dwmarch

There was an early episode of Better Call Saul that was going to be titled Jell-O (to match all the other episode titles ending in O) but Jell-O said no. I'd assume something similar happened here.

This has been on my mind since season 1 and the opening sequence here pretty much confirmed it for me: these corridors are impossible. If we tried drawing them out as we saw them, they would loop back onto themselves. I never noticed that until you pointed it out. It makes me wonder if they aren't actually in a basement at all. That was the big surprise of the episode. I hope we get to see more of Helly's outside life and what happened after the party. I also liked that Irv knew she was lying immediately. "A night gardener?" They are really playing up the OJ Simpson vibe this episode. He looks friendly but he will stab you. Mark was extra creepy in a few scenes too. I am mildly curious as to what Mark did to the kitchenette but I think leaving it to our imaginations works just as well. I also think it's hilarious how Mark quickly figured out the logistics of having a wife and a girlfriend simultaneously. It's interesting to see the progression of the Innies from basically being clueless infants in the first season to being temperamental toddlers in the second season.

The episode seems to have fallen off the back of a truck or so I have heard. To keep it spoiler-free I will simply say this first episode raises a lot more questions than answers and I really hope we get some answers in the next one!

Interesting to see a "Harlem's Paradise" billboard in Times Square in that trailer. That is the club Luke Cage owns (as of the last time we saw him).

I am getting the impression that the Supervisor is dead. Like, long dead. The voice we heard in this episode is just a prerecorded standard issue thing that no one has heard for a long time because no one has been showing up to pick up the credits. We also get a hint of this from the grass over the landing field. Basically I think At-Attin missed the news about changes in the surrounding galaxy and the planet has been on societal autopilot for way longer than anyone anticipated. I loved the shot of Jod letting the credits fall onto his head like Tribbles bouncing off of Captain Kirk.

I wasn't sure what to expect after last episode but I think this was one of the best episodes yet. Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, whose work on The Mandalorian I also thought was great. It looks to me like a significant chunk of KB is droid parts. That part Wim took out of her head looked large and also like it was pushed in quite a ways. It also seems like when she hasn't been able to maintain it properly, her empathy shuts off. Apparently this gear is the result of an unspecified accident and I'm okay with leaving it at that because I don't need to see whatever it was that happened that took a big chunk of the back of her head off. Having said that, I must also point out the Star Wars soft landing physics that have appeared in other shows as well. Those kids should all be dead after riding on the outside of ships that are crashing around. They get flung off into the dirt and they're just fine. Any broken bones? Nope, even though bones should be all that is left of you little squishies. Eh, we'll say Wim is force-sensitive and is using the force to protect them without even knowing it. Speaking of Wim, I thought it was hilarious that he fell a little bit in love with KB when she called him "Jedi". The scene with Neel trying to climb and not doing so great reminded me of Full Metal Jacket when Pvt. Pyle is having trouble negotiating the obstacle course. I half expected Fern to start yelling "ARE YOU QUITTING ON ME? ARE YOU?!" Hey, did those pirates survive an acid bath like it ain't no thing? Maybe they're not so dumb after all. They also came prepared to deal with 33. I also thought it was funny that the pirates showed Jod some cargo getting launched out an airlock just in case he had forgotten what it might be like to get jettisoned into space. I can see the pirates doing it just for theatrical value though.

Marc Blucas is in the news today for a tragic reason. His mother in law, Dayle Haddon died from carbon monoxide poisoning at his house: https://news.yahoo.com/erie-native-confirmed-second-victim-204517057.html His father is still in the hospital in critical condition per the article.

My Superman lore is a bit out of date, can someone tell me more about the SuperPuppy? The dog obviously has powers but is it from Krypton? They have dogs just like Earth dogs except superpowered? Or was there some accident/incident on Earth that turned a regular dog into SuperDog?

Her parents mention that they have lost the signal to her "life monitor" which I assume is that piece of hardware on her head. If they don't explain it beyond this, I will assume it's something she has as a result of an accident or a health condition. But since it seems to be useful in various ways, I would imagine we'll hear more about it sooner or later.

Those Delta snipers were the MVPs. I have a feeling they were a tribute to Delta Force snipers Shughart and Gordon whom we know from Black Hawk Down. Speaking of Delta, did we get a tiny reunion between Cruz and the Delta guy who beat her up early in the first season? Loved that incredible, cinematic battle. The CIA has an optimistic definition of "open borders" where Iran is concerned. Yes, you can roll in with a small force and ruin the day of a convoy. But that door slammed shut pretty fast and would have stayed that way if not for the timely intervention of an airstrike.

My only complaint is that this episode was so short. The first one was 45 minutes, this one was 30 or less. I would pay actual money to see a live-action Kyle Katarn! I played Dark Forces back when it was new and the only Star Wars that existed was the OT. Edit: also could not help but note an Andor reference when SM-33 asks the kids if they are from Aldhani, which he describes as a "sulphurous bog world". Erm, that's now how I remember it...

I don't think he is. I've seen this trope before in Homeland and Frederick Forsythe novels. There's always one dedicated agent who has a secret asset that they can't put into the files at HQ because if they do the bad guys will find out. If anything, I think Josie is the mole. The way she said "they know" to her dad suggests that she is not considering herself a part of they. And it would be weird for her to say "they know" if she doesn't know. She knows exactly who her father is and she has known the whole time. It would be kind of hilarious if the season ended with her and Cruz running off together under the protection of the Cartel (although I doubt it because they reminded us in this episode that Cruz has her own reasons to hate drug dealers). Nah, any character played by Zoe Saldana is going to be super-resilient. She'll slap a bandage on that wound and spit the bullet out like the Terminator. She might wince once or twice next episode and then she'll be just like again. (Kidding of course, I remember Cruz getting beat up early in season 1 and sporting the bruises from that for most of the season) Also couldn't help but notice this is how we get Joe to stop yelling at everyone all the time. Fortunately the CIA higher-ups are ready to take up the mantle for her and boldly declare that their bosses ought to fuck themselves! Way to keep the home fires burning team!

One thing that took me out of the story a bit was the mention by various characters of how "OMG, the Cartel has helicopters now!" Umm, I'm pretty sure people have been using helicopters to smuggle drugs around for the entire history of helicopters. I think what they meant to say was along the lines of the Cartel not being known for fielding MH-6 Little Bird Special Operations helicopters that have twin M134 Miniguns. But it would not surprise me at all to find out any Cartel anywhere had modified a civilian helicopter into an attack version by bolting guns onto the side of it. It's not exactly a new idea either. Another thing I didn't love was Joe's temper tantrum. I get why she had it but it makes me wonder how she ever got this far in her career if she has a tendency to go off like that when something shitty happens. Because it was also made very clear in this episode that shitty stuff happens all the time, everywhere in the world. Also, Joe's daughter still has that same boyfriend who has been dubbed "champion of heavy petting" or something. Um, did we forget that plot last season where your daughter found herself unexpectedly pregnant and then suddenly not pregnant due to a car accident? Did we just decide that never happened? He didn't knock her up by petting her! It's a common enough thread in military/spy thrillers to almost be its own genre. The Cartel teams up with terrorists (usually but not always of the Islamic variety), there is some brutal attack on US citizens and/or officials and the US responds in anger by sending in Special Forces. But things go wrong and the politicians lose their nerve, leading to soldiers/sailors getting killed unnecessarily in the attempted (and usually unsuccessful) ass-covering. Color me surprised if this season doesn't play out exactly like this. Aside from the infiltration plot, this season is playing out a lot like Clear and Present Danger so far.

It has become hilarious to me how karate is the source of and solution to all of life's problems in this show. We got another couple of glimpses at the weird karate aspects of law enforcement in this universe. For example, if someone is being unruly on an airplane and you use karate to knock them out, the police at your destination will give you an escort to wherever you are going. But in Barcelona, unauthorized karate on city streets is responded to immediately by the police. Agreed, there might be a perfectly reasonable explanation for who that guy was. It's a very sitcom setup for comical misunderstanding leading to unnecessary conflict.

This feels like Clear and Present Danger with all the inter-agency bickering. In fact, there's a similar scene in the book where a Navy officer figures out what is going on because the CIA isn't being particularly discreet. I also feel like some of this drama may be to lull actual cartels into a false sense of security. I remember reading an article from someone in the intelligence community that said post 9/11 all agencies were mandated to share intel. This led to situations where a local police force would get a heads up from the NSA saying "we can't tell you how we know but we think you should stop this particular vehicle and check what is in the cargo area." For the purposes of the show I guess we are intended to suppose that these agencies have all crawled back into their own silos but in real life I'd be surprised if the DEA's data was a month out of date. The other parallel being "we don't do this because we love it, we do this because it needs to be done." I don't get her open hostility towards Kyle either. He's a very important part of her team but Joe has to keep being reminded that they are on the same team. I guess it will be more meaningful at the end when they all go in for a group hug or something.