dwmarch
-
Posts
1.5k -
Joined
Content Type
Blogs
Gallery
Downloads
Discussion
Posts posted by dwmarch
-
-
Well, two episodes in and I am not sure what exactly is supposed to be going on. There are a lot of elements of Clear and Present Danger in this but it is definitely not a 1:1 adaptation. CaPD's bad guy was the National Security Advisor who was trying to score political points for the President during an election year. He got the CIA and Chavez's team involved in counter-narcotics operations in Colombia but things didn't go according to plan and Jack Ryan got pulled in (from the Intelligence Directorate) despite the other leadership at CIA actively working to keep him out of it. There are elements of all of this in here but they've put it in a blender and added some other really random stuff.
Clancy's books mention Mormons a few times so I guess the man himself had some LDS friends. And so far we have seen two LDS-branded bibles, one in Myanmar and one at Miller's place. I think this might be the first spy thriller I have ever seen where Mormons are the villains.
Cathy's dad is a villain as well and there's no way he's a Mormon because if he was, she wouldn't be having sleepovers at Jack's place. Weird choice for a villain. Cathy's dad is described in the books as an asshole but there is never any great detail to it other than him thinking Jack is a bum because he does CIA stuff instead of making real money in the private sector.
The editing in the second episode was weird. Miller meets Jack at Generic Park, leaves in a panic and goes straight home. Chavez is there and should be able to figure out where he is going. Cathy's dad shows up, ties Miller to a chair, force-feeds him pills and booze and manages to get away clean even though Chavez should have been right behind Miller. Jack and Greer show up a few minutes later. Is this show going to be like 24 where the assassins are omnipotent and we're always literally a minute behind them?
-
3
-
-
1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:
Who??
Toby Leonard Moore, who plays Hudson on this show also plays Bryan Connerty on the show Billions where he had a conflict with Paul Giamatti's Chuck Rhoades. Billions has a similar soapy sort of vibe as this show but none of the violence. Since both shows have been on for several years now there have been a bunch of actors who have been in both, including Harry Lennix (Cooper) and Amir Arison (Aram).
-
1
-
2
-
-
I think Congressman Hudson was just putting the finishing touches on the "Cooper's Treason" (feat. The Ghost of Lizzie and the FBI's Least Wanted) mixtape he's about to drop. It's going to be straight fire!
-
1
-
2
-
-
Out of all of the seasons of The Blacklist I think this one has actually been my favorite. I'm enjoying watching Reddington dismantle his own empire from within while simultaneously tricking the FBI into incriminating themselves.
Despite the tie-in to the earlier episode where Red took Lizzie to Latvia for "answers", I think this episode is a bit of a retcon. I'm not going to go back and check but there is no way Red has had access to all of this intel all along. I'm also reasonably sure buildings like the US Capitol are swept for electronic listening devices randomly and often.
-
2
-
-
2 hours ago, jcbrown said:
Table for one, I guess. I actually really enjoyed this episode.
Save a chair for me, this is my favorite SNW episode so far and one of the better episodes of Star Trek that I have seen in the past several years/series.
There were two absurdities that took me out of the episode a bit. First was that bridge, the "Lake Ontario" bridge. To cross the lake and connect to the US (if the start point is somewhere near the CN Tower) yes there will be some cost overruns to put it lightly.
The other bit was with the cops letting Kirk off with a warning. Canadian cops are polite but they will absolutely tell you to fuck off if you try to interfere with them while they are doing their jobs. But I feel like The Voyage Home had some similarly silly bits so I'll call it a tribute and leave it at that.
I also thought hustling chess was a weird way to make money but again, it's a dramatic shortcut so we don't have to see them get real jobs and work for 30 years to be able to afford a parking spot in downtown Toronto. Maybe they found a wallet while they were wandering all over the place.
Canada finally gets some Star Trek love! Not only do we get the CN Tower, we get a Roots store, Canadian money (yes, it is colorful and made of polymer) and a cop holding what is clearly a Tim Horton's cup. We also get poutine although the version they were eating did not look like it had cheese curds on it. Still, this episode was so Canadian it bleeds maple syrup.
Speaking of the Roots store, they don't have a biker-style leather jacket listed currently but the leather jackets they do have right now start at $900 CAD. They would be secured to the hanger by a steel cable and the staff would have to come over and unlock them for you to try one on. You would not be able to just put one on and walk out with it. But I appreciate that SNW does not want to be the show that teaches people how to shoplift. I thought it was great that La'an brought the jacket to the future with her. Apparently they are still in style because while Pike noted she wasn't in uniform, he didn't ask La'an why she was wearing such an ancient style.
But while she did bring back her Roots haul, she also left a handgun behind in Khan's room. She sets it down, has a chat with him and leaves without picking it back up. Was that supposed to happen?
I appreciated the canon patching here, where the Romulan explains that history pushes events in particular directions. This is why SNW doesn't quite line up with TOS or even Discovery for that matter. All the temporal shenanigans across all the series have put us a few universes over from the "prime" universe if there ever was one.
-
9
-
3
-
4
-
-
It sounded like Fury dropped a Captain Planet reference to Rhodey when they were talking. If so, that was hilarious.
I'm not sure why G'iah was sneaking around when she could have just disguised herself as anyone really. Disguise as Gravik if they see you, ask them why they are talking shit about you.
Speaking of which, I wonder if the soldier who got tortured actually did get killed in the woods or if he was faking his injuries and took the place of the guy who was supposed to shoot him.
-
4
-
-
Season 7 official trailer:
-
Alright, another Golden Lizzie where she is mentioned but not seen!
The storyline with Ressler's NA buddy took a decent turn. I thought for sure the guy would turn out to be some social engineer who was going to manipulate his way past Ressler's defenses to put the team in danger yet again. Putting him in the employ of the Congressman was something I wasn't expecting.
One thing they never came back to was how Dembe managed to kill that one suspect who turned out to be innocent. They never mentioned the idea that the guy might have been allergic to the metal of the handcuffs.
Herbie's safety suit looked more like a beekeeper's outfit than something you'd see at the CDC.
Another Breaking Bad actor showed up! That guy who always plays a gangster! I think he was Don Eladio on BB. I wonder if number one on the blacklist is going to be Heisenberg.
-
1
-
3
-
-
I have to wonder about the set design. Why have a courtroom where the judges are separated from the lawyers by what appears to be a giant hole in the floor? Has Starfleet's JAG office had too many people rush the well? Are we seeing the consequences of the Bailiff Revolt of 2205? (I think they may have re-used the Starfleet Command set from Discovery which had a similar giant hole in the middle of a meeting space)
If anyone was wondering why Spock referenced Gilbert and Sullivan, this was shown in one of the Short Treks. Spock and Una get stuck in a turbolift and end up singing karaoke while waiting to be rescued.
-
4
-
3
-
-
24 minutes ago, Trey said:
Who did the vet play or where was his cameo?
It's been a while since I have seen the episode but he was the translator.
-
1
-
-
Well, I didn't hate episode three but it was not my favorite either. The one bit that stood out to me as strange was when Hank Azaria's character insisted that his partner hand him a gun. Is he Jocelyn's personal security? If she's in danger does he just come in and start blasting? It didn't make a lot of sense other than to introduce a gun to the story so that it can show up again later.
I find Tedros obnoxious but I think he's supposed to be that way. He barks at the guy who works at the clothing store and that guy doesn't feel threatened so much as confused. He mispronounces carte blanche to see if anyone will dare correct him. He gets what he wants just through being the loudest, most aggressive character he can be. Any number of other characters should see right through this but I guess there has been a bit of setup to establish that these folks are pretty sheltered and live in a whimsical world of their own making. He says a famous producer is coming over. Well, that's amazing! He says his coke doesn't have fentanyl in it. What are the odds? But things are going differently now that he has arrived and some people's fantasies are sort of coming true so they are cutting him way too much slack.
I agree they should have thrown the hairbrush in the fire but I think Tedros using it on Jocelyn is supposed to be a reference to Scientology and other cult behavior. I vaguely recall that cults will get you to admit something terrible about yourself and then use that thing to keep you in line. It was interesting to see the other members of Tedros' cult saying yes to everything but having some clearly defined lines they won't cross as regards Tedros himself.
-
2
-
1
-
-
Episode 4 had a guest appearance from a Vancouver vet best known for Squish that Cat:
-
2
-
1
-
-
I liked episode 2. Jocelyn's handlers are ignoring her or humoring her most of the time, constantly pushing her around and demanding "sexy" from her in conditions that are the exact opposite. The first half of the episode is agonizing as they all treat her like a piece of meat but also insist that she's the problem and she should be grateful for all the shit they are giving her. And when she does knock it out of the park, these so-called professionals aren't even looking at her. She's trying her best, apologizing constantly and still attempting to soldier through even though she can't stop crying. The whole time all of this is going on, I'm in the audience feeling uncomfortable with having to watch her go through this and wondering when they are going to let her go. But instead of a big blowup they pull the plug when she's still trying to fulfill her obligations. It is difficult to watch but it is supposed to be.
Contrast this to when Tedros and friends come over. Instead of some weird superhero costume that she has to be sewn into, she's just wearing a simple but undeniably sexy leather mini and a tank top. Everyone is getting along, having a good time (although with the added assistance of booze and drugs) and folks just start having sex because they end up in the mood. After that release (which she seems quite happy about) she ends up making some incredible music with some folks who are just effortlessly talented. There's no one shouting directions or telling her she's doing it wrong. She's just happy and comfortable and safe (for now) and listen to the result! But no one will hear the result because they're not recording it. The back half of the episode goes by a lot quicker than the first half, as wonderful moments in a person's life tend to do.
-
2
-
-
Reddington sure comes across as a noble criminal here, doesn't he? What is in the crates? Is it guns? Drugs? People? No, nothing so nefarious! It's expensive wine and Red is just trying to avoid paying the exorbitant import taxes on it. How very American for his crime to be a tax revolt!
So why would four assistant directors of the FBI need to get together to sign off on Dembe anyhow? Is that how personnel decisions are made there? Maybe Cooper convinced the other three it was a good idea by passing a joint around?
When Hudson decided to leave his envelope behind I knew there was going to be some variation of DEEZ NUTS in it. He is a great social engineer and he's much smarter than the task force. I am rooting for him!
Lizzie is mentioned but not seen. We need a term for this, Golden Lizzie or something. I wonder if this is because Hudson found himself filled with irrational anger every time he looked at her picture.
-
1
-
-
5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:
I honestly have no idea what happened to the two gym guys writing FU on the car and didn't care enough to rewind and see if anything happened. I probably should do that, but in the end they had no relevance to the story line.
Since it's in the last episode and folks might not binge the whole season before coming into this thread, I'll spoiler code it.
SpoilerThe "twins" from the competing gym equipment company are trying to break into a vehicle (either Luke's or his ex-wife's) but Boro has planted a bomb on it which they end up setting off. It is assumed they are killed in the blast although only a few minutes later we find out that large explosions are not necessarily fatal on this show.
-
1
-
-
I thought her handlers went in the wrong direction when trying to do damage control on her selfie. They immediately started talking about revenge porn but this was while they had the nudity coordinator locked in a bathroom because Joss is not shy. One person even mentioned that she was the one who took the photo. So she seems to have been a willing participant and she didn't even seem upset that this photo was out there. I thought they were going to reveal that she leaked it herself.
I must also wonder if this would be a scandal if it happened to a celebrity in the real world. Every freaky thing that human beings can think of to do has probably also been done by a celebrity. There is also a thriving community of people out there who use Photoshop (and now AI art) to turn any and every celebrity into the porn version of themselves. If I want to see a picture of any celebrity in a similar situation I'm sure I wouldn't take much time or effort to find such a thing. I think the handlers would have been better off saying the photo was a fake. Especially since once things are on the internet, they never come off.
-
5
-
-
5 hours ago, paigow said:
Congressman Hudson's investigation escalates when he recruits help from within the FBI.
Let me guess, he went down to the FBI's firing range. Testimony and receipts were provided to show that despite millions of dollars in training time and 9mm ammo, Ressler still can't hit the broad side of a barn if he's standing inside of one. That is going to be tough to argue against.
-
3
-
-
I finished watching all of the episodes and I found the show to be fun as well. The humor was probably the best part and I'm glad they kept it lighthearted. The show didn't even try to be realistic but that is not a bug, it's a feature.
The sudden but inevitable betrayal at the end made me sad though.
Always enjoy seeing Gabriel Luna and I think he's great as the baddie here. Also great to see Tom Arnold as the gleeful torture specialist.
To expand on the True Lies comparison, I find that this show is to True Lies (the movie, haven't watched the series) what Terminator 3 is to Terminator 2. Basically the same story except one is by James Cameron and the other... isn't. Nonetheless, I didn't hate it. If there is another season I'll watch.
-
8
-
-
Interesting. With the last season it was obvious what they were adapting but with this one, it's getting into some of the later Clancy novels and seems to be a new plot altogether. Having said that, terrorists and drug dealers working together was in "Against All Enemies" which isn't actually even set in the Jack Ryan universe. It is labeled on Amazon as The Campus book one and there is a cameo in the end from a campus character but it also references things that cannot have happened in the Jack Ryan universe. The one specific reference I remember was
Spoilersomething to do with George W. Bush. There is no place where Bush could fit into the Ryan universe's weird perpetual Jack Ryan presidency. Seriously, Jack Ryan has been president in the books since 1993. There are a few brief breaks in his presidency but yeah, he's been President for 30 years and the authors (Clancy died in 2013 but at least 21 Tom Clancy books have been published since with more coming every six months or so) get around this by simply not mentioning it even though they do mention that most of the original characters are now grandparents.
I freeze-framed that bio of Ding Chavez and it says he was in BUDS (their spelling, it should be BUD/S). No, he was not. He was in the US Army (7th Light Infantry Division, "We Own the Night"). His best friend/father in law is a Navy SEAL but he most definitely is not. He is no less badass for this though. I have no idea why the show would change his background other than to make him into this show's John Clark (which I think they are hinting at with his torture of bad guys) or because production-wise the Navy is easier to work with?
The bio also lists CIA - RAINBOW which tells me they didn't read the friggin' book. Rainbow was an international anti-terrorist squad. It was not a part of the CIA or even the US government per se. I know Rainbow is charitably described as "not Clancy's best work" but the organizational structure was something the man had no problems writing about in excruciating detail.
I thought I saw one second of Cathy in there, it will be good to have her back.
Other than that, we'll see how this goes. I wasn't expecting a season 4 so soon after season 3 and I hope this show ends on a high note. I don't want them to end with Debt of Honor's ending which I will spoiler code for those who have not read it yet:
SpoilerDebt of Honor ends with the entire US government wiped out (by a jet crashing into the Capitol no less) and Jack Ryan, the new Vice President, being the only survivor.
If we're not coming back for more, let's have this end with him getting married to Cathy and buying a house out in Chesapeake Bay. I'd be okay with that.
-
I'd mix up the pairings. Put Inara and Wash together for an episode, they didn't have much interaction on the show. Maybe have Simon and Zoe go on an adventure together. I'd love to see a mission/heist that requires the involvement of a Companion but Inara can't risk being seen so Kaylee has to go undercover and pretend.
I would imagine they probably would not still be flying Serenity 20 years later (the ship was visibly falling apart the last time we saw it) so I imagine the first episode or two would be getting the band back together from various planets. Did Simon go back to working at a hospital somewhere? And if so, back in the Core or is he doing frontier medicine somewhere? River after 20 years should be thoroughly badass but maybe she's tending a garden somewhere. Has anyone managed to knock any sense into Jayne in 20 years? He can play a convincing badass in a suit and tie or at least he did on Angel. And how about Inara? Is she still in the Companion ecosystem or is she doing something totally different? I think there are a lot of fun directions to go in.
-
2
-
-
Hey, would you look at that? Siya straight up asked Reddington to tell her the truth even though it might be painful and he actually told her!
No idea who Siya's mother is but I'm pretty sure this means her father is
SpoilerEmperor Palpatine
So Red did this whole thing with the port deal just to get a few seconds with his old bodyguard? I know this show is finally tying up some loose ends but I wasn't curious about this one.
Red's government homeboy from Alaska (who loves the puppies!) can influence which contractors are used for port projects in Florida? None of that makes any sense. Well, except the puppies.
Man, Dembe was pissed. Did someone steal his dowry?
As much as I have been pooping on the budget crisis storyline thus far, I think I'm coming around to the side of the auditors here. You have this FBI task force that is just sitting on ass all day when all they need to do to catch cases is literally ask the person right next to them? Is the America of The Blacklist having a crime shortage or something? They can't figure out anything to do except scratch their asses while hoping Reddington will come around and bless them with some busywork to keep the bean counters away? They have no work to do and they still keep showing up so they can justify collecting a salary? I'm pretty sure number one on the Blacklist is going to be the Reddington Task Force itself!
-
I have only seen the first episode so far but it feels like a weird sequel to True Lies except without James Cameron's involvement. I don't love it yet but I'll watch a few more episodes to see how it goes. The cast is good and there's plenty of comedy so I'll hope for the best.
-
I liked Stevenson's take on The Punisher in the fantastically gory, over the top Punisher: War Zone. Also loved his villain character in Big Game, where he is hunting President Samuel L. Jackson and a kid who is doing his coming-of-age ceremony. I'm looking forward to seeing Stevenson in Ahsoka and I'm sad we won't see him in anything else.
-
5
-
-
The most important thing we learned here is that Red has a guy he calls to find new homes for neglected pets and this guy will murder people to accomplish his goals. This makes me feel slightly better about some of the animals this show has abandoned over the years although we don't know how long Red has been doing this for.
I liked how we get a bunch of Reddington side stories crammed together with very little detail. It was a good way to make use of this show's clearly diminished budget.
I'm still not sure what to make of Siya's plot but it seems to me like Reddington is proactively anticipating any moves she might make. Having her switch from her service weapon to one of his choice may have been a setup for something. This could either put her fingerprints on a dirty weapon or puts her service weapon in the hands of someone who won't hesitate to give the FBI an exact copy while doing something nasty with the original.
This show has been on long enough that I guess it would not work at all to have Meera Malik's original actress (Parminder Nagra) come back to play her younger self but I don't think the new actress looks anything like her and it distracted me the whole time. Is "Meera Malik" a code name like James Bond and it just gets passed from agent to agent along with any children that might get orphaned along the way?
Once again this show has a weird idea of what a budget is. The congressman seems to think the rate at which the Task Force spends money is unacceptable. Again, they would get their allocation at the beginning of the fiscal year and how they spent it would be up to them. Also, the idea that they are spending too much is weird considering how much we have seen them mostly just sitting around lately. Was it that expensive to put Herbie on the payroll? I think this plot would work better if they could include a line about the Task Force repeatedly blowing through their budget, requesting more and the requests always being approved without being scrutinized. It would still be BS but it would sound better.
The Idol - General Discussion
in The Idol
Well I didn't hate it but I am very confused. Jocelyn was the villain the whole time? I can sort of see that but yeah, count me in amongst the people who thought Plan B meant Tedros being driven out to a remote location and shot dead. Hell, just take him to the other side of the property and shoot him dead and if the neighbors complain tell them you're testing out a version of a song with gunshots in it. It's the Teddy's Dead remix, it's straight fire!
Same thing most of the audience said around episode 2: "Fuck this noise, I'm out!"
I think she was actually in on it. If it has been Jocelyn all along, she knew how to manipulate Tedros into manipulating Xander so she could get rid of Rob. But not before getting that dick because she's a truly nasty pop bad girl™️.
The one thing I found myself wondering about is if they did indeed end up using the facial picture as the album cover. After they mentioned that idea they never brought it up again.
What a weird show. I'm almost tempted to re-watch it from the beginning to see if my Jocelyn is the villain theory holds. Almost.