#and well. 4.08 just happened.

[watchfuldeer]

our secret thing

succession 1.09 pre-nuptial

[uselessgirldotcom]

i don’t like how we ended up with the most sanitized version of roman and menckens dynamic in season 4, which doesn’t fit the delirious energy they delivered in 3.06, and it’s not inconsequential to the plot because i’ve seen a lot of people complaining about not understanding Why roman would go so hard for the facist in 4.08…mencken is very deliberate about what he does and doesn’t say. he’s playing up brutal honesty and uninhibition but the man was plotting and scheming the second he saw roman sitting across the room. when he goes for roman of all people it’s not just opportunistic it’s predatory.

i wish they kept this moment in (sweet sweet psychosexual nonsense aside) it confirms how aware mencken is of the effect he has on roman and is clearly trying to dirty talk his way into presidency which makes his character a lot funnier and more terrifying at the same time.

a nice parallel to how gerri is also playing into that part of roman but she tries to use it to incentivize positive change and motivate / soothe him, while mencken is quite literally torturing roman and dangling something he knows is very precious in front of him. i feel like this little sexual innuendo alone changes a lot in how you perceive this dynamic making it a lot more cruel - it’s very fitting that the sibling Logan would pimp out every time he needed to flirt his way into someones pocket, would also be the one who ends up taken advantage of in this way. the sexual abuse metaphor of it all is really compelling.

this one im really mad about just because in the final cut roman immediately caves in and defends mencken for making fun of him which is pretty out of character. this exchange not only fits roman better but also shows that he’s well aware mencken is getting off on this not just because he has the power now but because that’s who he always was, he’s a sadist. roman knows what’s going on but he can’t help himself.

very consistent with romans reaction to the Hug. he struggles a bit, has to have the last word, the last quip. but he lets it happen. in a way he needs this to function.

[henrysglock]

[Lumax voice] Turn Around, Look At What You See! In Their Face...

(If you couldn't already tell: I have finally lost all my marbles.)

I'm sure this has occurred to other people by now, but if El's memories leading up to the 4.07 monologue are ripped directly from Brenner's (<- slayful Nat post, required viewing), and she runs in to see One killing Two...then doesn't it stand to reason that that is what Brenner saw when he ran into the Rainbow Room in 1979?

Now before anyone hops in to correct me: There's definitely a version of things where Brenner finds El alone in the rainbow room after the massacre. That's not in question. We all know that happened at some point.

(Regardless of the manner of death...no broken bones or gouged eyes...okay!)

However, as I'm sure we're all aware...these guys are different guys.

(This detail has been beaten into the ground but always bears repeating)

So, what is in question is what close-up Brenner saw when he ran into the Rainbow Room.

Those duplicate memories appear to belong to close-up Brenner:

i.e. not the Brenner who runs in and sees El at the start of 4.08. (This isn't to say that that Brenner doesn't have those memories or similar ones, but he's not the Brenner whose memories are being featured. Begone, thot.)

So, arguably, if El has close-up Brenner's memories...then she should be running in and seeing what he saw, no?

So what did he see? Someone just slightly shorter than him, who walked close enough to warrant a tight shot.

That POV (as has been discussed ad nauseam by many) is far too tall to be any version of El:

But it is about the right height for someone a few inches shorter than Brenner...something like:

So, tl;dr: I want to play a clip for you.

I love choreography and camera work. That's art right there.

However, that video doesn't include the subtitling that accompanies the visuals that link El finding One to Brenner finding El:

Now, it's difficult to compare anything after this point (though not impossible, can't keep a south Wisconsin boy down. I will be using them for comparisons later)...because of course that's when weird, random blood starts appearing:

Hence, the clock is visibly frozen after that point:

This smacks, to me, of the same kind of shit that happened with 004 when the kids were bullying El—Scenes that never actually happened in the real past being spliced into a tape that cuts off and then picks back up like no time had passed/nothing had been spliced in. It makes more sense if you read the post I linked, since the video in that post makes my point clearly.

< TANGENTIALLY RELATED >

The anime nerd in me is tempted to liken this whole deal ^ to JJBA/DIO's time-stopping stand "The World" in...that's right...Stardust Crusaders, wherein DIO pause time for everyone but himself, which I'm certain others have done as well.

Tbqh...I'm still here:

Specifically a reference to The World/DIO vs Star Platium/Jotaro, both of which are time-stopping stands...(Much to think about irt Jotaro/Star Platinum developing time-stopping powers later on in terms of El, sure, but also in terms of "Everything was hard for [One]...He walked in here, and it was like something had changed. He told me he had figured it out.").

[Distant screaming as I'm forcefully prevented from going on a "Stardust Spider-Stardust Crusaders-Dio Brando-Joestar Family-Dio's Bone-Green Baby-Green, Green Grass of Home" tangent in this post...and don't get me started on DIO's regen healing/vampirism from the ancient stone mask...don't get me started on King Crimson and Golden Experience Requiem either...]

Not to mention the DIO reference with One linking this scene to (you guessed it) Edward Munson:

Edward Creel proven once again, but this time it's via goddamn JJBA and Brenner fuckery. (And yes, yes, I know about DIO the band. This ain't about her. Things can have multiple meanings. It was a Choice to associate Henward with DIO and Eddie with DIO. I rest my case.)

< ANYWAY, TANGENTS ASIDE >

As I said earlier, close-up Brenner is shot at a distance baby El could never have achieved. She passes out on the far side of the room, entirely too far away to have been anywhere near close enough for a close-up of Brenner's face, height aside.

However, ignoring the blood fuckery and disappearing gate cracks:

Some-One else has enough energy left to walk towards the doors. All the way over, in fact. So while those close-up shots are 100% out of range for post-gate baby El, they're very much in-range for 3:46 PM One.

Tl;dr: It's entirely possible, if not likely (based on the choreography and camera-work in these scenes) that close-up/angry Brenner was addressing One rather than baby El.

[scoobydoodean]

Do you have siblings, and what order are you in?

How do you view and feel about Sam running away multiple times, and then in 5.16 Sam running away are the only memories he's given? (and do you think angels did that purposefully?)

I am the younger of two and I understand how Sam can run away and how it would only be about getting away from their, but that Dean would feel the brunt of it all. But I can totally imagine my older sibling understanding Dean, but not necessarily Sam's pov.

I also don't think Sam's reasoning is ever fully explained, at least in 5.16, it makes him seem much more selfish and uncaring. I think he assumed Dean was better equipped to handle living with their dad alone simply because he behaved, it just happened to be that Dean and dad were linked - and I don't really know how much they talked about their relationship with their dad till they were older.

I wonder if Dean ever would've considered leaving John and living somewhere near Sam, or even running away with Sam.

I have three siblings. I'm in the middle. Two older siblings and the caboose is 7 years younger than me. So I remember what it's like to be the baby but I also know what it's like to play older sibling to a sibling several years younger than me. My younger brother and I are also very close.

If this was all prompted by my comment the other day that I wasn't looking forward to watching "Dark Side of the Moon", I don't dislike the episode because it shows Sam running off. I do have issues with the episode, but a large part of my distaste for it is that it is generally very depressing. It being depressing in of itself isn't a criticism of the episode—it's supposed to be depressing because it's about total loss of hope and belief for Dean (and then Cas as well losing hope at the end of the episode). It's doing what it's supposed to do in that sense. It's just hard to watch. Unfortunately, a lot of people take the bleakness of it and the idea that Dean is a burden and etc as truth and not manipulation meant to drive him to say "yes", and that also makes me rather sour about it.

I don't care that Sam wanted to go to college, or that he was happy at another family's thanksgiving at one point in his life. The Flagstaff memory bothers me a little because Sam's fond recollection of it, unmarred by any negative associations, clearly suggests he didn't face any consequences for running off once John found him. The fact that he never even into his adult life considered that Dean might have faced consequences does feel rather self-centered, and that's on purpose. I don't care that Sam went to school or that there were points as a kid where he wanted to run off.

I do disagree with the premise that Sam still desires some normal core Thanksgiving. I simply don't think that would be a favorite memory for Sam anymore. Just a few episodes prior to this, in "Swap Meat", Sam sat down with someone else's family for a normal, family dinner and he hated it. He found Gary's parents absolutely obnoxious. He told Gary afterward that he envied his life, only to turn to Dean and say he lied.

SAM I totally lied. That kid's life sucked ass. All that apple-pie, family crap? It's stressful. Trust me – we didn't miss a damn thing.

Or observe earlier in the episode:

DEAN You ever think that you'd want something like that? Wife, rugrats, the whole nine? SAM No, not really my thing anymore.

In fact, it's Dean who envies the normal life in "Swap Meat" and several other episodes (ex: 2.20, 4.19) whereas Sam indicates several times that a normal life is not something he wants (2.02, 2.10, 2.20, 4.08, 4.19, 5.12). In 4.08 and in 2.20, Sam in fact overtly states that he would not go back and choose a normal life now if he could go back. In 3.01, 4.19, and in 5.06, Sam also heavily emphasizes the importance of family within the hunting dynamic. I track a lot of this within the tag #sam the hunter.

I think there is a strong argument to be made that Zachariah ran them through heaven like rats in a maze in 5.16, directing them toward certain memories and not others in order to make Dean believe that Sam doesn't care for him (I have a separate post to make about this in more detail). However, I don't believe Zachariah forced in memories that aren't "greatest hits". I think he just drove them away from any happy memories Sam has with Dean and toward ones where Sam grasped independence from John, misappropriated to make Dean feel Sam doesn't care about Dean or appreciate/recognize his sacrifices (the former is not true, but the latter is in fact true in many cases).

Note though that when Joshua arrives and takes them to heaven's garden:

SAM: This is heaven’s Garden? DEAN: It’s-it’s nice… ish. I guess. JOSHUA: You see what you want to here. For some it’s God’s throne room; for others it’s Eden. You two, I believe it’s the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. You came here on a field trip.

So right there, we have a shared favorite memory, right after (presumably) any potential influence Zachariah had on what memories they were seeing was eliminated.

What primarily irritates me about this episode and many other Dabb/Loflin episodes is their perpetual need to insert the narrative that Sam wants a normal life he explicitly states he does not want over and over and over in everyone else's episodes, while they write Dean as someone who says things like "I mean, we’re supposed to be a team. It’s supposed to be you and me against the world, right?" It implies a sort of desperation vs apathy that, even when contradicted in subtler ways, I just don't find interesting... And yet they seem to harp on the same dramatic "misunderstanding" over and over and over for all eternity. And Dabb continues it after cutting ties with Loflin. In fact he continues to toy with these obnoxious dramatics to the very end of the series in a way I find unbelievably tired and obnoxious and I resent it. He's the same one-trick pony when it comes to his ideas on Dean and Cas conflicts in the later seasons.

As to your last bit there: Dean did consider running off. We see this in "Bad Boys", and in that episode, we also see that Dean doesn't end up abandoning their family because he felt Sam needed him. We hear a similar narrative in regards to John in 1.06 from the mouth of the shifter—that Dean had dreams of his own, but Dean felt that John needed him, so Dean stayed. John echoes this when he says that he was an emotional wreck and Dean took care of him (2.01). We see Dean also taking care of Mary in "Dark Side of the Moon" after she gets off the phone with John, upset. 5.16 casts Dean as someone perpetually sacrificing his own needs for his family, but unappreciated all the while. In fact, Sam doesn't recognize any of his sacrifices. Dean is nothing more than a blood offering on the altar of family. Zachariah intends this narrative and leans into it heavily in the scene where he explicitly manipulates what Sam and Dean are seeing.

MARY: Don’t you walk away from me. I never loved you. You were my burden. I was shackled to you. Look what it got me. The worst was the smell. The pain, well. What can you say about your skin bubbling off? But the smell was so… You know, for a second I thought I’d left a pot roast burning in the oven. But… it was my meat. And then, finally, I was dead. The one silver lining was that at least I was away from you.

Zachariah has Mary speak about Dean being a burden to his family and to her, but it's potentially more layered than "Dean has abandonment issues". What Mary says about being shackled to Dean—being burdened by her child—firmly recollects Dean's claim to Cas in 5.03 that he's chained to his family through responsibility, and that finally being away from Sam is a relief. This fake Mary says death was her escape from similar chains of responsibility to her loved ones. It was the only escape. Burned up and dead but finally free. There's an implication there that Dean can finally escape responsibility in a similar way, and in two episodes, Dean is going to try and escape by saying "Yes".

[episodeoftv]

Prelims, Vote 3 of 8

The top 4 finales will move on to be included in the main bracket

Propaganda is under the cut, may include spoilers

Blake's 7 - 4.13 Blake

Technically, the episode is a very, very good one. Hell, I wouldn't wish for a different finale, to be honest. It's perfect, in its own "What the actual hell!?" way, and it does wonders for the show's themes of doomed struggle. The problem with it is that it was intended to be just a *series* finale, not the *show's* finale, so it ends on an extremely high-stakes cliffhanger. It's fantastic, it's scary, it's heartbreaking, you want more, you want to see it resolved... and the show was cancelled after the fourth series. So all we have is an extremely bleak ending with all but one character presumed dead and that damned last smile in the face of overwhelming odds in a completely hopeless situation.

Castle Rock (2018) - 1.10 Romans

When this show was coming out I was still deep in my Stephen King hyperfixation so needless to say I was *stoked*. But man this was one of the most underwhelming things I've watched. With episodes released weekly we had two months of people going insane with theories, new revelations, Stephen King fans digging up their old books to pick for scraps of hints that could explain what's going on, every week there were new video essays and analyses of the new episode, subreddit buzzing with the wildest theories about who is this mysterious character of The Kid who's kicked the whole plot in motion and what the hell is going on with the seemingly cursed town. And then the finale came and just. Nothing. Everything went back to square one. The Kid is locked back up in the same cage he was originally found in. Nothing was explained. Everyone moves on as if nothing happened. After two months of Castle Rock being the main focus of all of my free time this completely took the wind out of my sails and I completely lost interest in the show and honestly, soon almost forgot it even existed. When the second season came out I didn't watch even the first episode, even though the second season *might* have explained everything, I simply didn't care enough to find out anymore. And from what I've seen, others have felt the same way because since the first season ended I haven't really seen anyone talk about the show.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - 4.08 Chapter Thirty-Six: At The Mountains of Madness

Ok so in fairness this entire final season sucked but the real kicker is that in the final scene we learn that after the main character died, her love interest killed himself in order to be with her in the afterlife. Yeah, a teenager committed suicide and we were supposed to see that as a happy ending.

Choukou Senshi Changerion - 1.39 Over the Times...

It's the last episode, which means no new information or worlds should be introduced, right? WRONG. Inoue (the main writer) decided that, for this last episode, we should see into an alternate (maybe, perhaps) timeline alongside the regular content. The bad guys are coming, except our main guy is starting to go down and remembering all the things that have happened, as well. And then it just ends. On an explosion, of course. Roll Credits!

The Get Down - 5.11 Only from Exile Can We Come Home

rushed to complete the show and low on budget, the writers sent every character besides the protagonist (zeke) to their worst possible fate. shao, finally free and with the person he loved, was coerced to return to the sexually abusive woman who had been his boss since he was a child. dizzee is implied to have been struck by a train after breaking his boyfriend out of prison for graffiti. and boo-boo, the 14 year old, is arrested for selling drugs. in some ways its thematically appropriate, but the unrelenting viciousness of the end of each character's story is sudden, deeply tonally jarring, and leaves the audience feeling despondent and hopeless even with the main character surviving to sing it all as an adult and his love interest finding success as a singer, albeit far away in another city. tgd is an excellent show, but besides being cancelled, the big kicker for it was that the romantic lead mylene didn't hit for a lot of people, and watchers who preferred shao and zeke to get together due to having such strong chemistry and a well-developed bond probably had a very different experience than the writers had intended. mylene is a fine character and she's unfairly disliked by a lot of watchers, but her romance with zeke was simply not as well developed as shao's and zeke's relationship was

Grimm - 3.22 Blond Ambition

It forgoes the usual: 'there is a scary wesen that is causing problems and we can solve this' formula to pay off other plot points, but it kinda makes the episode feel less tethered. The focus is a wedding between supporting characters, whilst a former finale villain is just stalking around town and also a (corrupt) FBI agent is preparing to make his move. Both make their moves and the results are kinda lame. The agent is almost immediately beheaded rendering his active threat moot. And the other villain disguised herself as the MC's girlfriend and sleeps with him. The only major points are the wedding, a police captain getting shot (glossed over here but become relevant next season), the FBI agent dying (it starts a dull investigation next season), and the MC losing his power right at the end (which led to one of the worst periods in the show until he regains his powers...)

Jane the Virgin - 5.19 Chapter One Hundred

No propaganda submitted

[cookinguptales]

The state of the house, Colin’s habit to hammer holes in the walls of the basement, Nadja embezzling, Guillermo embezzling, Nandor’s three wishes, the fate of the Djinn, MARWA!!!!!, Guillermo’s boyfriend… and then there is the whole Nandermo misery

There is still so much to explore and to solve, but only 3 episodes left?! (and I probably forgot a thousand other things)

Ughhhh, it's overwhelming, isn't it? I wonder how many of those things won't be wrapped up by the end of the season... Nandermo I think is a given, haha, but it's possible that a few of those things will carry over as well...

I think Marwa is definitely going to be the beneficiary of one of those wishes, and maybe Guillermo might be, too...? I would be really happy if Nandor kept a wish so the Djinn would have a reason to hang around. Or if the Djinn got transferred to someone else who will use their wishes a lot more slowly. That said, it's unclear if he actually has to go back to the lamp if he doesn't want to; he certainly didn't during the wedding. I actually kind of suspect that he might never be physically in the lamp; rubbing it might just summon the guy from wherever he happens to be. And he seems to be able to create new lamps, so maybe he's not actually physically tied to any of them...? (Does he go from lamp to lamp like a hermit crab or something..?)

So maybe he'll just stick around of his own volition.

I don't necessarily know that they want to keep the Djinn for more than a season, but I really hope they do. I just love him so much. By far my favorite thing about s4 so far.

Most of the vamps' endeavors don't last for more than a season, so I wouldn't be surprised if the embezzling comes up in either the last episode or the beginning of next season as a reason why they can't have the nightclub anymore. It goes bankrupt because everyone is stealing from it lmao. I think it'd be hysterical if the vampiric council refuses to do vampire nightclubs because they always end this way. Closed due to financial malfeasance.

I suspect that both the state of the house and Colin's wall-banging are going to be done by the end of the season. Really high likelihood that the house will be fixed up in the next episode (unless they try to fix it up and just Make It Worse) and perhaps the wall-smashing will be explained, too...? Or at least heavily hinted at before being explained in the finale. I strongly suspect Colin Robinson will be back to adult again next season, so I'd think that one actually has to be wrapped up.

(I really think that 4.08 is gonna knock us flat on our asses, so I'm ready for that one. There's a tiny detail from the leaks that makes me really wonder about 4.08 and the fate of the house, but I've spoken before about how I feel about publicly discussing the leaks and using them for theories. lmao)

Guillermo's boyfriend, to me, is the one that's most up in the air... It could really go in any direction at all. He could end up being a one-and-done character with very few lasting consequences, like Gail. But given how much they've hyped up his presence the whole season, I doubt that. He could be a one-and-done with extremely lasting consequences. (This is what I'm leaning toward now; mostly contained to 4.09 with perhaps some spillover to 4.08 and 4.10.) Or it could be a thing that extends into s5, whether by way of cliffhanger or actually making him a regular character.

As a hardcore nandermo shipper and profound hater of extended love triangles, I do hope that it's not that last one, but... I guess we'll see.

[weakforarwen]

Did anyone notice that when the characters of colour were enchanted, it's played for horror (like shade!Lancelot, possessed!Elyan & evil!Gwen) but when the white characters got enchanted, it's played for laughs (like Formorroh!Merlin, simpleton!Arthur and goblin!Gaius)? Sure, there is one exception when Arthur gets enchanted by Sophia, but the terror of having your consent taken away was never dealt with consistently & that really bugs me.

I'm sorry I forgot your ask! I think you sent it last week? I remember reading it, but then I immediately forgot about it, lmao. Sorry! At least you haven't been waiting that long?...

You make excellent points! And the way the narrative treated these incidents is kinda reflected in the audience's response to them. No one cared that Merlin tried to kill Arthur in that one episode, but Gwen deserved to die or worse for doing the same under the same circumstances (re: Morgana). The fandom just hates Gwen, I guess...

Furthermore, there are no consequences when the white characters are enchanted but the characters of color pay a heavy price. Lancelot died a traitor after first dying a hero. Gwen's character and life were ruined in 4.09, and she lost her brother and killed a man in season 5. Also, it was Elyan who nearly died in 4.07 though the other knights had been enchanted by Lamia too and he could've died (a traitor) in 4.10. And what's worse is that there was no resolution or justice for the characters. Morgana's involvement in 4.09 was never exposed, so neither Lancelot nor Gwen's characters were ever avenged - Lancelot was never spoken of again and Gwen had to live with the fact that she had deeply hurt and betrayed the person she loved and was loyal to the most for reasons she couldn't conceive. Also, she lost Elyan but wasn't allowed to grieve nor was she allowed to come to terms with nearly killing her husband, killing a man, and being controlled by Morgana for weeks. And Elyan nearly died and was possessed by the ghost of a boy in 4.08 and 4.10, but after Arthur saved the day in both episodes we didn't see him again - this is especially weird in 4.10.

Compare all that to when Merlin or Gaius were possessed - they learned the truth of what had happened to them and there were no consequences to their actions. When Arthur was enchanted to fall for Sophia and Vivian, it was more serious because he nearly died, but, in the end, no one thought less of him and he learned the truth of what had happened with Vivian at least. 1.07 is much darker than 2.10, but, at last, all was well. Neither episode ended like 4.09 or 5.06. And it's sad that there were no consequences to what Merlin did in 4.12, but nothing too horrible happened to Arthur anyway - he lost a bit of his dignity but what else is new - his honor was restored in the end.

There is also a huge difference in how the characters are treated when they're possessed. Merlin quickly realized that Arthur had been made to fall for Vivian and that Gaius had been possessed by the goblin; Arthur and Gaius weren't looked at with suspicion or accused of treason. And Gwen and Gaius figured out super quickly what had happened to Merlin so he was never accused of betraying the King. Arthur, Merlin, and Gaius were blameless and those who mattered knew it (with a few exceptions). Yet, when Elyan was possessed in 4.10, the Knights thought he was seeking revenge for his sister, and Arthur at one point feared it too, though it was obvious Elyan would never have done that. Although Merlin and Arthur learned the truth, his character was first put into question. Moreover, everyone thought Lancelot and Gwen had betrayed Arthur, and even Merlin never knew the truth about Gwen. And when Arthur saw Gwen with Morgana in 5.09, he kind of questioned her character at first (though that bit of dialogue is ambiguous). My point is, Gwen, Lancelot, and Elyan's morals and loyalties were questioned (and tarnished in the case of Gwen and Lancelot), yet Arthur, Gaius, and Merlin came out of it unscathed and were never accused of betraying the King.

Anyway, that was a really good observation, thanks for pointing it out! I hadn't really noticed it, but it's so obvious now you've said it. I'd noticed how the characters of color were treated on Merlin compared to the white characters but I hadn't made this particular association. I'm always happy to be enlightened and educated though.

Also, Merlin is fucking awful with consent. Poor Arthur had his taken from him multiple times and it was always played for laughs. I guess it's because he was a man, so being kissed by Sophia against his will, kissing Vivian, unknowingly fucking non-Gwen, and being toyed with by Merlin, were all played for laughs. Arthur never even learned the truth about Sophia and Merlin...

Thanks so much for the ask!

[gregoftom]

Sorry what the FUCK happens in 4x08??? I've only seen up to 4x05 and I'm saving the rest for the break but everything I've seen (and I've tried to minimise my spoilers despite lurking on succtwt and being into succession on tumblr (clearly) ) about 4x08 looks INSANE

Like just

Without spoilers, how crazy is it

(I'm scared)

YOU ARE A STRONG WARRIOR YOUNG PADAWAN GOD BLESS YOU!!

and 4.08 is my Favourite episode of s4, save for maybe the finale. it’s. it’s very crazy. uhhhh without spoiling, greg basically is tom’s wife the whole episode, his faithful dog and partner and tom leans on him heavily right in front of the three siblings. yes, that includes shiv.

iiiii hope that’s not toooooo spoilery but yes. that’s also not even everything. so. yeah i fucking love 4.08!!!!! hope you get there soon and have fun dying like i did! 🥰 pls scream at me when you finishhhhh as well omg ❤️

[lesbianmarrow]

I know you've talked a lot about not really caring for nate but I actually think he fulfills an interesting role in the show in that he is, more often than most of them, put in the role of a support character. he occupies a niche that's generally filled by women and people of color. he's got a good heart and he's very kind and he slots into being.. sometimes a caretaker, in small ways, but very also often someone for other characters to bounce off of. his dynamic with sara is very sweet, and with ray, and with both zaris, and mick, and Amaya. I think it's really refreshing to see him in that position. that's not to say none of the other characters are ever forced into that position but he fills it way more often than I would generally expect from a white guy. I think looking at him through the lens of the role he plays relative to other characters makes him a lot more enjoyable

that's an interesting way of looking at the character, and not one i had considered before! i'm going to keep this in mind next time i watch an episode of legends of tomorrow. that said, i'm not necessarily convinced that nate often being placed in a support role necessarily is taking away from other characters being placed in that role? bc i've often noticed it with zari 1.0 and charlie as well.

i often feel like zari 1.0 gets relegated to support for other characters' storylines a bit more than is fair, while she often isn't the focus of the story. i guess in season 3 part of that is to show how she fits in with the rest of the team and establish her personality and her role thru these character dynamics, so it makes sense. but then in season 4 it's like well first she's support for ray's storyline and then she's kind of tagging along for charlie & constantine's adventures and then she's support for nate's storyline and it's like :/ now it IS possible that i just disproportionately notice when this happens with zari bc she's my fave and that this happens to other characters just as much but still this is just the impression i get. we do get 4.02 and 4.11 as zari-centric episodes which is good it's just unfortunate that both were just not very good episodes imo. BUT zari 2.0 is getting a lot of focus as her own character and is not just there to support other characters and that's a very positive change imo.

i think it is fair to say that in season 4 charlie is mostly supporting other characters' storylines and gets less focus than she should. while 4.03 was a really great showcase for her, her other major episodes are 4.08 and 4.15, and both of those she has to share with other characters who are getting more focus than her in those episodes (constantine in 4.08, zari and others in 4.15).

SORRY i just kind of went on a rant about other characters i feel have been underserved by the show. i don't think what i'm saying negates your point exactly, but i don't think nate being in the background necessarily saves other characters from being in the background if that makes sense? still you know i do also enjoy when nate is friends with other characters like when he and ava had their little coworker thing going and when he is a good friend to ray. his blandness makes it hard for me to actively care about him but it's not like i hate him and i definitely agree that him kind of just being there is totally preferable to him taking up all the spotlight.

[ablazenqueen]

Chris: Buck, will you be my second dad?

Eddie: Did you just... propose to Buck for me?

Buck, accepting the offered Ring Pop with tears in his eyes: yES

[pynkhues]

What is your favorite Christina and Manny performance on the show?

Oh man, I have a lot actually! I think they're both really wonderful actors who gave so much to their respective characters, and while I think they had chemistry off the charts with one another, I also think they had chemistry with pretty much every other actor on the show? It was a really charismatic cast in general, and they played off each other so well.

Okay, so I've tried to narrow this down to just a couple a season, but it's been wildly difficult, especially since Christina in particular has so many really great scenes on the show, and I'm sure as soon as I hit post I'll change my mind, haha, but okay, right now:

Rio in the 1.10/2.01 cliffhanger

Christina and Matthew are great in this scene too, but Manny really steals the show. His ability to navigate the complicated, evolving mood of the sequence across two different episodes and a long season hiatus is pretty much perfect, and seeing him flick on honeytrap mode is just !! A wildly great momen, and some really great acting from him.

Rio with the tyre iron in 2.04

The bathroom break is, of course, transcendent, but Manny is honestly at his most charismatic, his most electric, his most physical as a performer in the episode closer with the corvette. It's a scene I think I've watched about 12,000 times and it never loses it's energy. He's really just that good in it.

Beth and Ruby's fight in 2.08

Christina and Retta both are on fire in this scene, but Christina's line delivery of "I would choose you. Every time." lives rent-free in my head. The way her voice breaks, the frantic, urgent pain, it's!! Perfect!!!

Beth and Rio go back to Beth's in 2.09

The layers of vulnerability and intimacy are unparalleled, and Christina and Manny both play the moment with the exact right amount of nerves and tenderness and uncertainty. Magicccc.

Beth in Beth and Rio's reunion in 3.03

In a lot of ways, Manny has the easier job here. He's performing for Beth, and he does a great job, but Christina fractures in such a compelling way. She feels so tautly pulled in the moment, so unable to process what's happening in front of her, and you feel that as much as you feel her start to scramble mentally for her way out, and the beat where she finally finds that escape hatch? It only gets better on re-watch.

Beth and Rio in the park bench fight in 3.06

Christina's actually pretty amazing generally playing griefstruck after Lucy's death, but I love this scene in particular for just the anguish that washes over both of them. Neither of them ever wanted to be here, and yet they can't escape each other, and a conversation that starts about work and becomes about Lucy before becoming about them involves so many shifts in tone that they both just land so well.

Beth strongarms Gayle in 3.11

Look, they like - - never let Beth be funny, and the chance she has to be a total dick to Gayle after robbing her blind is cinema magic to me. Christina just kills it.

Beth talks to Dean in prison in 4.03

This could be one of my favourite scenes acting-wise on the show fullstop. I think Christina and Matthew are both tremendously nuanced in it, but Christina in particular opens Beth up to guilt and grief and fear in a way her typically closed-off character doesn't get to be. It's really affecting, and the glassy eyes get me every time.

Rio's look of betrayal in 4.08

Naked betrayal!! The way Manny shifts his whole face in a heartbeat as he realises what's happened!! I can't!!!

Christina in 4.14 after Rio re-delivers Beth's furniture / Beth and Rio 'he's in our way' scene

Christina plays weary about as well as Manny plays charming, which is to say very, very well, and there's something to the combination of that that shouldn't work, but really does. The exhaustion is palpable in both these scenes, and with that exhaustion, everything just feels a little closer to the surface. Both Christina and Manny play the beats with something that's not-quite-vulnerable, but not-quite-as-guarded as normal, and it just creates this sense of space, not just in the moment, but maybe for the future too.

I think that's me! What are some of your favourite acting moments on the show?

[itwoodbeprefect]

anyway [dons tinfoil hat] in 3.22 quadromania starsky is posing as a cab driver and filling up his gas tank and not really looking when another cab rolls up to him and the woman driving it asks if he’s new and starsky says yeah and the woman says in a deliberately deeper voice “kind of foxy too. i’ll be uh, working downtown tonight if you get lonely, fella” and starsky, still not looking, goes “sorry, i don’t go that route” and the female cabbie says in her normal voice while taking off her hat and revealing long blond hair “well. at least you don’t keep it in the closet, like a lot of guys”, with the joke obviously being that starsky just unknowingly implied he isn’t into women, while only THREE EPISODES EARLIER, in 3.19 hutchinson for murder one, hutch takes his unexpected ex-wife to the pits and huggy tells hutch “man, you are one tight closet”, and then VERY SHORTLY after this, in 4.02 the game, hutch could give starsky any word association term he wanted and he goes “now, i want you to tell me everything that comes into your mind when i say the word ‘closet’”. so what this tells us [adds little rainbow flag to tinfoil hat] is that they’re both in a closet, but hutch is aware of it (doesn’t refute huggy’s comment; tries to feel out starsky about it in a circumspect way) while starsky is not (does not realize what’s happening for most of the cab scene; takes hutch’s prompt at face value and veers off into a wildly different direction). HOWEVER [puts hutch’s terrible blond perm wig on top of tinfoil hat] all of this is followed by 4.08 dandruff, in which starsky tells hutch to “put your act in the closet” while hutch is quote-unquote undercover as a stereotypically gay hairdresser with a lisp, which leaves us with questions - has starsky had a realization in the time between 4.02 and 4.08? does he still believe this is just a mask hutch is putting on, rather than one he may have taken off? is there something between them at this point and starsky is telling hutch to cool it, or the opposite, to just be himself? and of course, the foremost mystery on all of our minds: just how big are their closets, to fit a) all of those 70s clothes, b) hutch’s wig and c) two grown men?

[scoobydoodean]

hey pk I was wondering about something since I saw this analysis post about about the moc storyline, and i realised since you seem to have such a comprehensive understanding of the show AND are currently doing a rewatch AND always without fail have good and fair analysis, I could just ask you! so if it’s alright/if you have time, could you tell me if dean ever says stuff like ‘I wanna punch sth/c’mon let me just [do sth violent]’ before he ever has the mark? does he ever say it aside from that one scene in 10.20 i can remember?

btw love you you’re the best <3 coolest blog badge for you 🎖

Hello Jo! 🩷 Thank you for the badge it is a great honor to receive such an award. 😌

I cannot think of an example of this up to my current rewatch episode (6.06) though admittedly this isn't something I would think to take particular note of. However, perhaps butch—dean's transcript search could be of assistance!

I found Sam and Dean both saying they "want to hit/punch something" in season 12?

Dean in 12.14:

Dean: You know what? You find us a case. 'Cause I need to hit something. Now. Sam: You wanna talk about it?

Sam in 12.21:

Sam Seven Hunters are gone. We can't grab a signal from Mom's phone. Cas has Kelly Kline who knows where. Mick has slipped off the grid. Ketch is lying to us. I-I... I wanna punch something in the face. Dean: Good. Hold on to that, 'cause it looks like we got a hellhound to deal with. Which means…

The phrases "hit something" and "punch something" don't appear anywhere else in the transcripts said by Dean or Sam tho <3 I also tried "kill something", "hunt something", "murder something", "punch", and "to hit".

This isn't the same thing exactly but maybe tangentially relevant:

Dean has said "I need/want to work" before—once during the MoC arc in 10.04 but also in 4.08, but the context of the line in 4.08 is Sam is badgering him to open up about hell when Dean is not ready, so Dean says "I want to work" as a way of proving he is fine and getting Sam off his back and off the subject of Dean's trauma. Sam says the same thing in 7.11, and then in 2.18:

DEAN: Yeah. I just figured that, you know, after everything that happened with ... Madison, y-you could use a little R-and-R, that's all. SAM: Well, maybe I wanna work, Dean. Maybe it keeps my mind off things.

In 1.20, Sam also insist when Dean suggests R&R "we got work to do, and you know that."

[kitkatpancakestack]

ya'll I'm so sorry but I'm about to go tf off again about this damn weewoo show and these dumb coparenting firefighters.

I can't keep track over what's been discussed already and what hasn't, but I'm freaking out over my re-watch of 4x08 (Breaking Point). I could probably write 25k words on that episode alone and maybe this will be a multi-part post, but I don't want to set the precedent that I'm organized so this will be some more word vomit thrown into the void.

The rest under a cut so you can ignore my hiatus crackheadery if you wish:

Alright, so whoever is still here, I want to talk about three specific scenes in Breaking Point that happen in succession. They are as follows:

1. Eddie's talk with Chris about Ana

2. Buck's awkward double date with Taylor

3. Christopher running away to Buck

Firstly, what I do remember is an excellent meta by @jackles-coded (and they do have some excellent posts about 9-1-1) about this episode and how Albert/Veronica were proxies for Eddie/Ana, so definitely go check that out for a deeper dive. Sorry I don't have the direct link :(

Alright, let's get into this nonsense:

Eddie's talk with Chris about Ana

There are some interesting choices in this scene for sure. We're going to be talking about the usage of the word friend. In this scene, Eddie talks to Christopher about the friend he mentioned before, which Christopher gives a god-tier side-eye to, before Eddie specifically follows up by saying his friend is a woman, in which Christopher proceeds to go ape shit. The end of this scene shows Eddie holding his face with his right hand. There's a shot of LA before the next scene, but the first shot in that scene is a close-up of Buck's right hand, before it zooms out to show the rest of him. Listen, I don't know if this is tinhattery or not, but what a subtle way to connect these two scenes. Which brings us to . . .

Buck's awkward double date with Taylor

The song playing in the background as this scene opens, I know we all know it by now: Where Do We Go by Beauty Queen. In case you don't know, have some lyrics:

I wanna know there will be someone else for you / Cuz I can't stand making plans without you / where do we go when there is nothing left to do / cuz I'm wondering, wondering / where do I go when I stop running? / Will I have a place for my heart to stay? / Don't wanna end up one day with nothing / Where do I go when I stop running

When I return will it have been too many days / spent too long trying just to get away / feeling low and I know you can relate / cuz I'm wondering, wondering / where do I go when I stop running? / Will I have a place for my heart to stay? / Don't wanna end up one day with nothing / Where do I go when I stop running

Speaks for itself, right? It's actually driving me insane.

Not only is this obviously about Buck and Taylor, but this song being placed immediately after the scene with Eddie implores me to parallel it to Eddie's situation with Ana as well.

The scene continues, Taylor spits that unforgiveable bullshit at Buck, causing him to revert to Buck 1.0 before our very eyes. And again we have the usage of the word friend: "Because I could really use a friend right now," says Taylor. Leaving Buck looking dejected, and leading right into the next scene which is . . .

Christopher running away to Buck

So we go from Taylor leaving Buck behind to a scene with Ana trying to peace out herself, but Eddie asking her to stay. And we know what happens: Chris takes an Uber (???) to Buck's and Dad!Buck jumps out for a hot second. We have Buck assuring Christopher that he will always be there for him, and then again the use of friend: "You're a good friend [Buck]."

Listen, I'm sorry (not sorry), but these three scenes happening one after the other, connected the way they are, with an obvious theme about "friendship" and what does it mean and when does it lead to something more, threaded through each scene? What was the reason? What is the endgame here?

The episode altogether, but especially these three scenes, are so loud. The writers really tipped their hands for us, but again, I don't think it's something you catch on the first or second viewing. This plotline was entirely about Buck and Eddie. They have their little moment together at the beginning (which is an entire meta to itself), but they are intentionally separated throughout the rest of the episode. It was about them blindly following the paths they thought they were supposed to travel, ignoring the obvious signs of where they should be going. I am beside myself. These writers . . . .

4.08 is a gold mine, someone dig into this nonsense with me please.

[cookinguptales]

based on when certain filming spoilers came to light the freddie scenes were actually some of the first ones shot. so no they did not trip and fall into the episode to give the djinn more to do, they could have given the djinn literally anything to do. if anything, the wedding and freddie wishes are the only plot relevant wishes the djinn has (give or take the dick wish), nearly everything else happens off screen or has no consequences so that doesn't really make any sense at all.

Well... *pulls out receipts* ...filming started in September (per Harvey's IG), ended in early December (also per Harvey's IG), and I know for a fact that at least some of the Freddie scenes were filmed in November due to (private) set reports and (public) pictures, so I'm not sure what you mean about it being filmed first?

We also know that the season's filming wrapped with The Wedding (per Tig's IG) so that could also point to some shuffling and/or reshooting there. It seems that the ep was initially slated to be later in the season (also per Tig's IG) but it got moved around, and I do still think that might've been because of Djinn shenanigans. If that ep was initially supposed to be near the end of the season (or even at 4.06 where it eventually ended up) when the Djinn was supposed to be gone (per Anoop Desai, who said he initially only signed on for two episodes and then they asked him to stay longer after the dick wish), how would the Marwa-liking-what-Nandor-likes wish have happened...?

That wish showed up prominently in 4.08 and 4.09, so they were also affected by that change in direction. Her role in 4.07 was tiny and didn't mention the wish at all, so it's hard to say with that one.

So like... the wedding and Freddie wishes are exactly the ones I'm talking about? Like those are literally the plot-relevant wishes I'm talking about. lmao. They were a pretty big deal! Like I wouldn't be surprised if there was still some kind of plotline planned for Nandor dating Freddie (or maybe even finding another way to clone him) but the Djinn wish to change an already-brainwashed Marwa into Freddie was 100% necessary for many of the parts of that episode I didn't like. And the Marwa-likes-what-I-like wish had pretty long-reaching effects in later episodes.

So... yes, I'm curious to know what those episodes looked like minus the Djinn. That's what we've been talking about.

Like I feel like you're upset with me, anon, but I actually have the receipts on this one! I promise that I'm not just talking out of my ass!

[cinematicnomad]

I've been meaning to do this - CONGRATULATIONS ON 5000! 🥳

And I realise this is dumb because we are kind of collaborators BUT...

✌ woodchoc_magnum 😂

Love you Kat! 💕💕

FELICITY!! i adore you but i have taken weeks to respond to this ask bc i just....HOW DO I PICK? you CAN'T ask me to rec only one of your fics! i've been editing your fics for the better part of a year now. you're so prolific! you write a new amazing, lengthy fic like every 2 weeks! and honestly half the time it feels like you're writing specifically for ME, i love your fics so much, they are exactly the type of canon compliant lengthy well-written nuanced fics that i love to spend hours devouring.

but if i HAVE to, i think....

oh man, i know how much you struggled with this series, but it's gotta be the just to be with you 3 part series. so for my followers who haven't read the series, here's part one:

alone again with night to you by woodchoc_magnum (3/3 | 37k | M) canon compliant; minor eddie/ana; pining; angst w/ a happy ending; getting together

in which eddie and ana are dating, buck is secretly in love with him, and christopher isn't handling it well.

this entire series is just....fucking pERFECTION. the following two parts are just as amazing—this entire series really covers the whole gamut of the relationship, starting with the pre-relationship pining phase (where you! practically PREDICTED canon with your buck and christopher talk pre-4.08), then into the hidden relationship arc which you KNOW i'm a sucker for, and then spending the third fic dealing with the all of the fallout of their parents finding out. i really think this series is one of my favorite depictions of the buckley and diaz parents bc it's just...super nuanced. the entire series just! KILLS ME! and i have re-read it more than once bc i love it so much 😊😊

honestly i remember the gap between when you wrote part 2 and part 3, and i was just as eager, if not MORE eager than your readers, waiting for you to send me the draft for the final part bc i was so desperate to know what happened next. the entire series lived up to all of my expectations and really filled my heart and soul with happiness.

✨cinematicnomad’s 5k celebration✨