Gosh, nerdlings, but I have been busy since I got back to town. It's been a pretty constant go-go-go and last week was no different but it was pretty awesome because our glorious leader, JG,FE, may or may not have turned Older this week. Naturally, this was a cause for great celebration, or precisely three beers because that's about where I stop these days so I don’t end up all ridiculous, so some of us got together and halfway through that third beer, I turned to him and made a face and chirped that eternal question.

 

“Dude,” I may have squinted here, that third beer tends to hit hard, “what should I write about this weekend?”

 

“I don't know.” And I'm pretty sure he also made a face because, you know, he panics a little when asked that question. He'll say he doesn't but he totally does. [I totally do.—JG,FE]

 

“Some editor you are.”

 

“Have you seen the new Iron Man?”

 

“Nope! I'm going to see it Sunday, though.”

 

“Well, I know how much you like to write about your soulmate, Pepper Potts, so...”

 

“Man,” and I'm pretty sure I sighed more than a little reverently, “if I could totally be a fictional character, it would be her.”

 

JG,FE looked dubious and I felt one of those moments coming on in which I was just going to keep going and couldn't stop the next sentence from coming out of my mouth.

 

“I bought a lot of pencil skirts, okay?”

 

And it's true. I did buy a lot of pencil skirts and started wearing fantastic heels and I go into meetings purposefully channeling Pepper Potts because I bet she runs the table at meetings, whereas I can get a little awkward. While I feel like a nicer wardrobe can never hurt anything, Pepper is still a lot of things I'm not but I'd like to try being and she adds a few more to the list this movie. I'd hate to spoil it but Pepper keeps stepping up every movie and I think it's great to watch, largely because I feel like Gwyneth Paltrow carries the role so well and she and Robert Downey, Jr. have amazing chemistry. Pepper started as Tony's primary wrangler and moved to CEO of his international company and her fascinating trajectory doesn't end there.

 

Of course, that arc doesn't quite match the print-Pepper, but this installment in the Iron Man series finds movie-Pepper maintaining both those roles and adding a new job title to her résumé but, again, spoilers suck so I'll shut up. Rest assured, however, that Pepper's ever-expanding role continues to do so unabated and she, more than ever, can face Tony as an equal. I felt like she could always go toe to toe with him, but now they have a little more in common and it's awesome to see these two, my very favorite comic couple, evening things up a little.

 

But the best part of the movie, both Mr. J and I agree, is the one where Tony and Pepper work together flawlessly to achieve a task, namely making sure that both of them live through the first half of the movie, in a fairly surprising way. And they do live through it because of that teamwork and maybe a little hand from JARVIS, whom I love, despite the fact that he's an artificial intelligence. I'm open-minded on any sort of intelligence. Anyway, I'm okay with spoiling that part for you. It's impressively written and directed and flawlessly performed by both actors, much like most of their scenes. At one point, Tony says he has to protect the one thing he can't live without and it's her, and Pepper doesn't back down at all. She just meets that intensity and follows some of his statements through to their logical conclusions, despite the fact that it's such a big moment. They're like any other couple, they have issues, and they have to work through them, but they work so well together. Pepper Potts is so important to him because she is, through all kinds of circumstances and both personally and professionally, his other half. And they can both get thrown off their game for a second but will always continue on in the same direction because they care so much about each other. She knows what his life is like, what it has been like, and can look past that. But, not only that, she's also able to keep up with him in their ridiculous march towards the future. Honestly, they seem like a more cohesive partnership with every scene and it's a glorious thing to watch.

 

In fact, I suggest you go do that if you haven't already. In the meantime, I'll continue my not-so-quiet fangirling over here and pop the tag on that great sapphire blue pencil skirt I haven't had a chance to wear yet. | Erin Jameson