lunabee34

1. We're closing on Thursday. I got the final closing statement yesterday, and closing costs are going to be 3100 dollars less than the original estimate they gave us at the beginning of the month. I am so relieved. That estimate made me all *wah*; this is much more in line with what I was expecting. I am just so grateful. This month has been high on the gratitude.

2.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is set at the turn of the 19th century, mostly in Essex but also in London. It follows a fascinating cast of characters (a recent widow and her female companion, a doctor, a minister and his consumptive wife, a variety of children) as they attempt to discover whether the Essex serpent purported to be drowning people and killing sheep is real.

Such excellent character work, such exquisite attention to place, such thoughtful exploration of issues important to Victorians at the close of the century: faith, science, women's rights, poverty, class, sexuality, etc.

Highly, highly recommend this one.



View all my reviews


3. LUKE CAGE

I have really been enjoying this show. We're just a little over half-way done. I'm not going to try to break it down by episode, but here are some observations:

Luke's prison backstory is so tragic. I'm assuming the show will get to it at some point, but I'm really curious about who framed Luke and how and why; from what he says to Misty, I'm assuming his partner betrayed him (since he was also in law enforcement).

I really liked Squabbles. :(

I see part of Luke's reluctance to become the law and order of Harlem coming from the way he reacted after being in the prison fighting ring for so long; although the two scenarios aren't really analogous, fighting in the ring changed Luke (made him harder and more depressed, etc). I think he worries that if he spends all his time beating down bad guys, he might get in that head space again. Obviously, other factors are at work there as well.

I'm guessing that Luke goes through a Deadpool-esque transformation and that in dire need his mutant abilities surface? Or are they using a version of Erskine's serum to heal people, and it goes wonky because of equipment failure?

So excited to see Claire! I love the way she references events from the other shows and keeps us grounded in the setting; similarly, I like the continued references to Avengers movies. See also, voice over from Trish Talk. I think Claire's decision to become a superhero medic is awesome; I'm pretty sure I would not be able to stand up to that challenge, but she's so brave (and practical).

Pop's memorial (and that Dapper Dan suit!) was a thing of beauty. I loved Luke squishing that gun in her purse!

Scarf! *sniffle* I really liked that he and Misty are genuine friends without a whiff of romance, and then he's gotta go and be a bad guy, and then he's gotta go and die. :( I love that Misty lets her feelings for him be complicated, that she lets herself condemn what Scarf did without throwing away his mentorship and how much he means to her.

At the end of that episode, everything seems won and done with Cottonmouth in jail; Josh and I wondered where the show was going to go--introduce a new villain mid-season, have Cottonmouth escape punishment? Where's the show going to go?

I did not see the ascendance of Mariah coming. At. All. And I love it.

Much as The Wire did with Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale, the last episode we watched did an amazing job of making Cottonmouth sympathetic. I can't help but feel sorry for a kid who just wants to make music who is surrounded by horrific violence that he wants no part of; being forced to kill his uncle clearly haunts him. His horrific childhood doesn't excuse his current behavior, but knowing what he came from does give a sense of inevitability to his life of crime. I love the part where Mariah and Cottonmouth are each jealous of each other--he's jealous that she got to leave and become something else than a criminal; she's jealous that he got to stay and become an integral part of the family business.

I did not at all expect her to lose her shit and kill Cottonmouth. What a powerful scene.

I wonder if Shades's plan to frame Luke for Cottonmouth's death will be successful since Luke just got shot with the Justin Hammer bullet; that's probably part of the frame in some way since Shades's boss is the one who has the bullets.

Can't wait to see where this goes next.

4. GOTHAM

Absolutely digging the Selena/Bruce in these last few episodes (as well as the Selena, Alfred, Bruce Bat!family vibes). Since there must be antagonism between them, I'm assuming next season she'll be pissed that he stayed in the city rather than staying with her through her recovery, but maybe not. Since the show is ending next season, IDK if they'll end that ship with things good between them or on the outs. I vote for them being solid at season's end.

Harvey is so happy when Jim didn't die in the explosion. The ship writes itself, my friends. Other moments of Harvey excellence include him defusing the bomb and that redeeming him with the force.

It all goes to shit pretty quickly, but the moment when Penguin et al. believe they have pulled one over on Jeremiah is awesome.

Absolutely floored when Penguin cures Butch just to kill him and hurt Tabby. Wow.

Also really dig Lee and Nygma mutually stabbing each other. IDK why I find them so hot and fucked up and wonderful, but I really, really, really do.

I've loved this show, but I'm starting to get a smidge bored, so I'm glad next season will be the last. Go out with a bang while you're still on top. I'll always prefer a short and brilliant run to an interminable slog toward mediocrity. Speaking of which . . .

5. So, Abby's final episode of NCIS: I haven't watched NCIS in ages, but I tuned in for this one. I expected them to kill her, so her living was a bonus. I doubt I'll watch the show again; it started going downhill for me when Ziva left, and it really went downhill for me when they killed Bishop's boyfriend for no reason. After that I only watched intermittently; now so much of the original cast is gone that I really don't care as much. I do still dig Jimmy; even though it aired when I was barely paying attention to the show, one of my favorite episodes is the one where Jimmy talks the guy down from the ledge. They really do need to end this show, though. I mean, it's almost ready to graduate high school and go off to college. Enough is enough.