#but youre telling me!!!!! after almost 50 perfect episodes they did the characters so dirty!!!!!!!!!! everything after zishengs massacre

[capriszn]

whyd they pull out the breaking up over revenge plotline i hate this so bad

[laufire]

Roswell NM 2x05

My thoughts of this episode could basically be summed up on “Extremely Mixed Feelings” lmfao.

Let’s start with Rosa, obviously. Gosh, I adore her. ADORE her. She feels so lively and real and colourful among... well, everything and everyone else xD. She did even in death. She makes this show better by being the point of contention in the narrative. The mixed feelings come when she interacts with anyone else, because though she remains her incredible self, (almost) everyone else isn’t and I keep chaffing against the dominant narrative :P. She’s also hilarious lmao. I love every one of her zings xD. The “bitch-ass aliens” was obviously the winner, but her calling Max & Isobel’s nonsense “psychic twincest weirdness” was close LOL.

Like, I don’t know how I feel about the show even JOKING about Rosa possibly forgiving Max & Co. The scene itself with Rosa DEMANDING her own room was perfect, but. Yeah. Don’t even joke about that xD. To add that, I actually really love her scenes with Max, both in previous episodes and this one, when he briefly convinced her of stopping his resurrection (I kind of love that the episode was so close to Easter, btw, it’s so on the nose xDD). The energy between the actors works REALLY well and I find myself suddenly paying attention to Max, which hadn’t happened so far xDD. However, I’d enjoy those scenes even more if I could be reasurred that Rosa is always going to have mixed feelings at best about him, and will never be reduced to prop him or Liz/Max (like in the moment where Rosa almost has to comfort Liz about Max loving her. Leave my kid out of this pls). But. Yeah. I also have some guesses as to where the Rosa vs. Max storyline will go now that a.) she has more control of her new powers, and b.) his resurrection is the one that’ll follow the Came Back Wrong pattern, but they’re half-formed/half-wishful thinking so far lol.

I love love love the physicality of Rosa’s scenes with Liz too, even if sometimes I’m bothered by other elements. I’m just amazed by how the actresses manage to make it come across that despite the obvious visuals, despite how ~youthful and reckless Rosa feels... she’s the older sister, still. That’s how she feels, and Liz gets ~swayed by this. Like how she bundles herself agaisnt Rosa’s chest for comfort (and in the second one, the transition to that after Liz holds Rosa’s face in her hands), or how Rosa talks about her “sweet little sister”, etc. It also helps making the relationship feel less proppy than it would otherwise --younger sisters doing something for their older ones feels different than the reverse, idk. I have Thoughts about this but they’re all tangled up with myself projecting stuff on them, so idk what I’m trying to convey here xDD

I’m less conflicted about Rosa/Isobel. STAY AWAY FROM HER ISOBEL. Seriously, I full on despise her now. Fuck her. At the beginning of the season it looked like I might start finding her interesting, but nah. That’s over. And in particular I want her as far away as possible from Rosa. I’m even surprised by the strength of my reaction lol, but I wanted to yell at her to take her dirty paws off Rosa xD (seriously, the scene where she puts her hand on Rosa’s chest felt so so creepy? Was that just me? Add that in Isobel’s comment about having a “threeway” and deugh. GO AWAY ISOBEL). And frankly, it’s hard to miss how Isobel is always at her worst with women of color (I’m wary of her attitude to men of color, after the blatant sexualization/mind control thing with Kyle or all her bullshit with Arturo, too). Her comments on Rosa’s addiction (let alone assaulting her or locking her body in a closet ofc) didn’t help her case. I really, really wish Rosa had chocked a bitch xD. BTW, I’ve seen people attribute Isobel’s shittiness to her connection to Max and his darkness when a.) we saw NO SIGNS of this, and b.) she’s been terrible from day one, okay xD. If the show goes there to absolve her of responsibility like it did in s1... ugh.

My connection was crappy af last week and I somehow missed Michael’s “help me move a body” scene until I saw the parallel done with the one this week and... did this bitch really joke about desecrating Rosa’s body in front of Liz’s face?? (who said nothing because she’s now completely on pod-people’s POV land, ofc. I had flashbacks to Delena joking about Caroline’s rape right there, too). Seriously, the pod-people, ALL of them, have an enourmous debt with Rosa (EVEN MORE NOW), and I really, really wish she collected.

I wish we’d seen Arturo & Arturo-Rosa stuff this episode. It’ll still be tainted by the circumstances (*hates Isobel even more*), but I’m very curious about them. And about how Rosa’s bio-father ties to this stuff --that side of Rosa’s family is being left out of things so far and I don’t like it, tbh. It seems to be simply because it’s too far from the pod-siblings circle of influence ¬¬. Or about how Arturo is processing all this (he still thinks Rosa drove and killed the two other girls and that Max is A Very Nice Boy *barfs*. I seriously resent the very real posibility that Rosa’s story will never be untangled, to her father and to the town).

Not-Rosa-centric stuff under the cut, I guess, because this is getting long xD

I also have mixed feelings about Maria’s scenes with Alex (and Maria’s scenes in general). OTOH, she looked amazing (this is important, js. It’s such a shame we didn’t see Michael’s reaction to that last outfit of hers *-*); I love the actor’s easy chemistry, too; and I think it’s very, very interesting, that Alex basically nudged Maria towards Michael and Miluca. OTOH, I dislike how the conversation immediately turned to supporting him, and especially the false equivalences between Maria falling for Michael and Alex contributing to the lies to her (though I don’t find him as responsibly for that as Michael and especially Liz --since it was Michael’s secret and he planned and struggled to tell her, while Liz was pretty comfortable keeping her in the dark except for her own emotional needs, and knew too well why those secrets could cost), or between looking at your mother’s search history and forgiving someone for keeping you in the dark and endangering your life, js. That he guilted her into forgiving Liz (and so fullfilling Maria’s prophecy about how Liz only struggled to tell her because she wanted support, and my own about how little her anger was allowed to last) made it worse.

I feel terrible for Kyle. You could feel the toll he’s taken smh. My heart broke a little when he told Liz “you called, I broke the speed limit”, too :/. His relationship with his mother is hanging on the balance after all his lies too, which doesn’t bode to well for him either. I liked the scene between him and Alex, at least, though I still don’t think I could ever ship them, given Kyle’s romantic history with someone that ALSO was hung up on another person, js.

Other people have talked about how Alex’s scenes with Michael often highlight his classism and how little it’s talked about in this fandom, but yeah. His comments about Michael’s “wasting” his life... I Felt that.

Related to that, Max’s comment about how someone “has to clean up [Michael’s] messes” is part of why the pod-siblinghood thing is never ever ever going to work for me, sns xDD. Sure, it’s mostly because I don’t like Max or Isobel at all, or Michael 40-50% of the time, but yeah, things like that, or Isobel assuring him of the BLATANT lie that Michael means as much to her and Max as each other... they make it harder to get into the ~spirit lol. Another issue is how TERRIBLE the editing to make them appear younger looks xDD

I had to, HAD TO, roll my eyes at Max’s martyrdom. Ooooh, he’s not doing this for HIMSELF, he would NEVER care about being in PAIN, he’s doing this for US. And the narrative conveniently doesn’t take him at his word and saves him, ofc, because’s he’s a lead and that’s what’s up. It was interesting seeing the other characters coming to acceptance at first, however --I hope it’s a Sign. There are other Signs (of Max’s narrative maaaaaaybe weak spots) that really *pop* in this episode. Like the fact that there’s doubt over who is more important to him, Liz or Isobel. In a show with a really strong male lead, the answer would unquestionably be Liz: she’d know it, Isobel would know it, we’d all know it. And sure, I know a lot of people would say that it’s “better” (?) for a show to acknowledge the ~importance of familial and platonic bonds~ and what not, but c’mon. I don’t doubt that if Liz had been white things would be different. But that’s not the case here. And there are strong arguments for Isobel being number one... like the fact that this amnesia plot in the promo seems to ONLY involve Liz? I mean, he seems to remember Isobel just fine. A male lead forgetting the love of his life is very, very tricky. OTOH this is good in the sense that I’m all for anything that makes Max take a fall... but his & Liz’s stories are too tangled up and I’d fear she’d surely go down with him :/

[muthaz-rapapa]

Possible Precure Concept # 4

Phantom Thieves

As promised, here it is.

The idea popped into my head a few months ago. Can’t remember whether or not Yuni made her first appearance at that point yet but whatever.

So! Picture it. A Precure team completely composed of kaitou who go about purifying corrupted artwork/valuable treasure and fighting villains aiming to “taint” the world in desolate colors or something like that (is that too Smile-like? that’s too much like Smile, isn’t it?).

No, you are not wrong. It takes inspiration straight from Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Saint Tail and maybe even a little bit of Persona 5 even though I’ve only watched like the first 6 episodes of the adaptation and never played the game (I can see why it’s so popular, though).

Anyways, I just thought it’d be cool to see Precure’s take on this concept. I wasn’t even deterred when StarPre brought out Blue Cat because it’s not like Toei doesn’t recycle stuff from past seasons.

However, there are several things I believe that can keep it off the consideration table. Like...

1) The one or two people who think it might suggest to kids to become criminals.

......Honestly? Honestly, if you steal only from the dirty rich, then I am absolutely FINE with that. Seriously, have your fun and EAT THE RICH!!

Ok, j/k, j/k except not really but the thing with phantom thieves (besides the fact that they are largely fictional) is that...there’s a sense of romanticism that sets them apart from other types of outlaws. At least the ones I came across, they mostly use trickery and cunning (and their charm) but rarely do they ever resort to violence or worse to get the job done.

And in some cases, the thief may have a noble motive for committing the crimes (like how Yuni did it to reclaim the resources for her home planet but donated everything else to the poor). I think that’s why phantom thieves are so compatible with the magical girl genre.

Because you know the MC is actually a good person performing a heroic deed but at the same time they’re operating well outside of what’s legal. And that’s what makes the story all the more thrilling to follow.

You want them to escape the police. You want them to steal the target. You want them to succeed because at the end of the day, they are not the villain.

That’s exciting, isn’t it? :D

...but hey, y’know...if the writers are afraid of the wrath of a few individuals who take a children’s anime way too seriously then that’s their call. :P

Pretty sure there’s no one that paranoid though...maybe... I dunno.

In any case, we can all agree it’s an interesting pitch, yea?

Yea. Next concern then.

2) It’s already been done.

On top of that, old favorites like KKJ and Saint Tail have the edge of nostalgia supporting them which will inevitably lead to the silly argument of “who did it better”.

Not that that’s ever stopped us before. I mean, look at KiraPre. At the start of its run, it drew tons of comparison with Tokyo Mew Mew but still became a very successful and beloved season among Precure fans.

So really, there is no issue there (in fact, the more magical phantom thieves, the merrier) because the story is likely always going to be different.

Which brings me to my next point...

3) Narrative

Among the majority (or perhaps, the more traditional?) of magical girl series, the plot is usually “normal girl obtains magical powers to fight evil and save the world”.

The plot is simple. The story isn’t.

The story is how you tell the plot.

Which makes comparisons between different series almost kinda pointless because no story progresses the same way as another does nor would they have details that are exactly alike.

Especially if Toei one day decides that it wants to take a shot at this idea for their cash cow franchise, then they already have a striking appeal the two aforementioned titles don’t: a team of phantom thieves.

Granted, that’s easier said than done.

Even though I’m proposing it, I can’t deny it might be hard to pull off well.

I dunno. I’m always under the impression that phantom thieves work better alone (their non-action accomplices aside). Less things to worry about on their end, less things to trip them up.

But why not take on the challenge? If you can manage to get a bunch of colorful personalities and/or headstrong egos to cooperate on big “heists” together, that would be pretty impressive.

Plus, let’s not forget that Toei has 16+ years of trumpeting the magic of “friendship and teamwork” under their belt with 50-so episodes spanning each year-long season to boot. Planning and writing fleshed-out character arcs and group development should be their forte by now.

Admittedly, they’re not always perfect at it but the point is, this is not unfamiliar territory for them.

Of course, there’s a lot more to a story than just its main cast and what razzle dazzle effects they can do. You also need good supporting characters, antagonists worth our attention, interesting (and in this case, clever) one-shot fillers, the usual one or two unexpected twists and perhaps most importantly, a solid narrative theme to work with.

“Phantom thieves” are a motif, not a narrative theme.

A motif is something that helps explains the theme (or message) the show wants to convey.

Like “hope versus despair”, loneliness, love (this one’s been broadly overused but yea, it is one), etc. Those are all themes.

Unfortunately, I can’t think of a theme that would correspond well to “phantom thieves” as motif at the moment.

Hmmm…maybe “justice”?

But what the heck, I’m not part of the writing staff. This is their job to think up, not mine! xP

…still, I think it’ll require a good amount of brainstorming if you really want it to turn out good.

Um…what else?

I guess, just smaller things like whether to use “Cure ______” or “Kaitou _____” because a stock trait of phantom thieves series is that they like to announce themselves as “Phantom Thief so-and-so”…so I’m wondering if the Cure title will even matter?

It feels less like a Precure show if the girls don’t actually call themselves “Cures”, doesn’t it?

Uuuuuuhhhhh…oh yea!

For every phantom thief, there is usually always a detective chasing after them and maybe even a rival thief that comes in later during the story.

I think it’d be a fascinating twist if the detective was a girl in the same class as the starter Cure(s) who ends up befriending said Cure(s) not knowing she’s (they’re) the same as the thief(s) she’s trying to catch. Then the reveal happens at the worse timing (ep 30ish) but she makes the decision to protect the Cure(s)…by becoming a Cure herself…and you can guess at what happens next but it’s pretty predictable. She comes to terms with it and drops her day job to become a magical girl and steal for the sake of good.

..Yea.

As for the rival part, I’m still really pushing for opposing Precure teams. Ideally, a two-against-two scenario where they (maybe one-sidedly) compete to see who can purify the most monsters until circumstances push them to see they’re better working together.

…lol, I dunno. It may not work with the principles of Precure in general but I’m just having a lot of fun right now thinking all this up. xD;

So yea, that’s another big one to add to my Precure wishlist.

If it becomes reality someday, I’ll…well, I’ll definitely not stop screaming for the next five years, that’s for sure. xDD;;;

[jazillia007]

Thoughts on 2x13 - Part 1

So first of all, I have to say I'm very glad I didn't watch the episode live with the emotions coming in left and right and all the drama happening in the fandom right after the episode.

I watched the episode knowing what's coming, so that was kinda cheating on my part but it definitely helped to focus on everything else happening in the episode.

Overall I can say it was a terribly written episode – it felt like a episode quickly written in case Good Girls didn't get a renewal (season 2 had obviously finished filming when it got its renewal, so they definitely didn't think about whether it would feel out of character or moving too fast.)

Because – and I don't care if I get hate for this – I could see Brio ending up in a situation like they ended up in this episode. But let's talk about the other things first.

Annie and Noah (because it's quick):

I never really cared about them. I don't care about Noah having a kid – trying to make it all okay he did lie to Annie and raped her by deception. So you guys talked it out and now it's okay? No, thanks. And do I think he will leave? Well only season 3 will tell. Also I was low-key grossed out by Annie sitting on the toilet doing her business while talking to Noah. They still know eachother for 5 minutes and I just think it's gross. (I know there are couples who do this kind of stuff but personally my toilet business is my toilet business. lol)

Boomer – Marion – Redemption – WTF?:

First of all: why did we need Boomer to be alive again? After watching episode 12 I was like „okay maybe there is a reason why the writers messed with us“ but now I just think it was really for the shocker and mostly cringeworthy scenes.

The dining room scene was terrible. Who wrote it? Jenna, was that you?

Boomer being like „I'm gonna change my face and nobody will recognize me“. Like what? This felt straight out of a Korean drama (if anyone is watching Korean drama, you all know what I mean). It was way too long, way too over the top and not funny. And then Boomer is coming at the 3 women with Jeff? How does he know about Jeff? Did I miss anything? Did I miss Mary Pat telling him about her husband? People in the fandom, help me out! Did I zoom out while this conversation happened?

But also: I don't get Beth's reasoning here. Ruby is right! Get rid off the rest of Jeff and call the cops on Boomer! Heck, why didn't they tell Boomer about how he should shut up about Jeff when he is dirty himself. All the business in Fine & Frugals aside he is also a rapist.

And then, you have Marion driving him to the cops?

Okay, I know a lot of people don't like it that they somewhat gave these two a half-ass written redemption arc. Like Marion is a racist granny and Boomer is... well he is Boomer. Basically he is trash, okay?

But putting aside my personal aversion to these two, I actually liked that Marion did what she did. In the end she knew Boomer was stealing from her and all that. And the way he ordered her around in the beginning of the episode, I was like „Marion, grow a backbone!“. So in that regard, I liked it.

BUT Boomer got away too easily. Neither Annie nor Mary Pat got their chance to tell him off. Will he go to prison? Or get away just like that? I believe unfortunately he will.

Like I said it's half-ass written and not satisfying at all. Just like the episode overall.

Beth's „reasoning“:

I know Beth is a woman with flaws. To a point I feel second-hand embarassement watching her making the same mistakes over and over again. She does and did many decisions which made me facepalm throughout each episode. But some decisions were reasonable or at least understandable for someone without any experience and a certain naivety. We can't expect Beth to be this professional criminal, just like Rio is.

As some pointed out she does make rash decisions when she feels cornered but in this episode I couldn't make sense out of her decisions at all.

How exactly would it help her to pay Boomer money for the crazy facial surgery and for everything else? I'm Ruby in this scene who can't make sense of Beth. Didn't she learn a thing?

If you don't take care of your rotten egg it will spread like a disease – if there is one lesson Beth should remember it's this one – and Boomer is certainly someone who would always come back no matter what, to blackmail and for more cash.

Same with her turning herself in. It showed she was always the caregiver in this group of 3 women and I understand she believes that turning herself in would stop Turner going after the Hills and Annie.

BUT again this falls flat because why would you turn yourself in for the murder of Leslie Petersen aka Boomer when he is alive and well? It would've made sense IF Beth, Ruby and Annie didn't know Boomer was still alive and they genuinely thought the body was his. But that's not the case.

I can't believe they didn't come up with something else. Any fan theory/idea was better than what the writers gave us in this episode.

It's such lazy writing.

Beth the „King“?:

This makes no sense to me at all, not just throughout the whole last bit of the episode but the show so far.

I know some in the fandom wouldn't mind Beth doing her own business without Rio. And all I can ask is: but HOW!?

It's not like I wouldn't agree but if anything that would be a plot I could see happening at the end of season 3 if well-written. In the end we want Beth and Rio to be equals and that can't be achieved – even with a 50/50 deal. Why? Because even with the 50/50 deal, Beth is still 100% not involved in anything going on behind the scenes. For example how Rio perfected his counterfeit money business or his „drug“ business.

I'm also pretty sure Rio didn't tell Beth his recipe how to make the fake cash as legit as possible. In the end he can't trust her enough with these details.

Yes, she can google stuff but I had to laugh quiet a lot at Beth being so proud for producing fake cash with Dean's printer. Okay...

(Also on a sidenote: is it healthy to bake money in chemicals in the same oven you would usually cook your meals in?)

And she is bringing in a random divorced mom who is a designer? Since when is she friends with someone else aside from Ruby and Annie?

I know everyone got to start somewhere but if the season finale proved one thing for sure: it's Beth not being ready for what is ahead of her. She is high on power but to me she came out as weak after shooting Rio. This isn't how I wanted to see Beth to get her own business – again makes no sense at all how she can do it and make as much cash as Rio. He worked for YEARS in this crime world – and certainly she is no King to me.

But I think she will realize that pretty quickly in season 3 that everything isn't that easy. And I can't wait for her to come in touch with other – far less pleasant than Rio – gangsters in town. Plus with her way of not dealing with problems it's likely not going to end well for her.

Dean – Redemption? - WTF 2.0:

The worst thing for me in this episode apart from the shooting scene was probably how they portrayed the relationship between Beth and Dean.

It's Boomer redemption all over again. Lazy writing 101.

But fair enough I didn't see it as Beth and Dean coming back together. I just think in this episode full of self-inflicted turmoil and stress she sought comfort in the person she had been with for 20 years. That's all.

Which doesn't excuse that Dean basically got away with the following things:

he is a cheater. Like he cheated multiple times on Beth.

and he used the lie about sex addiction as a reason why he cheated on her because she wouldn't let him touch while she suffered from post-partum depression.

Dean is also a lying liar because he lied about having CANCER in season 1 because he wanted to keep his property aka his wife.

he undermined Beth's abilities as a businesswoman – let's put aside the crime stuff, she is a LOT better at Dean's job which he HATES.

he also reduces Beth to being a housewife and mother and talks down to her – I've not forgotten his sandwich cookie cutter comment.

he is also unable to get another job because we know how he is, he is unable not to con his own customers and possible future employers can see that from a mile away – but Beth is like „well then it wasn't meant to be?“ like what? Are you serious?

And all seems forgotten now and we get to see Beth and Dean and how they probably were as a not really happy but at least functional couple.

It's almost as if the writers try to gloss over Dean's nonsense because if you look at what Beth did and does it's far worse than what Dean did.

And that's terrible! It's not okay. Because Beth had to do what she did because of Dean! Dean is the reason for all the crap going down in Beth's life. If anything she should blame Dean, not Rio and maybe not even herself...

I can't watch Good Girls as a tv show for female empowerment when Beth doesn't get to call Dean out on his bullshit. And he has the audicity to ask „what went wrong with us?“??

You went wrong, Mister! And Beth didn't get to say it because her look says it all but she just wants to avoid any further conflict.

And that's not okay. It's like the writers gave Beth a muzzle in these scenes and wouldn't let her say what she obviously thinks.

And I’m not even sad about Beth and Dean getting along as parents. Like that's a good decision. Because in the end they have 4 kids and they should be functional as parents.

I'm simply baffled how poorly written Beth's and Dean's conflict is or the lack of addressing it. And that the writers apparently want to have these two in the same house for another season.

I simply have no words anymore.

[perfectirishgifts]

How This Visionary Producer Is Transforming The Theater Podcast Landscape

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-this-visionary-producer-is-transforming-the-theater-podcast-landscape/

How This Visionary Producer Is Transforming The Theater Podcast Landscape

“You can’t use up creativity,” said Maya Angelou. “The more you use, the more you have.” Early in her life, someone must have told that to Dori Berinstein. This unstoppable theater, film and TV maker appears to embody creativity. She is an endless font.

Dori Berinstein

Berinstein is a four-time Tony-winning Broadway producer whose credits include The Prom, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Legally Blonde: The Musical, The Crucible, One Flue Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Fool Moon, Flower Drum Song, Enchanted April and Golden Child.

Oh, and Berinstein is also an Emmy-award-winning director, producer and film and television writer. Most recently, she and Bill Damaschke, who produced The Prom on Broadway, collaborated with Ryan Murphy to adapt the show into a Netflix feature film starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Cordon, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells and Kerry Washington. She also co-produced the Sony Masterworks cast album of the musical Half Time. The show was inspired by her documentary, Gotta Dance, about a group of seniors who make up a hip-hop dance troupe who perform for The New Jersey Nets. 

“I love the art of storytelling and believe it’s all about a good story. Whether you’re telling it on stage or screen or in an audio drama or soap opera, I like moving between different worlds and sometimes moving a project throughout different worlds,” says Berinstein who has degrees from Smith, the Kennedy School at Harvard and the Yale School of Drama where she was a visiting scholar focusing on the business of Broadway. After working in strategic planning at Paramount Pictures she joined a tiny emerging independent film company, Vestron Pictures. Within a year, she became head of physical production and ultimately supervised production on the film Dirty Dancing. “What keeps me very excited is being able to collaborate with wonderful people,” she adds.

But if all this isn’t enough, Berinstein is also the co-founder and CEO of the The Broadway Podcast Network which produces over 100 theater podcasts, dramas, musicals and miniseries, like As The Curtain Rises, the delicious new digital soap opera that Berinstein co-wrote with Mark Peikert. 

As The Curtain Rises is a dishy comedy that offers listeners a glimpse of the behind the scenes mayhem trying to birth a Broadway show. In this case there’s the challenge of getting Avvatar: The Musical to The Great White Way. Producing shows for 25 years, the drama is inspired by things Berinstein has witnessed along the way. “Our As The Curtain Rises characters are certainly “inspired” by our theater colleagues. In some cases, characteristics are exaggerated. In other instances….not so much!,” says Berinstein. “The behind-the-curtain Broadway world is definitely the perfect setting for a soap opera.”

The multi-part series features a riveting cast including Alex Brightman, Ariana Debose, Andrew Barth Feldman, James Monroe Iglehart, Ramin Karimloo, Ilana Levine, Lesli Margherita, Mauricio Martinez, Bonnie Milligan, Ashley Park, George Salazar, Sarah Stiles and Lillias White. The priceless cameos from Lynn Nottage, Alex Lacamoire, David Korins, Natasha Katz, Matt Britten and Jordan Roth are worth the listen.

Creating and producing As The Curtain Rises during the pandemic was particularly meaningful to Berinstein. “We haven’t been able to produce live theater. Even though it’s tremendously goofy and fun, this took on a whole other level of urgency,” says Berinstein. “It’s important to keep theater alive during this time. And it’s thrilling to work with and pay actors, make people laugh and try to provide some joy.” 

Jeryl Brunner: What inspired you to create The Broadway Podcast Network?

Dori Berinstein: I live in Northern Westchester. Pre-Covid-19, I spent a lot of time commuting to and from New York City. I would find myself driving home after seeing theater and would be sitting in my driveway at 1:30am, listening to podcasts because the episode wasn’t over. I was so caught up in it and loved the medium, but having trouble finding theater podcasts. There was no real destination for theater podcasts. Then when I brought the company of The Prom to Google, I met Alan Seales who runs Google Talks. He then invited me to be a guest on his theater podcast. We talked afterward and shared the frustration that we couldn’t find a lot of theater podcasts. We agreed that we had to do something about it and said, “Let’s do it.” We spent ten months building and partnering with a lot of wonderful podcasters who were out there before anyone else like The Ensemblist, The Fabulous Invalid and Broadwaysted.

Brunner: How has the platform gown?

Berinstein: We launched in October, 2019 with 15 podcasts. And here we are, a little over a year later, with almost 100 podcasts. Since the beginning it was very much the plan to have podcasts and record plays, musicals, audio dramas, and soap operas. It was never to replace theater and we certainly never anticipated the pandemic. When you see a show, you want to know more. What is happening behind the curtain? There is so much additive information that we are excited to bring to life. We are in a community filled with amazing storytellers and wanted to help support and give them a voice.

Brunner: What do you hope to offer listeners?

Berinstein: It was very important from the get-go that we create a network that is representative and has many different people from all different aspects of our community. That includes onstage, behind the curtain, looking back in history and education. Having all these different artists and voices is essential, because our community is made up of so many different voices.

There is also a lot of hunger from people interested in getting into the business. So we have podcasts about breaking in and auditioning. We also have podcasts from established producers like Hal Luftig and Eva Price. Kerry Butler has one on breaking into Broadway. Justin Guarini has a podcast about auditioning. They are educational and informative. Then there are pure, goofy, fun, joyous podcasts. It’s exciting to have a lot of star power on the network with podcasts from Tonya Pinkins, Sir Tim Rice and Donna McKechnie. I love hearing those behind-the-curtain stories. It was also important for us to partner with many different regional and international theater companies and the Dramatists Guild, Variety and Playbill. We really want to be a home for everyone.

Brunner: Did you always know this was your path?

Berinstein: From a very early age, I was completely captivated by theater. I saw Carol Channing in Hello Dolly! at the Dorothy Chandler pavilion when I was five years old. And that was it. I was so just transported by that show and the whole experience of live theater. [Berinstein ultimately directed, produced and co-wrote the documentary Carol Channing: Larger Than Life.] My parents would take me to theater all the time. It was just the most thrilling thing. I had no talent. I could not sing. Even though I tried, I never got cast in anything. But I wanted so badly to be part of the world. At my school they didn’t have a student director or even backstage crew. But I still was very captivated by how things came together. In college I triple majored in economics, history and theater and created a special studies program on the business of Broadway. I became voracious about reading absolutely everything I could. So much that I learned about life and important issues came from theater and its power to enlighten and make me think.

Brunner: How did you become a theater producer? 

Berinstein: I really wanted to be part of that world, but had no idea how. I didn’t know anybody. Coming from Los Angeles, I was established in film before finding my way into theater. Finally I was introduced to James Freydberg who was producing Broadway shows. We went to the Serious Fun Festival to see a short piece that Bill Irwin and David Shiner put together. I flipped over it. The show was the early stage evolution of Fool Moon. If I knew anything about producing at that point, I probably would have been nervous about producing a show with two guys who don’t speak and a ragtag band, [The Red Clay Ramblers]. It just doesn’t scream hit. But I loved everything about it. 

I got thrown into the thick of it right away as a general partner producer. I didn’t even know what that meant. It was an amazing experience in every way. In previews the audience was maybe at 50% capacity. At opening night we had our associate producer stationed at The New York Times a few blocks away. This was before the paper was digital. We were in the Richard Rodgers theater where Hamilton is. At intermission he came running into the house, waiving the newspaper with the most magnificent review by Frank Rich. He wrote, “To that short list of unbeatable combinations that includes bacon and eggs, bourbon and soda, and Laurel and Hardy, you can now add Shiner and Irwin.” From that point on, the show was sold out every night and standing room only. How can you not throw your entire career in that direction after that? I loved standing in the back, listening to the audience laugh so hard and lose themselves in the show. 

Brunner: Is there something you look for in a story? 

Berinstein: I believe deeply in theater activism and have had the opportunity to lean into and be part of shows that say something important. I have been so fortunate to tell stories that mean something to me and I believe help make the world a better place. It takes years of your life and it’s hard to do. So you better believe in what you’re doing. With Legally Blonde, my daughter was seven. I loved the idea of telling a story that it is very cool to be smart. That message was really important to me to put out there and help inspire young women. 

The Prom and Half Time all have messages that are also really important to me. When people experience these shows or listen to the cast album or watch the film adaptation, I hope they can evolve and embrace the message. In the case of The Prom it’s all about acceptance and tolerance. With Half Time, which is a Jerry Mitchell musical that was adapted from a film I made, it is taking on ageism. They also say go for your dreams, no matter what.

Dori Berinstein directed, produced and co-wrote the documentary Carol Channing: Larger Than Life. … [] After Berinstein, as a little girl, saw Channing perform live, Berinstein knew that had to work in theater.

Dori Berinstein interviews Terre Blair Hamslich for the Emmy-award-winning documentary celebrating … [] the life of Marvin Hamlisch.

More from Arts in Perfectirishgifts

[alittleroseandhoneyblog-blog]

Rose Notes:  32 Chapters “Cliff notes” Style

I love social media, I like meeting new people, I like getting to know them and connecting over the things we have in common so I thought it would be fun to lighten the mood a little with a blog about myself – 5 random and fairly well known facts about me, with a little twist to each -  My life is pretty open I believe there are 32 amazing chapters, each has taught me something about myself that it makes this book worth reading, or for some of you – skimming! (or judging the cover) but the fact is social media is meant to be user controlled - it’s what the user wants to portray, the “life” the user wants published- the user’s narrative. I’ve said it before that some people use social media for their marketing other to grow their E-commerce portion, others use it to display their photography and personal trainers use it to sell their services and I have seen some people make a career using it – although I agree social media can open up a lot of shade however there is a benefit that not everyone is comfortable taking advantage of.  

I think the obvious things people ask when they are getting to know someone are the basics- where are you from, what do you do-what’s your sign- the obvious who what where kind of thing (Canadian girl and Cancer btw, lol) I also have 1 sister, she is 3 years older and a mama of 5 amazing kids- Noah 15, Madison 14, Violet 12, Jilly 7 and Eli who is 3- my favourite color is purple and I love old school chick flicks like Dirty Dancing and the Body Guard- Whitney Houston was my idol growing up and the reason I starting singing in the first place – My grade 1 best friend Kristy and I used to choreograph routines to her music all the time and would perform in front of the class (lol) seems so lame now but she was so much fun and I can remember even at 6 years old how carefree I was!

Which leads to fact 1 –

Fact 1 with a (neat) twist- I love the stage, I grew up singing at such a young age that it almost all blurs together, but there are a few things that I was able to do that I remember clearly- I remember starting singing lessons at 7 years old with a teacher named Mrs. King- oh my god she was terrible but she got the job done – I started competing in competitions when I was about 8 with songs and routines from Disney and YES I had costumes and YES I have pictures- I even managed to inherit the nickname Mad Jasmine because I was Jasmine (A whole New World) from Aladdin and Danny had just beat me again for the 10th time, he was actually really freaking good and beat me every year until we were like 13 lol ) And if you ever tuned into Chym FM on Christmas Eve and listened to the Kids Singing Christmas carols – that was us and my first taste of being in the studio and since then have had many!

Shortly after that it was larger competitions, bigger stages, larger crowds like star search which held its main event at the London fall fair every year ending with auditioning at Canadian Idol 3 years in a row (until the Canadian version was cancelled lol) but in between all of that I was lucky enough to audition for local theater and was an extra in a movie that starred Glenn Close (which was shortly after her role in 101 Dalmatians and really cool for me to be standing 50 ft away from her.)  A lot of this time I spent travelling with my mama and she even stayed over night in line with me when I auditioned for Canadian Idol lol I have loved music since Whitney Houston wanted to Dance with Somebody and true to nature still plays a huge role in my life today!

Fact 2 with an (interesting) twist- I am married, but did you know that I could have been raised as his cousin and how completely different my life would have turned out?

When I was born on June 28th there was another mom in labour at the exact time in the room beside my mom- thinking back 32 years the same precautions we have now when a baby is born were not in place and I was put in the arms of that other mother and a baby named, Rhandi was placed in my moms- after debating the identity of us children we were switched back and I assume I went home with the right family (I look an awful like my mama) but growing up I always knew the story as it was often used against me when I did something wrong or when my mother wanted to make joke about who I really belonged to, but who would of thought that in Grade 9 I would meet the girl I was almost switched with AND have her quickly become one of my best friends and although I never met him prior to when we started dating, I some how ended up dating her cousin who is now my husband, Matt – and as we always talked about in high school Rhandi and I became family, and the family I could have grown up with as my “aunts, uncles and cousins” are now my mother, father, sister and brother in laws! Lol

Fact 3 with a (sad) twist- I have a 7 year old son named Colton, he is in Grade one and seriously the funniest kid ever, he is smart and clever -I knew from the second I found out I was pregnant that I was going to have a strong willed child, independent like his mama- ready to take on the world- and he sure proved it when he came into the world 6 weeks early and absolutely perfect-   the doctors told me “he knew he was in distress and he put you into early labour” and I remember them telling me how Lucky I was – but pregnancy was tough for me– I was sick ALL the time and there were so many close calls where I thought we weren’t going to make it to the end (and we didn’t) and that fear of going through it again terrified me so much so that we put off having another child until I felt able to handle being pregnant again-

After many years of being asked “when’s the second one or worse, what’s taking so long” it got harder to hide the sadness of admitting we miscarried twice and after what seemed like years of trying with no success, I was recently diagnosed with Endometrioses and told that chances are another baby just is not in the cards for me anymore –

so, I have to admit that I still have not come to terms with that and it’s absolutely heart breaking to know that that one thing a women is supposed to do is something I actually can no longer do but as people have told me I have hit the jackpot with Colton, he is such an incredible child and I am really lucky to be his mama and my sister in law is pregnant and I will get my fair share of baby snuggles in July when we visit them in PEI!

Fact 4 with a (career) twist – I went to school for Interior Design and have an obsession for everything houses and renovations. I own a 115-year-old century home that is true to all its character- mind you It has been in renovations for the last 2 years but it’s beautiful and I am obsessed with all the original wood! I thought for sure I was going to have a career in real estate, when I was 20 I had a 5 year plan to go through school to get my license but 20 year old Jenna fell in love with boy, moved to London and just kind of settled into his life –He broke my heart lol, and I ended up moving home about a year later and I got involved in the fitness industry when I met a girl named Marta, we quickly became friends and she introduced me to 6 am work outs in the park, squats and the burpee bottle- which is like fight club…We just don’t talk about the burpee bottle. Shortly after that I started working with Anytime Fitness and I have to admit I knew nothing about the fitness industry short of what Marta had taught me, but I had a passion for sales and social media and it happen to work well in my favour, I moved up quickly and had so many amazing opportunities not just in my career but in my personal life as well, The first time I ever got to travel outside of Canada was with Team Bazely, we went to Nashville for a conference, as a team we toured the city, the recording studio where Elvis recorded his albums and ate at some of the most incredible restaurants- I heard stories from Keni Thomas who survived Black Hawk Down and Elizabeth Smart who was kidnapped at 14, survived and lives to tell her story! I got to experience my first burlesque show, I leaned to line dance in a 3 story bar and Shannon made sure I got to sing in Nashville, even if it was in a dirty dive bar at 2am just before we were about to make the 11 hour drive back over the border, I also experienced my  first “hangry” episode where once again, Shannon saved the day and supplied salads for the rest of our trip, but honesty I learned so much about the industry and about what being apart of a team was like - I can remember that being the week I really fell in love with the fitness industry - I also got to travel to Lake Placid, New York for another conference where I partied on the Olympic ski slopes, set 2 Guinness world records with over 2800 clubs worldwide, Represented Canada and carried the Canadian flag into the Lake Placid Olympic Center in front of thousands of people!

I experienced bobsledding first hand and met so many amazing club owners and staff members- I even got to watch keynote speaker and YouTube sensation Gary Vaynerchuk where we were first introduced to Rick, But I also had the opportunity on many occasions to meet the CO-Ceo’s of AF and pick their brains – they had a way of making fitness fun- I remember it being 12am sitting outside of my hotel room in Lake Placid with another Manager from a club in Arkansas and Chuck and Dave walked towards me, I said hello, they called out my social media handle “look it’s Canadianrose” which may not seem like much BUT with over 3000 clubs worldwide and thousands of faces in the crowd they recognized mine - I met some amazing people and in a round about way I found Zumba which as I have mentioned owns my heart, and where my next venture is going to take me – working with that team taught me so much and played a huge role in who I am too, and indirectly opened doors for where my passion lies and although it may not be interior design I am in control of marketing, social media and the complete design aspect of what’s next and I am allowed to be creative!

However, outside of working with Anytime, I have never travelled but I am dying to go somewhere warm!  

Fact 5 with a (reality) twist – I am not only what you see on social media, I am a human being with feelings and someone who is really struggling right now to do what’s best for herself- which hasn’t always proven to be easy.  I have started therapy, it was necessary for me to ask for help because I am having a hard time finding who I am. But what I am that is never going to go change is that naturally charming girl that I talked about months ago, my experiences that I have mentioned above have curved my path and have contributed to who I am today- I own that and I am confident in my own skin and the decisions I have made, I am bold enough to call someone on their bullshit, I have the strength to take on an already failing empire just to have my voice back and you simply cannot match what I bring to the table – and I am confident enough to eat alone-and I am confident enough to portray the real me on social media and in real life going forward and throughout whatever venture is next!

And to answer the above 2 truths and lie- I do not drive a Mercedes!

[suavvmagazine]

Donnell Rawlings: From Ashy to Classy

Laughter is a soul cleansing act. Comedy is an art form that takes practice, patience, and creativity. In 2003, a comedic powerhouse in Dave Chappell created the Chappelle Show and gave comedian, writer, and actor Donnell Rawlings a shot at the mic. Donnell, being the ambition comedian that he is, jumped on the opportunity. Creating characters like Ashy Larry and Beautiful, Donnell was on his way to big things. Merging with fellow comedian Kevin Smith, Donnell embarked on a project that would give the power of the industry to the fans. HOLLYWEED launched its pilot episode on Rivot TV for an opportunity to be funded and greenlit by the viewers. Creating a show based on the cannabis industry, Donnell knew it was time to make a statement. The best comedians used their life stories and found a way to laugh through some of their deepest and darkest truths as well as approaching the most controversial topics in society.  Alright, so um, just to kind of jump into your interview, how did you get into comedy? Well, I used to have a regular nine to five like most Americans and hard working people. A lot of the employees at my job but go to a comedy club just to hang out and have some fun as coworkers and everybody knew that I was funny. I used to go to comedy clubs because I was a heckler. At this particular comedy club, a majority of the audience started to come to see me as the heckler. The owner wanted me to shut up and stop ruining the show. So he invited me on stage and 24 years later that's what I've been doing. Basically, I got my start like a lot of comics. It was almost a dare. That’s hilarious. Bein that you were a heckler, do you hate hecklers at your shows? I don't usually have hecklers at my shows and if I do, I annihilate them. So it's not a good idea to heckle me. You get heckled early on in your career because you don't have the skillset to deal with certain situations. It's like how a dog can feel fear on a person. Unless it’s somebody drunk, they don't really come at you like that.   You went into the air force right out of high school. What inspired that? Was it something you always wanted? I was like a lot of kids that really didn't know what the next step in their life was going to be after high school. I didn't want to go to college and I didn't really have a skillset to keep much of anything after I got out of high school. The military was a good alternative for me to get some structure in my life, to travel, and become a man. And traveling definitely happened because you were based in Korea and learned how to speak Korean. Then you took that and you put that back into your sketches on Chappelle show. Yeah. A lot of people think I'm fluent in Korean. I'm not, I'm just conversational. Which means that if I went on a date with a woman, I knew what type of food to order. (laughing) We were doing the Chappelle show and there was a scene when I played Beautiful, where I just ran a line in Korean. A lot of people who don't speak Korean think I was speaking gibberish anybody that speaks the language was like ‘oh, he's nice with it.’ Right. And that's the thing. We thought it was just a joke that you wrote out. But this is really what you knew. Yeah, it was funny. To hear anybody speak Korean, it'll throw you off. But to hear a black dude from the hood speak Korean, you're like what the hell just happened. (laughing) Right. Once you decided to become a comedian, how did your life change? Was it a hard road? What was the transition like for you? Getting into the industry, I instantly became broke. I mentor a lot of guys, and I make sure to let them know that if you don't know how to be happy being broke, this is a tough field to be in. I would say with anybody in this field at least 50-60 percent of your career is not going to be money when you making connections and building to go to the next level. Now, there are some exceptions to that rule. But there aren’t many. Right. When you are living and hustling through the broke phase because a lot of people that I've talked to say like it's. It can be long. Like how long were you in that area? I would honestly say about 60 percent of my career. But it's a mindset and I've never felt it. You know what I'm saying? I was happy with the small things. I always knew it was one thing to be financially successful and not knowing where you're going. It’s another to have a vision. There are a lot of people with a dream that they're not going to make a reality. I knew it wasn't going to last long because as long as I kept moving, there was going to be some light at the end of the tunnel. It was fun. It was a good time. Even in the darkest times when finances weren't adding up, whatever. I felt blessed and it felt good that I was doing something that I enjoy. I knew it would pay off sooner or later. Not to say that I've made it to an amazing level of anything. But anything that I have ever done through comedy, is because I took the road that I have taken and I never regret that.

Understood. There are a lot of comedians that I've spoken to, over time, who have said there are moments when things are just not funny and people expect you to always be “on” and always be funny. I know you have a different perspective on this and would love for you to elaborate a bit on that.   I don't think there are too many situations where something is not funny. I think there are times where the joke may be too soon for a particular person, but as a person with humor, It could never be too soon for funny observation. There's always something to chuckle about in your worst moments. Everything is funny. Everything has some type of humorous undertone in some type of way. It's about how to find it? How did you develop your comedic career? Did you start studying comedy after you became a comic, or were you a student of the craft beforehand? I watched people for different styles. Martin Lawrence, he was just this guy who had the voice of the hood. He had the voice of what I came from. I was like, ‘man, this dude is talking about stuff that I see and do every day.’ I used to really appreciate Bill Cosby. This guy is destroying an audience while sitting in a chair, with no profanity or anything. I used to study Richard Pryor because he was one of the most honest comics you could ever meet? A lot of people think that he was a dirty comic, you know what I'm saying? It wasn't that he was necessarily ‘dirty’, it was characters. These were people in his life that were the raw people. I found something in every comic that I watched. It wasn’t that I could necessarily do what they did, but, I've found reasons why I could do this. There are certain people that were animated, there are wordsmiths, there are certain people that are physical comics, and I find a way to find something in every comic that I could incorporate into what I do. That’s cool. So ultimately you are a student of comedy. Now, how did you get into the acting field? How did you go from comedy into acting? I don't think most people know you were on ‘The Wire’. I was doing stand up and my guess was this is a part of the work. My showcase agents sent me out just to see what would happen. Nobody knew what it was gonna turn out to be, but it's a function of training myself and thinking outside the box. Once we did this, on top of film, television agents in New York City were like, ‘something about this group, something about this guy, and let's see what we can do with him.’ I was just starting to build this. Success met you and placed you in front of the world. Did you find yourself dealing with a lot of the jealousy and stress that come with success in entertainment? Have you found the “lonely at the top” phrase to be true to you? I don't know if it's lonely at the top, but it gets cold at the top. A lot of people won't root for you. The more you get, the more haters come at you. And people want to see your downfall. You’ve got to have a strong base. If you have a strong base with your family and a handful of really, really good friends, you don't have to deal with that. There are people who don't know how to reach out to find the people that love them, people that inspire them, motivate them, and make them better. When you find those people, you're never at the top by yourself.

That’s real. I’d even say that with anything in life, you should have that kind of a circle. So you and another comedian, Kevin Smith have a project that you have been working on and a network that is gaining some buzz. Let's talk about that. A lot of times, the things that people don't see, are pilots which are funny. Sadly, maybe one or two people have the power to say if they greenlight it or not. The beauty about this platform is it gives the power to the fan base by really believing in them to say what would be the next big thing. Rivot TV is the new platform and I think HOLLYWEED was a perfect example of that. HOLLYWEED was a project that Kevin Smith came up with years ago and was excited about. I had a conversation with him and he said ‘Donnell, I don't want to do anything in my career that I don't have fun with and I'm not excited about.’ With that said, it doesn't necessarily mean the people in the suits are going to believe in it same way. So, when Kevin came with this pilot three years ago, we thought it was dead. There is a lot of frustration with continuing to do stuff and not have the right people seeing it. This is something that may have been shelved or something that was created and ended up in the hands of some "important people" This platforms allowed people like Joe blow, Barbecue Beckie, Combat Tom and whoever, the chance to say ‘I like this person’.  Also, now with social media, we have this fan base. Kevin Smith had Millions of people that he could say ‘watch this and tell me what you want to do with it.’ The great thing about HOLLYWEED is 90 percent of the feedback that we had been getting has been great. So, you get a platform like Rivot TV to give those opportunities to people that produce it a win-win situation. That’s an amazing concept for a platform to have shows picked up by the fans. Ultimately, we are the ones who will watch or not watch. When you're able to put that platform on the map with a show like yours, do you go back and start pushing other comedians and actors in the hopes of trying to bring them into the platform as well? Always. Always. I have people that I've been working with for years and we root for each other and we try to put ourselves in a position to win. Those are the only people that I have around me. When you’ve been doing this, you know who the naysayers are and who has the negative energy and you just shed them like a snake. anything that you do with your success, your ambitions, your aspirations, will always in some way help the people that you are around. Those are the people that drive you to do great things. You’ve had the Success of the Chappelle Show and now, you have HOLLYWEED that you and Kevin Smith created together. Things are going great. You automatically start working on another show or do you focus on this one? Kevin and I get together to have writing sessions often. That way if the show is ever picked up, we're going to be ready. You know, we've already started story lines for a couple of more episodes. As we speak, we're ahead of anybody's decision. If people love it, it's going to be a marriage. You are going to see some funny stuff and you're going to find some stuff that I think people desperately need. People need quality programming, you know? We're going to hitting some real stuff regarding the insight that we have in the cannabis industry. You know? We’re talking about how laws have changed, the medical benefits of smoking marijuana, and so forth.  HOLLYWEED is not just going to be like a pothead movie. The show is not just about 'hey dude let's get smoked out,' or ‘I'm so smashed.’ This show is going to really go deep inside the whole cannabis industry. Because it's big business, now.   Read the full article

[uniquesmalltreasures]

About the fake!sim-troopers (Red vs Blue S15E8 spoilers)

Let’s start with disclaimers: I’m shit when it comes to conspiracy theories. Half of the time I’m onto something, the other half I’m just bullshitting and hyping other people with my paranoia. So I have a 50% success rate.

That said, I am quite torn about the new Blues and Reds. Because I could like them so easily and trust them so easily and… And I was one of the suckers who loved and trusted Felix. So yeah, now I’m way more wary of new characters who “just want to help”. And with the season so keen on all these plot-twists, I am not trusting anything.

Now I want to focus on those supposed sim-troopers and what we learned about them.

They’re good, military good – they have strategies and equipment (or are good enough with technology to build something up themselves) and they’re working together like a nicely oiled machine. That’s why I call this bullshit. We had seen how the training and selection processes for PF sim-troopers looked like back in S14, they wouldn’t have picked people like that, no way in hell.

All in all, we know that those guys, sim-troopers for PF or not, they are impersonating the Reds and Blues. They wanted others to think they were the originals acting on behalf of Chorus, they are still trying to impersonate them with their personalities, speech patterns, and overall behavior.

Hell, Kai knew something about this was off (S15E2) – she insisted that someone has to set the story straight – and I don’t think she just meant the Blues and Reds (it’s almost painful to write it in that order) being fakes, but also how UNSC was involved with the story in the first place. Sure, she just goes off and rants about conspiracy theories so Dylan just shrugs her off as crazy, but God, does she make a point. The whole thing feels like a staged thing, more and more. Dr. Grey (in S15E14) could easily see that the Blues and Reds were fakes and that they have their own hidden agenda in the whole conflict.  

Which brings me to another thing, which seems to be a theme for this season, for throwing hints in conversations you pay attention to for the wrong reasons – this time focusing on what Dylan told Kimball: People are quick to jump to conclusions. They see something or hear something and fit it into a preconceived emotional box (…) It’s up to people like me to find the buried truth and expose the real facts.

The only way to interpret that is to think about how the fakes are operating – especially after meeting the real Reds and Blues. They act like they’re all long lost brothers to themselves, trying to win their compassion and trust. Another group of sim-troopers screwed by Project Freelancer? Of course, the others would feel sympathetic towards them. But we already see Tucker having problems with this whole situation, picking up some clues and calling it weird.

First of all, we have the Blues and Reds attacking Dylan and Jax just like that – (ignoring for a second the fact they “apologized about this later”). Why? Why didn’t Dylan try to figure that out? And actually, doesn’t Dylan have all files and intel and recordings connected to PF? If there is no trace of an alternative set of sim-troopers, how can anyone believe what they’re saying it’s true? (And she does have the information, according to what she told Carlos in S15E3). The fact that the former Agents went MIA since the Blues and Reds are operating is worth investigating. It pisses me off that we don’t have numbers.

We have new sim-troopers and no idea how many Agents are missing, so we can’t compare the numbers. Sure, we can assume the missing Agents are the new Blues and Reds and in their ploy they’re just saying that all Agents are in trouble with UNSC, but it still doesn’t answer why the fakes were attacking the UNSC bases (and later Dylan) – I doubt that if they were really sim-troopers screwed by PF, they have any good feelings for PF and their Agents, not to mention the Director, so why are they trying to warn the real Reds and Blues and their Freelancers?

(Isn’t it curious that Temple had removed his helmet like it’s no big deal? Dylan mentioned that the helmet Temple left could be traced back to PF, so yeah, it was no coincidence it was left there at the site of the assault.)

Did Dylan’s talk with Packard really result in peace for Chorus? Like seriously, the Peace talks are over?  Or Did the fakes just lied to make the Reds and Blues get off them? What is their new strategy Temple was about to reveal?

And the fakes? They got so many of the shit wrong. Like the weapons, they’re using, or how they behave – I’m looking at you, Surge and the way you follow the command of a dirty Blue – and where the hell is the fake!Girf? Is he dead? (for example: if there had been simulations for them could he somehow wound up dead instead of Church and that made the Blues and Reds mad?) Like on the surface it’s all okay – Bucky acts like Tucker and almost copies his catchphrase but it’s kind of cringy and made me wince.

Also… The whole RvB story, the whole idea for PF goes back to two things: AIs and Church.

We have a message, which had been bounced by relay beacons, all over the galaxy, only to be picked up by Chorus. So we can assume that was the aim: to attract Kimball's attention because there was almost 100% probability of her passing the message to the Reds and Blues.

The message they received came in one way or another through Santa, who would know if there was something fishy about it – I am 100% sure about it. Kimball would ask a thousand questions before deciding this is a message that needs to be passed along. She admitted she can’t trace it’s origin and so did the fakes, but they added that they think Church is being held as a prisoner by the UNSC? How is that possible? Wouldn’t Wash know how many AI’s were made, thanks to the perfect memory of Epsilon? The memory of every torture Alpha had to endure so they could create a new AI? We still don’t know if the message came from Church – Alpha or Epsilon, or if it’s even a pre-recorded message from the past.  

Like Spencer said: Intention is no matter, only consequence is true form.  

Let’s get back to the Prologue (S15E1): we have the Blues and Reds attacking UNSC supply depot, being cruel and thoughtful and quite efficient. We have the toys – which makes us make a connection with Caboose – and then we see a Sarge’s and Tucker’s doubles-  Which immediately shifts our attention from the dialogue, which is quite important in my opinion. We get a set of rules from one soldier to another (their commanding officer to a rookie perhaps?):

Rule no.1: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. (translation: Don’t do shit or else expect shit to be done to you)

Rule no.2: Every other person (…) is literal garbage. Don’t talk to them, don’t listen to them, don’t become cute friends with them.

Rule no.3: Keep your radio on, at all times.

I watched the recent episode with that set of rules in the back of my head, which made all of Temple’s speech more suspicious. All this plot with fighting UNSC and drawing out the real Reds and Blues? They paint it as a logical story: but it’s not. If the fakes knew about PF, why didn’t they just move on after it ended? Why didn’t they come forward after the article Dylan wrote about taking down the Director? Why didn’t they try to contact the other earlier? Why are they almost exact replicas of each other (minus Grif and Kai)? It’s easy to see that the Blues and Reds want our gang to trust them – so they tell a good story, fight alongside each other and take shelter together. It breaks rule no. 2 and plays into rule no. 1 almost immediately. We’ll see if they will have any sort of contact with Wash and Carolina under that water.  

And where the hell are the counterparts to Grif, Kai and Doc? Hell, where is Doc?! 

Taking all that into account there are 2 possible outcomes:

1. They’re telling the truth. Yeah, those are really sim-troopers, created to resemble the real Reds and Blues, but instead of being a band of idiots and jerks, they were trained like Agents, so if the time came, they would be able to take them down. If the real Reds and Blues were able to fight Tex and Wyoming and win against them PF had to see their potential. PF wanted better soldiers, capable ones, so they created the Blues and Reds. So basically this is what happened after season 5 and after our Reds and Blues were relocated to new outposts, etc. But after PF crashed, the Blues and Reds found new purpose and now they just want to fight against UNSC, who targeted them. But if this is true, they will ultimately betray the Reds and Blues – because they were the reason they got selected as sim-troopers and got into this mess in the first place. So they will get rid of them for revenge.

2. They’re the missing freelancers, trying to impersonate the Reds and Blues, because that proves to be quite efficient and successful and in the process they’ll get rid of them and take they place, taking their fame along. Or they just want to take revenge on everyone: Hargrove and the Project and the sim-troopers as well.

Neither of these scenarios is nice. But because it seems almost obvious that we’re having another betrayal arc in the making, I have the feeling that I’ll still be wrong.