S01.E08: ...And Finally: Black Bolt

[formerlyfreedom]

It's brother versus brother as the final showdown between Black Bolt and Maximus takes an unexpected turn - one with lasting consequences for all of Inhumanity.

[HunterHunted]

I have to paraphrase the episode title to say "and finally...the end."

Everyone who worked on this show needs to Alan Smithee this mess, unless they were using it to get their SAG card.

I'm pretty sure Maximus said that he did something to the dome so that if he died the dome would collapse, but now it's that he did something to the dome that was going to cause it to fail regardless. I'm pretty pissed that the show decided to have Maximus be completely monstrous in order to prop up Black Bolt. And it's still telling that Black Bolt got lost in the lower caste section of Attilan, that Medusa threw away the terrigen crystal rather than just giving it to Maximus, and that the Royal family found the time to pack a change of clothing. Wasn't Triton blowing shit up on Attilan last episode?

Whatever. And finally, it's over. I guess it's okay that they left most everyone alive so that the rest of the MCU is free to use the characters if they wanted to. They won't.

Edited November 11, 2017 by HunterHunted

[Terrafamilia]

So, I take it that there is, for some reason, an automated alarm (that was never disabled) that is set to send a signal to whom I can only assume are the Kree (who else?) in the event Attilan gets destroyed??? At least that is what I garnered from the writing on the throne lighting up when everything fell to pieces and the mysterious warning from the head of the Genetics Council to Black Bolt that made him change his mind about being king.

[janeta]

I still kind of wish Max had teregenerated into a frog. 

I don't think this will be coming back.

[Lantern7]

I feel bad for those behind this miniseries. Really, I do. It's flawed as hell, and then there was the resolution, which looked SO familiar, but it wasn't their fault.

Spoiler

Maximus "ruling" Attilan immediately made me think of Hela getting Asgard at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. She got her kingdom that was rightfully hers, but everybody had left and Surtur was laying waste to fulfill Ragnarok. If the movie hadn't just come out, Maximus' fate wouldn't look lame by comparison. I know, the two products were probably independent of each other, but it's still a sad/funny coincidence.

I knew Gorgon would live. All Karnak needs to do is smack him in the head a few times per week, and the murder rage should subside. I'm getting that the Inhumans might play a part in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. by season's end, and they'll probably be sent to the cornfield afterward. Except for Lockjaw, who -- and I know I've probably said this every week -- cute as all hell. And I like the reactions from humans. "HOLY SHIT! So big! And so ugly, yet so cute at the same damn time!!!"

Meh. Never outright hated this "event," but I get most of the criticisms. A time-traveling Peggy Carter would've budged the grade slightly upward, but not by much.

[DNOMAD]

stuck with this show all the way just for lockjaw and was hoping for a big reveal of black bolts power "bolt has hulk stopping power" but just got a crumbled wall.this show has ruined any chance of a better inhumans show or movie which is too bad it deserved a better treatment

[AnimeMania]

Strange question: Near the end of the show there is a building that looks like it is from Attilan, but when you look up in the sky you can see the moon. Could this mean:

1) the building was not from Attilan   

2) the building was from  Attilan but was no longer on the moon (maybe Maximus was saved)

3) the Special Effects people made a mistake

Louise's father finally got his dream: He got to put his rocket, in Medusa's back pocket, ON THE MOON!!!!!

[rmontro]

4 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

So, I take it that there is, for some reason, an automated alarm (that was never disabled) that is set to send a signal to whom I can only assume are the Kree (who else?) in the event Attilan gets destroyed??? At least that is what I garnered from the writing on the throne lighting up when everything fell to pieces and the mysterious warning from the head of the Genetics Council to Black Bolt that made him change his mind about being king.

 

43 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Strange question: Near the end of the show there is a building that looks like it is from Attilan, but when you look up in the sky you can see the moon. Could this mean:

1) the building was not from Attilan   

2) the building was from  Attilan but was no longer on the moon (maybe Maximus was saved)

3) the Special Effects people made a mistake

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found the penultimate scene confusing.  I even rewound it and watched it back a few times.  I decided that the scene was on earth, at the new home that the Inhumans had chosen.  The new Atillan, I guess.  But Terrafamilia's theory sounds good too.  To be honest, I'm still not sure what I was watching.  

Looks like from the Agents of Shield previews, they are going to encounter the Kree this season.  I wonder if there will be connections from the Inhumans show?

It was smart of Medusa to destroy the terrigan crystal, because Maximus would have used it to make himself a powerful threat.  The mistake would have been if she had turned it over.

I was also hoping to see some more impressive abilities displayed by Black Bolt (aside from his vocal powers), but they never appeared.  

It will be interesting to see if there is another season of this.  If so, I hope it's because someone cares enough about the project to fix the problems.

[dwmarch]

Well, that sucked.

[UNOSEZ]

Well.. That happened... I feel like i woulda enjoyed  this series mire if it started with the fall of atilan.. And them coming to earth... As it is.. It does have them in a good starting place if it ever comes back.. And Medusa while still bossy is somewhat close to her comic counterpart.  So u never know... If anything at least let a few if these folks pop up on AOS

[paulvdb]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Strange question: Near the end of the show there is a building that looks like it is from Attilan, but when you look up in the sky you can see the moon. Could this mean:

1) the building was not from Attilan   

2) the building was from  Attilan but was no longer on the moon (maybe Maximus was saved)

3) the Special Effects people made a mistake

Louise's father finally got his dream: He got to put his rocket, in Medusa's back pocket, ON THE MOON!!!!!

If you are talking about this, that is Earth in the sky.

I also wanted to quote this:
Medusa to Louise: "There isn't a friend that I trust more than you."
Crystal: "She doesn't have that many friends."

[tv echo]

I watched this finale just to get some closure. This series was bad - not even good bad, but just bad. It ended with 1400 Attilan citizens somehow making it through to Earth in less than half an hour (amount of time left before the dome collapsed).

Somehow fittingly, they all immigrated to Earth without any belongings or supplies. And yet the Royal Family had time to change clothes. So here's my Inhumans fashion notes:

• Crystal is wearing the same dress at the end that she wore in the beginning. So was she carrying this dress around with her when she was on Earth and had changed into Earth clothes? Or did she have several identical copies of this same dress in her closet on Attilan?
• Medusa is wearing a different purple dress at the end. Looks like the sleeveless summer version of her previous purple dress. Is her entire wardrobe is purple, to reflect her royal status?
• Black Bolt now has a fancy little cape. He didn't have it when he made his last minute escape to Earth. So did Medusa pack it for him?

 
(source)

Edited November 11, 2017 by tv echo

[Raja]

I don't get the not NASA guy. To the very end with random surfer vets and everybody knowing about Inhumans and aliens invading the earth. He still comes off lwith a how is this possible attitude. So now we have a secret Inhuman colony 

Spoiler

to replace the previous one at Afterlife lost in Jaiying's war against SHIELD sparked by the Hydra sleepers in SHIELD going after Inhumans

[blackwing]

12 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I'm pretty pissed that the show decided to have Maximus be completely monstrous in order to prop up Black Bolt. And it's still telling that Black Bolt got lost in the lower caste section of Attilan, that Medusa threw away the terrigen crystal rather than just giving it to Maximus, and that the Royal family found the time to pack a change of clothing. Wasn't Triton blowing shit up on Attilan last episode?

No propping necessary... in the comics he is known as Maximus the Mad and he is an insane monster.  This show seemed to portray him as a kinder gentler Max who is just trying to save his people from tyranny.  I never saw it that way.  He was simply replacing one group of autocratic leaders with an even more autocratic one, him.  Auran even left him.  Why would Medusa give a crystal to an insane madman?  So he can go through terrigenesis and get powers and become even more powerful?   She would have given him powers if he agreed to step down and acknowledge Black Bolt as king.  He wouldn't.  Instead he just demanded it.  He was a sniveling little snot and I wanted to punch him in the face at that moment.  

So disappointed in the lack of powers.  I doubt this show comes back but if any of the characters ever appear on AoS I hope they do a better job.  Crystal was the biggest disappointment.

I'm curious as to where on earth they exactly are now.  I wanted to see Medusa finding Louise and telling her that her dad made it to the moon for good.  

Loved seeing the family in their comic book costumes at the end.  Confused because I think in that last shot of them, the moon was a crescent in the sky behind them.  Then the very last scene is of a full moon.

[nitrofishblue]

I am the weird one of the group I guess since I enjoyed the show simply for its entertainment value. It always amused me after a weary week. I got a big kick out of Lockjaw. Man, I want to see more of him. Yes, the royal family was a large pain in the ass but that is what made them, them. Medusa was so spoiled but she thought she was doing OK.  Max was an a**h***, I still kept thinking of him as Ramsey from Game of Thrones and the scene were his dog was getting ready to gnaw on his face. Wanted Lockjaw to do that. Oh well, on to the next show.

[jane1978]

Congrats CW and syfy, now you can be proud because not even your most cheapest shows are comparable with this mess produced by the richest and most powerfull media company in the world. From the most uninspired set design ever (see what amazing things can do shows like the 100 do with literally the scraps), through the non existing continuity where the scenes (especially in the latter episodes) seemed in an almost random order (including Crystal´s mysteriously changing clothes and character moods from scene to scene) and finished with the obviously rushed filming. I never laughed more than during the previous episode, where the royals along with the scientist arrived in the most bland and poorly dressed warehouse ever (the royal bunker) and he was like "We are on the moon? Wow!". Of course, nobody even tried to atleast make some realistic suggestion how the Attilan´s society works and how exactly is a power like an ability to fly with (nice looking) butterfly wings anyway usable in what is esssentially an ugly looking concrete apartment block. It seems like everybody, except the poor actors, just hated this project from beginning and did its best to sink it. 

Anyway, it´s too bad there won´t be a second season because I would honestly wanted to see how long can BlackBolt and his asshole family pretend to be "the royal family" now when the Attilan´s  are free to leave and disappear between Earth population.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

No propping necessary... in the comics he is known as Maximus the Mad and he is an insane monster.  This show seemed to portray him as a kinder gentler Max who is just trying to save his people from tyranny.  I never saw it that way.  He was simply replacing one group of autocratic leaders with an even more autocratic one, him.  Auran even left him.  Why would Medusa give a crystal to an insane madman?  So he can go through terrigenesis and get powers and become even more powerful?   She would have given him powers if he agreed to step down and acknowledge Black Bolt as king.  He wouldn't.  Instead he just demanded it.  He was a sniveling little snot and I wanted to punch him in the face at that moment.  

So disappointed in the lack of powers.  I doubt this show comes back but if any of the characters ever appear on AoS I hope they do a better job.  Crystal was the biggest disappointment.

I'm curious as to where on earth they exactly are now.  I wanted to see Medusa finding Louise and telling her that her dad made it to the moon for good.  

Loved seeing the family in their comic book costumes at the end.  Confused because I think in that last shot of them, the moon was a crescent in the sky behind them.  Then the very last scene is of a full moon.

Even if he were not insane being left in solitary confinement for life will drive the nail into the coffin. 

The Inhumans as a stand alone series is dead. However because of the IMAX connection when Thanos arrives and kills off a bunch of the MCU a random super powered Inhuman can be used as a cameo cannon fodder.

They can be anywhere on earth. With only 1400 and it seems as if half of them were Royal Guardsmen just some island.

[moonshine71]

A couple of questions.

How in the Hell was Maximus financing the scientist from the moon? How did he amass any wealth in U.S.dollars or any other currency?

 

What kind of nutball thinks 1400 inhumans, very few of which had what looked to be substantial powers and technology that didn't seem too far ahead of earth, are going to fight a war against 7 billion humans(including the hero's in the MCU, some of which could take down all 1400 inhumans on their own) and win?

 

This show had so much stupid, one could go on for days.

[Raja]

8 minutes ago, moonshine71 said:

A couple of questions.

How in the Hell was Maximus financing the scientist from the moon? How did he amass any wealth in U.S.dollars or any other currency?

 

What kind of nutball thinks 1400 inhumans, very few of which had what looked to be substantial powers and technology that didn't seem too far ahead of earth, are going to fight a war against 7 billion humans(including the hero's in the MCU, some of which could take down all 1400 inhumans on their own) and win?

 

This show had so much stupid, one could go on for days.

Especially since their people left before the first super soldier or Stark battle armored suit emerged.

The money I can head canon since money is digital they just let the humans have some advanced technology before Stark, Hammer, Roxan etc got it on the market first 

[statsgirl]

Well I stuck with it to the end.  But this show is so bad it is a relief that it's done.

If they wanted Maximus to be an evil BAD, BAD ruler,  they shouldn't have made the rest of the royals so unpleasant that I was rooting for Max the first half of the episodes.

Karnak to Gorgon:  "Bringing you back is the most selfish things I've ever done."  Me:  It's not even the most selfish thing I've seen you do in the episodes I've been watching this show.

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

 Why would Medusa give a crystal to an insane madman?

Maybe because it was part of the deal she offered him? All of the royals were a bunch of entitled, selfish emotional monsters.   Black Bolt has potential now but when the show opened he was utterly blind to the problems and suffering among "his people".  Crystal is a airhead, Karnak and Gorgon are blind followers, and Medusa is so into the power she acquired through her association with Black Bolt and without morals that her only thought is to maintain their privileged status. 

The only one of the Inhumans worth saving is Lockjaw.

1 hour ago, jane1978 said:

Of course, nobody even tried to atleast make some realistic suggestion how the Attilan´s society works and how exactly is a power like an ability to fly with (nice looking) butterfly wings anyway usable in what is esssentially an ugly looking concrete apartment block.

Since the moon is a fraction of the earth's gravity, how exactly are butterfly wings going to help on Earth?

9 hours ago, rmontro said:

It will be interesting to see if there is another season of this.  If so, I hope it's because someone cares enough about the project to fix the problems.

I will be seriously pissed off if this gets another season while (the superior in writing and acting) Agent Carter was cancelled.

[Lantern7]

AV Club gives the finale a D. I'm posting that here because of their headline: "The first season of Inhumans ends as it began: stupidly, but with a good dog" Seriously, has any animal propped up a show where the critter is the best actor? And Lockjaw is CGI!! You can make a case for Gorgon and Karnak being the fun characters, but you have to go back to the giant Inhuman Bulldog. If there's a second season, I'd want to know his story . . . or at least how the royal family got a massive, teleporting, probably slobbering beast like him. Did we see any other animals on Attilan?

"Marvel's Inhumans: If Stan Lee knew this would be a mess, he wouldn't have made a cameo."

[Richness]

I hate to beat a rotting, dead horse, but that stank to high Attilan and back again. I stuck with it hoping there would be a tie-in to the greater MCU (even if just SHIELD), but nope, nothing significant. Yeah, there might have been a brief tease about a greater threat at the end, but I just don't care. I think I despised Karnak the least, but even he got on my nerves, especially with Gorgon's revival. Triton seemed to be fairly awesome, but there wasn't enough of him, and he sliced and diced so many of Max's guards. At no point in this series did I actually root for any of the royal family. They were all just as horrible and despicable as the rest.

 

Max had some wonderful ideas on equality at the beginning, but of course he had to go to ridiculous levels of evil. That was a horrible waste of  Iwan Rheon. Are his Game of Thrones residuals getting that thin?

 

I would say free Lockjaw from this mess, but he really doesn't fit anywhere else. And I would hate to be subjected to anything more. I really hope Marvel gets back the movie rights to X-Men franchise, because I really hate having the Inhumans shoved down our throats as a cheap mutant replacements.

[athelyna]

Well, that was awful but managed to just stay on the side of enjoyably awful for me.

As soon as the kid gave his prediction I knew it was going to end with Max left by himself on the moon as king while the city falls and everyone else fleeing to Earth.

I loved the second season baiting - especially the genetic counsel guy saying let me tell you about our real greatest threat but I'm not actually going to say their name so it will be a surprise for the viewers.  I don't know if it was the writing or how it was said, but that line was about as subtle as brick dropped on my head.  I guess we'll never find out who it is, unless they do an episode on Agents of Shield with these actors coming back.

Oh hey, one of the Earth people got to come back. Are we really supposed to buy that one day of kidnapping and driving around Hawaii made Louise best buds with Medusa?  I feel bad for the poor doctor getting killed off, he didn't seem like he deserved to die.

Speaking of death, I'm glad Gorgon's wasn't permanent but he didn't act that different from when he was originally alive, Karnak's constant I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done it fell flat.  I felt bad for the guy in the wall, getting killed when the city fell.

Even if by some miracle this gets a second season I can't see coming back.  I can always check Wikipedia to find out who their greatest enemy is.  If it does come back they need to pretty much reboot it - don't even bother with a previously on segment, just start with them on Earth and completely change all the writers and characterization.

[Raja]

7 minutes ago, athelyna said:

 

As soon as the kid gave his prediction I knew it was going to end with Max left by himself on the moon as king while the city falls and everyone else fleeing to Earth.

I loved the second season baiting - especially the genetic counsel guy saying let me tell you about our real greatest threat but I'm not actually going to say their name so it will be a surprise for the viewers.  I don't know if it was the writing or how it was said, but that line was about as subtle as brick dropped on my head.  I guess we'll never find out who it is, unless they do an episode on Agents of Shield with these actors coming back.

 

And the timing of the episode left you wondering if the prophecy was this show's tie in to the latest MCU theatrical movie?

To paraphrase  Director Fury "you are part of a much larger universe". To continue the story of a real greatest threat on Agents of SHIELD leaves no surprise because the Agents of SHIELD has already shown who will show up to correct their mistake when Inhumans emerge.

[Jamoche]

Only the tiniest of nits in a show that proves why "fast and cheap" is the worst pair in the "fast, cheap, good: pick two" trope: when a king is giving a speech and using an interpreter, the big face projected for the crowd to see should be the king, not the interpreter.

[HunterHunted]

On 11/11/2017 at 9:53 AM, blackwing said:

No propping necessary... in the comics he is known as Maximus the Mad and he is an insane monster.  This show seemed to portray him as a kinder gentler Max who is just trying to save his people from tyranny.  I never saw it that way. He was simply replacing one group of autocratic leaders with an even more autocratic one, him.  Auran even left him.

I'm fairly familiar with the comics. He is known as Maximus the Mad there. This show has portrayed him as self-serving, self-interested, and manipulative. However as self-absorbed as the show has portrayed Maximus, they've shown Black Bolt to be negligently oblivious and classist. Maximus' first priority was himself, but his own ambition might have also resulted in improvements in the conditions for some Inhumans. But Black Bolt's bigoted retrograde policies were only going to result in more of the same--oppression and apartheid. That's not okay. Furthermore, Maximus' turn to dangerously angry to the point of murder/suicide isn't consistent with what we've seen from him so far. He loves himself far too much to put his life in danger.

Quote

Why would Medusa give a crystal to an insane madman?  So he can go through terrigenesis and get powers and become even more powerful?   She would have given him powers if he agreed to step down and acknowledge Black Bolt as king.  He wouldn't.  Instead he just demanded it.  He was a sniveling little snot and I wanted to punch him in the face at that moment.  

At that point, there really wasn't a down side to giving Maximus the crystal. He was determined to kill all of the Royal family. He was determined to kill every resident of Attilan. What worse thing could he do? Go to earth to conquer It? The show did a crap job at showing that this might be a legitimate concern of Medusa's because she'd been a self important bigot the entire time she was on earth. And nothing the rest of the Royal Family had done demonstrates that she and Black Bolt deserved to rule Attilan. Maximus started to lose the people's support when it came to securing his reign, but by and large it was a bloodless coup that demonstrated how shitty Medusa and Black Bolt were as leaders. So for Medusa to demand that Maximus step down does nothing to demonstrate that she's learned anything from this experience. If she had asked him to deactivate what he did with the dome and asked for parliamentary system, I might have sided with her. Medusa and Black Bolt are as snotty as Maximus.

Edited November 15, 2017 by HunterHunted

[Raja]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

 

At that point, there really wasn't a down side to giving Maximus the crystal. He was determined to kill all of the Royal family. He was determined to kill every resident of Attilan. What worse thing could he do? Go to earth to conquer It? The show did a crap job at showing that this might be a legitimate concern of Medusa's because she'd been a self important bigot the entire time she was on earth. And nothing the rest of the Royal Family had done demonstrates that she and Black Bolt deserved to rule Attilan. Maximus started to lose the people's support when it came to securing his reign, but by and large it was a bloodless coup that demonstrated how shitty Medusa and Black Bolt were as leaders. So for Medusa to demand that Maximus step down does nothing to demonstrate that she's learned anything from this experience. If she had asked him to deactivate what he did with the dome and asked for parliamentary system, I might have sided with her. Medusa and Black Bolt are as snotty as Maximus.

I guess the fear was it would have worked and he might have gotten an unstoppable power set. Given the nature of people, besides Black Bolt also having a lethal power , what stopped past Inhumans from taking over the royalty except for the religious notion of what the society needs is the power you got 

[paigow]

Can Ghost Rider return and deliver these jokers to Hell?????

[Lokiberry]

Our long national nightmare is over. Attilan is destroyed and the inhumans have come to earth, where perhaps they'll learn the value of representative democracy.

And right to the end, despite his crazy, murderous, destroy-the-city-if-I-can't-be-king ways, Max is still more sympathetic than the entire royal family. And it's not because he's so great, it because they SUCK SO MUCH. "Gosh, we're sorry that we forced you into slavery and oppression and being a water-based Inhuman stuck on a waterless moon, all while we lived our lavish Royal Cape-Wearing Lifestyles, but we promise to do better once we get to Earth!"

Did anyone involved in the making of this show even notice that all they had to do to make RAMSEY BOLTON sympathetic was have him talk about how after he became human everyone treated him like shit and his only friend, Medusa, abandoned him; but they had to pull not one, but two plot twists out of Black Bolt's ass to kinda sorta justify his behavior? Hey, Max forged a document threatening teen BB with brain surgery, oh noes! Hey, there's some terrible threat that not only required BB to become king, but get humans and inhumans killed instead of arresting Max before he put his plans into motion! And we never heard about either of these things before the finale episode!

BAD, EVIL WRITERS!

I never want to hear about any of these people ever again. I want to pretend this never happened. I want someone to ask Daisy, "Do you Inhumans have a king?" and for her to answer, "Of course not. We Inhumans believe in representative democracy."

Edited November 12, 2017 by Lokiberry

[rmontro]

5 hours ago, Richness said:

Triton seemed to be fairly awesome, but there wasn't enough of him, and he sliced and diced so many of Max's guards.

That's another thing that kind of bugged me:
"What's your super power?"

"I can breathe underwater"

"Cool, we'll have you be a master knife fighter".

What?,,,,

[Lantern7]

3 hours ago, rmontro said:

That's another thing that kind of bugged me:
"What's your super power?"

"I can breathe underwater"

"Cool, we'll have you be a master knife fighter".

What?,,,,

I think that any member of the inner circle goes through intense martial arts training before getting exposed to Terrigen. Or maybe this is a jab at Aquaman becoming a Hell's Angel, only riding a giant seahorse instead of a Harley.

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, Lokiberry said:

Did anyone involved in the making of this show even notice that all they had to do to make RAMSEY BOLTON sympathetic was have him talk about how after he became human everyone treated him like shit and his only friend, Medusa, abandoned him; but they had to pull not one, but two plot twists out of Black Bolt's ass to kinda sorta justify his behavior? Hey, Max forged a document threatening teen BB with brain surgery, oh noes! Hey, there's some terrible threat that not only required BB to become king, but get humans and inhumans killed instead of arresting Max before he put his plans into motion! And we never heard about either of these things before the finale episode!

If anyone with a decent understanding of crafting a compelling narrative had been involved with this show, they might have realized the irony in the Genetic Council's fear of Black Bolt's powers only for him to prove them right by accidentally killing his parents, which reinforced Black Bolt's faith in the Genetic Council's guidance. The only thing motivating Black Bolt to get control of his powers was that he killed his family. It's also the only thing that would have saved him from banishment, imprisonment, or a lobotomy.*

Of course there is the irony of the Genetic Council wanting to lobotomize or imprison Black Bolt, but still needing his powers to possibly combat the Kree or whatever the future threat is.

*I know Maximus said his parents wouldn't have allowed the lobotomy, but they might have banished him or imprisoned him in the quiet room.

[jhlipton]

On 11/10/2017 at 11:18 PM, AnimeMania said:

Louise's father finally got his dream: He got to put his rocket, in Medusa's back pocket, ON THE MOON!!!!!

I'll put him in a nice garden."  "Oh, here's a random rock in the middle of nowhere.  Close enough!"

On 11/11/2017 at 0:07 AM, rmontro said:

I was also hoping to see some more impressive abilities displayed by Black Bolt (aside from his vocal powers),

"Your power shows that you are the right choice to be King."  You mean the Power that he can't talk and no one but his wife (and his brother, duh) bothers to learn his language?  That Power???

17 hours ago, tv echo said:

It ended with 1400 Attilan citizens somehow making it through to Earth in less than half an hour (amount of time left before the dome collapsed).

"Erdlac, take me to Earth!" "Ohh, it hurts, but I will do it!"
"Erdlac, take these 5 to 7 people to Earth!" "No!  The pain is far too much.  Please do not ask that of me." [reluctantly sends them]

"Erdlac, take these 1400 people to Earth!" "Ok, cool, no problem!"

"Mommy, what is 'continuity'?"

13 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Karnak to Gorgon:  "Bringing you back is the most selfish things I've ever done."  Me:  It's not even the most selfish thing I've seen you do in the episodes I've been watching this show.

Putting someone through Terragenisis is wrong, evil and bad when it's Max, but when it's Gorgon, well, it's done -- shrug.

The only decent thing about this show was mocking it with y'all.

[xaxat]

So ABC decided to make a show about a royal family with super powers. Except. . .

• One of them doesn't have super powers.
• His brother's super power is so powerful it can't be used.
• His wife is literally shorn of her super power.
• Another family member hits his head and loses/diminishes his super power.
• Another is a teen who apparently forgets that she has super powers and has to be reminded of them by her boyfriend of 24 hours.
• Another has the ability to breathe underwater and apparently does so, out of sight, for almost all of the show.
• And there is a guy who's power is the ability to stomp on the ground really hard. He dies, but gets better.

Lockjaw was the only one actually doing work on this series.

(And the wall guy. Both sides took him for granted. And he got left behind.)

[tv echo]

Agents of GEEK Podcast Episode 94
11/11/2017  Craig Wack & Tatiana Torres
http://agentsofgeekpodcast.com/wordpress/

-- Marvel's Inhumans: Tatiana had been hoping that the season finale would set up the series for something good that a "new creative team" could take off with, but that didn't happen; instead, "It was so bad. I am so angry about it." Also, her favorite character, Crystal, was only in three scenes and never used her powers. "In the comics, she's very powerful." Tatiana also noted that Gorgon was "just a mumbler" and Karnak still wasn't healed from his injury. So what was the point of hist story? 

-- Craig: "And then they brought back Louicity for one scene." Tatiana scoffed that that Medusa was acting as if she and Louise had been friends for 10 years, when it had only been for "one car ride." Craig and Tatiana both wondered if Louise's dad's wish to be an astronaut was in an episode about Louise's back story that they missed. 

-- Tatiana; "The ending was so shitty too... Okay, everyone's escaped to Earth, but there was no real feeling of hope... For whatever reason, they're all in their Inhumans costumes."  Craig laughed: "That was the other thing. They changed into their royal family outfits for no reason at all." Tatiana: "Why are they back in their royal clothes? Did they pack a suitcase? I'm pretty sure everyone was running for their lives."  Also, "where are they living? They look like they're next to the border wall." Tatiana: "When it was done, I was like, thank frickin' - thank god." Craig: "It just smacks of total lack of effort." But, "you feel bad for the actors involved."

[Raja]

23 minutes ago, tv echo said:

 

-- Tatiana; "The ending was so shitty too... Okay, everyone's escaped to Earth, but there was no real feeling of hope... For whatever reason, they're all in their Inhumans costumes."  Craig laughed: "That was the other thing. They changed into their royal family outfits for no reason at all." Tatiana: "Why are they back in their royal clothes? Did they pack a suitcase? I'm pretty sure everyone was running for their lives."  Also, "where are they living? They look like they're next to the border wall." Tatiana: "When it was done, I was like, thank frickin' - thank god." Craig: "It just smacks of total lack of effort." But, "you feel bad for the actors involved."

I see the immediate reason to "suit up" being the catch all MCU term. They are the royalty, reasserting their status after the coup. Trying to keep the Inhumans together instead of an amphibian deciding now I get to swim the oceans. How the mutinous Royal Guard is allowed back into society rather than going the rest of the world as mercenaries and leading the hunters of Inhumans to their new secret liar might have made an interesting story.

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

They are the royalty, reasserting their status after the coup.

Yep.  For all of Medusa's talk, I don't see these jerks establishing any kind of fair society.  They are still the Royal Family, and the serfs will have to obey their King.

[HunterHunted]

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

Agents of GEEK Podcast Episode 94
11/11/2017  Craig Wack & Tatiana Torres
http://agentsofgeekpodcast.com/wordpress/

-- Marvel's Inhumans: Tatiana had been hoping that the season finale would set up the series for something good that a "new creative team" could take off with, but that didn't happen; instead, "It was so bad. I am so angry about it." Also, her favorite character, Crystal, was only in three scenes and never used her powers. "In the comics, she's very powerful." Tatiana also noted that Gorgon was "just a mumbler" and Karnak still wasn't healed from his injury. So what was the point of hist story?

The only way to fix this is to ignore most of what happened in season 1. I would actually keep the class conflict. It's messed up, but compelling. I'd probably reframe Black Bolt's position on the caste system as one of necessity because of the scarce resources of Attilan and naivete. I'd highlight the culture shock of everyone being on Earth-- the water, plants, animals, how few monarchies exist, and how an apartheid system like the Inhumans have is considered monstrous. I'd also start delving into human bigotry. Finally, I'd have all of the Inhumans in a detention center. Maybe it could turn a little District 9, but might end up a whole gotta Starcrossed from the CW. 

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

-- Craig: "And then they brought back Louicity for one scene." Tatiana scoffed that that Medusa was acting as if she and Louise had been friends for 10 years, when it had only been for "one car ride." Craig and Tatiana both wondered if Louise's dad's wish to be an astronaut was in an episode about Louise's back story that they missed.

Not only was it "one car ride," it was one car ride where Medusa had Louicity at gun point. How Louicity managed to imprint on this demanding bitch who kidnapped her is beyond me. If she's interested, I know an impossibly young and handsome sadistic billionaire that she might be interested in dating. I wonder if Louicity would be interested in moving to Seattle, would she sign a BDSM contract, and does she know what a buttplug is.

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

-- Tatiana; "The ending was so shitty too... Okay, everyone's escaped to Earth, but there was no real feeling of hope... For whatever reason, they're all in their Inhumans costumes."  Craig laughed: "That was the other thing. They changed into their royal family outfits for no reason at all." Tatiana: "Why are they back in their royal clothes? Did they pack a suitcase? I'm pretty sure everyone was running for their lives."  Also, "where are they living? They look like they're next to the border wall." Tatiana: "When it was done, I was like, thank frickin' - thank god." Craig: "It just smacks of total lack of effort." But, "you feel bad for the actors involved."

There wasn't a feeling of anything at the end--hope, hopelessness, or anything. They went to Earth because.

I doubt there will be a second season.

[Zanne]

14 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

*I know Maximus said his parents wouldn't have allowed the lobotomy, but they might have banished him or imprisoned him in the quiet room.

Or cut his vocal cords, rendering him mute, rather than messing with his brain.

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, Zanne said:

Or cut his vocal cords, rendering him mute, rather than messing with his brain.

No one thought of having Lockjaw take him somewhere remote (one of the moons of Saturn, for example) where he could learn how to use and control his power? (Same problem I had with Frozen!)

[statsgirl]

So Black Bolt, the show's hero, deliberately killed his parents?  Nice.

10 hours ago, Raja said:

They are the royalty, reasserting their status after the coup.

Which is all they really cared about, especially Medusa.

To quote another Marvel character (although Voltaire said it first) "With great power comes great responsibility."  These Inhumans got great power through no actions of their own other than the crystals, and they had zero responsibility until Maximus staged his cue.  And then suddenly they're saying they have to save everyone from Max and Medusa is all  "my parents died for you!" after having been complicit for years.

[jhlipton]

43 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

So Black Bolt, the show's hero, deliberately killed his parents?  Nice.

Yep -- that's the "hero".  But they "deserved" it, donchakno?

[Zanne]

1 hour ago, jhlipton said:

No one thought of having Lockjaw take him somewhere remote (one of the moons of Saturn, for example) where he could learn how to use and control his power? (Same problem I had with Frozen!)

What I don't understand is that with these potentially dangerous outcomes, why is the entire town watching every transformation? With both Black Bolt and the Man in the Iron Mask, they could have stepped out of the box and killed their entire audience without realizing it. Yet there appeared to be no safety precautions in place, from what we saw in the show. It's a bit like throwing your kid into toxic waste just to see if he or she would get superpowers. 

[athelyna]

21 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

If anyone with a decent understanding of crafting a compelling narrative had been involved with this show, they might have realized the irony in the Genetic Council's fear of Black Bolt's powers only for him to prove them right by accidentally killing his parents, which reinforced Black Bolt's faith in the Genetic Council's guidance. The only thing motivating Black Bolt to get control of his powers was that he killed his family. It's also the only thing that would have saved him from banishment, imprisonment, or a lobotomy.*

Of course there is the irony of the Genetic Council wanting to lobotomize or imprison Black Bolt, but still needing his powers to possibly combat the Kree or whatever the future threat is.

*I know Maximus said his parents wouldn't have allowed the lobotomy, but they might have banished him or imprisoned him in the quiet room.

The other thing that struck me about the flashback scene is that this series could have been much better if they had set the genetic counsel up as the villains, and put that reveal about Black Bolt only accepting the role of king because he was told he was the only one with the power to protect Attilan sooner.  If it had been an evil counselor manipulating Black Bolt and setting him up to be a figurehead/puppet monarch instead of what was said about Black Bolt killing his parents somehow being a sign that he was strong enough to be king, I might have developed some sympathy for BB.  Throwing it in the last episode felt like they were trying to make a surprise twist and justify Max being crazy evil and deserving of being left on the moon, instead of actually building up the world and character history.

Quote

3 hours ago, jhlipton said:

4 hours ago, statsgirl said:

So Black Bolt, the show's hero, deliberately killed his parents?  Nice.

Yep -- that's the "hero".  But they "deserved" it, donchakno?

 

I think what the show was going for was Black Bolt was so distraught by finding out his parents were planning on lobotomizing him that he accidentally lost control of himself and couldn't help trying to ask why.  So they came up with a mask to block firehead's powers, but they couldn't some up with a muzzle to prevent Black Bolt from talking or wire his jaw shut until he figured out some control? 

I know writing for a mute character has to be hard, but good showrunners could have come up with some way for Black Bolt to express his feelings on what happened to his parents and portray how his guilt and frustration and the way he was treated afterwards messed him up and lead him to be a terrible king, with over the course of the show him finding a way to heal and realize how much he sucks at his job.  Instead we got "Eh, my life is okay and I have a hot wife who knows sign language, why should I care about the slave caste?"

 

19 hours ago, jhlipton said:

On 11/11/2017 at 9:09 AM, tv echo said:

It ended with 1400 Attilan citizens somehow making it through to Earth in less than half an hour (amount of time left before the dome collapsed).

"Erdlac, take me to Earth!" "Ohh, it hurts, but I will do it!"
"Erdlac, take these 5 to 7 people to Earth!" "No!  The pain is far too much.  Please do not ask that of me." [reluctantly sends them]

"Erdlac, take these 1400 people to Earth!" "Ok, cool, no problem!"

"Mommy, what is 'continuity'?"

Apparently it only hurts if he doesn't like the person doing the asking or it's not the official royal family.

 

11 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

There wasn't a feeling of anything at the end--hope, hopelessness, or anything. They went to Earth because.

I doubt there will be a second season.

 Because if there is a second season it's cheaper to film Earth locations than to try and build fancy moon sets and saves on CG budget not to include shots of Attilan on the moon?

[immortalfrieza]

3 hours ago, Zanne said:

What I don't understand is that with these potentially dangerous outcomes, why is the entire town watching every transformation? With both Black Bolt and the Man in the Iron Mask, they could have stepped out of the box and killed their entire audience without realizing it. Yet there appeared to be no safety precautions in place, from what we saw in the show. It's a bit like throwing your kid into toxic waste just to see if he or she would get superpowers. 

I would have fanwanked that the whole reason they even went into those boxes was that they were impenetrable precisely so that they could go through Terrigenesis and if they got some dangerous power they couldn't hurt anyone... if Gordon didn't break one of them with ease.

In with a whimper, out with a whimper. The guy running the show created it because he was pissy over the fact that Marvel didn't greenlight his Inhumans movie and so made this show out of spite, and the lack of effort shows. They COULD have made a show worth watching, just not make the Royal Family such royal dicks and make Maximus a clear cut bad guy instead of someone we end up rooting for would have both been simple and done a lot to salvage the quality of this show, but they just didn't care enough to.

[RobertDeSneero]

On 11/11/2017 at 0:44 PM, moonshine71 said:

A couple of questions.

How in the Hell was Maximus financing the scientist from the moon? How did he amass any wealth in U.S.dollars or any other currency?

 

What kind of nutball thinks 1400 inhumans, very few of which had what looked to be substantial powers and technology that didn't seem too far ahead of earth, are going to fight a war against 7 billion humans(including the hero's in the MCU, some of which could take down all 1400 inhumans on their own) and win?

Obviously, he has some sort of ally on Earth, who may have amassed money using precious gems or advanced technology from Atillan.  This ally, possibly an evil organization, might rescue Maximus in a hypothetical second season.

Blackbolt has the potential to take down the Avengers singlehandedly, since it has been suggested (in the comics) that if he yells in an angry emotional state, he has the ability to destroy a planet.  He is at the power level where whether or not he can actually beat the Avengers depends on the needs of the story.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, xaxat said:

So ABC decided to make a show about a royal family with super powers. Except. . .

• One of them doesn't have super powers.
• His brother's super power is so powerful it can't be used.
• His wife is literally shorn of her super power.
• Another family member hits his head and loses/diminishes his super power.
• Another is a teen who apparently forgets that she has super powers and has to be reminded of them by her boyfriend of 24 hours.
• Another has the ability to breathe underwater and apparently does so, out of sight, for almost all of the show.
• And there is a guy who's power is the ability to stomp on the ground really hard. He dies, but gets better.

Lockjaw was the only one actually doing work on this series.

(And the wall guy. Both sides took him for granted. And he got left behind.)

Yeah, the whole thing reeks of not having enough money to complete the project.  I think this series had a lot of potential, if they would have done it right.

[paigow]

18 hours ago, jhlipton said:

 (Same problem I had with Frozen!)

[Interior: Pot farm living room]

Karnak, Medusa & Black Bolt watching Frozen DVD...

Medusa: This music is satisfactory

Black Bolt: [Excited sign language]

Medusa: Noooooo!

Karnak: Why did I get the sing-along version????

[jhlipton]

19 hours ago, Zanne said:

It's a bit like throwing your kid into toxic waste just to see if he or she would get superpowers. 

The "Solomon Grundy Method" of super-powers!

15 hours ago, athelyna said:

Apparently it only hurts if he doesn't like the person doing the asking or it's not the official royal family.

It only hurts if it's not the official royal family.  Because everything is about the Royal Family.

[thuganomics85]

Finally got around to this and I honestly don't even have the energy to snark on it.  I'm just so amazed that this show ended up sucking as badly as it did.  Did no one realize the direction this was heading in? Or did they and they either a) simply didn't care and assumed the Marvel logo alone will bring in viewers or b) knew it was just too late to fix it?  That might be the biggest mystery about this show.

Nice attempt with the whole "Oh, I forged those documents that made you accidentally kill our parents!" attempt to make Max worse then Black Bolt and the rest of the Royal Family, but nope.  Still ain't cutting it.  He's certainly not a good guy by any means, but I still find pretty much everyone in the Royal Family unlikable to the point that I really can't muster the energy to try and pretend Max is somehow worse.  Yes, he ended up being a selfish, arrogant, tyrant, but everyone else is just as bad, but they're looked upon as heroes for reasons I can't figure out.

Gorgon's kind of back, I guess?  He seems to flip between moments of clarity and suddenly becomes almost Solomon Grundy-ish.  The whole thing is silly.

I will give Iwan Rheon and Serinda Swan credit for doing their best to make the Max/Medusa showdown work.  Maybe if the writing was better.

Oh, hey, they brought that obnoxious Louise back.  Who I'm starting to thing has a weird obsession over Medusa instead of merely being "friends."

Karnak was pretty useless here.  Poor Ken Leung.  Declan's death was also underwhelming and overall waste of Henry Ian Cusick.

I would be completely amazed if this show somehow comes back.  At least the previews for Agents of Shield look good.  Overall though, while there were at least some entertaining moments here, this show was a prime example of how not to make a comic book show.  I felt bad for the cast since I've enjoyed most of them i other things, but no one came out looking good here.  Except Lockjaw.