Carnival Row Season 2 Episode 5-6 Review: Heads Will Roll

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Tuesday’s episode teaches us that trespassers will be punished—in this case by getting trapped in a hall of mirrors that reflects your face back to you as a clown. Meanwhile, John and Mary have hit a wall in their Dean Winchester hunt. Mary is frustrated and they get into a fight that Carlos and Lata interrupt with a case. Ada’s got a side story that involves her playing poker with bitchy witches for a spell that can kill the Akrida, but it bears strange fruit.

The main story follows the case of Wally Gorman (Wil Deusner), he was upset that his folks were getting divorced so he snuck into the carnival after-hours and became the latest victim of “Limbo the Clown” (Eric Mendenhall) and his “Hall of Happy”, where people go in but don’t come out. A little research reveals that Limbo sold his soul for eternal happiness. The gang eventually runs into a man named Clarence (Jullian Dulce Vida) who says Limbo took his brother Roger (Joshua Weatherby) and he wants him back. With their combined information Mary, John, Lata, and Carlos all wind up in Limbo’s tent with John and Mary falling prey to the Hall of Happy. Luckily, Carlos uses the story of his dead parents to snap Roger out of his spell thus shattering Limbo’s lie for everyone. Ada’s story ends with her meeting Rowena (Ruth Connell) and getting a crystal in exchange for her demon plant, but the crystal won’t work unless Ada uses a piece of her soul. When her and the Monster Hunters’ club reunites, she’s mum on that detail, but no one really notices since the planetary alignment the Akrida Queen’s been waiting for is underway.

Many high-concept shows thrive off theme episodes and The Winchesters is no exception. Tonight’s theme is clearly the tale of the lotus eaters, which is an old Greek myth featured in The Odyssey, where Odysseus and his men come across a group of people who hang out on an island eating lotus flowers and ignoring the real world. The moral here is that indulging in pleasure to push out pain or reality isn’t a viable solution to life. The head of the lotus eaters here is Jerome Haskins, aka Limbo the Clown, who suffered as a result of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. In response, he sold his soul for eternal happiness, and his “Hall of Happy” lures other sad souls to join him in delusional bliss.

Mary and John are particularly vulnerable as each of them is carrying a lot of pain. John has his rage that is forever boiling just below the surface, and Mary has her fear instilled in her by her hunter father. And while Lata and Carlos have also seen their fair share of darkness, Carlos has been working on his issues, and Lata has recently discovered the power of opening up so they are not at risk here. But they do, as always, serve as helpful members of the team in both solving the case and saving their friends.

The Ada storyline, didn’t interest me much mostly because it came out of nowhere. Mary does mention that her father and Ada are looking into magic that might help fight the Akrida, but it’s a very throwaway line that also mentions Millie and Betty. How Ada comes to find that witch speakeasy might have been an interesting scene but we don’t get that, all we get is Ada walking up to a door and being greeted with a pair of heavily made-up eyes. She doesn’t even give a password! As for the witch poker, I’m also not sure why Ada’s brand of magic is so looked down upon by the other witches. Is “Earth magic” not a respected branch? And, if so, why not? I can honestly say I would have been more interested in finding out why a magical green thumb gets turned noses because it’s an area of witchlore that hasn’t been explored in the mothership series, but oh well.

The one good thing to come of this side tale is the guest appearance of a fan favorite: Rowena! However, Rowena’s involvement seems highly forced, and I didn’t feel like she was as fun as she could have been. Maybe she saves all her charms for strapping young hunter lads? Either way, it’s a Hail Mary that fails to deliver even if it does technically deliver Ada a super weapon in the war against the Akrida.

As for other shoehorned in additions, we get Millie at the end revealing to John that her and Betty found a witness who can exonerate him. It’s good news since the season finale is next week and we’ll need all hunter hands on deck if there’s any hope of stopping the Akrida! Considering how, kill-the-momentum this episode is, having Millie come in at the end feels especially contrived.

I commend the acting in this episode as there is a bit of work that had to go into these performances. Roger does a great job of balancing John’s barely contained rage especially when it comes to his interactions with Mary, where he is careful not to completely lose control. Donnelly has become proficient at Mary’s tendency to show vulnerability to her friends one minute then a tough business-first face once shit hits the fan. Khurshid’s Lata sinks back into her comfortable background role, but it’s forgivable considering the work she did in the last episode, and Fleites is his usual scene-stealing self if dialed back a bit here for the sake of his co-stars. Let’s all agree that he could have really made a meal of Carlos’ plea to young Roger about their shared trauma of parental loss. Instead, Fleites leans more on Carlos’ panic at being under siege from a clan of creepy clowns.

As for our guest stars they do a fine job of adding to the darkness and mystery. Andres Munar’s Felix the Clown gives a wonderfully deadpan presentation as a clown just trying to get by. McKinney’s Ada doesn’t give us much, but Connell’s Rowena gladly reinhabits the sheer cheekiness that is the eventual Queen of Hell. Mendenhall’s Limbo gives a great, spooky vibe, riding that fine line between creepy child-eating clown and angel-of-mercy nurse who truly believes they are giving their victims a better life. Finally, there’s Vida’s Clarence, who goes from being a possibly sinister force to a surprising ally in the fight against Limbo. He never quite loses that “evil” edge, but it almost works for him as his character likely harbors a lot of guilt for the disappearance of his brother.

Overall, as a stand-alone story, it isn’t terrible, but as a penultimate episode it was a swing and a miss. Gone is the quick, urgent pacing of the previous episode, and in its place is a theme episode centered on the lotus eaters. It might have worked as perhaps the episode before the penultimate one, but being the penultimate one it severely halts the momentum built by the previous episode, which is a shame.

I’ll give this a B- for being much less than what it should have been, but embracing what it was quite nicely. Sure, it’s a bad penultimate before the exciting season finale, but as a moral pocket story it hits all the right notes, except for Ada’s storyline which was only there to remind us there’s a bigger plot at play, and as such was a clunky addition.

Star Trek: Picard Digs Into Its Characters Against an Action-Packed Backdrop

By

Mary Fan

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Picard and Beverly — Mom and Dad are fighting :'( Image: Paramount+

All right, now that we’ve gotten a few mystery boxes out of the way, the show can finally begin for real. By this point, we all know that Jack Crusher is Picard’s kid and Worf is Raffi’s handler. The question now is: How did this come to be, and what does it mean for our characters?

The third episode of the season, “Seventeen Seconds”, picks up where it left off: With the Titan facing off against Vadic’s mega-ship, Shrike. Obviously, we can’t hand over Picard’s son to the bad guys—even Shaw, who wants nothing to do with this conflict, knows that (gotta love the irritated resignation on his face at the end of the last episode). Nah, he’s a Chosen One now, so we’ve got to protect him (to Jack’s credit, no one’s less happy about this than he is). Outgunned, the Titan takes off into the strange nebula to hide.

Through a flashback, Riker talks to Picard about the power of fatherhood, with the title “Seventeen Seconds” referring to how long it took him to reach sick bay from the bridge when his son was born, and the anxiety felt in those moments. Oh no, a longtime TV viewer would think. Something bad’s gonna happen to Jack, and Picard’s gonna end up in that turbolift, facing the longest seventeen seconds of his life…

But I’m getting ahead of myself (I am finding it rather amusing how much this season likes to telegraph its storylines with its episode titles). After (unnecessarily) dragging out the “who is Jack Crusher” question for two episodes, the show finally gives us the moment longtime Next Generation fans have been waiting for: What the devil happened between Jean-Luc and Beverly???

The answer is mundane considering this season’s high-stakes, action-packed plot lines, but far more satisfactory for that reason. The “Jack Crusher is Picard’s son” twist was so obvious, it wasn’t even a twist. If they’d tried to throw us something like “and Beverly kept him away because secret bad guys were after him,” like Aurora being hidden away from Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, it might have induced an eye roll large enough to throw the whole planet off its axis. So thank goodness they went with a simpler, quieter explanation: Everything that made Picard a great Starfleet captain (and a wonderful character to watch) would have made him a terrible father.

Not because of lack of caring, mind you. Certainly, Picard would have wanted to be there for his kid. But can you really imagine him refusing a call to save the galaxy—again, and again, and again—because he has a son at home now? Beverly couldn’t, and she was probably right. Plus, there’s the added factor that thanks to all of Picard’s enemies, baby Jack would have been born with a giant, flaming target on his back. Yet while Beverly’s explanations seem perfectly understandable, especially given how much she’s lost over the course of the show (we were mostly glad to see Wesley get written off, but poor Beverly lost her kid), Picard is equally understandable in his anger that he never had a chance.

I gotta say, I absolutely adored this scene. The simplicity, the humanity. The whole episode was worthwhile for this scene alone.

But we still have, like, half an hour to go. And it’s kind of downhill from there.

Picard and Riker on the bridge — Two Number Ones. Image: Paramount+

The Titan spends the whole episode trying to hide from the Shrike and getting caught. After Shaw is critically injured, he gives Riker command of the bridge. Picard merrily takes on the role of Number One to his former Number One, and for a moment, it feels like the old team is back, if reversed. But that doesn’t last long. Riker wants to keep running, to minimize the risk to the crew. Picard wants to turn around and fight because… because he’s Picard. The first time they come into conflict, it’s like “Cool, character conflict!” By the end of the episode, the same conversation has been replayed so many times, I began wondering if the writers simply copy-pasted their own dialogue.

Meanwhile, Jack doesn’t want to sit around being a MacGuffin of sorts (though it’s implied that he is one for the bad guys… they’re after him for reasons unclear, but probably—oh let’s face it, definitely—because he’s Picard’s son). He proves pretty adept at helping Mom out in sick bay, then figures out how the Shrike is tracking them. When no one will let him onto the bridge to tell Daddy Dearest, he turns to the disgraced (and available) Seven of Nine. We get some more plot reveals—there’s a saboteur onboard, the Shrike has portal weapons, etc., etc.—but the moment we’re all waiting for is when Jack goes kaput, and Picard ends up in that turbolift for seventeen excruciating seconds (or thereabouts). Really, the whole episode was a backdrop for Picard’s character development, and I didn’t mind one bit.

Oh, but wait, there’s a whole ‘nother storyline! After being rescued from an ill-advised, unauthorized undercover operation by her handler, now revealed to be Worf, Raffi wakes up on his ship and learns that he’s involved in all this as a “subcontractor” of sorts to Starfleet. Who used stolen weapons to blow up the Starfleet facility? And why? They’re off to find out.

I gotta say, this episode was a treat for Worf fans. The character returns with his signature gruffness and (unintentional) humor, though older and (trying to be) wiser. He gets badass action sequences and fun dialogue (that he certainly did not mean to be fun). Honestly, I didn’t really care about the stolen weapons or whatever because I was just glad to have Worf back.

Thanks to some 11th-hour mystery box openings, it looks like the Worf-and-Raffi story line and the Titan story line are coming together. But while the episode packed in a lot of action and threw in enough twists to drive the plot forward, it’s the character moments it will be remembered for.

Rating: 4/5

NeverAwake – An Absolute Dream to Play

By

Simon Wang

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It’s tough being a kid these days. School is rough, home ain’t much better, and to top it off, you get hit by a car. What better to do now than dream anxiously in your coma about your worst nightmares? Ranging from eating wasabi, to going to the dentist, to never fulfilling your parents’ expectations, conquer your darkest fears and shoot down all nightmarish foes in your path!

Developed by Neotro Inc and published by Phoenixx Inc, NeverAwake is a fun little shoot-em-up with a very unique creepy aesthetic, based on the memories of the main protagonist, Rem. After a tragic accident results in her falling into a deep coma, she battles the demons based on her most miserable memories and her biggest anxieties. NeverAwake was released on September 28th on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, and Steam for PC.

The core identity of NeverAwake lies in its design premise. Levels are extremely short autoscrollers with consistent enemy patterns, but will loop back to the start if the objective is not yet completed, and each loop adds increasing difficulty. It starts with some extra bullets, then enemies get a little tougher, but suddenly the bullets are endless streams and weirdos start spawning whenever they feel like it.

Bosses are no exception, where even getting through the first loop is often a massive challenge, as each boss has a whopping total of six phases per life. While clearing only three is necessary for story progression, it’s always worth the experience of fighting the boss to the end. Your reward? Even more boss. Or death.

While the gameplay is excellent, the art and design is what first drew me in. NeverAwake has a bold and unapologetic style, with sharp neon colored gunfire contrasted against dark moody backgrounds, and creepy enemies infesting every dank corner firing off the single bullet that hits you in an otherwise flawless run. The boss designs are big and bad, mean and memorable. The graphics are a seamless mixture of beautiful 2D hand-drawn artwork and crisply rendered 3D modeling.

On top of it all, NeverAwake has an amazing OST that perfectly captures the mood of each world, with catchy boss themes that’ll have you tapping to the beat as you die relentlessly.

While the main story will take only around 10-15 hours to complete, NeverAwake features some very unique replayability. There’s a considerable amount of bonus content unlocked from completing special versions of many levels, certain Steam achievements that are legitimately difficult challenges, and there’s a leaderboard and scoring system. Paired with the excellent gameplay, NeverAwake offers untold hours of satisfying replayability.

A tale of the past and the present

There are actually two plots to NeverAwake being unveiled at the same time, which is kind of weird, but it’s not bad, as it’s always pretty clear which plot is being developed.

The first plotline is Rem’s core memories, which start long before the events of NeverAwake, but also are being formed through the events of the game. For example, as early as she could remember, Rem had a particular hatred of vegetables, immortalized in instances such as the sushi event, a moment of profound betrayal when Rem was given a rice ball that was just completely slathered in wasabi – her dad laughed, and her mom only reached for her drink.

But while there are a few gems like the sushi event, the majority of the album comprises of some very familiar scenes, such as getting chased by the neighborhood dog, or a disastrous visit to the dentist, painting an easily relatable story, if not slightly unremarkable. I also had a strong distaste for vegetables, and I was once mauled by a dog at a park because I was a dumbass kid. The similarities go on, but they’re really just minor events now, small character building opportunities. Rem just hasn’t yet gotten to an age where she can self-reflect like that, since she’s still in the first grade. But hey, she beat her social anxiety before I beat mine, so she’s doing something right.

The second plotline is Rem’s journal, which she began at the start of the school year. It’s a sad story of an anxious young child, caught between argumentative parents, and unable to form a meaningful bond with even her own sister, who’s seen as the perfect elder sibling. Other than Gramma, her maternal grandma, she has only one friend, Yuki, who isn’t in her class this year. Thrust into an unfamiliar environment with her poor social skills, she’s miserable both at home and at school. Then Gramma dies, and then by pure coincidence, Rem gets into a horrible car accident and falls into a coma, which is when the game is occurring canonically.

It’s written kind of how like a child would, reinforcing that the narrator is young, and can only see and understand so much. There are many instances of foreshadowing certain events, particularly surrounding Gramma’s illness, which Rem clearly doesn’t fully comprehend, and she’s just sort of dragged along the current of time.

Being written with such simple prose also allows for some more creative interpretations of what’s going on. For instance, it’s an established fact that, prior to her accident, Rem’s parents had a fairly toxic relationship, something that is noted in both the diary entries and the photo album. Their poor relationship even materialized as a very unique boss fight, Jack & Lisa, a memory of a spat between Rem’s parents, in which her weapons have no effect, and instead, Jack & Lisa’s attacks damage each other. Lisa often spits sharp knife-like words and fiery vitriol, while Jack often resorts to violent outbursts of slamming walls and furniture.

The reasons for their relationship breaking down are hinted at in the diary entries, and a particularly sharp person can spot what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Nightmares realized as enemies

All of the enemies faced represent Rem’s biggest fears and anxieties. The entire first world is themed after her hatred of vegetables, and the infamous sushi incident is memorialized as the first boss encounter, a suitable baby-sized encounter for a first fight.

Her anxieties regarding her new classmates manifests in world 4, with her classmates, unfamiliar to Rem, being seen as faceless arms blindly reaching out, including Kanako, the perceived “popular girl” of the class, serving as the final boss of that world. The godlike reverence she has of her sister Theta results in not only one, but two Theta fights that represent some of the most unique, beautiful, yet devastating boss fights to be unveiled in NeverAwake.

In order to awaken from her coma, Rem has to defeat these phantasmal images of her darkest memories. And even as she conquers all her past fears and humanizes Theta by defeating the godlike impression of her, that catharsis only serves to wake her from her coma, and not necessarily solve her deeper issues. She’s still reeling from the loss of Gramma, the only family member she’s close to, and has yet to love herself. And what’s holding her back is herself.

Fleeting levels for short attention spans

The core design tenet of NeverAwake is to provide a series of difficult challenges that can be quickly overcome by a mixture of tenacity and creativity. A defining feature of NeverAwake level design is that each level itself is short. Most levels are under a minute long, which allows for some pretty radical design that can still be easily learned and cleared with minimal frustration.

As stated by developer Hiroshi Sawatari in an interview at the 2022 Tokyo Game Show, “In traditional shooters, if you mess up and die ten minutes into a stage, you’ve probably forgotten most of what happened in that ten minute span, right? […] By shortening that iteration length to about a minute, it’s easier to remember where enemies spawn, and where you messed up last time, and how to avoid it the next time.” (translated by Brando, @brando_themando)

So paired with these short levels is the looping system, where each subsequent loop brings greater hazards. While this is typically utilized as something like a soft enrage timer that forces you to clear the level or die, the mounting difficulty is also seen as a fun extra challenge, and the game does lean on this feature a bit later on.

It’s split into a number of worlds that each feature their own design theme and individualized OST. There are ten levels per world, including boss levels, but upon clearing a world, you can revisit it to clear the challenge modes on the levels to unlock bonus lore.

While initial clears are often a scramble to keep up with the auto-scroll amidst a sea of tough multi-shot mobs, returning to the level with improved weapons and additional accessories to tackle different types of goals offers a very savory and unique depth of replayability.

Controller or keyboard, it’s crisp and well thought out… mostly

In order to make your way through these looping levels, you’re able to use either controller or keyboard/mouse. Either option is fine to use, with controller being slightly better for movement but KB/M being slightly better for aiming. Although the KB/M controls in the menus are pretty questionable, such as using the keys L and R to tab through the menus as you would use LB and RB on a controller.

In-game, you’re able to move with your left joystick (or D-pad, which is my preference) and aim with the right joystick. It’s a simple enough concept, but fine in execution. Weapons will either follow your aim or don’t care about aim at all, and it’s always fun to experiment with different weapons to overcome various level designs and challenges.

There is also an auto-aim function available, though using it will result in an altered score. I’ve used it for some challenges for which score didn’t matter, and it’s definitely much easier to not have to worry about aim. However, it doesn’t have any predictive ability, so it can miss a lot on certain moving targets.

You also get a dodge that allows for directional changes during all its active frames which gives you a very responsive dodge that’s better to navigate a bullet hell. Its stats are also pretty good – great range, decent i-frames, okay recovery, and can be improved further with accessories – but it’s still almost completely worse than manual movement, which adds considerable depth to gameplay by not being universally OP.

Simple equipment system leads to considerable depth

In order to combat her nightmarish foes, Rem is able to equip a weapon and accessories, though both come with some pretty hefty restrictions. And to begin with, she needs soul, a currency used to purchase the weapons and accessories as they’re unlocked – that soul currency is gained any time she gathers a soul from a defeated foe.

Offense or defense, casted or channeled, NeverAwake offers a wide range of unique weapons. You get one to start, but unlock more as you play, and they can also be ranked up to improve their properties, such as bullet count. The first weapon, the Sunflower, shoots bullets in all directions simultaneously, which eventually becomes powerful enough to almost single-handedly progress a whole phase for many boss fights, if you can get inside the boss somehow.

The defensive items have very creative concepts, and are often capable enough to significantly lower the difficulty of many fights. The Ferris Wheel summons three rotating spheres that destroy most enemy projectiles, but also deals some fairly hefty damage to foes as well.

As great as the weapons are, they’re all limited in use by their respective special attack gauges, with channeled abilities being limited with a timer, though the gauge can be recovered using one of four accessories (or all of them if you really want) that offer differing levels of impact to gameplay. There’s simple time-based passive recovery, as well as tying recovery to soul collection, hence tying to level-clearing progression. There’s also recovery based on Rem receiving damage, which works both as a crutch for progression, as well as a calculated option to recover a large amount of gauge. And finally, there’s “grazing”, which is an extremely satisfying mechanic to play around with.

Being grazed means being anywhere near an enemy bullet at all, which includes touching the bullet itself; whether getting by hit by the bullet, i-framing the following bullet, or dodging directly through it all, you get grazed regardless, and you recover a bit of special attack gauge for your trouble. Skillful players can then play super optimally by dancing constantly on the knife’s edge and embracing a constant severe level of danger for unprecedented amounts of gauge and firepower. When it goes right, it’s extraordinarily satisfying.

Other accessories come in all shapes and sizes, based on some common knickknacks that Rem owns, like her umbrella, jogging shoes, or hairband; they’re items that improve her defense, mobility, and attack.

Most accessories will be unlocked through regular play, with some defensive items being unlocked quicker after losses. There are also some special items that are gated by progression that have more niche usage, such as score-multiplier items that don’t affect combat ability.

While some accessories will never be unequipped, many others will be constantly swapped to meet the needs of the level. The number of accessories that can be equipped at once is limited, so the player must choose based on the needs of the level.

For example, some levels are more of a sprint, where damage and healing would be necessary to brute force through. Others are so fraught with danger that the only option is to load up on health and mobility and try to survive as long as possible.

With unique weapons that offer both offensive and defensive capabilities, and an extremely diverse array of accessories that can be mixed and matched, paired with the short gameplay loop, NeverAwake allows players to quickly change loadouts and experiment on the fly to optimize their routes. This is all on top of the extremely crisp controls and superb “graze” mechanic leads to an amazing shoot’em-up experience.

Extremely savory replayability

As you clear levels and kill bosses, you’ll finish worlds and begin unlocking special challenge modes that award photos for your album. These challenges offer unique twists on the cleared levels that often require entirely different loadouts to achieve strange objectives. There are also Steam achievements offered for reaching the 10th loop of a regular level or clearing the 3rd loop of a boss level, and those are both serious challenges that likely require a fully unlocked inventory and some major skill, but reward with some serious satisfaction for such a boss kill.

To the competitive spirit, a live global leaderboard built into the game is a blessing, though again, it’s a bummer you can’t actually see it. Clear times and game scores are recorded for every playthrough of a level, and you’re given a letter grade based on your performance. But if your score or time is good enough, you’ll be given a ranking within the top 50 instead.

Even for those uninterested in trying to rank on the leaderboard, there is still plenty of fun to be had in trying to achieve a decent letter grade per level, since each subsequent replay only gets easier, yet remains just as quick.

The score leaderboard seems to be more competitive, since it’s the objective that pushes the gameplay to its highest difficulty. Score is granted whenever an enemy is killed, so you’re incentivized to full clear and loop as many times as they can survive. Bosses grant score just by being hit, so it’s a grueling effort to eke out as many boss phases as possible, even as the boss keeps getting faster, stronger, and sexier.

As for the going-fast portion, there is a lot of disappointment and a few gems of gameplay to be found. I’d wager that many claimed level records are at or near perfect times, due to the nature of how short the levels are to begin with. But some of the later stages have far more innovative design, and within them are some fantastic levels that are a blast to optimize.

Furthermore, a recent update added a speedrun game mode that plays independent of your save. Currently, NeverAwake only has one save slot, and a blank save always starts with limited weapons and accessories available. The speedrun mode can be initiated at any time by editing the launch options with “-enable-speedrun” in Steam’s client for NeverAwake. This will start the game with the accessory “Candy” equipped with most other accessories available for purchase, and much of the gameplay streamlined without tutorials and such.

Beautiful OST featuring multiple genres and iconic boss themes

The OST for NeverAwake was crafted by Fumihito Uekusa (@u23), and mainly features a dreamlike mixture of electronica and rock. The beautiful main theme and intro levels slowly ease you from pleasant sleep to a lulling nightmare, as you descend the depths of Rem’s psyche and begin to conquer ever darker fears.

And while each world is beautifully portrayed through its levels’ themes, NeverAwake‘s OST really shines through its catchy boss themes. In fact, on top of the crisp sound engineering all throughout, there are some levels where the song BPM matches both the player’s fire rate and that of one of the boss’s special attacks, which resulted in a particularly memorable first clear for me as I desperately dodged around his relentless laser blasts.

To be honest, some of the boss themes are so good that I subject myself to harder bosses than necessary to satisfy certain challenges, just because their battle theme is that good.

NeverAwake: excellent shoot’em-up with unexpected depth, tight controls, unique style, and beautiful music, also great for short attention spans.

NeverAwake plays great, looks great, it’ll tug at your heart a bit but promises countless hours of replayability to wash away the pain. The story is short and bittersweet, but is still a decent experience and fun to speculate about.

T’Challa is Back This June in Black Panther #1

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March 1, 2023

Artwork of Black Panther #1 Cover by Taurin Clarke. T'Challa holds a speer to his right while crouching in the shade of night high above.

While it’s beyond tragic that the actor that so effortlessly embodied the Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman, is gone, that doesn’t mean T’Challa is gone from the comics. This June, the king in exile returns in Black Panther #1 by Eve L. Ewing and artist Chris Allen.

“I am so excited for people to see this character design! T’Challa is going to be looking really different. It’s much more edgy and kind of homespun. It’s not so sleek and slick. Not giving too much away from the story, he’s trying not to be seen. He’s kind of working incognito,” Ewing said in a special interview on the TODAY show. “What I can say, honestly, is that we will be seeing Wakanda in a way that we have not seen it ever before.”

Below is the premise of the new series. Taken from Marvel’s most recent press release:

Banished from the throne and a fugitive in his own homelands, T’Challa still can’t leave Wakanda without its sworn protector. A king without a crown, he finds new purpose lurking the streets and shadows of the Wakandan city that bears his father’s name, BIRNIN T’CHAKA. New direction, new villains, new creative team – get in on the ground floor of Marvel’s next smash hit! Get a first look at the revamped design for T’Challa now.

Though it’s hard to follow in the footsteps of authors such as Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Ridley and more, here’s hoping Eve L. Ewing will do honor to the iconic character of T’Challa.

If you want to see what’s in store, be sure and check out Black Panther #1 this June.

Marvel Debuts New Variant Covers Celebrating AAPI Heritage

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March 1, 2023

Iron Fist by InHyuk Lee cover art for AAPI month Marvel

As part of AAPI heritage month, Marvel comics will be releasing a series of variant covers crafted by beloved artist Inhyuk Lee. These pieces will depict Marvel’s Iron Fist, Taegukgi, and Sister Dagger as well as longtime fan favorite Sister Grimm (Nico Minoru) of Runaways fame. Running all throughout May, each one of these variants also has a backup story coinciding with their respective series’ titular characters. Details below, taken directly from Marvel’s press release.

DAREDEVIL #11’s AAPI HERITAGE MONTH STORY will be written by Jason Loo and drawn by Lynne Yoshii. Before becoming the new Iron Fist, Lin Lie’s legendary Sword of Fu Xi was shattered! Now, Daredevil and Iron Fist find themselves face-to-face against a pair of water demons who’ve come to claim the shards of the sword that are embedded in Lin Lie’s body and soul!
DOCTOR STRANGE #3’s AAPI HERITAGE MONTH STORY will be written by Amy Chu and drawn by Tokitokoro. Readers have seen Nico Minoru’s mystical skills grow in recent titles like Strange Academy and Midnight Suns. Now, flashback to her days as a teenage runaway and witness her first meeting with her future ally and mentor, Doctor Strange.
- GHOST RIDER #14’s AAPI HERITAGE MONTH STORY will be written by Jon Tsuei and drawn by Tadam Gyadu. Fresh off his thrilling adventures in Tiger Divison, Taegukgi, South Korea’s greatest superhero, comes to California to investigate a series of mysterious and supernatural deaths that have ties to his past. When a ghostly threat emerges, he’ll have to team up with Ghost Rider to take it down!
WOLVERINE #33’s AAPI HERITAGE MONTH STORY will be written by award-winning writer Gene Luen Yang, known for his acclaimed work on Shang-Chi, and drawn by Peter Nguyen. Yang will revisit his recent contribution to Shang-Chi’s legacy, Sister Dagger. Shang-Chi’s fierce younger sister is after a mysterious creature terrorizing the streets of Paris…and so is Wolverine! Witness their daggers and claws cross paths as two of Marvel’s deadliest fighters do what they do best!

Now, each of these comics is written and drawn by a diverse lineup of creators including established talent and rising stars. These stories reflect the diverse cultures and backgrounds of the AAPI community, showcasing the home they have in the Marvel Universe.

The AAPI heroes of Marvel take center stage all year long! Fans can also look forward to a brand-new SILK solo series launching in May from writer Emily Kim and artist Ig Guara, an exciting new development for Wong in the pages of Jed MacKay and Pasqual Ferry’s upcoming DOCTOR STRANGE series, and much more!

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DAREDEVIL #11

Written by CHIP ZDARSKY & JASON LOO

Art by RAFAEL DE LATORRE & LYNNE YOSHII
AAPI Heritage Month Variant Cover by INHYUK LEE – 75960620389501121

On Sale 5/10

GHOST RIDER #14

Written by BENJAMIN PERCY & JON TSUEI

Art by CORY SMITH & TADAM GYADU

AAPI Heritage Month Variant Cover by INHYUK LEE – 75960609979501421

On Sale 5/10

WOLVERINE #33

Written by BENJAMIN PERCY & GENE LUEN YANG

Art by JUAN JOSÉ RYP & PETER NGUYEN

AAPI Heritage Month Variant Cover by INHYUK LEE – 75960609661903321

On Sale 5/10

DOCTOR STRANGE #3

Written by JED MACKAY & AMY CHU

Art by PASQUAL FERRY & TOKITOKORO

AAPI Heritage Month Variant Cover by INHYUK LEE – 75960620534900321

On Sale 5/31

‘Marvel’s Voices’ Podcast is Back with New Episodes Every Thursday

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March 1, 2023

Last Thursday, Marvel’s Voices returned for an incredible seventh season. Host Angélique Roché is back to break down diversity within the Marvel Universe, with new episodes available Thursdays everywhere podcasts are available.

Details taken from Marvel’s press release, this new season will focus on “Building a Better Table: The Power of Inclusive Creative Teams” and what inclusion means for the future of Marvel’s storytelling. Throughout the eight-episode season, Angélique is joined by various Marvel storytellers to discuss their professional journeys, creative processes, and collaborations. Guests include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur producer Pilar Flynn and series stars Libe Barer and Gary Anthony Williams; comic creators Cody Ziglar, Sheena Howard, Adam Serwer, and Jeremy Holt; Marvel’s Director of Talent Relations & Publishing Recruitment, Jon-Michael Ennis.

“It is not enough to solely talk about diversity, it’s about making it happen. From comics to movies, animation, and games, important work is being done to bring new and richer stories featuring the Marvel characters we know and love,” said host Angélique Roché. “This season I’m excited to not only explore the stories behind the storytellers, but also the work that has been and is currently being done to expand the table and bring new creative voices throughout the Marvel Universe.”

Atop this, Marvel has announced that their Voices initiative is growing. Now on stands, MARVEL’S VOICES: WAKANDA FOREVER #1 features five all-new stories spotlighting the iconic heroes of Wakanda as they are brought to life by an incredible lineup of Black creators, including fresh talent making their exciting Marvel Comics debuts. Then in April 2023, MARVEL’S VOICES: SPIDER-VERSE will web-swing into comic shops!

Barotrauma Announces Making of Trailer and Exits Early Access March 13th

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March 1, 2023

Barotrauma is a science fiction submarine horror adventure baring some serious teeth, tentacles, and a whole lot of surprising mysteries. Created by FakeFish and Undertow Games and published via Daedalic Entertainment, with more than 2.5 million active players, this sci-fi horror adventure will finally emerge to the public with version 1.0 on March 13th.

In Barotrauma, players navigate a vast Ocean on one of the moons of Jupiter far out in the reaches of space. Filled with strange creatures and alien ruins, the game is a cooperative role-playing and strategy survival where players need to complete missions with their crewmates. Whose different classes forge together to manage the ship’s complex submarine systems such as managing the engines, sonar, and nuclear reactor. If that weren’t enough, there will also be monsters and alien viruses aboard the ship to really throw off the missions of the characters.

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Now, upon debut, surprising new features will be released as players can dive into Europa to battle horrifying monsters, explore various biomes, and laugh at the various ragdoll body physics. Barotrauma will also feature both a single-player mode as well a co-op of up to 16 players. Though beware, as multiplayer may also assign players as secret conspirators. Traitors with their own individual missions like assassination and sabotage.

A classic example of a game that listens to its budding audience, with the support of over 30,000 Discord members and many player-made entries on Steam Workshop, the game has adjusted its design tremendously to suit the needs of fans.

“Barotrauma has been a great community-assisted effort for almost a decade now, and we’re thrilled to be reaching 1.0 after all these years,” says lead developer Joonas Rikkonen. “We can’t wait to hear what our players think about the faction overhaul and the real ending of the campaign, and look forward to making more updates even after this release.”

Full list of updates since EA launch:

New graphics and environments
Campaign overhaul
Explorable outposts
Wrecked submarines, abandoned outposts and improved alien ruins
Submarine upgrading and switching
More and new monsters and missions
New scripted event system
Talent system for character progression
Reworked tutorials

Barotrauma began as an open-development project by Undertow Games. FakeFish Ltd. joined in 2018 with their team of industry veterans and fresh talents to launch Barotrauma on Steam.

Daedalic Entertainment has an international team of around 90 employees. They develop innovative games across consoles, PC, and mobile platforms. Based in Hamburg, Germany, Daedalic is one of Europe’s most acclaimed publishers and developers. With a total of 32 awards in the German Developers Awards.

They are also, developing The Lord of the Rings – Gollum, a story-driven adventure from the perspective of Gollum, taken from the Lord of The Rings series and meant to be faithful to the books.

The Mandalorian: Season 3, Episode 1 ‘The Apostate’ Recap

By

Victor Catano

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Star Wars has had a busy few years. Since the debut of The Mandalorian (and the Disney+ streaming channel) in November 2019, we’ve got the final Star Wars movie (Rise of Skywalker), the final season of Clone Wars, two seasons of Bad Batch, Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen returning in Obi-Wan, Boba Fett crawling out of the Sarlaac pit in the Book of Boba Fett, and sparks of the rebellion in Andor. That’s a lot of Star Wars! And there’s still more to come like the new Ahsoka series later this year.

I am not complaining. I have been a die-hard fan since I saw Episode IV: A New Hope while sitting on my mom’s lap at a drive-in when I was four years old. I’ll watch almost anything Star Wars, yes even the infamous holiday special.

Still, critical reactions to the new series have varied wildly. Andor was widely considered to be one of the best shows of the year in a serious look at how fascism spreads and what it takes to fight it. Meanwhile, people on Twitter are still whining about the Vespa Kids in Boba Fett.

So now Mando and Grogu are back, the duo that kicked off this new era. When last we saw them, Grogu had chosen to be with Mando rather than train at CGI-Luke Skywalker’s academy. (Definitely, the wise choice, considering what we know from the sequel movies.) Mando had been expelled from his Mandalorian sect because he voluntarily took off his helmet in front of other people. And now they’re tooling around the galaxy in a repurposed Naboo fighter.

The season opens with the Armorer (Emily Swallow) creating a new helmet to initiate a new recruit to the order, an initiation interrupted by a giant alligator monster. It’s a tough fight until Din and Grogu show up to blast it into their ship. The Armorer doesn’t even thank him for the help, just reminds him that he has been cast out. He can only be redeemed by bathing in the Living Waters under the Mines of Mandalore, but Mandalore has been razed and the mines destroyed and poisoned. But what if they weren’t, asks Mando?

Well sure, I guess…

Mando’s plan is to head off to Nevarro and check in with his old friend Greef Carga (excuse me, High Magistrate Greef Carga) and get the remains of bounty droid IG-11 to help him. Nevarro has been transformed from a wretched hive of scum and villainy into a respectable trading outpost. The pirates and bounty hunters are mostly gone, except for the few who haven’t gotten the word yet – like Vane and his crew who demand to be served drinks in their old bar, which is now a school. And look, Vane, I am also annoyed when my old haunts get gentrified, but I don’t go to the bagel shop that replaced the comic book store in my hometown and demand they sell me Spider-Man. Carga disarms him, and then Mando kills his crew when they try to attack. Carga lets him go to spread the word amongst the other pirates. Nevarro is a legitimate business now.

Mando needs a droid to help explore the mines, and IG-11 is the only droid he trusts. He plucks the remains of IG-11 out of his memorial statue and tries to rebuild him. When he powers him up, he still has his old programming and immediately tries to get the “asset,” aka Grogu. After squashing IG with a bust of Carga, sorry HIgh Magistrate Carga, they take him to the best droid techs on the Outer Rim, the Azelleans, aka the Babu Fricks (Hey-HEY!) They work in a tiny basement where Mando is hunched over while they try to fix the droid and avoid hugs from Grogu, who treats them the way everyone else treats their Grogu plushies. The droid is too badly damaged. They need a new memory chip, and they aren’t being made anymore. If Mando can find one, they’ll fix IG right up.

Mando and Grogu take off to search one out, only to be waylaid by space pirates. Vane was waiting for him to get revenge. After a quick dogfight, Mando runs into the flagship, captained by Gorian Shard. Shard threatens to blast him out of the sky unless he surrenders his ship. Mando peace outs into hyperspace.

They head to Kalevala, another planet in the Mandalorian system, to check in with Bo Katan and join her on her quest to retake Mandalore. However, Katan has pretty much given up. She’s all alone in her castle, moping around. Her fellow Mandalorians deserted her when she didn’t have the Darksaber. They scattered to become mercenaries, and now she’s all alone. If Din has the Darksaber, they’ll follow him, but Mandalore is destroyed and poisoned anyway. The episode ends with Mando heading off to prove her wrong.

While I am happy to see my favorite little force user return and act all cute, this episode was a bit of a wheel-spinner. There is a ton of setup, but so much felt like a sidequest tacked on to a sidequest. Mando needs to redeem himself by bathing in the waters under the Mines of Mandalore. But first, he has to get IG-11 back, because that’s the only droid he trusts. But first, he needs a new memory chip. But first…pirates!

And it doesn’t seem to matter? Because as long as he has the Darksaber, other Mandalorians will just follow him to Mandalore, which may or may not be poisoned?

The Take

The arc of the first two seasons was Din Djarin being a reluctant Dad to Grogu while trying to find Jedi to train/raise him. The arc of this season is so far pretty muddled. Will Mando find the Living Waters? Or will he retake Mandalore with the Darksaber? Or become a Marshall on Nevarro?

Who knows. But as long as Grogu is using the force to get snacks and hugging little Babu Fricks, I’ll be back for more.

Episode Rating: 3 out of 5

The Journey Part 2 Turns La Brea Completely on its Head

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La Brea - Season 2 — LA BREA -- "The Journey Part 2" Episode 214 -- Pictured: (l-r) Nicholas Gonzalez as Levi, Zyra Gorecki as Izzy, Natalie Zea as Eve, Chiké Okonkwo as Ty -- (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

So after watching La Brea for two seasons now, I can safely say that mankind cannot ever be trusted with time travel. We have a bad tendency to ruin even the most innocuous of technologies, let alone the dangerous ones. And as “The Journey Part 2” shows, even the best of intentions don’t hold up when time travel is involved.

It wasn’t super obvious in the end of “The Journey Part 1,” due in large part to the cave system being overly dark. But it turns out the reason Gavin is dying is that he moved Eve out of the way of the Komodo dragon, and got impaled on a stalactite for his trouble. He can’t be moved, since he’d bleed out minutes later. So Sam and Riley do their best to ease his pain.

The Journey Part 2 | Mystery — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 2” Episode 214 — Pictured: Josh McKenzie as Lucas — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

To make matters worse, moments after the attack, Sam and Josh hear a sound, and discover James holding a gun. He demands they move and let him access the machine, but thankfully Izzy sneaks behind him and knocks him on his ass, allowing James to be safely tied up.

Eve isn’t content to watch her husband die, so she uses some fuel rods James was lugging around to activate the machine. She’s going to travel back in time a few hours, warn Gavin and prevent his fatal accident. The only problem is the machine can only go to one location at a time, so once Eve travels back, nobody else will be able to head home safely until she returns.

After Eve and Izzy travel back, they realize they don’t know how far away from the caves they are. Eve manages to use the clouds and her memory to find their way in the right direction, and come upon James holding Ty and Levi at gunpoint. Turns out, those fuel rods he had on him were taken from them, and both men were likely killed in the process. Luckily time travel affords them a chance to undo the damage James has wrought.

Back in the original timeline, Riley and Sam are having a heated argument about the lies he’s been telling her. He says his perspective changed once the Lazarus tower was blown to smithereens, and he realized he was deluding himself thinking him and Riley’s mother could love each other again. And since we didn’t have enough problems, the cave starts rumbling. When Gavin gets James to talk to him, his father admits the coolant system is malfunctioning, which means soon it will be unable to work, and the portal Eve and Izzy used will close on them. His demand to fix it is that he’s allowed to return back to his own time to restart the Lazarus program.

Veronica and Lucas were such a cute couple last time, but now there’s some drama. She takes the pregnancy test, and it’s clearly a negative. Then a random white horse trots over, and Lucas says it’s domesticated. Growing up, he could never wrangle them, and suspects it’s because the animals could sense he was bad. He tells Veronica again he wants to stay, and so she lies and tells him she’s pregnant.

The Journey Part 2 | Eve and Izzy — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 2” Episode 214 — Pictured: (l-r) Natalie Zea as Eve, Zyra Gorecki as Izzy — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Back on Eve’s mission, Ty tries to reason with James, but it’s clear he’s gone full super villain and isn’t listening. Not only does he not consider Gavin his son anymore, but he’s determined to do things right the second time around. He’s about to shoot Ty when Eve yells at him, distracting him. Then there’s a scuffle, and Ty gets grazed before James runs off. Eve then fills both men in on her confusing mission to save Gavin.

Scott continues to try and contend with the puzzle that is Petra. He gives her a precious candy bar and asks if she can open the locket he found, and inside we find a picture of Petra and her mother, Maya Schmidt. AKA the woman Scott was going to interview with before getting dragged to 10,000 B.C. Before he can think on that more, Petra starts wheezing. She has asthma, so Scott and her go to find the girl’s inhaler.

In the cave system, Josh is losing his mind watching his father slowly die, and Riley finds him crying. She comforts the boy, and they finally kiss and make up. A little bit later, Gavin calls Josh to talk with him, and tells his son how much he loves him and their family before finally passing away.

Ty guides Eve, Izzy and Levi back using skills he’s learned from his new wife. Izzy and Levi talk, and he thanks her, but warns that he had to cross powerful people in order to return to 10,000 B.C., but doesn’t elaborate further. Then the group finds the lockbox and opens it up, showing they reached it before Gavin. Levi has the foresight to leave a note on the map, knowing Gavin will read it. But before they can jump back through the portal, it suddenly fizzles out.

Judah and Veronica decide to investigate a spring he found outside, which is likely the source of the coolant system. Lucas is being a dick, and doesn’t want to return to modern times. Then Sam and him have a come to Jesus moment, talking about their mutual bad fathers, and helps psych Lucas up to realize he can be better than the man he thinks he is.

Turns out, Judah was right for once, and there’s a massive tree branch blocking the intake of the water into the coolant system. Him and Veronica try in earnest to move it, but it won’t budge. Then Lucas gets a hero moment, and arrives astride the white horse he found earlier, lasso in hand. He uses it adeptly to remove the tree. When Veronica asks about him and horses not getting along, he says maybe people can change.

Scott finds the inhaler, which likely saves young Petra’s life. He asks where she’s from, in English instead of his broken German, and she hands him a picture of military barracks. When he questions where it is, she says “here”. Somehow this young girl grew up in 10,000 B.C. Then Scott realizes she understood a question he asked her, and that she speaks English as well. Petra says she’ll tell him everything she knows if he can help her find her mother.

Eve and Izzy jump through the portal with Ty and Levi, and are relieved to find the note worked, and Gavin is alive. It looks like everything is headed to a happy ending. There’s just one issue. Earlier in the episode I noticed nobody was watching James as Eve and Izzy walked through the portal. Though that didn’t result in an immediate problem, it does lead to an issue at the end of “The Journey Part 2.”

The Journey Part 2 | Lovebirds — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 2” Episode 214 — Pictured: (l-r) Lily Santiago as Veronica, Josh McKenzie as Lucas — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Before that, we have a couple smaller scenes. Lucas and Veronica talk baby names, and he says that if it’s a girl they should call her Ella. Then some cute villager named Catherine talks with Sam, thanking him for helping them, and hands over her phone number. And as Scott is looking at Petra’s locket, we see the same symbol tattooed on Levi’s arm.

Okay, ready for the final moments? No, you’re actually probably not, but here we go! James gets loose and cold cocks Gavin. He’s changed his mind, he says. Family isn’t the solution, it’s the problem. Love just creates weakness. So now instead of saving the world, he wants to control it. He tries to grab Moore’s journal from Gavin, and they have a violent confrontation. James’ gun gets fired in random directions, and gas starts venting from the room. James finally snags the journal, but before he can walk through the portal, Gavin shoots him twice from the other side of it. As James lays dying, he mentions Gavin’s sister that we’ve never heard of, and warns she’s coming.

The Journey Part 2 | James — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 2” Episode 214 — Pictured: Jonno Roberts as James Mallet — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

The sky is ripped apart with multiple blinding doorways to other times. Now people and things from all across time will end up in 10,000 B.C. Gavin and his family watch random dates flash across the screen, and decide they can’t safely walk through the portal anymore. Gavin, Izzy and Josh get outside the room, but Eve hangs back to grab Moore’s journal. Which is of course when all hell breaks loose.

Containment protocols suddenly activate, sealing Eve in the room. Gavin struggles to get the door open, but it won’t budge. He does manage to break the tiny window, and through it Eve hands him the journal. She says they found each other once, they can do so again, moments before she gets dragged violently into the portal.

Bereft, Gavin and his children wander outside, vowing they’ll find a way to save Eve. Then they see the giant footprint in the earth. Moments later, a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex roars in fury at them.

Now that is how you end a season! La Brea season 2 did a lot of stuff right, and kept us guessing all season long. Here’s hoping that the writers manage to tie up most of the loose ends next season.

Part 1 of the La Brea Season 2 Finale Leads Us on a Dangerous Journey

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It’s been a long, wild ride for La Brea season 2. We’ve traveled to 1988, fought off the dangerous Exiles, met Gavin’s father, and been shocked by constant twists and turns. Starting tonight, it all comes to a close with a two part finale. “The Journey Part 1” begins with the aftermath of Levi’s catastrophic destruction of the Lazarus facility, and takes our time-tossed humans to a very different and unexpected place.

Levi succeeded in destroying the Tower, but he didn’t succeed in escaping. We find him trapped under rubble, pinned and unable to move as secondary explosions ring out. Thankfully, Eve, Gavin, Ty and Izzy find him. Izzy insists to her father that they have to help Levi escape, even though Levi tells them to save themselves instead. But Gavin listens to his daughter, and uses a metal bar to pry the rubble off the man.

The Journey Part 1 | Aftermath — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 1” Episode 213 — Pictured: (l-r) Eoin Macken as Gavin, Natalie Zea as Eve, Zyra Gorecki as Izzy Harris, Chiké Okonkwo as Ty — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Then we’re treated to a melancholy montage of scenes that show how everybody is reacting to the loss of their way home. Gavin laments to Eve he has no idea how they’ll get back to modern times, Veronica stands at Ella’s grave looking at the transliterated coordinates, Riley and Josh are still on the outs, and poor Ty’s cancer is rearing its ugly head, with his nose leaking blood once more. But it’s not all doom and gloom. At the Clearing, Sam seems to find a new lease on life with the time machine gone, and suggests they vote someone in to lead the merry band of humans. After all, if there’s no way to get back to their own time, they have to make the best of the situation.

It all sounds good, but there’s some weird warning signs that Riley picks up on, like the fact that her father suddenly isn’t wearing his wedding ring. When he lost it previously, he frantically searched for it, but now he seems content not to worry about it. As for Gavin and Eve, they share a happy moment and seem ready to tackle the future together when she suddenly cuts her hand. Gavin flashes back to his vision, and in it her hand was cut the exact same way. Once more he’s terrified the vision is coming to pass.

Levi finds refuge at Paara’s village, which is fortunate since most everybody at the Clearing hates him for destroying their only way home. He’s unsure what to do next and asks Ty to go on a walk to clear their heads. He agrees, but it’s clear Ty is furious with Levi for not only destroying the Tower, but his cancer medication along with it. The normally evenhanded and calm man can only see his oncoming death, and understandably blames Levi for helping it come to pass.

Veronica and Lucas are in a good place, and she makes fun of him for practicing his speech for the election. They’re actually a cute couple, but Lucas comments about Veronica’s lips being cold and her hands being clammy. She pushes it off and says not to worry, but it’s pretty clear she’s keeping secrets about something. When she wanders off, Gavin finds her and wants to talk about the coordinates she discovered. Later he goes to talk with Silas, and the old man realizes Moore’s journal shows data from actual experiments, which means Moore likely had access to another time machine. And the coordinates might lead them all to it.

Levi is recovering, but still in pain, when he encounters Kira. She says she wants his help starting over, and that Taamet had a 10,000 B.C. survival kit buried in Paara’s village. She plays on his guilt, and he agrees to find it if he can trade for cancer medication to treat Ty, which she apparently still has. Levi digs the box up, but what would normally be an easy task takes longer for the wounded man, and Silas shows up. He says he’ll keep quiet if Levi lets him help. Even though Silas hasn’t been a problem for a while, this instantly made me suspicious of the man.

Gavin tells the entire Clearing about the possible second time machine, and a group of about a dozen heads out on a 15 mile journey. Silas warned him it would be a long and treacherous path, and the old man wasn’t kidding. Though in fairness, it takes a little bit before the threats become apparent. Before that, Riley and Veronica bond some more, but even Riley picks up on Veronica not seeming healthy. She thinks the wasp sting might have had some residual effect on the woman. And when her back is turned, Veronica takes something from Riley’s bag of medical tools.

The Journey Part 1 | Siblings — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 1” Episode 213 — Pictured: (l-r) Zyra Gorecki as Izzy, Jack Martin as Josh — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

When the group’s path is temporarily blocked by a rocky hill, Izzy hassles her brother about not making up with Riley, and warns him that he should act now, since they’ll all get distracted by the modern world once they return. Riley has other problems, though. She’s treating a woman for a wound and goes to get bandages from her father’s stuff, and instead finds an application for divorce. She’s upset about it, and says his urgency to get home makes no sense if him and her mother were planning on separating.

Levi and Silas are talking about what could be inside Taamet’s box, and Levi makes the mistake of going to find something to open the lock. When he returns, Silas is gone along with the box. He rushes after the sneaky old man, and finds he wants to use the box to draw Kira in and kill her. After all, she killed his daughter, and he’s not one for forgiveness. Levi and him talk about how hollow revenge is, and the old man sees sense, and agrees to work with Levi.

At the end of Veronica’s coordinates, Scott finds a bunch of corpses. They were apparently chewed on by animals, and Scott finds a locket with a symbol on it. Strangely, it’s the symbol of the company Scott was originally slated to interview with the day the sinkhole opened up.

Before the whole group can despair, Gavin finds a lockbox with a keyhole, and uses the key Josh found to open it. Inside is a map which leads to a cave system, which is where the group might actually find the time machine.

Kira arrives, but not alone. She has two armed guards with her, and they have a Geiger counter. They pass it over the box, and it’s revealed that inside are nuclear fuel rods. Turns out, it wasn’t Taamet’s box Levi dug up, but Moore’s. Kira rightfully suspects that there’s a secondary time machine, and intends to find it and take control. She turns on Levi, the guards drawing their guns, but Paara saves the day. Turns out, Silas told Paara of the meeting, and her people skewer the guards with arrows and take Kira hostage. In the process, they get Ty’s cancer medication, and Paara decides to give Silas a second chance, despite all the harm he’s done in the past. Ty is just thankful to Levi for helping him get a new lease on life.

The Journey Part 1 | Scott — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 1” Episode 213 — Pictured: Rohan Mirchandaney as Scott — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

The group gets closer to the cave system, and Riley and Veronica talk. Veronica admits she stole a pregnancy test from Riley’s stuff, so it’s clear she thinks her and Lucas are having a baby. Speaking of children, the group encounters a strange child. Scott uses a teddy bear he found with all the corpses, and gets the girl to calm down. And then Izzy finds a huge grove of red trees, just like from Gavin’s vision.

Lucas and Veronica have a talk, but before she can tell him about her condition, he says how he doesn’t want to return to modern times. He’s afraid that he’ll become the same criminal he was there, and that he’s a better person in 10,000 B.C.

Sam suggests they split up and that Eve wait where it’s safe. She stays with Riley and Scott, and some other people from the Clearing. Turns out, the feral little girl speaks German, but luckily Scott knows some. Her name is Petra, and she warns them that a monster is in the caves.

The Journey Part 1 | Sam and Riley — LA BREA — “The Journey Part 1” Episode 213 — Pictured: (l-r) Jon Seda as Dr. Sam, Veronica St. Clair as Riley — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

It all ends with Gavin’s team finding a manmade door in the caves. Moments later, Eve arrives and warns them about the monster Petra mentioned. Gavin’s upset she’s putting herself in danger, and then realizes she’s in even more danger, since the red trees are in the caves as well. Suddenly what looks like a prehistoric Komodo dragon attacks. But instead of despairing, Eve takes a spear and uses it to skewer the creature. However, in the chaos of the attack, Gavin got hurt. Worse, he appears to somehow have switched places with Eve in his vision, and seems on the verge of death.

How’s that for a twist? Stay tuned to The Workprint for our review of “The Journey Part 2” later tonight!

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ‘The Skinamarink’ Review

By

Robert Kijowski

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The Review:

There are one of two things when it comes to horror flicks we have to also grapple with. Some of them rule and some of them suck. I’m not going to be a pretty, flirty reviewer on this because I believe you, my dear audience, deserve a better kind of reviewer.

So here’s my review of Shudder’s new analog horror, Skinimarink… it screams into the void like a half-remembered nightmare. This is a good thing. It’s also not without its hiccups, as if to be drunk on its own juice box. That’s not such a good thing.

Experimental horror is not a revelation these days. Changing the narrative by changing the backdrop has been done in Hausu (1977), Suspiria (1977), and Midsommar (2019), among others. However, upon firing up the flick and being aurally assailed with a static soundtrack (akin to when a record loops and pops after it’s done) and a grindhouse opening credits font, color me intrigued. To be fair, that color isn’t very colorful for the rest of the movie.

We’ve seen the likes of this with Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez’s dual feature Grindhouse, so the stylistic manipulation of the medium isn’t something novel either.

Nonetheless, what we haven’t gotten before are static shots, a view into the void. The lens gives a grainy, almost dream-like aura as if the whole thing’s been filmed with a VHS camera.

It’s just enough to freak yourself out into thinking a face is in the frame. It’s just enough to make yourself doubt reality. It’s just enough within the circumspect of your own life to think evil is real and is coming for you. This movie was that effective to me. On the other hand, I could also make the case that a far more frightening static is the shit you see on your television screen, anticipating Sadako.

It’s a cursed movie, make no mistake. I believe it. It’s a fever dream to instill nightmares… without doing much at all. Its effectiveness was that suspended!

The haunting nature of the lingering still shots, filmed by videotape gives it a very drugged-up feeling as if you’d been taking quaaludes while drinking wine. Don’t ask me how I know that. The audio, in both design and dialogue, when it comes in sounds like a distant memory from a forgotten idea- from crunches on the carpet to the carousel of Max Fleischer cartoons.

As the puzzle pieces of a plot ramp up, we catch glimpses of abuse, neglect, and abject terror through the frozen lens of terrified tots, only wanting to know where Papa is.

The somnambulism in the film holds a special place in my heart. Having suffered from it as a kid, I knew how fucking frightening it was around every angle of every doorway. To not have windows or doors or to imagine there weren’t any when there were none would have killed me.

That being said, this movie is fucked in the most perfect way. It does nothing until it does something. It relies on your childhood fears of waking up in the middle of the night. It’s a movie that preys on you.

Now the other side of the spectrum is… it is a movie that does nothing. Slow burn like a cigarette isn’t a joke. The other side of critics isn’t too favorable for that reason. The bravura of the director/writer on a shoestring budget I’m sure didn’t go unnoticed. Either the detractors weren’t scared or didn’t care and I’m sure the words “pretentious” and “pablum” were pursed on their lips more than any gasp was waiting in their lungs.

Remember, though, the Babadook was a bit of a slow burn, but most are in a concession that it is a masterpiece. Upon a second viewing, I can assure you that this isn’t. Then again, I wouldn’t even put this in the same category outside of the ballpark of horror.

I can give the critics their fair share and look at it with a more critical eye. It, for the most part, is a boring film. It relies on sheer tension-building and the power of persuasion because it’s mainly weaponized you. It makes you want to crawl out of your skin, but only if you’re wanting to. I mean, you could fucking film red paint on the wall drip for a budget and make it scary if the lean from the audience is to feel uneasy. The film is what you take out of it.

As far as the horror canon of where this fits in, I personally think it may have legs and lungs to be a cult classic. Full disclosure, I am not a horror aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, but my declaration stands.

This is cinema. I know that term is a buzzword, but to me, it is art. Horror is a genre rife with artful things and endless possibilities because the main ingredient is to scare- that’s it! You can go super art house or you can go to this. This is inexplicable. It is something that you have to watch with the lights off because it is an experience.

However, be good boys and girls, and take your melatonin and wine, post-viewing as this may leave you sleepless. It will haunt you. It will have its talons into the sinew of your soul and not let go, even when you beg for sweet release. It will stay with you.

That being said, I’ve only pieced together some of the puzzles and through an added viewing, a bit more. I don’t know if mother was the killer, if dad was that harmful, if they are all ghosts (which would be rad), or if it even happened at all. It made me question reality and now taught me to keep on the lights as an adult. A bit hyperbolic, I know.

As for the haters that think the movie relies on a few jump scares- go pound walnuts. Their efficacy was well placed (because it relied on the unknown of when they were to happen.) That’s the whole film’s raison d’etre. You don’t go into a haunted house with expectations of what’s around each corner. It’s the anticipation. It’s the tension, and mind you, “there’s some ghosts in this house.”

The Takeaway:

My ultimate takeaway is this: for a film with a budget of $15K, it made the very most of the very least. It either had people with sleepless nights or had the other half use it as cinematic Ambien. It set the internet ablaze though, and isn’t that every filmmaker’s dream? Kyle Edward Ball set out to right a few traumas and brought us along for the journey.

Having watched this on my bed with the lights off was no small feat. As a lover of horror films, this literally took my breath away. The only thing I could pray for was the end, which it delivered with a nice superimposing. The fucked up thing is I immediately went for the replay button because I’m a glutton for punishment.

If it is your bag, it is. If it ain’t, it’s in the aether. Post-first viewing, will the movie pay dividends? I doubt it. It’s to be fair a film-going experience with the lights off and alone, sans a warm body to huddle next to. After that, the returns may be diminishing. However, with a dark room, at night with a party of virgin eyes and ears, the experience will be jarring, and isn’t that good for at least one rental?

One thing is for certain: good, bad, or indifferent, I’ll never look at Legos or X-Acto knives in the same fashion again.

I give this film a very solid, but objective 3.5/5 stars.

DC announces Knight Terrors and Manga at ComicsPRO

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February 28, 2023

DC’s “Dawn of DC” timeline just revealed its plans for the summer at the ComicsPRO convention: Knight Terrors — written by Joshua Williamson (Superman) with art by Howard Porter (The Flash), Guillem March (The Joker), and more. There’s also exciting news from DC’s partnership with Kodansha, the Japanese publisher is going to make three of its DC centric manga comics available in English for the first time ever. Superman vs. Meshi, Batman: Justice Buster, and Joker: One Operation Joker will all be initially released as serialized digital exclusives for DC Universe Infinite subscribers, and then in physical form later this year.

Starting in July, Knight Terrors is a miniseries featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman dealing with the body of an old foe in the Hall of Justice. The case will lead our heroes through the land of the living, past the land of the dead, and smack into a nightmare world. It’s a harrowing journey that will result in the fate of the world landing on some unlikely shoulders: Deadman.

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“I love horror comics, and it’s been a blast bringing the energy to Dawn of DC. Knight Terrors showcases the horror side of our heroes as a brand-new villain confronts them with their worst nightmares,” said Joshua Williamson. “It’s a fun and horrific event that brings together all of the heroes and villains of DC, along with some surprises!”

Halloween comes early to the DC publishing line as this horror-themed event continues in July and August with multiple two-issue miniseries from as-yet-named beloved creative teams. Each miniseries will highlight a DC Hero or Villain coming face to face with their worst nightmares in a “Nightmare Realm”. Gotta keep in mind though, anything that happens in the Nightmare Realm affects the Waking World too.

Free Comic Book Day, May 6^th, will feature a sneak peek at Knight Terrors with the Dawn of DC Knight Terrors Free Comic Book Day Special Edition employing iconic comic artist Chris Bachalo (Doctor Strange, Deadpool) making his return to DC in over 20 years with the help of Williamson and Porter. Damian Wayne slumbers after another long night of crime-fighting with Batman, his father. But it is a fitful sleep as terror overtakes his dreams. Nightmares aren’t new for Damian, he’s seen his fair share, but there’s something different about this one.

The best-selling Kodansha manga book series centered around DC characters — Superman vs. Meshi, Batman: Justice Buster, and Joker: One Operation Joker — is coming to the United States complete with English translations first as digital chapters and then as trade paperbacks. In honor of their exclusive launch on the DC Universe Infinite platform there will be a special manga-friendly reader update. After the digital launch, DC will release these titles as collected editions at participating comic book shops, bookstores, and other retailers in the fall. DC Universe Infinite is not available in all territories and is not intended for children.

Joker: One Operation Joker features a brand-new side of Joker never seen before…a single father!? When the Dark Knight is freakishly de-aged into a baby, Joker decides he’s got what it takes to raise the kid into his beloved Bats. But…does he? How could the Clown Prince of Crime possibly fathom what it means to be the Batman, or, for that matter, what it means to be a single father? Joker: One Operation Joker is written by Satoshi Miyagawa (Uchuu Senkan Tiramisu) with art by Keisuke Gotou.

Batman: Justice Buster sees Gotham City under siege by a new class of criminal since the vigilante known as the Batman took to protecting its streets. Bold, more brutal foes have risen to the challenge in the short time the Dark Knight’s been around. But, Batman’s got ROBIN — a computer system he designed — to help him breakdown and stem the tide of crime, and maybe one day eliminate crime in Gotham for good. Batman: Justice Buster is written and illustrated by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi (Ultraman).

It’s not all doom and whacky sitcom premises though, in Superman vs. Meshi, the Man of Steel is interested in only one thing: lunch! From hearty bowls of curry to conveyer-belt sushi, Superman is down to engulf the delicious delicacies this country puts out. So, every day he makes a stop in Japan to try a new place. And, because Supes is such a nice guy, he’ll even be inviting other Justice League members to share in the fantastic culinary experience. Superman vs. Meshi is written by Satoshi Miyagawa with art by Kai Kitago.

Quantum Leap Dials Up the Drama in a Character-Focused Kitchen Tale

By

Mary Fan

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February 27, 2023

Ben in an Indian restaurant — Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. Photo by Ron Batzdorff/NBC

It’s weird to think of 2009 as “history,” but technically it is, and Ben’s leap this week takes him to Portland, Oregon to save a family restaurant. While much of the episode feels contemporary (the main hint that it’s not are some low-res web graphics and the relative lack of smartphones), what is notable is that this was when the Portland foodie scene was still relatively new.

The episode starts in the busy kitchen of an Indian buffet restaurant, run by matriarch Sonali (Nandini Minocha) and her two daughters, one of whom Ben (Raymond Lee) leapt into. The other is Manisha (Anisha Jagannathan), who wants to expand the menu to create authentic, artistic cuisine rather than the comparably lowbrow food the restaurant is accustomed to serving to cater to American palates. That’s why the year actually matters — it was riskier before the foodie scene exploded. Sonali had originally agreed to let Manisha experiment, but then an unscrupulous (and shady) landlord comes to collect on tens of thousands in back rent. Can’t risk new food when the restaurant is at stake.

Ben and Sonali in the kitchen after an accident — Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song, Nandini Minocha as Sonali. Photo by Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Ben is more personally invested in this week’s adventure than in some of the previous ones — and not just because he’s a foodie himself (it’s truly delightful to see his child-like excitement when he realizes he gets to be a restaurant cook this time). His own immigrant mother sacrificed her dreams to support him and suffered an untimely death, which is to be Sonali’s fate if Ben can’t turn things around. (Favorite line of the week: “Science has yet to figure out the immigrant parent.”)

Anisha Jagannathan as Manisha. Photo by Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Instead of earthquakes and nuclear explosions, “Family Style” derives its drama from its characters’ high-octane emotions. Pride, sorrow, anxiety, love — the script feels almost theatrical at times. And that’s a good thing. It’s a colorful portrait of a certain type of immigrant experience (I say that as a child of immigrants myself), the generational clash between the parent who’s focused on surviving and the child with bigger dreams that require bigger risks. (Another favorite line: “Only in America do people have to find themselves.”). While “save the restaurant” is ostensibly Ben’s goal for this leap, it really comes down to “keep this family from falling apart.”

Mason Alexander as Ian. Photo by Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Back in Quantum Leap HQ, we get to hone in on another character drama: Ian (Mason Alexander Park) dealing with the implications of last week’s revelation. It’s the first time we’ve seen this character in the spotlight, and while the plot feels like it’s treading water (the 2023 storyline is literally just Ian sorting through emotions), I didn’t mind setting aside the mystery for a bit to get to know the people behind it better. After a quick series of reveals in the last few episodes, it was nice to let the show breathe.

Much has been said about how the biggest difference between this new Quantum Leap and the old one is the fact that there’s a contemporary sci-fi mystery along with the leap-of-the-week adventures. I think it’s actually how much the new show works to humanize each and every one of its characters, not just the leaper and hologram (and let’s face it, Sam and Al were kind of caricatures for a good number of episodes back in the day). The people behind the scenes at Quantum Leap headquarters, the weekly supporting casts, they all feel like they matter. Though sometimes “Family Style” does get a little too saccharine with the show’s signature emotional monologues (lots of softly lit closeups of quivering expressions).

While this week’s episode was a nice little palate cleanser from the mystery boxes, here’s hoping next week we learn a little more.

Rob Liefeld’s New Homager variant covers sees Deadpool putting his spin on some iconic Marvel Moments!

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February 27, 2023

June is bringing with it new Deadpool in Rob Leifeld’s Deadpool: Badder Blood! In honor of the impending craziness, fans can watch their favorite merc with a mouth appear in various moments throughout Marvel Comics history in the Homager variant covers! You know Deadpool, he has to do things to the extreme – last time he was the star of Deadpool: Bad Blood, now it’ll be Badder Blood, so is it any wonder Marvel’s usual Homage variant covers are getting the Deadpool bump as Homager variant covers!?

Coming in May, Liefeld will have five amazing covers to emulate some of his most beloved Marvel moments and artists, employing his unique Deadpool-style of course! See some of the hottest Marvel titles get photobombed by the Death Dealer himself – wonder what Wolverine’s first solo title would look like with more red and black? How about the original Secret Wars?

Here’s what to look forward to:

Fantastic Four #52 by Jack Kirby

Secret Wars #7 by Mike Zeck

Captain America #111 by Jim Steranko

Daredevil #163 by Frank Miller

And the collection of the original Wolverine limited series by Frank Miller

“Marvel has a world class library of historic and recognizable comic book covers, and when they asked me to make some Deadpool covers for their Homagers series, I jumped at the chance to pay proper tribute to iconic images from Marvel Legends, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Mike Zeck and Frank Miller!” Liefeld said. “These were a blast to create and I’m excited to share how I inserted Deadpool into classic Daredevil, Wolverine, and Fantastic Four covers!”

On Sale 5/3

SPIDER-MAN #8 HOMAGER VARIANT COVER BY ROB LIEFELD

On Sale 5/17

FANTASTIC FOUR #7 HOMAGER VARIANT COVER BY ROB LIEFELD

On Sale 6/7

DAREDEVIL #12 HOMAGER VARIANT COVER BY ROB LIEFELD

On Sale 6/14

CAPTAIN AMERICA: COLD WAR OMEGA #1 HOMAGER VARIANT COVER BY ROB LIEFELD

WOLVERINE #34 HOMAGER VARIANT COVER BY ROB LIEFELD

‘Naked Peak: Climb the Mountains of Madness’ sees the Cthulu Tabletop become an Anime

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February 27, 2023

Naked Peak: Climb the Mountains of Madness is a mountaineering horror adventure anime created by Forest Limited LC and THINKR Co., Ltd. The series will premiere tonight on YouTube (available by clicking this link), and for all intents and purposes, is an adaption of the beloved tabletop RPG board game that’s been around since 2017.

The story sees a flight to Antarctica gone horribly awry as the plane mysteriously disappears, and efforts to find and locate the missing passengers lead a rescue team to go trek a never-before-seen mountain range. Arguably, the largest ever witnessed on the planet.

Towering over 10,000 feet above sea level, the Everest-eclipsing eighth wonder of the world, the “Mountains of Madness” draws attention from the world’s best climbers and thrill-seekers. Although they have conquered the tallest peaks in the past, Earth’s new vertigo-inducing heights are surpassed only by the dreadful horrors awaiting at the top.

The anime is inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft story about an antarctic expedition that found more than they bargained for in the heights of the unknown. The story was one of the more popular introductions of the Elder terrors, in a battle with madness and escape from, what would be revealed as the large penguin-devouring Shoggoths.

Now, this particular H.P. Lovecraft-inspired drama received the 2022 CAMPFIRE Crowdfunding Award in the “Animation and Manga” category for raising more than 1400% of its goal, netting more than $1 million USD (119 million Yen) from nearly 12,000 backers. Atop this, production on the full-length movie is moving forward with behind-the-scenes footage soon to arrive on the MadaraUsi YouTube channel.

The Last of Us Episode 7 Review: Left Behind is a Flashback to Ellie’s Origins

By

Victor Catano

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So, turns out Joel isn’t dead.

I mean, he’s not doing great. He’s barely hanging on. Ellie has dragged him into a nearby abandoned house (thoughtfully parking their horse in the garage) and found him a dirty mattress to lie on while she tries to find anything that might be able to help him.

I’m a little annoyed by this, honestly. If you’re going to take a big dramatic swing, stick with it. Don’t hedge it by pulling a Monty Python “I’m not dead yet” the following week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy to have more Pedro Pascal, but this feels cheap.

What doesn’t feel cheap is the extended flashback that makes up the majority of the episode. It’s a touching portrayal of teenage friendship and first love and ends just the way TLOU has primed me to expect.

Ellie is back in FEDRA school, basically an ROTC program for young fascists. She spends her days doing drills, running in circles, training to kill Fireflies, and punching mean girls who try and take her walkman. Bethany thought she could bully Ellie because Ellie’s friend and protector, Riley (Storm Reid), ran away. Well, the fifteen stitches Ellie gives her to tell her differently. (My favorite reaction of the episode is when Bethany’s smirk turns into worry when she sees Ellie’s angry scowl.)

Later that night, after a quiet evening in her room reading her terrible No Pun Intended joke book and her Savage Starlight comics, Ellie is awakened by a visitor to her room. She almost punctures the intruder with her faithful switchblade but stops when she realizes it’s her old roommate and best friend, Riley, come back for a visit after three weeks away. After Ellie processes her hurt feelings, Riley tells her that she’s come to take Ellie out for the best night of her life.

And what’s the best thing in the world for a couple of teen girls? The mall, of course!

Avid viewers will remember that Ellie told Joel way back in episode 2 that she got bitten by the infected at the mall. So you know where this is going. But, past Ellie doesn’t know that yet, so let’s all go to the food court.

As they head towards the mall via rooftop and avoid FEDRA patrols, Riley tells Ellie that she’s joined the Fireflies. This leads to them having an argument about which of them is naive. Riley says that FEDRA is a bunch of fascists who oppress their own people. Ellie rolls her eyes and says the Fireflies are terrorists who are trying to blow her up.

The mall is supposed to be locked off, due to the infected, but Riley knows otherwise. When FEDRA turned on the power to an apartment block, the mall was on the same grid and got reactivated. So now, Riley has an evening of fun planned for the two of them.

The mall is everything Ellie ever dreamed of, and Riley and Ellie reenact pretty much every weekend from my teenage years. Arcade games! Merry Go Round! Photo booth! Dick around on the escalators! (Pro tip, Ellie: It’s not as much fun to walk up the down escalator if you aren’t able to annoy some harried shoppers by getting in their way).

After a few rounds on Mortal Kombat II (Ellie’s favorite game!) with Mileena eating her fighter and spitting out her bones (call back to ep 3!), Riley has a gift for her. She takes her through the food court into a nacho place. “Is my gift tacos?” asks Ellie. (Tacos do make a good gift.) Riley just rolls her eyes and instead gives her a book. It’s No Pun Intended Part Too. Apparently, the mall has an old Waldenbooks. They take turns reading puns until Ellie notices the pile of blankets and pillows in the corner. She asks Riley if she’s been staying in the mall. Then Ellie moves a blanket and finds a pile of explosive devices. Ellie figures out that the Fireflies assigned her here to watch over the stash. Ellie gets angry. Those are bombs that the Fireflies want to use on me! Oh no, says Riley, I would never let them use them on you. Even Riley has to know how lame that sounds.

As Ellie starts to leave, Riley yells after her that the Fireflies are sending her to the Atlanta QZ. She wanted to get Ellie to join, so they both could go together, but Marlene shot that idea down. (Remember Marlene? From way back in episode 1?) Ellie is mad and sad, never a great combination. She asks why Riley came back for her in the first place if she was just going to leave her again. Riley, clearly trying to keep it together, tells her she wanted to see her again and say goodbye. Well, bye! Ellie storms off.

My wife was watching this episode with me, and during Ellie’s argument with Riley, she said to me “Doesn’t she realize she loves her?” and, well, yeah Ellie. Come on.

After leaving in a huff, Ellie turns back to apologize, but suddenly hears screams in the distance. She races back, only to find the screams are coming from a zombie prop at a Spirit Halloween store. (Remember, the apocalypse happened in late September, so of course the mall has a Halloween store.) This was the fifth wonder of the mall, that Riley was saving for last. Ellie sits down next to her and tries to work through her frustrations with Riley. She left and she thought she was dead, but now she’s alive, but just for a night, and then she’s gone again to go blow up stuff with a radical group. Riley tells her that she couldn’t understand. Riley used to have a family, long ago. She belonged to something, and she needs to have it again.

Riley pulls out some Halloween masks (a wolfman for Ellie, an evil clown for herself), and after insulting Ellie’s taste in music (screw you, Riley, a-ha is awesome) she puts on Etta James covering I Got You Babe. (Sometimes the music choices here are a little too on the nose)

They start dancing in their masks for a while until Ellie takes hers off and begs her not to go. Riley says ok, and Ellie kisses her. She immediately says that she’s sorry. For what, asks Riley. Awww…

Of course, because this is The Last of Us, we can’t have nice things. This tender moment of connection is almost immediately interrupted by one of the infected shambling into the store. Riley tries to shoot it, but Ellie has to stab it in the head to kill it. She’s pumped full of adrenaline…

Until a horror-stricken Riley points to her arm. Ellie got bit by the infected. Riley holds up her hand. Her too. After Ellie goes on a smashing rampage in the store, Riley lays out their options. They can take the easy way out – suicide before the fungus takes over. Or, they can spend whatever time they have left together. They’re fighters. and they’ll stick it out together.

Back in the present, Ellie has found a needle and thread and is going to try and suture up Joel. I’m sure that needle is good and sterilized after sitting in a drawer for years.

The Ellie and Riley friendship this week was lovely, but I am starting to get a bit fed up with the narrative tropes. Every week, there’s another friendship and character we get invested in, only to see them die. I understand that this is a drama set in the end times, and I understand that the show is quite literally about maintaining our humanity in the face of overwhelming odds, but it’s getting to the point of diminishing returns and becoming just trauma porn.

Someone on Twitter was complaining about how the show just ignored how gasoline would evaporate and rot after years in a tank and it took him out of the show. I rolled my eyes at that, but this week some of the mall activities made me feel the same way. Spirit Halloween props barely work in the store when they’re new. I can’t imagine them working after two decades. Still, that’s a minor quibble on my part.

Next week shows Ellie running into what looks like a religious sect in the mountains while Joel clings to life. So, maybe he dies after all? We shall see!

The Take

Rating 3.5 out of 5 You get docked for the Joel fake-out.

Line of the Week:

Ellie: (reading from the pun book) “How does a computer get drunk? It takes screenshots!”
Riley: “What are screenshots?”
Ellie: “I don’t actually know.”

No iPhones in the apocalypse! The horror!

Magnum P.I. Mixes Things Up in “Number One with a Bullet”

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Magnum P.I. - Season 5 — MAGNUM P.I. -- "Number One with a Bullet" Episode 503 -- Pictured: (l-r) Stephen Hill as Theodore "TC" Calvin, Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum -- (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

After the heated two-episode return of Magnum P.I. last week, episode three, “Number One with a Bullet”, picks up the pace and tries something a little different.

Last time, Magnum and Higgins were always teamed up (in more ways than one). This week, Juliette goes on a mission with Rick, and Magnum and T.C. spend most of the episode together. Also interesting, Katsumoto gets a new temporary gig.

Number One with a Bullet | Sweet Car — MAGNUM P.I. — “Number One with a Bullet” Episode 503 — Pictured: (l-r) Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Zachary Knighton as Orville “Rick” Wright — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

“Number One with a Bullet” starts with a flashback. Two years ago, Magnum and Greene were talking, and Thomas’ CO apologized for betraying him after his son was kidnapped. He says he should have known better than to trust the word of a criminal, but Magnum forgives the man entirely. Then we cut to modern day, with Magnum looking at Greene’s washed-up corpse. He identifies the body and is shocked when he hears no autopsy has been scheduled. The scene was clearly staged, but it worked and it’s believed Greene committed suicide. Luckily, Thomas pulls rank and demands an autopsy gets done and walks off furious and overwrought.

Number One With a Bullet | Sexy — MAGNUM P.I. — “Number One with a Bullet” Episode 503 — Pictured: Rachel Baeq as Rae Song — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

As for Katsumoto, he got a gig as private security to a K-Pop star named Rae Song. We get to see her in action in a catchy beach number and he drives around with her to prove his worth. At first, Rae seems like a pushy Korean diva, jaded and cynical, but we get to see a different side to her over the course of the episode. She’s kind and cares deeply about her fans, even though her usual security detail seems irritated by her.

Juliette rides with Rick to help him with a situation involving his liquor supplier, Kona. On the drive there, Rick tells Higgins his suspicions about Magnum having a new love in his life, though she plays coy since it’s obviously her. Then Rick worries this will be another brief fling for his buddy Thomas. It’s cute and we can tell Higgins is a little worried by Rick’s assessment. But that all gets swept under the rug as the situation gets complicated very fast. They arrive at Kona’s place and discover him dead on the floor, with several bullet holes and pooling blood. Worse, the men who shot him are still there and take Rick and Higgins hostage.

Number One with a Bullet | Chillax — MAGNUM P.I. — “Number One with a Bullet” Episode 503 — Pictured: (l-r) Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin, Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

Initially, Magnum is only thinking about Greene’s death. He looks at his effects, a watch set to the wrong date. Then he gets to talking with T.C. and they both start to worry about why they haven’t heard from Higgins and Rick yet. Which is smart, since they’re busy digging their own graves as the two men that killed Kona holds them at gunpoint.

They try to buy time by informing the goons they can help them find what they were looking for at Kona’s place, a case of incredibly expensive whiskey. Rick even tries to pretend to be Magnum, but it doesn’t fly. Later when Magnum and T.C. follow their footsteps, they discover a cleaned crime scene before Higgins is allowed to call them and catch them up. Magnum only has a few hours to find the whiskey before both of his friends are killed in cold blood.

Back in private security, a super shifty-looking fan tries to suddenly attack Rae, but luckily Katsumoto intervenes. For his trouble, he gets stabbed, but he manages to keep the guy away from the pop star before he gets taken down by her regular security. As thanks, Rae and her manager come to check on Gordon in his hospital room, and his son Dennis nearly explodes in excitement. He tries to play it cool, but then his ringtone plays, and it’s one of her songs. As he leaves in embarrassment, Rae asks if Katsumoto would consider working for her full-time, but he declines, saying his life is in here. Though he promises to come see her live next time she’s on tour.

Number One with a Bullet | Investigating — MAGNUM P.I. — “Number One with a Bullet” Episode 503 — Pictured: (l-r) Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

Magnum almost instantly discovers the trail of the stolen whiskey on social media. He then pretends to be his benefactor, Robin Masters, to deal with the man who posted about it. After a few questions and showing the man to be the poser he is, they find the guy who actually has the whiskey, and he’s somehow even more of a tool. He asks for Magnum’s sweet ride as collateral to get the whiskey. By way of a counteroffer, Magnum tapes him to a chair and takes his phone, along with the booze.

Though Gordon’s role seems finished, his cop instincts are bothering him, so he goes to HPD to get more details about Rae’s attacker. He meets up with his replacement, Detective Childs, and finds there’s no suspect. This means Rae’s security didn’t let the man go after they grabbed him. Something’s fishy, and it gets worse. When Katsumoto goes to talk with the head of security, he spots a star tattoo on his neck. The man evades his questions and throws money at him, hoping it will shut Gordon up. Instead, he keeps pushing with Childs and finds out that Rae’s entire security team are Korean mob. If that wasn’t bad enough, so was the man who attacked Rae.

Higgins and Rick try and fail to escape using Kona’s belt, and Magnum and T.C. arrive with the whiskey. That’s not all they have. They also know who stole the whiskey in the first place from Kona, and it was one of the men who took Higgins and Rick hostage. A shootout ensues, and both men end up deceased. Thankfully the Magnum crew get out relatively unscathed.

Number One with a Bullet | Uh Oh — MAGNUM P.I. — “Number One with a Bullet” Episode 503 — Pictured: Zachary Knighton as Orville “Rick” Wright — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

Cut to Rae at the airport and a frenzied swarm of cops descending on the scene. Gordon and Childs warn Rae not to leave, and that she’ll be killed by her own security. Apparently, she was going to leave her label, and in response, her manager concocted a plan to kill her and keep the money flowing with her music.

The episode ends with Magnum and friends drinking some well-deserved whiskey (thanks from the owner, not purloined booze) and relaxing. Suddenly the man from the morgue calls and the autopsy shows Greene died while being waterboarded, with broken ribs and a fatal heart attack. This means he didn’t give any information before he died, but it also means there’s a target on all their backs. As for the watch, it indicates April 5th, 2016, the same day the team was on a covert op in Afghanistan to take out someone named Hadid.

Overall “Number One with a Bullet” was another solid Magnum P.I. episode. I appreciate them trying to keep things fresh, as well as getting some backstory on Childs that makes me think I might have been too harsh in my first assessment of him. Check back next weekend for The Workprint’s next review of Magnum P.I.

Carnival Row Season 2 Episodes 3 & 4 Review: Mayhem Ensues as Comrades Get Worse

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The debut of Carnival Row last week seemed like a promising new beginning to the series. Season Two seems to be taking a different approach compared to its original, examining the social and racial injustice regarding the lesser-class ‘critch’ citizens (children of the Fae) who are being forced to live in sectioned-off encampments in the city.

Living in inhumane conditions, a deadly plague has hit the impoverished denizens of the Row, depressingly killing both women and children. As a result, last week saw the Black Raven, a Faery-led rebel group, break up a meeting of aristocrats in an aggressive plea for aid.

For the sake of TV drama anyway, this moment coincided right when Philo was trying to make his claim for the chancellorship in that very same room. Chaos ensued, Heads rolled (or in this case, were nailed to the Row’s barrier wall!), and all in all, things are in absolute shambles in the show. This is where things pick up for the season.

In episode 3, we see Philo get back to what he does best as an unofficially sanctioned investigator. Vignette, meanwhile, seizes her moment to take command of the Black Raven now that there’s a power void and the rebellion has become aimless. Agreus, meanwhile, is a mess who’s desperate to cling onto what little he still has control over, just as Tourmaline apparently realizes she has a gift of premonition now. So much happens and more in Carnival Row. We break it down below in a mostly spoiler-free fashion.

Season 2 Episode 3: The Martyr’s Hand

This is the first episode I thought was filler in that it’s mostly worldbuilding and setup for what’s to come. There are moments of repercussions due to last week’s actions, though it ultimately, leads to Philo’s resumption of his role of investigator. This time, while being ostracized from his former police mates (who see him as a dirty Critch).

Short of allies, we see Philo’s old friend Darius return to the cast just in the nick of time. If you remember, Darius is the ex-soldier turned marrok (werewolf) who’s now, no longer being imprisoned because no one cares about him now that all the Fae have been rounded up.

Now, episode 3 sees Orlando Bloom playing detective. Which served as last season’s biggest narrative device and in this case, serves a similar function. Philo’s investigation looks into the world of these terrified refugees. People reeling from the shocking deaths last week of Dahlia and Bolero. Using shock to push the message, the rebellion leaders’ heads were left at the walls of the border as an ominous reminder from the aristocracy: do not uprise, else meet the fates of the Black Raven leaders.

Thematically, I think Row does a good job this season reminding us the fatality of social classism. The series has always been about a tale of refugees and the problems with the haves vs. have nots, and this season, does a good job of showing the deadliness of the problem with lots of shocking deaths and brutally abusive police. It’s hard to watch for modern TV standards, who’ve sort of pivoted away from violent shock, though I do think it’s important because sometimes you need a show like this to remind us that society… isn’t great. In fact, it’s probably the reason I like this show as it’s unafraid to go places we’ve begun tip-toeing around lately—given the horrible refugee crises lately in places like Syria but I digress…

Now, much of this episode also sets up story points for the Black Raven. They’re stirred up pretty badly, and seeking order, causing Vignette to make your typical: Us-versus-them speech about survival to gain approval amongst the Fae. This is of course, not something Philo wants to hear—given that he and Vignette are officially together now. With Philo, also wanting to stay middle ground in the upcoming humans versus fae conflict the series has been building up to. It’s something that Vignette isn’t happy about, as her boyfriend refuses to embrace life fully as one of the Fae.

On the opposite side of the wall, the Inner Sanctum is still in rough shape from the ‘assassination attempt’ last week. In the midst of this chaos, is the leader of opposition party/series antagonist, Sophie Longerbane. She shows up to infirmary in The Slums of The Row. A political gesture at first, the event becomes a sort of story that completely turns… Becoming heartbreaking, and even, sadly sweet, in a solid slight turn-of-face for the character.

Mind you, last season we learned Sophie was behind everything. How the murders in the Row all began due to a letter she forged about a rumor that Philo was the Chancellor’s bastard son. Why she did all this becomes clearer in this episode, as her sympathy for the Fae comes from her servant/only real friend, Jenila, revealed in this episode, to have been abused by her father. The context I’ll leave open for those who want to watch, but it finally seems like we’re getting a sense how all of these power plays Sophie has been doing, are just a means to get them both her and Jenila’s control of their lives.

Meanwhile, Tourmaline, Vignette’s best friend/would-be lover/ex-sex worker, seems to have inherited the power of foresight. An ability bequeathed to her, by a certain ex-witch. How this works and what we see I’ll omit for spoilers but it does gives her a much more compelling storyline, as she goes along investigations at moments as sort of a sidekick to Philo. She even meets his old werewolf friend, Darius. It’s pretty obvious that there’s a romance arc budding here.

While all this is happening, Runyan Millworthy proves yet again to be a honorable man. The ex-puppeteer turned educational mentor turned hand of the aristocracy and secret spy for the Fae, seems to have his role somehow grow even more in the series. As he’s the biggest insider for the Fae, though is playing a deadly game.

Finally, this episode sees Ezra Sprurnrose make a noted return to the series, which was honestly a sort of unwanted surprise. It seems he can’t let his sister Imogen go and seeks to find her again… by any means necessary. The problem is: Imogen and Agreus aren’t in the best situation either, being caught up in an unrelated civil war as captives!

Overall, again like I said, this is the setup episode. The next is the leg-up in the storyline.

Season 2 Episode 4: An Unkindness of Raven

Wheras episode 3 set up the world, this one was an utter breakdown of it. Filled with shocks and gruesome depictions of harassment and trauma. What’s hard to watch: the violence depicted as it’s very reminiscent of Game of Thrones’ early seasons. Shock for the sake of shaking up the system, though in my opinion/appreciation, it is at the least hitting important thematic topics most forms of entertainment seem to be afraid of addressing.

This episode does a daunting job of addressing both communism and racial class. As Agreus and Imogen, still stuck in Ragusa, have to deal with a significant loss in status while living amongst the communist revolutionaries. What works is that because Ragusa is a classless democracy of workers, it emphasizes work culture. With a solid understanding that once everyone is seen as equal—prejudices can be let go. Freedom here, is the ability to love as you please regardless of status or race, or in this strange case, hooves.

Still, Agreus struggles, fearing for Imogen’s life after witnessing the murder of his own. Agreus is truly conflicted in finding peace as he’s being tested… his values and hypocritical nature, because he himself is an opportune capitalist. A self-made man who took part and shipped indentured servants, who profited off enslaving his own kind. The block leader rightfully calls him out on this, with Agreus, being insulted about his ethics and fragile standing… how everything he’s accomplished is out of attempts to feel normal through his wealth, to hide that people just don’t see him as equal status for being a Faun.

Back at the Row, The Raven’s make a big play in retaliation. Philo and friends arrive to intervene, really showcasing the promising moments of what’s to come this season, in what’s easily the most entertaining chase sequence thus far in the series. All of this action? It’s all pointing to the fact that the investigation is heading in the direction of a ‘Fae killed the other Fae’ situation, and that whomever is responsible for this murder, is trying to instigate class warfare and intentionally pissing off The Black Raven to cause war.

Finally, Tourmaline and Darius get closer just as Philo and Vignette call it quits (for now, let’s be honest, these two are the whole reason most people watch).

The Take

As someone who really didn’t care for this show… I actually really like it now and am excited to cover this final season. A lot of people seem to be critical about the show’s themes, and that its premise only scratches the surface, but I actually think they do a good job as I haven’t seen anything this allusive to class warfare and refugee struggles in quite some time. For entertainment? It’s engaging and given what I’ve seen from Rings of Power and Wheel of Time, I’d put the show in the same realm of status.

It’s all just allegory fantasy, folks.

Cocaine Bear Review: A Wildly Entertaining Film About Wildlife Gone Wild

By

Sunil Patel

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If you are the kind of person who sees that there is a movie called Cocaine Bear about a bear who does cocaine and thinks, “I would like to see the movie called Cocaine Bear about a bear who does cocaine,” then you will enjoy the movie called Cocaine Bear about a bear who does cocaine. I was in an audience full of such people, laughing so hard I missed many a line. While some naysayers feared a disappointment on the level of Snakes on a Plane, Cocaine Bear knows exactly what kind of movie it is and continually gives the audience exactly what it wants, which is a bear who does cocaine. Of course, with producers like Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie), and Brian Duffield (The Babysitter) onboard, I knew the film would have a wonderful sense of humor about itself.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen screenwriter Jimmy Warden based the film on an actual bear who did cocaine, though it killed no one and tragically died. Moment of silence for the OG Cocaine Bear, thank you for your sacrifice, hope you’re not looking down from Bear Heaven and finding the idea of someone making a movie where you gruesomely tear apart multiple people disrespectful. In the film, as in real life, the cocaine comes from a drug smuggler who drops it out of a plane, and now there are duffel bags of cocaine all over the Chattahoochee National Forest. One unsuspecting bear will do cocaine and become Cocaine Bear, and the rest is cinematic history.

After an opening hit of mayhem, the film spends its first act introducing a whole host of characters from multiple walks of life with conflicting agendas, and you may become a little impatient because you just want more bear action. But thanks to some sharp writing and an overqualified cast, you end up caring enough about these characters to not want them to die horribly, but not enough not to laugh when they die horribly.

Nurse Sari (Keri Russell) is searching for her daughter, Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince), who went off into the forest with her best friend, Henry (Christian Convery). Drug lord Syd (Ray Liotta) sends his fixer, Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), and his son, Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), off into the forest to retrieve the lost cocaine. Detective Bob (Isaiah Whitlock, Jr.) goes off into the forest to take down Syd. Forest Ranger Liz (character actress Margo Martindale) and animal rights activist Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) lead Sari into the forest to look for her kid. And now we’ve come full cir—wait, there’s also a trio of teen hooligans for some reason.

Look, there are a lot of characters in this movie because Cocaine Bear needs people to kill, and we need people to root for, and it’s impressive how Warden weaves all of these characters together so that the film doesn’t feel overstuffed. Instead, the sheer size of the cast simply makes the movie even funnier because they’re all in their own little movies and we’re waiting with anticipation for them to discover what movie they are actually in (a movie called Cocaine Bear about a bear who does cocaine).

Lest you think the film relies on the one joke I have been making throughout this entire review, it does not! The film’s full of little throwaway jokes and specific character details that lesser films wouldn’t bother with, one highlight being a scene in which Henry tries to convince Dee Dee that he, a literal child, has done cocaine. Convery low-key steals the film with his sweet Southern innocence; his every-line delivery is perfectly calibrated to be a laugh line without overplaying it. Also, he literally refers to the bear who does cocaine as Cocaine Bear, so bless his heart.

Each cast member finds the right note to play their character, from Russell’s very grounded mom to Ferguson’s extremely silly PETAphile, and yet the film doesn’t feel like a tonal mishmash, generally earning its more serious moments. Generally. While the friendship between Daveed and Eddie emerges as the emotional core of the film, I can’t say I particularly cared about their relationship or the latter’s grief about his wife, though I did appreciate how Warden turns a running gag into a sweet moment between the two of them because I’m a sucker for that shit.

But I didn’t come here to have emotions! I came here to see a movie called Cocaine Bear about a bear who does cocaine! And hoo boy, does this bear do cocaine! While the trailers and marketing sold a film in which a bear does cocaine, this is actually a film in which a bear does cocaine and then KEEPS DOING MORE COCAINE. That’s Cocaine Bear’s motivation! To do more cocaine! What this means is that whenever you see cocaine in a scene, you know Cocaine Bear is gonna be attracted to that cocaine. Throughout the entire film, I could feel the charge in the audience when we spotted cocaine in a scene and realized what was going to happen. Cocaine Bear really likes cocaine. Eating it, snorting it, whatever. Kudos to the visual effects team for creating a pretty realistic-looking black bear because who’s going to train an actual black bear to DO A LINE OF COCAINE OFF A SEVERED LEG!

Director Elizabeth Banks proved with her underrated Charlie’s Angels movie that she knows her way around action-comedy, and she stages plenty of delightful scenes here, milking the suspense of Cocaine Bear’s appearance not necessarily to make the audience feel tense but to deliberately withhold the burst of violence she knows we’re anticipating to make each one feel like a treat. And what a gory treat! The kills get progressively more gnarly, and I appreciated the use of practical effects in the various dismemberments. Plus, some people die by other means! Just some though. The cause of death for most people in this movie is Cocaine Bear. As I heard someone say walking out of the theater, “Every time there was an opportunity for it to be the bear, it was the bear.”

The subplots satisfyingly converge over the course of the film—there’s an unnecessary heel turn that has no impact and adds nothing, and I’ve said the same thing three times because that’s how much that didn’t work for me—and the way the character drama and bear antics meld in the climax is pretty glorious.

Candyman cinematographer John Guleserian, unfortunately, falls victim to the modern era’s inability to shoot night scenes; while his camerawork in the day scenes shows a good eye, the murkiness of the night scenes makes it very hard to see any of the character’s facial expressions or truly appreciate the shot compositions apart from one baller-ass pan-up to Cocaine Bear. Editor Joel Negron cuts at the right moments to keep Cocaine Bear pleasantly threatening but didn’t have the heart to tell Banks and Warden that a repeated quick-cut fantasy gag never really lands because they… don’t actually have anything funny in them apart from the last one that almost justifies the whole thing. Composer Mark Mothersbaugh understands the assignment completely and delivers a score that is just the right amount of jaunty, and I have no notes.

Cocaine Bear has no grand ambitions or smart subtext beyond “drugs are bad,” which is actually text and doesn’t count. But, like M3GAN before it, it does far more than simply coast on its meme-friendly premise, taking the time to create a constellation of characters pulled into Cocaine Bear’s orbit and constantly finding variations on how exactly these characters can be killed. I can’t wait for Cocaine Bear 2: Bear in the City.

The Winchesters: Season 1 Episode 11 “You’ve Got a Friend” Review

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February 24, 2023

We pick up immediately after the events of the last episode with the gang busy cleaning up the mess in the lab when John shows up covered in Kyle’s blood. Millie helped him evade the cops, but everyone agrees it’s best if he skips town. Unfortunately, before John and Mary can disappear, John’s ex Betty hauls him off to jail. Meanwhile, Carlos and Lata are trapped in their own nightmare after Lata gets a magic bracelet stuck on her wrist. Millie tries to get Betty on their side when Mary is hell-bent on a prison break, while John gets a visit from an Akrida possessed detective who wants to know who the guy in the picture is. Lata is forced to confess her dark secret to Carlos, and it saves them both from near death. Millie finds them and they all catch up with Mary to help her rescue John — Betty helps once the bracelet opens her eyes to the real evil around her. John and Mary drive off into the sunset, and Betty agrees to be their cop on the inside and work with Millie to get the charges against John dropped.

So a lot went down in this episode, even if it didn’t exactly feel full. While the Carlos/Lata storyline took a huge chunk of our time, the John-in-jail storyline gave us a juicy dish to chew on. John’s time as a POW served him well, but the Akrida-possessed detective didn’t lose out entirely. Both of their games of chicken reached satisfying conclusions. The Akrida now know they don’t have to wear kid-gloves with the Monster Hunters since they have zero info on the man in the photo, while John has learned that the man in the photo might be the key to killing them.

Speaking of the man in the photo… John says that “nothing of this Earth” can kill the Akrida, which means the man in the photo must not be of “this Earth”. It’s a tantalizing egg to drop — does this mean that Dean Winchester has visited a parallel Earth? Is that why the John and Mary romance isn’t going the same way it did when the mothership showed it?? Could it also be why there are no Angels intervening with the Akrida??? I’m plenty curious to see if they’re gonna make good on this tease or if they’re gonna use semantics to wiggle their way out of a real revelation.

Anyway, back to the bread and butter. We also got to learn, along with Carlos, that Lata’s been harboring a pretty heavy secret. Her breakout at the farm wasn’t the whole truth. As it happens, she had a nanny — Sania — who she loved very much, and one night when her father had a business dinner, she stole some sweets to share with Sania. Her father found out and lost it. He was about to beat the nanny when Lata took an oil lamp and hit him first. If that wasn’t bad enough, her mother sided with her father, which is why Lata ran away. Her folks, being the level-headed people they are, blamed Sania and locked her in a room on the coldest night of the year. She froze to death. It’s a painful memory, but the confession proves cathartic enough for her and Carlos to be freed from their shadow prison.

Fleites, as always, is fantastic. His Carlos is grounded while still being sympathetic towards his tortured friend. Khurshid, though she gives a lively performance, goes a little ham for my taste. I will wholly admit that I didn’t like her confession only because I’m very tired of these “dark secret” teases a lot of shows seem to enjoy. Which is to say that Khurshid isn’t at fault for poor writing, she’s just trying to polish a turd. From Robin’s bullshit confession that he “killed” Slade’s son in Titans, to Lata being made to feel responsible for the death of her maid when her parents are clearly the villains, I’m over it. And yes, guilt is a real thing. I recognize that people tend to blame themselves for tragic accidents, but when the culprit is blatantly NOT them, it can become a fatigued theme. John feeling guilty for a fellow soldier’s death, sure, I can buy that because the odds are equally stacked against them. Survivor’s guilt is a real thing, and soldiers are prone to it. But, Lata isn’t stupid. She recognizes that her father is a bad person; she attacks him because of this, and having her mother turn against her checks — that part of the story I admire — but, feeling guilty because your evil-ass folks killed your nanny? I dunno. Granted, they do throw in a line about how Lata feels the guilt for leaving Sania, but still. I was kind of hoping maybe Lata killed her folks trying to protect Sania, even though we learned in an earlier episode her parents aren’t dead. Like I said, it’s not Khurshid’s fault here. She gets back in the groove when Lata confides in Carlos that her parents are alive.

Kajlich’s Millie plays a solid momma bear, and as always Donnelly and Rodger hold their own as Mary and John, respectively. Donnelly gives Mary a warm vulnerability when she’s comforting John but then switches perfectly to a strong determination when she’s made up her mind about busting John out of jail. Rodger has an equally duel task of embodying John’s reluctance to dig into the part of himself that survived being a POW and then later allowing that wound to quietly consume him in the car with Mary.

Although, my favorite performances in this show come from Ed Amatrudo’s Detective Klett, and Andrea Londo’s Betty Donelan. Amatrudo truly enjoys playing the villain, and it shows; he steals every scene he’s in with Rodger and I’m hoping we see him again. Londo does a good job of turning Betty from a disgruntled ex who doesn’t trust the new girl to a willing partner in crime — complete with a sucker punch from Carlos! If you’re only as good as your costars then Rodger, Donnelly, and Kajlich can send many thanks to Amatrudo and Londo. Speaking of bit players, I wished we could have gotten more of shadow Maggie (Bella DeLong), but since this is The Winchesters I’m sure she’ll make another visit eventually — maybe even the real ghost of Maggie, not the bracelet version.

This was a pleasantly paced episode. The story chugs along briskly without many lulls, one being a moment when a shadow Maggie confronts Lata about the secrets she’s been keeping, and another when Mary tries to console John over Kyle’s death. But otherwise, events move swiftly from Carlos and Lata being trapped to John ending up in an interrogation run by his enemy. I like a show that knows when to breathe, but given there’s only two more episodes after this one, I can appreciate the acceleration. I’m excited to see where this is heading, and honestly, getting your audience excited for the next episode is really all any show can ask for.

Marvel Announces Another Anniversary: The X-Men 60 Uncanny Years Virtual Event on March 16th

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February 24, 2023

Much like last year’s Spider-Man 60th Anniversary virtual event, Marvel has announced another virtual event to take place at the beginning of this March. X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years will be a digital celebration of all things X-Men for the franchise’s 60-year anniversary. The event will take place on March 16th at 7pm ET/4 pm PT.

In X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years, fans can get a behind-the-scenes look at the X-Men lore with live interviews, live Q&As, giveaways, and unique exclusives. Last year, The Spider-Exclusives included some collectible Funkos, Legends series figurines, and an ultra-rare comic book Veve NFT. Though who knows what’s in store this time around.

Marvel Unlimited Annual and Annual Plus members are eligible to register and attend absolutely free. To sign up or upgrade to Marvel Unlimited Annual or Annual Plus tier, go to marvel.com/xmen60event

The talents in attendance include the Godfather of the X-Men themselves Chris Claremont, along with talents such as Walt and Louise Simonson, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Gerry Duggan, and Jonathan Hickman. If that weren’t enough… Marvel’s also announced some special guests from X-Men: The Animated Series, including the original show creator partnership of Eric and Julia Lewald, and writer Beau DeMayo. With possible hints of what’s to come from the highly anticipated continued series of the X-Men announced for Disney Plus.

Check Out SYFY’s “The Ark” Panel from IGN Fan Fest and All the Reveals

By

Eileen Ramos

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February 24, 2023

The Ark - Season 1 — THE ARK -- "We Weren’t Supposed to Be Awake" Episode 104 -- Pictured: (l-r) Ryan Adams as Angus Medford, Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice, Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet, Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane -- (Photo by: Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY)

Host Clint Gage, the co-showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner, and the cast members, Richard Fleeshman, Christie Burke, Reece Ritchie, delve into what makes The Ark stand out among darker shows. Focused on the triumphant side of humanity, take a look at the IGN Fan Fest Panel for more reveals. Like what inspired the cool space suits the cast is absolutely obsessed with? And how do the actors handle carrying secrets that they only know about their characters?

It’s about time for a sci-fi show that isn’t bleak yet still maintains the high adrenaline we all love. As noted by the SyFy press release, The Ark “takes place a 100 years into the future, when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race. The first of these missions on a spacecraft known as Ark One encounters a catastrophic event causing massive destruction and loss of life. With more than a year left to go before reaching their target planet, a lack of life-sustaining supplies and loss of leadership, the remaining crew must become the best versions of themselves to stay on course and survive.”

Left to right, Ryan Adams as Angus Medford, Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice, Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet, Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane — THE ARK — “We Weren’t Supposed to Be Awake” Episode 104 — Pictured: (l-r) Ryan Adams as Angus Medford, Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice, Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet, Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane — (Photo by: Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY)

Exciting, right? The series is only composed of 12 episodes, making for a tightly written, edge of your couch, and highly bingeable affair. It airs on Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT on SYFY, with episodes available the day after on Peacock.

The series stars Christie Burke, Richard Fleeshman, Reece Ritchie, Stacey Read and Ryan Adams.

Dean Devlin (“Independence Day,” “Stargate”) and Jonathan Glassner (“Stargate SG-1”) are co-showrunners and executive producers alongside Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan-Wilson of Electric Entertainment. Jonathan English of Balkanic Media and Steve Lee serve as producers. With such a strong creative team behind previous hallmark shows and movies, I know that the story arc is in great hands. What a fantastic time for science fiction.

Star Trek: Picard – “Disengage” Gives the Expected Unexpected

By

Mary Fan

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Jack Crusher — We all know who this is. Image: Paramount+

If a twist is so predictable that your entire audience guessed it the moment you released your cast poster, can it even be considered a twist? Maybe so in the era of peak TV, when writers often seem more concerned with being unpredictable than decent (or even coherent) storytelling; the biggest twist is that there is no twist. Still, if narrative satisfaction is what the writers were going for here, even accepting that it was predictable, they could’ve done it with a little more finesse.

The first episode of Star Trek: Picard‘s final season introduced us to Beverly Crusher’s son while the good doctor was unconscious in a medical pod. The second episode, “Disengage,” gives us a better idea of just who this guy is, as we’re shown a flashback to Jack Crusher (as his name is revealed) trying to Han Solo his way onto a restricted planet. Then in the present, he displays a similar kind of arrogance and foolhardiness that prompts Riker —and the audience—to notice the similarity to Picard around that age. The episode then proceeds to drag out the question of, “Could this be Picard’s secret son?” for the rest of the hour.

In a world where “science” can turn people into lizards and back again, you’d think it’d be easy enough to run a paternity test. And yet even after Picard, Riker, and Jack make it onto the Titan with its shiny Starfleet medical equipment, no one even suggests it.

A spaceship caught in a green force field in a nebula — Eerie lime green light in space – the most Star Trek thing ever! Image: Paramount+

Meanwhile, Shaw reveals that Jack is a con man wanted for a litany of crimes (though none of them particularly violent), and the one who attacked the Crushers turns out to be a woman named Vadic, who has a super-powerful ship that threatens even the Titan and who’s after Jack for said transgressions. Cue a classic trolley problem-type dilemma: Do you hand over someone for brutal frontier justice to protect the good citizens on your ship, or do you risk hundreds of lives for one guy?

Seven of Nine and Captain Shaw — Seven and Shaw have a thing for staring contests. Image: Paramount+

You can guess which one Shaw, introduced as the jerkiest of jerk-faces last week, will choose, and why that might put him at odds with our classic crew (Picard, Riker, Seven) whose lives (and the lives of those they care about) matter more than any of the anonymous uniformed extras.

It should surprise exactly no one that by the end of the episode, Picard declares that Jack is his kid. Seriously, I don’t think this even deserves to be called a “reveal” or “twist” when it was so, so obvious from the beginning. In fact, it was so ridiculously obvious, that I seriously hoped it would turn out to be misdirection—let us assume Beverly’s son, who she never told Picard about, is Picard’s but actually there’s something more going on here. If the show was going to go for the obvious, they would have been better off not raising the question at all, and simply included “oh, and by the way, you have a son, Jean-Luc” in Beverly’s original distress call.

La Sirena on a dark urban planet — La Sirena’s Blade Runner phase. Image: Paramount+

The episode wasn’t satisfied with one uber-obvious “twist,” though. After the destruction of a Starfleet recruitment center last week, Raffi, guilt-stricken for not having been able to stop the carnage, decides to go after the truth despite being told to stand down by her mysterious handler – who by the end of the episode turns out to be exactly who everyone expected him to be: our favorite Klingon, Worf.

Seriously, Star Trek, why bother with the secrecy at all if you’re going for the expected?

For all its narrative flaws, the episode was still fairly enjoyable, if bland. Ed Speleers does an excellent job of bringing Jack to life and making him charming enough that you don’t want to see him thrown to the wolves. And the charged moment when Picard confronts him in the brig is the kind of drama I live for (though I think it would’ve been even more dramatic if both parties already acknowledged their relationship… guess we’ll get that next week). Of course, it’s still possible that Picard is wrong, that he’s simply Jack’s latest mark… can someone just run a paternity test already??

Overall, “Disengage” suffers from middle-chapter syndrome, serving mostly as a functional episode to get the audience from one dramatic moment to another (all my sympathy to Michelle Hurd for having to spew paragraphs upon paragraphs of exposition while talking to herself so the audience might have some idea of what she’s doing next and why). But in a show like Picard, where we’re going to keep watching no matter what because we want to see our faves once again, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Marvel Brings Back The Ultimates Universe w/ Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch: What This Means and More

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February 23, 2023

Marvel comics will be reviving its incredibly beloved ultimates line this June. Originally announced on Entertainment Weekly and immediately followed up at IGN, writer Jonathan Hickman, and the G.O.A.T. of Marvel Ultimates himself, superstar artist Bryan Hitch, kick off this four-issue revival with ULTIMATE INVASION. With a story focused on Miles Morales, the series will see The Maker (Reed Richards in Ultimates Universe) responsible for seeking to bring back Earth-1610, the Ultimates Universe, back at any cost…

For those who don’t know, the Marvel Ultimate Universe was the go-to story for millennials and anyone who got into comics around the dawn of the modern Marvel superhero era. They were modern takes on superheroes unafraid to get edgy and even violent. Whereas the 1980s saw comics changing due to changes in the comics’ code of authority, along with a budding commercially profitable toy line, the 2000s era of comics with the Marvel Ultimates arrived at a time when Marvel itself just hit bankruptcy. The publishing, very much in a corner, was willing to try out new ideas.

Marvel movies, meanwhile, just hit theaters for the first time with 20th Century Fox films such as X-Men, Blade, and Spider-Man. All of these pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe. Experiencing financial whiplash, Marvel had gone from nearly losing everything to turning it all around before being bought out by Disney several years later.

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The Ultimates would go on to inspire the MCU. Captain America’s suit, for instance, is actually designed off the Ultimates iteration created by Bryan Hitch. Likewise, the original 2012 Avengers, is based on Marvel’s The Ultimates. The superhero counterpart of the Avengers in the Ultimates universe.

If that weren’t enough, probably the biggest takeaway from the importance of the Ultimates line was the creation of Spider-Man: Miles Morales. His entire history was taken from the Ultimates Universe that was then incorporated into Earth-616’s main timeline. Mostly, out of popularity of the character.

Now, Jonathan Hickman isn’t a stranger to dramatic Marvel reboots as he was also the writer responsible for the major House of X storyline in 2019. He’s also no stranger to the Ultimates run, as he was the very one to end the line with Secret Wars back in 2015. Whether or not this 4-issue limited will see the full return of Marvel Ultimate Universe remains to be said.

“[Revisiting the idea of Ultimate Comics] couldn’t be replicating or revisiting what Bryan did in the original Ultimates — creating a streamlined, modernized version that would eventually become the spine of the MCU, and it certainly couldn’t be what I did, which was a final chapter of a pre-existing universe,” Hickman explained to Entertainment Weekly. “We also thought the very idea of Ultimate Comics needed to be inverted from what the original universe was — we wanted this to be something that could really only exist in the comic space: a new way of thinking about, and enjoying, a new version of the Marvel Universe. I’m pretty happy to say that it feels like we’ve accomplished those things and we’re very excited for everyone to get to read it.”

“It’s been more than 20 years since I started work on The Ultimates, a project that would have a big impact on my own career and beyond, so when Marvel came to me with the idea of revisiting the Ultimate Universe with the man who so brilliantly and spectacularly destroyed the last one, I was both feet in!” Hitch said. “Jonathan is a terrific writer of big, sprawling epics, and we’ve talked about working together more than once so for this new Ultimate Universe adventure to unite us is very exciting. I get to bring two decades of new experience as an artist and storyteller to this. It’s new, different and familiar. It’s big budget, high-concept, widescreen storytelling. I feel right at home.”

The debut issue will include new data pages by Jonathan Hickman – plus exclusive behind-the-scenes material on the world-building that has gone into this project. Check out Bryan Hitch’s cover below, which will also be available as a foil variant cover.

ULTIMATE INVASION #1 (OF 4)

Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN

Art and Cover by BRYAN HITCH

Colors by ALEX SINCLAIR

Foil Variant Cover by BRYAN HITCH

On Sale 6/21

How ‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ addressed Alopecia and Black Culture better than The Oscars’ Slap

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February 22, 2023

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series — Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. PC: Marvel

Remember The Slap? The conflict everyone was talking about last April, where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage during the Oscars over a bad joke made by Rock against Jada Pinkett Smith over how she was balding due to her alopecia condition?

I discussed alopecia in the media last year regarding how little coverage it gets despite affecting 6.8 million people in the US alone. How, for the first time in modern media history, people with the condition (such as myself) had almost felt heard. At least, up until the media focused on the act of violence rather than why it was happening in the first place.

Uncomfortable as it may have been, The Slap, and really, Jada Pinkett Smith’s wonderful and open discussions afterward brought to light an issue in not just media but culture that doesn’t get discussed enough: cultural identity in relation to hairstyles, along with what it means to ‘feel normal’.

To love your hair is to love yourself. 💜 pic.twitter.com/gXxx393kxG

— Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (@DisneyMGDD) February 17, 2023

Moon Girl Episode 5’s: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow does just that by presenting a culturally important yet funny episode about loving one’s self. The Mary Sue even said that if there was one episode to watch of the series, it would be this one, as it showcases some of the insensitivities of the ‘good hair’ versus ‘bad hair’ dynamic often played out in our schools.

What’s incredible is that this episode not only focuses on the cultural stylings of black women’s hairdos, their empowerment, political statements and beauty, but also, goes into how important hair in general means to an individual, especially for young little girls.

“Well, definitely I’ve experienced, you know, someone calling my hair frizzy or messy,” said Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’s leading actress, Diamond White during the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur press junket. “That’s why it was important for me to see the episode where Lunella gets her hair straightened, the perm episode. That touched my soul in a place where it was like, yeah, I’ve been through this.”

“Your hair really does become your enemy,” White continued. “Growing up Black, your hair becomes your enemy. So, it’s really cool to see that play out and that’s something that I’ve never seen on television before. I thank everyone on the team for allowing me to, like, bring my voice to that episode because I…I needed to see that.”

In “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” Lunella Lafeyette, AKA Moon Girl, tries to chemically concoct a hair straightener that quickly devolves into a Frankenstein’s Monster situation. The event causes her to undergo her own form of traction alopecia, where her formerly beloved hair falls out to become a villain to defeat in the episode. All in a powerful yet subtle statement presented and executed in a way that only animation can pull off.

What makes this such an important episode is that the major theme is about hair loss as a young black girl, since black women have a significantly higher rate of alopecia in the US as a result of repeated treatments made to feel more culturally ‘accepted’. It’s a real-life experience that can be traumatizing, caused by alienation and, most shockingly, real-life practices that rarely get addressed in television and media… until now.

“We currently have an all-female writing room, a very diverse writing room,” shared Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’s executive producer, Steve Loter. “So a lot of Lunella’s stories in this are based on real-life experiences that our writers have experienced and have put it, you know, now through the lens of Lunella.”

Thankfully, the episode tackles this experience rather tastefully with moments of sincerity, with guidance from Lunella’s mother and grandmother. The matriarchs share their own personal journey to the young girl about their own tales regarding black hairstyles. All in a story about intergenerational women coming together and having the long overdue conversation regarding an issue that rarely gets talked about.

The 100% fresh rated Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is available on Disney+ right now. The episode “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow,” airs on the Disney channel Saturday, February 25th. In a shocking reveal of events, his episode is also even getting a book deal for a middle grade children’s story to be published this August, because yes, it’s that important of a story to tell.

A First Look at The Women of Marvel in 2023

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February 22, 2023

WOM2023001_Cover — Cover by ERICA D’URSO

Available in an upcoming one-shot debuting on March 22nd, WOMEN OF MARVEL #1 returns to highlight some of the best women talents in Marvel comics. A preview of the incredible women and characters in the industry, this upcoming month’s feature will showcase talents such as Melissa Flores, Victoria Ying, Carola Borelli, Giulia Gualazzi, and the Gibbs Sisters, Shawnee Gibbs & Shawnelle Gibbs.

Here are the adventures that readers can look forward to:

Rebecca Roanhorse, award-winning novelist and writer behind the recent Phoenix Song: Echo series, breaks the fourth wall with She-Hulk to provide one-of-a-kind commentary in a brilliant opening story with rising star artist Carola Borelli.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers scribe Melissa Flores and artist Stacey Lee (Silk) send best friend duo America Chavez and Kate Bishop on a pulse-punching rescue mission to save one of their own!
Critically acclaimed author and illustrator Victoria Ying (City of Secrets) and artist Jodi Nishijima (Spider-Gwen: Gwenverse) spin a wild web for Silk as a night out with Black Cat turns deadly as the two face off against the illusion mastermind, Mysterio!
The award-winning writing and producing team The Gibbs Sisters, Shawnee Gibbs & Shawnelle Gibbs join newcomer artist Giulia Gualazzi for a story about Photon and Ms. Marvel battling an old enemy in the Big Easy!
Plus an introduction by writer Charlie Jane Anders, creator interviews, essays, and more!

Below, are some covers and interior artwork you can check out featuring what’s to come.

WOMEN OF MARVEL #1

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Written by: REBECCA ROANHORSE, VICTORIA YING, MELISSA FLORES, SHAWNEE GIBBS, & SHAWNELLE GIBBS

Art by: CAROLA BORELLI, JODI NISHIJIMA, STACEY LEE, GIULIA GUALAZZI, & ERICA D’URSO

Introduction by CHARLIE JANE ANDERS

On Sale 3/22

The Swarm Changes Everything for La Brea

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While a big part of me still preferred “The Wedding“, “The Swarm” also did a lot right for season 2 of La Brea. Unlike the last episode, this one was action-packed pretty much the entire time. Better yet, it turns our expectations on their heads in exciting fashion and leaves me wondering what to expect next from the series.

It starts with Caroline put in the earth, and Gavin, Eve and James standing to mourn her passing. James is determined to fix the portal and send them all home. He says he even has an ally that will assist them accessing the tower. While everything the man says seems truthful, I admit there was a part that still didn’t trust him as I watched the episode. Which isn’t kind to say, given everything that happened last time, but there it is.

As for Levi, he’s disappeared after the wedding, and Silas is alive but fighting an infection from his gunshots. Izzy is very worried about Levi and says he’s not himself, but Gavin wants to cut all ties with his old friend. As Gavin and company head to the tower, things are about to heat up at the Clearing.

They’ve built a rudimentary water tower, which seems like a great idea. Until someone is hammering a nail, slips and falls, and the earth shakes. It’s not an earthquake, though. It’s something far, far worse for the people in 10,000 B.C.

The Swarm | New Friends — LA BREA — “The Swarm” Episode 212 — Pictured: (l-r) Lily Santiago as Veronica, Veronica St. Clair as Riley — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Riley and Veronica are out looking for a sextant to decipher Aaron’s coordinates. Veronica isn’t sure why Riley is tagging along, other than her ability to use a sextant, but it’s clear Riley just needs someone to talk to. It doesn’t hurt they’re about the same age, and Riley needs to vent about her fight with Josh. When both women return to the Clearing, they find it eerily empty. The only person is prone on the dirt. Suddenly they hear Scott telling them to be quiet, when a swarm of prehistoric wasps bursts from cracks in the earth.

Scott manages to get both women to safety in a truck before they’re stung to death. These wasps not only are much larger than modern varieties, but their poison is much more toxic. Worse, they’re hyper sensitive to sounds, so it’s nearly impossible to safely walk anywhere in the camp. To complicate matters, Veronica spies Ella on the ground, obviously in pain after being stung. She’s determined to save the woman who was a young girl before time travel chaos, and who is still like a sister to her.

Back at the Tower, Kira is fully in charge. Thankfully she doesn’t need a hostage anymore, so she lets Ty go. He tries hard to convince her to let everybody go home to their own time, but she’s determined to right the ship now that James isn’t the head honcho. So Ty uses his newfound freedom to return and find someone to warn about the situation.

The Swarm | Medicine — LA BREA — “The Swarm” Episode 212 — Pictured: Jon Seda as Dr. Sam — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Sam is out clipping herbs to make medicine for Silas when he spies Levi digging up explosives. He tries to reason with the man, but Levi is dead set on killing James and destroying everything he’s built. Later on, Izzy and Josh find Sam lying in the dirt after taking a beating from Levi. He catches them up and Izzy sets out to save Levi from himself, since he was integral in her recovery when she lost her leg.

James leads Gavin and Eve to an access point, and his ally turns out to be a Lazarus guard loyal to the old boss. He also informs them all that Lazarus is in chaos. Somehow when Kira took over, she accidentally corrupted the security network, and now people are evacuating and animals are loose in the building. Ty finds them before they enter the door. It’s clear he’s suffering again from a lack of treatment, but he’s still determined to help. Then as the door closes behind them, Levi surprises the guard, knocks him out and steals his keycard.

Inside the Tower, James utilizes Gavin’s deep security credentials to access the systems and start fighting back for control. Meanwhile they have to stop Kira and her guards from interfering, so Gavin and Ty set out to manually lock doors in their path. As they’re going around doing so, Gavin spies Levi behind an inaccessible doorway setting up explosives everywhere. He wants to destroy the entire tower. When Gavin tries to reason with him, he says that Gavin doesn’t understand. He didn’t just lose his wife to the sinkhole, he lost his daughter as well.

The Swarm | Trouble — LA BREA — “The Swarm” Episode 212 — Pictured: (l-r) Josh Martin as Jack Harris, Zyra Gorecki as Izzy Harris — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

At the Clearing, Scott, Riley and Veronica quickly surmise their best bet is to drown the wasp nest in soapy water using the water tower, and then grab an epi pen and use it on Ella. Veronica starts to panic when she can’t find it, though Riley helps her get past her anxiety. The plan to drown them seems to go well, but Scott cautions they won’t know if they’ve killed all the prehistoric pests. Veronica needs to save Ella, and walks carefully until she manages to break a twig. This is met with a thunderous roar as surviving wasps burst out, and Veronica is forced to grab Ella and drag her into a locked metal room. Unfortunately, in the process she drops the epi pen.

Back at Jurassic Park, Levi evacuates everybody except Kira, and demands her help with something. As Gavin is wandering about locking doors, he runs into an escaped animal – a sabretooth tiger! Ty has to race back to save him just as he reaches the infirmary, and manages to do so in epic fashion by burying an axe in the tiger’s back.

By far the best moment of “The Swarm” is when Scott finds an unconventional way to get the epi pen safely to Ella. With Riley’s help, he layers up using a scarf, helmet and tons of duct tape. Then he grabs a super soaker and loads it up with coolant, making an impromptu flamethrower. He uses it to toast a bunch of wasps and reaches the epi pen safely. Just one problem – in her rush to save Ella, Veronica also got stung, and there’s only one epi pen.

There’s a heart-wrenching scene between the two women. Ella tries to convince Veronica to live, but Veronica can’t bring herself to doom her sister. So Ella selflessly takes the epi pen and uses it on her. Later on, it’s clear poor Veronica is overwhelmed, but Riley is a good friend and comforts her.

The Swarm | Super Scott — LA BREA — “The Swarm” Episode 212 — Pictured: Rohan Mirchandaney as Scott — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Just when you think you know how “The Swarm” will end, they throw in a twist. Eve is alone with James, and asking why he’s not more concerned about Gavin. He’s being evasive, and she finds him actively working on Project Blue Moon, despite the lies he’s told everyone. He draws a gun on Eve, they tussle and she gets a knife to his throat. Unfortunately he shatters a glass bottle on her head, and walks away. Turns out, I was right not to trust James after all!

It ends with Levi forcing Kira to transfer all power to the portal, which he’s conveniently ringed with explosives. Gavin rushes in and Levi draws a gun on him as the timer counts down. Then Izzy conveniently arrives and tests Levi’s resolve. He finally decides to turn off the timer, but it won’t stop. When he pulls a wire, it starts accelerating rapidly. Then the episode ends with people rushing out of the Tower moments before it explodes in a massive ball of fire.

While the last two episodes of La Brea have been really captivating, I can’t shake the feeling that events are accelerating towards an end. Not just of this season, but the entire series, which would fit the rumors I’ve seen swirling. Here’s hoping NBC manages to end the show on a good note, even if it’s way too soon.

La Brea’s Strongest Episode of Season 2 is The Wedding

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It’s hard to ascertain too much from a title. Sometimes they’re pretty clear cut, other times they hide devious secrets. Take the latest episode of La Brea, “The Wedding.” It sounded simple enough, focusing mostly on Ty and Paara’s long awaited union. But as a fan of entertainment, I should have known better. This episode starts as a White Wedding, and doesn’t quite get so far as a Red Wedding. So it’s safe to say this is a Pink Wedding, with moments of joy and a shocking ending.

The episode begins with Caroline and Silas. They’ve apparently been working on puzzling through Moore’s notes that she found hidden in his cave. We haven’t seen much of Silas lately, so much so that I forgot he’s actually Caroline’s father. Though he was a dangerous threat in season 1, he’s driven to make good on his promises and protect his family now. When Caroline leaves to return to the larger group, something surprising happens. An unseen assailant armed with a silenced pistol shoots Silas twice, stealing the notes from him as the man lies bleeding out.

The Wedding | Ceremony — LA BREA — “The Wedding” Episode 211 — Pictured: (l-r) Jack Martin as Josh, Veronica St. Clair as Riley, Natalie Zea as Eve Harris, Eoin Macken as Gavin Harris, Zyra Gorecki as Izzy — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

Back with the group, the wedding planning is proceeding in full force. There’s lots of merriment and happy vibes. Scott tries to weasel wine bottles away from Judah, Eve and Izzy try on wedding dresses (a LOT of stuff fell through that first sinkhole), and Ty asks Eve to be his best woman in a heartwarming exchange. Feeling the need to be honest, Ty also tells Eve and Gavin about what he’s pieced together about Project Blue Moon. In an effort to get answers out of James, he’s also been invited the wedding ceremony.

It’s safe to say there’s very mixed feelings about James attending. Take Levi, for example. He wants to jump the gun and kill James before he can be interrogated. He even wants Eve’s help, and plans on poisoning the man with crushed seeds from a white flower. Eve doesn’t want to play ball, but she’s also very concerned about the premise of James traveling back in time and effectively erasing her children in a bid to reclaim the years he lost with Gavin.

The Wedding | New Love — LA BREA — “The Wedding” Episode 211 — Pictured: (l-r) Lily Santiago as Veronica — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

One of my favorite parts about “The Wedding” is it finally makes sense of the whole Aaron confusion. It begins with Veronica trying to figure out why Aaron had Moore’s journal on him. Apparently he even added something to it, some obscure bible verses arranged both vertically and horizontally. Lucas is being a good boyfriend and supporting her. When she can’t let the journal mystery go, he takes her on a fun excursion to a hot spring armed with wine and a pop tart, just to help unwind and hopefully help loosen up her mental muscles. As an added bonus, they share a nice romantic moment and their bond deepens.

At first, the wedding ceremony is very uplifting. Josh and Riley goof around and share a kiss, Scott freaks out when the warriors start rewarding him for killing Taamet (another favorite moment of mine) and Gavin’s family at large seems happy. Even James is in a good place once he arrives, and tells Ty their brief psychiatry session finally helped him get some much needed rest. The only person having a bit of rough time is Sam, who is finding it difficult watching everybody else move on while he’s stuck in the past. Josh also starts to have a bad day once he overhears Riley and discovers she’s been keeping secrets from him. Luckily there’s plenty of alcohol, including fermented corn.

The Wedding | Beardo — LA BREA — “The Wedding” Episode 211 — Pictured: (l-r) Chiké Okonkwo as Ty, Tonantzin Carmelo as Paara — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

The tone of the episode starts to change when Kira appears unexpectedly. She says James sent the Exiles last time, and that the moment he gets the journal, he’ll reveal his true nature. Most worrying, she leaves saying it won’t end well. As for Eve, she tries to talk Levi out of his plans, and he tells her that James is responsible for the death of his wife. Apparently they were tracking sinkholes and she got caught by one, falling to her death. Eve counters that Levi’s not a murderer, and tries to convince him to be the man she remembers.

Caroline returns, and quietly freaks out to Gavin when she sees James at the party. Meanwhile he introduces himself to his grandson, Josh, and they actually have a nice moment together drinking booze and discussing how women will always be a mystery to them. Later Josh and Scott play my new favorite game, called No Filter. They point people out and say the first thing that comes to mind. It’s a fun game, but then Sam interrupts it, shooing Scott away to ask Josh about his feelings for his daughter. He notes that for two people that love each other, they sure seem miserable lately. Ultimately he reasons that what matters most is being together, not being right.

James runs into Caroline skulking about, and when she confronts him about the men he sent after her, he swears he didn’t send them. Then Levi makes a solid effort to poison the man, offering they share drinks together, but Eve jumps in just in time to stop it. And then Silas shambles over to the hot springs, bleeding but alive, saying how they’re all in terrible danger.

The Wedding | Pals — LA BREA — “The Wedding” Episode 211 — Pictured: (l-r) Jack Martin as Josh, Rohan Mirchandaney as Scott — (Photo by: Sarah Enticknap/NBC)

From that point on, “The Wedding” starts to get real dark really quickly. Gavin is furious when he discovers his wife and Levi have been keeping secrets again. Then he runs into his father, who claims he found Caroline dead in a building. Understandably, Gavin doesn’t believe him, and confronts his father asking why he killed his mother. He demands answers about Project Blue Moon, and James says that it’s a real project, but that he put it aside after spending time with his family. And then the truth of the situation at Lazarus reveals itself.

As it turns out, the person that shot Silas was actually Kira. Worse, she’s been lying about James being a threat, and she’s actively been trying to get the journal and control access to the tower. She’s about to escape when Ty tries to stop her, but she uses her pistol to take him hostage instead. Paara is overwhelmed, but determined to get her husband back.

In the final moments, Veronica has a revelation. All the bible verses are just numbers, and they form latitude and longitude that may lead them to a way out of this prehistoric hell. Best of all, with Silas’ help she discovers Aaron used to work at Lazarus, and how he stole the journal from Doctor Moore. Now the woman is free from the shadow he cast over her life.

It ends with James saying how Lazarus is effectively under Kira’s control, and how she operated right under his nose. Even though she’s not likely to allow them to return to use the time machine, he stresses he kept some things from her as well. All they need to do is trust him. A really exceptional episode of La Brea. Though I’m sad Dr. Clark is dead, I’m glad Silas is back, and look forward to seeing where the rest of this season takes us. Stay tuned for our review of the next episode, “The Swarm.”

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Looks out for the little guys! What? A Positive Review?!

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