squidprincess

It is pretty interesting that, if the synopsis is accurate, Mick is the one suggesting they go into Rip's mind. I wonder if that's some of his old Chronos knowledge at work. I will be very upset if we lose Amaya. But I wouldn't mind losing Nate. I think he could still turn out to be interesting though. But yeah, if we're losing someone, I'd rather it be Nate than any of the others.

They've released the synopsis for Land of the Lost (2x13): I'm definitely looking forward to the sheer comic book joy of dinosaurs, and people going into each others' minds. I'm not sure I'm really looking forward to more Nate and Amaya drama though. But I suppose it will depend on execution. (Perhaps this time no one will be literally dying?)

Nate's never completely made sense to me, but I soured on him a lot even before Outlaw Country. It's really small, but the way he laughs with delight in Compromised, when he realizes that Amaya and Rex were involved really appalled me. He's just found out that Amaya isn't just grieving a close friend but also a would-be lover, and he laughs. And he doesn't seem remotely apologetic when he realizes what he's doing. (I get having a socially incorrect response, but I think most decent people would be sympathetic and apologetic once they realize it.) He just doesn't seem to care about anyone deep down. I find that off-putting.

It's in the first episode of season 2, Out of Time. It happens at the very beginning of the scene where Rip lectures the team on what they did wrong after they get back from France. Basically, we get the transition from Mick talking to Oliver and Nate, to Martin mentioning that they found another aberration in Bhopal, 1912. That's when Mick grumbles about why couldn't it be Aruba, 2016. (Here's the transcript, though it doesn't say who says what line. I think it's pretty clear though. For all of its many hilarious flaws, the show is very good at giving each character a unique voice.)

Good catch! I just checked the transcript and it was in Out of Time (right after they got back from France.) That's interesting. I had been assuming that it was a season one quote, and therefore more likely to be about Snart and Mick. But this is probably going to be more of a full team thing. Maybe Aruba and Doomworld will be opposites, with Doomworld giving us the villains' idea of paradise, and Aruba giving us the heroes'. (Like the Invasion! Arrow episode, but on a much grander scale.)

Does anyone have any idea as to what "Aruba" could possibly mean? I saw a blogger suggest it might be a reference to a Mick line. The person quoted or paraphrased "Couldn't it be Aruba, 2016?" But I have to admit, I don't remember that line or its context. Maybe it means the episode will focus a lot on Mick and Snart?

I would really be upset if we lost Amaya. The Mari issue needs to be dealt with at some point, but really, if Mari's born in the eighties, Amaya wouldn't necessarily need to have a child until the fifties or even sixties. She's got time. Amaya brings such an interesting, different perspective to the show and I don't really feel like they've done her justice yet. IF they have to bring in another man, I'd prefer it to be someone already established like Jonah Hex or John Constantine. But honestly, I'd also prefer another woman. Lily, Laurel (if she ends up resurrected after this story-arc), or someone brand new would be fine. I've always liked the thought of having Zatanna, or maybe even someone from the future, like Saturn Girl or another member of the Legion of Superheroes.

That seems fairly reasonable, but I don't think Eobard would have access to Snart's brain in the same way he had access to Rip's (via Phil and the brain-disk-thing). He'd have to use some other method of brainwashing.

I've been wondering about that too. It is kind of interesting that Captain Cold happens to possess one of the best anti-speedster weapons around. Eobard is rather hard to stop. But I wonder how they'll actually bring him in. I doubt they're going to do another brainwashing plot, so I'd imagine he joins up willingly. But I've never seen them having very compatible styles or personalities even when Snart was a full on villain.

(Knowing about the ship prepares him for being Captain, actually. Or at least first officer. :-)) I don't mind dropping the argument. It's pretty clear that you're not able to provide any actual episodes or examples, beyond one very out of context statement, to support your conclusions. It does amaze me that you can look at the fact that Rip Hunter chose Jefferson Jackson to be the ship's mechanic to begin with, when he had the entire crew - including verifiable geniuses to choose from, and when this ship represents the only thing that Rip has left after losing everything and is so vitally important to his quest, and not see that as an incredible level of trust and respect in Jax's ability. But we'll have to agree to disagree.

Rip says, specifically: "I spend most of my time thinking about the future, specifically my own, and... it occurs to me that that future might not involve me being aboard this ship, and I need someone to know its secrets in my absence." (Courtesy of this transcript site) That indicates that Rip isn't just teaching Jax to be the mechanic. Jax has been the mechanic for almost a year at this point and never needed these specific secrets. Rip is specifically teaching Jax the secrets that only he knows. He hasn't taught them to Martin or Ray, who are geniuses. He hasn't taught them to Sara. He specifically chooses Jax. And honestly, the fact that Jax is the ship's mechanic at all shows a huge amount of trust and respect. Because Jax was a mechanic back home, for cars and the like. Not for a space time ship beyond any recognizable technology. Rip could have chosen any one on the team to do this job. Martin and Ray are geniuses, and Ray specifically is a mechanical genius. And given that he's lost his family, home, and life's work, the Waverider was all Rip had at that point in time. And he specifically entrusts it to JAX. That's a huge deal, no matter how you parse it. So the blanket statement (or general conclusion, if you prefer that terminology) that Rip never appreciated Jax is factually incorrect based on the actual episodes. As for reasons why fans dislike Rip? It's not my job to go hunting for quotes to disprove you. I just think it's very funny that you've decided that you know what every Rip-hater thinks. :-) Honestly, the Rip vs. Sara as leader question is probably moot at this time. At least according to leaked images, Rip is back with the team by Moonshot, but I have serious doubts that he'd be recovered enough from the events of the current episodes to reclaim the Captain's chair any time soon.

Martin showed a lot of respect for Rip's abilities in JSA, and his interaction with Rip was always interestingly complex throughout season one. Though I would agree that Rip tended to be closest to Sara, and that Sara had been his confidant and voice of conscience. But anyway, as far as I know there's never been any confirmation from any higher ups about wanting to make Sara a lesbian. There were a couple of tweets from Sarah Nicole Jones, a former writer/producer of the show, that suggested that viewers should take their concerns directly to the network. Fans have interpreted that to mean that the show is steering away from portraying Sara as bisexual. It is definitely true that Sara has only been romantically linked to women this season, but I don't know that there is anything to confirm that they are actually intending to change Sara's sexuality.

"Underestimating" someone in one specific context (namely being able to defend the ship against someone with thirteen years more experience, while being outgunned and depowered) hardly means that Rip "only saw Jax as a mechanic." And as I pointed out, his dialogue with Jax in Out of Time makes it very clear that he is trying to train Jax to take on a more substantial role when he's gone. It's also worth noting that in this same episode, Rip sees a fallen henchman and a trap and immediately starts thinking about who on the ship would be still be able to fight him and he settles on Jax. He knows that Jax is competent and able. I think it's interesting that you have a psychic link in to what every single person who dislikes Rip is thinking. But I will say that it's difficult to compare Rip and Sara as captains, because their missions were very different. What I can say is that within the universe, it's pretty clear that the team did not consider Rip to be a terrible Captain. If they did, they would not have accepted Rip's invitation to accompany him on his new mission to replace the Time Masters. Nor would they have traveled with him for six months between seasons. Furthermore, Martin's dialogue in JSA, Sara's in Raiders of the Lost Art, and Jax's in Turncoat all seem to indicate that they respected him as a leader. I'm not arguing with you about whether or not Sara or Rip makes a better captain. I'm arguing with you because you make blanket statements that have been expressly contradicted by specific episodes. And I can actually name those episodes.

Okay, I'm going to have to ask you for actual episode names here, because I can't think of a single episode where Rip either underestimated Jax's abilities or "put people into specific roles." The closest to that was in the Pilot where he tells Snart, Rory, and Sara that their skills aren't necessary for the first mission. However, by the third episode, Blood Ties, he and Sara are breaking into a bank together, and he's the one telling her she's not a monster for her bloodlust and can do better. (The scene you're referencing with Snart was Failsafe, two episodes later, when both Sara and Rip believe that Martin's capture will literally lead to Star City's destruction by a Firestorm army. Which Gideon shows us will happen. Snart, wisely, talks Sara out of it. And Rip thanks her for not taking the shot, at the end of the episode.) As for Jax, Rip has never underestimated Jax. Jax is the one who doubted his ability to be the ship's mechanic, and Rip encouraged him and repeatedly relied on him. And in Out of Time, we see that Rip has been putting more and more responsibility on Jax's shoulders. Jax asks why, which is when Rip starts drilling him on all of the ship's systems, and reveals that he thinks he might not be around much longer. So Rip was specifically training Jax for a role beyond standard ship's mechanic. I can understand thinking Sara is a better leader than Rip (I'd agree, I think he's the better Time Master and she's the better leader). But this isn't a good example.

Rip can't save his family because in the roundabout nature of time travel, they were already dead once Savage was killed. It's a bit convoluted, but basically Savage had to be killed three times for it to stick, and the third Savage had been the one who had been captured in 2166 (in Leviathan), taken to the Time Masters (in River of Time), and had captured Kendra (in Destiny.) He took Kendra with him to murder Rip's family, and she was with him in 2032, when he was finally killed. So unfortunately, they're pretty much still dead. Obviously, that wouldn't prevent the show from making up some ridiculous explanation if they want to save them in the future, but by what's currently established, they're still dead. I actually think Rip had a decent amount of UST with Jonah, but no one else in season one. This season though, surprisingly, I did see a little something between Rip and Sara. Or at least, I thought that Phil seemed interested in Sara, and the way that Sara beamed when she thought Phil was Rip made me think maybe there's something there after all.

I don't understand how Jax proves Rip is a bad captain. If anything, he's a testament to Rip's ability, because Rip was the one who chose Jax as the ship's mechanic in season one, and we saw that he was pushing Jax very hard to learn the ship's systems in Out of Time, because he thought that he might not be able to stick around. That's what made the Jax vs. Rip confrontation so exciting. We had Jax up against the man who'd trained and chosen him.

He does get fan hate from certain circles, but I think he also tends to get quite a bit of critical praise for his acting, and apparently during the time he was gone, a lot of spoiler sites had a lot of people asking about him. That doesn't prove anything of course, but I don't think it's the same situation as the Hawks were. I think they'd have a very hard time continuing the show without him. They did for a short while, but even then, he was mentioned in almost every episode, and it was stated more than once that the characters' emotional investment in the "save the timeline" quest was because Rip had entrusted it to them. And I think it's worth noting that they didn't just give him time off for Broadchurch, but they pretty obviously delayed the entire metaplot until he could return. Also for all that Sara's been an admirable leader, and Jax knows how the ship works, and Nate knows history (...sort of), Rip's the only one who has the time travel know how to explain time quakes and unsettled timelines and that weird chronological jumping thing. Basically, when the show wants to introduce yet another ridiculous time travel related complication, they're going to need someone who can rattle off a vaguely plausible explanation. So I think he's probably fine. :-) Nate... Well, he might improve. I'm actually kind of curious to see how the Amaya not-relationship plays out. I was thinking that those outfits had a real "sexy villainess" vibe to me. So that would make some sense.

I think all of the main cast have signed multi-season contracts. Have there been any specific rumors about any of those actors? I'd be very surprised to lose any of those characters, given how this season's been set up. The only one that I could imagine actually losing is Garber, just because he sometimes seems tired of the show.

My point wasn't whether or not it's better to have metaplot or standalone episodes. :-) It was just that, before Darvill's return, we had very little movement on the metaplot at all. There are ways to give even standalone episodes some movement for the metaplot. I think we saw that in JSA and Compromised. Magnificent Eight was a good example last year. The main adventure was standalone, but there was the ongoing thread of the hunters, and the Pilgrim's appearance at the end. They could have incorporated something like that in Shogun, Abominations or Outlaw Country, but chose not to. There was more motion in Raiders of the Lost Art alone than in all of the first half of the season put together. Good or bad, it definitely feels like they're making up for lost time.

I read the scene differently. As I saw it, before Sara came up, Rip was goading Jax to kill him. He even looked vaguely disappointed when Jax didn't, and said something about him being weak. His change in attitude came about when Sara appeared. Possibly because, on some level, he recognized that he hadn't killed her after all (or rather, she got better again.)

It is interesting though. Eobard had actually ordered Rip to kill them all and get the spear. He could have taken Sara out with a head shot in the beginning. He also could have shot Martin. But instead he seems to have prioritized the spear over making sure his former allies were dead.

My guess would be that Rip created the device, whatever it was, not Eobard. (Per Eobard, Rip created the first Time Sphere, so he's clearly got some inventing skill.) So I can buy that it was designed in a way that let them also short-circuit the atom suit and firestorm...thing. It's comic book logic, not real world logic. :-) I didn't think the device did take out the machine guns or pistols though. It was just that Jax was able to get the drop on Rip's incompetent henchmen.

I handwave that as being a future EMP device, rather than a modern one. Rip knows the Waverider and the crew in and out. I have no problem with the idea that he could obtain or create a device that could specifically take out future technology.

Is this the right place to talk about evil Rip? Because I hate to say it, but I thought he was easily more effective in one episode than Savage had been for an entire season. I have no idea why Darhk and Merlyn are necessary at all, and I have no idea how they're going to: when they're already doing a hero-gone-dark-through-no-fault-of-his-own plot very effectively now.

I really doubt we'll see Rip die or leave the team forever. (Though it wouldn't surprise me if he tried one of the two options.) If they just wanted to write Arthur Darvill out for good, they could have easily done it earlier. Instead, it really seems like they put the entire metaplot on hold for his other commitments. The first half of the season was fun, but in a way, it reminded me of the first season of Agents of SHIELD before the HYDRA reveal. Fun team dynamics, interesting standalone episodes, but very little movement on the metaplot. Then finally, Winter Soldier comes out and the series blasts ahead full steam. This season has been the same way. Only JSA, Compromised and Chicago Way had any real movement on the metaplot. Shogun, Abominations, and Outlaw Country were complete filler (albeit fun filler that let us explore group dynamics and Sara's growing leadership role.) There's no real reason that some of those episodes couldn't have been cut or consolidated for a greater sense of momentum. We had eight episodes pass where the team was barely aware of the metaplot at all: with no idea of the stakes, the McGuffin, , or half of the players involved. Then we get Rip back, and the metaplot explodes. We get more movement in two episodes than the entire first half of the season combined. That feels intentional to me. And I could always be wrong, but I don't think a show would do that for a character/actor if they were planning to jettison him at the end of the season.