Ki

Great season finale. It tied off things well enough for it to be a standalone season, even if a few new complications arose in the last few minutes. I'm glad I took the time to watch it all.

• Even though Fagin for the most part was pissing me off, he came through in the end, so I'm glad at the very least he's had that little bit of character development where we now see him as much less selfish than he was from the start. I've always seen him as a person who puts his own needs above anything else, but family now seems to be a part of that, too.
• Sneed also finally putting aside his ego and understanding that Jack is in fact a very good surgeon despite the class divide amongst other things is also finally great to see, but I do wonder (if we get a second season) how that's gonna pan out.
• Fanny's defeinitely a little underrated imo, and I've come to really admire her character. She may be a little air-headed at times, but she holds so much love for her sister, despite how their relationship had first started off at the beginning of the season.
• Interesting that Gaines is probably dead. I wonder who'll replace him.

Ok, I may have cried A LITTLE when Nezuko was reunited with Tanjiro...

But that's all to say, I do think this season was probably my least favourite compared to the others so far:

• I loved seeing more of the Hashiras in battle, but missed seeing Inosuke and Zenitsu, who are supposed to be main characters alongside our brother/sister duo. They bring a lot more of the comedy aspect to the show, which I also missed.
• The pacing of this season felt WAY too slow for me, for some reason. Like this could've been done in half the episodes, or something. Overall way too many flashbacks to ground the "newer" characters that appeared-the attack on the village started in episode 4, which meant we had 7 whole episodes to finish up those battles - the same amount of episodes Mugen Train's arc was, and the timeline for that arc is about the same (a day).
• As always, the animation has never been a let-down. It's so great, especially in the moments it counts.
• Finally getting some insight into how Muzen became a demon is fine, but I do wish we'd gotten it a little sooner, I guess? I don't know. He's not really that impressive as an overall antagonist for me, tbh. He just... Hates people and thinks they're inferior, and is striving to become the most powerful demon? Yeah, ok...
• The demons were meh, too. Hatengu and Gyokko felt uninspired, just lazily written villains. I wanted them dead so much quicker than any of the others we'd seen previously, especially the former.
• What about the marks the demons were talking about? Are they gonna explain those? Because I still am confused on that whole thing, and I'm sure the manga has touched on it more.

I think my main issue for the whole thing is the power creep/dynamic between the humans and the demons - there didn't feel like there were any big stakes in these fights this season. Yes, the demons are difficult to beat because they're upper rank, but Uzui had to literally retire after becoming essentially disabled (he lost an eye and a hand!) during the fight with a slightly weaker (or lower level) demon... And all our protagonists were at least on his level by the time we got to this arc. Nothing of the sort really happened this time around, even though we got very close w/ Kanroji.

All this to say, I'm still keen to see how this goes in the next season. While the quality of the writing has gone down, the animation is still on-par and it's at the very least enjoyable to watch/binge.

• I know the denden mushis have teeth, but these ones are... Unsettling. The ones in the anime look kinda cute :')
• Mihawk's sword looks... Kinda smaller than I remember it??? Like I fully remember the hilt being a foot over his head, even though the blade itself is massive. Also his portrayal feels kinda off to me, tbh. He's too snobbish and seems super arrogant whereas the anime has him much more humble, imo.
• "I don't fight rabbits with a cannon." is an almost direct quote, but I feel like the anime's version ("I'm no beast that goes all out when hunting a rabbit" makes so much more sense. This version's just sounds really weird?) Also what was with the "croak, croak croak"?! This Mihawk talks too much for my liking lmao.
• "He's losing so much blood"... WHERE? I know this is probably PG-13 but like... At least show a pool of blood under Zoro or something. That part felt super cartoon-y.
• I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I MISS THE "NAMI CHWAN~!"'s and just the general over-the-top swooning Sanji does for Nami:sob: The flirting was fine, but not enough imo. MAKE HIM DRAMATICALLY SERIOUS ABOUT PRETTY WOMEN! Let it be completely distracting for him!

Coming from a watcher of the anime series;

• LOVED the "YAHOOOOOOO!" moment near the end there, but it also made me realise I miss Luffy's slightly insane laughing and yelling during combat. The "itai! itai! itai!"'s could've been dropped when he got cut by Klahadore's blades or something :sob:
• Also, doesn't Merry survive getting hurt in the anime, and possibly the manga? I understand they'd probably change it so we have more of Kaya realising she can be independent now (which is better for her personal little arc).
• Also I'm pretty sure there's no well at the mansion, and Koby doesn't meet up with Usopp in the anime/manga? Again, most likely trying to emphasise that Usopp's a liar and this is the best way to do it in a short amount of time. I appreciate that.
• I miss Zoro yelling too, actually. The live action actor's portrayal feels so much more less dimensional-his personality basically just revolves around being edgy and a loner type with a sad background and a bit of a drinking problem. Glad they stuck in the fact he's absolutely terrible at directions tho :joy:
• Was fully expecting Usopp to have the Pinocchio nose, but... Nope. I guess the wardrobe department drew a line at funky hair colours for the humans while the fish-men have the super long nose, gills and webbed hands/feet?
• Now that we have Zoro, Nami and Usopp... I'm ready to see Sanji! Only thing is that I wish Zoro's hair was more of a perm or something, so we could get the "marimo!" insult lmao, the banter between those two was always so much fun.
• I also just miss the shenanigans between the Straw Hats. Little moments between things, like Luffy just being a straight up dumbass with little to no thought of consequences and everyone else yelling at him. Moments where he, from a distance, reaches out to grab his crew and they yell helplessly as they get slung away :joy: I hope it starts when we get Sanji on board!
• Also considering there's supposed to be only one of each devil fruit in the world, I'd love to see more reactions to people seeing Luffy stretch... But also, him using his powers more casually (ie. He could be sitting on one side of the kitchen in this ep and just reaching for more food on the other side. Even him just slinging himself as a means of travel... If you had those sorts of powers, I'm sure you'd use them WAY more than we've seen).

Enjoying this a lot so far, definitely a pretty good live action adaptation!

I really wanted to like this. I've been craving a good mystery show, but this fell flat, so quickly. Of course, knowing it's a CW show, I wasn't too surprised by this, but they did have a decent set-up and was willing to give it a chance: Good premise, diverse cast, the standard CW filming production and iconicly cheesy writing (think: Riverdale season 1, but it should be focusing more on the actual case itself). They have a formula, and it was replicated once again into a reboot with a name most people know.

Expectations weren't too high... But a sex scene, right from the get-go and then again towards the end really just wasn't it.

Also, I don't think the ghost element to it really works, so it's difficult to see how it will play out. Nancy Drew's mysteries were fun because you got to solve the case with her while she was also figuring them out, and adding in supernatural things that are completely foreign to us as the audience sort of takes away from that experience, because we know little to nothing of it - and who knows, maybe they even change some of the typical lore to better fit their storylines. Are they just trying to reproduce another Supernatural? Because it kinda feels like it.

I'll give it a few more episodes and see how it goes.

• There was no indication or hint of someone else becoming a new lead character for a second season (kinda like what they did with the first ep), so it was kinda predictable from a certain point that Jules was gonna be ok - and I'm glad that she is.
• Also, did anyone else notice that Holland seemed surprised about Jules mentioning the door at the bottom of the silo? He definitely didn't know about that. existing.
• Kathleen's kinda a bitch, no? She seemed to care more about Billings' job and the status he got from it more than him as her husband.
• Also what happened with Sandy? After she got deferred from the sherrif's office... Nothing. I really thought, especially after we see her notice the background in the cafeteria change, that she'd... Be useful, somehow? But she's only there to motivate Jules into looking into what happened to Marnes... Which Jules was already interested in doing ???????
• So Jules didn't actually touch a body when she put down the badge, so, a follow-up question... How quickly are these people decomposing out in that wasteland? Iirc, it'd been about three years (?) since the previous deputy went out, so unless the toxicity of the surface is contributing to it or something else entirely... ??? Icb I fully went to Google it, but apparently it takes about 20 years to fully decompose. I'd give it probably a quarter of that at most if the earth is that bad that people die within minutes of exposure, but still ???
• Can't believe I'm saying it, but great tactic from Judicial to show the pretty landscape to make the people clean.

Interesting in seeing what happens next, so I'll stay tuned for season 2, whenever it drops.

Edit: I also knnow that Rebecca Ferguson isn't American, but I am somewhat bothered with her accent going all over the place. She wants it to be a standard American accent, but it just doesn't sounds like it sometimes-you can definitely hear between words when it sounds a little off... It has me wondering how accents and language in general would change within the silo (universe?) when the entire population (or at least a portion of it) is trapped down there like that, and how the community becomes culturally different and even somewhat less diverse as the years go on. Or maybe some things were trickled down the generations, but there's really no evidence of it since everyone just speaks English.

There's a fair amount of just... Walking in this show. Maybe too much, if you ask me. And yes, I understand it's to show how each section is separate from another and all that, but we've established that already - several times over - with dialogue (mostly through characters like the former mayor and Marnes saying they had to walk xyz amount of floors just to go to a destination, or just characters speaking about where they are/live by floor number)... So when I say it's becoming excessive, I want to point out that that whole scene at the end of this ep where Juliette travels under the silo goes from about 48:04-49:20... That's almost a FULL MINUTE of travel shots when we could've just had her go from speaking with Walk to opening up the case to find the Pez relic... We've seen her travel all the way down here before, we understand it's a trek and a half filled with stairs and ladders to get to George's hideout... It's just so unnecessary at this point.

I'm also a little annoyed at which points they've decided in the past to cut off the episode. With the exception of the first, the rest have felt a little... Janky? Or just underwhelming points to leave off from.

I'm thinking the flowers that mysteriously appeared in Nichols' room are some sort of surveillance device. I mean, if they have the technology to change the screens people see of what they think are on the outside AND have computer and radios? No doubt they have some sort of listening device, too. Just very sus that it showed up right after she was sworn in, and there have been people saying "they" or "he" can hear and see everything...

Also, I know that they lost about 140 years of information (presumably) about the surface, but... How do they not know about stars? They clearly have enough knowledge or experience to fire up machinery and grow trees indoors, what exactly ARE they teaching in school??? You'd think the kids would be asking all sorts of questions about it.

Apart from that, I do love this show, and really appreciate how much storytelling's going on with just one main location. Really gets you to look into the details of how this particular world works and everything, and in this case that's really unique - I've seen an anime touch on underground living (Gurren Lagann), but nothing quite like this where you can explore the living conditions and how people have adjusted. So far really enjoying the show, we'll see how the second half of the season pans out from here.

• Ava and Bea are definitely more closer, and they're just kinda too cute!
• Mother Superion once again proving she's one badass nun, and I'm really enjoying this side of her this season, so it's nice that we had season 1 to really develop it.
• Duretti's kinda... Still lost on things? I'm not sure whether he's just not aware of what the OCS do or if he's just trying to speak about all the more supernatural things going on in a way that doesn't make him seem weird to the others.
• Oh, Lillith, girl... We know you've been feeling lost and especially after seeing your mother feel so unloved, but... Your sisters were right there. They may not have had any answers, but I'm sure as hell (lol) that they'd help in any way they could. Seeing her turn to Adriel is so messed up, he's basically just a placeholder for all the feelings she needs right now.
• Had to go back to S1 to have a look at what the kid version of Michael looked like, and damn, they really did well with that casting choice. Although I am a little suspicious of his character - not in a bad way, just curious - because I know there's an Archangel called Michael, who was supposed to defeat Satan, and will "assist people at the hour of their death"... He keeps saying "not yet", and it's been hammering down the fact that Warrior Nuns don't live long... Is there some sort of connection there, perhaps?

What the hell was Veronica's plan after she reached the Blackfoot mansion? She saw the guy who was supposedly the previous President and that was at least some visual confirmation... Why did she have to break in? Couldn't she have done what LJ did with the secret service guy and just do some surveillance? Breaking in is a law in of itself, which she should know... As a lawyer. Also, you'd think the place might have some sort of security, whether it be personnel or cameras... Why wouldn't she think she wouldn't get caught? Not even wearing some sort of disguise or something to hide her identity? Now the guy who probably also wants her dead knows who she is. So dumb!

I also feel sorry for Dr. Tancredi. She obviously was manipulated by Michael, and she absolutely did NOT have to keep that door open. She was risking a lot just for doing it, and for what? The man that lied to her since the beginning? I would've hoped she, as well, would be a little more smart about what she was doing... Hopefully it's a bit of a misdirect and she's ok.

Both of these thoughts tell me that the writer of this show just doesn't know how to write women unless they're needed for the plot, 'cos otherwise two characters who are meant to be smart and have some sense of judgement just... Don't, when it's most convenient.

Damn, those last few minutes had me literally holding my breath, thought Michael wasn't gonna make it somehow and was so relieved... But now we have to deal with the fact not everyone's gonna get past this checkpoint of escape, with the limited seating... Season finale, here we go!

I've a feeling they're all gonna try and head for the money now, because it's the only way they're gonna be able to do things (especially off book). It's kinda bad basically everyone heard where it's located, I'm sure Charles didn't exactly want to give to the other cons except Michael, so couldn't he just have, y'know, whispered it?

On that note, I feel really bad for Westmoreland, he deserved to get out of there especially after not being able to see his daughter. :(

One other thing... All this action is happening, and I can't really get myself to care about the B plot with Veronica and Nick. I know they're happening concurrently, but when you have something as thrilling as a literal prison escape happening, I don't think anyone's really caring about what happens to a lawyer who is travelling to find what was supposed to be a dead president. Yes, that pathway will help Lincoln's case in the long run, but... Just not interesting rn.

I would've loved to have seen even a snippet of what Vanessa had been up to while in hiding in the past few episodes, rather than it be told through a couple of sentences of dialogue-especially with what now feels like her uprising of sort. I'm sure she understands just how much power she has over Fisk now that he's more "soft" (even more sure she knows he'd do ANYTHING for her), and is inevitably going to exploit that somehow in the finale. That being said, it'd definitely a good choice to have her take over, since it does feel like Fisk's story has to end soon enough-he's already been the antagonist once before.

Also, not gonna lie, but I thought Elektra would be popping up this season with her not really being dead and all, and the fact that Fisk could use her against Matt somehow. You just have that feeling the criminal underground network could setup the Black Sky with him, in some nefarious way. Quid pro quo, whatever. Why else have the one scene with the coffin being dug up? Surely wasn't going to be a full season without it, just to set it up for what could've been a season 4?

Jay Ali did a fantastic job with Agent Nadeem. I'll admit that at first I wasn't really invested in the character: With DD, Foggy and Karen, it feels like we already have established different networks of morals through each of their individual jobs (a vigilante, the law, the press), but the writing has been so good, I'm sad to see him go, even though him being killed was probably the only way to resolve his situation in a way that made sense. His testimony's gonna turn the tide, I'm sure of it.

It would be interesting, albeit unlikely, if Dex and Matt were to team up... But also, I'm definitely keen to see how they absolve the Daredevil moniker, since it's been so badly dragged. I'm guessing it means Dex will probably die and his body is shown in the suit to the city? It would just mean Matt would need a different suit or identity after that, if he wishes to continue on the vigiliante route.

This episode set up the series finale, and I can't wait to see it all unfold from here!

Ok, so maybe I'm overthinking this, but what if the agent that put Naveed on the Fisk case is also corrupt? While Ray has a good reputation with the Bureau, his financial situation could make him the perfect target to take on this particular role-he's just desparate enough to want to continue to try and get those high reward take-downs that only Fisk could supply info for. Idk, maybe I'm reading into it too far, but... I'd thought about it for a while, just seems suuuper convenient that Fisk also wouldn't talk to literally any other agent than Ray, too? So maybe there's more FBI under Fisks' manipulation than we think...

Karen's going slightly more unhinged as we go on, and you can tell she wants to put Fisk back in jail just as, if not probably more than Matt, at this point :joy: That being said, the "interview" between her and Fisk was EXCELLENT. It's gonna be interesting, now that Fisk has an even more personal way to get back at her.

After all the screentime Sister Maggie has had, especially with Matt, I think we all kinda ??? saw that ending coming. There otherwise wouldn't be a point in having had so much time with the nuns... But still, that reveal was great! I genuinely love this show's writing, it's just so enjoyable to watch play out.

This is almost like a reversal of The Blacklist, where the big criminal gets to live outside of jail and can do almost anything he pleases, while the FBI are having to work alongside him to ensure intel is being channelled into detaining other criminals... But in this case, we probably don't really wanna root for the antagonist. Raymond Reddington and Wilson Fisk would probably get along just fine, if not just co-exist as acquaintances within this morally murky world... Idk, just an interesting thought I had.

My main concern is that, especially with Dex having been sold out to the papers, wouldn't the FBI have kept an even closer eye on him? Him being able to turn off the cameras so casually is so out of hand lmao, but even if they did something like password encrypt it, I'm sure Dex would've found out the combination. Just really annoying!

Fight scene between Dex and Matt was pretty great, and though we know Dex has amazing throwing skills from his baseball roots, I don't think scissors and pens are able to fully go through a desk like that. He's not got some sort of superhuman strength like Fisk, right?

The little hit-back with him in the DD suit tho..................... Whew. This show never fails to surprise!

• I really wish Nate didn't have this redemption arc. What he did was irreparable, and you could see just how upset/angry the team was after they witnessed the sign tearing. Not that he can't be forgiven, but sometimes it's just not worth redeeming the villain. Nate was so much more interesting as the "antagonist", and now that he's gone soft again, he's just... Boring... What does he do for the story now? I'm not interested in his arc w/ Jade, it feels too distracted from the main storyline.
• Roy's shenanigans following the red string exercise was hilarious! He's easily one of my favourite characters.
• I'm SO glad Jack took the love-bombing critisicm well and seems to have adjusted herself accordingly. It's always nice to see a healthy, queer relationship, especially a wlw one. Actually, I think I prefer Keeley/Jack than Keeley/Roy or Keeley/Jaime, at this point. Their relationship feels so much more relaxed and loving to me.
• The team coming together for Sam at the end was so sweet! I adore the fact they're all supportive of each other, and this has shown how much better they're getting as a team again for the upcoming matches, for sure.
• I've mentioned it in a previous episode's comment, but the thing separating this show from any other comedy/drama is that it revolves around soccer/sports, so I while it's often mentioned when they're not playing or practicing, I would love to keep seeing more of it in these episodes.

• #HABRINA lmaoooo
• "When I deduced what Salem really was, I confronted him about it, and he banished me into the Green Room. Not to be processed by it but to operate it, which is kinda like being under house arrest, but… infinitely worse." :joy:
• "At least being blind gives me an arc." OOF...............
• "I mean, as an actor, I was merely a pretty face with a gorgeous blond mane, a set of chiseled abs. Endlessly taking off my shirt and being objectified." OH THEY'RE SO SELF-AWARE IN THIS EPISODE LMAO
• Salem being the head writer (and being voice casted by Luke, who plays Lucifer... Oh my god)
• Having this be entirely Sabrina Morningstar-and NOT Spellman-was great! I'm no actress, but Kiernan does a great job for what the scripts need her to deliver each episode. However, I do feel like there could've been some more slight differences between the two Brinas-Morningstar should feel more chaotic and evil (not care much for rules), or at least be a bit more mean... Or something? The two characters feel too similar to me, after this episode.

I like that they really took this one to the max: Different vibe, different sets, different. It feels more like what an eldritch terror should've been, and I think it's what the Perverse could've been, too, since that ep was good but definitely could've been better. This season so far has been kinda meh, and though I really loved the overall plot, the execution of it feels so lackluster. With the last few episoeds remaining, it's kind of bittersweet to see such nostalgia as well as such an amazing episode so late in the series.

• I get that Sabrina's still a teenager and that she's basically never really gotten to know her real father, but like ??? bruh. You'd think especially considering this is an ELDRITCH TERROR that SHE HERSELF says is responsible for, that she might actually heed the advice of her aunty ???
• The whole daddy issues thing has been LONG played out. I thought we left that like halfway through season 1, or whatever.
• Ok, so the stuff with Mambo Marie at the end was so............. Unnecessary? Did they just add that little plot twist for..................... Drama? I loved her with Zelda, couldn't they have given them a better send-off? Especially as one of the countable queer couples in the show.
• Musical numbers were fun although pretty out of place-if you'd told me this would be happening in season 1, I wouldn't have believed you. I'm torn bc this show is just so over the place this season that, well, anything goes. It's all whacky.
• AGATHA!!! I'm so glad she's back, it's just disappointing it's so close to the series finale :')
• Robin and Theo's little moment at the end was sweet. I'm really glad they actually talked it out, even if it was, like, 3 lines. We love healthy communication in this house!

Not gonna lie, I'm definitely a sucker for the 'parallel universe/alternate reality/timeline' plots, and this one was actually pretty decent! Probably the best episode of the season so far.

The whole part with the town line being the barrier to this spell definitely reminded me a lot of Storybrooke, from Once Upon A Time. Pretty much the same thing happens, but in reverse.

I liked the progression of how all the witches were granted back their memories-it didn't seem rushed at all, and exploring how all our main cast were affected individually was great. I also really liked how the Imp was hidden-a smart little touch-we know Blackwood is devious, so it fit well and made sense for him, while adding that extra bit of complication to the plot, even if for a few extra minutes.

I do miss Agatha being sane, though, so that was definitely a tease, though I understand why... There's a new trio of Weird Sisters, so it'll be too jarring to replace them already, if at all. Agatha has been so out of it for so long, and well, Dorcus... Can't be revivified, so it seems.

The whole "We're endgame" line was SO cringey, not to mention I'm pretty sure it also happened in Riverdale at one point... So what the hell?! I know the two shows are somewhat interlaced since they're both based off of their respective Archie comics, but there was absolutely NO REASON for that to happen... Even if I really, really love Nabrina. Sabrina/Harvey don't have chemistry, nor do I ever really ship the couple where one of them is so completely different to the other. (Not to deny Sabrina of her humanity, but... Her being a witch is just as, if not even more important to her identity. This is, after all, a show emphasising that part of her the most).

The only thing is that Sabrina said it herself, she's still trying to figure out who she is... It feels way too soon for them to be back together, and Prudence definitely deserves to be talked with by Nick about his feelings.

• The birthing scene was... So skippable, lmao. No way I wanna hear multiple people just straight up screaming for almost 2 minutes straight :skull:
• THAT ZOOM WHEN SABRINA SAYS "RIGHT. NOW." LMAO WHAT WAS THAT
• Why are they ONLY NOW going further into Rosalind's powers?
• The kings of hell look goofy asf, p sure Asmodeus should look absolutely terrifying, and yet... :joy:
• The split screen of the scan and a close-up of Sabrina when she says, "Let's get this thing out of me - fast"
• Oh, how I've missed the Nabrina moments... This episode truly made me miss their previous dynamic :') Bit conflicting tho, bc I also really love Nick with Prudence, too.
• Poor Harvey, accidentally picking up a second girlfriend who's suddenly a witch

THIS EP REALLY IS THE WEIRDEST

Edit: Ok, so I've been thinking about how Rosalind's development is just so jarring, and I feel like it's because we never really see her use her powers, outside of when it's actually needed? And then when she finally does again, she seems super OP? So it's pretty much just giving her powers for the sake of plot convenience, which... Yikes.