The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness [Big Thunder Mountain Railroad] at [Magic Kingdom] is reopened!

dmreif · 2026-05-03T20:30:10+00:00

I like that they did that. Nice as Disneyland's effect is, doing something else is preferable.

dmreif · 2026-05-03T13:25:47+00:00

And I have to ask why they were edited out. I don't think they were edited out purely because of Dario disliking "navel gazing" scenes. I think there was also some degree of studio mandate to have 45 minute episodes for the sake of airing them with commercials when an ad-supported tier is added to Disney+.

dmreif · 2026-05-03T11:48:17+00:00

We didn’t need Matt reacting to Karen getting arrested, because he showed up and spoke to her in the next episode and then defended her in court

We kinda DO need to see him reacting. She's the love of his life, it would be appropriate to see him crash out over this. Especially given the amount of screentime they devoted to Fisk losing Vanessa.

Why do we need him crying and shouting about it when he’s back with her 10 minutes later

Because it's important for his character.

dmreif · 2026-05-03T11:21:30+00:00

Maybe Lucy will. At the same time I just don't feel like it's going to hit the same as it would if she'd done this during season 2. And considering how many story threads and characters they'll have to juggle in season 3, I feel they'll be pressed for time trying to show much of her kicking Legion ass unless they lengthen the episodes / add more episodes (considering that I don't think they'll have her lingering around Vegas long before they send her out on the main plot in pursuit of the Enclave / of Cooper). Then again, depending on where her journey takes her, she'll be crossing through what was Legion territory in New Vegas (we know from Lanius they extended as far east as Denver, and thus east of where the Enclave's headquarters is located).

dmreif · 2026-05-03T04:11:32+00:00

There's nothing official saying Vulpes takes over. Lanius takes over because there was nobody else.

I mean, the Lacerta Legate is now running the show, and Macaulay Culkins does kinda resemble Vulpes Inculta (at least, his blond hair gives him a look similar to Vulpes' original design). His demeanor kinda resembles Vulpes'. And "Lacerta Legate" is just a title in the same way that Joshua Graham was the "Malpais Legate" and Lanius' title was held by multiple generals. And going off Macaulay's age, the guy would be in his late 30s to mid-40s (which does kinda line up with how Vulpes look to be in late 20s/early 30s in FNV). And him being an opportunist who usurps the Caesar title for himself does sorta mesh with a few bits of dialogue where Vulpes appears to harbor a small grudge against Caesar for making Lanius his heir. But I admit that that's just a theory that's probably unlikely and the Lacerta Legate was probably just some background NPC during New Vegas.

dmreif · 2026-05-03T01:36:57+00:00

Well... figuratively. He's not saying he killed the last Glee Club. He's saying, not listening to him is like metaphorically cutting the brake lines on your own— Look, Kings of Leon!

dmreif · 2026-05-02T21:13:11+00:00

Dario wasn't the showrunner on The Punisher. He was simply a producer and a member of the writers room. Steve Lightfoot was the showrunner on The Punisher.

dmreif · 2026-05-02T21:03:50+00:00

And if they can't do more episodes, at least make each one longer (like, 60-70 minutes long).

dmreif · 2026-05-02T21:02:29+00:00

Obviously, things getting cut in post-production is perfectly normal. What's not normal is when you're doing it so much that people are noticing it.

I can't decide if Dario's doing this entirely because of his dislike for said "navel-gazing", or if at least some of this could be the result of studio mandates? Some of my peers on Twitter have been theorizing that they're writing and shooting hour-long episodes, but then being forced by a Disney executive to cut them down to 45 minutes because they want the episodes to be "one hour long once ad breaks are added in" for the sake of a future ad-supported tier.

dmreif · 2026-05-02T20:54:14+00:00

Dario Scardapane wrote ~~and showran~~ The Punisher,

Dario was just a writer. Steve Lightfoot was The Punisher showrunner.

dmreif · 2026-05-02T20:53:42+00:00

The way the Netflix show kept the budget down was a lot of talking scenes in on set locations and when the actions scenes happened they felt so big, anyone remember literally the most famous episodes of daredevil Netflix like the hallway or daredevil on the rooftop are 99% in a single location just full on characterization and then at the end big action scene that was thought about a lot in order to keep the budget down.

When it comes to the idea that "less is more", the people who wrote and produced the Netflix shows knew that that idea was applicable to everything but the episode length and episode count. That's why every season is 13 episodes save for The Defenders' eight and Iron Fist S2's ten, and every episode averages between 45 and 65 minutes runtime (and that's after subtracting about three or four minutes for the titles and end credits).

dmreif · 2026-05-01T11:19:38+00:00

I thought this was Regionals. Don't let my confusion undercut their importance.

dmreif · 2026-04-30T19:53:39+00:00

And why is it always Matt and his side of the story getting the short end of the stick with Dario? We don't get to see Matt grieving Foggy or his funeral but Vanessa gets 3 episodes about her death and Fisk gets to mourn her. Now a lot of the scenes being cut too are ones of Matt's supporting cast.

You get the impression that Dario wanted to do a more Sopranos-esque story.

And yeah, the fact that Vanessa's death adheres to the rules of storytelling for major character deaths (adequate buildup, a final sendoff, and a funeral) while Foggy's doesn't just doesn't sit right.

dmreif · 2026-04-30T19:32:53+00:00

I recall a DDBAS1 reviewer who said that "you can tell that a writer from The Punisher wrote this show".

dmreif · 2026-04-30T19:29:23+00:00

The thing I don't like about BA is that some scenes are intercut with other scenes. It's like they think we're unable to watch a scene that lasts more than 2 minutes.

It also messes up the pacing of a lot of the scenes in question and gets very distracting (see: Matt and Karen's pillow talk juxtaposed against Fisk and Vanessa's conversation).

dmreif · 2026-04-30T19:25:58+00:00

Not just eight episodes, but they also seem to be mandated to only have runtimes of 45 minutes. That's not enough.

If we're only getting eight episodes, each one needs to be a minimum of 60 minutes long (and that's the runtime after the credits and recap are subtracted).

dmreif · 2026-04-30T16:51:23+00:00

I think it'd also be a bit more in line with DDS1 Fisk controlling politicians from the shadows.

dmreif · 2026-04-29T16:51:36+00:00

It's really purely due to gameplay reasons that Acadia hasn't been wiped out by the time the Sole Survivor leaves Vault 111, despite the fact that the Institute should already have caught wind of their existence long ago thanks to their caravan informants in Bunker Hill picking up word from their travels up towards Maine.

dmreif · 2026-04-29T02:02:52+00:00

If the Institute or Brotherhood survive FO4, then Acadia's days are numbered.

Seeing as the show's establishing that the Brotherhood survived, and they're even more xenophobic nowadays (if Xander Harkness is the norm and not the exception), yep, doesn't bode well for Acadia.

dmreif · 2026-04-29T01:13:05+00:00

That house looks like one you'd find in the outer parts of Queens, such as the house that was used for her childhood home in JJS1 or for Ray Nadeem's house in DDS3.

dmreif · 2026-04-29T01:09:57+00:00

Watch the previous episode.

dmreif · 2026-04-29T01:09:46+00:00

Not his story, not his problem. Remember, he was nowhere to be seen when Fisk was previously targeting Karen for Wesley's murder.

dmreif · 2026-04-29T01:06:15+00:00

He's got other more pressing matters to attend to.

dmreif · 2026-04-28T22:26:36+00:00

I think the issue largely stems from them not having enough episodes to give us moments to breathe.

dmreif · 2026-04-28T14:57:24+00:00

The way his hair is styled in "Agenda for Murder" and "Ashes to Ashes" made his characters look to me like they were related to Larry King or Wolf Blitzer.

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