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Works on iPhone and iPad.
Tommy is a VERY confusing character because ostensibly he has a baseline level of intelligence. But his "insistence" here is just moronic. It doesn't make any sense. He's so cartoonishly dead set on making Rusty pay for this. I'm open to the idea that he wants to continue but the logic displayed here is just silly. Did Rusty steal his pacifier or something? It doesn't seem to have any sense of coming from a sense of justice. You can practically feel, in every episode up to and including this one, Nico and Tommy have zero concern that Rusty is actually guilty. As far as I can tell they don't think he did it. But they have a good case and they want a notch on their newly minted belt and putting one to an old enemy makes it a two-fer. It's not that you think your neighbor killed your dog. It's that your dog died and the rich neighbor that's always blaring music doesn't have an alibi so hey might as well get two for one. It's at least an emotional travesty of law.
There's almost no "We know you did this and we're gonna take your down". Just so much "We're going to beat you even though you're man-pretty"
That said this episode ends on a really really high note for Tommy. Legitimately honest to goodness high note. I think it's the first time I've seen Tommy as a person and not just a villain who has learned not to twirl his mustache. I don't even really agree with everything that happened but at least it felt real and that's something this show could weirdly enough use more of.
Never been read harder than when my little brother saw this and said ‘I really liked it but YOU’LL love it’. This must be how some trans people felt seeing the Matrix, feeling seen, feeling called out, a generational disillusionment and a deep dysphoria acknowledged. But The Matrix is a power fantasy by directors who love to ape black aesthetics but hold a disdain for us, blame us. This is a cautionary tale, one full of empathy but good god I cannot be this.
I thought I had scheduled an appointment for this morning to talk to a provider about HRT. I spent the previous night wrapped in anxiety about what if things go wrong, what if they change for the worse, what if it won’t ’fix’ me, what if I talk to these people and they call me out, I’m not trans enough, I’m confused. It didn’t go through, I guess. They never called. I scheduled another in two weeks, got the email confirmation. And a part of me was relieved. Passed the buck down. A misunderstanding I can wash my hands of, a perfect excuse I could not be faulted for.
And then I saw this. As if to wash the doubt away. This hollowed me out. I feel raw and exposed and empty like it dug my heart out. I’ve been Owen. I am Owen. I don’t talk right, it’s hard to look people in the eyes, my skin doesn’t fit right, I feel hollow and I look in the mirror and often I see something disgusting and rotting. Owen in the ending is like my biggest nightmare put on screen. I got chicken tenders at the theater, I know, I’m a weirdo, and they asked for the name of the order and I used my birth name. Here. At no risk to me, nobody who knows me, I still couldn’t use Jaycee. I don’t use it at drive throughs. The name I chose, that the people I love and trust call me across the internet, that I use on the dating apps, I couldn’t use. Why? Because I don’t feel like I’ve earned it? Because it doesn’t feel time? There is still time.
I could say more about how this hits as someone who grew up on Buffy and Whedon shows for better and worse in high school despite being born a year before the show premiered, how it hits a nostalgia of a time I knew from behind the screen and then how time skips into now, like a shattering of the escape. I could talk about the attachment formed to a show before the Internet showed you all the fans who loved it like you, seeing yourself in it, projecting onto it what may not be there and reckoning with that as you grow. I could talk about Smith’s aching wound of a performance or Liddy-Paine’s killer monologue, or the breathtaking lighting and cinematography, but all I need to say is what I needed to hear.
There is still time. But that doesn’t mean there’s time to waste. I’m going to do that appointment. I’m going to use my name. I’m going to claw to who I want to be and who I am inch by inch. And like Owen, I may be alone when I take that path but I will be so relieved to be on it, I will know who I am, and that will be in part due to seeing the TV glow.
Make it all make sense.
The rate at which this story progresses is borderline painful. I’m at the point now where I expect every episode to have little to no momentum.
For example… the most compelling part of this episode is that they finally have a body of one of the creatures. But that arc is constantly disrupted by boring plot points and character conversations that nobody cares about. And when they FINALLY go to do the autopsy, they stop after the first incision only to cut to Kenny complaining for the tenth time! It’s a special kind of torture.
It’s just very disappointing considering how much potential this show has. But they’re not taking risks. They’re not wowing us. Before I watched this, I read reviews that warned viewers not to get too attached to characters because they’re quick to be killed off. Several reviews mention this. But nothing is happening! Nobody is getting killed off! Almost two full seasons in, and there are no answers to ANYTHING. Only more questions.
I couldn’t care less about trees moving, or who might be pregnant, or constant hallucinations that are relentlessly unexplained.
On top of that, Jim and Kenny are simply intolerable. Ugh.
VIP4Great drama and perfect last setup episode before everything explodes in the next I believe.
The season finale left me feeling torn. On the one hand, the show’s premise is certainly intriguing, and the mystery has been building throughout the season. I found it intriguing at first, but I’ve come to suspect the writers may be in over their heads, leaving me feeling pessimistic about the show’s future.
I want to be proven wrong, but it seems like the writers are trying to emulate J.J. Abrams’ style of tacking on mysteries without any clear plan for resolving them, which has ultimately made for an inconsistent and frustrating viewing experience.
The episode itself wasn’t very memorable or special. Like the rest of the series, this episode raised more questions than it addressed.
Ten episodes in, and other than getting to know the characters, we’re still where we started in terms of the mystery; this isn’t an indication of good writing, as answers should lead to more questions, but having no answers isn’t a sign of good writing. At least if the story had begun from Boyd’s point of view rather than the Matthews’ family, there would have been some progression in the plot.
So far, it’s been squandered potential, but the radio response and the lighthouse promise a potentially intriguing second season, so here’s hoping we get a better one.
01x10 - Oh, the Places We'll Go: 6.6/10 (Fair, Above Average)
I love meta storytelling. Recognizing Kirby Howell Baptiste after she was in this episode for 5 seconds I am so proud of myself >>=[[[[
Honestly all of the stuff about Young Neil somehow knowing about the alternate timeline that the movie is was fun. Wondering if it’s just jokes or if it’ll go further than that later on. Would be fun if that was the end of it or if it went further. Guy at work keeps talking about how this show exists to make fun (negatively) of the movie, and to that I say, grow upppppppppppp lololol and also if it truly hated the movie that much, they would have remade the movie, not make this a companion piece. Thinking that the comment about how the movie is more millennial and the show is more Gen Z tracks, I like healing characters and learning to love and be nice and stuff. This show I think is the best possible outcome of whatever Scott Pilgrim could be. Excited to… eventually see him again??? He’s definitely coming back right like how would be not. Gonna be awesome to see what he thinks about the goings ons. Continuing to love the art style, so glad something this aesthetically pleasing exists. Yay!!
Series Review
I'm tired.
Maybe I'm too critical, or perhaps I should give up on the MCU? The MCU fatigue is real this time, and it's getting old. No, this series isn't bad, and neither was WandaVision. But with each new MCU release, the more I'm pushed to the brink. I used to love this franchise, can you believe it? I loved all the movies, and I gave my money to the box office as reluctantly as any other MCU stan. Now, I'm tired. I'm tired of the same old stories, with their important messages, but poor storytelling.
Falcon begins by giving up the shield to the Smithsonian (museum), unknowingly handing the Captain America mantle to Walker. After Walker snaps, he reconsiders his decision. So, he talks to Isaiah Bradley (a black Super Soldier who the government rejected as Captain America), who tells him he won't make it, and becomes Captain America soon after. Was there any revelation here? What did Sam learn? He just went through a training montage, and then he was ready. What a relatable challenge that he went through that I can apply to real life! I just gotta ignore the haters, ya'll!
In some of these movies, the "character arcs" go like this: I want to do this, I face opposition, the opposition turns out to be wrong because..., I'm right, and I win. No one learns anything; all it says is that you're always right, and people who tell you otherwise are wrong. That's an empowering message, but has Marvel's writers stopped to consider that their audience might be the villains instead of the heroes; what if they're the opposition, and they're just wrong, instead of the heroes who are always right?
But this show does a lot I admire; a darker, grittier tone, better action (than some recent stuff), important themes and attempts at character arcs/development. Whew, I'm still tired, though.
As Cosmonaut Marcus writes,
"It was whatever." — Cosmonaut Marcus (https://twitter.com/CosmonautMarcus/status/1385534378239987712)
SCORE: 6/10
VIP10I’m four episodes in and quite frankly, I don’t see this show getting any better. At least Wandavision picked up after the third episode. Those people saying this is the best MCU show so far must be on crack.
UPDATE:
Now that I've finished watching all the episodes, I still feel a bit shortchanged with this show. I do think Oscar Isaacs did an incredible job all through the season, but I still feel it's terribly paced. Even though the last episode was awesome, I had already lost much of the initial interest. Ethan Hawke's character falls flat for me. Marvel films have created great villains with powerful motivations to justify what they do. Damn! I still think Thanos had a very good point! If Hawke was supposed to be Marc/Steven's foil, he came across as a bland bad guy who wanted to be bad because Khonshu is a trickster god who lied to him (we still don't know exactly how). Had his history arc been developed thoroughly, it would've opened more complex layers in the story. Also, they boast they got an Egyptian director who knew his way around Egyptian mythology... but... the show was quite lacklustre on that regards as well, IMO. Now we're left with a cliffhanger that hints at a second season. Oh my...
