Lady Calypso

So did I. I can actually see Josh/Aiden being the catalysts to start bringing the werewolves and vampires together. Even as supporting characters, I can see both of them easily playing a big role in this vampires vs werewolves storyline. Although I do actually fear for Aiden dying by the mid season finale. It would be a strong storyline for Josh, but at the same time, it's just cliche to kill off the significant other for drama. I love Josh regardless, and I love him and Aiden together after just one scene, so if it means Josh lives and gets character development to boot, I won't be too mad. I'm kind of hoping they upgrade Steven Kreuger to a series regular; at least I'll feel safer about his survival rate on this show. Also, thank god they got rid of Jackson. I like Oliver much better than Jackson and I liked Oliver's scenes with Elijah. I like Cami, I like when she stands up to Klaus (seeing as nobody else seems to have the balls to do it in such an aggressive manner that she can), and I like her friendships with Davina and Hayley. I don't particularly like her with Klaus, unless it's friends, and I like her and Marcel together. Oh, and now I like her with Finn. So, heh, not a Cami hater here. Just a Cami/Klaus romance hater. Exactly. Unless Mikael thinks that Esther is getting in the way of his plans, or he disagrees with her methods, then I think they'll probably team up in some way. The thing is that we don't know how Esther and Mikael feel about each other. We know they were married to each other, but that's about it. So it's really up to interpretation on their relationship. We know they share a common goal (well, Esther wants to rid the world of vampires; Mikael just wants to kill Klaus) but are they actually different goals? Esther seems fine with leaving her children alive but has found a way to turn them human instead. Mikael just wants to kill Klaus and he doesn't care about his other children. So I don't see why Esther would object to Mikael's plans. She was going to do worse back in season 3 of The Vampire Diaries. Mikael truly is the best villain they've had on the show, and TVD. Is he campy? In a way, of course he is. He's the villain that just won't die. But I'm happy he's around. They built him up so much on TVD, he appears for three episodes and then gets killed off easily. I was disappointed by the build up of Klaus actually being afraid and supposedly been running from him for centuries. So him coming back to life last season was a brilliant move by the show. And him being able to pull the blade out of his chest was well done as well. He's more effective than Esther is, actually. While Esther pretends that she gives a crap about her kids, Mikael clearly couldn't care less. He has a set goal, while Esther kind of flip flops and pretends to be all about family. She may care about her kids to an extent, but clearly not enough as she was going to kill them. I can't wait for Kaleb/Kol to reveal himself to his siblings and Davina. I do miss Nate Buzolic, though. No offense to Daniel Sharman, as I do think he's doing a fine job portraying Kol, but I prefer NB's psychotic way of portraying Kol. Plus, no fears of Davina/Kol becoming a thing. I like Gia a lot. I think she's doing a great job and I like her chemistry with Elijah. I did like Hayley/Elijah for the first half of the first season, but they lost my interest the second half. Now, I really don't want anything to happen with them. Speaking of Elijah, poor guy. I do think this could be what tips him over the edge and truly chooses the vampires. Maybe Esther will show him how weak Elijah really is when he's around Klaus.

I don't mind Juliette, and I certainly don't think she was in the wrong in the premiere for how she reacted with the events that happened that day. I think that Juliette is perfectly in her rights to not be as affectionate with Nick during that time, but I also appreciate that she didn't push him away. In fact, she was handling it better than most TV women would. Juliette never blamed Nick for his 'infidelity' because she knows how Adalind is. She was a victim of Adalind too so she knows how she can be. Besides asking Nick once if he really didn't recognize it wasn't Juliette (and she didn't accuse him or anything; she was just asking a simple question, as she wasn't there to see Adalind as herself). She took Nick up to their bed, even knowing what happened last time Nick was in that bed, and she helped Nick clean up the bed. Nick is the one who reacted with 'not being a Grimm could be a good thing'. After everything that has happened with the both of them, I would be surprised if Juliette wasn't reluctant for Nick to become a Grimm again. She supports Nick still, just as she always has, but she's absolutely allowed to express doubts about him being a Grimm. Is that the best way to react? Probably not. It's an ugly thought, to deny someone their heritage of course, but Juliette is seeing things when they used to be less crazy, when Nick wasn't a Grimm. He's only been a Grimm for three/four years now, and Juliette's been fairly supportive. It may not be how we want her to react, but it's a human reaction to step back and say 'hey, my boyfriend has a chance to be normal and not be surrounded by Wesen trying to kill him and me. Maybe we should think about this'. I'm only going to address this once, but I do see this particular quote as misogynistic. I personally see it as such because it's implying that Nick's girlfriend/wife must only be there to take care of the children and stay out of the way while he protects them. Why not him having a woman who is his equal, who supports him and is there for him yet can still hold her own? And Juliette still loves Nick; it's not like she's going to break up with him if he becomes a Grimm again. Like Nick is, she's expressing some doubts about him being a Grimm and both will be seeing how different things are with Nick 'going back to his old self'. I think Juliette is under the impression that he'll be the same Nick she fell in love with, but she'll come to realize that being a Grimm is a part of him now, and always will be, so I do think she'll change her mind eventually.

I found Roy to be very grounded and pulled in this episode. Usually he's wound up tight, usually angry, but Colton Haynes was definitely showing Roy as 'tired and grounded'. Maybe Roy is kind of mourning Sara still? Which is only slightly odd, as I didn't think the two were that close. Or it's just that Roy was worried about Thea. I would add my two cents in on Xtreme's posts on Laurel/Felicity, but I think everyone else has said it all, so I'll just nod and say 'I agree!'. I didn't mind Laurel calling Felicity, just as I didn't mind Felicity calling her out on it. It's a legitimate question and if someone like Amanda Waller called Felicity, I'd have the exact same reaction as Felicity would. I did fast forward through most of Laurel's scenes. I don't think she's doing a horrible job (the writing really is the major problem), but she still isn't likeable for me enough to care about her character's journey. Yes, a part of that is attributed with Katie Cassidy's acting, but the writing for Laurel has been all over the place so I can't find it in me to care that much about her. I did like that Oliver wouldn't train Laurel because Sara wouldn't want him to. For all of Oliver's faults, he does care about people. He just makes some occasional bad decisions of not telling people things to protect them. Laurel, in the meantime, is probably going to break her promise to Quentin and go fight crime again, because it 'gets rid of the fire inside me'. That's just bad writing all around. So, my opinion of Laurel is me wanting to give her a chance, and I think Katie does some occasional good work, but the writing and some of her own acting choices make it hard for me to let go of the last two seasons with her. Felicity having her own EP was really sweet and I don't mind her working with Ray. I think he's an intriguing character and he is treating her like an equal. Sara Digglet is so adorable that I just want to squeeze her and never let her grow up. Thea/Oliver scenes were well done. Thea is the last family member that Oliver has and I'm glad he finally went to go get her. The scene where he tells her about Robert was well done because she may have been shocked and possibly angry, but she still listened to Oliver and made the choice to come home. I'm hoping Oliver continues to tell her things bit by bit. I think that will be a good way of easing her into things. Also, I see Thea's journey to become a hero much better written and performed than Laurel's. Maybe because Barrowman is attached to Thea's journey. Hmm. Maybe if Laurel was Merlyn's protoge, we could like her more. Probably not. Ted Grant is boring as hell, sorry to say. I don't really like his character. Actually, scratch that. I like the character and what he stands for, but I'm surprisingly underwhelmed by the actor.

Honestly, at this point, I probably could too. Actually, I'd rather the prison glass was taken away eventually. I just like Barry's relationships with both of his fathers, so I'm looking forward to Barry's dad getting out, and hopefully surviving until then. I really liked the Joe/Henry scene this episode, and I really want more of that too. It's sweet that Henry may be a bit mad that Joe didn't believe him, but he was proud that he believed in Barry. I like the relationship Iris and Barry have, but only if it's a friendship/sibling relationship. I actually hope Iris gets a bigger role because she's already pretty separate from Barry. I'm afraid she'll become a Laurel Lance (better actor, of course, but in terms of the character) who is separate from the main plot, only has scenes with Barry so he can either disappear to solve a crime, or to show off his powers somehow. I think if she was a scientist, or at least working with Barry in some capacity, people would root for her and Barry more. We already see deep scenes with Caitlin and Barry (but I guess it's because Caitlin and Barry are getting to know each other like the audience is, while Iris/Barry are much closer) but we're getting not as much substance with Iris. I just don't want her scenes to be regulated with Barry to show off his superhero powers, her working separate from Barry and her romantic scenes with Eddie. And this is why keeping this a secret from her is going to backfire, as it usually does in these types of shows. It's actually not very interesting and look at how well Joe is being integrated with Barry and the others because of his knowledge about Barry. I want that from Iris, and I hope it's revealed by mid season, or at least by the end of this season. Robbie Amell, hi there! I actually like Robbie Amell, and I didn't find him that bad on the Tomorrow People (he just had zero chemistry with the lead actress and he did fine with the mediocre writing) but he is definitely better here. It's much better when he's playing more his age. He may not be as strong as his cousin is (yes, I like Stephen Amell's acting very much so), but he does well with the material that he's given. I like Eddie's character and am glad they're giving him a little more substance each episode. He was very endearing when he went to see Iris but Joe was there so he had to quickly cover his ass. I also love how Joe knew about Iris and Eddie already, and he clearly wasn't happy but not in the mood to deal with it. Joe is just amazing and I love how he's competent instead of an idiot. Everyone on this show is actually fairly smart, actually. I did love how Cisco was about to give Barry instructions on how to break into the prison and Barry's like 'nah, I already know how to'. It's little moments like this that showcase how intelligent the characters are and how they can also have knowledge that others have instead of being relegated to knowing only their area of expertise. I've watched a lot of CW shows, unfortunately, and for me personally, this is one of the better acted shows because everyone on the show can act and there may be weaker links, but there isn't a single person who is so bad that it takes me out of the show. That's saying a lot, especially with Katie Cassidy on Arrow and Michael Trevino (occasionally) on The Vampire Diaries (and don't get me started on 90210). I like Harrison a lot. I like how complex he is and every episode, we see a little bit of a darkness to him that wasn't present before. I'm not sure what he thought about Ronnie, but I don't get the impression that they were buddies. And I can't stress enough how much I love Grant Gustin in the role as Barry Allen. He makes the character so likeable, so quirky yet also leading man material. He has his comedic moments, his sweet moments, his angry moments and heartbreaking, sad moments and I'm just thoroughly impressed. They're also not leaving any of the other characters out on their emotional moments. Usually we wouldn't get this much insight into the 'side' characters like Cisco and Caitlin this early on, but here we are, seeing their characters being grown. I admit I want more complexity from Iris (and am not really looking forward to her hunt for The Red Streak) but hopefully they do something different and make it more complex.

Midterms are killing me, almost as much as you dead people here. I am trying to find the time to get the story up, and I'm going to try to get it done for tonight. *crosses fingers*

I actually had similar thoughts while watching the movie. I did think that femininity was being portrayed in a negative light and that the audience could be made to think that women who are strong willed and feminists are bad, and the males are the victims. However, my opinion of that did change by the end. I think that the women are actually all portrayed as strong, independent characters who voice their own thoughts without being punished for it, or being degraded by men. If we look at Amy solely, her actions are complex because we are made to believe that she is a sociopath by the willingness to manipulate people around her, kill people, try to get people thrown in jail and even emotionally abuse her husband at the end to get what she wants, but we're also made to believe that she might not be solely in the wrong for this. Her actions, like it has been said, are described to be due to her husband taking control of both of their lives. Margo and Amy both say that Nick is all about the Cool Girl factor and how he goes for the newest and youngest 'thing'. The movie doesn't condone his actions. Andie even first shows up at Margo's house and is throwing herself on him, but Nick isn't really trying to push her away much. He isn't shown to be ending the relationship, just distancing it until Amy is found. Nick tells the world that he's a jerk and isn't a good guy. Yes it is to appease his wife, but the other characters even tell him that he isn't the good guy. We're made to see that Nick is a victim, yes, but he is also an enabler. He has had some factors in his wife leaving him. The way she does it is all on her, but the reasons for leaving is on him. That is what is utterly fantastic about this movie. Amy and Nick are both shown to be victims and then enablers at different times throughout the film. Nick's 'abuse' may have been fabricated by Amy through the diary entries, but he did cheat, he did take her to his hometown and had everything under her name instead of his, he wasn't the best husband to her and he did lie to a lot of people. We're not being made to think that one is worse than the other. Actually, correction: we're not made to think that one is a good guy and the other is a bad guy. They're both pretty rotten people. We're shown both sides, we're shown that both can be unreliable narrators, but it just so happens that Amy comes out as worse because her actions are more condemning that Nick's. It just happens that she is the one who will go to the extreme for herself. Nick's mentally weaker than Amy is so he succumbs to the situations around him, like cheating with a younger woman and staying with Amy because of a baby.

Yeah, true. But Rumple also forgot about Neal and hung out with 'Lacey' when Neal came to Storybrooke so I'm not surprised. We don't see much of Belle, though, unless the writers actually include her in scenes, so we don't really know how that relationship is going. It seems like the show is more interested in Rumple's magic and him being a shady villain than his growth with other characters.

I think the major problem when it comes to characterization is that the show likes to take its time and explain little things over a long period of time. They have tons of action, but very little character development unless it's explained in a one off scene. Unless it's about Regina, of course. It's why we are only now getting some Captain Swan, but only enough to reel the fans in. They're very sneaky and manipulative in that way. They prefer drama and Regina over all else. It's why we barely know anything about David's life before he became Charming, but we know plenty about Regina before she became the Evil Queen. It's why romance is dealt with in small doses, unless it's season 1 and we actually do get Snowing's backstory. But too much time can be too much for a television show. We know too much about Regina, but too little about David. We know a lot about Rumple, but only when he's interacting with the guest/recurring characters who he's making deals with in the past. It's why Snow's flashbacks mostly deal with Regina, and sometimes with Charming (and Red that one episode) but not just her by herself. The show has trouble prioritizing how to tell people's stories without relying on other characters to do it. Even stupid Tamara had to be inserted into August's backstory in season 2 so we know her purpose and we might care about her with a popular character. As much as I'd love to know more about Emma's backstory, as we don't get much on her, we won't really get that chance because the show is obsessed with the fairytale aspects. We were lucky in season 2 because they wanted to introduce Henry's father, but we don't get much of her adventures (besides a couple of minutes here and there, like in last season's finale).

I don't think I liked the episode much, to be honest. It was filled with very sloppy writing and poor characterization on Hook's end. I'm very much indifferent to Captain Swan but I've been slowly warming to the idea. At the beginning of the episode, I even thought they were cute together. I can even understand why Hook may think having his hand back would be a good thing. But....him not asking for his hand back earlier is quizzical. And I don't understand why Hook thinks Emma would even care if he has his hand back or not. He's been doing just fine with it otherwise. I can handwave it to him taking a step to change for her, but still. Hook's always been on the dim witted side, and the writers like making characters dumb for plot reasons, but Rumple's blackmail to Hook makes zero sense. First of all, Emma would never believe Rumple over Hook. If he told her the truth, she'd believe him, no questions asked. Emma knows Rumple uses magic on the daily and would trust Hook in telling her the truth. Hook knows Emma hates when people make decisions for her, so he should know she'll be pissed at him when this gets out. It's stupid plot contrivances and I don't like it. If I was a Captain Swan fan, I'd be pissed. And clearly, Hook is not like Anna; he goes toward the darkness instead of turning away from the temptation. Speaking of Anna, I do actually like her. She was pretty much like this in the movie so I don't mind her quirkiness at all. It's actually kind of sweet, even a tad annoying at times. Her reunion with Kristoff was very sweet as well and I love how she didn't know what to tell Elsa, instead of stating outright 'I will lie to her'. It shows she's struggling with the decision to hurt her sister or leave her in the dark. I also don't mind her getting a one up on Rumple because it wasn't like her plan was to control him. She just wanted to get his dagger to she could get away, and her requests were pretty good. That means Rumple can't harm Elsa or Anna and he'll probably have to tell Elsa why when they cross paths. As for Rumple, I'm not surprised about his goal to get more power. That's been his thing throughout the series. Regina's goal is revenge, and Rumple's has been about power. He can't give up power so him wanting the power from the Hat is not surprising. However, it is Rumple so he probably has a use for the power once he gets it. At first, my thought went right to resurrecting his son from the dead and probably turning him into a child (and it would be neat if it did work, but Neal comes back different; magic does come with a price). But I'm not really sure, because it is Rumple and we've only seen him care about Bae in flashbacks, not so much in the present. But it would make sense as to why he's mourned Neal once and then pretty much moved on. I liked Henry a lot in season 1 because he was a badass kid who did whatever it took to get Emma to believe and break the curse on the town, while not caring if Regina was taken down in the process. That Henry I miss. Even season 2 Henry, for the most part, wasn't bad. But now, Henry's just dull, with helping Regina and nothing else. Season 1 Henry would be all kinds of skeptical of Regina; this Henry seems to dismiss all her evil doings. Bad writing on that part. I also don't mind Jared Gilmore. He is still a kid, started this show with probably no acting experience and they won't switch him out now. The good parts of this episode were with Elsa, the Charmings being actual parents and Anna/Rumple. I feel sorry for Emilie de Ravin, who seems like a guest star still, with her brief appearances to remind us that she's a regular for some reason, and with very little to do. Her and Michael Raymond-James really got the short end on this show, with their characters both starting out quite promising and falling into plot contrivances only.

Exactly. The Adam/Kristina household may be able to change jobs on a whim and be super successful, but Crosby is the only Braverman to stick with his passion for the entirety of the series. Even Julia quit her job to be a stay at home mom. Sarah's changed jobs how many times, and Adam and Kristina have jumped from job to job every season. So of course Crosby's spiral makes absolute sense. If he loses his business, that's it. He may be able to find another job in the music business, but he'll be demoted to a lower position. Adam doesn't care because he and his wife have their shiny new toy, but Crosby won't have that. They've shown Crosby struggle throughout the years. First with living on a boat, then moving in with Jasmine and Jabbar (and then Renee lived with them). That's what I like about Crosby's story; they portray him more realistically than Adam, Sarah and even sometimes Julia.

All I can say is: fuck. Fuck this stupid triangle, now love square and having Charlie hook up with Dawn. Seriously? I'm still on Charlie's side, despite his decision to sleep with Dawn. Not because he's not allowed to sleep with Dawn as he is broken up with Alex, but I am upset that he sleeps with his ex wife. That's just....urg. And Alex is going to be upset when she finds out and I feel like we're supposed to be cheering for Alex to sleep with Joel as revenge or something. I really hope Val, the Guinea Pig isn't dead and is still wandering around the hospital somewhere. I feel for Dawn in regards to losing a pet. It's actually kind of sweet how she was crying for Val. The COTW was actually really great. I loved Will and his insistence that he wanted to help his mother and could do it. I loved his relationship with Charlie and how Alex kept giving them side glances. Joel didn't do a whole lot, but he did help save Will's mom so that's a plus for him.

Something that I noticed upon rewatch in regards to Crosby's dangerous spiral: when Crosby came back and took the motorcycle, he didn't have a helmet on I'm pretty sure.

I have just seen the movie. I went in, not knowing anything about the book or the film because for once, I wanted to be surprised. I heard this was an excellent movie from many of my friends, some who are film studies majors like me, so I went in with a clear mind, wondering if it was as good as they said it was. And I'll have to say, I agree with them. I like films that make me think and most Hollywood films don't do that nowadays, nor do they surprise me like this film has. I think that Affleck and Pike did an amazing job making their characters complex yet interesting. I was actually impressed at how well written the women were. I think all of them were very intelligent, independent women, something that's not entirely common in films in recent years, or ever. My sister and I were comparing thoughts after the movie and she thinks that the Caucasian males in the film were dumb, or at least not as smart as the women and Perry's characters were. I actually have to agree to an extent. When comparing Nick to Amy, I don't think Nick's dumb, but I do think Amy is smarter than him, and that's something that was very interesting to watch unfold. Amy performed an almost perfect crime, one that almost had Nick put in jail, until she decided to save him. Even when Nick tried to outsmart Amy, like when the interview happened, something unfortunate would happen by luck and he would get screwed. Amy certainly is a sociopath, with her willingness to kill Desi and how she carefully has manipulated situations to get what she wants. I wasn't entirely shocked by many of the events in the film. I was thinking there would be more ambiguity with Nick and it would be open ended to whether he kidnapped/killed his wife or not but when the reveal came, I wasn't entirely surprised but it definitely changed my views quickly on the film. Amy killing Desi was the most shocking thing, actually. I thought she would for sure frame Desi and he would go to jail instead of Nick, but it does make sense, seeing as Nick and Desi could compare notes at that point and possibly work together to get Amy thrown in jail, something that she clearly would not stand for. Honestly, it's a very thought provoking film, one that really made me think and change my mind throughout the course of it. I knew coming into a Fincher film that it wouldn't be an easy, paint by the lines film, so I knew that it wouldn't be as simple as Nick killing his wife, or a third party actually doing it. I did think for a while that Nick could have done it, probably did break and went through a psychotic episode and couldn't remember, although that was me going through possibilities. When he was acting odd at the beginning of the film, I didn't think it was because he did anything, but I knew it was a way to throw the audience off, and because people deal with these situations in different ways. I didn't feel entirely bad for him. I was taken aback by the fake diary entries, though. I did think the diary entries telling a different story than what Nick was telling us was odd and I couldn't figure out why. I actually went through the first half unsure whether he did it or not, so I didn't feel bad, but I also didn't hate him. I don't think he came off as entirely intelligent and coniving. Besides the scene of the interview, I think he came off as unaware and kind of naive. Amy came off as more of the coniving one, not just because of the diary entries but the way we saw her manipulate so many people over the course of the film. Meanwhile Nick tried, but I think the random chances of bad luck (like Andie coming forward before the interview, and the police discovering the shed) happened to lessen the impact he made with matching Amy's coniving ways. I think if he had his own diary entries or voiceovers, even just one speech he could have made, it might have made a difference in how I see Nick. Although I do give him credit for doing the interview and getting Amy to change her mind and come home. That was impressive, but even then, Amy came off as the smarter because of her ability to quickly change tracks and frame and kill Desi. The film did make me feel bad and then feel hatred toward Amy during several points. Before the reveal, and then when she met up with creepy Desi were two moments where I could feel bad for her, but maybe that was more Pike than the writing.

I've been enjoying my week off, sorry guys :( I'll have the story up as soon as I can, though.

Oh my, I agree aw86. Crosby's definitely going down a dangerous path this season, with things literally taking a bad turn for him. Not only does he have the worst brother ever who blames him for everything, even though this was clearly Adam's fault, he's losing a client AND he had to take the mini van! The horrors! Add to the fact that Jasmine echoed all of our thoughts from last week and wanted Crosby to go to the doctor's to make sure there wasn't anything serious about his injury, and we could very well lose Crosby instead of Zeek by the end. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure if Crosby will die, but the chances are just growing by the episode. Have I mentioned how much Adam sucks? I'm glad he's there for his mom, but he's really not that great with Crosby or his supposed business at the moment. He's playing with his wife's new business and neglecting his own, so I hope that they lose money and I hope Adam is blamed for it. Adam's at least decent enough with Max, far better than Kristina, but that isn't saying much. Speaking of Kristina, she is truly an awful principal, isn't she? Giving Dylan the stink eye after she left the office and being all snippy with her. Dylan's not the greatest character, but she's a kid, she has her own issues and Max likes her. Maybe it'll help Max's character grow into something more than an Asperger's kid. But probably not. I may not like Kristina, but I did actually like her being the one to get through to Zeek. I was worried it would be Crosby getting into an accident that would snap him out of his funk, but Kristina empathizing with him and actually making a lot of sense is what did it. It's actually sweet that someone who isn't even his daughter, but just an in-law, can help him out. Poor Camille, although it has only been a couple of days since he arrived home, right? Presumably a week after his surgery too, so I'm not surprised Zeek wasn't ready to move around much. Camille probably knows her husband very well, though, so she probably saw signs of him giving up which is why she kept pushing him to move. Sarah/Hank's story? Yawn. I literally would rather watch Adam and Crosby yelling at each other....ok, actually, no. I'd rather listen to Max spurt out random, weird facts.

I think I kind of get why this is happening, though. Oliver has gone through a lot in the last seven or so years. He's probably fought harder than anyone has ever fought in their lifetime. I haven't seen signs of him giving up much before now; the only time it's sort of happened is when Tommy died. If anything, Tommy's death gave Oliver a reason to change his vigilante ways, to not kill, but he even went to the island as a way to 'pay for his crimes'. But with Sara's death, the woman he's seen die about four times now, it's clearly gotten him and he's having his moment of weakness, the one who is believing that he can't do this anymore, or maybe it's more that he doesn't want to. It's not that he has given up yet, but he's expressing his feelings for once, something he doesn't really do. He even said to Felicity this episode that he feels like he has to be the strong one so others can grieve. Honestly, I think Oliver not only needs a vacation (like the one he 'took' to the island after Tommy's death) but he needs to let himself grieve, and let someone take care of him for a change. Laurel in this episode wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be. I only really cringed whenever she was in the Foundry. I liked her scene on the stairs with Oliver, and then again in the graveyard but all other moments fell flat. I get she's angry and pissed off and whatever, but her beating up innocent victims is not really rootable. It's not like she had to do it to survive, like Oliver and Sara had to do. It's only for revenge, which is why I can't get behind her actions. I do, however, understand her reasons for not telling her father about Sara. It's a moment of weakness, to see her father with his heart condition and she probably thinks he couldn't handle the grief over losing Sara, so she's trying to keep it from him for as long as possible. Is it right? Absolutely not. But I get why she can't find the courage to tell him. She doesn't want to lose another family member so soon, and she doesn't want him getting involved in the danger that she's so clearly going to get herself into. Grief does strange things to people, that's for sure. Everyone reacts differently so it didn't bother me that Felicity said what she said to Oliver. It was heat of the moment, she was upset and probably wanted to have Oliver let go of his pain and grieve alongside everyone else. She realized what she said was wrong, which is the important thing. Watching everyone grieve this episode was heartbreaking, even with Laurel (despite her being such a bitch to Sara last season). Stephen Amell absolutely killed it. He impresses me more and more with each episode. He really does love Oliver Queen and knows exactly who he is as a character, at least for him. My heart broke most for Oliver because all throughout the episode, he was definitely silently grieving, but he was still doing his job because he believed that it would help get Sara's killer. Now that he knows it's not Komodo who killed her, I can see him absolutely blaming himself for her death. David Ramsey did an excellent job. I could see Diggle's own grief but he was a rock for Oliver, knowing he needed it the most. Laurel could cry and get angry around Oliver because she knew he would be there for her, and she couldn't do it around her father. Felicity got her chance to let it out with Oliver as well as Ray. But Diggle knew Oliver wouldn't do it unless he was in private, so he was still there for him. Even Roy showed his own grief through his worry over Thea and not wanting to give Oliver the letter. He was probably worried that Oliver would get angry, and he seemed surprised when he didn't. Boy, I just really felt for everyone. Now, seeing Tommy was fantastic. Colin Donnell was fantastic as younger Tommy. It must have hurt Oliver so much, touching Tommy and being right behind him but not being able to reveal himself. And Tommy hearing that his best friend was dead? That must have stung more. I love how Tommy was keeping track of Oliver's e-mails and other accounts, though. That's a true best friend right there, not giving up. And seeing Thea and Malcolm? Even better. I think Thea's playing Malcolm because five months with the guy isn't going to turn her opinion about him around like that. She's a smart girl. Ray was creepy but better this episode than last, at least. He seems to care about Felicity and I love how he never pushed her.

Jesus Christ, Liam really does have a messed up family life. His (grand)parents suck so hard and his momster is the same. I don't like the secret at all. It definitely feels soap opera-esque, but at least they kind of have led up to it...a little bit. And I guess it makes sense as to why Liam seems to have an allergy to lies. But at least it led to an actually ok bonding moment between Liam and Amy. I really could see them becoming friends. And to be honest, Gregg and Rita have more chemistry than Gregg and Katie. That drama subplot was hilarious. Oliver's trigger is Karma? That's hilarious. The dance scene was even funnier, and I almost forgot that I watched Katie on American Idol a few years back. Beautiful voice. Shane didn't annoy me in this episode, at least. Maybe because he was away from his man crush, Liam. Definitely my least favourite episode, though, of this season, but there were small moments which I liked.

Ok, so having now watched this episode, I can say that I'm as confused as Amy is on her sexuality. I get the impression that Carter and co are confused too as to what to make Amy. The whole 'being attracted to that Brazilian guy' is throwing me off. I'm not sure whether Carter is implying that Amy's still discovering herself and she might be more bisexual than a lesbian or he's trying to say she's in the middle of the Kinsey scale, but I'm trying to figure this out and I can't. Everyone has different experiences, I get that. I'm not quite one to talk because I'm straight but I'm also asexual, so I know how confusing sexuality can be. I'm not sure if Amy really wanted to have sex with the Brazilian guy or if she was just attracted to him, because if that's the case, she can still be more of a lesbian but just able to feel some sort of attraction to guys without wanting to have sex with them. But I haven't read that Carter interview so if it's right that he's saying that Amy wanted to have sex with Liam, then I give up on trying to figure this out. I could buy that Amy was hurt, angry and only had sex with Liam because she was too drunk to care and he just happened to be there. I may not like it, but I could buy it. But if Amy did want to have sex with him, then I'm more than done with this storyline. I understand why many of you would be upset and I am too. Again, I wish I could hate Liam just as much as you guys but I really don't. He's my least favourite character, yes, but he's in no way the worst person I've seen on TV. I'm actually more annoyed at Shane, who not only keeps encouraging Liam to be with Karma (understandably as Shane clearly hates Karma) but also that he is not calling Liam out on his shit, or trying to do anything about Liam's behaviour. They're supposed to be best friends, yet whenever Liam tries to call himself out on his actions, Shane dismisses it and actually encourages it more! He's trying to be a great friend, but he's not doing a great job. So Shane calling out Karma, although understandable, is also a bit hypocritical. But I also understand because he's also a teenage boy, who's going to make stupid mistakes like everyone else on this show and he's biased toward Karma, as she hurt his two best friends. And Shane's been doing this since last season too, so it's not abnormal behaviour for him. Lauren/Theo could be a very cute couple and I love seeing Lauren smile. It's also great to see Amy becoming more comfortable with her sexuality, even if she's still figuring it out, and seeing Karma happy (and then jealous?) of Amy trying to move on. But Karma, you can't be Amy's wingman to move on from you!! It's awkward!! It's like asking Liam to be Karma's wingman!

I actually disagree, dohe. I think that this show is all about Amy and her journey of finding herself. I do think it could be more interesting if Karma is straight, or at the very least if Karma and Amy don't end up getting together at the end. I do think Karma is either super naive, or a real jerk and tease to Amy. This show is one of the rare ones that actually explore sexuality in depth. Amy's going through a process that is usually skipped over. Amy's confusing sexuality is something that never happens with main characters. It's always with the recurring or supporting characters falling in love with a female main character, so we never really get the side of the woman, or man, who falls in love with the main character. That's what I like about this show. Amy's the centre of it. Karma has a big role, yes, but if you look close enough, she doesn't have as big of a role as Amy does. I don't see any queer baiting whatsoever. And I see the show trying to represent Amy's confusion with Karma's supposed self assured behaviour about her own feelings. They keep saying that Karma and Liam are in love, but we consistently see Karma choosing Amy when it comes down to it. Yes, she has chosen Liam quite a few times as well, but the show makes a point of showing how Amy feels about it so we feel sorry for her, and it works. This show, at the end of the day, is about Amy and, to a slightly lesser yet less obvious extent, Karma. Amy hasn't had a girlfriend yet because up to this point, it's been all about Karma and Amy discovering her feelings for her. Yes, the sleeping with Liam plotline is stupid and I hate it with a thousand suns. However, Amy is not straight, she even said it herself last episode, and this season will hopefully be about her discovering herself, finding a girlfriend of her own and realizing that she isn't straight and she can have feelings for someone other than Karma. Honestly, I don't like Karma much, because of what she caused last season and her not so great attempts to make it up to Amy this season thus far. I do think that whether Karma is straight or she's also in denial about her sexuality, it is a journey that's going to make her look like a douche for a while because of her actions. Just like Liam is a douche for falling in love with a supposed lesbian and being stupid enough to not realize that what he did last season was wrong. I don't hate Liam as much as everyone else because everyone has flaws and he's no worse than Karma. In regards to this episode, I like Theo. I liked almost everyone in the episode. Liam was being a douche, of course, but like Amy, he's dealing with this big secret that he doesn't want to tell but he also doesn't like lying. I like how Lauren was honest with her friends and I hope Lauren can eventually convince Amy to be honest with Karma as well.

God, I can't believe how much I love this show. It's the first (and maybe only?) new show that has gotten me legitimately excited for the next episode. I'm in love, it's official. It's a fun show, it hasn't been taking itself seriously and so far, I don't dislike any characters. I actually like them all, even Eddie (who I suspect could turn out to be a jerk, but I hope not). I literally am in love and it's only episode 2. I'm sure that'll change when the show inevitably gets a season 2, but for now, let me bask in the show while it's still light hearted. I'll admit, Grant Gustin has been my celebrity crush since Glee (hate to admit, but it's true). I hoped he would move on to bigger and better things and although the CW isn't prime television, it's still better than Glee. Barry is a different kind of lead hero, one who isn't all serious and one who could be classified as a sidekick at times, but he's still very much lead male material; these past two episodes have far proven that, with his vulnerable moments and his scenes where he stands up for himself. I'm only starting to get into comics now so I'm not an expert on anything comic book related, so the comics don't mean much to me at the moment. I do like Iris and I can buy the chemistry that Barry and Iris have. I may not actually want them to get together romantically, but I wouldn't be opposed to it (hate to compare, but it would be much better than Oliver/Laurel or Lana/Clark). I like Iris a lot; I think she has spunk, I definitely buy the close relationship with Barry and I think her and Eddie are actually really cute together. Speaking of Eddie, I like him as well. I fully expect him to turn into some sort of villain, but I'd rather the show surprised us and have him become an ally to Barry. Cisco and Caitlin are great too. I fully get where Danielle Panabaker is taking her character. It may be a little dramatic at times, but it's working for me. She did lose her fiance barely a year ago so her pent up anger, coupled with her intensity with science, is what makes it work. I also like Wells and can believe that he's not fully villainous; he just wants to help Barry in his weird, messed up, time travellesque ways. Honestly, I can even forgive them for the crappy CGI because let's face it, it's the CW, so they don't have that big of a budget. They're not going to get the CGI perfect all the time, if at all, so I'm just in it for the ride. Another great twist would be if Barry actually told Iris about him being The Red Streak (it's just as bad as the nickname of The Hood, if not worse, so please let him tell her just to get rid of the crappy nickname) because he knows that she'll do anything to learn more and she could get herself in more trouble if she's kept in the dark. Hopefully her father lets Barry tell her, or he just tells her himself. I love the flashbacks a lot and love how we focus on not just Barry, but everyone else around him. I love Barry's dad too. Really, I'm surprised at how much I want to rewatch this episode. It's rare that I want to do that and not just with new shows, so this is definitely my favourite at the moment. Oh, and my favourite scene is definitely Barry speeding around Iris, telling her the truth while she's pouring her sugar. That was actually not only a funny, light hearted moment, but it also gave more insight to Barry's abilities, but in a way that's not forced.

This is probably going to end up being my favourite episode of the season, because: Nate Buzolic as Kol in the flashbacks finally, No Cami (honestly didn't even notice her absence), minimal Hayley, lots of Elijah, Elijah/Marcel moments which are finally explained, and secrets being exposed right off the bat instead of carried out for episodes on end. Not even Klaus was that annoying this episode, which is a bonus. Just being able to see Nate for a few scenes is enough. And they could easily bring him back if they wanted to; they have freaking magic that could conjour up Kol's old body and they could easily explain it away, so I hope they do that if Kol survives the season. I know Finn definitely won't, because it's Finn and nobody really likes him because he's such a mama's boy and it's more fun to watch Esther sacrifice the only kid on her side, but Kol has a chance! I actually was wondering why Elijah and Marcel didn't get along. I thought that Elijah would be good with Marcel, as he is the nicest out of all the siblings and he would be more welcoming to someone who is on Klaus' side, but this actually makes sense. I like how they explained it as Elijah pushing Marcel away for Klaus to care for. It sucks, but it's totally in character. Elijah would unfortunately do anything for his brother and sending him his own child to care for is exactly like Elijah. Now, I love how Marcel 'returned the favour' and gave Elijah his own newborn vampire to mentor. I actually am curious to find out how that turns out. And if Elijah does end up on Team Vampire? Even better, because I find that I love the Elijah/Marcel scenes. Kol so doesn't like his mother; he never has, but I can see why he's playing along. I love how he lied to her about Mikael too. Daniel Sharman is no Nate Buzolic, but he's holding up better than the Esther and Finn actors. Davina is all sorts of badass but I appreciate that she needed help when she let Mikael out. I'm just glad Josh wasn't around this episode, or else I'd be worried about his safety even more. Although one scene of Josh would have made the episode even better for me. I'm looking forward to the moment of Esther and Mikael reuniting and them having a pissing contest. "I'm trying to kill that abomination of a son! And the other one!" "Well I'm trying to get rid of all the abominations in the world that we created!"

So, Gavin's storyline was overall not great. I wasn't interested in it and although it had its funny moments, I didn't like it much at all. The only moment I liked was when Gavin was talking to Hallucination!Maggie and he really was sharing his feelings to her. Gavin's been a pretty private person so it was nice to see how he really felt. Other than that, I hated him being doped up on LSD just go get more on him, and I hate how he decided to leave. I wonder if that means he's actually gone. On the other hand, Kristopher Turner did an excellent job this episode. Alex doesn't love Charlie anymore. Huh. I do feel bad for Charlie, who's done nothing but trying to be there for Alex and getting rejected. I was wondering why Charlie was serving Alex breakfast at the beginning when they didn't leave off on a great note last episode, but I guess just to establish the fact that Alex doesn't love him. Arg, this triangle is going to be the death of me, I swear. But Charlie seeing ghosts really does make the episodes for me. I love how he got to witness the elderly couple reuniting in death and I love how that was the moment that Charlie knew he had to propose to Alex again. I just hate that she rejected him. Joel's storyline was alright. I liked how he was away from the hospital on his own 'case', so to speak. But that's about it. Clinic Girl could be back and hooking up with Joel soon.

Well, not necessarily. It would only be a week or two, at most, for a time skip, right? I'm not really sure how long this surgery recovery time is, but it's still possible for there to be reprecussions for Crosby's accident, especially if he doesn't get himself checked out for further injuries. The accident did look pretty rough and I'm guessing even with his helmet on, Crosby could still have some sort of brain injury, although I'd imagine it's less likely. Either way, I could also see you being right and the accident being a one time thing, but I get the feeling like there's a chance they could make something of it. What's funny about this is that Drew mentioned to Amber when he was trying to get her in the car that 'we should really go. It's an 18 hour long drive' or something along those lines, so the show is acknowledging that the ride was a long one. The problem is showing it, because obviously showing them on a road trip just to get to Ryan for one episode can't be done, mostly because of the shortened season.

Actually, since the year they're stuck in is 1994. it would probably be one of our mains. I would have guessed Elena, since if we're sticking to real time, she'd be 20 and the right age (even though we should be in 2013, I'm pretty sure). But what makes me pause is the toys out on the Gilbert front porch for someone around the age of two or three, and the date May 10th. It's canon that Elena's birthday should be in June, apparently of 1992. Jeremy's birthday is supposedly October of 1993 but that's only going by Wikipedia. But I think it's more possible that it's not anyone's birthdays and it's just an important day for Damon, whatever happened in 1994, possibly in Mystic Falls. So, if it is anyone's birthday, I think Jeremy's would be the best bet, but again, what does that have to do with Damon (and Bonnie)? And why do I not particularly care all that much?

Also, something I meant to mention earlier, but Drew is in his second year now, right? If so, then why the hell is he still living in his dorm room? Also still love the Zeek/Amber scenes. It makes me worry even more that Zeek will die and he's not a red herring after all. (Maybe more like a red red herring?)