#and no amount of conversation changes it because she’s like a sitcom character instead of a person

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About Loki (Season One)

(Sorry this is later than it should have been. I may or may not be experiencing burnout from reviewing every episode of the gayest show Disney has ever produced)

Salutations, random people on the internet. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Do you want to know what's fun about the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It is now officially at the point where the writers can do whatever the hell they want.

A TV series about two Avengers getting stuck in a series of sitcoms as one of them explores their personal grief? Sure.

Another series as a guy with metal bird wings fights the inner racism of his nation to take the mantel of representing the idea of what that nation should be? Why not?

A forgettable movie about a superspy and her much more mildly entertaining pretend family working together to kill the Godfather? F**king go for it (Let that be a taste for my Black Widow review in October)!

There is no limit to what you can get with these movies and shows anymore, and I personally consider that a good thing. It allows this franchise to lean further into creative insanity, thus embracing its comic roots in the process. Take Loki, for example. It is a series about an alternate version of one of Marvel's best villains bouncing around the timeline with Owen Wilson to prevent the end of the universe. It sounds like just the right amount of wackiness that it should be too good to fail.

But that's today's question: Did it fail? To find out my own answer to that, we're gonna have to dive deep into spoilers. So be wary as you continue reading.

With that said, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Loki Himself: Let's get this out of the way: This isn't the same Loki we've seen grow within five movies. The Loki in this series, while similar in many ways, is still his very own character. He goes through his own redemption and developments that fleshes out Loki, all through ways that, if I'm being honest with you, is done much better in six-hour-long episodes than in past films. Loki's story was already entertaining, but he didn't really grow that much aside from being this chaotic neutral character instead of this wickedly evil supervillain. Through his series, we get to see a gradual change in his personality, witnessing him understand his true nature and "glorious purpose," to the point where he's already this completely different person after one season. Large in part because of the position he's forced into.

Some fans might say that the series is less about Loki and more about the TVA. And while I can unquestionably see their point, I still believe that the TVA is the perfect way for Loki to grow. He's a character all about causing chaos and controlling others, so forcing him to work for an organization that takes that away allows Loki time to really do some introspection. Because if his tricks don't work, and his deceptions can't fool others, then who is he? Well, through this series, we see who he truly is: A character who is alone and is intended to be nothing more than a villain whose only truly selfless act got him killed in the end. Even if he wants to better himself, he can't because that "goes against the sacred timeline." Loki is a person who is destined to fail, and he gets to see it all with his own eyes by looking at what his life was meant to be and by observing what it could have been. It's all tragic and yet another example of these shows proving how they allow underdeveloped characters in the MCU a better chance to shine. Because if Loki can give even more depth to a character who's already compelling as is, then that is a feat worth admiration.

The Score: Let's give our gratitude toward Natalie Holt, who f**king killed it with this series score. Every piece she made is nothing short of glorious. Sylvie's and the TVA's themes particularly stand out, as they perfectly capture who/what they're representing. Such as how Sylvie's is big and boisterous where the TVA's sound eerie and almost unnatural. Holt also finds genius ways to implement other scores into the series, from using familiar tracks from the Thor movies to even rescoring "Ride of the Valkyries" in a way that makes a scene even more epic than it already could have been. The MCU isn't best known for its musical scores, partly because they aim to be suitable rather than memorable. But every now and again, something as spectacular as the Loki soundtrack sprinkles through the cracks of mediocrity. Making fans all the more grateful because of it.

There’s a lot of Talking: To some, this will be considered a complaint. Most fans of the MCU come for the action, comedy, and insanely lovable characters. Not so much for the dialogue and exposition. That being said, I consider all of the talking to be one of Loki's best features. All the background information about the TVA added with the character's backstories fascinates me, making me enthusiastic about learning more. Not everyone else will be as interested in lore and world-building as others, but just because something doesn't grab you, in particular, doesn't mean it isn't appealing at all. Case in point: There's a reason why the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise has lasted as long as it has, and it's not entirely because of how "scary" it is.

There's also the fact that most of the dialogue in Loki is highly engaging. I'll admit, some scenes do drag a bit. However, every line is delivered so well that I'm more likely to hang on to every word when characters simply have honest conversations with each other. And if I can be entertained by Loki talking with Morbius about jetskis, then I know a show is doing at least something right.

It’s Funny: This shouldn't be a surprise. The MCU is well-known for its quippy humor in the direct acknowledgment that it doesn't take itself too seriously. With that said, it is clear which movies and shows are intended to be taken seriously, while others are meant to be comedies. Loki tries to be a bit of both. There are some heavy scenes that impact the characters, and probably even some fans, due to how well-acted and professionally written they can be. However, this is also a series about a Norse god traveling through time to deal with alternate versions of himself, with one of them being an alligator. I'd personally consider it a crime against storytelling to not make it funny. Thankfully, the writers aren't idiots and know to make the series fun with a few flawlessly timed and delivered jokes that never really take away from the few good grim moments that actually work.

It Kept Me Surprised: About everything I appreciate about Loki, the fact that I could never really tell what direction it was going is what I consider its absolute best feature. Every time I think I knew what was going to happen, there was always this one big twist that heavily subverted any and every one of my expectations. Such as how each time I thought I knew who the big bad was in this series, it turns out that there was an even worse threat built up in the background. The best part is that these twists aren't meant for shock value. It's always supposed to drive the story forward, and on a rewatch, you can always tell how the seeds have been planted for making each surprise work. It's good that it kept fans guessing, as being predictable and expected would probably be the worst path to take when making a series about Loki, a character who's all about trickery and deception. So bonus points for being in line with the character.

The TVA: You can complain all you want about how the show is more about the TVA than it is Loki, but you can't deny how the organization in question is a solid addition to the MCU. Initially, it was entertaining to see Loki of all characters be taken aback by how the whole process works. And it was worth a chuckle seeing Infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in the universe, get treated as paperweights. However, as the season continues and we learn about the TVA, the writers show that their intention is to try and write a message about freedom vs. control. We've seen this before in movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Captain America: Civil War, but with those films, it always felt like the writers were leaning more towards one answer instead of making it obscure over which decision is correct. This is why I enjoy the fact that Loki went on saying that there really is no right answer for this scenario. If the TVA doesn't prune variants, it could result in utter chaos and destruction that no one from any timeline can prepare themselves for. But when they do prune variants along with their timelines, it takes away all free will, forcing people to be someone they probably don't even want to be. It's a situation where there really is no middle ground. Even if you bring up how people could erase timelines more destructive than others, that still takes away free will on top of how there's no unbiased way of deciding which timelines are better or worse. And the series found a brilliant way to explain this moral: The season starts by showing how the TVA is necessary, to later point out how there are flaws and evil secrets within it, and ends things with the revelation that there are consequences without the TVA keeping the timeline in check. It's an epic showcase of fantastic ideas met with exquisite execution that I can't help but give my seal of approval to.

Miss Minutes: Not much to say. This was just a cute character, and I love that Tara Strong, one of the most popular voice actors, basically plays a role in the MCU now.

Justifying Avengers: Endgame: Smartest. Decision. This series. Made. Bar none.

Because when you establish that the main plot is about a character getting arrested for f**king over the timeline, you're immediately going to get people questioning, "Why do the Avengers get off scot-free?" So by quickly explaining how their time-traveling antics were supposed to happen, it negates every one of those complaints...or most of them. There are probably still a-holes who are poking holes in that logic, but they're not the ones writing this review, so f**k them.

Mobius: I didn't really expect Owen Wilson to do that good of a job in Loki. Primarily due to how the Cars franchise discredits him as a professional actor for...forever. With that said, Owen Wilson's Mobius might just be one of the most entertaining characters in the series. Yes, even more so than Loki himself. Mobius acts as the perfect straight man to Loki's antics, what with being so familiar with the supposed god of mischief through past variations of him. Because of that, it's always a blast seeing these two bounce off one another through Loki trying to trick a Loki expert, and said expert even deceiving Loki at times. Also, on his own, Mobius is still pretty fun. He has this sort of witty energy that's often present in Phil Coulson (Love that character too, BTW), but thanks to Owen Wilson's quirks in his acting, there's a lot more energy to Mobius than one would find in Coulson. As well as a tad bit of tragedy because of Mobius being a variant and having no clue what his life used to be. It's a lot to unpack and is impressively written, added to how it's Owen Wilson who helps make the character work as well as he did. Cars may not have done much for his career, but Loki sure as hell showed his strengths.

Ravonna Renslayer: Probably the least entertaining character, but definitely one of the most intriguing. At least to me.

Ravonna is a character who is so steadfast in her believes that she refuses to accept that she may be wrong. Without the proper writing, someone like Ravonna could tick off (ha) certain people. Personally, I believe that Ravonna is written well enough where even though I disagree with her belief, I can understand where she's coming from. She's done so much for the TVA, bringing an end to so many variants and timelines that she can't accept that it was all for nothing. In short, Ravonna represents the control side of the freedom vs. control theme that the writers are pushing. Her presence is necessary while still being an appealing character instead of a plot device. Again, at least to me.

Hunter B-15: I have no strong feelings one way or another towards B-15's personality, but I will admit that I love the expectation-subversion done with her. She has this air of someone who's like, "I'm this by-the-books badass cop, and I will only warm up to this cocky rookie after several instances of them proving themselves." That's...technically not B-15. She's the first to see Loki isn't that bad, but only because B-15 is the first in the main cast to learn the hidden vile present in the TVA. It makes her change in point of view more believable than how writers usually work a character like hers, on top of adding a new type of engaging motivation for why she fights. I may not particularly enjoy her personality, but I do love her contributions.

Loki Watching What His Life Could Have Been: This was a brilliant decision by the writers. It's basically having Loki speedrun his own character development through witnessing what he could have gone through and seeing the person he's meant to be, providing a decent explanation for why he decides to work for the TVA. And on the plus side, Tom Hiddleston did a fantastic job at portraying the right emotions the character would have through a moment like this. Such as grief, tearful mirth, and borderline shock and horror. It's a scene that no other character could go through, as no one but Loki needed a wake-up call for who he truly is. This series might heavily focus on the TVA, but scenes like this prove just who's the star of the show.

Loki Causing Mischief in Pompeii: I just really love this scene. It's so chaotic and hilarious, all heavily carried by the fact that you can tell that Tom Hiddleston is having the time of his damn life being this character. What more can I say about it.

Sylvie: The first of many surprises this season offered, and boy was she a great one.

Despite being an alternate version of Loki, I do appreciate that Sylvie's her own character and not just "Loki, but with boobs." She still has the charm and charisma, but she also comes across as more hardened and intelligent when compared to the mischievous prick we've grown to love. A large part of that is due to her backstory, which might just be the most tragic one these movies and shows have ever made. Sylvie got taken away when she was a little girl, losing everything she knew and loved, and it was all for something that the people who arrested her don't even remember. How sad is that? The fact that her life got permanently screwed over, leaving zero impact on the people responsible for it. As badass as it is to hear her say she grew up at the ends of a thousand worlds (that's an album title if I ever heard one), it really is depressing to know what she went through. It also makes her the perfect candidate to represent the freedom side of the freedom vs. control argument. Because she's absolutely going to want to fight to put an end to the people who decide how the lives of trillions should be. Those same people took everything from Sylvie, and if I were in her position, I'd probably do the same thing. Of course, we all know the consequences that come from this, and people might criticize Sylvie the same way they complain about Thor and Star Lord for screwing over the universe in Avengers: Infinity War. But here's the thing: Sylvie's goals are driven by vengeance, which can blind people from any other alternatives. Meaning her killing He Who Remains is less of a story flaw and more of a character flaw. It may be a bad decision, but that's for Season Two Sylvie to figure out. For now, I'll just appreciate the well-written and highly compelling character we got this season and eagerly wait as we see what happens next with her.

The Oneshot in Episode Three: Not as epic as the hallway scene in Daredevil, but I do find it impressive that it tries to combine real effects, fighting, and CGI in a way where it's all convincing enough.

Lady Sif Kicking Loki in the D**k: This is a scene that makes me realize why I love this series. At first, I laugh at Loki being stuck in a time loop where Lady Sif kicks him in the d**k over and over again. But a few scenes later, this setup actually works as a character moment that explains why Loki does the things he does.

This series crafted phenomenal character development through Loki getting kicked in the d**k by the most underrated badass of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's a perfect balance of comedy and drama that not every story can nail, yet Loki seemed like it did with very little effort.

Classic Loki: This variant shows the true tragedy of being Loki. The only way to survive is to live in isolation, far away from everything and everyone he loves, only to end up having his one good deed result in his death anyways. Classic Loki is definitive proof that no matter what face they have, Lokis never gets happy endings. They're destined to lose, but at least this version knows that if you're going out, you're going out big. And at least he got to go out with a mischievous laugh.

(Plus, the fact that he's wearing Loki's first costume from the comics is a pretty cute callback).

Alligator Loki: Alligator Loki is surprisingly adorable, and if you know me, you know that I can't resist cute s**t. It's not in my nature.

Loki on Loki Violence: If you thought Loki going ham in Pompeii was chaotic, that was nothing to this scene. Because watching these Lokis backstab one another, to full-on murdering each other, is a moment that is best described as pure, unadulterated chaos. And I. Loved. Every. Second of it.

The Opening Logo for the Season Finale: I'm still not that big of a fan of the opening fanfare playing for each episode, but I will admit that it was a cool feature to play vocal clips of famous quotes when the corresponding character appears. It's a great way of showing the chaos of how the "sacred timeline" works without having it to be explained further.

The Citadel: I adore the set design of the Citadel. So much history and backstory shine through the state of every room the characters walk into. You get a perfect picture of what exactly happened, but seeing how ninety percent of the place is in shambles, it's pretty evident that not everything turned out peachy keen. And as a personal note, my favorite aspect of the Citadel is the yellow cracks in the walls. It looks as though reality itself is cracking apart, which is pretty fitting when considering where the Citadel actually is.

He Who Remains: This man. I. Love. This man.

I love this man for two reasons.

A. He's a ton of fun. Credit to that goes to the performance delivered by Jonathon Majors. Not only is it apparent that Majors is having a blast, but he does a great job at conveying how He Who Remains is a strategic individual but is still very much off his rocker. These villains are always my favorite due to how much of a blast it is seeing someone with high intelligence just embracing their own insanity. If you ask me, personalities are always essential for villains. Because even when they have the generic plot to rule everything around them, you're at least going to remember who they are for how entertaining they were. Thankfully He Who Remains has that entertainment value, as it makes me really excited for his eventual return, whether it'd be strictly through Loki Season Two or perhaps future movies.

And B. He Who Remains is a fantastic foil for Loki. He Who Remains is everything Loki wishes he could have been, causing so much death, destruction, and chaos to the multiverse. The important factor is that he does it all through order and control. The one thing Loki despises, and He Who Remains uses it to his advantage. I feel like that's what makes him the perfect antagonist to Loki, thanks to him winning the game by not playing it. I would love it if He Who Remains makes further appearances in future movies and shows, especially given how he's hinted to be Kane the Conqueror, but if he's only the main antagonist in Loki, I'm still all for it. He was a great character in his short time on screen, and I can't wait to see what happens next with him.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Revealing that Loki was D.B. Cooper: A cute scene, but it's really unnecessary. It adds nothing to the plot, and I feel like if it was cut out entirely, it wouldn't have been the end of the world...Yeah. That's it.

That's my one and only complaint about this season.

Maybe some scenes drag a bit, and I guess Episode Three is kind of the weakest, but there's not really anything that this series does poorly that warrants an in-depth complaint.

Nope.

Nothing at all...

…

...

...I'm not touching that "controversy" of Loki falling for Sylvie instead of Mobius. That's a situation where there are no winners.

Only losers.

Exclusively losers.

Other than that, this season was amazing!

IN CONCLUSION

I'd give the first season of Loki a well-earned A, with a 9.5 through my usual MCU ranking system. It turns out, it really is the best type of wackiness that was just too good to fail. The characters are fun and likable, the comedy and drama worked excellently, and the expansive world-building made me really intrigued with the more we learned. It's hard to say if Season Two will keep this momentum, but that's for the future to figure out. For now, let's just sit back and enjoy the chaos.

(Now, if you don't excuse me, I have to figure out how to review Marvel's What If...)

#marvel cinematic universe #mcu reviews #loki tv series #loki #sylvie #mobius #ravonna renslayer #hunter b 15 #classic loki #alligator loki #he who remains #kang the conqueror #what i thought about

[spaceorphan18]

The Pam Beesly Files: Pilot (1x01)

Welcome to the Pam Beesly Files! 

Tagging @ckerouac in every single one of these cause she convinced me to start doing this! :D 

I’ll be digging in and exploring one of my favorite fictional characters of all time - Pam Beesly(-Halpert).  Something I really enjoy about Pam is that, unlike a lot of sitcom characters, Pam grows and changes over the years.  She starts off meek and quiet - a bit of a pushover, but grows up and gains confidence and really blossoms into her own person, which is really quite cool.  

Kicking it off with the Pilot.  I don’t think it’s the strongest pilot -- the show, in trying to play it safe, nearly copied the British version of the episode, but in doing so lost a little in translation.  Despite the fact that the show takes a while to really get on its feet, there’s a lot to dig in her, so let’s get started! 

Introducing Dunder-Mifflin

When we first meet Pam, she’s sitting in her usual spot at reception, having to endure an overly out of control (because of the documentary crew) Michael.  (As an aside - I’m curious as to why this documentary wants to film a failing, mid-western paper company, but maybe it’s a life piece or something.)  Pam, as we’ll learn as we get to know her, is not an outgoing person.  In fact, here at the beginning, she’s down-right timid, constantly drawing in on herself.  I love Jenna Fischer’s acting choices here -- she physically closes in on herself to seem even more meek and withdrawn.  

This whole documentary crew is a rather disruptive thing, and I get the sense that Pam doesn’t really want or need to be filmed -- the opposite of Michael Scott, who is going overboard in his performance for the cameras.  Was Michael a good boss before putting on a show for the documentary? No, not at all, but he’s even worse when he has an audience.  

Pam mostly just endures Michael as he plays it up for the camera, just as she probably endures him every time he comes up to reception, which is probably more often than a normal amount.  If I had to guess - based on future interactions, any time Michael needs attention, she might be the first place he stops, though he gets frustrated with her, cause she’s not a good audience member.  Later - her relationship with Michael will change, but for now, she just waits in mostly awed silence until he’s gone.  

Since this is an introduction, we do learn a little about Pam’s life at Dunder-Mifflin.  She’s been with the company for a while (my headcanon is three-ish years putting her in her mid-ish twenties).  And that Michael used to think she was hot. 

About that second thought, when we meet Pam, she’s got somewhat of a frumpy look (and that’s intentional!).  The cardigans, button down shirts, and pencil skirts are business attire, but not anything more or less.  I have to wonder that when Pam first started working there (as someone who was freshly in her twenties) she did dress nicer -- but then after a lot of unwanted comments, purposely downplayed her looks.  But there’s more to that, too.  She’s settled in a relationship that she’s content but not necessarily happy in, and therefore it spills outward into her appearance as well.  

After the introduction - Pam attempts actual work, and Michael just kind of throws an important fax back into her face.  She’s bewildered and frustrated that he continues to act like a child and not an actual boss -- but the fascinating thing is how she keeps everything buried.  She is livid with Michael -- for laughing at her, for not taking anything seriously, for literally throwing actual work back at her face, but she contains it, and it doesn’t quite get to surface level but it’s most definitely there.  

One scene in - and we can already see how much Pam is restrained in her interactions -- there’s a lot waiting to leap out, but it’ll be awhile before anything can really be pulled out of her.  

Corporate Meeting 

Jan comes to the office to warn Michael about possible downsizing.  Pam’s in attendance at the meeting -- mostly because Michael probably enjoys the idea that she’ll be his assistant in such things.  She doesn’t have a whole lot to do here - except position herself out of the excruciatingly awkward conversation Jan and Michael are having.  She has a mild, horrific look on her face the entire way through -- knowing that everything Michael is saying is bad, but not feeling it her place to say anything at all.  

The only time she speaks is when Jan asks about the agenda, which Michael had thrown away earlier.  Interestingly, Pam is honest about what happened to it -- that Michael tossed it into the trash, and uses his own wording against him.  Pam won’t currently speak out against Michael, she’s too scared to rock the boat, but she can push back with actual honesty if nothing else.  

Downsizing

Our next Pam scene is our first Jim and Pam scene!! And we can already see there’s a stark difference between a Pam who is on camera having to deal with Michael, and Pam who doesn’t know the camera is on her, speaking to her bff.  

But first - I want to mention that before this, everyone else is discussing the possibility of downsizing.  Everyone else in the office is worried about their livelihood, and what steps they should be making for job security.  Pam (and Jim) don’t have such concerns.  Not only are both of them younger - and still of mind that they have time to ‘get out’ of such a meaningless life, but Pam (as we’ll later learn) doesn’t think downsizing is the worst thing that can happen to her. 

Instead - Pam asks Jim about going to Angela’s cat party, and the two both share a giggle over it.  It’s the first time we see Pam not only smile in the series, but also look like she’s got one genuine thing in her job that she cares about -- her friendship (relationship) with Jim.  

As an aside, I’d also like to note that Pam’s a touch sassy about the whole cat party thing.  The two of them are slightly judgy of the others, thinking they’re above the settled (and ridiculous) lives of the rest of the office.  

Talking Head

In her first talking head, Pam admits that she’s fine being let go.  In fact - you get the impression that she probably dreams about being let go or how she’d storm out if she just up and quit - but beyond the fantasy of that, she hasn’t thought about her future much.  She states that it’s not many little girls’ dream to be a receptionist, and that’s probably true.  But it also seems like she hasn’t put a lot of thought into what her own ambitions are.  What did Pam want to be when she grew up? Well, not a receptionist, but that’s as far as she’s gotten. 

She does have a hobby, however, as she says she likes doing illustrations and watercolors.  (It’s a nice touch by the filmmakers to include her carefully whiting something out during the monologue.)  She may or may not have other interests or hobbies but this is the one she holds onto.  She also feels the need to bring up that Jim thinks they’re worth something.  Because not only is Jim’s opinion incredibly important of her - his finding value in her creative side seems to validate her as well.  Pam doesn’t have much self-esteem, but Jim finding worth in her is something that she clings onto.  (Now she’s just got to discover it for herself! Because we’ll learn -- Jim can’t be her only source of positivity in her life.)  

I’d also like to mention that she not only doesn’t bring up Roy here, but his opinion doesn’t seem to matter much on the subject either.  Not to mention, he probably doesn’t give her much encouragement when it comes to such things. 

Six-Million Dollar Man

Michael’s still being obnoxious - doing impressions for the camera.  Pam really just wants him to go away and stop bothering her.  After doing the Six-Million Dollar Man, Michael claims that that’d be a good salary for him and suggests he get a raise.  Pam mutters that they all deserve a raise -- to which Michael grows serious and annoyed with her.  Pam isn’t one to push back very often, and having been pressed too often, I’m sure things like this spill out, which seem to spoil Michael’s mood, but are very truthful.  Pam’s a little stunned with herself for expressing an honest emotion, as well as Michael’s petulance, by the end of the scene.  

Conference Room Meeting

In an attempt to calm people’s fears, Michael calls a conference room meeting to talk about the possibility of downsizing (though he really just wants an audience for his supposedly good management skills).  A point of notice - as we go on in the series, Jim and Pam will usually be seated together for these things, but I believe this is just about logistics more so than anything related to the story -- Jenna Fischer had lines, John Krasinski did not, hence they were not seated together. 

Anyway -- Michael tries to lie about the possibility of downsizing.  In her most passive-aggressive move yet, Pam (still very meekly though) tells the rest of the office that since she was in the meeting, she can tell them what Corporate said, and thus undermine everything Michael is talking about.  It totally throws Michael under a bus, and she knows it, but once again, she’s hiding behind the guise of brutal honesty.  It’s the little things she can get away with that she’ll do.  She won’t outright confront him on his shenanigans, but there are still simple things she can do to get back at him. 

Also, another point of mention is that during this scene, she’s biting her nails.  Now, this really isn’t going to be a thing I see with her going forward -- apparently it’s a tick for this episode that Fischer (or the director) added just for this episode -- but it’s another physical reminder of how inward and insecure Pam is at the beginning of the show. 

Mixed-Berries and Jell-O

We get a talking head with Jim where he states that one of the useless things he knows is Pam’s favorite flavor of yogurt (which is Mixed-Berry btw) and when the doc crew asks Pam about it, she gets all happy flustered and giggly.  Why? Because it’s another sign that Jim notices her.  And really - no one else in her life, personal or professional, really notice her.  It’s one reason she’s drawn to Jim -- he seems to really (like actually really) care about her, what her interests are, what hobbies she has, etc, etc, and has used that to form a connection and a bond with her.  She doesn’t really have any other (seemingly) friendship or relationship with anyone else.  But (for reasons we’ll get to in a moment) she really tries to pretend it’s just a silly thing between the two of them, and not the emotional affair that it really is at this point. 

Meanwhile, we get a jump on Jim-pranks, a staple (ha pun intended) of the show, when it’s revealed that Jim put Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O (again).  Yes, Jim’s first and foremost reason for doing it is that he’s bored and Dwight bugs him and he gets a kick out of it.  But a nice side effect is that it entertains Pam.  She is the only one giggling as the whole thing unravels (the rest of the office really would just like to work without the shenanigans) but it’s another way Pam and Jim have bonded -- they share the same sense of humor. 

Roy

So, we have another spy shot of Jim and Pam up at reception. A little detail I love is that their hands are close to each other, not touching, but if you looked quickly, you’d think they were holding hands.  Anyway, Jim’s asking Pam to come with him for a drink with the rest of the office -- and Pam’s pretty cool with the thought at joining.   They’re super flirty and giggly with each other just as the scene opens, and you’re supposed to get the idea that they’re probably already some sort of couple until we get the twist of the scene in a moment.  

Here we get the introduction to Roy -- Pam’s fiance who works in the warehouse.  Fascinatingly, the moment Roy comes in, Jim jolts away from the desk, putting a lot more space in between them.  Pam is pretty oblivious to what her actions mean, but Jim is well aware that he’s treading on dangerous ground, to the point of possibly crossing the line by asking Pam out for a drink (though he probably already has in other ways).  

Roy, we learn, is kind of a brute, and uncompromising when it comes to putting his own feelings above Pam’s.  Pam would like to go out for a drink - does Roy want to go? Nope, okay then, and Pam is shut down.  Why? Well, for one - Roy is kind of /that/ asshole is blind to his own selfishness that he doesn’t realize he’s suppressing Pam.  (There’s also some hold over class stuff from the British version here that doesn’t necessarily translate as well with Roy being a blue-collar worker vs Jim being a white-collar worker.)  

Mostly though, Pam just isn’t her own person right now.  She let’s Roy kind of dictate her life because it’s easier than always fighting with him (and is slightly self-sabotage because if she pushed back she would have to wake up to the actual state of her life).   But also - she’s letting Jim dictate her happier emotions - letting his feelings for her dictate her own self-esteem.  Eventually, she’s going to learn to be her own person, but that’ll be awhile.  

Anyway - Pam gets a talking head where she explains a bit about Roy -- they’ve been engaged for three years, with no wedding date insight.  She’s happy to talk about Roy at first, until the camera lingers on her a little too long, and her face falls.  She’s trying to present that she’s happy in her life when, in fact, she’s really not.   I’d also like to point out that she does not light up when talking about Roy the way she does with Jim.  She likes Jim and has fun with Jim -- Roy is just another obligation in her life.  But she’s made a commitment, and she doesn’t take that lightly. 

I have some personal headcanon for the whole Pam and Roy thing -- in that they knew each other in high school, and Roy, probably a popular jock, took notice of her.  As I said earlier - people don’t notice Pam, and she somewhat clings on to those who do.  So, being young, they probably dated a little - and since he was popular and she wasn’t, she probably thought his coolness rubbed off on her.  And then they went through their college years (though I don’t think either of them went to college) and after nagging him about their future, he finally proposed and it’s been in this unmoved, content state since then.  

(As a personal aside - there’s a joke in there that if Pam had married Roy, she’d be Pam Anderson.  And I’m epicly rolling my eyes.  I kind of hate that, like, the only famous Pam anyone knows is Pam Anderson, so this joke seems to keep being made.)  

Prank

So, Michael, in an attempt to show off to Ryan the temp, decides to pull a Punk’d-esque prank on Pam and fake fire her.  It’s deeply uncomfortable -- especially since Pam has a breakdown right in Michael's office.  And we can learn a few things here!  For one, Pam’s a pretty decent worker.  Despite being bored all the time, she does take her job seriously, and does a pretty decent job of it.  And, she hasn’t so much as stolen a paperclip.  

On top of that, her job and life are in a very stable state right now.  Pam doesn’t do well with upheaval - it’s one reason why she hasn’t broken it off with Roy yet.  And Michael throwing her a curveball upsets the nice, little life she’s crafted for herself.  Remember earlier when she said she’d be fine if she was let go?  Well -- turns out that’s not so much the case.  What is her life without her job? Not a whole lot…  

But also, she’s endured Michael’s shit for years at this point, I’d be close to breaking down, too.  Interestingly, though, when she finds it’s a prank, she storms out and calls him a jerk.  It’s rather tame by comparison to what she could do -- such as be very cruel and/or angry, or be assertive and go to HR about Michael.  She doesn’t do either, she just leaves.  Michael is a terrible person to her - she has every right to complain and get angry, but eventually, like everything else that happens to her at the moment, she’ll let it slide off.  Just another day in the office. 

Heading Home

Jim was supposed to be going out with the rest of the employees out for drinks, but instead, he’s waited to walk out with Pam (which I assume they do nearly every night).  Pam’s happy to see him -- especially since she’s had her break down of Michael firing her.  It’s a relief to have a friend in such an awful working environment.  They’re both aware of the camera, however, so they’re both playing things a little cool.  Jim’s obviously concerned that Pam’s been crying, and Pam is grateful that someone, again, notices her -- but neither are going to present to a camera what they’re trying to hide from themselves.  

Jim offers to walk her downstairs, but Roy’s already down there, noisy honking his horn for her to hurry up.  Such a classy guy, that Roy.  And Pam takes off -- just another day at Dunder-Mifflin. 

Overall Thoughts

The first season, in general, I think is a little rough.  And the pilot is a direct copy of the British version -- which is grittier and more pathetic in a lot of ways.  I don’t think that much of this particular episode because I think it’s a softball of what the British version is.  (And, I’m not even a fan of the British version -- oops.)  That said, I think one thing it does have going for it is that it has some fully fleshed out, three-dimensional characters, which is a nice change from the zany sitcom character we often get on American television up to this point.  The Office will eventually fall to sitcom cliches, etc, etc, but one of the few things this first season has is that it does hold a lot of realism about it. 

Deleted Scenes and Extras

-There’s an alternate joke when Michael is introducing Pam where he states that every guy in the office has sprayed on Pam. 

-There’s a whole bit where Michael comes up to Pam, who’s sitting and eating her lunch, and discusses the health of his balls.  It’s gross on multiple levels. 

-There are two commentaries on the DVDs for this episode - and both are enjoyable to listen to, I recommend checking them out! 

-I’ll probably blug this once a season, but Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey started a podcast called The Office Ladies, which they discuss the episodes week after week.  It is an utter delight, and if you’re at all a fan of the show, an interested in a bunch of fun BTS stuff, it’s totally worth it! 

#pam beesly files #the office #pam beesly #pam halpert

[woo-svt]

Figure It Out - [FOUR]

You really don’t understand how you’re supposed to find your soulmate.

  ⤳ Jaebum x Reader (Soulmate!AU)   ⤳ Fluff, Angst

☞   [ONE] [TWO] [THREE] [FIVE]

The next week following your intimate encounter with Jaebum left you feeling anxious, to say the least.

After your abrupt exit that fateful morning, you made your way home feeling extremely thankful Jaebum had no way to contact you other than through BamBam. From the moment you saw BamBam’s name light up on the phone, your own emotions were too much to deal with, but above all, you were confused. 

The very first time you met Jaebum something about him had been off-putting, you, of course, pinning it down to his cold gaze from across the room. Your next encounter with him, at the club along with his friends, was less than ideal for two people who had already found their soulmates. Your excuse? The alcohol, of course. So that leaves your third and last encounter, at Jaebum’s apartment. Your actions there were completely unacceptable and you were left thinking for an excuse. Was it the wine? You would like to think so, but you knew well enough you did not drink enough to fog your brain of thinking. 

Not finding a logical reason for what has happened between you both, you simply tried to move on. Trying to push the thoughts as far away from the boy as you possibly could. Unfortunately, you found it harder than expected. 

With BamBam still doing the bare minimum to talk to you, you found your distractions in your friends. Spending almost all your free time with them, it was a great way to forget your whole predicament- mostly. 

You currently sit with Mark, cozying up on his couch watching a boring sitcom as you waited for Ji Hyun to return from work so you all could go out to meet up with some other friends. 

The show displaying across the tv comes to an intimate scene between the two characters and at the thought, you can’t help but have your mind wander in the sleepy haze you're in. You groggily voice your questions to Mark who sits beside you, lazily scrolling through his phone, “What’s your first time like? With your soulmate, I mean.” At your tired, quiet voice Mark looks at you to make sure you were actually speaking to him, “Like, sleeping with them?” He asks, taking in the scene on the tv to guess what you were referring to. You nod, he looks at you for a second, “Have you...not slept with BamBam yet?” He asks cautiously. “I mean it’s okay if you haven’t,” he rushes, scared he’s made you feel bad, “It’s just most people rush to be with their soulmates by the time they find them.”

You don’t even feel embarrassed or ashamed of his question, you shake your head, “We’ve only hung out twice if you could even call it that. I don’t even talk to him.” Your friend lets out a grunt averting his eyes from you, “So, what is it like?” you ask again. 

Mark laughs, taking a breath before beginning his explanation. “Well, with other people, you know, it’s good...” he chuckles almost bashfully and rubs the back of his neck. “But when it’s with your soulmate,” he pauses licking his lips “It’s amazing.”

He snorts at his own less than satisfactory explanation, “I mean, everything feels good. It feels right. And not just the physical aspect of sex, but it’s everything. Every emotion inside of you is absolutely blissful. The first moment you become one with the soul that was matched for your own, it’s beautiful and more than you could ever imagine. The bond you and your soulmate share is indescribable, so being so intimate with them, especially for the first time is...just mind blowing really.” You both slightly laugh at his lame ending, though during his entire explanation you feel your heart racing more than it should, you ignore the reason why. 

“Also, both people tend not to last long at all during the first time, it’s so overwhelming. But don’t worry, it definitely gets better afterward.” He laughs again.

You feel sick to your stomach.

Only a couple days after your conversation with Mark, you go to your apartment after work only to find a big surprise. 

“Hey,” he says softly, almost awkwardly. 

“BamBam,” you say trying to refrain yourself from sounding too caught off guard, “Hey, come in.” you invite him, moving to unlock your door letting you both inside. 

The two of you remove your shoes and move to the living room in silence, “Do you want anything to drink?” you ask politely. He takes a seat on your couch, politely declining, “I actually can’t stay long, I’m sorry. I just wanted to see you since I got back from Thailand and before I leave again.” You nod at him, moving to sit next to him but making sure to keep a safe distance. “I, um,” BamBam chuckles pulling out a small wrapped package from his jacket pocket, “I told my mom about meeting you when I was home. She insisted on giving this to you.” he hands it over and you cautiously take it. 

Carefully removing the packaging, you’re met with a small, delicate snow globe. It reads “Thailand” and has a cute elephant inside. The small gift leaves a smile on your face as you carefully shake the “snow” around. “I’m sorry it’s not much, but it’s a small something from my home. My mom wanted you to have a piece of Thailand until you can actually come yourself and meet everyone.” He smiles softly, taking in how you observe the globe. 

Your stomach tightens at his comment but you brush it off, “No, it’s perfect. I love it, thank you so much. And your mom” You laugh slightly, BamBam’s own joining yours. 

“It’s funny,” he speaks up from beside you again, “My mom always claimed that she thought for sure my soulmate would be from Thailand even when I moved here.” You look at him, “Oh, I’m sorry...” you say not sure what exactly to comment. “No, no,” he laughs “It’s not bad, of course. Your soulmate is your soulmate, you can’t change who you're meant to be with.” 

You nod in silence, drawing your attention to the small gift again. After a moment of silence, BamBam talks, “You should be lucky you got that, my mom made me bring Jaebum a bag of Rod Duan.” he laughs, “Those are cooked bamboo worms.” You can’t help but join his laughter, feeling relieved yourself with your gift. 

“Speaking of Jaebum,” he says and suddenly your stomach drops as your brain fills with the worst thoughts, could Jaebum have told him about the two of you?

“He told me to give you his number, apparently your friends with an old friend of his and he wants you to reconnect them.” You lick your lips relieved at his comment but you knew better than to take his number, it would be too risky. 

“Oh yeah, Jinyoung. I”ll just give you Jinyoung’s number to give to him, he would love to hear from him.” You smile at BamBam.

Just a few nights after your short encounter with BamBam, you found yourself at Do Min’s apartment making dinner and enjoying a night in while Jinyoung was out with his own friends. 

Standing off to the side while your friend cut the vegetables and sang loudly (and rather bad) to the songs playing from the speaker, you were paying more attention to your phone where BamBam was messaging you. He was leaving for Thailand again in a few days and wanted to try to meet up beforehand. You two had originally intended to grab drinks and see a movie after dinner tonight, but not to your surprise at all, he is currently texting you having to cancel. 

Though by now you knew your soulmate to be a busy man who has a hard time making plans due to his work. The reason for his cancellation this time leaves you speechless. 

From Bam:

Srry, have to raincheck  Something came up Jaebum called it off w Seo Jin Trying to talk w him Talk to u later

Reading over the message a few times, the nauseous feeling in your stomach only seems to grow. The voice in the back of your mind is telling you exactly why Jaebum had done this. But like you’ve been doing since the night you spent with him, you ignore it pushing it further away from your thoughts. 

You quickly reply to him, telling him you hope everything is okay and you hope you’re still able to see him before his trip. 

Tonight, sitting with Do Min, the voice in your head was nagging you more than usual. Your head began to hurt with the amount of thinking you were doing about your situation. At this point, you were paying no attention to your friend and her rant about how she wanted a cat but Jinyoung insisted the couple adopt a dog instead. 

“Do Min,” you say interrupting her. She hums in response, looking at your over her cup of tea, “Oh no,” she starts “Please don’t say you want us to get a dog too! You’re supposed to be on my side!” 

Despite your messy thoughts, you chuckle at your friend, “No, no. I just wanted to ask you about something.” The small girl chuckles too, nodding at you to continue. “Have you ever heard of soulmates breaking up?”  

Her eyebrows immediately furrow and you watch as her lips open and close frantically, having a hard time processing what you were saying. “Well, no. Soulmates don’t break up. They’re soulmates...they are literally made to be together forever.” She speaks slowly and suddenly you feel like your seven years old again when your parents tried to answer all your questions about soulmates over dinner. 

At your lack of response, her eyes widen, “BamBam...” she starts and you urgently sit up straighter shaking your head, “No! No, it’s not him.” Your friend's shoulders become more relaxed and she leans back in the couch, seemingly relieved whatever it was your asking didn’t have to do with you. 

Well, she had another thing coming. 

“His roommate, and best friend. He and his soulmate were called into the room with us but they were kind of an item throughout college too. BamBam texted today and canceled our plans because his roommate called it off with her.” 

“There had to have been a mistake then. Soulmates are together forever.” You withhold eye contact with her, “Well, maybe he just is having doubts right now.” But your friend laughs at you, “There are no doubts in soulmates. None at all, your meant to be with someone and you always know it. No doubt about it.” 

It seems suddenly that all of the emotions you’ve been withholding make their way out of you, “Do Min,” you choke out, a soft sob following quickly after. With that, your friend quickly puts her drink down moving closer, ready to comfort you. “I’ve been having nothing but doubts since the left the soulmate room.” You finally say, your chest feeling lighter at finally admitting your feelings to someone. You hadn’t even taken the time to let yourself realize it on your own. 

You confide in your best friend, letting her hug you as she stays silent, letting you cry all the tears and emotions you’ve built up the past couple of weeks. Once the tears ceased, you take your time to voice your thoughts to your friend. You tell her about Seo Jin taking charge and placing you and BamBam together, you explain what happened when you danced with Jaebum on the night when you when out with BamBam. And finally, you tell her about the night you spent in bed with him, feeling all too intimate with someone who wasn’t your soulmate. 

Do Min doesn’t say anything the whole time, letting you tell your story as she rubs your arms in a comforting manner, a quiet hum leaving her lips once in awhile telling you she was still paying attention. 

Sometime after you finish, she speaks in a whisper, “You know now, don’t you?” 

Your lip begins to wobble again at her words, you definitely were not ready to admit what she was hinting at, but at the same time, you knew she was right. When you fail to acknowledge her, she laughs softly, “I remember in high school when you were so stressed about finding your soulmate. You were terrified that you didn’t know what it would be like.” You wanted to speak up and say it wasn’t just in high school you had that dear, but that fear was still in your mind to the very day. 

She speaks up again, “When I see Jinyoung, it’s as if no matter what mood I was in before, I’m suddenly as happy as could be. When I look at him, all I want to do is smile. There's a strong feeling, a pull in my chest that when being with him I feel such an overwhelming sense of happiness and love that I don’t know what to do with myself.” You can hear the smile in her voice, “And that feeling is always there, it always will be. Even when we have an argument, the feeling allows us to talk and work things out. We give each other strength, undying love, and happiness. And this sensation only grows the longer you’re together. When we met in high school, the feeling was faint, but there. And as time goes on our bond only grows stronger, the bond that connects us together. Everything about being with your soulmate is pure bliss, physically and emotionally. If you let yourself feel it, that is.” 

Now it’s time for you to stay silent, carefully taking in every word and description she has to offer. You find yourself wishing she would have given this explanation to you years ago. 

“Now, let me ask you something,” she says, “Who were you thinking about when I described the feeling?”

On Monday, you sluggishly make your way to your apartment after a long day of work. Your eyes tired and puffy from all the crying you did over the weekend, a faint headache still bothering you from the amount of thinking you had been doing. 

Making your way out of the elevator you heart rate begins to pick up, glancing up towards your door you notice him leaning against it. 

Jaebum immediately stands up straight, hands in the pockets of his black jeans as he watches you approach him. You whine quietly, just seeing him there was overwhelming enough, you didn’t even want to think about why he may be here. 

You move to unlock your door, a raspy, “How did you get my address?” leaving your lips. Jaebum clears his throat, “Jinyoung gave it to me.” You wonder if Do Min had anything to do with the matter. You don’t say anything, but leave the door open behind you giving him the chance to follow you inside. 

“I think you know why I’m here,” he says as you place your stuff on the table beside you. Your head pounds at his question and you sigh, “No Jaebum, why are you here.” you finally turn towards him, taking in the slight panic in his eyes.  He chuckles, “What do you mean you don’t know? How could you not know?” you heart is now pounding as much as your head, “Jaebum, stop. Just, what-what are you doing here? What are you doing?” You ask and your voice is weak, feeling so overwhelmed that you grab onto the chair to keep yourself steady. 

His face looks almost angry now, but the hurt is evident in his eyes, “Don’t pretend you have no idea what I’m talking about. You know just as much as I do that we’re soulmates.” His voice cracks at the end of the sentence, and you feel the sudden urge to throw up at his sudden confrontation. When you don’t answer he speaks louder, “How could you not know?!” 

You bring your hands up to cover your temples, “I don’t know! How was I supposed to know!” He takes a step closer, “How could you not have! I knew from the second you walked through that door that you were mine! The second I laid eyes on you I had no doubt I was yours! And what do you do?! Go with BamBam?!” You start to cry, “Stop! Stop yelling at me! This is not my fault you already had someone! And she told me he was mine! How would I ever even consider it was you?!” 

You know notice the tears welling up in his own eyes and the crack in his voice when he raises his voice again, “You didn’t feel it?” 

You look at him, a soft sob escaping your lips, “All my life I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out what I was supposed to feel when I met my soulmate. No one could ever explain to me what to expect and I was always so frightened, so worried that I would never know what the feeling was. And I didn’t. I had no idea what to expect when I entered that room and I wasn’t even given the chance to experience or figure it out for myself before I was being pushed onto someone and having them slap a soulmate label on us!” 

Jaebum stays quiet, studying you, tears still in his eyes. His eyes show so much hurt that you swear you could feel their pain. He finally breaks eye contact, looking towards the door.

“I’ll just leave you to think about what that could mean then.” he turns, walking to the exit. 

“Jaebum!” you whine going to follow him. Your feelings were all over the place but if you knew one thing, it was that you didn’t want him to leave like this. But you don’t have much say in the matter as he closes the door loudly behind him. 

You’re left alone with your messy thoughts, an urge to throw up and a strong pull in your chest. You wonder if this is what it’s like to be heartbroken. 

-   -   -   

©

☞ [feedback is appreciated]

#mine #jaebum #got7 #jaebum smut #jaebum scenarios #jaebum fanfic #jaebum scenario #jaebum x reader #jaebum imagine #got fanfic #got7 smut #got7 fluff #got7 scenarios #got7 angst #jaebum angst #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #kpop scenarios #got7 imagines

[roominthecastle]

Mike Schur on Ted Danson, the ethics of surprise twists, objectives vs superobjectives, and the narrative pitfalls of the reset button

(2017 Gold Derby interview)

How did Ted Danson come to join the project?

Mike Schur: He's my hero, acting-wise and comedy-wise. Cheers is my favorite show and Sam Malone is my favorite character in the history of TV. So I decided to pitch him the character, to write the character for him. I was driving to meet him at his manager's office and I had one thought going through my head constantly, which was "You've gotta be cool. Don't look like an idiot." I'm not a person who gets really revved up by a celebrity. There's a movie star or a TV star at my workplace every week, so I've kinda got inoculated to it a little bit. There are still some people who would make me jittery but not many. Ted was the biggest one. Honestly. Cheers was so formative for me, so important to me, that I got actively nervous. I kept thinking "You gotta be cool. You gotta be cool. You gotta be cool." I got to his office and I met him and he said, "I'm very excited to meet you." And I said, "I BET I AM MORE EXCITED!!" and immediately I was like "you are already blowing it." And he said, "Oh. Why is that?" And I said, "Because I consider you to be the greatest actor in the history of the medium of television." And it was so embarrassing, so not-cool, after telling myself to be cool a hundred times. I honestly thought I had blown it. I remember thinking that if I were this man, I would either think I was a disgusting suckup, or I would think this guy is trying so hard to make me believe something that isn't true, which is that he loves me this much, that either way I am out. Fortunately, Ted is a more centered person than I am. He let it go and I pitched him the show, we had a really great conversation and he signed on. That was the bumpiest moment for us. The first moment when I was an idiot. After that, completely smooth sailing.

He couldn't be a nicer person. He's very thoughtful and very kind and very chill. The reason I fell in love with him as an actor is his timing. I remember loving his comedic timing before I knew what the concept of comedic timing was. There's something about the rhythm of his delivery and the way he would pause. He commands a space better than anyone I've ever seen. We are writing these lines for him and I look at a script and because his style is so distinct and his timing is so good, you can imagine exactly how it's gonna sound, and then he executes it and it's exactly the way you imagined it. He's worked so hard at being good, it's inspiring. He's in his 60's and he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone ever, and yet he works so hard, he wants to get it right so badly and he's so humble in his approach. By human standards, it's great, we should all try to do our job well. But by Hollywood standards, it's shocking and truly inspiring how hard he works at his craft to try and get better every day at his age with his resume.

It's hard to think of a person who has done a better job in more different genres. You put him in a multi-cam sitcom, he creates an all-time hall of fame iconic character. You put him in a very dark, twisted drama in Damages, and he's still probably the best villain that show had. You put him in a single-cam sitcom, and he just blows the door off of it. Especially one where the character had to undergo a massive transformation over the course of the season. He was playing six different things at any one time and once we got to the end with the big twist, they all had to retroactively fit together, they had to be consistent. And Curb is largely improvised, for God's sake. It's like he's checking off genre by genre, being great in every one of them.

Did Ted know that twist was coming?

MS: Yes, from the beginning, from the meeting where I cracked into pieces. Ted and Kristen knew. I felt that actors of their stature deserved to know the full range of what they were signing on for. The entire show was going to be on the backs of Kristen and Ted in different ways. It was almost an ethical question for me because I was approaching these two actors who can basically do whatever they want in TV or movies or anything. In order to get them to sign on, I felt it would be almost unethical - knowing where I was going and what I wanted to do with the season and the show in general - I felt it would be borderline unethical to get them to sign on without them knowing the whole thing. And it was more unethical with Ted because SPOILER ALERT the secret is that this is not actually heaven, it is hell, and this entire thing is a torture chamber. Michael - Ted's character - has appeared to be the architect of a little slice of heaven, but everybody else except for the main 4 characters is an actor and they are torturing these four people. This neighborhood he put together was designed for the four of them to torture each other. They are supposed to be driving each other crazy for all eternity.

It wouldn't have been super unethical if I hadn't told Kristen because she was playing the same character all the way through the 13 episodes. But for Ted, I felt that if I don't tell him this, what I'm doing is getting Ted Danson to sign on to a show where he thinks he is playing essentially an angel, and then I'm going to reveal at the end that he is a demon. And that felt uncool. If he, for whatever reason, didn't want to do that, he should be able to say, "I don't like where this is going." If I hadn't come up with that twist when I pitched the show to him, I don't think it would have been unethical. But since I knew from before I ever talked to him or Kristen, I felt I owed it to them to tell them the whole story. Fortunately, they both liked it, they were both into it, and Ted was far more interested in playing a secret demon who appeared to be an angel than he was in just playing an angel, which I understand. It's a better gig. It's more fun to play the guy who turns out to be a crazed person than just a nice, pleasant, boring, happy nice guy.

It was also probably good to fill him in because it could have influenced the way he played scenes earlier in the season.

MS: True. Ted and Kristen knew and the other four actors in the main cast did not. [Their characters] were being fooled and I was like "let [the actors] be fooled, too, for as long as it's appropriate”. But because they didn't know, Ted, Kristen, and I had to come up with ways on the set to talk about what was going on. We used these acting terms called "objective" and "superobjective". Objective is what you are trying to accomplish in the scene and superobjective is the emotional, kind of resonant thing like a giant umbrella you are going for. So I'd say, "Ted, your objective in this scene is to make Chidi feel better, but your superobjective is to get him to throw his life's work into the garbage.” That's the "true task" that you're quietly, secretly aiming for. “What am I appearing to try to do?” versus “What am I actually trying to do?” He and Kristen handled it amazingly well. I really think that if you go back and watch everything that's in the show, you will see these tiny glimpses from time to time of Ted taking a certain amount of delight in what appeared at the time to be something good that was happening for one of the characters, but in reality it was a thing that was going to make that character's life even worse. It's a testament to how well they can juggle these objectives and superobjectives.

Ted really locked onto this one idea that he was a sort of a middle manager. That was a thing that appealed to him very early, that he is not God, or, in this case, the Devil, but he's in the middle, sort of a bureaucrat. He really liked that because it allowed him to play a middle manager trying to climb the corporate ladder, but also he doesn't have a lot of power and there's people above him that he has to answer to. Sometimes he screwed up and was incompetent, sometimes it looked like he was screwing up and incompetent but it was all part of the plan. He really liked that idea of inserting himself - in terms of this hierarchy - right in the middle. He's not the weakest guy but he's not the strongest, either. He really enjoys playing the nuanced middle, which is a very smart instinct.

Season 2

MS: The advantage of the way that we produced the first season and of knowing what the ending was before we even started writing episode two was that it gave us a lot of time to think about how we’re gonna dig ourselves out of the hole we were about to put ourselves in. Because when you upend the show to that extent and you literally press the reset button, it's a very risky thing creatively because number one: you hope the audience doesn't think "am I just gonna watch the same season again? How's that interesting? Everything goes back to square one." And the other dangerous thing is, you start to run the risk of the audience feeling like nothing matters. If Michael can just reset them whenever he wants to, then who cares? Who cares what they go through? Who cares whether they learn or grow or change or become better? So the main thing we tried to do was come up with a couple different structural pieces that couldn't happen, so it wouldn't be just the same season from beginning to end.

There is some external pressure that meant that Michael couldn't just reset them for the next five seasons. That pressure comes from this boss played by Marc Evan Jackson who basically says, "You can try again but if it goes sideways, you're done." There is a threat, a sort of sword of Damocles hanging over his head. And Eleanor managed in a very quick thinking kind of scrappy Eleanorish kinda way to sneak herself a note by shoving it in Janet's mouth. It says "Find Chidi." So when she wakes up, instead of having to put the whole thing together from scratch over the course of an entire year, she has directed herself to a person who can accelerate the process. These and a couple of other things we buried in there are our way of saying to the audience "it's not the same season, things are going to change and move on."

#the good place #mike schur #ted danson #long post #writing

[perfectirishgifts]

Sarah McBride Talks About Having ‘A Seat At The Table’ As The First Trans State Senator In U.S. History

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/sarah-mcbride-talks-about-having-a-seat-at-the-table-as-the-first-trans-state-senator-in-u-s-history-2/

Sarah McBride Talks About Having ‘A Seat At The Table’ As The First Trans State Senator In U.S. History

Sarah McBride is the first trans state senator in U.S. history.

Sarah McBride is still weeks away from being sworn in to represent the First State Senate District in Delaware, but she’s already hard at work for her constituents. 

McBride is fielding pothole requests in the district that encompasses Claymont (yes— the same place the incoming president, Joe Biden, grew up,) Bellefonte, and parts of Wilmington, Delaware. She is also creating a plan to address some of the issues she focused on during her campaign: healthcare, paid family medical leave, re-imagining the criminal justice system, repairing the economy, and building quality public schools for every child, regardless of zip code. 

While McBride focuses on the issues that helped get her elected with almost 75% of the vote, she’s also quick to embrace the barriers she has broken. The 30-year-old who now represents the districts she grew up in also happens to be the first transgender person in the country to be elected to any state senate. 

This makes Sarah McBride America’s highest-ranking openly transgender elected official.

And although she’s already had to counter offensive questions with quick-witted responses, McBride has been overwhelmingly welcomed in the district where she’s worked in politics since she was a teenager. 

Trying To “Make The Most Amount Of Good” 

McBride grew up the youngest of three children, with two older brothers. According to Sean McBride, her oldest brother, the McBride family has a deep and abiding love of politics, and from a young age, his sister was enamored with it. Sean reminisced about Sarah’s infatuation with elections as a kid.

“She was obsessed with politics, political culture, and specifically with the White House,” Sean laughed.

“I remember, she had a ton of books about— not just the occupants of the White House, but the building itself. She took a real interest in things like the layout of the White House and the history of architecture, which is, you know, that’s atypical for a nine or 10-year-old.”

When Sarah was around 12, she went from reading about politics to being actively involved. She began volunteering on political campaigns, including for the former governor of Delaware, Jack Markell. As a field organizer for Markell’s campaign, she knocked on doors, recruited volunteers, and talked to neighbors about supporting the state treasurer, who at the time was running to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in the state.

Markell said McBride even recruited around 60 students to support his campaign. He became so impressed by her, specifically her public speaking abilities, he asked her to come with him around the state and introduce him at campaign events. 

“I probably would not have won without her,” said Markell, who became McBrides’s most significant mentor and friend.

When she was 15, McBride had her first political internship with none other than Beau Biden, late son of Joe Biden, when he was campaigning for Delaware Attorney General. McBride recalled part of why she immersed herself in politics instead of participating in typical pre-teen shenanigans. 

“I think a big reason for that was that I, at a young age, I knew who I was, but also knew very definitively that there wasn’t much space for someone like me, in our society,” McBride said.

“And politics and government and advocacy seemed like a place where I could try to make the most amount of good for the most number of people in the most number of ways possible.”

As far back as she can remember, McBride says she knew she was different. But it wasn’t until she was 10, watching the sitcom NBC’s Just Shoot Me with her mom, when she realized there were other people in the world like her. The sitcom had a guest character, played by Jenny McCarthy, who is eventually revealed as transgender. As McBride puts it, whenever someone expressed interest in McCarthy’s character on the show, the punchline was that they didn’t know she was trans, and the laugh track would cue.

McBride reminisced how she turned to her mother and asked whether people like McCarthy’s character existed in the world. When her mother replied yes, she said, her heart sank. 

“I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to have to tell you this someday, and you are going to be so disappointed,” McBride said. “And what could have been a life-affirming moment of finding out that there were other people like me, and that I wasn’t alone in this world, was really in many ways soul-crushing, because at 10-years-old, you don’t know a lot, but you know, you don’t want to be a joke.”

“And every time that laugh track would cue, I knew, or at least I thought I knew, that there wouldn’t be a place for me in this world. And even if I couldn’t personally benefit… I think I got involved in politics because I thought if I could help others in their pursuit of authenticity and happiness, that it would somehow fill the incompleteness and the pain in my own life.”

Along the way, though, she found herself. McBride’s most prominent supporters, her family, couldn’t be prouder – especially her big brother, Sean.

“I remember being a kid and handing out leaflets, canvassing for Harris McDowell, the senator who represented the district, I think for my entire life,” Sean said. “It would have been beyond belief, the idea that my youngest sister, my only sister, ten years younger than me, would replace him.”

“If you told me that when I was 16- or 17 years old, canvassing for Harris McDowell, I would have been shocked.”

‘Coming Out’ And Jack Markell 

When Sarah McBride arrived at American University in Washington D.C., she dived right into campus politics and advocacy, and was eventually elected student body president. She helped restart a school scholarship program that had gone dormant, successfully advocated for gender-inclusive housing at the university, helped create an LGBTQ minor, and pushed for reforms to improve accessibility on campus, among  other accomplishments. 

But even with how busy she kept herself through her studies and student government work, there was still something missing. 

“As professionally fulfilling as it was, it didn’t heal the pain,” McBride said. “It only emphasized that I was living my life as someone I wasn’t.”

During her term as student body president, McBride came out as transgender to her family, campus, and faith community. At that moment, McBride said, she prepared herself for backlash, and for the stigma to potentially corrode her friendships, and even her potential career in government. News spread not only through campus but also through Delaware’s political circles, as McBride had accrued much influence in her very public role as a young youth advocate. 

There was one person she wanted to tell the news to personally, though — her mentor— Delaware Gov. Jack Markell. She remembers the day vividly. McBride reached out to one of Markell’s senior advisors.

“The governor was in New York on Morning Joe, I remember, and I called his senior advisor, and said I was hoping to talk to the governor and told him why,” McBride said. 

Around three hours later, McBride was taking the elevator up to her college apartment when she received a call. It was Markell.

“I pick up, and he goes, ‘Well, that’s big news,'” McBride said. “I went through a very abbreviated, rapid version of what I was experiencing and told him that I didn’t want to take too much of his time. And he just said, ‘You know, slow down, let’s talk.’ 

McBride said she and the governor spoke for around 45 minutes in a conversation where he made clear he loved and supported her. A few minutes later, Markell’s wife called McBride to express support too, and then they both called McBride’s parents. 

“I remember my mother was so scared when I came out, I’ve never seen her cry that hard,” McBride said. “To have the governor of the state and the First Lady reach out and say, ‘This doesn’t change anything. We love you. And we’re there for Sarah and are there for you.'”

“My mother was in a mall and fell to the floor and started crying.”

McBride said every two weeks, Markell would call and check on her. 

“There’s no one in politics who has supported me and mentored me more than Jack Markell. He is a generous and compassionate person,” McBride said. 

The Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Bill

A few weeks after coming out, McBride recalls Markell and his son visiting her in D.C. Markell’s son was looking at colleges, and American University was on the list. After a tour, the three sat down for coffee, when Markell asked McBride whether she wanted to return to Delaware after graduation. 

“I said, ‘I do, governor, but I’m scared to come back because there are no non-discrimination protections for transgender people,” McBride said.

“He [Governor Markell] sat back in his chair, and he said, ‘Let’s fix that.’

Sarah McBride advocates for the gender identity non-discrimination bill.

From that moment on, McBride said she effectively became “the 63rd member of the Delaware General Assembly.” She camped out at legislative hall, day in and day out, advocating for the gender identity non-discrimination bill.

“When you are walking the halls with a person impacted by an issue, when you’re sitting across an office, or a conference room table, from a person impacted by an issue, the political becomes personal, and the abstract, becomes real,” she said.

“And it’s difficult to look someone in the eye and deny them the equal protection of the laws, or deprioritize their rights.”

Markell said his philosophy was always to provide everyone—regardless of gender identity, etc.— equal protections under the law. Besides that, he said it’s the right thing to do; it would help Delaware thrive from an economic standpoint. He said he believes McBride humanized the issue for members of the legislature and members of the public.

Sarah McBride spent months at Delaware’s legislative hall advocating for the gender identity … [] non-discrimination bill.

“Her coming down to testify, her coming down along with her parents, who are just extraordinary people, to meet individually with legislators or to stand on the floor of the House or the Senate, and frankly, in some cases, to have abuse hurled at them. But to be so strong was absolutely critical to getting the legislation through,” Markell said. 

 Within a year, Markell signed the Gender Identity Non-Discrimination bill into law.

The Delaware State Senate/The LGBTQ Community  

McBride wasn’t sure she’d ever run for office. It’s not that she didn’t want to; it had more to do with the difficulty of “being what you can’t see.” There were no transgender state senators for her to emulate. As she climbed the ladder, she figured she’d find a role elsewhere. 

McBride found advocacy work fulfilling. From 2016 until her election this year, she worked as a spokesperson for The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group and political lobbying organization in the U.S. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, she made history as the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention. 

Sarah McBride launched her campaign in 2019, after years spent working in advocacy for The Human … [] Rights Campaign.

She was a successful advocate, but knew more might be accomplished by having a ‘seat at the table.’ She also had ideas and a vision for the district she called home for three decades. In 2019, she decided to run for Delaware State Senate. 

Campaigning during the age of Covid wasn’t easy; her team of supporters and volunteers went from knocking on doors to sending texts, phone calls, and writing postcards. It didn’t take long for McBride to realize how accepting the voters of Delaware’s first senate district are. In the primary, she defeated fellow Democrat Joseph McCole with a whopping 91 percent of the vote. 

“Those results reflect the fair-mindedness of the voters in the First Senate District who judge candidates based on their ideas and experience, not on their identities,” McBride said. 

McBride would go on to win, making history. Soon after, advocacy groups such as The Human Rights Campaign, McBride’s previous employer, and The LGBTQ Victory Fund, an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public officials in the U.S., reacted with excitement. 

“One of the reasons the Victory Fund works to elect people is because representation matters. Ever since Danica Roam [a transgender woman in the Virginia House of Delegates] won in 2017, we’ve seen so many trans candidates inspired to step up and run for office,” said Sean Meloy, the senior political director at the Victory Fund.

“Sarah is the latest to inspire and give hope to a whole slew of people across the country.”

According to Meloy, there is a tremendous deficit in the elected office of people within the LGBTQ community. He said roughly 5% of adults identify as LGBTQ in the U.S. However, they only represent approximately .1% of roughly 500,000 elected positions. 

Meloy and The Victory Fund say that for LGBTQ people to achieve “equitable representation,” there would need to be more than 22,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people elected to office.

Lucas Acosta, the Deputy Communications Director for Politics for the Human Rights Campaign, believes McBride’s election will spark more LGBTQ people to run for office.

“Sarah is the first trans person to be in the state senate, and the next step for the community, specifically with the trans community, is getting elected as a member of Congress, and I think that that is 100% doable,” Acosta said.

Sarah McBride was elected to the Delaware State Senate with almost 75% of the vote,

McBride emphasized she didn’t run to merely be a transgender state senator or to focus on trans rights; her focus is on all the residents in the first senate district, regardless of their identity or background. She says she didn’t want to make headlines or news, but wants to make a difference in her community. She did emphasize, though, that she will work to ensure she is not the last transgender person to be elected to political office. 

“To be a first doesn’t matter if you’re the last, and the best way to ensure that I’m not the last is to be entirely focused on the nuts and bolts of the job that I have in front of me,” McBride said. 

“I know how much of a difference it would have made for me as a young person to have seen this news, and my hope is that whether you’re LGBTQ or not, you see this result and you recognize that you can live your truth, whatever that is, and dream big dreams all at the same time.”

Andy

Sarah McBride says her late husband, Andy, immensely influenced her political career.

There have been many formative parts of McBride’s life, including her journey as a trans person and her political experiences as a young person. But when asked what influenced her journey the most, she said… Andy. 

Andy was McBride’s late husband, whom she met while interning at the White House under President Barack Obama. Andy was a transgender man; they met at the White House Pride reception in 2012.

“He reached out to me a couple of weeks later, with a Facebook message where he said he thought we’d get along swimmingly. And he asked me out. Typically, I wouldn’t respond to a Facebook message like that. But I knew we had a bunch of mutual friends. And I thought, anyone my age who says the word swimmingly is good in my book,” McBride laughed.

They started dating almost immediately. McBride said Andy worked as an advocate in healthcare, trying to ensure the Affordable Care Act was implemented in a way that provided quality services and affordable healthcare to marginalized communities, specifically the LGBTQ community. 

And then, a year into their relationship, Andy was diagnosed with cancer. 

McBride served as Andy’s caregiver throughout his battle with cancer; he underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery and eventually got a clean bill of health. And then, eight months later, after his final chemotherapy and radiation session, he got the news every cancer patient fears: it was back, it had spread to his lungs and it was terminal. 

When Andy found out the news, McBride says, he asked her to marry him. They got married three weeks after his terminal diagnosis. He died four days after their wedding.

Sarah McBride and Andy got married three weeks after his terminal cancer diagnosis.

“When we ask people to sit back and allow for slow conversations to take place before we ensure them opportunity and treat them with dignity, we are asking people to watch their one life pass by without the fairness and opportunity they deserve,” McBride said. 

“I saw that in Andy’s life as a transgender man, who had come out at a relatively young age and who should have had three-quarters of his life as his authentic self, but because of circumstances outside of his control, he had less than a quarter.”

“I left that experience with a profound sense of the urgency of the issues we face, and the preciousness of time.”

The Future

As McBride looks to the future, she has many things on her mind, including the Covid-19 pandemic. She’s focused on ensuring Delaware continues to face the crisis in a data-driven, responsible way. She encourages the legislature to empower a data- and science-driven approach in its response. She wants to ensure the economy is preserved, while the Covid-19 recovery plan helps all families; she also advocates for paid family and medical leave.

While she works on the issues at hand, she continues to receive messages about her historic win. The ones that mean the most are from transgender children and their families. 

She thinks about them while she approaches her work and while reflecting on how far she’s come. 

“I’ll never forget, years ago, standing on the floor of the Delaware State Senate with tears in my eyes, with my parents by my side, telling my story and effectively pleading for my rights,” McBride said. 

“I was looking out on a chamber that didn’t include anyone like me. Now, seven years later, to have the opportunity to stand on that same floor as the newly elected state senator for the district that has always meant so much to me, as my authentic self, now fighting for dignity and opportunity for every single Delawarean, is an incredible journey to reflect on.”

From Diversity & Inclusion in Perfectirishgifts

[ramajmedia]

Deadly Class: 12 Easter Eggs In Season 1 | ScreenRant

Despite some initial hype and generally good reviews, SyFy’s Deadly Class only lasted one season before it was canceled. Based on the Image Comics of the same name, Deadly Class followed Marcus (Benjamin Wadsworth) in his first year at King’s Dominion. With some unlikely friends and his sponsor Saya (Lana Condor), Marcus fought and schemed to survive the bloodstained halls of the assassin’s academy.

RELATED: 10 Sitcoms From Before 1970 That Still Hold Up

Over the course of 10 episodes, Deadly Class relished in relieving the ‘80s counterculture while also paying a few tributes to the popular media of the time and of course, to the comics it was based on. Here are 12 Easter Eggs you may have missed in Deadly Class season one.

12 Faces of Death

Since King’s Dominion is a school dedicated to teaching the art of murder, it’s not surprising that one of Marcus’ educational materials is the first installment of Faces of Death: a controversial exploitation documentary series that debuted in 1978.

Depending on who you ask, Faces of Death is either a shameless snuff film or a morbidly classic documentary. Each episode of the shockumentary series showed what death looked like, whether it was real or convincingly staged. While audiences are treated to such horrifying sights, the narrator would ruminate about mortality’s meaning or the lack thereof.

11 The Scorpio Slasher is the Zodiac Killer

A new character that the televised Deadly Class introduces is the serial killer known as the Scorpio Slasher, who teaches students about the psychology of mass murderers. Given his history and the series’ timeline, the Scorpio Slasher is clearly a homage to the Zodiac Killer.

RELATED: Mindhunter: 10 Differences Between The Show And The Book

Some similarities include: his list of young victims, the belief that his victims will become his slaves in the afterlife, and his unassuming appearance as a middle-aged bespectacled white man. His chained appearance is also a clear nod to Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

10 Chester Channels The Lord Humungus

In the seventh episode, Chester rolls up in an intimidating truck to announce his arrival. Said truck that’s armed to teeth with improvised blades and random vehicle paraphernalia is a clear homage to the post-apocalyptic cars of Mad Max: The Road Warrior, specifically the one driven by The Lord Humungus.

Sealing the homage is Dwight, who’s strapped to the front just like Humungus’ captives. A main difference is that Humungus had two prisoners in front of his car and none of them were as chill as Dwight was. Also, neither of them were wearing a humiliating bunny suit.

9 Saya and Maria’s Duel

During the season finale, Maria and Saya’s misunderstandings and anger finally explodes when they clash blades. Before they fight, close-ups of their faces are shown tinted red as the music ramps up the tension.

This brief stand-off is an obvious nod to Kill Bill, where the camera would also lock onto The Bride’s death glare whenever she faced one of her Kill List targets. The latter is in turn a recreation of the same stare from Death Rides a Horse, a Spaghetti Western starring Lee Van Cleef.

8 Marcus Fears and Loathes Las Vegas

Taking a break from the carnage at detention, Marcus, Saya, Maria, Willie, and Billy go on a road trip to Las Vegas. Heavy baggage and Vegas can only mean one thing: a really bad drug trip.

RELATED: 10 Best Episodes Of Charlie’s Angels According To IMDb

Riding through Vegas in a big red shark not unlike the one seen in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the gang sees some psychedelic sights that hearken back to Hunter S. Thompson’s drug-fueled search for the American dream. Appropriately, Raoul Duke (or at least someone who looks like him) shows up for a split second.

7 The Deadly Breakfast Club

Subtler than Dwight's Risky Business reenactment is Deadly Class’ version of the classic ‘80s teen movie The Breakfast Club, where an unlikely group of students find themselves bonding in detention. Only now there’s more violence and murder involved.

The set-up is the same, with six students (instead of five) finding themselves stuck together for a protracted amount of time in a classroom. Over time, they get to know each other a bit better while also almost becoming friends. Too bad a pair of nigh-unstoppable Kuroki assassins interrupt everything with murder.

6 The Soundtrack

Set in 1986, it shouldn’t be surprising that Deadly Class features a playlist of ‘80s hits. The songs and bands heard in the background of some scenes, however, weren’t just used because they’re historically accurate setting but because author Rick Remender suggested them.

RELATED: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Labyrinth

In the comics’ second issue, Remender revealed some of the characters’ favorite songs and bands. Too $hort’s Freaky Tales was specifically cited for Willie, while songs by The Cure, David Bowie, and Depeche Mode were linked to Petra, Saya, and Marcus respectively. DEVO (synonymous to Shabnam) also gets a shout out.

5 The Episode Titles

Speaking of period accurate music, each Deadly Class episode is named after a particular punk band, album, or song from the ‘80s. Some noteworthy titles include the song Noise, Noise, Noise by The Damned and the Youth Brigade’s album Sink with California.

RELATED: 10 Best Uses Of Licensed Music In The MCU

The most appropriately named episode would have to be the pilot. Titled Reagan Youth, this episode is named after a band that took aim at the fanatical devotion for then-presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan, comparing his supporters to the Hitler Youth who swore blind allegiance to Nazi Germany’s dictator.

4 Rick Remender’s Writing Career

When Marcus hops into Willie’s car, the two have a short debate about comics that ends with FWD’s leader pointing a gun to his lab partner’s head for dissing the Dark Phoenix Saga. Also, Marcus praised indie comics while dismissing mainstream comics as shallow male power fantasies.

This conversation is a shout-out to Remender’s writing career, since he wrote Uncanny X-Force for Marvel Comics and a number of original titles (including Deadly Class) under the indie publisher Image Comics. It’s left up to audiences to decide which side of the debate the show and Remender are on.

3 Wesley Craig’s Art

Every time a character has a flashback, Deadly Class cuts to an animated sequence showing their traumatic backstory. The animated sequences weren’t used to amp up the surrealism, but to find a way to add Wesley Craig’s art into the show.

RELATED: 10 Moments That Date Superhero Movies Terribly

Colored by Lee Loughride, Craig’s art is also evident during the acid trips in Vegas and the way certain scenes are framed, with some panels effectively being brought to life. Even Marcus’ default outfit (long black sleeves under a plain white shirt) is directly lifted from the comics’ pages.

2 Marcus’ Narration

Each episode of Deadly Class is framed around Marcus’ inner monologues, which are what he writes in his journal. Not only does he use the same notebook, but the show uses his exact words as well.

RELATED: 10 Most Memorable Quotes From Fight Club

Given that the show adds new scenes and subplots, not all of Marcus’ inner thoughts are heard but a good number of his original words are heard. Some noteworthy examples include his time in the oppressive boys’ home, some observations about his class, and his scattered acid-induced thoughts. A major difference with the latter is that he talked to Mr. T, not Ice-T.

1 Saya Has 10 Fingers

Like everyone on campus, Saya has a full set of fingers. Insignificant as this may sound, Saya’s lack of digits is a vital part of her backstory in the comics.

Born to the Kuroki Yakuza clan, Saya was on the way to the top before her brother framed her for a high-ranking murder. She tried to appease the other family heads by performing Yubitsume, sacrificing two fingers to prove her dedication to proving her innocence. Since the show took some liberties, parts of her origins and future would’ve been changed but we’ll never confirm it thanks to its cancellation.

NEXT: 10 Best Canceled Comic Book TV Shows Ever Made

source https://screenrant.com/deadly-class-tv-show-easter-eggs-season-one/

#screenrant

[spaceorphan18]

SO Watches Friends 1x01-1x03

Apparently, it’s been 25 years since Friends aired - and I’m seeing all these articles on it, how it was the greatest ever, how it sucked, how apparently the youngins are discovering it on Netflix.  

So - I felt like, what they hey, I haven’t seen it in years, and I need to watch something while I have meals, so let’s see how well this show holds up.  

Pilot - The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate (because how else is she going to pay for that apartment.) 

It’s funny to me that this was the hot new show of the time.  Because these people are... incredibly boring.  The beginning montage is them sitting in a cafe talking about random boring things for what appears to be hours, then they go home and watch TV.  This seems to be what they do on the weekend.  I mean, I realize in the early 90s there wasn’t /that/ much to do - but still, they live in NYC, and most of the stuff they do on this show will be sitting around doing nothing.  

So, let’s break down these characters, shall we? 

Rachel - It’s her wedding day, but she skips out on her wedding because she didn’t love her fiance.  I think this is supposed to be funny?  While I do think, in general, all of the characters are more relatable (and nicer) than in later in the series, she’s such a weird amalgamation of what the writers (or network?) thought would be relatable? I mean - she’s kind of dumb, and rich enough that money isn’t a problem, and her family values are set back in the 50s - hence her getting married so her husband can support her instead of her father.  

I get where the character is coming from - but while it might have been more of a progressive stance at the time -- it seems like a relic now.  

Monica - Who is the most together one of them at the moment.  I like early Monica, tbh, who appears intelligent (for the most part).  They’ll later take her quirks and make her a neurotic nutjob - but I can appreciate her mature nature right now.  

She goes on a date with Paul the Wine Guy - and again, it shows just how boring these guys’ lives are that they’re standing around her apartment with nothing better to do than to cheer her on about her date.  Is this what people in ther 20s did in the early 90s? I was much too young to know.  Anyway - Paul the Wine Guy is an asshate who uses lines to get Monica into bed.  The network thought this would make Monica sleezy.  I’m so glad times have changed enough that we can look back and be glad we can see that it’s really Paul the Wine Guy who’s sleezy, and that there are faster ways to figure out if a guy is a creep or not.  

Phoebe - Phoebe has absolutely nothing to do in the pilot other than be there and be weird.  I much appreciate it - because this show would be utterly boring and devoid of any quirky elements if she wasn’t there.  Also - Lisa Kudrow sells the comedy while most of the rest of them (minus Matthew Perry) seem to be just reading the script. 

Joey - I have no idea what Matt LeBlanc is trying to do here.  Is he doing a NYC Italian accent?  Is he trying out for a part? He’s kind of the most cringy during the Pilot but at least that’ll go away quickly.  

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Joey, he and Chandler are like two halves of the same character at the beginning, both with little development.  But - funny enough, maybe it’s age, I found myself agreeing with Joey during the whole dishing out life advice thing to Ross -- there’s no such thing as soul mates or destiny, get out there and live life :P 

Chandler - Like Phoebe he doesn’t have much to do other than make quips.  Granted - he did have some of the best, genuinely funny lines of the episode.  Matthew Perry’s comedic chops as well - and it’s a shame there is much Phoebe and Chandler stuff on the show.  

Anyway, the writers originally toyed with making Chandler gay, which I find a shame, I think that would have worked so well.  And added some diversity to this really, really non-diverse cast.  I completely understand why this makes lists of ‘Things Straight, White, and Loosely Christian People Like’.  25 years later, it’s incredibly glaring.  Even Saved by the Bell, which was ending its run at the time, managed to be more diverse. 

Ross - I’m curious as to when Ross becomes that one Friend whom everyone hates.  He’s recently divorced (from a woman who figured out she was a lesbian) and being really mopey about it (which, you know, is understandable).  I don’t particularly like or dislike Ross at the moment.  

I will say the whole Ross and Rachel thing is telegraphed from a mile here, and it’s weird that they’re going to drag this romance out for an entire season and a half when he literally asks her out at the end of the episode, and she says yes.  Why, why, why is this going to be dragged out so much.  (I know the reason - sweeps week - but still.)  

Is the episode entertaining? Eh.  It still has a lot of the trappings of an 80s sitcom - the annoying laugh track, the forced jokes, the surface level stories - only it’s new and hip because 20-somethings had never had a show to themselves without an older mentor around.  At the same time, there isn’t anything that remarkable about any of these 20-somethings, which may or may not have been the point.  I suppose we’ll see.  

The One With the Sonogram (of Ross’s baby that he’s having with this lesbian ex-wife) at the End

This episode is merely a continuation of all the threads set up in the pilot.  You can tell Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe aren’t developed yet, as they really don’t do anything other than crack one-liners at opportune times.  I shouldn’t complain that these characters just don’t feel like they’re getting enough time together as a group (because obviously, there are a ton more episodes to go where they are) but I feel like they’re spending too much time in individual plot lines that aren’t that interesting. 

Plot A) Ross finds out that his ex-wife (who’s a lesbian) is having his baby (because apparently they did it one more time after she left him? Idk), and he’s not doing so well with that.  Idk - I don’t hate this plot line.  For being the early 90s, the show is treating being gay with much more respect than pretty much everything before that (even if the idea of lesbians is treated as a joke rather than a serious thing people are).  At least the gay stuff isn’t villainized.  

Plot B) Rachel gives back the ring to her ex-fiance, whom she finds out was fooling around with her maid of honor.  This is the first time we meet Barry, and everything about him screams douchebag.  There’s nothing remotely interesting here, and it almost feels obligatory for Rachel’s story.  Also - I find it ridiculous that he and Rachel would be having private conversations with a (child) patient there.  

Plot C) We meet Monica and Ross’s controlling and judgmental parents who prefer Ross to Monica.  While Elliot Gould and Christina Pickles are both fantastic actors - I cannot with the amount of judgy-ness that spews forth, and really can’t wait for them to be the quirkier people they eventually become.  

Oh- and I forgot, this show decided for the beginning of season 1 to have these philosophical discussions about the differences between men and women, and I feel like this episode is supposed to loosely tie into that and I kind of roll my eyes and am like -- just be the situational comedy that you’re meant to be.  

Is this episode any good? Eh, not really.  There are some funnier moments in an otherwise bland and obligatory story.  

The One With the Thumb (in a can that Phoebe almost drinks)

This episode is so boring that it’s almost tedious to get through all 22 minutes of it.  Here we go! 

Plot A) Monica dates a guy named Alan that everyone likes but she doesn’t and she finds it hard to break up with him.  

I get what the writers were going with here - that she’d have to tell her friends that they need to ‘break up’ with Alan, despite them all really liking him.  Idk - I don’t think the whole schtick is that funny, and feels pointless when we barely get to meet Alan himself.  

I do have to note that Monica talks with one of her coworkers - who is the first PoC on the show, a black woman.  But we’re never going to see her again, so...? 

Plot B) Chandler starts smoking again - and we get a PSA plot line about the dangers of smoking.  Friends is rarely going to be a preachy show, and it’s super weird when it is.  It’s especially weird that it’s centered around smoking because -- who cares? 

Plot C) Phoebe accidentally has good things happen to her.  It’s almost like a running joke more than a plot line that ends with her ending up with a thumb in a can that nets her $7000.  It’s... just a really dumb sitcom plot line.  But, hey, we learn that Phoebe hangs out with homeless people.  And, the episode gets a point for tying all three plot lines together at the end.  

So... I’ll probably do these three or four at a time.  And the first three?  Eh, not great.  It’s fascinating that this show became such a hit right off the bat - because there’s not anything uniquely interesting about any of these characters yet.  And the plot lines are all so generic and/or dumb that there’s little to latch on to.  

We’ll see how this goes.  

#friends #so watches friends