LeftHandedGuitarist

I've been reading GoT's books but Mysha Scene didn't affect me like that when I read it. I cried, man! This episode is unique!

[7.7/10] There’s a sense in “Off Brand” that many of the major figures of Better Call Saul haven’t really been doing what they’d like to be doing. Demands of family, money, and sometimes the two intertwined have kept the likes of Jimmy, Chuck, Mike, and Nacho are, at times, reluctant or bitter or scarred by the work they’ve been doing over the past few seasons. But for each of them, there is something pushing them, almost against their will, to move closer to something that might be better for their souls.

For Jimmy, that means a break from the law. At heart, Jimmy is a showman, a people-pleaser, albeit one who’s happy to use those skills to feather his nest where possible. That gives him an avenue in the law, but his references to having to go “Karloff” in his commercial for...commercials, or the dangers of stripes on screen suggest that he’s as thrilled by the art of his presentation as he is in any con.

He showed the same inclination in his meticulously-produced commercial for Davis & Main and his first big “Gimme Jimmy” ad. And the first glimpse we see of Cinnabon Gene is of a man whose world is black and white, where the only hint of color are the flashes of his famous “Better Call Saul” clips that first drew Jesse and Walt to him. As corny as it is to see Jimmy in the hat and beard and vest (and it must be said that Better Call Saul gets the lo-fi look of local ads down perfectly) there’s the sense that Jimmy is in his element when he’s on camera, and that it may be the closest thing to honest work that could sustain him.

After all, there is a sense that Jimmy became a lawyer out of a combination of admiration for his brother as a template for success and in a bid to earn his respect and perhaps even love. There’s ways in which his showmanship makes him a good fit, but as his stint at Davis & Main shows, also things that make him a liability. It does seem to pain Jimmy a bit to have to inform all of his clients of his twelve-month suspension (in another of this show’s tightly-edited and hilarious montages), and we know it won’t last, but maybe he would be happier as a commercial director and/or star than as an officer of the court. The suspension is not ideal, but it may just push Jimmy into something fulfilling after being so directed by his relationship with his brother.

As despondent as Chuck may seem having effectively lost his contest with his brother, the result seems to spur him as well. While the fallout from “Chicanery” clearly left him shaken, seeming even suicidal at times, a visit from Howard seems to snap him out of his funk. Howard, a talented advocate in his own right, appeals to Chuck’s vanity and his sense of serving the calling of the law above prosaic personal concerns.

In the shadow of those lofty ideal, Chuck begins to test the limits of his exposed psychosomatic “allergy.” He gives himself exposure therapy, gripping a battery in his hand with subtext that he’s pushing himself to move past it. And he even goes so far as to call a doctor, presumably to ask for help, to push him beyond his illness, whether he believes it to be physical or mental. As much as Chuck looks at his brother with disdain, in many ways Jimmy has been coddling him, indulging his electromagnetism “allergy” self-diagnosis rather than forcing him to confront the deeper-rooted issues that have caused it and deal with it. Oddly enough, it may be Jimmy’s final act with Chuck (if his statement to Rebecca is to be believed) that spurs his brother to get the help he needs.

Mike needs some help too. It’s not in the same way as Chuck exactly, but as he sits in that support group while his daughter-in-law recounts the difficulties of raising a daughter without her father, we know that Mike too has unresolved issues from his son’s death, issues that this sort of group might help him with.

But, like Jimmy, he’s also been pulled into a world by financial necessity and familial issues that it may do him better to be without. When his daughter-in-law asks him to help pour concrete for a neighborhood playground (possibly the one at which he’ll later be arrested) it’s the kind of labor, the kind of building something, that Mike appeared to covet in the last episode, with Gus luring him back into the world of drugs and brutality. There’s always something that feels a little less than above board about Mike’s daughter-in-law’s requests of him, a sense that she (consciously or unconsciously) uses Mike’s guilt over his son’s death to persuade him to do things for her and her daughter, but here, it may be the same sort of push that let’s him do a little of what he’d really like to be doing, like the kind Jimmy received.

And then there’s Nacho, who’s also pushed into actions he wouldn’t seem to pick without some amount of prodding. But unlike the three other men who get their share of focus in this episode, Nacho seems like he’s being pushed into something that will hurt him, that isn’t a step toward recovery or betterment and fulfillment, but something to drive him deeper into a place that isn’t comfortable.

When he’s counting dollars at the beginning of the episode, he’s apt to let the underling who’s a little light off with a warning. But all it takes is one belittling comment from Hector, who’s seemingly barely paying attention, for Nacho to drag the goon back in and brutalize him in the kitchen. When he’s upholstering in his father’s shop, a slip with the needle reflects the image of blood in his eyes, and suggests a man who is, at least in part, still carrying his grisly actions with him from that day.

But Hector prompts that sort of viciousness, that effort to take out what you need from whomever you need it from. Hector sends him to test the limits of Gus’s patience by taking six bricks from the Pollos Hermanos delivery rather than five. Push your advantage -- that’s the lesson Nacho is constantly learning from his would-be boss.

(As an aside, I don’t know that we really needed to see Gus surveying the industrial laundry facility which will eventually house Walter’s lab and conferring with Lydia. BCS has been good about not laying the Breaking Bad nods on too thick or shoehorning them in, but this felt like too much with little purpose beyond saying “Hey, remember how this becomes significant in the other series?”)

And yet, Nacho may take that lesson and turn it against the man who’s teaching it to him. Hector’s insistence on using Nacho’s dad’s shop as a front provokes real resistance in the young man. We’ve already seen Nacho’s willingness to throw his associates under the bus because they pose a threat in terms of stability or understanding. When Nacho places his foot on one of Hector’s pills, after a coughing fit prompted by Tuco earning himself some more time in jail, there’s the hint that he may have something to do with what finally fells Hector. Better Call Saul uses the the inevitability of Hector’s downfall to, ironically enough, create mystery, where Mike, Gus, and Nacho all have reasons to try to take him down.

That’s the risk of all these big events prodding our protagonists to try things that they’d otherwise been shoving to the side. We know that Jimmy’s filmmaking career is temporary, and that Mike’s handyman excursion is fleeting. These individuals will be pulled back into this world and this life despite their efforts, self-directed or not, that keep them away from it. The mixing of those worlds, the humble work at the car shop and the drug enforcer duties for Hector, may also collide for Nacho, in a way that pulls him back into that muck, into using that brutality Hector instills, without any need for further provocation.

Clan wars and prejudice, there's always plenty of that around

Bleh, I really did not care for that Devinoni Ral, even right from the beginning.

Ferengi don't not have the best reputation do they. Seems two of them were destined to be lost forever in a tiny pod. That wouldn't be any fun. 70,000 light years away. People should listen to Geordie!!

has some profound things to say about the human condition. unfortunately prefers to preach more than an after-school special

pretty good stuff. i'm surprised this wasn't controversial, considering religion is indirectly referred to as 'contamination'. however what annoyed me was that in the episode just before this, picard was willing to risk the enterprise in order to protect the presumed two survivors of a planet. here picard berates beverley for not leaving one of the mintakans to die, and when troi is held captive, you get the feeling he may have let her die in order to minimize the risk of further cultural 'contamination'. this utilitarianism seems a bit inconsistent, and i do wish picard had been a bit more of a kirk at times, refusing to accept a 'no win scenario' etc. anyway, this is just a minor irritation. TNG has really hit its stride in season 3 so far.

Picard at his Picard-est. Marvellous stuff!

diplomatic TNG is best TNG

Thinking outside the box there from Data. Sometimes you just have to get nasty!

So far this season has been overall the weakest mainly because of the shifting towards that zombie military corps thing.
But this episode was by far the best of this season with a good buildup the last few episodes and right back on track why I love this series. Hopefully they start to concentrate on the main cast and "their" stories more again (and with less Don E, I don't like that kid at all).

Nanites in the core! With all the damage I'm amazed it could be repaired.

Superb season premiere for the show. It's a spiritual cousin to co-creator Dan Harmon's "Remedial Chaos Theory" episode of Community. The time splits were a neat gimmick, and what made it so great as a storytelling device is that each moment of "uncertainty" both created new problems for Rick, Morty, and Summer, but also told us a little more about them and how they tick. It was great fodder for creativity on a show that's filled to the brim with it, and they even fit in some heart with 1/32 of Rick attempting to sacrifice himself to save 1/32 of Morty. It was a fun kick off to the new season that played on last season's finale.

And I enjoyed the B-story to boot! It was much more down-to-earth (at least, in terms of this show) with saving the deer. It was nice to see a little focus on Beth as a character, and I loved both the absurdity of the story's conclusion and the fact that it tied into the tossed off line about Jerry's big tip at Coldstone. Throw in the amusing Einstein tag, and you have a hell of an episode.

#OMG I l o v e d that punch! Hahaha'
Liv! Liv! Liv!
Destroy Rita, Gilda, fake b**ch one hahaha !

That rat looked really freaking cool for, yknow, a rotting zombie rat hell bent on escaping it's box and eating all of humanity...

Well, that escalated quickly in the last 8-10 minutes.

Horny librarian brain! Ahahaha. As a librarian, this was fun to watch.

Again a more or less cheesy episode. The synopsis for this episode gives that away already but I was pleasantly suprised that it didn't turn out to be as cringeworthy as it sounds, although, to be fair, the "acting scene" on set was cringeworthy.

I love self-irony and hoped this episode would be self-ironic and it definitely was.
Malcolm Goodwin's (Babineaux) deliverance of his line to a TWD-styled zombie extra of the show Zombie High, who said: "You know what would be fun? A zombie show where the zombie is the star." was absolutely on point and hilarious.
Just like his remark about zombies and how they affect him. Foreshadowing much?

Finally they realized that they were after Blaine, took them a while but since this is a show where the zombie is the star I can live with that. Additionally, I am glad that Clive and Liv could work their differences out quickly. Without them working together something's missing. Overall a weaker episode but as a critic once wrote even in its weaker episodes iZombie delivers (paraphrased).

Sadly it seems like The CW postponed the next episode to the 2nd Feb. Oh, well, I guess (and hope) that explains why the backorder was 6 to 19 episodes in total instead of 9 to 22 or so for season 2 because they needed the timeslot.

[7.2/10] Nothing, or at least nothing much, in Rebels Season 3 finale is bad. Thrawn’s ground assault on Attalon has moments of excitement, Ezra reconnecting with Sabine is cool, and while I have my issues with it, the wrath of Bendu creates an interesting enough wildcard in this otherwise one-on-one fight.

But there are a few problems at play. The first is that it never feels like much is at stake here. Attalon falling should be a big deal. The Rebel attack failing to even get off the ground should be a big deal. Instead, my reaction was ultimately pretty ho-hum.

Part of that has to do with what we know about who has to make it out of here alive. We know that Hera does; we know that General Dodanna does, we know that Chopper does, and the rules of television suggest that Ezra will make it out alive as well. That immediately lowers the stakes for Thrawn’s invasion, because we know that sooner or later the good guys will make it out of this jam.

Now that is a fact of life when you’re talking about an ongoing series like this, particularly one meant to kid-friendly. And I’m not arguing that major characters necessarily have to die in order for a finale to have meaning. But Sabine puts it best when she makes her pitch for helping to her mother -- that this group of Rebels always does the impossible. There is a sense of inevitability to all of this, to the fact that our heroes will make it out okay and fight another day. Maybe for a split second, you think the series could go Empire Strikes Back and commit to something more down or harrowing like Phoenix squadron ending up as Thrawn’s prisoners, but otherwise it becomes pretty clear that Ezra and company will prevail, or at least escape, and there’s little excitement in that when it feels like a foregone conclusion.

The other side of the coin is that Rebels has faced this before and come out okay by substituting plot-based stake for character stakes. When the story isn’t who wins or who loses, but how the journeys affect the characters at the center of them -- whether it’s Ezra’s questions about the Dark Side or Hera’s conflict with her father or Sabine’s struggles with her family and legacy -- you can overcome obstacles like necessary plot armor and known futures. “Zero Hour” is mostly devoid of that. The goal is just to survive, and despite some lipservice paid in a scene between Kanan and Ezra at the end of the episode, there’s not much development or attention devoted to building the characters through these events.

I also don’t know how I feel about Bendu as the force that, inadvertently or not, allows the Rebels to escape. It’s not like he hasn’t been set up as a force to be reckoned with before, but the show has played so coy with him, and he’s still so ensconced in doublespeak, that his rage storm seems like a weird development from the character. It’s not quite deus ex machina, but it does feel like a convenient way for our heroes to make it out of dodge in time. I appreciate the symbolism that as cold and tactical as Thrawn is, there’s things beyond his comprehension or understanding like Bendu that make him fail, or at least not fully succeed, but it’s an undercooked point delivered with cheesy laughs and typical angry god boasts.

Still, the progression of events themselves work just fine. Again, we have a clear goal with Ezra and Sabine taking out the interdictor so that the fleet can escape. Zeb and Rex working together to take down assorted walkers has hints of Ep. V, and the old warriors make for a fun pair. And as much as I find Bendu’s role here questionable, the image of his glowing eyes in the storm is a cool one.

Again, there’s nothing exactly wrong with the finale. It doesn’t necessarily bother me that everyone survives (though Kallus’s escape route is semi-improbable). There just wasn’t any oomph to it. The set dressing is there, with big explosions and perfectly acceptable plot obstacles, but there was no deeper meaning, no real character stakes, nothing that made this event much more than a collection of cool set pieces. It would take a lot to live up to last season’s amazing finale, but like Thrawn’s attack, as solid as this episode was, it didn’t even come close to greatness.

[7.3/10] While I appreciate Rebels getting to its endgame after a great deal of setup this season, the epic conclusion didn’t exactly blow me away. It’s nice to see Thrawn actually executing his plan -- confronting Kallus, locating the rebels, etc. -- but there was just something underwhelming after all the build.

I did appreciate a couple of things about this one. First and foremost, I like that there was a clear goal here. It wasn’t just a space battle for space battling stake -- there was strategy and planning. For the rebels in particular, the major objective was to get Ezra past the blockade so that he could go get reinforcements. It’s a straightforward enough plan, but it drives the rest of the efforts.

I also liked the poetry of Commander Sato’s sacrifice. There is some obvious, but still good symbolism in the contrast between the Rebel leaders and the potentates of the Empire. Sato is able to make it possible for his side to get out of this alive by sacrificing himself in the name of the greater good, while Konstantine not only meets his own end, but scuttles Thrawn’s plans by striking out for personal glory. It’s the difference between the two sides in one tremendous gesture, and it’s the strongest part of the episode.

The problem is that the rest of the episode is perfectly fine, but just a bit uninspired for a grand finale. Ezra and Kanan’s conversation about what’s been achieved for the rebels is clunky and not as meaningful as it needs to be. Kanan raising Bendu’s ire is kind of cool in the moment with Tom Baker’s stentorian tones, but gets to be too much. And Thrawn’s monologuing and taunting goes a bit too far as well.

The space battles are cool, if a bit static at some point, with cool explosions and other action. And this does have the feeling of a dry run for the rebel battle in A New Hope, but there’s just something missing here, something that should put this episode over the top and yet makes it feel a bit lacking.

A much better episode compared to the previous.

This episode stands out from thre rest of the episodes because it is, in fact, very funny.

[8.7/10] The natural inclination in an episode like this is to go big, to make it loud and exciting and epic. It is the Original Trilogy meeting the Prequel Trilogy meeting Rebels, and so the powers that be could be forgiven for turning that encounter into an epic confrontation, full of fireworks and piss and vinegar.

Instead, “Twin Suns” is a quiet, deliberate, almost melancholy episode. That is a bold choice, one that pays off for Rebels and delivers one of its most meditative, understated episodes in a way that does justice to the various major figures it invokes in the effort.

It opens on the holy site of Star Wars, the deserts of Tatooine. There in the swirling sands, Darth Maul wanders the arid wasteland, searching in vain for his mortal enemy. “Twin Suns” commits to the desolation of the planet. Many times, it frames its character in wide shots, often at a distance, showing how small and insignificant they are on that vast landscape between those dual radiating stars. While there are moments of action, most of the time is spent with the characters wandering through those miles of nothing, contemplating what’s calling them there.

Of course, it’s not enough to just have Maul stalking the specter of Obi Wan, so Ezra Bridger feels the call to Tatooine as well. The reasons for his being there are thin, but adequate. He is, essentially, bait. Maul uses the same visions and hallucinations to draw Ezra to the desert planet so as to put him in danger. If Obi Wan is there, Maul reasons, he’ll be unable to stop himself from emerging to save the day.

So foolhardy Ezra heeds the call, follows the visions, and gets both Chopper and himself lost and desperate amid the sands of Tatooine. Despite the half-plausible excuse, Ezra doesn’t have much of a place in this story. It gives the character a bit of nice material, with deliberately disorienting edits creating his sense of being at a loss and in peril as the amount of time he spends out there remains unclear. But on the whole, his arc, to the extent it exists, is merely a familiar epiphany that he’s turned his back on his newfound family and should return to them rather than taking things on his own.

But it’s the man who offers him that advice who matters. Rebels realizes the Ep. IV-era Obi Wan Kenobi well. The franchise has yet to address the awkward business of bridging the gap between the Ewan McGregor/James Arnold Taylor incarnation of the character, and the version that started it all. But Stephen Stanton (who also voices Tarkin and AP-5), does his best Alec Guiness and it scans as true to one of Star Wars’s founding performances.

The Obi Wan Ezra meets in the desert is of a piece with one Luke meets in A New Hope. The years have blunted the edges of the reserved but adventurous man who fought in the clone wars. In his place is this wise old monk, one who has the zen and worldly perspective that Guiness and George Lucas imbued in the role. Rebels attempts to revive characters who’ve gone unseen since Return of the Jedi have been hit or miss, but kudos belong to Stanton and writers Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy for capturing the spirit and demeanor of the character we know from Star Wars’s first act.

It’s not, however, inter-generational crossovers and desert-worn wisdom. Obi Wan’s time with Ezra is mercifully short, just enough to give him the lesson he needs and send him on his way before Maul arrives. Maul explains his manipulation in a suitably villainous fashion, and trades insults with Obi Wan as he gears up for a confrontation greatly hyped and long in the making.

When Obi Wan faces Maul, the scene is tense. Maul is inquisitive, probing, challenging his wizened adversary. He sniffs out why Kenobi is on this backwater planet, and the Jedi Master’s eyes subtly react with concern and awareness of what he’s revealed. Only then does Obi Wan ready himself to fight. The two men hold the tension, stand their ground, letting the potential of this grand clash linger in the air before the first, tremendous blow is struck.

Instead, it simply ends before it barely began. A few swift moves is all Obi Wan needs to fell his opponent. He moves slowly but decisively. Anything more would be a betrayal of the warrior we saw in Episode IV. There is mercy in his blade and in the way he cradles Maul in his arms after the deed is done.

But the purpose of that anticlimax is not simply fidelity to the source that began it all. It is a reveal, a demonstration, that these are not the fiery young men who clashed on Naboo. They are not the hardened warriors who met in battle on Mandalore. They are broken down old men, the last of a generation, finishing the last vestiges of conflicts that were already lost before they’d even started.

These are the last gunfighters, drawing one last time, because what else is there to do? As Maul seemingly dies in Obi Wan’s arms, he asks Kenobi if his task is to protect the chosen one. Obi Wan admits it, and Maul says the most curious, revealing words as he leaves the living force – “He will avenge us.”

Maul and Kenobi have stood on opposite sides of the battle lines for decades. They have seen the fall of republics and the rise of empires. They have done this dance across the ages, each taking pounds of flesh from the other. And yet, when the final blow is struck, the clarity of the last light reveals a simple truth. They are both victims of the same tormentor, the same individual who took away all that they had and believed in.

As Star Wars has gone on, it has evolved, showing more shades of gray within the hero’s journey that started with A New Hope. Before that little boy running across the horizon could rise up and strike down the evil that took so much from so many, too many had to suffer, both the good and the bad. The distance between the two seems as small as the distance between Maul and Kenobi. They are the twin suns, intertwined, eternally circling ‘round these same events, pulled by the same force, until they are snuffed out, ready for a new light, a new beacon, to sweep the galaxy, and wipe away their shared regrets, mistakes, and pain.

starting to wear off. unfortunately it's getting boring, too much about nothing really

First episode that I don't feel like I am completely stupid...

Alfred is the king and yet he is such an ignorant idiot and so manipulative. I think that will backfire soon, because Uthred doesn't take shit from him.

The Last Kingdom makes me want to read the books it's based on, I wonder if they are as good as this show.

A lot of stories have a character who's kept in the dark about the hero's secrets. The character gets a reveal one of two ways: they keep knowing or their minds get wiped. This ep does a mind wipe, which I hate.
That CPR bit is garbage - don't show kids the wrong stuff like that! CPR should only be done on someone with no heartbeat and no breathing, else it causes damage, FFS.
The "I am not a man" line was such a ripoff and the setup was SO forced.
Why is it so hard to figure out why Angor took Claire's purse? OBVIOUSLY it was for the key to Trollmarket! He literally just asked about it before taking the purse, for flip's sake!
The creepy crush on the Mole culminates here with Toby declaring he loves someone in a mole costume without knowing anything about them!
I do like that there's Spanish interspersed through here, like in that last song.

Most people praise the visuals, but I still find them so tacky and irritating, and they just look so cheap :s

really liked this pilot. well, at least the beginning. the end felt too much like every other cheesy superhero show. meh

I doubt I'm going to bother with additional episodes... wasn't very engaging for it's extended runtime and it got quite laughable towards the end (couldn't it be more staged?).