tell my mother not to worry
The Flash: Plastique
Let me just say upfront that while there are still kinks this show needs to work out (e.g., keeping Iris in the dark, the clunky dialogue), two things made me SO HAPPY that I almost don't even care:
1. GRODD! HOLY CRAP THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING THERE. (I feel like the Middleman would have some things to say to both Eiling and Wells on the subject. *cough*) I mean, if you are going to do a superhero show about a dude who runs really fast, WHY NOT add in a super intelligent, telepathic gorilla who is exceedingly contemptuous of humanity? WHY NOT INDEED? I love that they're going to lean in to the comic-book-ness of it all, rather than trying to distance themselves, the way the DC movies have.
2. CLANCY BROWN AS GENERAL EILING. If I can't have him on Sleepy Hollow, I'll take him here, being a villain the DCU as he was always meant to be. (LUTHOR!) Too bad they can't have him discover the Flash's identity and say, "I have no idea who this is!" (Because, let's face it, this Barry is essentially Wally with a name change.)
Now I just need him to go toe-to-toe with Amanda Waller. (And seriously, can ARGUS pick Plastique up? We didn't see a body, she could still be alive! Maybe with a better actress though?)
I love that Barry is still discovering new abilities (he can walk on water! He's in select company!) and that Joe was SO TICKLED by the voice modulation thing. The Joe-Barry interaction is the best thing on this show (along with Gustin's, er, glee [pun not intended] at playing a superhero), and I feel like casting Jesse L. Martin was brilliant. PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM OFF, SHOW.
Now they just need both him and Barry to get over themselves and clue Iris in, because that is not working for me at all. Also, Iris needs friends who aren't her bf or people she met through Barry. Maybe she can discover some Flash groupies through her blog? I don't know, but they need to do something with this that is better than lying to her because of dumbass reasons that don't make any sense. She and Barry have an easy chemistry that is nice to watch, but not when he's a lying lieface who lies all the time. protip, Barry: that is not the way to get a girl to like you back. Ugh.
To use two excellent comics counter examples: both the Peter Parker Ultimate Spider-Man and the pre-reboot Blue Beetle v3 told their families and close friends and love interests pretty damn quickly about their abilities and superhero identities - it doesn't actually close off stories, it opens them up to new and interesting conflicts! And poor Iris really suffers here because of it, and I hope the show is saying that Joe and Barry are wrong, and it's going to rebound on them badly, but I don't necessarily trust them to do it right.
Also, Wells continues to favor straight up killinating people. Barry is so not going to be on board with that, even if Wells is actually trying to protect him. Unless Grodd is controlling him telepathically? DO WE HAVE TO GO DEEPER?
I feel like I had more thoughts, but excitement about GORILLA GRODD got in the way of them.
And then, I kind of didn't turn the channel at 9 pm, and ended up sort of watching the 200th SPN episode. Which was awkwardly charming in a way I thought the show had forgotten how to do before I stopped watching it, back sometime in s6. It didn't insult fandom! It allowed that multiple interpretations of texts exist, and should be celebrated! It told teenage girls they're awesome! And it was a musical! Color me shocked and pleased. Not enough to go back to watching the show, but I didn't have any of the ragey feelings it usually inspires even now. CHUCK! ADAM! play!Mary singing "Carry On Wayward Son"! THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SAMULET! I'm a little sad nobody said anything about Calliope crashing to the ground, but I guess not everyone immediate makes Springsteen references. *hands*
It's funny because this weekend I suddenly got a bunch of comments on my old SPN stories, and I reread a couple and was like, man, season 2 was so good for post-ep stories! And it brought out something good in my writing, I think, too. *hands*
Then I stayed up too late to finish All Clear, which is as good a lead-in as any to the Wednesday reading meme:
What I've just finished reading
Black Out/All Clear, both of which suffered from being MUCH TOO LONG and also relying MUCH TOO OFTEN on the "missed connections/miscommunication" business. I got really irritated with Polly for keeping secrets and treating Eileen like she wasn't capable or intelligent. Also, I have to roll with
vaznetti's theory that there's no real central govt or ruling body overseeing time travel, because wow, for all the talk about it, they were all pretty cavalier with both their personal safety and the safety of the timeline.
I also feel like the author did so much research that she felt the need to shove it ALL in even though it didn't necessarily need to be there.
So I enjoyed the books, but I doubt I'll be revisiting them.
What I'm reading now
This morning on the train, I started Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor, which I'm liking so far. I haven't read the author's other books under a different name that is escaping me at the moment, but I've been told it's pretty different from those, so. *hands* I don't know.
What I'm reading next
Well, I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy of Foxglove Summer, despite it not coming out in the US until January (I THOUGHT THE WHOLE POINT OF HIS NEW PUBLISHING DEAL WAS SIMULTANEOUS RELEASE DATES!). I mean, I've preordered it, but still, I can't wait until then! I'm just glad I didn't request/offer it for Yuletide.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/705404.html.
people have commented there.
Let me just say upfront that while there are still kinks this show needs to work out (e.g., keeping Iris in the dark, the clunky dialogue), two things made me SO HAPPY that I almost don't even care:
1. GRODD! HOLY CRAP THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING THERE. (I feel like the Middleman would have some things to say to both Eiling and Wells on the subject. *cough*) I mean, if you are going to do a superhero show about a dude who runs really fast, WHY NOT add in a super intelligent, telepathic gorilla who is exceedingly contemptuous of humanity? WHY NOT INDEED? I love that they're going to lean in to the comic-book-ness of it all, rather than trying to distance themselves, the way the DC movies have.
2. CLANCY BROWN AS GENERAL EILING. If I can't have him on Sleepy Hollow, I'll take him here, being a villain the DCU as he was always meant to be. (LUTHOR!) Too bad they can't have him discover the Flash's identity and say, "I have no idea who this is!" (Because, let's face it, this Barry is essentially Wally with a name change.)
Now I just need him to go toe-to-toe with Amanda Waller. (And seriously, can ARGUS pick Plastique up? We didn't see a body, she could still be alive! Maybe with a better actress though?)
I love that Barry is still discovering new abilities (he can walk on water! He's in select company!) and that Joe was SO TICKLED by the voice modulation thing. The Joe-Barry interaction is the best thing on this show (along with Gustin's, er, glee [pun not intended] at playing a superhero), and I feel like casting Jesse L. Martin was brilliant. PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM OFF, SHOW.
Now they just need both him and Barry to get over themselves and clue Iris in, because that is not working for me at all. Also, Iris needs friends who aren't her bf or people she met through Barry. Maybe she can discover some Flash groupies through her blog? I don't know, but they need to do something with this that is better than lying to her because of dumbass reasons that don't make any sense. She and Barry have an easy chemistry that is nice to watch, but not when he's a lying lieface who lies all the time. protip, Barry: that is not the way to get a girl to like you back. Ugh.
To use two excellent comics counter examples: both the Peter Parker Ultimate Spider-Man and the pre-reboot Blue Beetle v3 told their families and close friends and love interests pretty damn quickly about their abilities and superhero identities - it doesn't actually close off stories, it opens them up to new and interesting conflicts! And poor Iris really suffers here because of it, and I hope the show is saying that Joe and Barry are wrong, and it's going to rebound on them badly, but I don't necessarily trust them to do it right.
Also, Wells continues to favor straight up killinating people. Barry is so not going to be on board with that, even if Wells is actually trying to protect him. Unless Grodd is controlling him telepathically? DO WE HAVE TO GO DEEPER?
I feel like I had more thoughts, but excitement about GORILLA GRODD got in the way of them.
And then, I kind of didn't turn the channel at 9 pm, and ended up sort of watching the 200th SPN episode. Which was awkwardly charming in a way I thought the show had forgotten how to do before I stopped watching it, back sometime in s6. It didn't insult fandom! It allowed that multiple interpretations of texts exist, and should be celebrated! It told teenage girls they're awesome! And it was a musical! Color me shocked and pleased. Not enough to go back to watching the show, but I didn't have any of the ragey feelings it usually inspires even now. CHUCK! ADAM! play!Mary singing "Carry On Wayward Son"! THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SAMULET! I'm a little sad nobody said anything about Calliope crashing to the ground, but I guess not everyone immediate makes Springsteen references. *hands*
It's funny because this weekend I suddenly got a bunch of comments on my old SPN stories, and I reread a couple and was like, man, season 2 was so good for post-ep stories! And it brought out something good in my writing, I think, too. *hands*
Then I stayed up too late to finish All Clear, which is as good a lead-in as any to the Wednesday reading meme:
What I've just finished reading
Black Out/All Clear, both of which suffered from being MUCH TOO LONG and also relying MUCH TOO OFTEN on the "missed connections/miscommunication" business. I got really irritated with Polly for keeping secrets and treating Eileen like she wasn't capable or intelligent. Also, I have to roll with
vaznetti's theory that there's no real central govt or ruling body overseeing time travel, because wow, for all the talk about it, they were all pretty cavalier with both their personal safety and the safety of the timeline.
I also feel like the author did so much research that she felt the need to shove it ALL in even though it didn't necessarily need to be there.
So I enjoyed the books, but I doubt I'll be revisiting them.
What I'm reading now
This morning on the train, I started Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor, which I'm liking so far. I haven't read the author's other books under a different name that is escaping me at the moment, but I've been told it's pretty different from those, so. *hands* I don't know.
What I'm reading next
Well, I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy of Foxglove Summer, despite it not coming out in the US until January (I THOUGHT THE WHOLE POINT OF HIS NEW PUBLISHING DEAL WAS SIMULTANEOUS RELEASE DATES!). I mean, I've preordered it, but still, I can't wait until then! I'm just glad I didn't request/offer it for Yuletide.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/705404.html.
people have commented there.