Minority Mindset

This movie might have been an Oscar contender in years past, but Song Sung Blue arrived a little too late to be a serious competitor. It’s a heartwarming, if somewhat cheesy, film, and the Academy Awards haven’t been favoring that style lately. Without the pressure of awards season, though, it’s simply a lot of fun to watch. The music and the charming connection between the lead actors quickly draw you in, and it’s best to just enjoy the emotional journey the movie takes you on rather than overanalyze it.

The episode’s most powerful moment is likely the opening flashback, which finally shows the destruction of Shady Sands – an event previously only talked about in the Fallout games. Shady Sands was once the capital of the New California Republic and a key location in Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, where players could choose to support it. We learned in season one that Hank destroyed Shady Sands, claiming it was to protect Vault-Tec’s plan for repopulating Earth. However, his motivations were also personal: his wife, Rose, had left him and moved to Shady Sands, refusing to return. The flashback portrays Shady Sands as a thriving, even beautiful, town – a hopeful vision of a rebuilt world two centuries after the Great War. Its destruction, by another atomic bomb, is a devastating setback for civilization. Hank receives confirmation of the successful bombing on his Pip-Boy and appears briefly shaken, but remains committed to his mission. The scene cuts to a young Lucy asking her father, “When’s mom coming back?” as they begin to read The Wind in the Willows.

The episode doesn’t end there. After Carol discovers the hive’s scheme, the scene shifts to Manousos, who’s back in Carol’s neighborhood studying English and taking notes about the hive. He looks up to see a helicopter, flown by Zosia, with Carol as a passenger. They’re carrying a large shipping container. Zosia drops Carol and the container off, then tells Manousos, “You win. We save the world.” The container? It holds an atom bomb.

Hudson, who is currently promoting her new film Song Sung Blue, recently made an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, and she was asked directly by host Andy Cohen about her past connection to everyone’s favorite neighborhood superhero. A fan submitted a question asking if she had at one point turned down the role of Mary Jane, and in confirming the story, the actress explained why she doesn’t have any regrets about it. Said Hudson,