S01.E09: Back Breaker

[formerlyfreedom]

When triumph turns sour, both Tandy and Tyrone regress back to their old ways. But after everything that has happened, and actions that have been set into motion, can they truly go back to the way things once were? Meanwhile, Det. O’Reilly tries to deal with the recent fallout.

 

[UNOSEZ]

Lol @ Evita figuring it out that tandy was the other divine pairing... Her face was one of anger disgust frustration and a lil bit of.. "Oh God the lil blonde white girl... Seriously? "...  Another great epi.. Tandy was self pity and misplaced anger.. And Ty  was all hoplessness and rage... And damn if those two don't really blow up at one another and go for the jugular... I'm so looking fwd to season 2...  I wish they'd move it up so we can get to it faster

Edited July 27, 2018 by UNOSEZ

[Sakura12]

Why was Evita so upset that it was Tandy was the other half? Did she think it was her? She doesn't even know that Tandy's an asshole 65% of the time. I do like that Ty and Tandy have only just met but all their mind hopping as made them know each other better than anyone else so they really know how to get under the others skin. 

Tandy deserved to get robbed by Liam, she owes him that much. Ty's powers confuse me, do the people he touches see what he sees and know what happened? Because it seems like Tandy's don't, they just feel hope or hopelessness when she takes it away.

With that not so subtle lecture from the Father, Ty and Tandy will finally get their hero moment next episode. 

[AimingforYoko]

So framing a witness with the murder of another witness. Say what you will about Connors, but you have to admire the efficiency.

I don't know how I feel about the use of the "Hero Lecture" as a framing device. I'm not sure if it was inventive or lazy.

[Raja]

Stealing folks greatest hopes, how low can you go Tandy?

[AnimeMania]

Why is Tandy taking away people's hope, it certainly doesn't make her feel better, at least not for long? Tandy made Mina kill a bee. How can 2 police officers brutally beat each other and the rest of the police officers don't even bat an eye? I can kind of understand what's motivating Tyrone, but I have no clue why Tandy is acting the way she is.

[dwmarch]

3 hours ago, Raja said:

Stealing folks greatest hopes, how low can you go Tandy?

However, I find myself hoping that the hope-stealing effect on the victim is just as temporary as the high Tandy gets from doing it. After all, it's not like hope is something that is gone forever once you have lost it. You can hope for the same thing over and over again even if you're let down from time to time. Just ask anyone who visits the same coffee shop every morning even though the coffee is hit and miss.

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Why is Tandy taking away people's hope, it certainly doesn't make her feel better, at least not for long? Tandy made Mina kill a bee. How can 2 police officers brutally beat each other and the rest of the police officers don't even bat an eye? I can kind of understand what's motivating Tyrone, but I have no clue why Tandy is acting the way she is.

The hope-stealing is a drug metaphor which is kind of silly since we saw Tandy doing actual drugs in this episode. But it was meant to show that she's trying to engage in the same behavior of the past except this time it's different because of the whole hero-journey situation. So she's going to try snorting hope like it's crushed up Adderall but I would imagine enough mainlined hope will have a totally different effect on her.

Edit: Tandy's first hope-stealing experience had a very sexual tilt to it, making her the first Marvel character to discover a new power and immediately use it for the purpose of masturbation.

The cop beating situation was weird and made me wonder if it was all a dream somehow and the female cop (whose name does not stick with me) just bashed her own face against the bar repeatedly. I've heard legend of the Blue Shield but it seems a little unlikely that a cop who confessed to murder would show up at the wake for the cop who arrested him, brutally beat the other cop who arrested him and all the other cops just carry on like nothing is happening.

Edited July 27, 2018 by dwmarch
Tandy's motivation

[Oscirus]

1. ABC, CW, Hulu, Netflix, take note. This is how you do an origin story on your heroes, you don't need pretty villains, or comedic side kicks or even cute bro/sis mances, you create your heroes, give them a backstory and trust it to come to life on the screen. This is the most impressed that I've been with a show in a while.

2. Evita has her own powers. Nice, let's see how that plays out going forward.

3.

Nice foreshadowing of detective Oreilly's eventual descent into villainhood.

4. That being said, trust your audience, we get what you're doing. You don't need to tell us step by step.

5.  This gaining powers off screen thing needs to not become a thing.  Also, that stealing hope as a drug metaphor was extremely forced.

6. On the fence about the priest. On one hand, I appreciated that he had a dirty secret in his past, on the other hand, he wasn't on the show enough for me to really  care about it.

7. Oh hi Liam, nice to see you return. I have a feeling the taking of the money was more of an impulse thing then something permanent.

8.  I assume the cops that just watched are on the payroll, otherwise, it makes no sense they would stop her but not him.

9. I love that Tyrone and Tandy don't hold back in their arguments. they go for the throat and that's awesome. I even love that scene at the end with the dagger and Tyrone not even flinching.

Really looking forward to the season finale.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Oscirus

[UNOSEZ]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Why is Tandy taking away people's hope, it certainly doesn't make her feel better, at least not for long? Tandy made Mina kill a bee. How can 2 police officers brutally beat each other and the rest of the police officers don't even bat an eye? I can kind of understand what's motivating Tyrone, but I have no clue why Tandy is acting the way she is.

She's an addict.. And especially it seems when her life feels unstable she chases highs... This hope stealing thing is her new high... Now the dude at the beginning of  the episode was just for the high... Mina.. I think was out of spite that she got her dad back and seemed happy... And I don't really know why she was taking Liam's hope away (Maybe she was pulling a Delores from westworld and rebooting Liam)... 

I had no idea what that cop bar scene was about... I get that other cops may not have loved that O'reilly was the one who arrested Connor and not IA.... But dude got caught on tape saying he killed a black kid a day later the other cop that helped arrest him is murdered and he just saunters into the bar.. Now she attacked him but after they held her and he hit back and got the upper hand... No one stops him?..  He's kicking her.. Punching her on the ground?  And the kicker they all start to huddle around him.. Including the black male and black female cop... 

And one more time... The look of utter disgust on Evita's face of the when she realized that Randy was the other one.. Priceless... That was like the last 60 or so years of black women's frustration at seeing some of "their men lost to white women"... And to a pretty blonde one at that..  Lol I've seen that face before ( and I know that there's more to it and its deeper than that.. And I kinda trust the show to convey that... But it will come up... Evita will remark on the tiny angry blonde girl to someone... Either to her aunt or Tandy herself 

[Linderhill]

I've got no patience for Tandy and her nasty hope stealing this episode. I haven't liked her much before this and this just clinched it. I don't care that its an expansion on her drug addiction, it just despicable. She deserved that look from Evita.

[Sakura12]

I'm always drawn to the messed up characters. So I love Tandy. I guess I like the character journey that start from the bottom. 

With people thinking that Ty is the one that "dies" , hes too obvious since we know he would sacrifice himself. It would be more of a journey for Tandy to sacrifice herself for Ty. To show that she learned to truly care for someone other than herself. We known neither of them are staying dead, it would just show more growth from her. 

[Quark]

Considering that this was the penultimate episode of the season, it was quite slow, so I hope the pace picks up for the finale next week.

I hope Mina is alright, I like her. Not a fan of Tandy this episode.

[ramble]

I’ve tried so hard to like this show. I just keep holding on thinking they’ll get through this long winding tale of teenage woe that I’m less and less interested in. But ugh. Just ugh. Tandy is a whiner and a user. Ty is full of anger and sounds like the child of Shakira with his frog voice. And I think I have the basics of their story now. Thanks. 

I’m ready for some cloak and daggering. And were they trying to say that the Roxxon magic energy gas is what makes New Orleans what it is? Because huh?  

[UNOSEZ]

20 hours ago, ramble said:

Ty is full of anger and sounds like the child of Shakira with his frog voice.

I disagree with most of ya comment.. But damn you hit the nail in the head right here... I couldn't place exactly what I was hearing when he spoke loudly but that's it.. Shakira... Just watching this old episode of ugly Betty and she's singing in the background and I'm like... Oh snap... Its Ty 

[Oscirus]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 6:03 AM, UNOSEZ said:

The look of utter disgust on Evita's face of the when she realized that Randy was the other one.. Priceless... That was like the last 60 or so years of black women's frustration at seeing some of "their men lost to white women"... And to a pretty blonde one at that..  Lol I've seen that face before ( and I know that there's more to it and its deeper than that.. And I kinda trust the show to convey that... But it will come up... Evita will remark on the tiny angry blonde girl to someone

I hope this show has the balls to go that route, but I doubt it. More like, oh shit my boyfriend who likes being a martyr is already aligned with the other half of the divine pair and he's probably going to die.

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 10:34 AM, Quark said:

Considering that this was the penultimate episode of the season, it was quite slow

In terms of origin stories there's not many shows like this. Flash might be the closest and even he had mentors, this show has to be slow by design. That way when the two finally team up in the finale it has more of an impact. 

[Lambsilencer]

I honestly wondered why there was not more internet backlash at the scene where Detective O'Reilly got beaten up by Connors that viciously. It was prolonged, and on a TV channel that targets young adults. Don't see who thought that this was necessary to show it in this way.

The latest episodes sure were pretty dark. I also wonder if people looking for an hour of entertainment really want to see the level of general misery the show has offered lately. 

Me, as I am one who likes the darker aspects (but am myself a pretty upbeat person in general), I thought it was interesting to see how the quests our heroes were on, in the end, reality checks of the worst kind. It's always the hardest to find out you are fighting hard for something, but after all is said and done, you may have fought for nothing, the goals you were trying to reach are not worth it, or the people who you tried to clear their name didn't deserve it. It can throw you off your tracks fast and hard. That's what we saw tonight. It wasn't pretty, but it was realistic in that aspect. Tandy got way too far with stealing people's hopes, for sure.
How entertaining it was, however, remains a question every viewer has to figure out for himself.

Greets
Lambsilencer

Edited July 29, 2018 by Lambsilencer

[tennisgurl]

I think that look from Evita was very much "oh god are you kidding me? The person destined to help my kind of boyfriend save New Orleans is this clearly maladjusted chick who just tried to slurp up my hopes and dreams like a slushy for her own ends?" Which was quite justified, as Tandy was practically going super villain this episode, sucking the hope out of people, including Mina and Liam, who have both been nothing but nice to her. I like that they are willing to go dark with their heroes, but dang girl. That heroes journey can be a tough one. 

I really like Evita and her aunt. It seems like Evita might have powers too, considering she pushed Tandy out of her own head. I am actually really interested in seeing where her story goes. 

I was half convinced that when Tandy got back to her church home, Liam would have killed himself. I cant really blame him for robing her, she did him pretty dirty. Not only did she cut and run on him when he was busted, she only got him out to try to recapture her pre-superhero life, and to try and fatten up his hopes of their happy future so she can suck him dry. Run for it, dude! 

Pretty good episode, even if watching Tandy and Tyrone go down a dark path isnt very pleasant. On the other hand, the fight between Connors and O'Reilly seemed super weird. Are ALL those cops on the take, or is it normal for cops to kick the shit out of each other in the middle of their bar wake for a fallen officer? I almost thought it was a dream, it was so bizarre. 

[ursula]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Are ALL those cops on the take, or is it normal for cops to kick the shit out of each other in the middle of their bar wake for a fallen officer?

Yep, pretty much. They might not all be on a payroll but they know what's what. Fuchs(?) basically warned O'Reilly that no one wanted to rock the boat and people (cops) were pretty happy with the way things were. O'Reilly rocked the boat and her boyfriend and co-conspirator got killed within hours. You don't need to draw a picture. 

The cops in that bar just did literally, what they had been happy - and will be happy to continue - to do figuratively for years: Look the other way. 

[UNOSEZ]

24 minutes ago, ursula said:

Yep, pretty much. They might not all be on a payroll but they know what's what. Fuchs(?) basically warned O'Reilly that no one wanted to rock the boat and people (cops) were pretty happy with the way things were. O'Reilly rocked the boat and her boyfriend and co-conspirator got killed within hours. You don't need to draw a picture. 

The cops in that bar just did literally, what they had been happy - and will be happy to continue - to do figuratively for years: Look the other way. 

I mean I got that.. But like @tennisgurl was saying.. Nobody even tried to stop.. Like maybe they knew he was dirty.. But he killed a black boy and covered it up.. And like a day later one of the cops who arrested him is dead and ppl are still just cool with him being around( specifically the two black cops we see toasting to fuchs memory as a decent dude)  and on top of being around... Of str8 up man handling the ex of said dead cop.. If they were both upright and swinging.. That woulda been one thing... But he had her on the floor kicking her like she spit on his momma... Like some I thought it might been some bad dream.. But after she left she was still beat up and  the call to go to TY's  house had come on the radio

[Sakura12]

Yeah it was weird that no one even attempted to help her. I guess all the cops are on the take with Connors. I think Fuchs was too until he decided to help Reilly. That's why he was killed to send a message to her and to the rest of them. It does set up Reilly's journey to her comic counterpart. 

Edited July 30, 2018 by Sakura12

[ursula]

5 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Like maybe they knew he was dirty.. But he killed a black boy and covered it up..

I actually found the cops being indifferent to this being the most realistic thing on the show. 

In this show where teenagers can manipulate people's fears, a boy teleports, and a girl grows light daggers with her mind, the one thing that stretched suspension of disbelief for me was the idea that there needed to be an elaborate 8 year cover-up of a white cop murdering a black boy. 

[Oscirus]

Without going too much into spoilers, I assume the beatdown was to set up season 2. It just came off as a bit clunky. I get that they had to make her the aggressor, but why have them break up the fight the first time and make them the cause of her beating? I assume they were going with the fact that the cops were either too scared or didn't care enough to break up the fight ala kitty Genovese, it didn't work that way thanks to the aforementioned intervention.

[JasmineFlower]

On 7/26/2018 at 9:38 PM, Sakura12 said:

Why was Evita so upset that it was Tandy was the other half? Did she think it was her? She doesn't even know that Tandy's an asshole 65% of the time.

65%? I'm dying to know what version of the show you're watching and how I can get access to it. I might be able to tolerate this show way more if I didn't think Tandy was objectionable and unlikable 85% of the time at a minimum. She's a major reason why I don't know at all if I'm checking out next season.

[JasmineFlower]

On 7/29/2018 at 1:26 AM, Oscirus said:

More like, oh shit my boyfriend who likes being a martyr is already aligned with the other half of the divine pair and he's probably going to die.

 

On 7/29/2018 at 3:54 PM, tennisgurl said:

I think that look from Evita was very much "oh god are you kidding me? The person destined to help my kind of boyfriend save New Orleans is this clearly maladjusted chick who just tried to slurp up my hopes and dreams like a slushy for her own ends?"

That's definitely all Evita's look was. Her aunt had just told her that the pair could save the city and to find out from Ty if he had connected with the other person in her vision, Evita agreed but to appease her aunt not because she thought she was going to find out something for real, so she was shocked when she realized Ty had met his partner and that she definitely has powers. And suggestions that take Evita's reaction further than that are presumptuous and borderline offensive given the story hasn't gone in that direction.

[luckyroll3]

On 7/27/2018 at 3:03 AM, UNOSEZ said:

And I don't really know why she was taking Liam's hope away

Because getting rid of Liam's hopes was the only way to officially push him away.  Tandy has no interest in being happy despite having a guy who actually understands her and knows all her faults, yet is okay with her and loves her in spite of her 65-85% assholery (lol!).  She'd rather be broken and tragic and undeserving.  She can't have Liam all up in her life filling it with yucky love because then she couldn't continue to be angry all the time.  

So if Tandy can see people's hopes and take them away, does that mean Ty can take away/appease people's fears?

[ursula]

24 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

So if Tandy can see people's hopes and take them away, does that mean Ty can take away/appease people's fears?

I sincerely hope so. Right now, there's a deep power in-balance between them. Two "halves" of the Divine Pairing looks more like the "1-quarter and 3-quarter" of the Divine Pairing.  

[Oscirus]

More I think about it, the more I'm tentatively fine with Tandy's actions as long as there's consequences.  I believe they were hinting at them with Mina's murder of the bee. But if nothing comes of this other then dirty looks, I will be severely disappointed.

[Chris24601]

On 7/31/2018 at 5:44 AM, Oscirus said:

More I think about it, the more I'm tentatively fine with Tandy's actions as long as there's consequences.  I believe they were hinting at them with Mina's murder of the bee. But if nothing comes of this other then dirty looks, I will be severely disappointed.

To be fair, one consequence already is that Liam was knocked so far out of love with Tandy by her taking his hope that he made off with all the money Roxxon bought the evidence off her with. If Mina stays a burned bridge I think I'd call that balanced consequences.

* * * *

Despite the obviousness of it, IF one of them is going to die (albeit likely temporarily) I'm going to have to say it WILL be Ty precisely because the end of the season isn't the end of the story and Tandy has the more interesting character journey if someone actually is willing to die for her. Good kid continues to be good after bad kid sacrifices self for him isn't as compelling as the bad kid now has massive reason to turn things around and keep working on being good despite being a jerkass 65-85% of the time because the good kid thought she was worth saving.

That said, I'm 99% sure there's going to be a loophole (time to go rewatch the pilot for potential anomolies) and someone else will die instead.

[AKA...CJ86]

So... two things:

I think it was obvious there was going to be a Fuchs cover-up.  I was leaning more towards O'Reilly over Tyrone.  Side note, so, is the entire department corrupt? Between a cover-up (well a second cover-up) and nobody stepping in when Connors was going to town on O'Reilly...

The minute she bailed out Liam, I knew he would screw Tandy over. Whether legit revenge on his mind or her stealing his hope, I was thinking that would at least be the one thing to come back and bite her.