The Flash (2023) Non-Spoiler Thoughts

The Flash (2023) Non-Spoiler Thoughts

I managed to see an early screening of The Flash last Thursday and I have a lot of thoughts on the movie. I’m going to keep this completely spoiler free because the movie hasn’t released yet.

My feelings towards this movie are complicated. The parts of this movie that work really hit and I absolutely loved, but there are also quite a few parts of this film that really fell flat. It had a fun, if a bit clunky, opening and a very engaging middle portion that showcased everything that I wanted from a flash live-action movie. But the end is where the film falters for me. The emotional beats surrounding main Barry and his mother work really well and make for some very emotional moments- some of the best the DCEU has to offer- but the rest didn’t work to nearly the same degree.

This movie is steeped in nostalgia. That’s not really a secret since it’s been a heavily emphasized part of the marketing material and I’d say most of the callouts are really fun with Michael Keaton in particular being amazing, but it can get a bit over-indulgent at points and pull focus from the core of the story. 

This is most noticeable during a sequence near the end of the film that is meant to be an emotional turning point of the story, but the cameos pull the attention away from the important character beats to flaunt the multiversal scope of the movie. This hurts the resolution of younger Barry’s arc which was one of the main through lines of the story up until this point and contributes to the third act’s issues.

Sasha Calle is also very good as Supergirl, but she’s underutilized. The moments we get with her are great but some of her emotional moments aren’t given the time and build-up they deserved. This is most noticeable when it comes to her bond with Barry. While their relationship contains some great moments, it feels a bit undercooked as a result of her limited screen time. She does a good job with the material she was given and it makes me hope that we will see her in the DCEU moving forward even though I know that’s a long shot.

Ezra Miller’s turn as the flash was fantastic. I wasn’t sold on their take on Barry Allen prior to seeing this movie and was a bit skeptical they could carry a flash solo film, but this completely wiped those beliefs away. Ezra Miller did a great job playing the two Barry Allens and sold the emotional beats at the core of the film in a way that I wasn’t expecting going in. They managed to balance the pain and trauma that Barry carries with the more awkward and goofy side of the character very well. 

You can’t bring up Ezra Miller without addressing the controversy and accusations that they are facing. I’ll admit that part of the reason I wanted to see an advance screening of the film was because I wasn’t entirely comfortable financially supporting a movie with them as the lead. If that makes you uncomfortable as well then I’d say you can skip this. 

The last thing that I feel like I have to mention is the fact that the cgi is really questionable in places. This movie looks unfinished in some areas to the point that it pulled me out of many important scenes. I know I’m not the only one who has had this issue. Almost every other review I’ve seen on youtube points out the questionable cgi. 

It’s unfortunate that this is becoming a bigger and bigger issue with superhero films as time continues to pass and that studios are overworking and underpaying vfx artists. I hope that this can get sorted out because we’ve seen what vfx artists and animators can do when given the time and resources to do their job effectively. 

Overall I’d say the movie is good but it’s not as amazing as the early reviews have led people to believe. It has a lot of issues in the script department and doesn’t entirely stick the landing, but has a strong emotional core with Barry and his mother and great performances.

The Flash is my favorite DC hero and I’m glad that he finally got the feature film treatment he deserves. If anyone else enjoyed this movie more than I did then that’s great. If you didn’t then that’s fine too. Everyone takes something different from the media they consume and that’s part of what’s so great about it.

In defense of Gwen in Across the Spider-Verse

Okay. First of all: This post is gonna be super long and have tons of spoilers so if you don’t want to get spoiled for Across the Spider-Verse then don’t read this post. I have seen way too many people hate on Gwen because of her actions and her behavior towards Miles in Across the Spider-Verse. I’ll show you why that hate completely misses her arc in the movie and her true intentions/relationship with Miles. This post will also delve into Gwiles/Ghostflower since that is a big part of what shapes her intentions.  Many people say Gwen betrayed Miles and doesn’t really care about him. They say Miles shouldn’t forgive her and that she is a snake for what she did. I’ll show you why the opposite is true by going through the events of the movie in cronological order: The movie literally starts off with Gwen talking about Miles. She is drumming away, which is, mentioned by herself, a way for her to cope with her feelings. That opening from Gwen is a small glimpse into her head. We see how she feels and what she thinks. The interesting thing is that it’s basically Gwen broadly narrating the events of the entire movie. We even see glimpses of future scenes in that intro. The line of narration that is most important here is Gwen saying “I didn’t want to hurt him. But I did. And he is not the only one.” This shows us IMMEDIATELY that Gwen did not intend to hurt Miles AT ALL. Quite the contrary. It also shows that she is AWARE she hurt Miles. She knows she fucked up. That is going to be important later on when she needs to make the tough decision regarding Miles/The Spider Society. 

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The worst is when I hear someone say something wrong about my hyperfixation or both people say they don’t know the answer to a question I know way too much about and I have to sit there and force myself not to say anything.

I constantly have to force myself not to butt into conversations and tell complete strangers everything I know about a topic.

Not in a “well actually…” way but in a “I know about this topic and love it and I want to share it with you” way.

Someone across the room: *mentions a hyperfixation of mine*

Me, sweating: oh no I’m about to become so annoying

Rise of the TMNT First Time Watch Thoughts

Rise is a series I didn’t get into right when it came out. It was released very soon after my favorite tmnt cartoon, 2012, had ended and I was going through a major transition in my life. 

I watched the first few episodes, but my schedule was jam packed and I fell off of watching it rather quickly. I still wanted to give it a shot but later when more episodes were released and I could binge it because I felt that this show deserved more than a fleeting shot. But I didn’t really get around to watching it in full until recently.

I do want to say right off the bat that the backlash against this incarnation when it was first announced was ridiculous. The show hadn’t even aired and people were rallying to cancel it. You can’t judge the quality of something before seeing it and changing something from past iterations isn’t necessarily a bad thing even if it is an adaptation. 

My rule for adaptations is that what’s most important for new iterations is that they understand the heart of the series and characters that they are adapting and I would say that Rise clearly understood the heart of its characters and series but it just chose to adapt it in a different way. And in my opinion that’s great.

And I’m not going to pretend that all the changes worked for me. Some changes just didn’t mesh with me personally and I found myself preferring certain iterations of the characters and their dynamics/arguments from past iterations more. It’s just a matter of personal preference.

I have spoilers below the cut but I want to say that if you haven't watched it I really recommend giving it a shot!

I want to get into my full actual thoughts on the series now that that’s out of the way.

While Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles is a great series, it got off to a bit of a rocky start. The first half of season one, while fun and full of amazing action scenes, wasn’t the type of start to absolutely grip me like the first seasons of 2012 and 2003. It did, however, manage to set itself apart from the other iterations of the turtles and firmly establish the unique personalities of these versions of the turtles, Splinter, and April O’Neil. 

The show clearly had some issues finding its footing at first and I think one of the major issues was that the show itself had trouble figuring out how exactly to implement the changes it made to the lore and characters from past incarnations into the first season, which led to pacing issues and some mixed characterization that took a while to get used to from characters such as Splinter (he gets a lot better later on and I really grew to like him but at first I wasn’t that fond of him). 

But, while I didn’t personally love the first season as much as other iterations of the teenage mutant ninja turtles due to this slow start, once it established its lore and changes and firmly knew what it wanted to be the show really took off and could reach great heights in a way completely unique from the other interpretations. 

This shift occurs about halfway through the first season with “The Evil League of Mutants” when the origins of Splinter and the Turtles and their connection with Baron Draxum finally get revealed (in a really good musical number I might add). This is where I really started to get invested in the new lore of this series and the changes the show made to the characters and backstory.

This is when everything that was slowly and sometimes awkwardly established started to come together and form a much clearer picture of what this series was trying to do. Those disparate pieces that felt a bit strange such as the new characters of Baron Draxum and Big Mama, the idea of the yokai, and the very different and at times kind of perplexing iteration of the foot clan finally interacted to hint at an endgame for this season and it worked much better than I anticipated.

I also was glad we finally got some development for Splinter, his relationship to the turtles, and his backstory. Up until this point he didn’t really work that well for me and the lack of any meaningful interactions between him and the turtles was a bit off putting, but starting with this episode so much new information was revealed about him that vastly improved the character and endeared me to him.

This continued development for Splinter leads to some of my favorite moments from the series.

For example, one of my favorite moments from the first season is when Splinter tricks Donnie and Mikey into going to a demolition derby with him. When Donnie discovers that Splinter lied he gets really upset and believes that Splinter didn’t really want to spend time with him.

It’s made clear leading up to this point that Donnie is really effected by the lack of attention and affection Splinter gives him and before now it was mostly said in a joking way that didn’t betray just how deeply it hurt him but he finally lets it out in a rare moment of vulnerability. And in response Splinter calls Donatello by his actual name for the first time in the series and apologizes. There’s a real and authentic moment of connection that wouldn’t have hit the way it did if Splinter wasn’t characterized the way he was early on. (I also absolutely love rise's version of Donnie.)

It’s not something that necessarily makes him more likable earlier in the series but that characterization early on makes his development and eventual connection with his sons heartwarming. 

The season’s momentum doesn’t stop with “The Evil League of Mutant” or Splinter’s development. It keeps building until it finally reaches the finale, which is a great culmination of all that came before, and ends with the shredder finally being formally introduced into the series and things feeling really dire for the turtles. 

This version of the shredder took him in a completely different direction from all the ones that came before and took a big swing by making him a man merged with a demon. One that’s thousands of years old that the Hamato clan was staked with keeping contained forever.

While this version of the shredder doesn’t have the depth of 2012 or the menace of 2003 they managed to build him up in a way that made his threat feel palpable. The desperation to keep the foot from collecting the dark armor paired with the revelations about the Hamato clan’s duty made it so that the inevitable confrontation felt like one that must be avoided at all costs.

This connection to the Hamato clan brought in an interesting conflict between duty and family for Splinter that we hadn't gotten to see before. When the turtles are captured Splinter is pulled in two different directions one that upholds his duty and one that preserves his family. Splinter eventually chooses his sons over his duty. (This carries over into the second season when they managed to combine the two and become their best selves as warriors and family.)

Another really fascinating aspect of the finale that I haven’t touched upon is how it subverts expectations by having Baron Draxum simply be a stepping stone for the shredder’s release. Up until this point Baron Draxum had been the closest thing to a big bad the series had. We had followed his plan step by step and believed he was the one pulling the strings only for the rug to be pulled out from under him at the last second when the turtles believed they had won.

This led to a cliffhanger that had me on the edge of my seat. It really felt like this was another turning point in the series like “Evil League of Mutants” had been…

But I don’t really feel like the second season carried that momentum over as well as it could have. The battle with the shredder wasn’t the tour de force I expected or the turning point in tone I anticipated. And there are things that were set up in the first season that, when finally seen, felt like anti-climaxes. This is most notable to me in the season premiere and the episode “Goyles, Goyles, Goyles” when we finally see the day that Splinter and the turtles were mutated.

With the premiere it was a weird split between things I absolutely adored– Leo finally displaying his excellent planning and leadership skills– and things I felt were anti-climactic compared to the build-up– the turtles’ fight with Shredder. 

I feel like the Leo stuff is self explanatory. Everyone knows that Leo is traditionally the leader of the turtles and up until this point Leo didn’t show much of that or have any significant development outside of a few select moments, but this was the episode that really showed his potential. 

It wasn’t just his ingenious plan that was really enjoyable to see come together, but also the fact that he knew his brothers well enough to trust in their skills and know exactly how they would be able to fend off and find the shredder. 

As a longtime fan of the turtles I loved this development. I had really enjoyed this version of Leo before now, but this was the moment that won me over to this version of him.

But the way the show handled the face off with the shredder didn’t really work for me. The biggest reason was that most of it happened off screen and then when we did get to see what was going on it was to show that the shredder was weak to tickling. 

After all that build up for the shredder and what a threat he will pose the way it went fell flat, especially considering how the first season finale ended with the turtles thinking they beat the shredder only for a much more powerful version to emerge from the smoke to face them down.

The ending with Big Mama set up some very interesting possibilities that I was excited to see come to fruition in the future (and eventually lead to a phenomenal season 2 finale) but it and Leo’s arc didn’t negate the disappointment I felt with how the shredder and his showdown with the turtles was handled.

Goyles, Goyles, Goyles felt like an intentional anti-climax, but even with that obvious intent it still fell flat for me. This moment was one of my favorite reveals of the first season. The way it was revealed in song by Draxum and his henchmen and the amazing still animation reflecting the words was a real turning point in just how much I enjoyed this series as I said above. And when we finally got to see exactly what happened… it was almost all a joke.

And this type of subversion is very common in Rise. It usually works better for me though because there isn’t as much build up and excitement towards them like there was for the shredder fight and the Draxum and the turtles backstory. 

In fact, there are plenty of moments in this series where this type of subversion works really well for me. In the season one finale the random reveal that the turtles cracked Splinter’s teapot as children and never told him being an important plot point was one that worked really well for me. 

The biggest difference between those subversions is that the one in the finale didn’t magically solve things or completely dampen the more dramatic and emotional moments. The teapot reveal didn’t retroactively make Splinter’s decision to put his sons above his ancestral duty any less meaningful and it didn’t magically save the day like they expected it to. It allowed things to still carry the weight they were meant to while still being funny and unexpected.

The show goes back to problem of the week episodes and as a result does fall into a few of the pacing and tonal issues that plagued the first season, but they were overall stronger and more fun episodes here than they were in season 1 due to the fact that there is a larger cast to bounce the characters off of and a lot more locations to explore. This allowed for some really interesting and unexpected character pairings that made some of the most entertaining episodes of the show.

The episodes centered on April and Splinter are a particular favorite of mine in season 2. 

I wasn’t expecting how much I would adore their dynamic, but it was easily one of my favorites in the entire show. I really liked Splinter’s unwavering faith in April and how they came together to better each other. 

Splinter very rarely has this type of relationship in any of the other shows. He’s mostly the one lifting others up and giving them wisdom and is rarely the one getting support in this type of way. April is able to interact with Splinter’s past in a way the turtles in this show can’t and it allows him to re-establish a connection to who he was in a healthier way than he had prior to her coming into his life.

It’s a great mutual relationship that finds a unique spin to what their dynamic usually is in turtles canon.

Now it’s time to talk about the final few episodes of season 2. These episodes showcase all the best aspects of the Rise show. They take what the series does differently from all the other interpretations and run with them, really showing what the show can do at its height.

These episodes gave me the shredder showdown I was hoping to see in the premiere. He posed the type of threat he had in many of the other shredder incarnations and served the turtles losses that they struggled to bounce back from.

This is the type of enemy shredder should be and the way they had this tie into Splinter’s past was amazing and moving.

The episode where the Baron Draxum sent the Turtles into Splinter’s mind was one of the most emotionally poignant episodes, showing the pain and emptiness of Splinter’s life before he mutated. It puts Splinter’s life before and after the turtles into stark contrast.

Splinter isn’t alone like he felt like he was before and he found a new family after the loss of his mother that gave him the strength and courage to accept the duty he had rejected because of the loss it brought him.

Splinter has grown from the character I was most disappointed with to one of my favorites of the series and this episode really hammered home just how great the writing for him in this series has been.

Splinter isn’t the only one that gets an increase in focus, April also gets some spotlight and a unique and unexpected role in this finale.

April’s growth from human ally to the turtles to a member of their family was amazing to watch. Having that bond that had been cultivated over the course of the two seasons that culminates in these episodes where she becomes an honorary member of the Hamato clan, fusing with Karai and teaching the turtles the way of their ancestors, was such an interesting change from past iterations of the character.

It really felt like her arc and relationship to the turtles was coming full circle when April was the one to talk Raph out of his despair. It really hammered home how far all of them have come and just how much a part of this family April is.

April’s talk to Raph leads into a great moment where the brothers unlock their mystic powers through their connection and trust in one another. They aren’t alone in this struggle or the fight with Shredder. It doesn’t come down to just one of them but their whole family. 

The heart of the turtles and their various series, at least to me, has always been the Hamato family and their bond with one another and this moment shows just how much this show understands that.

There’s just so much about this finale to gush about but there were two minor issues I had. Those are the reveal of Cassandra Jones and Splinter naming Leo the leader.

Cassandra Jones felt like a last minute reveal. The series made a few jokes about Cassandra being called unnamed foot soldier yet had her as a recurring character so it felt obvious that she was going to be a legacy character in some way but having her be Casey Jones felt odd. 

I don’t really know a better way of putting it. I’m not mad or anything and I don’t believe the show butchered Casey like I’ve seen some people say (especially considering how they brought Casey Jones into the movie), but it felt like the most out of left field choice rise had made up until this point. (I do want to say that I feel like this could have turned into a very interesting interpretation of the character if the show was allowed to continue and flesh this decision out.)

And Leo being named leader was especially rushed considering just earlier in the finale (parts 2 and 3) the show really felt like it solidified Raph as the leader. He was the one who was able to make the tough calls and he was the one who learned to trust his brothers in a way he needed to be the best leader he could be.

Leo only really had the second season premiere to set up the idea that he would make a great leader and strategist if he really applied himself but that thread felt like it was dropped for the rest of the season and had no real buildup within the finale unlike Raph’s leadership skills.

These didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the episodes especially considering that they were such a small part of the finale and they were both fixed/expanded on in the movie.

Speaking of the movie. It was absolutely phenomenal. 

This movie focuses on Leo and his journey into growing into a leadership role for the team with the Kraang as the turtles’ adversaries. 

Right off the bat this movie is considerably darker than the main series with the opening alone showing blood and the deaths of both Mikey and Leo. It immediately shatters any possibility of past conveniences present in the series like the Kraang being ticklish or the turtles escaping due to incompetent sidekicks. 

There’s a palpable danger established by this shift in tone that carries on throughout the movie and creates actual tension and stakes to the sacrifices made later on. 

I can also say with full confidence that this is easily the most intimidating the Kraang have ever been in turtles canon. 

While the Kraang have been threats in some of the series and even beaten the turtles more than once I never felt like they were the overwhelming threat they are here. That the turtles were completely outmatched.

This amazing update of the kraang and the threat they pose is paired with a great arc for Leo where he has to confront the more immature and impulsive side of him that has been ever present in the series up until this point.

These flaws had been addressed at varying points throughout the series proper but they were never treated anywhere near as seriously as they are here. 

And it addresses these shortcomings through Rise’s interpretation of the classic Raph and Leo conflict.

Raph and Leo are almost always the two brothers that come into conflict the most often in every iteration of the turtles. Their ways of thinking are incompatible in ways that make it hard for them to see eye to eye. This was something the main series of Rise didn’t really address. For the most part the brothers got along well and any conflicts they did have were either resolved or ended on a joke which fit with what the series was trying to do with them before this point.

I’ve heard a few complaints about this because the conflict between Leo and Raph is something the movie makes it seem like is a recurring problem for them when in reality Leo and Raph don’t really get into any real serious arguments/conflicts throughout the series. In fact, Raph almost never gets angry the way he does at the beginning. Rise Raph’s anger is almost always aimed at himself rather than others. 

And I can understand that to a degree because these aspects weren’t really established in the series but I don’t think either of these inconsistencies really hurt the movie and are in fact explained rather well within the context and time frame given. The conflict itself is well written and has the two coming to an actual understanding that feels organic to both characters.

The movie’s take on Leo and Raph’s conflict has the two switching places from their usual roles. Leo is the impulsive brother that does care deeply about his brothers but makes mistakes due to his personal flaws that gets them in trouble, while doubting/going against the older brother’s wishes/orders. Raph is the older, more responsible brother with the weight of his brothers lives on his shoulders because of his position as the de facto leader of their family (at least before the season 2 finale).

It’s not necessarily a completely unique take on the conflict since the roles are simply reversed with a few tweaks to better fit their characters but it plays out in a way that makes Leo’s arc and journey of growing into his leadership role very impactful in a way that separates itself from 2003 and 2012 Leonardos.

Leo’s arc culminates in such an amazing and heartbreaking sacrifice that, while it obviously didn’t last, was the moment from Rise that hit me the hardest.

The way the movie managed to really hammer home the weight of Leo’s decision and the growth of his character in that moment through everyone’s reactions, the music, and the stunning animation and coloring was incredible.

Outside of Leo’s fantastic arc and the Kraang the animation is absolutely stunning. There’s a reason the fight with the Kraang leader was all over the place after this movie released. The animation for Rise has always been fantastic and here is no exception. I don’t really think I can add anything to this point that hasn’t already been said by anyone who has seen the film.

Honestly if you haven’t seen it yet you should definitely give it a shot.

I’m just really disappointed this movie is probably the last we’ll see of Rise of the Tmnt because from my experience watching the series for the first time this show just continually got better. It introduced and hinted at so many elements from past iterations of the turtles near the end that I really wanted to see their take on.

Overall I think Rise is a really fun series that has amazing highs and a finale and movie that are legitimately great but it is a bit inconsistent in terms of pacing and tone with a rocky start and contains some changes to the characters that didn’t work completely for me personally. 

At its best this show easily stands toe to toe with the heights of the previous series. And in many ways those heights are completely unique from all the other iterations because of how much it twists the previously established lore and characters to make them its own.

After watching this series I can completely understand why so many people love this iteration of the turtles and I do consider the show great. I will definitely re-visit many of these episodes and the movie time and time again.

Extra Thoughts

What is it with tmnt series and dark futures? There’s Same as it Never Was, Mutant Apocalypse, The Rise Movie, The Last Ronin, etc. The brothers can never catch a break and get a nice happy ending can they?

I really love this version of Donnie and I think he's the character that worked best for me in this series. Donatello has always been my favorite turtle and in early iterations of the turtles I was a bit disappointed with how underutilized he was in the series. The episodes focused on him were great, but until 2012 Donatello was easily the most underappreciated turtle with the least amount of focus and screen time of the four. 2012 and Rise finally gave him the attention and focus I always wanted.

I kind of feel bad for saying this but I prefer Rafael and Leonardo’s conflict in the 2003 show, 2012 show, and 2007 TMNT movie to their conflict in this series. I also prefer the Character interpretations of Rafael where he’s the hothead. Where he chafes under Leo’s leadership and is forced to grow and mature so that he can handle his anger in better, more productive ways. I’m not saying this version of Rafael is bad or that Leo and Raph’s conflict isn’t complex, just that I personally prefer different versions of these things. And I completely understand that that’s personal preference. I think that this iteration will definitely work really well for other people and I think that’s great.

I really enjoy this version of Mikey and I'm disappointed he is given significantly less focus than any of the other turtles in this series. All the rest of the turtles get episodes dedicated solely to them and their struggles even April gets more individual focus than Mikey in season 2. I think Mikey is a great character to bounce off of but I was disappointed he never really got much time in the spotlight.

While the lore grew to become one of my favorite things about the series, not all of it worked for me. It was actually mostly the mystic pizza joint and some of the yokai that didn’t work for me because Big Mama, The hidden city, Draxum, the battle nexus, and the shredder/foot all grew on me whereas that part didn’t. I think this had more to do with the fact that the episodes centered on this part of the world were my least favorite in the series than anything else.

This series made the interesting decision to move away from the more grounded tone of past turtles incarnations. The turtles, at least in the shows, had progressively gotten more and more grounded in “reality” with even Donnie’s inventions, while still being incredible, reflecting the limited resources they would realistically have when living in the sewers. This series abandons any tether it might have had to reality and has the turtles out in broad daylight with only hoodies/tops to hide in, Donnie's inventions are even grander than before, and there's a whole hidden city where the turtles can be normal. They also immediately get mystic power and rarely interact with street level crime like their past incarnations. In some ways this worked and made the series immediately recognizable and stand out from its predecessors but in others it made them feel very disconnected from their roots and what made them so relatable in the first place which unfortunately alienated some people.

This ended up working really well for me after things started to come together and I think it’s a bit unfortunate that this will be a roadblock for people getting into the series.

The backlash the character designs got is something that I never really understood. Each turtle looks completely unique and for most of them you can grasp aspects of their personality and what they like by looking at them. This is a mark of good character design.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners - What We Leave Behind

“You don't make a name as a cyberpunk by how you live. You're remembered by how you die.”

And yet after David’s death when Lucy is on the moon she remembers him for his life. She remembers who he was when she first met him and why she was drawn to him in the first place. She remembers how happy and passionate he was when she showed him her dream. It was that part of him that pushed her forward and made her fall in love.

She remembers David Martinez, not the edgerunner, but the human.

So much of Cyberpunk Edgerunners focuses on just how little we really leave behind once we’re gone. Many of the characters die suddenly without warning and there is nothing tangible to remember them by. The only characters that leave something physical behind are Maine and Gloria. Their keepsakes are carried on David and are later destroyed during David’s final mission.

Even David’s death has nothing tangible to show for it. He didn’t get the chance to leave a keepsake or a physical part of himself. Even how he died is covered up by the Arasaka corporation so it isn’t replayed on those chips we saw at the beginning.

But people aren’t just measured by what they physically leave behind but by how they impact the people around them and how their memory is carried forward. That’s what that final scene is about. 

The show ultimately places the emphasis on the connections you make when alive and the impact you had on the people around you. 

Lucy’s dream was to go to the moon but after his promise to take her there it shifted to going to the moon with David. He can’t be there in the physical sense but she carries him with her on the moon through her memories.

The final few shots even mirror episode 2 when Lucy showed David her simulation of the moon and Lucy even takes David’s place in a few of the shot recreations to emphasize the point.

This show is tragic with so many layers but this was what hit me the hardest when watching the finale. 

The Ghost and Molly McGee Season 2 Thought So Far

I can’t believe I haven’t talked about The Ghost and Molly McGee yet. I have multiple drafts in my docs and on tumblr but I could never really get my thoughts across as well as I would like but I’ve decided to just put my thoughts out here because I really do enjoy this show.

The ghost and molly mcgee is one of those shows that shocked me with just how much I enjoyed it. I think that’s purely because it doesn’t fall into the tone of show I usually lean towards. I usually gravitate towards shows like Arcane, Invincible, Amphibia, and The Owl House to use recent examples. Shows that are very bittersweet (or in Arcane’s case straight-up tragic) and know how to gut punch you with emotional moments. I feel seen in certain aspects of these shows and the hard truths they portray that many people have experienced but that isn’t what I need all the time and the Ghost and Molly McGee perfectly fits what I need outside of those types of shows.

It’s a show that champions joy and connections and it sees the best in people. In a time that seems to be filled with hate and is hard to experience day to day, this is the type of show I need to unwind and feel a bit more hopeful.

The Ghost and Molly McGee had a phenomenal first season. It was an amazing introduction to the characters, world, and themes of the show that ended on a bang with Molly vs the ghost world. I had a lot of excitement heading into the next season, but was unsure of where the show would go from that explosive finale and I can safely say that the second season is off to a great start. 

I love the introduction of the Chens and how their profession of being ghost hunters comes into conflict with their friendship with the McGees. It's an interesting dynamic that adds a level of tension to Molly and Scratch’s adventures that wasn’t present in season 1. There wasn’t much of a threat of anyone discovering Molly’s friendship with Scratch or exposing their escapades, especially after Libby was brought into the fold, so I really like the decision to add threats on the human side of things.

The Chens themselves have a lot of potential as characters and are already interesting foils to the McGees. Most of them don’t have much development yet and they are very similar to the McGees in terms of personality, but the show has already set up very interesting plotlines for them. 

Ollie in particular has a lot of potential due to his discovery at the end of “I Really Wanna Dance with Some Ollie”. He made the conscious decision to not tell his mother that he discovered that Molly is friends with Scratch which sets up an interesting conflict in his character and it adds depth to his actions and bond with Molly. 

Right now he is a copy of Molly in many ways (as are all of the Chens with the McGees) but it’s only a few episodes into season 2 so there are a lot of opportunities for growth.

I also really like June and love that she’s canonically autistic. The Ghost and Molly McGee is great when it comes to representation. It is very racially diverse and I appreciate that it has background/normalized lbgtq+ characters and is now including main characters that are intentionally and explicitly neurodivergent. Representation matters. I’ve written about why I believe representation is important before so I’ll spare the essay but I believe that people being able to see aspects of themselves not depicted as frequently in media in characters on this show, especially this show’s age demographic, is a good thing.

Another development I really liked is what the show has decided to do with the ghost world, specifically the chairman. The idea that Scratch is forced into a role of authority after the events of the finale is really interesting. There are so many directions they can take this idea and it’s a really good way to force Scratch out of his comfort zone and get him to grow. This also expands on the lore in regards to the ghost world which we still know little about. I look forward to the ways in which this can explore Scratch’s character and give us more insight into the show’s lore.

Scratch gets some very poignant character moments even outside of the chairman development  in these episodes with the best example being “A Soda to Remember”.

“A Soda to Remember” is my favorite episode of the batch that dropped because of how it juxtaposes Scratch’s character and the glimpse of his past with the wacky antics of the episode. There’s a palpable melancholy to the flashback at the end of the episode that works so well considering the overall tone of the show. It builds a lot of emotion and intrigue around it that makes the episode and Scratch’s arc in it hit a lot harder.

Episodes in The Ghost and Molly McGee almost always end on an optimistic note so that final scene strikes a unique emotional cord within the show. This technique was used sparingly in the first season with it only occurring in the episode “Out of House and Home” when the McGees lose their house and when Scratch is taken back to the ghost world in “The Jig is Up”. The show knows when to slow down and allow these emotional moments to sit which is part of why I enjoy it so much.

This actually might be the plotline I am most interested in seeing explored in the future.

Overall I think the second season of The Ghost and Molly McGee is off to a great start!