Traveller519

That really hit hard. I've had events that people bail on for all sorts of reasons, but when you put work into something and want to share it with friends, it's hard not to take it personally. I empathized with Sheldon. This show has really grown into something better than it had any right to be when it was announced, mixing in appropriate drama with the comedy. Nearly all the actors hit it out of the park and can play up multiple angles. I do wish we had been able to explore more of Missy this season than straight-up comic relief, but she does it so well. The young friends paired so well with TBBT finale. I know there's no logical reason for Young Sheldon to interact with any of them, but it would be so interesting to occasionally find a reason to check in with them. Young Leonard was especially emotional.

Well, I officially teared up at Sheldon's speech. It's the type of speech I like to think I'd be able to give in that scenario. We don't tell the people in our lives how much they mean to us enough. I'm disappointed they had Penny pregnant though. She was always resolutely against her own Children. I liked seeing that, where on TV if you don't have kids there's something off about you. It all felt like the appropriate end. Everyone's stories were wrapped but allow us to imagine what comes next.

That Pops and Junior pairing was really good! I do enjoy when they let oops be a little more wise with his family. It's like watching "Furious, the Golden Years." Of course, I always love his comedic hits too. Nice to see Junior with Siem confidence too. I can't believe that Superman's detailed rundown of the trip didn't include a "We'll be out of cell range... But that's part of the plan"

I think I could watch a whole act of an episode that was just Cheddar running in slow motion. That said, I did feel like this one leaned a little too hard into the double crosses. But I was happy to see Terry get his win. I'm a sucker for meta-humor, So I would have enjoyed the reasoning behind the non-halloween heist being something more along the lines of...it happened but do to renovations no one saw it and therefore it felt like it didn't actually happen. I did love Jake and Holt treating the victim as an actor, and that he did turn out to be an actor.

I'm impressed didn't feel the need to get more expositional in the last scene. Beverly didn't have a break-down and moment of clarity. She quietly accepted Leonard's feelings and moved to out her research persona aside to comfort him. But she never admitted to being completely in the wrong. A nuanced scene I normally wouldn't have expected from this show. A couple good subvsersions in this show with the decision to not have Raj pursue love, and to have Howard help him feel good about his decision.

"This just got good" I'm glad to know even Pop's can recognize the entertainment value of Barry's self-imposed riches of embarrassment. "I can't believe that's who you dated after me!" "He's sweet and has his charms.....but yeah this is not good" also had me laughing. A couple quick thoughts: I would absolutely check in on a weekly 8-minute web series of what is going on throughout the summer of the Matt Bradley, Ruben Amaro Jr, Erica Goldberg, Geoff Schwartz tour bus. Road tripping through the US, that inevitable evening by the camp-fire where the sexual tensions among the crew boils over.... while Geoff is planning the next day's tour stops. Murray loathing hippies continues to play so well. The irrationality of it fits with the character, and his face contorts in disgust just perfectly. Who plays Jackie next season? Or does Adam somehow find someone EVEN MORE perfect for him

Luke definitely got the best roast of the year in, even if it was a few months late. That combined with the earlier, "I wish this was a little funny" were Christopher Lloyd's words come to the light. You could have easily seen Martin Crane delivering the Piano Line, and Niles the Improv one. This is the type of episode Modern Family has done so well, where they focus more on the characters than the shenanigans. I agree there were a lot of elements that made this a good series finale too. Though it will never happen because of the Wednesday night cash-cow it is, I wish they would go the route of a Parks & Rec, or New Girl. And make the final season a short-order (8-13 episodes) and treat it like an epilogue to the series.

I'm really hoping Jon picks not only Yara''s Navy, but Meera Reed plus Nymeria and the Dog Army on his march south. They desperately need reinforcements! If Ghost needs to be far north, Nymeria has thrived South of the wall, and I'd love for Arya to get to wholly reunite with her wolf in the second-to-last episode who she lost in the second episode of the series. While Bronn was certainly a dick, I think he was played genuine to the situation. We all love snark Bronn, but it's easy to empathize with where he's at. He's been at the center of this family's issues for years, and ever since Tyrion was locked up in Kings Landing the asks have only gone up with the promised payouts being deferred. He's exhausted, but his conscience won't let him forget who his friends are.

All hail the rise of Richard, (soon to be) Majestic Emperor Pooba of Loose Allegiance of American States! Of course Gary earnestly believes he'll be with Selina in prison when she inevitably ends up there

I do have to hand it to the survivors of Winterfell. Mass funeral for your friends in in the morning, mass frat party/courtyard orgy in the evening. The tone on that didn't take long to shift. Well for everyone but our two favourite lone canines.

Anyone refering to Arya as a Mary-Sue needs to take a long hard look at Euron Greyjoy... I wouldn't be surprised if that is somehow actually his child in Cersei's Womb

A few years being wiped away in the good-byes and from the younger cast members. I'm sure it was something of an emotional week seeing the bonds that formed on the show over 20 years ago and how that can pay off. I loved that Adam included Kate Beckinsale as one of the hot women he had to create a movie role for him to kiss, it's amazingly relevant with the current show

So Melissa Fumero directed this episode and we got that scene with Diaz trying to shake her coat off? Hold on... off to indulge in some actor fan-fic! (Which may or may-not involve certain actors' real life husbands as well.....)

It does feel like the Nobel story has been the raging fire sucking up all the plot-oxygen lately. But it has not been a particularly satisfying fire. The infighting is tedious. I think a look into how Sheldon and Amy handle the overall process would be interesting, so long as we were getting meaningful stories from the other characters. Though I will say, I enjoyed Leonard''s support for his friends here. No jealousy or frustration, just appreciating the merits of their work. He's grown as much as Sheldon has. Was Susan a guest character in earlier seasons..... y'know just asking... inquisitive minds and all that

That and the Buick App spot last week were just so terribly blatant. I almost have to wonder if they production team has just decided to be so bad with them because they hate doing them. Early on they leveraged the Office for the Product placement, since whomever the sponsor was could jut become the client of the week, but I suspect that the BRANDS(tm) want to see people actually "interacting" with their offerings. Jack and Diane were great this episode. As they've matured they've become much more nuanced while maintaining that bit of comic relief notes. And of Course Pops is still Pops. But Everyone aged from Junior to Ruby seems to be getting the Eric Matthews treatment.

Really enjoyed watching it in the moment. The tension was palpable. As the "fog of war" lifts on both our heros and us in the moments of watching the show some picky-ness has emerged. There were some great moments in the show (Arya kills the Night King, obviously; Theon’s redemption; Lighting the Dothraki Swords, Lady Mormont stabbing the giant), but only one truly great scene in my opinion. And that was Arya in the Library into the great hall. That was tense, well shot, gave us a good sense of where everything was, and transitioned into a good character moment. I’ll give an honorable mention to the Unsullied covering the retreat too. That was a good scene, given the very light dialogue of the episode. There were several smaller elements I liked too. I liked that the Dragon Class on the defensive hedgehogs worked and we got to see that payoff. Melisandre, on the whole, was VERY good. I liked Tyrion’s anxiousness in the crypts and the moments between him and Sansa (not to mention Missandei dropping some tea). The fact that the dead were raised in the crypts, but that they were really just bone and incomplete skeletons, mitigated what could have been a very lazy premise. Some things that I think could have helped, though: More engagement with the actual White Walkers. If this is truly the last we encounter them, they were really only in one scene walking into the Castle. I would have liked to see them “commanding” battalions of wights and getting the reminder that if you kill a White Walker those that it has turned go down too. It would have been a nice little moment of reprieve in the battle too. Some more importance placed on the value of the Valeryian Steel blades throughout the battle. Maybe have Dany pick up Jorah’s and hold her own defense. Something to reinforce the motivation of the Night King before he met his demise. Maybe engaging with Bran in Three-Eyed Raven vision. Something to reinforce the looming disaster.

In her mind, she has fulfilled her purpose/destiny. I guess we're left to wonder that is. It obviously wasn't only to keep Jon alive. Was it to aid in the killing of the Night King? To save Arya? To empower Sandor? Speaking of Sandor... If there's any Lord of Light prophecy left to fulfill or explore, it would appear to be up to him at this point. I wonder if we will get a full Clegane bowl, and if he is now fully over his fire phobia. I hope somebody has the mind to pick up Jorah's Valeryian steel sword. Something tells me they're still going to be quite useful.

I'm.... Not sure how I feel about the Night King already being dead. On one hand it was the overarching theme of why we were telling this story, hence the prelude. On the other hand, we're all fall more invested in the political drama of the seven kingdoms. In either case. Incredible episode! We were all invested the whole way through

I completely agree with everything you've posted. I think there are bigger plans. And I really want to get on board with her, because there was a lot in Captain Marvel (the movie I really enjoyed). She just seemed to fit it a little too oddly with this movie, precisely for the reasons you mentioned. I think her character would have worked just a bit better for me if there was some key that she had to beating Thanos beyond just being incredibly powerful and fast. I don't know what that would be, maybe something with Mar'vell's warp drive, or some inside knoweldge of the Galaxy. For what it's worth I did generally enjoy her in the opening attack on Thanos and the conference call.

There’s a lot to unpack with what we’ve just seen. I’m glad I’ve taken some time to reflect. First off, my executive summary is that this film is a tremendous achievement, it delivers exactly where it needs to, does right by its characters, and tells an enrapturing story. Seriously, I don’t think a single person in my theater got up during the film. Impressive bladder control, everyone! The key here is that the Russos know the characters and the themes so well. Everything Tony, Steve, and Thor does feels very real in this film. Despite Thor fully realizing his full potential recently, we saw the crack’s in his armor in the last film as he comes to terms with the reality of his present situation, so it’s not unreasonable to see him completely come apart in New Asagrd, and I’m so glad they didn’t have him do 15 Odin-Crunches and be back to full Thor-bod, it was good to see the impacts last the film. Steve being heroic throughout, but slightly more cynical than his 2012 alter-ego and knowing it was good, but I was most happy to see him take the selfish out at the end, he had deserved that. Tony’s words to Cap when he got back to Earth stung deep, but his conscience to take the risk for the good of civilization was his character coming full circle. Outside of “the Trinity” Natasha was probably the best she’s ever been, and certainly the best outside of Winter Soldier. Rocket was beat for beat perfect and has grown under the Russo’s direction as much as anyone. Scott was a subtle MVP, I really enjoyed that he wasn’t completely comic relief, but that Rudd could deliver as needed (No Ant-Puns though) As far as the plot, Time Travel is always tricky, but I like that they approached the multiple time-lines theory, even if I think I may need to watch it one more time to nail everything down, but they way it set up the finale was totally worth it. Everything with how that played out from Hulk’s Snap was exceptionally well done. There were a few things that didn’t work for me: - The Hulk/Banner compromise felt really out of left field to me. One of the better subplots of the last film was Bruce and the Hulk at odds and not working together. Bruce just over-rides that with some “time in the Gamma Lab” the visual execution of it was one of the only down items for me too. - Captain Marvel just hasn’t worked for me. I know we get her response to the pager in the mid-credits scene of her own film, but she’s just…there from the beginning in this movie, and we don’t get a feeling for how the team is supposed to accept her, then she’s gone for the bulk of the move and returns in just less than Deus Ex Machina fashion. I think they struggled with how much help she should be and how powerful she needed to be. - The Ronin plot similarly felt a little tacked on (or that they had to edit out some stuff to make it work). Obviously we got the beats, but just as quickly as Clint is sent off on his vengeance mission, he's reformed and back in the fold. All in all those are very minor things, however, and don’t take away from the accomplishment of the film. Like Infinity War, it doesn’t work as a stand-alone, but a film for those of us who have been big fans it’s a satisfying conclusion. I’m very glad they didn’t set anything further up at the end. Though I would have like to see a lingering “Thank You Stan” over the metal working at the close of the credits. I can’t wait to see it again!

When 2014 Thanos and Gamora (because all the Galaxies use the Christian Calendar thankfully) began accessing 2019 2023 Nebula's memories via 2014 Nebula's hardware my friend whispered in my ear: "Damn automatic cloud backup, spilling your secrets to your family." I giggled through the remainder of that scene. . I enjoyed Joe Russo playing our audience surrogate in the counselling session. I chose to believe he was splaying the same character as the doctor who saves Fury in the Winter Soldier, which is why he was at Caps group. . Finally. A couple more Community cameos. Ken Jeong (non-speaking) and Yvette Nicole Brown looking all sorts of fabulous in 1972!

The official cast for the new Bond (Bond 25 was released this morning) The Bond Twitter account revealed each individually but this Rotten Tomatoes Tweet has the summary. I know Rami Mahlek Plays the main villain, but oh how I wish it was actually Billy Magnussen who has turned his former College Frat into an International Criminal Organization. At least there have to be pretty good odds that he actually gets punched in the face.

Charlie's "Fancy!" To Dre mentioning that Rhonda lived "off-Crenshaw" while everyone else "Oooooooo"-ed got a good chuckle out of me. And his helpful offering up of all the Church offerings of Black neighborhoods was the capper. There was a tonal shift with respect to the neighborhoods discussion though, and while I was glad to see Dre finding himself and showing off the culture to his kids, it deviated from the opening thesis that black neighborhoods are places white folks won't visit for safety concerns. The show has a the ability to reach a large white audience regarding issues impacting the black community. So, perhaps selfishly as a white-person, I would have liked to see the Dre bring a couple of his white friends into the neighborhood too. Expose them to feeling like a minority when no-one looks like you, and show off what the community can offer.

On my re-watch last night, this was one of my biggest take-aways. That scene was almost forgotten because of just how much came after it. But it represented the best of what the council should be. Jamie wasn't there to kiss anyone's ass, those at the head table listened to their counselors, and everyone made valid points. Even Robert simply looked to his council to back up the decision he had already made. The acting in the scene is terrific too. All the shade-throwing of episode 1 is done with in favour of actual discussion. And of course we get some more Bran awkwardness, which has become one of my favourite bits of the 8th season. Given that it then did lead to the good scene between him and Jamie in the Godswood, and him being involved in the war council, I'm glad they did move the character forward though. Speaking of the War Council, how freaking intimidating did those troop layouts look. It's basically the wall marching on Winterfell.

Here are my Dead Pool Rankings for Sunday's big "Battle of Winterfell" episode. I think we're all pretty certain not everyone makes it out alive. Who do you think is most likely to die a (hopefully) heroic death at the battle. Beric (perhaps at the hands of Melissandre) – the only thing keeping him around would be to pay off and Lord of Light Stuff Ghost – Oh you thought, the showed him for the first time in 3 seasons not to kill him off? Brienne – She’s fulfilled her destiny Bronze Yohn Royce/Maester Wolken – in a last defense of the crypts and/or Sansa specifically Theon in the last stand to save Bran before AeJon "dragon rescues" him Davos – He’s quickly run out of things to do, and unless we need a smuggle into Kings Landing again, the opportunity to sacrifice himself for Shireen stand-in is high Drogon – symbolism would be very high especially if Drogon and Wight-Viserion battle to the death Tormund/Pod – perhaps a sacrifice to save Brienne, but I think it carries more weight if they fail in saving her Arya – A stark finally gets to go out heroically, but she may have too much plot armor at this stage, especially with the ability to carry a Baratheon/Stark child. Varys – getting his hero’s turn in the Crypts Jorah – He’s somewhat expendable at this point, but so quickly returned from the Grey Scale epsiode and equipped with Heart’s Bane, I think he’ll be safe. Sandor – He’s so interconnected to everyone I think he rides it out Dany – Only as a method to inspire the remaining forces, facilitated by the Aegon Targaryean reveal. Some recognizable Wight (Benjen; the reluctant that supportive Wildling from Hardhome; Lord of Bones; etc) Gilly – Sam and Little Sam are required to go on without her, but I don’t know what would lead to her death Edd – I think he’ll survive to re-establish the Night’s Watch, which becomes tasked with tearing down the wall completely Jamie – still too integral Lyanna Mormont – If her bravery finally gets the best of her, I guess it sets of Jorah to regain House Mormont, but I think she has co-warden of the North potential Grey Worm – It would be devestating to Dany, Missandei, Tyrion, and even Jorah, but there’s still this outsiders in Westeros angle to pay off Nymeria – If the Dog Army saves the day, maybe Nymeria dies saving Arya Viserion – Only as a setback to the Night King’s next advance Night King – Only if the remaining 3 episodes become the resolution of 7 Kingdoms show Off-the-Board due to Plot Armor (AeJon; Tyrion; Sansa; Bran; Gendry; Mellissandre; Missandei; Sam; Little Sam; Rhaegall) Not currently able to be influenced by this plot (Cersei, Qyburn, Euron, Golden Company Commander, The Mountain, Yara, Dario, Elira, Robyn Arryn, Edmure, Bronn)