Zolo

Riggs will never be fully okay, and I don't have a problem with that from a story standpoint. Actually, I would argue that him being totally okay would not be him.

I loved the interaction between Sherlock and Marcus so much. They will never say this directly, but they love and respect each other, and you could tell how awkward it was for Sherlock to open up about this admiration, he couldn't even look at Marcus while doing it, and Marcus was taken aback, but couldn't say anything back! And then Sherlock knew it was time to change subject! Then Marcus' hilarious answer that he will try to watch. The whole scene was perfection.

Sure, but wouldn't this just make Sherlock's character more realistic? People do this all the time, being inconsistent with their moral stence, when it fits something. To me it's simple, and Sherlock even said it, he stole evidence for the guy, risking his career and going to jail, and he lied to him. He is simply mad and as a result, he justifies wanting to put him away a lot more easily. He feels betrayed, and for a good reason.

You are probably right about the Sherlock-Moriarty dynamic, but Watson is more important to Sherlock, and I thought the writers did well to highligh that jealousy in Moriarty. So that will more than likely be the reason of a showdown like that, because she basically told Watson that one day she plans to kill her. I think I figured out the reason why all of this feels so off the script... It's because we haven't seen her in like two years. They really should have put her in some episodes, to grow that grudge between her and Watson. If a season finale would involve her now, it would indeed feel out of place. If they ever plan to do that, they have to sign the actress for at least 2-3 episodes mid season, where they can once again bury those seeds that would eventually grow into that epic showdown.

Oh boy, you are right, that was very similar. So that idea is out of the question. I liked my second scenario better anyway. I just hope they put together a brilliant and thrilling finale when it's time. Maybe it could be a series finale, even, though I hope that this show goes on for at least another five years. I respect your opinion, but how would that make sense from a story standpoint? The witch clearly stated to Watson that the game is far from over, and even implied with the chess example that one day she may kill her. She didn't want her to be moved off the board prematurely, meaning she might do it herself one day. She is not a person who would ever let go, and just let Sherlock live happily ever after. It wouldn't make any sense.

Loved the ending, it shocked me, and I also think that it makes sense. We finally figured out Shinwell's real motivation behind wanting to bring down SBK, and now we know why he doesn't really fear his own death. A part of him died that night, when they made him kill his own friend. He needs this badly, and other than his daughter, the only thing that keeps him going. I also liked that he hit Sherlock from behind first, making him unable to defend himself, because otherwise he probably would have handed Shinwell his behind. I like Shinwell's character, especially now that his dark secret and real motivation came to light. It looks more and more obvious that we will not have a Moriarty showdown this year either, but rather an SBK one where Shinwell will probably have a chance to redeem himself, and quite possibly die in the process, maybe saving a main character. Watson would fit the bill nicely. Then we could have a Moriarty showdown in the next season. Unrelated speculative rant/what I would like to see down the road: It will probably never happen, but I would love a showdown with real stakes. Maybe Moriarty manages to kidnap everybody, including Morland, Mycroft and even Alfredo, along with Joan, Captain Gregson, Bell and of course Sherlock. A remote location, where Sherlock has to solve numerous riddles to save everyone. Or maybe Moriarty would send a list to him with those names, saying that one by one, she would start to kill off these characters, naming the date where his first victim would fall. And then Sherlock brings everyone to New York, and they have to work together to stay alive, but Moriarty is successful on the first day... Alfredo would probably be the one to go first, and after that things get really tense for the season finale (would be a two-episode), some inside conflict, Bell and Grigson not agreeing to stay off the grid, etc, etc. The only problem - other than maybe these being dumb ideas, haha -, this version of Moriarty is not that hardcore, right? Would something like this even fit this character? I think not.

My sentiments exactly. The writing may not be perfect, but this show has a soul, and you care about the characters. I was hooked too, and I do too hate remakes, but what makes this great is that it does not feel like a remake. They pay homage to the original movies and some characters have the same name, but it is its own thing. One more thing, what happened to Alejandro? He wasn't in the last couple of episodes, right?

Remember that Riggs is completely crazy, and doesn't fear death one bit. I don't have a problem with this, I think Roger leaving his family behind is a bigger story problem. Think about it, no one knows where Riggs and Murtaugh are going, so no one knows that protecting Roger's family would be pretty important. And the Cartel knows about Roger and his family, and they know that Riggs care about them, so how easy it would be to kidnap them? One phone call and it is done, and you have a chip that even Riggs cannot ignore.

The ending was pretty bada** with Morgan sharpening his stick, it was symbolic. Everybody understands now what they have to do, the only thing left is for Tara to (wo)man up and spill the beans, and we'll be ready for the big showdown. Oh boy, I have a feeling we will lose at least another major character, maybe two. Who would you guys peg down as sure goners? I didn't read the comics, so I have no idea how it went down there. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I know something about that storyline. I hope they will choose a dramatically different concluson in the series.

Any chance you have that screen name because of the Splinter Cell series? It's probably the mathematical branch, but I just remembered that Carlo Rota (Trish's boss) was the main villain in Blacklist, the latest Splinter Cell game. :)

Yeah, I wanted to look up the titles now, and instead found the headlines. :) Oh, I hope they wrote her behind out, that would be amazing. :)

Thanks. I still enjoy it in a way, and there were even episodes that I really, really loved. I thought "Everybody still hates Hitler" and "Three Winchesters are better than one" were excellent episodes, back to back even, right? That was a really good mini-run, but then again, I hate the living crap out of the British Men of Letters storyline. It's obviously full of plotholes, but even if you ignore that, it's just doesn't pack a punch for me. They could still do something with it I guess, but I'm not holding my breath. One thing is for sure, if Toni Bevell turns out to be the villain of this season, I am going to cry. That first few episodes were a torture for me too, not just for Dean.

tl;dr warning The amount of plotholes/sheer stupidity in season 12 is mindboggling. It's like the writers have this inside joke where they challenge each other to come up with more and more ridiculous stuff. I'm still watching the show, but only for the occassional Supernatural moments that made this program such a blast and my favorite. I would probably watch it for another 20 seasons regardless, but these days you really have to turn your brain off to enjoy it. And even if you ignore the plotholes, it feels like the writers just gave up on trying to remain fresh, doing something different. The most blatant example: when the boys face any kind of monster or demon, it almost always goes down the same way. Both of them are overpowered, usually flying into a wall or a shelf, then the monster/demon foolishly concentrates only on one of them, while the other sneaks up behind the creature and stabs it. The fights start to reminisce the ones saw in Power Rangers in terms of repetition, and it is ridiculous. There are so many things the writers could do differently, but it's like they just gave up. Another problem is the villains. I feel like the villains took a major step back as the show went on. You know what they should do? Bring back Jesse Turner. The kid had reality warping powers. He could be, what, 17-18 now? Cast a talented young kid, and build him up as a villain who is neither inherently good or bad. They said the kid would always draw demons to himself, which means he had to go through a lot, probably killed a lot too, this would lead to him becoming a fairly troubled young man, but not yet truly evil. Someone who can still be saved. Or do something completely different, and bring a cliched storyline, but still do it amazingly well. Even a dumb storyline like a scientist creating a genetically altered monster could work. A scientist using CRISPR on 4-5 different monsters, creating a hybrid. Some really badass thing, like the monster in Jeepers Creepers that was virtually undestructible. Bring us back the oldest, most badass monsters from the early seasons, and mix them. I realize this would probably require some expensive CGI work, but wouldn't it be awesome if done really well? Just a mindless beast of a villain that, for once, has no alterior motive, and cannot be reasoned with, has only one thing on its mind, to kill. When it's injured, it flies or leaps the eff away and cocoons itself up, or something like that. Do something, anything other than the same old storylines and idiotic soul bearing between the brothers. Again, I will still watch this show because it was my favorite for a long time, but it feels like the writers just gave up on us, and it's a little bit disappointing.

You gotta think that Riggs will do something extremely stupid next week, I mean, he has to, right? No way he is waiting for the wheels of justice to slowly turn, he is going to take matters into his own hands, even if that means jailbreaking Gideon before torturing him. And yeah, Murtaugh will probably not like it one bit. I didn't see any promos for the next episode, maybe they already showed something. I liked this episode, although Gideon was a bit underwhelming, but maybe it's because he didn't have many scenes. Hopefully he'll show something in the next one. The scene where he shot the two cops could have been done in a much more realistic way, in real life he would have caught at least a dozen bullets. It would have been better if one of his men shot the two cops with an automatic gun from the sides or from behind, before Gideon stands above one of the cops to finish the job with a head shot where they show Gideon's face, and the camera goes dark, or something like that.

If the rumors are true and Markle indeed asked the showrunners to write her off the show, they have no other choice but to kill her off. Which - to be frank -, I wouldn't mind. The only problem is this, how do you write Mike's grief into the show without taking the whole thing off the rails? If Markle really wants out, I don't envy the writers, they will have their work cut out for them.