YOUR HEAD VOICE JUST GOT LOUDER. Yourheadvoicejustgotfaster. Your. Head. Voice. Just. Got. Slower.
I was talking to some co-workers the other day and I was like "oh man, I love the new Hawaii 5-0!" and they all sniggered "oh, did you watch it with The Vampire Diaries?" and then I realized I've given myself a reputation for liking embarrassing shows.
I would cry, except I have a new ep of Hellcats to watch.
ALSO I'VE FINALLY GOTTEN TO THE FINALE OF JOKER AND OMG.
*****ENDING SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*****
There were a few parts that made me go wtf, but for the most part? I thought that was a pretty badass finale.
Things I liked:
The Joker reveal, and what it meant for the title. All this time I thought it was just random English meant to sound cool, like a cop drama would be called "Joker~ Unforgiving Investigators" the same way a stick of Japanese butter would be called "Sunshine Happiness YELLOW MANIA!"
But no, we spent all this time going "who's Joker? what does Joker do?" and the answer was in the title all along.
What's Joker? A group of ex-cop vigilantes.
Joker: Unforgiving Investigators.
Damn.
Mikami as the murderer... didn't make as much sense as I would've liked, but it wasn't completely out of left field, either. So I'm chalking it up as a win (or at least a non-disappointment). My quibbles are mostly with the timeline, which looks something like this:
*Mikami stabs Saeko
*Saeko calls Date, who's with Kudo
*Date goes to Saeko; Kudo goes to Mikami
*Date somehow arrives to meet Saeko at the same time Kudo arrives at the docks where Mikami is already waiting
Like, I guess it could work... if Mikami really hauled ass.
How does Ryo always look so uke? Seriously, it's hilarious. He's supposed to be like "HOW COULD YOU STAB ME?" and instead he just emotes "LOVE ME. LOVE ME. PLEASE LOVE ME."
FUCK YES FINAL CONFRONTATION. The lights, the music, the flashbacks -- and I totally just typed that as "slashbacks" so you can tell this drama has taken over my brain.
Asuka sneaking the CD away from the chief! Asuka being the one to cuff her brother's murderer! Asuka, taking her leave, telling Date she'll be his superior someday! ASUKA IS AWESOME.
CHIEF PUNCHING HIM IN THE FACE HAHAHAHA. Like, it was all sentimental and softly-colored and full of jdrama atmosphere and then... PUNCHED IN THE FACE, MOTHERFUCKER!
And then he offers to drink with him. This gave me pause, because not only was his ~forgiveness~ and ~acceptance~ just plain weird, but it was literally in front of the victims he left behind. "You stabbed Kudo! You killed Asuka's brother! You killed Date's ex-girlfriend! You've been slaughtering my subordinates for five years to cover up for your own secret agenda! ...................The next round's on me!"
O-T-FUCKING-3.
Now this part? This part made me giddy. At first I was like "???" because it's such a non-ending -- Date is still the same, Joker is still running and secreting funds, etc. What kind of resolution is that?
But then I realized this is exactly the kind of sticky morality that I wanted. Joker isn't a drama about righteous heroes saving the day -- it's about criminal vigilantes doing the best they can to help people while abiding by their own ethics. For Date, it's a no-kill policy. For Mikami, it's sacrificing a few for the sake of the many. For Asuka, it's turning a blind eye. Whose side are we supposed to be on? Who knows? I'm sure everyone watching has their own answer. And for once, a jdrama let it stand at that. It totally subverted typical drama morality -- it didn't try to teach us a message about love or friendship or working hard -- it just reaffirmed what Date knew all along: that there are no right answers, just people stumbling around in life, trying not to fuck up.
AWESOME.
ALSO AWESOME?
KUDO AND DATE, SLASHY TO THE LAST, WALKING OFF INTO THE PHOTOSHOP BLUR SUNSET. LOL FOREVER. THANK YOU, JOKER, AND GOODNIGHT.
I would cry, except I have a new ep of Hellcats to watch.
ALSO I'VE FINALLY GOTTEN TO THE FINALE OF JOKER AND OMG.
*****ENDING SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*****
There were a few parts that made me go wtf, but for the most part? I thought that was a pretty badass finale.
Things I liked:
The Joker reveal, and what it meant for the title. All this time I thought it was just random English meant to sound cool, like a cop drama would be called "Joker~ Unforgiving Investigators" the same way a stick of Japanese butter would be called "Sunshine Happiness YELLOW MANIA!"
But no, we spent all this time going "who's Joker? what does Joker do?" and the answer was in the title all along.
What's Joker? A group of ex-cop vigilantes.
Joker: Unforgiving Investigators.
Damn.
Mikami as the murderer... didn't make as much sense as I would've liked, but it wasn't completely out of left field, either. So I'm chalking it up as a win (or at least a non-disappointment). My quibbles are mostly with the timeline, which looks something like this:
*Mikami stabs Saeko
*Saeko calls Date, who's with Kudo
*Date goes to Saeko; Kudo goes to Mikami
*Date somehow arrives to meet Saeko at the same time Kudo arrives at the docks where Mikami is already waiting
Like, I guess it could work... if Mikami really hauled ass.
How does Ryo always look so uke? Seriously, it's hilarious. He's supposed to be like "HOW COULD YOU STAB ME?" and instead he just emotes "LOVE ME. LOVE ME. PLEASE LOVE ME."
FUCK YES FINAL CONFRONTATION. The lights, the music, the flashbacks -- and I totally just typed that as "slashbacks" so you can tell this drama has taken over my brain.
Asuka sneaking the CD away from the chief! Asuka being the one to cuff her brother's murderer! Asuka, taking her leave, telling Date she'll be his superior someday! ASUKA IS AWESOME.
CHIEF PUNCHING HIM IN THE FACE HAHAHAHA. Like, it was all sentimental and softly-colored and full of jdrama atmosphere and then... PUNCHED IN THE FACE, MOTHERFUCKER!
And then he offers to drink with him. This gave me pause, because not only was his ~forgiveness~ and ~acceptance~ just plain weird, but it was literally in front of the victims he left behind. "You stabbed Kudo! You killed Asuka's brother! You killed Date's ex-girlfriend! You've been slaughtering my subordinates for five years to cover up for your own secret agenda! ...................The next round's on me!"
O-T-FUCKING-3.
Now this part? This part made me giddy. At first I was like "???" because it's such a non-ending -- Date is still the same, Joker is still running and secreting funds, etc. What kind of resolution is that?
But then I realized this is exactly the kind of sticky morality that I wanted. Joker isn't a drama about righteous heroes saving the day -- it's about criminal vigilantes doing the best they can to help people while abiding by their own ethics. For Date, it's a no-kill policy. For Mikami, it's sacrificing a few for the sake of the many. For Asuka, it's turning a blind eye. Whose side are we supposed to be on? Who knows? I'm sure everyone watching has their own answer. And for once, a jdrama let it stand at that. It totally subverted typical drama morality -- it didn't try to teach us a message about love or friendship or working hard -- it just reaffirmed what Date knew all along: that there are no right answers, just people stumbling around in life, trying not to fuck up.
AWESOME.
ALSO AWESOME?
KUDO AND DATE, SLASHY TO THE LAST, WALKING OFF INTO THE PHOTOSHOP BLUR SUNSET. LOL FOREVER. THANK YOU, JOKER, AND GOODNIGHT.