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carpetreveiws · 3 years

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Helluva Boss Episode 6 Review

It's Saturday, the twenty-first of August. I wake up at ten. This week has been, to say the least, taxing. My morning routine has fallen into a lull lately. I wake up, find something to eat (usually nothing more than a slice of bread). I open my phone, and the rather rigid itinerary continues:

Open discord

Open twitter

Open instagram

Open snapchat

Open youtube

Open any games that give free daily rewards (though I barely play them anymore).

This routine is borne not out of a personal need for structure, but purely out of apathy towards anything I see. I don't care about updates, I don't scroll through social media, I very rarely type in comments sections. I am done in five to ten minutes.

So, I had kind of forgotten about Helluva Boss. As a matter of fact, it didn't even appear in my youtube recommended, which it has unfailingly done for its past 5 episodes. I had said, a few months ago, when I wrote my last review, that I was losing faith in the series. I didn't think Vivenne had the right mindset for writing, visible in the series' basic structure and frankly cringeworthy sense of humour. By this time yesterday, I had no expectations left for Helluva Boss and no concern over what its future was going to look like. About a year ago I bought a funny little Hazbin Hotel merch t-shirt that I am wearing right now (Ironically, I was wearing it before realizing a new episode had been released. I put it on this morning because it was Saturday and I don't have to see anybody. I like the colors).

So fast forward. It's now around five-thirty in the evening, and I am checking my twitter again. There's an image on my feed, captioned by somebody (I can't remember what the caption is). A Helluva Boss screenshot. I close the tab instantly, and go to youtube, typing into the bar "Helluva Boss episode 6". There it is. I look at the timestamp, 22 minutes, and immediately think to myself: Oh shit, it's review day.

And it is. So here's my review. This intro was a joke, and most of it's made up.

Summed up: This episode is a step in the right direction. All these random character points, that felt too simple, or too back-seated in previous episodes get to take center stage (finally). It's focused only on Blitzo and Moxxie, but by the end of it, they actually feel like fairly complete characters. We start in the center of the action, which works perfectly for a show like this. Even though it's been two months, I am pulled back into the show almost instantly. It opens with some clever animation, of the tv screens, but these aren't the best visuals we'll be seeing this episode by any stretch of the word. In a few quick lines, each character is not only placed into their element: Blitzo's vulgar admonishments, Moxxie's sardonic reproach. Millie is aggressive, but we're again reminded how much she cares for Moxxie. She shouts at Loona to open the gate, and Loona refuses, citing her knowledge of Blitzo, and how she knows he's serious. It's perfect. I love it.

From here we have Moxxie and Blitzo restrained in a high security facility, as some agents begin to question them. The next scene is my personal favorite, of possibly the entire series, because we finally get to see Blitzo and Moxxie acting in sync, being friends, I guess, when we've only gotten bits of that before. They've mostly just bounced off of each other, so it's some nice character development. Good job.The rest will come in a bit. Rogers also gets to show off a bit his knack for the snappy dialogue. Though, every silver cloud: the scene ends with a "your mom" "my mom's dead" joke, that would hardly be funny in a reddit thread. It is downright awful here.

Loona and Millie are infiltrating the facility for a violent intermission.

So here's the real meat of the episode: The agents release into the room a "truth gas" that does exactly what the name implies (oddly enough, they never bother to question the imps before the gas dissipates). After realizing what the gas does, both Moxxie and Blitzo enter musical hallucinations, in which they confront each other, and the personal issues in each of them that contribute to their flawed relationship. Before, I continue, I want to note that the music and animation here are stellar, but again, the episode has better visuals still on the way. This number is essentially what all those bits of development between them were leading up to, and it's great. All of it is paying off. The series will change from here on out, hopefully: We'll get to see a healed Blitzo and Moxxie taking on all the villains that were set up. I was going to mention it later, but I guess I'll just awkwardly shoehorn it in now: Each episode has set up a new villain and none have recurred yet and that is not at all a good thing. I have no idea how Vivienne gonna get through all of them in a meaningful way. Back to the scene at hand: We're going through Moxxie's natural submissiveness, and Blitzo's fear of both intimacy and of being alone (does some of the dialogue here feel too imitative of Rick and Morty? I don't know. That's your call). When it's over, Blitz realizes his love for Stolas (romantic) and for Moxxie (platonic) (probably). They agree to be better friends. Congrats. We did it. The payoff is here.

Let's celebrate with a big ol beautifully animated fight scene that's just as edgy as these 2012 deviantart furries (Loona is back as a wolf, thank you). It's fast, bloody, at one point Blitzo pulls out a comically large rocket launcher labeled "MY DICK" and it shoots a missile labeled "PUSSY DESTROYER" and to my absolute shock, I laugh. That's right: This episode made me laugh one time. But honestly, that doesn't matter to me too much, because this isn't trying nearly as hard as the other episodes to be comedic. It's focused on other things, and I can appreciate it for that. As a twist, the original two agents escape, and slam that big red button. They're locked inside, guns pointed at them, and when it seems as though all hope is lost, Stolas arrives, which a demonstration of his power. Yet another piece of this episodes that fills some previously teased aspect. He's possessing people, raising dead in here, and his "true form" is what I mentioned a few times earlier: the most beautiful visual in the series yet. Or maybe I just like owls.

The episode is over, and I close the tab, thinking about how I'm going to write this review. I'm astounded. I had legitimately lost hope for this series. And just when I least expect it, Vivienne comes with an episode on par, maybe even better, than the second. Each character is realized, the animation is stunning, it feels like it's exactly what it wants to be. To put things into perspective though, I still don't think this episode nears the series' hypothetical full potential. It's certainly not on par with the best of some of the shows it recalls. The comedy still suffers, and the character development doesn't have a ton to work off of, and I that age warning at the beginning still feels misplaced. But you know what? Vivenne has made something half-decent here. And I can appreciate that. If the show keeps this up, hopefully even getting better, and minds bringing back one of those six or seven villains that have already been set up, then the future looks bright. It is with pride, joy, and definitely definitely tears in my eyes that I give this episode a 6/10.

#helluva boss

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youngerdrgrey · 7 years

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charlena + it wasn't supposed to be like this orrr any combo of chidi/eleanor/tahani/real!eleanor + riding unicorns sounds like a wonderful time... in theory.

a/n: going with option a + idk what time basketball games end bc I don’t pay enough attention + I apologize for the amount of Davis mentions in this

Davis gets his fifth ring. His ring, since it’s no longer an accomplishment that Charley gets to share with him. His, because he decided that being the team pimp was more important than the marriage that built him. His –

She hasn’t hiccuped since ring number two. Drunk off the most expensive champagne they could find and high off the rush of this actually happening again. They’d tucked Micah away with a sitter, and he’d spun her in his arms at a rooftop bar until the only thing that didn’t blur were his eyes. The only thing that made sense was him. Them. This.

She hiccups now. Her hand jumps to cover her mouth before another slips out, before she can draw any more attention to how drunk she is in public. Nova keeps staring at her, like she’s going to break, but she’s done breaking over Davis. She’s done letting the men in her life shatter her every time they decide that they want to be absolutely everything for someone else.

Only thing is, the camera keeps cutting to Davis and Micah, cheering and bouncing on the court. Micah’s only a head shorter than Davis now. His cheeks more narrow, and his temperament slowly turning into his father’s.

“I’ll be back.” Charley pushes off the couch. Hollywood opens his mouth to say something, but she shakes her head. “I’m fine. Really.” She grabs her phone as she heads out of the living room and straight on out of Vi’s house.

She has an interview scheduled for next week that’s supposed to talk about what it’s like being named one of the most influential women of the year. She’s got two hundred dollars on them asking her about Davis’ win now. Maybe they’ll phrase it nicely. Maybe they’ll wax poetically about the dreams she had for herself and her family before she started the mill. ‘They’re still coming true without you,’ the reporter will say, ‘Micah must be thrilled.’ And she’ll have to be gracious and supportive. She’ll have to smile and say that she’s happy that Davis accomplished what he’d set out to do, and that she hopes that he can continue to be a good father to Micah now that he has a bit more freedom in what he wants to do with his life. And they’ll stare at her face like her foundation’s set to crack. They’ll stare so hard she can’t stare back without un-focusing her contacts, and she really, really doesn’t want to do the interview anymore.

Her phone jumps in her hand. Micah probably. She flips it over.

From Lena Evans // 11:13 pm

She blinks. It must be the alcohol. Lena doesn’t text her, not anymore. But Charley opens the message anyway.

From Lena Evans // 11:13 pmLena: He really did itLena: And they said he needed Felix to do it

Felix left after a year in New Orleans. Lena left him not long after.

From Charley Bordelon // 11:14 pmCharley: Felix holds people back

From Lena Evans // 11:14 pmLena: So does DavisLena: His singer’s barely trending online

Charley snorts. His singer girlfriend who he dates for a few months before breaking it off so he can be with somebody else. This young girl who smiles at him like she’s going to do something Charley couldn’t. Even Micah feels bad for her. He comes home talking like, ‘It’s sad, Mom, and she keeps coming back to him. He’s not going to change.’ Davis just gets better at it.

From Charley Bordelon // 11:15 pmCharley: I don’t know if I want to talk about him

She really has spent enough of her life on him.

From Lena Evans // 11:15 pmLena: We don’t have toLena: But I would like to talk again

Charley settles on Violet’s porch swing.

From Charley Bordelon // 11:16 pmCharley: You would?

It comes off needy in text form. She wants to say it with a smirk like she used to. Maybe with her on one side of a tall table and Lena on the other. Charley could say it half to her champagne glass, but her eyes could be on Lena as she does it. When other people look down on her, Charley only shines brighter.

Charley: You could say you missed me.

There. That’s forward enough that she can achieve the same result. Trip Lena up on the other end. She still follows Lena on social media – Twitter, Instagram – and Lena’s doing better on the gram than anything else. She’s got the smile for it. Dazzling white teeth that stun Charley into submission. Eyes she can drown in.

From Lena Evans // 11:17 pmLena: What would I miss, Charley? We weren’t exactly close. Last time you saw me, you were threatening me.

Charley threatens everyone.

From Charley Bordelon // 11:18 pmCharley: If you didn’t like it, then why msg me

She should’ve spelled it out, but her phone screen doesn’t exactly stay in focus for long right now. Maybe they should talk on the phone instead. They haven’t talked in years. Nothing more than a well meaning like or retweet. A direct message in reply to Lena’s Instagram post to announce the divorce. Does she sound the same as she used to?

From Lena Evans // 11:19 pmLena: I don’t know

From Charley Bordelon // 11:19 pmCharley: you dk?

From Lena Evans // 11:21 pmLena: I still look for you on the sidelines sometimes, and I wake up on game days and get ready like the whole world’s gonna be watching me. I normally don’t even remember that I’ve got nowhere to be until I’ve got eyelashes in my hand.Lena: It’s dumb

Charley still watches post-game interviews, still had her March Madness bracket to go against Hollywood’s. It’s not dumb to miss it. It’s not ridiculous to resort to autopilot and expect things to still be good.

From Charley Bordelon // 11:22 pmCharley: It’s human

From Lena Evans // 11:22 pmLena: Well, we mere mortals feel like that every once in a while.

Charley scoffs.

From Charley Bordelon // 11:23 pmCharley: I feel tooCharley: You’ve seen it

Lena doesn’t respond though. There’s no typing bubbles, and Charley’s shown emotion to Lena before. Yes, she’s normally playing Lena when they interact, but that’s what Charley had to do back then. Lena tried using her just as much.

Lena propositioned Charley for that reality show, and she barely batted an eye at the concept that her husband could’ve actually been involved in what happened with Milena.

Charley calls her. The phone only rings twice before Lena answers, which gives Charley enough time to breathe before snapping. “Don’t even think of acting like I’m above emotion, okay? I feel. I hurt just as much as you do.”

“I never said you didn’t.”

“So the mere mortals comment wasn’t a crack at me?” Charley waits for a response that doesn’t come. “You want a punching bag, go somewhere else.”

“Wait!” Lena’s voice comes out harried. She gulps a little too close to her phone’s mic. “I…. Don’t you remember when we talked about this day? We said we’d rush the court, and all four of us would celebrate after. We’d go on a yacht for the day. We’d party like the boys never have to go back. We’d—“

“Be free.” Charley sinks so deep into the swing that it rocks. They were supposed to be a little unit then. “What did we say? Skinny dipping off the yacht?”

Lena laughs. “Go live on Periscope but tastefully film the whole thing.”

Charley laughs too. “I don’t know how we’d manage that.”

“We could figure it out.” A breath follows her words. Then, Lena clears her throat. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. That’s all. And I do miss you, Charley.”

It might be the alcohol talking, or maybe her own loneliness. “Come visit?”

Another breath. “I’m actually… I’m staying at the W again. In the city.”

She’s in town. She’s close enough that they could be together in hours. But what would that look like? Would it be old friends catching up? More bottles and swapping stories about the husbands they left, or would it be more like, well, figuring out how to film on their own? Charley’s never — she was with Davis, then with Remy, and now, this would be something completely different. If Lena even wants it to be that way. She could be over her little crush by now.

Lena talks over the silence. “It wouldn’t have to be anything, if you’re not comfortable. I know that you’re not really —“

“I don’t know what I am.” Okay, that comes out sadder than Charley wants it to. More introspective and reflective. She’s never had the opportunity to really explore anything with a woman before. She’s not even one hundred percent sure she wants to explore with Lena. Sure, Lena is beautiful, and adoring, the sort of girl who would do anything Charley wanted without putting up much of a fight.

“I could help you figure it out. Maybe find some new dreams.”

It’s not the alcohol that makes her stomach flip. “Give me an hour.” Enough time to say goodnight to the family, order a ride since she can’t drive herself. “Wait for me?”

Lena sighs on her end. “Of course. Yes. Yeah, I’ll be here.“

#charlena #charley x lena #qs: fics #mine #filled #charley bordelon #lena evans #to post on ao3 #lesbiancleophas #answered #queen sugar

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tessatechaitea · 6 years

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Justice League #32

It looks like Ethan initially drew Wonder Woman having a nip slip and it had to be corrected by an intern with a shitty pencil eraser.

To complete the Alice Cooper part, I added the Alice Cooper facial make-up and carried around the bloody, decapitated head of the white rabbit (a larger (stuffed animal!) rabbit than the one pictured. That one lived). Bonus picture: evidence of my problematic friend Soy Rakelson who I've mentioned numerous times on this blog! Just do a search for "Soy Rakelson" so you can enjoy some Soy stories!

Cyborg is thinking about teams because he needs to get his team, the Justice League, back together. When we last left them at the competent hands of Joshua Williamson (did that come across as an insult?), they had been split up and were each being attacked by a separate Batmonster from the Dark Multiverse. See?! That's why the Batmonsters are going to lose. Because they don't consider working as a team a positive. They each want to prove themselves as individuals and that's a weakness the Justice League will exploit! If the Batmonsters were smart, they would have just all gone to see Flash to make sure he died, then they'd go kill Green Lantern, and finally they'd move on to kill Wonder Woman. I didn't leave anybody of note out of that explanation because Superman and Batman are currently lost in the Dark Multiverse. The first battle that takes place is between Flash and Batflash. Batflash has built a Batflashmobile that runs on the Speed Force. That doesn't just mean it's really fast in the way a person reading a comic book about The Flash having a Flash car would think. No, it means it can do anything the plot demands of it. That's the power of the Speed Force! Man! Don't get me started on the Speed Force! I'll start myself on it! The Speed Force is what happens when comic books begin to take themselves too seriously and people began thinking about the real world implications of The Flash's power. If The Flash runs at such high speeds then that means he needs to think faster than everybody else as well. But if he can think and react that fast, how can anybody defeat him at all? What happens to his body when he runs at top speed? What if that top speed is the speed of light? What if it's faster? What about time travel? What about his clothing? What about how he can constantly communicate with people while running really fast? I think there were probably more concerns but I never read The Flash. I don't even actually know why the Speed Force came about. You probably shouldn't be using me as any kind of a trusted source in comic book knowledge. Just know that the Speed Force is capable of anything because something was needed to make a guy who could move faster than nearly anything in the universe less boring. Or at least seem kind of interesting in a cosmic way? Maybe that's why they also gave him a huge family. Some editor was all, "We thought it was just Barry that made this character boring! But it's the concept! Make Wally more interesting somehow! Let him fuck that hot reporter! And give him space kids! Or time travel children! Or something! And somebody figure out why his face doesn't melt off when he runs fast or what being struck by lightning has to do with being fast. I mean aside from bolts of lightning being incredibly fast. Are they fast? They are, right? Like instantaneous!" He had to ask that because this imaginary moment comes from a time before the Internet. At least a time before the useful Internet that wasn't mostly AOL chatrooms and Neverwinter Nights bankrupting nerds. Cyborg doesn't really know that The Flash is currently being rundown by multiple Flashmobiles inside a giant hourglass so he just keeps thinking about his football team analogy. He's all, "What if the running back can't run faster than the big fat defensive ends?! Then the team needs somebody who's angry!" That's when he starts thinking about Aquaman. Wait. That doesn't make sense. Shouldn't Cyborg think, "If the running back can't score, that's when the team must rely on the most boring player on the roster: the kicker!" Then the scene should shift to Aquaman.

Wouldn't all of sports be better without the guy who plays angry? I know the Justice League would! BROZINGA!

The Drowned turned Mera into a sea monster which somehow turns Aquaman's anger against the Justice League. That's not a confusing conclusion I came to. It's what Cyborg had to say about the angry player. Once the angry player is being used against you (like say, the super villain making fun of Aquaman and Batman snickering so that Aquaman turns on the Justice League screaming, "I know what you all think of me! I FUCKING KNOW!"), it's time for the next player! I hope he doesn't say it's time for the cheerleaders to get the crowd in the game and then start talking about Wonder Woman because I think that would be sexist. Also it's definitely something he won't say. Maybe he'll talk about how the defense will need to step up and then it'll be Green Lantern time. Wonder Woman is probably the halftime orange slices. Instead of continuing with the football metaphor, Cyborg decides to change things up. He says, "Anger can be useful. But the other team can turn it against you. Drag you into a dogfight. When that happens, you brawl." Wait. What? What kind of football do they play in Detroit high schools?! "If we can't run it into the end zone, let's get angry! And if our anger doesn't scare them into letting our running back into the end zone, let's kick their motherloving asses!" When Cyborg thinks of a brainless brawler, he, of course, thinks of Wonder Woman. That seems dumb. I know he wants to save the quarterback position for Batman but let's think this metaphor through. Wouldn't you want, as quarterback, the person who has the most experience on the field who has been trained by immortal football players who have spent all of their immortal lives training for the big game? Wonder Woman should either be the quarterback or the coach. But instead she's the enforcer? Which, you know, is a hockey term but what am I supposed to think? You don't brawl in football. Sometimes you brawl in hockey though! In football, one guy shoves another guy and then the other guy grabs the first guy's facemask and then a whole bunch of old white guys blow whistles and throw their underwear at them. I really don't understand football but I do jerk off to it sometimes. So every member of the home team is getting beat up. The game will be lost shortly unless the coach comes up with a plan. And what better plan when you've got a team than choosing one star player to win the day for you! Oh man! Venditti did the old double loop de loop trick shot on me! He was all, "This is about a team! And teams win by team efforts!" But then he's all, "No, no! Just kidding! It always comes down to the star player and you better believe Hal Jordan is the star player!" I'm not going to ask why Hal Jordan is even in this Metal series. Where are the newbies? It was probably explained earlier but how am I supposed to remember past issues! It's not like I've been rereading my previous commentaries to refresh my memories like I used to. Now I just approach each issue shrugging my shoulders and thinking, "I'll probably remember what was going on by about the sixth or seventh page." Actually, I probably should have read the rest of the issue before commenting on Green Lantern saving the day. Hal only gets one page because the other characters took too much time losing. Thankfully Hal only needs one page to lose (probably because he's the focus of the next chapter, it being in his comic book and all). After that, Cyborg points out that the team was never going to be able to win because the coach (Cyborg) has been compromised by the other team! Shocking twist! So in summary, Cyborg thinks football is won on speed, anger, hiring an ancient Amazonian warrior, and guts. I'm not sure he's as smart as DC wants us to think he is. Justice League #32 Rating: How many of you read that part about me "slipping into a reality where writing a thought in 280 characters is comfortable" and thought, "Fuck you, you long-winded idiot! You've never had a thought that was less than three thousand words and six dick jokes!"?

#Justice League #Darkest Nights #Metal #DC Comics

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