I just watched Act III again. It's better when you know what you're expecting so you can appreciate the tragedy rather than be confused that it's not a comedy. The very last shot/word kills me.

NPH definitely deserves a pizza-trophy.

I would not say that Joss has issues with sacrificial women. He's written pretty clearly in other places about his own feminist rage at how women are too often sacrificed for the sake of reinforcing cultural values that themselves disempower women. I consider him a feminist. And yeah, while I have some issues with some of the storylines, I also adore some of the women he's given us.

Which is just kinda my way of saying that I'd rather separate my critique of the ending from a critique of Joss.

Eh, I think that he is often blind to the problematic aspects of some narrative devices of which he is fond, and this shows up with Tara, Fred, and Penny.

It would have been possible to have his death and maintain her agency, while still having her the Tragic Victim of the battle between Hammer and Horrible (Sophia! I was snickering at the BillyWilliamLiam thing, too! Just not online. Dude. Baby name books are not expensive. Did a Bill kill your village?) if, say, she'd put herself in front of the thing to shield one of them, or had been hit while saving some OTHER innocent (I mean, there was a room full of them). You know, having done something the least bit active? I mean, I'd still be irked, but I'd be less irked.

How long are we white-fonting, btw? The free net content goes poof on Sunday midnight like Cinderella and the pumpkin, if I recall. Do we WF until then, after which we can black-font discuss to our hearts' content?

I coughed up the four bucks for the iTunes purchase for the whole thing. Regardless of my issues with the denouement, I'm glad I bought it, because DAMN, these songs are catchy. I found myself humming the tunes all day under my breath without meaning to. The duet opening the Act II remains my favourite -- the overlapping lyrics there are very clever indeed. As for NPH, I always knew he was adorable and talented, but I think this is the first venture where I found myself actively crushing on the dude. The bit during the aforementioned duet where Billy and Penny sing "I cannot believe my eyes... it's plain to see, evil/rapture inside of me" against the wall makes my heart go pitter-patter. The harmony is *gorgeous*, and the way NPH leans back against the wall in his wee hoodie, looking bitter and like his heart is breaking -- whoa boy.

I am the white-fonting part Vonnie. I stopped counting the number of times I saw that song, and specifically that part (or maybe it's just the wall thing, and then I just might have a thing for scenes with walls and agony in them).

Hee! Vonnie I've been singing that same part over and over today.

Hee, Shir, I think it just may be the wall thing. Well, wall and the agony, like you said. The beginning of that bit when NPH *throws* himself to the wall -- OK, I find that hotter than anything in the whole show. And the way his voice goes for broke when he sings "evil inside of me"? Day-um. And the clever, clever lyrics. I particularly love the way Billy's line of "how the world's full of filth and lies" and Penny's "how the world's finally growing wise" start together, diverge, and come back on that final "-ise".

I've seen that wall duet scene before. Was it West Side Story ?

I watched Act III earlier today, and was completely caught off-guard by the ending. The tonal shift just smacks you upside the head.

I just re-watched all the way through, and the tonal shift still seems rather abrupt. However, part of me wonders if it is Joss sort of saying "Hello, you're rooting for the bad guy! What exactly did you think was going to happen?"

I don't know. It still seems a bit off, somehow. Overall, I think that Act II is my favorite of the three.

That said, Bad Horse actually being a horse fills me with glee for some reason. I wonder if that's just Joss being goofy or it's a joke aimed at all the hyper-intelligent evil gorillas that exist in comic books.

Overall, though, I completely agree with the assesment that NPH is made of awesome in this.

I just caught that the Wonderfluonium case says, "DO NOT BOUNCE."