Cloudly

… war never changes. Can’t wait for season 2! They did a smashing job of balancing comedy and drama, lore and fresh stuff, gaming with (sort of) reality. Maybe it all came together a little too neatly in the end. A small cast of like 6 characters, in on all the action, some even since before the end of the world. I hope we see even more of The Ghoul next season. I rarely do rewatches but just might in this case. Kind of regret my bingeing but it was too good to stop. Sooo many heave moments of suspense in the last two episodes. So all those New Vegas truthers got what they wanted, eh? In the end, I never quite got Maximus as a character. He seemed both young and old, shrewd and naive, incredibly stupid, mostly well-meaning but also a little sociopathic. Complex…? Can’t decide if it’s a tricky character well played or if he was miscast. Ep 7, but clocked Fred Armisen as soon as I heard his voice. Fun cameo. You can get turned into a ghoul by a serum?! Weirdest chicken-fucker-not-a-doctor-but-wait-maybe-actually-a-doctor? NPC ever. Wonder if Barb went into a vault early and that was why she and Cooper were separated when the bombs fell? One character talked about alimony, but The Ghoul was clearly looking for his family (wonder how both he and his daughter survived the blasts, and also what happened for them to split up later). Hope we will find out. So Moldaver was the good guy after all, and now she’s gone. Wonder where she spent her cryo and what was her purpose in Shady Sands. Crazy to get confirmation that Vault-Tec actually actively caused the war. That was never confirmed in the games was it? The cold fusion CGI got me rolling. Also, brain-Bud was hilarious. Poor Rose. Wonder why she wasn’t feral, looking so far gone as she was?

Frigging love this show. About to watch ep 2 but here's some thoughts on ep 1. I'm a casual Fallout player (Fallout 3 and New Vegas, when they came out) and I always loved the atmosphere more than anything in the games. – Chills from the first second. I liked the LA mini prequel, production values were off the charts (throughout the show really) and I felt they accurately portrayed the shock and the devastation of the bombs. HOW did Cooper (the Ghoul) survive though?! Looking forward to more of his backstory. He's the #1 character for me by far so far, and probably will remain so. – So many beautiful sound effects borrowed from the games. The stimpak, the Geiger counter... probably a lot more Easter eggs I didn't catch. – Vault 33 felt much more livable than vaults in the games. Beautiful, really. I did not get the raiders' motivation. Resources are scarce, radiation is devastating – here's an apparently self-sustaining vault with clean water, etc – why not just take it over? Even if you didn't want to live there forever, there IS a door after all. It would be a great place to camp out, at least. I'm not buying that the coastline wouldn't have changed more in 200 years or that there would be as much left of the Santa Monica pier, seems a dumb place to build a vault tbh. So the raiders only wanted to take Hank with them? Why?? Why did they make him choose between some vault dwellers and his daughter, and then he sorta didn't and they sorta didn't care? Why blow up the inter-vault door? – Maximus. I checked out the actor, he's 34. I think he looks about that as well. If he was taken on by the BoS as a young kid, that's a looooong time to be a squire in training, no?! He should have been in his teens, I think. That didn't ring true for me, although I like the actor. Loved Dane as well, they had a great self-assurance about them. What a bummer with the razor. Wonder if we'll see Dane again. – After the beautiful end credits there was another mini trailer for the series with a lot of new scenes. It looks so good! – The Ghoul (as his new identity) – what an entrance as a character!! Wonder why someone would keep him buried and "cut off parts"? Mysterious. Fully expected him to eat that chicken after he was done with the gang that came to dig him up.

Ok I’m sorry but that initial reindeer CGI scene was cheesy as hell. I laughed.

My brain is still expecting "It's Saturday Night Live... with... Beck Bennett!"

I liked the beginning of the episode, it felt really nice and relaxed – Miranda and Steve, Nya's election to the American Law Institute, even Samantha's phone call. Once dinner began, however, everything felt really tense. No matter what Carrie says, I feel there's some bad juju in that apartment (see: the ceiling stain, lol). "I've been thinking of nothing but you for all these years" is a pretty sick burn on your ex-wife and family, Aidan. & you cannot ask someone to wait FIVE YEARS. Who's to say Wyatt would even be A-OK in five years? Even so, I do agree with putting your kids first. Maybe you should have TAKEN IT SLOW from the beginning? Nya and Toussaint is a match made in heaven, but why does she turn into a teenager when flirting? Since she introduced herself as a professor, why not act like it. I respect Seema's committment to her career and company, but isn't like the point of building that career of getting to the point where you have the economy/clout/possibility to do take some time off? Oh wait, I guess she did. To go to Greece, which is a hop and a skip from Egypt, by the way. Lisette was just superfluous and annoying. However, tonight's silliest moment in a string of them: "Putting the cat to bed"?! Did Carrie not get the memo that Shoe (oh my god) is nocturnal?

Gonna go character by character. Che. That was some unfunny standup (but they weren't wrong about what they said). As soon as Miranda said Che didn't know she was there I knew exactly what was going to happen. It really reiterated the impression of how wrong they were for each other. If Miranda reconciles with anyone, let it be Steve please. I was unsure of how to interpret the scene where they watched their old standup from 2012 when they identified as female. Steve. What a cute place and his lines felt so real and Steve-y (if still doddering). Did Aidan say he had invested money in the Coney Island joint?? Thought they were finally gonna address the business connections re: Scout but no. Oh well. Miranda. Was that flirting with the tall UN woman with the British accent? The chemistry was 0, it felt almost uncomfortable to watch. Please resolve your living situation and PLEASE stay away from Che. I felt she had every right to decline Carrie's dinner invitation but of course Carrie had to "MEEE"-e bully her into going. Seema. She is not a teen so don't treat her as one please. That felt so off. Seema, to me, would take those "I love you"s in her stride. LTW. Couldn't the writers have had some balls and let her get an abortion, instead of that sappy speech about how she was thankful to have that option but of course SHE personally couldn't... and then the world's calmest miscarriage where she barely wanted to go to the hospital, lol. "No, it's already too late". I was hoping she actually had an abortion and just wanted to keep it to herself. OR I was hoping her husband would decide to drop out of the running for city comptroller to step up for the family. All in all, the pregnancy added nothing. No narrative drive, no character development, no nothing. 🤷‍♀️ Maybe her husband will at least get that vasectomy now? Charlotte. The other character in tandem with LTW who rebels against motherhood. It didn't feel all that believable Harry, Lily and Rock would suddenly start a calling/texting avalanche. I did like the Sam Smith cameo, they are so cute. Loved their giggling over the fangirling gallery associate after she curtseyed. Nya. Her character just feels like such a mess. The theatrical sex last week, the pettiness to actually buy a thousand dollar stroller for your cheating ex was really cutting off your nose to spite your face type of stuff. As I recall S1 (but may be off the mark here) she and André had a very mature, loving and stable relationship, and then the writers decide to write him out of it and drag him into this ridiculous storyline instead. What?? And why does everyone call him "André Rashad"? Is that his full name, or he has two first names? Even if it's two first names, I seriously doubt someone as close to him as his (ex)wife of two decades would still be calling him "André Rashaaaad" instead of just André of AR or whatever. Carrie. Full disclosure, I've always hated her character. Still so pick-me, still so vapid, still so unconcerned with other people's feelings. Like forcing Miranda to her dinner, or listening half-heartedly to Aidan's car garage cry call without being able to provide any real comfort or understanding of the situation. "Breaks heal". She had "BUT MY DINNER, BUT MY APARTMENT" written all over her face. Lastly, the scene in her old apartment made me unsure of whether she was subletting or selling her apartment to Jewelry Designer (but I'm leaning towards selling? As Seema said, "at the price your got this apartment..."). I don't want to see Carrie crawling back in there another time, even if they already have the set design in the studio. Anthony. Or actually, Stanford. Also completely unbelievable Stanford would run off to Japan, run around crying in the street for days without calling his HUSBAND? Even if they were on the fritz? But now at least Anthony is truly free to be with his Italian amore and thanks to the newly minted Shinto monk, also free to let go of that which does no longer serve him, so free to get f***** in the a**. Go have fun, Tony 😉

I don’t think they did actually. When she said that the maître d’ was like “eh” and made a dismissive hand wave, leading her to a table for two. Obviously they weren’t fully booked. I mean I fully hate-watch this show but they handled this moment well IMHO.

HOW is Carrie a literal (former) sex column writer, yet cannot take the word “vagina” in her mouth or form a coherent thought on sperm? If they aren’t hitting us over the head with an anvil that Che is all wrong for Miranda I’ll eat my hat. But then I said that last season as well, so hat is probably on the menu for me. 🎩

I somewhat agree, but Midge getting married to Joel would ring very hollow when we know about all those other marriages and dalliances. Or, do you mean a marriage in the 80s, when Joel gets released from prison? I guess that would make sense. And I feel we kind of got the reunion in this episode, with Susie seeming very willing to accept Midge's offered olive branch. But of course it could be milked way more than that. But oh, my heart aches for Lenny. I still rewatch the Florida episode sometimes when I'm feeling nostalgic or in need of romance, lol. The way Lenny looks at Midge at that night club, and the goodbye by Lenny's poolside hotel room.

I had been in the camp of the flash-forwards being fake, sort of an "A Christmas Carol" cautionary vision of the future. This episode managed to both convince me both they're very real and that they're a pretty solid way to give us the whole tale now that this is the last season. Susie's reputation certainly overshadows her and makes her seem worse than she is. Very believable about a woman in a man's world. I wonder what's left for the final episodes? What's on your bingo cards? I don't want the crowning moment to be Midge bringing down the house on the Gordon Ford show, although I'm sure it will be. I want a whole ep with Midge and Lenny, sober and happy, in a West Coast bubble, eloping to Palm Springs or something, before tragedy strikes. I want the flash-forwards to be done now, and all the players to come out to play one last time in a great big 60's fantasy. I listened really hard but it doesn't quite sound like Hank Azaria to me. But then why else would he be listed? And of course, he can do anything with his voice...

It could work like old Nordic names, where your surname is made up of your father's (or mother's) name + -son/-dottir. So, Ander's son is Anderson. And, in this instance, surname first. So if Grogu has a kid the kid's name would be Grogu xxx. Pure speculation, I'm sure the likeliest possibility is that Din is the surname, Djarin the given name. HOWEVER, look at Bo-Katan, where "Kryze" is obviously her surname – "of house Kryze" and so on. Her father was named Adonai Kryze. So different rules for different Mandalorians? Hmm...

Was expecting a long episode, I was so surprised when I saw the runtime! Who knew R5s could fly? Good job buddy! That gladiator fight between the shields was impressive but still a bit silly. I'm always amazed at how Star Wars tech is so high- and so low tech at the same time. The security, for one, seems to be nil. Last episode's title seems very misguided. All that speculation for nothing. Ohh pretty caves! But I wanted (more of) the Mythosaur. OK so Moff Gideon could literally see exactly where Din (Djarin I guess) and Grogu were on his neat little map... and still he didn't stop them before they could destroy the clones? Such a martyr. And a drama queen. The Din family's new house was SO cute. A frog pond for Din!Grogu and a Star Wars version of a picket fence/foot rest. Wonder how long that will last. But as other commenters said, it seemed almost too happy and neat. A fever dream, or a version of the afterlife (not that I think that's the route the creators are going by any means).

This episode was camp as hell and had "side quest" written all over it. "You had me at battle droids." Fun! Did not have a Mon Calamari-Quarren love story on my bingo card. Also, what is up with giving female aliens, who look like they would reproduce very differently from Earth mammals, boobs? Then again, laws of physics only apply when convenient in the SW universe so... As soon as we heard that muzak over the speakers flying into Plazir-15 I knew we were in for a ride. Speaking of rides, it's THAT easy to take external control of a ship?! Holy moly. Bo-Katan was not even fazed. And weren't she and Din uncharacteristically naive, listeining to those sleek black versions of robots and stepping right into that pod? And then... JACK BLACK AND LIZZO. I was as surprised as Grogu. Who loved Lizzo, of course – that's universal. Lol. Even helping her achieve a quadro blast. So mischievous. Look at Din the diplomat! "The next episode should be at the docks" – well, NOW it is. And a droid bar! Now I've seen it all. That was my favorite scene by far. Plazir (plaisir – pleasure), Bombardier, Commissioner Helgait (Hellgate?)... those names were more on the nose than Mon Calamari. Why did they even need their "domed paradise" on a lush green planet with obviously breathable atmosphere? Except for plot purposes, of course. Talk about a blade/ace up your sleeve, Din. And he knew juuuuust the moment to use it.

Oh, I thought "I'm the reason Chrissy and John joined" was pretending to know Dre to help somehow, and then he was just mistaking her for another Black Girl. Facepalm. I love how unrealness is creeping in with the texts from Marissa, which I didn't notice until in the elevator – I mean I saw texts before, but thought she was somehow texting herself from Marissa's phone like she did at first. It's becoming more and more unhinged and starting to feel like anything can happen. Scary but excited to be on this ride. "The drug one" rang a bit untrue. If she's such a Ni'Jah superfan I'd think she'd know Caché's songs just by, like, adjacency. Poor George. Lol @ Jesse from Grey's Anatomy. Guess some writer has it in for him. I'd like to reiterate my comment in an earlier episode thread about the eating. 😅 I feel like it's replaced the swarming sound in terms of signifying heightened emotional states and/or distress and instability. And now, of course, as a very direct symbol of her obsession with Ni'Jah. Felt so glad and sad for Dre at the same time when she saw Ni'Jah. I mean, she's a hard character to root for for sure, but still.

Loved the Swarm girls (well maybe not Hailey/Halsey). Man I wonder if that orgy scene was fun or just uncomfortable to film. 😅 Love how it's messy and interconnected with other people, not just Dre existing in a vacuum. Men, so far, feel very tangential to the story and I like that. Starting to get some American Psycho vibes. I wonder how Dre's eating is interconnected with her... other stuff. Some interesting pathology going on. Where's law enforcement?!