#reiverreturns

MONICA BARBARO via Instagram January 16, 2022

i know? my brand recognition is in shambles!! there is ANARCHY in the streets!!!!

5. TV show of the year?

oh my god without question it has to be andor. i only just finished it last night, and it's not even recency bias; it's the best show i've seen this year by a long shot. the best way i can describe how i feel about it is that ever since black sails ended in 2017 i've been looking for a show that scratches that same itch and i have finally found it. i really think the ghost of james flint has possessed tony gilroy because andor is literally the closest thing to s3-4 of black sails in theme and in spirit that i have ever seen.

and i'm not even a huge star wars fan, i like the movies just fine but that's where my interest, historically, stops. i've never watched any other star wars show or played any of their games. but andor was clearly created with so much love and care and nuance and restraint and internal consistency and faith in its audience! it is the antithesis of the atrocity that was rise of skywalker lmfao

11. Something you want to do again next year?

i want to travel abroad again (pandemic safety permitting ofc)! i'm thinking mexico, the mediterranean, or iceland? 👀

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

answered here!

cause hear me out --

it's the first conversation they've had since russia, right?

ilya has spent months living with his father's words in his head -- he's supposed to be the kind of captain that overcomes injured players and a team not 'clicking.' he's supposed to stop looking for someone else to blame. he's supposed to stop squandering the promise of who he was when he was younger.

so ilya has channeled all of that shame and rage and hurt into becoming the kind of captain who only needs one thing. the one who scores ten goals over six playoff games. the one who needs to win.

and he does.

and he has lived with his father's words in his head for months --

how are you not ashamed? i'm ashamed, father.

-- and he has isolated himself for all this time. he's pushed shane away. he's become the player his father insisted he should be. he's won the cup, but it's maybe cost him the faith he had in himself and the faith he hopesbelieveswishes shane might have had in him.

and then --

like it's simple.

like it's a possibility shane's considered and believes in as easy as breathing, shane asks, "and if you win?"