grav_ity | Into the Black: A Slightly More Rational Response

At least since it's hiatus I can start sleeping properly on Mondays again...

I'm not going to talk about Helen and John just yet, except to say that I'm really glad I didn't write my ship meta after work before the episode last night, and to point out that the writers took a bit of a strange leap in their efforts to demonize John when they had the electricity make the Elemental stronger, because up until now, electricity has always stunned it a little bit, but I need to watch the episode again, because by that point I was flipping out, and I don't really remember the scene that well.

(Oh, except I totally laughed inappropriately when Adam said "and then John did that thing with his voice, you know, the one where he gets all menacing", because I've probably only said that a hundred times since I started watching the show AND IT WAS FUNNY. *hearts Christopher Heyerdahl*)

(Oh, and also I love that he called her on using him for his blood lust because has that happened on screen before? It happens in fic all the time, and I was PLEASED AS PUNCH to see it on screen so....directly.)

But you should totally come back later when I do talk about Helen and John. You will be stunned by my ability to handwave things. ;)

Anyway I want to talk a bit about the Abnormal situation.

I think it's interesting that Helen and Henry had that moment in the elevator where he said he was okay with going public. I am choosing to read it as Henry's acceptance of who and what he is, and I like that it came from him (the actual abnormal) instead of from Will. I thought it played interesting against Kate's story, because she's clearly thought of herself as at least an abnormal in name, and the "refugees" refusal to accept her as such was a neat angle for the story to play.

Except of course it won't work. And of course there's an invasion. And Helen talks a lot about "us and them" at the beginning of the episode, which as always is an interesting stance for her, because I'm not sure what side she's on. I also have to wonder, though, and this is kind of a big question, what makes her think the surface abnormals will stay on her side? What reason, aside from personal loyalty, does The Big Guy have? What about Steve, since we've seen some of his kind below and Helen said he's extinct up here? Why on earth would Helen's pets, patients and prisoners pick her side.

(Because despite what I said earlier, I really think there are three sides to this: human, abnormal and Helen freaking Magnus.)

And on a slightly different topic, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ABNORMALS THAT NEED AVATARS? (That's totally where Gregory is, I'd imagine, in the council chamber. Whether he's somehow there corporealy or somehow stuck as an image I don't know, but I'll bet that's where he is.)

I'm also not sure how they're getting out of this without a significant amount of press (or, as I said last night, a nuke), though none of Chile, Indonesia or Russia really strike me as situations that are difficult to contain, in terms of press coverage, but again: these people wrote Stargate. I'm sure it will be swept under the rug in a frustrating fashion. ;)

Speaking of that,

lanna_kitty and I talked a bit last night about how this might get tied up. Obviously, I am COMPLETELY SPOILER FREE and WISH TO REMAIN THUS and YES, THAT INCLUDES CASTING SPOILERS. I suggested that this will all get tied off in two episodes, but she wasn't that optimistic. I have no idea how it will end up in one, but I suppose anything is possible.

(And thank goodness I talked to

lanna_kitty, because she managed to talk me down off the edge of a bunch of Worst Case Scenarios! But then this morning, I thought "They can't kill The Big Guy! They'd have to write Druitt out too!" in response to the thought "They can't write out Druitt! Then they'd have to kill The Big Guy!", which, I know, is a but of a jump, but I've had five hours of sleep and NOW I AM KIND OF IN A PANIC because THEY COULD KIND OF DO BOTH and I WOULD BE VERY UPSET BY THAT!)

I'm willing to handwave the whole "Adam got the HE abnormals to help by promising them the surface and NONE OF THEM ever thought to question the part where he was helping them with no real benefit to himself" thing (and the casting of a WWE personality). They gave us enough class and racial tension in "Pax Romana" that I'm okay with it. But I do think it's worth pointing out that Helen still tends to think of HE as a science project that mirrors her own Sanctuary Network (which, let's be honest, it kind of does: they just have a better budget), and that is really what made me wonder how many of "her" abnormals would stick by her in this.

I think what I'm still reeling from (besides the lack of sleep, of course), was how BOLD this episode was. I mean, either unleashing thousand of abnormals or sending your main character back in time with no return ticket is kind of a big way to end the season. But doing both at once may take me a while to recover from. I do with John's writing had been a bit...less "Hey! She's getting a romantic interest next season!", but I'm willing to live with it because I have a few months to fit it into my own personal context of the show (and honestly, if I had nothing to complain about, WHAT WOULD I DO FOR FUN?). And Will and Kate and Henry and the Big Guy were just SO AWESOME. And when I take a nap, I will talk about Helen and John. ;)

ETA: in the comments,

samjohnsson pointed out that Helen does have a way back: the same way back that Jack Harness had, the same way Rory Williams had. EXCUSE ME WHILE I DIE OF AWESOME! BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE AMAZING. OMG!

And hey! Now we know for sure when they injected the Source Blood! And what year Imogen died (man, 1888, 1898, 1908...I wonder what Helen did in 1918? Besides, you know, winning WWI.) So...that's something.

I would like to close by saying that I think I'm going to follow

lanna_kitty's example and refuse to accept "Into the Black" as canon until we get the rest of it (except for speculative fic involving Kate Being Awesome, obviously). By which I mean that I'm not changing my Big Bangs, even though one of them has a tiny conflict, and I'm okay if no one else does either. ;) Alternate Universes FTW!

Look at that! No Somewhat limited CAPS! ;)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

shadadukal

when they had the electricity make the Elemental stronger, because up until now, electricity has always stunned it a little bit

Good point.

I am choosing to read it as Henry's acceptance of who and what he is, and I like that it came from him (the actual abnormal) instead of from Will.

*nods*

And what you said about Kate, I was so sad for her.

Interesting theory about Gregory.

The sides aren't clear, that's for sure, with the exception of the human side. But I don't count Helen as a human. So when she says "us vs them", I always expect her to add "remember I'm an abnormal too".

none of Chile, Indonesia or Russia really strike me as situations that are difficult to contain, in terms of press coverage

Yeah, it all would be way more difficult to cover or nuke outside of San Francisco, Berlin or Moscow.

They can kill Druitt or the Big Guy without killing the other. But I think neither will die.

They said 1886 for the Source Blood, didn't they?

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let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky

Into the Black: A Slightly More Rational Response

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