TV shows are awesome

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Sparky Prime
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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Wandavision series finale
Spoiler
It's the showdown between Wanda and Agatha as well as Vision and white Vision.

White Vision is programed to kill Wanda and Vision, but Wanda's Vision postulates an identity question and elaborates with the concept of the Ship of Theseus. I really like how this conversation is handled here, and the setting being in a library is perfect for it. Realizing both are the original and yet neither of them are, White Vision allows Wanda's Vision to unlock his memories. Kinda feels like a moment of Vision being made whole again, with his memories being reunited with his body, and since Wanda's Vision cannot exist outside the Hex. I'm a little surprised the White Vision just leaves at this point, but it's nice to see Vision is back.

I'm also a bit surprised there wasn't another twist with Agatha. I kept expecting for her to turn around and want to help teach Wanda to use her magic, but instead, she just wants Wanda's power for herself. Wanda is able to trick Agatha, and fully accepts her role as Scarlet Witch (I like the overall look of her new costume, but I think it need more red). They do sorta leave open the possibility Agatha could become a mentor to Wanda, with Agatha saying she will need her help, and if Wanda decides she does, she knows where to find her, and traps Agatha in her Agnes persona.

Wanda brings down the Hex, and has to say an emotional goodbye to her son's and her Vision.

There is a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene. In the mid-credits, an Agent wants to talk to Monica, who is revealed to be a Skrull that tells her a friend of her mother's (Nick Fury no doubt) would like to talk... in space. Post credits, we see Wanda in a cabin in the middle of no where, which in turn is an illusion as the real Wanda is studying the Darkhold, when she hears one of her son's crying out to her for help...
Overall, an excellent series. I loved the sitcom elements in the earlier episodes, and how that ended up being Wanda's way of dealing with so much of the trauma she's been through. I really liked how they kept me guessing every step of the way. I'm somewhat familiar with the comics this storyline was based on, but of course this has its own unique MCU spin on it. Also really looking forward to the stories yet to come that they make a few hints at here.
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andersonh1
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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I thought it was a nice series, both fun and genuinely dramatic in places. It was good to get more itme with characters that the movies did not have a lot of time to simply slow down and examine in any great detail, and maybe that's the main value of these Marvel tv series. They did a nice job of making Wanda both sympathetic and at the same time creepy when she needs to be (such as Wanda employing the "move behind someone quickly and zap their mind" attack on Agatha just like she used on the Avengers in Age of Ultron). The idea that she would literally take refuge from her grief by hiding out in comforting memories is a very literal form of escapism that is believable given Wanda's power levels, though I still don't quite get why the "sitcoms" would be broadcast. There may have been an explanation and I just missed it.

Good show, and I'll miss seeing new chapters on Friday evenings.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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andersonh1 wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 6:20 amthough I still don't quite get why the "sitcoms" would be broadcast. There may have been an explanation and I just missed it.
Yeah, that's not something they explained. At first I thought it might have just been an accidental side effect, given Darcy explained she discovered the signal as Cosmic Background Radiation emitted by the field around the town... But then we found out Wanda could control it by "jump cutting" around what she didn't want shown, and even stopped the broadcast altogether when she expanded the field. Wanda didn't seem to be aware of everything she'd done when she created the Hex. Maybe the broadcast was something she'd created and controlled on a subconscious level?
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andersonh1
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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Superman and Lois episode 2 - despite the "teen soap" elements of this series that are probably an obligatory part of any CW show, I am really enjoying this series. It needs more Superman, but otherwise it's very refreshing that we didn't have another "start at the beginning/origin story" and went straight to Superman and Lois as parents of teenagers, trying to live their lives and figure out direction and purpose for their family in a changing world. It's miles ahead of the other CW DC shows, as much as I enjoyed some of them (at least the early seasons). At his heart, Superman is a very down to earth character despite his enormous physical power levels, and this show captures that very well. We get a holographic and interactive Jor-El this episode (referencing Man of Steel) and Captain Luthor's desire to kill Superman is explained as on his now-destroyed Earth, Superman apparently went bad and killed not only a number of troops, but that world's Sam Lane as well. Luthor's armor strikes me as very "Iron Man" in concept if not in appearance, but he's got to go toe to toe with Superman somehow, though as we see in this episode, Superman has been pulling his punches up to now, and after getting knocked around last time, takes a hit or two this time then takes the armor out rather easily.
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
Spoiler
Starting on a 10-minute action scene where the goals and stakes are incredibly unclear, only to jump into the very boring personal life of Sam Wilson, is a bit too much. I was shocked that the Winter Soldier elements of his personal life were incredibly compelling, but the counter-cutting to Sam's story that kept feeling like it almost had something to say but never quite made it really just dragged this 49-minute episode to a crawl. The bank sequence felt like it wanted to really say something important about either superheroes' lives or race and then just whiffed both free layups was exceptionally baffling.
That out of the way...

WandaVision seemed like it was finally getting somewhere then just kinda shrugged on all the big stuff in exchange for a CGI-fest and some rather shallow storytelling. A terrible beginning and a limp ending makes this a small ravioli of a series for me.

Also got HBO Max and lowered the Netflix bill to compensate, so been watching and really enjoying Doom Patrol. We watched all of Watchmen, great series let down by a pedestrian finale, I never would have expected it from Lindelof. Watched the first episode of Titans, holy shit that is a laugh and a half at how edgy they're trying to be.

Superman & Lois premiere was so very long and not the show they spent so long advertising or setting up, which is baffling. What made this Superman and this Lois work so well was their easy interplay, so naturally we get instead a tighter version of Smallville? Tyler Hechlin can do drama, but why make this Superman so burdened at the outset? It just takes away from what worked. It's so different I'm not even sure if it's in the Arrowverse anymore.
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See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
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andersonh1
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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Superman and Lois is a show I've come at from a different perspective. I never watched Smallville, and it's been a while since I've watched any of the other Arrowverse shows. They always seem to start out strong, get a couple of good seasons and then reach a point where I just don't enjoy them any more. I know Hoechlin played Superman over on Supergirl, and I remember seeing him in the three Crisis episodes that I watched, but I tend to watch Superman and Lois as if it's just its own thing, even with the returning cast from other shows. I just assume any continuity issues (like the twin sons and both being 14) can be attributed to the Crisis. I like the setup, it seems clearly based off the Rebirth Superman comics I enjoyed so much, where Clark, Lois and Jon lived on a farm 100 miles North of Metropolis, and had family adventures, before Bendis showed up and wrecked all that. So the show mirrors a time in the recent comics that I really enjoyed, and I tend to see it more in relation to those comics than the other CW shows.

Watched Falcon and Winter Soldier's first episode, and it is a bit slow in places. I enjoyed one of the same things I enjoyed about Wandavision, a chance to slow down and spend more time with some characters that the movies don't always dwell on in detail. Judging by the action scenes with Sam early in the episode, I'd love to see DC tackle a Hawkman series with that type of "man vs aircraft" scenes, I did find Bucky's storyline more compelling than Sam's, and was surprised to see neither met each other by episode's end. I did enjoy it overall, so we'll see how the rest of the show goes.
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
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So admittedly, this episode wasn't what I expected, but that's a good thing. Despite being billed as a buddy super hero series, Bucky and Sam don't even interact with one another in this episode. Sam goes home to deal with some family issues, while Bucky is struggling to deal with his PTSD and trying to find ways to make up for what he was forced to do now that he's free from the Winter Soldier programming. It is a little slow in places, but honestly, I find it refreshing to see them addressing civilian life for these characters in greater detail, given they can slow down the pace in this format in a way they cannot do in a film. I actually really liked the bank scene, as it highlighted some difficulties caused by the Blip. Despite being a world famous Avenger, Sam can't get a loan because he hadn't existed for 5 years. And it also establishes they don't get paid to be an Avenger. It seems they are going the same route as WandaVision by introducing us to a lot of questions before they'll give us any answers. Also didn't expect them to introduce John Walker as the new US Government chosen Captain America (with a costume inspired by his U.S. Agent costume from the comics) right at the end of the episode. Overall, I enjoyed it, and it'll be interesting to see how things develop with what they've established in this first episode.
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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Superman and Lois - looks like Morgan Edge is using the minerals he obtained in the Smallville mine to not just give people Superman-like powers, but "resurrect" them somehow. Implanting Kryptonian minds in humans? Still need more Superman and less teen drama (how do all of these underage kids get away with going to a keg party?), but I'm still really enjoying this show.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - I know just enough about Marvel to work out who most of these characters are, at least on some level. Lots of interesting encounters in this episode, good interaction between the two lead characters, and I'm invested in them and their problems. I like that the Blip is not just a past event, it's motivating the antagonists. And hey, it's
Spoiler
Zemo
!
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Sparky Prime
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 2
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I like that they introduced Isaiah Bradley, and his grandson Eli with this episode. It's interesting they've introduced all the original Young Avengers in the MCU at this point, except for Iron Lad and Kate Bishop (and Kate is going to be in the upcoming Hawkeye series). Makes me think the rumors of a Young Avengers project some time down the road are true. At any rate, I hope to see more of these characters in this series.

I like that Bucky's issue with Sam giving away the shield ties into his own damage, feeling that if Steve's trust to pass the shield to Sam was misplaced, then maybe Steve was wrong about him as well, when he's trying to rebuild his life.

It was nice to see Sam, Bucky and John Walker sorta team up, although Sam and Bucky understandably do not like John given his role as "New Cap". Also surprised John has a sidekick. I'm not familiar enough with the character to have heard of Battlestar before.
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Re: TV shows are awesome

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 3
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Zemo breaking out of jail I felt was too easy. All he needed was a big enough distraction? Also don't see much need for him to have his comic book inspired mask here. He only puts it one for like a minute to fire a couple shots and then takes it off. I'm sure we will see it more throughout the series, I just wish they gave us more of a reason for him to start using it here.

I like the group dynamic between Zemo, Bucky and Sam. They play off of each other well.

Good to see Sharon Carter again. She's a bit bitter towards Sam, given he has been pardoned while she's still on the run. Which is a bit surprising... If Steve and Sam were pardoned, why didn't she get included?

Also good to see Ayo show up, confronting Bucky that Zemo be turned over to her to face justice in Wakanda.
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