We are a week late. I know this. I see this. I blame circumstance.
It’s also the fiftieth post… and it’s just a catch-up. Nothing special. It’s fine.
Let’s dive into this because I have nothing to say.
Spoilers
(but you knew this)
Where Am I?
Critical Role. Just a little. One weekend, about 7 Episodes. Which, granted, in the case of Critical Role is quite a bit, based on the run time but it feels like so little. Specifically I watched Episode 4: “Disparate Pieces” about a week ago now and I am due to watch Episode 10: “Waste and Webs” whenever I sit down to watch an episode again. I need a whole evening to myself to watch these things, they are a commitment, as you may be aware.
It’s hard to have much to say about these early episodes/arcs because I know, having watched about 30 episodes before, that the juicy stuff is coming. It’s episodes away, but it’s not here yet. We’ve had hints, foreshadowing, name drops, dreams and NPC interferences, but nothing major. I see the pieces being collected, but it’s not fallen into place yet.
I will say, I remember why I love them so much each time I watch another episode. They are hilarious. They make me laugh so much every time I sit down and give them the time. Every episode is gold, even if the emotional beats are still to come. Some of them are really working at the foreshadowing, and I can see it. I know stuff, whether because I’ve watched it play out, or I exist on the internet, following along with their adventures and some of it just cannot be avoided. Seeing those hints, though, that’s fun.
Also, Beau is so gay just from the beginning. Iconic. Can’t wait for that to develop. Beau is awesome. To that effect, Yasha is pretty cool too, when she’s here.
Caleb remains my favourite, and Liam’s sheer excitement at rolling for PTSD is lowkey so iconic. I adore him and his love for the angsty drama. Can’t wait for Caleb to take yet more fire-related spells. It’s the only way forward. The Caleb and Nott friendship is still so beautiful. I don’t think I’d quite clocked how protective Nott is of Caleb from the beginning the first time but it’s pretty cute every time now. Nott is his biggest supporter and protector always. She will always have his back, and spends half her time worrying about it getting damaged. He is, after all, very squishy.
Jester and Fjord have grown on me more this time around, in just the little time, but to be fair I went in loving the whole cast this time rather than knowing nothing about them so that’s definitely a factor. Still, they are perhaps the ones we know the most about at this point, both having given their stories as to why they’re here, what caused them to leave home and what they’re searching for. The others are still holding quite a bit close to their chests, I think, even if Matt has forced some points, like Beau’s archive association and Caleb’s PTSD, but none of the other party members know those details yet.
This will be fun. Can’t wait to finish the M9’s story this time. Discover all the pieces over the journey instead of from wiki pages, artwork, edits, memes, text posts and low-key the merch store. Fun.
Okay, the weekly:
High Potential. I’m keeping up, I’m enjoying it. I don’t like that we’re getting close to the series finale and it feels like we still know next to nothing about what happened to Roman. This is still one of my favourite new series to be watching, though. I think it’s been renewed and I can’t wait for more.
There’s also Tracker. I watch Tracker a lot more casually than I watch most shows, but now having caught up to it, I am quite enjoying it and watch the new episodes each week. I don’t know how close we are to the end of the season, and I don’t know if we’re getting more. We’ll just wait and see. I would like to say… how come we’ve seemingly just dropped the stuff with his dad in Season 2? He seems unfazed and/or uninterested in it now, while it haunted him last season. What happened? Also members of his team are just being lowkey written off, what happened there?
Finally, 9-1-1. First off, I got my partner into it. They’re catching up. Secondly, I’m a week behind because I didn’t see much about Maddie in this latest episode and therefore was not in any rush to watch it. Besides, I was travelling this Friday, so I’ve hardly had the chance.
However, let’s speak of Maddie, shall we? As, when we last spoke I hadn’t watched any of the new episodes yet and now I have watched both Episode 809 “Sob Stories” and Episode 810: “Voices” and the subsequent trauma episodes up to Episode 812: “Disconnected”. So there’s some thoughts, I suppose.
Firstly, it was perfectly as tragic and heartbreaking as I had hoped and more so. No notes. Secondly, OUCH *weeps*.
Well done, 9-1-1, well done.
However, can we please cease holding “Boston” over Maddie’s head? Look how far she’s come! Look at the effort she’s put in, the promises she’s made, the life she’s built in the wake of everything she goes through. She is not just her worst moments, and none of you can seem to forget she ran away? Half of them behave like she’s got one foot out the door at all times, and I really don’t think she does. Not to mention, the only person who’s privy to those exact details is Chimney, I know, and he’s the most reasonable about it, really, but all the others seems to sort of forget she ran away for a distinct and traumatic reason and not because she just sort of felt like it.
She has made promises, she is in it now. Have some goddamn faith in her, christ. Chimney and Maddie are legitimately the healthiest they have ever been right now, and I love them. They made promises, she’d tell him if she struggled, he wouldn’t treat her like she’s broken, and they’ve both kept to those and subsequently have a beautifully honest and healthy relationship right now that I kind of love. Chimney is sort of justifiably concerned, considering the circumstance, but he’s held his end, he treats her like she’s human. Not a bomb waiting to go off. Though… the panic when they couldn’t find her in “Voices” was a questionable scene for all of them. A little faith, guys. Any at all.
Madney forever.
And look, sure, okay, Maddie has ran before… from Doug, though??? Like it’s Doug. Goddamn freakin’ Doug??? In no way should that be considered running in the same vein. It’s more like… escaping. She escaped Doug. She should’ve.
“Boston” should not be held over her like some black mark on her record she’s doomed to repeat. Those were special circumstances, that she dealt with and came back healing. She put in the work. That was the whole point. I recognise that that is a part of her history, and the fact this show doesn’t just ditch traumatic events like they never happened is one of my favourite parts of it, and one of it’s best features and strength. However… just some faith. Please.
Though, based on her later nightmares, perhaps she haunts herself with that just a little bit as well.
And her scar! Oh, her scar. That’s gonna be around awhile.
Regardless, everything about these episodes was brilliant, I’m obsessed. I loved it.
Okay!
To Conclude
Quick, brief, Catch-Up. I know! 50 posts and not only is it way overdue it’s not even something special. Yes, I do this to myself. I’m fully aware. Stuff is always in the works, but I’m also always busy at the moment. Life stuff, ya know?
Whatever, I should have some time coming up in a few weeks. I’ll try get some writing done when I do.
In the mean time, thank you for reading to the end. Hope you enjoyed it. As always:
Feel free to leave a comment or send me a DM on socials.
You can follow me on Instagram at: @thebomff or on Threads at: @thebomff
On to the next!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images, narratives or characters present or referenced in this post. All rights belong to 20th Century Fox, ABC, Critical Role and all other relevant parties