When Jax appeared and the names started rolling at the beginning I was just simply happy and didn't realize this is the 100th episode (I thought that's gonna be later in the season), but when I did, started to feel worry that it might be just a giant trip down memory lane, and it kinda did in a sometimes cheesy sometimes loveable way, but seeing Gideon officially announced as a legend and finally cementing her as one of the heart of the show was great, and a looong time coming. Revealing that Rip made her the way she is now was a nice touch and it fits the legends core value as well. In a sense Rip was the original legend who held the importance of the mission above everything else but who also had a nick to break the rules and could go from melodramatic to full sentimental in order to achieve more than just the mission. He could have listened to Gideon and get a better team to get the job done, but he, as stubborn and logical as he thought he was, stick with them and gave Gideon a chance to improve herself as well. I like however that Gideon has two sides now, because if breaking the rules has a cost, that might come back to haunt them in form of things like, you know, as evidence shows, getting the ship blow up so someone might prevent them from doing and even bigger mess than they ususally do. Good season!
P.S.: The missing characters were way too noticeable.
Recently I've been reading all of these articles saying "we're [x] many episodes into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and I still don't know who the villain is". And I think that's kind of what is great, but also seems a bit thick for anyone to think.
Villainy has easily been Marvel's biggest issue in the MCU. You need to look no further than when they pull it off correctly: Killmonger and (to a much, much lesser extent) Thanos. What is great about how the series works is that it's clearly taking more of a Killmonger approach to antagonism. It goes through the motions of how radicalization can be rooted in a desire for positive change through questionable methods. In Black Panther, this was the MO. It was the arc of T'Challa to understand that his monarchy need not be defined by forsaking others. Here, it's using a similar technique to create another sense of tragedy. For as much as Karli's methods are straight up wrong, her ideals aren't.
All of this has been used as a bait and switch--one that a lot of us probably saw coming. Because antagonism really isn't that simple here. Karli is definitely one antagonist, but I think thematically Walker has been the villain the entire time because he actually opposes the protagonists on a thematic and moral level. It's villainy of his own making. I love this classification: there's radicalization from external factors (Karli, nearly backed into terrorism) and there's self-made villainy. A golden-boy suddenly faced with his own failures, entirely of his own doing, unable to accept that he could be wrong because he's always been put on a pedestal. It's Rittenhouse, it's Chauvin, it's Zimmerman. The antagonism here takes abstract forms because the fight isn't always external. To back up real threats it's better to have some meat on the bones. Sure, Thanos was terrifying because we saw him succeed and commit genocide, but here the evil is abstract. I'll contradict myself here: yes Walker is making himself into a villain, but it's based on morality supported by American culture. It's terrifying here because it's real. And we see it all the time. Hell, it's on trial at this moment.
Edit after finishing the season: oof I whiffed some of my predictions here.
The plot of this espisode was a bit predictable, in a way that I couldn't say it would happen during this one, but I could say it would happen at some point in the story
- Sam tries to talk with Karli, that despite her ways seems mostly in the right
- They get interrupted my Walker who cannot mind his business
- She incredibly gives him another chance
- Walker admits he had at some point the desire to do good things
- His inability to see that his failures aren't due to his physical strenght makes him believe that some super soldier serum can fix it
- He attacks again with his wounded pride and the new super-strength
- Lemar pays the price (and how terribly predictable and sad was this?)
- He goes completely on the dark side
Now I know that Steve was another matter completely, but doesn't John Walker seem more captain AMERICA than Cap? Am I just biased?
Anyway, great Sam, I love him and I can't wait to see how this story will end for him, because he seems farther from the shield than ever before. I am not sure he'll want to stand for this even if they take it from Walker.
Also, could Sharon be at least connected to the Power Broker or be the Power Broker herself? (question for my future self, because if they were more references to this character I obviously missed them)
Before anything, guys, I know petitions to save shows are sometimes long shots, but it's worth a try: https://www.change.org/p/freeform-save-motherland-fort-salem. There's so much they could do with motherf*ing Witch Soldiers! This definitely deserves more seasons (and a better network than unfreeform).
So many thoughts about this episode! Some highlights:
• I loved the Doctor dude telling Batan that she was responsible for helping turn the public opinion against witches because, regardless of their intentions and the message they really wanted to convey, their means was horrible. It's not up for debate. And she needs to acknowledge that. Especially because I think I'm going to enjoy her character a lot more than I was expecting.
• Sometimes when I start to see Petra show some vulnerability and actual care for her daughter, there's always just something... lacking, and she quickly turns to caring more about her potential. Sure hope this changes in the future because damn it, Abigail just needs to be loved, come on.
• "The union of Earth and Sky must be prevented at all costs." Hmm, this season highlighted Raelle's power a lot with the mycelium (with some hints of what Abs could be capable of on her own), but looks like with this little comment, Abi's power season is coming!
• Oh god, Penelope... that was too bad, I definitely joined a bit of the hype train and thought she would play a bigger role as a potentially strong "lost lineage" witch in later seasons. ... But ugh, yeah, I just knew that the VP was sketchy. The thought of anyone willing to kill their own child for a fucked up mindset becoming President? Uh-uh. shivers
• "You two can move the earth, right?" - UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR
• The rescue scene, yasss! Tarim, Spree, Unit power! And wow I love that Raelle immediately got "shit's about to rain down and through your windows babe" from the S on her hand? LOL
• I was honestly scared for this finale, what with the title ominously being a Part 1 (and the idea that the season would end in a cliffhanger, with Part 2 months away), and with the horrifying ending to the penultimate episode (I honestly thought the Fort battle was gonna be much longer), but how it turned out is pretty exciting! Oh, the fun road trip potential for this ragtag group of fugitives, it almost sounds like the beginnings of a joke: 3 War College cadets, 2 members of the Spree, and a Dodger (?) walk into a Camarilla cell...
• The rest of my review and ramblings for this episode, because this got way too long and if anyone cares, are here: https://addictedtothese.wordpress.com/2021/08/27/motherland-fort-salem-revolution-part-1-s2s-bewitching-finale/
Side note that I would love perhaps a book spin-off series, I've wanted it ever since and even more when I saw Eliot's interview about his original plan for the series being books. I would prefer that these characters be continued on the show and maybe a different set of characters (maybe even from a different time period) be explored in a potential book series, so I hope to god that this gets renewed beyond Season 3... and soon, because if they finish drafting Season 3 without a confirmed Season 4, they might end up rushing through Eliot's vision for the rest of the show. :(
That was an interesting episode for sure.
First things first, what the hell happened to the animation? After stepping up the game last episode, this one took a serious nosedive in quality up the point where some movements and facial expressions just look motionless and ugly. Disney has a huge budget for this show, make use of it.
Again, many former (and current) MCU actors return to voice their characters, with notable exceptions of Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Liv Tyler and Brie Larson.
The replacements did a solid job, especially since their parts where not that big, with the unfortunate exception of Lake Bell, who tried her best impression of Johansson but made Natasha come off as robotic and emotionless (didn’t Laura Bailey, who can do no wrong voice her in Ultimate Spider-Man? How about that instead?)
The concept was interesting. What if the Avengers where killed off one by one before even coming together? What other options would Fury have?
The snippets of the OG Avengers were something to say the least. Most of their deaths felt (unintentionally?) funny and the episode didn’t really seem to know what tone to aim for. Or maybe by focusing mostly on Nick Fury they took the more emotional element out of purpose. Who knows? I believe that could have been made clearer.
Loki is the best part of this episode, because he is Loki and always the best part in anything he shows up in. It was fantastic seeing him as a respected leader among Asgardians, leading his people, fighting our main villain and wrecking absolute havoc on Earth in the most dramatic way possible to avenge his brother. He is Loki, of course he goes over the top.
I admit, despite Loki being awesome and the concept being interesting, I almost rated this episode down, if it weren’t for the twist villain in the end.
I should have seen this coming and it makes so much sense in retrospective, but in the moment it caught me off guard. Tragic and well-executed, it actually deserved more attention.
In other news, it was nice seeing Betty Ross again and since she plays such a huge part in Bruce‘s life, I‘m still puzzled Marvel never brought her back before (either with Liv Tyler or another recast).
Some funny tidbits are actually delivered by Coulson and his man crush on Thor and his overall gorgeousness. And his password.
It’s a solid episode. Definitely better than the mostly dull first one, but not nearly as great as the second one.
My impression after just finally watching this...
First 40-45%: 4/10.
So many scenes felt clipped, rushed into the next, with not nearly enough connection to follow what was going on or why. Visually impressive, and I had the distinct impression that something big and interesting was going on, but I was very confused about what it was.
Last 55-60%: 7/10.
A little after we meet Sator, events started flowing somewhat more understandably. Still a bit confused here and there, but not as much. And the big ambitious sequences closer to the end were mostly well-executed (and in stunning detail), including some loopbacks that belatedly filled in some of the earlier-on confusion while completing the story well. Still not quite up to the greatness level the ads promised, IMO, but better.
I have the impression that a second watch would make more sense, in part due to some of the revelations near the end. My issue is that a second watch shouldn't be this necessary to get the story enough to appreciate it.
While I appreciate some degree of mystery and confusion up front that gets explained later on, that doesn't quite work any more when the confusion reaches a level that I don't understand why people are doing what they're doing.
I suspect that this would have been much better if given the additional time to flesh things out, especially the first half. Maybe as a limited series over four to six hours.
I was worried going in that it would feel too packed or have too much going on considering the circumstances and what the show was building to, but thankfully "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (or it's other name that is revealed here in a great final image) ties up it's loose ends in a way that feels impactful and relevant. Seeing Sam truly take up the mantle was something we had been waiting for the whole time and it does not disappoint - this man is indeed Captain America and nothing was ever gonna change that. I especially love his final showdown with Karli despite the obvious changes made her storyline due to COVID, but it's thematically relevant and actually leads to the best scene in the episode with his speech.
As for the other side of the equation, Bucky's wrap up is just as meaningful as he finally finds some kind of peace. He is no longer The Winter Soldier, but Bucky Barnes the White Wolf, and making amends for everything he's done. And everything with Sharon, while clearly meant to add on to future installments, does provide for a great direction for the character to go. Combine that with predictably stellar action scenes and you have some amazing stuff.
This is a very solid opener. It doesn't blow your mind but for an opener it really does a great job of keeping everyone in their characters while still progressing the lives of our new JSA. The finale last year had affected our teens and this is an episode about the ripples from those effects. Courtney is too hero focused and pays the price a cost that's shared with her family. Rick is dealing with the bond he felt with Grundy. Beth is still Beth. Kind of annoying in some ways (as a character) thought she isn't given much room to be so here. Here we focus on what's behind her personality and some of that is loneliness, her parents were her entire world of friends and when she finally made a friend in Chuck that was lost to her. Even with the JSA Beth suffers from that. She goes into Job mode as she is getting yet another hit. Yolanda has to deal with what is likely the biggest issue, she killed someone. It was necessary but as a teenager this is going to ripple her character for a while.
So yeah it was a pretty good episode, it keeps the wheels spinning.
Dang these fracking allergies!!! Not quite "Ninja" level great, but pretty darn close. The writers deciding to channel Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was what IMO, gave the episode some much needed heart, while also introducing a new "squint", to the team. One of the unintended consequences of wormhole, or FTL travel possibly being that if and when you return home, everyone you knew and loved, will have either aged significantly, or, might even be long dead and gone.
Some genuinely touching concepts explored, in the idea that love can maintain a connection over time and space, possibly through shared (lucid?) dreams. They could have driven the point home a bit more if the Father had finished the Daughters sentence(s), but, Bryan's eyebrows would have to suffice.
The net is closing around Maddox and his double (triple) dealing. You can't serve TWO masters, as you will hate one and love the other, or vice-versa. Last scene though, shows something else may be afoot.
What's the over-under on Bryan spilling the beans to Fiona in the next couple episodes, or before Dad two point oh, shows up on MI6"s surveillance somewhere?
It seems the Nabob's reports of "Debris" eminent demise may have been exaggerated..... We shall see.
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021-12-31T23:59:59Z