Lantern7

I forgot to ask: who had the episode title quote?

Shirin: [head pops up without realizing why]

There was a live thread? Son of a bitch. It’s early in the season, so I’m not invested that much. Why did Danni get the unanimous vote? And should we be a bit concerned three women have been sent to EoE? Looks like Rob lost the challenge for real. For some reason, I was thinking he was throwing it in order to be sent to Amber. Probably doesn’t make sense, and I’m thinking they can “work” the game better from both sides. Still, his stacking the puzzle pieces was . . . well, puzzling. Looks like Tribal Council will always descend into chaos. Everyone emptying their bags was new. Apparently, they got identical bags. Denise managed to hide her idol half very well. However, when she found both halves with Ben nearby, I could hear most of the posters protest: It’s sad that Natalie and Amber didn’t get the clue immediately. I got it, and I’m dense AF. Natalie gets another token by selling Jeremy what I like to call the Eric Cartman Advantage. “Screw you guys, I’m goin’ back to camp!” How many tokens would Natalie need to make a big impact? Of course, since this is Survivor, Amber might fall into a pile of those while wandering EoE, following the freshly-painted arrows. Tony risks life and limb for food. Sounds right. Like I said in Speculation, I reckon the first medical evacuation will come when someone is talking to Wendell, and he sneezes hard enough to send his toothpick straight into an open eye.

In regard to medical evacuation . . . I think it’ll happen when somebody is talking to Wendell, and he sneezes hard enough to propel his toothpick right into that person’s eye.

From this week’s episode thread: I really, really, really, really, REALLY hope not. The thought of Sue Dearbon getting any story elements from Jean Loring doesn’t sit well with me. Gail Simone has been doing good on her Flash stories. Barry and Ryan are cute as Science Bros.

Writer offers ten veterans of The Challenge that could excel on Survivor. The good news is two of them are ineligible. And as much as I’d like to see Hutty catch a few breaks . . . yeah, no way would he get cast. Way too normal.

Siba appeared at the end of the season premiere of Last Week Tonight. Well, part of her did. I know most of us prefer Daniel, but I feel bad for her about that angle.

When I heard "Eva McCulloch," I thought of the Mirror Master that Grant Morrison created, and I anticipated a Scottish accent that could dent steel. Way to let me down, show. In all seriousness, this was a good episode. We finally meet Sue Dearbon, and she is a certified badass, as well as Ralph's soulmate (Cecile? We can draw our own conclusions) Siri continues to be morally grey, but he wins over Barry. Before that last shot of him looking at the mirror and maybe seeing Iris, I don't think anything tipped him off. Given the medium used, it's not as if Siri would write stuff with Iris's non-dominant hand. That woud involve subtlety. As a result, Barry looks like a dope. Well, more of a dope. Eva did come off as a woman who had basically given up all hope after five years and over one thousand failed escapes. She doesn't come off as dumb for not thinking of taking the mirror to absolute zero because Iris leads a very unique life. And, naturally, Eva can control mirrors. She and Iris are still stuck, though, with Siri runs around. Ralph has grown on me. I liked the giant protective hand near the end.

Another fun-filled week in time travel, offset by forces killing John by literally turning a screw. And one would think having Gary as a sidekick would be enough of a punishment for his sins. I get why some people might not like Ava as a character, but she does show more dimensions than one might think. She's slowly adapting to the Legends' style of doing good, even as it involves rapidly sinking in quicksand. Sure, Zardashian was more or less the MVP, but Ava is learning. Of course, Sara left her in command because . . . what other option did she have? Aside from Ray "DC Comics' Dudley Do-Right" Palmer, the candidate pool doesn't even rise to ankle-level . . . and that's before Charlie flew off on her own. Nice that the writers remembered Charlie is a mythical creature. You think we'll be reminded that Mick was Chronos for an untold amount of years? Yeah, me neither. Even though John basically neutered violated "fixed" her ability last season, having her and John together on the same plot makes sense. A-plot caper involving Marie Antoinette negating the French Revolution and Ava and Zardashian run things while the guys dick around? Peak Legends. Of course Marie's headless body would wind up grabbing Mick's heat gun and reign havoc on the Waverider. And, of course, Zardashian learns a hard lesson after getting drenched in the magic perfume, and the only deterrent was her own brand perfume, which kills the sense of smell. Basically, you become Dewey Cox without macheting your brother in two. And Nate punches a dude with a S'More helmet. Why the fuck not?!? Seriously, is it distressing that social media is still a huge thing in the 2040's?

Here are the tweets: ”You look like you smell like piss. Damn Brit” ”John Oliver looks like a nasty sewer rat” ”John Oliver looks like a monster drink fucked Rowan Atkinson” That last one . . . impressive.

Is that their official derogatory nickname? It fits.

Try to pause when John shows mean tweets directed at him. I think one of those was along the lines of “A Monster energy drink fucked Rowan Atkinson.” Damn, that’s harsh. 😜

I always need an excuse to share sketches that I've gotten. Here's my first "modern" Watchmen sketch: Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt, on the cover of Doomsday Clock #12. . . . and the circle would be complete.

It's a shame we had a two-part story with two weeks between the episodes. Stuff happened, but I didn't feel too invested. Having a Legion of Super Heroes established on Earth-Prime just means I'd want the Legends to visit their era one day. After the Gen X'ers laugh at Val Armorr for calling himself Karate Kid, they can give verbal noogies to Winn for calling himself Toyman. @Trini . . . you're right about how the name can't be redeemed, but he'd be doing that in the 31th Century. Brainy being sketchy isn't the best of looks. Brainy performing Brainy-Fu and shouting out a long-dated meme? That makes up for it. I'm also "meh" on William. He and Kara looked good performing Toto . . . but isn't the appeal of Melissa Benoist is that she can have chemistry with anybody?

Best part about an episode before a holiday is that I don't have to DVR it. I get to watch "live," witness John giddily break stuff down for us, and then I got to see several replays of a shaved poodle's asshole as she stretches. Hey, ChiiJohn made the credits! Watching Canada name the guy behind their healthcare system be named the greatest Canadian of all time . . . all I could think was "Wayne Gretzky was born there, right? How is that remotely a contest?!?" Anyone else want the lady interviewing her to try and smack the stupid out of her? That would be Kennedy. It's sad . . . I don't know what happened to the bulk of MTV personalities that made the network relevant in the Nineties, but I know where she is . . . on Fox News. Crapping on a possible breakthrough on the health care system. Of course.

Saw it today. I don't think the movie's supposed failures at the box office can be chalked up to "Too Much Girl Power." No, I'm thinking that DC could have just made a Harley Quinn movie, but the finished product felt like other DC heroines have their stories mixed in, only the end result was more heterogeneous where things were still unique, and we didn't really get a team effort like some of us were anticipating. Does that make sense at all? I like Harley and her team, I was okay with the carnage and Margot Robbie doing the Harley Voice (I know it's supposed to be irritating, going all the way back to Arleen Sorkin) . . . but the movie felt more like something to tide fans over before Wonder Woman 1984 comes out, as well as to beat Black Widow to the "Girl Power" punch. Once again, I hope that I'm making sense. The sad part is that we probably won't get a "Birds" follow-up on the big screens unless Harley is involved, and those two concepts have seldom meshed in the past*. A few weeks ago, Gail Simone tweeted, offering to write a Black Canary screenplay with Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah. As much as I will insist that Caity Lotz has been the best Canary (Sara > Laurel, Sara > Laurel-2, Sara > the Dinah they brought it a few years ago on Arrow), Jurnee did a bang-up job. Did the one Canary Cry feel gratuitous? Yeah, but the bulk of the character of Black Canary is beating the snot out of people and looking good doing it. But we'll probably never get to see her or any of the other "Birds" unless they're hooked up to a more popular franchise . . . and that's Harley. I know, second Suicide Squad move could be an improvement over the first, but I'm skeptical. *The only time I remembered reading Harley and the Birds was in a two-part story Gail Simone wrote in Birds of Prey. Basically, the main draw was the team coming into conflict with the Secret Six, which had come off two miniseries written by Gail (Villains United, Secret Six), and it was close to an ongoing series. And Harley was with those guys to round out the numbers.

Climax in one word: "Oops." Honestly, that's some bad luck kicking Kate somewhere sensitive usually reserved for Barry and Jefferson. There's Alice slowly dying, and Kate sobbing with her. Then Beth gets killed, Alice is restored to full health (because plot reasons), and she knocks out Kate. Then she probably spat on her and called her a "Kate McKinnon doing Justin Bieber" before storming off. I mean, I really can't blame Kate for making her choice, because Alice dying would have been filed under "Mercy," but then Beth gets killed and the whole thing becomes moot. Like I said: "Oops." This is probably for the best, because Alice makes for an entertaining villain. I think a lesson was learned with Tobias Wale (everyone's favorite snarky albino asshole) in Black Lightning . . . you don't always need one villain running a season every season. Tobias is still used these days, and Rachel Skarsten could just chew on scenery for years. It's a long way from going through the motions on Birds of Prey. Poor Mouse. He's so gonna get killed in the finale, isn't he?

Well, we got one more bizarre yet awesome-looking element in the mix along with Jack and Ruth . . . the Lone Cyberman. And the Doctor gave him what he asked for. I'm sure Jack will understand. I'm not into English history or the horror genre in general, so a lot of the episode was lost on me. But throw in a Cyberman with only half of his face covered, and I'm a happy camper. Weird, I know.

This week: the boys board a train to Florence, with a-holes Prosciutto and Pesci in hot pursuit. Since this is "Jojo," the team hides out inside of a turtle. Apparently, it is a Stand user, and it can transport people to a nice resting spot inside of the shell. Or something. With this series, you just gotta let the weirdness envelope you. Speaking of enveloping, Prosciutto decides to use his Stand -- Grateful Dead ("Thankful Dead" in the dub) -- to age everyone on the train based on their body temperatures. Or something. There's also Giorno talking about how Trish is safer because women age slower than men, and I'd like to see the documentation on that. After we get several minutes of Narancia turning into a geezer in a rather horrific manner, a slightly-less withered Giorno figures things out, and Mista pops out of the turtle to check things out. Unfortunately, he fails prey to mutant-looking Pesci and his Stand: Beach Boy. It's called "Fisherman" in the dub because it's basically a fishing rod that can "hook" victims through walls.

@SVNBob . . . I don’t remember, but by that logic, wouldn’t that mean Lauren voted for him? Basically, this sounds like a Lil/Burton situation. “How dare you try to vote me off when I’m doing the same to you!” And I get the “Ben Bombs” getting increasingly annoying . . . but the others should have tried to prevent him from scoring idols. He could have set off air horns and I wouldn’t have blamed him.

What division are they in? I think the Mets face the AL West this year. I bet a lot of fans still think Mike Scott’s split-fingered fastball — the one weapon guaranteed to beat the Mets in 1986 — was a glorified scuffed ball.

Question for @kariyaki . . . how have you dealt with your team going from cellar dwellers to contenders to possibly the most hated franchise in MLB? I’m not making fun . . . I’m thinking the Astros did all that in a shorter amount of time than the Patriots. What tweaks would you guys want in order to make the game better? That can interpreted as “make MLB even more money than they need.”

Before I turn in for the night . . . am I a putz to believe that Ben wasn't directly given the win by the producers? I mean, the series is prone to shenanigans, and Ben was the closest thing to Colby that Probst had in recent years . . . but I think the firemaking challenge was installed to benefit a power player in the even they couldn't win the final immunity idol. Probably brought in with an alpha male in mind, but not specifically Ben. I'm not trying to be contrary for its own sake. I'm just reading posts and seeing magma and venom spewed in Ben's direction, and I don't think he's that big of an asshole to deserve most of it.

Back in the days of Mighty Big TV, Amber followed Jerri around all the time. Hence the nickname "Lamber."

Latest episode: Illuso and Man in the Mirror is defeated by Fugo/Abbacchio/Giorno . . . and Purple Haze gets to him, so his death is REALLY painful. I need to watch the episode again, because I didn't get half of what was going on. Basically, Giorno wins the respect of his peers. Also: bricksnake. Because Araki, I guess. Oh, and I got two sketches this past weekend. One of them is a bit of a spoiler. For now, here's Mista and Sex Pistols by Janet Sung. ETA: Now I gotta check the file later, because there wasn’t blank space over Mista’s head.