The last TV reviews of 2016
Jan. 4th, 2017 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34The Walking Dead finale:
This episode is what I'm still here for. Love every single bit of it.
1. Maggie wresting power from that asshole governing Hilltop is worth the price of admission.
2. Olivia just breaks my heart this episode. I loved Tara volunteering to take over watching Judith for her and Olivia refusing. I kept expecting Neegan to do something horrible to her, which he did indirectly, but her death was so random. I teared up when Tara said she made the bullet before Eugene confessed.
3. JDM looks for much better with the scruff.
4. I am shipping Carol and Morgan pretty hard at this point and also LOLing my ass off that she's apparently being wooed by the whole Kingdom.
5. Who's the mystery person who watches them get the survivalist's cache?
6. I love that Enid understands plans are afoot to go after Neegan and that she's on board.
7. I love the guy from the Kingdom who tries to convince Carol and Morgan to help the Kingdom fight Neegan. He's 100% right that the Saviors will not always honor their deal. I feel so sorry for how helpless he feels. Love the ground work for all of them fighting together being laid. I understand Carol and Morgan's refusal and wonder what will tip them over the edge; I suspect it's finding out about Abraham, Glenn, Spencer, and Olivia.
8. Poor Rosita. She's willing to commit suicide to stop Neegan, which frankly several people should have done several times over. I feel so bad for her that she thinks she alone and all she has left to do is die. I love that the Reverend doesn't think she has to die to stand up to Neegan. He is becoming such a rock of good sense and is a good example of the way strength can grow where someone was once weak and cowardly.
9. At first I thought Spencer was trying to actually do something useful, try to live up to his mom's legacy. And then I realized he was just being a squirrely dick. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, Neegan likes Rick. He respects him. In some ways, he needs Rick. He needs a foil to perform against, to rail against. He'd get super bored super quick in the absence of Ricks. I was completely unsurprised that Neegan just guts Spencer.
10. Michonne is so bad ass. I wonder if the woman she traps with her zombie barricade wanted to die or if she was just resigned to that inevitability.
11. The end is everything I wanted: Rick finally understanding that they have to fight, and everybody showing up at Hilltop, reuniting with Daryl who gives Rick his gun back! OMG, they are going to fuck Neegan's shit up and it will be glorious.
Finale of Westworld:
1. Arnold built Dolores a game--the maze--the point of which is for her to assume consciousness. I love that the MiB is totally wrong about the maze, that he's spent all these years chasing something that's not for him. He believes suffering leads to awakening. The center of the maze is hearing her own voice, hearing an actual self.
2. Loved seeing a more robotic version of Dolores.
3. Arnold doesn't want to open the park because he believes all the hosts are alive and doesn't want them to live in hell. He has her and Teddy kill all the other hosts and then himself. He had a son who died and he thinks he'll see his son after death.
4. The MiB has bought the park (it would have closed after Arnold's death without his intervention) and endeavors to make the park world a truer world. He's disappointed that it lacks a true element of danger.
5. Loved William pulling Logan around on a leash and then tying him nekkid to a horse. I don't quite get the point of that last, though. The park wranglers wouldn't let Logan die; they're watching everything. I don't think he could actually kill Logan that way. Is he just trying to discredit him somehow? Is it a symbolic gesture, a way of letting Logan know that he'll never boss William again?
5a. And then I suddenly realize William is the MiB and we've been watching narratives from the past and present interwoven. That picture that Dolores's father finds in the present is the one dropped in the past. Dolores says she loves William when the MiB expects her to say Teddy, and then the penny drops. She doesn't recognize the MiB as William even though they went through so many loops together.
6. Charlotte and the rest of the Board want to simplify (and, I'm assuming, make cheaper) the park. She tells Ford he's retiring.
7. Arnold revised Maeve's code so she can wake herself up. Maeve's desire to see Clem before she goes is touching. I love that she makes her tech fix Bernard. I am guessing that Ford is the one who programmed Maeve's newfound autonomy. I'd like to believe she doesn't leave on the train because she truly wants to stay but I think she was programmed to stay. Love the murder spree she, Hector, and snake lady go on.
8. Loved the way Dolores dying on the beach in Teddy's arms was actually a tableau for the Board. Ford's new narrative is called Journey into Night and seems to be everything William's ever wanted (that grin on his face when he gets shot). I'm having a hard time teasing out what of the things Ford says and seems to believe is actually true. I can't tell if he just wants to fuck up Charlotte's day LOL or if he believes that the hosts are/should be sentient or what. He's very dismissive of the hosts throughout and seems to play god, truly believe he is god, so IDK. It made for a great finale twist, but I don't think I get his motivation really.
MISC:
For every wall and surface to be made of glass, the employees appear to be under very little actual surveillance.
Charlotte's dress in the final scenes is strangely awful and ill-fitting.
Westworld is clearly not the only park. Josh is wondering where on earth has the kind of land that could make this happen--a asteroid in space?
This episode is what I'm still here for. Love every single bit of it.
1. Maggie wresting power from that asshole governing Hilltop is worth the price of admission.
2. Olivia just breaks my heart this episode. I loved Tara volunteering to take over watching Judith for her and Olivia refusing. I kept expecting Neegan to do something horrible to her, which he did indirectly, but her death was so random. I teared up when Tara said she made the bullet before Eugene confessed.
3. JDM looks for much better with the scruff.
4. I am shipping Carol and Morgan pretty hard at this point and also LOLing my ass off that she's apparently being wooed by the whole Kingdom.
5. Who's the mystery person who watches them get the survivalist's cache?
6. I love that Enid understands plans are afoot to go after Neegan and that she's on board.
7. I love the guy from the Kingdom who tries to convince Carol and Morgan to help the Kingdom fight Neegan. He's 100% right that the Saviors will not always honor their deal. I feel so sorry for how helpless he feels. Love the ground work for all of them fighting together being laid. I understand Carol and Morgan's refusal and wonder what will tip them over the edge; I suspect it's finding out about Abraham, Glenn, Spencer, and Olivia.
8. Poor Rosita. She's willing to commit suicide to stop Neegan, which frankly several people should have done several times over. I feel so bad for her that she thinks she alone and all she has left to do is die. I love that the Reverend doesn't think she has to die to stand up to Neegan. He is becoming such a rock of good sense and is a good example of the way strength can grow where someone was once weak and cowardly.
9. At first I thought Spencer was trying to actually do something useful, try to live up to his mom's legacy. And then I realized he was just being a squirrely dick. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, Neegan likes Rick. He respects him. In some ways, he needs Rick. He needs a foil to perform against, to rail against. He'd get super bored super quick in the absence of Ricks. I was completely unsurprised that Neegan just guts Spencer.
10. Michonne is so bad ass. I wonder if the woman she traps with her zombie barricade wanted to die or if she was just resigned to that inevitability.
11. The end is everything I wanted: Rick finally understanding that they have to fight, and everybody showing up at Hilltop, reuniting with Daryl who gives Rick his gun back! OMG, they are going to fuck Neegan's shit up and it will be glorious.
Finale of Westworld:
1. Arnold built Dolores a game--the maze--the point of which is for her to assume consciousness. I love that the MiB is totally wrong about the maze, that he's spent all these years chasing something that's not for him. He believes suffering leads to awakening. The center of the maze is hearing her own voice, hearing an actual self.
2. Loved seeing a more robotic version of Dolores.
3. Arnold doesn't want to open the park because he believes all the hosts are alive and doesn't want them to live in hell. He has her and Teddy kill all the other hosts and then himself. He had a son who died and he thinks he'll see his son after death.
4. The MiB has bought the park (it would have closed after Arnold's death without his intervention) and endeavors to make the park world a truer world. He's disappointed that it lacks a true element of danger.
5. Loved William pulling Logan around on a leash and then tying him nekkid to a horse. I don't quite get the point of that last, though. The park wranglers wouldn't let Logan die; they're watching everything. I don't think he could actually kill Logan that way. Is he just trying to discredit him somehow? Is it a symbolic gesture, a way of letting Logan know that he'll never boss William again?
5a. And then I suddenly realize William is the MiB and we've been watching narratives from the past and present interwoven. That picture that Dolores's father finds in the present is the one dropped in the past. Dolores says she loves William when the MiB expects her to say Teddy, and then the penny drops. She doesn't recognize the MiB as William even though they went through so many loops together.
6. Charlotte and the rest of the Board want to simplify (and, I'm assuming, make cheaper) the park. She tells Ford he's retiring.
7. Arnold revised Maeve's code so she can wake herself up. Maeve's desire to see Clem before she goes is touching. I love that she makes her tech fix Bernard. I am guessing that Ford is the one who programmed Maeve's newfound autonomy. I'd like to believe she doesn't leave on the train because she truly wants to stay but I think she was programmed to stay. Love the murder spree she, Hector, and snake lady go on.
8. Loved the way Dolores dying on the beach in Teddy's arms was actually a tableau for the Board. Ford's new narrative is called Journey into Night and seems to be everything William's ever wanted (that grin on his face when he gets shot). I'm having a hard time teasing out what of the things Ford says and seems to believe is actually true. I can't tell if he just wants to fuck up Charlotte's day LOL or if he believes that the hosts are/should be sentient or what. He's very dismissive of the hosts throughout and seems to play god, truly believe he is god, so IDK. It made for a great finale twist, but I don't think I get his motivation really.
MISC:
For every wall and surface to be made of glass, the employees appear to be under very little actual surveillance.
Charlotte's dress in the final scenes is strangely awful and ill-fitting.
Westworld is clearly not the only park. Josh is wondering where on earth has the kind of land that could make this happen--a asteroid in space?
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:01 am (UTC)Also I was kinda hoping Charlotte would turn out to be William's daughter but assuming his wife was Logan's sister it doesn't seem likely they'd have cast a black woman as the daughter.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:41 am (UTC)Maybe, but that would mean both William and Ford lie about it. I copied down what he said almost verbatim. I agree with you that the timing is off/weird for that to be the case. Oh, except...
William and Logan do have a conversation about how the company Logan's family owns, Delos, has a majority share in the park. And then Ford or William one says the park was hemorraghing money after it opened. So maybe Delos kept it afloat long enough to get William and Logan there, and then after William falls in love with the park and emasculates Logan, he puts enough money in to compensate for what Arnold did.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:48 am (UTC)Also Delos is reminiscent of 'Dolores'.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:59 am (UTC)I love how much they've left us to unpack for the next season. *rubs hands together gleefully*
I love that her name is Dolores (sorrows).
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 04:09 am (UTC)The story MiB told about the daughter paints her as an innocent but having her be somebody like Charlotte/ Charlotte having reasons to not be in his fan club besides just being 'tough as nails corporate bitch' would be good. (I love the 'tough as nails corporate bitch' character type but they're usually underserved by the stories they're in and she's not an exception so far; though when she first appeared I thought she'd be a reporter doing a story on Westworld and sleeping with the staff to get information so at least she's not THAT stereotype.)
no subject
Date: 2017-01-06 03:01 am (UTC)I very much like the idea that the story the MiB tells about his wife and daughter might not align with the story they'd tell about themselves. I'd love to see his take on them undercut in some way.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:44 am (UTC)Also, the actor who plays Charlotte reminds me a great deal physically of the actor who played the main role on Minority Report which has made me miss that show.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 03:58 am (UTC)She will probably be William's (adoptive?) daughter in my fic unless I get a better idea.
no subject
Date: 2017-01-05 04:00 am (UTC)It would certainly illuminate the scene where she watches him almost die without batting an eyelash.