DeathQuaker

Anyone interested in seeing Shang Chi in comics action, he showed up in the Domino comic a few issues ago. It was a good story; I wasn't familiar with him before I enjoyed "meeting" him. I look forward to him being in the MCU -- I like the Marvel movies that do their own riff on a genre best (e.g., Ant-Man as heist film, Winter Soldier as political thriller, GotG as space opera, etc.). So, like some others here, I'm keen to see how they'd do a martial arts action piece.

As an aside, iirc back in the 90s, the WB required most of its shows to have a musical segment (or segments) from a new artist signed with WB records, as well as a theme song they owned the rights to and could sell. That's why Buffy and early Charmed had those club scenes for example. It was a cross pollination thing that they hoped to use to sell music (and get fans of a band to be featured to watch the show). While a neat idea, I guess it wasn't lucrative, because these days they cut time for stuff like that for more ad time. So that's one parallel we very unlikely will not be seeing. I wish it had a real theme song too, and I liked the old theme song a lot. That said, by the same token I'm grateful for no shoehorned filler live music scenes that stalled the plot for effectively product placement for a new album/single coming out.

This is one of the best food porn shows I've ever seen. Loved the attention to detail on the processes the artisans used, and the focus on "old school" methods in danger of dying out but people should know about them because they produce a superior product (like making pesto in a mortar and pestle). The passion the people have for what they do shines here as well. Love that this is kind of "highbrow" food exploration, but you are also learning elements of cuisine useful in everyday cooking.

Huh. I thought Khalil was getting more hardened and after killing that dude, snitched on Whale because he didn't like being called Tobias's "bitch." Goes to show people just pick up on different details. I was wondering if the grave was Syonide's -- that he put her in a family tomb, because he seems to be grieving her pretty hard. Jennifer is a much better woman than I am because if a total stranger followed me through the park and called me by my name, I'd at best run and at worst beat the crap out of her. And if I had dangerous powers I couldn't quite control, that woman would likely be dead for scaring the heck out of me. (And I am a Quaker, I do not condone violence. I've just had scary interactions with strangers in parks, and I'm jumpy.) Mind, I liked Perenna in the following scenes and like that Jennifer is getting super-therapy, but her parents were stupid to set it up that way and could have been responsible for a terrible tragedy if their first meeting had gone poorly. I wish a woman would chat me up the way Anissa talks to women she likes. Man she is confident and charming.

I thought the ending insinuated Harry might not be a whitelighter, so maybe that's why his powers don't look right (or they look different to make audiences with meta-knowledge wonder).

While I'll warrant Jane the Virgin's telenovela-inspired melodramedy definitely isn't for everyone, the show is nonetheless a tightly paced and written, complex show, critically acclaimed for its delicate-yet-firm handling of various social issues, balancing real romance with excellent satire, having a well-put-together cast of characters including POCs and LGBTQ persons, and most of all being at its core a story about a family of three, very different, strong women who support and love (and struggle with and still love) one another. With that record, I cannot think of a better show runner for Charmed than Jennie Snyder Urman. (And if you haven't seen the show or only a small portion of it, I strongly recommend giving it the four episode treatment; I can't guarantee you'll like it but I can guarantee it is probably not what you are expecting.) I'd have little hope for this reboot except that she's involved.

Possibilities: - It's flashbacks as Wynterwolf said (although she'd still be *training* in the Red Room, as I assume she would "graduate" around 17-18. This would then presumably be pretty brutal to watch) - The rumor is incorrect or inaccurate (or might be an idea they are floating, but the movie is in such early development it could change) - Her birthdate on record is false, put in SHIELD files to cover for her her youthful appearance (Zola may not have had access to all information), but she actually, as in the comics, is much older than she looks due to Black Widow biotech (a side effect of which is the sterility she mentioned in AOU). This would also explain why she said she worked for the KGB, which was disbanded along with the USSR in 1992, when she would have been 8. I know a LOT of folks who want to handwave that detail as either Marvel using "KGB" as shorthand for Russian Secret Police and/or the MCU has an alternate Cold War history, but I like to think Marvel's writers aren't that sloppy or uninformed in either case (it encourages a bad understanding of history to say "KGB" also means FSB, etc. etc.). I also want to reject the "KGB doesn't actually mean the KGB that was disbanded in 1992" because that argument seems to come mainly from fans who are resistant to the idea of Natasha having any powers--even though they are powers she actually has or had at some point in the comic books, and would explain other unusual things about Natasha, like how quickly she seems to recover from injury (like being shot in the neck by the Winter Soldier and being totally fine the next day). Moreover we know from Agent Carter that the Red Room was specifically a Soviet program (and I will fully admit also wanting the Black Widow biotech to be real so we can see Dottie again some day)--would the (very poor and heavily watched-over by the UN in the 1990s) Russian Republic have continued the program or even been able to? Indeed, while I personally am not keen about the BW movie taking place in the past (I'd rather see her future, and leave some things about her a mystery), doing this gives them the opportunity to reveal her enhanced stamina/slow aging in a way that's just been irrelevant to bring up in the other films. Obviously I vote the third option, but anything could be possible, and again the movie is also very early in development so even if the rumor has merit/a legitimate source, it could still change.

Just watched (most of) this episode this morning. With apologies for nerd pedantry, the man who created the Super Soldier serum was Abraham Erskine, who died in Captain America 1. The person mentioned as the collector was "Ernst Erskine" if I caught the name that flashed across my screen right (I watch with closed captioning on because at least on my computer, Netflix plays music really loud but all the dialogue is whispered). Perhaps a descendant of Abraham, trying to recreate his miracle? Mary is increasingly fascinating to me. I liked her storyline in this episode. I like everyone in this show except Danny and Davos. They deserve each other. Lock them in a room forever and bring us a Daughters of the Dragon show instead.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Food Flirts. Yes somehow they could be too cutesy but they pull it off as fun. I like some of the "food mashups" they come up with.

I am 2 inches taller than my mom was and my sister is 5 1/2 inches taller than me (we are in our 40s, so no hope for a growth spurt!). My two teenage nieces are taller than me. (All of us are genetically related.) Very frequently heights differ a lot in families. I always thought it was bizarre Hollywood insisted on casting "child" characters shorter than a parent and the like, or indeed sisters all the same height. It may fulfil some sort of abstract aesthetic, but it doesn't look natural to me when it's done uniformly. Indeed, that the two "younger sisters" who are nearly identical in height look weirder to me, if there was one that was more of a mid height it would look more "normal." As it is, my own perceptions and preferences aside, the height difference makes it clear the oldest sister is a half sister, and I have no issue. They seem suited to their parts well from what I've seen so far. The acting seems at least on par with the original series based on the trailer, IMO (I recognize opinions differ). But honestly I wouldn't even be paying this show any heed (not keen on reboots, barely a fan of the older show) were it not for the fact that Jennie Snyder Urman is head writer. She is fucking amazing and I trust anything she had influence on is going to be worth at least checking out, no matter what anything else looks like.

So overall, great movie. I could have done without evil business dude being a third person to escape from, felt like it cluttered up the plot---though they did provide the opportunity for some great fights and car chases. Ghost disappointed me for two reasons: first, I miss the anti-corporate schtick from the comics version. Second, because her plot seemed to be lifted wholesale from Jason Wilkes' story from season 2 of Agent Carter: character becomes intangible due to lab explosion, character needs resonance chamber to maintain stability, character grows desperate and hostile as condition deteriorates, solution to character's problem is drawing transdimensional/quantum energy from brilliant lady scientist (evil in AC, good in AM&tW). Sure she gets a cool suit and he gets to kiss Peggy Carter (I think she gets the short end of the stick there) but it was just weirdly similar to me. Maybe it's just me. To boot she also gets no character development other than it hurts, I'm evil now! My favorite ant-agonist was Bill Foster, liked his story, his personality, trying to go to extremes but to do the right thing. I really want to see an Avengers 1970 tale with him, Janet, Hank, and a few others (I realize with the actors' ages it's not feasible, but I can dream).

As awful as she was, I found Grace strangely enjoyable in this episode. I especially liked the transition from euphoria to rage. ;) I also generally hate Robert and yet I like their interaction in this episode. There was a (non-romantic) chemistry between them that Martin Sheen sadly seems to lack with a lot of the other actors. I generally like how flawed human gray area all the characters are--no one is sparkling shiny and no one's fully evil for the most part, they're real. If there's something I dislike in them, there's still something else I like. But Robert is just generally unlikable. So I was pleasantly surprised to watch his scenes for once. I think they need to give him something to talk about other than himself or his relationship with Sol (and use both characters in smaller doses). Being used to the fairly as-accurate-as-reasonably-and-safely-possible babies on Call the Midwife, I found the giant newborn delivered a little funny. It was also only half wet even though it was supposed to have been delivered into the pool. I liked Frankie getting to help deliver the baby, but I'm kind of sad for Mallory--she was there for the bulk of the labor and then just kind of was shoved out of the way and not really appreciated (which seems to be her lot).

I feel like I shouldn't have to explain this, but "scientist" is an extremely broad descriptor--anyone who "does science"--but science itself is a vast array of fields. I don't know/remember what jobs the Four had in the movies (I saw the first when it came out but not the reboot), but in the comics, Reed was at least originally a physicist/engineer (he had PhDs in those things). You could make Sue a chemist or biologist or geologist or and/or any subset of those things and she wouldn't step on Reed's toes, nor he on hers, role-wise. Heck, if one is a quantum physicist and the other a mechanical physicist they still have their own roles to play. I know that yeah, Reed is indeed often depicted as generally brilliant at all things science, but it makes more sense for him to have a specific area of expertise, and same for everyone else. But if one's really concerned she could always be a medical doctor (although if she's an MD who does research, she's still a scientist). I'm less worried about the F4's jobs specifically and more in general about the idea that folding the F4 AND X-Men into the MCU will make the universe even more bloated and overcomplicated than it's already becoming. I am a lifelong comic reader and the Marvel comics universe itself is a struggle to keep up with, with all the various ways folks have gotten powers, who they're involved with, etc. etc. etc. and actually enjoyed they were separate universes in the films. I found it easier to follow and really appreciate/focus on key characters and the themes of the "world" they occupied. And if I struggle, as a longtime comic geek, to keep up with how bloated the Marvel comics 'verse is, your average moviegoer is really going to have trouble if the movieverse gets hard to follow along with. Perhaps I underestimate people however. But I think they're potentially opening a can of worms where quantity of available characters within a given story is going to trump quality of storytelling.

I think the Save Agent Carter gang are still assembling signatures, but I'm not sure what further can be done. As far as I know based on interviews, Marvel is willing and Hayley Atwell would do it (I presume schedule permitting). Based on what I've seen the other actors say, they'd also come back (again presuming schedule permitting). The problem is network. You can't make a TV show without one. So you've either got to get ABC to take it again, which seems unlikely--although as you say, maybe they might after the Inhumans flopped. Mind the show only did slightly worse ratings-wise than season 2 of Agent Carter, but AC was a critical darling and Inhumans.... wasn't. (Also, Agent Carter had the scheduling shenanigans to blame in part for its second season ratings; Inhumans did not have the same particular challenge). Agent Carter I'm sure was far cheaper to make than the Inhumans (even though period shows tend to be more costly than you think, and of course AC had some SFX, I would guess that the Inhumans' SFX demands still made it far more difficult to deal with budget-wise). And then... if there really WAS executive meddling as we are speculating (trying not to let myself get too frothy at the mouth talking about this)... I don't know if I want it to be at ABC when they might just screw it over all over again. Netflix didn't want to take it because of some BS about it not being "original" and because (more legitly) of complications caused by foreign distribution issues. Maybe Hulu is the next hope... it's doing Runaways, and it's the one showing Agent Carter now. Probably it would also be concerned about the foreign distribution stuff too, but maybe once those contracts expire something may be possible. Disney's also purportedly working on setting up its own streaming platform, so it could also be an option for that, but I think it'll be awhile before that shows up. I'm also nervous about any streaming-only options because if Net Neutrality gets busted, streaming may become less affordable (because you'd have to pay for premium Internet AND the service itself), and accessibility becomes an issue. Yes, they just don't have season 2 on DVD in the U.S. Even the blu-ray took a dang while to show up. You can also buy the eps on Amazon Video (which is what I did, since I don't have Blu-Ray).

Having just rewatched that scene with Whitney and her director, you may be onto something there.... Especially since the show appeared on Hulu only fairly recently. I suppose in the Internet age anyone could be a reporter. Make a website and report on it. The hard part is having the time and energy to make the calls and get into the dirt. And yes, not formally having a press pass does limit access. I know. I want to feel joy at the new Infinity War trailer and all I can think is, "You're too easy. We need Peggy." Well the show wanted to make us forget about Angie. Which I also wonder if that was network interference--if someone didn't want things to get "too gay." I wouldn't call myself a Cartinelli shipper but there were tropes used to at least make it look like Angie had a serious crush and work to build a pretty deep connection between the two (you don't have a scene where someone's spilling their guts out to someone else while "Someone to Watch Over Me" between "just friends"). This is entirely in my head--I want to emphasize, ENTIRELY SPECULATION--but I wonder if the network said, "Get rid of the waitress, it's getting too gay." And the showrunners said, "Oh, uh, sure, yeah, I guess we'll have to write Angie out," and then as soon as they finished the conversation with the network, they called Bridget Regan and said, "Hey, in your performance, can you turn Dottie's crush up to 11?" Just to get around the network douchebaggery (even if that meant we only got to see Lindsey Fonseca in the dream sequence). On Ana, I will say--while it is a violent thing to do, in a sense, to take her ability to have children, one thing I thought was fascinating was how Ana herself was like, "this isn't the most important thing." Which is not to say she wasn't sad, but she was like, this isn't all of who I am. Jarvis was the one devastated by it. And that itself speaks to the notion that women are only good for childbearing, and the show flipped that around by having the woman be the one able to look past it. Which of course also could have rubbed our theoretical ABC jerk the wrong way.

Maybe it sounds unreasonable, but I have been mourning this show since its cancellation. Glad to see I am not alone in missing the show. In particular, I constantly have Dottie on my mind, never knowing what happened to her. I'd love to see more adventures of Peg, but at least we know generally what the trajectory of her life is, and when it ends she is well loved by many. But Dottie we don't know... Does she live to kill another day? Does she eventually get hired by Peg if only because Peg realizes that's the only way she'll be able to keep an eye on Dottie? Is she the one to eventually decondition Natasha when she defects? Or does she die Peggy's greatest nemesis, the broken girl who still chains herself to the bed? There are far more crucial things in the world to worry about but this is where my mind often wanders. I'm rewatching the series with a friend who's never seen it. Like me he thinks the second season lacks compared to the first (he and I prefer the pulp noir of season 1 over the camp of season 2), but even mediocre Agent Carter is still better than most other TV by a long shot. I agree it was infuriating they ended on a cliffhanger. They should have planned standalone seasons. I also wish they'd gotten further into the founding of SHIELD. Groundwork was laid for it (hints in season 2 people were trying to shut down the SSR as obsolete) but not enough. I too want to see Peggy lead and be respected as a leader. I hate to get conspiracy theorist, but I feel like someone at ABC had it out for Agent Carter. Marvel seemed all for it. ABC had to be the problem. The scheduling of season 2 was a clusterfuck, especially with the late start and the doubled episodes. The distribution has been random and far too limited, with DVDs of season 1 only available on Amazon and no US DVD of season 2. The show disappeared from streaming for awhile, only now just showing up on Hulu. I know many who wanted to watch it but just could never find it. They failed to market or distribute it adequately as if to intentionally make it appear unpopular--when it was in reality simply unavailable. The way Hayley Atwell was treated is suspect too... She was originally told she could do both AC and Conviction, but later learned she had been cast in Conviction to make it easier to end AC. *grrr* It's weird. But Peggy's resilient and I have hopes we'll see her again sometime, somehow. Just give me Dottie too. I need that psychopath in my life. *sniff*

From my original post: "Some of this, mind, is slightly facetious... I don't think they reallly waited for Peggy to go onto her deathbed, they just had various pieces they were putting in place."

Very late, but I wanted to address the "how come Peggy didn't realize Hydra infiltrated?" thing from upthread. In short, I think she did and she didn't know (she knew there was likely some degree of infiltration and did what she could to stop it, perhaps not the extent). She did what she could to protect key parts and people in SHIELD. And especially since they waited until she was on her deathbed to activate, I'd say she actually did a pretty damn good job of suppressing them. I'll also echo what Dandesun said about Nick and Natasha also being caught off guard, and they're superspies. Hydra was just being that careful. In long... On one hand, I am absolutely certain Peggy was aware there was some degree of infiltration and/or potential infiltration. It's a SPY ORGANIZATION, that it will be infiltrated is an eventuality, not a mere possibility. Right now, in the FBI and CIA, there are foreign agents working against us. And in other foreign countries, there are CIA agents planted in other foreign agencies. That is how spying works. They haven't been caught--yet--because not getting caught is what a good spy does. I went to the International Spy Museum not long ago and they have a great exhibit on infiltration; one film they show shows how well a real life spy for the Russians (an American citizen but working for Russia) worked for the CIA and leaked info to the Russians for YEARS before he was got caught in the 80s or 90s (by a couple of women who worked as office-level (rather than field) agents, whom he underestimated because they were women--fans of Peggy will know THAT story well). They remarked on how deep he was in, how likable, etc. and that kept him from looking suspicious. (PS: this real life spy also passed his background check. :) )That's what spies do. They make themselves look trustworthy. All you can do is compartmentalize and check and recheck things often enough that a) something suspicious will arise and b) any infiltration that does occur will be isolated within a given department/project/situation, so that other ops aren't compromised even if that one is. Given how compartmentalized SHIELD is--Nick comments on this a few times--this was probably very much Peggy's design. She knew it would be impossible to prevent entirely infiltration (not only by Hydra but any number of other, more "ordinary" spy agencies); but she compartmentalized things and structured things likely to keep various projects and programs as safe as she could. And this is why SHIELD was able to survive, indeed, Hydra's resurfacing. However difficult a road it took, it still survived and were able to bring forward loyal agents (like indeed the stars of AOS) to keep doing its work. All the good guys, Coulson, May, etc al -- as well as of course movie level agents Fury, Romanov, Barton, Hill, Sharon Carter--surviving, in spite of everything? THAT is Peggy's legacy, and it's a damned good one. Hydra was also, I think as someone noted, in pretty deep and playing it very safe, and they too were compartmentalized off, both by their own design but also by the way SHIELD itself was structured. They weren't in every division, but just key groups, like the STRIKE team that Rumlow was lead of. They were very likely reluctant to make any big moves for a long time--and we may never know how many times they may have tried to intitiate SOMETHING and Peggy nipped it in the bud (she probably stopped that group but didn't/wasn't able to dig get back far enough to find other splinter cells). As it was, it took them what... 60, 70 years to surface? Iron Man shows up, they don't go, "Oh crap, superheroes are on the rise, we better move." They stay put. Incredible Hulk? Nope. Captain America returns? Nope. The whole goddamn Avengers? They're like Nah, we can handle them, it's not the time yet, we've got PLANS to keep making. Peggy becomes bedridden? Suddenly they're saying, "Okay, now's the time to make our move." I'd say that speaks well to Peggy. ;) (Some of this, mind, is slightly facetious... I don't think they reallly waited for Peggy to go onto her deathbed, they just had various pieces they were putting in place... though one wonders...) And then there's the fact that Peggy, while director of SHIELD, wasn't the only influence on SHIELD. At some point the World Security Council became its command, and that obviously had Hydra influences on it for a long time, not only with Pierce but probably also predating him. There's probably NOTHING Peggy could have controlled about that, nothing she could personally have done to prevent that. There were other key influences on SHIELD that were easily corruptible, with Howard Stark easily being one of the weakest links. The whole plot of season 1 of Agent Carter was about Howard's tech getting lost/sold to the highest bidder/almost used as a terrorist weapon because he was easily seduced by one pretty girl. And speaking of said pretty girl, we can get now to the fact that yeah--as badass as Peggy was and as sure as I am that she did as much as she could to forestall infiltration--we also get to the fact that Peggy herself is a flawed human being who can be too damned trusting. That pretty girl who compromised Howard, Dottie Underwood, also fooled Peggy into believing she was an innocent dancer from Iowa. Peggy would have been killed easily by Dottie if Dottie had felt like taking the easy shot (e.g., shooting her in the back). (Instead she went in up close and then stalled for a million reasons we can speculate upon). Peggy only ever knew Dottie was a Soviet spy because Dottie opted to attack Peggy in a way that revealed her identity (sloppiness or long game on Dottie's part we'll never know). And then a year later, Dottie herself chides Peggy for not seeing "how deep the rot goes" into the SSR. Way back in 1947 Dottie was pretty much trying to tell Peggy Hydra was infiltrating, and Peggy was refusing to believe it because why? Maybe she was too embarrassed at the idea of Dottie, the woman who fooled her, showing her up. Maybe just couldn't believe the good men she worked with could all be so corrupt. Peggy trusted way too easily. Peggy trusted Howard--a man with good intentions but all too easily corrupted by profit and hedonistic tendencies--all too long and too often, and Peggy stuck by him even though she KNEW he would disappoint her again and again. Peggy is the kind of person who sees the best potential in people. She wants badly to bring that out. That often blinds her to their dark sides. While we can hope over time she became more wary, I'm sure there were people who did slip by her, reputation for awesome badass spying or no. (She should have hired Dottie to be a Nazi-spotter. If she didn't, that was probably a mistake. I'm sure Dottie would have been very useful in that role, and her skills as an assassin would have been pointed in a useful direction, which would have been better than trying to just keep her contained.) But even bearing in mind some people slipped past Peggy because Peggy is too trusting, I'm certain she did a great deal to at least stem Hydra's tide. That's why they tried to take over in 2014, not 1954.

I liked the way Petra broke up with Raf, but part of me wonders if she did it only to manipulate Raf into sleeping with the lady investor. I think she knows there was a fair chance that's how he'd react, and she is that twisty. I thought the Ro plot dragged too long. I just read what I wrote. Ha! I loved his solution to the situation though. Not keen on seeing more telenovela rivalry. The show within a show aspect of JTV has never been compelling to watch for me, as fun as it is to watch Jaime Camil perform. Mainly rooting for Anezka to die. While I love Yael Grobglas's portrayal of her, and how different it is to Petra, she has largely served her purpose and her schtick is getting old. And the others don't make sense. It would be weird for Magda to show up only to immediately die (though I guess it's possible). Petra has so much invested in going on it would be a waste of a lot of buildup to kill her. Luisa is still needed for the ongoing Sin Rostro plot (which, unpopular opinion, I still enjoy, but I'd enjoy watching a plot involving someone reading the phonebook if it involved Bridget Regan, let alone both her and Yara Martinez, so.), and the writers seem invested in drawing that out. Alba or Raf would be way out of left field--which doesn't mean it's impossible, but it'd be really strange, and I'm not sure what developments could come of those deaths that would be interesting to watch.

I'd actually like to see Steve just be single awhile. It's no fun to date a guy who clearly hasn't processed dealing with a number traumas and doesn't even know what makes him happy, so I'd feel sorry for anyone he'd hook up with. They'd have to be more therapist than lover and that's not really fair to a romantic partner. Now, a meaningless tryst to relieve tension, sure, but I'm not sure I'd want to see that with Sharon, Bucky, or anyone else he tends to get paired off with. (Likewise, while obviously he is devoted to Bucky--however you want to interpret that devotion, whether platonically or romantically--Bucky also needs time to figure out who he is before committing to an intense relationship with anyone.) As for Sharon, she badly needs to be developed as a real human character rather than Blonde Cardboard Cutout Love Interest #13, whether she ends up with Steve eventually or they move away from that. She's one of the comics legacy characters who has been majorly screwed over by her depiction in the MCU and particularly executive meddling in it. The comics version of her has had major importance in Cap Family stories for decades, as important as Bucky and Sam, and yet comparatively she's been majorly given the shaft. If they weren't going to honor her major role in the Cap Family, they frankly never should have brought her into the MCU to begin with--and were I Emily Van Camp, I'd be ticked off on how marginalized the character is. I understand apparently Winter Soldier was originally supposed to have her as the female lead, but the execs were worried she wasn't "big enough" to put butts in seat so they insisted on Black Widow showing up instead (Scarlett Johannson having a reputation, at least at the time, as a seat-butt-putter-inner). I have honestly conflicting feelings here because Winter Soldier as it was is one of Nat's best films (and I adore Natasha), and yet at the same time, Sharon really should have had a much larger role and we should have known her extremely well by the time Cap 3 rolled around--I talked to a lot of (not necessarily superhero obsessed) folks who saw Civil War and they were like, "Who's that blonde chick? What do you mean she was in Winter Soldier? I don't remember her at all." That blonde chick no one remembers should not be Sharon Carter's role in Cap stories and it's a damned shame they've let it turn out that way. I feel like I'm being all "BLAH NO ROMANCE" here and it's not really the case. I love a good love story. But I also don't think every hero needs a love interest to have a good story--and the MCU has undercut itself repeatedly by including love interests who are poorly developed; indeed I know part of the reason Peggy gets brought up so much is because she's a rare love interest who was actually well written and well developed. Unfortunately she's also the one love interest who survived, moved on, and got her own potential collection of love interests (in my personal headcanon, she just ends up with ALL OF THEM). I'd rather have no love story than a bad one, and I'd also like to see people like Steve in particular learn how to be whole complete people on their own and THEN form strong connections with others.

Steve so very badly needs to learn to grieve and move on. This is a healthy thing every human being needs to learn to do and he has been denied it, and it's bad for him and the people around him. One universal experience all of us have is experiencing loss. I'd like to see a heroic journey that incorporates coping with that. Much, indeed, that was powerful about season 1 of Agent Carter was seeing Peggy work slowly through her own grief and move on (and to a lesser extent, see Howard do the same). While I'd give my shirt to see Peggy again (and all I've got to find out what happened to her nemesis Dottie), I would hate to see that marvelous character development undone. I realize what the movie folks may do may not care about what happens in the TV side of the universe, but it would be a serious undercutting of Peggy's character to have her lose her development just to be a crutch, a coping mechanism, a thing for Steve whose indeed at this point presence would probably hold back his character development rather than assist it. Steve and Peggy had a beautiful relationship, and sometimes beautiful relationships end tragically before their time. Strong people learn to hold dear what they gained from those experiences while also moving forward into the future.

I am aware. That's why I used the word "fanon." To be clear, that is how I am handwaving it in my head so it doesn't bother me. :) While that's a fair point, I doubt she thought of it that way. She was far from able to be rational. Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred they focus on that trauma without bringing Mon-El into it, and I wish the story had been written differently. But working with what we do have in reality, I choose to see it as not just about Mon-El.

Regarding the elevator shaft, I'm just fanoning that Lena (quietly) knows Kara is Supergirl and (quietly) had the elevator shaft and roof fixed with her magical amounts of money and genius to protect Kara's secret. I too am irked by the references to Mon-El, who made me tune out most of last season, BUT... I liked the way her trauma from leaving Krypton tied into her fears for Mon-El... it wasn't simply that she lost him, but her fear was that she effectively put him through the same terrible experience she herself lived. That's a very character appropriate fear for her to have, tying into her life experiences and general compassion as well as particular relationship with that character. I also loved that Alex was the one to snap her out of it, and my personal takeaway was ultimately how important the sisters are to each other. (Since we have a Jane the Virgin actress on this episode [and Yael Grobglas is a great actress, though I felt Supergirl didn't give her much to do except stare malevolently], I also feel free to segue into a comment I read on Twitter: there's a theory that that Jane, in introducing its new male love interest by having two narrators fight over his importance to the story in relation to the female lead, was in fact mocking Supergirl for having way too much focus on Mon-El.) They are broadcasting the inevitable demise of Sanvers a little too anviliciously. But naivete aside, Alex continues to be MVP in most scenes she's in. LOVED her cowing Wynn into telling her everything by simply glaring at him. (Speaking of malevolent staring.) I thought the child was foolish, but I don't mind the actress; writing/direction seemed to let that aspect of the story down a bit. I am interested in Sam's development, and am glad to see in a TV universe that tends to rush things, they might be doing a somewhat slow burn with her character development and development of powers, so she will be less of a cookie cutter antagonist (I think she's going to become an antagonist, but I could be wrong). Really miss the superhero show recaps on this site. It was a lot of why I came here. There are far fewer recaps these days, and more podcasts, and I don't listen to podcasts (I have a mild auditory processing disorder that makes that not the best form of entertainment for me to seek out). I'm presuming they either lost the writers, or can't afford to pay them. A shame.

Except IIRC the Narrator confirmed that is what really happened right after she said it; Rose might not be trustworthy, but if the Narrator said that's how it really happened, it probably did (the Narrator has been misleading sometimes, but I don't think he's outright lied before). Also, the scenes they showed weren't filmed in a dream sequency sort of way--it seemed to be them showing what really happened. How did Rose know? Well, she knows she didn't do it, so it had to have been the real Eileen. (Or possibly the real Eileen told Rose she had to kill him to cover both their tracks, which would also explain why she was so weirdly paranoid the last time she was at the Marbella.) Tangentially, I will have "Come On Eileen" going through my head for the rest of the week. Thanks, show. ===== Other stuff on the episode in general... The wedding was sweet, and it was interesting that they did another big hurricane episode. I really liked Jane's arc in this episode and how she came to writing the ceremony. On the other hand, the way Ro and Xo were REALLY pushing Jane around like a pair of bridezillas (with Ro the worse of the two of course) was grating on me, as was Jane's unwillingness to express reasonable boundaries in this area, and I thought they were going to have that come to a head and I don't remember that really happening, unless it was when I got up to check my laundry or switched over to Call the Midwife for a second. (Which is possible) Loved Alba's speech to Xo. Michael's flashback return was lovely. I used to like Anezka but have tired of her. In a show full of deeply complex shades of gray characters, she comes off as extremely two dimensional and cartoonish--has she ever had any actual development? People grow and change and devolve on this show all the time and she's always just exactly the same. If she stays and actually has a real arc, that might be worth seeing. If she's still a cartoon, they need to figure out something else. The relationship stuff is getting dizzying. I'd actually like to have seen Raf and Petra be in a real relationship for a bit before it went all wonky--it was way too quick that they were just truly acknowledging their feelings last week and seeming like they were getting ready for a longer story and then that falls apart. Now Jane with the returning feelings but then with the old ex (who brought Michael's letter). I get that keeping everyone in a romance spin keeps up the drama but gah. I have almost zero interest in Darcy's return. Plenty of story could have come from just Xo and Ro truly learning to live married life together, and throwing her in for baby drama feels cheap and lazy, and the writers can do better than that when they try. On Luisa: I'm going to play devil's advocate for her. Which, as the terminology describes, is not to excuse or defend her actions, but to offer an alternate point of view on her situation: I recall in Season 1, they made frequent references to Luisa supporting or protecting her brother when he was in his rakish playboy days (I accidentally typed "playbody" at first, interpret as you will), and that the reason he had backed up her malpractice insurance was in part because he owed her more than that for how she was there for him. Luisa has also defended him from his father, who was IIRC never nice to him save maybe toward the end of that season--she sided with him on several arguments. She has generally shown genuine love and support for him, and whenever she has argued with or defied Rose, it has been for Rafael's sake (including her insistence upon seeing him when she believed he had cancer). She was clearly heartbroken and in pain when she believed he had cancer both in this episode and the prior one, and was willing to leave Rose to go care for him (they only fell into the trap because Rose chose to go with Luisa. Had Rose decided to stay while Luisa went the whole scenario would interestingly have been very different.). AND YET: when Luisa started relapsing and losing it, Rafael largely wrote her off as a whacko and has never seemed to take anything but cursory interest in her recovery; when she tried to tell everyone about her and Rose's relationship, he sided WITH Rose and helped ship Luisa off to the asylum when she was telling the truth. He's generally never believed her even when she's told the truth (and I'm not sure she's really ever lied to him, but I'm not doing a rewatch to check) or supported her during her many rough times. He's never let her know his children. ((Good reasons why, but again we're playing devil's advocate) And then he outright used her love for him against her by making her believe he was dying to try to pull her into a trap. AND YES: Rose killed her father, who was also an evil criminal planning to run away to Croatia, who had written Raf out of his will, who had generally treated both Luisa and Raf horribly, and who generally was an all around asshat. No tears to be shed over him, related to anyone or not (and the only person he IS actually related to is Luisa, and it's her right to forgive his murderer or not). And Rose may not have changed personality wise, but all evidence the show provides seems to be that she has indeed kept her promise to Luisa and not killed anyone since their deal made on the submarine. (I love that this show leads me to write sentences like that.) Soooooooo.... from looking at it that way, I can see why Luisa would finally turn against the not-actually-brother who has generally seen her as a useless whackjob and never appreciated her support (save for covering her malpractice insurance) and made her believe he was DYING just so he could have her girlfriend arrested for a murder it turns out she didn't commit. (Even if she committed lots of other murders.) And again, all this is to say... I can see where this development comes from. Yes, I am fully aware she is the girlfriend of a brainmeltingly gorgeous horrible murdering sociopath. Yes, I am fully aware she makes terrible, terrible, terrible decisions and often has failed to fully bear the consequences or be accountable. And I am NOT defending anything on those notes--you can't. Just noting it's way more complicated than that. And this is still an interesting path... that could make her a fascinating villain if done right. (And you don't have to like the villain anyway, it's what they're there for.) But... IF DONE RIGHT. The whole problem with Luisa is that she shows up, says a couple things, then disappears and we forget about her. Half of her story is told in exposition rather than shown, which is massively problematic. Her most recent appearances have been her and Rose having the same argument over and over and over again... up until this episode. I am all for Luisa being a villain and being around... but only if she's really around and given the development and arc needed to really make this story work. If she just keeps disappearing with an arc that comes and goes in fits and starts, what's the point? Writers, you can do so well on this when you try. Don't fail us. This whole season's been a bit bumpy compared to the first two seasons and I'm hoping for a smoother ride next year. Sorry for babbling so much.

Welp, I was wrong about Magda. Ah well. Sorry. So the question remains--was "Bracelet Lady" Rose (which seems randomly and stupidly sloppy of her) or the real Eileen (which we saw briefly the first time she appeared)? (They'd still have reason to arrest Rose for Emilio and Michael's murders, as the connection to Scott is rather tenuous.) Also, someone remind me: how did they all find out about Rose's being alive with a fake face anyway? "Susanna" revealed herself to Luisa only at a time when Rose was otherwise believed dead, and then they promptly ran away to the submarine, so no one should have actually known. Did Luisa tell someone? I don't remember. And I realize many might not care, but it's bothering me I can't remember. On to other things... Is it bad my favorite moment of this episode was when Jane punched Fabian? I don't dislike him (though I didn't like how he behaved this episode), but that moment was strangely cathartic. I'd much rather have speckled horses than pure white. They're way cooler and more unique looking. (For some reason it's important to me I express this opinion publicly.) Unpopular opinion, but I like Raf with Petra. They both used to be horrible and are both becoming more human and I like their relationship, as complicated as it is. I believe people who have done bad things can change and do good things and be good. (If people can't change, grow, and improve, we're all screwed.) Meanwhile, I kind of want Jane to end up with no one, just be a happily single successful author and mom. Loved the two-woman hen night. The rest of the wedding plot I find frustrating and draggy.