ohjoy

That reminds me -- when Jonathan immediately griped about the woman at the auction mistaking him for Cameron, I loved Kay's casual response: "You're the one who wanted to wear Cameron's suit."

Aw, Deakins, I didn’t know you cared. So MW meets Jonathan as a child watching the aurora borealis but doesn’t get his name, later determines that he is needed/wanted for some nefarious plot involving his great-grandfather and decides to force his cooperation by getting his twin out of the way via prison. It’s not until she hears Jonathan describing the night sky while figuring out the lynx clue that she twigs to the fact that she got the wrong brother. Oops. (But seriously — Jonathan’s been in prison for a year, and you’re just now figuring out your mistake?) This fancy auction house builds a failsafe into their vault that traps and essentially suffocates would-be thieves — but once the failsafe is activated the only way to open the door is from inside, where the supposed thieves are, trying to get out? That seems... odd. Glad Cameron made it though. Cameron’s trick with the diamond really was lightning “blink and you’ll miss it” (or “don’t blink and you’ll miss it anyway”) fast, like Jonathan described. Kudos.

Maybe I’m a very callous person (or I just watch too many time travel / multiple reality things), but I came out of this movie going, “Wow, they really went there. But Dr. Strange saw the only outcome that worked and said they had moved into the end-game, so I’m pretty sure in a year most of this will be reversed.” The person I saw it with, however, is inconsolable — Marvel has betrayed us, and hope is dead.

Pretty much the only two changes for Season 2 that I've enjoyed are Riggs getting closure on his wife's murder and the greater inclusion of Avery in the activities. Nothing else has been really great or even fun about this season, but I had assumed it was just a sophomore slump, and was just hoping that the show made it to Season 3 so there would be a chance to course-correct. I didn't realize just how badly the course-correct was needed.

But what proof do they have to acquit Jonathan, really? They have proof that the woman he claimed he was with truly exists, but there’s still the problem of the dead woman they found that they convicted him of murdering in the first place. They need proof that Jonathan didn’t murder that woman, and even though they can prove that Mystery Woman exists, that doesn’t simultaneously prove that Jonathan didn’t kill the dead woman that was found at the crash scene. They need to catch Mystery Woman and get her to confess, or otherwise get verifiable proof of Jonathan’s innocence. I love your whole post, but especially these two points, because I imagine Jonathan was sarcastic and dry and maybe a little resentful, but not as much before prison as he is now, and I get the feeling the entire team favored Jonathan — even Cameron does in some ways, with his honest assessment that Jonathan’s brilliant ideas made a lot of the show what it was. The way Cameron calls him “Johnny” (and even “John” when he does that) reads to me as a more co-dependent, close-knit thing to me. (I was friends with a pair of twins who shortened each other’s names like that, so that’s what it reminds me of.) I’m really curious which one is the older twin; most pairs of twins I’ve known have treated each other with the same family dynamics as regular siblings — one tends to act like the older sibling for the most part, and one tends to act like the younger. (I know this is fiction and the show writers probably haven’t seriously thought about that detail or considered it important, but still, I’d love to know.)

Okay, I wasn’t going to admit it, but... I might have a tiny crush on Jonathan. Even though he can be a real jerk and he tends to let his emotions get the better of him in situations where he needs to be level-headed (and when he lifted the pocket knife off of Gunter I was concerned that he’d make a break for it before Kay realized she still needed him), he is extremely smart, his dry (bitter?) comments are a shield he does let fall every once in a while, and the ruthlessness works right now — I’m sure it’s helping him stay alive in prison. I do remember in the first or second episode Cameron trying to explain Jonathan’s brilliant mind as a big reason why their performances worked so well, so it was fun getting to see it in the forefront of the action. I also liked seeing his flaws; they’re different from Cameron’s flaws (or, at least they manifest differently), but they still get him into his own world of trouble. Speaking of people not keeping their cool, Kay was not exactly her normal chill self at the beginning of the episode. Most of the time she’s a little too even-keeled for me (I guess it’s supposed to balance Cameron’s not-at-all-even keel), but in those first alleyway scenes she was more animated than usual. I’d like to see a bit more of that from the actress. That being said, this episode belonged to Jack Cutmore-Scott, who is really fascinating as each individual brother, especially Jonathan. This show has surprised me; I didn’t expect to like it so much, but I’m completely hooked now. I’m looking forward to seeing how they save Cameron. ETA: The more I think about it, the funnier it is: Jonathan described himself as the methodical planner, and implied that Cameron’s ideas were short on forsight but big on flash (I liked his “blink and you’ll miss it” lightning comparison) — which was then illustrated by Cameron-as-Henri just diving for the diamond at the opportune moment. I mean, we’ve seen Cameron put thought into some of his deceptions previously, so we know it’s not all the time, but the way the comparison was proven in the episode was kind of amusing.

I think the problem is that the emotional/relational revelations that are incredibly minor compared to being stuck in prison still need to happen for character development, and the brothers know each other better than anyone else does, so at least some of those need to happen between them, even while they should be focused on the obviously more important things. I give the moment in this episode a little grace since a Cameron's little introspection at that time was mirrored in Jonathan. We even got them both smiling a bit by the end of the scene.

So sad we got the Queen mansion, but no Queen family.

Oliver’s all about imagining new hairstyles on his dead hallucinations.

Ugh, why did I turn this episode on? No no no no no no.

I’m gonna need Felicity’s striped top (and the corresponding physique to be able to wear it).

I think this is why I’m interested in Jonathan’s prior relationship with Dina. She is someone who saw Cameron and Jonathan as two separate people, and she chose Jonathan. And he hurt her, but they clearly still care about each other. I’m curious to learn more about Dina, and about Jonathan through her eyes. And frankly, about Cameron through her eyes as well. I just think she potentially has great insight into the Black family.

Not just you — although it confirms for me what’s sucking me into this show: the brothers’ relationship (surprise surprise). I like everybody fine for the most part, but Jack Cutmore-Scott is really making the brothers interesting as separate people. Sibling relationships are my thing (especially when the childhood leaves a lot of stones to overturn), so I’m definitely in for more.

Are psychotic breaks contagious? ‘Cause wow, Simmons, that was incredibly cold. When she went down and Mack let Fitz out I was thinking Fitz would find a way to save her and that would prove the “invincibility”, but faking it to trick and trap Mack was just low. I’m also on the train that thinks this will definitely get one of three “invincible” ones killed. Yo-yo’s the most likely candidate, but I also think there’s good chance it’s Fitz.

Nonsensical team conflict is the real villain of this season.

John Shea, a.k.a. '90s Lex Luthor (from Lois & Clark) -- at least, that's the character I always remember.

I'm pretty sure that when Mack shared his concerns about Yoyo's dangerous newfound sense of invincibility, he was not expecting Simmons to adopt it for herself and Fitz as well.

I'm gonna miss the Queen sibling interactions. I still remember the "Carter Bowen is the greatest" scene from S1 as one of my favorite early moments on this show. I've never enjoyed the LOA marriage jokes, but the above sequence was very amusing -- as was Oliver's face in this one: I chuckled at the cooking line too -- it reminded me of Tommy's birthday gathering in S1 when he and Oliver were so relieved that Laurel had ordered in food instead of cooking herself. I don't know that it felt like a send-off, but there were a few nice nostalgic moments in this episode, even intentional ones.

I get more Castle vibes, but I agree -- this is a fun lighthearted procedural. I like Cameron and his team, and I like that Cameron seems to be generally a happy person, despite the shadowy childhood. Jonathan continues to intrigue me; I'm curious how he was with Cameron and the team before the murder setup. Maybe we'll get flashbacks at some point.

I'm tired of it too, but for some reason these showrunners seem to like destroying even the modicum of happiness they give to some of their favorite characters. I was flashing back to late Season 5 of Angel during the Leopold reveal, and swearing in my mind that I was not going to let a Whedon put me through that kind of drama again -- already knowing that I'm stuck on this show no matter what. At this point I'm just hoping the end is not quite that bitter.

What a roller coaster of emotions. No wonder Jemma threw up at the end. Really I don't know what else to say. Thanks Show, for breaking everyone via Fitz's brain and Jemma's heart? Thanks Iain and Elizabeth (and Jeff), for murdering us with your amazing acting? I can't even really process whatever was going on with Coulson, May, and General Hale (who is Hydra, because the name was too obvious a gag to pass up). I'll have to watch it again, but wow -- what a brutal way of addressing some lingering Framework questions.

The coordinated leg-crossing amuses me.

For some reason every time I watch this show, something about Jack Cutmore-Scott makes me think of Joshua Jackson. Not that JCS necessarily looks like JJ, but I get the same "still sort of baby-faced" dramatic vibe from JCS as I did from JJ at the beginning of Fringe -- and then my mind wanders off wondering what this show would be like if it actually had JJ circa-Fringe Season 1 in the main role. That being said, I do like the show well enough -- for all the flash, it's not dark and twisty (at least not right now), and that suits me just fine. Not feeling anything special between Cameron and Kay, so hopefully nothing gets forced there, but I am curious if there's more than meets the eye with Jonathan.

This episode, much like Kate's wedding dress, was really lovely. Loved Kate's reconcilation with Rebecca, loved Beth and her cousin's relationship, loved Kevin and Randall. This was a (mostly) nice finale. I do not love this Deja storyline (although I am unsurprised by it), but if it results (quickly) in Deja going through actual, successful therapy on the show, to dovetail with Toby's apparent depression battle, I'll allow it. But the future "she/her" better not be a dying/dead Beth. (Or Annie, but that goes without saying.) I'd rather it be someone we haven't met yet; I know that's much less dramatic, but I don't care as long as there are no more tragic deaths in Randall's household. The Pearson Brothers Do __________ Together is my favorite buddy comedy. I'd watch a whole season of that.

I know I am.