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awakefor48hours · 3 years

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Talking about ROTT

Since I can’t just keep talking to my sibling about it, I’m just gonna say what I felt about this movie. So I’m going over the things I liked first, then I’m going over the things I didn’t like.

The Good

Since TOA is REALLY good with writing, my expectations were through the roof and it actually started off REALLY good. Claire opening a portal to the subway that she mentions is going 55mph shows that not are the writers considering real life physics but also to show just how strong Claire has gotten with her shadow magic (you have no idea how many times I said “yeah, you girlboss gatekeep gaslight”). The fight was so beautiful to watch, I LOVED it, and it raised my expectations for the rest of the movie.

The use of an anti magic generator was also very interesting and shows just how good Krel has gotten with developing technology and I’m so proud of him for that.

Douxie (who needs a break) switching bodies with Nari isn’t something I’ve seen a lot of people talk about but it was really cool to see. Douxie has gotten so much better with his magic and was willing to sacrifice himself for the world (because that’s what heroes do)

Strickler and Barbra are getting married, good for them. I’m surprised that I’m actually VERY happy for them considering how much I don’t like their romantic relationship (I just feel like they’d be better off as friends) but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m happy for them.

“For the good of all” no longer “for the glory of Merlin.”

Jlaire continuing to be a happy and healthy het couple.

Strickler sacrificing himself for Jim was great, it shows just how much he really does care about the Lakes. Also, I love when stories have characters that will sacrifice their lives to help everyone else save the day only for their death to mean nothing. The reason why I like it is because it shows the ugly side of war and how it isn’t as glamorous as movies make it out to be.

Nomura’s death was brutal but also shows just how much she’s changed. She used to loathe Jim and everyone else but in the end she gave everything to try and stop Nari.

An eldritch god and alien mech fight? YES PLEASE! (I even said during that fight “do you livestream or pray when this happens.”)

CLAIRE, CLAIRE, CLAIRE, CLAIRE

That fight between Nari and Skrael. Yes, yes.

The final battle *chef’s kiss* yes, you go Jim. You go on and malewife, mansplain, and manipulate.

There are so many good things that happened in the movie that it makes me sad to write the next part.

The Bad (I’m very angry so there will be a lot of swearing)

Like most of the fandom, I want to say what the ACTUAL fuck was that ending. No, I need actual answers WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT ENDING.

The Krohnisfere, the WORST thing in this entire series. Jim has been through A LOT and obviously loosing Toby was hard on him but to just erase EVERYTHING, nope, nope, nope. This is even worse than a “it was all a dream” ending, hell, it would’ve been better as a “it was all a dream” twist for so many reasons:

Everything that happened for the past FIVE FUCKING YEARS have been for NOTHING. Every plot twist, mystery, battle, etc have been erased and now have no meaning. Not to mention, Jim is the only person that can come out of this alright. There’s literally no way Jim can stop what’s happening on A-5, so Aja and Krel’s parents WILL be in a status and since Jim was in a different state while 3Below was happening that means he has no way to know how to stop General Morando from stealing Gaylen’s core and therefore has no way to stop Aja and Krel’s parents from sacrificing themselves for the world. There’s no way Jim can stop Merlin from getting killed by Arthur. So in the end, the Tarron kids and Douxie lose their parental figures while Jim gets Toby back. Jim doesn’t really sacrifice or lose anything, he gets everything he wants.

It undermines the entire purpose of episode 37 (Unbecoming-season 2, episode 11) because the issue is that we SAW what would happen if someone else besides Jim took the amulet. Draal is a very good fighter and has probably been training to be a Trollhunter since Deya (probably even harder when his father was chosen) and even he failed to stop Bular. BULAR. Jim was chosen because he was special and a human which is why I was mad when Jim became troll, it undermines the whole reason why Merlin specifically choosing Jim to be the Trollhunter. So by giving it to Toby, it throws that entire episode in the trash. Merlin chose Jim and Jim specifically.

It doesn’t even matter that Toby is the Trollhunter now because Jim HAS to be the leader no matter what they do. Toby can’t do anything without Jim’s say-so because if anything veers off to the left, it’s over for everyone (tbh, this could be a very cool idea for a bastardization arc for Jim as he keeps getting more and more hungry for control, but that’s not happening).

“The amulet didn’t make me a hero, I already was one” (or I at least I think that’s the quote) just shows that Toby can’t be the Trollhunter. Throughout the entire triology, Toby has accepted his role as a sidekick, he’s never shown interest in being the type of hero that Jim is and has been alright with that. So by forcing him into the hero’s role goes against everything Toby stands for. Hell, AAARRRGGHH!!!’s nickname for him is “wingman”

There’s NO way that my Jim Lake Jr would ever do this. Being the Trollhunter has traumatized Jim and ruined so many parts of his life. If I was Jim, I’d let Toby die his heroic death, being a pawn for Merlin is worse than death anyway.

If they wanted to save Toby, they could’ve just saved him with magic or alien technology bullshit or have him just drive away last minute. Either way, I think killing Toby was the right route. As I mentioned earlier, this would’ve shown more of the ugly side of war and that you can loose anyone at any time. No one has plot armor in real life.

Getting the Krohnisfere was awful too. They got it too easy which is unfortunate because the idea of having to outsmart your enemy instead of just forcefully making your way through is such a scarce thing in action shows. I would honestly pay GOOD MONEY to see this remade and watch how Blinky, Charlemange, Archie, and Claire could think of a way to steal the Krohnisfere from a dude who could see into the future instead of some “Looney Tones bullshit” (my sibling’s words, not mine). In the end, it just felt like it was only there so Archie would be stuck in the trollmarket (which makes no sense). Honestly, I think it would’ve been better if the Krohnisfere was at the bottom of the ocean in like a temple or something or force the gang into combat trials to get it.

Nari. Alright, I’m gonna say it. NARI WAS SO ANNOYING. She couldn’t just TELL Jim “hey, go back like 2/3 months ago and make a better plan.” It would’ve saved us so much trouble. Instead we got “time is like a flower” bullshit that sounds like something that Soren from the Dragon Prince would say when trying to write poetry.

A CANON MPREG. A FUCKING CANON MPREG IN A Y-7 SHOW. It’s disgusting to believe that we have to fight so hard to get just a sliver of gay rep in shows and how hard Nate Stevenson had to work to get Catra and Adora to be able to a gay kiss on screen but a teenage boy kissing his alien girlfriend which resulting in him getting pregnant (without his knowledge or consent might I add) is A-OK. Ever since Steve stopped being a bully the writers have been so bad with him and that makes me sad because Steve is so much fun especially as a CreepSlayer. It just feels like the writers don’t know what to do with him so they took him out of the story in the worst way possible. It had no reason to be there (I think it’s real purpose was just shock value), if they needed to take Steve out of the story, they could’ve had him: spend some time with his family, babysit the kids that Barb and Strickler now have to take care of, send him to therapy to help him get over Lancelot’s death, send him to A-5 to learn about the history/culture because he wants to marry Aja, or HELL send him to college. If kids are going to be confused about anything it’s the fact that a teenage boy got pregnant (once again without his consent/knowledge) because he kissed his alien gf not two people of the same gender kissing.

(In Red Vs Blue, there IS a mpreg because of an alien and I want to talk about how that differs. Red Vs Blue isn’t a children’s show, the target demographic is for teens-adults and the show has crude humor, it fits in with the show’s established humor VERY well. But TOA’s audience is CHILDREN (literal first graders), the crude humor is usually very cryptic because it’s only there for the adults that are forced to watch the show with their kids can have a laugh. But they outright showed Steve giving birth and it wasn’t even funny, it was so gross. I couldn’t even laugh in shock like I usually do, all I had was a disgusted look on my face.)

To conclude this, I’m going to start gaslighting myself to help forget that the last 10 minutes of the movie and Steve getting pregnant happened. But I really needed to FINALLY just get all my thoughts out there. There were so many good things that happened in the movie but unfortunately, they’ve been outshined by the bad things. Endings are important because not only are they a reward for the audience that have been watching or reading your creation over the years but it also makes-or-breaks any future fans. Therefore because of this, so many potential future fans are never going to watch TOA.

A year ago, I persistently begged for weeks to get my sibling to just watch the first episode of Trollhunters but now if someone asks me for a recommendation, I’m never going to suggest watching TOA ever again. I’m so mad at this and need to spend A LOT of time on AO3 before I can think properly again. I just needed to get this off of my chest because I can’t keep pulling my sibling away from her life and job or mumble to myself about how angry I am.

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 2X11 - The Outsider

Hey everyone! Don’t even SMEE-k to me until you’ve read my thoughts on the episode below the cut!

Press Release Mr. Gold finds an unwilling test subject to see if a spell he has concocted will allow him to cross the border of Storybrooke – without losing his memory – and go in search of his son, Bae; Belle stumbles upon a vengeful Hook in the Storybrooke harbor whose main goal is to eradicate Rumplestiltskin; and Mary Margaret and David go house hunting in search of a bigger place to live. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Belle meets Mulan as the two set out to slay a fearsome beast called the Yaoguai, who has been ravaging the land. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past What I like about this segment is the pair up. Both Mulan and Belle provide something that the other wants and while their story of “person with no experience befriends hardened mentor or friend figure with more experience while simultaneously melting her heart with friendliness and trust” is pretty simple and is about as predictable as these tend to go, Belle and Mulan are interesting enough that it works.

That having been said, Belle and Mulan don’t get nearly enough quality time together as they should, and it does hinder Mulan’s resolve to let Belle kill the monster and for a couple of reasons. First, Mulan has been characterized as really freakin’ stubborn thus far in the series and those scenes all take place after this one. Why would she be so willing to give in to fighting the Yaoguai, especially given all the love she has for her village? Second, Belle brings up the good point that she’s not a fighter but instead a researcher and Mulan doesn’t give her much of an answer to it. And when she does, Belle having something worth fighting for isn’t reinforced at any point in the episode, making her resolution weak. Also, Belle’s overall story is just weird. Is she trying to just prove that she can be a warrior? Is it about being a female warrior? Is the story about accepting magic when it’s light? Fighting beasts with kindness rather than violence? There’s a lack of clarity here and it’s makes Belle’s story here feel undefined and because of that, her defeat of the Yaoguai and resolve to go t Rumple afterwards doesn’t strike the powerful note that it’s clearly supposed to.

Finally, the approach to the hunters in this episode is weird. Why not have them on their side? Yeah, they’re douchey, but it’s not like in “The Girl in the Tower,” when Alice and the hunters had diametrically opposed reasons for wanting to go after the troll (Alice wanted to protect the trolls and the hunters wanted to kill the troll). Here, they all want to take the troll down. They also don’t establish the men as sexist, yet the episode tries to paint them as it later on. They’re just a weird blend of evil, but it does nothing to establish Belle’s conflict. Present I have a large problem with a lot of this segment. They’re trying to set up that Rumple is losing sight of getting back to Bae to deal out vengeance (“Tell me this is just about getting the shawl back” is a crucial line in the Rumple/Belle fight scene at the shop and it’s made to be a big point that Rumple doesn’t answer this) while not having established that as a conflict Rumple’s actually going through. His actions haven’t been excessive when this instance of dialogue happened, and they only get excessive after Belle is threatened and Killian goads him on. Even his interaction with Smee isn’t all that different from his interactions with the man in previous episodes. And I do recognize that they finally get to showing him act excessively aggressive, but the moment isn’t helped by the lack of appropriate setup earlier.

I get that Belle isn’t super receptive to Killian’s speech about Milah and Rumple’s evil nature because of the gun, and I swear I get that, but what is the point of telling Belle all of this if she’s not going to change her mindset in any way as a result of this, especially when she’s the one who the audience is supposed to connect with, is generally framed in the right, and is being told about two characters who have established a level of sympathy? Killian’s definitely taking things too far, but we as an audience know that his words about Milah’s death are true and Belle refuses to react to that, making the scene entirely pointless. I understand that the theme of the story is that “when you find something worth fighting for, you never give up,” but this is never challenged and especially as Belle is learning that Rumple murdered someone, that would be the perfect time to challenge that sentiment. But instead, she just leaves the situation at: ”Because his [Rumple’s] heart is true. And yours [Killian’s]? Yours is rotten.” Again, this makes Belle’s doubling down feel so much weaker than it should. Insights - Stream of Consciousness -The town line is glowing! The hell?! -Rumple, wipe that SMEE-rk off your face! -”It’s [Smee’s hat] always brought me good fortune.” You have a very warped perspective on “good fortune.” -It’s so weird seeing such an optimistic character like Snow deliver a eulogy, but when you think about it, she’s probably the best person. Her eulogy is all at once a celebration of Archie’s life, a validity of the sadness of the other townspeople in attendance, and an encouragement to keep on living while keeping Archie in their hearts. -I feel so bad for whoever’s job it is to make tombstones in this world. Between Archie, Rumple, and Killian, they must’ve gotten so fed up with all of the resurrections. I imagine they are like the Cabbage Merchant in Avatar: The Last Airbender! -Bitter segue, writers from the funeral to Archie being tortured. Bitter segue. -Archie, just say “he came to my office one time.” -How does Killian know Archie is a cricket? I’d imagine that Cora told him, but how does she know? -We’ve got our start of the Captain Beauty BROTP here...I love what this is going to turn to, but this is awkward af… -I don’t think I’m ever going to be over the fact that Belle defeated Captain Hook with a fucking BOOKCASE! XD -I am pretty sure that right after that scene in the library is where the hug blooper (i.e. My favorite blooper ever) took place! Update: OH MY GOD, IT TOTALLY WAS! -Rumple, what the hell are you wasting time on? You literally just got what you wanted! -”You expect to defeat the fiercest creature in the land with a book?” No, but give her a case full of them and you might be surprised! XD -Belle’s gambit in that wagon scene was weird. Did she know they were going to push her off the wagon? And if she didn’t, then why lead them the wrong way? If she wanted to go on her own, then why not just leave on her own? -Do platonic relationships have food, because Swan Believer’s is totally Pop Tarts. -Grumpy makes so many good points in his speech to Snow and Emma. Like, the fandom loves to infantize him, but there’s a reason why he’s as in-good with the Charming family as he is: He considers things that no one else will and for the most part, he backs that information up. -”We’re a bit homesick.” My previous point having been said, I’m sad that they don’t really acknowledge this point all that much to my memory. That also having been said, why wouldn’t you want to stay here? I’m with Isaac! Indoor plumbing is the best! -Belle is amazingly inquisitive and I love her no-nonsense approach to learning about Rumple and Killian’s beef with each other. -Rumple, especially considering what happens to Milah in roughly three seasons, fuck you for lying. Now I get it narratively-speaking and it makes sense for him as a character and I get that it’s a half truth. But still...fuck you for lying. -Also, as I said back in my review of “The Return,” I like how to a point, for as inquisitive as Belle is, she reaches a point where she won’t push an issue any further, and I like how moments like that subtly show the differences between Belle and Bae. -Damn, Killian. While I don’t know if you know who that scarf will lead Rumple to, that was EVIL! -I almost hate to make this comparison, but Rumple has a very Kylo Ren way of dealing with his anger (Breaking shit). -”And this is my fault.” Belle, this is so the opposite of your fault. Like, no. This blame game just doesn’t work. -”You’ll cast some spell that gives me no choice?” ...Just play the fucking Rumple irony clip here, okay? -Smee, why can’t you talk? RAT got your tongue?! -Belle rocks. It takes serious balls of steel to walk into an invisible portal, especially over water. -Batten up the hatches, Belle! -Archie, more like “Aren’t ‘chu glad to see me?!” ...They can’t all be winners. -Wow! Seeing Henry call Archie’s answering machine just to hear his voice just breaks my heart. That’s too real! Hell, Henry hasn’t even changed after the funeral. That’s too sad for words! How is this one moment the best part of the episode?! -”It’s just four people and a dalmation is a lot.” Snowy, baby, you have no fucking idea what’s to come! XD -”We could get our own place.” Jeez, Snow! Also, this is another point that’s brought up, but not really dealt with, not even really in the Season where they do get a house. Hell, at least suggest buying a house for all of them to live in together! The Swan Jones house had more than enough room for all of you! -So, Snow’s scene makes no sense. First, she poses that they should move out and then she talks about how they should take the chance for a fresh start that Storybrooke gives them. -”That doesn’t belong to you.” Belle, never change! XD -”It’s just ahead.” This line is the best segue ever! XD -”What makes you think his son wants to be found?” Oooh, with the Killian and Baelfire episode’s information in hindsight, that stings so badly, both as a point on Baelfire and Killian’s characters. Killian of course knows Bae wants to avoid his father after what went down with the portal, and Killian feels the same way about his own father after his abandonment. -Thank you, Killian for telling Belle the truth! Like, I get why this doesn’t prompt any change in Belle because of the gun he has on her, but yesss!! -”He will do anything to hold onto his power. Why do you think anyone who’s ever gotten close to him has either run away or been killed?” -Belle, do not destroy the town to save it! This isn’t “Man of Steel!” That monster is fire and the town is wood! I don’t need to read a lot of books to know that this is bad! -Mal, that was one badass curse! -Wait a sec. Belle left an injured Mulan in the path of a beast without letting anyone know this? -I’m looking at the David and Mary Margaret material, and I feel like if you mix the Season 2 energy with the Season 6 timing and context, this subplot would’ve been so much better. -”Unless we don’t want the same thing.” WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS LINE? -The Cricket Believer hug soothes my soul!!! -”I knew it.” I’m going to be generous and give this line the benefit of the doubt that it was meant to be a joke. -Belle, why are you going on about how you can make Rumple powerless in front of his enemy?! -”What you’ve done cannot be undone.” Suuuuuuuuure Rumple. XD Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? Rumple’s Redemption - So, while I don’t think the episode made this come through effectively at all, the lesson of prioritization does hold through for a while, especially at the start of the next episode. Killian’s Revenge/Redemption - Well, Killian definitely gets his revenge! This I felt was also well done because it was effectively set up that Killian was going to go after Rumple’s love in order to destroy him throughout the episode. Favorite Dynamic Swan Believer. It honestly frustrates me that this has to be put down as my favorite dynamic. Now, that’s not because I don’t love Swan Believer. I fucking love Swan Believer, but when so many interesting dynamics are going up against each other, one of them should be theoretically higher than what amounts to a side story! But yeah. Emma’s struggling with and eventual comforting of Henry as he grieves Archie is really good. It’s a great continuation from what we got in “The Cricket Game,” as this is another aspect of motherhood that Emma has to learn if she wants to truly be a mother, and in addition to just generally comforting him and validating his feelings, getting Pongo is a big step (Or would be). That’s not only a cool thing, but it’s a motherly commitment for herself as she and Henry will be taking care of him together (Or would, if Archie was really dead). Writer I am so disappointed. Goldberg and Chambliss were freakin’ legends for me going into this episode, with prior episodes having such a strong thematic presence. How did they drop the ball this badly? Like, there is just no sense of story structure in either segment and it tarnishes what has the potential to be two great stories. There’s no cohesion between the individual scenes and what we’re supposed to be taking away from them. Motivations and framing go out the window and while some of the individual character moments work, little else does. Apart from plot, nothing else changes, and that’s not what a story should ever do. The writing itself is shallow, playing the “tell, don’t show game” to say what the character’s problems are, but not showing how those are problems. Rating 4/10. This episode’s sole saving grace (Aside from great acting, set design, and music, but those are practically givens on OUAT) is it’s fantastic individual character moments, for any sense of cohesion in the delivery or understanding of his story is nonexistent. Belle’s character isn’t shown to grow from any of her experiences (In either story), Rumple’s actions are weak for what the story is trying to make them seem like, and the nuances of Killian’s motivation, while given time to be presented, are completely ignored. As for the flashback, the same lack of cohesion applies as to exactly how Belle is supposed to learn what the episode is supposed to paint her as learning. Additionally, the time spent with the Charming family adds up to nothing. Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Rumbelle - Something I find so interesting is how Rumple hates fairies, but Belle is so much of the closest OUAT gets to a fairy fangirl outside of Nova. She’s shown to be friendly with Blue, to the point of making her Gideon’s godmother and teaming up with her on more than one occasion and is much more welcoming at the sign of using light fairy magic in her quests. Also, in terms of the episode itself, Rumple and Belle get a lot of cute moments. Their initial scene in the shop screams of puppy love, their hug after Belle’s rescue is so nice, and before Belle’s shot, hers and Rumple’s farewell is utterly beautiful. Grumpy Beauty - I LOVE these two together! Everytime they share a scene, it’s so tiny, but it tells so much about how much they value each other and their emotional supportiveness of one another. The connection to “Dreamy” itself is just great and helps to reinforce when “Dreamy” encourages Belle to join the hunting party. Millian - So it all comes to an obviously dark place, but you really feel Killian’s fervor for Milah all throughout this episode, from Killian’s excitement at the prospect of his revenge to the more leveled way he speaks of Milah to Belle to the fact that he kept Milah’s scarf despite knowing better to the way he so quietly enflares when Belle says she died to the way he tries to goad Rumple into killing him, and to the wide-eyed venom at the town line. The character work here, both as a shared effort on the part of the writers and Colin’s acting, is sublime. ()()()()()()()()() Writing negative reviews are both the absolute worst ones to write, especially when you’re expecting a good episode. They’re easy to construct because it’s easy to explain why something doesn’t work as opposed to why it does, but fun to put together? Not at all. No one wants to see something bad unless it’s something for jokes like “The Room,” and I’m at the top of this list. I remembered loving this episode, and it honestly hurt to see that it wasn’t nearly as good as I built it in my head it to be from memory and nostalgia.

I sincerely hope the next one is better.

Thank you for reading and to those at @watchingfairytales. Season 2 Tally (96/220) Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (29/60) Jane Espenson (17/50) Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (24/50) David Goodman (16/30) Robert Hull (16/30) Christine Boylan (7/30) Kalinda Vazquez (10/30) Daniel Thomsen (10/20) Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 2x11 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat #basically every character in this episode is discussed

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