kickingnames

I just rewatched this on Tubi this past week — the ending still got to me. I was so sad to watch Amy leave, and so ready to see their reunion in the future.

I don’t like author-insert characters because I think the writing suffers while the focus is pulled to that one character. The other characters say and do things the otherwise wouldn’t because certain things need to happen for the author-insert. It’s annoying, and sabotages a character that could have been fine on their own if they weren’t being treated as extra special.

Okay, upon rewatch I’ve figured out why Jonathan’s conversation with Clark about Jordan needing football sounded off to me. It sounded like whoever wrote the scene did not wrote it for a teen talking about his brother. If they had just switched the word “kid(s)” for the word “guy(s)” that would have gone a long way toward sounding like a conversation a teen would have about other people his own age.

I liked these. I just really hope we also get some between Clark and Jonathan in the future — ones that aren’t related to Jordan.

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by this show. It’s not perfect, but it is pretty enjoyable. The paint fight at the beginning was adorable — my favorite part was after Lois acknowledged that there was no need to explain Clark taking off since the boys knew what he was doing, she went right back to the paint fight. (Lois does not lose, even at family paint fights. 😄) I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the “Lois at the Smallville Gazette” direction, but so far it’s pretty good. I already am more interested in that than the stuff with General Lane. Jonathan is super well-adjusted for a teen whose life has been upended and whose twin brother is now getting the majority of attention on all fronts. I kind of what to hug him every time he comes through for Jordan. Speaking of, can we move on from Jordan yelling at his dad about how he’s supposedly ruined Jordan’s life every episode? It’s tiresome already.

Yeah, I would have a different order also. Season 5 is my personal favorite, due to the absolute perfect pairing of cold open gunshot transition into the title card that occurs in “Dark Side of the Moon”.

The second half of the season is already Netflix — I’ve watched parts of the last few episodes just this week.

I’ve been doing a semi-rewatch that included a some episodes that I had not seen (I switched from watching to mostly reading recaps several years back, with only a few exceptions), and I get the sense that Chuck’s personality and motivations just sort of morph to match those of the showrunner at the time. Chuck sort of went from faux-unaware of his power (pretending that none of the problems with the story-world were his fault), to aware of his power and kind-of learning to set right his mistakes (even when he wasn’t great at it), to actively trying to both take credit for everything that had happened and also burn to the ground everything that he’d supposedly built up to that point, just to spite two characters with whom he couldn’t have his way. That last bit is just ridiculous, and a large reason why the way the show came to an end is so sad (pathetic sad, not cathartic sad). I mean, season 15 is just bad, there’s no getting around that. But a badly written season featuring an author-insert character with badly written motivations about getting his way through his bad writing = so many cringe moments (and I’ve managed to sit through only about half the season). The idea that anyone thought “Chuck as a bitter, petulant child with too much control over the lives of the actual main characters” was clever in any way is just sort of embarrassing. That being said, that opening sequence to the “Atomic Monsters” episode was almost worth the season’s price of admission. (I may need to watch it a few hundred more times to be sure.)

Is it too shallow to say I’m thinking about doing a quasi-rewatch just to pick out my favorite shirts they’ve worn over the years? Sometimes that’s the best part of the episode for me.

I just keep imagining what could have been. I mean, Sam sat down to look for a case, and Dean was definitely not looking for a case — he was looking for pie! He should have had a true chance to do both — be the hunter he’s been known to be throughout the series, and also enjoy the finer things in life that have always been denied him (namely, a life). Sam deserved the same. I feel like the coolest feat would have been to show these guys figuring out how to be who they are — hunters, through and through — and still learn to have a life with people beyond the hunt. Basically, breaking the “either/or” rule that the writers were so stuck on about hunting: you either get out of the life completely, or you hunt until you die (sooner rather than later). I would have been so impressed if the result of Chuck being out of the picture was that Sam and Dean actually got to do both: be the legend-caliber hunters they’ve always been, while living a full life. It’s just that what we got was such a short-sighted view of the options left to close out the story for these two characters.

I read this entire thread as well as some other sites before I actually got to watch Dean’s death scene — and I was still a teary mess. I could pretty much watch the beginning, the death scene, and Sam joining Dean at the end, and be okay. Everything else seemed pointless and tacked on (which is weird since we know it wasn’t shouldn’t have felt that way). I can imagine that seeing everybody back together in heaven would have softened the blow of killing Dean before the midway point of the finale — but I’m not gonna blame the pandemic for Dabb’s inability to adjust his own writing to a compelling alternative. [Insert caustic remarks about a series’ worth of writing that fully expected the actor’s skill to gloss over all the failures of the script — and generally got away with exactly that — here.] I do wish they had not used that other version of “Carry On My Wayward Son” over Sam’s death. It was incredibly distracting. The version from “Fan Fiction” would have been much more tolerable there. I kind of hate that “Swan Song” is still a viable “series ender” — it made me so mad at the time, but unfortunately nothing’s really exceeded it as an alternative natural ending point. (Maybe season 11? I need to rewatch it.)

For those who are interested, I recommend checking out the Dragon Prince “panel” from this year‘s Comic Con — if for no other reason than to watch the last few minutes (skip to the 35:00 mark and go from there). 🤗🤗🤗

I never realized how badly I need to see Jeff Ward in something with James Roday and Dulé Hill until “Don’t You Forget About Me” started. OMG I loved that so much. Deke has really come into his own. I may not have loved the overall episode as much, but oh man the 80s episodes were on point. That was pretty fantastic.

Whelmed. The one consistent through-line of this show — they couldn’t possibly abandon it right at the end.

I definitely watched The Passage and Galavant. I was bummed when Galavant didn’t get a third season, and pissed when The Passage didn’t get a second.

I pretty much use the Dark theme exclusively as well, and have set up some activity streams, but the links don’t go to my first unread post either. Is this still being worked for the non-default themes?

Saw this trailer before Star Wars. I didn’t know what it was, but shortly after it started, I thought, This has the look and feel of a Nolan movie,” and sure enough.... My sister was like, “That trailer didn’t show what the movie was about at all!” but I went, “It doesn’t matter. I’m in.”

Also from 805: Oliver: You know how you use a honing steel to keep the edge on a chef’s knife? Mia: I don’t really cook. Oliver (to himself): That makes sense.

My favorite from 805: Laurel: Aren’t the people in your family constantly injecting each other with tracking devices? William: Normally I would say, ‘God, I hope not,’ but now I guess I can see the advantages.”

As iconic tv couple moments go, I can easily think of three that I still remember exactly where I was when I saw them live: Doug & Carol’s surprise reunion (in my living room with my family, in shock and half-screaming at the tv) Ross’ “Hey — my sweater!” (In the loft in my dorm with about 10 other girls, in shock and screaming at the tv) Oliver’s “He took the wrong woman.” (sitting on my bed at home, in shock and whisper-screaming at the tv)

THAT LAST TWENTY SECONDS ⚡️⚡️⚡️ It’s been a LONG time since I have wanted NEEDED to see the next episode of Arrow so bad. ETA: One question though — unless there’s some level of amnesia for the actual 2019 residents, how exactly is this going to track with Dinah and Rene having no idea that Mia existed in 2040? Or is the Monitor just completely screwing with timelines now, in anticipation of the Crisis? “Eh, they’re all gonna get rewritten anyway. Might as well distract them for a bit whilst I continue with my plan.” (Yes, he says “whilst” — I’m sure of it.)

I went from “This is fine, I’ll catch it again” to “Oh, I am ALL IN” at the sight of Donal Logue. I keep catching random elements of bygone shows I loved — Dex’s insanity (and stable, kind-of-crushing-on-her best friend) is reminiscent of In Plain Sight, Michael Ealy was also a detective in Common Law, I’ve loved Donal Logue since Life — so the nostalgia alone will likely keep me hooked for a few more episodes.

I rewatched it a few weeks ago and I agree. I still get annoyed when I think of other shows that got an undeserved renewal when this one got cancelled. Richards aggravated me (well, mostly Babcock aggravated me), but the actor did a great job. Really, I just needed/wanted to see what happened to Brad and Amy - how they got through to each other again. I loved MPG’s and Sanniya Sidney’s dynamic so much. Also, I finally realized Matt Reeves, who produced this, is directing the next Batman movie, which gives me some goodwill towards that movie.

🤦‍♀️

Oh man! I’ve been avoiding TIU spoilers and previews like the plague, but this is good to see!