X-Men Gold, Vol. 6: 'Til Death Do Us Part

X-Men Gold (Collected Editions)

by Marc Guggenheim (Writer), Kelly Thompson (Writer), Chris Claremont (Writer)

Kitty's X-Men and the Xavier Institute have some big changes on the way... Will they be able to keep their doors open? Meanwhile, Rachel Grey current codename "Prestige" might not fit anymore after her dark rebirth.

COLLECTING: X-MEN GOLD 26-30

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2018

About the author

Marc Guggenheim grew up on Long Island, New York, and earned his law degree from Boston University. After over four years in practice, he left law to pursue a career in television.

Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.

His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.

Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.

Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guggenheim's stories are serviceable, but they never surprise or wow me. That trend continues here. The whole wedding angle bored me to tears. Everyone already knew exactly what would happen, because yeah, comics! The constantly rotating artists are really starting to drag the book down. Can't we get one artist for a whole arc?

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dear Marvel and DC,

You tell us there will be a wedding. You tell us it will be the "event of the year!". You ask us to buy side-books that tie in to the wedding event of the year. Then, for all of our dedication and patience, you hand us a steaming pile of shit.

It's not cute, funny, surprising, or exciting. It certainly isn't the "event of the year!" It's just a slap in the face to your fans.

Eat my ass.

Sincerely,
Someone that wants you to go fuck yourself with a rusty AIDS pipe

PS: The X-Men are getting their millionth reboot where "nothing will be the same!" so I guess none of this matters anyway. Yet again.

…Fuck you.

[Sud666 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only two weddings I've ever given a crap about are Supermans and Spidermans. The rest is pretty much fluff. The fluff comes out in full force in this Pytor and Kitty wedding catastrophe, never mind the fact that Kitty turns into a flighty idiot and two different people end up getting married instead, this is a bad comic.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
It’s the wedding of the century as Colossus and Kitty finally tie the knot! But of course, this is an X-Men wedding, so there’s some world saving to do before the nuptuals can take place. Lydia Nance and the sentient sentinel nanovirus 0101 have teamed up to eliminate all mutant life on Earth, and only the X-Men can stop them! Must be Tuesday.

Let’s put the wedding stuff aside for a second and look at the superheroics going on. They’re actually part of a very solid story, with realistic stakes that feels very X-Men. We’ve got space travel, a world in peril, heroic sacrifices, all that good stuff. It also feeds nicely off of the previous stories that Guggenheim has told, and it’s nice to see Lydia Nance finally get some comeuppance.

But of course the real draw here is the wedding. The build-up is very effectively done, with one or two page flashbacks by David Marquez in each issue on the way to the big day that look back on Kitty and Colossus’s relationship (which hasn’t always been the most kosher, but hey). The event itself is kind of a fake-out (I’m not going to dance around spoilers, I’m pretty sure everyone knows what happens) but I think the groundwork was laid well enough that it makes sense. The lynchpin of it all being a conversation between Kitty and Magik feels like the last straw rather than Kitty making a snap decision out of nowhere, and the visual of Kitty sinking away from the wedding through a sheer cliff face is very powerful.

I have more of an issue with Rogue and Gambit swooping in and getting hitched instead, which feels a lot more of a swerve than Kitty and Piotr not. Then again, I haven’t been keeping up with their solo adventures recently, so maybe it’s not? Who knows. It definitely feels like more of a bait-and-switch in this respect.

There’s also a Wedding Special collected here which I will freely admit I didn’t read, so I haven’t included it in my review score. I opened it, saw a thousand words per page because Chris Claremont still thinks he’s paid by the letter, and closed it again. Ain’t nobody got time for that. If I wanted a novel, I’d go read a book.

On the art side of things, anything David Marquez draws is gold, and he manages to date his flashback artwork well enough that it seems to have been pulled from the past while remaining recognizably his style. The rest of the book is drawn by Michelle Bandini, who has been doing a bang-up job over on Captain Marvel, and Geraldo Borges, who was the best artist assigned to Angel Season 11. They’re both fairly tame in comparison to Marquez, but they turn out some good pages that sell the action and emotion that Guggenheim is trying to convey.

The wedding may be the main draw here, and it is a good story, but I think it overshadows the other five issues of the story, which are great, and capitalize on everything Guggenheim has set up so far. There’s a very enjoyable little arc here, which is a nice surprise, since it would have been easy for the writer to focus on the conclusion and not the journey to it.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The upward trajectory of X-Men Gold continues with what's absolutely Guggenheim's best volume to date.

To start with, he works hard to redeem the problematic relationship between Kitty and Peter. That's in part by reminding us of their pasts, through a series of flashbacks, but also through giving Kitty all of the agency in their relationship, which helps to offset the stalkerishness of Peter's recourting of Kitty.

But beyond that, this volume is really delightful for its delves into everyone's relationships. We see a lot of very nice interactions between X-Men, with of course Kitty getting a lot of the spotlight. (I also love just a couple of panels of Jean, Jean, and Rachel.)

The action-adventure part of this volume is also stronger than others to date, and that's in large part because it's building on the mythology that's grown throughout the X-Men Gold run. Oh, one of the main villains is still a carbon copy of every politician xenophobe ever in X-Men, and the main action sequence is poorly paced: sometimes it goes way too fast, and sometimes it drags, and overall it feels paint by numbers.

But when Guggeinheim can get past the fighting, his story excels, and there's actually a lot of that in this volume.

It's more like 4.5 stars.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok... just going to try and forget the banal four-parter leading to the big wedding... Nance and her AI somehow have the backing for this huge end of Mutants plan, but it is so not well thought out by the writers.. 5 out of 12...
.
The Wedding. Typically as an X-book fan, the Cyclops-Phoenix wedding is probably my fave but this nears it, with some great looking back shots. The Jean, Young Jean and Rachel chat-group. The sighting of an old friend ... as a homage to Cyke-Phoenix? The Fantastic Four Young Iceman convo. Illyana's view. The wedding. I actually saw it coming, is all I can say. 9 out of 12 for wedding chatter and high drama played out realistically :)
.
That's a 7 out of 12 average tho'

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, I should have known there's no such thing as a conventional happy ending in X-Men comics but I mean JHEEZE!



I'm almost too sad to find out, Petey...

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luego que Coloso y Kitty acordaron celebrar su tan esperada boda aparecen de nuevos los centinelas desarrollados por la pretendida genocida Lydia Nance. Éstos raptan a Coloso pues él tiene aún en su sangre restos del virus del legado que contrajo hace mucho tiempo y con ello Nance pretende exterminar a la raza mutante. Todo el equipo va a liberarlo.
Sólo puedo comentar que el final me suscitó sentimientos encontrados.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one’s a pretty serviceable story that’s at its best when it’s focusing on a bigot’s evil plans to destroy mutantkind by harvesting remnants of the Legacy virus from Colossus’s blood to create a new bio weapon. But the core of the book revolves around Colossus’s pending nuptials to Kitty Pryde, which get a bit sidetracked by his kidnapping and her subsequent rescue attempt. Mostly, it’s an OK volume and Guggenheim does some solid character work and showing us the relationship between these two lovers over the course of their lives, but the scripting never really goes out of its way to be something more than merely serviceable.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marc Guggenheim's love of early 80s Claremont era X-men comes through, but his stories with Gold are always just functional. The marriage plotline was both anti-climactic and boring, and the rotating makes the book feel like it has no real "aesthetic." The bait-and-switch feels like early 90s era X-men fan service, the action sequence is poorly paced, and the villains are lack-luster. It is primarily nostalgia and character consistency that keeps me interested.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look.... I'm not happy about it. That's all I'll say.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

As most have probably heard by now (at least that would care), the wedding didn't go off as planned. But we did get a wedding that wasn't planned. It really seemed like a cop out to me since it felt like we'd been here done that so many times. I don't like the big building up of the wedding just for it not to happen, even though weddings in general don't exactly make for great comic book material to begin with.

The non wedding oriented parts of the storyline were okay, as the X-Men once again save all mutants on Earth. The art was a little better than usual as well. I just think the whole wedding build up only to not have a wedding comes across as bait and switch, even if I did see it coming. Still not a terrible X-Men volume, but I think most readers know what I mean.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another serviceable entry in this serviceable series. There’s enough character work to keep it clicking, but none of this is really destined to be remembered. I’m just reading it to complete the run at this point.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

uhhh I mean I guess I've never felt that invested in the Kitty/Piotr relationship and it turns out, neither do Kitty and Piotr?

surprising no one I did enjoy the Rogue & Gambit wedding, don't @ me

[Michael Church · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hey, Marc Guggenheim, you know a really cool way to avoid a misogynist trope? Just ignore it. You don’t have to lampshade it. Kitty asks her mom to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, and her first response is that it’s something a man is supposed to do. I don’t know a mother alive who has a decent relationship with her daughter who would react that way, and, apparently, I’m still mad about it.

Also, Kurt and Rachel’s relationship really bothers me. They spend almost no time on panel together (she’s been in and out of comas since they finally started dating recently), but we are supposed to believe their relationship is super serious. I just don’t buy it, and don’t care about it.

The plot in this volume is fine. It’s continuing the Lydia Nance storyline. Honestly, I don’t like her as a character. I get that she’s supposed to be unlikable as a villain, but she’s just yet another mutant hating bigot. She doesn’t seem to do anything to advance the archetype or give it any sort of nuance. Also, a bunch of characters from the last volume just disappear. So I guess that means the answer to Kitty’s question about “what are we going to do with 12 X-Men” is “ignore them.”

The wedding special is a mixed bag. There are a couple of nice moments, but most of it I could take or leave. A lot also felt really forced, like Callisto showing up. Maybe I just don’t like Colossus as much as I thought I did, but his whole story in this frustrates me. He’s not very likable.

On the plus side, the actual wedding issue (#30) is gorgeous and pretty well done. Ilyana gets a nice moment with Kitty. The surprise resolution is also really nice. It has a lot more emotional weight to it, and I think it lands pretty well.

Artistically, the real highlight is David Marquez’s work on the flashback sequences. He does great work on issue 30, too, but the pastel colors and the homages to older issues in the flashbacks are really perfectly executed. Michele Bandini does a great job on issues 26 and 28, too. Geraldo Borges on 27 and 29, though, doesn’t hold up. A few panels look downright ugly, but it’s just a looser style that I’m not a fan of.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 2 out of 5]

Acercándose ya el final de la colección, Guggenheim decidió centrarse en una de las tramas que había ido desarrollando durante su estancia en la colección, y que por lo menos a mí se me estaba haciendo cada vez más pesada. Y es la historia de amor entre Kitty y Coloso. En los cómics hay parejas que lo han sido desde el principio de la historia, y eso es mucho, que si hablamos de la relación entre Superman y Lois Lane, vamos de camino a los 90 años. Reed y Sue, Peter y MJ, Barry e Iris, Bruce y Betty... Y dentro de los propios mutantes, tenemos a Scott y Jean (con Emma Frost de por medio, sí), Alex y Lorna, Pícara y Gambito... y por supuesto, Kitty y Coloso. Kitty lleva colada por Coloso desde su primera aparición, allá por la Saga de Fénix Oscura, y durante más de cuarenta años, los dos han estado "mareando la perdiz". Que sí, que no, que ahora te quiero, que ahora no, que ahora me muero, que ahora me quedo atrapada en una bala gigante, que si me voy a las Secret Wars y me lio con Szaji, que si me quedo por aquí por Inglaterra y me lío con Wisdom... En fin, que la muchacha, aunque el mismísimo Guggenheim no se acuerde (esto se me olvidó comentarlo en su momento) hasta habla ruso fluido, que se comunicaba así con Illyana cuando esta era una niña en la época del Virus del Legado (en el viaje a Rusia de los X-Men en esta misma colección, Kitty afirma que no habla ruso). Y personalmente, siempre me ha parecido una historia que por algún motivo no funcionaba. Pero Guggenheim desde que llegó a la colección, fue forzando la máquina en ese sentido, convirtiendo a ambos en los protagonistas de la principal trama romántica de la colección (con Rachel y Rondador en segundo plano).

En este arco, el equipo Oro se va a enfrentar de nuevo a Vivian Nance (o Lidia Nance, no termino de quedarme con el nombre de esta mujer), que en este caso va a dar un paso más en su extremo odio a los mutantes, aliándose con Alfa (la IA centinela que Gambito había liberado en el primer arco de la colección), y utilizando precisamente a Coloso para recuperar muestras del virus del Legado para matar a todos los mutantes (más o menos al mismo tiempo que Siniestro utilizaba Mothervine para crear más mutantes, locurote), lo que va a llevar al Equipo Oro a una misión de rescate mientras evitan que Alfa y la señora Nance acaben con toda la especie mutante...

Y todo esto conduce a una boda, claro, la boda entre Kitty y Coloso, donde la más sabia es Magik, mejor amiga de la primera y hermana del segundo, y que debo reconocer que me puso voz exactamente. Si esta historia fuera a ir algún sitio, ya habría pasado. Así que en fin, final de trama con giro sorprendente (no sé cómo cuadra en el tiempo esta publicación con la boda entre Batman y Catwoman...), y sí, con boda al final... Aunque quizá no la esperada.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as floppies I borrowed. The majority of the story was a pretty basic X-Men plot, bad guys trying to kill all mutants, blah blah. The art was pretty whatever too, sometimes characters looked good and on-model but then later on the same page their features were completely different. BUT each issue opened with a beautiful flashback to some point in Kitty and Piotr's history, drawn by David Marquez and colored by the amazing Matt Wilson. These were the highlight of the book, and then a miracle happened in that the actual wedding issue was entirely by them! Even though I knew the ending, that they didn't end up getting married, I got completely swept away in the lovely emotions and drama. Which brings me to the other issue.... Kitty pulling out of the wedding is really out of nowhere, and not explained well. Not that it's unexpected, even if I didn't know it was coming they seed that she has doubts throughout the whole book. But I don't know WHY. And neither does she. It honestly feels like a decision made not by the characters, but by writers or worse, editorial.

So yeah. In the end, a rather disappointing book. But that issue is beautiful, and I will be using it in my Rogue/Gambit bind eventually so it won't go to waste, so to speak.

[Rachel Johannigmeier · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think the Guggenheim does have fond memories of X-Men. Unfortunately, his fond memories do not make for good writing on his part. This is the second time in the last ten years that Kitty has been engaged to a man named Peter, and it still is not very well written. There is a lot of potential in the concept of Kitty Pryde being a leader of the X-Men, but its subpar plots and forced romantic relationships (I refer to Rachel and Kurt - at least Kitty/Peter was a thing at one time) do not do the concept justice. Throw in Ororo being nothing but a background character, one of the few lgbt characters being a genocidal maniac, as well as forcing us to read about the character Ink and pretending as if the X-Men actually know who that is, is just all together, a very boring and disappointing run on X-Men. It's not flat out stupid as Chuck Austen's run, or plagued by the continuity errors of Bendis' run, but I would have to say it is pretty low on the X-Men writer scale. It's not even really a part of X-Men canon that needs to be read or has an impact on the plot, so if you ever wanted to read this book, I would not really bother unless you like boring Excalibur fan-fiction that also features Ink who is not even a mutant.

[Kyle Dinges · Rating 2 out of 5]

X-Men: Gold started admirably, but seems to be losing steam with each new volume. Guggenheim seems to be running out of ideas. The first arc of this volume is an entirely forgettable, copy and paste, X-Men story. And even though I wasn't very invested in the wedding story line, (light spoilers ahead) the way it ended felt a bit cheap. I rarely enjoy bait and switch story ploys, and I don't feel that it was earned or necessary here. I am excited for the Mr. and Mrs. X series that is spawning from the events, but that's only because it's Kelly Thompson writing, not from anything that happened here.

I also still find it hard to get behind the rotating artists for these series that ship more frequently than monthly. I just enjoy seeing one penciler/inker/colorist team to go at least an arc without a switch up, even if that means less frequent shipping.

Anyway, it looks like the series is ending at the end of the next volume, which is good because I think it probably would have been better to finish after the second when the quality was still solid. Looks like I'm adding another totally forgettable X book to the "read" list!

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how most of these issues show a classic moment from Kitty and Colossus's relationship redrawn before getting into the current storyline.

I'm not really invested in most X-Men relationships because they all seem destined for failure so that the series can be endlessly soft-rebooted and they try and start their relationship over, or else they briefly (which, in comics, can mean the story unfolds over years) move on to new relationships before falling back on the older ones. Colossus and Kitty Pryde are not exceptions.

The story built around their relationship in this volume are a familiar trope: evil, bigoted human wants to kill all mutants, and a new form of sentinel is involved. But Guggenheim tells this story well, and it feels very of the late 2010s/early 2020s, as opposed to feeling like a throwback.

This book is going to make headcanon not just because it has a couple of important long-term storytelling moments but because the story feels more relevant than a lot of X-books of its time.

If you like the Colossus/Kitty relationship, or you just enjoy the X-books that are character-forward but still have an intriguing plot, this is a book for you.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As we slowly head towards the impending wedding between Kitty Pryde and Colossus, it wouldn't be a superhero wedding without some drama, right? Piotr gets abducted from his Vegas bachelor party by Lydia Nance, Anti-Mutant lobbyist, as well as nano-sentinel Alpha. The two of them hope to use Piotr's blood to create a nanovirus that will kill every mutant on Earth. With the help of Alpha Flight and (X-Member in training/probation) Pyro, the virus is stopped in a very well written cliffhanger sequence.
Lots of flashbacks and feelings as the wedding gets ready to start... but too many seeds of doubt have been planted. When he goes to put the ring on Kitty's finger, she phases and apologizes that she can't go through with it. That night, reflecting on their love, they stay together but not married. All the positive feelings have overcome someone else though. Gambit proposes to Rogue and (in a shocking turn of events) they get married right on the spot!
I love X-Men titles. Always have, and probably always will.
I wonder what's next?
Recommend.

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this means we're finally done with this ridiculously boring and drawn out romance/marriage arc. Maybe? At least the whole series is almost over, I'm very ready for it to be over.

Also, like, fine, there are Rabbis who would perform a mixed marriage between a Jew and a goy (leaving aside the fact that Kitty and Peter never discuss religion on panel, there's a Rabbi performing the ceremony so it must've been discussed). BUT! In a Jewish wedding ceremony, the legal marriage - both the civil and Jewish aspects of that - take place in private with the couple, their parents, their witnesses and the Rabbi. Once you're under the chuppah, you're already legally married. Yes, that part is incredibly important religiously and culturally, but it's a little late for the "ope, lemme just phase right out of here" moment... ALSO, like, come on, sure there are Rabbis who would do an interfaith marriage that includes a Jew, but a totally goyishe wedding? Still under the chuppah? That was a bit much...

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I would probably give this volume a 3.5 as the plot was good but nothing too amazing, it definitely had something a little special with the art. The plot is a little heavier on the soap opera, will they or won't they get married angle, there is also some X-Men action shoehorned intpp. It kind of makes the X-Men's lives seem a bit too chaotic which I've mentioned in previous reviews of this series but that's okay. There is a fairly big twist that I won't spoil but I don't know how rewarding it is for fans of this series as the twist involves characters who are not really covered in this book very much. With that said, I still enjoyed this story and the mix of artists were definitely higher quality than what the book has had since the beginning. This series is nearly over but I look forward to reading the next and final story arc as it has been a fairly decent run worth reading the whole way through.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to worry about spoilers, because I think pretty much everybody who cares knows the ending by now. I'm flat out relieved that Kitty and Colossus aren't getting married. Their relationship has always seemed kind of skeevy to me, starting with Kitty being 14 and every significant adult in her life pushing her into a relationship with a disinterested 18 year old Colossus. I've never seen any real chemistry between them, just two people caving to lifelong pressure to have some kind of relationship. I was pleasantly surprised that the entire trade, and even the pointless special issue, actually foreshadow that.

That dumb relationship aside, there's some solid storytelling going on here. These new threats are great, the team gels, and this trade aside, there's just enough personal stuff going on to keep things grounded.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. It just doesn’t make sense. I should change it to 2, maybe. Ugh.

Ok so lots
Of things I liked, including the basic story and most of the art. One of my favorite things was they way they ‘saved’ the wedding (ie Rogue and Gambit). I thought that was cute and well done, especially after their title run where they got back together. It just made sense.

Kitty and Peter coming back to watch? Doesn’t make sense. Their conversations after ditching the wedding don’t make sense. Bah. Like don’t get me wrong I’m ok they aren’t together but their whole conversations just sounded like bullshit. They should be upset, they should be hurt, etc. but ok. I’m not a writer I can tell you I would not do it better. 🤷‍♀️

[Brad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listen, I'm really trying to give this series a chance, but we're six volumes in and every time I feel like I start a hint of interest the story does a great job of taking my interest and launching it into the sun.
The homages and love for the Claremont run are everywhere and I want to love it, but it just doesn't spark interest and thats not a problem with the source material from the 80's. I'm a bit Colossus and Kitty Pryde fan as separate characters and certainly as a couple. I don't really think this book did these characters justice as a couple, nor as individual characters. And apparently Lockheed has a family now and a mini-series about that would be more interesting than this whole era of X-Men. Sorry, Gold and Blue.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The long awaited wedding of two favorite X-Men characters is finally here. Marc Guggenheim does a good job here with the emotions as readers feel for the characters involved. There was nice looks back into history at the odd relationship between Kitty and Piotr. The ending didn't bother as it did many others. I felt the road to get there was overlong. Lydia Nance went from scheming politician to maniacally laughing super-villain in a couple arcs and it wasted it her potential. The character of Alpha is way too over powered. There is still a ton of stuff going on with other characters here that I enjoyed. The art was hit or miss but the wedding issue was done well. Overall, a decent read that leaned too heavily on Nance.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...

Ehhh… It's an uneven volume to be sure. There's a lot of combat that seems X-Men basics 101 and then the wedding that wasn't.

There just wasn't a whole lot of meat to the story and not enough character development for the big twists that were there at the end. (For the record, I like Kitty and Piotr together so I was a bit disappointed but I just wish it had been written better.)

Fwiw, my favorite bit was probably the short pre-wedding tale by Claremont. What can I say? I like more than ten words in my comics issues and I sometimes miss that wordier sort of storytelling.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. There was such a good balance of action and emotion, making these big, worldwide issues seem personal while making the personal things seem big. I feel like some of the wedding stuff was a bit telegraphed, though, which sometimes makes it harder to relate to emotionally, since it’s being verbalized clearly, even when the art tells it to us. With comics, sometimes writers need to remember that they are making a valuable contribution even if text doesn’t appear in a panel.

[Morgan Woodington · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art kept changing in style, which showed that they had several artist for this comic. I wouldn't have cared to much if the styles didn't seem so polar opposite. Sharp lines here, and then it moved to almost a cartoon style with soft, round shapes. Don't get me wrong, all the art was good! Just different. I didn't mind too much, but the story was also all over the place! And the pace of events and when they happened felt uncomfortable. Like they were trying to force them to fit in places that they shouldn't have been. It was okay, but nothing spectacular.