This actually is an overall decent finale. The tense in Camina's fleet is good. The Rocinante battle is good. Naomi's rescue is good. The reveal on the end was also good. However there's one reason that makes the episode feels like a jumble of choppily edited scenes: everything involving Alex's death.
I don't take issue with it being sudden and abrupt, as many deaths are. But everyone feels really disconnected from that one incident that should have affected at least all the main casts. Alex just died, but Holden and Naomi spent their time to listen to Naomi's supposed farewell (and spent minutes on it). Amos was more eager to bring Peaches instead of mourning his close friend; even worse he was only informed about Alex's death off screen. For a fellow Martian and somebody who has spent quite a time with Alex, Bobbie seems largely unaffected at all. And Alex, well... The only tribute they gave to this incident is a plaque, which makes for some emotional moment, but that's it. Heck, that part where Holden talked to Naomi to rekindle the events almost feels like Holden breaking the fourth wall to explain to viewers due to how abrupt it is handled.
It almost feels like the event is not supposed to happen, and the showrunners edited in last minutes.
This season has been nothing but a Naomi season that leads to a reunion of Rocinante crew. That incident stuck like a sore thumb, making the supposedly joyful event with all crews gathering feels really emotionally detached. Not to mention that, barring the reveal at the end, most events still happen off screen. Just like most things that happened this season. We don't get to see the impact of something big happening.
So despite being an overall decent episode, this finale closes the relatively most mediocre season The Expanse has produced. I'd even say that the quality is even lower than Season 4. The first four episodes were nice, but it went downhill and stagnated really fast.
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@dtsouza I watched the season knowing Cas Anvar's scandal. That's why it makes the episode feels even more extremely awkward. Alex's death itself is forcefully edited in that it's not immediately clear that he died from a stroke (so much they need Holden to explain it to the viewers in the next scene). Many have come to defend his abrupt death by mentioning the beeping monitor, but we don't even see the monitor with three dots on the brain except for the very last moments at a glance and very briefly in the start.
I'm aware of that interpretation of the scene you mentioned, but it just didn't work out for me. It only became beautiful for the viewers due to us knowing Cas' scandal, but is not as meaningful for the Rocinante crews themselves. They were still talking about their own (Naomi & Holden) relationship, in the end.
Especially because prior playing Naomi's recording, when they did talk about Alex it was Holden explaining to the viewers how Alex died. That dialogue was really bad. Not to mention that the dialogue was supposed to be Holden explaining Fred's death to Naomi, making it even worse, especially for The Expanse standard.
Oh the wokeness ... SJW's must love it
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@eon4dk I finally managed to watch this episode. That's what triggered you?
The beginning of the episode left me wishing we could've seen more of this side of Star Wars: regular stormtroopers doing their job, getting into action, and all the unseen dynamics rarely mentioned in the mainstream film trilogies. We did have something in that vein: Republic Commando explored the lives of elite Republic clone troopers; Jedi Academy had us follow the lives of youngling under tutelage of Luke's academy; the original Battlefront showed us the transitioning of a republic to an empire through the eyes of the soldiers.
It's the lives of the mundane, the less than extraordinary, yet still gripping and intriguing. They let us dive deeper to the world of Star Wars beyond the flashy buzzing of lightsabers and spectacles of the magical force.
The Mandalorian wished it could be one of those. Unfortunately, it failed terribly.
In episode 5, @ShrimpBoatSteve has said that the series has became too predictable, and I agree - the finale shows how predictable the whole season is. https://trakt.tv/comments/264475
After the long flashback which most parts we've already seen in previous episodes - seemingly making the scenes feels almost like a filler - The Mandalorian episode 8 seems reluctant to set their foot to the ground with its notable world-building as previously seen in Eps 7 and Eps 1 to 3. As I have previously said, after everyone gangs on The Mando (Eps 7), Baby Yoda/Little One's background (who Baby Yoda is, why is he wanted, what the Imperial remnants wanted to do with him, etc) remains unresolved. As the episode shows us Moff Gideon rising with a darksaber in hand, yet another reference moment: every substance the show can possibly offer will be dealt only in Season 2 (or, worse, more).
Stormtroopers in Star Wars have been infamous for their terribly inaccurate shots, but in this episode it feels like their incompetency is amplified to the point of parody and, of course, plot armors. Scout troopers - which is supposed to be snipers - can't shoot droid right in front of their eyes. Instead of coming in squads, troopers only come individually (incinerators burning the building, a few troopers slaughtered by the blacksmith, a few others guarding the tunnel, and the most stupid of all, Moff Gideon waiting for nightfall just for no reason) which makes for a convenient plot armors for our heroes to trek on their way.
Of course, there are casualties - what is a story without something seemingly at a stake? - but it is nothing more than devices to delay the heroes from their trek. Taking cues from Eowyn's "I am no man" of Lord of the Rings fame, in less than moment-defining fashion IG-11, which himself came as a sort of droid ex machina, said that it is no "living being" while resurrecting The Mando from fatal injuries, remedied every possible threat with its healing devices.
Antagonists can be dumb, but there is a limit to dumbness that can suspend audience's disbelief. This episode has antagonist almost feels like they are intentionally dumb and there is nothing really at a stake when everything can be easily remedied.
This episode is not the worst, certainly, as the action sequence is flashy and satisfying. The one near ending where The Mando utilizes a neat jet jump is clever and actually can show the extent Star Wars can be when the director wanted to think creatively beyond the force. Knights of the Old Republic and the aptly named Star Wars Bounty Hunter played with clever tricks similar to this once a while, and the trick doesn't feel cheap as they stand on a very good storytelling.
The Mandalorian's flashy action, regardless, seems to serve only as explicit fanservice - a style over substance.
There are plenty of action, which, by itself, is quite well-done. The consistently hardly imposing threats, unfortunately, dull down the possible thrill those scenes can offer - in a typical corny action heroes such as Gerard Butler's character in Has Fallen trilogy. The scene, for example, with The Blacksmith let us peek into the martial arts capability a Mandalorian can exhibit. But the rather plot armor of incompetent stormtroopers leave no stake at hand; the martial arts dexterity looks more like a cheap imitation of main trilogies of Jedi's acrobatic feats.
Redemption ultimately ends with nothing to be redeemed about, as the people in this show seems to be forever clumsy. From start to finish, everyone made questionable decisions. Nobody blasted the Mando's group with that large amount of stormtroopers. Nobody checked whether Moff Gideon is dead when the fighter was down (Gideon also miraculously survive the crash), with Carga, a supposedly veteran bounty hunter, lightheartedly saying they are already free of the Empire's grasp.
Everything people said in this episode, just like many episodes prior, are not crafted as if the actors were having human conversation. They were rushed by time - they seemingly appear to be set in motion by the plot's demands, to say X so Y happens; to say A when B moment happened.
This episode almost feels like a filler to conclude the dragging episodes this season has been. Screenwriting-wise, this whole season is nothing but bait-and-switch to justify next season(s).
There is much to be said about this kind of terrible business model, where series is written with nothing exactly in mind but to find reasons to continue producing the franchise - the same business model Disney has been using on their MCU franchise and Star Wars films/spinoffs - but the crowds of gladly willing moms awing for Baby Yoda and nerd dads geeking over Star Wars reference doesn't leave enough rooms for those commentaries.
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@xaliber worst finale & worst show I've seen this year. absolutely no reason to let this garbage run unless you just wanna see liveless muppet being adorkable.
I can appreciate it's not like every other spin off, focused on creatures and side missions but I still don't know what the hell is this show even about. Just a man on the run?
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@the_argentinian The start of the real rebellion, basically. At this point people are fighting the Empire, but very sporadically and unorganized. The rebellion that Ben and Luke joins doesn't exist right now. Andor, and the animated SW Rebels, are about how it starts.
And suddenly this show is about girls getting it done, huh? That’s one way to screw up an interesting premise.
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@eiduren Hurr durr women bad
Hmmm, they're starting to drag their feet. We used to have action, this episode was a total bore
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@ramadri I second @jamatiknakmuay… if you're expecting constant action, you're watching the wrong genre.
Hmmm, they're starting to drag their feet. We used to have action, this episode was a total bore
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@ramadri This is a science fiction series (Co-Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Drama, Thriller, Suspense), maybe you should watch an action series instead. This is not "Transformers" (Pseudo-Science-Fiction).
Where did all the production-value go?
The first two episodes dragged me into the world of Star Wars, but after that it‘s all down hill to me. Acting just meh, almost no good looking alien races anymore, heck even the droid from this episode was a pesky human in a bad costume. Just as bad as both of those Twi‘leks and the horned guy - bad actors in bad makeup. I really hope they fix this soon.loading replies
@oddiction the acting ain't that bad but the plot is stupid. Those people make dumb decisions.
This actually is an overall decent finale. The tense in Camina's fleet is good. The Rocinante battle is good. Naomi's rescue is good. The reveal on the end was also good. However there's one reason that makes the episode feels like a jumble of choppily edited scenes: everything involving Alex's death.
I don't take issue with it being sudden and abrupt, as many deaths are. But everyone feels really disconnected from that one incident that should have affected at least all the main casts. Alex just died, but Holden and Naomi spent their time to listen to Naomi's supposed farewell (and spent minutes on it). Amos was more eager to bring Peaches instead of mourning his close friend; even worse he was only informed about Alex's death off screen. For a fellow Martian and somebody who has spent quite a time with Alex, Bobbie seems largely unaffected at all. And Alex, well... The only tribute they gave to this incident is a plaque, which makes for some emotional moment, but that's it. Heck, that part where Holden talked to Naomi to rekindle the events almost feels like Holden breaking the fourth wall to explain to viewers due to how abrupt it is handled.
It almost feels like the event is not supposed to happen, and the showrunners edited in last minutes.
This season has been nothing but a Naomi season that leads to a reunion of Rocinante crew. That incident stuck like a sore thumb, making the supposedly joyful event with all crews gathering feels really emotionally detached. Not to mention that, barring the reveal at the end, most events still happen off screen. Just like most things that happened this season. We don't get to see the impact of something big happening.
So despite being an overall decent episode, this finale closes the relatively most mediocre season The Expanse has produced. I'd even say that the quality is even lower than Season 4. The first four episodes were nice, but it went downhill and stagnated really fast.
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@dtsouza oh for god's sake, save that mediocre exaggerative defense for shows with rabid fans like Mandalorian. Nobody said it has to be done in exaggeration. The death scene only needs to be planned, like Fred's death. Like I said, many deaths were abrupt; what makes the death feels real is how it was edited between the scenes & how others react to it. What we got was obviously a frozen frame of Alex in previous scene with an added CGI blood. It was an unplanned hurried edit that resulted in a bad, chugged in scene.
This is my review so I comment on whatever I wanted. And you're the one who nitpicked that one point regarding Alex's death out of five points I've written. Then the problem is on you.
I'm beginning to think the writing team only had three good episodes in them. Getting predictable and drawn out.
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@jim222001 after seeing that "partner" everyone knew that he will betray the traitor.
okay but where was Jesus
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Jesus is always in your heart :)
The show had its up and downs.
But honestly I found the last season a high tick up in quality over the last few & it felt like a return to form, so I'm glad it ended in a bang (pun intended).One thing that did prevail thru the up's and down was the cast. They were the heart of the show and put their all into every episode. Many giving performances that are wave above & beyond cable TV. The show gets a ton of hate, but overall I'd say it was a fun journey & I'll definitely miss it.
Thanks for the wild ride & I'm excited to see what they do with TWDU.
P.S - Haters who comment on LITERALLY every episode, can ya'll please just NOT watch any of the other shows & b*tch non-stop no matter how good it is? It will make all of our lives a lot easier :)
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@jonas1981 Yeah, because only people who love it are allowed to have an opinion.
I have watched the entire show more than 5 times (except for the last 4 seasons) and it was my favorite show of all time until they ruined it. I had to finish it no matter how much I hated it because I have invested so much of my life watching.
This crap about not being allowed to criticize or do anything but rate a show that didn't even end a 10 is just plain crap. I hope they sell it to Disney so they can Star Wars it, even though that's what they're doing anyway.
Enjoy your 5 million spinoffs.
Shout by Pradipa PR
James Gunn really liked the idea of shoving stuff into people's mouth huh. He did it in The Suicide Squad, he did it again here.
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@xaliber That's what she said.
This fight for Ilus doesn't make sense.
It's an entire planet but they are killing each other over less than an acre for fucks sake.
One side take the western hemisphere and the other side take the eastern hemisphere.loading replies
@phug love when somebody dont understand something so it "makes no sense".
This is Star Wars! Wow.
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@totteannerbrink the nickelodeon door is right there
The beginning of the episode left me wishing we could've seen more of this side of Star Wars: regular stormtroopers doing their job, getting into action, and all the unseen dynamics rarely mentioned in the mainstream film trilogies. We did have something in that vein: Republic Commando explored the lives of elite Republic clone troopers; Jedi Academy had us follow the lives of youngling under tutelage of Luke's academy; the original Battlefront showed us the transitioning of a republic to an empire through the eyes of the soldiers.
It's the lives of the mundane, the less than extraordinary, yet still gripping and intriguing. They let us dive deeper to the world of Star Wars beyond the flashy buzzing of lightsabers and spectacles of the magical force.
The Mandalorian wished it could be one of those. Unfortunately, it failed terribly.
In episode 5, @ShrimpBoatSteve has said that the series has became too predictable, and I agree - the finale shows how predictable the whole season is. https://trakt.tv/comments/264475
After the long flashback which most parts we've already seen in previous episodes - seemingly making the scenes feels almost like a filler - The Mandalorian episode 8 seems reluctant to set their foot to the ground with its notable world-building as previously seen in Eps 7 and Eps 1 to 3. As I have previously said, after everyone gangs on The Mando (Eps 7), Baby Yoda/Little One's background (who Baby Yoda is, why is he wanted, what the Imperial remnants wanted to do with him, etc) remains unresolved. As the episode shows us Moff Gideon rising with a darksaber in hand, yet another reference moment: every substance the show can possibly offer will be dealt only in Season 2 (or, worse, more).
Stormtroopers in Star Wars have been infamous for their terribly inaccurate shots, but in this episode it feels like their incompetency is amplified to the point of parody and, of course, plot armors. Scout troopers - which is supposed to be snipers - can't shoot droid right in front of their eyes. Instead of coming in squads, troopers only come individually (incinerators burning the building, a few troopers slaughtered by the blacksmith, a few others guarding the tunnel, and the most stupid of all, Moff Gideon waiting for nightfall just for no reason) which makes for a convenient plot armors for our heroes to trek on their way.
Of course, there are casualties - what is a story without something seemingly at a stake? - but it is nothing more than devices to delay the heroes from their trek. Taking cues from Eowyn's "I am no man" of Lord of the Rings fame, in less than moment-defining fashion IG-11, which himself came as a sort of droid ex machina, said that it is no "living being" while resurrecting The Mando from fatal injuries, remedied every possible threat with its healing devices.
Antagonists can be dumb, but there is a limit to dumbness that can suspend audience's disbelief. This episode has antagonist almost feels like they are intentionally dumb and there is nothing really at a stake when everything can be easily remedied.
This episode is not the worst, certainly, as the action sequence is flashy and satisfying. The one near ending where The Mando utilizes a neat jet jump is clever and actually can show the extent Star Wars can be when the director wanted to think creatively beyond the force. Knights of the Old Republic and the aptly named Star Wars Bounty Hunter played with clever tricks similar to this once a while, and the trick doesn't feel cheap as they stand on a very good storytelling.
The Mandalorian's flashy action, regardless, seems to serve only as explicit fanservice - a style over substance.
There are plenty of action, which, by itself, is quite well-done. The consistently hardly imposing threats, unfortunately, dull down the possible thrill those scenes can offer - in a typical corny action heroes such as Gerard Butler's character in Has Fallen trilogy. The scene, for example, with The Blacksmith let us peek into the martial arts capability a Mandalorian can exhibit. But the rather plot armor of incompetent stormtroopers leave no stake at hand; the martial arts dexterity looks more like a cheap imitation of main trilogies of Jedi's acrobatic feats.
Redemption ultimately ends with nothing to be redeemed about, as the people in this show seems to be forever clumsy. From start to finish, everyone made questionable decisions. Nobody blasted the Mando's group with that large amount of stormtroopers. Nobody checked whether Moff Gideon is dead when the fighter was down (Gideon also miraculously survive the crash), with Carga, a supposedly veteran bounty hunter, lightheartedly saying they are already free of the Empire's grasp.
Everything people said in this episode, just like many episodes prior, are not crafted as if the actors were having human conversation. They were rushed by time - they seemingly appear to be set in motion by the plot's demands, to say X so Y happens; to say A when B moment happened.
This episode almost feels like a filler to conclude the dragging episodes this season has been. Screenwriting-wise, this whole season is nothing but bait-and-switch to justify next season(s).
There is much to be said about this kind of terrible business model, where series is written with nothing exactly in mind but to find reasons to continue producing the franchise - the same business model Disney has been using on their MCU franchise and Star Wars films/spinoffs - but the crowds of gladly willing moms awing for Baby Yoda and nerd dads geeking over Star Wars reference doesn't leave enough rooms for those commentaries.
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@xaliber That part with 'you have until night fall' ... yeah I know it is supposed to be kinda wild west style, but honestly I would have just thrown a grenade in the window and be done with it. And when they know the only escape route is into the sewers ... and they find the entrance ... well what we will do is have a half hearted attempt at escape and then wait hours ... until we are nearly at the point of being killed to try again. Why would you have a sewer vent behind a chair? Surley you would hear everything going on down there? How is it fixed to the wall ... did the robot forget it had built in metal cutting equipment?
This show makes no sense at all.
The sad thing is I will probably watch season 2 in a new hope that this gets better ... I doubt it, but now Mr Robot has finished there is very little good TV out there.
Is this episode written by 16 years old?
This episode wanted to be Seven Samurai but ended up as that terrible The Walking Dead episode where everyone gets slaughtered (they're not though in Mandalorian, since this is a Disney series).
There is no development and no build up at all in this episode. Like the previous episode, everything is self-contained. All are introduced and resolved in this same episode. A lot of things happened in this episode but nothing actually contributes to the plot - except for exposition dump.
The bandit raid is a terribly weak, villain of the week setup. They just show up as some evil nuisances - no motives, no goals at all. The Mando teams up with an ex-rebel, which debunks a tired cliche, but at this point this feels like a try-hard attempt to make The Mando as a morally righteous hero. There is a half-assed attempts at romance here, but it feels forced as it happens so sudden. Despite being self-contained (or maybe because it is) the episode lacks closure by the end, and the nifty little scene regarding one stray bounty hunter seems like something that appears just because they still have several episodes to go.
The dialogues are terrible: it's a tonne of exposition dumps. I don't have any idea why the writers think it makes sense for the characters to suddenly ask a stranger, "when was your last time you open your helmet?" and, in return, open up a heart-to-heart "hey I got a tragic story" past to a stranger. The banters with Gina Carano's character is okay, but it feels like they have to slip backstory every now and then. As if they're not having a real, human conversation. Every dialogue feels so forced and hurried as if they have to make it fit into this episode.
Also, it seems like they have no idea what an AT-ST is. It's a vehicle, not a droid.
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@xaliber The quality drop between first 3 episodes and this is huge. The first 3 episodes were so good that I can't believe it's the same show. I hope the rest o the season it's not like this.
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.
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@tesbreag do you know what an unreliable narrator means? An unreliable narrator's credibility has to be compromised in the writing. This episode doesn't show that. If anything: it intends to complete and confirm Mallory's recollection of the events, beginning with the exact same, word-to-word conversation (between Edgar and Black Noir) and details like Countess showing up the last with less bruises and damages than others. It doesn't contradict what the audience knows of the story so far. The narrator himself (Black Noir) is not contradicting himself in his recollection - no gaps in the memory, no uncertainty. If anything the cartoon session begins with the one of them saying that the memory is "buried within" Black Noir, implying certainty.
Despite a very, very few valuable moments this series is still a showcase. The one kind that want to sell everything with blood, gore, and semi-complex reflection of our world, but practically that's it? The disapproval of capitalism and all netting media corporations is the thing that keeps it afloat, needless to say, that's counterproductive because thats how the show is sold to us in the first place. The characters are shallow with 2 exceptions, and they are not created in a way that I would have shed tears if any of them died, because I get only so few brief windows to know and invest in them, if there is any, that is. Kimiko died and woke up, then went dancing with Frenchie like nothing happened. There are too many characters and the focus among them is not shared enough to have more than a handful of meaningful moments, especially if their moments are not really about them, but about showing some fucked up mechanism moving our world. The Deep's storyline? It told us more about the collective (and fake churches in real life) than about Deep or A-Train, only to have one scene that binds them to the main story. It's like the show is so in love with its concept what how it thinks it's full of contemporary relevant stuff, that it rarely does anything truly noteworthy besides the creative merchandise they can shine in every 15 minutes.
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@dtsouza You might have a point. Even in season one I couldn't move past that both the pinnacle and origin of dehumanization and deheroization was Compound V, a blue fluid in a test tube. It seemed like a really cheap way to trying to say something meaningful - without actually doing so. But I thought season 2 moves past that, and finds something else it can build on. I was both right and wrong, and am happy about it and not.
In my opinion, a satire or a black comedy works only, and only if it first truly understands what's it about. That is why The Boys excels in its critique of capitalism and media conglomerates, and that is why Compound V (whether I like it or not) will always be a vital and forever reusable plot device. And knowing that superheroes are products of the system as well, expands the show in inexplicable lengths. My problem is how the show relies roughly on this in 70% of its runtime, and leaves too few space for characters, let alone supporting ones, again let alone for their arcs, and any purpose of a character arc being 'A' character arc, or the only thing I got to know of MM in 2 whole seasons is that he has two daughters he can't go home to. Frenchie, Hughie, MM, Kimiko are basically the crust of a whole bread, and I would want to eat myself full of with the crust, but it's much less than everything else, eventhough the show is called The Boys and they are its members. And I'm seeing Starlight becoming one of these supporting shadows too. Maeve got a bit more role this season, and it was better, but they still ended up using her as the "deus ex" character. But that might just be in the case of the finale, which used too convenient solutions at certain points.
For the future, I trusted the collective will be brought on to season 3, but both A-Train and The Deep were set loose, and the guy in charge died, so my disappointment as this being a slightly relevant B-story still stands. But that doesn't mean the chruch can't get a role, a more important one next time, I'm just not that optimistic about it. Also we saw the mindblowing patient on the road once, and I thought she was the one who got into town and destroyed the hearing. Is it possible (with Compound V, especially) that the congresswoman and she have the same powers? In retrospective it feels weird that sup patient was done after we saw her walking on the road.
So, my problem is that I don't agree with many of the solutions the show offers, and that the subtext of our current society and all of us being addicted with superheroes is much bigger than they can fully serve justice to. Sometimes it's unnecessarily ove the top, even. Like the scene the first time Homelander and Stormfront had sex lost it's purpose (two horrible human beings find each other) as it went on longer and longer. It lasted so long because it was fun to watch, I guess? It worked much better an episode later when after a long pause he passionately kissed her. But it's just probably my boringness that I like meaning more than fun. Hit and misses happen. With that said, I still thinks the show's subtext (e.g. Homelander is literally Trump) is much bigger than it manages to execute. And when it seems it can do it, that takes away from something else, like non-supe characters.
Didn't Clarissa's implant stuff use to look better? :thinking:
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@ansik Yeah, the fight with the mod was... Not the best let's just leave it at that
Is this episode written by 16 years old?
This episode wanted to be Seven Samurai but ended up as that terrible The Walking Dead episode where everyone gets slaughtered (they're not though in Mandalorian, since this is a Disney series).
There is no development and no build up at all in this episode. Like the previous episode, everything is self-contained. All are introduced and resolved in this same episode. A lot of things happened in this episode but nothing actually contributes to the plot - except for exposition dump.
The bandit raid is a terribly weak, villain of the week setup. They just show up as some evil nuisances - no motives, no goals at all. The Mando teams up with an ex-rebel, which debunks a tired cliche, but at this point this feels like a try-hard attempt to make The Mando as a morally righteous hero. There is a half-assed attempts at romance here, but it feels forced as it happens so sudden. Despite being self-contained (or maybe because it is) the episode lacks closure by the end, and the nifty little scene regarding one stray bounty hunter seems like something that appears just because they still have several episodes to go.
The dialogues are terrible: it's a tonne of exposition dumps. I don't have any idea why the writers think it makes sense for the characters to suddenly ask a stranger, "when was your last time you open your helmet?" and, in return, open up a heart-to-heart "hey I got a tragic story" past to a stranger. The banters with Gina Carano's character is okay, but it feels like they have to slip backstory every now and then. As if they're not having a real, human conversation. Every dialogue feels so forced and hurried as if they have to make it fit into this episode.
Also, it seems like they have no idea what an AT-ST is. It's a vehicle, not a droid.
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@xaliber There are a lot of fan-boys defending the progression of the show. It's almost like your not allowed to have an opinion these days ...
New faces and new scenery and still Baby Yoda continues to steal the show. A good balance of action and storytelling but I'd be happier if the episodes were longer. The AT-ST Raider was a nice surprise too. It's cool to see the concept art at the end of each episode.
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@j_pereira8 baby yoda is shit
The show had its up and downs.
But honestly I found the last season a high tick up in quality over the last few & it felt like a return to form, so I'm glad it ended in a bang (pun intended).One thing that did prevail thru the up's and down was the cast. They were the heart of the show and put their all into every episode. Many giving performances that are wave above & beyond cable TV. The show gets a ton of hate, but overall I'd say it was a fun journey & I'll definitely miss it.
Thanks for the wild ride & I'm excited to see what they do with TWDU.
P.S - Haters who comment on LITERALLY every episode, can ya'll please just NOT watch any of the other shows & b*tch non-stop no matter how good it is? It will make all of our lives a lot easier :)
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@mattdeezly1996 I told you why I keep watching and keep complaining. Work on your reading comprehension skills.
Shout by Pradipa PR
James Gunn really liked the idea of shoving stuff into people's mouth huh. He did it in The Suicide Squad, he did it again here.
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@xaliber And penis jokes and dancing.
so if the Martions live on a planet that has lower gravity then Earth wouldnt they be more physically inept then the Earthlings, and not bodybuilders like everyone thinks they are?
and for all those saying that their full g gravity training is an adequate excuse ,earth soldiers LIVE(and obviously also train) at full g so....loading replies
@mokins They said the soldiers trained on the same gravity as there is on Earth. However, the show doesn't take physiques too serious (like sound in space etc.) so don't expect it to be really accurate :)
Nothing... Literally nothing of any importance happened this episode.
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@felixgotrek Simple minds simple pleasures.
Shout by Neal Mahoney
VIP8Those windows won't hurt anybody now. Seriously wtf were they shooting at?
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@sonnythebear seems like a HUGE waste of ammo. I mean if they would of just blown the RV the walkers would of came eventually and the fence would still of been down.
This fight for Ilus doesn't make sense.
It's an entire planet but they are killing each other over less than an acre for fucks sake.
One side take the western hemisphere and the other side take the eastern hemisphere.loading replies
@phug nothing wrong with my comment but ok dude. Try to understand it next time.
The episode was pretty enjoyable, but...this may have been the worst dialog I've ever heard on television. There wasn't a second of it that flowed naturally. The actors did their best, but you can't spin garbage into gold.
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@jaw72 you meant Disney Star Wars. EU content is written far beyond today's Star Wars.
The episode was pretty enjoyable, but...this may have been the worst dialog I've ever heard on television. There wasn't a second of it that flowed naturally. The actors did their best, but you can't spin garbage into gold.
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@jaw72 I totally agree, but it's never been this bad.
