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iariaY: The Last Man
I ended up reading the entire series over two days and really enjoyed it. I thought it was all really well-written. I don’t however have a lot to say (though I feel like I should).
- I loved all the characters (well, mostly) and that they were all three-dimensional and had their own stories. I loved Natalya and 355 and Allison and Yorick and Ampersand the best.
- The made-families the various characters created over the books were wonderful. I loved the made families of Yorick/355/Allison and Hero/Beth 2/Ciba/Natalya/kids.
- I kind of love that Beth and Hero ended up together.
- I liked that we kept going back to see several random women and their stories (the model from the first book who I never expected to see again).
- Ampersand’s death at the end made me cry.
- I’m torn about the ending and epilogue – I think in a way it fit the story pretty well but... I hate that 355 was fridged (WTF?) and I had really wanted a happy ending with everyone finally coming together and being happy and together for the rest of their lives!
- The only thing that I can think of (minus 355 at the end) that pissed me off was in one of the final books when Ciba says that she’s going to look for Yorick with the others because... okay, let me look it up: “I am not letting only son of Russia grow up to be homosexualist!” And, damn, it wasn’t Ciba saying it, it was Natalya. *pout* I don’t know why I thought it was Ciba who said that. I hate that it was Natalya because I love her and I really hate that line.
It was so unnecessary and homophobic and so stupid. He is only the third male on the planet – and the other two are a man and a monkey. There is, at that point, no surety that there will ever be any more and she’s worried he’ll be gay? Okay, that has nothing to do with being gay but neither does wearing a dress as a child and as an excuse for endangering them all it’s not good enough! And for some reason I thought she said that in response to finding Yorick and him being a male influence for Vladimir which really annoyed me in itself but I was remembering that wrong as well (that was Ciba and it was earlier). Instead she says that when Hero states they should have ‘put Vladimir in a dress’... which is even more infuriating.
17x09 ‘There's a Lot of Nuts and Bullets’
• This was a nail biting episode for me. When Nat/Kat went off on their own flight with no tickets reserved I found myself really worried that they’d made a crucial mistake. When Thomas/Jill U-Turned Brook/Claire I was so sure it meant that they were going to be out of it. I was doing a lot of mental ‘args’ this episode. There were a bunch of moments of relief – both girl teams getting to the Detour while Chad/Stephanie got lost, the fact that they’d both finished it by the time C/S were just starting, that Nat/Kat chose to U-Turn Chad/Stephanie (though Brook/Claire would have if they hadn’t), that Chad/Stephanie got lost again enough so that Brook/Claire managed to finish the second Detour before they even started.
But that was offset by all three teams being at the Roadblock together and every moment from there on had me nervous and stressed. Especially once it came down to the two teams and they seemed to finish at basically the same time. All the way to the end I was so sure Chad/Stephanie would beat Brook/Claire but they didn’t and I am so happy! I was also worried that it would be a non-elimination and was actually saying out loud ‘eliminate them, eliminate them’ and that that happened also made me really happy.
• Chad wasn’t actually that bad with Stephanie this episode and a couple times he was even supportive but it was too little too late.
• Jill/Thomas using the U-Turn really didn’t make all that much sense to me considering they were so very much further ahead of the rest of the teams. Nat/Kat’s on the other hand made complete sense (regardless of how much I loved it) considering how those last three teams were bunched together. If any of those teams were switched in position I could see any of them making the same play. It was the right thing to do there.
• I liked how Nat just ignored Chad’s heckling (so childish). I also liked how Jill helped herself to a glass of cane juice.
• I was really impressed with how Brook and Claire handled the brick Detour – Brook was amazing and zoomed through it and while Claire was slower and complained more I really understood where she was coming from and felt for her (I probably would have been her on that task). I liked that we got Brook and Claire fighting for the first time – and it was a polite sharing of feelings with no yelling or insulting the other person.
• I like the addition of the Double U-Turn and hope it replaces all U-Turn’s in the future. By making it a double, if two teams are U-Turned, it suddenly makes it race between two teams instead of the elimination sentence most U-Turns are.
• Next week will determine the final three – I want Nat/Kat and Brook/Claire, obviously. And I want one of those teams to win. I actually don’t care which one right now. But for the third team I don’t know which I want. Of the other two teams I like Vicki best. But I really dislike Nick and it seems next week he’s back to being an asshole. She deserves so much better than him. They’ve actually been doing pretty well, and maybe I’m underestimating them, but I don’t think they could win it and are a weaker team then the other three. So by that merit I’d want them in the final three thus giving the other teams a better shot of winning. However, they could end up winning it and I really don’t want Nick winning a million dollars. Vicki, sure, she seems really sweet and kind. Nick, on the other hand, is such an asshole he overcomes her awesome. If they won it would be yet another TAR ending I’d hate.
So that leaves Jill/Thomas who I go between eh and not liking Thomas. I don’t know what it is about the dating guys on this season’s race but they all seem to have a streak of asshole in them and Thomas is no exception. It is a lot rarer than with Nick or Chad but I’ve seen it enough this race that I am very eh about him. He was pretty good in this episode and supportive of Jill but something about him just rubs me the wrong way and I really don’t want him winning either. (Maybe they can both switch partners and Jill/Vicki can move on while Nick/Thomas get eliminated? That would be perfect.) I’m mostly neutral on Jill. I seriously have, like, no thoughts or impressions of her at all. So they would seem a better choice than Vicki/Nick but... Jill/Thomas are really good competitors and a strong team and I could see them winning this race. I don’t want that. So I don’t know. I guess I don’t care as long as Nat/Kat and Brook/Claire get though and one of them wins the race.
I ended up reading the entire series over two days and really enjoyed it. I thought it was all really well-written. I don’t however have a lot to say (though I feel like I should).
- I loved all the characters (well, mostly) and that they were all three-dimensional and had their own stories. I loved Natalya and 355 and Allison and Yorick and Ampersand the best.
- The made-families the various characters created over the books were wonderful. I loved the made families of Yorick/355/Allison and Hero/Beth 2/Ciba/Natalya/kids.
- I kind of love that Beth and Hero ended up together.
- I liked that we kept going back to see several random women and their stories (the model from the first book who I never expected to see again).
- Ampersand’s death at the end made me cry.
- I’m torn about the ending and epilogue – I think in a way it fit the story pretty well but... I hate that 355 was fridged (WTF?) and I had really wanted a happy ending with everyone finally coming together and being happy and together for the rest of their lives!
- The only thing that I can think of (minus 355 at the end) that pissed me off was in one of the final books when Ciba says that she’s going to look for Yorick with the others because... okay, let me look it up: “I am not letting only son of Russia grow up to be homosexualist!” And, damn, it wasn’t Ciba saying it, it was Natalya. *pout* I don’t know why I thought it was Ciba who said that. I hate that it was Natalya because I love her and I really hate that line.
It was so unnecessary and homophobic and so stupid. He is only the third male on the planet – and the other two are a man and a monkey. There is, at that point, no surety that there will ever be any more and she’s worried he’ll be gay? Okay, that has nothing to do with being gay but neither does wearing a dress as a child and as an excuse for endangering them all it’s not good enough! And for some reason I thought she said that in response to finding Yorick and him being a male influence for Vladimir which really annoyed me in itself but I was remembering that wrong as well (that was Ciba and it was earlier). Instead she says that when Hero states they should have ‘put Vladimir in a dress’... which is even more infuriating.
17x09 ‘There's a Lot of Nuts and Bullets’
• This was a nail biting episode for me. When Nat/Kat went off on their own flight with no tickets reserved I found myself really worried that they’d made a crucial mistake. When Thomas/Jill U-Turned Brook/Claire I was so sure it meant that they were going to be out of it. I was doing a lot of mental ‘args’ this episode. There were a bunch of moments of relief – both girl teams getting to the Detour while Chad/Stephanie got lost, the fact that they’d both finished it by the time C/S were just starting, that Nat/Kat chose to U-Turn Chad/Stephanie (though Brook/Claire would have if they hadn’t), that Chad/Stephanie got lost again enough so that Brook/Claire managed to finish the second Detour before they even started.
But that was offset by all three teams being at the Roadblock together and every moment from there on had me nervous and stressed. Especially once it came down to the two teams and they seemed to finish at basically the same time. All the way to the end I was so sure Chad/Stephanie would beat Brook/Claire but they didn’t and I am so happy! I was also worried that it would be a non-elimination and was actually saying out loud ‘eliminate them, eliminate them’ and that that happened also made me really happy.
• Chad wasn’t actually that bad with Stephanie this episode and a couple times he was even supportive but it was too little too late.
• Jill/Thomas using the U-Turn really didn’t make all that much sense to me considering they were so very much further ahead of the rest of the teams. Nat/Kat’s on the other hand made complete sense (regardless of how much I loved it) considering how those last three teams were bunched together. If any of those teams were switched in position I could see any of them making the same play. It was the right thing to do there.
• I liked how Nat just ignored Chad’s heckling (so childish). I also liked how Jill helped herself to a glass of cane juice.
• I was really impressed with how Brook and Claire handled the brick Detour – Brook was amazing and zoomed through it and while Claire was slower and complained more I really understood where she was coming from and felt for her (I probably would have been her on that task). I liked that we got Brook and Claire fighting for the first time – and it was a polite sharing of feelings with no yelling or insulting the other person.
• I like the addition of the Double U-Turn and hope it replaces all U-Turn’s in the future. By making it a double, if two teams are U-Turned, it suddenly makes it race between two teams instead of the elimination sentence most U-Turns are.
• Next week will determine the final three – I want Nat/Kat and Brook/Claire, obviously. And I want one of those teams to win. I actually don’t care which one right now. But for the third team I don’t know which I want. Of the other two teams I like Vicki best. But I really dislike Nick and it seems next week he’s back to being an asshole. She deserves so much better than him. They’ve actually been doing pretty well, and maybe I’m underestimating them, but I don’t think they could win it and are a weaker team then the other three. So by that merit I’d want them in the final three thus giving the other teams a better shot of winning. However, they could end up winning it and I really don’t want Nick winning a million dollars. Vicki, sure, she seems really sweet and kind. Nick, on the other hand, is such an asshole he overcomes her awesome. If they won it would be yet another TAR ending I’d hate.
So that leaves Jill/Thomas who I go between eh and not liking Thomas. I don’t know what it is about the dating guys on this season’s race but they all seem to have a streak of asshole in them and Thomas is no exception. It is a lot rarer than with Nick or Chad but I’ve seen it enough this race that I am very eh about him. He was pretty good in this episode and supportive of Jill but something about him just rubs me the wrong way and I really don’t want him winning either. (Maybe they can both switch partners and Jill/Vicki can move on while Nick/Thomas get eliminated? That would be perfect.) I’m mostly neutral on Jill. I seriously have, like, no thoughts or impressions of her at all. So they would seem a better choice than Vicki/Nick but... Jill/Thomas are really good competitors and a strong team and I could see them winning this race. I don’t want that. So I don’t know. I guess I don’t care as long as Nat/Kat and Brook/Claire get though and one of them wins the race.
