12 Monkeys S04E08: Demons
Mar. 15th, 2023 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereSpinning plot wheels within wheels while an evil computer is literally stuck on a loading screen. This one goes from lightweight to merciless in minutes.
So they go to fulfill their out of nowhere medieval destiny. Who are all these new people? Why is our beloved group suddenly aided by a father and daughter we haven't been properly introduced to? Why is the MacGuffin going to solve all of their problems? The answer is it's one more shaggy dog story, and this is really the only proper answer because I would have felt so ripped off if this Holy Grail/Ancient Astronauts mission had been a success. Instead, it was a disaster, which granted made for a downer episode, but there was no good alternative here.
But did we really need to see the immolation of Maester Luwin twice? Or psycho man's flagellation?
Jennifer landing in the middle ages was momentarily hilarious. Worst time traveler ever. "Ye olde...navy." Also her struggles with the proper verb for passeth...ing.
I really don't have much to say about all the Primary stuff, or the recappy bits, or Diet Da Vinci and his daughter.
Jennifer and Deacon hug! They're the most endearing thing ever. Still not a single spark of shippage there for me, but I really enjoy their friendship. Deacon gave her his knife and I thought it was safely lampshaded by Jennifer so nothing truly bad could happen but au contraire. :(
Didn't think about it at the time, but maybe Deacon's weirdly harsh reaction to Jennifer's Tolkien quote was in response to her quoting Boromir at him - aka, the "least" part of the Fellowship and the one who dies first, and maybe he felt insulted or that it was a major bad omen or something, because there's no way he snoozed through Tolkien, I won't believe it.
Because this is a time travel show I keep living in denial of dead characters - like yes, he's dead NOW but they'll fix it...right? And to an extent that still happened here, but I'm also kind of relieved that there's only three episodes left to do because Ramse and Deacon were my favorites and the show hasn't been the same without Ramse, so with them both gone I feel well and truly ready to say my goodbyes.
Deacon's last words got me, of course, but what really hit hard was the fact that this time, finally and completely, everyone was on the same page, unhesitatingly ready to go back for Deacon after all the times they've left him behind. And Olivia took that choice away.
The group is shattered by this event, although I do love that Jennifer was the first to rally, with her own help (continuing the theme that Jennifer is all Jennifer needs). The tension of this sequence is so well done, and now Cole finally has his vest.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the promised interaction of Hannah and Emma basically didn't happen. I can't even call it the B plot, because it was two short scenes of exposition which the audience already knew. What a tease.
However, I am enjoying the genre vibes of their interactions, like one of those early 2000s cancelled TV shows about some vast, doomed-to-be-unanswered conspiracy, with Hannah's whole "pack your bags, we're going on the run" attitude. Two complimentary yet opposite loners against the world. Beats the hell out of the Medieval MacGuffery.
Okay, so thinking further on the whole Marion Woods thing, I came up with an explanation that would make so much sense (granted, at two o'clock in the morning), so here goes: I would so much prefer and it would be more emotionally fitting if Cole's grandmother was Katarina rather than (shudders) Olivia. It would add so much meaning to his interactions with her and with Hannah, and he's had such a strong family vibe with them both anyway. It would improve the show on rewatch to no end. And this would also explain why he was forced via Groundhog Day loop to save Hannah, because if he didn't save her, he wouldn't exist.
I'm not sure how this would come to pass, but anyway, it's a theory.
So they go to fulfill their out of nowhere medieval destiny. Who are all these new people? Why is our beloved group suddenly aided by a father and daughter we haven't been properly introduced to? Why is the MacGuffin going to solve all of their problems? The answer is it's one more shaggy dog story, and this is really the only proper answer because I would have felt so ripped off if this Holy Grail/Ancient Astronauts mission had been a success. Instead, it was a disaster, which granted made for a downer episode, but there was no good alternative here.
But did we really need to see the immolation of Maester Luwin twice? Or psycho man's flagellation?
Jennifer landing in the middle ages was momentarily hilarious. Worst time traveler ever. "Ye olde...navy." Also her struggles with the proper verb for passeth...ing.
I really don't have much to say about all the Primary stuff, or the recappy bits, or Diet Da Vinci and his daughter.
Jennifer and Deacon hug! They're the most endearing thing ever. Still not a single spark of shippage there for me, but I really enjoy their friendship. Deacon gave her his knife and I thought it was safely lampshaded by Jennifer so nothing truly bad could happen but au contraire. :(
Didn't think about it at the time, but maybe Deacon's weirdly harsh reaction to Jennifer's Tolkien quote was in response to her quoting Boromir at him - aka, the "least" part of the Fellowship and the one who dies first, and maybe he felt insulted or that it was a major bad omen or something, because there's no way he snoozed through Tolkien, I won't believe it.
Because this is a time travel show I keep living in denial of dead characters - like yes, he's dead NOW but they'll fix it...right? And to an extent that still happened here, but I'm also kind of relieved that there's only three episodes left to do because Ramse and Deacon were my favorites and the show hasn't been the same without Ramse, so with them both gone I feel well and truly ready to say my goodbyes.
Deacon's last words got me, of course, but what really hit hard was the fact that this time, finally and completely, everyone was on the same page, unhesitatingly ready to go back for Deacon after all the times they've left him behind. And Olivia took that choice away.
The group is shattered by this event, although I do love that Jennifer was the first to rally, with her own help (continuing the theme that Jennifer is all Jennifer needs). The tension of this sequence is so well done, and now Cole finally has his vest.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the promised interaction of Hannah and Emma basically didn't happen. I can't even call it the B plot, because it was two short scenes of exposition which the audience already knew. What a tease.
However, I am enjoying the genre vibes of their interactions, like one of those early 2000s cancelled TV shows about some vast, doomed-to-be-unanswered conspiracy, with Hannah's whole "pack your bags, we're going on the run" attitude. Two complimentary yet opposite loners against the world. Beats the hell out of the Medieval MacGuffery.
Okay, so thinking further on the whole Marion Woods thing, I came up with an explanation that would make so much sense (granted, at two o'clock in the morning), so here goes: I would so much prefer and it would be more emotionally fitting if Cole's grandmother was Katarina rather than (shudders) Olivia. It would add so much meaning to his interactions with her and with Hannah, and he's had such a strong family vibe with them both anyway. It would improve the show on rewatch to no end. And this would also explain why he was forced via Groundhog Day loop to save Hannah, because if he didn't save her, he wouldn't exist.
I'm not sure how this would come to pass, but anyway, it's a theory.
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Date: 2023-03-16 10:40 pm (UTC)ETA: I am so looking forward to reading your reactions to the next three. My personal opinion is that they are amazing and nearly perfect, and I can't wait for you to watch them!
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Date: 2023-03-17 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-17 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-21 06:49 pm (UTC)https://twitter.com/ToddStashwick/status/1638190486497419267?s=20
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Date: 2023-03-21 07:51 pm (UTC)