#SOLID EPISODE

[myenterpriseisparked]

Enterprise episode "Doctor's Orders" is actually really good. We got:

- Phlox hallucinating T'Pol feat. Some pretty clever camera and script clues to let you know she's a hallucination throughout the whole episode supported by a fantastic acting performance by Jolene Blalock

- Really good acting by John Billingsly. He plays it very Phlox-y

- Porthos being very funny

- Stereotypical Starfleet Engineer Shovel Talk About The Engine 👌👌👌

- T'Pol being literally so pretty omg

- Phlox walking around the ship naked since he's alone 10/10 comedy bit

- Trip likes horror movies confirmed

[legobiwan]

Tales of the Jedi 1:3 "Choices"

I'M FLIPPING OUT HERE

Just...my gods, there is a lot in this episode

Okay, okay - first of all, I do love Mace and Dooku's interactions here. Mace obviously respects, although doesn't always agree, with Dooku. But! Despite registering his protest to Dooku's so-called "interference," he also doesn't prevent Dooku from carrying out that investigation. The whole breakdown really happens when Mace inadvertently kills that one guard in self defence (I guess you could read it, from Mace's point of view, that this is what happens when the Jedi veer from their directives, from their rules. Innocent lives are lost and I don't think that death rested easy on Mace's conscience. And you could imagine him doubling down on the rules after that incident and inheriting Katri's seat due to the events just prior to that incident. Not to say that this is the entire reason Mace is rule-bound - it's certainly not - but it probably caused him to dig in a little more, especially during his initial tenure as a Council Member.)

ANYWAY, getting back to Dooku.

I thought this line was hilarious and my gods, is this man the teacher of Rael Averross and Qui-gon Jinn, or WHAT?

Can you imagine him saying the EXACT SAME THING to a young Obi-wan? BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL CAN!!!!!!!!!

The line about not getting involved in local political skirmishes without approval from the Council or Senate is fascinating. Just much autonomy do the Jedi have out there? You know Dooku disagrees with this philosophy and thinks the Jedi could do more but being an arm of the Senate - which they absolutely are at this point, involvement in "local politics" could upset the status quo, for both good and ill. Obviously, the death of Katri was something the corrupt Senator did not want investigated and he assumed it wouldn't be as it's probably well-known the Jedi cannot interfere as their own political arm...a philosophy that has two sides in that no, you can't save everyone but at the same time, at what point do you end up being the "lapdogs and enforcers" of the corrupt, rich and powerful?

Alright, I have to spend a moment talking about Dooku: Space Detective because this is 100% a precursor to Obi-wan Kenobi: Space Detective. The way they investigate their physical environments! Ask logical questions! LOOK AT THIS!

This is all to say we need an AU of Dooku and Obi-wan quitting the order to open up a Space Detective Agency because COULD. YOU. IMAGINE??? (And to make one more point, the opening of this episode reminded me a lot of the opening of the Utapau arc. Retrieving a dead Jedi body, a mysterious murder, etc.)

THAT MAKASHI THOUGH LOOK AT THIS MAN GO! THE BEHIND THE BACK DEFLECTION, THE THE RESET TO THE MAAKSHI SALUTE, BEST SABER FORM EVER HE TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT OBI-WAN TO MAKASHI

And also - the absolute control, strength, and focus it must take to do all this ONE-HANDED. With limited acrobatics. (Unlike Mace). INCREDIBLE.

One of the interesting facets of Dooku I feel isn't talked about enough is the fact that he comes from this patrician background. Is Serennian royalty. AND YET, his largest concern is the way in which the Order, to his mind, is abandoning planets and beings to serve the interests of the rich and powerful. Is it because he was forsaken by Serenno, by his family? (Which works both in the EU and Canon backstories). And then he returns to Serenno to claim that title and become one of the rich and the powerful (and yes, to a certain degree, corrupt). It's really a fascinating arc and one I'd like to tease out a little further to really get at all possible implications and motivations.

I also found the statement he made to the Raxxian prisoner that his people shouldn't "evolve" to be a precise and odd choice of wording. Dooku is a man of precision who wields his words as well as his lightsaber. "Evolve" is such an interesting term to use. Is this meant to contrast with the Jedi and the Senate, who have "evolved" so much as to consider themselves above what they came from, to have forgotten their roots and their peoples? That the Jedi are too concerned with philosophicals and not enough with practicals in the way they have "evolved" in the Temple? Their heads being too far up in the clouds, along with the Temple Spire, as it were?

Okay, I have to say, the funeral scene with Ki-Adi was a little funny, only because the minute I saw his comically elongated hood, this immediately popped into my deranged mind:

(Admittedly, I had been thinking of this meme this morning as a way to introduce enharmonic respellings for chromatic modulation in the class I teach. And this is where it all lands me. Ha!)

ANYWAY.

There are a lot of implications in Dooku's question to Mace regarding the timing of his knowledge of his new Council appointment. Is Dooku insinuating Mace was somehow in cahoots with the Senator? No, that would be ridiculous. But what, then? That Mace didn't want to interfere for fear of losing his new seat, or losing face with the Council. More likely.

And there's this line, which ages TERRIBLY in light of everything that happens in TCW.

And I know Filoni's going hard on the Council in this episode, but there is a point to be made - less about the corruption of the Council, but rather its stasis and its inflexibility in the light of a failing pangalactic government. (Even before anything with Palpatine or the War came to fruition). The Council is 1000% guided by politics - they would be independent of the Senate if they weren't. And ego - maybe not Mace, as much, but certainly Yoda (forget the whole Dark Side thing, I'm just thinking of sending Obi-wan alone after Maul when re-emerges due to whisperings from "the Force." If Yoda had actually listened to Mace and sent a task force, how different would things have turned out? At least in that situation).

Okay last point. When Dooku is doing his whole pensive reflection bit at the end of the episode in the Temple, we see these diamond-ish shaped obelisks as part of the Temple decor. It did not escape my attention that Dooku has similarly shaped obelisks on the grounds of his Serenno estate, specifically the area where he trains Savage. I DON'T THINK THAT IS A COINCIDENCE.

Anyway, so far, this series is doing a great job of painting Dooku and his fall as highly nuanced and is actually making valid criticisms of the Jedi - things that definitely helped lead to Palpatine's rise and the outcome of the war. I also like that this version of Dooku seems to be a little closer to his Dark Rendezvous iteration (which is my absolute favorite backstory and a favorite portrayal of older!Dooku. Although Jedi Lost and M&A do a first-rate job showing teacher!Dooku to Rael and Qui-gon).

I think the next episode is the one where Qui-gon is going to show up again and I'm going to lose it when that happens. I also really need to go to sleep so I can wake up for a flight in like, *checks watch and laughs nervously* 4ish hours. Oof.

Anyway, 10/10 LOVE

[lightthewaybackhome]

Duet (S2:E4)

Since this isn't one of my favorite episodes, I decided to watch it with the commentary. It did give me a greater appreciation for the acting that went into it, but it's ridiculously hard to emotionally connect to an episode with commentary.

Condemned (S2:E5)

(First episode I've ever watched on my TV instead of my phone, and it feels oddly weird.)

I love that Sheppard labels himself as a worrier on this his first mission with Ronon.

I love the Ronon is tall, and everyone boards the Jumper by running under his gun.

Sometimes Sheppard is doing all the grown-up talking about opening trade negotiations and on his best behavior, but his hair is back-lit in all its ridiculousness, making it almost impossible to take seriously. 🤣

Okay, seriously, I will never not adore the fact that they way to motivate McKay is to threaten the life of his friends. That's when he stops being weak and cowardly. But the best part is it's true for Sheppard too. If you want him to stop being cocky and snarky, you threaten his people. Suddenly, dangerous Sheppard is here. They're perfect mirrors of each other. It's the nerd and the jock meeting at the crossroads of "You threatened our family," and I love it.

This episode is when I fell in love with Lorne. He's just such a straight-shooting support character, meaning he is just so supportive. I love it.

Ronon just doubts Sheppard so much, challenging his authority, his calls, his lack of aggression but by the end his trust is earned because Sheppard is smart, knows his people, will fight to save them.

Like every episode, Sheppard and McKay bicker until the chips are down. As soon as Sheppard goes into laying-down-his-life-mode, Rodney switches to saving him through science. Every time. 🖤

S: We're not taking you home.

Home is where we're safe, so nope.

[aqueeracademic]

morse being queer (and other commentary) pt 7:

season 2, episode 3, “Sway”:

- i know that morse is looking up to examine the cork board but i’m like 98% sure he’s looking up to examine jakes

- omg this episode is so fruity!

- i actually have no idea i’m just manifesting it

- you ever see a man in a tv show and immediately know he’s a douche even tho nothing has happened yet? that just happened!

- “housewife willingly opened door to killer!” how about you rephrase that so it doesn’t seem like it’s her fault?

- i already don’t think sex is real, so when people fuck in cars i am EXTRA skeptical

- needing a cigarette after seeing smth upsetting is relatable

- i do feel as though jakes always believes morse immediately, he just asks questions to make it make sense to himself

- like he doesn’t fully understand it but he would never say morse is wrong

- because he’s in love.

- i’m pretty sure the professor is a homosexual and that’s why he and his wife live apart and why he admits he doesn’t understand women BUT i also think almost every fictional character to ever exist is gay so whatever

- when men refer to women as “birds” i want to die

- how people with disabilities are treated in this show makes me violent to be QUITE frank

- morse immediately locking in on the case when he’s asked about being in a relationship is so real

- the question i must ask you is this (listen very carefully):

- IS morse watching the COUPLE or is he watching the MAN?

- ^this isn’t delusional because NOW LISTEN

- when the gay employee walks past and the other guys follow and say that homophobic shit

- morse reacts ALMOST like they’re talking to him

- he turns around immediately, IMMEDIATELY stops looking at the man he was looking at (who, after sitting down with his girl, is the only person in view, insinuating that morse was indeed only looking at the man), and looks offended as if they had spoken to him

- which, of course, they haven’t

- and if morse automatically assumes that they were talking to him, does that suggest that people have assumed he was queer in the past and bullied him for it?

- i just want to know why shaun evans chose to have morse react that way

- have i mentioned i’m obsessed with monica? because i’m obsessed

- i would also faint if i saw thursday irl tbh she’s not dramatic at all

- morse is down BAD for the owner of burridge’s and i cannot blame him

- jakes is SO FINE 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

- “who knows with women haters?”

- thursday is a feminist and an ally!

- italian woman + gay man = perfect pairing is all i’m learning this episode

- casual ableism is SO UGLY

- “you shouldn’t tease people” “you’re one to talk” NEWS FLASH BUCKO ur a fucking misogynist

- just because a woman is attractive does NOT mean she’s asking you to sleep with her ‼️‼️‼️

- morse going on a heterosexual date and then glaring at heterosexuals the whole time is killing me

- “should be strangled at birth” sir how r u still alive

- why on earth did thursday ring the bell and then walk that far away

- morse has UNLIMITED rizz

- it being revealed that this italian lady is not the italian lady thursday was in love w is the best plot twist of the century methinks

- it’s not even really a plot twist

- it’s just a relief to know he’s not gonna cheat on his wife rn

- it’s just this:

- LISTEN TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!

- it’s the way that bright asks thursday how people can value passion over someone who is consistent and dependable and then thursday having to face that difference through the whole episode

- he had passion with the italian woman and is trying to find it again with miss armstrong

- but it doesn’t work because he has his wife

- and she’s DEPENDABLE

- and it’s shown when she gives him his sandwiches and tells him to come home safe and it’s IMPORTANT for him to have someone who is so consistent

- the gay man at burridges is my favorite character in the entire 9 seasons of this show and it’s not even close

- the way morse rolls his eyes when jakes says panty hose are more popular

- “as if you’d know” 🙄🙄🙄

- this episode actually makes the culprit as obvious as humanely possible at the 45:15 mark and it’s the only episode in the whole show where i knew who it was the entire time

- i’m fairly convinced that jakes being rude to morse is just him trying to make jokes and being bad at it

- “who are you going to believe?” and the answer being the super gay 12 year old detective is so real of the burridge’s owner tbh

- i’m lowkey confused because ms. armstrong told thursday “i’m not her” and “she died” but then in their next scene together they act like they WERE in a relationship so maybe i lack media literacy but idk wtf is going awn

- this gay man’s fashion taste is fucking elite

- the all teal look?????? the matching goddam eyeshadow???????

- werk.

- “proper pals we was. but i got careless. lost him somewhere. you’re young. you think love’s like buses. there will be another one along in a minute. that was ‘48… it’s funny. it’s never the one you never met, it’s the one you can’t forget.”

- i’ll vomit.

- IM SO CONFUSED ABOUT THURSDAYS RELATIONSHIP WITH MS ARMSTRONG BC SHES TALKING LIKE THEY WERE AN ITEM EVEN THO SHE SAID THE WOMEN HE WAS W IS DEAD ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

- norman did NOT deserve that shit i’m devastated

- why don’t people ever just listen to morse the first time around

- as if he has ever been wrong 🙄 (he is wrong almost every single time he speaks)

- so this girl insinuated that Blenheim Veil is for people “who aren’t quite right” so i’m rly confused as to why jakes would be out there

- the burridge’s owner is so obviously flirting with morse and morse is not reacting at all i hate him

- morse absolutely devouring everything that man had to say about being a pilot

- morse loves PEOPLE he just hates individuals and he’s right

- JAKES UNDERCOVER WIG IS SENDING ME TO THE MOON PLEASEEEEEE

- jakes staring morse down when he’s telling thursday what Pugh said is so legitimate

- “didnt you go to sunday school?” “you don’t want to know where i went.” AND WHEN I LOSE MY MIND? AND WHEN THAT IS MY FINAL STRAW??? WHAT THEN?

- like i fucking said before:

- morse interprets jakes’ jokes as jakes being rude and interprets jakes’ defensiveness as a joke and that is why they don’t understand each other and that is why they love each other and don’t know how to show it. in this essay i will-

- morse’s rizz is so crazy 😧

- ^ i would like to apologize for using the word rizz unironically but it’s 3am

- one more time for the people in the back: i do not understand thursday’s relationship with the italian women and i don’t think i ever will

- “i’m the law and you’re nicked!” strange, i will marry you

- morse all sleepy and bundled up?? i’ll scream

- jakes’ goddam cheekbones are something i’ll never recover from

- morse being happy for and proud of strange for being successful is so silly and adorable

- morse clearly also doesn’t understand what thursdays relationship with ms. armstrong is and i can respect that

- what kind of money do the thursdays have where they can rent this venue for this celebration

- also stfu fred and winnie are my parents

- i’ve seen this episode 2 or 3 times now and i only just now realized why the chalk was important

- like they explain it but my brain is so small idk how i couldn’t comprehend it at first

- but also my brain is huge because i knew from the 45 minute mark who the killer was so everyone stfu

- thursday and morse both holding the exact same disgusted expression while the guy confesses is why i love them

- the ending of this episode is so crazy to me

- and sort of feels unnecessary????

- maybe that’s just me

- like he’s celebrating his anniversary and clearly happy and content and i don’t feel like she needed to die to solidify that

- it just opens the wound back up for him tbh

- doesn’t feel fair

- gonna lose my mind over how beautiful oxford is

- morse burning the letter so no one will ever know except for him and thursday is-

- 8/10 slightly more gay this time and it had my fav character

[nitw]

i've been waiting for gravity falls to become relevant again so i could share one of my favorite underrated bits from the entire show. like it's only episode 2 but this whole segment just makes me lose my shit. i think jason ritter's exasperated line delivery is what makes it

[thedoodlebuggo]

somehow i have never drawn noel before SO. throws him at you

[feathers-silly-rambles]

OH!!! OH!!!

DO YOU SEE THIS??

DO YOU SEE IT??

SHE'S TOUCHING HIS SHOULDER!!

Oh mah gawd. He doesn't let anyone touch him unless they're his friends.

If they aren't his friends, he'll either lean away or wipe off his hand. He hates being touched if he's not the one initiating it, to the point of wiping his sleeve off when Lucifer's hat just BARELY grazed against it.

He didn't wipe his shoulder off when Charlie stopped touching him either.

AND!!!

And!!!

Before You Say 'He did lean away', or 'She wasnt actually touching him, her hand was just near him', Take A Look At This!!

Look closely at how he moves when she splits them up. He doesn't lean away, she SHOVED him. She actively MOVED him. That wasn't an 'oh she's making contact with me, guess I should lean away', it was a 'well she's shoving me now, I'll shut up for a minute'.

Which also proves she WAS touching him. She couldn't have shoved him if she wasn't making contact.

He didn't lean away from it, he didn't retaliate. The ONLY people he lets touch him are people he cares for. And not only did she put her hand on his shoulder, she actively pushed him back, and he showed no sign of discomfort towards it. So why am I screaming about this?

Because he DOES care! It proves he cares for her. Don't get me wrong, I still think saying he's her 'dad' is a bit of a strech, but he does care enough to let her touch him. He doesn't dislike or even have a neutral opinion on her. She's his friend, even if just a little bit.

Just an edit to clarify; I know 'friends' is probably also not the best word to use, but it's just the easiest way for me to describe it.

[lemonhemlock]

the reason why i don't think blood & cheese works without maelor is because it undermines the gravity of helaena's choice

in the books, as we all know, she has to choose which son to sacrifice. blood & cheese are going to kill one either way, so, whatever happens, if you want to get cynical about it, aegon will still be left with a male heir of his body. no, the horribleness of the choice lies not really in dynastic matters, but in basic humanity: which of your children are you willing to condemn to death? and helaena truly does try to make the best out of a bad situation, she picks not because she loves jaehaerys more, but because maelor is so tiny that she hopes he won't understand what's going to happen to him.

and she absolutely has to choose, because b&c threaten to rape her daughter if she doesn't. it's psychological torture. b&c just want to fuck her up in the head as much as possible and helaena tries her goddamnest to minimize the harm done to her family. to further compound on the tragedy, b&c kill the opposite child, so now she has to live out the rest of her days knowing that the son left alive is the son SHE herself marked for the axe. which is what understandably drives her to lose her mind

now, in the show, the "problem" blood & cheese have doesn't exist at all: that they can't supposedly tell the twins apart. but (as awful as it sounds, since it involves sexual assault) they could very easily check which child has male genitalia and be done with it. it's a "problem" that takes literal seconds to solve. they don't need helaena at all! it becomes irrelevant which child she points towards - b&c can always just check! she can't save jaehaerys in this situation no matter what she does, because b&c were never interested in jaehaera in the first place. in the books, she has the ability to save one child and this exact horrible "agency" bestowed on her torments her for the rest of her days. in the show, even had she pointed towards jaehaera, it would have been a narrative plot hole for the writers to have killed her without checking

likewise, in the books, she begs them to kill her instead, but, in the show, she offers them a necklace? you can't deny that the dramatic stakes are lowered substantially by making that change. which one of these options would have been more filled with pathos? personally, it just feels like this was phia's moment to shine and, while she did a good job with what she had, every narrative choice was somehow made to subdue this horrible event and left her only crumbs to work with. cinematically-speaking, this scene (as it was executed) does not even come close to the iconic moments that cemented GoT into the collective consciousness, which is very strange, as the subject matter is anything but mediocre

and that's not even getting into the rest of the plot holes that others have already pointed out, like:

- why are there no guards at helaena's door or anywhere else for that matter? not just on that hallway, but on many other hallways, she has to run quite a lot to get to alicent's chambers

- why is her room unlocked at the very least

- why is ALICENT's room unlocked, for that matter? she is having secret guilty sex with criston and she forgets to lock her door in a castle full of spies? anyone could have walked in

- not even getting into this whole thing just being one huge misunderstanding + minimizing daemon's and mysaria's roles :))

- NOT EVEN mentioning removing the trauma of alicent witnessing all of this, gagged and bound on her own bed, not being able to help or intervene in any way

i can understand the likelihood of these elements happening sometimes (maybe someone does forget to lock their door from time to time, maybe a guard does shirk their duties from time to time), but you can't write all of them at once without it turning all looney tunes. if you introduce too many aspects that defy logic in your story, it ceases to be believable and just becomes bad writing

___________________________________________

also, "they killed <the boy>"? not "my son" or "jaehaerys"? it sounds so removed, don't you think? helaena out there on her mother's floor dropping exposition for the audience 🥲

[shiversdownyourspleen]

It’s an absolute statistical wonder that Yord was knighted my guy is getting shown up by a padawan on the daily I love this disaster human

Also Master Sol is already just the best??? Like 2 episodes and BAM I love him, already a highlight of the show

And Osha??? Queen shit

I love them all your honour

[gunstellations]

In the world I love

_

In a different world

[averageludwig]

Oh my godd.... LOOK at her......... My wife...

[st-hedge]

MGSV sketch dump. The brainrot is thriving

[mikkaeus]

HOUSE MD | 7.05 Unplanned Parenthood

[xeemaee]

I love how often I see a post about one of these characters thats like “what do you mean she isn’t a butch lesbian what do you mean this is a man what do you MEAN” and tbh… same

[bestagons]

What Dan and Phil Text Each Other 4 + Familect (article)

[ghostpajamas]

in my beautiful mind, he got a hug in before the jimmy buffett sesh