“Nobody gives a shit about old ladies. We remind everybody they’re going to die.”
One of the recent major focal points of the season has been the elderly and the places they occupy in the prison society. The sad truth is that they simply don’t occupy much of a place, as we saw in the season’s coldest moment in “Comic Sans”, and they’ll continue to be marginalized by the prison system in general.
Fargo is essentially a tale of good and evil and what happens when the two clash. It’s a simple story, but it’s an effective one, and Hawley and co. milk everything they can out of it as we close the door on this 10-episode run. It’s a finale not without its bumps, but it’s satisfying thematically and plot-wise, deftly delivering the closing chapter to the crazy ride we’ve been on over the last few months.
“Do I lay awake fantasizing about personally taking down an institution that is the single greatest stain on the American collective conscience since slavery, with the awesome power of my words? Sure. But in the daytime, I’ve accepted that’s not going to happen.”
In society–but especially in an institution such as prison–there are “grasshoppers” and “ants”, the former stuck in the mud of today and the latter acknowledging the idea of a future. “Comic Sans” portrays these two types of people and their fates as the power grapple in Litchfield progresses.
“Can this just be okay?”
Season 4 of Louie has made it abundantly clear that our titular character has women and relationship problems: he’s slept with a model, he’s learned something from the woman he spent time with in “So Did the Fat Lady”, and he’s had a connection with Amia, but at the end of it all, he’s left with very little. So, as we saw in “Pamela Part 1”, he attempted to force Pamela to have sex with him, to rekindle a flame that he desperately hoped was still there.
“Wake up the bitch.”
Throughout this episode, we see a Jack Bauer who goes through an emotional journey, starting out more aggressive than usual before denial, hurt, and eventually acceptance seep into his demeanor. Most of the time, he’s been able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and figure out how to solve seemingly impossible problems, but here, he’s helpless as both the President of the United States and a respected colleague walks away to his death.
The Children of the Forest serve as a bit of a metaphor for all the other children in the show thus far: the beings that Bran comes across in this episode are ancient, beings that have been in the same place for who knows how long. The aforementioned “other children” have been trapped by their parents’ doings, destined to live out the rest of their lives in their parents’ shadows. That’s the very essence of the Iron Throne, isn’t it? It’s desired by many and is the most powerful position in the land, but it passes down through generations.
When Orphan Black is on its game, there are very few shows that can touch it. Whereas last week was a bit of a misfire, this week throws us right back into the thick of things with gusto, brilliantly setting up what should be a satisfying and exciting season finale.
It’s hard to define ‘love’, as the inmates attempt to do, but one thing’s for certain: on Valentine’s Day, everyone is searching for that elusive feeling, trying to find some form of connection; it doesn’t always end well, though, and what we oftentimes get is heartbreak and disappointment.
Father and son exchange blows. Pan up along two pairs of entwined legs, legs that belong to Starbuck and Baltar in a passionate bout of lovemaking. The former calls out Lee’s name. Sexy. Baltar doesn’t think so. It’s Galactica Sharon now, torn, with a gun in her mouth. It’s Caprica Sharon, shot and captured by Helo. He can’t bring himself to finish her off, and Galactica Sharon can’t do it, either.
As the race war in Litchfield progresses, the feud becomes not only about the individual women and the conflicts between them, but also about the various races as a whole. Issues of incarceration, privilege, and even hypertension are brought up at different points throughout the episode, and the inmates are very well aware of class and race issues that are ever present in both the prison culture and the world in general.
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