#john wick character analysis

[thewhumpcaretaker]

K for ask game?

I’m so sad…I wrote this entire ask and it got deleted. I’ll try to do it justice again.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

This was really difficult to answer because my first thought was John, but most of his character arc takes place before the films, so we’re really talking about backstory. But I’m just going to talk about it anyway.

John is ruthless both before and after Helen, but they are not at all the same ruthlessness. He started out as a trained killer, doing what he had to do to survive. He did his job as well as he could because that’s what would please his superiors and keep him alive. He didn’t believe he was worthy of things like a normal life. He was driven by fear and pain and had nothing else motivating him.

He was so brutal that it surprised everyone when he fell in love. He was the Baba Yaga, a monster. But with Helen, he became tender. Unwilling to kill. Unwilling to be controlled, because she taught him to value himself - she taught him that he HAD value beyond being a killing machine. He became a vessel for her love.

And after her death, that remained true. Even though he goes back to killing, he does so only to honor her memory. It’s not because he’s afraid to die, but because he has something to live for. As Winston stated, when he came back, “he came back for love.”

We talk a lot about how self loathing John is, but by the end, I don’t think that’s true anymore, or at least it’s not so simple. His journey is really a journey of overcoming self hatred through love for others. He still views his sins very clearly, but he has learned to respect himself. When he dies, he does so on his own terms, having spent his full strength in honor of the love he holds within himself. He never gives in to the people who wanted to control him because she Helen wouldn’t have wanted him to be controlled. He dies loving, self-loving, and free.

It’s maybe the truest redemption arc possible for someone who has committed hundreds of murders.

[r1-jw-lover]

Koji Shimazu and the Osaka Continental - A Colour Theory

This is meant to be a continuation of the previous analysis I've done on the colour grading/lighting choices for some of the characters in the John Wick movie series, but I've got to dedicate a separate post for Koji Shimazu himself (and the entire Osaka act in general).

Before I go into it though, I would like to recommend you to first check out @evren-sadwrn's analysis [1, 2] on the Marquis de Gramont, John and Helen Wick as well as @bluelolblue's analysis [1, 2] on Santino and John.

Tagging @thewhumpcaretaker, @tobytheeggo, @babayagaiscomingforya and of course @saengak the number one Koji fan on Wickblr <3.

PART I: BLUE/RED

When you see the opening shots of the Osaka Continental and Koji's scenes before the raid, the entire hotel was lit by blue and red lights. I think this is very important to note because in the post where I talked about Akira and John, Akira was bathed blue lights in her introduction while John was bathed in red lights in his first scene in Osaka. Add on the fact that Koji's outift has both red and blue colours on it, the movie is already subtly telling us that Koji's loyalty lies in both Akira and John.

I think this just adds another layer to the tragedy that is the whole Osaka sequence. The blue/red lights may allude to one thing about Koji's character but may mean different things for Akira and John's character respectively. Plucking out from @evren-sadwrn's tags:

For Akira, the blue represents the normalcy of her life before John Wick's red showed up and began symbolising her delving into the path of vengeance and violence, like John himself. However for John, those blue/red lights are just neon lights to him, the Baba Yaga persona on full display as he was beginning to realise the consequences of his rebellion, something which costed his friend's life and inevitably produced another John Wick in Akira.

PART II: YELLOW

Now, there are two scenes in the Osaka act that's bathed in yellow lights, the first one being Akira telling Koji about the news of the New York Continental being blown up, and the second being Koji confronting Chidi and the Myrmidons, which could only lead us to one conclusion.

I believe the yellow neon, in this context, represents the Marquis de Gramont and the looming threat he posed to the very existence of the Osaka Continental.

And when you mix blue and red respectively with yellow, well, this leads us directly to the next part of this analysis.

PART III: GREEN/ORANGE

The Osaka raid started, and the hotel lights changed to green and orange. (BLUE + YELLOW = GREEN, RED + YELLOW = ORANGE)

I know that people have extrapolated that the green not so subtly symbolises the start of the highly-anticipated action that is expected from a John Wick movie, like how the green light of a traffic light means 'go', but I want to extrapolate more meaning from this choice of lighting.

Green is a distortion of the colour blue, and is the opposite of red based on the colour wheel. Going by what we have established above being Akira=blue and John=red, green could imply Koji's choice distorting Akira's desire to keep the peace of their hotel in favour of protecting John and letting him go off alive.

In a similar way, orange is the distortion of red and the opposite of blue. Orange could possibly mean that Koji's choice (and his death) inevitably turned his daughter closer towards a path of vengeance and violence, the path John Wick had taken that Koji himself chastised him for during their meeting on the rooftop.

PART IV: THE EXCEPTIONS

The locations that didn't turn to green and orange lights in the Osaka Continental is the kitchen and the modern art gallery, both of which stayed blue (and yellow in the case of the kitchen), and that's because none of them featured Koji. Instead, the focus of the these two scenes are given to another character: Caine.

The yellow in the kitchen scene could easily represent Caine being used as the Marquis' weapon during the Osaka siege. For John, we know that neon lights, no matter the color, represent his Baba Yaga side. For Caine, however, what does the colour blue mean to his character in this context, within the Osaka act?

During Caine's introduction, more precisely, in the only scene in the movie where Mia appeared in (except for the post-credit scene), the location where they filmed had a clear blue sky. In trying to protect Mia, Caine was in a way also trying to protect Akira too. This is especially clear with the way Caine tried to convince Koji countless times to surrender John. Unfortunately, Koji cared for Akira and John equally and was willing to sacrifice his life to protect both of them.

And because he killed her father, Caine ironically became the person Akira held so much anger against from this whole event that happened to her. He fulfilled Koji's wish of letting John escape (hence the green colour), and he was the push that drove Akira to seek revenge (hence the orange colour). Caine was even self-aware of this since he told Akira that he would be waiting for her.

This is what makes the Koji vs Caine duel so fucking tragic and the post-credit scene even more heartbreaking.

[evrensadwrn]

anyone wanna talk about the two yellow coded characters of john wick (helen and vincent) are so interesting in how they are set up in the series?

they share the same color, yet the meanings and symbolism between them differentiate so much. helen’s yellow provides warmth and comfort, that’s why she’s in bright scenes where the sun is out. that’s why her shots are the most brightest even if they are flashbacks. when john thinks about her, she’s almost angelic from how he remembers her. she’s the embodiment of light itself, contrasting heavily against john’s darker and much colder palettes.

but yellow with vincent is almost the complete opposite. for him, the sun is uncomfortable and hot and the first scene he’s in, the entire room is drenched in this golden yellow. it symbolizes his pride and his wealth that he’s accumulated through brutality most likely. it is nothing like the warmth helen holds. for vincent, the sunlight is twisted. it’s no longer a sanctuary for john to turn for helen is not there, there’s only vincent who wants nothing more than to see john dead and his enemies suffering.

it’s another piece of duality in jw, in which helen serves as a catalyst— a beginning while vincent serves as an ending to john’s story. while helen helps john live, vincent hunts him down in a manic chase. helen’s light is soft, loving, warm; everything you would expect from the typical dead, loving wife who wears a cardigan trope. and then at the end of the series, there is vincent, whose sunlight swallows other people and frames him as this icarus like figure. helen has angelic wings, she is the embodiment of hope for john— vincent is the other way around. vincent is john’s impending doom.

we see this play out in how helen and vincent have differences too. helen dies peacefully, she’s come to accept her illness in the bare amounts of screen time she has. vincent is shot dead, and moments prior to his death, he seems so scared about the idea of dying.

helen barely does anything, however she has the most influence over the narrative as a whole. vincent does everything he can to gain agency, yet all of it is meaningless in the end.

in the scenes at the louis vittion foundation (yes they filmed it there), vincent is shrouded in a dark green and a sickly yellow that percectly encapsulates his character. a shady, prideful man showered in nothing but his ego and riches

while the duel could have been vincent’s light, i argue it is helen’s sunlight. the quiet, almost soft atmosphere, the adrenaline rush coming down, and the soft breathing of the remaining characters, and how john looks at the light before he drops dead on the steps of sacre cœur.

while vincent’s light starts the movie, it’s helen who ends john wick chapter 4

[bluelolblue]

The color theory of Santino and John

The blue color is more associated with John, I agree, so I will just write down my theory on Santino's and John's colors

l'introduzione

You can see the blue color throughout all 4 movies BUT here it makes even more sense to me. In this scene when Santino shows up for the first time, you can see the blue color while John walked towards the door and when he opened it, there was still slight blue shade colors around Santino, indicating that he was indeed in John's presence.

The moment Santino enters the house, the blue color was slowly moving towards the warmer colors. BUT the reason why John's blue color didn't follow the whole time even though they were clearly in his house was because Santino was the more dominant one

How he acted genuinely like he's at home in some ways, how he asked for the favor with the marker, how he looked at the pictures, etc. So, the more lighter warm orange colors were present bc that could be connected with Santino. So those colors overwhelmed the blue colors

When Santino was preparing to blow up John's house, you can see more of the blue color, meaning he is going to take away something big from John and he wasn't feeling threatened by John at all. As he blew up the house you can clearly see the warmer colors from the fire and how now with that Santino had the full control over him

Nel Museo

In the museum, John entered into Santino's space, so there was barely any of the blue color, if any bc Santino was, again, the more dominant one. Yet, Santino was wearing a blue suit this time. When he met with him again. Keep this mind for later. Which to me, at least indicates that they are really connected, and I think other than the Tarasovs, Santino is the next one that has the closest relationship to him. They both seem to know each other and their actions pretty well

La Chiamata

When Santino called John and got hung up on, there is a mix of warm colors with the blue color, although with the blue color overpowering other colors. Meaning, Santino didn't feel as confident as he did before because he realized he fucked up and he kinda panicked which you can see that no matter how he tried to remain calm, he was a bit worried. He knows what John is capable of. He was only feeling more confident and like he had more power than John because he was the one that helped John Wick with the Impossible task. It gave him a big boost to his ego

Hai pugnalato il diavolo alle spalle

The scene with Winston, again, more or Santino's warm colors because he was overpowering the space. Plus, the way he was sitting, he knew Winston couldn't really do shit to him. So, Santino was dominating the space. And Santino was so confident that he kinda ignored Winston's warning. Even though you can see a little bit of the blue color in the middle. Because John is out to get his ass

Presto Museum

And in the final, Santino was wearing a nice blue suit. A second time, he was wearing a blue suit while John was present. I don't think that was a coincidence.

The warm colors are still present the whole time until John starts chasing him. The whole time as Santino was running away (actually walking fast) from him, the scenes were having more of the blue shades because he lost the control over the situation

In the hotel, warmer colors because Santino was confident that he was safe there, so he had most of the control. And we all know what happened next... it didn't go as planned for him

BUT HEY THAT'S JUST A THEORY

A COLOR THEORY 🗣‼️

[marquisedegramont]

idk if youre still even thinking abt iosef, since those posts were from a while ago but i just wanna say thank you for like. giving him a little depth? he’s easily hateable bc of his role in the narrative but i really wish the overt and obvious abuse he was facing from viggo was like. acknowledged by fans more? anyway thanks for having a lil nuance when you write him

Thank you!! I think Iosef is an interesting just like the other big bads (Santino, Vincent, Jude, etc etc)

He’s easily overshadowed by the fact he killed John’s dog and the fact he’s treated as a secondary antagonist next to Viggo. While yes, Viggo is the main antagonist of the first movie, Iosef sets the story in motion. (Little rant below)

Iosef is a character who I unironically love due to how Alfie Allen portrayed him and also how he was written. I think for someone whose agency dies off right after his opening scene, he still has his own character traits which are almost always glossed over by the fanbase which is unfair seeing as how fans seem to adore a character such as, not to use him as an example but he’s the best I have right now— Marquis who is an enigma and with even worse crimes as Iosef.

I really do think Iosef was somewhat abused by Viggo and it’s clear with how their dynamic is portrayed. Iosef is 26-27 years old from what I assume and unlike almost every other villain(or rather EVERY villain), he has not transcended the ages of self-development and just finding yourself in general. Almost every person says that their twenties are a time of passage and change, which is why most twenty year olds/young adults like myself feel like their lives are a chaotic mess.

I think that’s Iosef. He’s in his twenties, and he doesn’t really have a reputation. He still tries to find validation from other people such as Viggo in their scene talking about John in the bar, and in the Red Circle scene when Iosef gets angry Kirill refers to guarding him being equivalent to that of “babysitting”. Iosef has an ego which most likely stems from not getting that attention as a child or just not being able to formulate attention easily; maybe this is a result of Viggo spoiling him to hell because he didn’t know how to parent or it could be a sign Viggo neglected him. Both of which are likely knowing how crime families work, which have tremendous amounts of abuse from the head of the family and the members surrounding it.

Anyways yeah those are my thoughts on Iosef. Thank you for the ask :D

If you want more Iosef content there’s an rp account run by my friend @babayagaiscomingforya who also wrote a detailed description of his stance on Iosef. The rp account is @/tarasov-gaming which I won’t tag since I already tagged the author. I think if you send her an ask he’ll drop the Iosef character profile lol. She also has a Viggo character profile for the roleplay, and both files are detailed and extremely interesting in terms of viewing both Viggo and Iosef, and both files get into how their relationship works.

[squid-deluxe]

When you and your sibling spend literal hours plotting your various blorbos... This is the DEFINITIVE list placement. I dont make the rules. @bigautomaton

[sociopath-analysis]

Sociopath Profile: Ms. Perkins

From the 2014 film John Wick Played by Adrianne Palicki

Ms. Perkins is a former colleague of the eponymous character. While they have worked together in the past, Perkins is much more ruthless compared to Wick. While he still has his morals and only targets those who deserve it most (or anyone who is dumb enough to try and kill him), Perkins definitely gets a high from killing people. The only difference between her being an assassin and a serial killer is the fact that she gets paid for it.

While most of the assassins in the film have personal vendettas against others for certain grudges, Perkins has absolutely none. She just likes to kill and sees herself as John’s equal. This does show her arrogance since she just wants to show that she’s better than Wick as an assassin. Another show of her arrogance is her complete disregard for authority. She decides to kill Wick against the wishes of the Continental Management’s rules. She’s been in the game as long as him, but Perkins does not care at all.

“Fuck management!”

She tends to be rather superficially charming, but this is mostly just for amusement. There is no denying that she’s a bloodthirsty killer who has no respect for anyone. The mask she wears is so translucent that it’s almost transparent.

Her arrogance also causes her to be rather impulsive. Including her disregard for the Continental’s rules, she goes to try and finish off Wick when he’s still injured. Unbeknownst to her, Marcus had a sniper trained on his apartment and sent a shot out to wake him up. This results in her getting her ass handed to her by the still-injured Wick.

She only has concerns for herself. Whether it be sadism or greed, she’ll go out of her way to get what she wants. Attempting to cash in Viggo’s bounty on Wick’s head shows how cocky and greedy she can be. Perkins has shown no altruistic or selfless motives throughout the whole movie and never even hints at having any kind of moral compass.

Female Sociopath List

[house-of-mirrors]

There's been a trend in media and analysis with like... idk a villain does a lot of wrong to you and kills a lot of people but YOU become the villain if you kill them...

Which simply isn't always the strongest narrative choice.

A revenge protagonist killing the villain they're seeking is a morally neutral act.

Real world moral arguments don't apply because it's a story. "Being the better person and walking away from revenge" "if you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world stays the same" these are not the only viable or satisfying endings to revenge stories. In fact, they're becoming overdone and unsatisfying, at least to me. (But maybe I watched too much of the CW's Flash lol)

I want more stories like the Princess Bride where Inigo Montoya kills the man who killed his father and then is completely fine and rides off into the sunset, happily ever after.

The correct ending to a revenge story is whatever is most fitting for the main character and the story's theme.

If Hamlet hadn't tried to kill Claudius and instead just ran off to college with his friends, would he have been happier? Yeah. But the story wouldn't have endured as a classic for 400 years!

And... also these messages kinda bother me as someone who grew up with school rules like "if a bully hits you and you hit back in self defense, you get in an equal amount of trouble" or like... with politics how you're expected to just smile at people who hate you for existing and say "all opinions are valid," and if you ever lose your cool you're "stooping to their level." There's this overemphasis rooted in cultural Christianity that you must forgive people, even if they don't deserve forgiveness, and if you don't forgive then you're a bad person too... And how characters in revenge stories can act as symbols for this ideology.

I don't know if this is a full *thing* with how culture and media affect each other (movies like John Wick remain popular, after all), but it is something I've been thinking about lately.

Do not misunderstand me, I'm not saying we should have MORE murder, not necessarily in fiction and certainly not in real life! Deciding whether or not to take a life is almost always a weighty decision for a character and a source of conflict. Just... a character doesn't automatically become a villain for killing someone ok bye

[wisteria-lodge]

Sorting Jafar

Evil Queen, Wicked Stepmother, Queen of Hearts, Captain Hook, Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, Madame Mim, Prince John, Professor Ratigan, Ursula

Gaston

More detail about this character analysis system here, and why the move away from the HP terminology here.

***

The thing about Jafar is that, at the beginning of the film… he kind of has it made. He’s got the Sultan hypnotized, he’s got a tower with a secret entrance and a best friend/minion to bitch too. He’s running the kingdom, and still has plenty of free time to track down cool magical artifacts and add them to his collection.

So what do you even want, Jafar? Somehow, I don’t think it’s to marry Princess Jasmine. You are way too queer coded.

I considered the possibility that maybe he just *really* hates the Sultan. But if anything, Jafar seems to mildly enjoy being smarter than his boss. (Iago the parrot has a more workable vengeance motive, since he really hates it when the Sultan feeds him crackers.) What Jafar actually seems after is the ability to control all the people around him, all the time. He’s worried about Jasmine coming of age, because he isn’t able to control her. So his plan at the beginning of the film is ‘get her to marry an idiot, then control the idiot.’

I think it actually says a lot about Jafar that the first thing he does once he gets his big power-up is make all the people in his life bow to him. Then, dress them up in symbolic little outfits that reflect how he sees them. The sultan becomes a puppet, Aladdin and the carpet unravel and become trash, and Jasmine becomes this hyper feminized decoration. He likes putting people in these easily quantifiable boxes.

So I want to say Bird primary for Jafar. Lion is possible… but there just doesn’t seem to be an emotional component to anything he does (beyond vague annoyance/smugness.) This quest into the inner workings of magic and the universe, with “omnipotence” as the final goal... seems a very Bird fantasy. There’s also something about Aladdin as “the Diamond in the Rough” that seems to intrigue Jafar, in an almost academic way. This random kid I arrested is special and I didn’t realize at the time? Let’s just put on a disguise real quick, and poke him, and see what he does.

Jafar is also definitely a Bird secondary. Another villain who likes transformation - but in a Wicked Queen way, leaning on his “harmless old man” persona. He researches and tracks down magical artifacts, and even though he doesn’t have a community, he seems to have no end of people that he can ask for favors. Jafar's strategy to marry Jasmine goes from “obscure legal loophole” to immediately “magic.” Double Bird, all the way down. No surprises there. 

Tl;dr 

Double Lion -  Queen of Hearts, Cruella De Vil

Lion Snake - Madame Mim

Snake Bird - Prince John, Professor Ratigan, Ursula

Snake Badger - Wicked Stepmother

Badger Lion - Gaston

Badger Snake - Captain Hook

Badger Bird - Evil Queen

Bird Lion - Maleficent

Double Bird - Jafar

[fangirlblogger]

Fangirl Analysis Three: Bill Skarsgard's double chin.

Okay girlies, this one is close to my heart. In fact, it burns my heart and starts this fire that never dies out. Bill Skarsgard's Double Chin is a character of its own. It deserves the world's standing ovation for eternity. Yes, some might say his eyes are the main character but for me personally (and to the girlies who also find double chins gob-smackingly sexy), his double chin when he smiles is a whole dinner table I want to devour eternally. Let's dissect these sets of images that vividly displays the previous information provided.

Image 1 Analysis

Firstly, look at how gorgeous and adorable he looks with that cute smile on his face. I simply can not BREATHE, but I will try my best to because I have to make my point. Secondly, this image has so many gems to analyze, and girl, I have my panties off, legs spread open and I'm ready to play.

To clarify things, I'm not a Bill Skarsgard obsessed fan girl (not that I have anything against anyone who does - I love that!), I recently just hopped on the train after watching Hemlock Grove (mind you I'm aware of his existence - Pennywise duh - I just never paid any attention to him because I had some other celebrity white men with brunette hair and blue eyes in my pants [I will get more into that this semester]), so I wouldn't know much about him as someone who has love him since day 1. To add on, I instantly fell in-love with him after the blood scene (I've mentioned this in the previous post but I'll say it again:

Roman Godfrey had my pussy by the clit the moment he sexually devoured that blood.

Back to the analysis. I do not know where this image of Bill was taken or when, but I'm pretty sure this was taken during a press conference of the John Wick 4 movie. Girl, his whole demeanor had my pussy throbbing and craving his slickness. After the movie, I felt like I was pregnant with his baby. His whole appearance was a breeding session for me, and I dropped from heaven when the movie ended.

Case study question: Why is this image devour worthy?

Firstly, it's Bill Skarsgard. He is devour worthy. Secondly, his smile isn't too wide to hide away his double chin. You can see that he has more meat to his cheeks which makes the smile more heavenly. I must say, having a kid does make him more daddyfied not that he wasn't before but all that daddy weight just makes me want him to daddy me.

Moving on, his eyes are literal definition of perfection. If he smiles and looks at me like that, the eggs in my ovaries would automatically be fertilized, conceived and I'd be ready to birth his kid in a few seconds after all that interaction.

Finally, I love this picture because it makes him human. You can see his perfectness and you can also see his flaws. Others might consider the hairstyle unattractive, I find that attractive. It makes him more human, imperfect and real.

Image 2 Analysis

Okay girlypops, I'm just going to come out and say it. I don't care how many people are sitting with him at whatever event this is, if I was there, I would literally get on my knees and start giving this man the gluck gluck three thousand. While doing that, I'd command him to just sit like that with his arms crossed, with that smile and look on his face, til I make him come with my mouth. I need to worship this man. My desires for him are cannibalistic and religious at this point. And, this image right here heightens those desires and urges for me.

Case study question: Why is this the sluttiest image of Bill?

As a girly that finds men rolling their sleeves to their forearms slutty, I also find men in turtle-necks, sweaters and textured long coats slutty and horny as hell. If this image of Bill was a dildo, I would fuck myself with it till Satan repents. The way he leans back on his chair, with his arms crossed below his chest that is not too firm to have his clothes looking too tight but enough to see that he is comfortable. This sight is such a fine art. Forget about looking at Renaissance paintings, this is all the renaissance you need to have your pussy coming over and over again.

Finally to the best part: His double chin. His jaw is so perfect that when leans back and smile, his double chin becomes too perfect. Just the perfect amount of mound for a Bill Skarsgard fangirl to devour eternally. The double chin is a god in this image. Everything else comes second. The double chin also enhances his emotions, therefore making his smile more bubbly, cheerful and innocent. It's inviting and it speaks to the viewers or whoever he is interacting with that he is comfortable with the conversation and the environment he is in.

Image 3 Analysis

Girlies, this image here is a real one. I adore this image. It shows how authentic, flawed and real Bill is. It shows him in the act - that is him interacting with people as he always does. His hair, eyes, nail, neck, double chin, teeth, nose, cheeks and forehead looks so organic. I love that. In a world that has a lot of people playing around with their looks to look so perfect, this image here is a breath of fresh air.

Case study question: How perfect can this image be?

This image is already perfect because everything in this image is not perfect. Yes, I meant NOT PERFECT. Once again, images like this make me desire him more. His humanness makes him more devouring and attractive (this sounds so cannibalistic but if you get the metaphor, you understand). The most vital part of his face that is so slutty is his double chin. My pussy is getting sluttier just looking that double chin (if only I can sit on it).

A special gem that I have identified from this image that makes my heart and pussy throb at the same time is the smile wrinkles at the side of his eyes. If I was given the chance to build a house and live on those wrinkles, I would definitely take that chance. I honestly think they enhance his beauty and his smile and make him more divine and desirable.

Conclusively, I am a whore and slut for Bill Skarsgard's double chin. I am also a whore for men with double chins like Bill (not Bill being an influence lol). I also go slutty for his cheeks when he smiles. His smile make my panties soak and the wrinkle at the side of his eyes make me want to go sexually feral for that man.

The point here is that women find the non-sexual things about men sexual. Sometimes it's the least attractive thing on a man that makes a woman go feral for him. Other times, it's the small movements that the man does that make the woman wet for him. Ageism and a bit of body changes such as weight gain can enhance those physical features of the man and make him 20 or 30 times attractive. That is why some of us girlies have daddy issues. It's not our fault the man we like are older, authentic and more enhanced.

[the-influx-of-film]

****The following does contain spoilers****

John Wick Chapter 4: Movie re-cap and analysis

Film directed by Chad Stahelski

Hardships of Friendships

The fourth instalment of John Wick is a culturally diverse motion picture, accompanied by a riveting storyline and an array of new characters. The action painted throughout the film is thrilling and necessarily excessive. And Keanu Reeves brings forth a captivating, energetic performance, accompanied by his cool, careful and determined demeanour. The soundtracks compliment and elevate these performances.

Throughout the film, we also delve deeper into John’s life, exploring more of his past connections with old associates and, face new challenges alongside him, especially regarding friendships.

Loyalty is tested with some friends, while loyalty is never questioned with others. Shimazu Koji, the manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel, was one of John’s friends whose loyalty we never question throughout the film. One of the quotes which stood out was actually from Koji. He said, “friendship means little when it’s convenient.” If we inverse this quote, Koji implies, friendship means a lot when it is inconvenient. It is this which is reflected in the film. John is in trouble with the High Table, and has very few loyal friends left. This is why he turns to Koji because he is desperate and knows Koji will be there to provide service and safety. Koji conveys to John that despite the bad blood he brings to Osaka, his loyalty lies with him. Koji is also quick to defend Wick when his daughter warns him of John’s destruction, demanding she respect the long-time connection between her father and his old friend. Here, the audience identifies Koji as a trustworthy character whose only motivation is keeping an old friend alive and helping him in his journey to freedom. We know this because John doesn’t hold a marker up against Koji. Koji’s loyalty to John contrasts to the actions portrayed by some other characters in the film.

On the other hand, loyalty is tested between old friends. The Marquis Vincent de Gramont, who represents the High Table, is responsible for this occurring in the film. The Marquis is a smart, but evil character, who does everything in his power to stop John’s antics and regain order within the underworld. In this case, he employs Caine, an old associate, and friend, of John Wick to make a difficult choice. Vincent discovers a weakness here and takes advantage, encouraging Caine to choose between killing John or, the High Table murdering Caine’s daughter. The audience senses Caine’s hesitancy when he finds out who he needs to kill, but accepts the job. Like John, Caine is also forced back into a world he once also left. Also like John, Caine is a fantastic fighter, even with the added disadvantage of being blind. Despite them being pinned against each other, they ultimately work together to kill the Marquis de Gramont, even if it was unintentional. John didn’t end up shooting his last bullet because Caine shot his bullet first, injuring John quite badly, causing his inevitable death. However, before John dies, Marquis stepped in to shoot John, John still had a bullet, shooting the Marquis and hence Caine was free and his daughter now safe. So, John also played a role in sacrificing his life for Caine when the Marquis decided to step in, ego and all. This interpretation was confirmed by Chad Stahelski himself in an interview, according to Screen Rant: https://screenrant.com/john-wick-chapter-4-director-chad-stahelski-interview/

Perhaps John made this sacrifice because he knows the power of loving another human being, and how that love motivates you to be a better person. Hence why he ultimately didn’t want to rob Caine of experiencing that love, or his daughter losing it. This contrasts to Akira who loses her father, by the hands of Caine, who is seen attempting to seek revenge in the final scene of the film. But this is another can of worms with the potential of further exploration.

The themes friendship, consequences and death go hand-in-hand in this film. Friendship and the loss of that are set up at the beginning of the film when Charon is murdered by the Marquis in front of Winston. Charon always remained on the sideline amongst the chaos in the hitman world. However, was a consistently loyal friend to Winston and John. Charon also brought a sense of calm to the films, whenever John entered the lobby. He looked after John’s dog at one stage and helped fight against the High Table when it was announced as deconsecrated. Throughout the franchise, the audience has grown fond of his respectable and humble manner as well. This is yet another loss John has to endue while he continues to grieve the loss of his wife, Helen. So, this isn’t the first time things have become personal for John, but it is the first time a friend has died for John’s actions. Don’t forget Winston’s beloved Continental Hotel getting bombed down by the Marquis too. It is here where the audience understands that this might be the time John is forced to stop and evaluate; meeting his fate from the High Table. Charon’s death casts a dim light on John’s future, as John and the audience are left hurt when he is sacrificed. So, despite the sheer will John has exhibited throughout the franchise, he may be incapable of going any further.  

The ideas of friend and enemy are blurred in this film, and at times conflate to represent the never-ending chaos in the underworld. John and Caine’s friendship has reached an unforeseen tragedy, being pinned against each other but, they have similar motivations because they are fighting for the ones they love, Caine fighting for his daughter’s life, and John fighting to live to remember his wife. Some friendships are less complicated in the film, like the one between John and Koji, while others are tragically taken away from us. The loss of Charon was a shock to us all. RIP Charon… and Lance. 

[thewhumpcaretaker]

allo what r ur thoughts on marquis de gramont? :3 (or headcanons if you have/would like)

NSFW at the end (the cut isn't going in the right place so I'm just putting this tw here too. Aaaagh Tumblr why...)

The Marquis de Gramont is a force of nature, so narcissistic that he needs special accommodations. Do you scold a lion for being a lion? Non, you just give it enough space to play safely and if you get close, you have to accept that you might get hurt. Having any kind of relationship with the Marquis is like an extreme sport, like trying to get a wild cat to trust you. It's fun to imagine accepting him for his narcissism and giving his ego space to do its thing without judgement. To treat his NPD as a neurodivergence that requires healthy management, rather than as a character flaw. I think that doing so would surprise him very much, in an adorable way. He's lived in a competitive world. People will tear you apart for the slightest sign of weakness, and that's the worst possible situation for a narcissist. He's getting triggered constantly - it's no wonder he wants to stab someone. And while a lot of people have granted him respect, no one has ever done it for his sake. I would really like to see a love interest shower him with respect and honor simply because that's what he desires.

As for a few random headcanons:

He is not married, and wears a ring on his ring finger to deter suitors because he believes that any spouse would use their position to try to encroach on his power. It signifies that he is "married" to his work and his status.

His favorite color is pink (unless you count metallics - then it's gold, obviously.)

He knows a lot about Rococo art and art history in general, and is a skilled art collector. He was very involved with the decoration of all his estates.

NSFW below the cut:

He's playful in bed, with high energy and lots of dirty talking and hair pulling. He doesn't know much about "making love," at least initially. More tender interactions are difficult for him, especially early in a relationship.

Oral fixation - he's eating constantly and it's very suggestive. I think he knows it. There's going to be a lot of licking.

Praise kink <3

[r1-jw-lover]

Caine as John Wick's Mirror: Part 2

Part two?! Really?

Actually, I was quite satisfied with the analysis I previously wrote on Caine, but then I just rewatched the first John Wick movie and now I have even more thoughts to add on the subject matter.

So buckle up because this is going to be another long post.

Tagging @evren-sadwrn, @chaoticgardenbread and @jotunvali02 again. <3

In my last analysis, I have already compared Caine with Cassian due to how similar they function in relation to John within the John Wick universe. This time, let us compare Caine with the next most similar character to him in the John Wick franchise: Marcus.

On the surface level, Caine and Marcus have similar arcs within the movie they appeared in. They are both friends of John Wick who were recruited by the villain to hunt and kill the Baba Yaga but deep down were secretly on John Wick's side.

While Marcus agreed to Viggo's contract out of his own free will whereas Caine was blackmailed and threatened by the Marquis, they would eventually forsake the job given to them and choose to give John a helping hand in a moment of crisis, a decision they were willing to die for.

(The sad and tragic part of it is that only one survived and got to live out his happy ending and the other was punished for it and died.)

The more I think about it though, the more I feel this is where the similarities end.

For one, Marcus looked way older than John, likely closer to Viggo in age. Even so, he hadn't retired from the business, and was living quite comfortably in a large apartment in New York alone. (It's almost as if Marcus is an alternate version of John if he didn't choose to marry Helen and had continued to live on his life as an assassin.)

By comparison, John was retired, and while he had a large bungalow in the New York suburbs to live in, the large wide empty spaces of his home seemed to amplify how lonely John felt after losing Helen.

Marcus: How're you holding up? John: I kept asking why her. Marcus: There's no rhyme or reason to this life. It's days like today scattered among the rest.

As much as his comforting words were sound, Marcus was content with his own life, and John clearly wasn't. On top of the implication that Marcus didn't have any family whatsoever, you can see why John immediately questioned Marcus about his intentions of visiting him after Helen's funeral right after the quoted dialogue above.

John was too drowned in his grieving for his wife's passing at the time that no one's condolences, not even Marcus (the person who Viggo claimed John was close with), could truly comfort him.

Because John wasn't done grieving while he was alive, when Iosef killed Daisy, John went on a rampage to avenge his dog. When Santino burned down his house, John shot him on Continental grounds, the supposedly safest haven in the criminal underworld. When John sacrificed his ring finger to the Elder, he rebelled against the High Table's forces head on alongside the New York Continental.

You know what finally made John Wick stop running, accept his death and find his peace?

It was when Caine comes into the picture.

For the first time in a long time, John had found someone who's similar in age as him and in a position similar to him mentally and emotionally-speaking, more so than anyone else in the franchise.

Just like John, Caine was also retired. He was discontent with his life, and he was lonely, due to the sheer fact that Caine wasn't allowed to get close to his daughter.

Despite being on opposite sides, John and Caine were equally caged by a strong sense of helplessness internally. (Where John acted upon it with defiant rage, Caine responded with palpable fear.) That's why we're rooting for both of them to get their unconditional freedom, and why the sunrise duel is so important not just for plot reasons.

Unlike Marcus, Caine had an innocent family member at stake, and because John intimately knew how it felt to lose a loved one, he ultimately sacrificed his life so to prevent Caine from having to experience the same grief John had painstakingly gone through for four entire films.

And that's something John was finally willing to die for.

(It's unfortunate that within the same movie John had unknowingly created another John Wick in Akira, but that is an entirely different story altogether.)

[evrensadwrn]

I like how the Marquis de Gramont is almost always drowned in a golden sunlight or in yellow lighting or almost always(save for the final scenes) in day scenes. (hes so bbg in this gif)

He’s always drowned in this gold color, almost always seen in luxurious places like the Louvre or the Palais Garnier. Because that’s who he is. Drowning in riches and gold and all that wealth and privilege at his disposal. Never once is he seen doing anything tedious like running from Wick like two of the former antagonists or Killa Harkan.

And it’s symbolic in a way. It’s like Icarus who in trying to fly too close to the sun, his wings collapsed on themselves by their wax melting. It’s kind of like Vincent here. So desperate and so close to killing John Wick, but his ego and his inability to grasp at the situation at hand even just a second earlier leads him to get shot by John.

That’s why in the final duel scene, it’s slowly becoming sunrise. And Vincent knows his control over the situation is faltering and that sunlight is the last hope he has to grasp the last strands of power that he can exert. But that sunlight is no longer his, it’s John’s.

And it adds to the fact why I think the Marquis is my favorite antagonist to have been written in the movie series.

Vincent is almost always in sunlight or surrounded by gold/yellow colors.

John is almost always surrounded by the night and blue/teal colors.

John’s color is teal/blue and Vincent’s is yellow, which are literal opposites on the color wheel.

Every single scene that John Wick has a form of control(agency) in, it’s night time and also has a teal undertone.

John always has agency throughout the entire movie series and when he does lose agency, it’s when he’s truly at his lowest. Like when Iosef killed his dog back in the first movie.

But blue is associated with sadness and combined by the fact John is always wearing black which has traditionally been associated and seen as a sign of mourning. And John is in mourning, Helen died and she’s the reason why John keeps going and keeps pushing.

Which in John Wick 4, the blue slowly starts to seep away leaving John nearer and nearer to sunset.

And it’s not just the Marquis that is coded in sunlight.

It’s also Helen, in the flashbacks of her in the first movie

Now, the Marquis is seen in gold but that lighting is a harsh yellow as if yelling at you that he’s here, and this place is his but not Helen.

Helen’s light is more warm, more softer in contrast to probably the only other character given sunlight to be seen with.

And in the final scene of the duel, John is more than ready to die if that means taking his peace. He’s ready to be with Helen in death. Vincent and some people might think he has control because of the sunlight but that’s Helen.

And to me, it’s both Helen and Vincent this sunlight in the duel scene symbolizes. Vincent’s ego thinking that he has control in this situation and that he’s hopeful. And it’s John thinking about Helen and being hopeful of her. But all in all, sunlight is a new start is symbolizes a new beginning because it’s a new day coming.

anyways yeah i found symbolism in just the color grading of john wick 4

[serendertothesquad]

I can finally go off about the Odd Squad Season 3 pitch bible (AKA happy 9th anniversary to this big lil' franchise)

I had originally wanted to do a little analysis video on this thing, and maybe I will someday, but for now here's a text version of that video.

I have not found the overall series bible -- and oh you better believe me when I say I've tried, and oh you better believe me when I say I have found shit -- but if I die before it's unearthed, then it will be, perhaps, the greatest failure in my pseudo-career as Odd Squad fandom leader. We've had cast members reveal pink drafts of scripts, we've found deleted scenes in some episodes...I just wanna see the big old pitch bible for the entire show. (Why didn't Sinking Ship Entertainment give me that when they sent me a fan package in exchange for me not promoting watching the show via VPNs? The fan package was nice but if I got a copy of a nice thick happy show bible I think it'd cure my depression!)

"But Seren, you managed to get PBS's Metadata Bank wiped from public view of everyone on the Internet who isn't a PBS employee, won't the same thing happen aga-" Shhh. Shhhhhhh. The answer is no. Absolutely not. Not on your life. Worst-case scenario is that a Season 4 bible is decided to be kept locked in a vault that's tighter than anything Disney could ever craft.

Can we move on now? Right, cool. Then let's go.

Y'know, it's sad that they continue to uphold that Season 1 and Season 2 were set in Nondescript Town, Nondescript State despite any and all evidence pointing to both being set in Toronto. I don't care if it makes it seem more local to kids. Some kids don't really have a giant-ass replica of their town's name sitting in their town's main square.

"But it's in the backgro-" Shhhhh. We're talking about the demographic that weaponizes brutal honesty better than John Wick weaponizes his own two fists. Shhhhhh. I'm willing to bet some kid has noticed that sign.

Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman had the balls to put in a merch pitch that would have made Hasbro execs slam their hands on the table and then immediately go in for the deal-closing handshake.

No but seriously, they could have made bank on selling miniature vans. Osmerelda had a mini-van toy of her own in "Monumental Oddness", even! Odd Squad's already just slightly toyetic, one more injection won't hu- wait, the chance has passed now. Well, fuck. Never mind.

But ohhhh no, that's not even the most egregious part. The most egregious part is the fact that they called Creature Room employees...ah..."creature wranglers". Quite obviously, we know that's not all they do...I mean look at Ocean, as one example.

...Okay that's not so egregious.

Also, I, uh...well...they're not so much "roles" so much as they are "departments". You don't really go into a job interview at the local Target saying you'd like to apply for the role of part-time cashier like it's a school play and you really wanna strut your stuff. Odd Squad is a workplace. It has always been a workplace. Let's stick to the roots.

And while you guys do that, let's move on to the characters! This is one of the things I most want to see from an Odd Squad show bible, because if PBS can hike up their belts and declare Oprah to be physically seven years old right on the Wild Wild Internet, for all we know Olive could have been named Olivia somewhere in pre-production and they wanted to make her a hell of a lot more fucked-up than she turned out to be.

You know what's also sad? The fact that no one has the balls to admit that Odd Squad has precincts and it's not just smaller offices also named Odd Squad under a Big Office that's probably named, oh no you better not guess it, Odd Squad.

Let's be honest here, Opal is by far and away the most "we erased only the small smudges but she's otherwise polished" character in here. Everyone else has characterization that differs wildly from the final products. Opal...not so much. Pretty much everything said about her here is right on the money.

Except for, uh...that third paragraph. Let me word-vomit about that.

It does not matter how hard the franchise will try and make you believe Opal is not the leader. The fact of the matter is, she is the leader, de facto, and as such, she takes charge in all kinds of situations. However, that doesn't necessarily mean she's not keen on passing the buck to her teammates, as she's done it before (see, blugh, "Odd Squad in the Shadows") and she's more than willing to do it if she has to. This is a trait I honestly would have loved to have seen in her -- an Opal who decides to go-off-queen on her teammates by saying that she's the boss and what she says goes would have been more entertaining to watch than the final product we got. Opal's an enjoyable character, but she could have used a lot more polishing to make her as perfect of a character as her predecessors. Yes, even with the story arc.

Such a good example of this unused trait in action would be with a plotline similar to "O For a Day" -- Opal is forced to fill in for an Odd Squad Director after they get ill or sick in some way, and as a result, she slowly begins to get drunk on her own power until it becomes full-blown alcoholism and it gets to be at its utter detrimental peak for the precinct and the agents that work there. Maybe she micromanages like a boss bitch so that it's micro-micromanaging. Maybe she has her sanity go weeeeeaaaaaaaow down the drain. Maybe she becomes what CEOs of corporations aspire to become. Whatever the outcome, it could have served as wonderful character development for her and showed that being a leader is no easy task and choosing one is not a "pick a name outta a hat" method.

Whereas Opal is a sort of weak expy of past characters (Olive/Otto) -- and even that could be a stretch -- Omar is explicitly referred to here as an expy of Olympia and Otto, which...well yeah, actually that's pretty accurate.

You know who he's also an expy of? Pinkie Pi- nah that joke got old fast in 2016, I'm not revivin' it again.

Omar is one agent out of the group whose personality remains largely the same, but also has something just a teeny-tiny bit...off. In this case, the thing that's off here is the fact that he's gullible. So let me word-vomit about this too, and throw some Pepto-Bismol into my Walmart shopping cart while I'm at it.

I'm going to be real with you guys, even though some of you might already be aware of this: Otto is not a gullible motherfucker. He's really not. If some random stranger on the street waddled on up to me and asked me what the first word I'd use to describe Otto would be, "gullible" would not be the first word that springs to mind. Has he had gullible moments? Oh abso-fuckin'-lutely without a doubt. He's a dum-dum blorbo sometimes and if I gotta be frank with Frank then I like him like that. But is he easily gullible? Yeah no.

Maybe Otto being gullible all the time was something that was planned for when he was nothing but an idea on paper. I've seen enough criticisms about his character development to where I could probably hang that guess out on a limb and pray to the oracle in "Nature of the Sandbeast" that I'm lucky.

But I digress. Omar's gullibility being exploited to hell and back by his teammates would have been amazing to see, but alas, it never really came to pass in Season 3. Would have made for great conflict with The Shadow when she didn't have an obsessive schtick for Opal and didn't decide to wake up and choose the "by proxy" option for her crimes.

Now where in the McFuck can I begin here? Can I start by going inside and telling the cook I'd like a McCrispy Lack of Facts with a side of large What the Fuck and a large WHOA AN ACTUAL ORIGINAL CHARACTER with no ice? Cool, thanks, card got approved and I'd like my receipt please.

To say Orla is a writers' pet is something that you could have some bobo respond to with "citation needed" and get citation...but not really enough citation. For a character that is no expy of any previous one in the franchise and is something birthed from the God of Originality in the Television Industry...well yeah, you could say that justifies it. But Orla is really a fantastic character through and through and she deserves all the love she can get. I mean it's not every day you get a character willing to make people spill their coffees by punching and kicking the ever-loving shit out of an octopus (for simplicity's sake, let's assume it's an octopus, okay? okay) on a network where physical violence can become weirdly memetic at best (I'm side-eyeing you, Arthur) and controversial at worst (I, uh...I can't name any controversies about that. I am sorry).

I'm not about to delve into the historical parts of that paragraph, largely because history is my worst subject. I can say for sure, however, that I see why they changed what she called cars. If we wanna get technical -- and I mean insufferably so -- then cars would technically be the carriage and the horse. The horse serves as the engine, and then you have the carriage as the main body of the vehicle. "Metal chariots" is a more broad term that is far more accurate, because when I, for one, think of a chariot, I think of the carriage and the horse.

Also, I'm pretty sure sandwiches were around back in her time...lemme see here...

Mmmmmhm. As I thought. And let me check the timeline of the show here...

...Oh! Well wouldja look at that! Not exactly 400 years, but close!

Yeah, something tells me a lot of writers on the crew might have gotten an A in comedy but got an F in history. That or they simply went "bitch, we don't give a fuck!"

Tim and Adam slipped in an absolutely beautiful burn that missed the show as much as that one guy who shows up to meetings several hours after conclusions.

Like I said before, and I will repeat: Orla is not an expy of any one character. She is an original character made from scratch like your mother's baked bread. I find it hard to believe that she's a copy of Otis in any aspect outside of "hey, both of our seasons have us as the feature of story arcs". I can kinda sorta see the "surprising skills" aspect, but not by much outside of the season premiere. (Which, to be fair, had her scaling a wall with the same strings the Zephyr Heights royalty used to pull themselves up, but did not have her saying anywhere that she tamed a jaguar. Nowhere does it say she tamed a jaguar. Wrestled alligators, but the fun stops with big cats that can eat your face off.)

Perhaps I can blame that on poor execution within Season 3 itself. After all, it tried to gamble with character development and it failed. And that's just one flaw out of many.

Shifting subjects, though, the most hilarious thing I find about this paragraph is her ability to come up with ideas that are out-of-the-box. Which, for those that have not watched the horror that was the second half of the season and miraculously lived, is Osmerelda's schtick. She is explicitly labeled as the out-of-the-box member of the group. They did a theft-not-theft of something from the pitch bible and slapped it onto Osmerelda and ohhhhhh maybe that's part of the reason why she's terrible as a character.

Wow. Eureka moment! How about that?!

Before I get started on tearin' apart Oswald like a huge-ass Thanksgiving turkey from the supermarket, I'd like to address what has to be one of my biggest pet peeves of the season.

"Librarian/museum worker" is not a thing. Stop trying to make "librarian/museum worker" a thing, Gretchen. It will never be a thing.

If you want to call Oswald by the correct terminology, then allow the Seren to educate you.

He is an Odd Squad Security agent first and foremost. He's got the uniform, he's got the position, he's got the duties, he's got the competence to make Owen eat dirt and live, it's all right there.

Second and backmost...he's a museum curator. A "Curator" is what you call people who work in museums. I know this because I punched it into Google because I'm a petty bitch who eats reruns of A&E shows for every meal.

For what it's worth, I will also accept "museum archivist" and "archives technician". That too.

Okay, have we got that settled? Cool beans. Let's move on.

Oswald as a character is, for all intents and purposes in existence, what happens when you take Oscar, suck every last inch of science out of him, and then replace it with an obscene level of bookbookbookbookBOOKBOOKBOOKBOOK. He's still got the same "sacrifice your lives to the devil that births oddness, here I shall stay in my safe zone" mentality that Oscar does, and he's the smart guy of the team, but that's about it as far as comparisons go. I never really pinned Oscar as a nerdy ol' bookworm anyway, though it would have been amazing and hilarious to see.

That being said, Oswald applying the power of the writing gods' hands to real life and failing tremendously would have been a great trait for him. You know the lil' man would read a book on overcoming social anxiety and pull off a Shocked Pikachu Face when it doesn't work. And then he'd read on why it didn't work, try again with the opposite, and pull off another Shocked Pikachu Face when that fails.

Ah, now, see? These are other traits I would have loved to see in Oswald.

Him being an insufferable jerk who goes "well eckshuelleh" every 5 minutes -- yes, including with exposition, that market of which Oprah had cornered for 8 years -- would have probably made Season 3 more enjoyable, at least for me.

You know what would be a good thing to add to that batter, though? Him being meta.

In Season 3, especially in the second "kids are more forgetful than a backwards elephant" half, Oswald makes a few callbacks to earlier seasons. Which is nice and all, but imagine if he pried through particular cases and nabbed specific events and relayed them to people like it's his job and livelihood. If they had enough balls to make Xavier and Xena utter jerkasses, they could have grown two more to make Oswald an utter jerk, but one with redeemable qualities. As an example of one: he's a jerk who goes "well eckshuelleh" on people, but he does it because he loves the show. He loves Odd Squad lore and history. He's a fanatic.

I mean...well...he loves it already. He's enough of a fanatic and that shit has been proven. But they don't really lean into it all that much. It might as well be more informed than anything else.

But jerking the subject away from that...what if God gave you a character with all the autism traits, and you decided to come out and say "nah, he's not autistic, he's a quirky lil' man"?

You're telling me you can't make the boy canonically autistic in the same way that, ohhhh, I dunno, AJ Gadgets is canonically autistic? Or that one Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood character whose name I forget? You're on a network that embraces diversity the same way wine moms embrace the triple-L of "Live, Laugh, Love" and you had an opportunity...and Tim and Adam both blew it. Out of the water. Nuclear explosion. Does autism exist in the world of Odd Squad? Is there air?! You don't know!

Okay, that's a dumb question. I was reminded that muscular dystrophy exists, along with whatever disability Xena has.

Instead, what they did with Oswald was make him so friendly and sociable with people you wouldn't believe he's been a hermit in the belly of the Big Apple for [REDACTED] years. Which is a waste, because I'd have liked for him to be canonically autistic. They spend so much time on gender and making sure girls and women triumph over men and boys that they forget about disability, y'know?

Ah well. There's always Season 4. But let's be honest, I'm fully prepared for them to laugh and say "there are no autistic people in Manchester, what a silly notion!"

Here's another pet peeve of mine when it comes to this show, and those who have followed me and my biz for a long time probably know this already.

I don't like the formality error on proud display here.

Let's set the record straight. You don't call your boss at work Manager, not unless they're one of those whoo-hoos who knows they're paying you minimum wage for busting your ass and is reveling in it. No one does. No one calls them that.

So exactly why call Oprah by Ms. O? Or even the Big O?

Yes, it's an easy identifier for popularity purposes. Yes, it's her title that everyone calls her by except for a few close pals.

But that's just it -- it's a title. It's not her actual name. It's not like her mom delivered her cesarean-style and decided to name her Ms. O to compete with Elon Musk and whatever gibberish he's named his kid this time. It's not like Oprah decided to get a legal name change to go with her meal of a free promotion. Oprah is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, her actual name, and to insinuate it's not puts you in a silly delusion with a silly mind that might not be so silly.

But, y'know...I've screamed this at people for nearly 9 years now and no one's listened. I was friends with Joshua Kilimnik and had the crew watch my stuff and still no one's listened.

...Maybe I'm the one who's deluded...

...Um.

...

Yeah okay, maybe I might have a point if they're not even bothering with title capitalization anymore.

Not much to spice up here, but if you're wondering where in the blue hell Onika came from: she's from Season 2 of OddTube. Is not an Odd Squad explorer or an oddness finder, but rather, she built an entire 2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, threw some Odd Squad stuff on it, and called it half of a day, all with her own two hands.

Okay, it's hilarious that they're using teamwork and perseverance as an example of "broader themes". Yes, they are broader themes, but you also have:

Bullying

Trauma

Stop being like your family. You are not your family. You are you.

Friendship (is magic!)

Why going to work sucks ass on a daily basis

I could keep going, but I think I've made my point well with just these 5.

Nice justification for the set piece that is Oprah's office, though. That's clever. But...and it's a but bigger than any but Sir Mix-a-Lot has ever sung about in his career...this just highlights one of the problems with kids live-action shows. Had the show been animated in full, there would be no "I'll take seven slices of pizza and you can stuff your faces with the rest" to be found. Instead I must suffer in agony as I get whined at that "Odd Squad is not a cartoon".

One of the Odd Squad God's biggest mysteries is why, exactly, they axed Omar, yoted him into a single episode and a shitty-ass clickbait thumbnail, and decided to replace him with Orla.

...

No, no...actually I might know why. It may or may not have anything to do with the discussion of whether Orla is a "writers' pet" or not. No one @ me, I have theories.

But let me lay down Chris's crispy McNugget of truth for you all: while Orla does have appeal in her not understanding how technology works to save her life, Omar has somewhat equal appeal in him being a lover of traveling and buying souvenirs. Hell, if they wanted to grow balls that would make AC/DC weep, they could have cohosted the series. But alas, it was simply not meant to be.

Given how PBS Kids is planning to go the short-form route as a means of cutting costs while still aiming for quality, I'm kind of sad this never came to fruition. Imagine numerous seasons of OddTube, one for each country. All they would need to do was account for every Canadian in each country because if not then the bad guys have won.

...I mean it could come to fruition. Maybe. It might not. Maybe. Hopefully. It could be with Orli or something I dunno. She could shoot the shit or however British people say the phrase!

When I tell you folks this aged like milk, lemme tell you it aged like fucking milk. Like you could hear it churning at the grocery store while the manager does fuck-all about it.

Anyone who has absorbed enough of this franchise knows that episodes have absolutely been no stranger to rehashing mathematical concepts. And that's fine by me, because the episodes themselves aren't derivative outside of that regard. Each Season 1 and Season 2 episode is hand-crafted so it doesn't feel like a painfully obvious Xerox copy of a previous episode. Key word being "painfully obvious", keyer word being "painfully", because there are episode copies out there (see "The Trouble with Centigurps" and its mid little brother "Worst First Day Ever") that are obvious but don't actively make you say "I'm going to buy some Clorox and pour it into every facial orifice known to scientists who study human life".

Season 3 was absolutely no exception. However, instead of creating new plots and just sticking with that, they created new plots and also rehashed old ones in addition to reusing math (and science) concepts. Like plopping new pasta sauce on old shittily-cooked spaghett'. Is shit, tastes like shit.

One of the most glaring examples is with the infamous clip show episode, "Welcome to Odd Squad". Anyone can clearly see it's a rehash of "Odd Squad Needs You" from Season 2, just with new elements (a B-plot, Orpita instead of Oprah...No-Name who's essentially relatability personified). And, I mean, y'know...it's a clip show, which, in most cases, spells bad news for a series and/or a franchise. That too.

All in all, these comments are hilarious to me. Even if they are a stark reminder that in a show where comedy comes first and education comes second...there's still education.

If your first thought upon reading this wasn't "this seems more of a better fit for Wild Kratts or Cyberchase than Odd Squad" THEN WHAT THE MCFFFFFFFFFUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU GET BACK IN THE HOUSE. YOUR LITERACY IS O F F JIM YA GOTTA READ IT AGAIN.

Okay, but I digress. In a world where the rules of scientific concepts like biology and anatomy go completely out the fucking window and land right onto your uncle's Corvette, this is a very stupid lesson and I'm honestly glad they didn't go through with it. We don't need lessons on the ecosystem in a world that explicitly defies the rules of ecosystems as we know them in real life.

I just did an audible groan at that stupid-ass pun. "Mathience"? Really? Suck a peanut. Like 90% of the "odd" puns are better than that trash. Be the fuck for real.

This is a nice plot, really, but I dunno...something about it just doesn't sit right with me. Let's be realer than real here, one of the climates would have had to be the Arctic. Another one might have been in the Amazon somewhere, or another place that's humid. And the third one...yeah I dunno about that one. But this plot isn't sitting right with me. Like a bruised coccyx.

...Okay, my brain got fried there for a moment. Let's move on.

I guess it's time I air out my ire with this episode -- which is a good episode, but let me just take the time to talk about one of the things that bothers me about it.

The 44-Leaf Clover is supposed to grant whoever finds it magical powers. So where in the holy God of McFUCK are the magical powers of the Mobile Unit?

Let's be realer than realer than real here: the Mobile Unit having magical powers would have really spiced up Season 3. If not the entire Unit, then at the very least Opal and Omar, who initially went on the adventure. But that part of the Clover's lore is just dropped clear straight away like my dinner from last night. We have four normal humans with no powers who pissed off that one guy who called them politically correct. Which honestly sucks and is yet another thing we can throw into the "Odd Squad Missed Opportunities" bucket. Wow is that bucket getting full. Shall we dump it in preparation for Season 4?

...Yeh but oddness struck like a long-ass time ago. You don't get two of the same snowflakes and not find it odd. Confetti Betty's a step up, sure, but oddness is oddness. Let's try and keep continuity, hmm?

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So that's it. The Odd Squad Season 3 pitch bible, properly dissected and torn through and ripped to utter shreds like a dog to a slipper. Sorry not sorry. Had to be done.

Still holding out hope for an entire series pitch bible to unearth somewhere in life. Preferably sometime before my death. Preferably on the 'Net. Preferably stored on my computer somewhere. I can and will tear into that too if it ever pops up.

But for now...we wait for Season 4 news. Since I don't want to do anything big this year for the franchise's 9th anniversary because ADD and depression and ADD, you all can have this instead. You're welcome. This has rotted in my drafts for at least two months. Take it.

[marquisedegramont]

An interesting idea…what if the whole Autem Imperator thing is actually kind of bullshit? What if it’s like the rest of the High Table saying, “Hey, new guy! Here’s a fancy-sounding title to impress the outsiders, now you go do the shitty dangerous job that none of us want to do?” And the motion carries, 11 to 1…

That was my first impression when I read the John Wicki explaining the role of Autem Imperator. And I find it very interesting they—the High Table, chose a rather young person to have this role. It really just felt like they were pushing their problems onto an impressionable person.

I think it was also their way of using Vincent’s ambition, it’s like: “hey we’ll give you glory and prestige of you do this thing for us!”

I’m writing an essay on why the High Table is a cult. And this is one of the reasons that support this idea where they manipulate their own emissaries.