Thogek

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This is an honest, spoiler-free review coming from your average fan (not a critic):

I just saw this new marvel film, and I have to say... it's no where near as bad as the critics make it out to be.

Yes there is a lot of dialogue. But it gives the characters a chance to shine and for scenes to breathe.
People call this film dense. I would disagree. Yes there is a fair bit of plot and history told, however I would say that other mcu films have simply much simpler plotlines most of the time.

There are moments when things are just about to become exciting, and then it is interrupted with more dialogue which instantly kills the suspension.

There are a number of plot twists in this film, and some unexpected things happen that I wouldn't have seen coming.

This film has a slow burn, but sometimes that's a good thing. Would I have liked more action? Yes. Was I unhappy with the action we do get? No.

I will admit, going into this film I was expecting a masterpiece, and while I wouldn't quite call it that, its definitely a well-made film, marvel or not.

Oh. And expect to have to do some reading at the very beginning. Kinda reminds me of a classic Star Wars opening crawl.

Bloodsport: “Nobody likes a showoff.”

Peacemaker: “Unless what they showing off is dope as fuck.”

James Gunn recently said in an interview that he finds superhero movies “mostly boring” right now. Anything ranging from safe and boring or technically well-made but disposable, at best. Gunn received at bit of heat from fans for those remarks, but in some sense, he’s not wrong. Because sometimes following the same formula will eventually wear fin and more risk taking needs to happen.

And here we have ‘The Suicide Squad’, the soft reboot to the 2016 film, but this time directed by Gunn himself, where he delivers a highly entertaining movie that is bursting with creativity and ultra-violence. James Gunn once again shakes up the superhero formula with a slick style. I’m just glad DC is finally letting directors have a voice and a vision, and I hope it stays like that.

The first 10-15 minutes tells you exactly what the movie is going to be.

I just can't believe we got something like this. It's 2 hours and 12 minutes long, but it's always on the move. It’s bonkers from start till finish, and I enjoyed every minute of it. This is probably one of the best shot movies in the DCU. The soundtrack is great as well and used effectively. The action scenes were insane and made the overall experience one of the most fun I had at the cinema in a long time.

A massive improvement over the 2016 film, AKA ‘the studio cut’, is that the movie doesn’t look ugly and isn’t chopped together by trailer editors. The movie is vibrant in colours that made it look pleasing to the eye. The structure at times is messy, and yet strangely well-paced, as there’s a lot going on.

Did I mention the movie is very gory? It’s cartoonish violence, or what people call "adult superhero movie", so it's not for kiddies or for the faint of heart. You would probably guess that not everybody on the team is going to make it to the end credits, so deaths are to be expected, but how certain characters “bite the dust” are so unexpectedly gruesome and brutal, it took me by surprise each time. The marketing for the movie was right, don’t get too attached. As I said before, James Gunn had complete creative control over the movie, and he doesn’t hold back on what he wrote and show on screen. But then again, it's a movie, it's not real, the actors who die on screen are fine in real life...I think.

All the cast members have equal amount of time to shine, and you like these super villains this time around, as each character had wonderful chemistry with each other. John Cena plays Peacemaker, who can be best described as a “douchebag version of Captain America”. An extreme patriot who will do the most horrific things for liberty. John Cena excels in the deadpan line delivery for comedic effect, but surprisingly enough, worked well in the serious moments. Looking forward to the spin-off show ‘Peacemaker’.

Margot Robbie once again nails the role of the chaotic but gleeful Harley Quinn. While the character isn’t front and centre this time around, more of a side character, but whenever the character is on screen, it’s instantly memorable.

Idris Elba plays Bloodsport, a contract killer who’s doing time in prison after failing to kill Superman with a kryptonite bullet, while also dealing with family issues, especially with his daughter. While the character may sound like Will Smith’s Deadshot from the 2016 film, but trust me, the execution here is much stronger. This is by far Elba’s best work in a while. Charismatic and a strong leading presence.

Polka Dot Man, played by character actor David Dastmalchian, a socially awkward, weird, and lame sounding character that has some serious mummy issues, which has a funny running visual gag throughout. However, because of Gunn’s writing and Dastmalchian's performance, the character is more than a joke, but a unique character to watch.

Ratcatcher 2, played wonderfully by Daniela Melchior, who brought so much warmth and heart to the film. I loved how they tied in her tragic backstory into the finale, as it honestly made me cry. And let’s not forget the king himself, King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone. He stole every scene he’s in, because he’s so adorable and has such kind eyes, but when he’s hungry, he can be a killing machine.

The rest of the supporting cast, even in the smaller roles, still manage to stand out amidst all the chaos. I liked Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag a lot more this time around, because the actor was given more to work with in terms of good material. Viola Davis is brilliant as the cold and ruthless Amanda Waller. And Peter Capaldi is always a pleasure to see. Also, I like the character of Weasel, who I can describe as a unholy offspring of Shin Godzilla and Rocket Racoon. He may not be beautiful to look at, but he's beautiful to me.

Like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, the movie has a lot of heart and I like how they took certain characters, who on page sound stupid and ridiculous but are handled with such love and depth, while also being self-aware of its own characterization.

You can literally watch this as a standalone movie and you won’t be lost or confused, as you don’t need to watch 22 other movies to understand it. This is by far the strongest entry in this jumbled mess of a cinematic universe.

Overall rating: Nom-nom!

If you ever needed a lesson in not listening to reviewers and making your own mind up about a movie, this is it. The Suicide Squad is brought to life by David Ayer in this summer blockbuster. It is 2+ hours of hard hitting FUN, with incredible portrayals of comic book favourites. Will Smith IS Deadshot, Margot Robbie IS Harley Quinn, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje IS Killer Croc, Jai Courtney IS Captain Boomerang... and The Joker??? I WANTED MORE!!! Well the biggest compliment I can pay to Jared Leto is that I didn't think about Heath Ledger once, it was a completely different yet interesting portrayal.

In this fun action flick, the bad guys are sent to take down a greater evil. Critics of the big bad in this movie seem to have completely missed the point. The big bad in this movie is merely a plot device, to help us get to see our protagonists form as a team. If anything the real villain of the piece is the one who forms this team of misfits. Amanda Waller is portrayed DIABOLICALLY by the incredible Viola Davis and the part where she turns on and guns down her own employees is SHOCKING . Complaining about the villain in a movie where the protagonists are bad guys is akin to complaining about the villain in Deadpool... THAT'S NOT THE POINT OF THE MOVIE!

This movie leaves you with a thirst for more of these characters, and some shots such as when Will Smith is stood on top of a car and gunning down henchman after henchman after henchman look like they have just been ripped out of a comic book and put on screen by the wonderfully talented David Ayer.

If you are a comic book fan, or a DC movies fan, heck even if you are just an average movie watcher... watch this movie! It is SO MUCH FUN!!!

UPDATE: Just seen the Extended Edition and I really enjoyed the new scenes. This extended version doesn't change the nature of the movie in the way the Ultimate Cut did for BvS but I found it let's the movie breathe a little and solves some of the editing problems people complained about. I still love the theatrical release but my recommendation is to watch the extended version of this movie!

What do you call a movie in which fantastic beasts have 15 minutes of screentime, and a character named Grindelwald commits 1 or 2 crimes? Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald? That’d be weird, right?

Pros:
- JK’s imagination. Even when a movie messes up as much as this one does, it’s still one of the most charming and imaginative universes put to screen.
- Pretty well directed with great performances
- Newt (gets more development here) and Jacob
- Queenie’s storyline (if you pay close attention, I think it all adds up)
- The beasts, who are reduced to tools for Newt here, are a fun and creative addition
- The climax, Grindelwald’s speech and motivation
- Visuals, score and CGI (this was especially improved after the first film)
- Action scenes (opening scene and bookstairs chase)

Cons:
- Incredibly incoherent (they really should’ve scrapped a lot of characters and their storylines, in my opinion: Leta, Nagini, the black wizard, and even Dumbledore, as they don’t contribute a lot to this particular story).
—> Also, a lot of scenes are pointless (like the underwater creature)
- Two characters are still incredibly annoying (in my opinion those are Credence and Tina), although I’m not sure it’s the writing or acting that makes me hate them so much
- The ending feels like bad fan fiction; good twists should have subtle hints, JK should know this above anyone else
- Too much exposition
- A few scenes are underlit, or too dark
- Some continuity errors (and no, I’m not just talking about the one that has already been reported everywhere)
- The CGI on those cat creatures wasn’t that great

4/10

So, is it overly feministic? No, it isn't. I'd say Wonder Woman is more so than this film. It holds it's character strongly and does not diverge the audience's views when watching. The undertones are there sure, but it isn't in your face. Just thought I'd get that out of the way because some around me were wondering that themselves.

Carol Danvers is a great addition to the MCU. Not only has the studio thought long and hard about her placement, but also on how they can make her a defining character for our day and age. No doubt that in the future she will grow and see stronger days herself. But for now, we are left with a very fast paced story with Carol herself, not seeming quite right. There is something off about Brie Larson's performance, and I think it's because of the quick cutting of emotional stages she goes through. I know they are making an amnesia story (with a slim amount of tropes I might add!), but for some reason, she can't seem coherent enough in emotional performing to make this character fully likeable. Then again. it's an origin story. The way she is blunt with others is a plus though.

The villain is complicated here. While I'd say one of the better in the MCU. There are some drawbacks to how they interact with Carol. Not much I can say about them. But having a movie set in the past with a big threat like in the 3rd act was kind of stupid in my opinion. No stakes at all.

For the technical side of things, shots were nice. Too much cutting than I would have liked in fight scenes in hand to hand. The final fight was greatly done though. The music didn't stand out much and was unneeded in some scenes that would have benefitted from silence or a more subtle tone rather than an orchestral track. CGI was fairly good. But, Captain Marvel's powers make her look really fake when flying.

Young Nick Fury and Captain Marvel are, of course, the main highlight to take away. Like a buddy cop movie, but with more superpowers and cats. The chemistry between the two was funny and well put together. The final line said by Carol in the mid-credits scene is a nice callback earlier in the film to cement the two.

So yes duh, there is a mid-credits scene and an end-credits scene. But you could leave after the mid-credits. As the final scene is just a cutesy one. But if you want absolutely no spoilers at all and are the type to even avoid trailers for the new Avengers. It may not be the best play to watch the mid-credits.

Captain Marvel is a good introduction to the strong female lead Carol Danvers. A fun journey with a duo I'd love to see more of. As well as more of Carol's flaws in a visual medium, not vocal. It's no Iron Man, but I see a bit of that Tony Stark spark in this promising character.

Second Viewing Update

So after another look because of uncertainty. I can say now that I was frustrated with the lack of actual character build. Before I remarked the amnesia story being an excuse for the lacking of visual storytelling. But now it was getting to me. Carol Danvers deserves better. And I hope in Endgame she gets it. I have faith in the Russos to give her better development. If not, other instalments will hear our cries for giving this amazing promise, flaws. Downgrading my rating a bit as for a movie about this character, it focuses more on her abilities than her as a person.

7.2/10
6.8/10

Check here for my MCU rankings.
https://trakt.tv/users/corruptednoobie/lists/my-mcu-rankings?sort=rank,asc

Ahhhhhh i’m so happy they are not shying away from the tough conversations on what it means to be Captain America in this decade. I love symbolism in storytelling and there’s no stronger symbol than that shield, and the way they have used it as a vehicle and representative of the different American identities (good and (really) bad) has been incredible.

Steve Rogers, John Walker, Sam Wilson and Isaiah Bradley all represent sides of the US that co-exist, and John Walker being the effective Captain America for most of this show isn’t accidental - he’s the side of America that’s most present and salient right now (in the world off the screen), but ending the show with Sam Wilson carrying that shield - and going through all the issues that that might bring up - is as powerful a message as any - one of hope and of what the US should aspire to be. Steve Rogers is no longer enough, Steve Rogers is the American Dream - Isaiah Bradley the American Reality - and Sam Wilson is both. This show, and all of Captain America’s storyline, is about so much more than just men in spandex and they’ve done a fantastic job taking it even further here. Glad Marvel is still delivering after so many years, makes me proud to be a fan!

Initial Reaction

The Good
• The sets and world design are hands down some of the best the series has to offer. Really above and beyond on how they could expand the amazing lore.
• Music is also good. Mixing with the old theme still carries on here from the previous film, and it works.
• The opening. It's amazing, truely a fantastic opening to what seemed to be such a promising movie. The best opening to any Wizarding World film.
• New creature designs are spectacular. Beautiful to behold.

The Bad
• The plot is awful. This is a set up film. It goes nowhere. Having a prequel means to expand upon something we don't know the ending too. Or at least be interesting enough to care about something else that we don't know the finale too. This movie does neither.
• Zero stakes.
• Predictable if you know how they screwed up characters.
• There is a serious lacking of motivation from every character. Except Dumbledore possibly.
• Continuity errors that the first film justified, but here they just forget about.
• Acting is ok but I really didn't care about these characters they are trying to make me love. The first film made me care. Here, it's just like they aren't the same people.
• Though, I will commend the dark tone it carries for the first half or so. Its comedy that it tried to slot it, didn't work at all.

Other
No post-credit scenes after the film finishes.

Conclusion
This is without a doubt, the worst film so far in the franchise. I say so far, because apparently there are going to be 3 more movies. Which I doubt after this. Truely a disappointment as I am left dissatisfied.

Another stunning and thouroughly entertaining movie from Marvel Studios who continue to gain momentum with each successive film. Delivering something new and original all within the framework of the same genre and universe.

A coming of age film of sorts that sees T'Challa return to his native Wakanda following the events of Captain America: Civil War to deal with the pressures of the thrown and fulfill his potential as both warrior and king, T'Challa and Black Panther alike. Thus being an origin adventure without the obligatory origin story.

Wakanda itself is visually breathtaking and looks as spectacular as one can imagine.
Wakanda itself is an unofficial character in the film with a rich visual palette and identity. It's people, along with most visuals in the movie, are brightly coloured and looks like an.artists dream, as rich and colourful as the comics that spawned them.

All the principle and supporting cast bring it. There's hardly anybody that doesn't stand out or get a moment to shine in this deep ensemble, so much so that T'Challa himself is almost outdone in the movie by the performances of Michael B. Jordan (Erik Killmonger) and the female supporting characters who are so good, I'd be disappointed if they didn't at least cameo in Avengers: Infinity War in a few months.

Highly recommended for any fan of Marvel Studios' movies, Superhero movies or action adventures with hints of political.drama thrown in for good measure. Not to be missed.

I don't get nearly as excited about the MCU as I used to (mostly because they're churning out movies and TV shows at a rate that I just can't keep up with), but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Definitely worth watching.

Some loose thoughts/things I enjoyed below (spoilers are marked):
- the story is good, the 2nd act is kind of slow, but it picks up towards the end
- the fight scenes are super cool and creative (especially the one on the bus and the one on the scaffolding)
- I liked the way they utilized the rings in fights, it felt really fresh and like something we haven't seen before
- the final battle is actually awesome (monkey brain loves big monsters and explosions)
- the cast is excellent (I'm particularly thrilled to see Awkwafina getting more recognition)
- the soundtrack is beautiful and I love the way they used traditional Chinese melodies
- badass women all around (Michelle Yeoh my beloved)
- impeccable CGI
- some gorgeous scenery
- MORRIS
- loved the callback to the Mandarin mess from Iron Man 3
- Brie Larson cameo (I know the fandom has collectively decided to hate her, but I don't care, that was a treat for me and me only)
- Xialing effectively utilizing girl power by taking over her father's crime empire (I feel like there was definitely some comic book reference flying over my head there but who cares). My friend and I joked that she'll be getting a Disney+ series shortly

Overall, it was a treat. Strongly recommend.

i think some people might be missing the point. yeah they they didn't end up flying off together happily ever after, but they did both get what they both needed.

Dom is last seen sitting in the plane, passed out. this is important because earlier it stresses the point that she has basically not had any kind of meaningful sleep or rest in like 5 years. this is her finally feeling some level of peace, and being in a place where she is not afraid of the worst and able to fall asleep peacefully.

Darlene has been so co-dependent it is crippling to her when she is forced to be alone. she runs off and has a panic attack in the bathroom, but wills herself to accept that she can be ok on her own and this serves as a turning point in her growth and ability to move on and be ok whether she is alone or not. she needs to be able to be alone before she can be with someone.

edit 12/11:
also forgot to point out what i believe to be an intentional play against the stereotypical scene in which the two would have united at the last moment, with a catchy pop song to go along with it by an artist who has been arguably borrowing from the 80s in a large portion of her catalog. and from what i can recall, but i could be wrong, the fact that you hear little to no current pop music as a part of the soundtrack in any way remotely similar to how it is used in this scene, serves to support the intended play against such cliches in other films/shows.

Despite the glowing advance reviews, "The Flash" is not the best superhero film of all time, the year, or even the month. But it is definitely a good movie overall. The humor is mostly spot on, the effects are impressive, and Ezra Miller is consistently convincing in the lead role. Michael Keaton still fits the Batman mantle pretty well, and Sasha Calle also delivers an excellent first impression as Supergirl. On top of that, of course, there are some neat cameos.

The pacing of the film isn't bad, either. It starts with a really entertaining sequence before the time travel plot picks up speed. The plot is comprehensible throughout and, above all, not as overly convoluted as in many other genre representatives. However, "The Flash" also has the usual problem of similar stories, that the fate of the characters never really gets to your heart, since it is not crucial for the "canon" anyway. But there is no such thing in the dying DCU anyway. In addition, there is not really a good villain, but then again, none was really needed here.

Overall, I would say that "The Flash" is neither a good conclusion to the old DCEU nor a good transition into the new DCU. You can still have a good time at the cinema, though, as the film works on its own and should appeal to fans of old DC works as well.

Me, circa a week ago: Okay, I have to prepare myself. This episode is titled "The End", the ratings are low, there's no way we're getting another season. This show's had a good run. I'll always love it, but it's 100% getting canceled.
Agents of SHIELD, crashing through the window and punching me in the face: YOU FOOL. YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON. YOU GODDAMN COWARD.

Whoever in Marvel fought so hard to get us season 6, I am forever in your debt (even though we won't see those guys again until summer 2019, but that's still better than nothing) because WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT?

I don't remember the last time I cried during an episode of any show. But what happened with Fitz was so completely unexpected that I froze in shock, and then, when I saw Jemma's smile slowly fade as the realization set in, I broke down in tears. Sure, one could argue that his struggle with the darkness inside of him this season was a bit of a foreshadowing, but I didn't see his death coming at all. I could barely watch the rest of the episode because everything was blurry. I couldn't believe it. FitzSimmons have spent 5 seasons getting ripped apart over and over again, and now that they've finally gotten married, Fitz dies. I had the most horrible, nauseating feeling in my stomach. The only thing I could think about was "They better bring him back or so help me God, I will burn Marvel Television to the ground". When they mentioned the other version of Fitz floating in space, I felt like the biggest weight was lifted off my shoulders. It's going to be fine. My babies are going to be fine.

Coulson going to Tahiti is a nice full circle kind of thing for him. I know they'll probably find a way to keep him alive anyway, but I enjoyed that moment.

Daisy and Talbot's fight was so damn good. When she launched herself at him, I felt like I was watching a proper Marvel movie. I'll never understand why this show doesn't get the respect and the recognition it deserves. It's a goddamn gem in every way and every Marvel fan should watch it.

Oh, and I saw some people getting upset about the fact that half of the team didn't vanish at the end there, but personally I think it makes sense not to do that. Season 6 is going to air in the summer of 2019, after the release of the next Avengers movie, in which, let's face it, they're going to use the Time Stone or whatever to bring everyone back. So on the show we'd have half our characters vanish and then next year they'd just be there again as if nothing happened, without explanation. I'm glad they didn't do it.

So, I guess see y'all in a year when season 6 starts! Even though I have no idea how I'm supposed to wait that long!

[7.8/10] “Previously On” is the sort of episode that answers the questions fans have been asking from the beginning. Who caused the hex? (Wanda) What made her do it? (Cumulative trauma) Who’s controlling it? (Sort of Wanda, sort of not.) What’s the deal with Pietro? (Total fake). What about Vision? (Wanda recreated him.) What’s Agnes’s angle here? (A witch trying to attain more power a probably drain Wanda the same way she drained the rest of her coven.)

For a lesser show, these could be mechanical answers to mechanical questions. Instead, this episode answers those technical points while also getting at the why of all this. It confirms, once and for all, that WandaVision is a story about the slow accumulation of trauma, and the ways the shiny sitcom worlds on the television screens are an escape from it.

Agnes (or Agatha, depending on your preference), plays Ghost of Xmas Past with Wanda, forcing Wanda to guide her through major events of her history in an effort to uncover how she became this powerful. Rather than centering on incantations or magical artifacts (give or take an Infinity Stone), it hinges on the moments of both comfort and loss in Wanda’s life.

It’s a strong conceit, giving Elizabeth Olsen plenty of notes to play across the years and showing how Wanda has lost so much of the year. We start with a scene of serene domestic bliss, or what passes for it in a war-torn Eastern Bloc country, with Wanda and Pietro as children with their parents. Suddenly a bomb disrupts the peace of “TV night”, destroying the young kids’ lives amid a moment of happiness and depicting events described in Age of Ultron. \

That sets a pattern for these things, where each moment involves how Wanda copes with such losses. We see her becoming a freedom fighter (or terrorist, depending on your vantage point), out of an attempt to avenge her parents in a way. It leads her to connect with the mind stone (something that, alongside a shadowy figure, will no doubt be explored in more depth later). The experience heightened her powers, but was also a source of further trauma, of being experimented on and treated as disposable.

(Just my crazy theory: [spoiler]I predict that the shadowy figure Wanda saw in the Mind Stone will be Wanda herself, from the future, creating a stable time loop and deciding to set these events into motion, even knowing the hardships of where they lead, because it’s a way to let love persevere.[/spoilers].)

But then we get the best scene in the whole episode, where we jump to Wanda still grieving her brother’s loss, another unfathomable trauma, only to get some unexpected comfort from Vision. The writing and acting here is magnificent. The imagery of Wanda talking about grief as a series of waves, continually hitting her every time she tries to stand, is haunting and effective. But Vision’s retort, of not knowing what loss is given his origins, but appreciating the notion that it is love persevering, is just as beautiful a counterpoint. You can see the way the two of them are connected not just through the mind stone, but through their unique experiences of grappling with the human condition from opposite sides, of learning how to move forward together. The chemistry, easy rapport, and connection between them in those moments is off the charts.

It’s a minor miracle. Having lost everyone close to her, Wanda forges a connection with someone else, someone who helps fill that space. Only then, he’s taken from her too. The final flashback we see is Wanda barging into Sword and seeing Vision being torn apart. We see the man she expected to be waiting for her when she was un-blipped lying in pieces before her. She reaches down and can no longer feel her, the last thread of that connection severed.

It’s enough to send anyone sprialing. We witness the mechanics of what happens next -- a grief-stricken Wanda coming to Westview, uncovering what was meant to be the place where the rest of their lives together began, the ghost of a new chapter of domestic bliss that she was once again robbed of by chaotic forces.

So she snaps. She explodes in her grief, for her parents, for her brother, and for her love, each ripped away from her in the times she most needed comfort, most thought she could be safe and happy like those people on the television screens.

That’s the most piercing thread of “Previously On.” At each stage, Wanda watches these sitcoms as a form of relief, of escape, to have a glimpse of the life denied her by circumstance and tragedy. She’s watching The Dick Van Dyke Show and seeing a happy couple when her parents are killed. She’s watching The Brady Bunch and a couple of friendly but needling siblings when she and her brother are treated like lab rats. She sees the comical violence of Malcolm in the Middle where the father figure can endure large scale mishaps but come out unscathed because “it’s not that kind of show.”

The import is clear. The allure of these stories, this pristine or even hardscrabble sitcom worlds, is that even when the edges are rougher, tragedies rarely happen. Happy families get to persist, to flourish. They get to happen at all. It’s a world where the worst losses of the world are kept outside of the frame, made digestible and easily resolved, one half hour at a time. It is, a world where she can have the life that she dreamed of as a little girl, the life she and Vision imagined for themselves, back.

Who wouldn’t want to bury themselves in that world at a time when the universe has taken pound of flesh after pound of flesh from your body? Look, we’re talking about a famed Scarlet Witch using her “chaos magic” to rewrite reality for a small town in New Jersey. None of this is down-to-earth exactly. And yet there’s something that feels so relatable, even natural, to Wanda choosing (or instinctively reacting) to conjure the sort of place that’s bereft of the traumas she’s suffered again and again and again.

We know the ruddy details now: that Agnes wants power, that Hayward wants a Vision of his own, that Wanda is firmly the source of the Hex. But more importantly, we understand why it came to this. “Previously On” gives us all those stark moments of love and joy and happiness that Wanda was robbed of, and the comforting glow of a place where no such heart-wrenching thefts can occur. Whatever season-ending fireworks happen next week, no one can blame poor Wanda for retreating into her static-filled dream world, when so much of her life has been this crystal clear nightmare.

[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.

So we reach the end of Phase Three, and what an ending this is. Not as epic in scale as Endgame and not as good as it either. But, this to me, is better than Homecoming. Better arcs, a better realisation of character and overall an excellent way to represent story through visuals.

For some Mysterio has been poorly represented in recent media. But here, he is done so well and the abilities are Doctor Strange visuals of good. While still not copying anything we've seen yet. This allows for great tension and using trust against the characters that I don't think has been seen in the MCU since The Winter Soldier.

Tom Halland is Spider-Man. There's no denying it, he was born for this role as Robert Downey Jr was for Iron Man. Which makes this story sink so well into the narrative when it all comes down to loss and how to avoid falling into stress and anxiety's grip. Which makes this an important movie to follow Endgame. Wrapping everything up nicely and even starting some great elements for the future.

So yes, there are end credit scenes in this movie. Two of them. But instead of not caring about a bit of strapped on humour, stay. These scenes are vital for the future of this series of films. Plus, there is an added bonus for those who are fans of the original Sam Raimi trilogy.

So yes, it is a good movie. But there are flaws. For one, there is the whole convenient timing and placement of things. Which I thought they were going to explain but never did. The story does feel like a bit of rehash of Homecoming and how the motives of some are shown, and that was my biggest gripe.

This film is funny, has good action, pretty well-done CGI and amazing performances from all its cast. This movie deserves to follow Endgame and closes Phase Three fluently. Spider-Man: Far From Home is a great movie and has given me hope for the future of Marvel's plan.

8.6/10

Another emotional gut-punch of the highest quality that shows Dave Filoni should be given the keys to the Star Wars franchise for as long as he wants. He gets these characters, has a perfect ending - and that payoff with Vader witnessing the aftermath of the crashed ship, and hits all the feels of an epilogue-heavy finale that wraps up loose ends after the more impactful penultimate episode. It's a quieter episode - yes, you know Ahsoka, Maul and Rex are going to escape because they have to - but the show finds a time to throw in one last homage that reminds audiences that the Clones were the characters that made this story as special as it was. Seeing Ahsoka look at the helmets of the dead Clones wearing their Tano-coloured armour was heartbreaking and a devastating final conclusion to her arc.

It didn't need to be an epic; and arguably the quieter touch makes this one feel more impactful because of this. We got the last stand of Ahsoka and Rex in the previous episode, so again, their escape was a formality here. I did like Rex being proud of how efficient the soldiers under his command were even though they were trying to kill him. I love that Rex becomes such an instrumental part of Rebels later; along with Ahsoka. It just feels right.

As finales go, Victory and Death is one of the best.

[7.5/10] Ahsoka feels right. The vistas of Lothal feel of a piece with their animated rendition. The characters seem like themselves despite shifts in the performer and the medium. Their relationships feel genuine even though much has changed in the five years since we’ve seen them together.

Maybe that shouldn’t be a big surprise with Dave Filoni, impresario of the animated corner of Star Wars, both writing and directing “Master and Apprentice”, the series premiere. He is the title character’s co-creator and caretaker. He is the creator of Star Wars: Rebels, the show that Ahsoka is most clearly indebted to. And he is, for many, the keeper of the flame when it comes to the Galaxy Far Far Away.

But it was my biggest fear for this show. More than the plot, more than the lore, more than the latest chapter in the life of my favorite character in all of Star Wars, my concern was that translating all these characters, and their little corner of the universe, to live action and a different cast and a different era of the franchise would make everything feel wrong. Instead, we’re right at home. The rest is gravy.

And the gravy is good. Because these are not the colorful, if intense, adventures of the Ghost crew fans saw before. This is, or should be, a period of triumph for the onetime Rebels. They won! The Empire is torn asunder! Lothal is led with grace and a touch of wry sarcasm by Governor Azadi, with none other than Clancy Brown reprising the role! Huyang the lightsaber-crafting droid is still around and has most of his original parts!

Nonetheless, our heroes are hung up on old battles and older wounds. Ahsoka Tano is on a quest to track down Grand Admiral Thrawn, who hunted the Spectres in Rebels. Sabine Wren can’t bask in the afterglow of victory as a hero when she’s still mourning Ezra Bridger. And the two warriors have some lingering bad blood with one another after an attempt to become master and apprentice, true to the title, went wrong somewhere along the way.

With that, the first installment of Ahsoka is a surprisingly moody and meditative affair, one that works well for Star Wars. Sure, there's still a couple of crackerjack lightsaber fights to keep the casual fans engaged. But much of this one is focused on familiar characters reflecting on what’s been lost, what’s been broken, and what’s hard to fix. The end of Rebels was triumphant, but came with costs. To linger on those costs, and the new damage that's accumulated in their wake, is a bold choice from Filoni and company.

So is the decision to focus on Sabine here. Don’t get me wrong, Ahsoka has the chance to shine in the first installment of the show that bears her name. Her steady reclamation of a map to Thrawn, badass hack-and-slash on some interfering bounty droids, and freighted reunions with Hera and her former protege all vindicate why fans have latched onto the character. For her part, Rosario Dawson has settled into the role, bringing a certain solemnity that befits a more wizened and confident master, but also that subtle twinkle that Ashley Eckstei brings to the role.

And yet, the first outing for Ahsoka spends more time with Sabine’s perspective. It establishes her as a badass who’d rather rock her speeder with anti-authoritarian style than be honored for her heroics. It shows her grieving a lost comrade whose sacrifice still haunts her. It teases out an emotional distance and rebelliousness between her and her former mentor. And it closes with her using her artist’s eye to solve the puzzle du jour, and defend herself against a fearsome new enemy.

This is her hour, and while Sabine is older, more introverted, all the more wounded than the Mandalorian tagger fans met almost a decade ago, this opening salvo for the series is better for it.

My only qualms are with the threat du jour. Yet another Jedi not only survived the initial Jedi Purge, but has made it to the post-Return of the Jedi era without arousing the suspicions of Palpatine, Vader, Yoda, or Obi-Wan. Ray Stevenson brings a steady and quietly menacing air to Baylan Skoll, the former Jedi turned apparent mercenary, but there's enough rogue force-wielders running around already, thank you very much.

His apprentice holds her own against New Republic forces and Ahsoka’s own former apprentice, but is shrouded in mystery. She goes unidentified, which, in Star Wars land, means she’s secretly someone important (a version of Mara Jade from the “Legends” continuity?) or related to someone important (the child of, oh, let’s say Ventress). And I’m tired of such mystery boxes.

Throw in the fact that Morgan Elsbet, Ahsoka’s source and prisoner, turns out to be a Nightsister, and you have worrying signs that the series’ antagonists will be rehashing old material rather than moving the ball forward. The obvious “We just killed a major character! No for real you guys!” fakeout cliffhanger ending doesn’t inspire much confidence on that front either.

Nonetheless, what kept me invested in Rebels, and frankly all of Star Wars, despite plenty of questionable narrative choices, is the characters. The prospect of Ahsoka trying to train a non force-sensitive Mandalorian in the ways of the Jedi, or at least her brand of them, is a bold and fascinating choice.

But even more fascinating is two people who once believed in one another, having fallen apart, drifting back together over the chance to save someone they both care about. “Master and Apprentice” embraces, rather than shying away from, the sort of lived-in relationships that made the prior series so impactful in the past, and the broken bonds that make these reunions feel fragile, painful, and more than a little bitter in the present.

I am here for Hera the general trying to patch things up between old friends. I am here for Sabine holding onto her rebellious streak but carrying scars from what went wrong, in the Battle of Lothal and in her attempts to learn the ways of the Jedi. And I am here for Ahsoka, once the apprentice without a master, now the master without an apprentice, here to snuff out the embers of the last war and reclaim what was lost within it.

They all feel right. The rest can figure itself out.

You better believe that I spent the last 15 minutes of this episode screaming internally. You know that meme with a cartoon dog sitting inside a burning room, saying "This is fine"? That's me right now.

I'm just... speechless. I don't know how to process everything that's happened. I can't even name all the emotions that I'm experiencing at the moment. A part of me wants to cry, another wants to laugh, but not in a good way - more in the awkward, panicked way, like when something bad happens and you react in the most inappropriate manner imaginable.

Let's start with the most obvious thing, the one that I've talked about quite a few times in the past: Iain de Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge's acting. Those two are like goddamn magical unicorns blessed with so much talent. Separately, they're utterly magnificent and deserve all the awards (which they'll never get because there is no justice in this world). But when you put them together, it's honestly one of the most powerful things I've ever seen. It's a nuclear reaction, a supernova, galaxies crashing together. It takes my breath away. Remember when FitzSimmons were supposed to be the comic relief in season 1? That definitely didn't go according to plan. Those two are the beating heart and the soul of this show. I'm not exaggerating when I say that one of the main reasons why I want Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to go on forever is because I can't get enough of the magic that Elizabeth and Iain create whenever they're on screen together. When I watch them, I understand what it means that something is greater than the sum of its parts. The showrunners truly hit the jackpot of the millenium with those two. They elevate the quality of the show with their brilliance. In their hands, even the weakest of scenes and the corniest of dialogues turn into something special, and great moments become mindblowingly epic.

Fitz and The Doctor's interactions left me with my jaw on the floor. Especially that tiny moment when The Doctor mocked Fitz's stuttering (by the way, that's some excellent continuity right there, Fitz's aphasia coming back and getting worse when he's very stressed or upset). It made the big reveal all the more shocking and heartbreaking for me. I didn't see that coming at all, and I swear my soul left my body for a second when I realized what was going on. I'm almost in physical pain just thinking about it. I have no idea how Fitz is going to come back from this. I have no idea how he can ever patch things up with Daisy. I can't believe the writers did this to me. Can I sue them for causing me emotional distress?

Jemma finding out that Deke is her and Fitz's grandson was so lovely and touching. I always cry when Elizabeth cries, so naturally, I turned into a sobbing mess. And of course she threw up at the end there, and we know that in TV world women only ever puke for one of two reasons:

1. They've had too much too drink (alternatively, they took drugs - I'm looking at you, Jessica Jones).

2. They're pregnant.

Since Jemma wasn't knocking back shots or snorting cocaine in this episode, I think it's safe to say that there's a lil' British science bun in the oven. Normally, I'd be fucking ecstatic about this, but I think this episode has killed my ability to feel happiness, at least for the time being.

I guess some other stuff happened in the episode, the Russian dude from last season is back, Hale is working with the Kree or something, Hydra's back (could we perhaps stop beating that dead horse already?), but to be honest, I currently don't have the emotional capacity to give a fuck about any of it. I need to lie down on the floor, curl up into a ball and stay there for a while.

See y'all next week for more suffering!

Others might say that this is not as intense as previous episode, which might be true in terms of action and moving the plot forward. But I find this episode is still intense in a different way: more emotional investment.

"Family" and its unfortunately related cousin "abuse" seem to be the the theme that knits together different story arcs of the episode: the obvious Butcher flashback, Kimiko and Frenchie, MM with his family, Soldier Boy, and Homelander.

The episode kind of speeds up the pace in showing Soldier Boy's villainy through a recreation/imagination of Black Noir's flashback; although I'm not too comfortable that they present Noir's flashback at face value (instead of being an unreliable narrator), I think it still kinda works.

It is shown that Soldier Boy is an abusive, selfish bully with anger issues you would typically see among band leads or celebrity groups. While some have defended Soldier Boy's action by comparing him to Homelander ("at least Soldier Boy is not psychotic, emotionally unstable narcissist! He is a normal person not grown in lab!"), I think they missed the point of the show: the biggest issue here is exactly what would happen if people with power (influence) have additional power (literal superpower) while being protected by multi-billion dollar company. They possess all the impunity to wreak havoc. Like MM said, "no one should have the right to wield such power."

This theme of abuse is explicated with Butcher's flashback. No one is inherently "good" or "evil" - you are shaped by your upbringing. As the scenes between his memories, his reflection, and his projection in current time are cut seamlessly back and forth, Butcher slowly realizes that he mirrors the man he hated the most. Yet he fully accepts his succumbing to that darkness while bringing Hughie with him through his personal vendetta against the supes - not caring about the risk towards others who he claimed he loved. Even with parents, one may grow to be a contemptuous person if they live in an abusive family, and it's a cycle that is very difficult to break. Butcher's flashback is certainly the spotlight of the episode for me.

Even with Kimiko's story in the background (her saying that V only explicates what kind of person you are), considering that we've been shown how the character's social lives shaped them into what they are now - Kimiko with her abducted kid background, Hughie's insecurity with his zero to hero job, etc - the message stays strong, countering the superhero cliche of inherently morally good and evil person.

I'm hoping this dynamic could be further explored in the next episode (or season) with the Soldier Boy and Homelander encounter when it's revealed that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father, at least he feels so. An abusive father meets a narcissist kid-who'd-wanna-be-a-father. The ending of this episode becomes revealing when tied up to the earlier convesation between Homelander and Maeve: with Homelander echoing Soldier Boy's words that he "used to dream of having kids" with Maeve, it becomes apparent in this episode that the relationship between Homelander and Maeve (and Soldier Boy and Crimson Countess) it is not something exactly out of pure love.

"Having kids" is not a romantic statement: it's a purely masculine, self-centered ego of having someone of your blood - of your similarity - that you can be proud of. Who the partner is doesn't matter; they are only means to that end. And in that Soldier Boy shares something in common with Homelander as shown through his delight of accepting Homelander readily as his son, albeit lab-grown. He only wants to see a better version of him.

Last but not least, I love the jab at corporate this episode still throws. Ashley spinning breaking news about Starlight in a similar way Disney would spin stories about their abuse and mismanagement; and that A-Train being zombified, again, with the heart of Blue Hawk embedded in his body, serving only as Vought's puppet. I'm not sure if that's the most satisfying end to A-Train's arc, but seeing his disappointed, grim look, his lack of agency, I guess the character suffers a lot. I just hope this will be the last of his arc and the show doesn't squeeze him further.

That said, with the reveal at the ending, I am not sure I am 100% satisfied as I was expecting Soldier Boy bringing down Homelander, or rendering him powerless by the end of the season. Looks like Homelander will continue to be the main villain. I just hope they don't prolong the "mentally unstable" trope too much and find ways to keep the show interesting. Looking forward to the finale.

Where do I even start? First of all, congrats to Elizabeth Henstridge on directing the best episode of a spectacular season (and one of the best episodes of the show)! I love it when actors get to branch out on their shows and try new things. She did a terrific job.

This episode was all around perfect. It was a total nail-biter, you could really feel the urgency of trying to find the solution the whole way through, but there was also plenty of humor (Coulson explaining everything to Daisy, Daisy and Jemma's made-up word bit, Enoch repeatedly kicking everyone's ass) and good old-fashioned Feelz with a capital F. I'm glad it was a Daisy-centric episode as she didn't appear at all in episode 7 and only had a couple scenes last week. Chloe Bennet was fantastic. She had to carry this entire episode on her shoulders (the runtime was 42 minutes and she was literally on screen for like 40 of them, I can't imagine how many hours of filming that translates to) and she made it look easy. You can really see how much she's grown as an actress since season 1. She's always had talent and charisma, but over the years she's had the chance to polish those raw qualities and she's really become one of the best actors on the show.

I'm very sad to see Enoch go. He's been with us for a while now and I've grown attached to him. But at least he wasn't alone and he sacrificed himself for his friends. And his death scene was SO beautiful and moving. Did he foreshadow the season finale when he said the team would fall apart? That's definitely something I could see them doing, leaving SHIELD just to finally have a life.

Man, Chloe and Enver have brilliant chemistry together. Daisy taking an entire loop just to have a conversation with him and then going in for that kiss was lovely. It's a shame he won't remember any of it. And I guess he's gonna die now, just like every single one of Daisy's love interests. Although I don't think they would kill an important character two weeks in a row, Enver is still only listed on IMDb through episode 10, so I guess we'll see what happens next week. I would really like to see them end up together though.

11/10 overall. I'm so glad this final season is so good. Imagine if it had turned out to be as meh as season 6. That would've been a huge bummer. This is the send-off that my team deserves.

Only three spots left on this list, here we go!
5x14 "The Devil Complex"
Just like Elizabeth got her chance to really shine back in season 3's bottle episode, this was Iain's tour de force. That episode really stabbed me right in the heart when that twist was revealed. That was the episode Fitz became a morally ambiguous character for me. I understood the reasoning behind everything he did, but hurting Daisy the way he did made me feel kind of :grimacing: about him (and yes that emoji encapsulates my feelings better than any words could because that's the exact face I make when I think about him in that episode). I still don't like the fact that the writers just straight-up killed him at the end of the season instead of actually making an effort to fix things between him and Daisy. It felt like such a cop-out. But this episode was amazing and intense and I loved it but also kind of hated it? You get it. Either way, Iain was on fire and the writing was brilliant.

What's with all the hate towards the doctor throughout the series? It was first thought that he's been using Jessica's mom to kill people, but it turned out to be completely untrue and related to her own anger issues. He saved the lives of Jessica and her mom, then made huge progress on making her mom look normal again. He appeared to be genuinely in love with the mom. He cared for her despite her history of murder and violence, and he sedated her so she wouldn't keep attacking people. More often, he just talked to her and it calmed her down.

The real villain was Trish. She held the doctor at gunpoint, attacked Jessica's sidekick, completely disregarded Jessica's and her mom's plans to help the doctor, all just so she could be as strong as Jessica. She was completely out of her mind, simply because of her jealousy. It wasn't a sudden rush that could be explained by drug withdrawal.

What does Jessica do about it all? She blames the doctor and sees Trish as the victim. No wonder he cracked under the pressure and killed himself. He didn't deserve it. Trish would have, and it will be a total mess if Jessica starts bonding with her again in later episodes.

HAPPY 100TH EPISODE, EVERYONE!

I just want to say this: I'm so happy, so proud and so, so grateful. I've been in love with this show since I first started watching it 3.5 years ago. The fact that we're here today celebrating this wonderful milestone is a privilege, one that I wasn't sure we'd get this time last year. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has defied the odds time and time again. There has been so much working against it: backlash from hardcore Marvel fans way back when it started; ratings getting lower year after year; ABC itself not giving a shit about it, dumping it first in their worst slot at 10 PM on Tuesdays, and then moving it to Fridays, where most shows go to die; finally, having a completely undeserved reputation of the bastard child of the MCU. Despite all of that, it's still going strong, reaching new creative heights with every season, giving us awesome content, and keeping us on the edge of our seats. Maybe it never quite became the smash hit that Marvel surely expected it to be, but all of us who have stuck with it through thick and thin know just how special it is. "We have a small but active fanbase", indeed.

This episode was beautiful. I don't even know where to start. I think I'll just make a list of everything that stood out to me, it'll help me organize my thoughts a little:

1. Daisy and Coulson's relationship is absolutely incredible. I started crying as soon as Daisy teared up and I didn't really stop until the end of the episode. Chloe Bennet broke my heart. She's come such a long way since the pilot and grown so much as an actress.

2. Fake Deathlok trying to convince Phil that it's all in his head gave me major anxiety, mostly because for one horrifying second I imagined them ending the show like this. Just "psych! It was a fantasy all along!". They wouldn't do that, right? RIGHT???

3. Real Deathlok showed up! Yet another old character to have come back this season!

4. I saw a theory circulating around Tumblr that Deke is a descendant of FitzSimmons. I was sceptical. But guess what, it's true! Which means there are some cute, genius FitzSimmons babies coming! It does raise some questions, though. They'll have to send Deke back to the future eventually, right? Will he even exist if the team saves the world, or will he get erased? As usual with the time traveling stuff, my head hurts.

5. Goddamn. FitzSimmons. Wedding. This was where I went from low-key crying to just straight-up bawling. They couldn't have chosen anything better to celebrate the 100th episode with. It was perfect. The setting, Coulson marrying them, their vows... Jemma looked stunning, Fitz looked so handsome (shame about that kilt though, I think they should've gone for it), Elizabeth and Iain's acting was out of this world, as usual. I'm so happy for those two nerds.

What an emotional rollercoaster. I need to lie down for a bit. Huge, huge congratulations to everyone involved in the show, the whole cast and crew. I hope they know that they've created something extraordinary. And I hope that cake they had in celebration of the 100th episode was delicious.

I... don't know where to start. Maybe like this: I want more. I know that if this season was 13 episodes instead of 8, the story would get unnecessarily dragged out and the Defenders probably wouldn't meet until episode 6. But maybe 10 eps? I just feel like it ended too quickly.

I knew, of course, that there was no way Matt was really dead. Daredevil is renewed for season 3. So his "death" shouldn't have had any emotional weight to it, right? Well, it did. I genuinely had tears in my eyes, which I guess is a sign that the showrunners did something right. Now I've only got one question: is Elektra alive? The whole season (which isn't saying much, 'cause I watched it in like 10 hours) I've been going back and forth between "she's getting a redemption arc" and "she's gonna die for sure". And honestly, the latter seemed way more plausible. She kind of got a redemption arc in Daredevil season 2, so another one didn't seem likely. And yet, I hoped. With all my might. Because Elektra may be problematic, but she's still an incredible, layered, multi-dimensional character. I wanted her to live so badly. I wanted her and Matt to get their happy ending. That would've been nice - a tragic OTP that you think are doomed defying the odds and driving off into the sunset. And now I'm furious because WE DON'T KNOW! WE DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S ALIVE OR NOT! We'll have to wait until like goddamn 2019 or late 2018 at best to find out! Who the fuck thought this would be a good idea? You know how many things could happen until 2019? I could die! I could die and never find out if Elektra made it! No, I'm not going to calm down! This shit is why I have anxiety!

I loved the scene where Jessica pulled the freaking elevator up. For some reason she didn't get to showcase her powers as much as the others, so it was a satisfying, triumphant moment for her and for me.

Jessica: "Maybe we can get coffee sometime."

Luke: Kill Bill sirens

Alias Investigations is in business again! Hell yeah! Now please, someone get Jessica into rehab STAT. Her liver must be begging for help at this point. Jessica's been through an unthinkable trauma, I get that, but drinking herself to death is not the solution.

Luke and Claire are together and happy! Yay! They're so cute. I hope they have some peace for a while.

Danny's still spitting out philosophical bullshit like he didn't throw a tantrum for no reason two episodes ago. Fucking idiot.

I'm sad for Gao. I don't give a shit about the other four fingers (how stupid does that sound?), but she's been around since Daredevil season 1. Hats off to the OG badass. And double props for throwing Danny around a bit. If only she'd used slightly more force...

I honestly don't buy the whole "you wouldn't believe me if I told you" thing that they kept saying to Misty. They live in a world where Avengers are real, aliens invade the Earth on a regular basis and vigilantes pop up left and right. If I were a cop in the Marvel universe, I wouldn't blink at the notion of an ancient cult pursuing immortality. Still not as weird as Wanda Maximoff's powers or a dude turning green when he gets angry.

Final thoughts: fun show, pretty much exactly what I expected it to be, well-written, well-shot, some great cinematography, some awesome music, some really good fight choreography, decent villains (although they kind of wasted Sigourney Weaver, I feel like they could've done much more with Alexandra). Definitely hoping for more.

THE DEFENDERS ARE FINALLY TOGETHER! AND KICKING SOME MAJOR ASS!

So Alexandra basically turned Elektra into a mindless, amnesiac killing machine. I thought the Black Sky was supposed to be the Hand's leader and not its slave. But then again, it's been over a year since I watched Daredevil season 2, so I might remember it wrong.

Jessica saw a blind man do some crazy parkour shit and her first instinct was to snap pictures of it instead of following him. Seems kind of dumb to me. Unless she has a super fancy camera, those pictures would be blurry as hell anyway.

I may have shed a tear or two when that woman found out that her son had been killed. Jesus. Imagine having three kids and losing them all in the span of a few months. How are you supposed to live after that?

Danny and Luke's dick measuring contest was funny as hell. And I liked the scene between Claire and Colleen, basically rolling their eyes at their dumb boyfriends. We need more female friendships on these shows.

My favorite moment of the episode: Matt running up like 20 stories and Jessica getting to the penthouse at the same time as him because she has enough common sense to use an elevator.

"- You look like an asshole.
- It's your scarf."

Can these two do everything together from now on?

[9.3/10] A few years ago, for some strange reason, I decided to watch every Spider-Man animated series from the 1990s. The different shows had different takes on the wall-crawler, plopping him into very distinct settings and scenarios. But I realized there were two main things about Peter Parker that united the various versions of the character across years and franchises: (1.) he chooses to do good, even when it’s difficult, because it’s the right thing to do, and (2.) he suffers for his art.

Spider-Man: No Way Home strives to encompass a lot. It is the culmination of the Jon Watts/Tom Holland version of Peter Parker and the journey through his high school years that began in Homecoming. It has to service broader MCU connections to Doctor Strange and Captain America. It finds grace notes and meaningful moments for M.J., Ned, Happy, Flash, Aunt May, and a host of other characters who’ve been major parts of the series. And if that weren’t enough, it brings back five villains, two heroes, one conspiratorial agitator, and scads of loose threads from the five movies that preceded this Peter’s arrival.

And yet, what makes it work, what gives No Way Home a clarity and a balance other mondo Spider-Man movies missed, is the way it’s built around those twin ideas, those dual core facets of the character. Despite the multiversal stakes, Spider-Man strives to live up to the values instilled in him by the people he loves, even when it’s the absolute hardest thing to do so. And endures tremendous losses, makes grand personal sacrifices, in the name of looking out for everyone but himself. It’s what bolsters this Spider-Man, and all Spider-Men, and elevates this film into one of Spidey’s very best.

It helps that what starts these multiversal problems is something smaller and personal. So much of the MCU’s Spider-Man is about this overwhelmed, undermanned kid standing in the face of grandiose events. Spider-Man trips the time-space continuum not from battling interdimensional beings or from going up against titans with reality-warping powers. Instead, he’s upset that being associated with him kept his best friends from getting into college, that they were taken in and interrogated by law enforcement, that it blew up his aunt’s life. His exposure poisoned the well for everyone around him, and he effectively asks for a wish to undo it, not for himself, but for those he cares about.

It’s a strong setup. No Way Home takes seriously the unmasking from the last movie, and the impact it would have on Peter’s life and those of friends. It puts this comparatively charmed version of Spider-Man into the familiar guises of his counterparts. He is broke. He is embattled. He is concerned he’s a burden and a threat to those he loves. He no longer has Iron Man, or S.H.I.E.L.D., or the other tech resources to fall back on. Half the world believes in him, but the other half, spurred by J. Jonah Jameson, thinks he’s the traditional “menace.” Exposure has ruined his life and forced him to grapple with the sort of problems so many other Spider-Men (Spiders-Man? Spider-Mans? Homines Aranearum?) have faced over the years.

So he goes to Doctor Strange for help. The dynamic between Peter and Stephen/Sir is a low-key strength of the film. It completes Sony’s presumably bargained-for requirement that at least one major MCU star have a substantial supporting role in each Web-Head film. (See also: Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Starr.) It provides a reasonable in-universe excuse for a non-magical, mostly street level hero to play around with parallel dimensions. And it builds on the shared experiences Spidey and Strange had in Infinity War. There’s antagonism between them, but also a budding mutual appreciation which pays off in unexpected ways.

When Doctor Strange tries to help Peter, though, things go awry. Peter asks that the world forget he’s Spider-Man, only he keeps trying to add exceptions for the people he wants to stay in the know. The complications disrupt the magicks involved, and while Strange is able to contain the botched spell, it manages to accidentally draw in Spidey’s foes from other corners of the multiverse, a tantalizing setup for fans who’ve been watching the wall-crawler in action since 2002.

That’s right! Dr. Octopus, The Green Goblin, The Lizard, Sandman, and Electro all pop into the MCU after the events of the original Sam Raimi trilogy and Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man duology. It is an absolute treat for fans who’ve followed the Web-Head’s cinematic trials and travails over the years. None of the performers has lost a step (and many manage to improve on their original outings). And watching them interact with each other, not to mention a different hero than “their” Peter, has all the crossover glee that comic book stories can deliver. Peter, for his part, is tasked by Strange with rounding them up so they can be returned to their proper universes.

Their interactions are hilarious. The baddies poke fun at one another and the eccentricities of their different stories and universes. At one point the film turns them into the world’s wildest sitcom, with four supervillains and a host of their helpers playing temporary roommates in a bachelor pad. As in all of the Watts films, the banter here is consistently on point. And even as the film loses a bit of its momentum in its “Four Men and a Spidey” section, watching Peter go back and forth with this collection of villains, while they spark off one another, is still a consistent treat.

There’s a catch though. Peter soon discovers that each of these baddies was pulled from their timelines right before they were about to perish, so sending them back is a death sentence. Dr. Strange is unmoved, but Aunt May pushes her nephew and surrogate son to give them the help they need. When push comes to shove, Peter can’t sit idly by and send these men to their dooms, even if it means another cool psychedelic, fractal-based fight with “Stephen” to get the time and space to try to heal them.

I love that twist so much. The only thing cooler than Spider-Man fighting a multi-dimensional version of the Sinister SIx is Spider-Man trying to save each of these villains who came to bad ends in each of the films that spawned it. It’s true to the spirit of the character, understanding his responsibility not just to protect the city or stop evil, but to try to show compassion and decency to those who need it. It’s a wonderful affirmation of the values that have undergirded Spider-Man from the beginning, with a challenge that cannot be encompassed by a simple smash-fest, but requires more altruistic motives, unique strategies, and psychological challenges for Peter.

It’s just as wonderful that the push toward kindness, the warning against “not my responsibility” thinking from Peter, comes from his Aunt May. Peter tries so hard to help these people, even though there’s an easy way out, because of her encouragement. And it comes at the cost of her life.

The most brutal gut punch in the film comes when the avuncular, seemingly reformed Norman Osborn turns out to have been plotting and scheming the whole time. At the moment of truth, he reveals his true intentions, powers up, and goes on the attack. It’s a hell of a turn, sold by Willem Dafoe’s convincing performance as a penitent Norman to that point. Even though the ensuing super-fight between him and Spider-Man is a fairly generic building-buster, the threat to Aunt May, and her eventual death at the Goblin’s hands, gives it a greater force.

In that, the sharpest choice in all of No Way Home turns out to be making Aunt May into Uncle Ben. The MCU spider-flicks have conspicuously avoided Peter’s overplayed origin story to this point. No scenes of spider bites. No uncle’s dying words. Nothing more than initials on a suitcase to suggest that traditional part of the character’s mythos is even a factor in this universe.

In one fell swoop, No Way Home fills in that gap with flying colors. We know Marissa Tomei’s Aunt May. We’ve watched her guide and care for Peter through two films. So when she’s the one who urges him to do good even when you’re inclined to look the other way, when she’s the one who tells him that with great power comes responsibility, when she’s the one who dies because of her nephew’s choices, it has more meaning and wounding force than any other cinematic depiction of Peter losing his mentor and inspiration. A smart, almost clockwork choice, brings this Spider-Man in line with his predecessors in devastating fashion.

It also speaks to the smart construction of No Way Home’s script, penned by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Spider-Man reaches his lowest point, as all heroes seemingly must at the two-thirds mark of their movies. He’s tried his best, to help his friends, to save the bad guys, to put everything on the line for the greater good. And he not only failed but lost the most important person in the world to him in the process.

So who can lift from this funk, who can give him the wisdom and insight to go on? Two other Spider-Men, of course! McKenna and Sommers smartly make most of No Way Home a story that belongs to the MCU’s Peter. Sure, we get the dimension-crossing villains in play, and references to past adventures, but they’re all this Peter’s responsibility and cross to bear for most of the runtime. Only when he needs them most do the Web-Heads played by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire show up.

And they are utterly fantastic! The script smartly introduces them apart from our Peter, giving the audiences a chance to reorient themselves to the characters and have a few laughs. There’s such cheer-worthy moments when each arrives, and such hilarious interactions when M.J. and Ned try to figure out what’s happening and each Spider-Man tries to prove they are who they say they are, to Peter’s friends.

But when push comes to shove, they find this universe’s Spidey lost and ready to give up on the roof of his school. His friends give him comfort, but his alternate universe counterparts give him perspective. Tobey and Andrew (you’ll have to forgive the naming convention in the spirit of clarity) speak of their losses, of Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacey. They tell Tom how those deaths led them down the wrong path, to things they ended up regretting, and how they want better for him. It’s the sort of comfort only a fellow Spider-Man could provide, with resonant words that speak to truths that stretch across their experiences and lift each of them up out of darkness.

Herein lies No Way Home’s arguably greatest achievement. It would be so easy to do less than this. It would be so easy to have Maguire and Garfield simply swing in for a cameo, or just jump into the fray for the usual “save the world” reasons, and expect audiences to cheer based on recognition alone. But this film not only builds on the stories and character growth these figures have already experienced, but uses their histories to inspire, caution, and comfort the latest Spider-Man in his darkest hour.

It works! The pep-talk gives MCU Spidey the motivation he needs to keep trying. He, his friends, and his new arachnid allies all work together to cure the remaining villains, and it is absolutely delightful. The multi-Peter team-up provides something I didn’t know I needed. At one point, Garfield’s character says he always wanted brothers, and it’s the perfect way to describe the dynamic between the different Spider-Men. There’s a sweetness, an easy familiarity, a source of mutual support among that simply snaps into place. A Spider-Verse team-up could thrive on novelty alone, but these three Peter Parkers make sense together in a way I wasn’t expecting, but ends up being the most endearing part of the film.

It’s also the most hilarious. The rapport among the various Spidies is outstanding on its own, leading to a host of great lines. But the film also pokes fun at the differences and eccentricities of the different movies cross-pollinating. Holland and Garfield marvel at Maguire’s organic web-shooters. Ned blanches when he finds out the fate of another Peter’s best friend. A call to “Peter Parker” elicits three simultaneous responses. There’s even some delightful meta-gags, like when Garfield laments feeling like a lesser Spider-Man only to be reassured that he’s amazing, or Maguire once again complaining about his wall-crawling back pain. There’s all sorts of little touches and great jokes that play on the unique scenario of continuities colliding and popular commentary on this uber-series of films.

Of course, it can’t all be fun and games. The group has to collaborate to lure in, battle, and ultimately cure the quartet of remaining baddies, each of whom gets a moment in the sun. The Statue of Liberty (remodeled to include Captain America’s shield) makes for a good home base of the climactic final set piece. And the ensuing multiball battle among Spider-Men and super villains finds a way to give the MCU Peter an edge and a reason to lead despite his comparative youth -- unlike the other Spideys, he knows how to work as part of a team.

The ensuing battle is fun, if occasionally confounding given the number of similarly-dressed heroes and a blur of villains smattered across indistinct scaffolding. It mainly works thanks to the continually entertaining dynamic of the different Peter Parkers working together, and the villains receiving their grace notes. The CGI lizard is still an ugly design, but this Dr. Connors gets to make a personal history-backed point about trying to fix people, and have a moment of recognition with his Peter. Sandman doesn’t have much in the way of a character arc, but still gets to swirl and impress with particle effects more than a decade since his last outing.

Electro comes out the best for his transition from one film series to another, as this universe’s “different energy” magically makes him into a much better (and better-looking) character, something the script wryly comments on. Sporting a modern, but more traditional design, Jamie Foxx finally gets to have real fun in the role, as basically an entirely new character. And he’s stopped by none other than Doc Ock, the only villain MCU Spidey managed to fix earlier, in a wonderful mini-twist. Alfred Molina, who fared the best of any of his counterparts in his original movie, continues to soar in the role here. And his arriving to help save the day is an excellent, minor tribute to the idea that not all of Peter’s good deeds go unpunished; some of them come back to him right when he needs them.

It speaks to how this movie gets both the big and the little things right here. So many of its choices not only delight you, they feel right. The energy-focused Electro is drawn to one of Iron Man’s arc reactors. Dr. Octavius grasps it and declares, “the power of the sun, in the palm of your hand,” the thing he was hoping to achieve in Spider-Man 2. He and Maguire’s wall-crawler share a moment of recognition, where Otto’s touched to see how this “dear boy” is all grown up. Ned discovers that his grandmother is right, he is, in fact, magic. M.J. goes from the eternal pessimist, preferring to expect disappointment rather than be blindsided by it, to reassuring her friends that they’ll go forth and kick ass here. There’s something worthwhile for anyone and everyone here.

There’s even brilliant visual echoes to prior movies. Garfield’s Spider-Man, who nearly steals the show both comedically and dramatically, manages to save this universe’s M.J. in the exact way he couldn’t save his universe’s Gwen. It’s an emotional payoff to a seven year old movie that still lands like gangbusters. It’s emblematic of No Way Home’s remarkable ability to not only invoke past events and characters from the Raimi and Webb films, but to pay them off, round them out, and in some cases even fix them. It extends Peter’s desire to save all of these lost souls and see the best in them to a meta level, evincing a similar wish in the heart of Watts and his collaborators with regards to the films that paved their way.

The ultimate challenge, though, comes in the form of the Green Goblin, the original Spider-Man villain, and the one who’s taken the most from Holland’s Peter Parker. The fight here is not a physical one, even as Spidey and Gobby do go toe-to-toe once more with our hero coming out on top. It’s a personal one, as the MCU Spider-Man must decide whether to exact vengeance upon this dastard who killed his surrogate mother, or to relent and try to fix him too.

It must be said that Dafoe gives a tour de force performance here, rivaling Molina himself and Michael Keaton among Spidey’s cinematic antagonists. He’s entirely plausible as an apologetic Norman desperate to be reformed, warming to this Peter as another surrogate son. And he’s an equal and opposite terror as the Green Goblin, menacing and insidious in ways that go beyond frightening, instead cutting to the bone. He growls at Holland’s Spider-Man that the altruism his aunt preached and which Peter himself has taken up, is a weakness, a pathology. He blames Peter for May’s death, arguing that it was Peter’s compassion, his willingness to try to help rather than just solve the problem by the simplest means necessary, that led to his aunt’s demise. These words carry extra sting in the shadow of Peter’s lingering sense of guilt for how his “controversies” have ruined the lives of those close to him.

As a lego figure in the film’s aftermath hints, Osborn is basically demanding that Peter turn to the dark side. And like the other fresh-faced heroes before him, he stays strong in the light. Only he’s not alone. The other Spideys figure into the finish in ways that are meaningful without stealing the spotlight. Maguire’s Spider-Man holds back a vengeful Peter from stabbing his foe with the Goblin’s glider, a weapon whose deepest cuts he knows all too well, and Garfield’s wall-crawler delivers him the cure. Despite everything, despite his justified anger and the ease with which he could give into it, Peter instead decides to save and forgive even his aunt’s killer, a man who can then only sit and wonder “What have I done?”

I can think of no greater tribute to the spirit of Spider-Man and the character’s legacy across a multi-media empire. The choice to save someone when you have every reason not to, when you’d rather vindicate the values of your lost mentor rather than merely avenge them, is a triumph of the character’s abounding heart and compassionate ethos. Peter chooses to do good, when his powers make it physically easy, but his life makes it emotionally impossible. That, more than anything, is Spider-Man.

Only he’s not done. The ongoing wrinkles of Doctor Strange’s original spell are tearing reality apart, and the only way to stop it is a counter-spell with a tremendous cost: everyone must forget Peter Parker entirely. His best friend, his young love, his allies from across the universe, will no longer know him. And he suggests it, chooses it, because he’ll willingly lose everything to save everyone.

I’m always hesitant about uber-magic as the solution to problems, but there’s an emotional logic here that lets this tack succeed. What matters here isn’t Strange’s spell, which runs into all sorts of logical problems if you start to try to untangle what it means in practice. What matters is Peter’s willingness to give up his life, the friendships that have sustained him, the resources that have helped him, in the name of the greater good.

There’s something profoundly heartening-yet-melancholy in that. In a small way, the Goblin wins, convincing Peter that he is, in fact, a source of hardship to those close to him. Even when he walks into the donut shop where M.J. works, a speech in hand to try to find his way back into her good graces despite the erasure of their shared history, he relents when he sees how happy she and Ned are. He is, like so many Spider-Men before him, unwilling to make even people he cares deeply about a part of his life if it means disrupting their joy and putting them at risk. There as well rests the heart of what Spider-Man is about: great sacrifice, immense suffering, enduring karmic unfairness, in the name of doing the most good.

With that, No Way Home is one of those miraculous films that takes on so much and yet somehow achieves everything it sets out to do. It tells a compelling story of the MCU Spidey losing everything and still striving to uphold his Aunt’s values. It takes on the chief criticisms of this version of the character, bringing him more in line with traditional depictions. It honors eight films’ and three continuities' worth of stories and characters, integrating them into a seamless whole. It pays off and even fixes dangling threads and broken character arcs from prior movies, providing rousing, cathartic endings for familiar heroes and villains alike. And despite feeling like the culmination of so much, it forges a new origin story for Spider-Man, one that clears the board for more adventures while still offering a heartening conclusion to the ones of old.

In the end, Peter chooses mercy over vengeance. He chooses tremendous self-sacrifice over personal gain. He finds strength in his closest friends and likeminded counterparts. He saves those even his would-be teacher thinks unsalvageable. He gives up everything, loses everything, and despite it all, chooses to start again and help people, to carry on the spirit of the lost parent who molded him into the extraordinary person he became. If that’s not Spider-Man, I don’t know what is.

"Lead them to paradise."

So epic! A proper sequel to the masterpiece that is the first one, Dune: Part Two is everything I wanted and more. The scale and the stakes are much bigger. It really benefits from the world-building and character roots previously established in the first and makes everything bloom. The themes (and at times criticisms) on religion and politics felt so refreshing for a sci-fi movie. It's pretty thought-provoking in that sense. The story had me captivated and invested. It still has it's slow moments but the action sequences are perfectly placed and the payoff in the third act is so worth it.

The biggest praise I could give it is the character arcs and evolution. Paul's evolution here is so fascinating, we basically watch a boy become a man. At the beginning of the movie you fear for his life but by the second half he's the one to fear, emanating confidence. Timothée Chalamet absolutely owned it. Austin Butler is the perfect villain, so unpredictable and violent. I love Jessica's character arc but it felt rushed at times, like she changed too much in between some scenes. The Reverend Mother is so badass, i'm always secretly rooting for her for some reason (the "silence" moment was perfection).

I wasn't expecting the amount of action we got, compared to the first there's a lot. The action and set pieces are so memorable. The worm riding scene was the best moment of the entire movie, I felt so alive with all the special effects and the sound design and the vibrations it's like I was riding it myself. Epic third act battle and hand-to-hand knife scene (although it isn't top tier combat compared to a lot of action movies but the editing and camerawork made it look flawless). They did skip some action in the third act that I wanted to see more of though.

God tier cinematography. I thought there was no way it could look better than the first but they somehow managed to make it look even better in this one. Loved the color grading and the way the sand moves, flawless. The most visually stunning sequence was the black and white one introducing Austin Butler's character. Epic sound design.

I keep trying to pick a favorite between Part One and Part Two and I don't think it's going to happen... they're equal. Overall an excellent sequel. Can't wait to see what's in store for Part Three.

Most solid episode of the season so far. Nothing extraordinarily amazing, but it's just The Boys at its best like in the first half of Season 1.

What I like the most is that everything that happens leading to the climax in the Herogasm is just frantic, chaotic, a lot of stuff happening at once, unplanned, unpredictable, and consequently, tragic. Just a lot of things coming out together at the same time, including the tying up of loose ends of plot points (e.g. with A-Train's demise and his conflict with Hughie).

The episode keeps the comedy and jab at corporate speak intact, but does not overdo it so we get straight to the crux of the matter. From Homelander, Starlight, Kimiko/Frenchie, Hughie, A-Train, even Ashley - the plot revolving around those characters are about what makes them really them. They all have struggled with the question whether power (be it through V or executive position) made them into a terrible person they do not like, but it is all actually on them. Power only explicate their attitude. Like Butcher in the previous episode said, "With great power comes the absolute certainty, that you will turn into a right cunt."

It was interesting to see how each characters react: Hughie portrayed as an insecure man, A-Train tasting his own bitter medicine, Starlight getting tired of the play-pretend and politicking she has played all over the years, and of course, Homelander being Homelander. I find it especially best with Hughie and A-Train. Hughie, when in S1 he acted as our moral compass, here we see him as someone fragile, a man unable to keep up with the pace of the world he's living in and feeling defeated by his girlfriend for not being a breadwinner. A-Train, a great end to his arc, as he realizes that he has caused so many harms to others due to his toxicity, he realizes that he can only bring a little bit of justice for his own brother. He can't run away from his past like Frenchie said, I think it's very poetic.

Also it's refreshing to get a brief character development with Soldier Boy. Hoping that there is more to this character in the next seasons to come.

Last but not least, the fight with Homelander was intense. The unexpected Butcher x Hughie x Soldier Boy tag-team is great, especially with the confused, defeated look Homelander gave to them. I'm expecting this will drive Homelander even uncontrollable, especially now with his inner monologue and everyone either against him (Starlight, Maeve, if she is still there) or leaving him (Noir and possibly A-Train). The show seems to be planting the seed of conflict between our Boys in the future to come. Hopefully this will pay off.

Weird season finale. After all the build up, everything feels anticlimactic. Right down from A-Train--the reason all this mess started--to Homelander.

Before we get to that, let's talk a bit about how weird the whole prison sequences play out. The joke, the attempted rescue, the shootout, all feel really weak especially compared to well-directed sequences in prior episodes. First of all there is really no need for some jocular banter that went for about two minutes or more. Not to mention the pauses. It feels dragging. This includes the attempted rescue which continues the joke.

Second, the shootout looks really weird. We've seen Frenchie did his weird stuff when it comes to the Female/Kimiko, but this doesn't seem logical. He is a professional killer, why the hell he keeps on showing up his head to look at Kimiko when getting shot at? Is he looking to die? Not to mention he got shot prior, on the stomach, how the hell he can walk and help Kimiko walk that easily? Hughie getting to shoot randomly while saying "I'm sorry! I'm sorry" and miraculously hit trained soldiers is even worse. Even the Starlight rescue looks like a cheap deus ex machina for the plot to goes forward.

The Boys had been attempting to mock the quip-ridden superhero genre--that is, the Marvel Cinematic Universe--but the whole prison sequences makes The Boys looks exactly like an MCU episode.

Now we get to the supes.

The Deep. His subplot has been standing on its for quite a while now. There seems to be no direct connection with the bigger plot that has been going on. And this episode his subplot stays that way, while still giving him enough screen time to focus on his emotion. I'm not sure if that is something we wanted to see for a finale. It feels like something to be saved for future seasons. Even if that doesn't mean it's bad, they could have cut it way shorter than what they did.

Then the thing with A-Train feels very anticlimactic. He just popped up there out of nowhere. We were previously shown his desire, his post-power syndrome, his attempt to be relevant. Then in the supposedly final showdown, we finally see Hughie vs A-Train head on. But we don't see A-Train. We see an injured A-Train, a traumatic supe in his mental and physical breakdown. Now this still could be an interesting, emotional confrontation between our protagonist with the one who murdered his sweetheart. Not to mention, the presence of Starlight could make this dynamic interesting--is Hughie done for, how would he cope between his past and present emotion? What we get instead, however, is a slow motion capture with very minuscule combat and almost none of emotional engagement. Then A-Train just went, just like that.

I feel like they are saving him for future episodes, but this being the finale--the culmination of all emotion that has been built up so far--makes this confrontation very lacking. It feels like we are still on Eps 5 or 6, but with worse pacing.

Now Homelander. He is our another main driver of the plot. Everything that has happened so far always leads us back to him. His dynamics with Madelyn the CEO has been a bizarre Oedipus complex-like situation, What happened between them in this episode is actually very unexpected, though one may sense that it would eventually came to this point through the clues scattered so far. This result should have provided a surprising reveal. However, as it turns out, there seems to be something hollow in the encounter. Given the interesting portrayal of their faux-mother-son-sexual-relationship in the first half of the episode, the second half seems to speed up the climax. As if they were being chased by some deadline, that they have to cut it short, while at the same time giving enough spaces for Homelander to give his, in Maeve's words in previous episodes, "boring speeches."

It feels climactic and inconclusive at the same time. And I guess the same can be said with many encounters in this episode. Starlight with Meave. Billy with the CIA. Hughie with Starlight at the church. It feels like they have to speed it up--to shove in the dialogues--for the sake of putting the plot forward. It's shaky and unreliable.

Now, the end of the episode leads us to a quite intriguing reveal. It's not the direction we--or at least, I--expected to take in the season. However, with such really weak build up throughout the episode, the ending feels like forced. As if they have prepared them to be this way, but still unsure how they would bring it up to this moment. As such, while the scene itself is (should be?) surprising, there is not much surprise when I watch the event unfolds. It's less of a "wow, so this is it?" than a "oh okay, so this happens, and then?"

Credits where it's due: Anthony Starr as Homelander and Karl Urban as Billy Butcher display terrific performances in this episode. Especially Homelander with his extremely erratic, unpredictable behavior. But that alone is not enough to pardon the sloppiness of this episode.

Perhaps because they, like MCU and other superhero movies, seem to busy themselves to prepare for the upcoming season instead of trying to give audience a closure of the plot. And that exact reason is what makes superhero movies went boring for these past years. They are focusing to build an universe, instead of writing a good narrative. Unfortunately, this episode robs the fresh air that The Boys has breathe for quite some time. While I hope for the continuation of the series, I am less excited.

Me: Agents of SHIELD is one of my favorite shows ever!
Also me: * falls practically an entire season behind and frantically scrambles to catch up before the finale *

Ah, the duality of man.

I do have to say though, binge watching 10 episodes in the last one and a half days has made one thing quite clear: this season truly had everything and the kitchen sink, didn't it? Space travel! Daisy and Jemma high on alien LSD! FitzSimmons trapped in a mind prison (yes, best episode ever)! Fake Coulson! LMD Coulson! Space bats turning people into zombies! An ancient alien deity kinda thing in a terrible wig! Deke's influencer girlfriend! The Monoliths! Time travel! I could go on! And I loved every second of it!

Good season finale overall. It went by so fast, there was so much action and thrills. It set up season 7 really nicely and I personally cannot wait for the next adventure. To be honest, halfway through the episode I expected them to kill most of the team so that the rest could pull an Avengers: Endgame and go back in time to try and fix things, but I like this outcome too. Sure, I could complain about a thing or two (like the fact that the writers apparently forgot about Snow or that making us think May might be dead just to turn it around 2 minutes later kinda takes the emotional impact out of the whole thing), but if y'all know me, you know I'm not really the type to focus on the negatives. And I don't mind the fact that they cannot seem to stop bringing Clark Gregg back. I didn't expect anything else. He is who the show was created for in the first place, after all.

Now, recently it's been announced that season 7 will be the final season. And I'm not even gonna pretend that I'm not devastated about it. Yeah, yeah, I expected this show to get canceled last year, so the fact that we know it's coming to an end a year ahead of time and that they're getting to end it on their own terms is a blessing. That's the best any of us TV watchers can hope for. Plus, 7 seasons is a terrific run for any show, much less one as criminally underrated as this one.

But then I think about the fact that the cast has already wrapped up filming the final season. I think about this SHIELD family going their separate ways. And my heart grows heavy with sadness.

I'm not ready to say goodbye.

Still, we as viewers have that last hurrah to look forward to. Bring it on.

Oh, it's so good to finally know what happened to Fitz. And I squealed with joy when I saw Hunter again. It's been so long! I've missed my dumb English son. It's absolutely hilarious to me that Fitz managed to communicate with him by insulting his favorite soccer team in a magazine. I guess it's canon that at some point in the past they decided it would be their emergency line of communication. It's so British. I'm a little disappointed Bobbi wasn't there as well, but I guess Adrianne is too busy these days working on The Orville. Good for her, she deserves it. I still miss Agent Morse though.

I'm not saying Fitz telling those military guys "They were abducted by aliens" should become a meme, but... oh wait, that's exactly what I'm saying.

I feel so bad for Polly. First she lost her husband because of his Terrigenesis, now her daughter is practically out of her reach as well. Also, I can't believe that they brought this seemingly random family from season 3 for this episode.

Enoch observing humanity for 30,000 years kind of reminds me of those creepy bald dudes on Fringe.

So if I understand correctly, Lance and Bobbi spent the rest of their lives knowing the world was going to end. Did they survive it? Did they die in the Lighthouse? Thinking about it breaks my heart.

That little Han/Leia moment with Fitz and Hunter made me cackle and warmed my heart at the same time. This is such an underappreciated brOTP.

I can't wait for the next episode. It's a shame that we have to wait two weeks for it. Oh well. Happy Holidays, I guess?