Dandesun

I think the sitcom premise is over. They really don’t have a new decade to go to and with the Agatha reveal and Monica’s presence with Darcy and Vision on the way... now it’s time to start putting things right. And there remains the threat of SWORD just outside...

Fucking brilliant. They left the reveal long enough that a lot of us were wondering... is Agnes a part of this? She has to be, right? But with the last episode that confidence was shaken. Wnda was doubting herself, questioning herself, Vision was doubting... he had Darcy there to tell him some truths and even if I have no clue how Darcy knew the details, I don’t care. She flat out said what they had was real. AND!!! We got Spectrum!!! Monica Rambeau is the Real Deal!! That ending. *screams in WandaVision*

Today's credits were full on Malcom in the Middle which started January of 2000. But check the lyrics: Wanda WandaVision Don't try to fight the chaos; Don't question what you've done The game can try to play us, don't let it stop the fun Some days it's all confusion, Easy come and easy go But if it's all illusion sit back, enjoy the show Let's keep it going Let's keep it going Through each distorted day Let's keep it going Though there may be no way of knowing Who's coming by to play Dude... the layers!!

Were flashback Wanda and Pietro dressed as Natasha and Fury? And now I wonder if Wanda increasing the Hex will full on get Dr. Strange's attention. Is it strange that it was Woo who came across this at all in the first place? He was checking in on someone in Witness Protection, no one knows who he is, he comes to check things out because it's all 'hinkey' and stumbles across the Westview that no one seems to know exists. He apparently reached out to SWORD -- or presumably his superiors in the FBI did -- but Wanda had already busted into SWORD to get Visions body? Except that no one seemed to have eyes on the location at all... it took Monica getting sucked in and Woo, presumably, reporting that to get everyone else in. Let's just say that Dir. Hayward's part in this is also super duper hinkey. Also, tracking the vibranium decay to keep track of Vision... was that what they were doing to him? Were they extracting the vibranium from his body given that we know just how valuable that metal is? Vision didn't want to be made into someone's weapon... but if that's what they were doing, were they going to use it for anything else? Cataract is labeled 'Classified Weapons Intel' and Hayward does seem to be the same breed as General Ross who equated Bruce and Thor as misplaced nuclear weapons. By the way, good for Darcy for EMAILING WOO THE CATARACT FILES!! #Shero. Now, Strange MIGHT have been aware that something was going on and he MIGHT be observing from a distance but there sure as hell isn't anyone left in the Avengers to check it out, really. Tony and Natasha are gone. Steve is gone (wherever Old Man Steve is... I don't know.) Thor took off. Clint retired and got his family back so he's probably back in Iowa and has no desire to leave them. (Hopefully he's in therapy, too.) Scott Lang would have little to contribute. Professor Hulk... samesies and his relationship with Wanda was never great. Rhodey is military so he wouldn't have much to contribute, either. Carol is who knows where, she figures herself more as someone handling off world situations (which may be where Monica's ire comes from.) Sam is in couples therapy with Bucky and is, presumably, doing Falcon & Winter Soldier stuff elsewhere, dealing with Zemo. Who else is there? There aren't any Avengers anymore that I can tell. Wanda with Pietro... "I'm not some stranger and I'm not your husband. You can talk to me." That entire conversation was fascinating because it pointed out a bunch of things... How IS Wanda doing this? 'It's a pretty big leap from giving people nightmares and shooting red wiggly-woos out of your hands.' And 'You've handled the ethical considerations of this scenario as best you could.' THAT was interesting. Especially since Wanda still doesn't know how it started other than feeling completely alone and endless nothingness... which makes me wonder if she remembers being snapped somehow. It wouldn't surprise me, given her powers, and that would absolutely fuck her up. And the questions he was asking... was that Wanda questioning herself and allowing herself to express some reservations or was it something else poking at her? As much as I loved seeing Tommy zip around, I full on gasp-squeed when Billy used his powers for the first time. (Tommy actually showed up in the most recent issue of X-Factor to make out/spend the night with Prodigy but also quiz Northstar like crazy about being a super speedster. It was delightful.) Billy dressed as wee Wiccan was already giving me the feels... when he sensed what was going on with Vision and then stopped Tommy... holy crap I was filled with such delight. (Now age these babies up and bring me some Teddy!!) Agnes remains a mystery to me. Even as Vision released her from the Hex there was still something VERY night right about the constant "DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!" chant and the maniacal laughter. That shit was OFF. And Vision breaking out to try to help the people in Westview... is that or is it not very reminiscent of Ultron Vision basically doing the same for the people of Sokovia? Will this parallel to the scene of the grieving Wanda being rescued by Vision somehow? Damn, this is so good.

Yes, it does look a lot more traditional and I have to be honest, I'm sad about that. The weirdness of WandaVision is what I want from Marvel these days. Marvel has always gone down weird trajectories and pathways. To see it play out on screen is a delight. I mean, they could just have Sam actually be able to talk to birds. That's the kind of weirdness I'm looking for!

So, I had a battle with sleeping last night and when I found myself awake at 1:30, I decided to check to see if the new WandaVision was up. It was. My post earlier in this thread was immediately after watching at 2 something am. And weirdly, I didn't have any problems sleeping after that. Hm. Anyway. I, too, wondered why no one pointed out the elephant in the room regarding what SWORD was doing with Vision's body. Because that was not breaking into a tomb and running away with a mummy or something. Shit was going on in that room. And Wanda went in there with PURPOSE. I don't think that purpose was to steal and resurrect a body that was just in state somewhere. In fact, I'm not entirely convinced that Wanda did the resurrecting. Especially when it came to Sparky's demise and Agnes going 'You can do that?' But at the same time, when the boys were asking Wanda to 'bring him back' and then Vision came onto the scene 'bring who back?' Look, this could be straightforward as all get out and Wanda did resurrect them (although the questions as to how she could do that are brought up in series and they remain) but the questions are there for me. Agnes' place in all of this is the one I'm really wondering about. They still haven't identified her and that's noticeable because they've identified everyone else and she's looming large throughout the whole series. Director Dickhead full on fucked around and found out. Even if Wanda is a villain here and I'm not convinced this was some master plan of hers (I actually believe when she said she has no idea how this all started in the first place) but even if she is the villain the entire scene of her coming out of the Hex and confronting SWORD was fucking awesome. Also, I love the Hex. A) Darcy's reason for calling it that makes sense and B) and full on shout out to Wanda's Hex Bolts which were her original powers back during the Silver Age. I mean, they covered a wide spectrum of abilities like altering probability and nullifying other powers for a brief time but they were called Hexes or Hex Bolts pretty early on. So even if she doesn't have a 'funny nickname' they are fleshing her abilities out a bit more. The fight between Vision and Wanda was good stuff. Elizabeth and Paul are super killing it. They really are. Vision doesn't remember his life before Westview, Wanda doesn't know how any of this started... there is more to this story and I am so here for it. I never thought I was going to be invested in them but then Infinity War happened and I was stunned to care that much about them from so few scenes. This is furthering that... I find I am invested in them and I don't know how this will turn out and I really really like that. As to the cameo... all I had heard was that there was one and it was huge. I certainly entertained a few thoughts... some of which were way out there and I did NOT expect it to happen in this episode. Ian McKellan crossed my mind as waaaaay out there even if it didn't make any real sense to me because Wanda's heritage in the MCU is not what is in 616 and even with the MCU's success they changed Wanda's connections to Magneto in 616. Hell, in current X-Men continuity she is referred to as 'The Pretender Wanda Maximoff' and considered an enemy to the mutant nation of Krakoa. I considered the possibility of Chris Evan's Steve simply because he was the first to recognize exactly who she and Pietro were in Ultron and actually listened to them when they turned on Ultron. But I figured that was a long shot, too. Honestly, I figured the most likely was Dr. Strange coming in at the end as it's been made clear she's figuring into the next Strange movie in a big way. But I did NOT expect Evan Peters' Pietro AT ALL. THAT was a huge surprise and I LOVED it. I am so into this show.

Wow. I was not expecting that at all. This is some seriously compelling stuff.

I, too, love Tunnel of Love. I also flat out ADORE Magic. 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' is my 2nd favorite Bruce song, actually. It took me awhile to get to appreciate his first two albums. I really like 'It's Hard to be a Saint in the City' and 'For You' from the Greetings from Asbury Park. And I quite like 'New York City Serenade' from The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (as well as the aforementioned 'Rosalita' and 'Incident on 57th St.' Seriously, I can find something to love about every Bruce album, even the subpar ones. I can never hate Lucky Town because 'If I Should Fall Behind' is on it and that's just one of the most beautiful and real love songs ever written.

I'd say you're right... but I also cannot be objective about 'Thunder Road' and 'Jungleland.' Actually, I have a hard time quantifying Bruce albums because I think there's something I love unabashedly about all of them.

Stay mad about it. How many movies have there been about mediocre men falling up by virtue of their having a penis? I do like that this trailer acknowledges some of the bullshit. I'm looking forward to seeing it all play out.

Fandom is gonna fandom. I, too, do not see Bucky as a precious innocent... but he sure as fuck got screwed over big time in life. Nor do I see Bucky as an unstoppable juggernaut of power that can easily beat Steve or whatever because... no. He's not and he couldn't. I think MCU Bucky is such a tabula rasa that a lot of feelings can be superimposed on him by how dreamy one finds Sebastian Stan. *shrug* However, I do get an ENORMOUS kick out of the idea that they are full on going with Sam's "I do what he does, only slower" in the precious little I've seen of 'Falcon & Winter Soldier.' The idea of Bucky being the planner guy and Steve being that hot-headed spitfire was only ever hinted at in the movies but I applaud Sam continuing the tradition of 'Steve, don't do the thing' 'I'M DOING THE THING!' while Bucky wishes he were back in Wakanda with his goats or something. Let me get my jollies where I can. My UO about Groundhog's Day? I couldn't get through it once and have given up trying.

I didn't think it was a betrayal to Peggy. I just thought it was fucking weird. Actually, weird is being kind. Let's see... he was somewhat attracted to her in Winter Soldier and then found out she was an agent keeping tabs on him undercover which he was pretty salty about (especially given everything else going on with SHEILD at the time) and then the next time he sees her (presumably) is when he discovers she's Peggy's niece? Grand-niece? Great-niece? Whatever. And this is at Peggy's funeral. Then more shit goes down with the Bucky stuff and their escape and she brings him some intel and equipment and they kiss and then say it was overdue. WHAT?! And then... neither are ever mentioned again. Steve is suddenly deeply in love with Peggy who has become the love of his life and he goes back in time to be with her. Sure. Okay. FUCKING WEIRD.

This was interesting to watch. I particularly liked how it brought to light the questions we're really not asking about the body images. And some body transformations have been startling, Bale going from The Machinist to Batman Begins is a major one. Chris Evans is a kind of interesting case because he has said that getting into Cap shape got much more difficult as he got older. He seems to be one of those that has those naturally broad shoulders which not everyone has but I specifically remember watching the commentary track for Captain America: The First Avenger and it was mentioned that the scene where the pod opens and he's Big Strong Buff Cap was one of the first scenes they shot because he was in the fittest shape and wouldn't be able to maintain that over the course of filming. Training is one thing leading up to filming but once that happens they aren't able to keep the same schedule. I also remember Natalie Portman talking about Hemsworth having to do quite a lot to maintain the muscle mass through the course of the first Thor. And during the Avengers press junkets someone asked Evans and Hemsworth how much time they spent in the gym, and guessed like 8 hours a day, and both of them shook their heads and said that wasn't the way to go. You could only do a couple of hours in order for the workouts to have effect. Doing too much too often causes everything to break down. I recall Scarlett Johansson commenting on one of the various Marvel featurettes that she never lets herself get more than 5-7 pounds away from goal weight for the movies in case the call comes and you've got a start date. Keeping in shape is one thing... but damn, comic book characters are not drawn realistically so it gets very dicey when trying to get an actual human to replicate that.

Tina was a Hapsburg waiting to happen.

Wow. Somebody's playing Surtur with that burn. I found a lot of Loki's reasonings to be utter bullshit and holy shit his fangirls were a LOT. I felt that Ragnarok did a lot to balance out the dynamic of Thor and Loki. Finally Thor wasn't written as a lunkhead who kept falling for Loki's shit and their banter became a lot more enjoyable as opposed to Loki's so super duper smart and Thor's just muscle. I'm interested in the Loki show because it has the potential to be weird on a big scale and I hope they go there.

I saw A Christmas Story as a kid in the theater with a group from the neighborhood and it was fun. I enjoyed it. I've seen it a couple of times since. Enjoyed it. But I haven't watched it in years. I think about the time someone decided it was a Christmas Requirement and you couldn't escape it. It's actually quite similar to It's a Wonderful Life. I didn't see that movie for most of my life and I was never particularly interested in it, either. The fact that it was on constantly between Thanksgiving and Christmas cemented my ambivalence towards it. We counted one year and it was on 26 times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So... just about every day. It wasn't until I was in my 30s when I wasn't getting sledgehammered with it every holiday season that I decided to sit down and watch it. I did like it. It's a good movie. But even that one isn't one I feel like revisiting all that often.

The fact that Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate are going to be with us again makes us all the real winners here.

Why does it feel like there are 1000 Jason Aldean songs on this list?!

Come on people, it is ALL about the ass brooch on Rosemary's Carousel Club dress. Also, I have to express my disappointment that sequined gloved technology did not improve from 1954 to 1983. Rosemary's gloves are just the long version of Michael Jackson's and they're basically oven mitts. But at least she's got that ass brooch. Killer.

Loki as D B Cooper is a piece of brilliance I did not expect at all.

I refuse to accept any world where obvious local drag icons Blair and Dorian are anything but absolutely 100% accepting of their gay son/great-nephew. Dorian announced she was gay to win an election. Was it a lame story? Yes. Yes, it was. Although I still think it's funny that the two matriarchs of Llanview were basically duking it out over who was more progressive. Obviously, if they went in that direction with Jack, it would be been Todd being the unreasonable asshole like he was when Starr dared to grow up and become sexually active. I'd love it if they actually surprised everyone with the idea that Jack couldn't possibly confide in Todd that he was gay or bi because Todd would never accept it... only to have Todd actually love his son no matter what. They could do a whole thing with the 'giving Jack away and telling Blair he was dead' horror show and have Todd say something along the lines of 'I promised myself that I would never, ever hurt my son again.' Hell, Jack could have come out to Blair first and SHE could be worried about Todd's reaction and try to work with him to figure out where he stood on the concept. Not that they would ever do that. Soaps long ago lost the ability to do nuance or take their time with something.

My winemaker friend has that leg lamp and it's the first thing to go up in the tasting room. Whenever I see it, 'Fra-gee-lay! It must be Italian!'

Donald is so proud of Daisy. Whether it's her budding career as a designer or just being Daisy. When she screamed at Chronus and Storkules was all 'What power does she have to do that?' Donald replies 'That's all Daisy!' Also, Daisy's shriek of horror when Chronus ate Donald was kind of hilarious. The way Donald set up the houseboat was so cute!! But, yeah, the trashbags in the water was... not. "Am I swimming in garbage?!" A little insight into Daisy was fun, too. 'You do not need another man who needs saving!' Also the talking herself out of being with someone who needs a mother and can't figure out how to take the garbage out. 'But he's so cute and I really feel like I can be myself with him...' The rescue and kiss (even with her appalled reaction to Donald getting lava vomit on her) was so stinking cute. I LOVE THEM!!! I also really liked Della being the Mom in this episode, really doing her best to encourage and bolster the kids and then finally telling Scrooge off for his careless disregard for them. And finally? Goth Hades.

The Duke of Making a Mess fights a lot like Donald. Interesting that Donald's rage was channeled into protecting the kids and Huey also had to find a way to channel that rage to help the family. Louie and Violet in the underworld was delightful. Particularly how Violet was able to keep her cool despite her mouth being on fire. I did get a kick out of the fact that Louie had this whole con going but his actual identity was what the real deal was. I do wonder when Fenton is going to come face to face with Gandra Dee again. She's neck deep in FOWL while he's helping Darkwing Duck and St. Canard but those two have to meet up again at some point. I, too, wonder what the deal with that feather is. Will they clone Scrooge? It seems a little super villainy which is not something Bradford is into. Or is it some sort of biological DNA trick to get into the money bin or something? Who knows?!

Song of the South may be boring but there's a lot there that is just a mess. And a significant portion of that is behind the scenes, At this point, it's got this bizarre aura to it that 'it's the most racist thing in the Disney catalog' and will, therefore, never see the light of day. It would be nice if they could figure out a way to portray the folk tales that came to America via the slave trade and then shifted from retelling by slaves on the plantations and continued on in the antebellum, reconstruction and Jim Crow south in a manner that was respectful of the people that lived and survived those periods but I don't know how they can do it. Especially since most of what is left is what white people took from the black citizens in a post Civil War era and made money off of them. It's a complex situation that requires delicacy and patience and hard work and, frankly, I don't trust ANY corporation to handle it in the way it should be. And this corporation, and understand I have a generational love of Disney but I have to be realistic about them too, has also buried Song of the South as much as possible in the last few decades and yet also built one if it's most popular theme park rides around it. Then there's the merchandise. Make no mistake, they've made plenty of money off of Song of the South while simultaneously hiding it in the basement and decrying it's existence. I mean, good on them for finally deciding to change the theme to The Princess and the Frog, I guess? I think that's long overdue because even though Tiana is a regular feature around New Orleans Square at Disneyland (well, when it was open) she got overshadowed very quickly by the computer generated heroines that immediately followed. Tiana deserves a fuckton more love than she gets at the parks.