Chris24601

My take on the aliens calling their world "Reger Two" was a function of the Universal Translators. Realistically most people's names for their actual home planets probably translate to "dirt" or "ground". That's what "Earth" means and even when we get fancy and call it "Terra" that's still just another name for dirt. Maybe a water world might break the mold by its people just calling their world whatever translates to "the Sea," but regardless, translating everything to "I come from the planet Dirt is not helpful. So instead it probably translates relative to the listener. So while Ed and Kelly hear "Earth" and "Xelaya" a Xelayan would hear "Sol Three" and the Xelayan word for "dirt" or "ground."

Hint for the show: Jace is a villain. Embrace it! Stop tryint to pretend being conflicted over covering up for the execution of scared kids makes him somehow redeemable. The time to make Jace a nuanced antivillain would have been to tell the truth about what his cop buddy did. Show him as someone who is trying to do what’s right and that he’s only coming after the mutants he thinks are dangerous. He’s still a threat to the protagonists because of the danger they pose, but you can at least see where he’s coming from. Instead he’s covering up for the execution of kids for the “crime” of having been born different. He’s done as a character. No viewer is going to sympathize with any hardship he suffers from here out. The only thing they’re going to cheer about now is his death; preferably in as horrific a way for him (and as cathartic a way for the audience) as possible. I’m talking Cable shows up having teleported his daughter out of harm’s way and brings her to the present with full knowledge of all the horrors he’s done in her name so she can spit on him as he dies level catharsis. He’s that bad a character. Given that a Lauren vs. Andy rematch was pretty much a given, I’m okay with her getting a power-up via the clearly psychotropic effects of the music box, but her pulling back from going full psycho/abandoning the family legacy is going to be needed at some point... preferably before she does something she can’t come back from (I think Andy’s too far gone... the bank heist mass murder and then killing his nascent love interest broke him). I almost feel like the appropriate/poetic ending to all this would be Andy ending up killing his own mother (who keeps making choices that hurt and even kill others in name of saving him) and then Jace and Andy killing each other. That would be cathartic for me.

My take on Aleric and Hope is that he’s using her as a sidekick precisely because Hope has already experienced worse than just about every other student at the school is ever going to experience on their worst day by the time she was eight. There’s not much more she can experience at this point that’ll do any more damage than has probably already been done. Sure, there’s probably some sort of therapeutic course of action akin to treating PTSD that might make her more functionally normal, but a super-werewolf with vampire healing blood, the firstborn Michaelson witch power boost and probably more magic knowledge via Freya and Vincent than even some of the faculty is just too much of an advantage to pass up when crap hits the fan. Let’s not forget either that Aleric has the Gemini Coven merge crap looming over his kids and having a super-witch/werewolf/vampire sidekick available for trying to fix that is probably way higher on Aleric’s list of priorities than actually fixing Hope’s damage until that’s fixed first. Basically, Aleric is using Hope so he doesn’t have to use the other students (particularly his daughters) and because Hope is so damaged that she’s okay with being used so long as she also gets the much greater latitude that comes with it. As such, Hope knows that even if Aleric is mad at her, he’ll eventually get over it because she’s too useful for keeping the rest of the students away from all the darkness. It’s not remotely healthy for either of them really, but Malivore (literally “evil eater”) and Gemini merges are pretty much worse and damaged characters are way more interesting anyway.

Technically even without the vampire part, she's still a Witch-Werewolf hybrid. Beyond that though she's got the instant healing and ability to sire at least hybrids (possibly even actual vampires, we've never had any non-werewolf killed with her blood in their veins) and she's not an ordinary werewolf. Raf and presumably the other wolves at the school only turn on the full-moon, but the Crescent Moon pack all has the fully suite of Hybrid werewolf powers due to Hayley's sacred marriage deal; She is in full control of her shape-shifting and has even greater strength and agility than a normal werewolf (and at least part of her rapid healing comes from her werewolf side too). She's basically this universe's version of The Slayer at this point.

Can Landon be the second key (instead of the third key he clearly is - which to be fair is still better than him ending up being a savior figure) so he can be destroyed without ending the world? Raph and Hope are a ton more interesting Landon and Hope by a country mile and his death would absolutely be something for them to cement some type of bond over. I’m glad the knife drama is done, but they’ve set up dire enough prospects that Hope’s “Avengers” are clearly going to have to get proactive about stopping key two and three from unlocking. Such is the way of stories; the heroes are reluctant at first so the adventure comes to them... but they’ve passed the threshold now (some might say in a manner a bit too much on the nose, but I’ll take the literal over something so esoteric no one even catches it any day) so now it’s time for them to choose to take the next step into the larger world. Given that we’ve already seen Hayley’s spirit turn up watching over Hope in the finale of The Originals, I’d not be surprised that The Necromancer was telling the truth about Klaus’ spirit watching over hope (apparently no one cares that Elijah is probably there too) and what he’d need to actually find peace. MG as a Ripper-in-potentia also doesn’t surprise me. He was a little too milk toast and was in need of a personal flaw to overcome (rather than the interpersonal one that was his crush on Lizzie). It definitely seems like the vampires who most try to hold onto their humanity are the most likely to go completely out of control when their beast comes out. Also of note is that I didn’t even miss Josie and Lizzie until the episode was over and realized I didn’t miss them. All in all, I’m looking forward to where it’s going to go next once it comes back from hiatus.

I liked the Saltzman family drama, but I think my favorite part was finding out what Caroline has really been up to because her past relationship with her daughters makes her absence conspicuous and hunting down leads for a way for her girls to avoid the merge deal is much more in line with the Caroline we’ve seen before than one who’s simply too busy recruiting new students to not come home due to the latest drama with the knife. It also makes me think the merge issue or a dangerous possible method of avoiding it will come up later in the season... or at least knowledge of it will be given to Josie and Lizzie which will greatly affect how they interact with one another. I also thought Hope, Penelope and MG made a generally entertaining group for monster stomping and wouldn’t mind seeing more of that grouping down the line.

The actual Marvel comics terms for Spider-Man, the Hulk, etc. is “Mutate.” Their genetic code was altered (so they can pass the traits on to their kids) by exposure to something external (whereas mutants might have an emotional stressor kickstart their powers, but the alterations to their code were already built in... no radioactive spiders or gamma rays needed). If you deep dive into the Marvel lore, the reason some humans end up with superpowers when hit by stuff like toxic waste that should by rights kill them is because hundreds of thousands of years ago a race of beings called Celestials played around with the human genome and some percentage of humans picked up what amounts to a “super adaption” gene that causes them to develop powers in line with whatever lethal thing they’re exposed to. Mutants essentially have this “super adaption” gene pre-triggered and just need something stressful to turn it on; which is why their powers seem random whereas the mutates powers are always related to whatever triggered their adaption gene. The Inhumans incidentally, since Marvel Studios was bound and determined to try and make them a thing because they didn’t have the rights to mutants, were a case of the Kree experiments triggering that same adaptation gene. This is also why “power dampeners” work on just about any powered person in the Marvel Universe; because they’re all suppressing the same set of genes.

It's squicky to think about, but one generation of incest that is a generation removed from Reed and two from Lauren/Andy isn't harmful to them; it actually takes a couple of generations in sequence for inbreeding depression to result (Dany on GoT for example should be an inbreeding nightmare, but just one generation of outbreeding for Jon pretty much resets the clock). My hunch is that what the writers were trying to have the doctor explain to the Struckers is that the Fenris Effect is a completely separate mutation from their normal mutant powers and that, even if one set were to be turned off, the other one would still function (i.e. blocking/removing the Fenris mutation wouldn't take away Lauren's shields or Andy's destructive telekinetics). My hunch is that, at some point, the drugs Reed is using to block his powers will end up being used to block the Fenris link (possibly because the link between Lauren/Andy intensifies) while still allowing Lauren and/or Andy to use their regular mutant powers. Alternately someone like Jace will use it to block Lauren/Andy's normal powers and end up with a faceful of Fenris for his trouble because it wasn't blocked by the drug. Which route they take would depend on which set of mutations the writers decide are linked to Reed's powers and which are their own abilities. * * * * One prospect regarding the possible environmental triggers for a second set of mutations (i.e. what the second set would have to be if mutations are autosomal dominant)... what about being in proximity to a sibling with the same X-Gene? Andreas, Otto, Reed and Andy all have destructive powers (Andy's is explicitly stated to be identical to Andreas'). Andrea and Lauren both had identical shield powers. Andreas/Andrea and Andy/Lauren have the Fenris Effect. Otto and Reed were only children and do not. What this suggests to me is that the primary mutation is the destructive/shield mutation that expresses differently depending on whether its on an XY or XX chromosome (i.e. it expresses in all males as destructive force and in all females as defensive shields). On top of that, during their formative years the primary mutation reacts to the environmental presence of the opposite expression in close proximity (i.e. having an opposite sex sibling) to produce a secondary mutation (i.e. the Fenris Effect). That would allow both the doctor's statement of the mutations being autosomal dominant and having two sets in Lauren/Andy to be true.

Silly, silly Alaric... couldn't you foresee the inherent problem with making Student Council membership positions supernatural-type? As a result, I do have to appreciate Hope's just blatant almost nonchalant after-the-vote pronouncement of "I'm getting a spot on the council because I'm a tribrid and no one represents my interests." to Alaric. That "I'm a unique type of supernatural" from Hope just so on-the-nose lines up with the problem Alaric's been having to deal with all season... how to handle all these long forgotten (apparently through a magic curse of some kind) and basically unique creatures popping up. Given that Landon is basically Hope's age, I think it'd actually be rather amusing if Hope's birth as a basically impossible creature didn't shake something loose in the cosmos that allowed the other "impossible" monsters to start to be able to return.

The school Alpha likely didn't approach Hope on account of her already being the Alpha of another pack. Hope is the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack and has the birthmark to prove it. One important distinction between Hope (as a member of the Crescent Moons) and the other werewolves is that the Crescent Moons have full control of their shapeshifting (even being able to only transform their eyes or grow claws while remaining otherwise human) due to Hayley's ritualized marriage to Jackson imparting all the hybrid abilities to her pack (not to mention having the hybrid's greater strength, speed and faster healing compared to normal werewolves even in human form which is why we see Hope able to pull off Buffy-like fighting moves) whereas the Alpha and all the other werewolves we've seen at the school seem to be limited to changing involuntarily only at the full moon. So not only is Hope the Alpha of a different pack, she's also the Alpha of a pack that is much much stronger than his. Frankly, Hope's lack of interest is the only reason the current guy is even school Alpha to begin with. Raf's inability to voluntarily shapeshift is proof that he's part of Hope's pack, so he's basically stuck with the school Alpha in charge (though presumably Raf will eventually rise to challenge and replace the current Alpha because that's just how stories like these go). Sidebar: I do kind of appreciate the honestly in Alaric admitting that he relies on Hope not only because she's so much stronger than pretty much all the other students (and most of the faculty) at the school, but because she's already so damaged by what she's experienced that the stuff he has her do so the other kids don't have to is unlikely to do any more damage than has already been done. Its not nice... but it is pragmatic.

I would absolutely watch that show. Ollie and Felicity having to make compromises with the Bratva (basically a work with the lesser evils to keep the bigger ones in check) in order to keep Star City safe would be a much more interesting show than watching the self-righteous NTA+Diggle show. Hell, I think Not-Laurel could even have a place in such a show. Actually, I’d probably have much less of problem with Dinah and Curtis (and, sadly, Diggle) if they’d just own that they’re self-interested self-righteous obstructive bureaucrat types the heroes have to work around. At least then they’d have a clear narrative purpose to their continued presence on my screen. I’m here for the story of Oliver Queen (so Felicity and William by extension). Everyone else is tolerated only to the extent that they service Ollie’s story. I’m NOT here to watch the story of Captain Drake, bitchy incompetent police administrator or Curtis the whiney guy who blames everyone but himself for his problems or Diggle the pod-person who was content to let his self-proclaimed brother Ollie rot in prison and his family be put through hell because he and his family had it good now. My hope is that the new Green Arrow is some variant of Connor Hawke (only Robert’s son instead of Ollie’s in this version) just because that would actually service Ollie’s story in some way in addition to being more effective than all of NTA put together.

Yeah, Rebecca just utterly hosed Reeva’s long-term plans. Pulling off the heist and putting out the video about how horrible Creed Financial was to mutants would make them out to be sympathetic Robin Hood types. Now they’re monsters who slaughtered a bunch of innocent people. Sharif’s kids (who are now orphans) will be trotted out as victims of the mutant menace, the Purifiers will look less radical and lots of innocent mutants will suffer as a result. And you can kiss any hope of a “mutant homeland” being established without massive bloodshed goodbye... and Reeva did it to herself by choosing to use a psychopath to do the job instead of finding another method. Rebecca is basically the poster child for why human/mutant relations are basically irreconcilable; because people who are walking WMDs and people who have violent personality disorders is a Venn diagram. Where it overlaps there’s mass death and destruction and because each mutant is unique there’s no one-size-fits-all way to deal with it in a rational and just manner; in the case of mutants with destructive powers the line between locking people up for what they might do and letting someone who could level a building full of people because they lose control (physiologically or emotionally) just walk around where justice can be found is both razor thin and jagged as the edge of a broken glass pane. In terms of storytelling Rebecca’s actions also create a bit of a problem in that, unless Andy and Lorna take some serious steps (as in “Frak this, I’m out!” with a side of “Rebecca has to be stopped.”) they run the risk of ending up as irredeemable as Rebecca by association (I’m pretty sure that’s why they wrote the plot-point of Esme being asked to watch the baby into the episode so she’d not be morally on the hook for what happened during the heist... it’s pretty telegraphed that she’s going to jump ship before the season’s out while the other two will end up dead). I’m almost positive Andy’s headed for the irredeemable camp (Reeva and the other two Cuckoos as well); the Fenris effect is just too big to keep on the table... it’s practically the Voltron Blazing Sword in terms of how to end a threat once the stakes get high enough to warrant its use and you just can’t keep going to that well unless you want to look like a Saturday morning kids show. So yeah, I think Andy is headed for dead-ville, though if he’s lucky he’ll get a redemption equals death style ending. Lorna is probably going to take measures to not be irredeemable, but I’m just feeling it’s going to be in a way that won’t let her come back to the Mutant Underground afterwards. Marcos, Lorna and baby happy together is just way too domestic and functional for a show like this. I’m also pretty sure the Morlocks are headed for a bad end. Rebecca’s actions will stoke the Purifiers and something will send them in the Morlocks’ direction because radical isolation (while stealing from the people you’re isolating yourself from) won’t be enough to keep the anti-mutant death squads from wanting you dead. It’s just hiding from your problems and that never works in fiction.

Because they’re fanatics; radical isolation in this case. They’re essentially a cult that cares more about identity than what is practical for survival. The brand (and adopting a “mutant name”) is a way to show you put that identity above all else and makes it harder for the human-looking mutants to leave the cult if they change their minds down the line. The irony is that because they won’t be practical, they’re stuck leeching off humanity like parasites. The only difference between their thefts and Reeva’s is scale.

For me the best twist would be to reveal its all taking place on an Elseworld that will feature in the big "Elseworld's Finest" crossover and that Earth-1 Oliver and Felicity learn from went wrong in that world how to avoid the same thing happening in their world (it would also mean we wouldn't have to see the flash-forward stuff once the Elseworld's Finest crossover is done).

I'm almost wondering if the nonsensical bits in the flash-forward stuff isn't actually a clue that its happening on an alternate Earth or something that will play a role in the mid-season crossover event. Probably not. But thinking they could be makes them much more tolerable.

I wouldn't mind if they moved Team Mutant Underground in with the Morlocks. There's definitely some story fuel in the fact that James, Marcos, Reed and Lauren can all 'present' as ordinary humans vs. the more inhuman looking ones (even Blink can 'present as human' with effort so long as she can keep her ears covered). From a storytelling point of view, I'm kinda thinking they're working to move Andy into the irredeemable category simply because it solves a lot of the issues they created for themselves with the Fenris Effect being made so strong (in the comics it was just a strong energy blast, not something that could warp and break adamantium). If Andy's a villain then the good guys can't turn to Lauren and Andy to wipe the floor when someone like the Juggernaut shows up. Likewise, by showing Andy's destructive force as stronger than Lauren's shields they've set up the narrative need for a rematch in which Lauren as the underdog actually overcomes Andy. Finally, my hunch is that, whoever the mutant the Inner Circle rescued is, they're probably one of the more well-known (to general audiences) mutants... an actual X-Man or better known X-Men villain and one strong enough that you'd need to resort to using the Fenris Effect to take them down (possibly giving Andy a path to redemption... possibly in the "redemption equals death" category).

Add me to the "Andy needs to go" camp. Well, let him be a villain for a while until Caitlyn gets it through her head that her little boy chose to be a monster. Then let Jace serve a purpose by blowing Andy's brains out before he dies too. If Caitlyn and Marcos wanted to head for Offscreenville as Team Crazy-Ex-Girlfriend... I'd be okay with that too at this point. Their going overboard to save their family from situations they knowingly walked into and basically becoming as bad as the people they want to save them from in the process is dragging the rest of the protagonists down. To review, Caitlyn forced a guy into withdrawal, then gave him so much drugs afterwards to further entice him that she gave him a heart attack and nearly killed him. Give her a mutant power and she'd fit right in with The Inner Circle (hey, then she could be with her beloved baby boy again so I say just pull the trigger and stop pretending she hasn't become a villain in her mad quest). I wouldn't feel bad if Reed and Lauren just wrote off both Caitlyn and Andy at this point. When the only characters you have any sympathy for are Reed, Lauren and Thunderbird (Blink is just... there) you have problems. Frankly, Team Mutant Underground needs some fresh blood since its clear Andy and Lorna aren't coming back until the end of the season, if ever. Hell, the Morlocks were more interesting in their brief appearance than most of our crew this season. Maybe some of the rescued inmates can prove interesting enough to join up?

I agree. That's why I pointed out that their solo plots are pretty much wrapped up. Season One was essentially an extended origin story and more akin to the first season of "Jessica Jones" than something like "Arrow" or any of the CW fare where the hero is established by the end of the first episode. I also think, in the long run, that the extended character development work will pay off in subsequent seasons with their interactions having a lot more nuance than if they'd been thrown together in the first episode and spent the entire season side-by-side. Hell, even this season I think it worked phenomenally well with the ultimate payoff of Billy's cloak and then Tandy giving him back Billy's hoodie. Spending episodes seeing how much Tandy needed it as a security blanket herself while Tyrone assigned meaning to Billy's cloak; only to lose what felt like one of his last connections to his brother when it got shredded; then for Tandy to give up that security blanket of hers and for Tyrone to get back this piece of his brother had proper time to grow. If it had been a CW series, she'd have either had to give the hoodie back to him in the first episode, robbing us of both seeing Tandy's attachment to it and the character growth it took for her to then give it back to Ty (the first thing she stole, the first thing she's really selflessly giving back) and the Billy's cloak plotline which underlined how important some connection to his brother was and had that payoff when he lost it and then got back the hoodie. Alternately she'd have to give it back to him in the finale, but because they'd spent all this time side-by-side they'd have had to come of with some sort of contrived reason for why Tandy didn't give Ty back his brother's hoodie before the finale and that would probably reflect badly on Tandy. Being on separate paths for most of the season made that moment happen at just the right time to be a really powerful and defining piece of character development for both Tandy and Ty. But now that this work is done, I fully agree its time for them to work a lot more side-by-side and I think its been set up for that. Ty needs to stay away from his family (previous supporting cast) and while Tandy is learning to be a better person, she's still a work in progress (with a tendency to run) and her mother is still her mother so I expect her to regularly be popping up at the church just to get away from the drama for a bit. Liam's already long gone and Evita most likely thinks Ty is dead (and, being wanted for murder, Ty will probably keep his distance until circumstances; i.e. season two) leave him no other choice. In other words, they've basically pruned the supporting cast and plotlines that kept them separate in season one... Tandy's got her mom and maybe Mina (who is more easily shared with Ty), Ty's got Evita (the actress of whom discussed wanting to get more interaction with Tandy in addition to Ty; so again, more easily shared). O'Reilly was connected to both of them at different points of season one so when she turns up as Mayhem that's a natural development for both of them to be involved with. Fallout from draining the Darkforce under New Orleans is another plot that would naturally involve them both (why the other-dimensional Darkforce energy was even down there in the first place is a plot point for both of them... and makes me wonder if there isn't the remains of some dragon/alien akin to the one under New York in Defenders down there... or something worse). I will also say as someone who only got around to watching the show starting last week that I definitely buy the notion the show was originally intended to be streamed because it holds up VERY well on a binge watch, less so when I had to wait a few days to finally get episode 10. Their time apart seemed far less extreme when they were meeting up every hour or so as I binged 1-4 in one sitting, then 5-9 the next day. I think 6 and 9 are the only ones where they don't have some type of actual meetup. By contrast weekly watching probably would feel interminable; a couple minutes together than a week's wait for the next episode where they might interact for a few more. Since I'll be doing the weekly thing next season, I too hope for more solid interaction in every episode for season 2+.

Yes, it’s still a big evil corporation, but the guy who cut the corners that led to the rig explosion and who framed Tandy’s dad has been exposed and made a vegetable. Thus, Tandy’s need to put her primary focus on Roxxon has been resolved. She accomplished what she set out to do so that plot is resolved. Similarly, Ty may still be on the run from the cops, but he got the man who murdered his brother. He accomplished what he set out to do so that plot is resolved. This doesn’t mean that Roxxon and the cops won’t cause problems in the future, just that Tandy and Ty’s solo plots got the closure needed to be considered done. If Roxxon didn’t appear at all in season two, no one would say “Why isn’t Tandy still going after Roxxon?” She got Scarborough and the paper’s headline reported that the Roxxon Corporation was facing some sort of consequence for its actions. Likewise, if nothing happens in season two to clear Ty’s name while the cops make no more than a token effort to apprehend him, no one is going to ask “Why isn’t Ty still trying to get justice for Billy?” He got Conners (who is either dead or suffering a fate worse than death) and Ty being wanted is just a background detail akin to the A-Team being wanted for a crime they didn’t commit. Roxxon’s existence isn’t a plot itself, though it can certainly create plots by its actions. The police being after Ty is a plot, but it’s not the plot I said was resolved in the first place (what ended was Ty’s attempts to get justice on Conners for me. Ty being on the run from the police isn’t a plot that Ty will be trying to pursue on his own and him having to rely on Tandy for groceries and company is one of the aspects I cite as a reason why the two would be interacting more next year. And that’s all I was trying to convey, that the plot elements that were being used to keep Ty and Tandy from regularly interacting have been tied up.

My suspicion is that this season will be the aberration in terms of them spending so much time apart. I think the time apart was necessary in order to establish them and how much coming into each other’s lives changes them, but now that they’ve saved the city via “our powers combined” I think they have less reason to be kept apart in terms of story going forward. Also worth pointing out in that regard is that because they resolved their two big separate issues (Roxxon ruining Tandy’s family and Conners murdering Billy) that had them on separate paths they’ve removed much what had kept them from interacting as much and, while there are after effects of those plots (Ty now being on the run because there’s no one left to refute the murder allegations most notably), those ironically too are things that should cause Ty and Tandy to interact more (i.e. Ty being pretty much cut off from his season one supporting cast and relying on Tandy for care packages). It was an extended origin story, but it feels well set up for them to deal with whatever comes next season together; especially since they’ve now established via kicking destiny’s ass (despite my earlier assessment, I’ve read a few stories since with the producers saying the intention was more a “screw destiny” than “prophecy twist” for the resolution; they could be playing it close to the vest for season two, but a case can also be made for taking them at their word) and saving the city that they’re at their strongest together so when Undead O’Reilly or some other Darkforce manifestation pops up they know working together is the best way to stop it from this season. There’s also still the Vodun angle (I definitely expect Evita to turn up again... throwing Tandy out of her head demands some additional attention), police corruption in general and, with Conners and Duane gone, someone new will certainly move in on the drug trade that can occupy Ty and Tandy’s attention. So while this season ended satisfactorily enough that if they’d just left off the O’Reilly “post-credit” scene it would also been a fine series finale, there is still enough underlying elements to probably create several more seasons out of.

I think Evita DID get it wrong and O’Reilly WAS the dying half. The loophole was that, as Tandy said just before they drained out the Darkforce energy that was welling up, Ty and Tandy are basically two-halves of ONE PERSON (in the same way that you need both Yin and Yang to have a complete person). Its also worth noting the shoulder markings that each sacrifice had in all the stories. It’s why Evita was so certain that Ty would die; because Ty got marked on the left shoulder. Then, just before the end, Tandy got marked on her right shoulder (Yang to his Yin). But Detective O’Reilly had a mark on BOTH shoulders the entire time before either of them (the two white stripes on her jacket’s shoulders). Likewise, her life/story got intertwined with both Tandy (the first investigation) and Ty (taking down Conners) over the course of the series. We also followed her throughout last episode’s recounting of the hero’s journey as she went through her own ‘dark night of the soul’. O’Reilly was the other half of the pairing that died just before the Ty/Tandy half fixed it all. Now she’s some sort of undead monster (I’m pretty sure O’Reilly is dead and that just the darkness wearing her skin). Which also fits with her being shown in the previous episode at the point where the priest explains that some people who go through the hero’s journey become villains. What makes that more interesting is that Ty/Tandy think they’ve pulled off a “screw destiny”, so the reveal that O’Reilly is some sort of revenant opposite number to them (perhaps needing to kill both of them so it can be reborn) will be the exact sort of setback for them you’d expect and also provides a solid way to pull Evita and the voodoo elements back into the narrative next season.

To be fair, one consequence already is that Liam was knocked so far out of love with Tandy by her taking his hope that he made off with all the money Roxxon bought the evidence off her with. If Mina stays a burned bridge I think I'd call that balanced consequences. * * * * Despite the obviousness of it, IF one of them is going to die (albeit likely temporarily) I'm going to have to say it WILL be Ty precisely because the end of the season isn't the end of the story and Tandy has the more interesting character journey if someone actually is willing to die for her. Good kid continues to be good after bad kid sacrifices self for him isn't as compelling as the bad kid now has massive reason to turn things around and keep working on being good despite being a jerkass 65-85% of the time because the good kid thought she was worth saving. That said, I'm 99% sure there's going to be a loophole (time to go rewatch the pilot for potential anomolies) and someone else will die instead.

So the message of this series is that humans suck and can’t change (despite all the real life examples of people who have) and in fact are so simple we can be expressed in our totality using fewer lines of code than were in the MS-DOS operating system. Riiiiight... Someone needs to tell Apple the reason Siri’s AI sucks is because it’s 1000 times too complex just to see the looks on the engineers’ faces.

Akecheta was also one of the hosts that got taken out to the real world as part of investor pitches (Logan was certainly not the only one). I figure if he’s woke enough to remember the world is wrong, then like Dolores he probably at least partially remembers the real world and hence escalators.

I also tend to agree... 50+ lb. of extra muscle mass and probably six+ inches of reach matter a LOT in close combat. I know the show loves its gender equality but this is basic bio-mechanics. You need a huge disparity in skill level (or armament) to overcome that big of an edge. In real life Bellamy's mass and reach are a nearly insurmountable advantage to overcome if they're similarly armed and the bigger combatant has had any degree of training. That's the reason most combat-like sports have weight classes... the best lightweight isn't ever going to beat even a mediocre heavyweight in an otherwise fair fight. I also think its worth remembering that about five times as much time has passed between season 4 and 5 as passed between all of seasons 1-4 combined. That's a LOT of time hanging out on a space station with nothing to do but train with Echo (who might not be as good as Octavia was still good and would have to get better to keep ahead of Bellamy as he improved as well). The food situation up on the station may not have been especially tasty, but appears to have been more than sufficient to keep them in good health and the space crew were probably more generally aware of the need for various micro-nutrients to stay in good health while those living in the bunker were going to half-rations within the first month and killed off nearly a quarter of their population in subsequent years and were still on the brink of starvation (when your primary concern is getting enough calories, micro-nutrients probably took a backseat) by the time they got released. That will do a huge number on your health. ETA: Combat training and building up muscle mass is also something that is fairly energy intensive in terms of caloric intake. You just can't train as hard when you're on a diet just above the level of starvation as you can when your belly is always full. /ETA Octavia may be the toughest and most skilled of the people down in the bunker, but that's only relative to people in the same malnourished state. Against someone who's been getting three squares for the last half decade, has had a lot of free time to train with a reasonably competent instructor and has the aforementioned mass and reach advantages she's going to be outmatched. Bellamy doesn't actually need to have been better trained than Octavia (and he's basically got six years to her seven at this point), he just needed to be well enough trained that Octavia's greater skill wasn't sufficient to overcome Bellamy's advantages in mass and reach.