#(OK BUT ALSO THIS SONG IS SUPER COOL DESPITE THE POV OF THE CHARACTER IT'S FOR)

[koushirouizumi]

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[lightsandlostbells]

Druck season 2, episode 10 reaction

Done with S2! Thanks to all the translators who make the clips, texts, and social media content accessible to everyone. It’s so much work to do and the Druck translators do a terrific job.

As much as I love going into Matteo’s POV, I’m going to miss Mia’s a lot. This season definitely surpassed my expectations overall.

Episode 10

Clip 1 - Slumber party

The girl crew is having a sleepover and keeping warm in Mia’s bed in their PJs. They talk about how great last summer was, which we unfortunately did not get to see. So Druck should definitely squeeze in an Amira season so we can see the summer before they graduate, eh? Ehhh???

Mia gets a text, but it’s from her mom, not Alex. Kiki says she doesn’t think Björn sent Alex the pictures or else he would’ve texted her already. Or, as Sam points out, he would’ve pushed Björn in front of a train. That option seems quite likely, to be honest. The girls are proud of Mia for standing up to Björn. 

Mia says she needs to talk to Alex about it because it would be worse if he found out through someone else. Kiki gives Mia a hug and says they’ll protect her, and Sam says they beat up people for Hanna, so they’ll beat them up for Mia, too. Hell yeah. Björn needs an ass-kicking far more than Toilet Sam’s girlfriend did.

Down with pacifism! Sam punches a pillow and says down with all men! I’m sad that this is all we get of the sleepover scene that was shown briefly in those ending credits at the beginning of the season, but at least what we did see is cute.

Clip 2 - Talk to each other!!

At school, Mia seems so distracted looking for Alex that some guy knocks into her. She finds Alex at his locker. He seems pissed. PLEASE GOD don’t let it be for Björn-related reasons, let him be better than that. He can’t believe Björn. Please.

Well, he did see the pictures. And he doesn’t get it. Were they for revenge? So he thinks she went out with Björn just to hurt him.

Mia grabs him as he tries to walk away, saying it’s not what he thinks it is, and they need to talk. He says he can’t and has a test now, Mia says tomorrow, and he reluctantly nods. It’s like the conversation that was supposed to happen last week, but didn’t because Björn happened. Mia stares after him. We hear other people’s happy, careless conversations as Mia’s whole world is unraveling. 

Well, she didn’t tell him it was rape/assault yet, so that still puts him above William - it’s one thing to think she’s consensually hooking up with Björn to hurt him, another to not believe her about being assaulted. And he didn’t leave her crying on the ground. It all depends how he reacts tomorrow.

Clip 3 - Fucking Björn keeps ruining things and he’s not even in the episode

After school, when most students are leaving, it’s time for Mia and Alex to talk. He’s looking out the window. She asks about what really happened with him and Björn.

He calls his parents emotionally stunted (slur according to the translations - not sure if it has the same connotations or intensity in German but :/ at its use) and it was hard for Sophie. Her depression got worse when Alex was like 12-13; she was institutionalized twice and went to three therapists until she found one she liked. She was OK after that, until she met Björn. 

We see some flashbacks of Sophie and Alex hanging out in the pool as Alex talks about their close relationship, and then Sophie drifts from Alex to go smooch Björn. Alex was cool with him at first (we see them friendly in the pool) until it became clear Björn made Sophie cry (in the pool we see Alex and Björn rough-housing and play-fighting - innocent this time, but representative of how later it would escalate to actual fighting because of Sophie; notice that Sophie herself drifts out of the footage and isn’t visible except for her legs, like they’re fighting even when she’s gone). Björn tried to emotionally turn Sophie against both her parents and Alex, which is a textbook sign of an abuser, separating the victim from friends and family (in the flashbacks we see Björn holding Sophie close, like he’s trying to have her all to himself). 

Björn also convinced Sophie to stop going to her therapist because he thought the therapist hated him, and threatened to break up with her if she didn’t. Which is also textbook abuse/manipulation. And frankly Björn thinking the therapist hated him could be paranoia, it’s likely, but it’s also possible the therapist legitimately didn’t like him based on what Sophie was saying in therapy and so didn’t encourage Sophie to stay in that relationship. So Sophie’s depression got worse after that, and then that annoyed Björn and he started disappearing and going to clubs for days at a time. I didn’t know I could hate this motherfucker even more.

Sophie barely texted Alexander (he’s crying as he tells this now), she started getting into drugs (not just weed as Björn had told Mia) and it was even worse because she had manic episodes. This whole story is so sad. I do have to give props to Druck because the way they’re laying this out seems so realistic in terms of emotional abuse. 

Alexander spins the ring on his finger. Is that a family ring? I don’t remember if we learned anything about it. Maybe Sophie gave it to him.

Alexander’s family didn’t hear from Sophie for a while until the German embassy called them (not Björn). God, so did Björn run off when Sophie died? I can imagine him doing that, not wanting to take any responsibility. They only saw him again at the funeral, where he claimed in front of everyone that Sophie would still be alive if she had abandoned the family sooner, and Alex lost it and said he’d beat him to death if he came near the family again, Björn ran off. You know, this makes me wonder what the hell Björn was doing trying to get into Alex’s apartment those times. Was he getting a thrill out of just being there and sticking it to Alex? Or was he there to steal stuff or mess with Alex’s things? 

Alexander says he had the worst year of his life until Mia yelled at him in the courtyard. I guess Mia saw right through his bullshit and that brought him back to Earth. Mia grabs his hand.

Alexander is upset that the guy who ruined his life also assaulted Mia. THANK GOD he’s upset that Mia was assaulted, that his anger is directed toward Björn and not at her. Bravo, Alexander, I know it was a low bar but I’m glad you didn’t leave Mia crying on the floor. And bravo, Druck, for taking out that part. It’s hard for Alex not to do anything about it, but Mia says he mustn’t, Björn did it to her and she wants to sort it out

Mia went to the police and Alex is like, “Do you think that will sort anything?” and she points out that beating him up again won’t help, either. True! As much as I wouldn’t mind seeing it. Not worth it for Alexander to go to jail over that scum, don’t let Björn ruin his life further.

Alex reported himself to the police, so they’re going to investigate and interview the victim. Ugh, I don’t want Björn’s sob story full of lies to get Alex in trouble, but it’s the right thing to do, and Alexander chose to do it, so that says a lot about his character.

Alexander is packing up to go, Mia wants to know about their relationship. Alex says he’s going to London after graduation. I like how they’ve positioned him so far away already; he’s far from Mia, in the doorway ready to leave, just like him going to London. He says that this thing between them hasn’t worked from the start. Mia is upset and teary as he tries to go, and tries to get him to stay by saying he’s being an asshole, but he says that’s it. Wow, so they’re really gonna string us along until the end, huh. Imagine if the one version of Noorhelm that I like is the one that broke up for good. 

Mia walks out of the room, through the hall, through the shadows, crying. GOD, CAN NICE THINGS HAPPEN TO MIA ALREADY. I feel like she gets a good day or two at most and then more shit gets flung at her.

Super apropos song lyrics at the end of the clip: “You told me to let go and all I can do is try/I'm running in circles, tired of keeping my head high/You told me to bury my feelings dead I'm alright/Oh, acting my whole life now I am losing this fight” Poor Mia is trying desperately to keep Alex but it’s getting nowhere and he’s telling her it’s over.

Clip 4 - Hanna and Jonas?

Hanna and Mia walk along talking, Hanna asks if it’s over, Mia is on the brink of tears again. It really gets me in the heart how Mia just has to cut off the subject because it’s too painful and she gets choked up so quickly. She asks about Hanna. Jonas has blocked Hanna on Insta for going to Sam’s party … dude, Jonas, get your shit together. Mia says he has no right to tell her what to do. Damn straight.

And Mia says they need to stop talking about guys all the time, they wouldn’t even pass the Bechdel test. LMAO. I’m pretty sure that Druck would pass the Bechdel test? Like Mia and Kiki talking about Kiki’s eating and fitness issues would qualify, for a start? Although standards might be different in a season-long TV show than a movie. But I do also see the irony in like ... this being a TV show where the characters’ choice of conversation topics are dictated by the writers, so Druck could have the girls stop talking about dudes whenever they want.

Also, the Bechdel test was created by a lesbian, and was specifically meant to represent a lesbian experience before the test gained a more widespread usage, so people who are unsatisfied with Druck’s handling of wlw may not enjoy this line - the de-gaying of the Bechdel test might ring too close to Druck dancing away from Mia’s sexuality.

Anyway, Mia doesn’t want to be asked about Alex anymore, so Hanna asks how she did in German, and is astonished that Mia does so well and gets good grades despite dealing with stress. Mia does this adorable hair flip of confidence.

Mia walks off, and HOLY SHIT we switch to Jonas?? And Hanna?? So that shot of Mia walking away wasn’t just random, it was ~symbolic and representing a transition of POV. I do wish we had gotten this scene after Mia and Alex got more of a conclusion to their story; it’d seem more fitting for tying up loose ends. Because I’m still like MIA’S SEASON AIN’T OVER.

Of course that mysterious person who talks to Jonas turned out to be Gereven. I love that he got the name Beanie Boy. Honestly I really love that fandom was like EVEN???? after this one brief appearance. Skam fandom goes hard with their detective skills. (Was he lending Jonas his notes so Jonas could catch up? So thoughtful.)

Hanna sits down across from Jonas and asks about a bad grade he got. It turns out that Jonas got a 0 in three subjects, and at least one of them was for an unexcused absence. Hanna is concerned. I am too. Jonas is a mess. It’s been this way all season but at some point you have to be like, dude, either get over it or get help. If Hanna is the root cause of his pain, he has to let her go (much as I root for Janna and Honas) but if it’s something more, like this guy is depressed, not to mention his substance abuse, then he needs to talk to a therapist.

Hanna wants to talk, Jonas has some work to finish, so she just grabs his pencil and finishes for him. He’s like … is that right? She nods. He jokes that it’s good she doesn’t crib from him anymore. I’m really glad Hanna has been keeping her shit together, it seems, but damn, it’s depressing that we just swung the messiness around to Jonas.

She says that she’s noticed he’s not doing well, and she somehow feels responsible. Jonas points out that she’s not. Hanna says Matteo has noticed that he’s not well, too, and that he says Jonas has locked him out. Jonas says Matteo needs a girlfriend so he can stop getting on his nerves. LMAO. Oh, Jonas. You really are a mess if you’ve missed Matteo’s big puppy eyes. But you know, the utter irony of that quote in a clip where they introduce Matteo’s future love interest, who is very much not a girlfriend.

Hanna says Jonas blocked her on Instagram. Yeah, Jonas, the hell is that about? Jonas says so it’s so he doesn’t have to see more of Hanna and Sam. Lol, she had like one picture of her and Sam. Hanna says there’s nothing happening with them. Honestly, I guess Jonas has to do what he needs to do to stop wallowing in his misery, and that might mean blocking Hanna on IG (although I think it’s extreme) but at the same time, it doesn’t seem to have done him any good. 

Hanna says she wants to be friends with him, but that’s not possible, is it? Jonas doesn’t say anything but you can tell from his face that she’s right. Before Hanna turns around, he says the equation doesn’t make any sense, and she says it’d be great if it was. Jonas says he was impressed for a minute. OH KIDS. If only the equation WAS RIGHT. And by equation I mean YOU TWO. Get your stuff together!!!!

Clip 5 - Follow your heart

The girl and boy crews are smoking hookah. Mia’s the only one not there. The girls talk about Mia and it feels like they’re the audience surrogates with their range of opinions, lol. What Alex did was fucked up (Hanna) vs. yes but it was understandable (Amira). Hanna thinking Mia deserves a nicer guy, Sam thinking that no matter what happened in the past, Mia and Alex love each other and it sucks it didn’t work out, Kiki just wanting Mia to be happy. The prevailing opinion seems to be that they want Mia to be happy, awwww. And I’m really glad their priorities are Mia’s happiness rather than them just coming across as in-universe Winterberg shippers no matter Mia’s feelings.

Goes without saying but Kiki looks cute with her glasses. All the girls look great, Hanna is rocking that red lipstick.

Amira is just like, all men suck, we don’t even have a choice. Kiki points out that Mia has a choice. I mean, who knows, maybe that girl Mia dated before was just a huge mess herself. Sam says women suck, too, and Amira is like no, women don’t rape, objectify, and marginalize men systematically. My soul ascended when I heard Amira say that. I love her, we’ve got to get season 4 somehow. Make it happen!!!!

Lmao, Hanna’s example of a bad woman is Bellatrix Lestrange, interesting that she went fictional! I would volunteer Umbridge as an example myself.

But Hanna points out there are nice guys, too, and Amira points out that guys like Jonas are the worst. At least guys like Alexander don’t pretend they’re not macho. Oh SHIT I got chills hearing this. Jonas is the sensitive hipster guy who thinks he’s woke, but is capable of as much sexism as any other dude. And as Amira points out, Jonas treated Hanna like crap when they were together, and now he acts all controlling. DAMN. CHILLS. I say this as someone who loves German Jonas, and who really loves Jonas and Hanna’s chemistry together: Amira isn’t wrong. Jonas was far from the perfect boyfriend, and in this season he’s been a pain in the ass, trying to manipulate her. I love that Amira lays it out and I think maybe it clicked something for Hanna, something that she already knew, but maybe she just needed Amira’s blunt POV.

Sam says it’s no good to hate all men, and Amira says no, we have to accept some men. Still, I really liked how this conversation didn’t try to soften its feminism? It’s not about man-hating, it’s about being able to acknowledge systemic misogyny honestly.

The girls again assert they are Team Mia above everything, and it’s a nice touch that it’s Kiki leading the charge, after all their drama this season. 

Mia is at home, sad over Alex. She smells his hoodie and looks at herself in the mirror, then over at her slogan: “follow your heart but take your brain with you.” But the way it’s shot, Mia’s head blocks the rest of the quote so it’s just “follow your heart” - a little on the nose, but still a good way to tie that motto back to her character arc. So she puts on her shoes and coat and heads out.

Back with the squads, it’s Sam’s birthday, so they sing to her and she blows out the candle on her cake. The girls ask what she wished for and Sam tells them, no secrets in the crew. She wants a boyfriend. Well, for her sake I hope she gets one? She deserves better than Manfred the middle-aged racial fetishist farmer. Lol, I think it would’ve been fun to see Sam with an age-appropriate version of Kasper, although I can see why the cabin trip ended up having much more drama than just Ouija board shenanigans. Would’ve maybe felt weird to have an actual guy there for some reason. 

Amira gets a text and has to leave, but Sam snatches her phone and the girls see that she works as a delivery girl. Hanna makes a comment that she thought Amira was secretly married - innocent joke or microaggression about Muslim girls getting married off young? They want to know why Amira didn’t tell them, and Amira explains that her brothers can never know because they’ll tell her parents, and her parents, who are doctors, think it’s beneath them for their daughter to be a delivery girl. Man, you can’t drop this on us and not give us a season 4. That’s such an insight into Amira’s relationship with her brothers (including German Elias??) and her parents and their background. It makes sense why she has to save money to go to Australia and her parents don’t approve, they probably think she should stick to studying. I feel like you could dig so much into this material in her season. 

Who will Sam hook up with tonight? She notes that Matteo is quite cute. Matteo certainly is quite cute, sitting there uncomfortably as Sara talks to him. Hanna, sensing disaster, tries to shut that shit down, but turns out she didn’t need to because two seconds later Matteo is making out with Sara! NOOOO, MATTEO. We almost dodged this S2 attempt at heterosexuality! We were near the finish line! At least we consolidated Sara and Emma into one person, so he only has one girl to kiss miserably, not two?

Mia waits for Alexander at the skate park with what looks like cocoa? Chocolate milk? Anyway, nice callback to the other times Alexander showed up with beverages. He comes outside and it’s awkward, but he accepts her drink. They talk about London and she asks why they can’t just be in a long-distance relationship, and he says for that they’d have to be in a relationship. OUCH. Fucking cold, dude.

The closeups of Mia and Alexander position each of them closer to the side of the frame, like she’s to the right and he’s to the left, and it’s a little jarring going back and forth, which is similar to that one confrontation in the first episode (I can’t remember if they used this effect in any other scenes). Makes you feel more of the tension, makes your eyes keep darting from side to side. Nice way to call back toward the beginning. This is a confrontation, too, except back then Mia wanted Alex to leave Kiki alone and get the fuck out of all their lives, and here it’s Mia who wants him to stay and Alex who’s trying to go.

Mia forbids Alex to leave. She’s trying to say it firmly but you can see how scared and unsure she is. Alex points out how it hasn’t worked, they fight and she doesn’t trust him, and that’s when Mia’s gotta put her drink down and go off on him, detailing all the drama and lies of their relationship from the beginning to present. After all that bullshit he pulled, she still wants to be with him, but it’s him who thinks it’s too exhausting to be together. She points out that yeah, it will be exhausting, but, as she reminds him, he said he fell in love with her because she knew who he was right from the start, and that’s why she knows he hurts other to protect himself. Mia says he doesn’t have to do that with her, she’s not leaving, she’s here. And I love that callback to his anxiety attack, she’s reminding him that she stayed before and she’ll stay again.

Mia pulls in Alex and like half-hugs him, it’s stiff at first but Mia doesn’t back off, and he finally gives in. When she pulls back she basically dares him to tell her he doesn’t love her, but of course he says he loves her, and she loves him too. It’s nice that he seems genuinely emotional and even choked up about it, he asks her to say it like he needs to hear it to believe it. And I like that he’s in shadow and a little subdued, while she’s in the light and is just glowing with happiness. The little whisper of “I love you” in his ear is the sweetest thing.

Mia and Alex kiss. Cut back to the party where Carlos and Kiki kiss, Matteo and Sara kiss (NOOOOO), and Abdi and Sam kiss. Three smooching couples in a row, blissfully oblivious to each other. (Well. Two out of three are blissful. Matteo ain’t having a good time.)

LMAO we cut to Hanna, Jonas, and Leonie at a table together, with Jonas in the middle (just like their love triangle!) and Leonie being like … OK. They giggle. This is hands-down one of my favorite shots on Druck, what a good moment.

Mia and Alex continue to kiss and we go from closeups to moving away from them, letting them have their happy ending. and moving away to follow another person’s story. I do wish we could’ve gotten Alex and Mia together for good earlier, with more downtime to enjoy them together at the end, but they did get together and that was a really lovely reunion. 

Druck cast dance party! Truly the best season finale tradition.

Social Media/General Comments:

I feel a little deprived of that sleepover content since they were teasing us at the beginning of the season, but at least there was some SM to show us what the girls were up to. Kiki’s stretchiness was demonstrated once more, and Hanna forgot her toothbrush - seems IC.

Carmen was also a guest at the sleepover, though I don’t know if it was original Carmen or Carmen 2.0. Mia and Kiki cuddle up to Carmen, and then there is a picture documenting exactly what I was thinking, which is Kiki realizing exactly where Carmen has been...

The boy squad plays basketball. They all seem to be terrible. Jonas is absent and the boys comment on it, so he was probably off wallowing/drinking/getting high.

It’s nice that Hanna and Matteo are on pretty close terms, although much of their conversation seems to be concern for Jonas.

Sam made a post about dressing up for motto week, suggesting everyone dress up as her, but telling people not to do blackface. She gives a breakdown and history of blackface that explains why you should not do it. I’m really glad to see more educational content for youth like this. It’s a pretty concise but clear explanation of the racism behind blackface, and it’s something all non-black teens should definitely hear.

On that note, Amira did a Q&A session about Islam to clear up misconceptions people have. Very nice to have this done by a Muslim actress (I think Iman Meskini has done stuff like this on her IG), and I wonder if she improvised these answers? I feel like a lot of the SM content is improv. Anyway, of note: someone asked if she would date a non-Muslim and she said that her religion is a part of her and a non-Muslim wouldn’t be able to participate with her in a big part of her daily life, so he wouldn’t really fit. But it’s a difficult question. HMMMMM. I don’t want to get my hopes up buuuuut this would certainly be a question to explore in depth, don’t you think? Like in an Amira-focused season?

Also, people have a lot of weird assumptions about hijab, things like wondering if Amira is bald underneath (???) or if she showers with it on (???) with Amira having to clarify that she hasn’t stopped showering since wearing hijab (???) But then again we saw Kiki think the same thing earlier this season sooooooooo.

Hanna documents her struggles with school. Oh, Hanna, I was so excited in that brief moment where you solved that equation for Jonas! Alas.

Carlos and Kiki eat cheesecake and I’m very happy to see Kiki eating and enjoying herself. Carlos seems very good for her, but I don’t think it’s just Carlos who’s made her happier, I think the therapy helps, and I think her self-image is just better overall. I mean, Carlos doesn’t like her glasses (poor taste!!) but she likes the way they look and she’s not feeling the need to change them because of a man’s opinion.

Hans didn’t go to Sam’s birthday party because he was nursing a broken heart. Michi dumped him. Hans, all due respect, I cannot say I blame him. Bye, Michi! Hope you find true love!

Linn had to stay home to take care of Hans, LMAO, I’m just imagining Hans crying and moaning on the couch and Linn sitting beside him staring at the TV and eating chips while occasionally patting Hans on the head.

Stuff that was missing from this season that was present in S2: Matteo being rescued by Hans, Jamilla, Kasper (well, Manfred half-counts). Probably more, aside from things that were changed or combined, but those are some things that stick out. I don’t think Jamilla will factor in at all if by a miracle we get Amira’s season, and if Sam gets a boyfriend it won’t be Kasper.

This is my favorite season of a Skam remake so far.

There have been some really good S1 remakes. But the thing is, I didn’t need a good S1 remake, necessarily. Because I already think Eva’s season is great as it is. It’s my second favorite after S3. So the great Eva remake seasons are certainly welcome, but I didn’t have this desire for a remake to come along and fix what I didn’t like about her season. 

But I did have that need for a good S2 remake. Me and Skam S2 don’t quite get along. There are multiple problems I have, mostly revolving around William’s character. I felt like his character never really evolved to the point where I could root for him and Noora, I never felt like he actually regretted most of his bad behavior, and I still felt like I didn’t know who this person was by the end of this season. Who was William other than a sad backstory and a collection of bad boy tropes? We knew nothing about his hobbies or interests. Then there was the dynamic between him and Noora, which had some extremely troubling parts, and which diluted the impact of the sexual assault storyline - William’s behavior was manipulative and didn’t respect Noora’s agency, and his treatment of Noora after she tells him she was raped - shutting her out for days when she begs for him to speak to her - was so appalling that I could never ever forgive him. Additionally, there were issues with the pacing, with certain plot points feeling more out of a CW show than fitting Skam’s realism. So I really, really wanted at least one of the remakes to fix the big problems with S2. 

Is Druck S2 perfect? No, not like I’d say Skam S3 is perfect. Druck didn’t fix all the problems I had with William, and Alexander still had some things that were never addressed to my satisfaction (mostly Kiki-related, or the lesbian comments). They could have done a better job with Mia’s bisexuality. I think the sexual assault storyline was a little rushed, and they should’ve gotten Mia and Alex their happy ending prior to the very last clip - it would’ve been satisfying with some space to see them as a couple at the end, and the transition to Hanna and Jonas drama mid-week would’ve been better if Mia and Alex were more or less wrapped up. However, this still was a big success as a season for me. 

What’s especially remarkable is that Mia was a weaker part of S1 for me - not to a huge degree, just that in the beginning I wasn’t quite sold on her. And Alexander was my least favorite William of the first four remakes that aired (Druck, France, Italia, and Austin). There just didn’t seem to be much charm to him. But I grew to love Mia - she has elements of Noora while still feeling like her own character, someone who had clear flaws and made big mistakes, but was still someone I rooted for the entire time. Alexander? ... He won me over. I never thought that he would be the William to do so, lol. Again, he still has some big flaws that weren’t really addressed as much as I wanted, but they improved so much on William. Alexander has a personality, he has clear hobbies and interests, he has a sense of humor. His sad backstory affected him in tangible ways on screen, not just as an excuse for his distant personality. I have to give the actors a lot of credit because they were a huge part of what worked about this season. 

And I like Winterberg. Dare I say it, I ship Winterberg. Who knew? They’re charming on screen together, I get why they like each other other than physical attraction, they had a lot of scenes where they were just hanging out and bonding that gave you a sense of who they were as a couple. And even with the things that bugged me, I did feel like I wanted them together at the end - I felt like they did bring out some very positive aspects of each other, they understood each other, and that their relationship would continue to improve as time went on.

I love that they mixed the Yakuza fight and Niko plots together, which made the season feel more streamlined and tight. I loved that the talk between Amira and Mia about Alexander fixed a lot of what bothered me about the original scene. I loved the development of Mia and Kiki’s relationship. And there were also just a lot of small things I loved, character moments, humorous beats. I loved the casual talk about therapy. I loved that the Druck crew obviously listened to feedback from the first season. I loved that they stepped up their social media game. I’m just really impressed with this season.

I am not German so feel free to clarify or correct me on cultural stuff and translations.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[kuragin]

be more chill: book versus musical

i very recently (like, friday night) got my hands on a copy of ned vizzini’s be more chill, a novel i have been meaning to read even before i had heard of the musical due to the fact that i have read another one of his novels, it’s kind of a funny story, but i could never get my hands on a copy of due to the fact that the bookstore never had any. being a diehard of the musical, i decided to do a little review of the book, how it compares to the musical, and why it should not be getting all the hate that it deserves. here we go:

I instinctively knew that the original book version of Be More Chill is a wildly different product than the musical. Also, neither one is better than the other considering that they are two very different things. The novel Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini centres on the struggles of Jeremy Heere, a socially inept high school aged theatre kid who takes a pill called a SQUIP in order to be with the girl of his dreams, the blonde, popular, and frankly hotheaded Christine. The musical Be More Chill by Joe Icons and Joe Tracz deals with a similar situation- Jeremy Heere, an anxiety ridden teenage boy who likes video games, takes a pill called a SQUIP in order to be less sweaty and more cool, and to hopefully go out with his long time crush, a passionate, ADHD Asian theatre kid named Christine.

When I see a lot of people on Tumblr comparing the novel to the book, I feel like they’re forgetting the fact that (a) Ned Vizzini wrote the novel in 2004, and (b) The novel is not a hero vs villain story like the musical, but rather the protagonist vs himself. The musical is about Jeremy vs the SQUIP, with some character development for him thrown in. The book is about Jeremy vs his own anxiety, fears, and self-set limits.

When you get into theatre, it’s hard to stay away from well, the theatrics. Adapting anything to the modern stage can be a challenge, especially a stream-of-consciousness book like Vizzini’s Be More Chill. Instead of having your character's thoughts be portrayed through text, they have to be shown through dialogue. Vizzini’s books are projections of himself, his experiences, and a place of vent. The musical is not Ned Vizzini.

Having the SQUIP be villainous makes for a much better show. Motivations are clear, the setup is easy, and the audience reception is much more well-received. However, if you were to novelize the musical version of Be More Chill, I can guarantee that it would be tacky and not very well recepted. And I think that’s a credit to the Joes of the Musical, who managed to pull off such an insane show. The concept is strange and unusual, but the exposition is wonderful. A ballad like Michael in the Bathroom would have absolutely never been well translated into text, because the entire song is pure, raw, unfiltered emotion coming from Michael, rather than it as experienced through Jeremy’s point of view (which is how the novel is written- Note: the novel features 0 instances of Michael freaking out in a bathroom).

Here’s some things I noticed in the novel that made somewhat of an appearance in the musical:

Novel!Michael mentions that his older brother got a SQUIP, and he went from a failing student to attending Brown University, but because it was a SQUIP 1.0, it also made him go insane. In the musical, (the dialogue just before Michael in the Bathroom) Michael tells Jeremy that he couldn’t find anything about the SQUIP on the internet, but he says that, “Finally, this guy I play Warcraft with told me how his brother went from a straight D student to a freshman at Harvard” which is obviously a reference to his novel!brother.

Michael and Jeremy are much closer friends in the musical. In the book they were friends, but they weren’t die-hard-I-would-put-on-pants-for-you friends. They weren’t as dedicated to each other in the novel, which I think, when you watch the musical, was meant to provide a best-friend-who-saves-the-day type situation, a la Lord of the Rings Samwise Gamgee style. Novel!Jeremy is much more isolated from other characters and social situations than Michael is, which is apt for a novel about the individual vs self. Having Michael and Jeremy be outcasts together makes for a much more interesting climax at the end when they’re on opposite sides of the social hierarchy and pitted against, yet still want to care for each other.

The novel was written in 2004, at a time when Mountain Dew Code Red was readily available. In a modern retelling, having Michael be some hipster ass gamer who buys expired soft drinks for his collection is downright hilarious and a wonderful way to explain why it was hard for Rich to get his hands on some, it further asserts the importance of Michael as a character, and creates even more suspense for a climax (as the soft drink was only available in limited quantities, AKA 1 bottle, and it would be extremely difficult to get more).

(Can you notice that I love Michael Mell? Personal bias, I guess.)

One of the things that surprised me the most was that Jeremy’s mom was in the novel. I just figured that she was also absent in the books, and that it was one of the many other things that Jeremy was struggling with.  Having his mom absent is a strange decision, but I can see only two possible reasons for it: a smaller cast, because there really isn’t a need for a grown adult woman in the play besides his mother, and Jeremy already has a parent (for reference, the actor for Mr. Heere also plays the drama teacher Mr Reyes and other background characters; Mrs Heere would not have had any secondary roles), and for dramatic situation. Having Mr. Heere a depressed father whose wife left him adds another layer to his character, rather than just having obese divorce lawyer who eats peanut butter oreos. Mr Heere is the one who shows up to Michael’s house and motivates him to help Jeremy, even after he had been a jerk to him. It’s much more suited because the musical has different conflicts and requires different resolutions, including those of background character development.

Despite being written in 2004 and now retold, Eminem is still relevant and mentioned in the musical, and canonically dies in both. I think my favourite addition though is when Brooke says “he was super old and mean to women” just after they all find out he dies.

Also Jenna takes much more precedence in the novel, but in the musical she’s reduced down to the “school gossip”. This is done for a reason though, because she is a main catalyst to how Jeremy keeps spreading the SQUIP to the other students of Middleborough. Brook is also a lot less apparent in the book. Overall, I think the female characters in the musical have a lot more personal development and personality than what the novel reduces them to. In defense of Vizzini, however, the novel is written in the POV of Jeremy and that is how he sees the girls, rather than the omniscient point of view that the musical provides. Ie: Christine, who is a much more likable girl in the musical for her dorkiness and self-aware theatre geekiness. 

So overall, the book and the musical versions of Be More Chill are still different things, adapted for different modes of sharing, and for different audiences. One is not better than the other, one is just much more culturally relevant than the other, especially because were in an age where the Teen Musical is increasingly becoming popular and centralized for a pretty specific group of fangirls.

Also jeremy is a furry in the novel ok i said it

[rawinternets]

Star Wars Episode 2: A rediscovery

OK... at this point, I’ve reviewed in series: 

Rogue One Ep4: A New Hope Ep5: Empire Strikes Back Ep1: Phantom Menace

And boy, I am not excited for Episode 2. Still, I’m ready to give it a chance. 

What happens when I do this is, I watch a movie that improves upon the effort in Episode 1. You can sense here that George Lucas took a lot of the criticisms to heart, maybe even ceded some control to others whom he trusts. Jar Jar is significantly toned down, the spectacle is there but the mystery and darkness is turned up a bit. 

Still, we have a mostly flat movie. Only one “9″ scene and really it’s just the visuals, which have always been Star Wars’s strength. And, we are introduced to George Lucas’s Awkward Teenager Fantasy of a Space Romance (tm) featuring a horribly directed Hayden Christensen and a bewilderingly amenable Natalie Portman. Like, at no time at all in this movie does it make sense that Padme should be falling for this petulant, whiny, and kind of creepy kid... unless we simply assume that she kind of sucks, too. 

Despite John Williams again trying to save the day (and this romance) with a score that soars to beauteous heights with Across the Stars, the film definitely fails here. The infamous “sand” line, etc etc etc all to come. 

Lastly, we get an incredibly hokey and just inexcusably bad Gladiator style setpiece. 1′s and 2′s abound. The end result is a film that kind of flops on the main plot points and otherwise just plods the prequel plots forward, setting up an ep3 that might well have been made into three movies since it’s the only prequel that is interesting or ties to the originals in any satisfactory way. 

On to the scores. 

Average score: 5.48 Standard deviation: 2.07

Scroll. 7. This whole scroll made me say, “I guess...” Like, fine, I guess Count Dooku is a necessary new Sith character. I guess the Republic needs to create an army to help the Jedi... None of it makes me that excited. Appropriate omen for the rest of the movie. 

Approaching Coruscant. 6. Very pretty ship. Very pretty cloudy day on Coruscant. Terrorist attack! Holy shit! Hollywood dramatic death of the decoy getting killed, bad directing/acting by Amidala. I wrote, “woof.” talk about botching an interesting idea. 

Palpatine and Jedi. 7. More expository scenes here. “Dooku was behind it.” Sure, whatever. Keep republic together, sure, whatever. Yoda is fine. Samuel L is bad (must be the directing...). Palpatine scheming is just sort of Meh. 

Obiwan and Anakin. 8. Not too bad, to be honest. Ewan does well, he’s turning up his “Alec Guinness” knobs quite well. 

Jarjar / Padme, re-meet Anakin. 7. Damn, Amidala friendzones Anakin immediately. Anakin less good in this scene vs. with Obiwan. But the tension here actually makes sense.  I wrote, “I’m OK with it.” Jarjar, man. Boo. 

Worm assassination attempt, city chase. 6. This was supposed to be a big sexy setpiece and I was not loving it. Pretty imagery - very bladerunner - but Anakin’s “not another lecture” and subsequent arrogance during the chase scene means I really can’t understand how the Jedi didn’t see this coming. He’s a total prick. On top of that, one basejump from a speeder down 500 feet to another moving speeder *might* have been excusable, but two? And Obiwan catching a lightsaber out of nowhere? Plus, we get bad alien cutscenes. They go to a bar and there’s robot football on in the background, and that’s just a SMH / facepalm type stupid easter egg. Wasn’t into the cigarettes / “death sticks” line that much either. Anakin as a detective is a “meh.” Just... lots of falling flat going on here. 

Jedi Council and Palpatine. 8. Obiwan tracks down the bountyhunter-assassin and Anakin gets to guard the Senator. So, I actually think this is starting to set up Anakin’s turn pretty well. Palpatine is subtly sowing confusion, discord in Anakin’s mind. The council shows serious flaws in trying to spy on Palpatine via Anakin. Palpatine can appeal to Anakin’s ego. Again, the Jedi really were pretty stupid, which I guess we just have to believe (and call-forward to Episode 8, Luke’s POV). 

Jarjar becomes senator. 3. Copy-pasting my notes: “bad. why is anakin monologuing? padme is just sitting there. anakin temper tantruming for no reason. anakin a little rapey.”

Refugees. 3. I skipped over this scene accidentally and that would have been appropriate. Anakin and Padme stilted banter is bad. “At least we have R2! ha, ha, ha!” Good music (as always, JW). 

Diner. 5. Obiwan goes to see an “old friend.” They give a big alien a mustache and have him talk like a Chicago line cook. Gimme a big “meh!” Gotta go to the outer rim to meet some cloners. hurray. 

Library. 7. Jedi archivist arrogance. The mystery deepens - no system is there where the cloners are supposed to be! zomg. But this is all fine, and almost decent with deepening the mystery. 

Padme and Anakin refugee dinner. 7. Kind of as painful as watching someone’s first date at a bar while waiting for a friend. “Attachment is forbidden but we’re encouraged to love unconditionally” and a bunch of other hoke. Anakin is persistent. Still, not a bad scene. 

Jedi training w/ Yoda. 7. A little hokey how Yoda asks the padawan kids to guess at why there’s no system in the archives. A bad yoda chin scratch. A little hokey, but good. 

Back on Naboo. 4. Good music. Dialogue between Anakin and Padme continues to be pretty rough. “Keep our faith in the republic.” More politics. Lake country. Anakin and Padme tension is dumb. 

Camino. 7. Bad name, cool scene. Good mystery unfolding... why is Obi-Wan expected? What are all these soldiers doing here, who ordered them, what’s going on? Kind of clunky revealing dialogue and the CGI is a bit out of hand but also decently cool. I wrote: “I’m OK with the secret army storyline.” 

Lake country on Naboo. 2-6.  Padme is smoking hot. Beautiful scenes here, but then we get this gem: "I don't like sand. it's coarse, rough, irritating... gets everywhere. Here, everything's soft and smooth." Anakin is such a douche. Padme lets him kiss her, but why? Not sure i'm buying this shit. Love song (Across the Stars) is amazing. Beautiful waterfall. But then they dissect their first kiss. mehhhhh. Let's talk politics at a picnic? No. "Make people agree." Anakin is authoritarian and sort of evil. How could she fall in love with this dude? Then he surfs a cow. No. Now they’re rolling around in the grass. No. No thanks.

Django and Boba on Camino. 8. One of the better and subtler scenes maybe in the whole series for acting. Obi-wan and Django do a great job of dancing around each other verbally while sizing each other up. 

Anakin-Padme Dinner / Wooing. 3. God, I wish I didn’t have so much to say about this tripe, but I do. I guess i'm fine with wooing Padme with Jedi tricks... But I still don't really buy the love story. And now we get lines like: "I'm in agony. the closer I get the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you." Suuuuuper creepy. “Haunted by the kiss you should have never given me.” “You are in my very soul tormenting me.” Honestly! This is like The Room. "THEN YOU DO FEEL SOMETHING!!!" Just a bad scene overall. Now Anakin is getting nightmares. "Your presence is soothing." Meh. Natalie Portman - did I mention she’s smoking hot? Anakin's mother is suffering in his nightmares, so he’s leaving to help her. Padme will go with him!? what the fuck. Bad lines too. Also callback to Luke leaving to help Han and Leia... I don’t know. Bad.

“Collect call.” 7. I believe this is the scene where Obi-Wan calls back to the council and Yoda or Samuel L. says their powers are diminished for not being able to see the creation of this clone army. Decent plotline, OK. 

Django Fett vs. Obi-wan fight. 6. Decent. Too much ledge-hanging and Jedi are too super-duper-heroey. Tracking Django is fine but looked hokey. 

Tatooine. 4. A fancy ship lands at Mos Eisley... man, they’re really going back to this well a lot. We see the stupid slave owner bug guy again and long story short, Anakin’s mom has been taken by the Tuskan Raiders. Time to kill some things. 

Obi-wan tracks Django. 6. Asteroid field again. Depth charges again. Supposed to be a good action setpiece but I’m distracted because there’s not supposed to be any cool noises in space. Fine with Obi-wan faking his death to avoid Django. Very pretty scenery and Obi-wan sneaks around some. Whatever. 

Anakin on the mother hunt. 1-7. Clever shadow of Anakin-as-Darth on the side of the building. Back to good music from Ep1. Finds his mom, and we’re back to bad dialogue. “Ani? Ani? Ani? Ani?” ... should feel something here, and don’t. The actor chemistry is just so bad, and I blame George. Still, Anakin going HAM is a good slip to the dark side. Hebrings his mom back dead, and proceeds to monologue shittily to Padme. "Life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things. I'm good at fixing things.” Awful. “Why'd she have to die? Why couldn't i save her? I know I could have?” what the FUCK. Terrrrrrrrrible. "I killed them. I killed them all." "I'm a jedi, I know I'm better than this." OK, finally at the very end as he breaks down, some sort of decent turn in this scene.

Count Dooku. 4. Jesus, how long is this movie? We get a random weirdo trying to create a new treaty with the trade federation to oppose the Republic. TWIST! This is what the rebellion does, but they’re somehow good! Sigh. 

Yoda and Windu. 4. “Pain, suffering. Young Skywalker is in pain.” Whatever. 

Funeral, message. 4. Here’s what I wrote and I remember none of this: “Clete is fine. Not really buying the whole anakin thing with mom. anakin stay where you are and protect the senator! padme is a mess too.”

Senator scheming. 5. So blatant. Sometimes this plotline is really well done and sometimes is sucks. Could have given this a 3-5. 

Dooku and Obi-wan. 7. OK, we have an exposition-y scene where Dooku tries to recruit Obi-wan to his side. This scene saved by two very good actors giving a good performance. 

Jar Jar in Senate. 2. The worst thing the franchise ever did gets to deliver the vote that gives Chancellor supreme powers. Jar Jar is a f***in’ tw*t. And Chancellor creates the Grand Army of the Republic. 

Padme and Anakin on planet. 1.  Oh, right. Anakin was going to go find Obi-wan or some shit. Padme saving the day with her senate powers! mehhhhhh. C3PO and R2 engage in dumb banter, but not as bad as jarjar. We’re now on some kind of shop floor ... that’s a No. Padme is now running through stampers. No. Bad. Dumb. No. Anakin also dumb. No. bad. My reviewing devolves into 2-year-old level angry language. We see machines making machines. C3PO hangs off a ledge. R2 flies around... come on. Wow, this is so bad. Padme falls into a fucking steel boiler. NO. NO NO NO. Anakin’s lightsaber is cut in half and we get a terrible "Obi-wan's gonna kill me." BOOOOO. And now droids and the fucking bountyhunter show up. God, that was worthless. 

Padme and Anakin pre-Gladiator. 2.  Anakin gets to deliver this gem: “I’ve been dying each day since you came back into my life. I love you.” I don't feel this makes any sense. Except I guess it’s clear now, as i said at the beginning of the review, that Padme kinda sucks. “I truly deeply love you.” Why?

Gladiator Death Battle. 1. HOW LONG IS THIS MOVIE? Also: GOD, THIS IS HORRIBLE. The only good part is Obi-wan with some sarcasm, otherwise we have unnecessary zerg monsters and midriff-revealing claw slashes and general dumb gladiatorial action. The “bad feeling” line was terrible, worst of the series. And where did Padme get her fucking keys? 

Jedi save the day. 3. The Jedi look very hokey and stupid, to be honest, and they don’t look like very good fighters at the end of the day. Scores 3 for light sabers but otherwise it’s a 1 or 2 scene. What’s the end game here? Get surrounded and killed? Django vs. Mace Windu who cares. We get terrible Anakin and Padme cheesing, terrible C3PO humor, bad Jedi vs. Droids action, just all around shit. 

Clones save the day. 5.  Yoda arrives with clones to save the day. At least the plotline is somewhat nuanced - who is fighting who, who is good and who is not. This ambiguity is good. But nobody wanted to kill Dooku until he was already escaped? Sort of mediocre action. Soundtrack just sounds like the matrix. Why is yoda so into the fighting? He’s trying to protect the Republic, which he knows is eroded. The jedi sure fucked up.

Death Star Plans? 5. So having seen Rogue One, this doesn’t make any sense at all (continuity errors!) ... but the DS was actually a design from the Trade Federation, apparently? Not into this. George Lucas sucks and Dooku sucks. 

Dooku Chase. 7. God, I can’t wait for this to be over (the movie and the review). Padme falls out of the transport - OK. Obi-wan and Anakin argue and it’s good. Finally some good acting out of this guy. 

Dooku fight. 7-9. Notwithstanding that Dooku seems like a very unnecessary character, this climax is decent. Anakin’s an idiot apparently, and force lightning is apparently a big sith weapon. OK light saber fighting until double-lightsaber fighting, at which point it’s hard to follow the action. George is too busy focusing in on faces. And Yoda shows up. Huzzah. Fun to watch him with the light saber, maybe a bit too much spining around and Yoda ParkourTM, but why is he shouting? Aren’t Jedi supposed to stay calm? What happened to the Quigon meditation approach? Dooku esacpes. bleh. 

Dooku Sidious meeting. 8. It’s all going to plan, yes, yes. Who the fk is Lord Tyranus? Very good music. War has begun, cool. All to Sidious’s plan, no surprise. 

Yoda and Windu. 7.  "Victory you say? Not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun the clone war has." Meh. 

Clone Deploy. 9. The visuals of Star Destroyers lifting off and a huge army deploying is pretty cool. This is the highlight of this movie, which is sad. 

Secret Marriage on Naboo. 7. Very pretty shot, no dialogue is good, anakin has a fake arm, bad kissing. definitely not an “8″. 

Credits. 6. The tone of the ending music (traditional theme) is too upbeat. Should have taken a page (pre-emptively) from Rogue One’s book and used a quiet, somber theme. Gets there after a minute or so. Bleh. So glad this is over. 

VERDICT

Not memorable, not unique, and basically a handful of scenes could have done the job here instead of what felt like 5 hours of filler. Happy to forget this movie ever happened. It grades out on the histogram as mostly 7′s and an even distribution around 4 or 5, but really, the 7′s were often due to boredom or “meh” type scores. Very flat movie in experience, with only downside and very little upside. 

REVIEW LINKS:

Introduction: Star Wars, a rediscovery.

Rogue One: 6.92 / 10.00 (stdev 2.06).

Episode 4: A New Hope. 8.00 / 10.00 (stdev 1.34).

Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. 8.00 / 10.00 (stdev 1.29).

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. 5.00 / 10.00 (stdev 2.08). But probably worse than that, actually.

Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. 5.48 / 10.00 (stdev 2.07).

Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. 7.00 / 10.00 (stdev 1.77).

Episode 6: Return of the Jedi. 7.90 / 10.00 (stdev 1.91).

Episode 7: The Force Awakens. 6.57 / 10.00 (stdev 2.01).

Episode 8: The Last Jedi. 6.31 / 10.00 (stdev 1.89).

Verdict: Star Wars, A rediscovery.