dju

Haha! I agree with this completely. In the scene a woman in the seat in front of them actually makes a face and gets up once Ziva and Gibbs sit down, and you can see other people throwing them curious/perplexed looks throughout the bus sequence. It didn't ring false to me even a little bit that people weren't proactively coming to their aid. And count me in with others who have voiced the seamingly unpopular opinion of loving that Ziva is back. I appreciate that they're portraying her to be someone who is battling with their mental health and clearly in deep despair over not only being without her child for what has apparently been years but also the despair of knowing that the people who knew her best and loved her, never questioned her 'death'. Can't wait for next week's ep.

I URGE everyone to watch this beautiful deconstruction of Hopper's problematic character turn in S3: Stranger Things and the Danger of Nostalgia

I'm so confused over how I'm supposed to be interpreting their dynamic at this point because the way TPTB talk about them vs the way that they're shot are two very different things, and that hug scene is a clear example of that dissonance. Just on an objective, technical level, the way it was shot made it look tonally romantic, from the music to the lighting to the angles yet I know that's not explicitly what I'm supposed to be reading that moment as. And it goes without saying that they have chemistry (although I think knowing what I know about Bob and Eliza has somewhat influenced my reading of it) but I don't see them outwardly portraying romance in their performances and yet...they have romantic chemistry, it's very bizarre. And having scenes shot like that between them makes the Bellamy and Echo relationship look ridiculous by comparison, and by extension, TPTB too, and I say that as someone who actually doesn't mind either pairing.

It took a little while for her to grow on me too, I shouldn't have generalized - people can dislike that character without there being ulterior reasons for doing so as I implied with my previous comment. But for sure would love to see more development of the bond between Echo and Clarke, although knowing this show we probably won't get much more, they like to tease interesting dynamics and then rarely do anything with them, e.g. the Monty and Octavia friendship, the compelling vibe Murphy and Raven have together, and I was going to include the friendship between Emori and Bellamy, but we've seen more of that this season which is nice.

I never knew how much I wanted quality Echo and Clarke content until that hug! Love that they included that moment, especially when Echo gets the brunt of a lot of hate predominantly due to ship stuff. Eliza Taylor continues maintaining her MVP title for the season. She was tasked with a multitude of heavy emotional beats with different characters for different reasons, as well as quick changes in this episode and you follow her through all of them, very believably imo.

I agree, but in retrospect, I found it a tad troubling that Bellamy started off the episode by apologising to Clarke for failing to protect her and very pointedly framed the apology as though it was on him and him alone to do so. Which initially struck me as odd because rationally he should know that there was nothing he specifically could have done to prevent what happened to Clarke. He can be sorry that it happened to her and feel bad that it happened to her, but believing he was accountable and apologising for failing to protect her? That seemed unnecessary to me, until the cave scene and I had the thought that in the absence of Octavia, we've merely been watching Bellamy transferring that responsibility burden onto Clarke. I think I'm more inclined to believe I'm reading into it though and that the apology to Clarke was just a broader reflection of Bellamy's guilt complex. But I did really like that even with that line to Octavia, you could clearly tell that he knows that just because he says it, and that it's necessary for them to both confront and be separated from it, it doesn't make it any less difficult to relinquish that responsibility. And that it's incredibly painful to reckon with what that responsibility did to their relationship, both the good parts and the abusive parts. Co-signing this a 1000%, although I will be friggin pissed if this arc leads to her sacrificing herself, which is a theory I've seen floating around and I absolutely loathe it.

I know the Blake siblings have a hell of a long road ahead of them but that reaction from the newly 'redeemed' Octavia to seeing Bellamy really makes me long for their reconciliation.

I was tossing up whether to respond here or on the Hopper thread, but I figure it relates mostly to this episode, so it's appropriate here. From listening to a couple of David Harbour interviews in which he's discussing the Hopper trajectory in this season, it sounds like the rationale behind Hopper unravelling and/or his existential crisis in S3 is supposed to primarily be having to reconcile with El growing older, his fear of losing her because it's a reminder of 'losing' Sara amongst the trauma of everything that's happened in S2. And while Harbour is a phenomenally nuanced actor and puts in the subtextual work, I just don't think there was nearly enough set up in the writing for that trajectory to come across. It's the letter that is really given the burden of doing the majority of the work retroactively, so I can completely understand why it didn't land for you, cowgirl. But even then, nothing in that speech/letter answers the question as to why he was angrier and more combative this season, had a much quicker propensity to violence, had this edge of entitlement that I argue wasn't there in previous seasons. If it's due to trauma and if it's in response to the El/Sara fear, we needed to get a clearer sense of that trauma and effect upon his behaviour and have the risk of 'losing' El come across more seriously as opposed to it coming down to a 14-year-old boy. And it wouldn't have taken a lot of adjustment to do that imo, have a quiet moment of Hopper telling Joyce that he really just misses El after he's ranted about Mike, have the Mayor revealing that he knows about El rather than just using the 'dead daughter' line be what catapults Hopper into a violent response and actually show us a scene from the letter or a scene between Hopper and El earlier in the season. So although I actually really did love it, the Duffers were banking a hell of a lot of emotional and character weight on a VO letter.

In the same group, I'm wondering if it just feels too OTT, the Hopper and Joyce dynamic especially feels contrived this season, albeit, pandering, the whole 'they bicker and fight and it's adorable!!' schtick was so much more subtle, genuine and realistic in the other seasons but here it feels so overblown and unnatural, that they're doing it just because they think that's what fans want. Murray repeating the 'just share the damn bed/get it over with already' speech is sorta proof of that.

As a whole I liked this season, aesthetically for me it's by far the best out of the three but I don't feel the rush to watch it all again the way I had with S2, some parts felt a little slog-ish and unnecessary, but the last episode certainly brought it all together and packed a massive gut punch. I've seen this theory floating around and I'm obsessed with it - that she can't figure out he's alive or look for him because her powers are incapacitated because imo, she 100% would've tried looking for him even after getting confirmation from Joyce. There's no way Hopper is dead. On that note, I would've appreciated seeing more solo El & Hopper stuff as opposed to only hearing about it and seeing it in the last episode. Him referring to her as his daughter was really touching, and it was clear from the jump that he absolutely perceives her as his daughter, but until the last episode, I thought it was a tad too ambiguous how El feels about that term and about him. I kept waiting to hear El call him 'Dad' but I can also understand why she can't or doesn't and that it actually might be a bit triggering even thinking about calling someone else 'Dad' or 'Papa'. I completely agree with this, it didn't land at all for me because I was remembering her fear of him from S2, not that she was simply nervous or apprehensive but actually afraid of him and as a viewer being really distressed by that. Seeing some sort of indication or a scene between them that suggested his care or interest of her wellbeing prior to the death scene in the finale would've helped.

I generally always like the use of Morse code as a plot 'tool' if you will, but the function and the effect of it here was very, very clunky, I echo the comment those have made about it being unbelievable for Bellamy to catch onto it that quickly, or at all. Surely there could be other ways to clue someone in on Clarke being alive that aren't this dependent on very unpredictable variables like someone from the group being around Josephine at the right time, someone paying enough attention, that someone also knowing morse code etc. And is it just me or does the continued 'I left him (and everyone else) to die in a fighting pit' thread of guilt Clarke is holding onto feel like TPTB trying to make amends against the backlash they got last season for how OOC/shitty that character decision was. It comes across as disingenuous to me considering how quickly they had Bellamy forgive her for doing that.

It's a tired routine, I can't think of the exact season/moment, but the show has definitely done that ~bring in a sub for OPS who has a 'lemme show you what's what' attitude that leaves Eric flustered~ schtick before. It's not particularly inventive or effective. I was left feeling pretty underwhelmed by the finale, I don't know if it was too plot heavy (I could've used more character moments) or if the plot was just boring, but there was nothing there for me to invest in. I liked the small Deeks and Kensi 'I love you' exchange as a fan, but even that felt underwhelming and misplaced. And I usually really appreciate Military's writing so, I don't know, it seemed the motivation in general for the ep wasn't fully present.

I did too for a little bit there, and I think we're still getting small and subtle indications that Deek's has unresolved demons that stem from his father that directly affect his behaviour (an example would be him using excessive force on a perp in 10x07 because the guy almost headbutted Kensi). So I'm all for them exploring that aspect to Deeks, but I don't necessarily need to see his father for them to achieve that. Arguably it's too late in the show for them to go there and imo, it would feel a little contrived.

I agree. I don't think the show did enough work in maintaining the investment I'm supposed to have towards that character. I didn't feel connected to Anna in the way I'm supposed to for the climax and/or resolution of the arc to have an emotional impact. I for sure felt for Callen, but that was more to do with the acting not necessarily to my engagement with the storyline.

I think if people didn't know that they were brother and sister-in-law, they wouldn't believe that in terms of their chemistry and their ability to work together; they've been brother and sister-in-law for many, many years now. And I really appreciate the friendship element to the Deeks and Kensi chemistry and relationship because it's more realistic for me, and for what I have within my relationship. But I also enjoy their more intimate/sexual chemistry too, it's maybe not as apparent as it once was, but they've been together a while, the way they communicate their interest and love for one another will have changed - as it does in real life. Chemistry and couples don't work for everyone and that's fine, it doesn't have to be an argument to 'win' or a point to prove.