TV
Game of Thrones Recap S8-E3
Season 8, Episode 3 “The Long Night”
It was the best of shows. It was the worst of shows. Game of Thrones built much of its reputation and fan base with thoughtful character development and plot building. The scintillating action was a byproduct of the buildup, like the whistle of a tea kettle after there’s too much pressure in the pot. If there’s a valid criticism of the show it’s that as we’ve gotten closer to the end, over the last two seasons in particular, we’ve gotten more microwave plots than the Crock Pot storytelling we are used to.
Season 8, Episode 3 is the perfect mash up of old Thrones and more recent Thrones. It’s an amazing episode in and of itself. The first viewing will have you holding your breath for what feels like the entire 82 minutes but there are issues with the storytelling that make you wonder why HBO and the show runners didn’t just opt for another season or 2 to let some of these stories stretch their legs.
I’m an optimist so let’s just talk about everything wonderful about this episode first. And there is a lot to be in awe of. It was tremendously well crafted and executed. The problems are almost all in how it fits into the larger story arc.
The episode begins with last minute preparations and everyone getting into place around Winterfell. Bran is being wheeled to the Godswood by Theon and his men. Tyrion looks angry as he has to go to the crypts. Sam looks scared shitless as he prepares to join one of the flanks outside of the castle walls. Sansa and Arya are atop the battlements. The dragons screech overhead.
We see Jorah outside ready to lead the Dothraki infantry. We hear horse steps and lookie here Melisandre has joined the dance. The Red Woman helps to set it off by casting a spell that lights all of the Dothraki arakhs aflame. It’s like several thousand Dothraki Beric Dondarions now. This new advantage is a psychological lift to everyone. Melisandre exits into the castle as Ser Davos orders the gates open for her. Arya and Melisandre lock eyes for a moment as she enters the gates. Davos meets the Red Woman on a staircase ready to question her for returning to Winterfell. He told her if she ever returned he’d execute her himself but she cuts him off before he begins. “There’s no need to execute me, Ser Davos. I’ll be dead before the dawn.”
The problems are almost all in how it fits into the larger story arc.
We see Dany and Jon sitting sentinel atop a nearby hill where they have flown with the two dragons. Their plan is to protect Bran without being close enough to scare the Night King away. From the two leaders’ point of view we see Ser Jorah and Dothraki charge off into the night with their flaming arakhs. The dead are waiting at the far end of the field on the edge of the forest and as is the Dothraki way they will bring the fight, not wait for it to come to them. Thousands of screaming warriors take off on horseback. It looks like a wave of embers moving in unison from Jon and Dany’s perspective. Behind the riders, the castle launches flaming balls from trebuchets into the darkness beyond. Ghost is running with the Dothraki. As they get to the far edge of the field we see one Dothraki fighter’s shocked expression as he runs into an undead giant. We can’t see much else. We do see the flames from the fireballs extinguish and the lights from all of the Dothraki arakhs start to go out. There is no forward momentum from the thousands of Dothraki once they hit the far edge of the field. From the perspective of Winterfell behind them you start to see the embers at the far edge of the field extinguished until there is nothing but darkness again on the horizon and no more warriors screaming. It’s a chilling moment. Think back to King Robert in season 1 saying that nobody could defeat the Dothraki in open field combat and the scene from season 7 when the Dothraki, alongside Dany and Drogon, routed the Lannister army. Now the Army of The Dead has massacred them all in just minutes. Ser Jorah manages to retreat back to the castle on his horse.
From the hilltop, Dany is ready to join the action. Jon cautions her to wait for the Night King. She snatches her arm away from him. “The dead are already here.” Imagine how she felt in this moment knowing the Dothraki followed her across the Narrow Sea only to be slaughtered in one fell swoop.
Dragon fire rains down on the dead
Back on the field you can hear the dead screeching in the distance and hear the rumble of their approach as we see the faces of some of our favorites; Grey Worm, Gendry, Brienne, Jaime, Tormund, Sam, The Hound, Beric, and Podrick along with unnamed northmen, Unsullied and Knights of the Vale. In seconds the soldiers are overrun by a tidal wave of undead soldiers and you see unnamed hero soldiers getting hacked and sliced and driven off of their feet. Brienne is gang tackled and we hear her screams but Jaime makes the save. A beat later, dragon fire rains down on the dead as Jon and Dany change their plan and help the ground forces as best they can. They make several laps around the battlefield frying up undead soldiers. They fly off to the far edge of the battlefield and see the Night King’s lieutenants at the edge of the forest and start to fly closer for an attack when a wintry storm cloud comes out of the forest. The Night King brings the cold, we’ve been told, but now he’s manipulating the wind and snow creating another layer of darkness to confuse the army of the living. We can see Jon and Dany covering their eyes as they fly with the dragons. Arya sees the battle getting thicker and tells Sansa to go down to the crypts. Sansa is reluctant to leave but Arya hands her a dragonglass dagger and when Sansa says she doesn’t know how to use it Arya tells her to “stick them with the pointy end.”
On the ground we get shots of many of our heroes fighting. Nobody is dead yet from that initial surge although Sam almost dies before Edd saves him. Then Edd takes a knife through the back of his head. He’s our first name brand casualty of the night.
In the air we see Jon flying through zero-visibility skies and crashing Rhaegal into treetops and finally into Dany and Drogon. They all recover.
On the ground the Unsullied are doing an amazing job of fighting their united defensive style, moving as one, guarding the castle and letting the other groups of northern fighters move around them to get into position. They are badly outnumbered but you see their value here when they fight the way they have been trained.
We see Arya save the Hound by shooting a flaming arrow into a dead man who was chasing him.
We see Grey Worm break off from his group of Unsullied and run back into the castle. He made the determination that he would have been trapped outside of the castle if he didn’t retreat. The Unsullied are all that was protecting the retreating northerners from being overrun by the Army of the Dead. Basically at this point it’s the castle walls, the trench filled with wooden spikes and on the other side of the trench it’s the Unsullied. What is about to happen will trap the Unsullied on the opposite side of the trench and keep them from having a way to retreat.
Davos reads the situation and gives the order to light the trench and an Unsullied soldier destroys the only bridge over the trench. There’s now no means of retreat for the Unsullied. We see Grey Worm looking back at the point where he just was in the front of his group of Unsullied soldiers and he sees the dead ripping them apart. Grey Worm sees what would have been his own fate if he had not retreated and that would have mean he never gets to see Missandei again.
Because of the storm Dany cannot see Davos atop the battlements trying to signal her to light the trenches. We see Melisandre though, and the few Unsullied who are inside the castle create a shield of soldiers for her so that she can walk up to the inside edge of the trench and try to light the wooden spikes with her magic. She is praying to the Lord of Light trying to create a flame. The line must be busy because nothing is happening. She repeats her chant over and over and you can see her sensing that time is running out around her. The Army of the Dead are flinging themselves into the trench and navigating their way around the spikes getting closer and closer to the other side. Finally the spell works; the spikes go up in a huge fire and we see the reflection of the blaze in her eyes as it roars around the trench and surrounds the castle creating a pit of fire between the enemy and the walls of Winterfell.
Of course the fire has The Hound all in his feelings and he’s unable to fight so he cowers around a corner atop the battlements.
In the crypts, Tyrion is still angry that he isn’t a part of the battle. He believes he may see something that could make a difference. Sansa tells him that he would have died outside and the most heroic thing they can do now is to “look the truth in the face.” They share a warm moment where she tells him he was the best of her husbands. Oh you mean he was cooler than the inbred psycho and the rapist psycho? High five, Tyrion!
We see Theon guarding Bran in the Godswood. Theon apologizes for his terrible past and Bran tells him his mistakes have brought him to where he is now, which is home. Of course for Bran there is nothing to forgive. There’s a wisdom in his non-reactions. The burden of having so much knowledge leaves little room in his mind for old squabbles. Bran wargs into a murder of crows that serve as his eyes for what’s going on around the castle. Bran, as the crows, spots the Night King riding on the back of Viserion in the skies not far away from Winterfell. The Night King is commanding the dead to lay down on the flames at different points around the trench. They are sacrificing themselves making themselves into bridges across the flames. There are so many of them that it doesn’t matter if a few dozen turn into area rugs.
Jon spies the Night King and takes flight after him.
The Army of the Dead are on the castle walls in a moment having used their corpse bridges to get over the fiery trench. We see Brienne, Jaime, Gendry, Beric, Jorah, Gendry, and Sam all still alive and all atop the battlements fighting their hearts out. Everyone except the Hound who is having a Theon moment because of all the fire and monsters. Next we see Arya comes on the scene with her new custom made sex spear and she starts ripping every undead person she comes across a new asshole. The dead spill over the walls, past our heroes and into the Winterfell courtyard where we see little Lyanna Mormont just as a dead giant crashes through the gate. He swipes her aside with one hand and rampages on.
Beric tried to snap the Hound out of it but the Hound curses him and tells him you can’t beat death. But then Beric spots Arya being a ninja and says “tell her that!” That snaps the Hound to attention and he starts to fight on.
Little Lyanna has survived getting slapped by the giant and she picks up a dragon glass sword to charge the undead Giant. For some reason she screams first instead of just doing it quietly. This will become a recurring theme. He picks her up and starts crushing her body in his hand. We hear her bones cracking but in a dying effort she stabs the Giant through the eye with the dragonglass sword, killing him as he kills her. Not Lyanna Mormont!
In the skies we see Jon and Dany both tussling with the Night King in a dragon fight but they lose him in the clouds.
Inside the castle; Arya is on the run from the dead. She’s inside a library playing hide and seek with a few of them and her stealthiness is what saves her. She escapes out of a door while they chase after a distraction she’s made inside. She’s only safe for a moment until they are charging after her and we see her running down a twisting hallway to escape.
Beric and The Hound are inside the castle now, intent on finding Arya. They find her with an undead soldier on top of her trying to murder her. Beric tosses his flaming sword at the wight knocking him off of Arya and then picks Arya up so they can escape. He gets stabbed in his ankle for his troubles and then gets stabbed several more times in his torso as the three of them try to navigate the halls to safety. Beric is able to use his body to block the hallway for a moment and allow Arya and the Hound to get a headstart and then after getting stabbed several more times a clearly wounded Beric still outruns the dead to catch up with Arya and The Hound just as they are going through a door and locking themselves into a safe room before any of the dead can follow. Kind of hard to believe but okay.
Beric dies on the floor of the safe room with Arya holding his head. Over Arya’s shoulder we see Melisandre. “The Lord brought him back for a purpose. And now that purpose is served.”
“I know you.” Arya says.
Duh. You were literally talking about this chick to your boyfriend yesterday, Arya.
Arya: “You said we’d meet again.”
Melisandre: “And here we are at the end of the world.”
Arya: “You also said I’d shut many eyes forever. You were right about that too.”
Melisandre: “Brown eyes. Green eyes… and blue eyes.”
Arya nods.
Melisandre: “What do we say to the God of death?”
Arya: “Not today.”
Arya runs off.
The Army of the Dead have reached the Godswood and Theon and his team are sniping them away with arrows. Bran is still warging.
Jon gets into another dragon wrestling match with the Night King up in the clouds. The Night King tries to get an angle so that he can stab Jon with a spear while their dragons are entangled but the dragons are snapping at each other and the ride is too bumpy. Both dragons get pretty beat up during this exchange. Rhaegal has Viserion’s neck in his jaws poking even more holes in the undead dragon and Viserion has his claws in Rhaegal, bloodying him. Finally Dany swoops in on Drogon and claws the ice dragon and the Night King gets tossed off and falls from the sky. Rhaegal manages to make it to the ground but it’s a rough landing and Jon falls off. Dany is now the lone person riding a dragon and she spots the Night King on the ground. He survived that long fall. He doesn’t even look like anything has happened. He’s standing on his feet like he fell off a tire swing.
Dany swoops Drogon down for a closer look and the Night King is standing there empty-handed. Dany sees the opportunity to end it and says the magic word to Drogon. “Dracarys!” And it’s flame on. Jon is a couple of hundred feet back on the ground watching the scene. The flames are intense and the leader of the Army of the Dead is now a puddle. Show is over time for a new episode of “Insecure.”
Wait, what?! By gawd that’s the Night King’s music! He didn’t feel a thing. His clothes aren’t even burnt. He’s not even sweating. He smiled at Dany as if to say “nice try, sis.” Then he tossed his ice spear at her trying to repossess her 2011 Lexus Drogon. Dany managed to duck the spear and fly away.
The Night King starts walking towards the Godswood. He’s just outside of the castle gates. Jon sees the Night King has survived so he draws his sword and takes off running after him. The Night King stops and turns towards Jon. Jon wisely decided to stop and assess the situation. Now the Night King sees a mass of newly dead bodies all around him and he slowly stars to raise his arms. Jon has seen this movie before. The eyes of all of the dead start to open and they start to rise. We cut back to the battlements and the courtyard inside the castle and we see those newly dead starting to stir as well… including newly dead Edd and Lyanna Mormont.
Inside the castle; we go back to the perfectly safe crypts and the dead there have started to stir as well. They poke their way out of their tombs and begin attacking the people who are being kept safe from the fighting. Don’t worry, nobody we know died.
Back outside Jon is fighting off the newly undead soldiers but he is badly outnumbered. He’s saved by Dany and Drogon who have now landed and blast him a path to the castle and incinerate everyone in his way. Jon takes off running and Dany spends a little too much time looking at Winterfell’s ass. Behind her Drogon is being swamped by the undead who always wanted to ride a dragon and never got a chance while they are alive. Drogon is trying to shake them off and fight them off as they climb, grab and stab him. In the commotion Dany gets knocked to the ground where she’s almost killed by an undead Thenn but Jorah runs up just in time to chops off his head. Dany picks up a discarded dragonglass sword and she and Jorah fight side by side.
The music changes to a slow dramatic beat and we get a medley of shots showing the current predicament of everyone:
-Back inside the crypts the undead Starks are doing a lot of damage. Tyrion and Sansa are hiding behind a tomb and share a tender moment where it looks like one of them won’t make it. They have to make a run for it. They find safety… elsewhere in the tomb?
-We get a shot of Podrick, Jaime, Brienne and Sam all fighting their hearts out. Everyone still alive. Jon’s in the courtyard but Viserion has landed in the courtyard is blowing his blue fire everywhere and Jon cannot get around him.
Dany and Jorah fighting their hearts out. Jorah is really beaten up and is being hacked almost as often as he makes a killing blow. Theon is out of arrows but he’s still killing dead men with his bow.
-The Night King enters the Godswood with his white Walker lieutenants. A wide shot shows Theon to be the only surviving Ironborn that is there with Bran and there are a lot of undead soldiers standing on the periphery.
-Bran comes back from the warging state and opens his eyes.
“Theon.” He says. “You’re a good man. Thank you.” Well, that’s a wrap for you, Theon.
-He charges off towards the Night King with a spear in hand and gives a guttural scream. The scream probably doesn’t help if your potential victim will be even slightly more off guard if you just keep your mouth shut. The Night King snaps Theon’s spear in half like a twig and stabs him through the gut with it. Theon lays dying. Maybe just stand there next to Bran and wait until reinforcements show up Theon. Maybe don’t run up on the King of The Dead with a spear and maybe don’t announce yourself doing it. The Theon experience was not my favorite part of Game of Thrones.
In the courtyard we see Jon is still pinned down by Viserion. Every time he tries to get out he winds up having to duck for cover.
The Night King is approaching Bran now with nobody in his way…
Jorah and Dany fight on. Jorah moves Dany out of the way of an attack and takes a sword strike to his chest. It’s been nice knowing you Ser Friendzone.
The Night King walks right up to Bran. Bran raises his gaze to meet the face of death. The Night King reaches back over his shoulder to unsheathe his sword. The camera is in front of him looking over his shoulder…
… Outside; Jon knows time is running out and he gets desperate. The ice dragon has sniffed out where Jon is trying to hide for cover and Jon stands up and faces him… and yells! Viserion opens his mouth to smoke this fool. Do dead dragons eat? Because he should eat this idiot…
… In the Godswood; The Night King is still reaching and over his shoulder we see Arya jumping into the picture, Catspaw dagger in her left hand to sneak attack the Night King. Until she screams for some fucking reason as she is about to land and he catches her by the throat and her left arm. He starts to squeeze the life out of her should’ve been quiet ass. But Arya drops the dagger from her trapped left hand into her free right hand and drives it into his chest at the same point where the Children of the Forest put the dragon glass in his heart to create him. It’s the same move she did when she sparred with Brienne. It’s reminiscent of Jon asking how she snuck up on him in the Godswood in the season opener.
And as she does it the Night King explodes into shaved ice. He’s not smiling anymore. Half a beat later his lieutenants all explode as well and the entire dead army they have created fall dead where they stand all over the castle. Viserion collapses into bones in front of Jon. Dany and Jorah get to stop fighting and Jorah collapses. We see Jaime, Brienne and Podrick in the courtyard, Tyrion, Sansa, Missandei, Varys, Gilly and Little Sam in the crypts. all of them are safe.
Outside the castle; Dany is crying over Jorah who dies in her arms. Drogon lands behind her and uses his body to shield her and it looks like a big dragon hug. The Hound and Melisandre exit the castle. Davos is right behind her ready to draw his sword but she exits the gate and walks into the field. Melisandre discards her magic necklace and immediately turns into her true older self and dies.
RIP Dothraki army, Edd, Lyanna Mormont, Beric Dondarion, Jorah Mormont, Melisandre, Night King and my expectations.
Epilogue:
You can’t build up the army of the dead as this unstoppable behemoth, double down on that by allowing them to make shredded cheese out of the Dothraki but then for the rest of the episode have them only kill 1.5 important characters. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to see any of the main characters killed but the storyline dictated more than just some supporting players getting offed.
What made Game of Thrones great initially was the life or death stakes of the game. Cersei told us “when you play the game of Thrones you either win or you die.” The whole story of the White Walkers and the Night King was suppose to amplify that. Political squabbles are nothing when you are facing death itself, or so we were told. But what happens when you face death and the casualties are almost all casual? This episode was amazing in and of itself but in the framework of the series it seems like the writers are starting to get sentimental. That’s not bad, but it’s not what what we were introduced to.
We saw Sam fighting his way of the ground against multiple dead men. Sam? We saw Brienne get gang tackled by a crew of untiring, unrelenting dead men, just after we saw them kill thousands of Dothraki, but she’s just fine. We saw one handed Jaime Lannister make it out just fine. I can suspend my reality every Sunday night but let’s agree on what I’m supposed to think is realistic.
Also we spent the last seven plus seasons being told that Jon is the Prince that Was Promised but now Arya is the one who kills the Night King. Okay, that doesn’t make a ton of sense but at least we can ask Melisandre about it next week. Oh wait…
Next week we get back to the war for the Iron Throne. I’m still on board but it feels like a different show than the one I met in season 1.
Post Epilogue Notes:
The episode description on HBO is “Arya looks to prove her worth as a fighter.”
Good one HBO! Let me try.
Avengers: Infinity War – “Thanos looks to do some spring cleaning.”
Or how about:
Batman – “Young Bruce Wayne has issues coping with parental loss.”
We’re all familiar with movies hiding easter eggs throughout their films sending winks and nods to pop-culture references. Sometimes it will be a tip-of-the-cap to an author, actor, or creator. Sometimes it is paying homage to an inspiring series, book, or film that’s near and dear to the director’s heart. This week I’ve seen a first. A T.V. series that has several easter eggs depicting segregation and oppression that only eagle-eyed aficionado’s of the black struggle might have caught on to.
Lovecraft Country is littered with important details that would fly over many people’s heads, and as I watched it again, I caught more nods to the true oppression of many African-Americans during the post-World War II era.
As a film buff, nothing makes me happier than watching a review, breakdown, or hidden easter egg video on a TV show I enjoy. Yesterday I did the same with Lovecraft Country, and while many of the melanin-deficient reviewers on youtube touched on the themes of literature, horror, and fantasy, many understandably missed some of the most important historical references.
Here are 10 Easter Eggs of Segregation in Lovecraft Country Episode 1.
1. H.P. Lovecraft’s little poem.
While we all know H.P. Lovecraft as an innovator of modern horror, fiction, and fantasy in literature, many people (including myself) didn’t know about a poem he wrote that spoke horribly about African Americans. Lovecraft Country alludes to the poem, but never recites it. Once they mentioned the title, I went straight to my Google Search. Below is the poem called: On the Creation of N*****s (1912)
When, long ago, the gods created Earth
In Jove’s fair image Man was shaped at birth.
The beasts for lesser parts were next designed;
Yet were they too remote from humankind.
To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man,
Th’Olympian host conceived a clever plan.
A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure,
Filled it with vice, and called the thing a N****r.
I’m sure Jackie Robinson beating the S**T out of Cthulhu at the beginning of the episode was a collective middle finger from the black community to Mr. Lovecraft.
2. Seating for Black People
Scene from episode 1
Actual photo of a segregated bus
While this may not come as a surprise to many of you, a lot of people are ignorant to the fact that, yes, black people were made to sit in the back of the bus. Many know the story of Rosa Parks’ defining moment, but for decades this was the way of life for black people. Where insult to injury is predicated in the show is when the bus breaks down and the bus driver gets a local pick-up truck driver to ride the stranded passengers into the city. Immediately in the next scene, the only two black passengers were seen walking down the road into Chicago.
3. Propaganda for the Negro Soldier
In Lovecraft Country, the above poster is not shown in this episode, but instead, it’s a black soldier telling other young black men that if they enlist, they can see the world. While Atticus walks by the soldier, there’s a glance of recognition as if Atticus was once one of those impressionable young men, and he knows their being lied to. Black men had to be enticed to enlist by different methods than whites because it was hard to show patriotism to a country that still to that day had kept them oppressed. So, they would show a poster of Joe Louis joining the fight…why don’t you? Get to see the world! Little did they know seeing the world would involve PTSD, death, and despair.
4. The Negro Motorist Greenbook
Scene from episode 1 depiction of the Green-Book
Actual Green-Book
The synopsis according to IMDB.com is: “Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Black as he joins up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father.” While this is true, it’s not the whole story. Why are they embarking on this trip? It’s to help update what many people may know as, The Negro Motorist Greenbook. Yup, just like the movie, The Greenbook. If you don’t know, this book was originated by Victor Hugo Green as a travel bible for African Americans. It provided details of safe roads to travel, places for food, repairs, and lodging where they wouldn’t be turned away or even worse, assaulted.
5. James Baldwin’s monologue on racial divide
During one of the scenes in Lovecraft Country, we see a montage of our protagonist’s road trip. In the montage we see different moments where they face discrimination, others facing discrimination, and the hardships of ignorant people with all the privilege in the world monopolizing on their entitlements. Usually, during movie montages, a composer would play a score to envoke emotions during the collection of scenes. Lovecraft Country went in a different direction. Instead, they played the monologue of James Baldwin’s renowned speech at Cambridge University where he debated with William Buckley on the subject of the United States racial divide. James Baldwin was a brilliant playwright, novelist, speaker, and activist that eloquently described the plight of the black man as it still stands today. Merged with the scenes during the montage, it speaks volumes about the state of America.
6. Ice Cream stand Scene
Scene from episode 1
Gordon Sparks photograph
In one of the scenes in the montage, we see a black man and his children waiting at an ice cream stand for service. Right over them is a sign that says “colored” and on the other side of the stand is a group of white people with ice cream being tended to by the servers. This scene looked extremely familiar to me. When I did some research, I realized this scene was based on a famous photograph by Gordon Parks, photographer and journalist who well-documented scenes of the segregation and civil rights era. Years ago I saw his work in its full brilliant quality at the High Museum in Atlanta. The color and detail brought a realism that a black-and-white photo could never do. It made this a real thing.
7. Mother and daughter under the neon sign
Scene from episode 1
Actual photo
This scene once again pays homage to another photograph by Gordon Parks. A mother and her daughter dressed elegantly as if they were going to church, standing under a large neon sign that says ‘Colored Entrance’.
8. The billboard across from the gas station
Scene from episode 1
Advertisement the billboard is based on
While Atticus and company are at a gas station filling up their car, they are approached by a gas station attendant pretending to be a gorilla to mock them. Leticia holds Atticus back from approaching the man as the attendant intensifies his ignorant behavior and she forces Atticus into the car. As they pull off, you can see a Billboard for Aunt Jemima in the background. Aunt Jemima has always been a misrepresentation of black culture through the lens of the white man and advertised to his fellow man as the overall perception of black people. The image of Aunt Jemima is a source reflection of the learned behavior of the gas station attendant.
9. Sundown towns
Scene from episode 1
Two years ago was the first time I’ve ever heard of a Sundown Town. No, not through a history book, but as a warning about staying too late in a little town in Texas that exists today! If I didn’t hear about this first hand, I would’ve thought it was a theme of the past, but no. There are currently county’s that do not condemn the abuse of black people once the sun goes down! While the billboard here might be a relic from the past, Sundown Towns are definitely alive and well across America!
10. White walls
Scene from episode 1
Not only is this one telling, but it also holds all kinds of subliminal messages. While the group finds a Green book safe haven for dining called Lydia’s, they are surprised to find the restaurant is now called, Simmonsville Dinette. Still, they walk in and are greeted by unwelcoming faces. While the server goes to the back for what seems like their coffee orders, Atticus realizes that the walls are painted white. He asks his uncle to remind him why the white house was white. His uncle tells him about the war of 1812 when British soldiers torched it and when slaves were tasked to rebuild it, they had to paint it white to cover up the burn marks. This tells us two things. Lydia’s restaurant was burnt down and rebuilt by trespassers (obviously for being a safe haven for blacks in this all-white town) and the blackness of this restaurant was erased and covered up by the ‘white’ paint. My goodness, I could go on and on about this one!
I was expecting this series to be littered with easter eggs, but knowing they have incorporated easter eggs specifically about the black movement and struggles has me fired up to see what else is in store for these characters. Did you see any easter eggs that I missed? Comment and let me know.
Just three episodes in and Carnival Row has me hooked and mesmerized by the sheer amount of work Amazon Studios has put into making and building a world set in a Victorian fantasy wonderland. It may feel familiar and even remind you of majestic scales seen in Harry Potter or even The Lord of the Rings but make no mistake this series stands on its own and will be the model other similar fantasy tales are told.
Amazon studios really delivered an amazingly realistic looking world!
You also get hints of Sherlock Holmes from the many British actors the show puts on display. This world not only houses humans but it also features Fauns aka Critch or Puck. Which are humans with horns attached to their heads and goat legs for…. well legs of course. The second tier of creatures are the Fae who resemble humans at first glance but instead have wings on their backs. They are a non-violent group who fled their homeland from outside invaders. They’re also called Pix. The last group of other worldly beings are called the Pact, who are no friends to the Fae. I hesitate to enter spoiler territory as the reveal of what these creatures are can be seen early in the series.
The story is essentially a civil war among three groups of people and conflicts with the overpowering government in place. Mix that with the ongoing tensions of humans and creatures attempting to live in “harmony” in one land and you have yourself an amazing story relevant to our current state of disarray in this country.
Leading the cast are actors Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne who wonderfully steer this complex interweaving beautiful fantasy world in the right direction, each playing characters opposite of each other but also having their own past backstory of fighting together in a war as well as a blossoming romance between them. Enough so to make their current situation even that more appealing and engaging.
If that’s not enough there is a serial killer prowling about the city disfiguring their prey in a grotesque inhumane fashion. Another character worth mentioning is the actual city where most of the story takes place which is called the Burge. The city is brimming with life and cracks of danger lurking in each corner. Just the lighting alone from street lamps illuminating light in the dark noir city alley ways instantly puts you in that time period, not to mention the costume details of key characters. Amazon studios really delivered an amazingly realistic looking world. All worth investing your time and attention in to.
It’s a Friday night and i’m finishing up some work waiting for a friend. So I click over to the Angels Seattle game and the first thing I see is the entire Angels team adorning the number 45, the number worn by their fallen teammate Tyler Skaggs who died of unknown circumstances. However there was something else that I came to realize while watching. Mike Trout really is one of the best baseball players i’ve ever seen!
The man delivers something productive practically every time I see him play. Whether i’m watching at the stadium, in an airport or at home. He’ll surely be diving in centerfield to rob a hit, stealing a base to get in scoring position or driving himself in with a 400 foot home run. His impact is beyond REAL!
If you haven’t seen him play, I suggest you catch it while you can. This level of excellence doesn’t come too often and you wouldn’t want to regret missing it. Let’s put it this way, Mike Trout signed a 12 year contract for…wait for it….$426.5 Million dollars plus a 20 million dollar bonus. And guess what? He’s not overpaid! The dude is really that good.
Mike Trout really is one of the best baseball players i’ve ever seen!
If you don’t believe me, just peep the stats. Coming into his 9th year in the league, the former rookie of the year, 2 time MVP (finished second 4 times) and 8 time all-star has been averaging 38 home runs, 101 rbi’s and a batting average of .306 per season. This is a Lebron in a lifetime type of talent with a lot more in the tank to go.
It may come as a surprise to the casual sports fan since Mike isn’t in every other commercial like most superstar athletes. But to baseball aficionados out there, this isn’t really a revelation at all. They’re just praying the Angels get some more talent around him to showcase those skills to the world or just trade him to the Yankees. I’m pretty sure New York can find a way to make some room for him.