#ml josiane

Is it just me, or are we getting more “beach” episodes since the Miracuclass aged up a bit? Then again, this series has spanned ten years IRL, and many of the kids who watched it from the beginning are now teenagers themselves.

All Adrien and Marinette want is to be themselves and to be together. But Adrien’s “legacy” and Marinette’s Big Secret never let them stay happy for long.

Mylène makes for an unlikely influencer. Remember how back in the “Horrificator” ep in season 1, she couldn’t even get through the rehearsals for a middle-school student film? Mylène’s done some growing up herself over the years.

What precisely does the Kingdom have against a healthy, happy, educated, and equitable Paris? Allow me to suggest a theory. In the Shadyverse depicted in the Paris special, the whole world is controlled by “the Supreme”, to whom Gabriel once owed fealty but ultimately betrayed. The Kingdom is seeking world domination as well, by means of the Miraculous. But in this universe as well, Gabriel betrayed them so he could use the Miraculous for his own ends. And the idea of Mayor Bustier offering her city as a vision of the future, a future the Kingdom doesn’t control, is unacceptable.

Manon isn’t well-liked in the fandom, but perhaps it’s because she reminds them too much of themselves: a relentless shipper who doesn’t know when to shut up.

Based on Nathalie’s reaction to Noe’s offer, she wanted to tear up the paperwork and shove it down the guy’s throat. But she didn’t, because she wants whatever Adrien wants. And yet Nathalie’s apparent disapproval was enough to give Adrien pause. Also, the Gabriel brand is one of the last connections Adrien has to his father, regardless of how the company dictated his life in the past.

Observant viewers will note that Mylène has prepared vegetarian dinners for two. Additionally, they’ll read between the lines and realize Mylène’s mother has passed, making her one of three Miraculers with a deceased parent and the only one who didn’t die from Miraculous-wish disease. (Not even “Yaksi Gozen” covered what happened to Kagami’s father, nor do we have any in-show intel on what happened to the mothers of Alix, Ivan, Kim, or Sabrina, or on Max’s dad.) Perhaps Ivan’s mother is also dead, and his and Mylène’s mutual grief helped bind them together?

Fred’s situation is what happens when you look at the money and sign your name to something before reading all the documentation. Josiane (renamed from “Sarah” since her first appearance) did the same thing, as we’ll see later.

Noe is obviously working at the Kingdom’s behest, and his goal is equally transparent: sowing enough controversy and “debate” about ML and CN’s role in defeating Hawkmoth to make people lose trust in them, therefore destabilizing Mayor Bustier’s placid and perfect city. The allegations leveled against Mayor Bustier by the new “fair and balanced” TVi serve the same end. (Sadly, this plotline is another one ripped from the headlines.) This gambit is reminiscent of how Vincent Asa’s social media channel nearly sabotaged Marinette and Adrien’s relationship… coincidence?

Here it is, folks: the shot that’s been on your Tumblr feed since the trailer dropped… and probably your cellphone wallpaper as well.

Shit, Manon, isn’t there a Parcheesi set or an electrical outlet you can play with?!?

I really thought we were gonna see a Miraculer get akumatized this time. I’m glad we didn’t, but I’m still waiting for the butterfly to land. Mylène does, however, join the list of Miraculers who ended up fighting their own possessed parents (full list: Adrien, Ivan, Juleka, Kagami, Marinette, Max, Nathaniel, and Sabrina).

The return of the Mime raises the question of whether violent vigilante justice is an appropriate reaction to seemingly untouchable heads of maleficent corporations. This program posits the idea that it isn’t necessary as long as we have a financially and ideologically independent press that publicly confronts people who abuse their power. It’s a lesson Nadja took to heart, launching her own podcast to counter the narrative of her old network, which can no longer be trusted as long as Noe Luxsus owns it.

There’s a trend among akumatized villains to obscure their objects of power in places hard to find or easily overlooked. The Watsonian explanation is that Chrysalis is spreading her wings, finding new ways to wreak havoc. The Doylist counterpart is that the writers are themselves innovating to avoid repeating plots, a perpetual hazard of the “Monster of the Week” trope. ML and CN can still get the job done; they just have to work a little harder at it.

This show already has three pairs of superhero lovebirds who know each other’s identities… how long before there’s a fourth?

Between “Wreckless Driver” and this ep, Polymouse has been in the forefront lately. Involving a hero who specializes in multiple approaches to complex problems provides a subtle commentary on how we can fight the forces of “fake news” and misinformation. Specifically, the solutions will come from responsible journalists willing to defy the people writing their paychecks, an educated public that demands and seeks out responsible reporting, media companies that monitor and moderate their own content (however reluctantly), and everybody just calming the hell down and thinking about the implications of their actions.

Fred Haprèle gives his finest performance yet, not as a mime, but as himself. If you didn’t get chills from his warning to Noe about remembering who saved him from the Mime’s wrath, check yourself for a pulse.