Rob Kubasko

A brand new element! Hidden in a schematic for a theme park! And it can SAVE TONY? And he can make it in his basement‽ You guys, this minute is amazing. Like, head-tilting, quizzical expression amazing. We pull apart just who is — and who is not — a scientist this minute, and as confused as we might be over the narrative holes and home reconstruction, this is a fun and good-looking minute.

We’re going into wireframe mode. Tony removes some layers of dad’s fair model and gets to the juicy, sciencey center: a new element. We have some quibbles with Howard’s strategy vis a vis hiding incredible discoveries in very, very plain sight. Even JFav agrees with us: don’t think about the plan too much. But, it LOOKS incredible and that, as it turns out, matters.

This is a rough minute for movers. We’ve all done it. We’ve all made mistakes. But the horror that befalls Tony’s convertible is unspeakable. Tony asks JARVIS to do a thing that isn’t the thing that JARVIS ends up doing, so, you know… reinventing words for technology is fun. Ok, there’s not a LOT going on in this minute and frankly, we’re getting a little antsy for our upcoming SCIENCE MONTAGE!

So, so Latin this minute. From quips to quotes to the high classics, we tie it all to Natasha. Even sculptures are giving Tony a hard time this minute. Maybe he’ll be able to throw away the poison berries? Thankfully, we stumble across the keys to the future because hardware mode is coming.

Pepper really wants Tony… to leave. Which helicopters have wheels? There’s some confusion about who’s the boss, but it’s really just on Tony’s part. Gwyneth is awesome here, as is Favreau himself, as they head out the door leaving Tony and Natalie behind.

Pepper is allergic to strawberries. There are some serious monitor continuity errors. Background buildings grow logos. What the heck was going on in the editing of this scene? Meanwhile, we learn that Tony has no idea how to apologize. But at least we get a sense they actually care about each other. Where might this go?

Pepper’s packing up Tony’s old stuff, and turns out the model of the World’s Fair is there too. Elger Esser’s photo is hanging up. Who is Burt? Tony tries to apologize but those damn swinging sticks are distracting him.

After Dad’s message, Tony takes a drive. Alejandro Patiño makes an appearance as a vendor and Tony trades his gift watch from Obadiah Stane in the first movie for some strawberries. Pepper works in the office with Bambi Arbogast. They want the Mark II suit back. And yeah… there’s a newscaster in here who’s appearance is now a bit… awkward.

Is Howard’s message to Tony an early deepfake? We think so, made by Nick Fury to sell Tony on this whole thing. Damon Lindelof helped with it too, but it still just doesn’t work for us. See what you think.