#the callback to the end of s1 was so well done

[yrsonpurpose]

2.10 | 1.10 I promise you I'm gonna call you, okay? And when I do, you better pick up.

[asgardian--angels]

Izzy Discourse Masterpost

Hey all, given the amount of awful splintering and wank happening in ofmd fandom rn regarding Izzy's death, including the flat-out immature and unacceptable harassment of David Jenkins and Co, I wanted to just make this one all-encompassing post to address the various grievances and complaints I've seen (almost entirely on Twitter). If I've missed anything, please feel free to add on. I'm putting most of this under a read-more for length.

Please be aware, I say all of this as an Izzy fan. I've loved his character since season 1, and while I was sad to see him go, I completely understand and support David & Co's reasons for concluding his arc, and I think it was done respectfully in a way fitting to his character. So let's break down some of the takes I've seen. I am not referencing specific posts or people here, I just want to address the general themes that I keep seeing about why some people are upset.

Izzy's death served no narrative purpose.

Look, this is one that I'm sure fans will debate for the rest of the hiatus. It's completely within your right to disagree with this writing choice, but Izzy's death did serve a narrative purpose in the story that David Jenkins is telling - and he has spoken to this end in several interviews already. I can only summarize here, and fans may find other perspectives in time as well. What we need to remember is that Our Flag Means Death is, at the end of the day, Ed and Stede's love story. That has been made abundantly, explicitly clear. The show has been fantastic at fleshing out the other supporting characters, but that's what they are - supporting characters. They often have their own subplots but ultimately the narrative seeks to move Ed and Stede's story forward and they are tools to spur Ed and Stede's growth or mirror their struggles. Izzy has been a wonderfully complex, multifaceted character but we must remember that all characters are vessels through which stories are told, lessons are imparted, and metaphors are established. He's not a real person who 'deserves' any particular fate. David said he's always intended for Izzy to die at the end of his arc.

Firstly, Izzy (now canonically, through his own dying words) represents part of Blackbeard. He enabled and encouraged Ed's darker side, they were mutually toxic forces to each other. Ed is attempting to cope with and move on from this phase of his life, and like Stede in season 1, set out a free man, unshackled by expectations and loose ends of those he's hurt and been hurt by (though we realize this is an ongoing process that takes time). This lovely gifset sums it up nicely, with Izzy being the Mary parallel, and making s2 mirror s1. Blackbeard is both Ed and Izzy; Ed cannot be free of Blackbeard while Izzy is in his life, and when Izzy is gone he will never truly be Blackbeard again. They are each other's rotting leg!! Yet, they love each other - and David has said that for Ed, this has developed into a mentor and father relationship, and where Ed has previously despised his father figures (his actual father, Hornigold) he does not want to lose Izzy. This time, Izzy brings out Ed, not Blackbeard - and that's where we get the callback to 'there he is', bringing their impact on each other full circle, freeing Ed, getting approval of sorts that he never had, to be soft, to be loved (and there are parallels to Zheng and Auntie here as well that others have made) from that force that drove him to stay in line all this time. David has said in multiple interviews now that he was going for the idea of the mentor/father figure dying and the hero living on and trying to do justice to them.

From Izzy's side, Izzy cannot be free while Edward remains either (Mary cannot find peace while Stede remains). The scar never truly healed, the leg will always be a reminder. At this point the argument becomes 'yes, but why did he have to die? Why not just sail off with the crew of the Revenge?' David has stated that he feels they've done everything they can with, and for, Izzy; he's come leagues from season 1, he's found community, he's found hope, he's found new parts of himself, and he's made good memories. He's found worth outside of what he can be to others. That's more than most pirates could hope for. Where would his character go from there, when the Golden Age of Piracy he belongs to has burned to the ground? Would he stay around and whittle on the Revenge? If he were a real person, yes, that would be lovely, and he'd deserve all the quiet peaceful happiness in the world. But as I explain several points below, he's not interested in being a captain. He's not up for the hard physical labor of regular crew, and he's extremely overqualified for that besides. He has served his narrative purpose, and symbolically, to enter a new age, everything must go. He's connected to the old age of piracy, to the Republic of Pirates, that is now demolished. To him, fighting for what he believes in, for the family he's found, bringing down an army of British twats in the process, is how he should go. It's a pirate's death, and as Izzy's said, he's a pirate - unlike Blackbeard who's succeeding in breaking away from piracy, Izzy never wanted to stop being a pirate, throughout his arc. To me, that's why Izzy remains trapped in the narrative, trapped in history, whereas Ed and Stede will escape history. They leave piracy, and canon, behind, while Izzy was content to remain a pirate and face a pirate's fate.

Burying him on land, right next to Ed and Stede's beach house, shows that his sacrifice was not in vain - they start this new life together, thanks to Izzy's mentorship, his role in their lives that sometimes for worse, sometimes for better, made their love what it was and made their breakaway possible. The new age is built on the foundations of the old age, and is stronger for it.

As we're well aware by now, David tweeted that there's no version of ofmd without Izzy. Whether that's literal or not, symbolically it's true. Izzy's arc of growth affected everyone on the Revenge. Jim fondly remembered fighting for a time when life meant something on that ship; the crew helped give Izzy new meaning in life, and he helped them in return. When he dies, they mourn and have a funeral; that wouldn't have happened under Blackbeard's watch in episode 2. His life meant something to them. He influenced Ed and Stede immensely, and they will take that with them. As David's said, they're all a family, and Izzy was a part of that family, and his loss unites them and brings them closer to continue to fight for that family they've built. It's a tragic, sudden death of someone they've all grown to care for, and that steels their reserve to keep the torch lit. They literally sail off into the sunset to hunt down Ricky to avenge Izzy; he will always be a part of this show. And, of course, with the brief appearance of seagull Buttons, the door is left open for anything.

If this was The Izzy Show, then sure, we'd be content to see him simply engaged in shenanigans every episode. But the plot, and therefore the characters, need to keep moving forward, and Izzy got his growth and development. He got what he needed for his character to have closure, and he served his symbolic narrative purpose in Ed's (and Stede's) story. You may have your own ideas and perspectives, and that's great - that's what fandom is for. But we cannot say his death was pointless when David Jenkins and the writers clearly had a well-defined motive for pushing the narrative in this direction. I actually think the narrative around Ed and Izzy is the most well-developed in the entire show. I for one am so happy we got such an interesting and complex character, and had the brilliant Con O'Neill to portray him.

Izzy's growth & healing arc was rendered pointless by his death.

As this post so eloquently puts it, it's pretty bleak to have the outlook that taking steps to heal and find meaning in life is worthless if it's later lost. Seeking happiness and self-actualization is worthwhile for its own sake; no one knows what's down the road, and we all die eventually. Find meaning in life now. Would you rather have had Izzy not miss with his bullet in ep2? He was given the chance to experience joy, freedom, and hope for the first time in potentially a long time, and when he died he did so with those happy memories. As mentioned, Izzy's death was decided long beforehand given the narrative, and the point of storytelling is to make you feel emotions. We were given impetus to connect and relate to Izzy's character through his process of healing, so when he did die, we felt it keenly. That's how stories work actually! We felt what Ed felt. It moved us. It's not a bad thing that Izzy's arc made him more likeable to fans before his death. It's not a bad thing to lose a beloved character - guess what, it happens constantly in stories - and it's not bad to grieve over it either, but to say that it made his journey pointless is just not true. People saying that Con must be upset that they snatched his character away from him after getting to develop him so much - again I say, would you rather him have died in ep 2 before he had the chance to grow? Or how about in s1, when the crew tried to mutiny? How'd you feel when Stede killed him in his dream, in the very first scene of the season? I think Con's probably glad for the opportunity to have explored this character so much in season 2. Ask him if he thinks it was pointless.

Killing off Izzy was bad for queer rep/burying your gays/"Izzy was the queer heart of the show"

I'm putting 'bury your gays' on the top shelf so people can't use it when it doesn't actually apply. Most of the main cast of characters in this show are queer, and it's a show about pirates with a good amount of violence. Ergo, chances are a queer character will die in the course of Things Happening In Stories. Izzy didn't die because he was queer, and he wasn't the token queer rep. Please turn your attention to the boatloads (literally) of queer characters that are happy and thriving (how about the LuPete wedding immediately afterwards??). As for Izzy being the "queer heart of the show," this is literally the Ed and Stede show. You know, the two queer leads whose queer love the show revolves around, per David Jenkins himself. I'm glad folks connected with and derived joy from Izzy's growth and especially his performance in Calypso's birthday, but he is not the main character of the show. The queer heart of the show is in fact, the entire show, all of their characters and the community & found family they create aboard the Revenge. Not to mention the fan community as well. Izzy was never carrying the show's representation on his back, and frankly that's an absurdly wild take to have (esp when he spent most of s1 actively working against the main queer relationships in the show, attempting to maintain the oppressive status quo of pirate society).

It was bad and irresponsible to have a suicidal character die

Are we forgetting the entire first half of the season where Ed, who was suicidal, kept trying to passively kill himself because he felt he was an unlovable monster, only to be shown that he is in fact loved unconditionally and it gives him the strength to fight for life and triumph against his own self-doubt? The show has spent quite a lot of effort telling viewers that despite feeling damaged or broken you are worthy of love and that you are loved even if it may be hard to see it when you're in a bad place. That you don't need to be fully healed to deserve love and care, and that love and support will help you along your journey. It's incredibly wild to disregard this major plot point and fundamental message of s2 to try and spin this the opposite way for Izzy's character.

Secondly, where are people getting 'Izzy is suicidal' from? Are we going back all the way to episode 2, when he's at his lowest point and fails at his suicide attempt, only to be figuratively reborn after removing the metaphorical rotten leg? By the time of the finale he's shown to be in a good place, thanks to the arc of healing and growth he's gotten, through the support of the Revenge crew and his 'breakup' with Blackbeard allowing him to find his own way in life, realizing he doesn't need a purpose to have value and enjoying his time on the Revenge and the bonds he's made with Stede and the crew. He is, in the words of Ivan, "the most open and available I've ever seen him" by the finale. To take episode 2 as evidence he's suicidal is to erase his whole season of growth, which is an ironic thing to do in the context of these arguments. There's no canon evidence Izzy Hands was suicidal post-'Fun and Games'.

As for 'irresponsible,' once again I say, David Jenkins is not your therapist, he's not 'Dad,' and has no responsibility to tell his story any other way than he intended to tell it. Please find media that gives you what you want or need, and if the death of a fictional character causes you this much distress please seek help. I mean this kindly but seriously.

Killing off Izzy was ableist/bad for disability rep.

I point once again to the rest of the characters, several of which are disabled in varied ways. There are literally multiple other amputee characters specifically. It's not good storytelling to wholly avoid killing off any character that is disabled/queer/poc/female or [insert marginalized group here], especially when a) it makes sense narratively, and b) there's plenty of representation of these groups in the media in question. The answer isn't making such characters invincible and immortal, it's increasing the number of these characters in shows so it's not devastating when some do die in the course of natural storytelling.

OFMD was my comfort show/safe space show, now it's ruined for me

I am not trying to be insensitive here when I say that's a problem that is yours and nobody else's. David Jenkins created this show with a three-season vision and a story in mind, and he is telling that story to the best of his ability the way he wants to. It's already been said that he and the crew did not anticipate the fandom becoming as large and passionate as it has. The plot of the show was never intended to be 'fan service,' and it's ironic that there were people complaining this season that there's been too many fanservice tropes, up until David and the rest of the writers room made a narrative decision they did not like, then the complaints changed to not coddling the fans enough.

We as viewers can derive joy from this show, it can be a comfort to us, it can be important to us. But it was not designed specifically for that purpose, therefore it cannot fail in that respect. We do not have the right to harass writers for not steering the ship in the direction we want - it's their work of art, and we can choose to either come along for the ride or not. It's rare to see creators actually given the chance to tell their story the way they intend (budget cuts aside), so let him do that. He should not cater to fans, or cave and change the story to appease us. Respect his right to create his art, and remember you have the right to create your own. That's what fanfiction is for - write fix-its to your heart's content, but keep these realms separate. David Jenkins and Co hold zero, and I mean zero, responsibility to you. He could not please everyone no matter what he did, it would be fruitless to try, and it would certainly compromise the quality of the story he set out to tell.

You are absolutely allowed to dislike choices made in any show. Curate your media experience. If this show no longer brings you joy, stop watching. But it was never David's purpose nor responsibility to juggle the mental health of millions of fans. Trying to put that on him will only make him less enthusiastic about interacting with fans or continuing to make this show. This isn't rocket science. You're responsible for yourself, not this guy you call 'Dad' that you've developed a parasocial-therapist relationship with.

Izzy should have become captain of the Revenge.

Really?? Firstly, we did actually get that already in s1. He was tyrannical and the crew mutinied. But even if you think 'well after his character arc he'd be better suited to it,' it goes against the point of this arc. He's found value in not having a distinct role or purpose on the ship, decoupling his worth from the job he's expected to perform. He's found his place amongst the crew, not commanding it. There's no narrative reason to put him in charge when he's expressed no further interest in slotting himself back into a role full of pressure and expectations.

Con O'Neill was only told halfway through filming, it's cruel to just kill off the character he loves so much.

Guys, he's an actor. More than that, an actor with a theater background. I think he's used to characters dying. You don't need to look out for him. Con and David spoke one on one about it at length so they were on the same page, and David even said that Con took it well. I'm sure Con had input, just as other members of the cast have influenced their characters' stories, costumes, backstories, etc. Do you really think David Jenkins hurt Con's feelings or something? The writers (remember, it's not just David, it's a whole team of hard-working people coming up with these ideas) gave Con such a chance to shine this season, really developing Izzy beyond what he was given in s1 and letting Con show off his full acting range. Why are you only focusing on the destination rather than the journey? Sure, Con's probably sad to see Izzy go, but please do not project your distress onto him or try and accuse David & Co of being 'cruel' to their cast. That's really ridiculous. It's constantly evident how close they all are.

More importantly, do you actually, seriously think that Con O'Neill would want fans to harass each other or the writers over his character? The man who preaches being kind above all? There is no better way to make an actor uncomfortable about a show and its fanbase than to start treating fictional characters like they're more important than real people. He would not want you to bully people over Izzy Hands, and it's mind-boggling that some of you have convinced yourself otherwise.

Lastly, I just want to talk about the fact that some people are holding OFMD to absurdly high expectations.

Our Flag Means Death has been a pioneer series for its diverse representation, earnest storytelling, and themes of hope, community, and love. It's fine to discuss aspects of the show with a critical eye, but so much of the discourse has truly felt like folks are trying to find fault in a show that is leagues ahead of the average tv series that we still enjoy. How many fan favorites are killed off all the time? How many plotlines are scrapped, or drawn out without closure, or contradicted the very next season? How many shows are indifferent or actively hostile towards their fanbase? How many have any queer characters, or actually do bury them? The bar's so low, and OFMD has risen above to give us so much. Some are holding the show to astronomical expectations, waiting for it to fall from the pedestal it's been placed on. If something you don't like happens in the show, it's not suddenly ruined or demoted to being ~just as bad as those other shows~. Give them some breathing room, have some perspective on how progressive the show is, and that perfection is impossible, especially meeting every single viewer's idea of it. This is basically a repeat of the recent Good Omens drama, with an absurd number of people harassing Neil Gaiman for breaking up Aziraphale and Crowley and leaving the second of three acts on a very predictable cliffhanger. Let stories be told, let them unfold as they may, and you are free to leave anytime. It's so wonderful that more queer love stories are becoming popular and even mainstream, but let's not shoot ourselves in the foot by tearing them down when they don't go exactly the way you want it, which often seems to mean no drama, no character deaths, and therefore no conflict or even plot!

Just, please be civil human beings, and while this seems to be a difficult thing for so many fandoms to do, just keep your fan opinions in the fan space. Never bring your grievances to the writers, never bully them and persecute them for telling a story that you opted into viewing. That's something that goes entirely against everything this show, and this cast and crew, have imparted onto us - the importance of kindness, support, community, and love. I'll say it again because it bears repeating: the fate of a fictional character is never more important than how you treat real people. Just be kind in real life, which includes the internet. Thanks.

Now please, let's work together to ensure we get a season 3. There's so much more story to be told, and if you want to see Izzy back, whether that's as flashbacks, as a ghost haunting the inn, or in the gravy basket, we'll need more episodes! #RenewAsACrew

[conundrumoftime]

Cat, what do you think Galadriel’s role will be from now on? I’ve heard so many disheartening opinions that she’ll just settle as the wise and distant and passive Galadriel from the movies. While I’m afraid of that and don’t really trust tv writers anymore, I can’t see them going down this route so soon. They showed already they’re not giving into the tolkien bros, I don’t see why she wouldn’t keep her role as commander.

I love this question! I have been thinking about this so much. My short answer is that I don't think they'll do that. My longer answer:

I've talked before about how I think people are mistaken about where Galadriel's canon story ends up, and a short version of why I don't think TROP Galadriel will end up as the 'lady of light [passive, retired]' figure people remember is that she never really existed; even for film Galadriel, people are remembering a version filtered by pop culture history of a story where she's a minor character. (As are all the other powerful elves of Middle-earth at this point - Glorfindel, Elrond, Círdan - it's not b/c they've settled down and got married now, it's b/c this is the hobbits' story we're seeing through the hobbits' eyes and the big mythological figures need to take a back seat.)

So here's my predictions for what they will do with her story:

She'll still be a main character. It's an ensemble show, but they have set up a main antagonist and main protagonist and built the whole idea off one of her lines in LOTR about him.

Her temptation will continue to be linked to Sauron. Partly as a convenience of visual TV storytelling (harder to have her do a speech to camera about how she desires power and realms to rule in the abstract); partly to tie into what the show has already established for two seasons; and partly because the show does so love visual callbacks to the films, in which we get this Galadriel:

recognise the dress?

(second one there is the official concept art by Julian Gauthier. We had a whole year of people saying "her hand is NOT on her stomach as if she was pregnant in that scene, you foolish Haladriels!" and then this came out and who's laughing now, eh? Who's laughing now. Anyway!)

She'll play a role in the Battle of the Last Alliance. They might put her on the battlefield - Tolkien doesn't say she was there, but on the other hand Tolkien doesn't specifically say she wasn't, soooo - but I think it's more likely they will bookend that conflict with some other kind of confrontation, like a mindbattle raft vision during the fight. My bet would be they will also do something with repeated images of water/the sea/Nenya/calling back to what Peter Jackson called the 'drowned Galadriel' look and that we'll see that s1 raft again - the showrunners do love mirroring and repeating and echoing.

They will make Celeborn and their marriage interesting. I am less confident about this one because they certainly don't have to and it's always possible that they'll just parachute him in at the last moment like "yay! husband back now :) well done :) off you go back to the forest" and God only knows I've been burned before on interesting 'female characters + marriage = boring, lesser, unimportant' on TV shows. However! I have a reasonable degree of confidence, like say maybe 65%, that they will make him and their marriage interesting.

Celeborn is probably another post so short version of why is: she is still the main protagonist and him being back gives the writers the opportunity to show more of her journey, not because husband = destination but because you can learn a lot about characters in how they relate to loved ones; and they've set him up in a way that introduces conflict (where's he been, how have they both changed from the younger idealised versions of themselves they remember) that makes for good storytelling.

They will link her back to Numenor somehow for that storyline: again I'm less confident on this one and I have no clear ideas on how they'd do it, but it feels like too good an opportunity to pass up when she's already been there once.

Her storyline will have something about learning compassion and pity - which I think people do not like the sound of if (like me!) they like her angry and violent, but it is such a Tolkien-y thing and it's already been set up in what we have seen. Note: I don't mean this in a "she'll be sweet and calm and exist to pat the male characters on the head" way; I mean it in the sense we already saw in s2 with Adar. And who else did she have a really angry, inflexible, "nothing you do will ever be enough to be forgiven" line with in season 1? hmmm...

Her getting and learning how to use her Mirror will be a big thing in some upcoming season. It's such an intriguing question mark in canon - we don't really know anything about where she got it from, how it works, even how she personally uses it - but we know it's important in the future. They will definitely do something with this.

[walkingstackofbooks]

Picard thoughts, now I've finished it:

Season 1 and 2 were really fun, actually! A few things that felt a bit flat, but idk, they did feel very Trek to me at heart. I was gripped throughout, couldn't stop clicking "next epsiode" XD

Season 3.... I got into it by the end, and I was far more okay with the reason for Jack being special than I assumed I was going to be, but still... 🤷‍♀️ definitely not my fav. The first few dragged most definitely.

I was NOT expecting Worf to be my favourite character, like, ever, but I was cheering every time he was on screen tbh, he was fantastic XD

I really like what they did with Seven, though I feel like they could have done more. But seeing that she'd grown into the warmest, most caring human... that was super special 💖💖

(LOVED that even though s2 was highlighting how fucked-up we are in 2024, they never brought in homophobia. Like, it would have been so easy and I'd have understood why they might have, but having that scene where they were pretending to have just got engaged and that just feel so normal, even in the "past" - idk, it was just nice that Raffi and Seven never felt any different from any other couple.)

All the new characters from s1 I really, really loved. Chris, Raffi, Agnes, Soji - ❤️❤️❤️❤️ they were all fantastic.

Most of the time, the callbacks to classic Trek worked very well - possibly a bit much in s3, but only in parts. Overall, there was a hell of a lot of love for Old Trek. Honourable mention to the music cues, cause man, whatever you think about New Trek, they use the themes of TOS, Voy, DS9 etc so well and it's beautiful. The Fleet museum scene - yeaaaa, shivers <3 <3 <3

I do feel like they went a bit too far down the rabbit-hole of "this isn't really a utopia". Idk, I think some of it felt a bit more grimdark-for-the-sake-of-it rather than the DS9 vibe of yes-it's-dark-in-here-but-there's-still-hope

Speaking of DS9 - the changelings and Dominion war legacy.... I honestly *don't* know what to make of that. It was interesting, seeing more of them, and I think some of the new lore might even have some... fun(?) implications to retcon onto what happened in DS9. But also... idk. The fact that Worf was the only DS9 character? I mean I'm sure the Enterprise crew fought in the Dominion war, but it was kind of rough seeing that plot without my guys from DS9.

Not a fan of the continued found-family-is-fine-(but-actually-biological-family-is-Everything) vibes. I had a problem with this in Voyager, wasn't expecting it to show up here ngl :/

Also what the hell was the whole Laris thing?? I mean I liked her as a character, but the romance was absolutely pointless. But also, even though I hated the romance, it felt super disrepectful to not even mention her at the end, given how 'important' she'd been previously?? Like, why was it even needed if they weren't going to do anything with it? (not that i wanted them to do anythign with it but yeah. gahhh)

**Q** however???? Omg, was not expecting it to be quite that gay 😅😅 I was SOBBING at the end of s2 and I've never been /that/ invested in Qcard but it is so real actually. Yeah, that rocked.

I'm sure there's more but overall: FAR better than I expected! I'd heard bad things about it, and TNG is not my favourite Trek at all, so I wasn't looking forward to watching it, but it was, genuinely, quite good. Definitely more than a few bits to be frustrated by, but I guess that's every Trek to be honest, so... yeah. Pleasantly surprised. Thanks, Picard.

[chocolatepot]

Starting 2.05 ...

Kind of apropos of nothing specific rn, but it does annoy me a bit that this season is rewriting Crowley's goodness - it really felt to me (in s1 and in the book) like while he'd never been that bad in the first place, he'd become nicer through proximity to Aziraphale just as Aziraphale had been made more cynical etc. through exposure to him. Both of them changing each other until they came closer to meeting in the middle. Now Crowley seems rather static and just acting on Aziraphale.

Bribing the music shop guy with a rare Doctor Who annual ... Does Aziraphale keep tabs on all his neighbors' tastes in case he needs to pull their levers or did he just assess the man in seconds and Know he'd go for that? Or is it a Lucifer-ish "I know what you secretly desire" talent?

Very noticeable to me that Nina always says "partner" and the magic shop guy says "spouse" - nothing wrong with that, but I wonder whether non-fannish people are picking up on it.

Heh, Tennant in a fez. I like a very subtle ref.

What's the point of showing Aziraphale inviting Mrs. Cheng when there is no conflict at all there? It's not funny and doesn't advance anything. Likewise the French cafe - this is long and not very funny.

I LOVE that Nina is the one who wants to talk about the Christmas lights. And I loved that Nina's convo with Crowley took things up from "random person thinks they're dating, haha" to "no, they actually appear to be dating to outsiders because the way they interact is Like That."

"Far too pure of heart to be anybody's bit on the side" - So on one level I love this because that's the dynamic!! Crowley thinking Aziraphale is simply too pure to do anything as tawdry as have a relationship just for sex (it's actually because he's aspec but never mind, not for now). On another level, I'm like, come on now, you know he's always being selfish, "pure of heart" is a bit much.

"Other people's love lives always seem so much more straightforward than our own!" Yeah, she said the theme of the season out loud.

"Smitten, I believe." Just me or does Aziraphale look for a moment like he knows exactly what he's saying there?

I would have liked more time spent on Nina actually dealing with her abusive partner, rather than just seeing her texts. Trying to assert herself or move past it. Could have done that with some of the wasted minisode time!

Like I said in my big wrapup post: very fanfictiony that Crowley actually addresses what Gabriel said to him as Aziraphale (because canons so often gloss over the stuff we want to dwell on, we want apologies and recriminations) but I like it. And I like that Jim!Gabriel is genuinely sorry that it happened, and that Crowley stops him from jumping out the window. The empty house analogy is cool.

The matchbox being from the Resurrectionist could have been hinted earlier, like we could have seen that they gave away matchboxes in that ep? Or did we and I just didn't notice?

The angels not being able to concentrate on Jim!Gabriel is well done. I still love Muriel so much. Pls pls pls bigger part for Muriel in s3.

"Everything else was taken." (Re cafe names.) Funny. Crowley and Nina's dynamic in that little conversation, Crowley convincing her to go to the meeting is not unlike the way he talks to Aziraphale when Aziraphale is being stubborn.

I love the slow transformation of the meeting into a ball, the costumes and set and dialogue and whatnot. JIM!GABRIEL'S SUIT OH MY GOD. "Tread a measure together."

The worldbuilding - "junior demons, practically the damned", do the damned eventually become demons?

Seamstress bit is a good callback to Discworld but TOO LONG. Should have skipped to the "description" after the first time she couldn't say "sex worker". Likewise the "Jim messes with his face and they think it's going to be a sex thing" gag.

Maggie is me, in that I inevitably end up asking other women to dance at reenactment balls because nobody asks me 🙃 Is kind of fucked up that Aziraphale is messing with everyone's head but I enjoy it so whatever. Not inherently more selfish than Crowley making it rain on them, I suppose.

Aziraphale making a move by pulling Crowley into the set 😭 It feels tricky continuity-wise in that he's kind of defined by NOT making moves, but ... it's cute.

"I'm hard work." "I'm not afraid of hard work." Oh, you mean not to me, not if it's you? (But it would have been nice to see how Nina is hard work, if she really is. Like with more screen time and plot events for her story ...)

The feathery coat is A+++. I like that the miracle to hide him backfires on them by making it impossible to let Jim come forward as Gabriel even when he wants to - good storytelling.

I do wonder about the intent of "You're a good lad." "Not either, but thank you." Supposed to mean "I'm not a young human, I'm an ageless demon" or supposed to be a marker of his genderqueerness?

[attempted--eloquence]

Well now that I've seen the movie I guess the only thing I can do is re-read Handle With Care and pretend it never existed in the first place ! Do I dare ask what you thought of it ?

Oh boy. I TRULY am not even sure where to start. I’ll preface this by saying I didn’t have particularly high hopes, and was kinda just expecting to enjoy the nostalgia piece of it all.

However, it felt like the movie substituted substance (character development, coherent storytelling and plot continuation, etc.) for nostalgia? Like a washed up rock band coming back together for a one-night-only reunion show and trying to cram all of their biggest hits into a 2 hour, 20 minute runtime with a bit clumsy execution.

I think the first point that bothers me is the way that the logic/rules of the world that were established in S1 and onward just…don’t exist anymore. The wolfsbane being burnt out without needing the strain of wolfsbane that poisoned Scott. Peter Hale sniffing the ground like a dog (although ngl that was funny as fuck and I’m hoping? intentional) when werewolves can literally smell chemosignals from a good distance away, let alone blood. The nogitsune being Gerard who is already a werewolf, right? But also the nogitsune is not supposed to be able to be a fox and wolf? Also, Mr. Harris acquiring the jar for the Nogitsune from Liam and Hikari in Japan (how did it get there in the first place?), neither of whom he had ever met because he was presumed dead after s3?

I’m also really…confused about the repeated decision to introduce storylines without giving integral background information (or at least, a reason to give a fuck?) Parrish and Malia. Derek Hale having a son. Hikari and Liam in Japan. Gerard becoming a nogitsune.

Especially with Hikari…she’s like the first figure we see in the movie and yet by the end of it, I have no clue at all who she is as a person. Her and Liam (and MASON. What the hell.) are like cardboard cutouts with a button that you push to spit out occasional one-liners.* And I don’t understand the introduction of a new character when they’re essentially a nothing factor and have such limited, flat interactions with the existing cast. They let Eli Hale shine and become someone we root for. I want to care about Hikari! But I feel like I wasn’t given a reason to. I don’t know if the role was written for Kira and unchanged when Arden declined and was replaced, but it seemed like it was written as if we were automatically supposed to know, understand, and root for Hikari while essentially only knowing she’s a kitsune who is Liam’s love interest? and works at a ramen house with him. All her defining traits seemed to be about what she can offer to the plot rather than who she actually is.

Maybe I placed too many expectations on the ability to develop some of these things within the runtime of the movie…but I think if there’s an inability to make all of these plot points logical, some of them could’ve gotten cut. But, I’d really like to know other thoughts/feelings on the movie, though! Also I totally could’ve missed some things in the movie that would’ve alleviated some of my frustrations with it, but I dunno.

Positives! Oh babey I am so glad Theo fucking Raeken was not in that movie. Also the copious use of the word fuck was awesome lmfao. And I thought Eli was funny! (he’s, uh, very much like a Stiles Jr. but I have no comment on that). Also Finstock is Finstock which is cool. And thank the heavens for Alan Deaton. And the scene where Allison had to burn the wolfsbane out and having her mother over her shoulder as a callback to that one scene when she has to stitch up Scott was well done, I thought.

*on the note of characterization, I think I have this same gripe with a lot of characters in the movie. Jackson is essentially there just to keep Lydia company. Malia and Parrish are a thing because…reasons? Allison is undead after 15 years and working through amnesia and she’s somehow not that affected by it? (Yeah, she’s like, murderous and disoriented at first…but after realizing she’s been dead 15 years and remembering Scott she’s kinda fine?) Mason is just another familiar face on the police force. Derek seemed so UnDerek to me. And even after trying to rationalize that fatherhood changes a person, his timid ~just a father trying to do my best to raise my delinquent child of mysterious origins that I love very much~ just didn’t…work for me. Also HIM CHOOSING TO BURN TO DEATH IN FRONT OF HIS KID OMFG.

[aemiron-main-backup]

i hope you’re all doing mentally well and stable today! because here’s ur reminder that will byers hasn’t worn his flannels unbuttoned since the day he was attacked/kidnapped.

This is the very beginning of s1 ep1 before Will is kidnapped.

But then after this? All of his flannels are buttoned up. Even in the desert, where Mike and Jonathan have shed their layers, Will still has his flannel on AND buttoned up.

And YES, there’s scenes where he’s not wearing a flannel at all, but not more scenes where he has it AND has it unbuttoned. And the no-flannel scenes tend to be ones where he’s more vulnerable esp in s2. And interestingly enough, as far as I remember, will wears NO flannels in s3. He’s vulnerable. Too vulnerable, like he doesn’t have a choice in the vulnerability. Wearing the flannel unbuttoned is healthy vulnerability, he can button it up or take it off if he WANTS to. But no flannel at all? Too vulnerable, dangerously so. Buttoned up flannel? Not vulnerable but too repressed, not opening up in a healthy way. In S3 it makes sense for him to be extra vulnerable because growing up, fighting with Mike, coming to terms with being gay, AND he’s extra vulnerable in terms of supernatural stuff because he doesn’t know that the mindflayer/Henry’s still out there. At least in s2 he was aware of it. But in s3, he’s just barely getting hints of it and is ignoring it, so he’s more vulnerable because he can’t see the danger. In s4, we get a mixture of no flannel at all AND completely button flannel- he’s going between too vulnerable vs not vulnerable at all.

look at the way that his grey longsleeve undershirt in s4 is so similar to his s2 shirt (shown above). i think in s5 we’re going to get Will in just his grey undershirt, the loss of a layer demonstrating that he’s vulnerable as a result of his connection with Henry AND working as a s2 field scene callback. the vulnerability is being forced though, like he doesn’t have his outer layer at all, it’s almost TOO vulnerable, making him susceptible to attack.

and then imo in s5 at the VERY end after everything is said and done and they’re all happy, we’re going to see Will in non-buttoned up flannels again with a visible undershirt because he’s been able to face off against Henry and be vulnerable on his own terms now, he still HAS the flannel but it’s not totally buttoned up, he’s not TOO vulnerable, not TOO exposed but vulnerable in a healthy way again.

And in s4, Will starts rolling up the sleeves of his flannel as the episodes go on- he’s becoming more vulnerable. He even rolls up the sleeves of his undershirt sometimes too, but it’s super interesting to me that in the bingham house he has the flannel sleeves rolled up and grey undershirt sleeves rolled down. He’s more vulnerable but not completely.

i hope you’re all doing mentally well and stable today! because here’s ur reminder that will byers hasn’t worn his flannels unbuttoned since the day he was attacked/kidnapped.

This is the very beginning of s1 ep1 before Will is kidnapped.

But then after this? All of his flannels are buttoned up. Even in the desert, where Mike and Jonathan have shed their layers, Will still has his flannel on AND buttoned up.

And YES, there’s scenes where he’s not wearing a flannel at all, but not more scenes where he has it AND has it unbuttoned. And the no-flannel scenes tend to be ones where he’s more vulnerable esp in s2. And interestingly enough, as far as I remember, will wears NO flannels in s3. He’s vulnerable. Too vulnerable, like he doesn’t have a choice in the vulnerability. Wearing the flannel unbuttoned is healthy vulnerability, he can button it up or take it off if he WANTS to. But no flannel at all? Too vulnerable, dangerously so. Buttoned up flannel? Not vulnerable but too repressed, not opening up in a healthy way. In S3 it makes sense for him to be extra vulnerable because growing up, fighting with Mike, coming to terms with being gay, AND he’s extra vulnerable in terms of supernatural stuff because he doesn’t know that the mindflayer/Henry’s still out there. At least in s2 he was aware of it. But in s3, he’s just barely getting hints of it and is ignoring it, so he’s more vulnerable because he can’t see the danger. In s4, we get a mixture of no flannel at all AND completely button flannel- he’s going between too vulnerable vs not vulnerable at all.

look at the way that his grey longsleeve undershirt in s4 is so similar to his s2 shirt (shown above). i think in s5 we’re going to get Will in just his grey undershirt, the loss of a layer demonstrating that he’s vulnerable as a result of his connection with Henry AND working as a s2 field scene callback. the vulnerability is being forced though, like he doesn’t have his outer layer at all, it’s almost TOO vulnerable, making him susceptible to attack.

and then imo in s5 at the VERY end after everything is said and done and they’re all happy, we’re going to see Will in non-buttoned up flannels again with a visible undershirt because he’s been able to face off against Henry and be vulnerable on his own terms now, he still HAS the flannel but it’s not totally buttoned up, he’s not TOO vulnerable, not TOO exposed but vulnerable in a healthy way again.

And in s4, Will starts rolling up the sleeves of his flannel as the episodes go on- he’s becoming more vulnerable. He even rolls up the sleeves of his undershirt sometimes too, but it’s super interesting to me that in the bingham house he has the flannel sleeves rolled up and grey undershirt sleeves rolled down. He’s more vulnerable but not completely.

[drbtinglecannon]

NEW OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR "FOR THE FUTURE"

(I haven't watched the leaked episode, if you did, please do not post any spoilers. You will be blocked if you do.)

King!!! King is back!!! Unfortunately it comes at the cost of him obviously being the Collector's servant basically. At least he still has François.

King also reads a book about the Collector, similar to how the end of S1 he read a book about Belos. It's an easy way to add lore to the show, and it calls back to another time he did so

Not only do we get curly redhead Lilith, but she has a pixie cut now too!!! Her glasses are gone tho :(

All of the Coven Heads (but Terra?) got turned to puppets ;___; as have most other citizens including Hooty, Principal Bump & the other Hexside teachers, and some of the other student body like the grudgby players

Also Eda does not seem to have a prosthetic like most people predicted, which makes me wonder what happened to Alador

ALSO ALSO SHORT HAIR EDA 💖

Mattholomule grew the worst facial hair lol (I am certain the 😑 expressions everyone made in that last promo image was at Mattholomule). Skara is there too!!!! And Barkus (maybe we'll get a gustholomule moment)

Eda can still lose control of the Owl Beast in Harpy mode -- and I can't blame her considering the circumstances. Her eyes turn fully black in that inky drop motion like back in s1

I wonder if her short hair affects the look

Huntlow moment 💚💛

Dana was right, sparkly is a good word to describe this episode.

I'm not sure how I feel by the idea that almost all adults got captured, it does feel specifically like The Collector (a child like God) did it on purpose, but it still is kinda :/ to know most of my fav supporting cast are puppets now to conveniently write them all out of the episode so as to keep the cast from bloating. Like I get why it was done but I'm still salty about it

The Coven Heads (again except maybe Terra?? Idk why she wasn't there? Did she pledge loyalty well enough to not need to be puppetfied? Did she escape? Die? Lol could you imagine) all have slight whimsical features added to their designs, as with everyone who got puppetfied, but for once they're all moving & working in tandem haha. Raine's close up not only killed me, but gave a good callback to when they got captured by Kikimora then "brainwashed" for weeks afterwards. The parallels of Raine pretending to be an enemy vs now they are but completely against their will. Bah. I'm dying, I'm afraid to see Eda's face in that scene. ;__; I'm really unhappy to have any Raeda fluff or bonding during this special (or suggested to have happened in between KT & FTF) robbed from us, but angst is classic Raeda vibes so I'm not surprised

I did also notice we didn't see any hints of Amity, Gus, or Willow's families at all. All we know is Eda & Lilith seem to have escaped puppetfication. I have a feeling Hooty took the puppetfication blast for Lilith in that moment

I'm stoked about Lilith having red hair again, and I was not expecting her & Eda to both cut their hair short! Everyone's getting hair style changes!

This will definitely be a Collector lore heavy episode, if only for the fact King was reading that book about them. I wonder if there used to be more children of the stars, and where the others went/are if there were

And lastly I'm at the photo cap but Belos is there too. He is using glyphs to burrow into some area, and he's killing the wildlife as he goes. Y'know, classic Belos behavior. I wonder if he's trying to get to where Caleb's mangled remains are, and if so what the plan is from there. I doubt Belos will play a large part in this episode as it seems very heavily focused on The Collector instead, which I'm fine with as I figured the final confrontation with Belos was gonna be the last special, what with him being the main villain of the show.

Despite any hangups I have I'm very excited to see the special! I know Dana & the crew worked hard on it

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 3x08 Review

Let it Go was a decent ending for S3 and charts a course for the rest of the series. Let’s dig in!

Well congrats Rina stans. I don’t ship them but the rest of the series is now intertwined with Rina so I hope they are well written. Given Tim’s track record with main couples the fact that Rina got together in 3x08 means they’ll have a breakup in S4.  It’s noteworthy that all of Gina’s callbacks are from like two eps in S1; it’s time for a proper story line for them, no more love triangles or emotional cheating. I’ve always held that Tim shouldn’t do both Rina and Portwell but now that the damage is done it’s time to stick with Rina and move the show forward

As I said back when the Portwell off screen first kiss happened, it was done that way to deliberately undercut Portwell and not take away from Rina hence the show treating this much more like Gina’s first kiss

Well they allowed EJ a flash of realistic anger towards Ricky but then he calls him his brother which is just not how people, let alone teenagers, would act. Certainly Ricky has been a malign influence on EJ’s life the past year in universe. I hope no one reading this ever has a brother like Ricky!

 Cash Caswell wins the coveted Lynne Bowen prize for worst parent of the season. At least Val was there to comfort EJ, god knows where Ashlyn’s been this season

Dara killed it as Elsa. Kourtney has come such a long way from Nini’s sassy black friend and I’m glad she’s getting the chance to shine. Her anxiety story line has been fairly well handled for a Disney show

Big Red being interviewed for some reason and coming out as bi felt like a fever dream. This season has certainly been a huge step forward for lgbtq rep on Disney. And to be honest it’s a wise move, Big Red was never believable as someone who was exclusively interested in the charms of women. This should set up some interesting story lines for Big Red and Ashlyn in S4

End of an era as Nini departs. It was poignant farewell to Olivia Rodrigo who was such a big reason why the show took off as it did. Her giving the lotto ticket to Ricky was a sweet touch and her farewell to Miss Jenn hit hard

It’s darkly funny that the casting directors did too good of a job of casting Ricky and Nini as they were the couple the series was built around and their chemistry turned out to be so good that Olivia and Joshua dated in real life which led to an extremely messy and bitter breakup which was the inspiration for the songs which launched Olivia into pop superstardom and irrevocably changed the course of the show

Looking Ahead:

One of the biggest flaws of this show is how little continuity there from season to season.  Years from now when the series is long over I can’t imagine many people re-watching and making it all the way through since so much of what has happened in these first three seasons, in particular the first two seasons, has been rendered completely meaningless. 

S2 in particular seems like a total fuck up and I think a lot of people in the future who might check out the series without knowing anything about it will tap out after S2.

It’s clear that Tim is trying to set up a Glee like route where younger kids like Emmy get introduced and we follow them through High School even as the original wildcats begin to depart. But that should have begun in S2 which is when characters like Jet and Maddox should have been introduce but instead all the new S2 characters were purged. On one level its simply a question of time, the first two seasons comprise 22 eps and the remaining two seasons the mains are contracted for will only amount to 16-18 eps depending on whether S4 is 8 or 10 eps. The first two seasons will likely be the bulk of the entire series yet they bear almost no resemblance to what the series has and will become

S3 marks the final end of the core 4 inasmuch as it even existed past S1. EJ seems to be recurring in S4 with Tim making it clear that he won’t be involved at East High though I suspect he’s involved in the HSM 4 production at some point. Sounds like Jet and Maddox don’t show up immediately at East High since Tim says they need to clear things up in California. Emmy seems likely to enroll as a freshman at East High as Tim hinted. He’s also made clear that he views Ricky, Gina, Kourtney, Ashlyn, and Carlos as the core characters so we should expect the rest of the series to have a heavy focus on them

They seem to have 8-10 eps for S4. If it’s 8 it’s going to be extremely difficult to balance all the new and old characters. Kylie Catrall joins and Big Red, Seb, and Miss Jenn are back as mains. Are Mike Bowen and Mazarra back? And whoever from the OG cast returns though without Zac and Vanessa it will be a flop imo

I’m not looking forward to the kids getting famous. This show was such a hit because it was always grounded. I also worry that they’re going to go way too meta in S4. At least Tim has promised that they’ll return to the acoustic songs that made S1 so fun

S4 is when the cast contracts end. Tim clearly wants to do more but how many seasons would Disney be willing to greenlight, just one more to bring the series to Ricky’s graduation? There’s a very good chance that Disney just calls it quits after S4. Did Tim fuck up the logical series ending point of Ricky, Big Red, and Kourtney graduating by having a summer season? He very well could have. Ending the series in December of Ricky’s senior year would be very lame but that’s what we might be facing. Certainly it’s bizarre to do HSM S3 as the winter musical when it’s so focused on graduation and it will extremely hard to top having an og cast reunion while the kids get famous from the frozen documentary

We’ll probably have to wait for spring 2023 for S4 to premiere. In the meantime there are quite a few good shows to watch. There’s Di4ries on Netflix, a very charming Italian show. Young Royals S2 comes out in the fall, the first of the Owl House ‘S3′ specials comes out in October with the remaining two airing sometime in 2023. The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers S2 comes out later this month and hopefully Doogie Kamealoha MD S2 comes out sometime this year. There’s also Chucky S2 coming out in October which I know will make Jevon stans very happy. Secrets of Sulphur Springs S3 likely comes out early in 2023 as well

For any American readers, I urge you to vote in November. The democrats at least have a good chance to hold the Senate and it’s vital that they control as much of the Federal government as possible for as long as possible if America is to stand any chance of warding off fascism or civil war

Stay safe out there Wildcats and I’ll see you next season

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 (Blind Watch) - Episode 17

Wait...I literally just remembered that the parents (plus a bunch of other people) saw all the digital world stuff by the final episode of season 1. What exactly is the IRL awareness of digimon?? The kids have to hide that they're going to the digital world from their parents, but maybe that's more because it's dangerous? Or was there some memory wipe thing I'm forgetting about. (This ramble triggered by a line in the dub where Matt says "Don't tell me Myotismon destroyed the studio again!?" to his dad...)

Anyway, putting my confusion aside, I really enjoyed this one. It had the good kind of callbacks instead of some cheap repeats. It was especially nice to see the S1 kids finally sit down with the new kids and tell their story. Probably should have done that already by now, but better late than never!

There was...no battle in this one?? Wild...

Notes:

-I think the movie director in the beginning of the episode had the same VA as Joe. Low key distracting.

-I liked the concept of not just a ghost being caught on camera, but a ghost that changes its movements every time you play the video back. Not sure I've seen that done before...

-Very heartwarming that they've turned Aug. 1st into a special day of remembrance amongst their friend group. I've seen fans making posts about the date before and maybe I'll start celebrating it too! (I'm an August baby so it feels extra special).

-Aside from Bakemon who doesn't count, I guess this is our first ghost digimon? Really unfair that Wizarmon didn't get to be reincarnated like everyone else :'( I wonder if we'll see him again?

-I sighed a small sigh of relief when we got hat!Mimi back. More importantly, her ridiculous pink/starry hair is gone! I hope this isn't just a temporary change. She looks really cute with pig tails

-Didn't really think about the difference between living with a single dad vs. a single mom until Takeru and Yamato had a discussion about it. Is every single mom in this series a homemaker...? (Nothing wrong with that, but it would be awkward if there wasn't at least one mom with a job).

-They censored the curry in the dub lol. American kids in the early 2000s didn't know what curry was I guess

-This episode featured a bunch of MD players to the point where it felt suspiciously like an ad. I had to google what an MD was and it's a mini-disc (like GameCube game sized). Of course, they just called it a "CD player" in the dub

-Dead at the dub line "Don't mind him dad, he's just not a happy little buffalo!" LOL (American kids also don't know what sutras are apparently)

-They addressed a question I had in my earlier post about how they were stuck using the computer lab to enter the digi-world. Koushiro finally figured out that they could connect from any computer and that the D3 device was more important. (Honestly, they should have thought of this sooner, but I guess everyone's busy with school lol).

-It felt kind of weird to me how Wizarmon was showing up on TV to get Tailmon's attention, but we never really see the kids watching TV or catching any of these appearances. They kinda just stumble across him instead because Tailmon's Wizarmon's senses start tingling. Oh well, all's well that ends well...

-Very rare episode where there's no battle and the digimon only evolve to their rookie forms. I feel like this shows that the writers trusted the kids enough to sit through an episode without all the usual stuff, so that's nice.

-I'm going to go ahead and qualify this as a Halloween episode because ooky spooky

-Wizarmon continues Gennai's tradition of giving super vague and unhelpful information. Thanks for nothing! (I guess he was mainly hinting that Ken is a victim of "the darkness." Okay, Kingdom Hearts...)

-Sad Tailmon tho ;-;

[mieczyhale]

I think the first problem is that I went in way too hype about it, what we had been shown of it before it aired looked so cool and I was really excited - it seemed like we were going to get a really good follow up to season 1, which doesn't always happen with shows. The pictures they showed us, and then the clip of the first two minutes of episode 1, were really promising but it ended up giving like.. the wrong impression of what the season was going to be like. It was like a mislead. Which was disappointing.

The opening scene was so badass and ultimately nothing in season 2 was anything like it. Not even the big finale fight scene we DID get.

So those things threw me off and it was a little hard to get past it.

And then.. lets see...

1. They didn't even try with Klaus's hair, short or long, though it looks alright in later episodes

2. The cult idea wasn't awful but something about it was uncomfortable. Visually. Something about it visually made me uncomfortable.

3. Everything about Ben and Klaus throughout the season; their relationship. Especially the possession bullshit. If I could beat up a ghost I would

4. Once again Klaus not being listened to or taken seriously no matter how sober he is. It brought back s1 klaus looking for drugs around his room bc it doesn't matter what he does nothing ever changes so what's the point (which - cool callback, but could've done without that) Plus all the other shit treatment of Klaus and nobody really giving a fuck aside from Allison on her kitchen floor

5. Klaus mostly being comedic relief for the season, and not in the quirky endearing way he was in s1. I found myself getting annoyed at him which was new

6. Klaus's comic powers being divided up and given to Diego and Viktor instead of letting him keep them. For no reason (the telekinesis and levitation) And then his one regular power - he barely even used it. The whole season. Which would've been disappointing on its own anyway but after that intro where he was commanding a ghost army it was EXTRA disappointing

7. The Luther / Allison plot.. i get they needed a way out of that but it could've been done in a way that was less embarrassing to watch

8. Claire, most important person to Allison, is never mentioned

9. Ben in general was just a shit. The way he talked about dave and talked to klaus surrounding the encounter in the paint store was disrespectful and infuriating

10. Viktor was op as FUCK at the end. And going from not remembering he has powers, to remembering and not knowing how to use them, to being in control and having extra powers in a short amount of time did not check out

11. The general vibe of the entire season just missed the mark for me. It didn't really feel like The Umbrella Academy, it felt like they tried way too hard with the song choices - like fitting in songs that were more along the lines of what fans said they enjoyed about the s1 soundtrack and less songs that actually fit where they were placed, the coloring (i get it. it was the 60s. but it felt like too much. especially in the oranges and blues)

12. While I did like seeing baby!Dave i didn't really like his scenes. Not bc of him, but bc they were awkward and uncomfortable.

13. I also hated that despite Klaus's efforts Dave still went and still died (even earlier this time i think)

14. There were a lot of secondhand embarrassment moments and I don't do well with those

15. Viktor being the cause of the end of the world again. Not sure if it was bc I was hoping to see someone else lose their shit or what but i was kind of annoyed by this.

and linking a vent post i made in 2021 about s2, just to cover hopefully all the bases lol

TUA S1 - BEST 1000/10

TUA S2 - WORST 0/10

TUA S3 - Better than s2 but not on level with s1

TUA S4 - Better than s2 but on level with / worse than s3

[redrobin-detective]

Crawls out from the Pit

Alright so after about 2 and half weeks I have finished all 8 seasons, 80 episodes of Ben 10 Omniverse. I’m a little sad to be done but also glad to have my free time back (also if I have to hear that motherFUCKING opening theme again I will actually cry). So it was an experiencing one that was both super enjoyable but also infuriating. Let me break down my thoughts (with some spoilers) under the cut.

Things I liked

- From the very first episode I was, and still am just fascinated by the basic world set up. Ben Tennyson is known across the entire universe as a hero and wielder of the Omnitrix, everyone he meets knows who he is. Coming off series with locked down secret identities Ben’s status as a universal celebrity had both pros and cons and was simply fascinating to watch.

 - Aliens are common in his hometown of Bellwood and there’s a thriving populous under the city. Watching aliens and humans interact with awkward moments and periods of adjustment was damn interesting, great world building in there too.

- The Plumbers being intergalactic peace keepers of sorts (again with all the good and bad that come with essentially being space cops) and having a presence on earth and beyond. Ben’s status as being part of the organization but not a true member, one who really answers only to himself was intriguing.

- For all that I nitpick Ben and Rook’s relationship (stilllll not seeing shippers sorry) I loved Rook Blonko as a character, he was delightful. I also did like Ben and Rook’s relationship bc their individual prejudices and problems kept them from becoming actually close and reliant on one another and while it came close at times it never really resolved which I’m okay with.

- Love the time travel shit *chefs kiss* Professor Paradox my beloved. Also I would die for No Watch Ben. And why is Ben 23 so popular? He’s a lil bitch.

- Genuinely did love the cartoony artstyle, I was obsessed with how green Ben’s eyes were. My personal fanon is the Omnitrix has slowly made them green and glowy over the years. Also the flashbacks to 10-11 year old Ben, baby diagnosed. Such a cutie patootie. 

- Speaking of which, loved the frequent callbacks to the original series (my first and favorite). OV felt way more connected to that Ben that I first fell in love with than AF or UAF.

- Ben, when his character was executed right, was wonderful. A big hearted teen who has way too much power and responsibility just doing his best. He covers his fear of failure with jokes and a deceptively casual attitude. While he can be lazy and overconfident and doesn’t think things through, he is dedicated to what he does not for fame but to help people and his determination and adaptability always see him through. 

Things I Didn’t Like

- So when Ben was done right it was great but my biggest peeve was how they changed his personality, maturity, competency level episode by episode. Sometimes he was capable of complex negotiations, sometimes all he could do was complain and eat junk foods, sometimes he he could sheer climb walls, other times he was pathetically weak without his Omnitrix. Needless to say I was really irked by the dangerously immature & reckless, rude to the point of being mean, willfully idiotic moron version of Ben who didn’t care about anything.

- When I first started someone said the first half of OV was good and the rest was not. They were right, loved S1-4, 5-8 had good episodes but overall was either cringing or rolling my eyes. S5 in particular aggravated me with Ben being at his worst. I was pulling my hair out at Ben yelling about how ugly and monstrous the citizens of Anur Transyl were like Ben... you regularly turn into those aliens.... your whole deal is being able to see from other’s perspectives...

- Just, the lack of taking itself seriously or following through on some damn interesting storylines. Like Ben being put on trial for recreating the universe? And being found guilty not just of that but misusing the Omnitrix??? That’s good shit right there but they waved it all away with some trial by combat bullshit and well back to normal. I know its a cartoon but that episode infuriated me. 

- Gwen and Kevin... didn’t care for them much here. Their characters just felt flat and shoved in whenever it was convenient with no real meaningful interactions between the supposedly close trio. They really were thrown under the bus to make room for Rook and the whole Plumbers thing.

- Kai *long groan* Honestly any attempt to address Ben’s love life was so nightmarishly bad. Everyone who says that Ben is Aromatic is absolutely correct. Boy hardly showed any interest in dates and tried to get out of most of them and yet he was ‘destined’ to be with a girl who was shown only to care about his transformations and not him? And that he didn’t really respect back? Hell no.

- Most of the villains were kinda Meh. Maltruant was cool but underused, we hardly got ANYTHING interesting out of the series big bad Vilgax, Albedo was... still don’t know what to think of him. Malware was cool tho, the whole Feedback thing was painful.

So overall the good outweighs the bad but I liked it far more at the beginning than I did the end. I’ll rewatch some of my favorites but probably won’t do a full binge again. Still, I love the idea of this particular universe and really did enjoy most of my watch!

[weerd1]

Someone talk me off the Star Trek: Discovery ledge.

OK, I want to open with the fact that I was a VERY early defender and fan of Star Trek: Discovery.  Realizing the entire first SEASON is the pilot episode really, I liked where they went, and I found the second season to be a delight with some wonderful callbacks.  I am very pleased to be getting “Strange New Worlds” as a spin-off.

I really liked the Michael Burnham character, and the dynamic particularly between her and Ash. Indeed, though these Klingons looked different, the L’Rell/Voq story really worked for me (and Mary Chiefo was a delight!).  There were some things I wouldn’t have done, but I can say that about all the Treks.

Then, along came season three, and I was left very, VERY cold by it.  Now, I have not seen this week’s (episode 3) ep for S4, but a lot of what I didn’t like in S3 is compounding here.  There are things I DO still like, but the problems are really starting to overwhelm my appreciation for the show, and I was hoping I could express what doesn’t work for me, and some of you here on Trek Tumblr could help me out.  There WILL be spoilers for S3 and S4.

Issue 1: Michael Burnham 

I have no issue with secret Spock sister, or with the storyline involving the Red Angel and who that was.  Groovy, all good.  The first two seasons take her through some really impressive arcs and growth and at the end of S2 she gets the captaincy she now des....or wait, no.  She gets to be right back where she was, XO to a starship Captain.  All the development just to put her really kind of where she was seems a bit much, but OK, because I love her interaction with Saru, and now the character is ready to be Starfleet.

Except no. She blasts into the future and the Discovery doesn’t show up for a year, and all that good character work gets undone...OFF SCREEN.  All what she goes through with Book (who I do also like, but not as much as Ash) changes her, and we don’t get to see it. We just get a Burnham who is ONCE AGAIN judged to be incapable of holding her position.  I have a real issue with a Star Trek show’s main character being iffy.  But we get through S3, and finally, FINALLY she’s made Captain of the DISCO, and huzzah, now we get to see this character shine, right?

No, now she’s somehow a Starfleet captain who was unable to divine the reasoning behind the Kobayashi Maru and who is AGAIN judged by the Federation president of being not good enough for a job.  Yes, I know Kirk “didn’t believe in the no win scenario.”  That’s also a lesson Kirk got a whole movie about learning, and Kirk also stated many times things to the effect of “risk is our business.”  Yeah, do all you can, but falling apart because you lost a crew member in a dangerous situation doesn’t sit well with me.  Let Michael Burnham be the hero; don’t make her a heartless monster, but I never got the feel from the other captains that they were considered lesser officers so damn much.

I’m thinking of when Kirk started acting weird in “Obsession.”  That is an episode that works dramatically because Kirk’s misbehavior IS out of character.  It’s weird he’s suffering these doubts, so we know the drama is real.  Burnham’s primary existence seems to be just trauma after trauma and never getting to be THE CAPTAIN.

Issue 2: Sylvia Tilly

I really love Mary Wiseman, and I love Tilly’s quirkiness and wonder, but there are just too many times she comes off as an amateur in space.  She can be quirky, or have a green personality (TOS Chekov, TNG Wesley, DS9 Bashir S1), but she’s also an officer.  There is a certain professional decorum, particularly given that she started serving in the era of TOS DURING A WAR.  What was interesting was in S3 when SHE is made XO, having not at all shown the type of behavior an officer should demonstrate to get that job, they suddenly really tightened up her writing, so the character WAS now demonstrating that kind of confidence, so OK, we’re all good. 

Nope, we’re going to promote her and then regress her back some, and by the way we’re not even going to acknowledge that she’s not the XO anymore and Saru is, but we are going to have her be awkward in the middle of a crisis again.  Gah.

Issue 3: Is this really the time for this?

I want character conflict.  I want development and arcs where characters have struggles both within and without to get to grow. But you’re also professional Starfleet Officers...can we wait to have our cathartic conversations until AFTER THE SHIP HAS STOPPED BLOWING UP?  IN S4E2, Book and Stamets are flying into the accretion disc of a five light year wide black hole, and that’s when they have to have their heart to heart.  That’s when Michael has to go into therapy mode on Book to get him through this.  And somehow, the timed countdown crisis seems to slow down enough to let these things happen. 

Yes, there was plenty of interpersonal conflict going on with the other shows.  Seldom did that play out in the middle of the action.  And that leads me to my next point.

Issue 4: Space amateurs

Julian Bashir was occasionally winey, periodically insufferable, and one of the best doctors in Starfleet, to include being a consummate professional when people were dying. When Tom Paris went through his rebellion stage, he got 30 days from Janeway in the brig. When Worf let his personal life override his professional duty, Picard made it clear he was unlikely to ever command a ship in Starfleet.

Here’s the thing: like it or not, and I know people keep arguing against this, Starfleet is a military organization.  It is an organization with a rank-based hierarchy that punishes people for not following the instructions of higher-ranked individuals; it is an armed force that defends its nation’s (the UFP) borders and fights its nation’s wars; it recruits from its civilian population, and designates a difference between enlisting or attending an academy to be an officer.  This is a military.  And before you say “militaries don’t have an exploration mission,” please take a look at who Lewis and Clark were when they sought the Northwest Passage or the Antarctic mission of the USS Vincennes.  The military doesn’t do as much exploration now because there isn’t as much to explore. Humanitarian missions?  I will certainly fault HOW the government uses its military for humanitarian missions, but Army engineers have shored up flood zones and military airlifts have brought food to many natural disasters.  When the MACOs and Earth Starfleet combined to form the core of the Federation Starfleet...well, that’s a military.  

Previous Star Treks--even Enterprise where they are SUPPOSED to be new at this--always leaned toward a certain professionalism, and I so often don’t see it here.  And I genuinely like so many of these characters, but I keep looking at the way they react to things, the way they interact, the way they come at problems, and just too often these last two seasons, I feel like I’m watching amateurs instead of Starfleet professionals. My wife checked out on this show. She was genuinely angry that she finally got a whole group of women on a Starship on Trek, and they were presented as so unprofessional.  Now, my wife would follow Jadzia Dax, Kira Nerys, or T’Pol into war. None of those women were characters without feeling (even the Vulcan), but they were professionals, confident, and you never doubted they belonged in their positions.  Early on, my wife started to refer to DISCO as “Woo-Girls in Space.”  I didn’t have that impression…until I did.  Until they just kept harping on Burnham or Tilly being unprepared.  Detmer having her breakdown; please let them do their jobs.  These.  Are. Officers.

Issue 5: Writing that doesn’t quite gel.

The whole “Burn” situation in S3 created an interesting milieu for the 32nd Century, but in the end the reveal being a weird psychic quirk from an under-socialized Kelpien kid, felt a little…”so?”  The Orion villain in S3 was an interesting outline for a character, but never felt like they were done developing that character.  Is there really any reason THE GUARDIAN OF FOREVER has to manifest here to save Georgiou?  I love the idea that the Guardian cares about various timelines’ purity, but I never get WHY mirror Philippa was so essential to anything.  “Oh, well maybe in HER show.”  Well, I’m not watching that show right now; give me something here that shows me the Guardian NEEDS to be there. A lot of good ideas, but a lot of dialogue for me doesn’t connect, character motivation doesn’t connect, like some of these scripts needed one more run through before being shot. 

There was a Short Trek called “Calypso” that takes place after the Disco from the first two seasons has sat for 1000 years, and the computer has become sentient.  Great little episode.  But as S3 plays out, that thousand year jump is not a scenario that plays right. The ship has been completely changed and upgraded, but now we ARE getting THAT sentient computer.  Perhaps there will be a story that brings this all together and I will be proven wrong, but it feels like Calypso was based on an earlier version of S2’s outcome, and then that was changed…but no one changed Calypso.  I don’t gripe about continuity in regard to holograms or appearance of tech…I understand the realities of production there in not making a show look like it precedes a 55 year-old set design. But this is continuity within a single production staff, and unless there’s a pretty magical explanation coming our way at some point it’s a pretty big gap.

SO:

There is so much here I like.  I do genuinely like Michael as a character and Sonequa Martin-Green is terrific.  I love the Culber/Stamets relationship and interaction.  Adira as the quirky ensign now under Tilly is a pretty great dynamic.  Jett Reno should have her own show.  

I sure miss Nhan, Lorca, Ash, and L’Rell. Saru is pretty terrific, and the Kelpiens are a neat addition to Trek, despite my misgivings on the Burn storyline.  But I feel like S4 has been doubling down on the things that didn’t work for me in S3.  I miss the dynamics of S1 and 2, and I want to see Michael get to be a Starfleet Captain in the mold of a Sisko or Janeway or Picard.

“Picard.”  Now that’s a whole other issue.

Anyway, I don’t want to write this show off, I just want so much more out of it…even what I was getting the first two seasons.  Is anyone else seeing these issues, and if not, please tell me why these things are working for you. 

[stealing-jasons-job]

That Becho scene proves Bellarke — here’s why

Alright y’all. Buckle in, because this is going to be a long one. But for anyone who needs some hope after this episode, you’ve stumbled across the right clown. 

1. Those were not the Bellamy Blake Heart Eyes™ we’ve spent the past six and a half seasons watching as he pined over Clarke.

Was there love there? Sure. He said it himself: They are a team. And he’d been trying like hell to let go of the past and move on. But as much as he may care about Echo as a person (along the same way he feels about Raven or Murphy), it just doesn’t come close to how he feels about Clarke. 

Him loving Echo back on The Ring doesn’t discredit Bellarke. It actually makes the fact that even after six years of mourning and moving on, he was right back to risking everything to save her with the Heart Eyes™ we know and love that much more poignant. 

(Ignoring the fact that I make shitty gifs, THAT IS WHAT BELLAMY HEART EYES BLAKE LOOKS LIKE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN)

2. He kissed her as a way to shut her up about the ground. 

This is the hill I will die on about this scene. The entire time, she’s brining up the past, and he obviously is trying to make her move past it. He wants to move forward, to stop thinking about their past sins. Why? Because as we learn in S6, he’s crushed by the weight of them. And we know one of his regrets is leaving Clarke (even if it was the right call). 

Echo mentions the past. He tells her that they’ve both made mistakes, and that they are a team, now. She counters with, “This isn’t real. When we get back to the ground—” AND THAT’S WHEN HE LEANS IN. To give her the quickest peck in the history of first kisses on a CW show. 

That wasn’t him saying, “I love you and must kiss you now.” That was him saying, “I don’t want to talk about the ground.” 

Of course he doesn’t want to talk about the ground. He’s head!Bellamy now, trying to figure out how to survive without Clarke, without his heart and his soulmate, who he left (that’s right) on the ground. 

3. That was a perfect opening for her to tell him about Ash, and the writers elected for Bell to not know about who Echo is. 

Okay, so subjectively speaking, I hate Becho. I’m not a fan of Echo’s character overall, and they’ve obviously written it as an obstacle rather than an end game. BUT, objectively, I can see the potential in the bones of that relationship. And I thought tonight’s scene, as much as I hated watching it, was a good one. 

But they left out something very important. 

Echo uses this scene as a way to apologize for her past wrongdoings. She addresses getting Gina killed and that betrayal. She talks about trying to hurt O. And he forgives her for those things. But, she didn’t bring up her past, which is super telling to me. 

That scene could have been PEAK Becho: 

“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of — some of them to each other. But we’re a team now.” He tries to take her hand, but she pulls away from him, unwilling to look him in the eye. 

“You don’t get it. There are some things that aren’t forgivable.” 

“Echo...” 

“That’s just it... My real name isn’t Echo.” **Insert her whole sob story** 

“Hey, look at me,” he says, cupping her cheek to bring her focus back to him. “Who we are and who we had to be to survive are very different people.” 

BOOM. A S1 callback, some good angst, they could have had an epic first kiss, yadayadayada. Like, even my anti-Becho heart would have gone out for them if that would have been the scene written.

But they purposefully made it to be a very different scene with a different vibe. They chose for us, the audience, to have the information that Echo is really Ash while Bellamy does not. And they are choosing to consistently keep it that way. 

Bellamy isn’t going to end up with Echo at the end of this if he doesn’t even know her real name. Period.  

SO IN CONCLUSION... 

That scene was well-played by both Bob and Taysa, and Lindsey did an excellent job directing. And while it was a Becho scene, the end goal was not to get us to fall in love with them as a couple. 

It was a set up scene for Echo to either move on or completely devolve (I’m sure they’ll go with the former, but I’m secretly hoping for the latter because TT plays a good villain), it was a set up scene for that Clarke reaction at the end when she learns Bellamy is “dead,” it was a set up scene for the storyline to move past Becho to Bellarke as the endgame couple. 

If after that long-ass rant, you still aren’t convinced, just remember this: 

In the prequel we trust. 

Jason is excited about this prequel, and he needs a good portion of the fandom to buy into it if it’s going to get picked up. That’s not happening if the Bellarkes all rise against him when this season ends. Logically speaking, it’s in Jason’s best interest to finish out the story the way he’s been telling it the past six years so that he has the chance to bait us all to death for the next decade. lol 

Now, I happen to think Bellarke will happen because that’s always been the plan, and it’s the obvious story that has been written. But we have some back-up armor on our side, too. Just in case Jason decides to pull a D&D ala GoT. 

End rant. 

[sleeplessandstubborn]

Emily in Paris, season 2, episode 1, or why our heroine must brace for consequences (at last).

Ah, Emily in Paris... it's been a while since I last reviewed/done a recap one of its episodes. So much that I never completed reviewing of Season 1. Meanwhile, there was the premiere of the second one, every single time I wrote a draft Tumblr ate it, and I became frustrated. So instead of picking things where I left them I decided (today) to attack season 2 without finishing the first one. But no problem, I'll do a callback now and then. Without further ado, here we go.

First of all, I must congratulate our main lady because she's finally running with adequate clothes. Not congratulations, on the other hand, for her attention span because, as she runs, she remembers the hot hot night of hot hot sex with her neighbour Gabriel, who incidentally is also (or was until a few hours before they ended together in Miss Cooper's bed) her friend Camille's boyfriend. The first consequence is Emily is almost run over by a car (surprise! Paris has now people, cars and public transport! Isn't that an improvement?); fortunately for her a pedestrian saves our main character from death. She's too consumed by guilt and bad manners to say even thank you. Not nice, Miss Cooper, not nice.

In the appartment she now shares with bestie and much better character Mindy - who is trying an spectacular outfit for her new job in a drag bar -, Emily finally opens her heart. Mindy's first reaction is a You go, girl! moment which her roomate disapproves, arguing she's now the new Pam Spicer. Who is Pam Spicer, you wonder (just like Mindy does)? A girl from Chicago who slept with everyone's boyfriends when she was drunk. Our main lady realizing that she had sex with Gabriel when both were very sober, by the way.

Communication skills, unless Emily's wardrobe is a sort of code message, are really bad in this series, but at least she says clearly to Gabriel, during the next scene, that she felts like they were vviolating the first directive the other night. Thanks to this little conversation we discovers her father was a trekkie and that Gabriel feels no remorse at all. One starts to suspect they deserve each other when Antoine appears. It turned out, las season, that Monsieur le Creepatractive had decided to make an investment in Gabriel's restaurant. Also starring in this scene: Gabriel still having the guts of disapproving Emily going on vacation with Pierre Cadault's nephew, Mathieu.

(Note/callback to the first season: I am more scandalized by the fact the writers decided to introduce Mathieu as love interest and guy who dated Emily a couple of time without having the slightest amount of chemistry, but one of S1 premises was that the whole male population of Paris had the hots for Emily).

I am also judging her, oh Godess among the Godess, supreme Queen, my Muse, my precious divinity, oh Sylvie.

Did I mention that, Camille being also a client, the whole thing is a bit unprofessional? No, I didn't because, since I never completed the reviews/recaps of season 1, the thing with Savoir now handling the campaign for her family's champagne for spraying at parties (don't ask, the whole thing seems a sacrilege for me) were never mentioned, along with other creepy things that happened there (but we'll back in the next episodes, be reasured). Well, it's unproffesional. Camille, precisely, is waiting for her friend with a fabulous jacket that make her look like she just attended to the inauguration of the Opéra Bastille in the 80s and sunglasses that won't allow her to watch what the writers will do to her character.

(My poor poor girl).

A meeting ensues where Champére - that's the name of the product, ew - is advertised with a soft-porn-esque vibe, Emily can't help but remember her night with Gabriel, everything becomes supremely awkward and a lunch break is proposed. Emily begs Sylvie to come with them and serve as third, judgamental wheel. All of this with the backround of the Louvre's Pyramid, to name another mitterrandesque landmark.

Probably the judgmental third wheel wasn't part of Emily's desperate plan to flee from her guilt, but it happens anyway. Of course Sylvie guesses our young American is having an affair with the chef and tells her so while Camille and her 80s jacket are at the restroom. You are becoming more and more French, Mme. Grateau argues. In the name of an allied nation, I protest.

But back to job! One of the aspects of this season is that they tried to flesh up a bit Emily's coworkers, even if little of it can be seen as she tries to recruit them with invitations to see Mindy perform at the drag bar. An invitation Luc accepts willingly because it's something he loves to bits and that Julien refuses because it's not his cup of tea and, besides, he has to do a presentation for Rimowa in which, for some reason, a Sebastian Kurz wannabe is present. Judge for yourselves.

But Julien fails to impress his clients, who want something more tacky like the collaboration Savoir or rather Emily did with Pierre Cadault. Emily proceeds to, unvoluntarily, take the wind out of Julien's sails. He doesn't take that well, and rightly so.

(Note/callback to season 1: Cadault was very present during its last episodes, when he first considered Emily was tasteless and ended considering her a sort of inspiration. In the meantime, she had a brief fling with a snob called Thomas who must be right now writing a book about semiotics)

Meanwhile at the drag bar (la Nouvelle Eve), Mindy, like the side character she is, is confronted with real life. I repeat that this series would be better if Emily wasn't the protagonist. Suming it up: Mindy hasn't yet fixed her work papers so the only job she can really have is bathroom attendant and she can only receive tips. With the possibility of singing a song in exchange.

(Callback to season 1: good that Mindy, who is the daughter of a millionarie, overcame her scenic panic which had been caused by a talent contest. It's true that it required one of the cringiest scenes back then, but anyway the struggles of Mindy who has gone from having everything to nanny then to bathroom attendant and who has to do a considerable, I guess, paperwork to just have a job and earn money are more intersting than Chicago girl who is afraid of becoming Pam Spicer).

Camille shows up to pick up Emily, because of course she invited her to go and see Mindy at La Nouvelle Eve. Seriously, Emily? What are you playing at? Camille sees a frying pan who seems suspiciosly similar to Gabriel's and I guess there is maaaye some subtext there, but we'll have more of that later. Seems Emily is focused in trying to fix things between Camille and Gabriel without telling her friend what happened, because of reasons.

But in the meantime Mindy, bathroom assistant or not, does a great performance at La Nouvelle Eve, even if I missed, I don't know, something in French or/and from Eurovision. On their way home, Emily insist Camille should have a conversation with Gabriel. I wonder, along with Mindy, if she knows what she's doing.

Next day at Savoir, Rimowa send their tacky suitcase with M. Cadault's face on it. It's as tacky as expected, and Julien is, again, furious because Emily just invaded his territory and announces they will be rivals from now on, which would be the logical thing to do. I love Sylvie's outfit, reaction and her whole being. Rimowa's promotional stuff comes on handy, tho, because Emily is supposed to go to her romantic weekend with Mathieu.

So, as she packs her colourful wardrobe inside her hideous suitcase (I like her dress, but her shoes are a mistake for traveling; pick something practical, girl) we assist to an attempt to conflict between Antoine and Gabriel when the former invited some friends to his freshly adquired restaurant and both men have creative differences. Of course Gabriel wins over him. It's not the last time we'll see this in the season but will be equally boring, in my opinion anyway.

So finally Emily, Mathieu and the horrible suitcase meet at the train station, on the point of boarding a train that seems a theme park or the fucking Orient Express. If Camille's jacket is reminiscent of Mitterrand, this train is... René Coty?

Even a member of the French Government - who every single Wednesday posts a video about rural life and there's a rooster crowing in it - was quite amused at the scene. They have barely boarded the train when Emily receives a call from Gabriel. Of course our heroine has the worst possible idea as she talks very loudly about how their night was incredible but was a mistake. This is overheard by Mathieu who jumps off the train as it starts to move, the end. Emily's clumsy attempts to explain Gabriel isn't her boyfriend fail to preven him from -almost - running away from her.

Note: now the French characters speak French to each other when they are alone, which is an improvement, as I said.

However... however throughout the season I - unpopular opinion - missed some of old Emily's failures with language. And, if - spoiler - the best scene in the whole series is about her complete failure to write French, there's something missing.

For me, anyway.

[nuclear-satan]

Final Space Season 3 Episode 1 Review **SPOILER WARNING!!**

...And Into The Fire we go!

I really have wanted to do a Final Space review for a while, so now - I'm going to do it, fuck it. Starting a couple episodes late, but after [insert shenanigans] I needed to let it cool off before getting back into it.

One last warning: THESE ARE NOT SPOILER FREE REVIEWS. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT SPOILED AND DO NOT WANT TO BE. THESE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME SUMMARIZATION INVOLVED.

With the disclaimer out of the way, let's get into it.

So, first of all, I have to acknowledge that this cold open? Fucking toasty. The entire first five or six minutes of this episode is flat out amazing and some of the best that Final Space is. Really intense - I love the dramatic cold open to a space chase.

Also, however, brief, the Quinnary reunion was nice. Quinnary is a ship that I enjoy subjectively more than objectively, but considering it really hits now even if S1 had issues... I can look past it yo.

Invictus proves his power and intimidation incredibly well this episode, between the Gary Zombies and even this first incredibly terrifying matchup - even Mooncake, who in any other situation has been able to zap it away, couldn't touch it. Really setting the villain well.

Small thing I want to acknowledge because there was some discourse on it -- Sheryl saying "I'm his mother; where do you think he got it from?" Was really nice to me. Obviously not all is forgiven, nor should it be, but it's just a nice bit of character development.

Then, Ava gets Yeeted by Bolo and breaks.

I could have taken a better screencap probably, but I will not.

Anyways, considering the cast of characters was way too fucking big in S2, I'm not... particularly aggrieved by this, especially since I didn't really like AVA anyways, but it is pretty unfortunate that one of the only female characters just got the ax without basically any development other than the obligatory robot comphet stuff. Whatever, I think this is setting the stage for HUE AI, so I'll bite my tongue.

That said, the conversation that HUE and AVA had before she died? Sweet.

And then they're in Final Space. Goddamn, they really went the extra mile animating and illustrating this episode. Gotta acknowledge it.

Also, quick note: New OP is a banger.

...And this is when the review's going to start getting a bit more negative, because we jump straight into everyone's favorite trope: a time skip.

I. I really have issues with this timeskip. This episode was fucking ballistic in the pacing, and I really, really wish that I could have spent some more time within Final Space just trying to survive. I get it. It was a premiere, so you wanted to go all out, but... I really wish we could have savored it. There's just suddenly a timeskip! We don't get to see how they've been surviving. We don't get to see shit. Quinn just suddenly appears in a new outfit, and then we're off the races.

I dunno man, I really had issues with the pacing of this episode, and this is the backbone of it. It's okay to take a breather, even in your opening episode. You have to know when to take a breather. This episode sorely needed it, and it didn't get it.

Also, obligatory Danger Groins mention. Yeah, I know that's not what he says. It's what he says in my heart, tho.

From here, the Gary zombies show up, which are... admittedly intimidating.

They get attacked, and - okay, can we fucking mention the titan fights for a moment? No matter what happens this season, I'm here for this. This is Gurren Lagann levels of ridiculous, and I fucking love it. Smash that planet, yo.

lThey get separated, and Avocato and Gary have a bit unfitting but fucking hilarious moment that has to be acknowledged. This shit ain't straight, yo. There's no fucking way you tell me this shit is straight.

And... *sigh* I really have some goddamn issues with the next... I don't know, I wasn't watching, six minutes?

"There's no more grossout scenes," we were told. "Season 2 gross out is done. No more weird fetishes."

Okay.

Okay, sure.

I'm sparing you the images, because I don't want to post grossout on my blog, but... holy shit, Quatronostro's birth scene. First of all, which of the fuckers on the blog keeps putting their fetishes in this show? Clarence is gone, so you're making Mpreg Tribore (I realize Tribore is canonically genderfluid, but he's male presenting at the time of this birth... and at every time... I don't have faith in two cishet men to actually make good on that, sorry. I hope I'm wrong.) Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

The scene is gross, uncomfortable grossout. This isn't the 90s anymore!

Also, the other thing I have to acknowledge - that motherfucking robot. It's season 3 - haven't we moved past the screaming = funny leftover humor from Olan's YouTube days? Clearly fucking not.

Also, Ash did a really out of character thing this episode by shooting the robot. I... what is Ash's character, exactly? Ash is an inconsistent enigma. Someone define that poor girl's character, already.

After that... mess.... though, we do end up with a very solid ending. Bolo headbutts the planet, Quinn and Gary get swept up in the blast, and we end up with a very beautiful but quick scene of Gary and Quinn embracing one last time - it's very reminiscent of chapter 9, and I did thoroughly enjoy it.

iAlso, the shot of Mooncake saying "Gar" while looking for Gary, presuming he's dead? Oh, that just hurts.

And then we end with HUE saying, "We are alone, Gary." Honestly, genuinely was a little disappointed to find it wasn't just HUE and Gary. I thought this line was going to come later in the season, and it was just going to be HUE and Gary in a callback from season one. It wasn't, and I'm genuinely very disappointed as someone who's favorite dynamic in the entire show is S1 HUE and Gary. Of course, as a result, I'm not unbiased, and... well, I do stan Quinn too.

And goddamn, look at the Earth. She got fucked uuuuuup. I think I remember hearing next episode that there's only one survivor left, which I do NOT buy as a concept, but it's very cool to see a show that does not shy away from full apocalypse scale destruction of the earth. It like, never happens, so it's a nice subversion. Get fucked, earth.

Overall Thoughts:

This episode is the definition of a mixed bag. The beginning is fantastic and the ending is solid (even if personally disappointing), but the middle is genuinely kind of bad. The pacing is rough, there's season 2 tier grossout that I did NOT need to see, and that robot deserved a punt in the face.

The animation is fantastic though. Everyone point and stare at the animation.

I still think the good outweighed the bad, though - if only because of my personal attachment to the characters. I think this was a decent episode - probably on par with the other openers... actually, I don't know.

My disappointment with this episode was more than with the Toro Regatta, but that was more due to my own expectations and thus not fair to rank it that way. I don't know - all the first episodes of the seasons are meh at best, and this unfortunately due to the lackluster middle fit that mold as well.

If you asked me to give it a ranking, I'd probably say if we assume a 5 out of 10 is average, I'd give it a 6. Decent, fantastic when it's good, but the entire middle section really brought me out of it and because of that I can't give it anything more than that.

I've heard episodes two and three are good, though - excited to see the Ventrexian for myself after all the fuss, so let's see how it holds up!

I'm scared for Biskit tho.