Captain Carrot

I enjoyed S1, but I think this episode exemplifies why I think that S2 was better. It's like everyone involved realized how much fun they could have with the concept. So we have stuff like everyone on both sides trying not to anger Happy "Hulk" Hogan, Yellow Jackets instead of Red Coats, Rogers Hood, and Shakespeare nerd Loki (and of course he loves Iago).

My guess is that either the Red Room absorbed the last bit of Hydra, or it still exists but didn't manage to infiltrate SHIELD. Which kind of makes sense, using Hydra scientists was a very pragmatic decision that resulted in the infiltration. Bucky apparently replaced Peggy as a founder of SHIELD and a pre-winter soldier Bucky would be less pragmatic than Peggy. Probably Rumlow and other HYDRA agents in the main timeline joined SHIELD for the right reasons and got corrupted. There was no HYDRA hiding in SHIELD to corrupt them in this universe.

Given that a lot of famous VAs can literally do their lines from home, I'm thinking that we can use What If to see how willing people are to come back in live action MCU. So, Fishburne might show up again, but we probably won't see another appearance from Benning.

I don't think she was a villain in that movie, or in the flashback in this episode. Five years of increasing chaos on Xandar changed her.

I like that Dox never mentioned their conversation with B-15 to Ravonna, but that conversation did have an impact. I have to think that Dox and the others might have sided with Ravonna if B-15 hadn't spoken to them first. And things would have gone very differently if Ravonna had a whole team instead of just Brad.

So, Ahsoka is 'not a Jedi' with white light sabers and Baylan and Shin don't act like the typical Sith (despite committing evil acts) and have orange light sabers. Makes me think that this show is going to delve into what it means to be a Jedi (and possibly the concept of the grey jedi). I know that per Lucas the dark side is about abuse of the force and inherently evil, so there is no way to be a wielder the light and dark side of the force at the same time. He may no longer be calling the shots, but I do agree with this viewpoint. However, that doesn't mean that someone needs to follow the rules of the Jedi Order to be a Jedi. (In fact many of those rules should be disregarded as they are part of the reason the order fell). I think that's part of Ahsoka's journey. That leaves Baylan and Shin. They act like Jedi that are simply out for themselves. But can they do that without eventually crossing the line and becoming Sith (or something similar)? https://www.cbr.com/george-lucas-gray-jedi-exsistence-expalined-star-wars-disney/

Finally saw it and that may have been the best movie I've seen this year. (Admittedly I don't go to the movies as often as I did pre-covid). I have to admit that the Miguel and the HQ felt off, but I think that was intentional. He came across as more of a cult leader than a hero, and I have the feeling that he's either wrong about a lot of things or not being completely honest. The fact that he didn't want to let Gwen in, barely tolerated Peter B, and apparently didn't invite Spider-ham or Spider-man Noir to a very non-select group is highly suspect.

I'm also wondering if she's allowing herself to remember the good times and not just how it ended.

The other important comment was when Rebecca said that Richmond was the only thing he loved. That moment when he tried to kiss her convinced me that he did love her. (He's still a shit, and his love is toxic). I'm wondering if there's a health issue. Rupert wouldn't be the first rich man to reconsider their choices and try to fix things at the last minute. If that's the case then I think Rebecca's reaction proved that some things can't be fixed. I'm also wondering if that was almost a hidden theme of the episode. Nate and Roy both fucked up a good situation because of their own issues. Roy's mistake wasn't too bad, so he was able to fix his relationship with Keeley. Nate's behavior was considerably worse, so he might be able to repair some relationships to some degree. But (I hope) that the show ends up stating that some things can't be walked back and Nate won't be coming back to Richmond. If Rupert is similar in the sense that he did care for Rebecca and his own issues caused the end of their relationship, then the show would be saying that some behavior is completely unforgivable.

I agree. If this show continues for another season it makes sense to transition to more of an ensemble. Especially if Ted goes home at the end of the season and S4 is really a spin off about the team. I've also been thinking of Ted and Rebecca, and I don't ship them but I wouldn't be upset if they got together either. She has the money needed to go back and forth to the US when she doesn't need to be in London and great relationships have started out as friendships. I am kind of shipping Jamie and Roy's sister if we get more of this show. But that's mostly for Roy having to put up with it.

Rupert is probably benefiting from the fact that he didn't have much interaction with Nate back in the day as Nate wasn't important enough to notice. And we've seen Rupert be 'charming' to people he probably doesn't care for. (Like the bar patrons in S1 and Jade in this episode). Nate probably blamed the people he interacted with and never stopped to consider who allowed that behavior to occur. It should also be pointed out that Nate was surprised by Rupert's fooling around with women despite the stories in the paper about his divorce with Rebecca being caused by that exact behavior. (Jade probably knew about those stories, and she doesn't seem like the type of person to like someone that would do that). I think this is because Nate has a tendency to see people in black and white terms. People are either great or they're horrible. Look at his view of Ted at the end of S2. He got mad at Ted over perceived slights. So Ted was a glory hound that wanted all the credit, and only gave credit to others when he was planning on throwing them under the bus when something failed. 🤪 Rupert treats him well (in a condescending and shallow sort of way) so Rupert's a great guy, and he'll ignore any evidence that goes against that view of Rupert. Nate will probably ignore any advise from his parents (definitely from his father). If he spoke to anyone from Richmond, then he would probably ignore anything they said as well. He needs someone that he'll listen to that can get him to stop ignoring the simple fact that Rupert is a shit. And that's where I think Jade is going to come in. At some point Nate will see Rupert for who he is, and realize in that moment that Nate was equally shitty to Ted, Will, and the rest of Richmond. And he'll have to make a choice on how to fix things. That's when we'll find out if this is a redemption story.

We've been wondering for weeks if Jack was another rat like Rupert. However, to paraphrase Holly Golightly, she's not a regular rat or even a super-rat. She's just a scared little mouse, that's all. Seeing how happy Will is this season, and thinking about the scene when he closed the blinds after Nate screamed at him. I've come to the realization that there's someone that Nate needs to apologize to even more then Ted.

I've been having the feeling all season that something's going on with Jamie that we're not seeing on the show. Apparently he's not dating anyone, he's able to state his comments are hypocritical and not ironic, and in this episode he was able to determine how to make Total Football work. This isn't S1 Jamie, and I have to wonder if he's gotten into self improvement recently.

I've been thinking of Jade and her behavior towards Nate and I realized that we may have misinterpreted her behavior in S2. I've worked in customer service, so I should have realized that Jade is the face of the restaurant as the hostess, but she doesn't make up the policy for things like the window seat. The tool of a manager does. My assumption is that he set guidelines about who could sit in the 'good table' and per his criteria Nate didn't qualify. So Jade was actually going against the manager's policy when she changed her mind and gave the table to Nate. I'm thinking that she doesn't like Nate when he doesn't have any confidence, but she also doesn't like him when he goes to the other extreme and does things like whistle for his parents. (She did say she's picky). This would explain why she started showing interest in Nate when he stood up to the model about his choice to come to the restaurant. He showed backbone without turning into a prick. I'm also thinking that we haven't gotten to Nate's redemption arc yet. We're just seeing him get to the emotional place he needs to be in to realize that he needs redemption. And I think Jade will be important for that. She wasn't impressed by his new job, so I doubt she would be impressed by Rupert. I have a feeling that she's going to act as a counter to Rupert's ability to bring out the worst in Nate and make Nate realize that he needs to make things right with Ted. (As I'm typing this I'm also wondering if Rupert will make a move on her).

I liked the last few Marvel movies, but I have to admit they weren't the most satisfying movies ever released. So, I'm not certain how much that will compare to GoTG 3 if we get Gunn at his best. Honestly, there's been stories about Marvel/Comic Book movies in general being on the way out for years. They tend to use every movie that under performs as proof that it's finally happening. (Sooner or later they will be correct in the same way that Westerns haven't been a dominant genre for decades).