress just vanished during the tidal wave storm. She reverted back into that bossy, resentful person the second she was given a leadership role and claims it’s just her way of showing tough love. Is it or is it just behavior she’s associated with that time in her life (diving + setting/accomplishing goals)? Habits are hard to break after all.

The fact that Gretchen knew of Linh’s backstory with being sedated unwillingly and didn’t think to have a conversation with her about what would be happening with the girls is insane to me. Her self-absorbed behavior led to the death of someone who looked up to and admired her immensely.

You can’t tell me that Toni didn’t disappear with the sole purpose of finding Shelby. The wood you’re carrying, Toni? It’s a horrible cover story. She would have told the others if that was the real reason.

I’m interested in Thom’s background. Why is he so hell-bent and loyal to Gretchen?

Siblings fighting is no joke. My brother and I fought over a trash bag once and he elbowed me so hard in the jaw it swelled like I just got my wisdom teeth removed. We grew out of that quick though when he turned into a 6’3 behemoth and I stayed my little 5’4 female self.

Gretchen says the experiment last 12 weeks and season 1 only covers 3 weeks of it. Lots of content to still see folks. I do wonder if the bunker interviews are a “part” of the experiment or post-experiment.

Field Notes

(1x06)

Field Note #065 – Leah’s more of a crossword puzzle person. She judges people who do Sudoku.

Field Note #069 – According to the chore board, Rachel’s supposed to be gathering wood. She’s freediving for seafood instead because it’s more fun. The girls haven’t really talked about consequences for straying from your designated chore… but this can’t be good for Rachel’s karma.

Field Note #071 – Leah’s pre-Jeff GPA: 3.7889. Leah’s post-Jeff GPA: 2.967 and sinking. Hearts and grades suffer together.

Field Note #073 – Fatin has been to Barcelona three times: twice with her family, and once on tour with her youth orchestra. She faked jetlag to break away from the group and went out all night with a Spanish cyclist she met on the flight.

(1x07)

Field Note #080 – Martha’s mother got her that suitcase as part of a 5-piece luggage set at a Memorial Day sale in Bemidji, MN.

Field Note #081 – In research, the term “confederate” refers to someone who appears to be one of the subjects of the experiment but who is actually on the research team. 

Field Note #083 – Shelby did indeed rap on the morning closed-circuit announcements. She rapped with her fellow student council members to promote the annual school-wide raffle. They rhymed “tickets” with “rickets,” an extremely rare bone disease. It was… not great.

Field Note #084 – The key Linh wears around her neck is from the diary she kept in middle school. She wears it to remind herself to always fight for her younger, more impressionable self.

Field Note #087 – Gretchen adopted her pugs on the day her divorce was finalized.

Field Note #090 – Shelby is hardly alone in terms of her missing teeth. Roughly two percent of the population are born without lateral incisors. Like Shelby said, it’s in the genes.

~~~

Shelby Curse Count: 5 + 2 (11 total) 

Shelby curses more in 1x06 (5 total) than she does in the first five episodes combined (4 total).

[raayllum]

in tandem with the meta i’ve been developing for the past few days i mentioned here, as well as other metas i’ve written in the past, such as my recent-ish one about thunderfall almost a month ago, time to throw in two cents about the obvious:

tdp is a series that is primarily about how grief and trauma, fear, pain and death, transform us, and the choices the characters make in response to those things. this is true for nearly every named character we meet, with very few exceptions. it is especially relevant for the main cast (callum, rayla, ezran, claudia, soren, viren, harrow, etc.)

soren goes through trauma in 2x07, but it frees him from the grief he was staring right in the face; grieving the type of man he thought his father was (“you really believe that he’s a good person” -3x08), from the type of person soren thought he had to become, from the trauma he thought he was going to through, both experiencing and enacting, if he murdered the princes. 

but claudia cannot handle grieving who her brother was in face of who he’s becoming and the news about her father, so she goes spiralling out, and goes through an experience so intense it causes her body lasting physical trauma (white hair stripe) in order to reverse it. 

claudia is traumatized by losing her mother - “losing her is the hardest thing i’ve ever gone through” - to the point she is the one immobilized, emotionally, in 3x07: “don’t make me choose, not again.” this causes her to stay in an unhealthy dynamic with her father and to traumatize soren (and ezran) in 3x09.

there’s a reason that as claudia and soren become more emotionally impactful to TDP’s narrative, and receive more screentime, that their stories become more and more intertwined with the series’ overarching theme of Grief and Trauma. what else is the Cycle, after all, if not the perpetuation of those two themes - and even though the show is about Breaking the Cycle, that means the main theme of the show is still about how characters respond to the Cycle. it’s still about how they respond to trauma.

Every main character is traumatized or grieving, in some way or another. It is a fundamental reason about why they make the choices they do, good or bad, right or wrong, or both. It’s an overarching character motive. It’s the series’ overarching theme across the board. That’s the Point. 

the very concept of what it means to Grow Up is synonymous with facing and processing grief:

I wanted to talk to you about life, and growing up. And about how sometimes, they are changes you don’t expect. But when you grow up, sometimes, you have to face things you’re not ready for.

the kids agree to the illusionist plan because “we’ll lose everything” if they’re wrong and claudia and soren can’t be trusted. viren only goes and fully turns himself over to aaravos because he has “nothing left to lose.” claudia asserts that “we’re both alive, that’s the important thing.” callum unlocks the sky arcanum through finding love amid grief and fear, first by denying dark magic with help from his father, and then the sky arcanum from his mother’s form. if i talked about how callum, ezran, and rayla’s arcs all keep coming back to the idea of grief and trauma, i’d be here for hours. but just to name a few of many, many examples

furthermore: the episodes that touch on explicit grief or trauma in some manner or another as follows are:

1x01: Callum worrying over Harrow, blowing up at Ezran, which is the inciting incident in the boys’ lives

1x02: Callum and Harrow’s goodbye

1x03: Viren’s efforts to save Harrow; Rayla turning against Runaan, the boys choosing to leave even though they’re worried

1x05: Rayla carrying the burden of her family’s mistakes

1x06: Rayla being willing to “pay the price” and lose her hand in order to spare Ezran’s life; Callum and Rayla worrying about Ezran; Soren being asked to kill the boys, Claudia being asked to prioritize the egg

1x07: Callum’s talk with Ezran about their mother - “I was so scared. I thought I was going to lose you like we lost her.” and Ellis being motivated to go up the Cursed Caldera to save Ava’s life

1x09: The kids trying to save the egg’s life

2x02: self explanatory

2x03: self explanatory

2x04: “When I could do magic, I finally felt like myself. Now I’ve lost that. I’m just trying to find my way back.” 

2x05: self explanatory

2x06: self explanatory

2x07: Callum being so motivated by the potential grief of losing Rayla he does dark magic and ‘loses himself’; Soren being paralyzed

2x08: self explanatory

2x09: Rayla worries over losing Callum; the boys mourn Harrow; Ezran begins the process of grieving his childhood

3x01: Amaya risks her life, Gren thinks she’s dead and is horrified; Callum and Rayla worry over one another’s lives

3x02: Kasef is motivated by grief and fear; Ezran grieves his childhood and takes up the mantle of thing, despite not “being sure I’m ready for this” and refusing to give into the Cycle

3x03: Rayla and Soren lose everything

3x04: Rayla grieves the loss of her home and family

3x05: Soren chooses to betray his father and be a better crownguard because of how he lost Harrow and doesn’t want to lose Ezran

3x06: breaking the cycle is once again synonymous with letting yourself grieve / be afraid / feel hatred (aka respond to trauma), but not letting it consume you or dictate your actions in a negative way

3x07: the human soldiers choose to lose their humanity; Soren leaves Claudia; Janai mourns Khessa and she and Amaya have a moment about the loss

3x08: Rayla prepares to die in her parents’ stead and then finds out how they ‘died’; Soren’s aforementioned speech

3x09: the stabbing, Leap, and resurrection scenes are self explanatory

Episodes that (technically) don’t:

1x08

2x01

Grief is in more episodes of TDP than magic or spell casting is. TTM is almost entirely about responding to grief and trauma and the various ways those two things can stick to you. Characters make bad choices when they respond to their grief poorly, when they let it consume them: Harrow killing Thunder because of Sarai, even if it’s the last thing she would have wanted; Rayla leaves Callum in TTM because she’s so terrified of him dying, even though it’s the last thing he wants. Viren mourns Harrow, yes, but in his grief he orders Soren to kill his best friend’s sons and steals the king’s seal.

Characters make good choices when they don’t succumb to their grief and process it in ways that doesn’t hurt anyone else.

But the show, obviously, isn’t always as clear cut as that, because grief and trauma - experiencing those, responding to those things - are not always easy. They’re basically never easy! TDP’s characters are exceedingly multifaceted because they’re messy, and hold contradictory stances, sometimes. Claudia is sweet but uses Dark Magic; Rayla is selfless and selfish; Callum is very nurturing and can also be very insensitive; Ezran is the nicest kid but does have a temper when he gets pushed far enough; Soren isn’t the brightest, but he has a deep emotional core. They’re made to feel like real people, with flaws, quirks, and more.

That’s what makes the narratives they’re given - the motives and motifs, the symbols and sacrifices - and largely, how they respond to TDP’s main theme of Grief, so continuously compelling.

Because TDP posits that not only is tackling grief - the loss of your old self, your family, a parent, your home, etc. - necessary to growing up, it’s also necessary to learning how to heal, for both yourself and the people around you. That responding and processing your grief is a Responsibility, as well as a necessity. 

(TDP is also a series obsessed with Death - largely through dark magic and moonshadow society - and death seeking, but that’s a meta for another time). 

For now I will leave you on this note: TDP says that we can process and move on from our grief, and heal the rifts that exist within ourselves, if not also with others. As much as the series is about Grief and Loss, it is also very Hopeful that there is a way to do more than just grieve and Survive. That we can Grieve, and learn how to Live, afterwards, too.

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 4x01 “A Tale of Two Sisters” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22 3x01 3x02 3x03 3x04 3x05 3x06 3x07 3x08 3x09 3x10 3x11 3x12 3x13 3x14 3x15 3x16 3x17 3x18 3x19 3x20 3x21 3x22

So we are officially in the Frozen arc this season. To be fair, I hadn’t watched Frozen until I saw that Once was going to be doing this arc at the season 3 finale. My daughter was about 15 months old when that came out, and let me tell you, that became the favored movie that summer. I was not a huge fan of this arc the first time around, but when I binge watched it a few years back, I enjoyed it much more. I do not like how we’re immediately plunged into their backstory with nary a thought to our current characters. It almost feels like the Storybrooke crew are an afterthought at the moment. I guess we’ll see how I feel about it this time around.

Summary: We meet Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff from Arendelle and start to unravel the mystery of what happened to their parents. In Storybrooke, Elsa unleashes a snow monster which the rest of the citizens attempt to fight, and finds something in Gold’s shop that she thinks will help her find her sister.

Opening: Snowflakes

New Characters:

Elsa/Anna/Kristoff: So before we meet any of these characters we see Anna and Elsa’s parents die in a shipwreck, but Elsa’s mother is insisting on writing a note to send off in a bottle for Anna and Elsa. They must know the truth, she insists. Then we skip to five years later, so two years after the events of the Frozen movie. Our sisters are immediately recognizable because two years later Elsa is still wearing her signature blue dress and Anna is wearing her same outfit from the movie, just in case you weren’t sure who they were. They are visiting their parent’s graves. Elsa tells Anna she has a surprise for her wedding. It’s their mother’s wedding dress! She also gives her a snowflake necklace that she apparently made? I’m still not sure how Elsa’s ice powers make things like dresses and jewelry. Anna blabbers on about Sven, Kristoff, and the wedding while trying on the dress. Elsa, meanwhile, discovers a diary entry from her mother that makes her blame herself for her parents' deaths. She runs off in a flurry (literally, she has a flurry of snow around her because, emotions). Anna finds her in the woods, still in her mother’s wedding dress. For someone who was worried about only having clear liquids at her wedding two seconds ago, I don’t think traipsing around in the woods is the best idea. Elsa has Anna read from the diary that they left to find a way to stop Elsa’s magic. Elsa is devastated, but Anna is sure they’re reading it wrong. Anna takes Elsa to the Rock Trolls for more insight. Grand Pabbie doesn’t give much information, but he does tell them their parents were headed for Misthaven. Anna wants to go to get information, but Elsa is too worried that something will happen to Anna like it did to their parents. The next day, Anna and Kristoff’s wedding day, Elsa is looking for Anna in the stables with Kristoff and Sven. Elsa should know something’s wrong right off the bat considering Kristoff isn’t even dressed for getting married. He delays Elsa enough so that Anna can slip off onto a ship heading for Misthaven. But honestly, Sven the reindeer is the best part of this scene. Elsa sees the ship Anna is on in the distance and she lays into Kristoff for letting her go alone. Kristoff reminds her she is the queen and needed to stay there, and he stayed behind because Anna didn’t want Elsa to be alone. Awww. Elsa wonders why she’s never heard of Misthaven and Kristoff informs her the inhabitants call it the Enchanted Forest!!

Meanwhile, in Storybrooke,  Elsa has left the barn we last saw her in and is walking down the road when she sees a Storybrooke sign. And despite it being a completely different language than the nordic symbols we see her reading later on, she can read it just fine (does the curse on Storybrooke have a translator like the TARDIS in Doctor Who?). And she gets so upset or angry the sign gets frost on it? A car driven by Sleepy is careening down the road and almost hits Elsa, except she freezes it, knocking out Leroy who was also in the van. Now it’s morning and Elsa is walking down the main street with ice trailing behind her. She is barely in control of her magic because every little sound sets her off. Elsa has decided to hide in a warehouse? I don’t know if she heard Leroy telling Emma and Hook about their ice adventure the night before, because otherwise I have no idea why she’s all of a sudden freaked out and hiding from everyone when she was just walking down Main Street in broad daylight moments before. Emma and Hook go looking for whatever is making the trail of ice through town and Elsa conjures up a snow monster (Hi Marshmallow!) to get them off her trail. A bunch of newspapers start blowing around in the warehouse and one blows right to Elsa that happens to have an engagement announcement for Gold and Belle at the shop, and a picture of the necklace Elsa had given to Anna for her wedding! How convenient. The town is in chaos and Grumpy is yelling about a monster being on the loose. He’s talking about Marshmallow, but Elsa is internalizing it as if he’s talking about her. Elsa sees Gold’s shop and breaks in later that night by freezing the lock? I don’t know how that would make the door open, but, whatever, plot reasons. She picks up the necklace and tells Anna she will find her.

Character Observations:

Emma and Hook: We start off where we left off in season 3 at Granny’s. Emma goes to talk to Regina after discovering she brought back Robin’s ‘dead’ wife. Regina is upset and blames Emma for all this, which, she’s not wrong. Emma tries to defend herself by saying she was just trying to save her life. Regina thinks maybe she deserved to die and Emma says she would know since she saved her from the Evil Queen. Regina tells Emma she’s changed and Emma thinks things could still work out with her and Robin despite the dead wife situation. After a confrontation with Marian, Regina walks off. Emma wants to go after her, but Hook convinces her that Regina needs space. Emma tries to comfort Henry who’s afraid Regina will go evil again. The Charming family is out walking baby Neal in his stroller. Emma is still trying to reach Regina to no avail. Henry thinks maybe it’s just Emma she doesn’t want to hear from and tries to call her. Mary Margaret and Emma discuss Henry’s feelings in all this, and the fact that Emma and Regina both have new men in their lives is brought up. Emma doesn’t know what she and Hook are, and Hook shows up right then, as he does. He accuses her of avoiding him, she claims to just be going through ‘stuff’ and that they’re in a crisis. He tells her that she needs to live her life between crises or she won’t have one (sounds like David’s advice to her in The New Neverland when he tells her to look for the moments). And, of course, that’s when Leroy interrupts them telling them they’re under attack. He tells them about their van being frozen and that’s when Emma notices the ice trail going through town. They follow the trail to a warehouse and then a giant snow monster appears. Emma is, once again, in shock, whereas Hook just looks amused. Their expressions are hilarious. Emma attempts to reason with the snow monster, but it blasts them down with its breath (?) and Emma drops her gun and it ends up shooting the monster, which makes it madder. She and Hook run for it. And we have another giant running through Storybrooke. At least this time it seems to be avoiding the cars, but still manages to get caught up in the electrical wires. Leroy starts yelling about the evil snowman and Emma just rolls her eyes as if asking ‘What is my life?’ All the screaming of the people of Storybrooke is actually scaring the giant snow monster, and he heads off towards the forest. Somehow, Emma, Hook, and David manage to get ahead of it and run into Robin, Little John, and Marian in the forest. I’m gonna assume Roland is asleep in the tent. The snow monster starts heading toward them and Little John immediately hits it with an arrow, Hook telling him too late that it only attacks when it feels threatened. David and Hook finally remember that Emma has magic that she can use against it, so she does, and then the snow monster grows ice spikes and knocks Emma down and blasts the rest of them into unconsciousness. Regina ends up saving them, and Emma tries to talk to her, but she just poofs off. Emma makes a joke to Hook about going home to watch Netflix (and chill?), which he doesn’t understand, but agrees to, and she pulls away. He again accuses her of avoiding him and she admits to it this time. She says she feels guilty about what happened with Regina, but Hook isn’t completely buying it. She kisses him (and I find this such an awkward kiss, I don’t know why) and tells him to be patient with her. He says he has all the time in the world until another monster appears and kills him. Again, he’s not wrong. Emma goes to see Regina at her office and talks to her through the door since Regina won’t let her in. She reminds her that Henry brought her to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings and that includes Regina (um, actually, I don’t think it does include the person who cursed everyone not to get their happy endings).

Regina: Oh boy. She does about three 180s in this episode. We start with her complaining to Emma that it’s her fault that Marian is back and ruined her relationship with Robin. Which, true. She’s mad because Marian sees her as a villain even though she isn’t anymore. When Regina tells Emma that whatever Marian did she deserved to die, Emma tells her that the Evil Queen was the one who was going to kill her. Regina reminds her that she worked very hard to change who she was and build a future, and no she didn’t. She cursed an entire population to another realm to get her ‘happy ending’, which she got bored with after three days. Then she waivered back and forth about being good (therapy with Archie) and being evil (Cora came back), then told Pan she had no regrets when she was tied to the Thinking Tree, met Robin and fell for him despite the fact that she apparently had his wife killed, and basically got a blast of light magic because she loved Henry enough to True Love kiss him to break the curse. Anyway, Robin tries to make Marian see how Regina is changed, but she freaks out because of the way he touches Regina and infers they were having a relationship. She freaks out even more when the Charmings come and defend Regina. Marian calls her a monster and Regina has to reign in a fireball. Instead, she walks off to clear her head. Robin goes to talk to Regina the next day. He apologizes for Marian, though Regina reminds him that nothing she said was untrue. Robin reminds her that the Evil Queen is not the woman he knows, and like him, she’s left her past in the past. He confirms that what they had was definitely real and his feelings still are real, but he’s going to stay with Marian because he made a vow and he can’t break that. Ok, here are my thoughts on this. Marian died. She was dead for at least three years before the bubble curse came. Then at least another year after the curse was broken and before coming to Storybrooke. Now, I know Robin and Regina have only been together for like, a month, but it’s been at least four years for Robin since Marian died. And while she may be the same person she was all those years ago, Robin certainly isn’t. I can see him trying to help Marian adjust to being in Storybrooke, but he has no obligation to be with her now. What if he was married with kids to someone else? Would he leave his wife because he felt obligated to Marian? Regina is not happy that Robin has chosen Marian. Regina channels her anger through magic and ends up breaking a mirror, which gives her an idea. She heads to the psych ward and frees Sidney from the prison she’s kept him in so he can help her get rid of Marian. Regina goes on about the book giving Marian her happy ending, which, no. The book is a record of what happened, not the whims of whoever wrote it. Sidney goes on about Regina keeping him alive and not forgetting about him so he could help her with her dastardly plan, and by Regina’s expression, you can tell she hadn’t remembered he was even still in Storybrooke until she broke the mirror. Nice job, Regina. Sidney thinks Regina wants him to murder Marian, but she doesn’t want to murder her currently, she wants to go back in time and murder her before Emma can save her. And also, she doesn’t remember sentencing Marian to death, so she puts Sidney back in the mirror so he can show her how it happened. Poor Sidney, from one prison to another. He is way too blinded by his love for Regina. We see an extended scene of Marian being taken by the Evil Queen’s guards with Marian telling Regina she wouldn’t do this if she had a family and that she’s a monster. But instead of making Regina hate her, you can tell Marian’s words really get to her. In the forest, Regina appears at Robin’s camp when all but Marian have been knocked out by Marshmallow. It looks like Regina is going to let the snow monster kill her, but then throws a fireball at it, killing it. Marian is grateful, and Regina poofs off before Emma can talk to her. Regina hides out in her office in a gorgeous scene between her and Emma. Emma’s speech about her finding her happy ending inspires her in another way. She wants to find the writer of the book and force him to change it so she can get her happy ending. Again, Regina, sweetie, the book is what already happened. It’s basically a history. Nothing the author does is going to change what happened in the past. Sigh.

Gold and Belle: Oh, lord, where to even start with this. Gold visits Neal’s grave and basically gives us a synopsis of him switching out the real dagger for the fake one he gave to Belle (for those viewers that may have forgotten over the break). He says he only did it to avenge Neal’s death, and now he’s going to switch them back because Belle is his second chance and he’s not going to start their marriage with a lie (well, too late for that). He pledges to Baelfire that he will be the man that died for him. Meanwhile, Belle has found a house that is seemingly not owned by anyone, but randomly came over in the last curse (did new housing come over for the new people who came over? How does that work?). They decide to use it for their honeymoon since they can’t actually leave Storybrooke. Gold immediately freezes Belle as she goes on and on about the house to trade daggers, so at least he’s making good on his promise to Baelfire. Belle goes to show Gold something, and he notices a circular box sitting on the table. He seems slightly scared of it. She shows him a ballroom, and with a snap of his fingers, Belle and Gold are dressed like their Disney counterparts and the gramophone is playing Beauty and the Beast for them to dance to. Later, Belle is asleep and Gold gets the real dagger out again. He waves it over the box and a galaxy appears inside what looks like the Sorcerer’s hat from Disney’s Fantasia. An evil smirk comes over his face. I can see his vow to Baelfire and Belle isn’t going to last very long.

Questions:

How does Anna and Elsa’s mother know her message in a bottle will get to her girls? She’s literally in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm.

Why does Storybrooke need a sign saying who maintains their roads? No one from outside of Storybrooke can come in.

Since when does Regina call Emma ‘Swan’? She usually calls her Miss Swan, sometimes Emma, but never ‘Swan’. ‘Swan’ is what Hook calls her.

Whose idea was it to make Sleepy the designated driver?

Anna’s wedding is the next day and she’s just getting a wedding dress? What was she going to wear if Elsa hadn’t found their mother’s gown?

Did Robin really just compare him being a thief that robbed from the rich and gave to the poor to Regina being the Evil Queen in terms of their pasts?

Why is Belle carrying the dagger around instead of keeping it locked up somewhere safe?

Does Elsa not realize she’s making an ice trail?

How does Emma not even get a scratch after Marshmallow hits her with ice spikes?

Exactly how did Regina plan to go back in time to kill Marian? Emma and Killian managed to go back by a fluke with Zelena’s spell. Was Regina going to kidnap the Charming’s baby and get all the magical items Zelena had previously procured to redo her spell?

Why has Gold not gotten some sort of alarm system for his shop? Even a magical one would make sense with the amount of people who have broken in at this point.

Where is the strong Elsa that we saw at the end of the original Frozen movie? This one is worried about everything all the time.

Observations:

The Queen of Arendelle’s wedding dress is in pristine condition considering Anna didn’t even know where it was until now, and I doubt it had been hiding in that closet.

Houses that come over in the second curse are still furnished even though no one has claimed them.

The code to the psych ward is 815.

We haven’t seen Sidney in Storybrooke since season 1. He’s in the psych ward because he took the fall for kidnapping Kathryn.

Baby Neal was born two days ago and Mary Margaret is already walking him through Storybrooke in a stroller. Nope. Don’t buy it. Unless Regina magically healed her, she would be in way too much pain. I had a normal child birth and it took me two weeks before I could walk around the block, let alone through the whole neighborhood.

The headline of the Storybrooke Mirror that Elsa picks up says “Mr. Gold to Marry Belle French”. Other headlines are “Volunteers help to rebuild Heritage Trail” and “Storybrooke Priory’s ‘laughing’ gargoyle has been vandalized”.

The music playing when Gold brings up the Sorcerer’s hat is an off-key version of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia.

So, I feel like we got the beginnings of a lot of storylines, but I’m not really sure where everything is going quite yet. The only solid thing we really got is that Regina wants to change the stories in the book, which, unless she goes back in time like Emma and Hook did, doesn’t seem like something she can do at this point in time. So far, I could care less about the Frozen arc. Had I not seen the movie, I wouldn’t know what the hell was going on, and it’s not like Frozen was a well known fairy tale previously. It was supposed to be based on The Snow Queen and then Elsa got too likable. We’ll see what happens. Welcome to season 4.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @thisonesatellite​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @profdanglaisstuff​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @mariakov81​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @lfh1226-linda​

[momentofmemory]

The Definition of an Alpha

for @teenwolf-meta​ week, day seven: parallels. click here for the companion gifset.

You wouldn’t think there are that many ways to announce you’re an Alpha, and yet Teen Wolf covers just about all of them. In the finales of s1-4, Peter, Derek, and Scott all define themselves and others as Alphas. The differences in their claims reflect their understanding of what it means to be an alpha, and how the show ultimately defines it.

Derek’s explanation of the concept of Alpha in Pack Mentality stresses power and threat: “It’s the most dangerous of our kind. [...] This thing is more powerful, more animal than either of us” (1x03). ‘The Alpha’ goes on to be an almost mythical force in s1: untouchable, powerful, and controlling, and central to what it means to be in a pack. It takes everyone coming together to finally defeat him in Code Breaker, the finale of s1. By that point, Derek has told Scott that the only potential way for him to become human again is to kill Peter (a lie, according to an interview with Jeff Davis). Now, at the crucial moment, Derek chooses to kill Peter and take the Alpha power for himself. When he turns to look at Scott, he says only: “I’m the Alpha now” (1x12). In claiming Alpha status, Derek claims the mantle of everything Peter had—including Scott’s relation to him. He is “the” Alpha—the definite article—and therefore, Scott’s only choice.

In the finale of s2, Master Plan, Scott rejects this. After successfully defeating Gerard’s plan, Scott says “You may be an Alpha, but you’re not mine” (2x12). This is a direct response to Derek’s line in s1. Scott clearly acknowledges that Derek has a certain amount of power in the first clause, saying Derek “is an Alpha,” but in switching out the definite article “the” for “an,” he rejects the idea that Derek is the only option. This is especially significant as Derek is the only Alpha in the area at this point—even the Omega from the first episode of s2 calls Derek “the” Alpha (2x01).

The second clause of Scott’s sentence, “but you’re not mine,” explains why Scott can make this distinction. Derek simply having power does not mean he automatically has power over Scott. This begins the shift in what it means to be an Alpha—the seeds of which had already been planted by Derek himself, when he recognized that Scott was “already an Alpha of [his] own pack,” despite being an Omega in terms of his power (2x05).

In the 3a finale, Lunar Ellipse, that metaphorical title of Alpha becomes literal. As he did with Derek, Scott defines himself and his new red eyes only by saying, “I’m an Alpha now” (3x12). He doesn’t use the definite article like Derek did in s1, and he certainly doesn’t use “The True Alpha,” contrasting Deucalion’s “The Demon Wolf” (3x04). Scott’s Alpha status, despite the way he earned it, doesn’t automatically place him above anyone else. He is simply “an Alpha”—which he’s been as a person for a while now. The shape he’s taken is simply reflecting the person he is.

Before 3a is over, however, this new definition is threatened. At the very end of Lunar Ellipse, Peter—“the” Alpha from s1—reenters the scene. After killing Jennifer, Peter throws his head toward the sky and roars, “I am the Alpha… I have always been the Alpha!” (3x12). This is a direct challenge to not just Scott himself, but Scott’s entire philosophy; Peter argues that it’s all about being the Alpha, not just an Alpha. Not only that, he’s always been The Alpha. This plays with the earlier concept of an Alpha being more than just red eyes, as Peter is a Beta at this point. Whereas Derek first suggested Scott was a kind of Alpha because he had a pack (2x05), Peter, on the basis of just having killed Jennifer at the Nemeton, is making a claim to Alpha on the basis of violent power.

These competing definitions finally come to a head in Smoke and Mirrors, the finale of s4. There Peter is a Beta in the literal sense, and Scott is an Alpha, but Peter desires to reverse this dynamic. First, Peter attempts this through actions. He spends much of the last two episodes acting like he imagines the Alpha should: he makes plans, gives the pack orders, and even coaches Malia on the importance of “shedding the blood of his enemies” (4x11, 4x12). Meanwhile, Scott has been turned into a Berserker, placed under the control of another—like Peter imagines a Beta should be, given his actions in s1. Secondly, when Scott breaks free of the Berserker mask, Peter attempts to define them both through words. He rejects Scott’s Alpha status by saying Scott doesn’t “deserve” his power—stressing, again, that he considers the position of Alpha as one defined by power. His rejection is on the basis of Scott’s distaste for violence, which he also considers central to being the Alpha. Finally, he reestablishes himself as the Alpha by reminding Scott that he was “[his] Beta first” (4x12)—as only Alphas can “have” Betas.

In rejecting Peter’s claim, Scott follows the same pattern of actions and then words. First, the outcome of the fight shows that Peter hasn’t understood what being an Alpha is about at all: whereas Peter had tried to get Malia and Liam to fight on his behalf, Scott fights on their behalf. Once Scott has defeated Peter in deed, he defeats him in word, as well: “You were never an Alpha, Peter. But you were always a monster” (4x12).

This is the reversal of Peter’s “always” claim in 3x12, because being an Alpha—being a werewolf—is ultimately about having and taking care of a pack, not having a monstrous desire for power.

[marylenjackson]

@heartstoppercentral Heartstopper Pride Week

Day 4 - Favourite Episode - 1x03 - Kiss

So many reasons I love this episode the most and why I think this episode changed everything

- In the beginning of episode Nick searching information about LGBT+ and understand that something in that relate with him. I so like this self-concentrated Nick scenes, they are give us new sides of our boy

- The way Nick invite Charlie to Harry's party. First time he has doubts because he know it's really not Charlie thing and think Charlie can don't agree go to party. This thoughts give us new sides of Nick. He know Charlie and now that he care about what he feel, but in the same way he want Charlie be there, really want. And when Charlie doubt, he not only say "please", he said "I want you to be there' and, in my opinion, these words are the reason why Charlie came to party

- At the party this sweet little moment when guys looking for each other in the crowd and finally noticed, this pure joy

- Tao and Elle movie date, excuse me, night. For me this episode important for this pair too. Because they stayed alone (thank you Isaac), they talked about Nick and Charlie. Tao in the first time noticed that Charlie changed, and this important because show us that he really know him, he not only hanging out with Charlie, he really care about him. Also in this episode Tao and Elle decided stayed friends whatever happened in their love life. And I think this important, because even when they start dating they continue being friends too

- Conversation of Nick and Tara. I think for Nick it's important moment because he saw first time in his life queer person and he understand this is okay. Also in this conversation he in the first time understand that now Charlie is his best friend. I think it's also important to Tara said her first crush about her sexuality and relationships. Also her line "Oh yeah I know Charlie Spring" and this suspicious sight, absolutely amazing

- Charlie and Ben met in hallway. We a lot said about how Nick changed because of Charlie, but Charlie changed too. In this scene he standing on himself in the first time. In his life before Nick he never do it, but now thank Nick's support it's give him more confident and moral strength say this awful ex-crush "Stay away from me!" with such powerful emotion

- Tara and Darcy kiss. This is their first public kiss, moment that changed everything in their relationships. And I like that it full of joy and happiness. They don't mind about people around they look only on each other and for them only two of them in this room. Also cinematography of this scene absolutely amazing. Rainbow light radiate around girls and on their faces is pure art

- Nick bi awakening moment. He saw Tara and Darcy kiss and understand that he want this, he want be happy with his lover and no matter what happens.

- Nick and Charlie conversation in the corner. This their first conversation when they are more than friends and both feel it. Nick's "I am so proud" and holding Charlie's hand after he said about his meeting with Ben. The way how he proposed to go in quiet place and Charlie felt "something happened"

- Their racing in building and cute conversation about Harry's financial privilege, Nick's line about how Harry will be crying after their parents bought him wrong model of Lamborghini is my absolutely favourite

- And THIS SCENE. Scene I sure we all saw so many times. I always like how Charlie step to step opened for himself Nick's feelings. Nick confused about all these questions, but understand that this moment is so important for him and Charlie. Their first gentle kiss and confusion after it. But both know that want it more. I like their second kiss, we can feel this passion and desire, kiss about both had dreamed about and we feel this in all the ways

- Harry's interruption and Nick ran away. I always feel so upset about Charlie. He finally had his first kiss with person who really like him and it's all gone. I think each of us will be doubt about what just happened it was real or not.

- This scene with Nick and Harry in room full of blue light. This scene always give so uncomfortable vibe, like thriller or something. I red that many people scared that guys will be bit Nick or do another terrible things. I'm glad that this ended so quickly and without confrontation.

- Nick returned in room and understand that he messed up and Charlie gone.

- Charlie and his permanent analysis about his and Nick's kiss. It's awful how in our minds we can see such sweet moments in such horrible way

- Nick coming to talk about last night. For me it's important that Nick not ignoring Charlie and not hiding in dark places after what happened. He came and want to talk personal and this so fresh, so healthy, I like it in so many ways

That's all, if you gone to this place, my congratulations and thanks to you

[perrypixel]

Hundred Days of Jim Lake Jr.

↳ Day Twenty-eight

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 5 of Season 1

“Number Five” 

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it’s funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

| 1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04 | 1x06 |

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ Out of all of the songs in TUA, “In The Heat Of The Moment” is the one that’s stuck in my head the most. I love this scene so much

☂ I just now realized that this is the umbrella that blew past Five when he was kneeling in front of the Academy in 1x02

☂ It’s hard to get a good shot of it, but Five is wearing Diego’s knife holster on his thigh. Since that holster has to connect to a belt to stay attached, it’s safe to say that Five is wearing Diego’s entire knife harness/holster underneath his coats (which I believe Aidan showed a picture of himself holding a knife in his BTS photos for this scene so that’s another clue)

☂ I’m no expert at film production, but you can definitely tell that they shot that snow scene on a sunny day and just reduced the brightness of the footage and put some sort of filter on it (because they have a tight filming schedule and filmed this during the summer I believe). It stands out when Five’s walking through a blizzard with a really dark shadow and the cars and the wagon are reflecting light.......

☂ Five in the blizzard scene is actually 30! So we do know what he would look like if he never left. Plus, he would have been 5′10  (177.80 in cm & 1.7780 in meters) It’s such a weird little scene because my mind goes “Oh, that’s adult Five right there!” However I don’t think his actor, Jim Watson, looks similar to Aidan

☂ Just realized that you can hear a bird as old Five pedals down the road

☂ Also Five is around 57 or 58 here and he already has all white hair? He must have started to get gray hair as a young adult

☂ Concept art of old Five writing equations in the apocalypse

☂ The mansion where you and Dolores did what?

☂ All of the books behind Dolores are related to space, so as expected Five was studying up on that subject in relation to his ability and time travel

☂ I wonder what Dolores said to him. Five sounded really offended

☂ I find it a little eerie at how calm Five is when he heard The Handler as he continued to stare at Dolores and grabbed his gun

☂ Prooooobably doesn’t mean anything but I love how these lyrics 

In the heat of the moment

When the thunder and lightning come

I know that you'll be by my side 

are being sung as it zooms in on The Umbrella Academy lunchbox, specifically when I know that you'll be by my side is sung as it shows him with his siblings

☂ Also, he kept that lunchbox and probably carried it everywhere with him!!

☂  Since he had the lunchbox, Five probably read the comics too. He had a chance to reminisce on the missions he went on before he disappeared and then was able to read about the missions his siblings went on without him 

☂ Here’s the storyboard of Five meeting The Handler

☂ There’s a Prime-8s poster!

☂  Okay I actually don’t like this part about Five. I know he wanted to try to stop the apocalypse alone, where it’s safe to assume he thought his siblings would get in the way, but it sounds like it’s actually because of his siblings failing to stop it the first time. It’s probably a twisted way of survivors guilt even though he wasn’t there in the first place, but that’s the problem. A few seconds later Five tells Luther how he and his siblings died together, clearly bothered that he was not there to help them, protect them, or to die with them. He got himself stuck in the very thing that killed his family. 

He knows that they already tried to stop the apocalypse, or person, but they weren’t strong enough. It’s a little odd though that in that previous timeline they failed, but Five isn’t willing to try to get their help again. Sure they failed the first time, but as Five states in a later episode, they have him now. He’s now there with his siblings and he can help them. I think Five is just too focused on the big picture, the apocalypse, to try again with his siblings. I mean Luther even got close enough to the person to take their eye so surely that’s something. 

However I still think it’s a whole lone wolf kinda thing where he doesn’t want to get them involved because he saw them dead and he feels like it’s his sole responsibility to keep them safe. Time is another factor in which Five finally got a clue as to who played a role in the apocalypse, Harold, and so he finally opened up to his family about it to get their help as the apocalypse was only a few days away. If Five got the clue about Harlold within the first few days of his return, he definitely wouldn't have asked his siblings for help (wow that was long)

☂ It’s not exactly limp trembling, but Five is having a hard time telling Luther that he found their bodies

☂ I love this shot

☂ Diego’s very quick and reluctant huff and “Fine” before he gets let down is so childlike I love it

☂ Five ever so slightly frowns or clenches his jaw after he finds out that Hazel and Cha-Cha killed Patch. Diego was indirectly hurt by the people who are hunting for him and you can tell in that moment that Five wasn’t too happy to hear about it 

☂ I also think Five has an “Oh shit, I have to tell them what I did” moment here. It makes me wonder if he ever planned on telling his family that he was an assassin

☂ Five is so calm telling Diego that it’s a mistake to go after Hazel and Cha-Cha

☂  Baby boy oh baby boy 💔

☂ Five didn’t even care about The Handler mentioning that The Commission had been watching him suffer in the apocalypse, he only cared about having a chance to go home

☂ Now that I think about it, how did the apocalypse happen in the original timeline? Obviously Vanya still did it, but she didn’t destroy the moon otherwise Five would have said something about it, right? I guess she just released a bunch of super powerful sound waves? 

☂ On one hand Five has The Handler reaching out to him, and on the other hand he has Dolores also reaching out for him

☂ OKAY SO I guess here’s a canon list of historical events Five has caused

The Hindenburg Disaster 

Something to do with WWI 

Assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia 

Assassinated Joesph Stalin (Note: Stalin wasn’t officially declared to be assassinated, but there were some suspicions)

Made sure Oswald would assassinate JFK/Was possibly going to assassinate JFK

Assassinated three police officers in the Shepherd’s Bush murders in London in 1966

Somewhere/something tied to the name Calhoun (it’s hard to find due to different counties and towns named Calhoun) 

☂ “They turned me into the perfect instrument for rehabilitation of the time continuum.” How so, Five? Was it training? Did they stop your aging? Was it an alteration to your DNA? I need answers in this show, dammit! 

☂ Second time we’ve heard Five say that he was the best in The Commission 

☂ Hey, I’ve been inside that very plane where Johnson was sworn into presidency and where JFK’s casket was laid! It’s quite the beautiful aircraft (I’m using this as an excuse to show it ✌️)

☂ It’s interesting to think about that Five really is capable of time traveling with ease, but it’s just that he forgot a decimal in his equation when going to 2019. We already saw that he jumped through time in 1x02 with ease. The only thing that went wrong for the jump back to the 60s is that he didn’t have time to make a proper calculation to put all of his siblings and himself in the same year. He really just jumped back to where he previously time traveled by instinct and probably some very very quick reverse engineering of pieces her remembered from the previous time traveling equation

☂ So if Five just creates a portal to a time period then that means he’s still using his power and not just simply walking through a portal. It’s not like he planned on being back in his 13-year-old body, it was a mistake in his calculation that he had to recognize right away so that he could project his conciseness into a younger version of himself (call me Diego because I can’t exactly wrap my brain about the whole conciseness thing) 

☂ Anyways, I love the little T-Rex Diego has

☂ One of my favorite Luther lines 

(”BuT tHaT’s MuRdEr!” Dude, it’s not like your father raised you to brutally attack bad guys and even kill them if need be)

☂ “Time changes everything.” Yeah like how in the future you time travel seconds to bring your family back from the dead and-

☂ The scene of Klaus returning hurts my heart so incredibly bad. You can clearly see that through the pain and trauma that is currently swimming through his mind that he recognizes that he is home. That recognition briefly surfaces through his tears as he slowly turns his head, eyes sweeping across the familiar buildings of his home city. A+++ for Robert’s acting here

☂ This also means that Klaus managed to figure out how the briefcase works somehow??

☂ So are Vanya’s meds supposed to be refrigerated then? If so then she probably shouldn’t be carrying them around in her pocket 

☂ Did the Umbrellas get to go the bakery when:

A. They got done with a mission

B. During their free time

C. When they snuck out of the house

☂ Well Allison, your bad feeling was justified

☂ “When something seems too perfect, it’s usually anything but.” *flash forward to the Hargreeves arriving at the Academy at the end of S2*

☂ Vanya’s tone and the way she just 🙂 when she tells Allison “Like a woman who’s based her whole life on rumors. Some people actually mean what they say.” 

☂ “If you feel better without it, then why even bother taking it?” Bitch

☂ “Well you two are spending a lot of quality time together, huh?” Yeah haha it’s not like their dad just died (shhhh we’re ignoring that he was shitty to make my point) and that they haven’t seen each other in ages

☂ It’s surreal to see Leonard pretend he knows very little about The Umbrella Academy (y’know when in fact he tried to join it and had posters, drawings, and figures of them in his room)

☂ It looks like they’re in a café, if so then why is there salt on the table when sugar would be almost a necessity? 

☂ “Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92” My absolute beloved 💖💖💖

☂ What’s that scar on Klaus’s shoulder? Did he get grazed by a bullet in Vietnam? Probably not because it would look more fresh. Where did that scar come from? 

☂ I wonder where all that blood came off of Klaus. They’re bloody footprints, but we can see his combat boots by the tub so he wore them on his way into the bathroom. We also see that he has rinsed the blood off of his hands, but there’s a small amount on his head. It doesn’t appear that the blood on his head is bleeding from an active wound either, so there shouldn’t be any blood dripping off of him. Are the bloody footprints just for dramatic effect? Most likely

☂ Again, the bathroom tiles at my house are very similar to the ones shown throughout the Academy

☂ Five’s somewhat soft “You okay?”

☂ So does Five experience those side effects too when time traveling with a briefcase? What about time traveling under his own power? Maybe he has some sort of immunity to it due to his abilities 

☂ Five sounds like a father scolding a child when asking Klaus to tell him about how he time traveled

☂ Y’know it’s sad that Five is excited about the briefcase instead of being concerned and or angry that Hazel and Cha-Cha, who broke into his home and attacked his family when looking for him, took his brother and tortured him to try to get information on where to find him

☂ Wow I just realized that Klaus says “What do you care?” which is more so used as dismissive and or slightly sarcastic

☂ There’s a bass in Diego’s room. I wonder if this is what he played in the Prime-8′s since he played a guitar or a six stringed bass when he was in it in the comics. However I don’t believe that Diego and Vanya were a part of the Prime-8′s in the show

☂ “You look like shit.” Diego you are one word away from Klaus’s comic title

☂ Allison and Cha-Cha potentially could have recognized each other’s voices

☂ This is really just a side tangent, but since mobile phones and computers exist then does that technology not exist in newer cars? We can see new cars throughout the show, and most new cars have a screen on the dashboard for navigation and to control basic functions in a car. Do those new cars just not have those in the show? And what about modern airliners that fly by using computers? Do they not have those? Does this matter? No, not at all

☂ Diego and Klaus just might be my favorite brother duo

☂ True face of concern

☂ I think it’s weird that there’s just a sudden cut as Klaus takes a shot. Is it possibly trying to imply that he did more than one? If so then shouldn’t it have made multiple cuts there to show that he’s had more than one? It’s just weird that there’s one sudden cut

☂ Okay so I have another post I’m working on about this, but the location of TUA is confusing. It’s just supposed to be a city in North America, but there are things in the background that both are Canadian and American. The 173rd Airborne Brigade (aka the “Sky Soldiers”) are an actual US Army infantry group, which would imply that this is in the US

☂ Diego in this whole scene is 👌He doesn’t know what’s going on with Klaus or what he’s talking about, but he’s there to help and defend him no matter what

☂ Hazel just wants a normal life and I’m glad he somewhat gets one in the future

☂ The eyelashes on this kid-

☂ Any question pertaining to Delores Five ignores 

☂ “So, all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the time line, wherever they may be-”

“-and kill them.”

☂ I’m not even going to bother trying to figure out Five’s math, but how would he know that that random dude is a gardener? Is that in the math?

☂ Five that fun looks a lot heavier than the one you used in The Commission

☂ Well technically Five could have teleported with the gun to grab Delores and then just teleported away on his mission 

☂ 

☂ He’s so angry asjkdhg

☂ “I know you're still a good person, Five. Otherwise you wouldn’t have risked everything coming back here to save us all. But you’re not on your own anymore.” Luther’s words definitely struck a chord with Five. As soon as it shows Five’s face you can see just for the briefest second that his eyebrows, nose, and cheeks twitch. We can also see that he’s moving his mouth and lips, at one point it looks like he makes a slight tight lipped frown. 

“I know you're still a good person, Five. Otherwise you wouldn’t have risked everything coming back here to save us all.” Implies that Luther is viewing Five and his actions as “bad” and that he doesn’t really care for much in the world because he kills and seemingly doesn’t have a lot of morals. So Five being “bad” = not caring to save his family or the world. But Five did come back so that means a part of him is “good” for wanting to save them and the world. Combine those two and you get a “bad” guy who is somewhat “good” and it sounds like Luther thinks that that’s what Five believes about himself too. Five sees himself as “bad” for all of the things he’s done but he’s willing to somewhat accept it because he’s doing it to be genuinely “good” in the end. Five knows that Luther somewhat views him as a “bad” guy

Also Five was trying to do it that way because he didn’t want to reach out to The Handler. You can see how reluctant he is when he tells Luther “But it’s just about impossible.” Wait a second I just realized this though. He was already writing the letter to Hazel and Cha-Cha so either way Five was going to try to contact The Handler. I guess though that he wanted to try his other options before he had to see her again. 

☂ Also Luther is quite supportive in this scene despite him throwing a wrench into Five’s plan. He doesn’t want Five to kill people, but he’s willing to try any other options Five has. He tells Five that he isn’t alone anymore, showing that Luther is more than willing to help Five try to save the world. Even when Five says that it’s impossible, Luther questions if it really is. He knew that Five coming back from the future was extremely hard and that he went through a lot of shit. Here he’s basically asking “Well if that was super hard then how hard is this? Is it easier than what you had to go through? If yes then let’s do it.” 

☂ “You mean you don’t trust me.” Yeah, what? Doesn’t trust you being in a relationship??

☂ Listen, if my famous sister who has most definitely dealt with stalkers and creeps says that my boyfriend gives of bad vibes, I’d probably listen to her

☂ As an aroace I am glad I don’t deal with this shit

☂ “Worry about your own daughter.” Ouch, low blow

☂ Diego that’s not very stealthy of you

☂ Not really sure what “Manila 1902″ is but there was a war that was happening in the first half of 1902 with the US fighting against the Philippines so maybe it has something to do with that

☂ Klaus wants to leave the car with Diego but is it because he wants to hurt/kill Hazel or does he want to be there to help Diego against Hazel?

☂ If Hazel and Cha-Cha came speeding around the corner then how did Diego and or Klaus not notice that they had left? Hazel could clearly see Diego putting that tracking (or bomb?) device on the bottom of their car so that means that it was within eyesight of their window and not on the other side of the hotel. Also how did Cha-Cha get out without them noticing?

☂ Since the judges suddenly became interested in her Violin playing does that mean that Vanya can put them in a trance of some sort?

☂ Well at least in Allison had gotten caught she could have rumored Leonard

☂ I love that Luther just parked in the on the side of the road instead of parking in the gravel parking lot next to them

☂ If Five telling Luther that he never enjoyed the killing because he’s meeting assassins like him or is he saying it to show Luther that he isn’t as “bad” as he seems?

☂ I find it a little strange that Five willingly lets Luther hold onto the briefcase, but then again Luther is holding onto it incase Hazel and Cha-Cha attack Five. Five obviously wouldn’t want that happening (cue the “Be careful you’re still a young man with a long life ahead” little speech) but Five knows that either Luther can handle it and is very durable or that he would be able to attempt to stop Hazel and or Cha-Cha before they hurt/kill Luther. There’s also a slight chance that if anything should happen it should happen to Luther because Five knows or at least knows how to try to stop the world from ending. I don’t think it’s the latter but yet again he was willing to potentially kill Vanya to save the world

☂ Five’s little “young man” tangent is actually very sweet 

☂ For the briefest second Luther looks confused after Five gets done with his little tangent

☂ “If this all goes sideways, do me a favor and tell Delores I’m sorry.” Five you might also want to tack onto that “Also good luck to you guys trying to stop the apocalypse again.”

☂ Probably doesn’t smell the best with that livestock trailer next to them....

☂ How did Hazel know about Luther getting the chandelier dropped on him and getting back up? We can see that at that point Hazel was already in a different part in of the Academy (presumably right before he kidnapped Klaus). Cha-Cha didn’t stick around either to see Luther get up. The way he words it as “got right back up” implies that he saw it, in which he didn’t

☂ This scene is one of the best scenes out of both seasons. When I first watch TUA this scene made me grin like a maniac 

☂ Also I always thought that Luther was pointing at Klaus but he’s actually confusedly waving back

☂ Throughout the entire little drive by scene you can see Diego yelling at Klaus in the background. It looks like he’s yelling “Go!”

☂ For some reason the frozen time scene gives me an eerie feeling. I think it’s the sudden change in coloring, everything being frozen, and the ambient/background noise 

☂ This “Watch for children” shot is just gold

☂ Cha-Cha just looks dead inside 

☂ Where did The Handler come from? Was she just hiding behind the ice cream truck? I believe that the briefcases actually make a noise when they are used so....

☂ His hands are suddenly out of his pockets in less than a second (y’know unless Five just suddenly whipped them out for some reason)

☂ “I’m but a small cog in a machine.” You mean like another cog in a the murder machine? 

☂ What does Five mean when he says it didn’t work out for him too well last time at The Commission? Because of his whole secret escape plot? Or did something happen to him? The Handler implies it has something to do with being an assassin 

☂ “You’re a distinguished professional....” It’s weird to hear how so many people look up to Five and that he’s a legend in The Commission but he just blows off his praise. There’s only about two times I can think of where he says it about himself, it’s when he’s drunk and then in S2 when he’s telling Luther about his past self being dangerous before going after him

☂ “I’m not looking for happy.” I love this line, it sums up Five so well. He just wants to keep his family and the world safe, no matter what he has to do

☂ I love the way The Handler looks at Luther, Diego, and Klaus. She’s like “You want them to survive?” Well ma’am look, these are the faces of people who truly deserve to live (she even has the audacity to as “All of them?”)

☂ Why did Luther only throw the briefcase that far? I know it’s fake but he should have launched that thing into the cornfield considering he has super strength 

☂ Your shoes hurt?

☂ Don’t mind me jumping to the future here, but in 2x10 we see that when Luther gets in the back of the car that he weighs it down significantly. Shouldn’t we see that happen when he gets into HERMES? 

☂ Well Leonard I have basically the exact same French door as you!

☂ Pogo you shady bastard 

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Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!