DigitalCount

I'm very glad you said this, because there were a few times that I was legitimately taken out of a scene by some piece of dialogue that sounded incredibly modern. I have no idea why they decided to do that, especially with Jaskier.

HO. LEE. MACKEREL. I rewatched the first few seasons recently, and I don't know if it's because I'm older now or what, but Lana didn't deserve half the shade she got in the early years. And honestly, Clark comes off rather poorly in hindsight. Many of Lana's actions regarding finding out about Clark seem to stem from the fact that she was awake in the car in Tempest and thus at least somewhat aware of what was going on. So then, even if she doesn't understand details or even know exactly what she knows, she definitely knows Clark is lying to her, which would make anyone upset. It really does feel like gaslighting, because he's basically telling her to ignore what she saw and that she can't trust her own senses or memory of events.

I think he mentioned in this episode that he was going to his home base to make or collect more of those, among other things. So I think you're right; he can't just have a sack of them on his person all the time, and they're consumable, so he has to use them at the right times and replenish his supply every so often. (am gamer, have not played any of the Witcher games, but he's a guest character in my favorite fighting game and I'm a fan)

I mean, like is a broad term. I'm fairly certain I'd never let her anywhere near anything I cared about.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but TIL that the aconite is possibly/probably a reference to our favorite murder-couple's special term of endearment, being wolfsbane and all.

I've been suspicious of Poppy since seeing her, but I was also suspicious of Jan. My fiancee said I was cheating by relying on tropes, which, yes, but eventually I came to the same conclusion as Oliver: it was incredibly suspicious that Jan survived her attack. The first time I read a book where the killer is attacked and nearly killed by the red herring, I was 12. (For the record, the thing that made me think that Jan was the killer when I did is that the main character's love interest is often the killer in mystery shows like this; I like to call it the Preston Giles Proposal. Once it was clear it couldn't be Oscar, I felt like it had to be Jan.)

(spoilers for all of S1 btw)

I was wondering when this thread would be created. What a ride! It seemed like fun and then got so much more intense. Episode 6 was the standout for me, but the whole thing was pretty stellar. I'm glad it's getting the recognition it deserves. For the sake of people still watching, I'll stop there for now. Can't wait for S2!

That she is. She'll probably be out in 2. It's important to note that she's both villain and victim here, and she did cooperate with the state. On a lighter note, a Smallville cartoon is in the works.

This is exactly what I said. Which plays into my issue with the last scene, especially now that I know it was written after the fact. Sometimes in shows that are aired with chronological scenes out of order, it seems like they are also written out of order. The characters react to the narrative sequence rather than the chronological sequence. Kate did not behave throughout the 95 scenes as if the information in the final scene was available to her, even though logically it had to have been something she had already experienced by that point. Jeanette, on the other hand, largely did; as some have said, she acted very much like a person who wasn't sure what pieces of information her accuser had, so she said as little as possible to avoid incriminating herself further. On a different note, I'm also in the boat of "it was a relief kiss" though I think I'd be fine with Mal and Kate together (they focused in on the ring-pop way too long for it not to be significant). The roller rink scene had some real layers to it, so it feels pretty earned, even if it's not entirely healthy. I'm glad it was initiated by Kate though, whichever way this goes.

I'm not about the Amber slander. It feels as if everyone treats the question as "Should Mark tell Amber the truth, or should he keep his secret?" The choice is really "Should Mark tell Amber the truth, or should he break up with her?" It's true that Amber isn't necessarily entitled to Mark's secret (though it would at least allow her to make an informed decision) but continually putting yourself in a situation where you honestly believe you have no choice but to lie is simply fatal to a relationship. In this circumstance, Mark isn't even just lying about his identity or whereabouts, he is also lying about his ability to be a good boyfriend (meeting her family for dinner, going to the community center, being continually late and missing dates, etc) every time he reassures her that it'll be different next time. It may be that his secret identity is a good reason to lie, but that is why he needed to stop being in the relationship; he doesn't have time to date. He can keep his identity secret or he can be Amber's boyfriend, but he can't do both. And his continued insistence that he'll change, he'll be with her, he'll hold up his end of the bargain doesn't really get rehabilitated by the (arguably good) reasons why none of those things are true; it's still all lies. Years ago on Smallville, the biggest issue I had with certain people in Clark's life (Lex, early seasons Chloe and Lana) was that he never really had made any sort of binding commitment to them, so there was no reason for them to expect to know details of his life. He walked away from Lana in S5 when he realized he couldn't be with her if he was going to lie to her all the time, because he recognized that his good reasons didn't change the basic fact of her being alone, left behind, left in the dark. Mark seems to have yet to realize this but he's still young, and a lot of young people lack emotional maturity. On a slightly related note, I read somewhere that the original Amber in the comics was not a WoC, and this plot point makes me sad because it's really easy to demonize Amber (which of course the internet has readily and resoundingly done). But then it always seems a bit easier for people to break with black female characters when they do something less moral or positive (years ago I also watched The Vampire Diaries, Doctor Who, and True Blood, and I read about Sleepy Hollow; whew lad). Hopefully here's a different perspective on Amber's actions that might be able to save her from the Scrappy Heap in people's eyes. ETA: I don't think that Amber not knowing protects her either, because all that means is that she's still at risk of becoming a target and wouldn't understand why. In the event that she was to become a target, she also wouldn't know what the easiest course of action would be to get out of the crosshairs--that is to say, breaking up with her superhero boyfriend. It also opens Mark up to some potential difficulties (spoilers for the book that invented the masked vigilante hero genre)

Well, I'm a huge sucker for supernatural soap operas. Watched some of the original cartoon and it bored me to tears, but also I'm not sure what they would have done for a live action show that was a closer adaptation of the source material. So I guess I'm basically the target audience? I know Riverdale has soured a lot of people on melodramatic darker teen remakes, but I think that's a function of Riverdale's writing, rather than the concept being poor. And for these reasons, I was prepared to enjoy it, and I did. I found Bloom's floundering about mildly annoying, but I figured as long as I focused on the characters I liked (Aisha, Terra, and Sky--not that I didn't like Bloom, but she made it tough at times) it could buoy my enjoyment even when focused on the characters who needed a bit of help The season got better as it went on, which is always a plus; it's always disappointing to have a great pilot followed up by plenty of nothing, but this had an iffy beginning and found its stride as the season went on. I also found that I liked Bloom more as the season continued, which might be related to my opinion on the season as a whole. As far as the ending, there was a bit of disappointment, I'll admit. I'm still willing to stick with it though, and I'm glad it's been renewed.

Late to the party, but: Leland tells Sebastian that she "crapped on" him, so he would need to return the favor. When Leland said it, it was meant as a figure of speech, but when we next see Sebastian he's emerging from a stall in the bathroom. Seems like he decided to take Leland's advice more literally. Recently started watching this, and it's entertaining enough. I was looking for a new genre show once Supernatural ended, and this one has Mike Colter in it. I'll at least watch until the finale, then if it still has me I'll keep it going.

My take on Vanya in S1 was simply this: if I (intentionally, accidentally, or just out of sudden heat) killed my sister--or believed that I had killed my sister--I'd be locking myself in a room and downing those pills Reginald was giving me as a kid, with no need for people to manipulate me into it. That she was only focused on her own trauma really said something to me, and I didn't see anything in S2 that changed that. I agree that the narrative cheated us out of Vanya really coming to terms with how her own choices had contributed to what was happening. I believe the quote is "cool motive, still murder." It's not like she's the actual Dark Phoenix. The actions she took were still her, even if she had weird eyes while doing it. She had those same weird eyes and features when she broke through Harlan's forcefield to get to him at the end, so it seems like it's just an expression of interacting with that power. I was a little confused at how Allison shook off the rumoring Lila gave her, but at the same time Lila didn't say "I heard a rumor that you stopped breathing forever" so I guess it fits. It seemed like she didn't just copy their powers, but she was explicitly upgrading them with her own? She was stronger than Luther, she overrode Allison's rumor, she was giving Five the run-around until his experience bested hers, her apocalypse powers were more effective than Vanya's apocalypse powers (honestly, what exactly is Vanya's ability called?) and I bet she could theoretically have led a ghost army (the dead operatives, maybe) if Klaus had tried anything on her. Or maybe they just got caught off guard by her having powers to begin with.

Okay, I freely admit that I was hoping Wayward Sisters got picked up, and I was glad that they at least got closure. I recognize that I'm probably the only one. Sadly, I knew we wouldn't get the pair reunited on screen. But I honestly do buy Claire latching on to Kaia as her Lost Lenore like that, especially at her age, and the little eye thing Kaia did when she was asking if Claire would be there (so as to show it was mutual) was cute too. Hey, sometimes people hit it off right away, and then you throw in a near-death experience/believed actual death experience, nothing about them meaning that much to each other seems strange to me.

Can someone explain to me why they decided to kill Kepler specifically? Gotta say it was a little jarring and left a bad taste in my mouth when Randall just remorselessly kidnapped her basically right by Maddox and murdered her just because. I get that someone had to die, but Nicole volunteered (not that I wouldn't have had my issues with them killing off Nicole either, btw) and it didn't seem like they had any specific reason to target "Aunt Bitsy." Could they not have abducted a Praxis member, since at least they were actively trying to bring about the apocalypse? With Alyssa distracted the rest of Praxis was a bunch of sitting ducks. Or maybe they could have used the Order's immense resources to track down Jewel Staite's character, since Twin 2 is still in the wind as far as I remember. Or pay Alyssa's side dude a visit, since they probably weren't worried about civil war with the Prometheans any longer. Also, speaking of Alyssa, what exactly caused her to snap that hard? I get that she was sore about her magic, but she was still able to use it, albeit poorly and in an unfocused manner, which is still better than what she condemned Vera to. I felt like she lacked a proper motive for her actions basically all season long.

I second the confusion regarding Sam Trammell's inclusion. Not only did he die super early, but it wasn't even his own fault--he was collateral damage. It's a mind-blowing misuse of an actor, not to mention a character. He seemed like he was going to be an alternate perspective to Pete and Edward who gave Jack some knowledge without being in on the secret, or maybe like he would be revealed as yet another antagonist in the mix. Jewel Staite's character(s) was another headscratcher, but at least she had the advantage of being introduced when the show was getting better, and she got a pair of twins to play, so I guess she'll be showing up in S2. Did we get the sister's name at any point? This series has the same problem with POC characters as basically every genre series that's not intentionally trying to subvert that, so there's not much to be gained by going down that road. As far as the good, I think I was (the only person) genuinely shocked by the ending, though of course the Order wouldn't allow the Knights to continue operating as they had been. It was a mistake on the part of the Knights to assume there was an alliance when it was clearly a temporary ceasefire out of convenience. Not so much the plot itself, but the feeling it gave me reminded me of the Magicians S3 finale. Liked that Lilith freed herself. So many Smallville/Supernatural one-offs, haha. I want to say Vera Stone is a twofer in that regard? I think once Kepler showed up I thought to myself "okay, this is a bit much." Hiro Kanagawa must be at the top of any "Asian authority figure" casting list, he just keeps showing up in all of my shows. But in genre casting you kind of have to expect the same faces here and there. It's not exactly the sort of thing you want to build a drinking game around, unless maybe you're Hamish. Also, if you're going to have a show be floundering for one half and solid for the other half, this configuration is better than the alternative (first half good, second half terrible) even though it gives you more of a fan base the other way around. The Netflix binge model makes this less of a factor, though. I do think that once things started colliding in the second half and Jack was being torn in multiple directions by his commitments to his family, the Knights, and the Order, it was actually interesting to see what would happen next. Sad to have lost Pete though. Looking forward to Season 2.

Well, I liked it a lot, more at the end than the beginning. I do think there were a lot of things that got glossed over, such as the fact that Alice is nuts every time we see her--she makes nice mouth noises about how she just wants peace and she only wanted to hurt Fred and Dee, but she kills humans and monsters alike in a seemingly wanton fashion. And it's not like the show doesn't know this; they had her slip in how she was with a group of monsters for a while, and then even they thought she was a nutjob. She was imprisoned in some sort of green hellscape, what's that about? I appreciated the interracial relationships on this show, though I get that both of them were largely plot driven. But they didn't have to be and yet they were anyway, so props for that. What I didn't appreciate was a Caucasian man cheating on his African American wife with a Caucasian woman, seemingly for nothing as far as plot or character. It didn't cause Dee to falter in relying on him so that it was, for example, his fault that the kids were in danger from Presidio or being taken by Alice. It was just a thing to do so that Hannah would have a reason to go equally nuts (for Fred btw, which, I mean, he's not a bad looking guy, but honestly? Nah). I do feel like they burned through a lot of stuff while also not going as far as they should have with what they did have. Did Edith need to die and Maggie take over already? No. That's, like, a series finale development. Was it weird that Fred didn't show back up to save Geoff and Viv despite much being made of it? Yes, I think so. I guess they want to do something slower with that process. It was just odd. Also odd: Seth being Deadshot. Basically a nonstarter this season. Anyway I'm rambling now, so I'll just end by saying I'm looking forward to S2, but less so than I was at, say, episode 6 or 7.

See, I didn't watch that show, so I just keep expecting to see him whip out a golden hand.

Following this, because I hope to one day write a show kind of like the Witcher.

That's the thing that disappointed me. A mystery, when it's anything other than played 100% straight, is basically not a mystery at all. It was one of the reasons I couldn't take Scream Queens seriously as a mystery show to be solved.

Yeah, they try to gloss over Aaron's actions in LitB by saying that the homeowner in that house nearby was unavailable. I've been listening to a podcast recently that sort of brought it home for me, because in a sense I don't think we're supposed to get stuck in the details of the trial itself (since they're all so poorly researched). I think emotionally we're supposed to be sad but unsurprised that a rich movie star accused of murder and statutory rape beats the charge, and the specific vehicle getting us there is less important. Aaron was never going to pay for his crime in the legal manner.

Erica as well, which is funny because she also plays Allura, Supergirl's mother (and theoretically her aunt Astra, additionally). So that's going to be quite the reunion.

Wow, I made a huge mistake waiting so long to watch this. I fell behind this season and figured I'd catch it on Netflix, but then found out that it would only be up in like November, so I knew I couldn't wait that long. So I planned to use...other means of seeing the last three episodes. But then I saw elsewhere that someone was feeling as if they had been queerbaited "just like in The Magicians" and I realized: someone died. The sadness expressed in the post I saw convinced me it had to be death, and so I tried to prepare myself for them to kill Elliot. I wasn't happy about it and it seemed like a waste, but it seemed like it was basically confirmed. Then I caught the episode where QnA get back together and had to laugh at myself. Lol, I was jumping to conclusions. I was overreacting, overthinking. I was hearing hoofbeats and thinking zebras. TBH, I was a little surprised that the person's post I'd seen was so bitter about the ending just because they weren't together for the time being, but they'd still be in each other's lives once Quentin saved Elliot. Then I watched the finale. I don't think I've ever felt so gutted by a character death. Live-action TV, anime, book reading, video games. All of them contained shocking deaths, and yet the one that hit the hardest was this poor, self-conscious, anxious and depressed young man who started the series institutionalized for an attempt and ended it dying to stop someone who wasn't even the final boss. And the moment he showed up in Penny's office I knew he was going to ask if the culprit was his mental health, and I knew they were going to butcher the answer. Quentin Coldwater died by suicide. I'm sorry to anyone who wanted Quelliot; I did too. But apparently the story they wanted to write was one where this guy who always tried to do what was right, even if he didn't always understand how or why, even if he was supremely outclassed by all his enemies and the people who wanted to see him fail, decided his life wasn't inherently worth enough, and then had it reinforced by the narrative. So I probably won't be back TBH, and it'll be hard for me to watch another Sera Gamble show. Heck, it makes me want to stop writing, even, because after a glance at Twitter, I would never want to inadvertently hurt people the way that she has. From what I've read, Jason is doing great work fighting homelessness now, and I wish him the best. I hope that the show is still enjoyable for the people who will continue into S5. I don't want it to be poisoned like it is for me. But it is poisoned for me, and I just don't know. Maybe I'll give it an episode--I know people have theories regarding the Dark Lord in Fillory--but I don't think I have it in me to really engage with it anymore.

Yeah, I don't see why Sansa has to have Bran-level foresight to be justified in disliking Daenerys, as if the default should just be that they be besties. Dany had goals that were in opposition to Sansa's goals. They weren't friends, they had two enemies in common, but they certainly didn't want the other to get what they wanted. Why should Sansa's desire for an independent North be less legitimate than Dany's desire to bring all 7 kingdoms under her rule?