#the newsreader season 2 spoilers

[bisexualgoth]

[bloodofakashainme]

Some poetry from @karls_revenge on twitter🤲🏾

[greedandenby]

LIARS.

[mundaneandmagicalcreature]

The Newsreader & gender expectations. Part II: Dale Jennings and being a newsreader

I feel like there's a line connecting Dale's mum with his career ambitions and with how he feels about his sexuality.

Dale's not that young. So, why hasn't reflected more about his sexuality and his relationships? Why is he still trying to erase parts of himself (darling, it won't work)? Why does he assume that everyone wants to get married?

"It's 1987, there was not really the language for him to discover that (and he's working in such a rigid environment), to even really understand what bisexuality is or what pansexuality is or maybe demisexual (sic)." Sam Reid. ABC Radio National

Both Sam and Michael have talked about Dale lacking the language about his sexuality. While it's true that that he may not have come across the word "bisexual" (although the famous Bowie interview is from 1979), I feel like more than a label he needs a narrative. It's pretty common for queer people, when we're discovering our sexuality to look for people like us: historical figures, fictional characters, people in our own life, etc. Just some one to show us how to live.

Gerry also doesn't have a label, and yet he seems much more happy and comfortable in his sexuality. His life history could be that narrative Dale needs: fall in love with a woman, marry, have a child, have a successful career AND have sex with men on the side. But Dale is set on monogamy. Which is absolutely fine, but he can't imagine himself as attracted to both men and women, and monogamous, AND happy.

My theory is that he's never had the time to think about this things because he was an emotionally parentified child. We know that Dale's father died when he was only 15. He had to take responsibility for his mum happiness. And he's holding that responsibility ever since.

This is more fanfiction than analysis territory, but I can imagine a recently widowed Val glued to the TV, watching news. And I can imagine a very young Dale thinking "Now that my dad's dead I have to be a proper man, the kind of man my mum values. And that man is a newsreader."

"I suppose Dale has always sort of believe that the pinnacle of... everything that represents stability and assuredness and the kind of like archetype of what it is to be a man and what it is to be a voice of authority is represented in this newsreader kind of form." Sam Reid. The Newsreader Podcast. 06 | Fireworks with Sam Reid and Michael Lucas

I know that sexuality is not correlated to gender, but these things intersect and the ideal man for society (specially in this moment in time) is a straight man (who gets married to a woman, has children, provides for them financially, etc). Queer men are seeing as feminine and therefore faulty. Dale's running away from being perceived that way.

What I would call "a partner" and Adam calls "a lover", Val calls "a friend". The euphemism makes it pretty clear that she's not comfortable with queerness. Dale wants to make her happy, so he has to be a straight man.

Even after more than a year of Helen and Dale being together, Val says she wasn't sure Dale was going to propose/marry her. Maybe she thought they were going to break up, or that they would continue to "live in sin" (lets note the religious expression for a moment...) for ever. But what I hear (and judging by Dale's awkward reaction, he may be thinking the same) is "up until this moment I was afraid you were actually gay".

By the end of the season, Dale and Helen have broken up. He buys his own house and while he's showing it to his mum, they have that little dialogue. "It's not a family home", once again that idea of nuclear family shows up. For the first time he's going against her wishes. Does this mean he's happy? Sam doesn't think so and neither do I. I think he just switched his mum's expectations for those of the society in general. And society expect for people who work on TV to have big fancy houses, so that's what he bought.

________

(part I)

feel free to comment in whatever form you like, I'm nosy and I like to read what other people think.

[dontwanderoff]

it's interesting looking back on dale's apartment (cozy and warm and filled with SO much personality) and then knowing that when they move in together, you don't see much of a change to helen's house. you don't really see any dale in there.

[elialys]

This story takes place a few months after 2.06 “Fireworks” so mind the spoilers.

Following a tragedy that leaves Dale spiralling even more out of control, Helen flies back home. Because despite the mess they’ve become, they will always be that person for one another.

At least, it remains true as far as she’s concerned.

Loyal to a fault.

[shrutithemisfit]

Just finished watching The Newsreader and I'm feeling so many emotions right now.

First, I want to share about Helen and Dale. I love them so much. They are my favourite couple. However, this season I don't know where I stand.

I missed the intimacy they had in season 1. This season they were seen more from a professional angle and sometimes I felt a power imbalance between them. I know it's been two years but Helen seemed to be not emotionally available for Dale like he was for her. He had her back completely multiple times, but she ignored his gesture and went to Charlie. Although, she realised it in the end and helped him out... It was too late.

I fucking hate Lindsay. That asshole.

I hope Helen runs a successful news media company of her own one day. Everyone working at News at Six who is under that tyrant leaves and work for her instead.

After watching the final scene between Helen and Lindsay, the way he was agonizing her. I want him destroyed. Helen killed Evelyn and Geoff with kindness, but with Lindsay I want the exact opposite.

Noelene is so sweet. I love her. I wish Helen could have been a little nicer to her. She and Rob are so sweet.

Last but not the least, Gerry... Why??? Why did you do it? Dale was on your side. He fought for you against everyone. Their friendship was so good. His betrayal was shocking.

I feel sorry for Dale this season. I'm glad how he stood up for himself and handled it.

[shoutdontwhisper]

Dale entering his villain era oh the Lestat jumped out.

[disregardandfelicity]

i was lucky enough to attend the premiere on tuesday (as the +1 of a contest winner); in case this is of interest (and, indulgently, to preserve it for my own memory), here are some tidbits from my night:

for the screening, the cast had assigned seats (jacob and delainey in the same row, sam behind jacob, eric behind sam, assad on the other side of the aisle, the same side as rolin, hannah, and mark johnson). sam and jacob were off to the side chatting during intros and never sat in theirs

delainey got applause from the audience upon her first on screen appearance, the only cast member to get one

daniel had a fair few interview beats which got laughs from the audience

afterwards, an actor from the venue came up and gave a little speech as though he was from a sister coven to the TdV in paris. then we were dismissed to the party, which was upstairs

initially post party, assad and luke were in the front larger room of the reception - sam and jacob were, i believe, already gathered in a far back corner in the second room, along with some other people. eric didn't stay for the party

the venue had a couple little 'shows' - at one point the whole cast and some other guests went up several flights of stairs to a room (delainey commented on how many flights there were as we climbed) where a version of the no pain scene from the books was reenacted by venue actors

kalyne coleman was there, i saw her chatting with jacob. i let her cut in front of me for drinks as an excuse to talk to her. there's a nod to grace in the episode and it sounded like that was a surprise to her (a pleasant one!)

my conversations with the cast were deeply unsubstantive, i was too pleased to be there to come up with anything too clever or probing to say tbh

when i spoke to jacob, i started by saying "sorry" (just reflexively) and he immediately, very warmly, was like what are you apologizing for! when i said how excited i was for the season and he said something like 'i hope it doesn't disappoint' (which i did think was surprisingly pessimistic for a premiere party lol but having seen the quote about hoping ppl still like louis by the end, maybe he is actually a tad concerned! i did obviously say i didn't think it would)

sam was the best at these meetings because he very naturally asks questions back. i told him i loved him in the newsreader as well, and he asked whether i was pirating it (i'm not exactly, i had a vpn). then we all walked off to do that no pain scene experience

after the no pain scene, we exited down some stairs which opened to the second smaller room. assad was behind me so i asked him who did it better (these actors or the show), and we joked about that. he then introduced himself to me, and when i couldn't help noting that i did in fact know who he was, he said he would never want to assume. sam came up to us and assad introduced him to me, and i got the joy of saying we'd met!

(SKIP this bullet if you don't want newsreader vibes-based spoilers) sam asked me what i liked better, iwtv or the newsreader. i said iwtv but that newsreader was great and season 2 was so sad! he said season 3 is the last of the series, and told me it's dark and bleak, worse than season 2, maybe only a second of peace/happiness at the end. so. there's that to look forward to....

he also told me about the crossover staffing between shows (emma and the DOP). i tried to ask if he was responsible for any of that but dont think i articulated it well but he said 'you want to work with the people you like'

my delainey convo was brief, i turned while we were walking up to the no pain thing and realized she was next to me, so just took the opportunity to let her know i was excited about her in next season

around 10-ish, sam and jacob left to (i believe?) go to levan's friends bar, along with hannah and others i didn't recognize. assad and luke were around for another 30-40 minutes after that, then the whole thing ended at 11. i didn't notice when or with who delainey left

delainey, as far as i noticed, did the least mingling; assad and luke did the most. generally speaking (and as expected) sam and jacob hung around together or in the same spaces. also perhaps as expected, assad and luke were hanging around together for lots of the night. at the end of the night, when it felt less burdensome to ask, i got a pic with those two. they were very cool about it, luke was sweet, we'd spoken earlier, he stuck out his tongue for one of the shots and he found me again later to chat

that photocall video i took (above) was after the 'no pain' experience.

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 8

Link for Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

PLS my analysis will have spoilers, if you’re a first time viewer, just scroll to the bottom and read the list and only read full text if you are familiar with the content of the show already! S8E1 Good Times with Weapons is FILLER

Yes! Everyone's favorite season premiere is a filler, baby! It was fun, we sang, we cried, in the end Butters never has a scar on his eye again. S8E2 Up the Down Steroid is LORE

We have a new tradition, which is that after last season's Krazy Kripples, we'll have a new Jimmy episode every year! And this is the first time we meet Nathan and the rest of the special education kids. S8E3 The Passion of the Jew is FILLER

I wanted to tell you this one was canon, because the season has constant mentions of Passion of the Christ so far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter. S8E4 AWESOM-O is FILLER

Sooo if every anime filler was as good as these ones, the filler guides most likely wouldn't exist (or they would, because humans), but again, what we have is a self-contained story. S8E5 You Got F'd in the A is FILLER

At one point I might have convinced myself that what I'm doing with this recap makes some kind of sense, but alas, it doesn't. This became an episodic show and we miss out on all the best episodes. Why am I lamenting at You Got F'd instead of Good Times with Weapons? Because I'm a loose cannon with no regard for the law. That may be true, but I get the job done, God damn it. S8E6 The Jeffersons is CANON

No other Mr. Jefferson episode came out while Michael was still alive. As a hologram he later references his name being Jefferson again, but this one only ads a little more context to that. This one also pretty much introduced the new cops of South Park. S8E7 Goobacks is FILLER

Yes, Darryl and the Took our jobs meme are here, but it will return in enough episodes to still be understood. S8E8 Douche and Turd is CANON

What a great election episode! We get town lore (Stephen with the ram's horn again) and an allegory that will return in a big way later. S8E9 Something Walmart This Way Comes is FILLER

I regularly forget this one exists and doesn't make a difference at all. Sorry, got too subjective. Objectively this is an episode with a simple message and without a larger scope for the show. S8E10 Pre-School is FILLER

Trent Boyett never returned. But if you think about it, he is one of the boys' greatest foes. I wish one of the specials was a follow-up of the 15 year old versions of the characters meeting Trent again. If everything else fails, THAT would bring me back and change my classifications! S8E11 Quest for Ratings is FILLER

One time the boys played cops. They even played musicians. Now they play newsreaders. Only Jimmy is in for the long-run and he will get episodes that focus on that individually. S8E12 Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset is CANON

Not just because it's a follow-up to Death Camp of Tolerance, that in itself wouldn't be enough. But Paris also has an extended role in a specific later episode I mentioned a lot, but never dropped. It's 200 by the way. And 201. Now I am a bit picky of which ones to include if we got no other clue for an episode. The show never got to 200 celebrities at that point. Also, some of them were in that episode first. So only the most prominent ones get their debuts counted as canon ones by default. S8E13 Cartman's Incredible Gift is CANON

A character dies. Harrison Yates gets more role here as a detective, slowly drifting away from Barbrady. S8E14 Woodland Critter Christmas is FILLER

It's just in Eric's mind. Some of you are already mad at me for this. Some of you will only get it later and be mad at me in the season 11 post.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not. S8E1 Good Times with Weapons is FILLER S8E2 Up the Down Steroid is LORE* S8E3 The Passion of the Jew is FILLER S8E4 AWESOM-O is FILLER S8E5 You Got F'd in the A is FILLER S8E6 The Jeffersons is CANON S8E7 Goobacks is FILLER S8E8 Douche and Turd is CANON S8E9 Something Walmart This Way Comes is FILLER S8E10 Pre-School is FILLER S8E11 Quest for Ratings is FILLER S8E12 Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset is CANON S8E13 Cartman's Incredible Gift is CANON S8E14 Woodland Critter Christmas is FILLER

*Casually introduces the special ED kids

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13  S2: 3 out of 18  S3: 6 out of 18  S4: 10 out of 17  S5: 8 out of 14  S6: 11 out of 17 S7: 6 out of 15 S8: 4 out of 14

Overall: 57 out of 126

[bisexualgoth]

dale jennings is SO REAL he gets bisexually flirted with ONCE and immediately tears up. and then goes teehee ☺️🤭 a guy flirted with me 🤪🤭

[bloodofakashainme]

Me pretending to be the new caterer on set bringing food to Sam’s trailer, waiting on him to come out the shower

[messrmoonyy]

Szn 2 of newsreader pisses me off🥰 and if ykyk. I would rather szn 1 but that's me. But if there were goods in szn 2. What's your opinion!? (If u have watched it)

I have two eps left. This season so far is not as stressful as all the spoilers I read were making it out to be. In fact there’s been some parts I’ve found a little boring ( the whole situation with Kay idk I feel like they’re trying to make me sympathetic towards her and I’m like bro idek you I have no interest in you ) but yeah I have 2 eps left to watch so we’ll see. So far the acting is phenomenal and episode 2 has been my fav ep. ✨

[mundaneandmagicalcreature]

The Newsreader & gender expectations. Part I: Helen Norville & marriage

The question of whether Dale and Helen will get married or not runs all throughout the season.

But what does marriage mean? and more specifically what does it mean for a woman?

There's a conversation between Helen and Dale that's missing. They talk about their future and what getting married and having children would mean for Noelene. Rob makes sure they're both on the same page before proposing to her. They have this conversation when she comes back after having to leave the Christmas lunch to do the Kay interview. Crucially, in that meal her future sister in law, who is pregnant, tells her that she'll be a stay at home mum.

Actually the conversation between Dale and Helen is not missing. It's fractured. Because it happens, but not with each other. Carla asks Helen if she wants kids. Helen doesn't answer no (can she say no? could she say no at the time? even today people can get very defensive when they found out a woman doesn't want children). But more importantly, she doesn't say yes.

And Gerry asks Dale if Helen wants to get married. Once again the answer isn't a clear and confident yes. As much as I love Dale, I think in this case his innocence and naiveté is just immaturity. He lives in a society that's structured around the nuclear family, and he just... accepts it without question. I want to grab to grab him by the shoulders and tell him "you're too old, too queer, and your job involves talking about all kind of human histories; WHY DO YOU THINK EVERYONE WANTS THE SAME OUT OF LIFE, MY FRIEND?"

So I think that's why Helen rejects Dale's marriage proposal. She's running away from the restrictive gender roles of the times that tell her that her role as a woman is to get married and have children and take a step back in her career. I don't think that's what Dale wants. This man has heart eyes when he sees her at work. But I can understand why she has a visceral rejection to the idea of being tied to a man-

Getting married doesn't necessarily mean they'll have to adhere to every societal convention. I think they could find a way to make things work for them if they sit and talk. But these two, WHO WORK IN COMMUNICATION DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER.

________

(part II)

feel free to comment in whatever form you like, I'm nosy and I like to read what other people think.

[dontwanderoff]

the abc are so dumb like now i've seen it i can confirm that that would have been even better if they'd continued doing it week-by-week

[elialys]

i cannot wait for the fandom to catch up with the season because holy shit there are so many moments i need to talk about and freak out over with people i am dying inside