#ep 1x14

[sisterofleatherfrog]

Thoughts after War Mantle/predictions for the end of the season and beyond.

So, that was excellent, and I’m happy that the tradition of especially pretty clone commanders continues! 

Okay, no big intro here, now that Hunter is with Crosshair, I have a few (lots  of, actually) thoughts. I’ve organized them under different categories for the sake of convenience.

-Rescue?-

-So, small fear, what if the team comes to rescue Hunter, but they leave Crosshair?

-Ouch, not ideal, but it has the potential to be very interesting. If he stays, what will be his role in the rise of the empire (or will he be rolled over like a bug in a wheel-rut by the machine of the Empire)? Will other people's predictions of him becoming one of the first Dark Troopers come true?

-Or maybe, since we saw Scorch this episode, he’s the clone that becomes a DT in order to emphasize War Mantle as one of the Empire’s operations as a tragedy. 

-But if they rescue Crosshair... 

-I imagine for any rescue Rex (maybe now Gregor too) is gonna help them, so they should be able to get the chip out.

-I get the feeling that if this is the case, maybe we’ll get a callback to that scene in ep. 1 between Cross and Omega where she’s telling him it’s not his fault.

-I feel like that scene from ep. 13 between Hunter and Omega: ‘“You forgive him?” “Of course.”’ will also tie into this. We may get a scene where Cross feels guilty and these two scenes come together in the Batch’s actions in order to show their forgiveness and create reconciliation? Does Cross understand they couldn’t come for him?

-I feel like he may also leave though because he’s angry and hurting at the Batch and himself. Maybe he becomes a bounty hunter or does work for the early rebellion and Echo goes with him?

-Echo-

-So there’s a clear division forming between him and Hunter due to leadership.

-I love Hunter, he’s a great dad, but I don’t think he knows what he wants/ what to do.

-He’s similar to Dogma in a way that he needs to be directed to a clear mission (he is more independent in his execution though). 

-I feel like at some point he will end up splitting from the Batch like people have been saying because their goals aren’t exactly aligned. 

-Or you know, Hunter will take a note from his book and they’ll become an even more cohesive unit, possibly joining the rebellion.

-Who am I kidding, they’ll all be involved in the early rebellion somehow.

-Hunter-

-I have concerns, considering he is Omega’s primary dad™.

-Much like with the Rescue on Ryloth episode, I’m having concerns about a traumatic death happening.I know this is everybody’s thing for every one of the more intense episodes, but what if to save Crosshair it takes his life? 

-What if he’s taken? What if, HE’S the one that’s taken by the Empire and twisted into a Dark Trooper (I mean that skull tattoo is a hell of a symbol, it’s like he’s already marked for death)?

-I imagine a scene where an older Omega encounters a DT and breaks part of it’s mask and we get a moment where she sees just enough of his face to recognise him. Like that one Ahsoka and Vader scene:

-But I also feel like it’s WAY too soon for something like that to happen though, so more likely I think we’ll finally get that dad-Hunter bear hug we’ve all been waiting for.

-Closing statements-

-I feel like the ending of the very first season will not be something traumatic like the end of the Clone Wars, firstly because we’ve literally just come off of that and because we still have to see where all the disparate story lines are going. What I think it will be important for us to see as an audience are: the rising Empire, the fate of the Storm Troopers, the early rebellion especially, maybe some surviving Jedi (?), and also (I feel VERY strongly) the underworld- thieves, smugglers, spys, mercenaries; we’re going to be seeing the changes in the galaxy from the POV of the underworld and backdoor dealings. We’ll be seeing how seemingly small things end up shaping things on all levels of the reforming power structures; I feel like all the boys and Omega will end up being right in the thick of it. 

-Or you know, Filoni could do something that comes right out of left field that none of us see coming, leaving our jaws and/or our hearts on the floor.

-A place I feel like we ARE seeing again is Kamino. With all the talk of it, Hunter’s promise that Omega isn’t going back there, and with the fate of the clones, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the space equivalent of Aran. Maybe that’s where they’ll bring Hunter after this episode? Probably. Definitely. Omega’s skill will definitely come in handy for extraction here (I can image Rex looking surprised/proud at this little tactician). Whatever happens, it will be intense and we’ll be on the edge of our seats. Maybe some of the theories that were floating around after Omega was kidnapped about the Kaminoans (Nala Se in particular) removing Crosshair’s chip in order to assure Omega’s protections will happen now? 👀

-On a final, final note, I’m not as familiar with things happening in the background of the galaxy right now and I’ve seen some people talking about Maul consolidating the gangs or something? Whatever about that, I feel like it’s more likely we’ll see him than Vader if we do end up seeing one of the big bads. Do any of y’all think we might see him, even if it’s not in the first season but at some time?

Okay, that was a lot and some of it was depressing, here’s a picture of a Silvery Blue that landed on me while weeding!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think and happy waiting for the last 2 episodes!

[oliverdant]

"The original plan was for it to be something with Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle, probably circa, like right after Episode 114, when Felicity was sort of brought into the circle of trust," Guggenheim told reporters. "The problem was that Emily was only available to us for two days. And that meant — basically, if we had a third day with her, we would have been able to tell that story. Once that didn't materialize, we were like, 'OK, well, our backup plan is do something circa [105], after Oliver and Diggle started working together and just tell us a piece of the story you didn't see, which is really the start of their relationship.' I think, as partners, and as Diggle says later, as brothers, you kind of see, as Oliver says, the proof of concept. What that relationship could be. And I think it's what was very nice and rewarding for us to see was how that and the eulogy speak to each other and you really do see how much things have changed."

Marc Guggenheim to TVGuide

Episode 1x14? ...It would have been great😢

[oliverdant]

[youregonnabneefi]

I love this episode. I have rewatched it so many times, and it never gets old. Just writing up this reaction is making me want to rewatch it again. However, if I do that, I’ll never get around to writing this discussion post, so I will refrain.

Now on to specifics:

I’m an old fart who still likes paper newspapers if I can get them, so I feel especially bad for the poor news stand guy. Also RIP Noah Bean’s character. He seemed so earnest, and I have an overlapping fondness because of his character in Nikita.

It’s so common to see skin products touting ceramides, which Walter postulates as the mechanism for the orifice-sealing toxin. I wonder how many Fringe fans now look at them and think of the show.

Mitchell Loeb quoting “part of the army” and “what was written will come to pass” really reinforces the idea that he’s a true believer, so going back a couple episodes, it once again begs the question of why he was willing to sacrifice Olivia the “rare commodity” for his wife. Of course it’s reasonable that his wife was his line in the sand, but she also seemed like she was all in, so I would have assumed they’d have had a conversation about being willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

Is it ever explained why ZFT uses the German translation for their name? We find out later that William Bell wrote it in English, which is also presumably the language David Robert Jones read it in. I know DRJ is in German prison because he was supposedly up to shenanigans in that country, but again that begs the question why set up shop there.

Whenever I see Markham now, my brain jumps to season 5. I get being a big Olivia Dunham fan, but hmm…

Broyles pinching his nose when Harris and Olivia argue in the observation room is so funny. Poor guy just wants to be able to do his job in peace. But here I am also pinching my nose at Harris. His interrogation of DRJ is useless. He doesn’t do anything other than get additional demands from DRJ, which ultimately adds to his coming off as a 2D projection of performative and useless power plays.

Every time I watch this episode I wonder if Jones was present at the Cortexiphan trials (“If I wanted to harm you, I would have long ago.”). That seems to be the implication, but I think my brain just doesn’t want to accept the idea of him around baby Olive, so it wants to reject the thought outright.

I appreciated the foreshadowing cut to Olivia when Walter reads the ZFT excerpt about the means of traveling between universes having already been discovered.

Nina always: “It doesn’t ring a bell”-- reads file –”oh yes, now I remember.” She’s one of the characters I with the show gave more depth to.

With Cortexiphan being intended to limit the shrinking of infinite brain power, I would assume the mechanism to be the prevention of synapse pruning that happens as we develop. I don’t think those pruned connections would’ve enabled humans to break the rules of physics, but it’s an interesting premise.

I remain impressed with Jared Harris’ delivery of DRJ’s lines. He navigates them with the perfect cadence, tone, and emphasis when needed.

I always wish we could see the other 9 tests. I’m sure Olivia’s reaction to every single one of them would’ve been an incredulous, “You want me to do what?” despite having passed each previous test. She has so many latent superpowers, but the strongest seems to be denial.

Speaking of Olivia, I have not mentioned her enough so far, but that’s only because there was so much going on. This was a perfect Olivia-centric episode. It showcased her determination, her investigative skills, her ability to roll with the punches, her self-doubt, her superpowers, and her backstory.

What an episode ending with the series of bombshells: DRJ not dying, the Jacksonville Cortexiphan trials, and the typewriter. What an episode in general.

[eg515]

I love this episode of Tru Calling because things are really starting to happen now. Jack is here, the dad is here, the victim said "stop him" instead of a variation of "help me". I'm so excited for what's to come. I was wondering when Jack would show up because with all the different plotlines I remembered with him, I doubted it would all fit into the 6 episodes of season 2. but starting now? oh yeah, this is fun.

it will also be fun to see how different Jack and the dad act on the relived days, see if I can catch any signs of them knowing

[eg515]

Jack is here!!! I repeat, Jack is finally here!!! 🥰🥰🥰 i love that scheming little bitch so much <3

and it's in the same episode their dad comes back, because apparently this show was never subtle