Part two of three of my commentary about ASIAS!

This one will have screenshots! Not the most good looking ones, still new at it, but still screenshots!

Flying derby looks so much more fun than grudgby in my opinion, I guess I just like non ball sports

THEM

I LOVE THIS IMAGE SO MUCH ILL CHERISH IT FOREVER ITS ALL I COULD HAVE ASKED FOR THIS HAS MADE UP FOR ME WAKING UP AT 5AM BECAUSE OF THE EPISODE

They befriended, this is so lovely :,3

(And all of their outfits are great)

Emerald entrails is not really that subtle but its also a great name, AND THEY STILL KEPT THE NAME AT THE END OF THE EPISODE

Fucking donkey

Interestingly enough, the lack of the cape did make the dissonance I got from his GG outfit in Separate Tides and the first half-ish of Hunting Palismen not happen. I guess seeing his hair and ears helps on avoiding that djjsdfjd (also the little staff twirl he did here was really nicely animated)

Steve is a fucking mvp, I think him going “Steve is beggining to regret his choices” is a good segway to the promo screenshot we got of him in a motorbike. Him and Hunter being buddies was great, I love that it’s not just Lilith that appreciates him

“I think Hunter is too” Almost made me scream and I would have if it wasn’t 6am when i was watching this. I’m so sure this is the start of his big turning point, these friendships he made are being SO important for him

The initiations he mentioned more than once are making me think that this will return in Labyrinth Runners in some way. I don’t know how but I hope he appears on there too then. Belos taking the palismen away also make me ponder why Lilith didn’t lose hers (thank god she didn’t, I love that little guy). 

(Also great commentary/criticism of the military)

That slight paralel to Hunting Palismen, with Hunter now sneaking into the flying ship was sooooo good

Pain and suffering and pain and suffering AND LILITH (i love how you can see her finger on the photo dsnjdnjnjd. and the small comeback Alador did fdjsdjnd also I don’t know how to feel about Alador looking so much like my dad)

Also this is a funny frame to have paused on jfdjdfsndfs

Willow, you made me tear up some three times on this episode, I just want the best for you, you deserve so much better

Darius change of behaviour was really surprising, and weirdly really sweet, he also kinda reexamined his own bias against Hunter which was good. He sewed better the sigil on his cape and im assuming got him a scroll to make a penstagram account to interact with more kids his age and thats really nice.

“Are you going to tell him about your secret palisman?” And now I’m scared again for Flapjack. But its good that Darius isn’t going to tell about all this to Belos, thats also really nice

This really settled for me the theory that he and Eber will join Raine and do *something*. I was already on board with the theory but didn’t know how that would happen, from what little we had about Darius before this episode. And we might get more, seeing how Reaching Out will be about abominations a lot, with Amity and Alador and what not.

This episode was really good for Darius, gave him even more nuance than he had before, even with him not appearing that much compared to the other characters. (Also his abomination sweater. Glorious)

A little less related to the plot of the episode, I feel like the animation looks a bit different on 2B but i don’t know how to explain it

I still will make the part three about the Lumity c plot but I’ll round out my thoughts about the main plots of the episodes here

It was my favorite episode of 2B for now, I loved how it was kinda low stakes but kinda high stakes too and how the a plot (willow’s) and b plot (hunter’s) merged into one basically, and also how lumity didn’t really steal the spotlight from this episode like in TTLGR, which is a criticism I have about season 2, and also I haven’t seen much of the fandom reaction and most the ones I follow already are focused on Hunter too but it’s nice that in the show it wasn’t like that again

This was really fun!

Lesson 49 - Hunting Fairies

A lotta’ screen caps for this one.

We start the lesson off checking out the fancy hotel Diavolo manages. Luke brings up the obvious implications I pointed out in the last commentary post.

Barbatos is quick to interject and attempts to assuage his worries.

I’m not sure he’s gonna take their word for it, though. Depends on the policies previous demon administrations have implemented, I’m sure. 

Yeah pretty much. It appears Barbatos/Diavolo are aware that everything is being relayed back to Michael, but they’d be idiots not to make that conclusion at this point, tbh. If they felt threatened by Michael, then they would be behaving differently.

We go inside and take note of the unique blend of tea that Barbatos is serving. The conversation drifts towards... fairies! Didn’t see this one coming.

But alas...

So apparently 400 years is just yesterday by demon standards lol

Of course.

And you guessed right, we’re off to go find one!

The trio (MC, Luke, Mammon) head off to the library for fairy research. You get to choose who you study alongside.

It turns out that the library has quite a bit of angel lore. It seems the Human World in general may be aware of the other realms existing: it isn’t lore accessible only to magic wielders. That’s an interesting tidbit.

Studying with Luke gives you more secondhand Michael characterization. After he criticizes a picture of Michael, you can comment on how much he obviously adores Michael or ask about how Michael is doing.

How he answers the latter question:

Very subtle.

Much to my surprise, they allude to the portraits I mentioned in my Luke theory.

So they were actually removed (I did think it was strange that they’d keep them considering... everything) and it seems Luke was present for said removal (he knows where they used to hang). I think he must have been born shortly after the Great Celestial War, then.

Poor Michael, though. But I wonder if he might have saved/stole a Lucifer portrait or two for his shrine.

It seems Luke is more cognizant of how Michael feels about Lucifer and his brothers than I previously thought, though he might not know the details about how and why. He recognizes how emo Michael is even though Michael doesn’t talk about it.

More evidence that Michael is the voice in Season 2, imo. It sounded pretty remorseful.

Apparently that image of Michael REALLY sticks out in his mind. It bothers him that the brothers don’t think much about Michael when Michael clearly thinks about them often.

But to be fair, beyond the fact that they’re now demons and wrapped up in their own often selfish impulses, the fact that they don’t actively hate Michael for fighting them is actually a surprise? Yeah it sucks that they don’t miss him but it could be a lot worse.

Mammon, stop triggering the little angel and pretending that isn’t explicitly what you were doing.

There’s food for Mammon stans if you study with him but it isn’t anything really new or revelatory. 

Uh, Lucifer totally does treat you that way. Later in this lesson, even. He just finds you cute so he’s willing to give you more leeway lol.

Mammon really does love Lucifer. Surprise.

Solomon drops in and tells Luke and Mammon to stop squabbling and informs them that they’re not gonna find much in the library. They seek out Crowe for help next, who is now a fixture of Levi’s room.

No flying allowed in the Human World!

Crowe recommends they take an overnight train trip.

Levi tells them they need permission from each of their respective legal guardians first. Simeon, being the chill parent, is okay with it. Luke promises to find someone to fill in for him while he’s off on the trip. He intends to pick one of the brothers, and even though you’re given a list of choices, they shoot each one down -- but not without giving us a peek of how they envision each brother performing. It’s not an actual choice, but the results are pretty amusing and are what you’d expect:  

Ultimately they settle on Satan (who was my first choice even though they made me cycle through them all!), who initially says no because he’s too busy watching cat videos. Luke cleverly bribes him into the job by promising... cats.

Don’t look forward to his reaction when he realizes there’s no stray cats coming around during his shifts lol.

We return to the manor to seek out Lucifer. Belphegor warns us to stay away from banshees. We totally aren’t going to run into one, I’m sure.

See? He treats Mammon like a troublemaking nuisance as well lol

We challenge him to a card game. If we win, we go on the trip. If we lose, we’re assigned bathroom cleaning duty and Mammon has to stay behind. Spoiler alert: the result ends up the same (Mammon gets to go with us), but losing actually leads to the more entertaining outcome:

And then we’re left with this cliffhanger...

But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure this is going to end up just being silly.

This was a good lesson in spite of it simply being a bridge to the next arc, which is apparently going to involve our search for a fairy ring with Mammon and Luke. Since we’re about halfway done with the season if it follows the same progression as the other seasons, whatever happens in this arc will likely lead to the big conflict. Strangely enough, they seem to have temporarily shelved the growing tension between Lucifer and Diavolo over the latter’s growing affection for MC, but I bet it’s going to resurface alongside whatever this leads to.

And Michael is going to play a part in some way. Not sure if he’s going to try to use the Lucifer vs. Diavolo thing to his advantage, or if he’s going to meddle in something during the fairy arc after we’re somehow flung back into time again... or both.

I want to ask Simeon about Michael. His account is likely to be far more telling, and it may better explain why he stuck with Michael. Buuuuut they’re probably going to save that conversation for much later, if they give it to us at all.

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X4

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This week we finally got the answer to the question that was on everyone’s minds: Who’s on the beach?!?!? And the answer was none other than George O’Malley! I was right! Ha! I love it when that happens. Yes George was on the beach and we got to see him have a lovely heart to heart with Meredith about life and death, how things were for her and the others after he died, and what life is like for her now.

I was surprised that the heart to heart meaningful conversation turned out to be between Meredith and George and not Meredith and Derek, but I feel like that is coming later. I think the meaningful conversation with Derek will happen right at the end of Meredith’s beach adventure just before she recovers and comes back to the land of the living.

I like that they addressed why Derek and George look older than they did the last time we saw them by having George say that maybe they look older to Meredith and by virtue the audience because that’s how she likes to think of and picture them. The sand isn’t real, the water isn’t real, and Meredith’s perceptions of them and their physical appearances aren’t real either.

We see Richard and Bailey join Meredith and George on the beach at the end sequence when the real life Richard and Bailey move closer to Meredith’s bedside and talk to her which establishes that the beach is neither here nor there. It’s not the afterlife, but it is. It’s not heaven or hell, but it can be. It’s all happening in Meredith’s head, but it’s not. It’s a dream, but it’s also reality.

I liked the call backs to how Meredith, Alex, Cristina, and Izzie laughed a George’s funeral at the ridiculousness of it all. We also got some introspection from Meredith when George asks if she still dances it out like she used to and she says no and that she hasn’t really since she lost Cristina. George gently reminds her that Cristina isn’t dead like him. 

She’s still very much alive she just lives someplace else and that she shouldn’t give up on something she loves that makes her happy because Cristina lives in Zurich, Switzerland instead of Seattle, U.S.A. But we also get some insight here that to Meredith, Cristina moving an ocean away felt like a death and still does. She hasn’t danced it out like that since she left because she’s mourning that loss and to her not being able to see Cristina whenever she wants to is akin to not being able to see people like Derek, George, and Lexie like she used to because they’re gone.

Alex’s departure is different in that way in that once the pandemic is over and travel has opened back up and she’s done being mad at him she can go see Alex and Izzie and the kids whenever she wants. She doesn’t even have to get on a plane if she doesn’t want to. She can drive or take the train. The same holds true for Callie and Arizona. But the loss of people like Cristina, Derek, George, Mark, and Lexie is different because she can’t. Getting to Cristina means enduring at least two separate several hour flights across an ocean and she hates flying. 

Seeing all of those other people is impossible because they’re not alive anymore. And she feels that loss everyday whether she’s able to verbalize it or not. I loved Meredith’s ending line about finding your people and holding them close because those are the ones that get you through the tough times. The fact that she made Richard her POA comes full circle in this episode when we see him trying to comfort her and make a decision at her bedside. 

Richard is struggling about whether to enroll Meredith in the trial when he realizes she’s trying to say something. He gets closer and tells her he’s here for her only to realize she’s mumbling in her sleep and talking to George. Because Richard has seen Meredith and the others through it all he knows exactly who George is. He knows what the significance of that is and he realizes that she’s not trying to speak to him or get better. She’s talking to her friend George on the other side. She’s dying and if he doesn't do something soon she’ll join him. This realization causes him to decide to enroll Meredith in the trial.

I like that we also got an update on George’s Mom who we last saw in Season 8 talking to Callie about her marriage to Arizona and the birth of her daughter Sofia. George tells Meredith that grief is different for everyone and that his mother carries hers and that makes him sad and that sometimes he tries to shake it out of her and try to let her know that he’s still there and he’s still him even though she can’t see him anymore.

I loved how Meredith commented that he’s basically haunting her and George replied, “Well sure if you want to call it that.” The gentle teasing nature they had between them as friends was one of the things I loved most about their relationship and it was nice to see that here. I also liked their conversation about choices. Meredith asks if it’s her choice whether she stays or goes, and George says that it depends. Some people get to choose, and some don’t. He would have stayed if he could, but she appears to have a choice. On the one hand she’s worried about the kids and how losing her and becoming orphans will affect them.

On the other hand, she’s tired and has been through a lot and all the people she loves are on that beach. So, it’s a tough call for her to make. When they were sitting there on that beach and George turned to Meredith and said, “If you stay here you might break him,” and they turned to reveal Richard sitting next to her? Ugh that got me! Also watching Meredith shake convulsively from COVID while unconscious and talking to her dead friend was unnerving and a little scary especially since this is a real disease that is hurting real people. My heart breaks for anyone going through this in real life.

I also loved their exchange about the kids. Where he tells them how great they are and she says he never got to meet them and he tells her that he checks in on her and them from time to time. I also love that his comment establishes that all of the other people Meredith has lost are able to check in on her and the kids and that the other people that other characters have lost can do the same. It’s a nice image and something I think all of us in the real world like to imagine and believe when we lose a loved one. That they’re watching over us.

I loved how in Meredith’s Voice Over this episode she says that Medical schools often ask applicants for an essay describing a time they faced adversity and how they overcame it because they want to know how people will cope with the challenges they'll face as a doctor. And that some students worry they have nothing to write about because they haven't faced difficulty. She didn't have that problem. LOL!

Meredith is the main character, the lead star, and the anchor of the series and they introduced this plot in the premiere this season which mostly likely means that she won’t die or be sidelined by this permanently. And since the show is reflecting a real world disease and pandemic that means that if Meredith lives one of the other characters or someone else close to them will be dying from it most likely. Sadly, it looks like that might be Tom after this episode.

Tom’s got some funny dialogue when he tries to interrupt the staff meeting Richard is holding about COVID by tablet and with Helm when she comes by to drop off his COVID test. I liked how Jackson just walked over and knocked over the tablet to shut him up and everyone just laughed and carried on. His scenes with Helm were pretty funny too. The Zombie appearing on screen scared me though!

In the end we see that Teddy finally comes to talk to him and bring him soup after Helm tells her how bad he’s doing and how much he needs a friend as she desperately tries to save Meredith. When Tom didn’t answer the door or make a sound my first thought was that he had collapsed, but no it’s worse than that because as Teddy turns to leave the camera pans over and we see Tom cold and shaking in a blanket on the other side of the door unable to respond.

Which means his condition has worsened and he’s in pain, but he can’t communicate that to Teddy because he’s too weak to speak or he can’t make his voice loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain. Man that was some downpour! I wonder if it was fake rain that they created or if it rained that heavily the day they filmed that scene. Good to see Tom finally bought a house though! Seeing as last we saw he was living out of a hotel and then got Teddy a beautiful apartment only to find out at the last minute that she had gotten back together with Owen so he went back to living in a hotel again. Glad to see he got some digs.

I’ll be sad if they write Tom off as a character as I’ve really come to like him and he’s interesting and complex. Plus, I love seeing someone call Owen on his crap with such humour! We also got some good social commentary on how health practitioners often base treatment protocols and assessments on the standards of care and presentation developed for white patients, but that because diseases present differently in people of different races and genders that needs to be accounted for.

Especially because your race, gender, and where you grew up affects your predisposition for certain illnesses and can affect the presentation. Owen failed to catch something serious with his patient when they were initially brought in because he was using the standard developed for white patients which is different from the standard for Asian patients. 

One of the new interns who is Asian brings this up to Nico who eventually says something to Owen who brings it up to Bailey who calls him on his privilege and reminds him that he needs to not only check himself, but because he is white and is the head of Trauma for the hospital it is his responsibility to update and improve protocols to make sure that every patient is getting the best care possible.

As Bailey says true equality means taking into account that we are all different. And when it comes to medicine conditions present themselves in different ways based on race and other factors. Giving everyone the exact same care based on a standard of care developed by and for white people is not equality because it means that people of colour like his patient receive a lower standard of care which can lead to unnecessary suffering and death.

True equality means providing equitable care that takes into account who a patient is physically when treating them. As Bailey says equitable care is not the same as equal care. One takes into account the reality and ensures true equal treatment while the other gives the appearance of equality while disadvantaging anyone who’s not a white straight cisgender man. While I like that they addressed that Nico was a complete jerk to everyone this episode.

He acted like the whole thing was no big deal when the intern brought it up and brushed off her comments about Anti-Asian racism from earlier in the episode that we’re totally valid. The intern was looking for some solidarity and for someone above her to back her up on some real issues. Instead Nico blew her off and talked down to her only to bring the issue up himself to Owen in the exact way he told her not to. Nico’s a good surgeon and he was right to say something, but he is a horrible human being, teacher, and boyfriend.

He continues to treat Levi horribly for no reason and as Jo says Levi deserves better. I liked Jo and Levi’s interactions this episode. They were funny and I love them! Also did anyone else think it was weird that Jo and Levi were having a conversation about how horrible Nico is as a person and how horribly he treats Levi when Nico was literally a metre or two in front of them and could hear everything they were saying? Nico’s an ass and apparently, he doesn't care that he’s an ass and that everyone thinks that of him.

I’m actually liking the whole Jo and Jackson friends with benefits situation. So far, its made for some good comic relief! I like too that we finally saw Jackson admit that he’s jumped from one relationship to another way too fast for his whole run on the show and that he needs to take some time and get some therapy and figure out what he wants. I love that Jo was immediately on the same page and laughed at the idea of them having a relationship right now. She needs a sex buddy, not a partner. He’s got work to do on himself and as she says she feels broken and is still trying to heal from the trauma she has experienced.

I also liked the scenes with Amelia and Link. I like that Amelia was able to express herself and her frustrations and that Link made the decision to support her. My best friend that I watch with made comment that she felt like under the same circumstances Owen would have just stormed back into the house whereas Link angrily moved some toys aside so that he could sit next to Amelia while she felt all her feelings and talked about them because that’s what she needed to do. 

I also liked that when Amelia tried to push Link to talk later on he opened up about his process and was straight with her. Talking about all of her feelings out loud and in the open because if she bottles them up, she’ll wind up relapsing is her thing. Link’s thing is to focus on the positive and play his guitar. As Link says he’s happy to support her on her thing, but if she wants their relationship to work she has to support him on his thing. And she does. 

My favourite line this episode? “What are you playing?” “It’s a song called ‘If The Virus Doesn’t End Us, Then Climate Change Probably Will.’” Too funny! And accurate! We also learn that Amelia loves to garden and is apparently quite good at it and they appear to have a herb and vegetable garden at Meredith’s house. We get some awkward dinner interaction courtesy of Maggie and Winston’s relationship this episode when he invites her to a virtual Birthday dinner for his beloved Grandmother which is then crashed by his estranged father. 

His Grandmother invited him and within five seconds of being on the call he insults Winston and says that the idea that his son who is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Tufts is a genius is laughable because apparently he failed sixth grade. This man is an asshole and I can see why Winston hates him. That being said Winston exiting the call and leaving Maggie hanging there with his Grandmother, father, and some other relatives that she’s never met was not okay.

It was extremely rude. He should have told Maggie he had to go before signing off or said that they should both leave the call. Maggie is a class act for staying on that call and asking his upset Grandmother if there was cake. Side note: I did love Maggie and Winston’s conversation about what pencil nerds they both are! This is a match made in heaven so whatever issues they do have they’ll work through them because this is clearly meant to be.

My only real complaint about this episode was the absence of one Cormac Hayes. As my best friend said after we finished watching, “Did you notice who wasn’t in this episode? McWidow. Where the hell was McWidow?” I concur with this sentiment 100%. Hayes makes everything better and I’m sad when he’s not there. I get that Meredith was on the beach with George this episode and that was the focus on her storyline, but it would have been nice to see Hayes stand outside her window or sit next to her or talk to Jo about her condition.

That’s the other thing. Season 16 established that Jo and Hayes are friends and that she’s rooting for him and Meredith to be together and live happily ever after. So I’m surprised that they haven’t had a scene yet this season. We’ve seen Jo interact with Link who she’s close friends with and Levi who’s her roommate, but not Hayes. I’m hoping we’ll get that next episode. So far the majority of Hayes’ scenes have been with Meredith, followed by Jo, followed by Bailey. 

If Hayes can’t interact with Meredith like he normally would because she’s unconscious I want to see him interact with Jo, Bailey, Maggie, and Richard more. The fact that we’re seeing intimate scenes with Jo and Jackson gives me hope that we’ll get to see those kinds of scenes for Meredith and Hayes. Although it’s entirely possible that those scenes were filmed last season before the pandemic hit so maybe not. 

I also like that we got some important timeline information this episode. Jo mentions murder hornets (remember those?) which puts this episode at the beginning of May. She also says that her and Alex divorced the same year they got married which means that Seasons 14 and 15 span the same year. Which makes sense given the other information that we have and means that the relationship we saw in Season 15 only lasted a matter of months. 

Which is good news in the sense that nobody really liked any of the ships from that season apart from Tom and Teddy and Amelia and Link and this establishes that all of those relationships were short lived and occurred over a matter of months, not a full year or more. Based on what I caught of next week’s promo it looks like Meredith’s condition is improving (!) while Tom’s condition is deteriorating, and Bailey’s Mom is in bad shape and is being admitted! COVID is no joke! Buckle up everyone!

Until next time!

The wonderful world of Desiree Nguyen: A character analysis

This is a season three, episode 14-18 character analysis of everyone’s favourite MacGyver protector, Desiree “Desi” Nguyen. (Or, A.K.A, my attempt at sounding much more intelligent than I am.) If people want to read more, I’ll cover the rest of the seasons.

Now, I won’t always sound unbiased in my feelings towards Desiree, but I am going to really try my best to be. And, like I said, I am attempting to sound much more intelligent than I am, so if I miss anything or sound incredibly stupid, feel free to correct me.

There are spoilers, so if you haven’t seen season three, I recommend skipping this analysis.

It’s important to note that this is not a commentary on Levy Tran herself, and that it’s only about her character (EXTREME EMPHASIS ON CHARACTER).

There is also a Tl;dr at the end of each episode summary starting from episode 15.

Let’s begin.

Desiree (hereby known as Desi) was first mentioned by (actual) fan favourite, Jack Dalton, in season 3 episode 14, Father+ Bride + Betrayal. He first mentioned her in a conversation with Mac during the wedding:

Jack: “Matty let me handpick my replacement to watch your back.  I think you’re really gonna like her. Or, kill her. One of the two.”

Mac: “That’s oddly specific. Should I be worried?”

Jack: “No, man. You’ll meet her soon enough. And, trust me, there’s nobody I’d trust more than this woman to watch your back. She is really good. Well, other than me, obviously.”  

Now, there’s not much to go on, but we do get some hints. She’s tough, she’s a badass, and Jack likes and trusts her. So, Desi’s initial set up isn’t so bad. We love Jack, and if Desi comes at Jack’s recommendation, we know she can be trusted to watch everyone’s backs. Like I said, we’re off to a good start.  

It’s also important to note: Jack specifically says “there’s nobody I’d trust more than this woman to watch your back.” Does this really happen only a season later? Honestly? It’s debatable. But, we’ll get there when we get there.

Season three, episode 15:  K9 + Smugglers + New Recruit

Desi is initially introduced — through Mac — as advertised: a tough badass who will take her job as the team’s protector seriously. While she admits to Mac that she will hate her job as their bodyguard, she is doing it because she owes Jack. What she owes him exactly, we’re still not sure. It could be anything from repaying Jack for a chocolate bar to repaying a debt to him after Jack saved someone’s life. Who the hell knows?

In the war room, at her second meeting with Mac, Riley, Bozer, Leanna (remember her?! Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone, T.V. show?!), and Matty, Desi reemphasizes that their safety is her top priority. Like I said, Desi (in her initial intro) is a tough badass who takes her job seriously.

On the mission, Cody, (our story of the week’s gun sniffing dog) immediately finds two guns on Desi’s person. She really is like Jack in that respect! But, we soon find out she doesn’t like them (she’s really not like Jack that way!), telling Mac she only carries it because she has to, will only pull a gun when necessary, and that she’d “rather put bad guys in an interrogation room than the morgue.” Another special exception that allows her to pull a gun is against “anyone who hurts animals.”

While Mac and Riley notice Desi isn’t the warmest, Riley acknowledges that Desi is well-accomplished. She was one of the first women to graduate from Ranger school, was part of a special ops team made up of SAS, Delta, and the CIA, and, apparently, “has more awards than Michael Phelps.” So, Desi is no slouch. She also impresses everyone even more when she parkours up several shipping containers to get a better view for the op they’re on. Desi proves herself again during a fight scene by single-handedly taking out several guys with guns (and gets shot in the process, her bulletproof vest stopping every bullet). Let’s add bravery to the list of qualities Desi has shown in just over 10 minutes.

Later, she talks to Riley, who emphasizes their group’s need for Desi to be reliable (and this is interesting because Desi’s reliability is questioned in episode 21 this season). Riley found out Desi went AWOL while she was in Afghanistan, and Riley wants to know why. As Desi explains, one of the Afghani civilians she was working with was kidnapped, and she went to find him. Which Desi successfully did. As she tells the story, Desi becomes emotional, showing that she does have a heart and a vulnerable side, and you can tell she is speaking sincerely. Desi is also adamant that she would to do it again. This is an interesting contrast to her behaviour during the Codex storyline, but we’ll get there.

Desi doesn’t much like Mac’s fly by the seat of his pants behaviour because she was trained to always have plan and she can’t work spontaneously. We also learn Desi is knowledgeable about some sort of technology having to with RFID chips that I can’t personally understand, and that she went to the University of Michigan.

At the end of the episode, Desi makes an appearance at Mac’s house, saying Jack made her promise to go. She leaves as quickly as came though, not wanting to get too close to everyone…in case she has to bury them. Which, I understand, but morbid, jeez. It’s also kind of odd when you think about it because Desi is the group’s protector and is responsible for their safety. But, on the other hand, she can’t fix every situation, and there may be a time when one of them gets killed on a mission. So, while I understand Desi’s hesitation, I am not entirely a fan of it. And, this behaviour is even odder considering Desi goes on to date Mac at the end of the season. I guess Mac really did break down her walls (and that’s something I didn’t notice until writing this).

Overall, we’ve learned a lot about Desi. She’s tough, yet cold, smart, athletic, reliable (supposedly), likes a plan, and hates guns and animal abusers. Seeing her introduced this way (and introduced well) is interesting because I know future storylines and have seen how much Desi has changed as a character. She was always somewhat cold, but she initially had an adamance, confidence, and determination to do what is right. Knowing how the Codex storyline in particular goes down, the way Desi changes is interesting, to say the least.

Tl;dr: As Desi is introduced, the audience learns that she takes her job as the team’s bodyguard seriously, and owes Jack for some (still unknown) reason, and that’s really why Desi is there. We also learn she hates guns and animal abusers, is brave, athletic, reliable (supposedly), and well-accomplished. She also doesn’t want to get too close to the rest of the team in case she has to bury them, so she leaves the Phoenix’s group hangout session as quickly as she joined.

Season three, episode 16: Lidar + Rogues + Duty

At the beginning of this episode, Desi is ‘familiarizing’ herself with the lab and ‘helping’ Bozer with Sparky (really, she’s flipping through a magazine and complaining about the music Bozer is playing while he works). She says she’s lending moral support, though, so, whatever works, I guess. Anyway, Bozer asks for her help with running diagnostic tests on Sparky, and Desi agrees. But, her help is a riddle that sends the robot on an endless loop for the rest of the episode. I do like her shit disturber behaviour, though, so I’ll give Desi that.

For the main operation, Desi and Mac are on a recovery mission in Azerbaijan to bring back one of Mac’s friend’s bodies. His friend, Robert Reese, was on a covert flying mission when his plane crashed, and Mac and Desi are the only ones who can get the body.

While looking for the wreckage, Desi notices that Mac is distracted. She asks him what’s going on, and he explains why he’s distracted. And, knowing that Mac feels responsible for what happened to Reese, Desi asks Mac to tell her about his friend. After Mac does, she gets angry with him and tells Mac to compartmentalize, seemingly a turn around from being caring like she was in the previous episode. But, I understand where she’s coming from because Desi and Mac have to stay focused, or else, like she says, “Matty will be sending a team to recover us.” Fair, because if Mac lets his emotions get the best of him — while he and Desi are in a country they’re not supposed to be in — he could get into a situation he can’t get out of.  

Later, we learn that Desi speaks Turkish (what can’t this girl do?!) as some of the Azerbaijani military arrive at the wreckage site. After escaping and driving away, Desi notices a parachute in the trees, indicating it’s possible Reese isn’t dead. Mac is hopeful that his friend is alive, while Desi is more logical, saying, “there are a lot of reasons why the Azerbaijani military would grab a dead U.S. pilot.” They spot footprints of U.S. Army issued boots, so their mission goes from recovery to search and rescue.

Mac and Desi are led to a small town after hearing about sightings of an injured man wearing a flight suit. There, they figure out which building Reese is hiding in. Mac and Desi find him alive but with a broken clavicle. And, while Mac provides Reese with first aid, Desi becomes all business. But, in her defence, they’re in danger, so it’s not weird Desi reacts this way.

After escaping and another mission change (this time to stopping rogue CIA agents and recovering chemical weapons), Mac improvises a plan that goes awry and has Desi and Reese held at gunpoint by the agents. Desi has to stall while Mac tries to save them and, as she talks, she uses the info Mac told her about Reese, proving Desi listened to Mac. So, while we thought Desi was being callous, she actually showed that she sincerely cared about what Mac had to say.

Later, Desi meets with Bozer to make up for sending Sparky into an endless loop. Maybe she truly feels bad, or maybe she’s doing it selfishly because she’s new. Either way, it’s hard to tell because we’re not in Desi’s head. But, I’ll give it to her because I really think Desi knows she messed up and she wants to fix it. She tells Bozer the answer to the riddle and Sparky is able to break the loop.

We are still learning about Desi, but we get so much info in the small details. My favourite part about her this episode was her shit disturbing. We also learn she speaks Turkish, prefers to be all business when she’s on a mission, and pays attention to what’s going on around her. Desi is actually quite deep in this season, and she shows that she cares about people and robots alike.

Tl;dr: At the beginning of the episode, Desi is ‘helping’ Bozer while he works on Sparky the robot. She sends Sparky on an endless loop after telling him a riddle he can’t figure out, annoying Bozer.

Desi and Mac have the main operation, which was initially a body recovery mission for one of Mac’s friends, Robert Reese. She gets Mac to open up about Reese, and then immediately tells him to compartmentalize so they can get through the mission alive.

They find Reese alive, and their mission changes to stopping rogue CIA agents and recovering chemical weapons. At the chemical weapons site, Desi and Reese are held up at gunpoint by the agents, and Desi is forced to stall while Mac saves them. She uses the story Mac told her about Reese earlier in the episode, proving she paid attention to what Mac said.

At the end of the episode, Desi goes to Bozer to help fix Sparky. She tells him the answer to the riddle, getting Sparky out of his loop, and showing Desi cares about those around her.

Season three, episode 17: Seeds + Permafrost + Feather

This episode opens with Mac and Desi in bed together. But, it’s not what you think. It’s for a mission and part of Mac’s plan to escape from the people chasing them. Desi is annoyed by the plan (because she had to get undressed) and she argues with Mac. He tries to convince her it was their best option — until the bad guys return and hold Desi and Mac up at gunpoint. I can see why she would be annoyed with Mac, but is fighting during a mission necessary? Somehow, they escape, and we can move on.

Mac, Riley, and Desi have to travel to the international seed vault in Greenland because an employee is missing. Since Mac’s dad, James (also known as Oversight), was involved in the vault’s development and planning, he’s the person to call when something goes wrong. But, James has other business, so the mission falls to Mac, Riley, and Desi.

In the vault, thanks to a comment Desi made about the employee disappearing into the mountain (causing Mac to do his Mac thing), the trio discovers an access tunnel someone dug to get into the (extremely secure) vault. And, whoever dug that tunnel killed Karl, the missing employee, in the process. There is also a possibility of seeds being stolen.  

So, Mac, Riley, and Desi use Karl’s cell phone, which he had on him, to figure out the path he took and identify which seeds may have been stolen. Mac and Desi, who plays the murderer, recreate the fight, and they’re having a ball doing it. They fight, and Desi gives Mac all she’s got. She’s not subtle or gentle, but she gets the job done. Soon, they figure out which box (one of North Korea’s) the thief rifled through, and which seeds were taken (a rare form of a pea plant).

Desi explores the access tunnel and finds a room that is scattered in schematics, seed reports, and drilling equipment. From there, Mac figures out that the pea seeds are an ingredient in making a toxin, and that the seeds can be weaponized and used to create as much of the toxin as desired. Riley discovers their thief has been making monthly payments to a flower shop in Brussels, so a plane ride it is for Mac, Riley, and Desi.

On the plane, Mac calls Bozer so Mac can find out what’s going on with James. But, after hanging up, Mac slams his phone down and Desi comments on his annoyance and asks Mac about it. He says it’s the mission, but Desi isn’t buying it. When Riley mentions it’s about Mac’s dad, Desi says that Oversight seemed distracted. And, while she admits it’s not her business to know what’s going with Mac’s dad, Desi tells Mac it is his business.

The three of them go on a chase that takes them from a cemetery in Brussels to a park in the Czech Republic. The man they are running after, named Jules, wants revenge on a crime boss named Passer for killing Jules’ wife and child after Jules testified in court. At the park, Riley and Desi fight Passer’s men while Mac starts to talk Jules (who is holding Passer up at gunpoint) down. Eventually, Jules relents, and he is arrested. Mac, Riley, and Desi recover the stolen seeds and avoid an international incident with North Korea.

Desi has more of a background role in this episode because the episode focuses on Mac and his dad. But, her fighting skills, knowledge (she helped explain the seed vault to Riley and the audience), and empathy shine through. This is particularly true when she encourages Mac to figure out what is going on with his dad. This side of Desi is nice to see because while she’s tough, she is sincere in her efforts to help others.

Tl;dr: Desi is in the background this episode, but, she displays her intelligence, empathy, and fighting skills. She also encourages Mac to figure out what is going on with his dad, saying that it’s not her business to know what is going on with her boss, but it is Mac’s.

Season three, episode 18: Murdoc + Helman + Hit

This episode opens with Nicolas Helman’s return. And he gets to work immediately by murdering an FBI interrogator in a karaoke bar. How this happened, Mac, Riley, Matty, Bozer, and Oversight aren’t sure because the last time they saw him, Helman was dead — or, so they thought — because Matty had his coffin exhumed and it was empty. Since the Phoenix is responsible for Helman, they have to figure out his next move so they can capture him.

Mac, Bozer, and Desi are with Oversight this episode. Their mission? To speak with our favourite psychopath Murdoc who is still at the Phoenix Black Site. Desi gets the Helman story explained to her, but it doesn’t seem like she entirely believes how serious dealing with Murdoc is because she asks Mac, “What kind of monster are you keeping down here? Indominus Rex? King Kong? That kid from The Omen? These questions also reveal another detail about Desi that could easily be overlooked: She likes horror and monster movies. Anyway, upon meeting Murdoc, Desi seems to get it because she has a face similar to McKayla Maroney’s unimpressed face plastered on (and, really, who can blame her?). But, Mac, Bozer, Desi, and Oversight need Murdoc’s help, so they press on.

There’s a quick scene with Bozer and Desi observing Mac and Oversight questioning Murdoc. Desi acknowledges they weren’t kidding about Murdoc and notes that James is just as much of an enigma because he’s still exerting himself, despite the toll doing so takes. Bozer thinks Desi is talking about the effects having cancer has on Oversight himself, but Desi immediately corrects Bozer and says “I meant on Mac.” So, again, there’s that compassion for others Desi has displayed since her introduction.

After getting more information from Murdoc about Helman’s possible whereabouts (because Helman has killed again), Mac, Desi, and Oversight jump into action to find Helman. They, and a Phoenix tac team, storm an apartment building with Desi leading the way with a gun. They leave Bozer behind with Murdoc (which, rude). Anyway, the team starts going up to the apartment, but before they can really make their way, James starts having trouble physically. Mac, worried about his father, tells him he doesn’t need to go upstairs, but Oversight insists. Desi encourages Mac to be open and honest with his dad, but Mac says Oversight is fine. Desi tells Mac not saying anything to his father shouldn’t be an emotional decision because lives hang in the balance. She also says she’s worried about Mac, and tells him to not get distracted. This attitude harkens back to episode 16 when Desi was worried about Mac’s emotions getting in the way of their mission. So, I understand where she’s coming from and why she’s concerned.

Skipping ahead, Mac, Desi, and James go on a road trip because Riley and Matty discovered Helman had the transportation route for an FBI transport truck moving someone who is supposed to testify in a trial against his former employees. While waiting for the FBI truck, they see another (unknown) vehicle approaching. Concerned it may be Helman and that it could have explosives in it, Mac, Desi, and Oversight have to stop the vehicle. James tries to take matters into his own hands by borrowing a tac team member’s rife, but he’s having trouble steadying himself, and Desi notices. Oversight is eventually able to get his bearings and shoots out the van’s tires. While they stop the vehicle, it turns out to be a distraction so Helman could get into the Phoenix Black Site. Desi figures out that the FBI murders and attack on the transport truck were all a ruse so Helman could kill Murdoc.  

Later, they realize Murdoc’s entire plan was a jailbreak so Mac and Oversight go on a car chase to capture Murdoc while Desi flies in a helicopter overhead (side note, I’m not really sure why Desi is there because it doesn’t seem like she needs to be. She doesn’t do anything in this scene other than fly overhead and worry about Mac). James and Mac do their thing and figure out a way to stop Murdoc’s truck. But, with Desi’s words in the back of his mind (probably), Mac tells his dad he shouldn’t be the one to stop the truck. Oversight agrees, and Mac does his thing. You can see as he tries to overtake the truck, everyone (including Desi) is concerned. Eventually succeeding in stopping and capturing Murdoc, there’s a shot shown of Desi’s relief.

At the end of the episode, Desi says she suggested security upgrades for the black site so no one can escape or attack the site again. This reflects her security knowledge because the Phoenix trusted her enough to give her the task. Again, Desi isn’t so useless and demonstrates her intelligence.  

Throughout the episode, Desi shows she cares about other people, especially since she’s worried about the effect Oversight’s need to keep going has on Mac. She also encourages Mac to be honest with his father. And this is a thread that is shown throughout these episodes. Which leads to the following questions: What happened to that particular characteristic? Where did Desi’s empathy and compassion go?  

Tl;dr: Desi’s character development takes somewhat of a backseat this episode because it mostly focuses on Mac and Oversight (again). Still, throughout their mission, Desi encourages Mac to be open and honest with his father and tell Oversight his concerns. This, again, demonstrates her empathy and her concerns for others. Mac is eventually able (probably with Desi’s words in the back of his mind) to be honest with Oversight and take over in order to do the physical labour required on the mission.

Lastly, Desi suggests security upgrades for the Phoenix Black Site that held Murdoc so that no one can break in or out again. This demonstrates her intelligence, and leads to the following question: What happened to her intelligence and compassion and empathy for others?

We learn so much about Desi in just four episodes. From her bravery and boldness, to enjoyment of monster and horror movies, she isn’t so one-note. The biggest thread is her compassion and concern for others. She wants to help people and ensure they’re safe, and Desi is adamant and determined about it. She continually displays this characteristic, especially when it comes to Mac and ensuring his feelings don’t get the best of him while they’re on a mission.

During season three, Desi is written well! She’s introduced to us based on the trust a fan favourite has with the audience and she never deviates from that. She also displays many characteristics that actually make her interesting. She’s smart, athletic, brave, and bold. So, I have to ask (again): WHAT HAPPENED?! Where did go so wrong and why?

If you want more of my character analysis, let me know! I procrastinated way too long on this, so if it seems like episode 18 is disjointed from the rest, I apologize. I had fun with this, and I feel like I like and understand Desi a little more (at least for season three).

On Connecting with Starscream

So, true story:

The first time I tried to perform a ritual for Ghost Season, I had no idea what I was doing. None. Which makes sense, since I may have been the first person ever to attempt such a thing. I set up an altar on my apartment balcony using various things that felt “Starscreamian” to me, and when the night of August 22 arrived, I nervously cast my circle. I invited Starscream to enter into the circle, and… waited.

And waited.

For what, you might ask? Well, I have always had a sense of what his presence ‘feels’ like. It’s a little hard to describe, but I’ve made an attempt in the section below, titled Sensing Starscream’s Presence. I’ve included comments from a couple of other people who work with him so you can compare your experiences to ours and, perhaps, have some idea of what to expect.

In any case, I was getting nothing. Not a tingle, not a flicker, not a mental image; nothing. I began to feel ridiculous. Why was I sitting here in the dark waiting for a cartoon robot to speak to me? I’m pretty sure that’s not something normal people do. Not that I’ve ever aspired to be normal, but… well. It wasn’t working. I packed up and went to bed, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. As I burrowed under the covers, though, a car roared past outside with an old AC/DC song blasting out the windows:

You told me to come, but I was already there.

For those who know that song, yes, I do realize that’s a slight misquote. But that’s how I heard the lyrics in that moment, and their message couldn’t have been clearer:

I am always with you. You don’t have to summon me.

For this message to have been delivered in a voice that’s always reminded me of Starscream’s made it seem incredibly personal and real. And yes, it’s wrapped up a double entendre. If you work with Starscream, you’ll likely discover his ribald sense of humor for yourself.

Why am I telling you this?

Because if you turned to this post wondering how to establish a connection with Starscream, this might be your answer. If you love him, he’s probably already with you. If you feel drawn to Starscream, admire him and would love a deeper connection, there's an excellent chance that he'd be open to working with you as well. If you've been having dreams about him or finding that he, or things you associate with him are ‘coincidentally’ popping up in your life, he may be reaching out to you.

If you’re still not sure, though, you can try this exercise:

Connection Excercise

Open your journal to a fresh page and give some thought to the questions below. You don’t have to answer all of them. Pick the ones that resonate, and write down whatever comes up:

★ Does Starscream provoke strong emotions in you (positive or negative)?

★ Does he show up in your dreams?

★ Do you daydream about him?

★ Are you inspired to create works that feature him, such as fanfic, fanart, cosplay, and so on?

★ Are there certain songs that remind you of Starscream?

★ Do you have favorite quotes by or about Starscream?

★ Do you, at times, catch yourself ‘talking’ to him in your inner dialogue?

★ Do you ever wish you could talk to him?

★ Do you identify with Starscream and see yourself in him? In what way(s)?

★ Have you taken on new interests because of him? (Example: jets.)

★ Do you imagine yourself as Starscream in some way, either physically (eg. Having null-rays, ability to fly), or in terms of your personality or life situation?

★ If you were part of the TF Universe, would you want to know him personally and be part of his life in some way?

★ Has he inspired your life in some way?

★ Have you changed how you dress (say, by wearing more red) because of him?

Those are just a few examples of the ways Starscream could be showing up in your life. You might think of others. If you do, note those down as well. Now, you might be thinking these are simply examples of fannish obsession. You may even have found some of the questions embarrassing. That’s very natural. These questions touch on some very intimate, sensitive aspects of being a fan, and there’s good reason for that.

These questions are embarrassing because they bring up feelings of vulnerability. When we love something, we open ourselves to being hurt. The mockery that’s so often aimed at fans is motivated by people’s desire not to feel vulnerable themselves. They try make themselves feel safe by ridiculing others, but in doing so, they cut themselves off from the source of their own magick.

Yes, you read that right. Your magick, and your spiritual connection to Starscream, flows from that intimate space within. It’s that vulnerable, awkward, geeky place where you innocently, unabashedly adore a character and are totally obsessed with them. Treasure that place. It’s your inner temple. Guard it with care, because it’s where your magick resides.

But, you might be asking, are the ‘symptoms’ on this list actually signs of a spiritual connection? I’m going to say yes. I believe they are, and if you’re open to the possibility of deepening that connection, you can begin to make it a two-way street. Starscream is many things, but ‘shy’ is not one of them. He will show up if you make space for him, and the place where he’ll meet you is within the heart of your magick; your inner temple.

Sensing Starscream’s Presence

So what can you expect? What does Starscream’s presence feel like? It’s hard to give a definite answer, since everyone is different. Your experience will be your own, and in many ways incomparable to anyone else’s. In case it helps, though, I’ve included commentaries by three different people who work with Starscream, including yours truly, to give you an idea of what you might experience...

Starshadow writes:

I think I first became aware of [Starscream] as such while I was in high school. I was initially drawn to his character on the animated show, and at first that was all he was. But I quickly became intensely invested in his story, especially when I started to follow him in other media (comics, etc) as well. He became more to me, and began to transcend the stories and art presented. He literally seemed to take on a life of his own. I started to feel (and sometimes see) him in my dreams encouraging me and telling me to be strong.

His presence is distinctly strong. It sometimes borders on aggressive, but it is not threatening to me. I think he just has a particularly powerful presence. It's very fiery and passionate, which makes it distinct from other entities I sense which are more calm and protective. I will often "see" in my mind's eye his red eyes and wings as well when I feel he is near.

Occasionally [he communicates through] dreams, but much more often I will "hear" his "voice" in my mind, often giving advice and emotional input. As I mentioned before, he has from time to time actually yelled (screamed? ;)) at me, but only at times when I really needed it. Sometimes his colors will show up in combination and songs I associate with him will be played out of nowhere when he is taking a more subtle approach.

[My sense of his presence has] waned at times. For a while it seems like he is just hovering on the fringes, but he never completely goes away. His means of communication hasn't changed much though.

He has made me braver than I probably would have been. He is still working on my self-confidence, though. He's been back again recently encouraging me with that. He has also definitely influenced my creativity and aspirations. He has helped me be driven enough to pursue my desires for so long and explore creative work beyond the "traditional female" expectations.

He [also] does sometimes seem to share aspects with other entities I've communed with, like my [wolf guides]. He will almost seem to "combine" with them, or share their energy, and sometimes they with him. I haven't quite figured out why this happens or for what purpose yet, but I am very curious!

Dark Star of Chaos writes:

It’s no exaggeration to say I spent my whole life looking for Starscream. If you want to get technical I first “met” him as a kid watching Transformers Armada, but though he became my favorite character, that was all he was to me then: A character. I loved him, but what I really wanted at that time was an imaginary friend. Not a real one; an imaginary one. The catch was, I didn’t want to invent one. That, in my mind, was not how it worked. The imaginary friends in cartoons all interacted with their humans as though they were real, and that was what I wanted. I didn’t see how a thing invented from my own head could ever take on that kind of life.

When I was older - after Starscream had slipped off my radar - I came across a book called “The Fire Within”, about an aspiring author and his clay dragon Muse. That book, and those which followed, completely redefined what I was after. I wanted to be a part of this world of dragons and shamans, where words held magic and transdimensional aliens “commingled” (merged consciousnesses) with Earth creatures. And I wanted a Muse of my own; always just a thought away, and always ready with some flash of inspiration to offer.

Looking back on it, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Starscream reappeared in my life within a few months of that series ending. Our reintroduction came via the original cartoon, and after only a few episodes - specifically, by the end of “Fire in the Sky” - I had already decided I had to write about him. I couldn’t say exactly when I began to perceive him as an entity separate from his cartoon portrayal, but when the idea was suggested to me, it didn’t sound strange or crazy. It sounded right.

Starscream’s energy has always been subtle for me. I’ve never had much luck “feeling” his presence, though I’ve come to trust that he’s there. I only have to talk to him to get proof of that, because he always replies. Sometimes there are words, but more often it’s emotions and concepts, and it can take a while for me to figure out what he means. He also appears in my dreams rather frequently, and we’ve had more than one “face-to-face” meeting that way.

His influence on my life, on the other hand, has been anything but subtle. In addition to inspiring me creatively, he helped me overcome embarrassment about sex, played a role in my moving from a small desert town to a big city, and most recently, he’s come down on me about my abysmal self-care habits. He can be pushy sometimes, but it’s never harsh, and I always end up happier for having listened to him.

In short, Starscream is the friend and Muse I’d been searching for all those years, and I’m endlessly grateful for his presence in my life. After all, how many people get to make dreams of magick a reality?

Grayseeker writes:

I first became aware of Starscream’s presence when I got a call from work asking me to come in, even though it was my night off. The idea of going in made me sick, but I felt I had to. It wasn’t just that I was afraid of getting fired; I also had a strong impulse to obey authority figures. I didn’t know how to say no. But on that particular night, a voice spoke inside my mind:

You don't have to do anything you don't want to.

It was a voice I recognized, and the words were accompanied by what I can only describe as a ‘feeling image’ of myself as a sovereign being with full authority over my own life. I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to, and I didn’t go in to work that night. I told my supervisor I’d had some drinks (untrue, but effective) and after that, they stopped calling me on my nights off. Maybe they sensed that something in me had changed. It had.

I believe Starscream has always been with me, but that incident, over three decades ago, is the moment I became consciously aware of his presence. My sense of him has remained pretty consistent over time. I still ‘hear’ him as a voice inside my head. Usually it’s just a few words, but they’re always imbued with a sense of meaning that goes beyond the words themselves. I also get physical sensations, such as warmth or tingling, emotional communication (which is hard to describe!), dreams and synchronicities, usually involving numbers, colors, and/or song lyrics.

To me, Starscream’s presence feels warm, welcoming, comforting, affectionate, and… amused. His communications with me are typically laced with a certain wry humor, and the observations he makes are often phrased in sardonic, even sarcastic terms, though they’re somehow never hurtful. I always feel the warmth behind them, and they make me feel loved. I always feel like he’s on my side, even when he’s pointing out ways that I could improve.

On very rare occasions, he will get serious. That’s when I know to pay extra attention, because it usually means there’s some danger to me, or that I’m venturing into territory that isn’t healthy. I’ve learned (the hard way!) that he’s always right. He’s immensely wise, and I’ve learned to listen when he says ‘no.’ He doesn’t say it often, and he always has a good reason.

Starscream has influenced my life in countless ways. He’s my creative Muse, and has been the impetus for my desire to write. He’s also my main guide, my teacher and spiritual awakener. I think of him as more a friend, and more than family. I love, trust and respect him, and feel that I receive the same in return. I hope these words will find their way to someone who is starting on the same path, or a similar one. If I can offer any reassurance or inspiration, perhaps it’s just to say trust you heart. I’m glad I trusted mine.

I know he’s sad because he couldn’t blow up the Earth, but kinda want to hug him anyway...

A Few Last Thoughts

You might be wondering how to make sense of all this. In particular, you may wonder how to distinguish what’s real from what’s a product of your imagination. And what am I trying to say, anyway? Am I, in fact, suggesting that Starscream is real?

Why yes, I am. Now before you decide that I'm nuts and walk away, let me explain what I mean. I am not necessarily implying that Starscream is a physical entity. I'm not saying that if you were to hop into a really fast spaceship and fly far enough and in the right direction, you would arrive at a metallic world named Cybertron, populated by living robots who are able to transform into various types of vehicles and other machines, and that among those Cybertronian entities you would find an individual named Starscream.

Of course, I'm not ruling that out, either. Our universe is too vast and strange to rule out much of anything. But what I am saying, based on several decades of personal experience, is that there is a real, non-physical entity named Starscream, with whom it's possible to communicate and have real interactions.

Can I prove this? Nope! There is no tangible, objective phenomenon I could point to as "proof" of his existence, but for me, that's beside the point. I feel Starscream as a constant presence in my life. He is my guide, teacher, healer and dearest friend, and his impact on my life has been very real indeed. I hope that the personal examples given above will provide a starting point for you to begin having your own experiences, if you desire them, and that your relationship with Starscream will be as rewarding as mine has always been.

Blessed be, Grayseeker

Yuri on Ice Re-watch and Live Commentary, Episode 2: Two Yuris?! Drama at Yu-Topia

Since society is crumbling around me, why not re-watch Ep. 2 of Yuri on Ice?  Seems like a good way to pass the time. *Spoilers ahead.*

You don’t own any boots, Vitya?  You live in Russia.

And Yakov has blue eyes. Never noticed that before.

My gosh, the scene where Victor says goodbye to Yakov before leaving for Japan is the personification of ham.  Look it up in the dictionary.  Screencaps of this scene are right next to it.  I love it.

The first time I watched this scene, I just knew Hiroko was talking about the dead poodle.  Minako’s face is priceless right here, btw.

Just look at their collective expressions.  LOL. This episode is great.

Now, I wondered from the start why the ultimate goal was the Grand Prix Final, when other competitions are referenced in the show, such as the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS; which Victor won, like, a MONTH prior.  IRL, the creators had a dozen episodes to tell a story, so I understand the hypothetical cutoff.  In-verse, maybe Victor was still allowing himself a window of opportunity to compete near the end of the upcoming season.   He did sort of pick up and move his entire life on the fly, so having an alternate plan in case things don’t work out with Yuri is feasible.  I like that theory so I’m sticking to it.

Ah, so it is an Inn. And, Victor has some long toes *snort*.

I’ve always wondered if Victor’s moving to Japan to coach Yuri was such big news in Russia, as Minako claimed, why the media didn’t catch on earlier to his exact location.  No one outside of Japan knows where Katsuki Yuri is from?

It appears so, other Yuri.

Ha, Victor gets especially fanservic-y when he’s jetlagged and hungry.

This, right here, might be my favorite line in the whole show.  Makes me want to try some katsudon, quite honestly.

Why must Minako constantly put Yuri’s business in the streets, though?

And here, we observe Victor in his element: dropping satin-covered truth bombs with a smile. No more pork cutlet bowls for Yuri under his watch.

One must wonder (well I do, anyway), why Yuri’s bedroom is on the same floor as an unused banquet room.  Perhaps he grew into that room as he got older?  Etc., etc., not important.  Moving on.

Also, I initially wondered if Victor was paying something akin to room and board.  It’s been established that the Katsuki’s run an inn and Victor had intended to stay there, only at the time they were booked (dude, you didn’t call ahead?)  So yes, I surmise that Victor is paying a fee to stay in the only available room.

Hm.  How much do you want to bet Victor politely suggested Yuri haul his luggage up the stairs to jump-start his metabolism.  Hehe.

And of course, dozens of Cedex boxes (and pork rice bowls) are an aphrodisiac to Victor.  It’s cute (if not a little creepy without proper context) that he tried to flirt.

"Um, didn’t you just call me a little piggy an hour or so ago?”

So, when I first watched this scene, I surely figured the creators were going for the “flirty, eccentric European” angle with Victor.  And that Yuri would inevitably end up hurt by Vic’s flippancy.  I was happily wrong about that.  

Somebody will have to tell me: is it typical for coaches to bunk with their students?  Or is Victor trying to patent this method?

Aww, Yuri likes you Vitya, I promise.

Come to think of it, maybe Victor just didn’t want to sleep on the floor. ;)

I think it’s cool of Minako to have wanted to foster a love of dance in the children of her hometown after her retirement.  She could have plausibly taught anywhere, but she decided to come home.  Perhaps Yuri will be similarly inclined once he retires.

On the other hand, I did wonder if the show’s creators might explore Minako’s lush-y behavior with respect to her career, retirement, etc., but they did not. 

Dammit, Yuri.  Victor was about to share his coming-out story with you and I WANTED TO HEAR IT.

Look at poor, dejected Vitya.  Yuri really is cockblocking him at every turn, LOL.

This scene makes me giggle because of Victor’s enthusiasm over Ninjas and his “Really?  Ninjas?!” spoken in English (though yes, I realize ‘Ninja’ is a Japanese term.)

Yeah, so, how did other-Yuri, a MINOR, manage to travel to Japan on his own, anyway?  Don’t you have to be 18+ or so to book a flight?  Etc., etc.  Moving on.

I wonder how old Yuri was in this flashback.  He looks even more pre-pubescent here and he hasn’t grown his hair out yet.  When did Victor make this deal with him?  As much as a year ago, perhaps, since Yuri just won the Junior World title last season?  You’d think that, as important as this moment was to Yuri, he’d be reminding Victor of it, constantly.

That’s a no-no, other-Yuri. A big no-no.  This is why I can’t like you.

You tell him, Yuri. 

There’s Victor “in-a-class-to-himself” Nikiforov, again.  He just looks like a seasoned skater.  I continue to be impressed with how his skating, in particular, was animated.

So, we find out via other-Yuri that Victor was already choreographing programs for the following season despite lacking motivation.  His ability to surprise the audience was waning; his inspiration “dying,” according to Yuri.  Seeing his routine reflected in JPN Yuri’s viral video, someone else taking his choreography and making it his own rekindled a stuttering flame.  Victor might have been relieved on several levels.

Exhibit A: witness Victor re-energized.

So, JPN Yuri views the consequences of losing the figure skating scrimmage – Victor returning to Russia with other Yuri – as punishment.  Kind of sad that he entertains the thought of losing to a 15-year old in some impromptu competition with ambiguous rules.  

And OMG, this ‘Hot Springs on Ice’ competition is the biggest news in town, lol.  Sleepy tourist village, indeed.

LOL, Mari-neechan has an idol, too.  And other-Yuri looks just like him.  

Gotta say, I’m fond of Mari and JPN Yuri’s relationship.  She doesn’t appear to have teased her brother over the Victor Nikiforov obsession.  But, I suppose that would make her a hypocrite.

Annnnd, I like that she’s the one to nickname other Yuri, Yurio. :D

Didn’t screencap this part, but it’s mentioned that Yurio is staying in a storage closet at Yu-Topia.  How big (or small) is this place?  I think it must be akin to a bed and breakfast; not a lot of rooms but you receive personalized service.

Minako is a woman of many talents.  Ballerina-turned-bartender.  I also looove the poster of Yuri on the door!

As an aside, it appears Victor might have assumed Yuri goes to tie one on (like Victor tends to do) when he’s feeling stressed or anxious.  He has witnessed him drunk before, after all…

Now that’s just sad. Yuri had like, two friends growing up and he didn’t even play with them.

No comment.  This is just a cute screencap.

Admittedly, I never cared for Agape, the music or the choreography.  I do appreciate how Agape and Eros mirror each other in tune. Agape is slower, but the downbeats are almost identical to Eros.  I hope that term was correct.  Don’t fail me now, middle school band class.

LOL.  Oh, Victor.  Satin. Covered.  Truth-bombs.

It just amuses me that Victor is organizing his own ice show in a week.

Pretty sure if Victor goes back to Russia, Yurio, then he’s skating the season.  He didn’t take a break to coach just anyone.  But that’s a moot point.

“That’s all I want, bae. Let’s you and I win together and celebrate with the most erotic of cuisines: pork cutlet bowls.”

“Bet.”

I wonder which one will be able to “satisfy” him?

I needed that. I smiled during the whole episode. Thanks for reading.

Home Movies #1: “Get Away From My Mom” | April 26, 1999 – 8:30PM | S01E01 Adult Swim airdate: October 14, 2001 – 10:00PM

Remember how I used to close out a year of Adult Swim content with EPHEMERA WEEK or whatever? We thought those days were over. Well, I decided that now’s a good time to take a break and go back and review/write-up the first five UPN episodes of Home Movies. I consider these five episodes to be kind of a special case: they didn’t debut on Adult Swim but they’re grandfathered in, so I think they deserve the same sorta spotlight. Why not? And if not now, when?

Also: a note about EPHEMERA CORNER: Previous EPHEMERA CORNERS were the result of research I did a long time ago, and with 2005 I have basically nothing done, so I’m just gonna plumb youtube for bumpers and stuff and hope for the best. I’ll also touch on DVD releases and other stuff if it’s obvious and comes my way. So if you have anything you want me to specifically cover, please let me know.

Alright, the actual episode: Home Movies season one started very inauspiciously, and from what I understand was sorta developed on the fly. In the commentary they said they created the first 8 minutes on spec, that is to say UPN hadn’t paid them to develop the show yet. They riffed out scenes without much of a concept or even an outline. The initial concept of Brendon playing a kid was there; and the main reason he became a filmmaker was because an early improvised scene involved him having an elaborate imaginary play session with some dolls, and Brendon decided that was a little too infantile; so he came up with the idea that he was making movies with his toys instead, which helped age the character up.

The hallmarks of the show are basically all here: the limited animation. The season one squiggle vision. Brendon being a little too wise for his age. Jason being disgusting (which sorta went out of fashion as being his “main” thing but never fully went away). His line “people HATE me!” after he demonstrates his propensity for sucking elastic reams of snot back up into his nose is a show-stopping line that I remember very fondly; I think it may have been the centerpiece of promos either on UPN or Adult Swim. 

I really should lead with the plot on these write-ups. It seems mundane to do that. But on this one I literally started out with internal blog news. Insane. Well, as a way to punish myself for bad writing, I am going to force myself to tack on the plot at the end of this write-up. Here we go:

Paula, voiced in these first five episodes by Paula Poundstone (who’s great in the show, by the way!) goes out on a disastrous date with Coach McGuirk. Meanwhile Brendon has made a cop movie. We also meet Melissa’s dad voiced by Jonathan Katz. A lot of the show is just people hanging out. It’s pretty great.

Another scene I really like in this one is where Brendon confronts McGuirk as he’s picking up his mom at home. Brendon tries to scare him away by saying that he’ll have to be his dad, and describing what it’s like to hold a baby that depends on you. Really funny stuff. Captures perfectly why holding children in your arms can be a disgusting skin-crawling experience. 

MAIL BAG

(This is the guy who asked the GameTap question) Ephemera GameTap Ghost is totally fine, the episodes are shorter and not nearly as good. They feel like they tried too hard to match the structure and humor of the earliest episodes with the vulgarity of the later episodes, but without any of the original writing staff. But they're Space Ghost, so they're worth mentioning by default

I am very curious to watch them at some point. and this will be my excuse. I know they are probably bad.... SIGHS....  BUT I HAVE TO.

Riverdale’s Mothmen Saga Reveals the True Monsters Among Us

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This Riverdale review contains spoilers.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 17

“People believe what they want to believe.”

It’s no secret that Riverdale has trouble sticking the landing. With the notable exception of the debut season’s finale, each year has seen the resolution of its respective core mystery solved in an acceptable, yet not entirely satisfying manner. (Please don’t get me started on how things wrapped up with the Gargoyle King).

Alas, this trend has been broken by the latest episode “Dance of Death.” My initial impulse was to balk at how the series once again knocked on the door of allowing a supernatural denouement and ran away when it hit me, having the Truck Stop Killers be related to the Coopers/Blossoms — even tangentially — opens up creative possibilities for the show to try to tackle the impact of grief and generational trauma.

No, seriously.

This isn’t exactly new ground for the series, which has attempted in its own hamfisted way to comment on issues of loss and mourning since the very first episode. With the notable exception of its tribute to Fred Andrews (which tragically was written as a result of Luke Perry’s untimely passing), Riverdale often misses the mark when it tries to be profound.

The most recent example of this are the fifth season’s plotlines about Archie’s ongoing struggles with PTSD and, although it’s mainly danced around, human trafficking with the Truck Stop Killers. There is so much worthwhile to be said about these issues, and in the latter’s case Big Sky handles the subject with respect. But occurring on a series in which characters perform divinations that transform water into maple syrup diminishes the huge weight of these subjects.

Truth be told, this is a problem in which Riverdale faces every time it attempts to mirror real life problems. Think about it this way, what if the series intended for its Jingle Jangle plot to be a serious commentary on the opioid epidemic instead of lightweight entertainment? That would feel wrong, yes? The writers should stick to the glorious bullshit that is Riverdale‘s bread and butter (inexplicable dance numbers, palladium hunts, anachronistic gangs, glamorege eggs, etc) instead of brushing up against reality too much.

Or, better still, using said bullshit to strengthen the characters and storytelling.

Simply put, if Riverdale is going to have the cojones to try to tackle real life issues, it must do so in a way that enlightens and entertains while being true to the show’s own bonkers aesthetic.

Enter “Dance of Death.” A “Betty and Jughead solve a mystery” epic, this installment has the pair discovering that the Truck Stop Killers are actually an inbred offshoot of the Cooper/Blossom family. These murderous yokels embraced the Mothmen mythos to cover their tracks and scare off any potential investigators. And their plan worked, for a while. In the most Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? that this series has ever gotten, Jughead returns to talk to Old Man Dreyfus (John Prowse), in reality the ringleader of the murderous gang who just might have got away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling twentysomethings. It’s all so ridiculous that it takes your mind off of real-life horrors experienced by those society has thrown away that are handled with lip service here.

(A quick aside, the Starkweathers wearing Mothmen armor while attacking Jughead, Betty, Fangs, Tabitha and Toni was the coolest sequence this show has pulled off in ages).

As nice as it is to have stopped the Starkweathers, Betty still has no closure on her sister. So she asks Dreyfus about Polly’s fate. In a moment of humanity he draws her and map and as the episode closes, we see Betty and Alice in hysterics upon discovering Polly’s body in the trunk of a forgotten car in a junkyard. Their worst fears have come true.

With two episodes left this season, the core mystery has been resolved in a satisfying and (mostly) contrivance-free way. As much as I wish that bona fide alien Mothmen were flying around Riverdale, such flights of fantasy remain the domain of the Little Archie and Life with Archie comics — at least for now. With this show the future is anyone’s guess.

Next week’s episode includes performances of material from Next to Normal, the Tony-winning musical that deals with issues of mental health in a haunting way. Incorporating this material into the trauma currently being experienced by the Coopers is inspired. Whether or not it is a successful experiment remains to be seen, so join me back here next week when I’ll doubtlessly have more to say about Riverdale, the real world, and the tenuous storytelling that sometimes connects the two.

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Riverdale Rundown

FYI: If you or anyone you know needs help, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.

Tabitha’s friend and former Chok’lit Shoppe employee Lynette “Squeaky” Fields is an obvious reference to Manson Family associate Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme.

This episode was directed by Penelope Blossom herself, Nathalie Boltt.

R.I.P. Chad Gekko.

The contrivance of the week was how Archie was trapped in a mine fighting for his life and no one thought to call Betty or Jughead.

Veronica must have caught wind of Josie calling her dad a “little bitch” a few weeks back, as she does the same here.

Speaking of Hiram, it is clear that the writers have been making him into a “silly cartoon” of late. The reasoning? So he can come back more villainous than ever. (We see his transformation beginning when he torches the picture of his family). That combined with the fact that the October 6th finale is titled “Riverdale R.I.P.” indicates that his reign of evil might just be getting started. Sigh.

The Starkweather clan’s name is a reference to famed American serial killer Charles Starkweather. His actions were so appalling he was even name-checked in Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Archie doing his best Captain America impersonation by launching a trash can lid at Chad was amazing.

Where was Reggie at this episode?

Given the variety of fake products that inhabit this show’s universe, it is always strange when a real product placement (in this case, Chime) is featured.

This episode’s use of Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries during Veronica’s confrontation with Chad was inspired, if a tad cliched.

“Another brush with death to add to your ever-growing list” says Veronica to Archie, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Any episode in which Dr. Curdle Jr. gets multiple scenes is a quality episode.

Britta Beach (Kyra Leroux) does not originate in the Archie comics, and I wish her coming out story had a bit more time to gestate, but its understandable why it didn’t. What with a million other plots serving main characters happening.

“This religion’s got a little too fringey, even for me,” declares ex-cult member Kevin Keller.

Fangs gets his leg caught in a bear trap and is home for supper. Sepsis must not exist in Riverdale.

This was a huge week for Riverdale shippers, with Varchie, Bughead, and Tangs (or is it Fhoni?) all getting some huge couples moments.

With Kevin leaving the Church of Jason, I again fear that his character will return to seedy hookups and/or being backburnered. Again, Casey Cott and the character both deserve better.

With Cheryl now able to harness the power of Mother Earth herself, will this series finally embrace supernatural happenings in an undeniable way? Archie’s ghost helpers in the mine can be written off as a manifestation of his PTSD. But isn’t it way more interesting if they were actual spirits? Gaia knows the neighboring Greendale is a haven for the otherworldly…

The post Riverdale’s Mothmen Saga Reveals the True Monsters Among Us appeared first on Den of Geek.

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X-Files Fanfic/episode idea

I have an epicly long fanfic idea but zero talent to make it into a story so... I’ll just leave this here and if anyone wants to make my dream come true, just drop me a link haha... Oh so arrogant... well, at least someone can tell me if they think it would make a good story, right?

So I started to think about the fact that we have never had Mulder or Scully directly confront their feelings for each other - it’s always quite vaguely done, through using “other” words or through a look, a touch of the hand, a kiss on the forehead - you know the drill...

It made me realise that actually, the only direct acknowledgement that they are in love with each other (or at least that Scully with Mulder) is from IWTB where Scully tells Mulder: “this stubbornness of yours; it’s why I fell in love with you.”

I remember thinking “Whoa whoa whoa there!”  I was utterly floored when I heard that the first time.  Scully telling Mulder that she’s in love with him?! My inner 13 year old just died and went to heaven.  Seriously, back in the 90′s this show and being a shipper was my LIFE.

But of course, this is the X-Files so the context of Scully’s declaration of love is that she’s not long ago told him that his incessant pursuit of the case was bringing a darkness into her home that she didn’t want anymore, and that basically she was leaving him...  Mulder, still hurt by this responds by telling her that it’s also the reason they can’t be together.  Welcome to the X-Files. *sigh*

So I was in the shower, washing my hair, mulling this over when I wondered what Mulder’s response might be if he truly heard the depth of Scully’s feelings - if he could hear her articulate them, like a fly on the wall... hearing her talk to someone else.

So to the fic - I’d like for it to be set between season 6 and 7, before their romantic relationship starts.  I’d like to frame it as the reason Mulder finally decides to act on his feelings for Scully and initiate a romantic relationship.  I see it as fitting in with the canon, rather than being AU.  Of course this disregards slightly the “invited Mulder into your bed one lonely night” comment, which seems to suggest Scully initiated things, but pfft, we’ll never know the ins and outs of how relationship turned romantic *shakes fist at CC* so in my head - Mulder initiates.

Now for the story outline. If I had any writing talent at all, I’d love to write an “episode” of the X-Files where Mulder and Scully are investigating reports of paranormal goings on after an accident at the RHIC in New York leaves a scientist in a coma.  

The RHIC is the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.  A smaller version of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

I am not a scientist - not even slightly - so I can’t fill out the details realistically myself, but the idea is that an experiment goes wrong, and “somehow” knocks the scientist out of sync with his body.  His soul or “spirit” becomes external, invisible but conscious and able to hear people around him, but not communicate with them; while his body seems to be in a coma, a vegetative state needing life support to stay alive.

Scully and Mulder arrive, and do some investigating - speak with the staff, some of which completely dismiss the events, while others insist they’ve seen things and cannot explain them; they’re scientists so the fact some claim these events to be paranormal fascinates Mulder.  Soon after their arrival, the pair observe the wife of the scientist in the coma, recreate the experiment that almost killed her husband – the pair are co-leads on the project.  She has altered some key variables and seems determined, almost frantic that these changes will lead to the success of their experiment. But zomg, it goes wrong again and this time it knocks Mulder out of whack - his spirit disconnected from his body.

Do you see where I am going with this? haha...

Mulder will straight away see the scientist standing next to him once he has become a “sprit” himself. He sees his body on the ground, and Scully frantically working to revive him.  I kind of visualise it as them being ghosts.  They are there, but no one can see or touch them.  People walk through them like they’re not there. Mulder talks to the scientist who explains what has happened, but doesn’t know how to get back into his body.  He thought if the experiment was successful, he would return to his body, but it had instead failed again and brought Mulder here – the scientist is pretty distraught and has lost hope, he’s resigned himself to being dead.  Although Mulder reminds him that he’s not dead he’s in a coma, so there must be some way to get back.

The paranormal angle and the basic concept of why this has happened is that when someone dies, their spirit leaves their body, but if the spirit has strong emotional attachments (i.e. is in love) it becomes anchored and cannot leave until the one they love dies and joins them – a kind of unfinished business, but not.  It’s not that they don’t want to leave, it’s that they can’t.

This is a good opportunity for Mulder to ream off obscure knowledge of some (completely fictional) tribe/ancient culture who believes that ghosts are simply the spirits of those who are irreversibly tied to the soul of another and cannot leave until that other soul joins them in death and then they can part this Earthly realm together.

It will turn out that the scientist’s spirit has been anchored to his wife – he cannot leave and truly die, unless she dies too.  But since their bodies aren’t dead, they surmise their situation is some kind of unnatural in-between limbo state caused by the experiment gone awry… Mulder refuses to accept that there isn’t a way to return their consciousness to their bodies.

The scientist tells Mulder he has been shadowing his wife for months, looking over her work and her desperate attempts to get the experiment to be successful.  She is throwing herself into her work to try and not think about her grief at her husband being gone, and wants to complete their work together as a tribute to him.  The husband believed that if the experiment was a success, the process may be reversed; he believed his wife could complete the work alone, but she was unsuccessful. 

 Mulder tells him he has to work out where she is going wrong, and make the experiment successful.  Thinking about this now, I think it also serves as a fun meta commentary on how not just the scientist and his wife, but also Mulder and Scully are good alone, but better together.  The wife can’t work it out alone – the husband works out what she cannot; it’s through them working together that things are a success.

Utterly devastated that her continued attempts at the experiment have now potentially “killed” an FBI agent, the wife abandons her work, and takes to her husband’s bedside.  

The weird goings on that first drew Mulder and Scully to investigate the RHIC will have been this scientist working out how to affect the outside world in a kind of Patrick Swayze in Ghost type of way - but instead of moving objects he’s able to very briefly manipulate people around him.  Make them pick up a pen, flick a switch, type at a computer sometimes even speak.  Great opportunity for some Mulder fun in this scene haha...  if Mulder was a ghost for a day, I totally think he would mess with people.

Mulder will notice the parallel between the scientist’s wife and Scully.  She will have also thrown herself into work, trying not to focus on what’s happened to Mulder and how she feels about it, she will just be focused on trying to save him.  She will be certain that whatever happened during the experiment was responsible for Mulder’s condition. 

In the course of Scully’s investigation, she will come to the conclusion that the paranormal goings on are not so paranormal at all, the people claiming paranormal goings on were doing it themselves.  The creepy voices, the moving things - those that have claimed to have seen it are actually the ones doing it.  Scully will interview one such person, who will insist he/she didn’t do it; they have no memory of doing what they see themselves doing on the security cameras.  Scully will find it strange, especially coming from highly educated scientists, but the investigation has come to a standstill. She has a copy of the RHIC experiment and sees the variable changes the wife made to the original experiment, but doesn’t understand how or why this could have caused Mulder’s condition. Defeated, she will jack in the investigation and go to Mulder’s side and try medically, to help him - but it will be all for naught; the doctors will be stumped on how to diagnose his condition - he’s physically healthy, there’s no logical reason for his or the scientist’s coma.

Mulder and the scientist will work out that there was one variable that needed to be different, some change that will enable to experiment to finally work.  But true to the X-Files, the scientist will have been in this coma for many months, and before Mulder and the scientist can somehow communicate to the scientist’s wife that the experiment can work, she agrees to turn off her husband’s life support in the hospital.  His spirit no longer in limbo... while Mulder remains and is now alone.

Lots of angst here for both Mulder and Scully; Mulder cannot manipulate the real world like the scientist could and doesn’t know how.  He realises that his spirit has been tied to Scully, we can have some good soul searching here, Mulder admitting to himself that he loves her, has loved her for years - doesn’t surprise him that their souls are bound.

He follows her around, watches her as she tries to cope with his condition.  Watches her beg him to wake up in the hospital.  I would say at this point, a good two to three weeks has passed since the accident happened.  

Scully will be forced into therapy by her mother, and Mulder will listen as she basically spills her guts on how she feels for him to the therapist.  

There’s SO much potential here for awesome shippy moments, and for Mulder to hear how she feels about him like a fly on the wall.

Then when Scully is alone at her apartment, once again, going over every detail of the case, and the experiment done at the RHIC, she will break down, be a complete mess and Mulder, so desperate to console her and let her know he’s there, will unexpectedly be able to affect something - he moves her hand. She doesn’t realise at first, but then she looks down and notices something written that she hadn’t written herself.  She realises she’s written something down, a variable on the RHIC experiment documents – she’s crossed something out and written something else instead.  

God, I am basically writing Ghost here, aren’t I?

HMM... but with an X-Files twist!

She will return to New York and try to convince the scientist’s wife to try the experiment again with the changed variable.  The wife will be shocked, how could Scully know to change it?  Only she and her husband knows the experiment in enough detail to know to change it in this way.  She will be taken aback suddenly – can she be truly thinking that somehow her husband gave this information to Scully from beyond the grave?  Scully will insist that something guided her to make these changes and she has to believe it will help Mulder.  This will hit the wife like a ton of bricks, she begins to believe and despite the risks, agrees to help Scully run it again.

Because of the previous failed attempts, the wife has been suspended from her post at the RHIC, and so they have to break in and run the experiment without anyone else’s knowledge. Time to break out badass!Scully, all in black and employing the assistance of THE LONE GUNMEN! YAAAS!

Mulder will be by her side throughout, watching her go gung ho to save his sorry ass, and being impressed as all hell and more in love with her than ever.  Yaaaaaaaaaas!

They run the experiment, security will be all over them and they’ll almost fail to run it.  But just in the nick of time, they initiate the experiment and it’s a success… cut to Mulder’s eyes flutter open at the hospital.  Following this, there will be a scene where Mulder and Scully emotionally reunite, but I’d want their romantic relationship initiated later – in some sequel fic perhaps.  I love the idea here that Mulder has truly accepted he’s in love with Scully, and has seen the depths of her feelings for him, and now he’s on a mission – he will start a relationship with her, just not while he’s in a hospital bed and she’s tearfully gripping his hand!

In true X-Files fashion, I’d quite like the end to be the scientists wife, many months later - pouring over data, and then suddenly she will write something down unexpected, and be taken aback… she will look around the room, and smile… and then keep working.  The husband and wife, still working together, he now truly dead but his soul anchored to his wife, waiting for her to join him in death so that when her time comes, they will cross over together.   The subtle implication being that when Mulder or Scully dies, the same thing will happen to them too.

Now some things I haven’t thought about – what the hell is this experiment?!  Why is it so important and how could it knock the consciousness of a person outside of its body into a limbo state; a kind of pre-death state.  I dunno, I guess it doesn’t need to be explained too much.  But I think some explanation of the experiment needs to involve some investigation into alternate dimensions – something like that.  Perhaps something to do with string theory.  But again, I am not a scientist in the slightest lol so what do I know.

Another issue is whether or not Mulder’s body would need to be near the experiment when it goes off to successfully return to his body.  Presumably, yes but would it work with just his spirit being nearby too?   Maybe. I think it would be pretty crazy for Scully, on a complete hunch and no evidence at all, whisk a dying man on life support away from hospital.  So yeah let’s just say with multiple dimensions and planes of existence, these things don’t matter!

So yeah, that’s my fic idea… a fic I don’t think I have the skill nor patience to write myself lol… I’d love to hear some input though, if you think it sounds like a plausible X-File and if you would want to read it, lemme know… and also if you think it’s utter trash and basically Ghost ala X-Files, I’d take that too – I want to hear thoughts!

Star Trek: The Next Generation, S1, E3: "Code of Honor"

"She took her marriage vows seriously but the fire in her pants spoke of greater truths. Would she falter to temptation or maintain her Code of Honor?" Sometimes I wonder if any conservative political thinkers are fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Every aspect of the 24th Century relies on a model that took liberal values of caring for everybody and extending them further and further left. It's as socialist a world as you can get. And with that liberal mindset, we still get episodes like this. I'm not saying that liberals can't make mistakes in their social perspective; I'm saying the exact opposite. Liberals are often blind to the ways in which they support a racist system because they so fervently believe they aren't racist. And while this episode's intent probably isn't the way I'm perceiving it, how can I not see it as a bunch of white people teaching black people how to be civilized? Well, maybe I'll tell you how later! Maybe! The story centers around two separate cultures whose values and traditions come into conflict early. Maybe the story is supposed to be analogous to white imperialist explorers imposing their beliefs and traditions on indigenous peoples and we're supposed to judge the crew of the Enterprise by their actions. That is, after all, sort of the basis for the Prime Directive. Explore, study, learn but don't impose your will on others or interfere in any way with their progress. But it's hard to think it's a story about humankind's having learned from their past imperialist failings when the plot revolves around the people of Ligon II being "taught a lesson" by Jean-Luc and his cohorts. Perhaps I should just view the episode as a conflict between Jean-Luc and Lutan, the leader of Ligon II (planetary president, I guess?). It is, after all, Lutan's disregard for his people's own traditions that brings him into conflict with the Federation and not the Federation's disrespect for them. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself! Let me just stick to the plot for a moment. The Federation needs a vaccine that only the people of Ligon II can make. Dr. Crusher can't even replicate it in her lab without it degrading. So they need to deal with the people of Ligon II on their terms to secure a trade. The only thing the people of Ligon II seem to want is for the Federation to respect them. Seems easy enough, right?! Well, it's easy to pay lip service to another culture's beliefs and social mores. But when one of them kidnaps your head Security Officer, things become a bit more complicated. One of the traditions of Ligon II is to kidnap a high ranking member of another tribe to show your prowess in, um, I don't know, social situations? After which, the other person has to plead for the return of this kidnapped person. The person is returned and all is well because the traditions of their social conventions have been met by each party. Jean-Luc understands this because the Enterprise has a full deck of interns researching every race they interact with to figure out how to not offend them. They should probably be paying this staff though because the staff always seem to realize the important stuff too late (see the episode "Justice" for more examples (which I haven't written yet so hold your horses)). Here, they forget to tell Jean-Luc that Lutan is going to kidnap somebody as part of the diplomatic process. The real trouble comes not because of the kidnapping but because Lutan suddenly refuses to return Tasha Yar, instead deciding to make her his wife. This decision shocks even his own people because he is breaking some serious social taboos. Tash Yar, used to dealing with Rape Gangs, just takes it all in stride. Sure, she wants to kill somebody but doesn't she always want to kill somebody? She's more bloodthirsty than Worf (which is probably a racist comment but then I'm not the one who spent several television seasons making sure the audience understands that Klingons are violent killing machines who almost certainly choke each other near to death when they fuck (again, see commentary on "Justice")). In the end, Lutan's wife, Yareena, challenges Tasha Yar to a fight to the death which is too often par for the course when a guy steps out on his lady. She should challenge Lutan to a fight to the death. What the fuck did Tasha Yar do?! In this episode, we also learn that Data doesn't know how to tell a joke and his programming allows for slips of the tongue. Maybe his creator added that because when he made Lore, Lore was all, "I'm going to fucking kill all humans!" and his creator was all, "Oh shit. I've got to put some flaws in this machine so I can defend myself against it!" The fight to the death uses gloves covered in a fast acting poison. To make sure the audience understands the danger to Tasha Yar, Tasha knocks off Yareena's glove. It flies into the crowd, pricking a spectator who dies immediately. But since he never gets a name, we don't have to care about his death. Nobody does. Whatever. Too bad. Presumably, he knew the danger that came with ring-side seats to the bout. In the end, Tasha Yar pricks Yareena after which she dives on her and they're both transported aboard the Enterprise. I'm no transporter genius (or layman, even) but that seems like a good way to have a serious The Fly transporter accident. How do the two of them not fuse on recombining?! Yareena dies from the poison but Doctor Crusher brings her back from death. It's important that she dies because her death ends the "fight to the death" challenge honorably and with accordance to all laws and Prime Directives. But it also dissolves her marriage to Lutan! And since women on Ligon II hold all material wealth and land rights, Lutan gets nothing in the separation! He loses everything and his second-in-command, who rooted for Yareena during the fight, winds up being her husband and, I guess, planetary president? Lutan gets his comeuppance just like somebody who overreaches should. Just ask MacBeth about overreaching. Hoo boy, does it never work out! And I guess the people of Ligon II don't really learn a lesson. The white people don't show them anything new or civilized. Maybe my initial reaction to the episode was due to systemic racism influencing my every thought and not that the episode was racist even if it exists in a culture of systemic racism. In a way, I'm glad the producers aired an episode this early in the series that a viewer couldn't help seeing as analogous to white imperialists invading Africa and all the other continents of Earth. The comparison shouldn't be that the Federation was just doing the same old thing. What should be learned was how different the Federation, working within the Prime Directive, acts when encountering other peoples and cultures. They don't merely assume human beliefs and traditions are correct. They treat them as just one option to living that is no better than any other that developed in different ways on far flung planets full of diverse sentient creatures. And I know Jean-Luc Picard seems smug and above everybody else at times but how can you not adore him? He fucking hates children! The worst part of this episode is when Deanna Troi tricks Tasha Yar into professing that she's flattered by Lutan's attraction to her. Really? She grew up being chased by Rape Gangs and we're supposed to believe that this incident wasn't traumatic but flattering?! I know Tasha Yar wants as much space dick as she can get but not in this situation! She should be fucking angry and pissed and scared. That's all Troi should be feeling from her. But instead, Troi is all, "He's kind of hot, right? And you know what they say about the size of Ligon II dicks, yeah?!" And Tasha is all, "*blush blush crotch overflow error*". It just seems like some tone deaf writing. Although maybe the writer of this episode, Katharyn Powers, didn't realize everybody else was writing all of this Rape Gang shit into her history. She probably skimmed the character portfolio on Tasha Yar, read "She loves to fuck!", and was all, "Oh yeah! Tasha's my girl! Get some mystery space cock, bitch!"

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 2

-Greetings and welcome to my continued logs of my chronological voyages through the seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). Click here to catch up with my entry on season one. It would be hard to tell by looking at the number of episodes in season two of TNG, but a writer’s strike in 1988 delayed the season premiere by a few months which resulted in them rarely taking many weeks off afterwards to finish the season off with a regular slate of 22 episodes. -I want to kick things off by mentioning the changes to the cast this season. The primary addition to the show is William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) now sporting the most dashing beard in all of TV history! Gone is the incapable Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden). Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) gave the official plot reason in the season premiere for her removal being so she could help train new recruits at Starfleet Academy. Replacing her is Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur). From the first two seasons I thought Pulaski was a far superior character than Crusher, and Muldaur delivered a strong performance throughout the season with her standing up to Picard better than Crusher and Pulaski having some entertaining supporting arcs with Worf (Michael Dorn) throughout the season. Apparently there was enough fan outrage for this swap that the powers that be brought her back the following season.

Other cast changes is Geordi La Forge(Levar Burton) transferred from helmsmen to his more recognized role as the primary engineer for the remainder of the series. Transporter Chief Miles ‘O Brien (Colm Meaney) is now a more frequent recurring character after only making a few miniscule appearances in the first season. Finally, I will give a big hoo-rah to the addition of the bartender Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) to the new lounge in the Enterprise, Ten-Forward. I forgot how legit awesome Whoopi was as an actress at this time and how much I loved her in the show as a kid and I recall at that time being intriguingly mystified with her unique hats and attire. She absolutely steals every scene she is in as she lays down her wisdom to various Enterprise crew seeking advice. She is only a recurring character however and only goes on to appear in four or five episodes a season which is only more reason for her guest spots to standout each time she is on. -A big improvement this season is dialing back on Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). Troi was written too over-the-top with her obvious telepathic deductions last season, and they are used far more effectively and sparingly in season two. Wesley Crusher is less annoying too as he settles in his role on the Enterprise and starts to gain more responsibilities. Both characters have a couple episodes where they are in the primary story arcs, but for the most part they are now more supporting roles. -Season two of TNG sees the addition of the occasional poker scene that became one of the trademarks of the series. Having the infrequent poker game and scenes transpiring at Ten-Forward were a recurring treat where we got to see the Enterprise crew relax and fraternize for a breather from the serious threat of the week. One of my favorite scenes of the season is where Riker teaches Wesley how to talk to women after engaging in a sample of flirting with Guinan that winds up going to a whole new level to the dissatisfaction of Wesley.

-A few other random favorite moments and scenes from the season feature Picard and Wesley stuck with each other on a shuttlecraft for several hours playing out exactly how I wanted it to. Data trying to best a grand master at the fictional game ‘strategema’ was fascinating for its similar parallels to the cancelled Wii Vitality Sensor and having a computer AI trying to best grand chess masters several years later in the 90s. The fictional futuristic version of joust Riker and his father engage in is so over-the-top cheesy I could not help but crack up throughout it! -Hats off to some good Worf episodes this season where the Enterprise crew team together to throw a holodeck klingon ceremony to Worf’s surprise and Worf mastering a plan to avoid a battle with a klingon ship. I was initially trepid with the holodeck episodes in the first season, but they won me over with the batch of holodeck-centric episodes in season two where Picard relives the adventures of one of his favorite PIs, and the crew has a memorable encounter with one of Sherlock Holmes’ top adversaries.

-The most standout episode of the season is ‘Q Who,’ the only Q (John de Lancie) episode this season where he introduces the Enterprise to the Borg (AKA Space Zombies). It is a tremendous introduction for what would become one of the Enterprise’s top antagonists for the run of TNG. From what I can recall for what I saw so far in the first two seasons, ‘Q Who’ is also the first episode of TNG to have an engaging back and forth dogfight between two space vessels that were some of my more prominent childhood memories of the show. It was also the first episode of TNG where they fired the vintage ‘Photon Torpedoes’ artillery of the Enterprise. If you have to watch just one episode of season two, make sure it is ‘Q Who’ because it is a big hint at what to expect of the rest of the series. -For as improved as season two is over the premiere season I would be remiss to not mention there are still a few dud episodes cluttering up season two. The episode where the Enterprise encounters a mute negotiator is a challenge and a half to get through, while another has the Enterprise taking on a group of refugees overflowing with Irish stereotypes. Due to the nature of the strike before the season, it resulted in budget cuts and there are some episodes where it is apparent where the cuts were made with the primary case in point being the season finale being a clip show. According to the behind-the-scenes interviews it was met with such disdain it resulted in being the only clip show of the series. -I do not know if many of you dear readers are keeping up with Seth McFarlane’s lighthearted homage to TNG, The Orville on FOX. As long as you can tolerate Seth’s over-the-top brand of humor, it is an entertaining take on TNG. A season two episode of TNG saw Riker teaching Wesley leadership lessons for his first assigned team he was in command of. Ironic timing a few days later happened for me when watching the then latest Orville episode paying tribute to that exact scene, but with their style of humor in a fun homage.

-I will once again raise my hat to whoever Paramount hired for their excellent HD re-mastering of the season two BluRay. There are many great SD-to-HD comparisons in the first season extras and floating on YouTube I recommend checking out to see how well they make TNG hold up to the latest sci-fi shows on TV today. I never fail to light up with every panning, transitional shot of the Enterprise! -I will once again plug the podcast, Star Trek: The Next Conversation for their thorough and entertaining breakdown of every episode in the series. It has been a great way to keep up with extra details that went over my head, and with the hosts also working in TV production it helps bring a unique perspective to TNG. -Speaking of extra features…..damn…..season two is jacked with exponentially more than the first season. There are many hours of original on the set interviews, new interviews and features for when TNG first hit DVD in the early 2000s and all new extra features for the BluRay. I kept a running tally in my notes of all the extras and not including a handful of episodic commentaries there are a little over four hours of extra features! Thank you Paramount for spreading out a couple of features per disc instead of having one disc with all the special features which made it more manageable to consume throughout watching season two. About half of the extras are brand new HD bonuses.

Nearly all the bonus material appealed to me, but I will try and isolate a few I enjoyed the most so you do not have to indulge them all. There is an awesome 17 minute piece where Levar Burton reminisces about his other then-concurring job hosting the hit PBS kids show, Reading Rainbow and how they did a Star Trek themed episode during this time and through interviews how it was the catalyst for many new Star Trek fans. Once again the gag reel does not disappoint and it has a fun singing cameo from Roddenbery. Making It So: Continuing TNG is a two part, 80 minute BluRay exclusive feature I highly recommend where the cast and crew reflect on the big cast changes for season two and the evolution of the show and how they noticed how everyone was starting to feel more in sync and the show was hitting its groove. There are too many big interview moments to mention here highlighting key and controversial moments of the season, but believe me it is a must watch! My final extra feature recommendation, and my favorite of all the bonus features is another BluRay exclusive, Re-Unification: 25 Years After TNG where the entire primary TNG cast sits down for a huge roundtable discussion reflecting on memories and anecdotes from the show for an hour. It was fantastic to take this in, and I could not help but get the feeling that this cast has no doubt stayed in touch through conventions and such over the years because they instantly were gelling with camaraderie and old stories and I could not help but feel like a lucky fly in the wall that happened to be in the room with them overhearing countless memorable moments and interactions from their time on the show. -And that wraps it up for season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Minus a few episodes I am real excited with how the show is progressing and as I elucidated above, how everything is falling into place as the show I remembered from my childhood. I cannot wait to start up season three later this week, and from what I understand, that is the perfect jumping on point for the show as nearly the rest of the run of the series is top-notch from there on out. Please join me here once again in a few months for my take on season three! Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap 2017-18 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Baseball: A Ken Burns series Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld Final Season Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7 Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

TRUE LOVE STORY: when Annie met Paul

When my little sister came home one Christmas morning at 4am after meeting her now husband, let me just say, I was not initially impressed. While it is a family tradition for all our cousins to head to the local dive bar for after dinner drinks …errrr shots, I’m the old lady of the bunch that prefers to stay home and cuddle with family dog on the couch instead. I wasn’t sure what kinda guy would keep a gal up late and out on Christmas night but it turns out Paul is the kinda guy that makes sure a gal is home on Christmas morning! In any case, that fateful Christmas eve would go down in history as the night Annie met Paul.

Fast forward the tape through many a family crisis, the death of our dear mother and all the interesting ups and downs a new relationship can have in it’s salad days, and these two love birds continue to impress me with the evolution of their love and #relationshipgoals. Whilst their engagement was long and full of it’s challenges, it certainly proved their dedication to one another and when getting to the altar became next steps, Annie + Paul where just as inventive and creative as they’d been in growing with each other in their first few years dating; he with his strong loyalty to his awesome group of friends and dear family and she with her dedication to keeping it classy and always being the hostess with the mostess.

Since our mom, Marie, had passed away in the initial year of Annie + Paul meeting, wedding planning took an unusual and out of the box twist when the two dreamt up the idea to have their ceremony prerecorded at our hometown, vintage movie house, The Tivoli Theater . Both Annie + Paul grew up seeing movies at the ‘Tiv’ and they thought it extra special to have a slightly more private take on their vows. The ceremony would then be shared as a surprise unveil to their guests at their winter wedding. Super untraditional and really creative, all the small pieces of creating that endearing film will remain one of my favorite wedding ceremonies ever. I only wish our mom could have been there with our combined family but we know for sure she watched from above.

Of the 250 friends + family on the guest list, only very few knew that the ceremony had already happened. The showcasing of the short film in place of the live exchange of vows was another unconventional and sweet twist on the standard wedding approach. Aside from the Tivoli surprise, Paul had a number of super heartfelt and really thoughtful moves up his very dapper, white tuxedo sleeves on wedding night . Though prior to #Pannie’s grand entrance into the wedding reception when the two where announced in at the video’s end, Paul + Annie went for a totally different look at their wedding ceremony. Paul wore his army greens and Annie rocked one of our mom’s favorite dresses, from every girl’s favorite shop, Anthro. And of course, always with amazing floral accents from Annie’s + my very fave storefront florist in Chicago, Asrai Garden. Whilst the two opted for just video coverage of the ceremony, I couldn’t help but bring my camera for a few captures at the theater, just after they said ‘I do’, really in love and really outside of the wedding box!

When it came time to wedding day, with the ceremony having already been captured, my team worked on developing a calm timeline so we could create truly stunning portraits of Paul + Annie’s combined families, the shimmer of the season and, of course, set in a gorgeous location. One of my favorite things to do as a photographer is scout the best backdrops for the best wedding portraits. Can we say…out of the box one more time ?? Specifically since my sister and soon to be brother in law - btw he wouldn’t say they where hubs and wife until December 22 was all tied up!! - but since the two of them wanted to focus on being with all the people they love so much and really just hosting THE BEST HOLIDAY WEDDING EVER, I wanted to be sure the Rose Photo fly on the wall approach to documenting moments was spot on - especially on that crazy dance floor - and our portrait game was strong. You might even peek a photo of me shooting in my Sunday best below and a few cameos in family formals, too !! I’m so in love with all the Christmas inspired shots from that big day but since it’s now February, I’ll save a little of that holiday bokeh for next Christmas season and share just a few here.

Paul + Annie gave me one more job beside running photo crew on wedding day. It was big sis on the mic as I pined over a little welcome speech and a few general MC duties. I fell right back into my age old, obviously not shy, show pony role as Master of Ceremony! Another slight nod to our mom, Marie, because a) she is our fashion queen forever b) to shield any ugly crying and c) also be fabulous, I had to accessorize with some very large sunglasses . Even though I wrote my speech 5 or 6 times on my smartphone, I ended up rewriting it the night before the wedding, on napkins. Ever the classy show pony, I delivered said speech in fancy Gucci’s from a paper towel like a good ‘Sister of Honor’ would do!!

To Annie + Paul, thank you so much for including me, my photo crew and our collective vision to see your wedding into photo memories! It is always a privilege to capture any love story and though we are family, it is my true honor to have the occasion to not only observe your love but also to make chronicle of it and a bit of commentary, too. I’ll pass the mic back now but only because Annie is in great hands of dear Paul.

love,

Rose + Co

How The Rich Get Richer: Strategies For Competing In A Rigged Game

Making money is like playing a competitive sport. You train hard all your life for those moments on the battlefield where you win all the spoils or go home empty-handed. You console yourself after a loss for having tried your best, but eventually, you realize the game is rigged.

For the past 10 years, I’ve played USTA league tennis. It’s a great way to stay in shape, meet new folks, and keep the competitive juices firing. Everyone needs to balance mental activity with physical activity if they want to stay healthy.

For the past four years, minus one year off due to the birth of my son, I’ve played at the 5.0 level. It’s a treacherous level filled with ex-college players and even ex-pros. Few have a beer gut and everyone has at least one weapon, be it a cannon serve or a heavy topspin forehand.

Battling Against The Odds

USTA Rating Distribution. 1% are rated 5.0

I really enjoyed playing 5.0 level tennis my first year (2015). It felt like I had joined a new fraternity of men I never played with or against before. I joined a team of newly promoted 5.0s and high-level 4.5s and we relished just playing against high-level players, not concerning ourselves with victory.

During the second year, I no longer had as much fun because the experience wasn’t new anymore. In fact, the experience started getting old because I kept losing. It didn’t feel fair to match up with a 4.5 partner or a borderline 5.0 player like myself and battle against two veteran high level 5.0 opponents over and over again.

After following a 2-3 season with a dismal 1-7 season I thought surely the USTA would bump me down to 4.5, but it did not. The USTA said that because I lost some very close matches with a 4.5 partner against two veteran 5.0 players, those losses actually helped boost my rating.

During the 2018 season at 5.0, I realized there was no hope of ever getting ahead playing on a public park team unless I made some drastic changes. I was getting older, slower, and sustaining more injured.

Here are three reasons why I was looking into a black hole:

If you are an elite player, you will be recruited by a private club. They will give you a discounted rate, sometimes wave the initiation fee, and certainly fast track your membership. The public teams from public parks will have no chance of ever recruiting you because they have nothing special to offer.

Once the private club has some elite players, it becomes easier to recruit even more elite players to its team because similar-level players want to play with other similar-level players and create a social network. Meanwhile, public park players either don’t have the money or the connections to join a private club and are stuck playing with whoever joins that year.

Private club players develop a familiarity with each other’s games because they tend to be long-term members. Having a strong chemistry is huge in doubles. Public park players are always rotating doubles partners because the team is open for anyone to join.

This year, I was excited to play against an opponent I had lost to 5-7, 6-7 in a two-hour match a couple of years earlier. He had played for UVA, a national collegiate powerhouse. His partner was an ex-Harvard player.

But this year, I partnered with a 54-year-old guy whom I never played with before. Like me, he didn’t play D1 college tennis. And my UVA opponent partnered with not a 5.0 rated player, but a 5.5 rated player who was once ranked 500 in the world!

Talk about a stacked game. We lost 3-6, 1-6.

From these three points, you can see how there is almost no way the middle class, let alone the poor can fairly compete on an even playing field. What is required to get ahead is a tremendous amount of luck and hard work. No surprise.

But besides luck and hard work, let’s look at some other strategies to help you compete against the rich in a rigged system.

How To Compete In A Rigged Game

1) Sandbag your abilities. Sandbagging in recreational sports is commonplace. People purposefully throw games so they don’t get bumped up. By playing at a level below your real ability, you can win more. It’s great to see how far your abilities can take you, but after reaching your peak potential, you may want to swallow your pride and move back down.

One of the keys to getting ahead at work is to consistently over-deliver on expectations. The way to consistently over-deliver is to realistically under-promise what you can deliver. You must act a little dumb to get ahead. This way, you’ll always be able to surprise on the upside.

The same phenomenon happens when a publicly traded company reports quarterly earnings. After 20 consecutive quarters of beating analyst estimates, analysts are either complete dumb asses, the company is just truly amazing, or the company has mastered the art of sandbagging.  Sandbagging is important because stocks get crushed when they miss analyst estimate and tend to outperform when they beat.

2) Directly ask for help. One of the most insightful commentaries that have come out of an Asian Coalition suing Harvard for racial discrimination is what an Ivy league university admissions officer revealed. She said, and I paraphrase, “Out of all my years working at XYZ university, not once did I get an e-mail or a phone call from a special connection advocating for a potential Asian applicant. Whereas I was always fielding favors for other applicant races.”

In other words, stop believing that meritocracy alone gets you to the promised land! Swallow your pride and be bold enough to ask someone important who you’ve worked with for help and a favor. Self-advocate. Sell to others why you are worth fighting for. Don’t be so modest. If you don’t call in the favors, you are at a huge disadvantage to anybody who does.

Find a balance between offense (active self-promotion) and defense (letting your merit speak for itself). Take Financial Samurai for example. Oftentimes I believe my content is good enough to get recognized by larger outlets, so I don’t bother promoting my work. Yet, I’m frequently passed over. What a mistake to be so passive all these years. Instead, I need to pitch my work because I’m one of the few who actually has a financial background writing about personal finance.

3) Befriend the unicorns. While applying to a pre-school for my son, I learned that there were spots for only four non-sibling kids out of 300+ applicants. In other words, my boy has less than a 1% chance of getting in. We have zero expectations. But, we can improve our chances by going to fundraising events, befriending board members, trustees and so forth.

The rich aren’t evil people. Just like everybody else, they want what’s best for themselves and their children. Make an effort to get to know them by asking for introductions, be proactive about meeting up, and say yes to social events, especially ones that are for good causes. No matter what your socioeconomic background, someone is connected somehow to someone who might be able to help.

Seldom do people ask for help outside their circles. Make it a point to try and help that someone first before asking for anything. I found the best way to befriend rich and powerful people is by sharing a common interest. In my case, that interest is tennis.

4) Blaze your own trail. Sometimes the game is so stacked against you that you have no choice but to take all the risk by doing your own thing. I knew that my chances of getting promoted to Managing Director were slim working out of a satellite office. Hence, I decided to leave work and go straight to the top as the CEO of my own company. Succeed or fail, it would be all my doing.

If you are from humble beginnings, one of the greatest gifts you have is that you don’t have much to lose. Why do you think there are so many immigrant success stories in America?  If you already come from a wealthy family, there’s too much downside to doing anything other than becoming a doctor, financier, lawyer, techie, or consultant working for someone else. Then again, once your family is super rich, you can really shoot for the moon.

4) Marry into wealth. You can either work hard for your money, or you can marry into wealth. I used to think this was an utterly BS strategy, but now that I’m older, I see the merits of finding companionship with someone who can provide all the comforts in the world. It can get very tiring being a sole income provider.

If you can’t afford to attend a rich private school for undergrad our your MBA, then the next best thing is to hang around in the same circles as the wealthy. Finding love is a numbers game. The more you can put yourself in a situation to meet a wealthy person, the higher your chance of finding a wealthy lifelong partner.

We know that wealthier people buy groceries at Wholefoods instead of at Safeway. Wealthier people tend to shop at Nieman Marcus than at JC Penny’s. They go to the opera, the ballet, and to galas. They tend to play golf. Here in San Francisco, you might want to just hang around at one of the many Facebook, Google, and Apple shuttle stops to start up a random conversation about how to generate more fake news revenue.

It feels amazing building your own wealth. But all the people I know who married into wealth don’t seem to mind flying private one bit.

Recognize All That’s Unfair In This World And Proceed

Do I wish I was 6’6″ with a 145 mph serve? Only when I’m playing tennis. Otherwise, sitting in a car or on a long flight would be a PITA. I’m happy with my 5’10” frame, but recognize in order to compete effectively, I’ve got to train harder and eat better than someone with more physical advantages.

As the world gets richer, you will encounter more scenarios where your peers have had everything given to them. It’s not their fault. Parents can’t help but want the world for their kids. You can either get extremely jealous about their good fortune, or you can learn to accept reality, befriend them, and see if you can create some magic together.

Work on your merits, but don’t be embarrassed to ask for help from those who can.

Related: The Top 1% Net Worth Levels By Age Group

Readers, what are some of the ways that you’re working on to catch up, match, or surpass the rich? Does it bother you that the game seems so rigged? If you’re wondering about my tennis, I’m hoping to get bumped down to 4.5 for next season. I have too much pride to join my club’s 5.0 team and partner with ringers. Winning is fun, but it’s 10X more satisfying to win as an underdog. 

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The post How The Rich Get Richer: Strategies For Competing In A Rigged Game appeared first on Financial Samurai.

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How The Rich Get Richer: Strategies For Competing In A Rigged Game

Making money is like playing a competitive sport. You train hard all your life for those moments on the battlefield where you win all the spoils or go home empty-handed. You console yourself after a loss for having tried your best, but eventually, you realize the game is rigged.

For the past 10 years, I’ve played USTA league tennis. It’s a great way to stay in shape, meet new folks, and keep the competitive juices firing. Everyone needs to balance mental activity with physical activity if they want to stay healthy.

For the past four years, minus one year off due to the birth of my son, I’ve played at the 5.0 level. It’s a treacherous level filled with ex-college players and even ex-pros. Few have a beer gut and everyone has at least one weapon, be it a cannon serve or a heavy topspin forehand.

Battling Against The Odds

USTA Rating Distribution. 1% are rated 5.0

I really enjoyed playing 5.0 level tennis my first year (2015). It felt like I had joined a new fraternity of men I never played with or against before. I joined a team of newly promoted 5.0s and high-level 4.5s and we relished just playing against high-level players, not concerning ourselves with victory.

During the second year, I no longer had as much fun because the experience wasn’t new anymore. In fact, the experience started getting old because I kept losing. It didn’t feel fair to match up with a 4.5 partner or a borderline 5.0 player like myself and battle against two veteran high level 5.0 opponents over and over again.

After following a 2-3 season with a dismal 1-7 season I thought surely the USTA would bump me down to 4.5, but it did not. The USTA said that because I lost some very close matches with a 4.5 partner against two veteran 5.0 players, those losses actually helped boost my rating.

During the 2018 season at 5.0, I realized there was no hope of ever getting ahead playing on a public park team unless I made some drastic changes. I was getting older, slower, and sustaining more injured.

Here are three reasons why I was looking into a black hole:

If you are an elite player, you will be recruited by a private club. They will give you a discounted rate, sometimes wave the initiation fee, and certainly fast track your membership. The public teams from public parks will have no chance of ever recruiting you because they have nothing special to offer.

Once the private club has some elite players, it becomes easier to recruit even more elite players to its team because similar-level players want to play with other similar-level players and create a social network. Meanwhile, public park players either don’t have the money or the connections to join a private club and are stuck playing with whoever joins that year.

Private club players develop a familiarity with each other’s games because they tend to be long-term members. Having a strong chemistry is huge in doubles. Public park players are always rotating doubles partners because the team is open for anyone to join.

This year, I was excited to play against an opponent I had lost to 5-7, 6-7 in a two-hour match a couple of years earlier. He had played for UVA, a national collegiate powerhouse. His partner was an ex-Harvard player.

But this year, I partnered with a 54-year-old guy whom I never played with before. Like me, he didn’t play D1 college tennis. And my UVA opponent partnered with not a 5.0 rated player, but a 5.5 rated player who was once ranked 500 in the world!

Talk about a stacked game. We lost 3-6, 1-6.

From these three points, you can see how there is almost no way the middle class, let alone the poor can fairly compete on an even playing field. What is required to get ahead is a tremendous amount of luck and hard work. No surprise.

But besides luck and hard work, let’s look at some other strategies to help you compete against the rich in a rigged system.

How To Compete In A Rigged Game

1) Sandbag your abilities. Sandbagging in recreational sports is commonplace. People purposefully throw games so they don’t get bumped up. By playing at a level below your real ability, you can win more. It’s great to see how far your abilities can take you, but after reaching your peak potential, you may want to swallow your pride and move back down.

One of the keys to getting ahead at work is to consistently over-deliver on expectations. The way to consistently over-deliver is to realistically under-promise what you can deliver. You must act a little dumb to get ahead. This way, you’ll always be able to surprise on the upside.

The same phenomenon happens when a publicly traded company reports quarterly earnings. After 20 consecutive quarters of beating analyst estimates, analysts are either complete dumb asses, the company is just truly amazing, or the company has mastered the art of sandbagging.  Sandbagging is important because stocks get crushed when they miss analyst estimate and tend to outperform when they beat.

2) Directly ask for help. One of the most insightful commentaries that have come out of an Asian Coalition suing Harvard for racial discrimination is what an Ivy league university admissions officer revealed. She said, and I paraphrase, “Out of all my years working at XYZ university, not once did I get an e-mail or a phone call from a special connection advocating for a potential Asian applicant. Whereas I was always fielding favors for other applicant races.”

In other words, stop believing that meritocracy alone gets you to the promised land! Swallow your pride and be bold enough to ask someone important who you’ve worked with for help and a favor. Self-advocate. Sell to others why you are worth fighting for. Don’t be so modest. If you don’t call in the favors, you are at a huge disadvantage to anybody who does.

Find a balance between offense (active self-promotion) and defense (letting your merit speak for itself). Take Financial Samurai for example. Oftentimes I believe my content is good enough to get recognized by larger outlets, so I don’t bother promoting my work. Yet, I’m frequently passed over. What a mistake to be so passive all these years. Instead, I need to pitch my work because I’m one of the few who actually has a financial background writing about personal finance.

3) Befriend the unicorns. While applying to a pre-school for my son, I learned that there were spots for only four non-sibling kids out of 300+ applicants. In other words, my boy has less than a 1% chance of getting in. We have zero expectations. But, we can improve our chances by going to fundraising events, befriending board members, trustees and so forth.

The rich aren’t evil people. Just like everybody else, they want what’s best for themselves and their children. Make an effort to get to know them by asking for introductions, be proactive about meeting up, and say yes to social events, especially ones that are for good causes. No matter what your socioeconomic background, someone is connected somehow to someone who might be able to help.

Seldom do people ask for help outside their circles. Make it a point to try and help that someone first before asking for anything. I found the best way to befriend rich and powerful people is by sharing a common interest. In my case, that interest is tennis.

4) Blaze your own trail. Sometimes the game is so stacked against you that you have no choice but to take all the risk by doing your own thing. I knew that my chances of getting promoted to Managing Director were slim working out of a satellite office. Hence, I decided to leave work and go straight to the top as the CEO of my own company. Succeed or fail, it would be all my doing.

If you are from humble beginnings, one of the greatest gifts you have is that you don’t have much to lose. Why do you think there are so many immigrant success stories in America?  If you already come from a wealthy family, there’s too much downside to doing anything other than becoming a doctor, financier, lawyer, techie, or consultant working for someone else. Then again, once your family is super rich, you can really shoot for the moon.

4) Marry into wealth. You can either work hard for your money, or you can marry into wealth. I used to think this was an utterly BS strategy, but now that I’m older, I see the merits of finding companionship with someone who can provide all the comforts in the world. It can get very tiring being a sole income provider.

If you can’t afford to attend a rich private school for undergrad our your MBA, then the next best thing is to hang around in the same circles as the wealthy. Finding love is a numbers game. The more you can put yourself in a situation to meet a wealthy person, the higher your chance of finding a wealthy lifelong partner.

We know that wealthier people buy groceries at Wholefoods instead of at Safeway. Wealthier people tend to shop at Nieman Marcus than at JC Penny’s. They go to the opera, the ballet, and to galas. They tend to play golf. Here in San Francisco, you might want to just hang around at one of the many Facebook, Google, and Apple shuttle stops to start up a random conversation about how to generate more fake news revenue.

It feels amazing building your own wealth. But all the people I know who married into wealth don’t seem to mind flying private one bit.

Recognize All That’s Unfair In This World And Proceed

Do I wish I was 6’6″ with a 145 mph serve? Only when I’m playing tennis. Otherwise, sitting in a car or on a long flight would be a PITA. I’m happy with my 5’10” frame, but recognize in order to compete effectively, I’ve got to train harder and eat better than someone with more physical advantages.

As the world gets richer, you will encounter more scenarios where your peers have had everything given to them. It’s not their fault. Parents can’t help but want the world for their kids. You can either get extremely jealous about their good fortune, or you can learn to accept reality, befriend them, and see if you can create some magic together.

Work on your merits, but don’t be embarrassed to ask for help from those who can.

Related: The Top 1% Net Worth Levels By Age Group

Readers, what are some of the ways that you’re working on to catch up, match, or surpass the rich? Does it bother you that the game seems so rigged? If you’re wondering about my tennis, I’m hoping to get bumped down to 4.5 for next season. I have too much pride to join my club’s 5.0 team and partner with ringers. Winning is fun, but it’s 10X more satisfying to win as an underdog. 

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The post How The Rich Get Richer: Strategies For Competing In A Rigged Game appeared first on Financial Samurai.

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How The Rich Get Richer: Strategies For Competing In A Rigged Game

Making money is like playing a competitive sport. You train hard all your life for those moments on the battlefield where you win all the spoils or go home empty-handed. You console yourself after a loss for having tried your best, but eventually, you realize the game is rigged.

For the past 10 years, I’ve played USTA league tennis. It’s a great way to stay in shape, meet new folks, and keep the competitive juices firing. Everyone needs to balance mental activity with physical activity if they want to stay healthy.

For the past four years, minus one year off due to the birth of my son, I’ve played at the 5.0 level. It’s a treacherous level filled with ex-college players and even ex-pros. Few have a beer gut and everyone has at least one weapon, be it a cannon serve or a heavy topspin forehand.

Battling Against The Odds

USTA Rating Distribution. 1% are rated 5.0

I really enjoyed playing 5.0 level tennis my first year (2015). It felt like I had joined a new fraternity of men I never played with or against before. I joined a team of newly promoted 5.0s and high-level 4.5s and we relished just playing against high-level players, not concerning ourselves with victory.

During the second year, I no longer had as much fun because the experience wasn’t new anymore. In fact, the experience started getting old because I kept losing. It didn’t feel fair to match up with a 4.5 partner or a borderline 5.0 player like myself and battle against two veteran high level 5.0 opponents over and over again.

After following a 2-3 season with a dismal 1-7 season I thought surely the USTA would bump me down to 4.5, but it did not. The USTA said that because I lost some very close matches with a 4.5 partner against two veteran 5.0 players, those losses actually helped boost my rating.

During the 2018 season at 5.0, I realized there was no hope of ever getting ahead playing on a public park team unless I made some drastic changes. I was getting older, slower, and sustaining more injured.

Here are three reasons why I was looking into a black hole:

If you are an elite player, you will be recruited by a private club. They will give you a discounted rate, sometimes wave the initiation fee, and certainly fast track your membership. The public teams from public parks will have no chance of ever recruiting you because they have nothing special to offer.

Once the private club has some elite players, it becomes easier to recruit even more elite players to its team because similar-level players want to play with other similar-level players and create a social network. Meanwhile, public park players either don’t have the money or the connections to join a private club and are stuck playing with whoever joins that year.

Private club players develop a familiarity with each other’s games because they tend to be long-term members. Having a strong chemistry is huge in doubles. Public park players are always rotating doubles partners because the team is open for anyone to join.

This year, I was excited to play against an opponent I had lost to 5-7, 6-7 in a two-hour match a couple of years earlier. He had played for UVA, a national collegiate powerhouse. His partner was an ex-Harvard player.

But this year, I partnered with a 54-year-old guy whom I never played with before. Like me, he didn’t play D1 college tennis. And my UVA opponent partnered with not a 5.0 rated player, but a 5.5 rated player who was once ranked 500 in the world!

Talk about a stacked game. We lost 3-6, 1-6.

From these three points, you can see how there is almost no way the middle class, let alone the poor can fairly compete on an even playing field. What is required to get ahead is a tremendous amount of luck and hard work. No surprise.

But besides luck and hard work, let’s look at some other strategies to help you compete against the rich in a rigged system.

How To Compete In A Rigged Game

1) Sandbag your abilities. Sandbagging in recreational sports is commonplace. People purposefully throw games so they don’t get bumped up. By playing at a level below your real ability, you can win more. It’s great to see how far your abilities can take you, but after reaching your peak potential, you may want to swallow your pride and move back down.

One of the keys to getting ahead at work is to consistently over-deliver on expectations. The way to consistently over-deliver is to realistically under-promise what you can deliver. You must act a little dumb to get ahead. This way, you’ll always be able to surprise on the upside.

The same phenomenon happens when a publicly traded company reports quarterly earnings. After 20 consecutive quarters of beating analyst estimates, analysts are either complete dumb asses, the company is just truly amazing, or the company has mastered the art of sandbagging.  Sandbagging is important because stocks get crushed when they miss analyst estimate and tend to outperform when they beat.

2) Directly ask for help. One of the most insightful commentaries that have come out of an Asian Coalition suing Harvard for racial discrimination is what an Ivy league university admissions officer revealed. She said, and I paraphrase, “Out of all my years working at XYZ university, not once did I get an e-mail or a phone call from a special connection advocating for a potential Asian applicant. Whereas I was always fielding favors for other applicant races.”

In other words, stop believing that meritocracy alone gets you to the promised land! Swallow your pride and be bold enough to ask someone important who you’ve worked with for help and a favor. Self-advocate. Sell to others why you are worth fighting for. Don’t be so modest. If you don’t call in the favors, you are at a huge disadvantage to anybody who does.

Find a balance between offense (active self-promotion) and defense (letting your merit speak for itself). Take Financial Samurai for example. Oftentimes I believe my content is good enough to get recognized by larger outlets, so I don’t bother promoting my work. Yet, I’m frequently passed over. What a mistake to be so passive all these years. Instead, I need to pitch my work because I’m one of the few who actually has a financial background writing about personal finance.

3) Befriend the unicorns. While applying to a pre-school for my son, I learned that there were spots for only four non-sibling kids out of 300+ applicants. In other words, my boy has less than a 1% chance of getting in. We have zero expectations. But, we can improve our chances by going to fundraising events, befriending board members, trustees and so forth.

The rich aren’t evil people. Just like everybody else, they want what’s best for themselves and their children. Make an effort to get to know them by asking for introductions, be proactive about meeting up, and say yes to social events, especially ones that are for good causes. No matter what your socioeconomic background, someone is connected somehow to someone who might be able to help.

Seldom do people ask for help outside their circles. Make it a point to try and help that someone first before asking for anything. I found the best way to befriend rich and powerful people is by sharing a common interest. In my case, that interest is tennis.

4) Blaze your own trail. Sometimes the game is so stacked against you that you have no choice but to take all the risk by doing your own thing. I knew that my chances of getting promoted to Managing Director were slim working out of a satellite office. Hence, I decided to leave work and go straight to the top as the CEO of my own company. Succeed or fail, it would be all my doing.

If you are from humble beginnings, one of the greatest gifts you have is that you don’t have much to lose. Why do you think there are so many immigrant success stories in America?  If you already come from a wealthy family, there’s too much downside to doing anything other than becoming a doctor, financier, lawyer, techie, or consultant working for someone else. Then again, once your family is super rich, you can really shoot for the moon.

4) Marry into wealth. You can either work hard for your money, or you can marry into wealth. I used to think this was an utterly BS strategy, but now that I’m older, I see the merits of finding companionship with someone who can provide all the comforts in the world. It can get very tiring being a sole income provider.

If you can’t afford to attend a rich private school for undergrad our your MBA, then the next best thing is to hang around in the same circles as the wealthy. Finding love is a numbers game. The more you can put yourself in a situation to meet a wealthy person, the higher your chance of finding a wealthy lifelong partner.

We know that wealthier people buy groceries at Wholefoods instead of at Safeway. Wealthier people tend to shop at Nieman Marcus than at JC Penny’s. They go to the opera, the ballet, and to galas. They tend to play golf. Here in San Francisco, you might want to just hang around at one of the many Facebook, Google, and Apple shuttle stops to start up a random conversation about how to generate more fake news revenue.

It feels amazing building your own wealth. But all the people I know who married into wealth don’t seem to mind flying private one bit.

Recognize All That’s Unfair In This World And Proceed

Do I wish I was 6’6″ with a 145 mph serve? Only when I’m playing tennis. Otherwise, sitting in a car or on a long flight would be a PITA. I’m happy with my 5’10” frame, but recognize in order to compete effectively, I’ve got to train harder and eat better than someone with more physical advantages.

As the world gets richer, you will encounter more scenarios where your peers have had everything given to them. It’s not their fault. Parents can’t help but want the world for their kids. You can either get extremely jealous about their good fortune, or you can learn to accept reality, befriend them, and see if you can create some magic together.

Work on your merits, but don’t be embarrassed to ask for help from those who can.

Related: The Top 1% Net Worth Levels By Age Group

Readers, what are some of the ways that you’re working on to catch up, match, or surpass the rich? Does it bother you that the game seems so rigged? If you’re wondering about my tennis, I’m hoping to get bumped down to 4.5 for next season. I have too much pride to join my club’s 5.0 team and partner with ringers. Winning is fun, but it’s 10X more satisfying to win as an underdog. 

https://www.financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/How-the-rich-get-richer.m4a

The post How The Rich Get Richer: Strategies For Competing In A Rigged Game appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-the-rich-get-richer-strategies-for-competing-in-a-rigged-game/

You know what I just watched? The Orville

My wife and I just finished up watching the first season of The Orville, and overall… it’s pretty good! Unlike Star Trek: Discovery, Seth MacFarlane’s love letter to Next Gen era Trek doesn’t try to push the formula into brave new worlds, but it is consistently fun, intermittently funny, and occasionally poignant throughout it’s initial run. To wrap up my thoughts on the first season, here are three sentence reviews of each of it’s 12 episodes, without going back and watching them at all, because that’s how I roll… apparently.

1. Old Wounds

The Orville ships out with MacFarlane’s Captain Ed Mercer in command and XO/Ex-Wife Kelly, portrayed fantastically by Adrianne Palicki, at his side. The ship, aliens, and costumes all look fantastic from the jump, and the crew introductions provide some genuine laughs (and a few groans). Everything seems to work okay, except for the love/hate dynamic between the Captain and First Officer.

2. Command Performance

Oh look, a whole episode about the love/hate dynamic between Ed and Kelly! It seems like if this is going to be focus, we need to see them handle this like adults, instead of making jokes about workplace harassment. Ed’s interaction with his parents about his prostate is everything that is wrong with the comedy in this show, but seeing a crew member from an all male species hatch a daughter brings a lot of heart and is super intriguing.

3. About a Girl

The crew wrestles with how to deal with Second-Officer Bortus’ (Peter Macon) daughter, in an interesting parallel to current conversations about gender politics. It’s nice to see the court room drama trope come in to play, since that’s such a staple of Trek, but the surprise arrival of another female Moclan is dampened by having her exhibit stereotypically feminine physical qualities. The ending judgement has the society standing up for their societal norms, and enforcing a male gender on the female-born baby, reflecting the grossness of allowing a state’s rights to override an individual’s.

4. If the Stars Should Appear

An awesome exploration of the trope of a society that doesn’t realize that they are living on a spacecraft, and not a planet. The reveals throughout are cool, and Liam Neeson’s cameo is pretty fun. The B-Story about Bortus trying to figure out how to deal with his duties and a newly grown family is an interesting exploration of life on a starship, but portraying his partner as a bit of a nag felt cheap.

5. Pria

playing on the con-man as time traveler trope seen in “A Matter of Time”, Charlize Theron flips the script by actually being both. Seeing the captain fall so quickly and completely under her spell made me miss the more reserved commanding officers of the Federation. Watching Ed’s best friend and helmsman Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes) try to teach the robotic Data-stand-in, Isaac (Mark Jackson), the art of the practical joke was phenomenal.

6. Krill

What if some of our crew members had to go undercover as members of our greatest enemies? It’s another pretty on the nose trope, but the comedy seems to be really hitting a stride here, especially with Malloy. The mass-murder ending took me by surprise, considering how much time was spent letting us get to know the Krill.

7. Majority Rule

Another attempt at true, Trek-style social commentary, this time looking at the value placed in social media’s social currency, especially Reddit’s up and down votes. It’s great to see Lamar get to step in to the spotlight, but a shame that he behaves so obliviously all the time. Ultimately, this episode makes a pretty compelling argument against the idea of the popular vote, which is a weird stance for a fairly liberal show to take with the current POTUS in office.

8. Into the Fold

Penny Johnson Jerald’s Dr. Claire Finn and Isaac, get to take the spotlight in this weeks episode, when a shuttle crashes on a planet with a diseased and cannibalistic populous, leaving Finn’s children in Isaac’s care while she is abducted by an overprotective “savior”. The children and Dr Finn both end up taking up arms against hostiles, giving us an exploration of the morality of self defense. Mostly, though, both watching Finn murder someone and seeing a kid take up a fire arm was just uncomfortable.

9. Cupid’s Dagger

Oh hey, another episode all about the relationship between Kelly and Ed, this time based on the man she had an affair with coming aboard and causing everyone to fall in love. Rob Lowe does a great job filling the Lwaxana Troi role in this romance romp, and is charming to the viewer, even without secreting phermones everywhere. Unfortunately, a lot of the humor and even the resolution for this episode is based way too heavily in date-rape analogies and a complete ignorance of consent, which means nothing really works.

10. Firestorm

It’s a holodeck-gone-wrong epsisode, except it turns out that it’s done intentionally. I get that we’re having Alara (Halston Sage) literally face her fears, but it seems like this goes well past confrontation to intentional psychological torture. Also, why clowns?

11. New Dimensions

This one started off pretty awesome, with a look at a two dimensional civilization living in a two dimensional reality, but then the Orville ended up being able to just fly through it as a three dimensional ship, for some reason? I feel like letting them slide through without really being impacted limited any interesting explorations. Unless it was trying to be a metaphor for Lamar’s (J. Lee) character development where, I guess, he’s not a dummy anymore and is going to be our Engineer, because Geordi?

12. Mad Idolatry

This is an episode of Voyager, from the main plot conceit, to the timeline not really making sense at all, but it was still super fun. Kelly is a great character, so it was awesome for her to really steal the spotlight, and I liked that the ultimate message wasn’t “Religion is bad because it’s fake”, but was instead “Belief and community are essential, regardless of their origin. Also, it looks like they are finally going to drop the will-they-won’t-they through-line for season two!

And that’s it! Looking back on these episodes, I had more complaints than I expected to, but overall I really did enjoy the series. My big hope for the future is that they’ll spend more time thinking of the impact of the scenarios they set up, a little bit less time on dick and fart jokes (not 100%, but a little), and a lot less time harassing Kelly.

It’s incredible to me that we have both this and Discovery on TV at the same time, and I like what they are both doing for the Sci-Fi genre. Orville, I’ll see you in Season 2!

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