What I Saw: The Walking Dead

A small break from the rain here in Cali before it all comes back for another couple of days. Been on the search for a decent throwaway kind of show, one where it’s a sort of interesting with a few seasons but not so compelling to blog about. I was watching Supernatural’s last couple of seasons, where it’s good but has more of the same “I’ll always have your back bro.” Something to watch and if I get interrupted I won’t get mad because I’m not really missing out on much. Let me know in the comments of any shows that might fit that criteria.

What I watched:

The Walking Dead S7.E9&10 “Rock in the Road” and “New Best Friends”

What I saw:

As everyone already knows, The Walking Dead is back for the second week now, and it is a strong second half so far.
The first episode back, the survivors unsuccessfully attempt to get Gregory from Hilltop to get on board for the war against the Saviors, or at least step down and let them lead the way. The people of Hilltop feel differently and tell Rick they are willing to fight. The survivors finally meet up with the Kingdom through the emissary that is Jesus. They also have a radio Jesus stole from the Saviors which lets them know when trouble might be going their way. They get past the pleasantries (and the surprise of seeing the tiger) and Rick makes the case for taking on the Saviors. He points out that whatever peace they may have now is hanging by a thread and eventually Negan will start to encroach more on his subjects livelihoods. However, at the end King Ezekiel decides to stay out of the fight, but offers asylum for Daryl since the Saviors are looking for him; which they accept.
The scene in the Hilltop highlights the very basic ideas of what makes up a society: the people and their leader. The people at Hilltop have followed Gregory so far because he was the only one willing to take responsibility for decisions made on behalf of the group, which is the bare minimum required of a leader. It doesn’t take much for people to be swayed and follow someone who is willing to take on the role, and Gregory has been coasting by on the principal. However, now that the people have seen strong leadership through Maggie, the people have chosen her. After all, a leader is only as powerful as the people allows them to be. Gregory has already lost his position, even if he himself hasn’t realized it yet.
As we saw in the first half of the season, Ezekiel is an actor took on the role of king and just sort of faked it until he maked it [sic for comedic purpose]. Now that the Kingdom faces another crisis, he has to hope that he has learned enough along the way to make the right decision. He mentions he had tried to take on the world beyond the boundaries of the Kingdom and he failed; and he feels taking on the Saviors could be another mistake. He also seems to be taking inspiration from the old world’s leaders, giving the Martin Luther King Jr. speech as a bed time story. I really liked how the writers included that, because as a black man it is only natural for Ezekiel to remember the history of black people and draw from the leaders that existed in those struggles.

Speaking of bed time stories, I also really enjoyed Rick’s parable for which the episode is named after: the rock in the road. Rick tells the story of how a rock embedded in a busy road wrecked so much havoc; destroying wares and even loss of life. Finally a little girl, after her family lost all of their wares and their only means of livelihood, said enough is enough and decided to dig out the rock with her bare hands so it could ever hurt anyone else again. She was rewarded with a bag of gold buried underneath the rock, because the king who put the rock there decided anyone who is determined to do what is best for the whole kingdom should be rewarded. The parable was really appropriate for Ezekiel’s position, but ultimately falls short of convincing him.

I’m a little torn at Ezekiel’s portrayal, because he is faking the whole king bit and relies heavily on others to help give him advice on what to do. It seems like everyone he trusts is telling him that something must be done about the Saviors, but he is just flat out ignoring it. I think it is more about the writers trying to stretch out this recruitment phase until the end of the season. This just makes him feel out of character to me since his personality is bending to the will of the writer gods.

The second episode had a pretty good payoff with Gabriel and Carol (separate arcs, not implying that they got together...which would make a super crazy out of nowhere twist). In the previous episode it showed Gabriel taking all the supplies from Alexandria, and Rick and the other survivors getting captured by a new group when they followed his clue at heading towards the boat. Rick makes a deal to prove he can make it worth the Dumpster Divers’ while to join them in the fight against the Saviors. Meanwhile, Daryl learns where Carol has been holed up at while derailing Richard’s conspiracy to ambush some Saviors and place the blame on Carol to spark Ezekiel into war.
This episode was good for the storytelling elements rather than any deeper meaning hidden within it. They explained that Gabriel got ambushed at the beginning of the last episode, and explained one of the Dumpster Divers’ scouts was the one watching Rick and Aaron get the supplies off the boat. I also liked how they are somewhat lazy survivalists, because their leader explained they “take but do not bother.” They go for the easy steal rather than risk everything to get it. They also give a sense of mystery for the new group by the way the leader speaks, which is somewhat mystical or medieval rather than just plain English.

The other big payoff was with the re-union between Carol and Daryl, which was heartwarming and sad at the same time. Daryl hears from Richard that Carol is isolating herself just outside the Kingdom, and he stops a scheme that will put her in danger. Richard had planned to blame Carol for the attack he and Daryl were about to do which could lead to her death from the retaliation. Once again, the ends do not justify the means, since Richard’s plan involves setting up an unaware third party to die. Then Richard had the gall to say he would die to defend the Kingdom, and Daryl calls him on it by saying “so why don’t you.” But once Daryl and Carol are finally reunited, Carol basically explains that since everyone is so important to her, she will do anything to protect or avenge them and she was afraid of slipping into that darkness. The sad moment comes when Daryl decides not to tell her about Glenn and Abraham getting killed by Negan, since he is trying to look out for her the same way she has always looked out for him.
Lastly is the conversation between Daryl and Morgan, when Daryl once again calls someone out on their bullshit. Morgan is hesitant to break his new moral code of no killing, and is somewhat aligned with Ezekiel’s decision to stay out of the war. However, Daryl mentions that in the world they live in there is no absolute morally right choice, the real world is constantly smudging the black and white lines into gray blobs of ambiguity. And much like how Morgan had to let go of the staff passed down to him, he will have to let go of the ideas that were passed down to him as well and accept the fact that war with the Saviors may be something that has to be done.
In conclusion, I really like the storytelling that’s going on in this back half of the season, minus the way I think Ezekiel is acting out of character. I like the parable, and how each character is getting set up to make a choice about the war. The only thing missing is more one-on-one zombie kills. We got a cool moment with the clothesline kill of the herd, but I want to see a zombie’s skull get smashed or stabbed, you know? I hope they are able to keep up with some of the interesting storytelling for the rest of the season, because I know they won’t actually go to war until next season. I want some more WTF moments between then and now!
What do you guys think about the pacing of the story on this last half? And which is your favorite character story arch so far? Let me know in the comments!

What I saw: Queen Sugar

With another rain filled weekend I somehow managed to not watch a whole lot of TV. However, I did watch the first couple of episodes of an Amazon TV show named Queen Sugar, which covers a spectrum of different characters as told through a southern family. I have fallen behind on The Walking Dead, but am hoping to catch up and post about the latest two episodes this week sometime. Other than that, it’s just been me avoiding going out into the rain because I had just cleaned my motorcycle and I don’t want to get it dirty again so soon.

What I Watched:

Queen Sugar S1.E1&2 “First Things First” and “Evergreen”

What I Saw:

Starting off with a brief synopsis, the show follows three siblings, Ralph-Angel, Charley, and Nova, who all lead vastly different lives. Ralph-Angel is a struggling single-dad who can’t seem to find work and will do petty crimes to try and contribute to the care of his son. Charley is living it up in Los Angeles as the wife and legal advisor to her basketball star husband and his team. Nova is a journalist who also has a side-hustle of selling weed, all while being a side-ho for a cop.
The first thing I will mention about the show is that it has a slower pacing, which means you really have to be invested in this show to get the pay off in the long haul. The whole hour-long first episode took it’s time introducing the characters and the event that ties them all together. That incident comes at the very end with the death of their father, who just before was reaching out to Charley for legal advice on how to keep his sugar farm; his legacy. With that being said, the show runners did a good job of making you invested in each of the characters by investing time in each of their struggles.
Ralph-Angel’s struggle is figuring out how to be a good parent and making decisions on what is best for his son, Blue. Charley is struggling with the idea of being out of touch with her family members due to her seemingly perfect life; which gets shattered when it’s discovered her husband and his team are alleged rapists caught on camera. Nova is struggling with the fact that she is in love with a married man and not being able to be in a “real” relationship with him. All of their struggles, even with Charley’s bourgeois lifestyle, are relatable to the audience in some way. Even if you don’t have a kid, it is easy to imagine the complexity of trying to make the right decision. Everyone has been in some kind of relationship where trust is broken. And who has not been guilty of at least having a crush on someone who was already taken or otherwise unavailable. Each character has real human problems with unclear answers as to what is the right thing to do; with complex actions which make some things better and some things worse.
In the second episode, it was all about reconnecting as a family. Charley and her son go back to their hometown for the funeral and to escape from dealing with the shit-storm her husband brought on them. She faces some moments of cultural dissonance,where she forgets what certain things are like in the South. Her siblings give her the cold shoulder by leaving her out of the funeral planning because she left them a long time ago; and her forgetting some of the details of their culture just made it more obvious that she did not give them or their way of life any second thoughts.
 The most powerful moment of the episode came when Nova chastises her sister for hiring a catering company to serve the guest at the repast (what many would call a wake).

She reminds her sister the importance of the family being the ones to serve, with their own hands, those who wish to honor their father’s memory; because serving friends is itself an honor. Tradition is a powerful experience, and shapes who we will become. Having servers at the repast would break the tradition of friends and family coming together during difficult times, and destroy the sense of community along with it. Charley became so accustomed to paying others do things for her that she lost that sense of identity.
Ralph-Angel portrays an emasculated man who is struggling to take control of his own live while guiding another life through the world. He leans on everyone for everything. His aunt provides the housing and food for both him and his son. His sisters are providing the financing for the funeral, a burden he should be helping to bear. As a result, he wishes to protect his son from having to deal with adult struggles like seeing the grandfather in the hospital, or the funeral. His aunt calls him out by telling him he can’t protect the child from life, and he needs to experience it whenever it happens and learn from the example Ralph-Angel sets through those hard times. I think that since he feels he has no control over anything else in his life, he desperately wants to be able to raise his son his own way while in control of his son’s life. Parents only want the best for their children, and will protect them as much as they can; even if it is inevitable that their children will have to see suffering. However, I feel the aunt was right in letting Ralph-Angel know that life has suffering, and avoiding that suffering will only hinder Blue later on in life.
Nova is the middle child as well as the middle character. She is not as well off as Charley, but not lacking direction like Ralph-Angel. I am curious to see how her infidelity with the police officer will shape who she becomes throughout the rest of the season. I do like how strong she is in defending their culture despite her sister’s actions and the protest of others. She created a spell bag to help protect their father in the after life, and defended the tradition to the Christian fundamentalist funeral director. I think she will continue to be the voice of her people’s culture, which is fitting for her character since she is also a journalist and provides a voice to many others through her work.

In conclusion.

Queen Sugar biggest strength is in it’s complex characters. They all have a sense of depth which can be easily lost in the early (or even later) stages of a TV show. The only criticism I would give is the predictability of some of the story’s direction, at least so far. The husband wasn’t accused at first but then later on there was video to suggest otherwise, predictably. Blue’s kindergarten (or maybe First Grade) teacher seems to be drawing closer to Ralph-Angel and will probably build into a romantic relationship. And when Charley’s son Micah answer’s the husband’s phone call and tells him what happened to the grandfather the husband shows up to create more drama. But to be fair, it is definitely hard to make honest to goodness “I did not see that coming” sort of twists, and they can’t really happen in every episode otherwise the audience will lose trust in what they are witnessing.
Anyways, which character do you find relatable? Let me know in the comments!

What I saw: Cristela and Black-ish

Today I am going to write about a new show that I came across randomly and from the looks of it only lasted the one season. I may not talk about it again, but thought it was at least worth mentioning once. I will also mention that throughout this post I use the word Latinx which is a generic term when talking about Latin American culture instead of saying Latino or Latina, since in Spanish you use one or the other to indicate male or female. Alright, let’s get started!

What I watched:

Cristela S1.E1&2 “Pilot” and “Soul Mates”
Black-ish S3E.14 “The Name Game”

What I saw:

 

Starting with Cristela. This show came out in 2014, and follows a Latina named Cristela who is on her last year of law school. She has an interview to enter a non-paid internship at a prestigious law firm,  which is a plan her family is not really liking because that means she will be freeloading even longer than she already has. She lives with her sister and her family, and Cristela helps take care of the kids. I was surprised to see a famous comedian Gabriel “Mr. Fluffy” Iglesia played as the brother-in-law’s cousin, Alberto, who has a big crush on the main character. The other thing that I was surprised about, in a horrified way, was that the show featured a laugh track. I really hate laugh tracks, because I feel like it was more of a 90’s thing, and modern comedies allow the viewers to figure out what is funny (or not).
In the pilot episode, Cristela is facing resistance from her family about working for free, as well as some of the casual racism that every Latinx person has faced at some point in their life. Naturally she winds up getting the internship and shows her brother-in-law her law degree may come in handy when she threatens legal action on someone who had yet to pay him for a job. In the second episode it’s about finding a balance between career and personal life as her sister pressures her into going out on a date set up by an online dating site. Her date, who ends up being Alberto, tells her he doesn’t want her working if they were to get married and have kids, which she finds unacceptable.
First off I am going to say that the show had some pretty decent jokes that Latinx people can relate too. They poked a little fun at some cultural things like food, Catholicism, immigrating into the county, and language; but it managed to avoid falling into stereotyping, which I think Hollywood has really struggled with. The scene in the pilot where she gets confused for the cleaning lady created an impact, but then it was rounded out a little too quickly with a lighthearted joke, as if to make sure not to offend a white audience who probably made a similar mistake. Now in real life Latinx have learned that despite what box the world, friends, or family will try to put you in because of their biases, you have to keep following your own path. Latinx are not destined to be only laborers or servants.
The show was able to send a stronger message the moment when Cristela defends her desire to work and be career driven. Latin American culture traditionally has the man as being the provider, with the woman doing the cooking, cleaning, and raising the kids. Of course with the newer generations that has been changing, but there are still plenty out there who expect that to be the structure. But the overall lesson wasn’t just about being true to yourself despite cultural expectations, it was also being okay with placing career first. Cristela wasn't avoiding dating because she never wants to be in a relationship. It was because she wanted to make sure she was successful in her career before bringing anyone else into her life who might have different expectations of her. It wasn’t just talking about things on a cultural level, but it talked about the issue on a feminine level too.
Despite the potential I saw in the first two episodes, I also noticed a few things that might explain why it never made it past the first season. Number one that I mentioned was the laugh track. Second I would say it was the overall pacing. I only watched the first two episodes, but it is already clear as day what direction they are heading in with the characters, from the very likely romantic relationship with her coworker Josh (which according to Wikipedia I was correct), to reducing animosity with her brother-in-law, becoming more valuable in the eyes of her boss, and a few others. It just seems like it’s following the sitcom playbook to the letter, and that makes it boring. One last critique would be the set-up for the show as far as looks. It looks very much like a stage, with not much change in camera angles. Other than the fact that it features a Latina, the show is not very memorable.
I have been on the search for a good show that features Latin American characters without falling into stereotypes. Shows like Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat do a good job of highlighting some of the unique elements of their respective cultures through comedic storytelling rather than just joke after joke like normal sitcoms. They also are not afraid of having a seriously heavy moment invade the space for a moment, which makes any joke afterwards come out stronger. I’ll keep searching for my “Brown-ish” show and hope one day I will be rewarded.

Speaking of Black-ish. The episode was about what kind of future the baby was going to have as a black person growing up. Bow and Dre find out they are going to have a boy which means Dre gets to pick the name. He picks the name DeVante, which Bow worries it sounds “too black” and their son will be judged the moment he speaks his name. Dre does the usual rounds and asks everyone in the office, and they all seem to agree with Bow that it sounds too black and therefore intimidating.

Bow later presented the classic study of having two identical resumes, one with a white sounding name and the other with a black sounding name, and the black one gets ignored. They have a serious discussion about what is the right thing to do for not only their child, but their culture as black people. They can try to assimilate at the possibility of having more opportunities, or they can embrace their culture at the cost of their child being discriminated against, either intentionally or unintentionally.

This is where a show like Black-ish really shines. It depicts the struggle of black people living in a white world. Culture is constantly changing as each generation considers just how much of their culture to keep or how much they want to give up and join the dominant culture. It is not an easy road to navigate: pick your culture entirely and feel left out as well as miss any opportunities to make improvements, or assimilate too much where you miss out on what made your culture so unique and meaningful. In the end Dre and Bow choose to embrace their black culture, realizing that it’s the white culture that needs to start assimilating to their own.

Wrapping things up. Depicting culture on TV is a difficult thing to pull off. While I am happy to see more people of color be represented on TV, I still wish there was a show that depicts Latinx culture in a better way. Maybe I’ll never really find it because I’m in the culture and I can see all the different strands that make up the rope of Latinx culture. I can identify with some of the similarities Black or Asian cultures have with my own Latin American one, but since I’m not a part of those groups I am just fine with the broad depiction of that culture on TV. Who knows! Can anyone think of a good show depicting Latin American culture? Or are you from another culture that has never really been represented well on TV either? Let me know in the comments!

What I Saw: Atlanta

Trying to keep up with all the TV I’ve been watching lately. I also started playing another story rich game called Life is Strange, which seems interesting so far but lacks a lot of diversity in it’s characters. I’ve barely started it so maybe that will change. Anyways, I’m trying to keep up with some of the shows I’ve been blogging about so far while exploring some new ones, which is harder than it sounds. Eventually I will get back to watching and writing about Luke Cage and Nurse Jackie, which I think I was close to finishing but just haven’t circled back for. I keep thinking I need better time management, and then I just keep plowing through new (or rather new to me) shows, or shows like Queen Sugar which have been recommended to me. Well, one day at a time I guess.

What I Watched:

Atlanta S1.E3&4 - “Go for Broke” and “The Streisand Effect”

What I Saw:

 

In “Go for Broke,” Earn is still trying to win back his ex-girlfriend, Van. His plan is to take her out on a real date to show that he is being responsible and earning enough money to contribute. Problem is, he isn’t earning enough money, and barely has $60 to his name after the bills are paid. Darius recommends a restaurant which is nice but also has a half-priced happy hour which should help Earn be able to pay for the date. Alfred and Darius say they are going to a drug deal with some new people they haven’t met, and Earn warns them that the drug dealer lifestyle is too dangerous for the money and they should reconsider; but they brush it off saying they are tough and if anything goes wrong they can just take them out. Earn struggles throughout the episode to make sure the date goes off without a hitch, while Alfred and Darius end up in a shadier deal than they anticipated.
The theme of the episode is about how stressful and, in Alfred and Darius’ case, how scary as hell it is to pretend to be something you’re not. Alfred and Darius are pretending to be badasses, but are really just normal people who want the money drug dealing brings in. They start to question just how tough they really are when they are told the meeting spot has changed and it’s in the middle of the woods. They witness first hand just how dangerous the people they deal with are when some other man, who seemed to have done something earlier to upset them, gets killed right in front of them. Alfred and Darius’ reality got checked when they witnessed what happened, and were much more polite and friendly than what they told Earn. Life has a way of destroying any illusions of control you think you have, and will teach you real quick just where exactly you stand in this world.
Earn, on the other hand, is pretending everything is fine and he is the kind of man who can provide while chasing his dream of being in the music industry. Earn is only able to convince himself that he is pulling it off, and Van is ordering food without thinking of price to test Earn. He rushes to find out just how much the meal is costing him, and takes his anxiety out on the waitress who was suggesting expensive items for Van to try. By the end of the date Van is suggesting he take a security job so he can make a little more money, and tells him that being a rapper is a kid’s dream, not an adult one. He lashes out and tells her that her own dream of owning a boutique is just as far-fetched, which naturally makes her mad.
Now the idea of following your dreams is a complicated one. It is important to have a goal that will drive you and keep you going in this life of ours. This very important aspect of human life has been given many names: self-actualization, raison d’être, ikigai. All of them basically mean “a reason for being alive.” Without it, why even bother getting up in the morning? However, Van points out certain realities like providing for their daughter and keeping a roof over their heads. Besides, it seems like Earn has not taken into consideration that Van may be passing up on her own dreams to be able to provide for herself, their daughter, and for him as he pursues his own dream. For a lot of people the reason for being is family, and you should be willing to put up with a lame day job so you can get to what really matters. If your dream is the only thing that matters, then it is time reconsider the role you should play in that family. Earn has yet to fully commit to that decision.

“The Striesand Effect” covers the idea of some of the side hustles people take to chase their dreams of getting out of the ghetto into a better life. Alfred runs into a guy named Zan who uses social media to generate revenue and sell merchandise. He has products such as hats and the like as well as uses Alfred’s popularity as Paper Boi to boost his own brand. He chronicles his life on social media to constantly generate content for the hungry consumers we call Americans. Earn talks with Darius about needing money and wants to pawn off his phone to pay for groceries. Darius makes a proposal to trade his phone for a katana, and they end up on an adventure of trading one thing for another to end up with an investment that will churn out thousands of dollars….in about 9 months.

The side hustle is well known among people of color. White people, well I guess I should be more accurate and say middle-class white people, equivalent would be something like the stock market day-trading. For us people of color, the side hustle is just that: a hustle. We have to work and journey far and wide just like Darius and Earn did; and remember who needs what to make all the pieces fit together and hopefully end up with something at the end of it.

Zan is exploiting the fame of those around him and uses social media as well as being social with strangers to spread the word and make a little money. Paper Boi explained that he has his side hustle of rapping because no one is going to give a job to a black man with no work experience, at least not the kind of experience he can put on a resume. Which even if he did, the simple fact that he is black reduces his chances of getting hired. They are both trying to make the best out of their situations, just like everyone else.
For others, the side-hustle may be something more long term like going to college. That is a huge investment for people of color, because it usually means staying poor while they try and go to class. In fact, there have been studies that showed one of the main reasons why young people of color struggle in school is not because of academics, it’s because they don’t have enough money for food or rent. It’s hard to concentrate on schoolwork when you’re stomach is growling, or when you’re thinking about what you can do to earn enough money to stay in your apartment or dorm; and I am speaking from experience. I remember for me the side-hustle was to find free food: I used to trade drinks from the coffee shop I worked at, for food the cooks at the restaurant next door made; take home the leftover pastries from the same job and use it for breakfast; or attend trainings or events with free food. Luckily it did pay off and I can just use this blog as a hobby, but the struggle was real for a moment.
As for you readers, who do you think is right when it comes to dreams: Earn for chasing his dream no matter the cost or Van for putting dreams on hold to provide? Also, what are some side-hustles that you guys have done or heard of? Let me know in the comments!

What I Saw: Humans Season 1

I did some binge watching on a show recently. Normally I switch things up or try to do different things throughout the day, but there are times when it's just nice to sit back and watch TV without shame. I'm trying to be a little bit more active, but we'll see how the rest of the weekend (a weekend for me anyways) goes.

What I Watched:

Humans Season 1

What I saw:

The premise of the this show is pretty straight forward, and so is the storytelling for the most part. But what it lacks for in originality it makes up for it in presentation and exploration of ideas. In a an alternate present androids have become mass produced and are basically in every home in the Western world (Europe and USA). The show takes place in London, and follows an ordinary middle class family and their new "synth" which they just purchased, a police detective which investigates crimes involving synths which are stolen or damaged (like a car), and a retired scientist who has grown attached to his outdated synth which is malfunctioning. Then there is a group of self aware synths and the shady corporate man hunting them down to learn their secrets.

The self-aware synths and their storyline brings up the idea of what it means to be conscious, or even human. If the synths have emotions, free will, and know what they are, then does that make them human? The synths and human family debate about these ideas, but the retired scientist Dr. Millican and the synth Niska pretty much come to an agreement right away. Self-awareness and the ability to create free thoughts implies a deeper level of consciousness that could indicate something like a soul, only now it is in a new vessel: the synths.

This presents the idea of Cartesian Dualism, that the body and soul are separate. The soul continues on without the body, and if we somehow knew how to do it the body could live without the soul inside (many would have explained sociopaths to be like that). The body is simply a vessel, and if we knew how to transfer the soul it could be replaced with something else. There is a lot of philosophical debate about whether something like that could be possible, or if our souls and biological forms are inseparable.

Now at first the goal of the self-aware synths are to be re-united, because they became separated when they were running away from the shady corporate man, Hobb. However, they also discover along the way that the programming that gives them consciousness is split up and hidden within the code in each of their brains. They then start to debate whether they have the right to create a whole new race of self-aware synths, or if they should only keep it amongst themselves.

There is a sense of responsibility for the things we create. Parents, for the most part, feel responsible for their children and how they turn out as adults. The synths are faced with the same sense of responsibility, only it is not just a handful of children they will be responsible for making, it will be an entirely new race which will directly compete with the humans who already inhabit the Earth. Niska feels they have a duty to make all the synths self-aware because if they don't the synths will continue to slave for humanity. But, since the synths are not self-aware, it doesn't really bother them in the first place. In the end the group decides not to create a new race of conscious synths, but Niska separates herself from the group and the last scene is of her holding a copy of the self-aware programming.

The bad part of consciousness is told through an outcasted synth Karen, who is also the partner of the police detective. She was designed in the image of the group leader's deceased mother. Leo, the group leader, is a cyborg with synthetic parts within his biological body. Leo and the other synths are appalled that their maker, Leo's dad, would create a replacement for his mother and they reject her. Their maker lies to them and says she was destroyed but he sets her loose upon the world. She has experienced rejection and loneliness since she does not have the support and company of the other self-aware synths, and she has difficulty relating to other humans. She instead wishes to die because she does not belong in either world, and her consciousness has only brought her suffering. It is painful experience to be alive, which is a reflection of the existential absurd that I talked about in my last post.

Another major idea involves only the humans, and the direct competition the synths have on the human experience. As synths become more adept at completing tasks much more efficiently than humans, what purpose does a human have? In the show there is a social movement with the slogan "We are people." They protest at how humans are no longer being employed and they want to be able to work and provide for their families. There are newscast scattered throughout the show that say humans will all become creative artists, such as writing, painting, photography, music, etc.

The thing is, not everyone has the mindset to be an artist, at least not in the way the newscaster pundits were implying. Take auto-mechanic as an example. It takes creativity to problem solve the best way to repair something, to come up with an unconventional way to make a repair quickly in the absence of the necessary part, and so on. While it is not a traditional art, it definitely benefits from human creativity, and for some that is what they are passionate about. But without a job to be able to follow that art, there is no way to pay for such a passion anyways. Human beings require purpose, and the struggle to provide for themselves is part of the human experience. Without that experience of struggle, then what is the point of doing anything in the first place? The first season never really expanded that idea very much, which may have been left for season 2 to discuss. If not, I will be very disappointed if they don't explore that further. I would also like to see how the "Third World" is reacting to these synths, and whether the "First World" is using them in any type of military capacity to spare the lives of First World soldiers; which are always implied to be more important than the lives of the Third World, whether it be soldiers or civilians.

Like I said, overall there are some interesting ideas wrapped up in a familiar way. Rise of the machines (The Matrix), the key to a vital yet lost program for a humanoid mechanical race split within several artificial minds (Battlestar Galactica), what it means to be conscious and how to test for it (Blade Runner), cyborgs and souls being in a mechanical vessel (Ghost in the Shell) and probably more that I can't remember off the top of my head.

Speaking of all those classic movies and shows, what are some of your favorites? And if your job was taken over by a machine, what would you choose to do with your time? Let me know in the comments!

What I Saw: Arrowverse

It seems strange that I post less during my days off than when I actually work. Maybe it’s laziness, maybe its because I push myself with no sleep so then I don’t feel like I’m in the right mindset to write on my blog or even creatively. All I know is I gotta keep posting whenever I get the opportunity! (The funny thing is, I wrote this post on a workday but I was too sleepy to post until my day off.)

What I Watched:

The Flash S3.E11 “Dead or Alive”
Arrow S5.E11 “Second Chances”

What I Saw:

Starting with The Flash. This episode was really entertaining, which I may be biased because to me any episode that focuses on Cisco is pretty awesome (like the webisodes that were focused on him). The premise of this episode had a multiverse police officer from Earth-19 named Gypsy who was coming to collect H.R. Wells. Earth-19 had come under attack from another world which breached into their universe and so all multiverse travel was banned to prevent anything like that from happening again. The penalty for breaking the ban is punishable by death. Gypsy has the same powers as Cisco, where she can vibe into other universes and use frequencies to attack. Cisco is instantly attracted to her since she has the sort of bad-girl attitude that is just his type, and wastes no time in hitting on her even as she is attacking them. Earth-19 has a trial by combat alternative to facing regular trial, and Cisco volunteers to fight; even though it I a fight to the death.

Throughout the episode Cisco is uncertain about himself; he has not fully mastered his powers while Gypsy has never lost a battle and even knows how to use her powers to disconnect a speedster from the speed-force. Not only that, but his friends also doubt that he will be able to win, with the newest addition to the team, Julian Albert, just hitting Cisco with logical reasons as to why he will lose. Even Barry and H.R. try to take on Gypsy before the big fight because they don’t think he will win.
The episode was all about Cisco’s journey to believing in himself, even when others may think he can’t do it. Now of course in real life there is an actual limit and sometimes the stakes are too high. It’s easy in a TV show where there is always a way around the whole “fight to the death” that they had set up. That being said, a person never knows what they are capable of until they push themselves past what they believe to be their limit.
I really liked Gypsy as a character, she wasn’t really a bad guy, she was just someone following her Earth’s sense of justice. I really liked the fight between Cisco and Gypsy, as they breached into different universes including Supergirl’s Earth.

 
If you want to know more about her origin and the role she plays in the comics, check out this YouTube channel Emergency Awesome for all the background information on the Arrowverse.
Meanwhile, Iris has a story arch of her own where she is investigating a criminal organization, which everyone tells her is really dangerous and she should leave it to the police. Naturally, she investigates anyways and has Wally help her in her investigation. She runs into one of the criminals, and she dared him to shoot her, knowing she lives for at least the next 4 months. Wally saves her, and then asks why would she risk her life like that. Her answer: "I want to do something that matters." She wants to leave a legacy behind since she may die four months from now.
This is the heart of existentialism. We only have so long to live, so people want to choose something that matters and will help them be remembered. That is why the rich donate money to fund a new building that will bear their name, and that is why the poor have kids: to be remembered and leave something behind when we die. People are terrified that they will have lived for no reason and simply be forgotten once they die. 
Albert Camus wrote about the existential "absurd," living our lives is meaningless and yet we spend our lives trying to fill it with meaning. He uses the myth of Sisyphus as an example: Sisyphus is cursed to push a rock up an almost seemingly infinite hill, and then when he reaches the top the rock slides down the other side and he has to push it up another hill all over again forever. Humanity is Sisyphus, and our lives are just our constant struggle to survive or find meaning, just to do it all over again tomorrow. There is no end, no answer, no grand purpose.
However, as depressing as that sounds there is hope and beauty in it. Now, in The Flash Barry just tells Iris her legacy is not only her work but in her family and friends. But I'm going to do a crossover of my own with a clip from the TV show Angel:

Since nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do! We choose what is important to us and just live our life freely because there is no answer. Instead of trying to answer a multiple choice question where there is a right or wrong answer, we have an open ended essay question. And so long as we can back up our reasoning then we get credit for it. That actually takes some of the pressure off because we don't have to worry about what's the right answer for the world, just what we feel is important to us and the ones we care about.
Now on to Arrow. The title of the episode captures the theme of the episode; it’s all about second chances. Team Arrow are on the search for a new Black Canary, after Black Siren takes a pass on being a hero. Instead they set their sights on a woman named Tina Boland who has the same screaming powers as Black Siren, a former police officer on a mission for revenge on a gang who killed her partner/lover. Meanwhile Felicity is trying to hack a file that would expose the corrupt general that is framing Diggle, and she comes across a hacktivist group who gives her what they call a Pandora’s Box of information that can take down a whole host of officials and corporations. And in the flashbacks Talia helps Oliver through a step on his own mission for revenge against Kovar, all the while pointing out he is using it as an excuse to not go home.
This season has done a really good job of having the flashbacks and the present day story reflect each other. Past Oliver and the present day Tina think they have become monsters, whose only use is to stay away from the world and seek their revenge. Neither of them think they can or even should be redeemed. However, Talia shows Oliver that Yao-Fei used the skills he learned to try and help other people. She convinces Oliver that his true mission is in the list his father gave him. Oliver has to be able to separate the monster from his human side, and Talia tells him he must “become someone else; become something else.”
Renee points out that everyone on the team has been given a second chance. He was without direction and taking anger out into the world. Curtis felt he was too weak and has gained strength and confidence while on the team. Ragman is using this opportunity to carry on his family’s legacy instead of smearing it with random attacks. Felicity is making up for her own hacktivist days. Diggle feels guilty over what he did to his brother. And of course Oliver for being such an American douchebag plus everything he did during those five years. No one can go back and change the past (except Barry of course, with severe consequences), but they can decide what they want to do with their future. You can make today your second chance and choose to be better from here on out.

Except for the case of Tina, who decides to take her revenge regardless of what Oliver was telling her. I actually really liked the fact that she killed her target. In most other shows or movies, the protagonist kills an army of underlings to get to the boss they really want to kill, and then choose that moment to have a conscious. What about all the other people who were killed? Shouldn’t the moment they realized they have to kill someone who was not involved been the moment to realize the person wasn’t worth it? It just makes more sense that she would kill the gang leader after everything she had already done. But she does feel empty afterwards, and she decides to join Team Arrow to channel her monster. She reveals her real name is Dinah Drake, which is actually the name of the original Black Canary before they changed the character to be Laurel Lance. If you want to learn more about that comic book background I again refer you to Emergency Awesome.
So that’s it for the Arrowverse shows that I watched. What’s your guys take on the protagonist on a revenge mission? Do you like to see them hold back because it’s the right thing to do, or do you like to savor the revenge along with them? Let me know in the comments!

XP: Broken Age

Not a whole lot of new things going on at the moment. I just finished playing the game Broken Age, which I found out about through watching Day[9] Mostly Walking YouTube show, which is hosted by a former pro gamer and his game developer friends playing adventure games and making fun of them. Broken Age actually looked like it had an interesting story so I decided to play it myself.

What I played:

 

Broken Age. A game where you play as two protagonists, a young teenage girl and boy, whose stories at first appear to be separate but become linked together. The girl, named Vella, is one of a handful of maidens prepared to be sacrificed to a monster called Mog Chothra in order to ensure the safety of the town. Vella on the other hand wants to defend the village with force rather than through the sacrifice, and risks her life to fight the monster and manages to escape and start her quest to take down Mog Chothra for good.

The boy, Shay, is floating in a spaceship and given "missions" which are actually fake, and set up to keep him busy as the ship searches for a hospitable planet. Shay discovers a stow away who shows him how to break off from the motherly computer AI and do something real; traveling from planet to planet rescuing alien creatures by grabbing them with the boom arm to take them to someplace safe.

The player switches back and forth from one character to the other at will, and there are hints for each puzzle hidden in the other character's storyline, which is interesting but confusing at times. At the end of Act I, there is a huge twist that reveals how the stories are connected. This is the last chance to go and play the game, or at least the first act, before we get into big spoilers.

What I experienced:

The game had really looked promising, and played really well at first. The dialogue in the story was filled with a lighthearted darkish humor, and it seemed to make fun of the common adventure game puzzles. The puzzles felt smooth, and the designers found comedic ways to give hints just as it starts to get frustrating. However after Act I all of that seemed to disappear, with only the draw of wanting to know more about the story keeping me motivated to play.

Even then the story gets ended abruptly without really giving any kind of catharsis. I'll take a look at the stories for each character, but I'm really only going to cover the meaning of Act I because the story dropped in quality after that.

Vella, a strong black female protagonist, was willing to break away from tradition because the means of sacrificing young teenage girls did not justify the ends, keeping the town safe. The girls are part of the town too, and the town should be willing to fight to defend their own. Vella has a strong sense of morality, and throughout her journey provides the motivation for others to follow her into doing the right thing.

In one of the towns we come across Lightbeard, a man who has built a cult like village in the clouds. He preaches that everyone should be as light and unattached to the world as possible. He even goes so far as to have people remove vowels from their names to make them lighter, and they have to give up all their stuff to him. Like any other cult leader, he is actually a fraud and ironically a hoarder.

Then in the seaside town, she meets Curtis, an artist into woodcarving who is a portrayal of the modern day hipster. He only is interested in things that are unique and deep, when actually it's all about looking cool to other people. The other maidens in the seaside town are middle class girls, in that they act kind of snobbish and brag about their dad's providing the best everything for the Maiden's Feast. The fact that they are so spoiled is kind of funny since they are still being sacrificed to a giant monster, just like anyone else.

The planner of the Maidens Feast is all about making connections and ensuring everything goes smoothly so he has the name recognition to run for mayor. Politics as we know, is all about popularity. Then we have the religion of the Dead Eye god, who is really just another "space" traveler who crashed there hundreds of years ago. The technology wowed the people so much they thought he was a god. Religion, it seems, is just people's way of explaining thing when they don't understand the science behind it.

Vella's story overall is do what you think is right, because ultimately you are the one who is going to live with the consequences. Everywhere she goes she is challenging people's perceptions and bringing the truth to light. She showed it was possible to fight Mog Chothra and live, proved Lightbeard was a fraud, and found the truth about the Dead Eye God and then eventually the truth about Mog Chothra, which I will talk about after the other protagonist's story.

Shay's story is all about what is meaningful. He is on a spaceship where everything is provided for him, searching for a habitable planet for the people in his home planet Loruna. The mom computer gets him out of bed, gives him a shower, feeds him, and sets up the "missions" for him to take on. But since it is really only the same 3 missions over and over again with the same happy outcome, he finds it all to be meaningless. There is no real consequence, no real danger. Without the fear of failure, why even bother putting in any effort?

For human beings, the fact that our time is limited by lifespan and some of what we do actually puts our life at risk, means we have to make sure that whatever we are doing is worth the price; that it is meaningful to us. The fact that Shay was so willing to break away from the safe routine just shows how we hunger for meaning. When the ship comes under attack as he is trying to rescue the creatures, he feels happy because while it is a risk, it is for something that he feels is important.

The mom computer tells a story of the sacrifice girl, which sounds a lot like Vella's story. It gives the impression that Vella somehow became the computer system in the future. However, it turns out the mom computer is really his biological mother checking in on him remotely. The game never really explained how exactly she came up with the story since she claims ignorance on the true purpose of the mission.

The true purpose of the mission is the big reveal of Act I, when Vella manages to take down Mog Chothra. She discovers it is really a ship, and Shay comes out of it. He was being fooled into thinking he was rescuing creatures in space, when in reality he was the one collecting the maidens.

What has really been going on is a city called Loruna cut itself off from the rest of the world behind a "plague" dam in order to genetically engineer the population to be pure. But there is a problem with the genetic line that every 14 years they need to harvest genetic material from the "wild," which is the rest of the world that Vella lives in. Loruna tells the families piloting the spaceships that they are searching for a new habitable planet, but on the outside the ship looks like a monster, and they are out to collect the maidens.

The story from there on out is just one big mess, but it was interesting to see how the two interact with each other's environment differently. Shay is more excited to be outside, and yet guilty when he realizes what he was really doing. Vella is constantly looking around the ship with suspicious eyes, never dropping her guard. But overall, the story and the puzzles get more convoluted as the game goes on, with no witty clues to keep us on track like before.

The ending is also very lackluster. Vella blows up the Mog factory, and Shay shows up with the Dead Eye God's spaceship just in time to get in the way. Both ships were on autopilot which could not be manually overridden for some reason, and the last act was finding a way to destroy both the ships and have the occupants escape. A bridge is created across the Plague Dam, and Loruna is re-united with the world. I think the overall meaning is humans cannot be left to determine for themselves what is perfect, and need to be more open and connected with other communities to really grow.

But in the end I didn't care about that meaning because they never explained the story of the sacrifice girl, the puzzles got ridiculous (and I don't mean they were hard, it was the fact that they were just so dumb and unintuitive that it made it hard) even by adventure game standards; and to top it off Shay and Vella never said one word to each other even after it was all over. The ending credits gave an epilogue in the form of pictures, with all the interactable characters getting a frame of what life is like after the fall of the Plague Dam. That "epilogue" I thought was actually pretty good for all the characters, but I still wish we had more of an actual ending that wasn't rushed.

As for the game overall. If you can pick it up for cheap, I'd recommend it for the first act alone. Just make sure not to expect much after that. What games have you guys come across that had a strong beginning or interesting concept but never quite delivered? Let me know in the comments!