#Catra finds this low-key hilarious

[lem-cup-rev]

5.2 | Launch

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)

🌸🌸🌸🌸

FASCINATING.

I literally don’t know what to think about the Entrapta story, I feel like it pulled my feelings in every direction. I love how insane it was.

First, I was disappointed by how childish she is now, really unable to focus on or process anything outside her fixations. Then, as she repeatedly made it clear she had no empathy for Glimmer or the others, I was kind of loving how totally evil she was. ‘In this show all about villains with deep, compelling, traumatic inner struggles, Entrapta is almost the only person who just doesn’t care about anyone else!’ Then, when she gave her tearful self-pitying apology, I thought it was a hilariously bad writing choice. There’s like an incredible mismatch in having a ‘friends learn to understand autistic person’s communication style’ story where the autistic person’s hands are covered in the blood of war crimes. After that, it seemed to explicitly go back on itself, saying that she really cares about Glimmer! I was ready to find it really frustrating, but somehow I ended up really getting pulled back into the story and getting excited about them making up and teaming up! So I guess the writing choices… worked???

I wish all absurd, frustrating writing choices were this much fun!

I can’t believe they put their autistic teammate on a leash. Can you show that on TV? Are we, like, okay with that, in 2020?

I liked having Mermista take the lead! Like I said about Perfuma before, she pretty much hasn’t been relevant since her introduction. Oh, and Mer-Mysteries! I still find the princess squad forgettable in a lot of ways, but she had a good gruff determination that carried the momentum.

Adora’s story is still pretty nice! I like her.

It was interesting hearing her refer to She-Ra as a separate entity. It made me think of how in 1985, Adora and She-Ra had separate voice actresses and were in many ways like two different people.

Really good stuff with Horde Prime just like last episode. Oh, I loooooove him possessing his clone’s body. The freaky powers and biology of his whole army are so good and are being revealed so naturally and low-key.

Omg, I loved the last moment with Glimmer and Catra! Just choosing to be near each other for a little bit of comfort even though they have no guarded pretense for it? Literally so tender. 💗

I really like the overall plot structure, it feels so clear and cohesive and effectively paced! We got an episode where Adora rests and we get a princess adventure, while at the same time the pressure to save Glimmer is still present and it kicks us straight into gear for going into the next episode. Really good!

The tone itself feels really consistent with the previous episode. Not very She-Ra at all, to be honest! I think I’ll really enjoy it if they’ve finally achieved a consistent tone for the whole last season. But who knows where we’ll go from here~!

Oh I straight up almost forgot. On top of everything else, Entrapta was more saucy towards the robots than this show has basically ever gotten. Beside all her childishness, that reminder that she’s 30. I unironically think that’s great representation.

Next time: Bath time for kitten…

#review #no spoilers #episode #4⭐️ #she ra and the princesses of power #she-ra and the princesses of power #spop

[kittyprincessofcats]

She-Ra S5 E03 - Corridors

Sorry this one took me so long to write up. But even though it’s now been a while since season 5 was released, I still really want to finish writing up my thoughts on all the episodes, so here we go.

This episode. THIS EPISODE. GOD. I love it so much! I predict this post is going to be full of me gushing about how amazing it is. Also, there might be spoilers for the rest of the season in this post.

- First of all, I love how this episode begins with so many “oh shit” moments for you as a viewer. First you realize there’s no scene before the opening and you’re like “oh shit”. Then you realize it opens with a Catra flashback and you’re like “oh shit”. Then you see present!Catra looking down on her planet getting destroyed and then standing undecided between two corridors - one light and one dark - and you’re like “oh shit, guess we’re finally answering the ‘redemption or not’ question.” I love how it’s set up in a way that everyone knows within the first few minutes what this is going to be about and that shit’s about to get real.

- I also love that this season didn’t beat around the bush and did the redemption so early on. I was worried that we’d have to wait until the very end and wouldn’t get to actually see Catra work and bond with the good guys. And like I said before, all the groundwork for the redemption was already there after season 4, so I’m glad they didn’t make us wait.

- I like that Catra runs on all fours when she’s trying to be fast.

- I really like that first scene between Hordak and Catra. I generally think their relationship is super interesting, since they’re not as different as they think and they’re narrative foils to each other in many of the same ways that Catra and Glimmer are. And they’re in a very similar situation as Catra and Glimmer, too: They don’t particularly like each other and were fighting/trying to kill each other before getting abducted. But now they’re stuck on Prime’s ship with no way out, and are one of each other’s only reminders of their previous lives, so they still end up reaching out for each other (albeit in a smaller way than Catra and Glimmer do). I like how Hordak calls her "Catra", clearly showing that he does remember, and how Catra immediately recognizes him because of that and calls him by his real name as well (though she doesn’t realize what consequences that’ll have for him). I also like that despite their history, Catra tries to bring his memories back and tries to bond with him. I also find the line “It’s good to see a familiar face” interesting, since the clones all technically have the same face. (Basically, I need more fanfics about Hordak and Catra talking things out and becoming friends post season 5.)

- Bow being an exhaused parent who’s trying to keep Adora and Entrapta from destroying the ship is hilarious, but I also feel really bad for him.

- I also just realized that Bow, Adora and Entrapta are the rescue party, while the respective people they’ll end up with (Glimmer, Catra and Hordak) are trapped on Horde Prime’s ship... there’s fanfic potential in this.

- The entire talk where Catra and Glimmer bond over Adora - Do I even need to get into how perfect that scene is? “You’re lonely, aren’t you?”, both of them admitting it helps to talk to each other, them sitting back to back, Glimmer talking about her perfect day and Catra looking visibly sad when she mentions Adora, but Catra NOT lashing out and acting jealous this time but talking about her own memories of Adora, them bonding over memories of Adora - JUST YES. GOOD STUFF.

- “We’d play tricks on Kyle, stay up all night whispering about... you know, whatever.” And that was another one of those really strong Catradora hints. I didn’t pick up on Horde Prime’s “elevated heartrate” line in S5Ep1, but this line I did notice and it was my first “omg, this is actually happening, isn’t it?” moment. (Because I kind of just assumed that Noelle wouldn’t queerbait us and wouldn’t put in so many Catradora hints if it wasn’t going to happen.)

- Glimmer: “I’d do anything to go back and make it right.” *camera focuses on Catra’s sad face* Enough said.

- “There’s nothing for me on Etheria.” The fact that Catra was so surprised to even be asked what she’d be doing on Etheria speaks volumes, imo. She never considered the possibility of getting to go back there and never really thought about what she even wants.

- I love that Entratpa named the ship “Darla” and the other characters (and Darla herself) just go with it without even questioning it.

- “If I could tell you where Adora is, I would. She’s my enemy, I want her gone!” This whole exchange is so brilliant. Prime is such a good villain. I love how he sees through Catra’s lies right away. Also love how he refers to Adora as “your Adora” (he definitely low-key ships them). I also love how Catra is still trying to protect Adora, even when Prime sees through her bluffs. And that shocked expression on her face when Prime asks if she wants to be “free” of her feelings for Adora - poetic cinema.

- Hordak’s purification: God, this scene is so incredibly messed up and creepy - I love it! Starting with Catra’s worried expression when she looks at Hordak and how she angrily glares at Prime, how Horde Prime does the creepy face-touch thing, how Hordak looks back at Catra with this sad, resigned expression, the creepy clone cult with their glowing eyes and their chants, Horde Prime’s whole cult language (“suffer to become pure”, I mean, wtf?), how Catra’s so horrified by the whole thing and Prime tells her "Do what I ask of you” (the threat very clearly being “or I’ll do this to you, too”). 10/10

- Catra blushing as she brings Glimmer the cake... she is baby.

- “Adora’s on that ship, isn’t she?” This line gets to me every time. I already love how before this, Catra was talking to Glimmer quietly, trying to make sure the clone in front of the door doesn’t hear them as she tells her about the ship - but this line kills me every time. How Catra whispers it so quietly, how she looks so concerned for Adora, how you can tell in just that one line how much she still loves Adora - seriously, shout-out to AJ Michalka for how she spoke that line.

- I feel like everyone has already spoken at length about the rest of Glimmer and Catra’s talk, but seriously, it’s amazing. I love how Glimmer reasons with Catra and points out the flaws in her thinking, and I also think she really got through to Catra here. It might be the memories of Adora that finally get Catra to make the right choice in the end, but I think Glimmer’s words really got through to her as well. “Do one good thing in your life” - I mean, damn!

- I also just noticed that Glimmer and Horde Prime act as foils to each other in this episode as well, with how they’re both trying to convince Catra to make a different choice. Glimmer bonds with her over their memories of Adora, while Prime offers to “free” her of those memories. Glimmer begs her to not to sell Adora out and tells her Prime will just get rid of her, while Prime assures her she’ll be “raised above the other creatures of her homeworld.” Both of them at one point ask Catra what she really wants. (Glimmer: “If Prime captures Adora, he can use the Heart of Etheria to wipe out the whole universe. Is that what you want?” / Horde Prime: “ You will be exalted, raised up above the other wretched creatures of your home world. Is that not what you wanted?”)

- Adora hanging from a mess of wires and saying “I have everything under control” needs to become a meme, please. It reminds me of that comic where the dog’s surrounded by fire and says “This is fine”.

- That whole scene where Bow’s ranting at Adora and then Entrapta just shows up in the background floating around outside the spaceship this absoltuely hilarious.

- “I made spacesuits for us and then I fixed the ship from space. Where I am! Aahahahaha....” Oh, I love her. Poor Bow, though.

- How can Entrapta use a blowtorch in space, though? Like... there’s no oxygen, how can she... you know what, I’ll just stop questioning the science here.

- I love the whole suspense of Catra selling Adora out at first, then remembering their childhood and changing her mind - good stuff.

- Also, I’m not crying over that childhood memory, you’re crying over that childhood memory! Did you see how little!Catra blushed when Adora said she was always going to be her friend? And the music is their childhood theme from “Promise”. I also love the callback to “Promise” in general - back then, the memories were projected by Light Hope and pushed Catra away from Adora by only showing her the worst ones. This time, Catra is remembering herself, remembers Adora being there for her and decides to protect her.

- “I’ll never say sorry to anybody, ever.” Yeah, we’ll see about that.

- And here’s one of my favourite moments of the entire season: Catra visibly feeling guilty, remembering herself and Adora playing in the hallway, then that beat of music where she changes her mind and turns around. When I first watched this episode, this was the moment where I started so cheer and said “Well, finally!” Here we go on the redemption road!

- “I wanna do that one good thing in my life. Like you said. So... come with me.” That’s another amazing moment. And the music when Glimmer takes her hand... The entire episode from here on is basically just amazing moments with amazing music.

- “Are you saving me?” “Not you... Adora.” She did it for Adora... hold me. (I do think she also did it for Glimmer, though.)

- “Even if I sent her a message to stay away, she’d still come for you, that’s just how she is.” The heartbreaking part about this is that Catra genuinely didn’t realize that Adora would also come for her.

- “There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.” *cut to Adora*

- The whole scene where Catra saves Glimmer and sacrifices herself just gets to me every time. Starting with the music - it’s Promise, which played during the cliff scene in “Promise” (and will later play during Catra’s love confession in Heart Part 2).

- “Adora... I’m sorry! For everything!” 😭😭 What makes this scene work so well for me as a starting point of Catra’s redemption is that she was being completely selfless here. She wasn’t trying to gain anything out of sacrificing herself. She wasn’t asking for forgiveness, pity, or gratitude. She didn’t expect Adora to come back for her. She just wanted to keep Adora safe and let her know that she’s sorry. There were no expectations behind this apology or sacrifice. (And that’s not even getting into how she knew exactly what Horde Prime would do to her - because she saw it on Hordak earlier - and still decided it was worth it to save Adora.)

- “No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Catra! Come back!”  😭😭😭😭

- The spacesuit designs are so ridiculous, but I kind of respect the show for saying “Yeah, we know this will never look realisitic anyway, so let’s just make it completely ridiculous. Ab-window for Bow? Hole for Adora’s ponytail? Let’s just do it all.”

- While I love that scene of them catching Glimmer in space, I’ve got to say it kind of makes me anxious to think about how lucky they were here. I mean, Catra’s plan was a little dumb here, sorry. Imagine if Entrapta hadn’t fixed Darla in time and they wouldn’t have been able to get to Glimmer? Imagine if Darla had been too slow? If the teleporter had been faster? Or if Bow and Adora hadn’t had spacesuits? If Glimmer hadn’t been able to survive in space for a few ‘I’m still glowing green from the teleport thingy’ seconds before Bow caught her? This ‘I’m just going to teleport her into space’ plan could have gone so wrong, just saying. (Also, why didn’t she just teleport Glimmer to Etheria? Wouldn’t that have been easier? And safer? Though granted, it wouldn’t have made as good of a story.)

- “I think Catra saved me. I think she saved us all.”  😭😭 Yes, she did! That’s my wildcat and I’m so proud of her!!!

- Can we talk about Horde Prime tilting Catra’s chin up with his foot? Everything about him is so creepy and evil, I love it.

- Catra just laughing in Horde Prime’s face... honestly, what an icon. (I also love the “What did you expect?” line. I mean seriously - what did we as viewers expect? I’m pretty sure most people expected Catra to redeem herself eventually.)

- “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. Glimmer is gone, and you will never get your hands on Adora!” She loves Adora so much I 😭

Amazing episode. Definitely one of my favourites. There’s probably way more stuff to talk about here and I only scratched the surface - but this post is getting way too long as it is.

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#spop #spop s5 #Catra #Catradora #Glimmer #spop spoilers #spop s5 spoilers #Corridors #Hordak #Bow #Adora #Entrapta #long post #Horde Prime #spop meta

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

What do you think of Glitra, Glimmadora and Catradora respectively?

Oh, I am so glad you asked! Truthfully, all of these ships could work for different reasons, and I wouldn't say I'm rooting for one over the other. Glitradora is always an option where everybody wins, but the network might say no. In which case, if Glitradora does happen, it would only be implied - similar to the ending of Legend of Korra.

Glitra is such an interesting ship, and such a great example of enemies-to-lovers. Assuming that the fan theories are right, and that Catra really was attempting to protect Glimmer by offering Horde Prime her services...we could be in for some awesome scenes between them in S5. They could bond over how they both inadvertantly caused catastrophes 😂 the only real issue I have with Glitra is that Catra opening the portal ultimately led to Angela's death...that's something that Glimmer and Catra need to confront. If they do, and they deal with that and move past it, I'm one hundred percent on board. But it needs to be addressed. I also wonder what Adora would think of this ship. Would probably be hilarious.

Glimmadora is such a sweet ship. I know Season 4 soured it a little, but the power of fluff is stronger than drama. Proof that Friend to Lovers isn't boring. Proof that love conquers all. I wouldn't be surprised if Adora's love for Glimmer and desire to rescue her ties in to her unlocking She-Ra again. True, they need to settle their differences from S4, but now that Michah is back, Glimmer doesn't need to be Queen anymore. And her being Queen before she was ready is what caused a lot of her issues with Adora. Well, that, Double Trouble's influence, and her low-key blaming Adora for her mother's death. But deep down, she must know it wasn't Adora's fault and I'm sure they can make up. They just care about each other way too much. They'll find their way back to each other.

Catradora is...well, it's the most likely to be end-game, in my opinion. If there was one relationship that defined this series, and it's story...it would be this one. From the very start, Adora and Catra's relationship was a focal point of the story. From the very start, they had an energy about them that suggested something more. But romantic or not, these two are still very much bound together and just as their relationship was integral to the show's beginning...it's going to be a major part of how it ends. Adora essentially defined Catra as an antagonist. She was always Catra's motivation. And until S4, Adora wanted to rescue Catra if she could. She seems to be done with her now, but that's definitely going to change.

#Glitra #Glimmadora #Catradora #She-Ra #SPOP Glimmer #SPOP Catra #SPOP Adora #Glitradora