shrewd.buddha

I'm not exactly sure of the logistics, but I'm fairly certain Seg has not had a change of clothes, a minute of downtime, perhaps not even a bathroom break - - for the last five episodes (!) The guy has been literally on the run every since the Sagitari invaded one of the Sectors to drive out the Rankless. And for some reason all that 'action' makes the show feel less serious to me. Weird.

When Adam asked if there would ever be a day without drama, my first thought was : the marriage will never happen. And if the engagement is called off, I suppose we can expect Bonnie to fall off the wagon .. again. This show does not seem to be a very good advertisement for AA. It would make me almost considering avoiding someone who announced themselves as a recovering addict. Maybe they are planning a spin-off show for Gambling Anonymous with another group of wacky characters who seem to spend all their time going to meetings and in a constant cycle of relapse and recovery.

Well, that is equally disappointing and surprising. For some reason I had thought The Expanse was getting a lot of positive media attention and holding a steady audience.

I think we may have watched this one just to see if Gibbs and Abby would ever be in the same scene. Nope. Each scene they 'shared' looked as if it could have easily been done with only one person in the room at a time. I saw the recent CBS "Sunday Morning" interview with the actress who plays Abby. It was a total fluff piece - - guess they did not want to ding their #1 show in any way with any difficult questions. She, unfortunately, came off as somewhat flighty, talking about 'the universe' telling her it was time to leave the show. The weirdness may have bee the result of *all* the things they were trying not to talk about. Yes, it is almost comical how only about six or so people people are shown running an entire federal organization. And all those other agents never pop their heads up over all those cubical walls. But millions of people (including me) regularly watch these procedurals populated with never changing caricatures characters.

I liked that they got the first murder resolved quickly - and that it was pretty much separate from the dirty bomb (and heist) situation. Some of the cases from previous seasons were so convoluted that I was not sure how things ended up - - and they caused the end of the episodes to be a lengthy exposition dump by Sherlock. And the twist at the end was satisfying and surprising. I guess it is a TV rule that all major characters must come from miserable childhoods and never have supportive relationships with any living parents. (I think over 50% of characters on CBS shows were "bounced around through several foster families." )

I was glad that Hickey was found out rather quickly, proven guilty, and sentenced to hanging. I was disappointed with the British formality of it all, taking time to erect a gallows, allowing Hickey an opportunity to twist the truth with his 'last' words, etc. I almost thought they were going to convene a mock court. It reminded me of the British soldiers lining up in formation and waiting for a signal to fire despite being engaged in guerrilla type warfare. Yes, the formality is all well and good in some situations, but not all. And Crozier's withheld information came back to bite him in the ass. Now he has work work doubly hard to convince the remaining men that his intentions were honorable. It was a given that Hickey would escape to lie and kill another day. He will most likely survive until the end. I suspected that the Demon Bear is connected to Lady Silence - and was reacting to the rage she felt regarding the Eski slaughter - - since Lady Silence does not have full control over the bear.

^This is what I think is causing almost all of my irritation with the show lately. I don't even blame the characters anymore - just the way they are written as square pegs to fit into the round plot holes points. And for most shows that I watch, I do not notice the writing, but it really stands out to me for AoS. It is almost as if I can imagine a group of writers in front of a white board with a label "fill in twenty-two episodes with stuff". Now General Hale has been written off the board, getting closer to the finish line (but no tears for her, apparently). There are just too many repeated patterns in the story arcs. I get that they are going for a theme of "fractured team" = "fractured planet", but there are a lot of elements that feel forced and not organic to the past stories or character histories. I am completely over the team bickering - sometimes intended to the humorous. I am not interested in The Real Housewives of SHIELD. Finally, I want Coulson to stop referring to his team of four couples (basically) as SHIELD.

Yes. While I agree that Crozier probably should keep some information from the men, he is taking a very big risk in trying to control information that : a) he cannot really control b) is causing damage to the men who are eating the tainted food. It reminds me of The Flint Michigan water crisis. If you found out your leaders knew the water was bad but allowed you to keep drinking it because they feared you would panic, your trust in them would never really recover. The men are already paranoid and suspect something is happening. Lack of information is not helping. It might help to know that your crazy thoughts might be the result of poisoning and give you some incentive to resist listening to the voices in your head. Yes, it is a suck-y situation. But the people in charge are still just people, not appointed by a god. And it always seems as if leaders think of the people they govern as easily panicked sheep. ..And sometimes panic is justified.

Well, that Brainiac stuff escalated rather quickly. What will they have left to do if there is a second season? I like the actor playing Brainiac/Voice of Rao - - but he does have a tendency to over-enunciate and over-act -- probably good traits for mustache twirling villains, or stage actors. The actor should try to get some non-villain roles, tho. He is definitely typecast. Still not buying or sympathizing with the Adam Strange argument that everything must be sacrificed to save the Superman legacy exactly as he remembers it. Hey dude, you have ability to travel to the past and make changes - - just fix all the problems that Superman would have. Or create a new Superman. Or bring a whole bunch of good samaritan Kryptonians to Earth to help out with problems.

Lots of enjoyable stuff this episode. ...almost all which has already been commented on. It can be frustrating waiting for Errinwright to get his just desserts, though.

So Hickey was always a sociopath. Is he now a sociopath driven insane by lead poisoning? All the men seem capable of losing their sanity at any moment. There is something profoundly sad about knowing their ultimate fate while seeing them desperately trying to survive. Crozier appears to be a good leader, despite the alcoholism. But I disagree with his decision to keep secrets from the men for their own good. Not telling the men about the tainted food and dead rescue party gives opportunity for mistrust and mutiny by people like Hickey. There is no way to keep a secret in this group of people. And it always seems that the people who believe they are in the right to keep such secrets are also acknowledging they consider themselves to be more rational, better suited, better educated, ... basically 'better' than the uniformed people.

For myself, I appreciated that the series wrapped up all its stories in the final episode. That was refreshing. So few series - and movies - seem to want to have a final act anymore. It also opened the series to the possibility of a whole new cast of actors, which could be interesting. I wouldn't mind that, either. They did keep insisting that those body 'sleeves' were easily changed. A new mystery, new villains, new actor for the main character and new supporting cast? I'm good with that.

I cannot decide if I am impressed or disappointed that every plot point has turned out to revolve around Kovacs. It does fit with this genre, though. And we are still enjoying the ride. One element that I never agree with is when the main characters (Kovacs) decide that particular, main villain characters deserve saving or rehabilitation (Rei). Obviously Kovacs would have no problem killing the Ghostwalker guy without a second thought. Saving the bad guys for the final fight is standard trope. But these people have slaughtered families and children - the 'real death' killing - so I am not feeling the sympathy for their insanity.

I liked this one. The were some twists with Quell and Kei, the sister, that were surprising. Though, I expected more of Quell's group to balk at her abrupt announcement - which would have turned them from a sort-of paramilitary rebel group into a sort-of suicide cult. That's the kind of thing that would need some easing into. But subtle is not really a thing in this type of genre. I am not really hung up on what actor plays what character. It only bothers me if the acting is bad to to point of being distracting. If the actor can make me focus on the character, I am good. (I do seem to prefer the BBC type casting choices where people look more authentic - - instead of the Hollywood casting where everyone must look like a fashion model.) As for this series, I assume that some of the casting was based on what actors were comfortable with a lot of nudity. As for the nudity, I am okay with that if it does not get too gratuitous. It does seem odd that many societies have been conditioned to react to the natural state of nudity as if it is offensive or always sexual - but these same cultures are perfectly okay with the unnatural appearance using make-up, hair coloring or body enhancement/alteration.

Maybe Seg can agree that he will send a grandson to Earth to keep the Superman timeline intact. Obviously the timeline is screwed up from all the information Adam Strange has told Seg and others - plus, there is more than one person from the future messing things up. And also, if the timeline does change, maybe another person will emerge as a Superman - or - things could change in such a way that Superman was not even needed. I believe it has been established that superheroes attract super-villains, who cause a lot of damage.

I'm not sure of the reason in the present, but Deke has possession of Gravitonium in the future. Not sure if this is another case of AoS helping to set future events in place. As for the Destroyer of Worlds machine being readily available, powered up, connected to other tanks, and easily operated by one person - - well, that's just lazy writing. One nice touch, though : I think they are trying to be consistent with the set of the future Lighthouse and the destruction that happens to the lighthouse in the present. When the first trojan horse bomb exploded in the Lighthouse, there was a focus on something in the wreckage that seemed significant - and was shown when Coulson first appeared in the future Lighthouse ... but I did not understand exactly what it was. On the downside : It feels as if they have been stuck in the lighthouse and talking about Gravitonium forever.

Orgeta wakes up in the hospital after massive surgery and limb replacement, then proceeds directly to a MMA cage fight. Mmmm. Okay. The scene of Kovacs bringing Orgeta to the hospital was interesting. With bodies being replaceable, there is no urgency to rush dying people into surgery? Of course that does not take into account the fact that the non-wealthy cannot afford age appropriate, healthy bodies. Agreed. But I am okay with that - to a point. I enjoy this genre and expect most of the trappings : voice-over narration, corruption, violence, sex, hard boiled bleakness, etc. Some of it is over the top - or misses the mark - but I'm not expecting Shakespeare. I am keeping an eye on Bancroft's lady lawyer. She has been showing up a lot.

It occurred to me that if Brainiac is not from the future and is just there to collect Kandor, which is line with the 'normal' past - - it means that the real threat to Superman's future is Adam Strange. Adam Strange has definitely screwed up the timeline by rushing into the past without getting his facts straight - and he has given Seg way too much information about the future that should not be known. Maybe General Zod is there to clean up Strange's time travel mess. I still think this series could have worked without everything being attached to Superman - and without the time travel mess. But apparently audiences love Easter eggs, so ..

I have always had the impression that many European cultures are not very prudish about topless women .. or men. And I seem to recall some recent movement in the US for women to have the freedom to go topless without the taint of scandal.

It was slightly humorous when Adam Strange said "General Zod is Superman's greatest enemy!" And then we have Brainiac. And then .. Doomsday. Now I want Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen to show up. (kidding) I agree that Adam Strange's argument would be hard to support : You and your planet need to die so Superman can be the greatest superhero, ever. Because I am not capable of imagining a future where Krypton survives and somehow other people are available to take care of problems. And the Voice of Rao guy is another actor from Da Vinci's Demons.

Another solid episode. Though I was a bit disheartened to see that Chrisjen (and Naomi and others) are basically planetary versions of nationalists. 'Earth first', 'Belters first', etc. This is not a dystopian future, but it almost feels like one. I suppose the plot needed the strikes on five Martian bombing platforms to go in 1..2..3..4..5 order - - but why not have all five strikes happening simultaneously? And double up on the ships firing on the platforms? Just a nitpick. The political strategizing and scheming can get frustrating at times, but I know it's big part of the show.

We enjoy sci-fi noir, ala Blade Runner - and are enjoying this series and look forward to watching the rest of the episodes. ...But having said that, this episode had a lot things I had problems with .. I'm not buying that young children would instantly be relaxed with seeing their abuela (grandmother) in a tattooed, pierced roughneck who probably smelled like urine and alcohol. Are people in this future readily able to accept people based on their inner personalities? (which would not be apparent until they speak) An entire episode dedicated to torture. Ugh. This actually made the story feel dated to me, because hasn't it been accepted that torture does not provide reliable information? (regardless of the inhumanity of it) Kovacs`s workplace mass shooting/slaughter didn't earn any sympathy points for his character from me. Quell and the outdoor Envoy training camp makes the group look like paramilitary mercenaries, not freedom fighters. And Quell comes off as overzealous and radicalized. Maybe we should be getting more background about something good they are trying to accomplish. One of the things I do like about the series is the inclusion of different languages. So what if there needs to be some subtitles - - it is a nice reality check that not everyone speaks English. But I also enjoy when people speak English that still needs subtitles - yay, Scotland.

I get that you can't have Agents of SHIELD without SHIELD, I understand that Coulson and his core group are basically branded as SHIELD and are stuck - - and they also sort of like the hero aspect of it. What I do not understand is a possible motivation for the red-shirts and other underlings for remaining in SHIELD. What type of military career choice would that be? Even the MCU showed Maria Hill and Sharon Carter changing jobs. And being an agent would be a job, right? ..with the expectation of pay and other benefits. Otherwise the nameless SHIELD agents are not much different than the Hydra henchmen who have no real personal lives and just show up to be cannon fodder. ....All of which reminds me that is is a comic book world and maybe I am overthinking everything about it.

Oh, so that was why Dr Stanley was such an asshole... Hickey is a piece of work - and probably not as a result of lead poisoning : playing with the man's exposed brain, urinating inside the tent, taking a dead man's ring - just normal behavior for Hickey. Too bad it took so long before Fitzjames got a reality check about Captain John Ross' Franklin's incompetence. Fitzjames was such a sycophant in the beginning. Wonder why Mr. Blanky would ever sign up for another mission with Sir John in charge? Update : Oops, I may have meant Sir John Franklin - - whoever the guy Mr. Blanky was talking about - who was killed by the bear-demon.

Daisy being appointed director by Coulson is somewhat the tip of the iceberg of implausibility. Coulson is like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now - but in an underground bunker instead of a jungle. Coulson's sense of authority is all in his head. Coulson and AoS are fugitives, not sanctioned by the government and have no chain of authority. General Hale, despite being a Hydra mole, is a legitimate government official. She could give their location to the U.S. government to have them arrested, never mind turning them over to the aliens. Then Deathlok (sp?) shows up for one episode, and afterwards tells Coulon he has to leave. Why? Does Deathlok answer to some other SHIELD authority? And where do the these other red-shirt SHIELD agents keep popping up from?