Emily Watches Too Much Television

Hey, mis amigos favoritos ! How are you doing? How was your spring and summer? You look great! So, I've been gone a really, really, really  long time, and honestly, I'm kind of embarrassed about it. I've always enjoyed this blog, because talking about television is literally my favorite thing to do in this entire shitty world, but I'm going to be honest here-- mental illness is kind of a pain in the ass. Chronic depression makes it difficult for me to do anything but the absolute bare minimum of what needs to be done, which is how my to-do list ended up getting too long, but when you combine this with my awesome OCD whose fun quirk is screaming "YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ALL OF THIS UNFINISHED OR SKIP AHEAD BECAUSE THEN YOU HAVE A HUGE CHUNK MISSING AND IT WILL BOTHER YOU FOREVER," it's enough to drive you a bit mad. So, I was in a dilemma that kept me pretty much stuck-- my list of recaps to write was getting so long it was becoming unrealistic to expe...

Alright, kids! This post was initially meant to be a meta post to follow the first two or three episodes of 5A, but, of course, I haven't met a self-imposed deadline that I didn't end up breaking, so the post just kept growing longer and longer and taking more and more time to write, and then more and more episodes were airing, and then the next thing I knew, the season finale had just aired, and I was like... well, fuck. Fortunately, this super-sized season is two halves of an ongoing story of the Dread Doctors, so while the first half of Season 5 passed me by, a lot of my observations and questions are still relevant, even after we learned more information about what was going on regarding those steampunk assholes, Theo and his villainy, what the hell was going on with Kira and Jordan, why Scott suddenly developed asthma out of nowhere, etc. So, I was able to morph my in-season meta discussion into a post-season meta and speculation discussion! Hooray! So, since the premier...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, YOU GUYS! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Anywho, I am so  sorry about how late this damn post has been. My descent into bluesville had terrible timing, apparently, because then school started at the end of August, so I not only had no motivation to write or do anything, but I also had no time  to do it, and basically it's all been a mess. Now that the fall and winter weather has improved my malaise a tiny bit, I'm attempting to hop back on the saddle, but I've decided to make a few changes to the blog and my entries in hopes of making things a little easier on myself in the coming weeks and, in turn, getting my looooong to-do list of blog posts written and posted faster while still giving you guys the discussions I've promised. So, to do this, I'm going to switch from my usual recap format with review material sprinkled throughout to just simply posting reviews-- I'm sure the posts will still end up being novel-length as usual, but at least now I can ...

[Ugh, sorry for even more lateness on this recap, you guys. I don't know what's wrong with me, but summer slow-down is making me incapable of doing anything in a timely fashion. Hopefully the next ones are better! Thanks for understanding-- xoxo Emily] Welp, that was a heartbreaker of an episode, wasn't it? Like, I don't even know what to say about it except that everything seems so bleak in Beacon Hills right now. We've got Scott on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown; Stiles cracking under the weight of his still-secret accidental homicide, Lydia and Malia trying to keep everyone together, and honestly, they're the ones who seem the most "normal" and not "off" right now, which worries me, considering we know Lydia ends up in Eichen House soon, and Malia is about to have some major mommy issues. Also, Liam and Hayden may or may not end up super violent and/or dead from the stuff the Dread Doctors did to them; Kira is pretty much ...

[Sorry once again for the lateness, guys! I don't know if it's summer slow-down, or another cycle of my never-ending on-and-off depression, or what, but I have been ridiculously slow-moving, unproductive, and generally crappy-feeling the last week or two. Here's hoping this Debbie-Downer cycle ends soon so I can get back on schedule and actually get started on replying back to comments/messages/etc as well. Thanks for understanding. --Emily] So, remember when I said that the events of the last four episodes were going to make "Required Reading" feel like a pleasant dream? Well, it's already starting, and my heart is shattered into a million pieces, and if it's already this bad, then the last three episodes are going to be even worse in intensity? Are you guys ready for it? Because I'm really, really not. I don't mean to say that I don't like it, because I do, a LOT-- if I had to rank the seasons, I'd probably go with 3B, 4, 5A, 3A, 2, an...

Well, in a sensation that is becoming quite familiar to me this season, I seriously do not understand most of what is happening in Teen Wolf right now, but nonetheless, this episode was a thrilling, visually stunning, and even sort of informative, continuing in a string of amazing episodes in Season 5. Can you guys believe we only have four more episodes until 5A is over? And, as we know, the last four episodes of a season/half-season are always when shit really  starts to go down, which means all of the shocks we got this week are going to feel like pleasant dreams compared to what's coming to us. I am both super excited and ridiculously under-prepared. Anyway, there is a lot  to unpack in this recap, so I'm just going to cut to the chase and jump in so we can start discussing everything we learned. Let's talk about "Required Reading!" Previously, on Teen Wolf:  Scott, Kira, Lydia, and Stiles went to Eichen House to talk to Dr. Gabriel Valack, who wrote the ...

[Ugh, late again, sorry guys! --Emily] HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS. This episode was seriously overwhelming in multiple ways, and the information learned from it has consequences that will definitely be affecting the entire supernatural population of Beacon Hills. For one, we now know that the book Malia found in Tracy's bedroom was not only planted there by the Dread Doctors themselves via Theo, but they did so specifically to lure the McCall Pack to Eichen House to talk to the book's author-- who is none other than Dr. Gabriel Valack himself!-- and To make matters even worse, it's not even a work of fiction-- it's meant to be used as a tool for those who have been messed with by the Doctors to help them remember doing so, because the Doctors' powers-- which mostly involve manipulating electromagnetic energy and frequencies-- are frequently used to make their test subjects forget that they had been experimented on in the first place. This means that the theories that p...

[Sorry for the lateness on this recap, guys! I spent the weekend at my sister and brother-in-law's apartment in the city and I stayed wayyyyy longer than I intended! I expect the schedule to get back to normal this week! Thanks for understanding! --Emily] Hey, friends! Is everyone still with us? Nobody had a heart attack this week, or a stroke, or experienced their brains exploding as a result of how literally bananas  this episode was, right? Good! I admit it was kind of a close call, there, but I'm pleased to say I made it through essentially in one piece. (Granted, sleeping Monday night was quite a struggle since I couldn't stop thinking about/theorizing about everything we just learned in this episode, but whatever, I can sleep when I'm dead). Anyway, so how great was "Condition Terminal?" Maybe great isn't the right word-- I thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the episode, but there were some parts that scared me or frustrated me. First was the pa...

Mis amigos , I'm going to be honest with you-- I literally have no idea  what the hell is going on this season. I know that sounds like a complaint, but it's really not! As I mentioned at the end of the previous recap, I have watched a lot  of TV in my life, to the point where it's really hard for me to be surprised or confused as to what is going on, because it doesn't take long for me to find the pattern and figure out what is going to happen. In the case of this season of Teen Wolf though, the storyline has been woven in such a complicated way that it's been difficult to pinpoint the motivations of the possibly-bad-guys, which of course makes it equally difficult to figure out what they're going to do next. The main confusion I'm having about this show is specifically regarding the Dread Doctors and what their aims are, because let's be real here, their actions have been a little nuts. Giving a werewolf glowing talons and enhanced strength and send...

Welp, it's official, everyone-- Liam Dunbar is too precious for this world. Seriously, to think that when he first showed up in Season 4's "Muted," I was like, "Ugh, this punk-ass Jackson wannabe." BUT HE'S NOT A JACKSON WANNABE. He's funnier, more compassionate, and more endearing than Jackson ever was, in my humble opinion. He's really more like Isaac, but with Stiles' penchant for hilarious faces and comedic timing. I am literally enjoying every single moment he's on screen, especially when it's with Mason, because the two of them together are just too adorable for words. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting when Mason would eventually be read into the supernatural world, but I was still not at all surprised when he reacted with unbridled enthusiasm that his best friend is a lycanthrope. Mason is such a perfect prince. I admit, I wasn't thrilled when I learned he would be on the show either, because it seemed like t...

*singsongs* REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOOOOOOOD. This is exactly how I feel now that Teen Wolf is back! Don't get me wrong, I love The Originals , and despite my issues with The Vampire Diaries , I will always adore it too, but I didn't realize just how much I was missing the McCall Pack and its variety of beasties until last night when the episode aired. And it was GOOD, wasn't it? Kathleen and I still aren't totally sold yet on the whole "5A is probably one big flashback" thing yet, but it's still an interesting change-up from previous seasons. It kind of reminds me of Season 3A's "Frayed," but in a good way. So, let's run down the amazingness, shall we? Scott and Stiles are the cutest bros to ever bro, as usual, and have literally become Liam's parents. Liam is so precious  and cares so much about the pack that it is killing me. Malia is still working her ass off in her academic life and for her pack, and with a perfect hairc...

Hey guys, it's been two whole years since I started this blog! WOO! Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? When I first started, I was only recapping Season 3A of Teen Wolf , and I had 99 page views in the first month. Since then, I've had almost 160,000 page views for over 110 recaps of Teen Wolf, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries , and a few episodes of Suits , which is pretty incredible for a nobody like me! So, thank you all so  much for sticking around, reading my recaps, and leaving comments about what you think! Since there are over a hundred posts now, I thought I'd start an archive page in order to make it a little easier to find what you're looking for. I know that Blogger is pretty great about making all of the blog posts accessible on the right-hand sidebar, but I figured since they're all kind of scrambled up-- thanks to juggling several shows at once and my laissez-faire attitude regarding my own self-imposed deadlines-- that it might be he...

(Blogger's note: for any of you who are following me on Tumblr, I have moved to a new blog that is 99% dedicated to fandoms and 1% social-justice-y/feminism, so if you'd like to keep reading my stuff over there, you can follow me at bisexual-rebekah .) So, I actually meant to write this like, five , six   seven   eight  months ago, but then I realized that I didn't have much time to catch up on my TVD Season 5-rewatch and decided to make that the priority. Then, naturally, the new seasons of TVD and The Originals started, which ended up taking priority over THAT, and I got ridiculously behind and kind of forgot about this post for a bit until notomys on Tumblr messaged me and reminded me that I totally meant to write this whole big thing and it ended up being forgotten while I have been playing catch-up on actual recaps. So, since we still have another five four three   two months   ONE MONTH before our blessed and beloved Teen Wolf comes back, I figur...

Welp, even though I'm positive my heart stopped at several different points while watching this episode, we all made it through (I think?) what ended up being hands-down the best episode of Season 4. I mean, what's not to love? Scott McCall truly is the truest of alphas; Derek Hale is a reborn-beta with even more power than before; Liam Dunbar is the most precious, strong, and brave little babe in the world, Malia Hale exceeded everyone's expectations and tbh, I think the fandom owes her a huge apology; Lydia Martin and Mason are two of the most die-hard loyal friends in the universe; Stiles Stilinski loves his pack so much that he ran into an Aztec temple full of berserkers and werecreatures in the middle of a full moon with no weapons whatsoever; and while Peter Hale and Kate Argent may not have been killed like I was hoping, they are out of the picture for now, each with their own story lines that have the potential to be amazing next season. Plus, Stilinski family feels...

Sorry, guys, but this week's episode killed me. Like, I am straight-up cremated, ashes-spread-at-sea dead . There was so much about this episode that I wholeheartedly loved and so much that I hated in the way that it's so bad because it is so intense  and I can't handle my faves being hurt. I'm not even going to try to summarize my feelings for this intro, I'm just going to dive right in, because honestly, a shitload of drama went down in "A Promise To The Dead," and to be honest with you, I still don't completely understand it. So, let's talk about this season's penultimate (NOOOOOO! :((((() episode of Teen Wolf ! Settle in, babies, because this recap is seriously going to be a doozy. Like, as long as my "Insatiable" recap was. Consider yourself warned! Previously, on Teen Wolf :  Kate Argent was killed by Peter clawing her throat out, but instead of being dead the last eight to twelve months like everyone thought, she was actua...

Alright, so a lot of confusing stuff has gone down this season up to the events of 04x10 "Monstrous," right? And a lot more confusing stuff is going to go down because of the confusing stuff that has already happened. Do you understand? No? Me either, but I'm going to try to make sense and order of what has been revealed so far, as well as coming up with some predictions about what the last two episodes of this season will be bringing us. I plan on making a decent guess at the timeline of the season, as well as the timeline of the events that led to the deadpool, plus we have a LOT to speculate about in regards to banshees, true alpha werewolves, nagual werejaguars, berserkers, and what the fuck Jordan Parrish might be, as well as our dear Stiles. We'll probably be talking a lot about the characters, too, naturally, because that's the best part. Basically, get saddled in, kiddos, because I have some words to say. ALSO, just as a warning-- this post will contain s...

HOW, how nuts was this episode, right? As kind of off-the-wall as it was, it had some really excellent character moments, some really neat reveals, AND dug deeper into the theme that has always been present in the show, but never as much as this season-- the "man versus beast" trope. It's been a struggle for Scott to maintain a healthy balance of humanity and lycanthropy in his life from the second he was turned, but as the stakes get higher and higher, and Scott has to sacrifice more and more in the name of protecting Beacon Hills, that struggle gets harder and harder to overcome. Scott has had a lot of reminders this season, and this week especially, that his life is nowhere close to "normal" human life, and that he's prone to repressing the thoughts that scare him-- that he can't go out on dates with his girlfriend or enjoy a bonfire with the lacrosse team without the constant fear of being attacked, that someday he could accidentally slip up and gi...

So, I have to give credit where credit is due to the writers, because I was literally just saying last week that I have read so much meta/speculation/theories about who the Benefactor is that I wouldn't be surprised by the reveal, because I had read compelling arguments that pointed to anyone from Danny to Mr. Harris to one of the Argents to Liam's stepdad and Agent Douchenozzle and everyone in between. But even despite the fact that Scott guessed that the Benefactor was likely a banshee because they knew when someone was or wasn't dead whether they had proof or not, everyone figured that it had to be Lydia's grandmother, Lorraine, since they found out she wrote the code, and NO one (or no one I know of, at least) even considered the fact that the Benefactor was Meredith. I know that personally, I saw her name on the deadpool and figured that fact meant she couldn't be the Benefactor, in the same way that I was desperately hoping that Jordan's presence on the li...

[I apologize in advance for the lateness-- this week has just been exhausting, between having to babysit my dad after he had surgery on Thursday and going out of town on Friday, so this is posted MUCH later than I ever intended. I promise that I'll be back on schedule next week!--Emily] Alright, so I know I'm always crowing about how every episode of Teen Wolf is the best episode of the season/ever, but seriously, you guys-- "Time of Death" is one of my favorite episodes of this season, if not my favorite. There is just SO much to love about it: there was TONS of Liam, Derek was in a hilariously sassy and playful mood all day and managed to have some hot sex with Braeden (FINALLY!), we got backstory on Malia and Lydia's families, some adorable Scott/Kira moments, a badass mother team-up (MELISSA AND NOSHIKO SHOULD JUST RULE THE WORLD TBH) and Chris defending Scott against Kate! Not to mention all of the drama surrounding Scott's "death" and the ...

When Teen Wolf's season 4 trailers and promos started coming out, a friend and I were talking about it, and she said, "This season looks so scary!" I figured it would be pretty anxiety-inducing, because it always is, but by now, I feel comfortable saying that this season has stressed me out more than any other, in a good way! This week's episode did nothing to disappoint, either. Between the amazing character moments and the decently-intense plot, there was definitely plenty going on this week! So honestly, I'm just going to cut to the chase and get started, because we have a LOT to discuss, my friends of friends. Let's talk about "Weaponized!' Previously, on Teen Wolf :  Liam's lacrosse rival from his old school, Brett Talbot, was nearly killed by Violet and Garrett at the first lacrosse scrimmage, and was ultimately revealed to be a member of a werewolf pack led by now-alpha Satomi Ito, also known as Noshiko's friend while she was in the O...