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Post by forca84 on Nov 23, 2022 2:33:43 GMT
The 2020 miniseries "Quiz" about an Australian Quiz show scandal. Based on a true story.
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Post by HirundoRustica on Nov 23, 2022 15:18:25 GMT
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Nov 28, 2022 6:43:58 GMT
Finished Season 2 of Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments on DVD. **spoilers below** Iâd watched the first season of this show ages ago - in fact, it was SO long ago that Iâd forgotten a fair bit of what happened, so it was good they included the âPreviously onâ at the start of the first episode this season. Even with that, though, I was still confused about who was related to whom. I knew Clary and Jace were supposedly brother and sister, and I remembered that Izzy and Alec were siblings as well; I knew that Valentine was Clary & Jaceâs father...but that was about it. Things that were news to me this season: Izzy and Alec having a young brother named Max (who was supremely annoying! Kid Shadowhunters? DO. NOT. WANT! At least I got to see a bad guy whack Maxâs head into a hard surface, knocking him out, which gave me a laugh) and Alec referring to Jace as âbrotherâ when last season I thought he had a thing for Jace (apparently theyâre not technically related and Jace is just Alecâs adoptive brother?). Anyway, heâs moved onto Magnus the warlock now (and the show certainly spends plenty of time on their being a couple). Meanwhile, Simon (the âworst vampire everâ) finally shared his feelings about Clary with her this season and she quickly accepted this declaration of love, getting together with him since she thought there was no chance with Jace on account of them being ârelated'...that was until the reveal happened that they WERENâT in fact related (which is just as well since though Jace was having feelings for Clary that a brother most definitely shouldnât when he still thought they were related and I briefly wondered if they were going to go full Lannister until I remembered this show wouldnât ever âgo thereâ). To make things even MORE confusing, there was Claryâs *actual* brother, Jonathan (which is what also happens to be Jaceâs full first name), who was turned extra crispy in what I'm assuming is this universeâs version of Hell and he masqueraded as a normal-looking guy (I recognised the actor from the TV series Humans) who was âhelpingâ the good guys when in reality he was working with his father, Valentine (who not too long before this team-up he'd wanted to kill/send to be made extra crispy so he knew how it felt). I even felt Jonathan was giving off a vibe of having a thing for Clary (seriously, this show has some major âincestâ vibes even if technically thereâs no actual incest going on). After getting together rather abruptly, Clary/Simon eventually broke up again because of a contrived plot point where she was forced to kiss Jace and thus revealed *he* was the one who she truly loved. This then led Simon into the arms of a new character introduced this season who I was NOT a fan of: Maia the werewolf. I did not like her ONE BIT since she spent the beginning of the season telling Simon to let Clary know how he felt about her, then she got all jealous over them together, THEN she was all about murdering Clary (supposedly to stop her from being forced by Valentine to use a sword that would kill all Downworlders, but you just know some of it was motivated by jealousy), and then she got with Jace whilst Clary was with Simon and as soon as those two broke up she was getting it on with Simon. Total soap opera stuff. Worst of all, I know sheâs going to be a fulltime cast member in Season 3 (thatâs why Iâm taking a break before I move onto the third season - Iâm just not in the mood/ready to deal with more Maia, as I already felt like she took up too much screentime this season). People give Katherine McNamara a lot of crap for her acting, Iâve seen, but to me sheâs not really any worse than the rest of the cast. I still find Alec (and the actor who portrays him) SO BORING. I was tired of his hatred for/jealousy of Clary being with Jace last season which continued into this season (even though she was always nice to him), and it didnât seem to finally come to an end until he got possessed by a demon and killed her mum. THEN he was super-apologetic. Hopefully he wonât regress to his bad attitude towards her, since she could always pull out the âYou killed my mum, so you donât get to hate me, jerk!â card (not that she ever would, of course. In fact, she showed far more maturity when standing next to her mumâs killer than a certain MCU character did when he watched footage of someone who was MIND-CONTROLLED killing *his* mum. He wanted to kill his mum's killer, whereas Clary knew it wasnât Alecâs fault. CLARYâS MORE MATURE THAN TONY STARK!). I find Alecâs actor pretty stiff/emotionless most of the time. While I like Emeraude Toubia as Izzy, sheâs not the greatest actress either (she had a particularly cringey bit on a bridge when taking on Jonathan in the second-last-episode this season). Harry Shum Jr. is probably one of the âstrongerâ actors in the show, but he still tends to overdo the hand gestures. NONE of the actors on this show are award-worthy, so I donât know why people single out Katherine McNamara and pick on her. Maybe they're jealous of her pretty pretty hair? Really, one of the best actors this season was the young actress who played the Seelie Queen (see, it *is* possible to cast decent kid actors in roles...just not with Max, apparently). Sadly, she was then replaced by Sarah Hyland who I didnât think was nearly as good in the role. The rest of the recurring/guest star/one-off characters/actors range from okay to downright awful (though I did wonder where Lydia disappeared to after she got injured, as I quite liked her). As for the storylines this season, some were okay while others were...not (prime example: poor Izzy being stuck in the dreaded âdrug addictâ storyline which a lot of shows seem to resort to eventually. In this case, it was her becoming addicted to vampire venom). I think there were some interesting developments here and there, the occasional action scene (though they seemed few and far between. Instead, we got much more standing around and TALKING), the effects/CGI aren't great, there was WAY too much 'relationship drama' and as previously mentioned, there were characters that annoyed me which made me wish we couldâve spent more time on the core four of Clary, Jace, Alec and Izzy fighting together as a team (which we finally got in the form of them taking on winged demons in the season final). Instead of all these newly-added characters, the show wouldâve done well to spend more time on these four *together*. On the plus side, at least Valentine (a rather ho-hum villain portrayed by an actor I recognised from the series Reign - probably the best episode with him was when he and Magnus swapped bodies, at that at least allowed him to play something a bit more interesting) finally got offed this season - and better yet, it was Clary who got to kick his arse and she didnât just stab his throat...no, she then stabbed his abdomen multiple times. See, THIS is how you kill a bad guy! Keep on stabbing! One measly stab/slash ainât gonna cut it. Strangely, though, after Jace got stabbed by Jonathan in the second-to-last-episode and seemed to shrug that off like it was no big thing, what ended up killing him in the season final was another simple stab wound from his not-father, Valentine. I guess he just stabbed in a more fatal area than where Jonathan did? Anyway, I knew Jace wouldnât remain dead and after killing her father, Clary got to make a wish upon an angel which was to bring Jace back (sorry, dead mum!). Naturally, there are consequences to bringing someone back as evidenced by whatever was going on with Jace near the end of the final episode. It also appears Joanthan mightnât be totally dead (just MOSTLY dead) if all those demons combining to form his âmotherâ was any indication as her clawed hand reached out to touch him. So I guess that like a lot of supernatural shows, nobody ever really stays dead in this series (except for YOU, Claryâs mum!). On the whole, there was stuff I enjoyed this season, but also quite a bit of stuff I didnât, which is why Iâm not exactly in a rush to watch my Season 3 DVDs just yet.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Nov 29, 2022 17:43:31 GMT
F Troop season 1
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Dec 4, 2022 1:12:56 GMT
The Flash - season 8
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Post by HirundoRustica on Dec 5, 2022 9:58:50 GMT
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Post by Lebowskidoo đŠ on Dec 7, 2022 13:02:29 GMT
The Boys, the DVD came with both seasons 1 & 2.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Dec 16, 2022 18:12:39 GMT
The Good Place - Season 1
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Dec 20, 2022 17:30:21 GMT
The Good Place - season 2 and 3
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mcclance
Sophomore
@mcclance
Posts: 259
Likes: 95
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Post by mcclance on Jan 2, 2023 1:04:19 GMT
Recently finished Series 3 of Line of Duty.
Later today, I'll be finishing Season 7 of NCIS: Los Angeles.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Jan 2, 2023 1:45:44 GMT
Step by Step - season 5
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 7, 2023 14:00:31 GMT
Finished Season 1 of House of the Dragon on Blu-ray (which I received for Christmas). Episodes 1 - 5I was surprised when this was released on DVD/Blu-ray here so soon after it had finished airing in America/on Pay TV (which I donât have). I thought Iâd be waiting about a year to see it like I had to with each season of GoT...but no, they released it only a couple of months after it had aired, I think - which was good news for me! However, I had read about each episode when the show originally aired, so I was fairly spoiled (by my own choice). Still, watching it play out onscreen was different to what Iâd read (and I hadnât spoiled myself for everything - just most of the main/important stuff, more or less). Episode 1: 'Heirs of the Dragon'My memoryâs not great (even when it comes to things I only watched recently), so I might be mentioning events a bit out of order. Since Iâd only read bits and pieces of spoilery stuff, Iâd imagined some things occurring quite differently. Iâd thought that we were going to get text onscreen with older Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma DâArcy) voiceovering, but instead we actually got to see what was being described play out (with the old King naming Viserys Targaryen as the new one) and only after that was there text onscreen about how long before Daenerys this show was taking place (with the amount of years and her name being the last words left onscreen as it went to black). The sweeping shot following along with the dragon flying over the city (NOT burning the people below - like certain other Targaryens would - as they watched it, unconcerned) was a good way to reintroduce us to this world after the opening voiceover. Turns out this was the dragon of young Rhaenyra (Aussie actress Milly Alcock), called Syrax. I liked seeing how affectionate she was towards her dragon, showing a clear bond between them. I also liked seeing Graham McTavish from Outlander as Ser Harrold Westerling, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who appears to be a protector of Rhaenyra watching over her. We also meet young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey). I thought both young actresses did a really good job of immediately establishing their friendship/dynamic (though I saw that some people felt there was âmoreâ between them...which I can understand, as the actresses had great chemistry, after all), they felt natural in their performances and I especially liked the scene with them together under the tree, which made for a nice visual. Apparently some people hated Rhaenyra for tearing a page out of the book (which she showed she had studied properly, even though Alicent thought she wasnât paying attention, which demonstrated that Rhaenyra was smart among other things). I was amused by hearing Rhaenyraâs goals in life/all she really wanted - sheâs got her priorities straight! We also saw that Rhaenyra got the âprivilegeâ of being allowed into the small council with her father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine, who Iâd previously seen in a show called Informer - which I didnât think much of, nor did his performance in it really stand out to me. I later discovered Iâd seen him in other things like the third Bourne film and just hadnât really taken much notice of/remembered him from them), and his advisors - albeit just serving them wine - and one of them is Alicentâs father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans, who Iâve seen in a number of things), who is Hand of the King. At one point we were treated to the sight of Viserys with a pus-filled lump on his back...which, of course, the show felt the need to give us a good CLOSE-UP LOOK AT IN DETAIL complete with someone scraping the pus out of it with some tool/instrument (because the GoT world never skimps on the gruesomeness) and whatever sickness/disease he had seemingly started from him cutting himself on the Iron Throne, which may LOOK like the coolest chair ever, but clearly itâs impractical and dangerous (at least this was finally acknowledged within the show itself rather than just being an observation made by viewers). I was surprised to see that it had grown out to create a carpet of swords leading up to it (which werenât present in the GoT era). I appreciated the effort that went into making Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) introduction feel âepicâ, involving Rhaenyra walking in on him sitting atop the Iron Throne and us not even seeing him clearly to start with. It goes without saying that Matt Smith instantly made an impact with his performance (which was not only completely different to his Doctor from Doctor Who, but unlike some of his unfortunate movie appearances, it wasn't CUT), I thought both he and Milly Alcock had major chemistry (which would be totally fine...if they werenât RELATED, but they are Targaryens after all, so this sort of thing is to be expected) and they worked well off each other, making the scene a standout in the episode. Them both speaking High Valyrian also added a lot to the scene. It soon became clear what sort of person Daemon was with his comments he made about how doing sheep would be preferable to doing his own wife (who we didnât see) and taking men out to punish criminals by cutting off the hands of thieves and the junk of rapists among other things. He also enjoyed unleashing violence during a jousting tournament and this was the scene which introduced not only the audience, but also Rhaenyra & Alicent, to the character of Ser Criston Cole - who the young ladies were apparently surprised to discover was Dornish, but nevertheless they still thought him dreamy. Reading descriptions of the violence during the tournament was enough for me, as I wasnât watching this show (or GoT for that matter) FOR the violence, but rather in spite of it. One person who obviously wasnât a fan of Criston was Daemon, who looked to have beaten him (dang it, Daemon! If only you'd offed the dreamboat, so many bad things in the future mightâve been avoided!) until he turned the tables and defeated Daemon, who obviously wasn't too happy about that. Itâs good that Rhaenyra got that one scene with her mum in this episode, given what happened to her during the scene. While it wasnât exactly subtle, the cutting between the violence of the tournament and the violent birthing scene with Viserysâ wife upped the tension, as he was given a difficult choice between either trying to save the child and letting his wife die or letting both die. It was hard not to feel sorry for poor Aemma, who hadnât a clue what was being done to her until too late (the actress did a fine job portraying her pain, fear and desperation to not die, as did Paddy Considine in showing that he wasnât a King without heart/feelings). It was all for naught in the end anyway, since both she and her child died. Iâd read peopleâs comments about how nasty this birthing scene was, but Iâm fairly certain Iâve seen much worse. Maybe it was just the circumstances surrounding it that made it seem so bad? Anyway, itâs reported to the King that Daemon was making an ass of himself in public, getting drunk and toasting to the dead child as âheir for a dayâ, which understandably pissed Viserys off, leading to a yelling match between the two, with Daemon pointing out how the King made Otto Hightower his Hand instead of his own brother, warning him of Ottoâs untrustworthiness, etc (him pimping out his daughter, Alicent, to cosy up to the King being just one example). I thought Milly Alcockâs performance during the funeral scene for Rhaenyra's mother was her standout one of the episode, as she couldnât quite get the word âDracarysâ out to begin with, fighting back tears, but then recomposed herself and said what needed to be said (with some nudging from Daemon) so Syrax would light up her deceased mother's funeral pyre (I appreciated the small detail of the dragon seeming hesitant to do the deed at first). For someone who I hadnât even heard of (I discovered after she was cast in this show that she'd already starred in an Aussie TV series here, but because it wasn't on free-to-air TV, I hadnât gotten to see it), nor had I seen her in anything before this series, Milly Alcock certainly established herself as an actress with real talent just in this first episode alone. I liked seeing Daemon being affectionate towards his dragon, Caraxes (who he flew off on with his prostitute, Mysaria - the Frenchiest of French ho ever), and how much effort went into making the dragons weâd seen so far have their own unique look/appearance (and not just be different colours), thus setting them apart from Danyâs dragons. I also liked the visual of the giant dragon skull as Viserys informed Rhaenyra of the prophecy heâd learned (though when he said that Winter would be coming, I thought to myself âYeah, but itâll be a while.â ). I got chills at the end when the music (which usually accompanied any scene with Danyâs dragons in GoT) started playing and then we went into the end credits with the GoT theme being played as Rhaenyra turned around and was named heir. Once again, Milly Alcock managed to make one hell of an impression - and this time with just a look. I remember when the first trailers for the show were released, I saw a few actors I recognised and a bunch who I didnât, but hers was the one that stood out to me as it was âuniqueâ and I didnât have any previous performances to associate her with, and unlike some of the other unfamiliar faces, she looked like one that actually belonged in the GoT world just as Emilia Clarke (who I didnât know when I first watched GoT) had. Anyway, it was a hell of an opening episode, which showed much promise, being different to the original series but not *too* different. Episode 2: 'The Rogue Prince'So, after having no opening credits sequence during the first episode (which I can understand the reasoning behind), we got them starting with this second episode of the series. Not long after the episode aired, I saw people arguing for and against the show theme music for HotD remaining the same as GoTâs. Some were happy it didn't change from the iconic GoT theme music, while others wished it had changed and been something different. I personally can see both sides of the argument, as having a familiarity with a theme evokes fond memories of the original show (back in its heyday). By the same token, they had the chance to create something new/equally iconic...but there was always the danger that it wouldn't live up to the GoT theme. I think that either way, whatever they chose to do for this show's theme wasn't going to please everybody. Can they be accused of 'playing it safe' with the theme music? Maybe, but at least the credits themselves offer something different (the Targaryen family tree) whilst not straying too far from GoT's opening credits. If I have one quibble with the sequence, itâs the order that the castâs names appear. While I can understand Paddy Considineâs name being first, followed by Matt Smithâs...given how important to the story the characters of Rhaenyra & Alicent are, I thought Milly Alcock and Emily Careyâs names shouldâve been slotted in after the first two actors and *before* Rhys Ifansâ name (that receives the special âandâ treatment). Instead, the names of the two young actresses who play Rhaenyra and Alicent are behind the names of the actors who play Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenys Targaryen, Criston Cole and even Cristonâs ho - WTF? Milly and Emilyâs name shouldâve at least been ahead of those last two! Are they so far back in the sequence of names simply because theyâre âunknownâ actors? Iâd think the ones playing Criston and Mysaria werenât that widely known either. Or is it because Milly and Emily were the youngest members of the main cast at this point? Either way, I felt offended on their behalf that they werenât among the first few names listed in the cast given that they play crucial roles to the story. Anyway, moving on, apparently half a year has passed between last episode and this one, Rhaenyra is *still* only allowed to serve wine during small council meetings...but she also has IDEAS, and while her father appears willing to listen (and Corlys Velaryon, also known as âThe Sea Snakeâ, appears impressed), Otto Hightowerâs clearly of the opinion "Women having ideas? What absurdity!" and dismissive of her, steering the King away from listening to his daughter's good advice, thus showing that Daemon was right about him last episode that he sucks as Hand of the King. Rhaenyraâs sent off to pick a new Kingsguard knight since the old one passed (I was amused by the focus on the little set of stairs she had to stand on to see over the railing properly at the knights below) and after being unimpressed with most of them, she ends up choosing Ser Criston Cole because heâs dreamy heâs the only one with actual battle experience. Rhaenyra & Alicent have a good scene between them thatâs set at a big candlelit table where Rhaenyra says she wishes her father would see her as more than just a âlittle girlâ and Alicent offers some advice, being a good friend...if it werenât for the fact that sheâs still doing her own fatherâs bidding by charming her way into Viserysâ favour while he shows her his extravagant model city of Old Valyria made by stonemasons. He accidentally drops one of the dragon models, breaking it, which she later has fixed for him (I see you, Alicent!). When heâs not busy using his models to impress girls his daughterâs age, heâs sticking his hand into maggot-filled bowls (seemingly totally unfazed by it) so they can feed on the dead flesh of his fingers which have turned black. Meanwhile, thereâs a bad guy named the Crabfeeder who unsurprisingly feeds his victims to crabs (itâs right there in the name!) and Daemonâs off causing problems, stealing the dragon egg that was intended for the child that died in birth along with Viserysâ wife last episode. Rhaenyra has more advice for her father, but is again dismissed. Otto goes to confront Daemon, who announces that heâs going to marry his ho (whoâs still super-French), and his red dragon appears - I noticed it makes different dragony sounds to what weâve typically heard dragons make previously, such as Rhaenyraâs dragon...which she shows up on like a badass (do dragons have brakes on them?), dismounting and basically daring her uncle to off her since sheâs the one who was made heir and thus is standing in his way (not just literally, but figuratively). After she's called his bluff, Daemon carelessly tosses her the dragon egg he stole and it gets put in a portable oven before she flies off on her dragon, actually having GOT SHIT DONE (unlike Otto). When she gets back home, her father gives her a stern talking to about what she did (theyâd had a quiet dinner scene earlier - which heâd mentioned to Alicent during their scene, saying his daughter barely said two words to him - so he was making an effort to talk to her more). Corlys had been urging the King to marry his 12 year old daughter (who looks even younger than that, and I imagine the actor playing Viserys mustâve felt weird about his walk-and-talk with the child actor as they characters got to know each other and she says sheâs on board with marrying him since she was told she wouldnât have to actually do him until she was 14). Rather than wed a child, he ends up announcing that heâs going to wed someone slightly older - Alicent. Once again I must praise Millyâs Alcockâs performance when we see Rhaenyraâs reaction to this totally shocking/devastating news. Her emotion feels *real* and you can see all the thoughts she must be having written all over her face at this WTF-worthy news that her BFF will become her step-mother (you broke the sister code, Alicent!). She, along with Corlys (who's pissed about having had his daughter be rejected by the King), leave the room and Corlys is now apparently on Team Daemon. Episode 3: 'Second of His Name'Crabfeederâs living up to his name by feeding some tied-up dude whoâs trash-talking him to his crabs, Daemonâs seen flying on his dragon overhead and the dude thinks he's his salvation, calling out to Daemon to save him...but Daemon donât care and, hilariously, the dude gets his whole body crushed by the dragonâs giant foot (bad luck, dude). Speaking of Caraxes, what stands out to me most about him is how spindly he looks (and his hind legs stick out in a funny way when heâs flying). Heâs also apparently known as âthe Blood Wyrmâ, which is an apt description, and he reminds me of Smaug from The Hobbit films. It would appear two years have passed; Alicentâs married to the King, had his first kid and is pregnant with the next one. Rhaenyraâs still pissed at her BFF her ex-BFF for marrying her father and sheâs not at the celebration of the second nameday or whatever itâs called for their first-born son, Aegon II. Instead, sheâs off underneath what was formerly her tree she hung out with Alicent, but now by herself reading a book and listening to a guy playing a tune which she likes to hear on repeat (which I totally understand, as there's certain songs I feel that way about). When he suggests something else, she exerts her authority over him, saying to play it again, but then Alicent shows up (having been sent by Viserys to retrieve his daughter) and exerts HER authority, telling the guy to leave whilst Rhaenyra orders him to stay...but, unfortunately, being the Queen trumps being a Princess, so Alicent wins this round and the guy vamooses, not wishing to get in the middle of whatever is going on between these two. I can understand Rhaenyra holding a grudge, but the time jump doesnât actually feel like two years have passed, instead feeling like itâs taking place not long after the last episodeâs events. I did like Rhaenyraâs outfit she was wearing, as parts of it look like armour that resembled dragon scales. Once she joins everyone else, Jason Lannister who chats her up (they oddly don't bond over being part of incesty families), she argues with her father about it, Viserys tells her to choose who she wants and sheâll never be supplanted as heir after they have words (meanwhile, Ottoâs adamant about Alicentâs son being heir since he still doesnât like Rhaenyra - so sheâs not the only one who can hold a grudge for two years) and Rhaenyra rides off in a huff with Criston Cole following. Turns out he's not the only wild bore she has to deal with, as a big hairy pig attacks, itâs on stop of Rhaenyra, Criston stabs it once (making it mostly dead), then she proceeds to stabs it MANY times (making it really dead), working out some of her issues/venting her anger at all the shit sheâs dealing with, getting covered in blood as a result. Thereâs a white hart out there who is supposed to get killed to âcelebrateâ this second nameday BS which no one can seem to find, but Rhaenyra and Criston stumble upon it - he wants to kill it (the bastard!), but she thankfully stops him â which is good news for the white hart. But itâs NOT such good news for the innocent stag whoâs serving as a substitute in the white hartâs absence elsewhere, as itâs been captured, tied up, and as if further proof is needed that Viserys is rather lame at hunting/killing, heâs not even able to kill it with his first stab and we have to hear it crying out it agony as he tries again, it makes a horrible anguished sound before eventually dying...and heâs applauded for his pathetic effort (damn you, show! I see youâre keeping up the tradition from GoT of having poor defenseless animals getting killed and making us have to watch them suffer. This is one thing I wouldâve been happy to see not carry over from the original series into this one!). While Viserys sucks, Rhaenyraâs doing her badass blood-soaked walk past fire with the boar whilst everyone watches. As to where Daemonâs been all this time, heâs off miraculously dodging many arrows and taking out many bad guys before eventually getting hit with a couple of arrows which he breaks off the ends of and then continues on like itâs no big thing (I find it rather hypocritical how certain people seemed to have a problem with Rhaenyra getting to be a badass in the episode, but had no problem accepting Daemonâs âbadassednessâ despite the improbability of his survival). Thanks to a small army attacking the cave where Crabfeederâs guys are hiding (and with more than a little help from Caraxes), they are defeated and Daemon ends up dragging out the upper torso of Crabfeeder (I guess, ironically, heâll now be feed for his crabs). All I could think was that it seemed very odd to have the violence (ie. Crabfeeder being cut in half) *not* shown onscreen, since this show, like GoT before it, seem to never miss an opportunity to show gratuitous violence in all its gory glory...but I guess they didn't show the actual act simply so they could have the surprise reveal. Episode 4: âKing of the Narrow SeaâRhaenyraâs interviewing potential suiters to marry...starting with an old guy, she makes some crack about how it was an eternity ago (that he was born? That he started talking?), then next up itâs a kid younger than her...though, oddly, his voice sounds older than he looks (thereâs NO appropriately-aged suiters available, apparently) and he says heâll protect her, then some mucho dude calls the kid a dumb C-bomb, pointing she has a dragon, everyone laughs...but the kid gets his revenge by fatally (?) stabbing the jerk (NOW who's laughing, bitch?!), and I found it amusing how Rhaenyra just nonchalantly walks away from this. I also found it funny how Criston told her not to look at the violence going on behind her when A) she didnât seem to give two figs about it, and B) She soaked herself in the blood of the boar she stabbed eleven billionty times last episode...I don't think she's the squeamish sort. Daemon returns (sporting a new short haircut and crown), making with the nice-nice to the King, bending the knee and everything! At whatever celebration thing thatâs going on, Alicent suggests Daemon check out tapestries with her and Viserys laughs her off, saying heâd have no interest in such things, then Rhaenyra says sheâd like to and goes off to do so alone. Alicent goes to talk to her, even though Rhaenyraâs still probably mad about the whole marrying-her-dad thing, but after a chat, theyâre friends again! Rhaenyra also chats with Daemon in High Velaryon (which is so hot right now). Later, she finds Daemonâs left her street clothes, which she gets dressed in before sneaking out, then he takes her on a stroll through the great unwashed...which she for some reason enjoys despite all the unsavory stuff going on, as well as passersby shoving her/calling her a boy (which just seems to amuse her...though she's less amused by a mummer's play performance). She enjoys some rat, then runs off without paying for her food and bumps into a soldier (I forget who), he recognises her but lets her go, Daemon eventually catches up with her and proving what a great uncle he is, he takes her to a pleasure den where ALL the depravity happens, they start getting hot nâ heavy, but he canât go through with it (apparently Daemon *does* draw the line at incest...so I guess heâs not a very good Targaryen) and abandons her. After Daemon dumps her, sheâs still horny and so she tries to get it on with Criston Cole whoâs hesitant to start with, but he's warm for her form and eventually caves. I saw some accusations from people saying that Rhaenyra âforcedâ herself on him...but, really, heâs SO much bigger than her - and sheâs so tiny - that he couldâve easily just moved her out of the way of the door by grabbing her shoulders, lifting her up and shifting her aside or he couldâve just left when she stepped away from the door. He made his own choices and clearly wasnât thinking with his upstairs brain. Plus, she's a teenager...what's his excuse? Otto rats out Rhaenyra/Daemon to the King, relaying what he was told by witnesses happened between them, Viserys doesnât believe him and is mad, making him actually SAY it instead of pussyfooting around what heâs accusing the Kingâs daughter and brother of getting up to together, Alicent overhears and confronts Rhaenyra, who denies she did the deed (technically sheâs right - at least regarding Daemon, anyway) and Alicent claims to just be looking out for her BFF. Daemon gets drunk, begging the King to let him wed his own niece (so it wasn't so much that he wasn't willing to do the deed with his niece, it's just that he just wanted to marry her first, I guess), Viserys gets understandably mad, telling him off and kicking him whilst he lays on the floor (that's right, show how tough you are against tied-up deer and inebriated brothers, Viserys!). Itâs then time for a most awkward father/daughter talk, Rhaenyra points out how Otto just wants to ruin her...so Viserys fires his arse (thus his plan backfires on him spectacularly). Instead of marrying her uncle, Rhaenyra will be marrying Corlysâ son as part of her âduty to the Kingâ and sheâs brought a tea to take care of any unwanted accidents (though whether she drinks it or not is unclear). Episode 5: âWe Light the WayâWe meet Daemonâs wife (Rhea Royce, played by Rachel Redford - that's a lot of R's), the same one who he said makes sheep look like a decent sex partner by comparison...and evidently she got wind of these kind words from her loving husband since she throws them back in his face. Sheâs not nearly as bad appearance-wise as heâd made her out to be (then again, these Targaryens are all about incest, so their idea of âbeautyâ might be a bit skewed). Anyway, while itâs nice to see her stand up to her jerk of a hubby and tell him off...itâs also not too bright to do this when youâre by yourself and the guy youâre insulting is clearly shady, complete with sinister-looking hooded cloak and just menacingly standing there at a distance. He moves towards her, freaks the horse out (see? Even the HORSE knows he has murderous intentions! Should've listened to it and just rode it straight out of there!) and consequently it rears up, falling backwards onto Daemonâs wifey. Thank goodness the horse is okay (as evidenced by the fact that it just gets right back up and trots off). No such luck for wifey, though, who is pretty much paralysed after having a horse dropped on her. Daemon puts his foot on her arm to make doubly sure she ainât goinâ nowhere, he starts to walk off, but then she throws one more insult his way about not being able to finish. On the one hand, if you know youâre pretty much screwed and going to die, might as well hurl a final insult at your murderer. On the other hand, Daemon coming at her with a rock really shouldnât have come as that much of a surprise. Speaking of surprises, I was shocked that the show - which usually revels in violence - actually demonstrated restraint here, NOT showing what he did to her in grisly detail. After Ottoâs Worst Plan Ever, Alicentâs saying byeee to her dope of a father who got his fool self fired as Hand of the King and she says she believed Rhaenyra about nothing happening with Daemon and dear olâ dadâs informant was mistaken, he says she *wanted* to believe Rhaenyra, whoâs totally bad news and going to have her kids killed, etc. Meanwhile, Kingyâs sick on boat...or just plain sick in general, his new Hand is one of the Strongs (whose first name I didn't bother to learn). Really, seemed to me like he shouldâve been Hand from the beginning, since he'd offered the King some sound advice previously. Viserys pays a visit to Corlys (whose driftwood throne is no match for the Iron Throne, it must be said...though at least the worst thing he gets from sitting on it is probably splinters in his arse rather than some deadly disease slowly killing him after scratching himself on it), whose daughter has now aged up (while no others have, it would appear), and the King wants to have Rhaenyra marry the Sea Snakeâs son, but is stuck on the whole last name thing, saying they can take the Velaryon last name until theyâre on throne...but then itâs Targaryen (gotta keep the name of the incestiest family going, after all). Corlys son is gay, but Rhaenyra is totally understanding (she even uses a duck and goose analogy), proposing that once they do their duty and have an heir, they can do what they want with whomever they wish. Of course this plan doesnât involve Criston Cole, who wants Rhaenyra to run away with him, but she ainât dumb enough to give up everything for Ser Dreamy...who obviously doesn't handle rejection well. So when Alicent questions him about what really went on between Rhaenyra and Daemon, he confesses to being the one who boned the Princess - which is all the information Alicent needed (Criston, you a-hole!) to lead her to wearing the colour of SUPER PISSED-OFFNESS...and also war: GREEN (two guys expositioning about what this meant was so clunky and clearly just included for those of us who had no clue about the significance of the colour). Her entrance - which was LATE (something that wanker, Jason Lannister, was remarking on, making a crack about why men go to war being because women are never ready. I enjoyed Rhaenyraâs epic eyeroll at him and her thinly-veiled snarky comments about the âpleasure of his companyâ) - manages to steal all the focus off of Rhaenyra on her wedding day (and also Daemon, who just casually sauntered in at one point, shocking everyone and causing his bro to look pissed). Some Grima Wormtongue-like figure named Larys was in Alicentâs ear earlier, I think, so that probably didnât help matters. Daemonâs wifeâs cousin is pissed at Daemon who calls him a C-word and will get her inheritance, Rhaenyraâs future hubbyâs involved with someone who has the unfortunate name of Joffrey (my god...there was two of them?! Amusingly, his last nameâs Lonmouth - more like LOUDmouth!) who mouths off to Criston about Rhaenyra, who's currently with Daemon and they're doing their chatting in Velaryon thing, getting close (which Viserys takes notice of), she has no time for him after he dumped her in Crackton last episode, but theyâre rudely interrupted by sudden screaming...then chaos ensues. Loudmouth mouthed off one too many times, it would seem, as Cristonâs pummeling him, Rhaenyraâs caught up in the crowd of people (what exactly are they all stampeding out of there for, itâs not like anyoneâs on Cristonâs âTo Kill Listâ besides Loudmouth, yet theyâre reacting like heâs randomly killing everyone), Viserys demands to know where his daughter's at (seriously, if I was Rhaenyra Iâd be majorly pissed that nobody cared about their Princess, damn it!), then Harwin Strong finds her/slings her over his shoulder as she amusingly tells him to put her down (I think this is just a thing Princesses say whenever theyâre thrown over someoneâs shoulder, even if doing so seems very unwise), the King has a sudden nosebleed, Criston works out his issues in much the same way as Rhaenyra worked hers out on that boar in episode 3...only in this instance, since Joffrey refused to listen when Criston told him âSHADDAP YOUR FACE!â, Criston shuts it up *for* him. Permanently (I admit I did NOT look at the resulting mushed face. I read about it and that was enough for me). Somehow Criston manages to just leave this murder heâs committed without being arrested (not so dreamy NOW is he? Who am I kidding, there are probably those who found him even more 'hot' after unleashed his inner rage monster), he goes off by his lonesome, strips off his armour and is preparing to commit suicide (feeling guilty about breaks his vows or whatever) when Alicent interrupts him (damn it, Alicent! You shouldâve just allowed him to stab himself!). Clearly, she has use for him - also, they can bond over their shared dislike for Rhaenyra now. Speaking of, her shotgun wedding to someone who just witnessed their lover's face be reduced to lasagna with teeth is being held in the same room where it happened (with rats licking up the blood thatâs still on the floor, no less!), sheâs looking somewhat disheveled as she is wed, and the episode ends with the King collapsing. As far as weddings in Westeros go...this one had a surprisingly low body count. Will there EVER be a wedding taking place in this world where it doesnât all go to hell and people die? I think at this point theyâre just having death and weddings be synonymous to maintain the ongoing joke. Episodes 6 - 10Iâm sad to say I didnât enjoy episodes 6 - 10 nearly as much as I did the first five episodes. I knew the time jump/s were coming and that Milly Alcock & Emily Carey would be replaced by episode 6...but it still felt like the show was in a rush to get to certain plot points/characters, and as a result we missed out stuff. Are we supposed to believe that NOTHING really of note/importance happened in all those years that passed? I sure wouldâve liked to have spent at least the rest of this first season with the younger actresses still playing their roles, and then Season 2 couldâve started with the older ones. But nope, we fast-forward through 10 years of the charactersâ lives and boom, theyâre adults now. I will say that Emma DâArcyâs onscreen debut as âolderâ Rhaenyra (after having previously only been heard voiceovering in the first episode), going through one hell of a birth, and then having to make the long arduous trek up to show off her newborn to Queen Alicent after she demanded to see it (dick move, Alicent!) was a pretty effective way of showing just how tough Rhaenyraâs resolve was to let Alicent know who the TRUE badass out of the two of them was, and DâArcy totally pulled it off (I was amused by Rhaenyraâs reactions to her hubby comparing childbirth to him getting a shoulder injury and asking if the birthing hurt - as if he wasn't already in the doghouse enough for naming their child after his mush-faced lover without her permission. Seriously, ANOTHER Joffrey?! That name should've died with Mushface! I was also amused later when she confessed to the King that she may have called the midwife a C-word). While I definitely preferred Milly Alcock in the role of Rhaenyra and the characterization from the earlier episodes, I thought that out of all the recastings, Emma DâArcy was probably the âbestâ and was believable as the younger badass Rhaenyra all grown up. While Iâd known Olivia Cooke from other things (mainly the TV series Bates Motel) and had liked her in them, I canât say I was really âwowedâ by her as Alicent. Yes, they gave her some pretty dramatic scenes to play (probably the most memorable one being when she let her true colours be seen by everyone, coming at Rhaenyra with a knife after wanting to take the eye of her son for reasons I'll get into shortly), and she certainly pulled them off when the occasion called for it, but I thought the ninth episode was THE MOST BORING episode of the season - which also happened to be the most Alicent-focused episode of the series, as she dealt with the King's passing. I'm afraid to say that she wasnât enough to keep me enthralled in what was going on, and I was disappointed to see Emma DâArcy & Matt Smith absent from the episode (though, thankfully, the tenth episode/season final featured them both and Alicent was the one who was absent). I was once again annoyed by the order of the names in the opening credits (though pleased to see they altered/changed them as the family tree grew, just like the opening credits used to change in GoT). I expected the cast names to be Paddy, Matt, Emma and then Olivia...but for some reason Olivia was before Emma. Once again I felt the names weren't in the 'correct' order (whereas the the names in GoT's opening credits usually made sense with regards to importance of the characters). I thought it was unintentionally funny how certain characters didn't seem to age while others did. All the kids grew up...but Daemon didn't look any older, and even more ridiculous was Criston Cole (having gotten off scot-free from committing murder in episode 5 - presumably Alicent had something to do with that) not looking like he'd aged a day. Has he been bathing in the blood of virgins or something? I think back to when I first saw the cast for this show and I assumed he'd be the 'Jon Snow' character (ie. the 'hot' guy who all the female audience members - and probably a few male ones too - swooned over, as he was the dashing hero type), but he actually ended up being the opposite of that and turned out to be a petty, backstabbing, rat bastard of a character who held a grudge for TEN YEARS against Rhaenyra for rejecting his laughable fantasy he'd imagined where she ran away with him. Even worse, he called her a C-word (which, thankfully, Alicent shot him look which clearly told him that while SHE could say all manner of things about her former BFF, she wouldn't tolerate someone like him saying such things) and he took his grudge against Rhaenyra out on her kids as well, basically being a bully towards them during sword training and egging Alicent's kids on to kick their arses. Too bad Graham McTavish's character handed in his resignation as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard (after Criston bashed an old dude's skull onto one of those little ball thingies each member of the small council has, killing the guy for daring to challenge Alicent), as now Ser Arsehole's in charge of the Kingsguard. He really is THE WORST and I hope he dies a slow/painful death next season. I also have to say I didnât like ANY of the main characters' kids. They ALL annoyed me to varying degrees, with Alicentâs spawn easily being the worst. The oldest one (Aegon II) turned out to be nothing but a cocky drunk who pulled a Homelander out a window (presumably the same one that Tommen will take a nosedive out of in the future), and the actor who took over the role from the teenager version didnât look anything like the previous actor to play the role - not even CLOSE! He also didnât feel as though heâd be able to carry scenes by himself and was a very unimpressive actor, I thought. However, Alicent's second son (Aemond) was at least somewhat interesting, with him having been bullied by the other kids when he was younger, but also having the balls to claim the BIGGEST & OLDEST dragon (I was impressed with not only the size of it, but also how they showed its age) and losing an eye from fighting the combined efforts of Rhaenyraâs and Daemonâs spawn (I saw arguments for and against who was in the âwrong', but personally I think they *all* were to different degrees and no one was really âinnocentâ). The kid playing young Aemond was easily the best of the lot (though I was mildly intrigued by Alicentâs daughter, who seemed to have a thing for bugs, was weird and apparently could prophesize things - like Aemond losing an eye and thus becoming Eyepatch). Oh, and hey, good on Rhaenyra & Daemon for finally doing what they'd always wanted to (ie. get married) not long after Daemon's wife committed suicide via her dragon (which is how Eyepatch was able to claim it) and they faked the death of Rhaenyra's hubby (so he could go off with his new lover). Glad those two crazy/incesty kids worked it out! Luckily, the recasting of Eyepatch wasnât such a fail as the recasting of Aegon II was, since the older actor to take over playing Eyepatch made quite the impression right from his very first appearance in the show...though it was distracting to me how much I thought he resembled Matt Smith (now that would've been a recasting that would've worked, with those two actors playing the same character since they actually *look* alike), and despite him being younger than Aegon II...he actually looked older - what was up with that? I'm also rather disturbed to hear that he already apparently has fanboys/fangirls (there's always those out there who love such types). Still, not even he could make the ninth episode compelling for me. So while heâs easily the âbestâ of the younger generation of characters, heâs still not up to the same standard as Matt Smith, Emma DâArcy or Paddy Considine, imho. Speaking of the King, Paddy did a great job throughout the season, but especially when Viserys was literally falling apart. Yes, the effects/makeup helped...but his performance was really what sold it (and I liked the part with Daemon helping him/handing him his crown that had fallen off as he made that painful ascent to the Iron Throne, showing he *did* care for his brother despite all their arguments). I felt for Viserys, especially when he wanted his whole family to just get along...which they kind of did for a brief moment (it was nice to see the two former BFFs go from sitting as FAR away from each other as they could get to actually complimenting each other and seeming sincere in their civility towards one another) before he had to leave and then things descended into petty fighting between Rhaenyraâs and Alicent's spawn. Unfortunately, Viserys managed to make the most colossal cock-up of his life just as it finally came to an end, with him uttering the prophecy heâd told Rhaenyra when she was younger, but Alicent (the only one at his bedside) mistakenly thinking this meant he was saying HER oldest son should be King. Dang it, Viserys, you shouldâve just kept your gnarly-toothed mouth SHUT and died in silence! Anyway, I canât say there are very many characters outside of Rhaenyra and Daemon who interest me anymore. Shame those decent members of the Strong family got killed (meanwhile, the suckiest one of them - Larys - continues to draw breath, Grima Wormtonguing his was into Alicentâs favor, and most WTF-worthy of all: he apparently has a FOOT FETISH. That just felt SO out of place...yes, even though this show has dragons and incest, him jerking off to the sight of Alicentâs feet as he gave her information felt like the MOST out-of-place thing in the entire show. I can't express enough how much I LOATHED episode 9). While Rhaenyraâs kids didnât leave much of an impression on me, at least they seemed a bit more decent than Alicentâs, and I *did* feel sorry for Rhaenyra at the end of the season final when Daemon brought her news that the younger of the two boys she sent out to secure herself allies had died thanks to Eyepatch wanting revenge against him for...well...making him become Eyepatch (when, really, he should've been THANKING him after having inexplicably gained a neat-looking glowy blue eye that makes him look 'cooler' than all the other kids) and his giant monster of a dragon chomping the kidâs much smaller grey dragon into pieces (I HATED watching Dany's dragons die in GoT, and while I wasn't as attached to this one...it still wasn't fun to watch. But the scene as a whole, set during stormy weather, was the standout one from the episode and probably the most exciting thing to happen onscreen since the last time jump). I was somewhat intrigued by both dragons seemingly disobeying their ridersâ commands, with the grey one breathing fire at the giant one and then it munching in retaliation (I guess Eyepatch will have plausible deniability when he's accused of murder - "I didn't do it! My dragon did!"). Does this mean weâll be seeing dragons disobeying their riders next season and turning on them? Thatâd at least be interesting. Once again Emma DâArcy excelled at saying so much with just a facial expression, as the episode ended on Rhaenyra turning around after having received this devastating news and her face really said it all (wearing the colour green might mean a declaration of war as far as the Hightowers are concerned, but the look on Rhaenyra's face was when I really BELIEVED war was afoot - so props to Emma DâArcy's for such a strong final shot to go out on at the end of the season). In what may be an 'unpopular' opinion, I thought the first five episodes showed promise that this series could feel âfamiliarâ and honour the original series whilst at the same time be its own thing, but I must admit my faith in the show was shaken somewhat by the back half of the season. I guess weâll see what Season 2 is like, but Iâm hoping itâll be more up to the standard of the first five episodesâ quality and less of the next five. I'd also like to convey my annoyance at the lack of cast commentaries and other extra features we used to get with the DVDs/GoT Blu-rays. While the DVD/Blu-ray release for this show *did* have some extras, it seemed like only half of what we got with the GoT releases. I sure hope they weren't holding off including the rest on a future re-release of the season. I HATE re-releases of TV show seasons! Such an obvious cash-grab.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 13, 2023 11:30:21 GMT
Finished Season 4 of Outlander on Blu-ray. Iâd actually bought this AGES ago (same with Season 5), but hadnât gotten around to watching it until this year (after finishing Season 1 of House of the Dragon). My putting off watching this season of the show wasnât due to me not-liking the series...far from it. In fact, I think part of the reason was BECAUSE I enjoyed this show so much, I kept wanting to âsave it for laterâ and that just kept pushing my viewing of it further and further back until I recently bought Season 6 (when there was a bargain on during Boxing Day of last year). Now having Seasons 4-6 of the show without watching any of them, I finally decided it was probably time I got on that. Itâd been quite a while since I watched Season 3 (actually, I think I rewatched it, as Iâd watched it for the first time by myself and then watched it again with other people), so I needed a bit of a refresher on what happened at the end of that season. I have to admit, the Season 4 premiere kind of bored me for the most part. It wasnât that there was a lot of âtalkyâ scenes (I was riveted throughout Season 1 during all the talking scenes, so I *can* be enthralled...so long as they actually interest me), but I just didnât find much interesting stuff in this seasonâs first episode. Most of note was a prisoner whoâd escaped hanging (which a friend of Jaimeâs did not and he had to witness...because neither Jaime nor Claire can go without suffering for very long in this show) and was helped by Claire/Jamie...which came back to bite them in the arse at the end when he and his goons beat up Jaime, robbed them (including stealing one of Claireâs wedding rings - the one Jaime had given her - after she attempted to save both by swallowing them) and killed another friend of Jamieâs (lesson to be learned here: don't befriend Jamie. It's a death sentence). THIS is what you get for *helping* people, Frasers! Just stop! I spent the whole scene worried about the wolfy-looking dog Young Ian had saved - which was shown in an extra on the Blu-rays called âOutlander Untoldâ - by winning him at a game of dice (the poor animalâs cruel former master talked of not only starving him, but that he was going to SKIN him if he lost the dog fight he was going to be forced into, but luckily Ian caught the bastard cheating and used that against him to win the pooch and thanks to the âlucky roll of the diceâ, he named him Rollo). This was actually my favourite part of the episode - Ian & Rollo and the start of their beautiful friendship...which wasnât even *in* the actual episode itself (all that was shown was Ian suddenly having a dog and giving Claire/Jamie the gist of what how this had come to pass) , which tells you how unimpressed I was by the premiere. Rollo proved himself a good doggie by attacking one of the bad guys and knocking them overboard (I still worried about him even though Iâd been told he survived). Canât say I was that interested in what the Frasers got up to in the following bunch of episodes this season either. I was actually more curious about what had been happening with Brianna (Claire & Jamie's daughter, still stuck in the future) and Roger. They hadnât seen each other in quite some time (I vaguely recalled the episode last season where they spent Christmas together - though that's mainly because I remember Bree looked cute in her Santa hat), it was a âlong distance relationshipâ of sorts between them, they were getting along fine, playing car games, going to Scottish festivals and having a portrait of themselves drawn, but everything went to hell (which is what usually happens in this show whenever any of the characters are actually happy) as they were getting hot nâ heavy and Roger interrupted sexytimes, walking off (I felt for Brianna, sitting there on the floor in her underwear and watching Roger get up to leave - all sorts of thoughts must've been going through her head...none of them good) - only for him to return to PROPOSE to her with a bracelet that had the inscription "I love you a little, a lot, passionately, not at all" on the inside of it. She tells him to slow his roll (not in a nasty way, it must be made clear, but in a 'letting him down gently' manner) and that things are moving too fast/she's not ready to be married, but he remains stubborn about it and is in the mindset that itâs 'all or nothing with him', then he turns into a real bastard by saying he couldâve had her on her back a dozen times last summer, which earns him a well-deserved slap (she even draws blood!), and heâs basically slut-shaming her because she wanted to have sex without marriage and he actually says these two things to her: âIf you don't care enough to marry me, I don't care enough to have you in my bed.â and "I will love and have all of you, or not at all." (she even makes it clear to him that she's not saying 'no' to mariage forever, but just right now...yet he won't have it - which is really a red flag, the fact that he's giving her an ultimatum, essentially saying 'Marry me RIGHT NOW or we're over'). Naturally, this puts a damper on their whole relationship. It was quite shocking to me, seeing Roger be an a-hole to Bree after heâd seemed like such a decent/likeable guy when we first met him in the Season 2 final (though I couldnât really recall much from Season 3 with them). While all this^ was happening, Claire/Jamie/Ian/Rollo went to stay at Jamieâs Aunt Jocastaâs plantation where Claire (being Claire), made her feelings regarding Jocasta owning slaves quite clear. She then attempted to save a slave who was being hung up on a hook after he'd retaliated against the person who'd been whipping him, bringing him into Jocasta's house didn't go well, an angry mob came for him and Claire was forced to break her Hippocratic Oath (not for the first time since the show began) and ease his suffering by giving him something to make his passing as painless as possible before the angry mob dragged his lifeless body across the ground and strung it up. As you'd expect, after this Claire/Jamie/Ian hightailed it out of there and sought out a place far away from there to make their home. Other things going on included Claire encountering an Indianâs ghost after discovering (and keeping) his skull, Jamie killing a bear-man and thus being allowed to build a home on Indian land, Claire befriending the Indiansâ healer woman and then her subsequently getting murdered/scalped by an angry German (lesson #2: don't befriend Claire. It's also a death sentence) who thought her people were to blame for his daughter and her child getting measles/dying (I spent the whole episode worried vengeful German guy would hurt Rollo, as he was the only one at home with Claire since Jamie was off reuniting with Murtagh. Instead, Claire just received the WORST GIFT EVER from the German, who presented her with her friend's scalp - though he paid for his crimes, as did his wife, when the Indians got their revenge by shooting up their place with flaming arrows, killing them both), Lord John Grey showing up with Jamieâs bastard son (who was the result of Jamie being forced by that woman, Geneva, to have sex with him last season before she died. The kid was such an annoying entitled ponce, but Jamie bonded with him and the kid did slightly redeem himself when he was willing to accept the punishment from the Indians that they were going to take out on Jamie when the disobedient little shit crossed into Indian land despite Jamieâs earlier warnings) and Claire/LJG sized each other up in regards to them both having been important parts of Jamieâs life, getting to spend time with him that the other didnât (ie. Claire is his soulmate and has a daughter with him, but LJG was with Jamie for that period of time Claire went back to the future and he also took care of Jamieâs bastard, raising him). It became quite clear LJG only showed up to rub in Claireâs face the time heâd had with Jamie that she hadnât, but in the end she WON...er...they come to an âunderstandingâ. Meanwhile, after their fight, Roger discovered that Breeâs parents were going to die in a fire thanks to an old newspaper article, he hesitated to inform her of this, but then by the time he eventually got around to doing so, it was too late and she'd already discovered this news herself and was going back in time to prevent this event from occurring, leaving Roger with just a letter (thatâs what you get for being a DICK, Rog!) that he wasnât meant to open until a year later but the messenger she left it with to give to him didnât do her job properly. Iâd known for years now that both Bree and Roger would be travelling back in time, so that was no surprise. What WAS a surprise, however, was after Bree went through the stones (we didn't really get to see her reaction to experiencing this whole time travel thing firsthand. Sure, she'd believed time travel was real for some time now, but to actually go through it herself was something I thought we'd at least get to spend some time seeing her react to - but nope), it took her not very long to injure herself, she fell asleep as she was reaching civilisation, and who rescued her/took her in? Laoghaire! Yes, that Jamie-obsessed bitch who tried to have Claire burned as a witch all the way back in Season 1. It was interesting seeing Laoghaire actually be DECENT to Bree, acting like a normal sane human being for a while...though that was only because sheâd didnât know of her relation to Claire. As soon as that was revealed, then the old Crazypants Laoghaire we all know was unleashed (people gave Brianna crap for not keeping her mouth shut, but considering that Laoghaire called her mother a whore - among other things - I didn't blame her for not being able to restrain herself and blurting out the Jamie never loved the psycho bitch) and this led to Bree getting herself locked in her room by the nutbar who was still spouting crap about Claire being a witch and her daughter being no different since Bree had alluded to her trying to prevent her parents dying in a fire that hadn't yet happened (that was her one real mistake). Despite telling Roger not to follow her, he ignored this and went back through the stones as well, got himself involved with a pirate crew (which just so happened to be captained by the bad guy, Bonnet, who had robbed Claire/Jamie in the first episode), he eventually reunited with Bree, but due to his manhandling her, a girl named Lizzie (who had become Bree's travelling companion after her father had begged Bree to save his daughter from becoming someone's âconcubineâ) misconstrued their relationship, thinking Roger was abusive towards Brianna (people gave Brianna shit for not telling Lizzie what her relationship with Roger was...but he didn't exactly give her the chance to, since he grabbed her/hauled her away when they were arguing. Seriously, Roger, quit being so controlling!), then after Roger & Bree got âhand-fastedâ (ie. shotgun married of sorts, Scottish-style) and finally had sex, he let slip heâd kept the news of Breeâs parents dying in a fire from her and this led to another big fight between them, he asked her if she wanted him to leave and she said no one was stopping him (Roger, you dope, this was obviously a TEST. You should've stayed), then she encountered Bonnet (trying to buy her motherâs ring back that heâd stolen after asking about her) and this led to the very unpleasant-to-watch scene of him raping her (I will give the show credit for not focusing on showing too much of the actual act itself and instead showing the bar full of patrons blatantly ignoring her screams for help as it happened. I've seen this show called 'Rapelander' by some, and I do see their point considering Claire, Jamie, Mary from Season 2, Fergus, Ian and now Brianna have ALL been raped - that's a heck of a lot of characters we've met, most of whom know each other. It was nice to see Jamie comfort Ian in the premiere when he was experiencing traumatising flashbacks of his own rape at the hands of Geillis Duncan last season when she forced him to perform acts he didn't wish to partake in against his will). I know a certain percentage of Outlander fans have made it quite clear theyâre not fond of Sophie Skelton who plays Brianna, but I personally have never had a problem with her (or her American accent - actually, I think it's the fact her character has an American accent that makes her stand out from the rest of the cast. Of course she's not going to sound 'quite right' when everyone else has Scottish/English accents. It makes her American accent sound 'odd' in comparison) and I thought she especially delivered in selling the trauma Bree went through. Thereâs some boring shit with Roger stuck on a boat working for Bonnet...that is until he tosses a girl overboard for having smallpox (her mother jumps after all and they both presumably drown) and Rogerâs done with Bonnet after that (he manages to get a couple of gems before he leaves, which are required when going through the stones apparently - something I must've forgotten about - as he clearly intends to find Brianna and take them both back home to their time). Much more interesting is Brianna FINALLY meeting her biological father (in an earlier episode this season we'd seen how she didnât take the news of Frank wanting to divorce Claire so well and her final words to the man who'd raised her were ones of anger, which she obviously regretted since he went off to die in a car crash). I hadnât been spoiled for the meeting of father/daughter, so I was totally shocked to see she caught him in the middle of taking a piss (I immediately laughed whilst exclaiming âOh, shit!â to myself as the scene slowly unfolded onscreen). Both Sam Heughan and Sophie Skelton did a really nice job of selling all the emotions their characters were feeling as they met for the first time (if you donât wish to ruin the lovely moment for yourself when watching, just donât think too hard or youâll be grossing yourself out when you realise that Jamie touched his daughter's face after heâd just been touching his dong whilst peeing...and NOT WASHED HIS HANDS). The reunion with Claire and Bree was also well-done (Caitriona Balfe always brings it whenever Claire gets emotional), and I liked how Ian just took this introduction to a new family member popping up out on nowhere in his stride (not asking questions, like he said). It was nice seeing Brianna get accustomed to the time period she was living in, meeting Ian and later Murtagh, farming with her parents and such. She also bonded with Jamie, eventually learning that 'Bree' was a Scots Gaelic word that meant âa disturbance.â which he was hesitant to share with her, but shared with Claire, as he didn't want to ruin things between him and Bree as they were just getting to know each other as father and daughter, but Claire encouraged him to talk to her and he told her, asking if he could call her 'Bree' and she seemed cool with it. That was a nice father/daughter moment. Eventually Bree told Claire (who told Jamie, despite Bree making her promise not to) about her rape and the fact that she was now preggers with a child that might not have been Rogerâs. Jamie's way of showing his daughter that she couldnât have possibly fought off her rapist (when she kept voicing the guilt she felt about not fighting him more than she did), goading her into trying to fight him as he grabbed her (saying things like she lied about the rape or asked for it) was some real âtough loveâ on Jamieâs part, though she eventually realised what he was doing and then she asked him about his own rape by Black Jack Randall and he talked to her about how he surrendered himself to his rapist/didn't fight him in order to save Claire (and he'd do it again). Everything was fine for a while (Ian even developed a little crush on Bree) until Roger turned up around the same time that Claire figured out Bree's rapist was Bonnet (when she discovered her wedding ring amongst Brianna's things, after Bonnet 'paid her what he owed'). Thanks to Lizzie (who, really, is the main one to blame here), Jamie and Ian were led to believe that Roger was Breeâs rapist (since the last time Lizzie had seen him, he was being rough with Brianna and then the next time she saw her was after sheâd been raped). Due to neither Jamie nor Ian ever getting the name of the rapist (it must be pointed out that Claire couldn't have told them it was Bonnet since she hadn't known and the reason Bree hadn't said it was him was because she knew how guilty they'd feel about letting Bonnet go free - plus Ian had told her of Bonnet robbing them, so she knew what they'd already been through with him) and not knowing what Roger looked like, Jamie proceeded to beat him into unconsciousness before he could even finish a sentence and then handed him off to Ian to dispose of when they were interrupted by passersby. Naturally, Bree eventually learned what of this colossal cock-up/misunderstanding and let them all have it, telling Lizzie she *should* be sorry (after she apologised to Bree for setting all this in motion), slapping Jamie (when he assumed she'd made up the whole being raped thing) and then slapping Ian after learning he'd sold Roger to the Mohawk (I find it morbidly amusing how when she slaps people â in this case Ian - more often than not she manages to draw blood. She's got a mean right hook). When Claire looked to Brianna for permission to inform Jamie that Bonnet was their daughter's rapist, Jamie reacted by violently knocking over a chair and Brianna told him he did NOT get to be more angry about this than her (which I thought was a really stand-out moment from her during the fight). While Bree couldâve eventually forgiven Jamie for what he did to Roger, what she was really holding a grudge about was him thinking sheâd lied about being raped and saying things that were really hurtful before she made clear that Roger and her rapist were TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE/Jaime beat up the wrong man. He, of course, felt awful afterwards (and I did feel sorry for Ian, who had just been following Jamieâs instructions. Itâs a shame this messed up Bree's relationship with both Jamie and Ian), but I didnât hate Bree for her anger towards them. Nor did I blame her or Claire for what occurred since Bree was sure Roger had journeyed back home through the stones after their last fight and had no reason to think he was still around the place, and Claire didn't ever have time to tell Jamie that Bonnet was the rapist before he beat up Roger (since she only learned this news whilst the beatdown was occurring). I saw some people blaming the two women while trying to absolve the two guys...and thatâs just NOT how things went down. Anyway, the rest of the episodes were devoted to Claire, Jamie and Ian attempting to track down the Mohawk and get Roger back from them whilst Brianna stayed with Jocasta since she was going to give birth before her parents returned and couldn't stay at home with just Lizzie and Murtagh. I must say, I found everything to do with Roger (his enslavement, torture, etc) kind of dragged and I wasnât really that interested (with the most Roger-centric episode of the season being the most boring episode of the whole season). Thankfully, by the season final, they found Roger - though bargaining for his return didnât exactly go according to plan, as although Jamie offered to stay in his place, in the end it was Ian who did (heâd shown an interest in the Indians/their way of living throughout the season, had learned their language and even traded with them, so he knew them better than Jamie or Claire did). All three actors did a good job with the goodbye scene between Jamie/Claire and Ian (though I was sad to see Rollo didnât get a goodbye from them and I hoped he was soon let off the leash that the Mohawk had used to restrain him). The gauntlet, involving Mohawk lined up on two sides and their prisoner forced to walk between them, taking beatings until they reached the end of it (which Roger had failed miserably at), ended up being something Ian was quite adept at maneuvering through and this earned him a place among the tribe (they probably thought he was quite the upgrade from âDogfaceâ - a name theyâd given Roger due to his beard - since they gained someone who wasnât completely useless...plus an actual dog. What a bargain!). Bree finally had her kid (thereâd been a whole side-plot with her asking blackmailing LJG - who she met and later saw screwing a guy in plain view - to marry her, but this was just a delay tactic until Roger was returned to her since Jocasta had insisted on her being married due to what having a child with no husband would do for her reputation. I was surprised to see Pippin from the LotR appear as one of Briannaâs potential suiters who she had absolutely no interest in). When news reached her of her parents having returned, she seemed pretty heartbroken that Roger didn't appear to be with them. Prior to this, after Claire/Jamie got him back in the exchange for Ian, Roger returned the favour for Jamie beating him up by dishing out his own beating...which was pretty lame, since he had one arm in a sling. Jamie allowed itâŠup to a point, but then made it clear to Roger that he better have been sure he wanted to return with them/be a husband to Bree/be a father to the child that may well not have been his. They argued, Claire played peacekeeper and Roger said he needed time to process/think (just as well Claire was there). All the actors did a good job in this scene, I thought, as much came out into the open. By the end of the episode, Bree spotted Roger approaching the plantation from afar with her eagle vision she did a dramatic running into his arms (which some complained about being 'cheesy' or whatever...but given everything they'd been through, I think they'd earned themselves a little cheese [insert Bree/Brie joke here]). Roger made it clear he was willing to raise the child (that mightnât be his) with her when he asked to be taken to his son. Murtagh and Jocasta argued with each other...then predictably slept together. Everyone was happy for a while, but then Jamie was issued with an order by the Governor to hunt down/take out Murtagh, leader of the âRegulatorsâ who opposed his unfair taxes (when they thought the redcoats who turned up had come for Murtagh and he was told to hide, it was funny seeing Jamie and Claire's reactions to Murtagh and Jocasta seemingly having a 'thing' going on between them). This wasn't exactly a a nail-biting cliffhanger ending like the first two seasons had (I thought Season 3's, like this season's, was pretty ho-hum). We *know* Jamie's not going to kill his godfather, Murtagh. I canât say I was into this season as much as the previous ones...though, to be fair, I donât really even remember that much about Season 3 since itâs the season Iâve rewatched the least. Whereas I've rewatched Season 1 the most and it easily remains the BEST season of the show thus far, the quality of which I donât feel has been matched since. Season 2 wasnât quite as good, but still had some decent stuff. As I said, Season 3 is foggy in my memory. I think Season 4 took a while to get going and there was some boring stuff with Roger - this season really did his character no favours in my eyes (which sucks since Iâd liked him previously). On the flipside of that, this season did a good job of making me grow to like Ian as a character. Heâs just such an hard-not-to-like kind of guy, nice/kind, enthusiastic, easy to talk to (though willing to fight/kill when necessary). Rollo was, of course, the MVP this season as far as I'm concerned. I didnât hate Brianna like so many others seemed to, but I did wish she could just have some more moments of happiness with her family and not so much angst. Claire and Jamie are still what anchors this show and I was annoyed when they were missing from a couple of episodes this season (which hadnât happened in the previous three seasons). On the whole, Iâd say there was some really good stuff mixed in with some pretty average stuff this season...but even at its 'worst', Outlander is still better than the majority of things on TV at the moment.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Jan 13, 2023 15:10:08 GMT
"Bewitched" season 5
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Post by forca84 on Jan 15, 2023 1:25:01 GMT
"The Thing about Pam"... Close to a year later.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 19, 2023 11:09:05 GMT
Finished Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Blu-ray. I bought this a LONG time ago, and I canât recall if I ever watched it (I mightâve started and then stopped partway through). Anyway, I decided it was time to give the show a rewatch as it had been so long since I originally watched it on TV when it originally aired. While there was certain stuff I remembered, there was quite a bit I'd apparently forgotten. For example, Iâd forgotten that Daisy Skye was just a hacker chick in Season 1 until we were introduced to her in the first episode. Having gotten used to her being an action chick in later seasons, it was weird going back to her being the person who'd sit out of fights/mostly remained behind a computer. Luckily, it wasnât long before Skye got to be out on a mission, which she handled fairly well given her newbishness in the field. I was also glad that it didnât take forever for Skyeâs secret to be revealed. Theyâd made it seem like she was a double agent is was working against S.H.I.E.L.D., and once she was found out, the team understandably felt betrayed, but it wasn't quite what we thought. In the end the main thing we learned about her was that she didnât know her family, was dumped as an infant and Coulson (despite her betrayal) made it his mission to help her find out about her parents - though then when he eventually *did* find out some info, he hid it from her for a while...thus showing he was a bit of a hypocrite (and this wouldnât be the last time we saw evidence of this). I know some people didnât like Skye early in the show, but I never really had a problem with her. I do think they were trying a bit hard to have her sound âWhedonesqueâ with her dialogue - and, yes, part of the reason for that would be that two Whedons - one being Joss - were creators of the show), but it just didnât feel entirely ânaturalâ. Also, the âsubverting expectationsâ (that Joss was so fond of) had gotten to the stage where itâd become somewhat predictable. So when Skye was crapping on about her Rising Tide hacker group and how they could never be found or whatever, as the music swelled, you just knew that she would be discovered â and, sure enough, Ward and Coulson opened up her van, interrupting her mid-speech. I think the fact the show was obviously trying so hard to be âclassic Jossâ is maybe what turned off some people. Anyway, it didnât really bother me that much and I actually enjoyed the early episodes (whereas most seemed to think that the first season didnât âget goodâ until the episode which tied in with Captain America and the Winter Soldier). Iâd forgotten that Agent Grant Ward wasnât too fond of Skye to begin with, and somehow I also forgot this amusing part: While I didnât mind the early episodes of Season 1 (I think I maybe skipped one of the really early episodes and another episode later into the season because I vaguely recalled them being pretty boring/lame), for me personally the show didnât really show that it was capable of telling a truly compelling episode until the sixth one (titled âFZZTâ - which, for those who wondered about its relevance to the episode, Iâm pretty sure was the meant to be the word for the zapping sound made by an object which caused people and the things around them float...before they died). Up until this one, the characters of Fitz & Simmons had just been these couple of scientist characters who were presented/thought of as being like ONE character (hence the the joining of their names to make âFitzSimmonsâ. I imagine the writers of the first episode probably thought they were being clever and that itâd be a âbig revealâ when this character referred to as âFitzsimmonsâ turned out to be two separate people...but, really, I think the biggest reaction it would've elicited would've been something along the lines of "...Huh."). And while they were fun in the first five episodes, what this sixth episode did was not only give us some much-needed depth to both, but also gave Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridgeâs a chance to really show off their acting chops, as they got to do more than just play the âtechnobabbleâ aspect of their characters and displayed some real emotion in the dramatic scenes they shared (and this was just the tip of the iceberg as far as us seeing the level of their acting talent). I think Iâd become fond of Simmons as early as the first episode of the series (when she âAwwed" at one of their little flying contraptions, which theyâd named after the Seven Dwarves). Between that episode and this one, sheâd endeared herself to me quite a bit, so I was already pretty attached to her character - as I'm sure many others were as well - and this was what was needed in order for this episodeâs âstakesâ to work, since the character of Simmons seemed to be on the chopping block. It explains why they took their time getting to this story, as it wouldnât have had as much impact if people hadnât grown to care about her and it had happened in one of the first few episodes. By waiting, they ensured that people *did* come to care about Simmons. Plus, I think the episode played into Joss Whedon's reputation/being known for killing off beloved characters in his shows (especially at surprising times) and they knew that people would be fearing heâd off someone theyâd become fond of - which helped sell the moment when Simmons seemingly committed suicide by willingly falling out of the plane that they all apparently live on (think of the cost of fuel when it seems to always be flying!). Was Ward jumping after her, managing to get a parachute on himself and also somehow catching up to her despite her head-start somewhat cheesy/unbelievable? Maybe, but I bought into it because I *cared* about Simmons being saved (and considering the budget the show had at the time, it was a pretty well-done sequence. Then again, the quality of the effects on the show never really bugged me like they apparently did for some people, as I donât expect the average TV series to have a movie-level budget). Apart from my relief that Simmons was saved (despite Coulson yelling at her, it was clear he cared about her when he said theyâd hate to lose her - Clark Gregg was good at the subtle stuff), one other thing I really liked about this episode was that it included some humour that actually worked (whereas some of what had come before, as well as some of what came after, didnât always work/could sometimes âmissâ as often as it âhitâ). I LOVED Fitz & Simmonsâ impressions of Ward, imitating his kind of stiff, soldier type persona. I actually got a good laugh out of this, and best of all it allowed Brett Dalton to make fun of himself near the end when Ward did his own impression of himself (itâs actually quite impressive once you know what his characterâs really all about after the âtwistâ that comes late into the season). While this^ episode seemed to be a Simmons-centric one, what came next was a Fitz-centric episode...which I wasnât as fussed on. It seemed to mainly be about building the Fitz/Ward friendship which took some doing, since Fitz was kind of bugging the crap out of Ward whilst in the field on a mission (though NOTHNIG excuses Ward tossing away the special sandwich Simmons had made for Fitz - you arshole, Ward!). While I got the âpointâ of this relationship-building, I just didnât find it as compelling (or funny) as the Simmons episode. However, things got good again when we started delving more into how Coulson was saved from his death in the first Avengers movie. Weâd kept hearing about âTahitiâ and knew something was really off when heâd always respond to it being mentioned with âItâs a magical placeâ (in an automatic kind of way). I definitely remembered the reveal of him having his brain exposed as hi-tech robotics worked away on it (though had forgotten that he was begging for death and that Skye found him). I also remembered Ron Glass from Firefly making a couple of appearance as a doctor who played a role in Coulson coming back to life (and he wasn't the only castmember from a previous Whedon series to make a guest-appearance in this show, as J. August Richards and Amy Acker from the BtVS spin-off, Angel, both played important roles in this season - though the former was a recurring character whilst the latter was just in the one episode). I think that the series did a decent job of âearningâ Coulsonâs miraculous coming-back-from-the-dead. Like, it wasnât easy. Making him go through all that pain/suffering and the lasting effects it had on him ensured that one couldnât simply say, âOh, he was dead and then came back to life like it was no big thing.â - it was a BIG thing and the reveal of how it happened was a story arc that took up at least half the season, then it remained important until the very end of the season. I liked when the show started trying different things, such as the episode that played out on a train, showing us the different charactersâ POVâs (where an event happened, and we saw it play out over and over, but saw it from each characterâs perspective each time). This was the episode that featured the requisite Stan Lee cameo. I enjoyed the fact that Simmons being a terrible liar (but GREAT at preparation) was an ongoing character trait with her (which allowed for some good humour. Speaking of humour, there was also a funny scene featuring Ward & Coulson trying to work the âholotableâ that Fitz & Simmons always made look so easy) and it was an episode that showed just how badass Melinda May could be, as she was put through the wringer and yet STILL managed to take out multiple bad guys. This is probably a good point to mention how utterly awesome Ming-Na Wen was as Agent May. She quickly established herself as the most badass member of the team and although she had a tough exterior and showed very little emotion early on, we saw that she did care about the team and there was a lot going on underneath her steely glances and seemingly grumpy attitude. I think it became clear how much May cared about the team when Skye got shot TWICE (that was an effective moment, as it was actually shocking...especially the second shot. Although most probably expected her to survive - though I think some were hoping she wouldn't - the way they played it was still impactful, especially everyoneâs reactions to it. Elizabeth Henstridge in particular totally sold Simmonsâ sadness over someone who sheâd become friends with coming close to dying, but thankfully she was the quick-thinker who helped save Skye...though that stuff from the alien torso Coulson discovered also had something to do with Skyeâs survival and we learned it was what helped bring Coulson back too. Speaking of, while I personally though Coulson was probably the least interesting character in the main cast and oftentimes he showed about as much emotion as May did, when they really started uncovering what had happened to him, it gave Clark Gregg a chance to show some real emotion and he pulled it off well). One episode that I always fondly remembered from the first season was the one which featured Lady Sif from the Thor films making a cameo. I felt her character (and the actress who portrayed her, Jaimie Alexander) was underused in the films and I was so happy to see her have an expanded role in this episode of AoS. It was fun seeing her interact with everyone, her reaction to Coulson (or âPhilip, son of Coulâ as she called him) being alive again, and her one-on-one talk with May regarding what the baddie of the episode (another Asgardian by the name of Lorelai played by Elena Satine, who I know from quite a few things) could do - ie. enslave men with her voice, and if that didnât work...her touch (it was interesting that Ward was able to resist her voice and only became her bitch once she touched him). I also enjoyed seeing Sif kick major arse, her one-on-one fight with Lorelai and hearing the backstory between their characters (honestly, I wouldâve been happy with a whole episode devoted to just that - it's a shame we only got to hear about it). It was kind of funny how nonchalant Coulson was about Sif getting sucked out of the plane by the whammied Ward, while Skye and Simmons thought it meant Sif was a goner. One thing I didnât realise until I read about it online was that Ward still pulled the trigger on his gun he had aimed at Mayâs head (after theyâd fought each other in spectacular fashion) even once Lorelai had been gagged by that collar Sif brought which nullified her powers (so Ward was trying to kill May even when he was back to ânormalâ - this was a nice little clue as to Wardâs true self before we got to the actual âbig revealâ episode). Just as well May had taken his ammo during their fight. As for the actual episode that revealed Wardâs true allegiance, I recall being pretty shocked when the episode originally aired, as Iâm pretty sure I wasnât spoiled for it. I was sad to see Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows) get offed, as Iâd enjoyed her character (sure, she could be stern and seemingly not very fun, but as she proved with her âtestâ of Simmons and Trip - another agent who joined the show when Bill Paxtonâs mentor character to Ward and old friend of Coulson's, John Garrett, was introduced - to see whether the two of them were Hydra, she knew how to do her job). I think things actually started ramping up *before* this episode, and then the real payoff happened after it. Ward turning out to bad reminded me of Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Heâd started off as a pretty âseriousâ character who didnât really give much away emotion-wise and who some people apparently didnât think much of in regards to his acting, but then him losing his soul happened and we met Angelus which allowed David Boreanaz to let loose and really step up his game, showing that he did have pretty good acting chops. With Ward, I felt similarly that his character being revealed as a part of Hydra allowed Brett Dalton to really tap into other layers of his character, showing depth we hadnât seen up to that point. However, I never found him 'dull'/'boring' even when he was 'good' Ward. I thought Dalton made him likeable enough, even when he could be a bit of a jerk at times. Once the reveal happened, I think some people wondered if he was a legit baddie or pretending or brainwashed, and I find it funny that it took several episodes for some to work out he REALLY WAS BAD (and not in that âredeemableâ sort of way some assumed - or hoped - he would be). I did like the fact that even after the reveal of his villainousness, we got to see him still playing the âgood guyâ to the team (there was a fun interrogation scene and I thought everyoneâs answers perfectly summed up their characters). I do think the show âtreaded waterâ for a bit until everyone found out about Ward, starting with Skye who was the first to learn he was a baddie (when she stumbled upon the corpse of Patton Oswaltâs character, who Ward had killed). I did feel as though they were stretching things out until they got to the season final, though there was some good stuff that happened before it. We had some funny moments like with Coulson and May posing as basically Fitz and Simmons, then there was the dramatic reaction from Fitz to learning Ward (who he thought heâd bonded with) was a villain (though, really, the sandwichâthrowing incident shouldâve been your first clue he was no good, Fitz). While I understood his reaction, he did become rather annoying how he was continually living in denial whilst everyone around him (including Simmons) was telling him that Ward was REALLY REAL BAD ( FOR REALSIES). One things I did enjoy in the last few episodes of the season was Cobie Smudlers returning as Agent Maria Hill (after having only previously appeared in the show during the first episode). She does SO much with the role, managing to make Hill awesome/badass, funny, but not without her flaws, as we see her make mistakes. I especially liked her standing up to Ward after he resorted to insulting her looks (which seems to be the go-to move for any guy who gets called out on their shit by a female), saying basically that Fury shouldâve kept Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow around as âeye candyâ instead of Hill (this just showed how lame and pathetic Ward was). Something else it was good to see again was Coulsonâs flying car, Lola, actually...you know... flying (which was another thing we hadnât seen since the first episode of the show, and I realise that was probably because of budget...but still, having a flying car that hardly ever flew seemed rather pointless). I enjoyed the sequence with him and Skye plummeting to Earth in the car and seeing the result it had on Skyeâs hair after they'd safely landed. While I had enjoyed the character of Garrett (Bill Paxton - RIP - managed to bring a *lot* to the character), I thought that they did a major disservice to him in the season final when he was âgoing crazyâ from having the stuff injected into him that had saved Coulson and Skye. They had him spouting all this stereotypical villain crap and he was no longer entertaining like he'd once been. I also thought his final demise couldâve been played a bit better than it was. Yes, they went for the classic Whedon joke of a villain rambling on only to be cut off (in this case he was obliterated by some gizmo Coulson found), but I just thought it was a bit random. Coulson turns up, zaps the shit out of Garrett and acts like nothing happened. Were we to believe he didnât see/hear Garrett monologuing and his killing him was purely an accident? Or was it that he *did* see/hear him, but then just killed him without even reacting to doing so? It was weird, and this wasnât the first time I felt that if Joss had been the one directing, he wouldâve refined the âjokeâ a bit. I found throughout the season that various writers seemed to want to channel Jossâs particular style of writing/humour...but only succeeded about half the time. I actually felt the season final was a bit uneven and couldâve been more than it was. The most important part, of course, was Fitz & Simmons stuck at the bottom of the ocean in a section that had been jettisoned out of the plane theyâd trapped themselves inside when trying to escape Ward. Obviously theyâd thought they were safe in that little room, but despite Fitz attempting to appeal to Wardâs âhumanityâ (bringing up their friendship and such), it did no good and he dumped them in the ocean - there was parallel drawn between him doing this to them and what we saw via flashback with Garrett coming to Ward when he was younger, bringing him into Hydra, leaving him on his own in the middle of nowhere to fend for himself for many months and then telling him to KILL the cute chocolate Labrador named Buddy whoâd been Wardâs only companion for that period of time Garrett left him. I HATE whenever animals are killed in shows/movies, so watching Ward point the gun at poor olâ Buddyâs face was upsetting enough. Sure, he fired the gun into the air, sending Buddy off running away...but then we got a shot of someone watching Buddy flee through the sight of a sniper rifle and the poochâs fate was left ambiguous (well, at least until the Season 2 final when Ward confirms he *did* in fact shoot poor Buddy - Ward, you arsehole!). While Fitz had a crush on Skye during the early episodes of the season (which I'd totally forgotten about), it soon became clear that he and Simmons were 'endgame'. Being trapped underwater, Fitz allowing Simmons to be the one to get to the surface with oxygen (since she was the 'better swimmer' according to him) and this resulting in him being without oxygen for a period, which affected his brain was just the first in MANY trials & tribulations they would both have to deal with throughout this series. Once again, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge showed they were two of the 'stronger' members of the cast during their scenes in this episode. As I previously mentioned, while other people were shitting on this show during Season 1 (up until the Winter Soldier tie-in episode, anyway), I really enjoyed it and felt that it stood apart from other superhero shows mainly thanks to the interesting characters and the actors who played them, as I felt they 'elevated' the material. What I really liked about this first season was the building of a 'family' dynamic. When the show started, it took some time to get a 'feel' for these characters (other than Coulson, of course, who we already knew from the MCU - though we didn't even know that much about him either) and really show how they could work as a team. While this first season did have some ârough patchesâ, I appreciated the âsimplicityâ of it (as I know itâll just keep getting more and more complex as the series goes on) and thought that it really wasnât that bad.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 22, 2023 10:48:15 GMT
Finished Season 1 of Upright on DVD. I wasnât even aware of this show until I read that it was something Milly Alcock had starred in before she scored the role of young Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon. If it was ever on TV here, then I mustâve missed it. After watching her in HotD, I became a fan of her and decided to check whether the show was released on DVD here. Luckily there was a copy left, so I grabbed it. I didnât really know what the show was about other than it was supposedly a âroad tripâ type of series and also starred Tim Minchin. One comment I read about this series summed it up as âThe best thing Tim Minchin has ever doneâ. My assessment of him up until this point might have been somewhat unfair, since Iâd only seen him in a couple of things/heard some of his music...none of which really impressed me. However, just getting to see Milly Alcock in the role she had before her face was plastered everywhere to promote HotD was enough to get me to buy this show. Things I liked:Milly Alcock, obviously. Her character of Meg is someone we first meet when Minchinâs character, Lucky, accidentally crashes into her truck as heâs pulling back onto the road. The first thing we hear from her is expletive-laden abuse towards Lucky (which is understandable, given he couldâve killed her - even if it was an accident). Usually Iâm not particularly fond of foul-mouthed youths, as they tend to irritate the hell out of me, but within the first episodes I came to like Meg and that was mainly thanks to Milly Alcockâs performance. Her insults towards Lucky couldâve gotten old/annoying real quick, but the writing (which supplied Milly with some imaginative expletives) and her ability to portray the hidden layers to her character helped a lot. I was particularly impressed with her reaction when it appeared Lucky had dumped her at the hospital (after theyâd made a deal that she would travel with him and his piano he was transporting back home). The range of emotions she displayed on her face when she thought heâd left her behind reminded me of a scene from HotD where she conveyed a vast array of emotions all within a short space of time. She can say SO MUCH with her facial expressions and itâs especially impressive for one as young as her (she also must be commended for her ability to refrain from swatting away FLIES CRAWLING ON HER FACE and continue acting without missing a beat. Her non-reaction to them was almost freaky). Megâs interaction with Lucky was what MADE the show. Unless you were invested in these two characters, watching the show wouldâve not been very fun. While Iâve seen the dynamic of two characters starting out pretty much hating each other, only to gradually become tolerant and then eventually become fond of one another more times than I can count, what made their dynamic work was the believability of how different they were, yet how they came to relate to/care about each other. Throughout the season, little pieces of their own personal stories were shown via flashbacks. Meg had a mother who left, a brother who killed himself and a father whoâd become so depressed by this that he didnât even talk to her when she called him. Lucky, meanwhile, had a mother who was dying, had a fling with his brotherâs wife and they had a child. The way Meg and Lucky slowly started to âsoftenâ towards each other was done in a realistic way, as on several occasions one of them would leave the other behind when they stopped somewhere, but theyâd go after the other person or come back to them. At one point Lucky mistook a letter from Megâs brother as being from her, thinking she was about to commit suicide from a cliff and he grabbed her, but soon learned sheâd never do such a thing because of her brother having killed himself. Likewise, Meg helped out Lucky on more than one occasion (sometimes illegally). The best example was in the season final, when she stood up for him against his brother after they returned the piano at long last. It was clear Luckyâs brother held a grudge against him for what he'd done, but Meg defended Lucky, listing off the times throughout their road trip where he displayed more than just selfishness (which was something that not only his brother accused him of, but Meg had done so as well previously). Once again Milly soled the hell out of the scene and I could totally buy that was enough to talk Luckyâs brother into giving him another chance with his daughter. As previously mentioned, I canât say I was ever a fan of Tim Minchin's before. However, his performance as Lucky showed me that heâs capable of giving an actual decent dramatic performance. When the show started with him and his piano, I immediately dismissed that as just being an excuse for him to show off his piano playing (since I knew he played one in r/l). However, as the season went on, the piano actually became an important part of the story and wasnât just solely there for the purpose of him playing music. It was a crucial part of the story and had deeper meaning than first thought (that poor piano had a pretty rough journey). It took me an embarrassingly long time to connect the title of this series with what it was related to (ie. the upright piano - since Iâd never really heard of that before). There were numerous instances that showcased Minchinâs acting ability, and I'll admit I was fairly impressed (since I always just thought he was a standup comedian who wrote funny songs). I also totally bought how he came to be protective of Meg and they earned the hugs they shared (which were few and far between) given all that they'd been through together. I think while some jokes fell a bit flat, most of the humour in the show worked (I got a good laugh out of him standing still when he was stuck in the middle of nowhere and a brown snake happened by...which bit him, then he yelled at it because the deal is supposed to be that if you stand still, they leave you alone - I could totally see myself having the same rant). I did get quite a few decent laughs here and there (though I think some of it would totally go over the heads of non-Australian viewers). The Australian landscape was well-utilised. Iâve come to expect Aussie shows to oftentimes look rather âcheapâ, and while this one didnât have anything that actually made it look âexpensiveâ, what stood out was the scenery and how it was displayed onscreen. One particularly memorable part was when Meg ran across the salt flats/pink lakes of SA. The show made the most of the different locations Lucky & Meg travelled through. I also appreciated the Aussie music that was played on the soundtrack at various times. There were some pretty great songs used and I liked hearing them - which brings me to... Things I didnât like:While the music that Lucky listened to was at least decent, Megâs taste it music was not my cup of tea (to put it politely). I HATE rap crap...but it was what she liked listening to, so we were subjected to it numerous times. Worst of all, while the end credits for each episode would begin with a decent song being played over them, partway through it would cut (like someone changing the radio station in the car) to Megâs rap crap and itâd totally ruin the end credits for me (which, up until the point the music changed, I was happily listening to). While I get the *point* of the change halfway through (it was to further show the difference between the two characters), it really ruined the end credits imho, resulting in me immediately turning off the episode as soon as Megâs shitty music started. Thankfully, about halfway through the season they seemed to have less of the changing from decent music to crap music (sometimes weâd even get *two* decent songs instead of one decent song and one crap song). By the end of the season, they were playing songs in full over the end credits and there were no disruptions partway through. I imagine whoever decided to have the switching between music tastes during the end credits thought themselves âcleverâ...but I personally just found it SUPER ANNOYING. At one point when Meg left Lucky behind, she was imagining talking to her deceased brother and this caused her to swerve off the road, then when Lucky eventually caught up with her he found her sitting beside a poor dying baby camel sheâd inadvertently hit with her truck. As I mentioned in my last two reviews, I HATE animal death/cruelty, so seeing a camel (not that we really saw much of it - as they had a not overly convincing/fake-looking one) slowly dying was pretty sad. At first Lucky was going to end its life with a big rock to the head until Meg convinced him that wasnât the way to put it out of its misery. Instead, he used his pills (which were rather important to him) and they buried it. I do kind of hate it when a dying animal is meant to âbring characters togetherâ and help them bond. I couldâve totally done without the poor dead baby camel. I also couldâve done without the style in which the flashbacks were shot. They had this slightly squished look to them, like they were shot in weird format. Throughout their trip, Meg & Lucky interacted with a wide range of people - some decent, some...not so decent. On the whole, none of them really grabbed me and I just wanted to spend more time with the road tripping pair interacting, just the *two* of them - since they were what made the show worth watching. Everyone else? I couldn't have cared less about. The hardest to swallow thing about this entire series was the reveal partway through the season that Meg was supposed to be thirteen. While Milly Alcock certainly has a âyoungâ look about her (sheâs actually 22 now), it was much easier to buy her playing a sixteen-year-old (which was the age sheâd told Lucky she was in the beginning). Thirteen? That was a stretch. And itâs not like her being younger than sheâd originally said really added anything (other than maybe explaining some of Megâs more childish behavior). On the whole, for a show I knew hardly anything about and only checked out because of Milly Alcock, I actually came to quite enjoy it (even if there were a few things that prevented me from loving it). I do think itâs one of the âbetterâ Australian TV shows to be made in recent memory and I was glad I got to see more of Milly Alcock after having finished HotD a few weeks ago (I hope she continues to find much success and go onto bigger/better things). I do wonder what they can do with a second season, since this show mainly worked as an unplanned journey together between two people who didnât get along. Now they *do* get along (more or less) and theyâre âgoodâ with their families, what reason would they have to travel together again? Also, since the title of the show is Upright (relating to the piano), how is the piano/title going to continue being relevant to the series now that itâs been delivered and won't be traveling with them everywhere? Iâm not sure a second season was needed, nor do I think itâll be as good...but Iâd be happy to be proven wrong and will most certainly buy it whenever itâs (presumably) released here on DVD.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Feb 1, 2023 20:00:56 GMT
That 70s Show - Season 1
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Feb 2, 2023 21:20:38 GMT
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Feb 8, 2023 23:29:28 GMT
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