Joana

Ten minutes in and Nynaeve is more of an insufferable brat than ever. I'm out. I'm just hoping the blonde sorceress rips her a new one, but I wouldn't be holding my breath. Also, I must have confused this show with something else because I was sure the hot bodyguard guy had died. These long ass breaks are really not good for shows like this.

I've rarely seen such an abysmal ending. It was such a blatant cop-out that I can't even begin. Sure, it was a very convenient way to deal with all the inconsistencies and gaping plotholes that they never ever bothered trying to fill in - like, what the HELL was Saxa's business from the season 2 ending on? Nothing she ever did made any sense. Such a disservice to her character who was a total badass and deserved so much more. But hey, none of it really matters in the end because none of it actually happened! It was all in Magne's head! Jesus Christ. Not only there wasn't even the slightest hint that this was all about his mental illness, on the contrary, the show repeteadly went out of its way to show that Magne is indeed SANE. And now they turned it all upside down because they obviously didn't know how to end the story. To say that I'm disappointed and that it's completely ruined the show for me would be the mother of all understatements.

You know, in this show's universe, the way the characters are presented, it would have made absolute sense for them to be friends (I mean, even the Queen thinks they're close!), but since it decidedly did not happen IRL (apparently Margaret really disliked her for some reason), I guess it would have been a step too far to portray them as close. This season is so incredibly frustrating. Everyone is acknowledging that Diana is neglected and isolated, nobody will give her their time of the day, Queen doesn't even try to dispute that, but hey, when she requests an audience with Elizabeth before The Interview, she is granted one the same evening! And the Queen is actually SO sympathetic that even Diana is left stunned! I mean, if that was so easy, it makes you wonder why everything hadn't been resolved years earlier. And I absolutely detest the revisionist history in this season. I don't feel particularly strongly about Diana one way or another and I know with the passage of time the public opinion of her has changed considerably, but at that time, she wasn't just popular, she was absolutely ADORED. We see absolutely nothing of that here. It feels like we're watching the events of the 90s through today's lens and it doesn't feel right. Like, when Princess Margaret wasn't allowed to marry the man she loved, it wasn't portrayed like a huge injustice it would be considered today. The portrayal was faithful to the spirit of the times - yes, it was sad, but at the same time inevitable. Such perspective is sorely lacking this season.

Ugh, I had such high hopes after last week and THIS is what we get? Seriously, show?! I'm just hoping the gang are playing the long game with Petra (in fact, I'm pretty sure they are), otherwise it's sheer nonsense. Abigail is way more hardcore than this. One dead soldier and she's ready to give it all up? COME ON. You just know Alder is coming back next week or in the finale, so zero suspense about that. And all time spent on Tally's gift was for nothing. Awesome. The less said about the "Slaughterhouse", the better. Scylla and Raelle are sweet, but I'm not watching this show for the romance, so I wish they'd scale it back a bit. But what really made me want bang my head against the wall are Anacostia's dealings with Nicte. It's stupid. It's idiotic. It doesn't make any sense. They're both dead if the Camarilla wins, so it makes absolute sense for them to join forces. LIKE THEY ALREADY HAVE IN THE PAST! Moreover, Anacostia worked together with Scylla while this was still Spree and it was awesome, so there's just no room for hostility between her and Nicte. FIX IT! Also, isn't Khalida like really powerful? You'd think she'd come in handy in the times of war.

Man, the look of sheer rage on Alder's face when she saw that rope... Santos was probably toast as soon as she walked through his door, but that one definitely sealed his fate. Can't say I'm sorry, although he geniunely seemed to have changed his ways. But Alder is not holding back and I'm all here for it! Scylla's "Not our daughters" from last season is still my favourite moment in this show, but this one came close. Speaking of Scylla, I liked how she realized she might have got way in over her head with her plan. Still, I have no doubts they're going to save her. I must say I didn't understand the Anacostia/Nicte interaction. Anacostia was generally acting out of character in this episode for some reason. This feels like an entirely different show now compared to the doldrums of the first 5 episodes or so. We really need another season. Sigh.

OK, now THAT's much more like it! Finally the show looked like itself and not the disjointed mess it's mostly been this season. Also, we really needed a win and we got several. As soon as Tally's mom casually mentioned the "book club", I knew what it was going to be about. Who knew she could be such a badass! Willa and Alder working together? Awesome! I just wish they blasted the entire drilling site away. It also helped that the bad guys were given minimum screen time. Those people make me physically sick. More of this, please!

It's not that the show is bad per se, but it definitely feels like it's going out with a whimper instead of a bang, and I most certainly feel this is NOT how the last season was supposed to play out. But, unfortunately some things can't be helped. This way it looks like there's still a full season left in it, which we'll never get to see.

OK, this was much better than last week. The main takeaway from this: GIVE MORE ROOM TO ANACOSTIA. The girl is just all kinds of awesome. I'd much rather watch her battle her way out her incarceration, which I have no doubt will happen, than spend more time on Tally anguishing about her gift.

A million times this. The biggest pet peeve of mine is when a show enters a period when the good guys just can't win (until some deus ex machina happens and they somehow do). The other is when characters act like absolute morons for no other reason than that the plot requires it. This show currently has both. Hopefully that changes.

What a weird, confusing and ultimately frustrating episode. It seems like they're throwing in a bunch of random stuff and I'm not sure it will all make sense it in the end. Was it even Alder? Who the hell was Elayne? Why did Khalida suddenly do a 180? I really hate seeing literally all the good guys acting so incompetently. The bickering between Scylla and Nicte was so annoying and you just knew it was eventually going to get them into trouble. Also, why are the witches so powerless against these Marshall guys? Wade was literally going on a suicide mission and I can't even feel sorry for her. Again, ridiculous she only had a few soldiers to guard her. What exactly is Tally's "gift" supposed to accomplish? This fugitive thing is not working out for me as well as I thought it would. I preferred the show when it was set in Fort Salem and now I hope it goes back to its roots again before it's too late.

I don't trust Khalida somehow. I don't think she's really sold on the idea of letting the outsiders into her world and Abigail should be careful. Did we know about the Marshalls before? I really, really hope the whole Hearst thing doesn't become the "we can kill the bad guy but we let him escape for some reason 189898 times" stuff that ruins so many shows. I'm glad M is getting a bigger role this season. There are so many interesting characters on this show.

I really love this show and I'm just really glad it's back.

Well, it's nice that something finally happened on this show, too bad we had to wait for the season finale for it to finally come through. Man, has this season been a drag. Miriam is being so childish in her approach to business. While it's commendable that she wants to make it on her own terms, it's simply something that was never going to work IRL and after so much self-sabotage and so many wasted opportunities it's a real miracle anyone would want to deal with her at this point. I imagine Susie must be beyond exhausted with her. I actually kinda hate it that she's probably going to be rewarded for it in the end. Moishe and Shirley have been the MVPs of this season for me, some really good stuff there and both characters grew a lot on me. And what's with the Milo Ventimiglia business? After so much hype, all we get is THAT? It could literally have been any random actor out there and it wouldn't have made a slightest difference.

So... this was it? Talk about an anticlimax. I'm just so beyond tired of TV shows using an entire season to build up the next one without ever actually resolving anything, until inevitably they do need to wrap it up eventually and the final result is a huge mess. It will probably be the same here. You know, it is possible to set up future events while giving the previous storyline(s) at least some kind of a closure, but it requires better and more dedicated writing. The biggest problem I have with this show, apart from mediocre acting, is that if often felt like a collection of random bits and pieces from every single fantasy show or book ever made, with little originality to add. This episode was no different. My verdict is: better than Shadow and Bone, not as good as The Witcher.

They did briefly turn him into a shitty jerk when it looked like the actor was going to leave the show, but then he stayed and now he's just just... there. To make it worse, I don't think he even looks that good shirtless anymore! I have no use for Schmidt either, but I actually think Helm or whatever she's called is even worse. Apart from his many, many, MANY annoying traits, at least he's a decent human being underneath it all. OTOH she has absolutely no personality other than her borderline creepy obsession with Meredith.