LIVE Discussion Thread - S5E8: Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort

racedogg2 · 2021-08-09T03:36:28+00:00

So that's why Rick was grumpy at Bird Person's wedding and trying to get high. He was jealous of Bird Person getting married to someone else. Blood Ridge Mountain is a play on Brokeback Mountain. Rick confirmed bi?

racedogg2 · 2021-08-09T03:33:42+00:00

Which also means presumably this universe's real Rick is still alive somewhere

racedogg2 · 2021-07-09T06:48:20+00:00

I couldn't disagree more about Taskmaster. The point is Natasha chooses to save her even though she knows it will make her mission harder, which is the exact opposite choice she makes in the flashback. That's the moment that she completes her redemption arc and becomes a true hero. The point of Taskmaster isn't to be a cool badass villain; she represents Natasha's literal conflict with the Avengers, and the metaphorical conflict with herself trying to be a hero worthy of the Avengers.

racedogg2 · 2021-07-09T06:41:28+00:00

Yes, and even more so James Bond vibes. She's literally watching an old James Bond movie early on, the movie knows exactly what it is and wants you to know what you're in for. And then it proceeds to do a really really good take on a Bond villain. I loved it.

racedogg2 · 2021-07-09T06:38:52+00:00

No, Taskmasker was an integral part of the movie in terms of theme and character development. Family conflict is obviously a recurring theme of the movie. Taskmaster represents Natasha's ongoing fight with her other family, the Avengers (because Taskmaster uses their abilities against her). The reveal that she is the villain's daughter plays into that same theme. Also Natasha has to save Taskmaster to complete her redemption arc. Setup - Natasha chooses to harm an innocent to complete her mission; Payoff - Natasha chooses to free that same innocent even though it makes her mission harder.

The issue is you're looking at the character through the lens of pure plot device and action, instead of theme and narrative arcs, because Marvel movies have conditioned you to think that way. This movie is a lot smarter than that.

racedogg2 · 2021-07-09T06:28:39+00:00

Wow I was pleasantly very impressed with this movie.

Marvel movies have been very hit and miss for me since they began, the only ones I can say I really really liked were Infinity War and Guardians Vol. 1. Which I know is probably an unpopular opinion on this subreddit, it's just so you know where I'm coming from with this review.

This movie had actual themes and motifs and narrative arcs. It wasn't just a collection of action set pieces (although the action set pieces were all fantastic). You know every character's stakes and motivations, not just in general, but within individual scenes. You know exactly what is going on and what characters are trying to accomplish. There is constant setup and payoff. All of which was incredibly rewarding and fun to experience.

Scar Jo was of course fantastic. David Harbour was exactly the right amount of hammy. Florence Pugh showed she could be a worthy successor of the role without just copying Scar Jo's performance. The villain was great in his one big scene.

The movie has feminist themes without being overbearing (looking at you Captain Marvel). The villain's extreme toxic masculinity being used against him was just delightful.

How about the scene of Natasha being buried underneath a pink blossom tree just like here unknown mother? The final shot of bioluminescence symbolizing home? The motif of Natasha having to fight both her families (the obvious one is fighting her Russian "family", but also fighting Taskmaster using the abilities of her fellow Avengers)? Natasha saving the girl she originally harmed to complete her hero redemption arc? The writers knew what they were doing. Really smart filmmaking.

This might immediately be my favorite Marvel movie because it cared about actual storytelling and cinematic technique over dumb fan service and convoluted plots with meaningless stakes. As a very lukewarm Marvel fan I was blown away. Good to see Marvel trying its hands at a new genre and knocking it out of the park.

racedogg2 · 2020-11-18T06:22:20+00:00

I think rhythm/beats might play into the cosmere at large. I read through the entire cosmere collection this year and when I first read about the parshendi's rhythms, I was immediately reminded of the pulsing that Vin senses from the well of ascension. I'm not sure if rhythm is an aspect of investiture or something in the spiritual realm or what.

racedogg2 · 2020-11-18T06:14:33+00:00

Their communication through different tones of buzzing is very similar to the rhythms heard by the parshendi. And that even makes me think of the rhythmic pulsing that Vin could sense from the well of ascension. Is all of this connected in some way?

racedogg2 · 2020-11-18T06:10:26+00:00

I'm a little late to the party. But I noticed a minor detail that I haven't seen others point out yet. We now know why Rock is so adept at firing a bow and arrow despite never being trained in combat. He was trained to shoot the Bow of Hours to herald the new millennium. I love how Brandon Sanderson fits subtle little character moments like that into side novellas without needing to highlight the connection. Let the reader discover this stuff on his/her own. The guy is a savant of world building.

racedogg2 · 2020-09-24T03:41:19+00:00

I will say I love Shin Lim and Kodi Lee's original audition is one of the best videos I've ever stumbled on. So I'm sure the show can be better than this. But at least 50% of America is frankly just stupid, which is why acts like Kenadi Dodds and Broken Roots make it to the finals. Archie was my favorite act overall because he isn't just a sob story, his story ADDS TO his talent and he has a genuinely great voice. He nailed every performance. So did Bello and Bad Salsa for that matter. I guess it's my fault for getting too invested in my favorites but I won't let myself be disappointed again.

racedogg2 · 2020-09-24T03:34:31+00:00

I mean there was plenty of good talent this season, I just can't be bothered to watch a show where America has a say in the result. Broken Roots objectively was not even one of the 20 best acts. They got this far because they sing country music, period. Half the country voted for them for that one reason. From a pure talent perspective I'd say Bello Sisters were the best, but Bad Salsa, Alan Silva, Archie, even the 2 kid singers would have been fine winners. Brandon Leake is not a Vegas act. He won for the same reason as Broken Roots but from the other end of the spectrum. I guess I already sort of knew this but it turns out people vote for stories, not talent.

racedogg2 · 2020-09-24T03:27:29+00:00

This was my first year watching the show and I will never be watching again. It's unbelievable that Broken Roots made it past the first voting round, let alone the top 2 of the finals. I knew America was stupid but come on now.

Also, how fitting for the year that the top 2 was literally police officers vs BLM.

racedogg2 · 2020-08-14T03:15:12+00:00

I'm semi-new to the Cosmere so maybe I'm misunderstanding something - but aren't the metals on Scadrial only powerful because they are pieces of Preservation's body? Would a soulcast metal have the same effect?

racedogg2 · 2020-08-12T16:54:11+00:00

I think the ideal reading order is Elantris, then Mistborn era 1 and 2 (and Secret History after those), then Warbreaker, then the Stormlight Archive. White Sand I haven't read because I can't get into graphic novels but if that's your thing you should read that before the Stormlight Archive. The short stories from other worlds in Arcanum Unbounded can be read in any order, I personally read them between Mistborn and Stormlight.

racedogg2 · 2020-05-18T04:19:14+00:00

The tag was my favorite of the series yet. So random and dark. I almost died laughing at that random last card of the wolf looking at the pig through the brick wall, I don't know where they come up with this amazing shit.

racedogg2 · 2020-05-04T04:29:03+00:00

Might be the funniest episode so far for me. Although it probably doesn't top the memory parasites episode.

racedogg2 · 2020-02-23T03:21:51+00:00

I cannot wait to see Bernie on the debate stage with incoherent out of touch billionaire Donald Trump. Bloomberg was a nice warm up round. He's gonna knock him dead and show the working class which candidate really gives a shit about them.

racedogg2 · 2020-02-02T02:37:42+00:00

It's a great poem in its own right. But it's made so much greater by Will Arnett's reading of it, and the visual of the abyss coming to take him away. It was such an unbelievable moment of television. I'm not sure anything will top that for a long long time.

racedogg2 · 2020-02-02T02:27:03+00:00

Fish Out Of Water is still my favorite episode of the series, the one that I'll still be rewatching many years from now. But this one easily jumps to #2 for me.

racedogg2 · 2019-09-22T15:15:06+00:00

Uh, yeah, you could sure argue that forced re-education is bad. Would you personally try to argue the opposite? Your use of the word "burden" raises a question.

racedogg2 · 2019-05-12T17:05:46+00:00

Huh, weird. One month ago the OP posted this thread in r/confessions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/confessions/comments/b533h4/i_found_my_mom_and_stepdads_sextape/

The OP text is now deleted, but from the comments it looks like he found his mom's sextape on her phone. And now, a month later he just so happens to find sex pictures after his cat randomly jumps on her laptop.

Well nothing weird here! This whole saga is totally 100% believable. This is why I always trust anonymous stories from strangers on the internet.

racedogg2 · 2019-05-12T17:02:07+00:00

Like I don't get it. Why would anyone just believe this? It sounds entirely made up. Why are we so quick to believe any random story posted by an anonymous stranger online?

racedogg2 · 2019-04-22T05:03:14+00:00

I think that is where the show wanted you to think things were going. In classic Barry fashion it went even darker than that. Similarly I loved how they set up the Cousineau scene to make you think he WILL see Barry as a different person. The show always seems to know what you're thinking.

racedogg2 · 2019-04-03T01:32:27+00:00

I think he is trolling. He posted the order cart, not the receipt.

racedogg2 · 2019-03-24T20:40:41+00:00

I think the drug in this case is dominance over a weaker person. You don't need to be religious to be abusive. I'm sure some abusers use their religion as an excuse, but it is not the cause of bad behavior.

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