#what if...? S02

[james-stark-the-writer]

so, i just finished What If...? S02.

now i was coming at this as somebody who thinks What If...? S01 is one of the worst things Marvel has ever made, it lands at the bottom of my MCU tierlist (What If...? S02 would go right between Defenders and Iron Fist S01), i hate like the majority of it, i would say like i hate 90% of it. it's genuinely insufferable and looks ugly as shit and the writing sucks, it lacked imagination despite its literal premise, and took as few risks as possible. it's genuinely awful. but i thought similar things about Loki S01 and S02 surprised me quite a lot so i was hoping that S02 was a redemption arc for What If...? as well and. turns out it was. this was a lot of fun. nothing less than a monumental improvement over the first season, even if there are still parts of it I heavily dislike like all the references to the movies and just how much Marvel is up Peggy Carter's asshole. but besides that? genuinely incredible stuff. S02E06 is one of the greatest things Marvel has ever made, and what every episode of this show should have been, bold and imaginative. gave me chills multiple fucking times, got me to the point of crying over it. genuinely transcendental. this season started out ROUGH but it really got much better as it went on and i think it averages out to one of the better things Marvel has made. It certainly no Ms. Marvel or Hawkeye or She-Hulk or even WandaVision, but it's way better than Moon Knight and Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki S01.

anyway, here's my thoughts and some notes on every episode. under the cut bc it's a long post and i have a lot to say.

episode 1:

episode 2:

episode 3:

episode 4:

episode 5:

episode 6:

episode 7 and 8:

episode 9 and final thoughts:

[incaseyouart]

i just wanted to draw jayce in that one fancy shirt he wore for a single scene and this happened -

[evansbucks]

RYAN GUZMAN as EDMUNDO “EDDIE” DIAZ 9-1-1 - S02 E01 · Under Pressure

[arttsuka]

[idleminds]

[ex0rin]

The Walking Dead: Dead City | Season 2 Official Trailer

[treesinspace]

Can't believe nobody EVER told Mark S. that Petey is dead??

[vargesz]

[bocadelinfierno]

[ipledgeawaymysanity]

Can't get over Kahhori and her badassery

Punching the walls, throwing the tables, breaking the thornes of kings over my girl

[quantum-cat]

that's a lot of carabiners

[jeeprsoart]

So... The season finale... Yeah.. What the fuck was that.

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[kokoroyamii]

Ekko.

[arttsuka]

[idleminds]

[mc-critical]

Something about Mahidevran offering Nigar to make her a baş kalfa in E23 and Mahidevran letting Nigar keep her position as a treasurer in E59. One being during one of Mahi's lowest points in the series (Gülşah stabbing Gülnihal while aiming for Hürrem behind Mahi's back and Mahidevran beating her for it, with the risk of everyone concluding that Mahi indeed has something to do with the Gülnihal incident constantly looming over, as everything points to her) and the other being during one of Nigar's respectively (Ibrahim rejecting her, Valide finding out about the affair and falling ill because of it, with the risk of everyone else, like i.e. SS, learning about it too constantly looming over, not to mention the whole deal with the pregnancy). One centered around that one thing only the two know for certain and what should be done in order to make it stay between them, and the other having Mahi completely unaware of anything that's happened around Nigar lately, so their meeting isn't even related to that at all. One is almost like a pact that can't help but tie Mahi and Nigar together, with Nigar leaning close to Mahidevran in a way she never had the chance to up until then and Mahidevran trying her damndest to distance herself, to deny the accusations, to not let them get to her until she caves in eventually, while in the other Mahi is the one to attempt to bring Nigar close, deciding it literally at the very second (the way she carefully observed Fatma while Nigar was "resigning", as if to see if she'd be suited for the position, and then moved to Nigar after making up her mind on her being more appropriate) but the distance between them remains almost insurmountable (albeit with that slightly opened door), as both of them reside in their own worlds in that moment. Both scenes culminate the dynamic between Mahi and Nigar but while one culminates their S01 dynamic, with Nigar finally getting that payback on Mahidevran, prevailing over her after all the fear and intimidation, everything she did to her in order to make her loyal, and Nigar's own arc, with her everpresent wants and ambitions finally getting fulfilled, her arriving at a high point, the other culminates their S02 dynamic that had them often in affable terms (because the bulk of their scenes together outside of the aftermath of the Leo's diary debacle featured Nigar being seemingly loyal to Mahi and Mahi 'appealing' to Nigar) and Mahi's own arc, with her newly emerged wants and ambitions finally getting fulfilled, she is the one at a high point. E59-60 still somewhat circle back to Mahidevran and Nigar's earlier dynamic (Nigar once again mentioning being stuck between two sultanas), pointing to how Mahi's endeavors to "make Nigar serve only her" would finally end then and there (and a turning point between Nigar & Hürrem would occur too; the seeds are planted right here, in E59 - Gülşah learning of the pregnancy). Even though Nigar fought hard for the baş kalfa promotion but didn't even expect to stay the treasurer (love how her being the treasurer in these eps brings her the closest to Daye in terms of position, which cannot fail to sign at Daye's own relation to Nigar's story!), she doesn't last long in both positions due to outside factors that interfere during the high-key leadups to the inception and the reveal of Nigar and Ibrahim's affair, having no idea what will occur in the future.