I didn’t watch all the episodes in a row, but it was a close. I’m not really a comics person, but that has always been because of format, not content. I guess I prefer less pictures and more words. In a row. That said I’ve always loved superhero movies and anyone who knows me knows I enjoy the television adaptions as well. Arrow is my favorite show. That’s a long winded way of saying that I don’t know anything about the Daredevil mythology beyond the Ben Affleck movie. This show is much better than the movie.
Loved seeing how relationships between the characters developed. Thought they used the flashbacks very well to illuminate the characters. They do a great job interweaving the different characters and plot lines together. Cool references to the wider Marvel universe. The only reservation I had was I don’t love Matt as much as I love Oliver Queen and I wanted to. But I really really love Oliver Queen so that could be setting the bar too high given I’ve only seen half a season’s worth of episodes in comparison to Arrow.
I very highly recommend and am looking forward to future seasons.
I think I need to go back and read Insurgent again because the ending was really different than my friend and I remembered. That said I’ll be eager to see where they go from here in the third movie. And also, I remembered a few things only as they were happening. So I can’t really compare the book and movie at this point, but I really enjoyed the movie. I love the movie’s portrayal of the relationship between Tris and Four. Shailene Woodley gave another beautiful performance. Awesome special effects. Special mention of Keiynan Lonsdale who plays Uriah. Pleasure seeing him on my screen again! I loved him as Ollie in Dance Academy. Definitely worth seeing if you liked the books and/or the first movie.
I cannot express how much I loved this movie. It made me cry. The imagery and special effects were gorgeous. Rob Stark–I mean Richard Madden–didn’t die. Lily James (aka Lady Rose from Downton Abbey) was perfect as Cinderella. I also have to mention the completely heartbreaking performance of Haley Atwell as Ella’s mother. I didn’t recognize her in the previews due to the blonde hair, but she made the movie extra special to me just because I love her as Agent Carter SO MUCH.
There were nods to the Disney animated film, but also enough additional material to make it stand on its own. A very well-done follow-up to last year’s Maleficent. And while the “message” of a classic fairy tale like Cinderella isn’t as obviously female-empowering as the “there is more than one kind of true love” we’ve seen recently from Frozen and Once Upon a Time, I have no problem with “have courage and be kind” as a general guideline for all humanity.
I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile. Ever since I realized that there were some remarkable similarities between the brooding hero of my own creation and my favorite superhero on TV. Some might think that I was influence by Arrow, but I thought of Dakotashi (Dakota) Bennett in 2010. The first novel was entirely written by the end of 2011. So it’s no wonder that I love Arrow so much. The show and its main character speak to my subconscious.
This is about to get long, folks. Also, spoilers for Arrow. Don’t read if you care about that.
So I started out just wanting to do a quick take, but then it got too long so I decided to do a full review in a separate post.
Obviously, I’m still awake. Now that I’ve re-watched the episode again (and parts of it three times), I think I’m finally able to write some of my thoughts, in no particular order:
Big Thoughts
I said this in my Quick Take, but it should repeated: amazing episode. Action-packed as usual. Emotional. And the end of was shattering. And surprising, shocking even (to me at least).
Malcolm Merlyn is horrible. I didn’t think Barrowman’s Merlyn would be able to overcome Captain Jack (from Torchwood only) in my head, but he has. Good for him. Also Merlyn had to know Oliver would die, but was that his end goal or is there something bigger?
The scenes where Oliver says his goodbyes to Thea and then to his team are heartbreaking. His words are confident, but his demeanor is…weary and sad. I think he expects to die. Even his posture right before the fight, a little slumped over, a haunted expression. If he were confident I would expect him to stand up straight, look determined and be angry. But he’s not. And yet, and yet–he does pack his bag of magical herbs (at least I think that’s what it was). Why would he need those if he knew he would die? And there is the presence of Maseo, the Lazarus Pit and of course the possibility of a larger plan from Malcolm. I just feel like the Lazarus Pit would be a cop out. But we’ll see what they do. I just expected a better showing from our hero during the fight. I mean honestly, he’s THE ARROW. And yet he was flailing about like Laurel trying to box Wildcat (forgive me the comparison!). Still an awesome fight though. My heart wants it to be part of some larger plan he has to trick Ra’s. Perhaps because I just watched the movie recently, Oliver’s whole demeanor reminded me of Aslan in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s not like Aslan didn’t know he was going to come back, but he was still…weary and sad as he walked to the stone table to sacrifice himself. Feel free to call me crazy.
Hong Kong Oliver is really growing on me! I love his snarkiness. “Mind control. Really. That’s a thing?” Love it. And Stephen Amell’s facial expression? Perfect. He’s moved beyond the spoiled rich boy and so isn’t as annoying as I found Island Oliver to be sometimes, but hasn’t yet become the cold, killing machine we met in the preview. Current Oliver can be snarky too, but he has the weight of many things on his shoulders. Hong Kong Oliver is lighter somehow, even while learning to become an assassin and how to torture people.
Felicity. Or should I say Olicity. Gone are the more lighthearted, easy-going interactions they had in the crossover (especially the Flash part). Felicity has always had her little aside comments. The island girls one when she found out about Shado is the one that pops immediately to mind. But her “I can think of one” to Ray when he says no man could regret kissing her, is more bitter than I am used to from her. But she doesn’t know what we know about Oliver’s progress this season. And although we know Oliver would NEVER regret kissing her, she is obviously reading the situation a different way. But tonight there are no more ambiguities. It’s not a declaration in reverse. “Don’t say..” It’s not “You know how I feel about her.” It’s not an intense look or a charged touch. Oliver says, “I love you,” straight out, while using the structure of Felicity’s “two things” speech from the end of last season. Just as he remembered she was chewing on a red pen when they met. He remembers everything. This is a devoted man. Perhaps she’ll believe it this time, which will then cause her to regret not saying it back before he “dies.” Of course, if it turns out Oliver had some sort of plan of his own and didn’t share it with her and let her think he was dead for however long…. she will NOT be happy with him. And that would be completely justified. After they have some sort of joyous reunion (one can hope anyway).
Little Thoughts
I really loved how Oliver threw Merlyn down on the bar. Angry Oliver. Enough said.
Did Oliver warn Roy that Thea can kick ass? Might have been a good warning…
Ray is good at pushing boundaries. Um, showing up at Verdant after pinging her phone… again? However, the story about his dead fiancé does garner sympathy from me as it does Felicity. And also, does he blame the Arrow? Plenty of people could or would. A.T.O.M. suit? Whatevs.
I was surprised at Dinah’s reaction to Laurel’s vow, but then realized she probably meant within the law. Really, though? Someone please tell Quentin.
I still dislike that they have a Ray and a Roy. Too easy to get the one letter switched around.
What’s with Laurel asking Thea to hide the fact that Laurel told her about Sara’s death from Oliver? I mean I guess I get it. She needed someone to talk to, someone to share it with. And Oliver doesn’t exactly see clearly where Thea is concerned. But still. Laurel is all about secrets these days, I guess. I wonder if Thea is the one who brings Sin back into the story now that she knows?
I decided to stop reading reviews once I decided to write one, but I did see one comment about the Raylicity stuff feeling out of place. I kind of agree, but I think it was on purpose, so I can’t call it a negative. Because we are not as invested in Raylicity, and because of the characters themselves, the scenes struck a lighter tone, however slightly. I think was needed to balance out the rest of the episode. However, the whole “Ray can be a hero too” bit was a little bit much for me though. Hit me over the head why don’t you?
I could probably go on forever. But I will stop there. So many questions. So many feels. And tears.
Quick Take: Arrow’s Mid-Season Finale, “The Climb”
WOW . WOW. WOW. Shattering. That was one amazing 42 minutes of television. I literally could not believe they did that. I was hoping all day that I would be surprised by something. I was. I knew Oliver would be not really in the show for a couple of episodes and I knew the team might think he was dead. But I didn’t think they would ACTUALLY KILL HIM. I mean, of course, he comes back–Stephen Amell was filming tonight in fact–but that doesn’t mean he’s not dead or might as well be at the moment. And just watching that happen to him. Hard to watch. I don’t blame his mother for needing to hear his voice.
I still can’t sleep. Harrowing.
Watch this show. It is amazing. More thoughts to come.
So this might be the best thing that you’ve ever eaten. It’s certainly the best way you’ve ever had blueberries. Trust me. I’m not really a big blueberry fan, but this was amazing. It’s possible it’s a texture thing, because I enjoyed blueberries frozen. You know how kids like frozen peas? It’s like that. The flavor and sweetness intensifies. Only better because blueberries are a fruit and peas are a vegetable. Add the sweat cream and you have something divine. There are two versions in the cookbook. One only uses egg whites and the more time consuming recipe uses egg yolks too. Both are good, the one with egg yolks is better.
As part of my quest to find books set in the Regency period, especially fantasy, I found this delightful series by Mary Robinette Kowal. It starts with Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories) and continues with three more, most recent published this year. I don’t see any reason for the series to stop. It seems like it could keeping going for a while and I wouldn’t get tired of it. Jane Austen is a huge inspiration for the series, especially the first book. If you can imagine Jane Austen with magic, this might be what she wrote. Unlike the Regency romance novels found in the romance aisle, this series follows the same two main characters from the first book as they have more adventures. And adventures they have! This structure also gives the opportunity to deeply explore a marriage and some of the pressures on a marriage from the time period. I think the second book and the fourth book have been my favorites, but that’s just personal preference. They are all wonderful. Highly recommended.
I’m only a somewhat adventures eater. I’ll try things I haven’t eaten before, but generally not something too exotic. Enter A Feast of Ice and Fire, the companion cookbook to George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire (popularized as A Game of Thrones by the HBO television series). When considering different things to blog about, I thought “I like George R. R. Martin’s books; I like food; the TV show is really popular—what could be better than blogging about my experience making some of the food in the cookbook?”
I happened to have mushrooms and green onion from Friends & Farms (they are like a CSA, but more formal), so I started with Cream of Mushroom and Snail Soup. It turned out pretty good. Mushrooms really aren’t my favorite thing to eat, mainly because of a psychological prejudice against fungus. Apparently I have a similar prejudice against eating things that I think of as slimy. Still, the soup was good, very earthy flavored. I think there were a couple things I would change during my execution of the recipe that might make it even better.
Enjoy the gallery of photos I took while preparing this earthy meal worthy of a medieval table. I’m not here to give away well-researched recipes for free, but if you read the captions carefully, you can probably recreate. I recommend buying the cookbook. There are a lot of great recipes in it. Have a themed feast while you watch this season’s finale!
I didn’t watch all the episodes in a row, but it was a close. I’m not really a comics person, but that has always been because of format, not content. I guess I prefer less pictures and more words. In a row. That said I’ve always loved superhero movies and anyone who knows me knows I enjoy the television adaptions as well. Arrow is my favorite show. That’s a long winded way of saying that I don’t know anything about the Daredevil mythology beyond the Ben Affleck movie. This show is much better than the movie.
I think I need to go back and read Insurgent again because the ending was really different than my friend and I remembered. That said I’ll be eager to see where they go from here in the third movie. And also, I remembered a few things only as they were happening. So I can’t really compare the book and movie at this point, but I really enjoyed the movie. I love the movie’s portrayal of the relationship between Tris and Four. Shailene Woodley gave another beautiful performance. Awesome special effects. Special mention of Keiynan Lonsdale who plays Uriah. Pleasure seeing him on my screen again! I loved him as Ollie in Dance Academy. Definitely worth seeing if you liked the books and/or the first movie.
Quick Take: Arrow’s Mid-Season Finale, “The Climb”
So this might be the best thing that you’ve ever eaten. It’s certainly the best way you’ve ever had blueberries. Trust me. I’m not really a big blueberry fan, but this was amazing. It’s possible it’s a texture thing, because I enjoyed blueberries frozen. You know how kids like frozen peas? It’s like that. The flavor and sweetness intensifies. Only better because blueberries are a fruit and peas are a vegetable. Add the sweat cream and you have something divine. There are two versions in the cookbook. One only uses egg whites and the more time consuming recipe uses egg yolks too. Both are good, the one with egg yolks is better.
and continues with three more, most recent published this year. I don’t see any reason for the series to stop. It seems like it could keeping going for a while and I wouldn’t get tired of it. Jane Austen is a huge inspiration for the series, especially the first book. If you can imagine Jane Austen with magic, this might be what she wrote. Unlike the Regency romance novels found in the romance aisle, this series follows the same two main characters from the first book as they have more adventures. And adventures they have! This structure also gives the opportunity to deeply explore a marriage and some of the pressures on a marriage from the time period. I think the second book and the fourth book have been my favorites, but that’s just personal preference. They are all wonderful. Highly recommended.
I’m only a somewhat adventures eater. I’ll try things I haven’t eaten before, but generally not something too exotic. Enter A Feast of Ice and Fire, the companion cookbook to George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire (popularized as A Game of Thrones by the HBO television series). When considering different things to blog about, I thought “I like George R. R. Martin’s books; I like food; the TV show is really popular—what could be better than blogging about my experience making some of the food in the cookbook?”
