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sticky episode download post here.
So I got really rambly this first time out. What came out was half recap/half reaction, in which I ramble. A lot. 'Cause I was just sitting there typing away as I watched, stupidly excited about this. I avoided plot spoilers, but I'm also watching knowing these characters already, so there is definitely that context. Part Two later today.
Aaaaand...we're off. Hello iconic sunrise! And how much do I love this opening? THIS MUCH. Colleen chilling on the beach while Boonie plays the harmonica and lifeguards (HI BOONIE, ILU). We could be on vacation except...well shit, here comes the helicopter. The way Colleen's head drops just kills me, and then she's off determined and all business, gonna save her some boys, and I love her a really LOT. Of course she never took any R&R. Oh, Colleen...you still think you're going home soon. Go home Colleen. I know you won't, but I wish you would even though I'm not sure it would even help at this point.
And now we meet Dr. Dick who is...a dick. I know I will come to find him interesting, and sympathetic, and sometimes funny (though never entirely likeable), but right now I just want to punch him in the face. Shut up, Dr. Dick.
Onna plane, and the faces of the boys waiting to go to war kinda kill me here. Ugh, douchebag aid and clueless senator are both douchey and clueless. CHERRY, HI CHERRY! So sweet! So adorable! So not even prepared for what she's getting herself into. She's got a mission :( Oh, Cherry. HEE, I love the stewardess and her knife.
LAURETTE, ILU TOO. Vietnam, one big singles bar...*snort*. A singles bar with a captive audience to perform for. This cracks me up but it's also sad, her desperation to get out of a dead end life that she'll go to war (even if she doesn't yet understand what that means) just to be a backup singer. Laurette doesn't want me to be sad though, 'cause she is kind of the definition of the glass half full girl.
Oh god, Beckett. Trying to turn away the new dead boys and ranting about the lack of uniforms and he's coming across as a little insane here, but then he is a little insane, spending all day with his dead men. Colleen tries to offer comfort, but what comfort is there? OUCH, OUCH, OUCH.
Hee! Lila. Been here since the beginning of time, yes you have. Lila, inhabiting a world that no longer exists, trying to hold on to an image of war and life rapidly crumbling. She fascinates me, a woman who went off to war in the 1940s and is as devoted to the military as any lifer dude you'll ever meet. I get why the younger girls roll their eyes at her, I would too, but I also can't help but admire her. And it's through her disdain that we get our first look at...
KC!!! Dear god, how is Marg Helgenberger so smoking hot? HOW? We will now pause for me to wipe the drool off my keyboard. Heh, KC's not impressed silent stare down and door slam is the perfect counterpoint to Lila's idealism. This ain't your momma's war.
Awww, the club. That has no lights, no sound system, and not much that's useful. But it does have Boonie. Who is cheerfully working on making fun out of nothing at all and came to get a tan. Always look at the bright siiiide of life, *whistles*. God, I love him. So does Laurette. My dislike of the lead singer is cemented by her wrinkled nose sniffing at Boonie. How can you not be instantly charmed by Boonie? Oh no, she didn't just call him a coward. Fuck you, lady. You don't know the first thing about him and what he went through, and I know the audience doesn't either yet, but go DIAF. And there are rats in the 'pool'. Boonie and Laurette giggle...'cause what the hell else are you gonna do? Ouch and hee, all at once.
Oh man, KC and Cherry meet. Sinner and saint. And Cherry is just so innocent it hurts. I love that Cherry instantly trusts KC, is the first person she tells about her search for her brother. Part of it is that she's so clueless that even KC's heavy handed hints about what she does are flying right over her head, bless, but since that connection does persist even after she knows, it is more than that. And as hardened as KC is...Cherry's inherent sweetness is winning her over right away. This is Cherry's gift, this connection with that part of you that you thought you'd lost. She's good people down to the bone, and she just walked into hell with a smile on her face. Who else wants to scoop her up and whisk her back home right now?
Colleen and her ever present booze, retreating into her numb shell...but Laurette isn't going to let her. I love how she draws Colleen out here, kicking off this season's theme of Dear God How Femslashy Can These Two Get Without Actually Doing It On Screen. There is life left yet in Colleen and here is the spark. *hearts*
OHGODOHGOD, this next scene is...it's beautiful and it makes me CRY. Colleen hanging up her dog tags and counting down the days on her calender and the red ink that looks like blood that won't come out and the weight of it all is right here in her attempts to get it off and the resigned sigh as her hands fold in what looks like prayer while 'Don't Think Twice' plays and it hurts. This, this right here is the kind of moment that made this show stick with me for nearly twenty years after I first saw it. Dear Vietnam, YOU SUCK.
And speaking of the ways in which Vietnam crushes the life out of people...HI DODGER! You are scary, and you are scaring Cherry. Please to not be shooting the door. Poor Cherry has no idea what to do with him. And Dodger is just staring. Innocence like hers has become so alien to him he has even less an idea what to do with her than she with him. Except he might cry. And he's nineteen. Just like her. OUCH, OUCH, OUCH.
Who else thinks Boonie and Sweetness should have sex now? Not just me? Oh wait, Dodger is totally checking him out now. And he misses Boonie. And now Dodger and Boonie are about three seconds away from making out. THREESOME. This entire scene might be the slashiest thing I've ever seen all around. And also the first big clue that, despite his desperate attempts to make it so, life is not all sunshine and puppies for Boonie. There are the cracks. And I mostly can't deal with Boonie's pain, so we need to move on before I start crying and never stop.
Oh, KC...you have no idea when or how you managed to adopt Cherry, but there it is. And Cherry is starting to get the idea and it's not pretty. KC is not wrong that they are, in many ways, the same...but she is wrong that what Cherry has on offer isn't valuable. It is. And valuable to KC for the same reasons it is to Dodger. Cherry still believes. And that is priceless. But she is so confused right now. What she thought was 'right' looks all twisted, and she hasn't figured out what to do with it yet. Oh Cherry. Is there still time to get her back on that plane?
Natch is a douchebag. Colleen has a long history of falling for douchebags that will make me facepalm for most of the series. No, seriously Colleen..go with your first instinct of 'what a douchebag', it is the correct one. Go away Natch.
Blood and bodies. Blood everywhere. Can't get it off. Goddamn. This show. *flails*
Can't talk about that...let's talk about the way the show handles what it's like to be one of very few women surrounded by men at war. And I mostly love the way they do. Like the boys in the helicopter taking pictures of Colleen and Cherry showering. It's...invasive and gross, and I find Colleen's 'boys will be boys' less an excuse for them as it is resigned practicality. Like the blood and the bodies, it is what it is, and one more thing you just have to deal with here. 'Cause what are you gonna do? Especially in 1968. Complain to the management? Cherry is not yet numb to it all yet, though, and this is her breaking point. I love that. This is her breaking point, this indignity. And Colleen tells her to be grateful she can still cry. GAH!
We're going to pretend the dog thing doesn't happen, okay? It does make me wonder what foods other cultures coming to ours would find totally gross and/or upsetting, though. It's all perspective and you are so used to what you eat growing up that it's hard to imagine it might be horrifying to someone else.
Senator Clueless and his douchebag aide are still clueless and douchey. Stay away from Cherry, douche. Taking advantage of her missing brother is low. I hate you.
Ha! Lead singer is getting sick. Karma is a bitch. You don't diss my Boonie and get away with it.
Dear Beckett, stop breaking my heart please. I won't have much of it left if you keep this up. He's killing me here.
Dear Colleen and Laurette, you can just give in and have sex any time now...you know you want to.
More booze, more numbness...and Dr. Dick gets interesting, for the first time. Not likeable, but interesting. Because despite his dickishness, which is very dickish, and which Colleen totally calls him on, and breaks my heart again in the process...he sort of nails the reason why she won't leave, even as she says she will, despite everything. He sees it. And he doesn't think she'll leave. And he's right.
OH SHOW, ILU even as you break me into little pieces.
So I got really rambly this first time out. What came out was half recap/half reaction, in which I ramble. A lot. 'Cause I was just sitting there typing away as I watched, stupidly excited about this. I avoided plot spoilers, but I'm also watching knowing these characters already, so there is definitely that context. Part Two later today.
Aaaaand...we're off. Hello iconic sunrise! And how much do I love this opening? THIS MUCH. Colleen chilling on the beach while Boonie plays the harmonica and lifeguards (HI BOONIE, ILU). We could be on vacation except...well shit, here comes the helicopter. The way Colleen's head drops just kills me, and then she's off determined and all business, gonna save her some boys, and I love her a really LOT. Of course she never took any R&R. Oh, Colleen...you still think you're going home soon. Go home Colleen. I know you won't, but I wish you would even though I'm not sure it would even help at this point.
And now we meet Dr. Dick who is...a dick. I know I will come to find him interesting, and sympathetic, and sometimes funny (though never entirely likeable), but right now I just want to punch him in the face. Shut up, Dr. Dick.
Onna plane, and the faces of the boys waiting to go to war kinda kill me here. Ugh, douchebag aid and clueless senator are both douchey and clueless. CHERRY, HI CHERRY! So sweet! So adorable! So not even prepared for what she's getting herself into. She's got a mission :( Oh, Cherry. HEE, I love the stewardess and her knife.
LAURETTE, ILU TOO. Vietnam, one big singles bar...*snort*. A singles bar with a captive audience to perform for. This cracks me up but it's also sad, her desperation to get out of a dead end life that she'll go to war (even if she doesn't yet understand what that means) just to be a backup singer. Laurette doesn't want me to be sad though, 'cause she is kind of the definition of the glass half full girl.
Oh god, Beckett. Trying to turn away the new dead boys and ranting about the lack of uniforms and he's coming across as a little insane here, but then he is a little insane, spending all day with his dead men. Colleen tries to offer comfort, but what comfort is there? OUCH, OUCH, OUCH.
Hee! Lila. Been here since the beginning of time, yes you have. Lila, inhabiting a world that no longer exists, trying to hold on to an image of war and life rapidly crumbling. She fascinates me, a woman who went off to war in the 1940s and is as devoted to the military as any lifer dude you'll ever meet. I get why the younger girls roll their eyes at her, I would too, but I also can't help but admire her. And it's through her disdain that we get our first look at...
KC!!! Dear god, how is Marg Helgenberger so smoking hot? HOW? We will now pause for me to wipe the drool off my keyboard. Heh, KC's not impressed silent stare down and door slam is the perfect counterpoint to Lila's idealism. This ain't your momma's war.
Awww, the club. That has no lights, no sound system, and not much that's useful. But it does have Boonie. Who is cheerfully working on making fun out of nothing at all and came to get a tan. Always look at the bright siiiide of life, *whistles*. God, I love him. So does Laurette. My dislike of the lead singer is cemented by her wrinkled nose sniffing at Boonie. How can you not be instantly charmed by Boonie? Oh no, she didn't just call him a coward. Fuck you, lady. You don't know the first thing about him and what he went through, and I know the audience doesn't either yet, but go DIAF. And there are rats in the 'pool'. Boonie and Laurette giggle...'cause what the hell else are you gonna do? Ouch and hee, all at once.
Oh man, KC and Cherry meet. Sinner and saint. And Cherry is just so innocent it hurts. I love that Cherry instantly trusts KC, is the first person she tells about her search for her brother. Part of it is that she's so clueless that even KC's heavy handed hints about what she does are flying right over her head, bless, but since that connection does persist even after she knows, it is more than that. And as hardened as KC is...Cherry's inherent sweetness is winning her over right away. This is Cherry's gift, this connection with that part of you that you thought you'd lost. She's good people down to the bone, and she just walked into hell with a smile on her face. Who else wants to scoop her up and whisk her back home right now?
Colleen and her ever present booze, retreating into her numb shell...but Laurette isn't going to let her. I love how she draws Colleen out here, kicking off this season's theme of Dear God How Femslashy Can These Two Get Without Actually Doing It On Screen. There is life left yet in Colleen and here is the spark. *hearts*
OHGODOHGOD, this next scene is...it's beautiful and it makes me CRY. Colleen hanging up her dog tags and counting down the days on her calender and the red ink that looks like blood that won't come out and the weight of it all is right here in her attempts to get it off and the resigned sigh as her hands fold in what looks like prayer while 'Don't Think Twice' plays and it hurts. This, this right here is the kind of moment that made this show stick with me for nearly twenty years after I first saw it. Dear Vietnam, YOU SUCK.
And speaking of the ways in which Vietnam crushes the life out of people...HI DODGER! You are scary, and you are scaring Cherry. Please to not be shooting the door. Poor Cherry has no idea what to do with him. And Dodger is just staring. Innocence like hers has become so alien to him he has even less an idea what to do with her than she with him. Except he might cry. And he's nineteen. Just like her. OUCH, OUCH, OUCH.
Who else thinks Boonie and Sweetness should have sex now? Not just me? Oh wait, Dodger is totally checking him out now. And he misses Boonie. And now Dodger and Boonie are about three seconds away from making out. THREESOME. This entire scene might be the slashiest thing I've ever seen all around. And also the first big clue that, despite his desperate attempts to make it so, life is not all sunshine and puppies for Boonie. There are the cracks. And I mostly can't deal with Boonie's pain, so we need to move on before I start crying and never stop.
Oh, KC...you have no idea when or how you managed to adopt Cherry, but there it is. And Cherry is starting to get the idea and it's not pretty. KC is not wrong that they are, in many ways, the same...but she is wrong that what Cherry has on offer isn't valuable. It is. And valuable to KC for the same reasons it is to Dodger. Cherry still believes. And that is priceless. But she is so confused right now. What she thought was 'right' looks all twisted, and she hasn't figured out what to do with it yet. Oh Cherry. Is there still time to get her back on that plane?
Natch is a douchebag. Colleen has a long history of falling for douchebags that will make me facepalm for most of the series. No, seriously Colleen..go with your first instinct of 'what a douchebag', it is the correct one. Go away Natch.
Blood and bodies. Blood everywhere. Can't get it off. Goddamn. This show. *flails*
Can't talk about that...let's talk about the way the show handles what it's like to be one of very few women surrounded by men at war. And I mostly love the way they do. Like the boys in the helicopter taking pictures of Colleen and Cherry showering. It's...invasive and gross, and I find Colleen's 'boys will be boys' less an excuse for them as it is resigned practicality. Like the blood and the bodies, it is what it is, and one more thing you just have to deal with here. 'Cause what are you gonna do? Especially in 1968. Complain to the management? Cherry is not yet numb to it all yet, though, and this is her breaking point. I love that. This is her breaking point, this indignity. And Colleen tells her to be grateful she can still cry. GAH!
We're going to pretend the dog thing doesn't happen, okay? It does make me wonder what foods other cultures coming to ours would find totally gross and/or upsetting, though. It's all perspective and you are so used to what you eat growing up that it's hard to imagine it might be horrifying to someone else.
Senator Clueless and his douchebag aide are still clueless and douchey. Stay away from Cherry, douche. Taking advantage of her missing brother is low. I hate you.
Ha! Lead singer is getting sick. Karma is a bitch. You don't diss my Boonie and get away with it.
Dear Beckett, stop breaking my heart please. I won't have much of it left if you keep this up. He's killing me here.
Dear Colleen and Laurette, you can just give in and have sex any time now...you know you want to.
More booze, more numbness...and Dr. Dick gets interesting, for the first time. Not likeable, but interesting. Because despite his dickishness, which is very dickish, and which Colleen totally calls him on, and breaks my heart again in the process...he sort of nails the reason why she won't leave, even as she says she will, despite everything. He sees it. And he doesn't think she'll leave. And he's right.
OH SHOW, ILU even as you break me into little pieces.
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