#this episode is laying the groundwork i can already see it

[connabeth]

annabeth teasing percy about him being on the brink of calling her a friend (even though he literally just said he’d turn his back on his dad for her because she's done a lot more for him in days than poseidon his whole life, which goes a lot deeper than maybe friendship) is gold because you KNOW she is never letting that shit slide. down the line in season 2, when she's crying in his arms underwater in a bubble over what the sirens showed her, i hope she wipes her tears real quick and tells him he went through quite the length to save someone he could never be friends with. in season 3, when annabeth is rescued from being kidnapped (after percy sneaks onto a quest he has no business being on yet again because he cares about her too much) and he asks her to dance on olympus during the solstice, i hope she jokingly declines because they could simply never be friends and not friends don’t dance with each other. in season 4, when he’s by default assumed to be a companion on her quest, i hope she goes ‘actually…i only bring my friends on quests with me’. in season 5, when he asks for a kiss for good luck, i hope she puts him in place bc who asks people they’re not even friends with for kisses? when he confesses his feelings for her and is trying to tell her she’s his tether to his mortality and a reason he denied godhood, i hope she goes ‘surely you didn’t think of me. because we could never be friends” before she kisses him. writers do your fucking jobs PLEASE

[airbenderedacted]

WOY's writing team sat together and collaborated on ideas for episodes to make. Plus, the whole main story arc, aka The Dominator Arc, had been mapped out by Craig McCracken before they even got working on the individual S2 episodes and how they'd go down. Like you said, the show makes it super clear that Dominator is completely irredeemable... which is why never in a million years would Craig have approved the creation of an episode that would serve to plant the seeds for her redemption. The Night Out did not exist for that purpose. It shows us that she's lonely, which informs us of the reason why she targets the mains so methodically and keeps coming back to torment them again and again instead of just killing them outright whenever she has the chance. Her loneliness and need for socialization is what fuels her M.O. for evildoing. It doesn't make her sympathetic (far from it because her loneliness is self-infliced), it just arguably makes her even more of a sadist! She keeps people around just to play around with ways to break them further than she already has or has already attempted.

The Night Out is the first time we really get to see this clearly laid out in front of us. The way the episode ends also makes it crystal clear that her awfulness is what CAUSES her loneliness. Sylvia's friendship doesn't make her reconsider being a bad guy, doesn't dig up some iota of good in her that makes her open up to a change of heart. She just isn't good in the depths of her heart; she's an asshole who LIKES being an asshole and that's what makes her first and only friendship fall apart. The destroyer is alone because destroying everything you ever come across, including people and every relationship you could ever have, naturally leaves you like that. Alone.

And the heartfelt moment she has on the rooftops with Sylvia before they get caught by those biker goons? It is signficant and it does look like it makes her open to changing her ways since she does something in that scene that contrasts her typical behavior pretty strongly: she looks at the gorgeous view of the planets before her and actually appreciates them. Or, well, she more or less hesitantly agrees with Sylvia's appreciation of it being an incredible sight. But does that mean that there's something of a good person deep down inside of her? Her, the person whose greatest passion in life is demolishing the hopes and homes of every innocent life (and then sometimes also taking those innocent lives) she comes across? No! All that scene tells us is that she has the capacity to appreciate something other than death and destruction. It doesn't really imply that she could come to appreciate other things more than her passion for her evildoing, and the scene that comes right after it arguably tells us that she could never! At the very best, it conveys that the capacity to change is within her, but that's true of any well-written character because a well-written charcter will feel alive, and anything that's alive IS capable of change. The most important thing we're meant to take away from that scene on the rooftops is that it shows us that she could be different, even if only the slightest bit different, so that the rest of the episode (and the rest of the entire season) can really drive home that she decidedly WON'T.

Lord Dominator was not out of character in The Night Out, the crew has stated before that it's an important episode for fleshing out her character, nor did The Night Out deviate from the planned story arc for S2.

So in one Wander Over Yonder episode, it attempted to redeem Lord Dominator. Now if you watched the show, you know why that's a horrible idea. While I love Lord Dominator, she should not be redeemed. Since she said that she outright only destroys planets and commits genocide for fun, and has no interest in being redeemed in her villian song "I'm the bad guy" (Banger song btw) and then I found out that the episode was written by Nate Stevenson and I immediately though "Oh, yeah, that makes sense." Since he is obsessed with redeeming villians, even though Lord Dominator has no sad backstory and literally only does these things for fun. She didn't get redeemed, THANK GOD! But it was certainly meant to plant the seeds for her redemption, but she didn't actually get redeemed

[ineffably-human]

It honest to God took me a month to rewatch the last two episodes of this season of Shadows, because I'm still so mad about how they handled Guillermo's decision. And I'm probably going to always be mad. I think this season wasted a lot of time that could have been spent laying better groundwork, for both Guillermo's decision and for Nadja and the Guide's subplot.

But something did click into place for me in that very last scene, where Derek's being ushered down by Topher to meet the other zombies. Season Three was unofficially about power and protection. Season Four was officially about change. I thought this season was going to be about secrets. But it's actually about belonging to a community.

The vampires were out in the world a lot more this season. Colin runs for public office (passing among humans as he can), which drags him into the interests of the community of energy vampires. Nadja connects to a community from her homeland, and winds up caring about them more than she ever expected. Laszlo's mostly focused on the experiments, but his natural ease with Sean (and humans in general) is on display a few times - and when the vampires think he's in distress, they throw a whole party to rally him. The Guide, of course, struggles the whole season with feeling like an outsider who can't be part of the group she cares for.

Sean links the vampires to the pride parade, not just celebrating the queer community, but making the vampires the face of queerness, of immigration, of Staten Island itself. (And Guillermo gets his first taste of Pride, and of a community he'd never been able to claim until recently.) At the same time, it's shown that vampires always feel like they're a step away from being found out by humans, of their surrounding community turning on them and forcing them out.

Nandor struggles throughout the season with social awkwardness, communicating, being misunderstood; he fails to connect with strangers without hypnosis guiding the conversation the way he wants it to go. But the other vampires have become his home, in a way that's evolved past their relationship during Season Three. He rallies them successfully during Local News. He and Colin Robinson look out for each other. Keeping Guillermo's secret is just as much about protecting Nandor as it is protecting Guillermo.

(It's still Guillermo he's always calling out for, though. With the certainty of someone who already knows where home is, he just hasn't named it yet.)

And as always, Guillermo is stuck in between two worlds. He can't connect fully with his bio family, but can't truly step away from them. He wants to be a vampire, but his transformation fights him and he can't see humans as prey. He wants to come when Nandor calls, but can't tell him about the biggest thing that's happening to him.

By the finale he feels more isolated from the vampires than ever, to the point that he can't see what's actually happening: by the time they all know his secret, the others have rallied around him, and are seeing him as another member of the family in need of protecting.

And once Nandor realizes that he cares more about losing Guillermo than his own pride, he deliberately brings that community to Guillermo: he introduces Guillermo as the fifth of their household, and throws him a birthday party to bookend the one at the start of the season. He makes Guillermo a ceremony, invites everyone they know, and asks if he's willing to become one of them forever.

And it's not that Guillermo doesn't want to be a vampire. He does, desperately. It's that he can't stop also being a human.

So instead it's Derek (a vampire basically living as a human, and deeply lonely for it) who is ushered into a new community ready to welcome him, something Guillermo has always been hoping for.

("Do you like eating human flesh? Heh, you will!")

Guillermo still doesn't have The Thing he wants, not really. He still has to name exactly what it is. But Nandor helped guide him towards where home is. And Laszlo helped him pick up the pieces. The vampires don't love Guillermo like a fellow vampire, but they love him like Guillermo, and like with Colin last year that doesn't just reset. It can't. The roots are in too deep, it's already bound everyone stronger.

We'll just have to wait to see what it turns into.

[tevanbuckley]

i mean 'why is buck attracted to tommy' the actual critique is that he says he was charmed by tommy's fake mouth static and we are obviously supposed to understand that he was already interested in tommy by the end of his (re-)introductory episode but if you actually go and watch the episode... there is no sign of any of that. tim was too high on his own supply of b/t coming 'out of left field' that he forgot to actually lay the groundwork for their relationship in 7x04 in the first place.

he doesn't say he was charmed by the fake mouth static though? he says the reason he wanted to get to know tommy more is because he was willing to go all in with the 118 on a hunch to the point he made bad fake mouth static at the fire chief.

which imo is a very believable point of origin for buck's attraction, of course he's immediately drawn to this person willing to throw himself into a physically and professionally risky situation to help his family? the line of logic is strong enough that I can buy into from the jump.

that's the groundwork for his jealousy in 7.04, he wants to get to know tommy and is jealous of the instant connection him and eddie have had, which leads into the kitchen scene/kiss. the next step is watching how that grows into an actual relationship, which i for one, am excited to see.

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 16 Thoughts: Aave Maria

This was an interesting one. I don't think I loved it but I do think there is a surprising amount to dig into. I also think this is showing more of the form of TMP. A bigger focus on a rogue's gallery and unlike TMA is more more in the thick of it to start with. We're not piecing together an unseen world, we're in the world and getting our bearings.

Spoilers for episode 16 below the cut.

It's really great to see some immediate follow up on Alice's run in with Drowning Victim. I was a little worried it'd be something she pushes down and ignores like everything else in the job. Because she didn't I think there might be a change in her perspective. Previous she's been very uninvested in the specifics of the cases and now she's basically been in one I do wonder if it'll effect her work. We definitely saw more of a reaction from her from this incident than we've ever seen before. So I'm wondering where that will lead her. I'll also be interested to see how this ties back into the Institute. The Drowning Victim is obviously connected but it makes me think Connor Dyer (found in CHBD, see master sheet below) might not be her dead name. I wasn't a fan of the idea of both main protagonists having the same backstory but the way she alluded to the death of her parents here makes me think the Institute might have had something to do with it. Not that I think she knows that but that the narrative placement of it might be laying the groundwork for that connection to be revealed.

For the incident itself I don't have a load to get into I don't think. I thought it was pretty effective in showing Madame E to be kind of a tool but then giving us more and more reason to be sympathetic towards them. Ink5oul's first voiced appearance was remarkably understated too. I was expecting them to feature more here but I think I'm glad they didn't. As I mentioned there is more of a rouge's gallery here and with a couple of really loud characters already it's quite nice to see one more understated than that. They've got a bit of an M.O. forming here too. Part ironic "punishment", part graverobbing plagiarist. DIG. Which does lead me to wonder about how they'll end up kicking the bucket. It feels like a set up waiting for a punchline. The way they give the "clients" what they're after in a twisted sense has a lot of room for interesting stories so I'm interesting to see where that goes. It's also interesting just how similar this was to Daria's incident. Very similar incidents overall but to different ends. What I think is a more interesting concept in those is how it totally differs from the tattoo that showed up in Marked. The tattoo in both of Ink5oul's works have been afflictions on the tattooed but Marked's tattoo was something that affected those that viewed it. Whether that's a consequence of they're plagiarism or a different "school" of tattoo technique remains to be seen.

Also fun fact: from.vision.ruled really is a location in Highgate Cemetery. There is a map app called what3words that is a grid of 3 metre squares over the globe and then each square gets a three word code. It's so you can give a more precise location than something like an address or broad location. So in this case you don't need to say "Meet me outside the Circle of Lebanon in Highgate East" you can say "Meet me at from.vision.ruled" and get a more accurate location. It's great if you want to meet people where there isn't much or any signage, point people towards the entrances to places when it's not obvious from a address, and stuff like that.

Post-incident was really great too. It's lovely to see Lena be so clearly angry and lose her typical collected nature. Not only because it shows she's got range but because it really hammers home just how scary a character like Lady M. is going to be. Gwen not taking her shit for it is also great. I think bringing Lady M. to the OIAR as a power play was pushing it hard but I also think Lena treats Gwen like shit and needs a lesson or two as well. This power struggle they've got going is always captivating to see and I can't wait to see more of it.

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Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet (Now with terminology/theory cheat sheet)

DPHW Theory: 1565 is about where I was expecting this would end up. 1 in Death in an episode where someone died already seems to be a sticking point for people. I personally don't understand that particular framing. Every Power in TMA had a massive body count but only one of them was the Power about death, and not all of them focused on stuff that'd outright kill you. So while a person did die this episode it's not an episode about Death as a concept/theme/subject.

CAT# Theory: CAT1 is very interesting given how the other tattoos have been placed thus far. But I'm going to leave that for the time being. I've got an essay in the works about the current more common CAT# theory. Should be out over the weekend.

R# Theory: B seems about right for this. It's weird and publicised but, ostensibly, medically explainable. So it happened and we can agree it happened but it's just an unfortunate illness in the eyes of most.

Header talk: Tattoo (Influencer) -/- Cardiac is interesting in the same way the CAT# is so I'll leave some of that for later. What I do want to talk about in that subsection. Influencer as a subsection is intriguing because it's very unlike Smirke's methodology. That was fairly rigid but Influencer in this context is such a modern term that it implies this methodology is reacting to how things change and express more rapidly, or it's not as old as I think has been implied so far.

[dr-futbol-blog]

Critical Mass, Pt. 1

The episode Critical Mass (S02E13) might be viewed as a kind of symbolic passing of the baton from SG-1 to Åtlantis, the former either having or in the process of losing its heart just like Teyla's surrogate granny Charrin. In any case, it is one of the cross-over episodes between the two series even though none of the main cast of SG-1 appear in it. It is also the aftermath of Epiphany (S02E12), both Sheppard and McKay dealing with issues their separation (for Sheppard) and the subsequent straying by Sheppard (that from McKay's point of view had happened quite literally out of the blue) had brought up for them, laying the groundwork for what happens in the following episode.

The episode begins not with Sheppard or McKay but with Zelenka, loading up equipment for an off-world mission. This is relevant in that it is an example of what we see McKay do throughout the episode, which is to take out the resentment he feels toward Sheppard's actions (because he is grateful to have him back, of course he is, the whole ordeal seems to be causing him no small amount of cognitive dissonance) on the people working for him. It is an abuse of power, to be sure, and we see every one of the senior staff overstep their boundaries in this episode. Regardless, we find Sheppard making his way to Zelenka just as he is on his way out.

Sheppard: Going off-world? Zelenka: M7G-677. Sheppard: That's the planet with all the kids, right? Zelenka: They're having trouble with their EM field generator and McKay has decided that I am the most capable person in all of Atlantis to fix it.

It appears to be a slow day on Atlantis so Sheppard is just checking what is happening by the gate on his way to McKay who seems to be waiting for him up on the control platform. As he answers Sheppard's question, Zelenka speaks the designation of the planet like every letter and number is a curse, and Sheppard immediately knows what planet he is talking about. There are two options here (that he just randomly remembers gate addresses is not it): he either remembers the address because the planet was significant to him (and we may recall that McKay had pointed out the same address to him in Before I Sleep (S01E15): "M7G-677 -- we've been to this planet"), or McKay had told him about sending Zelenka there before-hand and he is just pretending to find out about it now. Either is as likely as the other, given his mirthful reaction to Zelenka returning from the planet later on. In any case, all three of them are being real mature here.

What might tip the scale to Sheppard actually remembering this planet of his own accord is Samantha Carter. It had been the first time McKay had mentioned Carter to him, and even though they had not yet hooked up by then, were not even close to getting together, Sheppard had already been annoyed by the way McKay had described her. This might be supported by the fact that Carter is actually name-checked in this episode, she features prominently in the following episode, and the fact that Sheppard is using another blonde Air Force officer to get under McKay's skin in this episode. Sheppard has issues in the shape of Samantha Carter, and because he is prone to projection and having recently had sex with a woman not knowing he was ever going to see McKay again that he feels guilty about, all of this comes out as petty jealousy for his part. It is a well-known phenomenon for people that have strayed in their relationships to accuse the other person of having the hots for someone, inadvertently telling on themselves. In this case, however, McKay already knows about it. He pretty much knew within a second of seeing Sheppard what had happened. And although he can understand it, is even grateful that Sheppard had company and was not driven mad by loneliness, it is going to take him a minute to get over it.

Further, Zelenka puts a lot of attitude on describing how he had received this assignment, spitting out McKay's name with no small amount of venom and Sheppard is simply the wrong person to bring McKay-related grievances to. Not only is he never going to join in on the "We hate McKay club" (that is not what happens in McKay and Mrs Miller, S03E08), McKay is one of his favourite people. Even if he was not in love with the man, he would never choose to bond with someone over putting McKay down. It is not only a wasted effort on Zelenka's part, Sheppard actually stands up for McKay. But let us also note what Zelenka is actually saying here: McKay had not only trusted Zelenka with the mission, he had also complimented the man on his ability. Zelenka may feel like he is being shafted and for sure McKay is not doing this out of the goodness of his heart, but he trusts Zelenka to be able to take care of the problem.

Sheppard: Hey, don't worry. They're a great group of kids, you're gonna love them. Zelenka: My sister has a child. He breaks things. He throws things. He smears things onto furniture. McKay: Colonel Sheppard! I need you up in the Control Room. Oh -- you're still here?

Let us note the fact that the reason Sheppard tells Zelenka the kids are great and he is going to love them is not because he thinks the kids are great -- he only really bonded with Keras over their mission, McKay had much more contact with the actual kids -- it is in defense of McKay. This is Sheppard running interference for McKay because he does not want people to talk about McKay the way Zelenka is talking about him right now. And we might remember that his heart-to-heart with Keras is where Sheppard admitted that he might want kids one day (and we were shown what a great Mr Mom McKay would be), and there definitely had been a time before everything fell apart that they had both dreamed of having children, making a family. Remembering the planet is bitter-sweet for him. Also, he tells Zelenka that the kids are going to love him because he remembers that that kids had loved McKay, and anyone who loves McKay is alright in his book.

Zelenka's impromptu therapy session is interrupted when McKay calls for Sheppard up from the control platform because apparently they had a date and Sheppard had wandered off on his way there. McKay naturally calls him Colonel here given that this is as public of a situation as they get, but let us just make note of the other thing he says. He needs Sheppard. McKay needs him and his need is not limited to just having him up there for a meeting. And because the next time we see them, they are with Weir and Ronon and it is assumed that their meeting follows this scene without pause, let us also make note of the fact that he does indeed say I need you. He does not say "We need you," "We require your presence," "We're waiting for for you" or any variation thereof. McKay's need of Sheppard at this time is personal, his presence at the meeting was something else. And the way Sheppard looks up at him is also interesting. He is not just lifting his chin up, he is leaning his whole body back to be able to take McKay in. And again he is turning his body toward McKay without even thinking about it where for most people he would only turn his head.

Zelenka: We're just leaving. McKay: Hmm! Well, do say 'hi' to the kids for me. Zelenka: Idiot. "Say 'hi' to the kids for me." You'll catch it from me. You are such an idiot.

What happens then is interesting. For one, McKay tells him to say "hi" to the kids for him and most people are going to think he is being facetious about it because they remember the way he was frustrated with the children in the beginning, not how he grew fond of them and was ready to protect them with his life. The children liked him, and he grew to like them. He is not going to fix the EM Field Generator himself (this time, he actually misses Sheppard's father's funeral when it needs to be fixed again) but he does have a genuine reason to stay back, what with the two wraith cruisers he has been monitoring. He is not doing this just to be a dick. In fact, that he is sending someone to fix the shield for them at all is a gesture of good will on his part, it shows that he does care what happens to the kids.

But the finger guns. We have seen McKay do finger guns before because he has a tendency to move his hands a lot, he uses his hands to communicate. We saw him finger gun Ronon just in the previous episode when he told him that they might even score a ZPM from their rescue mission. That is not strange, it is merely communicating his good spirit, meant to take the edge off his words. What is significant here is that Sheppard imitates him. While he merely lifts his thumb up instead of making his hand into a gun--possibly because he does not want to point a gun at anyone he does not intend to use it on--Sheppard makes the exact same sound as McKay does before leaving Zelenka and running up the stairs (literally, taking two steps at a time) to McKay. And again, he had no time to have any conscious thought going into it, he merely reacted to McKay. He mirrored McKay. His body responded to McKay even though McKay had not even been communicating it to him. They are standing on two different floors and his body is so attuned to McKay's as to mimic his actions.

And so we join Sheppard and McKay on the control platform where Ronon and Weir are also with them. However, we do not know whether all three of them had been waiting for Sheppard to start the meeting or if Weir and Ronon had joined in on McKay while he had been explaining this to Sheppard. The fact that it is Weir and Ronon reminds us of the beginning of Aurora (02E09) where Sheppard had clearly been watching McKay work during (or in lieu of) his lunch break and they had called Weir in later. Hell, for all we know the reason McKay needed Sheppard was to have lunch... or some other reason, as we do not know that this meeting followed directly from Sheppard running up the stairs, it is merely implied. But here they are now, Sheppard with his hands on his hips doing a pelvic display.

McKay: Two wraith cruisers. Weir: How far away are they? McKay: A day, maybe a day and a half. I've been tracking them for some time now, but the good news is it doesn't look like they're heading this way. Sheppard: Just passing through the neighbourhood? McKay: Yeah, it looks that way. But I just discovered something rather curious. Short but intense energy bursts passing between them.

What is curious here is that they have placed McKay between Weir and Sheppard, so that who Sheppard is turned toward is left ambiguous (if you have never watched the show before, and we get confirmation at the end of the episode that he still turns his pelvis away from her), all of this seems to be in the service of building up the anticipation for The Long Good-Bye (S02E16). It is McKay that Sheppard watches which is, of course, natural given that he is speaking. He has also parked himself furthest away from Weir.

Now, McKay is acting a little off and the point of this is to be misdirection so that we might suspect him of possibly being host to the Goa'uld later. Obviously, since he was never the host, his behaviour has some other motivation. We may note that the two cruisers on the screen that he has been keeping a keen eye on are more than a little phallic, and there may be some symbolism in them firing at each other, two things at luggerheads that are meant to be fast friends. Everything is not hunky-dory between Sheppard and McKay, that much is obvious. And this much is true whether or not they had sex just before the meeting. We may note that they are both kind of trying to avoid looking at the other man here, to avoid the other's gaze which, knowing how well they communicate when they do look at each other, speaks of a break in one level of communication between them.

Dex: They're fighting each other? McKay: Hmm. In my expert opinion, yes. Sheppard: That's good news. Weir: Certainly is. If there's any change in course at all, let me know.

Ronon makes the assumption that the cruisers are fighting each other, and probably they are. But later on, as they are alerted by the beacon to the possible survival of Atlantis, they seem to drop what ever had gotten them to fire at each other real quick and form a united front as they start advancing toward their common enemy (this is a metaphor). However, while this is McKay's "expert opinion," it is still an assumption, but it does throw a lampshade on other things that one might assume to be true about people fighting in this episode.

McKay mentions the short but intense energy burst exchanged by the cruisers and we might note here that we see Sheppard adjusting his radio for reasons that are never explained and which we have never seen him do before (in Conversion S02E08, we saw him take it off). It does not seem to be fitting right in his ear, he is re-adjusting it and this might well be caused by him having taken it off very recently. While this adjustment of his gear happens on the foreground, the fact that he is doing it at the same time as Ronon is speaking draws attention away from his gesture. Also later on, Sheppard also once again seems ginger sitting down. Further, his hair looks less fluffy and more shiny in this scene than it did when he was down with Zelenka, and it may be purposefully obscured by how he keeps turning his face away from the camera.

But of course he might have been sweating due to running up all those stairs earlier. All of this is to say that although we are being lead toward the idea that Sheppard and McKay are in-fighting, it might be that McKay had a whole other reason why he needed Sheppard up on the control room earlier. They had exchanged short but intense energy bursts before the meeting, is what I am saying. They had a quick pre-meeting meeting, just between the two of them. They had done something that had required Sheppard to take his radio off, is the thing.

Continued in Pt. 2

[sensitivehandsomeactionman]

Rewatched 1x03 Dead in the Water (this is a really long one, so I added a "read more" break)

This episode 100% gobsmacked me in the face with Jensen's beauty all the way through. It's unreal, shocking. There's a simple mystery story, but the real mystery is how anyone can have a normal conversation with that face in the room? Thank you, Kim Manners.

Thank you also for the bleak mood of the story. Several unsolved deaths and a failing dam; the townsfolk seem puzzled and depressed in their dreary surroundings. It has the aura of a deteriorating Rust Belt town already mourning its impending doom.

Sam is impatient to follow the (nonexistent?) trail to Dad. Dean has to persuade Sam to do the monster of the week as this town is vaguely "along the way." Silly excuses for a MOTW aside, I do like that character-wise, pretty consistently throughout the series, Dean is a "trust the process" guy. When he's at a loss, he'll revert to the familiar steps of the hunt till there's another lead or inspiration hits. Very workman-like. (By season 7 it morphs into a more existential "fake it till you make it" survival strategy.)

We move on to them hitting the road in the gleaming Impala. Flirty Dean at the diner becomes flirty Dean at the sheriff's office. Andrea isn't buying what he's selling, and we get a little light comedy. Sam's "Name three children that you even know" is a nice bit of misdirection to imply Dean has no connection to kids. We and Sam are about to learn differently.

Sam's research uncovers that Lucas witnessed his Dad's death, setting up a parallel to Dean's loss of Mary. Dean's attention gravitates to Lucas, and his empathy opens a window for us into Dean's own childhood trauma. When Lucas gives Dean a drawing, I feel like Andrea's look of surprise towards Dean mirrors our own. Maybe there's more to him than that brash beauty.

There's a hint that Lucas has premonitions -- I love that they're laying the groundwork for premonitions, soon to be significant for Sam -- and can give them clues through his drawings. Dean's confession about being scared and thinking his Mom would want him to be brave is delivered with honesty, almost matter-of-fact. It's all the more poignant. I think it easily taps into how we all remember the loneliness of childhood sadness as well as the instinctive desire at that age to make our parents proud. This time instead of Andrea we get to see Sam register surprise at this reveal from Dean.

Giant Sam is able to pull nude Andrea from the haunted bath. I'm a bit distracted by the technical need to not reveal too much of her body, and I can't help but worry about actresses being put into those circumstances during filming. More memorable is Dean saving Lucas because of that emotional connection between them. I love the physicality that J2 imbue into the action, especially when they're clearly doing their own stunts. 

The first two episodes seemed to be pulling Sam into a reckoning with his past, and while he's not the emotional center of this episode, he's our proxy. Sam is seeing his brother in a new light. It's the same when you're a young adult, re-examining your childhood memories and finding a new perspective on and context for things you long took for granted to be true.

The two brothers together pulling a dead child's buried bicycle from its grave is a chilling visual on loss of innocence, and a fitting metaphor for how their work is unburying their own past along their way to rediscover Dad, their family. And the message here is that the violence didn't stay dead and buried; it needed to be acknowledged and reckoned with to stop the cycle. Psychologically satisfying.

Some echoes from the previous episodes: bathtub danger, creepy ghost kids, bereft and fatally flawed parents, a grateful pretty woman giving Dean a farewell kiss, a rock song sendoff. Toy green army men are connected to Dean's childhood. It was fun to see Amy Acker, as I really enjoyed her in Angel.

I love the melancholy of this episode. The filming is intimate and assured, full of dark rooms, quiet conversations, and grief. Noir shadows highlight Dean's stunning face, which I continue to gif in attempts to hold onto that wonder a few seconds longer. I love all the groundwork this episode lays for the mytharc while being a satisfying standalone ep. Jensen's acting with Lucas, and Jared and Amy's reactions to Dean bring an unexpected, deeper dimension to Dean. The story has begun to roll on the Getting-to-Know-Dean track, and I'm always ready to hop on this ride.

[bee-a-lover]

let’s talk about the shadow and bone s2 ✨controversy✨

here’s my two cents. obviously, beware spoilers ahead.

specifically, this is going to be about how they handled the crows. and as a little disclaimer, you obviously don’t have to agree with me.

what i’ve seen people most upset about is how they took events from crooked kingdom (kaz’s revenge on pekka), or created scenes that somewhat resembled those events (kanej bandage scene, etc) and squashed them into the first four episodes of s2 with no build up. and i can agree that when you view it like that, it’s upsetting and underwhelming.

here’s the thing- i don’t view it like that.

the way i see it, the crows content we got in the first half of season 2 were teasers for what’s to come in their spin-off. a preview for the character development they’re about to go through in their spin-off, and laying groundwork for what’s ahead.

for example, the kanej bandage scene we got in the show was not the bathroom scene from the books. their conversation was not the same and didn’t hold nearly the same weight because it was a conversation from early in six of crows before they had relationship development. what differed was the setting and the actions, but even so, kaz attempting to clean inej’s wounds with his gloves on and telling her simply that pekka rollins killed his brother, having the “tells” convo, WAS NOT kaz opening up about his trauma while pushing himself to clean inej’s wounds without gloves and having that intense intimate moment with her. i keep seeing people say that that WAS the bathroom scene, to which i strongly disagree. what i think will happen is that in the future of the show, we will get the bathroom scene, and we’ll have that on-screen full-circle moment to when kaz was cleaning her wounds in s2 and could barely do so.

and i think that goes for all of the ck-resembling content we got from s2. save for the alby confrontation, which was directly from the books. we did get a version of the slat fight— and based on what i’ve seen with the writer’s talking about the spin-off, we’ll get something equal in emotional weight when the time is right for it. perhaps something with even higher stakes than in the books. because let’s face it, pekka rollins is probably going to be back to haunt kaz. he’s already teaming up with matthias. that guy’s gonna be back, and that’s going to mean something. the new content that will generate is almost like getting six of crows 3 and mixing it into the plot of soc and ck.

and i’m excited for that. i’m excited for the new relationship dynamics we have to work with. inej is getting a taste of her dream going with sturmhond, but we know that isn’t the end for her. she hasn’t had her arc yet where she realizes that she needs to hunt slavers for herself. when she comes back for the six of crows story, it’ll be interesting to see how the realization that something is still missing in her journey to reclaim her life will affect her.

and then there’s kaz, who’s going to be dealing with the realization that revenge is not the end, and like was lightly touched upon in the latter half of the show, he needs to figure out what’s next for him.

and sure, jesper’s getting more comfortable with being a durast where the show leaves him, but what happens when he realizes that his gambling debts have doomed his father? what happens when colm comes back into the picture? those questions from the books are still left unanswered in the show.

wylan in particular i think was done so brilliantly in the show. people were mad that they dropped that he couldn’t read early, but i think it’s genius, because it just leads casual viewers who haven’t read the books away from his other secret even more. people like my mom who haven’t read the books but seen the show just assume that he’s illiterate because he was never taught to read, because he’s presented as just some penniless guy in ketterdam with no money for food. when his true story is revealed, it’ll come as even more of a shock, and put the casual viewer in the same boat as the characters— we thought we knew this guy, but turns out we don’t know him at all. and with wylan and jesper already being in a relationship? something tells me jesper isn’t going to take that well— hence the “merchling” teasing will ensue, and the tension. if anything, their established relationship just ups the stakes. jesper thinking his friend and crush is on the ferolind when it blows up in the books is one thing, but jesper thinking his BOYFRIEND is on the ferolind when it blows up in the show? jesus christ, we aren’t ready for kit young.

what i’m trying to say is, it might help your enjoyment of the show to not view the crows scenes as THE scenes from the books, because with all my heart i don’t think that’s what they are. i’m not saying these “teaser” scenes were necessary, but that goes back to the crows’ inclusion in the shadow and bone plot being forced and unnecessary. which is unfortunate, because the crows deserve to get to the good stuff in their story, but at the moment they’re in a holding position because they just don’t have enough time sharing the screen with s&b to do their story justice. which is WHY GETTING THE SPIN-OFF IS SO IMPORTANT. if you want the storylines we love the crows for, if you want the REAL crooked kingdom scenes with their buildup and emotional impact, we gotta help the crows get their own show. even if that means watching them be filler in the s&b show. which is still completely possible to find enjoyment in, at least from my perspective— you just gotta view it less critically and more like foreshadowing for what’s to come, getting to see these characters build relationships early so that they might in fact be stronger when we get to their story in the show.

and when you view it like that it can be exciting! what’s worse than pekka that the crows will have to deal with? what confrontation will inej wiitness kaz have that affects her view of him like witnessing the alby confrontation in the books did, since she missed it in the show? how will seeing the alby confrontation affect jesper and nina’s perception of kaz (we can still get “who the hell is jordie” guys, jesper doesn’t know kaz’s brother’s name). the s&b show expanding on the crows content, even if the storylines are messy and rushed and unnecessary, is also building their relationships and characters. so when we do get the proper soc storyline, we’re ready for them in a different way than when we started the books.

[nijigasakilove]

It’s crazy cause JC staff will take a season off or so and then come back with TEN, yes you read that correctly, TEN shows in one season holy shit what a studio 😭 they’re cooking on all tho.

Been so excited for this one ever since it was announced, I’ve always found it interesting when I’d see it in the bookshops but when I heard it was getting an anime, I said I’d wait to watch it and I’m glad I did so far. Amazing first episode. Not like I expected at all, thought this would be just like hatamaou, but it’s already 1000x more compelling with a more interesting world, story and characters.

The world Veltol woke up in could not be more different from the one he left not just in appearance, but also the mentality of the people and the gonna be interesting seeing that play out. He was once the top of the food chain and now he’s at the bottom with those he once looked down upon. The magic that once made he and his generals special is now commonplace among the general populace AND one of his closest advisors is now a traitor.

Machina, what a character. The fact she’s been preparing for Veltol’s return all these years by herself laying the groundwork and suffering in silence living in that tiny ass kitchen all alone.. that hug at the end really just summed it up. She deserves it and I know she’s been holding those tears in. Very very good episode here idk how people have it at damn near below a 7 on MAL. First ep raters are the worst lmao.

Can not wait to see that bum Marcus get taken out eventually, also I’m sure that was the hero he passed on the street so it’ll be interesting to hear about his reincarnation as well and all the other interesting stuff that comes with being in a cyberpunk world.

[that-left-turn]

Please would you be able to give some insight into why zabel plans the show in 12 episode blocks and then splits them across two seasons? Like, for what reason would he do that? I've never heard of it before.

And you said that after s3, AMC won't be tied into the same contracts. But could there be a different understanding with the showrunner if he's planned the 6 episodes for s4 already (since he plans in 12 episode blocks)?

You've never heard of it before because it isn't something anyone should do. From a practical, showrunning perspective, it's poor management because you never know if you'll get that second season, even though you're signed for two. The studio might cancel on you. From a storytelling perspective, it implies that Zabel doesn't know how to tell a contained story. His experience is from broadcast TV with 20+ episode seasons where you can have an extended timeline for the plot.

As is standard, Zabel got a 2-year deal and was told both seasons would shoot in France. It's hard to tell a good story in six 42-minute installments. Really hard. You can't waste any screentime, so you have to think about how to plot in a completely different way from when you have 9, 10 or 12 episodes. American TV writers aren't used to operating within those parameters, so short-season shows end up with truncated timelines and strange time jumps, which shortchange the narrative.

It lessens viewers' emotional investment when they don't get to journey with the characters and only see the arrival at the destination. We've seen it time and again when the flagship show had time jumps: chunks of time during which the characters developed and the audience is forced to play catch-up, like the time jump between the farm and the prison, or the boomerang timeline during the Gimple era when the pacing completely stalled.

Anyway, my point about Zabel is that he probably thought, oh, I get 12 episodes in France! I can use all of them for the main plot. He should've used the first six episodes on a plot to establish the new supporting characters and develop a believable reason for Daryl to get involved. Isabelle's group could have faced an existential threat from the new variant walkers. Some piece of knowledge about Jenner and his research, which Genet could be using, could've been circulating among the French. Daryl would recognize his name. The Mont-Saint-Michel cult could be in disagreement on how to fight the new threat rather than have a hokey goal of child sacrifice to offer up a Messiah to the world.

The underground nightclub, Demimonde, could've been a hotbed for the resistance to both ideological groups: Genet's followers, who want do scientific experiments to harness the potential that bioengineered walkers can provide humanity, and Losang's group, who believe that a person's soul might still be trapped inside the vessel and that humanity needs a spiritual awakening rather than another industrial revolution.

Quinn and Anna would've seen the real need of humans, running the black market and interacting with people from all walks of life. They wouldn't be concerned with philosophy, just a practical purpose and maybe they're driven by commercialism as their vice? Codron could've been caught and conflicted between the two schools of thought as he had to put his brother's walker down—in doing so, did Codron condemn his little brother's soul? That arc would have made him the ideal support character for Carol in S2.

If I can pitch a concept in the time it takes me to write a response to an ask, Zabel should theoretically manage to recalibrate his brain into considering plot in more appetizer-sized bites too. He had months to break the story for the French arc.

A showrunner can plan for future seasons—you have to, because you need to lay the groundwork for them—but they should never be taken for granted. Showrunners have to make sure that the story has a satisfying conclusion if the season finale ends up being the series finale. Hence, a seasonal arc. Zabel spoke about plotting two season in one go, for both France and Spain, but his statement and self-assurance later changed. He stopped mentioning an extended arc for Spain. I assume that there was some kind of conversation happening with the studio. They signed him for two seasons, but they are free to release him after one (S3) if he can't produce what they need. He can't leave an arc at its mid-point for some other writer to inherit and an anthology season would force Zabel into reducing the scope of his plot.

Anyway, I hope that sheds some light on things. Sorry about the long example pitch in the middle of the explanation 😬

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Do you have a favorite Bridgerton book/storyline?

Favorite/Least Favorite changes book to show?

So let me start this answer by saying that I haven’t watched any of season 3 yet. 🫣 Part of that is money reasons. We pared down our streaming services to the minimum when money was tight and I just haven’t gotten around to renewing my Netflix. Probably will once the rest of season 3 drops because… (book spoilers below the cut)

My 3 favorite books/storylines are:

1) When He Was Wicked (Francesca & Michael Stirling) because holy damn and hell and everything holy in between. Michael Stirling is the epitome of making consent sexy. That's all I'm gonna say about that, but I've seen enough talk and gif's floating around here to know that they've introduced John Stirling already and I am HERE for them laying the groundwork for a season five or six focused on Francesca and Michael Stirling.

2) Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (Colin & Penelope) asfklsjfksanfs. I loved how sweet their story is, enough that I am mildly concerned about how they're going to deal with the massive change on the show, i.e. the fact that book!Lady Whistledown didn't nearly bring ruin and humiliation down on the Bridgerton family at all, let alone twice. On the one hand, I understand why show!Penelope did this and I kind of love that they've given her this massive mistake, this huge flaw for her and Colin to work through. But also 🫣 I don't have an excessive amount of faith in them handling these kinds of changes well on the show because the show is all about The Drama. Which brings me to...

3) The Viscount Who Loved Me (Anthony & Kate) Look. I absolutely love some of the changes they've made while translating the books to screen. And I don't even care all that much for the historical accuracy of the show. They threw it out the window with season one and made it a brilliant alternate universe that allows them the freedom to not only give us a diverse cast but also give the middle finger to anyone who says "that' never would've happened." So I'm willing to forgive a lot of changes. Buuuuutttt.... having Anthony actually propose to Edwina, having Edwina actually believing she wanted to marry Anthony, changed the characters in a way that didn't sit very well with me. At least not with the way it was handled on the show.

So that covers my least favorite change they've made on the show so far, now for my two favorite changes.

Benedict. Gah he's so much better, such a more interesting and fleshed out character on the show than he is in the book. They've maintained his fantastic sense of humor and relationships with his siblings and somehow made it better by bringing in the pseudo underground culture of artists, the introduction of queer characters, and his cravats! I could write an ode to show Benedict's wardrobe it is FABULOUS. And while I know I said above that I don't really care for the changes made to Anthony's story, I'm kind of hoping they flip book!Benedict's story on it's head and see where they can take it. Because that book was one of my least favorites. Give him a man. Or give him a woman built like Luisa Madrigal but who sometimes dresses as a man and can pull it off. I don't care but do SOMETHING ELSE besides the nonsense that happens in his book and GIVE HIS PARTNER SOME FUCKING AGENCY.

Queen Charlotte. Look. She's not even in the books, but she's one of my favorite characters on the show. She and Lady Danbury own my whole heart, okay? And her spinoff show... I've only been able to watch it once because (other than the money issue mentioned above), I was crying literal buckets starting somewhere around episode five until the end and I binge watched that shit so what is that like six hours straight crying???? Also, having her as a character gave us Brimsley and Reynolds. (*whispers my poor overworked and beleaguered babies*) I wasn't overly fond of the role she played in dragging out the drama surrounding Anthony and Edwina, but that could've been avoided entirely if you'd given show!Edwina even an ounce of book!Edwina's compassion and understanding of her sister and had her do something equally dramatic like, oh I don't know... TURN HIM DOWN?!?!? (Can you tell I'm still salty about this?)

Alright, that's enough of that. I have a job interview to prepare for, but this was a nice distraction from my inevitable nerves.

Love,

kdnfb

[melfinawins]

I originally posted this in a reblog to @melonatures, but I'ma post it here.

Since you posted this, I haven't been able to forget it. I love it, but it took a little bit to figure out why these two gifs are particularly great.

I love your gifset. Let me explain all the ways:

"No, no, no. Fak's not my best friend."

I love how Carmy's face is turned away from the camera for a moment. And he hesitates and looks towards his front door where Syd just left. But then he agrees that Neil is his best friend. Which is totally fine! But I wonder if he was pressed by say, Nat or Richie he'd say the same thing. Fak is best friends to everyone, but is he Carmy's? I dare say Carmy's best friend is Syd, considering we're shown in the show how they are quietly and steadily laying the groundwork for a long, strong and substantial partnership. A partnership that is also a relationship.

We know that Carmy is working with Syd to reach her goal of a Michelin star, stars he thinks are bullshit. This is her goal but he's more than happy to help her reach it, to the point that he's willing to give her hands-on training on how to perfect a dish. Perfection requires fine tuning and precise decisions. Syd is an amazing chef early in her career, and has the makings of a wunderkind on the food scene if she can harness her natural abilities and training. I think Carmy sees that in her and admires it. I think he's attracted to her love of food and by spending time with her on the menu and just hanging out, it's reminding him that, even if he became a chef to spite Mikey, he actually loves it, he just didn't want to do it alone.

In working together to make the menu for The Bear, which will also help Syd get the star she covets, they've gotten close (more close than sitting behind the shop and commiserating), even if it's how they each come to their ideas about menus. In Honeydew, Luca tells Marcus that he experiences life and that's a part of what makes him a better chef. Sydney already does this. We see in Sundae how Syd gets inspiration for dishes, as well as her getting ideas in dreams (shortrib and risotto). Carmy is by the book, but I think he likes the way Syd thinks. That man would have never put chips on Nat's omelette! But I think Syd craves his wealth of knowledge and experience and ability to edit himself. We see in an episode where she realizes she's doing too much to a dish with Tina. Carmy helps her by hearing the ingredients and giving advice; I love Tina and everybody else, but only Carmy can provide that for her. They really do compliment each other, and learn about each other through their cooking.

"I fe- sorry, I feel like I should have known that, or, or- something--"

Makes sense that Carmy was mistaken! I think he's gotten to know aspects of Syd over a short period of time and in this scene he's maybe noticing that Syd holds things close to her chest. Omission plays a big role in her psyche. He can't just assume that she's okay or that she's an open book, because she's not.

Like mentioned above, I think Carmy is learning a lot about Syd through their menu creating. He's listening to her stories and anectdotes, laughing at her humor and learning about what she values through the food she creates. They have such symmetry through food, he assumed (incorrectly) that he knew more about her than he did. Because Syd is bringing back his love of food and the two of them really do communicate their desires through food. Syd loves taking care of people. But so does Carmy! They both don't want to use tweezers on food they don't care about. They want to use tweezers to show how much they love people lol

I love his stuttering in this gif because this man lost the plot and thought he could substitute communicating through food with actual communication. Example: Bro really was confused when Syd wasn't happy about the wall being torn down. By his logic, he tore the wall down for her, like he's working on the menu for her, so what's the big deal? (Someone save this man.) He's very action oriented, so it flew right by him that making a menu with Claire for Syd wasn't it, because he thought doing this action was what she wanted--like he said in that particular scene. But Syd wants communication and hands-on training (😏😏😏), because they're doing this together and if he just wants to put a menu together without her, she can just go somewhere else and make bullshit no-love tweezer dishes. They're supposed to be doing this for the love of food, not to just make money.

And even though they talk to each other via food, it doesn't make up for the other way they can and should communicate: straight up talking.

But The Table ™️ scene shows, in my opinion, that he's learning that. "Say more, please."

Anyway! I love this gifset melonatures. Sorry if this broke any Tumblr edicate. I loved your gifset. Thanks for making it! ❤️

[markantonys]

Idk if you saw the Josha Collider interview but he kinda hints we might get some Randlayne in s3? Which I am curious about that cause I didn't think they'd have time. Also that the Randfear relationship will continue where it left off and get even more complicated (which is very much their Shadow Rising dynamic)

i'm gobbling up these randlayne crumbs!!

but he keeps it very vague here and i don't think there's anything too surprising in what he says - the fact that the show took the time to signal randlayne in 2x08 definitely implies to me that they plan to follow up on it in SOME way in season 3, and given that daniel was already talking about having filmed some lanaeve scenes way back in june which according to the block filming schedule would probably mean those scenes are somewhere in the first block (eps 1&2), i think we can pretty safely assume that the tanchico & waste travel groups won't split up right away, and that we'll see rand and elayne interacting early in the season.

now, that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be making out all over falme or declaring their love for each other already! "a gradual thing which needs to be organic" definitely makes me feel pretty good about my prior randlayne guess, which is that they'll be getting to know each other and building a connection early in s3 and laying that groundwork for romance, but nothing explicitly romantic will happen between them before they split up for their respective journeys. because they wouldn't have included that Moment between them in 2x08 if they didn't intend to build upon it pretty promptly at the start of season 3, so we've got to be seeing SOMETHING more on the randlayne front, but i don't think it will be anything huge. and what josha says here supports both parts of that prediction, i think! his comments on rand's headspace at the start of s3 also make me think it's unlikely rand will be jumping straight into brand-new romance during the first episode block, and since we know tanchico & the waste are both in, i don't think rand would see elayne again until the second half of s3 at the earliest and perhaps not until s4 (in person, anyway; further randlayne development through TAR chats is not outside the realm of possibility!)

and of course, avirand isn't something josha would be hinting at even a tiny bit in interviews since it's way too much of a spoiler, given that the two of them haven't even met yet, so randlayne being the s3 romance he's discussing doesn't mean avirand won't sneak in there and end up happening first! but all this being said, i am always ready for the show to surprise me and prove me totally wrong haha

and he made intriguing comments about randfear too, like you say!

in a couple of today's other interviews he said he wants randfear endgame djkjfg i'd have a shipping war with him about that, but i love how much he's loving digging into this relationship! lanfear positioning herself as ~the only one who understands him~ despite him being surrounded by his friends definitely sets up some toxic shit and i can't wait to see where that goes in s3. i love Mess!!

(..................i'm saying nothing about book!min positioning herself as ~the only one who understands him~. nothing at all!)

wait a moment. literally right here josha says rand is with his friends at the start of season 3, so that pretty much confirms we'll be starting off with the gang all still together!!!!!! (of course, he could mean just that he's with mat & egwene en route to the waste, but given daniel's confirmation of lanaeve scenes, i think at this point we can feel very very confident in seeing the whole gang still together at the start of the season)

[annakie]

From Broken Bow to Calypso - Check-in #6

Continuing my Star Trek by Stardate rewatch!!

We finished with Enterprise, time for three Short Treks, The Cage, and Discovery Season 1.

2/5/25 - Episode 94 - Short Treks - The Girl Who Made the Stars Very cute, beautifully animated. Hello little Michael Burnham, I guess this is the only time in canon we see Michael's dad?

2/5/25 - Episode 95 - Short Treks - The Brightest Star Introduction to Saru. Not a bad little story, will help guide what's coming in the future, and hey! Captain… I mean, Lieutenant Georgiou! Also, a Universal Translator moment that makes it clear(er) how it works generally. Saru is just that special that he gets to figure out how technology works and somehow managed to contact Starfleet with a Baou(sp?) communication device, amazing. :p Just a normal "ignore the specifics and let the story work" bit of Star Trek, but again, beautifully shot and a good introduction.

2/5/25 - Episode 96 - Short Treks - Q&A Our first Spock and Una! Ensign Spock! And Pike at the end! I forgot that we first needed to get through Q&A and The Cage before Discovery proper. Oh no, it's got the stupid turbolift exterior shot in it. Did you know apparently the insides of starships are CAVERNS? So bad, so dumb. Anyway, the story itself is good, and a cute introduction to these two, but I'll take their singing bit as being loopy from the electric shock -- but the smiling part is a good intro to all the smiling in The Cage. Speaking of which….

2/5/25 - Episode 97 - TOS - The Cage Blasting alllll the way back to the most original of the original. The Red Alert sound is atrocious. The Columbia is missing! ERIKA HERNANDEZ WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SHIP'S SS-NAMESAKE? (This is like, a hundred years after Enterprise. And we know what happened to the Columbia in the Novel-verse.) Second scene in the episode… Pike lounges around on his bed and calls his doctor in. Doctor's prescription: Martini. Pike's being all grumpy and already talking about horses. Oh boy, Orion "Green animal women slaves". We sure are in the 1960's… Pike can't get used to having a woman on the bridge (except Number One… yeeeesh.) We will attempt to ignore that line and that kind of blatant sexism from here on out and try to focus on the fact that here in the mid-60's there was even a woman on the bridge at all, who is in command most of the episode, and a scant few non-white faces in the background and remember that was way more than we'd get in most shows at this time. We also know Roddenberry would go on to do some pretty progressive (and some regressive) things in the full show but they had to get the show on-air first. I don't want to make all my TOS episode thoughts resolve around "60's bad/weird". But I will say, The Cage is a bit of a hard rewatch, as will be a lot of TOS from a 2020s sensibility, we know that. We'll judge it on a curve. I think in the end it's clear what wasn't working here and they kept some of the better parts, and thankfully diversified the crew more. This Pike is a harder man than SNW Pike, with Kelvin Pike being more in the middle. I think it's a little hard to see SNW Pike and Cage Pike as the same person sometimes, and not just because of the 60's sexism stuff. SNW Pike is more empathetic and open than Cage Pike, but that's OK. We can just say his experience here changed him. Also Cage Pike talks about horses more, but it made me laugh retroactively remembering how Una tells Spock to not get him started about his horses in Q&A. Overall, The Cage is what it is, and even if a few things like Una, Vena and the Yeoman fighting over Pike feels horribly cringe-y, we have to appreciate that The Cage lays the groundwork for so, so much more to come. And it's even more meaningful now with SNW being a thing.

DISCOVERY, SEASON ONE

2/6/25 - Episode 98 - The Vulcan Hello Hello Discovery officially! Look, I like Discovery more than most people. AGAIN, I agree with MOST of the common criticisms people have about it, but even with those shortcomings I still am all in while watching, and find a lot to love in it. But I definitely do NOT love the Klingon redsign (also I very much do not buy into the silly theory that one throwaway joke in the LDS next to last episode makes Discovery set in an AU, which also would mean SNW is in an AU.) Really need more Captain Georgiou. Really need less having to read Klingon subtitles. Georgiou was right though, sorry Michael, I do think just based on his rhetoric that T'Kuvma just wanted a fight and probably would have gone into battle either way. Forgot Detmer didn't have her eyepiece yet. There's some definite cheese here like Georgiou and Michael walking around, making a Starfleet symbol and voila, the Shinzou finds them, but it's just indicative of the optimistic cheese Discovery will have loads of.

2/6/25 - Episode 99 - Battle of the Binary Stars Michael being stuck in the force fielded up brig is a genuinely cool concept with a very Star Trek solution. The cinematography and effects during the battle is very good, and the shot of the Klingons gathering their dead. The fight on the Klingon ship is really well choreographed. Prime Georgiou, you are gone too soon. Discovery is really pretty in general. I still do not love that Michael is Surak/Amanda's surprise adopted daughter. Honestly I think her story could have worked almost as well if they were other important Klingons at the time. Hell, maybe Soval or T'Pol? BUT I guess in the end this story gives us Spock, which gave us Pike and Una, and thus SNW. So I get over it.

2/7/25 - Episode 100 - Context is for Kings The prologue is over, time to get into actual Discovery. First of all, I certainly hope that the Discovery rescued the prison shuttle pilot, have to assume that they did but they never said. Crazy that the shuttle didn't just fly up the like, 100 feet out of the cloud where Discovery pulled them to lol. Gotta say, right from the start they do a GREAT job dropping little hints about Lorca's true origins that a lot of people wouldn't catch onto. I'm sure some people guessed, but I didn't the first time around. And if I were watching this in my current watch order for the first time, I'd have no idea since we haven't even seen In A Mirror, Darkly yet so no hints that there even IS a Mirror Universe. They also set up the mystery about what's going on on the ship really well, too. And yeeeah Saru! Detmer! Tilly! I missed these guys. And Jerk-Stamets! Then Bryce later (his Memory Alpha page is hilariously short for someone who was in all 4 seasons. Oh, Rhys, Bryce, Christopher… in so many episodes and yet had so little to do but share bridge information. Ariam got an episode! Owo and Detmer have it slightly better, but not much. I know none of these people are main cast but STILL.) The action sequence on the other Starfleet ship is pretty great. Also, no Klingon scenes in this one, which is kind of a relief. Almost a second pilot, and I enjoyed it.

2/7/25 - Episode 101 - The Butchers Knife Cares Not for the Lambs Cry The place I watched this episode in didn't have subtitles working at all so I had to go back and read summaries of what happened in all the Klingon scenes, kind of annoying. Maybe I should just learn to speak Klingon. But the story between Voq and L'Rell is really good here. Hey, it's Hugh! High on the list of my favorite Star Trek characters of all time, I love him. A lot more questions than answers here and we really start seeing what an asshole Lorca is. Honestly, Lorca is SUCH a great character, too. Sad that we never get to see original universe Lorca. Also, holy shit I forgot Voq and L'Rell ate Georgiou's corpse, that's some dark shit. Oh also, this episodes has one of the worst lines in all of Trek: calling Elon Musk a genius. Not only is he NOT, but… fuck that guy. At least it was Lorca who said it, so I guess in the Mirror universe Musk is a good guy. :p

2/8/25 - Episode 102 - Choose Your Pain Love this episode. Rainn Wilson deserved better after The Office and this and the next Mudd episode show why, he's so good here. Introduction to Admiral Cornwell! She's great, I'd forgotten about her a bit but was really happy to see her again. Oof, another all-time terrible line in this episode, but not as bad. Tilly "Really, I love feeling feelings." Urgh. Voq --> Tyler is a great reveal later, especially since the actor was credited with an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT NAME, I don't think anyone who didn't know the BTS would guess it. In episode though it's been THREE WEEKS since the last episode took place, so that's a pretty fast transformation :p It is fun to watch Tyler use some pretty classic bonding techniques to manipulate the man from manipulation universe and it works. Leaving Mudd behind is SO NOT THE STARFLEET way and it's hilarious. Also, Saru gets his first command (temporarily) and does a pretty good job having to make hard calls. I get it that people were mad about Discovery being so dark, but this war, and is about on par with some of the ENT S3 episodes tbh.. except last weeks' cannibalism. Also fun, I watched this and the next one on my VR headset so that the screen was about as big to my eyes as an IMAX and it's just really gorgeous that way. Might do it again some more.

2/8/25 - Episode 103 - Lethe Still not a huge fan of the Burnham & Sarek stuff, but it is VERY Sarek to do such a dickish thing as in this episode. I guess it all worked out for the best. I do like Discovery's portrayal of Sarek overall, especially knowing he can't really have that much character growth since, well, TOS is coming. I do appreciate that Sarek's story here deepens his rift with Spock. Mia Kirshner is a great Amanda. Love the Lorca/Tyler Bromance. I love the Lorca/Cornwell stuff -- love that Lorca is good enough to MOSTLY fool people, even Cornwell, to a point, but eventually she just KNOWS something is off. Also just seeing two characters in their 50's have this romantic connection, and seen as sexy, idk, I thought it was good. And Lorca sleeping with a phaser and being a psycho about it.. just a verrrrry Mirror universe thing to do. I liked Tyler/Burnham just fine but thought Book was a better match for her, this will do for now, though. It's almost unbelievable that Voq and Tyler are the same person in episodes like this.

2/9/25 - Episode 104 - Magic to Make the Sanest Man go Mad Pretty much universally thought of as the best Discovery Season 1 episode, and it IS great. Mudd is back and he is PISSED, and time looping. I used this episode as part of the inspiration for a very important NPC in my D&D campaign a few years ago (except the NPC was not a bad guy.) The only time loop episode I can think of that doesn't mainly follow the person who figures it out, if there is one person. I think the compression of the Burnham/Tyler relationship from just meeting last episode to really pushing the relationship forward in this one hurts the narrative flow, they had 15 episodes so it just feels a bit fast here, like maybe if they'd swapped the arc between the next episode and this one so that in Si Vis Pacem (next ep) they got closer and then this episode happened as is, IDK. Anyway, Rainn Wilson is again fantastic, there's so many cool loop moments (Lorca biting it over and over is fantastic). The purple ball thing supposedly being the most painful way to die is clearly not true, neither Tyler nor Burnham seemed bothered by it much. And Stamets being the looper is fantastic in the role, though the last loop seems to happen in slow motion with everything they accomplished ahead of time. That's OK, still a great ep.

2/9/25 - Episode 105 - Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum Had actually forgotten about the planet side plot completely, only remembered the L'Rell & Cornwell stuff. Honestly planet side stuff is mostly forgettable, though it does lead towards the war effort and advance Saru's character quite a bit. Closest thing we get in S1 to like a normal planet exploration Star Trek episode. But yeah the Klingon side of this episode is actually the better half. Oh, except the opening with the battle to defend another ship against multiple Klingon ships. Really exciting, great visuals, tense on the bridge… honestly THAT was the best part of the episode.

2/10/25 - Episode 106 - Into the Forest I Go Absolutely love Lorca being like screw orders, we'll comply in the most roundabout way possible that still lets me do what I want and oops Stamets can't jump us, in the cold open. Although it's pretty dark, I thought the episode was great. Good exploration of PTSD with Tyler. Crew came together to do what they needed to do. Deepens some of the mysteries while giving a few answers. Love Stamets/Culber even more in this episode, a cool solution to the cloaking problem. But wow it really feels like it brings an end to the war FAST, feels like it should last more than half the season. But the ending is definitely a "Woah, what the fuck happened?"

2/10/25 - Episode 107 - Despite Yourself It's really interesting to have this be our introduction to the Mirror Universe. First mention of the Defiant. Not watching In A Mirror, Darkly until most of the way through TOS (After The Tholian Web) so this is all NEW INFORMATION (even though it's the next to last Mirror Universe in our timeline, only the Prodigy episode is last.) RIP -- for now, Hugh. It was SO gutting watching them kill a beloved character, one that we actually took the time to get to KNOW, and in such a fast, callous manner, the first time. Despite what they claim later, I do not believe it was ever the intention to bring Hugh back originally, but the outcry happened, and it was absolutely the right thing to do. Look, I know other people hate the Mirror Universe arc, and I get it, but idk, I think generally it's a pretty neat diversion.

2/10/25 - Episode 108 - The Wolf Inside Big Burnham/Tyler episode here. More Mirrorverse shenanigans. Seeing Stamets cradling Culber is heartbreaking. Interesting for Mirror Voq and Sarek to team up. Spock SHOULD be impossible in the Mirrorverse, but I guess Sarek and Amanda get together even then? Else, Mirror, Mirror would be VERY different. Maybe MM!Spock was a spy all along, what with his father so important to the resistance… and then likely dead afterwards. Good fakeout with Tyler's death / retrieval. And the Georgiou reveal at the end is shocking and fantastic, and brings so much to future episodes.

2/11/25 - Episode 109 - Vaulting Ambition So much happening here! Tyler going nuts and we find out the truth, that there was an Ash Tyler and now the two are kinda fused and at war in one body. L'Rell isn't helpful, til maybe she is. Stamets and Culber deal with Culber's death in the Mycellial Network. I'm glad they gave Hugh a real goodbye in this one. Even the notes in Memory Alpha say that they claim they were going to bring Hugh back all along but IDK, it really doesn't feel like they were. He even says he's not actually in the network, and then… well whatever happens in S2. Still, they get a beautiful time together. And then STUFF SURE HAPPENS on the Emperor's ship. Georgiou and Burnham's relationship is fucked up in both universes, haha. Also, Burnham (and Georgiou) EATS A KELPIAN (for a minute I thought it was Saru but nope.) Holy crap I had forgotten that dark bit of happening. OK, this season DOES get too dark, the haters are right. Georgiou talking about the Franklin and I do feel like we missed something now but not having watched IAM,D yet. But still glad to get there with the rewatch. The real star here though is Lorca… it was SUCH a good reveal. Truly. I'm sure some people guessed it but I didn't really the first time around and it's SO much fun doing the rewatch knowing what we know now. Like it's just really effective, and the code switch Jason Isaacs does is… chefs kiss

2/11/25 - Episode 110 - What's Past is Prologue This episode is so action packed and so very fun. Lorca's heel reveal works so well, we get Mirror Landry (and Owo). Lots of technobabble with Stamets and Tilly that I barely paid attention to lol. Saru really starts coming into his own as Captain here. Mirror Georgiou and Burnham's relationship really starts to blossom. I know, I know, she's a murderous genocidial human supremacist maniac. Memory Alpha says they wanted to stay in the Mirrorverse longer but TBH this was the longest consecutive number of episodes any Trek stays there and it was enough. This is also a very Die Hard episode. Honestly I was kind of rooting for Lorca, but it's just two troops of horrible people killing each other and we know either way it turns out the humans stay on top for quite awhile. This does start Discovery's tradition of fighting against a universe (or in this case all of creation) ending threat. Gotta do that once a season, doncha know. The fight scenes really work though, especially when it's a 2-on-2 fight with Lorca/Georgiou/Landry/Burnham. Really good stuff. Goodbye, Lorca. You were a truly interesting character and I wish they'd been able to bring Jason Isaacs back again. In the end, the Discovery gets back home, due to Stamets Tilly and Stamets save the day with technobabble magic. Annnd… we time jumped. So many tropes in one 15-episode season.

2/12/25 - Episode 111 - The War Without, The War Within We're back in the prime universe, 10 months late. There's a lot to unpack here, from Georgiou being around to Ash Tyler back to being fully Ash but also has all of Voq's memories. Honestly I'm fine with Georgiou still being there because I mean, Michelle Yeoh. I get Saru's decision to let Ash be mostly free but if I were Paul I would be pissed and not accept the decision at all. I just feel like everyone moves on from Culber's death too easily here. Paul did get closure in the mycellial network but still needs a period of mourning and although he's clearly not OK with it, man, I'd be way more upset. Love Cornwell and Sarek being there and Cornwell taking over but wow it was convenient for them to be so close to where Discovery shows back up. I think one of the biggest things my brain can't stop pointing out is how much has to be coincidental in some of these episodes but then, thinking about ALL of Star Trek, that's pretty much true as well. L'Rell & Cornwell together are still great. Love Sarek counseling Burnham. Terraforming scene is beautiful, but so much technobabble. NGL I got a bit teary when Cornwell namedropped Archer. And I also loved Burnham telling Ash that he has to put in the work to get better. We need more of that message rather than "Next episode, everything's OK!" but hey, that's Trek for ya.

2/12/25 - Episode 112 - Will You Take My Hand? Finale time! Making Georgiou the (fake) captain certainly was a choice. Like good for the visuals/drama but not sure how needed it was to actually put her in charge and give her access to sensitive information. Like, this turns into a Badmiral episode pretty quick, Cornwell included. Jumping INTO Qo'nos is a cool scene. Everyone dressed as Civilians is a good look on all of them. Hey, Clint Howad! Also, maybe the horniest episode since Enterprise's Orion episode. Ash stays behind with L'Rell, which was probably the right choice. L'Rell's grasp on the Empire depending on not blowing up the planet fees a bit tenuous. But anyway, the ending is exciting with the Enterprise showing up, huh? It was a long wait until season 2 started. Thankfully, it won't be this time.

----

Final Thoughts on S1:

Overall, even though most people think season 1 of Discovery is the worst, I still loved it. And I agree with so many things that a lot of people hate about it, it's true. There's some real cheesy and cringey dialog. They pile too much on Burnham, even though Sonequa Martin-Green does an amazing job with all of the things they give her. Even knowing all the main Bridge Crew's names and a little bit about them, they're mostly just familiar faces and not real characters. There's a lot of speechifying, technobabble and coincidence, even for Star Trek. I hate the Klingon redesign and there's not really a good way to explain it away, since EVERY Klingon we see has that design. Tyler/Burnham feels like a speedrun of a relationship. And SO MUCH happens in one season, there's not a lot of time to catch our breaths from one episode to the next, with just a couple of exceptions and the time-loop Mudd episode is the only outstanding one of those. And yes the technology is way too advanced considering we know TOS is coming.

AND YET… there's some fantastic characters anyway. Lorca might be the best example, everything about him really comes together and WORKS in the end, despite people (kinda rightfully) saying he's too dark and harsh for a Starfleet captain (turns out, for good reason.) Aside from the fact that she's a Redesign Klingon, L'Rell is also a great character, like a full-on brainwashed cult leader, but Chieffo really sells the character and brings so much to her, makes her believable in every emotion. Stamets and Culber are of course standouts as a couple, even if at this point Hugh is no more. The plot DOES clip along. They really were trying to do something different and the show always stands out for that, love it or hate it. Maybe they do go too dark here and there, try to get a bit too edgy, but the show really believes in the Star Trek ideals. Actions have consequences for the most part. It's also just absolutely visually stunning almost all of the time.

There's a lot to correct, and they definitely do some of that starting in season 2. Like, even if there are a lot of swings and misses, season 1 swung HARD, and some of the things really hit right.

[lover-of-mine]

I’ve thought about it and considering we haven’t seen Lou on set yet if he’s going to be back in season 8 (though like everyone else I would not be mad if he just didn’t come back at all lol) I feel like one or more of the 3 following scenarios is happening

1. He’s been on set but for such minor scenes just to wrap up that storyline that it just so happened he wasn’t caught on camera

2. He’s not allowed to be involved in any PR including behind the scenes videos because of his cameo nonsense

3. He hasn’t been on set yet but he will be and they just didn’t have time during opening emergency stuff (which is what they’ve been filming I believe) to deal with BT breakup so maybe the first 3 eps focus on the emergency and Eddie and Tommy isn’t really mentioned (unless maybe by Buck to lay groundwork that it’s not working out) and then he comes back in ep 4 or later for the breakup.

I’m curious your thoughts now that we’re a little further into filming and have gotten some behind the scenes stuff.

Okay, I think that no matter what that man is under the most strict NDA an abc lawyer ever had to write. Second, they don't film things linearly and our first sign that Marisol was gonna be back was almost a month into filming even tho she was in 701, there's a chance they filmed emergencies in a bulk because of location availability and consistency or just because it was easier to block those together and he didn't show up yet because they are just now starting to film non call related stuff. But I feel like the longer we don't see him the options are:

They decided bringing him back is not worth it and that the narrative can take the hit of having him being written off off-screen because of the chaos the ghost of his presence can create (ref most recently the comments on Kenny's reel but literally anything else) or that they found out that the cameos were a breach of contract and they are not bringing him back at all. This is the less likely scenario in my head, but it is a possibility;

He already has been in to film whatever scenes they need him in. Like, they clustered them together, locked him and Oliver in a set for a day and then sent him on his way without anyone else seeing him because he's under the most strict NDA known to men and the rest of the crew just didn't post him;

He will show up soon and still be in the opening arc because realistic anything they film up until the end of the month can end up in the first episode anyway (opinion of a video editor, considering how s7 was, maybe even first week of September could still mean first episode);

He will show up soon but will only be addressed once the opening arc is over. I think this one is extremely unlikely mostly because the longer it takes to address the relationship, the crazier things are gonna get, just watch the way the other side is already losing it, it's gonna get worse once the show starts airing, he needs to be addressed quick, ignoring him within the narrative for 3/4 episodes is gonna create problems, for marketing and for the narrative;

He's been there multiple times already and they actually are hiding him. Hiding as in making a point of not letting anything involving him hit social media. This is a network show not a marvel movie so I don't see why they would hide him, but at this point I need to say it is a possibility that he is being hidden to avoid creating conversation.

He's a schrodinger cat. He's both there and not there at all times until we see something definitive. I still think they need him for at least 2 scenes (maybe one if they do the rest of the work with Buck talking to other people but it will be pushing it) so I'm not holding my breath for him not to come back at all. But I also know he's gonna be addressed in episode 1. Ali was addressed in 301, Taylor and Ana are both in 501, Natalia is addressed in 701 and Marisol is in 701. Whatever happens with him, we will know in 801.

[emilykaldwen]

People are allowed to be upset and disappointed about the finale (and the season in general). We're all on our own blogs, we get to do that. Make sure you tag things appropriately (the a*nti H*otd tag is a handy one). But also make sure you step back and take a breather. This show should not be throwing you into a conniption fit.

For me? My final thoughts:

I'm more than happy for my feelings on this season to change over the hiatus. I know I'll re-watch the episodes in a few months and I'm able to sit and really go with the story and not react for the first time. I can just look at the season as a whole and see where it goes.

In a perfect world, they wouldn't have filmed during the writer's strike. In a perfect world, HBO wouldn't have cut their two episodes at the 11th hour. They wouldn't have had to throw out the fucky Sopochnik treatments when he stormed out, and when Matt/Emma/Olivia threatened to walk. The lead up to the production of this past season was a messy one, and I think it shows.

This season had good bones. When it hit? It absolutely hit. Episode 2 continues to be one of my faves. 2x06 was also fantastic. I genuinely was delighted and enjoyed the Riverlands arc. I loved Aegon's storyline and everything brought to it. I loved Jace getting fleshed out.

I absolutely was frothing at the mouth for the noting of how shitty the nobility is to the peasantry. Even if it was uneven and awkward, I'm glad that's getting brought up and brought in. God, Rhaenyra Cult Leader drinking the Targ Supremacy kool-aid? Loved that choice. Jace realizing his mother doesn't care for him/Rhaenyra making the same parenting mistakes that Viserys did? Loved it! And there are a lot of other things about this season I did love.

The acting was fantastic across the board, I felt so vindicated in some of these choices. I know a lot of us did.

But where the show disappointed me, it disappointed me hard. And the thing is, you can see where the writers are going with it, nothing is out of left field, it's all there... but I look at it as the same way you see someone taking the wrong route in the forest that will still get to a destination, but it's not the... don't go that way it's not a trail?

I think a lot of the frustrations with this season are absolutely because of the s1 missteps, namely that I think as a fandom everyone collectively agrees season one should have been two seasons. Season one should have ended with Driftmark. We should have had more time with the kids growing up, we could lay the groundwork.

We know that there was a lot happening outside of Condal's control with the issues and changes happening with HBO. It's unfortunate. And I think that exacerbated the issues in the writers room that were already there.

Fire and Blood is not a perfect book. It's a mock-u-history book that is very fun, with templates of who these characters were. They are not fleshed out characters, so the writers had a sandbox to play with. But we do know the basic foundations of who they are, and I think a lot of that got lost in the 'I know better' mentality that I really feel in Condal's interviews. There's expanding on ideas and then there's... 'I can do better/improve on this' when it doesn't have to be that deep.

Anyway, I'm still here, I'm still writing, I'm wholly amused that some of the convos and plot points are similar to what I've written and planned, because we are all playing in the sandbox.

Just remember everyone: This is the dragon incest fantasy show. It does not define you, it's not the end all be all. Don't harsh on anyone's joy, don't go off the rails with your anger and frustration. Curate your spaces, give people space, and always try to find the joy in things.