Nothing To See

first off we're gonna ditch tuah being an old friend of andy's because i dont think that makes sense. like theres these other immortals for centuries, and joe and nicky and quynh havent dreamed about them for some reason altho nile has, and andy's been lying about them, and whatever? dumb.

instead, we'll have tuah and uma both exist largely as the same characters only they will have figured out some [handwaves] way of keeping themselves separate from the other immortals because they Dont Want A Part Of What Andromache Is Doing. for different reasons: tuah's become something of a pacifist, wants to be with his books, and uma thinks they shouldnt interfere with the lives of mortals.

fast forward to now. we forget the whole first/last plot, the whole losing/giving immortality thing. uma's figured out some way - maybe using the research merrick managed to do? - to slow and even stop the immortality, and kill them.

she's going after them.

tuah reveals himself to andy and the crew, and theyre not sure if they can trust him, but he's a good guy and he proves it. etc etc

quynh stuff happens more or less the same, i think.

nile isnt a fucking plot-convenient weapon who is being used without her knowledge or consent. dumb.

booker never loses his immortality because suicidal people shouldnt be handed a noose and told to just have at it. andy is mortal the entire movie, and when uma tries to leech her immortality from her in their fight scene, she just laughs.

i think also theres a bit here where theres like - uma has figured out how to kill them, the thing booker wanted merrick to do. so nicky doesnt trust booker to have their backs in a fight against her. and booker says he's on their side, he's not gonna betray them again, and thats enough for joe, and it drives the wedge further between nicky and joe.

i'd cut down the whole final sequence to about eleven minutes of action total tbh. and then i'd end with uma managing to escape, but our gang victorious, with some injuries (andy, copley) and a big happy dinner scene or something ending it on a high note.

A few highlights from Letters Live at The Roundhouse → The Last Word Festival, July 28 2021

Benedict Cumberbatch reads several letters, including an apology from Nick Burchill to the Fairmont Empress hotel about a seagull infestation in his room, Jacob Vowell’s last words to his wife Ellen before the miner suffocated to death after a coal mine explosion in Fraterville, Tennessee, in 1902, and Nick Cave’s reply to a fan letter sent to the singer in 2018 from someone named Cynthia who lost her father, sister and her first love in the span of a few years. The letter inspired Cave’s single called “Grief”.

Benedict also introduces Mohamedou Ould Slahi on stage. Slahi, a Mauritanian man, was held without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay detention camp for 14 years. Before he was released in 2016, he wrote a memoir Guantánamo Diary to wide acclaim. Benedict’s own company helped develop the story for the screen in the movie The Mauritanian (2021).

Imperialism kills.