phoenics

So on Krypton, the show [spoilers]killed off Lyta, played by their black biracial female lead.[/spoilers] I predicted this after the way they ended S1 and suddenly all of the promotion seemed to center the 5th billed actress on the show instead of the lead (who is biracial). It's really sad because aside from the Superman angle, their starcrossed/impossible lovestory really hooked me. Don't know if the Supes angle is enough to keep me interested now.

Nevermind.

Unless Aaron had a secret identity this whole time and Isabella didn't know he was latino and then BAM! she found out - no she still doesn't have the right to demand he identify the way she wanted him to. Sure - she can call him a sellout, but I find this kind of judgment reductive and short sighted. It completely ignores and whitewashes (heh) the system of white supremacy that forces people who aren't straight and white to assimilate in order to get ahead. "Otherness" is often punished. She had good points - but I found her irritating and grating. I also found it completely unrealistic that someone as unable to fly under the radar as she was and completely unable to pick her battles would even be in the position she was in. She and her strident ass would have been kicked to the curb a long time ago. She wasn't elected like AOC - she held a position and could have been fired at any moment. And given her complete inability to learn to choose her battles - she never would've made it to the White House in the first place. She would have been labeled "difficult" ages ago and relegated to some back office or a nonprofit. I wish the show had given better examples of that instead of the pie in the sky version it gave us instead. Maybe that's why even the "social" issues part vexed me - it wasn't even realistic.

It's a completely fair comparison if what drew you to the show was in S1 or S2. It's part of the decision fans have to make about whether they want to watch. For some folks, West Wing + Social Issues is enough. For others - not so sure. I think if the show had given me Aaron + Emily I might have been able to forgive the new format. As it is, I don't think I'll be back next season. I find myself rewatching S1 and it's just so much better. Even the campy, ridiculous plotlines are better because they are fun. The new version takes itself even more seriously (if that's possible) and is even MORE earnest - without the intense suspenseful drama of stuff blowing up every other episode (which I loved). I guess I'm just not a pure drama kind of tv watcher. I love shows with hella action, suspense and romance. This ... just isn't that anymore. They made that clear when they killed off Hannah.

There are some things I liked - but also a lot of what drew me to the show they got rid of so ... I didn't sign up for a regular West Wing show with edgy social issues. I mean - yay for a show going into social edgy issues but I signed up for 24+WestWing. Guess that's not coming back. I might have stuck around if they'd gone with Aaron and Emily but they gave us this random insta-love interest for Aaron instead. Nope. And they got rid of Chuck and Mike, Hannah still feels like she's on another show and the only compelling new character is the crazy campaign lady. Plus the plot is boring.

I mean - the show feels more grown up w.r.t. the social issues and sex. But the intrigue and suspense is pretty much gone. The writing is definitely better - but this is a brand new show. They appear to be killing off a lot of what made me like the show and I'm struggling to figure out if I'm down to watch Passions + The West Wing when I signed up for 24/WW. Hell, I'd have settled for Scandal/WW. This is neither. I do think the writing is far better - at what they are choosing to write. I just - I was looking for something else more exciting. I find myself being bored in these episodes and watching characters I care nothing about.

I just finished. I really do have to accept that the show I loved from S1 isn't coming back. I really don't want Aaron and Isabelle and the show is tripling down on that. I don't want Emily unmoored - the show is tripling down on that. Seth seems more and more irrelevant from the main story. Everyone feels so disconnected - maybe that's because the whole season was them campaigning - but now that there is no Hannah - where's the suspense? That was my favorite part - that and the hope of an Aaron/Emily matchup. The show has successfully rebranded and remade itself into a West Wing show that talks about social issues without shying away from them. Yay. Except - that's not what I signed up for. Don't get me wrong - in the end the social issues stuff was all that kept me watching because I wasn't getting the rest of it - but it's not enough. I wanted the big, all encompassing conspiracy theories. The theme music in the intro gives that feeling and now the show doesn't deserve it anymore. It's not 24 meets the West Wing anymore. It's not even Scandal meets 24 since they killed Hannah off. Now it's Passions meets the West Wing. The ONLY redeeming thing are the social issues - but that's not enough. Okay and Aaron. But since they are still pushing the romance on me that I didn't want (Isabelle), even he's not enough.

Emily legit broke my heart this episode. Just broke it into a million pieces. Her whole storyline has been heartwrenching.

I have a lot more to say but I'm so irritated that they used Emily this way. I finally get Aaron and Emily and it's in the worst way. Cheating. This damn show. Worst part is that if Isabella had been there since day one, I might have liked her and Aaron. But she wasn't. And then they just forced her on me. But Adnan manages to have chemistry with every woman he shares screentime with. I'm sure I'll have more to say later, but just irritated that this show isn't what I fell in love with.

Well I guess they finally solved the issue of Hannah seeming to be on a different show. They killed her off. This show is making the choice to be a new West Wing show - so bored!

So a lot of the stuff that went bad in S2 they are rectifying here, but not in a good way. The good: Love the writing being open and out front with the racial issues and not shying away from them. Love them putting Aaron Shore BACK in front where he should be - I mean - what the hell is the point of having a man that HOTT on a show for 2 seasons and this is the FIRST time we've seen him shirtless? Campaign lady from Transformers is hilarious. I see her and think "Hey!!! Duck and cover!" LOL. The bad: I hate how they've tossed all of these new characters at us and barely acknowledged the ones who left. Hannah still seems like she's on another show. The tension and awesomeness of S1 is gone completely - that season I could NOT stop watching - it was so gripping... Also - I don't like the insta-relationship with Aaron and Isabella. I didn't get to "fall" for them at all. It was just forced on me and I'm mad because I have been shipping Emily and Aaron from day one. Aaron shirtless = good. The rest? Whatever. I really haven't warmed to Anthony Edward's character either. The Whatever: I guess I have to accept that the brilliant show I loved from S1 isn't coming back and neither are any of the set ups they did there. I am mad that they just dropped Emily and Aaron - because it makes NO SENSE to just drop something that had such promise and then leave Aaron single for 2 whole seasons - WTF. And then when they DO pair him with someone and bring him back to the forefront, they give him an insta-relationship with some brand new chick who IS NOT EMILY!! I'm still mad, lol. I didn't sign up for this West Wing kinda show - I signed up for the awesomeness we got in S1. The unforgiveable: Where the hell is MIKE?!?!

The last 15-20 mins of the episode were amazing. I didn't know this show could still make me emotional, but I was in a shambles after Nora got erased. That was emotional AF. Hated Cisco giving up his powers (and hate it even more if Cisco's not gonna be on the show WTF!), but I suspect that whatever is going on with the Crisis is the reason why. Cisco would probably be able to fix whatever is going on so they needed his powers erased. So much for KF being the key to stopping Cicada. She eats floor every time they face off. LOVED that Captain Singh knew that Barry was The Flash all along. I hope he'll still pop up from time to time. I love PS. Candice Patton and Grant Gustin are amazing in their roles. They made me emotional.

So I must be the only one who really enjoyed the back half of this season. I hadn't watched any of the last 10 episodes and then I binged them all over 2 nights. Even I was surprised at how good it was and how drawn in I was. I haven't kept up with the news at all about this show so I really thought that Andre was a goner. I really thought he'd be killed off. I figured out in the finale that Kingsley would end up in the casket and his heart going to Andre. I found his story very compelling and wish they could have found a way to keep him on the show - having him bond with Andre and Keem and then Jamal coming back to feeling displaced wouldv'e been great. The actors on this show truly, truly brought it - I was in a shambles for the last 3 episodes - crying constantly, etc.. I think when you don't dissect this show to death and just watch it in a fast binge like I did, it hangs together very well... The last 4 episodes for me were amazing - and the twists did not go how I was thinking they'd go at all. I hope the show doesn't get canceled. After the whole jussie thing, I couldn't bring myself to watch and boy do I feel stupid now - because that was some damn good television. It was definitely heavy on the dramatic side and less of a guilty pleasure - but that didn't make it any less good. My only sadness is that Kingsley is gone. I liked him and wanted to see a redemption arc. I thought Cookie/Lucious was AMAZING and Andre/Terri and that whole cancer/heart storyline ripped my heart out. I'm still in a shambles with my heart in my throat. So - sorry to all the folks who are over Empire - but I'm still with it. LOVE it and the show has gotten SO much better than season one with it's burn through plots and paper thin characterizations (apart from the main Lyons). I don't know if the writers changed, but that's made this show better imo. All of the "Tyler Perry-esque" plotlines? Gone. Now we have nuance where there was once dramatics and plot drivenness. Again - my ONLY beef is with Kingsley being gone.

Exactly. She's just SO determined to show her preference that it really irritates me. I just feel doomed shipping Michael&Maria and I fear for Maria's safety with the fandom. Carina is just SO problematic to me.