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#their chemistry will save all the nonsense that writers give them
anxiouslynumbme · 2 years
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I'm watching that scene on a loop. Their chemistry is truly explosive. I squealed, and I don't use that word lightly. I can't believe it actually happened. I had such little hope and expectations that them being in the same frame, just talking and then the practice kiss. . .I melted. Now while I'm genuinely happy with what we got, I can't help but hate the writers for depriving us of some basic stuff. I didn't want them to get together or kiss or anything in s4. I just wanted scenes, actual interactions, and meaningful conversations along with their signature banter. They gave us some good stuff throughout the season, but for the majority of it, we got absolutely nothing. Again, I've always loved their dynamic and pacing so much, but it suddenly shifted drastically. I believe there should be a balance and they couldn't find it. To be honest, I'm expecting the writers to backpedal in s5. I don't want them together at all right now, not for a good while. I want the angst (which I know is unlikely), but at least pining and proper buildup and development with many scenes and moments between the characters. I really hope they do the slow burn right next season. However, I'm also definitely expecting that they play the whole thing off as nothing and not even address it and that they won't do the storyline justice. But they have to be smarter than that, right? I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. Also, couldn't they have given them five more seconds to kiss? Seriously, just five more seconds. Maybe, seven. Would that have been too hard?
I can't be the only one who thought that when Tim said they should add more depth to their story and key moments, the scene was going to cut to them making out in a closet somewhere, right? I obviously knew that was never gonna be the case, but for a split second, I was like, 'key moments, you say? More depth, you say? Okay, let's get deep. Like, real deep'. Yeah, so, how the hell did we not go back to Chenford and the other characters after the parking lot scene? Is that their idea of a cliffhanger? Because, no. They could've shown them plan their next move, at the very least. I'm just gonna say it: to me, everything else in the episode was boring, unnecessary, and plain dumb. The writing is so questionable sometimes. There's a difference between humor and nonsense. We clearly needed more Angela, Harper, and Grey. Chenford quite literally saved this finale, which didn't even feel like one in the first place.
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thefcrgcttencne · 3 months
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thcfcrgcttencne - SELECTIVE  dark urge tav/companion from BALDUR'S GATE 3 | SERAS BEKAM | rogue - assassin, fighter - battle master | established jan '24 | MATURE THEMES AHEAD trigger warnings apply! - 21 + | rolled by the comedienne [ she/they] | 30+ | beta editor.
⚔ visage ⚔ aesthetic ⚔ hcs/meta ⚔ musing ⚔ caard ⚔ ask memes
⚔ Seras is an oc tav from baldur's gate 3 given to us by the lovely larian studios. He is a DARK URGE half wood elf who gives into the urge! This is crucial. There is no saving him. That being said, storylines where people try to are always welcome.
⚔ My activity level is neither here nor there, dependent on my life outside of this, and if the muse cooperates. This is a hobby, not a jobby, and our collective mental health will always come first.
⚔ Discord will be given out on a case-by-case basis.
⚔ Formatting will be minimal and ever-adapting as I relearn how this works. I've been rping in general for longer than I care to admit, but the only thing I'll hold my partners to is respect and understanding, which I will reciprocate.
⚔ I will post random one shots and drabbles to help my muse. Feel free to springboard off of them into a storyline if the urge strikes.
⚔ ships and smut - everyone's favorite topic. Seras is a multiship/multi-love interest character, but for canon purposes, @occultritch is his main LI. Discussion is required for such a line to even be considered. We ship with chemistry here. Trust needs to be built up between the writers involved. spicy aesthetics and the like might be posted here and there, but it's not my main focus here. That being said, I reserve smut for private messages, below the cut, or discord. If we're shipping, you'll have access to all. Must be 21+ to play.
⚔ As stated above, nsfw and mature themes will be present. Triggers will be tagged as [ ─  *  𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐓 ]. I will do my best to work with the cut as many of the topics approached here could be triggering.
⚔ Mains and preferred wp's are things that I'm fine with. Of course, I'm going to connect more with some people over others. That's only natural. However, if we have a storyline and you're feeling neglected, just message me. Sometimes I need a poke or a quick reminder to snap out of my tunnel vision. I'm human. One thing I do not indulge is exclusives. It's a very limiting concept and it dampens the creative process for me. It usually leads to manipulation and constant pressure to give attention to/write with and it's super triggering.
⚔ Lastly, please do not come to me with drama between writers. Unless there is an actual threat to someone I need to be made aware of, do not ask me to block or interact with any sort of nonsense like that.
⚔ DNI if you support racism, transphobia, underage characters for the purpose of smut, animal abuse, non-con, dub-con, or pedophilia.
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lonelyghosts-stuff · 2 years
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MCU Phase 4 Rant
Phase 4 has really left me feeling empty and upset with the mcu so far so i wanted to rant about it just to clear my mind. if you disagree with anything i say, that’s fine but know that your different opinion does not in any way invalidate mine.
I honestly didn't have an issue with wandavision until the end of the show when she didn't face the consequences of her actions. she didn't intentionally hurt people, but she didn't accept the consequences when she learned she did. the bullcrap about her making a sacrifice or something was so dumb. and then the criminalizing the dude trying to FREE A TOWN OF ENSLAVED PEOPLE was ridiculous. its like, near the the end of the show they realized he wasn't a compelling villain so they tripled down and made him jump from trying to save the town to straight up ATTEMPTED CHILD MURDER OUT OF NO WHERE. like yea okay, sure.
falcon and the winter soldier made it seem like tony didn't care about the others and that cap would forget about sharon. that coupled with a nonsensical plot with a weak antagonist butchered the show. "do better" and "don't call them terrorists" were terrbiel lines that shouldn't have even left the drafting phase. then the race subplot with isaiah provides further retconning and other issues but it also felt forced given the blm protests and riots at the time of filming. and then the criminalization of john who, while he wasn't a good cap, wasn't even given the chance. he at least tried but nooo it's funny when the dora milaje try to MURDER him and lemar. at least it was entertaining and mackie and stan's chemistry was brilliant. i think, even though i didn't really like the show, it has the most rewatchability of the three.
loki hurt me the most as he was my favorite character. the plot itself was fine, but the characterization of loki was terrible. they completely glossed over, yet again, what happened to him between thor 1 and the avengers 2. additionally, despite giving him more powers, they nerfed him even further. they made him into a joke and then brought in sylvie like she was his superior which is just such an insult to loki and the fans who have been wanting this show for HIM for so long. he gets made into a joke, nerfed, and set aside to set up sylvie. yea we got some nice emotional moments and confirmation that he wasn't evil, but it was done in such a rushed and sloppy way. unfortunately, owen wilson and tom hiddleston's chemistry was not enough to save this show.
and we got black widow which was just so bad. bad writing, directing, characterization, etc. characters made illogical choices, had invincible plot armor, they butchered nats character so much (yea right like she'd not check in even once on the people from her past??? we know how much family means to her! and she makes such dumb decisions in the movie too). they turn potentially great, serious and emotional moments into flat out jokes. they disrespected the character so much in order to set up yelena. i just got into marvel during the pandemic as i needed something as a pick me up as i was going through a lot of crap. at the time, i felt it was the perfect time to come into the universe with all the shows coming out. i loved the shows when i first watched them as i was riding the high of experiencing them for the first time and when they first came out, but now that i have had time to digest them and think about them more, i am upset. they ruined so much and have really lowered any expectations i have of future installments. if i see any of the same directors or writers from these projects on future mcu projects, my expectations will immediately drop.
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badapricot · 3 years
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Lovely Writer—1x9
This episode was so packed with content I needed to rewatch it to process all my thoughts.
We get an inkling of why Aey likes Gene so much from Gene’s reactions to Aey. Gene is so naive, dense, and soft, that even after Aey aggressively comes on to him, Gene is still concerned for him. And even after all of that, Gene still can’t comprehend that Aey likes him and not Nubsib. That naivety and weakness is why Aey likes Gene—it takes a lot for Gene to hate people, especially if he feels sorry for them, which seems to be the case. Gene pities Aey and tries to comfort him, even when Aey makes him uncomfortable.
Nubsib swooping into save Gene with the hand over the mouth was very K-drama-esque. I love that he didn’t attack Aey or Gene, and just gently led Gene away like, “Okay, that’s enough.”
I loved that Nubsib never thought that Gene was consenting to Aey kissing him, because he knows that Gene gets easily overwhelmed and scared. There was no stupid misunderstanding because he trusts Gene.
I have empathy for Aey but I don’t see how he’s going to be redeemed, because he seems to have no hope for himself, which is why he’s so chaotic. I also believed him when he said he didn’t like Mhok. It felt one-sided.
I liked the scene where Nubsib scolded Gene and asked him if he knew what he did wrong and Gene reacted guiltily. It shows the power swap between them in caretaker situations.
Gene was adorable and funny when he was scurrying around for the laptop and giving Sib a nonsense reason to take a cold shower. The author described them as a hamster and a wolf and seeing how Gene moves around Nubsib sometimes, I get the small animal comparison.
The horny tag around the bed was hilarious. I also appreciated the details like Nubsib having a photo of him in the rain hanging over his bed, and a headshot on his night stand. It’s so different from Gene’s condo which is mostly covered in pastel art and fandom merch, which shows their personalities.
I loved, Gene saying, “Cut the crap and just do it.” with tears in his eyes. It was really cute and in character.
The morning after scene was cute. It’s tropey but I liked Nubsib carrying Gene and them frankly talking about after sex discomfort, it was so intimate.
The scene where Aey and Nubsib had to act out a love confession after what had just happened the night prior was so cringey and hilarious. And also shows that we really should not trust what happens in front of the camera.
I loved the tiny detail of Gene wearing a cold compress to quell his post-first time fever. It made him look adorable when Nubsib looked over to him to get inspiration for his love confession to Namcha. The overlaying of the love confession with the camera on Gene was lovely.
Aey and Gene’s post-confession conversation was so tense and off. They definitely have chemistry but it’s creepier now. It’s a testament to Gene’s character that he’s still so polite to him even after what Aey pulled.
I’d like to say thank you to whoever made Kao-Nubsib come out of the shower twice in one episode. Gene drying Nubsib’s hair was really domestic and cute. Laying him out on the couch after was also hot. A gold star for, “Gene, are you wet?”
I was cringing so hard during the entire exchange between Gene, Auntie Orn, and Nubsib, when she said that she would catch any woman he was hiding up in his condo, but she bumped into Gene instead.
The silent conversation Nubsib and Gene had, when Nubsib massaged Gene’s hand and comforted him, was amazing. It’s hard to portray something like that without chemistry.
I liked the staging of the scene where Nubsib and Gene discuss coming out in the stairwell. It was purposefully dark, in the shadows, and hidden. It felt tight too, because of the arch of the stairwell. 
The entire dinner scene was nightmare fuel with the mothers acting as parallels to the common BL fangirl and their fathers acting as small minded straight men. At least until Gene pulled out the reverse uno card of the show and revealed that his father is actually a self-hating bisexual. It was so surprising I had to pause the show. I think it added a lot of nuance to his treatment of Gene and showed that trauma is cyclical. He faced prejudice for having a relationship with a man, so now he discourages Gene from being with one because he wants to protect him. It’s a lot deeper than the typical homophobic fear I expected.
Nubsib and Gene holding hands at the table and then standing outside mournfully staring at each other was very Romeo and Juliet.
I also have to say, Gene is such a strong character. After following from the pilot, I can’t believe that he’s the one that chose to out them to their parents, and the one to scream at his father like that. He’s very firm about his love for Nubsib.
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charminglatina · 3 years
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I’m done with Riverdale.
I gave Riverdale and the writers of this show so many chances to fix their shit. I gave them so many chances to write better storylines, to stop with the repetitive shit, to stop writing the same boring couples every single season, to stop with the character assassination, to stop with the fan service, to try different relationships and refreshing dynamics, to stop destroying characters/couples for the sake of other characters/couples, etc. And the show just continues to let me down over and over and over again. Last night’s episode was the worst episode in Riverdale history. Relationships were destroyed left and right, characters were assassinated and written out of character. Archie was completely OOC in last night’s episode. He was a complete fucking asshole and prick. Archie in no way looked like the hero and protagonist of Riverdale. He didn’t live up to the values, ideals and standards that he claims to have. Instead, he came off as an unsympathetic, emotionless, disgusting, cheating, fickle piece of garbage douchebag. Archie Andrews is no fucking hero and the writers completely destroyed his character within 45 minutes and a single episode. He is irredeemable from my point of view and his character is beyond repair at this point. There is nothing that can fix that mess of a character. His treatment of women in general is disgusting and misogynistic. The way he treated Betty in 5x08 was absolutely abhorrent, degrading and despicable. He acted like he had zero emotions or feelings for her and that he just used her for sex. He then dumps her and runs back to the same toxic relationship with Veronica. Even after seven years, Archie hasn’t changed or grown at all.He’s still the same stupid and immature punk that he was in high school. FUCK ARCHIE ANDREWS. He’s THE WORST main character, lead, and protagonist I’ve ever seen on any show. Not even Elena Gilbert from TVD or Lucas Scott from OTH is as horrible or badly written as he is. Archie is much more of a villain than a hero. There’s nothing that the writers can do to make Archie a good character again. His character is beyond reproach and they should be ashamed to have a piece of shit like Archie leading their show. Veronica is acting like a thirsty, desperate, trampy whore throwing herself at another man while she’s still married and the ink hasn’t even dried on her divorce papers. She has revealed herself to be an extremely controlling, domineering, conniving, money hungry and manipulative bitch. She is so fucking detestable and unlikeable. I can’t root for her character. I actually HATE Veronica now and I never thought I would say that. The writers completely butchered her character just as badly as Archie’s. It’s evident that after five seasons, the writers don’t know what the fuck to do with her character but have her be Hiram’s chew toy or having her constantly chasing after Archie like some pathetic desperate hussy. She’s become the worst character on the show and she has had zero character development. All of her storylines are the same: they either revolve around her father or around men in general. Veronica is a shallow character that lacks complexity and depth. She is nothing more than Hiram Lodge with lipstick and a skirt/dress. As someone who is Latina, Veronica is a horrible representation of Latina and hispanic women in media. Veronica Lodge is an absolute embarrassment to the Hispanic and Latinx community and I’m ashamed of her character at this point. She doesn’t represent me and I don’t want her kind of character to represent my community. RAS and the writers clearly hate Camila Mendes. I can’t say that Camila’s acting is helping matters either. Betty is an emotionally unstable, whiny, pathetic doormat for Archie and a complete fucking emotional mess. She was nothing but a sex toy/booty call for Archie so that he could get his rocks off. As soon as the sex wore off, Archie and no problem with dumping her and throwing her away ;ike a dirty tissue. And Betty didn’t fight for herself. She didn’t fight for her feelings. She didn’t stand up to Archie for disrespecting her like that and using her. Archie used her for pleasure and than acted as if she were nothing to him. And Betty just fucking took it?? Why doesn't Betty just stand up for herself for once? Why doesn’t she stop being such a doormat for him and letting Archie stomp on her feelings all the time? Does she have no self respect? The one thing that makes Betty’s character somewhat salvageble is the fact that Lili Reinhart is an amazing fucking actress and for that, you can’t help but feel sympathy for her even if she’s being written as a pathetic doormat and Archie’s sex toy. Chad is a narcissistic, abusive POS who is Hiram 2.0. What was the purpose of his character on the show? Just to cause some tension between Varchie? What a waste of an actor and character. Jughead is a pathetic drunk and a lazy bum with no purpose. His sole reason for existing is to get drunk every episode, get abducted by aliens and be saved by girls. The writers are ruining my fave character on the show. Kevin is a cheating piece of shit. He has no clue what monogamy is or what a real relationship stands for and means. He’s nothing more than a walking and talking negative gay stereotype. Reggie was completely destroyed this season. They had him turn on his friends and side with Hiram, the town bully. Reggie is a complete douche and any character development he had in the earlier seasons has vanished. The writers butchered his character horribly and it’s a shame because Charles Melton is a decent dude and actor who deserves a better storyline and material. Cheryl is a sociopath with no remorse for her horrible behaviour and she treats Toni like garbage. I don’t know how Toni can stand being with her or around her. She doesn’t give a shit who she hurts in the process as long as she is creating chaos for her own amusement. Cheryl is a horrible person and the fact that she has had no development for hasn’t changed makes things worse. Also, it’s evident that Madeleine Petsch (along with the rest of the cast, LBR), is completely phoning it in all season. Her acting is terrible and cringeworthy. At this point, Cheryl is so awful and toxic that I don't think I want her to be with Toni or for Choni to reunite in the future. Toni deserves better than this red haired creature. Toni is, once again and as usual, being sidelined. I expected this to happen sooner than later. I figured that Toni would be relegated to a support character once more or to go back to being Cheryl’s punching bag. Though Toni being sidelined isn’t really her fault or the writers fault because Vanessa is on maternity leave. As if the characters haven't been destroyed, the relationships have been slaughtered and decimated left and right. Choni is toxic as fuck. Barchie was made out to be nothing of substance but sex (plus the way they got together is sickening including the cheating and the FWB plot line which amounted to nothing in the end). Bughead is an awkward repetitive and annoying bore with no chemistry. Varchie is the worst couple on the show, toxic as hell with no chemistry and takes up too much screen time. Kangs was destroyed for absolutely no reason. The only couple that has potential to be something great and substantial is Jabitha but considering the writers track record, I expect them to ruin them for Bughead. It’s only a matter of time. Tick tock. ⏰ To top it all off, the storylines are absolutely fucking ridiculous this season. Archie with his stupid overblown hero complex trying to save Riverdale? BORING. Hiram being the same boring villain AGAIN and trying to take down the same group of teenagers he was harassing seven years ago? REPETITIVE. The Mothman/Aliens storyline? We’re dealing with fucking ALIENS??? Aliens of all things? What the actual fuck are the writers smoking?! Then there’s the whole Polly storyline which is boring and repetitive.. Try something different for fucks sake. I’m not gonna get into the whole TBK nonsense which also reeks of repetitive storytelling. There's way too many plot lines and storylines being told and it’s a jumbled, incoherent mess. There’s only so much nonsense that you can take before you finally snap and say enough is enough. I’m at that point. For me to cut something or someone out of my life for good, it’s got to be something or someone really horrible. Riverdale is one of those things. Riverdale has made my viewing and fandom experience absolutely fucking miserable. It’s caused me significant upset and emotional distress because of how attached I was to these characters and relationships. Now it seems like it was all a waste. What was the point? Why did I stick around to watch the characters and the relationships on this show get butchered? The writers don’t know what the fuck they are doing. They continue to be stuck in the same rut and a time jump hasn’t fixed that. I’M DONE. There’s no more chances. The show is dead to me as are the Riverdale cast and the writers. The show should just end this season. Season 6 should either be cancelled or shortened to 10 episodes. Stop wasting the audience’s time with this garbage.
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seek--rest · 3 years
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the iron dad fandom sometimes rubs me the wrong way when they try and point out how much tony loved peter in civil and hoco and i really don’t see it. he was a garbage mentor and abandoned peter throughout hoco. so it’s super refreshing to see you feel the same way. however i think the endgame writers did their best to make irondad more canon with tony and peter’s reunion. how do you feel about irondad (fix, content, etc) post endgame?
I think this is a good time to clarify that I like irondad. I wouldn’t write so much of it if I didn’t or if I thought Tony just didn’t give a shit about Peter at any point in the MCU.
The subtext is there and it would be hypocritical of me to say subtext isn’t enough considering spideychelle also sprung up from 2017 after (5) scenes— even if we pull from the canonical comics relationship of Peter and MJ, a lot of people are MCU specific and pulling everything out of nothing is... kinda the point of fanfic in a way. If we liked canon completely, why would we write?
However, I have and will continue to criticize how irondad fandom (in fic and in meta) perceived irondad from CW/HOCO specifically because of the absolutely bonkers racist/sexist tropes and headcanons that sprung up from those two movies alone. It’s nonsensical to me that we all can see the exact same movie where Tony canonically ignored Peter Parker for the majority of the running time and even STILL ignored him by the end and yet went leaps and bounds to:
make Flash an abusive asshole who beat Peter up to the point & took great joy in having him be threatened to be murdered by literal Avengers
killed May off in (1) sentence off screen so Tony could adopt him
made her or her partner abusive to demonize a woman who also canonically cares for and loves him
went over and above in either erasing Liz, MJ or Ned at the best or making them mean/bitchy/a joke for the sake of Peter being even more codependent on Tony and Tony alone
It’s gross and terrible and from all tropes / norms generated from HOCO alone. Like absolutely, we can create something out of nothing but come ON— you’re telling me it’s NOT racism and misogyny that was able to see Tony Stark as inherently more caring, kind, loving, gentle and treating Peter Parker like family from HOCO alone and yet COULD NOT see the same kind of potential for anyone NOT Tony Stark? Or at the very least— the bare minimum— to not make them so horrifically unrecognizable to canon in only the most negative of ways?
If you have to make the canonically good parent OOC to make the canonically shitty mentor better, then maybe there’s something to unpack. If you have to make the Brown boy who says a mean thing to Peter canonically worse— and then woobify Peter to take it personally when he also canonically did not give a shit— so that Tony Stark can save the day/bully a Brown teenager, then maybe that’s a you problem. If you have to erase Ned, MJ and Liz as friends or love interests because “you don’t see the chemistry” but have absolutely zero problem bringing in a “comics” love interest so long as they’re white or better yet Harley Keener who never even MET Peter, then maybe you’re the racist all those posts talk about.
Just because the audience knows Tony Stark outside HOCO doesn’t make it okay or as if “you’re just nitpicking cause you’re a Spider-Man shill” because Tony also told Harley Keener “dads leave don’t be a pussy about it” and no one had a problem making Tony soft and sweet and kind to his new adoptive hick son from Tennessee.
All of that to say— I LOVE fics that ignore Endgame because while I’m actually happy with Tony being canonically dead for the sake of Peter Parker having the chance to have a Spider-Man movie that’s centers on, revolves around and focuses on Peter Parker and Peter Parker’s world/problems— I am IN LOVE with the idea of Tony being that better mentor figure as Peter gets older. My own personal headcanon is that Tony cared for Peter but didn’t realize just how much until he lost him— which is why a post-EG world where he LIVES and gets to actually have a good, solid relationship with him and everyone else in Peter’s life is really important to me.
But I have not and will not continue to pretend like irondad isn’t just as racist and just as sexist as every other fandom on this hellsite. It’s the platonic version of two white dudes and as such, falls into all the same narrative foils because people can’t seem to understand that you can write your favorite white dudes bonding without erasing the canonical POC/love interests in their lives (this goes for Tony as well considering how awfully/voyeristically Pepper, Rhodey and now Morgan are treated). The problems haven’t “gone away” because we have more canonical “proof” that Tony cares for Peter— if anything it’s just taken an entirely different shade of nonsensical of FURTHERING the erasure and demonization of MJ and Ned and May and Rhodey and Morgan and Pepper.
At some point, we gotta stop pretending as if our “preferences” are created in a vacuum.
tl;dr irondad is neat. Irondad fandom is an entirely different story.
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its-chelisey-stuff · 3 years
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My 2020 in dramaland pt 1/4
I’m doing this at the start of december but I’m scheduling it to be posted on Christmas Eve, because that way I can say to everyone Happy holidays! Anyway, these are the Korean dramas I watched this year (listed in the order I saw them, NOT including my favorite dramas, those will have its own post!)
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Love Alarm (2019): I don’t think I need to say what this was about lol if you haven’t seen it, chances are, you’ve heard of it. This is like all those Netflix shows I binge in one day, hate them but still can’t help but want to know what happens next and immediately need a season 2. Btw, this drama has the type of love triangle that I tolerate the most: the men who like the girl are also BFFs and never actually turn against each other, or at least suffer because they don’t really want to hurt the other. Bros before hoes! Kinda.
OTP: Jojo&SunOh. Hate that I love them tbh. But it’s mostly all thanks to him. To me, KimSoHyun’s chemistry with SongKang is the best chemistry she’s ever had with any of her co-stars. Well, maybe it’s a tie with Jisoo. Sorry Jang DongYoon. 
Thing I enjoyed the most: Knowing there’s a second season coming. I NEED CLOSURE! Dramas should never have seasons, it’s cruel.
Do I recommend it? Uhm... Yes. But beware of old tropes like Noble Idiocy super idiotic, a FL that never speaks her mind and a whole lot of nonsense angst and pining. Hey, your average kdrama basically.
Crash Landing on You: You know she actually did crash land on him. Twice. I loved that they were so doomed, it was awesome. A forbidden and beautiful romance, they were all in for each other. He was handsome and cute I mean is HyunBin! but she was my favorite: brave, sassy, bold and a CEO. I hated when they shoot her. A pity they can only be happy in Switzerland, but I liked that about their ending. (I made a sort of review of the finale here)
OTP: Awesome chemistry, have you heard about all those dating rumors? But my favorite couple was actually the second lol. I will never forgive this drama for NOT giving them a happy ending. WTF? And that’s why it’s not in my fave’s list.
Thing I enjoyed the most: Apart from the love stories? North Korean soldiers from Captain Ri’s team. Bless them.
Do I recommend it? Oh, is there someone who hasn’t seen it? For real, go watch it. It’s a romcom for the ages. Lots of nonsense and cliches. Loved it, just *one* little flaw. ALBERTOOOO!
Witch’s Court (2018): A law drama. I never watch these types of dramas. Only did it because I had a crush on Yoon HyunMin at the time, my sister made me watch it (she also had a crush on him) and I thought there was going to be way more romance. Heavy subjects, a great mom’s love and a lot of prosecutor bs.
OTP: They were cute. Wish I’d seen more of them though.
Thing I enjoyed the most:  Yoon HyunMin. But the FL was awesome in her own right.
Do I recommend it? If you like law/criminal dramas and barely a hint of romance, this one is great. And justice is served at the end.
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Hospital Playlist: It was an adorable, peaceful and relaxing watch, not what you’d expect from a hospital themed drama. Very healing (no pun intended lol). And I loved the songs they played! The weird thing is that I kept forgetting about it, and that’s why it took me so long to finish it. 
OTP: I do have one, but not the one everyone ships: Dr Yang SeokHyung and his resident played by one awesome Ahn EunJin. She confessed, he turned her down gently, Buuu!!!. Waiting patiently for S2 and HOPE their love story develops more. Dramas shouldn’t have second seasons!
Thing I enjoyed the most: The friendship of the five besties duh
Do I recommend it? Awww but of course! if you liked the Reply Series and slice of life dramas, you will like this one. Only 12 eps but they were as long as a movie lol
WHY (minidrama) 2019: Two good friends trying to cheer up their bff who just got dumped (without any explanation hence driving him slowly into a mental breakdown and an identity crisis) by going on a Jeju vacation. In the guesthouse they’re staying, they encounter two awesome, chill and fun noonas. What you’ll see here: a moving story about heartbreak and letting go, bromance and noona romance.
OTP: While most of the time the lead was in deep heartbreak thanks to his awful ex, there was a subtle romance developing while he was healing. At the end, there’s a time jump and he’s totally in the right state of mind to completely be with her and give love another try. Lovely ending.
Thing I enjoyed the most: Jung GunJoo! AKA Dohwa from Extraordinary You!!!
Do I recommend it? Of course! It’s an adorable watch. And it only takes like 2 hours of your time, maybe less, I don’t recall. Here, you can watch it on YouTube. Also, not really a fan don’t hate me lol but there’s Hwang In Yeob as the bff of the lead. And he has a very meaningful role.
Where Your Eyes Linger (minidrama): First Korean BL drama I’ve ever watched and I’m so glad that it was a wonderful first. Given the amount of time and resources I was expecting a lot less from this but they all did a very good job. Beyond my expectations, really. Wonderful acting and such an angsty friends to lovers romance that was delightfully done. I don’t usually give out scores to dramas but omg 10/10!
OTP: THEY HAD SUCH GOOD CHEMISTRY! UGH THE ANGST
Thing I enjoyed the most: Oh, everything!
Do I recommend it? Like BL dramas and want to see more of them in kdramaland? Then YES YES YES. A thousand times YES! The reason why it’s not on my favorites’ list is because I wish it was longer.
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It’s Okay to not be Okay: It had been so long since I’ve seen a KSH drama. Since his alien days lol Plus, my sister is a huge fan. Horniest kdrama of the year, for sure. Which is hilarious since the message of the whole thing was more about family. From the first episode I was waiting for the OTP to have a steamy makeout and have sex HAHAHA You know, they actually delivered, so I was happy. My review about the ending HERE
OTP: Queen MoonYoung and her horny but super restrained caretaker, KangTae. Love them.
Thing I enjoyed the most: All hail Queen Ko MoonYoung! And the best hyung, SangTae.
Do I recommend it? Yeah. Let’s be serious for a moment lmao it was a healing drama and the ending was beautiful. A few things here and there didn’t make sense though. The mom’s comeback was crazy, but meh, what are dramas without crazy? lol I guess this is not on my favorite’s list because I wasn’t as obsessed as I wish I’d been.
Was it Love?: Mamma mia, here we go again, my my, I should have resist ya! it was ALL right there but the writer didn’t have the guts to do the story right. It COULD’VE BEEN Mamma Mia, but all the potential went to waste. THE POTENTIAL!! You want to know who the dad of her daughter is? The only dude she ever slept with, her only ex! Big surprise. The writer! There, saved you the trouble. My rant on the ending here
OTP: Well, it wasn’t the leads, that’s for sure. It’s the second leads (or was he the third lead and she the second?)who ended up together, or at least it was hinted at. The female lead had way more chemistry with the one dude she was never romantically linked to, which is hilarious to me. Ugh so much wasted potential...
Thing I enjoyed the most: Gangster dude and his son! Bless them.
Do I recommend it? Jesus, NO. DON’T. Watch Mamma Mia with Meryl Streep, instead. That’s gold and it’s what they wanted to try to do for a moment here. Still wondering how I managed to finish this...
Record of Youth: Another drama I can’t believe I actually finished. A handsome model transitioning into an actor and becoming the main provider for the family that never fully supported him and had to pay for the debt of the dad that always belittled his dreams. Underdeveloped characters, a female lead that was outshined by CAMEOS of other women(in her 1 minute scene, KimHyeYoon had more chemistry with PBG), plots that went nowhere and a terrible pairing that had very little chemistry. A ranting about the finale and my wasted time, HERE
OTP: who? Ah, yeah, I guess there sort of was one... The photographer friend and the sister of the jealous friend. Their ending was ambiguous.
Thing I enjoyed the most: PBG, he carried this mess on his back.
Do I recommend it? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA No. Please, don’t watch it.
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Private Lives: An orphan who was recluted to become a spy and works for a conglomerate that holds the power to decide the next president of Korea AND a con woman who wants revenge because her dad got sent to jail. They meet and fall in love and it’s the cutest thing ever but on their wedding day he misteriously disappears and... that’s it. Everything that happens after that makes zero sense. By the end I was more interested in the second leads.
OTP: TWO (but mostly the second couple) and the reason why I finished this drama at all.
Thing I enjoyed the most: Second leads. BokGi and Eduardo (yeah, I know that wasn’t his real name). I’d watch a drama of those two. Even if it was by the same writer.
Do I recommend it? Well... not really. LOL If you’re interested to know more about it, read my “recaps” of each episode HERE or read about the last ep here. You’ll understand about the same as if you were to actually watch it, but you will not waste your time. I hope? LOL
Start Up: A grandma with good intentions, a FL that lost it all as a kid, letters that weren’t really that genuine, a rich, cocky and petty jerk who wasn’t the ML (I mean by definition he had everything to be the male lead lol) and the actual ML (a genius who suffers from the biggest case of Impostor Syndrome I’ve ever seen). No one except for the FL mostly is honest. A time jump that was there just for the sake of angst and not quite done right. Also, making a business with your friends involves a whole lot of nonsense and drama. And a “love triangle” that drove the fandom to madness. And wait, the sister was the second female lead? She was more secondary than the secondary characters. This drama is seriously not what it seems at first lol
OTP: DalMi&DoSan. Adorable. The oly reason I finished this. From the moment they announced the cast and learned who the leads were, I knew I was gonna ship them. And that’s how I never get SLS lol
Thing I enjoyed the most: The answer to that question is HERE
Do I recommend it? Honestly, yeah. Just turn off your brain and never discuss it on social media. Binge it and move on with life. Not the best drama, but tbh not the worst. Well it is the worst by the writer lol Wow it sounds like I hated it, but it’s just that the fanwars really got to me haha and it’s all so recent, but I actually did love the love story and the grandma was a treasure.
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isthemicon · 3 years
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I was looking for the most viewed and least seen episodes of gg, and I noticed that the most seen ones have cb at the center of the action, instead the least seen ones, concerned s5 especially the episode of Valentine’s Day and the first time db.. surprises you?
I was planning on answering it with a short answer how it doesn’t surprise me because it is a very well known fact that Chuck and Blair were, still are and probably always will be the most popular ship among the audience. Their love story is one of the most recognizable things about Gossip Girl, next to fashion and Blair and Serena friendship, it was the driving force of the show as it simply captured the audience.
So that’s the short answer but I wouldn’t be me without going into a rant, so here’s the longer answer to the question why it doesn’t surprise me.
It absolutely does not surprise me. People can share their thinkpieces about the toxicity of the show and of some stories that were there (I personally find some of those opinions very shallow and they do make me roll my eyes as the show never tried to act as if they presented honorable and good people, it was always very honest about its negativity, I mean just take a look at their famous campaign for s2, and people who act surprised and are making essays on how they showcased negativity make me laugh as they act as if they only just now have discovered it). But as I said they can write about it all they want, and they are not right or wrong for disliking that type of stories they just have their opinion but the stastical fact is that that sentiment isn’t shared by majority of the audience even outside Gossip Girl. And that is also not right or wrong, liking the over the top drama and the darker tones of fiction doesn’t say anything about your life, it just means you like that type of fiction and frankly it also makes me angry when people try to shame others for enjoying that type of content I mean honestly it’s nothing too serious, it’s just a fiction not a global warming having a different opinion on that doesn’t make you a villain. People love drama in their fiction because they enjoy the escapism of it, they enjoy the high stakes, the emotions filling every scene, they love constantly asking “will they? won’t they?” when it comes to parings. Fiction gives them emotions that most of us (thankfully) don’t experience in life that’s why it’s so popular because it gives a chance to feel something else. It’s just like Blair once said “People don’t write sonnets about being compatible. Or novels about sharing life goals and stimulating conversation. The great loves are the crazy ones.”. And that is the essence of the popularity of the drama in fiction, if everything is going well and it’s all nice and people don’t have problems there’s nothing to explore, nothing to talk about. Sure you want that stability in your life but you barley ever want that in your fiction as you want to be drawn to those stories and want to wonder what will happen next, wonder if your beloved characters will at the end of their troublesome road find a happiness and furthermore if that happiness is truly at the end of the bumpy road that was full of twist and turns that happiness is that much better. It is better because you feel like your characters after everything they’ve been though truly deserve to be happy.
Chuck Blair had people involved with their story, because life with them was never boring. You could feel their love for each other and their desire to be together and you knew they will be happy once they settle down but their life wasn’t easy and that made it interesting. Because you knew what they wanted and you wanted the same for them but the question was will they be able to get that. And it helped that they had an amazing chemistry that made you see fireworks when they were together, it helped that when they were apart you could feel their agony. Their pride and mistakes made you angry but when they move on from them, when they set that pride aside and got things right that felt like a holiday. The show was over the top and so were the emotions and that’s what made it so easy to be involved in it. People love drama, we love things that are beyond anything we can experience in our daily life because it is simply more.
As for why the late s5 was so unpopular I think it is very obvious. And it is not just the fact people disliked Dan and Blair together, I mean they did and it didn’t help that in opinion of lots of people they didn’t have a chemistry and that the relationship felt weird because it was obvious Blair wasn’t in that relationship for real. I feel like with putting them together in a way the writers did which was very clearly just to prolong the endgame that both writers and majority of the audience wanted they pushed viewers too far. Viewers sat through all those seasons of Chuck and Blair fighting to be together, they sat thorough the pain of watching Blair marry a man just to save Chuck, Blair denying her own happiness because she believed it would save Chuck’s life, Chuck choosing Blair’s happiness over his own etc. And they sat through it patiently because they were told by characters that once they are free to make their choices they will be together, the audience was told that once Blair will be free from Louis and his blackmail she and Chuck will get their happy ending only for writers to be like “you know what? We will make them and you suffer more just for shit and giggles, they will be endgame but you know what we will try one more storyline even though the show is ending and we have limited time”. Dan and Blair angered people because it was obvious that they were written just because writers wanted to stretch the story, they were written just to make it longer and to shock viewers one more time. But viewers were done with it and they were pushed over the edge and to them it stopped being funny or enjoyable or entertaining it was just as if the writers felt like they could do anything they want to their audience and they would just sit and accept it because in the end they will get what they want. You can’t do that to fans, they are prepared to accept a lot when it comes to fiction but it has to make sense and it can’t be so clearly just prolonging the ending.
On the last note I love the fact that the moment Chuck and Blair started working together in (5x22) the ratings went up, I love that it was basically viewers telling writers and producers “see that’s what we like, we knew you could do that, now end that nonsense that still exists in some scenes and let’s make Chuck and Blair happy” and that’s what they did when Chuck and Blair reunited two episodes later and then got married and now they live happily ever after. That’s the beauty of drama that in the end the pain you have to go through is worth it because in the end non of it matters, all that matters is seeing Blair and Chuck getting married and having a baby in the flash forward, yes they’ve been through hell but now they have a lifetime of happiness ahead of them.
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It is funny that the writers cant get the audience to agree with them on Rio. I mean on the surface, we have a man who shot Dean after whooping his ass, and then kidnapped Beth to force her to murder a cop, then decided to take out a whole bunch of lae enforcement and have little Lucy murdered. And I'm still like yeah but what's his back story lol. Obviously I'm not pro these actions. But also he's the only intriguing character. So with out him what am I watching for. Beth always fucking shit up and then they give her magical epiphanies to save the day? Annie constantly self sabotaging. I don't want to see The Hills tortured anymore. Sure the girls have chemistry and their chats are fast and funny. But when still have so much Dean it's just meh. And my final bitch will always be they gave Beth to many kids lol, and they are the least interesting kids on the show. All right sorry my rant is over. I just hope they course correct this season. I don't care how. Keep visitation with Dean limited. Have Beth and Rio actually work for a common goal. Let Stan get a better job.
I think one of my major problems with gg writers is their lack of commitment to their characters. Not the plot but the characters. Sometimes I wonder if Jenna and Jason (the 100) are friends cos damn they both use their characters to further nonsensical plots. Rio was smart in the first season, so was Beth and the other two girls actually have storylines that explore them rather than storylines that use them to service a plot. But in order to accommodate narratives that stem from dumb decisions, they forget their characters and probably the plots they have even set for them. Let me point out some plots that have affected the girls and every other character on the show.
Dean's redemption arc: this story took Beth to the stone age period and undid any character growth. To be honest, a lot of folks would have fucked with Beth more if the writers had chosen to address a lot of the garbage associated with Dean and allows Beth the freedom and the identity that she deserves. I have never seen a character more imprisoned by lazy writing.
Brio: yes, brio is a problem for both characters involved but more for Rio cos the ship limits his expansion into the narrative. As soon as Rio became a potential love interest, everything about this character also became stuck. He doesn't have interactions with other characters except for Beth. Can you guys imagine the potential of a Dean and Rio interaction without Beth in the scene? Or a Rio, Annie, and Ruby interaction(2*10 doesn't count cos can you imagine the nonsense that was?). Brio even became more problematic for Rio after the shooting and in order to tell Beth coming of age crime story, they had to make Rio dumber than ever. He could always read Beth before but now she's playing him left and right and yet the creators keep saying he's a smooth criminal. Uhn?
Dr. Incoherent: there is nothing more that I hate than this storyline. I love Annie, she's my favorite character amongst the girls and while the show has been consistent with their writing of Annie always latching to all these average white boys that could all play brothers in a cheap horror movie, they did her dirty with this stupid storyline. I think they have no problem telling us that Annie is a mess, they are still not above using all these guys to drive home that point without any significant growth. I hate everything that this dude represents, he creeps me out and I hate the fact that in order to accommodate their consistent white boy shit, they made a fool of such a nice profession just to what again? Have Annie talked about her mess without actually working on herself? And the power imbalance? Ew!
This got out of hand, haha but what I am trying to say in essence is that there are some writing choices that make absolutely no sense and are a damn problem for the characters making some characters interesting and others annoying as hell. When I say interesting, you already know who. And as for the Hills, I genuinely don't want to comment on them cos you already know it's going to be a fucking essay with them but you are right LET STAN GET A BETTER JOB!
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deans-haunted-baby · 3 years
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Curious. What do you mean by Dust till Dawn going against it's Characters? I know I have my own feelings, or confusion, with how they left Kate's story.
From Dusk Till Dawn effectively character assassinated every single character in the very last episode including Kate Fuller. No one is acting like themselves in that series finale it's like some deranged fanfic writer came aboard and hijacked the show while no one was looking. If you thought 15x18 & 15x19 of Supernatural were bad and believe me they really are; those episodes are minorly salvageable against the slaughterhouse that Dusk 3x10 was. It utterly contradicts and ignores everything the show put forward in all 3 seasons. I will never watch that episode again.
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I'll first explain what that piece of shit did to the show's lead protagonists, the Gecko brothers. Regardless of how you or anyone else feels about Supernatural's series finale; that show was a saint to Sam and Dean's storyline beginning to end compared to how From Dusk Till Dawn definitively butchered Richie and Seth. I'm sad saying this because Zane Holtz and DJ Controna are outstanding as these characters. I freaking love their chemistry man, it's a great rival to J2! They're the badass dark clones of the Winchesters.  Their arc starts out fascinatingly complex because they went from cold-blooded criminals/bad guys and meanwhile during their escape over the Mexican border with this hostage family the audience is told pretty quick by Professor Aiden Tanner that the Geckos are destined to become these foresworn warriors The Mayan Hero Twins in an ancient prophecy (based on real Mesoamerican lore) who battle the Underworld. So right away the show is telling us ahead where Seth and Richie are suppose to end up in their journey and when you introduce a storyline this big I expect a satisfying payoff.
At the end of season 1, Richie Gecko is *SPOILER ALERT* transformed into a culebra (snake-vampire) while Seth Gecko remains human symbolizing their night and day Hero Twin counterparts from the legend. And they're separated in the first half of season 2 where both try to navigate this new supernatural world they've stumbled on individually. What they find, no different than the Winchesters, is that neither can function properly without the other making their destiny all the more valid. That season is practically constructed like their swan song to the criminal lifestyle since the brothers are meant to become more than crooks; and since Richie's a vampire they can't ever go back to basics. Their adopted father aka uncle Eddie actually says the line "this is my swan song" in 2x07 to Seth and Richie in reference to their final heist together which is not a coincidence. That's the writers telling us that the Gecko Brothers' role in the show is going to shift from anti-heroes to heroes very soon. Eddie and Kate Fuller's fates in S2 act as the primary catalysts for this transition taking shape in the finale.
Going into season 3 it's business as usual for the boys until the prophecy of the twins officially rips a hole in the damn universe via demon queen Amaru. Who's now possessing Kate. Throughout that season Seth and Richie embark on a journey of heroism; find themselves battling monsters, actually saving civilians and dealing with their own personal demons (guilt and remorse over past sins). That year is presented as their redemption arc and final phase into their new role. No one ever tells them about their destiny (despite most of the other characters knowing) but we as the audience are already aware as we watch the brothers in action. The best episode is without a doubt 3x06 the crown jewel of From Dusk Till Dawn because it's about overcoming the darkness inside. And who best represents that than Richie; the show's most important central character whom began the series as a deadly clairvoyant criminal into the tortured vampire hero struggling with his own humanity. Now I won't spoil the whole episode for anyone who hasn't seen it or the show in general but it's an incredible moment of character development for both the Gecko brothers. Not only does it cement their powerful bond it's the episode that defines who these two are once and for all. The ones who lead the battle between good and evil; keep the balance of light and darkness. One day I plan to do an entire analysis of that episode because it's so fucking brilliant and shot so incredibly eerie at the same time 😁
You want to know what 3x10 does to these characters? It shits all over their entire storyline and pisses away THREE FUCKING SEASONS of character development. Just flushes it all down the toilet rendering everything they've ever done up to that point completely pointless! Their destiny which is the WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW is suddenly dropped last minute and the Geckos hit reset on their former criminal escapades; dragging Kate along with them. I hate that finale with the fire of a thousand suns for what it does to Richie and Seth 😡
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Moving on to Carlos Madrigal. He is the best villain character in the history of show villains hands down. I can actually say that without blinking. Wilmer Valderama is phenomenal, he steals the show as Carlos. He's is so freaking awesome, evil and badass! I just want to keep seeing this man tear things apart while being the sexy asshole he is 😈For all intents and purposes I don't want to spoil his whole storyline on the show for those following me in case they're interested. But what I will say is 3x10 destroys this character; so don't watch it if you want to keep the memory of who he was alive. I'm actually depressed over what was done to him as much as I feel sorry for Wilmer having to perform that shitty script. It's laughable in a very bad way. Gotta hand it to the writers and showrunners of FDTD they certainly knew how to humiliate their best characters in this series. Carlos basically goes from charismatic yet lethal Hannibal Lecter to a very captain obvious Gandolf caricature. Yah you heard that right, it's really fucking sad.
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Next we have Freddie Gonzalez; the audience's avatar into the series. This character is connected to everyone on the show for a reason because of the crucial part he plays in this universe. The "Peacekeeper" destined to police the line between the supernatural world from the human world. In the beginning he's a Texas deputy on a quest to avenge the murder of his father figure/partner Earl McGraw via the Gecko Brothers. But once he steps in that territory of monsters there's no going back. And FDTD repeatedly tells him and the audience this in the first 2 seasons. But then 3x10 pulls the ultimate fuckery by giving him the most cliched, nonsensical hallmark ending effectively cancelling out his entire purpose in the series. He instantly forgets that he ever cared about Kate, watching her bleed out on the ground, then leaves the Geckos high and dry rushing his family (who isn't injured) to the hospital. And he stays there while the battle continues 😣
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Kate and Scott Fuller OMG words cannot describe my anger over what was done to them so I'll make it fast. I'll begin with Kate the bright light and heart of the series. Her arc in the first two seasons is excellent. It's emotionally driven because she begins as an ordinary girl in broken yet seemingly-happy family to a young woman finding her way around the supernatural world maintaining her faith and moral compos while trying to help her brother after he's *SPOILER ALERT* been turned into a vampire; paralleling the Geckos's situation. Scott being only a 16 year old kid, like Richie, struggles immensely after his transformation; searching for meaning as a cursed individual and coping with his duality. He was already different to begin with so being a vampire adds some interesting layers to his character.
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Btw Kate plays a vital role in Richie and Seth's lives, though in my opinion is more strongly connected to Richie. The show even goes as far as developing the early glimpses of a romantic arc between Kate and Richie (seeing as they kiss twice) with angst at the end of season 2 that is never resolved. You want to know why it wasn't? Not only does season 3 mute Kate's voice and agency but 3x10 ruins her character and demolishes her whole arc with Richie (who spent all of season 3 trying to save her) at the last second due to fan pressure of those who shipped her with Seth. They don't exchange one word nor barely look at one another it's like seasons 1&2 never happened. This is the biggest fuck you to fans of these characters I've ever witnessed in a series and they did my boys Adam and Michael so dirty in Supernatural. Poor Scott whom the show enjoyed kicking around all season barely gets a thing to do in that series finale either than listening to his sister and Seth gab about prom lol. Yah you heard me I'm not making this shit up I swear. Then he gets abandoned by Kate while she goes off to be a bank robber with the character assassinated versions of Seth and Richie. How extraordinary 😖
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Santanico Pandemonium is really the only character in the series who manages to get out unscathed. HOWEVER her arc is handled very poorly beginning to end. They set up an arc between her and Seth that also goes absolutely nowhere. Give her zero closure with Richie whom she sired, dated and used in S2. And randomly throw her in a scene with Kate that makes no fucking sense after these two had nothing to do with one another all series. On top of that Santanico is barely in season 3 so by the time the show wraps her arc feels incomplete.
Other characters go missing that no one notices, the new bad guy whom they've set up at the end is just left hanging. And Richie Gecko, you know the show’s other lead, is horribly sidelined after 3x06 to make way for the Seth Gecko solo show. When I say FDTD series finale is bad I mean it's really fucking terrible and blasphemous.
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reachexceedinggrasp · 4 years
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Fated to Love You here reaffirming my long held conviction that no pure romance drama should be 20+ episodes.
This show is... really something. It is, in the fullest possible sense, A Lot. It starts out as an all-out screwball comedy wrapped around a troperiffic romance fluff plot. Wall to wall clichés, but not in a bad way; in a meta, self-aware, peak performance, finest Velveeta way. And if you’re not familiar with screwball comedy, think ‘light-hearted crack fic with slapstick and farce’. There is nothing believable or grounded about any aspect of it, it starts at Bonkers Level: Platinum and it only climbs higher as it goes on.
(On a side note, this results in the leading man being possibly the most memorable love interest in romcom history. His introduction scene is nothing short of batshit insane and you can't reliably predict how he will respond to anything. I have never seen a main character like this, he is all over the shop and utterly singular. Your first reaction to him is ‘wtf?’, your second and third reactions are ‘really?! this guy??’, your fourth reaction is ‘okay he do be mad hot tho’, your fifth and final reaction is ‘I cannot believe this performance exists, I have no idea what he is doing, but it is amazing.’
Appropriately(?) the actor who plays him is an uncanny Korean doppelgänger of Johnny Depp and- between the resemblance, the mannerisms, and the fearless total commitment to a bold as fuck acting choice with the very serious chops to back it up- I’m not convinced they aren’t half brothers separated at birth.
They do sabotage my happiness several times by starting to randomly style his (long, beautiful) hair very weird, fixing it right when the plot is rapidly circling the drain so he looks his hottest just as the show becomes briefly unwatchable, and then ruining him for the entire second half of the series by shearing it all off. WHY, my anguished cry goes up. Why do you do this?! Why does he have like seven hairstyles over the course of the show? Much later they even briefly give him that ubiquitous Kdrama Second Lead haircut with weirdly forward combed fringe in a solid straight line across the brow all the way back from the crown. It looks terrible on everyone and I hate it so much. This version was less bad than most but it is still bad. Anyway.)
So it’s an incredibly fun time to start but there are some problems with the tone and plot even in the first 9 episodes, including when the lovers start getting along really well right away and they’re both thoroughly decent people so there’s nothing keeping them from having a lovely time together making the best of the circumstances (forced/fake marriage). And, instead of introducing new conflict or advancing one of the dozen conflicts previously established and actually moving forward, there is a painfully contrived rehash of something they already dealt with which is then just never resolved. They make the hero leap to a conclusion his wife is nefarious after he’d already decided once that she isn’t (though it was completely reasonable for him to think she was- the fact that he decided to trust her so quickly just speaks to what kind of person he is), never try to find out more or talk to anyone about it, start pushing her away because of it, and have all this come to absolutely nothing. It only exists so he’ll stop being so incredibly nice to her and they won’t fall in love too fast.
You’d think they would have to eventually clear the air before the romance advances right? No. It wasn’t a real plot point, it was just a reset button to get them estranged and hostile again after they connect over their kindred spirits and we’ve spent a bunch of time showing how profoundly supportive and honourable our hero is. He’s being beautifully mature and selfless because he’s a really good dude (unusual for a romcom drama, right? for the main guy to be nice and considerate? to accept responsibility even if he doesn’t have to? Gun’s weird but he’s wonderful), but the writers need him to be cold and standoffish, so they just make him act like an unreasonable idiot for a while. He’s been thus far hugely proactive and direct and honest about everything, it’s one of his most prominent character traits, but suddenly he’s going to avoid confrontation in favour of being super passive aggressive?? Then the writers never solve it. Never! It just goes away. He got over it, I guess? He decided he doesn’t care if she’s a gold digger who deliberately trapped him? God forbid we have motivations that make sense and organic character drama, right? It's not like he didn't have totally valid reasons to be suspicious that could have led to legitimate conflict our heroine would struggle to vindicate herself from.
But anyway, apart from that kind of lazy bullshit, it’s a fine romance plot with extremely endearing characters who have great chemistry. They are fun and well-rounded and incredibly human despite all the silliness and OTT antics. Their relationship is hugely, hugely engaging and the dynamic is perfect, they really complement each other as characters and organically drive each other's arcs. There's the genuine depth and warmth and quiet pathos so often lacking from this kind of show. Things progress at a semi-reasonable pace. They work up to confessing their mutual feelings and get into some cute shenanigans before making out. It happens soon enough that you are not frustrated, but there's still plenty of build-up. Then- uh oh! We’re only 9 eps in and we have another 11 hours to fill with this fluffy plot!
Time for a bunch of absolute fucking nonsense. Time for our show, which has been so goofy and removed from reality it occasionally resembles a Monty Python skit, which has been so light it asks you to ignore the frankly incredibly fucked up implications of its premise for the sake of comedy (they were both drugged and proxy raped resulting in a pregnancy- the FL was a virgin prior to this and Gun had a girlfriend he wanted to propose to- and it was the FL’s family who did this to them: SUPER FUCKED UP), so farcical that it makes Some Like it Hot look like a gritty crime drama, that show to cover a bunch of serious heavy shit.
First, the rankest of melodrama. The families and the world all turn on our couple, but their love is true and will conquer all- UNTIL, he randomly collapses and gets convenient Soap Opera Amnesia. He’s forgotten their entire relationship and a series of coincidental pieces of misconstrued evidence, the machinations of his scheming ex girlfriend, the Soap Opera Doctor’s advice, and his closest confidants all going along with this conspire to make him believe (AGAIN) that his wife just wants his money.
This whole terrible episode is mercifully brief, but it just gets worse after his memory returns. This is where we get into the Noble Idiocy. The ‘pretend you don’t love them to “save them” from getting hurt by hurting them and making their important life decisions for them as if they don’t have a basic fucking right to decide that themselves’ kind. Which goes on for three FUCK years in the show. He wastes three years of their lives they could have spent together because he’s worried he might die young (in a terrible way) and doesn’t want to put her through that. And, of course, they inevitably get together later, so all he did was make it infinitely worse for her either way. To say nothing of how he thus couldn’t be there for her through the loss of their child. Possibly my most hated fucking trope of all time when done this way.
And, yep, you read that right. This show that has the single most batshit bonkers over the top slapstick I have ever seen in a kdrama, this show has a storyline where the fluffy romcom trope accidental pregnancy ends in massive trauma. Because she was standing around in the street after realising he does remember her (he continued to pretend he had amnesia after his memories came back, it’s all part of the stupid noble idiocy so I glossed over it) and gets hit by a car in the middle of their angst staring.
It is nearly Meet Joe Black levels of hilariously abrupt and incongruous.
so, blah blah, they lose their baby (there’s a very stupid whole thing about her telling everyone to save the baby instead of her- the baby is not far enough along for this to have been remotely viable. She is like 3 months pregnant. They all act like there’s a choice to be made between them and she’s mad at her husband for choosing to save her, but there was NO CHOICE. Either she lives or they both die! ffs I’m so irritated about this) and then he dumps her ~for her own good~~ because he loves her too much to make her go through losing him? So she loses him sooner?? right after their baby died???
Why do people in these stories always think being betrayed and abandoned for no reason and being incredibly angry at someone you love while also not getting to be with them is somehow less painful than making the best of your life together and then losing them against their will? ‘I will make her hate me and then she won’t be sad we broke up/I died!!!!’ is such a fucking galaxy brain take and I despise it with the heat of ten thousand suns. Fuck you, Spider-Man. You aren’t protecting anyone, the villains still know you love MJ and will still use her against you, you clod. Emotionally torturing the person you love is not going to make them not a target because the villains are not as fucking stupid as you two. Anyway.
Amnesia was right where I started fast-forwarding and skipping around (because I couldn’t bear it), but it only goes downhill from there. Maybe I would have toughed out more of the wretched middle part plot twist if they hadn’t cut all the hot guy’s hair off. If I’m going to watch total nonsense tedious melodrama, I need it to at least be pretty. I understand it was a Symbolic Haircut but damnit! Let me have this!
And it ultimately does the thing that kdramas seem obsessed with and which makes me want to claw out my own eyeballs with frustration. There’s a giant time skip, the female lead gets a personality transplant, all narrative momentum is lost, and the characters who eventually (at ENORMOUS length) get together permanently are essentially completely different characters with a completely different dynamic than the couple you were shipping for 90% of the story. It is so FUCKING unsatisfying and it is EVERYWHERE.
Not so much with this one because this one still had a lot of very romantic scenes late in the game, but most that do this, it’s also like all the romance is sucked out of the post-time skip episodes and the ending is a consolation prize instead of a triumphant culmination. Inevitably, the heroine abruptly cools off and is suddenly wary of the hero and wants this Important New Career she never mentioned until the penultimate episode but is now her one true life’s dream. What the apparently irresistible appeal is of these contrived separations and demure conclusions is I CANNOT FATHOM. I’m here for the fucking romance guys, you have not made Citizen Kane, please just indulge me with a big schmoopy finale.
And if not that, it’s frequently that there’s been so many random mood swings and so much shitty behaviour by the end that the relationship doesn’t make sense and you don’t know why they even bother to get back together.
I’m not inherently against all misunderstandings (they are the bread and butter of low stakes romance let’s be real) or attempts at noble idiocy from misguided characters, but the duration and seriousness of the drama these generate needs to be in proportion to how ridiculous they are. If your entire plot can be solved by a thirty second conversation there is NO REASON not to have and the continuation of the misunderstanding is a result of someone just NOT SPEAKING UP when any functional human being would have spoken up seven times by now IT’S BAD.
Do little cliff-hangers, whatever, but don’t draaaaagg out silly misconceptions into Shakespearean tragedy, it’s just wearying. It makes me hate the characters for acting like emotionally constipated toddlers with terminal stupidity. If there is so little trust, so little understanding, and so little basic patience between these people, they probably shouldn’t be dating, so try fucking harder, writers. And noble idiocy that is more than an impulse they fairly quickly see the error of is just insulting. You are not helping the other person, you are being domineering and selfish. I have a whole complex about wasting time and seeing endless parades of characters flushing years down the toilet for literally no reason gives me hives. Especially when the whole issue is about time!
(And, btw, so much of the plot is about how desperately the family needs an heir and everyone still wanting them to have kids the second time they get together- while the ~dilemma used to keep them apart is a GENETIC DISEASE which could STRIKE AT ANY TIME. Do you SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS WRITERS????? NO, I KNOW YOU DON’T. ommmmmmmmggggg that’s awful! So they’re just dooming more kids to Soap Opera Brain Disease? And maybe growing up without a father just as Gun did? And no one even considers suggesting adoption??? He never considers that he shouldn’t have biological children despite thinking he shouldn’t have a wife?)
ANYWAY. Please do watch the first nine episodes and the last three, it’s bananas. They are cute as fuck, Gun is The Best, and the tropey romance scenes are top quality. You don't get those things executed so well, it doesn't happen, so you need this in your life. The acting is of a calibre you never usually see in modern romcoms; these are people at the top of their game committing utterly and taking these characters completely seriously. In that way it is pure wish fulfilment for me as someone who loves romance and is almost always disappointed by popular romance media, and thus the show is incalculably special. But skip the middle. Just skip it. It's not worth the suffering. I find the tone whiplash honestly just this side of crass.
I’ve been thinking about it for over a week and I truly love the main characters so it did plenty right, but I just cannot with wedding the two things this show is trying to be together, especially when it goes so hard in two mutually exclusive directions. but also the Meet Joe Black sudden car accident device is not redeemable under any circumstances. Can we never do that again, please.
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nitrateglow · 4 years
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Favorite film discoveries of 2019
Every year, my new-to-me favorites list always shocks me in some way. This year, the sheer amount of movies made in the 2010s on display is INSANE by my standards. Of course, most of the modern movies here are throwbacks or tributes to older styles of cinema, so maybe it’s not that shocking in the long run.
Another running trend this year: movies that are old but not as dated as we would wish. Many of the older films here deal with xenophobia and political strife in ways that still feel shockingly prescient today-- the more things change...
ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD (DIR. QUENTIN TARANTINO, 2019)
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I never thought the day would come where my favorite movie of the year would actually be made after the 1970s, let alone by Quentin Tarantino. Then again, this movie is all about the end of Old Hollywood as well as a big love letter to the 1960s, so maybe it’s not that shocking a state of affairs. I adored this movie, the level of detail, the laidback yet elegaic vibe, the comedy and the relationships between all the characters. It was one of those movies where I loved even the scenes where nothing seems to be happening at all-- I mean, who knew Brad Pitt feeding his dog and watching TV could be entertaining?? But it is and I can't wait to see this one again!
INTENTIONS OF MURDER (DIR. SHOHEI IMAMURA, 1964)
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Intentions of Murder has an insane premise, one that runs the risk of being tasteless: a housewife in a miserable, exploitative marriage is raped by a sickly burglar during a home invasion. Even worse, she can’t shake him, as he’s suddenly infatuated and wants her to run away with him to the city. And weirder still: her current existence is so miserable that she’s TEMPTED. While abuse and rape are grim subjects for any story, Intentions is actually about a woman coming into her own and finally standing strong against all these men trying to use her. It’s a weird blend of drama and dark comedy, a truly savage satire on patriarchy and class-snobbery.
JOKER (DIR. TODD PHILLIPS, 2019)
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I went into this movie expecting to think it was overhyped and when I first left the theater, I was all ready to say “it’s good but not THAT good.” But it ended up haunting me for weeks afterward, and I found myself thinking about how everything just tied up so well together, from the grotty urban hellscape which serves as the setting to Phoenix’s brilliant performance. It reminded me a lot of A Clockwork Orange in how intimate it lets you get to this violent man while never pretending he is someone to be glamorized or imitated.
SIMON (DIR. MARSHALL BRICKMAN, 1980)
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How do I even describe Simon? Alan Arkin is brainwashed by a group of overpaid intellectuals into believing he is descended from an alien toaster. Then he gets a messiah complex and starts gathering disciples as he rails against television, condiment packets, and muzak. It’s a little uneven at times, sure, but the satire is really inspired. The whole thing is like a combination of Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, and Woody Allen’s styles, and it is quite hilarious for those who thrive on cult oddities.
PEEPING TOM (DIR. MICHAEL POWELL, 1960)
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Though it came out the same year as Hitchcock’s Psycho and has been nearly as influential for horror cinema, Peeping Tom remains underseen by everyone save for film theorists. And what a shame that is, because this movie is more frightening than Psycho. Sure, that may be because Psycho is so predominant in popular culture and just so influential that it no longer has the same shock value, but there’s something about Peeping Tom that gets under my skin, something sad, even disgusting. I felt dirty after watching it-- and this is 2019!
MIDNIGHT MARY (DIR. WILLIAM WELLMAN, 1933)
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Loretta Young got one of her juiciest roles in this pre-code crime drama. Her Mary Martin is more than just a good girl forced into criminal circles-- she’s a complicated creature, compassionate and desperate and lonely and bitter and sensual all at once. This movie is a fast-paced, beautifully filmed ride, cloaked in that Depression-era cynicism that makes pre-code Hollywood of such interest to movie geeks the world over.
WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD (DIR. WILLIAM WELLMAN, 1933)
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Wild Boys of the Road is a quintessential Depression-era movie, relentless in its bleakness and rage. That the main characters are all starving kids only looking for work makes their struggles all the harder to watch. William Wellman is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors: his gritty style and compact storytelling are just perfect for a ripped-from-the-headlines drama such as this. And the “happy” ending has one little moment that just knocks any smile you have right off your mug. Absolutely see this.
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING (DIR. NORMAN JEWISON, 1966)
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Sometimes, when you watch a movie only because a favorite actor is in it, you get subjected to pure trash like Free and Easy (oh, the things I do for Buster Keaton). Other times, you get cute gems like The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming, which, as you probably guessed, I mainly sought out for Alan Arkin. But the whole movie is hilarious, the best kind of farce comedy, populated by enjoyable characters and a sweet-tempered humanism that grounds the wackiness. While a little overlong, this movie is quite underrated-- and sadly, its satire of American xenophobia and Cold War panic is not as dated as we would like to believe.
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (DIR. ALAN J. PAKULA, 1976)
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Who knew a political thriller where most people know the twist could be so intense and riveting? It’s about as nonsensical as feeling suspense when you watch a movie about the Titanic and hope the boat won’t sink-- but damn, it’s magical. All the President’s Men is real white-knuckle stuff, with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman projecting both youthful excitement and deep panic as they proceed with their investigation. It scarcely seems to have aged at all.
WHISPER OF THE HEART (DIR. YOSHIFUMI KONDOU, 1995)
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There’s a scene near the end of Whisper of the Heart where the protagonist Shizuku shows the finished first draft of her fantasy novel to her first reader, the grandpa of one of her schoolmates. She weeps because it isn’t the perfect image she had in her head, despite how hard she worked on it, but the old man tells her that it takes polishing and discipline to make the work come to its full potential. Few movies about artists are so honest about how hard it can be, how unsupportive others can be in their demand that everyone be “practical.” As a writer who struggles to create and constantly doubts herself, this movie spoke strongly to me. I recommend it to any creative person.
THE PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (DIR. BRIAN DE PALMA, 1976)
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I’d been wanting to see this movie since my high school phan days. Holy crap, is it WEIRDER than I could have ever imagined, a true camp masterpiece. I’m shocked it was never tuned into a stage show actually, but then again, we would miss those trippy camera angles and we wouldn’t have Paul Williams as one of the greatest villains of all time.
DUEL (DIR. STEVEN SPIELBERG, 1971)
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When people talk about the best movies made in the “Hitchcock without Hitchcock directing” tradition, why is Duel so seldom mentioned? The scene in the cafe, packed with paranoid tension and tense camerawork, alone should qualify it. Duel is most known as the movie which put the young Steven Spielberg on the map. It’s quite different from his later work, grittier and less whimsical for sure. Even the ending seems almost nihilistic, depending on how you view it. But damn, if it isn’t fine filmmaking.
CAROL (DIR. TODD HAYNES, 2015)
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This gorgeous throwback to Douglas Sirk melodramas is also one of the best romantic movies I’ve seen in a while. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara have the sweetest, tenderest chemistry-- it was like seeing Lauren Bacall and Audrey Hepburn as love interests in a film. Unlike Sirk, there is little in the way of ripe melodrama here-- everything is underplayed, aching, mature. And I can say this is an adaptation that is better than the source book: it just feels so much warmer.
12 ANGRY MEN (DIR. SIDNEY LUMET, 1957
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All I can say is that this was every bit equal to the hype. Common movie wisdom says people sitting and talking in a room is going to be boring on film, but movies like 12 Angry Men prove this is not so when you’ve got an excellently tense atmosphere, an inspired script, and a stable of fine actors to work with. Like The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming, this movie has not significantly aged-- much to society’s discredit.
A STAR IS BORN (DIR. GEORGE CUKOR, 1954)
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Another movie I went into not expecting to love as much as I did. When movies from the 20s or 30s tended to get remakes in the 1950s, I always find them too garish and big, victims of glossy Cinemascope and overlong runtimes. Compared to the lean 1937 classic original, I expected sheer indulgence from this three-hour remake. Instead, I got my heart torn out all over again-- the longer runtime is used well, fleshing out the characters to a greater degree. Judy Garland and James Mason both give what might be the best efforts of their respective careers, and the satire of the celebrity machine remains as relevant and scathing as ever.
BLANCANIEVES (DIR. PABLO BERGER, 2012)
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Oh, it feels like this movie was made for me specifically. It’s shot in gorgeous, expressionistic black-and-white. It’s set in the 1920s. It’s a clever adaptation of a classic fairy tale. It’s as funny and charming as it is bittersweet and macabre. Instead of more superhero movies, can we get more neo-silent movies like this? PLEASE?
THE FAVOURITE (DIR. YORGOS LANTHIMOS, 2018)
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I’ve heard The Favourite described as a “bitchy lesbian Shakespeare play,” but this description, while a little true in terms of general tone, does not get to the heart of what makes this film brilliant. More than love or sex, this movie is about power-- particularly the corrupting influence of power. And it corrupts not only morals but love itself. Innocents become Machiavellian schemers. Lovers become sadomasochistic enemies. Good intentions turn to poison. This certainly isn’t a happy movie, but it is moving and, strangely enough, also hilarious. I was reminded of the chilly, satirical world of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon more than once-- and for me, that is not a bad movie to be reminded of.
ON THE WATERFRONT (DIR. ELIA KAZAN, 1954)
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Another classic that’s been on my list forever that I was delighted to find worthy of its reputation. It’s a classic tale of redemption and social justice, perfectly acted and shot. While I still prefer A Streetcar Named Desire as far as Kazan is concerned, this might be a better movie in the objective sense. Actually, more than even Brando, Karl Malden is the acting highlight for me-- he plays a priest torn between staying silent or truly speaking for the Gospel by demanding justice for the poor parish he serves. Just brilliant work.
KLUTE (DIR. ALAN J. PAKULA, 1971)
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A perfect thriller, just about, and a great example of the “NYC is hell on earth” subgenre of the 1960s and 1970s. Jane Fonda is a revelation: she feels so real, not at all like a starlet trying to seem normal if you know what I mean.
KISS KISS BANG BANG (DIR. SHANE BLACK, 2005)
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As far as subversive noir goes, this is the most entertaining. I would put it up there with The Big Lebowski as far as goofy takes on Raymond Chandler are concerned-- I don’t even really know what to make of it, but I laughed my ass off anytime I wasn’t going “WHAT???”
What were your favorite film discoveries in 2019?
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jazillia007 · 4 years
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Final thoughts on Good Girls season 3
So I'm giving you a little disclaimer: This is going to be long and honest and unfiltered. I think many people who unconditionally liked season 3 will say that all the people who criticize this season, based on the episodes we got, it's because we didn't get the last 5 episodes (because then it's gonna be good/make sense). But I dismiss this notion because we got more than half of the season (70% in this case) and if a season doesn't deliver or build any momentum people have the right to criticize. Just as people who enjoyed it can write how much they liked season 3 based on 11 episodes.
To me: this season felt like a patchwork rug. It's like the writers didn't know how to fill 16 episodes properly. And I'm gonna be honest I hope if there is a season 4 that NBC will cut it down to 10 episodes. Because apparently the writers are unable to tell their stories when they have too much time on their hands. It's like they threw in ANY ideas they had, turned on the mixer and then expected it to make all sense or to be entertaining. And it simply wasn't for me. But if you're not into reading people's opinions that doesn't agree with yours, feel free to scroll past my post. If you're okay with it, continue after the cut.
The Good:
Beth's wig
I'm not kidding when I'm saying that it's literally the best thing in season 3. They hopefully burnt that season 2 wig and we will never see it again. I disliked how they fluffed her wig sometimes this season but other than that it's great.
Lucy and Rhea
Honestly, I loved them. They didn't take Beth's nonsense. Especially Lucy just didn't like how Beth used her in order to make counterfeit money. I'm celebrating every character who gives Beth a piece of their mind (except Dean because Dean can suffocate on his opinion and entitlement). It's sad she wasn't around more and that her life ended (THANK YOU, DEAN!).
With Rhea I'm sad the writers didn't make use of her character and the actress more. She was literally around for one episode and disappeared when she could've given us more insides on Rio. I'm also not happy she was in the end utilized as well as a plot device. It doesn't matter if she was used by a male or female character, in the end she was a plot device and nothing more. And it's terrible because Jackie Cruz did so much better in the few scenes she got than Ione Skye did with Gayle. It's true, don't fight me on this!
And then of course Marcus who is just the most adorable and consistent kid on this show. Like any other kid just disappears and reappears and people tend to forget they exist but the actor who plays him makes him unforgettable with his cuteness. Unfortunately, Beth forgot about him and Rhea the moment she decided Rio is again responsible for every bad thing happening in her life.
Episode 3x01
Literally the only episode I enjoyed from beginning to end. I can't name any episode afterwards I liked completely.
I only enjoyed parts here and there from a couple episodes but not one episode after 3x01 was exceptionally good and that's just sad when the past seasons still got episodes I'm fond of today. And no, not all of them because of Beth and Rio but because those episodes just were fun to watch and I did rewatch them many times. I didn't rewatch any episode more than once this season and I have literally no wish to rewatch season 3.
Because I'm Brio trash...
…I basically fall easily into the trap of the NBC promo team showing upcoming Brio scenes which make me melt. Like if they can write Brio scenes in which both are on the verge of jumping eachother it's just amazing. And it's most likely because Christina and Manny have this incomparable chemistry. The bar scene was just WOW! And I have to admit my weakness but when they make it work on screen I literally forget how I dislike everything else. So it's always a sad wakeup call when we leave them behind and I'm back in this GG AU which is just not as good as the last two seasons.
Ruby and Stan
These two had such a rough season 3 as well and I will come for the writers shouldn't they work out. Because I have this terrible feeling that even though Stan said they're in this together it foreshadows something bad. And I hope I'm wrong. And again I will come for the writers if anything happens to these two and should they divorce before Beth and Dean I'm going to riot. There is only ONE marriage worth saving here and that's the Hill marriage.
The Meh:
Annie's arc
Gosh, if you know me you know what's coming. I'm not a fan of Annie. Never have been, never will be. And that main reason is that I find her unrelatable. We're so different. And I feel with Beth and Ruby anytime she opens her mouth and something childish comes out of it. But HOLD ON! Before you start throwing stones at me. That doesn't mean I don't understand why Annie is the way she is and that Beth played a part in it but also knew that if Beth didn't play a part in it who knows where Annie would be now. So the thing is because Annie and I are not on the same wave I tend to like Beth and Ruby more because even though I do not necessarily understand their actions either sometimes, I relate more. And don't get me wrong! Annie did an fantastic job with Ben. Even though she should stop treating him like her best friend and start acting like a mother, so Ben doesn't need to be the adult in their relationship. And Mae Whitman is just acting her a** off with what she is given by the writers.
AND this season was the first time I thought the writers would finally give Annie a proper arc. I was celebrating when she got into therapy and wanting to educate herself more to get a better job. Like YES girl! I thought I was finally seeing some growth in her character and I finally could see myself rooting for her.
But it quickly just fell apart. The fact she sought therapy with a children's therapist is symbolic but also inappropriate and I think we can all agree that Josh should've been the adult and told Annie to find someone else or even better recommend her to someone. I'm not even sure if a female or male psychologist would be better but just anyone but Josh.
I really don't understand how the writers can tear apart a good plotline like this and turn it into something so destructive.
Brio Feud plot
I went into this season knowing there would be a feud between Beth and Rio – as we all did. I expected it but I thought the execution of it was rather poor. I understood very quickly after 2x13 that we wouldn't get the playfulness back we had in season 1 and 2. I knew there would be a tonal shift in season 3. It's not that I didn't see it coming or didn't expect it. But what I didn't expect was that the writing would be so weak. Not to say if the whole feud plot clicked for you, you're in the wrong but it didn't click for me. And I think the problem for me was that I didn't really understand what the writers wanted from me. I understood when Beth felt guilty about killing Rio in 2x13. This was the first time she made the rash decision to kill someone who not only was her business partner but also her lover – so to speak. I also understood that was the reason why she approached Rhea and Marcus. To somehow make it okay again.
But then Rio is back. And again I absolutely understand how terrified Beth is. She killed this man and now he is back and obviously out for revenge or some sort of punishment. I would be scared for my life as well. I disliked the fake pregnancy because I always find it a shitty – female – lie to manipulate men. But on the other hand I thought it was smart of Beth to call on Rio's role as a father. Again manipulative but smart in this situation where she fears for her life. I was a bit torn when the whole thing got resolved after literally half an episode but now I'm happy they didn't drag it out for long. On the other hand I might've liked this plot more than the hitman plot later. Or maybe not.
I'm also on the team who doesn't think for one second that Rio believed her lie. I think he was fascinated by how quickly Beth was able to find someone to lie for her. Again, I dislike very much how Rhea off-screen helped Beth. I know this is the really weird idea of feminism the writers have. The kind of feminism that was in 30 years ago. I just can't with these writers. But it is what it is. And it was an easy way to move Rhea into non-existence which again was such a shame.
Then we get the whole Lucy debacle in which Beth drags Lucy into this crimeworld she clearly doesn't want to be part of. We get some Beth making money in front of Rio scene which is cut in such a romantic way but also it reads so differently for some people. And that's the overall problem with Brio this season that the writers apparently (and according to that Krebs/Bans interview) want to show Beth being torn between being utterly terrified by Rio („[...] who is suddenly a murderer […]) but at the same time wondering why she still feels attracted by him.
And I'm just here „Huh? So this is what this is about?“. As if Rio wasn't murderer in season 1 and 2 and as if Beth didn't know that. What did she think taking care of her rotten eggs meant? Painting stage settings for her kids' plays in school together? I don't think so.
I'm sorry but that doesn't make sense. Does it make sense to be conflicted about wanting Rio sexually when he is threatening to kill her – after she killed him, just going to remind y'all? Yes, that makes sense. Was it well executed throughout season 3? No. They did deliver the bar scene and they obviously showed that Beth is trying use her body to manipulate Rio.
But at the same time they turn Rio into this angry man who is out there for revenge and is constantly threatening Beth. But Beth is just as terrible. There I said it. From the beginning she dragged every possible person into her crimelife, starting in season 1 when she dragged Ruby and Annie into all this again after leaving the pearls behind. And this season she dragged Rhea into her problems, then Lucy who paid with her life. Then Lucy's boyfriend. The first of so many ridiculous hitman plot running gags. Is it meant to be a running gag? I don't know. But I have to see it that way or I just keep thinking about how the writers apparently have no idea how to fill 16 episodes with anything substantial.
So I don't see how Beth is anything better than Rio. Or why I should like her more than Rio or hate her more than Rio.
I'm not going to be blinded by that last Brio scene in 3x11. I liked it a lot. Because it showed potential what Beth and Rio could've been much earlier. I would liked some darker banter between them for maybe 7 episodes and then from there they could've started where 3x11 ended now and then we could've introduced the FBI plot as the main antagonist for the last arc of the season.
And maybe I would've liked the feud more if I didn't feel like the writers just threw it at us so half-heartly. Like they didn't want to write it or didn't know how to write it in a smart and fun way. And I'm not going to join in that discussion some people have about the BTS drama we don't know anything about. Because: we don't know. But the whole fight/war between Beth and Rio felt meh. The writers and also editors felt a lot more comfortable with the fun/playful side of Brio and you can see it if you put the „I lost the baby“ scene next to the „My ottoman“ scene.
The Bad:
No red thread, no spark
I think I said it all in the parts above but from the beginning there was no red thread. I didn't know what the writers wanted from me for this season. It was a patchwork rug. Just throwing it all in but in the end it doesn't lead to anything. Yes, of course, many things would've escalated in the last 3 episodes or so. But even before I expected one thing to lead to the other. Certainly there was tension between Beth and Rio, then the killing of Lucy. But afterwards it's like there was no drive anymore.
There was no excitement, no thrill, no spark. I wasn't on the edge of my seat, thinking „OMG! Is Rio going to kill Beth?“. Because we all know he isn't going to kill Beth because she is wearing a plot amor. She can't die. And I don't want her to die but if I would feel there is the possibility then maybe I would've cared a lot more about Beth's fear for her life and her plans to get rid off Rio. Rio is the only one who is in real danger here and even that gets watered down because Beth's plans just fail again and again.
Then they introduce the female FBI agent Phoebe Donnegan as the replacement for Turner and first I wasn't so sure how I felt about that but then I did like it they chose an actress who looks so plain in the role of Phoebe. Someone who gets underestimated a lot at first, just like Beth. So I was kinda into it and I still am but I also think they need to give me a lot more and I wished they would've introduced her earlier to flesh her out more.
Dean + Beth = Death
Do I need to say anything more? Other than I hate it that this show calls itself feministic but let's Beth stay with Dean who gets away with cheating, lying and abusing her without ANY type of confrontation. I have written so much about how I understand that some women stay with their shitty men. But I don't know Beth and Dean did sign the papers, they had the divorce talk with their kids and yes, Beth killing Rio got in the way but still... they didn't even touch the topic in season 3. They just existed. And I get that the writers chose this deliberately to show that Beth doesn't care and is only using Dean. And Dean is still the shitty „man“ he was 2 seasons before and he is still very dumb because he doesn't know what's going on in Beth's life. But that doesn't mean I'm happy with this overall „let's pretend we're happy“ narrative. And I can only – foolishly – hope that in season 4 (I feel like I said that about season 3 as well) we will finally see the end of this farce. Because if you want to send a message out there it's that no woman needs a man like Dean in their life when she can make damn good counterfeit money. Nothing would be more feministic on this show right now than this. Which leads me to my last argument.
The writers' idea of feminism and female empowerment
I think the worst thing about this show is that producers and writers claim this is a show with badass women, doing badass stuff, being all badass and you know they're BADASS! And they call it a feministic tv show and a show about female empowerment. And let me just throw up in my garbage bin over there because I'm over this narrative. And again before you throw stones at me. I love me some female centered tv shows (note the term I'm using) or tv shows/movies/books with strong female characters. But I want them to be strong, intelligent and capable without trying SO HARD. Just because you put women in it doesn't make a show feministic. Just because you make women do crazy stuff it doesn't make a show feministic.
Do I think GG did a good job with that? Partly. But I didn't start watching GG because of that. I rarely start a show because it got only female characters in it and they do their thing. The premise is what matters and it sounded like fun and it sounded self-ironic and I liked that. And then there was Brio but again, I just liked how the women didn't take it too serious but at the same so serious. It was delightful to watch. And to have Beth kick Dean out of her house and for her to tell him she isn't afraid of the dark. Standing up against Rio, pitching her ridiculous but too good ideas to him. Or for Annie to raise Ben. Or for Ruby to do anything for her daughter and tell Stan she is THAT bitch. Now THAT is peak feminism for me. Or at least a good, a VERY good thing to start with.
I'm not into the 70s/80s kind of „We hate men! Destroy men! Hate ALL the men!“ type of feminism. That's easy and boring and definitely doesn't work with how the society is.
And I think that especially in season 3 (but already in season 2) Good Girls somewhat turns to that type of feminism. This idea that Beth can do anything and she is strong and smart, even though her decisions are not thought through. It doesn't matter she is a woman and we have to side with her no matter what. And I want to side with her but oh boy if that isn't difficult. And I'm not even going to touch on her being a white woman who is literally getting away with anything but just keeps blaming other people, namely Rio, for her problems. Like that's a topic for another post but definitely merges with the topic of feminism.
Anyways...
I dislike it when the writers make Rio look dumb in order to make Beth look smart. I'm sorry! I can buy that Beth makes pristine fake cash. In the end it's a tv show I have to buy some of the fantasy and I totally like it when Rio gets hot over Beth making perfect counterfeit money. But the fact the writers sold me smart Rio in the past 2 seasons but now I'm supposed to believe that Beth knows more than Rio even though he is the one who is the actual crime boss? I'm sorry but no.
Also, the writers have this „talent“ to make Beth look smart and dumb at the same time because they let her say stuff like „I googled it“. I mean am I supposed to think the writers are actually on Beth's side when she is saying that? Saying you googled it, is like saying you wrote a academic thesis by searching for info on Wikipedia.
I don't know but I think the writers have this idea in their mind that „for so many centuries men turned women dumb and it's only fair we turn it around and do the same to men now – let's call it feminism!“ and I'm not here for it.
I also don't like when they stereotype how male criminals and female criminals work. When they introduce Phoebe she says something like „She is a woman.“. And I was a bit confused but also curious how she got to that conclusion. I was expecting something smart to make her character shine and make me go „WOW! Okay, she IS smart!“. But instead she said „She is using nail polish.“. So this is how these writers try to make women look smart by her thinking only women use nail polish, so only women would have the idea to use nail polish for the counterfeit money.
This is just few of the many things bothering me but it makes me not taking anything what Jenna Bans says serious. And that's just sad! Because I love Beth, Ruby and Annie. I want to root for Beth and I actually do so. I just want her to be able to admit she is doing a shit job herself and she is learning from it. I don't need her to be perfect. I don't need her to be strong all the time. If she would just be more honest with herself, saying she is a mess but she is loving it. It would make me love her more and side with her more. If she would say she hates that Lucy had to die because of the decisions she made but she can't change it anymore. It would be a huge progress. And I know many will say that's not what Beth does. But I would answer yes but then we have no character development. She is one of the main characters, she can't just lie around and think about it without actually saying it. We need her to be more vocal. And I mean the fact she is actively going back to making fake cash and trying to set up a business to wash the money, together with Rio (or like she wants – or does she? - without him), IS saying a lot but still all her other actions in which she puts herself into the position of a victim who tries desperately to get rid off the person who she thinks is her problem, is contradicting everything.
I think if GG gets a season 4 the writers would need to do a lot to make this whole female empowerment narrative work for me again because right now they've used it in such inflationary way the meaning is just a joke. Again if it works for you that's great. But it didn't work for me. But I'm emotionally still involved enough in the whole thing that I will be stupid enough to watch season 4. Just to see if they can actually deliver SOMETHING.
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timeagainreviews · 4 years
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Reappraising Companions
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Years after having watched every available episode of Doctor Who, I've had plenty of opportunities to rewatch episodes time and time again. As with most movies and television, I've found revisiting certain stories and eras has caused me to see them in a different light. A story I may have once reviled is suddenly more interesting. I even came to appreciate Peter Davison's performance as the Fifth Doctor for its subtle nature. But what about companions? Are there any companions I didn't care for at first, which I've softened toward over time? That is the question I wish to explore.
Below I've chosen a selection of companions of whom I had initially disliked for various reasons. They span across multiple eras and both the classic and modern versions of the show. With each companion, I have endeavoured to be fair in my reappraisal, but this doesn't mean I've changed my mind. I would also like to state that none of these appraisals are about the actors. My goal is to evaluate companions by the way they were written. The performance will come secondary.
1. Danny Pink
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I chose Danny Pink to kick this list off because he is the reason I am writing this article in the first place. Recently, I took to rewatching a selection of Danny Pink episodes, in hopes that I may find something I didn't initially see. When Samuel Anderson was cast as Danny, I was excited. I've always been a big fan of male companions. They offer a different dynamic to the TARDIS that we don't often get to experience. However, in the wrong hands, they can be exhausting. Enter Steven Moffat.
When Steven Moffat took the reins of Doctor Who, he introduced us to Rory Williams. A smart, loyal, and combative male companion, not at all enamoured with the Doctor's mystique. At his worst, Rory was made to compete with the Doctor for Amy's affection. At his best, Rory held the Doctor accountable for the lives he brought aboard the TARDIS. With Danny, I felt like this is what Moffat was trying to do again, but this time, it wasn't as successful.
When we're introduced to Danny, we watch him and Clara fumble over their words like teenagers. It's meant to be cute, but their chemistry is non-existent. It feels like watching an episode of Coupling, in that it's painful and causes me to scan the room for exits. Their adorkable awkwardness is supposed to endear us to their relationship, but it seems forced. This is compounded when the Doctor enters the equation. Forcing Danny to fight for something very few of us in the audience believe in the first place.
Once again we find the male companion being forced to compete with the Doctor for the affection of a woman. But in this instance, instead of holding the Doctor accountable, Danny seems to hold the Doctor in contempt. Coming from his own history of military training and PTSD, Danny projects all of his inner struggles onto the Doctor. Which is unfortunate, as Danny's inner turmoil is his most humanistic trait. This wouldn't be the first time in Moffat's era where the Doctor's nature as a hero was called into play. The problem with Danny's appraisal of the Doctor as a general, barking orders, is that he's wrong. And we as an audience know it.
Not only do we know it, but so does the Doctor. The Doctor even gets a character arc over the identity crisis Danny gives him, wherein he realises Danny is wrong about him. Danny, however, never comes around to the Doctor's side. Even in his final moments on screen, he remains combative with the Doctor, in an exhausting refusal to grow as a character. We're supposed to believe he's come to some sort of character growth of self-acceptance by sacrificing his chance at a new life, for the life of a boy he mistakenly killed. Instead, he carries the same chip on his shoulder to his grave.
Danny is a companion wholly failed by writing. Even at his most heroic, it seems in service of making the Doctor look like a buffoon. His mimicking a soldier while yelling in the Doctor's face is embarrassing for everyone involved. Imagine this is your boyfriend meeting your friends. You would be mortified by his behaviour. Now imagine you have to lie about hanging out with your friends because it might make your boyfriend upset. Now imagine this friend is a very dashing person who constantly puts the lives of others before him. Danny and Clara's courtship is a romance by gaslight.
2. Clara Oswald
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Clara is a whole other can of worms. I could probably dedicate an entire article to her character. I should clarify that my initial dislike for her character is somewhat mired in personal disappointment. By the time Clara was introduced, we had seen a string of modern human companions. We got the occasional tertiary companions from the future, such as Captain Jack or River Song. But we hadn't had a main companion from the past, future, or another planet. So when Jenna Coleman was introduced as Oswin Oswald, Junior Entertainment Manager of the starliner Alaska, I was very excited. Finally, a companion from the future! I was so ready for the Doctor to go on a quest to save Oswin from the cruel fate of becoming a Dalek. What an exciting storyline that was going to be.
And then we see her as governess Clara Oswin Oswald. Ok... Well at least she's still from a different era, right? Oh, she's dead now too? Oh. Much like Moffat's Dracula, all of this great promise was suddenly dashed against the rocks of a contemporary setting. Sigh. I was so excited. What we're given in “The Bells of St. John,” is a new character with less direction than either Oswin or the governess before her. So much that Moffat had taken to literally modulating her brain with an app. Maybe she's really good with computers now? Sorry friends, much like Rose Tyler's gymnastics and Peri Brown's botany, it's never going to come up again.
And this is the biggest issue I have had with Clara Oswald. She spends most of her screen time fluctuating between what character they're writing her as this week. The writers simply didn't know what to do with her while the Doctor tried to figure out why she's so "impossible." One week she's wacky, one week she's stern, another week she's bisexual queer bait. Her characterisation is all over the charts, which sadly, tracks with her entire storyline. She's a woman, fragmented across time, and so is her personality. And don't even get me started on that impossible girl nonsense.
Steven Moffat once said in an interview that one or two people usually guess his big reveal ahead of time, but that no one had guessed Clara's. Perhaps that's because nobody's fan theory was "It's going to be absolute shite." Instead of just being a woman who gets to be her own person, she has to become the most importantest companion. She has to save the Doctor by being planted throughout his timeline, saving him from the Great Intelligence. You know, by sometimes being born as herself, and other times being born as a Time Lord. Sometimes knowing who the Doctor is, other times having no idea whatsoever. Sometimes having a name that is a play on of Oswald, or Oswin, or Clara. And at no times did it make any kind of sense.
The funny thing is, that for me at least, Clara's character doesn't really become interesting until all of that nonsense is behind her. The Clara I find most compelling is the Clara in mourning. Clara post-Danny Pink is a Clara with focus. Her mood swings seem more from a place of destructive behaviour in the wake of great loss. Watching her hold the TARDIS keys hostage above a volcano was some seriously gripping stuff. Aside from the gross digs at her appearance, I found the Twelfth Doctor's relationship with Clara far more endearing than that of the Eleventh Doctor. It may have taken them until her final moments as a companion, but they did get her right, in the end.
3. Melanie Bush
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Back in 2015, I had the opportunity to meet Louise Jameson, who played Leela, my all-time favourite Doctor Who companion. I also got to meet Colin Baker, who was all charm. Also in attendance was Bonnie Langford, aka, Doctor Who's Mel. After having gotten autographs from Louise and Colin, and having circled the convention hall a few times, I decided "Sure, why not. Let's meet Bonnie Langford. It's only 10 quid for an autograph." Upon meeting her, she was a very kind woman, and even still, I was racking my brain for something nice to say about Mel. To save face, I lied a very simple lie. I said, "I really liked you in Doctor Who." She smiled, said thank you, and signed my picture. And I walked away, taking my shitty liar mouth with me.
Because the fact is, I didn't like her in Doctor Who. I found every moment she was onscreen excruciating. From her poodle haircuts, to her 80's disaster attire, to her fat-shaming the Sixth Doctor, to her constant screaming at every little thing, she depressed me. I spoke in my review of "Terror of the Vervoids," just how weird it was that we're never actually introduced to her as a character. Instead, Peri is written off, and suddenly, Mel is there, already chummy with the Doctor. You guys know Mel, she's the Doctor's friend, because we told you she was! Instead of getting to know Mel slowly, we're thrown into the deep end, forced to sink or swim within the curls of red hair piled high. Mel doesn't just come out of nowhere, she comes on strong. Fitness expert Mel here to get your fat Doctor Who loving asses into shape. Drink this carrot juice you geek pig!
Not even in Big Finish audios was I finding myself warming up to Mel. When Ace was introduced, they couldn't have pushed Mel out quicker. I found everything about Ace immediately refreshing. Here was a calm and collected badass rebel that I could get behind. It's ironic then; that it was in the Seventh Doctor era that I have begun to find something likeable in Mel. Much like Clara Oswald,  a changing of Doctors enriched my appreciation for her character. This appreciation didn't come immediately, mind you, it came about around my third or fourth watch-through of "Paradise Towers."
Perhaps it's the influence of Andrew Cartmel, but with the Seventh Doctor, I have begun to appreciate Mel in the snarkiest manner. Mel is best utilised as a commentary on the Doctor/Companion relationship. She's precocious to a fault, she chews scenery, she screams at the drop of a hat, and she is oftentimes a naive idiot. Yet in "Paradise Towers," it becomes hilarious. Like much of the 80's era of Doctor Who, there is a very "2000 AD," atmosphere to the stories, and I could easily see this as a setting for Judge Dredd to drudge through, busting skulls and filling bodies with bullets. Setting the sunshiny persona of Mel against this backdrop is so brilliant that I can't imagine another companion in this story. Where she would usually grate against me, her sharp contrast from the things happening around her is exactly why I began to soften toward her.
Not even the ire from the Kangs could shake Mel's confidence, which is oddly what makes her cool. Or "ice-hot," as they would say. For the first time, Mel's headstrong sense of self makes her a rebel. She doesn't need to follow a crowd to feel accepted. Sadly, very few writers were able to find this core to Mel, but it was enough for me to be able to look at her in a different light. I could finally look at Mel and say I did like her in Doctor Who. Even if it was just for a moment, and even if it was somewhat at her expense. From a very cynical perspective, Mel can actually be pretty fun.
4. River Song
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I know a lot of you are probably aghast to see River Song on this list, but I assure you, I have my reasons, and they are not without consideration. I should begin by saying some good things about River. She's smart, she's competent, she's got a healthy grasp on her sexuality, and she's cool. Why then did I not like her very much the first few times I watched her? Well, if you hadn't noticed, the bulk of this list are characters written by Steven Moffat, and once again, it all comes down to writing.
We're first introduced to River in the Tenth Doctor two-parter "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead." At first, she's just one of a team of forgettable space scientists on an expedition. However, as she finds out the Doctor is who he is, her entire demeanour changes. Like Mel on steroids, we're given a heaping dose of "Who does this bitch think she is, being all familiar with the Doctor?" Only, instead of it lasting one episode, it's every interaction we have with her character beyond this point. Instead of getting to watch River and the Doctor grow as a couple, we're forced to watch them meet in opposite directions. It is the antithesis of "show, don't tell." Everything about the Doctor and River's relationship is implied. "You're going to love me someday," she promises. Couldn't we just see it play out naturally? Spoilers.
This idea is one that can only really be done on a show like Doctor Who, where things are wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. The problem is, this doesn't mean that the idea is worth exploring, or even successful. It's made even worse when the relationship implied is one deeper than friendship. The Doctor is famously chaste, married only to his TARDIS and what lies ahead. Because of this, the idea of a person the Doctor will someday trust enough to share his real name and eventually marry carries with it a sizeable amount of convincing. Such a huge shift in the show's dynamic requires a lot of character development. Sadly none of that is to be seen onscreen. Who is Jim the Fish? Who cares? Steven Moffat's joke of "I'll explain later," became painfully prophetic of his time as showrunner.
I've got no complaints about River being a Time Lord, or even her being the child of Amy and Rory. Those elements are fine, really. It's the way in which she is presented which I find most detrimental to her character. I never did buy into the idea that the Doctor loved her as a wife. Their wedding seemed necessary to save the universe, as opposed to a union made out of love. Any kind of enjoyment I've ever gotten out of River stems mostly out of my love for Alex Kingston's performance. Where the show fails to establish her, she more than makes up for in style and substance. I grew to like River Song, despite the show's failure to ground her properly. River grew on me as she always said she would, but by no effort on the part of the writers. River is cool because River is cool, not because it was inferred that she was.
5. Susan
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If you’ve followed this blog long enough, you’ll know I’ve already mellowed on Susan. In my reviews of the First Doctor era, I’ve had mostly good things to say about her character. This doesn’t change the fact that I found her utterly irritating at first, and it feels appropriate to talk about it here.
My initial dislike for Susan is a lot like my intial dislike for Clara. A lot of it was wrapped up in my own expectations of the character. Susan is the Doctor’s granddaughter. She is a Time Lord, therefore she should also be brilliant. And we get a lot of that in her first episode. She is mysterious, she’s enigmatic, and she is brilliant. Even her teachers at school found her perplexing. But the show doesn’t continue down that line. In fact, there are times when they make Susan borderline stupid. But how much of this is clouded by my own preconceptions?
For starters, Susan wasn’t a Time Lord. At least, not then. She was just a young girl. She may have been smarter than her fellow students, but this played more into how she was raised. So when the show depicts Susan screaming at every little thing, grabbing her hair dramatically, it smashed apart my mental image of a Time Lord. I couldn’t appreciate that they had her act this way to help sell a bad effect. Oftentimes Susan, like many Doctor Who companions, had her character sacrificed to make the baddies scarier. It was a product of her time, and even still I feel her character suffers for it.
However, one of the things I have discovered through repeat viewings of the First Doctor era is the surprising amount of character development among the TARDIS crew. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan all go through deep character development that was sadly often secondary in classic Doctor Who. Before the nature of the Doctor and companions was transient, there was a feeling of a family bond forming. Through this, I have come to find Susan to be a rather deep and sensitive person.
When it comes time to say goodbye to Susan, I can’t say I exactly agreed with the method. The Doctor locking her out and deciding she was mature enough to set out on her own felt hasty. But I would be lying if I didn’t agree that Susan had gone from a little girl to a young woman at that point. When you stop expecting Susan to be the Doctor, and allow her to be a kid, she grows on you instantly.
6. Adric
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Let's be honest; it's not really original to hate on Adric. It's nothing new to point out what a bad companion he is, but here we are. Something I constantly endeavour to do on this blog is to be fair. One of my biggest complaints about the Doctor Who fandom is the proprietary attitude people take toward the fandom. The "I don't like it; therefore you shouldn't like it," attitude spat with such vitriol is one of the worst parts about being in the Doctor Who fandom. So when you say "Adric is my favourite companion," I'm not devising an argument for how wrong you are, it's fine. Like who you like. This doesn't mean I'm not also thinking in my head "What? Why?" Because I honestly, without malice, do not understand.
The most I ever enjoyed Adric, was in his introductory story "Full Circle." Setting him against a group of fellow Alzarians dilutes his lesser qualities. In fact, when paired with Varsh, he almost seems likeable. Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Varsh, and it's downhill from there. We're forced to watch a contrarian boy genius butt heads with the Doctor while he waddles around in a toddler's outfit while showing off his pound shop sheriffs badge for "mathematical excellence," to anyone who will listen. Adric is so obnoxious that he makes Wesley Crusher seem likeable in contrast.
However, it's not just his contrarian nature that makes me despise Adric, he's also disloyal to the Doctor and his friends. He's so susceptible to bad ideas as long as they a presented logically, that I've dubbed him the Ben Shapiro of the TARDIS. He's a smarmy little shit who believes himself superior to women, and he's really got no justification for his ill-placed self-confidence. Constantly demanding respect while giving very little reason to deserve it, he's like a poster child for incels. To make matters worse, he's oftentimes wrong and easily duped into taking the side of evil, turning him into more of a liability than an asset.
Recently, the idea that the Thirteenth Doctor could save someone from sacrificing themselves by using the TARDIS at the last moment to save them came under fire. "Why didn't the Doctor do this for Adric?" they said, forgetting conveniently when the Twelfth Doctor did the exact same thing in "Into the Dalek." But yes, why indeed? Why would the Doctor ever let a duplicitous, argumentative braggart die by their own stupid need to solve a math problem? My headcanon is that the Doctor got better at flying the TARDIS. The real reason is that people hated his character. The silence over the credits after Adric dies isn't out of respect for the character. The real reason is that the BBC couldn't secure the rights to Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate Good Times," before it aired.
Listen, I am not unsympathetic toward Matthew Waterhouse. He never should have been given such a big role, considering his utter lack of ability at the time. I imagine it was his own insecurity that fuelled his on-set antics. Giving unsolicited advice to veteran actors is cringey, but also the actions of a young and naive boy, in over his head. I know I said I was going to try and treat the performance as secondary, but in this case, it goes hand in hand. He has the stage presence of a fake. Every moment he's onscreen is disingenuous. The fact that he is present at the death of my favourite Doctor, stinking up the scene is genuine pain to me. If he has been made better in Big Finish, I've not yet heard it. As of now, there is nothing I've seen of Adric that has changed my opinion. But I'm glad if he makes you happy.
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theres-a-goldensky · 4 years
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BL Show Review Series - My Engineer and 2gether
I am new to BL series, having only discovered them thanks to being stuck at home in quarantine. However, I’ve now watched enough of them that I feel like I have a lot to say and nowhere to say it. So I decided to write some reviews, talk about some issues that I had, and mainly get all of these feelings out of me. 
Disclaimer that these are my own opinions, and I don’t know where the BL community as a whole stands on these shows. If I disliked a show you loved or visa versa, no disrespect is intended! 
First up, then, are My Engineer and 2gether
MASTERLIST OF BL SHOW REVIEWS
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MY ENGINEER 
Rating: 4/10 (Revised score: 6/10)
Main Pairing
The premise of this show is silly, but I was willing to let that pass if it was cute enough. It wasn’t. Not for me, anyway. The main pairing was very lackluster, and their courtship started off weird, with freshman Duen inexplicably feeling obligated to care for the older Bohn. Duen accidentally punches Bohn, but that interaction spirals into Duen letting Bohn bully him into buying Bohn flowers every day for a month as recompense. 
You get it from Bohn’s perspective. He clearly is interested in Duen from the beginning, and this is his inept way of flirting. But Duen going along with it at first, when he dislikes Bohn, is baffling. I thought there must have been something I missed. Was it because Bohn was his senior? 
The parts I found most charming about their story involved them interacting with their younger siblings. In particular, Duen’s love of his little sister was genuinely heartwarming. There’s a date scene late in the series that is the highlight of their story for me.
There is a ridiculous, drawn out arc about which one of them is going to top, which I was super done with before it even started. It ends with the message that, hey, anyone can be a top or a bottom and it doesn’t matter, but man did the story take its time getting there. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
Side Pairings
There are three additional side pairings happening here, which was at least one too many. However, the relationship between King and Ram quickly became the best thing about the show for me. The two of them together are charming, particularly the patient way that King enjoys Ram’s oddities and works to find a way to communicate with him anyway. 
Ram, despite being a side character, is the most developed person in the show. We see a lot about his family life and his interests. He’s fiercely loyal to his friends but also very shy. Over the course of the show, you see him feel hurt and scared and angry and in love, and all without him saying much of anything at all. 
The next side pairing is Mek and Boss. They are best friends and Boss calls himself Mek’s wifey. Mek is in love with Boss, to the point where he has a shrine of him hidden away in his room. It’s very sweet, even though you’re left kind of wondering, uh...why? What has Boss done to earn Mek’s undying devotion? It’s unclear.
Bafflingly, the actor who plays Mek was not speaking Thai in this. All of his lines were dubbed over -- very, very poorly -- and you can see that the words he’s speaking don’t match the words he’s supposed to be saying. I have no idea why they cast this person, though he did well given the circumstances. He has a very soulful stare that worked to demonstrate his pining. Watching him decide to help Boss get a girlfriend just because he wanted him to be happy was tough. 
If I were to recommend this series, it would be to follow these two side stories. You may enjoy the Bohn/Duen romance, but I had a hard time getting attached to them or believing their chemistry.
The final pairing was between Frong and Dr. Thara. I have nothing to say about them, honestly. It could have been completely taken out and nothing would have been lost. The actors did what they could with the roles. Both were charming, both were very, very attractive, but that couldn’t save this side story for me.
The acting was just so-so, though special mention should probably go to the actors who portrayed Mek and Boss, since they spent the majority of their scenes acting with someone who was speaking an entirely different language. 
There was very little tension and almost no stakes in this series, except between King and Ram.  
(Update: 9/27/20
Time sometimes changes feelings on a series, and in the months since I wrote this review, I’ve come to look more favorably on this drama. My love for Ram and King has only grown, and I’ve come to tolerate Bohn and Duen’s story more than I had before. Some of the early parts are even cute, though the back half still bugs me.)
***
2GETHER THE SERIES Rating: 5/10
Main Pairing
Win and Bright, the actors who portray the main characters of Tine and Sarawat, are both just...startingly good looking. They’re tall and broad and handsome. Tine has the sweetest smile and Sarawat can sexy brood with the best of them. I think the natural charisma of both leads did a lot to paper over the cracks of a thin story where the characters made nonsensical choices just to drive forward the plot. 
This is a fake dating story, which should be my JAM, ok? Straight boy freshman Tine wants to curb the attentions of Green, a gay man who is pursuing him. He decides to ask Sarawat, the campus dreamboat, to pretend date him so that Green will back off. It all makes sense so far, in terms of how these convoluted romantic comedy set-ups go. Sarawat refuses, and Tine starts up a charm offensive to get him to agree. Still makes sense. But then, once Sarawat commits to this plan, scene after scene goes like this: 
Tine: Sarawat, here comes Green! Pretend to be my boyfriend! Sarawat: [pretends to be his boyfriend] Tine: Oh no, what are you doing? People are going to think we’re dating!
Like, bro, he is doing what you have explicitly asked him to do! Often just moments before! What is HAPPENING? I get that this is supposed to be Tine feeling confused about his burgeoning feelings for Sarawat, but then show that by Tine being nervous or embarrassed. Having him lash out at Sarawat made no sense and got more frustrating as the series went on.
And look, I’m just going to say it: Win and Bright seem like they didn’t want to touch each other. They have major bro chemistry, but zero romantic chemistry. It got to the point, in the last few episodes, where I thought there was a translation error and I was misunderstanding the status of their relationship. By the tail-end of the series, former playboy Tine still looks a cross between confused and horrified whenever Sarawat tries to touch him. We never once see Tine happily kiss Sarawat. I don’t understand the choices that were made by the actor, director, and writers here. 
Every problem that occurs between Tine and Sarawat could be solved with a few clarifying words, but instead they get dragged on for the sake of drama. 
Furthermore, I know that BLs are fond of the “I’m not gay, I just like you” trope, but for the first 11 episodes of this show, Sarawat is coded as gay. Not bi. Not straight-except-for-you. Gay. He has a literal harem of women surrounding him at all times, showering him with gifts and attention, and doesn’t once appear interested. When his mother asks him when he’s going to get a girlfriend, the look that both he and his brother give her clearly reads, “Are you fucking kidding?” 
And yet, in episode 12, we are supposed to believe that his first and only other great love was a woman. It’s the way the book was written, I get it, but it rang false for me. 
Side Pairings
There were two side pairings. All four of the actors involved are BL vets who performed their duties well. 
Man and Type are interesting, but their story gets pushed to the side until the end of the series. However, while Tine and Sarawat’s story was floundering in the latter episodes, I was more than happy to watch this develop. Mike, who plays Man, has become one of my favorite supporting actors in these shows. He’s workman-like, bringing natural charm to his performances and always getting the job done. Seeing Man try to win Type over was fun even while it barely toed the line between sweet and creepy.
Mil and Phukong though? I was not here for any of it. Mil was a jerk and Phukong was a doormat. The way they ended the series was insulting to Phukong. I’d say he deserved better, but his insistence on going after Mil even though Mil was a genuine asshole to both him and his brother did his character no favors. The show wanted Mil to be redeemed by the end, but no thanks, I’ll pass. Phukong may not have deserved better, but Drake and Frank definitely did. I hated it.
Like I said, the actors are so likable and gorgeous, and the fake dating trope is such a classic, that I really wanted to like this one. The first few episodes were sweet and had potential, but the awkwardness between them that I assumed would go away by the end never did. 
MASTERLIST OF BL SHOW REVIEWS
(Send me an ask if you have a show you’d like me to review - with the understanding that I will be completely honest - or if there’s anything you think I forgot or got wrong in this review.)
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its-chelisey-stuff · 3 years
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Private Lives ep 16: some highlights about what I liked (or surprised me) and a rant about the finale
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I'm laughing so hard these GK bitches are so stupid and incompetent, they can't plan anything at all 😂😂😂
Eduardo saving BokGi is giving me all kinds of feels Ssfhsjdkfj
"It's because you're my weakness" afshjdksjs this is it! This is what I love, what I want, what I crave in dramas!!
"I can't do anything when you're next to me"😭 I didn’t know you were so romantic, Eduardo!
A hot makeout!!!! I don't know about you, but this episode is totally delivering!!
I can't believe the team I wanted of the five mains is happening in the final ep of the drama, on one single scene and with zero sense but stranger things have happened lol and better late than never
What???!!! WHAT THE SHIT IS THIS? THEY JUST KILLED EDUARDO IN FRONT OF BOKGI IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EPISODE!! WHAT!!! LIKE I KNEW IT BUT STILL... HOW DARE YOU OFF HIM LIKE THAT, DRAMA?
You know this really demonstrates that Eduardo isn't at the top of his game when he's with BokGi. I struggle to imagine they would've shot him  if he was alone and didn't have to think of protecting two people's backs instead of just one, his own.
EVERYONE IS TRYING TO KILL EVERYONE!
Whatever this mess of a plot wannabe makjang this drama is trying to be on its last minutes, I still love my ship
Why is Spy Lee parading around like he's a cop? Did he wanted to show off he's innocent? 😂😂 Oh wait, not so innocent, he's going to jail lmao
Five years was too much, I'm glad he's out on three
They're finally holding the wedding ceremony!!!🥳 And Eduardo is alive? Please don't make me google if that's actually possible after they shot him on the head. I don't want to type those kinds of things and make my browser think I'm a psycho.
What... was that last scene?🤣🤣
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Nah. I'm sorry. I refuse to take the bait. They married. They all lived happily ever after and their silly little attempt at making an edgy and open ending just makes me roll my eyes to the back of my head. So nah, I'm not buying, but thanks for being cute, drama. You tried.🤗
Well. It ended. I mean, as far as endings go, this is one that's valid, I guess. I heard the dosollasol had a terrible ending and it was a mess of a drama as well. But at least the chemistry of the couples kept me here, I enjoyed it. Everything else... Well, like I said, a mess.
The funny thing is that I cannot decide what this drama was trying to be. Was it trying to be a full on makjang? Well, it got shy, several times, so it didn't hit the mark. Was it trying to be a romance? We got some of that, enough of a dosis to keep me around, but I'm afraid it also got a bit shy on that department. Was it trying to be a commentary on today's society and political landscape? And how there’s really not such a thing as "privacy" when it comes to technology and social media? Well, I guess they tried, but they didn't work hard enough on making the plot actually make sense and a lot of the plot twists seemed like something the writer had just thought of five minutes before writing a scene, so...
You know, I heard good things about this writer, what happened? Now I’m scared to check out their projects...
Omg, it sounds like I'm angry at this drama, but I'm really not. I'm actually genuinely amused at the finale. I wanted a happy ending for both couples and, surprisingly I got that. In theory, all the bad guys got punished, and sure, there were some plot holes in the end, but I wasn't interested enough in the plot to actually care. Good prevailed against evil but still, I didn't care for it? All in all, it was an easy watch. I'm pretty sure that if someone out there can get past all the stuff I said and still wants to check it out, they would enjoy it. I'm more of the idea that the drama is more enjoyable as a binge watch so long as you switch off your brain 🤪 and the love between the two couples was strong, I just wish they could’ve showed more of that(and also, check out the bts because the drama knew what its strength was and at least they exploited that in there, pity they couldn't do it in the actual drama but you win some, you lose some).
Hilariously bad and nonsensical, but without pissing you off and decent acting (very good actors on this, but that script could only take them so far). That's my verdict on the drama. And good chemistry between the ships.😝
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Those two couples? The saving grace of this drama imo.
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