#the writers for TFP did a phenomenal job

[mikiusol]

I've been rewatching TFP these days (very very slowly) and I've come to realise that..,.,. Jack's a very responsible person. I knew it the first time I watched the show, but rewatching made me realise that he gives off major big brother vibes.

In episode 4, Jack and Raf ran after Miko to stop her from going with Bulkhead but they were swarmed by Vehicons shooting at them. He ran to shield Raf with his body after the latter fell on the ground from the impact of one of the blasts. They were saved by Bulkhead of course. Honestly, this scene plays in my mind often. Jack risked his neck to save Raf.

When he confronted Miko on the Nemesis for running off, he told her "Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety!" And they bicker back and forth. But then Raf exploded in frustration and ran to a quieter corner. Jack and Miko immediately stopped fighting to comfort him. He was the first to reassure him that "it's ok". He barely knew Miko but he was willing to risk his own skin to save her. Not only that, but he was gentle with Raf too. He's responsible for his actions and obviously cares for those around him.

Not to mention, Jack jumped to action to save Raf from the vehicon later in the same episode. Miko covered her eyes to prevent looking at Raf getting blasted. But you could see the moment determination set onto Jack's face. He was set on saving Raf. Miko reached out to stop him, but you can tell by the way he blurred when he leapt to push Raf out of the blast that he had quite literally leapt out of their hiding spot.

At the end of the episode, Jack left the Autobots and Miko tried to convince him to return. He said something that struck me - "I've been raised to be responsible - to my schoolwork, to my mum, my job." Miko later said "Stop trying to pretend to be normal, Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more." He didn't even look at her before replying, "Thanks, Miko. But I think normal suits me fine."

Jack's the responsible leader of the trio - and it's painstakingly obvious his upbringing had a huge influence on him. He probably felt largely responsible for what's happening to them. Arcee wouldn't have had to break cover with him nearby if he hadn't been sitting on her, and if that high pace car chase hadn't ensued, Raf would've been kept out of the whole ordeal. Miko joined the gang because Arcee went looking for Jack at school the next day and accidentally spotted them. His personality is all about taking responsibility for his actions, and that extends even beyond his own actions - he chased after Miko time and time again when she runs off for a peek into robot adventure. He keeps an eye out for Raf, too. He's the youngest and isn't as fast as him or Miko.

Episode 4 and 5 is a treasure trove of insight onto Jack's character. Now I can understand better why Optimus elected him to go to Cybertron. Rewatching it sheds light on moments I hadn't noticed the first time round. And this is only in the first 2 episodes - there was more, but I'll be here for another hour or two. To be frank, I'm excited to rewatch TFP now. I can't wait to see more moments of Jack I didn't notice the first time.

[marta-bee]

Endgame Thoughts

(Xposted from Pillowfort.)

Let's talk about Endgame. I've had the chance to see it twice now (yes, I know; the tickets are basically free). This is going to get specific, so: spoilers.

On a first viewing, I liked it a lot. I don't remember being particularly swept away by it emotionally, and it was rightly focused on the original six Avengers, in whom I was much less invested. Before this weekend, I don't think I'd seen anything before the original "Avengers" movie, and I never really got invested in the series until probably "Civil War."

So I arguably wasn't really the target audience. But it's undeniably a FUN movie. The tone felt like an Avengers movie again, the middle third is just a pitch-perfect sendoff to a lot of the old Avengers movies and does such a good job at characterization, it's funny and heroic and just so optimistic even as it's a realistic look at living through all that trauma. And the final third is just really well balanced as it incorporates all these disparate character groups into a rather epic final showdown and built off a really interesting plot sequence. Too long and hectic for my tastes, but then I never did much like prlonged battle sequences so again, I can accept it's just not for me.

My main criticisms were minor, more nigglings than anything. I hated all the fat jokes about Thor, which made sense when they were in New Asgard but beyond that it really descended into fat shaming. (I'm fat myself, so I'm pretty sensitive to that.) That, and some of my favorite characters just didn't get enough screen time, but that's not really a fair criticism. Mainly, I whooped and cheered with the audience, loved the humor, and generally had a great time.

Second viewing? I'm much more sanguine.

First, there's Bucky. I'll be upfront, I quite like Stucky - in fanworks. I saw ambiguity they could build on, but was never particularly sold on this being the direction the films were headed in. What *was* canon to me was that this was the loss of movie!Steve's life, the person he was most driven to reconnect with throughout the movies and probably the best friend of his life. Peggy Carter is much less the center of his development. She's dynamic and fun in "First Avenger," and a sign of all he's lost by going into the ice, but at the same time? She's very much a first love, someone who has a common struggle with him to be accepted and valued by the military she worked within, and the first woman who really paid much attention to. But she really is the first love. Beyond that, and outside the fact she was ripped away rather than letting the relationship mature and simmer naturally, I never understood why she would be his one and only. Certainly I don't get why Cap should be willing to abandon all his relationships he's forged over the decade he's lived since coming out of the ice.

Except for the obvious: the writers thought he needed a romantic happily-ever-after, and that meant there had to be a woman involved. And I'll be honest: this bothers me. A lot, and not least because it suggests a person isn't complete without the romantic.

But I wanted to talk about Bucky. The problem with letting Steve have his second chance with Peggy is he essentially abandons Bucky in the twentieth century and consigns him to the whole loneliness and sense of being out of his time that Steve struggled through. And there's no real acknowledgement of the depth of this friendship. It wouldn't take a lot, really. Maybe having Bucky stand with Cap at the funeral, or even having him walk over to that bench after Sam's and Steve's final scene together, a hint that they were mourning their lost years.

(Also there's the logistical issue: how does Bucky live through the twentieth century as the Winter Soldier but still be relatively young at the end of Endgame, but Cap go through roughly the same period of years [taking off his years unconscious under the ice, but adding back in most of those if he relived them with Peggy] and wind up so old?)

Anywho. Enough about Steve, Peggy, and Bucky. Let's talk about Natasha.

I really liked the whole scene at Vormir, with Natasha and Clint trying to sacrifice themselves to earn the stone. It's such a lovely turnabout  on Thanos and Gamora, though for some reason I thought the person claiming the stone had to actively sacrifice the person he loved. (Perhaps that's Sherlock's TFP coloring my thinking.) And I honestly wouldn't have wanted Natasha to just stand back while Clint killed himself. Still, Clint really is the obvious choice to die here, isn't he? He's a mess, and something of a liability to his family after assuming the whole Ronin identity should they get the snap victims back; while Natasha, she's obviously fixated to an unhealthy degree, but she's much more competent and together than Clint is at this point.

The whole fact that it's a female character sacrificing herself and leaving the men to mourn bothers me, particularly as you had more or less the same thing happening with the Guardians and Gamora in IW. Actually it reminds me of that quote from the L word you see in a lot of memes around Tumblr: "It's not a fucking woman's job to be consumed and invaded and spat out so that some fucking man can evolve." And maybe that's not entirely fair, and maybe there are good story-external reasons why they needed Black Panther to die. For instance, if Scarlet Johanssen just didn't want to do commit to major roles in the franchise, or if she was too expensive for Marvel now. As far as deaths go, this was a pretty awesome one, and beautifully done. Still, it bothers me.

(Related issue: Black Widow would actually make a much more convincing next team leader/Captain America than Sam! I love Sam, honestly, but he doesn't actually have a lot to distinguish him from thousands of other brave, moral soldiers. He's not like Cap with his superhuman strength and speed from the serum. He doesn't even have Natasha's rather unique training, and he certainly doesn't have her history with the team. Plus we see Natasha excelling so much as a team leader and administrator. It's a real shame she didn't get to step into that role.)

I don't mean to bash the movie, which I guess I kind of have. It's a highly enjoyable spectacle (the time-heist is just so *fun* all around, and it has all the joyful canon callbacks and tie-ins of, say, the DS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations." (Seeing Quill sing badly! The Wanda-Thanos showdown! Peter Parker just being so Peter Parker-ish!) It does a phenomenal job, really, of balancing all these different character sets. And if you can enjoy it on that level without thinking too hard I think you'll have a raucous good time.

And yet; and yet. I'm afraid it really is my curse to think too much about these things, and this time it really shows.