Gundam 00, episodes 37 & 38.
Seeing as I totally failed to watch last week's episode in a timely fashion, this will be a two-episode post.
Episode 37
--Ah, the fine Gundam tradition of sparkly naked people in space, it continues.
--Hysterical name-yelling, also a fine Gundam tradition!
--Oh, how I've missed Patrick's crazy faces.
--Revive, I am just as confused as you about what just happened. I always have trouble following the more complicated space battles. I'm a bad Gundam fan.
--Oh, so the Innovators have escape pods. Convenient.
--Quantization? Really? I assume that means that 00 (with 00-Raiser) can simply...not be there when it's hit?
--It's not particularly surprising (or interesting) that Liu Mei is pleased to see Ribbons shaken, as she's always been in this for her own poorly-defined goals, but Regene's smug reaction is interesting.
--Mileina continues to be uninteresting, but Feldt being happy for her when it turns out her mother is okay is adorable. Now if only they'd let Feldt do more. Beyond being manipulated by Lyle, I mean.
--Okay, Saji's helpless fail now is kind of great.
--So is Louise's trauma face!
--Her crazy face is even better. Now she thinks that Saji has been a traitor all along! So great.
--No, Kati, it does not have abilities that "border on the abnormal." It's the protagonist's Gundam. This is perfectly natural.
--Ooookay, wacky commercial.
--Saji's angry emo face is also kind of adorable. Poor Saji.
--Setsuna, it is probably best if you do not try to turn Saji into you. Not that you know any better. Poor Setsuna.
--Setsuna is so full of emo Gundam platitudes. However, on that note, if Lyle turns into the Voice Of Reason, I will smash something. After the way they handled his introduction, I cannot countenance Lyle being a fully sympathetic character to the end. It's just not right. I need him to be some kind of fuckup or villain (not even necessarily a bad person, just someone who was a bad idea to introduce into Celestial Being) for the show to make any sense to me.
--Andrei, you are such a creep.
--Seriously, you guys, do something with Marina.
--Oh, no, Sergei is being The Honorable One. He's doomed. Sadly, I'm actually looking forward to it, simply because it might bring Soma back.
--The fact that Lyle still (quite reasonably!) thinks of Katharon and not Celestial Being as his nakama gives me some hope. My ideal scenario is one where he sells Celestial Being out to the Innovators in exchange for Katharon. Especially if he later winds up fighting the Meisters, but that would just be icing on the cake. (I have said that if it comes down to a battle between Lyle and Tieria, supported by Feldt, I will forgive Sunrise for Code Geass. I stand by this. I don't actually think it will happen.)
--Saji remembering Tieria's words...nice.
--Bawww, Louise deleting all her cellphone pictures of them. How many of them she had is a nice touch, too.
--Sorry, Katharon, you won't be able to destroy Memento Mori; only the heroes can do that.
--Yup, they're going to get slaughtered. Is it really such a surprise that a space superweapon can aim in three dimensions? Seriously?
Episode 38
--Yay, Hilling finally gets to get out there and blow shit up.
--Katharon has no purpose in this show other than to a) die b) provide Lyle with motivation and c) give Shirin and Marina a place to hang out, does it? Well, I still have my fingers crossed for "Lyle betrays Celestial Being for Katharon's sake," but considering how pissed off he's going to be at the Innovators after this, it looks a lot less likely. Which saddens me.
--Why do I get the feeling that the whole reason the Innovators made such a show out of slaughtering Katharon was to draw Celestial Being--particularly Setsuna in 00--out to play? That adds a new purpose for Katharon: being bait.
--"My beloved extermination battle"? Seriously? Lindt is such a joke.
--Hilling being jealous of Setsuna is delicious, I will admit. But I didn't realize that Ribbons was so interested in him in particular.
--Nena plotting against Liu Mei is even more delicious.
--Oh jeez. The Memento Mori is the Death Star.
--"This will require precise cooperation between Tieria and Lockon." This could either be very good or so stupid I punch my monitor.
--I am hoping so hard for more Nena soon.
--Sorry, but I still twitch every time they call Lyle "Lockon." If I had more faith in Sunrise, I would say that this is done intentionally. Then again, the rest of the fandom doesn't seem to have that problem, so it's probably just me being irrationally attached to my favorite character. (But no, TVTropes, I don't hate Lyle because he's "not enough like Neil." What bullshit. I hate the way his character has been handled because they're treating him too much like Neil, with only the most token of lip service to the idea that they're different people.)
--Oh, I see. Marie is going to do something to save them. That could actually be cool. But I still want to see her showing more actual personality and fighting capability again.
--...oh. Allelujah is going to do something, with Marie merely helping out. Charming.
--I certainly hope Setsuna knows that the Ptolemy crew had a Secret Plan.
--Yup, it was all Allelujah, with just a little nudge from Marie or something. Sigh.
--They don't seem to actually be doing much with the "Lyle and Tieria having to cooperate" thing. Maybe we'll see fallout from it when they all get back and have their angstings next episode (or even the episode after that, if this goes on long enough)? Well, episode after next, what with the clip show and all that.
--Yay, Tieria badass! Maybe next (well, after next) episode we'll get to see this season's equivalent of the Nadleeh?
--Heh. Lindt's face right there is so "useless antagonist about to die pointlessly." I have mixed feelings--on the one hand, having him die the way every other character like him since Gundam SEED has died just confirms how generic and lazily written he was as a character, but if this is it for him, at least he'll be out of the picture.
--Oh, okay. He's still alive. I'm not entirely sure of his placing right now, so maybe even if they'd succeeded in blowing the shit out of the Memento Mori right there, he'd still have survived.
--Oh my God, thank you, Feldt. Finally we have someone other than Tieria who acknowledges that Lockon and Lyle are different people, and I can't think of anyone more appropriate for it to be than Feldt.
--Ugh. Looks like Lyle won't be a villain or a traitor after all--yay, he lived up to being Lockon, even Tieria admitted it, now they'll all acknowledge him as being just as good as his brother and yay yay yay everyone's BFF. Gross.
--Oh. Lindt does die the way every other character like him since SEED has died.
--I'm kind of torn here. I really want to stop watching after the whole TRIUMPHANT REPLACEMENT!!! HAPPY MUSIC :) :) :) bullshit, but if I do I'll never get to see Nena kick ass.
--...dammit. I pretty much hate everything about what they've done with Lyle, enough to actually ditch the show, but now Nena is being awesome again. I hate you, Sunrise.
--In retrospect, it was really stupid of me to hope that they'd turn Lyle into a villain. If they did that, they wouldn't be able to keep making official art of the same four Meisters. And what would they do with the OP and ED? Remember, marketing always trumps story and character.
--What do you mean, "we did it," Klaus? You guys were bait. But then, I guess they haven't actually learned that it wasn't them at all yet. Hopefully, that's the point of the scene.
--Hank Hercules? Are you serious?
So, in summary, I really want to stop watching, but I can't. I hate you so much, Sunrise. I wish I'd had a different favorite character; then maybe I could just roll my eyes at the incredible cheapness of the way they're handling Lyle's character and move on. It is exactly the same as how I wish I'd had a different favorite character in SEED, because then I could watch Destiny.
Edit: I am willing to concede that it is possible that the "yay Lyle has proven himself worthy of Lockon's name!" stuff this episode was further setup for him later betraying Celestial Being. That is the only way it would make any sense, story- and character-wise. But considering the other stuff that's gone down, and Sunrise and Gundam's general inclination to place marketability and popularity over story and character? Yeah, I doubt it.
Don't get me wrong. Back when I finished the first season, I was really excited about the stuff that could be done with Lyle in the second season. If they'd developed the storyline in a reasonable way that established him as his own character first rather than just a quick replacement for his brother before slapping him with the same name and position as another character entirely, I might even have liked him. But they didn't. They grabbed him with no explanation as to why they thought it was a good idea, gave him someone else's name with no explanation as to why they thought it was a good idea, and expected the audience to just accept this, because hey, they look the same! And, like. Here, let's have a few token scenes showing that they're different people. But then we'll show that everyone's accepted Lyle LOCKON!!! THE NEW LOCKON YAY!! anyway. Because that's so heartwarming.
Newsflash: there is a reason why the Backup Twin trope is usually reserved for shows that don't take themselves seriously. Because played straight, it's stupid and insulting to the fans and their intelligence.
Episode 37
--Ah, the fine Gundam tradition of sparkly naked people in space, it continues.
--Hysterical name-yelling, also a fine Gundam tradition!
--Oh, how I've missed Patrick's crazy faces.
--Revive, I am just as confused as you about what just happened. I always have trouble following the more complicated space battles. I'm a bad Gundam fan.
--Oh, so the Innovators have escape pods. Convenient.
--Quantization? Really? I assume that means that 00 (with 00-Raiser) can simply...not be there when it's hit?
--It's not particularly surprising (or interesting) that Liu Mei is pleased to see Ribbons shaken, as she's always been in this for her own poorly-defined goals, but Regene's smug reaction is interesting.
--Mileina continues to be uninteresting, but Feldt being happy for her when it turns out her mother is okay is adorable. Now if only they'd let Feldt do more. Beyond being manipulated by Lyle, I mean.
--Okay, Saji's helpless fail now is kind of great.
--So is Louise's trauma face!
--Her crazy face is even better. Now she thinks that Saji has been a traitor all along! So great.
--No, Kati, it does not have abilities that "border on the abnormal." It's the protagonist's Gundam. This is perfectly natural.
--Ooookay, wacky commercial.
--Saji's angry emo face is also kind of adorable. Poor Saji.
--Setsuna, it is probably best if you do not try to turn Saji into you. Not that you know any better. Poor Setsuna.
--Setsuna is so full of emo Gundam platitudes. However, on that note, if Lyle turns into the Voice Of Reason, I will smash something. After the way they handled his introduction, I cannot countenance Lyle being a fully sympathetic character to the end. It's just not right. I need him to be some kind of fuckup or villain (not even necessarily a bad person, just someone who was a bad idea to introduce into Celestial Being) for the show to make any sense to me.
--Andrei, you are such a creep.
--Seriously, you guys, do something with Marina.
--Oh, no, Sergei is being The Honorable One. He's doomed. Sadly, I'm actually looking forward to it, simply because it might bring Soma back.
--The fact that Lyle still (quite reasonably!) thinks of Katharon and not Celestial Being as his nakama gives me some hope. My ideal scenario is one where he sells Celestial Being out to the Innovators in exchange for Katharon. Especially if he later winds up fighting the Meisters, but that would just be icing on the cake. (I have said that if it comes down to a battle between Lyle and Tieria, supported by Feldt, I will forgive Sunrise for Code Geass. I stand by this. I don't actually think it will happen.)
--Saji remembering Tieria's words...nice.
--Bawww, Louise deleting all her cellphone pictures of them. How many of them she had is a nice touch, too.
--Sorry, Katharon, you won't be able to destroy Memento Mori; only the heroes can do that.
--Yup, they're going to get slaughtered. Is it really such a surprise that a space superweapon can aim in three dimensions? Seriously?
Episode 38
--Yay, Hilling finally gets to get out there and blow shit up.
--Katharon has no purpose in this show other than to a) die b) provide Lyle with motivation and c) give Shirin and Marina a place to hang out, does it? Well, I still have my fingers crossed for "Lyle betrays Celestial Being for Katharon's sake," but considering how pissed off he's going to be at the Innovators after this, it looks a lot less likely. Which saddens me.
--Why do I get the feeling that the whole reason the Innovators made such a show out of slaughtering Katharon was to draw Celestial Being--particularly Setsuna in 00--out to play? That adds a new purpose for Katharon: being bait.
--"My beloved extermination battle"? Seriously? Lindt is such a joke.
--Hilling being jealous of Setsuna is delicious, I will admit. But I didn't realize that Ribbons was so interested in him in particular.
--Nena plotting against Liu Mei is even more delicious.
--Oh jeez. The Memento Mori is the Death Star.
--"This will require precise cooperation between Tieria and Lockon." This could either be very good or so stupid I punch my monitor.
--I am hoping so hard for more Nena soon.
--Sorry, but I still twitch every time they call Lyle "Lockon." If I had more faith in Sunrise, I would say that this is done intentionally. Then again, the rest of the fandom doesn't seem to have that problem, so it's probably just me being irrationally attached to my favorite character. (But no, TVTropes, I don't hate Lyle because he's "not enough like Neil." What bullshit. I hate the way his character has been handled because they're treating him too much like Neil, with only the most token of lip service to the idea that they're different people.)
--Oh, I see. Marie is going to do something to save them. That could actually be cool. But I still want to see her showing more actual personality and fighting capability again.
--...oh. Allelujah is going to do something, with Marie merely helping out. Charming.
--I certainly hope Setsuna knows that the Ptolemy crew had a Secret Plan.
--Yup, it was all Allelujah, with just a little nudge from Marie or something. Sigh.
--They don't seem to actually be doing much with the "Lyle and Tieria having to cooperate" thing. Maybe we'll see fallout from it when they all get back and have their angstings next episode (or even the episode after that, if this goes on long enough)? Well, episode after next, what with the clip show and all that.
--Yay, Tieria badass! Maybe next (well, after next) episode we'll get to see this season's equivalent of the Nadleeh?
--Heh. Lindt's face right there is so "useless antagonist about to die pointlessly." I have mixed feelings--on the one hand, having him die the way every other character like him since Gundam SEED has died just confirms how generic and lazily written he was as a character, but if this is it for him, at least he'll be out of the picture.
--Oh, okay. He's still alive. I'm not entirely sure of his placing right now, so maybe even if they'd succeeded in blowing the shit out of the Memento Mori right there, he'd still have survived.
--Oh my God, thank you, Feldt. Finally we have someone other than Tieria who acknowledges that Lockon and Lyle are different people, and I can't think of anyone more appropriate for it to be than Feldt.
--Ugh. Looks like Lyle won't be a villain or a traitor after all--yay, he lived up to being Lockon, even Tieria admitted it, now they'll all acknowledge him as being just as good as his brother and yay yay yay everyone's BFF. Gross.
--Oh. Lindt does die the way every other character like him since SEED has died.
--I'm kind of torn here. I really want to stop watching after the whole TRIUMPHANT REPLACEMENT!!! HAPPY MUSIC :) :) :) bullshit, but if I do I'll never get to see Nena kick ass.
--...dammit. I pretty much hate everything about what they've done with Lyle, enough to actually ditch the show, but now Nena is being awesome again. I hate you, Sunrise.
--In retrospect, it was really stupid of me to hope that they'd turn Lyle into a villain. If they did that, they wouldn't be able to keep making official art of the same four Meisters. And what would they do with the OP and ED? Remember, marketing always trumps story and character.
--What do you mean, "we did it," Klaus? You guys were bait. But then, I guess they haven't actually learned that it wasn't them at all yet. Hopefully, that's the point of the scene.
--Hank Hercules? Are you serious?
So, in summary, I really want to stop watching, but I can't. I hate you so much, Sunrise. I wish I'd had a different favorite character; then maybe I could just roll my eyes at the incredible cheapness of the way they're handling Lyle's character and move on. It is exactly the same as how I wish I'd had a different favorite character in SEED, because then I could watch Destiny.
Edit: I am willing to concede that it is possible that the "yay Lyle has proven himself worthy of Lockon's name!" stuff this episode was further setup for him later betraying Celestial Being. That is the only way it would make any sense, story- and character-wise. But considering the other stuff that's gone down, and Sunrise and Gundam's general inclination to place marketability and popularity over story and character? Yeah, I doubt it.
Don't get me wrong. Back when I finished the first season, I was really excited about the stuff that could be done with Lyle in the second season. If they'd developed the storyline in a reasonable way that established him as his own character first rather than just a quick replacement for his brother before slapping him with the same name and position as another character entirely, I might even have liked him. But they didn't. They grabbed him with no explanation as to why they thought it was a good idea, gave him someone else's name with no explanation as to why they thought it was a good idea, and expected the audience to just accept this, because hey, they look the same! And, like. Here, let's have a few token scenes showing that they're different people. But then we'll show that everyone's accepted Lyle LOCKON!!! THE NEW LOCKON YAY!! anyway. Because that's so heartwarming.
Newsflash: there is a reason why the Backup Twin trope is usually reserved for shows that don't take themselves seriously. Because played straight, it's stupid and insulting to the fans and their intelligence.