RollTheHardSix

Just finished it yesterday and thought the whole show was kind of meh... at best. To me a bunch of things didn't make sense and there was quite a bit of bad writing involved where they knew where they wanted to go but somehow didn't manage to have good enough writers to actually get there in a way that was plausible and more "real". So we got whatever we got. Angela meeting Angel at the cop con was super-contrived and none of the rest of the plot would have worked without it this was really the worst to me plot-wise too many plot-devices instead of actually good writing to get where they wanted to go: Angel was a plot-device for Angela to get suspicious about Dexter and the writers basically shoved the BHB at Angela via Molly (another plot-device) ... only to have Angel again to confirm her suspicisions at the end (Maria LaG case) they went back and forth on Harrison actually having a "dark passenger"/being a psycho vs. him just being a messed up kid who had (understandable) anger issues they didn't really have a strong case against Dexter at all so his behaviour was stupid and unneccesary Dexter didn't request a lawyer - as soon as the BHB was brought up, he should have said that it was getting ridiculous and he wants a lawyer Dexter dying was so forced to me - they clearly wanted that to happen but it didn't really make sense to me it would have been more credible for Dexter to meet up with Harrison, covered in blood, Harrison being horrified and refusing to go with him and Dexter just leaving without him he's lived without Harrison for more than 10 years nobody can reasonably expect Harrison to make a citizen's arrest or shoot his father, it would be more credible if Harrison just ran away from Dexter in horror everything was rushed - Miami Metro didn't even suspect him for years and the small-town cop finds out in a few weeks? All this happened in a few weeks since he wasn't doing much before as per the show. the ketamine / M99 mix-up - I'll forgive that as an oversight I didn't need Harrison, but I got used to him. Unlike Deb who I found annoying all the way through. Don't think he could carry a show though. I didn't mind Dexter doing whatever it took to get out, I never took him for a good guy. It was stupid though and he's been in worse binds before so why does he suddenly show this unnecessary overreaction (breaking out with lethal force) when the case against him was pretty thin? Is it even illegal to change your name? His excuses for why he wanted to disappear and start a new life were pretty good. Behaviour of multiple characters throughout the show was not really consistent or even plausible.

Also - and this may sound a little bit mean: You could also see the two Captain Americas as two versions of America itself, in relation to the outside world (and possibly to some within the US as well) Steve's Cap is how Capt America would be perceived by America itself - a great hero who saves others, is admired across the world, does the right thing no matter what Walker's Cap is how Capt America would be perceived by the rest of the world - an interloper who throws his weight around, expects to be admired, pushing American interests

Agreed on the morality pet. I was not invested in him at all because of the portrayal. Unpopular opinion - saying that I am starting to like Walker is overstating it, but I am getting more invested in this character. Which is weird because I wouldn't / don't like him as a person (esp the entitlement and the mililtary hooray stuff) - but they are portraying how he is a flawed character and very human. I don't know why but it makes it more real to me? I really liked Steve who was also portrayed as someone with flaws but those flaws felt different. This is a horrible comparison but all I can think about is when they ask you about your flaws at a job interview... there's: "I really can't resist chocolate" or "I'm too much of a perfectionist..." and then there are your REAL flaws which you would never actually tell them cause you want the job! At the last scene I was all like "This is really bad publicity, man!". But I was feeling his rage. Of course, that makes him a bad Captain America and bad news in terms of the serum. But it doesn't necessarily make him evil, at least not from the get-go. Though, I was also thinking that they were really setting him up for failure. I mean why would you just send two guys without any superpowers out to fight on their own? What are they gonna do against anybody? Why not send a whole team? What is the shield gonna do for them - it's not that awesome on its own... At least Sam has awesome tech gear and experience as an Avenger.

I liked this episode better than the previous ones. I am surprised that I actually like Zemo and also surprised that he made it through the episode and didn't disappear on them (and us). Though I am a bit apprehensive about the sh*t that Bucky and Sam are pulling... especially Bucky. Is he trying to get on the express train straight to jail or the most wanted list? Sam didn't seem so keen on all of that but went along with it anyway. It still feels like one big movie where they cut out the "boring scenes" - some of which would have been relevant for character development and storyline buildup - it feels like some of these developments are so sudden that the character motivations are barely fleshed out. Also at least half of time I feel like I don't know what's REALLY going on. Who's the friend / who's the enemy / what the hell is really going on here? Are they going totally underground again? Are they supposed to be good / bad / gray? I am confused - am I supposed to be confused? Is that what they are going for? That there is no good and evil, no black and white (morality-wise)? More questions than answers.

I'm not fully sure about the show, yet. I desperately want to like it and I kinda do, but this is helped by my MCU bias to some extent. Something about these episodes does not click for me, but it's hard to describe. Maybe it's that many scenes feel rushed ... The scenes are cool and some storylines feel promising, but that final link always seems to be missing which would help them really mesh? Something about it feels like someone simply cut together a bunch of scenes which have a disjointed feel to me. Not all of it seems logical to me, it feels like there is missing background info and explanations. Also: The flag smashers seem very meh to me, I'm just not that interested in them yet. Some fight scenes and banter seems drawn out and played for effects and for "cool" and at the same time does not feel satisfying. I am quite surprised. I really LOVED Wandavision from the first episode to the last which totally surprised me positively - I was not expecting anything and I hate sitcoms. I wouldn't say this is the opposite, but there is some disappointment...

I get what you are saying and maybe my interpretation was just wrong, I'm not that convinced of it anyway. But I have my issues with the "machine" interpretations. Yeah, he was conditioned, but there must be a limit to that. There has to be some type of independent thought/personality to function independently if needed. You cannot plan for every contingency - the protocol cannot contain every possible scenario and he still needs to make some decisions independently and on the fly if needed. I would imagine that a lot can go wrong during high-stakes missions and he would have to react to that on his own. But maybe I am just trying to come at it too much with real-world-thinking... Also - this x100 😄 His kill count must be through the roof if that's a regular mission. His middle name must be have been "Collateral Damage"... That was about as sublte as the Falcon's "subtle" mission at the start. No one's gonna notice that plane coming done, I'm sure.

I guess this depends on interpretation, we're just speculating here after all. But even if I did get sadistic vibes there, I don't think that's the "true" Bucky or that he ever had real agency during his time with Hydra. He feels responsible but there is no doubt that they totally messed with his mind (and body). Even if we were to say that he was simply too weak to push through the conditioning - that's not a crime under the circumstances (and not a fair assessment in my book). He would not have done any of it at all if he had been in his right mind. But it's one thing for a viewer/friend (Steve) to say that and another for a victim's family. I also wonder if Bucky is receiving money from someone - and agree with the sentiment that he's not someone the government would want to go freelance because he needs money...

Overall, it was a nice set-up episode for me. Bartender girl - I didn't mind her so much. Thinking about it now, I would think the flowers were a bit much. I would've considered that a super-casual date at her workplace which was jokingly set up by someone else - no need for flowers. But hey, it always kinda depends on who brings them, theoretically it's a nice gesture but very unusual. I've never even heard of the games he/the old guy were proposing, so I was guessing that they were old-people-games. To be honest, I didn't really even think about the age gap between them, it didn't seem gross to me - visually. However, I have difficulties guessing people's ages unless it's totally obvious - which it wasn't to me here. I wasn't feeling Sam's sister much and didn't like the vibes during the bank scene, so that whole situation felt uncomfortable for me. If they were aiming for that (which I can see why they would), then it worked on me. Bank guy was unprofessional bordering on rude in a weird way which would make me angry and at the same time wonder if I am being oversensitive. Were they going for that? The 5 years "job history" would have made anyone mad though. He was dead, come on... f* you. Perhaps this whole setup is also clouding my opinion of the sister. Because: on the other hand, I thought it was totally understandable if the sister wants to sell the boat and move on. I can't imagine that being a high-income profession either way. I can also understand if she doesn't want handouts from her brother. She made it work for 5 years, she doesn't want him to barge in and take over. Bucky's guilt - understandable I think. He was brainwashed, but some people make him out to basically be totally non-functioning when he was the Winter Soldier. You can't be operational if you cannot tie your own shoelaces. He's also needed to adapt to situations and make mission-critical decisions so he must have been processing things like thoughts / speech / interactions. I also agree with the person above who wrote that his handling of the witness was sadistic - he did take his time and seemed to be savouring it. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. I wasn't anticipating the crapsack world vibes we are getting here - I should have but WandaVision did not prepare me for this (WV was great though - I loved it from the first episode which I went into totally unspoiled and not knowing what to expect - that was a ride).

Being a little bit bored, I also started to rewatch some of the seasons. I didn't like VK these last two seasons, but it seems I have gotten more tolerant over time. Because rewatching it, I found that I didn't really dislike her anymore. On re-watch, I thought that she seems a bit like your typical ditzy blonde at times, but not like a b*tch or a mean girl. A little bit over the top, but I didn't think she was putting all that on as much as I thought that watching it the first time. A little bit like Meredith or 50-yard-on-a-football-field-Kelsey who I both liked on re-watch. They all seemed personable and I would imagine that Victoria does feel some pressure with having to live up to an example (even if it's not the kind of dream that I would want my daughter to strive towards). I would want her to dream of being a doctor or lawyer, not of marrying one. I always feel like the DCC are that kind of behind-the-times, backwoods dream of young girls who can't dream bigger. But that makes good TV... Kelli F sure made a lot of money for the franchise which probably came from a place they didn't really expect back then. She must be a good business woman and with the cheerleaders' wages, there can't be that much of an investment...

I'm overseas so I can't watch real-time. I am also unspoiled. Paris: I like her. She seems like a fighter. She desperately needs a makeover - her hair is terrible, looks like a bad wig. I assume she can afford no better. All that said I don't think she'll make it because she's not the DCC girl-next-door. There's so much going against her (background - dance and life, look, kid). Right now though, I'd want her to make it anway, against all odds. Brennan: I don't have a problem with her, she seems like a nice girl who works hard and tries hard. Her facial expressions still seem way over the top and unnatural while dancing. She's not the only one but it's very noticable with her. It always looks like she's trying hard, not like a natural flow. I think I remember that from previous seasons as well.... hasn't changed. Dayton: if they'd never mentioned her legacy status, I'd be happier. She does not stand out to me at all, same as last year. That's ok to me in first auditions, but they are making her stand out which leaves a negative impression rather than a positive one warranted by any performance of hers. Victoria: I don't really have an opinion on her at this point.

The episode was meh, but what instantly bothered me was how they got the old partner in jail to cooperate. If I was about to go down for four murders and rapes (?) and they told me that I would get a few years off my sentence if I cooperated now, I think my answer would've been more along the lines of: "Oh, so I'll only have to do 300 years instead of 400? Awesome!" And that would already be a major discount! There was no way that guy was ever getting out if convicted so their incentives were BS. What kind of "leniency" was he going to get for four murders and rapes?! They should've offered him jail privileges, serving his time at a special kind of jail or something more realistic like that. But he just rolled over and gave it all up. Without a lawyer. That was so easy, you certainly wouldn't have needed an FBI elite team to talk to him, any local deputy could've done it.

I just watched this because until today I never made it past the first couple of minutes every time I tried. Shortly after they introduced the "a bunch of people were made to kill someone without remembering it" BS I always turned off. Now, I've finally watched it and I have to say my opinion is pretty much diagonally opposed to most of you guys - I thought it was one of the weakest episodes in a long time and they have been pretty weak lately... First the forcing a bunch of people to kill their loved ones without them knowing BS. Then the superhacker, math genuis hacks the BAU and makes their electronics explode BS. Then the NSA BS. Then the Hotch snoozefest (I thought it was boring and I knew that the shootings were a fantasy even though I hoped they weren't). There was not one redeeming quality about this episode for me. This is truly a YMMV. To me it has become abundantly clear now that MGG is no better than anyone else on the show (though not the worst either). How could he agree to direct this crap? From brainwashing, to genuis hacking the BAU and making stuff explode to the NSA - I don't really have words for this. Well, it can only get better. I think I am now officially looking forward to whatever happens to Kate's niece whom I don't care about at all - because there's no way it can get worse. (no offense to anyone who liked it, I just didn't - in case you didn't notice ;-) )

I thought of The Fall, too, in the very first scenes! I didn't even realize the 50 Shades thing (because I haven't read or watched it since my interest in the book/movie could not be any lower...) Too bad for CM that The Fall is actually good. I liked that we finally had an ordinary serial killer without a super elaborate setup or completely strange M.O. Too bad that the whole story was a ripoff (see above), but better a mediocre copy than a bad original. Something bothered me about the episode, but I'm not exactly sure what it was - something beyond the usual (plotholes, why the unsub suddenly goes after the nanny...). I think it was the unsub's daughter. Nevermind the violence (that's par for the course on CM) but I thought that the episode was veering towards the exploitative and voyeuristc at times - they were really dragging out the girl's emotional pain. Also there was a bit too much focus on how much the unsub was getting off on choking the nanny. The episode was somewhat uneven.

I didn't think it was an arc or a Reid-centric story either as it came together, it was just that I thought it would be at the very beginning because they were setting up the early scenes as if it were a Reid centric story. I had no idea that it was about Gideon (went in unspoiled) and I just assumed because of the way they kept showing Reid and then the team standing in the cabin with their fake sad faces (I didn't buy their acting). I almost turned off right there. Obviously, I didn't turn it off and I didn't think they were too heavy on the Reid stuff overall. Rossi had a major part in the episode, also because of Young Rossi. I just automatically jumped to the conclusion - OMG - terrible personal arc coming right up as they were setting up the story in the early scenes. Too many bad experiences in the last seasons I guess...

I'm not exactly a dissenting voice, because on a positive note - I didn't hate it. Which is more than usual and more than expected. Last week was a snoozefest and I started cleaning up while it was on. However, I still feel that it was a let-down compared to early-CM and the focus on Gideon starkly reminded me of the way the show has gone downhill. I hated the first scene, the whole setup, their stupid pretend "sad" faces while we didn't know what was going on (I had no idea, don't read spoilers, don't watch trailers etc. - just not that interested anymore...oh my.) I hated the focus on Reid's sad face in the car. All I thought was "Oh no, not another character-centric episode... every episode has been one lately... first JJ (no comment), then Rossi (snoozefest) and now Reid (I don't mind him, but I don't worship the ground he walks on either).... please no!" Then I had an inkling that it was Gideon and all I kept thinking was that if Mandy was really dead (obviously he isn't) instead of just dead to this show (and CBS or whatever), he would so totally be turning in his grave that the show was doing a sad, little tribute episode. Sort of like spitting on his grave. Oh, the audacity of these horrible, horrible writers. Man, I was offended on his behalf! I don't really care for the actor (Mandy), but at least he is one. I liked the flashback scenes, but it was bittersweet, because those scenes with non-castmembers clicked more for me than the regular scenes. Those guys weren't just phoning it in, they were working it. It was actually good. The case kinda sucked. Too much unsub, too early, plus a nonsensical story - as usual. The flashbacks were the best part of the episode. I don't know why but the castmembers' acting seems wooden to me. Some of them were never that good, but others I sometimes wonder if they just don't care anymore or if the lines that they are fed are just that horrible. Rossi as case in point, because I don't remember JM always being this... stilted. Young Rossi was better than old Rossi, less pretentious, less dramatic pauses between sentences, even though his lines were also meh at best. Young Gideon was pretty good, too.