#they just did an ig live. they said they're gonna be selling their last 3 LPs as vinyls...

[theirloveisgross]

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[thegeminisage]

ok, now that i've watched all of tos (none of the movies yet...) i am going to do the top ten worst and best episodes, according to Me. they are as follows:

WORST EPISODES

10. the savage curtain - idk who thought putting abe lincoln in a cage match with the vulcan version of ghandi against like, ghengis khan and space hitler would be a good idea. but it wasn't. i did like seeing the vulcan father of logic though like "im gonna go sacrifice myself for peace" ok king

9. i, mudd - all of the mudd episodes are bad. he's not charming at all whatsoever. however, this one is better than the other one because uhura gets to pretend to sell out kirk and they're SOOO cute about it. her little giggle when he PICKS HER UP BY HER SHOULDERS and tells her how proud he is. PLEEEEASE

8. charlie x - the entire premise of this episode is that the bad guy is just autistic. and then they make him live on a planet without people because he can't adjust to normal life ???

7. shore leave - obvious racism of this episode aside, the faux-irish jig that played while kirk was being menaced by his extremely unfunny old bully nearly drove me over the edge. we DO love a good mccoy death fakeout tho

6. a piece of the action - if i had any interest in gangster films before this it's all gone now. that being said. i loved when kirk drove the little car. he was so bad at it. he was so happy.

5. mudd's women - like he's literally just selling women?? and the plot twist is that secretly they're ugly?????

4. who mourns for adonias - this is just "what if ALIENS build the pyramids bro" except for the 1960s. nail in the coffin for this one was kirk proudly declaring they didn't needs gods - because they already had the One God, thank you very much!

3. the paradise syndrome - WHY WOULD YOU HAVE NATIVE AMERICANS MISTAKE KIRK FOR GOD. WHY. like i know why but Why. i think the very worst part of this episode was that it had an amnesia plot that would have FUCKED if you had simply removed the people. if there hadn't been people in this it would've been in my top 10 episodes. i think this broke me.

2. the omega glory - this is the same as the last episode except there's no amnesia, and also the "native americans" are white cosplayers who worship the american flag and mistake kirk for god because he can recite the pledge of allegiance yes really. if i had a nickel for every time this happened i'd only have two nickels etc etc at least kirk didn't knock anybody up in this one ig

1. patterns of force - why would you make your two jewish leads wear swastikas and then literally be whipped by nazis. i know he's such a bad person but not even william shatner deserves that. number one worst episode everyone says it's omega glory but it's this one

BEST EPISODES

10. plato's stepchildren - this episode is hard to rank because like it's both good and bad. the torture scenes were genuinely upsetting, especially the ones at the end w/ spock & nurse chapel, because they weren't just violence being inflicted on tied up guys, but they were SUPPOSED to be upsetting, like it was literally the point. and also this episode bears the distinction of THEEE kirk & uhura kiss. literally historic.

9. the trouble with tribbles - i feel like everyone's heard of this but it really is as good as everyone says. sometimes 1960s humor doesn't translate to 2020s humor but it was genuinely hysterical start to finish. also, the distinct trilling sound was so imprinted in my brain i recognized it in the 2009 movie where i had never registered it before.

8. the naked time - aside from the KING SHIT george takei pulled with the fencing this episode also contains the "i am in control of my emotions [sobbing]" moment and kirk & spock LITERALLY having a slapfight. this episode has everything. an absolute masterpiece

7. the empath - i feel like this paired with "the world is hollow and i have touched the sky" really made me a Bones Understander. i feel a little bad about that bc everyone says the characterizations in s3, or actually that the season as a whole, is kinda shaky? but i watched without knowing that and i feel like i Get It now. also, this was the only score i went and relistened to on spotify

6. tholian web - the spock & mccoy episode ever. there's so many things to say about this from the death fakeout to kirk's little space suit but what TRULY got me was the instant and totally nonverbal agreement to lie straight to kirk's face to both preserve personal dignity and troll the shit out of him (while chekov and sulu are like also silently laughing as they listen in no less). what this episode made me realize was that it's a good thing they argue all the time and make kirk play referee because if they were on the same side kirk wouldn't stand a chance. like he'd be finished.

5. the city on the edge of forever - ok, so, this episode made me feel like i was having a mental break. the time travel. spock's little hat. when he watches kirk kiss edith and then goes back into their room to pretend he didn't see anything. mccoy and kirk basically hugging at the end when edith bites it.

4. requiem for methuselah - the first time i watched this i was kinda like :/ because how does kirk fall in love with a woman in FOUR HOURS? that aside the ending scene blew my tits clean off. i paced around my house for like 30 minutes going "what the FUCK was that" because i couldn't simply lie down and sleep after seeing it. rewatching the episode with uh. new context made me like it a little better. but even if it had been garbage the last scene shook me so thoroughly it would still need to be on this list. i'm getting wound up just thinking about it. number one most shocking tos moment.

3. the dagger of the mind - look, i understand that this episode was technically just run-of-the-mill stuff as far as everybody else is concerned but they put james t kirk in a little brainwashing machine. and the machine was shaped like a chair. and it gives people amnesia sometimes. i don't know how i'm expected to behave normally

2. this side of paradise - this is the episode where a flower jizzes on spock and gives him feelings. and look: it's really funny, and there's a lot to love about it. but the ending where kirk hurls verbal abuse at spock for a solid 92 seconds WITHOUT STOPPING followed by: spock beating the shit out of him until he gets his logic back. i have rewatched this perhaps 1,000 times at minimum. what the fuck were they doing

1. conscience of the king - this episode got me into this mess. i don't think i can elaborate further without significant self-incrimination. let's just say what happened was i thought "oh i'll just watch this one tos episode for context for the fanfiction" and one month later i'm writing fic about [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT

ok, that's my list. i thought about doing honorable mentions for episodes that had scenes i liked even though the overall episode didn't make it into my top 10. but then i realized that would mean recapping basically the entire series and this post is already too long. i do have to give the pon farr episode a shoutout though because even though so much of it was offputting there was literally a titty window in kirk's shirt. like, it's the pon farr episode. ok NOW i'm done

[feuqueerfire]

A Shop for Killers Live Blogging

I almost started watching My Stand-In (8 eps out) but am feeling a pull for this instead. I knew this had Lee Dong Wook when I came across it but forgot until right now when looking at the poster again haha. I'm hoping it's fun and action-packed and interesting.

Ep 1 (June 18)

that was pretty interesting intro, some guy trying to kill Jian and the woman in the house seems a danger too and maybe also the other guy who was lying down

They don't write Jian's full name in the subs even though the characters are clearly saying Jung Jian

머더헬프 = Murder Help? Mother Help? the translations say "murthehelp" but what?

so is the intro going to come up later? I don't think it said anything about "_ ago" or "_ later" when this scene started...

he's dead?! well i'd like to see his body to make sure it's not a fakeout

1 year ago

Her uncle is 1) expecting some sort of attack and preparing for it and 2) terrorizing people who wrong them/Jian

the last thing he said to her was her student number? but that was a 1 year ago, they haven't had any contact since then or what

ayo what the hell, we're getting to see the body? and it's actually him, not some other guy to pretend he died?

Is the synopsis that the uncle dies? idk why I thought her parents died, so she started living with her uncle

what does the tattoo say

oh lmfao it says murthehelp, I suppose the episode title was correct indeed

Does Bae Jeongmin know anything? or involved in any way? he's offering to clean the bathroom where Jinman died and he could be just being nice or hiding something

Comrade Lee Yonghan - name to remember?

Jeongmin found a (burner?) phone hm

drama at the funeral

Jinman was helping out everybody with money troubles in secret?

lived together for 10 years? so 1 year ago, did she move out?

aw, Jian breaking down alone at home

gun selling website behind the hose business

how many ppl are on her ass bruh

Ep 2 (June 18)

jinman's name 3 times to the sky

bro wtf did Jinman do for everybody to be hating him or seeking revenge or somethingggg? Did his enemies kill his mother and come to kill his brother and SIL?

the same burner phone a decade ago

[Linguistics] They keep using 금방, which I didn't know meant soon but that's fun. it's the syllables switched of 방금, which means just now/a moment ago. short time in the future vs past.

this guy who knows the password reminds me a bit of Wi Hajoon for some reason. I should watch a show with him soon

I've had recurring nightmares as a child and pre-teen about home invasions and such people coming to our house and having to escape like this. so proud of little Jian for escaping

who did the car hit? Jian? why'd it seem like a grown man running towards the house though, it wouldn't be Jinman, right?

this is so fucked up man, her escaping the hospital room and having to hide in the morgue in a little space beside her mother's corpse and she didn't even fully know that the parents are dead

why is he so mean to her lakjdf let's kill him, especially cuz he's the reason her parents and grandma are dead anyway

can't go one korean show without some terrible bully children

fuckkk this bringing her back to that day and getting mad that he came so late despite saying he'd be right back and finally speaking again

hm, the woman with the bob left but she's gonna be back to get caught in the fire with her and Jeongmin later

Ah, a shop for killers; he has a shop where killers can buy

is Jian Code Green?

well, they killed him and are now coming for her, so much for code green

What's up with all this? They banded together to kill Jinman, I'm assuming? And now that he's dead, they're getting rid of their codes (literally in their bodies), and going to kill his niece? Why?

Ep 3 (June 18)

damn, he's on some drugs. and he's faking it to see what Jian would do or something I guess? what are the chances he's doing it again right now by faking his death?

What was that? Does Jeongmin also have a code thing in him? or ig not since it said Error

oh, is the woman actually here to help/protect Jian? I'd noticed that she wasn't with all the men who were planning on killing Jian at the end of last ep

does this woman speak Korean with an accent?

So we aren't counting bullets with the little pistol ig

close the workshed door at least

Brother... also a helper?

Ep 4 (June 19)

damn

name to remember: Bale

oh, is that "Brother" guy the same guy? I couldn't see his face

oh, that's Pasin

Is Pasin also dead, hope not

yesss Jian Muay Thai expert

pls the karaoke guy always singing at the restaurant while watching TV -> singing on TV is so fun

The Minsook girl seems like she could do so much better than hanging out with those bully, cowardly boys (i think it's funny that she stole Jinman's watch but after getting stared down, returned it and apologized). i hope she'll show up again

Damn, Pasin ran off with people's money?

D: these cameras

Brother's working with Mihye

Oh, Jeongmin suddenly becoming bolder/harsher and stopping Brother guy from speaking... just as he's about to give more info...

Brother says to not trust Jeongmin... but Jeongmin doesn't trust Brother... I don't trust either fully

Brother says Jinman's died because of Jeongmin but he doesn't know how

Brother and Jeongmin at each other's throats and Jian's guy pointed at Jeongmin. who to trust?

why would clicking on 0404 kill them... Jeongmin...

Weapon shopping mall

Mihye does know Brother, though I assume she met him as a child

...choosing Jeongmin?

ah, I did wonder for a second whether at least Jinman wouldn't think that Jeongmin had locker her in because how would Jeongmin know where she was even at night + not go get anybody?

well, Jeongmin turning out to not be good isn't a surprise, especially the way he started behaving once Brother was here but from when I suspected him at the start + started suspecting him again in the middle of this episode, they were good at making me go like hm, perhaps he's not evil

good parallel with Jinman being like you must be responsible for your choices and Jian's decision to keep it meant she witnessed the cat's death and also her decision to trust Jeongmin over Brother resulted in her current predicament.

Jian was dumb to trust Jeongmin but people are seriously being too mean and flippant about her in the reddit on-air thread, makes me frown.

Ep 5 (June 19)

a manual labour part-time job, not website-making

he's not working on his own obviously, he's got some other people he answers to. seems like the big draw is money?

oh yeah, I'd wondered if he had somehow known about the site already when he was first "finding" it with Jian but it was a passing thought

hmmm these people who recruited Jeongmin basically, are they the ones who killed Jian's parents and grandma? And are they ones who were at Jinnam's funeral? Because those people didn't seem to be the weapons buyers who were trying to kill Jian

Damn, the other guy really just got shot in the head

I guess Jeongmin's actor cute baby face helps sell this sort of role because I think they said he was a killer in Blind or something too

cameras everywhere, including seeing Jeongmin mess around

so those people want access to murthehelp?

Naur, how could Jinman fall for a fake recording of Jian? I don't even know if she'd call for help from this like that... wouldn't it be Jeong Jinman x3? Maybe he's playing bc girl what. I think he'd at least just call her phone straight up just to see

damn that's wild, he just believed that 5 second recording and killed himself while believing that the people who supposedly kidnapped his niece would let her go if he dies? doubt it. i think he's still alive or Something bc wtf

right, so the show also knows that's way too easy...

btw where are Mihye and Brother?

oh lmfao they just left her there to fend for herself

oh yeah, I was wondering what he'd done secretly when he remodeled the house

hm, so Babylon also came? and the two teams are working together now or what?

hilarious "[the killer robot dog] is gonna steal our jobs later, you know"

this fight/shooting scene is so video game-y to me

why didn't Brother get the gun from the hallway and sneak up on the guy or something? good thing Pisan got here at the perfect time ig

We found out stuff behind Jinman's death and who's behind it but I still found this ep boring somehow...

Ep 6 (June 20)

ngl I wanna just finish this show and be done with it today so maybe I'll watch at 1.25x (I did that for the second half of ep 5 last night) unless I start Really liking it and wanna savour it

So seems like backstory is: Jinnam was doing stuff and killing people or whatever in a big team, which included Bale. Then 14 years ago he saw Bale kill a child in cold-blood because "there can't be witnesses." The killers here all seem trained and capable. He probably leaves/runs away and that's why he finally goes to his family but Bale and the people are all chasing him and killing his family and want to kill him. because of him as a witness or some other reason? I think 13 years ago Jian was living with Jinman so it makes sense ig

oh, so they were mercenaries and the mission was to take that guy to safety but Bale killed civilians.

damn, Jinman lied on the stand for Bale

Bale is scary af

Enough scantily clad women in vulnerable positions i feel ill and upset every time

is this Mihye?

ah, Bale literally saying that he'd kill all of Jinman's family and friends if he's still alive

he said he'd take out Jinman last... but Jian is still left... idk I'm just looking for clues that he's still alive somehow lmfao

ah, no more bullets to properly take out Bale but they assumed he was dead

Who is the person who's supposed to be tailing Jinman?

Bale didn't give Jinman time to Breathe, mans went back to his family and Immediately they started dropping like flies

I liked this ep, action, backstory, and answers. and also perhaps a more engaging story or maybe just the sort of story i'm more in the mood for rather than the other episodes.

Also, Lee Dongwook looked good whenever he had his hair down like toward the end of the ep when he's out of uniform and has the bandaid on his face.

Ep 7 (June 20)

is the guy who Mihye's staying with the same guy who went to save Jian but then got killed + his arm chopped off?

ohh, it must be him because I'm remembering that he also typed the answer on the phone to show Jian, right? and he uses sign language here too. though is he the one who called Jinman when his brother died? probably not

ohhh these fuckers orchestrated that murder-suicide story for Jian's parents

wait the deaf friend who I've been thinking has a nice face is named Honda here and he was also the main character in The Director Buys Me Dinner?!

so even the guy who gave the warning actually did it so that Jinman would leave and be ambushed

oh yeah, I'd wondered if the car broken down lady was actually part of the plan and seems like yeah

so not just Bale's conspiracy but entire Babylon wants Jinman dead because he lied about what happened and how Bale "died"

He needs a long-term plan... and that's why he's either not dead or died knowing exactly what was going to happen after

Aw, Pasin, Mihye, Brother, Jian all in that house

I'm liking the backstory episdoes. I liked the backstory in earlier episodes of young Jian when people were dying and how her and Jinman interacted but then I got bored of the backstories in the middle of when she was a teenager because it felt like we weren't getting scenes that needed half the episode to itself but these two episodes were interesting to see why everything was happening and the story just interested me more. Interesting use of flashbacks though because in the earlier eps, we were doing 50-50 flashbacks and current time, both in Jian's POV but now we've done 100% flashbacks in Jinman's POV.

Last ep, 1 hour left, we'll see how they wrap it up.

Ep 8 (June 20)

parallels with her hiding in her room while this fucker's out to get her

oof, Brother dead

It's really not fun to have everybody fighting and dying while Jian just stands and watches in horror even while everybody's telling her to run, thus also distracting them. either help or escape bruh

okay I defended Jian from people calling her stupid in like the ep 4 reactions or whatever but she's so frustrating now. i get she Wants To Know What Happened but just giving away her position and trying to talk to this guy is so... like he literally has a gun

dying, the way the guy was talking about and to Jeongmin before and after killing him was really funny

oh lol Brother was wearing a bulletproof vest. but on that note, what about Mihye? and also I can't believe it's seeming more and more like Jinman truly just offed himself over a fake recording like actually wtf, like he actually would not do that he can't be so stupid

okay she did it, clean bullet through the head, good job Jian

ah, so every killer came to kill them all because Babylon was offering bounty for their deaths. but what about Bale? or is he just fine w Jinman dead or thought dead or whatever

so funny, they're all like yaaas tax-free prize + sales on weaponry

thought the bus would have Jinman lol

okay, duh. ofc he's alive duh and comes right after Jian has managed to escape/survive/etc.

Kind of anticlimactic but tracks with what we've seen in the earlier eps I guess. Also, no Bale? Some people on the on-air thread said we're supposed to assume that maybe Jinman was fighting with Bale and that's why he's weak and bruised? idk.

Overall:

Interesting premise + interesting execution with all the flashbacks, especially because it was like eps 1 - 4: about half is flashbacks to Jian's childhood/growning up with Jinman/teenagehood in her POV, ep 5: Jeongmin's POV flashback for about half, eps 6 - 7: almost entirely Jinman POV flashbacks, ep 8: almost no flashbacks. I think I liked some of the early Jian's POV eps (ep 2 comes to mind) and quite enjoyed eps 6 - 7 which gave us more backstory. I do have to say the flashbacks cutting through the current action was sometimes bothersome, especially after we'd established important stuff in the first few eps and were showing stuff in the middle episodes that didn't need as much screentime, specifically Jian's teenage life. I thought ep 5 was also weak af.

I found Jinman intriguing and mysterious and understood him despite being frustrated with how he treated Jian at times. Jian I liked way more at the beginning but then started being kind of annoyed toward the end at times. Mihye was soooo cool.

It was a surprisingly funny show, especially in regard to how this is just a job for these mercenaries and killers lol

The ending was a bit anticlimactic in terms of how things were resolved + there was a bunch of important threads that were unfinished (aiming for a season 2?). I wasn't surprised by the ending but I don't know if they were aiming for that anyway, I think they knew the audience to predict it and were okay with it.

idk what to rate it, like it's fine, I liked it well enough, likely will never think about it again, but may watch season 2 if it ever airs. I guess I liked it more than Killed Paradox (I actually barely remember that show, esp the second half? nothing in my brain)

Rating: 6.5/10