This Year's Model of Humanity

So, one of the discussions going around about 4x05 is that the scene at the end is a ret-con, and this is mostly said with the implication that ret-cons in general are bad things. Personally, I completely disagree with that. I think they’re like anything else in writing - they’re as good as their execution is. Most of us can think of ret-cons that are messy bandaids, but essentially all a ret-con is, is a writer going, “oh, wait, I have a better idea!” and whether or not it works is going to depend on how well the writer weaves it into the story. 

honestly, the more i think about it, the more annoyed i am that shiro’s personality got streamrolled like that? in which the culmination being that all his former dreams were thrown away so that he could get married to some random person we have never see him interact with before (apparently he works on the atlas bridge, i have learned and was given a name… in the subtitles only… but, you know, i shouldn’t have to play where’s waldo with a main character’s ‘endgame’ love interest).

like… Shiro loved space so much that he ended his previous relationship to go follow his dreams. he spoke in s6 about loving being a paladin and that was AFTER all the trauma he’d been through in space. he got his own fucking ship to captain so that he could be part of the final arc. and then… apparently none of that means anything to him anymore and his ‘happiness’ literally ONLY relates to his sexuality, rather than any of his previously established personality traits or any of his previously established friendships.

i mean, at least keith’s ending flows from his actual previous actions and personality in the series, you know? hanging out with the blades. helping people. sure, okay. and we know keith has a habit of running away from relationships and shutting down if he’s worried he’ll lose them, so i even buy that he would cut off his friends like that and only see them once a year, though it does mean his ending is depressing as fuck, too.

but shiro? shiro’s love of space not even being MENTIONED in his ending? part of the reason that shiro being confirmed queer at the start of s7 was so ground-breaking was because he was already such a fully-rounded out and beloved hero! he had a strong, established personality and emotional connections to the people around him. but apparently none of that matters! just the fact that he likes dudes. that is the ONLY thing relevant to him in the ending. we know nothing about this dude’s personality or their relationship. we don’t know when it started. we don’t know jack shit about it. but it’s gay and that’s supposed to be enough. shiro deserved better. he deserved to still be SHIRO, not just a cardboard cut-out that looked like shiro.

But… man, it was weird to me that Shiro and Keith’s friendship… went underground after the EPIC Black Paladins episode in S6 and then bringing Shiro back in S7 (…literally the same vibe as the Lance-brings-back-Allura scene this season, too). Keith had multiple one-on-one conversations with Lance (mostly about Lance’s relationship with Allura, it seemed)… but absolutely zero time for a one-on-one personal conversation with Shiro. I mean, even if the writers were overwhelmed by the chance to have Shiro have an on-screen kiss… that doesn’t mean his friendship with Keith should, you know, stop existing. So that was weird. It was like Shiro was just friends with VoltronGroup as a whole and his personal connection to Keith didn’t matter at all, even though they were fighting Honerva, who had specifically called out their connection during S6 as a big deal.

And the big goodbye with Allura and the Paladins was… I mean… it kinda felt more like they were sending her off for summer vacation than sending her to her death. That’s part of why I thought maybe she was coming back at the end!

So… idk. Endings are hard. It’s easy to fuck them up. But it just kinda felt like… I’ve been watching a marathon runner going around a track, cheering them on, and then when they’re five feet away from the ending mark, they got distracted by something, wandered off, and never finished the race. I feel… unsatisfied.

The brother line tonight on SPN did make me appreciate all over again how unique and vital Person of Interest was for actually following through on their queer subtext – for taking the chemistry between Root and Shaw (neither of whom were originally intended to be queer, if what I’ve read is accurate) and going “you know what, if this were a guy and a girl, it would be a romance, so let’s make it a fucking romance with kisses and undeniable canon text and a whole-hearted love story”. I mean, I still have to wait until the end of the season to find out whether or not they’re a tragic queer love story or not, but I appreciate the show for taking that first step, even if they fail to take the second one and give the queer ladies a happy ending.

So, obviously Shaw’s escape emotionally overshadows everything else that happened the last couple of nights (\O/), and I’m certain I’m going to reblog tons of gifsets about it, but there was a lot of information about how Samaritan thinks vs how the Machine thinks in the last couple of episodes and that was pretty fascinating, too.

I enjoyed this episode but I don’t know if I have a lot to say about it!

I think that’s partly just because this show is so intense that I really need more than one day to process the last episode before my brain is ready to jump into the next one, so I’d like to extend a hearty ‘fuck you’ to CBS for burning off the show like this.

I was not expecting Elias to be alive! But, on balance, I was pleased to see him.

Fusco is going to keep pushing until he gets himself killed – TELL HIM THE TRUTH. And this is a parallel to what we saw with Elias’s friend (whose name has slipped my mind), where he’s just gonna keep pushing and pushing so you really need to be honest or he’ll get himself killed.

I noticed that Finch held back how bad things are really going in the Machine v. Samaritan simulation from Root but opened up to John about it with minimal pushing. I also noticed he said ‘she’ again when talking about TM. <3

Everyone’s fear over potentially losing John (after having lost Shaw) was well played.

I’m glad they were able to save the number. And I liked Root potentially putting some doubt into one of Samaritan’s agents.

I am so happy that I wasn’t spoiled for Kevin’s brief appearance. I yelled and practically fell out of my chair. Oh my GOD. Kevin! Baby! I missed you! It sucks that you’re still dead! But it was really good to see you!

The episode starts out delightful (facial recognition!), becomes intense and terrifying, then gives us back a tiny bit of relief and happiness (family picnic!) while reminding us that greater horrors loom in the distance.