honestly this show could refuse to answer any questions ever about the town even in its series ending and i wouldn't be mad, that's how entertaining it is. and i usually hate open-ended shit so that's saying something.
i think it's partially because this show's killed off literally whoever it wants whenever it wants so i was extra stressed but MAN. this episode was HARROWING. also i appreciate fatima's breakdown these last two episodes bc nobody can possibly keep their shit together 24/7 in this place
OOF BOYD AND ELLIS'S BACKSTORY
this show really isn't afraid to kill characters off
for anyone thinking of watching—it's a great series, highly recommend. but to be perfectly clear, if you're unfamiliar with its source material, this is loosely inspired by the billy milligan case, emphasis on loosely. the only real overlap is the idea of dissociative identity disorder being used as a valid insanity defense and a few family details. the majority strays very far from the reality, and i think that's honestly for the sake of making it more palatable for viewing. this tells its own fictionalized story, and i just want to emphasize that for anyone going into it blind who sees the adaptation credit in the opening.
an expected ending given the (very, very loosely followed) source material, but good. i get why this role messed with tom holland so much and that's the main reason i don't mind how much they changed for the series; i don't think the reality would've been easier on an actor. he also brought a believability to the diagnosis which is still disputed to this day. (i do think it's a valid disorder in rare cases of severe childhood abuse given its history, but boy is there also some bullshit out there.)
i also really appreciate the ending for how they had rya talk about the balance of the closeness of the therapist–patient relationship and the importance of not holding onto it when it's reached an end, for either side. this was a pretty good representation of therapy, and i've seen some shitty and irresponsible characterizations of it, so that matters to me.
every episode's cliffhanger makes me suffer more than the last one what the HELL
my opinions of candy are complicated and conflicting so instead i just want to say tom holland didn't have a word of dialogue in this episode and he still devastated me in that courtroom
with that last scene i 100% understand why tom holland said this role fucked him up
i cried more times than i am comfortable admitting
it's entertaining background tv. people seeking quality and something meaningful out of a franchise have forgotten that we're in late stage capitalism i think
as someone who was parentified as a child, has since had a lot of therapy, and learned exactly how insanely formative the first few years of a child's life can be well into adulthood, this episode was really upsetting. almost fucking cried when they described that blanket training abuse
super entertaining, a little dramatic and silly. it's trash and i like it. for anyone debating bingeing it in full, the ending was a pretty decent wrap up.
someone in an article i read described this as uncanny valley and tbh it really is the uncanny valley of production vibes. half dramatization half "reality" 100% unpleasant to watch. i'm quitting after episode one.
ok fine i guess cutting her hand off wasn't gonna work.
maybe i'm being too simple-minded about this but. just cut off her hand
the silly cgi of this show delights me so much
i would really like for angelina to be gone now. like she doesn't need to exist for the show to have plenty of storylines to work with and she's just. so intolerable
also joe and his son seeing each other for the first time in 8 months really got me in my feelings tbh
also—highly recommend watching mista gg's breakdown of the movie. he makes a good argument for one of the ways the ambiguous ending could be interpreted!
absolutely grotesque and i loved it. the amount of blood in this movie was hysterical. worth the watch if you like gore, body horror, and evil dead vibes. for those looking to avoid it, there's some sexual violence shown on-screen. i don't really think tasteful is the right word to describe the content, but it's handled... appropriately? at least within the movie genre and context. basically it didn't affect my ability to enjoy watching the film (which i can't say for every horror film i've seen involving sexual violence)
my biggest takeaway from this episode is that they don't know what STARS are
biggest takeaway: i want an owlbear
delightful and full of body horror, the end
gives a lot of detroit become human vibes in a way i enjoyed. it's not a groundbreaking film but it's an enjoyable sci-fi thriller and simu liu was lovely (until i found out about his incel ties)
tbh this show made me invested in an extended scene about fixing a generator so i'm here for it
l m a o that rapist just gave the granddaddy of all non-apologies
the music in this show is INCREDIBLE
highly recommend the making 1899 special! it's fascinating tbh.
i don't mind the ending because netflix canceled it. as an ending point and a Reveal it's fine; i'd have lost interest entirely in a second season in that setting i think. but i loved the international cast and wish more projects utilized it, as complicated as it might be. i used to be an esl instructor and my favorite thing about that was getting to watch students interact across language barriers on break when they'd rather rely on body language and other cues than keep practicing their L2 language (it gets exhausting for the brain very quickly).
it's enjoyable but 5 was better. i did love all the easter eggs though.
nestor carbonell directed this episode! it was really well acted for a procedural tbh