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O….kaaaaaaaaay
So that promo screams “series finale” if ever I saw one, lol.
I know we’re getting renewed and S7 is basically a reboot but man are they telegraphing “the end” hard.
(what on earth is even going on here?)
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"GENERAL: Wait. Did we know this would be a musical episode?
Sorry. I had to make that joke. ABC has really exhausted themselves promoting this one; and, honestly, I can’t blame them. It’s a good episode–it’s even be great. Certainly the best of the season so far. But there is something that struck me watching this one for the second time. I don’t know that it’s going to stand the test of time in the same way that Buffy’s “Once More With Feeling” does. I think it was @BarFarer who said it but the thing about the Buffy musical is that it’s relevant at any time because it speaks of emotions that are always relevant: anger, depression, isolation, abuse. OUAT’s musical is–at the bare bones–really just another round of Snowing trying to beat the Evil Queen before the Dark Curse and the songs are the same themes rehashed year after years: Snowing’s ultimate true love, the Evil Queen hates the pair, Hook wants revenge on Rumple, Zelena is jealous, Emma felt alone but now has people!
Don’t get me wrong; it’s still a really good, entertaining hour of TV and I still love it. But will it feel this good 20 years from now when ABC has stopped hyping it? I dunno. I also don’t know how to grade the episode based on possible future feelings so I’m sticking with my original rating.
Rating: 9/10
LIKED
–The cast’s exuberance is catching and infectious. I’m glad they had fun. The past few seasons have seen several of them almost mindlessly running through the all-too-familiar beats so a shake up was a smart way to liven the show up.
–I love that Snow wishes on a star to make this happen. It’s very “Pilot” with Emma wishing on a star to not be alone.
–“Powerful Magic” is sooooo good. Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy but it’s the good kind of cheese. And I love that it opens with a little blue bird tweeting at Snow White. Iconic Disney!
–“And my! Do I sound….good!”
–“I ruined your parents wedding. The least I can do is make sure you get to enjoy yours.”
–Jiminy’s cricket solo might be favorite thing ever. It’s so freaking cute.
–“I’m sorry, dearie. Do you think the Dark One sings? I’d rather scratch my eyes out with a rusty fork.”
–“Revenge Is Gonna Be Mine” has been in my head all week. Colin has a great voice!
–Bex and JMo’s voices are really fantastic.
–“Emma’s Theme,” guys.
–I actually like “A Happy Ending” a bit more the second time around and it’s such a wonderful visual, the entire family/town together.
–Dwarf conga line!
MIXED
–“Emma’s Theme” is still just as powerful the second time I saw it, but honestly would it have killed Emma to say goodbye to her family while they were frozen and not just Hook?
–“The Charmings vs The Evil Queen” is a let down of a song. The writers/song writers should have done something differently there.
–The Dark Curse version 3.0; Emma now has to break that one in two hours? Good special effects and all but the reason why S1 stands out in our minds and hearts is because of how long it took Emma to realize the truth about magic and break the curse. During it in 2 hours seems…slap-dash.
–“I’ve spent centuries collecting little orphans just like you…” Yes, but why?
DISLIKED
–Probably unpopular opinion but I think it was wrong to have this be Emma’s wedding episode as well. This was really Emma’s big self-actualization moment and for that moment to happen and then for the show to say “now go get married!” is a bit…disconcerting. I think the writers should have forgotten the Hook-David-Robert murder nonsense and just had CS get married earlier in the year so that Emma’s big episode doesn’t end with a wedding.
–One more time for the cheap seats in the back: that wedding dress is hideous and we should burn it.
–Emma’s vows kinda make no sense. She didn’t believe she’d ever have true love? Um. Henry? Once again OUAT puts romantic love over everything else.
–It would have killed the writers to have Belle at least be part of the wedding celebrations?
–The spell wears off and everybody will forget everything the next day because…..?
–“Henry, I wasn’t even brave enough to keep you.” This line bothers me the more I think about it. Emma was brave when she gave Henry up to give him his best chance. It wasn’t because she didn’t love him; it was because she was self aware enough to know that she couldn’t give Henry a good life.
–Hook and Rumple get a bit ol’ “ugh” from me. Like, yes Hook has a right to be upset but Rumple also has a right to protect his family, just like Hook is! Just get beyond this, you two and stop with the attempted murder.
Final Thought:
This should be the series finale. It should absolutely end here, without the incoming curse.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"“Die All, Die Merrily”
Well that was a blood bath; RIP Luna, Roan, and Illian.
Overall, I really liked this episode! The fighting was all very well done and intense. For an episode that was almost totally devoid of its leading lady, it managed to move the story forward and have some great character moments.
–Octavia is wearing Lincoln’s markings.
–Indra and Octavia have such a great relationship. I love how it’s half mother/daughter and half teacher/student. “I taught you to fight; who you fight for is up to you.”
–“Like it or not, we’re all grounders now.”
-“You were the girl under the floor. Use that.” Ahhh, the very interesting and compelling Bellamy and Octavia history. I’ve missed their dynamic and Bellamy’s strongest story (and the most chemistry I think he has on screen) is with his sister. I also really enjoyed all the Bellamy moments waiting to see if Octavia would live through the Conclave.
–“You tell her I was the lucky one.” This episode is reminding why I liked Bellamy quite a bit prior to last year’s mishaps.
–“I’m not the girl you want me to be.” Oh, thank goodness. I really disliked the Ilian/Octavia “relationship” because it always felt like just another way to cover up Octavia’s grief instead of processing it. It’s also a fairly gross trope of “sex to cover up pain” meets “enemies until sex.” And it was unworthy of Octavia. That being said, her final moments with Illian were really nice and show a softer side to Octavia.
–The Luna, Roan, Octavia fight was really well done. (Man, this Black Rain comes at the worst possible time!)
–Octavia’s final speech after winning: well, here’s hoping this “all for one and one for all” mentality actually holds water when Prime Fire hits.
(moments after writing the above….)
–Clarke! COME ON. Seriously?! Well there goes that.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"10×4 “Knock Knock”
–A perfectly fine episode. Nothing to write home about but nothing terrible either. Maybe a 7.5/10
–I think the episode kept Bill and the Doctor apart for just a bit too long. They don’t have quite the same pizzazz with other people that they do with each other.
–That’s gotta be the Master inside Checkov’s Vault. But which one?
–Still really don’t get why the Doctor took this oath to become a prisoner on Earth. Was it the only way he could get the Master/Mistress to stay inside the Vault?
–The horror story tropes were well done, even if it was super textbook.
–Those things were basically bed bugs on steroids.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Really, they’re considering renewing Quantico?
Yeaaaaaaah. That’s a weird choice for ABC. I don’t care how much they like it, the show’s ratings are gonna tank next year.
Re: negotiations. They’re still using the four big names but do we really think Bobby is set to return?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I finally got to sit down and watch episode four. I think this episode is a bit slower or maybe that’s because the first three are designed to be watched together and were written and directed to be as shocking as possible. Still, a very good episode with a pretty great message at the end.
Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum, indeed.
With Serena, the way she’s played feels to me so similar to Cersei from GOT — that seething rage just below the surface at her own powerlessness. The main difference is that Cersei was born into that system, whereas Serena actually helped produce it. So I guess I’m interested in the shades of complicity that the show is exploring: for example, I find the Aunties loathsome, but they seem to be simply sadistic religious zealots animated by a very authoritarian, vindictive reading of the Old Testament that got cherry picked to maximize the oppressive message. But Serena is a different kind of creature — is the idea that women like her were complicit with the coup in a (mistaken) bid to maximize their own power and social authority, a complicity that then backfired? And if so, does she buy into the ideology?
Serena is probably the most interesting aspect of the episode. You gotta wonder what women like Serena thought their lives would be like once their vision of government took hold. Did she imagine a sexless, loveless, existence where she’s treated as a subordinate and not an equal partner? I very much doubt that is what Serena was fighting for. We don’t get that much insight into Serena in the book either so it’s really hard to say but Serena, and women like her, were women who think that women and men had different spheres. Serena is the wife and her job is to care for her husband and make sure his life out in the world is bearable.
It’s almost a romantic notion, this idea of the being the ultimate caretaker. Except, of course, that when it’s put in to practice it also means that Serena loses her own agency, though not obviously not nearly as much as Offred. The opening breakfast scene where the Commander dismisses his wife’s astute observations by noting that “we have good men on the job” shows that whatever “separate but equal” partnership Serena Joy envisioned pre-Rebellion was one long con.
Speaking of, I think we need to talk about the Commander a bit. I don’t want him to be a sympathetic figure but we do need to parse out why he’s doing what he’s doing. He obviously benefits highly from this system of government; he’s in the upper echelon, has no compunction about institutionalized rape or the cultural and social structures that keep him at the top of the proverbial food chain. So when he says that he wants Offred’s life to be bearable–but still intends to rape her once a month, to keep her life heavily controlled, and not to curb Serena’s cruelty–it’s rather difficult for me to believe him. And I think this is where @sciencevsmagic’s animalization point might kick in. I agree with @nevermore that the analogy isn’t cut and dry as anmalization but Offred is treated like one might treat a prized horse. When they need the mare to perform, to produce a calf, they tend to treat that mare differently. Different foods, different exercises, different day to day routines in order to get what they want. I don’t necessarily think it’s all that different for Offred. The second she’s believed to be pregnant, everything changes. She’s given different food, she’s treated differently. And while we don’t see “mass confinement & artificial insemination” (to quote @nevermore upthread) I think we do see eugenic selective breeding because the women chosen to be handmaids are those who have had children before. They are proven capable of bearing fruit and thus have a higher chance of being able to do it again. If the government wasn’t thinking in terms of livestock, then why not have every woman be a Handmaid. Wouldn’t that increase the chances of more children? But not all women are Handmaids because not all women have had children. Their ability to reproduce is their only defining trait, hence why all other traits are removed like names, individuality in dress and mannerisms, knowledge through active learning and engagement (we finally learn that reading and writing are a punishable offense.)
So going back to the Commander I don’t think he’s genuine when he says that he wants Offred’s life to be bearable, at least not truly genuine. He wants Offred’s life to be bearable so that it benefits him (so that his mare will produce a calf) but also because I strongly suspect that it makes him feel good about himself. Not that he feels guilty about the society he not only directly benefits from but also helped establish and continues to run but that it makes him feel like he’s a good master who is looking out for his flock. It’s charity but it’s a self invested and selfish charity. “Look what a good master I am. I am helping the downtrodden and the unfortunate of my society” never minding the fact that he and his system are the ones keeping Offred downtrodden and unfortunate. He has a willful blindness to the whole situation while congratulating himself on his own largess.
Other passing thoughts
–There are some very clever shots in this episode that remind us of the common horror of this world. Particularly I liked the shot of the Handmaid sitting in the waiting room, pregnant, while above her are various pictures of Commander’s and the Wives holding the children that were born from the Handmaid.
–Moira’s rebellion and escape. Thoughts on leaving June behind? June more or less tells her to go with a slight head nod and seems happy that Moira gets away (everything about being a Handmaid is horrifying but there’s a different sort of horror for Moira and the woman who was Ofglen being lesbians and forced into institutionalized rape).
–June’s beating was hard to watch
–The theme of control looms large over this entire episode especially where Serena and Offred are concerned. Doors and windows and who has control over those things in particular.
–Hey it’s Orphan Black’s Donnie Hendrix as the suspiciously nice Doctor! I never could figure out, in the book and then here, if the Doctor is genuine in wanting to help or if he’s a spy who would turn Offred over to be punished as soon as she said “yes” to help. I suspect that’s by design so that we get a taste of what Offred is going through when this happens.
ETA
—I have some thoughts about that final jaunty struct at the end. I’m not so sure it’s as effective as the writer/director wants it to be. At the end of the day, Offred lives in a world where she can’t trust anyone. She trusted the first Ofglen but she can’t trust the second. She doesn’t know if she can trust Nick or the Doctor. There are literal Eyes everywhere. The scene is done in tandem with the scene of the Red Center where the other future Handmaid’s give June their food and that scene is much more effective. They are together in suffering but also in solidarity. But the Handmaid’s at the end are suspect. They are together in suffering but we don’t know if they are in solidarity. Maybe the show wants us to assume that they are without hearing all their stories but given that a lot of the first three episodes were about who you can trust and who you cannot, the scene is a bit false.
(with that said, I would 10000% wear ” Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum, *******” on a t-shirt)
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Can someone remind me whether Gilead is just New England, or whether that’s the broader US?
IIRC there is a USA because when Offred get glimpses of the news or hears Serena Joy discussing the matter with other Wives, they talk about the war and the victories Gilead has had lately. I think, though, that the last bits of the US are incredible small and fractured themselves. Florida and Alaska, which are on opposites sides of America, stick out in memory as being two places that have not been taken over.
However, Gilead is the major exerting influence of the region . I seem to remember at some point in the novel Offred sees both Middle Eastern delegates and Asian tourists
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I see them doing Idol from 8-10, and a new drama at 10, as I doubt they’d air Idol from 9-11.
Agreed. Use New!Idol as a strong lead in for a drama they really want to promote and push.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Geez, how about save some musical performances for the actual airing?
Yeah, this.
This is getting a bit silly. Leave something for the fans to see for the first time live!
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Or OUAT can be moved to 9 pm. But I don’t think it would aire on that night. AI always aired either on Wednesday or Thursday.
When it was on Fox, yes. But Wed and Thurs don’t work for ABC because Wed is their comedy night (which is doing better than their dramas) and Thurs is Shondland (all of which has been renewed).
So that leaves Monday which has either the Bachelor/Bachelorette/ DWTS and takes up two hours.
Tuesday has the same issues with result nights from Monday.
Friday which is a big no no and has Shark Tank
Saturday which is an even bigger no no.
Or Sunday which is currently in need of major overhaul and revamp.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
