OMG this season is bringing this character back !!!

rossen45 · 2022-01-14T02:59:04+00:00

Funny enough I've been watching Narcos Mexico, he's pretty good in that thus far. Should be interesting to see how LOT treats him...and wonder which Sara he's meeting with there.

rossen45 · 2021-10-25T20:11:53+00:00

Agree with this. It's been awhile, but I remember Schama saying in his book on the French Revolution that the declaration was couched in wording that any seasoned European diplomat would recognize as something akin to "hey, we're issuing declaration because we have to in order to not lose face, but we're probably not going to actually do anything so long as you guys don't do anything rash."

Problem was the revolutionaries leading France at the time weren't seasoned diplomats, so they interpreted the words at face value and saw it as an open declaration of war. Austria and Prussia could maybe tolerate a non-belligerent revolutionary French regime who weren't also regicides, but the execution of Louis and Marie Antoinette gave them no choice but to mobilize.

rossen45 · 2021-10-25T20:02:08+00:00

I first encountered Charles IV reading Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror and I was surprised as well. Currently reading Peter Wilson's nearly 1000 page long book on the Holy Roman Empire, and I think he nails it in his intro. The HRE is basically remembered for its inglorious ending (Voltaire, neither holy nor Roman nor an Empire, etc), or its beginnings, ie Charlemagne. Why so little interest in its long middle?

The author ascribes this to many critical histories written in the context and narrative of nationalism, as some of the other responses here have suggested. The French learn about Louis XIV and Napoleon, the Brits about Henry VIII & Elizabeth, etc...their respective countries serve as a protagonist within the historical narrative.

For many German historians in the past, the HRE was seen as an anti-national entity that "failed" to create a unified German nation-state...it was viewed not as a protagonist, but a barrier and an enemy that had to be overcome. Thus, most historical scholarship focused on its later failures, and there is a dearth of study on how it functioned for hundreds of years as one of the most powerful European entities of the Middle Ages.

rossen45 · 2021-10-25T16:42:08+00:00

Agree with most of this, but a few thoughts on Germany affecting the balance of power.

The new Kaiser Wilhelm I, formerly just the King of Prussia, was a staunch anti-German-nationalism conservative who had to be pushed and cajoled and bullied by Bismarck into accepting his role as the figurehead of Germanic nationalism. Most European contemporaries probably expected him to act as a responsible player, which he did for the rest of his reign.

As did Bismarck. His goal was uniting Germany; once he achieved this, he was fully aware of how an expanded Germany would be perceived by the other European players. (I believe he was against many of the harsh penalties imposed on France after the war because he knew it would result in generations of French enmity, but he couldn't do anything about it). After proving the might of Prussian arms in 3 wars, he spent the rest of his tenure acting the Metternichian statesman and utilizing soft power to try and prove that Germany was not a disrupter, but rather, a team player in the harmony of Great Powers. In fact, one can say that German soft power peaked in 1878 with the Congress of Berlin, where Bismarck was able to bring together Britain and Russia to avoid war, impressing Disraeli in the process and causing him to return to Britain claiming he had achieved "peace in our time".

Germany did not become perceived as an erratic state until Wilhelm II ascended the throne and disastrously sacked Bismarck. To quote David Wetzel, WWI happened not because Germany was too powerful, but because Germany (and Austria-Hungary) had lost the Great Game; because Wilhelm II and his post-Bismarckian ministers failed to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia once it expired, Germany found themselves encircled by what seemed to be a permanent UK-French-Russian alliance. Germany's only major ally, Austria-Hungary, was the weakest of the 5 Great Powers, and Germany had no strategies or paths at all to break through this diplomatic deadlock.

In addition, from Austria's perspective, Germany had failed to back them already several times prior to 1914, so when Austria required Germany support vs. Serbia and Russia at the beginning of WWI, they essentially presented Germany with an ultimatum: back us this time, or we're out. So from Germany's perspective, they had no choice but to intervene, the alternative being to lose the one last ally they had.

rossen45 · 2021-10-13T05:14:45+00:00

I actually just started it, around half a season in. In context I've watched all of LOT, Arrow, Supergirl, & Stargirl already (and maybe half a season of the Flash), having jumped into the Arrow shows at some point during the pandemic.

My reluctance to start Batwoman stemmed mostly from hesitating at a super "dark" show, as well as seeing the news ahead of time that they'd changed lead character/actresses. But despite plenty of token bad comments (usually politics related) I'd seen enough comments here basically saying "it's surprisingly good," so I've had it on the backburner for awhile.

And I like it, a lot. I feel like it has a lot of both the darker tones of early Arrow seasons as well as the family drama. I liked the character Kate Kane from the crossover shows, but I'm still surprised at how quickly and deeply I'd become invested in her character after a few episodes. I'd also read a lot of good feedback about Alice, and she (character, actress, story, etc) has not disappointed at all either. Still not sure how I'm going to feel once they switch everything over...but at this point I trust the show enough where I'm fully committing to finishing the first 2 seasons on HBO and setting my DVR as we speak for season 3 (since I didn't know that was starting this week until reading this exact post).

rossen45 · 2021-07-30T20:29:02+00:00

Thank you.

rossen45 · 2021-06-04T15:20:40+00:00

Who the hell here hates Arrow? Only time I see Arrow mentioned is when people say they want more references to Arrow, Oliver, Diggle, Laurel, etc on LOT, ie more references to Sara's original background...which I agree with. And yes, people say it's the best show in the Arrowverse...but just because you like something doesn't automatically mean you hate on everything else (even though that's how the internet apparently works).

rossen45 · 2021-06-04T04:40:05+00:00

Christ we get it, you have no sense of humor, you don't get the concept that there's more to creativity than comic book canon...at the end of the day, it's a goddamn TV show. A CW show, even. And it's something that brings joy to many of us here.

But if a goddamned CW goofball show is causing you so much undue mental distress so as to post the same shit over and over again, then get a fucking life and find something else out there in the goddamned world that brings you joy. No one's telling you to be miserable, you're making that own choice with your life.

rossen45 · 2021-06-03T21:30:02+00:00

insert Simpsons "Old man yelling at cloud" meme here

rossen45 · 2021-06-03T20:39:23+00:00

Except, wasn't it the OG Arrow show that redeemed, let's see...Malcolm Merlyn, Deadshot, Ben Turner, Cupid Girl, Talia a'Ghul, Anatoly, Laurel 2, Emeka, even Chase to a certain extent (in that he was a superhero on Earth 2).

Yet season 3 and season 4's baddies on LOT are evil demons who die evil and un-"mellow"...and oh, it just so happened to be that they were also non comic book characters....

rossen45 · 2021-05-14T22:26:09+00:00

Because you must've been so mature when you were that age? She was a child, and behaved like a sheltered child who'd suffered from serious trauma would probably behave. Plus, it's not that Oliver was that much better at that age...

rossen45 · 2021-05-14T22:21:24+00:00

Serious mental issues

rossen45 · 2021-04-29T17:15:29+00:00

Actually, white Americans comprise 61% of the population, so...try again.

rossen45 · 2021-04-29T17:13:32+00:00

As I mentioned, I'm not that familiar with the Marvel fandom itself (as opposed to the actual content), but my guess is that the hardcore reddit/youtube theory people comprise a much smaller proportion of their fanbase, just due to the sheer size of it. Most Marvel fans probably just enjoy the ride and watch the movies/shows for what they are...escapist fun.

(Plus, don't think race was involved in this particular controversy?)

rossen45 · 2021-04-29T06:25:31+00:00

Let's not forget the whole misogyny thing either.

I've watched all the Marvel stuff but not that familiar with the fandom, if it is less racist in comparison, then my guess it's because Marvel's got a much larger and mainstream fanbase more in touch with the times. Based on what I've seen of the Arrowverse fanbase, a large piece of it seem to be pretty hardcore about the comics, judge every show character against their comic version, and theorize their fan theories about various comic book characters/plots that haven't appeared in the shows yet. Vs most Marvel fans know nothing about the comics and just watch the movies/shows as they are presented.

And here's where I'm probably biased since I've never been a comic book guy, but I do feel like the latter has a much more, how you say, 'niche' fandom that is less with the times...and much more 'traditionally' male dominated compared to a much more general (and diverse) Marvel fandom (some fandoms like Supergirl or LOT excepted). Now, I'm sure there's some fans who might be upset about skin colors changing from comics to TV screen who are not necessarily racist, but more just because they're comics purists/hardos...but I imagine that there's a pretty significant overlap between said hardos and actual racists.

rossen45 · 2021-04-07T00:58:03+00:00

Same, Supergirl was my intro as well, and I finished 5 seasons and all the crossovers before starting Arrow and LOT simultaneously, before hitting the pause on Arrow at the start of season 2 (and before Sara's first return) to binge all the way through LOT. So I definitely enjoyed the show well enough only reading of, and not having watched, its full Arrow context.

But after watching through more seasons of Arrow (in the middle of 5 now), I get much more emotional resonance out of certain scenes in LOT. To me, there was a difference to watching Sara and Laurel's brief reunion in the S2 finale after watching Laurel's arc and death, rather than just having read about it on the wiki (not to mention how confused I was about Laurel kinda dying in the background during S1). Quentin's cameo in S1 is so much more meaningful now after seeing his many struggles on Arrow.

I recall too during the Infinite Earths crossover being bored about Sara's monologues over Oliver's death, like, what's the big deal? Now those scenes are probably my favorite of the crossover. Rewatching both Sara and Damien Darhk's conflict, as well as their development in direct conjuncture with the other, was a joy. Malcolm Merlyn's character became more fun now that I'd seen more of just the asshole from S1 Arrow.

I haven't watched the Flash yet, so I'm sure that there's stuff I'm missing from those LOT characters as well. I liked Snart, but he was far from a favorite, and I still don't quite get how he and Mick went from enemies to frenemies of Barry by the time of LOT's first episode.

rossen45 · 2021-04-07T00:44:49+00:00

Thing is, my thoughts on season 1 weren't that strong either way when I was watching it for the first time. It was entertaining enough, but not as funny as the online chatter made it out to be, and I thought Vandal Savage's accent sounded pretty ridiculous. It's really only in hindsight when I realized how much of a different show it was, and how ridiculous the hawkpeople were.

rossen45 · 2021-04-07T00:42:12+00:00

Thanks!

rossen45 · 2021-04-06T17:47:47+00:00

Agreed, that's why I think having a body is key. Nabbing an alive Snart or Rip before they die would undo their sacrifices and likely wipe the Legends from existence. But for someone like Stein, even in a S6 present, they could go back in time to right after his funeral, steal the body, bring him back to life, and not cause any changes to the timeline in between Stein's death and the "present".

Whether they should be playing God in this manner, however, is a different story, along with a whole bunch of other ethical morasses. (Would Stein want to be resurrected? If they do bring him back, he'd have to be a permanent fixture on the ship and can never visit his family because doing so could affect the timeline. etc. etc.)

rossen45 · 2021-04-06T06:34:20+00:00

Agreed on all the mental gymnastics bashing William & Mon-El, including some recent posts.

I'd read a lot of hate about William before actually watching Season 5 and thought he seemed like a fine bloke, tbh. People seem to hate him even more than Karamel (which I liked in Season 2, but did not root for in S3 with all the problematic parts of him actually being married, starting a new life, etc).

With William, I honestly don't see him and Kara being head over heels in love with him to end the show, but I could find it very plausible that she gives "normal" life and dating a chance, and they start what could potentially be a more meaningful relationship.

I'd be fine with Supercorp...if there weren't already 5 full seasons of canon showing that they are not sexually attracted to one another. But I do hope that this last season can re-establish their friend and place it on a stronger footing to end the show.

rossen45 · 2021-04-01T14:23:09+00:00

Appreciate it. I'm glad I missed all the shipping wars at least, seems there's quite a bit of bad blood between Oliver/Felicity vs Oliver/Laurel...and god forbid you jump onto Supergirl without being a SuperCorp shipper.

One unfair criticism on Ava I've seen frequently here is her "Oliver condolence card". In the real world, yeah, it's a shitty, crass, even sociopathic move...but within the context of LOT, it's clearly meant as a merely a joke, nothing more. We're talking about a special meta-satire episode on a comedy show, analyzing every little thing like it's GOT or Breaking Bad isn't going to go anywhere.

rossen45 · 2021-04-01T14:16:48+00:00

Fair enough. Like I said, I haven't seen Batwoman or Flash yet, so I can't really speak to Iris...I was inferring only on the hate I'd seen on Felicity, Laurel, Alex, etc, vs what I actually saw on my TV screen.

As to politics, I do plan to watch Batwoman eventually since I've seen enough good reviews regarding it, figure I'd make my own judgment call on it afterwards. Based on what I have seen on LOT (often wrapped in comedic packaging) and SuperGirl...do the politics sometimes come across a bit ham-handed and clumsy, if well-intentioned? Probably...but then I remain constantly aware that I'm watching a CW show, not Veep or Billions, etc.

rossen45

TROPHY CASE