Split Screen: Fungus (and Wiretaps) Among Us

Hello there, Split Screen fans! Welcome back to your favorite (only?) Crash Landing on You and My Hero Academia watchblog! This week, listen in on who’s listening in on our ragtag bunch of North Korea soldiers and their South Korean business exec houseguest, and contemplate the ethics of lungus (that’s a mushroom attack in the lungs) among classmates in My Hero Academia. Let’s watch!

(New to Split Screen, or joining us after a break? Catch up on all our past editions here!)

Crash Landing On You Episode 3 (from minute 35)

M: After a break from South Korean shenanigans last time, we’re back to bickering family fun with the Queen Group. 

E: We only check in with them briefly and they are being as casually callous about their sister’s disappearance and/or probable death as they’ve ever been.

M: The older brother can’t even stomach his favorite sea bream head. 

E: Clearly it’s the younger brother’s wife who should inherit the company here.

M: That’s what I was going to say! She already has a company though. 

E: I mean, she seems sort of mean and ruthless so maybe she shouldn’t, but in terms of rich people’s motivations, she should.

M: She’s the only one who seems to have a brain. Now, she chooses evil, but a brain is better than no brain. 

E: She doesn’t get quite to figuring out where the man who stole their money has run to, but she gets closer than her husband who’s like “IDK, Macau!”

M: When she mentioned China, I thought the connection was going to be via communism, but no, she was just wrong.

E: The right logic to eventually get there though. After all, literally who would expect him to be in North Korea.

M: Apparently no one. The same for employees of Se-ri’s Choice. The insurance guy seems ready for Se-ri to be on a deserted island, but they’re also right next to North Korea…

E: Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe they just try not to think about North Korea.

M: I mean, fair. I can’t believe they created that character to justify the premise of this whole show. I wonder if the Australian woman who survived a paragliding accident is real?

E: I believe it. Any extreme sport there’s some weird survivalist story, so.

M: I’m disappointed that Se-ri’s right-hand man isn’t climbing the fence to North Korea as we speak.

E: Well, theoretically Se-ri is back on her way home. Theoretically.

M: It does not look good. To put it mildly. 

E: Initially I thought that there were clouds on the horizon and another literal act of God was going to stop her. But no, it’s just the military.

M: The man who won’t be bribed. 

E: Just take the phone card, my dude. 

M: He’s no phony. 

E: But anyway, before that, they all somehow manage to not give Se-ri away even while they’re being listened to and don’t know they’re being listened to.

M: The wiretap man was a very fun device this episode. So many good gags. This was a pretty funny episode overall. 

E: Yeah, the humor was good. I liked the awards ceremony.

M: The awards ceremony was too much. Giving away the Captain’s corn? Knowing that k-drama boy (Kim? I think his last name is Kim? Kim for k-drama rings a bell) wouldn’t choose the TV over a post-reunification date with his favorite star? Giving Drunk Dude body wash? 

E: We really should make a name glossary for ourselves and force ourselves to learn them (EDITOR EMMA: We do not do this. We never do this. I’m sorry.)

M: They don’t say their names more than once an episode, to be fair. I recognize the characters. 

E: I know, that’s why we should make a glossary.

M: Maybe next time. In the meantime, my new name for the boring guy is Lofty Handsome Boy. 

E: He did not want lunch with Miss Korea nor did he want a hug. 

M: Handsome men are lofty wherever you go. 

E: He did praise Se-ri for having good taste though.

M: And then…the powerful corn bite. 

E: Very good acting prop, a lot of good emotion to wring out of it.

M: More shows should utilize the storytelling power of corn on the cob. 

E: Se-ri also gifted an orphan boy with more of Captain Ri’s food. At this point, he needs to go to South Korea so that he doesn’t starve through the winter.

M: Good thing he still has plenty of potatoes…oh wait. 

E: Oops!

M: I wouldn’t have known that half a sack of potatoes was a bad trade for a tomato plant either. 

E: It’s definitely less tomatoes than potatoes, and I personally like potatoes more.

M: I mean, agreed. But video game logic says that potatoes are worthless. 

E: Anyway, now Captain Ri has a tomato plant that he must say nice words to.

M: The end credit stinger? I truly thought it was a code for the wiretap guy, but then when he said “it’s a code!” I was baffled until the reveal. So sweet when he said “piano.”

E: Very good. The hesitation beforehand. 

M: I don’t think Se-ri meant to say ten nice words in isolation, but you know. It’s the thought that counts. 

E: I also liked that he took one back because it wasn’t nice enough.

M: “Kite.”

E: Man, is that the whole episode? It was fun! Oh, except for the end.

M: Yeah, except for the big escape, that was basically it. I guess we saw the smuggler and the evil soldier dude try to threaten each other. 

E: Considering the next one lets us know the results of this episode’s ending, I’m thinking that they’re going to accidentally find Se-ri in North Korea while looking for the smuggler man. I think that’s how he fits in.

M: I’ve been thinking that since episode one. Based on the preview though, I think she’s going to realize the search party is here first, and that’s why she gets back into her jumpsuit, readying herself to be found. 

E: I’m just wondering how the heck the kiss keeps them from being arrested.

M: She said it! She said it’s what they do in South Korean dramas when situations get bad! 

E: Captain Ri knows only one strategy and it’s romance. First, fiancée. Now, just kiss.

M: I can’t believe the love triangle is going to be two women and one man. I thought for sure it was going to be the smuggler and Captain Ri. 

E: Could still be! We’re still early!

M: I also can’t believe the first thing Captain Ri said to Se-ri when they were doing their “we’re never going to see each other again” bit was to roast her for saying she was good at piano. 

E: Only the truth. Anybody can learn For Elise. 

M: I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get another Swiss scene at the end. That scene remains inscrutable. 

E: Me too! I really kinda thought we were going to check in there at the end of every episode, but it seems like not.

M: Look, I can’t fault them for ending on the dramatic mid-raid kiss, but still, hopefully next time. Romance Tracker?

E: Romance Tracker is hard on this show. There’s no dedicated love triangle or side relationships.

M: Yet. We’re only three episodes in. 

E: But I feel like our other two shows had that from the beginning

M: I’ve already forgotten Coffee Prince.

E: She met the older one first. With Sweeper.

M: You’re right, you’re right.

E: Mostly Sweeper.

M: For a moment I remembered the love triangle as between him and his gay feelings. 

E: Sure, that one too. Shrek.

M: Not enough Shrek in this so far. Do they have Shrek in North Korea?

E: They should. K-drama guy should get into Shrek for true art.

M: I doubt they can watch Shrek, but they can watch this.

E: Oh no. 

M: How long until one of them realizes they have feelings for the other? That can be the Tracker this time. 

E: Like, next episode, I bet.

M: Who do you think it will be?

E: Probably Se-ri first. 

M: Dang, I was going to say Captain Ri. Guess we’ll find out!

E: This week in CGI animals. The moon was fake.

M: Also the boat. 

E: The boat was not fake, but the water was.

M: That’s why I keep you around, for hot takes like that. 

E: You’re welcome.

My Hero Academia S5E6: “Foresight”

M: These episodes are fun individually, but nothing is convincing me this wouldn’t have been better as a crisp highlight reel. I want the ESPN cut. 

E: Yeah, it feels like an unfortunate byproduct of adaptation. You have your source, you have your number of episodes, and ideally you want to leave it in a decent place for a season to end when the source doesn’t have that concern. You will have a fanbase that will cry and scream like little kicking babies when you don’t adapt a manga panel they like. And that means sometimes you get really fast stuff and sometimes you get really slow stuff.

M: It does drive me nuts when shows end seasons at awkward places. Like, the last three episodes or so of Jujutsu Kaisen I thought were so badly placed. 

E: Stuff like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia can probably get away with it if they want to because they’re going to keep getting made, but you still want to avoid it if possible. And I think that means this arc ended up getting more screen time than it needed.

M: Remember how I whined about how last season should have been three shortened arcs? Just saying, perfect opportunity here. 

E: I think that would have gone way too fast if they’d put this at the end of last season.

M: Not if it was a tight highlight reel version and we trimmed some of the fat from Overhaul!

E: It is a lose lose situation with source material because somebody’s mad at you either way.

M: I can’t argue with that. Anyway, we pick up where we left off with the Team Momo versus Team Kendo fight. 

E: Everybody’s getting shroomed.

M: I guess drugs are really bad in Japan, because there was a missed opportunity here. 

E: Yeah drugs are a big no no in Japan. Like pot will end you basically. 

M: The missed opportunity of a magic mushroom power though. 

E: I don’t see how they were all just nonchalantly brushing the mushrooms off of them. I don’t know how mushrooms work to be fair, but it feels like it would hurt to do that. Maybe they don’t have roots, I don’t know.

M: Yeah, I won’t pretend to be a fungus expert, but they should have gone one way or the other. Either it should be painful, or they should have chilled about it and kept pushing through the mushroom time. 

E: “Do mushrooms have roots?” The answer is ‘No’, but they do have a wonderful rootlike structure called mycelium.”

M: Ah, well now I know. Wonderful!

E: Thanks, Google top result for “do mushrooms have roots”

M: Did Kinako write this?

E: Probably. She did seem to think her mushrooms were wonderful.

M: It sucks that Aoyama got humiliated again. 

E: “No! Can’t Stop Twinkling!”

M: Everyone’s hero names are so dumb. I could not be a student at UA, because I would not be able to use those names. 

E: Tokoyami would also react in this exact same way if he found himself covered in glitter.

M: Dark Shadow should have just eaten the mushrooms off of Tokoyami. 

E: I was kind of expecting Dark Shadow to go wild at the end there. I mean, Tokoyami is choking to death, it’s kind of dark, I dunno, I expected there to be a struggle there.

M: Not even choking. It would be one thing to make a mushroom grow in his throat so he had to get the heimlich and let go. It’s a whole other level of human rights abuse to make mushrooms grow in his lungs. 

E: The Weld guy said that they just disappear in two to three hours, so it’s fine. Speaking of which: is someone going to clean up all those mushrooms before the next team, or do Todoroki, Iida, & crew just have to deal with it. 

M: Koda can send in a clean-up crew. Let the mushroom-eating rats descend. 

E: I wouldn’t have minded seeing rats versus mushrooms battle. That’d be too far into horror for My Hero.

M: I hate that so much. I would quit the show. 

E: I wish Manga had gotten more to do, his power is fun. 

M: I know, they’ve been doing so much fun comic book art this arc, and I feel like scaled back this episode, when it could have been coolest. 

E: There was a lot of it! 

M: I wanted more! 

E: He had his little thoughts written out on his face.

M: That’s the thing that holds his power back. He cannot think without words appearing. Pretty good for cheating off of him on tests though.

E: But I thought that the Bam! bouncing off the Bouncy! for instance was very cool application of that ability

M: Was it as cool as the night vision goggles though?

E: I wish that all t-shirt cannons shot disinfectant and thermal goggles.

M: I won a t-shirt cannon thing at a baseball game once. Tank top and an Applebee’s gift card. Not quite as good. 

E: I think Momo’s not allowed to make money, probably.

M: Who could stop her? Her family is conspicuously wealthy. 

E: I wonder if her parent’s Quirks are the same or if some weird combinations of Quirks gave her this one.

M: I mean, where did Manga come from?

E: I do always really like the contrast of My Hero’s more grounded Quirks and then like: “he makes onomatopoeia come to life!”

M: I literally said that as a joke before I remembered who it was. 

E: “Does he need a translator when he goes abroad?”

M: I wonder what counts as a living thing for Momo. Can she make yogurt? 

E: Can she make food? I guess she should be able to?

M: Not if there’s yeast. Or lettuce. Can she make antibiotics? Or bacteria?

E: God, that’d be scary. Momo fights the mushrooms with a virus.

M: Well, viruses aren’t alive. 

E: So, she can make viruses?

M: If she studied their makeup, yes. 

E: Why doesn’t she just do that? Shoot a cannon of the flu.

M: Because unlike Fungal Queen, she has ethical boundaries.

E: It was very funny when Deku’s standing there like “wow, we’re all going to be heroes” and Tokoyami still has mushrooms in his lungs.

M: And then the episode ended. Tune in next time for his slow, painful death. 

E: I really feel like everyone on that Class A team really needed a win there. But they just did not get it.

M: This fight made me like Kendo less. If they’d pitted her against some Class 1-A folks who weren’t so badly in need of a W, this would have been fine. And then they didn’t even let her celebrate it! Lean all the way in, let her pump her giant fist like, heck yeah I won! But instead, she got to feel bad. Everyone got to feel bad. 

E: Tetsutestsu was thrilled though. He got to be the only one who was thrilled.

M: I hope Todoroki consoles his GF. 

E: Not to get to predictions early but pretty sure Todoroki’s group is going to lose too.

M: The Boys? The Boyos?

E: The Boyos are going down.

M: Well, Lawsuit Watch? I want to sue whoever put that Nietzche quote in there. 

E: I don’t think that would hold up in court, but I feel like Tokoyami has a lawsuit somewhere. He would lose because someone would say “how dare you quote Nietzche” and everyone would agree.

M: I’m sure he signed a fungal waiver. 

E: Just the 200 page waivers that all UA students must sign. 

M: You know there’s been an Athlete’s Foot hero before.

E: I hope so. I love that. What an oddly specific Quirk.

M: He has a big foot, like Kendo, but as punishment, his feet are covered in fungal growths. Anyway, wiretapping is probably bad, but not in North Korea!

E: I don’t know, Tokoyami got mushrooms in his lungs, I don’t think there’s a point going on.

M: What are the rules for firearms on campus? I guess Snipe is a teacher, so there must not be any. 

E: Yeah, Momo should really lean into making guns. She’s got this cape now, she should get a cowboy hat and make guns and make that her image. 

M: It’s bold, but it would work. 

E: She can work with Snipe. 

M: No, I want her to work with Fat Gum. The lipid heroes!

E: I don’t feel like I can dock Realism points for the kiss at the end of Crash Landing yet because we haven’t seen the result.

M: It doesn’t look like it’s going to work. 

E: But they aren’t in jail! So it must work somehow!

M: They’ll spin it like she was going on another spy assignment or something. And he was saying goodbye. 

E: Maybe, maybe. But I will dock Realism points because I can’t believe the wiretapper didn’t hear anything incriminating. 

M: That’s very fair. I’ll dock Realism points from My Hero, because a teenage boy with onomatopoeia powers not using BOING on Momo isn’t realistic. 

E: Why would you even say that?

M: It’s just the truth.

E: Alright, are we doing predictions? You’re up first.

M: Okay, the boys are back in town. Having Arms and Tails on the same team is definitely a disadvantage, because they are both lame. Oh, wait, duh. My prediction is that Todoroki does an ice blast. If I speak it into being, it will come true. 

E: 🧊😆🧊

M: Manifesting. Your turn!

E: Okay, so I sort of said this already, but since we have to have even wins and losses going into Deku’s match for dramatic effect, I am pretty certain that Todoroki and crew are going to lose this one and then Bakugo’s group is going to win theirs.

M: Could be two draws. 

E: I don’t think that was in the rules? 

M: Isn’t there a time limit?

E: It’s been a while, but I don’t think so. Anyway two draws are boring, so that’s my prediction. You’re supposed to do emojis, not negs.

M: Okay. 🔥 🧊 ⚙️ 👬 😢💥 🏆

E: There we go, that’s doing your job.

M: Okay, second prediction. Tailman tries to take charge of the planning, to Iida’s shock and chagrin. It turns out his plan is pretty good, but nobody takes him seriously and instead, Todoroki just ice blasts everywhere. 

E: 😱😠😑🧊

M: Okay, bring it home. 

E: Okay, meta prediction. Every time a character calls Todoroki “Shoto,” Madelyn does a little double-take before remembering.

M: 🇸🇭🅾️🇹🅾️ 😲 

–

Phew, another Split Screen in the books. Thanks for watching Crash Landing on You and My Hero Academia with us! We’re watching CLoU on Netflix and the MHA dub on Hulu.

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