#the flash 2x05

[rocktheholygrail]

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Hannibal Rising (2007) Hannibal (2013-2015)

[ringsofpowersource]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power / S2 / Aug 29, 2024 - Oct 3, 2024 Colors & Scenery Episode 5 - Halls of Stone

[xthecaptainssaviorx]

ARCANE (2021-2024) Jinx and Vi fighting Warwick in 2.04 "Paint the Town Blue" and "Blisters and Bedrock"

[appletvdaily]

FOUNDATION 2x05 | The Sighted and The Seen

[sophsun1]

Queer As Folk – 2.05: Wherever That Dream May Lead You

[sculien]

he was so fucking sure he had the right. well, he's ugly, and i'm glad he's dead.

[booasaur]

Foundation (2021) - 2x05

[msanonships]

CANDICE PATTON AS IRIS WEST ON THE FLASH

[ladyluscinia]

"What if it weren't like that?"

...or I'd like to propose a different theory of what's going on in Edward's head.

Going into the S2 finale, I feel like there's once again a huge consensus that Edward and piracy are an unsustainable mix, and he has to quit. Specifically after 2x07 he knows for sure, 100% that he wants to quit, and he's pulling away from Stede because he doesn't know how to communicate that certainty to him.

There's a very established meta framework backing up this belief. It's not new, just everyone pointing and saying "look! - the show is affirming us" at the same time. And it does make a lot of points about foundational trauma, the violence of the lifestyle, etc. I don't need to break it down for you. If you're seeing this post then you've seen the arguments before.

The thing is... I'm not actually sold on this read.

Edward is a complicated guy and I love to try and peel back his layers, and I'm not sure that retirement is truly his endgame. And maybe more importantly... I'm not sure retirement endgame is quite the thematic crescendo it's being presented as.

So let's talk a bit about Edward, particularly in 2x06 and 2x07.

---

Edward's Ongoing Depression Spiral

The thing about backsliding - and the Kraken was a pretty monumental backslide - is that even if you gain a lot of ground afterward, you still might not be much further than where you started.

Edward believing change is possible with Button's 2x04 guidance + his & Stede's conversation about taking it slow at the end of 2x05 are both huge steps for a guy that was openly suicidal at the beginning of the season. However, in the grand scheme of things, he's pretty much cycled back to the dilemma he was facing in S1 - continuing life as it was is intolerable, but he doesn't actually have a solid idea of what he wants. "Stede" is not a real, actionable answer.

In S1, this caused him to run recklessly into extremes of vulnerability with Stede because Stede was doing something different. He tried to metaphorically cut loose his entire history - as a pirate, as Blackbeard, as Edward Teach - and become a new "Ed" with no baggage, who was free to live an endless vacation honeymoon with his new boyfriend. And when the consequences of their own actions came crashing back in - an abandoned Izzy, Spanish Jackie, and Chauncey Badminton - Edward's desperate actions to save Stede turned into over-commitment to a guy he barely knows, a reckless plan to run halfway around the world to escape himself, and then a truly disastrous downturn when that blew up in his face.

Wherever you go, there you are - except Edward hates that guy. Edward's only concrete want so far for the new direction of his life is the one thing that's impossible - to not be Edward Teach.

So now, back to contemplating the same unknown future he was trying to chase in S1, the Kraken Era has given Edward new perspective, for better and worse. (I'm gonna link my rambling BlackHands / Kraken Era thoughts from 2x01 - 2x03 just because.) He's learned caution and is dipping his toes in self-reflection - Stede's love alone is not enough to save him, and his self-loathing has been acknowledged. Reckless pursuit of change without growth was doomed - an important lesson both Stede and Edward have started to learn.

Unfortunately, growth requires looking backwards, and if Edward was already disinclined to that due to killing his dad, he's struggling so much worse now that he's got months of fresh atrocities that he absolutely did not need to commit.

---

Drowning in Guilt

Edward's core trauma that he flashes to constantly goes back to killing his dad that night - something notably not associated with piracy. That guilt is the root of his self-loathing, but Edward is a rather troubled grown man with guilt aplenty, especially after the first two episodes of S2.

In 2x05 Edward starts with a CEO scripted non-apology firmly recategorizing all of his Kraken actions as "whatever that nasty dark stuff was that brought us here... it's in the past", and then his discussion with Stede does not involve too much reflection on why this probation is necessary and drops this gem:

"Oh fuck no. Apologizing? Nah. Didn't apologize for jack shit."

However - demonstrating self awareness / growth - he's also clearly projecting guilt and a desire (that's almost too big to look at) to apologize to Izzy for everything, and then he honestly talks with Fang (who he's known for 20 years!) about how he can not be understandably mad at him, after Fang pushes back on Edward's toxic rewriting of Knife Parade. He even learns to sit with himself!

All of which makes the start of 2x06 so layered.

We open with Edward sitting with himself, looking out over the ocean and stewing in guilt - in order: his dad, the storm, Izzy's toe, shooting Izzy, driving the crew to mutiny - and then the conversation that Edward was haunted by all last episode comes to him. He's back in his leathers - playacting the penitent with the onesie and cat bell got old after a day, and he had never truly linked his probation rules with any of his earnest feelings of remorse. Just a necessary performance to appease the crew.

Now he's himself again, as uncomfortable in his own skin as ever, and Edward Teach apologizes for Izzy's leg. He isn't being demanded to apologize by Izzy (no matter how much he may deserve it). Izzy is fully prepared to pretend it never happened despite the evidence of his body. But Edward wants to - needs to for the babiest step toward his own peace of mind - and so he does.

And then he flees from one guilt and accidentally stumbles into another. Stede has so helpfully pulled all Edward's Kraken treasure into one place, and Edward lampshades it:

"Excellent. A reminder of all my guilt. A guilt room."

Now, Stede has a decent idea here. His "poison into positivity" bit is not bad (and it echoes the language Izzy and Edward used - though I think it's a tossup whether Stede heard about that or if the parallel is purely on a Doylist level). It definitely lifts Edward's mood for the day and pulls him out of his guilt spiral for a bit.

Until it comes back so much worse.

Ned Low. Oh fuck the implications of Ned Low.

So here's the thing. People have rightly observed that Edward broke Ned's record intentionally during Kraken Era. In fact, since he makes the comment about "We got a record to break" after the wedding boat aka the last ship he takes, and Ned isn't coming after him for a tie, presumably he set the new record and then proceeded to break it over and over again. Just to rub it in. Just to really piss the sadist off.

And if Edward's attempt to take the whole ship and crew down with a storm at his lowest point was bad, what he was courting by baiting Ned before the season even started was worse. This is a man who would have tortured everyone on the breakup boat to death when he caught up to them, and Edward was passively planning on letting him do it.

Edward knows this.

Poison into positivity just became "oh shit I forgot I'm the most poisonous thing any of these people have ever run into," and he's just getting started. It's hard to shove it down and brush it off and pretend it was no big deal when Stede starts getting the hot poker to the chest.

He doesn't want to kill Ned because he's not worth the poison, but the poison is already here.

When Stede kills Ned, Edward has already spiraled. He's already got a whole narrative in his head about how this is all his fault, how this is his poison, his guilt, his Kraken surfacing to ruin Stede too.

"I'm not a good person, Stede. That's why I don't have any friends," Edward chokes out.

"It all boils down to this - You're afraid you're unlovable," snarls Hornigold's ghost in the gravy basket.

"I hate myself," Edward realizes.

"Don't do it, Stede. Killing in cold blood" - like I did - "you can't come back from that" - like I haven't.

Edward's guilt is projecting all over this scene. He's made some baby steps toward seeing Stede as a flawed person vs mythical mermaid whose love can save him, but the idealization is still coloring both their views. Stede still hasn't told Edward about any of his childhood traumas or deep seated insecurities, and Edward has continuously avoided putting together that Stede is fucked up as well. He's convinced himself that killing Ned Low is a great tragedy that will permanently scar Stede's previously unblemished goodness in a way that is all Edward's fault, and he's sticking to it despite how completely it does not apply.

Reality has never been much good at breaking through his self-loathing before.

Izzy tries to warn him to give Stede a minute, but Edward doesn't listen. And while there's a good amount of concerned boyfriend in that act, I also suspect there's more than a little self-harm. Edward's spiraling about what he's wrought. He shows up at Stede's door already paralleling this to killing his dad. Of course he wants to be in the blast radius.

Apparently, having sex about it.

---

"Bye-Bye" Blackbeard, See You Again Soon

Last season, when Edward's ignoring his past went poorly, he tried to metaphorically bundle Blackbeard and all his traumas up and cast them into the sea. He was "Edward Teach Born-on-a-Beach," and then "No-Beard" who found folding stuff in prison fun, and then he's kissing Stede and getting excited about picking new, cool names for China, because:

"Our old lives would be gone. Dead. Never were."

Edward, babygirl, that is not how that works.

Now, he's actively backsliding down a guilt spiral, just had ill-advised sex a day after the "take it slow" talk that he's already regretting, and he gets up in the morning, pulls on another goddamn robe, and goes to literally bundle Blackbeard up and cast him into the sea.

Babe you already tried this.

I don't think it's a coincidence that disposing of his leathers signals Edward is back to reckless change instead of intentional change. He tries to make breakfast in bed despite never having ever made breakfast before and explains his twine as a panicked decision. The idealization of Stede is back in force - he chooses now to tell him about the mermaid vision - "fantastic," he describes him - and thanks him for saving his life. (Once again, in times of trouble, Edward is the one offering up rosy imaginations for their relationship that swallow him whole and Stede is shoving his recent childhood trauma flashbacks down to be Normal™.)

In the Republic, Edward does avoid becoming straight up jealous of all Stede's positive infamy, but he's also doing his hardcore all or nothing thing again - this time running away from himself toward a grubby, poor, "nobody" version of Ed (or do we think he's gonna try "Jeff" again?). Jackie calls his attention to how his new life direction (as of 6 hours ago) is not necessarily aligned with Stede's, and - rather than doing something as crazy as talking - he mutters "shit" and heads to the docks where Izzy finds him.

For a guy who felt "Fucking great" throwing away his leathers, Edward sounds kind of sarcastic, even if I'm sure he's feeling just as light as he was on that Naval Academy beach. But Izzy - going through his own shit but still trying to be supportive - opened this conversation with a joke about Stede and I suspect thinks they are talking about putting the "Edward retiring to be with Stede" plan back on the table. (Edward could clear this up, but he's still not communicating his emotions to Izzy.) So Izzy encourages him:

"Maybe you should listen to it."

Edward's face falls, he looks back down at the fishing boat, and apparently gets himself a new job. He just needs to go dump his boyfriend about it. They're simply incompatible, you see?

Edward's a fisherman now. He's gonna sit with himself until he finds a better guy in there, just like Fang taught him. (Don't blame Fang for this 😆 he just wanted Edward to stop talking!)

Now there's a lot going on in the breakup scene, but I want to talk about one statement Edward makes (keeping in mind he's already spiraled all the way into his new fisherman identity):

"I don't even know who I am! Alright, I know I don't want to be a pirate, but you..."

Because, see - I don't think the second part of that is necessarily true.

It's not that Edward doesn't want to be "a pirate". That's what he's using as shorthand (and a way to strongly delineate his new career from Stede: "Fishermen and pirates - they're nothing alike.").

What he's not saying is, once again, I know I don't want to be Edward Teach.

And, babygirl, I love you... but too fucking bad.

---

Better Piracy as a Theme

There's a lot of meta around about how Edward views piracy as a kind of enforced toxic masculinity. How his traumas are woven so thoroughly into his Blackbeard career that the thought of continuing as a pirate is killing him. He has to retire. It's the only way he'll truly be happy as "just Edward."

And I question that framing.

Like... Edward clearly has trauma tied up in piracy. His time on Hornigold's ship appears to have defined his (and Calico's Jack's) fairly fucked up approach to casual violence. His time as Blackbeard has enabled his poor impulses, and he is absolutely sick of piracy as he's experienced it the first time we meet him. That's not in question.

But while leaving is one solution, I think change is another.

In the OFMD universe, piracy is not a stand-in for toxic masculinity. Stede, an outsider, describes it as a "culture of abuse" in the first episode, but it's the culture of piracy where we see openly gay relationships, polyamory, freedom of expression in clothing and presentation, the oppressed having power... to treat piracy as inherently toxic is to deny that the culture of piracy is what gave life to Calypso's Birthday party. Our main characters are pirates.

There is a lot of violence and most pirates are very troubled people, but it's not piracy's fault. That's getting the cause and effect reversed. The "problem" with piracy and pirate culture is that the people coming into it and building this community are already traumatized.

As Edward points out to Stede:

"It's usually something like that. It's often family-based stuff."

(Also the problem might be the pirate Captains, lol. I mean, if you start listing the major drivers and enablers of toxic culture... Hornigold, Ned Low, Calico Jack, Blackbeard. Fortunate, then, that the crew of the Revenge is demonstrating that piracy can also be about workers' unions and supporting each other against your shitty boss while operating in a thriving community. He can play nice or get out.)

Oluwande tells us from the start that people don't choose to be pirates - they get forced into it by terrible circumstances in a terrible society. Piracy is the community that accepts the outcasts, but it can't magically fix them. They have to do that themselves, which our crew is showing can be done.

Stede did not swan in with all the answers, but he gave his crew the space and all the confused-yet-well-meant support they needed to strengthen their own bonds and community. Oluwande and Frenchie especially have been really stepping up in leadership positions. Like, the whole plot of 2x05 was showing they have successfully formed a union and that they will operate as a united front against their captains if need arises. It's so good!

They are living that better culture that Stede wanted so bad, and it's not just our crew.

Piracy influenced by the Revenge crew has been shown as helpful and even desirable to chase.

Hellcat Maggie and the rest of Low's crew don't sail off to get new jobs - they are resuming piracy but this time talking about profit sharing. Anne and Mary, our oh so aggressive BlackBonnet mirrors, retired from piracy together like Edward was dreaming of in 1x09, and what "fixes" them is burning it all down and returning to piracy (rejecting Mary's fears) with their love at the forefront of their minds.

Edward wants to leave piracy behind forever because he has depression and hates himself, but the biggest thing he hates himself for isn't even a thing he did as a pirate. He's pushing back on his Hornigold trauma from the moment we meet him - in fact, I have a whole other meta idea I need to pull together after the season about how he has potentially thought he was doing "soft piracy" in spite of Hornigold this whole time - but the guilt he feels about killing his dad is still too big for him to even look at. And that won't go away even if he could cut 20+ years of Blackbeard out of his chest.

He's bored. He was stagnating. He needs to address that knot of self-loathing before it successfully drowns him.

Maybe people are right and he could be the one pirate to find peace operating a bed and breakfast? Maybe he'll follow in Jackie's footsteps and stay connected to the community by running a gay bar or something?

But I also think, maybe, he has a community surrounding him, a home and love on the sea, and a career with plenty of aspects he did enjoy - sailing, fuckeries, luxuries, creative problem solving - and he might just need to join everyone in striving for a better culture?

And step one would be realizing that wherever he goes, he's still Edward Teach, and he's got to stop running from that fact.

[goodwhump-temp]

Ray Palmer Whump | Legends of Tomorrow / Arrowverse

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 1x02 Punched, bleeding, imprisoned 1x03 Reckless, hit by a rock (unphased), sad, worried 1x04 Knocked unconscious, captured 1x05 Gulag, beaten, weak, bruised/bloody, annoyed, restrained, tortured/electrocuted, sacrifice/beaten by hammer, weak, unconscious, carried 1x06 Bruised 1x07 Losing oxygen, passes out, heart attack, betrayed 1x08 Psych ward patient (brief), stranded 1x09 Stranded, upset 1x10 Guilt, shot out of the sky, sad 1x12 Thrown, dying, severe internal injuries, past self attacked, bleeding, weak, comforted, heartbroken 1x13 Gut punched, shot unconscious, heartbroken 1x14 Manipulated, heartbroken, choked unconscious, arrested 1x15 Imprisoned, fated to die, knocked unconscious

2x02 Imprisoned, attacked, weak, captured, restrained 2x03 Punched, knocked out, stranded, knocked unconscious, restrained, interrogated/punched, bleeding, angry, knocked down 2x04 Sad, unconscious 2x05 Identity crisis 2x08 Body slammed, protected (26:55) 2x09 Memory loss, kicked x2, hostage, thrown in trash compactor 2x11 Arm twisted 2x12 Fated to die, 1v1 swordfight, shot, unconscious 2x14 Punched x5, crash landing, stuck with Thawne 2x16 Memory loss, punched, pinned 2x17 Choked, killed, punched x2

3x01 Knocked down, painfully pinned 3x02 Allergies, imprisoned 3x03 Drowned unconscious 3x04 Younger self killed, dissapears, bullied, shaken, emotionally hurt (17:10) 3x07 Captured 3x08 Electrocuted, unconscious, mourning 3x09 Therapy, tackled 3x10 Table pinned 3x12 Shock (34:15) 3x13 Captured, leg (indirectly) hit, pain, choked, restrained/gagged, knocked down 3x15 Severely injured, dying/unconscious 3x17 Thrown, unconscious, choked

4x01 Nervous, hallucinating, lovelorn 4x02 Turned into a pig, carried 4x03 Lovelorn, undercover, pinned, knocked out (offscreen) 4x05 Lovelorn 4x06 Mean Constantine (15:25) 4x07 Knocked unconscious, choked 4x08 Shot (16:30), "dead" 4x10 Bug of truth, scared, arrested 4x11 Guilt 4x12 Thrown, unconscious, emotional, possessed 4x13 Tempted, stabs himself, pain, upset, fully possessed, missing 4x14 Possessed, missing, body threatened, throat cut, knocked down 4x15 Possessed 4x16 Possessed, Hell therapy, hit (lightly), collapses, upset,

5x02 Shaken, knocked unconscious, 5x03 Handcuffed, framed 5x05 Mind controlled, choked 5x07 Choked 5x08 Emotional goodbyes, crying

ARROW 3x10 Annoyed 3x11 Punched 3x15 Obsessive, insomnia 3x17 Jealous, trust issues/'betrayed', kicked, bruises 3x18 Shot by Arrow, bleeding out, hospitalized, weak, blood clot, seizure 3x19 Punched multiple times, choked, crash landing, pain, beaten/choked, more pain 3x20 Heartbroken 3x22 Intense crash landing, imprisoned, poisoned, unconscious 3x23 Restrained, caught in explosion

4x06 Caught in explosion, trapped, 4x07 Sad/angst

5x08 Memory loss, knocked down, kicked, trapped

FLASH 1x18 Crash landing 3x08 Brain pain, abducted, mind controlled 6x09 (Superman version) literally dies/destiny changed

[wyrdsistergoldenhair]

How to Rewatch 9-1-1 Before September 26th

Okay, so if you're like me, you want to rewatch 9-1-1 before season 8 premieres on September 26th - but maybe you don't have the time to sit down and binge-watch. I've come up with a schedule where you can watch at least two episodes a day (starting on August 4th) and finish just in time for season 8.

Aug. 4

1x01 Pilot

1x02 Let Go

Aug. 5

1x03 Next of Kin

1x04 Worst Day Ever

Aug. 6

1x05 Point of Origin

1x06 Heartbreaker

Aug. 7

1x07 Full Moon (Creepy AF)

1x08 Karma’s a Bitch

Aug. 8

1x09 Trapped

1x10 A Whole New You

Aug. 9

2x01 Under Pressure

2x02 7.1

Aug. 10

2x03 Help Is Not Coming

2x04 Stuck

Aug. 11

2x05 Awful People

2x06 Dosed

Aug. 12

2x07 Haunted

2x08 Buck, Actually

Aug. 13

2x09 Hen Begins

2x10 Merry Ex-Mas

Aug. 14

2x11 New Beginnings

2x12 Chimney Begins

Aug. 15

2x13 Fight or Flight

2x14 Broken

Aug. 16

2x15 Ocean’s 9-1-1

2x16 Bobby Begins Again

Aug. 17

2x17 Careful What You Wish For

2x18 This Life We Choose

Aug. 18

3x01 Kids Today

3x02 Sink or Swim

Aug. 19

3x03 The Searchers

3x04 Triggers

Aug. 20

3x05 Rage

3x06 Monsters

Aug. 21

3x07 Athena Begins

3x08 Malfunction

Aug. 22

3x09 Fallout

3x10 Christmas Spirit

Aug. 23

3x11 Seize the Day

3x12 Fools

Aug. 24

3x13 Pinned

3x14 The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1

Aug. 25

3x15 Eddie Begins

3x16 The One That Got Away

Aug. 26

3x17 Powerless

3x18 What’s Next?

Aug. 27

4x01 The New Abnormal

4x02 Alone Together

Aug. 28

4x03 Future Tense

4x04 9-1-1, What’s Your Grievance?

Aug. 29

4x05 Buck Begins

4x06 Jinx

Aug. 30

4x07 There Goes the Neighborhood

4x08 Breaking Point

Aug. 31

4x09 Blindsided

4x10 Parenthood

Sept. 1

4x11 First Responders

4x12 Treasure Hunt

Sept. 2

4x13 Suspicion

4x14 Survivors

Sept. 3

5x01 Panic

5x02 Desperate Times

Sept. 4

5x03 Desperate Measures

5x04 Home and Away

Sept. 5

5x05 Peer Pressure

5x06 Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1

Sept. 6

5x07 Ghost Stories

5x08 Defend in Place

Sept. 7

5x09 Past Is Prologue

5x10 Wrapped in Red

Sept. 8

5x11 Outside Looking In

5x12 Boston

Sept. 9

5x13 Fear-O-Phobia

5x14 Dumb Luck

Sept. 10

5x15 FOMO

5x16 May Day

Sept. 11

5x17 Hero Complex

5x18 Starting Over

Sept. 12

6x01 Let the Games Begin

6x02 Crash & Learn

Sept. 13

6x03 The Devil You Know

6x04 Animal Instincts

Sept. 14

6x05 Home Invasion

6x06 Tomorrow

Sept. 15

6x07 Cursed

6x08 What’s Your Fantasy?

Sept. 16

6x09 Red Flag

6x10 In a Flash

Sept. 17

6x11 In Another Life

6x12 Recovery

Sept. 18

6x13 Mixed Feelings

6x14 Performance Anxiety

Sept. 19

6x15 Death and Taxes

6x16 Lost and Found

Sept. 20

6x17 Love Is in the Air

6x18 Pay It Forward

Sept. 21

7x01 Abandon Ships

7x02 Rock the Boat

Sept. 22

7x03 Capsized

7x04 Buck, Bothered and Bewildered

Sept. 23

7x05 You Don’t Know Me

7x06 There Goes the Groom

Sept. 24

7x07 Ghost of a Second Chance

7x08 Step Nine

Sept. 25

7x09 Ashes, Ashes

7x10 All Fall Down

[macgyver2016-bracket]

ROUND 1 RESULTS

1. 1x06 vs 3x11 - TIE, ROUND 2 UNDERDOG*

2. 2x06 vs 4x02

3. 2x10 vs 4x13

4. 1x17 vs 3x22

5. 2x13 vs 3x17

6. 2x14 vs 2x21

7. 2x12 vs 2x19

8. 5x02 vs 5x14

9. 1x19 vs 2x08

10. 3x18 vs 4x08

11. 1x01 vs 3x15

12. 4x01 vs 5x07

13. 1x13 vs 5x05

14. 5x10 vs 5x12

15. 3x19 vs 4x11

16. 1x14 vs 3x21

17. 1x18 vs 3x12

18. 1x10 vs 4x05

19. 3x14 vs 5x09

20. 2x07 vs 2x23

21. 1x15 vs 5x15

22. 1x02 vs 1x12

23. 2x01 vs 2x04

24. 3x06 vs 3x10

25. 1x08 vs 3x08

26. 2x02 vs 3x03

27. 3x05 vs 5x08

28. 5x03 vs 5x04 - TIE, FLASH ROUND RUNOFF VOTE*

29. 2x09 vs 5x06

30. 1x11 vs 1x21

31. 2x22 vs 3x13

32. 3x20 vs 4x03

33. 4x07 vs 5x13

34. 2x15 vs 3x16 - 100% SWEEP

35. 1x07 vs 1x09

36. 3x09 vs 4x06

37. 2x18 vs 4x12

38. 1x03 vs 2x20

39. 1x04 vs 2x11

40. 1x05 vs 4x04

41. 2x03 vs 2x16

42. 1x20 vs 5x01 - 100% SWEEP

43. 3x02 vs 3x07

44. 2x17 vs 4x09

45. 3x04 vs 5x11

46. 1x16 vs 3x01

47. 2x05 vs 4x10

*Quick note on the two ties! Match 1 had double the number of votes as Match 28, therefore, both episodes from Match 1 will be automatically put through to Round 2: One as the Match Contender and the other as the Underdog. Which episode goes where will be determined by the randomizer.

Match 28 will have a 24-hour flash round rematch to determine which one will go on to Round 2.

[platoapproved]

Top five favorite scenes from interview with the vampire!

Choosing just five is going to be AGONY. I may do a few lil extra ones, some are just moments and some full scenes...

2x05 The San Francisco fight. It's just so completely out of control and so absolutely rancid. Literally watched the whole thing with my hands over my mouth like I could not BELIEVE.

2x02 The first flash of misplaced Armand memory Daniel has, while Louis is mocking him about Alice. I had to pause the episode and get up and walk around a little. The filmmaking is just so good. It's so jarring the way they slip it in there and leave it as this discordant little mystery.

2x04 Armand's backstory monologue. It's like. So hard to watch and agonizing, but the writing is so careful and spare, and the acting is haunting. Does the thing I always wish I was better at with writing where it suggests so much with a few deliberate very evocative choices. The vacillating between first and third person pronouns, the shifting between Armand's face and the painting, the music. Just a great bit of filmmaking.

2x08 "For the nights in front of me, where I might learn to live honestly" still can't watch or think too hard about this scene without tearing up a little bit. Louis means so much to me. 😭

2x04 The slow zoom in on Armand as Louis is talking about hallucinating Lestat. It's just such a fantastic use of like... there is no dialogue here to communicate what is happening. It's all in the performance and the focus of the camera on Armand, getting closer and closer, looking at Louis as he's talking, so the focus isn't on his words but on the pain that is creeping out past Armand's mask. Brilliant stuff.

1x01 The church scene, specifically Lestat convincing Louis to accept the Dark Gift. This is like.... It. If I had to show someone just one scene to explain to them what IWTV is, it would be that one.

2x04 The jarring hard cut ending of Daniel listening to the mp3 of the argument. It's SO abrupt and violent and wonderful. What a fucking cliffhanger.

Okay, so I did a top 7, I'm restraining myself from any more although there are so many...

[appletvdaily]

FOUNDATION (2021-) Laura Birn as DEMERZEL Empire is always on my mind.

[amuseoffyre]

Collating a list of Stede's flashbacks/trauma-hallucinations across the seasons (so far). Hallucinations will be italicised. I hadn't realised just how many there were.

1x01

"this is what a man's work looks like" - Father Bonnet killing the goose, then verbally abusing Stede

"left your comfortable life" - family portrait, the family discussion of horses with Stede isolated at one end of the table.

"this is my home now" - the same scene, only this time Stede is sitting with them instead of isolated from them.

1x02

Ghost Nigel beside the Revenge

Flashback to dead Nigel on the deck

"They'll never see papa again" - during the trial in the village.

"This is all coming from you" - Stede thinking about his departure and whispering goodbye to his children.

1x03

Life flashing before his eyes when he's hanged - Mary and the children at a distance

1x04

Department of Backstory - unhappy betrothal, marriage, children and "we were just playing pirates"

Anniversary presents going wrong - he and Mary at odds

"I was a coward" - Mary's appeal for him to try and his departure

Fever Gravy Basket incident when he manifests his family to tear him a new one and then he's killed by the fantasy version of piracy

1x05 and 1x06 have Ed's flashbacks. 1x07 has Jim's flashbacks. 1x08 has none.

1x09

"Mr Bonnet. Welcome" - sees Nigel instead of Chauncey

"weak-hearted lily-livered little rich boy" returns

"I stole his sword and jabbed it through his head" - dead Nigel on the deck

"wife, Mary Bonnet" - flash of Mary's disapproving face

Repeat of the happy families flashback from episode 1, with all of them sitting together and laughing" mismatched with the "which is your favourite pig" passive aggression

Beach flashback including "playing pirates", "I don't hate our lives" and Stede's arrival on the Revenge

Post-kiss flashback to Mary's "we have to try, don't we?"

"You defile beautiful things" flashbacks to dead Nigel, unhappy family portrait and Ed

"God's perfect little rich boy" - goose-killing and flower-picking flashbacks

1x10

"Death is an unavoidable part of the pirate lifestyle" - dead Nigel on deck, dead Chauncey in the forest and Stede screaming

"His name is Ed" - Stede's romance flashbacks

None in 2x01 but a full fantasy dream sequence that references a lot of the stuff he's worrying about.

2x02

"You wear fine things well" - Stede's POV

2x03 is only Ed flashback/trauma/coma hallucinations. 2x04 & 2x05 have none.

2x06

back-to-back flashbacks of flower-picking and goose-killing, immediately after Ned's death

Technically no flashbacks in 2x07, but since Stede spends his entire day being cheered on and praised by a man in a blood-stained leather apron (like this father in the goose-killing incident) after doing 'man's work', don't think he really needs to be flashing back 😬

And 2x08 really didn't have time for any, despite the fact that Stede ended up in the same uniform of the first two people who's deaths he was involved with.

[xxgothchatonxx]

The Newsreader 2x05 was pretty uncomfortable to watch, but in a good way- ok what I meant was, it was shot, acted, and edited in a way that was supposed to create this feeling of discomfort. And I thought it was very well-executed without going overboard.

That edit from the nightclub to Dale waking up the next morning immediately comes to mind. The music thumping and lights flashing, then just dead silence and harsh natural lighting in a place Dale doesn't know, therefore we as the audience don't know. But we can piece together what happened.

Very effectively uncomfortable.