dju
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Posts posted by dju
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I URGE everyone to watch this beautiful deconstruction of Hopper's problematic character turn in S3: Stranger Things and the Danger of Nostalgia
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9 hours ago, Samwise979 said:
I actually never really shipped Clarke and Bellamy but this season, they've just been turning up the heat!
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.
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On 8/1/2019 at 10:19 AM, quarks said:
Echo/Ash took awhile to grow on me, I admit, but the last two seasons have been great for her - especially the last two episodes. And I love this mutual respect/growing friendship between her and Clarke.
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.
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On 8/1/2019 at 12:17 AM, quarks said:
And the Echo and Clarke "We're totally badasses, aren't we," hug.
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.
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21 hours ago, CooperTV said:
Bellamy was right to say "You're not my responsibility anymore", this is called separation.
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.
22 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:It's been a long time since we've seen this softer side to Octavia, and I liked it. I want more of that.
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.
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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.
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On 7/12/2019 at 3:39 AM, Cowgirl said:
Okay, I can't find an "unpopular opinions" thread, so I guess I will go ahead and post here. First, I really love Stranger Things and am not some troll trying to stir up trouble. It's just that, when Hopper's speech morphed into some weird letter to El, I looked at the t.v. in disbelief. I just thought it was SO cheesy and lazily written to have him come back from the dead (if he really is dead) that way. And, I'm usually a sucker for sentimental writing. I don't know why I disliked the Hopper letter/voiceover so much, but I just really did. If he were that sentimental over El, he probably would have found a way to tell her when they were alone, not just morphed into his speech he planned to give the kids to settle down their makeout sessions.
Hopper also annoyed me more than making me like him this season. I'm not even sure why. I think part of it might be that he just kept brushing Joyce aside. He only was actually nice to her and listened to her when he made his one comment about making her Detective Byers. Otherwise, the whole second half of the season was him bickering with her and dragging her around by the hand. That is, when he wasn't in ridiculously violent fights that I hated. By now he should know how tough and smart Joyce is.
On 7/12/2019 at 4:20 AM, ghoulina said:He was CONSTANTLY yelling at people (El, Joyce, the other kids, etc.) and freaking out. He wasn't this clever, but down-home, relatable cop any more. He was this unhinged, over-protective dad. He wasn't like that as much in the second half, but he did grate on my nerves a bit this season.
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.
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4 hours ago, ch1 said:
Same.
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.
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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.
4 hours ago, VCRTracking said:Another thing I thought of that might point to Hopper being alive is if El still had her powers she would've been able to find him through sensory deprevation.
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'.
17 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:considering that Max/Billy didn't have any kind of scene together yet we're supposed to feel it as a major loss for her when he dies. Are we supposed to base everything from season 2 where all Billy does to Max is terrify her and abuse her? They needed to do more there in order to pay that off. Dacre and Sadie did their best to try and make it work but they just flat out did not have the backstory.
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.
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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.
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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.
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4On 5/10/2019 at 2:01 PM, KittenPokerCheater said:
I always wanted Deeks' father to come back from the dead, because I feel like his father was the one that scared him the most, and I think it would cause a lot of drama. Because if any one could be a terrific mustache twirling villain, who could do a lot of damage, it would be Deeks' Dad. Of course, with these writers, he would probably turn out to be a good guy and all would be forgiven. Bleh.
Also, it might be a good reason to bring back Deeks' old buddy from Plan B.
Ah, this show was so great in its earlier years....sigh.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.
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5 hours ago, GussieK said:
Yeah this story line is incomprehensible to me. I do not know who some of these people are and what they’ve done in the past. I did not watch this show from the start and I just don’t have the info to follow these story threads. Nor do I care. I did not understand from last year whether Anna was wrongfully imprisoned in the first place or whether it’s part of a scheme.
3 hours ago, JayDub said:I have no idea what happened, who all the characters were and frankly I don't care.
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.
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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.
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11 hours ago, preeya said:
Doesn't it give a show a better viewing experience when the boss agrees with or helps his/her subordinates? I hate when shows have a boss constantly undermining or disagreeing with the underlings (i.e. Moseley).
This actually might be more of a gender/sexist issue tbh...which NCIS LA (and CBS as a network) does not have the greatest track record with.
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On 4/25/2019 at 2:00 PM, ymeagain said:
I kinda think we'll be seeing less of Deeks (what with ECO having two shows in the works)
Well, hopefully not any less than what's already been the case since S9. I think they've done a fairly steady job in both S9 and S10 when it comes to creating reasons for why Deeks is absent for entire cases or just isn't involved in the functioning of the main team so it's not completely noticeable but if his screentime needs to get pulled any further it'll start to stand out, imo. Unless they're going to go down the 'Deeks leaves NCIS to be a family man' route, therefore, giving a justifiable reason why we are seeing so little of him, but I don't see that happening anymore without Kensi. He's staying in for as long as she is at this point.
On 4/26/2019 at 3:45 AM, LittlePeas3 said:I am just hoping they have undercover assignments, there really hasn't been any, only investigations of late.
Agreed. We got a hint of Kensi's undercover assignment when she was wearing that blonde wig, but I'd prefer to watch the threads of the assignment in action as opposed to the fallout of it.
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42 hours ago, LittlePeas3 said:
1. When did Sam become so impulsive? Even when Michelle was kidnapped, he wasn't so rash. He had a plan. The banging on the door and shouting out "Federal Agents" was not of character.
2. Callen and his wisecracks. He knows by now they just irritate Sam, so why was he trying to crack the funnies? Where was his voice of reason saying, "Remember your training. Slow down. Lets be calculating, not impulsive."? He needs to leave the constant wisecracks to Deeks. Then the one off ones from Callen fit so much better.
I completely agree with both of these points.
I actually did like the episode as a whole, but to be honest, there were moments where everyone's performances came off as a little disingenuous to me, even faintly caricature-ish. Like we’re pushing things a little too hard or we’re trying something different and it's not working? The moments that were supposed to be funny, in particular, didn't land for me. Like the scene between Eric and Hetty, I laughed right at the beginning of it, but they dragged it on for far too long that it lost its effect.
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So it's still bothering and I know I gotta let it go, but I just rewatched the densi scenes from 10x09, 10x10 and 10x12 and it got me all fired up again. Episode 10x10 starts with Deeks revealing a completed bar to a very excited Kensi, as if she hasn't had a single thing to do with the look and construction of it, and in their exchange Deeks refers to the gold hammerhead shark as something that he saw and had to have. So that whole, 'Deeks thinks that Kensi caught the shark in mexico!' bit was either written thinking it was dumb and funny or it was written thinking it was funny...but came across as dumb, and both of those options are just...not great.
But more so, my reason for bringing this up is that their vibe in the bar scenes in those episodes, and her energy and attitude about the bar is so way off the mark from what it is in 10x19. It's consistently framed and referred to as his bar, mostly by Kensi, Deeks keeps correcting her. She never makes any suggestions about it, she doesn't push for him to go one direction or anything with it, she vetos the couple of names he has but never offers any of her own. The only joint action and decision they've actually had with the bar is when they were hiring people, and that didn't even show them not agreeing, the applicants were purposefully all bad. But suddenly, it's causing them all this stress because they can't communicate or agree about it? I know continuity has never been this show's forte but honestly, it's a friggin bar and you can't take the time to remember the trajectory? It was clearly a 'hey! let's slot in a typical tv couple trope here because we can't think of anything else' move and that just sucks.
...and that's it. I'm done talking about it (hopefully, yikes).
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20 minutes ago, ymeagain said:
Kinda weird that an environmentalist/conservationist would have an endangered species on the wall and really weird that a surfing detective can't tell a real one from a fake one.
I let this bother me way more than it’s worth but I found this so unbelievably dumb, not even weird just so so dumb.
And I might be in the minority on this one but knowing we may get densi scenes is a large part of why I’m still watching. Compared to other seasons, they’ve barely been in it, so when we get shitty, nonsensical scenes between them like last night it’s frustrating.
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I loved the opening, Kensi was especially brilliant (two guns! that reminded me so much of Ziva, I'm kinda bummed we'll never get to see those two on screen kicking butt together) but the rest was super weird, I'm echoing that description, it's very fitting.
And just when I start to like the bar they go and pull this crap. That densi argument was so contrived, there's no way they didn't communicate about the fundraiser and so far we've seen them either be on the same page about the bar logistics or Kensi is indifferent to whatever Deeks wants to do with it, so I don't know where that argument came from or why it was necessary.
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9 hours ago, may flowers said:
I hate ending the show it the bar. It’s jarring to me that alleged secret agents siscuss their day protecting the nation’s secrets and killing bad guys out in the open. It made more sense to have those discussions in the office then go out. So much has been impacted by Hetty’s being gone, but this has really changed the show for me.
1The bar is kinda growing on me, but you make a great point, and I don't really understand what we plan to ultimately do with it other than use it as another space for debriefing, somewhere for Deeks to work once he quits NCIS?
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Sorry to add to the pile on but I agree, those two things are not equivalent to one another, they're both problematic, but imo, the degree to which they are problematic is not the same. I love Densi for the most part, and their portrayal but that move they have Deeks pull by intentionally presenting the bar to Kensi in front of everyone was so oddly undermining and a little manipulative. Do it alone where she can process how she feels without a friggin audience, don't make it a joke that she can't say she doesn't like it even if she wasn't going to. I'm guessing having Kensi actually like the bar was TPTB trying to subvert the 'woman says no' stereotype, but they've only pulled the 'I'm gonna let my man have this/make this decision which affects both of us because he's going after his dreams, isn't this romantic' trope, which is imo, worse.
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1 hour ago, LittlePeas3 said:
Although I (and others) seem to go on with it, the only thing that would have made me enjoy the wedding more was if Deeks had a hair cut! Seriously, he can look shaggy and still be tidy, he looked like an unkept homeless man more than ever. Surely a trim would have been a good idea? He was wearing a fancy suit, for goodness sake!
This drove me crazy, just run a comb through it at least dude! Kensi is looking like that standing right next to you. Would it have killed you!
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13 hours ago, VCRTracking said:
And Mike had a candlestick! This isn't a game of Clue kid!
Oh man, it’s very funny reaching him at the end of that line holding that candlestick so seriously, especially on repeated viewings. I get they needed to give him something to fill out the gap and it needed to be something that complimented the size of the other weapons but even a kitchen blade or having a lighter at the ready would work and look somewhat better than a feeble candlestick. It looks way sillier to me than the slingshot.
S17.E01: Out of the Darkness
in NCIS
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.