Baby’s Rear View Recap: 12.02 “Mamma Mia”

This post is about Supernatural season 12 episode 2 “Mamma Mia,” written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming and directed by Thomas J. Wright.

*****Spoilers below*****

“You know what they say: opposites attract.”

So… This episode started with a.. sex scene… of sorts. Sam x Toni + wine and candles. Presumably you watched it, so I’ll leave it at that for my own sanity.

“It's been kind of weird here with, you know, Mom being back. It's like we don't know how to act around each other, so we just kind of make this small talk and act normal, but it's -- it's so not normal.”

Cut to a Dean/Cas phone call, thank Chuck for the reprieve. Cas is in Aldrich and Dean is back at the bunker. Cas has had no luck locating Sam in hotels or abandoned buildings, so Dean suggests that Cas check above-board sites for once such as real estate sales and rental properties. Before Cas hangs up, Dean asks him for advice on dealing with his mom. Cas simply tells Dean “don’t make things needlessly complicated, as you humans tend to do.”

“Mom, look, I am thrilled that you're back. I mean, I'm so damn happy, I-I-I can't even stand it.”

Mary overhears the conversation and asks Dean if he’s really afraid of overwhelming her. Dean assures her that he’s thrilled she’s back, and they agree that she just needs time—which Dean is willing to give her. But Mary is concerned about Sam and expresses her guilt over being the cause of the Yellow Eyes saga.

“Was it good for you?”

Yuck. *retching noises.* Sam finds out that the sex was a hallucination cultivated by Lady Toni. When he wakes up out of it, Toni laments that she can’t repeat the tactic and instead must resort to “less pleasant” methods. It doesn’t seem to me like she’s too upset about it, and she gets to hacking away posthaste.

“Right. Um Okay, I-I can't do my job if I'm worried about you.” 

“Dean. You won't have to be. I can handle myself. Okay? All right, good talk.”

Back at the bunker, Dean is still researching. (Did he sleep at all?) Mary did sleep, as she recounts the dreams she had about John and how *great* of a father he was. Cas calls with information on a warded farmhouse, and Dean prepares to leave. It seems Dean planned to leave Mary behind, but she’s having none of that and goes to grab her coat before they head out for a six hour drive.

“You've been a bad girl, Toni. And I've come to fetch you.”

Meanwhile Toni prepares to torture Sam some more while Cas waits outside. Thankfully (?) Toni is interrupted by a call from someone named “Mick,” who is apparently going to intervene on the grounds that Toni “disobeyed orders.”

“You're like a boil that keeps coming back no matter how many times I have it lanced.”

Rowena is dating again. That is until Crowley interrupts to fetch her to help him with Lucifer. If she doesn’t help put Lucifer back in the cage, he’s going to muck up her future of martinis in Boca Raton.

“I can take away your pain. Bring you peace. You only have to do one easy thing.”

Vince Vincente is one depressed rockstar. He’s got pictures of a dead girlfriend everywhere—just Lucifer’s type. It isn’t long until Vince is saying “yes” and Lucifer has a body again.

“When Dad disappeared, Sam and I looked around, and something became very clear. That the only thing we had in this world -- the only thing, aside from this car -- was each other.”

Dean and Mary drive up to meet Cas in the middle of the night (which is very confusing because it was definitely morning last time we saw them?) Mary points out that she is their element of surprise and Dean acknowledges that she was a good hunter before he goes on to tell her a little more about the family she left behind.

“I'm as happy to see him as you are, 'cause while you may be able to withstand my snapping apart your body joint by joint, can you watch it happen to Dean?”

Dean and Mary meet Cas at the farmhouse and Cas convinces Mary to stay with him while Dean gets a closer look. But when Dean does, he gets stuck in some sort of trap and Toni brings him in.

“Lucifer. Wearing Vince Vincente, second-tier star. I would've thought Bieber was more your style.”

Lucifer confronts Crowley, claiming that the throne to Hell is his. Crowley suggests that Lucifer take heaven and leave hell to him, but Lucifer is reluctant to take the deal. When he threatens Crowley, Rowena casts a paralyzing spell. When the plan to send Lucifer back to the cage fails, Crowley leaves Rowena at Satan’s mercy and escapes.

“I thought you were dead.”
“I'm not sure that I'm not.”

Dean and Sam briefly reunite before “Angry Spice” Toni reappears. Just as she is about to double-down on torturing Dean, Mary shows up with a gun. A fistfight ensues and Dean escapes, at which point Toni casts a spell on Mary. Dean agrees to give up his gun to get her to stop before punching her out, revealing that she was using a form on Chinese mind-control that could not continue if she were unconscious.

“I'll tell you what, why don't you take a walk, and she can face those consequences right here and now?”

Just when the situation seems under control, a man steps in. It’s Mick, with Cas following just behind. Mick extends an “olive branch” and lets them go, giving them his number but taking Lady Toni.

“I would've cooked, but I, uh don't.”

Dean, Sam and Mary gather around the table in the bunker for some take-out and pie. She admits she doesn’t cook and Dean is surprised.

“Mom. For me just, um having you here fills in the biggest blank.”

Later that night, Sam brings Mary some tea and John’s journal. They have a heartfelt exchange where Sam is nervous and excited and giving. It ends with probably the most beautiful hug I’ve ever witnessed. Meanwhile, Dean hides in the kitchen and drinks while he looks at old pictures.

“If our goal is to end the supernatural threat here, we need to destroy every obstacle. The Winchesters, these American Hunters, they're no better than the monsters they fail to control. They need to be eliminated.”

As Mick drives Lady Toni to a plane back to England, she begs him to see that the Winchesters are just as dangerous as the monsters they hunt. She questions whether Mick can do what needs to be done, but Mick reveals that he won’t have to because he has already called the mysterious Mr. Ketch.

Questions:

Why why why? Why? Whyyyyyyy.

Okay so I guess Dean and Mary went back to the bunker and not straight to Aldrich. That sort of answers the question I had last episode about where they were going. Only… if they were already close enough to Aldrich that Ms. Watt could reach them that quickly, why would they go back to the bunker? The bunker has been compromised. If they really needed to sleep that badly (which they probably did), why didn’t they get a hotel between Aldrich and where they were. Sam could die at any moment for all they know! There is six and a half hours travel time between Lebanon and Aldrich! Why can’t Dean also be in Aldrich so Cas can say these things to his face? Or so he can help look for leads on Sam after he’s slept his four hours that he’s not gonna get anyway because it’s Dean? Or at least, you know, rescue Sam as soon as Cas finds him instead of making Cas sit there and wait for six hours while Dean and Mary drive up?

So does Mary know about the demon blood? Why else would she be concerned about facing Sam in particular? At this point she definitely doesn’t know about Jess, or she wouldn’t have had to ask why Sam came back to the hunting life. I can’t see why she would know about his addiction or about the apocalypse and Lucifer and the cage, but I don’t think she even knows what Azazel’s plans for Sam were. The only thing she knows is that Azazel killed her, and that he wanted access to Sam. But she has no idea what he did to him. She doesn’t know whether he succeeded in whatever his plans were, or if he even had any effect on Sam besides killing his mother (which Dean experienced also). Like, don’t get me wrong. I want Mary to acknowledge that Sam paid for her choice and that he didn’t deserve her putting that on him. But first I want her to really know what it means to shoulder the guilt for that. I want her to be horrified at what Sam went through. And then of course I want her to understand that Sam’s part in this went much deeper than a simple demon deal and that he was marked for tragedy by prophecy and not by her… but it’s just gotta be more than this, you know? I love the trepidation about meeting Sam for the first time. I love it. But she shouldn’t even know at this point that Dean knows she made a deal with Yellow Eyes. Why does this bother me so much?

Ok so who is this Mick guy? His first words on screen were literally “you’ve been a bad girl,” so I’m bracing myself for a lot of yuck. Also apparently Toni disobeyed orders? So she wasn’t supposed to torture Sam? Then why did she even have Ms. Watt there? (Ms. Watt was British and therefore it seems like Toni brought her to the states specifically as an expert on torture so… it’s not like it was a snap decision. Toni planned to do it.) So what is she playing at? Like, why would she torture him if she didn’t have to? She says she had a plan, but what could it have been? And will she continue trying to implement it without the authority of the bmol? And who is Mr. Ketch? I mean, we know now that he is indeed the guy from the montage with the cross tattoo on his hand but... what does he do?

Do Crowley and Rowena know that Dean is alive? Because Rowena asks if Crowley is going to work with the Winchesters and their pet angel? But shouldn’t they think there is only one Winchester? Do they know about Mary? Or did they… forget that Rowena made Dean into a bomb and sent him to die?

How long will Vince last as Lucifer’s vessel? In other words, how long until Lucifer comes for Sam?

And speak of the devil, does he have any idea what happened with Amara and God? I guess he’s gotta get Rowena to tell him. He’s gonna be real disappointed if Rowena tells him Dean’s dead and then it turns out he’s not. Because Lucifer’s only real play seems to be to prey on the grief of lost loved ones, and Dean’s death would have been the perfect opening.

WHERE DID CAS GO. I’m serious, not even a goodbye? No Cas/Sam hug? No family dinner? But Cas is FAMILY. I don’t understand?

Also NO DEAN/SAM HUG? WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT BUCKLEMING. GO BACK TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG. LUCIFER CAN STAY BUT YOU JUST GO TO HELL.

Okay. Why the endverse picture. How did it get in John’s journal (how did it even get into this universe tbh) and why did they choose to specifically bring back that picture for this moment? I so hope that Mary asks about it. You know? Who’s this guy in a wheelchair? How long have you known Cas? What is Camp Chitaqua? PLEASE GIVE THIS TO ME. And actually now I’m wondering. Does Sam even know about this? Has Sam looked at that picture? Did Dean ever give him the full story about that reality?

Conclusions:

I always have so many questions after a buckleming episode… But hey, it wasn’t all bad. Definitely a step down from last episode, but I’m not surprised.

I hate the dubcon. I actually think the fact of it is extremely interesting, particularly from an ethics standpoint; but I know that they aren’t going to explore it or deal with it at all in that way, so it just makes me sick.

I have high hopes that this is the extent of Sam x Toni and that the rumors surrounding them were referring to this and NOTHING ELSE. That we have seen the fulfillment of that theme and will no longer be plagued with that nonsense. But. We’ll see. It looks like Toni was not ordered to torture Sam, contrary to my original sense about her. She wanted to hurt Sam, because he is too sympathetic towards monsters. That really changes my perception of her character.

I wasn’t a fan of the time jumps in this episode? Normally I love lost time because it means I can insert fan fic into those spaces. But in this episode, it just felt all wonky.

I did, however, really like pretty much everything about Mary. So that’s nice.

There were some really good lines in this episode. I actually really liked most of Cas’s lines. Except, I was not a fan of the way he reacted to Dean’s asking him for advice. Maybe this is nitpicky, (it is) but I just want Dean’s opening up emotionally to be so so encouraged? And it felt like Cas was shutting him down? Which makes me sad. Also, I don’t really like it when Cas reminds us that he isn’t human? I don’t know, I may be in the minority in this.. it just alienates him and keeps him isolated. I’m fine if they’re going to explore it, because it is an unendingly fascinating part of his character. But throwaway lines like this just feel like a jab to my tiny Cas-loving heart.

SO I also didn’t like how Cas and Dean were needlessly separated for most of the episode, how Cas was absent from the action completely, and how he got no resolution at the end of the episode, no reunion with Sam, and no place at the table for family dinner. Boo.

And while I adored the moment Sam got with Mary (especially the hug. HUGS! And the tears, and the journal, and the relating to her on a personal level and connecting through the pain of not feeling like you fit) I’m a little bit angry that he didn’t get any real closure in relation to the literal torture he’s gone through for the past two days. I have hope that this will be addressed in the future, like in the next episode (but not really because this show never really addresses the violence, particularly when it’s against Sam, and especially not when it’s sexualized). But whether they do address it eventually or not, the end of the episode felt a little off to me. Like the denouement got skipped and we went straight to an epilogue. We didn’t even see a real reunion between Sam and Dean! What the heck!

So. There were some great moments. I was really impressed with Rick Springfield and I’m endlessly here for Mary interacting with anyone and everyone. But the episode was honestly soured for me from the very first scene. So far it’s my least favorite of the season (haha well, duh) and I hope it remains my least favorite, cuz that will mean they didn’t do anything worse than this.

Baby’s Rear View Recap: 12.01 “Keep Calm and Carry On”

This post is about Supernatural season 12 episode 1 “Keep Calm and Carry On,” written by Andrew Dabb and directed by Philip Sgriccia.

*****Spoilers below*****

“How long have I been gone?”

“Thirty-three years.”

The season opens on Dean and Mary, right where we left them pre-hellatus. They consider each other in silence and then, cue the sappy music, Dean asks her if she’s real. She’s real, all right, but she doesn’t know who Dean is. When he reaches out to her, she puts him into a hold until he explains that he is her son—her Dean. When Dean brings up her death, she remembers. Dean recites the details of Mary’s life with John and when she finally believes him, they share a hug.

“Where am I?”

“Earth.”

Next thing we know, Castiel is crashing down to earth in comet form, blasting a hole in a billboard and making a crater. A passing man pulls over and Castiel puts him to sleep and steals his truck after finding out he is about three hours from Lebanon, Kansas.

“It's a lot. And I know it's a lot. And I'll explain everything. I will. But right now, let's get out of here. Let's get you home. Come on, Mom.”

Dean and Mary sit on a park bench as the sun rises and talk briefly about the things Mary missed, such as John’s death and God’s sister. Mary does not remember her previous encounters with her grown son such as when she was a ghost or when Dean went back in time.

“Animals, people; they’re all meat.”

Lady Toni and her driver arrive at a veterinarian’s house. They proceed to threaten and bribe the vet, Gregory Marion, until he agrees to dress Sam’s gunshot-wounded leg. Though the vet initially balks at a bound and gagged Sam in the back of a black SUV, he eventually caves to the tune of $100,000.

“Who’s laughing now?”

Meanwhile, Crowley trails two demons cleaning up Lucifer’s mess. In this case, the mess is multiple burned out failed vessels. Crowley kills the demons and continues after the devil.

“You can ask me any kind of question you want. The answer's gonna be the exact same—screw you. You want to get mad? You want to get mean? I've been tortured by the Devil himself. So you, you're just an accent in a pantsuit. What can you do to me?”

Toni shares a brief phone call with her son before heading down to the basement to deal with Sam—who is now bound and gagged in a chair. Toni wants to ask some questions about Sam and Dean, hunters in America, and how they saved the sun. But Sam doesn’t trust these “British” men of letters. Cue the music again as the torture begins with a cold shower.

“An Angel, with a-a capital ‘A’. You know, wings, harp.”
“No, I don't have a harp.”

Dean and Mary arrive home to find the bunker empty and blood on the floor. Cas makes it back shortly after they do and while Dean checks the area, Cas and Mary get acquainted (by which I mean they both mistake each other for enemies and make threats). Luckily Dean de-escalates the situation, introduces the two, and shares a hug with his angel.

“Hi sweetheart. Remember me?”

After Cas explains what happened and Dean hacks the traffic cams, the three hit the road. But not before Mary takes a second to admire the impala and reminisce about certain… exploits in the backseat.

“There hasn’t been a monster-related death in Britain since 1965 because we are good at our job.”

Toni berates Sam for being bad at his job and explains how Britain has a much more efficient system. She says she just wants to make America safe, but Sam is reluctant to give her any names since he doesn’t trust her not to put them in danger. Toni lets the professional torturer have a go at Sam’s feet with a blowtorch in the hopes that she can crack him.

“So we stop trying to break his body. We break his mind.”

The professional torturer is at a loss as to how to get Sam to speak. She recommends calling in one “Mr. Ketch.” Toni declines on the grounds that Mr. Ketch is a psychopath. She decides instead to torture Sam with some sort of hallucinogenic.

“Listen, bitch. I don't care who you are, I don't care what you want. You have my brother. Now, I'm gonna give you one chance -- just one -- to hand Sam back. You think you can run from me? Try it. Because when I find you -- and I will find you -- if he is not in one piece, I will take you apart. You understand me?”

The fam begins finding and threatening the people Toni interacted with. After a short coffee and chat break, they get the phone number from the vet and Dean gives Toni a call.

“Thanks, Mom.”

As the fa heads back to the bunker to trace the number, the impala gets hit. It’s none other than the torturer, who has apparently been sent to head them off before they can find Sam. She has warded brass-knuckles and kicks both Dean and Cas’s butts while Mary sits still unconscious from the crash. Just as the torturer gets the drop on the boys and prepares to shoot, Mary stabs her with the angel blade.

“It's all your fault. Just die. Why won't you die, Sam? Why don't you die? It's your fault.”

“You’re right.”

Sam hallucinates the deaths of multiple friends and family members, including Jessica and Dean—whom he still believes to be dead. Sam also hears Dean’s voice blaming him for their deaths and Sam punches a mirror hanging on the wall in desperation. He then takes a shard to his throat and collapses to the floor. Lady Toni steps in to check if he’s okay. But when she does, Sam overpowers her. It turns out he cut his hand, and not his throat. He chokes her out and then heads for the door, only to have Toni revive and stop him (with a cattle-prod) just before he can make it out.

“Mom, I-I get it. I do. If I had kids, I wouldn't want them in this. But Sam and me—saving people and hunting things, this is our life. I think we make the world a better place. I know that we do.”

Dean and Mary have a heart-to-heart about hunting and life before the fam heads to Aldrich, Missouri, where they think Sam is being held.

“Witnesses say he was sweating and pale and psycho. He said his name was freaking Lucifer.”

To the tune of Black Sabbath’s “Solitude,” we see Crowley find Lucifer’s latest dead vessel, the fam drive silently through the night, and Sam break down in his cell.

Questions:

Who is Mr. Ketch? He’s psychopathic and apparently a torturer affiliated with the men of letters… but I have a feeling he’s gonna be important. Could he have been present in those montages that played during Lady Toni’s explanation of the bmol way? Cuz those definitely looked shady.

Also, I’m not convinced that the bmol method could work in America? I mean, I’m sure they could make some improvements, but there is no hierarchy or enough people hunting to make that system work in such a huge area. This leads me to suspect that there may be ulterior motives behind this whole thing that even Lady Toni isn’t aware of.

Why didn’t Cas heal Mary after the crash, or Dean after the fight? It’s not really clear to me how angel mojo works. Is he just saving it all up for when he has to heal Sam? Is his mojo not at full power? (And what is full power for him?) In earlier seasons it was said that his powers weren’t as strong when he was cut off from heaven. Is that happening now?

They took those warded brass knuckles, right? Because they definitely don’t want those in the wrong hands. Also they were cool af. I really want to know the specific effects they have.

So, it’s 6 ½ hours from Lebanon to Aldrich? I guess we don’t know where the veterinary clinic is in relation to either place, but something to consider: the fam was headed back to the bunker, but it seems they had just left the vet’s because Mary was just asking what they were going to do next, like they had just gotten into the car. But the torturer could not have gotten there fast enough to deal with them unless it was very close to where Sam is. But at the end, it looked like it was gonna be a long drive for them to get to Aldrich. So… is Sam not at Aldrich? Did the torturer use magic to like… teleport? Or is there a bunch of lost time there where they like, went out for coffee again or took a nap before heading back to the bunker. I don’t know.

And speaking of, what kind of ties could the bmol have to Aldrich, Missouri? What is that building? Who does it belong to? Is it warded?

And finally: this has been one hella long day for them. When’s the last time Dean slept? Like should he even be driving? (*asks in a tiny voice if maybe Cas can drive baby*) Because look—he was up all night wandering around apparently after Amara and Chuck left—and then talking to his mom until dawn. Then he drove straight to the bunker, then he got coffee and had a full day of threatening people. Now it’s night time again but he’s driving instead of sleeping. So that’s 24 hours. But immediately before that was all the end-of-the-world crap. I’d say it’s definitely been 48 hours, probably more. (Does anyone know the timeline at the end of last season?) Even if he got sleep within the space of the last three episodes before this, he’s certainly compromised. Because so much has happened and a human seriously cannot take this type of prolonged high-stress without sustaining damage.

Conclusions:

The hugs! Oh man, the hugs. Am I even capable of talking about anything else? Well, yes, I am, but just barely. Because that’s how emotional these hugs make me. Dabb is spoiling us with hugs. If I don’t get more hugs as the season goes on, I am going to riot.

Three thumbs up for Team Free Will threatening people’s lives. I probably should disapprove but I don’t. They are such scary creatures and it gives me life.

I am so here for Cas’s abilities. He knows exactly what time they got to the bunker. He knows the state of Mary’s health just by touching her. Not to mention Cas manhandling those guys…I don’t know, I’m just here for Cas being capable and confident in his abilities. And for him and Dean working side-by-side. They were such husbands this whole episode and I love it. (#stopsplittingupdeanandcas2k16).

What I’m not here for is the torture porn. I mean, I’m proud of how strong Sam is, but #samdeservesbetter and #givesambodilyautonomy2k16. Narrative-wise of course it makes sense, but I’m not happy about it. I’m really worried about the Toni redemption arc and Toni x Sam romance that already seems impending. It seems very Supernatural to do that. Or at least, very my least favorite things about Supernatural.

There were definitely some seeds planted this episode suggesting that Lady Toni isn’t as devoted to the “old men” as all that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her betray the bmol in some way and help out the Winchesters by the time it’s all said and done.

I really liked that professional torturer and I’m sad to see her dead. I also feel sad for Mary that the first thing she did after getting a second chance at life is kill someone. It’s obviously been hard on her. I love that when Dean asks if she’s okay, she says “no.” This was a huge surprise to me. This is not the Winchester way! I’m so glad to see such honesty when it comes to feelings. This is important.

And they still have a lot to talk about. Dean didn’t explain how he got out alive and there’s so much Mary doesn’t know. I look forward to getting to filter all the information of the past through Mary’s fresh eyes.

All in all, I loved the episode. Nothing much happened, but it was emotional and interesting on a personal level. I like Mary so far and I’m excited to get to know the real her. I’m not quite as excited about Lady Toni, but I don’t hate her either. Her humanity is definitely the most interesting thing about her so far.

I was unusually impressed with the soundtrack and the lighting in this episode. There was a lot of natural light. It gave a feeling of a new dawn and also moved us in a natural cycle that grounded the episode in reality and the day-to-day. The brightness of the majority of the frames was also a nice contrast with the darkness of Sam’s whereabouts.

I’m hella excited for the next episode. Although, I can’t imagine what it’ll be like since (spoilers!) we know that Sam won’t be rescued in it. My guess is that something goes wrong and Dean gets captured (that’s what it looks like from the promos to me), and that’s basically as far as next episode gets. There’s probably a bigger emphasis on Satan since Rick Springfield is guest-starring. BUT, it’s called “Mamma-mia,” so it’s gotta be at least somewhat about Mary. And maybe Toni too, and even Rowena. Guess we will have to wait and see!

So Suicide Squad

I went to see this movie specifically so I could review it, so I guess I better get it done. I’ve been sort of dreading writing it up because while I enjoyed watching it, I can’t say I really thought too highly of it. But I guess I’ll start with the good and go from there:

I liked the parts that were stylized. I wish that it would have carried through past the first twenty minutes and that it had been integrated more seamlessly into the movie, because it ended up seeming like some heavy-handed reminder that the film was supposed to be fun! cool! and wacky! instead of actually making it so.

Same goes for the music choices. I liked the songs and the tone they gave each individual scene, but taken as a whole that sort of pop-rock gimmick ended up being over-used and falling flat by the end of the movie.

I liked the production design. It managed to be dark and realistic while still interesting and fun. But I won’t applaud them for putting the men in sweatshirts and bullet proof vests while the women are baring their midriffs sans pants. That doesn’t make sense.

I liked Amanda Waller, Harley, and Will Smith (note: I didn’t say Deadshot). Will Smith is just really likeable, and I think he definitely made the writing for Deadshot watchable, although I actually was not a fan of the character. Same goes for Viola Davis and Margot Robbie, really. They did a great job with what they were given, but each one could have taken much more on and the movie probably would have been better if any one of them had been given more to work with. On the other hand, I didn’t care for Flag’s character at all, even though he was clearly supposed to be a big part of this story.

It’s like the movie couldn’t decide who the main character was. And the ensemble wasn’t strong enough for it to be a successful ensemble film. The ensemble didn’t click together the way it needed to (I scoffed when El Diablo referred to them as family, because it just wasn’t). And the characters didn’t get enough development to have my interest or compassion. That one guy was literally just canon fodder. He didn’t even get an introduction. I hate that. Katana did literally nothing but look pretty. Killer Croc was just there to show how these “villains” were hated and abused, but they didn’t even follow through on that thread. His characterization was basically nonexistent. Add to that the fact that the actor was totally covered up by prosthetics and voice distortion and it really subtracted from the movie for me. Also, I couldn’t understand what he was saying sometimes, and that sucks.

El Diablo’s backstory was interesting (if a tragic example of fridging) but was just shoved in just in time for him to die. I think the actor did great, but I won’t forgive the writing. He was just too background for me to care about him or his death, which by the way was super predictable and not as compelling as it should have been.

I would have just totally cut Captain Boomerang. I thought he was mostly annoying and gross, and that’s just when I could actually understand what he was saying. His purpose seemed to be to complain about how he wanted to leave to up the tension or something, but it didn’t work because WE KNEW HE COULDN’T LEAVE. He seemed like he could have been a good option to infuse humor, but he wasn’t funny. He could have brought some flair to the action scenes, but he didn’t. 

In fact, the action scenes were all pretty lame. First of all, it was dark and foggy and hard to follow. The editing did it no favors. And then there’s the fact that they were fighting faceless blob people and who cares about blobs. It would have been much more interesting if they looked like the innocent mind-controlled humans they were. And then the movie could have actually examined the moral choices it was making instead of glossing over them. 

IMO the most compelling part of this story is the question of who is worse, Amanda Waller and the government that lets her kill and control people, or the criminals who are saving the world. There was so much potential in that and the movie just threw it away. 

The main villains could have been a great vehicle of discussion for what it means to truly be evil, but they weren’t. They were nothing. They just SUCKED. Most forgettable DCEU villains ever, boring even during the movie, no purpose, no motivation, no clear plan, weirdly CGI… I could go on. 

Also, why was Incubus even there? Apparently he was so unnecessary that they didn’t even bother to tell us his name. I get that he goes with the mythology of Enchantress, but in a movie already over-saturated with characters I wish they would have just taken him out and used his screen-time to actually make Enchantress compelling. 

Also, side-note: Enchantress was uncomfortably sexed up. From her costume to her physical characterization, to her stilted romance to the fact that she used kissing as a form of mind control. If we had to have this in the movie, why wasn’t Incubus similarly portrayed? The two go hand-in-hand, and if one of them should be sexual, it should probably be him. His name has a clear sexual denotation, whereas “enchantress” is only tangentially sexual. Enchantress did not have to be as sexual as she was. Enchantress did not have to be in a bikini—and in fact did not wear a bikini in the comics. So what was the purpose behind that change if not to objectify her?

And there was a whole host of other problems I could go into detail on but won’t because this is making me sad: 

The editing was off, the second half was rushed and the plot had some holes; the jokes were not funny to me (at best they just didn’t land—at worse they were actually gross. Sorry not sorry I didn’t laugh when women got punched in the face.) The Joker did not fit well into the movie and was not as big a part as the trailer hyped him to be; Jared Leto was nothing special—although he did make me uncomfortable, which I guess is true to the character…) There were some gross characters (I’m looking at you, prison guards) with no exploration of how they fit into the ethics of the story and no subversion whatsoever. And there just was no purpose to the story, no theme or through-line. If the point was just to have fun, they didn’t even do that all that well. 

Overall I just think that the movie failed the characters. I enjoyed watching it, but I didn’t like it.

1.5 out of 5.