Legends of Tomorrow 2-06 Outlaw Country
Aug. 29th, 2017 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethMick, Sara, and Nate all had their own strands of this episode.
... I'm paying most attention to Mick, kind of 'of course' about Sara, and not enthralled about Nate.
Also I ate the rest of my birthday cake while watching and wow is that a lot of chocolate goo.
A Lot.
I maybe might have been distracted with chocolate crumb and dawning suspicion I shouldn't have has the last few bites.
This episode divides weirdly between things that are plausibly in character but I'm annoyed at the characters for them, and things that I'm annoyed at the writers for... though I guess those are plausibly in character too.
Both sets are about how people treat Mick.
It's weird that his team don't seem to notice what he's good at. Or, given how consistent it is, vastly annoying. When it's tech stuff the writers also forget, but his people skills have stayed consistent.
Send Mick to make friends with his kind of people, the rough kind who think beer and (arm) wrestling are good introductions, and he will indeed make friends. Different centuries don't much matter, send him in to a group of outlaws and the outcome ranges from buddies to boss. And I'm only counting observable to Legends canon outcomes so far. And granted, there have also been bar brawls, but they haven't always been a hindrance to the making friends part.
If they wanted to get someone close to Turnbull and find out what his plan is, go looking for aberrations and have someone with an in to deal with them? Telling Mick to go have fun makes sense.
If they wanted Mick to start a fight they would have had to *tell him so*
and I don't get why he's working with people who don't get that.
It could have gone either way, yes, but it's like the characters didn't imagine the way it did go, so now I'm annoyed at them.
Not annoyed at the writers.
For that.
Mick and Amaya had some good beginnings here.
... Ray being all 'not it' when last couple episodes Mick asked him to be *partners*, and he took the gun and accepted? Oh, I'm not best pleased with Ray.
Charitably you could reckon his new mentorship role with Nate is taking up time. But Sara called them bros and she is not wrong. Ray just likes Nate better.
... I'm mad at him. Partners is serious.
But that left Amaya watching him and knowing him better.
Including seeing him light money on fire, get drunk, forget how many shots in the guns (not his usual weapons), and only survive because Nate did a self sacrificing (well Nate expected to be bulletproof so actually he thought it would be easy)
Not Mick at his best
And then he talks himself down, says animal, that the team have on a leash.
So Amaya going with the metaphor that Mick introduced? One that connects him very firmly to her comfort zone, animal powers and all? Fair enough.
And the writers are going for an arc where Mick's criminality is highlighted, where his 'bad' behaviour is brought forward, and his pyromania focused on, as you can tell from some pretty clunky sudden costume changes and camera angles to focus on his scars. He's not a victim... but his scars say something about that.
But, slight problem, comparing mental illness to being an animal? Not cool.
I'm pretty sure they don't think of it as mental illness though. They're being too comic book, and comics are often being too ablist.
*sigh*
So Amaya is doing her best, I can see where that conversation is coming from, and I can also see why it riled a lot of people.
Jonah Hex explaining his scars as from being trapped in a burning building puts a spin on Mick's story. Mick is getting along great with the man that did that to him, and lights buildings on fire for fun and profit, not to mention having burned women and children before, his family. Mick is also the one with the scars. It's a compare contrast that doesn't draw a conclusion.
But Mick being like "you have one minute to get out" and staring at the sparkly fire? Amaya pulled him up on it out loud and right away, so we're meant to remember the times he didn't run, and maybe with her being all "Mick, Mick" there's a Snart comparison. Mick alone is a scary guy? Yeah, you have to be scared for him, if he's going to pull this. And if you stack this with last week's sitting next to a bomb incident, you can get a scary pattern of disregard for personal safety.
See also Nate's story. Nate got there by being afraid his whole life and then thinking he can't be hurt any more. And now deciding that brave means doing things anyway. But he is, by the known laws of physics, a dumbass. If Ray thinks he's going to get squished, he's pretty much logically going to get squished. But no, it is hero land where brave matters, so his determination wins.
... might be showing I'm not sold on that one.
I have problems with anxiety and agoraphobia, so I very literally go nowhere, because fear. Brave is indeed doing things anyway. But I have also had occasion to notice that ignoring fear is also bloody unhelpful. You need an appropriate level of fear response for the situation. Nate is still working on that, partly because he is still discovering his limits.
Nate and Mick are both being the dumbass who needs pulling away from the fight, because they like their superpower too much.
... Nate gets rewarded for it. And a 51% chance of survival that resolves real fast, and possibly a bullet scar at most. Just, generally, he's powering up.
Because his power is defensive?
Mick's is offensive...
And he do like lighting things up.
Amaya did better as his partner without even saying she would. But then by the end she's plain and clear offering to help with the 'animal' side, don't starve it but don't let it be in control. Pretty good plan... within the metaphor. Kind of wish actual mental health care was anywhere near the story though.
But Amaya was doing her best by Mick and they had a connection.
Jonah Hex had a connection to Rip, before this, and many shippers were wondering what he's doing being around when Rip isn't and wasting the potential.
I reckon the point is Sara isn't Rip.
So the story arc for Sara is proving herself to someone that knows Rip and has a basis for comparison.
Why I'm annoyed at the writers is they went extra on the sexism and made the bone of contention 'she's a woman'. And seriously? Rubbish story. Nothing to chew on. Leaves everyone waiting for Hex to get slapped.
Especially after the 'breaking her in' comment.
Mick's comment was inappropriate too. One, outing people, not cool, but consistent if you consider 'she's an assassin' precedent. Don't know why they're giving Mick that thread though. Two, the 'filly' thing... this writer sees no problem with animal comparisons and we'll just have to live with that. Three, ffs, she can slap him down herself, and without this implication that it's liking women that makes her not interested. Like, Hex is being a dick, he's... big no.
So instead of a genuine comparison where Rip's strengths and weaknesses as a Time Master, Captain and friend come into play, it's just another
turns out women can do the thing
thing.
... I really want a Legends equivalent of Sophie Devereaux. Or historian Nate. Nat would make that character a thousand times more interesting. Sheltered for reasons other than gender would even give one tiny bit of interest to the idiotic treatment of illness/disability. But right now they have women who hit things, and it's good, but one note.
Sara not killing Dark gets compared to Hex not killing Turnbull, and he turns Turnbull over to the lawful authorities. Slight problem with comparison: Legends blew up the previous claimants to lawful authority and are attempting to replace them. What should the authorities do?
Sara's authority should be in question for so many layers of reason, but gender shouldn't even be in it. Time travel as an excuse for sexism is boring, it skips the real meat here.
Hex is also too old timey to wonder if the Legends know what they're doing. Which, well, there's room to question.
Martin's new memories is a good consequence.
Martin not being able to tell different sorts of love apart is a bit not good.
Quite a bit not good if you think too hard.
Lets blame it on the headaches and some super partial data.
But leaving the audience to wonder if he's messed with his marriage again again seems reasonable. It has been his stakes for several seasons now, and this is a new angle to do it from. I'm just not going to be all that invested in a relationship that seems to mostly be about telling him to go play with physics...
but we do get as much about that romance as most any relationship in these shows that isn't a multi episode protagonist arc.
There's a lot of threads and layers going on in here, and mostly I like it and want to see how it plays through.
I'm just annoyed at the Legends because if they're so anti Mick why are they keeping him around to risk himself? If they don't like him, why work with him? Do or do not, dudes. Be a team.
The whole Mick misses hanging out with criminals who appreciate him thread is getting well established.
... I'm paying most attention to Mick, kind of 'of course' about Sara, and not enthralled about Nate.
Also I ate the rest of my birthday cake while watching and wow is that a lot of chocolate goo.
A Lot.
I maybe might have been distracted with chocolate crumb and dawning suspicion I shouldn't have has the last few bites.
This episode divides weirdly between things that are plausibly in character but I'm annoyed at the characters for them, and things that I'm annoyed at the writers for... though I guess those are plausibly in character too.
Both sets are about how people treat Mick.
It's weird that his team don't seem to notice what he's good at. Or, given how consistent it is, vastly annoying. When it's tech stuff the writers also forget, but his people skills have stayed consistent.
Send Mick to make friends with his kind of people, the rough kind who think beer and (arm) wrestling are good introductions, and he will indeed make friends. Different centuries don't much matter, send him in to a group of outlaws and the outcome ranges from buddies to boss. And I'm only counting observable to Legends canon outcomes so far. And granted, there have also been bar brawls, but they haven't always been a hindrance to the making friends part.
If they wanted to get someone close to Turnbull and find out what his plan is, go looking for aberrations and have someone with an in to deal with them? Telling Mick to go have fun makes sense.
If they wanted Mick to start a fight they would have had to *tell him so*
and I don't get why he's working with people who don't get that.
It could have gone either way, yes, but it's like the characters didn't imagine the way it did go, so now I'm annoyed at them.
Not annoyed at the writers.
For that.
Mick and Amaya had some good beginnings here.
... Ray being all 'not it' when last couple episodes Mick asked him to be *partners*, and he took the gun and accepted? Oh, I'm not best pleased with Ray.
Charitably you could reckon his new mentorship role with Nate is taking up time. But Sara called them bros and she is not wrong. Ray just likes Nate better.
... I'm mad at him. Partners is serious.
But that left Amaya watching him and knowing him better.
Including seeing him light money on fire, get drunk, forget how many shots in the guns (not his usual weapons), and only survive because Nate did a self sacrificing (well Nate expected to be bulletproof so actually he thought it would be easy)
Not Mick at his best
And then he talks himself down, says animal, that the team have on a leash.
So Amaya going with the metaphor that Mick introduced? One that connects him very firmly to her comfort zone, animal powers and all? Fair enough.
And the writers are going for an arc where Mick's criminality is highlighted, where his 'bad' behaviour is brought forward, and his pyromania focused on, as you can tell from some pretty clunky sudden costume changes and camera angles to focus on his scars. He's not a victim... but his scars say something about that.
But, slight problem, comparing mental illness to being an animal? Not cool.
I'm pretty sure they don't think of it as mental illness though. They're being too comic book, and comics are often being too ablist.
*sigh*
So Amaya is doing her best, I can see where that conversation is coming from, and I can also see why it riled a lot of people.
Jonah Hex explaining his scars as from being trapped in a burning building puts a spin on Mick's story. Mick is getting along great with the man that did that to him, and lights buildings on fire for fun and profit, not to mention having burned women and children before, his family. Mick is also the one with the scars. It's a compare contrast that doesn't draw a conclusion.
But Mick being like "you have one minute to get out" and staring at the sparkly fire? Amaya pulled him up on it out loud and right away, so we're meant to remember the times he didn't run, and maybe with her being all "Mick, Mick" there's a Snart comparison. Mick alone is a scary guy? Yeah, you have to be scared for him, if he's going to pull this. And if you stack this with last week's sitting next to a bomb incident, you can get a scary pattern of disregard for personal safety.
See also Nate's story. Nate got there by being afraid his whole life and then thinking he can't be hurt any more. And now deciding that brave means doing things anyway. But he is, by the known laws of physics, a dumbass. If Ray thinks he's going to get squished, he's pretty much logically going to get squished. But no, it is hero land where brave matters, so his determination wins.
... might be showing I'm not sold on that one.
I have problems with anxiety and agoraphobia, so I very literally go nowhere, because fear. Brave is indeed doing things anyway. But I have also had occasion to notice that ignoring fear is also bloody unhelpful. You need an appropriate level of fear response for the situation. Nate is still working on that, partly because he is still discovering his limits.
Nate and Mick are both being the dumbass who needs pulling away from the fight, because they like their superpower too much.
... Nate gets rewarded for it. And a 51% chance of survival that resolves real fast, and possibly a bullet scar at most. Just, generally, he's powering up.
Because his power is defensive?
Mick's is offensive...
And he do like lighting things up.
Amaya did better as his partner without even saying she would. But then by the end she's plain and clear offering to help with the 'animal' side, don't starve it but don't let it be in control. Pretty good plan... within the metaphor. Kind of wish actual mental health care was anywhere near the story though.
But Amaya was doing her best by Mick and they had a connection.
Jonah Hex had a connection to Rip, before this, and many shippers were wondering what he's doing being around when Rip isn't and wasting the potential.
I reckon the point is Sara isn't Rip.
So the story arc for Sara is proving herself to someone that knows Rip and has a basis for comparison.
Why I'm annoyed at the writers is they went extra on the sexism and made the bone of contention 'she's a woman'. And seriously? Rubbish story. Nothing to chew on. Leaves everyone waiting for Hex to get slapped.
Especially after the 'breaking her in' comment.
Mick's comment was inappropriate too. One, outing people, not cool, but consistent if you consider 'she's an assassin' precedent. Don't know why they're giving Mick that thread though. Two, the 'filly' thing... this writer sees no problem with animal comparisons and we'll just have to live with that. Three, ffs, she can slap him down herself, and without this implication that it's liking women that makes her not interested. Like, Hex is being a dick, he's... big no.
So instead of a genuine comparison where Rip's strengths and weaknesses as a Time Master, Captain and friend come into play, it's just another
turns out women can do the thing
thing.
... I really want a Legends equivalent of Sophie Devereaux. Or historian Nate. Nat would make that character a thousand times more interesting. Sheltered for reasons other than gender would even give one tiny bit of interest to the idiotic treatment of illness/disability. But right now they have women who hit things, and it's good, but one note.
Sara not killing Dark gets compared to Hex not killing Turnbull, and he turns Turnbull over to the lawful authorities. Slight problem with comparison: Legends blew up the previous claimants to lawful authority and are attempting to replace them. What should the authorities do?
Sara's authority should be in question for so many layers of reason, but gender shouldn't even be in it. Time travel as an excuse for sexism is boring, it skips the real meat here.
Hex is also too old timey to wonder if the Legends know what they're doing. Which, well, there's room to question.
Martin's new memories is a good consequence.
Martin not being able to tell different sorts of love apart is a bit not good.
Quite a bit not good if you think too hard.
Lets blame it on the headaches and some super partial data.
But leaving the audience to wonder if he's messed with his marriage again again seems reasonable. It has been his stakes for several seasons now, and this is a new angle to do it from. I'm just not going to be all that invested in a relationship that seems to mostly be about telling him to go play with physics...
but we do get as much about that romance as most any relationship in these shows that isn't a multi episode protagonist arc.
There's a lot of threads and layers going on in here, and mostly I like it and want to see how it plays through.
I'm just annoyed at the Legends because if they're so anti Mick why are they keeping him around to risk himself? If they don't like him, why work with him? Do or do not, dudes. Be a team.
The whole Mick misses hanging out with criminals who appreciate him thread is getting well established.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 07:55 pm (UTC)Snart knows how to pretend to fit in with that crowd - a sardonic drawl and "whatever you're doing, it's not as important as what I'm doing" attitude go a long way for that. Mick doesn't have a "your interests are not important" attitude; he has a "my interests can mostly be met in a dive bar" attitude. Not being judgmental is a detriment in those cases.
Ray needs a boot to the head.
Mick needs to stop thinking he's worthless, or worthless without a partner who makes the strategy decisions.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 08:12 pm (UTC)yep.
*nods a lot* about Mick