#the 100 backdoor pilot

[atlantisview]

i’m still sad we didn’t get a prequel for the 100 😭

[starry-mist]

S5e15 and s5e16 thoughts:

Obviously I need to do these ones together. I'm also going to try to do this as sort of a review rather than general thoughts...it's my first time trying this so be nice, LOL.

I have a few thoughts before I jump into the episodes.

One of the main reasons (other than the obvious one of having these additional characters with their own storyline that initially seems separate from what the series regulars are doing) that this initially felt like a backdoor pilot is because one of the titular characters is noticeably absent. And we know this was because John and Meghan were expecting their third child to be born right around the time this was scheduled to film, so he wasn't available. I'm not saying it couldn't still be a backdoor pilot, but I think it's unlikely for the moment.

The story we got was very different from the original synopsis in the article about the Ontario government funding production in Northern Ontario (https://www.nugget.ca/news/five-film-tv-productions-receive-funding) which again, is likely because John was unavailable so they launched Sarah and Jesse into the spotlight for this one.

I know Jesse fans have a lot of feelings about his glasses, and I agree that the explanation for why he no longer wears them is pretty weak. Fans of this show do have a tendency to fixate on changes in character appearances (see also: much controversy on Facebook about Charlie's season 6 hair.) Anyway, characters evolve, people change, I'm just going to leave it at that. Maybe Justin was just sick of wearing them.

Without further ado:

We open with a lovely aerial shot of “Webster Bay,” which I’m sure is 100% a real place and totally not North Bay, Ontario. (It's absolutely not a real place.) A couple is having a romantic moment by the side of the road. Very sweet. Until it turns out the man is there to rob the house across the street. That's...perhaps a little less sweet.

The home invasion/robbery hits a little snag when the homeowner is, well, home, and goes at the would-be robber with a sizeable pair of scissors. He accidentally knocks her out trying to disarm her, and it's time for the happy couple to GTFO.

Roll credits.

Back in St. John's, the Major Crimes team has ordered lunch. Jesse gets an ominous phone call from his previously-never-mentioned sister.

It's the season of new family members coming out of the woodwork. Sigh.

Anyway, Jesse's sister is in Northern Ontario, as far as he knows (which is apparently where they both grew up...look I'm just going to keep rolling my eyes at all of these things that could have been mentioned IN FOUR PREVIOUS SEASONS) and is in trouble. Come quick. No cops. Doesn't sound sketchy at all...

Jesse's ready to go to her rescue, but Charlie doesn't think he should go alone.

Sarah: You want to go with him?

Charlie: I was thinking you. And Rex.

(Yeah, remember those establishing moments I mentioned in the previous two episodes? Those are now relevant.)

Apparently Charlie has some important stuff he has to take care of.

(Please remind me I need to someday write a fic about Charlie’s guilt at sending the trio into harms way.)

This whole scene is a little forced, IMHO, but anyway, off they go.

Cut to Ontario, where we now have MEGAN FREAKING FOLLOWS, OMG, BE STILL MY ANNE OF GREEN GABLES-LOVING HEART. At this point, I should note that I do love these fleshed-out original characters and their stories, which initially feel strange given we've never seen them before, but will make sense later.

(Pause for my usual commentary of same actor, different character: Cihang Ma previously played Holly in s3’s Seeing is Deceiving. Here they play Detective Kai Huang, and let me just express my appreciation for a non-binary actor playing a non-binary role.)

Anyway, Detective Anne of Green Gables Sidney Scott is on scene and having flashbacks. It looks like she lost someone close to her. Kai thinks the people who broke in were addicts. Sidney has other ideas. She talks to the victim's husband, Tim Cooper, who apparently worked with her husband as well. But she makes it clear that she's definitely off work and totally not on the case.

Right...

Back to St. John’s, Charlie is having someone dig up Constable Charlie Hudson’s incident reports from October 30, 2009. Okay first off, I would have appreciated some flashbacks to a younger Charlie, but I don't always get what I want (rarely, in fact.) And we find out that Charlie is investigating his "white whale" of a child abduction case that has haunted him for 14 years, which has of course been foreshadowed in prior seasons because this show is so amazing at continuity. /s

Cut to Charlie's house, with him taping up a makeshift "murder board" on the wall. My dude, you're going to need to repaint...

Meanwhile in Ontario, we have lovely wide shots of fall colours. So pretty. We also have rapid-fire voiceover exposition from Sarah and Jesse on their arrival, where they're going, how long it's taken them to get there, and honestly, this is yet another of those "show, don't tell" moments that this show struggles with.

The trio arrive at “an old Cold War missile site” where Jesse and Crystal came when they were kids, riding their bikes down from his uncle’s place. Questions abound about who actually raised Jesse, who has mentioned his mom (in a throwaway line in s2) and a deceased father. Now there was apparently an uncle? Okay we'll go with it. Anyway, Jesse and Crystal used to hang out here and build camps in abandoned buildings.

Sarah and Rex are the third wheels (actually fourth and fifth, I suppose) in the Jesse/Crystal/random sketchy boyfriend scene as they head into an abandoned hangar. Sketchy boyfriend (who has a name that I'm not bothering to look it up given he won't be around that long) wants to know if these new additions are cool.

Sarah: Dr. Sarah Truong, hi. We’re cool.

(I don't know why I find that line so amusing.)

Rex senses danger. Looks like it's time to GTFO of the hangar.

This is where I point out that two of these characters are weapons-trained cops, one of whom we have seen is basically a sharpshooter…And none of this apparently matters as neither of them have a weapon on hand that they can use. Oops.

Going to have to suspend disbelief at the fact that the sniper can instantly kill the bf, shoot out the tires on Sarah and Jesse's rental car (that's going to be a hefty repair bill,) but then they're all just able to run out in the open and magically escape…right.

This is pretty elaborate for a scene that is essentially just a setup for the plane crash.

Sidney Scott visits a man named Elvis Migwan outside the local hospital. We learn that there is a local Indigenous community whose water has apparently been affected by runoff from a mining operation. Elvis's daughter is sick. And this is a really relevant topic given how many Indigenous communities in Canada lack access to clean water.

Back to the airfield, and I'm just going to speculate that they blew the budget on this next scene and on the plane crash.

Apparently flight simulator games have taught Jesse enough that he can figure out how to fly a plane...again, suspending disbelief. The team take to the skies and are promptly shot down by the sniper, as my anxiety begins to ratchet up.

The remote lake where they crash would be a pretty place to camp in any other circumstance.

Anne of Green Gables Sidney has a nice, large house. It's actually pretty big for one person. Hey, Sidney has that in common with Charlie. They should hang out. Inspector Yousef Ali stops by and brings Sidney dinner. It's a salad. She's displeased. I start to ship them.

Charlie and Joe have a scene at Charlie’s house and it's just not working for me. I can't help it. The whole Alison case appearing out of the blue feels forced.

(However, Joe is totally checking out the new, shall we say, feminine touches in Charlie’s house.)

At the crash site, Jesse manages to smash open his door when there were two perfectly good open ones on the other side of the plane, because reasons? Crystal’s wrist is probably broken, Jesse’s got some cracked ribs…but at least they have a doctor with them who’s totally in one piece and definitely not injured.

Sarah asks for a first aid kit, presumably to do, you know, actual first aid...oh wait, no, instead she scribbles some notes on a piece of paper, which she rolls into a little case that she attaches to Rex's collar. With a tearful hug, she sends Rex off into the wilderness.

Cue “The Littlest Hobo” theme.

Rex wanders the woods.

Sidney Scott decides to go back to work.

Back at the crash site, we find out Crystal’s a pretty big screwup, and Jesse chastises her for her messing up her life. Not super helpful at the moment, Jesse.

Sarah starts to look disoriented and possibly in pain. This is going to get worse before it gets better.

Rex encounters some sort of bird of prey (I think it's a hawk, but I'm not an expert.) No worries, he'll just hide under a bridge for a moment.

Another "same actor different character" moment: the actor playing Bertrand Boyle previously appeared as Tucker Moore in s4’s No Man is an Island.

Rex is under a sky full of stars, which I'm sure he'd pause to appreciate if there weren't a pack of wolves nearby. I believe I read somewhere that Sherri Davis who trains the dogs actually trained all the animals that appeared in this one. I’m in awe of her talent.

Morning at the crash site. Crystal is about to peace out. Jesse talks her into staying. And Sarah wakes up in rough shape.

And here is where I state that Mayko Nguyen is the best actor on this show, fight me. She completely nailed that subtle shift when Sarah realizes that she's injured, and more seriously than she initially thought.

(Side note: I love that Mayko is wearing her trademark huge puffy warm coat. She is apparently always cold.)

So anyway, Sarah has realized that she's bleeding internally, and tells Jesse that he'll need to operate.

Right…

Sarah: You can do anything you put your mind to, Jesse Mills. You just flew a plane!

I really hope they submitted this episode for this year's Canadian Screen Awards.

On his continued trek through the wilderness, Rex encounters the most fearsome of woodland creatures: a skunk. Oh no! What if he ends up smelly?!! Anyway, Rex wins the territorial battle, and over the log bridge he goes.

Oh look, an owl.

So many critters.

There's a road! And with a short swim, Rex has officially made it back to civilization where he is promptly picked up by some sinister characters in a truck.

I'm not going into the gory details of Jesse doing field surgery on Sarah, because I still find it hard to watch, but anyway, give Mayko an Emmy. Hell, give her an Oscar. Give her all the things.

...right now, because I’m not watching these separately.

Ugh. Field surgery. I feel very much the same way as Jesse does when it comes to blood.

Cut to the Ontario Police Service (or whatever they’re calling their version of Ontario Provincial Police) HQ building, which I’m pretty sure is part of Nipissing University, as is the “hospital” we see later.

Detective Scott, meet Rex. He'll keep you on your toes.

See you later, sketchbags in the pickup truck. Nobody messes with our boy Rex.

Oh hey, it’s Charlie Hudson. Kind of forgot about that guy for a moment. Anyway Charlie and Joe get a call from Sidney about the plane crash. Charlie holds back...really any emotion whatsoever.

Sidney! Rex! Helicopter!

Sidney sends Charlie a photo of the note that Rex brought her, and Charlie recognizes Sarah’s handwriting. Joe tries to be reassuring. Okay, now they're showing a little bit of worry at the unknown fate of their friends.

Sarah is now semi-conscious and making last requests.

Sarah: If I don’t make it you have to find Rex…tell Charlie…

Jesse: No, you’re gonna tell him yourself…

Me: Tell him what, exactly? Because you've been a couple more than long enough that I refuse to believe there have been no "I love yous" exchanged, even if we've yet to see it said on screen.

Anyway Sarah passes back out, while I continue to hyperventilate.

Cut to St. John's. Charlie feels guilty for not going. Joe steers him back into his B plot. It still feels forced.

Sidney chatting "with" Rex as he leads her through the woods cracks me up.

At the crash site, Sarah wakes up feverish. She knows she probably an infection. So she should totally drink the unfiltered lake water Crystal brings her, because what’s a little E. coli going to do? Anyway apparently it’s all good as long as the paramedics push IV antibiotics…whatever. Sidney and Rex of course arrive at exactly the right time!

Rex lays protectively on his “mom.”

And the look Sidney gives Crystal tells us her shit is officially about to hit the fan.

Jesse has a phone call with Joe and Charlie to fill them in on all the nitty-gritty. Charlie wants to talk to Sarah, who is now in actual surgery. Jesse goes to check on his sister, who is now under arrest.

Crystal: I just watched my boyfriend get shot and killed and was pretty sure we were all gonna die in a plane crash. It’s been a lot.

Sarah Swire's deadpan delivery of the above lines is just so good.

Sidney questions Crystal, and it become clear that she definitely has a personal stake in this. Crystal swears there was no gun at the house her boyfriend robbed. She wants Jesse to cover for her by taking the backpack full of money, which of course he does. For now.

Sidney: Are you here as a cop or a brother?

Jesse: I have to be both.

Rex wants to help Sidney track the shooter. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

In Sarah's hospital room, she's sitting up in bed and talking to Charlie, albeit briefly. That conversation should have been longer and more emotional.

Tracking the shooter leads to more amusing Sidney and Rex "conversation." They find the type of gun that was used to kill Sidney’s husband. Suddenly Sidney's personal stake in the case makes sense.

Jesse and Sarah chat in her hospital room where she's looking pretty well recovered considering she just had two abdominal surgeries...and then she’s up and at it looking over forensics with Kai. It turns out Kai had the wrong time of death.

Joe reassures Charlie, who is feeling stuck on the Alison case, that he’s a great cop, great detective, blah blah. Says he needs to figure out how to move on so he can be ready for the next people who need his help. So clearly we’re done with this case and it definitely won’t reappear in a future episode...*eyes the next episode on the list*

The totally-not-the-shooter guy whose name I can’t be bothered to learn thinks Sidney’s husband would want her to move on and enjoy the life she has left. Okay then.

It seems that Crystal did in fact know that there would be money in the house. Also she knows about the contaminated runoff situation from the mine. Working as a cleaner, she managed to overhear all kinds of things, and through creative use of french fries, casually explains to Jesse how the mine’s money laundering scheme worked.

Incoming sniper. Again. Rex attempts a takedown but the sniper nearly runs him over with his car. Well, at least they should have a license plate now, assuming Jesse can actually see it without his glasses.

Seeing that it's time to come clean, the Mills siblings take the backpack full of money to Sidney. Crystal reveals how she knew the money was at the Cooper house by basically rehashing everything she just told Jesse. And maintains that her brush with law-breaking was "just one time."

Jesse to Crystal: Rex is really disappointed in you.

Sidney goes back to Elvis Migwan and asks how he knew about the mine runoff. And we now know that her husband faked the reports that said the water was clean.

Back at home, Sidney rips down her wall murder board. She's coming to terms with who her husband really was. He was killed in order to keep him quiet, but he knew a lot more than he let on.

Sidney goes off to question Tim Cooper, who is the actual mastermind behind all of this. Inspector Ali tells her she needs backup. It looks like she rolls up with just Rex, who stays in the car.

Sniper dude is on the scene. Oh, apparently his name is Wayne.

Rex takes him down.

Sidney gets a confession from Cooper.

And the rest of the backup team comes out of hiding.

Sidney, needing to make amends, takes a USB with proof of the falsified mine records to Elvis Migwan. It's everything he will need for his lawsuit against the mining company.

Jesse and Crystal chat as he is ready to head back home. Maybe she'll visit St. John's someday. (Here’s hoping.)

Sid puts away a photo of her and her husband. Ali shows up. Sidney tells him she's planning to sell the house, and that she doesn’t like salad. He's brought her a burger this time.

Could be love.

Sidney swears she's getting groceries tomorrow, and will be back at work on Monday. She's picking up the pieces. She also wants to choose her own partner. Say hello to Little Rex.

Sarah, Jesse and Rex head for the plane.

Jesse: You know, second time's the charm flying the plane.

Sarah: Too soon!

Charlie pulls the pictures of Alison off his wall. He's letting it go.

The door opens, and we get probably my favourite Charah scene ever. The clinging hug. The concern for each other. The intimacy of their foreheads pressed together as they gently sway.

Swoon.

Best episodes ever.

[therealvinelle]

i've seen you answer a few questions about tvd so i thought i might ask, what are your thoughts on the main love triangle? and klaus/stefan?

As a caveat: I did not watch much further than the first few episodes of season 4, in fact I ragequit when one of the writers revealed we wouldn't be seeing Elijah on screen again until 4x20 at which point I thought, "Well I simply won't watch until 4x20 then".

And then 4x20 was a backdoor pilot to the spinoff The Originals and I simply watched that show instead.

All this to say, I was 100% a gung ho Vampire Diaries fan and you can tell by how closely I was following it, sadly the only TVD I know of would be the first three seasons. Same actually goes for The Originals, as I for reasons I don't remember wasn't able to access episodes post-season 3 so I wound up not knowing what happens after Hayley drives off with the entire family hibernating in her truck either.

Another disclaimer: it's been more than ten years since I watched this show and my memory may fail me at times.

With that:

The main love triangle

Having only seen the first three seasons, I think that Damon wishes quite badly he was a different man, and he is unable to take responsibility for his life and relationships being what they are. He would rather blame his failings on Stefan, and, whenever Stefan fails or falls short in some ways, it's immensely validating to Damon because who's the bad brother now?

His love for Katherine is not only about Katherine, but about being chosen by someone over Stefan. Because, as Damon will try to tell himself, just because she was sleeping with both of them and decided to turn them both, doesn't mean she didn't prefer Damon (after all, she had to compell Stefan, while Damon slept with her willingly. Victory for Damon!), and also- look, don't question Damon on this. It's fine and he's a well adjusted man, and once he has rescued his lady love from her tomb she'll tell him how much better he is than Stefan.

Enter Elena, who looks exactly like Katherine, is living in Mystic Falls just the same as Katherine, and who has drawn Stefan's interest.

Damon, eternally pulling Stefan's pigtails and being a goddamn creep, starts creeping on Elena, this does not work. Instead, however, he learns that Katherine faked her entombment, and has in fact been living her best life for the past 150 years. Worse, Damon and Stefan were never more than boytoys to her.

Cut to Elena, who is just as beautiful (in a very literal sense of the term), only she is kind, genuinely loves Stefan, the polar opposite of Katherine in every way.

Damon transfers his emotions from Doppelganger B to Doppelganger C.

Stefan, meanwhile, seems to... fall in with Elena, for lack of a better way to put it. They meet, he is confused about the resemblance to Katherine for long enough to get to know her, by which time he's into it, and Elena sees a very handsome and pleasant man who is easy to fall for.

The trouble with Stefan is I don't really have a grip on his character, he is... there, for three seasons, and he has his character moments and his speeches, I can tell you things about his personality except I can't.

He is one of those people you can know for years but never actually know who, having killed his father and become the Ripper for so many years, seems to be that he is running away from himself. That is the only way I can interpret his strange nothingness, as well as bizarre decisions like coming to live with his nephew Zach and attend high school.

I think Stefan wants to surround himself with people, form relationships with them, and through that find a sense of identity that he can enjoy. Which is where loving Elena comes in, as she is kind, generous, mature, vulnerable, and fun- the type of person you can lose yourself in, and have those simple moments of happiness Florence Welch sings about.

In other words, while my real ship here is Elejah, Stelena trumps Delena any day.

Klaus and Stefan

Klaus is a deeply sad person who is only interested in dating two people, and they are his sister Rebekah and his brother Elijah. At the time he met Stefan Elijah wasn't around, so Stefan became replacement Elijah.

(The proof of the Elijah projection lies in the fact that Klaus was fine with Stefan sleeping with Rebekah. He is historically not fine with outsiders doing this, you have to be family for Klaus to accept these things.)

"Look, Elijah," Klaus would imagine himself saying to Elijah, "I have a new brother now and he is hotter, cooler, and not a total bore like you! Stefan loves me more anyway," and then Elijah would sit and cry and give Klaus so much attention and it would be great.

As for Stefan, I think he just liked partying.

They probably did fuck, but Klaus is too embarrassing for Stefan to ever admit as much.

[multiverseofseries]

Ahsoka: Star Wars torna a splendere su Disney+

L'hype può essere uno strumento incredibilmente pericoloso, in particolar modo quando ci si confronta con franchise od in generale realtà dalla lunga storia. Prendiamo ad esempio la Marvel, post-Endgame, diversi aspetti relativi al Multiverso - come abbia realmente avuto inizio, quali siano le reali conseguenze e dove prima o poi sfoceranno - stiano creando una confusione terrificante per i fan, che quasi ad ogni nuovo film o serie tv vengono introdotti a regole e funzionamenti piuttosto in contrasto tra di loro. Dopo la saga dell'Infinito, quanta attesa c'era per il prossimo grande arco? Dopo Thanos, quanta spasmodica voglia di ammirare l'inedito villain? Che spada di Damocle graverà sulla testa di The Kang Dynasty e Secret Wars, dopo Infinity War ed Endgame? Star Wars non è in una situazione tanto differente.

E dunque è comprensibile perché Andor abbia avuto l'incredibile successo di critica ma anche di pubblico che ha avuto, in fondo nessuno si aspettava chissà cosa da uno spin-off prequel di Rogue One. Che Ahsoka sia riuscita ad offrire un livello qualitativo molto simile con le enormi aspettative della fanbase è, invece, un capolavoro targato Lucasfilm ancora superiore ed una commovente dimostrazione di cosa possa essere Star Wars a quasi 50 anni da Una Nuova Speranza.

Far, far away…

Cerchiamo però di ricapitolare brevemente dove si colloca questa serie e cosa vuole raccontare: ambientata dopo gli eventi della terza stagione di The Mandalorian e prendendo tuttavia inizio dal quinto episodio della sua seconda stagione (che a questo punto possiamo considerare un vero backdoor pilot), Ahsoka narra le gesta dell'omonima protagonista (Rosario Dawson) mentre cerca di capire dove sia finito il Grand'Ammiraglio Thrawn (un perfetto Lars Mikkelsen), dopo aver sentito voci di un suo possibile ritorno nella galassia come erede dell'Impero, e di conseguenza anche lo scomparso Ezra (Eman Esfandi).

In The Mandalorian l'avevamo vista alle prese con Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), alleata chiave di Thrawn, e qui veniamo a scoprire l'esistenza di una mappa che indica la posizione proprio del Chiss dagli occhi fiammeggianti, ma per aprirla avrà bisogno dell'aiuto della sua ex-apprendista Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) e presto scoprirà di non essere la sola interessata a questa ricerca. Ora, credo sinceramente sia il caso di indicare subito l'elefante nella stanza, reso già evidente da questa semplice sinossi, ovvero che Ahsoka non è una serie aperta a tutti. Con ciò intendo che pezzi fondamentali della sua trama nonché le caratterizzazioni, i rapporti e i comportamenti della maggior parte dei personaggi non sono purtroppo accessibili a chi non ha visto determinate produzioni. Dispiace, eppure non c'è modo di addolcire la pillola in quanto la serie non fa assolutamente nulla per colmare simili mancanze come ad esempio faceva The Mandalorian.

E forse Filoni e soci non hanno neppure tutti i torti, perché sarebbe stato impossibile inserire qualche dialogo chiarificatore riguardo personaggi dalla storia su schermo tanto lunga. Insomma, è necessaria la conoscenza pregressa di alcuni archi di The Clone Wars e della quasi interezza di Rebels, altrimenti proprio sul piano narrativo ed emotivo la serie rischia di non trasmettervi nulla. Ma, una volta scansata tale problematica, com'è Ahsoka?: Ahsoka è Star Wars al 100%, che non ha paura di usare le sue armi migliori e soprattutto non teme di espandere la lore di un franchise monumentale.

È una serie che catapulta lo spettatore immediatamente al centro dell'azione - proprio perché è una continuazione diretta e come tale non necessita di un prologo - e, escluse alcune pause a dir poco clamorose, non si ferma mai fino all'ultimo minuto disponibile. Però paradossalmente la narrativa è forse la componente meno importante, d'altronde non è altro che una lunga missione di ricerca e/o salvataggio, una sfrenata corsa contro il tempo dalle poste in gioco estremamente alte e delicate. Narrativamente non c'è altro - se non giusto qualcosina di intrigante sul finale - e perciò le luci della ribalta vengono occupate dai protagonisti, che bucano in continuazione lo schermo.

Il vero show

Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Eman Esfandi, Mary Elizabeth Winstead - che interpreta Hera Syndulla - e Lars Mikkelsen sono stati semplicemente straordinari nel dare vita, dalle movenze ai modi di parlare, a personaggi preesistenti, a catturare perfettamente le loro peculiarità, che sia la giovialità in qualunque situazione di Ezra o la sfacciataggine di Hera. Così come sono stati clamorosi il compianto Ray Stevenson e Ivana Sakhno nei panni di due Jedi Oscuri, delle new entry tra le più interessanti in Star Wars nell'ultimo decennio. Sono letteralmente loro a fare lo show: il rapporto complesso tra Ahsoka e Sabine e, di riflesso, quello tra la Togruta e il suo vecchio maestro Anakin, l'irraggiungibile carisma e freddezza spietata e calcolatrice di Thrawn predominante in ogni scena che lo vede presente, i dilemmi morali che il ritrovamento di Ezra comporta, la disturbante aura di magia sinistra intorno alle Sorelle della Notte, la dialettica maestro-allievo presente anche in Baylan Skoll e Shin; Ahsoka esegue magistralmente tutti questi punti, inondando lo spettatore con un maremoto continuo di misteri, emozioni, sorprese.

Un risultato stupendo esaltato infine da delle sequenze d'azione - come in Andor e in The Mandalorian, - ben realizzate, tra cui uno scontro tra astronavi in volo che non si conclude in 10 secondi o finisce per diventare un amalgama indistinto di laser ed esplosioni casuali. Se c'è da trovare un difetto nella nuova serie Star Wars, è la sua natura di ponte perlomeno in questa prima stagione, perchè in fondo non è altro che un ulteriore passaggio verso il film crossover che intende realizzare Filoni. Con un'ipotetica seconda stagione, però, le potenzialità di espandere il materiale di base sarebbe meravigliosamente infinite.

[laufire]

huh. I liked the prequel's backdoor pilot A LOT more this time around.

back when season 7 was airing I couldn't help but be annoyed about this pause in the plot (in a season that as I've said, would've worked better as two seasons) for characters I cared little about, and for how quickly they got rid of becca, the one character I knew and who held my interests in a prospective prequel.

but neither of those things bother me now -it is what it is- and I can appreciate it for what it is. I like callie as a choice for heroine; she is definitely an amalgam of jroth's beloved female characters (especially octavia), but also feels as her own thing, and I think iola evans had the charisma to carry a series. and I definitely feel validated by the fact that jroth decided to focus on an antagonistic sister-brother relationship between her and reese (I am sooooo right about him wanting to go back and do a blake siblings show).

I'm not crying over spilt milk, but given that in the end I embrace the 100 warts and all... yeah, I would've watched it and likely enjoyed it lol especially given how far the cw has fallen since woe is me. it left the plot at an interesting point as set-up; if I ever meet jroth, I kinda want to pick his brain about what his plans for the show were ngl.

[pluckysidekick]

Hello, Drewds! It’s been a while since Nancy Drew filming wrapped. Am I the only one who couldn’t have imagined being almost two full weeks into January and still not knowing when Season 4 of Nancy Drew was premiering? Me either.

In the meantime, some happenings:

The big headline is of course Kennedy McMann is starring in ABC’s massively popular ‘Good Doctor’ series’ spinoff The Good Lawyer as a young lawyer, Joni DeGroot, with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - which Kennedy herself suffers from - opposite Felicity Huffman.

In the backdoor pilot airing March 13, we meet the “brilliant, funny and self-aware” young lawyer living with OCD, whose “attention to detail allows her to see cases through a different lens.” Sound familiar? Here’s to hoping Joni likes checked blazers and patterned scarves. If only her law firm also had a quirky tech guy…Congrats, Kennedy!

Speaking of Kennedy, she along with the writers and Riley came on Twitter to commiserate in solidarity with us on the lack of a premiere date, and to confirm that those fake episode titles (e.g. “The Whispers of the Grim” 😂) were bogus.

We also got SEASON 4 EMOJIS, her favorite scenes (in Ep. 3 and 13 after some clarification), and assurance that we will cry hard at the end of the finale.

Besides Cupid’s arrow (hopefully NACE and not some alternate love interests we have to suffer through), looking forward to the Hardy Family Hannukah Dinner, Game Night! (see below), camping out in that cool Airstream, road trip (PLEASE LET IT BE NANCY AND ACE), BABY (Carson and Jean’s perhaps?), curse breaking via a spell book Bess finds perhaps, and FIRE (oh no). Also Nancy’s gonna give some more blood, but we knew that already. I wonder if Ace is the latest blood donor….

Speaking of Game Night, here’s a little seen BTS photo from DP Nick Thomas I never posted from back in late September - Game Night is ON at Icarus Hall, and probably in the same episode with the earth shattering Nace photo Kennedy posted the same week. Does anyone recognize what game they’re going to be playing?

Next, the hit horror film M3GAN with the creepy life sized American Girl doll killer helped the CW pay the bills with a cross promo with ND that gave us a tiny bit of S4 footage.

We got to see Bess performing some kind of ritual? on Nancy with a weird contraption (mask? Ghost goggle type lens?) and Nancy vomiting black ick. They’re doing this in the in the Drew house, which is strange since Nancy seems to have moved into Icarus Hall. Ace’s voiceover where he questions Nancy’s eating habits has been debated to death of whether he’s actually in the scene or if it’s audio from the Tom Swift episode (inconclusive).

Based on Nancy and Nick’s (who’s behind Bess) wardrobe, and Kennedy’s mention of filming an episode with a ‘Burning Bride’ comedy vibe back in an early August podcast, I believe this scene is from Episode 2, and related to the cause of whatever humorous curse is going on in that episode. Anyway, Ew. But still nice to see actual S4 footage.

We also saw some of our actors on much deserved vacations, with Maddison and Leah both enjoying tropical vacations with their bfs (in Mexico and Costa Rica respectively).

This will probably be my last marathon post for a while. I do still owe a breakdown of Riley’s post from the last day of filming in the Claw set with baby shower props (!). Also, I finally reached 100+ notes with a short post of just fantastic cast BTS photos.

I’ve been hard at work on Part 2 of No One Mourns the Wicked, my Secret Sleuth fic with a Season 1 AU where the crew put on a summer stock production of Wicked. It’s almost done and it’s a doozy. I will probably split it into multiple parts to make it easier to consume, as it sort of turned into a multi-chapter extravaganza. Whoops. Speaking of which, I’ll be jumping right back into The Space Between (S4 spec fic) as soon as I’m done - there’s still a lot of insanity planned for the crew post curse breaking. They still have a mystery to solve…

Thanks for sticking with me, waiting impatiently for the S4 premier date along with everyone else. Bye for now!

[mlobsters]

supernatural s9e20 bloodlines (w. andrew dabb)

LOL oh my god at the (quick check to make sure i am actually watching spn) hair color change like in the craft!

the craft (1996) [jesus it came out when i was 16??? what is time]

gonna throw the blond in the knockoff boyd holbrook (corinthian) / spn!brady (i called brady boyd hollbrook with a dash of armie hammer i am very consistent in my thought process lol) pile with bartholewhatever because apparently all slim white blond men occupy one spot in my head

spn s5e20 brady / the sandman - boyd holbrook as the corinthian / spn s9e3 bart

we also have budget tom cruise

another hunter via fridge origin story?

DEAN Agents Bonham and Peart, FBI. We will take it from here.

100% heard bottom and pert and died inside a little bit. what i get for having the captions off to screenshot something

why are sam and dean speaking with southern accents, is this someone's recounting of meeting them (like the lilt up on "profile" from dean, the way sam said "last night" for ex. i'm just... they sometimes, like jackles especially does the again uhgin sometimes and other little bits of accent slip in but not like this)

little bit of andrew garfield maybe? lol good god brain, get it together. this actor was also in the vampire diaries as a character i may or may not have seen, already wasted too much time not gonna get a picture

i have a feeling i'm going to commit about 5% of this episode to memory.

MARGO Yeah, you'll what? David, come on. You don't want this. You ran away to be a human. You always had a soft spot for 'em. Look, you're out. Stay out.

slow blink at the stanford era sam parallel

what the fuck is happening. why are sam and dean acting so weird talking to this nice boy ennis who looks about 18. who also has a post-stanford era sam parallel

DAVID Wow. You are so in over your head. Let me give you the short version. Chicago is divided up between five monster families. ENNIS What? Is that a joke? DAVID Do you hear a laugh track?

i mean, i snorted

just insert me saying wtf is happening continuously

he's got the patented single tear of man pain too!

~and the real monsters were the humans~

they must have really been shooting in chicago because it looks like shameless! lol. have they ever shot on location before?

ENNIS But I couldn't walk away. This is my fight now. Hell, it's a damn war, and I got to start somewhere.

laughing loudly, WHAT IS GOING ON. it's like a spinoff test

ENNIS Who is this? VOICE ON PHONE If you start hunting, the monsters will kill you. ENNIS Dad? Dad?

??????

what did i just watch

from the wiki

This episode was also planned to be a backdoor pilot for Supernatural: Bloodlines, a series set in Chicago and based on the characters introduced in this episode, however it was never picked up by the CW.

losing it. that still doesn't explain why sam and dean were acting so strange and accented (briefly) 😂

when people talk about spn getting worse as the seasons go on, this type of episode is what i was worried about haha at least there was a very specific reason it was Like This

i know i'd heard there was a spinoff that didn't go anywhere but i still am somehow very surprised and confused

not-andrew garfield and ennis were good it was just a completely absurd not good episode

[feralnumberfive]

I wanna read your ramble about planes more

And I couldn't be any happier to share with you, especially on today, National Aviation Day! ☺️

I'll talk about a real cool and gorgeous plane I saw last month, but first let me tell you about its kind.

The P-51 Mustang was the hotrod fighter of WWII, and easily the most famous fighter of WWII. It was designed and built in just 100 days, and was revolutionary as it was the first aircraft to successfully be designed with a laminar flow wing.

There were a handful a Mustang variations, but here are the most common. The most notable differences are their canopies. A-C had what is called a "birdcage" or "razorback" canopy while the D model had a "bubble" canopy that provided a 360° view (note: The P-51C could also have the Malcom Hood and the P-51B could also have a birdcage canopy)

There is an odd looking bump on the belly of the Mustang that is a cooling scoop for the radiator and oil. While aerodynamically it looks like it causes more drag, which it does, it actually takes advantage of a cool effect called the "Meredith effect." Due to the fact that the hot radiator is inside of the scoop, there is actually a backdoor on the scoop that blows out the hot and pressurized waste air.

This pressurized air being blown out is actually producing thrust, like a jet engine and more specifically a ramjet, and for the Mustang it produces about 300 lbs of thrust. So the "Meredith effect" is that despite the scoop itself producing more drag on the airframe, the thrust being produced nearly equalizes the effect of the drag and offsets it.

Okay, now onto one of the most beautiful planes I have had the pleasure of seeing. This is a P-51C named "Thunderbird" that has quite the history.

Hollywood actor and WWII bomber pilot Jimmy Stewart owned this plane after the war ended. "Thunderbird" never saw service in WWII as it was a surplus aircraft and instead was bought and used as a race plane. It won the 1949 Bendix race trophy and had an average speed of 470 mph, which was record setting at the time. Due to the paint on the plane and how polished it was, it actually gained 8 mph in flight.

In late 1949 famous WASP pilot, and leader, and one of the most well known women aviators and record setters named Jackie Cochran bought "Thunderbird" where she set more world records in it. She eventually sold it back to Jimmy Stewart before it was passed onto more owners.

The aircraft was involved with a crash in 1955 and began part recovery for restoration in 1999. In 2007 the restoration of this aircraft began and was finished in mid 2023. In early June it had its first post restoration flight. It is painted in 100% original colors and has the same designs it wore when it won the Bendix trophy. It had been painted less than one week prior to when I saw it, so it was a very clean and neat Mustang!

A neat fact about this aircraft was that after Queen Elizabeth II was coronated it was used to fly the coronation tapes for CBS from Newfoundland into the United States as it was trusted for its speed to complete the job

Alright, (long) ramble over. Thanks for letting me share!

[chrisodonline]

I tried to do most of my chores yesterday, though I did some things today instead of tomorrow evening, when I'd normally do them to prepare for the cleaning lady. (Who hopefully gets to come this time.)

But then I couldn't sit still with all this antsy energy about the finale. So I did a few more chores. But I think I'm wrapping up to just sit and attempt to chill a couple hours before having to make dinner and feed the cats before getting ready for bed before the show.

I know there are a couple posts I said I'd do, and I still plan to do them. They just might be later on when no one really cares. One is the business-y one, which I was reminded of wanting to write because I still see people wondering why/how CBS canceled this show. Now that we've seen more of their scheduling, I think some things are more obvious. (And I looked at when Chris would've filmed Bupkis. It probably would've been around the time of the Emmys, so that was all the way back in the fall. I'm wondering if there are any other surprise pop-ups he has. But I think that his actually branching out, plus all the other projects people seemed to have in the works, was definitely a sign that the Core Four were fully prepared for the show to end soon. Not necessarily wanting it to, but being pragmatic and also probably relieved in some ways about it.)

I have sooo many thoughts about "The Reckoning." And I have probably forgotten some of them, which is fine because I keep getting new ones! Though they're definitely more about the show in general, and I'm wondering if I should wait until the finale in case it kind of adds to my Callen-y thoughts. The show has actually done mirror or analogous things before, so I was trying to think about what Gemmill might actually consider the beginning: the backdoor pilot or the first episode. Do we end where we began but going backwards? With Callen going deep cover or solo and separating from the group instead of rushing back to see them? For the record, as "poetic" as that might be, that's definitely not what I want. I want an arc, not a circle.

I mean, who am I kidding, though? We all know the show is going to tie all the old ends together in a nice bow, and have Hetty's sending them all pictures of the people she's successfully captured in her super secret mission across the globe: an escaped Janvier, a dejected Kessler, and the body stitchers all tied together (but not in THAT way, as just as it would be). Yep. All wrapped up.

Also I'm going to *try* and go back to Opera. Or maybe try Firefox. Safari is great for avoiding the Tumblr glitch, but it can be so damn annoying with autocorrect and how it shows tags you're typing is very weird. So if you see weird reblog from me...that's why.

Damn. This post has 100 million long sentences. Oops.

[ineffablecho]

I kinda wish the 100 spinoff had ended up getting picked up. I would have been interested to watch that.

Although, realistically, I don't know if the 100 was popular enough to support a successful spinoff.

I mean, Supernatural got one season of a spinoff after two failed backdoor pilots. And SPN was on the air for more than twice a long as the 100.

[warriorwitchwillow]

It 100% was a backdoor pilot that didn’t do well enough to get picked up. It was going to be called Bloodlines.

literally when chicago is divided up between five monster families in the supernatural canon and then they never talk about that ever again

[chenford4ever]

‘The Rookie’: Is Tim Leaving After Season 5?

Eric Winter’s Tim Bradford routinely steals the show. He, along with Lucy Chen, played by Melissa O’Neil, became unexpected fan favorites in season 1, and their relationship is one of the best parts of the series. However, could Winter be on his way out the door by the end of The Rookie Season 5?

Tim Bradford is moving to Metro in ‘The Rookie’ Season 5

Tim and Lucy finally gave in to their feelings for one another and went on a date in The Rookie Season 5. Fans started noticing the chemistry between them in season 1. But since he was her training officer, a relationship between them wasn’t feasible. And after five seasons of waiting, Tim and Lucy decided to take the leap and begin dating.

However, Tim was a sergeant at Mid-Wilshire, still making him Lucy’s boss in season 5. So they needed to find a way for him to move out of her chain of command to make their relationship appropriate. Lucy offered to transfer out of their station, but Tim was afraid they would barely see each other. So, he took a desk job as Court Liason Sergeant at Mid-Wilshire.

Lucy conspired to get Tim, who was clearly miserable in his new position, a better job in The Rookie Season 5 Episode 13. And after some secret scheming on Lucy’s part, a position miraculously opened up in the Metro Division of the LAPD. Metro is a unit that specializes in counterterrorism, major crimes, security details, serving warrants, and more.

Tim accepted the Metro job in episode 13. And now, fans are worried that the change in scenery means he is leaving the ABC series.

‘The Rookie’ fans worry that Tim is being written off the show

Following The Rookie Season 5 Episode 13, one fan started a Reddit thread speculating about a spinoff starring Eric Winter as Tim Bradford.

“So we’re all agreed that The Rookie: Metro is the next spinoff, right?” they wrote. “A proper backdoor pilot is gonna happen pretty soon, I’m sure, same as Feds. Eric Winter can handle a lead role.

Reddit user commented, “I will 100% watch an Eric Winter lead show over The Rookie: Feds.”

“But nooo, then it’s gonna be weird not having Tim all the time,” someone else added. “I just don’t think it would work, plus there is already a swat tv series. I don’t think it would pay off.”

However, not everyone believes Tim is leaving The Rookie after season 5.

One fan said, “It seems much more likely to me that we will see more of Metro integrated with the patrol team and detectives of the station.”

“[I don’t know] if they would take Eric Winters over to a spinoff with the success of Chenford and how ratings are right now,” another Reddit user pointed out. “It would be a very poor decision [in my opinion].”

Eric Winter is not leaving ‘The Rookie’

Thankfully, other than fans’ worry, there is no reason to believe Tim is leaving The Rookie. As one person explained in the Reddit thread, Tim and Lucy’s relationship is one of the main reasons people watch the show. And it will be easy for The Rookie to integrate Metro into storylines since the division often works with other police officers.

The show manages to have the characters constantly run into firefighter Bailey. So we don’t think it will be a problem for the writers to work Tim into Nolan, Lucy, Angela, and Nyla’s cases.

The bigger question is whether or not ABC will renew The Rookie for season 6. However, the show’s chances for renewal are high. The Rookie‘s move to Tuesdays has done wonders for its ratings, so we can’t imagine a world where ABC cancels the series.

The Rookie Season 5, starring Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

[travllingbunny]

Pre-apocalypse news items

in “Anaconda”, 7x08 of The 100

Newscaster: 

"President Wallace's administration declared the extremist environmentalist group known as the Tree Crew (...) who (...)  the national (...) the environment (,,,)" (the second part is unclear as it’s covered by dialogue)

"United States declared a public health alert in response to the Russian Ankovirus outbreak..." (the screen shows the title “RUSSIAN ANKOVIRUS SPREADS” with a photo of a group of people with face masks)

“...above 110 degrees” (title on screen: “DEADLY HEAT WAVE”. with the other title, GLOBAL WARMING, seen in the background)

“The 11 billionth child was born this morning in the Wayne County internment camp...” (title on screen: “WORLD’S 11 BILLIONTH CHILD BORN” 

“Today marks the one-year anniversary of the banishment (..) Becca Franko. After creating the world’s first sentient artificial intelligence program, the reclusive billionaire and owner of this network made her last public appearance.  She is rumored to be aboard her space station Polaris, working on a project that her legion of devotees...” 

(Becca is called “missing tech tycoon” in the title of this news item we see on screen. The network’s logo is her Infinity Symbol. One of the pictures used is the cover of the magazine we saw in Josephine’s memory in 6x07. 

The other brief news items seen on screen are also quite interesting:

"...brain transplant successfully performed in Bangalore" (How would that work, since a person who has a functioning brain is still alive, so..? Uh... does that mean what I think it means?)

"Dubai's Alpha Centauri Group debuts the first orbital hotel, offering..."

another news item we don't see, it ends with "...concerns" 

"Wyoming joins 32 other states in legalizing the recreation uses of psilocybin mushrooms" 

“...Congress's negotiations on economic relief finds an impasse amidst violent riots..."

So, ALIE was one year old when she destroyed the world.

The magazine cover of Becca used here must have been several years old at the time of the apocalypse, as the issue was new at the time when Josephine was thinking of whether to join her family in the Eligius 3 mission - and she and the rest of the Mission Team Alpha were on Sanctum 7 years before the apocalypse. Another cover story from the same time was Diyoza’s capture. For comparison, 6x07:

[irisouy]

Sometimes, right after watching an episode I don’t know how to feel… did I really like it? When this happens, I need to analyze the shit out of the episode to understand why I am confused, and this has been the case with many episodes of season 7. However, not with this one.

Once the episode was over all I could think was “WOW”. The excitement I felt to keep watching the season is a good indicator: I loved this episode.

I know there are many people complaining to have a backdoor pilot in the middle of the last season of the 100 was a waste of time: I completely disagree. It tied some loose ends about the whole show and that is why I think it was very clever to have it in this last season.

I was not particularly excited about this episode at first, because I wanted to keep watching what our original characters are up to, but I remembered how blown away I was in season 3 when we were introduced to Beca in 3x07 or even last season how fast I got invested in Josephine’s character with just a short flashback. If there is one thing JR is good at, it’s to flesh out character dynamics and a world in a short amount of time. And I was right to trust his ability in storytelling: I really, really liked it.

Sure, this season is kind of uneven, especially with the pacing, but I am convinced it is due to the fact that the actors portraying the two main characters were not really available for filming (not going to mention their names because it’s like summoning Voldemort). The writers tried to cram secondary characters’ storylines and story set-up in 7a as much as possible, and I am convinced the meat of the story is going to blow up in 7b. And to me, this episode was the spark that will light up the rest of the season.

By now, I have learned that with The 100 one has to be patient: not everything comes right away. I am extremely excited about the rest of the season.

[debetesse]

Ok, I agree that the base build of Lawful Good (I would argue that Fraser multiclasses, though, rather than being a straight-up paladin), with strong “Yes, I actually am aware that I am Very Much Very” undertones, plus, as noted, childhood trauma. Which, then, makes me wonder about placement on character arcs.  Like, if the Harpers are the narrative equivalent of the Mounties, what does that relationship look like at this point?  Is Xenk what happens if Fraser is embedded in a legit Lawful Good organization, rather than a human, corruptible one? So you don’t get the displacement and disillusionment of the dS series?  Does this guy have Actual Friends? Or is there that fallibility in the Harpers, as well, and we can imagine a Xenk on the outs with the organization as it exists even as he continues to embody its ideals?  Is there any reason to think that that couldn’t even be happening during the course of the movie (making his interactions with Darvis taking on a decidedly different meaning)?  Is this an outsider POV episode?  Or is this a backdoor pilot and we could have the group to whom we were introduced as the CPD-equivalent if we want to imagine a falling out with the Harpers? Or is this what Fraser would look like 10 (or 100, if you will) years down the line, at level 20 and reasonably self-actualized*? *It should be noted that I have strong Ray Wars and post-canon feelings in my own self, but don’t yell at other people, even if they’re Clearly Wrong...I mean...they interpret things differently. 

another extremely small dndhat post:

the fact that i have to ask this in a fannish context makes me feel real old but has anyone else in this fandom watched due south, because Xenk is very very very much a classic Fraser, right down to the childhood trauma, and i feel like this comparison is a very rich vein of emotions. for me, because i watched due south. someone please yell about this with me

[thequeenofsastiel]

I expected very little from the backdoor pilot, but truthfully and embarrassingly I spent at least half of it with my mouth hanging open like a complete idiot. I'll almost certainly be tuning in