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animayo · 4 years

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“They don’t make tombstones for stray dogs.”

Megalo Box, S1 EP 13

Welcome kiddos to some extremely underrated anime,,, seriously why is no one talking about this?

I just saw Megalo Box when I was scrolling through Netflix options and ya’ll know I love a good underdog story. The show was created in honor of the 50th anniversary of the manga Ashita no Joe. The story is centered around Joe, an underground illegal boxer who does fixed fights to survive. On the other side of the river where the wealthy prosper, the Shirato group is holding a Megalo Boxing tournament called Megalonia. Joe almost crashes into Yukiko Shirato and his encounter with her bodyguard/champion, Yuri, sets Joe on a path to prove himself worthy to fight him.

Before going really in depth, I’d just like to say that this short series is absolutely amazing. There is so much to unpack with Joe’s journey and they really provide insight into each character in only 13 episodes. I really could not bring myself to hate anyone because really, they’re all living and surviving for their own goals. And the animation during the fight scenes and overall soundtrack is unreal. Honestly, I was so anxious for every fight and the animators did an amazing job of making it feel like you’re there with them.

Megalo Box is not dead yet. Season 2 will be back hopefully this year.

Now, real talk under the cut! (SPOILERS)

Right from the beginning I got chills. Joe is unreal and everything I love in a main character. And his main goal? To reach Yuri and fight him in his own ring. His journey to reach the top is not to become famous and steal any titles, instead it’s to be able to fight Yuri, the one person who challenges him more than anyone else. Each opponent he faces beforehand is just another bump to overcome but he continues to learn and improve. What really sealed it for me was him fighting gearless. Megalo Boxing is advanced fights with gear that enhance their performance, so for Joe to beat these pros with nothing is crazy.

Joe, Nanbu, and Sachio really went through it for the entirety of the show. I mean, obviously to do fixed fights, there has to be some sort of conflict and shady business. That’s why I was skeptical of his trainer, Nanbu, in the beginning. And it only got WORSE after he seemingly betrayed Joe and everything they worked for. But alas, they fought their way through it and beat the cringey American (?) fighter dude,,, I can’t remember his name. Oh well, it doesn’t matter much because our real goal is Yuri, the ultimate champion. Yuri wears this ultimate gear that was designed by Yukiko Shirato, or as he calls her, Owner. We find out the Yukiko basically saved Yuri and gave him a reason to live and continue fighting. BUT Yuri finally defies her when he goes to fight Joe in the final episode. He gets his gear removed, which is like removing a piece of himself, in order to meet Joe as equals. I think this part was really important because it was the first time we really see Yuri act for himself. He’s never faced someone who makes him feel the way he felt when fighting Joe. They were absolute ultimate opponents. But basically, Yuri as a character was so amazing and I love him. He respected Joe so much for all the he sacrificed to meet him at the top and so he made sure to never let his opportunity to fight Joe as HIMSELF slip away. It’s important to note that the flashback we see of when Yukiko first met Yuri and saw his fighting, everything slows down and we see almost sparkles radiating off his form. The ONLY other time we see that again is when he removes his gear and is practicing for his fight with Joe. Yukiko also sees it and I think it played a huge role in her allowing the final match to happen and remembering why she chose Yuri in the first place. She might have seemed to be selfish throughout the story but I really believe that she loved Yuri and did want him to be happy. I think she just didn’t understand at first.

Anyway, stan Yuri :)

Also Nanbu? Fucking redeemed himself so much. He really gave up his eye sight in order to help Joe reach his goal. I cried when he was crying during the final fight because he said he can “see” the fight even though he didn’t have his eyes. That moment was so heartwarming and really just brought their entire group together. And Sachio with his rapping and prickly little personality is so cute. I hope he gets trained by Joe and starts boxing.

The ending was so satisfying to see. We don’t find out Joe wins until the very end during the credits, although it seems somewhat obvious. A year after the fight, Yuri is reduced to a wheelchair and we aren’t sure if Joe is still fighting. Team Nowhere FINALLY has a gym and everyone is just there enjoying each others presence. Yuri and Joe as best friends? Ugh absolutely cleared my skin. They both showed each other what it really means to Megalo Box and Joe was definitely the real deal and everything Yuri was looking for. Everything about it was amazing and has brought Megalo Box to No. 2 in my favorites.

- K

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sadbi-hours · 5 years

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I was tagged by @ismaelmyblogisamess. Thank you!

Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag 10( or however many) peeps.

1. Agents of shield

2. Stranger things

3. Pose

4. Euphoria

5. Sense8

1. Who is your favorite character in 2?

It’s a tie between Steve and newcomer Robin.

I was never much for the ST bandwagon. I watched s1 and kind of waved in and out afterwards...but s3 was amazing, and I think Steve and Robin’s friendship was what made it so special for me!

They made Robin a flesh and bone character. I knew she wasn’t just going to be a love interest whether or not she ended up with Steve...and then, BOOM! she’s never going to be Steve’s love interest...She’s a lesbian. Wow, just slay me right here. It wasn’t tact on as an afterthought, it was who she was the entire time. Robin Buckley was going to be her own person...and her character wouldn’t end up being wrapped up in a romance with Steve.

I mean the rest of the season was amazing too, but I really watched it because of their dynamic...

2. Who is your least favorite character in 1?

Jemma. Don’t get me wrong! I love her...I wouldn’t write or ship her character with Daisy and Fitz if I didn’t. But my love for her went through a long ass journey.

Like most things with me when it comes to this show, it’s freaking complicated.

3. What is your favorite episode of 4?

I don’t really have a favorite ep. when it come to Euphoria. They were all equally amazing and important!

4. What is your favorite season of 5?

Season 1

5. Who is your favorite couple in 3?

I know that people will probably come after me with pitchforks, but I really liked the relationship between Stan and Angel. Yeah, it was toxic and dysfunctional...and sure, Stan could be a complete d-bag...and yes, I’m glad she gave him his walking papers at the end of season 1.

But they had amazing chemistry...and if Stan ever got his shit together, I would love to see them end up together...but who knows?

No offense to Lil’ Papi, but it just doesn’t work for me...his and Angel’s thing that they got going on.

6. Who is your favorite couple in 2?

Stoncy (JonthanxNancyxSteve)

7. What’s your favorite episode of 1?

Umm. I can confess that I kind of wave in and out of Aos now. I haven’t watched religiously since season 2...but since I have issues when it comes to season 2, I would have to say my favorite ep. of season 1 is ep.13 (aka T.R.A.C.K.S.)

8. What is your favorite episode of 5?

It’s a tie between 1x04 (aka What’s going on?) and the series finale special (aka Amor Vincit Omnia) for two reasons.

The amazing use of 4 non blonde’s What’s up? in 1x04 and all the ralagang sweetness of the series finale.

9. What is your favorite season of 2?

Umm, seriously, season 3.

10. How long have you watched 1?

Since it aired. I mainly go in and out now.

11. How did you become interested in 3?

It was suggested to me through Netflix since I watch AHS...and I was bored and I love Evan Peters and I thought Indya Moore was freaking sexy as hell...and this fanvid pretty much cemented the fact that I was gonna be on this show like white on rice.

And basically, a multitude of another personal reasons.

12. Who is your favorite actor in 4?

I fucking hate Nate Jacobs, but somehow the bastard freaking intrigues me. Plus, Jacob Elordi’s mesmerizingly haunting portrayal of him didn’t help matters either.

Oh, and every single actor/actress in that show blew me away so...

13. Which you prefer, 1, 2 or 5?

Come on, don’t make me choose! Well, I guess number one...it’s been the show that I watched the longest.

14. Which show have you seen more episodes, 1 or 3?

Umm, one.

15. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Ugh! You have watched Euphoria right?! I wouldn’t want to be any of them...but I can relate to Rue and Ethan the most.

I have a lot of mental health and drug/addiction issues like Rue and I’ve been in a situation with a girl that I liked in HS like Ethan...but only I didn’t get a happy ending with my crush...and I’m still working on the mental and addiction problems. It’s an uphill battle, you know?

Plus, the girl wasn’t near as awesome and emotionally mature (as much as any character can be emotionally sane in anything when it comes to that show) like Kat is.

16. Would a crossover between 3 or 4 work?

No. They are set in two different decades.

17. Pair two characters in 1 who would make unlikely but strangely okay couple.

I think almost all pairings (canon or not) can work someway...somehow...in Aos.

18. Overall, which show has the best storyline, 3 or 5?

I think Sense8, for all it’s flaws has a more interesting and connective storylines. I can get bored with somethings that happen in Pose.

I never really got bored with Sense8.

19. Which has a better theme music, 2 or 4?

Euphoria’s many different opening theme songs without a doubt.

I’ll be tagging: @florchis, @whistlingwindtree, @guerins, @graceklly, @theclaravoyant, @bobbimorseisbisexual, @grimeysociety, @smallblueandloud, @buckyrhodey, and @luckynik

#tag game #tv shows #hey #this was fun #personal #nonsense #get to know me #about me #kind of

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saiangelo999 · 6 years

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2019 T.v. show Tracker

Part 2

Animes

Mo Dao Zu Shi

Finished it. Read the novel. Checking out the Cdrama (The Untamed). Obsessed. Watch it, it’s worth it.

Currently watching season two! Jing Ling is so precious and all the chibis are SO CUTE!

Dororo

In progress (~episode 20) - Love it so far! Excited to see where it goes!

Update: Dororo was always precious but I just appreciate this child more and more as the episodes continue. I really enjoyed the lighter episode with the opposite village and the swordsmaster. Also, I am glad that Itachi finally died... but tbh I can’t hate him. Dororo is soo forgiving, my precious child.

Edit: Completed. Enjoyed the story and the way that it was wrapped up.

My Roommate is a Cat

Completed - Loved it! Super cute, fluffy and touching. Fun to watch! Really enjoyed the show and REALLY want more! Please make a season 2!!

Fruits Basket 2019

It’s definitely doing its job of hitting the heartstrings true to Fruits Basket lore (I loved the manga). That opening (1) tho is so depressing really setting the mood for the show I guess... I’m excited for more and aware of the pain that is yet to come. But I am excited (and hopeful) to see them do justice to the plot this time. Update: s1 is almost over and I really enjoyed it!

One Punch Man

Loved it!! Finished season one! It was way too short... Will watch season two when all the episodes come out! I actually found the show to have a lot of parallels with The Disastrous Life of Saiki which could be the reason that I enjoyed it so much. I really don’t know how all the fans who watched it when it was first released could have waited so long for season two.

Ruroni Kenshin

Randomly started it cuz I was planning on watching it for a while and it was on Netflix so I thought - why not. Liking it so far but I haven’t gotten very far yet so it’s hard to form an opinion atm.

Dramas

Bad Guys

Completed - Good Binge.

It was very addicting, very interesting premise that captured my attention initially. It’s a good binge, but around episode 10 the show, the show sort of fizzled out for me. The hitman’s storyline (Jung woo) was a bit too melodramatic for my taste and was a bit off-putting, however I absolutely loved the psychopath’s story. That definitely kept me hooked throughout. One huge plus of this show is the action, and it is a lot of fun to watch if you don’t think about the show too much.

Gibo to Musume no Blues

Completed - Loved it! I’d highly recommend it!

This show was so adorable and so sweet and fun to watch from start to finish. I really enjoyed this slice of life and the warm stepmother and stepdaughter relationship throughout the show. It was very heartwarming to watch. I loved how all the characters were treated with respect and didn’t seem like hollow caricatures, I liked the relationships portrayed in the show and the general warmth that this show had throughout.

I am still not over what happened to Ryoichi :( , but I can say that I absolutely loved every single character in this show. The baker definitely grew on me more and more throughout the later half of the show and he became very lovable. Overall, this was a great drama that I am glad I checked out!

Children of Nobody/ Red Moon Blue Sun

Completed - Loved it! 15/10 would recommend!

This drama was really really gripping. I like how the story didn’t feel very formulaic, and I admit I was quite unsure what was going on in the first 2 or so episodes. But once the plot line was set in motion, I was along for the ride. One huge reason for that is probably the main character Cha Woo Kyung, she won me over very quickly and her backstory was very intriguing. I also really like Yi Kyung’s character as well as his team, though it did take me a while to warm up to him. The children all did a phenomenal job as well - I especially like Ha Na and Si Wan’s acting.Si Wan is another huge factor that kept me watching, the child actor did a great job!

One thing I definitely appreciated with this show was how morally grey all the characters were, it made them more relatable. If I were to compare it to similar mystery/crime kdrama’s I’ve seen, I think so far this would rank the highest - the plot was engaging, the characters were interesting, there was absolutely ZERO focus on developing a romantic relationship and the topic - abuse (child primarily) was handled well.

Her Private Life

Really loving Ryan Gold so far!! He’s actually super considerate and kind? Love it! Quite like the female lead as well. Love her relationship with her best friend, they are absolutely adorable! Not too happy about what I heard about the Eun Gi thing where they did the Reply staple of making the viewers assume that he’s her brother only to find out he’s interested in her romantically and that they aren’t blood-related... why is this trope so popular? This reminds me a lot so far of Reply 1997.

Update: show is moving on in a very cliche way... extremely predictable so far. Will maybe stick w it bc I love Ryan’s character and the couple are adorable. TBH I didn’t start this for the plot. Another gripe that I have is just why do kdramas always do the thing where the main couple are meant to be and met during their childhood? I don’t get why that’s so popular... But I do respect the fact that Ryan’s real mom did not abandon him and that arc was resolved quickly.

Overall, it was better than a lot of other dramas in this genre and it was done with much less unnecessary drama. I appreciated how the side characters were handled and liked that they were given time to have their own sub-plots. A decent show all in all.

The Fiery Priest

Loved it! I like the mix of the action and comedy that was showcased in the show. I found this show to be very similar in the plot structure, comedy (to an extent) and characterizations to Chief Kim so I enjoyed the show a lot and had a pretty good idea of what to expect from the show. It’s a fun show that keeps you hooked for more, and like Chief Kim don’t expect any romance between characters to really develop.

Angel’s Last Mission: Love

Shin Hye Sun is just gorgeous, omg. She’s also a really good actress. I really liked seeing her in this role coming out of watching Still 17 to see the sheer difference in personality. I am enjoying the contrast. Also, I like her chemistry with Myungsoo. I don’t care for the second lead nor can I bring myself to empathize with him. I also am somewhat disappointed with her family sub-plot because so far it seems pretty cliche so I’m hoping for a plot twist or two.

DNF.

Project S The Series: Spike

I FINALLY finished it! Really loved it. Great acting, loved the pace of the show and how realistic it felt. I really liked watching the team come together and grow together. The few female characters were a delight - Jern is so lovable and adorable. Bright is very sweet and does a lot for the team. Puen’s relationship with the entire team was interesting to see - his strong bond with Singha and now Than, his relationship with Jern and ofc his friends. Than’s relationship with his dad was also portrayed realistically right til the end. It’s a good watch, and I’ll definitely re-watch the series.

Ao to Boku

So addicting, waiting for the last episode to be subbed. Please get subbed!

Update: it was subbed! Finished it! Enjoyed the drama overall. A nice mystery/friendship/slice-of-life one. Be warned that although there is a bit of mystery it is mainly a slice-of-life/friendship drama.

The Untamed

I enjoyed it overall (tho I did end up skipping over some episodes). I thought that it was a faithful adaptation to the novel considering the censorship issues. I love how they took out a lot of the explicit gay but still somehow made parts of the show gayer. Also I LOVE fairy. Fairy is an adorable fluffball that owns my heart <3.

DNF - He is Psychometric

Melo Suits Me/ Be Melodramatic

So... they really made one of the cutest love stories tragic huh. I’m really enjoying the show so far, I love the friendship between the main 4 leads. I am interested about the industry and I like the balance that the drama has with its humour, friendship, love and slice-of-life elements. I really like the actress and her manager couple they are so cute! I kind of wish I have more cute mother-son moments with the kid so hopefully in a future episode.

Update: Finished it! Liked the ending overall, had one minor qualm. I really liked the Director (Yeller) that was introduced. He was an unexpected delight and I love his dynamic with Eun Jung. I did like that they did end up subverting a romantic relationship and left it platonic. That was unexpected.

T.v. shows

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Season 6 - Finally finished it! Lot of fun, and enjoyed watching yet another season of the show. I really enjoyed their Cinco de Mayo heist this year and thought that was a lot of fun. I personally didn’t really feel Gina’s absence too much though her going away words were cute near the beginning of the season.

Broadchurch

Completed - Completely binged season 3! I love this show!

I forgot how beautiful the cinematography in the show was! Their little village is gorgeous. It’s a bit jarring to watch it after a year or so because my memory of season 2 of Broadchurch was quite hazy. Nevertheless, I absolutely love this show. This season was very different from the previous ones, and it had a good build up but the final reveal of the culprit was quite... predictable. However, there was a twist that came with the reveal that came completely out of the blue. I liked the way Alec/D.I Hardy and Ellie handled the issue at hand and set an example of how cases of rape should be handled within the police force. It was also really nice to see Beth’s growth, the vicar and what Maggie were up to! I also enjoyed seeing Alec and his daughter’s relationship grow. Too bad its cancelled... here’s hoping that one day they’ll renew it.

Stranger Things season 3

I personally liked it a lot more than season two because I felt that it had more growth from the characters. I liked Eleven’s character growth and how the dynamic of the relationships changed and seeing the kids grow up. But, I’m definitely getting a bit tired of this show... because although I did enjoy this season, I still feel that in a way it was redundant.

Derry Girls s2

I loved it! So funny. So adorable. Love the characters and the ridiculous situations that they put themselves in (or are put in). Sister Michael is still my fave, her lines are always pure gold.

Anne with an E season 3

Trying to keep track of it as it is airing on CBC. I missed the second episode :( But I watched episode 3 and the foreshadowing for the residential schools omg

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scorpio-karma · 6 years

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Your top 10 favourite WoCs in TV shows?

Sorry I’m getting to this late, but I was at work when I got it and I work long hours also I’m usually tired after, especially for this ask. I always knew peripherally that there aren’t that many WOC are on TV, but this ask kinda made realize exactly how few.

Now it’s been a hot minute since I’ve watched TV in general, except for a few select shows here and there it’s been about 3 years since I’ve watched a new show and that includes Netflix because I don’t have Netflix so this was a particularly hard question because I had to a) remember what I used to watch in TV when I watched TV and b) were there WOC on that show? The answer to that question was often no (Charmed, Supernaural,) and then if they did have WOC I had to think did I like that character and the answer to that was also no (Dreama from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Emily from Life With Derrick).

So in no particular order just the order I thought of them in, here’s my top 10 WOC in TV:

1. Bonnie Bennett from Vampire Diaries

I kind of put her on here begrudgingly because though I absolutely love her character she’s a character you have to love in spite of the writing. You can find many a meta from me and many others on how badly she was treated, so I’m not going to get into that and focus on the reasons I like her. For one she’s a witch which as a quality in general doesn’t count for much unless you’re me and absolutely love witches and have watched a lot of things specifically because there’s a witch in it. It’s literally the only reason I watched Charmed and Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a kid. So due to that fact she was always going to be my favorite character. Two she’s the most practical which again is not trait that means that much unless you’re me. It’s a quality I’ve always valued in characters and is probably the biggest reason why I hate Elena and characters like her. And lastly she was a character who was just teeming with potential which is why I spend so much time talking about her.

2. Qetsiyah from Vampire Diaries

I also put her on this list begrudgingly and love her for the same exact reasons as I love Bonnie except for one add addendum, she’s played by Janina Gavankar, my girl crush. She to me is one of the most beautiful women on the planet, so pretty much anything she’s in I am biased, but I do love what she adds to anything she’s in. She has this presence that I don’t quite know how to describe, but she always has my attention. She’s is such a force of nature and I guess I love this role specifically because she is a force of nature–the entire show’s lore is ingrained in this character. When I think about season 5 and how shit it was I realize that what I remember the most and in the greatest detail is her–she for me was the only good thing about that season.

3. Rachel Pirzad from Alphas

Most of my followers probably have no idea who she is as this was a short lived show on Syfy and I honestly only watched it because I had a crush on Ryan Cartwright at the time. If I’m ever into some obscure show that’s usually the reason. Anyway from that show my favorite characters were Gary (Ryan Cartwright’s character) and Rachel the girl with the ability to enhance her senses. Not only was she beautiful but I identified with her character a lot in being introverted, and her issues with people touching her, plus I loved how they incorporated her family and how that effected how she approached the world. She was often scared with legitimate reason to especially as a Iranian woman in the U.S, but was brave as well.

4. Tia and Tamera from Sister Sister

Now this is really bringing y’all way back, but when I think about shows that shaped my childhood this one sticks out in a big way. I don’t know if this phenomenon has ended but I remember as a kid Twins being a big deal in the entertainment world. Mary-Kate and Ashley, Zach and Cody, that basketball twin movie on Disney channel, that other model twin movie on Disney Channel, The Parent Trap, the list could go on. I don’t see this as much any more but I also don’t watch children’s TV anymore. And of that era my favorite set of twins was Tia and Tamera, and not necessarily because they were black and the only ones I could identify with, but because they were the only ones I found consistently entertaining. The draw from them wasn’t that they were twins, sure that was the premise of the show, but that wasn’t what the entire show was about past the first season. The majority of their shenanigans didn’t revolve around “we look exactly the same” it actually spent a lot more time on their differences and individuality.

5. Mona Thorne from Half & Half

Another one that’s from way back. A character from a show on a channel that doesn’t exist anymore. This is a character I liked for two reasons. One, she was then underdog which for me in general is kinda an automatic like from me, and two I identified with her on many levels. If you don’t know the premise of the show it’s about two half sisters who reconnect later in life. Their related through their father who’s very rich and had very different childhoods due to this. I identified with Mona because that was essentially kind of my childhood. While my dad isn’t rich but definitely lives in a income bracket higher than me and my mom I understood what is was like watching my half-siblings live a more privileged life than me. I was a lot less bitter because I understood living in a higher bracket meant living with my dad which I didn’t want, but she was one of those characters that spoke to me.

6. Bessie Lovin from Damnation

A recent one, finally. I quite love how her character and story was handled. She’s a whore, but her value is in her intelligence. She has her own story arc and unlike a lot of shows, for a secondary character you learn a lot about her. Plus her relationship with Creeley was just the sweetest thing. I even made an edit about it. She was hands down my favorite character of the short-lived series.

7. Astrid Finch from The Tomorrow People

Another one I put on here kind of begrudgingly because the show she comes from isn’t that great, but when I think about her impact years later I realize she and John (my ship) were the best part of the show and the only two I actually wonder about since the show was cancelled.

8. Geena Fabiano from Unfabulous

I’m putting her on here tentatively because while the actress is a WOC the character is not, or at least had no indications of being anything other than Italian. I’m one of the few people who really liked Anna on TVD and she is the entire reason why. Honestly the only reason I ever watch TVD in the first place was because I recognized Nina from Degrassi and the only real reason I stayed for the rest of the season (let’s be honest S1 is really cheesy) was because I recognized other actors from shows/movies I used to watch like Jasmine Guy from A Different World, Kelly Hu from X2, and Malese Jow from Unfabulous. I guess what I loved about her is how confident and outspoken and how completely fearless she was to be herself. She made for a great best friend for Addie, but in a weird twist of events because I usually root for the underdog, I wanted a show about her instead of Addie. I mean she just did a whole lot more than Addie.

9. Skye/Daisey Johnson from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

She’s a character I didn’t like that much at first and that’s because in the beginning she’s set up like a literal Mary-Sue. I’m not talking about the loose term used, I’m talking about the origin of Mary Sue. In the pilot she’s set up like those fanfics where an person is dropped in some universe and gets to live out their dream of seeing Superman, or something to that effect, and those are just not my cup of tea, I didn’t even finish the season, I didn’t actually pick up the show again until the show was well into season 4, but she grew on me. In a weird way I do kinda miss her season 1 self, but I understand why she’s not–she’s had quite a bit of development over the years, she’s no longer the naive optimist anymore which is more my speed as a character because I like pragmatism in characters. She does annoy me from time to time when she doesn’t do the practical thing, but I realize emotions rule people’s decisions a lot more than logic.

10. Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine Nine

She is literally the epitome of qualities I like in characters. She’s for one badass, very pragmatic, but I love about her most is that even with all of that she’s not a robot. There’s a balance to her character you don’t get to see often with characters like this which is what I identify with because I’m quite apathetic but at the same time empathetic which is a weird contradiction but I’m full of them. She’s kinda a contradiction but it seems to go together seamlessly.

Honorable mentions:

1. Lana Lang from Smallville

Weirdly I don’t hate her, and I say that because she has a lot of qualities of a character like Elena Gilbert, constantly the Damsel in Distress, but anyone who watched Smallville would know that if you’re not Clark Kent every character is essentially a damsel in distress, so that’s not really a quality that can be annoying in that context. Another thing that annoys me with Elena is that her actions rarely meet what’s said about her. There’s a lot of over hyping when it comes to Lana’s character as well, but for the most part she met those expectations or clarified that she wasn’t. I found little contradiction with this character. The reason she didn’t make the list for me is that she’s just a little too bland for my liking.

2. Angela Moore from Boy Meets World

As far as token characters go she’s not a bad representation. Her story lines didn’t revolve around furthering other’s (white) characters development. She wasn’t known as the best friend, or the ugly one. There is an immediate attraction from Shawn to her and even Cory to a degree because he too recognizes her beauty. BMW was a very white show so I’m very sure she was added to meet their diversity quota, but what I liked about that is that she wasn’t added begrudgingly–the was some real effort put into adding her as a character. Plus I like that they didn’t do what shows normally do which is cast the lightest black girl they can find when they’re told they need diversity. They committed to it and then at the same time kinda of not when I think about her break up with Shawn. The only reason she didn’t make it in the top for me is because I don’t really remember much about her. I watched a lot of BMW but I’m very sure I missed a lot of episodes and I can’t quite remember her introduction. Her identifier for me was Shawn’s girlfriend, and I guess I kinda wanted more.

3. Shirley Bennett from Community

Community is one of my favorite shows of all time and I do love Shirley in all her Evangelist glory, but she’s not my favorite. When it comes to community there’s not a single character I hate–they’re all great–but Shirley doesn’t really rank high for me. She’s definitely not a bad representation or even a token character because out of all of them she seemed the most real to me who was the only character who had anything important going on outside of the group. In fact that’s kinda the running gag of the paintball episodes–the show makes the situation so epic and series but the reality is that the real world has things going on and it’s usually shown through her who has children and a husband that takes presidence over them but that never stops her from giving to her all. She’s actually really bad ass. The reason why she didn’t meet the ranking is just that she’s not a character I overly identify with, but she rather represents more someone I know.

#my top 10 #woc in tv

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thedeadflag · 7 years

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@dreamsheartstory said: if you find any good sci fi, let me know… it’s so rare…

It really is. For a genre that has so much potential, it rarely makes the small screen without being corralled into a few very specific tropes (sci-fi cop procedural is so, so overdone, but I’m desperate haha)

Still, this is what I’ve watched over the past...3 years? 3 years, yeah. At least, the notable ones, not including the obvious big name Netflix marvel shows, Sense 8, orphan black, etc..

SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

The Expanse:

Harder sci-fi. Essentially, it’s the future, where humanity expanded across the system, and Mars split off to do their own thing after a civil war. The people working on “the belt”... as in the asteroid belt and other such unsavory places and stations...are the clear have-nots and are generally abused at will by both Earth and Mars, and the show starts where tensions are at an all-time high, with the belt a hair’s trigger away from revolt, and the Earth/Mars tensions coming to a head

Great casting, the crew of the Roci is fantastic. Though Thomas Jane is...a Thomas Jane character. He’s such a perfect fit for Miller, because Miller checks all the boxes for his strengths, and hides his weaknesses well enough in the flaws of the character. So i can’t blame the show for that, but I hate looking at his face. Still, the casting is just top notch. And they have Shohreh Aghdashloo, who is always fantastic, and Frankie Adams pops onto the scene in S2 and does quite well. Essentially, casting = A+

Only real complaint is that i read the book, and there’s a pansexual lady character that is exceptional and amazing and I love her and her mouth of a sailor. The show cut that and made her more passive and scared in S2, which is bullshit, and led me to stop watching because I was furious at that decision, but in the end, it’s still absolutely 100% worth watching. If just for the Roci crew alone and the endless shenanigans they get into (and sometimes out of)

Binge-worthy. Pacing of the first two episodes is a bit inconsistent, but they’re covering an absurd amount of ground, so that’s expected.

Killjoys:

Lighthearted space-faring sci-fi, set in a totally built from the ground up universe. It slowly leaks out the lore as to not jeopardize the general tone of the show. However, it does turn serious for stretches.

Easily binge-worthy. Takes 3 episodes to get momentum, but after that, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

My only real quibble is with the origins of Dutch. We get a hint of her growing up essentially as property, abused into being a living weapon/assassin, before we get a good read of the world, and that...really comes off as a bit exploitative, given she’s a woc.

The ship is an A+ lovable sassy ladybug

Dark Matter:

A bit “harder” sci-fi than Killjoys, but it has its lighthearted moments

Super super slow burn. I finished the first season and only then did I really start to dig my claws into the show. It’s slow.

That said, interesting lore, and the overarching series of narratives are solid and worthwhile, they just take an egregiously long time to lift-off.

There’s apparently wlw content in season 3. I haven’t finished S2 yet, but I’m hoping it’s solid.

Westworld:

Western meets Wizard of Oz featuring Anthony Hopkins with an old west fetish. Set far off in the future. There are, like, androids and stuff

I didn’t get through it since western shows give me the creeps, but most of my friends who watched it says it was pretty great. I only watched the first episode, but the acting and cinematography and music were all very well done.

Ascension:

A sci fi mystery, set in a space-ship, if that space-ship was sort of like one of the Bunkers in the fallout games, full of people from the 50s.

The show is not without its warts, but it’s a miniseries (so it’s not long), and it’s surprisingly well done. Doesn’t cover all the themes it brings up with the greatest nuance or skill, but I’d wager it’s probably worth a watch?

The OA:

Another mystery! Sci-fi in the vein of alien abduction and strange abilities.

It’s kind of surrealistic? It makes you pay attention, and if you slip up, you’ll probably miss out on something. There’s a decent chunk of content mashed into those surprisingly few episodes.

Didn’t like that it robbed a character of a disability. I think it would have worked just as well with the character still being blind. They could have made it work.

Trans guy rep in this show, which was a plus

American Gods:

I’m not sure if this counts? It kinda counts. I’m saying it counts. It mixes sci-fi and fantasy.

I haven’t finished this yet, mostly just because it’s hard to find torrents that aren’t tracked by the network. My ISP is okay with me getting one or two notices a month, but past that, it’s tricky, and I can’t afford a good VPN, so I’m playing the waiting game for a bit.

Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane were fantastic in the episodes I did see. The show is, if nothing else, visceral and beautifully shot.

3%:

Sci-fi in the vein of Hunger Games, but a better premise, and better executed

I only managed to get it with the dubbed audio, so that was flat out atrocious and made me weep over the injustice

Still, despite the absolutely grating audio, I pushed through that and enjoyed much of the rest of the show. it’s solid. Not, like, the best show out there, but it does what it does well, it covers its themes well, and the visual elements of the acting seemed strong.

Find the sub-titled version with the original language (portugese iirc?) audio. I think that’s available on Netflix now, or at least Netflix USA, from what I understand.

12 Monkeys:

It’s a police procedural time jumping sci-fi with a dystopian, post-apoc future.

It’s okay. Nothing special. The two leads really do try to put the show on their back, btu the writing’s not real strong. Watchable, but lots of plot holes, plot armor, and writers shoehorning in sudden/coincidental events out of nowhere to increase tension. if you want something to watch for background noise, or maybe if you want a procedural show and have checked out the others already, maybe this will be for you.

Agents of Shield:

Superhero-based sci-fi

First season is slow and full of filler because they were waiting for that Captain America Winter Soldier movie to come out before tying their show in with the events. There are guides to watching the first season. I thought it was all decently fine, and good writing alla round, there’s just too many episodes that season to justify the few meaningful narrative events.

Season 2 has Dichen Lachman. The final half of that season character-assassinates her (and the other inhumans) to provide the show a late-hour villain to root against. I hated that. It’s the weakest season, thankfully, and I’m sure there are watch-guides to skipping through that because...

Shit gets real in season 3, and it’s worth watching even outside of S1-2, I’d even rec skipping those if there wans’t so much character-building in those 2 seasons. The writing is better, the acting is better from S3 onward. There’s still some fumbling of themes, but not to the degree of the previous seasons. Same with Season 4, where it arguably has it’s greatest few episodes. Ends with a brief Hydra-AU arc that IMO is skippable, but some adored it. I didn’t, but eh.

Colony:

Harder sci-fi. Aliens invaded and swiftly won. Now they’re ruling us from a distance, using human figureheads to do so. Really neat lore, and worldbuilding.

Unfortunately, it’s the most frustrating sci-fi show i’ve seen in years, because the male cop lead always has a gut feeling that always aligns with what the revolutionaries are planning, so he always intercepts them. And they get unbelievable plot armor to escape the writers’ ham-handed tension-building, ensuring the writers don’t pay any consequences for the shitty bullshit they keep pulling over and over.

If you can take that sort of crap, and care enough about worldbuilding/lore/etc., then go for it. There’s definite value, and things improve greatly in season 2. But my lord, season 1 is so frustrating.

Person of Interest:

You’ve probably watched this one

Hard sci-fi in the vein of "Hey, maybe writing a secret intelligent AI is just a really bad idea” *five minutes later* “Oh no what have we done”

It’s a really bad idea.

But we get fun police procedural moments out of it, because John is solid, and Carter & Root & Shaw & Bear are excellent.

Bear is best.

The show has watch guides for getting through the first season, and parts of S2.

Avoid the final 3 episodes of the series. Maybe the final season altogether. Otherwise fantastic and heartwrenching stuff.

The Last Ship:

Naval Adventure to Rebuild the World After a Rampant MegaVirus sci-fi

Surprisingly decent for a show that’s basically funded entirely by the American Navy.

Just keep in mind that there will be shitty patriotism bits of bullshit tossed in here and there, and there won’t be so much shock when those bits show up.

First two seasons play out like a mix of The Hunt for Red October and Jesus Camp. It’s bizarre, but sometimes it works? Rhona Mitra and Christina Elmore are probably the reasons for that. And Dichen Lachman is in S3 and she doesn’t die, so that’s a plus.

It definitely has its dips into shit-tier quality, and self-righteous bullshittery, especially in S3.

But it also handles a national political arc halfway decently for a sci-fi show in S3.

Anywho, this is good for, like, background watching? Or low-intensity, low-effort watching. In that context, it’s a good enough show.

The Leftovers:

Three seasons of super depressing and heart-wrenching drama with sci-fi at its core (huge amounts of people vanish one day...the show is about the world finding out how to move on, what ti all means)

Excellent acting. Top notch. Like, some of the best on TV. Some stunning stuff.

The show only gets better. I didn’t like the first half of S1, it’s very slow and arduous, but it’s worth it.

Not very sci-fi, at least not until S3, but still. It works with sci-fi elements and it’s a very thoughtful, smart show.

Wayward Pines:

It’s sci-fi in the vein of Under the Dome, but it manages to be even worse somehow don’t ask me how

Oh my god don’t watch this, the cast does not make up for it, they flounder in atrocious writing. i’m only mentioning this here because it’s just so bad, don’t waste your time like I did.

That’s...well, the stuff that’s not far below mediocre.

#spoilers #AoS spoilers #agents of shield spoilers

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rockets-capris · 7 years

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The Best and the Worst of LOT S1

Once there was a girl who started to watch a TV show she found on Netflix. She fell instantly in love with this show within ten minutes of the first episode. For the next few weeks, she celebrated and obsessed over the show. She shipped, she wrote fanfiction and roleplayed. And then … the stupid writers killed off the best-written character in their universe and the girl rage-quit.

I was that girl.

Legends of Tomorrow was that show.

DC Legends of Tomorrow is a TV series which takes place in the same universe as Supergirl, Arrow and the Flash. (This universe is hereafter referred to as the Arrowverse for convenience)

The Legends are a team of time-traveling superheroes which is made up of Rip Hunter, the British time master who is also the leader, Leonard Snart (more commonly known as Captain Cold) who is primarily a Flash villain, Mick Rory (A.K.A Heatwave) partner-in-crime of thirty or so years to Leonard, Sara Lance (or White Canary) sister to Laurel Lance and is an assassin or whatever (I really hate her), Raymond Palmer (A.K.A The Atom) who is basically Tony Stark meets Ant-Man (ability-wise not personality-wise), Martin Stein (half of F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M) who is a professor in his sixties, Jefferson Jackson (other half of F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M) the token black guy and Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl) who is a barista turned ancient Egyptian goddess.

Oh, and Carter (Hawkman) but trust me he barely counts.

So, Rip knocked out these people, kidnapped them, and told them that he would really like for them to help him avenge his dead family but they didn’t have to if they didn’t want to.

I always liked how Rip gave them a choice even though he didn’t need to and in most sci-fi or fantasy stories where something similiar happens, the characters involved are not given a choice. It’s realistic and automatically gives you a look into what kind of guy Rip is. For me, this small thing proves that realism in writing is not just making somebody die from a gun-shot wound or some crap.

All of them decide against it at first. I like this too and it’s also realistic to their personalities. Particularly Team Fire and Ice over there.

Speaking of those guys, Leonard and Mick were in temporary agreement that they weren’t gonna go with Rip but Leonard changed his mind while his partner didn’t so Len was basically like, “Dude, a time traveler just came out of the sky and is asking us to help him murder somebody. Pretty sure it’s a once-in-a-lifetime oppertunity.” and Mick is like, “Fine. I’ll go wherever you go but I still think it’s a bad idea.”

And Carter convinced Kendra, Ray pretty much decided on his own as for F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M… . oh. Yeah.

Martin decided to go with him but Jax (Jefferson’s nickname) still didn’t want to. In order to become F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M, Martin and Jax need to be together as it’s sort of a morphing/splicing type thing. So Martin decides to um … DRUG the nineteen-year-old kid that is Jax, and bring him to the Waverider (Rip’s timeship) against his will.

My problem with this (besides you know, the obvious) is how well everybody seems to take it! Rip is sort of just like, “You drugged him? Though I don’t condone kidnapping, Mr. Jackson, you’re already here and I really do need your help so … tough break, kid!”

No, I don’t expect Leonard and Mick to care, I mean, they don’t have a moral compass but SOMEONE other than Jax should have had a problem with it! Yeah, it’s funny, but if you think about it, it’s also pretty messed up.

Yes, Martin says he’s sorry several times throughout the season, though we’re not entirely sure whether Jax forgives him or not … I mean eventually he does because he’s part of the team now and they’re all a family. A dysfunctional family that hates each other, knocks each other out as a way of saying ‘I love you’, and sometimes maroons each other in time pockets where time stands still, but a family just the same.

The team’s first destination is the good old 1970s. Sara suggests to Leonard and Mick that they all hit the bar. Leonard says, “Excellent idea.” which gave us all a great reaction gif to play with. Here’s my problem with this part. Jax tries to join Killer, Klepto and Pyro in this, and Leonard tells him and I probably slightly inaccurately quote, “You’re not quite ready to run with this crew yet.” Buuuuut, Sara for some reason WAS???

What does he even mean by “this crew”? Does he mean him and Mick? Or does he mean him, Mick and Sara? Because, why would Leonard Snart, CAPTAIN FLARKING COLD just automatically choose to trust this random girl he JUST met?

It’s not just in that moment either, throughout the entire beginnining he demonstrates a level of trust in her that goes against his character. Gosh, I hate it when fandoms change a character’s set personality to make it match the situation better.

From then on, Len spends a TON of time with Sara. They never give a reason WHY he likes her, he just immediately DOES. Even though he’s an emotionally cold jerk to everyone else except his partner, who doesn’t bring up the time Leonard spends with Sara. On top of that, she also gains a particular connection with the team leader, Rip. Again, no explanation.

Later in the season, Rip needs someone to command the ship. What would’ve made sense is to get Jax to do it, as he is a mechanic and knows how to engineer it. What Rip did was get Sara. SARA. Who knows nothing about the Waverider, or how it works. Not only that but she somehow actually CAN pilot it successfully without asking Rip ANY questions at all. HOW????? When did she learn to drive a timeship from the twenty-second century?

Characters in this fandom just automatically like Sara, simply because she’s … Sara. She doesn’t have to do anything to get them to like her, they just do. Even breaking character to do so.

One thing I’ve noticed about Captain Cold and Heatwave is that they are too well-written for their fandom. Characters in the Arrowverse tend to be one-dimensional and inconsistent. Leonard and Mick remain two of the most interesting and consistent personalities of anyone in the show. Yes, there are some inconsistencies (Leonard’s insta-friendship with Sara for example) but they aren’t as common occurrences as in characters such as Barry Allen.

Throughout season one, the team goes to several locations in various times but I, as always, am more invested in the sideplots. Where all the character and relationship building takes place. Tensions grow higher between our resident supervillains. Keep in mind, Mick never wanted to do this in the first place. I noticed that being on a “team” is especially hard for him. Mick is agressive and unpredicatable. The only thing that drives him in life is his hatred of literally everyone. In LOT, he’s put in a position where there are restrictions to what he can do, who he can kill, etc. Not to mention, he now can’t access his greatest stress reliever. Mick makes this clear in one episode where he says, and I quite accurately quote, “I’m now in the one place I can’t set things on fire! A space ship!”

So, it was only a matter of time before Mick and Leonard started … well, I don’t know if I could call it arguing but it kind of was. Len started trying to tell his partner what to do. Yeah, if you know Mick Rory, that worked about as well as any of us thought it would lol. (Temporarily dropping my professionalism for comedic value) It’s clear to the audience that Leonard cares deeply about Mick, it’s just that when the two of them are put in this particular position, their priorities change. Also, I can understand why Leonard thought he could talk to Mick like that, I mean, Mick DOES listen to him and he even got in the habit of frequently calling Len “boss”. I think it comes down to this: Back when their partnership started, Leonard just naturally became the leader. Leonard knows this, but never took advantage of it. Until they joined the Legends and Mick tried to join a four-wheeler gang from an alternate future. (Okay, so maybe Len was justified.)

Shortly after that, half the team gets captured by time pirates. This episode, and the episodes around it, Rip demonstrated one of his own inconsistencies. He tells Mick that he never intended for Heatwave to join the Legends at all, but knew that Cold wouldn’t come without his partner. And that’s not so bad, nor inconsistent to Rip’s personality. It was the context he said it in. He said Mick had the “IQ of meat” and that Leonard had a mind of his own but Mick didn’t. I’m not kidding. Rip Hunter said that. Honestly, no wonder Mick wanted to leave the team. He never felt like part of the team because the whole team treats him like crap!

That’s not the worst part of this episode as you undoubtedly know. It’s one of the most popular episodes for all the wrong reasons. :(

It’s the episode where Mick decides to join the time pirates. Leonard doesn’t want his best friend to leave him and the rest of the Legends. So, after Rip and his crew defeats the pirates they throw Mick in the brig because, you know, he did betray them and all. The team is considering killing Mick. Leonard stops them. And the team is like, “So, what are we gonna do?” And Len is like, “I’ll handle it.” And nobody asks any questions because when Captain Cold says “I’ll handle it” you don’t ask questions.

His way of handling it: Dragging Mick to a time pocket and knocking him out, then leaving him there.

I have a big problem with this. The writers completely disregarded a partnership that’s lasted over thirty years! In real life, friendships MEAN something. Leonard just punches out his best friend! Later on he says that he was “always coming back for him” but when would he have had the oppertunity to revisit that time pocket? How would he even know where to find him again after leaving him?

Later Mick gets picked up by the Time Masters who turn him into a brainwashed bounty hunter called Chronos.

Basically throughout the season, Leonard and Mick don’t actually spend a lot of time being particularly close, and this is a big mistake in writing because me, along with the audience wants to see these two positively interact. We want to see why they click so well. I mean, we’ve seen some examples of this, like in the Russia episode, when Len breaks Mick out of a gulag, but for the most part we don’t get to see much of a partnership.

One of my main problems with this season, and this show in general leaves soooo much to be desired in the way of character development, not to mention all the unanswered questions: Why does Sara have more moments with Cold then Mick does? (It’s okay if it was just for shipping purposes just give us SOME sort of reason!) What makes Sara so magnetic in the first place? Why do we only see Jonah Hex in one episode and he’s basically never mentioned again even though he was supposedly Rip’s best friend for all the years he spent in the wild west? And I have so much more.

Another thing I would like to call attention to is that there are two moments in particular where Leonard gets visibly and severely injured, and nobody seems to notice. Once being when he gets completely beaten to a pulp by Mick, and his face is all bruised up and stuff and everyone’s just standing around and not saying anything. Not even Sara who spends the most time talking to the guy! And the second time is far more inexcusable, when Leonard loses his FREAKIN HAND and he’s talking to them, and not a single person acknowledges it. I mean how on earth do you not notice that a guy you’ve lived with for at least a few months has lost a very visible and very neccessary part of his body?! (No, not that.) I realize of course, that this is a small hole, but it is a hole. It would have only taken a few moments of screen-time for one character to go, “Woah, what happened to you?” and for Leonard to give a short explanation in his own words.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the characters DID realize and they just don’t care what happens to Leonard, which I guess kinda makes sense as he is kind of an a-hole to most of them …

#legends of tomorrow #confessions #negative #negative feedback #critisism

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jes-wan · 8 years

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An eye behind shattered glass - Black Mirror S1- S3 thoughts

I just completed a binge of Black Mirror’s three Seasons. It’s hard to say if this was mentally a great thing to do, as the show has a rather down trend with it’s stories, for the most part. My thoughts will be in Netflix order, for whatever reason they have the season’s backwards, although it doesn't mater too much with each story being standalone. I suppose that is what makes binging a series like this easy, because everything is different and you only notice a few actors returning to play different roles. I thought I would write down my thoughts on these episodes and how they relate to real life, I won’t be talking too much about the episode themselves, because I don’t think that’s exactly what the writers of Black Mirror are after.

Obviously spoiler alert, so read at your own peril, you have been warned.

Nosedive

The first episode I watched in this series was also the first to make me feel guilty in real life. Of course I'm talking about relating this to using Uber. Where we rate our drivers and they rate you. A friend questioned recently how wrong the system is to be so open and have no guidelines for rating. It’s a good point and exactly what this episode is based on. Out of all the stories this one is the most realistic to actually happen. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine cafe’s starting to adopt the same system as Uber, and it spiralling out from there. I did enjoy the actress’ journey to discovering what’s the point in this system where you can’t be honest, or a breakup costs you, your job, the ending of the two of them yelling in some sort of lockup was perfect. Where, the language was ugly, that didn’t mater, it needs to be apart of our life. Sometimes you just need to tell someone, look that’s really stupid, without loosing your social standing. Speaking of which, going back to Uber, after watching this I found out how a passenger can see their rating. Mine was 4.96, which means someone gave me a four star, the feeling that you weren’t perfect right there is the problem. In the end conversations shouldn’t be rated for being meaningful, regardless of their outcome it’s all about interacting with another human, taking the good and bad.

Playtest

Buyers regret, that’s what VR feels like after watching this episode, or at least what VR might do to some people. Okay, maybe it isn’t that bad. Yet, it does make you wonder how fears could play a huge part in someone getting hurt in VR. Yes, the point of this story is playing off fears in a horror setting. Although in reality fears a deeper than that. You could be playing an adventure game and you have a fear of spiders. One comes up close to you and gives you a real life heart attack. How will we in the future combat actual fears, safe environment or not, that’s what the episodes asks. Instead, the real underlining issue is leaving things too late, putting something off because it’ s too hard. Well for the main character, doing so proved to be fatal, if he had just answered his mum a long time ago, she might not have called during the test and he would still be alive.

Shut up and Dance

You hear about people being blackmailed all the time, I couldn’t say if anyone has ever gone this far, but it might have happened to some lesser degree. The real question to ask yourself, is the risk worth it? If he had gone to the police right away, yes the video would have been released, but he would have had some backup, heck even the media might have been interested in hearing his story. It’s taking a bad situation and turning it better. Raise awareness, because as far as I know the web cam hijacks do indeed happen. In the end the troll, who I suspect was the kid in the hotel lobby, just released it all anyway. Not surprising, because someone who would come up with the ideas they did, probably isn’t someone with social empathy anyway.

San Junipero

I have to say this story was beautiful, I wasn't expecting the twist with it being a cloud reality. At first I thought it seemed like an excuse for a writer to put every 80s pop song into one episode. Big lessons here, even when someone tells you a story don’t assume they are selfish or whatever the case might be, ask questions. How long were you married is a good one. I’m not sure I wouldn’t struggle with the idea that after being uploaded living there forever would make me long for those who didn’t make such a choice. The ending was a surprise happy though and it was nice to see Greg was just someone willing to help out and get nothing in return, seldom do we see this today.

Men Against Fire

I was thinking this might be straight out action and not too thought provoking, at this point I should’ve known better. After binging the entire Alien series before this, I was glad to be wrong. I’d never heard the stats before about soldiers shooting over heads and the hit rate was so low. It’s sad to think that turning people into what we consider a monster would make them easier to kill. Even if they are expressing the exact same motions as someone saying people don’t shoot me. Not much of a choice for the ending, either watch those people die in an endless loop or be erased, no idea to be honest, both are bad. He got discharged anyway and now lives in a fantasy world, still bad I guess.

Hated in the Nation.

First of all, please no one make mechanical bees! Just don’t do it. Secondly what’s happened to all the bomb shelters in the UK. They could have put the third victim in one, a house surrounded by FLOWERS seemed like a terrible idea! Of course, social media plays a big part again, how often do we see people hiding behind their computer screen, shouting hate or even death in this case, knowing there is no consequences. That’s the lesson here, you can troll under your fake profiles, hate the world, think it’s funny to condemn, but really if someone manages to program killer robot bees, you might be in trouble. So consider this next to you decide to call someone on twitter. :P

Be Right Back

Tragic story from the get-go, the regret of putting work ahead of going with someone. Then dealing with a pregnancy, under a self imposed isolation. If you were offered the chance to talk to a passed person based on how they talked on social media would you? I couldn’t even try, to me it would be like forever putting yourself though the loss, every second you would feel sad after the conversation is over. Even more so with the android version of her late husband. In some respects it is nice for your daughter to meet basically a ghost of her father, but as she gets older what kind of impact will this have on her? Tricky, but a choice I can say I would never make.

White Bear,

Not what I was expecting, brutal but brilliant acting. Being ignored is worse than being yelled at, in my opinion. That people will film someone getting hurt rather than help, is something that does exist now. It seems to be instinct to pull out the phone and take video/photos before calling emergency. I heard that police actually hear about public crimes on Facebook first as opposed to people calling their emergency line. I don’t want to get to into too much about how she filmed her partner killing the child, there are no words and it’s hard to fathom that probably has happened somewhere for the writers to come up with it. A park for justice though, I know I couldn’t be a part of that, but with the rise of reality TV, I'm surprised something like this doesn’t already exist.

The Waldo Moment

I’m hesitant to write too much about the theme of this episode, due to the pure politics as opposed to social themes. I will say, is this really how the disenfranchised feel? If so, oh...

White Christmas

Realised what was going on after the lady and the egg scene, although I thought he was a police officer looking for a confession, I was close enough. However, I'm keen to talk about blocking people. The feeling of blocking people rather than facing them, easy isn't it? But can be cruel. If she had just come clean, he wouldn’t have gone through years or torment. Wondering why she kept the child, after the argument was seemingly about that. She may not have died on that train, if she was honest and her dad would still be alive same goes for her child. Of course he’s responsible for his own actions, and he did commit murder. Yet, the real lesson is, be honest, not mater how much it will hurt. You can’t possibly predict what you might set in motion by lying.

The National Anthem

You could just slap the media, which really did a great job in making a situation worse, anything for a story! Would everyone actually stand/sit there and actually watch such a horrible humiliation? No where in the demands did it say people had to watch it, yet the whole nation stopped. People laughed and smiled forgetting all about the reason why he is doing this. As a species do we really have such little compassion until it’s too late? Do we want to watch the train wreck? Of course, humanity's super power and after a year it’s pretty much forgotten and turned into a political vote changer. Although only three points up? I guess regardless of heroes, it’s not a popularity contest, which probably isn’t a bad thing.

Fifteen Million Merits

I’m not a big fan of talent shows, especially music ones, I feel it’s turned talent into image. Regardless, after watching YouTube videos recently on comments made by judges, it’s no wonder we are turning into a society of people who do not question our idols. What people will do for fame, she said yes to a life of sex slavery and he sold out to preach something no one is even listening too! It’s almost not worth it and looking for a way to escape the complex would have been a better use of time.

The Entire History of You

Would you become obsessed with the past if you could just rewind it? As someone who always tries to find the truth, I know I would be overusing this system. I’m not sure it was really that bad of a system, because without it he would have never found the truth and would have lived in a state of ignorance. Been played as a fool is much worse in my books. Irrespective of having this technology people didn’t seem to worried a conversation could just be rewound back and still followed their ways of deceit, shame really. Of course this sounds like a conflict with Nosedive, but the difference is honesty not avoidance.

Well that’s it, my thoughts on Black Mirror and it’s very good attempts at making you think about the society we live in.

Thanks for reading,

Peace out

Jes-Wan

#black mirror #scifi #netflix

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theworstbob · 7 years

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the thing journal, 4.9.2017

scattered thoughts on the things i took in over the last seven days. this week: hannibal s3, bad cop/bad cop, the lobster, netflix teen mystery drama (yeah i’m not gonna type the name out, i ain’t finna deal with a fandom), joey bada$$, the big nowhere, win it all

1) Hannibal, season three: Boy, we sure did spend half the season stumbling aimlessly around Italy, didn't we? No no no, give me another abstract montage with fun camera tricks and eight layers of symbolism, Mr. Neftali, I was gonna say, it's been a few scenes since we've had a montage, when are you gonna deliver another one? FUCK IT! THERE AIN'T GONNA BE A SEASON FOUR! INDULGE ALL YOUR WORST IMPULSES! The show picked up once it got to the Red Dragon plot, and one would have to imagine that is due to the fact of, um, the plot existing at that point?, but I think this show took these characters about as far as they could go. This was a good place for it to end. I'm not sure how far they could have gone having everyone speak to Hannibal through a wall for 13 episodes (it was starting to get tired even after a few episodes here). I did enjoy the Red Dragon episodes, that was the Hannibal I loved in the first two seasons, and it built well toward the ultimate ending (or penultimate ending, yay post-credits sequence, do set up that fourth season, no no no definitely gonna happen). Not Hannibal at its best, but close enough and still good enough when it was On that it I'm still OK calling Hannibal one of my favorite series of all time.

2) Not Sorry, by Bad Cop/Bad Cop: I DERIVED VALUE FROM A DIVE INTO YOUTUBE COMMENTS I went into the comments under a Bombpops song just to see what they were like, and they weren't... as bad as I expected? Not good, but at least not explicitly hateful. But someone in the comments mentioned this band, and I was intrigued enough by the name to check 'em out. (I check out new-to-me bands if they're recommended by a trusted source or if they have a dope name.) And that YouTube comment was right, this album fucking rules. "Cheers" is another item in the long list of things I love named Cheers, the closer is superb, and just, there's so much punk/rock goodness, and I can't believe I heard about them via a fucking YouTube comment.

3) The Lobster, by Yorgos Lanthimos: yoooooooooooooooo My chief disagreement with this film is that it's sort of a waste of a fantastical premise. Maybe I'm just spoiled by BoJack Horseman, but I think the premise that single people are turned into animals was mostly wasted, didn't provide for any interesting background jokes, didn't create moral dilemmas when the woman asked the dude to catch rabbits, was barely even a concern through the second half of the film. It only sticks out because so much of the rest of the film was executed superbly. I loved where the film took the main part of the premise (you have to find a mate, you have to share one defining characteristic with that mate; on the outskirts of civilization are Loners). The dialogue is so stilted and unnatural and performed in a highly mannered way, and once you get to the Loners and there's this woman speaking freely and naturally, it really adds to The Leader's power (and that's such a fucking cool performance, too, on its own), and it makes it more pronounced that the dude and the woman never quite break from their practiced way of talking, never quite breaking from the society that instructs, "This is what love is. Loneliness is dangerous." It's also some of the bleakest comedy you'll ever see. It's an odd fit for John C. Reilly's big ol' heart, but he makes it work as he always does, and MY GOSH THE HEARTLESS WOMAN. I WANT A WHOLE MOVIE ABOUT WHAT THE HEARTLESS WOMAN GOT UP TO BEFORE COLIN FARRELL CAME ALONG.

4) Netflix Teen Mystery Drama, s1, cr. Brian Yorkey: So, one good thing, I loved how the show delineated Today from Yesterday, making Today cold and Yesterday warm. It's a simple thing they did, but it gave the show a distinct look and let them do some neat visual stuff with the flashback structure, like I'm not sure I stick with this show if it weren't such a cool thing to look at. Because fucking yeesh. This is a show about stupid people who keep secrets. Literally the entire show doesn't exist if any character told the truth to anyone else in this show at any point. Half of this show is one character saying to another, "I can't tell you that yet" or "I'm not at liberty to discuss that" or "You'll have to find out for yourself" or "This stays between us." I'm hesitant to say it's bad writing, these are TV professionals and I’m a yutz with a blog, but I found it highly disagreeable. And that sucks that the show was written like this, because there's something great about this idea of how kids hurt each other without realizing what they're doing because they’re idiots who don’t know how to be people. I thought it was fascinating that, as these horrible things were happening to the main girl, they kept cutting to the main dude being on the margins, observing the events but not doing anything helpful, and if the show had a tighter focus and could have followed that arrow more closely, it would have been so much better for it. I know this was based on a novel, and while I will likely not read the novel, I have to imagine the novel is better, because the novel doesn't have to fill 13 hours of television with All The Things ALL THE THINGS and pad itself out by having people lie to each other until it is time to make the revelation ("Why can't you tell me now?" "Because you have to wait." "For what?" "Episode nine." Like if you won't be real with each other at least be real with me), and it can be about just The One Thing. That sounds so much better than this show, which feels overstuffed and, I just, I have to ask, season one? Season one. Are you kidding me. How are you going to find 13 more hours in this universe, about these people. Like, I'm good. It's like Broadchurch, I will respect that there's other seasons, but I think y'all did what you came to do in the one. Honestly, between this and the American Psycho musical, I have no idea how Next to Normal is so good. (Compliment sandwich! The main girl was a really cool character, and it was so easy to imagine this being a show about Natalie from N2N in an alternate timeline. Also, I kept count, the exchange "Hey." "Hey." appears in this show four times.) Wow that was hella paragraph for something I wasn't keen on.

5) ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, by JOEY BADA$$: Hey. White man, here, trying to offer critical assessment of an album called ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$. ...Maybe it's not my place. I mean, it's not really my place to offer criticism on, um, anything, but ESPECIALLY an album about what it's like to be black in America, and not just the Trump America (though he's not happy about that, either), but in an America that has always hated black people, Trump only making that subtext text. I kept thinking "break-up album with America," but that sounds reductive, as did "To Pimp a Butterfly with mainstream ambitions," and while I don't wanna reduce this, I DO still want to say those things. It's good stuff. That's all I can say, really. (Also, there’s a spate of pop artists trying to get by with all-caps names or song titles. This absolutely earns the ability to slam that Caps Lock key. You hear this shit, PARTYNEXTDOOR? This is all-caps music.)

6) The Big Nowhere, by James Ellroy: One good thing about The Thing Journal is that I have an excuse to read physical books on the bus AND read all the books my dad has been giving me for Christmas the past few years! I'll cop (ha!) to not being overly invested in the plot. Oh, boy, a story about a serial killer who's into some weird sex stuff, that's new to me, no tell me about the perverted twist that made the killer what he is, oh wow so fucked up. What I really loved this book was the realistic version of Los Angeles in the 1950s, what with the cops walking around spouting racial slurs as people do heaven and hide their homosexuality. We always get caught up in the notion that the '50s were a more innocent time, our nation is currently being run by people who want us to take us back in time, but like people were doing fuckin' heroin in the '50s. The '50s were shitty, too. I found spending time in this version of Los Angeles valuable. It's a gritty cop drama, sure, but it more than earns its grit. This has been Bob! Attempts To Review a 30-Year-Old Novel Set 60 Years in the Past!

7) Win It All, dir. Joe Swanberg: So one of my favorite lyrics of all time, I can't remember if I've brought this up here or elsewhere but I'm prolly gonna bring it up again, is from Frank Turner's "Recovery:" "Broken people can get better if they really want to/At least, that's what I have to tell myself if I am hoping to/Survive." While only having seen two of his works, this and Drinking Buddies, I feel comfortable saying Joe Swanberg has a deft handle on depicting the person from that lyric in film. My initial impression was that the film didn't do enough to prove the main character deserved redemption (minor spoiler, insofar as this film has a plot, but he does sort of spend the entire film lying to the woman he's falling in love with), but the more I've thought about it, the more I'm thinking, who am I to decide who deserves redemption? He's trying. At no point in his life has he not been trying. He is aware he has made bad choices, and he is keenly aware of his flaws. (His reaction to the contents of the bag is priceless. Jake Johnson is a treasure.) If he makes an honest effort, why shouldn't he get better? No one deserves to be broken, either.

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reeltalker · 7 years

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As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and its spin-off television shows) grows, the number of actors being cast also increases exponentially. Not only do we start to see more cross-over between actors who’ve worked together before (Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, for example, have worked together almost a dozen times now), we’re starting to see a great deal of influence from other large bodies of work. Now, with Thor: Ragnarok right around the corner, we’re noticing a recurring trend – there are quite a few cast members from Peter Jackson’s imaginings of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies making an appearance in this world of superheroes! Some are fairly obvious, but digging through the two extended universes, it’s actually pretty interesting just how much crossover there is.

Richard Armitage

Thorin Oakenshield – The Hobbit Trilogy

Heinz Kruger – Captain America: The First Avenger

Armitage struck a reasonably recognizable figure as the Dwarf king Thorin in Jackson’s foray into the prequel series The Hobbit, as he should’ve. But when you strip away the medieval clothes and massive dwarf beard, you realize you’ve actually seen Armitage before – as a Nazi in the first appearance of Captain America. Heinz Kruger was the Nazi spy that used a bomb to blow up the super-soldier presentation, stole a vial of the serum (that was thankfully destroyed), and killed Dr. Erksine. Though his MCU appearance was a small one, it was pivotal in Captain America’s journey, and most of us didn’t even make the connection to the King Under the Mountain.

Sala Baker

Sauron / Orc / Uruk – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Extremis Soldier – Iron Man 3 / King – Iron Fist S1.E5

Now this was an appearance I can almost guarantee you didn’t recognize. Though the voice of the Ring throughout the series was played by different actors, Sauron’s flashback appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring was handled by Baker, who was then invited back as an orc for The Two Towers (the one who sniffed and said “Man-Flesh!”), and then as an Uruk in The Return of the King. Afterwards he played an adversary of Tony Stark as a soldier effected with Extremis, before getting a role with a name in the Netflix adaption of Iron Fist. So not only has he branched the two universes, he has played multiple roles within them.

Cate Blanchett

Galadriel – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy

Hela – Thor: Ragnarok

This Oscar winner has always brought a presence of strength and mystery to her roles, so it only makes sense that she makes a big impact on both universes. She was one of the few characters to perform in all six films in the Jackson franchises, which audiences loved because the elf queen Galadriel was both beautiful and a little terrifying. Now, in just a couple of weeks, Blanchett will step into the MCU as the first lead female villain, Hela, the goddess of death. She stands to be an adversary of Thor and Asgard, but who knows where that role will lead her as Infinity War looms ever closer?

Benedict Cumberbatch

Smaug / Necromancer – The Hobbit Trilogy

Dr. Stephen Strange / Dormammu – Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok

Though Cumberbatch first drew attention for his appearance of Sherlock Holmes (a role once played by Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr.), it didn’t take him long to set foot in Jackson’s take on The Hobbit. Though his pivotal role was as the dragon Smaug, the foe of the dwarves, he also performed a voiceover role in the first film of the trilogy as the Necromancer who summoned the Nazgül back to “life”. He even went so far as to perform motion-capture for Smaug, though it was eventually discarded from the final cut. Then in 2016, Cumberbatch took a step into the MCU as surgeon-turned-magician Dr. Strange, wielder of the Eye of Agamotto (a coveted Infinity Stone), as well as providing the voice of his great foe Dormammu (though this is uncredited on IMDB, trivia confirms that Cumberbatch provided the voice). It has also lead to many jokes and petitions that when Tony Stark and Stephen Strange finally appear in a scene together, a Sherlock Holmes joke should be made.

Brad Dourif

Grima Wormtongue – The Two Towers, Return of the King (extended edition)

Thomas Nash – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., S1.E16

One of the favored performances of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was that of Grima Wormtongue, the twisted advisor to King Theodon that secretly worked for Saruman. He was slimy and everyone loved to hate him, especially when he got super creepy towards the king’s niece Eöwyn. That was not his only experience as a villain – he then went to ABC’s television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be hunted as the potential candidate for the Clairvoyant, a Hydra mole inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Because Wormtongue was such an iconic look, it was hard to recognize him in regular clothes!

Martin Freeman

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War L to R: Agent 13/Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal © Marvel 2016

Bilbo Baggins – The Hobbit Trilogy

Everett K. Ross – Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther

Freeman has developed a bit of a reputation as being eternally paired with Benedict Cumberbatch for projects, as the Dr. Watson to his Sherlock Holmes on Sherlock, and appearing in these two extended universes alongside Cumberbatch doesn’t help dispute the theory (even though in the MCU, the two have shared no scenes yet)! Freeman was chosen to portray Bilbo Baggins in his youth (after Ian Holm’s performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy), on a journey with a group of dwarves as their burglar. Freeman stood out with his unique mannerisms and fun attitude, becoming a fan favorite even to those who were upset with the trilogy itself. In the MCU, Freeman cuts a different sort of figure – not only is he second character with the surname Ross (whether or not he’s related to Hulk opponent Thaddeus Ross has yet to be clarified in the films), but he seems to be an antagonist toward the Avengers. He appeared alongside Team Iron Man to promote the Sokovia Accords after Captain America’s group were captured with Bucky in Germany, and he seemed pretty happy to throw away the key on all of them. The magnitude of his role in Black Panther has yet to be determined.

Evangeline Lilly

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (2013) EVANGELINE LILLY

Tauriel – The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies

Hope van Dyne – Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp

As a rather athletic actress, Lilly has been taking extended universe roles as a rather badass fighter, so it makes sense that both her characters in these series’ can hold her own with warriors and superheroes. Lilly performed in one of the few female roles of the Hobbit trilogy as the female elf scout Tauriel. She eventually fell in love with one of the dwarves, but throughout the two films she appeared in, she spent a great deal of time fighting Orcs and giant spiders, proving her skills with a bow and knives. She then slipped into the role of a business woman who still knew how to throw a punch in Ant-Man as Hope van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym. She was a bit of an antagonist towards Scott Lang at the beginning, taking pleasure in showing him exactly how she punched, but by the end the two had gotten plenty close, and now she stands to be equal to him in a superhero suit of her own in the sequel film.

Lee Pace

Thranduil – The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies

Ronan the Accuser – Guardians of the Galaxy

Pace is one of the only actors to have appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy segment of the MCU as well as the Jackson-verse, going from something between an anti-hero and antagonist to a full-blown villain. His performance as Thranduil in the Hobbit films was an interesting one, as his elven king was both a hinderance to the dwarf quest and yet he was not necessarily out to murder them like the Orcs. He was also the father of Legolas, who played a pivotal role in the Lord of the Rings series. Pace’s appearance of Ronan was far darker, however, as an alien with a vendetta against an entire planet and an Infinity Stone in his grasp. He threatened to destroy entire planets in his rage, and was only stopped by a dance-off. Sort of.

Andy Serkis

Gollum / Smeagol – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Ulysses Klaue – Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Panther

Serkis is the king of motion-capture performance, though he surprisingly does none in the MCU (where you would expect they’d need a bunch). One of his best performances to date is as the deformed Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as both an antagonist and protagonist, helping and hurting Frodo and Sam on their journey to Mount Doom. His creepy snarls and creeping stance was left beyond as he traversed into the MCU as weapons dealer Klaue, a former associate of Stark Enterprises that was approached by Ultron for a deal on vibranium. It has also been established that he is the only dealer to get in and out of the mysterious Wakanda on a regular basis, perhaps hinting at more screen time in the upcoming Black Panther.

Liv Tyler

Arwen – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Ross – The Incredible Hulk

Tyler’s angelic face and sweet voice provides her with a great aptitude for the love interest, and her two appearances in extended universes reflect that. In one, she is the daughter of the elf lord Elrond, linked to the future king of Gondor Aragorn. Her visions of the future help to lead him down the path to reclaiming his throne, and her elf magic also helped to save Frodo after his encounter with the Nazgül. Then she moved on to become a biologist and become romantically involved with the nuclear physicist Bruce Banner. Though The Incredible Hulk is one of the films that the MCU crowd tends to ignore (even if it’s not the worst Hulk film), Tyler’s performance was still an important one to the development of Banner and, consequently, the Hulk.

Karl Urban

Eömer – The Two Towers, The Return of the King

Skurge – Thor: Ragnarok

Karl Urban has actually branched into three extended universes (if you include the rebooted Star Trek films), but his newest “trek” is into the MCU as the Asgardian warrior Skurge. He is a character playing two sides, trying to keep Hela from destroying him alongside Asgard, but he still cuts a frightening figure, so who knows what he’s really after? This is coming after Urban’s experience as the horse lord Eömer, nephew to the king and leader of the army of Rohan. At the very least, Urban’s got experience with all of the medieval weapons that a warrior of Asgard would be working with.

Hugo Weaving

Lord Elrond – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Unexpected Journey, The Battle of the Five Armies

Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull – Captain America: The First Avenger

Weaving is only one movie short of appearing just as many Jackson films as his costar (and according to Lord of the Rings lore, mother-in-law) Cate Blanchett. The two have, however, starred in the same amount of MCU films, both as villains no less. Weaving took the role of the elf Lord Elrond, father of Liv Tyler’s character Arwen, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also appeared in two films of the prequel series, The Hobbit, to continue world-building Middle Earth. He was presented as a wise and fair character, though maybe a little disheartened by everything he’d seen in the world, and more than ready to head to the undying lands. In the Marvel Universe, on the other hand, Weaving played the man who would become Captain America’s greatest foe – The Red Skull, leader of Nazi offshoot Hydra, determined to wield the power of the Tesseract himself and become a perfect being. His character was greatly unstable, but there are speculations that, because of the Tesseract’s ability to open portals into space, we may not have seen the last of him.

David Wenham

Faramir – The Two Towers, The Return of the King

Harold Meachum – Iron Fist

Another character who made a wild transition from franchise to franchise is Wenham, whose character in the MCU is extremely different from his Middle Earth appearance. In Middle Earth, Wenham appears as Faramir, the second son of the steward of Gondor who has grown up in the shadow of his brother, as he is the more bookish of the two and less of a warrior. He does have a great strength of character, however, as he is able to push out the influence of The Ring. When he appears in the MCU, however, that strength of character didn’t come with him. The series Iron Fist brings out his inner demon as Harold Meachum, the ruthless business partner of Danny Rand’s father, brought back to life by The Hand, and willing to do anything to protect what he believes is his, no matter who gets in his way. It is actually very funny how much he acts like Denethor, as though the influence of his deranged father followed him across the universes.

Mystical in Marvel: The Lord of the Rings Crossover As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and its spin-off television shows) grows, the number of actors being cast also increases exponentially.

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spynotebook · 7 years

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Image: CW.

Greeting, my Global Express Guaranteed packages of fun. Sorry “Postal Apocalypse” is a day late, but this time I did an extra extra-long version to make up for it—you get a free 50 percent more of my shenanigans! This week: The future of Batfleck! The future of Ghostbusters! The future of the Star Wars prequels! And I’m finally back to answering questions about where superheroes go to the bathroom.

Broken Arrowverse

Mike W.:

Greetings Postman! I had originally started watching the CW’s Arrow a few years ago when the first season debuted on Netflix, and continued with the second season when it was released (I prefer most shows in binge-watching form).

Friends who had watched the Arrow and Flash when they originally aired suggested that I start alternating episodes, because there were several crossover episodes throughout the season. I think that was good advice because some pieces of those crossovers may not have made sense taken out of the context of where both shows were at.

Now alternating between episodes of two shows wasn’t terrible. Occasionally I would forget to switch over and just hit “play next” and not realize my mistake until something regarding Flash happened on Arrow that hadn’t been mentioned yet in Flash, or vice versa. These spoilers, or even information that made no sense out of context bugged me every time!

The next set of seasons were released on Netflix, only this time the CW threw the Legends of Tomorrow in the mix as well! Alternating between three series at the same time seemed like a lot of work so I kept putting it off... only to have Supergirl get tossed into the crossover blender the season after that!

Is it worth watching all four shows concurrently for the crossover episodes? Bouncing back and forth seems like a lot of work, and I’m not sure if the order is consistent or if some shows missed episodes here and there , and if the ties between crossovers are important to each show then it seems like it might be frustrating if they were out of order. What do you suggest?

Honestly, as long as you account for the crossovers—and not even all of those—it can be reasonably uncomplicated for you to catch up. Sure, there’ll be a few references or asides to things that have happened in the other shows, but they’re few and far between, and never that important. Look, if they bug you they bug you, but trying to watch every episode of four TV series in the order they aired sounds like it would be infinitely more irritating. So I suggest trying this instead:

Arrow seasons one and two

Arrow season three, episodes 1-7

Flash season one, episodes 1-8 (episode 8 begins the first Arrow crossover)

Arrow season three, episodes 8-23 (episode 8 concludes it)

Flash season one, episodes 9-23

Arrow season four, episodes 1-7

Flash season two, episodes 1-8

Arrow season four, episodes 8-23 (same deal as Arrow s3 and Flash s1)

Flash season two, episodes 9-23

Legends of Tomorrow season one

Supergirl season one

Here’s where it gets a bit wackier, thanks to the “Invasion” crossover, and the Flash/Supergirl musical episode.

Arrow season five, episodes 1-7

Flash season three, episodes 1-7

Legends of Tomorrow season two, episode 1-6

Supergirl season two, episodes 1-8 (ep. 8 verrrrrry technically starts “Invasion”)

Flash season three, episode 8 (“Invasion” part two)

Arrow season five, episode 8 (“Invasion” part three)

Legends of Tomorrow season two, episode 7 (“Invasion” part four)

Arrow season five, episodes 9-23

Flash season three, episodes 8-16

Supergirl season two, episodes 8-16

Flash season three, episodes 17-23 (ep. 17 is the Flash/Supergirl musical)

Supergirl season two, episodes 17-22 (there’s no ep. 23)

Legends of Tomorrow season two, episodes 8-17

Since Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow are stand-alone after “Invasion,” it really doesn’t matter when you watch the rest of their seasons.

And yes, I recognize there’s technically a Flash/Supergirl crossover in seasons two and one, respectively, but it’s actually more of a cameo. Basically, the Flash shows up for an entire Supergirl episode; in the corresponding Flash episode, the Flash disappears for a couple of minutes while running around the multiverse; when he gets back to Earth-One he says, “Boy, that was weird!” or something. You 100 percent do not need to rearrange your viewing order to accommodate it, or anything else, in my opinion.

GIF

Let the Hate Flow Through You

Andrew M.:

Dear Mr. Postman, I have a habit of forming complicated non-binary opinions after reading a book or watching a movie. Instead of just loving or hating something and then either gushing or complaining for the next hour, I more often declare frankly whether I enjoyed it or not, and then want to talk about everything both positive and negative. This has led to me having a reputation among my friends as someone who “hates everything.” Anytime I see a movie, if I don’t totally love it, I’m attacked.

And if it sounds like I’m just a buzzkill, I’m not certain that’s the case, either. I’m often very positive, I just like full discussions where we can talk about what did and didn’t work. Sure, I can be negative (I didn’t enjoy Rogue One and actually fell asleep during it, while Flash throws me into a weekly blind rage), but not everything’s going to win you over.

This has even ruined some of my nerd interests. Despite being a huge fan, I fell completely out of Doctor Who and stopped watching years ago because any fans I met would get offended if the discussion got even a little gray. And it’s no fun to be in a fandom and not talk to anyone.

Am I too harsh on my media? Should I lie and pretend I love everything? Should I stop discussion altogether?

Andrew, this is a question close to my heart, as I too look at things with a critical eye and am frequently accused of being a hater (as are my coworkers, as is io9 as a whole). To be fair, I do hate many things, and I have often hated things professionally; however, anyone who reads io9 regularly and has object permanence should be able to see that all of us here love a lot more than we hate.