FiveByFive

If David didn't torture Oliver with a drill then Mel/Shadow King wouldn't have had that to show to her. Provoking him or not he made that choice. He also made that choice in the most brutal way he could think of. She knew the context. Shadow Mel also let Syd know that David had been lying to her again about working with the Shadow King. We saw it ourselves, that actually happened. He promised her no more secrets. He broke that promise. He didn't have to, he chose to. No one made him. If he hadn't of done that there would have been nothing to show her. And the words the Shadow King used to describe the future came from future Syd herself. She not only saw part of the conversation but we did too so we know he wasn't lying. Whether or not these things were shown in succession, all of these things actually happened. Were they shown in order to manipulate Syd? Yes. Did they happen? Yes. Did he immediately manipulate her mind in order to serve his own selfish desires right after? Yes. If you're on a Reality Show and they offer you free alcohol and try and get you to talk smack on someone -- you have a choice -- don't drink the alcohol and don't talk smack. I almost made it onto one of those once, I got really far in the audition process, but I was also someone that didn't react to things the way a producer probably would want me to. So I didn't get on. We can't treat David like he has no agency post-Shadow King possession or else there's no point to his journey. Things are going to be harder for him (because of his power and mental illness) but he still has to have the potential to be good and loved or there's no struggle.

It's tricky because Farouk didn't show Syd anything that didn't actually happen. Furthermore, they were starting to figure out what David had been up to even before Farouk was released from his cell. It's like the advice Heather B gave to contestants on The Real World about being upset how they are portrayed by the editors/writers of the show: if you don't give it to them then they can't use it. His intent was clear based upon his own dialogue with himself and the scenes afterwards; he didn't do it to defend himself. He did it so she would love him again. If his intent was to defend himself, there were other ways to do it. She was already knocked out. He didn't have to do anything. If his intent was to simply stop the part of her that wanted to kill him, then he should have gone to anyone else and told them what he did after they locked her down somewhere. He didn't want anyone to know because he knew it was wrong and he didn't want what she knew to get back to the others. I agree that up until that point he had committed no serious crime. So her attack on him was based on the information both he and the Shadow King gave her as they both claimed it came from her. She said she was going to trust herself which included her future self and kill him. It was all very chicken egg, now that I think about it. Syd thinks David is bad because future Syd told everyone so but past Syd would have never betrayed David if David didn't help push what future Syd said. I just realized the show told us this was going to happen with the story before the trial on the title cards. Did they really "turn"on David though? They seemed like they wanted to help him. We know that he is powerful. We also know that he has a mental illness. They weren't wrong and the show has let us know they weren't wrong. The question is, could he control it, and based upon what he did to Syd it was clear that he couldn't control some of his impulses. The guy is running around thinking he's God. He doesn't believe he is doing or has done anything wrong. While the damage done to his mind might be because of Farouk's original influence (they even said as much) he can not run around thinking that. Finally that last scene was a brilliant piece of acting by Dan Stevens as he clearly established the three different personalities in his head we saw earlier and flipped between them at various times while arguing with his former friends.

I was a huge champion of this show but it's getting too weird for me. I guess the issue should be more clear that there are two and a half things happening here. You have a group of people trying to stop the Shadow King from getting his body back. On the other hand you future Syd working against David to stop him from stopping the Shadow King because she believes that the Shadow King is the only one who can stop David from destroying humanity. You could have easily have let the rest of the cast in on this so they could have been better utilized. Also I was really peeved that Ptonomy "died" was placed into a machine and no one seemed to care.

They were telegraphing this a mile away this episode: 1. Chloe could not be that stupid as to not have realized in some part of her being that Lucifer's continued bit of being "the devil" wasn't based in truth after all of the weird things that have happened around her. 2. She admitted that his, "what do you really desire" thing was legit and did in fact work when we've never seen her actually admit that before. However, she has always trusted it. 3. When he "flew" her to the roof she admitted that the simplest explanation was that he was who he was all along. Anyone would question how she got from confronting Pierce inside the building to the top of the building in a short amount of time. Also Lucifer disappeared right after. In a way it's a lot like Lois Lane continually ignoring the fact that Clark looks like Superman wearing glasses or Kat Grant not realizing Kara is Supergirl. At some point it's just comical that they don't realize it and in the story lines where there is a reveal they usually let you know that they did get it on some level but they just didn't want to admit it. Chloe realized he could be who he said he was but she didn't admit it to herself until he saved her one last time. In that moment when she saw his true face, she was a bit taken aback but he already told her who he was (multiple times) so she really can't be that surprised by it. I believe the same thing happened with Linda, he already told her who he was so there realistically wasn't as much shock when he let her see his devil face.

It was sort of filler; besides getting to see how much Amy means to him. In between seeing all of the various possible lives that David lived in other "dimensions" (present and future) they did show us his backstory before episode one in this dimension. They also reminded us a couple of times that David has the power to do anything he wants: I'd speculate this also includes fixing Amy and maybe even giving Lenny her own body. I think a good takeaway is by Farouk going for Amy directly and by using Lenny (who he considers some sort of a friend) -- he has really hurt him since we got Lenny's backstory last episode and now we've gotten Amy's.

While I'm happy they finally had their moment, these shows keep falling into the same trap; our leads are destined to be together but keeping them apart too long makes the story suffer ... but once they are together, what then? You could be Sleepy Hollow, where they refused to put the two leads together even if they should have been and it hurts the show. You could be Bones where the two leads get together and you simply adapt the story to suit that which takes a lot of thinking. or you could be The X-Files where it was mostly ambiguous towards the end. I think a good group of writers could pull off Lucifer and Chloe as a couple solving crimes. (ie. One's a mortal and the other is The Devil this fall on Fox!) I'm just not sure these writers could pull it off. They could put them together and then let him work out his issues with his father - and that would remain true to what the show was always about. Either way I hope that if they get renewed they're smart enough to NOT break them up again. No one needs to see that.

I'm sincerely going to miss Charlotte a lot. She was a bright spot this season if not the entire series for me. They created a character, gave her not one but two season long plots and managed to successfully have her grow both times; ending up in a different place than she was at the start of the season. I feel like I'm applauding the show for doing what it was supposed to do with all the characters on a season by season basis but with at least one it managed to get it right. She had a nice complete story. (Although it seemed a little odd that they never forgot she had children but she never tried to get them back.) I guess since her job was just to knock out Amenadiel but Pierce stabbed her with the syringe, she's still laying on the floor at Pierce's new place. I think we do have a confirmation that she really does care a great deal about Linda. That's what threw her off her guard and I hope by the end of the season she'll tell her how she feels.

Exactly. They made it clear Syd never liked to be touched, not even as an infant. It's also clear that the person Syd switches with generally has no idea what happened when the switch occurred. It's not like mutants are plentiful on the show so to them it seems like a loss of time. You have mom on the couch, naked and wet. You have Syd in a shower fully clothed with mom's naked boyfriend. So it's not surprising her mother thought the worst or even that she had been drugged and raped herself and that the boyfriend was trying to do it to the daughter next. (And I'm assuming what happened to the body during the switch carries over when the body gets switched back.) Then again: how would she even explain what happened to her mother in a way that would make her believe her or even the police? "When I touch people I switch bodies with them!" If she proved it successfully that would have been worse for her. (Not that this excuses her but mutants are treated horribly.) Also there's this whole underlying idea about mutants that their abilities are related to themselves. So, essentially, she manifested abilities related to her personality. In essence: if she never manifested powers the "no touching" thing would have continued to exist. However since fate decided she would be a mutant, her powers are related to that. (The reverse is true in some mutants where, while they don't have powers, their bodies sort of know what power they will get so -- Syd starts out as someone who doesn't want to be touched to prepare/protect her.) What Syd did was wrong. There's no way around it. If she is a victim, she is a victim of her own abilities. Not being able to touch another person completely screwed her up. As a teen with no support, like she'd get from the X-Men for example, she dealt with it the wrong way. She survived having to go through life like that and by her recent "experiments" it's clear she has reached a stage where she is much more willing to use her powers. I think the thing is: people make mistakes and at that age, I could see her not owning up to it. The problem is, as an adult, Syd didn't seem to have any regret about what she did. I think that says who she is, and it's not a pretty picture. All of the incidents in her life she shared with David brought her to that point: it's not about love, it's about being tough. It says a lot that David spent relatively little time in everyone else's maze trying to help them while with Syd, it was clear she was there to teach him a lesson. Long after everyone else had stopped feeling the effects of the Monk, which she technically would have and did too (chattering teeth had stopped as a matter of fact), she wasn't about to let him get off easy. In a way it was horribly twisted.

I was annoyed by this and then I thought about it: technically they all confessed their crimes -- but the government didn't do anything about it so what can you do? They would have also had to of admitted that Rowan played a part in making every government decision for the past few decades and they were all unwilling to do that. That's on them. And as much as I liked David: you met a man who you knew was a murderer, at his home, alone, in the middle of the night and then accepted a drink from him? Sorry but that was incredibly stupid and I do not believe that even on his worst day, David would ever be that stupid. It was supposed to be left up to you: either A) you believe she became President at some point in the future or B) it was for getting two Presidents elected, being incredibly influential in Washington as a lawyer and exposing a shadow government that ruled Washington for decades. When combined, those three things make her pretty important. I'm sure Mellie and Fitz would have supported that. (I'd also stretch and guess even Sally would have.) I also wish I had a clear shot of that portrait to make my iPhone wallpaper. It was beautiful. Oh, and hi Shonda's daughter in her special cameo appearance at the end!

I thought this episode was the first episode in a long time that made perfect sense; except for the cow which I assume will be explained soon. 1. The Monk attacked the basket head and attached himself to one of the androids. It wants to stop the Shadow King and discovered from the basket head that there were plans for a weapon to stop him but it never got built. Melanie suggested David was the weapon but the monk had found out that David was working with the Shadow King. 2. I'm sure the cow will be explained later. I think the funny thing is that David didn't mind it being there much. 3. It seems like the only way to cure the sickness the monk inflicted on people as "Typhoid Mary" was for David to enter their heads and "find" the person. Each was buried in their own maze thanks to the monk. And because of the second thing we learned a little bit more about Melanie (who likes to be in control but the love of her husband fixed that) and Ptonomy (who just wants quiet time to himself, alone) I also teared up when I read David's "story" he wrote for Melanie to "guide" her out of her maze. It was beautiful. I also felt bad for Lenny. The Shadow King won't let her go, she can't kill herself and then David ignored her. I thought the episode was unusually straight forward for this series.

Michaela, unlike Conor, Laurel and Asher came from a tough background. She grew up as a foster child in the middle of nowhere, with "dirt poor," manipulative parents and somehow managed to overcome all of that to going to a great law school and being engaged to a well off man at the start of the show. She wasn't just smart, she was determined. When the others wanted to party, she wanted to study. She looked up to Annalise and the show hasn't led us to believe at the top of her game Annalise was a fierce opponent. So she picked wisely - on the surface. Fast forward a few years later and now she's been involved in a few crimes, has managed to stay afloat in school, landed a prestigious summer gig alongside a woman she admired after beating everyone in her office & worked on a revolutionary Supreme Court case alongside Annalise. She also hooked up with a DC mover and shaker. I'd argue she's probably held it together better than anyone else on the series. When it came to Simon: I think her survival instinct kicked in and she was willing to do whatever it took to protect the others and most important of all protect herself. That's what she's always done. When Conor would cry and complain and want to run to the police anytime anyone committed a crime: She'd snap him back into place. When Asher would joke around and not take school seriously: She always remained steadfast. When Laurel would fall apart whenever anything didn't go her way: Michaela kept her head on straight. When Wes would get distracted by Rebecca/finding out the mysteries of his past/etc.: She was always smart enough to know when to drop someone. I adore her because she's great but I also understand she wasn't going to let Simon do anything to mess with her future after the amount of work she has had to do to get where she is. She didn't leave it up to Annalise to fix that. She did it herself. Killing him with her bare hands would have been out of character for her. Sending him away with a threat that no one would believe him if he talked is evil (because of where he's going) but a bit less harsh than ending his life. However, I think we realize the real world implications of what she did to Simon and that makes it harder to take. Simon wasn't necessarily evil. He did cause a lot of trouble for the group prior to this and, while I don't think he deserves his "fate," after all the stuff he has said and done you'd think he'd have known better than to tango with any of the Keating 4/5.

Because she has decided to chase down Wes' killer and bring down her father: Simon was shot in the head because her friends were investigating on her behalf and trying to frame him Her "friend" Dominick was killed by Frank while interrogating him on her behalf She gave birth to the child in an elevator and the child wouldn't be alive if not for Annalise and that only happened because of Frank and the incident with Simon This chase may have also possibly just gotten Bonnie killed and if she's not dead she's still on Denver's hitlist. And despite losing custody of the child at the moment she's still trying to - not just find Wes' killer - but bring down her father. Until she settles down she is wreaking havoc on everyone else who are all participating because they care about her and Wes. If all she wanted was her child and to find Wes' killer there are better ways to go about it but she has never really stopped to think about it.

They do all suck, but as someone mentioned to me - when I broke down all of the evil acts of everyone on the show - "What's the name of the show?" It's called, "How to Get Away With Murder." So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they're all terrible people and they're all getting away with murder. It's right there in the title. I'm slowly starting to like Connor and this episode solidified it. He actually does recognize his mistakes. On the other hand I'm starting to dislike Michaela only because she never seems to recognize how much she damages her own life. Also I like Alfred Enoch but boy did I never need to see Wes again. They just won't let that boy stay dead. I still want someone to tell Laurel that until she gets over whatever damage she has because of Wes' death when they only dated for 5 cosmic seconds she doesn't deserve to have that child. It's like whatever made Wes the root of all of their issues has now jumped onto her.

We see the Flash zipping around all the time from everyone else's perspective. "Flash Time" is from his perspective and he is moving faster than he usually does which is why he and the others slowly begin to sweat. The speedsters were able to perceive each other accurately since they all likely have the same potential and they could all move at the same speed but the show did a good job at showing that Jay was the worst at it as he had to tap out first. Jesse ended up having to tap out second and Barry held on the longest. They also were able to touch someone and extend that "speed energy" to them for a short amount of time. They've all got pretty well defined roles on the show at this point and all of their choices were logical and came in order of what anyone would think normally. Also I loved that people told Barry he couldn't be stupid and blow up the speed force. (I was hoping someone would add, "And then how would you stop DeVoe then?" or "Why would you make that decision for everyone that has that power at this point? Don't be silly. They have people on their own Earths that need saving.") Also I loved the fact that Barry finally learned his lesson about changing time. With his track record he would have overshot his destination and screwed things up even more. The speed force doesn't like it when he does that, Jay has warned him multiple times not to do it so I'm glad he has listened. Barry can't run the bomb away - because disturbing it would cause it to explode faster - that's out. Cisco can't breach the bomb away - that's out. Killer Frost can't freeze it - that's out. Jesse/Barry and Jay can't lighting bolt it because Jay's time is up - so that's out. All Iris did was remind Barry of something that she was personally there for and invested in and they only could have gone with that solution after they tried the easier ones first. The character of Iris has done little to be unlikable since she was barely the focus of the show beyond love interest in the first few seasons. Ralph is the one sucking up screen time and before it was Kid Flash + Jesse + Tom Felton's character. I would have liked it better if they popped in occasionally like Gypsy who only appears to give Cisco more of a life and despite her horrible lawyer skills I do like Joe having Cecile.

This episode was "so much!" As soon as everyone found out that Barry was The Flash I figured they'd bite it. You just can't have that many people knowing your secret. I also figured they'd torture us longer after Becky told us that she was going straight after she got out. So of course she didn't die with the others so her possible death will be even more depressing. Honestly, out of all of the people we've been introduced to I felt the worst for her during her initial episode. She didn't seem like a bad person at all. I'm hoping there's still a way to save her. Arguably her power is the most powerful of all of the newbies. If Becky manages to get lucky and survive I hope her knowing allows her to work with team Flash. Dominick didn't deserve to die at all. I still don't know why he had to in the first place. Although it is interesting the Cecile has telepathic abilities now. That has to be connected since it's rare for two people to have the same abilities on a show - well, unless you count Barry and Kid Flash but now one is gone and that served a clear purpose. It's also clear that he wants "specific" powers to do something but we still don't know what yet. Devoe is getting "drunk" with power. I really wonder what his wife thought he was going to do once he started all of his body jumping. It's obvious she's coming around since she actively tried to block his telepathy. Amunet bores me. I'm both happy and annoyed that Cecile had to point out that metas are real and they exist as an explanation for why weird things happened when she should have mentioned that it could have been one that framed Barry, who would better know than anyone else how to cover up a crime scene, from the start. Finally, I get why Barry wanted to get out "legally" so no one would continue to try and track him down as a fugitive. I do think it's silly no one thought about impersonating DeVoe earlier. It's not like they haven't done that before.