#that and the hair she had on 3x01 flashback

[yannaryartside]

I NEED SYD IN DENIN

making Carmy salivating

[tallskinnyvanillalatte]

Season 3 Shay References

So, I wanna keep track of all the times Shay is referenced or mentioned or whatever in season 3. Because I feel like they handled her death very well and I wanna have it written down somewhere.

3x01: Shay died right at the beginning of the episode. We fast forward six weeks. She's mentioned at 51 a couple of times. Dawson visits her "plate". Severide hasn't been at 51 ever since, he returns by the end of the episode and goes to their apartment with Casey where they clean out some of her stuff. He mentiones he can't continue living there, so Casey invites him to stay at their place for a while. Severide finds the contract dvd he recorded with Shay and watches it, crying. Dawson has been seeing counseling for the past five weeks but never said anything. This time, she talks about how she had traded places with Shay and Shay ended up standing in the place Dawson should've been standing when Shay was hit. She breaks down crying. Oh, we also get several flashbacks. Shay and Dawson in the ambo before their last call together. Shay joining 51 and meeting Severide for the first time. Oh, and Gabby is wearing Shay's necklace already, but it's not addressed yet.

3x02: This is the first episode without Shay. The recap shows us Shay's death again and Severide's "Come on, Shay! Fight for me, Shay!" really gets to me. Severide returns to work and Boden asks him how he's doing and suggests grief counseling to him. Severide insists he's fine. There's this moment where they are leaving the station and Severide sees the back of the new paramedic Sylvie for the first time and it reminds him of Shay. The blonde ponytail, she really looks like Shay from behind and Severide just stares at her for a second or two. Bb:(. Back at the station, Sylvie introduces herself to Severide and sits down next to him. He just talkes to her briefly and goes somewhere else. It's as if she reminds him too much of Shay to actually deal with her. We see Severide talking to Erin Lindsay from CPD who's "so sorry about Shay". While Dawson and Casey are having sex, we see Severide at a bar all by himself having a drink or two. Like, to show that he's maybe not so okay and still struggling. The next morning, we find out that Severide never came home that night. Dawson suddenly starts tearing up and crying. She says that the first thing she thought when she woke up was 'I can't wait to tell Shay'. Casey tells her that Shay helped him pick out the ring and that she was really happy for them. God I'm also in tears because that scene is so pure and so realistic, you know, tearing up out of the blue because a simple thing reminded you of someone. "Staying at 51 after losing Shay - I wouldn't have wanted it any other way", Dawson says. Newhouse's daughter is at the station asking Severide about the pictures and we get a close up on a picture which shows Severide next to Shay. We get a somber look from Severide and emotional music. At night (I don't know which night, is it the next day? Who knows.) Severide is at Molly's with the other guys and way too drunk again. Sylvie arrives and it gets super awkward when Severide touches her face and her hair and goes "It's crazy, right? I mean, I can't be the only one who sees that." Herrmann is clearly uncomfortable and Sylvie is just confused. Severide changes topics and orders more drinks but Herrmann tells him he's had enough. It gets so sad because the music is kinda sad and Herrmann is really worried and tells him he's had enough to drink and Sylvie wants to get him a cab and at the same time, Severide is like "Come on you guys, I'm having fun". It's like... he's the only one that doesn't see how much he's actually hurting. Or maybe he is but he's trying real hard to push that feeling aside. I just wanna hug him. Next day back at the station, Herrmann asks Casey if Severide is still living with them and says that Severide had been sleeping at the station again, second time this week. The final scene of the episode is between Severide and Lindsay. Apparently, they were supposed to go out together but Severide didn't show up because he was getting drunk at a bar. Lindsay tells him that she'll be there for him as a friend and that she's been where he is. Kelly tears up and goes "She was- she was my best friend" god I'm crying again. They hug and it's the first time we see his actual feelings in this episode.

3x03: Molina from another firehouse is at the hospital badly injured after a crash between 51 and their firehouse. It's bad. Severide is the only one who doesn't go inside the hospital. "I can't do another funeral for a line-of-duty death, man. I just can't." It's just a short scene but really heavy. Last time he was at a hospital, Shay died. There was also this scene where Boden mentions that Severide goes on 48-hour-blackouts after his shifts which sounds like this is new and Shay related. But I'm not sure I understood it right.

3x04: We're on episode four already. Most tv shows have already forgotten about the characters they just killed off, Shay's death is different. Severide is at a bar again, having drinking contests with some random dudes. Apparently, he's had six drinks. The bar keeper won't let him drive home, so he takes the subway. There's a shooting and he chooses to dive right into it. He rescues a woman and comes up with an idea and she's wondering if he's a doctor and he goes "My best friend was a paramedic. She drilled this kind of stuff into me." "Amen to her." Shaaay <3 "Kelly Severide doesn't seem to be in a place where he can offer much help", Boden just said to Mills because Mills asked him if Severide had mentioned his situation to Boden as Severide had offered to help him out. Boden later talks to Severide about how he's been handling everything and whatnot "I know that losing Shay was hard but do you really think this is how she'd want you to get past it?" "Please don't" ugh <3 Basically, Boden tells him to get beyond this and get better if he wants to keep his job. A while later, Casey tells Severide that he doesn't care what he does after his shifts but that people in this house count on him. "You know what I can count on? Nothing, no one." God it's killing me. Back at their home, Dawson and Casey talk about Severide. "How bad is it?" "He's slipping away." We see Severide who goes to the hospital the woman from before was treated. He talks to Kendra who says "We all miss Leslie so much" I know me too bb. God, it hurts. Me as a viewer am hurting and this is such good storytelling because they aren't just ignoring Shay's death and moving on, they are dealing with it. At the end of the episode, Severide and Casey enjoy a cigar together. First, Casey talks about losing Hallie, about how he's still grieving and then how Severides needs this house. Ugh I wanna hug him. Last scene is between the woman from earlier and Severide. She brings him cake. "I need to meet this paramedic friend of yours." "Uh, she's actually, um... She's dead." "I'm sorry. ... She's here. I can feel her." Where are my tissues?

3x05: Severide is at work, hungover, puking. A little while later, the other guys at the fire house mention how he's looking for drinking buddies the next night. "in the wake of Shay's death" I'm too lazy to type up the whole conversation but Boden just mentioned Shay to Herrmann. At the end of the episode, Severide is at Molly's drinking with some guys from work, he suggests a Vegas weekend.

3x06: After a call where a mother lost her child (child protective services) Sylvie wants to help the mother but Severide is pretty harsh and tells both of them that their job ends on the scene and that Sylvie shouldn't follow up. It's weird and you don't really understand what it's about (well, I didn't). Until Sylvie confronts Severide and he goes "Shay got overly invested with someone she met on a call. Guy ends up blowing his brains out. You never know what's really going on." So, at the end of the episode, Severide is in Vegas on his Vegas trip, alone because everyone else had canceled. He meets a woman and they kiss and ah I just remember this vividly but she had also lost someone recently and they both kinda help each other get over it?

3x07: Severide tells the group about Brittany (that was her name), I had already forgotten that they actually got married lmfao. The team is... slightly confused but (pretending) to be happy for him. They acknowledge that he's happy but... Boden and Herrmann talk, Boden goes "Who has his ear? Who can get through to him?" and Herrmann looks all sad and says "Shay". Brb sobbing. Friendly reminder that we're on episode 7, six episodes after Shay's death, and she's still mentioned and they are still dealing with her death unlike Chicago PD other shows where a main character can lose their daughter and be okay the next episode (yes, still bitter). Later, everyone meets Brittany. Dawson and Severide talk, Dawson goes "Hey, are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm better than okay, I'm great." "It just seems like ever since- ever since Shay died, you've been avoiding..:" "Why can't you just be happy that I'm happy, Dawson?" "cause I'm not sure that you are happy. And I think- I think maybe that you're hiding and I know that Shay wouldn't want that for you." "Yeah? You think she'd want you putting your wedding on hold forever?" "No, that's completely different." "Look, some people, they get married when they know it's right, however quick it is, and some people, they put it off. Maybe you're doing what's right for you and Matt. Just, before you accuse anyone of hiding, check and make sure you're not doing that yourself." I need a minute. At the end of the episode, we see Brittany and Severide outside a bar, Brittany had been crying and goes "Sorry, it just hits me sometimes" "I know. Me too." "You saved my life, you know that?" "We saved each other." I'm not sure they both understand how lucky they are. They both found exactly what they needed at this point in their lives. I haven't see the rest of that storyline yet (last time was years ago, so I don't remember too well), so I guess I'll write more on that when I get to it.

3x08: There's only a little Shay reference by the end of the episode. But I'll have to start at the beginning. There's this huge helicopter crash and everything is crazy. Brittany texts Severide several times but he doesn't reply cause he's on shift. She even shows up at the scene and asks about him. We later see she's been texting 37 times. Severide and Brittany have this huge fight about how she can't just show up at a scene and how everyone else's wives don't do that, either. They quickly make up and after their makeup-sex, they are in bed and Brittany explains how her sister died in an accident a while ago and how she needs to remind herself of that and how no one understands it like Severide. Severide glances sadly into the distance and looks at a framed photo of him and Shay (he's living with Casey and Dawson, so when he moved in, he actually put up a photo of him and Shay, I need a minute).

3x09: Brittany visits Severide at work because 24 hours without him are too long. "I don't think I've seen any pictures of Shay." "Down at the end of the hall." "Will you show me?" They head to her picture. "You never talk about her." "You never talk about Kathleen." Ah, Severide, avoiding the topic again. Later, he shows Brittany around and goes "I learned as much about protecting people from Shay as I did from any instructor at the academy. ... That's her badge." We see her badge. 6827. Darden's is there as well. "Shay was intense. She'd do anything to protect the people she loved." "I wish I had known her." "Me too." God I wanna bawl my eyes out because I miss her so much and her death actually hurts. "I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you. I couldn't even come down here to see this until now." At the end of the episode, they are at Molly's and Brittany says that she needs to go home. "Before I met you, I was doing whatever I could to keep Shay out of my head. Went out drinking and partying every night. That was my escape. But then I met you. And the thing I realized is... I'm your escape. And as long as you're here with me, you're not gonna go home and face your family. But that's the only way you're gonna get through this." Later: "I don't know if I'd be in one piece today if I didn't come home from Vegas with you." THis is so huge. Like, admitting that he was so close to just breaking. And how badly he struggled with Shay's death. Okay, the episode is over and the Brittany thing is official over now, I guess. So let me just write a paragraph on that. I think they both really helped each other and it was supposed to happen exactly like that. They basically were on the same page and openly talked about it when they weren't anymore and when they were able to talk about it. They both had lost a loved one and were struggling to deal with it. Like Severide said - he didn't know if he'd be in one piece today if he hadn't met Brittany because he'd been in a downward spiral and Brittany helped him get out. It basically was the same for her as well, only that he needed to get away with him in order to face reality back home. Both were really lucky because they met the person that could help them but it wasn't toxic or anything. Severide's grieving process was supposed to exactly happen the way it did - hit rock bottom first and then get better with the help of someone until he was able to help himself. I don't know, I think their relationship was beautiful and meaningful. They both were on the same page and needed the other. I'm not sure how the fandom thinks about this storyline but I liked it, even though I rolled my eyes plenty of times because their love was just too much for me. Anyway, we're in episode 9 and I'd say that Severide is over Shay's death now which doesn't mean that he won't grieve anymore but he can grieve healthily now, if that makes sense.

3x10: I’m expecting a lot less Shay references from now on because Severide is doing so much better than a few episodes ago. It’s nothing, but we briefly see something on the wall (idk how to call it) that says “Ambulance 61″ and Shay’s and Dawson’s names are written on it. It’s like a badge.

3x11: Oh my God I’m screaming. At the end of the episode, Dawson, Casey and Severide find a newspaper article on the fire that killed Shay. “Paramedic killed in fiery inferno”. There’s even a picture of Shay and it says that she was 35. I’m pretty sure the episode continues on PD but let me check. This timelime is pure gold for that. Huh, it doesn’t really say anything about a two-parter - just that this is part 2 and 3x10 is part 1 (with Mills and Brett being abducted). And 2x11 of Chicago PD is about something else. Huh. Well, I guess I’ll find out when I continue with 3x12.

3x12: We see the newspaper article again, you can read it if you pause the stream. Doctor Arata treated Shay, they tried to revive her but her injuries were too severe. Boden described Shay as an exemplary paramedic. “Leslie Shay made the ultimate sacrifice and will never be forgotten. The pain felt by those of us lucky enough to work alongside her is immeasurable.” brb sobbing. Oh and then it says that people brought over gifts and flowers and meals for “the grieving firefighters who describe Leslie Shay as not just a co-worker and friend, but as a sister and a hero.” And another article with a line that I don’t get: “Paramedic Leslie Shay, 35, suffered a severe blow to the head as he worked to save an unidentified person in the warehouseblabla”. He? Is that a typo? lol “That’s what the Chaplain told me after Shay died”, Dawson just said (I’m too lazy to go back a few seconds but it was about how one life isn’t more worth than another). Severide takes Dawson with him to the place “where Shay died”. Severide tells her that she should just say it if she’s not ready to go there yet. Well, anyone asking if I’M ready to go there??? “This is where we were”. Dawson has teary eyes while looking down where you can still see the marks of a body. She starts crying, Severide touches the floor and I, well, am a mess. Dawson tells Severide that they switched places because she wanted to show Shay that Shay could do it without her. “She was my partner for 5.5 years and his best friend”. Godddd I just wanna sob forever, her death is one of the worst character deaths ever. “He was there for me when I needed him”, Dawson just said this about the Chaplain who was there for her after Shay died. By the end of the episode, Dawson and Severide find evidence for the fire being arson and thus Shay being murdered and the murderer still running free.

3x13: Megan, Shay’s sister, visits 51. Goddd this whole episode is so emotional and painful, how do I get through it. .. it’s strange to think about her name being Megan Shay. Like, Shay is their last name (if she isn’t married that is) but Leslie Shay was always called  Shay, so this is her name. Megan stays with Dawson and Brett and at night, they drink wine together and talk about Shay. They share a funny story and then it gets all sad and emotional “God, I miss her”. Ugh me too. Megan joins Brett and Mills on a call where someone attacks Sylvie with a knife (she’s not hurt though) and she’s freaked out because she realizes how dangerous Shay’s job was and how Shay never talked to her about it. There’s this super intense scene where Severide and the Captain working Shay’s case meet the possible arsonist on the street. He tells Severide how it was a shame that a paramedic died and how her name was Shay and that she was so pretty and photogenic. Severide just stares at him and wants to follow him when the guy turned around. Ah it’s so intense because you’re just waiting for Severide to punch him. Back at the station, Herrmann shows Megan around and gets so emotional when talking about Shay. “We miss her, Megan. She was the heartbeat of... We all move on, right? But we never forget. Not a girl like Shay.” God it’s so emotional because Herrmann is so quiet and emotional and that just speaks for itself.  There’s this memorial service for Shay at the station where the writing on the ambo (which apparently still exists today) is revealed. God I’ll just sob my way through it. “There are no words that can fill the whole she left.” gross sobbing. 2014. That’s 8 years ago but it still hurts so much. Dawson says a few words. Earlier, Boden asked Severide to say a few words and he agreed, but he didn’t say a thing here. God, this memorial service is so emotional, I’m just in tears. The episode ends with Gabby calling her brother because they won’t investigate Shay’s death any further, so she’s hoping that Antonio can do something about it. Now this is the episode that continues on Chicago PD, 2x13. Well, I guess that’s what I’m gonna watch next.

3x14: At the beginning of the episode they briefly tell us what happened on PD - that the arsonist was caught but killed. I watched the episode - Dawson, Megan and Boden appeared, Kelly unfortunately didn’t. “just like Shay” - the Captain just mentioned Shay quickly when talking to Severide about how people could’ve been killed if they had stood a few inches elsewhere. “Don’t. Don’t use her name like that.” Ugh yes, Severide being protective <3. The Hawaiian themed party. Wasn’t there a backstage shot of Lauren German and Taylor Kinney dressed to the theme? That’s the one I was talking about. Plus, I went throught he Lauren German tag on my blog and there’s images of Lauren reuniting with Taylor in 2019 and also some reunions with Monica and ugh do I miss them all together. Back to the party. “I’m sorry about Shay” - that was the chick, the Captain, I don’t know what her actual function or name is or whatever but she was there during the arsonist storyline. “She would’ve loved this.” Oh yes she would’ve. At the end of the episode, Severide takes a dvd from his dvd box (there’s many more, so care to watch another one of those soon, Severide?) and watches a video with Shay where they are celebrating Cinqo de Mayo and making drinks. Ugh this scene killed me once more. (plus the scene of Boden’s dad dying but that’s another story).

3x19: We didn’t get a Shay reference for a while which is fine because the grief storyline is over, but we do see the writing on the ambo every now and then. 3x19 is the episode that serves as backdoor pilot for Med. It’s funny to see the Med characters on Fire and to see who actually made it on the show (there’s a Hannah Tramble who never appeared on Med iirc). It’s ironic how they also struggle with flu patients and someone blew himself up who said that he had something that was worse than Ebola. Well. This just seems so ironic in 2022, who would’ve thought back then. Severide was badly injured during the explosion (he was the one to take down the guy), Will even wanted to black tag him. As Severide is being treated, he hears Shay’s voice (”Kelly!” and “That we promise to be there for each other, always, no matter what.”) and sees her beautiful face. Ugh it’s killing me. He crashes shortly after and they have to intubate but then he’s stable for now. He later sees Shay again, there’s several images of her just flashing through and he hears her laugh.

3x20: Severide is being released from the hospital where he sees Dawson and Brett who just finished a call. They tell him about this crazy call and Dawson goes “Shay would’ve loved that” to which Severide replies “Yeah. She would have.” Guys, I wasn’t ready for this reference, I thought 3x19 was the last piece of reference we’d get this season.

3x21: “This reminds me of Darryl and Shay.” Dawson just mentioned Shay when she talked to Boden about a guy from a call who might be suicidal because he feels responsible for the fire he started but he doesn’t know that it wasn’t his fault.

... those are all the times that Shay was mentioned on the show in season 3 or that her death was dealt with. I basically spent the first half of the season crying non-stop but I think they wrapped up her death very well. They didn’t just move on. They let us (and the characters) grieve. Heck, they even gave her a permanent memorial by having her name written on the ambulance. I don’t watch the show anymore, but there have been references to her in later seasons as well. I like that :’)

[0aurelion-sol0]

Okay. So wait...

I'm probably going way too far with this, far more than I should but I don't care. And I AM NOT JOKING.

@kaypeace21 @hawkinsschoolcounselor and @strangertheory this is for you and all the gay frog lovers! As ridiculous as this may sound, there is a lot more to dig there!

And don't take the word "frog" as something ridiculous as there is alot of connection with it.

When Dustin presents Dart to the party in season 2 episode 3: The Pollywog, he explains what he found.

Max and Lucas touches it but are disgusted by it. Including Will... But Mike isn't disgusted at all, he is even interested and asks what it is and Dustin wonders the same while Mike is studying it. But than...

Dustin pulls books about frogs, toads and reptiles.

Dustin thought it was a pollywog, which is a larvae stage for toads. But he found out that it was not that.

We know that this is a larvae that Will vomited in his bathroom. And right after that Will has some flashes of The Upside Down. That same larvae who will grow into Demodogs and possibly Demogorgons which were controlled by the Mindflayer.

The same Mindflayer who always seems to take action everytime something happens to Will, especially when Mike is around like in 3x01 during the movie scene and they both look at each other's lips or at Weathertop when Mike and El leaves the Party before they install Cerebro.

If we take all of this very seriously, everything fits. Mike is interested in something that was paralleled to him. Mike who was called "frogface" in the very first episode of ST. Slept on a frog pillow in Will's room with a frog plushie in the same room in season 2. The season which is Byler centric and where Mike spends most of his time with Will.

Since Mike isn't disgusted by Dart like all the others, Mike is subconsciously/or at least in terms "meta writing" interested in this possible "gay frog" part of him and Will because during this same season, he bonds a lot with Will, takes care and protect him.

The same Will who is targeted by homophobic attacks from bullies at school and his dad and who vomited this "frog like creature".

The same Will who just like him plays D&D to escape his own personal issue and what does Mike now that Will is gone ? He joins a D&D club.

(Even Dart is happy someone isn't throwing all over the place and is examining Mike like "Is this my cousin ?".)

In 2x02, when Will has one of his flashes to the Upside Down. He calls out for Mike. And who responds...

The Demodogs larvae that are the same as Dart. (look at the video above towards the end.)

All that before the Mindflayers reveals himself again.

Dart who in his relationship with Dustin has a lot of parallel with Mike and El's relationship in season 1. @kaypeace21 made a post about that that you can find here. Finn also described, in an interview, Eleven as Mike's puppy in season 1 which is kind of the same thing with Dustin and Dart.

El in season 2 when she comes out of the gate through the Upside Down ressembles what Dart does when he goes into another stage. Which Mike notices. He is slimy like the gate that leads to the Upside Down.

El who paralleled all the scenes that have a connection with Will & Dart or The Mindflayer.

The same El who had shaved hair and was said to look like a boy and could be taken for Will. Mike also kisses her in the bathroom (the same place Will vomits Dart.). I repeat Mike kisses someone who for most people looked like a boy and could've been taken for Will.

The same El who was thrown into a closet and has a flashback to her crying out "Papa" because she wasn't able to do experiences like killing a cat, a literal puppy. Dart will also kill the cat of Dustin's mom.

In the same place, there is a room called "Rainbow Room". At the same time Mike has a "talk" with Karen, his mother. Which was an extremely queer-coded scene if you look at it in a certain perspective.

Mike and El who also parallels Steve and Robin with "The First I love You" and the mall, Will's room and toilet scene that both pairing have.

Both having a talk about their relationship and Robin says she isn't into Steve because she likes girls and that he was misinterpreting what she was saying which is similar Mike who isn't able to communicate his feelings properly, lied to El for no particular reason and who during the same season was called out for treating El like a pet, you know... like Dustin did with Dart.

Mike who at the end of season 3 has his eyes open while El is kissing him IN FRONT OF AN OPEN CLOSET and not remembering that he said he loved her while also 2 minutes before saying that he was mad at her because she spied on him and throws it on Max, saying it was her fault, the same girl he hated because he thought she was annoying because they didn't need another party member and doesn't understand why Lucas and Dustin has a crush on her while the guy kissed El when he only knew her for a FEW days.

Steve who says that Tammy sings like a muppet and Robin says that Steve SOUNDS like a muppet. Mike also sings a song (like a muppet) to Eleven that she doesn't like called "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon which is about a childhood friendship growing into something more, Mike who taked El's hand off his face to sing that song while a drawing of Will is hanging in the background. A song that doesn't work for Mike and El since they are not childhood friends and got together only a few days after knowing each other. One of the lyrics even goes: "It's time to bring this ship into the shore"

The Muppets's main mascot is Kermit The Frog who sings a song called The Rainbow Connection. There's a lyrics that is about: "Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors?"

Rainbows that are present in the lab with the Rainbow Room. Terry's dream.

But also Mike's room is full of Will's drawings that are what ?! FULL OF FUCKING RAINBOWS!!!!!!! Will has even drawn a "rainbow ship."

What else is related to a ship in Stranger Things ?

Scoops Ahoy!

Whose logo has a boat anchor and the term Ahoy which is used by sailors to signal or call to a ship or boat.

Where Steve and Robin both work. Robin who is a canonical lesbian character.

Steve and Robin who both develop a frienship with Dustin. Dustin and Steve who went to kill the Demodog and Dart with a baseball bat which is a symbol for abused victims/ abusive family figures or people trying to put a tough macho act. The same Dustin who was searching for "non-aquatic" pollywogs and for that goes to the library to find books and has to go through Marissa.

Marissa which means "of the sea". Who was referenced by Will in the Stranger Things comics where we follow Will through the Upside Down in season 1.

Will and Mike who were both in the library at that time, the same library...

...where the Demogorgon takes Will to have a tentacle put in his mouth who will give him the Demodogs larvaes that will later grow into the creatures like Dart. Who was taken by Dustin as the larvae stage of a toad.

In that moment, Will and Mike are talking about the next campaign and how Will wants Will The Wise to live forever. Mike also complains about his mom wanting to share their feelings which he doesn't like. Kinda like their talk after he puts El in the closet.

Which also parallels the ending of Season 3, where Hopper's speech aligns perfectly with what Mike and Will are going through. "Heroes" is also playing in the background which was played when Mike thought Will died and he was crying while hugging his mother which is the same thing happening here.

One of the lyrics goes "I, I wish I could swim, Like dolphins, Like dolphins can swim"

Which is also a direct contrast with the song in 1x08, when Hopper and Joyce saves Will. Moby's "When It's Cold, I'd Like to Die".

"I don't want to swim the ocean,

I don't want to fight the tide,

I don't want to swim forever,"

In the Upside Down, Will imagines the Upside Down as this other world where HE is Will The Wise to fight the Demogorgon but looses and is than taken by him. At the same time, he remembers this moment with Mike.

Than the Demogorgon takes him and does what he does to him and right after that...

...the Mindflayer appears and these six pages parallels each other.

As @strangerthings4theories putted here, The Upside Down is symbolized or represented by water. For example, The Demogorgon was also said to look like a shark by Nancy.

Yet Dart didn't need water as there is no water in The Upside Down where he comes from yet it looks and feel like a deep underwater dimension. (we're gonna go back to this.)

If we believe that somehow the Mindflayer and The Upside Down were a creation of Will's brain or mind and all of it's psychological trauma. It all makes sense.

Dart is the representation of the internalised homophobia of Will and his own homosexuality just like El who looked like Will, is an acceptable partner for Mike to be with. Will literally vomits it because he hates the fact that he might be gay because it might prove that all of what his father and bullies said was true. And he finds it disgusting like all the others. It takes the form of something close to a frog because he has feelings for Mike, Mike who was called "frogface" by bullies. And that's why he has frog plushie, because he associates his feelings for Mike with that because of the bullies. Because just like him, he relates to something like that. Because he only sees homosexuality as something negative.

The fact that Mike is interested compared to all the others makes also sense because if he is into Will, that representation of his homosexuality and internalised homophobia interests him because not only does it speaks to him subconsciously/or at least in terms of "meta writing" again because he also has the same issue (because Dustin and Dart reminds of El, El who subconsciously reminded him of Will. ). And since it's during season 2, the Byler centric season, Mike bonds a lot with Will and wants to take care of him so that feeling is reinforced.

In the song Heroes, there is a lyric that says:

"And the shame, the shame was on the other side".

As in the feeling of guilt and "wrongness" will not be in The Upside Down "the other side", this representation of Will's insecurities and trauma but on the people who inflicted homophobia on them.

If Heroes is a song about them, than it could be from the POV of Mike because he defended Will over such a topic and would have literally jumped to save Dustin into the quarry where Will's fake body was found where Heroes played when Will's fake body was found. And where he flew like a "fairy", just like what the bullies called Will.

So how can we explain that the Upside Down is represented by water ?

Well in Will's room, there is a poster of the film "Jaws". You can find what the movie is about here.

Which was used as an inspiration for one of the posters for season 1. And the Demogorgon was compared to a shark and if the Upside Down is the result of his mind, fiction might influence the look of the world and it's creatures.

_____________________________

And I know all of this started from gay frogs jokes but considering it's so prevalent in the show and that it has literally so many connections with other elements in the show.

I don't think it's a coincidence.

And as Kermit The Frog said, maybe we will find it, one day. The connection that makes it all make even more sense than it already does. "The Rainbow Connection".

And I mean, people were able to create Byler metas with New Coke, Skittles and fucking food.

I can do it with fucking gay frogs.

But now I need a fucking break...

And I legit passed from what the fuck is going on to this thing is fucking legit...

Ugh...

[uservillanelle]

Killing Eve ― 3x01 (Review)

I didn’t rush to write this review right after the episode, as I sometimes need to rewatch the episode several times to actually appreciate it and spot a thing or two. I know, everybody’s writing these, their thoughts, so I’m sorry if some of them will be repetitive, but I do want to get my thoughts out! Soo shall we get to it?

Dasha

What is interesting to me is that they chose this flashback of Dasha being a gymnast in her early age as the very first scene of the episode. And let’s not forget, it is the first scene of the entire season, meaning it has to be very important one. I don’t think they brought her in just to play Villanelle’s next handler. She was her mentor before, which makes it a lot more personal to both of them. There’s more to her, I’m sure. So far I’m loving the dynamic between her and Villanelle. There’s this... old-friends reunited kind of vibe, but then again, they can be laughing one moment and trying to choke each other to death the next. In this aspect they are very similar. 

That brings me to Dasha’s killing style. It is unique, something we haven’t seen in the show before. It can only mean competition to Villanelle. And she’s so confident that her work is better than Dasha’s. Not only does she say it to Dasha, but later on copy her style during the spice kill ― which, by the way, I think is very underrated. 

Villanelle had to ask Dasha about her part of the deal, twice. Then she brought up the possibility of going back home ― back to Russia. It might be true, but I don’t think that’s everything she was promised. And it’s one more reason for us to keep watching to find out, hm?

The Wedding

All I can say about the wedding is ― WOW. I was looking forward to it and it didn’t disappoint. Actually, it’s the best part of the episode for me. Many people have said that it was ‘waste of potential’; ‘they only did it to set up a meeting with Dasha’; but really. I don’t think we would’ve gotten the Villanelle wedding in any other circumstance. Like, think about it. A wedding is not something Villanelle would normally do, right? She doesn’t care about such things, yet in this case she does it. Yes, she LOVES a good show and attention as well as being rich and have everything she ever wanted including having the power and control of it all. And since she’s getting over Eve, why not find another woman and marry her to prove to everyone and to herself, that she is totally over the Asian woman with amazing hair? She’s extra like that and I love it. And don’t get me started on the tuxedo blazer AND black tulle ruffle top. She wore THAT for her own wedding. Just thinking about it makes me want to go feral. 

Mooving on, the irony of Villanelle not only bringing up Eve during her wedding speech, but saying she is ‘so much happier now she’s dead’ while immedially afterwards glancing around the place almost as if she’s expecting to see Eve. She hopes she’s there... and it makes me wonder, what if Eve actually was there? What if she somehow made it to Villanelle’s wedding and just... can you imagine? What their interaction would look like? Plus having MARIA there the entire time and the guests? Damn. 

Then there’s casual Villanelle simply enjoying her wedding cake, because why the hell not? And on top of that ignoring her new wife during the dance. I mean... this is SUCH Villanelle thing to do. She couldn’t care any less. Then again we are reminded of how awkward/uncomfortable she could get around people when she’s being.. more or less herself. I haven’t seen her like that for a hot minute. She has always been brilliant in slipping into other groups of people, pretending to be a part of a conversation, it never really was an issue for her. Yet this time she’s not really pretending to be someone else. She is Villanelle and yes, she is awkward. I love that we got to see that bit. 

And of course... it wouldn’t be Villanelle’s wedding if there wasn’t a fight involved. Why not start a fight herself? It’s exactly what she did and having Dasha show up only highlighted the wedding scene even more. It wasn’t all about Dasha being there, it was about Villanelle trying to prove to herself that she’s finally moving on and I, personaly, needed that. It’s a shame the wedding scene ended so quickly, I mean we could’ve gotten a kiss or two, since it’s a damn wedding! Though I’m still really glad we got to see it. We actually got to steal a glance at Villanelle’s wedding. That sounds so surreal on itself. Are we sure they didn’t take this from any of the fanfics? 

Carolyn

(warning: possible spoilers/predictions ahead)

She’s still a very shady lady. Carolyn must be the most mysterious character on the show, based on how little we know about her, her work and her family. I’m glad that someone is finally confronting her about the previous operation in Rome. What’s even better ― Hugo sued MI6 and he has EVERY right to do so. The entire mission was a blood bath and someone has to answer for it. Yet, despite given circumstances, Carolyn remains completely still during all the accusations she has received and even refuses to apologize during her conversation with Kenny. None of the previous events that took place seem to be valuable and important enough for her. And that makes me wonder.. that maybe the Twelve ordered Kenny’s death to stop any further unofficial investigations AND to punish Carolyn, because Kenny’s all she has, right?

Well, now they will be bringing up Carolyns daughter ― Geraldine. Up to this point we knew that Kenny was Carolyn’s only child, but since he’s gone now, there has to be someone else related to Carolyn and we got Geraldine. From what we know now, they do not have a great relationship which makes me even more excited to see them interacting. 

Since the Twelve put a hit on Kenny... I’m starting to think that maybe Carolyn is next on their list, and possibly Konstantin. In S3 trailer we got a quick shot of Carolyn in a car with a driver. And there’s Villanelle, pretending to be a police officer, chasing someone down. If I’m correct, Villanelle will come after Carolyn and will try to assassinate her. Now why would Villanelle try to kill Carolyn? Either she will find out something related to Eve and Carolyn being involved, maybe wanting to take revenge? It’s not very likely is it? But the Twelve deiciding to take out Carolyn, and Villanelle doing the job sounds more like it. At least to me.

Eve

First off... the scene in the store is not only the first scene of Eve we see in this episode, but it shows exactly where she is right now. Where her mind is, how she’s dealing with everything around her. Cearly, she’s done with everything, running on auto-pilot for the most part of it. She’s one huge mood. Eve really must be the most relatable character for us as viewers. If something like this happened to us... we would basically be Eve. 

It’s been 6 months and that’s the Eve we see. She’s struggling. And she should be. She almost died and now everything seems to be reminding her of Villanelle. The song in the store, the cashier’s talking about spaghtetti and Rome?! Then the other cooks at the restaurant talking about one of their’s crush and how it started with infatuation and now it’s love. Everything about it screams Villanelle. We know it. Eve knows it. And most importantly... the SCAR itself. No matter where she goes, what she does... she won’t be able to erase Villanelle. She has been scarred for life and so was Villanelle and guys... that is just so brilliant. They are meant for one another and that’s a fact. Either they will end up together (hopefully) and somehow manage to create some kind of future together or they will die together. Either way.. they can’t hide from one another and that makes their next meeting so... so special and important and intense and all of the other things. I simply cannot wait.

Knowing how the episode ended, I didn’t think I’d appreciate Eve and Kenny’s scene together so much. It’s so deep and sincere and reveals a lot about what happened and where they are separately and together. I’m glad their first and last interaction this season was a light, positive one. They even talked about getting beers at the office during weekends. And knowing that.. Kenny was basically the only person who understood Eve and where she’s coming from, his death is exactly what can and WILL push Eve forward in investigating the Twelve and eventually reuniting with Villanelle. Back to S1, when Bill was killed, Eve was so determined to catch Villanelle and ‘kill her with her bare hands�� that no one seemed to be able to stop her. So this time... will be similar to it, if not even greater. 

Villanelle

Soo... Oksana wants to be a Keeper. Oksana the Keeper! It actually makes sense to some extent, that she will eventually want to get a ‘higher’ position in the industry and why not be the Keeper then. She has always wanted power and control and Keepers have that. They hold valuable information about the organisation that no one else knows. It’s a very important and dangerous position too. I can see why she’d want to be a Keeper, and not only that... she is still curious about who is in charge. How the whole system works. Though, at the same time.. knowing Villanelle, this might get tricky. She’s still very childish and impulsive and all other things.. she still needs to be handled by someone. That’s why I’m a bit concerned that if she ends up becoming a Keeper or having to handle other assassins (which she will, in next episode), things will go terribly wrong. I hope I’m wrong about this, because god, do I want to see Villanelle as a Keeper and continue being the top boss bitch in the industry.

Her confidence continues to fascinate me. Especially her confidence around Dasha. She knows she’s better than her and that’s all there is to it. Not only she says it but she proves that by her first kill this season. I honestly can’t wait to see her future kills, because so far it looks very promising.

Konstantin

Only a couple of scenes of the show’s dad this episode. Apparently he has several phones which he is struggling to deal with. He’s living several lives and that shows. In S2 he was all determined to get back to his family. But what we see in this episode is that he’s not with his family anymore. He’s working again. And based on Irina’s voice mail, he and his wife are separated. His wife has a boyfriend now and Irina is there with them. (I hope they will bring her back, what an iconic, hilarious yet annoying child) 

Konstantin receives several shady messages, one of which reads “time to go fishing”. It can mean literally anything. But for some reason I’m feeling that they want us to think he had something to do with Kenny’s death. It could be him, it could be an assassin Konstantin is handling right now. Or it’s not him at all, but we believe it’s him based of what we saw so far. Too many questions and not enough answers so far. 

He was the Twelve’s target back in S1 and had to stay low during S2 as a “dead man” so now.. I’m not really sure what his status is. Some of us saw the leaked photos of S3 finale and what might possibly happen... and that just brings me back to my previous point of Carolyn and Konstantin being the Twelve’s targets this season. Will they survive? And if they do... how? If they don’t... does that mean Villanelle and Eve will now be completely by their own and possibly on a run from the Twelve?!

Kenny

There’s not really much to say here. We ALL loved our dear Kenny. He’s probably the most innocent character on the show and he had to go. Now, I don’t believe his death was done for shock value. Not his character. A huge, meaningful character had to die in order for the rest of characters to get moving. For the entire story to move forward. They are setting up a serious plot here and I am excited, despite being really upset about Kenny’s death. 

I think Eve will be the mostly affected character in the show by his death. Carolyn doesn’t seem to be very affectonate towards her son, but hopefully it will make her realize just how big of a trouble she in. Eve, however, will be forced to get back to investigate the Twelve and she will not stop until she does so. She’s all by herself now. The determination, the anger as well as other feelings will drive her this season to get the much needed answers and get to the bottom of the whole thing. Meanwhile... Villanelle seeks information and control as well. She is trying to investigate the Twelve in her own way. So why not pair them up?

Overall thoughts

As many have said it, the episode felt different to me as well. I think that’s mostly because we have set our standards so high, that we immediately become disappointed if the episode doesn’t deliver as much murder, Eve/Villanelle scenes or something else we might be expecting in particular. 

I found myself wanting to compare the episode with other seasons and that is a mistake. We shouldn’t be comparing it because previous season had different plot, the overall feeling was different and the characters weren’t as developed as they are now. Furthermore, the show runner changes each season and that is what we need to look at. Phoebe and Emerald have done incedible job during those first two seasons but now it’s Suzanne’s time to shine. All three of them are different people and have different ideas and views as to how they see the characters and where they want to take them. So I think we might need to “forget” the previous two seasons and be way more open minded when it comes to third season. After all it’s the most personal one and it has a different feel to it. It’s more serious, and it is setting up an actual plot for the series. It’s a good thing. And as much as we hate changes like these... I think we should embrace them this time and let the show go in the direction it is going without the need to criticize it or control it. 

I’m beyond excited to see how everything will unfold and where this season will take us. Based on all the trailers and interviews I’ve seen so far... this will be a one helld of a ride and I am NOT prepared for it!

If any of you reached this point, you seriously deserve an applause! Hopeuflly you enjoyed reading my nonsense lol! Let me know if you’d like me to write a review for the next episode, because I do have plans for writing for the entire season, but it’s always better when I have an audience to write for! 

Now if you have any theories or thoughts don’t be shy to comment or message me so we could chat about it! I’d love nothing more than a good conversation about the show we have a common obsession for! 

[laufire]

Black Sails, Samruby, Lorelai Gilmore, Plecverse + GOT?

Black Sails

Favorite character: Max. Although Silver is right there with her in the Hall of Faves too xD

Least Favorite character: hmm. I’m going with Peter Ashe because he just reaaaaaaally bothers me as a person xD. Woodes Rogers is more of a Schrödinger fave anyway lol.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Silverflintmadi, Maxanor, Maxanne + Rackanne, Flintmiranda. For 5th today I’m going with Jack/Rogers, foe yay of my heart xD

Character I find most attractive: aaaaaall the women are insanely attractive in this show (the men have... great personalities xD). Today I have Miranda on my mind, specifically with her hair down in flashbacks lol.

Character I would marry: Max. I’ve already discussed before how she’s the best catch in the show, I’m sure xD

Character I would be best friends with: as much as I think I’d get along with some of the mains xD, I’m picking Idelle. I’d want to have a chill friend in this ‘verse, js. And she’s awesome.

a random thought: the other day I had a super awful headcanon for Silver’s backstory (while randomly watching another show on tv) that I’m now trying to erase from my mind... but it fits, dammit.

An unpopular opinion: this fandom really, really doesn’t like Max. Not who she TRULY is. Empty “omg QUEEN” posts are just that, empty.

my canon OTP: what is canon here lol. Okay, I’m going to go with the “kissed on the mouth on-screen” criteria as to avoid debates, so I guess Maxanor.

Non-canon OTP: Silverflintmadi. Though really... xD

most badass character: a lot of these people are badasses, but Silver is especially hardcore, man.

pairing I am not a fan of: Eleanor/Rogers, Silver/Thomas, Madi/Max. The first one just made Eleanor miserable, and the other two are fanon pairs that, IMO, wouldn’t fit together and would actually dislike each other xD

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): n/a,

favourite friendship: Silver & Max & Jack are my everything in terms of platonic alliances :D

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: n/a.

Samruby

when of if I started shipping it: over a decade ago, as soon as they met in 3x01 :D

my thoughts: THE ship, period. Nothing in the show will come as close, sns. I’ll be bringing it up forever and ever (and it seems so does the show lmfao).

What makes me happy about them: they are just a REALLY GOOD dynamic?? It’s intense, it’s formative, it’s unforgettable. There’s a reason it still gets talked about js.

What makes me sad about them: Ruby’s presence on the show might ~linger for years, but I would’ve liked to actually SEE her more lol.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: idk, all the Samruby fic I read back then was amazing. I’m guessing I wouldn’t enjoy fics that simply tried to “fix” them by making Ruby not be a double agent? Or that dismissed her importance or had Dean’s POV of her even more validated. And I shudder to think how people might translate this ship in modern AUs xD, but I would avoid those anyway.

things I look for in fanfic: I think I could like anything with them as long as it has a.) good characterization, and b.) probably smut xD. They’re That Kind of ship.

My kinks: the show gave me TWO scenes of Sam drinking Ruby’s blood. I’m covered xD

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Eileen seems cool, but since I don’t know her I’m going with my other preferred Sam ship and saying Castiel. Anna for Ruby. They each get an angel xD

My happily ever after for them: Castiel keeps his promise and brings Ruby out of the Empty. She seduces Sam again xD

Lorelai Gilmore

How I feel about this character: I really like her, and I’ll always be a bit wistful about the idea of her having gotten a show that 100% backed her pov.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: the real answer is nobody lol, because this show didn’t give me real shippy feels for anyone except her parents. But I’ll always appreciate the messiness Chris/Lorelai brought to the table. He was terrible xD

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Lorelai & her parents, especially Emily.

My unpopular opinion about this character: ending up with Luke for her is settling, sns.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: not ending up with Luke lol. Although I wasn’t too bothered by them in the revival, they were just... there and the show was pretty honest about them being a “meh” relationship. The scenes with her professional career, or with Rory, or her personality shining through in other moments (like that subplot where her charisma got her all the things people were waiting in long lines for lmao) were far more interesting and gave her the joy she needed in other parts of ther life.

my het ship: Chris/Lorelai again, ig.

my fem/slash ship: n/a. If I rewatched the show I might find something there though xD

my OTP: n/a.

my OT3: n/a.

my cross over ship: my brain said “Mary Winchester” so I’m going with that lmao. This way both avoid those endgames of theirs xD

my kink: n/a.

a head cannon fact: it’s been too long, I can’t think of any.

my gender bend: oof, hard one. I’d want it to be someone who looked similar enough AND had that... playful. joyful yet intense energy. The closer I can think of is Simon Baker, the lead actor of The Mentalist, but I’m not convinced.

Plecverse + GOT

send me 2 fandoms and I will give yo my crossover OTP:

Hmm. Qetsiyah could mix well with GOT IMO. And my brain went for Daenerys/Qetsiyah, so there.

[murphystartedthefire]

Conageddon: Richard VIP Meeting Recap

EDIT: I meant to say, I originally had a General Admission ticket, but a very kind soul Noémie who unfortunately couldn’t attend the con let me upgrade to her Richard Harmon VIP badge at a major discount and I can never thank her enough for that. 

-----------

- First off, someone in the VIP group had made friendship bracelets for everyone including Richard which was sweet. Another person had brought him a pink crop-top (tummy-bearing shirt) that said "Team Murphamy" on it, and when he saw it he IMMEDIATELY pulled his original shirt off and put it on. (Prompting one of the con staff members to walk in, see him topless, and just be like "Seriously, already?" LMAO.) He wore that for the rest of the meet & greet and group photo. *g*

- The VIP group was big (almost 20 people) but Richard made sure everyone had a chance to talk by going around the table and having each person say something, talk about where they’re from, ask him a question, etc. <3 A few people were still shy or couldn't come up with something, but most had something to ask. My first question was what's on his Murphy Playlist right now -- he said 500 songs but his big one for season six was “Villain” by David Ramirez. He also mentioned his favorite song is "Ballad of a Thin Man" by Bob Dylan, which is also on his Murphy list.

- His family teased him about being in Boston on St. Paddys Day, were texting him to come back alive. After the con on Sunday he appropriately had tickets to a Dropkick Murphys concert. (Turns out he wasn't the only one.)

- Favorite scary movie: He likes bad & good horror movies. His favorite is Halloween III: Season of the Witch, a cult movie people hated at the time but is secretly the best movie ever made.

- Also quick note that immediately before taking that photo, Bob gave him the beads because he showed him his nips.

Murphy & The 100 Stuff

- When asked about his favorite dynamic/people to work with on the show he went to Luisa right away, said people don't realize how good she is. He talked about this again on their panel later, but he realized it was funny he felt so close to her and until recently they didn't really know anything about each other's personal lives. In season three he was going through something bad and she probably could tell but they never talked about it, they just set everything aside when they worked together and he needed that.

- He also clarified that when he said in the past that he wanted the Memori breakup to stick, he didn't want that to be taken against her or that he’s not happy about them getting back together -- it's that he wishes she could do more on her own without being shackled to him.

- He also talked about Bob and how they have a competitive energy and push each other, like from the first day they both wanted to prove they were the better actor. Don't remember the exact bit but he was imitating how they were sizing each other up like "he thinks he's the lead but I'm better than him, oh okay he's good." :P

- Some more Memori cuteness -- he went through a long answer about whether various characters would be good at beer pong or not. (Monty: good at beer pong. Octavia: bad at beer pong. Clarke: very bad. Murphy: possibly good but his anger gets in the way. Echo: no, ranged weapons are not the same as beer pong.) And finally settled on Emori being the person he'd partner with on the show just as he did with Luisa IRL -- because she's a thief and has quick fingers, she'd be very good.

- He cited Murphy's scene begging for Emori in "God Complex" as his most challenging scene, along with the beginning of season three. He answered the same question at the meet & greet and later on the panel about what Murphy would've done if she had died - he has no doubt he would have killed Clarke or she’d have to kill him first.

- About the bunker scene in 3x01 - there was a lot of improvisation and him just doing whatever came to him and going crazy. It was his idea to pour the bottle of wine over his head, and that was a MISTAKE because then he was all sticky and they had to fix it in hair and makeup. They called cut and he was immediately like "ohhh I'm so sorry, I got too into it." Some joking about how Murphy just remained sticky for the rest of his time in the bunker.

- Favorite episode he said was 2x11 but meant 2x12 -- Murphy and Jaha in the desert is his favorite storyline. He loved the line "Faith? Nah, I just got nothing better to do."

- He really regrets that Murphy never got to have a moment reacting to Jaha's death. They had such an important relationship where he hated him but also had this weird father/son dynamic, even though he'd killed his father... It wouldn't even need to be a whole scene, just "someone tells me Jaha didn't make it and I could just have a look, let me play that."

- Another regret: in season 3 he wanted the stuff with Ontari to go differently, he liked the idea that she represented a dark side for Murphy, just being the kind of person who takes whatever she wants and doesn't have morals and there's something he actually likes in that, and meanwhile Emori is his light and hope of having another chance. But they didn't really explore that. He often has to remember he's like in the C-storyline and there's other stuff going on with the leads.

- On how Murphy will respond to Monty and Harper's death, he said Murphy doesn't like to feel indebted to people and he'd be upset that Monty had just saved his life and he doesn't think he knew how much Murphy respected and cared about him. [That may or may not actually come into play onscreen or with Jordan, he suggested that Murphy's kind of wary and annoyed by Jordan because he's annoyed by everyone.]

Non-Spoilery S6 Spoilers

- I asked him about Murphy's mental health in season six. He said there will be more of that, not because he's dealing with it but that he's adding *new* problems. O_O

- One of the fans said she sees Murphy as symbolizing the whole of the show because he's all about surviving and it's something the audience relates to also. He said something about how "how far is he willing to go to survive" is a running theme for Murphy specifically and in season six we'll see an answer to that question.

- They're not really gonna show any more of what happened in the six years, they're past that. (lights a candle in mourning for the spacekru flashbacks I never got siiigh.)

- A girl talked about how she loves Clarke and Murphy and always wants them to be friends, and Richard was like LOL ENJOY SEASON SIX implying they will... probably not be that. ;) He did give a legit answer to her question about how they are similar characters, and he thinks part of why they haven't been friends is Murphy just initially didn't like her and associated her with the ruling class on the Ark, where he had been locked up since he was like 10. Anyway he told the Clarke/Murphy Friendship girl that it will be hard but she also might like it, because Clarke and Murphy's relationship and how they feel about each other is central to this season.

- He was *pissed* (his words) about something that got cut from the first episode in season six -- it was just a small thing at the end of a scene, it sounded like it was related to Murphy and Jordan, but he was just really frustrated that it was in there and then cut. He'll say what it was after the episode airs. And then there was something else in season six (!) where he had to film a much longer & difficult scene and they edited it down a lot. He says Jason promised him they would make the full version available somewhere. (Nicole says: I will believe this when I see it, and also I'll know what the hell he's talking about when I see it.)

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 3x01/3x02 – Wanheda Part One and Two

My rewatch will have to be sped up so I could finish it before the season 6 premiere. I’ve seen up to 3x08, but from now on I have to watch more than one episode a day. I hope to be able to finish season 3 by the end of this week. Which means I’ll have to try to make my next posts shorter than this one, which I’m pretty sure is my longest rewatch review so far. Maybe I could try covering several episodes in one post to try not to repeat myself in the following reviews?

Season 3 is definitely my least favorite season of The 100, and so far, having rewatched half a season, I haven’t changed my mind on its quality. But, except for one instance of really lazy writing (which will, sadly, turn out to be something the writers like to do, since they did the same but in an even worse way in season 5), this two-parter was a solid opening to the season, which, unfortunately, started going downhill right after it.

Also, I only realized this on rewatch…. Clarke is Rapunzel?! Or anti-Rapunzel.

*These rewatch posts have spoilers for everything up to the end of season 5, and I may also mention stuff from the season 6 trailer. No spoilers for 6x01, and please don’t mention any if you reply or reblog with comments, I’m trying to avoid them (good luck to me on that).

3x01 Wanheda, Part One

Timeline: This is one of few episode reviews where it makes sense to start with this, because it’s the show’s first time-jump – it starts almost 3 months after the season 2 finale, or specifically 86 days,. In most other shows, this wouldn’t be considered a time jump, but most of The 100 episodes take place just a day or a few hours later (which was the case with the time that passed between the season 1 finale and the season 2 premiere), sometimes just a few minutes later (season 3 finale/season 4 premiere). It’s even notable and relatively rare when there is a week, or just two days between episodes. Although this is obviously nothing compared to the time jump in the season 4 finale (and, to an extent, season 5 finale – which was technically much bigger,, but only really counted for three characters), this time jump is still twice as long as the entirety of seasons 1 and 2, which lasted less than a month and a half.

The starting sequence is great, with Murphy with long shaggy hair and a beard, in a state of desperation after being locked up in the bunker for 86 days, to the point that he almost decides to shoot himself in the head. Similar to how Clarke almost shot herself in the head in the flashbacks in 5x01. Even the greatest of survivors come to the point when it’s just too much for a human being to bear. Clarke reached that point after a month of being not just all alone on a desert, radiation soaked planet, but likely to be all alone for at least 5 years, and even more likely to die of hunger, thirst or exposure. Murphy took 3 months, but was in situation where he didn’t lack food or drink or comfort – but isolation, without any human contact or entertainment, other than videos of a guy committing suicide because he felt responsible of the end of the world, has to be unbearable.

Introduction of Becca In one of the videos is good as we get more crucial info practically at the beginning of the season (and at the same time, not so good, because I can’t stand Becca and I’m really not fond of the entire storyline about the chip/Flame/Commanders).

Scenes in the mansion with Jaha and ALIE are really creepy, as we see just how much Jaha has become removed from reality and immersed in the City of Light. When Jaha explains the concept of COL, the prospect of getting rid of pain, hate and envy,  Murphy has maybe his best ever line, and pretty much his defining quote: “Pain, hate, envy… those are the ABCs of me. Take that and there’s nothing left.”

Getting thrown right into Camp Jaha, now called Arkadia, after 3 months, to see how much everyone’s lives have changed, works well for the most part (with one exception – see below). Jasper’s new look and attitude are shocking, but make sense. I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think Jasper’s storyline was one of the best things in season 3 and even season 4, and I think it’s great that the show, for once, didn’t shy away from showing the consequences of emotional trauma (these people are teenagers who have been through terrible things in an extremely short time, it’s hard to believe everyone would soldier on and no one would break), and that they didn’t try to make a depressed person be more “likable” by being nice, even if it resulted in so many fans calling Jasper “annoying” and now showing any understanding for his mental health issues just because he wasn’t depressed in a nicer, more palatable way.

Raven’s story in seasons 3-4, which is also pretty good, also gets set up with a conversation with Abby about her pain, where Raven refuses an operation and they end up saying bad things to each other, as those two sometimes do. Raven calls out Abby on trying to hide from her own pain, too (over losing Clarke), which is a major theme this season. She also tells her she’s bad as both doctor and Chancellor, and much as I used to love Abby in S1 (and still like her) I’m afraid that this is least half-true since she’s sucked at politics most of season  2and 3. As a doctor, she’s good at healing people, but her bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.

The show gets rid of the Raven/Wick romance plot (which had to be jettisoned due to Steve Talley being a terrible person IRL and tweeting racist “jokes”) in the best way it could, by referring to it in one line (according to Abby, Raven pushed Wick away) and never having him appear again.

They used “Add It Up” by Violent Femmes! And even Shawn Mendes’ cover worked well – his was a sad and plaintive ballad, as a contrast to the original, which is an energetic rock song. (I had no idea who Mendes was when I first watched this, but his cameo didn’t feel weird or out of place).

A huge plus because Emori makes a return. Also, Otan is introduced, who actually is her brother (it’s not just a classic thief/swindler thing where partners in crime are like “I’m an innocent damsel in distress and this dude is totally my brother…” thing).

There are several character introductions of characters that are varying degrees of interesting or not so interesting. Roan’s is especially intriguing right from the start, and there’s also Niylah, Becca and Gideon, and Gina. Speaking of…

My biggest problem with this episode is how weird and jarring it always felt that we just get introduced to Bellamy’s new girlfriend, a random character we’ve never met before and who doesn’t get developed at all. We know she’s nice and really into him, and he likes her fine enough, but there’s very little about their relationship that goes beyond very basic relationship-establishing stuff. This was all the more jarring because Bellamy had never previously been shown to have an actual girlfriend (rather than friends with benefits/fu*k buddies, which he had quite a few in season 1), and by what we know of his backstory and what we was like in season 1, I had always assumed he had never had a serious relationship or even a serious friendship, because he could never allow himself to trust people on the Ark, and he was too focused on protecting Octavia and keeping that huge secret. So for him to be a real relationship was a new development that I would have loved to actually see. And in general, how weird is it that the show seems to treat the love life of a major character – second protagonist as an afterthought, to the point that his relationships get developed completely off-screen and just get a few perfunctory scenes to establish “there was a time jump, it happened, this is a thing now, that’s all you need to know” (which was all the more jarring when Gina then got fridged just 3 episodes into the season). Hey, and just how weird would it be if the show did this TWICE? I have an idea why this happens – because neither of his relationships with Gina nor with Echo was ever treated by the show, as genuinely important or something we need to be invested in, but If I ever believed that Clarke and Bellamy were really totally platonic BFFs (because one major platonic relationship is not enough for Bellamy, who is one of the very few characters on the show who actually has a sibling, and his relationship with Octavia is also a major one the show focuses a lot..) and that the show wasn’t doing something else, I’d be really puzzled by such weird narrative choices.

·Raven teases Bellamy that Gina is “too good” for him. That may be because she is aware that he was “never as devoted to Gina” (compared to Clarke), as she taunts him as ALIE!Raven in 3x11.

Gina gives Bellamy Iliad as a gift, because his mother used to read it to him… an epic whose main theme is a warrior hero’s rage and all the mess it causes?

The Ice Nation aka Azgeda, after being referenced before, finally gets introduced (though Echo will get retconed revealed to be one of them), and I have very mixed feelings about this, because the oversimplified way the show tried to suddenly establish “Trikru=good Grounders, Azgeda=bad Grounders” in season 3 was kind of grating.

·Everyone is still bad at dealing with people with PTSD and mental health issues in general – as seen in the fact that they made the mistake to bring Jasper with them on a mission. This time, Bellamy had an inkling it was not a good idea, but Monty thought it would do Jasper good… and again, it didn’t end well.

Indra has changed her views a lot and is now the liaison between Trikru and the Arkers and o very friendly terms with Kane.

The relationship between Trikru and Arkadia is at this point kind of a mixed bag – they have a truce and cooperate, but there’s a problem of limited trade routes and ability for Arkers to get food, the Grounders are not happy with the prospect of them using Mount Weather, and Lexa has issued a kill order on Lincoln (which is why he has had to stay in Arkadia even if he didn’t want to – though it seems he does want to) just because he went back to help Arkers against Mount Weather (any disobedience of Commander’s orders, no matter how justified, is apparently punishable by death).

Something that’s annoying, but expected and in character: Octavia complaining about Lincoln wearing an Arkadia uniform and trying to integrate into the Arkadia society. It’s like she was so happy to be rebellious and have a cool Grouder boyfriend, and now she’s disappointed.  She tells him he will never be one of them (oh, the irony of this coming from Octavia, who says “I’m a Grounder” every second episode – which I don’t get, does she think being a Grounder is a lifestyle you can choose?) and even lectures him about the culture he grew up in: “At least you still speak our language” (meaning Grounder speech). LMAO

Octavia suggests they go off on their own and find Luna and her people – one of the many, many references to Luna going all the way back to season 1. No character has been set up so much long before they appeared.

It takes quite a long time for Clarke to actually appear in the episode, right after the revelation that she’s the titular Wanheda everyone is looking for.

About the nickname itself: Clarke herself hates it, of course (though she will kind of ‘reclaim’ it in 5x12) – because she feels deeply guilty and hates herself, but I’m sure that, for Grounders, “Commander of Death” an expression of awe and fear, not any kind of judgment, which wouldn’t make sense – we’ve seen multiple times that Grounders take the “kill them all If we can’t kill their leader” approach to their enemies, so I can’t see them being bothered by her killing all the Mountain Men. It’s the fact that she was able to destroy their old, powerful enemy that gives her a mythical aura. If you can kill the Mountain Men, you must be able to command death itself. They would also assign it all to Clarke, because, for starters, they weren’t there to know about Bellamy’s or Monty’s role, and secondly, Grounders tend to give all credit or blame to the leader, and they perceived Clarke as the sole leader of Skaikru during season 2.

This mythical status, however, merely makes Clarke a symbol and prize, due to the belief that killing someone means taking their power. (Which should also mean that she took the enormous power of Mount Weather in the eyes of the Grounders?) Does Queen Nia actually believe that she would literally take Clarke’s power if she killed her? I don’t know, but she probably just knows that people would perceive her as more powerful if she managed to do it.

Indra also explains that another reason the Ice Nation feels bold enough to make another move against Lexa/Trikru is that Clarke made Lexa look weak – which makes perfect sense, of course that’s what people would think after Lexa walked away from the battle and Clarke went in and killed the Mountain Men.

Seeing Clarke’s new look and persona was weird as hell the first time, but I don’t know how to feel about it as a plot point. I like it when characters’ traumas are not ignored, and it makes sense that, in her state, she wants to be anonymous and leave all she was behind. But Clarke as a great hunter after 3 months, making a living out of killing large animals? That’s a bit hard to believe. It’s not the first time the show is giving her unrealistic or, rapidly learned skills (overpowering an experienced warrior like Anya in a fight, apparently learning to ride a horse off-screen in a day, being such a good shooter to kill the MW sniper through Lincoln’s shoulder – after the short training she got from Bellamy in S1..) I complain about that with Octavia, so I should about Clarke, too (though it bothers me a lot more with Octavia since her being a great warrior  – with her few months of training -  is such a big part of her arc, while these skills are never supposed to be Clarke’s main strengths and don’t get much focus. But I like that she tells the panther “Your fight is over” while killing it.

Niylah, looking at Clarke’s back: “No kill marks”. Clarke: “My back is not big enough.”

Clarke sees Niylah has a wristband from one of the Delinquents, which is going to be a plot point in 3x11.

It’s nice to see someone expressing gratitude to Clarke for defeating the Mountain Men – Niylah says she appreciates it because her mother was a victim taken by Mount Weather. It would make sense if many more Grounders actually felt like that, but we don’t ever see many ordinary Grounders say anything about it. Usually it’s just Grounder leaders trying to make Clarke feel guilty over Mount Weather to manipulate her or excuse their own actions.

Clarke’s one night stand with Niylah is the first f/f sex scene in the show. It’s also, as far as we know, only the second time Clarke has had sex with anyone (the first one was way back in 1x04). At this point, Clarke can only bear to have physical intimacy, or any kind of human contact, if it’s not with anyone she has any stronger feelings for (and asks Niylah to stop talking before initiating sex, because she doesn’t want to risk any real intimacy). But at least Niylah is really nice and helpful, doesn’t cause drama and treats her better than any of her romantic partners have.

The first time I watched this, I found it funny that Clarke’s f*ck buddy got more screentime and development than Bellamy’s supposedly serious girlfriend.  But I didn’t know that the latter would die in two episodes, while the former will remain on the show into season 6 and get to have a role beyond that of Clarke’s occasional friend with benefit.

This turned out to be much longer than I wanted it to, but that’s because this episode juggles so many storylines and characters (and a bit of nice blatant fanservice, too – like the scene of Bellamy and Lincoln sparring shirtless, or a celebrity cameo).

But how about the one plot point that was completely ignored in this episode and the rest of season 3 (and 4, and 5, and we can assume will be ignored forever)? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE REAPERS?? Did they get cured, as the plan was originally? Abby was supposed to cure them when the alliance was still on. Did they get killed – and how, and by whom? Were they still roaming around in season 3 and 4? Why is there not a single word about any of that after season 2? Indra even recognized one of the Reapers in 2x15, it was obviously someone close to her, maybe a family member, maybe her husband/Gaia’s father? The show dropped that plot like a hot potato as soon as season 2 finished.

Body count: 

3 Ice Nation scouts killed during the confrontation (2 shot by Raven and Miller, one shot by Bellamy in the arm and then killed by Octavia)

Rating: 7/10

3x02 Wanheda, Part Two

This episode benefits from focusing on just a few storylines and characters and not featuring any of the poorer storylines.

Most of it is an exciting and intense action-adventure episode that revolves around Roan kidnapping Clarke ad trying to bring her to Lexa, as it turns out in the twist ending (after both Clarke and first time audience thought he was taking her to the Ice Nation Queen Nia), while a group from Arkadia including Bellamy, Kane and Monty are trying to rescue her.  

More new characters are introduced, including one with a huge role this season: our group (including Bellamy, Monty, Kane and Indra) has a surprise encounter with a group of survivors from the Farm Station, including Charles Pike and Monty’s mother Hannah. It was a weird meeting as it started as an ambush, before they recognized each other. Who did Pike’s group think they were ambushing and capturing? Some Grounders who stole clothes and weapons from dead Arkers? It doesn’t seem they were aware that there were any other survivors from the Ark, or else, they’d have tried to reunite with them. But it also can be seen as a sign that their terrible experiences on the ground and almost 4 months spent in the woods as guerrilla fighters have made them inclined to see enemies everywhere and mistake friends or allies for enemies.

We get the immediate “trouble ahead” warning moments when Pike calls his people “Grounder killers, all!” and they cheer, and our group looks uncomfortable because Indra is there, and then when Pike looks at Indra with animosity as soon as he hears she’s a Grounder and expresses distrust when hearing that they’re allies. But really, there’s nothing surprising about his attitude, at all, and I’ll never understand fans who are like “but why is Pike such a dick”? The show told you why, right from the start. Most of our protagonists had a similar attitude to Grounders in season 1 and early season 2, when their experiences with people on the ground consisted mostly of those people attacking them and trying to kill them. And Indra (just like many other Grounders) had the exact same attitude towards Sky people in early-to-mid season 2, as Pike has to Grounders now – when we first met her, she was constantly asking for all Sky people to be killed and trying to dissuade Lexa from an alliance, especially after Finn killed 18 unarmed people, mostly civilians, in a Grounder village. But these characters all got to have different kinds of interactions with each other and have character development since. Well, Pike and the rest of the Farm Station people have had only terrible experiences – being attacked by the people on the ground right after they landed, seeing over a hundred of their people killed in front of them, including 15 children, and they’ve spent all the time since fighting in the woods, with zero positive interactions with any Grounders. It’s really not surprising that they’re the ones with most extreme views.

Kane, however, tries to convince them that it’s all Ice Nation, they’re the bad ones, Trikru are their allies. When Pike asks for details about how that alliance happened, Bellamy gave him the shortest and nicest-sounding possible version: “We had a common enemy” – “What happened?” “We won”. Bellamy obviously doesn’t want to talk about any of it, since he’s tormented over Mount Weather even though he may not be showing it the way Clarke does. But we see that Monty later told Pike about everything that has happened, though we only see the end of that story, how they got out of Mount Weather. We can assume, however, that he did tell him all including Lexa’s betrayal, because Pike later references both that and Finn’s death in 3x08. Somehow I don’t think that hearing “well, Trikru tried to kill the kids in our camp, so we burned 300 of their warriors, then we made an alliance with them to fight the people from Mount Weather who were trying to kill us all, but they betrayed us and left us to die and we had to save ourselves on our own” helped change Pike’s opinion on the Grounders in general.

Having Zach McGowan on the show is always a good thing, and his screen presence helps make Roan an intriguing character. At this point he’s a mysterious kidnapper with a backstory about his banishment from Ice Nation which I really wanted to learn BUT THAT WE NEVER LEARNED (what the hell was up with that?) and (twist!) we learn in the last scene that he’s the Prince of Azgeda. Clarke and Roan had quite an interesting dynamic throughout the show – thank god for once that the show didn’t try to do an “Enemies to lovers” storyline (though I bet that’s just because the show already had two popular Clarke ships to juggle) but rather “Enemies to allies who are not exactly friends, definitely not romantic at all, who kind of bond and respect each other but are constantly trying to politically manipulate each other”.

Bellamy wanting to immediately run to save Clarke, the moment he saw that she had been kidnapped, and then dressing himself as an Azgeda warrior and going into enemy territory to rescue her, is a far cry from his behavior in 1x12 when he was able to be calm and rational about Clarke (and Finn and Monty) being kidnapped and presumed dead. It shows how much his feelings for her had become stronger since. In season 1, only the concern for his sister’s safety could make him have such a reaction. But he typically doesn’t make his best decision when he lets his emotions completely rule him and acts that impulsively, and in this case, his unsuccessful rescue attempt only made things worse, as it alerted Roan he was being followed, and made Clarke stop fighting and let Roan take her to his destination.

But it’s not just Bellamy who would “do anything for her, to protect her”, Clarke is equally determined to protect him at any cost, and we’ve seen evidence of that many times, including this time – when she begs Roan to spare Bellamy’s life and promises to do anything and stop fighting if he does. At the time, she believed Roan was taking her to Queen Nia to be executed, so she was basically ready to offer her life for his.

When I first saw that scene, I thought “Oh wow, show, you are really doing this? This must be the most romantically-coded scene in anything ever.” Before even starting to binge the show, I was always spoiled on the fact that Clarke and Bellamy are not a romantic couple to date and that people debate whether they’re just friends or not, and I always knew people shipped them, but that didn’t mean much since fans will ship anything (Broadchurch fans even ship the leads from that show, and they are genuinely nothing but platonic partners). So one of the bigger surprises of my initial binge was that the show is so blatant about this romantic subtext (which is more like text, a lot of the time), and has been since season 1, but they were relatively subtle with it at first and then more and more obvious as seasons went by. Maybe it jumps at you more when you’re binging it. In any case, this scene – the soft music, Bellamy touching Clarke’s hair, the way they look at each other after meeting for the first time after 3 months, Clarke begging for his life – it all looked like it was straight from some epic medieval-themed romance. I later heard people compare it to Tangled, but I’ve never seen that movie (it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen any Disney cartoons). But I’ve recently happened upon gifsets that compare that scene to a scene from Tangled: 

` Woah, they really did this. They modelled that scene after the scene where Rapunzel’s love interest tries to rescue her. And it’s not the last time they keep doing that and have used every goddamn romantic trope for the Bellamy/Clarke relationship. Is Jason Rothenberg for real? How do you do stuff like this, over and over, and then go in interviews: “Weeell, it’s Rorschah test, you can see this or you can see that, I mean maybe, but maybe they are just best buddies, ya know?” LMAO

Knowing about the Tangled reference suddenly makes me realize, they’re kind of doing this whole story as Rapunzel in reverse. We have our golden haired heroine who’s a target for her supposed special powers, and. Clarke finds herself as a literal Princess in the Tower at the end of this episode, and remains that for half of season 3. But while Rapunzel was trapped in the tower to begin with and wanted to escape and be free to see the world, Clarke was running away from the world, then got kidnapped and brought to the tower, and then decided to stay there.

 And what a freaking huge tower it is – I didn’t know the full significance of it (that it’s the former Polaris space station) when that reveal was the last moment of the episode. This thing must have been a great strategic asset, you’d have seen any army approaching from miles away.

I love the last scene, which is the first meeting Clarke and Lexa after season 2, because Clarke’s rage – spitting into Lexa’s face and yelling that she’s going to kill her, while she’s dragged away – is such a fitting and relatable reaction to the betrayal at Mount Weather, and, maybe even more, to the way Lexa starts talking to her without apologizing or even mentioning their history, being all business instead and talking about the current political situation and how Clarke can help her in that department. I didn’t even notice this before, but while Clarke just glares at Lexa at first and stays silent, it was when Lexa said “I need you” that Clarke spat in her face and went ballistic. It’s interesting to compare that to 3x05, when Bellamy had a bad reaction to Clarke telling him “I need you” in a similar context. It’s not the same thing, of course, because Clarke had not betrayed Bellamy (even if he may have kind of felt otherwise), but it’s a similar “I’ll just ignore our history – there’s nothing personal and painful to talk about here, la la la  – let’s instead just talk about how you can help me stop the war” approach.

I now love that scene even more because it’s the last time Clarke shows anger for the next two seasons. Or rather, she shows the same anger early on in the next episode in her conversation with Lexa and then when she was planning to kill her before changing her mind, but from that point on, there’s a shift in Clarke’s characterization that I’ve never liked. She was always smart, pragmatic, caring, vulnerable and good at using her words to convince people, but she also used to be vibrant, edgy, held grudges before finding a way to forgive people, and could be very impulsive. But in season 3, after the first couple of episodes, she kind of became a lot mellower and blander, and remained that way throughout season 3 and in season 4 (even though there’s otherwise a lot I like about her arc in season 4), where she would do ruthless things and feel sad about it and say “Sorry” a lot while other people told her she sucks, she would cry and look sad, but never ever show any anger herself. I really found myself wishing for her to finally show some anger at some point, at anyone, for any reasons, or go off and stop repressing her feelings and scream about her pain, break things, do something. I finally did get some of that – in 5x01 when she screamed at fate for taking everything away from her, and then, boy, did I get what I was wishing for in 5x09 – her slapping Bellamy and her silent but deadly rage/heartbreak at what she perceived as his betrayal, was the first time she had that kind of reaction to a person since her rage at Lexa in 3x02/3x03. (Unpopular opinion: I prefer season 5 Clarke to season 3 Clarke. Sure, season 5 Clarke was a total mess and reached rock bottom in many ways, but she was a more interesting and edgier mess. )

The B storylines were good, too. This is the first time we actually get to see what “the City of Light” looks like and learn about how it works. After Gideon, the big dude with a facial disfigurement, is killed by Emori in self-defense, we see him again in the “City of Light”, where he’s removed his disfigurement and can be a “normal” person rather than a “freak”. In later episodes, we see that Otan has done the same, but only Emori will not change herself physically, because she doesn’t have a problem with her body, just with the way others react to it, making her an outcast over it.

Nice to see Nyko again, one of my favorite minor characters. Unlike so many other people in this show, he’s always both nice and rational. When Abby, Jackson, Lincoln and Octavia took him to Mount Weather to find resources to cure him, and Lincoln was concerned because Grounders could have a problem with Arkers moving into Mount Weather because of their history with the place, Nyko pointed out “Places are not evil, people are.” The whole idea of the Arkers not being allowed to move into Mount Weather is stupid, knowing that the place had all those resources.

The show tried to give us bad vibes about Arkers moving into Mount Weather (which they absolutely had right to – they conquered it, so by the very rules of a warrior culture like the Grounder one, they could lay claim to it) with the talk from Octavia and Lincoln about how Grounders would have a problem with it because of bad memories. But that was just a red herring. Moving into Mount Weather turned out to be bad for a very different reason. We now know that at least the leaders of Ice Nation didn’t give a damn about their bad history with the Mountain Men, since they were working with Emerson.

What the heck was Abby thinking when she took Jasper to Mount Weather? She’s not a psychiatrist (did they even have psychiatrists on the Ark?) but I don’t think taking him back to the place of his greatest trauma is a good way to help his mental health. At least we get a nice scene for the Octavia/Jasper friendship, where she is comforting him while he remembers Maya, looking at her favorite painting, Second Circle of Hell by Dante. (The second circle of hell is for those guilty of lust... Is that why Jasper said it was ironic? Because he and Maya just kissed once and never got the chance to have sex?

Timeline: It seems that Parts One and Two lasted a little less than two days – Part One started during the day, Clarke spent a night with Niylah and immediately left in the morning, and Part Two took place during the following day.

Body count: 

Three Ice Nation warriors killed by Roan

A bounty hunter killed by Bellamy to save Niylah

Gideon, killed by Emori– but still “alive” in the City of Light

I don’t know if this counts for this episode, since it actually happened after the Farm Station landed on the ground, so somewhere around the season 1 finale and early season 2, but we only learn it now: about 120-130 people from the Farm station were killed since they landed (there are 63 Farm Station survivors, but Kane said the station initially had three times that number). A lot of them, including 15 children, were killed by the Ice Nation right after they landed, and Monty’s father, who saved four children, was killed when trying to save another one. I assume that some of the Farm Station people died fighting the Ice Nation in the woods, and that they also killed an unknown number of Azgeda people during that time. (Technically, this all happened during the timeline of season 2 and between the seasons.)

Rating: 8.5/10

[thatsjustsupergirl]

3x22 thoughts & feelings

Kara things:

Look who found the secret entrance to Selena’s house even without her super-vision, high five

It’s always interesting to see Kara when she doesn’t have her powers, and the moment when she realizes Selena’s planted a trap but can’t do much of anything to react or protect anybody is ... rough

Kara in her dad’s lab!!! Reminiscing about being a little nerd poking around at experiments and helping and doing cool science!

Kara talking through Holo!Mom was excellent, as were all of the associated sibling hijinks with Winn -- Erica Durance did a great job of mimicking Melissa

Watch my girl get the fancy Kryptonian computer to work and make the hologram look around in the DEO after both Alura and Mon-El can’t figure it out

Heeeeeee, her little face of “that’s not good!” when the AI’s hand went right through the portal controls was so freaking precious

Also hello, I am in love with her squinting as she attempted to use her x-ray vision to track someone through a wall before remembering she had no powers

Kara tricking people into fixing the portal with her sass, that’s my hero and I love her!

KARA’S BEAMING SMILE WHEN SHE INTRODUCED HER MOM TO ALEX WAS SO ADORABLE I COULD WRITE A SONG ABOUT IT

Alex things:

“I hope we’re not disturbing you,” says mind-reading dad who knows Alex is clearly not thinking about work

“You have a rare gift for intuiting the feelings of others” I’VE ONLY BEEN SAYING THIS SINCE FOREVER, SO THANK YOU FOR THIS GIFT, SHOW

Um... Space Grandpa also saying she would also have made an excellent green martian?? This is just outright rude

“There is no need for watering of the eyes, child.” FIRST OF ALL, WAY TO CALL ME OUT LIKE THIS, AND SECOND, CHILD. Everything about this scene was <3 <3 <3

Doctor Science Alex back at it again

Winn screaming “ALEXXXXXX!” was hilarious, as was Alex accepting that Holo!Kara was real immediately and getting exasperated at Winn for being like “but are you sure?”

WHO’S THE TRUE BELIEVER NOW, COVILLE

Alex remains zero percent intimidated by powerful aliens and I love it

Oh, look, Lena turned her kryptonite over to Alex and the DEO just like Kara told her to several episodes ago

Planting some kryptonite into the palms of those gloves was clever

Cool as it is, you can really, really tell that flying kick was done by the stunt double 😂😂😂😂

Seeing all these examples of lethal heat vision makes you appreciate just how wild it is that Alex’s reaction to Kara almost hitting her in the 3x06 flashback was an irritated “what the hell?”

Everybody else:

🎵double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble 🎵

Um, Ruby’s blue hair looks kinda awesome, nice job Alex

Sam! asked! for! help!!

CARL LUMBLY IS SUCH A JOY AND I WILL MISS HIM BEING ON MY TV

Selena’s telling Alura that the destruction of Krypton was kinda her fault and I am way too pleased because there is also a really great subtext happening here re: Kryptonian culture and oppression

The M’yrnn and J’onn stuff about how you need to understand the painful memories to have context for the good ones was a really nice background theme for an episode that was otherwise all about confronting painful realities

Heyyyyyy, a transmat portal! It’s like they put them into S2 on purpose.

Selena smirking at Coville and his self-important nonsense gives me life

This Reign rebirth is some Voldemort resurrection shit and I approve

Lena at it again not warning people that they could end up violently in pain as a side effect of her fancy forcefield

Ruby gets major points for not only remembering what Alex said about how the forcefield works, but also for recognizing that Demos needed a distraction and making a useful one

Ohhhh, Winn thought Demos’s belt would work because his did when he got heat-visioned earlier in the episode ... but Demos got hit by three people at once. RIP Demos. 😭😭

I am thoroughly enjoying this Lena & Eve teamup

Sam is a BAMF, you go Sam

Eyyyyyyy, Reign has her badass sword from the comics now!

YES GOOD, COVILLE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED FOR BEING A CULTURE-APPROPRIATING DOUCHEBAG

A wild James appears and delivers a lovely friend speech!

Sam, honey, do you even know where you’re going in this magic valley?

I’M SO READY FOR SPACE GRANDPA TO SAVE THE EARTH OMG 👽😭😍

Quibbles and Burning Questions:

Did Selena just ... never invite people to her home? Because it’s full of swords and there’s a giant Reign symbol on the wall

Total aside, but the eye makeup for Alex has been terrible all season and the excessive eyeliner was really distracting in this episode

It’s a shame this season was so crammed with story, because M’yrnn had to deliver a lot of exposition in this episode to compensate for other bits and pieces that were cut along the way

Uh... what was the point of the other Worldkillers if Reign is just gonna terraform the Earth

Wow, the CGI on that explosion in Selena’s house was ... not good

Much as I enjoyed the J’onn and M’yrnn stuff, it didn’t mesh well with the tone and pace of the rest of the episode

Why would Coville have any idea where the DEO is?

This conflict re: Mon-El as a piece of the perfect life Kara thought she still wanted when the season started would be touching if I hadn’t figured out where it was going ten episodes ago and gotten bored waiting for it to conclude

How exactly do these other Kryptonians already know how to use their powers when Kara was still working on hers two years into living on Earth??

Was it really necessary to throw the blood vials in the air just so Selena could catch them while they burned?

Is ... is Sam wearing a pair of earbuds as electrodes on her head for this journey back to the dark valley?

J’onn, I appreciate that you want the DEO to help get people to safety, but since the entire Earth is blowing up, where exactly are you gonna evacuate them to??

All of that earthquake footage was recycled from 3x01, whoops

[ralfstrashcan]

3x07 Reaction / Commentary

I'm commenting on the gory parts of this episode as well. There will be screen shots. Consider yourself warned.

What happened to Jace's Dramatic Coat?!

I liked their fight a lot, tho I felt like there were short pause moments were they just stared at each other significantly.

I broke out into completely inappropriate laughter at this, because, man, the way she falls down. Like a loaf of bread. That's not normal!

Only seconds later though the laughter died in my throat because what. When Jace looks down the edge of the building he sees this

and when Clary falls down she lands here

just what. That's not even remotely the same location and they moved like three inches from where Jace looked over the building during their fight. Are you serious.

May I ask where Clary's Anti-Broken-Neck-Rune is?

And you wonder why you're considered problematic? Probably because of your attitude. Just a guess tho.

............what. What. Did I understand that right? He makes Maia steal the blood from the Hunter's Moon which could easily loose her her job? And then bring it to him as if she's some delivery service? What the hell, Simon?! He can't even pick his stolen food up himself?! Yeah, wow. What an incredible dick move. But heyyyyyy look, it's provoking a Kyle-Maia-Confrontation so it was probably Plot Convenience?!

Wow that's the first thing I've heard from Simon in this Scene that I can wholeheartedly agree with. Sorry, I normally like Simon, but what is wrong with him.

Okay, that's a dirty lie, because in case she didn't fall down that building with her phone already in her hand (which she didn't) she must have somehow gotten it out and dialed Simon. So she could at least move her left hand. In that case, wouldn't it have been a smarter decision to get her stele and active her Healing Rune, which is at the side of her neck, so easily accessible?! Priorities, man.

Now would be a good time to get her stele instead of uselessly petting her hair, which, while certainly nice and reassuring is doing nothing against the excruciating pain she's feeling. Pri-or-i-ties.

Also, now that I think about it, shouldn't Magnus have been close behind her, probably following Jace as well? Why would she call Simon, who could be the other side of town when she knew for a fact that Magnus was, like, five meters away?

Wow, you look kinda smug and happy about that.

“So you've finally decided to tell the truth? Thanks for waiting til the most inconvenient and absolutely last moment to do that.”

That's it, that's the Show.

“No, that was a different wish. The one and only other wish is still unused.”

Wonderful Scene, wonderful acting, wonderful everything. I honestly expected him to go with a heartfelt Thank You, so seeing him actually hug Clary was even more powerful (and kinda reminiscent of 1x13, oh the good bad old times). But why were Magnus and Izzy so surprised? Especially Izzy should know how much Alec loves Jace, so why would he punish someone for saving him? Yeah, Clary broke The Rules big time, but does Izzy (and Magnus) actually expect Alec to chose The Rules over the life of his parabatai, or the life of any of his loved ones? Yes, Alec trusts and believes the System to a certain degree, but his family will always come first. If even I gathered that from watching the Show, then Izzy and Magnus, who live in the Show, should know that even more so. That's the only detail that I didn't like, I would have wished for them to maybe smile and look heart warmed instead of surprised. (And besides, even if Alec had decided to toss Clary in the Guard, it would be stupid to do it right away. She's a capable Shadowhunter with a personal tie to Jace, she could be useful in getting him back. Locking her up now, before they got Jace back, would be irrational and Alec isn't stupid ;) )

“Excuse you, dude, I was just chillin', havin' some downtime and enjoying my red wine, I don't think I'll interrupt that and get up now who do you think you are and anyway where's my gf.”

Damn, for a moment I hoped she'd pull her gun and be all 'Your pesky possession ain't a match for me, I'm a minor character with more skillzZ than your average background actor' so when she just answered “My mother” that hit me unexpected and hard. Poor Ollie. Also I think the fact that Lilith asks at all is a nice, subtle way to show that the mundanes aren't just a means to an end, I mean they are, but she doesn't disregard them as if they're nothing.

Important Questions:

1) Notice those candlestands in the background? Aren't those the same ones as in the Institute's courtyard?

Do they shop in the same decoration store I need answers!!

2) What do all the disciples eat, like, does Lilith order a giant family pizza or something every day?

I don't mean to be rude, but why isn't she bleeding out? That cut is clearly still open and leaking blood.

I fail to see how that second statement is a logical consequence of the first. Also, I guess this Greater Demon Cage Thing didn't make it into the field because Greater Demons are like, super rare and barely ever leave their home dimension. Wouldn't it be more practical do construct a Shax Demon Cage? Shadowhunter Lives could be so much easier. Just place all the Cages around the city, empty them every day, and chill the rest of the time. Shadowhunters should invest in that.

When I saw this moment in the Sneak Peak, ripped out of context, I thought he was talking about their fight and when it became clear he wasn't I was kinda disappointed.

I like to interpret the way Magnus is looking as one of those moments when you realize how amazing the person standing in front of you is.

At first I found it a little odd that Alec just didn't comment on this statement until I realized that it was because he'd do the exact same thing. Blowing-up-the-ground-you-stand-on-to-make-something-right doesn't seem to be an entirely Alec exclusive trait.

FINALLY A HUG IT'S ONLY BEEN  S E V E N  EPISODES

Also, notice this real handy groundplan on the wall? Very convenient when an enemy breaks into the Institute, he can immediately find the way to the place he wants to reach!

“I was wrong. I said things I shouldn't have.”

Is that a mistake in the Scene Execution because I think Alec accidentally said the lines that were designed for Magnus. (Am I bitter? Yes.)

Edit: After rewatching I can at least interpret Magnus's reaction to Alec's line

as contrition because he knows that he should have apologized instead of Alec.

Okay, good. Except no. This is the absolute flimsiest way there is to apologize, and I truly hope this isn't the resolution of the fight, because then I'll be seriously miffed. Like, would Magnus have apologized if Alec hadn't brought the topic up and apologized (entirely unnecessarily in my eyes) first? We'll never know, and honestly, I kinda doubt it. Magnus dealing-with-conflicts-behavior is something I have serious issues with, but I won't go off on a tangent about that now. At least that hug was satisfyingly lengthy... probably to make up for the previous SIX EPISODES without a hug.

Wtf it is clearly daytime outside. Also, rude. Maybe she was asleep?!

Damn where can I buy those earrings?!

Yeah those were my thoughts exactly.

First I thought 'you gotta be kidding me, she just told you she's scared of the ocean and you know her for ninety seconds, presumptuous much?!' but the fact that he walked away after she told him No mitigated it and put it back in okay-flirting-territory (I personally still wouldn't have liked it, but I wouldn't label it pushy per se, and Maia clearly thought it was an acceptable flirty thing to say, if her grin is any indication). Charlie could learn from him. (Except he can't because he's dumb.)

Whaaaaaat they burried him in Alicante? I thought they would put his skeleton somewhere in the City of Bones where all the disgraced Shadowhunters are? Or do I remember that wrong??

...............yeah well. That wasn't really impressive, since Jonathan's parentage wasn't a secret to begin with and she personally told him about it in 3x04. Maybe she has really low expectations of his memory??

SOMEBODY WRITE ME A FICLET ABOUT THIS PLEASE. (Seriously.)

I was amused by this, but I'm with Luke on this one.

lol did people report that to the police? “911, it's not an emergency, but I just saw a bunch of weird people walking down the street with vacant looks in their eyes... no, they weren't staring at their phones, that's why it was so weird.... hello? officer?” Seriously. Also, what were they doing loitering around the place instead of standing at attention in Lilith's weird altar lair? Seems like she didn't order those family pizzas after all and they had to fend for themselves. Yikes, Lilith.

What does that mean, 'inaudible'? Are you a vampire or not, Simon?!

You can say what you want about Shadowhunters, but this looks really picturesque.

I mean, the Stamina Rune I understand, but why is there an Awareness Rune on the wall? Is this wall extra aware of what's happening in Imogen's office? Is this advanced Clave Espionage Technique?? (FunFact: On first glance I thought it was a Nourishment Rune and that made even less sense lol.)

Did the Runes always glitter like that? If so I never noticed before. It's pretty.

The I'm-Seconds-before-a-Dramatic-Flashback-Face.

Sorry, but that is just dumb. I get that they're super elite, but their main goal is to help, right? So moving off a case you're not able to handle is like, logical? So this oath is kinda stupid if it forces you to stay in a position where you can't help and therefore elevate the risk of your Downworlder Charge screwing up? In what universe does that make sense?

Oh dear, Alec, I hope for all of your sakes that you have improved your diversion stall small talk technique since 3x02. I doubt Consul Penhallow has many antique pots displayed in her Office.

Okay, it made sense that he'd talk about the position from 3x01 and I'm really glad she already offered it to someone else, because for a second there I was scared that now he'd have to move to Idris, and all to cover up a theft.

I know it's not funny, but I laughed out loud at that. That sassy hand flick. This is exactly how blaming yourself works – against all reason and logic.

Gratuitous Catarina Cameo is much appreciated. Also I think it amusing – though a little weird – that warlocks have a really strange relation to age, like, a 40 year old warlock is almost a kid, while you'd probably say a 40 year old Mundane or Werwolf should be able to handle himself easily (and a 40 year old Shadowhunter is already antique).

...............so you mean to tell me they're just now tracking one of the possessed by scent? Why the hell didn't they already do that with the first one, that Tim Patrick Dempsey guy? Because they knew where he lived (and that he passed by his home in possessed state, to complete his sacrifice), and they probably could have easily obtained some laundry to help referencing his scent.

Wow, Luke, you're thinking of this real early. Clearly your plan to take Simon along was well thought-out, since you seem to know so much about the mark on his forehead.

I mean, technically not because the possession changed their cells from human to demonic but..... okay, I'm shutting up.

You should have that on a T-Shirt, Simon.

Okay, so I get that at some point Simon had to learn that Luke was behind that whole Praetor Thing, but, Timing. Why would they start conversationally talking about that when they're three feet away from entering the Lion's Lilith's den? Srsly.

“I had a guy helping me figure it out. He was like my supernatural life coach.” “Help? All they've done was drop a bomb on the best thing I've going for me right now. [...] They sent Maia's scumbag ex.” Okay, maybe I'm stupid and just don't get it, but if Simon's not referring to Kyle with his first statement then I really have no idea who else he could be talking about. And if he is talking about Kyle in both his statements..... whiplash much? Dude, could you stick to one opinion for more than five seconds? What the hell?

“Having Flashbacks. Severe Case, already the second Attack in under half an hour.”

Okay, so I guess this Flashback is designed to make me hate Kyle, but it doesn't. First off, I don't really understand where their future planning conflict even is because it's not like they were gonna move to Fiji in the next five days, the fact that Kyle said he'd work his ass (arse, sorry) off to make it happen means that they still need a lot of money to make it happen. So Maia can make her degree in the time he needs to get that money, right? And with a degree like hers Fiji probably isn't the badest place to find work? And even if Maia thought Fiji was just a dream this is clearly important to Kyle and she doesn't seem to hate the idea itself, she just thought it wasn't in the realm of possibility. She said she wants a life 'here, where she can go to school' so the way I see it her priority is the education and not Jersey itself. If they'd postponed the Fiji plans until after her graduation this could have easily worked.

Second off, Kyle losing his shit was because of the first effects of the bite. This is in no way an excuse for his yelling, but it's an explanation, implying that he doesn't normally act so douche-y. And Kyle did apologize immediately after (tho in my personal opinion he could have apologized a li'l more enthusiastic.) Also, friendly reminder that Simon didn't go to see a doctor after he drank from Camille's blood and had some seriously unsettling side effects. And Kyle was 'just' having mood swings while Simon was having hallucinations, so. Out of the two of them Simon had a more solid reason to see a doctor. My point: I don't think Kyle can be faulted for not seeing a doctor... besides, I don't think a Mundane Doctor could have helped him / recognized that he was turned into a werewolf anyway. (I'm just assuming that he hasn't turned yet since it's been weeks, not a month since he's received the scratch.)

The one thing I'll concede is that it's totally not Kyle's call if Maia goes to the college or not. Like, what even. Tho the way Maia reacts makes it pretty clear to me that she doesn't even think he actually means that, that he could dictate what she does with her life. She doesn't react to his statement at all and is more focused on what brought on this outburst. The way I see it she sensed that he is somehow out of his mind because in his right mind he would never say or think something like that. So instead of getting worked up about something she knows will be irrelevant in the end anyway she tries to get to the bottom of the real problem. Sidenote: Even without that whole werewolf bite business going on... Maia just more or less said to Kyle's face that his life plan for the future is a foolish fantasy. I can't imagine anybody would be pleased to hear that. Again, this is not an excuse for his behavior but an explanation, to make sense of why he snaps.

Why did she order those Spring Rolls if she didn't wanna eat them?

Did you mean: Hermione?

HOW?! And why are Shadowhunter Security Systems so ridiculously easy to hack? First Imogen, then Jonathan, then Raj, now Izzy.... it's getting ridiculous. Like the dungeons in Merlin. Everybody escapes them.

Also, I totally feel cheated out of the Alec-Penhallow-Interaction. Like, for Clary and Izzy there obviously passed some time, a few hours at least if the lightning is to be believed. What did Alec do that whole time? Stand awkwardly in the hallway with her and her lackey?

Which opportunity if he came to Alicante specifically to do this.

...........................you mean like the totally random spontaneous totally unmonitored visit Jace and Clary paid that same Cemetery in 3x01. You have got to be kidding me. (Edit: I honestly thought she was bullshitting to buy time and wondered why she would go with something so ridiculous, but later events show that she actually wasn't, because why else would Jace take her finger? As a souvenir?)

Okay, so Imogen is a good liar, but subtlety isn't her strong suit. Srsly, the way she was oogling that weapons rack.

WTF did I just watch?!?!?!??!?!??!?!??!?1ß1ßß139ß40utaoiöesjfm

Ah okay, those Scanners. But a) how did Jace know about those if he just arrived at Alicante and the other NY Shadowhunters had to specifically be told about them b) why the hell is the Cemetery of the Disgraced a “high-risk area in the city” because what valuables do they keep there that it's high risk and also the Cemetery is clearly outside the city, remember 3x01 and c) who the hell would use a left thumb for scanning purposes?!

Also that knive

is way too short to be sticking out of her back like that

especially considering the angle.

And this could have been avoided so easily. There were two sufficiently long swords displayed literally three inches above that short knife.

*sigh*

Oh c'mon. She had her stele in her hand. Couldn't she have activated her Healing Rune before drawing that other Weird Rune (that I couldn't identify, sadly)? She didn't even try to save herself.

Okay, so it was to create a fire message.... but last time I checked (3x06, literally one freakin' episode ago) you had to write something down before you could send a fire message. And before you say Magnus is a Warlock and it could be different for Shadowhunters, Izzy did, too, in 1x06. Also, sorry Imogen, but whatever you drew there

wasn't a Heat Rune.

Not even half of it, not even close.

Btw, trust Shadowhunters to have a Heat Rune so elaborate and intricate that it's probably faster to just write a text.

Still, I won't be bitter about all of this BECAUSE

I CAUGHT A WALL WITH A FREAKIN' NOURISHMENT RUNE HAHAHA WHAT EVEN

That's a really nice lamp.

Seriously? Splitting up? *sigh*

Also, where are all the disciples? Ah, right, wandering the street with vacant looks in their eyes, searching for the family pizza Lilith won't buy them.

................................he's a werewolf. With a nose. And he's a cop. Shouldn't he know better than to touch suspicious and unsanitary fluids in a creepy altar? *sigh*

One of the disciples came back, forgot his wallet.

Also, I get the whole It-cracks-behind-you,-you-turn-around-but-there's-nothing,-and-when-you-turn-around-again-there's-something-there, but it really makes no sense when you think about it. Still, that's like such a common cliché that I won't judge.

..............I thought you were the bodyguard. With what exactly do you need help, Simon?

I'll never understand why you'd try to argue with someone obviously possessed. I just don't get it. Where is the point.

Do I have to understand why those two disciples suddenly vaporized? Because I don't.

Lilith's screaming skillzZ tho.

But why didn't she notice Luke's presence earlier when he was splashing away at her bloody altar?

Also, nice setback, because now she'll need two new disciples to get her full set of 33. Assuming she can't use those weird disciple-shards, of course.

And there's the back of the T-Shirt.. Yeah, Gratuitous Sherlock Quote, whatever. That just sort of happened. (See what I did there?????????ßßßßß)

I won't comment on that nonsensical perfectly rectangular shape because that, too, is such a common cliché ..................and now I did comment on it, oopsie.

Okay, very impressive display with the cage, but they actually rammed only three column tent peg thingies into the ground.

Btw how did Clary, Alec and Izzy get into the Cemetery without Herondale's thumb? Did Jace leave the door open? *sigh*

Your fancy ass shirt isn't, tho. (Seriously, that pattern. So pretty.)

Also, why don't those tent peg thingies fall to the floor? They had to dramatically ram them into the earth to keep them upright and Clary clearly didn't send a layer of earthen soil with them through the portal. (Thankfully, imagine what it would have done to that carpet! Horrible thought!)

NAKED

haha sorry. Still, considering that she must have seen his wolf form up close and personal that question is a little redundant, right?

So Kyle was a stalkerish ex, that is a very valid reason to hate him. Tho there's one thing I don't understand. They've been broken up for weeks* and he still didn't have himself under control....... why? Because Simon needed like three days to get himself under control and the vampire blood lust is stronger than werewolf temper right? And I'll concede that Simon had help, but that help consisted of Raphael who kicked him out after a few hours because he was frustrated and Luke caringly ordering him a rare steak and pouring blood in a cup. So. My point is, getting excessive emotions under control shouldn't be that hard, especially because emotions are something you are used to dealing if you are a sentient being and alive. The urge to attack people and drink their blood isn't. If Simon could manage that in a very short amount of time I don't understand why Kyle couldn't. It can't be for lack of trying because obviously he wanted Maia back and he knew he couldn't have that as long as he wasn't in control of himself.

*So did I understand that correctly that in that earlier flashback Kyle did already know that he was a werewolf? If so, I would have liked to see them break up, because why did that happen? It sounds like Maia broke up. Kyle not confiding in her could have been part of it but honestly she doesn't seem to me to be the kind of person that would leave her boyfriend when he was obviously struggling with something, even if he has a hard time telling her. Of course it could be that Kyle was constantly acting like a dick, mood swings and all, that she eventually got tired of it but that's just speculation from my side. Again, if she was suspecting there was a hidden cause for that and he didn't just transform into a douchebag I can't really believe she'd let it go.

I really liked the fact that it was specifically stated that the fact that Kyle turned Maia wasn't why she was angry, but the way he behaved afterwards. That too is a perfectly valid reason for her to be angry and in my opinion she can hold onto that anger and hurt forever, that would be entirely justified. Still, I think it's a little unfair of her to claim he's abandoning Simon now, because a) he was sending another Praetor in and b) if Simon now hates Kyle's guts it's questionable how much help he'll be able to provide for Simon and c) shouldn't that be Simon's choice?

“It's great that you found a way of redemption for you but if you're here to ask my forgiveness that's not something I can do.” I understand why she explicitly says that Kyle can't have her forgiveness, but I honestly thought it was a little unnecessary. He wasn't asking her for forgiveness. The way he acts and talks make it clear that he doesn't think he deserves her forgiveness. On the other hand the way she talked about him joining the Praetor made him sound like a self-pitying, self-serving a-hole and I think she's misjudging him there.

Yeah, I really didn't get the impression he was expecting that. Or that he was leaving because Maia can't forgive him. *sigh* Kyle obviously made some grave mistakes, but the way Maia is picking on him where it's not really warranted makes me sympathetic, I'll be honest.

Wow, who moved Jonathan to this new, cool display vitrine???

“They didn't get their pizza dose in time. They starved.”

How can you possibly have so much knowledge on something that's never ever been there before? I didn't get it before and I'm not getting it now.

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO HILARIOUS I CAN'T

IZZY THINKS SO TOO

I just imagined Malec Domestic Life with Jace trapped in their living room. Like, he'd be awkwardly third wheeling while they have breakfast and make scathing comments while they watch TV.....

I honestly thought she was gonna attack her guards and flee.

This wall just has a lot of Love to give, okay?!

(Gif Source, Heat Rune Source)