Community, TVD, Fringe, and all the shows
Thursday is cray-cray, y'all. Spoilers ahoy.
Community
I wasn't anywhere near as happy with this episode as most of the reactions I've seen. IDK, Community used to walk a fine line with the amount of meta it plays with, and walked it pretty well, but this ep was like metacommentaryfanservice on crack. I get irritated when shows get too self-aware and meta - it's a small part of why I finally quit SPN. And some things were cute; the opening montage, everything Troy, Abed, and Shirley, and Betty White did, the Twitter thing - all standard Community stuff I love. But -- and perhaps it's because I've been reading too much of Dan Harmon's idiocy over the hiatus -- but the rest of the episode/the triangle shit was a mess for me.
Some of you know that even though I ship Jeff/Annie, I hated the S1 finale. Taken on its own the kiss was hot, but it was completely unnecessary to tear down Britta's and Slater's characters to get there, to completely undermine a season's worth of character growth for Britta and progression of the Jeff/Britta relationship by essentially sending the message that Britta just needed to get over her neuroses and let Jeff in or whatever.
So I guess people complained? IDK, but Harmon's next thought was to go from tearing down Britta for Jeff/Annie to tearing down Annie for Jeff/Britta. I mean. What was that? Annie had got over the need to freak out about unrequited feelings (Troy) and had matured a lot by the finale. Now they've deliberately infantalized her character (more than usual I should say), making Jeff look like an asshole for spouting the pedophile bullshit (which sounds exactly like what the internet's been saying all summer) when he's the one who kissed HER.
It was really painful to watch, guys.
I really can't stand Jeff most of the time, anyway; always-right know-it-all douches have to be REALLY well-written for me to be able to stand them and part of why I liked Jeff/Annie is that he always toned it down with her. My fave part of the ep was when Betty White lassoed him on the floor, negl.
I guess the best thing about it was that it seems to have been an effective reset of things.
Yay for Chang being in the group, but what was that Gollum stuff apart from a chance to enjoy his ridiculous face? Not that it isn't more than enough reason, just saying.
The Vampire Diaries
WHY SO GOOD SHOW. I'll be honest, I was somewhat less interested in the Lockwood stuff, but I like the angle of Stefan and Damon not being familiar with werewolves and their lore. It's something we don't always see. That way near the end when Stefan was trying to protect Caroline from the uncle dude, you really felt his terror and confusion as much as hers.
Speaking of Stefan, you GUYS. HE MAKES ME WANT TO CLOSE THE DOOR TO MY BEDROOM AND FLAIL AROUND SINGING INTO MY HAIRBRUSH. I AM IN TOTAL TWEEN LOVE WITH HIM. He's so perfect with Elena, the right touch of concern/understanding without being paternalistic, so patient and calm and most of all UNDERSTANDING with Bonnie (he totally gets where she's coming from even though he's a vampire, and she senses that and that makes her trust him, and it's faaaaaab), and just adorable PERFECTION with Caroline. They should have all the scenes. It's official, I stan Stefan HARD.
I also stan Bonnie still, of course, and can I just say how much I LOVE that there's SOMEONE in Mystic Falls who thinks about the dead people for more than five minutes, who treats vampires as if they are actually dangerous? Others have commented about how great it is that the show doesn't romanticize or fetishize vampire violence as much as other stuff in the genre - treats it as gross as it is, doesn't really sexualize it, and whatnot. I think that's true, and I think Bonnie contributes to that as well. I loved the scene with Bonnie/Stefan/Caroline, they're my new BFF OT3. It breaks my heart that Bonnie's so wary of Caroline but she's also not wrong to feel that way, and I have every confidence that she'll come round and they can repair their relationship. I just hope it gets a little more screentime and focus on Bonnie's perspective than it's had so far. (again, I loved Stefan's face in that scene. He didn't interfere in their relationship and he GETS BONNIE'S POV, even though he's protective of Caroline he let Bonnie set the terms and say what she needed to. That's kind of fantastic you guys).
The stuff with Damon and Elena was awesome. I thought Elena would just forgive him, but I should've had more faith. It's also a big deal that he didn't know about Jeremy's ring, that the show actually went there. I'm SO HAPPY HOW THAT IS PLAYING OUT. Damon's really being forced to deal with the shit he's done and not hide it under woobieness. I
Elena/Stefan is so otp and I don't ship E/D at all but that said? That part where Elena turns Stefan's face toward her and makes out with him while Damon watches was HOT. HOT HOT HOT.
I wish I cared about Alaric but it was fine, and it provided a little closure for the storyline. Also, hay Katherine. Can't wait for next week.
Fringe
+ Insert an EMBARASSING AMOUNT OF FANGIRLING FOR ANNA TORV RIGHT HERE. I love Olivia so much you guys. She brought me to tears by the end. I love the angle of inserted memories, and the chance that provided for us to watch Olivia slowly transform into someone else. And oh, it was done perfectly. A new skill here, random memory there, all interspersed with confusion until she loses herself entirely. AHHHHH FIX THIS JJ.
+ The episode was like 90% Olivia so I don't even know what else to say. It was all awesome. I loved the cab driver and I hope we see him again. It seemed significant that she'd convinced him by the end that she wasn't crazy and that he encouraged her to keep believing... right before the scene where she fades into alt!Livia.
+ Walter and Walternate are so night and day. Such superb acting.
+ Something I don't understand: Why the hell doesn't Peter recognize alt!Livia? She carries herself completely differently from Olivia, AND in the finale they made a point of Peter highlighting the differences between the two. I'm going to hope he does know but isn't saying anything.
+ In other news, this season? NEEDS. MORE. ASTRID. No excuses. NO EXCUSES.
Other than that, I'm so glad this show is back.
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Community
I wasn't anywhere near as happy with this episode as most of the reactions I've seen. IDK, Community used to walk a fine line with the amount of meta it plays with, and walked it pretty well, but this ep was like metacommentaryfanservice on crack. I get irritated when shows get too self-aware and meta - it's a small part of why I finally quit SPN. And some things were cute; the opening montage, everything Troy, Abed, and Shirley, and Betty White did, the Twitter thing - all standard Community stuff I love. But -- and perhaps it's because I've been reading too much of Dan Harmon's idiocy over the hiatus -- but the rest of the episode/the triangle shit was a mess for me.
Some of you know that even though I ship Jeff/Annie, I hated the S1 finale. Taken on its own the kiss was hot, but it was completely unnecessary to tear down Britta's and Slater's characters to get there, to completely undermine a season's worth of character growth for Britta and progression of the Jeff/Britta relationship by essentially sending the message that Britta just needed to get over her neuroses and let Jeff in or whatever.
So I guess people complained? IDK, but Harmon's next thought was to go from tearing down Britta for Jeff/Annie to tearing down Annie for Jeff/Britta. I mean. What was that? Annie had got over the need to freak out about unrequited feelings (Troy) and had matured a lot by the finale. Now they've deliberately infantalized her character (more than usual I should say), making Jeff look like an asshole for spouting the pedophile bullshit (which sounds exactly like what the internet's been saying all summer) when he's the one who kissed HER.
It was really painful to watch, guys.
I really can't stand Jeff most of the time, anyway; always-right know-it-all douches have to be REALLY well-written for me to be able to stand them and part of why I liked Jeff/Annie is that he always toned it down with her. My fave part of the ep was when Betty White lassoed him on the floor, negl.
I guess the best thing about it was that it seems to have been an effective reset of things.
Yay for Chang being in the group, but what was that Gollum stuff apart from a chance to enjoy his ridiculous face? Not that it isn't more than enough reason, just saying.
The Vampire Diaries
WHY SO GOOD SHOW. I'll be honest, I was somewhat less interested in the Lockwood stuff, but I like the angle of Stefan and Damon not being familiar with werewolves and their lore. It's something we don't always see. That way near the end when Stefan was trying to protect Caroline from the uncle dude, you really felt his terror and confusion as much as hers.
Speaking of Stefan, you GUYS. HE MAKES ME WANT TO CLOSE THE DOOR TO MY BEDROOM AND FLAIL AROUND SINGING INTO MY HAIRBRUSH. I AM IN TOTAL TWEEN LOVE WITH HIM. He's so perfect with Elena, the right touch of concern/understanding without being paternalistic, so patient and calm and most of all UNDERSTANDING with Bonnie (he totally gets where she's coming from even though he's a vampire, and she senses that and that makes her trust him, and it's faaaaaab), and just adorable PERFECTION with Caroline. They should have all the scenes. It's official, I stan Stefan HARD.
I also stan Bonnie still, of course, and can I just say how much I LOVE that there's SOMEONE in Mystic Falls who thinks about the dead people for more than five minutes, who treats vampires as if they are actually dangerous? Others have commented about how great it is that the show doesn't romanticize or fetishize vampire violence as much as other stuff in the genre - treats it as gross as it is, doesn't really sexualize it, and whatnot. I think that's true, and I think Bonnie contributes to that as well. I loved the scene with Bonnie/Stefan/Caroline, they're my new BFF OT3. It breaks my heart that Bonnie's so wary of Caroline but she's also not wrong to feel that way, and I have every confidence that she'll come round and they can repair their relationship. I just hope it gets a little more screentime and focus on Bonnie's perspective than it's had so far. (again, I loved Stefan's face in that scene. He didn't interfere in their relationship and he GETS BONNIE'S POV, even though he's protective of Caroline he let Bonnie set the terms and say what she needed to. That's kind of fantastic you guys).
The stuff with Damon and Elena was awesome. I thought Elena would just forgive him, but I should've had more faith. It's also a big deal that he didn't know about Jeremy's ring, that the show actually went there. I'm SO HAPPY HOW THAT IS PLAYING OUT. Damon's really being forced to deal with the shit he's done and not hide it under woobieness. I
Elena/Stefan is so otp and I don't ship E/D at all but that said? That part where Elena turns Stefan's face toward her and makes out with him while Damon watches was HOT. HOT HOT HOT.
I wish I cared about Alaric but it was fine, and it provided a little closure for the storyline. Also, hay Katherine. Can't wait for next week.
Fringe
+ Insert an EMBARASSING AMOUNT OF FANGIRLING FOR ANNA TORV RIGHT HERE. I love Olivia so much you guys. She brought me to tears by the end. I love the angle of inserted memories, and the chance that provided for us to watch Olivia slowly transform into someone else. And oh, it was done perfectly. A new skill here, random memory there, all interspersed with confusion until she loses herself entirely. AHHHHH FIX THIS JJ.
+ The episode was like 90% Olivia so I don't even know what else to say. It was all awesome. I loved the cab driver and I hope we see him again. It seemed significant that she'd convinced him by the end that she wasn't crazy and that he encouraged her to keep believing... right before the scene where she fades into alt!Livia.
+ Walter and Walternate are so night and day. Such superb acting.
+ Something I don't understand: Why the hell doesn't Peter recognize alt!Livia? She carries herself completely differently from Olivia, AND in the finale they made a point of Peter highlighting the differences between the two. I'm going to hope he does know but isn't saying anything.
+ In other news, this season? NEEDS. MORE. ASTRID. No excuses. NO EXCUSES.
Other than that, I'm so glad this show is back.
crossposted like yeah |
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