#the six episodes split in half is another intrigue

[moophinz]

A lot of people have shared this information, but there’s still a lot of people who haven’t seen it so I wanted to try to spread it out more. From this article on Amazon’s site

Some have noticed that Kiryu’s dragon is very different than the one in the game. The promotional image features a very edited version of it, but the gold screen to the right shows that it’s practically entirely black. While I haven’t seen anything to explain the differences they made, I can only guess at least part of it must be due to how much it’s being pressed this is something of an “alternate” or kind of redone version of the games. As also displayed by the Japanese title.

The timeline for this series covers 1995 to 2005 which is pretty much the first game. However, there’s been a focus on Kiryu’s childhood friends and telling stories the games didn’t get to. Multiple articles have also stated this is going to be an “original story.”

As of now, it’s almost feeling as though this won’t be a retelling of the first game. Usually, RGG adaptations don’t seek to do that so it’s not too surprising.

In case someone also doesn’t know, yes, it’s going to be a Japanese acted series in the same language and shot in Japan. (I saw some confusion and fears on that)

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S2E13 "Time Squared"

THE PREMISE

While the Enterprise is en route to its planned destination, the ship's sensors detect a lone shuttlepod drifting through space with no power or fuel reserves. They use the tractor beam to bring it into the shuttlebay, and find it has the same name and registry as one of the Enterprise shuttles. When they open it, they find an exact double of Captain Picard, barely alive.

The double is taken to sickbay. Meanwhile, the crew discovers that the shuttle's internal clock is about six hours ahead of the ship's chronometer, meaning that the other Picard comes from six hours in the future. They then recover a poor quality video log which shows the future Enterprise falling into an energy vortex and being destroyed as the shuttle was launched...

MY REVIEW

After the mere time distortions of "We'll Always Have Paris," we have our first actual time travel episode at last.

The episode's strongest aspect is definitely the mystery at its core. The discovery of the Picard duplicate makes for an intriguing cold open, and there's a constant sense of tension as they uncover more and more information.

For simplicity's sake, I'll be referring to present Picard as Picard 1, and the Picard double as Picard 2.

The double is of course also played by Patrick Stewart, and despite looking identical it's easy to keep track of which is which, even as split-screen effects and camera tricks allows Patrick Stewart to play both characters in the same scene... with the exception of a rather unconvincing body double in a bald cap when Picard 1 walks in to sickbay to find his double in bed. The guy really should've been facing away from the camera.

It's also an interesting choice for Picard 2 to only travel six hours back in time instead of the more predictable days or weeks, since it gives the episode a much tighter time frame and implies that future Picard probably had little control over the process.

Once it's determined just where (or rather, when) Picard 2 came from, the mystery becomes just what will cause the destruction of the Enterprise and how - or if - they can avoid it. Picard 2 is no help as his biological functions are slowly moving back into sync as they approach the time he came from, so Picard 1 is left paranoid as the lives of the entire crew are dependent on his choice - would acting as normal be the fatal choice, or would trying to differ from his usual course of action do it instead? What if Picard 2 had inadvertently sealed his own fate by trying to warn himself?

The episode comes to a head when the Enterprise encounters the vortex from the shuttle's log and is unable to escape, even with the engines pushed to their limit.

Scans emanating from the vortex focus on the two Picards, leading Picard 1 to theorise that an intelligence is controlling the vortex and seems to be interested in him personally, and that his future self had left the ship in a vain attempt to draw its attention and save his crew. This idea feels a bit half-baked in my opinion, but it gets the job done for an explanation.

With the episode having caught up to his timeline, Picard 2 is now fully awake and coherent, and sets out to leave the Enterprise as he did before. Picard 1 follows him, insisting that there must be another option to save the Enterprise and prevent a time loop, but Picard 2 just keeps muttering about it being impossible. This sequence probably could've been done a bit better, maybe with some better interactions between the two Picards, but it's still an interesting climax.

Just as Picard 2 goes to board the shuttle again, Picard 1 declares that the cycle has to end and kills Picard 2 with a phaser.

CAPTAIN PICARD KILLS HIMSELF!!! (NOT CLICKBAIT!!!)

Anyway, Picard 1 orders that the Enterprise be flown into the centre of the vortex... and it comes out of the other side unharmed. Picard 2 and the shuttlepod disappear, and the Enterprise continues on its course. Cool.

7/10 - One or two dull spots and a climax that could have been tighter, but otherwise a worthwhile episode with an interesting use of time travel.

Previous Episode | TNG Masterpost | Next Episode

[badger-writes]

the thing that really bites about TBoBF is that you can still see so much of the connective tissue for payoffs that were being set up in the first half. stuff like the Warrior Tusken and the Child not being explicitly shown as being killed, the flashbacks to Kamino and Geonosis setting up a connection to the Clone Wars, Cad Bane showing up to be the heavy, the Mods and Garsa existing and presumably having a character arc beyond that which would tie Boba into the running and wellbeing of Mos Espa more, Water and Respect being built as big symbolic themes in contrast to Spice and Fear, Freetown trying to figure out whether or not to get involved... 

but all of that had to be left by the wayside to cram in The Decision and the manner in which it was accomplished gives off a strong vibe that this was done by a mandate from on high that the end of s2 neeeded to Be Fixed Now, which forced major rewrites that kept Favreau away from the camera, which ate up precious production time trying to fit round pegs into square holes, which meant Rodriguez had to pinch-hit trying to direct episodes he’s not well-suited for, which meant episodes’ worth of plot development had to be jettisoned, which ALSO meant we had to source Rosario Dawson at the last minute and deepfake Luke on almost every level because no way are we getting Mark on the set and in the booth in time for shooting what could have been its own one-hour special, all becoming kind of a rolling pick-up game which meant... well, getting Mando Season 2.5 instead of Book of Boba Fett.

it’s hard to think of a single person involved with this production who didn’t get burned in some capacity. most of all the leading cast, Temeura and Ming-Na most prominently, but also the showrunners who are praised for being extremely competent and thoughtful storytellers (generally rightfully so), the special effects artists, the editors, and so on. but more than that I think in the eyes of a lot of less casual fans it cheapened Din & Grogu’s story by plastering them over Boba’s own narrative, which was proving quite interesting and worthy in its own right. the first really seminal take on the character since the buyout, in my opinion.

and all for the sake of some corpo who saw Din and Grogu splitting up not as the logical endpoint of this phase of their journey, but killing the golden goose. and it surprises me, because up until now LFL has done pretty well at evading the hand of middle management, except in any and all cases related to hitting release deadlines, giving Kelly Marie Tran any more screentime, and pandering to audiences and authorities who can’t handle gay people onscreen. but after the response to TROS and the sequels generally (generally unwarranted hysteria imho), it’s a move that reeks of desperate overcorrection at best and baldfaced rank-pulling producer hubris at worst.

in the end I think it does enough in its finale to get some of the taste out of most peoples’ mouths but the version of the show we didn’t get is always going to be more intriguing than the one we did. and I still genuinely believe it would have been nearly perfect, one of the all-time great Boba Fett stories, if it had just been left as it hypothetically was. instead there’s an extremely solid first four-to-six episodes and then just kind of a hot mess of a back half that clocks in well under every other big-budget Disney miniseries released thus far. like a stained glass window that someone threw a brick through.

so yeah. yet another object lesson that good stories should generally be left in the hands of the people who write them if they are to remain good. hopefully Hollywood learns it someday.

but aside from that, yeah, show’s pretty good. give it a 3/5, probably gonna write a fanfic about it

[firstagent]

Review! Adventure: (2020) Episode 67: The End of the Adventure

In this episode, among all of Negamon’s terrifying forms, it decides a shadow rivaling Omegamon is the scariest.

The common template for Digimon finales of half climactic action and half emotional epilogue offers some intriguing possibilities for this series. The climactic action part goes without saying: whatever stops are left will be pulled out and it’s going to be the kind of wild action sequence the show’s excelled at. But it’s hard to go without some sort of resolution as the kids say farewell to the Digital World. How do you say goodbye to a cast we never really met in the first place? It could be the same hollow statements we’re used to, or they could cram a bunch of real world details we should have discovered ages ago. Instead it’s split halfway, with sights a little more telling than we’re used to, but without pretending this show was anything different than what it was.

After tussling with multiple forms of Negamon, all abominations of tentacles and eyes, Omegamon dives into its main core for the final showdown. And Negamon, master of horrors… solidifies into a form the same size as Omegamon, only shadowy. It’s possibly the least intimidating thing it could muster. It’s also a weird show of deference, like Negamon would rather fight as equals rather than as something larger and awe-inspiring. It makes for a hell of a final one-on-one clash that delivers the kind of fight we hoped for, but the psychology is poorly considered and the form in many ways betrays Negamon’s concept.

Once Omegamon and Negamon run through the string of “evenly matched overpowered robot duel” tropes, eventually ending up in space because why not, the usual spur of energy from the angels and the usual refusal to quit from Taichi and Yamato leads to Omegamon Alter-S… the usual mode change everybody expected. It makes quick work of Negamon, but makes an observation that other Digimon seasons have only danced around: in worlds where Digimon are reborn: doesn’t that apply to the villains?

It varies by world, but you probably should wonder about the fate of the Dark Masters, Lucemon, Bagramon, and the like. This time it’s attacked head on. Omegamon recognizes that the power of rebirth Negamon grew such a disdain for allows it another chance to recreate itself, perhaps this time without the corruption that led it down this path. If there has been a recurring theme this series, it could be the exploration of renewal and history repeating itself.

The falling action starts out on an auspicious note, with the kids left in a weird binary space where everyone can chill with their partners for a second. They’re sweet, quiet moments, but nothing remarkable. And suddenly it’s over, leaving you wondering if that was it for the kids in the Digital World, perhaps even with their Digimon. Meanwhile, the following scene of Wisemon passing on the story to the baby Digimon is a wonderful additional to the formula. Like the holy war before it, it shows how this adventure is destined to become part of the world’s lore, to inform and guide the heroes of the next crisis that will inevitably come along.

As for the heroes of this one… they just go back to their lives. Not knowing much about them lives hampers a few of the shots, particularly Sora and Joe’s. But for everyone else they take what little we were given and roll with it. Takeru and Yamato get a rare real world visit. Mimi puts her entrepreneurial spirit into action. Koshiro’s on her payroll, devising a way to open his own gate to the Digital World. And Taichi gets a moment in the shade, a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet, maybe even out of the limelight for a change. That he’s still in the Digital World is only brushed on, appropriate as he’s not the first Digimon protagonist to make that call, that he didn’t have any specific grievance that made him want to avoid the real world (at least that we knew of), and he wasn’t that convincing as a human child anyway. It’s a good spot for him.

It’s almost a footnote that the Digimon stayed with them, remarkable since that only happened once in the first six seasons. But instead of wondering about the implications of Digimon in the real world, they leave the kids alone with their sassy pets. Other kids saw it all; they’re fine with it. They keep it simple, while still offering up a clean resolution to everything, combined with a final battle that lives up to the hype. With all the disappointments of the series baked in, the least it could do was manage an ending within its means. To that, at least, we can be happy it was successful.

My Grade: A-

Loose Data:

Hope you weren’t playing a drinking game taking a shot for every Our War Game homage. The episode leads off with Omegamon flying through a network-like tunnel and it never really lets up at any point in the battle.

They make a big show of the other six occupying Negamon’s outer body to weaken the core, but there isn’t much correlation shown to suggest that affecting much. But it’s nice that the other six got to feel useful in the final battle. And while it’s certainly appropriate that Seraphimon and Ophanimon are leading the way, it is unusual to think about Takeru and Hikari heading up the troops.

Considering it’s the first time we’ve had a good Digimon introduced stronger than the one that showed up in episode two, Alter-S didn’t get a whole ton of screentime. He showed up, more or less one-shotted Negamon, then was back to regular Omegamon before the end of his monologue. As far as midnight hour emergency power-ups (Crimson Mode, X7 Superior, that sort of thing), this is one of the weakest.

Omegamon talking about “endless potential” sure hits differently after Kizuna, doesn’t it? He’s talking more about Digimon in general while Kizuna was about the limitations of the Chosen-Digimon partnership, but still…

Given the season’s dedication to showing the Digital World outside of battle, the montage of locations carrying on with life is great, and lined with little sights like BanchoMamemon graduating finishing school, the Mimi statue at the gem mine, and Petaldramon, Andromon, and Guardromon all still petrified under flowers.

One cute little touch/nod to the original series… Yamato and Takeru are meeting in Shibuya.

The digital gate Koshiro is trying to create resembles the weird pop-up he received in episode one that we all thought was going to be interesting and relevant and we never saw again.

And finally, congrats to Leomon for surviving a series! His reward is spending the rest of eternity helping Wisemon babysit.

See reviews of every Digimon episode at Digimon: System Restore! Support the site by joining our Patreon!

[philcmena]

「natalia dyer & demi girl」⇾ carmichael, philomena, the junior radcliffe student’s records show that she/they are a taurus and 20 years old. she/they are studying wildlife science, living in noland and can be whimsical, patient, apathetic & unpredictable. when i see her/them i am reminded of the gentleness of decomposition, dancing naked around the flames, and whipping wind in your hair. ⇽「james & 21 & est & they/them.」

here’s my second !! baby child i love a lot ... much kinder ... a bit odd .. love of my life ... a classic ... a favorite ..

TW CANCER, TRAUMA, DEPERSONALIZATION / DEREALIZATION DISORDER ( ALT. DISSOCIATION ), DEATH, DECAY, MAGGOTS.

aesthetic.

wildflowers in your hair and bare feet against moss, binoculars and maps, madonna beating out of half-dead speakers in a half-dead van, whipping wind, jumping off cliffs and rolling down hills, a bandaid wrapped around each finger, cryptic bumper stickers and cryptids in the woods, facing the sun and letting the rays hit you, counting stars late into the night, dancing naked in the woods with nothing but fire to light your way, mismatched socks and lucky ribbons, hoarding a box of special treasures, shoplifting and diner-dashing, bleach against roots, pink sweaters paired with ripped fishnets and slip dresses with knock off uggs, willingly wearing crocs, glitter stickers, fungi and feeling one with them, lying down and decomposing, they’ll find us in a week. they’ll find us in a week.

basic info.

full name: philomena brontë carmichael

nickname(s): philly, phil, mena, etc.

b.o.d. - april 20th lmao !!

label(s): the amaranth, the halycon, the neophyte, the wanderer, etc. etc.

height: 5′4″

hometown: woodside, ca

sexuality: demisexual !!!!

pinterest ( & her family pinterest b/c they’re my most developed family uwu)

stats

inspired by: luna lovegood (harry potter), orla mccool (derry girls), cassie ainsworth (skins), alice (alice’s adventures in wonderland), amelie (amelie).

biography.

a middle child belonging to christopher and imogen carmichael - two stanford professors. christopher specialized in british literature whilst imogen specialized in the classics. hence the name.

the order of siblings goes as such: lysander, elektra, juno, philomena, and twins orion & valora. the deal was that everybody had a greek (or in juno’s case, roman) first name and a middle name inspired by a piece of british literature circa 1800s and under. a family of nerds, if you will.

so, clearly - right off the bat, their parents are … eccentric. they’re both in love with their respected topic, and with each other, and with their kids. the carmichael family is a happy family.

they each have their own quirks and whatnot - though philly’s always been particularly dreamy - even as a child, she’d spend hours watching clouds or caterpillars or the leaves blow in the wind rather than play with other kids. she wasn’t a shy kid - she just had her own interests.

hardship doesn’t hit the family until philomena is five and starts having splitting headaches. they’re slow at first - but as soon as she’s seeing spots and unable to walk in a straight line, doctor appointments are made.

it doesn’t take long for them to discover the tumor, though the official diagnosis of malignant ependymoma comes a month later.

it’s grade ii but slow-moving, small enough to not be as much of a threat as worried, but big enough where removal is necessary. philomena earns a scar and brings it in for show-and-tell. for two months afterwards, philly’s at radiotherapy monday through friday.

they’re lucky - philomena’s considered cancer-free by the next year. she’s babied at first - handled delicately, as if she could break if touched - but with five other children … it doesn’t last for too long.

and life continues as normal.

her personality doesn’t shift much over the next few years - she’s awfully independent for a kid, and awfully quiet - when she speaks it’s about faeries and bigfoot, about how the sky is so blue and if you listen quietly, you can hear the leaves whisper their secrets to each other. this is not odd.

she’s close to all her siblings, but she idolizes her older sister - elektra. elektra’s six years older and dyes her hair whatever colors she wants. elektra bought a knife off a seedy guy downtown. elektra threw away all of her heels and renounced god. elektra is god. her music is loud but it’s not heavy - it’s florence and the machine.

they’re opposites - elektra’s boisterous and feels loudly, philomena’s softer and feels…less. when elektra sneaks out, philomena keeps watch. they are a duo.

philomena is smart - but she’s fifteen and hates school. hates sitting inside all day. hates the same routine - day after day - it’s all the same. her parents’ routine is the same, philly feels contained and she wants to live.

elektra’s twenty-one and just bought a brand new spanking (used but not falling apart) 19-something volkswagen … van - using her entire savings account. she says she’s tired of routine, she’s leaving the next day.

naturally, philomena stows away in the back and isn’t discovered until they’re two states away and she’s got to pee. elektra nearly crashes the van in shock.

it’s an argument - philomena vs. elektra, then them vs. their parents, then their parents vs. the school, the state - it’s an ordeal. philomena switches to an online program in the end.

it hurts christopher and imogen - lysander’s not having any of their nonsense, juno’s betrayed and alone - the twins are twins. in the end, it’s alright. the carmichael family is a happy family.

philomena and elektra take their time - it’s not a road trip, it’s their new life, permanently on the road. they stop and explore often - they do odd jobs in whatever town they settle in. they dine-n-dash, they shoplift. they survive in their own way.

during particularly desperate times, they two resorted to identity theft & credit fraud - getting away with it only by ditching the cards once they’ve made it out of state.

she drops out of high school officially when she’s seventeen - they have to drive all the way back to california to deal with the wrath of their parents and to deal with paperwork, but it’s done. philomena doesn’t know what path she wants in life - but it’s not that.

it’s during this time that the episodes occur - philomena’s outside her body, philomena’s wrapped in cotton, her memories are not her own. she’s looking in the mirror and she doesn’t recognize herself. they take shelter in a city for six months, long enough for her brand spankin’ new therapist to figure out what’s wrong with her. she’s diagnosed with depersonalization / derealization disorder - they think it’s stress. philomena doesn’t get stressed. they think it’s trauma. she laughs - she never laughs.

there is trauma though, deep-rooted but somewhere inside - you just have to look for it.

you. just. have. to. look. for. it. look for it. look for it. look for it look for it look -

you were ten and she was thirteen, an off-trail hike in familiar woods in a familiar town, safe and familiar. it was your idea, to stray from the carved out paths, down creeks and up hills and round, and round again. you’re the one who spotted the scarf first, sticking up from the dirt and dancing in the wind like the beginning of reincarnation. it was not reincarnation, it was discovery. it was ruin. with curiosity drawn, you skidded down - with compliance, followed juno, followed your sister - clumsy in her steps and tumbling down quicker than you. you saw the corpse, but juno felt it. decaying flesh and maggot.

and she left juno, just like that - just five years later, when juno had finally gone to the end of her wits. philly up and left. abandoned her.

philomena and elektra leave the city after that therapy session. they do not return. she’s always been good at hiding her secrets.

three years later and her parents want philly to have a higher education - desperate for it, really - worried for her future. it’s a battle that she loses, getting her GED and applying to a local college in florida in shameful compliance.

they’re there for a year until philly gets (expectantly) expelled from the community college & the two of them are banned from the town they’d residing in up until that point. they don’t talk about it - but boy, was it one hell of a time.

they found refuge in lovell, a town that seemed to suit them well - it suited elektra’s desire to travel up and down the east coast, and it intrigued philomena enough to the point of her being content with staying. soon after, philly officially transferred to radcliffe for the fall semester & they’ve been here since!

UPDATE: another summer update! very simple ... she n elektra traveled the states again, as they always do ... like clockwork. had to be dragged back to radcliffe (doesn’t like staying in one place for too long) bt also <3 likes a lot of people here n brought them all souvenirs. it ws very nice! nothing bad.

personality.

she’s quiet but she’s confident - her voice sounds like rustling leaves, if leaves smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.

often underestimated - philly’s petite and looks like she’d fall over if a plastic bag blew too close to her. she’s independent - for the most part. elektra is the only person philly takes orders from.

has always been considered odd - weird, strange. still talks about the trees as if they’re listening, as if they’re old friends. she’s vague and doesn’t elaborate on the things she says.

believes in pretty much any superstition you throw her way. luck is very important to her. if you ask her if the earth is flat, she’ll say probably. believes strongly in bigfoot and the lochness monster. has personally seen aliens, and loves ghosts almost more than herself.

she can be amusing - whether you ‘get’ her or not, her outlook is often bright - she talks about the negatives the same way she talks about the positives. can be seen as naive or gullible, but she’s plenty smart. even if half of her education has come directly from google.

philly doesn’t laugh. a smile, yes - often, in fact - not always reaching her ears, or bearing teeth - but these are not indicators of her happiness. philly is consistently content. she thinks many things are funny - she still will not laugh.

her voice is often monotonous - she doesn’t sound dreary, she sounds far-away. her voice carries. her emotions are often unknown to others.

is apathetic in most situations. she’s hard to bother - she’s incredibly patient and enjoys the company of most - tolerates them at the very least. it’s hard for her to express her emotions, because she feels them so little that it’s very nearly not worth it. her affection is not verbal - it’s small touches and gestures of kindness, love in her own way.

is a fan of knock-knock jokes and bad puns. she won’t crack a smile while telling you them, nor does she expect you to laugh. she just enjoys them.

she owns a motorola razr covered in puffy stickers - hasn’t ever had a smartphone. she’s a fan of emoticons. her favorite is :o)

has a lot of bruises and scratches and scars - she’s often getting herself into pickles. there are always, at the very minimum, three bandaids on each hand.

she has insomnia, so she’s awake often. is often seen wandering town - even when she shouldn’t be, even when it might be dangerous. her intuition is delayed. when she does sleep - her dreams are vivid and fantastical.

keeps a box of memories - sentimental bits and pieces she’s picked up over the last few years. there are a lot of buttons and postcards, but any teeny tiny object will do.

her style changes every week - most, if not all, of her clothes are thrifted. one week she’s baby spice and the next she’s lydia deetz. she combines pieces from different styles often - she looks like a barbie clothed by a child. she feels most comfortable like this.

will either patch-up the clothes that get too worn or reuse them in some way. sometimes donates the clothes she gets tired off - isn’t minimalistic, but she’s learned to keep only a small amount of possessions.

the only consistency is her lucky ribbon - it’s pastel yellow and silky and as thin as a shoelace. she ties it onto her outfit of the day, everyday. if she loses it, she’s lost. elektra has a matching ribbon.

has no problem with minor theft - she only takes bare minimum, puts herself and elektra first and that’s how it’s always been. she tries to be good while in lovell / radcliffe - would hate to be forced out by mobs with torches and pitchforks

currently living in noland while elektra stays in their van, florence - sometimes philly stays there during the weekends.

they used to live in motels on the occasion, the cheapest room, and more often than not they’d both go home with strangers for a comfier bed and a hotter shower.

it was a common occurrence - she didn’t sleep with them - but somehow, she weaseled her way into their homes anyway. has come out mostly unscathed, on most occasions. this has been a practice ever since they’ve been on the road.

really, truly - has not slept with anybody, had her first and only kiss at thirteen with a frog. this doesn’t bother her.

will consume a n y t h i n g you put in front of her - isn’t picky.

listens to whatever they’ve picked up along the way but she likes instrumentals the best. her second favorite genre is 1990′s and 2000′s top hits. they’re nostalgic for her. third favorites? florence, of course. fleetwood mac. the bird and the bee.

loves storms - will go out in the rain and will risk her life for it.

owns a pair of roller-skates and is often skating rather than walking. unless she’s on grass - then she’s walking barefoot.

has many hobbies, and gets bored of them often. her favorite hobby is welding. she’s not certified.

also, juggling.

also, accordion.

the kind of girl who’ll do any job you give her. odd jobs are her favorite jobs. babysitting is her least favorite - but she does it anyway. has lost children before. have they ever been found? not by philly.

dyes her hair blonde often and cuts her own hair - bangs included - finds it cathartic, likes the itchiness of bleach.

everything she does is often in pursuit of feeling free, alive, and meaningful.

( like her frequent visits to the woods, late at night when the moon is high and full. it’s freeing to dance around a fire, stark naked in the cold. builds immunity )

comes and goes wherever she pleases, nothing & nobody can stop her (besides elektra). has befriended the campus witch, or as much as the witch will allow, and shrike as well. she knows to respect nature, and abandoned sites - she’s practically free to explore as she wishes, her only pride is the trust she’s gained.

the trust expands to animals as well, she has a certain knack for getting them to like her. has too many ‘pet’ rats that reside with her, alongside a baby raccoon & a few crow pals. has a new animal companion everyday, but she doesn’t contain them or force them to stay.

leaves her window in noland wide open because of this, because her window is conveniently right besides a tree with sturdy branches. good for animal smuggling, sneaking in and out, hiding, etc. etc. world is her oyster.

though her room in noland is ??? frankly a mess ??? already ??? usually keeps most of her possessions in her memory box but she’s also turned her room into a mini labyrinth of knick-knacks. very cozy, but very nest-like. think of howl’s room from howl’s moving castle.

wanted connections.

random encounters… it’s only her second semester at radcliffe, she hasn’t met everybody yet i’m sure

random encounters…in the wild… alternately, people she’s met before in a different part of the country. whether she’s stolen from them or crashed at their place, or simply shared a dinner. anything goes!

unexpected sleepover… someone whose place she crashed at after a mysterious night. a party, adventure, etc. etc. maybe they don’t even remember her staying over, maybe she hadn’t been with them to begin with.

employers… she does a lot of odd jobs! knows how to make a lot of things in many different mediums just to earn a small living.

friends… y’know … people who enjoy her presence, likes her oddness. they may not understand her, but they appreciate her. or maybe they do understand her, in their own way!

not friends… philly doesn’t consider anybody an enemy in the slightest, but some people may not be fond of her … think she’s a little too strange, or they refuse to understand her, or something of the likes.

closing in… someone trying to get closer to her, trying to figure her out on a level deeper than what she would like, and she keeps slipping out from between their fingers every time.

mom friend mom friend mom friend… older sibling figures! dad friends! take one look at philly and instantly want to swaddle n protect her.

caught red handed… someone catches her stealing or about to dine-n-dash. do they care? who knows!

late-night shenanigans… they just walk and talk at night … very relaxing … not actually very shenanigans filled…

a dealer… because she wasn’t born on 4/20 for nothing. she’s not turning 20 on 4/20/20 fr nothing. don’t fail us.

debating conspiracies… or superstitions, really anything. maybe they’re frustrated at her apathy surrounding all situations.

no likey… :( they distrust her. probably fr good reason tho … i don’t blame you

thrifting pals… no explanation needed methinks

an eventual hook-up… maybe … possibly … it’s questionable, but it could happen! can’t stay a virgin forever! (or well. she cld. we’ll see!) she’d probably have to trust yr muse a lot though

unrequited romance uwu… probably unrequited on her end because she doesn’t usually think of anybody in a romantic sense - it’s possible, but you’d have to be something special for her to like you back. that being said …

something returned… eventually, slowly. slow. it’ll take time.

maybe something returned !! eventually. slowly. slow.

n like rly anything u want !! anything u can think of i am here 2 fulfill … we can brainstorm all sorts of wacky scenarios!! she’s a thief! she’s an accordion player! she dances naked in the woods! she’s been in the circus AND a small utah county jail!

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-7th Place

>Insert long exaggerated sigh here<

It’s here that I really, really, REALLY hope nobody that I know personally is reading these.

(Also, sorry that this was a day late)

#7-My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010-2019)

The Plot: In the land of Equestria, a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle moves to a happy little town called Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship. There, she meets her best friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Together they’ll do what most friends do. Which is to sing songs, defeat creatures who seek to destroy everything, and learn that friendship truly is magic.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Hell, I knew what you were thinking before I even explained the plot: “Isn’t this just a show for little girls that twenty-year-old losers fell in love with? How is this in the top 10?!” Now I’ll be the first to admit, there was a time when I didn’t get it either. When I heard that a fanbase grew around a My Little Pony reboot, I thought people were losing their minds. But, on one fateful day in 2014, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to watch ONE episode that seemed interesting to me. Unfortunately, it was the first episode in season two, and I had no idea what was going on within the first few minutes. So then I decided to watch the entirety of season one and then ONLY watch that episode in season two. And the episode after that because apparently, it was a two-parter. And then I watched the next episode after THAT because it also seemed interesting to me, plus the episode after that, for no reason other than I just wanted to. And then I watched all the rest of the series until the season four finale. And the two spin-off movies called Equestria Girls and Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. Soon, I found myself reading fan-fiction, writing fan-fiction, looking at fanart, and even reading these spin-off comics that aren’t even canon, but I just couldn’t leave this magical world because it TOOK ALMOST A WHOLE YEAR FOR THE FIFTH SEASON TO PREMIER! ALL BECAUSE I JUST WANTED TO WATCH AN EPISODE WHERE A CHAOS CREATURE MENTALLY BROKE OUR MANE CHARACTERS! AND YES! I DID WRITE MANE INSTEAD OF MAIN BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THIS SHOW DOES TO YOU! IT MAKES YOU SO ACCUSTOMED TO THE WRITING AND LINGO, THAT’S WITHIN BOTH THE SHOW AND IT’S INSANE FANDOM, THAT YOU’LL END UP CATCHING YOURSELF FROM SAYING MANEHATTAN INSTEAD OF MANHATTAN!

>SCREAMS WITH INSANITY<

…

So as you can tell, this show is surprisingly good once you get infested.

The biggest hook it has is the animation. While it doesn’t beat The Amazing World of Gumball’s quality, it is pretty impressive when considering that it’s all done in flash animation. Most flash animated cartoons tend to look cheap and slow, and Friendship is Magic is thankfully one of the rare exceptions. The movements are insanely smooth, and the facial expressions are pretty comical to look at. Even in the background of scenes, viewers will notice a lot of little jokes the animators put in. Seriously, the biggest reason why I kept watching the series for so long was that it was nice to look at (which is the case for most people, from what I’ve heard). And the best part? The animation somehow gets better with each passing season. And only 0.1% of the time does it show it’s cheapness, which isn’t that big of a deal considering there are two hundred and thirty-two episodes with a twenty-two-minute runtime. That’s nearly five thousand, one hundred, and four hours of animation that’s good for 99.9% of the time. While you could argue that it’s not the best, it is still pretty good animation quality.

Another thing that drew me in was the comedy. Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean Friendship is Magic is the funniest show on the list (that also goes to Gumball). Humor is subjective, and just because I found myself laughing with this series, that doesn’t mean everyone will be on the same page. That being said, I was surprised by the fact that I found the show funny in the first place. It’s hard to pinpoint what type of humor the show relies on (for me, at least). For some cases, Friendship is Magic has dialogue-based jokes that use smart or random lines to get a laugh out of audiences. Other times it's visual humor that requires slapstick or comical facial expressions that will make people laugh. But while its comedy falls between two different spectrums, that doesn’t change the fact that I find myself losing it every once in a while. Even during some of the worst episodes of Friendship is Magic, there’s at least one line or gag that got me to chuckle at least once.

However, both the animation and the comedy cannot top the main selling point of this series: The characters. Friendship is Magic might just have one of the biggest cast of characters out of any show on this list. Most of them manage to be funny, relatable, and are downright likable to watch. What’s even more astonishing is how well this show handles character growth. To be fair, there can be certain characters whose development is slow, but for the most part, everybody grows significantly with each new lesson they’ve learned. There are even moments when the characters say something along the lines of “I’m no longer that pony I used to be anymore because I finally learned how to change.” However, this doesn’t mean that every pony in the show is worth the time. There are a few unlikeable characters, but they’re either meant to be unlikable, forgotten after an episode’s end, or are redeemed after a triumphant return.

This is good because it’s the characters that make the stories in the show work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is split into two different storytelling genres: Slice of life comedy and adventure fantasy. And unlike Steven Universe, it’s Friendship is Magic that mixes both these genres together perfectly. I’m not joking when I say that an episode where Twilight rekindles an old friendship can be just as intriguing as an episode where Twilight fights this soul-sucking centaur made to look like the devil. Hell, some fans even argue that the slice of life episodes are even better than the adventurous episodes. Because while the adventure episodes are cool and action-packed, it’s the slice of life episodes where the characters are allowed to grow the most and are actually given time to be themselves. As for the grand adventures, while their fun to see, the cast is forced to stick to their central personality traits to move the plot forward.

Unfortunately, as fun as this show can be, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it. Not because there are elements that I think are bad, but because there are elements that might turn people away from watching. And the most significant repulse this show has is also the most important hook.

Yes, the characters in this show are great, but there’s also a lot of them. Some might even say too many. By season nine alone, there are a total of twenty-seven different characters that have the possibility of taking/sharing the spotlight in an episode. And that’s not even counting important figures, recurring antagonists, supporting characters, and even recognizable background ponies (yes, that’s a thing). Because if you want to add those to the mix, you’ve got yourself a total of one hundred and twenty-seven characters (give or take). That is one hundred and twenty-seven different names, faces, and personalities to try to keep track of. Luckily the personalities are easy enough to remember, and it’s mostly the most (in)famous figures that make a return. Even for some of the obscure characters, the show is kind enough to give a brief recap so the audience can get caught up. However, this is reasonably a lot to take in for a casual viewer. Case in point, in season eight, the show decided to add six new characters to the main cast, and it only took me a season and a half to learn their names correctly. It’s even worse since these “new” characters can sometimes feel like carbon copies of the Mane Six (Yes, that’s how the main six characters in the show are referred to as. Deal with it).

And the excessive amount of unnecessary characters are just one issue to deal with. The lessons that the show teaches are another. Before I say anything, I want to clarify that this show has fantastic lessons it teaches kids. In fact, there are even great lessons that are perfect for adults and only adults (know your audience, I guess). However, here’s the thing about morals: Not everyone will share the same view on what’s good and bad to teach children. Every person on this planet has their own life experiences, and with those experiences come different ideas of how the world works. One person can believe that a lesson is good, where others view it as awful and potentially dangerous. Things get especially bad when specific morals are misinterpreted or taken too literally. The best example is the episode “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep.” I believe that there are two possible lessons within the episode. One is that to truly be forgiven, a person must seek forgiveness from themselves and others. The other conceivable moral is that the cure for self-destruction is to get over it and move on without any professional help whatsoever. Now, take a wild guess on which lesson gets talked about more. And in all honesty, I blame poor/rushed writing that causes specific morals to be muddled, as well as a person’s own life experience in whether or not you find an episode’s lesson to be intriguing or insulting.

Another thing that depends on one’s own personality is (kinda spoilers ahead) how this show handles reformations. I may have commented on how Steven Universe uses redemption poorly, but it’s even worse in Friendship is Magic. This show seems to have the idea that the transition from bad to good is as simple as flipping a light switch. Now, on the one hand, this is not something I should be mad about. The show’s title is Friendship is Magic. So, of course, the series would push that making friends will lead to peace and prosperity. Where making enemies will lead to war and violence. The problem is that from a storytelling standpoint, it isn’t that entertaining. Or, at the very least, not as much as it should be. The art of a good reformation is taking the time for the transition to be believable. Characters suddenly deciding to become good seemingly out of nowhere will do nothing but have audiences rip their hair out of frustration. It doesn’t help that most of the villain’s reasoning and backstories are pretty pathetic when they actually should be sympathetic. However, while the reformation itself can be frustrating, I personally think some characters are made more intriguing post redemption. Don’t get me wrong, these villains were great as they were, being the perfect mix of both funny and terrifying. But when the show actually allows characters to grow and deserve the hand-er-hoof of friendship, they begin to have more fascinating personalities to dissect. Now, not everyone is going to feel this way. And if you genuinely believe these villains were better as villains, I can absolutely see why. But for me, I’ve come to enjoy how far these ex-cons have come from their more evil days. 

But none of this compares to the final controversial element that this show has to offer, where there is a fifty/fifty chance that you’re either going to love it or hate it. I, of course, am talking about...the songs. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has four different types of songs. Depending on the episode, these musical numbers have many purposes. They can move the story forward, only work within the episode’s context, try to one-up Disney, and reveal everything you need to know about a character. Now here’s the thing about the music: I don’t hate it. I’ll admit that the lyrics are pretty lackluster most of the time, but at least most of them sound pleasing to my ears. But I have heard how some people seem to hate these little numbers, and I’m willing to put money on that fans even skip them. Everybody has their own tastes in music, and there’s nothing I can do to convince them otherwise. Only respect their opinions and hope they do the same to mine.

In the end, your enjoyment of this series, once again, depends on who you are. Some of you might think this is a dumb kid's show that should only be viewed by children. Some of you will understand that this show has great characters, comedy, and animation, but you just don’t think it’s for you. And some of you might be like me. A person overwhelmed with curiosity over the weirdest phenomenon in the last eleven years and ended up being pleasantly surprised with how magical the show turned out to be.

(And just a heads up, you don’t have to watch the Equestria Girls spin off series or movies in order to enjoy Friendship is Magic. EG isn’t technically canon, and the only noteworthy thing that makes it worthwhile is Sunset Shimmer. And while I personally don’t hate it, I completely understand how others will. But you do need to see My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), though. It surprisingly plays a big part in season 8 and beyond.)

[aion-rsa]

Robert Rodriguez on We Can Be Heroes and How Pedro Pascal Reminds Him of Harrison Ford

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Robert Rodriguez is a man of many hats – in every sense of the word.

While he has been known to rock a fedora or two down the years, the idiom is more a reflection of his “one-man film crew” approach to movie-making, with Rodriguez known for not only writing, and directing but also doing everything from editing to operating the camera.

It’s also a reflection of his ability to turn his hand to disparate genres and movies aimed and markedly different audiences. 

Having made his name with movies like El Mariachi and From Dusk till Dawn, the new millennium saw Rodriguez’s career take a surprising turn into the world of family-orientated action with Spy Kids. 

A major success with critics and audiences alike, the film spawned three further sequels, with Rodriguez even roping in Sylvester Stallone for the third and fourth efforts.

Since then, he has happily flipped back and forth between the two worlds, with 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl sandwiched in between work on Sin City and Planet Terror.

It’s a pretty stark contrast in cinematic terms but one Rodriguez happily explains while speaking to Den of Geek about his latest movie, We Can Be Heroes, a superhero movie about a group of kids forced to do battle with alien invaders who have kidnapped their superhero parents.

“You are using the same skills. You just have a different mindset as far as tone. It’s just like if you’re at work or out with your buddies, you’ve got one way of talking and then when you go home and you’re with your kids it’s dad time. You have your dad hat on.

“When I make these movies, I have the dad hat on and then when I am out with my buddies that’s Sin City mode, that’s Machete mode. That’s when that other side of me comes out.”

While the kids take centre stage in We Can Be Heroes, they are ably supported by an impressive adult cast that includes Boyd Holbrook, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christian Slater and Pedro Pascal.

It was the first time Pascal and Rodriguez had worked together, but it wouldn’t be the last. While working post-production on We Can Be Heroes, Rodriguez was recruited by Jon Favreau to direct an episode of The Mandalorian.

As such, he knows more than most about what makes Pascal such an engaging and intriguing presence on the screen.

“He reminds me of Harrison Ford in a way, he’s like this everyman type guy. He can be funny, he can be really intense, he can be very heroic but in We Can Be Heroes he kind of has to be a dweebish dad where it’s just all about him and his daughter [YaYa Gosselin].” 

“He played that really well and was then also able to become this superhero. He can be very human and warm. In The Mandalorian he does a similar type of thing but with that heart. But he can play intense too. He’s got a wide range.” 

“He reminds me of some of my favourite actors that I have worked with before like George Clooney. That’s why he’s got such a big career right now. People can see that he’s very much able to do 180 degrees in any direction.”

Working on The Mandalorian served as a stark contrast to his efforts on We Can Be Heroes but Rodriguez believes it definitely informed the making of this film.

“The Mandalorian is wonderful because you’ve got such a great big crew and they all know what they are doing and it’s a well-oiled machine. Jon Favreau is there, Dave Filoni is there, so I can just go in and direct.  

“It was great to take a little break, go play with all the Star Wars toys and then come back and apply what I learned there to We Can Be Heroes, because they have a lot of cutting-edge technologies and techniques. I think this movie really benefited from side projects like that and Alita.”

We Can Be Heroes has been billed by some as a sequel to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl but Rodriguez is keen to stress that this film doesn’t take place in the same universe.

“I wrote this as an original story for Netflix because they found movies like Sky Kids and Shark Boy and Lava Girl played really well on their service. Also, it is so rare to have live-action kids adventures for the whole family.” 

“I love the genre so I came up with the idea for We Can Be Heroes where you have this adult Avengers-style team and then have little kids with superior powers but they don’t know how to use them.”

“I was surprised that there had never been superheroes that were kids, except for Shark Boy and Lava Girl back in the day, even after all these superhero movies and TV shows and spin-offs and reboots. I thought it was ripe for the taking.”

“The first script I turned in didn’t have Shark Boy or Lava Girl in it. But then I just thought let’s borrow their characters and bring them in as parents because it will help legitimise the adult team to have someone recognisable.  It was more like we borrowed them. It’s not set in that universe.”

Working on the film has certainly given Rodriguez an appreciation for the superhero genre, which he would be keen to explore in future movies though he does note that it’s a genre that could benefit from more diversity.

“I think superhero films are just like westerns. It’s really about the story being told through that genre.” 

“That’s why people live in there. It’s not because they’re superheroes it’s because the stories are relatable.” 

“The superhero genre is still really vital. There’s a lot of room to grow. I think it could use more diversity and I know I could bring that. So yeah, I would be interested in continuing with it.”

Rodriguez has always been a strong advocate for representation on the screen and once cited his biggest creative victory as having the kids in Spy Kids be part of a Latino family.

In that sense, We Can Be Heroes is another big win with the film’s cast of 11 child superheroes notable for featuring a female lead, several black and Asian characters and a boy with special abilities who uses a wheelchair.

“I’m always looking to do that in my films since the beginning and that was what I liked about this early,” Rodriguez explains.

“It’s just something that was very organic to the story because the adult superhero team would have been assembled from the best of the best all over the world. That works well with this audience too with Netflix movies going out all at once all over the world.”

Still, having such a large ensemble cast created something of a logistical nightmare when it came time to shoot the film.

“You ask any director what is the most difficult scene to do and they will say a dinner scene. A dinner scene where there are like 10 people around a table because you have got to shoot a wide shot and then you have got to shoot everybody in there talking to each other. Close ups of everybody. “

“It’s very tedious because you have got 10 or 11 people and that’s what this whole movie was because there are 11 kids in every scene because they are all together, they’re not split up. 

“I had to wrangle them for every shot and make sure they all had a very specific thing to do.  We only had six hours a day, that’s like half a work day. So that was a challenge.”

While Rodriguez insists he makes kids films “purely for the innocence of children” with no adult jokes that go over their heads, We Can Be Heroes does feature a US President, played by Happy Gilmore’s Christopher McDonald, who audiences are initially told sleeps in until 12 and struggles to put a sentence together. Could this be a reference to anyone in particular?

Rodriguez laughs at this suggestion. 

“It’s funny because I really did think maybe the adults would laugh at that but when we tested it to an audience in one of the earliest versions before the pandemic hit, kids laughed the most. So, they all thought they knew what we were talking about.”

Ultimately, he insists that was simply “misdirection” as part of the film’s wider message about the importance of parents being role models to their kids in order to ensure they make the world a better place because, as Rodriguez puts it, “obviously we’ve screwed this place up.”

“It’s designed to be something to inspire the next generation. It’s supposed to show that the world is kind of falling apart. That adults are not working together – just like the adult superhero team shows. 

“There are constant battles within the group and this only underlines the problems in not being able to see eye to eye, to make a compromise, to make concessions, to make things work.”

Rodriguez hopes that while We Can Be Heroes entertains it also encourages better communication among parents and children to ensure the same mistakes found in society today, which have been drawn into sharp focus over the past 12 months, are not repeated.

“The kids need mentors; they need role models. Parents have to step up and be better examples and kids have to know that they are the future. They have to do things a better way and they are going to have better ideas.”

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We Can Be Heroes is available on Netflix from 25th December.

The post Robert Rodriguez on We Can Be Heroes and How Pedro Pascal Reminds Him of Harrison Ford appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/34AHbf6

[glapplebloom]

The beginning of the MLP Revisit Series.

It has been a while since I’ve seen the first episode. And knowing how it ends, it is very appropriate that it begins with Twilight reading a book. You know the story: Celestia’s sister got jealous, became Nightmare Moon and Celestia had to stop her. And despite this story being there, the only person who seem to notice is the bookworm...

I think she's more interested in books than friends.

I keep telling my viewing of this first episode was accidental, but I began to pay attention around here. A little girl show about making friends, and the main character doesn’t want to? That was intriguing. And it continue to grew my interest when we see her interact with Spike, saying words I believe would be over the head of the target demographic.

But you know the drill, Twilight thinks the legends are real, its gonna happen tonight, yet Celestia instead sends her to Ponyville to overlook things. 

She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.

Nine seasons later, not only does the fate of Equestria did rest on her making friends, but said friends will be essential for Equestria and the World’s fate.

First (after a Pinkie Sighting), we meet Applejack. This is a good way to introduce the two important things to her: The Apple Farm and the Apple Family. We also get a short introduction to the three other important members: Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh and Granny Smith.

Next is Rainbow Dash. Again, a great way to make a first impression. Between her and AJ, they became my two favorites. But while Rainbow Dash remained so, Applejack did get lower (only because others got so much higher). And of course, she cleared the skies in 10 Seconds Flat (not sure about flat, but it was within 10 seconds).

If you told me when I was first watching this Rarity was going to be the one I consider Best Pony, I wouldn’t believe you. It introduced her to the fashionista aspect of her, but we don’t get to see her true creative side until a few episodes later. 

Next is Fluttershy, who again surprised me with how much she developed over the years. She definitely fills the cute quota. Also, funny scene about Twilight trying to get away from Fluttershy by saying Spike needs to go to bed. Shame you notice that the Spike Abuse the series is known for existed as early as the first episode.

And finally Pinkie Pie, who really shows off her energy and wacky nature. And with that, the first half of their introductions are complete. The second half will be during the second part, which I think splitting the episode and their introductions into two different parts is a great way to show them off as characters. What turned me off to another show around the time (Littlest Pet Shop) was them just introducing the characters in one song of a two parter.

But of course, after said introduction, it turns out Twilight was right. Nightmare Moon is indeed back and took Celestia somewhere. The guards tried to stop her but failed, so Twilight goes to the Library to find information on beating her, followed unknown to her by her new best friends. The key to victory is in the Everfree Forest...

'cause everypony who's ever come in has never come out!

List of creatures who have successfully came out of the Everfree Forest...

Twilight and Friends

Apple Bloom and Friends

Zecora

Trixie

Starlight and Friends

Student Six

Fluttershy as a Rabbit

The Princesses

Discord

Its amazing how the Forest doesn’t live up to the scares.

Now its time for the Element Test, with the weakest one being Applejack. I get this is to show her honesty, but why make it vague? Wouldn’t it have been easier to say “Let go Twilight. The others are safe so the fliers can catch you”. It is early in the series, so the writing can’t be as tight as later one.

Next is Fluttershy’s test who shows kindness when others choose to attack. I’m pointing out Rarity because based on what I expected of her I didn’t expect her to be a fighter. But here she is kicking a Manticore in the face. This is where the complexity of Rarity begins to show.

Pinkie’s Test is next and its the first song of the series. It is alright, but it isn’t for me. What I do like is how the others just reacted to her when she began singing. I thought “okay, so even in universe the singing is something you just got to get used to”. Little did I know how much music is going to come from others not Pinkie Pie.

And now Rarity’s test. It honestly surprised me that she was willing to cut off her own tail to help Steve Magnet. Her archetype tends to really dislike looking presentable, but here she is willing to cut her own tail to make someone happy for no reward other than to cross a river. Thus begins the rise of Best Pony.

Finally Rainbow Dash’s test. It honestly showed how ineffective Nightmare Moon is as a villain compared to others. “You can’t join us despite all you have to do is tie a rope together”. It is kind of weak. Especially when you compare to how the other Villains are when it comes to tactics or just raw power.

Finally, Nightmare Moon manages to separate Twilight from the others. Not far enough as minutes later they show up. And too bad for her Twilight figured out the Elements of Harmony and how to use them. And thanks to her new friends, they Rainbow Blast Nightmare Moon back to Luna and Celestia shows up (either freed or seeing Twilight succeed).

Long story short, Twilight is happy she succeeded, but is sad to leave her new friends. So Celestia says she can stay and write letters about her lessons in friendship. Nine seasons later Twilight will move back to Canterlot, as Ruler of Equestria. 

Overall, it still holds up as a good first episode. Sure, it still has its flaws and its not as tight as later episodes, but it still does a good job at introducing the concept of the series and their characters. As for how it is rewritten... Well, you can read either the story (first 5 parts) or watch this video. Next week, Ticketmaster. 

[recentanimenews]

Ranking All 49 One Piece Anime Arcs (Yes, Even The Filler)

  On July 7th, the long-awaited Wano arc of One Piece begins, and because we're about to jump into an arc that's been building up for eleven years, I think it's as good a time as any to rank all 49 of the arcs that we have already. And I'm going to include the filler arcs, too, because even though many of them can't really hold a candle to the main narrative, I think a few of them are quite underrated. 

  49. Buggy's Crew Adventures

    This isn't really an arc so much as a sigh of relief after the runaway train of emotion of the last few episodes of Arlong Park. You can laugh at Buggy for a bit after watching Nami's soul get ripped apart (and then put back together again).

48. Post Alabasta

    You know video game sidequests that are basically around to level up your specific partner characters so that they don't get immediately wiped out in boss fights? This is the anime filler arc version of that. It's fun, though.

47. Foxy's Return

    I loooooove Foxy and I looooove the Davy Back Fight arc. But Foxy's Return doesn't quite hit home. It might be because we last saw Foxy six episodes ago, but it truly speaks to Foxy's character that he'd try to make a grand, dramatic return after he got the crap kicked out of him so recently.  

46. Spa Island

    Foxy returns again in Spa Island, though this filler arc is mostly notable for the fact that Luffy uses Gear Third to split an artificial island in half. That alone wins this arc points.

45. Warship Island

    Warship Island isn't a bad filler arc, just a victim of poor placement. It comes right after Loguetown and right after the Straw Hats have each declared their dreams. So it becomes a pit stop arc, like the Straw Hat crew getting gas and snacks before they head out on the Grand Line.

44. Little East Blue

    I like to think of Little East Blue as a celebration of pre time skip One Piece, where the Straw Hats get (deservedly) celebrated for a bit. It's cute and it's a nice prologue to the Strong World movie. 

43. Z's Ambition

    The filler arcs that precede the movies are an odd bunch, as they tend to end with the main villain of the movie showing up in the last five minutes and declaring their plans. So it's hard to enjoy them on their own. That said, Z's Ambition has enough action that even if you don't watch Film Z (but you should, as it's great), you won't really mind the cliffhanger finale.

42. Straw Hat Separation

    After Kuma wiped out the crew, this batch of episodes shows where they all ended up. And it's mainly a montage of Straw Hats being confused. And don't get me wrong—the Straw Hats do confusion like nobody's business. But you get more out of their separation in the Post War arc when they finally get around to business. 

41. Diary of Koby-Meppo

    Koby is a character that has always deserved more time, so getting a few episodes devoted to him and Helmeppo training to be Marines is welcome. Also, my dude Garp shows up for the first time, which means that I've rewatched these two episodes FAR more than I should. 

40. Goat Island

    Goat Island doesn't feel as "classic" as G-8, nor is it as entertaining as Ocean's Dream. In fact, it's about as fluffy as the goats that appear in it. But a three episode arc where Chopper talks to goats and Luffy doesn't beat up a villain but rather causes him to get shipwrecked? I'm FOR it. 

  39. Chopper Man Special

    Chopper Man has Chopper in a cape. It's worth it for that. Please @ me. Chopper Man, you're my hero, and I hope you one day get a Chopper Man & Sogeking Save The Grand Line special.

  38. Romance Dawn

    Romance Dawn establishes a lot of things that will become classic tropes in One Piece: Going to a new island, meeting new crew members, helping out little kids, taking out a power hungry warlord, etc. It's a blueprint arc, and it works well as that. Sadly, the anime would not continue the "introduce a Straw Hat character with rad guitar" idea like they do with Zoro here. 

37. Orange Town

    The East Blue saga only gets better as it goes along, and Orange Town provides a nice counter to Romance Dawn. For example, if Axe-Hand Morgan represented the seriousness of the Marine threat in the last arc, then Buggy represents the other side of the villains that the Straw Hat Crew will encounter: cartoonish, loud, and beaten in a really fun way. 

36. Ruluka Island

    Ruluka Island feels like condensed One Piece, like you'd just add some water to turn this four episode arc into a twenty episode one. It's a nice arc to stretch your legs in before you go to the big themes of Jaya.

35. Ice Hunter

    Ice Hunter is neat because it gives every member of the Straw Hat crew a little time to shine in a story that is action-packed and intriguing. If you miss pre timeskip One Piece and haven't watched the Ice Hunter arc, give it a shot.

34. Marine Rookie

    I know that we're all eager to see the Straw Hats reunite in Wano, but if you want to see more of Whole Cake's Sanji Retrieval Team, the Marine Rookie arc makes for a solid bonus round. Also, the only reason it starts is because Luffy eats all of the Straw Hats' supplies, which, logically, should be the beginning of waaaaay more One Piece arcs.

33. Silver Mine

    If you didn't get enough Bartolomeo in Dressrosa, then surprise! They made a filler arc just for you. 

  32. Boss Luffy Specials

    You know when you fall asleep watching a show, and then you wake back up and, in your grogginess, suddenly whatever is on TV looks insane? That's what happened to me with Boss Luffy. I had just finished watching Ace's fight with Blackbeard and then, boom. I was out. Then I wake up and see the Straw Hats in 19th century Japan. The Boss Luffy stuff is fun, but I think it's best viewed when you're in a delirious half sleep. That's just my personal preference, though.

31. Caesar Retrieval

    Caesar made for a fine antagonist on Punk Hazard, but he's even better as shreiking deadweight that the Straw Hat Crew and Company have to keep alive. 

30. Little Garden

    Little Garden isn't as cool as Whisky Peak, nor does it provide the emotional gut punch of Drum Island. Instead, it's mainly here to further the theme of what it means to be a true warrior and introduce giants (and dinosaurs!) in the One Piece universe. It gives Usopp some of the character development that he needs and Zoro almost cuts off his own feet in an effort to keep fighting. Any arc that illustrates how hard Zoro goes gets at least one thumb up from me.

29. Loguetown

      Loguetown is a fun arc when you consider just how much it expands the scope of the world. Smoker and Tashigi truly begin the Navy's quest to stop the Straw Hats, Dragon gets introduced in a big, mysterious way, and Luffy takes a massive step in establishing himself in the realm of pirating. However, the Straw Hat side stories in the middle (aside from Zoro's awesome bit in the sword shop) slow it down a little. 

28. Zou

    Zou might be one of the most visually rich arcs in the series. From the massive elephant to the Mink tribe to the terror of Jack to more lessons about the poneglyphs, there's a lot shoved into this short span. And between the intense epics of Dressrosa and Whole Cake Island, it's fits nicely as 10 cc's of wonder and fantasy injected into the New World.  

27. Fishman Island

    Fishman Island occupies a weird spot. It's thematically heavy, but also serves as the action-packed Straw Hat Crew comeback tour. It needs to stand on its own, but it also caps off with a declaration of war against Big Mom, a villain that won't be encountered for years. In all, I feel that the importance of the Fishman Island arc is yet to be truly realized. 

26. Ocean's Dream

    One of the final two filler arcs on this list, Ocean's Dream seems like One Piece fan fiction in the best way. If you were dissatisfied with Luffy's fight with Zoro on Whisky Peak, you get another round of it here while Zoro is being mind controlled. 

25. Syrup Village

    If Romance Dawn and Orange Town were warm up laps, Syrup Village is when One Piece begins to break out in a sprint. The introduction of Usopp and the Going Merry make for some great moments and it's this arc that got me hooked on One Piece when I first started watching it. 

24. Dressrosa

    Dressrosa, for better (and sometimes for worse) is massive. Doflamingo is a threat that had been popping up since the Jaya arc, but because of Dressrosa's scope, his defeat can feel a little lackluster, especially when you consider that he's a pitstop on the road to Kaido. But Dressrosa introduces the endlessly cool Fujitora and the Straw Hats' big pirate alliance, and also gives us the dual backstories to Law and Doflamingo, neither of which disappoint. Also, Doflamingo's abilities lead to some of the coolest action scenes in the series. 

23. Return to Sabaody

    The post-timeskip starts with a bang, as the Return to Sabaody arc is both hilarious and thrilling. The Straw Hats get to show off their newfound strength as they do what they definitely couldn't do in the first Sabaody arc (easily knock out a Pacifista). And we also get to meet the Fake Straw Hat crew, which does a nice job of illuminating just how much the legend of the Straw Hats has grown since they were last together. 

22. Reverse Mountain

    One of the major strengths of One Piece is that it can accomplish three kinds of storytelling at once—giving us a narrative that is immediately satisying, giving us a narrative that will be satisfying in the near future, and giving us a narrative that will be satisfying in the long term. In the Reverse Mountain arc, we not only get a nice story about Laboon, but we also get introduced to Baroque Works (who will be the main antagonists of the saga), and also, we get hints that will only pay off when Brook is introduced years later. Reverse Mountain is short, but it also displays Eiichiro Oda's wonderful talent as a writer. 

21. Long Ring Long Land

    I've seen people on the internet say stuff like "WHEN I REACHED THE DAVY BACK FIGHT ARC, I NEARLY STOPPED READING!" and man, why? Quitting a series that you love because it slightly diverts from the hero fighting god-like enemies in order to participate in some fun games? Everyone has their own opinions, but your opinion of what fiction should be is wrong. That said, this arc is hilarious and great. 

20. Whisky Peak

    Whisky Peak is so cool. It's an anime arc with swagger, the kind that steps into a bar and buys everyone a round. I want to be friends with Whisky Peak but I know, deep down, that Whisky Peak is far too rad to be friends with me.

  19. Reverie

    The best thing about the Reverie arc is that it makes the world of One Piece a little more conveniently manageable (Oh neat. All of the major side characters get to hang out for a while), while also opening a can of worms (What's with the giant straw hat? WHAT'S WITH THE GIANT STRAW HAT?). Because this is the most recent arc, I don't know if we've seen the ripples that it will create across the One Piece world, but I sure am excited to.

  18. Post Enies Lobby

    This isn't the first time the Straw Hats have been forced to flee a place. However, this is the first time that it's felt like they'd be wiped out if they didn't. The return of Garp (and the spectre of the Yonko) throw the Straw Hats into all new territory, one where maybe being the plucky underdog team isn't enough to save them from the threats that come. Also, goofy Franky joins the team, which provides a nice counter-balance to the hints of oblivion. 

17. Punk Hazard

    Punk Hazard is home to one of my top 10 One Piece fights (Vergo vs Law & Smoker), features one of my favorite locations (an island that is half fire/magma and half ice/snow and home to an evil science base), and introduces a character that has only grown on me with time (Here's a hint on who he is: He laughs like "SHERURURURURURU SHERURURURURURU). It's kind of a prequel to Dressrosa, but in that spot, does a great job at furthering the menace of Doflamingo. 

16. Post War

      The introduction of Sabo aka Steampunk Ace aka I'm Just Kidding Sabo Is Kinda Cool and Luffy realizing that he has his crew to keep him going make the Post-War arc into a short but powerful cap to the pre-timeskip era. 

15. Amazon Lily

    Boa Hancock is a supremely underrated One Piece character, with a terribly sad backstory, amazing powers, and a hilarious crush on Luffy. And Amazon Lily helps further the major trend that will reach fever pitch in Dressrosa of Luffy amassing supporters because he's just such a dang ol' nice guy. Hopefully Hancock will one day meet Bartolomeo and together they will start a Luffy fan club and then argue over who gets to be President. 

14. Jaya

    If you were in the dark as to what the themes of One Piece are, here comes Jaya with a flashlight. This is basically a montage of the things that are important to the Straw Hat crew, and it introduces Blackbeard, a guy that will go from "Oh he seems interesting" to "OH I HATE HIM" over the next few hundred chapters. Luffy saying "Do I know how to throw a punch, you ask?" before absolutely walloping Bellamy still gives me goose bumps.

13. Thriller Bark

      There's so much good to Thriller Bark—the spooky atmosphere, the introduction of Brook, the underrated Gekko Moriah, the Binks' Sake song, the Straw Hats teaming up to face a giant zombie, etc. And just when you think it can't get any better, Kuma shows up and rocks the One Piece world. 

12. Impel Down

    Hey! It's Buggy! And Mr. 3! And Mr. 2! And Crocodile! And our new best boy Jinbe! And Ivankov! As both a launching point for new protagonists and a comeback for old foes (along with introducing Magellan, one of the best villains in the series, and Shiryu, one of the scariest villains in the series), Impel Down succeeds. I love it more and more with time.

11. Drum Island

    I've written an entire article about why the arc where we first meet Tony Tony Chopper makes me weep, so I'll try to be brief here. Drum Island is beautiful. It's the story of a little deer guy that couldn't find a place in the world and the loud rubber bro that gave him one. It's an arc about the price of dreams and the power of having someone stand up for you when you need it most. It's about love and respect and kindess. And now I'm about to cry again. THANKS A LOT, ONE PIECE.

10. Baratie

    The Baratie arc is the first hint that we'll get about how hectic the One Piece world is. We meet Sanji, we meet Don Krieg, and we meet Mihawk (and is stronger than the whole cast of the show combined at this point). Syrup Village is about leaving your comfort zones and Baratie is about finding a home in the chaos that follows. 

9. G-8

    The best One Piece filler arc and the One Piece arc that I most revisit (it's only 11 episodes, can you blame me?), G-8 is a One Piece Greatest Hits collection and possibly the first thing you should show someone if they want to get into One Piece but don't have long to do so. 

8. Alabasta

    Are the Straw Hats ready for the Grand Line? Are they ready to topple evil villains and protect those that need help? That's what Alabasta asks and the answer is "Oh yeah." Luffy punching Crocodile up through the center of the city is an iconic moment, showing us that the Straw Hats, whether they mean to be or not, are forces of good in the world. 

7. Marineford

    Marineford is loud and chaotic and powerful, forcing Luffy into a situation where he is simply an especially energetic pawn on the chessboard of battle. It's just as much of a rescue mission as it is a quest for survival for him, but in the midst of Whitebeard and the three admirals and the Shichibukai, Luffy makes his mark. However, he doesn't do it through displays of awe-inspiring force, but through his willpower. Aokiji is right when he says that Luffy isn't "ready for this stage yet," but the thing that scares the Navy most is that one day, he will be. 

6. Sabaody Archipelago

    This is not a happy arc. It's a satisfying one (Luffy punching the Celestial Dragon will never get old), and it's an illuminating one (Silver Rayleigh, y'all!), but it's not one that will end with cheering. Kizaru shows up to put an entire generation of pirates in their place and Kuma wipes out the Straw Hats. That said, even if it concludes with the most uncertain moment in the series, it's still a fun ride. 

5. Arlong Park

      Nami is the soul of the Straw Hat Crew, and learning what she's been through at the hands of the despicable Arlong is heart-breaking. But Luffy doesn't need to know every detail to know that he needs to help and the Straw Hats walking to Arlong Park is another one of those "One Piece is literally the best thing ever" moments. And by the end, every Straw Hat bro gets a victory, Luffy gets a bounty, and Nami gets her freedom. And what does she do with this freedom? She joins a ship full of dummies as their navigator. And I'm so happy about that. 

4. Enies Lobby

    For many, Enies Lobby is THE arc and I'm not disagreeing with them. It's such a display of raw emotion and exciting battles, a nonstop rollercoaster of everything that makes One Piece great. And it ends with a Viking funeral for the Going Merry, a scene that reveals Oda's true power as a writer: He makes you sob about a ship. 

3. Whole Cake Island

    If Enies Lobby is about being a hero, then Whole Cake Island is about letting that idea go. The Straw Hats can't beat Big Mom or her crew and will have to settle with getting Sanji and getting out. And Katakuri, the protective brother of the Charlotte family, learns that he doesn't have to be perfect all the time. It's a beautiful arc that shows that Oda is willing to play around with some of the pre-established ideas of One Piece.

2. Water 7

    Robin leaves. Usopp defects, Luffy is forced to do things that no captain wants to, and a villainous team shows up that seems unstoppable. Water 7 may be the first half of a story that continues with Enies Lobby, but I find it to be the better one (though not by much). It's an arc that constantly leaves you saying "Well, what else could go wrong?" and then something else does. And it's just so good.

1. Skypiea

    This is it. Everything good about One Piece, from the powerful villain (with a great weakness), to the touching themes, to enchanting locations, to the gripping adventures, is wrapped up in Skypiea. And while I have no problems with arcs being connected, there's just something about the standalone nature of Skypiea that leads me to regularly revisit it. It's an arc that makes me glad that I started this nearly 900 episode adventure in the first place. And that's the highest compliment that I can give.

  Want to make your own ranking? Then watch One Piece on Crunchyroll! It's literally the only way.

  What is your favorite One Piece arc? How do you feel about this ranking? Let us know in the comments!

    ------------------------

  Daniel Dockery is a writer and editor for Crunchyroll. He has a Twitter, where you can disagree with him. 

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[douxreviews]

Charmed - Season Six Review

"It helps to be a sister."

With more plot holes than actual plot, some really questionable character arcs, and frustratingly inconsistent mythology, Season Six is undoubtedly one of Charmed's worst years.

Following the downward trajectory that began in the latter half of Season Five, we enter Season Six with the series in a state of confusion. Piper and Leo's separation is, unfortunately, the crux of the season, and the character responsible for all this - Chris - plays a frustratingly important role in the season as well. Portrayed by an actor with the charisma of a dead fish, and written with very little conviction, Chris is probably the worst major character the series ever introduced. As we watch the more familiar and, yes, admittedly bland Leo slowly grow apart from Piper and the sisters, we're forced to endure a very slow, and very odd reveal of Chris' true identity. Episodes like 'Chris Crossed' try to add depth to him, but the general confusion surrounding his place in the series make it more of a baffling watch than a satisfying one.

Initially coming across as somewhat of a villain, it's obvious that Holy Marie Combs' pregnancy threw the writers under the bus, with Chris' subsequent unveiling as Wyatt's brother raising more than a few questions about what came before it. Like why would Chris kill a Valkyrie with such reckless abandon in the season premiere, and why did he have to go through all the effort of enlisting a demon just to teach the sisters a lesson about their individual wants and desires in 'My Three Witches'? And how the hell did Drew Fuller ever get hired in the first place?

Chris' plan also required him to keep Piper and Leo apart so he could place himself close to Wyatt, but watching the separation unfold is a truly aggravating experience, especially when it felt neither organic, nor appropriate. There are a few parts of the season that try to toy with Piper's role as a single mother, though the inconsistent writing prevents most of these moments from hitting home. There are some admittedly strong scenes that explore Piper's pain over Leo's departure, notably in the premiere where Phoebe's new power of empathy allows her to feel the hurt and betrayal that Piper had been holding back for months thanks to a spell gone awry. Largely, though, the arc is a mess, and it’s a relief when it all comes to an end with baby Chris' birth in the finale.

Chris' plan to save Wyatt from getting corrupted by evil forces leads us to the show's first major antagonist since The Source; the misguided Elder, Gideon. His motives are flimsy as hell, but the presence of a primary villain is welcome in light of the reversion to a stand-alone narrative last season. The story never quite works, with Gideon's reasons for betraying the sisters and attempting to destroy Wyatt feeling a little unfounded. There are some interesting repercussions to his actions, though. Leo's decision to kill Gideon for betraying him essentially ends his time as a fully-fledged Elder, sending him down a dark path next season.

Outside of Piper and Leo's family drama, there are just as many issues to be found, with Phoebe's plots this season continuing her path to full-on narcissism. Gone are the days of the fun, relatable misfit. Now she's much more concerned with sperm hunting and using, abusing and later losing her new power of empathy to find said sperm. Bar a few fun moments, Phoebe is pretty abhorrent this season. It's hard to feel sympathy for her anymore, and most of the beats her arc hits feel like they're driving her character further and further into the ground. This season also marks the first instance of a tradition that lasts through to season eight; Phoebe's annual love interests. Here, it's a carry-over from last season; Jason Dean. He's mostly fine, though he falls squarely into the same category as most male characters on this series and becomes rather disposable. He eventually departs after finding out Phoebe's secret and he isn't missed.

Paige's decision to quit her job as a social worker last season is still causing her to drift from place to place. But rather than mooching around the manor honing her witchcraft as she did in Season Five, here she takes up temping, giving the writers a chance to throw her into a new and absurd situation each week. Some of these fall flat (hi, talking dog!), but some do lead to some genuinely intriguing situations, most notably in 'Love's a Witch', where Paige is caught in the middle of a magical family feud. The episode is decent enough, though it's more significant for its introduction of Paige's semi-recurring love interest, Richard. Initially appearing as a witch with a magic-averse attitude, we soon learn about his addiction to dark magic. There are some cool, dark little moments for Richard, but in general the plot is never fully realized and his addictions eventually drive him away from Paige. I think the biggest problem with Paige's weekly exploits is that each of them seem to emphasize how uneven she's become. At least her early episodes in Season Four are mostly consistent; you could really get to know her. Here she goes from peace-maker, to busybody, to activist, to floozy to a whole host of other things and it’s hard to get a read on who she is anymore, which is a huge disappointment.

It goes without saying that there are very few great episodes, this season. 'Love's a Witch' is one of them, as is the two-part season finale 'It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World'. The idea of dual realities is something that’s done a lot on other high concept shows, and it's explored in a fun and creative way, in this double lenghth episode. It also gives a choppy and dissatisfying season a remarkably poignant ending, with future Chris' death, and the birth of baby Chris. 'Forget Me... Not' is another highlight that has a lot of fun with a broken timeline, and it also features a cool little mystery that drives the hour to a crazy witch/dragon showdown.

Rare highlights aside, this season is a total mess. 'Witchstock' is a crock of an episode, where a wasted trip to the 60's feels like more of a chance to poke fun at the visuals of that era more than anything else. It's also completely devoid of any of the emotional resonance of 'That 70's Episode' back in Season One. 'Crimes and Witch Demeanours’ is a dull clip-show, that makes a half-hearted attempt to make amends for the girls' abuse of Daryl, who is at this point a walking, talking plot device. 'Prince Charmed' takes the cake, though (literally). It’s an abhorrent hour that features Phoebe and Paige acting like brain-dead bimbos, while Piper makes some really questionable choices about her love life and role as a single mother. It culminates in an embarrassing food fight that is hard to watch, not just because its an awfully written scene, but because it's hard to see three characters who were once so admirable acting like this. I feel so bad for Holly. She deserves so much better than this sub-par material.

Potions and Notions

The Cleaners pop up this season. Their job is to clean up whenever magic is exposed. Where were they when Prue and Piper were exposed on live TV in 'All Hell Breaks Loose'?

There's a weird separation story line that plays out mid-season when Phoebe and Paige decide to leave with their respective beaus. It wraps up without much fanfare when Phoebe splits from Jason, and Paige leaves Richard.

Spells and Chants

Piper: "Okay, neurotic people, can we get back to my neurosis right now, please?"

Piper: "Come to me and be seduced, I have a girl to introduce. Fall for her, you can't resist her, Trust me, mister, she's my sister."

Chris: "I'm Piper and Leo's son." Paige: "What?" Chris: "They're my parents. I came back to save my family." Paige:"You're serious." Chris: "Yeah. Only now I've gotta save myself. Because if my mom doesn't get pregnant in the next month, there is no me." Paige: "This is all so wrong!" I'm right there with you, Paige.

Best Episode: It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World.

Honorable Mentions: Forget Me... Not, Love's a Witch, I Dream of Phoebe.

Worst Episode: Prince Charmed.

It's a shame that the decision to return to a big bad formula is destroyed by clumsy plotting and hack dialogue. At least Chris' death gives the series the chance to move on from this mess next season and try something new.

4 out of 10 Valkyries.

Panda

[daleisgreat]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Six

-I am indefinitely grateful for your patience awaiting my semi-annual Star Trek: The Next Generation season recaps. Today I bestow upon you all my thoughts for the penultimate sixth season (trailer) of TNG. It is already a little jarring to realize I am down to one season left on this series I have gradually-yet-steadily been picking away at the past three years. Once again, all the screens here are courtesy of me pointing my outdated Samsung Galaxy S7 phone at the TV screen so you have my apologies for the questionable fidelity of the pics! -For notable cast changes, there are several I want to make sure to address. Transporter Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) departs midway through this season to be a regular cast member on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine which started in January of 1993. I knew of Colm’s switching shows during this season for a while now and was anticipating some big episode or climactic scene explaining his departure from TNG. While there was a crossover episode introducing some of the new Deep Space Nine characters right before its debut, there was never a scene this addressing O’Brien leaving the Enterprise….unless it was a quick passing line of dialogue that went right over my head! Another notable change is halfway through the season Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) gets chastised by a new interim commander for her unorthodox uniform and makes her fall in line wearing matching Enterprise uniforms with the rest of the crew. In the bonus interviews on the BluRay, Marina states how she had to fight for a matching uniform for many years and it was one of the few things the higher ups finally granted her.

-I am glad TNG compensated for the lack of a Q (John de Lancie) episode last season and had him in two episodes in season six. The first episode is a middling affair where he steals a Starfleet prospect who discovers she is a long lost member of the Q Continuum. The second Q episode fares much better where Q helps a stuck-in-purgatory-Picard (Patrick Stewart) after Doctor Crusher (Gates McFadden) has a return of poor doctoring and loses Picard on the operating table. The two travel back to pivotal moments in Picard’s younger days to see if he would change the past in order to get a second chance at the future in an investing episode. Speaking of Crusher’s poor doctoring, there is another episode this season where it feels like the writers are in on the joke and have an episode where Crusher is disbarred after some major bad doctoring again on her part….but of course Crusher manages to change that by the episode’s end. If my notes are accurate (no promises!), than I believe this is the first season with no appearance from Troi’s mother, Lwaxana (Majel Barrett)! I would not be surprised if she has two episode next season. Season six also does not feature an appearance from Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), but I understand he will return in time for the series finale in season seven. A recurring character who does return is everyone’s favorite engineer, Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz), who is in a couple episodes this season, with him playing a key part in a holodeck episode with another long overdue returning character I will touch on soon.

Not only does Worf has some killer episodes this season, he also demonstrates his prowess at Yoga this season....while Crusher continues to demonstrate her prowess at poor doctoring. -There are a pair of excellent holodeck episodes this season. The first one is easily the best named episode of the entire series in “Fistful of Datas.” It sees Troi, Data (Brent Spiner), Worf (Michael Dorn) and his son, Alexander go on a wild west adventure where problems with the holodeck causes Data to take over nearly all the AI personas in the simulation. Swashbuckling hilarity ensues! The other holodeck episode sees the return of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis). This was long anticipated since Moriarty’s last appearance in season two as the Sherlock Holmes antagonist who became self-aware and whose consciousness became trapped in the holodeck in the following four years. In “Ship in a Bottle,” Moriarty attempts a master plan to connive his way out of the holodeck as a program and as an actual living being. The twists and turns that lead up to the gratifying resolution for everyone was a memorable ride and sadly Davis’s last guest appearance on the show. Daniel Davis and Patrick Stewart have a natural chemistry with each other that shines whenever those two share the screen, so I highly recommend tracking down and viewing both of his episodes!

-The flute that Picard was gifted in the previous season once again returns for a couple of memorable scenes when Picard starts courting another crew member who plays keyboard. Naturally this leads to the two having an emotional duet together that starts off kind of hokey, but by the end the pair had me reeled in all the way! Just click or press here to see for yourself. -Worf has a few notable dedicated episodes this season. A two episode arc sees him track down a long lost colony of Klingons imprisoned by Romulans that has Worf encouraging them to relearn and embrace Klingon customs. Another episode has Worf dealing with the fallout of seeing the return of the Klingon god, Kahless, and the fascinating drama that unravels with another satisfying conclusion for all conflicting parties involved.

-Even though by season six nearly the entire cast and writing team was firing away on all cylinders, I would be lying if there were not a couple clunker episodes. Riker (Jonathon Frakes) portrays a mental patient in a play he is rehearsing for, but the play starts going to his head and he starts losing it for real, but the way the plot unfolds is a mess and a half to follow along with. The other dud is TNG’s homage to The Thing which sounds promising on paper, but instead features lousy CG of its “Thing” and a groan-inducing twist that was not entertaining whatsoever. -As much as I enjoyed Leonard Nimoy returning to play Spock last season, I was delighted even more with The Original Series star James Doohan dusting off his communicator to portray Scotty. Watching him overcome his differences and exchange engineer expertise with Geordi (LeVar Burton) was a treat. The scene with Scotty and Picard sharing a drink on a holodeck reimagining of the original Enterprise gave me nostalgic goosebumps throughout.

-Season six started off with the conclusion to “Time’s Arrow” that saw the TNG crew time travelling back to the 1890s where they first encountered Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and were forced to alter the timeline to rescue Data, and win over an aggressive Mark Twain. While not on the level of the “Best of Both Worlds” two-parter season finale, it was still a highly entertaining two-parter in its own right, and as I alluded to earlier, I am all for seeing the TNG crew in an old west setting. Season six ends with another cliffhanger that sees the Enterprise encounter the Borg again, and they manage to convince Data to flee the Enterprise to seemingly join the Borg as their new leader. Suffice it to say, I am intrigued to see how this pays off in season seven! -I referenced a few times before here how I was keeping up with podcast reviews of every TNG episode with the show, Star Trek: The Next Conversation. It looks like I have finally caught up with where hosts Andrew Secunda and Matt Mira have recorded their latest shows just a couple episodes before the end of season six. It looks like they took a few extended breaks this season, and I cannot fault them for that at all when dealing with everything the pandemic has wreaked upon us all this past year. I still enjoyed their takes as usual, and plan on going back and listening to whenever they post new episodes to catch up with their remaining casts covering TNG. I understand they have a Patreon companion with exclusive podcasts dedicated with them marching through both Deep Space Nine and Voyager now, so who knows, I may have to start working my way through those series down the line.

-You know the drill by now, this BluRay is loaded with carried over DVD extra features and all new ones for the BluRay. Not including three commentary tracks for this season, there are just over three hours of behind-the-scenes interviews and documentaries. Almost all of them are informative, but I will only recommend a few of the must-see ones here. Mission Overview: Year Six has introspective reflections from Whoopi on “Time’s Arrow” and James Doohan on “Relics.” Bold New Directions has some fond insights on “Fistful of Datas” and fascinating memories from Stewart and Burton from getting their shot at directing episodes this season. Beyond Five Year Mission – Evolution of Star Trek: The Next Generation is the headlining all-new bonus feature. It is an hour and a half, and split into three parts. Part one has plenty of love for being the cast and crew’s personal favorite season of the show, debuting Deep Space Nine concurrently during this season and trying their best to work within Gene Roddenberry’s “no conflict” framework of the series. Part two is themed around TNG being more serious when compared to TOS, and highlighting how several episodes were scored. Part three stands out the most with an awesome story from Whoopi on what lead to her becoming involved on the show, Sirtis dealing with a lot of pushback from studio executives and Spiner’s love/hate relationship with the cat that played Spot.

There may be many hours of bonus interviews to sift through, but most of it is worth it for endearing moments above like Burton and Frakes sharing a laugh, and Spiner sharing his disdain for a certain feline. -Season six is a step up from the minor-yet-noticeable dip in quality from season five, and brings it back to the high bar established with seasons three and four of TNG. The highs were remarkably prominent this season with some standout holodeck episodes, memorable two-parters, and a scintillating season finale that has me anticipating the kickoff to the season seven. I cannot believe it, after a few years of starting this, I am finally down to just one season left of this legendary show. Please join me one last time here in a few months for my thoughts on the final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap 2017-18 TV Season Recap 2018-19 TV Season Recap 2019-20 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Baseball: A Ken Burns series Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections Cobra Kai – Seasons 1-2 Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 | Season 2 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld - Final Season Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7 Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

[kalico-to-the-letter]

REVIEW: RWBY – Vol. 5, Ch. 7: “REST AND RESOLUTION”

I love that the ending credits of this episode showed a breakdown of the very Japanese meal being eaten at the beginning of it.

Welcome to my review of the 7th Chapter of the 5th Volume, entitled, “Rest and Resolution”. This week gave us: War stories, the student finessing the master, and gatecrashing.

If you want to read this but are triggered by spoilers:

In “Rest and Resolution”, RWBY shows us what it has tended to show us for most of this season – some of the answers. It’s very rarely “all”, and it hasn’t been “none” for a few years, but “some”. Think anywhere between 60 and 80 out of 100, and that is generally RWBY’s output. In fact, if you include the B that I’m giving to this episode, the average grade for my reviews this season is between B and B+, and when you contextualise it, Volume 5 is following (maybe unintentionally) an on/off pattern of quality. Last week’s episode was brilliant; this week’s just decent, and such has been the case all season long. Going on this pattern, I expect next week’s to be brilliant too (and to be honest, the stories that might be featured have the opportunity to make it so).

So how do we make sense of an episode like this one? I didn’t know how long the episode would be going into it, so when it ended after a standoff between Cinder’s crew and Raven’s goons, it felt incomplete. It would have been a good time to see Blake’s story, especially when she had no other presence in the episode, but alas she’s being kept wrapped up for another week.

There was certainly a lot to like. Because of the format of the show, I’m critical of RWBY whenever it foists a lot of humor or light scenes on us. This is because they’re ultimately not adding a whole lot to the narrative, and RWBY tends to use humor to capitalize on character, rather than using it build character. It tends not to do much, other than providing some nice vibes for the moment. But it was different here.

But I was all for it in this episode, because the moments felt earned. I felt a connection to the kids telling their war stories over dinner, cringing about their times at Beacon, and reflecting on their journeys as individuals. I like seeing Yang be so cavalier about her prosthetic arm, and Weiss smiling and rolling her eyes at the old “Ice Queen” nickname. Because all of this good feeling was the culmination of the conflicts these characters have faced to this point. It probably would have felt even better if we hadn’t already seen so much of RJNR goofing around this season, but you can take it for what it is, and it’s very nice.

It’s also contrasted quite well with the following scene, with Qrow and Ozpin/Oscar showing up to catch Weiss and Yang up on everything they’ve missed for a season and a half. No bouncy light music, just silence and a ticking clock to perfectly indicate that we’ve now moved on to talking business. The first scene is one of those “hours feel like minutes when you’re having fun” types, and the second is the sobering kind, where you feel the weight of each passing second. When they came to summarizing, I just envied whoever might one day get the task of catching Blake up on everything.

This episode was mostly a vehicle for Yang (much like last week) and as there was a lot of her in the opening scene, the exposition scene also revolved around her and her interrogation of Ozpin’s power, the doubts that Raven planted in her mind last week. Her performance isn’t as strong as it was then, but it’s still good and understandable; one must contend with the presence of Ozpin, who tends to dominate his scenes when he gets going, and she still gets to have the last word. I’ve said it before, but Volume 5 Yang has been a refreshing character – someone who acknowledges her impetuous past, and who now is mature enough to recognize and speak the real.

There are problems, though. Believe me.

I prefer not to judge things based on my expectations, and I did say last week that I expected two things from this inevitable group chat to be addressed; Raven and Blake. But let me say that those expectations were based on nothing more than logic. As in “these things should happen, based on what the show is providing us”. It would have felt strange for Qrow to not ask Yang and Weiss about Raven, because he saw them come through the damn portal. And it would have felt strange for no-one to mention Blake, because she was kinda important to them back in the Beacon days.

These topics weren’t addressed, and guess what? It felt strange. The Raven thing I feel less strongly about – though that is a problem of its own that I will address further on – it was mainly just strange that Qrow had no curiosity about the issue.

I understand why Yang didn’t talk about Blake at all; being the person to whom Blake was closest, Yang was also the one most stung by her flight – this has been established in the past, but of course those issues have never had the chance to be resolved, and one can easily see Yang burying those feelings deep within herself to the point she might flinch at the mention of Blake’s name.

But for nobody else to ask? I’ve got a problem with that. Whenever these characters refer to themselves in the collective, at no point does anybody mention Blake, or just the fact that not all of them are there. The only reason I can think of for the writers doing things this way is that they just forgot – that is what makes the most sense, and that is a shame. How do you assemble six of the show’s Magnificent Seven and not mention the one person that’s missing?

Another thing I thought might happen was some antagonist movement, either towards Raven’s camp or Blake’s family, but this now marks two weeks since we’ve been to Menagerie, which undermines the good work that the show did for it back then. But I digress. We get Cinder’s crew showing up at the gates of Raven’s camp, and the episode ends with negotiations breaking down. I like the scene for that reason. It is about the right time to stage a narrative-shaking battle like this one, and this movement throws a wrench in the mission of Qrow and RNJR. But by running this setup so quickly, and ignoring Raven and Vernal entirely, the show misses a big opportunity that would have paid dividends in the skirmish and its aftermath.

And I’ll explain why. If you want someone to really care about these characters, and I’m talking about Raven and Vernal specifically, you have to tell little stories with them to build their characters and relationships. Right now, we have no genuine reason to care about this skirmish and its outcome beyond narrative stakes which haven’t been addressed in-depth since the second episode and the mere fact that Raven is Yang’s mom, given how little else we’ve learned about her. Vernal may be the Spring Maiden, but we have no reason to care about what happens to her – all we know about her is that she joined the bandits because she wasn’t about that Maiden life, and that she’s very loyal to Raven. We don’t have any idea about their relationship and their history, and we don’t have any idea how they might react to being split apart. We can guess, but that’s not good enough if you want people to care about what happens to these characters. The skirmish is probably going to be wonderful on a technical level, but unless the show is able to build Raven and Vernal’s personal stakes in the heat of the battle (which is much more difficult), then it’s not likely to be anything more than an exciting spectacle with a shake-up ending. But we’ll see, I suppose.

Additional observations:

- We need an official ruling on who won that arm wrestle between Nora and Yang, if only so fanfiction writers can write something fluffy about it.

- If anyone else said the deep stuff that Ren does, it would be Cringe City. But for him, it just tends to work.

- Seriously, what is this show doing to Blake?

- Again, the bandit camp fight could be quite special. I just wish we had enough of an insight into the participants that would make us naturally support the side that the show wants us to support. Without the underlying meaning, there is much intrigue just lacking.

- I was tempted to give this episode a B-. I gave the third episode, for instance, a C+, because parts of it just failed on a foundation which was only good at best. But I must say that while this episode was bit empty, nothing here actually missed the mark. If you look at everything we were given, nothing failed. This episode is just good, no more and no less, and it deserves to be acknowledged as such.

Grade: B

Final thoughts: “Rest and Resolution” sees RWBY following its peak with something just average, but it’s a good thing that the average for this show still makes for a decent episode. The frivolity is perfectly appropriate, while Yang being the only one of her friends to step up to Ozpin’s problematic power just further pushes her as one of the season’s best performers, if not the best so far. But ultimately, illogical writing dampens the aftermath of the latest reunion, while the importance of a pivotal upcoming battle is diminished by a lack of natural connection to the characters involved. This could have been a strong episode despite its short length, but it ends up being a bit hollow. – Kallie

[theconservativebrief]

It has not been a great year for television so far.

There have been plenty of treats, to be sure, and even some real treasures. But compared to the way 2017 seemed to haul out new classics with astonishing regularity (to the degree that I couldn’t rank them when it came time to make a list), 2018 has featured a lot of shows where my recommendation comes with a caveat, or where I love it but plenty of my critical comrades despise it, or something like that.

This is fine, in many ways. TV criticism was defined too long by the idea that there were a simple handful of good shows, and critics could mostly agree on them. It’s exciting to get away from that era in some way, to argue about if Westworld is magnificent or malarkey, to discuss whether The Handmaid’s Tale is incisive or exploitative.

But it also means lists like these require far more grains of salt than they might have in the past. So here, presented alphabetically, are 24 TV shows from the first half of 2018 that I gave four stars or more and that have stuck around in my memory in the time since they aired. I hope you like them! But maybe you won’t! And since the TV year typically features more good shows in its first half than its second (due to the Emmys falling in September), my year-end list will likely feature almost all of these shows.

(A few caveats: I typically use the summer to catch up on stuff I missed, so some shows that aren’t here almost certainly will be come December. And I’ve tried to limit this to shows that aired six or more episodes in 2018 so far, cutting out some other favorites. I’ve made a list of things that missed due to one or the other of these caveats at the bottom of this article.)

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One of the best final seasons I’ve ever seen, the last 10 episodes of The Americans circled back to what the spy drama had always been about — whether this unlikely marriage between two KGB spies pretending to be ordinary Americans could survive all of the things threatening to rip it apart. The series finale is a pitch-perfect cap to six years of bleak but beautiful television.

How to watch it: The Americans is available for digital purchase, or on FX’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be on Amazon Prime.

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The second installment of American Crime Story after 2016’s The People vs. O. J. Simpson was less immediately arresting. But its depiction of ’90s America is just as impressive, tracing the circuitous route of serial killer Andrew Cunanan backward from his most famous victim through a gay scene struggling not to be forced back in the closet. Darren Criss’s work as Cunanan is masterful.

How to watch it: American Crime Story is available for digital purchase, or on FX’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be on Netflix.

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Donald Glover’s laconically loopy trip through the titular city grew bolder and more confident in its second season, as the characters endlessly debated ideas of what it means to be “fake” versus “real.” The season’s standout was the darkly funny horror tale “Teddy Perkins,” about the legacies of child abuse, but every episode stands as a pitch-perfect, beautifully honed gem.

How to watch it: Atlanta is available for digital purchase, or on FX’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be on Hulu.

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So far, 2018 has been a year of uneasy comedies, of stories that are ostensibly funny but hide something dark and sad at their core. No “comedy” embraced this idea more than Barry, about a hitman who would be an actor, played by Bill Hader. The show is terrifically funny, especially in its depiction of the fringes of show business, but what sticks with you is Barry’s inability to change.

How to watch it: Barry is available for digital purchase, or on HBO’s streaming platforms.

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A riotous trip through the deleterious effects of income inequality, Billions had its best, most cutting season this year, as the show blew up its own premise (by burying the investigation that had always been at its center), then spent the rest of its season vamping for time by digging into the ways those with money and power seem utterly oblivious to those without those qualities in the 2010s.

How to watch it: Billions is available for digital purchase, or on Showtime’s streaming platforms.

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You like fish? This has so many fish!

How to watch it: Blue Planet II is available for digital purchase, or on BBC America’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be available on Netflix.

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A deeply funny dark comedy about the cost of working for a terrible company, Corporate is one of the most visually audacious shows of the year, turning the workplace comedy into an excuse to indulge in gray, chilly frames, in the style of David Fincher. Somehow, that only makes the jokes, about the dehumanization inherent in trying to hold down a corporate job, even funnier.

How to watch it: Corporate is available for digital purchase, or on Comedy Central’s streaming platforms.

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For whatever reason, 2018 has been full of terrific spy dramas, but this one seemed to get a bit lost in the shuffle. Starring Oscar winner J.K. Simmons, it tells the story of a world that split in two late in the Cold War, with the second universe, initially a copy of our own, slowly becoming more and more different. Forget just having one great J.K. Simmons performance. Counterpart had two.

How to watch it: Counterpart is available for digital purchase, or on Starz’s streaming platforms.

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This satirical comedy, set on the campus of a predominantly white college, but focusing primarily on the school’s black students, hit another level in its second season. The show crystallizes Trump-era racism — just a new face on a very old American horror — through its storytelling and especially its visuals. The eighth episode, structured as one long conversation, is a marvel.

How to watch it: Dear White People is available on Netflix.

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I include the “season one” here in hopes that it’s unnecessary. Netflix has made noise about following up this dark British comedy with a second season, but doing so would be self-defeating, as this first season tells its story so perfectly that to tack on more would feel wrong. So watch this gem of a miniseries about a teenage sociopath and the girl he can’t bring himself to kill before it gets all screwed up.

How to watch it: The End of the F***ing World is available on Netflix.

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The space-faring political drama tightened the screws and ratcheted up the tension in its third installment, which collapses a full novel and a half from the book series it’s based on into a single season of television. Complete with memorable guest arcs from David Strathairn and Elizabeth Mitchell, the series finally dug into the true nature of the mysterious alien presence in our solar system.

How to watch it: The Expanse is available for digital purchase, or on Syfy’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be available on Amazon Prime.

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The comedy about women wrestlers and the basic cable TV show that broadcast them to the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area has a bit more sprawl than it knew what to do with in its second season. But the show is so open-hearted and generous to its characters that it doesn’t matter. Its stories of women navigating men’s spaces and womanhood as a kind of performance make for riveting television.

How to watch it: GLOW is available on Netflix.

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Already brutal and bruising, The Handmaid’s Tale became even more so in its second season. It removed some of the cold comforts of the first season to examine how living in a totalitarian society inevitably means that you become complicit in at least some of its horrors, even as those horrors are being visited upon you. Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski are fantastic as they navigate a society set up to oppress them.

How to watch it: The Handmaid’s Tale is available on Hulu.

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This stand-up set is a must-see, as Australian comedian Gadsby sets up a long series of punchlines that then resolve into a complete deconstruction of jokes and who gets to tell them in a society filled with fatal power imbalances. It’s funny, yes, but also filled with a scorching fury that finally resolves in a sense that to do better, we have to tear apart every assumption we have.

How to watch it: Hannah Gadsby: Nanette is available on Netflix.

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I’ve always enjoyed this rural noir about two best friends who solve strange mysteries in and around the American South. But the third season, which features the two of them taking on the Klan, felt like the show turning a corner into its examination of how much America is defined by its gruesome past and how little any of us are willing to pay attention to that. Naturally, Sundance canceled it after the season aired.

How to watch it: Hap and Leonard is available for digital purchase, or on Sundance’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be available on Netflix.

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The CW’s daffy and inventive telenovela has always been some of my favorite TV comfort food. But in its fourth season, it somehow became something even more, leaning into storylines that underlined the show’s themes of family, perseverance, and love. It’s rare for a TV show to do a “character might have cancer” arc that doesn’t feel like a cheat, but Jane more than pulled it off.

How to watch it: Jane the Virgin is available for digital purchase, or on Netflix. Some episodes are available on the CW’s website.

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Here’s another terrific spy drama, this one focused on a bored spy (Sandra Oh) who finds herself intrigued — and then maybe even more — by her new quarry, a mysterious assassin (Jodie Comer). Killing Eve takes tropes you’ve seen a million times and makes them feel new again, and it’s the first TV show in ages to remind me of my beloved, dearly departed Hannibal.

How to watch it: Killing Eve is available for digital purchase, or on BBC America’s streaming platforms.

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The Looming Tower is dry and occasionally impenetrable. But I ended up loving the way this miniseries about the build-up to 9/11 slowly but surely built its case for how US intelligence agencies failed to spot what was right in front of them, leading to one of the biggest tragedies to ever occur on American soil. It’s not an argument for more intelligence work; it’s an argument for smarter intelligence work that remains relevant to this day.

How to watch it: The Looming Tower is available on Hulu.

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The middle stretch of this season reeled off classic episodes, like the show was in a groove it was never going to leave. What’s more, those episodes are all so recognizable as episodes — from a magic-inflected hour of short stories to a musical — that it became hard not to get caught up in the inventiveness. And the series’s emotional core about sad 20-something magicians trying to bring back the thing that makes them sad (magic) remains rock solid.

How to watch it: The Magicians is available for digital purchase, or on Syfy’s streaming platforms. It will eventually be available on Netflix.

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The second season of the remake of the 1970s sitcom of the same name is perhaps the most joyful show of the year, as the Alvarez family at its center struggles through life in these United States with heart and hope. You’ll see few TV performances as terrific this year as the work of Justina Machado and Rita Moreno, as a mother and daughter who are never defined by their conflicts.

How to watch it: One Day at a Time is available on Netflix.

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Ryan Murphy’s final series for FX (before leaving for Netflix) is this delightful, warm ’80s period piece about drag ball culture of the era and the idea of found families among people all across the LGBT spectrum. In particular, the show tells stories about trans women like few TV shows ever have, allowing them to have full lives and desires beyond their transition narratives.

How to watch it: Pose is available for digital purchase, or on FX’s streaming platforms.

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My favorite workplace comedy had maybe its best season with its third run, which both deepens the show’s interest in social issues (including age discrimination, something few TV shows would even think to touch) and also serves as a master class in how to spin romantic and sexual tension across an entire season of a TV series. When all of its stories came together in the finale, it felt almost magical.

How to watch it: Superstore is available for digital purchase, on NBC’s site, or on Hulu.

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More than 100 men sail into the Arctic in the mid-1800s, sure they’ll win glory for the British crown by discovering the Northwest Passage. None of them return, and this miniseries (the first in a new anthology series under the banner of The Terror), based on a Dan Simmons novel, imagines what might have happened to them, utilizing both historical research and a mighty monster to tell its tale. It’s grim and unrelenting but also starkly beautiful.

How to watch it: The Terror is available for digital purchase, or on AMC’s streaming platforms.

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Two sisters return to their Los Angeles neighborhood in the wake of their mother’s death, then vow to keep the bar she ran open to preserve their neighborhood in the face of gentrification. This lively half-hour drama examines ideas of identity, sexuality, and class consciousness, but never in a way that feels didactic. Instead, it offers heart, humor, and a touch of magical realism.

How to watch it: Vida is available for digital purchase, or on Starz’s streaming platforms.

The Good Fight CBS All Access

12 Monkeys and Channel Zero are other Syfy treats I’ve highly recommended in the past, but I’ve been able to catch up with neither so far. The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend technically aired six episodes in 2018 (exactly six), but I really want to see where it’s going with its current story arc. CBS All Access’s The Good Fight is one I just haven’t caught up with yet, to the consternation of my friends. NBC’s The Good Place will surely be on my year-end list but only aired five episodes in 2018 so far. I loved HBO’s The Tale, a searing story about the aftermath of sexual abuse, but it already made our “best movies of 2018 so far” list. And someday I will finish Netflix’s Wild Wild Country, but I liked what I saw.

Original Source -> The 24 best TV shows of 2018 so far

via The Conservative Brief

[etechwire-blog]

10 best free total conversion mods for PC

New Post has been published on https://www.etechwire.com/10-best-free-total-conversion-mods-for-pc/

10 best free total conversion mods for PC

Blockbuster games like DOTA, Counter-Strike and DayZ have are all connected by the fact that they started off as total conversion mods. These are labours of love created by code-savvy fans who one day thought ‘What would ARMA be like with zombies?’ or ‘How would Warcraft III play if I controlled just the one hero?’ 

From these little kernels of inspiration, a phenomena were born.

But we’re going to put aside those success stories for now, and look at the best total conversion mods that are still completely free. After years of work and hundreds of hours of development, these mods are so well crafted that if you squint just a little, you may just mistake them for full standalone games.

The ability to completely transform your existing game into an entirely new one using total conversion mods is yet another reason why gaming on PC is so good. So, as part of our PC Gaming Week 2018, here’s our pick of the best total conversion mods you can install and play right now for free.

1. A Game of Thrones – Crusader Kings II 

Released not long after Crusader Kings 2 itself, A Game of Thrones is not only a perfect fit for the mechanics of Paradox’s feudal grand strategy game, but hands down the best video-game set in George R.R. Martin’s blockbuster fantasy world.

A Game of Thrones may sometimes appear to be all battles and dragons and bad language, but really it’s a saga of political intrigue, scheming and Machiavellian plotting; who should be married off to whom, and for what gain? What would assassinating a certain lord do to your claim on their land? How do you clamber your way up the feudal ladder to get to the Iron Throne? 

Its themes meld perfectly with Crusader Kings II, and this mod realises George R.R. Martin’s world right down to the writing and the topographical lay of the land.

And yes, of course there are dragons… 

2. Enderal – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

One of the most polished total conversion mods ever made, Enderal could just about pass off as its own triple-A game. 

German developer SureAI (who also made stunning Oblivion mod Nehrim) pulled out all stops, writing and voicing tens of hours of dialogue (that arguably outdoes Skyrim’s oft-risible script), and painstakingly building a beautiful new world that offers around 100 hours of content.

Within Skyrim’s rather action-orientated engine, Enderal manages to find its own identity, and in many ways harks back to old-school RPGs; it’s tough, with a traditional levelling system, no fast travel, and slow pacing, while offering a powerful story that often ventures into darker, more mature territory than Skyrim’s mass-market take on high fantasy.

3. Gekokujo – Mount & Blade: Warband

Mount & Blade: Warband is the quintessential feudal sandbox, letting you create a character in a central-European kingdom and build them up into a roving mercenary, a heroic commander or, ultimately, a lord who answers to no one. You go about this through a messy, delightful mix of direct combat, RTS-like strategising, and RPG-like decision-making.

Gekokujo takes all that, and whisks it off to Sengoku-era Japan. The world map spans the entire Land of the Rising Sun, complete with major kingdoms, villages, cities, holdings, and lords for you to saddle up with (before, inevitably, betraying them). 

Weapons, armour, clothing and architecture are faithful to the setting, and a whole world of dialogue and events has been written to convincingly migrate the inimitable Warband formula to the Far East.

4. X-COM/UFO: Enemy Unknown – X-Piratez

The original 1994 turn-based squaddie alien shooter X-COM UFO: Enemy Unknown has been kept alive thanks to the OpenXcom Extended open-source project. Based on this, X-Piratez is a fascinating piece of punky fan-fiction set in the same universe, borrowing ideas and mechanics from the whole gamut of X-COM games.

Set in a future where the X-COM resistance was crushed by the alien invaders, X-Piratez casts you as a buccaneering crew of space-pirates, robbing settlers and plundering ships until the intriguing plot inevitably brings you into contact with greater threats. 

With its unique arsenal of makeshift weaponry, fresh tech tree and lowlife factions, it all feels refreshingly scrappy compared to the high-tech shenanigans of the mainline series.

5. Underhell – Half-life 2

From Black Mesa to Garry’s Mod, by way of Natural Selection, Half-life 2 has been the launchpad for several successful mods that went on to become fully fledged games. One of the ones that never made the jump, however, was Underhell.

Following a psychologically-spiraling S.W.A.T. operative who’s struggling to deal with his wife’s death, Underhell is part puzzler, part horror, part bullet-time shooter that’s thick in atmosphere and experimental storytelling. 

The action flows like a fever dream between a dreamworld, spooky home and vicious action, making Underhell stand alongside The Stanley Parable as one of the more artful Half-life 2 mods.

Sadly, only one of the intended six episodes of Underhell was ever made, with developer We Create Stuff’s priorities shifting to other projects in recent years.

6. The Dark Mod (Thief) – Doom 3

The Thief IP, once revered for its revolutionary stealth mechanics and level design, was run into the ground with the facile 2014 reboot. Luckily, The Dark Mod, a total conversion mod for Doom 3, is as fine a spiritual successor to the original games as you could ask for.

The Dark Mod eschews combat and action in favour of good old-fashioned stealth.

Stick to the rafters, extinguish candles with water arrows, and loot the rich and wealthy of a brooding steampunk city that’s somewhere between the worlds of Thief and Dishonored. The base mod (now standalone) is just the tip of the arrow, as it’s bolstered by hundreds of excellent community-made levels.

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age – Medieval II: Total War

There’s no shortage of Middle-Earth-themed mods out there, but, like Gandalf at a Hobbiton pipeweed convention, this one stands tall among them. 

So complete and detailed is The Third Age – from Rohirrim shield crests to the city layout of Osgiliath – that seven years on, it remains the most popular LoTR mod for Total War. 

It’s spawned a slew of sub-mods too, including the relatively-recent The Third Age: Reforged, which adds new factions, animations and units.

As a sidenote, if you’re on the Total War: Warhammer battlewagon, check out the recently-released The Lord of the Rings: Rise of Mordor. It’s far from complete yet, but looks promising and could yet become the true successor to The Third Age.

8. Fall from Heaven 2 – Civilization IV

Staying on the theme of historical strategy games with a fantasy makeover, Fall from Heaven 2 is a superbly imagined swords-and-sorcery overhaul of Civilization IV.

It transports the history-spanning formula to a lore-rich fantasy world brimming with magic spells, Hero units (complete with properly designed models), demonic religions and its own arcane tech tree.

It’s not always easy for a total conversion mod to evoke a powerful atmosphere that really sets it apart from its base game, but Fall from Heaven 2 pulls it off with aplomb, thanks to an encyclopaedic amount of lore, and a soundtrack that immerses you in its faraway world of werewolves and wizards.

9. Fallout 1.5: Resurrection – Fallout 2

This one’s for the retro PC gamers for whom Fallout is a game of taking turns and isometric cameras – none of this pseudo-FPS nonsense. 

Released in 2016, Fallout 1.5 is a total conversion mod for Fallout 2 which crams a 25-or-so-hour chapter between the events of the first and second games, taking you to the post-apocalyptic wastes of Albuquerque, New Mexico (no signs of a drug-lab camper van out in the scrublands, sadly).

Fallout 1.5 is well-written and old-school relentless, which you’ll learn from the off as you’re beset by sizeable mobs of ghouls and rats. True to the spirit of the original game, Fallout 1.5 also throws some dark questlines and morally murky quandaries at you, so be prepared to have your Karma sternly tested.

10. The Nameless Mod – Deus Ex 

Another option for gamers of a certain vintage, the Nameless Mod takes Deus Ex’s cyber-noir tone of gravelly voices and shady conspiracies, and amplifies it. 

Set in a city that’s a manifestation of tribal internet forum culture, it’s a strangely apt game given the make-up of society today. 

Forum City is a place of lonely neon lights and zeal-maddened characters, weighed down by an air of constant paranoia that you must stop from spilling over into self-destruction.

What’s impressive about The Nameless Mod is how it manages to build on certain areas of the original Deus Ex; the AI is more responsive to your actions, and the story can pretty much split into two depending on your decisions, coming good on that bold promise that ‘Every Choice Matters’.

TechRadar’s fourth annual PC Gaming Week is officially here, celebrating our passion with in-depth and exclusive coverage of PC gaming from every angle. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2018 page to see all of the coverage in one place. 

[petitrangement]

Shortly after receiving the news of his father’s death, Steve Hodel found himself sorting through his belongings. Though Steve’s father, George Hodel, loomed large throughout his early childhood, their relationship had always been strained. George was a grandiose doctor with a distant personality who abandoned the family shortly after Steve’s ninth birthday, eventually moving far away to the Philippines.

As he went through his father’s possessions, Steve found a photo album tucked away in a box. It was small enough to fit in his palm and bound in wood. Feeling like a voyeur, he perused it. It was filled with the usual pictures – his mom, dad and brothers – as well as portraits of the family taken by the world-famous surrealist artist Man Ray, a family friend.

But towards the back, something caught his eye: two pictures of a young woman, her eyes cast downward, with curly, deep-black hair. Steve still doesn’t know why he had the idea, but as he looked at the images, he thought to himself: “My God, that looks like the Black Dahlia.”

The Black Dahlia, of course, is the nickname given to Elizabeth Short after her grisly death on 15 January 1947. The 22-year-old aspiring actor was living in Los Angeles when her corpse was found maimed and split in two, its body parts displayed in an grotesque posture on the ground of a vacant lot.

The personal connection between Short and George Hodel suggested by the album photos seemed outrageous. Hers was one of the most brutal murders in American history, and, after the Zodiac killer’s shooting spree in San Francisco, perhaps the most famous unsolved crime in California. But from this moment on, Steve was hooked.

In just over 23 years, Steve had diligently risen through the ranks of the Los Angeles police department, establishing a reputation as an unfaltering homicide detective. So like any good cop, Steve started digging and the details began to add up.

Crime scene photos showed that Short had been given a hemicorporectomy, a procedure that slices the body beneath the lumbar spine, the only spot where the body can be severed in half without breaking bone. It was taught in the 1930s, when George had been in medical school. The letters sent to the press and police from The Black Dahlia Avenger, a man claiming to be Short’s killer, also bore a chilling resemblance to his dad’s handwriting.

Cataloguing evidence has been Steve’s life for the last 15 years, during which the quest to connect his father to Short’s murder consumed his life. It brought him back to Los Angeles, where he now spends his days in a modest apartment, documenting his father’s supposed criminal past in a snowballing body of work including four books, a play and a frequently updated blog. And though his first book, Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story, is little more than hundreds of pages of evidence, listed chronologically like a cop’s case log, it made the New York Times bestseller list after it was released in 2003.

This research has won him fans. It has also made many people uncomfortable given his tone, which blurs the line between obsession and admiration, and his conveniently gripping narrative: a homicide detective, raised in the heart of gritty Los Angeles, finds his father guilty of the city’s most notorious unsolved murder.

Steve, who is now 74, isn’t the first person to claim that he’s solved Short’s murder; he’s not even the first to claim that one of his parents was the killer. But Steve has dug up a cache of evidence, including law enforcement files that show that his father topped the LAPD’s list of suspects at the time of the crime.

While law enforcement officials disagree about whether Steve Hodel is a brilliant vigilante or an obsessive crackpot, no one has been able to prove him wrong. That fact has been all the encouragement Steve needs to keep digging.

The celebrity status of Short’s death was driven, in part, by a relentlessness media. The Los Angeles Record carried related items on its front page for 31 consecutive days, and sales of newspapers surged as the LAPD’s investigation continued.

Part of the intrigue came from the unprecedented brutality of her murder. Before she was killed, Short had been forced to eat feces. Flesh and pubic hair had been shaved off her body and inserted into her vagina and rectum. Short’s uterus was removed. Long gashes extended her mouth into an eerie smile.

“It’s the body itself which laid the groundwork for endless generations of Black Dahlia zealots,” the writer John Gilmore told an interviewer. “It’s like this tremendous, bizarre magnet.”

The day after Short’s body was found, the Los Angeles Examiner sold more copies than it had any other day, except when it announced the allied victory in the second world war. Sales were fueled by the tawdry way the tabloid press covered Short – as a streetwalking, sexualized young thing (the rumors that she was a prostitute were untrue). As a childhood friend later recalled, “It was just horrible, the way she was portrayed.”

This sensationalized portrait has endured over time. Her murder has been memorialized in movies (The Black Dahlia, starring Scarlett Johansson, is the latest), and on television shows (most recently on an episode of American Horror Story).

The Biltmore, the hotel where Short was seen alive a few days before her death, offers a popular Black Dahlia cocktail. Dozens of threads on Reddit are devoted to discovering the identity of her killer.

Numerous writers have written books about the case. Like Hodel, a woman named Janice Knowlton believed that her father was the Black Dahlia killer, and wrote a book about it. “Her book was trash, and it wasn’t even true,” her sister told the Los Angeles Times after her death in 2004. “She believed it, but it wasn’t reality.”

So far, only Hodel’s own investigation warranted an official acknowledgement from the DA’s office.

Hodel lives in a salmon-colored stucco apartment complex in Studio City, just a few miles from his childhood home. His unit overlooks a small, empty swimming pool. His girlfriend, Roberta, would like something nicer, but the rent is low and the space is large.

A physically imposing man, Hodel is tall and broad with a dusting of white hair and a gentle demeanor – like Santa Claus, vibrating on a darker frequency. And after 16 years immersed in Dahlia-lore, the smallest details are ingrained in Steve’s mind. Once, when I referred to an officer on the case with the wrong title, Hodel lunged forward, his eyes narrowed, and began a well-rehearsed monologue on the officer’s role in the case.

“He’s like a pit bull,” his brother Kelly Hodel says. “Once he gets his teeth into something, he doesn’t let go.”

Steve began investigating his father with the deliberate fastidiousness of the good cop he’d always been. He surveyed the case from scratch, digging through witness interviews and newspaper archives. He filed a Freedom of Information Act to retrieve the FBI files on the murder, and other information the bureau had collected on his father. He sent the photographs that he found in his father’s photo album to facial recognition experts (one remains unknown, the other he identified as another woman).

A handwriting expert determined that there was a strong likelihood that his father’s handwriting matched the script on some of the notes the killer sent to the LAPD, but the results were inconclusive.

In the archives of UCLA, Steve found a folder containing receipts for contracting work on his childhood home. One of the receipts showed a purchase a few days before Short’s murder of 10 five-pound bags of concrete – the same size and brand found near Short’s body that police believe her killer used to carry her.

As a civilian, Steve doesn’t have access to the original police files and, as an officer admitted to him in his only meeting with the LAPD, the majority of the physical evidence has been lost over the years. Most of the witnesses are dead, as are the original cops that worked the case.

To sidestep the age of the evidence, Steve relied on carefully assembled anecdotes. He has recreated conversations that dead cops had with friends, family members, and, in one case, the daughter of a lieutenant’s family dentist. A number of them report hearing that the department believed the culprit was a doctor “who lived on Franklin Avenue”, where the Hodel family lived at the time of the murder.

Steve tracked down a policewoman who reported seeing Short on the street with a man and a woman, on the night before she was found murdered, but half a century later, the cop could only remember what Short looked like, not the two other people present.

In 2001, after two years of researching the case full-time, Hodel turned to Steven Kay, an acquaintance who worked in the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office. Hodel still wasn’t sure he could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his father was the Black Dahlia killer. But he was convinced his investigation had unearthed enough new material to justify a fresh look from law enforcement officials.

Kay, an assistant district attorney at the time, agreed to review Steve’s work. Six weeks later, Kay responded with a glowing letter. “Thanks to some great detective work by his courageous son Steve, the name of Dr George Hodel will live in infamy,” wrote Kay, who added that, if George were still alive, he would file two charges of murder against him. Surprisingly, Kay believed Steve was right.

“When I had that, that was kind of the moment where I said, OK, case solved,” says Steve.

The assessment gave Steve the reassurance he needed to start on a book – the best vehicle, he believed, to share his story with the world. Michael Hodel, Steve’s son, was staying with his father the summer he began writing the manuscript. Every day, “he’d get up at five in the morning and he’d be up in his room doing research”, Michael recalled, “I was just impressed with his dedication.”

At the time, Steve told no one but his girlfriend, Roberta, what he was working on. But in January of 2002, a few weeks before the book was slated to come out, he started informing friends and family. He called June Hodel, his father’s widow, first, a conversation that ended up being their last. “She just kept saying, this isn’t true, your father was a scholar,” Steve said (I tried to locate June Hodel for this article, but couldn’t contact her).

One of the next people he called was his younger brother, Kelly Hodel. When Kelly picked up the phone, Steve didn’t waste time with small talk.

“Our father was a homicidal maniac,” he said, by way of greeting.

Almost as if scripted, startling revelations came after Steve concluded his research.

Steve Lopez, a columnist at the Los Angeles Times, received a copy of Steve’s book and decided to write about it. While fact-checking his column, Lopez asked the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office for more information on the murder. The DA’s office complied, and Lopez received access to a file that Lt Frank Jemison, one of the original officers investigating Short’s murder, had left behind in a safe in the basement of the district attorney’s office.

The file, a copy of which the district attorney also shared with the Guardian, contains an assortment of photographs, newspaper clippings and several hundred pages of typed interview notes, pixelated with age, compiled by Jemison.

Buried in the notes is the bombshell that Steve had been hoping for: the Los Angeles police department was focused on six suspects in its Black Dahlia investigation, and George Hodel was on the list. And then there is the transcript of the period in 1950 when the police were bugging George Hodel’s home.

Most of the transcript is dull: Hodel has sex; he berates his secretary; he talks about money problems. But on 19 February 1950, there’s a haunting exchange.

8:25pm. “Woman screamed. Woman screamed again. (It should be noted, the woman not heard before the scream.)”

Later in the day, Hodel talks to a confidant.

“Realise there was nothing I could do, put a pillow over her head and cover her with a blanket. Get a taxi. Expired 12:59. They thought there was something fishy. Anyway, now they may have figured it out. Killed her.”

The surveillance continues, routinely, but for one telling moment.

“Supposin’ I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn’t prove it now. They can’t talk to my secretary any more because she’s dead.”

Lopez’s discovery of this file – the surveillance, the confirmation of his dad’s place on the suspect list – was a redeeming moment for Hodel, and he still beams when he talks about it now, more than a decade later. “Here you’ve got independent corroboration that he was in fact the prime suspect,” he says. “Basically, I was blown away.”

On a brisk morning in January three years ago, Steve decided to re-enact the drive that he believes his father took the night he killed Short. Steve woke up early on 16 January (a day after the anniversary of Short’s actual murder on 15 January 1947), and drove at 6am to his childhood home on Franklin Avenue. “I wanted to see the ambient lighting,” Steve told me. He has recreated the drive many times since then, for reporters, friends and family.

When Short’s body was discovered, the Leinart Park neighborhood was just developing. It was nothing more than a series of overgrown lots with a scattering of houses. Now, it’s solidly middle-class, with rows of close-set houses with manicured laws. On a clear day, you can see the Hollywood sign in the distance.

It took us a minute to find the spot where Short’s body was found, using a compass app and the house numbers. Steve seemed pleased when we finally located the spot, on the closely cropped grass of a single-story home, a few feet away from the sidewalk.

One of the most difficult parts of Steve’s beliefs is how flatteringly they make out his dad. In his estimation, it’s George’s relationship with the surrealist photographer, Man Ray, that helped propel Short’s murder. Two of Man Ray’s photographs, Les Amoureux and Minotaur, do bear a chilling resemblance to Short’s mutilated body.

Short’s body, Steve argues, was George’s way of emulating his friend’s surrealism, allowing him to build what Steve calls a “masterpiece, a crime so shocking and horrible it would endure, be immortalized through the annals of crime lore”.

In the car, after we left, I asked Steve what he thought his father would think of his investigation. He paused for a moment, before replying. “I don’t know,” he said, after stopping to think. “I’m guessing he’d be proud of me.”

Though Steve’s family is proud of his dedication, their pride has slid, slowly, towards bafflement. At one point, I asked Steve’s son Michael why he thought his father kept investigating.

“Have you figured it out?” he asked me, “Because I’d like to know.”

He paused, and then added, “To my dad, the Black Dahlia is his story,” he said. “If there’s any kind of noteworthiness in his life, it probably came from this. This is kind of his calling card at this point. So, yeah, I can see how you would want it to be as grand as possible.”

Steve says that, for him, the Black Dahlia case is like a loose thread in a sweater: you tug on it gently, thinking you’ve come to the end, and it continues to unravel. There has never been a comfortable end point to conclude his investigation: each piece of evidence leads to another, in turn leading to another crime.

All told, Steve believes he’s located a trail that connects his father to dozens of murders, stretching across California.

Details from murders in Los Angeles lead Steve to a string of murders in Chicago, which then led him to Manila and the slaying of a 28-year-old woman named Lucila Lalu, whose dismembered body had been found situated oddly like Short’s. She body was found scattered about a half mile from his father’s home, along a street named “Zodiac”.

Steve took it as a clue. “I thought, no, no, no, there’s no way,” he told me. He worried that there was no way to accuse his father of the Zodiac murders without seeming loony. “I had spent all of this time and effort and blood, sweat and tears establishing my credibility in Black Dahlia. And now this guy’s saying his dad is also the Zodiac? It’s like, oh man.”

That assessment has proven largely accurate.

After his first book, Black Dahlia Avenger, was released, Steve seemed on the verge of a breakthrough. It was met with a wave of mostly positive press coverage. The Seattle Weekly called it “one of the most compelling true-crime books of all time”. The New York Times gave it a rave review. Steve appeared on Dateline, CBS and NBC; Anderson Cooper interviewed him for CNN. But after he turned his attention to the Zodiac, and published Most Evil, which argues that his father was responsible for the Zodiac murders as well, interest in his work has been middling.

Ultimately, all of his investigations have produced precious little in the way of real results. Aside from hosting one meeting with Steve, shortly after the release of his book, the LAPD has largely ignored him. As Lt Brian Carr, the officer who was responsible for the files told Cold Case in 2009, “I don’t have the time to prove or disprove what [Hodel] says. I’m buried in other cases that do have evidence that are possibly solvable.” Steve told me he views this as more evidence of a massive LAPD cover-up.

In a re-release of the Black Dahlia Avenger, Steve writes that he’s angry that major papers, like the Los Angeles Times, have chosen to “ignore the story”. The reality, however, is more complicated. “When I found out what [Steve’s theory] was, it struck me as pretty spectacular,” Steven Lopez, the Times columnist, told me in an email. “An LAPD detective solves one of the most notorious unsolved murders in LA history, and the murderer is his father.”

“But I was struck, in reading the book, by the fact that Hodell never sealed the deal,” wrote Lopez. “I thought he offered mostly circumstantial evidence, then acted as if the case was closed.”

In fact, most people, aside from Steve, seem to have moved on from the case. Short’s two closest family members, her mother and her sister, are dead. Steven Kay, the district attorney who reviewed Steve’s files, declined to discuss the case for this article.

Steve says he has long since given up on trying to sway law enforcement officials. “My judge and jury are the public” he said. “My readers. And they get it.”

[aion-rsa]

Loki Episode 2 Holds Out for a Hero and a Villain

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This review contains spoilers for the second episode of Loki

Loki Episode 2

“Up where the mountains meet the heavens above. Out where the lightning splits the sea. I could swear that there’s someone somewhere watching me.”

When Marvel’s Kevin Feige discussed Loki’s evolution recently, he noted that “putting Loki into his own procedural series became the Eureka moment for the show.” This became a talking point between fans because Loki was simultaneously hyped as another “six-hour movie” and the two concepts seemed to clash a little. Would Loki’s overarching story blend well with elements of a crime procedural?

The first episode of Marvel’s latest small screen project gave us a little good-cop/bad-cop stuff, with some interrogation room tactics weaved in as Owen Wilson’s Mobius M. Mobius went down the “get inside the mind of a killer” route, and the second episode of Loki continues to embrace the procedural vibe.

A fairly traditional teaser sets up episode 2 as C-20 (Sasha Lane from American Honey) and her squad of TVA Hunters arrive in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in the mid-80s to investigate a reported Variant on the loose at a renaissance fair. The team is ambushed by the Minutemen-murdering Loki Variant mentioned by Mobius at the end of the last episode, and Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” accompanies the rest of the scene in what may or may not be the most extremely online deep cut I’ve ever seen.

TERRIBLE MISS MINUTES IMPRESSION: Hi there! You may be asking yourself what a “teaser” or “cold open” is! Let me get you up to speed. A teaser is a narrative technique used at the start of a TV episode to intrigue the audience just enough to stay tuned. In crime procedurals it’s usually the first building block of that episode’s mystery. A good cold open makes us feel compelled to stick around and find out “whodunnit,” why, or how!

Back at the TVA, Loki is learning – or half-learning – about what happens when a Nexus Event passes the red line and they can’t reset it: the destruction of the Sacred Timeline. During the lesson Miss Minutes acts as a Gal Friday who Loki has little appreciation for despite her enthusiasm, and she ends up calling him a jerk. Which he absolutely is. Nevertheless, the scene is delightful. If there has to be a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? remake in our future, put Tom Hiddleston in there as Eddie Valiant and you could craft a sturdy bridge out of my suspension of disbelief.

Some specific temporal energy has informed the TVA that the Loki Variant was indeed responsible for the ambush on C-20’s team. The Hunters are used to dealing with Loki Variants – apparently they prune Lokis “almost more than any other Variant.” Slippery little bugger though he may be, this stands out as fairly important information. Are these Variants like raptors unwittingly testing the fences? Also, can we take a guess at who might be leading the pack when it comes to Variant numbers if Loki is in second place? Keep checking the background at the TVA! We’ve already seen a Skrull and Peggy Carter.

Our Loki is being teased with the possibility that he could snag an audience with the Time-Keepers if he’s useful enough, leaning into the tried and true cop show “you could get immunity or a reduced sentence if you cooperate” trope. Loki buys it, but it seems incredibly unlikely that this is anything other than manipulative bullshit on Mobius’ part. 

We also get to spend a little time alone with Mobius and Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in this episode. The pair have clearly known each other for a long time but Renslayer now has the unenviable task of riding the line between boss and pal. She’s steady and calm, but you can still envision her as Loki’s own police chief: laying down the law with Mobius, calling him a “loose cannon” for allowing Loki into the fold, and asking him to turn in his badge and gun – or whatever the TVA equivalent is. 

His interactions with Renslayer are perhaps supposed to be charming but they’re actually kinda unsettling, though I can’t quite put my finger on why just yet. 

Mobius emerges from the meeting even more determined to see Loki pick up the pace. He tries to out-manipulate the manipulator with his firm but soft-spoken psychology by telling him that the troublesome killer Variant is a “superior version” of Loki. Our Loki is just a “scared little boy”. I mean, why are you booing him? He’s right.

Loki is put to work in the bowels of the TVA on the research beat, poring through case files and having a fun interaction with a live-action Roz from Monsters, Inc. The stakes are high here. Loki’s life pretty much depends on him finding a breadcrumb or two, and luckily he manages it during an emotional montage during which he processes that Asgard, the home he grew up in and then abandoned, is gone. And he didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.

He digs deeper into the destruction of Asgard and finds that there was no variance energy detected at ground zero and has an epiphany (mmm, we’ll come back to that, no one here is ready for more of my Miss Minutes shtick yet, least of all me) that the show seems to be hoping you don’t ask too many hard questions about. 

Loki reasons that he’d hide in zero variance energy apocalypse events if he were evading the TVA, and is excited to prove himself right. Mobius is dubious, but they try out Loki’s winning theory in Pompeii just as the city is being destroyed. The buddy cop energy is strong in the scene, with Loki acting as the mischievous rookie who won’t play by the rules and Mobius as his older, weary partner. 

Hiddleston and Wilson’s banter remains effortless, and I can admit that it works a lot better than Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Maybe it’s that Wilson’s “bird noises” bit truly feels like improv being done by someone who’s good at improv – the kind of thing you’d usually see end up in a Marvel gag reel. There’s a lot of fun stuff in this episode, but just passively watching Hiddleston and Wilson’s undeniable chemistry even when they’re having an existential chat about life, the universe, and jet skis has proved to be enough for me honestly.

Speaking of which, Loki uses said chat to plant a much-needed seed of doubt in Mobius’ mind about whether the Time-Keepers and the TVA are really the good guys. I’m on his side here: all that Variant killing and near-religious predetermination has left a whole lot of blood on their hands. ATCAB – All Time Cops Are Bastards! No, wait, that’s Jean-Claude Van Damme erasure. I won’t have it.

Anyway, ding-ding, maybe these two mismatched detectives have more in common than they thought, and it all leads to Mobius having his own Kablooie epiphany.

EVEN WORSE MISS MINUTES IMPRESSION SOMEHOW: A sudden epiphany during an episode is often called a “Eureka!” Moment. The protagonist has some good evidence and the case is almost cracked! All it will take is a little bit of inspiring information to help them cross the finish line. If you’ve ever seen an episode of House, you may already be familiar with these moments, and the look on Hugh Laurie’s face when he finally works out that it’s not lupus or sarcoidosis. Come back soon!

Mobius’ “Eureka moment” places the murderous Variant in 2050 Alabama, so Loki, Mobius, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), and a bunch of other Minutemen eventually find themselves inside a slightly futuristic shopping haven called Roxxcart. I love that this show could go anywhere and do anything but will just as happily cut to a file room or a barely-disguised Walmart as it will to apocalyptic fucken Pompeii. 

The Roxxcart mission indeed unveils the mystery Variant: it’s Sophia Di Martino! And the credits identify her as Sylvie aka Enchantress and not Lady Loki as we may have expected.

Depending on your grasp of Marvel lore, this reveal will be quite surprising, thrilling, and perhaps confusing. Pros: we didn’t have to wait as long for this unveiling as we did for WandaVision’s Agatha Harkness reveal. Cons: no catchy theme song. But the fact that this reveal has come so early on in the series is pretty exciting – it probably means bigger surprises lie ahead.

But it’s here that the episode subverts our procedural expectations somewhat. It’s not Sylvie who is revealing her grand plan upon being discovered, it’s Loki. And she’s way ahead of him. “This isn’t about you,” she tells Loki, somewhat echoing the Ancient One’s dying words to Doctor Strange. 

Again, this feels very significant. Ol’ Tilda spent a long time protecting our reality, and her successor is about to deal with a multiverse of madness in his upcoming sequel. And lest we forget how the Ancient One set that truth bomb up: “Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all.” It feels like Sylvie knows something very important that we don’t, and her own “glorious purpose” goes beyond selfish aspirations. 

Loki might be a little closer to shrugging off his self-absorbed nature than Sylvie realizes. In my favorite part of the episode, he checks to make sure B-15 is okay when she’s left unconscious by her possession. This is a guy who just killed a bunch of people, just absolutely has nothing but contempt for people, and he’s concerned about the wellbeing of a Hunter who has shown him nought but derision. Loki isn’t holding out for a hero. He might just be on the path to becoming one.

Or maybe he was just lifting a weapon off her body and I’ll have to take it on the chin next week.

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