SueB

Off to Google gorgeous

Really appreciate all the discussion regarding Perrin and his dead wife. I’m now firmly on ‘good idea’ side of the aisle. It just helps all the inner turmoil be obvious. And him going ‘beast mode’ while killing the Trolloc also was a good idea. Shows where the real debate lies. Also agree the aging-up, sexually mature, element was a good idea. If we are going to buy into a polyamory relationship later, we need to have a society more comfortable with sexuality. Which Dana neatly handled with assuming Mat/Rand were a couple. Rand can still be a little old fashioned (had a vision of wide and kids at 20) to avoid him looking like a letch. Mat looks a bit like a himbo but ‘meh’, goes with ‘scoundrel’. Do you think ‘Dana’ was a substitute for Mille? Because Rand’s use of the power with Millie was what triggered a sickness and Mat was temporarily blinded? He clearly used the power to get through ‘Ironwood’, but not sure it was a big enough use for uninitiated to notice.

Second watch tidbits: so Mat likes older women? How did I not pick that up in the books? (Before later on). I also liked the Two Rivers people fighting back. I’m seriously disappointed in Mat’s family but love Tam. And Egwene’s parents.

The one Mat buried was an Aiel - someone Thom said was a warrior race. The last dude was the guy we saw in the first episode (but with his hair down). And according to the Red AES Sedei he claims to be ‘The Dragon Reborn’. But Moraine said one of the four Taverne from the Two Rivers is the Dragon Reborn. Dragon Reborn = Chosen One trope. Well I LIKED the dialogue. Yes, it’s overwrought fantasy stuff at times but it had a realism to it. I liked Nynaeve actually attacking Lan with the sword. She was all kinds of sassy. Mat has a potty mouth. I had to turn on closed captioning to get the reference to someone’s wife. I liked Rand admitting he didn’t know shite. Seemed honest. I really like Thom Merrill, the gleeman. I like his gravelly voice and the way he’s already taught Mat a thing or two. The song was cool IMO. It’s hard to weave that stuff in and make it sound natural. im seriously disappointed Dana turned into a Darkfriend. She seemed like a friendly down-to-earth type who was being kind to the nicest looking young lads who had come into her bar. So when she turned out to be the bad guy, I was bummed. Honestly, given her standard clientele, I bought a normal interest in the boys. But nope. We got all sorts of plot goodies: 1) The Darkfriends know their are 5 people and knows their names. How exactly does that get communicated? Dreams? 2) Rand was able to crack open the ‘ironwood’ door when he was desperate. Seemed super human to me. 3) She called an ‘eyeless one’ aka a Fade. Closed capturing is great for all these names that fly about. Pretty damn desperate to me. Those things will hand her over to the Trollocs for a snack. Again, how does communication work? I LOVE Nynaeve and Lan. There’s some snap, crackle, pop going on. Perrin, you fool. There are wolves following you and you want to leave Egwene behind? Bad call. Good thing she didn’t listen. All in all, a good plot-moving episode IMO. Now we and Rand/Mat know that they are targeted by the Darkfriends by name. So we know Morraine is telling the truth (from a certain point of view). Going home is not an option. I have not much to say about the Tinkers except Aram is mighty fine looking. ETA: Nynaeve is a Bad Ass. I’m really impressed with her. There was a lot of luck with that troll but she is a VERY determined individual.

I though the entry to Shadar Logoth was great. Looked perfect on my screen. As did the vista that Rand and Egwene saw. LOVED the singing. Yes, it’s a standard in fantasy trope but I loved the Mantheran song and the backstory. Excellent cinematography with the super polished silver goblet reflecting the burning AES Sedei. Yes, I hate that White Cloak guy. Booked the older one. Moraine is excellent with Obsfucation. True they did pass through Tarren Ferry and many were injured. Everything was true— from a certain point of view (gratuitous Obiwan reference). Rand has a temper. He seems even keel then burst out in frustration. The bat in the throat was gross. Well done. And they are all having the dreams. The wolf that kicked Perrin’s leg looked more like a dog — that’s okay, but it’s hard to feel as nervous. Mat, you idiot. Doesn’t every cautionary tale tell you not to pick up something from a haunted place. I mean, major props for giving Perrin your knife. But you don’t randomly pick up a knife in a place Trollocs fear. loved the chase at the end.

World Building: -Freaking gorgeous scenery. I think it’s Czech Republic, not sure. Very Grand - The village seemed a bit too grubby for me. Can everyone take a bath? I did like their sense of community and it’s the different ‘reincarnation-based’ religious ethos. I also loved the sense of great traditions (the braid, the floating in the water to join the women’s circle). - I really dislike the women in Red - they felt cardboard villain. I liked the hallucination concept for the man they were chasing. - I imagine Moraine will be more interesting as they go along. I liked Rand/Egwene. I like that he respects her choices even though he clearly intended to marry her. Egwene is ambitious. Mat’s parents are schmucks. And Mat stealing for a ‘good cause’ was not endearing. I too think Perrin’s wife had a miscarriage. The R-rated fight scenes were effectively gruesome. I live the opening credits. I also like the visual effects for the One Power. First episodes are pretty hard to pull off but the scenery and plot are pretty good for a pilot episode.

Bottom Line for the TL;DR: I’m okay with the adaptation. A few things are better, some less awesome, mostly it makes sense. See summary in bold Having just recently completed full re-read of the books (via audible binge-style ) - I caught a LOT of things that I had forgotten or perhaps skimmed when reading. I find I really insist on hearing every line in Audible. But binge-style for me allows me to see bigger arcs more clearly from my perspective. Shortcuts and changes IMO are a ‘given’ Works (thus far): S1 E1: Sex happens to our main characters (mostly) before the series even starts - the jury is out with Nynave. I’m okay with it. Jordan was over concerned about this and it’s Amazon Prime not broadcast. Perrin was married and accidentally killed his wife Still not 100% on this but I understand it. There was some trouble with the marriage too (Had she had a miscarriage? She touched her stomach a lot). They sold the bloodlust well And one could argue the bloodlust was ALWAYS part of Perrin, just exacerbated by the wolves. So I see the shortcut they went for. S1 Ep2: Shortened the trip to Shasta Logoth: okay we can meet Min later. S1 Ep3 Meeting Thom later: again okay. And I like that the Darkfriend meeting is likely to drive Mat to go on. Works really well: S1Ep1: Edmund 5’s characterization. They felt right. Mat was a bit more of a scoundrel and his family was trash (mmmkay) but I could see the book dialog coming out of their mouths Egwene/Rand coming to closure early. Nicely done. And the intimacy of their relationship serves future plots well. Trollocs and Myrdralls are suitably horrifying and hard to kill. Again, not for broadcast bad guys works well. Moraine’s use of the One Power. Snazzy special effects. S1Ep2: Whitecloaks are a more credible threat Shadar Logoth’s SFx Perrin meets the wolves S1Ep3: Nynave/Lan relationship has sparks flying Egwene learning One Power Not loving: S1, Ep 1-3 Red Sisters - Too much like The Legend of the Seeker bad gals. Campy IMO. The rings - too gaudy for me. Makes them distinct but ‘meh’ The Jury is out S1 EP1-3 FOUR Taverne? I think a case could be made that Egwene was Taverne but it’s not cannon. I can live with it thus far. Aes Sedei relationships/power. Not keen on how easy one was killed by a white cloak Where is Nynave’s wilder power? I want to see that. Summary: Excellent start. Book difference don’t bug me thus far. Characterization is spot on. And the R-rated SFx is a good add.

My PEOPLE! I have found the forums. Can’t wait to start commenting!

Recently Smallville finished Runner-up in TV Guides’ ‘Best Ever CW Show’ tournament. Supernatural won. But Smallville being second is pretty impressive considering it’s up against shows still airing. I also rewatched S4-S5 recently. Originally I couldn’t rewatch the series because I just felt sort of numb by the end. Then the Allison Mack thing came out. And I HAD been a big fan of Chloe (less so in the last season). So, I just couldn’t. For me, Allison Mack actually going to jail was I guess the closure I needed. Please don’t take that the wrong way. I truly saw her as both victim and villain. I think she drank the ‘ Koolaid’ but she also fundamentally failed ‘Humanity 101’ with choices. I think jail time and a life of reparations is in order. Low key reparations, off the radar. I do believe their is recognition of her wrong doings and genuine remorse. So, with that background… it’s been a decade. What did I see: Some of the acting is really good. Annette O’Toole, Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover are always outstanding. I still like Chloe’s character. I did not appreciate the first time around how much gaslighting of Lana was going on. I didn’t like her all that much but it’s hard to watch the ‘for her own good’ decisions that others made for her. I always felt Gough and Miller were manipulating the fan base into divisiveness. Now I also see a squick ‘me too’ factor going on for some of the main storylines. But it still has a good bit of storytelling in there. If they do pursue comics, I hope they stick to the comics-plot and avoid the stuff Gough/Miller threw in for ratings (Let’s have Lois go under cover at a strip joint! Poor Erica Durance!).

Popping back in after a theee week binge watch: -Gwen/Xander -Gander? - works for me. - Oh Jack. It’s gonna hurt whe. The inevitable truth comes out (a guess, not a spoiler) -Team Chabby FTW! - Johnny is scum. Making a tell-all about his MOTHER?!?! Dude has issues. -Will! Good to see you. You should not have given Johnny that script. -Doug. I don’t know if I can deal with this preposterous storyline. - EJ is a schmuck. - I’m happy with the Bonnie whitewash. I want Justine happy.

Late to the party… but aI had to post about the Ericole breakup: The acting was A+. And the dialog on Nicole’s part is some of the best writing I’ve seen. My heart broke when she said ‘You married me!’ It’s like she was clinging to that truth because Eric made her feel so unwanted. And I like that she brought up him still being a priest in his sense of mission. I think they should have recast, however, rather than break them up. It was so obvious that it was done because Greg left the show. And while ITA, him staying in Africa too long and screwing up his marriage was in character, him letting her go that easy was not. Please note, Nicole IS the one who cheated and is culpable in my opinion, but Eric’s choices really did feed the flames for a massive self-destructive moment from Nicole. Again, the writing was excellent in that her talking about self-degradation took me right back to her porn star trauma. Bottom Line: Really good scenes by two vets, but the resolution is out of character for the relationship. Still, I’m ready to move on. I feel like Ron wants me to hate Sami. If so, he’s doing a good job. Brady was a good friend to hunt down Cander and figure out his motivation. I Lt was a little too dark IMO for my nu-Xander tastes BUT he hates Eric and wanted cash so I can’t say it’s out of character.

Marlena is going to figure Lumi out. So EJ is a jealous troll now? Why is Sami..SAMI… scared of him? I’ve just binged watched the last two weeks, my quick thoughts. 1) Kate is Deadpool. As in the Super’hero’ (he would want me to put the hero part in quotes). She is without a doubt the biggest badass in Salem. And her superpower is she can’t be killed. My heart still breaks for her regarding Jake. Jake was too young for her but I still liked them together. And yes, I’m happy to get my Stabi fix with Jabi (is that a little too on the nose?). 2) TEAM XANDER! He really was playing Lumi all the way. ‘Shall I flip a coin?’ I really hope he gets away with it. I know it’s terrible to route for extortion but I’m kinda okay with it. Hopefully she told him where Chloe is and he will save her. 3) Xander/Nicole - well THAT escalated quickly. I must admit, there was a playfulness to their sex scene that I liked. 4) Poor Nicole. Xander had her dead-to-rights on her motivation. She’s lonely, pining for Rafe, and pissed at Eric. She was looking to roll around in the mud. And Eric is winning asshole of the year for leaving his wife and babies alone. I’m not remotely saying she SHOULD have slept with Xander - terrible mistake - but it seems like the basis for Ericole to go kaputz for a while. 5) I never want to see Susan Banks again. 6) I was over Channel during her first episode. My opinion hasn’t changed. And Eli better watch out. 7) Wow. Lani found a spine. 8) Do you think they have a wardrobe budget issue? All the men are shirtless these days. ETA: Legit question: does the Phillip actor have a physical condition or is that posture an acting choice?

Well the April fool's pranks are fun. I don't know if they will pass them off as 'dreams' or just let the episode stand on it's on with a big "April Fools" at the end. If dreams: - Bonnie is dreaming of hunky Xander turning into a priest and then she has her way with him - John is dreaming Sami puts him in Statesville and taunts him as she plans to inject a lethal dosage - Jan (I think it's Jan) dreams of 'ugly' Belle, 'ugly' Chloe, and having her way with a Shawn - and poor Patch dreams Sweetness is given birth to the spawn of Stephano OR... these are all fever dreams of a soon-to-wake-up Jan. Although Bonnie/Xander and Patch/Kayla doesn't really fit. I think Xander taking a swing at somebody is the only real scene in that preview. It doesn't look like Roman but I don't know who else it is.

I hope the trunk thing means Sarah is not dead. The character deserves better.

So upset about Xarah.

WHY are they making me like Bonnie with those one liners?!?! I love Judi Evans but I don’t know if I can like Bonnie. Her Lucas rape was too icky. Arrrrggg. I like the Gabi/Abi team up.

I did an abbreviated catch up today. Quick thoughts: - The Susan persona is just not funny to me. - Allie - she’s her mother’s daughter on the ‘don’t get caught’ line - I’m so over Sami-arrested-for-murder plots. Has she gone over double digits now? -ORKClaire vs NuClaire - I’m trying to mentally image ORKClaire with these lines, this plot line. And I keep expecting there’s more depth there than what I’m seeing. NuClaire seem pretty mentally healthy. That’s a good thing for the character but a little slipping would make her more realistic. - Yay for Xander and Sarah! I don’t trust Summer at all. I miss Maggie. What I want: Xander to become hugely successful at something else. So when Phillip fails — he’s already adding the poison of revenge to his business - Xander will have the independent confirmation that he was the brains of the business. Victor is a fool. - I like Kate/Jake. I want that to work out. Gabi is not root-able most of the time. -OTOH - you go Gabi! When it came to extracting an apology out of Abigail. It felt like Abigail was influenced by her desire for Gabi’s help. That’s not a good look. I think they make the characters with flaws so I like when they acknowledge them. Work is horrible, so I’ll probably continue to skim along until whoever killed Charlie is resolved — I’m guessing 6 weeks.

The sheer number of possibilities in this show seems unbounded. And that's freaky. We've crossed so many lines here: - Vision has apparent sentience and independence without the mindstone. - Her 'brother' recast is from the 1960's (unless his character doesn't age). Which means temporal anomaly in addition to potentially multiverse. - SWORD seems shady - and within the cinematic MCU, we've never heard of them before. WHERE THE HELL ARE WE? Is this still the Endgame universe? Seems like it but... IDK. As for Wanda - between the pain and confusion and moments of both control and non-control, I still have faith in her until I see her make a choice that I can't support. I don't know if she IS hurting people. I also found it interesting that Monica's Kevlar jacket became her clothes. There seems to be a conservation of matter principle at work (which, give how much weird shit is happening, is odd). Finally, SHE GAVE BIRTH to mutant children who grow at will. They gestated in less than a full day. This shit is not all within Wanda's control. And given Vision's non-human nature -- who is the Baby Daddy? And did Wanda CONSENT?

This brings me joy. TV is a fickle industry. At least he's got a good start. Let's hope he keeps up momentum. It's an excellent time to start a series. Mid-pandemic, winter, no Olympics, etc...

Initial thoughts: Good: - The Austin vibe. I liked the locations, the golden-toned hues, the Texas of it all. - Micki Ramirez, I love how tiny she is and yet clearly very tough. And her boyfriend? Yummmmmm. She better not kick him to the curb. - Complex family dynamic. There was a LOT going on. Means there will be plenty of story to tell. - Straightforward Case of the Week (COTW). I imagine there is a lot going on, a little surprised it's as far north as Austin but I'll handwave that away. - Walker dragging his friend out to two step. Saw some real charm there and want to see the full dancing in the future. The "Meh": - It's a pilot. There was a ton of data dump. Some cliché to some of the characters. - Walker being an asshole. It's clearly a plot point. He's going to get better. We're just watching him wrestle with the choices he's made. And clearly he's made some bad choices in the past year. I don't want a 'sensitive' Texas Ranger, but he's gotta stop being a jerk to those that don't deserve it. Save being a jerk for those that do. - They wife's murder mystery. I like Gen P. in the role but I'm not feeling it yet. (Note, I think I can easily get there but I'm not there yet), On the Fence: - The Captain. I'm already convinced he's the bad guy. Am I supposed to feel that way? Nope: - Walker's initial choices about the return, going out drinking with kids at home he has to connect with. I do NOT want his daughter being the one to pull him out of his funk but his parents seem too far grounded for him to be as irresponsible as he was at the beginning. In short, I need to understand WHY he's making unlikeable choices or he needs to stop it. Bottom Line; It's a pilot. I think it's got a lot of potential. I'm definitely going to continue to watch. I want to LIKE Walker more -- and I suspect I will. I saw some elements of fun, charm, and sincerity beneath the rough.

I don’t think I agree with this. I think Jared feels he, and he alone, has the BEST handle on Sam as a character. He made a point in several interviews about changing three different lines of dialog in the finale. And that’s the not first time. I also don’t know if he always watches every episode (either of the boys). Some for sure, but not positive it’s every one. Also, he can’t simultaneously be guilty of lobbying for super Sam scripts (a complaint of the past by some, not me) AND also just perform what’s on the page. I think he’s more engaged in the character, based on conventions where he talks about how important Sam is to him. I will say that MY convention observations are more that Jared gets asked more/engaged more on HIS personal emotions (which I find over-the-line many times) or on the receiving end of a story of how he’s personally saved some fan from suicide*. Jensen’s M&Gs seem more Dean focused from what I’ve seen. There is one Asian lady (with a really heavy accent that makes it a strain to understand her always 2-min long wordy questions**) who goes to a lot of conventions and ALWAYS delves into the psychological damages Dean has suffered on the show. Back to Jared’s comment on what Dean wanted for Sam. Well, it’s Sam’s BELIEF on what Dean wanted. Doesn’t mean it’s what Dean actually wanted. I’d ask Jensen that. *Boundaries, many fans have demonstrated a lack of them. *Why yes, I do get annoyed at lengthy fan theories which are expressed and then a question asked at the end.

I thought I start a thread for news that’s not directly ‘Walker’ but linked to the cast & crew. Men’s Health video visit with Jared: Go to the link inside the textfor the whole video. He looks so much better these days! Healthy, moving on. I really hope Walker is a success. That will help him a lot I think. He’s also got a great workout regime.

Ice baths are HARD CORE. Those are his legs inside that tub (it took me a while to see it). He's obviously done it alot because his face is not showing the agony it is.

Best line of my binge watch goes to Nicole: "Salem should really get a new coroner."

But the plumbing is rusty, the foundation is cracked and her belfry is full of bats. And let's not even start on the rat's in her basement. On Gabi's swirl through town... I REALLY thought she would have a miracle pregnancy based on "oh baby!" spoiler from dayscafe. But then they dressed her in a tight outfit for her whirlwind visit. I'm hoping they just are bad at math and she waltzes back in town with a new baby.