Bigger than usual TV roundup
Castle 8x10
To a point this is an episode I’ve kind of wanted them to do for a while; I’ve thought at various times that not following cases to trial is a little narrow for the show. Because the team is always so sure they catch the right person by the end of the investigation that we’re not supposed to think about how the trial goes, and considering some of the suspect methods the team uses if viewed objectively, I feel there’s plenty of serialization plots that could be done if we had to follow a case for longer. However, the timeframe of this episode makes no sense. Why haven’t we heard about this case before? Was the murder earlier this season and never mentioned until now, or did we just skip over several mouths of nothing relevant happening? The lack of follow through on the character dynamics of last week would almost suggest the latter, as Castle and Beckett are back to faking amicable but not explained to their friends separation rather than angry borderline divorce and the boys don’t exactly seem surprised by what seems a sudden change. As for the case, I sussed out pretty early that the killer was whoever was in the bathroom and was far from surprised it was the husband, although I had him pegged less than I often do, so...managing to not be quite as predictable as usual but only just.
Castle 8x11
Got to say that for this one, I really didn’t see most of the twists coming, and I’m cool with that. Partly aided by the fact that once it was revealed secret agents were involved I found myself expecting it to turn into some kind of sequel to Linchpin that we’ve never really had follow up on and I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to. The character dynamics were also much more in keeping with where things were last week instead of last episode, there’s even a pseudo-continuation of the Russian model idea; mainly everybody is basically on the verge of figuring out that Castle and Beckett might be lying about where their relationship stands even though they’re actually doing a better job of pretending to be on the outs than they were in the previous ep. I actually can’t decide if I actually liked the episode or not, like Castle I’m getting tired of the same song and dance, and I’m always fairly uncomfortable with the extended family issues, I enjoy the extended family characters, but I’m always left unsatisfied by their appearance (again, much like I expect Castle feels whenever it comes up). While in number of episodes (and maybe in in-universe time passed, depending on what timeframe 8x10 was covering) since things shook up in the midseason finale, the time passed for me is making me very ready for some actual progress to be made. I guess this is why the previous ongoing stories were things without a time limit in which they needed to be addressed and could be gotten to when there was space for it; this show may have been built on character progression, but arc plots don’t work so well for them unless you’re actually going to give it real focus I always wanted more arc plots for this show, but I think I always knew that to do that would mean they had to basically change genres and abandon the case of the week plots (which are basically the least meaningful plots to me), this half-measure isn’t quite working out sadly.
Flash 2x14
I...think I liked that one, although it was weird in that there were plenty of moments I kind of got emotional about it, and yet felt there were several things lacking emotional payoff; like I expected Barry to respond to Iris-2 saying to take care of her dad by mentioning what it would mean to him to know his mom was safe on E2; or his reunion with Joe after watching Joe-2 die that way. Frost’s story got to me though; I wasn’t exactly surprised by any of it, but it was emotionally satisfying. I felt that Jay’s story was a little too compressed even taking both episodes into account, there could have been a lot of story potential in him rediscovering his hero side if it had played longer; on the other hand I’ve been a little suspicious of Jay since he retconned his own story about it being the V-6 that took his powers instead of Zoom, and after maybe-mirror-Digg’s reaction, I’m definitely still finding him questionable. Which makes the end fairly suspect, shocking in the moment, but suspect given everything else going on in Jay’s story; that or maybe maybe-mirror-Digg is just Jay’s boyfriend and there’s nothing more sinister about it. I also question the editor’s quick turn against Flash, not suspect in-story, just weird writing, I thought it was the Marvel verse where people turned against the heroes at the drop of a hat. Also, it occurs to me that for all we hear of people abandoning Star(ling) City in the wake of all the terrorism that happens there, Central City really ought to be dealing with the same thing; maybe the pre meta rain economy was better, but the amount of meta human terrorism that happens can’t be good for the populous. Also, it’s been bugging me for ages that we don’t hear of more good metas (apparently in either universe), maybe they’re out there just keeping a low profile, but having Flash (and I guess Cisco) be the only good metas (and only Flash that people see) must be creating...well X-men style societal issues.
Arrow 4x14
Okay, I really liked that one, even if I was super tense that in an episode all about bombs and the fear accompanying the knowledge they’re around I kind of thought the William bomb was going to go off. In the end it just moved closer to doing so, but hitting the lying and secret switches all episode seemed like setup for it going off. I’m torn on whether Oliver’s talk with Thea felt like a good thing; I think for him it was good to share the burden a little bit, but to me Thea sounded so much like Moira when it came to secret keeping that I don’t really trust her advice; plus narratively it seems to further shift blame away from Oliver by having everyone keep giving him the same bad advice (because Barry didn’t exactly get us off to a good start). And yes, Thea’s right at least to a point, that keeping the secret away from the public is probably the best choice for everyone (even though Malcolm knows, and Oliver can’t eventually be completely surprised that blows up in his face), but that doesn’t justify keeping it from Felicity (because if Thea can crack the mystery, I think it’s bound to bite Oliver in the ass since, no offence to Thea, Felicity is smarter than Thea). Heavy handed though it might have been, I liked what was going on with Lance and Donna, because although the relationship development does seem pretty fast they’re doing a pretty good job selling it. Although the more I reflect on it, the more I think maybe Laurel could have had more to say on the subject than she got as she’s actually been on Donna’s side of this kind of thing where Felicity never really was. But it does create a pretty interesting wrinkle in the impending William bomb because we can see that when Felicity is on the outside of a situation she’s quite willing to advocate for tolerance and patience and explanation of reasons, so that when things do get messed up by the William bomb, Donna and Thea (because it doesn’t seem like Oliver’s style, he’s bound to blame himself and assume he deserves it, because he’s Oliver) can point that out to her and maybe get the healing process back on track. While I’m not surprised Curtis has come up with a magic cure of Felicity’s paralysis, I’m a little surprised it’s already coming up; and if it’s that easy, that Cisco and Caitlyn didn’t have any ideas up to now. I laughed a stupid amount probably when Thea just pulled the fire alarm, because I love how Oliver and Felicity jumped straight to ‘hack it’ because that’s the way they work now. The only part of the episode I just didn’t like (although I am still deathly confused by whether or not Darhk knows about Oliver and team vigilante) was the flashbacks, par the course that that is at this point; the writers just don’t seem to have a game plan or a willingness to see Oliver become the broken and killer man he was in s1 and therefore should be closing in on in the flashbacks. Current update on my grave guess: while I’m not taking William off the list, now he’s in danger a bit earlier than I envisioned for that plotline; plus Lance’s life is going a bit too well (in spite of everything) and he’s kind of outlived his necessity as a character so I could see it; I still think Digg is probably on the list, but don’t have any signs pointing one way or the other here.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x05
Sure it was a pretty good episode, but I’m mainly super excited that we’re finally getting some real time travel adventure instead of just keeping things trapped in history. Also, in spite of my ramble a couple weeks back about having limited ship prospects on this show, and still mostly believing it, I find myself shipping Sara with just about everyone, mostly Rip and Cold but still Ray a little bit. Granted it’s probably just my compulsive ship habits meeting with the fact that both those interactions are pretty interesting (the very near blind leading the blind in terms of Snart encouraging Sara to reembrace her humanity; and Rip clearly being the most comfortable with her out of the crew he picked, there’s probably some serious speculation to be done on that front, but I’m not in the mood now). It is sort of interesting to me that this probably had the most references to the longer running shows in this verse, at least since the pilot and that by necessity; maybe because it was leading in to that final bit and setup and whatever we get next time. But why is Ray so confused as to how PT ended up renamed Smaok (Industries? Inc.? Company? whatever)? He left her in charge.
Mr. Selfridge 4x07
That was a really good episode, though I’m not sure I have much to say on it. There certainly wasn’t much I didn’t like, although I can’t feel good about anything because the season is so set to end in badness. Also, this episode was really bad with Agnes shaped hole going on, to the point where it almost feels deliberate. For one, I quite liked seeing George’s reaction to Victor’s death, but couldn’t we have gotten a mention of him writing to Agnes about it? For two, I feel like they were somewhat grafting Agnes’ past onto Kitty, even bringing up a ‘shine like the stars’ reference; while I have no trouble believing that by now Kitty and Harry have a relationship of their own, the closeness apparently between them feels more like him and Agnes. And Josie immediately jumps to the window dresser being sweet on the young sales associate because she’s seen this before (also, when early in the ep someone said they found him a funny sort I thought the writers had finally gone for the gay window dresser they decided against when they cast Henri, but apparently still not). It’s just got all these places where there a flashing light wanting for an Agnes reference and yet nothing and something about it doesn’t feel like it’s playing straight on that. On other topics, at this point I’m going to be a little surprised if Harry and Mae don’t end up together, history be damned; or at least in losing her as part of him losing everything maybe; still not sure I ship it, but it sure seems to be heading that way. I also laughed at Gordon’s kids being so fond of ice cream, since s1 Gordon was kind of obsessed with ice cream.
The X-Files 10x02
Obviously fallen behind with this, not that I was ever exactly on schedule. But I really liked that episode. Yes it was heavy handed with setting up William (who even if they hadn’t acknowledged him would have been hanging over this later set series like the sword of Damocles, but in fact has become Chekhov’s no-longer-baby), but I liked the way it showed the slightly different (but similar) ways Mulder and Scully fearer for him given their different sorts of worries about what he might be. I also enjoy the changed dynamic now that Scully while still less quick to believe is definitely a believer in what she once considered impossible; it also has lead to a fairly different show since they can be a little more obvious that the para/super-normal is happening around them, they used to be a bit more cagey about that. I also liked the plot, maybe not loved it, but it was alright, though I feel like I should be making a Wonder Twins reference. Also, I love Skinner, always have but this was a good reminder.
The X-Files 10x03
Playing a little bit of catchup now, and I really...enjoyed that one. I’m not 100% sure I liked it but I definitely enjoyed it, and as it was clearly made to be enjoyed that goes as a success. I don’t know that I have much to say about it, since it wasn’t trying for big character stuff (although I probably could do a bit on how this fits into the current relationship dynamic of them torn between falling back into their old professional relationship, their gap-era romantic one, and what that makes them now, I just think those thoughts will wait until I’ve got the whole season to work from), and I don’t feel like examining jokes is really something I need to do. I am glad this short season took the time to do one just case of the week plot unconnected with the heavy stuff in terms of plot or character (although it did advance Mulder’s character stuff somewhat), I don’t know that they have time to do another light episode, but one was a good idea. I may have always preferred the arc stuff, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like having a change of pace, I just prefer that it be a change of pace rather than the arc episodes being the odd ones out as it so often was.
The X-Files 10x04
That felt like two episodes not very well mashed together. Yeah they tried to connect it in theme kind of, but I don’t think it worked. The emotional parts did work for me (although, it wouldn’t be X-Files without Bill Scully being kind of dick again) and I am glad Scully Dad and Mellissa got mentions (even if I don’t remember if we know why Charlie was estranged from the family) though I’m sad they got Scully Mom back just for this performance. The main problem was that it felt like they were setting up some kind of mystery with why Margaret changed her wishes around and what was up with the mystery coin but never got any pay off; I guess maybe that was supposed to be the point that there were questions we didn’t get answered, but on this show it’s hard not to see bigger conspiracies at work when mysterious things happen, nor was it quite told like that was supposed to be our takeaway (that said I don’t have a problem believing that 20 years older Margaret would have a different view of how long it was worth lingering on life support). And to think they could have had Bill in the episode to be a dick to Mulder during all this, instead there was no one to say boo to Mulder for being right where he should be at Scully’s side during all this. It also occurs to me that we’ve never actually had it confirmed what happened to Doggett and Reyes and we probably should at some point. Speaking of flashback inspired oddities, it’s weird they would show the clip where Scully discusses that she gave William up when the show has been going on the less-explanation-required route that she and Mulder both made that choice in other discussions; I do actually understand how they can have the characters talk that way, because I can definitely see Mulder taking responsibility as if he’d been there to be part of it, but reminding us of the contradiction stood out to me. Look, I really didn’t care about the A-plot, so you only get comments about the emotional stuff here.
The X-Files 10x05
So after putting off watching at all for a few weeks, I just opted to get all caught up so there’s hope for all those other shows I’ve been sitting on for months I guess. And this one was...well it had a lot of good ideas in it, I’m just not sure it quite gelled into a good whole. Also, Mulder and Scully just need to get back together at this point, there’s so little point in them not being together in moments like this, when there’s even peppy happy we belong together music playing over their scenes; if they aren’t going to carry through on the complex setup the season started with just let them be together. And yes Einstein, clearly Scully is in love with Mulder, most of us knew that 20 years ago (or...17/18, or so when I started watching), get with the program. I kid but that’s part of that good idea not quite gelling thing, the baby Mulder and Scully team hanging around with the old versions. Miller was just so damn bland and didn’t actually remind me much of Mulder; while Einstein seemed to basically hero worship Scully but we don’t actually get them together; in fact I think that’s the basic problem, the teams should have been like and like rather than keeping the same dynamic in different pairs, which would have allowed Mulder and Scully to interact with basically their younger selves and Miller and Einstein with what could be their older selves, a lot more room for learning and discussion rather than just the one standing joke being stretched out. Yeah basically, it should have been about something beyond the joke. I’m also not quite sure how I feel about Mulder and Scully investigating ripped from the headlines style situations, it just doesn’t fell right after all this time.
To a point this is an episode I’ve kind of wanted them to do for a while; I’ve thought at various times that not following cases to trial is a little narrow for the show. Because the team is always so sure they catch the right person by the end of the investigation that we’re not supposed to think about how the trial goes, and considering some of the suspect methods the team uses if viewed objectively, I feel there’s plenty of serialization plots that could be done if we had to follow a case for longer. However, the timeframe of this episode makes no sense. Why haven’t we heard about this case before? Was the murder earlier this season and never mentioned until now, or did we just skip over several mouths of nothing relevant happening? The lack of follow through on the character dynamics of last week would almost suggest the latter, as Castle and Beckett are back to faking amicable but not explained to their friends separation rather than angry borderline divorce and the boys don’t exactly seem surprised by what seems a sudden change. As for the case, I sussed out pretty early that the killer was whoever was in the bathroom and was far from surprised it was the husband, although I had him pegged less than I often do, so...managing to not be quite as predictable as usual but only just.
Castle 8x11
Got to say that for this one, I really didn’t see most of the twists coming, and I’m cool with that. Partly aided by the fact that once it was revealed secret agents were involved I found myself expecting it to turn into some kind of sequel to Linchpin that we’ve never really had follow up on and I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to. The character dynamics were also much more in keeping with where things were last week instead of last episode, there’s even a pseudo-continuation of the Russian model idea; mainly everybody is basically on the verge of figuring out that Castle and Beckett might be lying about where their relationship stands even though they’re actually doing a better job of pretending to be on the outs than they were in the previous ep. I actually can’t decide if I actually liked the episode or not, like Castle I’m getting tired of the same song and dance, and I’m always fairly uncomfortable with the extended family issues, I enjoy the extended family characters, but I’m always left unsatisfied by their appearance (again, much like I expect Castle feels whenever it comes up). While in number of episodes (and maybe in in-universe time passed, depending on what timeframe 8x10 was covering) since things shook up in the midseason finale, the time passed for me is making me very ready for some actual progress to be made. I guess this is why the previous ongoing stories were things without a time limit in which they needed to be addressed and could be gotten to when there was space for it; this show may have been built on character progression, but arc plots don’t work so well for them unless you’re actually going to give it real focus I always wanted more arc plots for this show, but I think I always knew that to do that would mean they had to basically change genres and abandon the case of the week plots (which are basically the least meaningful plots to me), this half-measure isn’t quite working out sadly.
Flash 2x14
I...think I liked that one, although it was weird in that there were plenty of moments I kind of got emotional about it, and yet felt there were several things lacking emotional payoff; like I expected Barry to respond to Iris-2 saying to take care of her dad by mentioning what it would mean to him to know his mom was safe on E2; or his reunion with Joe after watching Joe-2 die that way. Frost’s story got to me though; I wasn’t exactly surprised by any of it, but it was emotionally satisfying. I felt that Jay’s story was a little too compressed even taking both episodes into account, there could have been a lot of story potential in him rediscovering his hero side if it had played longer; on the other hand I’ve been a little suspicious of Jay since he retconned his own story about it being the V-6 that took his powers instead of Zoom, and after maybe-mirror-Digg’s reaction, I’m definitely still finding him questionable. Which makes the end fairly suspect, shocking in the moment, but suspect given everything else going on in Jay’s story; that or maybe maybe-mirror-Digg is just Jay’s boyfriend and there’s nothing more sinister about it. I also question the editor’s quick turn against Flash, not suspect in-story, just weird writing, I thought it was the Marvel verse where people turned against the heroes at the drop of a hat. Also, it occurs to me that for all we hear of people abandoning Star(ling) City in the wake of all the terrorism that happens there, Central City really ought to be dealing with the same thing; maybe the pre meta rain economy was better, but the amount of meta human terrorism that happens can’t be good for the populous. Also, it’s been bugging me for ages that we don’t hear of more good metas (apparently in either universe), maybe they’re out there just keeping a low profile, but having Flash (and I guess Cisco) be the only good metas (and only Flash that people see) must be creating...well X-men style societal issues.
Arrow 4x14
Okay, I really liked that one, even if I was super tense that in an episode all about bombs and the fear accompanying the knowledge they’re around I kind of thought the William bomb was going to go off. In the end it just moved closer to doing so, but hitting the lying and secret switches all episode seemed like setup for it going off. I’m torn on whether Oliver’s talk with Thea felt like a good thing; I think for him it was good to share the burden a little bit, but to me Thea sounded so much like Moira when it came to secret keeping that I don’t really trust her advice; plus narratively it seems to further shift blame away from Oliver by having everyone keep giving him the same bad advice (because Barry didn’t exactly get us off to a good start). And yes, Thea’s right at least to a point, that keeping the secret away from the public is probably the best choice for everyone (even though Malcolm knows, and Oliver can’t eventually be completely surprised that blows up in his face), but that doesn’t justify keeping it from Felicity (because if Thea can crack the mystery, I think it’s bound to bite Oliver in the ass since, no offence to Thea, Felicity is smarter than Thea). Heavy handed though it might have been, I liked what was going on with Lance and Donna, because although the relationship development does seem pretty fast they’re doing a pretty good job selling it. Although the more I reflect on it, the more I think maybe Laurel could have had more to say on the subject than she got as she’s actually been on Donna’s side of this kind of thing where Felicity never really was. But it does create a pretty interesting wrinkle in the impending William bomb because we can see that when Felicity is on the outside of a situation she’s quite willing to advocate for tolerance and patience and explanation of reasons, so that when things do get messed up by the William bomb, Donna and Thea (because it doesn’t seem like Oliver’s style, he’s bound to blame himself and assume he deserves it, because he’s Oliver) can point that out to her and maybe get the healing process back on track. While I’m not surprised Curtis has come up with a magic cure of Felicity’s paralysis, I’m a little surprised it’s already coming up; and if it’s that easy, that Cisco and Caitlyn didn’t have any ideas up to now. I laughed a stupid amount probably when Thea just pulled the fire alarm, because I love how Oliver and Felicity jumped straight to ‘hack it’ because that’s the way they work now. The only part of the episode I just didn’t like (although I am still deathly confused by whether or not Darhk knows about Oliver and team vigilante) was the flashbacks, par the course that that is at this point; the writers just don’t seem to have a game plan or a willingness to see Oliver become the broken and killer man he was in s1 and therefore should be closing in on in the flashbacks. Current update on my grave guess: while I’m not taking William off the list, now he’s in danger a bit earlier than I envisioned for that plotline; plus Lance’s life is going a bit too well (in spite of everything) and he’s kind of outlived his necessity as a character so I could see it; I still think Digg is probably on the list, but don’t have any signs pointing one way or the other here.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x05
Sure it was a pretty good episode, but I’m mainly super excited that we’re finally getting some real time travel adventure instead of just keeping things trapped in history. Also, in spite of my ramble a couple weeks back about having limited ship prospects on this show, and still mostly believing it, I find myself shipping Sara with just about everyone, mostly Rip and Cold but still Ray a little bit. Granted it’s probably just my compulsive ship habits meeting with the fact that both those interactions are pretty interesting (the very near blind leading the blind in terms of Snart encouraging Sara to reembrace her humanity; and Rip clearly being the most comfortable with her out of the crew he picked, there’s probably some serious speculation to be done on that front, but I’m not in the mood now). It is sort of interesting to me that this probably had the most references to the longer running shows in this verse, at least since the pilot and that by necessity; maybe because it was leading in to that final bit and setup and whatever we get next time. But why is Ray so confused as to how PT ended up renamed Smaok (Industries? Inc.? Company? whatever)? He left her in charge.
Mr. Selfridge 4x07
That was a really good episode, though I’m not sure I have much to say on it. There certainly wasn’t much I didn’t like, although I can’t feel good about anything because the season is so set to end in badness. Also, this episode was really bad with Agnes shaped hole going on, to the point where it almost feels deliberate. For one, I quite liked seeing George’s reaction to Victor’s death, but couldn’t we have gotten a mention of him writing to Agnes about it? For two, I feel like they were somewhat grafting Agnes’ past onto Kitty, even bringing up a ‘shine like the stars’ reference; while I have no trouble believing that by now Kitty and Harry have a relationship of their own, the closeness apparently between them feels more like him and Agnes. And Josie immediately jumps to the window dresser being sweet on the young sales associate because she’s seen this before (also, when early in the ep someone said they found him a funny sort I thought the writers had finally gone for the gay window dresser they decided against when they cast Henri, but apparently still not). It’s just got all these places where there a flashing light wanting for an Agnes reference and yet nothing and something about it doesn’t feel like it’s playing straight on that. On other topics, at this point I’m going to be a little surprised if Harry and Mae don’t end up together, history be damned; or at least in losing her as part of him losing everything maybe; still not sure I ship it, but it sure seems to be heading that way. I also laughed at Gordon’s kids being so fond of ice cream, since s1 Gordon was kind of obsessed with ice cream.
The X-Files 10x02
Obviously fallen behind with this, not that I was ever exactly on schedule. But I really liked that episode. Yes it was heavy handed with setting up William (who even if they hadn’t acknowledged him would have been hanging over this later set series like the sword of Damocles, but in fact has become Chekhov’s no-longer-baby), but I liked the way it showed the slightly different (but similar) ways Mulder and Scully fearer for him given their different sorts of worries about what he might be. I also enjoy the changed dynamic now that Scully while still less quick to believe is definitely a believer in what she once considered impossible; it also has lead to a fairly different show since they can be a little more obvious that the para/super-normal is happening around them, they used to be a bit more cagey about that. I also liked the plot, maybe not loved it, but it was alright, though I feel like I should be making a Wonder Twins reference. Also, I love Skinner, always have but this was a good reminder.
The X-Files 10x03
Playing a little bit of catchup now, and I really...enjoyed that one. I’m not 100% sure I liked it but I definitely enjoyed it, and as it was clearly made to be enjoyed that goes as a success. I don’t know that I have much to say about it, since it wasn’t trying for big character stuff (although I probably could do a bit on how this fits into the current relationship dynamic of them torn between falling back into their old professional relationship, their gap-era romantic one, and what that makes them now, I just think those thoughts will wait until I’ve got the whole season to work from), and I don’t feel like examining jokes is really something I need to do. I am glad this short season took the time to do one just case of the week plot unconnected with the heavy stuff in terms of plot or character (although it did advance Mulder’s character stuff somewhat), I don’t know that they have time to do another light episode, but one was a good idea. I may have always preferred the arc stuff, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like having a change of pace, I just prefer that it be a change of pace rather than the arc episodes being the odd ones out as it so often was.
The X-Files 10x04
That felt like two episodes not very well mashed together. Yeah they tried to connect it in theme kind of, but I don’t think it worked. The emotional parts did work for me (although, it wouldn’t be X-Files without Bill Scully being kind of dick again) and I am glad Scully Dad and Mellissa got mentions (even if I don’t remember if we know why Charlie was estranged from the family) though I’m sad they got Scully Mom back just for this performance. The main problem was that it felt like they were setting up some kind of mystery with why Margaret changed her wishes around and what was up with the mystery coin but never got any pay off; I guess maybe that was supposed to be the point that there were questions we didn’t get answered, but on this show it’s hard not to see bigger conspiracies at work when mysterious things happen, nor was it quite told like that was supposed to be our takeaway (that said I don’t have a problem believing that 20 years older Margaret would have a different view of how long it was worth lingering on life support). And to think they could have had Bill in the episode to be a dick to Mulder during all this, instead there was no one to say boo to Mulder for being right where he should be at Scully’s side during all this. It also occurs to me that we’ve never actually had it confirmed what happened to Doggett and Reyes and we probably should at some point. Speaking of flashback inspired oddities, it’s weird they would show the clip where Scully discusses that she gave William up when the show has been going on the less-explanation-required route that she and Mulder both made that choice in other discussions; I do actually understand how they can have the characters talk that way, because I can definitely see Mulder taking responsibility as if he’d been there to be part of it, but reminding us of the contradiction stood out to me. Look, I really didn’t care about the A-plot, so you only get comments about the emotional stuff here.
The X-Files 10x05
So after putting off watching at all for a few weeks, I just opted to get all caught up so there’s hope for all those other shows I’ve been sitting on for months I guess. And this one was...well it had a lot of good ideas in it, I’m just not sure it quite gelled into a good whole. Also, Mulder and Scully just need to get back together at this point, there’s so little point in them not being together in moments like this, when there’s even peppy happy we belong together music playing over their scenes; if they aren’t going to carry through on the complex setup the season started with just let them be together. And yes Einstein, clearly Scully is in love with Mulder, most of us knew that 20 years ago (or...17/18, or so when I started watching), get with the program. I kid but that’s part of that good idea not quite gelling thing, the baby Mulder and Scully team hanging around with the old versions. Miller was just so damn bland and didn’t actually remind me much of Mulder; while Einstein seemed to basically hero worship Scully but we don’t actually get them together; in fact I think that’s the basic problem, the teams should have been like and like rather than keeping the same dynamic in different pairs, which would have allowed Mulder and Scully to interact with basically their younger selves and Miller and Einstein with what could be their older selves, a lot more room for learning and discussion rather than just the one standing joke being stretched out. Yeah basically, it should have been about something beyond the joke. I’m also not quite sure how I feel about Mulder and Scully investigating ripped from the headlines style situations, it just doesn’t fell right after all this time.