The Ties That Bind
Felicity spews exposition and Oliver can’t scramble eggs and doesn’t care about his moral concessions. This season has been teeth-grindingly frustrating. Oliver exists in a moral and ethical vacuum to nobody’s delight. Dinah poses and fights in heels and why doesn’t she tie back her hair? This ep was not intensely emotional. There is eternal bleakness in the insalubrious Star City.
Oliver is all argumentation and Diaz is all bitter feelings and impropriety. This ep is terminally tedious. Hostile people attack Oliver and co, this is non-shocking absurdism and Oliver never convinces that he’s deserving of our sympathy, Oliver likes killing people and Felicity, Curtis, Diggle and Renee are vexatious presences.
There are look-at-me pyrotechnics and Oliver refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes. Why don’t the bad guys just shoot Dinah in the head when they have the chance? Diaz and his uncontrolled rage and non-masterly pitilessness is callous, malicious, manipulative, controlling, dangerous and oh so boring.
There is no serious-minded exploration of the horrendous consequences of Oliver’s moral failure. Oliver feels righteous fury as the Arrowcave is smashed up, again. How can Oliver afford to replace the bunker and equipment AGAIN? Oliver makes a speech all wrapped in seriousness. The morally dubious Oliver has been girltrapped by his exasperating calamitous relationship with Felicity. Hostile people attack each other. Every last drop of charisma and quality has been drained from this show. Another bunker gets blown up and Oliver asks Watson for help, TPTB finally recall she exists.
Best Lines:
“They’re down.”
“Terrible people.”
“I am the Green Arrow.”
“And the truth shall set you free.”
“Please save gratitude.”
~
Pattern Of Life
In Yemen, the SEALS burst into a family home and shoot a teenage girl. There is minimal reflection by the hyper-masculate men as they refuse her medical treatment and scream about a phone and suspected bad guy in the house. The team are moral failures. The blame the teenage girl for getting herself shot. Blame is attributed to others and the team make statements of ominous intent.
The team get emotional fulfilment bullying people who haven’t won the lottery of life by being born American. There are no lifelong consequences because of striving to do the right things and disastrously doing something so wrong. Jason is recalcitrant. The team are ostentatious asses. Jason does dramatic posing and then ruins the family by making off with a phone and the bad ‘guy’. This annoyed.
Best Lines:
“Field blood test.”
“Military aged male.”
“Of course he’s going to have an AK in the house.”
“Johnny Depp’s interpretation of the character was just a little weird for my taste.”
~
First Blood
The Commanders plan more arbitrary dealing out of women. Offred gets a sonogram; they didn’t use them in the book. Serena Joy has obvious vileness and is in a dour mood. Eden is an econowife. Offred has finally learned to be sort of discreet. She’s inherently valuable whilst pregnant. One is minimally invested in this.
The Rachel and Leah Centre is to be expanded. Eden is not feeling the love of those around her. Nick is trapped in a carapace of guilt about having to consummate his unwanted marriage. Serena Joy knits and tries to bond with her Handmaid and make common cause. There are flashbacks to Serena Joy when she lectured at colleges and wore pastels and trousers. She was no-platformed as she and Fred plotted to break into the mainstream.
In the flashback she is greeted by rude idiots who are loud and unaware the Waterfords would push defeat aside and become the mainstream. Serena Joy was insulted and disinvited by the hostile crowd. The crowd were idiots. Serena Joy was shot by a sniper. Who and why? Serena Joy wanted Fred to toughen up, so he did and dealt out summary justice.
The Commander lurks creepily; he has a capacity for brutality as the flashback reveals. There are sinister secrets and applied sadness. People are cold, calculating and callous in a parody of awfulness. Eden mumbles about Nick being a gender traitor as he won’t consummate the marriage. Serena Joy arranges a lunch date for the Offred with other Handmaids. It is very awkward.
Offred has to perform crawling servility as she is capriciously fated. Serena Joy gardens. Everything jarringly wrong is a theatrical spectacle. Serena Joy has a limit to her demonstrativeness and has a terse air. The vicious, ugly, ghastly Serena Joy has pure frustrated rage. Nick lives in fear of his 15 year old wife Eden. Offred snots.
Nick has to go along with Gilead’s moral tradition. It is not pleasant. He is fertile, so what will happen if Eden conceives? Nothing is sentimentalised. Nick hates the cultural tastes of Gilead. Wives are a common threat to Nick and Offred. Eden is socially committed to the ruthless theocracy.
Rita disapproves of Eden. The 2nd Ofglen attacks at the Rachel and Leah Centre. How did she get the explosives? Nick was there, is he safe? In all senses of the word?
Best Lines:
“Close enough, praise be.”
“Children of faith.”
“A married woman of faith.”
“Restore a moral world.”
“You want to help? Help.”
“Fascist bitch!”
“Under his eye.”
“Yes.”
“Blessed day.”
“Embrace your biological destiny.”
“Be a man!”
“You’re a truth teller!”
“She will make trouble.”
“Make me worthy.”
“Her child from before.”
“Issued a woman.”
~
LNWILT
Why is Alex now a marginal figure on her own show? How is Alex an FBI agent again and in a top secret task force? Caleb’s brother Clayton shows up. The gang have a new moral mandate: to find those behind the AIC. Ryan has outright hostility to Alex. Shelby hates non evil twin and then she doesn’t. Harry annoys with manic glee. An annoying reporter shows up to annoy. There is no sheer undiminished excitement. This exists to no good purpose and is a brazen and consistent insult to sense. What happened to Leon? This isn’t morally nuanced. Moral judgement is cast. Where are Lydia and Sebastian?
Best Lines:
“Another terrorist event?”
“Well if Alex is here, there can’t be one far behind.”
“I’ve been the paranoid one no one believes.”
“Horrific plans in motion.”
MOCKINGBIRD
Season 2 has become simply dreadful. Clayton faces competing egos. There is bad VFX, on purpose. The AIC have gone quiet or something. Clayton has unshakeable confidence and is the evil sum of his deficiencies. Is Leon dead? Does anyone care? I feel violent hate for Harry. Ryan bellows vainly and has no underlying wariness. He chases tail. The annoying reporter annoys. There is fake news. A certain level of quality returns to the show with this ep. Where are Will and Miranda? Harry whines. This was entirely unremarkable.
Best Line:
“Somebody thought the story was real and shot the bakery up.”
