#one of the plot points for a s1 ep was that she was trying to force alex to be more feminine

[iftari]

long running shows like modern family start to fall apart bc they reduce the 3D-ness of their characters into quick words n change them up as dependent on the plot v understanding the characters and keeping their growth consistent. also bc theyre yt and white comedy shows dont know how to engage in anything beyond surface level humor even when they are to some degree tryign to be political

[clumsycapitolunicorn]

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[petitprincess1]

What critiques do you have of Hazbin? I'm wondering because I keep seeing a lot of criticism and hate towards it and I don't Wana get into something that's possible waste of time. Srry if thats rude

Dude, you're perfectly fine. I'm gonna keep it to like five points bc some things that I have problems with are mainly nitpicks. None of this, imo, is a dealbreaker for me. However, if it is for you, fair.

This is one that everyone has talked about and I fully agree with. The pacing is whiplash-inducing. I still do believe it's better than HB S1, but there is just so much information being thrown around that it's mind-boggling. The songs definitely help to slow things down a bit and introduce more info in an engaging, catchy way. However, I feel like there were some eps that either needed to come sooner or later in the series. I get they were fighting the clock, but still.

Lucifer and Charlie's relationship needed better explaining. Without going into spoilers, from what it felt like in the Pilot, it seemed like they were building up to something a bit more confrontational. I always figured Charlie possibly embellished Lucifer's words, but now it makes it feel like Charlie was talking to a completely different man. Someone that isn't even her father. Lu acts so much like Charlie, or vice versa, that it seems almost impossible to misinterpret his words.

NO FILLERS! The closest episode to a filler is the 3 ep, but even that brings up information and moves the plot along with key points. Now, that's not a bad thing entirely. It keeps you engaged. But this show very much lacks any breathing room. There's so much being thrown your way. Either things get overly talked about or not talked about enough. Which brings me to my next point-

The world-building is both fulfilling and empty. You do get a good sense of Heaven and Hell in this universe, especially Hell. You get an idea of the hierarchy and even some hypocrisy. However, we also don't really know how Heaven nor Hell operates. Like Lucifer appeared to be a shut-in. Yes, Lilith was the one inspiring demonkind, but what about when she disappeared? Is that why everything is garbage now? How much does Lucifer influence Hell? Where are the archangels? Was this conflict not important? Is there a "God" even in this show? What is Heaven's hierarchal system? There's so much being said, while also nothing being explained.

This one is the lowest for me bc I'm a bit torn on it. I've seen a few people complain about how the main characters are introduced as if you're supposed to know them. I didn't get this feeling, but I'm also a fan of Hazbin. I try to go in with a fairly "empty mind" so that I can view the material without rose-tinted glasses. However, it felt like some of the characters were given decent introductions at times. Idk. I'd like to know other's opinions on that.

Another one that I want to add is probably more diversity in the body sizes in the show. I'm not too worried about it bc Helluva Boss does a great job with body diversity, but Hazbin seems to be fairly stick and slender. But, again, I'm not too worried about it.

All in all, those are my biggest issues with the show. Like I said, none of these are dealbreakers, especially since we'll be getting a S2. Vivzie seems to listen to criticism, judging by the differences with HB S1 vs S2. So, I'm really hoping that we finally get to relax and actually get to know the characters more. Like, Adam shows the 7 Deadly Sins, while Charlie shows the 7 Virtues. I hope Adam isn't permanently dead bc I feel like this would be a good wake-up for him. He'll become the being that they were exterminating. But only time will tell.

Majority of this can be blamed on Prime and A24 for only giving them 8 episodes. I feel like either a longer run-time or more eps would've helped the show. Hopefully, they'll have learned from their mistakes in the next season.

[cardiganloser]

will probably try and script more coherent thoughts on ofmd s2 tomorrow and my opinion is overall very positive but i really don't like the way they're handling jim/archie and olu/zheng. to clarify i would be 100% okay with a more open/poly version of jim/olu, esp since vico ortiz is poly irl, but this just feels underbaked.

1) jim and archie only interact a few times in the first episode before one of their first scenes in the second episode is their kiss. i think archie will be a fun character and her banter with jim was decent but to me there really wasn't enough build-up to pay off a kiss, esp after jim/olu was a well-done plot line last season that was built up by a series of good, genuine moments across all ten episodes. i don't think a slow-burn is always a definite requirement for a good romance but more than like three scenes of build-up is.

2) olu fully admits in ep 3 he had no idea that zheng was flirting with him. full honesty i was expecting zheng to be a lesbian (idk why just vibes) but really? she apparently grows a crush on olu through all his visits to her soup stand, of which we see one where they have a normal, polite conversation. then they join up with the revenge, jim and olu reunite and five minutes later olu is making out with her in her office? i'm aware olu was probably still surprised by the jim and archie situation but it genuinely felt so out of nowhere to me. tbh her random crush on olu was the only thing abt zheng i disliked, other than that she was fantastic and i'm very excited to see more of her. her feelings read like an unrequited crush to me.

3) jim and olu were a fantastic couple in s1, i was and still am obsessed. again, poly/open relationship is fine if done right, but this just reads like they forced relationship drama. we are only three eps in and maybe they aren't even going the poly route but in that case why make this a thing in the first place? why have jim and olu make out with other people when ed and stede are clearly giving us all the relationship drama? yeah, they thought the other person was dead/didn't know if they'd see them again but surely they'd be holding out hope or still grieving after what's been a year at most.

anyways, like i said, overall a good start but this plot point is rlly dragging down the early eps for me. hopefully it resolves quickly.

[soshadysoquiet]

If I could re-write TUA s3 - Allison Edition

Key Allison S1 traits:

Default Rumours - her default from childhood to 1-2 years ago (max as far as I can tell) is to rumour people to get what she wants / needs. She even returns to using them when faced with the threat of Viktor despite their recent conversation

Wants to Connect - Allison wants a connection to her family, especially Viktor, but also takes the time to interact with most of the others.

Lashes out when angry - comments by Viktor

Quiet when disappointed / hurt - comments by Luther and Diego esp.

Is not trusted / respected by those closest to her over big matters: Namely Viktor and how to handle The White Violin-ness / basement - would be interested to see why people think this is, lots of possibilities...

Allison covers up things she's ashamed of / guilty of until called out - Claire's custody, her childhood rumour etc.

Allison smokes occasionally and drinks at least socially.

Key Allison S2 traits:

Again off rumours, but defaults when threatened / others are.

Has found / is still trying to connect to people - although here the show starts doing its characters massive discredit in my opinion; swapping to them bonding almost purely through experience and humour rather than words and affirmations - her scene with Luther at the BBQ is one of the few of these, but her and memory -returned Viktor defo deserved an on screen convo about this, hell they all did.

Lashes out when angry - physically now vs verbally and to the point of cruelty, such as with racist biggots (so no judgement there just observation). - Is this an upspike due to stress, or a return to form? We don't know enough about how Allison used rumours as a child to be sure.

Quiet when hurt / disappointed - with Ray following rumour convos esp.

Still not trusted / respected: How best to stop Viktor (again), Ray and her never having a reaffirming convo following their last rumour question - no shade on Ray, but is sad to see that she's still not trusted unconditionally by someone. (especially when we're later meant to believe, or, worse, Allison believes Ray was perfect. Seriously these kids are all so traumatised they need so many hugs.

Still hiding guilt / shame - her powers now mainly and past. Don't think Ray even knows she had a daughter before.

Allison now drinks when very stressed, does not smoke any more - odd choice to change this without explanation (they have an obvious get-out with her throat but, still) or is it to indicate she hasn't needed to do this with Ray in her life?

Which, sigh, leads us onto S3:

Key Allison S3 traits and where they are / aren't consistent:

Use of rumours: Oddly mixed, using them at odd times and only really severely - now I know part of this is for plot progression but Ive written my proposals below so just to bear in mind. Is now occasionally so desperate to fix things with rumours that they go into really bad territory or she's rumouring herself.

Desperate for connection - sadly now because of her trauma at this point, her attachment style becomes very anxious (with Viktor, Luther) aggressive in convo-style or deeds (with Luther, Diego, Lila) or completely despondent (with everyone else between her and Viktor in ep 2 and when she and Sloane share a moment after Luther's dad-demise.)

Lashes out when angry, ahem, yeah. Following her finding out about Claire this skyrockets. I'd say this reaction is actually pretty on-brand for her character, but I think (will go into below) that the show could have handled her having this reaction whilst doing it in a different fashion. To a point they're picking elements from the comic - where Allison does indeed rumour Luther to kiss her, but this show also isn't word for word from the comics, so I think we can alter things...

Quiet when hurt / disappointed - she frequently takes herself away to drink more / after a scathing comment / shuts herself away in room or try to rumour herself to be happy.

Still not trusted / respected by those closest to her: Viktor especially has a part to play in this this season, who just doesn't trust her with information. The rest generally brush her aside, even the Sparrows are dismissive of her. It's a lot. I know none of them listen to each other, which by this point is canonically insane (Allison's track record for good gut feelings should be more well recognised by the sibs just as much as Five's apocalypse sense always being dead right.)

Covers up her guilt / shame still - such as the Luther Business

Allison now drinks frequently from the stress and smokes again.

So, here's my reviewed S3 with the above in mind:

Stronger gut feeling that something is wrong following Sparrows in the Umbrella Academy

Less jokes, more genuine worry when they're all injured after - though increasingly distracted by need to hunt for Claire.

Claire business and Viktor's transition goes the same - though maybe she could ask one of the fam to come with her? Luther pos? Just as a thought.

The fam have the same initial non-reaction that Viktor berates them for - I'm not sure if they actually know or not / how much they know

Cafe scene can go the same way OR Allison starts quietly but then shouts 'heard a rumour you all Shut Up'/etc to stop the cacophony of noise - maybe then bolts, Harlan gets spotted etc. This begins the slippery slope of regressing back to the mean of her rumour use.

I think it's then 1st Kugalblitz meeting? Honestly when Diego is complaining about Stan initially Allison's reaction could become more 'I heard a rumour you stopped complaining about having a child'/etc [- which could then lead to an interesting Diego arc. I find it interesting that Allison doesn't interact with Stan once, in fact other than Diego and Klaus, I don't think anyone else even talks to him. Which is pretty awful when you think about it - I would like to see Allison then leave, try and bond with Stan but she just can't feel it / it's too much and she retreats again] - could then start trying to pep talk herself out of using rumours / rumour herself in the mirror.

Kugalblitz conversation - at this point Allison might be threatening rumours just to give herself that pause before a freefall 'If you don't get to the point you're getting rumoured' the fam starts to notice this change in her and are leery of it - I'd love to then see some snippets from their childhood but alas, a gal can but dream

As the season progresses, Allison's rumours become more desperate and connection-coded (rather than non-con coded, thanks for that TUA) so when they have Briefcase chat at sparrows, she rumours them to give her the briefcase (they are compelled to go with her to where it was / is - the hotel.) Viktor and her can bluster about the rumours on the way back vs following the plan 'it's not like anyone ever follows MY plans or we might not be here in the first place' could be a good take for Allison. On the way to the hotel does she try and rumour Ben into being more like their Ben / remembering?

Back at the hotel we can then have Sparrows Vs Brellies + Harlan - Fei sent some birds secretly to alert the others IDK

Then we have Sloane Vs Allison - the Interrogation grunge match. At this point Allison is done, so she just tries all kinds of rumours and Diego is a bit more cautious - gives a 'hey maybe calm it down' as he got rumoured earlier so 'I heard a rumour you backed me up for once' and he he's just saying 'I am!' Allison doesn't really notice that the rumour doesn't have much effect, for Luther's interruption he gets 'I heard a rumour you listened to me for once' and he does, and he's angry - but after it's worn off he thinks back about when he hasn't listened in the past. *This replaces her Other Luther rumour for me because I don't need to see that - I'm still half convinced it also serves a dual purpose as just a way to also show a woman getting sexually overpowered even though she'd 'asked for it' so it's completely bleh bleh bleh no either way for me and we don't need it*

Her and Diego have a convo - you know you didn't need to rumour me back there, I already have your back - Allison going into how it's felt like no one's had her back for the last year, going into the constant stress of living in Dallas, could mention 'apart from Ray, and now I've lost him too' [I'm curious here of what is more therapeutic - the racist-people-beat up at the bar or Allison actually getting a meaningful connection and sharing some of that emotion, I'd like the second to come into play to start giving her some emotional room here, but don't want to deny her and Diego some pay back, food for thought]

Five and Lila come back, Allison sees he had the brief case, possibly 'you had this the whole time?' 'did have' Allison lashes out - some cutting remark I can't think of, but leading to basically 'I heard a rumour that you actually cared!'/etc (about us / my daughter) Five just replies with 'I do' and he's pissed but as with Diego it's no different than how he was anyway

Viktor and giving up Harlan moment - Can't remember if Allison was there for that or having a moment to gather herself???

Five maybe gives her the time for one of his Awkward Gramps Bonding convos about how he does care, Allison vents a bit, he says he's trying to fix it, Allison can say she's not sure that's enough and maybe Five says 'I've wondered that all my life' or something equally sad and the two of them and Klaus share a drink and look at his peeled skin, lovely bonding. Allison there to hear that Klaus kinda died- maybe asks him to clarify, but how did you survive then? The three of them ponder, Allison reflects she has more to lose still. They all go off to the biker gang with Five bc why not. [in the bar there there's a fight and Klaus dies but comes back - Allison can try to rumour him back to live bc I love stories where she does that, Five can actually have A Reaction to a sibling dying / go on a little psycho murder spree that Pogo sees and is like oh shit they are more Reggie Kids. Allison helps rumour Five to calm down (they could have one of their comic-canon chats about his urge to kill Vs not wanting to) Klaus re-alives himself and they find out well shit he's immortal. Pogo tells them about Reggie's madness. Klaus is all - huh maybe I shouldn't have taken him off the pills then, oh well.

Back at the hotel, Viktor has snuck Harlan out to do Special Training (I've probs got the timeline a bit wrong but eh) Lets make this better by if we real need Harlan to die he can die via giving his powers back with just enough life for a Meaningful Death Convo with Viktor as he goes but Viktor still feels guilty.

Maybe the K5A tag team turn up in time for this and Klaus keeps trying to get in to stop the storm-swirl of powers (the three of them all try, trying to 'save' viktor - Allison can gain her power upgrade this way, Klaus can have a 'funny death montage' as the team realise he's the only one who can get through - this also powers Klaus up enough to banish ghosts - maybe there's a lot around Harlan from the accidents he's had. Five can, like, have a breakdown seeing Klaus re-die over and over again it finally breaks him and Allison does what she can to help.

They all go back, Five making unceremonious use of Harlan's body to appease Sparrows and Allison and Viktor having a bit of a fight now because it came out about the mothers, Klaus also upset - went to talk to dad for nothing?? Allison (to just them? to hotel?) 'I just want you to Trust Me for one god damn day!' and rumours - a number of them, well shit, now she's actually responsible for that - apologises but no no, they trust her, it's fine - we can see the consequenses of her rumours in a dif way here. Allison ashamed and they all keep turning to her for her opinion for stopping the Kugal blitz etc - she's freaking out a bit and having to employ team work - doesn't want their trust if it's blind like this but also shows that she's able to connect to them all to get the best from them - what was the math whizzes' plan - will it work Five - well I trust you Allison - and I trust you, all of you, so will it work? - this way the fam also see the trust she's able to put in them

Kugal blitz of course blows, they go to the hotel at the end, Allison thinks she's lost her chance to see Claire. Reggie being there and weird and no one listening to him save Ben.

Allison gets to go to the bachelor party and karaoke with her idiot brothers god dammit - it's a 'lets make sure Allison knows we're here for her too' moment - awkward as it is, naturally

Reggie corners Allison still, she's lost and grieving her daughter still and has had A Lot the last while. He cuts her the deal and she goes to the others, when you said you trusted me - I'm asking you genuinely to now - they go fight the Kugal - takes some convincing, Five's done and broken from all the breakdowns over Klaus dying, Klaus is actually expressing his emotions with his siblings after being angry for being withheld info from and 'I told you so' Luther just wants to get married, Ben is being Ben and her and Viktor need to re-connect a bit more than the others whilst Diego is worried about Lila- So Reggie does in Luther, Klaus, they go to Oblivion and the rest is more or less as it was except it's less agro and more Teamwork Yay we love to see it.

When Allison presses the button, the others don't fight her on it - they trust her. She presses that button with a smile - end of S3!

If you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed my Ted Talk 😂

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

My Sydcarmy dream happy ending? Or Storer's?

This is the 1st time I actually envisioned a whole scene with music and all in my head. I always had the feeling that the end of the show is gonna be like the final scene of Braciole: All together, the found family, maybe at the restaurant, maybe not, and just having dinner and having a good time.

After that "vision" I had, I found out that Storer mentioned in a panel that food had always saved them as a family, he was talking about his own family. So I figured: OK so since the show he created, the whole Bear universe, revolves around food, that's gonna be the ending. I felt he kinda confirmed my "vision", my take, the one I had as soon as I finished watching S1. I could already see that ending and believe in it wholeheartedly. And it looked like that, but blurry, because it was just season 1, and even though I knew there was a S2 that I hadn't watched yet (watched it the next day, actually), the overthinker in me was already daydreaming about THE SHOW'S FINALE.

OK, cut to me obsessing about this show after watching S2, that IMO was even better than S1, which is VERY RARE nowadays on TV, and then me re-watching both seasons and dissecting them till the cows go home and then re-watching S2 only over and over to analyze every single layer of Sydcarmy as humanly possible, and literally cutting my working hours to have more time to do that LMAO! etc. So, I ended up noticing the whole script structure Storer (and Calo) came up with, it's Austenian. And at that point, I was already a Sydcarmy soldier, of course, but when I picked up on the Austenticity of it all I FUCKING FLIPPED OUT because that gave me hope. It meant that the Sydcarmy endgame I had in mind could very well happen seeing as it was IC and Austenian, and it fit the slow burn process I had already picked up on right after watching Braciole, as I mentioned HERE. It all made total sense. How will it happen exactly, IDK, I wish I did but Storer is diabolical and way better than me at plot twists, so I won't even try to guess, but I will put my trust in the Austenian arc he swears by.

Me growing up reading Austen (real footage):

For those who haven't read Jane Austen, her trademark is: taking something painful and making it beautiful, finding beauty in pain, and always building towards a happy ending and redemption arc for her main characters, unless she kills them first and if she does, we can be sure that death will serve the happy ending purpose anyway (AKA: Michael, Syd's mother and probably Cicero, I wanna believe Donna will live, but I'm on the fence about her, I do believe she will be redeemed after Nat's baby is born, either way), she will take that death and make it worthwhile and beautiful. She doesn't stand for unhappy endings, but she does include bittersweetness in the endgame of some of her characters, usually not the A ones, but the B ones. The Alphas usually get a relatively "clean happy ending". Relatively being the operative word and what we can ALWAYS expect no matter what, is a "teaching", a lesson learned by the main characters. They walk out of that story as new men/women after having learned that/those lesson/s. She does this. She slow burns romances left and right, kills characters off, takes losses and turns them into gains, and builds towards a happy ending. That's an Austenian structure right there. It's usually used in Romance movies, rarely seen on this kinda TV shows, but here we are. The Storer-Calo duo are giving us Austenian characters in a nutshell.

So, back to my point, I always had this take and wishful thinking even, but up until now, I was never able to actually envision a final scene that could be actually canonical. I mean, I could even fucking write the whole script of that whole final ep, line by line, for every character if they allowed me to. I have the music in mind, the outfits, the whole set, and the final take that faiths to black and reads THE END. And no, this is not just a wishful thinking list or prediction post, it's an actual argumentative outline about why I think The Bear’s series finale will look like the Happy version of Fishes:

And just because Carmy said this, I will take a wild guess, this is gonna be part of the menu:

He associated them with his, and I quote: "fucked up family life" end of quote. So he wanted to reversion them:

And Marcus, based on Sydcarmy's pointers, came up with The Michael Cannoli:

I am also assuming, Sydcarmy will be endgame because of the aforementioned reasons, but I'm not sure Storer will actually show it on camera, maybe just insinuate it, because we all know he is diabolical and also because that's how the original movie script turned into TV script ended before Storer knew The Bear was going to be picked up for a 2° season, he always had this ending in mind for The Bear, behold:

So what I'm saying is: We Sydcarmy truthers have an actual shot here. I also dive into this theory HERE but from a totally different angle.

This happy Sydcarmy endgame we want is at arms' reach.

Now I see it more clearly.

Who's with me?

@ciaonicole85 thanks for the inspo to write this post, it all came to mind when I saw yours.

[coldflasher]

so me and my friend had to put our flash (re)watch on pause for a while bc she broke her ankle so we haven't seen each other in a while, but we finally picked season 8 back up and. god. i don't even have anything funny or insightful to say about it because it's just bad. it's so bad. and i couldn't even put my finger on why it was so bad at first, but eventually my friend pointed out that like. NOTHING happens. the characters literally just stand in a circle and talk. then whenever something DOES happen they go "hey so this thing just happened, hold on a sec while i describe it word for word in case you missed it." there's no action 90% of the time and there's no meta of the week for the most part so every episode feels samey and directionless as we slowly crawl our way towards a resolution of a plotline that isn't particularly compelling anyway

the characters are flat and nothingy. barry, the main character of the show, does FUCKING NOTHING EVER. there was one scene where he was running down the street, which he obviously used to do in every single ep, and my friend was like "holy shit i feel like we haven't actually seen him RUN in ages" and she was right. the man whose WHOLE SUPERPOWER IS RUNNING VERY FAST DOESN'T RUN ANYWHERE ONSCREEN FOR LIKE SIX EPS STRAIGHT. we see him run in and out of rooms but never see a straight shot of him running TO anywhere. WHY?

then there's the fact that the overarching plots are bad. the characters are split into two factions that don't interact at all. iris having time sickness could be cool and interesting and there's lots of potential for interesting character work there, but instead of making anything happen they have her sit on a couch and not touch anything in case she erases it from the timeline.

at one point she literally GOES MISSING and barry just. DOES NOTHING?? im sorry, fuck whatever else is happening, you know if iris disappeared he'd be tearing the city apart looking for her but all that happens is cecile is like "omg barry i can feel that you're sad, what's going on??" and he's like "iris is missing, im worried about her." WHAT!! THEN FUCKING LOOK FOR HER YOU DINGBAT!! i've said this before but s1-4 barry would absolutely beat the shit out of this version of himself if he found out about this

and don't even get me STARTED on caitlin and her almost husband, the skeleton fire demon who eats grief---again, this had the bare bones (pun intended) of an interesting plotline; a meta that feeds off people's grief could actually be really powerful and interesting to explore, but he's a magic skeleton from another universe who tricks her by pretending to be her dead husband so it's just stupid. at one point the characters like "why are we doing this plotline now, 7 years after ronnie died?" and i'm like yes, why ARE we? because again, having caitlin fall prey to the manipulations of a malevolent force that feeds on grief would actually be very topical and interesting if it had happened in, say, s2, when ronnie had just died for the second time. if her grief was fresh and raw and painful it could be conceivable that she'd be desperate enough to go "well i thought he was dead once and he survived, maybe he did it again", and cling to that, allowing herself to be tricked into believing this evil sentient flame skull was really ronnie. but it's been SEVEN YEARS and she literally just got a new boyfriend who has no personality and who we never see again, so it doesn't make any sense and i don't care. also the show keeps trying to convince you to care by having caitlin go "ronnie was such a valuable member of the team, you knew and loved him!!" and it's like... did we though? did we really? he's never made a big impression on me personally. the only character who was close to ronnie and actually knew him was cisco and he's not here. they added a few flashbacks and a proposal scene to try and make us care more about the caitlin/ronnie relationship but they didnt do anything for me because i was too busy staring at danielle's terrible wig. like babes that is NOT what caitlin's s1 hair looked like, did you even try

the skeleton fire demon stuff is actually kind of enjoyable to watch at times purely because it's so fucking ridiculous, the whole thing is a trainwreck, so i did somewhat enjoy getting to make fun of it but JESUS CHRIST IT'S SO TERRIBLE. HOW DID THE SHOW FALL SO FAR. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED

[canonically47]

here I am :) review?

I LOVE YOU ANON!!! <333 (seriously you are the best!! i love sharing my thoughts and receiving your message straight after the episode is over you are the best ever <3)

as always, let's break this down in bullet points!!

SPOILERS FOR DCAS EP 4! (duh.)

right off the bat, i gotta say, why is yul so VIOLENTLY racist? 'curry girl' are you KIDDING ME??? oh my god WHEN is he leaving?

they are... running out of ideas for the challenges, just like in TDAS lol. what do you mean an ALL-STARS CHALLENGE is a race to dig up sandbags LMFAO?? we really are getting TDAS quality with this season, pushed relationships (grett & yul, connor & riya), exaggerated antagonists (riya when i catch you riya), well at least the generations are interacting with each other :3 not all in a good way though

also why are they still in their swimming stuff i don't. get it did they forget to redress them? i get that they were around digging in the sand but i think they could've done that in clothes no?

jake continues to piss me off and despite her sob story i continue to care very little about ashley. i like what they're doing for her i think?? but i really don't care about her shrug

TOM AND AIDEN FRIENDSHIP WOOOOOOOO I LOVE THEM SMSMSM MY FAVORITE M/M FRIENDSHIP IN THIS SERIES EVERRR

jake got ran through the DIRTTT in this episode I AM LIVING FOR IT also he talked SO LITTLE WOOOOOOOO FUCK YOU JAKE I AM LIVING FOR THE JAKE ERASURE

VILLAINS ALLIANCEEEEEEEE <333

oh my god miriam literally scared the shit out of me with that reveal. this series is so unpredictable so i was ready to say goodbye to alec BUUUT if we go by writer/total drama logic we know that his arc not being finished (i.e. him not having made up with fiore, which is clearly his main plot point) means he would not be going home anytime soon. i really expect, by this logic, for him to last long. i think there are 20-21 episodes this season, and i expect him to be there until at least 15. he will definitely make the final six, and no way will he not make merge. i'm rooting for the guy so hard

i never expected to cheer at miriam's elimination, but here i am. she's been asking for it this season i think... and she actually got really downgraded?? like her whole shtick was "omg the youngsters can't communicate i gotta talk some sense into them" and that. was it. which was SOOO BORING i KNOWWW you can do better queen!! :( and i hateee how they made her rude again like her whole thing in s1 was becoming less rude through her friendship with jake come onnn how can you mess up THE QUEEN HERSELF

so, i have a theory, which immediately everyone started talking about in the chat but i'll try to speak it into existence quicker so it seems i am original: grett voted for yul. i am going to stand by this until i die. we didn't get to hear the sixth vote, but there was no need. grett voted for yul. we know connor, alec and yul voted for miriam, so that's her three confirmed votes. we know miriam voted for alec. that leaves riya and grett; and while i do admit that it's likely riya voted for him because she dislikes him, and i hate to say this because i hate her, riya is smart. she knows yul is a bitch boy and not a threat. she would absolutely jump at the chance to vote either miriam or alec, so that's another vote for either of them. grett. voted. for. yul. and i am so excited for where this will take us.

although i enjoyed this episode, i think it was one of the weakest of the season. the challenge was absolutely boring, jake existed which like?? ew?? also yul was there so massive thumbs down, and riya was there so automatic dislike, also jake and yul had lines? disgusting ew. yul and riya had some plot relevancy this episode which disgusted me.

but seriously jokes aside the episode was pretty solid aside from the challenge, that's a hill i'll die on. ellie and alec still have a good dynamic which is GREAT to see, i cheered when i saw alec pop out of that bush to talk to her, and i am so happy to see the four s1 and two s2 villains uniting forces. i cannot wait for the fanart we'll get of these six (says girl who wants two of them dead)

[lovecaitlined]

What a roller coaster. My thoughts on KaySun in episode 61. 🖤 (semi-rant, read at your own risk).

But here’s the gist—the show may excel in writing certain characters properly, but writing for other characters is inconsistent for the sake of the plot. I’m framing it from the perspective of psychology and writing. I wish the writing in the show would better explain Suna’s actions because it shows unnatural character behavior written under the guise of supposed mental instability that only conveniently appears when it furthers the plot (much like Ferit’s on-and-off again diabetes).

1. I personally think Kaya has been written very consistently thus far, he has just been framed badly. He was never going to hit Suna; Ferit just stopped him, but if Ferit hadn’t stopped him, Kaya would hit the wall. I just hate how they made Suna flinch because she’s never done that. Love how he apologized and reaffirmed his love for Suna, so when she implodes (and I fear it is coming soon), she will have him to turn to.

2. I personally disagree with people saying Suna is not being OOC. I still think she is being OOC. I never expected Suna to be mentally well; she definitely is not over her wedding rejection with F, and she has trauma and anxiety and a whole lot of insecurities. However, her being brain dead and acting like a zombie intent on getting Ferit due to a fortune teller is crazy. She is not THAT crazy, and it is so OOC for the girl who loves her sister and supported SeyFer (to the point of scalping Ferit’s mistresses) will be so weird about this. Mind you, she was looking at Kaya with heart-eyes in that one ep before becoming crazy due to Ferit.

The fact that Suna was able to point out 1) the fact that her father Kazım did not change, but just changed tactics and 2) lead Kaya to believe what she was doing with Ferit was due to Seyran and hide aspects from him (because she knows it’s WRONG) screams clearly logical and sane to me. Now if old Suna from S1 pulled crazy stunts like this, it would’ve been understandable. But I don’t believe she can regress this quickly after so much character development, so I really think they are making Suna OOC and dumb for the plot. She is way too inconsistent, and not in an impulsive way. You cannot switch insanity on and off, so I choose to believe she is just badly written and OOC.

3. A moot of mine, Raj, pointed out that it is possible that Gunger has ego problems and is trying to undo everything Leyla did. He hates women anyway so I believe this, lol.

4. I do think the FT plot will be revealed soon to Kaya and he will confront Suna about it. However, I also feel like Suna is bound to implode soon. There is a reason why there was a public KaySun fight where Suna vehemently denies anything and Kaya is made to look paranoid. That way, when Suna implodes (they better not make her cross that line, and no I will not write what I think will happen) in front of the mansion and gets humiliated and punished, the audience will not blame the people living in the yalı for what has happened to her. In fact, they’ll think she lied and went against her own words, and that she deserves it.

5. This parallels a lot of Gunger’s writing. He always makes women say sht and do the opposite. For example, Seyran and Gulgun used to say they’ll never return to the mansion and their husbands, but they do it anyway and look like clowns. Imagine if Suna publicly denies something and then crosses a line with Ferit? 💀

6. I just like how they made Kaya consistently in love with Suna so he won’t abandon her, and if she implodes he will take it back. Ngl I wanted Suna to beg and confess and even get jealous—but whatever, I’ll take what we can get for KaySun endgame.

7. No one come for me, but I would prefer Pelin and Pırıl back so long as the former will mess with SeyFer. The way I see it now, there are no obstacles for SeyFer except for Suna, which is OOC af. Pelin or Akın can be the villain in their story, just leave my girl Suna out of this and let her be happy together with Kaya.

Anyway, thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far! Lmk what you think. ✨

[my-mt-heart]

In your opinion, is there any meaning to TWDU's obsession with cutting people's left arm off? Do you think it could happen to Carol/Daryl or they already hit too close to home with Rick and Lydia?

Speaking of which, do you think they could simply forget it happened to Lydia/make it seem like she just imagined the moment in case she comes back for one of the spinoffs? Because the way they cut her arm off as an useless plot device and never dealt with it was just ridiculous (maybe it was a device to bring Lydia and Aaron closer together, which is also ridiculous because they were already heading organically to that direction). And in a deleted scene where Aaron and Carol were doing Lydia's bandages, Carol was soooo off, bordering indifference/coldness/annoyance (everything around this loss was weird lol). Have you ever seen this clip? Any thoughts?

All it means is that someone who has should not have creative input across the board falsely assumes we share their obsession with gratuitous violence. Carol and Daryl have plenty of (shared) emotional baggage to explore. Neither one of them needs to be maimed to further their story. That's obvious to a showrunner who really knows who Caryl are, but terrifying when their story is handed off to multiple EPs who don't care.

Lydia formed a strong connection with Daryl and Carol by the end of S10, so it would've been more "organic" to lean into that in S11 and position her as the kid Caryl were able to save. Cutting off her arm was a ridiculous plot device, I agree, and I hate it, but when something makes it into the canon of the show, that has to be acknowledged going forward even if it was a really, really, stupid decision. A good showrunner will know how to pay it off and/or redirect it in a much more satisfying way. A bad showrunner (or EPs who stick their noses where they don't belong) will either cause more damage trying to "fix" it or insult the audience's intelligence by pretending it never happened. Looking at you, S11 and S1 of le spinoff.

In the episode, we see Carol cleaning her hands while Aaron talks to Lydia. Carol looks like she's reflecting on everything going on. Both Lydia and Judith were hurt, which I imagine would bring up painful memories about losing Sophia. If the deleted scene between Carol and Lydia was released, you'll have to point me in the right direction, so I can watch it. I would expect something like that to be heartfelt. The season as a whole was soooo off because too many important emotional beats were missing.

[heartsgallery]

ricky’s development and how is connected to gina

long post sorryyy

let’s talk! hottest topics on the hsmtmts fandom right now: “ricky liking gina ruins his character development” and “the feelings came out of nowhere”

so i wasn’t really gonna involve in the discussion because i’m sure ep 5 and the rest to come will speak for themselves but it’s been repetitive and i just like to talk

claiming ricky liking gina is character regression might be the craziest thing to say. ever. and SPECIALLY if you ship rini of all things. ricky’s character arc has been build up throughout the seasons and it has always been focused on one thing: ricky is scared of change. this is a fact. ricky’s life in s1 start to crumble when two pivotal things in his life change: he’s not with nini anymore, and his parents are divorcing. this is how the show presents his struggle. that is the thing he is put to overcome throughout the show: accept and embrace change. and in the middle of this, nini is presented as stability.

gina, on the other hand, is the embodiment of change. not only from ricky’s perspective but her persona and history in general. gina is the opposite of stability. gina is always on the move. gina is unexpected, and new and different to what he’s known. gina changes everything. that’s the show’s words, not mine. now with this description… sounds very fitting to the arc we just mentioned for ricky, doesn’t it? doesn’t that sound like the perfect character to help ricky overcome the struggle the show has presented for him? and not to make all about ricky even tho it’s about his character the statement i’m trying to refute, but ricky’s also the person gina needs and wishes at that point of the show. someone that stays the same.

so let’s do a recap because it looks like it’s needed. eventually, red tells ricky to put himself out there. to change, to stop being stuck. because ricky insisting with nini meant for him being stuck. and that night gina kisses him on the cheek and it changes everything. this is interesting to remark but after that kiss, and between the moment gina finds out she’s leaving, rini stops interacting. they end up only having two one on one scenes: after rehearsal, where ricky ends up checking if gina is upset and goes running to sit next to her after, and the next time, they talk on thanksgiving, and the second gina walks through the door after him his focus turns back to her. ricky is moving on. ricky is with someone new and doesn’t hate it. ricky starts to think that maybe not all change is a bad thing. he’s probably the happiest we’ve seen him in that season because he is one step closer to the goal the show has for him.

“and just when you’re used to things changing, they change again”. and suddenly gina leaves, and the only thing ricky thought it could give him hope change wasn’t that bad is gone. and change is THAT bad again. gina is not there anymore. gina is officially out of the equation. not because ricky decided to take her out, because the situation did. they thought they wouldn’t see each other ever again, and even if ricky tries to reach out, gina is the one to shut him down. so a new door opens with nini and he takes it because he needs it. because he needs to go back to how things were. because he tried change and ended up hurting again. THIS is when, purposely, ricky’s character regresses. because he gets further and further away from the goal that has been, plot wise, presented for him in the first episodes. he is as far away from embracing change as he has ever been. the main purpose of his character arc. his regression is explicitly said in the show under the words: “maybe i’m back to who i always was”. he was back to his old self the second gina left. gina means per se character development for ricky. he doesn’t see it by then, but we as the audience do (well only some of us looks like lol). but ricky needs to hit himself against a wall to understand😭 and that wall will be the failure his relationship with nini is gonna be, because, as said in the last ep of s1, “not all couples are meant to be together, sometimes people change”.

rini breaking up shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. it did wonders for nini’s character too but since we’re on the topic of ricky, the storyline basically showcased everything i’ve said before. rini was a product of ricky holding on to the past. i’m sure they loved each other while it lasted but just not in the way it had to. rini was more something they needed that something they WANTED. ricky is away from gina, the most important person on his life to help him accept change, and he basically goes 90 steps back. he is as reluctant to change as he’s ever been, to a point it basically asphyxiates nini and that he doesn’t recognize who he’s becoming. if you want to talk about character regression the first thing you want to talk about is THAT. but let’s think about it a little more… guess who pushed him away from her life (and she was in the right tho) when ricky started going downhill? guess who wasn’t in his life when he split as far away from his main goal as a character? may i say,,,,,,, gina? not a coincidence at all. if you think it is that’s your issue but the show’s been giving you the signs. gina is PIVOTAL in ricky’s development.

gina doesn’t understand what made ricky change like that, she can’t understand his behavior because she’s the other side of the coin, and it ends up in misunderstanding and hurting and what we all know that went down in s2. the showrunner of the show said it himself: ricky was not ready to show his feelings back because he was clinging to the past. because his character development was STUCK. because he was in a stage of regression. he couldn’t be with gina or show feelings for her at that point of the show because his state of mind was far far away from what gina represented in his life.

he breaks up with nini, slowly shows signs of progressing again but still by the end of the season he’s just “getting there”. but in the first episode of season 3, he sings about being free of the old things that haunted him, he shows he’s progressed and that he is once again closer to the goal that has been planted for him since the start, the goal where the figure of gina was always closer to. and now, his feelings showing up when he is so much better personally and emotionally absolutely makes sense. because now, his headspace aligns with the position and what gina means in his life. because now again, he finally sees forward and not back. and gina means moving forward to ricky. always has, since the very first season, and always will, as seen in s3.

so yes, ricky showing his feelings for gina is absolutely not a sign of character regression but the completely opposite, based on the character arc that the show canonly gave ricky since the very first day. the feelings were always there, ricky just needed to be standing in the right place to embrace them, in which he is now. and please don’t come to me saying it’s character regression because he is doing what he did to ej/nini in s1 when he’s not. he’s not making absolutely any moves on gina. every time he feels bad or jealous (he’s allowed to feel like??? he can’t avoid that) he leaves the room and keeps it to himself. the only thing he’s doing right now is wanting the girl he likes/loves to be happy and to have the opportunity to have her moment. he isn’t going behind gina talking shit about ej or begging her to take him like he did with nini. he’s trying to be as dedicated as he’s ever been only so she can shine. that is not a crime, that is not homewrecking, that’s not making moves folks, that’s just being purely in love. and no one can helps what one feels.

hope this cleared out some things and we’re all start being more serious bc 😭 the takes i’ve seen. sorry for this long post if ur reading this bc you read all of this you’re amazing and ily

[blackjack-15]

okay the second (third?) fake number talk. it's being pointed out, it's an important plot point, etc etc. so i'm gonna talk about it.

claire: "why did you give me a fake number" carmy: *lengthy pause* "...i like you so much. and i feel like i missed a lot"

that's a lot of things, as a response. but what it's not is an answer. it's a dodge -- something carmy is so, so good at, probably (shot in the dark here based off nat's comments from earlier) from how/the situation in which he grew up.

he still hasn't given an answer every time she presses him (which once again, uncool. learn to accept no, resident claire) because the answer is buried within why he represses himself. it's a much bigger question and it is part of the overarching theme of carmy's character, so of course we're not gonna get a thesis statement on it right now (possibly ever!). whether he knows consciously or only subconsciously why he did it, one thing is clear: he is not going to say. no matter how she's pressed, asked, guilted, threatened, etc, he still won't give an answer.

interpersonally and outside of regimented relationships (boss-employee especially), carmy looks to the structures of others for how to behave. we saw it plenty of s1 where he'd learn how to communicate with someone and then apply it to another relationship (usually syd) to great success. heck, we see it last ep, where, despite the slight sarcasm/snide edge, he still asks syd "so that i know for next time, what should i do differently?" carmy is clever and sensitive and intuitive, but he's not someone who gets things right -- especially relationship conversations, no matter romantic/platonic -- on the first try. he's a grinder, a digger -- he burrows down to get things done, rather than floating above it (sugar, richie) or pushing through bullheadedly (richie, sydney).

richie has range, i dunno

claire making a move during the fireworks was so predictable i literally counted it down. also predictable was 1) carmy not escalating it and 2) carmy being the one to break it off

i will say this, i think claire was thinking carmy would lean into her and prolly kiss her, and that it was a surprise when he didn't

i think carmy really, truly does like what claire represents for him -- what she is there to represent for the show, full stop. but no one on the face of the planet (to borrow a quote from 1% of Something) does chores as a way of dating. and every time we see claire and carmy on screen together -- or imply they've been together -- it's carmy combining it with a chore.

calling it now: 1) carmy and claire are gonna sleep together (because that's something he missed in the whole college experience, and that's what claire is all about) ; 2) we're not gonna 'see' it until later

3) i'm gonna throw up in my mouth a little when it happens

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts On Negative Feedback About TBB

Spoilers for TBB Season 2

So once again I am going to give some thoughts on some Bad Batch opinions I've seen floating around on Twitter. Just like last time, I want to preface this by saying that I mean no disrespect to the people who wrote these posts, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I actually agree with them in some way but we'll get onto that.

I've seen some main points going around (and some slightly less common ones) so I'm going to break those down. But one of the running themes I see through a lot of opinions is this idea that this season has introduced a lot of plot threads that don't seem to have gone very far. Now I understand where this is coming from but I don't want to get too sidetracked by this because at the end of the day, we still have 6 episodes left and there will be a good chance that things will become more relevant by the end. Saying that, I do understand the frustration that comes from an interesting plot thread being dropped and then hardly (if even) addressed for multiple episodes.

But let's get more into the breakdown.

What's Happening With Cid?

Now this is one I can understand the frustration of because I'm still trying to wrap my head around why the Batch still choose to work for her. I can understand if they see it as their only option, but she's been untrustworthy from the beginning and it's getting worse this season, even if she hasn't appeared as much.

The Batch aren't stupid, we know this, but they still don't seem to be addressing the fact that Cid is screwing them over and has been doing so the whole time. Especially since Ep 10, where they were faced with an entire group of people being manipulated by their employer and no-one in the Batch went "oh hold on, this scenario seems familiar". Employers screwing over their workers to keep more profits with very little concern for their welfare? I wonder where we've seen that before.

They've even addressed the fact that Cid is untrustworthy multiple times this season and yet none of them seem to be doing anything about it. Also, that whole thing from Millegi about Cid having a dark past and not being one to trust? When are we going back to that? I assume that it'll be covered in an episode like "Tipping Point" if them realising that they can't work for Cid leads to them joining the Rebellion (remember, this is just a theory).

But why has it taken the Batch so long??? Cid has been untrustworthy from when she first appeared in S1. Is it really going to take until Episode 14 of this season for them to actually do anything about it?

Like I said, for them it may be because they see this as their only option, that without this they have nothing to live on, but I totally understand how frustrating it is to see them being manipulated like this over and over again and have nothing be done about it.

Episode 10 Goes Round in Circles

I do kind of understand this one as well. For me, this ep didn't really add a whole lot and there were some interesting plot ideas that could have been addressed that weren't. But I'm not going to pile on it too badly because I also understand that this episode was supposed to be a breather and it's always unlikely that every episode is going to be incredible. So I'm just going to touch on what I've seen other people saying.

The main complaint I've seen about this episode is that it doesn't really give us any development with anyone. Tech has some moments of just being Tech (although one of his lines from the end is another point I'm gonna touch on), Hunter is just his usual self, Omega is being Omega but it's not really adding a whole lot, and most of Wrecker's dialogue this episode was him growling at people (some more lines would have been great).

I think a big part of why this isn't working for people is because some of the other episodes (including Ep 9) have been very emotionally driven and this one just falls a bit flat in comparison. Not every episode is going to end up being really deep and complex though so I can understand why the creators have done this. But I also don't think that there's anything special enough about the plot of this episode to make up for it.

I've already touched on the whole "manipulative employer" thing so I'm not going to go back over that, but one of these other ideas I saw people bringing up was how interesting it could've been for the Batch to talk more about their lives as soldiers, especially when faced with a bunch of children who have been manipulated into thinking that the people they work under actually care about them. The Batch were raised to be soldiers by Kaminoans, meaning that they didn't get a chance to really be kids (key message throughout this season) and these workers have spent their childhoods being manipulated into thinking that they're doing a good job and are being cared for because of it.

I do think that it would have been an interesting narrative to delve into and maybe would have given the episode more weight. But it would have also been quite heavy for a "breather" episode.

Selfish Batchers

This is an interesting point that I didn't necessarily clock onto while watching the episode but totally got it when I saw it on Twitter.

At the end of the episode, Omega is talking about how there are so many people in the galaxy like Mokko and like the Empire, to which Tech responds that there are also a lot of people out there like the Batch (i.e. people who can help others). Except this line feels a bit arrogant considering the fact that in this episode (and I don't want to sound like a hater here) they literally did the bare minimum.

They didn't go in to try and save the miners, they went in to get the Marauder back. The kids were just helped in the middle of that. Tech almost acts like they saved the kids when really, if they could've avoided going anywhere near Mokko they would have. Killing Mokko to save the miners wasn't in the plan, he was just getting in the way of them escaping. And really I think this is interesting to talk about because a lot of what the Batch does is for their own self-gain. We know this. But it's interesting to see that that hasn't necessarily registered with them.

I don't have an issue with flawed heroes, but so far the Batch are yet to acknowledge this flaw. The Batch are constantly portrayed as heroes, which in some ways they are, but labelling them as heroes because some people happened to be helped when they were saving themselves is a bit odd. Omega is the only one that actually asks the kids what they're going to do next. The guys are just happy the ship is back.

It's interesting that aside from Omega, the only person who has very clearly shown a desire to help anyone but himself is Echo, who left.

Once again, this may become a part of a realisation for the Batch later down the line and they are driven to join the rebellion. But really, a lot of the "saving people" that the Batch does is because it happens by chance (like in this episode) or they get paid to do it (aka some of the missions they do in S1). It's slightly odd that they are constantly lorded as heroes (and somewhat see themselves that way) when a lot of what they do is with selfish intentions.

(I didn't expect to write that much in that section. Oops.)

Focus on the Batchers

This actually ties into something I was going to make separate post about so I'm just going to drop it all in here!

One of the complaints I'm seeing is that some of the Batchers don't feel like they're getting much development this season, mainly Wrecker and Hunter. Now obviously this is interesting to me because these two are really the only ones who got much attention in S1.

One of my biggest gripes about S1 is that it felt more like the Hunter & Omega Show rather than The Bad Batch, so I actually like the fact that we've been given more focus on the other Batchers this season. Really, the focus feels a little more spread out in some episodes, rather than every episode seemingly revolving around either Hunter or Wrecker.

But I can understand where some of the frustration is coming from. Personally, I actually prefer Hunter this season but that's because giving the other members some time to grow has given us a chance to see how they all influence each other and where Hunter plays into all of that. It feeds into the idea that they're a team and not a bunch of stragglers following around this one person.

I do wonder how much the disappointment comes from the fact that we got so much Hunter in S1 that any less than that almost feels like nothing. Sure, I don't necessarily feels like there's a whole lot of growth but I think there have been some really interesting moments with Hunter this season, like Ep 5 giving us a chance to see his growing insecurities about Omega no longer relying on them as much as she once did.

Wrecker has also had some time to shine this season, but I do agree that it would've been nice to see him have some more dialogue in Episode 10. Him being reduced to mostly growling at people for a chunk of the episode was a little tiring after a while. He can be scary with words!

Really, I'm not totally mad about this but that might be because Echo and Tech are two of my favourites, so I'm just glad to see them getting some more love this season.

Although I feel like this entire debate over whether characters are getting enough focus does suggest that there's a struggle to give every character their due focus when they're all together.

Hunter vs Echo Conflict

Finally onto the last point!

This is one that I actually kind of agree with and I think it has something to do with what we were teased before the season came out.

Echo's goodbye was obviously very moving and there seems to be decent number of people that agree that it was a good episode. But some people felt like there should've been more of the Hunter-Echo conflict before that happened and I partially agree. Personally, I think that the little details throughout each episode help indicate what Echo is thinking and where he's planning on going. Little looks at Hunter, brief comments on certain missions, it all makes sense that he was going to go.

However, I do agree that there wasn't as much of the actual conflict between Hunter and Echo as I expected. In an interview before S2, the creators said that there would be a lot of conflict between Rex, Echo and the Batch and this gave me the impression that we were going to have more actual disputes than we did. Other than the spat they had in Episode 1, there hasn't been as much back and forth between Hunter and Echo as expected. They clearly have different ideas of where they want to go but it's more a conflict of interest than actual conflict.

I don't think it helped that Echo didn't do a whole lot for some of the episodes. We were told that Echo would be given more focus this season and that his disagreements with Hunter would be at the forefront of that. But then he disappears for 2 episodes and doesn't do a whole lot in Episode 5. He's got some more stuff in Ep 6, but the conflict isn't really addressed a whole lot there and then he leaves in Episode 8. And I find it a little odd that they specifically mentioned Rex as well. The Batch don't really have conflict with Rex. Sure, they don't go with him, but that isn't really what I'd call conflict. It feels like we were promised more conflict than we got.

And maybe that's the issue here. We set our expectations too high. We had all this time to concoct an idea as to what was going to happen this season and then it didn't do that. The bits that did address the disagreements were good, but did we maybe hope for more than we were ever going to get? For me, I feel like the interviews were a little bit misleading, but that may just be because I set myself up to expect more.

This may be another thing that gets addressed later on but I'm not entirely sure where more of that conflict is going to come into play. Maybe Rex, Echo and the Batch teaming up to help people like Crosshair but still being at odds? I don't know. I'm not sure where that bits going tbf.

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, I think that there are some interesting points that have been made about Episode 10 and the series as a whole. I definitely think that it's going to be a collection of opinions that people may disagree with here or there but that's the nature of the show. It's interesting to see what people think.

A lot of it may just be a case of having to sit on it and see how the entire show pans out because at the moment we still have 6 episodes to go. But it'll be interesting to see what points of contention will be addressed/sorted. I also think a lot of it is down to expectations. People set their expectations too high and now that they're not being met, it's influencing their enjoyment of the show. I also want to add that I am saying that as someone who has also had to put their expectations aside to truly appreciate some of the episodes.

This show isn't perfect, but no show ever will be. Personally, I prefer this season to the last, but I do still have my issues with it here or there. I'm curious to see where people's preferences end up by the end of the show.

[girljpg]

i warched good omens season 2

i have a lot to say that doesn't really amount to anything so i'm gonna start typing at random

i liked the romantic vibe of the season and all the cute flashbacks. the dialogue between the leads was appropriately trusting and sweet. they really leaned into showing how they rely on each other. i also like that the conflict was pretty small in scale compared to season 1. it's not armageddon, but there were still some stakes if you include all the humans that almost died. although.... heaven and hell seem to know exactly where crowley and aziraphale are... yes, they fooled them at the end of s1, but wouldn't they idk. try other means? why didn't they get their names erased from the book of life earlier if that was something higher up angels could do? whatever

i like that there were real actual gay characters (lesbians even! who looked like real people!) even though I was worried they were getting together too fast, the reveal towards the end that they were going to move slow felt realistic. but them having to talk crowley into confessing his feelings felt ripped straight from a fanfiction. the lesbians comparing themselves to aziraphale and crowley was a bit on the nose. many moments did in fact feel like fanfiction. the dancing together, the "I need you!", the "We can just be us." all of that was cute and probably something i would've written idk could you do any better??? i am not immune to fluff. but also, that's a grown man. does it not take agency away from the character to have his relationship explained to him? and then they had the gall to not even show us this conversation. ideally he would've come to a conclusion about his feelings on his own-- perhaps after seeing gabe and beez fuck off to alpha centauri and going huh. i guess you can just do that. or even just through way of flashback-- oh no wait. all of the flashbacks were from aziraphale's point of view for some reason. why didn't azi get any realizations? you know michael sheen would've ate

the "i was wrong dance" well here's the thing i did clap

I thought the set of the street in london with all the little shops looked nice although there were always so so many extras walking around. is london really that crowded?

i thought they kind of wasted muriel's character. she seems to disappear for a long time before the plot calls for her to conveniently be there. i know she's meant to be a bit dim but surely she noticed 70 demons walking down the street.... ALSO i thought the book crowley handed her was going to be good omens but it. was not

looooved shax loved new beelzebub. who else. idk everyone was really giving it their all. megatron showed up for all of two episodes i think but was pivotal for the ending. what are you doing neil. gabriel is also doing. things. they wasted jon hamm as well by making him a frustrating himbo. one of the only scenes i liked with him was crowley yelling at him for trying to kill aziraphale in s1 and then trying to jump out a window and then calling crowley nice. but that whole bit felt more like a crowley scene than a gabe scene. he does get a mug with his name on it tho and hypocritically falls in love with the fly lady so all is forgiven.

i'm gonna be real with you all.. the way they filmed the kiss felt awkward. the way the camera swings around and crowley grabs him felt very....... rehearsed? a little unnatural, i think. the way crowley LUNGES. idk i need to rewatch the last ten minutes again. and it went on so long. we got like three of four angles on it like whoah. but the reaction face we got out of michael sheen. mamma mia

"I forgive you." asdejgkasdgahdgdfs when i say i paused the ep for extended laughter lmfaoooooo. clutching a wine bottle to my chest and cheering. this fucken guy. babygirl is distraught for all of about ten seconds before it's time to start the new job. i did start yelling at my screen after that point. he had no right to look crowley dead in the eye across the street and not run back to him. COWARRD. i understand why he did it but COWARD. why, after sooo long, would you think crowley would jump for joy to be an angel again... i watched all eight minutes of the credits certain that there was going to be more but nope. catch ya next time for the second coming (of jesus?? <- does not know things about the bible)

so i was pretty satisfied with that watch. i wish the season was longer than 6 episodes but tbh they had to make this story from nothing and it shows in the romcom hijinks and threadbare mystery. but it was fun and went by quickly. then i check on the fandom and they're, get this, upset for some reason about this ending. there's no pleasing some fans i guess. good job neil you've pissed off the people who wanted them to kiss AND the people who didn't want them to kiss, bravo! hopefully in a month or so everyone will cool down about it. and if not well. plenty of fanfic fodder until season 3. not that i read good omens fanfic, but it'll be there. just be happy there was a kiss alright!!!!!!?!!!1

(i just know we're going to get a flood of people calling aziraphale a big meanie and crowley a poor little scrimbly blimbo meow meow who got rejected. booooo stop that right now)

[tgammsideblog]

Tgamm S1 Ep 13-A ¨Innocent Until Proven Ghostly¨ episode analysis

It’s Pete and Sharon’s anniversary and Pete has prepared a cake for Sharon. To all family’s surprise, they find that the cake has disappeared and accuse Scratch of eating it. Molly decides to investigate the case to find the real ¨cake stealer¨...

¨Innocent Until Proven Ghostly¨ is an episode that shares a few similarities with ¨Game Night¨: It involves a casual event in the Mcgees daily’s lives and takes place in their house. It takes a small situation to ridiculous levels for the sake of comedy.

The main reason this episode works is due to the character interactions. Each one has their own scene and some new detail about them gets revealed that makes the whole situation funnier. The whole story plays like a court scenario in which each character gets summoned and judged by Molly. It’s fun to see how they play off with each other trying to find who is the real ¨criminal¨.

There isn’t any important development or reveal like other episodes have. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining story that has some funny moments and sweet scenes between Molly and Scratch. I think it shows well how they care about one another and how Scratch considers Molly’s opinion of him important, even if is for something that it isn’t that serious. They have this cute thing that do a handshake called the ¨Mcgee guarantee¨ as a way for Scratch to promise that he is telling the true to Molly. It’s very silly and adorable, like you think they came up together with it.

Another aspect that is nice to see is Pete being a loving husband to Sharon and making all these gifts for their anniversary. It’s never treated as cheesy nor he gets made fun of it, that itself is sweet to see. Something i appreciate about Pete is  that he is a loving parent and husband who is not afraid of showing his emotions. In fact, he is a very expressive character. Sharon gets a nice moment as well when she reveals that she doesn’t like Pete’s carob cake but she avoided telling him because she knows that Pete puts a lot of effort in making it. While lying isn’t the best thing, you can tell she didn’t want to hurt Pete’s feelings and still appreciates the gesture.

It gets revealed that Darryl has a pet tarantula that he was trying to catch. It’s an interesting addition to his character since he didn’t seem to be that interested in animals in previous episodes. This new pet becomes a running gag later on and it has some potential to make a few plot episodes.

Near the end of the story, the Mcgees find out that there is ectoplasm under plate where the cake was and try blaming Scratch for eating the cake again. Moments later Molly remembers that Scratch is allergic to carob and there is this very funny scene she puts some carob inside Scratch’s mouth and grews many times his size as result of an allergic reaction. It’s a very good callback to the first episode ¨The Curse¨ when Scratch told Molly that he didn’t eat carob bars. It’s a clever way of using a small gag and turning it into plot point in here.

The episode ends with an adorable moment with Molly apologizing to Scratch for not believing more in him and hugging him while he is the size of the house. After Scratch (mostly) returns to his normal size, he and Molly find out that all this time it was Geoff the one who ate Pete’s cake and then stay silent in surprise.

Overall, ¨Innocent Until Proven Ghostly¨ is a cute episode that funny interactions between the Mcgees. Despite not having important development, it works well for its premise and in result it is entertaining.

[windowriting]

Shadow and bone s2 spoilery thoughts. Major spoilers for the changes from book-to-show.

For context I've read through the entire book series about twice.

Unsurprisingly, the actors were great. The sets, costumes, and creature design were awesome.

Choices on moving storylines were...interesting.

Didn't realize until part way into ep 2 that this season covered the last 2 books of the main trilogy, as well as some events in SoC.

Really emphasizes how long Mathias was in Hellgate, but also because he's now only interacted with 1 character from the main cast in 2 seasons, it feels weird and disconnected.

The script was...interesting, to say the least. They took Jesper's unaffected demeanor and made him so goofy, and 4th wall break-y, it wasn't funny (most horrendous line was the 5 of crows line, since it emphasizes both this and the last point). Meanwhile there were parts that could have been filled in with better dialogue that underlines relationships and connections.

It feels like story line choices about what plot threads to place where we're more for "how riled up can we get the fanbase to demand a season 3?" Instead of serving the story.

I wish they would have set up the structure clearer. It's a huge ensemble cast, with a lot of material to cover, but it felt like 90% of the tome we see the crows, they're scrambling to justify why they're still interacting with the Alina side of the story, so they take half the plot from this fan favorite book, and half ass the story beats so it undercuts scenes like Kas's revenge, and fighting all of the Dregs.

Kaz's story should have been told in 1 solid flashback the first time he was triggered, then refrenced when he's reminded of it, the viewers stay in his emotional headspace instead of trying to figure out what happened every time. Telling the story but by bit works in a book, but it was jarring and confusing to speed through.

Nikolai really got the short end of the stick when it came to smashing the 2 books together. We don't get enough Sturmhond, his identity reveal is undercut without the tailoring changes, and he just comes up super fast and there doesn't seem to be that underlying comrodery that Alina has with him in the books. They don't make each other better, they're just two morally good people in bad circumstances, existing in the same room. Now it seems they're going to try and extend Malina's story into s3, it's going to crowd the Kos and RoW stories.

Changing the entire seawhipe story probably is the most upsetting thing. Why don't we get to hear about his lore? Alina kills him with a sunburst during a fight with the seawhip- not in a fight between the darkling and sturmhond's crew. We don't get the weight of the action that every step closer to achieving her goal, Alina is killing magical folk tale creatures. We don't get the sense that as she's more powerful, she's loosing her humanity to that power. I think what they were going for was the idea of "the stag gave Alina power, but she took it from the sea whip so his scales aren't powerful enough" but I could be wrong?

What happened to the collar????

The last ep of s1 is no mourners, s2's last ep is no funerals. But they hold a funeral, with a speech given by the king before the funeral pyre while the main cast reflects on what the darkling, and his fold had done to their lives.

Pushing the Apperate's story/sun summoner cult off made the ending anticlimactic. One of the best things about the original trilogy is that it really could have stopped there, and it had an appropriate amount of catharsis. Alina makes the choice to surrender herself to an unknown power to stop the darkling- and she looses that power to do so. Now we have a defeated BBEG, but without the narrative weight. Again, I can see how they'll tie the missing elements into the end of RoW- but because they've taken the property and made some genuinely bad choices on story/script, I don't know if they'll get the demand for s3.

They wouldn't commit to fully fleshing out the plot of Six of Crows to dangle that over the fans. The more I think about it, the clearer that is to me. Which I feel like is going to rush the miracle plot line, and the plot in Fjerda down the road. They also rushed Jesper and Wylan a little, but I can forgive that because we don't need additional queer based trauma.

What I can't forgive is revealing Jesper's powers so quickly and unimportantly.

For the most part the directing served its purpose, but it was nothing to write home about. I am a little tired of action cam/slow mo so we can see and appreciate every landed punch, especially during the entire moat sequence.

I can see where someone said "let's tone down the love triangle angle." But then they took out Alina's internal conflicts that don't have to do directly with someone romantically inclined towards her. Taking out the pressure from the cult, and the betrayel of finding out the twins were apart of it, toning down her connection and care for Genya leaves her with only trying to brute force shut down the fold, and trying to keep Mal alive.

The entire 3rd act has me so messed up with what plots actually happened where, I'm rereading the series to reassure that it was well written.

Skipping Alina's frustration of being underground for months, being indebted to the apparate, and Nikolai's disappearance lowered the stakes of the final battle. It underplays Zoya stepping up to join the main cast. The desperation and feeling like the world may indeed run out of Grisha isn't there.

There should be been a more concerted effort to show the fact the twins are Alina's guards, specifically. They felt really useless. Especially when the Darkling attacks and Tamar looses Alina. That doesn't read Saint protector to me.

I get not every production company wants to attack the topic of child soldiers but that was supposed to be a defining line between the darkling and Alina. Again, messed up because the took another of the pressure book!Alina has and just never addressed it.

I liked the addition of the Zemeni helping Mal and Alina escape- but I feel there were ways to show it where Malina still got found by selling her hair pins.

The entire library scene kicks the story off in a poor way. They have the Zemani librarian use her powers to open a drawer that's 5 inches away and it feels unnatural. This library magicly has the exact right map Alina needs with invisible ink she found, that was apperently waiting for a sun summoner? Why wasn't holding it up to the sun working???

Overall I'm bummed. I wish netflix just initially green lit the original trilogy and shot the plot for what it was, and once they saw s1 work out, approve the SoC/CK spin off, or maybe approve s1 for shadow and bone and s1 for SoC, and schedule those to premiere 6 months apart. So then the 2 year wait for s2 of the main trilogy doesn't feel so long. They even could have teased it the way they dropped 2 extra eps on the sandman or stranger things last season. 1 month after the premiere, drop a SoC episode that is the backdoor pilot for the crows.

There's stuff I've listed that I'm sure probably happened that way in the book and I'm misremembering or totally misread it. I just feel the way I perceived s&b was more compelling than the s2 that we ended up with. Like I said before, I'm rereading now to figure it out.