Blame Canada
The US bothers Iran and Canada. Elizabeth acts a tad hysterically. There is no courting of class and credibility. Elizabeth is always on the precipice of a crisis. She and her major lapses in judgement are drearily clichéd. There is no unbridled brilliance. One cringes so hard at Elizabeth’s petty feud with Canada. There is no naturalistic emotion. Elizabeth does no serious policy initiative and has no rhetorical command. There is no abiding interest in this show. Elizabeth’s kids whine. This ep is a spectacular misfire. It’s an insurmountable challenge to care about Elizabeth.
The POTUS thinks Elizabeth is rather less effective than her predecessor. There are no wrenching choices in this insubstantial sordid sludge. Elizabeth is awful.
Best Lines:
“You are recommending a threat of military aggression.”
“Before the internet.”
“Have you read this?”
“No one has.”
“What are you here for?”
“You even threaten to do that.”
“His t-shirt was mis-spelled.”
“They know what you are.”
~
The World In The Walls
Julia and psycho Marina break into Brakebills and play a cruel trick on Quentin. Julia needs to ratchet it down a lot. This had no air of dread or impending doom or ineffable sadness. Julia is all jealously and rage, she knows Quentin’s pathological dread and exploits it. Julia needs a kicking. Kady is in league with Marina. Julia’s disconcerting episode length sneer and cheerful cynicism shows how maddeningly self-absorbed she is. She’s difficult, angry and rejected feeling. There is no urgency or heart-wrenching as Julia laughs in Quentin’s face and has an absent reaction to her crap.
These people are the outward limit of human achievement? Julia has no mortification. Quentin screaming with fear bores with immense thoroughness. Quentin sings ‘Shake It Off’ very very badly. Julia is guilty of separation assault. This was not uncommonly fine. Julia is irredeemable. There is no comprehensible elucidation of the plot. There is no wordcraft. This was not scarily intense. Julia is a grinning despised bitch. Penny has dogged insistence on being an ass. Why is Kady servile to Marina? Julia is exiled by Marina, ha ha ha ha ha. This was uninspired. Why did Brakebills just allow Julia to wander off?
Best Lines:
“This can’t be my life.”
“A raging dick.”
“Why, again?”
“He’s doing this because I made him take his pills!”
“We need to tell the Dean bad.”
“Hedge-bitch.”
“That was almost well-put.”
“You don’t know cut off. But baby, you will.”
~
Mendings, Major and Minor
Didn’t Alice leave? Now she’s back. Where do the Brakebills students buy their ugly clothes? Penny gets a mentor. Quentin visits her cancer-raddled father. Denise Crosby and M.C. Gainey guest star. Does Julia go to college anymore? James is unaffectedly honest. Julia has arrogant grievances and is not patient at all. She’s a maniac mess. This lacks the grandiose aesthetic of the books. Julia makes life much much worse. This had slow and sticky pacing.
Quentin has open disenchantment. This was inherently flawed. Intrigue and suspense don’t build in unexpected ways. For a show about magic this is one of the most depressing things you will ever watch. The objectively awful Julia prostitutes herself. Quentin plays Welters in a stupid uniform. Julia is a loudmouthed dick who accumulates infractions. Julia’s sheer audacity costs her. There are more ram motifs. The Beast pops up. Penny learns of another traveler named Victoria. Quentin makes miscalculations. This was okay.
Best Lines:
“It’s like people food.”
“Get your head out of your twat!”
“Looks like ‘Game Of Thrones’ fan art.”
~
Impractical Applications
Penny traveled to Fillory and has a scarcity of manners. Julia has a legacy of failure and is incapable of being offensive. Penny takes special glee in being annoying. The existence of Fillory was long deemed implausible. There is no heroic imagery or unknown destiny. Eliot has no suavity. This was okay if not meaningful. Julia makes a friend named Hannah and screws up with magnificent effect. Hannah is Kady’s mother and sold her to Marina. How does that work? Why doesn’t Kady just say no? Julia needs to shut her stupid mouth, she is reckless and careless. The students have trials, Kady speaks truth, Julia needs delusion reduction and there is death and geese.
Best Lines:
“You Hobbit-loving freak.”
“Is someone being creepy on purpose?”
“This isn’t Harvard. It requires actual effort.”
“That is not tonally consistent with the books.”
“You looked useful.”
“Fine but I am not going first.”
“Highest governing internal circumstance.”
~
Who Can Tell Me Who I Am
There are no lives of sacrifice or good citizenship here. Consequences are not quick to come. Stahl is a farrago of clichés and causal machismo. Wozniak does not establish intimacy. There is self loathing and unintentional camp. Wozniak ends up in hospital and is melodramatic and deeply paranoid. He asks a favour of Harlee. Manifestly unfair things happen. There is gallows camaraderie. Stahl is a creeper and ludicrous. The prevailing culture is toxic. Donnie gets punched in the face by his boyfriend. Stahl is an ass. Tess has to apologise to the slut. This is not a straightforward narrative. Nobody is warm and embracing. Not every complex shade of the heart is shown. There is no stark hand-held look or rueful comments. The slut taunts Tess. The female FBI agent empathy builds. There is no moral authority in this overripe imbroglio which had no depth of narrative.
Best Lines:
“Sweat and friction.”
“Suck the bounce out of you.”
“Get your foot out of my house.”
“Requesting a forceful entry warrant.”
“Paycheque with a fist.”