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The Wide Screen – with Leith Skilling
Tag: Evan Peters
"WandaVision" Episode 9 – The Finale Aims High And Hits Hard
SPOILERS FOR WANDAVISION AHEAD!
In eight weeks, Marvel's WandaVision took us on a wild and occasionally bizarre journey for which I will forever be thankful – there was something about the experience of waking up at three o'-clock in the morning to watch episodes as they aired on Disney+ (or, in the case of the WandaVision finale, having to resist the temptation to do so because I'd promised my family to watch it with them for the first time) that felt truly special, and which I can't wait to repeat in two weeks once The Falcon And The Winter Soldier gets going. Along the way, I and other fans contributed to the experience by crafting complex fan-theories, and losing ourselves in elaborate worlds of our own creation, not unlike the series' grief-stricken heroine.
The Scarlet Witch | indianexpress.com
But in the end (and much to the shock and dismay of fans who got too invested in their theories), WandaVision was never a story about Multiverse shenanigans, or the enigmatic aerospace engineer's true identity, or Mephisto. Did that revelation blindside me too, to some extent? For sure. I was rooting for Dick Van Dyke to show up as Marvel's Satan until the very end. But the true plot twist was that WandaVision was always a deeply personal and excruciatingly intimate story about one woman (well, witch) processing overwhelming grief; one man (well, android) trapped in an existential crisis; one unusual couple who now stand alongside Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s FitzSimmons as the MCU's best-developed and most romantic duo. And the finale, while it could certainly have better served other characters and subplots, never once lost its focus on Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen, turning in Emmy-award deserving work) and The Vision (Paul Bettany), nor diminished the painful love that binds them together – and that's what truly matters, at least to me.
That painful love nearly gets Wanda killed just a few minutes into the episode, as the White Vision (also Bettany, a cameo he blew way out of proportion) lands in Westview. Wanda, who hasn't seen her husband since the morning of the Halloween episode, is slightly perturbed by the android's unfamiliar appearance, but ultimately accepts his proffered embrace and gentle caress – which quickly turns into a death-grip. The White Vision is close to popping Wanda's head open (he may have no emotions, but his voice certainly sounds gleeful as he mocks Wanda: "And they said you'd be powerful) when the real Vision suddenly arrives, punching his alabaster counterpart down the street and into a gas-tank. But even as White Vision is rising from the flames and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) is recovering from an earlier fight with Wanda (which left her lace-up boots trapped under a car in a clever nod to The Wizard Of Oz), Wanda still finds time to apologize to Vision, and fill him in on their situation – because their love and concern for each other's feelings precedes all else.
But to save Westview, they have to divide and conquer their opponents. Vision takes to the skies, battling the White Vision in an evenly-matched fistfight that makes good use of their respective laser beams and phasing abilities. But Wanda is up against an experienced sorceress who effortlessly absorbs every one of her hexes and sporadic outbursts of Chaos Magic, slowly leeching Wanda's strength and stamina in the process: the distinction between Agatha and Wanda, which Agatha exploits, is the latter's lack of knowledge about either her supernatural powers or her destiny as the heiress to the legacy of the mythical Scarlet Witch, whom Agatha claims is "forged" rather than born, possessed of no coven yet stronger than the Sorcerer Supreme himself, the subject of an entire chapter in the mysterious Darkhold, Agatha's book of dark magic – which was previously seen on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., albeit in a slightly different form.
But all of Agatha's cat-and-mouse games only serve to enrage Wanda, until the sorceress hits her where it hurts, by releasing all of the inhabitants of Westview from their enchantments and watching them turn on Wanda: forcing her to confront the pain and trauma that she's caused her neighbors, random strangers whose lives she's completely upended. It's clear that Wanda never meant to hurt any of the people she absorbed into The Hex, and that she convinced herself she was actually doing them all a favor by giving them new identities and storylines of their own, but that's not how it feels to people like Dottie (Emma Caulfield), who's revealed as a frightened mom named Sarah, or Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp), who literally begs for death. And Wanda, in one desperate selfless act, listens to their pleas and opens the boundaries of The Hex – giving the townsfolk an escape-route, and allowing in a handful of armored vehicles from S.W.O.R.D.
But when faced with the choice of saving Westview or her family, who begin to crumble away before her eyes as The Hex's walls come down, Wanda wastes no time re-establishing the barrier: trapping everyone inside for a final confrontation that splits the family up still further, with Billy and Tommy going after the S.W.O.R.D. intruders (neither using their powers very impressively, I'm sorry to say), Vision and White Vision wrecking the public library, and Wanda chasing down Agatha. Meanwhile, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) is still trapped in Agatha's house across town, being held captive by…well, I suppose it's time we talked about that. Despite wearing the face of the Fox X-Men universe's Peter Maximoff, the character played by Evan Peters on WandaVision is revealed to be a random guy named Ralph Bohner, with no role to play in the finale, no relation to the Maximoffs, and only a vague association to Agatha despite being the "Ralph" she's referenced since episode one. And then Monica overpowers him and leaves, and we never see him again. So, uh…yeah.
Ralph | thewrap.com
As for Monica, however, she arrives in the town square just in time to save Billy and Tommy, whom S.W.O.R.D. Director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) tries to gun down. Monica throws herself in front of the children, and her body absorbs the bullets. The CGI in this sequence is a bit weak, and honestly Monica deserved an action scene involving flight or photon-blasts, or just…I don't know, anything but essentially turning into glowing jelly. It doesn't help that Hayward is also a pathetic villain, who runs from Monica like a coward before Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) totals his armored vehicle with her funnel-cake truck.
In the library, a completely different kind of battle rages between Vision and White Vision – a quiet, yet strangely intense intellectual debate over the ancient "Ship of Theseus" puzzle, which trended on Twitter today. Vision pulls out the philosophical thought experiment to convincingly persuade White Vision that neither of them is the true Vision, and that both are, meaning that White Vision's orders to "destroy the Vision" cannot be fulfilled. A tender moment ensues as Vision restores White Vision's memories, ultimately resulting in him abandoning his mission and flying away. Whether he'll return is hardly in question: it's only a matter of where and when.
But of course the climax revolves around Wanda and Agatha, who engage in an arguably more traditional duel. Wanda even revisits tricks from her early days in the MCU, plunging Agatha into a hallucination from which the sorceress easily breaks free. The pair twirl dangerously through the skies above Westview, as Wanda's attacks seem to grow more frantic and her spells miss Agatha, hitting the sides of The Hex instead. But the clever twist here is that Wanda's been purposefully missing – so that when Agatha prepares to end Wanda, she finds she can't cast a single spell: because Wanda's been painting the walls of The Hex red with glowing runes. And as we all know from Agatha herself, "only the witch who cast the runes can use her magic in a given space". Wanda might not have received formal training, but she's a good listener.
And what better moment is there for her to finally embrace her role as the MCU's Scarlet Witch? Reabsorbing all the energy Agatha stole from her, Wanda bursts into magical flames, which weave around her to form a sleek, upgraded version of her comics-accurate costume – including long gloves, a cape, and the iconic tiara! The MCU's slow-burn approach once again pays off, as Wanda's transformation feels fully earned after years of wearing designer jackets, high-heeled boots, and perfectly-styled hair: all of which worked at the time, but wouldn't have felt appropriate going into Wanda's primordial goddess era.
Descending to earth in her new look, Wanda's first order of business is to imprison – not kill – Agatha, whom she reverts back to her identity as Agnes the nosy neighbor and leaves in Westview. Although we don't know of any plans for Agatha in the future, I'm sure there'll be reason to revisit her at some point: Agatha even tells Wanda as much, and Wanda assures her that, if that's ever the case, she'll know where to find her.
But as for Wanda herself, she can't stay in Westview (certainly not with the neighbors giving her death-stares everywhere she goes). She also can't keep WandaVision going, and that means it's time for the "incredibly sad" ending Teyonah Parris warned us was coming…as the magical boundaries of WandaVision quietly close in on Wanda's home, giving her a chance to spend a few more moments with her family before they must inevitably disintegrate. Outside The Hex, it's broad daylight. Inside, it's twilight time: Wanda and Vision put the kids to bed, with Wanda thanking the twins for choosing her to be their mom – an intriguing line. But while she chooses to let Billy and Tommy go peacefully in their sleep, Wanda shares one final scene with Vision downstairs in the living room: and it's the most beautiful scene in the series.
WandaVision | cinemablend.com
As the room revolves gently around them, changing backwards into black-and-white and bursting into vivid golden light, Wanda and Vision say their goodbyes – and Vision finally gets an answer to the question that has long plagued him: "What am I?" As Wanda explains it, he's the piece of the Mind Stone that still lives inside her, but he's more than that: he's her sadness, her hope, her grief and thus her love. He's her every emotion and memory made real, and because of that he is deeply, intrinsically human. It's a beautiful conclusion to Vision's journey: at least for the present. He tells Wanda in his last moments that he's been so many impossible things, there's no knowing what form he might take next.
And as Wanda leaves Westview, taking to the skies on a new journey of her own, I feel certain that someday, somehow, this unusual couple will find each other again. At the very least, the post-credits scene promises a reunion between Wanda and her twins somewhere down the line (we'll talk about that in a separate, later, post).
WandaVision quietly did what everyone wanted Marvel to start doing in Phase 4, which is to craft more unique, artistic, character-driven stories in multiple new genres. That the biggest complaint being weighed against it now is that it didn't have enough of the plot twists and action we've come to expect from the MCU is a testament to just how exciting this show really was, that it didn't need to rely on those elements to tell a compelling and beautiful story about grief, love, and the fullness of the human experience.
Episode Rating: 9/10
"WandaVision" Episode 8 Reveals Wanda's True Identity
Trying to devise ways for characters to spew exposition and backstory organically is always a stumbling block for writers (I speak from personal experience), particularly when that exposition has to introduce complicated concepts like Chaos Magic and "probability hexes". Which is why it's so awesome that WandaVision sidesteps this issue by simply devoting all but a few minutes of episode eight (the series' penultimate installment) to a series of exceptionally well-written and well-acted flashback sequences that allow us to see everything in real-time without being wordy or dull. What commentary there is, is dry, witty, and delivered with characteristic dark humor by onlooker Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), who describes it as looking "at some real reruns", an ingenious way of tying everything back to the sitcoms that started it all (quite literally, as we soon find out).
The Scarlet Witch | denofgeek.com
Even before those real reruns get started, though, we're treated to some more flashbacks of Agatha's own tragic past. Last week's "Agatha All Along" musical recap sequence was the campy cultural reset we all needed, and even though episode eight doesn't provide us with any more tunes to get us through the weekend, we have instead been blessed with Kathryn Hahn hamming it up for an over-the-top ridiculous Salem Witch Trial flashback that reveals how Westview's resident sorceress (well, one of many) got her start, by stealing forbidden knowledge of dark magic from her coven – and then transforming them into withered corpses, including her own mother (whose pendant she now wears as a creepy reminder). I don't mind me some Agatha wearing colonial attire – the energy of that outfit is not heterosexual, that's all I have to say – but I do find it interesting that WandaVision is radically altering the witch's backstory to remove Mephisto from the equation. Suddenly I have to wonder: will the devilish Hell Lord even appear, or did Marvel play us?
There are still possible nods to Satan early on in the episode, and Agatha's rabbit in particular is beginning to look suspicious, but for the most part the focus is on dark magic, and its many varieties. The MCU has notoriously been reluctant to ever admit that magic is actually magic: from trying to claim that gods are actually technologically-advanced aliens in Thor, to never calling Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) by her comics alias Scarlet Witch (we'll get to that), the franchise has historically been more comfortable in the realm of quantum physics and nonsensical science lingo that might as well be magic, rather than the real deal. But that changed today, with Agatha giving Wanda – and WandaVision audiences – a schooling on the subjects of magic, mind control, transmutation, chanting mysteriously in Latin, and opening portals through space and time (yes, I know the latter is something Marvel heroes do on the regular: but rarely does the process require a single hair extracted from the unwilling victim).
Agatha's basement, filled with macabre trinkets and guarded from Wanda by seals of protection on the walls, is only the threshold of a harrowing spirit journey for Wanda, who is about as clueless to the inner workings of magic as we are, and for Agatha, who's intent on discovering how the young sorceress accumulated so much power. All along, that's seemingly been Agatha's goal: not to summon Mephisto up from hell, or resurrect the dead, but to learn the secret behind Westview's spontaneous creation, something she had no part in…and honestly, same. Isn't that what we've all been trying to figure out for the past few weeks? Okay, okay, so the vast majority of us probably didn't steal people from the Multiverse to act as spies in Westview, but the point still stands: Agatha is just a misunderstood Marvel fan-theorist whose been driven to the brink of insanity by WandaVision's twists and turns.
But with Wanda unable to give Agatha the information she craves, the cunning sorceress decides to do some digging into Wanda's past to get to the root of it all – that feeling of emptiness that Wanda claimed was the only thing she could remember about the beginning of her time in Westview. Together, the delightfully dynamic duo set off through one portal after another, reliving Wanda's trauma in real-time as Agatha inches closer to an answer. They start in Sokovia, when Wanda and her twin-brother Pietro are still children, learning English with the help of classic American sitcoms like I Love Lucy, Bewitched, and Wanda's personal favorite, The Dick Van Dyke Show. Perhaps even more so than the sitcom-inspired WandaVision episodes, this brief yet touching scene beautifully captures the magic of being immersed in old sitcoms – and subtly explains why Wanda in particular finds them so enchanting: they're low-stakes. Every ridiculous predicament, every fantastical shenanigan, every little problem gets sorted out in under thirty minutes with no lasting consequences.
But this is Wanda we're talking about, so she never gets to enjoy such mundane mischief. Moments later, the screen goes black as an explosion rocks the Maximoff family household, killing Wanda's parents and stranding the twins under a bed while a Stark Industries missile sits a few feet away, beeping ominously, and Dick Van Dyke keeps playing in the background (somehow the TV survived). We learn that it was Wanda who kept the second bomb from exploding, using a probability hex to protect her and her brother for two days. Agatha's suspicions piqued, they quickly move on to HYDRA's laboratory in Sokovia. The trailers had previously revealed a snippet of this sequence, which sees Wanda being goaded by HYDRA doctors to touch the Mind Stone: but the resulting collision of powers is a spectacular lightshow, amidst which Wanda glimpses a stunning premonition (the most breathtaking visual in the episode) of herself in silhouette rising from the Mind Stone's shards, wearing her half-moon tiara and a version of her comics costume, all accompanied by her soaring instrumental theme.
The HYDRA doctors are baffled by Wanda's strength, but Agatha comments that the Stone only amplified her existing powers. And while that might seem to point towards a mutant origin reveal…that's not where this is going. The next flashback doesn't expose anything huge, and Agatha seems disappointed in it, but it's a brilliant showcase of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany's talents, as the couple share a tender emotional moment in Avengers Compound soon after Wanda's arrival in the States, and illuminates the thematic heart of the series – the intersection between inconsolable grief and unquenchable love. You get an Emmy, and you get an Emmy, and you get an Emmy too, Kathryn Hahn.
Vision | cinemablend.com
Finally, we get to witness events from just a few weeks prior to WandaVision's start, and an unedited account of Wanda's arrival at S.W.O.R.D. headquarters looking for the Vision's body. Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) framed Wanda's actions there as those of a delusional and dangerous woman overcome by grief – but like any misogynist trying to portray a powerful woman as a villain, he left out vital context where it benefitted him: like the bit where Wanda actually just wanted Vision's body to get a proper burial; or the bit where Hayward invited her in and showed her that S.W.O.R.D. had secretly been operating on the android for years, before trying to emotionally manipulate her into violently seizing the body; or, most damningly, the bit where she considered doing just that and then decided against it, exposing Hayward as a liar. I had always wondered how, even with all the magic available to her, Wanda would have lugged Vision's splintered corpse hundreds of miles from S.W.O.R.D. HQ to New Jersey…but she never did. She got back in her car (Wanda owning a car is somehow weirder to me than her dragging body parts across America), and drove off to Westview alone save for a single piece of paper: a blueprint for a house that she and Vision had planned to build there together, where they could settle down, start a family, and grow old. I didn't know WandaVision could retroactively make me hate Thanos even more, but I've never been so eager to rewatch Endgame just to enjoy the look of horror on his face as he got snapped out of existence.
If you've been following along with my reviews, you know I've been dubious that Wanda created The Hex. Well, I was completely wrong. Not only did she create it, but we get to witness the moment her reality-altering powers finally exploded outwards over Westview, redesigning the rundown hamlet into a quaint fantasy world, as grief and pain brought her to her knees. No Satanic influences, no Nightmarish manipulation; but one woman standing in the eye of the hurricane, ripped apart from the inside by a love so powerful it could change the very fabric of the universe.
When Darcy wondered aloud why Vision (Paul Bettany) can't leave The Hex, I thought it was because his body was dead in the real world – but I was operating under the assumption that there was only one Vision, that Wanda really had stolen and reanimated his body. She never did. She made her own, from memory, using her own power to give him life. Which is…still not great from a moral standpoint, but certainly a step up from having kids with a mutilated corpse.
Speaking of kids, Wanda remembers hers are in grave danger as Agatha finally lets her go, and the two confront each other on the soundstage for WandaVision episode one (like, they're actually on the literal set – and the camera turns to pick out Agatha in the empty auditorium, mockingly clapping in an echo of the live studio audience applause heard in the pilot). Agatha has what she needs: she vanishes, and suddenly Wanda hears her children screaming for help. She breaks another fourth wall and runs from the stage, from Agatha's basement, out into Westview.
And Agatha is levitating there, Cher-style hair blowing dramatically in the breeze, gripping Billy and Tommy Maximoff by two leashes of purple energy. It's a bizarre visual, but it's hard to focus or care (sorry, kids) as Agatha begins talking, and delivers the episode's big zinger:
"You're supposed to be a myth. A being capable of spontaneous creation…this whole little life you've made, this is Chaos Magic, Wanda. And that makes you the Scarlet Witch."
It's a crowd-pleaser moment, for sure: we've waited years to hear the Scarlet Witch title used of Wanda in the MCU, and Marvel's aversion to the supernatural delayed it far longer than necessary. But from Agatha's words, it seems like the Scarlet Witch is much more than a nickname – it's an identity, and the implication is that other Scarlet Witches have existed in the past, similarly gifted with the power to wield Chaos Magic (the most powerful magic in Marvel Comics, capable of rewriting reality and destroying the universe). Is she some kind of goddess? A force of nature? A metaphysical construct? My best guess is that WandaVision is adapting the concept of Nexus Beings, living creatures whose mere presence balances the universe – much like the Infinity Stones. These beings, deified archetypes with immense power, have no alternate versions anywhere in the Multiverse: and what do you know, Wanda is one in the comics.
White Vision | cinemablend.com
The mid-credits stinger revisits Tyler Hayward, whose planning his attack on Westview and has brought in new equipment to help – or rather, old repurposed equipment. Before the reveal happened, I knew it had to be Vision (as in, the real one that Wanda didn't steal). But I didn't expect the White Vision to finally make his MCU debut like this. A hollow emotionless vessel outfitted for war, the existence of the White Vision actually gives me hope that Vision (as in, the fake one that Wanda created) will be able to inhabit this new character's alabaster body after his old one disintegrates, as it inevitably will when The Hex comes crashing down next week.
"WandaVision" Episode 7 Debuts The Big Bad (Or So We Think)
Yes, I know I'm late. The Marvel fandom has had their fun with WandaVision's seventh episode already, bopped to dozens of "Agatha All Along" remixes over the weekend, speculated endlessly about the Nexus and the Multiverse and the hexagons, and yet here I am, rushing out this review on the eve of a new episode…and you know what, I don't care. I've been out of action for the past few weeks following an emergency appendectomy, I've missed my window to properly review two episodes of WandaVision, and I'm not letting this last opportunity to review episode seven slip away!
Agatha Harkness | filmschoolrejects.com
Now it's your turn to say "I don't care".
The fourth wall isn't the only thing that gets shattered into a million pieces in WandaVision episode seven, a brisk and tightly-edited installment that sees Wanda's cozy suburban utopia begin its inevitable descent into surrealist calamity. As the dark forces swirling around Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) close in on her, her control over the volatile situation – which once seemed almost absolute – is ebbing away…because, surprise, she was never really in control at all. But it takes a whole musical montage to finally wake Wanda up to this realization, after spending decades (well, days, actually, but whatever; time moves differently in "The Hex") under the impression that all of Westview's brainwashed citizens answered solely to her.
Of course, it seemed far too easy for Wanda to have complete creative control over The Hex, a world that seemed so tailor-made to her specific needs and wants that it almost had to be the product of some nefarious scheme. That being said, it's still slightly too early to say for certain if my assumption was correct all along, that The Hex was built by someone else to trap Wanda within, and that she was given a false sense of power to lull her into complacency. That's one working theory, as Dr. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) would say: the other, which I still don't entirely buy, is that Wanda did create The Hex, but her control over it has slowly been leeched into the hands of another entity over the course of the series. There's evidence for both theories, but either way, we now know the identity of WandaVision's antagonist (or, well, one antagonist: there's a slew of other baddies who could still show up, including but not limited to Mephisto, Ultron, Nightmare, the Grim Reaper, and HYDRA).
But I'm jumping ahead. The episode picks up the morning after the previous week's events, both in the real world – where the scattered remnants of S.W.O.R.D., headed by Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg), have regrouped eight miles outside of Westview's glowing boundaries and are prepping another assault: the lack of brain-cells is truly staggering – and in Westview, where Wanda wakes up with a magical hangover, still wearing her Halloween costume from the night before (sans half-moon tiara, the only element of that costume I genuinely wish she'd keep), and reeling from the mental and physical strain of having to expand the boundaries of The Hex to absorb S.W.O.R.D.'s initial base camp. Luckily, an invisible film crew has taken up residence in the Vision residence, allowing Wanda a safe outlet to express her grief, disillusionment, and burgeoning sense of self-awareness, all while breaking down the fourth wall in a spoof of 2000's sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office, which employed the "mockumentary" format.
The hustle and bustle of a chaotic morning routine provides the perfect backdrop to Wanda's entire world coming untethered from space and time. Vision (Paul Bettany) still hasn't returned from his late-night escape attempt; the con-artist-formerly-known-as-Pietro Maximoff (Evan Peters) is missing; and all of Wanda's furniture and household appliances are erratically changing shape. Just as the stress of trying to parent twin boys in the midst of all this chaos becomes too much for Wanda, overly-friendly neighbor Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) arrives to escort the kids back to her own house, leaving mom to a self-inflicted quarantine-style staycation…as "punishment" for her reckless behavior. As always, Olsen's brilliant performance keeps Wanda firmly relatable and sympathetic even as everything else is beginning to spiral down the drain.
Several miles away, Vision wakes up in a field full of clowns – alive and fully-functioning again, but deeply confused about life, the universe, and everything. Thankfully for his sanity, it takes him no time at all to reconnect with Darcy Lewis, who was last seen being unwillingly absorbed into The Hex alongside him, and who has now been recontextualized into a carnival escape-artist. Vision has questions, Darcy has answers, and the duo escape in a funnel-cake truck (did you notice the potential Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. callback in the set dressing?) to get back to Wanda, while Darcy gives Vision a rundown on his MCU backstory: including a partial account of his multiple deaths, two of which Wanda was unlucky enough to witness first-hand, and one of which she caused. Darcy's poor storytelling and tendency to leave out vital context doesn't seem to help the paranoid android process his own confused emotions (yes, I squeezed two Douglas Adams references into this paragraph: I don't know what that's about, either).
Monica Rambeau | menshealth.com
Back in the real world, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) head to the boundaries of The Hex to meet Monica's aerospace-engineer friend, who…doesn't actually show up, leaving us with more unanswered questions about their identity. But whoever they are, they dropped off a nifty little armored vehicle that Monica hopes will be able to break through Wanda's magical TV-static barrier. It doesn't, making that entire subplot slightly pointless (at least until the engineer shows up in-person and turns out to be massively important), but it allows for an ultimately more epic sequence in which Monica, rather than admitting defeat, chooses to run headfirst into the barrier in a desperate attempt at re-entry. Despite her apparent beef with Carol Danvers, she's certainly inherited a lot of the captain's recklessness.
Monica's body begins disassembling in psychedelic slow-motion, while voices from her past rush through her head – but she pushes forward, mustering the strength to literally pull herself back together and step through the barrier, as her eyes glow electric-blue. Although WandaVision audiences have now heard plenty of references to how Monica's frequent passages through The Hex have rewritten her DNA on a molecular level, this would seem to mark the precise moment at which Monica officially becomes a superhuman: fulfilling her destiny from Marvel Comics, where she goes by the name Spectrum. As in the comics, her powers appear to be light-based, and include the ability to see Westview as it really is: an abstract alien landscape with vivid purple skies stained by lazy splashes of neon light and humming with extradimensional energy. Donning a version of her comics-accurate black-and-white costume, Monica sprints off into Westview, unfazed by her superpower epiphany.
The episode deftly balances all these converging plotlines, bouncing back and forth from Vision (who abandons Darcy and takes to the skies after a series of contrived obstacles initially keep the duo stuck on the outskirts of Westview: obstacles that Vision mistakenly believes were put in place by Wanda to keep him away) to Monica, who breaks Wanda's quarantine, barging through the front door with an offer of help – which Wanda rejects out-of-hand, telekinetically dragging Monica onto the front lawn and levitating her there for the whole neighborhood to see. Monica uses her own powers to avoid being crushed on the sidewalk, leading to a tense confrontation as Wanda's forced to back up and listen to what she has to say. Monica is empathetic; she warns Wanda to not let her grief overcome her, and not to let Tyler Hayward make her the villain of the story. And despite Wanda's eagerness to claim villain status, Monica does seem to be getting through to her.
Which is why Agnes shows up a split second later to extricate Wanda from this potentially paradigm-altering experience and lead her back to her own house (which cleverly borrows its façade from the actual Bewitched house). There, it seems no amount of magic or sitcom silliness can hide the truth about Agnes' evil intentions: the house is dark, eerily quiet, and inhabited by cicadas – but there's no sign of Agnes' husband, Ralph…or Wanda's twins, whose half-eaten sandwiches are still sitting on the coffee table while Yo Gabba Gabba! plays threateningly on the TV. Wanda's search for her kids leads her to the basement, which extends far below the house and connects to a network of overgrown tunnels and a temple complex decorated with hexagonal emblems, ram skulls, Satanic artwork…and a small black book spewing fiery energy, which could be the Darkhold of Marvel lore. No stranger to live-action adaptations, the Darkhold was used in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. to help design an alternate reality in which HYDRA conquered the world, and could serve a similar purpose in WandaVision.
But before Wanda gets a chance to do any sleuthing, Agnes joins her in the basement, wearing a quirky grin and her familiar pendant. "You didn't think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?," she taunts Wanda, while showing off her own supernatural powers. Whether she's been orchestrating Wanda's movements and actions pre-Westview or first had to infiltrate The Hex to do so, Agnes is the series' antagonist heading into the penultimate episode (which means she's at risk of dying, and that….terrifies me). And, to nobody's surprise, "Agnes" was only ever an alias in the same vein as every other Westview resident's adopted identity: a clever one, to be sure, but not too clever to outwit Marvel fans, who long ago guessed that Agnes would turn out to be Agatha Harkness, a sorceress from the comics whose relationship with Wanda involves mentoring her in the art of chaos magic, babysitting and occasionally kidnapping her children, and walking a fine line between protecting her and manipulating her trust. And sure enough, last week's episode confirms what we all suspected, with the help of a musical montage that deserves to be ranked alongside the best Disney Villain songs.
Inspired by The Munsters' intro, "Agatha All Along" elevates the villain reveal from boringly predictable to delightfully campy. Through Wanda's eyes, we watch past events with a new twist – Agatha gliding into Westview in a quickly-glimpsed witchy costume (before turning to the camera with a gasp of faux-astonishment), gleefully messing with the talent show in episode two, manipulating Herb's mind in episode three, and puppeteering Pietro's unexpected arrival. Her encounter with Vision on Halloween? That was all an act. Even the cameraman interviewing Wanda this very episode was Agatha in disguise. But you don't need me to tell you that: just listen to the song, and/or its multitude of remixes and covers.
WandaVision | insider.com
The episode features WandaVision's first mid-credits scene, a quick stinger showing Monica breaking into Agnes' basement only to get caught by Pietro – whose line, "Snoopers gonna snoop", is delivered totally deadpan. Agatha having summoned Pietro to Westview and controlled his every movement, it would make sense that he's still obeying her – but lift the spell, and he's probably not a bad guy. He's also definitely not Pietro, but he probably is Peter Maximoff from the X-Men cinematic universe, because there's literally no other reason why this version of the character would be here. Further proof of that lies in the episode's commercial, which (a) hilariously parodies overly-optimistic real-life drug commercials, and (b) directly references the Nexus of All Realities: the crossroads at the heart of the Multiverse, where universes collide. With the "real" version of Pietro dead in the MCU's main timeline, Agatha would have reached into the Multiverse to find another – and ripped Peter Maximoff out of his timeline, given him Pietro's memories, and installed him in Westview to play along with her game.
So was it really Agatha all along? Or is she too a minion? We still don't know, but what I do know is I've been watching WandaVision for the past week (the fact that that's a direct quote from the show speaks to how meta things are getting), and I'm certain that killing off Agatha in the series finale would be a waste of Kathryn Hahn (not to mention Agatha's clear talent for producing quality music). So Marvel, please, pay attention to what the fandom is telling you and stop killing your villains before you've had a chance to use them properly: I don't want to have to revisit this subject in two weeks time.
Episode Rating: 9.5/10
Evan Peters Joins The Cast Of "WandaVision"!
First thing's first, it's important that we look at this news calmly and rationally, and not jump to conclusions because – OH MY GOD IT'S AN X-MEN CROSSOVER ISN'T IT??? X-MEN CROSSOVER, X-MEN CROSSOVER!!!
Forgive me. I'm calm now (*screams internally*). And I'm ready to very calmly discuss the news that just broke about actor Evan Peters joining the cast of Marvel Studios' upcoming Disney+ series, WandaVision. Now, to those unfamiliar with the name, Peters' casting is probably insignificant – but it shouldn't be, because this is actually quite extraordinary and opens the door for…so many things (*cough, cough, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover*) that could drastically alter what we think we know of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's future.
Evan Peters, you see, is probably best known for his portrayal of the mutant speedster Quicksilver in Fox's most recent round of X-Men movies. These films didn't quite match the cult classic status of Fox's original X-Men trilogy, but a couple of individual castings were spot-on: and many fans agree that Evan Peters as Quicksilver was one of them. But unfortunately for Peters, his version of the character has always been overshadowed by the version of Quicksilver who appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Taylor-Johnson's version had far more exposure than Peters' thanks to appearing in one (almost universally condemned) Avengers movie before being unceremoniously killed off – thus, many Marvel fans are still rooting for him to reprise his role, without even considering the alternative.
But now, Disney owns Fox, and with Evan Peters being cast in WandaVision, it looks far more likely that Marvel is looking to bring his take on Quicksilver into the MCU. It's plausible, I suppose, that Peters is playing a completely different character. But the WandaVision series literally focuses on Quicksilver's twin sister Wanda Maximoff as she tries to warp reality to bring back deceased loved ones, so that seems like a truly bizarre coincidence, if it is the case. It's also possible that both Peters and Taylor-Johnson will play the role – after all, Wanda is going to be toying with some pretty dangerous magic, so it's easy to imagine her accidentally summoning two versions of her brother out of the Multiverse. Such a mishap would also feel right at home in a sit-com like the ones by which WandaVision is inspired.
themarysue.com
But even if Peters' role is only for a cameo, it's still a major step forward for the MCU. Up until now, we've cautiously hoped for crossovers like these: but this would be the biggest one yet. And if it goes well, it's possible it could be followed by other, similar crossovers. Other X-Men stars could potentially show up for Multiverse cameos, or small supporting roles: for instance, fans are already reacting well to the footage we've seen of Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams as Magik and Wolfsbane in The New Mutants, which will be the last of Fox's X-Men films whenever it finally gets released. Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. star Chloe Bennet is still waiting for her chance to appear in the mainstream Marvel universe. There are a bunch of talented actors and actresses who have become fan-favorites without ever once showing up in MCU canon, and they don't deserve to be tossed aside. Peters' casting bodes well for all of them.
On the other hand, the MCU does have a responsibility to differentiate itself from what came from – and let's not fool ourselves: the reaction to most of the Fox X-Men films was mixed, to say the least. Therefore, even if Peters is playing Quicksilver in WandaVision, I expect him to only have a small role, and I doubt he'd ever show up again. But who knows? I never even imagined we would be here, discussing this.
What do you think of Evan Peters being cast? Who do you think he's playing? Would you like to see any more crossovers from the various other franchises existing on the fringe of MCU canon? Share your own thoughts, theories and opinions in the comments below!
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"The Rings Of Power" Unveils New Title In Epic 1st Teaser
"Shadow And Bone" Reveals Four New Cast Members Joining Season Two
"The Wheel Of Time" Episode 8 Is Messy So Season 2 Doesn't Have To Be
"The Wheel Of Time" Episode 7, Down A Lead Actor, Forges Ahead
"The Wheel Of Time" Episode 6 Goes Gay, And It's Wonderful
"The Witcher" Returns Stronger Than Ever After Two Years
"Wheel Of Time" Episode 5 Takes Us To Tar Valon
"Hawkeye" Episode 5 Finally Opens The Show's Big Mystery Box
In "The Wheel Of Time" Episode 4, Gender And Magic Intersect
With Episode 4, "Hawkeye" May Have Bitten Off More Than It Can Chew
"The Wheel Of Time" Episode 3 Dives Deep Into Robert Jordan's Cosmology
"Hawkeye" Episode 3 Tells Echo's Side Of The Story
"The Wheel Of Time" Episode 2 Puts Jordan's Genius On Full Display
Hawkeye's First 2 Episodes Kick Off A Street-Level Story
"The Wheel Of Time" Episode 1 Is Decent, But Deceptively Simple
justine on "The Wheel Of Time" Episode 6 Goes Gay, And It's Wonderful
CHRIS on 6 Characters Who Could Have Saved Grogu From Order 66
Amelia on "Cowboy Bebop" 1st Trailer Review!
Elena on Do We Want Live-Action "She-Ra"?
Sam on "Blood Of Zeus" Is Fun – But Deeply Flawed.
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text:
Select other Yale Bulldogs Alausa, Jameel Atkinson, Paul Bruner, Jordan Copeland, Alex Cotton, Matthue Dike, Eze Feinberg, Michael Gabbidon, Jalen Kelly, Isaiah Lanford, Jake Monroe, Eric Oni, Miye Phills, Trey Reynolds, Blake Ryan, Thomas Swain, Azar Williams, Austin Yess, Wyatt Yale Bulldogs
Michael Feinberg
Team: Yale Bulldogs Height: 6-4 Born: --
Class-Eligibility: Fr-Fr Weight: 195 Hometown: Hidden Hills, CA
18-19 Yale 8 0 1.8 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 .000 - 1.000
Career 8 0 1.8 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 .000 - 1.000
18-19 Yale 8 0 14 0 3 0 0 2 2 1 3 2 0 0 1 1 2
Career 8 0 14 0 3 0 0 2 2 1 3 2 0 0 1 1 2
11/9 @Cal W 76-59 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11/28 @Bryant W 103-61 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
12/11 Albany W 71-63 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
12/22 Iona W 99-84 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1/2 KSawSt W 92-65 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1/8 Skidmo W 88-59 2 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
2/22 Dart W 77-59 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3/1 Cor W 88-65 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package com.jivesoftware.os.miru.plugin.solution;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 * @author jonathan.colt
 * @param <Q>
 * @param <R>
 */
public class MiruRequestAndReport<Q, R> implements Serializable {

    public final MiruRequest<Q> request;
    public final R report;

    @JsonCreator
    public MiruRequestAndReport(
        @JsonProperty("request") MiruRequest<Q> request,
        @JsonProperty("report") R report) {
        this.request = request;
        this.report = report;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "MiruRequestAndReport{" + "request=" + request + ", report=" + report + '}';
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Main Page | Blog Index
Archive for the 'Web-based' Category
Facebook: Peer-Maintained Surveillance Network, Now With Prompting
by Roy Schestowitz at 4:11 pm
raph theory is essential to the Surveillance Industrial Complex — the privatised branch which maps people and assigns risk levels to them, depending for example on who they meet/met and/or speak/spoke to. Facebook extracts an immeasurable amount of work previously carried out by the Surveillance Industrial Complex. It outsources the effort. The cost is being passed to the public in exchange for games and pseudo-status.
Recently, owing to a friend, I came to realise that Facebook no longer requires anything more than a person adding himself/herself to the site in order for surveillance to commence. Users are now prompted to inform on peers, even those whose accounts (profiles) are vacant or inactive. Family connections, geo-location, face recognition/tagging are all done by one's peers now. The only thing more worrying than this degradation of privacy is people's lack of awareness of the ramifications.
The prompting mechanisms add all sorts of relational metadata, adding to prompting for tagging of photos with names, even names of people who are not registered Facebook users.
I often hear arguments that go something along the lines of, "if you don't like Facebook, then don't use it." Well, it's not as simple as that. You may choose to leave Facebook alone, but Facebook will never — ever — leave you alone. The Surveillance Industrial Complex uses is to gather intelligence on everyone in civilisation. I can almost sympathise with countries that banned Facebook.
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WordPress for Galleries
by Roy Schestowitz at 9:21 am
new site I've launched, Maria Chain, uses a blogging software, WordPress, to act as a sort of photos gallery. This is the first time I set up such a Web site, presenting an artistic portfolio using WordPress.
Add/view comments (1) | Send this to a friend
SH Property and Libre/Open Source Software
NE of my clients, SH Property, recently had the site redesigned. As I do architecture and programming for a living in a field which is very competitive, I often have to depend on tools that lower down the costs. The means by which I rebranded the site at the domain level only required Apache redirects, which sure saves a lot of money. It is worth noting that Libre/Open Source software was used almost exclusively to build the site and the previous logo/header/banner (when it was called SJ Property Investment), for instance, was created using the GIMP. It was temporary. Here it is:
While Libre/Open Source software usually costs nothing to acquire, it's far from impossible to make a living with it; services and skills — requiring manpower — are the real scarcity.
PHP Sucks on Backward Compatibility (or How 'Gallery' and PHP 5.3 Don't Play Nice)
s a bit of a dinosaur in technology (I still use a Palm PDA and single- or dual-core AMD), backward compatibility and long-term support are important to me. I am not a fan of PHP even though many programs that I like (the latest being Roundcube) use it almost exclusively.
Many problems seem to occur for those who use old versions of Gallery with the latest PHP, which has become notorious for its backward compatibility deficiencies. One bit of software that I use which is not compatible with PHP 5.3 is Gallery 1.x. It's a version that I hacked a bit to suit my purposes, so upgrading would flush all my customisations away. Whether a sandboxed compatibility mode is available (such that, e.g., PHP 5.2 is run for specified paths) I do not know yet, but based on what people are saying suppressing the warnings and errors should be possible. It's not a real solution but a cosmetic hack. If your Web host undergoes a PHP upgrade to 5.3 it can lead to lots of issues associated with out-of-date software. "A short time ago," wrote my host (with which I host about 10 domains), "we emailed you to let you know that we were upgrading all our servers to the latest version of PHP. This is now complete. We therefore recommend you have a quick check of your site and ensure everything is working as it should."
The bottom line is, from my personal point of view, is that PHP yet again proves that backward compatibility is too much for it to handle and, as such, one oughtn't rely on long-term usage of programs written in PHP. Other authors pointed this out before. It's quite the blunder. In Web-based environments in particular, a case of "lose compatibility or get cracked" may become more common if we become dependent on PHP.
Keeping Web-based Software Updated
ne of the problems that's leading to the cracking of many Web sites is that software is not kept up to date. It is not an easy task unless the process is made simple and at times automatic because people are adverse to change and to risk (associated with updating software, never mind the risk of getting cracked). Keeping abreast of security fixes and new upgrades for Web-based software is not easy unless one uses an operating system like Debian, which can be updated regularly and has strict requirements for inclusion. There are several points worth making here:
1. Some CMSs are better equipped for this type of scenario. In my ~15 domains I have a dozen of so different CMSs and some are antiquated, e.g. php-nuke, and depend upon updates coming upstream, e.g. php-bb with the infamous uploader hole (~2008). Other software, such as WordPress (it's my favourite as I was also part of the devs community for many years), alerts all users about the need to update the software. They keep up appearance by reducing the number of reports of cracked sites.
2. In recent years people have been using scripts like Fantastico-packaged set to install the software. Softaculous is another one. 3 days ago WordPress issued a security fix (local privilege escalation and XSS for the most part, not too critical for some site setups), which automatically sent me several E-mails like the following (from domains where I used Softaculous to set things up):
"The following script updates are available:
WordPress 3.3.2:
[omitted]
To upgrade these scripts go to your Control Panel -> Softaculous -> Installations.
There you will be able to update the scripts.
>From Softaculous Cron Jobs  ([IP removed])"
Each bit of software typically keeps administrators abreast of security holes, but some software does not do this. WordPress alerts even writers, urging them to contact their admin for updates. Other bits of software require that one subscribes to a mailing list or regularly checks for updates. Back in the old days, and the way MediaWiki still works for the time being, people are advised to subscribe to a mailing list (or blog) with announcements about security fixes. If many customers have Joomla sites, then it's useful to be subscribed to such fora and then update everything for everyone in batch mode (for WordPress I need to update 8 sites each time a fix comes out, and for some I need to do this manually from the shell due to different server settings).
It helps to have a database of installed software, recording which server is running which piece of software. It would be surprising if no such listed had already been compiled by those who operate many servers. It helps know what can be updated at the same time by the same person with the same files.
Some updates are merely about new features and might not even be backward compatible. Some software, like WordPress 2.0, is LTS (for inclusion in Debian stable), so it's unlikely to require much updating. So, one can just look at what has changed and only update if the update is security related or has a data-jeopardising bug (in WordPress 3.2, for instance, people who rushed to update not for security reasons merely suffered from bugs and then had to update again to 3.2.1).
Join Diaspora… But Maybe Not Just Yet
by Roy Schestowitz at 12:10 am
Up and down all day long
EVERAL months ago I joined Diaspora and enjoyed the good uptime of the service. The community was thriving, everyone was friendly, and the site reacted to input as one would expect. But then, just like Identi.ca, the site began having performance and uptime issues. At one point the site was down for a week. People soon lost those withdrawal symptoms and perhaps just moved on; some returned only to see sporadic operation of the site, which fairly enough is still in alpha (the software it runs is). But the bottom line is, in the early days people reviewed the site harshly for technical shortcomings. Now it's just the really terrible uptime and low reliability. Unless this gets fixed the site is likely to lose its most ardent supporters and participants.
When Diaspora becomes "stable" it may all be resolved, but by that point, how many people will be on the JoinDiaspora pod?
What's the Point of LinkedIn?
by Roy Schestowitz at 12:06 pm
IKE most people on that site, I joined LinkedIn several years ago after a friend had invited me. For many years I did nothing with the account, but in more recent years the site grew rapidly in terms of popularity and is now a status symbol by some people's imagination. It's a bit like Facebook for professionals. But what really is that point of it all? It's all rather superficial and the process of connecting to peers and friends (or ex-colleagues) is very time-consuming. When one considers what can be gained from having one's name in a database associated with many other names, then the reality of the matter becomes clearer. Have we come to a point in the lifecycle of the Internet where we score people's popularity based on the hours they dedicate to clicking to modify some proprietary database of some private company? Frankly, I stopped spending time in LinkedIn and my profile there is very much outdated (last updated properly in 2006). Can there finally be consensus on the irrelevance of public profiles that are merely the entry in someone else's Web site? It's just a MySpace for adults and the function is tracking other people's careers is often overstated as crucial. It's more like gossip or stalking.
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Original styles created by Ian Main (all acknowledgements) • PHP scripts and styles later modified by Roy Schestowitz • Help yourself to a GPL'd copy
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text:
The Kennel Club Judges Development Programme
The Kennel Club has announced its autumn dates for the Pastoral Group Judges Development Programme 2013, to be held at the Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2LZ, on 13thand 14thNovember.
Wednesday 13th November will feature a seminar for Old English Sheepdog judges, followed by the seminar for Hungarian Puli judges on Thursday 14th.
The programme, run by the Manchester Dog Show Society, is designed as part of the Kennel Club's commitment to judges' education, and will enable judges to enhance their knowledge of the scheduled breeds.
Judges wishing to attend a JDP Breed seminar must have:
previously awarded CCs to at least three breeds within the relevant Group (i.e. the same group as the host Group) or
previously awarded CCs to two breeds within the relevant Group (i.e. the same group as the host Group) and at least one CC in another Group, or
been previously approved by the Kennel Club to judge a Group at Championship Show level.
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: The Pastoral Group Judges Development programme seminars in November are a great chance for eligible Championship show judges to stay abreast of current information on the scheduled breeds, which will help their judging experience.
"The Kennel Club is dedicated to providing education across all of its disciplines, and we hope that our judges will make the most of this opportunity."
Eligible candidates should contact Malcolm Robinson on 07942 898887 or by emailing malrobinson10@aol.com.
Judges development programme education


[S536] The HANCOCK Family Tree, Winchcombe Powell, F J.
[S1968] Powell, John, John Powell, fgw 892, 28 Dec 2016.
[S2181] Family Search website, (www.familysearch.org), https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS95-RS5H-P (Reliability: 3).


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text:
last_modified_at: 2019-01-30

title: Using lazy in Kotlin to bind Android views
description: >
  When retrieving views in Android there are many different ways to go about it. We will be looking at using lazy delegated properties within Kotlin, to create a concise and easy-to-use solution, whilst avoiding generated code.
date: 2019-01-30
categories: [android]
tags: [ui]
image:
  path: &image /assets/img/posts/sloth.jpg
  width: 666
  height: 580
  feature: *image
summary: >
  When retrieving views in Android there are many different ways to go about it. We will be looking at using lazy delegated properties within Kotlin, to create a concise and easy-to-use solution, whilst avoiding generated code.
---

When working in the UI layer of an Android app, it won't be long before we need to perform an operation upon one of our views. In order to do this, we first need to retrieve it via `findViewById`. Although using the API can seem simple, it does introduce a block of boilerplate to our Activities. On top of this the code to bind all the views usually ends up in `onCreate`, completely separate from the view properties themselves. 😕

Now that Kotlin has entered the scene with new features we didn't previously have access to it seems like the perfect time to look for a new way of doing things. We will explore some different approaches, before looking in detail at how lazy initialisation in Kotlin can be used to solve this problem.

## The situation in Java

To set the scene and to demonstrate how Kotlin can help we first need to look at how these tasks are achieved in Java. To bind views to a field, we would use `findViewById`, historically casting the resulting view to the correct subclass. For an activity, the views would commonly be bound within `onCreate`, however, this may be elsewhere if views are retrieved at another time.

```java
public class PlanningActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
  private TextView planningText;
  private ImageView appIcon;

  @Override
  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    setContentView(R.layout.activity_planning);
    // Before: Needed to cast
    planningText = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.planning_text);
    // Now: No longer need to
    appIcon = findViewById(R.id.app_icon);

    planningText.setText("Hello!");
  }
}
```

The example here is very simple, containing only two views, whereas in reality many different views may need to be accessed. To avoid this repetitive boilerplate [Butter Knife](https://github.com/JakeWharton/butterknife) was created by [Jake Wharton](https://jakewharton.com/), which uses annotation processing to aid the binding of views. 🍴

```java
public class PlanningActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
  @BindView(R.id.planning_text) TextView planningText;
  @BindView(R.id.app_icon) ImageView appIcon;

  @Override
  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    setContentView(R.layout.activity_planning);
    ButterKnife.bind(this);
    planningText.setText("Hello!");
  }
}
```

## Adoption of Kotlin

The Kotlin programming language has many new features and so it feels natural that it may offer a better solution to what we were using before. The first option we will likely come across are the [Kotlin Android Extensions](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/tutorials/android-plugin.html) provided as a plugin to the Kotlin language. The plugin automatically generates properties that match the IDs of the views in our layout file. Views no longer need to be stored manually as properties, as they are instead accessed via synthetic properties generated by the plugin.

```kotlin
import kotlinx.android.synthetic.main.activity_planning.*

class PlanningActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
  override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

    setContentView(R.layout.activity_planning)
    planning_text.text = "Hello"
  }
}
```

The approach is dependent on a Gradle plugin and as with all generated code there will likely be occasional issues that require a Gradle sync to get things working again. Whether Kotlin Android Extensions is the approach to take may come down to personal preference as thanks to the power of Kotlin there is another really nice option that isn't dependent on generated code. As with any potential solution it is best to try it out, see how it works and whether it fits with all the use cases a particular project has. 👍

## Lazy binding

When initialising properties there is a [feature of Kotlin](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/delegated-properties.html) that allows the getter and setter to be delegated, enabling capabilities such as lazy initialisation. The idea is that on first access the provided function is used to initialise the property and future accesses will simply return it. This is perfect for binding views, as the first access will call `findViewById` and then subsequent calls will simply returned the stored view. It is important to note that we are currently applying this technique to an `Activity`, we will discuss using it in other situations afterwards.

Delegated properties are employed via the `by` keyword, with `lazy` being a global function that takes a lambda as an argument, making it very easy to apply.

```kotlin
private val planningText by lazy {
  findViewById<TextView>(R.id.planning_text)
}
```

By checking its signature we will find that `lazy` can also be provided with a `LazyThreadSafetyMode` argument, which by default will synchronise access to the lazy property to keep things thread safe. As our lazily bound views will only be touched from the main thread, we can optimise performance and disable this behaviour.

```kotlin
private val planningText by lazy(LazyThreadSafetyMode.NONE) {
  findViewById<TextView>(R.id.planning_text)
}
```

Once this solution is applied across our app, the same `lazy` call will be made many times, opening up the possibility of extracting it out to a global function to keep things tidy. 🧹

```kotlin
// LazyExt.kt
fun <T> lazyUnsychronized(initializer: () -> T): Lazy<T> =
  lazy(LazyThreadSafetyMode.NONE, initializer)

// PlanningActivity.kt
private val planningText by lazyUnsychronized {
  findViewById<TextView>(R.id.planning_text)
}
```

## Bind view

It turns out the only part of the lazy `findViewById` block that changes with each use, is the generic type. The application of an `Activity` extension function can therefore allow the whole block to be reused each time we want to bind a view.

```kotlin
fun <ViewT : View> Activity.bindView(@IdRes idRes: Int): Lazy<ViewT> {
  return lazyUnsychronized {
    findViewById<ViewT>(idRes)
  }
}
```

This leaves us with our final lazy view binding implementation. There is a small matter of choice when it comes to assigning the view, the view type can either be specified on the property or as a generic constraint to `bindView`. The best choice will be a matter of personal preference or specific to the project code style.

```kotlin
class PlanningActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
  private val planningText by bindView<TextView>(R.id.planning_text)
  // or
  private val planningText: TextView by bindView(R.id.planning_text)

  override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

    setContentView(R.layout.activity_planning)
    planningText.text = "Hello!"
  }
}
```

The sequence of steps we took have resulted in a succinct and clear call site. We have full control over our view binding code and no generated code is required. As our `bindView` function is essentially a wrapper around `findViewById`, the same extension could also be used to bind views elsewhere in the codebase beyond just in Activities. 🚀

## Other usages

Our lazy view binding technique can easily be applied to views, such as when creating a `ViewHolder` to be used within a `RecyclerView`. We can create a very similar extension on `ViewHolder` to give us access to the same API we had within Activities.

Where our technique encounters some issues are when used within a `Fragment` due to differences in their lifecycle when compared to Activities and Views. If applied in the same way, an issue can be encountered where the lazy property refers to the previous view instance after the `Fragment` view has been recreated. One solution may be to just assign views in `onCreateView` ourselves and to avoid using lazy properties within Fragments.

We can, however, use [Lifecycle](https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/architecture/lifecycle) from the Architecture Components to work around the issue. By creating our own version of `Lazy` we can reset the stored value in `onDestroyView`, causing the next access to call `findViewById` again. An example implementation demonstrating this idea can be [found within the sample code](https://github.com/lordcodes/lordcodes-samples/blob/master/android/using-lazy-in-kotlin-to-bind-android-views/app/src/main/kotlin/com/lordcodes/lazyviewbindingarticle/lazyfragment/FragmentExt.kt) for the article. 👍

## Conclusion

By making our view properties lazy delegated properties, we can strike a great balance between brevity, avoidance of boilerplate and reducing reliance on generated code. Maintaining full control over how our views are bound can be really helpful for people trying to understand the code and for debugging it if something goes wrong. The solution does require a little bit of infrastructure, however, pretty much all of the code is shared between each view binding, helping to keep the call site clean.

What is your preferred technique for accessing your views? Do you use lazy delegated properties or do you think it is something you might try out? Feel free to reach out to me on [Twitter @lordcodes]({{ site.twitter.url }}) and let me know what you think or if you have any other feedback or questions.

If you like what you have read, please don't hesitate to share the article and [subscribe to my feed]({{ '/subscribe' | relative_url }}) if you are interested.

Thanks for reading and happy coding! 🙏

[Check out the sample code](https://github.com/lordcodes/lordcodes-samples/tree/master/android/using-lazy-in-kotlin-to-bind-android-views) for this article on GitHub.


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The Board shall consist of five members appointed by the City Council, three of which must be from the motel industry and the City Manager designates an ex officio non-voting member. NO member shall serve more than two consecutive terms of three years.


BBC Radio 2 are looking for a professional artist to undertake a 12-month residency at Radio 2, getting a golden pass to attend some of the most exciting arts and music events across the year, such as Glastonbury, Edinburgh Festivals and the BBC Music Awards. In response, they are asked to create at least 4 artistic responses.
The Space will provide a bursary of £15,000 and will separately cover all materials and expenses up to a maximum budget of £20,000.
You can work in any medium – you could be a poet, a sculptor, a painter or a multi-media artist – but there will need to be a digital aspect to the presentation of the work you devise as the work will be showcased on the Radio 2 website, BBC Arts Online and The Space.
Shortlisted artists will be invited to attend an interview on Friday 5 of June. The judging panel includes Sir Peter Blake, Claudia Winkleman, Lewis Carnie (Head of Programmes Radio 2) and a representative from The Space.
To find out more, check out the terms and conditions on the BBC Website.
Applications should be sent to R2Artist@bbc.co.uk by midnight on Sunday 10 May.
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Monica Tarantini is a recent addition to Pentad Retail/Hospitality. Monica comes from an extensive background in corporate marketing, which gives her a unique insight into the needs of the customer. Monica understands the importance of putting people first and exceeds at creating strong client relationships.
She directly sources local market deals and has expertise in landlord strategy. She specializes in applying her market knowledge to broker retail, industrial, and office properties. Monica is currently coordinating the leasing in the Shops At South Town.
In her spare time Monica enjoys boating with family, wake surfing and teaching her four year old how to kneeboard.


text:
VetCar Dedicated Partners & Support!
Thank you for helping support and maintain our mission here at VetCar!
Jeremy G – Army Veteran – VetCar Supporter
Jeremy G is an Army veteran who was recently discharged from the military. He was an accomplished soldier who had recently been selected for Special Forces training. Jeremy also has a background in MMA fighting and continues to train. Recently, Jeremy and his dad came to VetCar/Victory Auto in order to purchase a work truck to support his transition back to civilian life. Jeremy has plans to work with a friend in a landscaping and yard maintenance business and the Nissan Titan was the perfect truck for it. He and his father had driven from Hartwell GA (almost 2 hrs away) with $7500 in cash and were committed to buying a truck that day, but after several stops they had not seen anything Jeremy really liked. At VetCar/Victory Auto he found the most truck for the best value he could find in the Atlanta area and he was happy to support an organization that supports his fellow veterans. VetCar/Victory Auto is proud to play a part in Jeremy's new career!
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Nathaniel (Nate) Peters – VetCar Partner
Nathaniel (Nate) Peters is an Atlanta native who grew up in the car business and now owns and operates his own repair shop, Bovia Auto Diesel Repair and Towing. His father owned a car repair business along with a parts yard and raised Nate and his brother to know everything there was to know about cars. Even in high school Nate excelled at stripping down a car and putting it back together, often with unique additions such as turning a Mustang with an automatic transmission into a 5 speed stick! When VetCar was looking hard for a reliable mechanic we became acquainted with Nate a couple of years ago through a mutual friend. Nate works on many of VetCar's vehicles and has been very generous with the use of his repair yard to store some of our cars. He likes what we are doing to support the Veterans and appreciates that we always try and deliver a car in as good a running condition as possible. Nate is a key part of the VetCar story and we appreciate his support!


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