Ottis

OK, Bad Bunny isn’t great with English so the skits slant heavily Latino. Fine. And BB seemed game. It just wasn’t funny. At least until the nun skit. It’s interesting that all the political stuff fell flat, especially Trump. Maybe people are tired of it all. Mick Jagger had time on his hands. And I’ve said this before, but could the guy who played the homeless job applicant look any more like a Black Pete Davidson? It’s startling.

I still think the nephew is a deep plant, long con against Prince. But I often give this show more credit than it deserves.

That was … horrible. This is what they come up with after what, 5 months off? Pete shouting a monologue, a yawner of a football skit about something most of us don't care about (and no, a skit mocking it isn’t any more interesting), and and some kind of Sad Pete/Barbie mash up I skipped (still haven’t seen Barbie, so I’m guessing that’s what it was). The airplane poop skit was a little better. Trudy was annoying, as intended. But I gave up at that point. Maybe I’ll watch the rest eventually.

I read the books so long ago, I lost track of when I stopped. I need to check that. I'm guessing there were at least a few more books after I stopped. I remember stopping because the book I had just read was one, long treatise on ... something, with very little actually happening. The best bad guys are bad guys who may have a point. The Seanchan believing that women who can draw on the One Power are dangerous aren't wrong. Their solution is drastic, but if it evolved from paying a societal price to Aes Sedea, I can buy that. If the show then makes the Seanchan moustache-twirling bad, I'll be disappointed. Hahahahaha. I'm with you.

So Isaac acted like a prick for days, maybe weeks, and then goes after a fan and gets a red card and disadvantages his team because… Colin didn’t trust him? Colin hadn’t told anyone, not just Isaac. Just… no. Also, is this 2004?

Four eps in, this may be my favorite Disney SW show even if it has its flaws. Darker tone, good story (I barely know the Skywalker saga so I am seeing these folks fresh, except I saw Thrawn in Mandy and thought he was a lightweight). Most of all, Ahsoka as a Jedi is freaking competent. In all ghese shows… Mandy and frog baby, Boba WTF, Andor zzzzz, and Obi Why, the good guys fought like newbies. Ahsoka has skills. The blonde bad guy is underwhelming, tho, like they went for a Harley Joker unhinged thing but only partway. It’s enough to ignore stuff like why they put a tracker on the escaping shuttle and not the hyperengine (a shuttle could always leave), being naive about Empire supporters swearing an oath and that being enough and Hera being unprofessional in front of the council. Cool ending credit music, too.

Had to stop the show to gall with Mrs Ottis about what the F Ted’s problem is. Let it go, Ted. The team photo discussion was the most interesting part of this episode. And i strongly doubt any sports geam has that thoughtful of a discussion. If I never hear a Beatles song again, I would be happy.

I couldn’t help but think that they could have started this entire series, pilot episode, with this episode and it would have been 1,000 times more interesting than what we have seen. There was urgency and danger and mystery, damn it, actually interesting stuff. They could have then filled in the blanks as the episodes continued, and again, that would have been far more intriguing pacing than the yawn fest we have seen. Oh well.

I think a relatively powerless Tallen fighting for just control over a kid’s body didn’t have that option, and settled for revenge. So the Pyramid could save Foundation people (and anyone, I guess) on the planet, but no one on the ships? Between computer copies of people and face scramblers and clones, I lose track of versions. But it’s still fun.

I enjoyed how Wendy and Wonder Boy had deep conversations about a candidate for US President in middle of a busy restaurant. And how the dynamic threesome met to discuss overthrowing Prince in the middle of Prince's lair. Operational security is for shit on this show. Zero. It's kind of creepy, TBH. Wendy seems like his mom, and unless she is using him and her interest is a ploy, I don't get it.

Hey, shit happened! Random, forced shit, but still!

The issue of whether what happens in the Aes Sedai tests inside the columns is “real” (debated in the prior episode’s thread) is discussed in this ep. N asks Liandrin “was any of it real.” Her answer is simply, “the pain (long pause)… and even that fades in time.” Then they discuss only the third test, where N lived a life with a child. I read that exchange as definitive that the tests don’t affect the real world, and are designed to gauge reactions to basic truths (i.e. your parents are dead, so what you do here will not change that it may only make you feel better, but fail the test). Barring a surprise to the characters who have seen many of these tests and who seem clear that they are limited in impact beyond the subject, I continue to believe the tests for N were pretty simple and obvious.

The next episode picks up this issue, briefly, and I’ll comment there when I get a chance.

I guess we will agree to disagree. As I noted, if this were true, if the arches had the power to change reality, I think the show would tell us that through the actions/words of the characters. Instead, the characters go out of their way to note that what happens *within* the arches is a mystery, but that whatever it is. it is not important *outside* the arches. They show zero concern about the test changing reality. It's *possible* that whatever happens in the test echoes in time and reality so that the people we are watching now don't realize that something that happened in the test changed their reality. But again, I think the show would let us know that. It does the opposite. Really, the fact the show calls the arches a "test," and the very definition "test" means it is a set of conditions for the sole reason of seeing what happens within that limited environment, implies its impact is limited. What I infer from all of those hints is that people who undergo "the test" know it is a test when they are in it, and know that what they do there is limited to the test environment and only impacts their consciousness and/or body. BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if people who stay in the arches and live out their lives end up being ejected at some point as comatose or dead bodies in the real world. Though N didn't do that. Maybe she wasn't in very long in real time. In any case, if the show later states that what happens in the test does in fact affect their real world, I'll have to rethink my conclusion. In my experience, TV shows don't wait until the middle of the second season to reveal amazing new abilities that could upend everything we know so far. It's possible, and if it happens it is almost always a red herring. But it's bad storytelling if true. Sort of like the Marvel multiverse, which is killing the franchise because now nothing that we see happen matters. It can all be redone, and reset, thanks to the multiverse. It crushes the investment of viewers.

Really into this show now, and again, I assume that means it is cancelled. The burden of psychohistory ... watching individuals and communities get wiped out, knowing it has to occur, and looking on ahead to what must happen next. Meanwhile, all the tragedy. I assume all these short-term Empire "wins" are just honing stronger and better enemies? And Demezel was pretty clear that Empire is flawed mentally and physically, so we know "they" are vulnerable. Loved all the special effects.

Oh, I agree with you as to the purpose of the tests. I just thought they weren't effective, and as you say, YMMV. She knew going in that everything she saw was a test - it was not real. Therefore, the right choice each time should have been clear if she is as smart as we have been led to believe. For instance, her parents were dead, and she knew that. The past already happened. Therefore nothing she did would make a difference in reality. I guess they could be testing if she was a nitwit, choosing to fight a fake battle that would have made no difference for her parents, but given all we are supposed to believe about her and her skills, that should not have been much of a challenge for her. Sure. She, an apprentice, isn't responsible for what the Aes Sedai do. And if you think about it, if she really wanted to go heal all those people she could come out of the test and travel back to her village. Assuming she could again touch the One Power after failing the tests. She fell for this one, but she did so because the test made it look like she came out of the test, and then made this choice. For all she knew, she was back in reality. THAT test was harder, for sure. And what she learned was, taking the path to a peaceful village and family would eventually lead to tragedy because the bad guys were never stopped. So that made her actual choice easier. If anything, that test benefited her. Answer to the first part: Internal story logic. If people could change the past on Wheel of Time, we would have seen evidence by now. I doubt they would save that ability for an apprentice test. That would be part of the show's accepted parameters, and part of what she recognized as reality. Answer to the second part: See comments above to each of the three tests. Taken as a whole, that is why I thought the tests were silly. She knew enough to realize they were tests, that nothing she did would change the real world. Even the test where she was fooled taught her that choice was a poor one. I kept waiting for something more interesting or difficult, but that was it. I think you are right, it did come back again. Which I assume means she is special somehow, since it never came again for anyone else. Also, though, how convenient.

I could see how some might, but I hated it. This show is so cloying and unrealistic. It’s like Andy Griffith, except we all live in the real world with Lasso so we know how ridiculous it is. Becca stumbles upon a perfect gentleman with a houseboat - not a murderer! Ted thinks he is drugged when he is perfectly able to function traveling around a new city… of course he isn’t. But he has an idea! Shoot, the hotel employees laugh as the team destroys pillows and the lounge. Ugh. I can buy Jaime and Roy and the bikes (though Jaime is suddenly super understanding). I can enjoy the eccentricities of Coach Beard. I wish Trent was OK with Colin being gay because who the hell cares anymore, and not because Trent is also gay (that played like 1998 or so, weird). But the endless wonderful things that happen when the odds are far more likely that they don’t end well, goodness. I can barely hang on for the sickly sweet finale.

Yeah, first thing I thought of given Mayer's abrupt refusal to continue to treat Wendy after learning of Wendy's plan to stop Prince, and then going to the trouble of ditching all of her other Prince Cap clients just to help Wendy - based solely on Mayer thinking Wendy is "a rational person." But it can't be that obvious, can it? Wasn't this assassination method also in an old and classic James Bond movie (and by "old," I mean 1960s or maybe early 1970s)? I would have gone with that movie myself. Small disconnect here IMO. Roker told Wags that grading hurricanes involved multiple agencies in what seems like a complex process. That sounded far more complicated than bribing a single "hurricane grader." I thought Wags went nuts and bribed whole agencies, but the show choosing only one person seemed inconsistent to me. Someone (Chuck? Wendy?) said it in an earlier ep. The danger from Prince comes from the fact he believes an idea is good simply because *he* thought of it. That's dangerous, and IRL we just had an example of that, which is what I think is this season's purpose, FWIW.

Those tests were silly. You can’t change what has already happened, you can always go home even if you had to leave and whatever the last thing was. Then having a fit about turning your back on your friends? Says who? Lots of drama for no reason. If Aes Sedei are corrupt, be better. Not a hard choice. BTW, “the way back” looks like it would be easy to miss in the heat of the moment if it always appears quietly behind you and only comes once.

I had to come back 3 times to finish this ep, seemed really slow. The Fades were nicely done, especially the “weight” of the dead one on the door.

Re: Shielding… that would tie in having us see the Red Aes Sedei do the same thing, temporarily, to the apprentice in the kitchen, as a reminder. As for the Dark One’s charm, isn’t that how it always works? The evil threat is lovely, while the good saviors are all “train this, suffer that, do your chores, grumble grumble” disappointingly.

I may be misunderstanding how the 3-person Empire works. Can someone help me out? I was under the impression that when a Dawn is decanted, it ages to become Day. Day does the same to become Dusk. And Dusk, when it breaks down, marches off to be disintegrated. To be safe, spoiler cover on ... So is it a different chamber than we saw before, when the old Dusk was disintegrated? Or has this Dusk had his memories wiped? Or do I misunderstand how Dawn/Day/Dusk work? Overall, I liked this ep. I finally am feeling the pulse of this show, and the different factions. I assume this means it is cancelled?

I was so bored I started doing other things, and didn’t notice the ball was being retold. Just kept hearing Dandelion singing, “All is nooooooot…. as it seeeeeeemmmmmss.”

That was always visible, I think I posted about it 3-4 eps ago, as I am still catching up. Chapel and SPock ran hot, then split, then connected again in TOS, and some of Chapel's TOS lines can be read as acknowledging their past and Spock's new formality ("my name is Christine") vs. an introduction. The slow introduction of Korby is following the same path. It isn't perfect, but neither is Pike's quarters being huge with open flames or Sick Bay being even bigger. It's 60 years later IRT, the writers can't follow the limitations of TOS. I'm a lifelong ST fan, and I'm good with it. This Gorn ep was so good at times, and then so nonsensical. I love that the Gorn are the Big Bad for SNW, the equal of aspects of the Romulans and Klingons from TOS. It makes me think about how lizards can be a space faring species, and whether there are lizards who specialize like Navigators from Dune, and how they might communicate with light, and why they seem to be so aggressive. Sadly, the show has spent very little time on the Gorn. Instead, with only 10 eps a season, it has wasted time with silly singing and fantasy eps. This ep actually gave me goosebumps at its cold open. FINALLY, a threat emerges, and our cast has to figure it out and decide what to do, while we as viewers are also learning along with them. This is why I love Star Trek. I would prefer it if we met new characters with skills vs. having so many characters be people from TOS. This Scotty was fine (unlike the SNW Jim Carrey Kirk). But can't he just be some other engineer, who maybe later meets up with Scotty off screen and inspires him? Let a new actor sit at the ST Convention table. I like some of the SNW relationships (and Ortega has grown on me this season), but a little can go a long way. Spock and Chapel, Pike and what's-her-name, Uhura and everyone. Enough. Let's focus on exploration. This ep bogged down on the planet. Not sure why, exactly. But it went from interesting and tense to pedestrian pretty fast. The Alien-copied scene with the baby Gorn breaking off attack was such a trope that I understood what happened as it happened and didn't even think twice about it. Hated the cliffhanger - not because it was a cliffhanger, but because it painted Pike as indecisive. There is a reason the ST:TNG Borg cliffhanger is so memorable. It ends with Riker saying, firmly, "Fire!" This cliffhanger looked like Pike was incapacitated mentally. Ugh. SNW has a lot of things to like, including some things I wasn't sure about for a while. But it wastes so much time on silliness and true wuv. I can imagine a writer's room where they are saying, "I don't want to write an ep about confronting a new species - that's been done! So let's do a musical!" If that is happening, those writers are more about themselves than about writing a good show. SNW is about exploration. Explore first, add in characters in the process. I think that's right. And it may start with using light in a way that causes the Gorn to go somewhere else, where they then will be either trapped or where that detente may freeze the boundaries a la The Neutral Zone in TOS. I actually would prefer that the Gorn continue to be merciless and mysterious, at least for another season or so. Could it be something like the various shows have done with Klingons? Maybe the Gorn, in their coming isolation, regress? Or a disease kills all the healthy Gorn? Or they mate with Sleestaks and we see the eventual result? Gotta be a way.

Hey, there's no predicting Klingons. Maybe all that matters to the more politically oriented Klingon is that one of their own was killed by a human, and they demand justice. In line with Star Trek tradition, that would also align with reflecting today's real life society.