#tv review

[definitely-not-myrcury]

cooper howard was so fucking real for walking out on robert house and then immediately binge drinking. if i met walt disney in real life i would fucking do that too

[clay-number-42]

i love seeing people defend ai knowing full well captain kirk would talk it into killing itself

[yumyumpod]

Watching Killjoys for the first time: The Warrior Princess Bride

[tears-of-acid-and-sluts]

I know so many ppl are rooting for Gerran Howell to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor, but specifically for season two i’m really seeing Patrick Ball.

Dennis crawling around & being able to have fun, quietly supporting everyone and getting way more confident was very much needed this season, but the Prodigal Son Frank Langdon returning to the ER humbled, broken and accepting of his wrongs, while fighting for an ounce of approval the entire shift? Frank battling his addiction and risking his newly gained approval just to point out Robby’s own compulsion in the finale?

I really want to see that performance awarded and praised.

[nicoletteolivier]

Widow's Bay is adult Scooby Doo, and it's a fucking blast.

[dragonlizard89]

House of the Dragon S3 Finale thoughts

If there's one word to describe this episode, it's urgency. Urgency that was sorely missing during most of this season where the writers preferred to kill time with unsatisfying Alicent, Mysaria, and Harrenhal scenes instead.

Did not like Rhaenyra being a crying mess upon finding out Aegon and Sunfyre were alive. That being said, after the crying was done, it did feel like the writers finally allowed Rhaenyra to show some real personality and some cruel aspects (killing the High Septon, forcefeeding Helaena like she was a suffragette). I wish they had allowed this all season, since it seems like Emma D'Arcy pulls off unhinged queen well. They can definitely act when not forced into the waffling role they've had to endure for almost two seasons now.

Not sure why getting fired made Mysaria immediately regard Rhaenyra as a fascist (according to the actress in the inside the episode segment).

Did not like that Alys Rivers (or her son rather) was revealed to be a part of Harren's line. It's ok for some bastards in this universe to simply remain unconnected bastards. Sort of like Star Wars and Rey should've been. Her being 100 years old could've worked except for a small problem... I guess I don't really buy it from how she's portrayed. She just doesn't seem like she has that much life experience, definitely comes across more like a young woman. Does not strike me as someone who feels super cursed. I guess I'd have to reference vampire media as to how you should portray some cursed long-lived being. She just doesn't seem tortured enough for it to be true. Alys' line deliveries this season tended toward more comedic than anything.

I actually surprisingly liked the scene between Aegon and Aemond. I know it was a couple seasons of nonsensical writing to get there, but after his Harrenhal timeout, witchy influence, major injury, and poison recovery, I kind of bought that Aemond could've had regrets over being a potential kinslayer and begged for forgiveness. Tom Glynn-Carney's acting is so fun.

Why the heck did Daeron and Gwayne think their negotiation had any chance of success after the whole fake Daeron plot... Not a chance Daemon would've trusted them ever again after that, Corlys or no. Also, Gwayne saying "my boy" to Daeron just melts your heart.

Loved Ulf realizing after yet another beatdown by a highborn controller (the entitled lords really can't help themselves, can they?) that neither side cares about him or deserves his loyalty. Remember, kids, don't drink and dragon. I wonder what the heck he's going to do now that he's burned bridges with both sides.

Loved the different reactions to death by dragonfire by Ormund Hightower and Roddy the Ruin.

I can't help but compare the ladder, rock, and hot oil scenes to Helm's Deep and even Battle of the Blackwater. And I gotta say, it didn't really come across as well. I guess there's a reason why those other battles were shot at night. It really makes things look a lot better. I know, I know, I'm comparing more imposing walls to a mere market town in Tumbleton. But I think it would've required more extras and better choreography for those scaling the wall scenes to play better on the screen. As it stands, the budget was probably already at its breaking point. And I suppose it's difficult for the practical effects team to make those rubber rock props look like they have actual weight. The extras would've had to really sell it.

[hot-on-my-watch]

An "Always the Grown-Up" Rant

I know that a lot of fans are angry at Moffat and Gatiss for a lot of things, and most of all for Season Four.

I personally am mad at them for a few things. Mostly things that I can easily let slide given the immense enjoyment I've had and continue to have from their BBC Sherlock series.

But THIS FUCKING LINE!!!

A woman's wedding ring is dirty even though the rest of her appearance is carefully curated? I'll handwave it and maybe google when we started using soap.

Man wears same large thick coat outdoors in all seasons? Fine. It's England. And I have an old (autistic) friend who actually does this.

John's eyebrow says that he hasn't rung his sister, and Mary's a bread baking disillusioned Guardian reader with a secret tattoo? Hahaha why not?

Sherlock has to use his incredible mind over matter to restart his heart but also "it was surgery"? Bit much, but I'll overlook it. For you.

Evil genius simultaneously hacks every screen in the country? Eh, ok.

Secret island prison? Sure. Let Sherlock live his pirate fantasy. Let John point his gun at someone. Let Moriarty play Queen while dramatically disembarking from a helicopter.

Predicting multiple terror attacks at lightspeed from Twitter? Well, we've come this far.

I do not watch Sherlock for 'slice of life' realism and dear lord I hope no one else does. I do not WANT realism. I want to forget that I am vast majority bedbound and that people are out there having coffee and going for a pint and working at normal jobs with payslips and lanyards and spreadsheets. And generally speaking, BBC Sherlock has helped a lot with that!

But WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK were they THINKING WITH THIS LINE???

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

Sherlock is barely a fucking grown-up on his own, but I'd allow it. Especially after the "baby" jokes John, Lestrade and he himself have previously made at his expense.

But COMPARED TO MYCROFT?!?!

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK. LADS?????

WERE YOU HIGH? WERE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MINDS? WHAT THE FUCK???!!!

See, after I first heard this, I quickly recon headcanon-(is this a thing? Is there a name for this soecific thing?) -ed it into Mrs Holmes the mad genius being completely out of touch with the social reality of her children- especially as she's been so harsh to Mycroft in this scene and not massively had to look after adult Sherlock herself. Because, y'know, Mycroft was doing it!

Then I complained about it on Reddit.

To my HORROR, another user told me that Steven Moffat had said in an interview that it was meant to be taken as true. But y'know, we're all just randoms on the internet and people get things wrong.

Then another user told me they theorised that Eurus had reprogrammed her parents to favour Sherlock, which is an interesting theory.

But clearly in the script, everyone... including Sherlock and Mycroft... just quietly agrees.

What....

What is the reasoning for this?

I know some will say "mate, welcome to all of season four" or even "three and four" or all of it.

I know some people consider Mycroft a bully, but I really don't. Certainly not after the scene on the plane and the 'Redbeard' reveal.

I'm open to persuasion though. If anyone has any thoughts on this, feel free to share! I might well not agree, but I won't attack you either.

Or the writers. But again, if I ever end up trapped with them in a lift or some such... I WILL have questions!

/rant.

[pigfartsviatardis]

Ok so now that it’s finally over… I’m sad to say I did not think TVL was very good. I didn’t hate it, but I certainly didn’t like it overall. There were some good episodes (1 and 3 for sure) and some really fun scenes, and the acting was superb, but the disappointments defined it for me. If you disagree this post may not be for you, but if you’re interested, the things that disappointed me included:

The bizarre glazing of lestat. Lestat is my favourite character, with Armand a close second, but I have no interest in woobifying him. He’s awful and I like him that way. These writers seem hell bent on removing as much blame from him as possible and making him the victim of everything that happens around him. And YES I KNOW it’s his pov so of course he’d see it that way… but it’s up to the writers to keep reminding the audience of this, to present him as an unreliable narrator, to have him questioned and called out so we as viewers understand that he’s full of shit. They had no problem doing this with Louis in s1/2, and they did it excellently… yet for lestat it feels like they WANT the audience firmly on his side in all things. The Paul scene was the final straw for me… Paul HATED Lestat. ‘I’m so glad Louis has you to love him right’ and the way it was played completely sincere and unironic… fuck alllll the way off.

I am not black so this isn’t for me to say with certainty, but the writing of the black characters FELT poorly handled this season, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it should feel that way when they no longer have black writers involved. There was no need to make Claudia’s speech to Louis so racially charged, for two main reasons imo: a) maybe I’m misremembering but I never thought Claudia had huge amounts of internalised racism, yet suddenly it seemed like she hated and resented her own blackness; and b) her vicious antiblack rant to Louis was the sole depiction this season gave us of their relationship, yet lestat got a heartfelt music video with Claudia’s ghost reaching out towards him with sympathy in her eyes, and seance!claudia seemed far more forgiving of lestat than Louis. This is kind of insane to me. Again, I get that it’s lestat’s pov, but it’s the writers who choose what to present to the audience to shape their sympathies and understanding.

Following on from the above point, having Louis and Regina get body horror saw trap torture and violence while lestat is off self-therapising at a fantasy dinner party… wow. That was a choice. There’s a theme here and it’s NOT a good look.

I did enjoy the Lestat long table scenes, but I totally disengaged during the jigsaw Armand scenes, despite Assad’s wonderful performance. The reveal at the end of s2 that Armand directed the play is one of my favourite character twist reveal moments in television history. This whole ‘mwahahaha I have been secretly pulling the strings this whole time for my own sick enjoyment’ crap they tried to do with Armand this season… it just felt like a cheap, boring parody of the s2 stuff. Plus, I simply don’t buy it. Armand, to me, is not a sadistic schemer. He’s an anxious, amoral, kinda psychotic loser who is desperate to appear in control at all times but is constantly falling apart and self sabotaging. I totally believe he would manically behead his ex lovers and try to get closure from them by force; I do NOT believe that he would devise a cunning and intricate plan to manipulate and psychologically torture Louis. Not because I think he’s too good a person to do that, but because I don’t think that’s his style, and I don’t think he could pull it off.

Devils minion was low key what I was most hyped for, and I can’t even really express how completely let down I feel. The crumbs we got were so incredibly lacklustre and disjointed and nonsensical. Are they meant to be a couple now?! You wouldn’t fucking know it! I know we’ll be getting backstory etc if we get s4, but it doesn’t change the fact that we should have gotten more this season. Not more screentime, just More. More passion, more tension, more angst. I’m gonna go ahead and say it: they should have kissed, and the fact that they didn’t fits into a weird theme this season of a previously very queer show feeling oddly censored… except when it comes to the incest for some reason??? Which brings me to…

Gabriella… just overall. They really wasted this character. On paper she’s super compelling, yet on screen she just felt like a device for the writers to generate yet more sympathy for lestat. And their dynamic SHOULD have been fascinating, but it felt mostly like this grotesque gratuitous shock value gimmick. I did get a bit more on board with her portrayal in the final episode, so maybe there’s still room for her to be salvaged if we get a s4.

Soooo yeah. Unfortunate, considering how immaculate the first two seasons were. But it wasn’t all bad! Some things I liked:

The earlier episiodes I thought were far stronger in general and much more enjoyable

The lestat flashbacks were mostly really interesting

The music was really fun and cool and worked great as part of the storytelling

What little loustat we got was really nice in isolation

Akasha!!!!!

If we get a s4 I will watch and I really really really hope it’s better than this ended up being.