Split Screen: Swiss Miss

Hello there Split Screen fans! It’s your intro blog host Madelyn, putting on my Izuku Midoriya hat to analyze the actions and strategies of heroes in training and uh, undercover South Koreans. This week, Crash Landing on You’s main couple takes an unexpected European detour, My Hero gets some unexpected vine proselytizing , and I completely expectedly shirk half of my new emoji responsibilities (sorry Emma). Let’s make like our favorite k-drama loving North Korean soldier and start watching!

(New to Split Screen? Catch up on all our past editions here!)

Crash Landing on You Episode 2 (from minute 40)

M: It’s hard to talk about anything in the episode except the bizarre ending flash to Switzerland, but I will try. 

E: The Switzerland scene literally erased the rest of the episode from my mind. I have no idea what happened anymore. The sheer confusion. I’m Kaminari now.

M: There were a lot of wild things that happened throughout, but they all pale in comparison. 

E: It’s because they were wild but they were still in context. The Switzerland thing is so far out of context.

M: That does sum it up. But okay, let’s talk about other stuff first. One of the big reveals is that, surprise surprise, Captain Ri is someone important. 

E: Who was it again? Director of the Political Bureau? ‘S son.

M: There’s another word in there somewhere, but yeah. 

E: The General Political Bureau is what Google tells me

M: Does Google clarify what that is?

E: It’s the political head of the military, basically, says Wikipedia.

M: That would make sense. I hope the guy who tried to interrogate Captain Ri wasn’t executed. 

E: Hopefully not. I was definitely wondering in that scene why Captain Ri was so incredibly flippant and confident about the whole thing. But it makes sense now. Perhaps also why he’s not overly worried about the South Korean woman in his home.

M: I know, I just thought he was a cocky dude with a sense of justice, but actually he is a prince. 

E: There’s also now this subplot about the murder of his brother and a case of serial murders all using the same car. And this dude in the military who has it out for him and either killed his brother or thinks Captain Ri killed his brother. I’m not sure which yet, but gotta be one of those.

M: Look, those are common trucks. They could be anywhere, nothing suspicious. 

E: “Face the future! Don’t think about the murders of yesterday!”

M: Our eyes are on the front of our face for a reason. 

E: I’m a little worried I am not going to be able to keep up with the whole military side of this plot. I am stupid. I haven’t watched anything, like, complicated in so long, Madelyn.

M: I’m grateful that all the doofus military guys have defining traits, except that one guy, because they all have the same outfit, they’re all officers in similar officer-type offices, and I don’t know who anyone is relative to anyone else. 

E: I suppose it might help to have more common knowledge about North and South Korea and the military there, which might be less of a problem for Korean viewers. 

M: That’s fair.

E: I don’t know how famous some of these actors are too, maybe they’re more recognizable to people who watch lots of Korean tv. 

M: Like our friend “k-drama North Korean.”

E: He only knows dramas from ten years ago though.

M: I only know dramas from ten years ago. 

E: Anyway, Captain Ri’s status also explains why he’d be able to buy thousands of dollars of South Korean cosmetics, probably. And a candle.

M: This show has so many genres going on at once. On one hand, a murder mystery conspiracy. On the other, an unlikely romance! On the other, a buddy comedy. 

E: I related the one guy who got the hiccups when he was nervous. 

M: They do not need to be this nice to Se-ri. She is a pain. 

E: Bad shot man did tell her they were going to bury her in the yard, and k-drama man is using her for her knowledge of, well, k-drama.

M: Bad shot man’s name is Pyo Chi Su, by the way. As you suggested, I wrote it down. 

E: We should start, like, a glossary at the bottom of these posts. Like the terms they explain on the screen in this show.

EDITOR EMMA: I probably will not do this.

M: At the very least, it would be helpful for us. 

E: What would you do if you were hiding from the authorities in another country and suddenly you hear “home inspection”? And you were alone?

M: I don’t think I would have kept the lamp on to begin with. 

E: Yeah, I think I would just be hiding under the bed, maybe with my candle.

M: How did she even get to the kimchi cellar without getting caught? Isn’t that at the front of the house?

E: There’s more than one entrance, I think. So maybe she slipped out one while they were coming in the other? I don’t have a firm grasp on the house’s layout either.

M: I can’t say I would be thinking this clearly, but if I had managed to get out to the front of the house and no one had spotted me, I would run. The kimchi cellar seems appealing, but there’s nowhere to hide, and of course they’re going to check there. 

E: I would be a little worried about soldiers set up around the periphery though. 

M: She’s met the soldiers though. So far, North Korea’s military has given her little to fear. 

E: Yeah, but…

M: I know. I’m just saying, the kimchi cellar is a little obvious. Speaking of obvious, I can’t believe you were totally right last time when I asked how long until Captain Ri had to pretend that Se-ri is his wife and you said “the second half of this episode.”

E: Fiancée is definitely a stronger lie than wife, I’ll give him that.

M: Do you think he had to come up with that in the ten second walk from his celebrity plates car, or do you think he had already thought it through on the race from Pyongyang?

E: I bet he was hoping he would get there before they found her, so hard to say. I don’t know how much he plans things out yet.

M: Obviously he’s been eavesdropping on those k-dramas. 

E: I hope the k-drama soldier has some good k-drama advice for him.

M: I can’t believe he’s going to pretend that she’s a spy who was undercover in the South.

E: I guess he has to explain her weird behavior? That’s my only guess as to where that comes from. 

M: It’s still a super bold move. Also, it seems like he might have a girlfriend.

E: Wait, he went to Switzerland for college….I remember this because it was a music college and the quote in the next on was like “does your girlfriend play piano” or something. That’s the connection. 

M: I guess it’s time to talk about that utterly strange Swiss scene. 

E: I think they’re going to die Romeo and Juliet style before the end of the show. And these Switzerland scene will be their next lives where they’re haunted by their past selves and the soulmate they lost. But then they rediscover each other and live happily ever after. 

M: I think that’s way too extreme. I think it’s more likely that it was a flashback, especially now that you mentioned he went to college in Switzerland. 

E: And she was looking at the paragliders…Maybe she’s the girlfriend who plays piano…

M: Stop that, they would remember that. 

E: Maybe they both have amnesia. Remember, the k-drama soldier was saying, they always get amnesia. That’s called foreshadowing. 

M: It’s too meta, I can’t. Anyway, excited to see how the parallel universe Swiss versions of these characters develop. 

E: The bird in Switzerland was not CG. Real bird.

M: Bird Watch, done. Romance Tracker?

E: Well, they’re engaged now. By the way, starting to feel a little disconnected from the plot happening in South Korea right now. 

M: Yeah, who cares? They’re not going to find her, and they’re all so awful.

E: We’ll have to see, but curious how they’re going to try and continue to make that plotline relevant. 

M: I predict they’ll be back in the South at midseason. They’re laying the boring groundwork for that. Also for the fun “generator bike to fitness bike” transition shots. 

E: Fair enough. That was fun.

M: Next time, the village women are going to make them smooch. 

E: Or murder her. One or the other.

M: One and then the other. 

My Hero Academia S5E4: “Make It Happen, Shinso!”

E: Not a lot happened this episode, but I had some good fun with it.

M: This episode was much more concerned with style than My Hero usually is. 

E: Yeah, I really like (I think this is a new thing) the increased amount of visual sound effects? Very comic book-y, I think they work nicely.

M: But other than that, not a ton of substance. A glimpse of some heroes working together, Koda once again getting sidelined. Wish we got to see the gnat attack. 

E: I hope it plays a prominent role in the next arc or something. His fly attack. That’s called foreshadowing, baby.

M: Shinso seems to be doing okay. He’s making friends now. He’s a soft boy. Kaminari knows just what to say. 

E: I think Kaminari has pretty good social skills to be honest. Just everything else needs some work. 

M: Good thing the electricity doesn’t sap his EQ. 

E: That’d be a very different character.

M: That’s Bakugo. The man sweats out his compassion. 

E: I hope that’s how it actually works. Quirk Singularity Doomsday. All Quirks run on human love.

M: Let’s not talk about the Singularity, please. 

E: We need to bring it up every blog because it’s so wild.

M: The episode was fun, but there’s really not much there. Is the whole season going to be like this? Deku frantically taking notes and high-fiving Mineta when they know what’s going on?

E: It’s twenty five episodes like usual, so I’m go ahead and say no. There’s usually at least two, sometimes three arcs in a season. So at worst, this will go to episode 12. And I definitely see them bringing at least the vestiges stuff back before then.

M: I hope they speed up the fights a bit moving forward. Until we get to Deku’s, which will obviously be four episodes long. 

E: I really don’t mind this so far! Which is boding well, because I remember being sick of the testing arc by like the second episode of it. So if I’m still having fun, that’s good.

M: It’s pretty fun, I’ll give them that. I want more shots of the classmates roasting the team’s strategic decisions though. 

E: That’s all Deku does. The boy just writes down all your weaknesses in his little, slightly creepy notebook, capping them off with “working hard to achieve their dreams. QED.”

M: That’s not entirely true. He was psyched when Tsu spit all over the other two boys. 

E: We figured it out before they actually showed them covered in spit, but I was still not prepared. I would just forfeit.

M: What else was she going to do with her hand drool? I also loved when Shinso was almost to the confrontation, and then found out that one of the other kids was there (when obviously Vine Girl was going to be there) and he was like “maybe we should just turn around?” Like, you’re losing bro. 

E: Vine girl is kinda scary. I will give him that. She’s got a weird Jesus thing going on.

M: I don’t get it. I don’t like it. 

*Long break while Emma researches “vines in the Bible”*

E: Anyway, summarized, she is very weird.

M: Overall, not that impressed with this Class B bunch. Learning algebra has not helped them very much in the hero department. 

E: I felt very bad for the scaly boy. I felt like he is me on group projects.

M: Communication is breaking down! 

E: “If you would just look at me!” “Words would be appreciated!”

M: Hmmm, what should we name this boy with a dragon power? So many options to choose from. 

E: To be fair, all the names in My Hero are puns, we just happen to know the dragon one. 

M: I recognize that Tetsu Tetsu is a pun. 

E: I would be worried if you didn’t. Even if you didn’t know, you’d have to think “there’s something punny going on with that name.”

M: I also feel bad for the boy captured via tongue. And I feel bad that I had to watch him think about that. 

E: Don’t. He was happy.

M: Well, yay Class A, victory! Lawsuit Watch?

E: I know Beastie Boy was like “villains wouldn’t be taken down by this!” but I think a lot of people would be murdered by the large pipe that Shinso dropped on his head with great force.

M: Beast also threw Shinso very high in the air. 

E: Beast threw, I think, every member of that team except for Koda. 

M: So, that’s not safe. On the other hand, Captain Ri could probably sue over his interrogation, assuming North Korea at least has fake laws about that kind of thing. 

E: Can you sue people in North Korea? Is that just an American thing?

M: It’s not just an American thing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a North Korean thing. 

E: Yeah, to be honest, most of the My Hero stuff was well within the usual scale of child endangerment. I’m suing the boy who liked Tsu’s tongue. For psychic damage.

M: That’s a strong suit.

E: I mean, good for you, bro. Didn’t want to know. 

M: Ready for some predictions?

E: I’m ready. You first!

M: Okay, I don’t remember who is in the next group, so that’s a major downside.

E: Here’s the next fight in an image:

M: Riiiight, fungal girl. I should have remembered that. 

E: I am also very curious about the person on the far right of Class B there.

M: His name is Manga! I noticed that when I rewatched with CBB!

E: What is his power though? 

M: He’ll probably turn everyone into live action. 

E: Oh no… Is that your prediction?

M: That, and Kendo should keep her giant fists away from the fungal girl. Does Kendo have giant fists? Athlete’s Hand would be bad…or nail fungus. Maybe that would be a super power actually. Giant fungus-y hands. Emoji that. 

E:

M: I hate it. Your turn. 

E: Judging solely by this image above, I think that Class 1-B is going to win this one because they’ve come up with a pose and are all performing it flawlessly while Class 1-A is looking wishy washy.

M: This is a powerhouse line-up from 1-A though. How hard will it be to capture Invisible Girl?

E: Those are not emoji.

M: 💃🕺 🦸🦸🦸🦸…actually, 🐦👷 [   ] ✨

E: Readers, just so you know, we usually write the emojis out while doing this and replacement them later. And Madelyn’s emoji game is weak. Her instructions are as wishy washy as Class 1-A’s poses.

M: You’ve been doing these emojis since 2018, cut me some slack. 

E: You’re up.

M: Present Mic will finally make his way down to the arena and Class B’s teacher and him will have rival commentary. 

E: 🎤 vs 🩸

M: What is Blood Command? Speaking of villain quirks. Blood bending is bad. 

E: “I want to brainwash this person”

M: I forgot about that! How did he discover this power? Have you ever looked at someone and thought “I want to brainwash them?”

E: Probably not in those exact words, no. 

M: Bring it home. 

E: Since Tokoyami is in this one, I bet we take the opportunity to cut back to Hawks who is attempting to ingratiate himself in the League. With like. Smash Bros night or something, I don’t know. Something stupid.

M: We did talk about them breaking the street date for some game at some point, I don’t remember what. 

E: She’s avoiding her emoji responsibility.

M: Man, I already used a bird emoji

E: 🐥 👊 🎮

–

Emma here! Thanks for watching along with us. God, I’m sorry for how long it’s been. We’ll get there, we’ll figure out how to do this. By which I mean “I” of course.

You can watch Crash Landing on You on Netflix and the MHA dub on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and the decaying corpse of Funimation. Next time! More battles! Who could have guessed?

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