Review by S P
This guy is so unlikeable and so desperately wants to be a victim.
-The r@pe episode - despite the brief clip in that episode, his words were that he wished he could remember what happened. So he doesn't know if he was r@ped or not then?
-him being 'groomed' - he's not an innocent child, and he wasn't trapped in a relationship/marriage. And if the main offence did happen, it seemingly didn't in their initial activity. He made a point of writing in that he shouted 'stop' during the first activity. Despite the guy then saying he'd 'take it slower next time' he neither objected and straightened this out, nor stayed away to ensure it couldn't happen again. This looks more like a success hungry writer/comedian willingly and voluntarily repeatedly jumping back onto the casting couch in the hope of getting ahead of the scores of other struggling writers to get some success.
-the stalker - again not taking responsibility for his actions. There were many points where he could have stopped it progressing but he was seemingly too desparate to take advantage of her and use her to boost his own ego that he made sure she stuck around and paid him the attention and adulation he craved. ...until of course he decided he didn't want it anymore, but he did, and he didn't etc etc.
-then the pity show at the stand up routine. - that might be a great scene and final monologue in a TV show with an exit through the crowd. But there's no chance a comedy crowd would just sit in quiet silence and watch someone break down.
All just unrealistic. Which is fine if this was just a drama. But this is some dude trying to pass this off as a true story.
Just harking back to the 'success hungry' comment above - this element actually does ring true with the way the 'victim' of this 'true story' made sure he played the lead role.
I still wouldn't be surprised if this dude is actually just doing a Blair witch and found a good marketing angle for a story he mostly made up.
The whole thing - the TV series and the 'meta story' all just stink of manipulation of our perception.loading replies
Did you completely zone out during the final monologue? Or are you trying to be obtuse on purpose? Reactions like yours is EXACTLY why people wait years to report sexual abuse or grooming (yes, adults can be groomed), because they didn't "behave correctly". Maybe stop judging and realise his quote on quote "weird" behaviour is a trauma response. Might not seem logical to you, but it's natural to behave erratically when abused.
I still haven't figured out what excites people about this show. There is nothing clever about the plot, just an endless series of weakness and its results.
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@silrog Because it's a fictionalization of real events and the assholes that have ruined discourse and any positive action in the US and the world on the most important aspects of our lives. It's also morbidly gratifying to see the utter dysfunction of such loathsome people, especially when it's couched in a compelling dynastic drama full of black comedy. It's a late-stage Roman satire for the latest Rome.
Shout by Andreas Stenlund
VIP6I noticed that the note Juliette found at 18:50 reads "Remember where you were the last time you saw this? I found what I was looking for," whereas the note she handed to the sheriff at 27:45 reads "Remember where you last saw this?" (and then it's cut off, being torn in half). Production error? Feels kind of sloppy for a show that otherwise has amazing production design and a very keen attention to detail.
Overall, so far I like the show! I don't remember much from the books, but the looks and atmosphere seem to have been captured incredibly well here.
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@thefork Nice catch. Probably someone cut a smaller piece of paper that wouldn't fit the longer sentence and was lazy enough to cut another piece of paper :crazy_face:
whait who is becky butler???
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@mahaddiction Becky Butler is the subject of the podcast that made Cinda Canning popular. The gist is that throughout the series we've learned a little about Cinda and primarily that they came into prominence after blowing up the case, and solving the murder of Becky Butler in the podcast All is not Okay in Oklahoma. As a viewer you assume that All is Not Okay in Oklahoma is just the case that made her popular but the reveal in the ending of this episode is that Cinda has ALWAYS been pushy. Cinda had something to do with the painting and Cinda befriended the Detective Kreps to get the inside scoop and used that connection to get the case closed on the murder of Becky Butler. Also that Becky Butler was never murdered in the first place and she's secretly been Cinda's producer the whole time and Det. Kreps planted evidence that got whomever sent to jail for that crime.
whait who is becky butler???
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@mahaddiction Cinda Canning's ticket to fame...the subject of her podcast, "Everything's not alright in Oklahoma." And, whom Poppy referred to when she said, "Where the bodies are buried."
Shout by Jim222001
VIP6Weird how Selina’s boyfriend from season 1 totally disappeared so she can have a girlfriend now. There’s even no mention of him at all.
That’s my only complaint. Otherwise the show is still really good. I just hate when characters disappear from showsloading replies
@jim222001 They mentioned him in one of the previous episodes. Can't remember which one. Mabel (Selina) said something like they're just bonded by trauma, but they're both waiting on a text from the other saying they would better be just friends. Oliver replied with something about him and Judy Dench having been in the same situation years before.
Another brilliant episode of tv. This season has just been knocking it out of the park imo. The wait was worth it.
Man, watching those scenes in 2025 were so hard. Honestly, as much as I want to see more of Gordon on this show, I don't think the crew made the right decision here. I hope that LaMarr was right about there being alternate timelines in this universe, because I really hope that future still exists out there in some form. I don't think he was being selfish at all.
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@morphinapg Loved your comment. I cried through most of this episode.
Minor nitpick: I think Gordon was being selfish--in the deepest and most profound sense of the term. He was deeply committed to his personal values and to what he knew his happiness and prosperity depended on. This is not a condemnation...I think it's the only philosophically serious way to use the word "selfish", and it's the hardest and most important thing in the world to get right.
I can appreciate it's not like every other spin off, focused on creatures and side missions but I still don't know what the hell is this show even about. Just a man on the run?
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@the_argentinian The start of the real rebellion, basically. At this point people are fighting the Empire, but very sporadically and unorganized. The rebellion that Ben and Luke joins doesn't exist right now. Andor, and the animated SW Rebels, are about how it starts.
I enjoyed this episode but I learnt something about TV shows these days.
It's ok to mess with a guy, tell him he's a bad dad for not being around and making him love a kid thinking it's his... Then tell him it's not his and it's all ok.
It's ok to force a guy to unwillingly have sex with you so he cheats on his girl.
All these things happened and it's ok because it was women who did it.
But, dare to misgender someone and you're evil
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@walgeon I don't think the show acts like any of it is okay. Lila in general just isn't a very good person and she never had the best morales, it's really not suprising of her to do something shitty like that. And the show makes us sympathize with Diego on this I think - at least I felt really bad for him when I saw his reaction and he stuttered.
Regarding what Allison did I will not disregard the history/problem media has with not taking sexual assault of men serious enough or straight up making it the butt of the joke but I don't think that's what happened here. At least not up until now. No one said what she did was okay, it was even portrayed as a bad thing that upset Luther. And now that she killed Harlan I'd say she's pretty much a bad guy at this point.
The people complaining about Vanya transitioning to Viktor should probably just stop watching and spare the rest of us. It doesn't take away from the story, the show's literal creator embraced it, why can't that be good enough?
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@bestivus It is good enough, but sadly people still choose to be hateful even though it's 2022. I personally thought the way they did it was pretty tasteful and didn't take away from the show at all - clearly there were conversations about this behind the scenes and they did it in a way that was positive for Elliot and the production team.
(I've been reporting bad comments for bigotry and blocking people, and would recommend anyone to do the same tbh.)
Shout by Reiko LJ
VIP6Oh damn that scene with Vanya and #1. Lay it out plain - don't fuck with her!
Will be interesting to see how she becomes Viktor but damn they could have given Elliot a better wig for the start of this. It's really good he was comfortable enough to play out the Vanya parts of the season though.loading replies
@reiko_lj Serious question: Did they not start filming season 3 until after Elliot transitioned? I was staring at 'her' the whole time looking for something off. But if that's a wig, they did a damn good job of making him look like Vanya from season 2, IMO.
Shout by Reiko LJ
VIP6Oh damn that scene with Vanya and #1. Lay it out plain - don't fuck with her!
Will be interesting to see how she becomes Viktor but damn they could have given Elliot a better wig for the start of this. It's really good he was comfortable enough to play out the Vanya parts of the season though.loading replies
@chibas I don't know about dates specific to Elliot's transition as that's his private life but I do know that his announcement of being trans was December 2020 and they started filming season 3 in February 2021. He'd already had his hair cut by then for sure coz the Time magazine cover and interview dropped in March.
Damn this show is so good!!! Watching this episode, I have this feeling that the next one is going to be a series finale =( I hope is not tough…we need a final 5th season!!!
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@anubis81 My apologies if I came off as too aggressive in my comment. When you said "long been confirmed" it really seemed like trolling to me - but that's still no excuse for assuming that and making a nasty comment on my part, so my bad.
Damn this show is so good!!! Watching this episode, I have this feeling that the next one is going to be a series finale =( I hope is not tough…we need a final 5th season!!!
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@anubis81 I assume you're either misinformed, or trying to troll people, but this has never been confirmed as the final season. The creators have mentioned plans to make a fifth season - it's not formally confirmed yet, so we'll see, but this wasn't mentioned/marketed as the final season at all.
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9[9.0/10[ An incredibly tense hour of television. What's so impressive is that Better Call Saul accomplished this despite us knowing that, of course, Jimmy and Gus both survive. It comes down to such fantastic performances from everyone involved. You immediately buy how shaken and terrified Jimmy and Kim are, and how frightened even the normally steady Gus is at the point of Lalo's gun. Vince Gilligan's direction is outstanding, with a Hitchcockian flair for light and shadow that sets the foreboding mood of all these set pieces. And the score does the rest, helping the audience to feel the emotion of these scenes even if we rationally know the fates of several of those at the most risk.
My only mild beef is that Gus' survival feels like a bit of a cheat. It's still not clear to me why he did the gun in the superlab, and the dialogue kind of shrugs at the idea. Even in the dark, it seems like Lalo would have done better against Fring than he did. But details like Fring seeming to make one last desperate ploy to survive, still suffering wounds despite his body armor, and admitting he was over his skiis with this whole thing in the end helps make it passable. On a moment-to-moment basis, the scenes absolutely work, which covers for a lot.
What struck me the most is that closing image -- Howard and Lalo, two very different men, sharing the same fate and the same grave. It's a sign that the barrier between Jimmy's legal life and Saul's criminal life has been firmly shattered. Both lives, both worlds, are bound up in these deaths now, with the psychic weight hanging over Jimmy and Kim for the last five episodes. This never happened, but they, and Mike, will all still have to live with it. I can't wait to see how.
EDIT: If you'd like to read my usual, longer review of the episode, you can find it here --
https://thespool.net/reviews/tv-recap-better-call-saul-season-6-episode-8/loading replies
@andrewbloom Fring had planted the gun there for the same reason why he took his men and left the safe house in this episode: He knew that Lalo wanted the laundry, perhaps even more than he wanted him dead. And I thought that the gunfight was believable because Fring was a moving target in the dark, whereas Lalo was stationary and in a space that Fring was familiar with, to the extent that he had even measured steps from the open area to where the gun was hidden.
Shout by silent_hunter
It seemed exaggerated to me: who in their right mind takes a little girl to a prison with serial killers? wasn't it better to take her to a normal office?
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@silent_hunter I mean, she's going through a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if she made that up.
Not big expert on deepfakes, but how did they manage to attach Katarina's face and voice to another body (video) when there has been no trace of her in the past 20+ years, or any records of her photos or voice? That one was a bit stupid.
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@niikolas true, true, spoiler alert, but there is nowhere near enough footage at all to build any sort of facial or vocal model.
[7.6/10] Lots of good stuff in this one. The main debate gets a little cartoony with the soul-patch douchebag opponent’s desperate gambit. But this is really the first gasps of Jeff and Annie as a pairing, and it’s not hard to see why fans latched onto them, with the sort of uncomfortable but undeniable chemistry between the two of them. I like the idea of Jeff thinking this is stupid and doing it just for a parking spot, then doing it because he actually cares about losing and is more bothered by the prospect of being beaten than he lets on, and then realizing that he’s more affected by Annie than he lets on. The whole “man is good”/”man is evil” thing gets a little silly, but overall, still good.
My favorite subplot, is the one where Abed, as a studier of human character, is basically able to predict the future. It’s a little fourth wall-breaking, as Abed should be, but it’s just chock full of great setups and payoffs, particularly when it comes to Shirley being so freaked out by it and the hints that a professor is a werewolf.
The one real weakspot in this one, as is sadly becoming common, in the Pierce storyline. Him doing a terrible job of being a hypnotherapist for Britta is pretty weak, and the twist that the image of a threesome in his hottub is what dissuades Britta from smoking is a pretty mild payoff.
Overall, a quite good episode that launched a thousand Jeff/Annie ships!
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@dgw Don't take this as the gospel, but I recall an interview with Dan Harmon where he explained there was a lot of network pressure to cast Chevy. And I get it -- he was the biggest "name" in the cast and helped sell the show (he was used a lot in the marketing materials). But man, the character had problems from the jump. Though I think they find good uses for him later on, even if Chevy is always a little hit or miss on the show.
[7.6/10] Lots of good stuff in this one. The main debate gets a little cartoony with the soul-patch douchebag opponent’s desperate gambit. But this is really the first gasps of Jeff and Annie as a pairing, and it’s not hard to see why fans latched onto them, with the sort of uncomfortable but undeniable chemistry between the two of them. I like the idea of Jeff thinking this is stupid and doing it just for a parking spot, then doing it because he actually cares about losing and is more bothered by the prospect of being beaten than he lets on, and then realizing that he’s more affected by Annie than he lets on. The whole “man is good”/”man is evil” thing gets a little silly, but overall, still good.
My favorite subplot, is the one where Abed, as a studier of human character, is basically able to predict the future. It’s a little fourth wall-breaking, as Abed should be, but it’s just chock full of great setups and payoffs, particularly when it comes to Shirley being so freaked out by it and the hints that a professor is a werewolf.
The one real weakspot in this one, as is sadly becoming common, in the Pierce storyline. Him doing a terrible job of being a hypnotherapist for Britta is pretty weak, and the twist that the image of a threesome in his hottub is what dissuades Britta from smoking is a pretty mild payoff.
Overall, a quite good episode that launched a thousand Jeff/Annie ships!
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I'm honestly wondering at this point how Pierce made it through series development. Did the producers contractually obligate themselves to cast Chevy Chase? Is that why his character didn't get replaced by a better formula? Nine episodes isn't a huge sample size, but whichever subplot involves Pierce has been pretty consistently the weakest so far. :confused:
[7.7/10] Another really entertaining episode. This is more explicitly doing Bewitched and 1960s sitcoms, and there’s a lot of sheer entertainment to be had from a riff on tropes of odd couples trying to fit into their idyllic neighborhoods.
I also appreciate the recognition of classic sitcom tropes and how they’d evolved in the subsequent decades. That goes beyond just the different decor in Wanda and Vision’s home. We see them walk outside and go seemingly on location, beyond the confines of a single set. We also see many more people of color populating their white picket fence town. It’s small details, but they add up to show change.
The notion of Wanda trying to impress Dottie, the queen bee of the neighborhood (Emma Caufield, aka Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Vision to get in good with the neighborhood watch, so as to further their joint initiative to fit in works as a great premise for the episode. There’s a lot of humor to be wrung from off-beat Wanda trying to fit in with the Stepford-esque ladies under Dottie’s purview, and awkward square Vision accidentally fitting in with the guys of the watch.
What’s more, the set piece of the two of them trying to pull off a magic act at the local talent show, where Vision is functionally drunk due to some literal gum in the works, and Wanda has to work to make people think it isn’t magic, is fantastic. There’s a great, frantic energy to the whole routine, and both Olsen and Bettany play it to the hilt.
This was also a great episode for stray lines. The running gag of people chanting “For The Children” in unison brought a lot of yuks. The poor mustached man from the prior episode going “That was my grandmother’s piano” when Wanda turns it into a wooden standee was a solid laugh. And one of the housewives in the audience asking “Is that how mirror’s work?” when Wanda uses them to try to explain Vision’s phasing hat trick had me rolling in the aisles.
But it’s not all laughs. There’s more horror at the edge of the frame that’s done quite well. The presence of an airplane that’s visibly Iron Man’s colors seems to shock Wanda as revealing that something’s wrong here. When Wanda assures Dottie that she doesn’t mean any harm, Dottie says “I don’t believe you,” in genuinely frightened tones, while a strange voice cuts through the radio, causing her to break a glass and bleed fluid that likewise breaks through the black and white color scheme. It’s another superbly done unnerving moment.
There’s also some interesting lines that have double meanings that are quickly glossed over, like their new friend saying “I don’t know why I’m here,” seemingly referring to the garden party, but also suggesting she’s been wrapped into this fantasy world somehow and doesn’t know why. There’s a lot of little bits of dialogue that work like that in this one, and it’s fascinating.
We also see and hear some loud thumping, played for laughs in the “move the beds together” scene (another wink toward classic TV changes), but also witness it used for legitimate scares. There’s some frightening imagery when the man emerges from the sewers in a beekeeper outfit and more “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?” calls are heard, especially when Wanda uses the power to rewind the tape. The advent of a pregnancy is an interesting development, and the arrival of color with their kiss is some great effects worth.
I’m nursing a theory that this is all part of Wanda coping with the loss of Vision, feeling sick or afflicted and unwittingly creating this fantasy world out of some kind of grief, wrapping more and more people into it. Whatever the answer, color me appropriately intrigued by the mystery, charmed by the pastiche, and appropriately disturbed at the hints of something deeply wrong with all of this.
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@andrewbloom I have to say, it wasn't until I read this review that I reflected on the decade changing -this perhaps speaks even more deeply about said shift to colour at the end of the episode. From what I understand colour broadcasts started to normalise in US households somewhere in the 60s going on 70s. I can't believe I never noticed the furniture has completely changed as a hint of the reference period shifting.
As much as it's strange to discuss, you raised another interesting narrative point about the introduction of people of colour. Considering the era, and the extent of this pastiche of suburbia (with literal white picket fences) it was striking. Only "Norm" appears in episode 1 (briefly) with actor Asif Ali being, if I'm not mistaken, South Asian. I put the surprising diversity of the neighbourhood down to a quirk of the situation they're in; Wanda and Vision being from circa 2020 it would be normal for them to know a diverse group of people, even if it doesn't quite fit the context. But perhaps I am overthinking it!
(As a little personal research: looking at Bewitched, which ran for 254 episodes from 1964 to 1972, the cast of main and recurring characters is almost 20 people; and I don't think any one of them is a person of colour. Not a critique, but a point of reference)
Thank you for another insightful review, eagerly looking forward to what surprises in the next episode.
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9[8.2/10] What a blast this is. I’m impressed both at how well WandaVision is able to replicate the 1950s sitcom vibe, especially for supernatural-themed comedies like Bewitched mixed with The Dick van Dyke show, while also including a subtle but palpable sense of existential terror beneath the three camera confines of the show.
I really enjoy how this first episode plays on the classic sitcom tropes: a couple not remembering an important date on the calendar, a wacky neighbor, a boss coming over for dinner who needs to be impressed. The show does a nice spin on them, while also feeling true to the sitcoms it’s paying homage to. I’m particularly stunned by the cast, who are able to replicate that acting style, and the editors and other behind the scenes craftsmen, who are able to replicate the rhythm, to such perfection.
What’s neat is that the episode works pretty perfectly separate and apart from its larger MCU connections as a solid old school sitcom pastiche. There’s a lot of nice setup and payoffs of gags, like Wanda repurposing a magazine's “Ways to please your man” article to distract her husband’s boss and his wife, or Vision singing “Yakety Yak” after decrying it earlier. Even the lobster door knocker routine was a fun and comical grace note to an earlier bit. As cornball as it is, there’s something charming about this sort of thing, right down to the “What do we actually do here?” gag about the computer company. And despite the light spoofing at play, this works as a solid meat and potatoes sitcom episode.
But the show goes a step further and has real fun with the fact that its leads are a self-described witch and a magical mechanical man respectively. There’s tons of amusing gags, starting with the intro, about the pair using their powers in trifling 1950s household sorts of ways. At the same time, it does well with the jokes about hiding their true identities. Vision writing off Wanda’s behavior as “European”, Wanda reassuring her neighbor that her husband is human, and Vision taking offense when a coworker tells him he’s a “walking computer” are all entertaining bits that make the most of the weird premise.
And yet, what really elevates this episode is the unnerving hints that there’s something terribly wrong going on here. It’s not hard to guess that after the events of Endgame, there’s still concerns about what happened to vision. The show plays with the melodic rhythms of the sitcom form to suggest something off at the edges here, in a really sharp way.
For instance, there’s an interstitial commercial featuring a Stark toaster, and not only does it feature the only bit of color in the black and white presentation with the beeping light, but the toasting takes just a beat too long for comfort. Likewise, the fact that Wanda and Vision can’t remember their story or how they got married is initially played for laughs, but then it becomes creepy when Mrs. Hart demands answers.
The peak of this comes when Mr. Hart chokes on his broccoli and the artifice freezes for a moment, leaving everyone paralyzed by the departure from how things work in this sort of situation. It’s a great piece of work, of a piece with the likes of Twin Peaks and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared in its quiet horror.
I’ll refrain from speculating about who’s watching the broadcast we see or who’s in the monitoring room we seem to have an eye on, but the hints at what's really going on, and how that influences the images the audience witnesses, creates a great organic mystery and another layer to the proceedings.
Overall, this is a boffo debut for the series, and I’m excited to watch more!
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@andrewbloom Insightful commentary, all this from just one episode. I don't pick up on as much of the decade-specific references so I appreciate these in your reviews, but I still notice the deliberate acting styles, awkwardness introduced by design rather than deficit, and feel similarly in regards to the unusually subtle, sinister signs of problems in a cinematic universe known for world-ending threats through violence.
Looking forward to seeing how it unfolds only slightly more than I'm looking forward to reading more of your reviews! Thank you!
i Do not understand this, is it a movie ? a show ? two movies appeared on Amazon, not shows of 42 minutes. is that it ?
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@thefork yeah , it is not a "show" in a traditional sense, so i do not know why this exists on the tvdb. There are clearly four films. The first on is 93 minutes. Thanks man for the reply.
