Ely

Not much to add other that I found Mary's costumes super disappointing. She seemed so dowdy. Everyone - especially Edith - looked so glamorous and beautiful. Also it seemed so rushed at some points, Ms Patmore ends up with Mr Mason just cause the young ones want to get rid of him, Thomas leaves Downton to be some actors "butler" he doesn't even know and gosh, Cora thinks she will die, she and Robert have a teary goodbye-scene which seems a bit premature and than oops, does not die but suddenly Violet does. Whaaat? I was like JF didn't know where to end and was all over the place. There was a dozen of different storylines. And yeah, I still enjoyed it, what can you do. I just came out of it with a slight whiplash.

I was especially team Mrs Drewe. It was such a contived writing to make her go all psycho in the end. And her husband is just as bad as Lady Edith. They tell Mrs Drewe nothing about the real background, make her adopt Marigold as one of her own, see how she loves her like a daughter and than just give her back to Edith "opsie, you cannot have her anymore". And anytime she voices doubt or concern her husband sushes her down. JF really completely disregarded Mrs Drewe as a character. I am currently on a re-watch and I had forgotten about how much Anna cries. Dear Lord. And both she and her husband being in an out of prison. It was really too much. I miss seeing Bates with Lord Grantham, that was such an interesting dynamic that got sacrificed for the Anna crying fest. And I did enjoy their romance in season 1.

She certainly has more command presence and knowledge than Tilly. But don't forget how Chakotay was always lobotomized in the process. Don't be. Emerald Chain on top of it... there is so much lazy writing this season.

Thank you for saying this, I felt exactly the same. I know the seasons now are shorter than back then, and I do acknowledge that Stamets seems to be her mentor of some sort - though even that for me is a stretch - but calling them their child is over the top for me. The show just did not have room nor time to establish this. I felt like Anthony Rapp really did phenomenal work here but to me this is more a case of telling rather than showing. Another reason for me to be frustrated with the latest developments. This season is such a mess. Also, I cannot imagine anything more gruesome than being blown into space with just a protective shield.

Doug Jones really is a brilliant actor - without all that makeup you can really see how naunced his facial expressions are. It really speaks for him that he manages to carry that through when he is in full Saru-costume. I guess what annoys me on top of the fact that Tilly was made captain in the first place is how the crew almost aggressively cheers her on. All those reaction shots that are supposed to highlight how clever and funny and witty she is - they just make me roll my eyes. I feel like such a grinch saying this but Disco is really overdoing it with the "we're all family and love each other". At least Georgiu brought some snark. Not in a million years do I buy Tilly as being starfleet. I appreciate that the characters in Disco are more emotional and flawed - but she's really too much. I love Culber a lot and Wilson Cruz is an amazing actor but didn't he give the same speech "I have to go down there to save such and such for my sake" when they beamed on the Tikhov? Book and his love for Grudge makes me quite fond of him, can't deny it.

I did love this episode but the Hughie adoration is getting over the top for me. I know he is supposed to be the "normal" guy but this puppy-schtick is really getting on my nerves. I could not stop my eyes from rolling when Butcher and Annie were standing at his hospital bed and saying what a fucking saint he is. This show manages to layer the main characters well enough but somehow it falls flat for me with Hughie. This "no one can resist him" is a little too Mary Sue to me. Annie is simiarily problematic to me. At the beginning she tried to make peace with Butcher but two seconds later she could not stop telling him how little she thought of him. At best they tried to show her being torn between wanting to be the good girl and not wanting to be like Butcher so I am willing to give her some credit. In combination with Hughie she is insufferable though. They totally lost me when they were freaking out on that road trip with MM.

I kind of enjoy it but there's also the wardrobe problem for me. Both Maddie and Taylor wear shorts that are barely existent. Adding to that, Maddie looks like an extra from Pretty Woman. Also, John keeps doping all his rescues without any backup ever. Which is craziness.

This is so well put. Now, we all know the Commander and SJ are asssholes, but they're also very devoted to Gilead. There is no way they would rape a pregant women - let alone a women with high risk pregnancy. Their egos were hurt by June and they decided to "show her". I believe that s1-Commander and SJ never would have done this. This was a horrific scene but I I feel it was more done for shock value than anything else. Also, I caught myself wondering why again SJ and June are back at being enemies. It's such a back and forth, my brain cannot keep up. Someone upthread mentioned though how sickened SJ seemed by the raping so maybe it's not all so black and white.

I'm also really torn about the sudden outrage at the letters. I understand these two arguments - yes, we are prone to turn a blind eye on things, the concentration camps were looked over for a long time because it just seemed too "out there" - and also yes to the argument that it happened too close by to ignore. The scale is slightly tipping to the latter for me, just alone for the fact that the takeover of Gilead is well-documented. Women losing more and more their rights and their hunt for them - along with the collateral tragedies, like women and men being shot. I do enjoy this season but there are plot holes. They've clearly written themselves in a corner with June. As others have said, we see her going from accepting her fate to saying fuck it every two episodes. It would've served them better to have her escape be succesful or even have her killed in the process of it. Or even better, end her story with s1 and tell s2 from someone else's POV. The showrunners know it and in a way they have switched POV, or expanded it, in the form of Serena. Which I do enjoy. They just don't have the guts to go through with their choices. The commander was near death, two episodes later he's happy - well, "happy" - and healthy. June escapes, a couple episodes later she's back. Emily and Janine are sent to the colonies, episodes later, ops, we're back and eventhough they were - Janine admittedly less long than Emily - exposed to radiation, still healthy enough to be handmaids.

I think so as well... and he's probably going a little bit crazy because of it. So I'm not sure if we've touched upon this but is it correct to assume that the spore drive is going nowhere because we never hear of it in the other shows? That would be a little depressing, I hope Stamets never finds out during his jumps. Ash/Michael is sure moving fast which makes me suspect that Ash will soon turn into his crazy Klingon self and end all hope of romance. Because we all know how negative!fast ST-couples move. Riker and Troi needed 7 seasons and Paris and Torres to- and fro'd for quite a while as well. We'll see. Still not trusting Ash.

I was appalled by Lorca in first few episodes because he was such an non-captain until I figured since Michael's the main character it is probably her who is the moral compass of the show and not - as per tradition - the captain. Now that I don't expect him to Picard or Janeway or Sisco I enjoy him. He's still a bit of an ahole but I'd want him beside me in battle. That was another nice moment. And, again, refreshingly human.

Good for Anthony for speaking up, KS's been notorious for this kind of behaviour for years. I just hope those rabid KS-fans back down soon enough.

It's true, I was actually waiting for that but they chose to go a more comedic way. It's too bad because, as you said, it was a missed oppurtunity to give the character more depth. I mean, he'd been looping for about - what, don't make me do math, kids - 25 hours? Maybe he was in denial. I just hope we stir away a little bit from Michael's POV as the show progresses. I know this was the premise, but you miss out on so much when you only focus on one character. Come to think of it, they did give Lorca a bit more depth with his PTSD and his admiral friend. So. Also, I didn't want to bring it up last time because noone wants to look like a jealous h8ter but Burnam's running style is seriously... floaty? What do Vulcans know about running that we don't?

Yeah, I kept thinking throughout that normally this episode woul be about Stamets which would've been so interesting as well. At the same time I've warmed to Michael so much that I enjoy learning more about her. Still, I see this as a missed chance to really learn about other crew members, in this case Stamets. The dancing scene was superb and sweet. And why could Michael remember details after each loop? I'm officially in Lorca's corner after his almost eyeroll at helping space whale. I love whales and apparently adore space whales, but that was so refreshing to see.

That is exactly right, I've been wondering myself. She's really bringing something to the crew, absolutely no question, but she is so un-Starfleet, so human, she stands out. And why didn't they make her at least an Ensign? I'm still waiting on some more info on that cool robot-human they have on the bridge.