Miss Dee

I'm slightly more hopeful now (for reasons I've explained in the spoiler thread). I'm not really shocked to hear about Purcell being really soft-spoken. Actors usually excel best at roles quite different from their regular selves; I suspect it's a chance to indulge in behaviour and emotions that just don't work for them in real life.

You can replace any other white guy, but don't touch Mick. LOL I'd like to think that Amaya, armed with knowledge of the future, is able to change the fate of her village without compromising Mari's existence. I guess we'll see.

You know, it hit me in this episode that they were smart to go the multi generational route with this show. Some of us are here for the teens; some for the adults; some for both. And for some, we came for one generation but are finding ourselves interested in the other. It's a great way of growing an audience. Loved the idea expressed up thread that the "classic comic" Archie relationships are being expressed in the older generation rather than in the new. I like the idea that the dysfunctional aspects of the comics (eg B/A/V triangle) are precisely what has screwed up the adults.

As I speculated in the Doomworld episode, maybe it's actually both Fellowship-Legends and Doomworld-Legends that get killed in the finale so that the crew boarding the Waverider at the end is a mix of each. I do think that would be a ballsy move...some of them remembering what happened and the others having no experience of it. Possible divided loyalties for the third season.... I'm really glad to hear Mick speaking the word "Aruba" in this episode to everyone, as it makes me hopeful that the tie in to his speaking it in the first episode of the season is going to show "Aruba" is meant as a group metaphor/symbol rather than an individual one for Mick. If the latter, I'd be certain Aruba represents either his death or his choice of a destiny away from the Waverider, neither of which I want to happen. Please God, if Mick is alive at the end of the episode along with the other Legends (however it's mixed between the two groups), let there be a full and total reconciliation and acknowledgement by all (including Mick himself) that he is a fully equal and accepted crew member of the Waverider. Bonus points if it ends in a group hug. We need it. Ooh, it just hit me! What if the only person who has both selves standing at the end is Nate?? One Nate can go back with Amaya, and the other stays with the Waverider: best of both worlds. (True, it doesn't make a lick of logical sense...but if you're watching Legends for logical sense, you need to rethink your priorities.)

If Miller were staying on this show full-time, I could see them starting a long journey towards redemption for him...or, using the Spear to bring back Vanishing Point-Snart. But as long as Snart is working on the show on a guest-star level, I'm thinking they want to keep him in villain mode for a while. Murdering Amaya was certainly a signpost for that. @jhlipton, I know why this is a sore spot for you - we're both survivors of Sleepy Hollow - and you're right in that we have so few women of colour in the Arrowverse that it's really shitty for one of them to die like that. I can see why it happened: they needed to villainize Snart in such a way as to make it impossible for this Snart and Mick to reunite, and Mick loved Amaya as much as or maybe even more than Nate did. If I thought for even one moment the death would stick, I'd be really disturbed that Amaya was almost literally fridged for Mick's manpain. However, not only do I think it won't stick, but I think there's a high chance Mick will sacrifice his own life to save all the Legends, and it'll be Amaya who embodies his love for them because his love is strongest for her. That's why I'm dreading next week. Mick is my favourite character in the Arrowverse and I'm just dreading that this redemption story for him is because he's dying at the end of it. I do think Amaya will leave at the end of the season because they set it up like that at the beginning with the knowledge that she was Mari's grandmother - she *has* to go back or the Arrowverse is going to lose another woman of colour. But I'd bet real money either she's not dead at the end of the season, or all the Doomworld Legends are dead with her and only the 1915 ones are alive. Or - and this would be a ballsy move - they actually kill off some 1915 ones and some post-Doomworld ones, and the crew that boards the Waverider at the end of the season is a mix of each group.

They should hang out in the Legends of Tomorrow writing room for a while if they want tips on writing for an ensemble.

@Stacey1014: Rip's cake and Nate's sandwiches, learned from his mom. If Mick does stay on the Waverider, we know why!

@kismet, that's a great point. And it gives me a little bit of hope that maybe Mick *won't* die, because why go through all the trouble to break them up so permanently beforehand if he does? If Mick was going to sacrifice himself, it'd be more poignant if he *couldn't* choose between Leonard and the Legends* and this was the one way he could take care of and be loyal to all of them at once. *My new band name - no stealing!

About Mick not being able to kill Snart: it's a great parallel to the first season. Mick was ready to kill them all after the time pirates; he appeared to be a villain at that point. Leonard marooned him but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger to finish him off. I hope this doesn't interfere with a clean break between them. Mick betrayed them with the pirates but he didn't execute anyone in cold blood (PTP) the way Leonard murdered Amaya. There is no believable way Mick could forgive and forget that. Even if we ended up with Yet A Different Snart in Time, I'm not sure Mick is sophisticated enough to make the distinction.

Oh God, don't say it! I have a week to pretend everything is going to be all right!

I'm telling you: Patrick Bateman as the Tyler Durden to Archie Andrews. All the edge you'll ever need!

Even without resorting to mind-meld shenanigans, I can fanwank that a year of Doomworld had two very different effects on Snart and Mick. Mick had a year to think about what he gave up and what he got in return. It was All For Leonard. But a year in Doomworld might very well have cemented the worst of Snart's nature, especially with such a calibre of villain as he was hanging out with in Thawne, Dhark and Merlyn. So instead of retaining his code of ethics and the thrill of the chase - which seemed to be very central to him when he first encountered The Flash - he now has bigger fish to fry. Mick's company, which was once his primary source of human companionship, is now set against these other villains who are ambitious, like him; coldly ruthless, like him. Not big old sloppy Mick who just wants to avoid a job and raise a ruckus and generally hang out with his best friend. A year in Doomworld has moved him beyond that now. And meanwhile, Mick has a year in Doomworld to realize that A, Leonard is not the man he was, and B, he himself is not the man he thought he was. Just as the Leonard of pre-Doomworld wouldn't have wanted a Grand Theft Auto cheat pass to steal in Central City, Mick absolutely would have used it - hey, less work! But Mick has spent two years with the Legends and countless eons as Chronos. The camaraderie of beating a challenge together, in partnership, that's what he wants. And here's Leonard: not giving a shit about planning a heist, not sharing information about his plans with him. Mick sold out his new friends for a chance to regain his old, and it's not at all what he expected it to be. In the meantime, while Leonard is moving away from Mick and towards the Legion, Mick is in a world where he can see what's happened to his old comrades. He has to watch the man who killed the sister of his old captain now flirt with her as his underling doing his bidding. The woman he (maybe) loves, a hero who only came here to this time to avenge her lover and partner, is now trapped in this time killing the very kind of heroes she was once so proud to be. He knows Jax - Stein's partner, once so close they could read each other's emotional state - is now terrorizing the man. He has to live with all this. And when Nate comes in with just a *hint* of an inkling that he can sense there's something very wrong with all of this, Mick seizes his chance. Leonard sees this as "growing soft" - and in a sense he's right, but he never sees that just as inevitably, he's growing hard. During the showdown in the lab, he tries to tempt Mick like he did before. But Mick is now jaded enough to see through his words, and throws them back at him: he knows that this Leonard only sees him as a pet, the way Thawne sees the others, because Leonard has grown to be like Thawne and the others. They have both chosen the people they want to be like and they've learned their lessons well. And so Leonard does to Mick what Thawne would do to Barry Allen: does his best to destroy his world, taunting him as he does so. You could almost hear Leonard saying "Who's the villian now, Heatwave? Who's the villian now? "

I forgot to say that I'm loving these episode titles. I want to go out into the middle of a lonely field and recite them all dramatically.

I'm still kinda anxious Mick is going to sacrifice his life next week to save Amaya. They really hit home that he does love her, even if she's with Nate. He hasn't even punched Nate out for it. You know he's a smitten kitten. So I can't celebrate yet. On the other hand, Leonard Snart treated him like a lapdog, basically told him he was too stupid to be without him, and then froze and smashed the woman he loved, WHILE STATING OUTRIGHT THAT HE KNEW MICK LOVED HER BEFORE SMASHING HER. Please God, assuming Mick actually lives, not even the Arrowverse writers can possibly believe that they can plausibly write Mick back into the Rogues after that...can they?? So I'm hopeful Mick does not have to suffer that indignity, at least. *Sigh* Writers, do you remember that Ray and Mick were partners near the beginning of the season? That Mick has tried to have Ray's back no matter what since the fifth episode of Season 1? I am tempted to think that you don't, because watching Ray dismiss him along with everybody else just hurts. But there are three things that give me hope: 1) Other than Nate, who happened to be Johnny-on-the-spot, Ray was the first person Mick looked for (granted, he already knew where Amaya was). 2) The utter confidence and belief in his voice when he kept telling Janitor Ray that he knew Ray could fix this. 3) The writers had Ray looking after Mick's rat. Other things I loved: --The tension was unbelievable this episode. --Nate's hair. --"Because I'm an idiot." Purcell said that with the perfect amount of disbelief and resignation. ONE OF US, ONE OF US.... --Damn, Miller was chilling (no pun intended). He makes a good villian. --The sandwich love. Please let this be a thing from now on. They chill at Nate's every nowand then to learn how to make perfect sandwiches. --The falling lights on the wall in Star Labs looked like the green lines from The Matrix. As did the beginning when Overwatch was running away from the Legion. Clever, show. --Cake Boss Rip. Damn, that was brilliant - really funny on the surface, but very creepy when you thought about it. And that ending! God, Eobard is a sadistic bastard. --Axle! He has a name! You have no idea how happy I am that Mick still has the rat. I have a theory Mick can bear the loss of any human being right now without losing it, but the day that rat dies is the day he breaks and finally becomes human.

Yep. Basically, anytime before the 20th century (and honestly, right up into the present day), if it's said in a story that someone took in a child and raised them as their own, they really were saving that child from what was most likely a terrible and inevitable fate.

Aw. I have no idea if it's an act for interviews or not, but he sounds like a doll.

Considering the orphanage was fine handing Anne over to a brother/sister from Prince Edward Island sight unseen, I have a feeling the legality at the time was pretty informal. Basically nobody gave a shit about these kids...you were willing to take one off their hands, hey, less mouths to feed. You know a couple in another province who want a home girl? Sure, here's one! Just sign this paper! Off you go!

I have a doozy of an unpopular opinion about the Anneiverse (all written or filmed adaptations of Anne), so I thought I might as well start a thread. While I love Jonathan Crombie, and while I know Gilbert was a handsome boy, I think Crombie's looks would have been better suited to Roy Gardner (had he shown up in the Follows movies) than to Gilbert Blythe. Had Gilbert actually looked that romantic Anne would have been head over heels about him. Gilbert should look roguish and fun, not melancholy and romantic. What are some of your unpopular opinions? Anything in the Anneiverse goes, if the mods are okay with that.

He absolutely does stupid things, any number of them. However, there have been a lot of times when the crew has been dismissive of Mick both to his face and behind his back, and that's not really behaviour that would get someone distrustful and not used to being appreciated to think he's genuinely become one of the gang.

Hey, I'm in the NST time zone, so by rights you could even go a half-hour earlier! :)

Marilla was white and shaking after Anne fell of the ridgepole of the roof in the novel, so I bought her getting panicky when Matthew didn't come back. And throughout the Anne novels it was suggested that Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those people whom were regularly "sent for" when sickness or tragedy happened in a household, and we saw her caring side at the end of the Green Gables novel when you-know-what happens, as well as when Anne gets that bad news near the end of Anne of the Island. So I absolutely bought her being calm and brisk and capable of dealing with a panicky Marilla. I also appreciated that Marilla dealt with her emotions by vigorous housework, as we saw that in the broach incident in the novel as well as in Anne of the Island when Anne first leaves for college. I really appreciated that Marilla didn't soften noticeably once Anne came back, although she reached out in her own awkward way. Whoever is writing this not only knows the novels and the characters thoroughly, but is showing some measure of restraint as well. Much like @SeanC above, I have cried and laughed at these two episodes, often at the same time. For example, when Anne was crying at the thought of writing her name in the Cuthbert family bible (I cried), and then at all the embellishments she was coming up with fo her name (I laughed). So far, as an Anne fan who's nearly memorized the novels, I'm loving this. Even the original parts feel true to the characters and like something that could have happened had LMM chosen to go that way.

I loved it. Anne seems as though she could have stepped off the page especially in her light imaginative moments. And no offense to Colleen Dewhurst and Richard Farnsworth, because I would never want to be without their interpretations, but these actors were a hell of a lot closer to how Matthew and Marilla looked in my mind. Despite the times they went off page, I thought they really tried to keep as much of the original dialogue from the novel as they could, which I appreciated. I didn't mind Anne's PTSD and the general grittier moments. LMM wrote this at a time where she would not have been allowed to include such scenes even if her sense of propriety had allowed her to write them, and there are enough hints in the early part of the book to suggest LMM was all too aware of what "home children" were subjected to. The partwith the broach, for instance...children thought to be stealing like that would either have been beaten to an inch of their lives - and some home children were beaten to death - or would have been turned out of the house without a second thought. Marilla is not a cruel woman who would have done either of these things; at no point did she think to contact Mrs. Blewett. But she was of two minds about keeping her and this decided the matter. I thought it was all too believable, including her remorse (which she was obviously feeling even before she found the broach). That's one of the reasons I liked the use of "Ahead by a Century." Aside from the snippet they used thematically fitting the story, it's almost a hint that we're going to deliberately deconstruct Anne's story and the setting of Avonlea through our modern knowledge of psychology and history. This appearsto be an episodic approach rather than a TV-movie one, so it doesn't bother me that they want to tease out the darker and grittier elements of such an "idyllic" time and place as 19th century Avonlea. Just as long as it isn't bogged down with these elements. Which I do t think it will be. At her most Anne-ness, the actress is the very personification of "irrepressible."

Normally I love Stein and would never want him to leave, but I'm a little pissed with him at the moment.

I think it mixes up a bit. Mick hit the Spear like Gimli tries to hit the Ring with his axe, for instance. Amaya wants to use the Spear for her people, like Boromir, but Mick is the one who turns on the team like Boromir does. A really intriguing idea I read somewhere else: Snart is preying on Mick's mind like Smeagol was tortured by the Ring. So Mick's two sides are warring in him like Gollum and Smeagol. Hopefully it works out better for him than it did for Gollum....