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#so plotting is less guilt-inducing rn
luobingmeis · 3 years
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i forgot how much of a monster i become when working on original stuff i am both “oh my god no one would ever read this in the first place i don’t even deserve to be writing” and “i have already imagined the interviews i would give when i’m published <3″
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brave-clarice · 3 years
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“Clarice” Liveblog: Episodes 5 & 6
Since these are extraordinarily late, I tried to keep them more concise/focused than before. I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me to (almost) catch up. And to the handful of you who’ve enjoyed these and encouraged me to do them: thank you!
Episode 5, “Get Right With God”
the music at the beginning of this episode might just be in the maintenance guy’s headphones(!) but it was still a…Choice.
there’s something so tragic about watching Clarice be unable to use her legs… :’(
this whole scenario feels like a twisted parallel universe version of the end of Hannibal.
glad to see Ardelia finally has her priorities straight and is going to fight for her best friend! let’s forget her Episode 4 subplot ever happened.
good: the warrior finding a weapon even in the direst of circumstances!
bad: those damn moths are back. at least this time they might be drug-induced.
“she worked Bill alone” no, she didn’t. not really. (Hannibal: I’m right here.)
stop trying to make Likable Paul happen, it’s never going to happen!!!
I HATE the “Reesey” nickname, y’all. HATE. IT.
plus, we know that her dad called her “Baby”?
her father’s appearance doubles down on the end-of-Hannibal vibes...Not Sure If Want.
wow, Clarice is being literally tortured? thanks, I hate it!!!
really doubt that Clarice’s Pinto used to belong to her father (who drives a truck in the books??)... weird flex.
and how would she even have gotten it? her mother would either have driven that car into the ground out of necessity or else have sold it for the money the Starlings needed so desperately.
Pintos also weren’t super high-quality cars and were definitely not built to last ~20 years.
Clarice already being able to chat with her father whenever she needs to really undermines the therapy Hannibal will eventually give her, but…I guess they’ve already accepted they’ll never make it that far?
“you’re trying to get in my head” yeah, and she’s doing it, too–’cause she learned from the best!
“you get an answer, I get an answer, Felker.” she’s Hannibal’s girl all right.
this episode’s had flashes of brilliance before diving back into…whatever tf watching one of your favorite characters of all time being tortured is.
I really wanted Ardelia to say that no, but Clarice was like a sister to her.
it took FIVE episodes to get some lamb imagery, but we’ve been looking at moths for the entire season?!
oof, Clarice voicing her own insecurities about her childhood abandonment and using them to twist Felker’s arm...painful but smart.
HANNAH!!!
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I would die 4 baby Clarice
after all that, Clarice is going to apologize to Ardelia about last week? this episode SUCKS.
Good: Clarice playing mind games with Felker like Hannibal did to her; Ardelia going to bat for her bestie, lamb flashbacks, baby Clarice, and HANNAH!
Bad: So much. Clarice being medically tortured multiple times, moth hallucinations, the several-years-premature (imo) Daddy-as-Guardian-Angel plot device, “Reesey”...did I mention Clarice getting repeatedly tortured?!
Ugly: Krendler backstory + making out with his wife. Ew.
Wow, this episode was a hot mess, and I kind of hated it. I loved Clarice’s really Hannibalesque approach to Felker, and I’m so thrilled that Hannah got mentioned at all (tho...did they need to be so heavy-handed with the helmet and gun and everything?) Also nice to see Ardelia behaving much more in-character. That said, it was sickening and imo totally unnecessary to further traumatize Clarice the way they did. To make her almost helpless.
Clarice, and by extension Rebecca Breeds (who is fantastic and deserves better), has been given very little range so far. She’s frequently been shown as miserable, afraid, desperate, traumatized, angry, resentful, but I also want to see her joyful, laughing, silly, relaxed...something else that will give her depth. Her life wasn’t miserable 24/7, 365. It was just unfulfilling. We got glimpses of this in the first two episodes. PLEASE bring it back!
And rn I’m questioning how Clarice’s career can possibly drag on for another six years after this. Her apparent PTSD is already interfering with her job performance as it is--this experience is only going to make it worse. Her “body count” in Hannibal was around five, iirc, and that was enough to slap her with the “Death Angel” moniker. In the show at least four people have died in close proximity to Clarice in the space of like...a week. How does she come back from that, even as the savior of Catherine Martin? It’s a PR nightmare for obth Clarice and the FBI.
They’ve also sort of forgotten that the Martins existed while continuing to flesh out Krendler’s (?!) character? It’s weird.
I almost don’t even want to watch Episode 6 after that. But here goes...
Episode 6, “How Does It Feel to Be So Beautiful?”
the freaking MOTHS again, I hate them!
frankly, yeah, Clarice should be on leave.
Clarice’s nondescript monochrome suits and constant ponytail are just so boring. in the book she’s described as never having to put effort into making her hair look good--so why is it always pulled back in this show?
I’m not sure it’s very in-character for Clarice, at this point in her career, to go over her boss’s head to get out of admin leave (one she really needs to take tbh) even for the sake of solving a case
lol what the actual hell @ AG Martin guilt-tripping Clarice, who was very recently tortured and almost died, for not calling Catherine back? Clarice is not Catherine’s therapist!
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THIS is what my Vogue-reading heroine with burgeoning great taste wears for a night out? so disappointing.
never in my life did I think I’d be sitting through Krendler’s personal drama in a show ABOUT CLARICE STARLING.
her costume sucks and her hairstyle’s from years in the future, but dang does Clarice look gorgeous.
and I love thinking of her getting a taste of the luxury she’ll enjoy with Hannibal. :)
you know what? I think I was actually fine with them forgetting that the Martins were in this show.
whyyy is Krendler being made so sympathetic?!
now Catherine Martin “loved to sew” just like Frederica Bimmel? hmm. (tbf, maybe this is in the novel, and I’ve just forgotten.)
her gift for Clarice is sweet, though.
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so beautiful, indeed
Christ on a cracker, that confrontation between the Martins was painful to watch (not a criticism). this show’s AG and her daughter are very much two of a kind in terms of emotional manipulation.
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I stan one (1) doofus
now either Catherine’s gaslighting Clarice...or Clarice’s trauma (over BILL! again with this!) is so pervasive that it’s twisted her memories. either way, I hate it.
so Krendler’s lawyer is dirty and that’s why he’ll (probably) turn against Clarice? but WHY? why can’t Krendler just suck?
Good: Clarice looking gorgeous, Ardelia continuing to fight for Clarice, female characters in positions of authority everywhere
Bad: Clarice’s underwhelming costumes, Clarice’s primary/worst trauma apparently STILL being Buffalo Bill & having Clarice break down crying again (and NOT over what happened last week, which would tbh make a lot more sense).
Sad: Shaan’s backstory about his wife, everything involving Catherine
Ugly: Krendler subplot. Ugh.
I just don’t know how I feel about this installment. Wish I cared more about the overarching conspiracy plot, but I’m really only here for Clarice and Ardelia. And while no show can stand on the shoulders of a single character, for a show about Clarice, there seems to be quite a bit of screentime devoted to her bosses, Martin and Krendler, and even to her team members. And all without Clarice herself getting much character development. They don’t seem to be exploring much of her character other than her traumatic backstories, and I’m no longer very hopeful that she’ll be much more fleshed out in the last four episodes, either. It’s a bummer. I really think Rebecca could shine like Jodie did if she were given a chance.
Most of the scenes with the Martins were visceral and felt so real that it was hard to watch. That said...the AG Martin/Catherine content all strikes me as being somewhat detached from the rest of the show, as if the writers are making it up as they go along with no real end goal in mind.
Man...these two were rough going. Very little humor or warmth and absolutely no joy. Of course the source material is dark, so a somewhat dark crime drama is to be expected, but I really think the show needs a slightly less intense, bleak and (dare I say it?) unpleasant episode. But they writers have really dug themselves into a hole by zeroing in on Clarice’s PTSD. And unlike in Hannibal, there’s no love interest with whom she (and by extension, the audience) can flee her misery and pain. 
I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. A lot of the ingredients are there, and despite my many criticisms, it’s been great to spend time with a character I love. Fingers crossed that they finish strong!
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