#And I know s3 is apparently amazing so I must keep fighting

[potatounicoorn]

No wonder s2 is a hot mess when all the budget seemingly went to Avatar Wan's backstory. Those episodes slayed so hard that the rest of s2 is starving.

[set-phasers-to-whump]

“don’t try to pin this on me”

prompt: “don’t try to pin this on me” (alt no.6)

whumpee: neal caffrey

fandom: white collar

back with neal today!! missed writing him :) this is set s3 or 4 ish, well into the show anyway. hope you enjoy!

“I’m missing dinner with June for this,” Neal grumbles, holding the door for Peter. 

“And I’m very sorry she’s missing your sparkling presence,” Peter replies, stepping through the door and flashing his badge to a security guard. “Maybe think about things like this the next time you decide to get yourself arrested.”

Neal spins and looks at him, mock affronted. “Low blow, Agent Burke.”

The two make their way through the apartment of the lobby towards the elevators. Around them, other agents begin coming into the building, overwhelming the poor security guard, who fights a losing battle of attempting to check everyone’s credentials. 

Peter and Neal step into the elevator just as the guard sinks helplessly down onto a bench, head in hands. 

“Poor guy,” Neal remarks, pressing the button for the top floor. 

Peter reaches over him and presses the button marked ‘5’ instead. 

“Can’t we go to the top first?” Neal asks. “I hear there’s a restaurant up there with amazing views of the city.”

“Right, an amazing restaurant that’s part of an apartment building being used to run a massive counterfeiting operation.”

“Still,” Neal complains, “it wouldn’t hurt to just take a look.”

Peter relents as the elevator opens onto the fifth floor. “Fine. After all of this is done.”

Neal seems happy enough about that prospect, and the two of them step into the hallway. 

“Lovely place,” says Neal, stepping over an empty can of paint. 

“This is the only floor currently under renovation,” Peter says, “and apart from the basement it’s most likely to be the center of operation for the entire thing.”

“And we’re here alone.”

“Other agents are coming up in a minute. Besides, these guys already know we’re here, and I’ve dealt with their ringleader before. He’ll run, not fight.”

“Great,” Neal says, not sounding much like he believes this. Apparently, though, he accepts it, and follows Peter down the dimly-lit hall, stepping over various construction materials and ducking the occasional piece of exposed pipe. 

--

Neal’s a few feet behind Peter when the agent steps around a corner, then quickly sticks his head back around it. “Found something,” he says, and Neal hurries after him. 

Peter has indeed found something. Several somethings, in fact, in a hallway that’s curiously devoid of the construction materials that litter the rest of the floor. A stack of counterfeit purses, some kind of large machine that Neal’s seen before in operations like this, and a safe with its door open. 

“Nothing in it,” Peter says, gesturing towards the safe. “And they didn’t take their bags.”

“Or unplug their machine,” Neal adds, as he pulls its cord from the wall. 

“They left in a hurry.”

“They could still be nearby.”

Peter radios this information to the rest of the team as the two of them continue down the hallway. 

“Watch your head,” Peter warns Neal, ducking underneath a metal pipe stretching across the hall. 

They reach the end of the hallway, which splits off into two directions. Neal looks down one, and Peter down the other. 

There’s movement at the end of his hallway, slightly obscured by the reemergence of the construction stuff, but visibly human. 

“Peter,” Neal hisses, trying not to let whoever it is know they’re there. 

“What?” Peter hisses back, coming to stand next to him. 

“Look,” he whispers, pointing to the movement.

Peter draws his gun. Neal keeps his eyes trained on the figure. 

Who must suddenly see them, because they start running. 

Neal takes off after them without a second of hesitation, hearing Peter shout behind him but ignoring him. He’ll catch this person. He will. 

He’s gaining on them slowly but surely, coming within a few feet as the two of them skid around a corner. He’s so close…

He looks back to Peter, several yards behind him, for just a second, to make sure he’s coming, then turns his attention fully back to his chase - 

And, too late, to the piece of metal pipe in front of him. 

He slams into the pipe at full speed, head colliding with a resonating metallic sound. The taste of blood fills his mouth almost immediately, and his ears start to ring as his forehead bursts into an explosion of pain. 

He stumbles to the ground in the shock of it all, the world spinning around him. He blinks to try and clear his head, and then the blurry shape of Peter is crouching in front of him. 

“Hey, you okay?” Peter asks, or at any rate, that’s the best approximation of what he says that Neal’s ringing ears are able to make out. 

Ugh...definitely not okay. He cannot believe that this has happened to him. It feels like something that might happen in a cartoon. He imagines little birds and stars floating around his head, and turns his blurry gaze to Peter’s face, and the offending piece of metal pipe behind it. He scowls at the pipe, wanting irrationally to get up and punch it.

--

Peter had been running as fast as he could behind Neal, who’d been incredibly stupid to just run after a potential suspect like that. Nevertheless, he’d been grateful, considering the lead Neal and the suspect both had had on him. 

The two had turned a corner, Peter hurrying along behind them. Neal had turned around to look at him a second after Peter had shouted a warning about the piece of metal pipe in front of him, and had then promptly run straight into it. 

Which brings them here, Peter kneeling worriedly by his CI’s side. Neal’s looking at him, though his eyes are unfocused, and he’s got this look of utter betrayal and anger on his face that’s definitely out of proportion for the situation, which is both funny and weirdly endearing. It’s also clearly not directed at Peter, he knows, turning around to see the piece of pipe directly behind him, dotted with a few small specks of blood. 

He turns back to Neal, whose gaze has not wavered, but is again aimed in Peter’s direction. 

“Don’t try to pin this on me, now,” Peter warns, grabbing a small flashlight from his jacket and turning it on, shining it into Neal’s eyes. 

“Cut it out,” Neal whines, turning his head away from the light. 

“I need to make sure the concussion that you almost certainly have isn’t too serious before I call for help,” Peter explains, gently guiding Neal’s face to once again look at him. 

Neal scowls again, a less severe version of the look he’d been giving the pipe, this time directed solely at Peter.

“I’m sorry,” Peter says, shining the light back into Neal’s eyes. “It’ll just take a second.”

He flicks off the flashlight as soon as he’s satisfied that both of Neal’s pupils are the same size. That, coupled with the fact that he’s conscious, though groggy and grouchy, makes Peter reasonably sure that his head injury is mild, moderate at worst. 

He radios for help, which Neal, predictably, balks at.

“I can walk, Peter,” he says, and attempts to stand to prove his point. 

He’s pitching forwards almost immediately, and Peter shoots to his feet to grab him before he hits the ground and hurts himself more. 

“Sure you can,” Peter replies, guiding the two of them back to the ground. “Just like you can avoid giant metal pipes.”

“Hey!” Neal protests. “‘S not my fault I turned around to look at you. You said something.”

“I said, watch out for that pipe.”

“Oh.”

Peter reaches out and touches a gentle hand to the blood on Neal’s forehead. As with most head wounds, this one is small, but bleeding a lot, and Peter wipes away some of the blood with his cuff to keep it away from Neal’s eyes. Neal winces and pulls away, then looks at Peter’s hand with confusion evident on his face.

“‘M bleeding?” Hands quickly reach for his head, and Peter pulls them away with his non-bloody hand. 

“It’s just a cut, Neal,” he reassures. “Nothing to worry about.”

Neal relents easily, dropping his hands down to the floor. It’s clear he’s pretty out of it, and Peter hopes the paramedics will arrive soon. Right now, Neal’s not feeling the full effects of having slammed into a metal pipe at full speed - he’s in a little bit of a daze, obviously hurting, but not nearly as much as Peter bets he will, once the initial shock wears off. He’d like for Neal to have some painkillers already in him when that happens. 

A minute or two later, a few paramedics come hurrying up to them, bustling Neal onto a stretcher, which he attempts a rather feeble protest at. They push him into the elevator, Peter walking next to him, speaking into his radio. 

“We’ve caught a suspect fleeing the building,” someone says, in response to Peter’s call. “Saw him climbing down the fire escape on the fifth floor. Dressed in a security guard’s uniform, pockets are full of money.”

“You hear that?” Peter asks Neal, as the elevator opens to the ground floor. “They caught him.”

Neal nods. “Knew I’d get him,” he mutters under his breath. Peter stifles a laugh, patting Neal softly on the shoulder. 

“Good work, buddy.”

“Aww, thanks,” Neal replies, with a self-satisfied grin. The paramedics stop them outside the doors of the building, helping Neal to sit on the back bumper of the ambulance, whereupon they begin to do various checks on Neal to make sure he’s not too concussed, and bandage his cut. 

As Peter’d figured, hoped, he’s fine - a mild concussion, treatment for which is a few days off of work, some better-than-over-the-counter pain meds courtesy of the paramedics, an ice pack, and someone to watch over him for 48 hours. 

“That would be me and my wife,” Peter tells the paramedics immediately after they pose the question of who exactly will be watching over him. Neal looks up at Peter from where he’s sitting, like he’s not sure he’d heard him correctly. 

“You’re coming home with me, understand?” Peter asks, offering Neal a hand up and a silently-given shoulder to lean onto. 

“Got it,” Neal says. “Thank you, Peter,” he adds, after a beat, voice soft and a little slurred, leaning into Peter a bit more. 

“Anytime,” Peter says, and he genuinely means it.

thanks for reading! hope you enjoyed :)

[tibby]

best lekws of the party?

after a long six months, here it is: a ranking of my top five favourite outfits from each member of the party. hope it was worth the wait.

mike:

5. snow ball

i went to three formal events in all thirteen years of schooling and all five educational institutions i attended so middle schoolers having a random winter dance is VERY funny and weird to me. i don't think anyone i knew at thirteen would have had a good outfit for this kind of event but mike wheeler continues to be ahead of us all.

4. denim vest

people will say to me, "but how can you think mike is a lesbian?" and i will remind them of the time she wore a denim vest and bullied a twunk into giving her what she wanted. and that will close the case without a second thought.

3. pastel polo

thinking about the text i got from a friend that just said "okay yeah this shirt is kind of a lesbian look"

2. yellow button up

i have made many jokes at the expense of stranger things and will continue to do so as long as i am alive but i must say. the talent the wardrobe team has whenever they put any character in yellow...maybe the smartest people on the crew. anyway. here's another shirt that i wish that i owned.

1. s2 sweater

could it be anything else? the sweater that immediately went to the top of every lesbian's "Fashion I Need" list. mike wheeler was NOT going to let her trauma and fear and confusion from being far more fashionable than i ever was in 7th grade.

eleven:

5. bitchin’

she said it best herself

4. denim overalls and grey sweater

i kind of completely forgot about this until i was making this list and like, how the fuck did i manage that? i would wear this outfit now. i may not be a fan of jim hopper or his wardrobe but he really was doing some good parenting when he bought his daughter this outfit

3. paint splatter shirt

oh to be a fourteen year old psychic in 1985 hanging out with my lesbian best friend at the mall and stealing some really amazing pieces of clothing like this shirt and the fun romper and hat it can be paired with.

2. yellow shirt and black pants with suspenders

see above re: my comments on yellow shirts. did you know that a store was selling this outfit for FAR too much money but i still considered buying it? kinda upset that a 14 year old has my dream wardrobe

1. colourful romper

there is a reason i've seen about 50 people in their twenties wearing the knockoffs that target and hot topic made of this: because it's GREAT. probably my favourite piece in a season full of a consistently good wardrobe. el has been wearing stuff that isn't flannel for all of one hour and still has a better eye for fashion than i do. also the fact she probably stole this is a plus.

max:

5. intro outfit

max arrived in hawkins and was like. time to prove i am the superior sibling in my family when it comes to personality, skateboarding skills, and outfits.

4. halloween costume

not only did she outshine the party when it came to halloween scares, but she also kind of outshined them when it came to outfits. how were their matching ghostbusters outfits ever going to compare?

3. braids

at fourteen, max mayfield has managed to work out something that some people spend their whole lives not knowing: when you go to deal with a demon that has possessed your shitty older stepbrother, you need to wear a memorable outfit. and where can you go wrong with purple and blue stripes on a shirt and fun little braids?

2. yellow shirt

they’re all rocking great outfits honestly, but max still wins because she’s got that great shirt and those fun denim shorts. the boys never stood a chance.

1. rainbow shirt

as someone who has been a fourteen year old lesbian with messy red hair, i can confidently say i never had the ability to rock an outfit like this. godspeed, maxine.

will: 

5. dnd wizard

will byers said You Guys Are Going To Ignore My Campaign So I Am Going To Force You To Care By Wearing The Most Theatrical Outfit Possible And Yelling At You To Wake Up. and was he wrong for that? no!

4. s2 flannel

imagine mike wheeler showing up in the best sweater of all time and everyone else at your school is like Holy Shit, Cannot Compare To That Outfit. and they would be right but my GOD did will put a valiant effort in. LOVING the colours here truly.

3. girls don’t play video games

will byers is allowed to be a misogynist because he will wear a great outfit while doing it

2. s1 outfit

i think we've established that i'm a fan of vests. but really, if you're going to be trapped in another dimension for a week, you'd want to have an awesome outfit while doing it.

1. mindflayer (0) vs a great outfit (1)

the shorts are fun! the shirt has nice colours! this is probably the least his hair has looked like he's a beatles reject! i know everyone was busy being "traumatised" or "dying" but that's no excuse for nobody complimenting him on this absolute look

lucas:

5. final s3 outfit

lucas went to say goodbye to the byers family in this great shirt to make sure they’d never forget him. and who could, in a green like that?

4. blue stripes

there’s so many stripes on this list, but none of them hold a candle to this shirt, if i’m honest. blue is my favourite colour, so i’m a little biased, but it’s a nice range of shades paired with a great jacket. 10/10. the only reason it’s not higher is because he just has consistently has a great wardrobe.

3. red turtleneck, hidden by even cooler clothes

do you know how hard it is to wear three layers and make every piece count? apparently not hard at all for mr sinclair. he always has such a coordinated outfit and i think he might be the true fashion icon of this show for that...the colours here are perfect and every piece is just nice on its own. get lucas on project runway and he'd WIN.

2. summertime style

my notes for this look just say "fun hat" which i think is all that needs to be said

1. camo bandana

he looked up Outfits To Bully Jocks In and honestly? he was successful on both fronts.

dustin:

5. three great items to create a masterpiece

cards on the table, i forgot about this outfit until now. but i never will again. we’ve established i like yellow shirts, but combined with his iconic hat and the fun jacket i talk about later? he made his point. i’m sorry dustin.

4. vest

another vest! like, if it works, it works, and this definitely does. also, i appreciate his ability to keep his hat on despite being trapped in a secret underground russian basement, for like, three days. he knew it completed the outfit. he was NOT letting that go.

3. purple hoodie

steve, how does it feel to have an outfit that doesn’t measure up to the looks of not one, but two middle schoolers?

2. spy outfit

i’m kind of annoyed we didn’t get a good look at this outfit. both of the shirts are such fun and the kind of thing that i would probably wear today. it was good of steve to wear the scoops outfit and allow dustin to have his moment. although, really, what could top those patterns?

1. snow ball

like, i’m a 22 year old lesbian, i’m not going to fight a bunch of middle schoolers for not appreciating this outfit. but c’mon. i’ve been through 8th grade. this is absolutely a step up from what the guys i knew would wear. he manages to make it work without the blazer and with steve’s ridiculous hair tips. give a king a little more respect.

[panharmonium]

stranger things 3, a visual summary:

more coherent thoughts under the cut, because wow.

......okay.  that was a Trainwreck.  an absolute mess.

i remember when my coworkers were watching S3 (and still urging me to start season 1) and they were saying how amazing the latest season was, and honestly i think there must just be a difference in people who watch tv just to be entertained and people who watch tv and automatically evaluate the story (aka fandom veterans and English majors, lol - cue Me twice), because WHO could watch this critically and praise it that way?

it's honestly hard to know where to even begin; i've been sending frustrated notes to @brambleberrycottage ever since episode three and now that i'm done with episode 8 there's just......so much more to say

first, good things:

erica is a great character.  she's what max should have been (aka, uh.......interesting!)  i liked the realization moment where dustin was like "you're a NERD!"

that entire sequence where will is so upset with lucas and mike for not being engaged with the dnd game was very well done, especially the conversation he has with mike out in the rain.  i loved that moment where mike asked him "did you think we were just going to hang out in my basement playing games forever?" and will said, "yeah.  yeah, i guess i did."  i really felt that.  [edit, now that i've finished: this was never resolved.  will giving away his dnd books at the end was not an actual resolution to this conflict.]

steve is still a good dude, and robin was pretty cool.  i'm down for them being super friends.  but i'm still mourning the steve+nancy+jonathan trio that was a thing for like 5 seconds and then never returned.

i loved how genuinely excited steve was to see dustin when dustin came back from camp.  that was adorable.  "HENDERSON!!!!"  "how many children are you friends with?"

and uh. yeah.  i had more problems with this season than praise-bestowing moments, so.  here goes that bit.

OVERARCHING PROBLEMS:

1. keep it simple, stupid

remember in the office when dwight quoted the above advice to ryan as michael's rule for making a sale?  the same advice applies to storytelling.

season 1 of stranger things is so simple.  there is One Monster.  that is the danger.  and somehow, that single monster manages to be a thousand times more terrifying than all of these new "bigger, scarier, more epic" threats crammed into the second two seasons.

how goofy is the stranger things season 3 plot, seriously?  russians are blackmailing a small-town mayor so they can buy up land to steal power from the town while operating a secret lab under the mall to open a gate to the Upside Down (WHY?), while simultaneously a remnant of the malevolent force that was "defeated" last season has reanimated itself and is making people scarf chemicals (WHY?), and then it possesses one of them and uses that person to possess a bunch of other people in order to build itself a body made out of melted people, in order to kill el, whose only story this season is breaking up with her boyfriend, and we have to infiltrate this russian base in order to close the gate (same endgame as last season - BIG NO-NO) to kill the goo monster, except last time the "mindflayer” survived the gate being closed, so why would this even WORK, and -

the fact that there are so many "round-up/info dump" scenes where characters summarize what's going on and make implausibly accurate connections/guesses about what it all must mean is a red flag.  the characters shouldn’t have to tell your story to the audience.  if it's too complicated for us to keep straight on our own, it's too complicated.  

the amount of energy that goes into trying to lash together a Chaos Plot with too many shaky legs leaves nothing left over for nuanced character development or mood establishment.  you're constantly running to catch up to your own flimsy story before it collapses on top of itself.

2. the horror!

S1 of stranger things was the scariest thing i'd ever seen.

granted, i don't watch a lot of horror, because i don't like it.  i get scared too easily and then i legitimately can't sleep.  i watched a horror movie five years ago that i still think about every time the lights are off in my house.  but still, ST1 was something i had never experienced before.

it wasn't creature horror, and it wasn't just suspense.  it was the UNSETTLINGNESS of it all.  it wasn't really about the monster.  it was about the Upside Down.

the reason ST1 is so successful is because of how much we don’t know.  it's the horror of not understanding what is happening, and the terror of knowing that nobody thinks it’s real.  feeling like you're going crazy and being cut off from all assistance.  the conspiracy and the cover-up.  and the sheer unsettlingness of the whole parallel worlds things just tipped me over the edge - the idea that you can take one wrong step and then be suddenly and without warning completely off the map, simultaneously right next to the people you want to get to and also utterly beyond their reach.  that was fucking scary!!!!  

and they do it all with so little.  i have literally never been more scared in my life than when i would see those christmas lights start flickering.  and they're just LIGHTS!  yes, we see the monster later, but it's the uncertainty that's most frightening.  we don't understand how it arrives in our world, and we don’t know where it will show up next.  it could be right next to you - on the other side.  you could be standing on top of it.  you just don't know.  it’s like what jonathan says to nancy in her bedroom - “it can’t get us in here.”  and she says, “we don’t know that.”

the later seasons of stranger things, by comparison, did not scare me at all.  season two was like a zombie movie - hordes of weak enemies that you can just shoot with a gun.  and season 3 was even less frightening - upping the ante and making things gorier, more explosive, and bigger just isn't the vibe they set in S1.  i'm not scared of that giant goop monster.  it's like godzilla.  it's not horror; it's just a lot of noise.

the unsettling, "creep" factor that made season 1 so effective was gone.  it just turned into a regular old monster movie, and i didn't find that particularly interesting.

3. illogical, captain

a while ago there was a wave of pushback against people complaining about plot holes, but you know what?  there is, in fact, an appropriate place for us to talk about plausibility, as well as the point at which our suspension of disbelief collapses.

ST3 is a bona fide plausibility disaster.  i did not believe half of the story, because it was not unfolding in a believable way.

half of the plot points in this season would not have happened if the characters had been behaving with any kind of sense.  it is absolutely impossible for me to believe that none of these children IMMEDIATELY went to joyce or hopper the minute they knew something weird was going on.  it makes no sense.  after the shit they've seen?  it makes sense in season 1, because the kids are still so young that they have that kind of magical thinking that makes all of this seem kind of like an adventure.  but they're teenagers now, and developmentally, they’re past that stage.  they know the evil creature is back and they're pretty sure it's possessing billy?  for some unfathomable reason, they don't go to an adult, but try to trap billy in the sauna and just see what happens.  the other group has actual proof that russian soldiers are up to something shady in the mall?  they don't tell an adult; they send a TEN YEAR-OLD in through the AIR DUCTS to investigate the secret room guarded by MEN WITH GUNS.

this is ridiculous.  none of this should have happened.  none of this WOULD have happened.  it breaks the boundaries of disbelief.  it completely sabotages the audience’s engagement with the story - joyce and hopper's whole detour with alexei and murray is so dull, because its entire purpose is to bring hop and joyce up to speed on something that we, the audience, already know.  the other characters already found out this stuff, but did not communicate it - the gate is being opened again in a russian lab underground.  there's no suspense for us.  nothing new is revealed.  we're just waiting for them to hurry up and finish finding out so we can move on to the next thing.

moreover: there are so many other problems besides just "these characters would have talked to each other."  why on earth would murray, whose sole characteristic is extreme paranoia, take alexei wandering around the festival for hot dogs and carnival games.  why would hopper be so virulently against the possibility that weird shit might be happening again?  does he remember the past year or what?  how on earth would the kids be able to fight off that massive monster with an ax and a hunting rifle?  it's made out of dead guts and bones; why does it care if they shoot it?!  how in the WORLD is this russian facility so penetrable?  i'm sorry, it's just - beyond believable.  it doesn't have cameras?  the russians guards really can't tell that murray isn't a native speaker?  they don't check his id when they don't recognize him?  joyce and hopper really just got that lucky, to be asked a question and have “smile and nod” be the right answer?  nobody ever got shot?  it's silly.  it's just silly.  so many things - erica uses the "Open" button to open the elevator door in order to let steve and robin and dustin inside, but once the elevator is at the bottom of the shaft, robin explains the door's inexplicable non-opening because......you apparently need a keycard to use the buttons????  THAT MAKES NO SENSE; ERICA JUST USED THE BUTTONS A SECOND AGO.

even the entire endgame of this season is a contradiction!  if the mind-flayer survived el closing the gate last time, it doesn't make sense that closing the gate this time would kill it.  literally the entire plot of last season was "we need to get this thing out of will, because the creature will die once the gate is closed, and we want to make sure will doesn't die with it."  but apparently the creature didn't die upon closing the gate; it just got trapped in our dimension.  but now apparently it WILL die upon closing the gate.  for whatever fucking reason.

i'm sorry, but that’s a mess.  that’s a bona fide mess.

4. watch your tone

i honestly think the tonal change is the thing that made me the most frustrated about this season.  it's possible to have a terrible plot and still stay relatively true to your characters - you'll still have a bad season, but at least you didn't bastardize your characters in the process.

i had issues with S2 and i definitely was not as impressed with it as i was with S1, but at least in S2 joyce and hopper were recognizable.  in S3, i felt like i was watching strangers.  the tonal shift was bizarre and off-putting, more so with hopper than joyce, but it affected both of them.  

even as early as the very beginning of this season, i was feeling weird about how often hopper was being used for comedy.  and as the season progressed, this trend only became more pronounced.  almost every scene we had of him felt silly - and not like there was just something funny in the scene for me to laugh at, but like the audience was almost being asked to laugh AT him.  like he was constantly the butt of the joke.  

this really bothered me.  from that incredibly sincere and heart-wrenching portrayal of him in season 1, when they kept him rooted in the trauma of losing his daughter and the breakdown of his marriage, and then how that same trauma made him so driven to save will and protect the kids - what a change.  even in season 2 i was frustrated how the throughline of his daughter wasn’t touched again until the very last episode, and now in season 3 we’ve left that part of him so far behind that he's just there for us to laugh at.  we're supposed to laugh at scenes of him being drunk and a mess.  every scene he's in is either him arguing with joyce for comedic relief or being way over the top with alexei or the mayor.  he was like a caricature of himself, and i didn't recognize him.  

joyce suffered from the same thing, just by virtue of proximity.  she spent almost all of her time in this season with hopper, and virtually all of that time was taken up with silly shenanigans or comically overblown arguing.  what a departure from the desperate mother of season 1, who was maligned by everyone in town and only taken seriously by the audience.  now it’s the audience who are supposed to be chuckling at her.  

i dunno.  the tone shift was very dramatic, very obvious, and it impacted the entire season.  are we supposed to be taking this seriously or is it supposed to be a joke?  a little bit of humor to break tension can be a good thing, but when it's constant, it confuses the mood.  

and i personally don't think it was appropriate or respectful to either of these characters, in this case.

SMALLER THINGS THAT BOTHERED ME:

this show has 100% hit maximum character saturation.  by the end of this season there were 13 core characters onscreen at the same time, in the same scene!  it’s too many people!  they cannot reasonably develop that many people in the space allotted.

i still am not interested in max.  i don't feel anything for her.  she doesn't feel real.  i don't hate her, but she's just an empty vessel, and i really do think she's superfluous to this show.  i think you could remove her with very little reworking and the show would be stronger for it.  (they TRIED to do something interesting with billy, and i might have cared if we had been given literally any reason to care about him previously, but there was no investment earned there.  they didn't do the front-end work to make him somebody we were interested in.)

weird relationship sunderings from previous seasons.  i felt very strange about jonathan barely even seeing will this entire season.  i felt very strange about steve having almost zero contact with nancy.  i felt very strange about joyce hardly ever interacting with her kids.  all of these were core relationships - the characters were BUILT on those relationships, and they don't feel real outside of them.  not seeing these characters devote time to these relationships makes it feel like i'm watching a slightly different show.

the VIOLENCE.  apparently this is a beat-em-up now???  i really felt like every other scene somebody was getting beaten to a bloody pulp.  there was SO much smashing and bashing and throwing people into walls and fistfights and head trauma like - first of all, i find that stuff pretty boring, and second of all, all of these people should be in the hospital.  

the GORE.  other people’s mileage may vary, obviously; i just didn't like that.  i looked away at the scene with the rat, and all this...goopy dissolving human shit, and the stabbings, and just...general grossness level - season 1 managed to be bloodcurdlingly terrifying without any of this stuff.

i know this borders on nitpicky, but yet more medical malfeasance - another example of someone receiving an injection via the mysterious 90 degree angle neck route, plus - was anyone else losing it at the fact that steve and robin “puked up” a drug they received……..via injection??????  IT’S NOT IN THEIR STOMACHS, FOLKS!  THEY CAN’T PUKE IT UP!  IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!

the complete lack of follow-up to last season.  the whole S3 plotline (such as it is) feels like a weird side quest.  last season seemed to be furthering the mythos and setting us up for "there are other children like el/brenner is alive" - but this season, that fact appears to have been forgotten by everyone (even el!!!) and has nothing to do with the story that we're given, which is a goofy and redundant story about russians opening a secret lab under the mall which requires us to solve the exact same problem as last season (closing the gate).

this show's inability to keep certain throughlines in its headlights/keep things visible on the periphery instead of dropping them completely and then bringing them back whenever they feel like they need it again.   i already talked about hopper’s daughter as an example of this (done well in S1 and poorly in S2 and S3).  another example is that scene with nancy and her mom - it’s such a good scene, and yet it misses out on so much resonance, because they completely dropped the plotline of karen feeling locked out of her kids’ lives and desperately wanting to connect with them.  if they had continued to reference that throughout season 2, then this scene would have been so much more powerful.   as a third example, season 3 starts with a clear context/premise, and it’s INTERESTING - the town landscape changing because of the mall, business slow to non-existent, small town discontent over big corporations moving in, hopper pressured to break up the protest against mayor kline when he should have let it proceed - and then the show just drops that entire context.  you expect season 3 to stay rooted in the "our small town is being strangled by this mall" and then to eventually deal with the revitalization of hawkins, but nah.  it's never mentioned again.

LASTLY:

i'm not really gonna get into hopper "dying," because he's, like...clearly not dead.  but the whole situation was stupid and contrived (i was so sick of that arnold schwarzenegger lookalike by the last episode, god that whole thing was so dumb) and it's even cheaper knowing that he'll obviously be back.

what i AM gonna say is that i was livid that they brought back that peter gabriel cover of "heroes" to end this season.  their use of that song in S1 blew my mind - it had me stunned with how GORGEOUS it was and just, the way it worked in that particular scene - absolutely incredible.  floored me.  gave me chills.  to recycle it at the end of such a poorly constructed season made me so mad.  yOU CAN'T MAKE ME FEEL THINGS JUST BY REUSING THIS SONG.  I REFUSE TO HAVE EMOTIONS JUST BECAUSE YOU PULL OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL TRACK THAT YOU ONCE USED TO GREAT EFFECT; YOUR STORY WAS STILL TERRIBLE THIS TIME AROUND; DO NOT TRY TO TRICK FEELINGS OUT OF US THAT HAVEN’T BEEN EARNED.  

and that's it.  i’m sure later i’ll think of other things i neglected to mention here, but...yeah.  i was not impressed.  

[tonystarkbingo]

Week Three Roundup!  We’ve had another totally awesome week, with a lot of amazing fills, so keep reading to see what your fellow creators have done!

Title: Okay If You Did Collaborator: anythingpastorpresent Link: AO3 Square Filled: T5 - Iron Dad Ship: Stony implied Rating: Teen Major Tags: hurt Tony, Iron Dad Summary: Five times people called Tony Peter's dad, and one time Peter called Tony dad.  Word Count: 1468

Title: Tony Stark: Ghost Rehabilitator Collaborator: singingwithoutwords Link: AO3 Square Filled: T1 - old ghosts Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: AU, ghosts Summary: In which Tony still manages to look after the others, even though they all died before he was born. Word Count: 1069

Title: Try (Tri) Again Collaborator: Politzania Link: AO3 Square Filled: A5 - Kink: BDSM Ship: StarSymBrock Rating: Explicit Major Tags: bondage, painplay, threesome Summary: Gentle!Dom Tony's hard limits prevented him from giving sub!Eddie the painplay he craves; Eddie's new acquaintance becomes the key to everyone getting what they need. Word Count: 2290

Title: Heart Full of Stars Collaborator: mortenavida Link: AO3 Square Filled: R5 - Fighting Together Ship: Stuckony Rating: Gen Major Tags: au: soulmates Summary: Tony is ready to dive into a relationship with Steve and Bucky head first. But Bucky just got out from under the hold of Hydra, and he isn't quite as ready to let Tony into his life. But Tony's going to try his hardest. Word Count: 2544

Collaborator: Sereinal Link: DeviantArt Square Filled: A3 - free space Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: WinterHawk Moodboard

Title: Burn it Down Collaborator: 27dragons Link: AO3 Square Filled: K5 - Peter Quill/Starlord Ship: Peter Quill and Tony Stark Rating: Gen Major Tags: college AU  Summary: Tony’s made a breakthrough, and really, the fire was only a minor setback. His hallmates don’t see it that way. Peter thinks Tony’s hallmates are 100% dicks. Word Count: 1331

Title: Bear Arms Collaborator: NastyBambino Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - Cuddling Ship: MIT Bros Rating: Gen Major Tags: platonic cuddling Summary: It's been a long day for Tony, who just wants the comfort only his honeybear can provide. Word Count: 500

Title: Road Trip Collaborator: IronSpider Link: Tumblr  Square Filled: T5 - Road Trip Ship: Tony Stark/Peter Parker Rating: general Major Tags: Underage Summary: The scientist behind the Enhanced spider that bit Peter is missing. During spring break of Peter’s junior year, he and Mr. Stark set out (with a high-tech pheromone tracker leading the way) to find the man and his research before it falls into the wrong hands - if it hasn’t already.

Title: Tony Stark’s Snuggable Murder Kitten Collaborator: Menatiera Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 -  Fuzzy and Warm Feelings  Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: Fluff Summary: Bucky, even though he lives in the Tower and is an Avenger, is still the Winter Soldier. Tony Stark apparently didn't get that memo and uses every opportunity to snuggle Bucky. Bucky has zero objections. Word Count: 1595

Title: Might be a Vacation Collaborator: hddnone Link: AO3 Square Filled: S4 - fireplace Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: snowed in, fluff Summary: Bucky and Tony find shelter in an abandoned cabin during a blizzard on a mission. Neither of them are unhappy about it. (After all, Bucky could've gotten trapped with Sam. That would've been a real nightmare). “This is a cuddle for warmth situation, right? Conserve body heat,” Bucky says as he dumps the blankets on the floor. Tony grins up at Bucky . “Can I wait to take off my clothes until after the fire gets going?” Word Count: 2142

Title: Find a Way Collaborator: SierraNovembr Link: AO3 Square Filled: S3 - Domesticity Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence Summary: Avengers get hurt with unfortunate frequency, and Tony is there for them in ways that Bucky wouldn’t have even considered. Word Count: 1791

Title: An Open Mind Collaborator: katling Link: AO3 Square Filled: R3 - Sam Wilson/Falcon Ship: None Rating: Teen Major Tags: not team-Cap friendly Summary: When Tony gets captured with Sam Wilson, he's prepared for the worst. It ends up not going how he expected... in a good way. Word Count: 2011

Title: Enough Is Enough Collaborator: katling Link: AO3 Square Filled: S3 - Anthropomorfic  Ship: none Rating: Teen Major Tags: not team-Cap friendly, au: shifters  Summary: In the wake of the disaster in Bucharest, Tony decides enough is enough. If Steve is going to push, Tony will push back and he has a bit more in his arsenal than anyone expected. Word Count: 2081

Title: SOS Coffee Date Collaborator: rebelmeg Link: AO3 Square Filled: A2 - Pepper Potts/Rescue  Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: Pepper and Phil are high-power business people that make decisions on a daily basis that could affect the entire world. They also sometimes want to strangle the people they work with, so coffee dates where they vent to each other are a must.  Word Count: 1595

Title: Boyfriend Collaborator: anythingpastorpresent Link: AO3 Square Filled: T3 - kink: fuckbuddies Ship: WinterIron, Stucky, Stuckony Rating: Teen Major Tags: angst with a happy ending Summary: “Steve, this is my neighbor, Tony,” Bucky says. “Tony, this is my boyfriend, Steve.” Boyfriend. Bucky has a boyfriend. When did Bucky get a boyfriend? It’s been less than a week since the last time Bucky fucked Tony into his mattress. Word Count: 2486

Title: I’m Yours Collaborator: Areiton Link: A03 Square: T4 Marriage Rating: G Warnings: no warnings apply Pairing: pre-Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Johnny Storm Summary: “Hey, kid, how you holding up?” you ask, bumping his shoulder. Peter leans into you, and it aches. You don’t get to keep this, don’t get to keep him.

Title: A3- Free Space: No Comment Collaborator: Thudworm Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - free space Ship: Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: mutual pining, getting together Summary: Telling reporters anything is never a good idea. But sometimes what they tell you can be useful.  Word Count: 1257

Title: Oh Love Collaborator: Stark-N-Barnes (StarSpangledBucky) Link: AO3 Square Filled: R2 - Schmoop Ship: IronStrange, Stucky, Rhodey/Sam, Clintasha, Thor/Bruce Rating: Gen Major Tags: kidfic, fluff, PDA Summary: Tony wants his husband to know how much he appreciates him. Word Count: 1989

Title: (carry these) Heavy Legacies Collaborator: yuuki_Illene Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Harley Keener Ship: Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Tony/Pepper/Rhodey Rating: Teen Major Tags: angst, aging, major character death Summary: Tony knows he's dying -- that's kind of what age does. But the empire needs a ruler. And he has heirs. A family. Word Count: 4238

Title: Spiders and Fire Surprisingly Don't Mix Collaborator: SyoshoHiataki Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - missing scene Ship: none Rating: NR Major Tags: comedy, spiders Summary: Tony witnesses what happens when a bunch of military personnel deal with a camel spider. Set in Iron Man 1, right before he gets kidnapped by the Ten Rings Word Count: 515

Title: Befriending a Cat Collaborator: LBibliophile Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 Cat!Tony Ship: Tony Stark & Avengers Rating: Gen Major Tags: 5 + 1 Summary: Befriending Tony Stark, the Avengers decide, is rather like befriending a cat. Word Count: 601

Title: in the room where it happens Collaborator: MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne) Link: AO3 Square Filled: K1 - Never Again Ship: None Rating: Teen Major Tags: politics Summary: The President of the United States of America has an offer for Tony, one which would give Tony signed reprieves for the ex-Avengers. If the President had asked for weapons in return, it would've been an easy answer: No. But weapons aren't what the President wants, not directly.Lies and politics. Tony will have to brush up on his skills. Word Count: 1234

Title: Trying to be the hero (like always) Collaborator: alexisriversong Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 -  confession in desperate situation Ship: Stuckony Rating: Teen Major Tags: angst, fix-it Summary: Tony has a crush on Steve and then also on Bucky and tries to keep it a secret until he almost dies in a battle. Word Count: 2236

Title: Lucky Break Collaborator: Tuesday Link: A03 Square: R5 - Peter Parker / Spider-Man Rating: Mature Warnings: fake dating, adult Peter Parker Pairing: Tony Stark/Peter Parker Summary:  Paparazzi love them! Click here to find out why. (A fake dating future fic.)

Collaborator: monobuu Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A2 - Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch Ship: None Rating: Gen Major Tags: Art Summary: Scarlet Witch art

Title: Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel Collaborator: justanotherpipedream Link: AO3 Square Filled: R2 - AU: Angels/Demons Ship: ThunderIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: fluff Summary: Loki snapped his fingers and another goblet appeared, floating in the air, nudging Thor to take it. “So, who’s the lucky human you’ve decided to break Odin’s rules for? Are we gossiping now? Do you need me to braid your hair? Are they a good kisser?” Angel Thor decides to break the rules for his human love, Tony. Word Count: 674

Title: I would whisper words, singin' you to sleep Collaborator: cutebutpsyco Link: AO3 Square Filled: K5 - NIGHTMARES Ship: IronStrange Rating: Teen Major Tags: none Summary: Stephen had a power that Tony didn’t possess. Stephen’s voice was enough to bring the genius back to reality. Tony’s voice wasn’t. Because Tony didn’t know what to say, because every time Stephen woke up because of a nightmare, fear curled up against Tony’s stomach. Word Count: 1775

Title: Add Three Eggs (Sleeper, Chapter 2) Collaborator: tisfan  Link: AO3 Square Filled: S4 - learning to cook Ship: WinterIronWidow Rating: Teen Major Tags: domestic assassins Summary: After a mission, the Hydra team regroups in the safe house and spends a little bit of downtime… just being together. Word Count: 2535

Title: It must be a Friday Collaborator: rainbowshoes Link: AO3 Square Filled: S3 - Friday Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: AU Brooklynn Nine Nine Summary: Spiderman gets arrested while chasing down a thief, but he winds up outside of Queens and in Brooklyn... and he gets picked up by the 99. Word Count: 4001

Title: Ask Me Again Tomorrow Collaborator: schroedingersfox Link: A03 Square Filled: A5 AU: Flower Shop  Ship: Tony Stark/Loki Rating: G Major Tags: pre-slash, flower shop AU Summary: “It’s just for Secretaries’ Day.” The cashier snorts at that. “It’s ‘Administrative Professional’ now. So, are you a cheap boss, or not?” Tony grimaces, but he’s got a point. He’s just not sure he wants to give this guy the satisfaction of being right. Word Count: 1204

[crystalkleure]

Which Burst characters do you think had the best character development? I think the best contenders would be Valt, Ken, Daigo, Wakiya, and Silas.

I…uh…man, out of those choices I’m torn between saying Dyna, Wakiya, or Sisco. I think it might be a tie there. They all got such good, satisfying character arcs…Sisco {X} is especially impressive though, because he actually got some Good Writing amidst the burning wreckage that was the s2 plot. S2 had a lot of good, well-written characters, but too many of them didn’t get a satisfying arc CONCLUSION of any sort [like Joshua……]. Sisco’s arc was actually decently completed. He got the friends he wanted so much, those friends learned to trust him, and he got to win a tournament for them. He proved he loved them all and they all loved him right back and he was so much more calm and content by the end of the season and hhhhhhhhh it was just SO GOOD………….

And Wakiya {X} started out with, quite frankly, almost the same sort of problem as Shuu, also caused by parental neglect; his self-worth was directly tied to his outstanding success. Wakiya had a lot of pressure on him, as the only Komurasaki heir, to Be Extraordinarily Great at everything, which he of course interpreted as meaning “There is no room for failure ever and I must be perfect at everything IMMEDIATELY”. So of course after he loses a few times he has a total meltdown, though he is kept from self-destructing and he learns to get over his crippling perfectionist mindset when it becomes apparent to him that people actually don’t really think any less of him for not winning every single fight, and also he can just…keep trying again until he wins. Unlike Shuu, Wakiya was able to get the proper support needed to pull him through his crisis. Also Wakiya used to pretend to hate the BeyClub but now he’d do absolutely anything to protect his Friend Squad if he feels like they’re in danger. Wakiya just…wanted friends…Real Friends who weren’t just servants [though Hoji is a Real Friend who happens to BE a servant but I digress]…and he got them [just like Sisco…INCLUDING Sisco, actually]…I’m so happy

Dyna {X} presented himself as being a total little ruthless asshole at first, but then it turned out that he was only doing whatever was necessary to win in order to make his sick little brother happy. Dyna didn’t actually enjoy playing dirty; he was bothered by it every time he did it. And then he eventually realized that Souta would NOT be happy if he found out HOW his big brother kept winning, which would cancel out any happiness he got from Dyna winning in the first place. Cue the “Oh…oh no. What have I done. tHERE WASN’T EVEN ANY POINT TO THIS BC THE INEVITABLE END RESULT OF IT WILL ACTUALLY BE THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANTED XSJHGDSSDHJAAAAAAAAAAA” breakdown, facilitated by a ton of pent-up cheating guilt. And since then, Dyna not only makes a point of only playing completely fair, he’s also turned out to be a fantastic strategist. He’s proving he doesn’t even need to use dirty tricks to succeed. I’m so proud of him.

Kensuke {X} had some amazing character development and I’m so happy he learned how to come out of his shell and make friends of his own accord, but unfortunately he…kind of did a lot of that off-screen…Still, he went from being so shy that he didn’t even like to talk to people without his puppets, to learning how to not only be able to put the puppets down sometimes and speak normally when needed, but also actively make friends with Ben/Team Beasts himself [when Kensuke befriended the BeyClub, it was only because THEY came to HIM, he would never have been able to properly approach them himself at the start of the show].

Valt, on the other hand…I’m not really sure has actually LEARNED very much? He didn’t really…change much at all in s2 vs s1. He still doesn’t really know what he’s doing when it comes to beyblading and tends to only spontaneously pull through when he really needs to [presumably because of Valkyrie – thanks Monster Mom!!], as in, he still pulls off impressive stunts without even REALIZING it, like he’s doing it unconsciously [*ahem* possessed…]. When Valt does something Really Really Well Very Suddenly, it still looks like it’s often not deliberate. And his core personality hasn’t changed a bit either; he’s still bubbly and cheerful but nnnnnot so great at dealing with any sort of complicated problems that his friends may have [he even made the Sisco vs Ghasem tension WORSE, which resulted in Sisco getting kicked pretty hard to protect Valt from Ghasem, which shows that Valt is also still super ditzy and oblivious and has an unfortunate knack for wandering directly into Immediate Danger]. When it comes to Shuu, arguably Valt’s Biggest Problem in s2, there’s this {X}, which I’ll build onto by saying that I think Valt always KIND OF knew that Shuu had problems, but he didn’t understand how SEVERE they were – they were actually kind of slowly driving Shuu totally insane – until Shuu…went totally insane. Valt just always believed that if Shuu had a problem, that Shuu could solve that problem by himself and it was totally nbd, and I think s2 may have made Valt realize that maaaaybe that’s not always the case and Shuu does have a breaking point because he is only human. But even then…at the end of s2, when Shuu was no longer brainwashed, it looked like maybe Valt might have immediately gone right back to assuming “Oh, he’s over it. He’s fine now. Everything’s back to normal and Shuu is definitely 100% A-OK immediately!” which was…definitely not the case. The thing there is that the Problems that CAUSED Shuu to be vulnerable enough to end up in the Brainwashing Situation were never actually resolved. Shuu never even talked about them. Shuu never ACTUALLY got over them. Christ, it looks like as soon as Shuu “woke up” in the s2 finale, he just immediately went right back to how he was before – pretending to be okay, to be “fine”, to be “over it”. Lying again. This might be a cycle doomed to repeat itself. The fact that Shuu is nowhere NEAR Valt [or any of his other friends] as of s3 [two years later] so far only makes me think that even more. Hm. [And now that Valt’s not the Main Character anymore, I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in s3 because maybe he will be written a little differently…honestly, he got the worst of the Bad Writing in s2]

However, I actually think Shuu probably had the best character development of all. Understandably, too – he’s the Main Rival [I could go into more detail about how it actually does make a lot of sense for the Main Rival to be more developed than the actual Main Character due to the genre of the show and the target audience and all, but I’ll spare you that huge meta paragraph for now because this was a simple question you asked and I’ve gone and turned the answer into a text wall, ahaha]. This {X} was one of the longest character dissection essays I’ve ever written…God, I love Shuu so much…

[sueboohscorner]

OUTLANDER S3 Ep 5 "Freedom and Whiskey" ....Get the tissues out

I said it once (or twice...or more), and I will repeat it.  I LOVE the books and I highly....HIGHLY recommend that if you just watch the show, you really need to read the books, because you are missing out on A LOT.  Also, I said it before, that they really should have fought NOT to do a book a season, but who the hell am I to say anything?

So here we are, in the 5th episode of Outlander's 13 eps for Season 3.  Jamie and Claire are NOT together yet.  "Come on already!  We need the reunion NOW!" fans worldwide scream at their screens.  Well..we got the start of it at least.  I found myself also going, "Why is Roger in Boston NOW???  Why are any of them back in Boston now?"  What I am saying is that there were so many changes from the book and additions that I just lost count.  *sigh*

This entire episode, except for the brief moment, in the end, there was only Claire, Brianna and Roger.  Like Episode 2 was all about Jamie's life while apart from Claire (at least a portion of it), this is a critical turning point for Claire and how she comes to the decision to go back to Jamie. 

The episode opens with a surgery happening, Claire elbow deep in someone's gut and Joe assisting and actually questioning Claire's amazing surgeon superpowers as the patient's blood pressure is dropping.  She manages to get all the bad stuff before finding the "bleeder" and have Joe tie it off.  If you think this is bad, wait until Claire has to do surgery in the 1700's!

At Harvard, Brianna is listening to one of her history professor's go on about Paul Revere's ride.  She is busy drawing something in a book when she hears the professor say that the story of Paul Revere's ride is basically a lie.  There was someone else that was with him, that completed the ride, but that man got lost in time, and what Brianna learns from this is that you cannot trust history. The class ends, and the professor tells Brianna to stay.  He says that she is failing not just his class, but most of her classes. Brianna doesn't tell him the truth as to why and claims she is just fine and leaves.

Joe and Claire are having a drink together, and Joe asks Claire about what really happened in Scotland because she has that look again.  Claire tries to say nothing really, but Joe isn't buying it.  Claire decides to tell him, minus the time traveling part, about a man in Scotland that she was in love with.  She had thought she might find him and reconnect, but it wasn't meant to be.  Joe is sure there is a lot more to the story, but he doesn't push.

Brianna comes home to a dark house and walks into the living room where the Christmas tree is and fondles an ornament her mother made for Brianna's first Christmas.  Bree is taking this first Christmas without Frank hard.  She strokes his chair and then sits on the arm and opens up the box that holds his pipes and sniffs one.  She then goes to the desk and opens a metal lunchbox that holds pictures of her and her parents, mainly ones of Frank holding her and kissing her as a baby.  Sigh.....I have never been a Frank fan, and am still not.  Sorry, I am just tired of him already.

A little while later, a yellow cab pulls up in the street out front of the house in Boston.  Roger gets out and is claiming that this is the "most daft thing" he has ever done and is straightening his jacket and grabs his suitcase and ascends the steps.  He rings the doorbell, and he hears arguing going on inside.  He rings the bell one more time, and Brianna rips open the door with a loud and rude "WHAT?!" and then the look of pure surprise when Roger says hi.  She invites him in, and the poor man gets stuck in the middle of the fight he heard outside.  Apparently, Brianna is dropping out of Harvard AND moving out of the house.  Claire is none too happy! Roger seems at a loss of what to do or even say.  Bree excuses herself and grabs her coat and apologizes to Roger.  She says to him that maybe they can "hang out" the next day.  Once she is gone, Roger tries to excuse himself and say that he obviously came at a bad time and he should check into his hotel.  Claire tells him absolutely no that he is staying there.  

Once settled, Roger and Claire share some whiskey and Roger shows her something he found.  He "is like a dog with a bone" since he is a historian and kept looking after they left.  He shows Claire a pamphlet that has that Freedom and Whiskey line that Claire said she quoted to Jamie AND a couple of lines from another Robert Burns poem on the front.  Roger is convinced it is Jamie since Robert Burns is only 6 at the time this pamphlet was printed AND the one poem would not be written for another 20 years after that.  The name of the printer says Alexander Malcolm (two of Jamie's middle names).  

Claire seems fine at first, but now that this shows Jamie is alive and well in Edinburgh she freaks out.  She tells Roger she never asked him to keep looking.  She tells Roger that when they had found he survived Culloden and then found him in prison, her hopes were high, and then they hit that brick wall and it all died.  She can't get her hopes up again, plus, she doesn't want to leave Brianna behind with all she is going through at the moment.  Sounds like an excuse to me.

Claire comes into her office to see bones all over the desk.  Apparently, an anthropologist wishes to know if they can tell them the cause of death.  The anthropologist seems to think it was a slave sacrifice as it was found in the Caribbean.  Claire picks up the skull and automatically deduces that it was a female and decapitation. Claire always had an intuition at times in the book.  Knowing whose bones these are, probably adds to the feeling Claire gets.  But I am not going to spoil THAT surprise!  Joe is amazed that Claire is right when he holds up some vertebrae that show her head was most likely chopped off.  Joe also tells Claire that this lady was not a slave.  Her bones show that she was white.  Ah....the plot thickens.

The conversation turns to Claire deciding to tell Joe about the "mystery man" in Scotland she was trying to find, in fact, Bree's real father.  Joe asks if she still loves him.  Ummm....let me think......  Obviously, Claire says she does still love the man.  Joe says tells "Lady Jane" as he calls her that, "no one thought her and Frank were Ozzy and Harriet" and that she has lived only half a life for 16 years and if she has a chance to find this man and be with him to take it!  Thank you, JOE!

The next part I feel is unnecessary.  If you read the books, you know Brianna's real passion is how things are built...aka....ENGINEERING.  She and Roger are at Harvard and standing in a piece of architecture, and Roger tells Brianna how it is amazing to think of the history these walls and ceilings could tell.  Bree answers that she never really thought of it like that even though she came here often with Frank and said that she was always amazed at HOW they were built and what made them stay up and connected.  "Doesn't sound like a History major to me," Roger says.  Yep....time to change majors Bree.  

Why are they at Harvard?  Well apparently, a wing is being memorialized to Frank Randall.  Here we go again.  Really?  Did we need to do this?  The gathering afterward, Claire is ironically introduced to Sandy, Frank's mistress.  

Claire goes to walk away, but Sandy calls her out.  A whole thing about how Claire was so selfish to keep Frank in a loveless marriage for 20 years, that she (Sandy) loved him completely, but knew that Frank still had little love for Claire.   Sandy says something to the effect that Frank was her true love and you should always be with your true love.  Okay, I give her that, but ..Blah, Blah, Blah......

Afterwards, outside, Claire comes clean to Bree about who Sandy was.  Brianna says that Frank must have really hated her as she looks like her real father, but Claire says no.  That he loved her very much.  There is a very sweet moment of Claire also telling her daughter what she means to her and what it was like to hold her for the first time.

Bree reminds her mother that back in Scotland they made a promise never to keep secrets.  That prompts Claire to reach into her purse and pull out the pamphlet that Roger gave her.  She shows it to Bree who is beyond excited and immediately says, “So you can go back!’  Claire starts to make excuses about how she needs to stay for her.  Brianna is not an idiot and can see her mother is scared.  She asks her mom, what is the real reason.  Claire pauses and says "What if he has forgotten me?  What if he no longer loves me?"  Brianna simply tells her mother that she had told her that what was felt for Jamie was the strongest thing she ever felt.  So basically, it is doubtful he doesn't love or care for Claire anymore. She also says "You gave Jamie up for me. Now I have to give him back to you."

The next day, Claire comes into work and closes the door to the office and says she needs to ask Joe a question.  "Am I attractive?  Sexually?" she asks him.  Joe is floored, but Claire simply tells him he is the only male she can talk to about this.  He asks why?  She says she is thinking of going back to her Scottish man and Joe smiles.  He tells her that she "is a skinny white broad with too much hair but a great ass" which means yes.  

Back at the house, Claire is looking for a box that holds old coins.  Brianna says she and Roger found them in an antique store.  They also give her a small history book for reference and Claire admits she "borrowed" a few things from the hospital like a scalpel, syringes, and penicillin. She smiles and says that she figured that they would need it more back then anyway. Bree gives her mom one more present, a necklace with her birthstone because she remembered from the journal of the madwoman that a jewel is needed to pass through the stones.  Claire is touched.  Bree asks how her mother intends on carrying all of these items with her and Claire shrugs and says "I guess I will have to make something."  So, apparently, with putting herself through medical school and being a surgeon, she kept up with sewing? Believable.....

The next I thought was a little funny, but totally unnecessary.  Here’s Claire sewing and making a dress out of old raincoats with the vintage Batman theme song playing over it.  Nope....doesn't work for me.  Yes, I will give them that it is MUCH better to have Claire make the dress than buying a gaudy costume -like one like she does in the book with a zipper in the back that totally baffles Jamie (hahaha).   However, I feel the length of it was too long and a filler in that they didn't want us to have too much of a reunion at the end.  Claire makes sure she has plenty of pockets for the things she needs to take with her.  Sorry, I will miss the plastic wrap and the peanut butter and jelly sandwich part.

Brianna can't understand why she and Roger can't come with her to the stones to say goodbye. Quite frankly, neither can I.  I mean, this is all happening in Boston where it isn't supposed to be in regards to the book. Claire claims that if Brianna was there, it might make her change her mind and not go.  NOT TRUE!  Brianna shows up at the stones in the book and tells her mother that if she doesn't go, SHE WILL and Claire goes through.  I would have preferred that much more.

Alone for a minute as Claire gets her stuff together in a suitcase, Claire gives Brianna some paperwork, the deed to the house is now in her name as well as checking and savings.  She reaches for a black bag and gives Brianna the pearls and tells her that Jamie gave them to her on their wedding night and that they were his mother Ellen's....aka Brianna's grandmother.  Bree is touched. 

They say their goodbyes and Claire get into a cab and leaves.  Brianna sheds some quiet tears only for a moment, but then dons a Santa hat and grabs a tray and gives Roger his little wish of a lobster roll and Boston cream pie.  

The metaphor of the puddles, fine, I get, but I think it would have been better to show Claire at the stones and show in some way the extreme pain of going through them for the THIRD TIME.  

Instead, we get a refreshed Claire (tv only people have to imagine how she got from Craig na Dun to somewhere to get a coach to Edinburgh....but us book people know) who steps out of a coach in the city and looks around and smiles.  She then stops a boy and asks where she can find a printer by the name of Alexander Malcolm.  He tells her in the one "close" (alley), and she starts her journey.  

She enters the alley and sees the sign with A. Malcolm and tentatively touches it.  She slowly ascends the stairs to the door, takes a breath and walks in, the bell above the door ringing.  She pauses inside and starts to look around when a very familiar voice asks "Is that you Geordie?" Claire heads towards that voice she hasn't heard in 20 years.

Jamie still has his back to her and is complaining how long it took this Geordie to get ink.  Claire is in a dream state.  She is just staring at the top and back of Jamie.  

She finally speaks up and says "It's not Geordie."  and Jamie freezes.  "It's me.  Claire."  she continues.  

Jamie very slowly turns around and looks up and sees his beloved Claire's face and their eyes meet.  Claire is smiling at him, but he is in disbelief that she is actually there.  

Suddenly, he faints dead away, and Claire gets a very shocked look.  BAM!!!  EPISODE ENDS!