Danny Franks

I've watched a few reactions to the finale on YouTube, and most seem to get the whole set up to the meta ending - that it feels weird and off that Todd gets Hulk powers, that Titania and Bruce show up and there's going to be a huge fight. It didn't make sense, it didn't fit the show, and it was just another lame way to end a show (the exact thing I remember people complaining about when Wandavision ended with witches throwing CGI at each other). So Jen stops it because it's a cop out. It's falling back on the MCU crutch of 'big final battle.' But then there are a few reactors I've watched (and surely a bunch I haven't) who are completely stumped. They don't get it, they're borderline offended, because they just want the big Hulk Smash finale and seem to struggle with the idea that a show doesn't have to have a huge, climactic action scene. My only criticism is that, instead of having the family barbecue, I'd have done a montage of Todd and other Intelligencia losers in court, being found guilty and crying about woke culture destroying them. Cut in some shots of Wongers and Madisynn watching another show, Jen and Matt hanging out, maybe Shulkie going to some kind of Avengers try-out. I also wouldn't have introduced Skaar in this, I'd have left that dangling thread with K.E.V.I.N's mention of it.

The 70s intro was fantastic. It's sad that so many fanboys are too insecure and fragile to enjoy this show, because it was made by, and for, people who love comic books and nerdy television. I did find the reaction to Jen's actions rather extreme, especially in a world that's getting more and more used to superhero histrionics. Tagged, fired, ostracised and demonised in the press? I didn't really buy it. I get that this is the emotional climax of the show, but it was too big a swing. Of course Todd is the ringleader of the incel misogynists. I mean, we all knew it but I'm glad the show didn't try to pull a fast one. I feel like the writers of the show just perused Reddit before writing the Intelligensia meetup scenes. Same with Blonsky, who turns out to be a good guy after all. The bait and switch with the show avoiding the usual MCU climactic battle because it's a tired, played out trope, was fantastic (I've been saying this for a long while now). Good on Jen for calling out the writing. This was fantastically done, with her popping through the Disney+ interface and wandering the studio lot to find the writers and Kevin. This is what fourth wall breaks can be, if you just commit to the idea, and it's just what they did in the comics on occasion. I had a huge smile on my face for the whole bit. I never thought Marvel would be ballsy enough to break their universe like this. I just wish it had actually been Kevin Feige or, even better, some really handsome A-lister playing him. Also, telling her to transform back into Jen because "you are very expensive" was funny. "A woman has needs." "Historically, we've been light in that department." Fucking fantastic. I want a second season. Hell, I want Jen taking her antics into other shows and movies, and completely upending the MCU formula.

Much better episode than last week. Steamed puddings are a decent challenge and, judging by some of these results, a tricky one. Carole's just looked sad and I knew Syabira's would be criticised as soon as she admitted she was using artificial flavours. Sandro and Maxy's puddings looked and sounded great. A lemon meringue pie is a good technical challenge too. It shouldn't be a mystery to anyone and it asks them to do a few different things. Plus, everyone knows what a good one looks and tastes like. I agree with Prue - a baker at this level should be able to do all the elements even if they've never put them together before. The showstopper was fine as well. Nothing too ridiculous - mousse cakes with a 'surprise' in the middle. That seems fairly straightforward, and produced some good results. Janusz and Abdul's both looked great. I don't know much about baking, but even I blinked in surprise when Carole said she had thirty leaves of gelatine. Of course, she ended up using too much. Sandro definitely deserved star baker. His globe cake was really cool. He, Maxy and Janusz are definitely the favourites for the final.

Some interesting clips in that sneak peek. The Seanchan look amazing, and there are a few shots that seem like they're from various Testings or Dreams, rather than actually happening - Nynaeve with a sword, Rand on the wheel - but I could be wrong. Nothing of the new characters yet, but everything looks bigger and grander. Hopefully they've managed to expand the world in the same way Robert Jordan did when he wrote book two.

I guess it could be explained away by Michelle's brother being an unspoken, very sore subject. Until Dennis decides to bring up the prospect of him being released. I remember saying when I watched the episode that, even though it hasn't been set up, the show dynamics do allow for it quite easily - Deirdre always being so severe and apparently joyless, but having the space and being willing to accept James. Michelle being a little off the rails and angry, and being so resentful of James, who presumably moved into her brother's room. There are lots of moments where you'd think that it would have been brought up, but silent shame was a very real part of the Troubles for a lot of people. Yeah, if I'm remembering the various bits of info we've had correctly, it's my assumption that the house Erin and her parents live in is next door to Mary's old childhood home, which Joe still owns (Jerry said that Mary's mother never lived in their house). That would make sense, because there's no way Sarah would be collected enough to even rent, let alone own a home. They just spend all their time at Mary's because Sarah can't do anything for herself, and Joe always wants to keep an eye on Jerry. I don't think there's any way they could all live in the same house, which would have a maximum of three bedrooms.

Mark always avoided confrontation whenever he could. Part of it was that he liked to be liked and part of it was that he just seemed scared of taking a real stand on anything that didn't revolve around patient care. That's why Kerry was able to outflank him and take over the department, it's why things with Jen dragged on for so long, and it's why he ended up looking like a milquetoast twit, trapped between a harridan of a wife and a brat of a daughter - his complete ineffectiveness brought out the worst in both Elizabeth and Rachel. I think it was a mix of two things - one, they really wanted a neat, 'tying the bow' ending that showed how life in the ER goes on. And two, they realised that they'd made a bit of a mess of Mark's last days with Rachel. Did she learn anything? Was she going to be a better person? Who knows, she was just a brat to Mark's last day. I think a better conclusion would have been Carter coming back as ER Chief (without the kidney woobies) to show that our characters will continue to fight the noble fight, then have a med student character that he connects to symbolise the future of the department. Indeed. I just rewatched season one and I absolutely hate Chloe. She's so useless and irritating. She really behaves like a child all the time, and just displays no adult qualities whatsoever. I think one of the least believable things in the entire show's run is her getting her act together and getting custody of Suzy back. It's just absurd to think that the Chloe who dumps her kid, whines that she's "dying inside" because she's being asked to be a part-time mother (Susan was already doing a lot of heavy lifting) and get a fucking job, and runs off with some random woman to "make a fortune at the flea markets" could turn herself around that quickly, and that completely. And she apparently does it because of a good man she meets. Sure. Whatever. I guess it was just a way of getting rid of Suzy and facilitating Sherry Stringfield's eventual exit, but it sucked as a storyline.

"Greasy old buffalo" is such a specific, and inaccurate, insult that it had me rolling. Luke Jacobson certainly has a way with words, doesn't he? It's so great seeing Matt again, and Charlie Cox is going to kill it in the MCU version of his show, which will likely let him be a bit less dour and serious. I appreciate him dropping into the show just to be Jen's hookup, because that's exactly the sort of thing the Daredevil comics used to do with all kinds of female characters (possibly including Jen, at one time or another). Yes, people have been complaining that Matt made a couple of jokes, which is at odds with how serious he was in the Netflix show. But he came off here as a more confident and secure in his abilities as a vigilante. His whole act is more polished - attitude, suit, weapons, fighting style. But I will miss the grittier and less athletic fighting style of the Netflix show, because it had a feel of 'you can kick my ass, but not as badly as I'll kick yours' which really worked for Catholic Guilt Boy. "Remind me again how many times you've broken into a warehouse full of goons?" I love it when the MCU is genre savvy and can poke fun at itself. Then there was the whole bit about Jen pondering the twist - Red Hulk or getting fridged? And Nikki with the Wolverine brushes and snikt. Leap Frog was appropriately lame, and another inspired choice for a z-list character that the show can have fun with. I like the idea of a spoiled rich kid making himself a superhero, or supervillain, just because he wants to feel special. The bit at the end. Incels and losers shaming a woman for having sex? What else is new? Sadly.

Carter was a doctor by the time he had his affair with Keaton. But definitely still her subordinate and the power imbalance would have allowed her to have a significant impact on his career. It's interesting, and not that surprising, that the subordinate man and boss woman dynamic was played as romantic while the subordinate woman and boss man affairs were seen as shameful and sordid (and usually a sign of the older man's personal issues). Rewatching season one and two, the romance between Benton and Jeanie is such a misfire, and handled really badly. He's an unmitigated arsehole to her and everyone else, but a couple of glimpses at the sad little boy who's scared for his mother are apparently enough for Jeanie to jump into bed with him. Then, once they're involved, Benton barely seems to give a shit about her situation as a married woman, or about her as a person. Jeanie must have been really pissed at Al's philandering, to go for Benton. I would guess that most of the original characters were based heavily on people Michael Crichton knew when he was an intern, which is why they seem true to the stereotypes. Meanwhile, I reckon Mark was Crichton's own idealised vision of what an ER doctor should be - smart, empathetic, hardworking and noble - which is why he's so often too good to be true.

Okay, I ghosted a girl once. Eight years ago, after two dates. I still feel guilty about it now but it's one of those cowardly things that you don't even need to justify at the time because you can just reason, 'oh, well I'll just reply later... tomorrow... maybe the day after.' It's lousy behaviour and I appreciate seeing how much it bothered Jen in this episode. I really like what this show is doing with the Jen vs She-Hulk theme - that Jen has this alter-ego that allows her to be so much cooler and braver and more impressive than she feels she is. The downside with that is... Jen realises how ordinary she seems to other people. Tim Roth is fun as a slightly spaced out, new age hippie. I like that there doesn't appear to be an ulterior, sinister motive with him. He actually is in control and reformed (I hope). I don't want him or the other guys at the retreat to be involved in the villain plot. It would just feel predictable and lazy. I like that superpowered people are becoming unremarkable, and I don't feel like I need any explanation for it. We've seen how Captains America and Marvel got their powers, we've seen how the Hulks got their powers, I can happily accept there are loads of far less impressive origin stories and "unnecessary backstory" for people like Man-Bull and Porcupine and Saracen and El Aguila. But now Jen also has the power to call in a Previously On... segment? Cool.

I haven't seen either of the Doctor Strange movies, because I don't care about the character and I don't really have any interest in Cumberbatch as an actor. I was going to watch the second one because I like Wanda, but it's clearly not worth the time. Something I appreciate about this current phase of the MCU (which was surely not intentional) is that it seems to have far more self-contained shows and movies. Like the comic books, it's fine to just ignore some stuff that you're not interested in and you don't really miss much that you really need to know. I've probably watched about half of Phase 4, but don't feel like there's anything I need to get around to catch up on.

I mean, if everyone was professional and low drama, the show wouldn't have lasted very long. But I definitely wouldn't say Carol was professional, with the amount of time she spent talking about her relationships in front of patients and mooning over Doug. I wish Anspaugh had been around more, and he has some really good moments in season three (one of which is where he does get over his unprofessional attitude to Carter and finally listen to him). But I wish even more that Michael Ironside's Dr. Swift had stuck around a lot longer.

This is a real shame. I don't like the character of Shuri very much, and I dislike the actress quite a lot. Drops this movie down from a must-see to an 'I'll get around to this sometime,' for me. I just can't get my head around having an actress as captivating and talented as Lupita Nyong'o and passing up on the chance to make her your headliner. Especially in favour of someone who has been problematic on social media and on set.

She's fantastic. She was nominated for a bunch of awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy, for her role in Unorthodox. She definitely knows how to play a religious Jewish character with nuance and depth. Whether the MCU can put a character like that on screen successfully, we'll have to see. I'm rooting for them to, rather than immediately thinking it will be a disaster or not wanting to see an Israeli Jewish superhero. As for the politics, that's more complicated but I don't believe a character merely being Israeli means they must be either sympathetic to the Palestinian cause or a villain. That's as reductive as the depiction of Muslims as terrorists. It will definitely be tricky for Marvel to depict properly. The thing is, when the character was created, Mossad were seen as heroic - hunting former Nazis, tracking down the Munich Olympic Games terrorists, rescuing hijacked airline passengers in Uganda. The plight of Palestinians wasn't seen through the same eyes it is today, and the original version of the character was very much a kind of Captain Israel. She's a product of the times, just as much as Captain America or Iron Man were. And she has been updated, even if she's only a minor character.

Let's be honest, he should probably never play again. Two concussions in a week is potentially life threatening. It's stuff like this that makes me feel ashamed that I love this sport. It's brutal and dangerous and too many coaches and teams just don't care enough about player safety. Some clearly still see it as a question of whether you're tough enough, rather than the fact that traumatic brain injuries cannot be shaken off like a sore ankle. The Dolphins and the NFL should be hauled over the coals for this, but they won't be.

Yeah, this was a bad week. I'd rather see them just asked to bake simple loaves of bread rather than pizzas, pastries and disgusting looking meat cakes. I'm surprised that Paul allowed for such a mediocre bread week, considering it must be his favourite. I don't think there was any talk of what sort of pizza they should bake, or if they had a choice - it would have been interesting if people had gone for deep dish, Neapolitan or Detroit style instead of all of them apparently attempting a sort of oven-baked generic 'pizza.' And, because they were all doing the same thing, it just came down to execution and choice of toppings. Maxy, Sandro, Syabira and Janusz definitely seem like the most consistently strong competitors so far, and I'd be surprised to see any of them go before most of the rest of them. I guess it was inevitable that no one would go this week, given two bakers were off sick. But I'm 100% sure two will go next week so they can get back to the right number. My money is on Laura (I think that's the name of the older lady to whom the word "bland" was addressed more than once) and Rebs, who will likely be panicking and cocking things up again.

The MCU didn't have the time to make Bucky a viable Captain America alternative. They could have used Cap 3 to do that, instead of making it an Avengers movie, but they didn't. He was only propelled into that role in the comics because he was the main villain of the first arcs of Ed Brubaker's Cap run, then became the book's protagonist after Cap died (he got better). Readers had time to spend with him and understand the character, to root for him to find some kind of meaningful life again after decades under mind control. In the movies, he was a macguffin for Steve to worry about and a lot of people simply aren't that attached to him. So I'm fine with Sam becoming the new Captain America and Bucky becoming his own person, and I'm actually okay with him being in Thunderbolts because it makes sense that he'd gravitate towards some kind of government team - what else does he have? Yelena as the focus of that movie is great, because she's the most compelling new MCU character of this latest raft (of which, I'm glad to say, nearly all the good ones are women - Yelena, Kate, Kamala, Shulkie) and she deserves the spotlight. Marvel fucked up by not giving Natasha her own movie earlier and, when they finally did, Yelena was really the only good thing about it. But I do hope that Bucky will be the second lead, and not a bit part player who takes a back seat to more flashy characters. And it would be really nice if they actually made a movie that fits these characters, rather than shoehorning a bunch military/espionage types into a generic superhero one.

Jen's increasingly drunken dancing was a whole mood. Great little showcase for Tatiana Maslany's abilities - both dancing and comedy. The wedding plot was throwaway, as Jen herself pointed out, but it was a good addition to the underlying theme of Jen being asked to disassociate her two selves into different personas - The bride wants Jen but not Shulkie, because she's intimidated by the latter. Titania wants Shulkie but not Jen because she doesn't see Jen as worth her ire. Everyone else seems to prefer She-Hulk as well, which definitely has to be hitting Jen's confidence. Of course, this was the first time Jen actively wanted to be She-Hulk, because she recognises how other people react and it's a hell of a confidence boost. I'm really enjoying Jameela Jamil as a vapid and cruel influencer, and I know she's loving it too. She's clearly not the big bad, but a fun antagonist who can pop up repeatedly without the stakes getting too high. Nikki and Amelia's subplot with Mr. Immortal was okay, nothing great. They're a fun pairing though, and it has been noted online that there's a split second in the episode where Nikki seems to break the fourth wall with a glance to camera. Not sure what to make of that.

I love how fully developed and thought out the Aiel are. They aren't just 'noble savages' or analogues of any single real world group. They have history and culture and their own idioms, their own (odd) sense of humour. Even as Jordan writes them, you get the sense that we're only scraping the surface of the thinking he put into creating them. Some of the best scenes in the entire series revolve around the Aiel, and those two chapters where Rand learns their history are honestly the best things Robert Jordan ever wrote. Just seeing how they evolved, seeing the broken world through their eyes, seeing what desperation drove them to become, it's so affecting and moving.

Ahh, the Clicker noise! I hope people are prepared to shiver whenever they hear that. I still don't know if I'll be able to watch this show and not wish the voices were still Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, because their performances in these games are the best work any voice actor has ever done, in my opinion. But the look is right, and so much of the aesthetic design is taken straight from the game.

Seeing the Ravens defense come up with the big plays when it mattered was nice, after last week's debacle. They already lost to one painfully average QB, in Tua, losing to Mac Jones as well would have been embarrassing. Next week, the Bills. Maybe without Josh Allen.

That guy couldn't even walk in a straight line. Any concussion protocols that allow him back into the game aren't worth carrying out. Reminds me of when the Steelers did the same thing with Roethlisburger against the Ravens, and he proceeded to immediately throw a terrible interception because his brain was so scrambled.

Depends. I would say freshly baked cookies are generally soft, but the pre-packaged, mass produced ones, like Maryland Cookies, are hard and crunchy. Maybe they use the same dough but are baked differently. Usually, they only get called cookies if they have some kind of chocolate chips in them. Garibaldis are definitely not cookies, so I don't know what Paul is on about. They're biscuits, and crap ones at that. And, in case anyone was wondering, they are named after a person - Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian revolutionary who lived in the 19th century. They were thought up and baked in his honour, or something. I'm sure he was truly touched.

Yeah, I watched a handful of episodes of the Sopranos, but just disliked everyone and couldn't understand why people would want to spend time watching them. It's fine to have unlikeable characters in shows. Most of the time you need them, because they contrast with the characters you're supposed to identify with. But when all the characters are reprehensible and amoral... what's the point? This is the same reason I only made it through one season of Boardwalk Empire, why I have no interest in Breaking Bad or other shows that ask you to wallow in the shittiness of humanity. There's enough of that in the real world, why would I want to watch it on TV as well?

This is it entirely. People like Michael B. Jordan, so they convince themselves the character he played was somehow noble but misunderstood, or worthy of redemption. He wasn't. A tear as he died didn't change any of the things he did - Murdering a museum curator just because she was there. Murdering his own girlfriend as soon as she became an inconvenience. Gleefully killing Dora Milaje warriors when they refused to follow his commands. Killing his cousin to take the throne then immediately trashing proud Wakandan traditions. Those are just the things we saw him do, but remember that every one of those gross scars on his body was supposed to signify a person he killed. That's the misunderstood hero? No. That's the psychopath with delusions of grandeur. He didn't want to save the world, he wanted to rule it and he planned to use a culture and a people he had no affinity or care for as his soldiers. All that said, I still think one of the glaring plot holes in the movies is that T'Chaka killed his brother then left his body, along with all his belongings, in a seedy apartment in Oakland. No way on earth that a society as secretive as the Wakandans wouldn't have stripped that place bare and left no trace.

I'm very pleasantly surprised by Jameela Jamil's performance. I didn't know what her range was like, but Titania is so different from Tahani, and is completely convincing as a social media, airhead, grifting opportunist. And I know Jameela will have loved this role, as a major critic of the Kardashians and their snake-oil selling. I absolutely laughed at the other lawyer asking, "this is the person who legally out-manoeuvred you?" The discussion about Shulkie not trademarking her name was fun. I like the show focusing on this sort of minutiae that no one ever thinks about, but that would totally be an issue in a country as litigious as the USA. I can get why guys who really have the hots for She-Hulk might not be interested in Jen, because they're very different. Tatiana Maslany is really attractive, but Jen is portrayed as mousy and diffident (the oversized suits don't help, obviously) while She-Hulk is literally larger than life. A fun aspect of this show is that Jen is a bit of a pushover as a person - she takes the picture of Titania and fan when asked, she agrees that she and that weirdo should go out for another drink, and I'm sure there are plenty of other examples. That juxtaposition with her physical strength and intelligence is interesting. Seeing Griffin Matthews show up as the fashion designer was cool. I really liked him in Dear White People and this show gave him the chance to really ham it up. And I enjoyed the Daredevil tease. I think my only real criticism of this show is that I think the pacing is off. Sitcoms have a rhythm and cadence to them (both good and bad ones) that are suited to only being 25-30 minutes long. This show doesn't quite have that pacing. The editing isn't as tight, the end of each episode feels like it leaps up out of nowhere. Maybe they didn't have enough sitcom writers on the team.