Another Week, More Shows
1) A cat gets extra nursing care, while another has a cone it can live with (could it be the smell of the paper that makes it think it's in a mobile box?). Meanwhile another cat probably confuses the bird it's suspicious about (quite the switcharoo), and elephants are on alert after a little one falls over asleep. Lastly, this bird not only plays peekaboo, it has the perfect sound effects, while this turtle proves that all living things love scritches.
2) Got the chance to start on Wandavision and found the first two episodes fun. Kudos to Elizabeth Olson's performance as she's a lot of what made these throwbacks fun to watch.
Also saw episodes 2, 3 and 4 of Winter Falcon Definitely some stuff in here for the shippers.
Other than that, I like the way the series is not just letting Sam be a black superhero but a black man, subject to all the usual issues. I am also really glad that the canon is grappling with how getting all those missing people back is not benefiting everyone, as undoubtedly many finally got a chance at resources, housing and jobs that they were shut out of before. I don't know how much depth they'll be going into on that. But I still feel satisfied that there are areas being fleshed out that were left hanging in the films.
I also find the relationship between Sam and Bucky curious to contemplate. In terms of the film chronology, Sam is very tied to Bucky, but only because of his devotion to Steve. His first encounter with Bucky is a deadly fight. And then Bucky becomes his mission, often a solo one, as he tries to help Steve find him. Then once they do, they work together very briefly before Sam is locked up. By the time he is released, Bucky is in cryo again and later on a sort of psychological retreat in Wakanda. And then they're in battle and then they're both Snapped.
So the amount of time they have to get to know one another is incredibly small, particularly in terms of Bucky knowing anything about Sam. I'm not clear how long it's been since their return, but apparently not that long and they haven't been spending it together. So I found their antipathy in the therapy session a bit "Huh" because I wouldn't have thought there was enough there to create that kind of friction. Naturally it could be more recent based on what Bucky feels Sam should be doing, and Sam perhaps second guessing his own decision, which would rankle. But otherwise is it perhaps competition about whose attention departed Steve would have graced them with? These two are definitely like mutual exes.
I was happy with the callbacks to Civil War, including the appearances of Zemo and Sharon, and Bucky's connection to the Wakandans. That moment when the Dora Milaje reveal that they can easily disarm him was a real wow. Speaking of that, the flashback scene where Bucky is shown he is free was wonderfully acted -- props to them both and proof that probably the least expensive scene in the whole episode could have the most resonance.
Sharon seems rather ill used all around so I'm hoping further episodes don't go where I think. It seems relevant to me that it's never mentioned if she was among the Snapped (though I may have missed something). Speaking of things going where I thought, it was no surprise that our new Cap ended up juiced. My bigger surprise was that this hadn't been the reason he was chosen in the first place as he seemed plenty edgy before his 'roid rage.
I have mixed feelings about Zemo. Although I was aware his character in Civil War was drawn from the comics, it seemed a very loose adaptation, with the whole point being that he was essentially a soldier whose life was devastated as a side effect of the Avengers' work. But now we find out he was a wealthy aristocrat, and his demeanor is different. I can handwave the latter -- he's had several years to work through his feelings of obsession and revenge. But his presence raises all sorts of questions, such as whether he was involved in some sort of undercover operation re: Hydra even before Ultron, and what happened to all the prisoners around the world who were Snapped and then brought back? Regardless, who he is in relation to the Avengers and Sam and Bucky as representatives has shifted significantly in this series.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes and feeling pretty good about it so far.
3) I had a new type of anxiety dream. First, I was attending a con near my original home and was sharing a hotel room with several people, though I didn't know them. The con was over and I was heading home to repack a bag as I was going to spend time with one of the people from the room. When I got home, I discovered I had been in charge of hosting a con at my home, remembered none of the details, and had no time to prepare as the first person was arriving.
He was in a three piece suit at that, which made me realize I was terribly underdressed being in little more than sleep wear. As I kept running around trying to deal with things I kept managing to get partially changed as I went. I also kept discovering details. People were dressed up because the idea had been to invite the cast of a Trek show (not sure which one) to be interviewed, and the fans would sit in for that and then hang around for other events after the cast left. I discovered I had indeed contacted the cast, it's just that no one had gotten back to me accepting the interviews. Then I discovered I had ordered t-shirts for the fans which were in a box in my room, but I had no list made up as to whose they were.
Some people were supposed to stay over at the house (by now there were over 20 people in the living room) but nothing was cleaned or ready, though I discovered I had some large Trek soap sculptures in a bathroom. Then I was able to find a microphone and handed it to someone to get set up and discovered that I had, in fact, made a schedule for the event, which someone else had added to a whiteboard which was now up and available in the dining room.
Throughout all this I kept hoping that this con was just a dream and that I was still in the room at the other con instead of falling down on the job at this disaster. Lastly, just before I woke up, I discovered that in fact both cons were real.
4) Saw the second episode of The Nevers and was thinking about how a friend who had seen Ep 1 said that she found it hard to follow because so much was happening. I confess I didn't feel this so much with the first one, as I kind of expected to have a lot of happenings and characters thrown at me. I felt that, as a whole, it held together pretty well.
But I saw what she meant with the second one. There is a lot going on. We have some pretty clear primary characters, but I'm afraid if I had to relate what the episode was about to someone else, well...just a look at the episode's events makes obvious what a mix of things it is:
a) There's Amalia and her mysterious back story which apparently involves a betrayal of Maladie who used to be a friend. Were they friends in a mental institution or did that only happen after they separated?
b) There's a love story brewing between Penance and Augustus which Lavinia is quick to put a stop to.
c) There are more questions than answers about Lavinia, who has the big reveal of the episode. We don't know exactly how she is tied into societal power structures, just that she clearly has a lot of influence and finds out about the police raid of the orphanage awfully quickly. And she is apparently up to no good, potentially using the Touched for her own purposes.
d) There's the story of the Italian shopgirl with a nice misdirect about how things are going to go for her. However that was a fair amount of time to spend on someone who will perhaps not be playing much of a part in the story to come? Also, you'd think her particular skill would come in handy during an excavation, so clearly practicality is not a front and center concern.
e) There's Ella, the truth revealing woman and her son. Amalia's suspicion was understandable, as was her immediate use of Ella to find out how much she can trust Detective Mundi. I suppose we also now understand his concern for the Touched.
f) There's the issue of PR for the Touched in the party held at Lavinia's estate. Nothing of any note there as we've already gotten those messages but I guess it was mostly a setup for the Penance and Augustus meeting and fallout.
g) There's Hugo and his business. An interesting confrontation with Lord Massen at their club, and the discussion of Stoker and vampire allusions particularly amused me given my placement of him as Angelus in my discussion of Ep 1. Otherwise his relevance in all this seems unexplained.
h) There's Mary and Maladie's repeated discussions and the introduction of more of Maladie's people which didn't amount to much other than Maladie's mindset, which Amalia also expounded upon in Mundi's office.
i) Penance's glasses invention - did it actually help Amalia in some way? I wasn't clear that it had.
k) Some behind the scenes of the government chat among Massen and his cronies.
None of this really stands out to me, other than the end reveal about Lavinia, as really going anywhere in particular. What it does suggest to me is why the production of The Nevers was so delayed, because while I think the project might have been seen as very desirable in the outline or Pilot stage, the succeeding episodes may have given execs pause, especially since there was some shuffling in terms of direction at HBO generally thanks to the AT&T purchase. And given that there was discussion in February about a second batch of scripts being worked on (years after the show was greenlit!) to extend the season to a total of 12, I suspect that scripts are in fact being rewritten to give the second half a clearer direction towards a conclusion or at least a coherent story.
I did start to wonder, in terms of Amalia mentioning that her face was not her own, Maladie's discussion of one who sheds its skin, and Horatio's comment about her not understanding anatomy if in fact Amalia is an alien who arrived in the ship on the day of the Touched event. What we saw about her drowning herself seems to suggest not, but it could also be a misdirect.
I found Maladie tiresome and although Jane Espenson wrote this episode the id dump seemed very Joss. I can see her weighing down the whole season.
5) Nabbed this Star Trek TOS ask meme from
misbegotten:
Kirk- can you drive? Are you SUUURE you can drive?
As soon as I turned 16 I went for my driver's test, I was dying to drive. I'm not into driving for driving's sake, but to me having a car equals both freedom and safety.
Spock- what’s your favorite thing to learn about?
Probably something that helps me figure out other people, so I'm 100% with you on that, Spock.
McCoy- if you had a “I’m a ___, not a ___!!!” moment, what would it be?
Probably some version of how yes, I was born in this country, and no you probably haven't guessed right where my family is from.
Uhura- what languages do you speak? What languages would you like to learn?
These days I can only claim English with any fluency. But I used to be bilingual and can still read Portuguese, Spanish, and a good bit of French.
Sulu- given the opportunity, what weapon would you like to master?
My own body.
Chekov- what’s the worst you’ve ever fucked up your hair?
Between freshman and sophomore year in college, I think? A friend who was in beauty school dyed my hair and had to bleach it to get color to hold. Unfortunately the color was not what I hoped and then it began to wear off in patches leaving me with mixed orange, blonde and black hair and it took some time until it grew out enough for me to cut it and get it monocolored again.
Scotty- what’s your favorite drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?
I'm always split when asked about favorites because is it something you have often or something you shouldn't have at all but wish you could? I no longer have smoothies but I love blended fruit juices with yogurt. Right now I'm drinking Tazo Passion Fruit Tea often and really enjoy it.
Chapel- do you have a crush on anyone?
Maybe Colin Morgan? Such a good actor and smart enough to stay off social media.
Enterprise- what job would you do on the Enterprise?
Whatever makes for the briefest stint possible - that ship is always in danger.
Captain's log- do you keep a journal?
I used to but stopped in 2008 or so. I'd been having a hard time remembering to write in it and resenting the time it took for years by then. And I also realized I'd never look back on my old ones and would be throwing them out so what was the point? They were definitely helpful though in remembering when I went somewhere or did something though, which, especially this past year, is tough to separate out.
Warp- what’s your dream vacation?
An around the world cruise.
Redshirt- have you ever had a near death experience?
I was hospitalized twice when I was very young and was seriously ill but I don't remember much about it. Otherwise there have been near such as falling down some stairs headfirst back in college and also falling off a ladder a few years ago. Got very lucky as both could have ended badly.
What’s interesting is that when I mentioned this question to friends yesterday, one immediately reminded me about being robbed once and I was also mugged once, each time ostensibly at gunpoint. I'm fairly sure there wasn't one because when someone has one they don't need to make a point of telling you they have one. I was fine in both cases but they could have been dangerous situations. But I didn't think of them at all, so I don't know what that says.
Horta- do you like lasagna?
I do and buy them frozen from the supermarket about once a month.
>Gorn- have you ever been in a fist fight?
No, in fact I'm having a hard time remembering anything that could constitute a real physical fight.
Tribble- what’s your dream pet?
Probably a mechanical one, given we live in a pet free apartment complex. Also no worries about food, cleanup, vet visits, walks, keeping us awake at night, or boarding while we're away.
Pon farr- Given the chance, would you fuck an alien?
Given how risky this already is with another human that's a hard no.
View poll: Kudos Footer-278
Comments at Dreamwidth
.
2) Got the chance to start on Wandavision and found the first two episodes fun. Kudos to Elizabeth Olson's performance as she's a lot of what made these throwbacks fun to watch.
Also saw episodes 2, 3 and 4 of Winter Falcon Definitely some stuff in here for the shippers.
Other than that, I like the way the series is not just letting Sam be a black superhero but a black man, subject to all the usual issues. I am also really glad that the canon is grappling with how getting all those missing people back is not benefiting everyone, as undoubtedly many finally got a chance at resources, housing and jobs that they were shut out of before. I don't know how much depth they'll be going into on that. But I still feel satisfied that there are areas being fleshed out that were left hanging in the films.
I also find the relationship between Sam and Bucky curious to contemplate. In terms of the film chronology, Sam is very tied to Bucky, but only because of his devotion to Steve. His first encounter with Bucky is a deadly fight. And then Bucky becomes his mission, often a solo one, as he tries to help Steve find him. Then once they do, they work together very briefly before Sam is locked up. By the time he is released, Bucky is in cryo again and later on a sort of psychological retreat in Wakanda. And then they're in battle and then they're both Snapped.
So the amount of time they have to get to know one another is incredibly small, particularly in terms of Bucky knowing anything about Sam. I'm not clear how long it's been since their return, but apparently not that long and they haven't been spending it together. So I found their antipathy in the therapy session a bit "Huh" because I wouldn't have thought there was enough there to create that kind of friction. Naturally it could be more recent based on what Bucky feels Sam should be doing, and Sam perhaps second guessing his own decision, which would rankle. But otherwise is it perhaps competition about whose attention departed Steve would have graced them with? These two are definitely like mutual exes.
I was happy with the callbacks to Civil War, including the appearances of Zemo and Sharon, and Bucky's connection to the Wakandans. That moment when the Dora Milaje reveal that they can easily disarm him was a real wow. Speaking of that, the flashback scene where Bucky is shown he is free was wonderfully acted -- props to them both and proof that probably the least expensive scene in the whole episode could have the most resonance.
Sharon seems rather ill used all around so I'm hoping further episodes don't go where I think. It seems relevant to me that it's never mentioned if she was among the Snapped (though I may have missed something). Speaking of things going where I thought, it was no surprise that our new Cap ended up juiced. My bigger surprise was that this hadn't been the reason he was chosen in the first place as he seemed plenty edgy before his 'roid rage.
I have mixed feelings about Zemo. Although I was aware his character in Civil War was drawn from the comics, it seemed a very loose adaptation, with the whole point being that he was essentially a soldier whose life was devastated as a side effect of the Avengers' work. But now we find out he was a wealthy aristocrat, and his demeanor is different. I can handwave the latter -- he's had several years to work through his feelings of obsession and revenge. But his presence raises all sorts of questions, such as whether he was involved in some sort of undercover operation re: Hydra even before Ultron, and what happened to all the prisoners around the world who were Snapped and then brought back? Regardless, who he is in relation to the Avengers and Sam and Bucky as representatives has shifted significantly in this series.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes and feeling pretty good about it so far.
3) I had a new type of anxiety dream. First, I was attending a con near my original home and was sharing a hotel room with several people, though I didn't know them. The con was over and I was heading home to repack a bag as I was going to spend time with one of the people from the room. When I got home, I discovered I had been in charge of hosting a con at my home, remembered none of the details, and had no time to prepare as the first person was arriving.
He was in a three piece suit at that, which made me realize I was terribly underdressed being in little more than sleep wear. As I kept running around trying to deal with things I kept managing to get partially changed as I went. I also kept discovering details. People were dressed up because the idea had been to invite the cast of a Trek show (not sure which one) to be interviewed, and the fans would sit in for that and then hang around for other events after the cast left. I discovered I had indeed contacted the cast, it's just that no one had gotten back to me accepting the interviews. Then I discovered I had ordered t-shirts for the fans which were in a box in my room, but I had no list made up as to whose they were.
Some people were supposed to stay over at the house (by now there were over 20 people in the living room) but nothing was cleaned or ready, though I discovered I had some large Trek soap sculptures in a bathroom. Then I was able to find a microphone and handed it to someone to get set up and discovered that I had, in fact, made a schedule for the event, which someone else had added to a whiteboard which was now up and available in the dining room.
Throughout all this I kept hoping that this con was just a dream and that I was still in the room at the other con instead of falling down on the job at this disaster. Lastly, just before I woke up, I discovered that in fact both cons were real.
4) Saw the second episode of The Nevers and was thinking about how a friend who had seen Ep 1 said that she found it hard to follow because so much was happening. I confess I didn't feel this so much with the first one, as I kind of expected to have a lot of happenings and characters thrown at me. I felt that, as a whole, it held together pretty well.
But I saw what she meant with the second one. There is a lot going on. We have some pretty clear primary characters, but I'm afraid if I had to relate what the episode was about to someone else, well...just a look at the episode's events makes obvious what a mix of things it is:
a) There's Amalia and her mysterious back story which apparently involves a betrayal of Maladie who used to be a friend. Were they friends in a mental institution or did that only happen after they separated?
b) There's a love story brewing between Penance and Augustus which Lavinia is quick to put a stop to.
c) There are more questions than answers about Lavinia, who has the big reveal of the episode. We don't know exactly how she is tied into societal power structures, just that she clearly has a lot of influence and finds out about the police raid of the orphanage awfully quickly. And she is apparently up to no good, potentially using the Touched for her own purposes.
d) There's the story of the Italian shopgirl with a nice misdirect about how things are going to go for her. However that was a fair amount of time to spend on someone who will perhaps not be playing much of a part in the story to come? Also, you'd think her particular skill would come in handy during an excavation, so clearly practicality is not a front and center concern.
e) There's Ella, the truth revealing woman and her son. Amalia's suspicion was understandable, as was her immediate use of Ella to find out how much she can trust Detective Mundi. I suppose we also now understand his concern for the Touched.
f) There's the issue of PR for the Touched in the party held at Lavinia's estate. Nothing of any note there as we've already gotten those messages but I guess it was mostly a setup for the Penance and Augustus meeting and fallout.
g) There's Hugo and his business. An interesting confrontation with Lord Massen at their club, and the discussion of Stoker and vampire allusions particularly amused me given my placement of him as Angelus in my discussion of Ep 1. Otherwise his relevance in all this seems unexplained.
h) There's Mary and Maladie's repeated discussions and the introduction of more of Maladie's people which didn't amount to much other than Maladie's mindset, which Amalia also expounded upon in Mundi's office.
i) Penance's glasses invention - did it actually help Amalia in some way? I wasn't clear that it had.
k) Some behind the scenes of the government chat among Massen and his cronies.
None of this really stands out to me, other than the end reveal about Lavinia, as really going anywhere in particular. What it does suggest to me is why the production of The Nevers was so delayed, because while I think the project might have been seen as very desirable in the outline or Pilot stage, the succeeding episodes may have given execs pause, especially since there was some shuffling in terms of direction at HBO generally thanks to the AT&T purchase. And given that there was discussion in February about a second batch of scripts being worked on (years after the show was greenlit!) to extend the season to a total of 12, I suspect that scripts are in fact being rewritten to give the second half a clearer direction towards a conclusion or at least a coherent story.
I did start to wonder, in terms of Amalia mentioning that her face was not her own, Maladie's discussion of one who sheds its skin, and Horatio's comment about her not understanding anatomy if in fact Amalia is an alien who arrived in the ship on the day of the Touched event. What we saw about her drowning herself seems to suggest not, but it could also be a misdirect.
I found Maladie tiresome and although Jane Espenson wrote this episode the id dump seemed very Joss. I can see her weighing down the whole season.
5) Nabbed this Star Trek TOS ask meme from
misbegotten:
Kirk- can you drive? Are you SUUURE you can drive?
As soon as I turned 16 I went for my driver's test, I was dying to drive. I'm not into driving for driving's sake, but to me having a car equals both freedom and safety.
Spock- what’s your favorite thing to learn about?
Probably something that helps me figure out other people, so I'm 100% with you on that, Spock.
McCoy- if you had a “I’m a ___, not a ___!!!” moment, what would it be?
Probably some version of how yes, I was born in this country, and no you probably haven't guessed right where my family is from.
Uhura- what languages do you speak? What languages would you like to learn?
These days I can only claim English with any fluency. But I used to be bilingual and can still read Portuguese, Spanish, and a good bit of French.
Sulu- given the opportunity, what weapon would you like to master?
My own body.
Chekov- what’s the worst you’ve ever fucked up your hair?
Between freshman and sophomore year in college, I think? A friend who was in beauty school dyed my hair and had to bleach it to get color to hold. Unfortunately the color was not what I hoped and then it began to wear off in patches leaving me with mixed orange, blonde and black hair and it took some time until it grew out enough for me to cut it and get it monocolored again.
Scotty- what’s your favorite drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?
I'm always split when asked about favorites because is it something you have often or something you shouldn't have at all but wish you could? I no longer have smoothies but I love blended fruit juices with yogurt. Right now I'm drinking Tazo Passion Fruit Tea often and really enjoy it.
Chapel- do you have a crush on anyone?
Maybe Colin Morgan? Such a good actor and smart enough to stay off social media.
Enterprise- what job would you do on the Enterprise?
Whatever makes for the briefest stint possible - that ship is always in danger.
Captain's log- do you keep a journal?
I used to but stopped in 2008 or so. I'd been having a hard time remembering to write in it and resenting the time it took for years by then. And I also realized I'd never look back on my old ones and would be throwing them out so what was the point? They were definitely helpful though in remembering when I went somewhere or did something though, which, especially this past year, is tough to separate out.
Warp- what’s your dream vacation?
An around the world cruise.
Redshirt- have you ever had a near death experience?
I was hospitalized twice when I was very young and was seriously ill but I don't remember much about it. Otherwise there have been near such as falling down some stairs headfirst back in college and also falling off a ladder a few years ago. Got very lucky as both could have ended badly.
What’s interesting is that when I mentioned this question to friends yesterday, one immediately reminded me about being robbed once and I was also mugged once, each time ostensibly at gunpoint. I'm fairly sure there wasn't one because when someone has one they don't need to make a point of telling you they have one. I was fine in both cases but they could have been dangerous situations. But I didn't think of them at all, so I don't know what that says.
Horta- do you like lasagna?
I do and buy them frozen from the supermarket about once a month.
>Gorn- have you ever been in a fist fight?
No, in fact I'm having a hard time remembering anything that could constitute a real physical fight.
Tribble- what’s your dream pet?
Probably a mechanical one, given we live in a pet free apartment complex. Also no worries about food, cleanup, vet visits, walks, keeping us awake at night, or boarding while we're away.
Pon farr- Given the chance, would you fuck an alien?
Given how risky this already is with another human that's a hard no.
View poll: Kudos Footer-278
Comments at Dreamwidth
.