#there was already a whole plot dedicated to her role in that in s5

[chirpsythismorning]

We moved on way too quickly...

[kinnenvy]

In defense of season five Brian Kinney

(this has been in my drafts for months because i'm scared to post it sjkfhs)

We all feel a certain kind of way about season five, it's like... kind of unfortunate from beginning to end lmao. BUT STILL the one thing that I will always do is try to defend that babygirl, I will carry him out of the storm of criticism princess style and take him home on a white horse.

disclaimer: this is a confused stream of consciousness and I will get some things wrong because it's the season I've watched the least lol.

Why does Brian act the way he does? We know why he acts a certain way throughout the series and to me his behaviour in s5 is not that unwarranted or different from the other seasons.

1) At the end of season 4 he asks Justin to move in, he talks about wanting to spend more time with Gus, but does any of it happen? no.

Justin leaves and Brian is happy and proud of him, but honestly I would also see why that would make him feel a certain kind of way. He already thinks he doesn't deserve love and companionship and one of the few times he asks for it he doesn't get it. He prepares a trip to go see Justin, but at the last second he decides not to go, he gets cold feet because it sound like Justin is leaving him forever. Sort of, kind of, but it's enough. The same happens with Gus (imo). Like he's accepted that with time all his relationships will end and no one actually wants him to fight for them, because no one actually likes him enough to want to stick around. But do you know who will always stay by his side? Michael. Until...

2) Confession... I don't hate the assimilation plotline. It was handled horribly, but I still think it's pretty cool they dedicated so much time to it. They were doing this in the early 2000s and now most lgbtq+ media can't handle to seriously get anywhere close to it.

Brian and Michael's roles are on the opposite spectrum of the debate and Justin ping pongs between them way too pointedly, because (imo) the writers decided to use him as a plot device instead of a character. (Unironically to me Justin feels the most like Justin when he is being a dick to his mom about her boyfriend) (and even then I find myself questioning whether s4 Justin would do or say any of that)

ANYWAY Brian sees his best friend/brother travel where he can't follow him. Michael has a family, he is married, he has a house in the suburbs, new, more mature friends and Brian is looking at him from afar, wondering why he suddenly thinks the life they've shared is a meaningless, shameful thing of the past. Not directly, but in a way wondering why Michael can't just accept him the way he is anymore.

BTW Brian might have celebrated the wedding of his friends... but that doesn't mean he changed his mind on weddings as a whole. Actually his wildest marriage nightmares are proven right by the two married couples he knows. He probably looks at Mel and Lindsay destroying each other, stuck in a legal battle with Michael /and/ Ben, looks at the kids trapped in that mess and is glad that will never be him.

UNTIL IT IS. Justin, in his infinite wisdom, decides he wants all of that actually and he tries to "tame" (quoting Cowlip) Brian until he leaves him behind because the domestication isn't sticking and him alone is not worth as much as weddings and kids. There's supposed to be something MORE. Staying with Brian suddenly means settling for something lesser than what Michael has. This process starts way before the break up (talks of... puppies?) and it's there where (imo) Brian just breaks.

No Michael, no Justin, constant talk of marriage and kids and divorce and custody. No one fucking cares Brian has a reason to behave the way he does. It's normal to want different things in life, but no one in the cast has experienced what Brian has and no one tries to understand it and understand what he wants and why either.

Brian's entire existence in the series is being questioned: his worth, what he has to offer, what he can't/won't give as well as what he can/will give, what HE IS, everything amounts to literally nothing. he is being left by everyone, he's wrong and not enough. Meanwhile he hates being alone, he's needy and touch starved and sweet, he needs his special people around, but why would he ask them to stay, when they make it so clear that they think he is not worth anything? (he's left with literally only Lindsay who is so bad at keeping her mouth shut and just offering support and Ted who's mostly just thinking about his own dick 24/7 and is more of a distraction than anything else).

The only gateway to attention and affection he has left is sex except that isn't working as well anymore.

[2.2) (little aside about Justin) To me he is a bit like a moth flying into bright, shiny things. He's still stubborn and driven, but in season five his decisions feel shallow, like he's doing things out of boredom. At the start of the season he's coming back from hollywood, where he was happily living in kinney-like debauchery, and he's disappointed to be back to his old life. So (imo) he finds a new thing to obsess over: marriage. Then he gets to go to new york and weddings, kids and manors are suddenly a thing of the past. This is why to me, in season 5 he's just a big nothing of nothing, genetically modified to accompany the brian/michael assimilation plot line and then Brian's ending.]

3) Confession n 2 I don't hate Brandon and even though the competition is SO cringe, it's meant to be that way (i hope at least), to me the way it ends is what makes it clear. We get a glimpse of season one Brian, broken and lost, terrified, hanging onto the one thing that makes him feel wanted, safe and alive (sex). He wins, but the ending to the competition is not satisfying, Brian doesn't claim his prize (he doesn't want it). We get an unsettling, super close close up on Brian and Brandon instead, the lines are not good, but the visual storytelling carries that scene effortlessly. Past and present looking at each other, the future looming over them right out of frame where none of us can see it.

Aging is a main theme throughout the story and to me it feels very fitting to ham it up towards the ending. Justin spitefully telling him he looks good after sighing and moping around for entire episodes can't fix Brian's lifelong obsession with the loss of his youth. Brian is left to deal with it on his own when it's at its worst. He is old and lonely, Brandon and the competition is an escape, one last glimpse at what it's like to be the young, hot, reigning stud of Liberty Avenue, while being fully aware that his time is up.

In conclusion, Brian has not taken steps back imo, he is struggling to come to terms with the changes around him, while also feeling confident about his own convictions. Sometimes he is bitter and lonely and we get to see him say extreme things, but he's also more well adjusted than he was in season 1. He knows what he wants but he's still scared to admit it. Partly because (and the failure with the moving in thing could be a factor in this) he doesn't think he should ask for anything, partly because the people he loves are expecting him to change even more and against his will.

A the same time, he is able to question himself because he has grown and worked through some of the trauma that shaped him, also he has found a new kind of intense love with Justin, different from the codependency he has with Michael (and Lindsay) and the surface level friendship he has with everyone else, which is something that has made him realise so much about himself and what he wants and would like to be.

For the same reasons he is able to look at his empire crumbling and accept it, because during the show he found other reasons to fight and stay alive. When those same reasons are taken away from him, or he doesn't find the courage to go after them, he tries to comfort himself through sex, even if it's unsuccessful, but he's not closing into himself like he used to. He still thinks he'll get Michael back eventually and he's happy to let Justin go if it means he'll find what he is looking for, Brian doesn't want another relationship he doesn't care for it, the only reason Justin became his boyfriend is because he forced his way into his life and his heart ugh cringe lol. Obsessing over sex, age and fighting with his loved ones is not necessarily a sign of regression, just a momentary way to cope with the world pulling the rug from under his feet.

He went from attempting suicide to celebrating being cancer free. He wants the people who make him happy to be happy, even if it hurts him. He's not possessive and he's not particularly brave when it comes to relationships, but he's also growing constantly, willing and unwilling he changes and moves forward in his own way, sometime turning to look at the past but with no excuses, no apologies, no regr[GUNSHOT]

Then episode 10 comes and a lot more shit happens that i could write another 20 pages about but im done for now lmao ok bye

[motherofplatypus]

What to expect in S6?

Let's be real, there's nothing that we can expect, especially if you look at how they deal with the plots and message in each episode, especially with how S5 ended. And with Lila, who's the epitome of plot device, being the main villain, you understand why the expectation for season 6 is 6 feet under.

Ironic.

However, i miss the old days where the fandom would theorize things that might happen with joy and curiosity, and i wanna bring that back. So let's ignore That Guy and co's incompetency for the last 3 seasons and the disappointments that came along with it and see what to expect and could possibly happen in the next season.

1. Lila as the new Hawkmoth.

It's the first thing that came to mind, since she'll be the main villain. From what we've known about her so far, unlike Gabe, she take things into her own hands even though it relies mostly on dumbing down everyone else.

So we can expect that she'll use her skill to manipulate people to be vulnerable enough to be akumatized into a villain that she needs. (Goodbye Gigantitan and Mr. Pigeon, y'all gonna be missed. Unless the writers pulled all her brain cells like they did with everyone else, we'll see you soon.)

2. Emilie's sudden appearance.

This one needs to be explained. She's been declared missing, or dead, for at least a whole year, so her appearance needs an explanation.

As an extension to that, we might learn about what Gabriel wish was, and to a lesser extent, we might learn how the peacock got broken in the first place.

(Yes, I know TA already explained that miraculous being indestructible was an error. But the rule of every show is that what was shown to the audience is canon. But of course we can't expect him to own up to his mistake like an adult and try to do something with what has been established.)

3. Power ups, including Chat's (possible) power upgrade.

This one pissed me off the most, because power ups were first introduced in S2, and from 8 potions that's available, we've only seen three. Come on, 4 seasons and only 3 of them? And one of them isn't exactly a power up (You can't possibly say the ice one is a power up).

So yeah, they better introduce all the other power ups this season. Of maybe a fusion power up.

4. Luka and Alix.

It is now clear that everyone knows that Luka knows who LB and CN are, and that Alix very possibly knows too from the time travel. This opens up a lot of possible scenes, and one that everyone had been dying to have is Marinette and Adrien talk to Luka about their hero life (and maybe how they're scared that their hero life might affect their relationship with each other, and Luka has to hold the urge to tell them that they're actually dating each other).

5. Su Han's role.

Now that the new team is formed, Su Han, as the grandmaster guardian of the miraculous, have the responsibility to teach these younglings how to fight properly and learn more about their miraculous. We can expect a sparring session or team battle, and if we're lucky, how to counter each other's miraculous.

Heck, maybe we get to meet more of the monks and learn more about the temple of the guardian.

6. Rose's sickness.

This one i don't really like to talk about, but since it kinda depressing, I wanna talk about it. What would happen to Rose and her sickness? Like, I would imagine an episode where she fell ill and her power is needed to fight an akuma, and she decided to go. When the battle is over, she succumbed into her illness (not dead, mind you).

The angst is strong in this one, and im all for it despite not wanting it.

7. Chloe's return

Rumor has it that she won't be in this season, and honestly that's for the best, seeing last season we got 7 episodes dedicated to put emphasis on how bad she is without giving a single flying shit how much it retcon and ruined the show itself.

But, possibility is possibility, and it's interesting to think about what she'll bring if she's coming back, since she no longer has power and must do things herself. Will she be more of a threat? Who knows.

~~~

I'm purposefully not putting Adrien learning the truth here. Aside from the writers are infamous for doing absolutely jackshit for an entire season and compress everything into 3 episodes near the finale, it's logical from writing standpoint that they'll hold this important part of the story for the real final season. So yeah, I don't think we'll gave him learning the truth in the next season.

So, that's all from me. Sure, there's more to say, but my fingers are tired if i have to write more. So, share your thoughts what you think might or want to happen.

[incarnateirony]

The reaper non-retcon(undrum)

Old meta/plothole issue has resurrected itself now with "Wait, if there's only X amount of angels, what about reapers? Reapers became angels in later seasons! Are they retconning that retcon?!"

There was never a retcon.

There was a lot of headcanons assumed into meta and canon understanding that were (understandably) read as canon that then got etched out and here's why.

STARTING POINT: The word “angel” simply means “messenger,” and while we’ve equated it to species, in 4x1 itself Castiel clarifies, “I’m an angel of the lord.” - an angel in service to and created by God. It seems like “of the lord” is an unusual qualifier if there’s no other kinds of angels out there or like he’s from The Master Angel Race with other subsets all just being beneath whatever he is. It enters casual usage as the most present, but these angels still identify Chuck as their father.

On the other hand, we have “angel of Death,” which do clearly operate under Death. And Death HIMSELF, before he ever popped up in the show, was called this in SEASON FIVE.

Supernatural 5.10 BOBBY Not this guy. This is—this is the angel of death. Big daddy reaper. They keep this guy chained in a box six hundred feet under. Last time they hauled him up, Noah was building a boat. That’s why the place is crawling with reapers. They’re waiting on the big boss to show. (…) BOBBY The angel of death must be brought into this world at midnight through a place of awful carnage.

Death was referred to as the Angel of Death even before (and for) his release, as far back as season 5. This is in no way a retcon.

Okay then, obviously season FIVE was where the retcon was, and we just... missed it? Cuz Kripke said no angels before S3!

No, actually.

1.12 Faith

Sam: You really think it's THE Grim Reaper? Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?

Even before Kripke said “no angels”, which I’ll address later on, and shows literally proves this point about the fandom conflating things based on their assumptions.

Also,

I know there was some confusion. I get WHY people read into the "angels are reapers and working for heaven," because April just further flummoxed everybody. However, April was hired, and rogue reapers are also canon.

9.03 CASTIEL Who hired you? I assumed with Naomi gone, things were in chaos. APRIL New sheriff in town, Cas. He hired a bunch of us. I got lucky.

Tessa’s gripe was the inability to cross souls over the threshold once the gates closed, which again has marginal relevance in comparison to serving God or being the same type of messenger. This has always been part of reaper duties, even before the word "angel" baffled everybody despite it being used in S5 as well.

In fact, what the angels did with April in 9.03 literally inspired how Castiel got his hands on converting Tessa to their forces in 9.22

TESSA When Castiel came to me and told me what I had to do, he said I was chosen because I was strong. Others...they couldn't handle this. They're too weak. [she looks at HANNAH] (...) DEAN No, forget Cas. Why are you doing this? What would make a person want to pop their top, huh? I mean, look, I've been in bad shape. I have. But I have never been that damn low. TESSA I guess I just can't take the screaming. DEAN Who's screaming? TESSA All of them. The lost souls. The ones that can't get into heaven now that it's been boarded up. I hear them. They are so confused. They're in so much pain. All I want to do is help them. It's what I do. It's my job. But I can't. So I suffered... Until death, nothingness. Suddenly, it didn't seem so bad. It seemed quiet. DEAN So, why don't you just jam an angel blade in your throat and call it a day? TESSA I thought about it. But I was too weak. Till Castiel gave me a reason to die.

That’s it. Just a reaper that couldn’t do her job and was tormented by it to the point that Cas merc’ed her into cooperating in taking back heaven.

That’s it. That’s all that says.

Oh look, Metatron takes over and angels hire a reaper and Cas gets ganked, then learns from that, and turns around and recruits reapers to do things to get back at Metatron. 

But they were RECRUITED.

GADREEL

Tessa, Constantine -- I recruited them, and you brainwashed them into blowing themselves up.

Also,

5.21 DEAN Well, I got to ask. How old are you? DEATH As old as God. Maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore. Life, death, chicken, egg. Regardless – at the end, I’ll reap him, too. DEAN God? You’ll reap God? DEATH Oh, yes. God will die, too, Dean.

Death is clearly independent, and at least equal to, if not above God in his presence. Chuck did not create Death. Roughly as old as god (probably even 'before time', though that is unconfirmed), chicken or the egg, unable to tell what came first; Death also has its own respective domain now seen in 13x5, much as God had Heaven. The origins of hell are curious, and vague, but only ruled by fall and things created after the fall. It isn’t part of the Light-Dark-Nature balance really, as much as “how to sort souls” and punishment. That’s a whole other topic-bag but Death has its own domain like God had Heaven. Reapers have NEVER been implied to be part of heaven's order, but Death's natural order.

Death, and God, are two very different important forces. God is Light, Amara is Darkness, Death is Natural Order, so to speak. Messenger of Divine Order vs Messenger of Natural Order. These are all three very canon elements. Reapers have always been assigned to death and "angels" as WE identify them (see: Angel of the Lord) to God, however, there is the qualifier of Angel of the Lord, Death HAS been called Angel of Death from go despite NOT being under Chuck's domain (clearly), and these are all existing since S4-5. And frankly, since S1.

While calling out plot holes has its points, one must make sure there are actual plot holes, and not assumptions of plotholes based on pre-existing headcanon (such as the exact limits or definitions of angels versus potential inconsistent or shorthand dialogue, versus what we've seen on record and in effect). Yes, it takes some viewer-end explaining and line-drawing, but that’s also a good deal of entertainment. Not everything gets ELI5′ed. But with regards to “why aren’t the reapers angels in heaven if they were in S9~” - that’s because even then, it was never implied they were. That was an assumption. There were a lot of fandom end assumptions off of partial lines, when pre-existing lines give solid corroboration. Death-Angels report to Death (and possibly the Thanatology area if at all, it's implied that their relationship with Death is much like angels with God, and few have seen God), Divine-Angels report to Chuck and Heaven. 

So no. There’s no evidence to say it’s an oversight that Reapers aren’t being counted in angel headcount.

TLDR it’s extremely presumptuous of fandom to keep projecting this as a plot hole off of projected headcanon interpretations of what was there rather than original substantiating quotes, mechanics, and even earliest-form revelations (Kripke era.) There is no evidence there was ever a retcon, no evidence that reapers REPORTED to heaven (some go rogue and run back doors or take bunk jobs, but that is being a renegade), and no evidence whatsoever to make this actually look like a sequentially dropped ball on the parts of the author as much as a serial misconception from viewers. Is it somewhat unclear? Yes. But a gaping plothole or retcon? Or even now a retconned-retcon? Nah.

This is just a failure to differentiate “Angel of the Lord” which runs heaven and is the species we casually refer to as angels, and “Angel of Death”, starting as far as S1 in use, and never-once applied as working for heaven. Just assumed against bold dialogue choices.

There was never a retcon. They hired reapers. People are conflating the use of “angel”. That’s it.

Yes, Kripke said no angels before S3; no, that doesn’t mean Reapers were never called angels of death (1x12) (this ALONE differentiates the usage in dialogue, as Kripke already used Angel of Death for reapers, but said “no angels”, meaning Angel of the Lord as we casually call angels is SOMETHING DIFFERENT, although BOTH ARE CALLED ANGELS.); no, canon never said they were part of heaven’s function beyond the delivery of souls at any point; no, they have never, as a whole, reported to anywhere but Death, spare for those hired or merced onto other roles (rogue reapers, like fallen angels); no, reapers are not, and have never been, canonically tied to being the SPECIES we know as Angels (angel of the lord, distinct from angel of death, both of which are age old lines, and the angel of the lord being S4+ only.) Reapers were never adapted into angels of the Lord. Ever. That’s all in the fandom’s head.

Nothing ever had to be changed or tampered. Nothing had to even be underwritten. There was never a retcon, just a lack of understanding from the viewership turned widespread fanon. 

This starts in S1 and continues through current. Insisting otherwise despite all of the various information above is more trying to demand erasure of multiple blatant elements under “interpretation”, in the interest of claiming they’re retconning the retcon, instead of having maintained a consistent continuity the fandom misinterpreted in the middle despite dialogue. They aren’t retconning a retcon, because there was never a retcon, and I’m honestly not sure how this was taken so widely into fandom circulation that there was with these sentiments already committed to screen.

Reapers have never been Angels of the Lord, as we identify Angels as a species. They have been another angel/messenger type dedicated to Big Daddy Reaper. Since. Season. 1. And never committed to heaven as much as were hired and/or recruited temporarily. They are not part of heaven’s works. Canon never implied this. That’s all headcanon.

[papermoonloveslucy]

ALL STAR PARTY FOR LUCILLE BALL

December 9, 1984

Directed by Dick McDonough ~ Written by Paul Keyes

Lucille Ball (Honoree), Monty Hall (Host), Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra

Monty Hall was the honorary chairman of Variety Clubs International.  

Featuring Lucy's family: Gary Morton, Lucie Arnaz, and Desi Arnaz Jr..

Lucy's former (and future) guest-stars: Sid Caesar, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, John Ritter, as well as uncredited appearances by Barbara Eden, Eva Gabor, Bernie Kopell, Rich Little, Cesar Romero, Art Linkletter, Kirk Douglas, Bea Arthur, Ken Lane (Dean Martin's pianist), and Ricardo Montalban

Presenters and entertainers also include: Joan Collins, Cary Grant, Shelley Long, Carl Reiner, and Vicky McLure

Former Variety Clubs honorees in attendance: James Stewart, Burt Reynolds, and Frank Sinatra 

Also present at the party (all uncredited): Loni Anderson, Lloyd Bridges, James Caan, Sammy Cahn, Ted Danson, Barbara and Marvin Davis (Childhood Diabetes Foundation), Altovise Davis, Charles Durning, Farrah Fawcett, George Hamilton, Barbara Harris (Mrs. Cary Grant), Lisa Hartman, Ted Lange, Vicki Lawrence, Carol Lawrence, Michele Lee, Olympian Carl Lewis, Hal Linden, Karl Malden, Roddy McDowell, Gloria Hatrick McLean (Mrs. Jimmy Stewart), Donna Mills, Stefanie Powers, Barbara Sinatra, Joan Van Ark, Dick Van Patten, Dionne Warwick, Dennis Weaver, Raquel Welch, and Betty White.

Taped at Warner Brothers Studios on November 18, 1984 and aired on CBS on December 9, 1984. Due to the December air date, the room is decorated in poinsettias. Lucy makes her entrance holding a dozen long-stem roses. At Lucy's center table is her husband Gary Morton, Frank and Barbara Sinatra, Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson, Jimmy and Gloria Stewart, Cary Grant and Barbara Harris.

Variety, the Children's Charity is an organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927, when a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the Variety Club. On Christmas Eve 1928, a baby was left on the steps of the Sheridan Square Film Theatre. When efforts to trace the mother failed, the Variety Club named the child Catherine Variety Sheridan, after the club and the theatre on whose steps she was found, and undertook to fund the child's living expenses and education. Later the club decided to raise funds for other disadvantaged children. The discovery of the baby inspired the film Variety Girl (1947).

The program was the second highest rated show of the night with a 21.7 share, second only to its lead-in “Murder She Wrote” with a 22.3 share.  

Monty Hall says that this is the 9th annual Variety Club All-Star Party. Two years later, Lucille Ball hosted the 1986 event honoring Clint Eastwood. In 1982 she participated in the All-Star Party for Carol Burnett.

In an interview to promote the program, Lucy said that Lucie Arnaz wrote the lyrics to the “I Love Lucy” tribute song that she and Desi Jr. sang. But on the show, Burt Reynolds claims the special lyrics were by Sammy Cahn.  

Also in the interview, Lucy says she'd never do another series again. Two years later she changed her mind and agreed to do “Life With Lucy” for Aaron Spelling and ABC. She also says she'd like to do a drama about seniors being driven from their homes. It is likely that by November 1984 Lucy was already in talks to do her final film, TV's Stone Pillow, which would begin filming in April 1985 and air in November of that same year.

To kick off the event, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra plays “Hey Look Me Over” as Lucy's entrance music. Lucille Ball introduced the song in the 1960 Broadway musical Wildcat by Cy Coleman.

Joan Collins (TV's “Dynasty”) details Lucy's background and rise to fame; 76 films and over 500 television programs. She reminds Lucy that she auditioned for the role of Scarlet O'Hara in Gone With The Wind. In 1987 Collins was honored with her own All-Star Party.

Joan: “Not even Clark Gable could look into that face and say 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn’”.

Frank Sinatra sings “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” to Lucy, a 1973 song written and recorded by Stevie Wonder.

Sinatra says to Lucy “You're the best thing to happen to Adam's rib.” This causes a quizzical look to come over Lucy's face. Later in life, Sinatra was known for his occasional odd references and non-sequitur. He had been honored by Variety Clubs the previous year, 1983.

Cary Grant reads a letter from President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was honored with an All-Star Party the following year, 1985. When first addressing Ball, Grant says “Lucy, Lucy, Lucy,” imitating his falsely attributed quote “Judy, Judy, Judy.” Grant would also read a congratulatory telegram from President Reagan in 1986, when Clint Eastwood was honored.

Carl Reiner introduces and interviews Sid Caesar as (all the way from Germany) Professor Ludwig Von Blearyeyes, the world's most renowned viewer of Lucille Ball's television shows. The Professor describes his second favorite episode of “I Love Lucy” which is a crazy mash-up of parts of several episodes, including “Lucy Goes To The Hospital” (ILL S2;E16), “The Audition” (ILL S1;E16), and “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25). The Professor then recounts the same episode in Italian, proving that Lucy is known all over the world. The description of the Professor's favorite episode sounds like the plot to King Kong.

John Ritter is introduced as a 'member of Lucy's mutual admiration society,' a fellow comedic actor on TV. Lucille Ball had hosted a two-part retrospective of Ritter's show “Three's Company” in 1982. Ritter would be Ball's first celebrity guest-star on “Life With Lucy” in 1986.

Ritter introduces Olympian Carl Lewis and Vicki McClure, a young woman from Los Angeles chosen to sing at the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics. McClure reprises the song she sang at the ceremonies, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand).” The song by Ashford and Simpson was the debut solo single of Motown singer Diana Ross, released in April 1970. McClure, a checkout girl at the Hughes Market in Canoga Park, was at first just the rehearsal stand-in for Ross but she was chosen for the real thing because as an unknown, she reflected the youthful image that organizers hoped to project for the games.

Shelley Long (TV's “Cheers”) admits that she never worked with Lucy, but admires her as a role model working mother. 

Long 'passes the baton' to Dean Martin, while the Nelson Riddle Orchestra plays his signature song “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime,” a song written in 1947 by Sam Coslow. Martin sang it  in “Lucy Dates Dean Martin” (TLS S4;E21), as well as on "Lucy Gets Lucky," their 1975 special. Martin (with Ken Lane at the piano) sings “When You're Smiling” by Larry Shay, Mark Fisher and Joe Goodwin. He changes the lyrics to suit the occasion:

“When you're Lucy,  When you're Lucy, You're never off TV. When you're Lucy, That's all you see, You're own life constantly. On Channel 7, 5, 4, 9, 8 or 10, Wherever you turn, That's our Lucy again. When you're Lucy, When you're Lucy, You're never off of TV.”

Jimmy Stewart says that Lucy and Gary are celebrating their wedding anniversary. Stewart introduces Gary Morton, who presents Lucy with an Olympic-style medal for being a “gold medal wife.”

Sammy Davis Jr.'s first remarks incorporate references to the 1961 musical Stop the World – I Want To Get Off by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. Davis starred in the 1978 Broadway revival of the show as well as the TV special “Sammy Stops the World” that same year. He then gives a heartfelt and emotion tribute to Lucy's world-wide and timeless appeal.  

Sammy: “Lucille Desiree Ball, daughter of Desiree and Henry Ball, who stopped the world and said 'I wanna get on' in Jamestown, New York. On an August the sixth, this world of ours took little note then, but will long, long remember.  Be proud, Lucy, of your legacy.  Very proud.  Be aware, as you sit here among your grateful friends, the sun never sets on Lucille Ball. All over this worried world tonight. Nations of untold millions are watching reruns they also watched the first time around. In Iran and Iraq on this very night, the fighting stops long enough for frightened people to laugh again as you hide the frozen meat in the furnace. In Finland after a long hard day at the factory, husbands and father are just settling down to watch the American girl they love the most get half bombed on her first TV commercial. And in Lebanon, ravished Lebanon, worried parents of many fates share a common experience, with innocent war-torn children, who tune in to forget the debris long enough to feed their hungry souls with laughter as you parade down the Champs Elysee in an outfit that drove the Paris designers to double aperitifs. Across the world in Singapore, Japan, whole families gather for a 'Lucy break' as laughter erases their problems watching you rehearse your trip to the hospital for television's first birth. And in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, San Salvador, Venezuela, and other sunshine countries, laughter crosses friendly and unfriendly borders as you try to keep up with the chocolates on the assembly line. Yes, my dear friend, Lucy, you are the one they love most.”

The specific “I Love Lucy” episodes Davis is referring to (in order) are “The Freezer (ILL S1;E29); “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (ILL S1;E30); “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (ILL S5;E20); “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16); and “Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1).  Lucy later said that Davis wrote the above speech himself.

Monty Hall returns to tell Lucy that Variety Clubs International has added new facilities in children's hospitals dedicated to John Wayne (in Miami), Elizabeth Taylor (in New York City), Jimmy Stewart (in Minnesota), Ingrid Bergman (in Des Moines), Jack Lemmon (in Buffalo), Burt Reynolds (in Atlanta), Carol Burnett (in Los Angeles), and Frank Sinatra (in Seattle).  

Burt Reynolds recounts his first meeting Lucy, through an introduction by Lucie Arnaz. Lucie and Reynolds dated for a year and a half. Nelson Riddle and the Orchestra play the “I Love Lucy” theme by Eliot Daniel. Lucie and Desi Jr. then sing the song to their mother with special lyrics by Sammy Cahn. Ball struggles to hold back the tears. Lucie Arnaz is noticeably pregnant. She would give birth to her daughter, Katherine Luckinbill, on January 11, 1985.

To the strains of the title song from Mame, Lucy joins Monty Hall at the front of the room where he  informs her of the naming of a research library in her honor at the Barbara Davis Juvenile Diabetes Hospital in Denver, Colorado.

Lucille Ball thanks everyone for the tribute. She asks Mike Frankovich of Variety Clubs to stand and take a bow.

Lucy: “To everyone who said such wonderful things about me tonight, I just wish you were all under oath.”

At the very end, the entire crowd sings “Happy Anniversary” (to the tune of “Happy Birthday”) to Lucy and Gary, who were married on November 19, 1961.

Oops! Over the entrance music, Lucille Ball can be heard to greet Dionne Warwick saying “Hi Diane.” Did she think Warwick was Diahann Carroll?  When Lucy sees Eva, she just repeats over and over “A Gabor!  A Gabor!  A Gabor!” perhaps unsure if it is Eva or Zsa Zsa. Bear in mind that Ball did not know the guest list ahead of time. While the announcer reads off the guests stars for the opening credits, Lucy can be heard to say “I hope I remember the names.”

When Gary Morton puts the Olympic medal around Lucy's neck, she says “Turn it around!” Lucy wanted the front of the medal facing the camera. She then jokes that she is “always directing.”  

This Date in Lucy History –  December 9

"Don Juan and the Starlets" (ILL S4;E18) filmed on December 9, 1955

"Lucy and the Military Academy" (TLS S2;E10) aired December 9, 1963

"Guess Who Owes Lucy $23.50" (HL S1;E11) aired December 9, 1968

[hopevalley]

Is Jack really going to die??? Really??? The rumour mill is working overtime and I don’t know what to believe! I am worried for the fate of the show. Love your blog and detailed analysis of the episodes and show itself. My fav post is the one about the miner’s dance in season 1!!

Thank you! I’m hoping to get back to S1 after S5 wraps up so that I can talk more about the earlier parts of the show, especially the episodes and characters people originally fell in love with. Maybe I’ll even attempt detailed posts for each of the earlier episodes (though perhaps not quite as detailed as, you know, the current ones). I’m glad you enjoyed that post; it was fun to put together.

As far as Jack’s fate goes, I’ve mentioned it before, but for clarity’s sake, here’s my opinion of the situation, starting with the position the showrunners and writers have found themselves in. (I don’t think we can pretend these are the same people; writers are given parameters to work within and the showrunners, a catch-all term for the people who make The Decisions, are the ones who more or less set those parameters.)

If we assume Dan would like to end his time with When Calls the Heart, and in fact, Hallmark in general, the showrunners are given a few options. Here are the basic outlines for what those are:

They beg Dan to return for a cameo episode for each season/for the special each season and limit Jack’s role to just those episodes/films.

They end the series.

They write Jack and Elizabeth off the show.

They recast for the role of Jack Thornton.

They write Jack off the show.

To talk about these a bit further, let’s get into details.

1.) They beg Dan to return for cameos. They’re kind of already doing this, and it’s not working. Imagine if he had just one episode or a few scenes in the Christmas special per season! Yikes. Jack’s role is too big and too important in the series (as part of the main couple) to reduce him to a guest star. It forces his relationship with Elizabeth to stalemate and get dull. Too, if Dan wants off the show, he probably isn’t willing to tie himself down by any definition, which would include filming even for cameos. So even though this is an option for us to consider, it may not actually be in the cards for the showrunners’ consideration.

2.) They end the series.  A solid option, but clearly not one the showrunners want to take right now. They have an active fanbase for the show; the fans are dedicated; it’s making money… And hey, theoretically, anyway, they have tons of characters; it feels silly to end the show because just one character needs to be removed.

3.) They write Jack and Elizabeth off the show. WAIT. HEAR ME OUT! This would be the smoothest route because they could still appear for cameo scenes or films if the actors were up for it. It would also allow for a happy ending for Jack and Elizabeth. The best part is that they could easily write it in as Jack gets a more permanent posting further north and Elizabeth, who is now his wife of course, has to go with him. Well, that’s what being married to a Mountie is usually like! The problem is that this, you know, takes away Elizabeth, too, and I doubt Erin wants her role reduced that drastically. There’s also a middle ground, here, I think, where Jack is reassigned and Elizabeth “finishes up the school year” or “stays on in Hope Valley until a new teacher is found” or something like that, to buy time to go through another season. Jack is gone, yes, but that leaves room for letters and other correspondences, which could be lovely for the fans. It would give Elizabeth fun things to talk about with Abigail, too. And time to say her goodbyes. Also, after she leaves to be with Jack (maybe on a prettier parcel of land in another great community that her time in Coal/Hope Valley has prepared her for), she can still send correspondences and/or appear for scenes/come back to Hope Valley to visit. Abigail sharing Elizabeth’s letters with others in town (or Rosemary doing this) would be pretty sweet. I mean, it would suck without Erin on the show much, but I think it would be a very kind end to the ship and characters. We can at least imagine they’re living their best life and having a good time.

4.) They recast for the role of Jack. Now, this one’s a risk. On the plus side, it lets the relationship pick up where it left off and lets it move forward at full speed. No more stalling, no more boring blahs. Just Jack and Elizabeth doing their best to make a life together out in Hope Valley. No, it’s not Dan, and for most people Jack will always be Dan, but…let’s be real: isn’t it better than losing Jack entirely? I think so. That said, there are two downsides to this: the first is that the fans might not take too kindly to a recast of their darling, and the second is that Jack Wagner, who actually seems to enjoy his time on the show, yet, wouldn’t have much of a role as Bill if the character of Jack stuck around and, you know, took his job back. Neither would deter me from making the call to recast, but they are worth considering.

5.) They write Jack off the show. This is the easiest route by far. The actor wants off? Let’s take the character off, too. It’s not like it’s new on this series. We’ve had characters disappear without an explanation or mention (Cat, Gabe) and a few others weakly written off (Rev. Anderson, Shane, Frank). It’s an easy option to get rid of a character the showrunners don’t want to deal with anymore, or to dispose of a character when the actor decides to call it quits with the series. The problem is that they can’t be cheap with Jack’s write-off. He can’t just disappear, and the reason the character leaves for good has to make a lot of sense to avoid upsetting the fans. Since a break-up would enrage them, the only option left is to kill him.

Look, Jack’s been written poorly for a while now. It’s unfortunate, but it also makes me doubt they’d do any better with, you know, a recast of Jack. Besides, the fans probably wouldn’t take to a new person playing their favorite. It makes sense that they’d veto that idea first. The next-best idea is to write Jack and Elizabeth off together, but it has to happen reasonably (she needs to go at the end of S6), and I doubt Hallmark wants to write off two of their three main characters; they’d be lucky if they had a show left at that point. I also doubt their ability to write plots that don’t somehow center on the main characters; so far they’ve proven they’re in it for the cheese and drama and no real character development. I mean, for goodness’ sakes, Bill is bitten by a rattlesnake and almost dies and he’s supposed to have come to trust AJ’s motivations as being genuine, and yet we know he won’t mention her again for the rest of the season, and we’ll be lucky to see her in the first half of S6. To think after her sentence, which is to be less than Gowen’s, at least as far as Bill knows, she might return to Hope Valley to start her life over (as per her own wishes) is almost impossible for me to imagine happening—not because the character wouldn’t do it, but because the writers won’t. Or, you know, maybe Josie won’t. For another example: Carson the brain surgeon? Is that going to ever mean anything outside of the episode it’s featured in?

Again, losing Jack and Elizabeth limits them to Abigail as the lead character for S7+, and they’d rather not limit their options I guess.

With ending the series & begging for cameos from Dan out of the question, that really only leaves killing Jack.

Again, hey…I get it! I’m a writer and I know sometimes to make something work you have to do something kind of drastic. However, this is a betrayal of the trust of your audience, at least in terms of pacing.

I know what they were trying to do with the wedding. The fans don’t get to keep Jack, but at least they can give Jack and Elizabeth a lovely, beautiful, more or less perfect wedding. Heck, even her father shows up! And on the whole the fans were excited for the wedding and loved every bit of it.

My irritation doesn’t stem from what I feel are genuine attempts to do something good for the fans, to get them as close to something nice as they can manage, circumstances considered. Fine, get them married! And let it be OOC for half of the characters in the process. It’s not my problem.

But I’m not going to quietly ignore the fact that while they wrote in that stupid fire plot to force the town to “come together” (in an OOC way) to help Jack and Elizabeth achieve their dream wedding (that they could have had anyway if just they’d elected not to write that plot), they should have spent their time keeping the threshold scene. Or a longer father/daughter dance. Or a longer dance with Jack. We all know they had sex afterward, it’s not like showing them stepping over the threshold is going to give the audience the wrong idea. C’mon. Most people have sex on their wedding night.

And what about all of these previews, and silly ways of trying to force the audience to feel secure in believing in Jack’s safety? Have you ever trained 50 idiots who have never held a gun before? Or did much horseback riding? Let’s be real, it’s not that safe. Better than an all-out war, but my point still stands.

Listening to Elizabeth say, over and over, “Just a few weeks,” “I can’t wait to be in your arms again,” is patronizing and cruel, mostly because it feels a little more aimed at the audience than it does a natural part of her character.

Again, I’m not here for Jack or Elizabeth (I don’t relate to either of them at all), but this is ridiculous. The fans have a right to be upset, not because the showrunners felt pushed into a corner where they have to make a choice to either eliminate Elizabeth and Jack for a kind ending OR just eliminate Jack with a tragic one, but because it feels like the audience is being unfairly baited with these stupid in-show attempts to convince them that Jack’s Totally Fine (when all it makes me think is that he’s Dead Meat). I felt from the start of this season that it was very possible Jack would die. It didn’t come out of nowhere at all! Which makes the “He’s Totally Safe” lines uttered by various characters, especially out of context in previews, really aggravating.

Anyway, again, I’m also angry on behalf of those fans because the writers (or showrunners, whoever Made the Decision) wasted time putting roadblocks in Jack and Elizabeth’s way when we could have had a couple of small honeymoon scenes instead. I mean, honestly…just show them eating a dinner together talking about the day they had. The land dispute? Stupid. Skip straight past it or let it happen while they’re gone and send them to Chicago. Abigail could have dealt with the land dispute. And oh. HEY. SHE DID ANYWAY. It was a waste of time for the audience and the characters. The dancing in the cafe scene was sweet but I think most fans would have preferred to see them on their honeymoon having dinner or going to a play instead—a hint that they had the honeymoon they wanted. Then, before they came back, Bill could have spoken to the NWMP officer about Jack’s new placement/promotion. Bill being kind of excited for Jack would have been really nice, too, and a quiet kind of proof to the audience that this truly is an honor, not just Jack trying to reassure Elizabeth…or, you know, THE AUDIENCE under the guise of reassuring Elizabeth.

Even in this make-believe scenario I’ve constructed, it’s still sad that Jack gets sent away, especially in the event that he dies. But it would feel less sudden than our canon, which has him getting sent away the day after his wedding even though Bill took care of a full escort for him the day before and of his wedding! Two weeks after would make more sense. And then Elizabeth could have just stayed in Hope Valley. 

I typed all of this to say that I think it’s very likely Jack is going to die. Unfortunately the other options just…weren’t in the cards, perhaps due to the lack of time in which to figure something out (and the fact that they didn’t bring me on board to write the show). 

My giant ego aside, if Jack dies, he dies. There’s nothing that can be done about it, now. Be angry if you want to be, if you feel that way; I think anger is a valid emotion to be feeling right now, if not at the direction the story felt it needed to take, but at the bogus wastes of time plots we had to endure when we could have had something more reasonable.

In the end it boils down to: with Jack off the show, will you keep watching it? And I know for a lot of fans, the answer is no. Or…they’ll tentatively watch the S6 Christmas Special and see how it reads before they make up their mind fully. That’s very reasonable, I think.

And for the record, I’m also worried about the direction the show will take. If the Duncan + Greta storyline was anything to go by, it’ll be the Abigail & Elizabeth Show, where we watch their new club (“Minding YOUR Business”) debut at full capacity. I pray that’s not the case. I don’t think I’d enjoy watching anymore.

To add to my bummed-out feelings, the way they’ve written Abigail lately has been nearly intolerable, and I say that with a heavy heart; she was pretty much my favorite character in S1/2/3. She feels different now, and not in a lovely she-had-character-development sort of way.

Like so many other good characters, she’s just a flimsy plot vehicle. And sadly, the plots she’s used for aren’t even good. There is a lot to her they could utilize, but just the same as with others who are like that (Frank, Jesse, Clara, Laura, the kid characters), they ignore it in favor of doing whatever fits the plot.

As a writer, it’s kind of your job to construct plots that are built around your existing characters, but I guess that’s not something most writers understand.

At this point in the show, it’s very frustrating, and made worse now by the mere idea of Jack dying. Like great, now with the last of the old structure of the show gone, what are they going to do with their ragdoll characters next? 

I mean, maybe they’ll surprise me, but you’re not gonna catch me holding out hope for Hope Valley.

[thenamesdoctor]

Troian does not deserve the negativity she is receiving.

LITERALLY scaring Troian off social media after the reveal and making her question whether the role she just portrayed was even worth it IS. NOT. OKAY. I’m sorry but people pissed me off now and I’m speaking out... 

Look, I’ve been a fan of PLL all 7 years too so I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND why really dedicated fans (myself included) would've loved the reveal to connect back to the pilot in someway, fix all of those plot-holes, and answer many of our still burning questions but you know what? This isn’t Troians fault, the writers were the ones who settled with this she just works for them. (Let me be VERY clear here, I am NOT telling you to go hound Marlene and other writers!!) I am simply just trying to address this is the way they decided to end their show and Troian was just part of the bigger twist!

She heard the news back in s5 and immediately started prepping for her new role from only what she was told then. So when she started learning more about how the writers wrote Alex, her backstory, and her accent, she got to work. I made a mistake saying her accent was Cockney because she confirmed it’s more Essex sounding so my bad about that HOWEVER, she worked a whole year on this accent while still bouncing off to shoot scenes as Spencer which had to be a pain sometimes. 

She even said in an interview she had to be very careful with slipping up when Spencer talks and not sound like Alex because then the secret would be out. Imagine the pressure that was! I think of it as reverse to how a British person gives an America accent a try, they wont sound perfect and its going to roll off their tongue very differently and feel strange...Troian is an American actress so it was certainly a process! She worked hard for the writers and fans to give us her best accent for Alex.

Marlene said her accent would be British but way different from Wrens, less posh and even a little rough due to her backstory. I went on Youtube to look up what Essex accents sound like and let me tell you, Troian was pretty spot on with hers! Sounds to me they don’t really enunciate a lot of their words which she sounded pretty convincing with Alex. But of course accents are not going to be perfect as I said. It’s all about pronunciation and each person is different with that.

Troian also said she felt PLL would end s6 after ‘Charles’ storyarc but the show was still high with ratings and the fanbase still so supportive that it was picked up for one more season making it the last but she did say this was a ‘genesis story’, a new beginning as all previous -A’s once were. If you go back to s6B-s7 on the story really does piece together which is what we wanted! I really enjoyed Alex! She was a nice twist (also to me she was the biggest twist and shock on the show) but also brought some parallels to the PLL books which I liked a lot. 

She is such a phenomenal actress! She really goes in depth with all of her roles!  It’s pretty upsetting that she feels she has to apologize for a role she took A WHOLE YEAR to find and create along with all her dedication. This is the path the story went and we’re going to have to accept this. I already have. Just please stop harassing her.