lol-jackles

[lol-jackles]

I know its beens awhile but what did you think of S15 as a whole?

As a whole I think season 15 was an above-average season due to below-average execution and ended with a stellar series finale that added rewatch value not just for season 15 but also all of 15 seasons.

Season 15 started and ended with callbacks to previous seasons; from season 1's woman in white and Sam's goal of returning to a normal life, to season 5's Dean's time in hell as Alastair's apprentice and bringing closure to Adam Milligan, to season 8's endgames for Sam and Dean.

The first half of the season 15 was about free will vs determinism, with Sam representing the former and Dean representing the latter.  Sam and Dean’s confrontation with God parallels how they've reacted to family and authority their entire lives: Sam challenged God’s Divine decree over His Creation while Dean accused God of abandoning His Creation.  When Abraham spoke with his heart and mind to God over His plan to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah, it led to Abraham transcending himself, leading the way for God, and becoming the father of faith. Metaphorically it's all about lessons in honest, meaningful relationships with our fellow human beings.   People often suppress their true selves and principles for the sake of avoiding conflict instead of taking the relationship a step further into a place of sincerity.   From season 11 to 14, Sam and Dean spoke their hearts and minds to God and the brothers' relationship became at its strongest, never wavering even when occasional arguments sprouts up because they were honest with each other.

Sam and God became connected through Sam's hope which manifested in their identical wounds. Secular-based hope is about anticipating something good to come in the future.  Sam has hope in a better future, so Chuck showed him a bleak future to make his lose that hope.  Once Sam lost his hope, God leaves.  That’s pretty much what happens to people in real life, when they lose hope, they feel there is no God or God abandoned them. Another physical manifestation of a bleak future is Dean's old friend who retired from hunting, Lee, who became so corrupted that Dean is forced to kill him.

The return of Sam and Dean's half-brother, Adam, brings welcome closure.  Adam is not out for revenge as he acknowledged his own culpability for agreeing to vessel-ship in the first place.  Him and Michael only having each other for 10 years in the Cage led to their codependent-symbiotic-ish relationship that parallels Sam and Dean to some extent.  

I like to call the second half of season 15 the "Dean redemption tour" where side characters were used to address Dean's unresolved issues in order for him to be good enough for Sam in their eternal afterlife. Normally whenever Dean interacted with side characters it is about the side characters, not Dean (see example here and here). But when the formula is reversed, it becomes a bit disjointed, and the audience picked up on it. The final redemption act target Dean's anger issues that both Amara and Chuck discussed.

Chuck: This is my ending.  My real ending. 

Very next scene: *Dean pulls a gun on Sam*

Dean’s been so obsessed with having free will that he’s actually following Chuck’s writing.  As usual Sam broke through to Dean, in effect breaking Chuck’s influence. Then a very mad mad Chuck shows up.

Chuck:  “Are you kidding me? After all that, you did it again!”

Then 15x18 happened. Ignoring the hilarity of that scene, the speech was supposed to remind the general audience that Dean is A HERO before he dies two episodes later. By 15x19, free will vs determinism comes to a conclusion.   Michael and Lucifer betrayed the Winchesters and succumb to determinism, fulfilling their destiny to destroy each other.  Sam and Dean manipulated Michael to lure Chuck into a trap to replace him with a new God, Jack. Chuck is left only with human frailties and for the first time Chuck has no idea what happens next, bringing the free will theme to a full circle.  

Due to interactions with Sam, Rowena became the new queen of Hell while Jack becomes the new God of Heaven. Jack promises Sam that He will have a hands-off approach and people don’t need to pray or sacrifice to Him. Jack’s perception of humanity is distilled down to, “When people have to be their best, they can be.” 

Before the story ends, the protagonist is supposed to accomplish their primary goal that had kept them driven and move the story forward.  Sam’s goal was attaining normal life, it was never about eradicating monsters to extinction or avenging his mother’s death.  In fiction it always seems like the main character want many things, but there is always a primary goal.  Harry Potter gets dragged into many subplots such as conflicts with his best friends, romantic misfires, and incidents with secondary characters, however his main goal was always to defeat Voldemort and that's what the audience is holding out to see.  Sam Winchester’s journey is flipped from Harry Potter’s; Sam gets dragged into many subplots of saving the world, defeating the Big Baddies, and conflicts with his brother, however his main goal was always to have a chance at a normal life. But this can't happen while Dean is still alive.

Dean has everything he wanted: Sam and hunting.  Dean is a complete person; he doesn’t need anything else. But Sam had given up just about everything so that Dean wouldn’t be alone. 15x16 reminded the audience that Sam wanted out of the hunting life since he was a child. Sure, Sam is very good at his job and even became a leader, but they always made sure to show that Sam doesn’t have passion for the family business other than saving people’s lives.  Claire Novak shows way more enthusiasm for the job. But Dean would never retire from the hunting life.  Even when Michael gave Dean a fantasy life, Dean still conjured up monsters so he can fight and kill them.  As long as Dean is alive, Sam will never be free to pursue a normal life.  Think back to Dean's speech in season 8 telling Sam to pursue his normal life only after Dean dies with a gun in his hand and a smile on his face.

The pivotal barn scene in the 15x20 finale was genius, bringing the series to full circle with callback to the pilot, fleshing it out, adding backstory to Dean’s pov that brings his fear, need, relief, and love to stark relief.  It hurt like hell, and at the same time, cathartic because Dean was honest.   The way Dean said, “Come here. Let me look at you. There he is!”  That’s Dean in dad mode, the parental figure to Sam.  The show reminded the audience in 15x18 that Dean raised his little brother.  Still in dad mode, Dean then tells Sam that he is proud of him.  It’s what every son wants to hear from their dad.

Dean then goes into brother mode and tells Sam he admires his strength even when they were children.  Sam’s strength is such that Dean was afraid that Sam doesn’t need him. Fearing rejection, he stood outside of Sam’s dorm for hours before finally going to Sam because it’s always been Sam and Dean, and Dean can’t comprehend if he didn’t have Sam. 

From there Dean gives Sam his blessing to keep living his life.  “I love you so much, my baby brother”. Sam’s reaction was pure and raw, he has always been honest about his wants and needs but craves Dean’s approval to pursue them, and now he has it.  Sam’s faith in Dean went answered with Dean saying how proud he is of Sam, how much he admired Sam’s strength so that Sam knows he is strong enough to go on living without Dean.  

Another reason why the barn scene is genius is the pilot callback sets up Sam and Dean’s reunion in New Heaven as pilot 2.0.  From there they will build their relationship just as Sam and Dean.  They are at peace without monsters disrupting their lives, without vindictive angels disrupting their afterlives, and without childhood angsts weighing them down.  They have both freedom and peace.

This applies to all of the hunters.  Jack’s New Heaven is like a retirement home for hunters where they can enjoy their peace and socialize with their friends and loved ones and even upgrade themselves to the people they were meant to be on earth.

#Supernatural #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #season 15

[lol-jackles]

Apparently this happened at JiB:

https://x.com/raths_kitten/status/1782074641093169440?s=46&t=qI_y5glKgHOuwImP8CLepA

https://x.com/raths_kitten/status/1782075064743002153?s=46&t=qI_y5glKgHOuwImP8CLepA

What do you make of this and what does it mean in practice when you have "sold a show"? And who on earth is buying shows from Danneel Ackles?

Link. Link. Link.

Oh joy, it's The Winchesters 2.0 where Danneel will be in charge and Jensen is only around to be the name to attract investors but won't do any actual work.

This is how it works:

The Ackles optioned a story by paying upfront money to a creator, which could range from $500 to $10,000.

Now CMP has exclusive rights to develop proof-of-concept by producing a sizzle reel, a 30 second video. Think of the best movie trailers you've seen that caught your immediate attention and leaving you with wanting more.

CMP successfully sold the pitch to a network and then pays the creator a lump sum calls "purchase price" and metaphorically kick them over the wall because now the story belongs to CMP.

Next, the network or the studio or both will front the money to produce the pilot while CMP covers the overage cost. Then the network executives will get together to watch the pilot and if they like it then it will be shown to the test audience. If the pilot passes these tests, then the network gives the show a slot on their schedule and front the money for the first 4 to 6 episodes and then stall on payment while they check on ratings, so the production company(s) have to cover the budget.

Remember kids, projects from scripts to tv airing to surviving past the first season only has 2% chance of succeeding. As much as people like to make fun of CW shows back in the superhero glory days, those shows have beaten the odds and launched many acting careers.

#jensen ackles #cmp

[lol-jackles]

I’m confused about that apparently “in the know” that tweeted about Jensen begging Sony TB execs to produce a SB spin off.

If Jensen has a production company that legit has a contract with Amazon and is getting/or got money to produce content for them-why isn’t Jensen just using the CMP funds to develop the project (scripts etc) to pitch to Sony and Amazon?

Begging someone else to take the initiative and the expense on a project that he wants to be a part of seems like an amateurish move.

What am I missing here?

For all we know, Jensen/CMP may have developed a spec script and pitched a Solider Boy spinoff idea, but neither Sony nor Amazon took the bait.

[lol-jackles]

https://twitter.com/jarpad/status/1780755844042293272?t=iFz6pgbo-m0WDGBvXeoL6A&s=19

With this ask and answer, do you think with his connection to Dan Lin that he may have something for Netflix, or that it is the spn revival (I hope not), one of the books the Padaleckies' were promoting, or a 4th thing that is is a total question mark because he keeps things close to the chest?

It could be any of your speculations. Most projects die on the vine or linger in development hell so it's not unusual for talents to have several projects they are trying to bring to fruition.

That said, I thought it was interesting back in February Jared was the only actor mentioned in the Los Angels Times about Lin's new job at Netflix.  Lin had produced blockbusters with well-known film stars and an Oscar-nominated biographical drama The Two Popes (I'm sure it was good, but I fell asleep).

Also, Lin's Haunted Mansion at Disney+ is a very enjoyable family film that may become a holiday watch tradition in our house.

#jared padalecki #dan lin

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Another factor that could go towards a renewal is that the Austin City Council always chips in to Walker’s budget. Last season they gave the show $245,471

https://data.austintexas.gov/dataset/Walker-Season-3-Agreement/q7ze-6cyr/about_data

Link.

That is about 5 to 7% of the Walker budget so yes, that works favorable towards their renewable chances.

#walker

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Walker episode 3 review

Making space. For past lost love, for current love, for children’s independence.

The episode starts with Liam foreshadowing the state of Cordell and Geri relationship when he explains the Japanese art of kintsugi, putting broken pottery pieces back together by using gold as glue, a metaphor for embracing flaws and imperfections and creating another piece of art.  Cordell and Geri’s relationship is complicated by the tragic deaths of their respective partners within 2 years of each other and the four of them were friends since high school.  

Trey and Liam tease Cordell for not telling Geri that he loves her, and Trey advises the classic “give her a drawer” at his place to show commitment. Liam talks about Stella to Cordell, but he rather trusts Stella to come to him as he's giving his adult child space. Then Cordell follows Trey's advice on giving Geri space in his wardrobe in an awkward but sweet scene.  Cordell and Geri were monogamous with their respective late partners for 20 years, so they're inexperienced when it comes to new relationships. 

Like father like daughter, the Rawlings are bad influences on the fiery member of the Walker clan.  Sadie Rawlings had convinced Stella to pretend not to have met Witt before the break-in because Stella is about to go to college and Sadie has a record.  In a panic, Stella went along.  I think ever since she spent a night in jail for something she didn’t do but because she hadn’t earned her father's trust due to her lack of credibility weighs on Stella's fear.  

Like father and daughter, Stella investigates off-the-books (i.e. not telling adults) on who is targeting her with threatening messages and leaving her car smelling like gasoline, a matchbook, and Witt’s picture.  Wait, I didn’t know Witt’s body was burned in a fiery car crash.  Was this the first time they said this or was it mentioned in an earlier episode?   

Liam's default state is to help people, but Stella shuts him out and Cordell isn't biting, so he's helping Cassie clear out her storage unit of sentimental items.  Meanwhile, Cordell looks for a shirt that Emily gave him, which Geri had accidentally donated when she made room for her things.  This upsets Cordell who assumed because Geri was present when Emily gave him the shirt 20 years ago, that she would know how much it means to him.  Half of Cassie’s sentimental collections aren’t even stuff she partook in but will once she slows down in some unscheduled point in the future.  Cordell looks to the past while Cassie looks to the future, neither are in the present. 

Alan Alda once said, “Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” Liam and Abilene respectively encourage Cassie and Cordell to start anew by not making assumptions and being active in the present. Liam gives Cassie tickets to a robot fight event and she in turns gives him a personalized key chain that he wanted all his life but never purchased for himself because Cordell couldn't have one due to how unusual his name is.

Side note: I really need a backstory on why Bonham and Abeline saddled their first born with such an unusual name.

Side note 2: Cassie couldn't have a personalized key chain either because there isn't enough Cassandras in the world. The Greek myth origin of Cassandra was a priestess who could see the future but was never believed. Hence Cassie living up to her namesake ever since she arrived in the scene.

Turns out Geri hadn't been so great with communicating to Cordell either when he had accidentally broke Hoyt’s mug but Geri didn’t mention it.  They promised to try to communicate better and they finally said their “I love you” for the first time after 3 years of slow burn and misfires.  These two don’t have a traditional “getting together” as they are widower and widow, even though Geri and Hoyt were never married their on-off-again relationship did last 20 years.  While Cordell couldn’t get his Emily-gave-me-shirt back, he glued Hoyt’s mug back together, a callback to Liam's kintsugi talk at the start of the episode.

August first day at preparation boot camp led him to make the same mistakes that many young soldiers make ahead of their first deployment, they sell all their belongings but then they have nothing to come back to upon their return home. They made too much space but fortunately Trey mentors August towards a more balanced head space and he decides to keep his vinyl collection just like Cassie keeping her dvd collections. 

While on night duty at the Ranger HQ, Cassie asks Cordell and Trey to catch her up while she was gone for 5 months; jokingly including hackers and serial killers.  Seeing Trey's and Cordell's silent facial communication, Cassie turns on her inner Sam Winchester excitement over a real serial killer on the loose and offers up her FBI connections to help with the off-the-book investigation.

The episode ends Stella and Sadie are coming up with dead ends in their off-the-book investigation when a very much alive and not-burned Witt forces Stella to drive him to an undisclosed location.

Speculation  #3!  After hearing that Stella had visited his memorial, Witt decided Stella is the one whom he can trust to get him out of whatever predicament he's in.

Score: 8.9 out of 10.  A good bottle episode focusing on character studies and development before next week's episode's deeper dive into case of the serial killer Jackal.

#walker #review #jared padalecki

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Jensen and Jared bring up a “revival” often and hellers constantly post about wanting destiel to be addressed blah, blah, blah. JA, JP, and J2 fans tend to say that JA will not let that happen but I’m not so sure about that.

JA has an air of frustration around him a lot of the time we see him and if he’s desperate enough for some relevancy or to keep a part of the fan base on side do you think it’s possible he’ll cave and go along with some nod (or possibly more) to destiel? If he does, does he gain points for that in the industry or does it just make him look like a joke?

Oh heck no Jensen will never cave to destiel when there's already an ~official~ narrative that they (Misha and Berens) had to hide the squint-maybe-you-see-destiel-adjacent-vibe confession scene from Jensen. He didn't even want Cas/Misha in the prequel-turned-sequel The Winchesters.

There are no "points" to be gained in the industry when nobody important even knows what a destiel is. See my 'I make fun of Destiel and why it is not canon' posts.

Jensen has a resting frustrated face, it's why he has a public "grumpy" persona. His Dean Winchester acts at conventions was an ideal cover for that.

[lol-jackles]

Hi!!! We missed you!!! It’s so refreshing reading you !!! So , now my ask. I saw a post in Jared’s Instagram account about the wrap party for the end of season 4 filming.. it was like happy but sad… what are the chances of Walker getting a 5 season?

Thank you!!!

Hello and thank you friend. I think the odds are in Walker's favor getting a season 5. They're #1 or #2 rated scripted show and are usually ahead of schedule and under budget, the most important words to investors' ears. We usually hear a renewal/cancel announcement after the 4th episode airs, so by next week at the earliest.

Back in February the day after CW app officially crossed the 100 million downloads across all platforms, Deadline published a quote by CW Chief that, ".....Walker will continue as long as they perform. It's no longer a financial question". (X) Meaning the license fee is low enough that they're cost competitive for the studio.

#walker

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It doesn't look like Dan Lin's new regime will bring any big surprises for Netflix. I wonder if these "audience-oriented" (read: low creativity and low value) strategies are ultimately winning strategies: www*worldofreel*com/blog/2024/4/15/aurora

Link.

I mean, where is the lie? Netflix had spent billions on auteur movies that legacy studios didn't want produce, but the streaming service took on as a way to legitimize itself. Not surprisingly, other than Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, most of the A-listers' projects do not have any cultural staying power. Also, does anybody remember a few years back when Netflix said they will release a new Netflix Original Movie every week? Does anyone remember even one of those titles?

Netflix is the #1 streaming platform, it doesn't have to attract A-list filmmakers anymore, not when they're already working for rivals, like Scorsese making Killer of the Flower Moon for Apple+.

When Lin was hired, he understood that there’s a problem when a majority of the top ten most popular movies on Netflix come from other studios, so he wants his team to become more aggressive producers by developing their own contents instead of waiting for projects from producers and agents to come to them. This way Lin has more say over the quality of the films.

And many in the creative community are rooting for Lin because by moving away from big budget films to mid-budget targets, it will make more room for romantic comedies and character studies projects. For years fans have been pining for the good ol days of mid-budget movies.

As for Aurora, my guess is Netflix/Lin looked at project like Aurora and did the following math: We can spend $150 million and a whole lot of time and energy producing Aurora, and it will earn 50 million views. Or! We can license it from a studio for about $20 million and earn 35 million views. And with the glow that comes from a theatrical release, a movie like Aurora might even earn more views on a streaming service and have a longer shelf life than if the streaming service itself produced it and avoid the fate of most streaming movies that end up buried under too many contents and never to be seen or heard from again.

#dan lin #netflix

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Question about a possible Supernatural revival.

So, do you think Jensen would sit back and wait for Jared or others to executive produce, find a good base story, writers, scriptwriters, directors and so on and then take credit for all of someone else's hard work?

What is your opinion?

What you're asking about is coattail riding, which is not a bad thing because when you're a newbie or inexperienced, you absolutely have to ride the coattails, but you shouldn't take credit either. 

When you start your career, you're going to 100% ride on others coattails.  Acknowledge that your boss/company is providing 100% of the foundation for the rest of your career, but never take credit for your boss/company.  As your career progresses from cog-in-a-machine to an upper tier position, you are still riding on someone's coattails, but at the same time many people are riding on your coattail.  Then when you leave the company for bigger and better things, most will jump off your coattails to someone else's and you will be ignored, shunned, or forgotten.  However, there will be a few people that appreciated you and vice versa and you won't forget those few people.

The bad coattail riders are those who think they are leading the parade because they wish to been seen as leaders. If you are truly leading someone who will make a difference and become a true leader themselves, they are not really riding on your coattails. They are following you because they believe in what you are doing, saying, and creating, but they are doing this through independent thought and action. These are the followers you want, not those that ride whatever coattail looks the most attractive at the time.

The lesson, when times are tough, you find out who the real leaders are. When times are good, you find out all the people who want to think they are leaders, but they are just trying to jump on attractive coattails. 

When I left Hollywood and joined a private firm, I 100% rode on someone else's coattails. I knew that going in but felt I could lead a new venture in a meaningful direction, so I could jump off those strong coattails and provide something of value back to that person. Personally I can only be comfortable riding someone's coattails for so long before it gets uncomfortable, unfulfilling, and makes me feel like I am not earning my keep.

[lol-jackles]

https://www.tumblr.com/lol-jackles/747967629451509760/httpstwittercomggeneralholt8status1780036709

He retweeted that one and added some more info:

https://twitter.com/GGeneralHolt8/status/1780402719330652492

After S3, amazon asked theboys producers to develop a 2nd Boys spinoff. Ackles' production company signed a deal with Amazon after S3. Ackles really really pushed for a solider boy prequel. The Boys: Mexico eventually was chosen over it He still is pushing for it as a mini series

So if this additional info is true - Amazon wanted another spin-off, Jensen had already played SB and so they saw how he was received etc., Jensen pitches SB prequel, Amazon looks at his pitch and says 'nah, lets go with a whole new cast and just move the whole thing to Mexico instead!', and Jensen says 'but wait!! can I at least get a miniseries? pretty please?' and here we are.

It's worse if he's pushing for it after he was on and they still don't want it.

Right, the bean counters crunched the numbers about an asshole who had no friends, abused everyone around him, murdered civilians and didn't care, didn't really take on any bad guys, was a bad guy and then got sold out by his own team because they despised him and wanted him dead. Except there is already a current show about that character and his name is Homelander.

A Solider Boy spinoff would basically be a Shein version of The Boys  where our gang tries to figure out a way to take down Vought that will totally work this time around, A-Train has to confront the consequences of his shitty decisions, MM and Frenchie complain about Butcher's leadership, Annie and Hughie argue over the right way to take down Vought, Homelander is about to snap until he doesn't, and the new supes we introduce all die by the end of the season. Every single freaking season, and there's only been 3 seasons.

[lol-jackles]

https://twitter.com/GGeneralHolt8/status/1780402719330652492

I sent his retweet because it added some more info and context for what was said. Obviously we have to take it with a grain of salt, but honestly? I believe it. Jensen pushing to take something that is already existing and popular and use it for himself? That's basically his business model.

Link.

.

Grain of salt + I can totally believe this is true. Besides this being the norm for actors to aggressively pitch their ideas, there's a Supernatural mini-series that's already living inside Jensen Ackles’ head and Eric Kripke is right there. That said, I really can't imagine a Solider Boy spinoff in part because the role wasn't originally written with Jensen in mind, and it showed so he wasn't exactly a breakout character.

Jensen is an idea man, he's not an administrator nor does he seem interested in learning the business. Make fun of Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP all you like, but she did the research and constantly stalked businesspeople to learn from them and most importantly, she worked hard.  Taylor Swift at award shows is rarely seen at her seat because she’s constantly walking around meeting people and making new contacts and learning the business.  These women are mediocre actor and singer, but they are ahead of their peers because their thirst for learning and work ethics are through the roof.

[lol-jackles]

https://twitter.com/GGeneralHolt8/status/1780036709247221768?t=aHBGWnaKgNp0W-hz1Y3dWQ&s=19

I don't know if this is actually a reliable source, but it sounds like something Jensen would do

Link.

Jensen's pitch: I can see it right now. It's just one scene. Middle America, Big Sky country. It's just wheat fields as far as the eye can see. I look in the distance, and it's like Lawrence of Arabia when Omar Sharif was riding up with the camel. The lone figure gets closer and closer and closer. It's Kripke on a motorcycle.

Kripke: You’re not ready for Solider Boy prequel!!

Sony: Ready for what, more blackmail?

Kripke: It’s so crazy I can’t believe I’m getting away ...wait what?

Sony: And every time your writers don't know how to end a scene, they'll just push the "explode person" button, right?

Kripke: No no I promise it will be batshit crazy!

AA: Jensen is going to be live action Batman, finally!

Kripke: What? No! I said it's going to be batshit crazy that you're not ready for it!!

Jensen: And I even have the soundtrack in my head. There were no words spoken. I had this swelling score. It was like some Robert Zemeckis film.

Sony: What are we taling about?

#Fake Transcripts

[lol-jackles]

Something I've been wondering with this lawsuit going on pertaining to Danneel and Jensen... given CMP was in a contract with WB at the time Bryan was struck by lightning, even though they were all listed individually, does it fall on WB to foot the whole bill if Brian were to settle or are all of them individually responsible since they were named individually?

WB and CMP will settle with Bryan. CW will likely get out of the lawsuit because it's the studio runs the set, not the network.

WB is among the worst studio for set conditions. Combined with a production team with almost no experience, constant reshoots due to poor control quality, leading to them getting really behind and being under pressure to make it up. All the ingredients for disaster. They're lucky no one died.

Producers would be liable and partially responsible because they should be aware of safety complaints on set. Production companies have insurance for these kind of things because they are naturally the target for liabilities. Even if Jensen wasn't on the set or we don't know how involved he is with the production, he and Danneel were on their social media accounts posting about this regularly when the show was aired.

I'm sure WB will claim that they did not oversee or control any aspect of The Winchesters and it was CMP who hired the director Showalter who made the call to film in bad weather, that all they did was cut a check, and all responsibility should fall to CMP and any other production companies behind the show. Bryan's lawyer will say it's ridiculous to say that WB's investment involves not oversight on how their money was being used. CMP's lawyer will likely say that it the studio's own production coordinator and safety officers that gave bad advice. Either way, both WB and CMP/Jensen will settle with Bryan.

#CMP #Chaos Machine Productions

[lol-jackles]

https://www(.)hollywoodreporter(.)com/news/general-news/rust-armorer-hannah-gutierrez-reed-sentenced-prison-involuntary-manslaughter-1235873239/

This popped up as I was scrolling today. Does this have any bearing on the trial or a possible a conviction for Alec?

When the judge told Hannah, "You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon", you know that Alec's team is lapping it up. IMO, the "you alone" is complete B.S., Alec bears some responsibility. And Hannah was clearly unfit for the job so the people who put her there (including Alex) should also bear some responsibility. I mean come on; she was doing cocaine off the set!

Before I go further, both Hannah and Alec were initally offered similar plea agreement that the first AD got; 6-month probation in exchange for admitting guilt. Hannah turned it down because she didn't want to admit she (or her father) was the source of the live ammos. Alec accepted but then the Prosecutors took it back after learning that Alec planned to create a documentary with interviews from case witnesses.

Alec the producer is to blame because he had cultivated the lax on-set attitude over weapons should carry a third of the blame. While weapons safety ends with the armorer/prop manager, but it begins with production creating a strict on-set culture of safety.  Rust had several previous complaints about on set safety and on set conditions to a level where producers should have been involved.

Alec the actor isn't to blame becaues he was handed a weapon that should be considered cold as determined by both the armorer and the first AD. But since he was a producer that allowed for this to happen, so to that end, he's deserving of being held accountable and charged accordingly.

I think it's an absolute joke that Hall, the first AD, only got 6 months of probation, in part because has a reputation on previous sets to be very careless on safety. I called a former colleague on an unrelated business, and when Rust came up he said he had worked on same sets as Hall had and how Hall smoked while giving "safety meetings" in front of propane tanks and gas cans. If Hall had the same attitude on Rust, no wonder the crew walked off the set over safety issues.

#Rust #Alec Baldwin

[lol-jackles]

Walker episode 2 review

Cordell, Trey, and Cassie find themselves watching over the episode’s titular character, Maybelline Pratt, a state witness in a money laundering case.  Maybeline has the charm of all 4 Golden Girls characters as well as their combined age.  Like Sophie Petrillo, she gave Trey the slip and tried to hotwire a patrol car with a wrench, because that’s how they do in Sicily.  Like Blanche Devereaux, she loves flirting with Trey even as they take turns running away from each other.  Like Dorothy Zbonak, she is full of judgment stares and sass and keeps calling Cordell by the wrong surname.   Rangers over the age of 50 are smitten with her because every red-blooded male that grew up in the 70s and 80s fell in love with Karen Allen and Kathleen Turner and their smokey voices.  Harrison Ford to this day can’t stand Indiana Jones fanboys approaching him to only want to talk about Marion Ravenwood and “that voice”.

Maybelline has the Rose Nylund naivety thinking she can just go back to St. Olaf and carried a metal file in her oversized purse to escape from WITSEC. Cordell decided one of them need to take her home.  Trey and Cassie were “not it” and Cordell reluctantly take her to Walker ranch while the 2 security officers assigned to her secure the area.  Maybelline soften her attitude towards Cordell when she sees family pictures and learn of Emily’s passing.  Later in the middle of the night, Cordell finds Maybelline having “just to taste” bourbon at the dinner table and the two have a heart to heart over Cordell’s worry over his children leaving the nest.

“The days are long, but the years are short”, Maybelline tells Cordell, and while children appear not to listen, they are always watching.  The fact that Stella and August feel comfortable enough to leave home just means he (and Emily) did a good job raising them, and they’ll likely come back one day.  Just like Cordell and Liam did.

Cordell found it easier to talk to a stranger about his anxiousness over being ill prepared for "the quiet" once his kids are gone.  Stella too, found it easier to talk to Ben about her guilt over Witt’s death and had even shut Liam out.  In attempt to make peace with her conflicting conscious, she visits a roadside memorial where Witt succumbed to his gun shot injury.  Unexpectantly Witt’s uncle, Mike, shows up and seems kind, which made Stella feel worse and she flees.  Then Mike ominously calls someone to say he found something “interesting”.   Looks like there will be a second mystery to go with the unsolved Jackal case as we never learn why Witt broke into Geri’s house.  Speaking of which…

Cassie had updated Geri (and us) that she decided to return to the Texas Rangers.  Later Geri offers Cassie to move into her house, referencing the break in that it would be a good idea to have a ranger around.  While Cassie is thrilled and accepted Geri’s offer, you know that Cordell would be worried about their girl talks.  At least I would be.

Cordell, Trey, and Cassie brings Maybelline to court to give her testimony only to walk right into a trap to distract them so that the baddies can kidnap Maybelline. Cue lively soundtrack as a car chase through the parking garage to rescue Maybelline ends in beat down fights by Cordell and Trey. Maybelline bats her Blanche Devereaux lashes at Trey for saving her.  Cordell insists it was a team effort.

At home, Cordell waits for August to discuss the issue of him wanting to join an after school boot camp to ready himself for the military, but he needs a signed permission slip from his father.  Earlier August asked Bonham to go over Cordell’s head and convince Trey, who is running the program, to let him join.  In the season 3 finale, Cordell wouldn’t give his permission to let August join the military while he is underage.   When Bonham tries to broach the subject with Cordell, he immediately shuts it down because he wants to put off of August growing up as long as he can.   But after his midnight conversation with Maybelline, Cordell is ready to have a talk with August.

Cordell explains that while he has no regret over his own tour in the military, he can’t help wondering if he missed out on other options and he doesn’t want that for August.  But, if this is really what August wants, he'll be supportive, no matter how much he'll worry over his “only son” and “baby boy”.  August is thrilled and promised to follow Cordell’s condition that he is present for every Sunday dinner and keep up his schoolwork.  A flashback scene from the pilot episode shows Cordell telling a 14-year-old August he didn't mean for his son to grow up quickly after his mother's death, adding to Cordell’s bittersweet demeanor.

We have "the quiet" before the storm with Cordell, Liam, Ben, and Stella having fun together playing darts at the Side Step. Stella returns to her dorm to find a threatening message on the window written in red paint.

Speculation #2: Witt didn't die from his gunshot wound and was murdered on the roadside by the same person who left the threatening message to Stella.

Score: 9 out of 10. What started out a light-hearted episode ends with a horror movie jump scare, a kind of metaphor for parental struggle and angst.

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#walker #review #Jared Padalecki

[lol-jackles]

Walker "The Quiet" review

The episode opens with Cordell and Geri happily bumping into walls while making out before Cordell leaves for work where he ends up bumping inside a runaway tractor trailer driven by a thief the rangers have been tracking for weeks.  James and Trey are also in the trailer though they're only there because Cordell had jumped into the moving trailer, which he claims was inspired by Trey's first case.  Trey doesn't want credit for Cordell's latest impulsive antic, but it all ends well when Cordell does a homerun slide into the baddie's face and just like that, we’re off to a good start.

5 months have passed to explain August’s growth spurt during the real world’s Hollywood strike that delayed Walker’s return by 11 months.  August now looks like a younger clone of the actor that played Sam Winchester’s adult son in the Supernatural finale, which means he has to be hired for the Supernatural revival as young Dean Winchester II. 

The Walker clan pus Geri and Ben are planning Cordell’s birthday with a party bus to a steak eating contest.  That of course gets jettisoned when Cassie Perez, a temp with the FBI, arrives at Ranger HQ to recruit Cordell, James , and Trey s help to help the FBI nab drug operatives.  August suggested moving the steak eating contest to the Walker ranch and just like that, birthday party back on.

But first, Cassie gifts Cordell a pair of alligator cowboy boots that I'm sure she clobbered the alligator herself during her 5-month stint in Florida, and brings Cordell back to Walker ranch for a surprise birthday lunch.   August yeets out of the birthday party early to go to high school senior parties, much to Cordell disappointment who then sneaks away from his own birthday party to look over the latest development of the serial killer Jackal case with Trey.  Hey, like father like son!   

Cordell and Trey gets busted by James' wife Kelly who immediately recognizes the killer's calling card, a set of jackal teeth.  She is upset to learn that the Jackal re-emerged during her re-wedding to James and demands Cordell and Trey to not tell James who is still haunted by the unsolved case.  Speaking of being haunted by the past, Stella and Liam commiserate over being forced to take another human life; Liam killing Clint when he invaded the ranch, Stella killing Witt when he invaded Geri’s house.  Liam assures Stella she will be fine with time. We learn that Witt initially survived the gunshot wound and escaped the house, only to die 2 miles away on the roadside.  The police consider the case closed, but we know it's unsolved as we never found out why he broke into Geri's house.

After a very busy day of taking down thieves, drug dealers, and a steak eating contest, it comes to a screeching halt into “the quiet”. Cordell and Geri spend some quiet quality time and Cordell admits fearing “the quiet” with a daughter at college living away from home and August looking forward to flying the coop.

Trey arrives to update Cordell on the Jackal case and asked him if it was really that bad when James worked on the case.  Flashback showing an unhinged James obsessing over the case, avoiding his family and to the horror of his wife, physically taking out his frustration on Cordell (third time we see Cordell being bumped against walls).  Trey asked if it was the depravity that got to James.  No, Cordell says, it was "the quiet" when the Jackal eluded James.

Besides the normal empty-nest angst by parents, Cordell is also a military veteran who operates at a different level than everyone else.  Veterans’ lows are civilians’ highs so veterans get bored very quickly and seek high risk hobbies or jobs.  Cordell’s job as a Texas Ranger helped fulfill that high risk need and serves as a distraction until a new reality threatens to bring back “the quiet” resulting from absences: his wife’s death and now his children leaving the nest.  Both Cordell and James hated “the quiet '' and Cordell vowed to catch the Jackel before “the quiet” comes back for James again.

Speculation #1: The Jackal heard about the James wedding and wants to mess with James by killing again. 

Side note: Cordell and Cassie discussing the Hawkshadow reboot sounds like the Walker Texas Ranger reboot i.e. "more grounded and focus on the family". I really need Cassie and Cordell to go undercover in a Hawkshadow convention.

My score: 8 out of 10, a solid start to the season with the quiet before the storm.

#walker #review #Jared Padalecki